(Beijing)  The ongoing anti-graft campaign has netted one in three suspects on China's "100 most wanted" list  mostly government officials hiding overseas  to stand trial in China as of July 15, the Communist Party's corruption watchdog said.

Some were nabbed after joint search operations by Chinese and foreign law enforcement officers, while others allegedly returned voluntarily, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement on August 20. The fugitives were identified as part of a government crackdown called "Skynet" launched in April 2015.

Fu Yaobo and Zhang Qingzhao, two employees of the labor and social security department in Benxi city in the northeastern province of Liaoning  suspected of jointly embezzling public funds worth 30 million yuan - were nabbed while hiding on a Caribbean island after a 51-day joint operation between Chinese police and their local counterparts and repatriated in February, the CCDI said. The duo had been on the run since September 2014 and were caught hiding in a mountainous area near the capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

At the request of the Chinese government, Interpol issued "red notices," the organization's highest-level arrest warrant, against the pair and 98 other top Chinese fugitives in April 2015. Nearly two-thirds of the individuals on the top 100 list were suspected of graft, while others were accused of crimes including dereliction of duty and fraud, state-run China Daily said. Fifteen such high-profile suspects were brought back this year as of July 15, almost as many as were repatriated in 2015, data from the CCDI shows.

Two of the latest returnees, Zhu Haiping and Guo Liaowu, allegedly turned themselves in voluntarily on July 13 and 15 respectively, the party's anti-graft watchdog said. Zhu, 53, a former official from the Civil Aviation Administration in the central province of Hubei, was suspected of fraud and had fled to the United States in 1998, the CCDI said in a July statement. Guo, 50, was suspected of bribery and had fled to Australia in 2010. He was a deputy manager of a subsidiary of Wuhan Iron and Steel Corp, a state-owned enterprise.

Over 40 percent of the 738 fugitives who returned to China in 2015 were "persuaded" to come back rather than forcibly repatriated, according to the CCDI. Fugitives' family members sometimes played a role in these "persuasion efforts", Li Gongjing, a Shanghai police officer, said in an interview with Xinmin Weekly magazine.

"It's very effective. A suspect is like a kite. Although he is in a foreign country, his line is in China and we can find him through his relatives," Li said.

The party's graft buster says fugitives hiding in 40 countries and regions were repatriated in the first half of 2016 and that over 1.2 billion yuan worth of stolen funds were recovered from overseas in the first half of the year.

On August 17, the Ministry of Public Security announced that 409 overseas fugitives have been captured so far this year under the Skynet campaign. In addition to hunting for absconders, the program aims to crack down on money laundering and transferring ill-gotten gains abroad and to identify would-be outlaws by monitoring the passports of government officials. So-called "naked officials," or party cadres who move their families and assets abroad as an easy escape route, are key targets of the campaign.

But the lack of formal extradition treaties between China and some of the top destinations for fugitives has hampered efforts to bring back graft suspects.

According to Interpol, 40 of China's 100 most wanted fugitives were thought to be hiding in the United States, 26 in Canada, 11 in New Zealand and 10 in Australia. Other locations include Belize, Sri Lanka, and Grenada.

China has been pushing for extradition treaties with the United States and Australia, but efforts have been stalled due to concerns that repatriated suspects may not have access to a fair trial in China.

Contact editor Poornima Weerasekara (poornima@caixin.com)
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.
Since his inauguration on 30 June, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been true to his campaign pledge of cracking down on drugs. He has ignored objections from within the Philippines and abroad about extrajudicial killings of supposed drug pushers and users by police and unknown assailants, which have already amounted to over a thousand deaths.

Why has a mounting body count and obvious violations of the rule of law and human rights failed to slow Duterte's "war on drugs?"

One reason is his sky-high poll rating of 91 percent. Official statistics show crime has risen and drug use is widespread. Duterte has played to a moral panic, arguing that criminality endangers the lives of people he vowed to protect.

Duterte's ability to flout fundamental principles of the rule of law is also grounded in the weakness of basic political institutions. Duterte was elected with only a handful of congressional allies. But because Philippine political parties are weak he now has the support of most legislators who simply switched sides after his victory in search of presidential patronage. This has left only a few critics in office to speak out against the crackdown, particularly the separately elected vice president, Leni Robredo, and neophyte Senator Leila de Lima.

Duterte also feels he can ignore the Supreme Court because it has been politicised, in part via his predecessor Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino's removal of the Chief Justice, widely seen as an act of political revenge.

Several leading Catholic Bishops have voiced strong criticisms of the extrajudicial killings. But Duterte revels in pointing to the hypocrisy of the Church, particularly the institution's vast wealth and priests' abuse of children.

Civil society groups have also been outspoken critics of the extrajudicial killings but have become fractured, with many leading members crossing over to government. On the far left, the Communist Party charge Duterte for "upturning the criminal judicial system and denouncing people for defending human rights". But because Duterte has handed out several of their allies key cabinet positions, and because of their eagerness for a peace deal, the left's criticism has been muted.

Duterte has also kept the media off balance. During the campaign, he warned reporters not to take his outrageous statements too seriously. He also dampened criticism by pointing to reporters' being complicit with corrupt politicians and criminals they were supposed to expose.

On the United States, Duterte called U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg a 'gay son of a whore'. Duterte struck a note with many Filipinos by pointing to past U.S. double dealings as a colonial and postcolonial power in the Philippines and questioning whether the declining superpower would really back the Philippines if it came to an armed confrontation with China over competing territorial claims.

Duterte has thus far skilfully outmanoeuvred his opponents by exposing their own frailties. But there are signs that he may have difficulty sustaining his violent anti-drug campaign.

The human cost of the carnage has become all too evident. There have been a number of high profile 'mistakes' in the killings  many clearly innocent victims. Even those killed who did use or sell drugs have been denied any kind of due process. The Philippine Daily Inquirer's 'Kill List', documenting the daily killings (recently averaging about 10 a day), points to the skewed nature of the killings: the overwhelming majority of the victims are poor and from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

To divert attention from the criticism that the war on drugs has largely targeted the poor, the Duterte administration recently released a list of 150 police and military officials, politicians and judges accused of involvement in the drug trade. But targeting high-ranking officials carries risks of its own with the possibility that his elite enemies may regroup for a counterattack, endangering political stability.

A look at Thailand is instructive. An analysis of the 2003 anti-drug crackdown by then Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra shows that half of the nearly 3000 people killed extra-judicially were not linked to the drug trade. They were either accidental victims or targeted by corrupt police or vengeful vigilantes. Although the campaign lifted Thaksin's short-run popularity, elites soon turned on him, overthrowing his government in 2006 and his sister's government in 2014. Thai authorities are now talking of treating drug addiction as a health problem and are considering a partial decriminalisation of drugs as a more effective way of dealing with the problem.

This holds out the hope that Duterte will stop or slow the extrajudicial killings. Hopefully the damage they have caused to the country's judicial system and law enforcement is not permanent and the administration will focus on the fundamental woes of poverty and feeble political institutions that breed uncivil social behaviour.

Ronald Holmes is a Research Scholar in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. Mark R. Thompson is director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong.

This article is part of a series for Caixin from the East Asia Forum in the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU.
Government ministers try to intimidate Polish media

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 23 May 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Government ministers try to intimidate Polish media, 23 May 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc208d15.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 23, 2013

Reporters Without Borders is very disturbed by attempts by Polish government ministers to intimidate the media during the past few days.

The media freedom organization condemns the utterly disproportionate and exorbitant damages that transport minister Slawomir Nowak is demanding from the magazine Wprost in a libel suit over an April 2013 story about his friendship with businessmen who often win government contracts and his presence at private parties paid for by wealthy corporate executives.

Nowak's lawyer, Roman Giertych (who was deputy prime minister from 2005 to 2007), says Nowak is demanding 30 million zlotys (7 million euros) in damages, together with a public apology and correction. He is also asking the court to forbid Wprost's sale to another publisher before the end of the case in order to ensure that it remains solvent.

Giertych said: "We want to be sure that the defendant is able to comply with the court's ruling if we win and that it will not be able to get out of it by claiming a lack of financial resources." The court has not yet decided when it will start hearing the case.

"We are particularly worried by the size of the damages sought by Nowak," Reporters Without Borders said. "Suing for this amount of money is clearly intended to intimidate. He is using the law to impose censorship by threatening the magazine's financial survival. No publisher in Poland or anywhere else in Europe would be able to pay such a disproportionate amount.

"It is very disturbing to see the minister of a European government put this kind of pressure on a news outlet over a story of public interest. If he thinks he was libelled, he can use his right of response.

"And he is obviously free to bring a lawsuit, but he should ensure that the damages are proportionate to the harm suffered and to the news outlet's financial resources. Otherwise he is liable to encourage self-censorship, which has already increased considerably among journalists as regards certain sensitive subjects.

"We also condemn the minister's attempt to meddle in the financial affairs of Wprost's publisher. We remind Nowak that companies are completely free to merge and be traded within the European Union, which was founded on this principle. Seeking damages is one thing. Interfering in a company's management is quite another, and could alarm certain European Commission bodies."

The climate of intimidation has been reinforced by the statements that deputy prime minister and economy minister Janusz Piechocinski made to a TVN 24 journalist when asked about a possible cabinet reshuffle on 17th of May.

"Your behaviour is outrageous, idiotic and unacceptable," Piechocinski told the journalist on the air. "I am going to request a meeting this week with representatives of your management."

Piechocinski continued in the same vein in a later post on his Facebook page. "I am going see the management of TVN and TVN 24 next week in order to ask them to consider a change of attitude," he wrote.

"We are stunned by the deputy prime minister's statements," Reporters Without Borders said. "If merely asking about the composition of the next cabinet is deemed to be outrageous, what will happen when journalists start commenting on the choice of the new ministers?

"We urge the deputy prime minister to retract his remarks. Neither government officials nor representatives of any political parties should take it upon themselves to demand meetings with TV channel executives to 'explain' how journalists should behave."

Reporters Without Borders added: "This interference in media editorial policies is completely incompatible with European standards on freedom of information. Doing it in public makes it even more serious."

Poland is ranked 22nd out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
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/57bc208f6.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.
United Kingdom: UK government's culpable persecution of Guardian

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 August 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, United Kingdom: UK government's culpable persecution of Guardian, 20 August 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209023.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 20, 2013

"We are deeply shocked by the British government's culpable persecution of the Guardian's journalists," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said today.

"The day before yesterday, Glenn Greenwald's partner was detained and interrogated at London's Heathrow Airport under the Terrorism Act. Now the Guardian has revealed that the UK authorities forced it to destroy computer hard drives containing documents provided by Edward Snowden.

"The enforced destruction of documents, carried out in the newspaper's basement under the supervision of intelligence officials, was an extremely grave violation of freedom of information in a country that prides itself on having one the freest presses in the world."

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger revealed yesterday that British government officials threatened the newspaper with judicial proceedings if it continued to report on the UK and US governments' surveillance practices.

Last June, a senior official claiming to represent the views of the prime minister demanded the destruction of the material that the Guardian was using for its revelations. The newspaper finally complied, but Rusbridger said Guardian journalists based outside the UK have digital copies of the same documents.
Japan: Nuclear industry businessman withdraws libel suit against freelancer

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 16 August 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Japan: Nuclear industry businessman withdraws libel suit against freelancer, 16 August 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20904.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 16, 2013

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the decision by Shiro Shirakawa, the head of the nuclear security systems company New Tech, to withdraw a libel suit against freelance journalist Minoru Tanaka. A Tokyo court has accepted the withdrawal, announced on 12 August.

"This libel suit was an attempt by an influential member of Japan's nuclear industrial complex, known as the 'nuclear village,' to harass and intimidate Tanaka into silence and self-censorship," Reporters Without Borders said.

"We are pleased that it did not work but we continue to be concerned for other journalists who try to cover the sensitive issue of Japan's nuclear industry. There are still too many cases of reporters being pressured or censored when they try to provide information about the Fukushima disaster and its aftermath.

"The damages award Tanaka was facing if found guilty of libelling Shirakawa was clearly out of all proportion. We urge the courts to reject such 'gag suits' or 'SLAPPs' if they continue to be filed, and to propose proportionate alternatives such as the publication of a response."

Shirakawa sued Tanaka, 52, over a December 2011 article for the weekly Shukan Kinyobi headlined "The last big fixer, Shiro Shirakawa, gets his share of the TEPCO nuclear cake"  TEPCO being the owner of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant that suffered meltdowns after a tsunami in March 2011.

Using information in the public domain, the article accused Shirakawa of making a lot of money by acting as an intermediary between TEPCO, construction companies, politicians such as the leading parliamentarian Kamei Shizuka, and even clandestine organizations.

Ever since the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster, freelance journalists who cover the nuclear industry have had their access to information restricted and have, for example, been prevented from covering anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Reporters Without Borders issued several press releases condemning the judicial harassment of Tanaka, who was sued for 67 million yen (600,000 euros) in damages.
Maldives: Masked men torch opposition TV station

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 7 October 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Maldives: Masked men torch opposition TV station, 7 October 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209115.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 7, 2013

Reporters Without Borders condemns an arson attack by six masked men early this morning that destroyed much of the headquarters of Raajje TV, one of Maldives' most popular television stations, one that supports the opposition.

"This criminal act is a direct blow to freedom of information and we deplore the attitude of the police, who failed to do what was necessary to prevent the attack although the head of TV station requested protection a few hours before it took place," Reporters Without Borders said.

"The police must immediately launch an investigation so that those who started this fire are arrested and brought to justice. We also call on the Maldivian authorities and the international community to help Raajje TV to resume providing news and information as soon as possible."

Reporters Without Borders added: "The national authorities have a duty to provide Raajje TV with proper equipment so that it can function in the same way as it did before the fire."

The fire was started by six masked men armed with steel bars and machetes who forced their way into the building in the early hours of this morning after restraining and stabbing its security guard. They then broke through a steel door leading to the TV station's studios on the second floor, doused it with gasoline and set it alight.

A witness said the injured guard repeatedly asked police stationed nearby to intervene, with no immediate success. Other witnesses said they called the police, who did not respond until after the entire premises were ablaze. The fire started at around 4:45 a.m. and was not put out until 7 a.m.

With the help of other media, Raajje TV resumed limited broadcasting on a temporary basis at 1 pm today. It broadcast security camera footage of the fire and an interview with the vice-president of the Maldives Broadcasting Commission.

Today's arson attack came just a few days after Raajje TV broadcast a report entitled "Forum 15" about the threats it had been receiving. Yesterday evening, Raajje TV CEO Yamin Rasheed submitted a written request for protection to the police along details of the newest threats.

His request received no reply, but the police have confirmed that they got his letter and said they stepped up patrols in the district today.

Yesterday evening, Raajje TV covered an opposition Maldivian Democratic Party demonstration against the supreme court's 23 September decision to suspend elections indefinitely.

When a new government was installed in February 2012, both the police and the president's office announced that they would no long cooperate with Raajje TV, which has been banned from the president's news conferences and denied police protection during demonstrations.

Raajje TV was previously prevented from broadcasting by incidents in August 2012 and, in February 2013, the station's news director, Ibrahim Asward Waheed, was attacked by men on a motorcycle, who beat him with steel bars and left him for dead.
Maldives: Authorities continue to persecute opposition TV station

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 October 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Maldives: Authorities continue to persecute opposition TV station, 30 October 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209215.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

Reporters Without Borders deplores the continuing persecution of the opposition television station Raajje TV. In the latest development, the supreme court has told the police to investigate Raajje TV's CEO and news department chief over a supposedly "offensive" report about the judicial system that the station broadcast on 19 October.

"Not only is the accusation spurious but the investigation has been assigned to the police, which has no competence in such a matter," Reporters Without Borders said. "As the Maldives Media Council, the Maldives Broadcasting Commission and the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party have all said, such an investigation is the Council's responsibility."

"The police should concentrate on identifying and arresting the perpetrators and instigators of the arson attack that gutted the station's premises on 7 October instead of worrying about the quality of its programmes.

"This unconstitutional order follows a failure on the part of the police to protect Raajje TV's headquarters although they had been informed about the threats it had received, and it shows that the authorities are endorsing an offensive designed to silence Raajje TV by any means necessary."

Reporters Without Borders added: "Ever since a change of government in February 2012, Raajje TV has been banned from the president's news conferences and has been denied police protection during demonstrations. We remind the government that it has a duty of guarantee freedom of information and media independence."

Raajje TV news department chief Ibrahim Asward Waheed told Reporters Without Borders that the station has received new threats, in which it is warned that it could be target of another physical attack.

"We are all very worried," he said. "When I reported these threats to the authorities and requested additional police protection, they suggested that I hire private security guards." The police inaction during the 7 October arson attack has been widely criticized.

The police investigation into Waheed and CEO Yamin Rasheed was ordered in response to a programme that likened the judicial system to the biblical city of Sodom. Rasheed is also to be questioned about the station's coverage of a sex scandal allegedly involving a judge.

In a press release on 25 October, the Maldives Media Council said a police investigation into such a matter could create "fear and discomfort" in the media and restrict media freedom. Responsibility for such an investigation lay with the council and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission, the release added.

The Maldivian Democratic Party said the police investigation was unconstitutional and asked the supreme court to rescind its order.

The supreme court also asked the Maldives Broadcasting Commission to investigate the case but gave it only ten days to deliver its findings, although the law allows 60 days for an investigation so that the media concerned has time to defend itself.

Maldives is ranked 103rd out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Malaysia: Court rejects government appeal against print version for news website

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 31 October 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Malaysia: Court rejects government appeal against print version for news website, 31 October 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209315.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 welcomes yesterday's Kuala Lumpur appeal court decision rejecting an appeal by the government and interior ministry against a court ruling in favour of allowing the Malaysiakini news website to publish a print version.

"Yesterday's ruling is encouraging for freedom of information in Malaysia," Reporters Without Borders said.

"The government's behaviour is clearly indicative of a desire to control the media, while the judicial system seems opposed to this. But caution is needed. The government will probably challenge this latest decision and Malaysiakini has yet to obtain a licence to print, which only the interior ministry can issue.

"As we pointed out in an open letter to the prime minister in May 2012, real progress is still needed for freedom of information in Malaysia. We offer our full support for independent media and Malaysiakini in their efforts to resist government harassment."

Yesterday's decision is the latest stage in a process that began when Malaysiakini requested a publication and printing licence in August 2010 and the interior ministry refused, without offering any reason.

In May 2012, the website appealed to a high court, which issued a ruling on 1 October 2012 describing the interior ministry's refusal as "improper and irrational" and a violation of the federal constitution.

Highlighting the government's failure to produce arguments in support of its refusal, the high court said, "publishing a newspaper is a right, not a privilege." Yesterday's appeal court decision constitutes an endorsement of that position.

The government has not yet said whether it will appeal against the latest decision. If it does, it will have to appeal to a federal court. Malaysiakini has said it is ready to continue the legal process, if necessary.

If the government does not appeal, Malaysiakini will have to submit a new request for a licence to publish, which the government would not legally be able to refuse. Once that was obtained, the website would still have to obtain a printing permit.

Launched 13 years ago and regarded as an opposition news outlet, Malaysiakini has managed to get round government censorship by operating as a website. It posts news and information in English, Malay and Chinese and has an average of 2.5 million readers a month.

Malaysia is ranked 145th out of 179 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Japan: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged to abandon state secrecy bill

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 27 November 2013 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Japan: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged to abandon state secrecy bill, 27 November 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209415.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 27, 2013

Reporters Without Borders deplores the lower house of the Japanese parliament's adoption yesterday of a "special intelligence protection bill" that would pose an unprecedented threat to freedom of information, and calls on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to abandon the proposed law.

"How can the government respond to growing demands for transparency from a public outraged by the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident if it enacts a law that gives it a free hand to classify any information considered too sensitive as a 'state secret'?" Reporters Without Borders said.

"By imposing heavy penalties on those who obtain classified information in a 'grossly inappropriate' manner and then publish it, parliament is making investigative journalism illegal, and is trampling on the fundamental principles of the confidentiality of journalists' sources and 'public interest'."

Under the proposed law, information regarded as confidential could be classified as a state secret for a five-year period that could be extended indefinitely. Whistleblowers, including government employees and journalists, who leak classified information would face up to ten years in prison without being able to invoke 'public interest' as grounds for publishing.

Journalists are explicitly targeted by the proposed law, which would allow the authorities to judge the methods they use to obtained classified information.

The prime minister pointed to the "changing security environment in Asia," including Japan's maritime border disputes with China, and North Korea's nuclear ambitions, as justification for the proposed law.

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan issued a statement in early November calling on the Japanese parliament to reject the bill or at least amend it substantially in order to protect media freedom.

The bill's approval by the lower house follows an increase in media freedom violations registered by Reporters Without Borders  especially ones affecting freelance journalists  that began after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Ever since the Fukushima disaster, there has been a great deal of obstruction of coverage of its consequences, with prosecutions of journalists who have tried to denounce the government's lack of transparency.

Japan is ranked 53rd out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, a record fall of 31 places from its position in the 2012 index.
Rwanda: Authorities hound independent journalists at home and abroad

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 19 March 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Rwanda: Authorities hound independent journalists at home and abroad, 19 March 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209513.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 19, 2014

Reporters Without Borders condemns the Rwandan government's lack of transparency and its unacceptable acts of harassment and intimidation of journalists with the aim of suppressing freedom of information and independent reporting.

Rwandan journalists have been the victims of the government's harassment for years, but the targets have for some also included foreign journalists, especially Ugandan ones.

"The Rwandan government often responds to charges of blocking information by portraying itself as the target of malicious international groups that secretly wage what it calls a 'Blame Rwanda' campaign," said Clea Kahn-Sriber, head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk.

"President Kagame needs to understand that people can use legitimate arguments to criticize his government without questioning the very foundations of the Rwandan state. How will his country be able to rebuild its social fabric when raising even slightly sensitive subjects are forbidden?"

Kahn-Sriber added: "A real reconciliation policy should let all voices be heard, even critical ones, and it is up to President Kagame to start it. For the sake of Rwanda's long-term development, the government must allow freedom of information."

In the latest case, US freelance journalist Steve Terrill was refused access to Rwanda when he arrived in Kigali on 15 March to cover the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide for Al Jazeera and The Christian Science Monitor. He was detained for several hours without being allowed to make any phone calls and was then put on a flight to Addis Ababa.

Under Rwandan regulations, US journalists do not need a visa to work in Rwanda and the Media High Council agreed in principle to give Terrill accreditation when he contacted it several months ago. The Rwandan government gave no reason for barring Terrill but tweeted an article about an old judicial case in which he was exonerated.

Terrill's expulsion is just the latest in a series of cases of harassment of journalists who dare to question government policy.

Sonia Rolley, a Radio France Internationale journalist who was based in Kigali until expelled in June 2006, has been harassed for months on Twitter by a person using the alias of Richard Goldston who is thought to be close to the president.

In a sequence of tweets in which Terrill demanded that this "Goldston" stop the "misogynistic harassment" of Rolley, someone intervened using President Kagame's official Twitter account, reinforcing the impression that the person responsible for the harassment was close to the innermost circles of government.

The impression was not dispelled when the president's office tweeted that "@RichardGoldston was an unauthorized account run by an employee in the presidency." The President's office subsequently said the account belonged to a "junior employee" (as if a "junior employee" would have access to the president's Twitter account) but refused to identify the person or say what action was taken.

Terrill had emailed the president's office a few weeks earlier reporting that he had established that the offensive @RichardGoldston tweets were coming from inside the president's office, but got no reply. Since this controversy, many journalists have been blocked from Kagame's official Twitter account.

Rwanda's harassment of journalists extends to neighbouring countries. Several Ugandan journalists who have covered Rwanda-related stories have recently received disturbing threats from the Rwandan regime, acting in some cases through its security and intelligence services.

Four journalists with the Kampala-based Daily Monitor newspaper are the current targets of threats, including death threats. Rwandan state-owned media and intelligence services have accused them of collaborating with the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), an exile opposition group, and carrying its propaganda.

On 18 February, a post by a blogger known for being provocative and controversial, named three journalists as being in the sights of the Rwandan external intelligence services, which were acting with complicity of The Daily Monitor's executives and a former Daily Monitor journalist now close to the Rwandan president's office.

A week before that, a Rwandan pro-government newspaper, The New Times, published an article on 10 February claiming that the Rwandan government had established that certain Ugandan journalists had links with the RNC and with Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa, a former Rwandan army chief now in exile.

Ivan Okuda, a journalist who freelances for The Daily Monitor, was forced by the newspaper's management to publicly apologize on 14 February for posting blistering comments about Kagame on his Facebook page in connection with Patrick Karegeya's murder in South Africa in January. Rwanda's former spy chief, Karegeya had become an outspoken critic of the Kagame government.

Other Ugandan journalists have told Reporters Without Borders that they have often received serious threats from the Rwandan authorities.

Andrew Muhanguzi, a brother of an exiled Rwandan journalist who lives in Sweden and edits the Umuvugizi news website, has been missing since 16 February, when he was detained in Kampala by men identifying themselves as Ugandan police officers. The Ugandan police say they have no record of his arrest.

Tom Malaba, an experienced journalist currently working for Ugandan Radio Network (an online news agency), claimed he had been trailed repeatedly and his home attacked at night once after he at a news conference in Kampala on 18 June 2013 asked a question that upset Rwandan Ambassador Frank Mugambage. He had sought clarification on allegations that the Ambassador headed a commando that hunted down Rwandan exiles in Uganda, eliciting an angry reaction from Mugambage.

International media are not spared the Rwandan government's harassment of journalists in Uganda. A Kampala-based correspondent for an international news organization left Uganda in November 2013 because he feared for his life after receiving disturbing threats from Rwandan intelligence officials.

Long the darling of the international community because of its stability and economic progress, Rwanda continues to be a very authoritarian country that is under President Kagame's thumb. A predator of freedom of information who tolerates no dissent, Kagame uses anti-genocide rhetoric to justify totalitarian policies and constantly violates human rights.

Two journalists were killed within the space of 18 months in 2010 (a presidential election year) and 2011. At the same time, many media freedom violations were reported, ranging from arrests of media personnel to physical attacks, prompting many journalists to flee abroad.

The most recent murder of a Rwandan journalist was that of Charles Ingabire, an outspoken critic of the government and editor of the Inyenyeri News website, who was gunned down on 30 November 2011 in Kampala, where he had lived in exile since 2007. The Ugandan police have never released a report on their investigation into his murder.

Jean-Leonard Rugambage, the deputy editor of the bimonthly magazine Umuvugizi, was fatally shot four times at close range outside his Kigali home on 24 June 2010. Reporters Without Borders was sceptical when a court, on 15 September 2011, sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for his murder and acquitted another.
Swaziland: Editor and human rights lawyer held for criticizing judicial system

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 March 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Swaziland: Editor and human rights lawyer held for criticizing judicial system, 20 March 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209615.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 20, 2014

Reporters Without Borders condemns the detention of Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation news magazine, and Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer who writes opinion pieces for the magazine, for articles criticizing Swaziland's judicial system and chief justice Michael Ramodibedi in particular.

They have been held for the past two days on contempt of court charges that are due to be heard in open court on 25 March.

"The arbitrary arrests of Maseko and Makhubu are the latest examples of the persecution that awaits anyone voicing the least criticism of Swaziland's institutions," said Lucie Morillon, head of research and advocacy at Reporters Without Borders.

"In a country where the only voices tolerated are those of King Mswati and his government, how much leeway do journalists have to cover and comment on local news developments? None."

Morillon added: "The detention orders that the chief justice himself issued, without any respect for Swaziland's legal standards, are blatant violations of freedom of expression, motivated by a desire for personal revenge. We call on the authorities to free these two men at once."

After chief justice Ramodibedi issued the arrest warrants on 17 March, police delivered them to the offices of Makhubu and Maseko in the capital, Mbabane. They arrested Maseko later the same day but did not find Makhubu at his office or home. He was arrested the next day after going to a police station.

Ramodibedi ordered them held for seven days at a summary and arbitrary closed-door hearing on 18 March. It violated normal criminal justice procedures, under which they should have appeared before a judge in open court.

They were not able to speak to their lawyers before the hearing, and they were not able to defend themselves or request release on bail during the hearing. They have been held ever since at Mbabane's Sidwashini provisional detention centre.

The two men are accused of contempt of court in connection with two articles in The Nation in February about government motor vehicle inspector Bhantshana Gwebu's arbitrary arrest on 20 January for issuing a ticket to a judge's driver. The articles criticized Ramodibedi and questioned the impartiality of Swaziland's judicial system.

This is not Makhubu's first run-in with Ramodibedi. On 17 April 2013, he was convicted of contempt of court and defaming the chief justice in connection with two articles in The Nation questioning the judicial system's independence.

Reporters Without Borders criticized the court at the time for ordering him to pay a fine of 200,000 emalangeni (16,700 euros) or serve two years in prison if the fine was not paid within three days.

He neither paid the fine nor went to prison because his lawyers were able to lodge an appeal, which has yet to be heard.

A member of Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland, Maseko was charged under the law on sedition and subversive activities in 2009, but the case has yet to be tried.

Swaziland is ranked 156th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Kazakhstan: Increasingly suffocating climate for media freedom

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 April 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Kazakhstan: Increasingly suffocating climate for media freedom, 3 April 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209713.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 3, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is very disturbed by the decline in media freedom in Kazakhstan, with arrests and trials of critical journalists and bloggers and the adoption of legislative tools that allow the authorities to tighten their grip on the media.

Another opposition newspaper closed

Part of the premises of the opposition Assandi Times newspaper was placed under seal yesterday, a day after the newspaper was banned by a court in Almaty, the economic capital, in a hearing without any members of its staff present.

"The Kazakh courts are pressing on with the job of eliminating the remaining opposition news outlets," said Johann Bihr, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

"The ban on the Assandi Times is an illegal decision by a justice system that follows the government's orders. The lack of independence of the judges is so blatant that they have long been flouting legal procedure by holding hearings in absentia, trampling on defence rights and arbitrarily lumping different newspapers together. Only by overturning this decision on appeal will the Kazakh justice system show that any vestige of independence and impartiality survives."

The newspaper's staff was stunned by the arrival of court bailiffs yesterday morning. Editor Sergei Duvanov and deputy editor Oksana Makushina told Reporters Without Borders they had not been notified of the judicial proceedings and had not been invited to attend the hearing.

The bailiffs initially tried to make all the journalists leave and put the entire premises under seal, but the staff resisted because the bailiffs had no official document. In the end, just one room was sealed and the journalists are continuing to work in the adjoining rooms after making the bailiffs accept that, legally, they have ten days to appeal against the court's closure order.

The court order treats the Assandi Times as being one of the offshoots of the opposition newspaper Respublika, which were banned for "extremism" in December 2012. While some of the Assandi Times' employees used to work for Respublika, they are legally quite distinct.

The Assandi Times was created after Respublika's closure and is not on the list of opposition news outlets  eight newspapers and 23 websites  that were banned at the end of 2012. They were convicted of "extremism" on the basis of "evidence" presented at the November 2012 trial of Vladimir Kozlov, a government opponent, at which none of the journalists concerned were represented.

Other critical media have been banned in a series of sham hearings since then. An Almaty court ordered the closure of the opposition newspaper Pravdivaya Gazeta at the end of February. An appeal against the closure is to be heard on 11 April. Reporters Without Borders learned on 24 March that Natalia Sadykova, a journalist being investigated on a trumped-up charge of defamation, had fled abroad. A warrant has been issued for her arrest

Prior censorship during rioting

Just before announcing its resignation yesterday, the government published a decree dated 28 January reinforcing the measures that can be taken in "emergency situations of a social nature". Widely used in former Soviet countries, this term is much broader that a state of emergency and covers all forms of social unrest, including riots, local or regional conflicts, strikes and large demonstrations.

In such situations, all the media in the areas affected will henceforth be subject to prior censorship. News media will be required to submit each newspaper issue or programme to the competent authorities "for approval of content" 24 hours before publication or broadcast.

When such a long lead time is impossible, for example, with news bulletins, submission just before broadcast will be allowed. Failure to comply could result in closure. The decree also provides for the suspension of the activities of political parties or NGOs that "prevent" a return to normality.

Bihr added: "We can only wonder about the goal of these draconian measures and their extremely belated publication. It is hard to see what gap in Kazakhstan's legislation this decree is meant to fill. Given the elasticity of the concept of 'emergency situation,' prior censorship just offers the increasingly authoritarian regime an additional way to control information. What little was left of media freedom in Kazakhstan has been reduced still further."

The decree echoes proposals announced by the information minister in September 2012, which Reporters Without Borders regarded as very dangerous, and seems designed to address situations like the December 2011 rioting in Zhanaozen, which led to unprecedented censorship and to the regime adopting its current ultra-authoritarian course.
Philippines: Reporter gunned down in cold blood in her home

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 7 April 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Philippines: Reporter gunned down in cold blood in her home, 7 April 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc2098e.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, 2014

Reporters Without Borders condemns the execution-style killing of Rubylita Garcia, a reporter for the tabloid newspaper Remate, in Bacoor City, Cavite province, 25 km southwest of Manila, on 6 April.

Aged 52 and a journalist for the past 20 years, Garcia was at her home when two individuals walked in with no attempt at concealment, shot her at least four times and then left on a motorcycle. Her son rushed her to a nearby hospital where she died a few hours later.

"We offer our sincere condolences to Rubylita Garcia's family and we urge the police to identify those responsible for her murder so that they can be brought to trial," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"The authorities must urgently adopt concrete measures to immediately end impunity for this kind of violence or else they will have to shoulder much of the blame for the next attacks on journalist. Each murder of a journalist becomes the government's responsibility because of its failure to react."

A member of the National Press Club and president of the Confederation of Active Media Practitioners' Organizations, a newly formed group based in Calabarzon, Garcia recently began freelancing for DWAD, a local radio station, as well as working for Remate.

Before dying of her gunshot injuries, she told her son she thought that Supt. Conrado Villanueva, police chief in the nearby town of Tanza, was behind the shooting. She and Villanueva reportedly had an altercation at Tanza's police station on 3 April.

National police spokesman Reuben Sindac announced that Villanueva has been suspended from duty so that he would not be able to influence the investigation.

The Philippines is ranked 149th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, nine places lower than in 2013. With a total of eight journalists killed last year, it is one of the world's deadliest countries for the media.
Kuwait: Two daily newspapers suspended for violating ban on coup probe coverage

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 28 April 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Kuwait: Two daily newspapers suspended for violating ban on coup probe coverage, 28 April 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc2099c.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 the 20 April decision by the public prosecutor's office to suspend two newspapers that defied a two-month-old ban on covering an investigation into videotapes that allegedly reveal plans to stage a coup d'etat.

Two daily newspapers, Al-Watan and Alam Al-Yaoum, have been ordered to suspend operations for two weeks. The public prosecutor claims that the blackout is necessary because news coverage could undermine the investigation.

"The prosecutor's ban on media coverage of this case is a grave violation of freedom of information" said Soazig Dollet, head of the Reporters Without Borders Middle East and North Africa desk. "The absurd and iniquitous suspension of those two news outlets again shows that the authorities are bent on controlling the media and, in this case, suppressing coverage of a sensitive political investigation."

Articles in Al-Watan's 13 and 14 April issues claimed that former senior officials were involved in the alleged coup conspiracy.

In a press release, the information ministry announced that "it had been informed of the public prosecutor's decision to suspend the two newspapers for two weeks for defying "a prohibition on publishing reports on case 2013/1241 ."

Al-Watan publisher Sheikh Khalifa Ali Al-Khalifa told Reuters that "the staff did not understand why they had been punished because they had done "nothing illegal." He added that "the newspaper would continue to publish on its website because the site came under a "different jurisdiction" and had not been closed".

Several parliamentarians have criticized the suspensions and have called for changes to the media law.

Kuwait fell 13 places in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index and is now ranked 91st out of 180 countries.
Latvia: Journalist and netizen face incompetent, secretive court

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 29 April 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Latvia: Journalist and netizen face incompetent, secretive court, 29 April 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209a2b.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, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is disturbed by the way the Latvian judicial system is treating investigative journalist Leonids Jakobsons and netizen Ilmars Poikans, who are being tried behind closed doors by a judge whose qualifications for handling media cases is questionable.

Jakobsons is being prosecuted for revealing emails exposing alleged wrongdoing by Riga's mayor, while Poikans is on trial for circulating the details of the salaries received by government staffers in 2011. Reporters Without Borders calls for an open trial in both cases and guarantees of qualified judicial decision-making.

There are no grounds for the arbitrary decision to bar the public from these trials. In Latvia, all trials are supposed to be public except those involveing minors, people who are ill, family cases and classified information. Neither case meets these criteria and the information involved is not a state secret.

Furthermore, the authorities themselves have published the information that Poikans revealed about the salaries of government officials.

There is no evidence that the judge in charge of both cases, Una Melameda, has the required expertise. In 2009, parliament appointed her to the position of Zemesgramatu Tiesnese, a section of the justice department that monitors the real estate market. But her transfer to the Riga court on 24 February was done without parliament's approval.

Reporters Without Borders regrets that her ability to take the public interest into account when judging a media case has not been demonstrated, and is concerned that her first decision has been to suspend transparency in cases that interest Latvian public opinion.

At the very least, Reporters Without Borders calls on Melameda to open the hearings to the public, as Poikans and Jakobsons both has requested. RWB also urges the Riga Centre District Court reflect the importance of these two cases to freedom of information in Latvia by assigning them to a judge who has specialized in cases involving freedom of information.

Finally, Reporters Without Borders points out that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled in past cases that if the public interest's in knowing something is demonstrated, it should take precedence over the right to privacy.

Latvia is ranked 37th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Malaysia: Prime Minister threatens legal action against Malaysiakini news site

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 17 May 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Malaysia: Prime Minister threatens legal action against Malaysiakini news site, 17 May 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209b15.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 17, 2014

Prime Minister Najib Razak, leader of the ruling United Malay National Organization, threatened on 15 May to sue the Malaysiakini news site over publication of user comments.

The comments concerned the party's involvement in a political crisis in the state of Terengganu. Razak alleged that the comments could be categorized as defamatory and seditious, thereby damaging his image and that of his party.

In a letter to Malysiakini, the law firm of Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak demanded an unconditional apology, the retraction of articles deemed defamatory, as well as a promise to never again publish comments that contain what the lawyers called "generally empty accusation and ill-intentioned allegations."

If the site does not bend to these demands, the law firm said it had "strict instructions" to file a lawsuit.

"The threat of legal action against news media on behalf of a serving Prime Minister constitutes a potential threat to freedom of information," said Benjamin Ismail, head of the Asia Pacific desk for Reporters Without Borders. "As a public figure, Najib Razak must learn to accept criticism. He has other ways to make his views known and to express disagreement, in particular using his right of reply."

Razak's action was highly unusual. "I think this is first time in Malaysia that a sitting PM is planning to sue a media organization," Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan told Reporters Without Borders.

The political crisis underlying the legal threat began on 12 May, when three members of parliament quit the ruling party in response to the sudden replacement of Ahmad Said as chief minister of the Terengganu government. Members of the parliamentary majority were then threatened, until the politicians rejoined the party following mutual apologies by Razak and Said, who attributed the events to a "misunderstanding."

Also on 15 May, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, minister of Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government demanded that Malaysiakini be held responsible for "malicious articles." He said that the site hid its own opinions behind those of its readers.

Malaysia ranks 147th of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders 2014 World Press Freedom Index.
Paraguay: Second Paraguayan journalist slain near Brazilian border in less than two years

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 19 May 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Paraguay: Second Paraguayan journalist slain near Brazilian border in less than two years, 19 May 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209c15.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 19, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn that local radio journalist Fausto Gabriel Alcaraz was gunned down by two individuals on a motorcycle in the eastern border city of Pedro Juan Caballero on 16 May. Alcaraz, who worked for Radio Amambay, was shot 11 times.

Senator Robert Acevedo, the station's owner, said that Alcaraz had often accused people by name of involvement in regional drug trafficking in his radio programme.

"It is vital that this murder should not go unpunished, as is so often the case in Paraguay," said Camille Soulier, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas desk.

"It must be thoroughly investigated in order to identify those responsible and the possibility of a link to the victim's work must not be ruled out straight away. The situation of the people who worked with Alcaraz is also very worrying right now. We urge the authorities to give them protection."

Alcaraz was the second journalist to be murdered in less than two years in Pedro Juan Caballero, the capital of Amambay department, which borders Brazil and is a major Southern Cone drug trafficking hub. There is tension between politicians and traffickers on both sides of the border and journalists often bear the brunt of the violence.

Marcelino Vasquez, the director of local radio Sin Fronteras, was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle in Pedro Juan Caballero on 6 February 2013. Radio Mburucuya director Santiago Leguizamon was killed in a similar fashion in the city in 1991. None of these murders has been solved.

Ranked 105th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Paraguay suffers from systematic impunity, which needs to be addressed rapidly. The need for a national protection mechanism for journalists in Paraguay was stressed in the annual report that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published on 23 April.
Kazakhstan censors coverage of Eurasian Economic Union summit

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 May 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Kazakhstan censors coverage of Eurasian Economic Union summit, 30 May 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209d15.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 30, 2014

The Kazakh authorities did everything possible to prevent journalists spoiling the party when President Nursultan Nazarbayev received his Russian and Belarusian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Aleksander Lukashenko, in Astana on 29 May for the signing of the treaty creating the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Three journalists were arrested and a leading news website was partially blocked in order to silence critics.

The journalists  Sanat Urnalyev and Viktor Gudz, who work for the 16/12 website, and Orken Bisenov (also known as Orken Joyamergen), who works for Radio Azattyk (Radio Free Europe's Kazakh service) A were arrested near Astana on 27 May while covering a meeting of activists who were preparing an anti-EEU meeting in Astana scheduled for 29 May.

Around 20 of the meeting's participants were also arrested. An Astana administrative court sentenced the journalists to four days of solitary confinement on a "minor acts of vandalism" charge at around 6 a.m. on 28 May, after a trial lasting several hours.

Radio Azattyk's website was partially blocked inside Kazakhstan for several hours on 29 May, as the three presidents were meeting to sign the treaty. All of Radio Azattyk's articles on the EEU were inaccessible during this period.

"We condemn these acts of censorship, which are unacceptable," said Johann Bihr, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "The journalists were given four-day sentences to prevent them from covering the 29 May demonstration. Their sentences also sent an intimidatory message to all other journalists."

Bihr added: "The authorities want to gag the media to prevent them from relaying the discontent of those who are opposed to the Eurasian Economic Union. Ever since the December 2011 riots in Zhanaozen, which were crushed bloodily, the authorities have feared that their grip on power could be shaken by further unrest."

Freedom of information has been declining for years in Kazakhstan as the authorities arrest and convict more and more news providers and adopt legislative reforms that give them ever-tighter control of the media.

Kazakhstan is ranked 161st out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Poland: Violating confidentiality of sources, police raid magazine for recordings

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 June 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Poland: Violating confidentiality of sources, police raid magazine for recordings, 20 June 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209e11.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 20, 2014

Riding roughshod over journalists' right to protect their sources, prosecutors and intelligence officials raided the Warsaw headquarters of the weekly magazine Wprost on 18 June in an attempt to seize recordings that are embarrassing the ruling party.

Wprost caused a political earthquake on 15 June when it published details of what it described as the first a series of conversations between politicians that had been secretly recorded in a chic Warsaw restaurant.

The first recording to be published was a conversation between the interior minister and central bank governor, in which the latter promised to support the government's budgetary policies and reelection strategy.

The police do not yet know who recorded the conversations but the Warsaw prosecutor's office has begun investigating the restaurant's owner on suspicion of recording them illegally.

It was this investigation that provided prosecutors, police officers and members of the Internal Security Agency with grounds for their 18 June raid on Wprost with the declared aim of obtaining the computer devices with the recordings in order to "secure" them.

Citing their right to protect their sources, Wprost's journalists refused to surrender their computers. When editor-in-chief Sylvester Latkowski held on to his laptop, police struggled with him and even tried to damage it, exposing the spurious nature of their claim to be trying to "secure" the recordings.

"We fully support Wprost's staff against what is a serious attack on the confidentiality of journalists' sources," said Reporters Without Borders deputy research chief Virginie Dangles. "Raiding a publication and using force in an attempt to seize journalists' computers are methods that are unworthy of Poland's democracy."

After reporters from other media flocked to Wprost's offices during the raid, the prosecutors and police finally withdrew.

The Polish bar's national council adopted a resolution yesterday pointing out that the attempt to seize recordings held by Wprost journalists "violated fundamental rights guaranteed by the Polish constitution, code of criminal procedure and press law."

Denying any attempt to restrict freedom of information in Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for the recordings to be handed over to the judicial authorities on the grounds that they are needed for the investigation and because, otherwise, politicians could be exposed to the possibility of blackmail.

At a news conference in Warsaw on 18 June after the raid, prosecutor Andrzej Seremet said the original recordings were needed to identify who made them. He invited journalists to hand over their computers to the prosecutor's office under seal, so that only judges would have access to them. He did not say whether Wprost would be raided again.
Two Omani bloggers freed after being held arbitrarily for a month

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 18 August 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Two Omani bloggers freed after being held arbitrarily for a month, 18 August 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc209f15.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, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is pleased to learn of the release of two well-known Omani bloggers and activists, Muawiyah Al-Rawahi and Noah Al-Saadi, who were arrested on 12 July for criticizing the government in their blogs.

"We are relieved that these two bloggers and human rights defenders have been freed after nearly a month in detention," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire.

"We nonetheless point out that their arrests were arbitrary. The authorities must put a stop to such practices, whose sole aim is to restrict freedom of expression and information in Oman."

It was Rawahi, 31, who announced his release on his Facebook page on 11 August, a month after his arrest. A photo of him in a psychiatric hospital with his ankles shackled circulated on social networks but the exact circumstances of his detention are still not known.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, he spent four days in an Internal Security Service prison before being transferred to Al-Masarra psychiatric hospital. Then, a week later, he was reportedly transferred to the psychiatric department of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital.

Rawahi was arrested in connection with a post on his blog "Bo'bo' Wassaa" on 11 July in which he criticized the regime's repressive practices. He was previously arrested in February 2012 over a post and tweets critical of Sultan Qaboos Ben Said.

Saadi was released on 7 August without being charged. An impassioned human rights defender, he was arrested by internal security officials without any official reason being given.

After his arrest, he was held at a special police section in Muscat without being allowed to see a lawyer or talk to his family. He was previously arrested in September 2013 in connection with his human rights activism.
South Korea: Criminal defamation charge brought against Japanese journalist

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 10 October 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, South Korea: Criminal defamation charge brought against Japanese journalist, 10 October 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a013.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 10, 2014

Reporters Without Borders is stunned to learn that Japanese journalist Tatsuya Kato has been charged with criminal defamation over a story about the South Korean president's activities on the day the Sewol ferry sank in April, drowning more than 300 people.

Tatsuya Kato, who is the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun's Seoul bureau chief, is facing a possible seven-year jail term.

The charge brought against Kato by the South Korean public prosecutor's office on 8 October concerns a story in the newspaper on 3 August with the headline: "President Park Geun-Hye went missing on the day of the ferry sinkinga Who did she meet?"

Kato was interrogated by the authorities on 18 August, banned from leaving the country and placed under surveillance. Most of his story was based on South Korean reports available online whose authors have not been charged.

"We condemn the decision to prosecute Kato," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"Media freedom is not just a privilege for journalists but also the public's right. And this story concerned a matter of public interest. Regardless of its editorial line and its politics, Sankei Shimbun had a right to raise questions about South Korea's government and president, and to mention what seem to have been rumours."

"The news value of the content of these rumours and the newspaper's reasons for reporting them could be the subject of journalistic debate," Reporters Without Borders deputy programme director Viriginie Dangles added.

"But leaving the courts to decide these issues on their own is dangerous, firstly because South Korea's defamation law violates international standards by providing for jail terms, and secondly because a conviction would lead to an increase in self-censorship by both South Korean and foreign media."

The decision to charge Kato was prompted by a complaint filed by an association of South Korean citizens that drew renewed attention to lingering tension between South Korea and Japan.

South Korea is ranked 47th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Italy: Reporter's car is chased and rammed while he is guarded by police

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 19 November 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Italy: Reporter's car is chased and rammed while he is guarded by police, 19 November 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a110.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 19, 2014

Investigative journalist Lirio Abbate's car was pursued and rammed last week in Rome although his police bodyguards were with him at the time. Abbate, who is on the Reporters Without Borders list of "information heroes," is well known for his coverage of the mafia. It was not the first time he has been the victim of an act of intimidation.

A reporter for the newsweekly L'Espresso and an information heroe for Reporters Without Borders, Abbate has had police protection since 2007 because of the many threats he has received from the mafia. When Abbate left L'Espresso at round 10 p.m. on 11 November in an unmarked police car with two policemen, another car pursued them through central Rome, rammed them and then drove off. After a brief chase, one of Abbate's police bodyguards managed to arrest the driver but the passenger got away on foot. The documents found in the car belong to an Egyptian citizen who is not known to the police. When questioned at a nearby police station, the driver denied any knowledge of what took place.

Shortly before this incident, a TV station broadcast an interview with Abbate in which he revealed details of his investigation into the presence in Rome of mafia families from outside the city and their collaboration with local criminals. Francesca Fagnani, the journalist who interviewed Abbate, received death threats on the programme's website.

Abbate has done a lot of investigative reporting on organized crime in Rome in recent years. He was the target of another act of intimidation when one of his stories was published in L'Espresso in mid-September. A bullet with the message "This is for Abbate" was found on the seat of a stolen car that was left badly parked near L'Espresso's office.

Last week's incident was the first in Italy in which a journalist has been attacked while being escorted by police officers.

Italy is ranked 49th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
United Kingdom: Telecoms giant handed Scotland Yard phone records of News UK staff

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 27 November 2014 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, United Kingdom: Telecoms giant handed Scotland Yard phone records of News UK staff, 27 November 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a2e.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 27, 2014

The phone operator Vodafone has handed over the mobile phone records of more than 1,700 News UK staff, including many journalists, to the Metropolitan Police, The Times newspaper reports. The news emerged as the British government announced it was preparing new counter-terrorism legislation giving the police new powers of investigation.

The worrying report, published in The Times two days ago, said Vodafone UK in March this year inadvertently sent the police details of calls made by 1,757 News UK staff members between 2005 and 2007. News UK is the parent company of The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun.

Vodafone blamed "human error" for the massive data transfer. In October last year, the police were investigating allegations of corrupt payments to officials made by journalists working for News International, which was later renamed News UK after the News of the World phone hacking scandal. Using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, they asked Vodafone to provide the phone records of one journalist.

Vodafone provided much more than this to the officers running the investigation, codenamed Operation Elveden. It was a serious mistake and it could have been rectified if the police had deleted the data immediately and notified the operator and the news group.

However, Scotland Yard waited three months before telling Vodafone and News UK about the mistake. During that time, the data, which could have seriously compromised the confidentiality of many journalists' sources, remained available to the police.

Times journalist Sean O'Neill believes the "Metropolitan police conducted a data analysis of the material", and returned it to Vodafone only after seven months, despite requests from the operator.

For its part, the police acknowledged "the sensitivity of the excess data" and agreed to use it only for a policing purpose, where people were "already charged".

The incident, which comes to light at a time when new counter-terrorism legislation is being prepared, illustrates the lack of control enjoyed by Scotland Yard, whose powers of interception are counterbalanced by a mere advisory body.

The new legislative provisions will boost the powers of the police. Despite the concerns of privacy campaigners, the home secretary annuncing the new bill, Theresa May, said at a news conference three days ago that she regretted the majority were not in favour of strengthening the authorities' powers to intercept communications. But she said this was only a matter of time.

On a different matter, six British journalists have launched a legal action against the Metropolitan Police for recording their activities and personal information in a database maintained by the National Domestic Extremists and Disorder Intelligence Unit.

It appeared that this police unit, which monitors religious and political extremists, deployed physical surveillance resources to document the movements of some journalists. Britain's press union, the National Union of Journalists launched an appeal in October last year to journalists to request Scotland Yard under the Data Protection Action to provided them with any personal information held about them by the police. "I've been monitored ... when I do journalism-events I've been covering", said Mark Thomas, one of the six journalists suing Scotland Yard.

The United Kingdom is ranked 33rd of 180 countries in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
Saudi blogger Raef Badawi given first 50 lashes

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 9 January 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Saudi blogger Raef Badawi given first 50 lashes, 9 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a4c.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 9, 2015

Raef Badawi, a Saudi blogger who is serving a 10-year jail term, was flogged publicly in Jeddah today, receiving the first 50 lashes of a total of 1,000 to which he has also been sentenced. Reporters Without Borders condemns this shocking sentence and again calls on the authorities to overturn it at once.

"Despite our campaign and despite yesterday's US State Department statement calling for the flogging to be stopped, Saudi Arabia has gone ahead with this appalling punishment," Reporters Without Borders programme director Lucie Morillon said.

"Raef Badawi's only crime was to start a public debate on his blog about the way Saudi society is evolving, but he was given 50 lashes today before a crowd of spectators outside Jeddah's Al-Jafali Mosque and, in all, he is to receive a total of 1,000 lashes in 20 weekly sessions.

"Although the Saudi authorities have turned a deaf ear to repeated appeals from international human rights groups, Reporters Without Borders will continues its fight so that Badawi can be freed as soon as possible and be spared this inhuman retribution."

A source close to the case said that, while being driven in a police car to the mosque, Badawi thought about all those who have supported him and, while being flogged, pronounced the name of a supporter during each lash in order to give himself courage and strength.
Shock at Luxembourg's decision to charge LuxLeaks reporter

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 23 April 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Shock at Luxembourg's decision to charge LuxLeaks reporter, 23 April 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a511.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, 2015

Reporters Without Borders is stunned to learn that French journalist Edouard Perrin was charged in connection with investigative reporting that served the public interest by helping to expose major tax avoidance schemes.

Prosecutors said Perrin was charged as part of an investigation into a leak from within the Luxembourg branch of international accounting company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He is accused of being "co-author, if not an accomplice, in infractions committed by one of PwC's former employees," they said.

Perrin, who works for the production company Premieres Lignes, did a report for Cash Investigation in May 2012 that had evidence of accords signed between major multinational corporations and the Luxembourg government allowing them to avoid taxes in other European countries.

As a result of this report PricewaterhouseCoopers filed a complaint about the theft of confidential documents with the Luxembourg judicial authorities, whose investigation already led to two former employees, including French auditor Antoine Deltour, being charged with "violating business confidentiality."

Perrin is the third person to be charged.

"Luxembourg's judicial authorities are forgetting a key point, which is that exposing the LuxLeaks tax scandal was in the public interest," Reporters Without Borders programme director Lucie Morillon said.

"The public had a right to know about Luxembourg's now famous 'rulings,' which allow multinationals to avoid tax. Are the Luxembourg judicial authorities now defying the case law established by the European Court of Human Rights by punishing the journalist who first shed light on the scandal?"

Morillon added: "Such judicial methods are unworthy of a country such as Luxembourg. The right to information is a pillar of democracy and should take precedence in a case like this."

It was after his 2012 report that Perrin was contacted by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and they began working together. Their joint investigation resulted in the LuxLeaks disclosures in late 2014 exposing the vast scale of Luxembourg tax avoidance deals with multinationals.

Luxembourg is ranked 19th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, falling 15 places in a single year.
Latvia: Special security police question two investigative reporters

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 1 May 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Latvia: Special security police question two investigative reporters, 1 May 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a6e.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 1, 2015

Latvia's special security police, the Drosibas Policija, wednesday questioned two journalists with the Riga-based news website Pietiek for allegedly publishing classified information. One was placed under formal investigation.

One of the two, Agnese Margevica, a well-known investigative reporter, was questioned for two hours at Drosibas Policija headquarters about an article published in the leading daily Diena on 7 April about the fraudulent privatization of a bank.

After interrogation, she was allowed to leave without being charged or placed under investigation.

The other was Lato Lapsa, who was formally detained for several hours as a suspect, apparently in connection with a corruption case that dates back at least two years, when he published documents provided by a businessman wrongly accused of corruption by the Bureau for Preventing and Combatting Corruption (KNAB).

Lapsa, who has already had a run-in with the Drosibas Policija, said at a news conference today that he expected to be charged soon. He and Margevica jointly founded Pietiek, which has a reputation for high-quality investigative reporting.

"The Latvian police must take account of the nature of journalistic work, which serves the public interest," Reporters Without Borders programme director Lucie Morillon said. "Interrogations of this kind are unworthy of Latvia's democracy. The right to information is one of the pillars of democracy and must take precedence."

"Furthermore, Lato Lapsa is being targeted in connection with information that was already published a long time ago by other journalists, who were never questioned or arrested. It proves that the police are harassing Lapsa because of his investigative journalism in general."

Morillon added: "We call on the authorities to end these investigations into Lapsa and Margevica at once."

Latvia is ranked 28th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Salvador: Freedom of information shrinks during president's first year

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 4 June 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Salvador: Freedom of information shrinks during president's first year, 4 June 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a7c.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, 2015

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the restrictions that the authorities are imposing on journalists' access to information in Salvador, where President Salvador Sanchez Ceren has just completed his first year in office.

Salvador is ranked 45th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, a fall of seven places from its position in the previous year's index.

The president's relations with the media have been distant and he has shown little interest in answering questions. He even displayed hostility on 15 April, when media that had just published violent crime figures for March were accused by Sanchez of participating in a "psychological terror campaign" against his government.

That takes the cake in country where, according to the police, there were 481 murders in March (or an average of 16 a day), making it one of the deadliest months in a decade.

And media personnel are among those falling victim to the generalized violence. Reporters Without Borders has registered three murders of journalists in Salvador since Sanchez took office on 1 June 2014. So far it has not been possible to establish whether any of these murders was directly linked to the victim's journalistic work.

Journalists and media outlets that have investigated corruption, public finances or violence have been the targets of hostile comments, accusations and pressure from government officials.

They include the newspaper La Pagina, which was ordered by Tovias Armando Menjivar, the head of the Financial Investigation Unit in the prosecutor-general's office, at the start of May to take down a story about former President Francisco Flores and to stop publishing any more articles on the subject on pain of prosecution.

A few days later, the prosecutor denied that any attempt was being made to suppress information.

When the Police Anti-Drug Division (DAN) detained Oscar Martinez of the El Faro newspaper for questioning in July 2014, they said they were "acting on orders from above" and wanted to know if he was the reporter covering organized crime for his newspaper and who his sources were. Jorge Beltran Luna, a journalist with El Diario de Hoy, was also arrested by DAN police officers when returning from doing a report in San Ignacio in November 2014.

The head of the Association of El Salvador Journalists (APES) condemned Martinez's arrest and voiced concern about the spread of censorship.

"The authorities have a responsibility towards journalists and media outlets," said Claire San Filippo, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas desk. "They must set an example by displaying a respectful attitude towards reporters, or else they will encourage abuses against the media."

"We urge President Sanchez Ceren's government to adopt a more open attitude towards the media and to end practices that violate the 2012 Law on Access to Public Information (LAIP)."

The Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) says: "Access to information held by the state is a fundamental right of every individual. States have the obligation to guarantee the full exercise of this right."

Three years after the LAIP took effect, it is clear that high-ranking officials are limiting transparency and blocking the publication of information that could be compromising or problematic for them.

Many Salvadoran NGOs such as Grupo Promotor have condemned these abuses. Financial information such as the cost of state advertising or the cost of official visits is classified as confidential, with the result that the public is denied access for long periods.

Paragraphs 4, 11 and 13 of Article 10 of the LAIP nonetheless state that information about state spending is part of the information that should be made accessible to the Salvadoran public.

The fact that the president himself breaks the rules does not encourage senior officials to change their practices on the provision of information.
Journalists killed on live TV in the US: an unprecedented tragedy

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 26 August 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Journalists killed on live TV in the US: an unprecedented tragedy, 26 August 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a8c.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 26, 2015

Alison Parker and Adam Ward, a reporter and cameraman for local CBS-affiliate WDBJ7 in Virginia, were killed on live TV on August 26, 2015.

"The murder of two journalists, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, on live television in Virginia is an unprecedented tragedy, even in a country where thousands of people are killed each year by firearms, said Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders. "According to initial reports, it seems that these reporters were personally targeted in an act of revenge and not because of their jobs. The ensuing investigation will reveal if their work as journalists was indeed a factor in this criminal act."

Six American journalists were killed while doing their job since 2010, all while in war-torn countries. This was the case notably for journalist Luke Sommers, murdered during a rescue mission in Yemen in December 2014, and freelance journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by Islamic State militants in August 2014. Others killed include Steven Sotloff and Marie Colvin, also in Syria, Chris Hondros in Libya, and Rupert Hamer in Afghanistan. These circumstances are without a doubt completely different than those of today's attack.

"Even if this is not a case of journalists being targeted while reporting in war-torn countries or murdered because of their investigation on corruption or drug-trafficking, to kill two journalists on live television in cold blood demonstrates a certain willingness to dramatize the crime committed against them," observes Delphine Halgand, US Director of Reporters Without Borders.

It is extremely rare that journalists are killed while doing their job on American soil. A photo journalist, Bill Biggart, was killed by falling debris while covering rescue operations from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. On October 5 that same year Robert Stevens, journalist for the Boca Raton Sun in Florida, succumbed to a deadly inhalation of anthrax after receiving an envelope like many other members of the media.

The last journalist to have been killed on American soil for doing his job was Chauncey Bailey in 2007, a reporter for the Oakland Post who covered corruption. He was murdered by men hired by the leader of one of the groups he was investigating.

Elsewhere in the world, the most recent cases of journalists killed while on air are as recent as August 7 in northern Brazil. Glaydson Carvalho, a presenter for Radio Liberdade, spoke out against corruption among local politicians and was killed in cold blood by two armed men during his radio program. In addition, last October in Mexico, reporter Atilano Roman Tirado from the radio station Fiesta Mexicana was killed by two men while he was in the middle of his live weekly program. He often criticized local authorities in the state of Sinaloa where he worked.
Japanese journalist could get jail over coverage of South Korea's president

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 19 October 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Japanese journalist could get jail over coverage of South Korea's president, 19 October 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20a9c.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 19, 2015

Reporters Without Borders urges the South Korean judicial system to refrain from imposing a jail sentence on Japanese journalist Tatsuya Kato on a charge of criminally defaming President Park Geun-hye. On Monday, prosecutors sought an 18-month jail term for Kato. A Seoul court is expected to issue a sentence on 26 November.

The Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun's former Seoul bureau chief, Tatsuya Kato was charged in October 2014 over a story posted on its website on 3 August 2014 speculating about the president's activities on the day the Sewol ferry sank in April 2014.

Headlined "President Park Geun-hye went missing on the day of the ferry sinkinga who did she meet?", the story elicited angry reactions from the president's supporters and the prosecution was the result of a complaint filed by a nationalist group.

Journalistically, the news value of the speculation and rumours reported in the article was highly debatable. Furthermore, the rumours had already been reported on various other websites including the site of the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo without any complaint being brought against the authors of these reports.

"Prosecuting a journalist for questioning the president's actions is inconceivable in a state that regards itself a democracy," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"We urge the South Korean judicial authorities not to impose a prison sentence, which would be disproportionate, and to take account of the fact that the offending article was based on reports already accessible online whose authors have not been prosecuted."

Kato was questioned repeatedly by prosecutors and was placed under close surveillance. His phone was tapped and his email account was hacked. After being banned from travelling abroad for nine months, he was finally allowed to leave Seoul in April.

Regardless of the fact that Sankei Shimbun is a right-wing newspaper regarded as anti-Korean, such prosecutions reflect a desire to impose tighter controls on the way the media portray President Park, a sensitive issue since the Sewol disaster. Park's handling of the crisis was much criticized and her popularity has declined significantly.

A criminal defamation charge carrying a possibly seven-year jail term is a real threat for journalists who criticize the government. This is not the first time South Korea's defamation laws have been used to suppress unwanted coverage and comments about Park and her close associates.

South Korea is ranked 60th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index after falling in the index for the past four years.
United States: Arbitrary arrest in Minnesota: journalist detained for covering protest

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 17 November 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, United States: Arbitrary arrest in Minnesota: journalist detained for covering protest, 17 November 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20aae.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 17, 2015

Reporters Without Borders condemns the arbitrary arrest of local reporter Jack Highberger on Monday evening while he was covering a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jack Highberger, an emmy-award winning reporter for Fox 9 (KMSP-TV) in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, was arrested Monday evening while covering a Black Lives Matter protest on the side of highway I-94.

A video posted on his facebook page depicts him speaking into a microphone and covering the arrest of several protesters around him. The video then captures his own arrest by an officer who told him "you've gotta get going or you're going to be next...we already told you many times to get out of here."

According to the Hennepin County police station, he was charged with unlawful assembly and spent several hours in detention. He is due to appear in court on November 24.

Once released, Highberger posted the video of his arrest and stated in a comment that "like all the other journalists on the side of I-94 Monday night, I was there for one reason. To do my job. I have no intention of stopping."

Although Highberger's arrest and the arrest of the protesters around him were conducted peacefully, it is very concerning that a reporter was taken into custody when he was clearly not part of the protest.

"The United States, the country of the First Amendment, cannot afford to keep journalists from reporting. The ability of reporters to freely report should not be hindered by arbitrary arrests", affirms Delphine Halgand, the US Director of Reporters Without Borders. "We urge the US authorities to not leave police abuses unpunished and to do everything possible to guarantee the safety of American journalists."

Reporters Without Borders condemned the charges filed by the St. Louis County Police Department in August against two journalists who covered last year's protests surrounding Michael Brown's death in Ferguson.

At least two journalists were attacked or arrested by police during the Baltimore protests surrounding Freddie Gray's death between April 12 and April 28 of this year.

These events mark an alarming trend of curtailing freedom of the press in the United States. Since 2013, the U.S.'s ranking on Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index has fallen by 14 points. It is now ranked 49 out of 180 countries.

Jack Highberger and Fox 9 (KMSP-TV) have not yet answered our interview requests.
Journalists and media outlets caught in crossfire in Nepal

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 27 November 2015 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Journalists and media outlets caught in crossfire in Nepal, 27 November 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc20abc.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 27, 2015

Reporters Without Borders condemns last night's bomb attack on Radio Parasi, a radio station in Parasi, in the southern district of Nawalparasi, which has been the target of many threats in connection with its coverage of protests by the Madhesi ethnic minority.

Thrown at the radio station at around 11 p.m., the bomb caused no injuries but badly damaged its premises and, as a result, Radio Parasi has suspended broadcasting until further notice. The Nawalparasi police are investigating the attack, whose perpetrators have yet to be identified.

According to Radio Parasi manager Meghraj Gautam, the station has been repeatedly threatened by people accusing it of pro-government bias in its coverage of the Madhesi protests. The past few months have seen many clashes between residents and the authorities in these traditionally poor southern lowland plains bordering India, which are known as the Terai.

"We condemn this attack on Radio Parasi and call on the authorities to conduct an independent and thorough investigation with the aim of quickly identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice," said Benjamin Ismail, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"It is unacceptable that media outlets and their journalists, who just do their job of providing news and information, should be caught in the crossfire between the government and ethnic militants."

Journalists have repeatedly been the victims of violence by both protesters and police during the past four months of demonstrations by members of the Madhesi and Tharu minorities in the southern plains in protest against Nepal's new constitution, which in their view discriminates against them.

Bulbule FM reporter I Singh Rokaya sustained a gunshot injury to the leg when police fired on demonstrators in Surkhet on 10 August. Bikram Rauniyar, a photojournalist who also reports for Mountain Television, was beaten by police on 7 September.

Om Prakash Shah of the weekly Bilochan, Shatish Datt of the weekly Mithila, Ashutosh Prasad Singh of Radio C FM and Parish Karna of Chandra FM were attacked by police on 22 November while photographing the body of a Terai demonstrator killed by the police.

Demonstrators attacked Jitendra Narayan Yadav, a reporter for the national daily Gorkhapatra, and Makalu Television reporter Navin Karn on 9 September. A Molotov cocktail was thrown at photojournalist Ram Sarraf's home a few days later. Members of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) attacked News 24 TV reporter Irfan Ali in Birgunj, near the Indian border, on 20 November.

Activists damaged the cars of several media outlets, including the Annapurna Post newspaper on 23 August, and the daily Nagarik on 2 September. Tharu activists also burned copies of the Annapurna Post in the southeastern city of Biratnagar and copies of the Sanskar Khabar newspaper in Bara. The premises of Phoolbari FM, a local radio station in the western town of Tikapur, were set on fire on 25 August.

Nepal is ranked 105th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Freedom in the World 2016 - Uzbekistan

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Uzbekistan, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f274.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.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 3

Freedom Rating: 7.0

Political Rights: 7

Civil Liberties: 7

Quick Facts

Capital: Tashkent

Population: 31,290,791

GDP/capita: $2,037.70

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

In March 2015, President Islam Karimov was reelected to a fourth term with a reported 90 percent of the vote despite a constitutional limit of two consecutive terms. The government continued to suppress all political opposition during the year. The few remaining civic activists and critical journalists in the country faced physical violence, prosecution, hefty fines, involuntary hospitalization, and arbitrary detention. In an exceptional case in February, authorities released popular journalist and religious figure Hayrullo Hamidov, who served five years of a six-year sentence on religious extremism charges.

Gulnara Karimova, the president's elder daughter, remained under house arrest in 2015 amid persisting allegations of corruption and links to organized crime. Several high-ranking officials who played a role in the case against Karimova and her associates were dismissed, signaling what many analysts believe are ongoing shifts in internal competition for power and resources.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 0 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 0 / 12

After Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Karimov, the incumbent Communist Party leader, was elected president. He has been reelected three times since then despite a clear constitutional limit of two consecutive terms. In the most recent presidential election, held in March 2015, Karimov won a fourth term with 90 percent of the vote amid a 91 percent turnout, according to official state data. Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) raised serious doubts about the independence of the electoral commission and noted a lack of competition and alternatives. The other presidential candidates praised Karimov in their campaigns, and were not perceived as true challengers.

Uzbekistan has a bicameral legislature. The lower house is composed of 150 seats, with 135 members directly elected in single-member constituencies and 15 representing the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan, which holds separate indirect elections. The 100-member upper house, or Senate, has 84 members elected by regional councils and 16 appointed by the president. All members of the parliament serve five-year terms.

Parliamentary elections held in December 2014 offered voters no meaningful choice, as all participating parties supported the government; observers from the OSCE reported that the elections "lacked genuine competition and debate." Karimov's Movement of Entrepreneurs and Businesspeople-Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP) won the most votes and took 52 seats, while three loyalist parties split the remainder. Local human rights activists alleged serious disparities between reported turnout, which the government claimed was more than 88 percent, and the number of actual votes cast.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 0 / 16

Only four political parties are currently registered  UzLiDep, the People's Democratic Party (PDPU), the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party, and the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party. All are progovernment, and no genuine opposition parties operate legally. The four parties indulge in mild criticism of one another and occasionally of government ministers below the president. Unregistered opposition groups function primarily in exile, and domestic supporters or family members of exiled opposition figures are frequently persecuted. In March 2015, UzLiDeP and Milliy Tiklanish announced that they had formed a parliamentary alliance, christening themselves the "Bloc of Democratic Forces." Shortly thereafter, the PDPU and Adolat announced that they had also formed an alliance, ostensibly in opposition. At year's end, there were no indications that these actions had led to any change in party politics or parliamentary decision making, which remained firmly in line with executive policy.

No registered party represents the specific interests of minority ethnic or religious groups.

C. Functioning of Government: 0 / 12

The legislature serves as a rubber stamp for the executive branch. Police, security services, and judges interpret the laws as they choose or according to political dictates, leaving little recourse to appeal.

Corruption is pervasive. Uzbekistan was ranked 153 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. Graft and bribery among low- and mid-level officials are common and at times even transparent. Social-media platforms have given space to new public discourse on corruption, allowing citizens to self-document bribery and other malfeasance. Citizens have made efforts to gather and publicize evidence of abuse of office in some sectors, but such attempts have not been successful in compelling the government to change Uzbekistan's entrenched culture of corruption.

In January 2015, authorities unrolled a new wave of fraud and embezzlement charges against businesses associated with Karimova, leading to the prosecution of dozens of lower-level employees. In March, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published a report suggesting that between 2002 and 2011 alone, Karimova received payments and shares from international telecommunications companies totaling $1 billion. The report detailed a series of extortive maneuvers and schemes that Karimova used to control the access of foreign firms to licenses, contracts, and other aspects of Uzbekistan's telecommunications market. Although the allegations and charges against Karimova and her associates were ostensibly about governmental corruption, many analysts have suggested that the case points to an internal power struggle. Beginning in April, prominent officials who had played a role in investigating, charging, and confiscating assets from Karimova faced dismissal, arrest, and prosecution. Among them were Rashid Qodirov, Uzbekistan's longtime prosecutor general, and members of the influential Sharifhojaev family, including the first deputy head of the National Security Services.

Civil Liberties: 3 / 60 (-1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 0 / 16 (-1)

Despite constitutional guarantees, freedoms of speech and the press are severely restricted. The state controls major media outlets and related facilities, and state-run television has aired "documentaries" that smear perceived opponents of the government. Although official censorship was abolished in 2002, it has continued through semiofficial mechanisms that strongly encourage self-censorship. Foreign reporters are generally excluded from the country. Even recording artists must obtain special licenses from a government authority to perform in public; licenses can be revoked if performance content is deemed to be "meaningless" or insufficiently patriotic and edifying.

The government has shuttered several independent outlets in recent years, leaving few reliable sources available domestically. In May 2015, a Tashkent court ordered the closure of the Noviy Vek newspaper after the state Agency for Press and Information filed a complaint over the paper's publication of "inappropriate" jokes. The outlet, which upon registration in 1992 became Uzbekistan's first privately owned newspaper since independence, covered domestic society and politics.

The government systematically blocks websites that contain content critical of the regime. Mainstream news, information, and social-media websites based outside the country are sometimes blocked as well. Authorities maintain and frequently update a list of banned proxy sites that would allow users to access blocked content anonymously. In February, under the auspices of morality and family values, legislators passed measures requiring that internet cafes close by 9 p.m. and prohibiting minors from using them during school hours.

The government permits the existence of approved Muslim, Jewish, and Christian denominations but treats unregistered religious activity as a criminal offense. The state exercises strict control over Islamic worship, including the content of sermons. Suspected members of banned Muslim organizations and their relatives have faced arrest, interrogation, and torture. Arrested believers are frequently accused of founding previously unknown religious organizations, a charge that carries high penalties. In most cases, little evidence of the existence of such organizations is presented at the closed trials.

The government continued prosecuting religion-based offenses in 2015, and introduced some new restrictions as well. Authorities made regular use of a 2014 decree banning any literature or media intended to "change" or "distort" a person's beliefs, determining the definition of these terms on a case-by-case basis. The decree has led to an increase in the seizure of religious literature by customs officials, including electronic media found in searches of personal electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptops. During the year, Christian and Muslim groups reported torture and threats of rape following raids of churches and private homes in which religious literature was seized. In February, authorities deported two Russian nationals who were convicted of smuggling religious material. The men, who were transporting fruit from Georgia into Uzbekistan, were arrested at a border crossing in the Karakalpakstan autonomous region in November 2014 for possessing two Islamic books and recordings of sermons on their mobile phones.

The government severely restricts travel to pilgrimage sites abroad, and requires citizens to undergo a lengthy application process to receive permission to exit the country for religious reasons. Applicants frequently complain about excessively long waiting lists for making the hajj to Saudi Arabia. In 2015, officials announced that they would permit approximately 5,200 individuals to exit Uzbekistan for the hajj  less than 20 percent of the quota allocated to Uzbekistan by Saudi Arabia. Separately, in September, the Education Ministry banned anyone under the age of 18 from attending any prayer services in mosques, introducing a fine of $750 for parents who allow their children to attend. The legal basis for the ban as well as its consequences remained unclear at year's end.

The government reportedly limits academic freedom. Bribes are commonly required to gain entrance to exclusive universities and to obtain good grades. The freedom of private discussion is limited by mahalla committees, traditional neighborhood organizations that the government has transformed into an official system for public surveillance and control.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 0 / 12

Despite constitutional provisions for freedom of assembly, authorities severely restrict this right in practice, breaking up virtually all unsanctioned gatherings and detaining participants.

Freedom of association is tightly constrained, and unregistered nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face extreme difficulties and harassment. After a major episode of unrest in the city of Andijon in 2005, the government shut down virtually all foreign-funded organizations in Uzbekistan. In 2015, the country's few remaining human rights activists continued to face harassment, prosecution, travel restrictions, and violence, particularly when attempting to document conditions for workers during the annual cotton harvest. In May, police detained Elena Urlaeva, head of the Human Rights Alliance (HRA), while she was interviewing workers who were part of the harvest in a town near Tashkent. Police sedated Urlaeva and subjected her to invasive searches and other medical procedures. In September, Urlaeva and Malohat Eshonqulova, head of the Birdamlik (Solidarity) movement, were arrested and subjected to body cavity searches by a medic in the presence of male police officers, who denied their requests for privacy. Also in September, police detained and reportedly beat HRA activist Dmitriy Tikhonov after he photographed teachers and students being transported to cotton fields. In October, officials summoned him to hear charges; upon returning to his residence, Tikhonov found his home office  where he kept records of his investigations into alleged abuse by local authorities  burned to the ground. Tikhonov reported other possessions to be missing  notably, a hard drive and a legal manual he had created to educate the public about labor laws.

The Council of the Federation of Trade Unions is dependent on the state, and no genuinely independent union structures exist. Organized strikes are extremely rare.

F. Rule of Law: 0 / 16

The judiciary is subservient to the president, who appoints all judges and can remove them at any time. The Lawyers' Chamber, a regulatory body with compulsory membership, serves as a vehicle for state control over the legal profession. Law enforcement authorities routinely justify the arrest of suspected Islamic extremists or political opponents by planting contraband, filing dubious charges of financial wrongdoing, or inventing witness testimony.

Prisons suffer from severe overcrowding and shortages of food and medicine. As with detained suspects, prison inmates  particularly those sentenced for their religious beliefs  are often subjected to abuse or torture. In September 2014, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing 34 cases of long-term political imprisonment in Uzbekistan. The individuals listed in the report remained behind bars in 2015 with the exception of Hamidov, who was released in February in a landmark decision by the government. Shortly after his release, he began working with one of the country's most influential pop-culture outlets to produce material criticizing the Islamic State (IS) militant group. This development signaled growing worries among officials about the group's reach in Uzbekistan, as the government has not been known to allow anyone imprisoned for religious extremism to access audiences through mass media.

Although racial and ethnic discrimination are prohibited by law, the belief that senior positions in government and business are reserved for ethnic Uzbeks is widespread. Moreover, the government appears to be systematically closing schools for the Tajik-speaking minority.

Sex between men is illegal and punishable with up to three years in prison. The law does not protect LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people from discrimination, and traditional social taboos make discussing LGBT issues difficult.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 3 / 16

Permission is required to move to a new city, and bribes are commonly paid to obtain the necessary documents. Restrictions on foreign travel include the use of exit visas, which are often issued selectively. Despite such controls, millions of Uzbeks seek employment abroad, particularly in Russia and Kazakhstan; activists who attempt to help them form unions or organize for better labor conditions are routinely harassed and prosecuted.

Women's educational and professional prospects are limited by cultural and religious norms and ongoing economic difficulties. Victims of domestic violence are discouraged from pressing charges against perpetrators, who rarely face prosecution. The trafficking of women abroad for prostitution remains a serious problem.

Widespread corruption and the government's tight control over the economy limit equality of opportunity, and economic exploitation remains a serious problem. A 2009 law imposed tougher penalties for child labor, and in 2012, Uzbekistan's prime minister pledged to end the practice completely. Reports continue to indicate that forced child labor is significantly less pervasive than in the past. However, international monitors noted that forced adult labor increased in 2015 to meet government quotas during the annual harvest campaign, which began in September. Self-reporting on social-media platforms sharply continued to increase public awareness of people injured or killed during the harvest campaign due to unsafe labor conditions. Some adults reported receiving threats and harassment if they refused to participate in the harvest.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Uruguay

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Uruguay, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f29e.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.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 98

Freedom Rating: 1.0

Political Rights: 1

Civil Liberties: 1

Quick Facts

Capital: Montevideo

Population: 3,562,000

GDP/capita: $16,806.80

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In March 2015, the leftist Broad Front (Frente Amplio) coalition  which won a majority in general elections in 2014  entered a new term in office. Tabare Vazquez, who ran as the Frente Amplio presidential candidate, returned to the office for a second nonconsecutive term. Uruguay is one of the most stable and peaceful countries in the region, and during the year, authorities made attempts to address some persisting human rights concerns, particularly human trafficking and conditions in detention facilities.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 40 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

The 1967 constitution established a bicameral General Assembly consisting of the 99-member Chamber of Representatives and the 30-member Senate, with all members directly elected for five-year terms. The president is directly elected for a single five-year term.

The most recent general elections were held in October 2014. The Frente Amplio retained a majority in the parliament, winning 50 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 15 seats in the Senate. The National Party placed second with 32 and 10 seats in the respective houses, followed by Colorado with 13 and 4 seats; Popular Assembly and the Independent Party took the remaining seats. The Tabare Vazquez-Raul Sendic ticket of the Frente Amplio captured the presidency after a run-off in November. Vazquez, who served as the country's first leftist president from 2005 to 2010, returned to the presidential seat in March 2015 with Sendic as his vice president; the constitution bans consecutive presidential terms.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

Uruguay's multiparty system is open and competitive. The major political parties are the Colorado Party, the National Party (also known as Blanco), the Independent Party, and the Frente Amplio coalition, the latter of which is currently in power. Frente Amplio includes the Popular Participation Movement, the New Space Party, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the Uruguayan Assembly, among other factions.

The small Afro-Uruguayan minority, comprising approximately 8 percent of the population, is severely underrepresented in government. Representation of women in national, regional, and local government is also low, although a gender quota system was implemented in the most recent elections to increase the participation of women as candidates.

C. Functioning of Government: 12 / 12

The level of corruption in Uruguay is relatively low compared to regional standards, and government institutions have established a fairly strong record of accountability to the electorate. Uruguay was ranked 21 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. Enforcement of the country's Transparency Law, which prohibits a range of offenses related to abuse of office, is relatively strong at the national level. Some challenges in establishing transparent practices  including limited online resources available to the public  remain at the regional level. The law provides for access to public information, and authorities generally comply with requests.

Civil Liberties: 58 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 16 / 16

Constitutional guarantees regarding free expression are respected, and violations of press freedom are rare. The press is privately owned; the broadcast sector includes both commercial and public outlets. There are numerous daily and weekly newspapers, some of which are connected to political parties. A 2009 law eliminated criminal penalties for the defamation of public officials. The government does not place restrictions on internet usage or monitor private online communications without proper legal permission.

Freedom of religion is legally protected and broadly respected. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of anti-Semitic attacks in 2015.

The government does not restrict academic freedom. Private discussion is open and vibrant.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 12 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are protected by law, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. A wide array of community organizations are active in civic life. In September, police clashed with student demonstrators who were advocating for increased public spending on education.

Workers are free to exercise the right to join unions, bargain collectively, and hold strikes. Unions are well organized and politically powerful. In August, there was a significant dispute between members of teachers' unions, who went on strike to demand higher wages and a larger education budget, and the president, who issued a decree that teachers constituted an "essential service" and could not continue the strike. Vazquez shortly revoked the decree, but the unions suspended the strike after 15 days the without reaching an agreement with the government.

F. Rule of Law: 15 / 16

The judiciary is mostly independent, but the court system remains severely backlogged. More than 60 percent of the prison population consists of people awaiting trials. Overcrowded detention facilities, poor sanitary conditions, and violence among inmates remain serious problems. The prison system held approximately 109 percent of its intended capacity as of October 2015, a decrease from 120 percent in 2014. Medical care for prisoners is substandard, and many rely on visitors for food. The recidivism rate is approximately 60 percent. In 2015, the United Nations helped the government launch a program for improving the treatment of juvenile offenders, whose detentions are administered by the System of Penal Responsibility for Adolescents (SIRPA).

Efforts to seek justice for human rights violations committed under the military regime that ended in 1985 have been inconsistent. Although 2011 legislation enabled trials regardless of a prior amnesty law by removing a statute of limitations, the Supreme Court declared in 2013 that the 2011 law was unconstitutional; the decision prompted concerns about impunity. In February 2015, Vazquez announced that he intended to create a truth commission to shed light on the crimes of the dictatorship, and issued a presidential decree on the establishment of this body in May.

Uruguay has historically been one of the most peaceful countries in the region. The homicide rate was only 8 per 100,000 people in 2015, but nevertheless marked an exception  the total of 274 homicides reported as of December made 2015 the deadliest year recorded. Officials have attributed the steady rise in crime over the past few years to warring drug gangs, as Uruguay has become an increasingly important transit point for the narcotics trade. Police are pushing for more expansive laws to battle increasing violent crimes. Currently, officers are only allowed to shoot if they have already been subject to gunfire, and can only shoot suspects who are facing them.

Uruguay continued to receive international scrutiny for agreeing to resettle six detainees released from the notorious U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The six men, who arrived in Uruguay in December 2014 as refugees, expressed concerns in 2015 about meagre job opportunities and living standards. In April, four of the former detainees staged a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Montevideo to demand that the U.S. government take responsibility for their care.

The Afro-Uruguayan minority continues to face economic and social inequalities. A 2013 affirmative action law includes incentives to increase graduation rates and an 8 percent quota in government employment, but implementation has been slow.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 15 / 16

Freedom of movement is protected, and individuals are generally free to choose their residence, employment, and institution of higher education without interference.

There is a high level of social inclusion in the country, though some problems remain. Women enjoy equal rights under the law but face discriminatory traditional attitudes and practices, including a persisting wage gap. Women hold 16 percent of the seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 29 percent in the Senate. Women comprise approximately 25 percent of the armed forces  much higher than the regional average for Latin American countries, which stands at 4 percent. Violence against women remains a serious concern, with the government reporting that 7 out of 10 women in Uruguay suffer some kind of violence.

The parliament approved same-sex civil unions in 2007, legalized abortion for any reason during the first trimester in 2012, and voted overwhelmingly to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013.

In 2012, Uruguay became the first country in the world to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, which outlines domestic workers' core labor rights. According to the U.S. State Department's 2016 Trafficking in Persons report, the government of Uruguay does not meet the minimum international standards for combatting human trafficking, but continues to make improvements. The report criticized trafficking legislation for defining the offense only in a transnational sense, and noted that there are few resources available to victims.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Transnistria

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Transnistria, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f2a15.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.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 24

Freedom Rating: 6.0

Political Rights: 6

Civil Liberties: 6

Quick Facts

Capital: Tiraspol

Population: 505,153

GDP/capita: N/A

Press Freedom Status: N/A

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Legislative elections were held in the breakaway region of Transnistria in November 2015. The struggling economy and public mistrust of the government were determining factors in a landslide victory by opposition party Obnovleniye (Renewal). Transnistria's economy worsened significantly during the year, due in part to the recession in Russia and less Russian financial support, though Transnistria blames its financial problems on an alleged blockade imposed by Moldova. Economic decline left the government unable to fully pay salaries and pensions.

Relations between Moldova and Transnistria worsened in 2015. Tensions had already increased after Moldova pursued closer ties with the European Union (EU) following Russia's 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Political turmoil and a financial scandal in Moldova also contributed to the suspension of international talks involving the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Transnistria; the United States and the EU serve as observers in negotiations.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 10 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 3 / 12

While Transnistria maintains its own legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, no country recognizes its independence. Both the president and the 43-seat, unicameral Supreme Council are elected to five-year terms. Constitutional amendments approved in 2011 created a relatively weak post of prime minister and set a two-term limit on the presidency. In 2014, the Supreme Council voted to hold the next local and legislative elections simultaneously in November 2015, instead of in March and December, respectively. The move was reportedly designed to conserve resources, though some critics ascribed political or corrupt financial motives to the change.

Presidential elections in 2011 featured increased competition and a broader choice for voters compared with previous polls. Yevgeny Shevchuk, a former parliament speaker running as an independent, led the first round with 39 percent, followed by Anatoly Kaminsky, who had Russia's endorsement. Shevchuk won the runoff against Kaminsky, securing 74 percent of the vote. Kaminsky resigned as parliament speaker and head of Obnovleniye in 2012.

Obnovleniye won a landslide victory in November 2015 legislative elections, securing 31 seats. Poor economic conditions and dissatisfaction with Shevchuk's government contributed to the upset. Vadim Krasnoselsky, former security chief of Sheriff Enterprises, a business conglomerate that dominates the Transnistrian economy, was elected parliament speaker, and Pavel Prokudin was appointed prime minister.

A small group of Shevchuk's allies and supporters demonstrated against the results of the elections, claiming vote manipulation.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 5 / 16

Shevchuk, who had fallen out with President Igor Smirnov in 2009 and resigned from Obnovleniye leadership in 2010, formed the Vozrozhdeniye (Revival) movement to back his 2011 presidential bid. Obnovleniye, the majority party in the legislature, is associated with Transnistria's monopolistic business conglomerate, Sheriff Enterprises, and maintains a close relationship with the ruling party in Russia. Despite internal political rivalry and infighting, Transnistria's entire political establishment, including nominal opposition parties and civil society organizations, supports the separatist system and Russia's role as patron.

Moscow's political influence in Transnistria is undergirded by the presence of 1,500 Russian troops, who are stationed to guard a Soviet-era ammunition depot and uphold a 1992 cease-fire between Transnistria and Moldova. The Moldovan government periodically calls for Russia to withdraw its forces.

While Transnistria has three official languages  Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldovan  Russian is the de facto language used by the government. Authorities do not allow voting in Moldovan elections to take place in Transnistrian-controlled territory, but residents with Russian citizenship had access to two dozen polling stations during Russia's tightly controlled 2012 presidential election.

C. Functioning of Government: 2 / 12

Corruption and organized crime are serious problems. The authorities are entrenched in the territory's economic activities, which rely heavily on smuggling schemes. Since 2005, the EU has assisted Ukraine and Moldova in maintaining customs controls and seizing smuggled goods along their internationally recognized shared border.

Russia has a major stake in the Transnistrian economy and backs Transnistria through loans, direct subsidies, and natural gas supplies. The Transnistrian government routinely faces enormous budget deficits, and it holds a debt of about $4 billion for gas imports from state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom. Individuals associated with the former Smirnov administration have been accused of embezzling Russian aid and Transnistrian public assets.

Sheriff Enterprises backed Obnovleniye in the 2015 elections. In the months before, Shevchuk had initiated a campaign against oligarchs linked to Sheriff, urged the adoption of antitrust and tax legislation directed at reducing revenue from the business holding, and investigated Sheriff and an associated company for smuggling large amounts of foreign currency.

Civil Liberties: 14 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 5 / 16

The media environment is restrictive. Nearly all media are state owned or controlled and refrain from criticizing the authorities. The few independent print outlets have small circulation. Critical reporting draws harassment by the government, which also uses bureaucratic obstruction and the withholding of information to inhibit independent media. Sheriff Enterprises dominates the private broadcasting, cable television, and internet service markets.

Shevchuk issued a decree in 2014 that required government agencies, private organizations, and citizens to report instances of "extremist" material online. Journalist Sergey Ilchenko was detained from March to July 2015 on charges of sedition and extremism. After his initial arrest, the Transnistrian Committee for State Security (KGB) released a warning to internet users to keep Transnistrian "statehood" in mind when posting. In August, a Moldovan journalist was accused of extremism and temporarily detained. During the 2015 legislative election campaign, Shevchuk ordered the prosecutor general to enhance control over media to avoid "extremism" and ensure impartiality of information. Moldovan press cannot enter Transnistria without accreditation, and authorities sometimes deny entrance to or temporarily detain Moldovan journalists. Moldovan channels are blocked in Transnistria.

Religious freedom is limited. Orthodox Christianity is the dominant faith, and authorities have denied registration to several smaller religious groups. Unregistered groups face harassment by police and Orthodox opponents.

The eight schools that provide instruction in Romanian using the Latin alphabet, which is associated with support for reintegration with Moldova, face harassment by authorities and are forced to use substandard facilities. In February 2015, Transnistrian police temporarily detained the director of one of the schools.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 2 / 12

Authorities severely restrict freedom of assembly and rarely issue required permits for public protests. demonstrations The Central Electoral Commission opened an administrative case against the protesters for violating a law prohibiting protests within 100 feet of official buildings.

Freedom of association is similarly circumscribed. All nongovernmental activities must be coordinated with local authorities, and noncompliant groups face harassment, including surveillance and visits from security officials. Civil society organizations face increasing problems to work in Transnistria and international organizations need the approval of the authorities for their projects, visits and meetings with civil society and media.

The region's trade unions are holdovers from the Soviet era, and the United Council of Labor Collectives works closely with the government.

F. Rule of Law: 2 / 16

The judiciary is subservient to the executive and generally implements the will of the authorities. Defendants do not receive fair trials, and the legal framework falls short of international standards. Politically motivated arrests and detentions are common. Several Moldovans are held illegally in Transnistrian prisons.

Human rights groups have received credible accounts of torture in custody, and prison conditions are harsh and unsanitary. A 2013 UN report found protracted pretrial detention, lengthy sentences for minor crimes, and an "alarming" health situation in prisons, including cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis. There is no separate juvenile justice system, and addicts face forced medical treatment. Suspicious deaths of military conscripts occur periodically amid reports of routine mistreatment. No improvements have been made since the publication of the UN report.

Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, authorities discriminate against the Romanian-speaking minority. Ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians together account for some 60 percent of the population. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people have also reported discrimination, and same-sex sexual activity is illegal.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 5 / 16

Travelers are frequently detained and questioned by Transnistrian authorities, who in some cases seize or demand money and goods. The majority of residents hold Russian, Ukrainian, or other passports besides Moldovan, though many are believed to have multiple citizenship. Between April 2014 and April 2015, about 75,000 Moldovan passport holders in Transnistria obtained biometric passports to benefit from Moldova's new visa-free EU travel privileges.

Transnistria and Russia complained in May 2015 of increased border restrictions by Ukrainian and Moldovan authorities, claiming that an economic blockade was being imposed. Transnistrian-Russian trade declined by 50 percent in 2015. Moldova imposed a ban on cars with Transnistrian license plates crossing into Ukraine starting in August; the ban was temporarily lifted in October. In June 2015, Russia issued certificates to a list of companies allowing them to circumvent a Russian embargo on Moldovan products; all but two are located in Transnistria or Gagauzia, a pro-Russia region of Moldova.

The 2013 UN report found that many residents have lost their rights to housing and land following flawed privatizations of factories and collective farms. Others living along the cease-fire line between Moldova and Transnistria are hampered by jurisdictional disputes involving their farmland.

Women are typically underrepresented in positions of authority, making up less than 10 percent of the legislature, though Shevchuk's government includes several women in high-ranking positions. Domestic violence is a widespread problem, affecting an estimated 36 percent of women, and many domestic violence incidents are not reported to police. Transnistria is a significant source for trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution and forced labor. Moldovan authorities offer resources to Transnistrian trafficking victims.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Somaliland

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Somaliland, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f2b15.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 40

Freedom Rating: 5.0

Political Rights: 5

Civil Liberties: 5

Ratings Change:

Somaliland's political rights rating declined from 4 to 5 due to the upper house's unilateral decision to postpone presidential and parliamentary elections by 22 months. While some delay was generally expected and agreed upon by the opposition and the government due to the government's stalled election preparations, the upper house pushed the voting back further based on questionable "security" grounds, among other reasons.

Quick Facts

Capital: Hargeisa

Population: 3,500,000

GDP/capita: N/A

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In May 2015, Somaliland's upper legislative chamber, the Guurti, announced that presidential and parliamentary elections would be postponed until 2017 and extended the current government's term by two years. President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo's approval of this move was later upheld through a court decision, officially delaying elections  which were scheduled for June 2015  until March 2017. The delay contradicted the wishes of opposition parties and Somaliland's international donors, both of which had previously agreed on a 12-month election postponement to allow more time for voter registration. Opposition parties had expressed concern that the government was delaying election preparation, especially voter registration, in order to extend Silanyo's term.

Meanwhile, the government continued to suppress criticism in advance of the elections. While journalist arrests and harassment dropped, a climate of fear continues to characterize the media environment.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 following the outbreak of civil war. The regional administration lacks international recognition as an independent state. Talks between Somaliland and Somalia continued in early 2015, but stalled in March due to disagreements about the composition of the Somali negotiating team.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 15 / 40 (-6)

A. Electoral Process: 2 / 12 (-3)

According to Somaliland's constitution, the president is directly elected for a maximum of two five-year terms and appoints the cabinet. The presidential election of 2010, originally scheduled for 2008, resulted in a smooth transfer of power from the United People's Democratic Party (UDUB) to Kulmiye, the main opposition party. Silanyo, the leader of Kulmiye, captured almost 50 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of incumbent Dahir Riyale Kahin's 33 percent. International monitors identified some irregularities, but declared the vote free and fair. In May 2014, Silanyo announced his intention to run for a second term in the elections scheduled for 2015.

Members of the 82-seat lower legislative chamber, the House of Representatives, are directly elected for five-year terms, while members of the 82-seat upper chamber, or Guurti, are clan elders indirectly elected for six-year terms. The last parliamentary elections were held in 2005 and have been delayed since 2010. Again in 2015, terms for both houses and the president were extended until April 2017. Also in 2015, the Guurti clashed with the National Electoral Commission (NEC)  which had recommended a poll delay to June 2016 based on technical challenges  when the upper chamber announced the election postponement until March 2017. Opposition parties and international observers have vocally opposed further delay, and suggest that the government is using election postponements for political purposes.

In 2012, Somaliland held municipal elections, the first such elections in a decade. Though the elections were deemed free and fair by a coalition of local observers, large protests followed. Following the elections, Silanyo called for a new voter roll to be created, but as of the end of 2015, there were still major delays in initiating voter registration.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 9 / 16 (-1)

Although parties defined by region or clan are technically prohibited, party and clan affiliations often coincide. A constitutional restriction allows for a maximum of three officially recognized political parties. The Registration and Approval Committee (RAC) reviewed 18 parties and associations to determine which could participate in the 2012 local elections. From the seven parties that competed, the three parties that received the most votes were officially declared eligible for elections for the coming decade: Wadani, the UCID, and Kulmiye. Due to the 2015 election delays, the opposition has little chance to compete in elections or win political power in the near future.

C. Functioning of Government: 4 / 12 (-2)

Although the civilian government and legislature determine state policies, their legitimacy has been critically undermined by the Guurti's undue influence in delaying elections. Electoral mandates for the House of Representatives and the presidency have technically expired.

Corruption in Somaliland was a serious problem under the government of former president Kahin, but there have been signs of improvement under Silanyo. A bill to strengthen the five-member Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Commission was passed by the legislature in 2012. In February 2014, the commission released a three-year anti-graft strategy. However, concerns in 2015 about Silanyo's opaque handling of the Berbera Oil Terminal's management led to skepticism about his intentions to tackle corruption.

Civil Liberties: 25 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 7 / 16

While freedoms of expression and the press are guaranteed by the constitution, these rights are limited in practice. The Silanyo administration has adopted a harsh approach to perceived critics in recent years, suspending several media outlets and levying heavy penalties on opposition journalists. Many journalists in Somaliland lack formal training and opportunities for professional development.

According to the Somaliland-based Human Rights Centre (HRC), the government detained 19 journalists in 2015, some on multiple occasions. In April 2015, authorities detained Kalsan TV journalist Ahmed Saed Mohamed after he published a controversial story about Berbera's Port Authority. He was released without charge after five days. In September, two journalists were arrested for their reporting on the same subject. In November, the HRC reported the arrest of two Hubsad journalists who were accused of running an unregistered newspaper. While the journalists have since been released, they still face criminal charges.

Somaliland's laws allow for the establishment of private radio stations, but the government makes licenses difficult to obtain. A press protection law, passed in 2004, has yet to be implemented due to the government's claims that it needs additional amendments. The government employs intimidation tactics, including sending the police or the paramilitary Rapid Reaction Unit to raid journalists' homes or offices, to limit unfriendly reporting.

In September 2015, four musicians  part of the Horn Stars band  were arrested after returning from a performance in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. Reports suggest the group waved a Somali flag at the concert to "oppose" Somaliland's independence.

Islam is the state religion, and nearly all Somaliland residents are Sunni Muslims. While the constitution allows for the freedom of belief, it prohibits conversion from Islam and proselytizing by members of other faiths. It also requires that candidates for the presidency, vice presidency, and House of Representatives be Muslim. Academic freedom is less restricted than in neighboring Somalia. The territory has at least 10 universities and colleges of higher learning, though they are not adequately funded or staffed.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 5 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are constitutionally guaranteed. However, the government has been known to repress demonstrations in the past. After the announcement of election delays in May 2015, for example, widespread protests broke out in Hargeisa, Berbera, and Burco. The government reportedly withheld permission for the Wadani party to demonstrate, and both Wadani and the Justice and Welfare Party reported that authorities raided their offices soon after demonstrations began. Some 30 people were detained by the police, but later released, and government troops reportedly blocked media access to the protests.

Local and international nongovernmental organizations operate without serious interference. The constitution does not explicitly protect the right to strike, though it does permit collective bargaining. The right to belong to a union is generally respected.

F. Rule of Law: 7 / 16

The judiciary is underfunded and lacks independence, and the Supreme Court is largely ineffective, though the May 2015 appointment of a new chief justice, Adan H. Ali Ahmed, was welcomed by civil society. Somaliland has approximately 100 judges, most of whom lack formal legal training; judges are usually selected on the basis of clan or political affiliation, and are subject to interference from the government.

Somaliland's constitution allows for three legal systems based on Sharia (Islamic law), civil law, and customary law. Upon taking office, Silanyo pledged to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and release all prisoners who had not been charged with a crime, apart from those accused of terrorism or theft. In 2014, multiple members of the judiciary reported that they frequently face pressure from cabinet officials to make particular rulings or to release suspects.

Somaliland's police and security forces are sometimes accused of using excessive force. According to the HRC's 2015 annual report, many of Somaliland's police stations, which are intended to hold individuals for up to 48 hours, are used for long-term detention. These facilities have become overcrowded, and detainees are often held without food or other basic necessities.

In August 2015, police fired live ammunition into a crowd that had gathered to watch a land dispute between a Hargeisa family and the police. A young boy was killed, two men and a teenager were injured by gunshot, and one man was wounded after a police beating. In the same month, a police officer fired into a cell containing approximately eight inmates in a Hargeisa prison. Ahmed Dayib Abdi was killed in the incident; reports suggest he was initially detained for participating in a protest against excessive police force. The other inmates who had been detained with Ahmed were released without charge following his death. The officer who fired the shot that killed Ahmed was arrested, according to the HRC, though there has not been a thorough investigation of the incident.

In August 2015, Hargeisa's regional court dropped the criminal case against HRC founder Guleid Ahmed Jama, whose arrest was allegedly linked to the organization's 2014 report.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 6 / 16

Societal fault lines are largely clan-based. Larger, wealthier clans have more political clout than the less prominent groups, and clan elders often intervene to settle conflicts. Business opportunities are limited, and unemployment is high.

While society in Somaliland is patriarchal, women have made modest advances in public life. Quotas for political representation of women have been frequently discussed but never adopted. In 2010, Kulmiye expressed support for a 25 percent quota across all political institutions. In September 2015, parliament began reviewing a 10 percent quota contained within an elections law. There are no female judges, four women in high-level government positions, and one female legislator in the House of Representatives.

Violence against women, including rape, remains a major problem, though the establishment of the international donor-sponsored Baahi-Koob Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Hargeisa led to 399 reported rape cases, 191 related prosecutions, and 47 convictions in 2014 alone. The practice of female genital mutilation is widespread.

The Somaliland government has made attempts to combat human trafficking in recent years. The 2014 U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report estimated that 50 Somaliland residents are smuggled out of the territory every month; 2015 saw an increase in the number of minors and unemployed university graduates being trafficked. The government has a specialized department within the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to investigate suspected trafficking.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Niger

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Niger, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f2c15.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 52

Freedom Rating: 3.5

Political Rights: 3

Civil Liberties: 4

Quick Facts

Capital: Niamey

Population: 18,884,462

GDP/capita: $427.40

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In December 2015, President Mahamadou Issoufou announced that his government had foiled a coup attempt that was organized by high-ranking military officers, including a former army chief of staff; the commander of an air force base in the capital, Niamey; and several counterterrorism chiefs. The announcement came in the context of high political tension due to alleged government attempts to disrupt the organization of the opposition ahead of elections set for 2016, and the November arrest and imprisonment of Hama Amadou, a former prime minister and president of the National Assembly and one of Issoufou's most serious challengers in the presidential race. Tensions mounted against a backdrop of a deteriorating security situation in the region where Islamic insurgent groups continue to perpetrate violence in nearby countries while threatening to encroach on Niger.

Although Niger has so far managed to maintain a precarious stability, it has undermined civil liberties in the process. The fight against the militant group Boko Haram has led the government to declare states of emergency in the Diffa region near the border with Nigeria, allowing the army to engage in mass arrests and detain those suspected of links with terrorist organizations.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 24 / 40 (-2)

A. Electoral Process: 8 / 12 (-1)

A 2010 military coup that removed increasingly authoritarian president Mamadou Tandja from power led to the adoption of a new constitution that year. Drafted in broad consultation with civil society, the charter reinstated executive term limits, curbed executive power, and provided amnesty for the coup leaders. Under the constitution, the president is elected by popular vote for up to two five-year terms. Members of the 171-seat, unicameral National Assembly, who also serve five-year terms, are elected through party-list voting in eight multimember regional constituencies, eight single-member constituencies reserved for ethnic minorities, and five constituencies to represent Nigeriens living abroad.

The last presidential, legislative, and municipal elections were held in January 2011. The Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), headed by Issoufou, won 37 legislative seats. The National Movement for a Developing Society (MNSD)  led by former prime minister Seini Oumarou  placed second with 26 seats, while Amadou's Nigerien Democratic Movement for an African Federation took 25. Five smaller parties divided the remainder. In the first round of the presidential election, Issoufou and Oumarou emerged as the top two candidates; Issoufou then claimed victory with 58 percent of the vote in a March runoff election. Both the presidential and legislative elections were declared free and fair by international observers, despite minor irregularities. The PNDS and MNSD won the majority of positions across the country in local elections.

Presidential, legislative, and local elections are scheduled to take place in 2016, but the opposition has raised concerns over the electoral process in advance of the polls. In January 2015, opposition parties cast doubt over the independence and impartiality of the Constitutional Court, which approves the list of candidates and validates the election results. These parties staged a protest in November 2015 to demand a reconfiguring of the court, an international audit of the electoral list, and the rescheduling of the local elections, threatening a boycott if their grievances went unaddressed. In December, the Electoral Commission requested an independent audit of the candidate lists from an international monitor in an effort to address one of the opposition's demands.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 9 / 16 (-1)

Since assuming power in 2011, Issoufou has appointed former opponents and members of civil society to high positions in government to foster inclusivity, and a reshuffling of the government in 2013 continued this pattern, though it left most key posts in the hands of Issoufou's allies.

As the 2016 elections approach, tensions between the opposition and the government have increased. In April 2015, reports indicated that the government had instigated high-profile defections from the major opposition parties and replaced opposition party representatives in national political bodies with opposition dissidents who had been enticed to support the regime. In November 2015, Amadou was arrested upon his return from exile and accused of involvement in a human trafficking scandal involving newborn babies from Nigeria.

The constitution reserves eight special constituency seats to ensure ethnic minorities' representation in the National Assembly. Such minorities, including the nomadic population, continue to have poor access to government services. A law adopted in 2014 created five parliamentary seats for the representation of Nigeriens living in the diaspora. Under the same law, political parties must allocate enough seats on their electoral lists to ensure at least 15 percent of their winning representatives are women.

C. Functioning of Government: 7 / 12

Corruption remains a serious problem in Niger, and observers have raised concerns regarding uranium-mining contracts. In recent years, Chinese corporations have played an increasing role in the country's uranium-mining industry, and locals have accused them of flouting regulations and exploiting Nigerien resources and labor while the government reinvests almost none of the profits in the local economy. The 2010 constitution provides for greater transparency in government reporting of revenues from the extractive industries as well as for the declaration of personal assets by government officials, including the president; nevertheless, accusations of graft persist. In November 2015, the opposition introduced a measure in parliament to impeach Issoufou for inappropriately profiting from mining concessions, though it was defeated by the president's allies. In 2011, the government created the High Authority to Combat Corruption and opened an anticorruption hotline.

In October 2014, former president Tandja was stripped of his legal immunity and charged with corruption, as authorities began investigating the disappearance of nearly 400 billion francs ($800 million) of public money that Tandja had claimed were in the state treasury when he was overthrown.

Niger was ranked 99 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Civil Liberties: 28 / 60 (-2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 11 / 16

In 2010, the National Assembly adopted a new press law that eliminated prison terms for media offenses and reduced the threat of libel cases that journalists had faced under Tandja. In 2011, Issoufou became the first head of state to sign the Table Mountain Declaration, which calls on African governments to promote press freedom. Journalists sometimes face police violence while covering protests, as well as sanctions for critical or controversial reporting. In January 2015, demonstrations against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo erupted in Niamey after it published a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed following an attack on the magazine's Paris offices by gunmen claiming affiliation with Islamic extremists. During the protests, police stormed the offices of pro-opposition media outlets, assaulting at least eight journalists and disrupting their coverage of the events. Between October and November 2015, 10 journalists were temporarily detained and their recording materials confiscated by the police. In December, 20 private radio and television stations shut down their programs for two hours to protest recurring violations against journalists during the year.

Censorship of the internet and social media has emerged as a mean to restrict the growing critiques of Issoufou's regime. In January 2015, the government blocked access to Facebook, Twitter, and SMS messaging services in an attempt to curb criticism of Issoufou's participation in a memorial commemorating the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris and his statements of support for the publication. While the block was intended to last several days, the government later reversed course and restored access after just a few hours.

Freedom of religion is generally respected in this overwhelmingly Muslim country. However, the anti-Charlie Hebdo protests in January 2015 also resulted in rare instances of intercommunal violence between Muslims and Niger's small Christian minority, who generally coexist peacefully. At least 45 churches were set on fire, as well as Christian schools and orphanages, leading to at least 10 fatalities.

Academic freedom is guaranteed but not always observed in practice.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 6 / 12 (-2)

Constitutional guarantees of freedoms of assembly and association are largely upheld, though the government has used force to break up demonstrations in the past. During 2015, the government refused to authorize several public protests, citing security concerns due to the increased threat from militant groups. Opposition and civil society protests are met with police brutality and tear gas. In October 2015, at least 79 people were arrested at a student-led protest in Niamey, where students were demanding better conditions in high schools and universities. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds.

The government does not generally restrict the operations of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), though a lack of security in the north impedes their functioning in the region. In May 2015, two civil society activists who denounced military abuses perpetrated during the state of emergency in Diffa were arrested and accused of complicity with Boko Haram.

While the constitution and other laws guarantee workers the right to join unions and bargain for wages, a large portion of the workforce is employed in subsistence agriculture and small trading. In April 2015, hundreds of workers at a uranium mine launched a three-day strike demanding full payment of a promised bonus; the enforcement of regulations and respect for labor rights in the mines are notoriously weak. Union and civil society activism has declined due to the cooptation of their leader by Issoufou's government, although recently new leaders have started to emerge.

F. Rule of Law: 5 / 16

The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and courts have shown some autonomy in the past, though the judicial system has at times been subject to executive interference. The Ministry of Justice supervises public prosecutors, and the president has the power to appoint judges. Judicial corruption is fueled partly by low salaries and inadequate training. Prolonged pretrial detention is common, and police forces are underfunded and poorly trained. Prisons are characterized by overcrowding and poor health conditions.

Insecurity continues to plague many parts of the country. Recently, Boko Haram has intensified its assaults on the Diffa region. In February 2015, the group attacked two border towns in the area, leading to heavy clashes with Nigerien security forces. In June, another attack killed at least 38 people. By October, some 60 attacks by Boko Haram had been carried out since the beginning of the year, in addition to other abductions and explosions.

The crises in neighboring countries have led to a massive influx of refugees fleeing violence by Islamist militants. By December 2015, there were 68,000 Nigerian refugees and 56,000 Malian refugees present in the country. This influx has raised pressure on food supplies.

While two ethnic groups, Hausa and Djerma, still dominate many government and economic positions, minority groups are represented and their rights are protected by law. Same-sex sexual activity is not illegal in Niger, but same-sex relationships are highly stigmatized, and there is no protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 6 / 16

The constitution guarantees freedom of movement and property rights and these are generally respected throughout the country, though bribery remains an issue for both.

Although the 2010 constitution prohibits gender discrimination, women suffer discrimination in practice. Family law gives women inferior status in property disputes, inheritance rights, and divorce. Sexual and domestic violence are reportedly widespread. Female genital mutilation was criminalized in 2003 and has declined, but it continues in a small percentage of the population.

While slavery was criminalized in 2003 and banned in the 2010 constitution, it remains a problem in Niger, with up to 44,000 individuals still in slavery. Niger remains a source, transit point, and destination for human trafficking, and was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List status in the U.S. State Department's 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report due to its declining efforts to assist increasing numbers of trafficking victims.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Netherlands

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Netherlands, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f2d15.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.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 99

Freedom Rating: 1.0

Political Rights: 1

Civil Liberties: 1

Quick Facts

Capital: Amsterdam

Population: 16,942,373

GDP/capita: $51,590

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Migration and asylum policy continued to dominate the political discourse in the Netherlands in 2015. In April, the Council of Europe (CoE) reaffirmed its 2014 decision that the country was in violation of the European Social Charter for its failure to meet humanitarian obligations toward asylum applicants. The two-party coalition government has struggled to find common ground on this issue, but managed to agree in April to put in place tougher policies against rejected applicants who do not agree to return to their home countries. Hate speech against immigrants has been on the rise. Prominent far-right politician Geert Wilders was put under investigation in July for statements he made against Islam in 2014.

In provincial elections in March, the center-left Labor Party (PvdA) suffered the greatest losses while the other half of the governing coalition, the center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), remained the largest party. The provincial councils voted for members of the Senate in May.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 40 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

The Netherlands has a parliamentary system, with a monarchy whose function is largely ceremonial. The monarch appoints the prime minister, usually the leader of the majority party or coalition, as well as the Council of Ministers (cabinet) and the governor of each province on the recommendation of a majority in parliament. The lower house of parliament, or House of Representatives, counts 150 representatives who are elected for four-year terms by proportional representation. The 75 members of the upper house, or Senate, are elected for four-year terms by the country's provincial councils, which in turn are directly elected every four years.

In 2012 general elections, the VVD won 41 seats and formed a coalition government with the PvdA, which took 38 seats. Mark Rutte of the VVD remained prime minister. Wilders's far-right, anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) dropped from 24 seats to 15. In total, 11 parties are represented in the House of Representatives.

Provincial elections were held in March 2015. The VVD won the largest share of the vote, but the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and left-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) had strong showings. Provincial councilors voted for members of the Senate in May. The VVD remained the largest party with 13 seats, while the PvdA dropped from 14 seats to 8; the CDA increased its share to 12 seats, and the D66 to 10.

Mayors are appointed from a list of candidates submitted by the municipal councils, which are directly elected every four years. Foreigners who have resided in the country for at least five years are eligible to vote in local elections.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

Political parties operate freely and regularly rotate in and out of power. The PVV has won parliamentary representation since 2006 on the basis of an anti-immigration and Euroskeptic platform. After the 2010 elections it became the third-largest party and provided external support to a minority coalition government of the VVD and CDA. When Wilders withdrew his support in 2012, protesting budget cuts aimed at meeting EU deficit limits, the government collapsed and new elections were called. In June 2015, Wilders formed a far-right bloc in the European Parliament with France's National Front and representatives of parties in five other member states. Minority groups participate freely in the political process, and political parties represent their interests.

C. Functioning of Government: 12 / 12

The Netherlands is generally free from corruption. The country ranked 5 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. However, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) criticized the Netherlands in 2013 for its failure to adequately enforce laws against bribery by Dutch individuals and companies doing business abroad. A May 2015 report from the OECD notes that the Netherlands has made significant process on this front, although several recommendations have not yet been implemented.

Laws are in place recognizing the right to access information. These laws do not extend to legislative and judicial bodies.

Civil Liberties: 59 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 16 / 16

The news media are free and independent. The Netherlands has had lese majeste laws in place since 1881. Although these laws are rarely enforced, in May, prosecutors initiated proceedings against antiracism activist Abulkasim al-Jaberi. Jaberi had used profane language against King Willem-Alexander during a 2014 tirade against the popular folkloric character Black Pete, who often appears as an accomplice to St. Nicholas. There has been widespread disagreement on the racist nature of the character, with many analysts contending that the use of blackface represents chimney soot. In an August 2015 news conference, Prime Minister Rutte stated that the issue is a societal one and outside of the government's sphere.

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the Netherlands has a reputation as a tolerant society. However, rising anti-immigrant sentiment in recent years has been accompanied by more open expression of anti-Islamic views. The PVV is vocal in its criticism of Islam. In July 2015, Austrian prosecutors announced that they are investigating Wilders for alleged incitement of hatred. At a political event in Vienna in March, Wilders reportedly compared the Koran to Hitler's Mein Kampf and demanded its banning. In December 2014, Dutch prosecutors said that Wilders would be charged with "insulting a specific group based on race and inciting discrimination and hatred" as a result of his anti-Moroccan remarks during a campaign rally the previous March. Wilders will go on trial in 2016. In June 2015, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Lodewijk Asscher said that he is considering a proposal that would give foreign imams the opportunity to take a course on Dutch language and culture before they move to the Netherlands. Under existing regulations, imams and other spiritual leaders recruited from Muslim countries must take a one-year integration course, like other immigrants, before practicing in the Netherlands.

In May 2015, the cabinet approved a ban on clothing that covers the face in public settings, including schools, hospitals, public transportation, and government buildings, which had been called for in the 2012 VVD-PvdA coalition agreement. Violators can be fined up to 405 ($448). Both legislative chambers must approve the law before it will enter into force.

Academic freedom is well protected. Private discussion is not restricted, and the government does not limit internet access or censor online content. In March 2015, a judge in ruled that Dutch laws on data retention by telephone companies and internet providers violated users' right to privacy.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 12 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are respected in law and in practice. National and international human rights organizations operate freely without government intervention. Workers' rights to organize, bargain collectively, and strike are protected.

F. Rule of Law: 15 / 16

The judiciary is independent, and the rule of law prevails in civil and criminal matters. The right to a fair trial is in place and is enforced effectively. The police are under civilian control, and prison conditions meet international standards.

The constitution expressly prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, political opinion, race, and sex, and the population is generally treated equally under the law. The law also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, although the constitution does not enshrine this protection. Foreigners from outside the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and Turkey are required to pass a basic integration exam before relocating to the Netherlands.

The country's asylum policies have attracted considerable criticism for being unduly harsh and violating international standards. Under Dutch guidelines, authorities are not allowed to detain asylum seekers for longer than three months. However, the national ombudsman and nongovernmental organizations such as Amnesty International have claimed that these guidelines have been violated. In 2013, the Conference of European Churches submitted a complaint against the Netherlands for violating the country's obligations under the European Social Charter to provide everyone living in the country with shelter, health care, food, and clothing. In 2014, the CoE found the Netherlands in violation of the charter and, in April 2015, reaffirmed that decision.

An August decision to deport all four members of an Angolan-Dutch family, who had been in the Netherlands for 15 years despite a rejected asylum application, caused considerable controversy. As a former soldier in the Angolan army, the father is a potential war criminal and thus not eligible for refugee status; his children are also not covered by the amnesty law. However, after facing widespread criticism from child rights advocates and lawmakers, the Justice Ministry allowed all family members except the father to stay.

Asylum policy has proven a point of contention within the coalition government. The VVD has argued that municipalities should refrain from providing services to asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. The PvdA contends that the country has a humanitarian obligation to all within its borders, and that failure to uphold this duty violates the CoE's April 2015 decision. In a compromise leaving both sides dissatisfied, the parties announced in April that fewer shelters will be made available to rejected asylum seekers, and only to those who can demonstrate that they are trying to leave the country.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 16 / 16

Residents generally enjoy freedom of movement and choice of residence, employment, and institution of higher education. Property rights are upheld.

The government vigorously enforces legal protections for women, including in employment and family law. Women hold 58 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 26 of 75 seats in the Senate. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, in 2001.

While the Netherlands is a source country, destination, and transit point for human trafficking, the government makes strong efforts to combat it through prosecutions, trainings, and other measures.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Nauru

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Nauru, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f2e15.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.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 84

Freedom Rating: 2.0

Political Rights: 2

Civil Liberties: 2

Quick Facts

Capital: Yaren District

Population: 10,860

GDP/capita: N/A

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

Ratings Change:

Nauru's political rights rating declined from 1 to 2 due to the suspension of lawmakers who have spoken out against the government's asylum policy and the lack of transparency surrounding the conditions in which asylum seekers are kept.

OVERVIEW

The government continued to propagate measures designed to suppress criticism of the processing center it hosts for migrants seeking asylum in Australia; the facility, operated by private contractors hired by the Australian government, houses hundreds of people in conditions activists have called inhumane. After the visa application fee for foreign journalists was increased to $8,000 in 2014  a measure widely described as a means of deterring foreign news coverage of the processing center  a reporter from the Australian newspaper became the first foreign journalist granted entry to Nauru in October 2015. In May 2015, the government blocked access to Facebook and other sites and amended the criminal code to allow the prosecution of those deemed to threaten public safety.

In October 2015, the government announced that it would permit asylum seekers held at the processing center free movement across the island.

The government has also taken steps to sideline political opponents. The suspension of five lawmakers in 2014 effectively removed meaningful opposition from the parliament. Meanwhile, emails leaked in June 2015 suggested that the president and justice minister had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from an Australian phosphate company. In September, New Zealand suspended justice-sector aid to Nauru, citing concerns about the rule of law.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 35 / 40 (-2)

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

Nauru's 19-member unicameral Parliament is popularly elected from eight constituencies for three-year terms. Parliament chooses the president and vice president from among its members.

Intense political rivalries and the use of no-confidence votes have been a source of political instability. Several changes of government occurred between 2007 and 2011, the shortest lasting only days. Following general elections in 2013, Parliament elected Baron Waqa to serve as president.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 15 / 16 (-1)

Although political parties are allowed, most candidates run as independents. Political parties include the Nauru First Party, the Democratic Party, and the Center Party. Alliances frequently shift.

In 2014, five lawmakers were suspended from the legislature, allegedly for unruly behavior and for making remarks to foreign media that were critical of the government. Their departures left little real opposition in Parliament. Two of the suspended lawmakers were arrested after an antigovernment protest in June 2015, and another had his passport revoked, also in June, preventing him from traveling to his family in New Zealand.

C. Functioning of Government: 8 / 12 (-1)

Corruption is a serious problem. In 2015, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), reported that the contents of leaked e-mails suggested that President Waqa and Justice Minister David Adeang had accepted bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Australian phosphate company in 2009 and 2010. In 2013, Nauru's police commissioner, Australian federal policeman Richard Britten, who had been investigating the bribery charges, was dismissed; some observers suggested that his dismissal was related to the investigation.

Nauru lacks a law on access to public information, but the Government Information Office releases some material on budgetary and other matters. There is a concerning lack of transparency surrounding operations and conditions at the processing center for asylum seekers.

Civil Liberties: 49 / 60 (-2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 13 / 16 (-1)

There are several local weekly and monthly publications, and foreign dailies, mostly in English, are available. The government publishes occasional bulletins, and the opposition publishes its own newsletters. Radio Nauru and Nauru TV are owned and operated by the government. Broadcast content comes from Australia, New Zealand, and other countries.

The government appears determined to silence criticism of conditions faced by asylum seekers and refugees through a series of restrictions on free expression and on media workers. In what foreign media outlets widely characterized as a means of deterring reporting on the Australian processing center for asylum seekers, the visa application fee for foreign journalists was raised to $8,000 in 2014, up from $400. In October 2015, Chris Kenny of the Australian became the first foreign journalist granted a visa in 18 months.

In another move observers linked to government sensitivity toward coverage of the processing center for asylum seekers, in April 2015, authorities ordered internet service providers to block access to Facebook and several other sites, allegedly to protect users from obscene and pornographic content. Separately, in May, the criminal code was amended to make illegal any comment deemed to cause a person emotional distress or threaten public safety, order, or health; violations carry a prison sentence of up to seven years. Authorities are not known to illegally monitor private online communications.

The constitution provides for freedom of religion, which the government generally respects in practice. There were no reports of suppression of academic freedom in 2015.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 10 / 12 (-1)

The constitution upholds the right to assemble peacefully, but this right is not always respected in practice. In March 2015, nearly 200 refugees, including children, were arrested during a peaceful protest; the arrests came in the wake of statements from the police chief that assemblies of larger than three people would be dispersed. Several hundred people participated in protests in June at which they demanded the resignation of the government over its crackdown on freedom of expression, and the bribery allegations against Waqa and Adeang. Three opposition lawmakers, among the five suspended since 2014, participated in the demonstration and were arrested days later. Mathew Batsiua was detained only for two nights, but Sprent Dabwido and Squire Jeremiah were held in custody for nearly a month before being released on bail in July.

There are no legal restrictions on the formation of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Nauru. However, authorities have interfered with the operations of activists seeking to improve the treatment of asylum seekers. In October 2015, police twice raided the offices of a Nauru-based branch of the NGO Save the Children. Employees were accused of leaking emails with information about the Australian processing center to the media and breaching the country's Cyber Crime Act. In 2014, the immigration department had deported nine Save the Children employees for allegedly encouraging asylum seekers to commit self-harm so that they would be evacuated to Australia. Save the Children ended its operations in Nauru at the end of October 2015, saying the Australian government had awarded its welfare contract to a for-profit business.

There are several advocacy groups for women, as well as development-focused and religious organizations. There are no trade unions or labor protection laws, partly because there is little large-scale, private employment.

F. Rule of Law: 12 / 16

The Supreme Court is the highest authority on constitutional issues. Appeals in civil and criminal cases are heard in the high court of Australia. Traditional reconciliation mechanisms are frequently used instead of the formal legal process. In July 2015, new court facilities opened, as part of a plan to increase the capacity of the justice sector and reduce the backlog of asylum cases.

In August 2015, the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of two asylum seekers for unlawful assembly and rioting in 2013 protests at the Australian processing center. The court cited serious concerns with the investigation  which was carried out by a private contractor rather than the Nauruan police  and the conduct of the trial's magistrate. In September, New Zealand suspended justice-sector aid to Nauru, citing concerns about the rule of law.

The Australian offshore processing facility for asylum seekers based in Nauru has generated extensive international criticism for poor living conditions and long processing delays. Government officials have decried the criticism inaccurate and politically motivated. The case of a 23-year-old female Somali refugee, known by the pseudonym Abyan, became the latest flashpoint in the controversy in 2015. According to her lawyers, in October, she was flown to Australia to receive an abortion after she was raped at the processing center and became pregnant. (Abortion is illegal in Nauru.) She then returned within the month without having had the procedure. While the Australian government claimed that she changed her mind, her lawyers say she was sent back to Nauru in anticipation of a court injunction that could have allowed her to remain in Australia.

Civilian authorities control the small police force. There have been reported cases of abuse in the past. Nauru has no armed forces; Australia provides defense assistance under an informal agreement.

Same-sex sexual activity is a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years of hard labor.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 14 / 16

Phosphate mining, the main source of revenue, is in decline. With few economic alternatives, Nauru relies heavily on foreign loans and international assistance, and a $40 million deal with Australia to host asylum seekers. In October, the government announced that it would permit asylum seekers held at Australia's regional processing center free movement across the island.

Societal pressures limit women's ability to exercise their legal rights. Domestic violence is a problem, and frequently associated with alcohol abuse.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Nagorno-Karabakh

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Nagorno-Karabakh, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f2fe.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 33

Freedom Rating: 5.0

Political Rights: 5

Civil Liberties: 5

Quick Facts

Capital: Stepanakert

Population: 146,600

GDP/capita: N/A

Press Freedom Status: N/A

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In May 2015, Nagorno-Karabakh held parliamentary elections, with observers noting significant improvements in comparison with the 2010 polls  in particular, fairer conduct and the participation of a broader array of parties. Unlike in 2010, two opposition groups, Movement 88 and National Revival, gained seats in the legislature.

Cross-border clashes between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan continued during the year, with a higher number of violent incidents than in past years. Reports that both sides used mortars and other heavy weaponry drew international condemnation and concern about the state of the 1994 cease-fire agreement. Negotiation efforts, led by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, continued during the year; the body is co-chaired by France, Russia, and the United States.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 15 / 40 (+3)

A. Electoral Process: 6 / 12 (+2)

Nagorno-Karabakh has enjoyed de facto independence from Azerbaijan since 1994 and retains close political, economic, and military ties with Armenia. None of Karabakh's elections have been considered valid by the international community, which does not recognize the territory's independence.

The president is directly elected for up to two five-year terms and appoints the prime minister. Of the unicameral National Assembly's 33 members, 11 are elected through single-mandate constituencies and 22 by party list.

President Bako Sahakyan, the incumbent since 2007, was reelected in 2012 with 66.7 percent of the vote. His main opponent, former deputy defense minister Vitaly Balasanyan, received 32.5 percent. The two main candidates had nearly identical foreign-policy goals  primarily, achieving international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh's independence  though Balasanyan also focused on social justice and accused the government of tolerating corruption and fiscal mismanagement. Balasanyan claimed that administrative resources were misused to aid Sahakyan during the campaign.

The most recent parliamentary elections were held in May 2015. Seven parties participated in the vote, and five passed the threshold to gain seats. Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan's Free Motherland (Azat Hayrenik) party maintained its dominant position in the legislature, winning 15 seats. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)-Dashnaktsutyun and the Democratic Party of Artsakh (AZhK), part of Free Motherland's ruling coalition, gained seven and six seats, respectively. Two opposition parties gained representation  Movement 88 gained three seats, while National Revival captured one. An independent candidate won the remaining seat.

International observers reporters that the elections were a notable improvement over the 2010 vote, which was marred by the absence of opposition candidates and the use of state resources to support progovernment candidates. The vote was conducted in a timely and peaceful manner, and political parties only reported minor intimidation during the campaign process.

Amendments passed in 2014 led to some improvements to the electoral code. The number of parliamentary seats under the proportional system increased, and the electoral threshold decreased to 5 percent for political parties and 7 percent for electoral coalitions. The changes also required a minimum 22 percent female representation on party lists, although implementation remained unclear. The amendments were considered a positive step in providing a legal framework for broader political participation.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 6 / 16 (+1)

The three main political parties are Free Motherland and its allies, AZhK and ARF-Dashnaktsutyun. Given the territory's uncertain status, dissent and opposition have generally been regarded as signs of disloyalty and a security risk. As a consequence, opposition groups have often become inactive or been absorbed into the government; no true opposition candidates participated in the 2010 legislative elections. The May 2015 elections, however, featured genuine opposition participation, with two parties  Movement 88 and National Revival  gaining a total of four seats in the new legislature.

C. Functioning of Government: 3 / 12

The ability of Karabakh officials to set and implement government policies is limited in practice by security threats along the cease-fire line, warnings from Baku, and the dominant role played by the Armenian government and other regional actors. Spikes in the level of cross-border violence in 2015, in addition to escalated verbal hostility from Baku, strained the functioning of domestic governance. Though cease-fire violations have become increasingly common in recent years, the scale of violence in 2015 was among the highest recorded since 1994, when the cease-fire agreement was signed.

Nagorno-Karabakh continues to suffer from significant corruption, particularly in the construction industry; officials practice favoritism in filling civil service positions.

Civil Liberties: 18 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 6 / 16

The territory officially remains under martial law, which imposes restrictions on civil liberties, including on media freedom. However, the authorities maintain that martial law provisions have not been enforced since 1995, a year after the cease-fire agreement with Azerbaijan was signed.

The government controls many of Nagorno-Karabakh's media outlets, and the public television and radio stations have no local competition. Most journalists practice self-censorship, particularly on subjects related to the peace process. The internet penetration rate is low but expanding, and social media platforms are increasingly used by the public and by government officials for the dissemination and discussion of news.

The Voice of Talyshistan, a radio station launched in 2013 by the Yerevan State University and an Armenian nongovernmental organization (NGO), continued to broadcast in 2015. The station provides programming in Talysh, an Iranian language, from Nagorno-Karabakh into southeastern Azerbaijan, home to the country's minority Talysh population. Some Azerbaijani officials have called the station a "provocation" meant to promote anti-Azerbaijani sentiments.

Most residents of Karabakh belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the religious freedom of other groups is limited. A 2009 law banned religious activity by unregistered groups and proselytism by minority faiths, and made it more difficult for minority groups to register. Although at least three minority groups subsequently gained legal status, officials reportedly denied registration to a Protestant group and the Jehovah's Witnesses.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 3 / 12

Freedom of assembly is formally restricted under martial law provisions. Freedom of association is also limited, but trade unions are allowed to organize. The few NGOs that are active in the territory suffer from poor funding and competition from government-organized groups.

In 2014, more than 150 Karabakh residents held a demonstration outside of President Sahakyan's residence during a visit by James Warlick, the U.S. co-chair of the Minsk Group. The demonstrators voiced opposition to Warlick's recent proposal on a conflict settlement for Karabakh that, among other things, suggested returning some disputed territory to Azerbaijan. Also in 2014, residents of Stepanakert organized protests against a planned increase in public transportation fares, submitting a formal appeal to the mayor. Both local authorities and Prime Minister Harutyunyan held meetings with the protesters, and although the fare increase was not reversed, the Karabakh government announced plans to subsidize transportation costs for students and low-income residents.

In January 2015, Karabakh police assaulted several dozen members of an Armenian opposition group who were trying to cross into the territory. The group, the Founding Parliament, had reportedly planned a rally in Karabakh in order to publicize its antigovernment efforts in Armenia. Karabakh officials justified the incident by alleging that the group members had provoked the police, and claiming that the planned rally would have disturbed public order.

F. Rule of Law: 4 / 12

The judiciary is not independent in practice, and the courts are influenced by the executive branch as well as by powerful political, economic, and criminal groups.

A 2011 amnesty law released or commuted the sentences of up to 20 percent of the prison population. The law applied to inmates who had fought in the war with Azerbaijan or had family killed in the conflict. The amnesty also stipulated the closure of at least 60 percent of pending criminal cases and the release of suspects from pretrial detention.

The security of the population is affected by regular incidents of violence along the cease-fire line. Hundreds or thousands of cease-fire violations are reported each month, and soldiers as well as civilians on both sides are killed or injured each year. While conflicting reports of casualties given by Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Karabakh authorities remain difficult to reconcile, independent reports in 2015 widely indicated that the year was one of the deadliest on record since the 1994 cease-fire agreement, with the scale of cross-border violence between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan reaching new heights. The Minsk Group confirmed that both sides used mortars and other heavy weapons around civilian areas for the first time since the end of the war. In December, Azerbaijani forces used tanks to shell across the border.

In December, the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan held a summit in Switzerland to discuss the conflict. Although they reaffirmed their commitment to the Minsk Group structure and to negotiations, no significant progress was made, and international observers remained concerned about the continuation or intensification of cross-border violence.

The Azerbaijani government has repeatedly threatened to consider a military solution to the conflict, and Baku's rapid military buildup, buoyed by oil revenue, has contributed to escalating tensions in recent years. Reports that Russia, a Minsk Group co-chair, continues to sell arms to Armenia and Azerbaijan have also led to unease. Moscow also provides military support to Armenia, where it maintains a base. In July, Russian officials extended a $200 loan to Armenia for the modernization of its military.

In March 2015, a Karabakh appeals court upheld the 2014 convictions of two Azerbaijani citizens reportedly involved in the murder of a Karabakh civilian youth, with charges including illegal border crossing, kidnapping, and weapons possession. One of the defendants had received a life sentence, while the other had been sentenced to 22 years in prison. Azerbaijani authorities denounced the trial, requesting that the men be released. Karabakh declined to treat the men as prisoners of war on the grounds that their actions had targeted a civilian.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 5 / 16

The freedom of movement within Nagorno-Karabakh and travel around the territory are hindered by the larger geopolitical situation, the instability of the cease-fire, and the presence of land mines, which cause deaths and injuries each year. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, at least 50,000 antipersonnel mines were laid during the war. In many cases, records of minefield locations were lost or never created. In 2015, efforts to clear mines continued, led largely by the HALO Trust, an international NGO.

Many Azeris who fled the territory during the separatist conflict continue to live in poor conditions in Azerbaijan, despite Baku's increased efforts to provide new housing in recent years. In June 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in favor of Karabakh residents displaced as a result of the conflict. Ruling in two separate cases, the ECHR found that Armenia and Azerbaijan must create mechanisms for compensating displaced citizens and restoring their property rights, setting a precedent that could affect hundreds of similar cases.

Since 2012, more than 100 ethnic Armenians from Syria have settled in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Karabakh government has provided incentives  including housing and aid  for them to stay in the territory.

A small group of powerful elites control major industries and economic activity, limiting opportunities for most residents. However, the government has instituted a number of economic rehabilitation projects in recent years.

Men and women have equal legal status, though women are underrepresented in the public and private sectors and remain subject to discrimination. The 2014 electoral code amendments included a gender quota for party lists, but only five women captured seats in the 2015 parliamentary elections. Women are not subject to military conscription. The government administers material incentives to encourage couples to have children, with the goal of repopulating the territory. Couples receive several hundred dollars when they marry and additional funds the birth of each child.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Mozambique

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Mozambique, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f30c.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 56

Freedom Rating: 4.0

Political Rights: 4

Civil Liberties: 4

Ratings Change:

Mozambique's civil liberties rating declined from 3 to 4 due to an increasingly restricted media environment, including more attacks on journalists and a steep rise in the cost of internet access.

Quick Facts

Capital: Maputo

Population: 25,736,000

GDP/capita: $602.10

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Filipe Nyusi of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) took office as president in January 2015 after winning the October 2014 election. FRELIMO had signed a cease-fire accord with the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO)  the country's former rebel movement and main opposition party  ahead of the elections, ensuring a peaceful environment for the balloting. However, tensions rose again during 2015, both between the two parties and within FRELIMO itself.

Violent skirmishes between FRELIMO and RENAMO forces erupted over the course of the year. After RENAMO's efforts to secure regional autonomy through a constitutional amendment failed in November, party leader Afonso Dhlakama promised to take control of six northern and central provinces by force if necessary.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 22 / 40 (-1)

A. Electoral Process: 6 / 12

The president, who appoints the prime minister, is elected by popular vote for up to two five-year terms. Members of the 250-seat, unicameral Assembly of the Republic are also elected for five-year terms. The national government appoints the governors of the 10 provinces and Maputo City. Despite the existence of municipal governments and, since 2009, elected provincial assemblies, power remains highly centralized, particularly in the hands of the president.

Acceding to RENAMO demands, the Assembly of the Republic passed several amendments to electoral legislation in February 2014, enabling greater participation by opposition parties and civil society representatives on national, provincial, and district-level election commissions. Nevertheless, during the October 2014 general elections, in which 29 parties participated, members of several small parties accused the national election commission of favoring candidates from the three largest parties: FRELIMO, RENAMO, and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM). Despite these complaints, and incidents of reported ballot stuffing and other irregularities in some precincts, international observers agreed that the elections were credible. RENAMO denounced the results as fraudulent and called for new elections. After conducting an investigation, the national election commission concluded that the elections were valid, and that annulling the results would violate the law.

According to the official results, Nyusi won the presidential contest with 57 percent of the vote. FRELIMO candidates won 144 parliamentary seats, while RENAMO took 89, and MDM won 17. Despite winning the majority of races, FRELIMO lost 47 seats and its previous two-thirds majority in the assembly. At the provincial level, FRELIMO suffered a net loss of 219 seats, and RENAMO won some provinces decisively.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 10 / 16

A 1992 peace agreement ended the 16-year civil war between FRELIMO, the former guerrilla group that had fought to win Mozambique's independence from Portugal, and RENAMO, a rebel group that was supported first by Rhodesia, then by apartheid-era South Africa. Multiparty elections followed the peace accord, with FRELIMO emerging as the winner. The party has won every election since, and RENAMO has always placed second. In 2009, several RENAMO politicians broke with the party to establish MDM, which has rapidly established itself as a viable political force. Political parties are expressly prohibited from identifying exclusively with any religious or ethnic group.

The first months of 2015 were marred by a power struggle between outgoing president Armando Guebuza, who remained FRELIMO's party leader after completing his term as head of state, and Nyusi, who took office as president in January. However, in April Guebuza was forced to resign as party leader, clearing the way for Nyusi to take the helm of both the state and the party, like all previous presidents.

RENAMO boycotted the first sessions of the newly elected assembly, demanding power over the provinces where it had won majorities in the 2014 elections. The party's 89 elected representatives only took their seats in February, after Nyusi met with Dhlakama and promised that the FRELIMO-dominated legislature would give serious consideration to the opposition leader's proposal for provincial autonomy. In the months that followed, however, RENAMO and MDM jointly submitted several motions for votes of no-confidence against the FRELIMO government and its officials, while FRELIMO consistently challenged legislation proposed by the opposition parties. FRELIMO blocked a bill on provincial autonomy as unconstitutional, then defeated a measure in which RENAMO sought to achieve the same goal by amending the costitution in November.

Given FRELIMO's refusal to allow provincial autonomy, Dhlakama accused Nyusi of reneging on their February agreement. In September, he went into hiding after his motorcade was attacked by police in Manica Province, leaving 25 of his supporters dead. Police claimed that Dhlakama and his convoy were accidently caught in the crossfire of an unrelated operation. However, when the RENAMO leader emerged from hiding in early October, he was briefly placed under house arrest. Clashes between government forces and RENAMO fighters followed, and Dhlakama returned to hiding.

On November 30, Dhlakama made a speech in which he declared that his party would take control, "without bloodshed," of the six northern and central provinces where RENAMO had won the majority of votes in the 2014 presidential election. Insisting that he did not want to go back to war, Dhlakama nevertheless declared that he was ready to "destroy everything" if government forces attempted to interfere with the plan. Recordings of the speech began circulating in December, leading to increased conflict between government forces and RENAMO supporters.

C. Functioning of Government: 6 / 12 (-1)

FRELIMO's unbroken incumbency has allowed the party to acquire significant control over state institutions, and the failure of the main parties to work out their differences through normal democratic procedures continued to erode the country's political system in 2015.

Corruption has been subject to increased public censure following the 2012 enactment of an anticorruption law and the delegation of new powers to the Central Office for Combating Corruption (GCCC). Nevertheless, corruption in government and business remains pervasive. Police officers and judicial authorities frequently fail to follow up on some of the most glaring instances of corruption. For example, in 2015 the Attorney General's Office did not investigate allegations of corruption and influence peddling involving former president Guebuza and the Italian oil and gas company ENI, despite well-reported evidence gathered by Italian prosecutors in a related investigation in Milan.

Mozambique was ranked 112 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Civil Liberties: 34 / 60 (-1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 11 / 16 (-1)

Press freedom is legally protected, but reporters are often censored in practice, or self-censor in response to threats and other pressure. The government controls the daily Noticias and its own news agency, radio stations, and television broadcaster. Independent media include the privately owned papers O Pais and Diario de Mocambique, several weeklies, a number of private radio stations, and multiple news websites. In 2015, the limits to freedom of expression were reinforced by the violent murders of two well-known figures: journalist Paulo Machava, founder of the daily news website Diario de Noticias, and the renowned constitutional lawyer Gilles Cistac. Although the assailants in both cases were unidentified and the motives unclear, Machavo had reported on crime, and Cistac had endorsed the constitutionality of provincial autonomy.

There are no official government restrictions on internet use, but opposition leaders have claimed that government intelligence services monitor online communications. In 2015, the cost of internet access rose significantly following the government's decision to cut telecommunications subsidies by 75 percent. Critics argued that the government was attempting to limit access to information.

Religious freedom is well respected, and hundreds of religious groups are registered with the Ministry of Justice. Academic freedom is sometimes restricted. While private discussion is generally open and free, online surveillance and the threat of violence may inhibit expression on sensitive topics.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 7 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are broadly guaranteed, but with substantial regulations. By law, the right to assemble is subject to notification and timing restrictions, and in practice it is a matter of governmental discretion. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operate openly but face bureaucratic hurdles in registering with the government, as required by law.

Workers have the right to form and join unions and to strike, but there are a number of procedural barriers to legal strikes. In April 2015, 50 workers at the Pepsi-Cola factory in Matola went on strike to demand a wage increase; while the Ministry of Labor declared the action illegal, it continued to mediate negotiations. Workers of the Municipal Public Transportation Company in Maputo went on strike in June and again in September over back wages, delays in approved pay increases, and a lack of promotions in the past five years.

F. Rule of Law: 7 / 16

The Assembly of the Republic passed a new penal code in July 2014, despite criticism from the minister of justice, the attorney general, local civil society, and Amnesty International based on a number of shortcomings. President Guebuza vetoed the measure, but the assembly overrode the veto, and Guebuza signed the code into law in December 2014. The new penal code became effective in July 2015. Implementation will require an overhaul of the criminal procedure code; in October, the assembly directed the relevant parliamentary committee to revise that code by December 2016.

Judicial independence remains limited due to scarce resources, poor training, a large backlog of cases, and fear of violent retaliation. Corruption also negatively affects the performance of the judicial system.

Prison overcrowding is a chronic problem, with many inmates held in pretrial detention for longer than authorized by law. In December 2015, President Nyusi announced that he would pardon 1,000 prisoners on compassionate grounds, which would help ease overcrowding.

The crime rate continued to increase in 2015, with 1,754 murders and a total of 46,530 crimes reported, up from 1,223 and 42,622 in 2014, respectively. In May 2015, Nyusi denounced police involvement in criminal activity, including murders, drug trafficking, and poaching. He called for improvements in the hiring, selection, and training of police officers, and solicited cooperation from the Southern Africa Development Community in combating transnational crimes. Poaching has become a very serious issue, leading to a significant decline in the elephant population. In 2014-15, at least 434 people were arrested in Mozambique for poaching, and dozens of Mozambicans are reportedly killed each year while poaching across the border in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

Armed clashes involving FRELIMO-backed security forces and RENAMO fighters continued to occur in 2015. In June, RENAMO was reported to have conducted three attacks in Tete Province. The government accused RENAMO of attacking five police and civilian targets in Tete over a two-week period in August. In September the violence shifted to Manica Province, where the attacks on Dhlakama's convoy led him to go into hiding. Even after he returned to hiding following his de facto house arrest in October, the unrest continued to rise, with several confirmed skirmishes in Morrumbala and Sofala as government forces tried to dismantle RENAMO bases and force the disarmament of RENAMO supporters. The demilitarization and reintegration of RENAMO fighters had been a key element of the September 2014 peace accord, but what was supposed to be a voluntary process remained stalled for months, leading government forces to pursue compulsory disarmament.

Mozambican police reportedly discriminate against minorities in the country, including Zimbabwean, Somali, and Chinese immigrants. For years, albinos in Mozambique have been kidnapped and killed due to superstitions about the magical properties of their body parts, but recently the situation has deteriorated: at least 15 albinos were kidnapped and killed in 2015 alone.

The 2014 penal code decriminalized same-sex sexual activity, and antidiscrimination laws bar employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) advocacy group Lambda has yet to secure legal registration as an NGO after more than seven years of attempts. Lambda reports that LGBT people are not targeted with violent acts as in some other African countries, but that they still face discrimination.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 9 / 16

Movement within Mozambique is hampered by the presence of checkpoints manned by corrupt police officials, who often harass and demand bribes from travelers.

The law does not recognize private property; citizens obtain land-use rights from the government. Most citizens are uninformed about the land law and fail to properly register their traditional holdings. The government must approve all formal transfers of use rights, an often opaque and protracted process. For these reasons, most land transactions occur on an extralegal market.

Mozambique has laws and national plans of action to reduce gender-based discrimination and violence against women, and the country benefits from UN assistance on the issue, but offenses still occur. The International Center for Research on Women reports that 56 percent of girls marry before reaching 18. According to the Ministry of Women and Social Action, at least 54 percent of women will endure some form of physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives.

Women's participation in politics is rising. In 2015, 39 percent of the parliament's 250 members were women, including the body's president. In addition, 28 percent of ministers, 20 percent of vice ministers, 54 percent of permanent secretaries, and 41 percent of provincial governors were women in 2015. Women also play a significant role in the justice system, accounting for 30.5 percent of judges and 44 percent of assistant prosecutors. Attorney General Beatriz Buchili is the first woman to occupy her position.

Since 2012, human trafficking has been on the rise. Children are exploited for labor in agriculture, mining, and other sectors, while women and girls from rural areas are drawn into sex trafficking and domestic servitude. In November 2015, government institutions and civil society came together to establish a working group to actively fight against human trafficking, though the number of prosecutions and convictions reportedly fell compared with 2014.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Malawi

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Malawi, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f31c.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 64

Freedom Rating: 3.0

Political Rights: 3

Civil Liberties: 3

Ratings Change:

Malawi's civil liberties rating improved from 4 to 3 due to a gradual improvement in the climate for freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in recent years.

Quick Facts

Capital: Lilongwe

Population: 17,174,000

GDP/capita: $255

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

OVERVIEW

The so-called Cashgate corruption scandal continued to reverberate in Malawi in 2015. The results of a national audit, released in June, revealed that the equivalent of $800 million had been looted from public coffers between 2009 and 2014. Prosecutions of those involved in the scandal have been slow, and President Peter Mutharika's administration has struggled to regain the confidence of international donors who cut off budget support in its wake.

In his first year and a half in office, Mutharika has not reintroduced the antidemocratic polices of his late brother. However, relations between the presidency and civil society and the independent media deteriorated during 2015.

Malawi made progress on the protection of women's rights through the passage of comprehensive marriage legislation, which raised the minimum marriage age to 18 years and provided legal protection to women on a range of other issues. However, the same law effectively banned same-sex marriage.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 27 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 8 / 12

The president is directly elected for five-year terms and exercises considerable executive authority. The unicameral National Assembly is composed of 193 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms.

In May 2014, Malawi undertook tripartite elections at the presidential, parliamentary, and local levels. The polls were marred by logistical problems and postelection controversy, but were largely regarded as credible by local and international observers. Polling stations opened late due to a lack of voting materials, and technical problems with electronic tabulation systems delayed the vote counting. Voting was thus extended for two extra days in some areas. In certain districts, evidence suggested there were more votes cast than the number of registered voters, though this was in part attributed to people voting in districts other than those they were registered in. After preliminary results indicated that Mutharika was in the lead, then president Joyce Banda called for a national recount, citing concerns about vote-rigging.

Two days later, Banda announced that she was nullifying the elections, and ordered a new round be held within 90 days, in which she would not compete. However, Banda's order was declared unconstitutional by the High Court. The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and Banda then requested a period of 30 days to recount all four million votes and address electoral complaints before declaring a winner. Mutharika and the Democratic People's Party (DPP) demanded that the results be announced within the required eight days after the end of voting. At the end of May 2014, the High Court decided that while the MEC could in theory recount the ballots, it still must announce the results within the eight-day period, essentially forcing the MEC to rely on its original count.

Immediately after the court's decision, Mutharika of the DPP was declared the winner with 36 percent of the vote. Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) placed second, with 28 percent. Banda won 20 percent, and Atupele Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) won 14 percent. In the parliamentary elections, the DPP took 50 seats, the MCP took 48, the People's Party (PP) claimed 26, and the UDF captured 14. Independents won an unprecedented 52 seats. The Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN)  a coalition of civil society groups  sent out 800 parallel observers on polling day and found almost identical final counts as those released by the MEC.

International analysts found the electoral framework to be generally fair and in line with basic democratic standards. However, they called for requiring political parties to disclose their sources of financing and to report on campaign spending. They also suggested setting clearer prohibitions on the use of state resources to benefit the incumbent party, along with enforcement mechanisms. The MEC was generally described as impartial but underresourced and unprepared.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 12 / 16

The main political parties are the ruling DPP, the PP, the MCP  which ruled Malawi for nearly three decades after independence in 1963  and the UDF. New political parties are allowed to register unhindered, and political parties were able to campaign freely throughout the country ahead of the 2014 polls. Opposition parties were more competitive in the 2014 elections than in the past, and won greater representation in the legislature. Politicians frequently move between parties or break away to form their own parties. Indeed, the DPP is a breakaway of the UDF, and the PP a breakaway of the DPP.

The UDF has formed a working alliance with the ruling DPP. UDF president Muluzi is the only member of the opposition in cabinet. (Muluzi is the son of former president Bakili Muluzi with whom Mutharika's brother, former president Bingu wa Mutharika, fell out in 2005, resulting in the formation of DPP.) In May 2015, most of the UDF's legislators  though not the party's leader  moved to the ruling parties benches in Parliament The move prompted a petition from a civil society leader to the speaker of the National Assembly, Richard Msowoya, of the opposition MCP, to declare the UDF lawmakers' seats vacant, as the constitution prohibits members of parliament from defecting to another party. However, the attorney general advised the speaker that the provision was not applicable as the UDF lawmakers had not actually changed parties. The MCP expressed fears that the DPP-led parliamentary coalition was seeking to impeach the speaker, but the DPP said it had no such intention.

Mutharika has made good on his promise to meet with opposition leaders to discuss matters of concern for the whole nation. However, he has been criticized for selecting cabinet ministers mostly from the southern region of the country and from his own ethnic group.

C. Functioning of Government: 7 / 12

Corruption is endemic in Malawi. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has estimated that 30 percent of the annual budget is lost to corruption each year, and the true percentage may be much higher. The ACB, which is in charge of investigating and prosecuting official malfeasance, is considered to be competent but underfunded.

In June 2015, a German-funded national audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers was made public. The audit report revealed that 577 billion kwacha ($800 million) in public funds had gone missing between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2014, and recommended further investigations. Arrests and prosecutions of those implicated in the scandal, which first emerged in 2013 and is known informally as Cashgate, continued in 2015. In September, Oswald Lutepo, a former PP senior official, was convicted on charges of money laundering and theft of 4.1 billion kwacha ($8.5 million), and received an 11-year sentence. Lutepo insisted that the corruption was carried out on behalf of former president Banda, a claim she disputes.

Although no criminal charges were brought against Banda in connection with the scandal, she left Malawi for a United Nations summit in 2014 and had yet to return to Malawi at the end of 2015. The scandal has had serious financial and administrative implications for the country; international donors in February 2015 cut off $150 million in budget support.

Laws require high-level public officials to declare their assets and other financial interests while in public service. In March 2015, Mutharika declared assets valued at nearly $10 million. Malawi was ranked 112 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Civil Liberties: 37 / 60 (+3)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 13 / 16 (+2)

Freedom of the press is legally guaranteed and generally respected in practice. The independent media is often critical of the government, and although journalists have faced threats and harassment in the past, no serious instances of this were reported in 2015. However, in October, after receiving harsh criticism from media outlets concerning the large size of his delegation to the UN General Assembly, President Mutharika claimed that the press was acting irresponsibly and on behalf of the opposition. The incident prompted a rebuke from the Malawi chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa.

Libel remains both a criminal and civil offense. Mutharika has not yet signed the Declaration of Table Mountain, which calls on African governments to abolish criminal defamation laws, despite telling journalists and press freedom activists that he would consider doing so after a meeting with them in 2014. Malawi lacks a freedom of information (FOI) law. Despite previous pledges of support for one, Mutharika dismissed a FOI bill in a November 2015 cabinet meeting, claiming it contained "many inconsistencies."

The government-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and TV Malawi  the dominant outlets  display bias in favor of the government. There are no government restrictions on the internet, but just 9 percent of the population used the medium in 2015.

The constitution upholds freedom of religion, and this right is respected in practice. Academic freedom is generally respected. However, Mutharika was criticized for remarking in May 2015 that university professors should focus on academic publications rather than commenting on public matters in the media. But in October, he reassured academics of the government's commitment to academic freedom.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 8 / 12 (+1)

Freedoms of assembly and association are guaranteed in the constitution and by law. The government generally respects people's rights to protest peacefully, and there were several peaceful protests in 2015 against issues including inadequate health care services, poor leadership and financial mismanagement by the government, and xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Many South African-owned business remained closed for a day during the antixenophobia protests, which called for the boycotting of South African products and businesses. Mutharika has apologized on several occasions for the slaying of about 20 protestors by his brother's administration in 2011. On the anniversary of the killings in July 2015, a presidential spokesperson acknowledged that the protestors were not "thieves" as originally claimed.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) generally operate without interference from the government. However, certain legal provisions regarding registration and fees for NGOs are considered onerous, and the government has been accused of harassing groups doing politically sensitive work. In October 2015, a group of civil society organizations called on the president to resign on the grounds that he has failed to address the governance and economic challenges facing the country. Although no reprisals were reported, a cabinet minister in June 2015 threatened that "noisy" NGOs would be banned if they failed to register with the NGO Board. In November, a group of regional NGOs called for the depoliticization of Malawi's NGO Board, saying it strategically funded pro-government groups whose activities in large part included defending the government against corruption and other allegations levied by "bonafide" NGOs.

The rights to organize labor unions and to strike are legally protected, with notice and mediation requirements for workers in essential services. Unions are active and collective bargaining is practiced, but in the past workers have faced harassment and occasional violence during strikes. Since only a small percentage of the workforce is formally employed, union membership is low. Strikes are common among Malawi's public sector workers, who often experience delays in their already low pay. In 2015, strike actions occurred among judicial workers, public health care workers, teachers, and parliamentary support workers.

F. Rule of Law: 9 / 16

Judicial independence is generally respected. However, the overburdened and inefficient court system lacks resources, personnel, and training. A backlog of cases and commonly exorbitant bail terms mean that most defendants spend months or even years in pretrial detention. Poverty and a lack of state resources result in the vast majority of defendants navigating their cases without legal representation. The police force is likewise poorly trained and often ineffective. As a result, recent years have seen an increase in vigilantism that undermines the rule of law.

Police brutality is common, as are arbitrary arrests and detentions. In June 2015, a police station in Blantyre was set on fire by residents following the death of a person allegedly tortured by the police. In July, a police officer was convicted of the 2012 murder of a student who was being held in police custody.

Prison conditions are dire, characterized by overcrowding and extremely poor health conditions; many inmates die from AIDS and other diseases. Hundreds of migrants from various African countries trying to reach South Africa are detained in Malawi on charges of entering the country illegally. Many have remained in detention even after finishing their sentences because Malawi cannot afford to return them to their home countries.

There has been a recent upsurge in criminal activity by members of the police force, including armed robberies and break-ins, which has eroded the credibility of law enforcement. Police officers cite low pay and promotions based on tribalism and political affiliation as some of the reasons for discontent in their ranks.

Consensual sexual activity between same-sex couples remains illegal and punishable by up to 14 years in prison. However, the application of the law has been suspended pending a High Court decision on its constitutionality, and in December 2015 the government dropped charges against two men who had been charged under its provisions. A new marriage law that took effect in April 2015 defined marriage as between a man and a women, ruling out the possibility of same-sex marriages.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 7 / 16

The constitution establishes freedom of internal movement and foreign travel, which are generally respected in practice. However, refugees are under an encampment policy in which the government periodically rounds them up and returns them to camps.

Property rights do not receive adequate protection, and starting a business can be a cumbersome process. Business is also impeded by corruption in the various customs, tax, and procurement agencies. In November 2015, Malawi's land minister issued a warning that unused land owned by developers would be repossessed by the government unless the developers started to use it.

Women won about 17 percent of parliamentary seats in the 2014 elections, down from 22 percent in the 2009 vote. Despite constitutional guarantees of equal protection, customary practices perpetuate discrimination against women in education, employment, business, and inheritance and property rights. Violence against women is prevalent. Child marriage remains pervasive, with around half of girls marrying before their 18th birthday. The new marriage law that took effect in April 2015 raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 years. In June, a chief in Dezda District annulled 330 child marriages. However, the constitution, which provides that children above the age of 15 years may marry with parental consent, has yet to be amended. The 2015 marriage law also has provisions intended to protect women from being deprived of property after the death of their husbands, and from domestic violence and marital rape.

Trafficking in women and children, both within the country and to locations abroad, is a problem. Penalties for the few successfully prosecuted traffickers have been cited as too lenient, and the U.S. State Department has criticized the government's efforts to protect victims and prevent trafficking as inadequate.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Madagascar

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Madagascar, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f326.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 56

Freedom Rating: 3.5

Political Rights: 3

Civil Liberties: 4

Ratings Change:

Madagascar's political rights rating improved from 4 to 3 due to competitive local elections in July and greater transparency in the drafting of legislation.

Quick Facts

Capital: Antananarivo

Population: 23,047,400

GDP/capita: $449.40

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Madagascar continued its progress toward democratic consolidation in 2015. Competitive elections for local government positions in July and the Senate in December completed the return to democratic government after Andry Rajoelina's 2009 military-backed coup. The National Assembly voted to impeach President Hery Rajaonarimampianina in May 2015, citing his failure to uphold the constitution, but a court ruling struck down the attempt.

Madagascar launched the "Fahalemana 2015" operation in August 2015 to combat widespread insecurity in the south from organized groups of cattle thieves. The state has only nominal control over the south of the country, where local security forces are often viewed to be complacent or cooperative with armed groups. Eight members of the army were killed in an ambush in August 2015. Human rights groups have highlighted security forces' abuses of citizens, including summary executions.

International funding has resumed since the 2009 coup and ensuing political crisis, but the fall in global commodities prices has undercut the mining sector, which serves as the main source of foreign investment. Large demonstrations took place in the coastal city of Toamasina in December 2014 and January 2015 over persistent outages from the power company, Jirama, and citizen perceptions of widespread corruption in the energy sector.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 24 / 40 (+2)

A. Electoral Process: 9 / 12

The president and the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, are directly elected to five-year terms. The 151 seats in the National Assembly are filled through a mix of party-list voting in multimember constituencies and majoritarian contests in single-member districts. The National Assembly nominates the prime minister and the president appoints the nominee. While the 2010 constitution calls for the establishment of a Senate, no members were chosen until December 2015. The president appoints one-third of the 33-member Senate while the remaining two-thirds are indirectly elected from each of the 22 districts of Madagascar. President Rajaonarimampianina's party, Hery Vaovao Madagasikara (HVM), won 65 percent of the vote. The formation of the Senate will mark the first time that the full executive and legislative bodies of Madagascar will fully function since Rajoelina ousted then-President Ravalomanana in a 2009 military coup.

Elections for the National Assembly took place in 2013 alongside the country's presidential elections. The parliamentary elections were deemed free and fair by international observers, though several hundred thousand people were left off the voter rolls during the election's first round. The With Andry Rajoelina (MAPAR) party won 49 of 151 parliamentary seats, the Ravalomanana Movement took 20, the Vondrona Politika Miara-Dia-Malagasy Miara-Miainga (VPM-MMM) party won 13, and various other parties and independent candidates took the remainder. For the presidency, Rajaonarimampianina  a former finance minister backed by Rajoelina  was elected with 54 percent of the vote. After taking office, Rajaonarimampianina broke from Rajoelina's influence.

In January 2015, opposition dissatisfaction led to the resignation of the prime minister. Continued dissatisfaction among opposition factions led to the new prime minister narrowly escaping a no-confidence vote in July. Meanwhile, the required two-thirds of the National Assembly voted in May 2015 to impeach President Rajaonarimampianina, citing his deliberate mixing of religion and politics and his failure to uphold the constitution. The High Constitutional Court ruled against the National Assembly's decision in June, calling the attempt unfounded. Rajoelina and members of his party, MAPAR, continued to call for the president to step down and for early elections to be held.

In July 2015 regional and municipal elections, Rajaonarimampianina's HVM won more than half the races. Though the electoral process was free and fair, there were accusations of inaccurate voter rolls and use of state resources for campaigning. Confusion over the electoral rules prior to the municipal elections advantaged state campaigns over smaller parties. The mandate of the transitional electoral management body ended after the municipal elections, and the government established a new independent body.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 10 / 16 (+1)

Despite restrictions on opposition political activity during the transitional period under Rajoelina, political parties were generally able to operate ahead of the national elections in 2013, when 33 candidates ran for president. Rajaonarimampianina established his own party leading up to the presidential elections. In 2015 local elections, multiple opposition parties competed, many of which have advanced policies and platforms against the government.

The return of former president Marc Ravalomanana from exile in 2014, and his release from house arrest in May 2015, destabilized parliamentary alliances as he worked to reestablish his nascent political party structure. Ravalomanana was sentenced in 2010 in absentia to life in prison with hard labor for allegedly ordering the killing of at least 30 opposition protesters in 2009. He has not received amnesty for the conviction. In a test of his party's return to politics, Ravalomanana's wife, Lalao, won the mayoralty in Antananarivo in 2015.

C. Functioning of Government: 5 / 12 (+1)

Elected officials are susceptible to outside influence; the large number of independent candidates in the National Assembly, as well as Rajaonarimampianina's constantly shifting coalition, have facilitated opportunities for vote buying among legislators.

Though Rajaonarimampianina has committed to reducing corruption, the independent anticorruption bureau released a report in September 2015 stating that corrupt activity has stayed level or worsened since the president took office. Funding for the bureau decreased for 2015. Madagascar was ranked 123 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Despite a 2010 decree that prohibited the logging, transport, trading, and export of precious woods, the illegal trade continues. In 2014, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) lifted its three-year suspension of Madagascar, citing the commitments of the newly elected government to EITI standards. Illegally harvested rosewood and other precious timbers continue to be smuggled offshore with low levels of government intervention and occasional official complicity in the practice. Finance budgets are open to the public and introduced in parliament. The government has added civil society positions to lawmaking panels.

Civil Liberties: 30 / 60 (+2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 10 / 16 (+1)

The constitution provides for freedoms of speech and of the press. While Rajoelina's transitional government routinely ignored press freedom, the current government has demonstrated greater respect for media freedom and freedom of expression. Government censorship and intimidation of journalists continue, though at lower levels. There are a variety of newspaper, radio, and television outlets available to citizens, though political leaders own or operate several of the papers as a means to promote their party and personal interests. The state-run radio and television stations favor the government. The government occasionally interferes with the media, including in 2015 radio and television stations owned by Ravalomanana and Rajoelina. In August 2015, unknown assailants ransacked and destroyed a MAPAR-backed television station in the city of Fianarantsoa following its criticism of municipal election results. However, violence against journalists has generally decreased. A 2014 cybercrime law punishes online defamation of state officials with up to five years' imprisonment.

The Malagasy people have traditionally enjoyed religious freedom. In April 2015, the government relaxed limitations on a Protestant church closely associated with Ravalomanana, which was subject to frequent government intervention during the transition period. Academic freedom is generally respected.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 8 / 12

Rajaonarimampiana's administration has eased the freedom of assembly restrictions imposed after the 2009 coup. Repression of political gatherings has generally declined in the past two years and political rallies in the lead-up to the 2015 elections were rarely prevented. Nevertheless, political demonstrators are still occasionally subject to violence from security forces or restrictions on assembly.

Freedom of association is generally respected, and hundreds of nongovernmental organizations, including human rights groups, are active. Workers have the right to join unions, engage in collective bargaining, and strike. However, more than 80 percent of workers are engaged in agriculture, fishing, and forestry at a subsistence level and therefore have no access to unions.

F. Rule of Law: 6 / 16

The judiciary remains susceptible to corruption and executive influence. In 2014, Rajaonarimampianina appointed a new president and three additional new members to the High Constitutional Court (HCC). Although legal, the new appointments were in the president's interests and raised concerns about the separation of powers. In June 2015, the HCC ruled against the National Assembly's vote to impeach the president. Judges evaluating the hundreds of complaints submitted over the 2015 electoral process were largely seen to be impartial, though they reportedly received a number of unspecified threats. The executive continues to exert pressure on judges through reassigning magistrates to different locations.

A lack of training, resources, and personnel hampers judicial effectiveness, and case backlogs are lengthy. More than half of the people held in the country's prisons are pretrial detainees, and prisoners suffer from harsh and sometimes life-threatening conditions due to overcrowding and substandard hygiene and health care. Parliament unanimously voted to abolish the death penalty in 2014. Customary-law courts in rural areas continue to lack due process guarantees and regularly issue summary and severe punishments.

The army and security forces demonstrated neutrality during the 2015 impeachment attempt and the municipal elections, though loyalty in the security forces is historically fractured between different political movements. The police and military are unable to assert authority over the entirety of Madagascar. In addition, cattle thieves, known as dahalo, exist in portions of the south and often collude with security officials. In August 2015, the government launched a large security operation against the dahalos, leading to reports of military involvement in a number of civilian deaths and summary executions of suspected thieves.

A political cleavage has traditionally existed between the coastal cotier and the highland Merina peoples, of continental African and Southeast Asian origins, respectively. Due to past military conquest and longstanding political dominance, the Merina tend to have higher status than the cotier. Ethnicity, caste, and regional solidarity often lead to discrimination. Same-sex sexual relations are not criminalized, but LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people still face discrimination from some segments of the state and society.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 8 / 16 (+1)

Despite decentralized village patrols and the escalation of government operations, dahalo groups hamper the free movement of citizens in certain regions. Security patrols cease operations after dark. Dahalo raids have led to an uptick in internally displaced people.

Madagascar's legal structure provides protections for private property rights, and secured interests in property are recognized though not entirely enforced. The vast majority of farmers do not hold the official rights to their land. Foreigners are prohibited from owning land. Citizens, companies, and foreign entities are able to buy and sell property, though corruption impedes proper functioning of the system.

The proportion of women in parliament increased from 17.5 percent to 20.5 percent after the 2013 elections. Women still face societal discrimination and enjoy fewer opportunities than men for higher education and employment. Though women are legally allowed to own land, when a couple applies for certification it will appear, at least 80 percent of the time, in only the man's name. According to the U.S. State Department's 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, Madagascar has improved its efforts to reduce trafficking of men, women, and children into forced labor and sex work at home and abroad. The government created a human trafficking bureau in March 2015 and began a nationwide awareness campaign in July.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Macedonia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Macedonia, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f334.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 57

Freedom Rating: 3.5

Political Rights: 4

Civil Liberties: 3

Trend Arrow: 

Trend Arrow:

Macedonia received a downward trend arrow due to further revelations about the grave shortcomings of the 2014 elections, which caused an opposition legislative boycott; the new information formed part of a related scandal over widespread government surveillance of political and religious leaders, journalists, and private citizens.

Quick Facts

Capital: Skopje

Population: 2,070,100

GDP/capita: $5,455.60

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

The political and security situation in Macedonia declined markedly in 2015. In February, Zoran Zaev, head of the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), alleged that the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski had sponsored an enormous wiretapping program carried out by the country's secret service. Under the program, more than 20,000 people may have had their private conversations illegally recorded. The leaked contents of some of the wiretaps, which Zaev released periodically, suggested among other things that members of the governing Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) had engaged in significant vote-rigging schemes during the 2013 local and 2014 parliamentary elections. The scandal led to the resignations in May of the interior and transportation ministers, as well as the country's intelligence chief.

Major clashes took place in April and May between government security forces and what officials said were ethnic Albanian militants. In April, police said a border post near Kosovo had been overrun by an Albanian militia, while in May, 14 gunmen and 8 Macedonian security officers were killed when the officers raided part of an ethnic Albanian neighborhood in Kumanovo; the government characterized the operation's targets as ethnic Albanian terrorists. Critics of the government, including Zaev, accused the VMRO-DPMNE of orchestrating the incidents to distract attention from the wiretapping scandal.

A June political agreement brokered by the European Union (EU) called for early elections by April 2016 and the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the wiretapping scandal. However, tensions between the government and opposition remained high at year's end, and full implementation of the agreement was in doubt.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 22 / 40 (-1)

A. Electoral Process: 6 / 12 (-1)

Members of the unicameral, 123-seat Assembly are elected to four-year terms by proportional representation. The Assembly elects the prime minister, who holds most executive power. The president is elected to a five-year term through a direct popular vote. Most postindependence elections have met international standards.

Both presidential and early parliamentary elections took place in 2014. The bloc led by the VMRO-DPMNE won 61 parliamentary seats, followed by the SDSM with 34 seats. The ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)  the VMRO-DPMNE's coalition partner  won 19 seats, the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) won 7 seats, and two minor parties took one seat each. Gruevski retained his post as prime minister, and in the presidential election, incumbent Gjorge Ivanov of the VMRO-DPMNE was reelected. The SDSM rejected the election results, claiming that the ruling party had manipulated the vote. After months of opposition boycotts and growing political deadlock, in June 2015 the EU brokered an agreement calling for new elections by April 2016.

The 2014 elections were criticized by international observers for a number of shortcomings, most of them regarding the campaign period. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted that while the elections were "efficiently administered," the separation between party and state in the campaign was not always sufficient or clear, and several instances of alleged voter intimidation were reported.

Some of the wiretapped conversations released by the opposition in 2015 appeared to indicate that senior VMRO-DPMNE figures had engaged in election fraud during both the 2013 local and 2014 parliamentary elections. The opposition also voiced concern about the snap elections to be held in 2016, claiming that the voter rolls were riddled with the names of nonexistent voters.

The parliament adopted a number of changes to the electoral code in November 2015 as part of the EU-backed political agreement, addressing key opposition concerns. However, the quality of implementation, particularly regarding an audit of the voter list, remained unclear at year's end.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 10 / 16

The constitution protects the right to establish and join political parties. The center-right VMRO-DPMNE has won every parliamentary election since 2006, ruling in coalition with a number of parties representing ethnic minorities. The left-leaning SDSM held power through much of the 1990s and early 2000s, and is currently the leading opposition party.

Ethnic Albanians make up about 25 percent of the population. One of the two main political parties representing Albanians has sat in each ruling coalition, and certain types of legislation must pass with a majority of legislators from both major ethnic groups in the Assembly. Macedonians living abroad can elect up to three Assembly members.

Politically fraught violence between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians continues to erupt periodically. However, following the May 2015 violence in Kumanovo  which some opposition figures attributed to a government plot to fray interethnic relations in order to distract from the wiretapping scandal  thousands of ethnic Albanians and ethnic Macedonians protested together against Gruevski's administration.

C. Functioning of Government: 6 / 12

Following the 2014 elections, the SDSM refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government and commenced a parliamentary boycott. Even after the EU-brokered political agreement in June 2015, strained relations between the government and opposition hampered the regular operation of state institutions. It remained unclear at the end of the year whether the deal would be successful in resolving the crisis.

Corruption is a serious problem in Macedonia. While anticorruption legislation is in place, and measures to clarify party funding and prevent conflicts of interest have been strengthened, implementation is weak. Graft and misconduct are widespread in public procurement. The judiciary lacks experience handling high-level corruption cases, and greater interagency cooperation is needed to identify problem areas in anticorruption efforts, according to the European Commission (EC). The Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and Corruption suffers from low administrative capacity. Macedonia was ranked 66 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Civil Liberties: 35 / 60 (-2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 10 / 16 (-1)

The constitution provides for freedom of the press. However, Macedonian media are subject to political pressure and harassment, resulting in self-censorship. Media outlets are divided along ethnic lines. Wiretap recordings released by the opposition in 2015 appeared to reveal conversations between high-level government functionaries and the staff of several major television stations  including the public broadcaster and Sitel, a private, progovernment television station with national reach  indicating that the government was directly influencing editorial policies. The government in October introduced draft legislation that would prohibit the release and republication of content from the wiretaps, drawing sharp criticism from independent observers and the opposition. Internet access is unrestricted.

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion. A long-standing dispute between the breakaway Macedonian Orthodox Church and the canonically recognized Serbian Orthodox Church remains unresolved. Islamophobia is present in the rhetoric of politicians and in public discourse.

Although academic freedom is generally unrestricted, the education system is weak by European standards. Textbooks barely cover the postindependence period, primarily because ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians interpret the 2001 civil conflict differently. Increasingly, schools are becoming ethnically segregated.

Space for free private discussion contracted in the wake of the opposition's credible allegations of widespread government wiretapping and monitoring of private citizens, journalists, politicians, and religious leaders.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 8 / 12

Constitutional guarantees of freedoms of assembly and association are generally respected. Student and opposition protests that began in 2014 continued in 2015. Largely peaceful, student-led demonstrations against the VMRO-DPMNE held early in the year were replaced by violent clashes in May between opposition groups and the police, which, combined with the violence in Kumanovo, prompted the EU to step in and help broker the agreement reached in June. Despite the agreement, a sense among much of the Macedonian opposition that the Gruevski government was illegitimate fueled calls for extraparliamentary activism. A group on the progovernment side, the Citizens' Movement to Defend Macedonia, hosted its own events at which the opposition was typically accused of being backed by foreign interests seeking Gruevski's ouster.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) generally operate freely but are often polarized along political lines. A lack of resources for Macedonia's Government Unit for NGO Cooperation has hampered a strategy to promote cooperation between the government and civil society, according to the EC.

Workers may organize and bargain collectively, though trade unions lack stable financing and skilled managers, and journalists have reportedly been fired for their union activities. Macedonia's largest public-sector union, the Workers' Union of Education, Science, and Culture, reported that its members were pressured by government officials as well as progovernment media and unions while striking in January 2015.

F. Rule of Law: 7 / 16 (-1)

Improving judicial independence, impartiality, and efficiency remains a priority for Macedonia, which has been carrying out comprehensive reforms of the judiciary over the past decade. However, fundamental problems remain, including concerns over the weak independence of the Constitutional Court. The EC in its 2015 report noted recent "backsliding" on previous years' progress, which it attributed to "actual and potential political interference" in the judiciary's work. The ability of the special prosecutor investigating the wiretapping scandal to work freely in the coming year was seen as a crucial indicator of the justice system's effectiveness.

In April, police said several dozen masked gunmen wearing insignia of a disbanded ethnic Albanian paramilitary group had temporarily seized a border post near Kosovo, during which time they detained four Macedonian security officers. In May, 14 gunmen and 8 Macedonian security officers were killed when police raided a mostly Albanian neighborhood in Kumanovo, a town in the country's north; the government characterized the gunmen as ethnic Albanian terrorists. While the events prompted some unease over the potential for communal violence in Macedonia, many experts downplayed such concerns, noting the multiethnic nature of the antigovernment protest movement. Critics of the government claimed that the ruling party had orchestrated the incidents to fan ethnic tensions and distract from the wiretapping scandal.

In 2015, Macedonia emerged as a major transit country for hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East and elsewhere as they sought to reach more receptive European countries to the north. Rights groups and others condemned Macedonian police for numerous instances of violence against the refugees.

Roma, ethnic Albanians, and other vulnerable groups face discrimination. Minority groups have criticized the ongoing Skopje 2014 urban development plan, arguing that its themes ignore their heritage and present a monoethnic image of the country.

A 2010 antidiscrimination law does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) sentiment is widespread.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 10 / 16

Travel and movement are generally unrestricted. Membership in a party within the ruling coalition is often an informal precondition for employment in the public sector. While the government has streamlined procedures to launch a business, licensing fees can be prohibitively expensive. Unemployment has been estimated at about 27 percent, but the actual figure may be smaller given Macedonia's sizeable shadow economy.

In 2014, the VMRO-DPMNE proposed a constitutional amendment that would narrow the definition of marriage, making it applicable only to a relationship between a man and a woman. The parliament voted to approve the amendment in January 2015, and took further steps to complicate the possibility of future civil-union legislation being enacted.

While women in Macedonia enjoy the same legal rights as men, societal attitudes limit their participation in nontraditional roles, and women rarely participate in local politics. In Albanian Muslim areas, many women are subject to proxy voting by male relatives. Forty women were elected to the 123-seat legislature in 2014. Despite the ongoing implementation of a strategy against domestic violence, it remains a serious problem, as does the trafficking of women for forced labor and sex work.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Lithuania

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Lithuania, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f346.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.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 91

Freedom Rating: 1.0

Political Rights: 1

Civil Liberties: 1

Quick Facts

Capital: Vilnius

Population: 2,911,203

GDP/capita: $16,444.80

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Tensions stemming from Russia's invasion of Crimea have been influencing developments in Lithuania since 2014. With President Dalia Grybauskaite citing security concerns, in March 2015 the parliament approved the reintroduction of military conscription. Meanwhile, authorities continued to scrutinize broadcasts of Russian television channels. In July, the European Commission backed Lithuanian authorities' move weeks earlier to ban the Russian television channel RTR Planeta for three months; Lithuanian officials had said its programming incited hatred.

In March 2015, Lithuania held local elections. For the first time, residents were able to directly elect mayors of their municipalities. Separately, in January 2015, Lithuania adopted the euro currency, and in April it was invited to open formal accession talks with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 38 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

Lithuania's 1992 constitution established a unicameral, 141-seat Parliament (Seimas), with 71 members elected in single-mandate constituencies and 70 chosen by proportional representation, all for four-year terms. The prime minister is named by the president, but is subject to confirmation by the parliament. The president is directly elected and may serve up to two five-year terms.

In 2012 parliamentary elections, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP) finished first with 38 seats; the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) captured 33 seats; the Labor Party (DP) took 29 seats; the Order and Justice Party (TT) won 11 seats; the Liberal Movement (LRLS) captured 10 seats; and the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (LLRA) won 8 seats. LSDP leader Algirdas Butkevicius became the prime minister and assembled a four-party coalition comprising the LSDP, the DP, the TT, and the LLRA. In 2014, the LLRA left the coalition after Grybauskaite fired Energy Minister Jaroslav Neverovic, the only Polish minister in the government.

In 2014, incumbent president Dalia Grybauskaite won the presidential run-off against Zigmantas Balcytis, a member of the LSDP. Grybauskaite became the first Lithuanian president elected to two consecutive terms.

In March 2015, local elections were held. For the first time, voters were able to directly elect their mayors. Due to numerous irregularities, elections in three municipalities were annulled and had to be reorganized; the election commission assessed the reruns, which took place in June, as fair.

In September 2015, the Lithuanian parliament gave its initial backing to a constitutional amendment that would have allowed former president Rolandas Paksas, who was impeached and removed from office in 2004, to run for president and for a seat in the parliament. (In 2014, the Lithuanian Central Electoral Commission had refused to register Paksas for the presidential election because of a previous Constitutional Court ruling holding that persons removed from office by impeachment for having violated a constitutional oath can no longer assume positions necessitating the swearing of an oath.) However, the parliament ultimately rejected the amendment during the second required vote, held in December 2015.

An October 2015 Constitutional Court ruling found existing disparities in the number of voters per constituency unconstitutional. The parliament is subsequently expected to debate several electoral reforms that could address the ruling.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

Lithuania's political parties generally operate freely, although the Communist Party is banned. Lithuanian politics have been characterized by shifting coalitions among several different parties. The two largest minority groups, Polish (6.6 percent of the population) and Russian (5.8 percent), are represented by the LLRA and the Russian Alliance parties. The two minority parties formed a coalition for local elections in 2015, and won two mayoralties. Due to pressure from the European Union (EU), citizens of other EU member states who do not belong to political organizations of foreign countries and who have lived in Lithuania for at least five years were made eligible to become members of Lithuanian political parties in 2015. However, they cannot found political parties.

C. Functioning of Government: 10 / 12

Corruption remains an issue in Lithuania. While the EU has acknowledged a strong legal framework for combatting corruption and the government's commitment to anticorruption efforts, it has also noted room for improvement, especially in the area of procurement.

In September 2015, it was revealed that Butkevicius had failed to disclose his son-in-law's ownership stake in a public relations company, as required by the law. Opposition members in the parliament threatened to launch an inquiry into the affair, but it did not appear that one had been initiated at the year's end.

Lithuanian law grants the public the right to request information, and the government generally complies with information requests. Lithuania ranked 32 out of 168 countries and territories in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Civil Liberties: 53 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 16 / 16

The government generally respects freedoms of speech and the press. Privately owned newspapers and independent broadcasters express a wide variety of views. Political parties are banned from directly owning news media outlets. While individual party members are excluded from the ban, they are obligated to disclose ownership; however, regulations on the disclosure of media ownership are not always enforced. A number of both ruling-coalition and opposition politicians control news media outlets. The government does not restrict internet access.

Amendments to the Law on Public Information approved in May 2015 established penalties for media outlets that spread war propaganda, call for violently changing the constitutional order, or challenge the country's sovereignty or territorial integrity. In 2014, the parliament also reformed the media self-regulation body by establishing that it would consist of media representatives only.

During 2014 and 2015, several Russian television channels including NTV Mir, RTR Planeta, Ren TV Baltic, and PBK Lithuania were fined or saw broadcasts temporarily banned for providing misleading and derogatory information or inciting public discord. In July 2015, the EC backed a move by Lithuanian authorities weeks earlier to ban channel RTR Planeta for three months on grounds that its programming incited hatred.

After the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information in 2010, which banned exposing minors to any materials that "agitate for homosexual, bisexual, and polygamous relations," there have been several cases in which public information about rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people has been restricted.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by law and largely upheld in practice. However, nine so-called traditional religious communities, including the Roman Catholic Church, enjoy certain government benefits, including annual subsidies that are not granted to other groups. There are few mosques in Lithuania, and none in Vilnius. Both the prime minister and the mayor of Vilnius stated in 2015 that constructing a mosque in the capital is not a priority, even as Lithuania prepares to accept a number of refugees under EU quotas, many of whom are likely to be Muslim.

Academic freedom is respected. There are no restrictions on private discussion.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 11 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are generally observed. However, individuals and groups must notify authorities before staging protests of more than 10 people. Nongovernmental organizations may register without facing serious obstacles, and operate without restrictions. Workers may form and join trade unions, strike, and engage in collective bargaining, though there have been reports of employees being punished for attempting to organize.

F. Rule of Law: 13 / 16

The constitution guarantees judicial independence, which is largely respected in practice. Defendants generally enjoy due process rights, including the presumption of innocence and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, but detained suspects are not always granted timely access to an attorney. Police abuse of detainees and lengthy pretrial detentions are lingering issues. In 2014, a UN committee found that Lithuania's prisons continued to suffer from a number of problems, including overcrowding, substandard living conditions, and lack of access to essential services such as health care and sanitation facilities.

Discrimination against ethnic minorities, who comprise about 16 percent of the population, remains a problem. The Polish minority has demanded the right to spell their names in their original form and to use bilingual location signs in areas with large Polish populations. However, Lithuanian law indicates that public signs must be written only in Lithuanian.

Members of the LGBT community face discrimination. A proposal to ban sex reassignment surgery stalled in 2012, but these procedures are still not possible under the Civil Code. While the code theoretically allows for such surgery in the case of unmarried adults, it stipulates that certain medical regulations must first be enacted by law. A bill that would have done so was voted down in 2014.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 13 / 16

Lithuanian residents may travel freely within the country and internationally. They generally enjoy economic freedom.

Men and women enjoy the same legal rights, though women generally earn less than men per hour worked. Lithuania's constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

In March 2015, the parliament voted overwhelmingly to reintroduce conscription due to increasing geopolitical tensions in the region and insufficient reserve forces. The National Defense Ministry plans to annually draft 3,000 to 5,000 men between the ages of 19 and 26 for nine months of service.

In 2015, the government initiated a number of programs aimed at better adjudicating cases of human trafficking and identifying trafficking victims. Boys and girls living in orphanages are at risk of sex trafficking. Lithuanian children and adults have been forced to engage in criminal activity including shoplifting and drug-selling in other parts of Europe.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Liberia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Liberia, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f356.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 61

Freedom Rating: 3.5

Political Rights: 3

Civil Liberties: 4

Quick Facts

Capital: Monrovia

Population: 4,503,000

GDP/capita: $461

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Following a severe 2014 outbreak of the Ebola virus in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, the World Health Organization declared Liberia free of Ebola virus transmission in May 2015. The announcement followed a change in government strategy in late 2014 that favored community engagement over coercive tactics in combatting the virus. The success of government-led community engagement is widely credited with Ebola's early decline in Liberia, compared to neighboring countries. As flare-ups continued through the end of 2015, communities remained vigilant and cooperative.

Personal autonomy and individual rights improved in 2015 following the cessation of the Ebola crisis and the lifting of restrictions imposed under an associated state of emergency, including border closures, a curfew, and bans on gatherings. Recent rulings by the nation's highest court reflected increased judicial independence and courts' increased willingness to intervene to protect people's rights. However, petty corruption and a lack of capacity within the justice and security sectors remained major impediments to the rule of law.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 28 / 40 (+2)

A. Electoral Process: 9 / 12

The bicameral legislature consists of a 30-member Senate and a 73-member House of Representatives; senators are elected to nine-year terms, and representatives to six-year terms. Staggered senatorial elections were introduced in 2011. The president can serve up to two six-year terms.

In the 2011 parliamentary elections, incumbent president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's Unity Party (UP) secured a plurality of 24 seats in the House and 4 of the 15 seats at stake in the Senate. The opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) placed second with 11 House seats and 2 Senate seats. Several smaller parties and independents divided the remainder. In the concurrent presidential race, Sirleaf captured 44 percent of the vote, while the CDC's Winston Tubman took 32 percent, and Prince Johnson of the National Union for Democratic Progress secured 12 percent. Sirleaf was reelected after winning 91 percent of the vote in a runoff, leaving Tubman with only 9 percent. Although opposition members alleged fraud and corruption, international and local observers found that the elections had been comparatively free, fair, and peaceful, with isolated incidents of violence before and after the voting. The government briefly shut down radio and television stations with perceived pro-CDC biases before the vote.

Elections to 15 of Liberia's 30 Senate seats were held in December 2014 after several months of delay due to the Ebola crisis. Despite the presence of strict health protocols for voters, turnout was depressed by fears of Ebola. The election resulted in major losses for incumbent politicians in general and the UP in particular, attributed to widespread discontent with the government's past handling of the Ebola crisis. The UP held just 8 seats in the body after the polls. The CDC and NPP were left with 4 Senate seats each after votes were tabulated, with the remainder of seats held by smaller parties or independents, except for a single seat that was left vacant.

Although beset with restrictions under the state of emergency, the 2014 Senate elections were deemed "free, fair, credible, and transparent" by an observer mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Following the election, some losing candidates filed fraud complaints, but all such claims were resolved through National Electoral Commission procedures or by the Supreme Court.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 12 / 16 (+1)

Political parties do not face undue legal or practical obstacles that prevent them from operating. Opposition parties hold significant support among the population and, in the 2014 Senate elections, demonstrated the ability to convert this support into political power. Allegations of undue influence or pressure on voters by powerful groups are rare.

Ethnic and religious minority groups generally enjoy full political rights and electoral opportunities, though some minorities  especially the Mandingo and Fulani peoples  continue to be stigmatized as outsiders. Candidates occasionally exploit these biases to rally their constituents. Additionally, members of Lebanese and Asian minority groups whose families have lived in Liberia for several generations are denied citizenship, and therefore may not vote or participate in the political process.

C. Functioning of Government: 7 / 12 (+1)

Once elected, winning candidates are duly installed in office. Elected legislators generally operate without interference from nonstate actors, foreign governments, or unelected officials.

Liberia boasts a number of institutions devoted to fighting corruption  including the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), the General Auditing Commission, and the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission  but they lack the resources and capacity to function effectively, and corruption remains pervasive. According to a November 2015 report by Transparency International, perceptions of corruption in Liberia are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Widespread government distrust is thought to have contributed to the spread of Ebola in 2014, as there was low support for government-backed control policies and preventative measures.

President Sirleaf has been repeatedly accused of nepotism when filling lucrative bureaucratic posts within her administration. Charles Sirleaf, one of her sons, holds a senior position at the central bank, while Fumba Sirleaf, another son, remains in place as head of the National Security Agency. In 2014, the LACC launched an investigation into claims that the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), under the leadership of Robert Sirleaf, a third son, had bribed government officials to ensure passage of favorable legislation. (Robert Sirleaf had resigned from the NOCAL chairmanship in 2013.) While the government has taken steps to address corruption at NOCAL, which was nearing bankruptcy in 2015, progress has been slow.

Liberia was the first African state to comply with Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) rules governing natural-resource extraction, and in 2015 it remained EITI compliant.

Civil Liberties: 33 / 60 (+3)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 10 / 16

Liberia hosts a variety of newspapers, which publish mainly in the capital; numerous radio stations operate across the country. The government does not restrict internet access, but poor infrastructure and high costs limit usage to a small fraction of the population. The Freedom of Information Act is rarely used, and government responsiveness to requests tends to be slow. Liberia has long been criticized for its onerous criminal and civil libel laws, which are used to harass and intimidate journalists; in recent years, journalists and outlets have been financially crippled by large damage awards stemming from civil libel suits.

In August 2015, the Supreme Court ordered authorities to lift a ban on the National Chronicle newspaper, which was implemented in 2014 after it had published conspiracy theories about the Ebola virus. The government had said the ban was a necessary security measure, but the court ruled that its continued closure "long after the state of emergency is a violation of the [journalists'] rights not supported by the laws."

Media workers risk intimidation and physical attacks. In August 2015, the Press Union of Liberia condemned two separate instances in which police officers had rough-handled journalists covering events in Monrovia and Kakata, resulting in minor injuries. Although these instances appear to reflect misconduct by low-level officers rather than any deliberate government policy of suppressing freedom of expression, they are nonetheless concerning.

Religious freedom is protected in the constitution, and there is no official religion. Liberia is, however, a de facto Christian state, and the Muslim minority frequently reports discrimination. In 2015, a proposal to amend the constitution in order to establish Christianity as the official state religion was decried by Muslim leaders and contributed to interreligious tensions. The proposal appears to have support of numerous lawmakers, though President Sirleaf has indicated that she will not back it.

The government does not restrict academic freedom, though educational quality and infrastructure remain grossly inadequate. The government reopened schools in February 2015, after being closed for six months due to the Ebola crisis.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 8 / 12 (+1)

Freedom of association improved in 2015 following the cessation of the Ebola crisis and the lifting of restrictions imposed under the state of emergency, including the ban on gatherings, curfew, and border closures.

Outside of crisis, freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed and largely respected. Numerous civil society groups, including human rights organizations, operate in the country. The rights of workers to strike, organize, and bargain collectively are recognized, but labor laws remain in need of reform. Labor disputes often turn violent, particularly at the country's various mines and rubber plantations. In May 2015, local workers and villagers demonstrated against the Golden Veroleum oil palm developer in Sinoe County to protest poor working conditions and land scarcity. The demonstration escalated into violence when protestors broke through the company gates, resulting in nearly $740,000 in property damage and serious injuries to several administrators.

F. Rule of Law: 7 / 16 (+1)

Constitutional provisions guarantee an independent judiciary. Although petty corruption and backlogs remain major impediments to justice, recent rulings by the nation's highest court point to increased judicial independence and increased willingness to intervene to protect people's rights. In December 2014, the Supreme Court ruled the president's ban on political rallies unconstitutional; in August 2015, it overruled the government's controversial ban on the National Chronicle; and in December 2015, the Court issued a stay against demolitions in Monrovia by the mayor's controversial "Beautification Taskforce." (The stay order was lifted 8 days after it was implemented, with Justice in Chambers Kabineh Ja'neh warning officials against demolishing property during the cleanup process.) The Supreme Court adjudicated allegations of fraud in the 2014 Senate elections without allegations of political interference.

Lower-level courts, however, continue to struggle to provide justice to ordinary citizens. Corruption remains rampant, judges are subject to interference, and courts are hamstrung by case backlogs. In addition, lack of discipline, absenteeism, and corruption continue to plague the police and armed forces, hampering their ability to enforce laws and bring justice to those who have been the victims of crimes. As a result, many in Liberia turn to extrajudicial means of justice. In late September 2015, angry residents in Ganta, Nimba County, attacked a local police station and other buildings in the wake of several unsolved murders widely believed to have been ritual killings; a suspected perpetrator of one of the murders was reportedly killed in the unrest. In March, businesses and homes in the town of Zorzor belonging to members of the Mandingo ethnic group were damaged by rioters, following the murder in Zorzor of a woman from nearby Fissibu, an ethnically Lorma town.

Prisons are notorious for inadequate medical care, food, and sanitation; lax security; and prolonged pretrial detentions. One man detained in aftermath of the May 2015 unrest at the Golden Veroleum palm tree nursery died while in detention, under unclear circumstances.

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people face social stigma and the threat of violence and harassment. Under the penal code, "voluntary sodomy" is a misdemeanor offense that can carry up to a year in prison. At the end of 2015, two people were being held on sodomy allegations, one of whom had been in pretrial detention for more than three years, according to the U.S. State Department.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 8 / 16 (+1)

Personal autonomy and individual rights improved in 2015 following the cessation of the Ebola crisis and the lifting of restrictions imposed under the state of emergency, including the ban on gatherings, curfew, and border closures. The lifting of restrictions coincided with a shift in strategy toward community engagement and persuasion that is widely credited with Ebola's early decline in Liberia relative to neighboring countries.

Conflicts over land access and ownership remain pervasive. Many of these conflicts originated in the civil wars and subsequent internal migration, displacement, and resettlement. Others are the result of opaque concession agreements granting foreign corporations access to lands for production of tropical timber, palm oil, and other products. A 2012 estimate by Global Witness suggested that as much as a quarter of the country's land mass had been granted to logging companies over the previous two years through licenses that allowed the companies to bypass environmental and social safeguards. A 2015 report by Global Witness criticized the government for helping the palm oil company Golden Veroleum pressure local communities to enter into concession agreements with little understanding of their terms and conditions. In addition, mechanisms for compensating local communities in concession areas remain inadequate and have led to violent protests.

Women are underrepresented in government, comprising only 11 percent of the House of Representatives and 7 percent of the Senate, though an electoral law passed in 2014 mandates that neither men nor women can comprise more than 70 percent of the candidates listed by any political party. While men and women enjoy equal legal rights under civil law, customary law remains dominant in many parts of the country, especially in rural areas, creating gender discrepancies in access to land, custody of children, and impartial adjudication of disputes.

Violence against women and children, particularly rape, is a pervasive problem. A 2013 UN Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) report found that two-thirds of Liberian women have undergone female genital mutilation, and a 2014 report by the Overseas Development Institute described rates of sexual and gender-based violence in Liberia as "extremely high."

Human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor and prostitution remains a problem in Liberia, with most victims trafficked from Liberia's rural areas to its cities. Many trafficking victims are children, who can be found working in diamond mines, agricultural operations, or as domestic laborers, or engaged in forced begging or prostitution.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Lesotho

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Lesotho, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f357f.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 67

Freedom Rating: 3.0

Political Rights: 3

Civil Liberties: 3

Status Change, Ratings Change:

Lesotho's political rights rating declined from 2 to 3, and its status declined from Free to Partly Free, due to continued instability stemming from a failed coup attempt in 2014.

Quick Facts

Capital: Maseru

Population: 1,924,381

GDP/capita: $990

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

The political and security environments deteriorated in Lesotho in 2015, which was marked by the killing of a former army commander amid a Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) operation, and the flight to South Africa of prominent opposition members who claimed that elements within the LDF were plotting to kill them. The crisis emerged in August 2014, when then prime minister Thomas Thabane replaced LDF lieutenant general Tlali Kamoli with Maaparankoe Mahao. On the same day, General Kamoli attempted to oust Thabane, the head of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), in a failed coup. In an attempt to bring stability to the country, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) assisted in organizing February 2015 parliamentary elections, following which Pakalitha Mosisili of the Democratic Congress (DC) became the new prime minister. In May, former prime minister Thabane; leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP) Thesele 'Maseribane; and the leader of the Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL), Keketso Rantso, fled to South Africa, alleging that elements within the LDF were plotting to kill them.

After Mosisili, Thabane's predecessor, retook leadership, he reinstated General Kamoli, who he had initially appointed head of the LDF in 2012, after demoting Mahao. In June 2015, Mahao was killed in what the LDF called an arrest operation. Opposition leaders and civil society label the killing an assassination ordered by Kamoli in retaliation for allegedly plotting a mutiny.

Lesotho is one of the world's largest per capita recipients of overseas development aid, with 11 percent of national income derived from aid. Ongoing political instability in the country threatens the continuance of aid from the United States, Lesotho's top donor.

The Lesotho government declared a state of emergency in December 2015 after two consecutive crop failures left an estimated 650,000 people, according to authorities, at risk of severe hunger. Lesotho has an adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of approximately one in four, higher than only Swaziland, with more than half of those infected being women. The government offers free HIV testing, and 23 percent of those infected are on antiretroviral treatment.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 28 / 40 (-2)

A. Electoral Process: 10 / 12

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy. King Letsie III serves as ceremonial head of state. The lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly, has 120 seats; 80 are filled through first-past-the-post constituency votes, and the remaining 40 through proportional representation. Members serve five-year terms, and the leader of the majority party becomes the prime minister. The Senate  the upper house of Parliament  consists of 22 principal chiefs who wield considerable authority in rural areas and whose membership is hereditary, along with 11 other members appointed by the king and acting on the advice of the Council of State.

International and local observers praised the conduct of the snap parliamentary election held in February 2015, saying poll workers and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had been well-prepared, and that the election was free and had taken place peacefully. However, observers expressed some concern about voter registration processes and the credibility of voter rolls.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 12 / 16

Lesotho is a multiparty democracy in which political parties frequently create coalitions to form a government. However, the ongoing crisis has severely disrupted political life.

The February 2015 snap elections were closely contested, with the DC taking 47 seats to the ABC's 46. The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) won 12 seats; the BNP won 7, and the remaining seats went to smaller parties. The DC formed a government with the support of smaller coalition partners, and Mosisili became prime minister. In May 2015, Thabane fled to South Africa, claiming that members of the LDF sought to kill him. BNP leader Thesele 'Maseribane, and the leader of the RCL, Keketso Rantso, also fled, saying they feared for their lives due to a crackdown on opposition by Mosisili. Remaining opposition members were boycotting the parliament at the year's end, demanding Kamoli's removal and the safe return of opposition leaders to the country.

No laws prevent minorities from serving in the government, but in 2015 there were no member of minority groups serving in either legislative chamber or in the cabinet.

C. Functioning of Government: 6 / 12 (-2)

Lesotho remained in crisis in 2015, with politics entangled in disputes among factions of the security forces. Opposition leaders remained in self-imposed exile at the year's end, while opposition lawmakers who had stayed in Lesotho were boycotting the parliament.

According to the African Peer Review Mechanism, corruption is rife in all sectors of government and public services, and cronyism is prevalent in state bidding procedures. Since 2012, all government officials must declare their financial interests as a condition of office, though implementation remains a challenge. In a positive development, in August 2015, it emerged that Lesotho's anticorruption agency was probing the circumstances surrounding the exorbitant salary paid to Masupha Sole, a close acquaintance of the king, who had been reappointed as an adviser to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project after serving nine years in prison for corruption in the same project.

Authorities are not accountable to the electorate. The ruling coalition in 2015 governed without input from the opposition. Factions of the military have great influence over political structures. Lesotho was ranked 61 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Civil Liberties: 39 / 60 (-2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16

Freedoms of speech and the press are generally respected, and independent newspapers and radio stations routinely criticize the government. However, two journalists fled Lesotho in July 2015, citing threats from LDF members; the country's communications minister claimed that the journalists fled because the opposition was using them to sow instability in the country, and that they feared being arrested. Despite the fact that state-owned print and broadcast media tend to reflect the views of the ruling party, Lesotho has seen a significant amount of media coverage of corrupt officials. Two of the three main newspapers in the country are owned by the same person. The government does not restrict internet access, though only a small fraction of residents have access due to infrastructure and socioeconomic constraints. During the attempted coup, radio and televisions stations were temporarily jammed.

Lesotho is a predominantly Christian country, and freedom of religion is widely observed. The government does not restrict academic freedom.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 7 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are generally respected, though demonstrations are sometimes broken up violently. Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) generally operate without restrictions. While labor rights are constitutionally guaranteed, the union movement is weak and fragmented. Many employers in the textile sector  Lesotho's largest formal employer  face obstacles when trying to join unions.

F. Rule of Law: 9 / 16 (-2)

Courts are nominally independent, but higher courts are subject to outside influence. The large backlog of cases often leads to trial delays and lengthy pretrial detention. In 2014 the courts were temporarily suspended following the coup attempt, though they were once again operating in 2015.

Mahao's death during an LDF operation and officials' subsequent reluctance to cooperate with a SADC investigation of the events underscored the deterioration of the rule of law in Lesotho in 2015. In July 2015, the SADC Double Troika, a body comprised of officials from Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, and Lesotho, created an independent commission of inquiry in order to investigate the death of Mahao, as well as Prime Minister Mosisili's promotion of General Kamoli following his demotion by former prime minister Thabane. The head of the commission, Judge Mphaphi Phumaphi of Botswana, announced in October 2015 that he would complete his inquiry early, after Mosisili and army officials proved generally uncooperative. For example, General Kamoli refused to publicly answer the commission's questions, citing national security grounds, while Mosisili attempted to expand the terms of the probe to include the actions Thabane had taken during his tenure as prime minister. Moreover, government representatives criticized the commission for hearing testimony from opposition figures, including Thabane. Some opposition members who testified before the commission did so from South Africa, evidently still reluctant to return to Lesotho out of concern for their safety.

The SADC had yet to publish the probe's results at the year's end. In December 2015, the government initiated a legal challenge of the commission's report, arguing interviews with self-exiled opposition figures conducted in South Africa were outside of the commission's jurisdiction, and that the country's Public Inquiries Act obliged the SADC to submit the results directly to Prime Minister Mosisili. Observers expressed concern that if the report were not released publicly, parts of it could be censored by the government before being introduced to the parliament.

In a related development, in October 2015, the High Court ruled that 23 soldiers who had been court martialed by the LDF after Mahao's dismissal in connection with the alleged mutiny plot be released on military bail and allowed to collaborate with the SADC commission. In December 2015, after preliminary arguments, the court martial was postponed to February 2016.

Opposition figures, journalists, and lawyers fled the country in 2015, citing fear for their lives amid a crackdown by Kamoli on any perceived support for Thabane. There have been reports that the soldiers held in connection with the alleged mutiny plot were tortured while in LDF custody. Mistreatment of civilians by security forces reportedly continues. Prisons are dilapidated, severely overcrowded, and lack essential health services. An independent ombudsman's office is tasked with protecting citizens' rights, but its enforcement powers are weak. The death penalty, although not used since 1995, is still legal in Lesotho for crimes of rape, murder, and treason. The 23 soldiers arrested on mutiny charges could be sentenced to death if found guilty.

While female same-sex sexual activity is allowed, male same-sex "sodomy" is illegal; reportedly the law has never been enforced. Still, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals face societal discrimination, and individuals experiencing discrimination as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity are not protected under the constitution. In recent years, a local gay rights advocacy group has organized a gay pride march through Maseru, the capital.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 9 / 16

The constitution protects free movement within Lesotho and the freedom to leave the country.

Many women have taken on senior political and economic positions, including in government and senior management. The constitution of Lesotho guarantees the right to equality and nondiscrimination on the basis of gender, but customary practice and law still restricts women's rights in areas such as property, inheritance, and marriage and divorce.

The trafficking of men, women, and children for the purpose of forced labor or prostitution remains a problem, though authorities made some efforts to better prosecute trafficking cases in 2015. Antitrafficking efforts are underfunded, and most victim assistance programs are operated by NGOs.

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Freedom in the World 2016 - Chad

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Chad, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f3615.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.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 20

Freedom Rating: 6.5

Political Rights: 7

Civil Liberties: 6

Quick Facts

Capital: N'Djamena

Population: 13,707,000

GDP/capita: $1,027.70

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Terrorist attacks increased throughout the country during 2015, particularly in the capital, N'Djamena, and the Lake Chad region. In one of the worst attacks, 38 people were killed in twin suicide bombings in N'Djamena in June. In response, President Idriss Deby Itno allocated Chadian military troops to the fight against the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for many of the attacks. In May, N'Djamena was designated as the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force military operation to fight Boko Haram in the region.

In February 2015, the government acknowledged that legislative elections scheduled for early 2015 would need to be postponed, after the electoral commission failed to organize a timely biometric electoral census. Subsequently, the National Assembly in a special session extended the mandate of the legislature and its deputies until elections could be held. A presidential election is scheduled for 2016.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 4 / 40 (-1)

A. Electoral Process: 2 / 12 (-1)

Chad has never experienced a free and fair transfer of power through elections. Deby took power in 1990 during a rebellion, and then overwhelmingly won elections in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. Chad's president is elected for five-year terms, and a 2005 constitutional amendment abolished term limits. The executive branch dominates the judicial and legislative branches, and the president appoints the prime minister.

The unicameral National Assembly consists of 188 members elected for four-year terms. After being postponed nearly five years, legislative elections occurred in February 2011. Deby's Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) party won 117 seats and 14 more went to MPS allies, leading to an absolute majority for the president. The most successful opposition party won only 10 seats. The European Union praised the peaceful and fair conduct of the elections, despite some logistical problems. However, the opposition claimed that irregularities occurred both before the vote  due to the government's media dominance and the use of state resources to benefit the ruling party  and during the elections, including issues with electoral rolls and voter registration cards. Citing these irregularities, the three main opposition candidates boycotted the presidential poll in April 2011, which Deby won with 89 percent of the vote.

Legislative elections were scheduled to take place in early 2015, but similar to the previous polls, they have been postponed until a biometric electoral census can be organized throughout the country. The biometric census was promised after Deby's reelection in 2011 and scheduled for 2013, but the census stalled due to a lack of funds and equipment. It was finally launched in October 2015.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 1 / 16

There are more than 70 registered political parties in Chad, though a number of them were created by the government to divide the opposition. The ruling MPS enjoys significant influence and has held a majority since the first legislative elections under the current constitution took place in 1997. The 2015 extension of the legislature's mandate guarantees the continued political dominance of the ruling MPS.

The political opposition is given legal recognition and allowed to publicly criticize the government, but in the past opposition political leaders have faced arrest and harassment. Opposition leaders have expressed fears that Deby will use the threat posed by Boko Haram to further increase his executive powers and extend his rule.

In June 2015, an appeal was submitted in the National Assembly to repeal the parliamentary immunity of Saleh Kebzabo, the leader of the largest opposition party, the National Union for Democracy and Renewal (UNDR). All deputies receive parliamentary immunity unless it is revoked by a vote in the National Assembly. Kebzabo accused the government of harassment and defamation in advance of the 2016 presidential election.

Members of Deby's northeastern Zaghawa ethnic group and other northern ethnic groups continue to control Chad's political and economic systems, causing resentment among the country's more than 200 other ethnic groups. Although they comprise roughly 35 percent of the population, Christians in the south have been excluded from political power for more than 20 years.

C. Functioning of Government: 1 / 12

Deby enjoys unlimited discretionary power over the composition of the government, allowing him to dole out political patronage in the form of government positions. The power of the president to reshuffle the government without justification impedes the ability of the prime minister, as head of government, and the National Assembly to steer national policies without undue influence from the executive.

According to international monitors, corruption is endemic in Chad and prevails at all levels of government, from the presidential cabinet to the police force and local bureaucracy. Despite being an oil-producing country since 2003, Chad remains one of the world's poorest nations; Chad ranked 185 out of 188 states on the 2015 Human Development Index. Poor revenue management and oversight enable the diversion of oil revenues from national development projects to private interests and growing military expenditures, while fighting corruption continues to be unaddressed by the government. Chad was ranked 147 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

High-profile journalists, labor leaders, and religious figures have faced harsh reprisal for speaking out about corruption, including arrest, prosecution, and expulsion from the country. In one such instance in 2015, the president of the Chadian Students' Union, Nadjo Kaina, was arrested and detained for more than three weeks.

Civil Liberties: 16 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 7 / 16

The constitution formally provides for freedom of the press and expression. However, in practice both are restricted. Broadcast media are controlled by the state. The High Council of Communication (HCC) exerts control over most content on the radio  the most important means of mass communication  and while there are roughly a dozen private stations, they face high licensing fees and the threat of closure for critical coverage. Reporting on rebel activity or any other sensitive security information has been banned since 2008. A 2010 media bill eliminated imprisonment as a punishment for libel, slander, or insulting the president, but introduced heavy fines or prison time for inciting racial and/or ethnic hatred and "condoning violence."

Journalists frequently face persecution as a result of publishing critical views. In July 2015, the publisher of the privately owned newspaper Abba Garde, Moussaye Avenir de la Tchire, avoided arrest by the National Security Agency and fled to Cameroon after the HCC ordered the closure of the newspaper and seizure of its most recent issue. The HCC's decision came at the request of the president's office, following the publication of an article entitled "Idriss Deby, the Hitler of Modern Times." In June and October, authorities arrested and interrogated the publisher of the newspaper Haut Parleur, Stephane Mbairabe Ouaye, in connection with an article accusing the president's brother, Saleh Deby, the director general of customs, of corruption.

Although Chad is a secular state, Muslims, who comprise slightly more than half of the population, hold a disproportionately large number of senior government posts. At the same time, the authorities have banned certain Muslim groups believed to promote violence. Due to the 2015 suicide bombings in the capital  in which the perpetrators used burqas as a form of camouflage prior to the attacks  the government also banned the religious dress known as the burqa, which covers the face and entire body of adherents. In October, police arrested and fined dozens of women wearing burqas in the streets.

The government does not restrict academic freedom, but funds meant for the education system, as well as government-funded stipends, are regularly in arrears or completely lost to corruption. Space for open and free private discussion exists, but tends to be heavily self-censored due to fears of reprisal from the state's repressive apparatus.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 5 / 12 (+1)

Despite the constitutional guarantee of free assembly, the authorities at times ban demonstrations by groups thought to be critical of the government. For example, in March 2015 student protests were violently repressed, resulting in three deaths. Schools throughout the country were closed in an effort to prevent further protests on campuses. In August, the authorities arrested some 30 student union leaders for holding an unauthorized meeting to discuss their grievances over delayed government stipends.

Nevertheless, in 2015 there were an increased number of public events that allowed for critical views to be expressed. For example, throughout the year the civil society organization Comite de Suivi de l'Appel a la Paix et a la Reconciliation held several public political dialogues between leaders of civil society, the political opposition, and the presidential majority.

The constitution guarantees the rights to strike and unionize, but a 2007 law imposed limits on public sector workers' rights to strike. Nevertheless, strikes do take place; the main coalition of public sector unions held a strike in July 2015, and other public sector strikes occurred during the year.

F. Rule of Law: 1 / 16 (-1)

The rule of law and judicial system remain weak because the political leadership, especially the executive, heavily influences the courts. Civilian leaders do not maintain control of the security forces, which routinely ignore constitutional protections regarding search, seizure and detention. Human rights groups credibly accuse security forces and rebel groups of killing and torturing with impunity. Prison conditions are severe, and many inmates are held for lengthy periods without charge.

In 2012, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands, called for the arrest of former Chadian president Hissene Habre, and he was arrested in 2013 in Senegal. His trial began in Senegal in July 2015, and while this process will likely render justice to Chadians who suffered during his rule  from 1982 until 1990  the contemporary Chadian judicial branch has played little to no role in the process.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that there are more than 370,000 refugees who recently fled conflicts in neighboring Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Nigeria currently in Chad, and that this figure is likely to rise. The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) also rose during 2015, notably those fleeing conflict between the Chadian military and elements of Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region. Figures vary, but some reports claim the number of IDPs in Chad from the Lake Chad region alone to be as high as 75,000.

In July, the National Assembly voted to reinstate the death penalty, previously repealed in 2014, for crimes of terrorism. The following month, 10 Boko Haram members were found guilty of organizing the June suicide bombings in N'Djamena, and were executed by firing squad.

In September 2014, the cabinet approved a new penal code that criminalized same-sex relations and imposed heavy fines or prison terms on those convicted. Parliament had yet to ratify the penal code by the end of 2015. Due to cultural and legal restrictions, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) citizens are forced to conceal their sexual orientation and gender identity. No nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) related to LGBT rights function in Chad.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 3 / 16

Although constitutional guarantees for the freedom of movement exist, the government restricts the movement of citizens and controls the movement of both IDPs and refugees. Already limited by government control of the economy and repression of minority rights, increased insecurity from terrorist activities exacerbated the freedom of movement, employment, and education throughout the country.

Formal laws establishing land and property rights are nominally in force, but they are functionally irrelevant to the majority of the country's population owing to the state's minimal presence in rural areas; customary law governs land ownership and use rights in practice. Due to high levels of corruption, establishing and operating a business in Chad is extremely difficult. The World Bank's 2016 Ease of Doing Business report ranked Chad 183 out of 189 countries.

Chadian women face widespread discrimination and violence. In the 2011 elections, 24 female members were elected to the National Assembly, or about 13 percent. Female genital mutilation is illegal but commonly practiced. Chad is a source, transit, and destination country for child trafficking, and the government has made minimal efforts to eliminate the problem.

Children are often forced into labor in both the agricultural and informal sectors. Young girls travel to look for work and often end up either forced into prostitution or abusive domestic servitude. According to the U.S. State Department 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, Chad does not meet the minimum requirements for effectively addressing the child trafficking problem within its borders. Though the Chadian government has attempted to bring awareness to child trafficking and has provided NGOs and international organizations with information on how to identify potential victims of trafficking, the number of convictions against traffickers in 2015 remains the same as the previous year and there are no services available specifically for victims of trafficking.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Bulgaria

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Bulgaria, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f371f.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.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 80

Freedom Rating: 2.0

Political Rights: 2

Civil Liberties: 2

Quick Facts

Capital: Sofia

Population: 7,181,000

GDP/capita: $7,712.80

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

The coalition government led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and his center-right party, Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), continued to function relatively effectively in 2015 despite the fallout from a 2014 banking crisis, very modest economic growth, a rising budget deficit, and a migrant crisis along the southern border. GERB easily won local elections held in October.

In May, the justice minister proposed a package of judicial reforms designed to increase the independence of the courts and reduce political influence. However, the parliament had rejected key provisions of the package by December, and the justice minister consequently resigned.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 33 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 11 / 12

The unicameral National Assembly, composed of 240 members, is elected every four years in 31 multimember constituencies. The president, elected for up to two five-year terms, is the head of state but has limited powers. The legislature chooses the prime minister, who serves as head of government. In the 2011 presidential election, Rosen Plevneliev of GERB defeated Ivailo Kalfin of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) in a runoff with 53 percent of the vote.

In the October 2014 parliamentary elections, GERB led with 84 seats, followed by the BSP with 39, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) with 38, the Reformist Bloc with 23, and the nationalist Patriotic Front with 19. A new populist party, Bulgaria without Censorship (BBT), took 15 seats, while the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV), a Socialist splinter group led by former president Georgi Parvanov, secured 11 seats. The ultranationalist Ataka party also won 11 seats. GERB leader Boyko Borisov returned as prime minister, having been in opposition since 2013, and the party formed a governing coalition with the Reformist Bloc, the ABV, and the Patriotic Front.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) declared that the elections were open and competitive, and fundamental rights were respected. In a departure from the 2013 elections, there were no prominent allegations of large-scale fraud that cast doubt on the overall validity of the voting. Nevertheless, monitors noted that certain electoral regulations, including campaign finance rules, were poorly enforced. Observers blamed the unusually low voter turnout of approximately 48 percent on voter fatigue and lackluster campaigns. As in previous national elections, accusations of vote buying and other irregularities undermined public confidence in the process.

Local elections and a referendum on electoral reform were held in October 2015. President Plevneliev had initiated the referendum, proposing that citizens approve obligatory voting, electronic voting, and a mixed electoral system that allows some members of parliament to be elected on a majoritarian basis. However, the parliament rejected two of these proposals, meaning only the question on electronic voting was included in the referendum. Voters ultimately approved the idea, but the result was not binding due to low turnout; the parliament would only be required to consider the initiative. In the local elections, GERB led with about a third of all council seats and the mayoralties of most major cities, while the BSP and DPS lost ground. The process was marred by hacking attacks on the website of the electoral commission and other state institutions, which critics of the electronic-voting proposal cited as a sign that the integrity of future elections could be at risk.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 14 / 16

A record eight parties won seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections, passing a 4 percent vote threshold required for representation. The center-left BSP lost more than half its seats, as did Ataka, which had allied itself with the unpopular BSP-led government. GERB, which was founded in 2006 and governed from 2009 to 2013, is one in a series of center-right parties to rise and fall in Bulgaria's multiparty system. Since the 2014 elections, several National Assembly members have left the parties they were elected with and declared themselves independents.

The law dictates that electoral campaigns must be conducted in the Bulgarian language. The ethnic Turkish minority is represented by the DPS, but the Romany minority is more marginalized. Small Romany parties are active, and many Roma reportedly vote for the DPS. Two Romany candidates won seats in the 2014 elections, whereas none had won in 2013. Ataka and smaller nationalist parties regularly use hate speech in their campaigns, targeting ethnic Turks, Roma, Jews, Muslims, and Syrian refugees, among other groups.

C. Functioning of Government: 8 / 12

Bulgaria, which joined the European Union (EU) in 2007, has struggled to meet the bloc's anticorruption requirements amid resistance from much of the political class. It was ranked 69 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The collapse of Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) in 2014 resulted from an example of collusion among the political and economic elite. The New Bulgarian Media Group, owned by the family of DPS politician Delyan Peevski, had consistently supported the party in power, and its rapid expansion was backed by KTB. In turn, the bank received a great deal of business from state-owned enterprises, creating a triangular relationship. A rift between Peevski and the bank's owner, Tsvetan Vassilev, allegedly triggered the run on KTB deposits that led to its takeover by the central bank.

In a positive development in 2015, the Supreme Administrative Court found that former GERB lawmaker Emil Dimitrov had improperly participated in the creation and adoption of legislation on health and smoking despite his family's involvement in the cigarette business, which amounted to a conflict of interest.

Civil Liberties: 47 / 60 (+1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16

The constitution protects freedom of expression, including for the press. The media sector is pluralistic, but dependent on financial contributions from the state  often in the form of advertising  and on private business interests. Some foreign media firms have withdrawn from the struggling market in recent years, and domestic ownership has become more concentrated in the hands of wealthy Bulgarian businessmen, leaving Bulgarian media more vulnerable to political and economic pressures. News outlets often tailor coverage to suit the interests of their owners. Although the state-owned media generally provide balanced coverage, ineffective legislation leaves them exposed to political influence. The government does not restrict internet access.

Religious freedom is generally respected, but Muslims and members of other minority faiths have reported instances of harassment and discrimination, and some local authorities have blocked proselytizing or the construction of minority religious buildings.

The government does not restrict academic freedom, and there are no significant impediments to free and open private discussion.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 11 / 12

The authorities generally respect constitutional guarantees on freedom of assembly and freedom of association. Protests were held during 2015 on issues including proposed pay and benefit cuts for policemen and construction projects in environmentally sensitive areas.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operate freely and have a degree of influence, though they suffer from funding shortages, often rely on foreign donors, and sometimes face hostility from politicians and economic interest groups. NGOs are affected by corruption and nontransparent procedures for various tenders and grant competitions, especially those related to EU funding.

Workers have the right to join trade unions, but public employees cannot strike or bargain collectively, and private employers often discriminate against union members without facing serious repercussions.

F. Rule of Law: 10 / 16

Bulgaria's judiciary has benefited from legal and institutional reforms associated with EU accession, but practical gains in efficiency and accountability have been lacking. The EU has noted ongoing flaws in the judicial appointment and disciplinary processes.

In December 2015, the National Assembly gave its final approval to constitutional amendments that will divide the Supreme Judicial Council so that separate entities oversee judges and prosecutors. However, lawmakers, including those from GERB, rejected a package of additional reforms originally proposed by Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov of the Reformist Bloc, which were designed to reduce political influence over the judiciary. Ivanov consequently resigned.

In July, the National Assembly elected Maya Manolova as the country's human rights ombudsman in a secret ballot, sparking a public outcry from civil society organizations. Manolova was widely viewed as an unpopular, highly partisan political figure with deep roots in the BSP.

Organized crime has been a serious problem, and scores of suspected contract killings since the 1990s remain unsolved. Incidents of mistreatment by police have been reported, and conditions in many prisons remain inadequate.

Ethnic minorities, particularly Roma, face discrimination in employment, health care, education, and housing, though the government and NGOs operate a number of programs meant to improve their social integration. Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal, but societal bias against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people reportedly persists.

The government continued to extend fencing along Bulgaria's southern border to block the irregular entry of migrants and refugees, which increased during 2015. Human rights organizations reported new incidents in which such people were allegedly abused by security forces and summarily expelled back across the border into Turkey. Early in the year, the government discontinued payment of a small monthly allowance to asylum seekers in the country, citing financial difficulties.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 12 / 16 (+1)

Bulgarians face no restrictions on the freedom of movement, whether for internal or external travel. They are also free to change residence and employment, though corruption and bias can sometimes restrict access to jobs. Authorities periodically demolish illegally constructed or irregular housing  mostly in areas occupied by Roma  without providing alternative shelter; several incidents of this kind were reported during 2015.

Bulgaria's shadow economy accounts for approximately one-third of the country's gross domestic product; corruption has been suggested as a key factor behind the phenomenon. Organized crime is believed to play an influential role in private business activity.

The constitution guarantees women equal rights, but gender discrimination is still a problem. Women account for about a fifth of the seats in the National Assembly. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, women are paid about 13 percent below the average of their male counterparts and receive 40 percent less in pensions than males. Domestic violence is an ongoing concern.

The country is a source of human trafficking victims, of whom Roma make up a disproportionately large share. Bulgarians are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor elsewhere in Europe. Although the government makes some efforts to combat trafficking, shelter victims, and punish complicit officials, these measures have not matched the scale of the problem, and punishments remain light in practice.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 18 August 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Bosnia and Herzegovina, 18 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc4f3815.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.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 57

Freedom Rating: 3.5

Political Rights: 4

Civil Liberties: 3

Quick Facts

Capital: Sarajevo

Population: 3,650,114

GDP/capita: $4,805.20

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

A state-level coalition between the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), a Bosniak party; the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH); the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and its allies in the Republika Srpska-based Alliance for Change coalition; and the newly-formed Democratic Front (DF) struggled to enact legislation in 2015. An initiative backed by Germany and Britain to restart the country's stalled European Union (EU) bid likewise faltered, as the parties were unable to agree on details of reform efforts.

Meanwhile, Republika Srpska president Milorad Dodik began laying groundwork for a controversial referendum on the jurisdiction and legality of the country's state-level courts, within the framework of the 1995 Dayton Accords. The vote, initially scheduled for November 2015, was postponed. Dodik's push for a referendum was a major blow to the German-British reform agenda, which was initiated after the 2014 general elections and endorsed in writing by all the relevant political actors in the country, including Dodik.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 22 / 40 (-1)

A. Electoral Process: 8 / 12

The 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) created a loosely knit state composed of two entities  the Federation, whose citizens are mainly Bosniak and Croat, and the largely Serb Republika Srpska  that operate under a weak central government. The role of head of state is fulfilled by a three-member presidency comprising one Bosniak, one Serb, and one Croat; each is elected to a four-year term, which the three presidents serve concurrently.

The Parliamentary Assembly, a state-level body, has two chambers. The 15-seat upper house, the House of Peoples, consists of five members from each of the three main ethnic groups, elected by the Federation and Republika Srpska legislatures for four-year terms. The lower house, the House of Representatives, has 42 popularly elected members serving four-year terms, with 28 seats assigned to representatives from the Federation and 14 to representatives from the Republika Srpska. The House of Representatives elects the head of the Council of Ministers (equivalent to the prime minister), who leads the state-level government. The Federation and the Republika Srpska have their own presidents, parliaments, and other governing bodies, which are responsible for policymaking on the entity level. Many political posts are awarded under a population-based ethnic quota system prescribed by the Dayton Accords.

Recent elections were deemed generally free and fair. The SDA, the HDZ-BiH, and the SDS dominated the 2014 general elections, underlining ethnic divisions in Bosnian politics. The SDA took 10 of the 28 seats allotted to the Federation in the House of Representatives. The vote to fill the 14 seats allotted to the Republika Srpska was largely split between the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), which won 6 seats, and the SDS, which took 5. Denis Zvizdis263; of the SDA was appointed as head of the Council of Ministers. Mladen Ivanis263; of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), Dragan s268;ovis263; of the HDZ-BiH, and Bakir Izetbegovis263; of the SDA were respectively elected to the Bosnian Serb, Bosnian Croat, and Bosniak seats of the tripartite presidency.

A grand coalition consisting of the SDA, the HDZ BiH, the SDS and its Republika Srpska-based allies, and the DF exists in principle at the state level, although the group has managed to pass little in the way of legislation.

At the Federation level, a coalition between the SDA, HDZ BiH, and DF dissolved only a few months after the 2014 polls, with the DF citing irreconcilable differences with the two leading partners. A new coalition, led by the SDA and backed by a number of smaller parties, emerged in August 2015.

In the Republika Srpska, the SNSD secured a tenuous parliamentary majority following the 2014 elections. Shortly after the polls, audio recordings emerged in which Republika Srpska prime minister s381;eljka Cvijanovis263; of the SNSD can apparently be heard making a deal to purchase the votes of two opposition representatives in order to secure the party's control of the entity-level legislature.

Local elections are scheduled for October 2016, with the electoral status of Mostar still unresolved. Due to disputes between Bosniak and Croat parties, Mostar lacks legally elected representatives and has not held local polls since 2008.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 10 / 16

Political parties typically organize and operate freely, though the political arena in the Federation is generally limited to Bosniaks and Croats, while Serbs dominate politics in the Republika Srpska. Coalitions at all levels of government shift frequently.

The Office of the High Representative (OHR), which was created by the Dayton Accords, operates under the auspices of the United Nations and has the authority to remove elected officials if they are deemed to be obstructing the peace process. In recent years, the OHR has been reluctant to intervene in the country's politics. Additionally, under the Dayton Accords, representatives from each of the three major ethnic groups, at both state and entity levels, may exercise a veto on legislation deemed harmful to their interests. As a result, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats must agree on major legislation before it can advance. Such consensus is rarely reached.

Citizens who do not identify as Bosniak, Bosnian Serb, or Bosnian Croat are ineligible to run for the state-level presidency or serve in the House of Peoples. BiH's leaders have not enacted reforms addressing the 2009 Sejdis263;-Finci ruling at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which ordered that this exclusion be rescinded.

C. Functioning of Government: 4 / 12 (-1)

Legislative deadlock continued across all levels of government in 2015. Only one major piece of legislation, a controversial labor law, has been passed in the Federation since the 2014 elections. The Republika Srpska assembly has similarly seen little meaningful debate.

The country's complex institutional framework provides many avenues for corrupt behavior among politicians, and corruption remains a serious problem. Enforcement of legislation designed to combat corruption is weak due to the lack of strong and independent anticorruption agencies and a dearth of political will to address the issue. When corruption probes are actually opened, they rarely result in convictions. In the Republika Srpska, there was no institutional response to recordings implicating Cvijanovis263; in a vote-buying scandal benefitting the SNSD. Meanwhile, critics of the SNSD-led, entity-level government in the Republika Srpska have suggested that Dodik's drive to reject the jurisdiction of state-level courts was designed to both distract from a banking scandal involving figures linked with the SNSD, and strip state institutions of their ability to investigate corruption cases in the Republika Srpska.

Civil Liberties: 35 / 60 (-2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 10 / 16

The constitution and the human rights annex to the Dayton Accords provide for freedom of the press, but this right is not always respected in practice. While a large number of independent broadcast and print outlets operate, they tend to appeal to narrow ethnic audiences, and most neglect substantive or investigative reporting. The public broadcaster, BiH Radio Television (BHRT), which targets multiethnic audiences, has faced growing political and financial pressure in recent years. Police in December 2014, acting on a court order, raided the offices of the news website Klix.ba after it had publicized the recordings that appeared to reveal a vote-buying scheme in the Republika Srpska. Computers and other equipment belonging to the organization were confiscated, though in 2015 the Sarajevo Municipal Court ordered that they be returned, and later ruled that the raid had been illegal. In February 2015, the Republika Srpska's legislature passed a measure that criminalized the dissemination on social media of material that disturbed public order. The law drew a prompt rebuke from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Representative on Freedom of the Media. Following an outcry from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, and other domestic and international observers, the law was amended to exclude material that criticized government bodies, but not public officials. A coalition of journalists and other activists had launched a legal challenge of the measure by the year's end. Authorities are not known to restrict or illegally monitor communications on the internet.

Citizens enjoy freedom of religion, but only in areas where their particular ethnic group represents a majority. Acts of vandalism against holy sites of all three major faiths have been reported in recent years.

While the authorities do not restrict academic freedom at institutions of higher education, academic appointments are heavily politicized, with ethnic favoritism playing a significant role. Primary and secondary school curricula are also politicized; some Bosniak returnees in the Republika Srpska have sent their children to temporary alternative schools in protest of curricula they call discriminatory. Depending on their ethnicity, children use textbooks printed in Croatia, Serbia, or Sarajevo. At some schools in the Federation, Bosniak and Croat students are divided into classes on the basis of their ethnicity, meeting in segregated classrooms despite attending school in the same building. In 2014, the Federation's Supreme Court ruled that these divisions are discriminatory, but at the end of 2015 no action had been taken to implement the ruling.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 7 / 12

The constitution provides for freedoms of assembly and association, and the various levels of government generally respect these rights in practice. However, in 2014, security forces employed excessive force against people who participated in a series of antigovernment demonstrations, and at the end of 2015 no police officials had been convicted of wrongdoing.

A variety of NGOs operate. NGO representatives have claimed that the process of registering a new group is unnecessarily complex, and that officials in both the Federation and the Republika Srpska at times have interfered with NGO operations.

While no legal restrictions on the right of workers to form and join labor unions exist, discrimination against union members is common. In August 2015, the Federation approved a labor reform law over the objections of union members, who argued that it empowered business interests and eroded workers' rights. The measure, meant to be adopted in the Republika Srpska as well, was backed by the EU and the International Monetary Fund, from which BiH was seeking a loan. Unemployment in BiH is among the highest in Europe, and many workers have reportedly declined to file anti-union-related complaints with labor inspectors for fear of losing their jobs. However, courts in both the Federation and Republika Srpska frequently rule in favor of workers when faced with such cases.

F. Rule of Law: 8 / 16 (-2)

The judiciary remains susceptible to influence by nationalist political parties and faces pressure from the executive branch. The lack of a single, supreme judicial body and the existence of four separate court systems  for the central state, the Republika Srpska, the Federation, and the self-governing Brcko district  contributes to overall inefficiency. In 2015, Republika Srpska president Dodik began laying groundwork for a referendum intended to allow the entity to reject the jurisdiction of BiH's state-level courts. Dodik claimed that the Dayton Accords provide no basis for a state-level court system, and that state-level judicial authorities had demonstrated a pattern of anti-Serb bias. The referendum, if approved, would further impede the ability of BiH's judicial institutions to handle corruption and organized crime cases. Originally set for November 2015, the vote had yet to take place by the year's end. Dodik launched a similar initiative in 2011, but the EU helped to defuse the situation by initiating a dialogue on judicial reform.

The country has made some efforts to reduce its case backlog, but the number of cases pending in the court system remains high. The police do not always fully inform people of their rights upon arrest, and witness protection programs are not always available to those who need them. Prisons are overcrowded and prisoners sometimes face abuse. The state court  which handles organized crime, war crimes, corruption, and terrorism cases  has made progress on adjudicating cases. Results of the 2013 census, the release of which has been delayed at least until 2016, are expected to formally display the extent of wartime ethnic cleansing. The rate of attacks against people displaced during the war but who later returned to their homes has decreased over the years. However, two attacks against returnees were reported in the Republika Srpska in 2015.

There are concerns about the small but increasingly visible presence of Islamic extremism in BiH. The Islamic State militant group in 2015 expanded efforts to lure Bosnian recruits to fight in Syria and Iraq, and the government has been ineffective in addressing the issue. In April, a purported Islamic radical attacked a police station in Zvornik, killing one police officer and injuring two more, before being fatally shot himself.

Members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community face discrimination and occasional physical attacks, as well as harassment in the country's media. In 2014, masked assailants burst into an LGBT film festival in Sarajevo and attacked panel speakers. The 2015 festival saw increased police protection, and took place without incident. Entity-level laws do not protect LGBT people from discrimination. While national laws do offer such protection, these measures are often disregarded.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 10 / 16

The law protects freedom of movement. Some issues surrounding the return of people displaced during the civil war persist, but few refugees are now attempting to return to their homes.

Unemployment hovers at around 44 percent, though there is a large informal economy. Individuals face discrimination in employment, housing, and social services in regions that are not dominated by their own ethnic group.

Women are legally entitled to full equality with men but are underrepresented in politics and government and face discrimination in the workplace. Sexual harassment is common. Police are largely unresponsive to violent domestic disputes, particularly in rural areas. Severe corruption helps to enable human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution and forced labor. The government has made some limited progress in training prosecutors and judges to handle trafficking cases, and has provided some funding for programs to assist victims. However, the legal system's capacity to adjudicate trafficking cases remains inadequate, and few services are available for male victims.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
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.
TUESDAY

Public meeting

BAIRD  TxDOT will conduct a public meeting regarding possible safety enhancements to the Interstate 20 corridor from 4-8 p.m. at the Baird Depot, 100 Market St.

Business workshop

Texas Tech Small Business Development Center Abilene will conduct a workshop, 'How to Start a Business, ' from 6-8 p.m. in the Texas Tech Training Center, 749 Gateway St., Suite 301. To make a reservation, call 325-670-0300.

Square dance workshop

TYE  The Key City Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

Other ...

Mission on the Move Soup Kitchen, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Southwest Drive Community United Methodist Church, 3025 Southwest Dr.

Abilene Southwest Rotary Club, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St.

High Noon Al-Anon, noon, Southern Hills Church of Christ, 3666 Buffalo Gap Road (south end; follow the yellow signs).

Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., Brookshires, Cisco.

Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535.

Alzheimer's Association support group, 4 p.m., 301 S. Pioneer Drive. Libby, 325-672-2907.

Dystonia Support Group, 5:15-6:15 p.m., Not Without Us, 3301 N. First St. Suite 117.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), 5:30 p.m., Brook Hollow Christian Church, 2310 S. Willis St. 325-232-7444.

Legacies Al-Anon Family Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-280-7584.

Family (of Mental Health Consumers) Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Mental Health Association in Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Stroke Club, 6-7 p.m., West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-5475.

MHAA Bipolar/Depression Peer Support Group, 6-8 p.m., Ministry of Counseling & Enrichment, 1502 N. First St. 325-673-2300.

Free certified nurturing parent class (pregnancy to toddler), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Abilene Star Chorus, 6:15 p.m., Wisteria Place Chapel, 3202 S. Willis St. 325-829-1470.

Overeaters Anonymous, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Exodus Metropolitan Community Church, 1933 S. 27th St.

Al-Anon Parents Group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. Use Church Street entrance.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., Doug Meinzer Activity Center, Knox City. 940-658-3926.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 7-8:30 p.m., 2043 N. Second St.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

WEDNESDAY

Dog Days at the Mall

Dog Days will continue from 5-8 p.m. at the Mall of Abilene. Participants are encouraged to bring their dogs. Service dogs and their trainers will be honored.

Square dance workshop

TYE  The Wagon Wheel Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

Abilene Cactus Lions Club, 11:45 a.m., Cotton Patch Cafe, 3302 S. Clack St.

Abilene Wednesday Rotary Club, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway. $12 for lunch. Jo Ann Wilson, 325-677-6815.

Kiwanis Club of Abilene, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd.

Clearly Speaking Toastmaster Club, noon, Westgate Church of Christ, 402 S. Pioneer Drive. 325-795-5570.

Blood drive, noon to 6 p.m., Sweetwater Lions Club, 1501 Lamar St., Sweetwater.

Blood drive, noon to 6 p.m., First Financial Bank, Sweetwater.

The Alzheimer's Association Brownwood Support Group, 2-3 p.m., Redstone Park Retirement & Assisted Living, 2410 Songbird Circle, Brownwood. 325-643-9056.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Veterans Peer Support Group, 6 p.m., 765 Orange St. 325-670-4818.

Mid-week Al-Anon Family Group, 6-7 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-698-4995.

Advanced Square Dancing, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wagon Wheel.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007.

DivorceCare support group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. 325-691-4200.

THURSDAY

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.

Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., First Baptist Church, Cross Plains.

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

Mental health symposium

Mental Health of America of Abilene will conduct its second annual mental health symposium from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center, 1674 Pine St. Continuing education units will be available. To register, go to AbileneMHA.org or call 325-673-2300.

Musical

COTTONWOOD  The Cottonwood Country Musical will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Cottonwood Community Center. A supper will be served from 5-7 p.m.

'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 Muddy Creek 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 1 p.m., Texas Oncology, 1957 Antilley Road.

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.
WEDNESDAY

Dog Days at the Mall

Dog Days will continue from 5-8 p.m. at the Mall of Abilene. Participants are encouraged to bring their dogs. Service dogs and their trainers will be honored.

Square dance workshop

TYE  The Wagon Wheel Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

Abilene Cactus Lions Club, 11:45 a.m., Cotton Patch Cafe, 3302 S. Clack St.

Abilene Wednesday Rotary Club, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway. $12 for lunch. Jo Ann Wilson, 325-677-6815.

Kiwanis Club of Abilene, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd.

Clearly Speaking Toastmaster Club, noon, Westgate Church of Christ, 402 S. Pioneer Drive. 325-795-5570.

Blood drive, noon to 6 p.m., Sweetwater Lions Club, 1501 Lamar St., Sweetwater.

Blood drive, noon to 6 p.m., First Financial Bank, Sweetwater.

The Alzheimer's Association Brownwood Support Group, 2-3 p.m., Redstone Park Retirement & Assisted Living, 2410 Songbird Circle, Brownwood. 325-643-9056.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Veterans Peer Support Group, 6 p.m., 765 Orange St. 325-670-4818.

Mid-week Al-Anon Family Group, 6-7 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-698-4995.

Advanced Square Dancing, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wagon Wheel.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007.

DivorceCare support group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. 325-691-4200.

THURSDAY

Square dance workshop

TYE  A-Team will conduct a square dancing workshop 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

Dance

COLORADO CITY  The Mitchell County Senior Citizen Dance will be 7-10 p.m. at the Colorado City Civic Center, 157 E. Second St. Admission is $5. Participants are asked to bring a covered dish.

'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.

Benefit jam

SWEETWATER  Mike and the Last Call Band will present a benefit jam, open to all area musicians, from 7:30-10:30 p.m. at VFW Post 2479 in Sweetwater. Admission is $5. Proceeds will go to the VFW post.

Other ...

Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300.

Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., First Baptist Church, Cross Plains.

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

Mental health symposium

Mental Health of America of Abilene will conduct its second annual mental health symposium from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center, 1674 Pine St. Continuing education units will be available. To register, go to AbileneMHA.org or call 325-673-2300.

Musical

COTTONWOOD  The Cottonwood Country Musical will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Cottonwood Community Center. A supper will be served from 5-7 p.m.

'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 Muddy Creek 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 1 p.m., Texas Oncology, 1957 Antilley Road.

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

Car show

The second annual Cooper Band Car Show will be presented from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Cooper High School. The Cooper Band will perform at 11 a.m. Registration is $20, and will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Proceeds will go to the band.

Musical

OLD GLORY  The Old Glory Musical will begin at 6 p.m. at the Old Glory Community Center. Concessions will open at 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 940-989-2966 or 940-989-2816.

Movie at the Mockingbird Library

A free showing of a classic animated film will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Mockingbird Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1326 N. Mockingbird Lane.

'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.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 10 a.m., Shades of Hope, 402A Mulberry St., Buffalo Gap. 800-588-4673.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 10 a.m. to noon, 2043 N. Second St.
Nellie Doneva/Reporter-News People tour the renovated areas of the Abilene Civic Center, under a color-changing light show Monday, Aug. 22, 2016.

SHARE Nellie Doneva/Reporter-News People check out a different-looking ceiling at the Abilene Civic Center Monday, Aug. 22, 2016.

By Brooke Crum of the Abilene Reporter News

The Abilene Civic Center may look the same on the outside, but inside, a transformation has occurred.

Funded by the bond program approved by voters in May 2015, the Civic Center is almost unrecognizable inside after $2.8 million in renovations.

The city held a ribbon-cutting Monday morning to showcase the improvements, which began in May.

"We're making progress every day, every week, every month on things that are making Abilene better," said Mayor Norm Archibald.

The unexpected death of Stanley Goldsmith, former director of H&G Construction, did not hinder the project's progress, said Wayne Lisenbee capital improvements director. Goldsmith died from a heart attack in late July, but his team did not miss a step, coming in on-time and under-budget.

"When we were interviewing firms to select who was going to lead this work, the thing that won Stanley and Tim (McClarty, project architect) the job was the passion they exhibited for Abilene and for the Civic Center," Lisenbee said.

The crowd took a moment to applaud Goldsmith and his life and work.

The exhibit hall, once simple concrete floors underneath unforgiving fluorescent lights, is now a modern event space capable of accommodating any event from banquets to barbecues.

The fluorescents have been replaced with LED lights that are brighter and more energy efficient, Lisenbee said.

Fluorescent lights last about 8,000 hours; LEDs last about 50,000 hours, said McClarty. There should not be any need to replace lights for 24 years, he said.

The concrete floor has been smoothed and repainted, and the ceiling has been painted black with cloudlike fixtures that reflect the LED lights.

The new 232 lights can be adjusted to light certain areas of the exhibit hall, such as the front of the room or just tables, McClarty said. They also can create 16 million different colors, which fade, dim and move along to music, as demonstrated Monday.

The auditorium now features a fly system controlled by 38 motors that is operated with just a click of a button to move curtains, lights and theater set pieces. The old system  a 45-year-old, 50-ton counterweight fly system  relied on numerous 35-pound weights operated manually by six to eight people, McClarty said.

Now all it takes is one person.

The transformations to the Civic Center make it a better place to hold events, Archibald said.

"You are in the living room of Abilene, Texas," he said before the ribbon-cutting. "We've always called this the Civic Center. Hopefully, some day when we can get a downtown hotel ... we need to start calling this the Convention Center."

He said "civic" sounds businesslike, while "convention" implies an open-armed, welcoming space for events from all over the world.

Other improvements include a new sound system, a renovated kitchen in the exhibit hall with a new food service entry and a refurbished terrazzo floor in the lobby, which is almost complete, Lisenbee said. Additionally, the city is working to replace kitchen appliances.

Twitter: BrookeCrum_ARN
As Donald Trump's 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 Kennedy's 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 Perot's 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 didn't change a single state's result.

There are two exceptions, one quite recent. In 2000, onetime consumer activist Ralph Nader's 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 Bush's margin over Gore. In Florida, Nader's 97,488 total was more than 100 times Bush's 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.

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 Nader's voters were generally disaffected liberals who thought Gore too centrist. The result was the most conservative presidency of the past quarter-century.

Others impact long-term ideology more than a single election. Former Alabama Gov. George Wallace's 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 don't 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 they're attracting more backers than recent independent hopefuls. But despite anecdotal evidence they're 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, doesn't 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.

Email Carl P. Leubsdorf, a columnist for The Dallas Morning News, at carl.p.leubsdorf@gmail.com
The director of the FBI, James Comey, did the right thing in announcing the results of the bureau's investigation of Hillary Clinton's email in early July. Realizing that the case was hyper-sensitive in the middle of a presidential campaign, Comey spoke up when ordinarily he would have simply forwarded his recommendation to prosecutors. He said the investigation determined that she was 'extremely careless' in using a home-brew server while secretary of state, but that Clinton's actions did not warrant prosecution. It was important for the apolitical FBI director to say one way or the other whether there was criminal behavior so voters could make up their own minds.

But now Comey has taken a misstep. The FBI has provided to Congress portions of the investigative files from the year-long probe. Although it is not known precisely which portions, some of the materials include interviews conducted by the FBI. On Capitol Hill, the FBI has deposited the material in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, a room with restricted access.

According to the Associated Press, the documents were transmitted to Congress with written warnings not to leak them. '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.' Access to the documents is restricted to members of the judiciary, intelligence and government affairs committees.

Republicans in Congress are unlikely to heed the warnings. Are these members of the GOP, who have enthusiastically exploited the Benghazi and email stories for partisan advantage, whose convention delegates chanted 'lock her up,' really going to read the FBI files and stay mum? The temptation here for mischief - partial leaks - is enormous.

It is extremely rare for the FBI to turn over to Congress internal case files from a criminal investigation that did not lead to a prosecution. In some cases in the past - counterintelligence probes, for example - the FBI has orally briefed Congress or, in the case of nominations, brought the raw interview notes to senators to read but not keep.

In this case, it seems a bad precedent to put the Clinton investigative materials before Congress. Will lawmakers demand more such sensitive documents in the future? If informants know their cooperation with the FBI might eventually be shared with members of Congress, will it have a chilling effect?

At this point, the best course of action, and the most transparent, would be to put the documents through a suitable declassification process and then release them for all to see. But it shouldn't have come to that.

The Washington Post
Texas and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Obama administration will not have to follow federal guidance on bathroom accommodations for transgender students, a judge ruled this weekend.

On Sunday, a federal judge in Fort Worth awarded an injunction against the administration to Texas and 14 other plaintiffs, ruling that they do not have to allow students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity if that identity does not correspond to their biological sex.

The decision has far-reaching implications for schools across the country. It also comes as a blow to equality activists and other groups who support the implementation of new bathroom rules for transgender students.

Texas was joined in the litigation by the states of Alabama, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Georgia, West Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky; the Harrold Independent School District, the Heber-Overgaard Unified School District; the Arizona Department of Education; and Paul LePage, governor of Maine.

The lawsuit initially was filed after the Obama administration issued guidance to schools in May directing them to allow students to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity, lest they lose federal funding. Plaintiffs argued in court filings that the Obama administration skirted statutory rules of lawmaking by issuing the guidance, and that school districts would be put under undue stress in reaching compliance.

The defendants, which include the U.S. departments of Education and Justice, retorted by saying they never threatened to stop funding schools that don't make bathroom accommodations for transgender students.

In a court hearing this month, an attorney for the U.S. government appeared before a federal judge, saying that noncompliant schools weren't being threatened with the loss of funding at the moment, though they could be later.

Now it appears the schools in plaintiff states  and possibly schools in every other state  are safe from funding cuts if they don't follow the federal guidance. It's now unclear how, and if, the U.S. government can force schools to comply with its directive.

In a prepared statement, the Texas Attorney General's Office, which led the charge against the guidance, wrote that it is 'pleased that the court ruled against the Obama administration's latest illegal federal overreach.'

'This President is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform,' the statement says.

Judge Reed O'Connor, who awarded the injunction, acknowledged in his opinion that the case 'presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students' rights and that of personal privacy when using school bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and other intimate facilities ...,' but still ruled that the federal government did not follow 'proper legal procedure' when issuing the guidance.

In issuing its transgender guidance, the U.S. departments of Education and Justice did not follow generally held lawmaking protocols, which include ample notice to concerned parties and a comment period, O'Connor wrote.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott took to Twitter after the decision was handed down, hailing it a 'huge victory slapping down Obama's public school bathroom dictate.'

The U.S. Department of Education referred a Times Record News request for comment to the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ wrote in an email to the newspaper that 'the department is disappointed in the court's decision, and we are reviewing our options.'

Meanwhile, advocate groups have derided the decision.

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ civil rights organization, wrote in a prepared statement that the ruling will lead to further marginalization of transgender students.

'Judge O'Connor's decision to bar the Department of Justice from enforcing this important guidance puts thousands of transgender students at even greater risk of marginalization, harassment and discrimination as they return to school this fall,' the Campaign wrote.

Adam Briggle, father of 8-year-old transgender boy MG, told the Times Record News on Monday that he is 'disappointed' by the judge's decision. He anticipates the issue will soon be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

'Justice will prevail in the end. We won't have a group of people relegated to second-class citizenship,' he said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety Tuesday released the identities of the people involved in a fatal wreck Monday in Coleman County.

One person was killed and four people injured in the accident about 12:45 p.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 84, just over a mile north of Santa Anna.

The DPS identified the deceased as Harrison Shields McClure, 22, of Austin, the driver of a 2009 Nissan Altima traveling north on the highway.

His car collided with a 2006 Ford F-350 pickup, driven by Gregorio Flores, 37, of Coleman. Flores was traveling south on the highway when he apparently lost control of his pickup on the wet road and went into a side skid across the highway, the DPS reported.

A passenger in the Altima, Kristina Laurena Watkins, 19, of San Antonio, received serious injuries in the wreck and was transported to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, according to the DPS.

Flores was taken to Coleman County Medical Center with a non-incapacitating injury, the DPS reported. Two children in the pickup  Corbin Rivers, 2, and Logan Flores, 8, both of Coleman  received non-incapacitating injuries and were taken to Coleman County Medical Center.

The wreck is under investigation by Trooper Clinton Hounshell of Coleman.
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It's so much more than just a "truly f**ked up ride".
The air force under the PLA Western Theatre Command dispatched a Y-9 ambulance aircraft for the air medical evacuation of a sick officer from the plateau area to a major city in northwest China on July 16. This is the first time for the Y-9ambulance aircraft to carry out such a mission since its commissioning.
A professor sticks a red ribbon on a poster during an event marking World AIDS Day at Lanzhou Jiaotong University in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu province, Nov. 30, 2012.

A college in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu has belatedly agreed to pay medical bills and compensation to a lecturer it fired after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Bowen College, part of Lanzhou Jiaotong University, apologized to the family of Liu Lingli, 32, after the former lecturer died on Aug. 14.

Lius father said her parents are heartbroken at the way she was treated before her death.

We are heartbroken and devastated, he told RFA. But he added: We havent the energy to give interviews.

Liu was fired for absenteeism after she applied for sick leave following diagnosis in July 2014. She later took to selling clothes on the street in a desperate bid to meet her medical expenses.

Liu, a former English teacher at the college, had already won a court ruling in her favor, but the college refused to implement it, official Chinese media reported.

Lius mother said the college stopped paying Lius salary and medical bills in September 2014.

Faced with a public outcry, the college has now suspended Jiang Xueyun, head of human resources, for errors when dealing with Lius case, and reinstated her posthumously, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported.

Earlier media reports said the college had agreed to pay 57,600 yuan (U.S. $8,650) for lost salary plus 14,400 yuan (U.S. $2,160) in compensation for her unfair dismissal.



Additional suffering

A friend of Lius who asked to remain anonymous said her treatment at the hands of her employers had greatly contributed to her friends suffering as she faced enormous medical bills with no money to pay them.

It was so unfair, because she would have had much less psychological pressure if the college hadnt fired her and stopped paying her medical benefits, the friend told RFA.

Her parents would have been able to get her to a better hospital instead of to a much smaller, cheaper one, she said. The one she went to really wasnt set up to handle specialist cancer cases.

She said the colleges actions had brought additional suffering to Lius parents, who were very angry at its refusal to honor the court decision, and called for an investigation to find out who was responsible.

This should never have happened, the friend said. The government should investigate.

She said the personnel department was unlikely to have acted without the direct approval of college president Chen Ling.

Theres no way that human resources would have dared to fire Liu without her signature, she said.

Sacked for getting sick



Liu wasnt the first employee of Bowen College to be sacked for getting sick, social media posts indicated.

Another former teacher at the college, Qian Yujun, posted an open letter to college president Chen Ling on social media after being fired last year. The complaint was soon deleted.

An employee who answered the phone at the Bowen College personnel department declined to comment, saying they were a new employee and didnt know the circumstances.

Call to the cell phones of the suspended personnel manager and the deputy principal rang unanswered on Monday, as did calls to management offices at its parent organization, Lanzhou Jiaotong University.

An emailed request for comment from the head of the Gansu provincial education department went unanswered at the time of writing on Monday.

A Lanzhou journalist who gave only his surname Zhao said Bowen College is a private institution with strong political backing at a very high level.

It uses Jiaotong Universitys branding, but actually there is no real connection with the university, Zhao said. But Chen Ling has all manner of ties with the provincial government, so she fears nothing and nobody.

She is a businesswoman who got started in property development, he said. It seems that her policy is that if people get sick, they leave. She has no compunction about that.

Zhao said Chens behavior is far from unusual, however.

This is becoming quite typical of China, he said.

Hubei-based online writer Liu Yiming agreed.

They are only really concerned with the bottom line, he said. They just see that if a teacher gets sick, she wont be able to teach, and theyll probably have to pay out a lot of money, which will have a negative impact on the colleges balance sheet.

So they just kicked her out, Liu said. They never expected that there would be this much of a public outcry.



Reported by Sing Man for RFAs Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou are targeting restaurants owned by the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group ahead of the citys hosting of the G20 summit in early September.



As rights activists call on the leaders of the G20 nations not to ignore China's human rights violations during the Sept. 4-5 summit, local residents said Uyghur-run businesses are being singled out for special security checks and closure by police.



There is a noodle place run by people from Xinjiang near my home, and suddenly four busloads of police parked outside and got out, a Hangzhou resident surnamed Sun told RFA on Tuesday.



I thought they were going to arrest people. They were even carrying guns, she said.



Neighbors later told her the police were under orders to shutter the restaurant for the duration of the G20 summit, she said.



They brought the guns because they were afraid the Uyghurs would be unwilling to leave, Sun said. Then they searched the whole place to make sure there was nobody left inside  and shuttered it and sealed the doors with paper strips.



So now they are temporarily closed, she said.



Calls to a number of Uyghur-run restaurants in the city rang unanswered during office hours on Tuesday.



'Stability maintenance'



In recent weeks, Hangzhou city authorities have shut down businesses and industrial facilities across the scenic city, ordered increased security checks on citizens, and packed large numbers of its citizens off on vacation in a bid to "maintain stability," residents said.



Two mobile divisions of the Peoples Armed Police have been stationed in the city on standby, including armored vehicles, which are parked in the city center and near the stadium, according to posts on social media.



For many, the security measures are a step too far, with checkpoints on all major routes into the city causing long delays for drivers.



One resident tweeted a photo on Tuesday showing an LED display by a major highway banning all odd and even license plate numbers from entering Hangzhou.



Meanwhile, police detained a woman after she refused to take a sip of a bottle of water she was carrying, when requested by the driver, local residents said.



Photos supplied by bystanders showed two police officers frog-marching a woman away from the bus.



The police checks are very stringent, Sun said. Every vehicle and every person entering Hangzhou has to be searched, along with all of their baggage. The searches are very thorough.



I think theyre really overdoing it this time, she said. During the two days of the summit, all businesses near the venue will be forced to close and everyone will have two days off work.



Sun said she has been given eight days leave.



The only thing left to do is to leave town and take a vacation, she said. The citys empty.



She said Hangzhou residents have been offered free entry to nearby tourist attractions, including Huang Shan, and to tourist destinations in the southwestern region of Guangxi, in a bid to get them to leave the city.



Crackdown 'worst in decades'



The G20 summit comes amid what activists are saying is the worst crackdown on rights activists in decades, and campaigners want global leaders to hold the ruling Chinese Communist Party to account.



Rights groups are citing the persecution of civil society groups and the increased targeting of dissidents, religious believers, and ethnic minorities in the name of stability maintenance under President Xi Jinping.



Hangzhou-based dissidents, including rights activist Zou Wei, have already been taken out of town on enforced vacations, activists told RFA.



And rights activist Jiang Yalin, who has campaigned on behalf of families hit by the melamine-tainted infant milk powder scandal, said she has also had a visit from the local stability maintenance office asking about her plans.



Some people from the Jinhua [district] stability maintenance office came by to look for me a couple of days ago, my husband told me, she said. They wanted to know where I would be during the G20 in Hangzhou."



Jiang said she had already left town, however.



"My husband told me to take our kid outside the the city to get away from the summer heat, she said.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFAs Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.




People watch a television news broadcast showing file footage of Thae Yong Ho, a top North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea, at a railway station in Seoul, Aug. 18, 2016.

Amid the news of the defection of high-ranking North Korean diplomat Tae Yong Ho in London last week, North Korean traders who work in China say they are fearful about what they say, yet envious of Taes actions, sources said.

South Korean officials confirmed on Aug. 17 that Tae, a minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, defected to the South with his family in a rare defection of a high-ranking government official.

Jeong Joon Hee, spokesman for South Koreas Ministry of Unification, said Tae told South Korean officials that he defected because he was disgusted with the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, yearned for South Korean democracy, and worried about the future of his children, according to media reports.

Because of this incident, North Korean traders in China are stressed out and very discreet about not being implicated in this matter, yet I perceive that they envy and want to applaud the defection of Tae Yong Hos family, a source who knows North Korean traders in China told RFA's Korean Service.

The source and a North Korean trader, whom he has known for five years, watched South Koreas news coverage of Taes exile last week.

The source said he was astonished when his friend opined that those who dont escape from North Korea when they have a chance to do so, including himself, have no brain cells.

The source said he was surprised when his friend added that no one could blame Tae for defecting.

Although I have friendly relationships with the traders, I empathized with his situation when he poured out his innermost feelings very plainly, the source said.

He also expressed genuine surprise once he realized that Tae and his wife are descendants of the Norths core group of partisan guerrillas, the source added, in a reference to the anti-Japanese guerilla group led by North Korean founder Kim Il Sung that resisted Japans colonial rule over Korea, along with the so-called Paekdu bloodline.

Taes wife, Oh Sun Hae, is a relative of Oh Baek Ryong, who was close to North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un. The elder Oh was a vice chairman of the National Defense Commission (NDC) and chief of Kim Il Sungs security guards.



Hostages in their own country

The majority of North Korean traders family members are held hostage inside the isolated country while the traders are in China or elsewhere, so most workers cannot consider defecting, another North Korean source said.

To ensure traders do not defect, North Korean authorities are known to dispatch inspectors to monitor the activities of workers while they are outside the country and summon their families back to North Korea to prevent mass defections.

The descendants of the partisan guerrillas and Paekdu bloodline [of the Kim family] are the highest elite pedigree sustaining the North Korea regime, but they have not been properly respected since Kim Jong Un came into power, the source said.

He cited the example of O Kuk Ryol, a former NDC vice chairman who was called a blood brother of former NDC chairman Kim Jong Il, but lost all his positions last year.

There has been talk among North Korean public officials that the partisan guerrillas are nothing now, he said.

On Saturday, North Korea state media branded Tae an embezzler of state funds, seller of state secrets, and child rapist, calling him human scum who defected rather than face up to his transgressions back in North Korea.

A considerable number of North Koreans working overseas are now trying hard to flee to South Korea, and observing how other high-profile defectors such as Tae manage to settle in the South, the sources said.

North Korea routinely exports workers not only to China, but also to Russia, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and requires them to remit most of their earnings to the North Korean government.

Many of these workers will also attempt to escape if they have a chance, the two sources told RFA.

Roughly 1,280 North Koreans defected to South Korea last year, according to the Souths Ministry of Unification.

Taes defection came months after the U.N. Security Council imposed economic sanctions on North Korea for conducting banned nuclear and missile tests, and just before American troops began annual military exercises with South Korea.

Reported by Joonho Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Hyosun Kim. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
To create a safe and comfortable learning environment and help these students well prepare for the CEE, officers and soldiers from the Dali detachment under the People's Armed Police Force Yunnan Contingent have been working on prefabricated houses building in recent days.
A leading local activist said Tuesday that he and others were deliberately hit by a truck owned by a Chinese company that operates the controversial Letpadaung copper mine in northwestern Myanmar's Sagaing region, fueling tensions between villagers and the firm.

Thwe Thwe Win, who has led protests against the mine, was hit by the truck after he and others went to the companys office in the town of Lepadaung when workers dumped waste soil on the grounds of three Buddhist pagodas and shrines, told RFAs Myanmar Service.

We went there and asked about it, he said. Then they hit us with a truck. I got caught on that truck.

Thwe Thwe Win said he and the others filed a complaint at the local police station against the Chinese driver of the truck, who does not speak Burmese.

Ive got pain in my left leg, toes, and back, and I have a stomachache, he said. I had to get X-rays.

The large project run by Chinas Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd. Company and Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (UMEHL), a Myanmar army-owned conglomerate, has come under fire by local farmers who have long protested the companys land takeovers in the area.

Wanbao resumed operations at Lepadaung in May, a month after the new National League for Democracy (NLD) party came to power under President Htin Kyaw.

Farmers who lost crops in 2014 and 2015 during land confiscations for the mine project have demanded proper compensation from Wanbao. The company, however, has said that it has offered them money, but they refused to accept it.

Years of protest

Under the previous government, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi led a parliamentary inquiry commission on the Letpadaung project, later calling for more transparency in its land appropriation process and for police riot-control training in the wake of a violent raid on protesters at the mine site in 2012.

Police had used canisters of phosphorous to disperse protesters, severely burning dozens of them.

In March 2013, the commission recommended that the project be allowed to continue and that compensation for local residents land be offered at rates higher than those decided when the project began under the countrys former military junta regime.

Later, Aung San Suu Kyi accused the administration of former President Thein Sein of ignoring the commissions recommendations to improve conditions at the mine, saying these had sparked clashes in December 2014 between police and farmers trying to prevent Wanbao employees from fencing off land for the project.

That incident left one farmer dead and dozens injured.

The president has said not to expand land used for the project and not to confiscate land while the investigation is going on, but they are still expanding the land for the project, Thwe Thwe Win said.

This project is not good for local people; it just destroys the environment, he said. We will continue our protest because this project is something that shouldnt be allowed to continue.

The mine is one of several Chinese-operated megaprojects under way in Myanmar that have come under fire from local residents because of expropriated land and environmental damage.

Reported by Kyaw Zaw Win for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A court in south-central Vietnams coastal Khanh Hoa province convicted two online activists of conducting propaganda against the state on Tuesday, handing one a three-year term and sentencing the other to two years in a closed trial, sources said.



Nguyen Huu Quoc Duy, 31, was arrested by provincial police on Nov. 21, 2015, after authorities accused him and his cousin, Nguyen Huu Thien An, of using Duys Facebook page to incite others to oppose the government.



He was sentenced on Aug. 23 to three years in prison by a court in Khanh Hoas Nha Trang city under Article 88 of Vietnams penal code, sources said.



This is an unjust sentence, an activist from Saigon who went to Nha Trang to attend the trial told RFAs Vietnamese Service on Tuesday.



Duy only blacked out his Facebook page and wrote Forty years have passed, DMCS [a four-letter abbreviation for an obscenity attacking Vietnams ruling communists], RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



There is no law governing these four letters, and now they have charged and convicted him under Article 88, he said.



I think they just arrest anyone they want to.



Article 88 of Vietnams criminal code carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment for the ill-defined offense of spreading "anti-state propaganda." Human rights groups claim Article 88 is used to imprison peaceful activists in the one-party communist nation.



Closed trial



Tuesdays trial, in which Duys cousin received a two-year term, was closed to the public, with the defendants mothers also barred from entry, sources said.



No one could get in, one activist in Nha Trang told RFA.



[The police] have been blocking all access to the courthouse since 9:00 a.m. We could only meet in a local cafe, but security people were everywhere.



Some activists coming from Saigon were stopped at Cam Ranh, the activist said.



Duys mother Nguyen Thi Nay had asked two lawyers before the trial began to represent her son in court, but court officials had not replied to the attorneys application to attend, one of the two lawyers said.



We have now heard that the trial took place today, Aug. 23, the lawyer, Le Kha Thanh, told RFA.



We dont know what to do now, because neither of us can participate.



Reported by Mac Lam for RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Richard Finney.
A woman collects dead clams on a beach at Ky Anh district, in the central Vietnamese coastal province of Ha Tinh, April 27, 2016.

The Vietnamese government seems to be flailing in its attempt to convince people that the beaches along Vietnams central coast are recovering from a devastating toxic chemical spill, even after top officials took a dip in the ocean to prove it is clean enough for swimming.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha told state media on Monday that most beaches in the four central provinces hit in April by the spill from Taiwans Formosa Plastics Group steel plant are getting cleaner. Activists and local fishermen, however, say the governments record on the spill muddies the water.

They have avoided answering our questions before, so now the people cant believe them even after they announced their results, blogger and government critic Nguyen Xuan Dien told RFAs Vietnamese Service.

Their swimming is just a show because they did it before and nobody believed them then, he added. They swam in the sea before, even when the water was toxic.

According to state media accounts, the Vietnamese government issued a report on Monday that deemed most beaches in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue provinces safe for swimming and aquaculture.

Why not go for a swim?

To prove the point, Tran and other government officials went for a swim in the ocean at Quang Tri province's Cua Viet Resort, state media reported.

"Scientists have announced that the waters in the four central coastal provinces are now safe for swimming. Why not go for a swim?" Ha said, according to a Vietnamnet report.

While the government says the beach is safe for swimming and aquaculture, it stopped short of declaring the area safe for fishing within 20 nautical miles of the coast, according to the reports.

Dang Viet Hoa, a fisherman from Ha Tinh provinces Dong Yen parish, questioned the governments findings, telling RFA fish are still dying.

Announcing the result is their business, but we cant believe it, he said. There are no fish in the deep sea. The only ones living are near the surface.

Nguyen Tu Cuong from the Vietnam Fisheries Society told RFA it had to examine the report before commenting.

People who work with fish still cant resume their businesses, he said. We will pay attention to this report, but we will have to analyze the whole report before issuing our official response.

The sea is not safe for us to fish

But Dang Viet Ho told RFA he doesnt have to wait.

We are fishermen living in the area, he said. We live with the sea, and we can say that the sea is not safe for us to fish.

Mai Trong Nhuan, a scientist who headed the governments team studying the impact of the disaster, told RFA that chemicals in the water and the seabed meet Vietnams standards for beach activities and water sports.

While it may be safe to swim in the ocean or begin aquaculture activities, it is too early to tell whether or not its safe to catch wild fish, and that the ecosystem also needs time to recover.

Some fish have returned, but in order to protect the ecosystem we recommend against catching small fish because that will hinder the recovery of the ecosystem and the chance to catch big fish will diminish in the future, he said.

At the moment, we cant be sure about the toxin accumulation in big fish found within 15 km from the coast, he added. We therefore recommend not to catch fish within 15 km from the coast.

Nhuan said the marine ecosystem, including coral reefs, sea grasses and other marine resources that were seriously damaged, has begun to recover.

The Formosa Plastics Group acknowledged in June that it was responsible for the pollution that killed an estimated 115 tons of fish off the central Vietnamese coast

The company pledged to pay $500 million to clean it up and compensate people affected by Vietnams worst environmental disaster, which has devastated the fishing and tourism industries in the region.

The government said in a report to the National Assembly in July that the disaster harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen.

Formosa Plasticss $10.6 billion steel complex in Ha Tinh province includes a steel plant, a power plant and a deep sea port, and is one of the largest foreign investments in Vietnam.

Reported by Mac Lam and Viet Ha for RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
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Russian opposition activist Roman Roslovtsev has fled to Ukraine and is asking for political asylum. He had been arrested several times in Russia for wearing a mask of President Vladimir Putin while protesting a law that criminalizes public gatherings. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
Police in Italy say a migrant from Afghanistan travelled 400 kilometers along a highway strapped to the bottom of a truck.

According to reports on August 23, the Afghan youth was detained by police along the Naples-Rome stretch of the A1 highway. Police were alerted by motorists who noticed him suspended from his makeshift harness.

Authorities believe he began his journey in the southeastern port of Brindisi, which is some 400 kilometers from where he was stopped.

The Bulgarian truck driver, who was travelling from Turkey to Spain, told authorities he was unaware of the stowaway.

The Afghan has been ordered to leave Italy within seven days after refusing to register an asylum request in the country.

More than 100,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year. Many of them try to avoid registering there in the hope of being able to make asylum requests in northern Europe.

Based on reporting by AFP
GYUMRI, Armenia -- An Armenian court has found a Russian soldier guilty of murder charges and sentenced him to life in prison for the 2015 massacre of seven members of an Armenian family.

The court in Armenia's northwestern city of Gyumri issued the verdict and sentence against Russian Army Private Valery Permyakov on August 23.

He was found guilty of all charges against him -- including the murder of seven people, a robbery attack, and an attempt to illegally cross the border.

The court did not specify where Permyakov would be imprisoned.

According to some Armenian media reports, Permyakov is likely to serve his sentence in a Russian prison rather than in an Armenian facility.

Permyakov, who had reportedly admitted his guilt, waived his right to make a final statement during closing arguments in his trial on August 19.

WATCH: On January 21, 2015, mourners attended the funeral for 6-month-old Seryozha Avetisian, who died in the massacre.

On January 12, 2015, six members of the Avetisian family were found dead in their house in Gyumri, including a 2-year-old girl.

All the victims had been shot or stabbed to death.

A 6-month-old boy who was seriously wounded in the violence died a week later.

The massacre of the family led to mass protests in Gyumri and in Yerevan against Russia's military presence in Armenia.

It also led to calls by demonstrators for the murder trial to be heard by Armenian judges in open court instead of by Russian military judges at a closed trial at the Russian base near Gyumri.

In January 2015, immediately after the killings, Permyakov fled the Russian military garrison without proper leave papers.

He was detained near the Armenian-Turkish border before he could leave Armenian territory.

In August 2015, a Russian military court found Permyakov guilty of desertion, theft of weapons, and illegally carrying weapons.

The Russian judges sentenced him to 10 years in a maximum-security prison in that criminal case.



He was then transferred by Russian authorities to the custody of Armenia to face murder charges in a separate trial under Armenian law.



Russia has a garrison of about 3,000 soldiers in Gyumri -- Moscows main foothold in the strategic South Caucasus region.

The base is about 120 kilometers northwest of Yerevan.
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."
Britain's Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, plans to visit Russia's Arkhangelsk region to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the first Arctic Convoys from Great Britain at the port of Arkhangelsk during World War II.

"Ten people from Britain are coming. Princess Anne has confirmed her participation in this event; the Royal brass band of Britain is coming, too," said Igor Orlov, the governor of the Arkhangelsk region, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 22.

Large-scale commemoration events will take place in Arkhangelsk on August 30-31, and 35 Russian war veterans will participate in the celebrations, Orlov said.

"These people definitely deserve our attention," Putin said.

Between August 1941 and May 1945, about 78 convoys of merchant vessels, accompanied by the Royal Navy and U.S. Navy, sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to the northern ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk to deliver essential supplies to the Soviet Union.

The convoys demonstrated the Allies' commitment to helping the Soviet Union, prior to the opening of the Second Front.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax


A British man hired to clear mines planted by Islamic State extremist group in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi was killed as he tried to defuse a bomb on August 22, his employer said.

His death, the first of a Western demining expert in the city, highlights the challenge of making territory safe for civilians once it is recaptured from the militants.

Janus Global Operations did not name the victim but said he was killed in a worksite "incident" that is now under investigation. Another Briton suffered minor injuries, it said.

The U.S. company is helping Iraqis remove explosive ordinance and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) left by IS before U.S.-backed Iraqi forces retook the city west of Baghdad in December.

Hundreds of IEDs planted on Ramadi's streets and buildings have delayed the return of thousands of residents.

A shortage of Iraqis trained in dismantling the explosives has slowed efforts to restore security. Several Iraqi technicians have previously been killed by snipers.

The United States, Norway, and other countries in the international coalition battling IS contracted with Janus earlier this year to help the cash-strapped Iraqi government rehabilitate Ramadi.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
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."
A drone was used to guide a helicopter to conduct beyond visual range (BVR) strike at sea during a live-fire drill by an army aviation brigade under the PLA 71st Group Army recently. All targets were accurately hit under the harsh conditions of dense fog.
The United Nations says Iraq has executed 36 men without proper trial.

The hangings were carried out on August 21 at a prison in southern Iraq, according to state TV. Those executed were suspected Sunni Muslim militants convicted in the killings up to 1,700 soldiers, most of them Shiite Muslims.

UN human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouily said on August 23 that the men had been convicted based on information provided by secret informants or confessions allegedly extracted under duress.

She said the defendants' court-appointed lawyer did not intervene during the proceedings apart from a short statement just before the verdicts were delivered.

The United Nations, she said, had urged Iraqi authorities "to ensure that any trial conducted in connection with the massacre respects due process...rather than be fueled by vengeance. Unfortunately, this [36 hangings] was not the case.

Based on reporting by Reuters


Oil prices fell on August 22 after Iraq reported plans to increase crude exports by about 5 percent in the next few days after resuming shipments from three northern oil fields.

Officials in Kirkuk, Iraq's northern oil center, told Bloomberg News that shipments will increase by about 150,000 barrels a day as exports resume from the Baba Gorgor, Jambour, and Khabbaz fields.

The three oil fields are operated by the state-run Northern Oil Company, but their export pipeline is controlled by the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.

The company had halted exports from those fields in March due to a payment dispute with the Kurdish government. But Iraqs new oil minister, Jabbar al-Luaibi, last week said he would resolve the dispute, and Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi ordered the oil ministry to resume oil pumping into the pipeline.

Iraq has struggled to boost oil exports this year to compensate for a drop in oil prices that has sapped government revenues. Iraqs exports reached 3.71 million barrels a day in July, the International Energy Agency reported.

Iraq's planned export increase helped drive premium crude prices down $1.72 to $49.16 a barrel in London on August 22.

Based on reporting by Bloomberg, AFP, and Reuters
The head of the Kazakh Journalists' Union and chairman of the National Press Club went on trial on corruption charges in Astana on August 23.

Seitqazy Mataev and his son, Aset, who is also on trial and is the director of the KazTAG news agency, were detained in February and later placed under house arrest.

They have been charged with financial fraud. Seitqazy Mataev is also charged with tax evasion.

Both deny any wrongdoing, with rights organizations having denounced the charges as politically motivated.

Also on August 23, authorities in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, started demolishing the building of Mataev's National Press Club, citing safety issues.

The building was privatized by Mataev several years ago.

Mataev, 61, served as presidential press secretary from 1991-93.
Four members of a radical group that was plotting a string of terrorist attacks were detained in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan, the press service of the Kazakh National Security Committee said.

"The components for making improvised explosive devices and extremist religious materials, which they had kept at their residences...have been seized from the detained members of the group, which includes Kazakh and Kyrgyz nationals," the committee announced on August 22.

The committee said it foiled plans by the militants to target the committee's own employees and offices, as well as police detachments and military units.

The militants, who were not identified, also planned a second stage of attacks on crowded venues, it said.

Authorities are still investigating the suspects and will report further developments, the committee said.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax
Pakistani paramilitary forces have sealed the headquarters of a powerful political party in Karachi and detained five of its top leaders, after supporters of the party stormed the office of a television channel.

"We have sealed the [Muttahida Qaumi Movement] headquarters, their media office and hostel; some weapons have also been recovered," Khurram Shahzad, a Rangers force commander ,told reporters on August 23.

MQM said five of its leaders had been taken into custody.

Crowds of MQM workers had attacked the ARY News television office, firing shots and smashing the premises after their self-exiled leader Altaf Hussain accused the media of failing to cover a six-day hunger strike.

They later clashed with police outside, leaving one person dead and several wounded.

Hussain asked for forgiveness from the Rangers.

"From the depth of heart, I beg pardon from the Pakistani establishment," he said. "I was under severe mental stress over extrajudicial arrests and precarious condition of my workers sitting at hunger-striking camp."

Law-enforcement agencies accuse MQM of racketeering, abduction, torture, and murder in its bid to maintain power.

The party denies any link to crime.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
Russian state media are proving to be a supportive platform for conspiracies circulating in the United States claiming that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suffers from mental and physical disorders.



Over the past 10 days, echoing sites like the Drudge Report and InfoWars, at least three Russian TV channels have aired widely debunked reports allegedly proving the 68-year-old Clinton's failing health.

Life, a Russian tabloid-style channel with links to the country's security services, proclaimed on August 14 that "Hillary suffered a seizure." The screen featured two hashtags -- #Clinton and #Seizure.



A months-old video of Clinton surrounded by journalists at a muffin shop in Washington serves as the basis for report. In the video, Clinton, shakes her head in an exaggerated manner after several journalists ask her about a recent meeting with Senator Elizabeth Warren -- at the time a potential vice-presidential running mate:



Life, citing the conservative-leaning Fox News, admits that the video is dated, but "journalists aren't appeased because there are only three months left before the election [and] a -- pardon me -- crazy grandma shouldn't be allowed in the White House."



The Life report goes on to cite Fox News and its medical sources who suggest that Clinton suffers from panic attacks.



"Whether she is mentally ill or [ill] in some other way, we can only guess for now," the anchor says to finish her report.



A reporter with the Associated Press news agency, who was at the scene with Clinton, denied rumors of the democratic candidate suffering any kind of attack two days before Life released its segment.



"Perhaps eager to avoid answering or maybe just taken aback by our volume, Clinton responded with an exaggerated motion, shaking her head vigorously for a few seconds," Lisa Lerer wrote. "After the exchange, she took a few more photos, exited the shop and greeted supporters waiting outside. Where I saw evasiveness, they see seizures."



'Medical Records'



Russia's Ren TV followed on August 17 with a report in which Clinton was diagnosed with an even more serious illness for a potential commander-in-chief."Those who think Hillary Clinton may suffer from [dementia] received actual proof today," the author of the report says.



The three-minute report cites supposedly leaked medical records allegedly belonging to Clinton's doctor. Reporter Roman Babenkov, admits that Clinton's doctor herself has denied the claim, but to add some weight to the argument the report uses the muffin shop video and footage from an August incident that has recently become popular with the conspiratorially minded.



Animal rights activists protesting at a recent Las Vegas rally appeared to catch Clinton off-guard when they approached her as she was speaking on stage. As her security personnel stepped up to her Clinton went silent:



But Ren TV's report, without mentioning the presence of protesters at the rally, flatly describes Clinton's reaction as a panic attack.

A Slip Of The Tongue

An 11-minute August 21 report on Russia's flagship weekend news program Vesti, covers a range of conspiracy theories related to Clinton, including "uncontrolled laughter."

"Sometimes one feels that Clinton doesn't understand what she is saying," says Vesti's Washington correspondent Valentin Bogdanov, citing an appearance in the city by the former secretary of state earlier this August in which she appeared to misspeak.



"I hope you will compare what I'm proposing to what my husb-...my opponent is talking about," she says in the speech:



Vesti also shows photos of a member of Clinton's Secret Service detail allegedly carrying a diazepam shot typically used as a calming agent.

Nicole Mainor, a Secret Service spokeswoman told CNN on August that the object in the man's hand is nothing more than a flashlight.



Past positive statements by Putin about Clinton's Republican opponent, Donald Trump, and a leak of Democratic National Committee e-mails tied to Russian government hackers have led some Russia-watchers to claim that the Kremlin is actively supporting Trump.

In Russia, though, discussion of the president's health in state media is taboo.



When the hashtag #WhereIsPutin and the phrase "Putin died" circulated online in March 2015 after Putin disappeared for at least 10 days from public view, Russian TV virtually ignored the story.
An apparent surge in women's suicides in southern Kazakhstan has officials scrambling for clues as to why more women -- particularly younger ones -- are taking their own lives, sometimes in especially disturbing ways.

A case in point is Dilbar Turymbaeva, who owned and ran a stall at a vegetable market in the provincial capital of Shykment and died on August 9 of injuries suffered when she lit herself on fire.

The 45-year-old woman's motives for her self-immolation are still unclear, but local police have appeared to downplay suggestions that it might have been a public protest.

Senior police inspector Alma Sergazieva said authorities are looking at each case in an effort to discern a pattern in what could be a worrying trend.

"It's safe to say that stress, loneliness, economic and financial hardship, and unemployment have been among the main reasons behind the [recent] suicides," Sergazieva said.

But while Sergazieva speculated about the Turymbaeva case, she said police had no clear motive.

Such cases present a particularly thorny problem in autocratic Kazakhstan, where economic woes have mounted as exports to Russia and oil revenues have fallen but officials are historically reluctant to acknowledge social hardship or public dissent.

Police in the South Kazakhstan Region recorded 157 attempted suicides by women in the first half of this year, nearly one-third higher than the same period of last year, with the highest figure for women below the age of 30. Thirty-seven women died in those attempts.

'Kidnapped'

Ninety-five of the 157 women who attempted suicide in South Kazakhstan were below the age of 30, and another 52 were 35-45 years old.

South Kazakhstan, a region of around 2.6 million people whose suicide statistics emerged days after Turymbaeva's death, has not been particularly hard-hit economically, according to official figures that show a jobless rate near the national average of 5.2 percent.

But it is among the more socially conservative parts of the country. Young women are less likely to receive higher education in colleges and universities, and are frequently married off soon after receiving a basic education. Bride kidnapping persists in parts of the region, effectively leaving women in forced marriages.

"I suffered a lot of abuse from my ex-husband," one woman who fled 17 years of marriage told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service. She said she had been kidnapped by her future husband at the age of 17 and given birth to the first of their five children in her late teens. "I had many moments when I felt like I didn't want to live anymore."

The woman, from the village of Atakent, said she was one of many who missed out on a higher education and found themselves financially dependent on husbands they never even wanted.

Now 37, she works as a cook in a Shymkent cafe and relies on her parents to look after the youngest of her kids.

"[Many] women have resorted to suicide because of unstable marriages and unstable financial situations," said Bakhyt Dastankyzy, who provides counseling for women in South Kazakhstan, including some who have attempted suicide.

South Kazakhstan's department of employment and social programs has announced the allocation of more than $40 million this year to provide social assistance for some 57,000 impoverished residents.
The wife and son of a jailed Tajik opposition politician have gone missing, according to relatives.

Muhammadali Hayit's relatives told RFE/RL on August 23 that a day earlier several men in civilian clothes took the politician's wife, Savriniso Juraeva, and their 17-year-old son Firuz from their home in Dushanbe.

The whereabouts of the two are unknown.

The relatives said that officials at the State Committee for National Security promised to keep them informed but have so far refused to provide any information about their whereabouts.

Hiyat, the deputy chairman of the banned opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), and another party deputy, Saidumar Husaini, were sentenced to life in prison in June.

A court in Dushanbe found them and several other members of the party guilty of conspiring with former Defense Minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda in a supposed armed bid to seize power in September 2015.

The IRPT leader, Muhiddin Kabiri, who now lives in exile, rejected the accusations.


ON MY MIND

During Vladimir Putin's tenure, some form of political upheaval has always seemed to precede elections to the State Duma.

The December 1999 elections came in the wake of the suspicious apartment bombings in Moscow, Buinaksk, and Volgodonsk and at the start of the second Chechen war -- events that propelled Putin to power.

The 2003 elections came just months after the arrest of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which signaled that Putin was consolidating the elite and making an authoritarian turn.

The 2007 elections came amid the uncertainty surrounding the imminent end of Putin's second term and the ascent of Dmitry Medvedev to the presidency.

And the 2011 elections came as the political elite split over the controversial "castling" -- in which Putin and Medvedev swapped jobs.

This year's elections are no exception. They will come in the wake of a massive reshuffling of the elite and a clear culling of Putin's inner circle.

State Duma elections in Putin's Russia have also been watersheds that herald the birth of a new political reality. And if this holds true, Putin's rule is about to enter a new phase.

IN THE NEWS

A court in the Armenian city of Gyumri has sentenced Russian Army Private Valery Permyakov to life in prison for killing seven members of an Armenian family in January 2015.

Irans parliament speaker Ali Larijani says Russian warplanes are still using an Iranian military base to strike targets in Syria. Larijani made the comment a day after an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Russias use of an air base in Hamadan had ended "for now."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said talks between the United States and Russia on military cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria are nearing an end.

A court in Russia has ordered that Nikita Belykh, the former governor of the Kirov region who has spent two months in custody on a charge of accepting a bribe, should be kept there until December 24.

Finlands defense minister says the Nordic country is negotiating a defense collaboration agreement with the United States and aims to sign it this autumn.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected Russia's appeal of a blanket ban from the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro for doping.

Vedomosti is reporting that Dzhakhan Pollyeva, the State Duma's chief of staff, is stepping down.

WHAT I'M READING

Russia, Islamic State, And Civilian Deaths

According to a highly detailed and documented report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Russia has now killed more civilians in Syria than Islamic State.

Putin's New Generation

William E. Pomeranz, deputy director of the Kennan Institute, has a commentary for Reuters on how Putin's shrinking inner circle means a return to Soviet politics.

"Reading the Russian tea leaves is a growth industry. But even among all the comings and goings, certain trends have become apparent. Most notably, the people who built Putins system are on their way out, replaced by people of the system," Pomerantz writes.

"This may be a subtle distinction, yet it is a crucial one. The older generation brought a combination of intelligence, street smarts, and toughness that was essential for surviving in the highly competitive, often chaotic, post-Soviet environment. In contrast, their replacements have only known the relative stability of the Putin years and remain largely untested in times of crisis. Their inexperience may yet come to the forefront."

Nuclear Disinformation

Jeffrey Lewis of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute has a piece in Foreign Policy looking at what might have been behind all those murky and unsubstantiated reports that the United States was moving nuclear weapons from Turkey to Romania.

"The whole thing reads like a pretty classic Russian disinformation operation. A few anonymous sources make a claim in an obscure foreign newspaper. That allows Russias state media to 'cover' the allegations without quite taking responsibility for them," Lewis writes.

The Disturbing Case Of Ilmi Umerov

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group has a write-up on the plight of Ilmi Umerov, the deputy head of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, who has been forcibly confined to a psychiatric hospital for opposing Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Back To The Future

MIkhail Khodorkovsky's Open Wall web portal has a piece asking what Russia would look like today if the August 1991 coup succeeded. The answer: a lot like Russia today.

The End Of Ideology

Writing in Snob, Moscow-based economist and political analyst Vladislav Inozemtsev explains why ideological labels like liberal and conservative are irrelevant in Putin's Russia.

Reshuffle Rumors And Speculation

Kommersant is reporting that more reshuffles of Russian officials are coming after the State Duma elections in September. According to the report, which cites unidentified officials, Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff Vyacheslav Volodin will become speaker of the State Duma. The outgoing speaker, Sergei Naryshkin, will be named head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service. It could be a trial balloon. It could be speculation. We'll know soon enough.

Incriminating Evidence

The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office has released what it claims are recordings of telephone conversations involving Kremlin adviser Sergei Glazyev discussing preparations for the secessionist referendum in Crimea two years ago. The recordings also depict him helping organize unrest in Donetsk, Odesa, and Kharkiv.

The recordings were initially posted on YouTube but have since been removed. They are still available on censor.net.ua.
A naval search and rescue flotilla under the PLA Northern Theater Command , together with surface ships, helicopter units, and local maritime search and rescue forces, carried out a 74-hour uninterrupted multi-course drill in actual combat context in waters of the Yellow Sea as scheduled from May 17 to 20.
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who is behind bars in Russia, has called on Ukrainians not to fight for his release "at any price, as it would not bring the victory nearer."

In a letter obtained by RFE/RL on August 22, Sentsov wrote that the only thing he and others Ukraine considers political prisoners jailed in Russia can do for their homeland is "to hold on."

"Be aware that we are not your weak point. If our destiny is to become nails in the lid of the tyrant's coffin, then yes, I would like to be such a nail. Just remember, that nail will never bend," wrote Sentsov, whose case has become a cause celebre in Ukraine.

Crimeas Russia-backed authorities convicted Sentsov of conspiring to commit terrorism on the annexed Ukrainian peninsula.

Sentsov, who has said he was unfairly prosecuted by what he called the occupiers of Crimea, was sentenced to a 20-year sentence last August following a trial that Amnesty International described as fatally flawed.


The plight of a wounded and dazed boy from Aleppo, whose image has shocked the world, became the focal point of discussion in a UN Security Council meeting on Syria on August 22.

A top UN official and council members pleaded for humanitarian pauses in the mostly rebel-held city, which has been under a Syrian government siege for months.

Nearly every council member referenced widely circulated images of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh sitting in an ambulance covered with debris and blood as a symbol of the city's destruction.

Omran and his family were pulled from the rubble last week after a military strike on the rebel-held Qaterji district. His 10-year-old brother, Ali, died from his wounds on August 20.

"Just pause for a moment and imagine this was your child, a child that has known nothing but horrific war," said UN humanitarian affairs chief Stephen O'Brien. "That is the reality of what is at stake this morning...not the politicking and posturing, the power games and defensiveness."

O'Brien warned that Aleppo might turn into "a humanitarian catastrophe" unless all parties agree to a humanitarian pause offered by Russia last week.

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and TASS


The UN's refugee agency has warned that over 1 million people could be uprooted by the military operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State extremist group.

"In Mosul, we believe the displacement situation may be about to dramatically worsen," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said during a press briefing in Geneva on August 23.

"The humanitarian impact of the military offensive is expected to be enormous. Up to 1.2 million people could be affected," he said, adding that additional land for camps and funding is still needed.

His comments came as Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. air strikes have been regaining territory from the militants in Iraq.

Iraqi forces have seized control of a number of villages in northern Iraq and are preparing to retake the IS-held town of Qayyarah ahead of a major assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants' hands.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said talks between the United States and Russia on military cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria are nearing an end.

"We are in indeed engaged currently in ongoing conversations, and it is my hope that we are reaching the end of those discussions one way or another," Kerry said as he visited Kenya on August 22.

"In the next days, our teams will meet this week, and depending on where those discussions go, it is very possible, very likely, that Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov and I would meet," he said.

"But that decision has to be made on the basis of where we are in the next couple of days."

Kerry said the "Syrian travesty" had gone on for too long and it is imperative that powers supporting the Syrian regime -- Russia and Iran -- and those backing the opposition -- the United States and its Middle East partners -- come together to end the fighting.

Kerry has proposed sharing intelligence with Russia to coordinate air strikes against IS and Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate the Al-Nusra Front while stopping the Syrian Air Force from attacking moderate rebel groups.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
15 Iraqi security forces are seen removing an explosives vest from a would-be suicide bomber -- a young boy -- in Kirkuk. The boy was apprehended late on August 21 shortly after a suicide bomb attack on a Shi'ite mosque in the city. "The boy claimed during interrogation that he had been kidnapped by masked men who put the explosives on him and sent him to the area," Kirkuk intelligence official Chato Fadhil Humadi told AP. (Reuters/Ako Rasheed)
On August 9, a Y-20 military transport aircraft of the PLA Air Force flew from the Shenyang Taoxian International Airport to Russia with a flight of over 7,600 km, carrying a total of 57 soldiers from the PLA Northern Theater Command to participate in the International Army Games 2020.
The mother of a University of Virginia student who was struck by a car and killed near campus Sunday has been identified as a top executive with a California investment management firm.

Bonnie Baha of San Marino, Calif., was struck by a car just before 1 p.m. Sunday near the University of Virginia, according to a statement by the Albemarle County Police Department. She died at a hospital. Police say Bahas husband, Mustapha Baha, and their daughter also were struck and were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The family was visiting Charlottesville to drop off Bahas son at U.Va.

Police say there are no charges at this time and that the crash remains under investigation.

Bonnie Baha was the director of global developed credit for Los Angeles-based investment management firm DoubleLine Capital, which confirmed her death in a statement Monday. She helped Jeffrey Gundlach turn DoubleLine into a $100 billion asset management firm.

For a quarter century Bonnie was my trusted colleague and dear friend, Gundlach said in an emailed statement. She was honest and direct, with a sardonic wit perfectly matching her investment skepticism helping shape the DoubleLine philosophy.

Mary Childs, U.S. financial correspondent with the Financial Times, met Baha in the fall of 2010 when she was a reporter at Bloomberg News. Childs described Baha as a straight shooter who easily broke down complicated financial concepts and jargon.

She was just such a generous and gracious person. Its so much work helping reporters understand and not everyone does that, said Childs, who had plans to meet Baha for sushi in New York City this week. She was an incredibly strong and hilarious person.

She managed to connect people and sort of spark a connection with people and get conversations going, Childs added.

Before joining DoubleLine, Baha was a managing director and portfolio manager overseeing the corporate bond investments at TCW for 19 years.

She originally aimed at a career in investment banking after earning a masters of business administration at the University of Southern California but was advised in an interview with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that she should try asset management instead.

Baha had a bachelors degree in political science from the University of California at Irvine.
Petersburg could lay off 24 full-time employees, close one of its fire stations, raise taxes, and shut down its museums and tourism centers to help reduce the citys $12 million budget deficit.

David Eichenthal, managing director of Richmond consulting firm Public Financial Management, on Tuesday evening presented a 19-step plan aimed at reducing the citys budget deficit to the City Council at a packed Union Train Station.

The city has to take some action at this point. The $12 million deficit is a real issue from a budgeting perspective but also for the citys ability to obtain long-term financing, Eichenthal said. I wish we had more time, but the problem is, the clock is ticking.

Several local activists pushing for more government accountability criticized the City Council for barring public input at Tuesday nights meeting. Some of them wore tape over their mouths in protest.

The City Council did not act on the specific proposals Tuesday, but voted to take corrective action after a Sept. 6 public hearing on the proposed budget amendments and tax increases.

While the changes wouldnt take effect until Oct. 1, they would be a first step for the city to secure short-term funding to remain operational.

Underscoring the urgency of the situation, interim City Manager Dironna Moore Belton said that without cash flow, the city would be unable to meet payroll and its monthly debt-servicing obligations next month, resulting in a shutdown of all city functions with the exception of public safety.

The proposal aimed at saving Petersburg recommends a mix of layoffs, tax increases, a reduction or the shutdown of several public services and facilities, hiring freezes, the termination of museum and tourism funding, and the consolidation of various city departments.

The 54-page plan calls for a staff reduction of at least 24 of the citys nearly 600 full-time employees  18 of them in the citys Fire Department. A part-time employee also would be laid off.

The consultants report states that locally elected leaders would prefer to avoid tax increases and layoffs in public safety agencies, but unfortunately, the magnitude of the citys fiscal challenges demands that every revenue and spending option be fully explored and considered.

The amendments would produce about $12.5 million in savings and new revenue in the current fiscal year and about $15.1 million in fiscal 2018.

Belton said that the city leaders are presented with some very difficult choices, but we know they are the choices the city needs to make to control its own destiny.

In their report, the consultants also encourage the city to form stronger partnerships with neighboring localities, starting with an honest assessment of existing relationships.

Neighboring local governments and city-funded entities like Petersburgs school system have been directly affected by the citys inability to make timely payments on outstanding obligations.
Jack Berry named longtime Richmond businessman Jim Ukrop and longtime community activist Zarina Fazaldin as co-chairs of his mayoral campaign.

Ukrop, the former chairman of Ukrops Supermarkets and co-founder of New Richmond Ventures, has backed Berrys candidacy since its early stages, aiding fundraising efforts among the citys business community. He has personally donated $10,687 to Berry, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

He cited Berrys leadership experience as the director of Venture Richmond and former county administrator of Hanover County as his reasons for supporting the campaign.

He understands what is needed to run a complex organization, get our budget back on track and bring new opportunities to Richmond, Ukrop said in a statement.

Fazaldin, who owns a real estate business focusing on the Carver neighborhood, has been active in state and local political campaigns since 1990. She is a member of the Coalition for Greater Richmond and the Richmond Crusade for Voters.

While she initially supported one of Berrys opponents, donating $500 to City Council President Michelle R. Mosby, Fazaldin has contributed far more  $12,385  to Berrys campaign, according to VPAP.
A formation of women militia, selected from the militia force in Beijing's Chaoyang District, marched through Tian'anmen Square on Tuesday, as part of the National Day military parade in celebration of the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.
A man who showed up at a Henrico hospital with a gunshot wound Monday had been shot in Richmond, police said.

Richmond officers were called about 10 p.m. to the 700 block of Craigie Avenue for a report of shots fired. Officers did not find a victim but did recover evidence from the area, police said.

The victim was later located at Henrico Doctors' Hospital, police said.
An emergency meeting of the Richmond Electoral Board on Tuesday did not yield any answers about how the city will handle the candidacy issues created by Gov. Terry McAuliffes now-overturned order restoring felons political rights.

After meeting with the city attorney for just less than an hour in a closed session, the boards only action was to agree to seek advice on how to proceed from the state Attorney Generals Office.

Until we hear back from them, no action will be taken, Richmond Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter said after the meeting.

The decision leaves School Board candidate Kevin Starlings in limbo. Starlings won his right to vote when McAuliffe issued a blanket restoration of felons rights in April. Starlings successfully petitioned to appear on the ballot, only to lose his political rights when the state Supreme Court overturned the order.

The issue also potentially stands to affect mayoral candidate Michelle Mosby, who would not meet the requirements to appear on the ballot if the petition signature of a felon affected by McAuliffes order is retroactively disqualified as a result of the courts subsequent action.

Showalter said she was unsure how McAuliffes announcement Monday that he had re-restored rights to 13,000 felons who had registered to vote under his order would affect their decision.

It factors into it, but until we hear from the attorney general on this, were not going to speculate on this or comment further, she said.

A spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office, Michael Kelly, said the office has been providing guidance to the Department of Elections and other state agencies as they address the ramifications of the Supreme Courts decision. He said the office will also review the boards request and determine how best to proceed.

Starlings said he was disappointed the board did not act more decisively, saying he thinks the Department of Elections guidance on the issue last week was clear in suggesting it would be unusual to retroactively remove him from the ballot.

Starlings also questioned whether the Attorney Generals Office would be able to impartially review the situation because one of his opponents in the race, incumbent School Board member Jeffrey Bourne, is a deputy attorney general in the office.

Kelly said there is no merit to the concern. Bourne works on transportation, real estate and construction issues, but nonetheless alerted the office to a potential connection several weeks ago and he was immediately walled off from any matters related to the restoration of rights to ensure there wasnt even the appearance of a problem, Kelly said.
A man allegedly fired in April 2015 by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond for being gay has filed a federal lawsuit claiming discrimination.

John M. Murphy claims in court papers filed this month that just eight days into his job as executive director of the St. Francis Home in Richmond, two diocese officials visited his office  Chief Financial Officer Michael McGee and Human Resources Officer Dorothy Mahanes.

Murphy is suing St. Francis. He is claiming that the home, which is listed as a Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond on its website, discriminated against him because of his sexual orientation.

Murphy alleges that on the day McGee and Mahanes visited his office, the pair said they had learned he was gay, a fact he confirmed.

According to the lawsuit, McGee then told him same-sex marriage is antithetical to Roman Catholic church doctrine and this makes you unfit and ineligible to be executive director of St. Francis Home. We are here to advise you that your employment is terminated effective today.

McGee and Mahanes were not available for comment Tuesday evening. Diocese spokeswoman Deborah Cox said in a statement that the diocese is aware of the lawsuit.

The St. Francis Home is a religious-based, nonprofit care facility located in Richmond, Va., that serves the low-income elderly and people with disabilities, as part of the dioceses ministry, the statement said. A copy of the lawsuit has been provided to our attorney and the diocese declines any other comment about the matter at this time.

A different spokeswoman said in October that as a Catholic organization, we expect the employees of the diocese and its ministries to uphold and embody the consistent values and truths of the Catholic faith, including those preserving the sanctity of marriage.

In the lawsuit, Murphy says his sexual orientation was never discussed during the interview process, which lasted more than a month.

He claims that the first time it came up was on March 18 of last year  13 days after he was offered the job  at a meeting with Tina Neal, president of St. Francis board of directors.

Neal, the lawsuit alleges, mentioned a fundraiser scheduled for May 2 and told him that staff and spouses were invited to attend and that (he) was welcome to bring his wife.

Murphy says he informed Neal that he was married to his male partner of 30 years.

Since this was the first time this issue ever came up, (Murphy) asked Ms. Neal if his same-sex marriage status was an issue, according to the lawsuit. She shrugged and said it was not a problem and would not be an issue, stating: This is 2015. 

Neal did not respond to a phone call or email seeking comment.

According to the lawsuit, after his firing Neal said she and the board members who make up the executive committee had met with Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo the previous day. The bishop, the suit alleges, insisted that the executive committee terminate plaintiff on the grounds of same-sex marriage.

The committee refused and several members discussed quitting, according to the lawsuit.

Murphy says he has suffered mental and emotional distress and has not been able to find work.
China showcased the new DF-17, a ballistic missile said to be hypersonic with a very high defense penetration capability, for the first time at the National Day parade on Tuesday, with Chinese military expert saying that it is almost impossible to be intercepted by enemies.
Lawmakers pledged Monday to close a gap in the oversight of local and regional jails laid bare by the death of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell.

Officials failure during the past year to explain how Mitchell was allowed to waste away over 101 days at Hampton Roads Regional Jail is unacceptable, said Del. Robert B. Bell, R-Albemarle.

The jail investigated, as did Portsmouth police. The states top watchdog reviewed Mitchells case, too, but a spokeswoman for the Office of the State Inspector General said the agency lacked authority to investigate a death in jail. No one seems to know who can, or who should.

We need a clear line of who (can investigate) and what their powers are, Bell said Monday at a meeting of lawmakers convened to reform the states public system of mental health.

A state medical examiner last year said Mitchell, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, died from complications of wasting syndrome of unknown etiology, after losing 46 pounds at the jail. He was arrested for allegedly lifting $5 in snacks from a Hampton 7-Eleven.

Bell said investigators with the power to subpoena records and interview witnesses under oath should be dispatched to local or regional jails the day after an inmate death.

Theyve got to have the resources to swoop in right away, Bell said.

He and other lawmakers on the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the 21st Century are trying to determine whether an agency already has that power or whether those responsibilities should be more clearly defined.

Bell said he plans to draft legislation for the next session of the General Assembly that would clarify which agency has the power to conduct inquiries when inmates die. He said he would also consider a requirement that the death investigations be released to the public.

Hampton Roads Regional Jail cleared itself of wrongdoing in an internal investigation but jail officials have refused to release the report. State open records law allows jails to withhold administrative reviews from the public.

Bell said he would consider requiring the results of jail death reviews be released publicly as part of a proposal for lawmakers to take up during the 2017 legislative session.

Bell and Del. Vivian E. Watts, D-Fairfax, pressed the president of the Virginia Association of Regional Jails, Bobby D. Russell, on Monday about which agency should have the power to investigate jail deaths.

Russell said auditors with the states Board of Corrections, which licenses regional jails, should do the job, not the Office of the State Inspector General.

Someone coming in from the outside that has no base of knowledge about corrections certainly is not an ideal situation, said Russell, who is also superintendent of Western Virginia Regional Jail in Salem.

How the investigations would unfold remains unclear. Russell could not immediately say whether corrections workers currently tasked with inspecting jails have the ability to make arrests or subpoena records.

He described them as auditors who work for the Department of Corrections and said they follow up on complaints filed by inmates in addition to conducting inspections.

The inspectors report their findings to the Board of Corrections, a nine-member advisory panel of citizens appointed by the governor to oversee local and regional jails.

The quality of the investigation and/or the intensity of the investigation depends on the circumstances, Russell said of the auditors work.

Asked whether the corrections workers Russell referenced had investigated in the wake of Mitchells death, a department spokesman said they lacked authority.

The Department of Corrections doesnt have the authority to investigate a jail death, said Lisa E. Kinney, director of communications for the state Department of Corrections.

At the request of the advisory panel, corrections workers send staff into jails to conduct inspections/audits, she said. What the Board can investigate and the breadth and depth of their power are questions for the Board members or the Boards attorney.

Board Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall did not return an interview request Monday. Reached by phone, vice-chairman Bobby N. Vassar deferred to Randall, saying he was unfamiliar with the subject matter.
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The Chinese People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force (PLAJLSF) made debut Tuesday in a parade at the heart of Beijing marking the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Clearbrook Elementary Schools new principal, Beth Umbarger, cites her great grandmother as her inspiration for entering education. Her name was Clara Reed, and she taught all levels in a one-room school house in Alum Ridge, Virginia.

Umbargers own teaching career began in Roanoke County in 1994 as a special education teacher at William Byrd High School. Four years later, she was named special education coordinator and in 2001, she became curriculum supervisor.

One year later, Umbarger was named assistant principal of Glenvar Elementary School and then moved to Bonsack for the same position the following year. In 2004, Umbarger moved to Botetourt County where a position as principal opened up at Greenfield Elementary School. As for why she pursued an administrative position, she says shes always been a bit bossy  Most people who know me know that to be true.

And while she found the community fantastic, she felt as if something was missing. Umbarger wanted to return to Roanoke County Public Schools, but at the time, she said RCPS hired principals from within. RCPS offered her a job as special education coordinator and classroom teacher working with children with significant disabilities at Burlington Elementary School. It was life-changing for me," she said. "It really did renew my faith and my drive in the educational system. These six little kids really did wonders for me  they hold a very special place in my heart.

Then Clearbrook Elementarys Karen Pendleton accepted the position of principal at Penn Forest Elementary School. Umbarger was offered the chance to lead a school with strong community support, and she jumped at it.

When this opportunity came about  I knew it would be a fantastic place to come and work, she said. "The community here has been fantastic.

She especially appreciated the invite she received from the Clearbrook Civic League. At the meeting she attended, members shared stories about Clearbrook Elementary from way back when, and it was obvious to Umbarger that the members are very invested in the school.

When Umbarger isnt at school, shes spending time with her children. Theres Jake, who is a rising sophomore at Virginia Tech, and Daylie, who is a student at Glenvar Middle School. She also has three four-legged children, in the form of Addi and Cree (both pit bull rescues) and Hyde (a boxer).
Lawmakers pledged Monday to close a gap in the oversight of local and regional jails laid bare by the death of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell.

Officials' failure during the past year to explain how Mitchell was allowed to waste away over 101 days at Hampton Roads Regional Jail is unacceptable, said Del. Robert Bell, R-Albemarle.

The jail investigated, as did Portsmouth police. The states top watchdog reviewed Mitchells case, too, but a spokeswoman for the Office of the State Inspector General said the agency lacked authority to investigate a death in jail. No one seems to know who can, or who should.

We need a clear line of who [can investigate] and what their powers are, Bell said Monday at a meeting of lawmakers convened to reform the states public system of mental health.

A state medical examiner last year said Mitchell, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, died from complications of wasting syndrome of unknown etiology, after losing 46 pounds at the jail. He was arrested for allegedly lifting $5 in snacks from a Hampton 7-Eleven.

Bell said investigators with the power to subpoena records and interview witnesses under oath should be dispatched to local or regional jails the day after an inmate death.

"They've got to have the resources to swoop in right away," Bell said.

He and other lawmakers on the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the 21st Century are trying to determine whether an agency already has that power or whether those responsibilities should be more clearly defined.

Bell said he plans to draft legislation for the next session of the General Assembly that would clarify which agency has the power to conduct inquiries when inmates die. He said he would also consider a requirement that the death investigations be released to the public.

Hampton Roads Regional Jail cleared itself of wrongdoing in an internal investigation, but jail officials have refused to release the report. State open records law allows jails to withhold administrative reviews from the public.

Bell said he would consider requiring the results of jail death reviews be released publicly as part of a proposal for lawmakers to take up during the 2017 legislative session.

Bell and Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, pressed the president of the Virginia Association of Regional Jails, Bobby. Russell, on Monday about which agency should have the power to investigate jail deaths.

Russell said auditors with the state's Board of Corrections, which licenses regional jails, should do the job, not the Office of the State Inspector General.

"Someone coming in from the outside that has no base of knowledge about corrections certainly is not an ideal situation," said Russell, who is also superintendent of Western Virginia Regional Jail in Salem.

How the investigations would unfold remains unclear. Russell could not immediately say whether corrections workers currently tasked with inspecting jails have the ability to make arrests or subpoena records. He described them as auditors who work for the Department of Corrections and said they follow up on complaints filed by inmates in addition to conducting inspections.

The inspectors report their findings to the Board of Corrections, a nine-member advisory panel of citizens appointed by the governor to oversee local and regional jails.

"The quality of the investigation and/or the intensity of the investigation depends on the circumstances," Russell said of the auditors' work.

Asked whether the corrections workers Russell referenced had investigated in the wake of Mitchell's death, a department spokesman said they lacked authority.

"The Department of Corrections doesn't have the authority to investigate a jail death," said Lisa Kinney, director of communications for the state Department of Corrections.

At the request of the advisory panel, corrections workers "send staff into jails to conduct inspections/audits," she said. "What the Board can investigate and the breadth and depth of their power are questions for the Board members or the Board's attorney."

Board Chairwoman Phyllis Randall did not return an interview request Monday. Reached by phone, vice chairman Bobby Vassar deferred to Randall, saying he was unfamiliar with the subject matter.

A Virginia State Police review of Mitchell's case was ongoing as of Monday, but a spokeswoman declined to provide more details.
To relieve the servicemen of the brouble of spending much time and energy in decorating their apartments in barracks, relevant sub-departments of the CMC Logistic Support Department have standardized the interior decoration of military apartments, which will be piloted in different types of units across the military.
Youth Team defender receives international call-up

Youth Team defender Keith Kearney has been called up to the Northern Ireland under-17 squad.





The call-up will see the 16-year-old travel to Poland for a week long friendly tournament. Hell join up with his team-mates on Thursday.





Kearney, who left home in Armagh this summer to join Dale, is no stranger to the national set-up, having made several appearances for Northern Ireland at both under-16 and under-17 level.





Keith commented: I love representing my country - there's no better feeling. Itll be good to get back home and see my Irish team-mates. Ive been with them before - I've got 10 caps now - and theyve become good friends of mine.





The full interview is on Dale PlayerHD.
Projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are important milestones of Laos-China cooperation in the new era, said Lao ambassador to China Khamphao Ernthavanh in a recent written interview with Xinhuanet.
Recently, due to sudden drop in air temperature, the troops of a field medical post under the Xining Joint Logistic Support Center, who were conducting a training exercise on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, quickly pitched up inflatable tents for camping at a certain designated area.
All 86 peacekeepers of the second Chinese peacekeeping helicopter contingent to Abyei were awarded the UN Peace Medal of Honor by the UNISFA in recognition of their contributions to preserving peace in Abyei on October 9, local time.
AN INTERNATIONAL touring choir is set to provide a rare treat for Rotherham audiences next month.

On September 10, Masterworks Chorale will perform at Rotherham Minster.

The concert will be the first of the Leeds-based choirs new season and promises to fulfil their aim of taking the finest music to the finest venues. They have sung in cathedrals, churches and stately homes around West Yorkshire and Northern England and this has taken them overseas to a hugely successful tour in New York as well as Paris and Belgium.

Later this year they will travel to Venice to perform Vivaldis music in his church, Santa Maria Della Pieta.

Fine choral music, a Proms style finale and some works from musical director, Tim Knight, are all in the programme.

The concert begins at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available at www.heritagechorale.org.uk, from Rotherham Minster or on 0113 243 1605.
The 42nd fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy set out from a military port in east China's Shandong Province on Wednesday to take over an escort mission from the 41st naval fleet in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.
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.
Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange Pte. Ltd. (SDiX) posted turnover of just under $3.5 million in the first two weeks of August, according to data provided by SDiX, up from $1 million in May, the first month of trading. That equates to a total of around 1,500 stones traded in the first half of August, compared with 274 in the whole of May. While growth has been fast, volume remains relatively slight.

Among the problems the exchange faces, is how to price diamonds, which are all individual, unlike gold bullion which can be divided up into varying quantities and valued by weight. In addition, a market for diamonds would only be useful if it was representative of the global market for the precious stones, which, due to its lack of transparency, would be difficult to measure.

SDiX says it is able to get around the individuality issue by packaging a large, fixed number of very similar diamonds together. The physical diamonds remain in storage in a free port in Singapore, or in Mumbai.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished




Stellar Diamonds has agreed to combine its Tongo kimberlite diamond project with Octea Minings adjacent kimberlite diamond project, Tonguma in Sierra Leone and to bring both assets into production under the same infrastructure.

It said in a statement that the consolidated project would be host to 5 million carats that would be brought into a single mining operation and it would have an exploration target of 8 million carats.

Once in production the combined diamond mining operations will be the second largest in West Africa with an estimated maximum output at full production of approximately 250,000 carats per year of high value diamonds, said company chief executive Karl Smithson.

The high grade and high value nature of the kimberlites to be mined are compelling and the combination of operations should provide meaningful cost synergies that will enhance Stellar's projected operational margins.

He said using the available infrastructure at Tongo and Tonguma, diamond mining operations were expected to commence within the first 12 months post completion of the proposed transaction.

Octea general manager Christo Swanepoel said the enlarged project would be under Stellars operational management.

Stellar has long-standing expertise in Sierra Leone and the Tongo region in particular, which we believe will be of great benefit to the project, he said.

The London-listed diamond development company suspended trading on Londons AIM last Friday pending Mondays announcement, however, its shares would remain suspended until either an admission document was published or the company announces its or Octeas withdrawal from the potential transaction.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Diamcor Minings revenue leaped to C$2.4 million ($1.9 million) in the three months ended June 30 from $445,047, a year earlier.

Rapaport reports that Diamcor, which operates the Krone-Endora at Venetia mining project, in South Africa said increased efficiencies and processing volumes helped offset a decline in rough prices.

The average selling price dropped to $142 per carat from $159 per carat a year earlier, mainly due to an overall weakening in rough prices during fiscal 2017.

Diamcors profit was a measly $29,991 compared to the previous years loss of $550,106.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) for jewelry and watches rose marginally in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The reading edged up 0.7 percent compared with June, the data showed. The CPI was 5 percent higher than its level a year ago.

The July CPI for jewelry was little changed from the previous month and rose 4 percent from a year ago. Watch prices advanced 2 percent sequentially and jumped 8 percent year on year.

The figures come alongside lower diamond prices in July, with the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI) for 1-carat, GIA-graded diamonds falling 1.7 percent. RAPI for 0.30-carat diamonds slid 1.8 percent and RAPI for 0.50-carat diamonds slipped 0.5 percent. RAPI for 3-carat diamonds retreated 1.5 percent.

However, gold prices climbed throughout the month, advancing 1.5 percent on Comex, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.




The Geological Survey of India (GSI), which undertook gold exploration surveys in several states across the country, has identified 9.8 million tonnes (MT) of resources.

According to Piyush Goyal , Minister of State (power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines), in the last 3 years, GSI carried out gold exploration work in Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.

"As a result of the exploration work of GSI, 9.8 MT of gold resources were established in the state of Rajasthan (6.78 MT), Jharkhand (2 MT) and Karnataka (1.02 MT) during the field seasons 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15," he added.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished




ALROSA does not see reason to change production forecast due to Rio Tintos withdrawal from Bunder

23 august 2016 News

(INTERFAX.RU) - Rio Tinto's refusal to develop the Bunder diamond project in India is not a reason to change the long-term outlook for global production of rough diamonds, as Interfax was told by the spokesperson of ALROSA, the worlds top producer of these precious stones.

Rio Tinto, the third largest diamond miner by volume after ALROSA and De Beers, has decided to close its Bunder project in India, according to local media reports citing the statement of the corporation. The stated reason is the desire to reduce costs. In addition, Rio has been facing the resistance from the environmental authorities concerned about the threat to tiger dispersal patterns.

Bunder is one of the few "growth projects" in the world diamond production, along with Canadas Gahcho Kue (owned by De Beers by 51%), whose potential is to reach 6 million carats in 2020. Bunders diamond reserves were estimated at 34.2 million carats, and Rio planned to commission mining on this diamond field in 2019.

Meanwhile, ALROSA has not assumed that Bunder may be put into operation within the next 10 years in its long-term outlook, the companys spokesperson said.

ALROSA is continuously following the current changes taking place in the activities of diamond mining companies. Taking into account the problems, which faced Rio Tinto while it was implementing the Bunder project (in particular, the licensing and environmental management issues), ALROSA applied a moderately conservative approach to assessing the impact of this project on the global production of rough diamonds, avoiding to assume that Bunder would be put into operation in the next 10 years, ALROSAs spokesperson said.

"The companys expectations have been confirmed by the decision of Rio Tinto to withdraw from the project and close its infrastructure by the end of 2016. Thus, the refusal of Rio Tinto to further develop the Bunder project will not affect the forecast of ALROSA in terms of rough supply to the global diamond market from the companys output, the spokesperson said.

According to ALROSAs forecast updated in June this year, the world diamond production will grow annually by 2% from 2015 to 2025 reaching accordingly 129 million to 156 million carats. The world diamond production peaked in 2006 (176 million carats) and then it was significantly corrected after the downturn of 2008 (up to 120 million in 2009), when De Beers stopped and sold some of its diamond mines and projects.






PJSC ALROSA, the world leader in diamond mining, announces an International Auction of Special Size Rough Diamonds 10+ carats, and a Polished Diamond Tender. The company broke the news in a press release received by Rough&Polished on Tuesday.The auction sales will be held in the run-up to the Second Eastern Economic Forum from August 23 to September 3, 2016 on the Russky Island in Vladivostok. Nineteen rough diamonds (19 lots) with a total weight of 1,098 carats, being the property of PJSC ALROSA and JSC Almazy Anabara, are put up for sale. The largest rough diamond to be sold at the auction is 401.97 carats in weight.The Polished Diamond Tender for 28 diamonds will be held at the same time. Five of these diamonds have the weight over 5 carats. Eighteen diamonds are fancy colored. The largest round cut diamond is 40.25 carats in weight.Its the first time such auctions are held in Vladivostok. The diamonds will be displayed from August 23 to September 2, and the auctions results will be summed up on September 3 in an electronic format at www.dea.alrosa.ru A total of 30 companies from Hong Kong, Israel, India, the USA, Belgium and Russia will view the display. The rough diamond sales are organized by the Companys branch, the United Selling Organization of ALROSA, and the polished diamond sales  by DIAMONDS ALROSA.The United Selling Organization of ALROSA is in charge of sorting, preliminary valuation, pre-sale preparation and sales of all ALROSAs rough diamonds.DIAMONDS ALROSA is ALROSAs own cutting and polishing division and one of Russias largest diamond manufacturers. DIAMONDS ALROSA sells round and fancy diamonds on the domestic market and internationally and offers its customers the entire range of polished goods (all size/weight groups, colors and qualities).
The PAP service members and the firefighters built a simple wooden bridge spanning the torrential river. The rescuers carried the wounded and helped the elderly across the river via the bridge, with the rapids rolling under their feet.
Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that Metropolitan Transportation Authority has completed track laying between Central Islip and Ronkonkoma for the Long Island Rail Road Double Track project (LIRR).

The MTA cites its use of a New Track Construction (NTC) Machine as a key factor in the timeliness of the project.

The machine lays track more than 10 times faster than the MTA has ever previously been able to do manually, which officials say will save $2.4 million in construction costs. At the faster speed, MTA officials say the machine is capable of laying one mile of track per day.

MTA officials say work has begun on the final phase of the project between Farmingdale and Central Islip and is expected to wrap up in 2018.

Extending from Farmingdale to Ronkonkoma, the double track is expected to significantly shorten delays along the LIRR. With $387.2 million in state funding, the project is set to be complete in the second phase through design-build contracting.

The track is also set to allow for more off-peak service in both directions by adding 13 miles of parallel track. The project is expected to boost frequency of rides available to one train every 30 minutes in both directions, a possible improvement from the previous standard of one train every hour. Lowered delays due to service disruptions are also predicted with the added track.

Gov. Cuomo toured the double track site with MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast, as the NTC machine was laying the final portion of the 3.5-mile Phase 1 track.

The governor has challenged us to move more quickly and efficiently in all we do and to use new, innovative ideas to advance projects, Prendergast said. With the use of this new track-laying technology, MTA will save $2.4 million in the first phase of double track alone and bring us a big step forward in reducing delays and providing better service on the Ronkonkoma Branch in both directions.

Officials say this weeks announcement paired with the full MTA eTix mobile ticketing apps successful pilot program and launch, the LIRR Third Track proposal on the Main Line, the ongoing East Side Access project and four recently added Metro-North Stations, MTA is making progress toward achieving Gov. Cuomos goals for the states $100 billion Infrastructure and Development Plan.

New York State is moving aggressively to bring our mass transit systems into the 21st centurynot just to meet the needs of our current population, but to foster smart, sensible and sustainable growth, Gov. Cuomo said. Adding a second track to the Ronkonkoma Branch is a project has been talked about for decades, but was never set into motion. By pairing innovative equipment with our strategy of design-build construction, we are accelerating the pace of these critical infrastructure projects to improve Long Island commutes and strengthen the regions economy.
Switzerland's foreign trade data is due for July is due to be released in the pre-European session on Tuesday at 2:00 am ET. The trade surplus totaled CHF 3.55 billion in June.

Ahead of the data, the Swiss franc showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the Swiss franc fell against the euro, the pound and the yen, it rose against the U.S. dollar.

As of 1:55 am ET, the Swiss franc was trading at 1.0899 against the euro, 1.2650 against the pound, 0.9612 against the U.S. dollar and 104.17 against the yen.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Forex News
Switzerland's foreign trade data is due for July was released in the pre-European session on Tuesday at 2:00 am ET.

After the data, the Swiss franc changed against its major rivals.

As of 2:01 am ET, the Swiss franc was trading at 1.0899 against the euro, 1.2650 against the pound, 0.9613 against the U.S. dollar and 104.15 against the yen.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Forex News
Switzerland's trade surplus declined to a 3-month low in July, the Federal Customs Administration reported Tuesday.

The trade surplus fell to CHF 2.9 billion in July from CHF 3.5 billion in June. This was the lowest since April, when the surplus totaled CHF 2.4 billion.

Exports rebounded 5.5 percent in July from June, when it fell 4 percent. Imports logged a bigger growth of 9.2 percent, following a 4 percent drop in June.

Another report from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH showed a double-digit decline in watch exports in July. Swiss watch exports decreased 14.2 percent in July from the prior year to CHF 1.6 billion.

The value of watches priced between 200 and 3,000 francs fell by 9.9 percent against July 2015.

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.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under Secretary General of the United Nations Department of Peace Operations said on June 5 that the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G5 Sahel) is strengthening the troop construction and has made "substantial and encouraging progress", and an ongoing major military operation, code-named Sama "progressing well".
Casinos and gaming company Rank Group plc. (RNK.L) reported Tuesday that its fiscal 2016 profit before tax climbed 15 percent to 85.5 million pounds from last year's 74.5 million pounds.

Adjusted profit before tax was 77.4 million pounds, compared to 74.1 million pounds last year. Adjusted earnings per share were 15.4 pence, compared to 14.6 pence a year ago.

Statutory revenue edged up 1 percent to 708.5 million pounds from 700.7 million pounds a year earlier. Group revenue was 753.0 million pounds, 2 percent higher than 738.3 million pounds last year.

The company recorded continued like-for-like growth across all brands and channels, with Group like-for-like revenue up 3%.

Further, Rank announced a final dividend of 4.70 pence per share, up 18 percent from last year. The full year dividend would be 6.50 pence per share, up 16 percent.

Regarding the current trading, the company said its trading in the short seven-week period to August 14 has been positive and is in line with management's expectations.

Regarding Brexit, Rank said it is predominantly a UK facing with limited exposure to non-sterling costs and earnings. The UK's decision to leave the European Union is expected to have little or no direct impact on Rank's performance. Any likely impact would however be driven by any macro-economic impact of lower UK growth rates or loss of consumer confidence and spending power.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Mallinckrodt plc (MNK) said that Switzerland's Federal Department of Home Affairs or FDHA has approved reimbursement of Extracorporeal Photopheresis or ECP treatment for patients in Switzerland with Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome or BOS following lung transplantation.

Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals provides ECP therapy through its THERAKOS therapeutic platforms, including the latest generation THERAKOS CELLEX Photopheresis System.

The FDHA's decision relates to the use of ECP in Switzerland as salvage therapy for patients with BOS already on augmented immunosuppression and macrolide antibiotics as immunomodulation. It represents the first approval of a Health Technology Appraisal for ECP in BOS by a national governmental regulatory agency.

The initial request for FDHA approval was submitted by the University Hospital of Zurich's Lung Transplant Program and supported by Mallinckrodt. It was followed in September 2015 by a Health Technology Appraisal that made a detailed evaluation of the scientific, economics and value information on ECP in patients with BOS. The approval of reimbursement went into effect on 1 August 2016, and is subject to re-evaluation by the end of 2019, based on any new evidence generated at that point.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business 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 ...
By SA Commercial Prop News

The JSE listing will augment the value proposition to Libertys existing policyholders, says Thabo Dloti, Chief Executive of Liberty Holdings.



Life insurer, Liberty Holdings Ltd (JSE:LBH), which co-owns the vibrant Sandton City with Pareto Limited, says it plans to list part of its property assets on the JSE as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) by end of this year.

The listed REIT to be called Liberty Two Degrees, will have an anticipated net asset value of R10 billion and will be managed by Stanlib under the leadership of Amelia Beattie as the CEO.

The plans to list came shortly after the JSE entry of Globe Trade Centre SA (GTC), a Polish real estate developer in the CEE and SEE regions.

In this historic listing for the SA's property sector, Liberty is looking to raise up to R4 billion in new capital at listing.

The listing will also support expansion of and enhancements to the existing property assets, and broaden their accessibility to a wider investment community.

Thabo Dloti, Chief Executive of Liberty Holdings says, The capital raise will enable the company to expand and enhance its existing portfolio in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, gain access to a far wider investor community, and significantly add to the dynamics of the listed property sector of the JSE."

Although Liberty Two Degrees will issue shares only to institutional investors on listing, Liberty has crafted an exclusive opportunity for its retail customers and financial advisers, by creating a new property portfolio  the Liberty Real Estate Portfolio  which will invest solely in shares of the listed Liberty Two Degrees.

Seelan Gobalsamy, CEO of Stanlib says I am excited by the prospect of Liberty Two Degrees, we have combined our existing property investment strengths and capabilities to introduce a new opportunity that will benefit the Groups customers as well as institutional investors into the REIT.



The REITs assets will effectively comprise a portion of Liberty groups property assets, which are primarily held for the benefit of Libertys policyholders, and the listing is therefore not expected to have a material impact on Libertys share price.

Liberty has appointed The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and Java Capital as joint bookrunners and transaction advisers to the listing.

Listed property has for the last 20 years been a leading South African asset class performer, with average annual total returns of 19%. For the same period local equities delivered annual returns of 16%; local bonds 12%; and cash 9%.

Liberty recently reported basic earnings per share fell 10% to R6.67 for the six months to end-June from the matching periods R7.41. However, it raised its interim dividend 9% to R2.76. The company grew its interim revenue 4% to R19.5bn. Its aftertax profit, however, fell 6.8% to R1.99bn.
Here's where to get a pumpkin in central Kansas for fall

Local farms are preparing for the upcoming pumpkin harvest. Here's where to go pumpkin picking in the greater Salina area.
Polynesian Airlines is ready to meet the challenges presented by its newest competitor, Talofa Airways, on the Pago market.

So assures Polynesians Chief Executive Officer, Seiuli Alvin Tuala, in a press statement issued yesterday.

We have been selling our sale fares of $380.00 tala Fagalii/Pago/Fagalii and USD150.00 Pago/Fagalii/Pago since the beginning of last week, said Seiuli.

Our sale fares include taxes and surcharges and 20kgs free baggage allowance and are available for sale directly from our Sales Offices or through our Travel Agents.

Asked whether he was concerned with the fact that Talofa Airways was promoting heavily the speed of its aircraft, Seiuli said this was not a major concern with Polynesian Airlines.

With our Twin Otter aircrafts, its only a 30 minute plane ride to Pago from Fagalii Airport and the majority of our people prefer to travel in a comfortable and bigger plane.

According to Seiuli, the Twin Otter aircraft types have been in operation on the Pago route for years starting from the late 1980s so the Pago market are very much used to this type of aircraft.

The Twin Otter aircraft is world renowed for its safety record and versatility and these STOL (short take-off and landing) type of aircraft are ideally suited for short runways like Fagalii Airport. Seiuli added that he and his team have been working on a lot of areas to improve their Airlines service to the travelling public.

We have different sale fares on offer between the two Samoas and we are working very hard to improve the reliability of our service with our aircraft fleet of three Twin Otters. In the airline industry, improving and maintaining service levels at a very high standard is always a work in progress for everyone and we are committed to providing this for our customers.

We welcome competition. Competition is good for everyone as it means cheaper fares for the travelling public and improved services from the airlines involved and this will only serve to benefit the economies of the two Samoas.
How did a German get the idea of applying for a volunteer project in journalism in Samoa?

Thats a very good question.

The answer goes back to the past, long ago, 20 years in fact when I watched a love story on T.V. called Escape to Paradise, in which a pediatrician escapes from Germany to Samoa to work and support a Samoan hospital.

Of course the romance had a happy ending, and of course this was not real life.

Nevertheless, I announced at the time, One day, I will also go to Samoa to visit this beautiful place on the other side of the world.

Meanwhile, a lot happened, life had other plans for me and the Samoan dream was not part of it at the time.

But step by step, let me begin with a brief outline of my life so far.

My name is Sandra Nauth, almost 46 years old, German , growing up with my parents and one brother in a little village. Of late I have been living in a city with a population of around 180,000 people. Im an ambitious and strong person who loves travelling alone, curious about other countries and cultures and who is in general, interested in people.

After I finished high school, which in Germany usually takes 13 years but which took 14 years for me, I decided not to continue directly with studies at university but to graduate a two-year practical professional training as an Industrial Management assistant.

My professional career started with a job in the sales department of a company which was selling capsules for wine bottles. Back then, I was responsible for the first time for markets abroad, i.e. for New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. I had lots of experience and it was my first point of contact with other languages as well as with people from other cultures.

My professional experience continued with different positions in various companies. At the same time as having full time jobs in the office, I decided to study, and after five years in 2001 I finally finished my studies and gained a Diploma in Business and Economic Administration. After working many years in the position of an assistant - personal assistant, marketing assistant, sales assistant, management assistant for approximately 10 years, I switched to the Human Resources department and was effective in this business for different companies.

I very much like dealing with people, and since I am a very open-minded, self-reflective and empathic person who loves the challenge of looking behind the scenes of people, in my opinion Human Resources work is the right task for me. It always offers me opportunities to grow in my attitude and character.

On finishing my two year practical training, one dream of mine was to go abroad to Italy for a few months to learn the Italian language, culture and also the way of life. At that time, the European Union was offering a project called Leonardo da Vinci which was supported monetarily by the European Union. Unfortunately this plan never became a reality since always a job and professional challenges had priority.

Somehow I always regret that, especially because at some point youre too old for such a thing.

But since Im a little fighter following my own way, and since age is just a number for me, I also found my own approach to implementing my dreams and my personal projects.

One example among others was I did several language study travels to different places in Italy, by flat sharing with Italian people for learning the Italian culture and language in a better way.

Furthermore, three years ago I took up another volunteering project in Accra, Ghana/Africa by working for four weeks as a teacher in a preschool with children four to eight years old.

I enjoyed all these experiences a lot and would never have wanted to miss them in my lifetime. Sure, it was not ever easy, but even pushing the envelope was important research and experience which has always broadened my mind, my knowledge as well as my individual skills. That means, all of my personal projects I would do them again without any hesitation!

Even though I loved my last job challenge a lot as an H.R. Manager, responsible for the whole of Germany with five team members, some weeks ago I decided to resign since all my responsibilities didnt fulfil me anymore, and moreover I was stressed and overloaded.

My internal voice, telling me that this is not what I want to do for the next years until retirement, became louder and louder. So finally I made an emergency stop, since I felt I needed a career break for a while, to again sort out my thoughts; to find out what could be the next step in my professional career and more than that, to regain some energy.

With that idea of a career break I was also coming back step by step to some of my old individual dreams, which now somehow called to becoming reality.

The Samoan Dream needed a bit more time to get back from the depths of my heart to the surface. But then it was coming mightily and didnt disappear anymore.

So I started to do some research to find a way to come for a few weeks to Samoa by doing something nice and meaningful.

Due to the fact that I have loved writing since my youth (my mum always calls me the little writer in our family) and people are always asking me for advice when having to write congratulations, personal lines, etc.

Another example for my passion of writing, for one of my oldest friends, I wrote something like a common biography of around 100 pages of the events of our childhood, youth, teenage period until today - since were still friends. Also since one of my dreams was to look into the journalism profession, I was searching for a way to be active in this field in Samoa.

And quickly I discovered the organization of Projects Abroad which offer volunteer projects in journalism in Samoa. So I sent my application/motivation letter to the Projects Abroad organization which sent it on to the local Samoan team who forwarded it to the Samoa Observer. And then, after a short period of waiting, I got the confirmation and green light for my letter of application.

It meant I could probably explain my purpose in a proper way and it would give to me a chance to take a breath of journalism air.

For me this meant a perfect match of one of my favourite destinations in the world together with the insight into a favourite job. You could call it also winning the lottery.

At the end, I came to the conclusion that this must be a sign, and that I should just go for it.

And who knows?

After a first insight into journalism work, maybe one day I will write my own novel, and therewith fulfil another of my dreams.
Often as humans we fear, discriminate and alienate what we do not understand.

Theres no disputing the fact that we have an increasing number of child vendors in Samoa and it saddens many hearts but what are we doing to help? Why dont we act on those saddened hearts?

Rather than help, we often see these children as a plight, a product of bad parenting and turn a blind eye to the cries for help but instead we complain, we talk and yet we do not act.

But a young girl with a heart as pure as gold, has shown that even a small lesson on reading can go a long way; she has become a solution and till this day she continues to walk the talk.

Fourteen year old Quenjule Slaven from Moamoa, who initiated a programme to teach child vendors how to read at the Nelson Memorial Library every Monday and Tuesday back in February, has seen her programme flourish and bloom.

With about 25 students made up of both primary school children and child vendors under her watchful eyes and those of her volunteer team, she has created a safe place for learning; a place without any uniform, background, age or any other form of barrier just a place for those who have a desire to learn.

Even when shes really sick she will tell me that she has to go and teach her students. She says that the children are in need of the reading lessons and she wont give up on them, said Quenjules proud mother, Juliann Slaven.

But Quenjule isnt the only one keen about the programme.

The eagerness (of the students) to learn is amazing, Mrs. Slaven said.

They want to be here every day. They want to learn and as you can see, they are constantly trying they are not just sitting around waiting; they are wanting to learn.

The most important thing is they now have that trust in us and they feel really good about it.

Fighting back tears, Mrs. Slaven could barely describe how proud she is of everything her daughter has achieved.

I am speechless when it comes to Quenjule, she said.

Every parent wants to see her child take the initiative and do something; not just for themselves but for the community and for their peers.

I am just very blessed because we tell her not to just talk about it but do something about it. She was complaining about child vendors and I told her to act and that her father and I would support her if she wanted to do more.

Basically I just try and be here for her and gear her the right way.

 I just want to thank God for being here for our family.

Making time to help these kids is the least we can do for them; I am very proud of my daughter.

But what sort of upbringing has given such a young girl one of the biggest hearts in Samoa?

The only upbringing was from the Bible, Mrs. Slaven said.

We taught all our kids to read from the Bible no matter how old they are.

When they grow up that way, the values from the Bible are instilled in them as they grow older. They know what they should do and with us as parents reminding them; its all in the Bible.

If you enforce that tool to any child, then they will grow up with God in their hearts then they will become adults who know the right path.

Mrs. Slavens message for Samoa is for us to help those around us no matter who they are. Each of us has been given blessings; each of us have been blessed with a great life, she said.

Weve been born under different circumstances but these children did not ask to be born under poverty; they did not ask to not go to school.

We have to realize that we are all Gods people and as Christians which the majority of us are; we should always help one another.

We should help these children because its not their fault that they are in this situation; they may be annoying to some, but put yourself in their shoes.

If you did not have a choice, if you didnt have food, home or an education; the last thing you would want is for people to treat you badly.

Give a little smile or show a little bit of attention to them; it doesnt cost much to say a kind word to someone.

We as Christians are here to help others and if someone comes your way, then maybe God put him or her in your way. You should help rather than ignore or complain.

Complaining wont help the many problems we already have on this earth; thats my personal advice. 

Along with the support from the Library, Quenjules family from all over the globe has seen the value of her programme and has showed support through different donations.

There has also been much support from different individuals and companies such as Pacific Forum Line and R.&J. Mackenzie but according to Mrs. Slaven there is a still need for volunteers to help out.

I would like to humbly thank our Heavenly Father for His grace which is more than enough for each new day in this beautiful country, Mrs. Slaven said.

Keeping Him first place and pleasing Him is a priority in my family. Glory and honour belongs to Him for giving us the strength, wisdom and daily guidance to also elevate those around us.

I also want to thank the community and families who have contributed their time and resources in the past to help this programme continue. It means a lot to Quenjule and the volunteers but most importantly to our children who are here at the library every day.

I am very proud of these children and I am thankful to their families. They see the potential in getting an education. If we can change the life of even one child, then we really cant go wrong as a community.

Volunteers Special Mention:

 Quenjule Slaven (founder)

 Juliann Slaven

 Alexandria Slaven

 Tanya Southgate

 Amelia Southgate0Peni

 Jorim- Paul Phillips

 Ruth Manuleleua

 Maima Lafao Sami
In the Supreme Court yesterday, a 35-year-old father charged with theft, pleaded for mercy before Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai.

Ianuari Maoae is from Sagone and Satapuala.

Employed by Frankies Wholesale as a delivery man, he was charged with theft from his employer between 31st May to the 1st July 2016.

The Police Summary of Facts says he took two boxes of Bongos and a box of Palmolive shampoo from his delivery truck, and sold them to a Chinese shop for $232.

Later he admitted hed spent the money on his own personal needs.

When he appeared in court for sentencing, Ianuari Maoae begged for a second chance saying he would prove he was a changed man.

He told the court: I am sorry for what happened, and I seek Your Honours mercy for another chance.

And then he pleaded. It is just me, my wife and children, and I am the only one who provides for them.

In response, Justice Lesatele told Maoae if he cared about his wife and his children, he would not have committed this offence.

Lesatele also reminded the defendant that theft had become a rising problem and there were always people appearing in court charged with stealing.

He said it was common knowledge that those employed by companies will always think of ways to steal from them.

Justice Lesatele said this kind of behavior is unacceptable.

You have breached the trust of your employer, he explained. So this is your last chance. Consider it as your first and last chance because its not a substantial amount unlike other cases involving substantial amounts.

Ianuari was convicted and given 12 months probation under the supervision of the Probation Office. He was also told to do 20 hours community service and fined $400. The fine would be paid at $100 a month, with the first payment to be made on 30 August, 2016.Payment is to be made directly to the Probation Office.

Justice Lesatele made it clear to the defendant this was his last chance, and reminded him that theft as a servant carried the maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

Lesatele also reminded the defendant that theft has become a rising problem and there were always people in court facing the same offence. Those employed by companies will always think of ways to steal from them, he added.
A grateful Fijian lawyer shared his excitement yesterday after he was admitted to the Samoan bar before His Honour, Chief Justice Patu Tiavaasue Falefatu Sapolu.

Chief Justice Patu congratulated Mr Masei on the beginning of his new journey and reminded him that the law profession is about intelligence and good character.

The Chief Justice also congratulated Mr Maseis family for taking their time to witness this important day for him.

Filimone Masei who attended Vanuatu Law School and graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor in Law, is now residing in Samoa permanently with his Samoan wife, Terine Sefo Masei and their three children.

We are staying here permanently and I am excited to have new things ahead and face the challenges of being a lawyer, said Mr Masei.

Yesterday, Mr Masei said he thanked God for the day given to him now that he is able to join the Samoa Law Society and work for the National Prosecution Office.

He is grateful to the Chief Justice and also the Acting Director of the National Prosecution Office, Muriel Lui, he said.

Im very excited and I thank my family for their support, to my wife and our children as well as my parents in law and to my mother back in Fiji who is not here for my admission.

Masei who already had a Bachelor in Arts, graduated again with a Bachelor in Law two years ago.

As for his future plans, Masei said he will have to see what God has in store for him.

He has been with the National Prosecution Office for five months.

Masei is the son of Lose Vati Masei and late Livinai Masei from Suva Fiji. He is the second child of three siblings and is the only lawyer of the family.
Parliament yesterday passed the new law  the Citizenship Amendment Act 2016 - without any objections.

Soon afterwards, Parliament adjourned to reconvene on 18 October 1016.

First debated in the Legislative Assembly in its June session this year, some say the smoothness with which the bill has been progressing towards its eventual passage yesterday is to be expected.

They reckon that with the government in control of the majority in Parliament, passage was a forgone conclusion.

According to the Independent M.P. for Salega East, Olo Fiti Vaai the new law is likely to pose a threat to future general elections when foreigners with money who are granted citizenships, decide to run for the general elections.

However, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, disagreed. He objected saying the amendment to the bill is only intended to permit non-citizen Samoan descendants to represent Samoa in various sporting events.

He said the existing policy in regards to citizenship prevents non  citizens from doing so which has affected the number of athletes that are able to represent Samoa at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

A proposed change into the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 will pose a threat to the locals in future general elections when foreigners with money who are granted citizens, decide to run.

This was the viewpoint of the Independent M.P. for Salega East, Olo Fiti Vaai when he questioned the Social Sector Committee that tabled a report on the bill yesterday when parliament reconvened.

The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Amendment Act 2004 to cover second generation Samoans born overseas who want to become citizens by descent.

Olo questioned how the provisions of the bill will affect a new citizens ability to run in the election under existing electoral laws.

The M.P. had previous raised concern that the change will allow foreign investors who are granted citizenship to bring in their descendants to Samoa.

Looking at the amendment when someone from another country is granted citizenship he is also entitle to a matai title, monotaga (village contribution) and to run in the general election, said the M.P.

It is no secret that when it comes to elections and money we cannot compete with them. Has the committee in drafting its proposed amendment taken into account the effect of other laws.

Said Tuilaepa: Sonny Bill came to Samoa to personally request Samoan citizenship to enable him to take up a rugby league contract in England, said Tuilaepa.

With the increase of Samoan league players taking up contracts in England, there had been an increase in request for Samoan citizenship by overseas Samoan descendant to enable them to represent Samoa when possiblethat is the whole gist of the amendment is to reach out to Samoans born overseas who want to represent our country to make Samoa known to the world.

Furthermore Tuilaepa said in the past, he had made an amendment to remove the discretion from the Prime Minister on who he can grant citizenship to.

His reason was that he did not want the Prime Minister to be accused by the public of having those discretionary powers

Unconvinced with the explanation from the Prime Minister, Olo took the floor again.

This time he urged Tuilaepa not to take his Prime Ministerial discretion too lightly.

It was at this point that Tuilaepa interjected.

He accused the M.P. of discussing dead issues when they should be debating living laws that is under discussion.

The amendment was on Clause 2 to amend Section 7 of the Principal Act by inserting a new subsection (4) after subsection (3).

Subsection (4) states that, As an exception to subsections (1) to (3), a person born outside Samoa is a citizen of Samoa by descent provided that at the time of the persons birth at least 1 grandparent of the person is or was a Samoan citizen by birth.

Another amendment that the Committee made was to substitute clause 2 with transition  Section 7 of the principal act (As amended by this Act) applies to a person who was born outside of Samoa before the commencement of this Act, and whose grandparent is or was a citizen of Samoa by birth.

Associate Minister for the Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology, Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi supported the proposed change.

However he asked why the lineage entitlement was limited to ones grandparents and not extended to great grandparents.

In response, the Chairperson of the Social Sector Committee, Gatoloaifaana Amataga Gidlow said to extend the lineage to great grandparents would pose unforeseen complications.

She added it would be better to take small and effective steps at this point.

Tuilaepa was in support of the Chairperson. He pointed out that the control measures of $5,000 application fee for prospective applicants would ensure the process is not abused.

But veteran M.P. for Falealupo, Aeau Peniamina Levaiseeta differed.

He said that Samoan genealogies are not written and limited and everyone is aware of their descendants.

To limit the genealogy cannot be justified, he said.

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL 2016 SAMOA

Explanatory Memorandum

Object and Reasons:

The Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Amendment Act 2004 (the Act) to cover second generation Samoans born overseas who want to become citizens by descent.

Clauses:

Clause 1: - states that, when enacted, the Bill will be called the Citizenship Amendment Act 2016, and will commence on the date of assent by the Head of State.

Clause 2: - amends section 7 of the Act to cover second generation Samoans born outside Samoa whose parent was or grandparent is or was a Samoan citizen at the date of birth.

Clause 3: - provides for transitional matters to cover applications that are pending with the Ministry awaiting enactment of the Bill.
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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Blue Bell, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2016 -- Those who now want to ensure a successful future despite having a criminal record are encouraged to find out if they are eligible for expungement in Pennsylvania via a trusted law office. Many law offices are not suitable to properly support someone who has committed a crime in the past. However, the offices of Edwin L. Guyer have a reputation for helping people protect their futures. A complete expungement in PA does not entail merely receiving a judge's signature on a court order; the process is much more complex. Therefore, it is important to hire the services of a lawyer, like Edwin L. Guyer, who is experienced in the process.



Being charged with a criminal record should not be the be-all-end-all for those who want to redeem themselves and bring back their own potential. Under special circumstances, the law can provide opportunities for the clearance of criminal records. A complete expungement will completely eradicate a criminal record, creating the much-needed chance to turn over a new leaf. People need the opportunity to change, and by depending on a lawyer that is very familiar with the system, expungement can not only change lives, but can grant them the opportunity to start afresh.



With over 30 years of experience, Edwin L. Guyer is an instructor for DUI courses for lawyers, holding a Practice of Procedures Course in Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties. His experience and his law office's well-versed approach can make the difference. Contact Edwin L. Guyer with questions or comments via his website, or an email for general information at: elg@paduilawyer.com. He can also be reached at 215-542-9333.



About Edwin L. Guyer

For over 30 years, Edwin L. Guyer has been establishing himself with a reputation to help drivers keep their licenses. He has been guarding the potential for their future after being charged with a DUI, underage drinking, or any other criminal offense in Pennsylvania. Since 1975, the law offices of Edwin L. Guyer have become confident in their aggressive and skillful approach to insure the futures of those charged, so that they may turn over a new leaf.



Learn more by visiting: http://www.paduilawyer.com/
London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2016 -- International travellers can now stay connected for even less when the go abroad as international roaming solutions provider, WorldSIM, have reduced their international data bundles by as much as 70%. Travellers can add up to 1GB of data to use in over 100 countries, saving them up to 95% on their roaming charges. WorldSIM offers bundles for Europe, UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Asia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Global bundles that enable users to use data across 108 countries.



1GB of European data will last 30 days and cost just 35 using the WorldSIM data SIM, which when compared to the leading providers can save travellers substantially. Travellers heading to Europe using a European plan with one of the leading UK networks could cost almost 3 times as much*. Travellers from outside the UK can save just as much, for example, someone travelling from the US to Canada wanting a 1GB data package could pay $120** with one of the leading US cell networks, whereas WorldSIM's new data bundles can offer the same amount of data for just $52.50.



WorldSIM CEO, Arif Reza, commented "The cost of using data when travelling internationally is notoriously high which results in many smartphone turning their phone off or having to run around searching for free WiFi hotspots. With our new low data bundle rates, travellers browse the web as much as they do at home without having to worry about how much data they are using."



To find out more or to order your free data SIM card visit www.worldsim.com/data-sim-card



About WorldSIM

WorldSIM is the world's leading mobile roaming solution provider, delivering innovative products and services that enable travelers to stay connected affordably wherever they are. For more than 10 years, WorldSIM has been reducing the cost of international roaming and simplifying traveling with their introduction of innovative travel gadgets and accessories.



*Compared to Vodafone's EuroTraveller that enables you to travel using your existing mobile plan.



** Compared to AT&T's International travel data package.



For Media Contact:

Contact: Andrea Crome

WorldSIM

2 Spring Villa Road, London, HA8 7EB, UK

Email: press@worldsim.com

Website: http://www.worldsim.com
Huntingdon Valley, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2016 -- In a write-up just released via its website, Cosmos Marble and Granite discussed the pros cons of three of its most popular countertop materials: marble, granite and quartz. The article is titled, "Countertips Part II: Selecting the Right Material." The company responsible is known throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey for its quartzite countertops, among other material types.



The piece, which was the second installment in a series devoted to offering homeowners with general tips involving counter space, urged readers to consider that there are many factors involved in making a selection.



"Granite, which is in our company's name, is unsurprisingly one of the most popular materials we install," said Noula Karagiogos of Cosmos. Her article noted that granite is a fine material for people who want a naturally "beautiful" product that contains ample durability, as well as a variety of color options. However, Karagiorgos warned readers that granite is especially porous, which means it will absorb liquids easily and could lead to permanent stains. "Folks whose kitchens are prone to frequent spills of wine, oil or juice can still use granite, as long as they're diligent about resealing it every year or two," Karagiorgos said.



Next, the write-up discussed marble. It is one ofthe most used countertop materials, because many people consider its polished and multi-colored finish the epitome of beautiful. "It's also one of the most durable materials in world, and is completely heat resistant," explained Karagiorgos. Marble is known for its ability to hold piping hot pots and pans without the risk of damage. However, much like granite, marble is porous and will stain easily if not sealed properly.



Quartz was the final material discussed in the article. Since it is manmade, it does not come with any of the flaws that can be found in natural products like marble and granite. It is also available in virtually any color, and is considered exceptionally attractive by many. On the downside, quartz is expensive, so homeowners on tight budgets may have difficulty finding it to be a feasible option.



To read the full article, or to learn more about the granite and marble fabricator, Cosmos Marble and Granite, please visit the company's website, or dial 215-501-7542.



About Cosmos Marble and Granite

Cosmos Marble and Granite is a family owned and operated business with over 25 years of experience fabricating and installing custom countertops for their Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey customers. The company cuts and installs stone surfaces with precision, and their expertise has led them to receive a positive reputation among business owners and homeowners across the Mid-Atlantic. Cosmos Marble and Granite offers competitive prices, exceptional service and guaranteed customer satisfaction.



To learn more about Cosmos Marble and Granite, and to schedule a free estimate, please visit their website at http://cosmosmg.com/.
Portsmouth, NH -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2016 -- With the help of MindStir Media, Marian Powell has launched her novel, The Royal Rose of Alabama: The Gold Crown Pendant Affair (ISBN: 978-0988959583). The book has received rave reviews at Amazon, including one from Deborah Carlin: "Once you begin the journey into the pages, you enter another realm, a welcome world where the story grabs you and keeps your attention"



From the back cover: In London, a crowd gathered to get a glimpse of Princess Elisabeth the Beautiful, Duchess of Kenton, as she rode in her gilded carriage along the parade route. As they threw flowers in her path, they had no idea that their Princess had a very strong will of her own. They loved their regal Queen Candis, but rumors were in the air that before long, they would claim the princess as their beautiful queen. During this same time, across the Atlantic, a part of America was celebrating Cotton as their King. However, things were changing fast, and Elisabeth the Beautiful and America the Beautiful would be wrestling with the changes. The Royal Rose of Alabama delves into the minds and decisions that had to be made for both.



"Mrs. Powell's book will appeal greatly to Alabamians  and any lover of historical fiction, really," said J.J. Hebert of MindStir Media, the author's publisher. "It's obvious that she's a master storyteller and her book will be enjoyed by many"



The Royal Rose of Alabama: The Gold Crown Pendant Affair is available from MindStir Media at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and other fine retailers worldwide. Wholesale orders can be placed from Ingram and Baker & Taylor.



About Marian Powell

Marian Powell was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama during the blue-collar days of the Magic City. After attending Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN she married and became the devoted mother of four children. To connect with Marian Powell, please visit her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MarianPowellPowell



About the publisher, MindStir Media LLC

MindStir Media LLC is an award-winning self-publishing company headquartered in Portsmouth, NH. MindStir Media offers self-publishing assistance through self-publishing packages. The packages include mentoring from a bestselling author; custom book design; royalties up to 100%; publishing in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats; book distribution and marketing; and more. Visit the publisher's website at http://www.mindstirmedia.com.



Rob Rop

800-767-0531

press@mindstirmedia.com

1931 Woodbury Ave Suite 182

Portsmouth, NH 03801

mindstirmedia.com




Grand Rapids, MI -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/23/2016 -- viastore, a leading international provider of intralogistics systems, intralogistics software and support services, further strengthens its US business by recruiting Tom Coyne into the company. The intralogistics expert has more than 25 years of experience in the industry, and started his new position as the president of viastore USA on August 8th, 2016.



"Tom Coyne has remarkable material handling knowledge, a strong customer focus, shares our values, and knows the North American market very well. We are pleased that he will lead our US team in the future," says Philipp Hahn-Woernle, CEO of the viastore group.



Before joining viastore, Tom Coyne was CEO at Kardex Remster in the USA, and held leading positions in other companies, such as Diamond Phoenix, System Logistics and Rapistan Demag. "viastore is already well positioned in the US market with a strong customer base build over the last 30 years. We will continue this path and with a complete focus on the customer while achieving our company goals. I am really looking forward to that," he says.



About viastore Systems, Inc.

For over 40 years, viastore SYSTEMS, Inc. has been a leading international provider of automated material handling solutions including AS/RS (automated storage and retrieval systems) and conveyor systems, warehouse management systems software, material flow and process controls, and integrated SAP logistics solutions. The company employs over 470 people worldwide and has annual sales of over $140 Million. viastore's focus is on consulting and planning, together with the implementation and constant improvement of intralogistics solutions with locations in Germany, USA, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Russia, China, Croatia, Turkey, Poland, Israel, Ukraine, Sweden, and Brazil.



viastore SYSTEMS, with North American headquarters in Grand Rapids, MI, (http://www.us.viastore.com) is an integrated and certified partner for all major ERP system database and operating system suppliers such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft. viastore SYSTEMS earned a return spot on Food Logistics' 2015 FL100+ list of software and technology providers whose products and solutions are key to the global food supply chain. viastore SYSTEMS is a proud member of MHI.



Follow viastore on Twitter at @viastoresystems.
[MELBOURNE] As the world faces a dramatic increase in allergic diseases and asthma, scientists are pointing to the importance of good bacteria in dirtier environments.

Mark Larche, the Canada research chair in allergy and immune tolerance at McMaster University in Ontario, believes the rise in allergies may be associated with the developed worlds obsession with cleanliness. He says part of the explanation for allergies is that some children grow up in an environment that is too clean for their immune system to properly learn which substances to attack and which to ignore.

He believes children should be allowed to roll in the mud and put things in their mouths. Our immune system becomes aware of things by encountering them, says Larche, who is one of the key speakers at the 16th International Congress of Immunology in Melbourne (21-26 August).

Our immune system becomes aware of things by encountering them. Mark Larche, McMaster University in Ontario

Globally, 200 to 250 million people suffer from food allergies and 300 million suffer from asthma. Each new generation seems to be having more severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reactions than the last.

Recent research from Melbournes Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) found that children born to Asian parents in Australia had very high rates of food allergy, higher than Australian children born to Australian parents.

However, if the child was born in Asia and moved to Australia before the age of five, they were actually protected from food allergies. So this is a natural history experiment of migration where children who are of Asian extraction seem to have increased risk of food allergy. We think this a genetic preponderance and that risk is uncovered if they move here to Australia, MCRI professor Katie Allen tells SciDev.Net.

We wonder whether the Asian environment is activating the immune system in such a way in the first few years of life to fight infectious diseases that are much more rampant there whereas when they come to Australia or the developed country environment, they are actually having less activation of their immune system, increasing their allergy risk as a result, adds Allen, a paediatric gastroenterologist and allergist.

What we are finding in developed countries is there is a rapid rise in allergy rates, which is being reflected in developing countries with the rising rates of asthma. In places like Hong Kong, there are higher rates of food allergy than on mainland China, but not as high as Australia, suggesting a trend effect that partial development or developing versus undeveloped is a bigger risk factor for allergic diseases, says Allen.

Hamida Hammad from the VIB life sciences research institute in Ghent, Belgium, says her team of researchers found that dairy farmers and their children were protected against asthma and allergies because of their exposure to farm dust, and discovering the mechanism of how this protection occurs could provide a major step towards the development of an asthma vaccine.

Jiri Hrdy from the Charles University in the Czech Republic spoke about how there is decreased allergy incidence 5, 10 and 20 years after initial supplementation of newborns with probiotics  giving an insight into how babies with a family history of allergies could be protected against developing allergies later in life.

Many randomised controlled trials offering new treatments for allergy sufferers are under way, which will be completed in the next three years.

One recommended treatment is the probiotic and peanut oral immunotherapy wherein children with allergic diseases simply take a pill with a probiotic and a small amount of the food that they are allergic to in a very controlled way. The treatment is cheap, effective and easy to roll out to developing countries.



This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk.
NASA simply can't get enough of Mars so they posted a 360-degree picture of what is it like being in the red planet. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California Institute of Technology teased the public by posting a tweet saying:

The said picture was captured by NASA's Curiosity Rover using an integrated Mast Camera at Murray Buttes. The images were captured on August 5, 2016, which coincidentally landed at the Rover's 4th anniversary in Mars. The mission of the rover was to conduct observations about the conditions of Mars and learn about its history. Curiosity rover concluded in its observations that there are remnants of water and other compounds essential to life forms. Some of the evidences gathered in the mission suggests that Mars might a habitable environment before but conditions grew worse that no life forms were able to survive anymore (sounds familiar right? *Global warming).

Currently, Curiosity Rover is examining different rock formations in the planet looking for geologic patterns that reveal more information in the red planet's past. The data gathered by this mission together with other ongoing explorations will be crucial in preparation to several NASA's future missions to the red planet which includes the first manned mission to Mars and building a space station by 2021.

In a statement from NASA Mars Science Laboratory, "To find out, the rover carries the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the martian surface. The rover will analyze samples scooped from the soil and drilled from rocks. The record of the planet's climate and geology is essentially "written in the rocks and soil" -- in their formation, structure, and chemical composition. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and the local geologic setting in order to detect chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and will assess what the martian environment was like in the past."
Nasa has successfully re-established contact with one of its solar observatory spaceships STEREO-B on 21st August, after nearly two years of radio silence. STEREO-B is one of two spacecraft that make up NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). The goal of the program is to study the Sun and better understand its behavior: Specifically, to figure out the origins of coronal mass ejections.

To study these solar outbursts, NASA launched STEREO-A and STEREO-B in 2006. Both spacecraft were inserted into heliocentric orbits; STEREO-A positioned itself "ahead" of Earth, while STEREO-B fell "behind" Earth, as per report by The Verge.

How NASA lost contact

According to Nasa, the communications may have been blocked due to the sun's interference. "Communications with Stereo-B were lost during a test of the spacecraft's command loss timer, a hard reset that is triggered after the spacecraft goes without communications from Earth for 72 hours," said Nasa spokesperson Karen C Fox.

In 2014, just as Stereo-B was about to commence orbiting the other side of the sun NASA lost contact with it. However, according to International Business Times UK, contact was re-established on 21 August after the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories mission team used NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) to effectively end the 22-month-long radio silence with the spacecraft.

Regaining contact

"The DSN established a lock on the Stereo-B downlink carrier at 6.27 pm EDT. The downlink signal was monitored by the Mission Operations team over several hours to characterise the attitude of the spacecraft and then transmitter high voltage was powered down to save battery power.", said Fox.

The Mission Operations team is planning to perform further recovery processes to evaluate the spacecraft's health, re-establish control of attitude and assess all instruments and subsystems. Scientists are taking their time to produce a brief set of rescue instructions to save the spacecraft.

"But although the feat is a cause for celebration, every scientist involved in the STEREO mission is on the edge of their seats", says STEREO Project Scientist Joe Gurman."The very hard and scary work is just beginning." The STEREO-A spacecraft continues to function normally.
Even the Man of Steel had nothing on a New Delhi patient, who was rushed to the hospital after spending two months swallowing knives.

Indian man swallows 40 KNIVES because he likes the way they taste https://t.co/N5wgtFmRmH pic.twitter.com/aaNpm1nsdP  Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) August 21, 2016

The patient, a 42-year-old father of two, was said to have found the urge to swallow metal - and having them removed from his stomach is a feat that doctors should be proud of. Dr. Jatinder Malhotra, who was part of the team that operated on the man told CNN, "We were so nervous... a small mistake could have taken the patient's life. In my 20 years of practice, I have never seen anything like it."

He shared that it took the team about two days to form their diagnosis and surgery plan, which commenced in a five-hour operation that took place in the northern Indian City of Amritsar on Friday. All in all, they extracted 40 knives from the man's stomach, some folded, some unfolded, and others rusting.

The doctor shared, "He [the patient] says he swallowed some knives folded, and some unfolded. When we took out the knives -- some were found folded, some were open, and some had even started rusting and were broken." The patient is now out of danger, and would be discharged in a couple of days - however, the hospital won't let him leave until his psychiatrist clears him.

Still, the question remains: why did he start eating knives in the first place? "I don't know why I used to swallow knives. I just enjoyed its taste and I was addicted ... how people get addicted to alcohol and other things, my situation was similar."

Malhorta himself believes that the patient has a rare mental disorder that have not been published yet. The Huffington Post pointed out that there is actually a disorder for it, called pica. People affected with the illness have the urge to eat things that are non-nutritive, like ice and dirt, but the man's case may be unique.
I have observed that political writers frequently are not objective, particularly writers for The Associated Press and The Washington Post Writers Group. They tell only the part of the story that supports their personal or company ideals or goals. Since readers typically do not have the resources the writers have, readers get a slanted picture. I have written letters criticizing articles by Andy Brack, Clarence Page, Kathleen Parker and Eugene Robinson. Today's victim is George Will's article of July 31 titled "How entangled with Russia is Donald Trump?"

In this article, Will bashes Trump over potential dealings with Russia, leaving NATO and refusing to release his tax statements. There is no relevance with respect to his ability to be president.

The best example of nonrelevance I ever heard of occurred during the Paris Peace Talks in 1972-73. A U.S. Army colonel commented to a North Vietnamese official that they had never defeated us on any battlefield. The official replied, "That may be true, but it is also irrelevant." How right he was. We left Vietnam, and North Vietnam achieved its goals.

Many businesses have dealings with Russia. They also have dealings with China and many other countries. This is our global economy. In 1993, our own government bought 36 pounds of plutonium 238 from Russia at $45,000 per ounce. We needed it to manufacture batteries for our space program, because our own supply of plutonium 238 is almost exhausted. We had a deal to buy another 22 pounds, but in 2009 Russia reneged, because it needed the material itself. In the mid-1990s, we sent representatives to Kola to assist Russia with this nuclear facility. We have had grain deals with Russia for decades. I once owned a Russian 35mm camera. Trump has as much right to deal with Russia as anyone does.

I know many people who think that, as a minimum, we should quit footing the bill for NATO and make the other members pay their share. We are gaining nothing except debt.

There is no requirement for Trump to release his tax records. So why should he? He is a businessman. If he were to release his records, they would be all over the news the same day. That could be a very large disadvantage in any business dealings, current or future. Besides, no one but the world's greatest tax lawyer could understand them. If he is elected, certain releases might be appropriate, but not now.

George Will just doesn't like Trump. He should just say so and give his reasons rather than trying to deceive people by making normal business activities seem sinister.

Now that I have knocked the AP, I will applaud the anonymous AP writer for the great article on Page 3A of the Aug. 8 edition of the Morning News titled "Counting the votes: How the electors pick the president." This article was factual, educational and a public service. I wish all of their articles were of this caliber.

LAWRENCE D. WEBER

Quinby
This was achieved after clearing the Ministry of Transportation's safety and security requirements.

The new port started operating with one terminal capable of handling a feeder ship and up to two neo-panamax vessels. Port authorities hope the expanded capacity will help Jakarta take some of the current mainline volumes that now mainly go through Singapore and channel it directly through Indonesian ports.

The new terminal has will add another 1.5m teu per year of capacity, which will be a welcome relief to overloaded Tanjung Priok Port and boost its capacity from the current 6.6m teu per year.

Hambar Wiyadi, corporate secretary of Pengembang Pelabuhan Indonesia (PPI), the port development arm of state-owned port operator Pelindo II, said the Transport Ministry had issued security and safety recommendations on 20 July, after a series of trial dockings of several cargo ships.

"The recommendation means we can start to provide full services on a commercial basis," Hambar said.

PPI conducted one final test earlier this month by taking in Evergreen Group's 1,618-teu Uni Perfect. The vessel docked again last week, marking the start of commercial operations at New Priok Container Terminal I by offloading 408 teu and loading 712 teu during its time in the terminal, Hambar said.

The $320m terminal is the first of three being developed at the port over the next few years. Pelindo II expects Tanjung Priok to be able to handle up to 18m teu per year by the time all the three terminals are completed in 2023.
Dubai Chamber and DMCA will also dispatch a trade mission to Germany from 4-10 September to meet with local and international business communities, with an aim to highlight the features of Dubais maritime cluster, strengthen channels for direct communications, explore new investment prospects, and gain access to innovations and emerging trends in the global maritime industry.

H.E. Hisham Abdullah Al Shirawi, the Dubai Chambers second vice chairman, said: We organize the UAEs trade mission on the sidelines of the prestigious SMM Hamburg 2016 following our success during the 2014 edition, with UAE delegates meeting with their German and other foreign counterparts.

During their interactions, they exchanged experiences, transferred knowledge, and discussed effective strategies to boost the capacities of the maritime and shipbuilding sector. We are confident that our efforts, in cooperation with DMCA, will deliver tangible and positive results in terms of supporting the growth of maritime activity and consolidating Dubais reputation as a major global headquarters for operators of ports and a key global destination for ship owners.

Amer Ali, executive director of DMCA, said that participating in SMM Hamburg 2016 will bolster national efforts aimed at promoting the competitive advantages of the UAEs maritime sector through Dubai which moves towards becoming one of the worlds best maritime capitals.

We look forward to the upcoming event, which will undoubtedly help us attract new investments necessary to boost the maritime sectors contributions to the UAEs economic diversification agenda and comprehensive development, he said.

DMCA and the Dubai Chamber will occupy the UAE pavilion (B3.OG.120) during SMM Hamburg 2016.
Photo: A 2013 satellite photo of the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica shows the rift, which has now grown to 80 miles in length and nearly 14 miles across. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory Scientists have been monitoring the deterioration of Larsen C, the Antarctic ice shelf that is roughly the size of Scotland and the fourth biggest on the southernmost continent. And their latest observations have them plenty alarmed.

Larsen C has a rift in it that's grown steadily over the past five years. But during this year's six-month-long Antarctic polar night, the crack's size increased by an astonishing 13 miles, according to a recent blog post by Project MIDAS, a British Antarctic research project, which was based upon satellite observations. The giant crack now measures about 80 miles long -- roughly the distance between New York City and Philadelphia -- and nearly 14 miles in width.

RELATED: Overlooked Area of Antarctica Shows Major Ice Loss

"As this rift continues to extend, it will eventually cause a large section of the ice shelf to break away as an iceberg," the researchers wrote on Aug. 18.

The scientists published a paper last year which concluded that Larsen C was likely to undergo "calving," in which a piece of the ice shelf would break off. They calculated that would remove as much as 12 percent of the shelf, and leave the front of the shelf "at its most retreated position ever."

They say that the current progression of the rift makes that more likely than ever.

"Larsen C may follow the example of its neighbor Larsen B, which disintegrated in 2002 following a similar rift-induced calving event," they wrote.

Martin O'Leary, a glaciologist at Swansea University and one of the authors of the blog post, told the Washington Post that the amount of ice lost would be 2,316 square miles. That's nearly the size of the state of Delaware.

RELATED: Antarctic CO2 Level Hits 4-Million-Year High

O'Leary told the Post that it's difficult to predict exactly when Larsen C will break in two, because scientists don't yet have a good grasp of the processes which control its timing. "It's a lot like predicting an earthquake  exact timings are hard to come by," he said. "Probably not tomorrow, probably not more than a few years."

When ice shelves lose big pieces, it speeds up the flow of non-floating glacial ice from the shelf, which now is being held back. Researchers estimate that freeing that outflow would raise global sea levels by just under 4 inches, according to the Post.

WATCH VIDEO: The Difference Between Global Warming & Climate Change
In December of 2015, German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel made headlines by publicly accusing Saudi Arabia of financing terrorists in the West. Specifically, Gabriel claimed the country was funding Wahhabi mosques, which represent a strain of ultra-conservative Islam associated with extremism.

In today's Seeker Daily report, we look at the connection between Saudi Arabia and the controversial religious movement known as Wahhabism.

The relationship has deep historical roots. In the mid-18th century, cleric and scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab established a sect promoting a strict version of Islam that does not deviate whatsoever from Sharia law. He eventually partnered with local ruler Muhammad ibn Saud to form the first Saudi emirate.

Saud took over military and political matters while al-Wahhab dictated all religious authority in the state. This initial partnership has adapted and endured for more than 300 years as descendant of both bloodlines maintained the alliance.

RELATED: Why Are Saudi Arabia And The U.S. Allies?

In the 20th century, the Saudi Arabia began to use its massive wealth to promote the construction of Wahhabi mosques around the world. According to some sources, the country has bankrolled more than 1,500 mosques in the last 50 years and spent more than $100 billion dollars promoting Wahhabism globally.

Saudi Arabia's efforts to promote their state-sponsored religion has generated much alarm over the years. Despite the kingdom's claims that it does not condone terrorist actions, it actively supports a strain of Islam that promotes extremism. Wahhabism's brand of ultraconservative Islam is also practiced by groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Many Belgians blamed the Saudi-sponsored Grand Mosque for the flare up in religious extremism leading up to the attacks in Brussels.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Gabriel said that Wahhabi mosques, funded by Saudi Arabia, represent a national security threat.

"We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over," Gabriel said. "Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia and many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities."

-- Glenn McDonald

Learn More:

The Conversation: Explainer: What is Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia?

The Independent: Saudi Arabia 'funding Islamic extremism in the West', German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel claims

New York Times: ISIS' Harsh Brand of Islam Is Rooted in Austere Saudi Creed

Deutsche Welle: Brussels' Great Mosque and ties with Salafism
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but with machine learning it's also worth one useful diagnosis. A new algorithm tested with volunteer Instagram users accurately detected depression markers 70 percent of the time, reports Technology Review.

This is one heck of a filter.

RELATED: Putting the Art in Artificial Intelligence: Photos

The eagle-eyed algorithm was created by University of Vermont associate professor Chris Danforth and Harvard University doctoral candidate Andrew Reece. It works using color analysis, metadata components and face detection, according to their paper published on ArXiv.

In order to test the algorithm, the researchers used the Amazon Mechanical Turkcrowdsourcing marketplace platform to recruit volunteers. They narrowed the group down to 166 participants who were active on Instagram, screened them for depression, and asked them to self-report diagnoses. The participants also consented to a one-time collection of their Instagram photo histories for analysis -- totaling 43,950 images.

Feeling blue is real. Depressed participants posted photos that were bluer, grayer, and darker than ones uploaded by healthy users. Plus, when the depressed users did use a filter they tended to pick Inkwell, which transforms color photos into high-contrast black-and-white ones, the researchers reported. "Conversely, healthy participants most disproportionately favored the Valencia filter, which lightens the tint of photos," they wrote.

RELATED: Tool Knows Your Age, Sex From Social Media Updates

Danforth and Reece also asked a different group of Mechanical Turk workers to rate a random selection of 20 photos from the full set, determining how interesting, likable, happy and sad each one seemed on a scale of 0 to 5. The algorithm ended up being much better than the human crew at detecting depression markers, correctly identifying 70 percent of depressed cases.

Even though the algorithm could tell how many faces were in the photos, the "sad selfie" hypothesis has yet to be tested. If a search for #sad on Instagram is any indication, there are a lot of people who seem like they need help. Maybe one day a therapeutic filter will help give them a different outlook.

WATCH VIDEO: The Science of Depression
An enormous Atlantic puffin population in the Gulf of Maine is experiencing the worst die-off of chicks ever documented, the Portland Press Herald reports.

Chicks on Machias Seal Island, which is home to some 6,000 puffins, are dying of starvation in their burrows, the site reports. That's thanks to a decreased fish supply in the waters in which the parents forage for food to bring back to the newborns. The net result? Just 12% of nests are producing healthy chicks that fledge normally, down from a more normal 60%.

However, chicks in that group were smaller than normal, and an expert interviewed by the site did not expect them to live long enough to breed.

RELATED: Atlantic Puffins at Increased Risk of Extinction

Atlantic puffins reside from Maine northward to Iceland, Greenland, and Norway. The seabirds live along those mainlands as well as many islands in the North Atlantic. They eat fish almost exclusively and can even swim underwater for about one minute while snaring fish.

A potential culprit in the die-off could be warming waters, which are supplying less of the birds' preferred fish and more of lesser-nutritious, warmer-water fish.

Scientists could not even put tracking bands on this summer's nestlings, a common practice in better times.

"But we couldn't this year because the chicks' legs were too small to hold a band," researcher Tony Diamond, of the University of New Brunswick, told the paper. "We have never seen fledgling weights like this before."

WATCH VIDEO: Why Some Birds Don't Migrate
Press Release

August 23, 2016 SENATE TO TACKLE BILLS SEEKING TO POSTPONE BARANGAY,

SK POLLS -ANGARA The Senate local government committee, chaired by Senator Sonny Angara, is set to conduct a public hearing on Wednesday to tackle bills seeking to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. "As of now, we have four proposals referred to our committee calling for the postponement of the barangay and SK polls. There is an urgent need to consider these proposed measures as we only have less than 70 days before the elections," Angara said. Bills deferring the twin elections were filed by Senators Angara, Alan Peter Cayetano, Leila De Lima and Joel Villanueva. Among the invited resource persons for tomorrow's hearing are Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista, National Youth Commission Chairperson Aiza Seguerra, Rafaela Mae David of the SK Reform Coalition, Edmund Abesamis of the Association of Barangay Captains, and Alfonso Umali Jr. of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines. Angara's Senate Bill 1049 aims to reset the barangay and SK elections from the originally scheduled October 31 of this year to the last Monday of October 2018. If passed, the terms of the barangay officials would be extended to five years from the current three years. "The postponement will afford Congress more time to study how the country's 42,036 barangays could be further empowered, and to possibly pass reforms and amendments to existing laws including the Local Government Code. "It will also provide a measure of political stability, as the country dives head on into debates on Charter Change," Angara said. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has stated that the polls should be moved to a later date to avoid "election fatigue" in the country following the May 2016 national elections. President Rodrigo Duterte, however, has earlier thumbed down the proposed deferment of the elections so as to do away with the "overstaying" of barangay officials. The Comelec has started printing the 85 million ballots that will be used for the October barangay and SK polls despite various proposals from Congress to postpone it. Chairman Bautista said they are hoping to receive an advisory from Congress whether or not to push with the elections by the end of August so the Comelec can halt the preparations and the money spent would not be wasted. Republic Act 9164, enacted in 2002, provided for the synchronization of the barangay and SK polls, mandating that the election of barangay and SK officials will be held on the last Monday of October and every three years thereafter. In 2005, under RA 9340, the twin elections were reset to October 2007 to ensure that elections will be spaced apart following the 2004 national elections. In 2013, RA 10632 was passed postponing the SK elections to February of 2015 to enable the Congress to legislate substantial reforms in the structure, accountability and other aspects of governance of the SK. The Congress, however, failed to pass the envisioned SK reform law by 2015, so it further deferred the SK polls to the last Monday of October 2016 under RA 10656.
Press Release

August 23, 2016 De Lima lauds the immediate relief of Antipolo policemen Sen. Leila M. de Lima today commended Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald de la Rosa for the immediate relief of some police officers implicated in the murder of two suspected drug dealers in Antipolo City. De Lima, who chairs the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, made the commendation at the resumption of the Senate investigation into the spate of extrajudicial killings and summary executions in the campaign against illegal drugs. "I thank you (General De la Rosa) for your swift action on this matter," she said, after De la Rosa told her and other Senate probers about the action he took on the case of suspected drug dealers Rodelio and Rosalie Campos. Among those implicated were PO2 Dave Barcelo, PO2 Dennis Malabanan, PO2 Allan Barangan, PO1 Ivan Joseph Gammad, and PO1 Reynald Espiel Rabe, who are all members of the Station Anti-Illegal Drugs, Antipolo City Police Station. These police officers now confined at the PNP's Camp Crame for investigation are facing charges of murder, planting of evidence, robbery, grave abuse of authority and grave misconduct. Other officers charged have been absent without official leave. Based on official police reports, the Campos couple were found dead in separate locations in Antipolo and Morong, Rizal after they were supposed to remit drug money amounting to PhP50,000 to two police officers who act as drug suppliers. Their daughter, Mary Rose Aquino, who testified at the Senate on Mondaybelieved these police officers, among others, were purportedly involved in the killing of her parents. She alleged these policemen brought drugs to her parents for repacking. In her testimony, Aquino claimed that her parents wanted to stop being police assets due to the administration's all-out war against illegal drugs but were purportedly killed to prevent them from divulging the nefarious activities of these police officers. The former justice secretary said she believes that the ongoing Senate investigation is meant to help the government's overall efforts to curb crime as well as to expose the alleged involvement of some elements of the PNP in the illegal drug trade. "The PNP Chief himself said it that the police officers involved were not part of their initial list. The testimony of Mary Rose gave the PNP chief new leads in their efforts to clean up the police force," she said. "Kung hindi nagkaharapan sa Senado, malamang sa hindi, patuloy pa rin ang operasyon ng mga iyan," she added. s De Lima said she hopes that other testimonies of the witnesses summoned to the Senate inquiry will help the PNP put an end to these killings purportedly carried out in the name of the government's campaign against illegal drugs. "We still have a long way to go with the Senate probe. I am thankful so far with the cooperation of the police and other resource persons. I hope this probe will help the PNP in its anti-crime campaign," she said.
Press Release

August 23, 2016 Legarda Asks DOTr to Strengthen Monitoring of Vehicle Emissions Senator Loren Legarda today asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to strengthen the monitoring of emissions from motor vehicles in compliance with the Clean Air Act (RA 8749). Legarda, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance and co-author of RA 8749, made the statement after the DOTr revealed that none of its smoke emission testing machines are working. DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said he is not aware why all the machines were broken and why these were not replaced but he assured that under his watch, the agency will immediately acquire smoke emission testing machines through the Motor Vehicle User's Charge (MVUC) Fund. "I am very concerned about the state of air quality. Smoke-belching vehicles continue to ply our roads even if they should be penalized for polluting the air. Our people will greatly benefit if we are able to strictly implement the law to address smoke belching. We must have cleaner air so we prevent lung diseases and improve overall health," Legarda explained. The Senator also said that the DOTr, particularly the Land Transportation Office (LTO), should simplify its hotline for smoke belching reports and to use social media as a venue to report these violations. The current LTO hotline where citizens can report smoke-belching vehicles is (02) 921-9073. "LTO should simplify the hotline and make it more accessible. Our emissions testing centers should also be more efficient and strictly implement the law against smoke-belching," said Legarda. The DOTr assured that it will strengthen the monitoring of emissions testing centers and said that they are working on a more efficient transport system, advocating for the use of electric vehicles so that in the long run there will be no need for emissions testing.
Legarda: Weavers and Embroiderers from Aklan,

La Union, Laguna Featured at the Nat'l Museum

Senator Loren Legarda invites everyone to view and observe demonstrations by weavers and embroiderers from Laguna, Aklan and La Union this week at the National Museum of Anthropology (NMA) in Manila.

Featured at the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino textile gallery of the NMA on August 25-27, 2016 (10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) are the pina weavers from Kalibo, Aklan, silk weavers from Bacnotan, La Union, and embroiderers from Lumban, Laguna.

It will also include brief lectures about the demonstrators, the materials they use, the processes and techniques they employ, and other information related to weaving traditions.

"I invite everyone to visit the National Museum to witness these demonstrations and learn from our weavers and embroiderers. We have a very rich weaving culture and we want everyone, Filipinos and foreigners, to appreciate this heritage. These demonstrations are open to everyone as admission to the National Museum is now free," said Legarda, patron of the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino, the country's first permanent textile gallery.

In September, featured weavers will be from Mountain Province; while weavers from Zamboanga City and Tawi-Tawi will showcase their skills and traditions in October.

These weaving demonstrations at the Hibla gallery are part of the Lecture Series on Philippine Traditional Textiles and Indigenous Knowledge, which Legarda and the National Museum initiated since 2012 to perpetuate weaving and indigenous knowledge.
Press Release

August 23, 2016 POE TO GOV'T: DRUG INFORMANTS MUST BE CLEAN TO GET REWARDS Senator Grace Poe today said the government must ensure that those given monetary incentives are not themselves involved in the illegal drug trade, with P2.5 billion in intelligence and confidential funds at Malacanang's discretion to support its war against drugs and crime. "Ang atin lang babantayan dito ay hindi dapat gamitin ng mga mismong kasangkot ang pabuya na 'yan na magtuturo sila ng mga kasamahan nila tapos sila ang makakatanggap ng reward," Poe said during the second Senate hearing on alleged extrajudicial killings. "Tignan din natin kung ano talaga ang mga koneksyon ng mga kasangkot dito," the senator added in the light of two witnesses' testimony that scalawags in the police service are themselves the source of illegal drugs. Poe said the mechanics for the use of such funds should be carefully looked into by the chamber once deliberations for the 2017 proposed General Appropriations Act reach the Senate. Under the proposed P3.35 trillion national budget for 2017, the Office of the President has been allocated P1.25 billion in confidential expenses, from P250 million in the current budget. President Duterte's intelligence expenses will be P1.25 billion in 2017, up from P250 million this year. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier defended huge increases in the confidential and intelligence funds, saying the outlay is earmarked in the government's fight against illegal drugs. A measure of transparency should be allowed and demanded in the use of intelligence funds, which are usually not audited and require only general certification on its use, added Poe. PNP Director-General Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, in answering Poe's queries, said the PNP has a separate reward system and confirmed that some policemen who became instrumental in the arrest of suspected drug suspects have been given rewards. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Bureau of Investigation also give monetary rewards to their operatives for successful drug operations. The PNP has reported that there were 712 deaths during legitimate police operations and 1,067 deaths outside police operations or what they tagged as "deaths under investigation." Poe is also looking at a "reasonable" increase in the maintenance expenses of police precincts in the country, with the current allocation pegged at a meager P1,000 per policeman. The PNP Chief, in answering Poe's queries, said this was the "standard" being observed by the PNP in allocating maintenance expenses for each police precinct. A total of P206.6 billion is contained in the proposed outlay for public order and safety, to support the Duterte administration's war against drugs and crime. Specifically, the PNP has been allotted P110.4 billion for 2017, a 24.6-percent increase than this year's allocation for the police force, to hire more policemen, acquire more guns and patrol vehicles and finance other activities for more effective crime suppression.
Press Release

August 23, 2016 Villar bats for one nurse per barangay To address the problem of unemployment and underemployment among Filipino nurses, Sen. Cynthia Villar proposed the deployment of one nurse in every barangay in the country. Senate Bill No. 726 or "A Nurse in Every Barangay Act of 2016" proposes to establish a program for the employment of nurses in every barangay. Villar noted that the foreign demand for Filipino nurses have waned through the years, thus leaving many of our nurses enemployed and/or underemployed. The Professional Regulation Commission estimated that there are at least 300,000 unemployed nurses in the country. "The non-deployment of nurses abroad should be viewed as a welcome opportunity to improve the delivery of health services, particulary in far-flung areas. The government may engage the services of the nurses to be at the forefront of government health care programs," Villar said. Under the bill, each local government unit is mandated to employ one registered nurse in every barangay within their jurisdiction.The Department of Health is mandated to issue guidelines setting the qualifications of nurses to be deployed to barangays as well as come up with a module for the relevant training of these nurses. The guidelines should not discriminate against the hiring of fresh graduates or newly-passed registered nurses. Barangay Nurses will be entitled to a monthly stipend preferably equal to Salary Grade 15 or about P25,000, consistent with the mandatory minimum entry-level pay for government nurses under Republic Act 9173 or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002. Nurses under this program are required to provide an annual health status report regarding the average health and wellness of the barangay and must provide suggestions to the local government units to improve the health and wellness of all citizens of the barangay. The duties of each dispatched nurse include educating their respective barangays on the importance of health, hygiene, sanitation, and wellness. Their goal is not only to address the immediate medical needs of the community, but also, through education, to prevent illnesses and ailments.
An online donation fund has been created to help a San Francisco woman with medical costs after a tree crushed her at a North Beach park and left her paralyzed, family members said.

Cui Ying Zhou, 36, was inside Washington Square watching her daughters play on August 12 when a large tree branch fell and hit her on the head, fire officials and relatives said.

Mei Lei, who said she is related to Zhou, set up a GoFundMe page over the weekend on behalf of Zhous husband, Jian Cong Tan.

Cui is a stay-at-home mom who takes care of two little girls age 9 and 5 while husband, Jian Cong Tan works. Jian has since taken time off work to take care of the kids and wife during this difficult time, according to the online donation page. This tragic event has made it very difficult for the family physically, emotionally, and financially with medical bills mounting.

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Crews estimate the tree limb weighed approximately 100 pounds and fell from a distance of about 50 feet, said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a San Francisco Fire Department spokesman.

Paramedics arrived about 3:15 p.m. to rush Zhou to a hospital. Her relative said the felled tree fractured her skull and snapped her spine, leaving her paralyzed.

As of about 9:30 p.m. Monday, the GoFundMe had raised more than $3,500 toward its $50,000 goal.

Mayor Ed Lee said the city would review the condition of all trees after the incident.

Joey Kahn, a spokesman from the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, said tree work is done regularly at the park.

A complete tree assessment was last done in 2008 and was updated in 2010, Kahn said. The tree that dropped the limb, identified as a Canary Island pine, was listed in good condition then.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Kurtis Alexander contributed to this report.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
In a move to put an end to a burgeoning culture of boozing, Stanford University announced Monday that it is banning consumption of hard alcohol by undergraduates at campus parties.

The prohibition would include mixed drinks and shots of hard alcohol, but not beer and wine, at on-campus parties. High volume liquor containers of 750 milliliters or larger, popularly known as a fifth, would also be forbidden in all undergraduate housing, according to a Stanford news release announcing the policy change.

Liquor would, however, be allowed at parties hosted by student organizations and residences where graduate students live. Undergraduates 21 and older can still have beer in their rooms, but the days of Animal House-style bacchanalia are over, university officials declared.

Our focus is on the high risk of the rapid consumption of hard alcohol, said Ralph Castro, the director of the Stanford Office of Alcohol Policy and Education. Our intention is not a total prohibition of a substance, but rather a targeted approach that limits high-risk behavior.

The decision comes after several recent incidents on campus, including the notorious case of Brock Turner, who was sentenced in June to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a drunken and unconscious woman after a fraternity party when he was 20.

The light sentence  he could have gotten six years in prison  sparked national outrage and an online campaign to remove the judge in the case, Aaron Persky, from the bench. In his plea for leniency, Turner, a champion swimmer from Dayton, Ohio, told the judge that he planned to speak out against the college campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that.

The 23-year-old victim also talked about the drinking culture at Stanford, but said it was no excuse for rape.

I want to show people that one night of drinking can ruin two lives. You and me, she said to Turner in court.

She explained how she had attended the party with her younger sister, had too much alcohol and passed out. Around 1 a.m., two graduate students came across Turner lying on top of the partially clothed, unconscious woman in a field next to garbage bins near the fraternity.

The students tackled the freshman after he tried to run away, then called police. Turner told investigators that he had seven cans of beer that night and was having consensual sex with the woman.

You realize, having a drinking problem is different than drinking and then forcefully trying to have sex with someone? the victim asked Turner in court. Alcohol is not an excuse. Is it a factor? Yes. But alcohol was not the one who stripped me, fingered me, had my head dragging against the ground, with me almost fully naked. Having too much to drink was an amateur mistake that I admit to, but it is not criminal.

The case highlighted for many womens advocates how sex assault cases are often trivialized as a result of the college drinking culture.

The new policy was not directly related to the Turner case, but came out of general concern and is part of the schools efforts to examine educational efforts and policies around alcohol use, said Lisa Lapin, a campus spokeswoman.

The policy, which is effective immediately, was characterized by President John Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy as an attempt to meaningfully change the campus culture around alcohol.

We must create a campus community that allows for alcohol to be a part of the social lives of some of our students, but not to define the social and communal lives of all of our students, Greg Boardman, vice provost for student affairs, wrote to all incoming students.

Penalties for breaking the new alcohol policy could result in removal from university housing, officials said.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite
For losers in the $14 billion bidding war over drugmaker Medivation, the best cure for the mergers and acquisitions blues may be to go shopping.

Thats good news for BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Biogen, Incyte, Clovis Oncology and Tesaro, which have been mentioned by analysts as potential targets for drugmakers that lost out to Pfizer. Shares of all four companies rose following the takeover announcement, partly because of the 120 percent premium Pfizer paid over Medivations share price before reports of interest earlier this year.

Following months of pursuit, Sanofi came up short to Pfizer, which announced a deal Monday to buy San Franciscos Medivation and its blockbuster cancer drug for $81.50 per share. Pfizer also beat out other drugmakers, said to include Gilead Sciences, Merck and Celgene.

Every relatively small biotech firm is up because of the Medivation acquisition news, said Jacob Kilstein, an analyst at Argus Research. They could become a target as well.

Investors speculated that the Medivation deal could set off a fresh round of acquisitions in an industry that has already gone through a record period of consolidation. There is a strong strategic incentive for large-cap biotech and pharma companies to bring in additional assets through acquisitions, said Jeffrey Holford, an analyst with Jefferies.

The targets being discussed represent a wide range of assets and valuations. BioMarin of Novato, with a market valuation of about $16.5 billion, is focused on diseases caused by genetic deficiencies. Biogen makes multiple sclerosis drugs, an area Sanofi has expressed interest in, and at $70 billion would be a much larger target. Incyte, Clovis and Tesaro all have experimental treatments in oncology  one of the industrys hottest areas for development and deals.

In June, Tesaros shares more than doubled after its experimental ovarian cancer drug hit its main goal in a final-stage trial, with better-than-expected results. The drug, niraparib, belongs to a class of treatments called PARP inhibitors. Meant to help patients with a specific type of genetic mutation called BRCA, the therapy also ended up helping a wider group without the mutation.

Incyte has an approved drug, Jakafi, that is estimated to reach about $831 million in sales this year, and has teamed with Ariad Pharmaceuticals to market its blood cancer drug, Iclusig, in Europe. Incyte also has a large pipeline of experimental cancer treatments.

Sanofi may be feeling the loss of Medivation most sharply. The drugmaker hotly pursued the company, at one point taking its attempt hostile. The failure will put pressure on CEO Olivier Brandicourt to keep looking for growth as some of the companys biggest products age.

The diabetes portion of the business is under a lot of pressure and will remain under pressure, Alistair Campbell, an analyst at Berenberg Bank in London, said this month. Sanofi would still be one of the more likely companies to be looking to do some fairly significant bolt-on transactions.

The French drugmaker may find it difficult to revitalize its business in oncology and opt to focus on rare diseases, Sebastien Malafosse and Pierre Corby, analysts at Oddo & Cie in Paris, wrote in a note. BioMarin could be a prize target, they wrote.

BioMarins pipeline of experimental drugs include BMN-270, a gene therapy product against a form of hemophilia thats shown promise in a small trial, and pegvaliase, a therapy for a rare genetic disorder that met its main goal in a late-stage study in March. Those treatments, along with its already approved products, could help drugmakers such as Shire and Sanofi that make drugs for rare diseases.

Sanofis failure with Medivation may force it to pay up next time, especially with so many other companies out shopping.

While Sanofi was once known for cancer blockbusters such as Taxotere and Eloxatin, its oncology sales have eroded as patents on the drugs expired. Sanofi last year agreed to a partnership with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on therapies that harness the immune system to fight cancer.

It would be quite useful if they could provide the market with some better news, either out of their own pipeline or in the acquisition space, said Norbert Janisch, a fund manager at Raiffeisen Capital.

Sanofi said it will be responsible with its cash.

While we recognized the potential strategic benefits of a combination with Medivation, we are first and foremost a disciplined acquirer and remain committed to acting in the best interests of Sanofi shareholders, the company wrote in an email.

James Paton, Caroline Chen and Jared S. Hopkins are Bloomberg writers. Email: jpaton4@bloomberg.net, cchen509@bloomberg.net, jhopkins38@bloomberg.net.
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Uber on Monday extended its option to request a Spanish-speaking driver to New Mexico  the nations most Hispanic state by percentage of population.

The San Francisco ride-hailing company said the launch of UberEspanol would expand service and help Spanish-speaking residents and tourists move more freely in the state.

This new feature is available to customers in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Cruces.

Uber will only have a handful of Spanish-speaking drivers in New Mexico at first, but will add more as word gets out, Steve Thompson, general manager for Uber in New Mexico, said during a news conference at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.

We have hundreds of drivers in New Mexico now, so I dont think there will be a problem, Thompson said.

New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents  48 percent  of any state in the nation.

New Mexico is the sixth state to get the Spanish service after California, Illinois, Arizona, Texas and Nevada.

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Complaints

over EpiPen

Two senior U.S. senators are examining Mylan NVs price increases for the popular EpiPen allergy shot, with one Republican saying the drugmakers practices may have limited access to the treatment.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked the drugmaker to explain a steep price increase in the product in recent years, citing complaints from constituents who say they have to pay as much as $500 for one of the pens. Grassley heads the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

The substantial price increase could limit access to a much-needed medication, Grassley wrote to Mylan CEO Heather Bresch in a letter Monday.

In a separate letter Monday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Mylans practices with regards to EpiPens price. She called for the FTC to look into whether Mylan had done anything to deny competitors access to the market in order to keep raising prices.

EpiPen is a self-administered injection of epinephrine, a drug that can be used to treat allergic reactions from bee stings, food allergies or other triggers. Since acquiring the drug in 2007, Mylan has raised the price several times, up from about $57 a shot when it first took over sales of the product.

Mylan spokeswoman Nina Devlin declined to comment on the letters. The company says it offers programs to help people afford the drug.

Fast food

KFC whiffs

on this one

KFC gave away 3,000 bottles of sunscreen that it said smelled like fried chicken to drum up buzz for its Extra Crispy chicken.

Several Associated Press reporters said the smell did not immediately bring to mind chicken, however. The stunt is another way for KFC to promote its Extra Crispy fried chicken. In June, it hired always-tan actor George Hamilton to appear in commercials as Colonel Sanders.

KFC said Monday that it was out of the bottles a few hours after they appeared on its website.

Chronicle News Services
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While a new state law requires children to be vaccinated to attend public or private school, thousands of California students are filing into classrooms this month without the required immunizations.

In fact, it will be years before the law that Gov. Jerry Brown signed last year, in the aftermath of a measles outbreak that was traced to Disneyland, fully takes effect and forces all kids  save those with strict medical exemptions  to have all their shots.

Whats changed is that parents can no longer opt out of vaccinations by claiming a religious or personal-belief exemption. However, parents need to provide immunization records at only two points of their childs school career  at the outset of kindergarten and seventh grade.

As a result, those who had already claimed an exemption are grandfathered in until they move from preschool to kindergarten or from sixth to seventh grade. First-graders wont have to show proof of immunizations for six years, and eighth-graders can graduate from high school without ever having to get the 10 shots preventing diseases like measles and hepatitis.

The slow rollout allows schools to maintain the current practice of confirming a students immunization paperwork just twice, though pupils new to a district must submit proof of vaccination regardless of grade, state legislative officials said.

In Oakland, where classes opened Monday, 400 of roughly 37,000 students had ongoing personal exemptions, down from 500 last year, district officials said.

Meanwhile, many families in the city who had no opposition to vaccines were nonetheless still working Monday to get their children the shots or provide proof to the district. And school staff was still processing paperwork on the first day of class.

Over the weekend, 2,600 of these students had no proof of vaccination entered in the system, but the actual number who were unvaccinated was probably closer to a couple hundred, said district spokesman John Sasaki. He was unaware of any students who had been sent home because they lacked paperwork, but said those without it would not be allowed in class.

I dont expect that to be a significant number at all, he said. If youre a parent whose kids are not vaccinated, youre going to be impacted, and its going to be something youll have to deal with. We want kids to be vaccinated and in class as soon as possible.

According to health experts, a high level of immunization  usually more than 90 percent of the population  creates herd immunity, a kind of umbrella protection that prevents infectious diseases from spreading. If too many children at a school arent vaccinated, diseases like measles and whooping cough can spread and potentially infect children who cannot be immunized, many of whom already have weakened immune systems.

Studies have shown that last years statewide measles outbreak, which infected well over 100 people, was largely fueled by pockets of under-immunized people throughout California.

Parents who dont immunize their children usually question the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and some raise concerns about a long-debunked link between vaccines and autism. A study that found a possible connection, published in the 1990s, was retracted years ago.

Across the Bay Area and state, families appear to understand the evolving law, administrators said. In Berkeley, a week before the start of school, most students had their forms in, said Superintendent Donald Evans. Those who dont will be sent away, he added.

Officials in many districts were referring families to local clinics and medical facilities to get the required shots.

While Senate Bill 277 severely limited the ability of parents to opt out of immunizations, state law has long required students to be immunized. At the start of every school year, districts frequently had to send students home who failed to submit the necessary paperwork. Yet some schools were lax in enforcement.

The new law makes clear how serious the state is about vaccines, and parents have largely bought in, said state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, who authored the measure.

The measles outbreak that took place certainly got peoples attention, he said. Were not hearing reports of parents complaining or protesting. Theyre just getting their kids vaccinated.

You cant let families slide, said Sherri Willis, spokeswoman for the Alameda County Public Health Department. She said that in the past, some families who had no problem with vaccines simply failed to get them by the first day of school.

Before SB277, the number of families claiming personal exemptions was small in most districts  around 2 to 3 percent. Some of those parents opposed the vaccine legislation and, after its passage, have refused to immunize their children.

San Francisco mom Adrienne Moore, who fought the law, spent months trying to get a medical exemption for her kindergartner.

Moore said her daughter became unresponsive for nine days after her first tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, or Tdap, shot when she was a baby. Before school started last week, she said, her doctor agreed to support a one-year medical exemption.

Moores second daughter, who would start kindergarten next year, has no exemption. If its a choice between vaccines and homeschooling, the mom said her girls would stay home.

The law is still subject to a court battle, and a federal judge in San Diego is expected to rule this week on whether to delay it while a legal challenge proceeds. A lawsuit filed by an antivaccination group, Education 4 All, charges that the law violates the right to an education under Californias constitution.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Erin Allday contributed to this report.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @jilltucker
KQED-FM has hired John Sepulvado to host its long-running news and public affairs program, The California Report.

Sepulvado, 37, will make his debut Sept. 2.

A native of Monterey who spent his childhood in Salinas, Sepulvado comes to KQED from Oregon Public Broadcasting, where he hosted the weekend news program, Weekend Edition.

Previously, he was a producer for American Public Medias Marketplace and a national correspondent for CNN.

Sepulvado has deep roots in California: His family helped settle what are now Monterey and San Benito counties in the 18th century.

Scott Shafer hosted The California Report for 17 years until December, when he became senior editor of KQEDs politics and government desk. Subsequently, Queena Kim and then Rachael Myrow hosted the show.

The California Report airs weekday mornings on KQED and other public radio stations. Go to www.kqed.org to find broadcast times.

Chronicle Staff Report
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Did you know Madison Bumgarner has a three-game losing streak against the Dodgers? And the Giants have lost his last four start against L.A.? I didn't, until an MLB Network host said it Tuesday morning.

But it's true, and he has a 3.80 ERA in those games.

The Giants did lose two of those 3-2 and 2-1.

So Bumgarner takes the mound hoping to end that streak and faces Kenta Maeda, who held the Giants to one run in seven innings the only time he faced them, a 3-1 victory on April 17 at Chavez Ravine.

Two important pieces of news:

Angel Pagan is returning to the lineup after missing a game with a groin injury. That's a big deal He has an 18-game hitting streak, two short of his career high, and has helped jolt the offense. Actually, he and leadoff hitter Denard Span both have.

The Giants have placed struggling backup outfielder Gregor Blanco on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder impingement and purchased the contract of Gorkys Hernandez from Triple-A Sacramento.

Hernandez, who has some big-league time with the Pirates and Marlins, is having a nice year for the River Cats. He's hitting .302 and has a .382 on-base percentage. He also can play center field, which is kind of important when Span needs the occasional day and Pagan is playing hurt.

Blanco has had a bad shoulder for a while, but this probably one of those DL stints that might not have happened had Blanco not been 2-for-26 at the plate and hitting .225 overall this year.

*****

And so begins the big series that manager Bruce Bochy continues to insist is not the be all and end all for the Giants, because, what if he does and the Giants don't play well?

"It's not going to determine what happens, but it is an important series," Bochy said.

It really is, not because the Giants would be out of the hunt if they got swept, but because every loss against the Dodgers hurts them in the wild-card race, too. It's a double blow.

The Giants play six of their final nine against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. You'd think the Giants would have to play well here to take the West, then.

The real story the entire series will be the ability of the Giants' top three starters (at least by order) to cool a surging Dodgers offense. They actually went past "surging" Monday when they hit seven homers and scored 18 runs at Great American Ball Park.

The stats that matter: Since the All-Star break, the Dodgers are second in the league with 51 homers. Giants pitchers are tied for allowing the third-most, at 48.

The Dodgers have fared worse against left-handed starters. They Giants will throw two of them in the series: Bumgarner and Matt Moore.

The Giants need Moore on Thursday night to pitch the way he did the last time he took the mound for Tampa Bay. He held the Dodgers to one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings and beat them.

But first things first. Kike Hernandez is at the bat rack ready to go. He is 10-for-16 with three homers against Bumgarner and hit two of them in a 7-3 L.A. victory here in April. Not surprisingly, he is leading off.

The Dodgers recalled former Giant Charlie Culberson and have him in the lineup. He has hurt the Giants this year.

LINEUPS

GIANTS

Span CF

Pagan LF

Belt 1B

Posey C

Crawford SS

Pence RF

Nunez 3B

Panik 2B

Bumgarner P

DODGERS

Hernandez CF

Kendrick LF

Seager SS

Turner 3B

Gonzalez 1B

Grandal C

Segedin RF

Culberson 2B

Maeda P

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @hanksculman.
Splitting his time between Brazil and the Bay Area for the past dozen years, the choro-loving jazz reedman Harvey Wainapel has performed and recorded various regional styles of music with artists around Brazil, including two prime musicians hed like people here to know better: flutist, pianist and composer Lea Freire, from Sao Paulo, and pianist and accordion player Vitor Goncalves, a Carioca now living in Brooklyn.

Wainapel has played with each over the years since he met them in their home cities on his first ear-opening stay in Brazil in 2000, but never with both together. Freire and Goncalves, who are more than 20 years apart in age, have never played with each other  until now. Wainapel is featuring them and their music in an afternoon trio performance scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 28, at Piedmont Piano.

Theyre very aware of each other, and totally respect each other, but theyre from different generations and run in different crowds, Wainapel, 65, says, on the phone from his South Berkeley home.

Theyve never had a chance to play together. It took somebody like myself to put it together, adds the entrepreneurial improviser. He said hes delighted to be connecting and presenting two of the artists who inspire him in a country thats waist-deep in great musicians.

Wainapel was at Stanford a few years ago when saxophonist Branford Marsalis and the Philarmonia Brasileira performed one of Freires pieces on a program celebrating the music of the great Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Shes an amazing writer, her sense of harmony and counterpoint, Wainapel says, adding that her music sounds somewhere between classical and jazz, and its great for improvising and having drums. Its very wide, welcoming music.

He first heard Goncalves at a Rio music school where Itibere Zwarg, the bassist who plays with the wild Brazilian jazz master Hermeto Pascoal, was composing and arranging on the spot for a youth ensemble that included violins, electric guitars, saxophones, accordion, percussion and recorders.

It was so deep, says Wainapel, who was floored by the 18-year-old pianist, Goncalves, who would go on to sub for Pascoals regular pianist and is now in demand in New York. You could hear he was going to be a major musician.

Goncalves was scheduled to fly to San Francisco after some Indian concerts with clarinet star Anat Cohen, then meet up with Wainapel and Freire at California Brazil Camp in Cazadero near the Russian River. (Wainapel isnt teaching there this year, but they are.) The trio will get in some good rehearsal time before the Piedmont Piano gig.

The shop will have a pair of grand pianos on hand for the show, during which the instrumentation may shift from two pianos and saxophone, to piano and flute or clarinet and accordion.

Were going to mix and match, Wainapel says. We may play a tune or two of mine, but the spotlight is on them.

For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/jkqbvww.

Documentaries

in the running

The San Francisco Film Societys 2016 Documentary Film Fund awards  $75,000 total for feature-length docs in postproduction  will go to one or more of the 10 finalists selected last week from a pool of 200 applicants.

The contenders include By a Thread by directors Rina Castelnuovo and Tamir Elterman, which tells the story of a Palestinian boy from Gaza transferred at birth to the Israeli hospital, where he lives confined for security reasons; and Sasha Friedlanders and Cynthia Wades Mudflow, about Indonesian villagers who struggle to get justice after a gas-drilling operation caused a huge exploding mud volcano. Winners will be announced mid-September.

For more information, go to www.sffs.org.

Art of Hung Liu

and Michael Hall

As part of its big 80th anniversary exhibition, Making Our Mark, the Richmond Art Center is pairing paintings by the compelling Chinese-born American artist Hung Liu  who experienced Maos Cultural Revolution firsthand  and her former studio assistant and student at Mills College, Michael Hall. In some pictures they both look at the toll of war, but their styles are nothing alike.

The show, which runs Sept. 13 to Nov. 12, features the work of a dozen other artists whove contributed to the center over the decades, among them William T. Wiley, Mildred Howard, Enrique Chagoya, Jim Melchert, Christopher Brown and Squeak Carnwath.

For more information, go to www.richmondartcenter.org.

Jesse Hamlin is a Bay Area journalist and former San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
WASHINGTON  Republicans stepped up their attacks Monday on former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons use of a private email server and pointed to newly released messages to allege that foreign donors to the Democratic presidential nominees family charity got preferential treatment from her department.

Congressional Republicans issued subpoenas to three technology companies that either made or serviced the server located in the basement of Clintons New York home. The subpoenas were issued Monday by House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith of Texas with the support of Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
DENVER  Kansas is asking a federal appeals court to keep thousands of people who havent yet provided the documents to prove they are U.S. citizens from voting in Novembers election.

Judges from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver heard arguments Tuesday in the legal fight over how the state enforces its proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters who register at motor vehicle offices.

Since 1993, states must allow people to register to vote when they apply for or renew their drivers licenses. The so-called motor-voter law says that people can only be asked for minimal information when registering to vote, allowing them to simply affirm they are citizens.

A federal judge in May temporarily blocked Kansas from disenfranchising about 18,000 who registered to vote at motor vehicle offices without providing citizenship paperwork such as birth certificates or naturalization papers. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ordered the state to register them for federal elections until the case, one of at least four the state is facing over its law, is decided at trial. The state has said that ruling could affect as many as 50,000 potential voters by the November elections.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach wants the appeals court to overturn her preliminary order.

In the appeal, Kobach, a national leader in Republican voting requirement efforts, argued that the motor voter law doesnt bar states from asking for proof of citizenship and that it doesnt make sense to hold people who register to vote elsewhere in the state to a higher standard than those who apply to register at motor vehicle offices.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of the League of Women Voters and people whose registrations were held up because the state said they were incomplete.

Kobach has championed the documentation requirement as a way to prevent non-citizens from voting, particularly immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Critics contend the requirement suppresses turnout.

Robinson said evidence in the case shows only three instances in Kansas where noncitizens voted in a federal election between 1995 and 2013, and about 14 noncitizens attempted to register during that time. Robinson said the number of people disenfranchised outweighed the harm of those cases.
Cockfighting is a crime in all 50 states, but it may not be the type of gravely immoral offense that requires deportation of any noncitizen who commits it, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Tuesday.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2013 decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the nations top immigration court, that classified cockfighting as a crime of moral turpitude. That made convictions grounds for deportation even for legal U.S. residents who were noncitizens. The immigration courts decision also meant that residents in the country illegally could be barred from claiming exceptions from deportation, such as family hardship.

The case involved Agustin Ortega-Lopez, who entered the United States illegally from Mexico in 1992 and lives in Oregon with his wife and their three U.S.-born children. He pleaded guilty in 2008 to a misdemeanor charge of cockfighting in which the court said he had played a minor role, described by his lawyer as providing transportation to the scene of the fight. He was sentenced to probation, without jail time.

Placed in deportation proceedings, Ortega-Lopez sought a reprieve under a federal law covering longtime residents who had no serious criminal record and whose U.S. citizen relatives would suffer serious hardship.

But an immigration judge ruled him ineligible, saying any type of staged animal fighting was a spectacle involving the intentional infliction of harm or pain on sentient beings, which the judge compared to innocent children.

The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the judges ruling, but the Ninth Circuit court told the board Tuesday to reconsider the case and what might be an overly broad view of moral turpitude.

State governments and Congress are entitled to classify cockfighting as a crime, though it is legal in U.S. territories such as Guam, the Northern Marianas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Judge John Owens said in the appeals courts 3-0 ruling.

But he said crimes of moral turpitude generally involve either fraud or deliberate harm on a protected class of victim, and it isnt clear that cockfighting qualifies.

The crime at issue involving harm to chickens is, at first blush, outside the normal realm of offenses so serious that they involve moral turpitude, Owens said.

Ortega-Lopezs lawyer, N. David Shamloo, said his client was a hard-working man with no previous criminal record. He described the immigration boards ruling against Ortega-Lopez as absurd.

For the first time, the (board) equated the life of a chicken to the life of a human being, Shamloo said. He said some courts have classified staging dogfights as a deportable crime, but we treat dogs differently than chickens, he said. We dont eat dogs. Dogs are our pets.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
BART is trying to reverse the unavoidable truth that station elevators are effectively public toilets. The agency is trying out a new trick to fight the constant stench of urine that assaults riders as soon as they step into most elevators throughout the system.

At Civic Center station the transportation agency is prototyping a "self flush and sanitizing system," which means they will release a bacteria-eating enzyme misting system in the elevator shaft. The misting will occur once an hour and won't affect elevator operations.
A suspected facilitator for al-Qaida who was captured more than a decade ago and tortured repeatedly at a secret CIA prison in Thailand, including being waterboarded 83 times, appeared Tuesday before a review board to argue for release - his first public appearance since his detention in 2002.

Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, known as Abu Zubaida - the first prisoner in the CIA's detention and interrogation program and the first to be waterboarded - said through a military officer representing him that he wants to be released from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, so he can be reunited with his family and live a peaceful life.

Zubaida, a Saudi-born Palestinian, has "stated that he has no desire or intent to harm the United States or any other country, and he has repeatedly said that the Islamic State is out of control and has gone too far," his military representative, who was not identified, said in a statement.

The review board process was established by the Obama administration to conduct periodic assessments of the continued detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and give them a chance to argue for their release. The interagency boards are made up of senior national security officials.

The public session of Tuesday's periodic review board, which was live-streamed for reporters at the Pentagon, adjourned after about 15 minutes without Zubaida speaking.

Another official, arguing for the U.S. government, said that Zubaida "has shown a high level of cooperation with the staff at Guantanamo Bay and has served as a cell block leader, assuming responsibility for communicating detainees' messages and grievances to the staff and maintaining order among the detainees."

But the official nonetheless argued against release saying that Zubaida "probably retains an extremist mindset" and has not espoused his views recently "probably to improve his chances for repatriation.

Zubaida "has used his time in Guantanamo to hone his organizational skills, assess U.S. custodial and debriefing practices, and solidify his reputation as a leader of his peers, all of which would help him should he choose to reengage in terrorist activity," the official said.

The closed session of the hearing involves a question-and-answer session with the detainee, and a decision for continued detention or his release could be made within 30 days, officials said. There are currently 61 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Zubaida military representatives said the detainee at first did not believe he had "any chance or hope to be released because of the reputation created through the use of his name" but has since "come to believe that he might have a chance to leave Guantanamo through this process."

Zubaida, now 45, was captured in Pakistan following a shootout in the city of Faisalabad in March 2002 that left him wounded. He was taken to a secret CIA facility in Thailand where he was provided medical care and subjected to harsh interrogations. He was held at a number of secret CIA prisons overseas before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006 along with a number of other high-profile detainees, including the alleged organizers of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

President George W. Bush described Zubaida in 2002 as "al-Qaida's chief of operations" but U.S. officials later assessed that he was a Pakistan-based "fixer," not a formal member of the group, who helped aspiring jihadists make their way to training camps in Afghanistan.

Zubaida, who lost an eye while trying to alter his appearance before his capture endured some of the roughest treatment of all the detainees in CIA custody.

At the hearing Tuesday, Zubaida, sporting a trim beard and wearing a traditional white tunic, looked to be in good health; he used eyeglasses and left his eyepatch hanging around his neck.

The Justice Department, at one point, had planned to prosecute Zubaida in the Eastern District of Virginia, according to former federal prosecutors, but he has never been charged with a crime by the United States.

According to Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA program, Zubaida's waterboarding - which subjects someone to the sensation of drowning by pouring water over a cloth-covered face - induced convulsions and vomiting.

The report said that after one session, Zubaida became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth."

The CIA also used a variety of other harsh interrogation techniques on him for 24 hours a day, for 17 straight days. They included slapping, stress positions, white noise and sleep deprivation. He was placed in what the CIA called confinement boxes.

"The CIA interrogators told Abu Zubaida that the only way he would leave the facility was in the coffin-shaped confinement box," the Senate intelligence report said. Zubaida spent 11 days in that box.
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This article originally appeared on KQED.org

The transit agency that operates in Dublin is preparing to partner with ride-hailing services Lyft and Uber, as well as taxicab companies, to help commuters find rides in areas of the suburbs where public transportation is sparse or nonexistent.

The Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority has committed $100,000 for the pilot program in Dublin and has submitted an application for a $100,000 grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission, said Christy Wegener, director of planning and communications for LAVTA.

Dublin will join other cities testing out the partnerships as a way to connect people to larger public transportation systems like BART.

If the program saves money and provides a better level of service than currently provided by LAVTA, it could be extended to other Bay Area suburbs, Wegener said.

Richard Fierro, a spokesman for Teamsters Local 70, said the union is not against finding alternative ways to serve commuters, but said they would have liked to participate in the conversations. Fierro told the Mercury News, which first reported the story, "We object that they are using public funds to subcontract with drivers who are independent contractors working for a company that has a bad reputation for how it treats its workers."

The agreements with the individual ride services and taxi companies still need to be finalized, Wegener said. It might be that only one or two companies sign an agreement, but the pilot program will continue until the money runs out, which Wegener said could be in a year.

KQED's Devin Katayama spoke with Wegener to find out more about the pilot program, called Wheels on Demand, which will be limited to certain areas in Dublin. She anticipates the program will be running by mid-September.

How will this work?

We're trying to make it simple to use. So basically a passenger in the pilot project area would request a ride in a participating transportation network company (TNC), and a discount for that trip would automatically be applied.

Who is your target audience?

We hope that anyone looking to go to the BART station in Dublin would use our service. We're also working with taxicab companies to accommodate trips for passengers who don't have a smartphone. So any partnering taxicab company would be available to offer the same discount in the same project area. But we're really trying to pull people out of their cars and offer an innovative solution to get to the BART station or to get to the main Wheels [bus] route on Dublin Boulevard.

Is there anything under these potential agreements with Uber and Lyft that will make these companies operate differently? Surge pricing or additional background checks, for example?

Not at this time. We're really trying to make this as simple as possible. So we aren't asking the TNCs or the participating transportation companies to do anything really different. We are looking to get as much data as we can. But we really want to get this rolling. We've already made our route changes and we recognize that it's a pilot program and that things may change down the road.

Dublin's population has been one of the fastest growing in Alameda County. Do you think that these partnerships are a long- term fix or a short-term fix to gaps in the public transportation system in the Bay Area suburbs?

I think that it has definite long-term potential. We're struggling with how do you provide that connectivity to your main line routes, and this is our first attempt to come up with a creative solution.

The conversation has been edited for length.

This article originally appeared on KQED.org
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Historic Hearst Castle was bathed in smoke Monday as firefighters made a stand against a blaze that raced across dry timber and grasslands in San Luis Obispo County and came within a couple of miles of the tourist destination.

The castle at San Simeon was one of almost 1,900 structures threatened by the 33,173-acre Chimney Fire, which ignited Aug. 13 and destroyed 52 homes and other buildings. More than 2,400 people were evacuated as flames blackened more than 50 square miles, but lower temperatures were helping firefighters, according to Hearst officials and the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

By Monday afternoon, the fire was 35 percent contained and no longer moving toward the estate, which remained closed to visitors, officials said.

Hearst Castle workers joined the effort to save the hilltop mansion, built by the late newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. The 128-acre monument to opulence was completed in 1947 after almost three decades of construction. It became a state park after Hearst Corp. donated the land in 1957.

Staff members covered windows and placed towels under door frames to prevent smoke damage to the 25,000 artifacts and works of art inside. They also cleared brush on the grounds.

The palace grounds are surrounded by Hearst Ranch, which is still owned by Hearst Corp., the parent company of The Chronicle.

Our efforts, combined with the weather, are contributing to the delay of the fires movement, said Stephen Hearst, vice president and general manager of Hearsts Western Properties, referring to ranch staff members working with Cal Fire.

What were trying to do is give them enough space on the property so they can set backfires to burn away dry fuels, he said. Im optimistic they are holding lines.

Hearst, the great-grandson of William Randolph Hearst, said 15,000 acres of the 83,000-acre property had been burned, including six to eight structures, which he described as mostly hunting camps and back country cabins.

The fire has been burning in and around a number of other structures, said Hearst, whose staff was building containment lines, herding cattle away from the flames using helicopters, and manning the Hearst air strip for Cal Fire air tankers.

Were defending it with everything weve got, he said. Were very busy doing everything we can to support them, and we will continue to do so.

Hearst said the fire was burning the eastern portion of the ranch, which is mostly uninhabited wildlands, so the losses have been kept to a minimum.

Were always optimistic, but every day is a different turn and the weather changes, he said. Eventually, it will run out of things to burn and well get the fire out.

The Chimney Fire was one of several major blazes burning in the state as 10,000 firefighters worked around the clock.

Just up the coast, the Rey Fire in the coastal mountains of Big Sur had destroyed 57 homes and 11 other buildings by Monday and was threatening 400 more homes after an illegal campfire got out of control. It was 20 percent contained.

A 37-square-mile blaze was threatening campgrounds and recreation areas in the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara. As of Monday, it was only 20 percent contained.

Meanwhile, in the southern Sierra Nevada, 13 small communities were evacuated as a fire raged through dead timber killed by bark beetles in the Sequoia National Forest in Kern and Tulare counties.

The Soberanes Fire, in Monterey County north of Big Sur, was 60 percent contained Monday. It had burned 86,294 acres.

Firefighters were getting a handle on an explosive blaze that destroyed 105 homes in Cajon Pass and the San Gabriel Mountains, 60 miles east of Los Angeles. And a suspected arson fire that destroyed 189 homes last week in and around Lower Lake, in Lake County, was 95 percent contained.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite
SACRAMENTO  The state Legislature passed a bill Monday that would make all public single-stall restrooms gender-neutral, a change transgender people say will allow them to pee in peace.

The bill, AB1732, now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration.

Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, said that if Brown signs the bill, California will have the most inclusive restroom access law in the country by making single-stall restrooms in businesses, government buildings and other public places available to all genders, instead of one for men and another for women. The law would go into effect March 1, 2017, and would not affect multistall restrooms.

Restricting access to single-use restrooms defies reason, Ting said in a statement. It is a basic necessity of life, and everyone should get in and out on the same terms. By signing this bill, Gov. Jerry Brown can chart a new course for equality that other states should follow.

The bill passed the Assembly 53-13 on Monday, and the Senate approved it last week on a 28-7 vote. Brown has until the end of September to act on it.

Supporters of the bill said it benefits not only transgender people but also parents who have children of the opposite gender when accompanying them to the restroom.

AB1732 builds on a restroom access bill signed into law in 2013 that allows transgender K-12 students to use the school restroom corresponding with the gender they identify with.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
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Scientists aboard an ocean research ship successfully explored the sunken hulk of a World War II aircraft carrier off the Farallones on Tuesday, gathering images that recall a historic battle triumph and the conflicted beginning of the Atomic Age.

Crew members of the E/V Nautilus lowered two camera-equipped, remotely operated vehicles a half-mile down to the ocean floor to photograph the battered remains of the aircraft carrier Independence that survived the war to become a target of Americas post-war atom bomb tests but was deliberately scuttled 65 years ago.

James Delgado, a deep-sea archaeologist with the governments major ocean research agency, called the first stage of the exploration exceptionally successful, and said the images  clouded and shimmering in the deep water  showed surprisingly clear details of the wreck.

They speak powerfully to us all of an era thats long past and of all the guys who went off to war, Delgado said in a phone interview from shipboard. Weve made out a single Hellcat remaining aboard on the hangar deck.

The Hellcat fighter plane, based aboard the carrier, was one of many, along with the ships Helldiver bombers, that won the classic Battle of Leyte Gulf, which virtually destroyed the Japanese Navy in 1944.

The Nautilus carries two remotely operated vehicles, known as ROVs and named Argus and Hercules, and both gathered unique images of the carrier and its battle structures during the dives, Delgado said. The ships name on its stern is clearly visible, and so are the turrets that once carried its 40mm antiaircraft guns, he said.

The Independence, which was used in the historic tests of the American atom bomb at the Bikini Atoll in 1946, now lies within the Greater Farallones Marine Sanctuary maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose biologists explore the nations ocean sanctuaries for clues to the effects of global warming.

The Nautilus is operated independently by the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust, and its two ROVs are equipped with specialized tools controlled from shipboard that are gathering samples of the corals, sea sponges and other organisms growing on the hull of the Independence.

Images of the marine creatures were transmitted to the ships scientists Tuesday, and samples will be brought aboard to be rigorously tested for any possible radioactivity remaining from the 1946 bomb tests, before being analyzed by biologists for the effects of climate change, Delgado said.

David Perlman is The San Francisco Chronicles science editor. Email: dperlman@sfchronicle.com

Off the Farallones

See a video of the exploration of the aircraft carrier Independence: http://bit.ly/2bgcpJY
BRUSSELS  Belgian musician Toots Thielemans, who turned the lowly harmonica into a virtuoso jazz instrument during an illustrious career that saw him perform with such legends as Charlie Parker, has died. He was 94.

Mr. Thielemans, who also made a mark on pop culture with solos on movies and the theme for TVs Sesame Street, died in his sleep in a Belgian hospital Monday, his manager said. He was hospitalized last month after a fall but had been in good spirits after an operation on his shoulder.

He was so happy. He was doing well, manager Veerle Van de Poel said.

We were very surprised by his passing, she said. He was sleeping, and he did not wake this morning.

Mr. Thielemans hung up his harmonica in 2014 as health problems made it more difficult for him to take to the stage.

Although his name wasnt widely known outside the jazz world, many heard his harmonica playing, including generations of children who grew up with the opening theme to Sesame Street.

His harmonica was also prominently featured on movie soundtracks, including those of the Oscar-winning Midnight Cowboy, The Pawnbroker, Jean de Florette and The Sugarland Express. Also adept as a whistler, he could be heard on the Old Spice after-shave commercials. He performed and recorded with Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Paul Simon and Billy Joel, among many others.

Despite suffering from asthma much of his life, Mr. Thielemans breathed artistic life into an instrument many dismiss as a toy. In the jazz world, he was the first to use the harmonica to blow complex bebop lines. He played a custom-made Hohner chromatic harmonica  different from the diatonic harmonica used by blues players  which has a slide making it possible to play three octaves in all keys.

Its such a freak of an instrument, Mr. Thielemans said in 1992. Theres technical obstacles to how fast and legato you can play. ... What Ive spent my time on is to try to find things that are playable on the instrument. This is not a good instrument but I blow my brains out on it.

His zest for life was apparent in his only major hit that moved into the popular mainstream  the upbeat Bluesette, which he first recorded in 1962 and showcased his signature style of whistling and playing guitar in unison.

If theres a piece of music that describes me, its that song, he said.

Mr. Thielemans was beloved in his native Belgium, not least because he always took pride in his humble background growing up in Brussels Marolles neighborhood.

He was ennobled by Belgiums King Albert II with the title of baron in 2001 and received the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award in 2009, the nations highest jazz honor.

Belgiums royal family said it was deeply moved by (the) passing away of Toots Thielemans, one of the greatest jazzmen.

We have lost a great musician, a heartwarming personality. All my thoughts are with the family and friends of Toots Thielemans, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel tweeted.

Born in Brussels on April 29, 1922, Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidore Thielemans began playing the accordion at age 3.

He discovered jazz after the German occupation began in 1940. But after sitting in with local combos, his friends advised him to get a real instrument.

He taught himself to play guitar, mostly by listening to records of the Belgian-born Gypsy jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt.

When he took out his harmonica again after about two years, Mr. Thielemans said it was like discovering an old friend.

In 1945, as he was making a name for himself as a guitarist in local jazz clubs and dance halls, friends decided that his given name wasnt hip enough. So he became Toots.

When the first bebop records by Parker and Dizzy Gillespie reached Belgium in the postwar years, he found his musical prophets.

In 1948, he made his first visit to the United States, and stopped off in New York on his way home. An agent heard him sitting in with Howard McGhees band at a local club, and a few months later, he received a letter at his Brussels home, inviting him to join Benny Goodmans band.

Union rules prevented the Belgian from joining the clarinetist in New York, but he appeared with Goodmans band in Europe in 1949 and 1950. Mr. Thielemans moved to New York in 1952, getting a chance to play with Parkers All-Stars.

From 1953 to 1959, he played guitar and some harmonica with pianist George Shearings quintet, then one of the top jazz combos. While with Shearing, he added whistling to his repertoire.

His first U.S. album as a leader, The Sound, came out in 1955. One of his favorite records was Affinity, a 1979 session on which he played with pianist Bill Evans trio.

Since 1959, Mr. Thielemans led his own small groups and toured internationally when not working in the studios.

Although mostly recording straight-ahead jazz albums, he released two albums in the 1990s as the Brasil Project, featuring such prominent Brazilian artists as Dori Caymmi, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento and Caetano Veloso.
Martinez Won't Support Tax Increase

Gov. Susana Martinez says she

as the state seeks to close a projected budget shortfall during an upcoming special session of the Legislature. Instead, Martinez has instructed state agencies under her control to trim general-fund spending by 5 percent during the budget year that began in July, with some exceptions for matters of health and public safety.

Voters Support Death Penalty

Martinez may be

where most states are moving away from imposing death sentences, but it looks like a majority of New Mexico voters support her call to reinstate the ultimate penalty in New Mexico,

commissioned by the New Mexico Political Report.

'Junk Report'

John Hendry, the business agent for state film and television crews, disputes a University of Southern California r

by offering Hollywood production tax incentives. Last year, producers pumped in $385 million into the states economy.

Monsoons Return to State

Well be spending part of the morning weeding our yard. They seemed to have popped up overnight after the monsoon returned to New Mexico over the weekend. The good news, is

for most of the week, according to forecasters.

Vigil Named Medical Cannabis Program Director

The moisture is helping the states outside medical marijuana grow too. Speaking of pot, the communication director at the New Mexico Department of Health, who recommended patients essentially go back on to pharmaceutical drugs if their medical cannabis program cards expired before the department could process their renewals, got a big new promotion.

, who also claimed there was no way to predict a 81 percent surge in patient registrations between June 2015 and June 2016, is now the Medical Cannabis Program director. His boss, Health Secretary-Designate Lynn Gallagher, spent Monday defending the administration of the program to lawmakers in Taos.

Trump Insists Mexico Will Pay for Wall

Donald Trump is

like hats and t-shirts than on campaign payrolls. Maybe thats why the

signed up to be the real-life co-chair of the Republicans campaign in Jefferson County, Colorado. Last night, Trump told

in Ohio that his plans to build a wall along the Mexican border hasnt changed.

Coal Industry Billionaire Wont Back Hillary

Weve reported on high-ranking Republicans who say they wont vote for Trump, but now were hearing that

, the Democratic candidate for governor in West Virginia (and billionaire coal mine business owner), says he wont be casting his ballot for Hillary Clinton.

Uber Offers Spanish-Speaking Service

Finally, Uber, the popular ridesharing service, is going to

around the state, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Santa Fe Reporter
Three days before the Indigenous Fine Art Market was set to open for its third year, organizers faced a tough choice. It was Tuesday, and a last-minute discovery in permitting paperwork would require them to either increase their insurance costs to operate for their planned three days beginning on Thursday, or to cut Saturday, Aug. 20 from the schedule. The latter won out.

Did "the city" intentionally thwart the small art event planned over Indian Market weekend in the Santa Fe Railyard, or did organizers drop the ball?

Social media has been aflutter with artists who planned to exhibit at IFAM on Saturday, and accusations are flying about the events that led to the change.

IFAM media representative Douglas Miles told the Santa Fe New Mexican he had heard artists complain that the city was "trying to squeeze more money out of Indians." In an interview with SFR, however, Miles says that he "didn't know what to think" of the situation.

"I don't feel a conspiratory vibe. But I think it's possible that there are people who don't want IFAM to happen," Miles tells SFR. "A lot of the inner-workings and the inner-minutiae I'm not privy to. To me it seems like a discriminatory move.  I just think that since this occurred, some of the artists started to feel like the city didn't want them there." Miles estimates the vendors were officially notified of the Saturday cancellation on Thursday, Aug. 18.

The Railyard is a city property that's managed on contract by a nonprofit called Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation. Its director of events and marketing, Sandra Brice, tells SFR that confusion has been a pattern from IFAM. "It's very disappointing," she says, for the organization "to send out a spokesman who implied that we, on behalf of the city, would try to shut them down. It would be laughable if it wasn't so untrue as well as so disrespectful to our efforts and those of a lot of hardworking staffers throughout the city who have bent over backward to help IFAM succeed from the very beginning. I'm confident that the artists will return under the professional management they deserve and hope we have a long, successful partnership for years to come."

According to city Fire Marshal Reynaldo Gonzales, it was a matter of volume. We estimated the number of visitors based on the last years numbers and there was an agreement between both parties, Gonzales tells SFR. Unfortunately, their insurance fell through and it was their decision not to do the event on Saturday.

IFAM founder John Torres Nez, who started the show after leaving the management team of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts and Indian Market, tells SFR via email that the original policy accounted for 12,000 visitors, whereas the market eventually discovered it was required to be insured for 40,000. He doesn't echo any concerns about discrimination, though. "The Railyard folks were integral in saving the show," he writes. On Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 23, as this story was going to press, IFAM posted a formal thank you note on its Facebook page. "No conspiracy," it reads. "Just the unavoidable growing pains of a struggling, 100% volunteer organization trying to create opportunities for Indigenous artists."

Santa Fe Reporter
McConnell Dowell Constructors posted a 36 percent gain in full-year revenue after winning contracts including the expansion of Watercare's Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant and the NZ Transport Agency's Russley Road project in Christchurch.

Revenue rose to $278.7 million in the 12 months ended June 30 from about $205 million a year earlier, according to the Auckland-based company's financial statements. It expects revenue to be "similar" in the current year. Operating expenses rose 35 percent to $273 million and net profit climbed to $6.1 million from $2.5 million.

McConnell Dowell Constructors is the New Zealand and Pacific arm of a global construction firm that's ultimately owned by Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Aveng, an infrastructure development group. Its financial statements show contract billings were $1.1 billion as at June 30, up 26 percent from a year earlier, while contract costs rose to about $971 million from $737 million.

The company said billings reflect the cumulative effect of two five-year projects - the Waterview Connection in Auckland to provide the missing link between SH20 and SH16 which is being built in partnership with Fletcher Building, McConnell Dowell, Obayashi Corp, Beca, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Tonkin & Taylor. The second is the Stronger Christchurch Rebuild Team, or SCIRT alliance between McConnell, Fletcher, Downer, Fulton Hogan, Citycare, the NZTA, local and central government that is responsible for rebuilding horizontal infrastructure in Christchurch following the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

"We are as well positioned in New Zealand for the coming financial year and have a number of very good prospects in our forward pipeline," the company said. "The infrastructure market is very strong at present, and we expect this to continue. We are seeing enormous opportunity in all areas, including water, wastewater, energy and transport (ports, rail and roads)."

In the past 18 months, it has partnered with HEB to win the contract for Watercares Mangere Bio Nutrient Removal (BNR) wastewater treatment plant expansion, a project Watercare has costed at $136 million with a December 2017 finish date. It also won the NZTAs Russley Road project in Christchurch as a joint venture with Downer, which includes upgrading that section of SH1 into a four-lane highway.

The financial statements show the company had $19.2 million of insurance bonds, up from $8.4 million a year earlier, and $21.7 million of bank guarantees, up from $20 million, which are taken out to cover for performance and retentions during contracts.

Contingent liabilities include damages related to delays in Contact Energy's Te Mihi Geothermal Power station. McConnell was part of the consortium that built the station and incurred liquidated damages for the year-long delay, which has since been settled.

"The consortium believes it is entitled to counter claims against the parties to the contract and the insurance recoveries which will mitigate damages," the company said in the report. The process includes an arbitration hearing with a major equipment supplier that was to start in late August.

The company said the arbitration was progressing as expected and it had nothing further to add from what was in the notes to its accounts. It also said it had made "a number of claims" against North Otago Irrigation Co related to infrastructure work. It was confident they would be resolved satisfactorily.

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Genesis Energy, New Zealand's largest electricity retailer, posted a 2.7 percent decline in annual operating earnings as a combination of lower electricity, gas and oil prices combined with ongoing retail market competition to reduce revenues slightly more than operating costs.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and movements in the value of financial instruments declined by $9.5 million to $335.3 million in the year to June 30, on total revenues of $2.01 billion, against $2.02 billion in the prior year, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Total operating expenses fell to $1.68 billion from $1.75 billion.

The Genesis board was "satisfied with the overall performance of the company in what has been a challenging year," chair Jenny Shipley said. "Genesis Energy continues to perform well in a constantly and quickly evolving energy market."

The result reflected "a determination by the board to drive improved cost control and efficiencies to offset the external influences impacting on the business as it looks to the future".

Newly appointed chief executive Marc England, who replaced long-serving Albert Brantley in May, said the company was reorienting to improve its ability to "execute its strategies at speed".

England has delivered a shakeup of the company's senior management team.

In the short term, we are determined to extract more value from our existing operations while we implement our plans to deliver new services for our customers and thrive in the evolving energy market, he said.

Net profit after tax increased to $184.2 million, from $104.8 million the previous year, as its generation assets were revalued up by $138 million, compared with no movement in their value the year earlier.

The board declared a final dividend of 8.2 cents per share for total distributions for the financial year of 16.4 cents, compared with total distributions of 16 cents last year. The dividends are only 80 percent imputed versus 100 percent imputed in the previous year.

The final dividend will be paid Oct. 14 with a record date of Sept. 30. The company will forecast earnings at its Oct. 19 annual meeting.

Earnings per share of 18.4 cents per share compares with 10.5 cents in the previous financial year.

Consistent with other players in the sector, capital expenditure plans for the year ahead are limited because of current over-supply of electricity capacity, with just $39.7 million of "stay-in-business" capex planned.

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Auckland Council will receive a $54.3 million dividend from Ports of Auckland after the city's port operator announced a lift in full-year profit despite even as revenue fell with container volumes.

The payout, up $12.6 million on the previous year, equates to $103 per Auckland household or 4.4 percent of the average annual residential rates bill and takes total dividends in the past five years to $212 million. Chief executive Tony Gibson said the dividend was unlikely to be that high in 2017 with another challenging year ahead.

The Auckland Council-owned port company reported net profit of $84 million for the year ended June 30, up from $63 million a year earlier. Property revaluations delivered a $12.2 million gain, primarily due to improvements at its Wiri freight hub.

Gibson said the 2016 financial year proved as tough as anticipated, with revenue declining 3 percent to $211 million. Contributing factors included a 5.5 percent decline in bulk volumes and significantly lower ironsand exports due to reduced iron and steel prices.

This was partially offset by increased cement throughput, thanks to Aucklands booming construction sector. Growth in new and used vehicle sales nationwide saw a 1.7 percent rise in imports of cars and other high and heavy vehicles such as farm vehicles and machinery.

The port is likely to build a multi-storey carpark to stack imported cars within the next two years to create room on Bledisloe Wharf.

We have to provide a better-looking port. Thats been made clear to me, Gibson said.

The global container industry is facing continued difficulties, with too many container ships and not enough freight to fill them. Twelve of the worlds top 30 ports reported lower container volumes this year and Ports of Auckland posted a 7.9 percent drop. Still, rival Port of Tauranga had a 12 percent rise in container volumes in its latest year.

Globally, container throughput is expected to be flat in the 2017 financial year and the port expects its volumes will be flat or fall again, Ports of Auckland said.

Underlying expenses were $105 million, down $12.7 million. That included a $2.2 million recovery of the $7.3 million set aside to cover Bledisloe Wharf extensions after the High Court overturned consents granted by Auckland Council, with structural materials instead used in the Fergusson North berth project.

A study on the future of Aucklands port concluded last month it should be allowed to extend the wharf to provide more berth space for general cargo and cruise ships, before being constrained to its current footprint. Gibson said the port has parked plans for a removable piled berth at the terminals northern end until the study is considered by the incoming council.

But Gibson said Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development is likely soon to lodge consents for a mooring dolphin that sits above the water line at the end of the terminal to handle longer cruise ships than the port can currently accommodate. Cruise ships hit 101 visits this year and are due to rise to 115 visits within two years.

Work has begun on partially automating the Fergusson container terminal, the first New Zealand port to do so. When completed in 2019, automated straddle carriers will be used to load and unload trucks and operate the container yard while manually driven straddle carriers will continue to work the yard and ship-to-shore cranes to maintain productivity levels.

Automation, along with changes to the terminal layout and the current reclamation project, are expected to increase the terminal capacity by 80 percent to around 1.6 to 1.7 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), though 50 stevedores will lose their jobs.

Part-automation of the terminal's existing straddle carriers has seen women stevedores lift productivity above their male counterparts as they've been quicker to use a self-guide stacking system that stops the containers banging around while being stacked while the men still prefer manually driving them despite it taking longer.

The ports capital expenditure will more than double to $177 million in the next financial year from $81 million in 2016, as it completes the long-standing Fergusson expansion project by September next year and purchases three new key cranes to handle the extra capacity.

The rest of the spending is going on the new Waikato freight hub, part of the ports strategy to develop a rail-connected North Island freight hub network. The port spent $23 million this year purchasing 33 hectares of land for the hub at Horotiu, north of Hamilton, and is now lodging resource consents to bring rail entry to the site and build paved areas for parking heavy vehicles.

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Ngatata Love denied knowledge of various banking transactions linked to a Plimmerton property at the heart of the fraud case against the former chair of the Wellington Tenths Trust, the High Court in Wellington heard today.

Love is charged with obtaining a secret commission and obtaining significant sums by deception. The Crown says he signed an agreement in late 2006 with Auckland property developers Redwood Group and Equinox Group to ensure they could lease land owned by the Tenths Trust, and that he received service fees through Pipitea Street Development Limited (PSDL), a company owned by his partner Lorraine Skiffington, without the trusts knowledge. That money is said to have been used to repay a property loan.

On his second day in the witness box and under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Grant Burston, Love said he didn't know about a transfer of $90,000 from a Westpac account to Remax, the real estate agents for the Moana Rd house, for the deposit on the house, despite being the sole signatory.

Love also said he didn't recall faxing a copy of his driver's licence to Campbell Cowan of Westpac, and disagreed that he had sent the copy of the licence to open the account from which the deposit was paid.

"I was asked to send it, I don't know why or by who," Love said. "I would have been asked to by probably Ms Skiffington or Shaan Stevens, I can't say."

The court sessions have been abbreviated to one hour to allow for Love's health, although the second session this morning ended after 40 minutes when Love asked for an early break.

Love had a clearer recollection of viewing the Moana Rd house with Skiffington and the vendors, and firmly denied that he had suggested there could be an earlier settlement on the house price, saying he thought Skiffington had made the comment: "She was buying it. She was the only one with the resources to buy it."

Earlier in the morning, the judge stopped the crown prosecutor several times to ensure he was asking Love one question at a time.

Burston presented a letter sent via email from Kerry Knight to Matene Love in August 2006, where the developers agreed to pay $1.5 million for the right to lease the Pipitea St land.

In a series of one-word answers, Ngatata Love denied knowing his son Matene Love had a company called Yellowstone Consulting, denied introducing Matene to the developers, denied Matene was reporting back to him and denied knowing the developers were planning to pay $1.5 million to Yellowstone.

"How could Matene Love agree to give the developers first right of refusal to the Pipitea St project if you weren't aware of that?" Burston asked. "He couldn't," Love responded.

Ngatata Love said he may have been told by Adrian Burr of Tramco that the Tenths Trust could make more money by leasing the land under a different arrangement. He wouldn't have passed Burr's view on to the other trustees as it was against the philosophy the trust had to keep risk to a minimum and to own both the land and the building on it, he said, adding that Burr didn't understand as he wasn't mana whenua.

Love also denied he was ever in a de facto relationship with Skiffington after Burston referenced a draft relationship property agreement that defence counsel Colin Carruthers QC had presented yesterday. That document recorded Love and Skiffington had been in a de facto relationship since Jan. 1, 2006.

"It was a friendship, a companionship," Love said. "With the utmost respect, it wasn't as you phrase it."

Burston had characterised the two living together as "the next stage in the relationship."

The judge-alone trial before Justice Graham Lang is continuing, with Love's cross-examination resuming after lunch.

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Lewis Gradon, managing director of medical devices maker Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, says it will vigorously contest whats expected to be a lengthy tit-for-tat intellectual property dispute with American rival ResMed.

ResMed filed a patent infringement complaint last week in the Southern District of California as well as lawsuits in Germany and New Zealand, and to the US International Trade Commission against F&P Healthcare in relation to face and nasal masks just days after the Auckland-based company filed is own patent infringement lawsuit against the US company in the US District Court for the Central District of California relating to its flow generator products and masks.

Shareholders raised several questions on the legal dispute at the listed companys annual general meeting in Auckland today, including whether the company was confident it had sufficient funds to meet the likely costs and potential damages.

The short answer is yes, said chairman Tony Carter. He also told shareholders that Resmeds legal response was anticipated but he couldnt comment further because the litigation was now before the courts.

Gradon said F&P Healthcare had been in discussions for 18 months with ResMed over the IP dispute and was unable to resolve it.

Weve had other experiences with patent infringements around the world but it has never got this far before, we've always settled one way or another, he said. The two parties were just unable to resolve their differences of opinion.

He said the company was well-prepared for the legal action which it wouldnt have taken if it wasnt pretty confident about winning it. No date has yet been set for the hearings which he warned could take two to three years before it started.

IP disputes tend to be very protracted and it could take close to a decade to be fully resolved, Carter said. So its a very long process and were still in the very early stages.

The company said it spent $73 million or 9 percent of revenue on research and development in the 2016 financial year and employs over 500 scientists and had already released a number of new products this year, including its flagship humidification system.

When asked to identify the companys major future risks, Carter said the biggest risks were a product recall, IP infringement, and the failure to innovate.

The success of F&P Healthcare lies not in the products we sell today but in the products we market in a decades time, he said.

The company also updated its earnings guidance due to a strengthening kiwi dollar, saying it now expected full-year revenue for the 2017 financial year to be at the lower end of its earlier guidance - $880 million in revenue compared to $900 million previously and $165 million in net profit compared to the prior range indicated of $165 million to $170 million. The forecast for the half-year results is for $420 million in operating revenue and net profit of $76 million, up 23 percent on the first half of last year.

A new manufacturing building programme to cope with forecast growth for the next decade is underway that is likely to cost about $200 million over the next four to five years.

A 25,000-to-30,000 square metre fourth building is planned for its existing East Tamaki site with earthworks expected to begin this summer and completion by the end of 2020. A deal is imminent on a greenfields site in an industrial park in Tijuana, Mexico near its existing factory which is expected to be operational within three years.

F&P Healthcare began manufacturing in Mexico five years and it now comprises 30 percent of products with the rest coming from New Zealand.

Gradon said the strategy was to have cross-functional teams close to the research and development and manufacturing so new products were tested and initially produced by the New Zealand team and the growth products made in Mexico. Output has been growing at 2 percent a year in New Zealand compared to 10 percent in Mexico and that shift was expected to continue.

Benefits of manufacturing in Mexico include lower costs and proximity to the company's major market, the US, and its California distribution hub but Carter said while he was still chairman manufacturing would continue in Auckland and F&P Healthcare would continue to be a New Zealand company, in the true sense of the word.

The companys aim is to hit $1 billion in revenue within the next two years and double its constant currency operating revenue every five to six years.

The shares fell 0.5 percent to $10.22, having gained 15 percent so far this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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1st. Lt. Derek Wibben, 82nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron operations Officer in Charge of Aerospace and Operational Physiology, is from Andover, Minnesota, and has been in the Air Force for one year. Wibben is the Support Airman of the Week at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, for the week of 23-29 Aug. 2016.

Most significant accomplishments:

- Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

- Arizona/NASA Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Intern  Project Team Member for the Prototype Lunar Greenhouse.

- Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Arizona State University.

- One of Four Trainee Squadron Operations Commanders at Commissioned Officer Training - directed 80 other medical/Judge Advocate General/chaplain officers and led them to the title of Honor Squadron and two Squadron of the Week awards throughout the training. Earned Distinguished Graduate for outstanding leadership, fitness, and academic success.

- Distinguished Graduate of the Aerospace and Operational Physiology Officer Course.

- 82nd Medical Group Change of Command project officer - organized 21 agencies and directing over 70 personnel.

- Human Factors expert for a dental Sentinel Event Root Cause Analysis investigation - developed recommendations for 3 causal factors to the Air Force Medical Operations Agency and the Joint Commission to reduce potential for further errors Air Force-wide.

Airmans story:

I am originally from Minnesota, said Wibben. I completed my undergraduate degree at the beautiful University of Arizona. The following summer, my cousin and I worked highway construction together to give our brains a break after both finishing engineering school and, as he was about to commission as an Air Force undergraduate pilot student, it helped solidify my decision to become a military officer upon completion of graduate school.

Because of my medical background and a pretty sweet and applicable NASA internship, I chose to join as an Aerospace and Operational Physiologist, where I have the opportunity to provide life-saving training to joint-service and international aircrew while proudly serving my country, he said.

Supervisors comments:
NEW DELHI: Deepening collaboration on skill development, India andGermany today signed an agreement that aims to foster conditions that will help create and improve workplace-based vocational training in India's industrial clusters.



Under the pact, German technical assistance will be used to enhance industry institute partnerships between Indian and German organizations, build capacity of local training institutions and foster industry linkages which will help adapt elements of the German dual system into the Indian context.



"We in India recognize the fact that Germany's dual system is widely acclaimed as one of the best in the world, noted for its close linkages between industry and training institutions.



"This provides a competitive edge to German industry and businesses. We need to adapt elements of the German VET system to the Indian context to ensure that skill training in India is closely aligned with the requirements of industry," Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.



The agreement was signed between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and (German International Cooperation (GIZ) and will initiate a new project focused on adapting elements of the German dual system in select industrial clusters in India.



"In the last couple of months we (India) have formally adopted the German system of dual education. For the first time we will have ITIs (industrial training institutes) in this country where there will be a model of three months of academic input and after that the trainee will move to the industry where he will work as an apprentice for the remaining nine months," Secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rohit Nandan said.



He said the Government is very keen to take the dual mode of education forward to promote apprenticeship in the country.



"The aim of the programme is to involve private sector and entrepreneurs in defining the qualification that is required in creating practical training at the workplace," German Ambassador to India Dr Martin Ney said at an event.



He termed the adoption of dual education by India as a "breakthrough".



The project will run for three years starting August 2016 with a budget of EUR 3,000,000 (22.6 crore) - made available by the German Government and aims to foster conditions which will help create and improve cooperative workplace-based vocational training in India's industrial clusters.



It will be implemented in three selected clusters, which include the Automobile cluster in Maharashtra and Electronics cluster in Bangalore.



Informing that the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme has been notified, Nandan said: "Now for every penny that an industry spends on the stipend of an apprentice, 25 per cent of that money will be returned by way of subsidy," adding that the Ministry will be launching a massive awareness campaign in the next few days to involve the industry in the scheme.

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NEW DELHI: India and the US are likely to sign a key logisitics agreement later this month which will enable both the countries to use each other's assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.



The agreement called the 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA) is likely to be signed during Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's visit to the US, starting August 29.

The agreement was announced during the visit of US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter in April this year.



The move will allow both the countries to use each other's bases as well as assets for replenishment of supplies and refuelling.



However, it will not allow stationing of troops in each other's bases.



Other issues that are likely to be discussed include project under the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) and the aircraft carrier project.



The US is also likely to push its case for manufacture of American fighter jet plane in India under the Make in India' initative.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The United Kingdom will continue to strengthen trade, business and tourism relations with India even during post Brexit period, British Deputy High Commissioner inChennai Bharat Joshi said here today.



"We are the largest investor in India and we want to continue to strengthen the trade and industrial relationship with the country," Joshi told reporters here while detailing the various scholarship programmes offered by Britain.



"India is the second largest investor in London and India is on the top of the list for the partnership with UK. Our relation with India is already firm and we will continue to strengthen it," he said.



Asked whether there would be any problem for Indians working in UK during post Brexit, He said "They do not have anything to worry about."



Joshi said the UK wants to encourage more British tourists to visit India.



"A large number of British tourists visit India every year and many of them come to Kerala also," he said adding "we want more British tourists to visit the Gods Own country."



On the Scholarship programme, Joshi said the UK offers largest scholarship programme anywhere in the world. Among them, flagship programme is Chevening, the UK's International Award Scheme aimed at developing global leaders, he said.



"The Chevening India programme is the largest in the world offering up to 65 fully paid scholarship and 65 fully paid fellowships every year", he said.



"Chevening Fellowships are awarded to talented professionals who are potential future leaders, decision-makers, and opinion formers", he said.



"The fellowships offer financial support to mid-career professionals already in positions of leadership and influence", he said.



Joshi also said there were only few persons applying for the scholarship from Kerala. He wanted more people from the state to utilise the schemes offered by UK.



"Many Scholarship has already opened and others would open in the coming days," he added.

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NEW DELHI: India's information technology hub Bengaluru is host to the largest number of technology-driven start-ups, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) andMumbai while Hyderabad and Chennai have also become quite popular among budding entrepreneurs, a study by industry chamber Assocham said.

The study, done in association with the Thought Arbitrage Research Institute, found that in the sphere of technology-driven start-ups, India has moved up to third position after the U.S. and Britain.

While the U.S. has more than 47,000 tech start-ups and Britain has over 4,500, the figure for India was around 4,200 by 2015-end.

"In terms of total number of start-ups, comprising tech and non-tech areas, India again figured among the five largest hosts in the world along with China," the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India said in a statement here on Sunday.

The number of start-ups in both India and China was 10,000 each. The U.S. is at the No.1 position among the overall list of 83,000 budding entrepreneurs, the statement added.

In India, Bengaluru was host to 26 per cent start-ups, followed by Delhi NCR with 23 per cent and Mumbai with 17 per cent.

"In the 'catching up' category fell Hyderabad with eight per cent, and Chennai and Pune with six per cent each," Assocham said.

"The disruptive innovation in technology and process is creating newer Indian start-ups and foreign investors, including some of the well-known Venture Capital Funds, are showing immense interest in these start-ups," Assocham President Sunil Kanoria said in the statement.

According to the chamber, the awareness that a start-up is a vehicle of rapid growth through technological "disruption" and innovation needs to spread across the economy.

"Only then, there can be a true start-up revolution; otherwise if any small traditional business is treated as a start-up then the start-up eco-system will never develop properly.

"Realisation of this distinction needs to percolate to all strata of the policy-making and economy to ensure that a real support system for the start-ups, in terms of technology, hand-holding, funding and rapid growth, can develop properly in the country," it said.

The report has suggested tax exemptions for research and experimentation to encourage fresh ideas without fear of failure.

It has also said courses on creation of small businesses should be encouraged in the learning campuses.

Meanwhile, the government on Friday announced that a team would be set up to advise on how to further improve India's ranking in the global index of countries in the sphere of innovations.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made the announcement here while releasing the Global Innovation Index 2016 Report, which shows India has improved its index ranking by 15 places over last year to 66th place, following five previous years of decline in position.

In his address at the event, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said India is becoming a centre for innovation, and in the last few years over 1,500 multinationals had relocated their R&D centres to places like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon.

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Prime Minister William Marlin recently received a courtesy visit from newly appointed US Consul General Margaret Hawthorne who is responsible for the Dutch Caribbean Islands, Sint Maarten, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Saba & Sint Eustatius. The office of the US Consulate is located on Curacao, for more information on the services of the US Consulate please visit website www.curacao.usconsulate.gov

Photo caption  US Consul General Margaret Hawthorne & Prime Minister William Marlin exchange diplomatic gifts.




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Systems and channels are what have interested and animated me lately. Not products. Products are new and then theyre old. But a system is transformative.



Amazon is not a product. Its a system. Sabre Corporation provided airlines a real-time data-processing system for booking reservations starting in the 1960s. In 1996 Sabre birthed a spin-off, Travelocity.com, leveraging its ability toward a consumer-direct portal. The world (and the worlds travel agents, sadly) know how transformative that technology has been. Systems, pathways, channels, more than products will lead the changes in sporting goods and bicycles. (They dont have to be systems that cut out a distribution channel, as Travelocity did, rather a system that increases freedom, choice, speed of delivery.)



Today I received a press release from HIA Velo, a new enterprise headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is the work and brainchild of Tony Karklins, whose previous success was bringing Orbea to the U.S. HIA Velo bought the assets of GURU out of auction, and these were chiefly a first-rate paint facility along with tools, fixtures, machinery, jigs for making bicycles out of all four frame materials GURU worked in: aluminum, steel, titanium and carbon. HIA Velo brought all this from Montreal to Little Rock.

HIA Velo also acquired key manufacturing people from GURU and  surprise, surprise  CyclArt from Vista, California. Jim and Susan Cunningham have been the dean of bike painters since the 1980s, and they painted a lot of bikes for me during my Quintana Roo days. I asked Tony Karklins if the Cunninghams are actually moving to Little Rock (not that theres anything wrong with that!) and he said yes. I didnt think you could blast them out of North San Diego County!



Then there are some other top-cabin bike brains Tony has gotten to move to Little Rock (Tony is hard to say no to).



HIA Velo is a U.S.-based manufacturing facility for bicycles. A handful of brands will be built there, beginning with Allied Cycle Works, a new brand that the company will launch. It will make road race bikes, tri bikes, mountain bikes, city bikes, whatever the market wants, just like any other full service bike company. It is looking now for its next brands, which might be home-grown, or acquisitions, or joint ventures.



So what? U.S.-made is nothing new; and bike brands are a dime a dozen. Whats transformative about this company? Three things.

First, Tony Karklins places great value on a system that I think is under appreciated: Treks Project One. When I ask Slowtwitchers whether theyd like to pay hundreds of dollars more for a bike the way they want it, or save hundreds of dollars by purchasing a complete bike specd the way the manufacturer decides, my readers are split down the middle. This the case, why is virtually the entire bike industry catering to half my readers preference; the other half of my readers not having their preference addressed at all? In my opinion, when Canyon arrives in the U.S. the feature that will make this brand a success is not deep price savings, rather the customers ability to get the bike with his or her choice of parts kit and the paint and the wheels and handlebars and power meter all at once, in the beginning, from the get-go.



Imagine a website, like Project One. In fact, Tony Karklins saw the power of this a decade ago and had it up and running for Orbeas bikes. It was ahead of its time. Now is the right time.



Second, Tony understands that the Independent Bike Dealer (your LBS) is of critical importance, but the IBD of the 21st Century will not necessarily operate like IBD of the 20th Century. In my opinion, IBDs of the future will decide how they make their money; what investments in treasure and floor space they can devote to pre-season bike programs; and enterprising manufacturers will honor these decisions with programs that cater to stocking- and non-stocking dealers; with margins scaled to fit the IBD's risk comfort. Indeed, its hard to force a large pre-season on a dealer if the whole point of the Little Rock facility is to provide a Project One type sales experience.



Third, Tony also realizes that the bike market does not include $12,000 bikes. Or even $8,000 bikes. While these bikes are for sale, very few of them get sold. The operative, functional, real-world market for complete pro bikes starts at $2,500 and ends at $6,500.

HIA Velo is not going to be a custom bike maker, as GURU was. The goal is to make production bikes, but with stateside paint and assembly, which means paint and assembly that doesnt need to take place until the consumer decides what paint and parts he wants. Further, for those shops that are very good at complete bike prescribing (i.e., for those shops that understand the F.I.S.T. fit processes we developed and teach here), a bike can be shipped to a shop, or drop-shipped directly to a consumer, set up precisely to match a riders fit coordinates.



Will HIA Velo be a success? Will it disrupt and transform the U.S. bike market? I dont know. Honestly, its not what HIA Velo is, but what it could be that interests me. I do believe that U.S.-based bike manufacturing is a near-term reality. So much of a monocoque bike these days are soft costs (development, testing, engineering, mold making) that the amortized per-unit cost of a carbon frameset contains less and less semi-skilled labor. You will see frame manufacturing begin to return to the U.S. very soon.



Whether HIA Velo becomes a force in the industry is dependent on the product it makes. But, this company is not starting its life tied to processes, economies, systems developed in the last half of the 20th Century. It has no sales and distribution structure it must renounce. It has the freedom a lot of flagship bike brands wish they had, and it understands the value of this.
A new style was immediately evident as Trump, in a first, offered regrets for any remarks that had caused offense, stuck with his teleprompter at a series of events, and paid a visit to flood-ravaged Louisiana. Trump also announced his first ad buys of the campaign, more evidence of an acceptance of the traditional campaign elements most experts believe he will need in order to have a shot at winning. He made a direct appeal to African-American voters, insisting he wants the Republican Party to become their political home.
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
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Hundreds of Canberrans turned out to a snap protest in Civic on Tuesday night calling for the Turnbull government to close the Nauru offshore detention centre.

The protest, organised by the Canberra Refugee Action Committee, included a march of Australian National University staff and students from the Acton campus into Civic where a group of protesters lined Northbourne Avenue with placards calling for the end of offshore detention.

Canberrans gather at peak hour on Northbourne Avenue and Barry Drive intersection to demand the government close off-shore detention centres. Credit:Jay Cronan

RAC spokesman and ANU Professor in Political and International Relations Dr John Minns said the rally was part of a national community response to revelations of trauma and abuse of children inside Nauru, revealed in more than 2000 incident reports leaked to Guardian Australia this month.

Dr Minns said the recent decision to close the Manus Island detention centre increased pressure on the government to do the same on Nauru.
The hugely popular Australia Day Live concert in Canberra has been cancelled, a move that has infuriated ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who is now threatening to strip territory funding from the awards.

The Australia Day Live concert has drawn thousands of Canberrans to the lawns of Parliament House each year since it began in 2004.

The 'Australia Day in the Capital' concert will replace the previous national event which was held outside Parliament House. Credit:Rohan Thomson

It has featured the likes of Jimmy Barnes, INXS, Matt Corby, and Guy Sebastian, and adds life to the more formal announcements of the Australian of the Year Awards.

But the National Australia Day council has quietly cancelled the event, writing to Mr Barr to inform him of its decision this week.
Retailers including Coles have thrown their support behind a push by several big banks to put their rivalry aside and negotiate as a bloc with Apple over its digital payments service.

Apple's current constraints on "digital wallets" provided on the iPhone threaten to stifle innovation and competition, the retail industry's peak body told the competition watchdog.

In what the banks say is a world first, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are seeking an exemption from competition laws so they can negotiate as one, and launch a collective boycott of Apple Pay.

The move, if approved, is intended to pressure the technology giant to allow external apps to use part of the iPhone that allows tap and go payments, as Google does on Android phones.
The life insurance industry has had a rocky time of it recently. We need to fix the problems and get group insurance within super and life insurance generally back on track so that it can provide the protection and support Australians need, including providing adequate retirement incomes.

Group insurance within superannuation has been a feature of Australian superannuation funds for decades.

Some super policies limit benefits for members.

The insurance is designed to "top up" your superannuation if your working life is cut short because of disability or death so you will have enough money to live off in retirement or your family will have enough to live off following your death.

It is an important feature of the Australian retirement incomes system and has saved the Australian taxpayer billions of dollars over the years in financial support for people who would otherwise have been dependent on social welfare. It has also reduced the big under insurance problem in Australia that many reports have identified.
Telecommunications company Vocus is taking a breather after a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the past year drove its profit 461 per cent higher to $102 million in 2015-16.

Vocus merged with M2 Group and Amcom this year and is close to completing the purchase of NextGen, which will substantially increase how much infrastructure it owns.

Chief executive Geoff Horth said the company was focused on getting more corporate customers onto the national fibre network. Credit:James Alcock

"Our pens are down for the moment. [NextGen] is the last piece of the puzzle," chief executive Geoff Horth said on Tuesday.

"There is no real compelling reason to do any transactions and no weaknesses in the businesses. We don't need to go and buy further fixed assets to fill a strategic hole."
Shopper backlash over $1 dollar supermarket milk and Chinese demand for infant formula has powered the a2 Milk Company's full-year net profit after tax to $30.4 million from a $2.1 million loss last financial year.

A2's revenue surged by 127 per cent to $352.8 million in the full year to June 30, helped by a spike in sales following the social media campaign over supermarket milk, which linked sharp falls in the price processor and price setter Murray Goulburn pays farmers with $1 milk.

A2 Milk chief executive Geoff Babidge: "The opportunity in a variety of segments in adult nutrition could potentially be bigger than infant formula." Credit:Louise Kennerley

A2 chief executive Geoffrey Babidge would not quantify the impact of the high-profile publicity campaign on its sales, which boosted the uptake of a number of branded milk products in supermarkets around Australia in recent months.

"Our revenue from fresh milk in Australia is up 4 per cent and our market share is reasonably stable at about 9.3 per cent and that reflects quite strong growth in the past couple of months," Mr Babidge said.
Socks will no longer be able to be worn in Sydney after 10pm, following a new law introduced by Premier Mike Baird.

Responding to an increase in the number of sock-related injuries in the city, Mr Baird  himself a victim of a sock incident  said it was simply too dangerous to allow people to wear socks without shoes, particularly at night.

Credit:Peter Rae

"While most people are responsible in their use of socks without shoes, a small minority are not. So for their safety, and for the safety of those around them, this is the right move".

Under the new laws, people who take their socks off after 1:30am will not be able to put them back on again until the following evening. "Once you take your socks off, that's it. It's time for bed. Or a pair of slippers," Mr Baird said.
A pollution monitor near some of the state's biggest coal mines has been found to generate wild data swings  even negative ones  despite receiving preliminary approval from the NSW Environment Protection Authority.

James Whelan, a researcher for Environmental Justice Australia, analysed seven months of data from the Maules Creek monitor, which is supposed to track air quality of nearby mines owned by Whitehaven and Idemitsu in the Namoi Valley.

Dr Whelan found days where little or no data was collected. For some periods, such as May 23 to May 29, about 40 per cent of readings showed negative levels of PM2.5, a gauge of particulates just 2.5 micrometers in diameter that are known to lodge in lungs.

During another five-day stint in June, readings of larger PM10 particulates were also consistently negative, an impossibility, he said.
Australian Federal Police officers are at Parliament House executing a search warrant as part of an investigation into leaks to Labor related to the National Broadband Network.

Investigators arrived at 10am and met with staff of Labor senator Stephen Conroy, the shadow special minister of state and former communications minister, in a room in Parliament's basement.

"The AFP can confirm a search warrant will be executed today in relation to its investigation into the alleged unauthorised disclosure of Commonwealth information relating to the NBN Co," an AFP spokesman said in a statement.

"A warrant has been lawfully obtained for the execution of this search and will be conducted by consent with the co-operation of the Department of Parliamentary Services and the relative parties involved."
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has opened up about the childhood discovery that his father was alive and the search, decades later, for the man he knew almost nothing about.

Until he was 14, the Sydney local's mother, Maryanne, had told him that Carlo Albanese died in a car accident shortly after the pair met on a European cruise and married.

"That was what I was told, and from an early age, that was what I believed," the left-wing stalwart told ABC's 7.30 program, describing how his life changed after dinner one night.

"It was very traumatic for her, I think, to tell me that in fact that wasn't the case, that my father might still be alive, that she'd met him overseas, fallen pregnant with me, had told him and he had said, basically, that he was betrothed to someone from the town in Italy where he was from."
French authorities will investigate the leak of thousands of pages of sensitive submarine documents by the French shipbuilder selected to help design and build Australia's next fleet of 12 boats.

The Australian reported on Wednesday that the more than 22,000 leaked pages of documents detail combat capability of six Indian Scorpene-class submarines designed by French shipbuilder DCNS.

The data was reportedly written in France for the Indian project in 2011 and is suspected of being removed by a former French Navy officer who was a DCNS subcontractor. It was reportedly taken to a south-east Asian company and then to an Australian firm.

"As a serious matter pertaining to the Indian Scorpene program, French national authorities for Defence security will formally investigate and determine the exact nature of the leaked documents," a spokesperson for DCNS said in a statement.
Is divorce seasonal? A new US study suggests it could be.

A study from the University of Washington has found there are two peak divorce periods each year: after the summer holidays and after the winter holidays.

Divorce filing dates peak in March and August, according to new American research. Credit:Vegterfoto/Stocksy

According to the research, which was presented at the 111th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association over the weekend, March and August are the top months for marriages to end.

In what began as research for the effects of recession on divorce rates, associate sociology professor Julie Brines and doctoral candidate Brian Serafini instead isolated a seasonal, twice-yearly pattern of divorce for what they believe is the first time.
Bogans, bronzed Aussies and checkout chicks: snag yourself a battered sav and follow the wombat trail for some good old branch stacking.

If that sentence made absolutely no sense, it might be time to reacquaint yourself with the Australian National Dictionary. Officially updated for the first time since 1988, the dictionary's second edition immortalises 6000 new Aussie words and phrases: from "dagwood dog" to "goon of fortune" and "rurosexual".

Launched with academic formality at Parliament House on Tuesday, the dictionary commits to permanence much of the political lingo that has become commonplace in recent decades, including the infamous "captain's pick" and the enduring "Howard's battler".

Editor-in-chief Bruce Moore proudly described the finished product as "the schmickest dictionary of all", reflecting our collective identity, history and values.
Northern Territory police are searching for four men who were caught on security vision releasing saltwater crocodiles into a school in Humpty Doo, a town 40 kilometres from Darwin.

The footage shows the group smash a door to an administration building and drop three crocodiles into an office before ransacking the place.

Senior Constable David Gregory told ABC News police were able to collect the crocs with the help of a ranger.

"The ranger that turned up was very concerned for them, they had their mouths taped shut," he said.
Advice on how to improve the fairness of the system by which private homes are forcibly acquired for major infrastructure was rejected by the Baird government over fears it could delay projects like the $17 billion WestConnex motorway.

Fairfax Media revealed in January that a landmark $100,000 review of compulsory acquisition laws by David Russell, SC, was handed to the government two years ago but was being kept secret.

The government has failed to implement key recommendations of the report while forging ahead with forced resumption of homes for projects including the Westconnex, NorthConnex, Sydney Metro and the Sydney light rail.

Many homeowners are frustrated that they are being offered compensation hundreds of thousands of dollars below market value.
Detectives investigating the horrific burning murder of a mother in northern NSW have found her car as they attempt to piece together her final 48 hours.

The body of Sabrina Bremer, 34, was found burning on a quiet bush track in Dulguigan, near Tweed Heads, on Thursday morning, about 100 kilometres from her home in Logan, Queensland.

A passing motorist stopped to extinguish the blaze, initially believing it was a burning log before realising it was a body.

The mother was last seen walking out of Logan police station last Monday afternoon after being arrested for failing to show at court on minor drug offences.
Despite a concerted push back from the industry, greyhound racing will be banned in NSW from July 1 next year after legislation passed the NSW Parliament.

A bill which bans the sport and appoints an administrator to wind up the industry passed the Legislative Assembly early on Wednesday morning after several weeks of intense public debate.

The move by the Baird government follows the report of a special commission of inquiry which found up to 68,000 greyhounds were slaughtered as "wastage" in the past 12 years "because they were considered too slow to pay their way or were unsuitable for racing".

It recommended the NSW Parliament decide whether the industry has lost its social licence and should be no longer able to operate.
Leeton High School, where Stephanie Scott worked, was searched. Credit:Kate Geraghty An agreed statement of facts was tendered during the sentencing hearing for Vincent Stanford's identical twin brother Marcus Stanford, who had pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after he pawned Ms Scott's engagement and graduation rings. Not knowing at the time what had happened to Ms Scott, her family began a desperate and agonising search as soon as she failed to return home that Easter Sunday. Leeton Volunteer Recue Association searched for Stephanie Scott. Credit:Kate Geraghty The 26-year-old English and drama teacher was just days away from marrying her partner of five years Aaron Leeson-Woolley and he and her family were adamant it was not a case of cold feet.

Her sister Robyn told Fairfax media at the time she had no idea where her sister could be. Stephanie Scott and her fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley. Credit:Facebook "I spoke to her on that Saturday night, and she was over the moon, she was so excited" Robyn said. "She had been to Griffith that day shopping and getting ready for the honeymoon." As the family searched and fretted, Stanford worked furiously to cover up his crime. Police divers found Stephanie Scott's laptop in an irrigation canal near Leeton. Credit:Kate Geraghty

He placed the body of Ms Scott in the boot of her red Mazda 3 and drove it home to his house on Maiden Avenue in Leeton. The car was parked behind a shed in his backyard and was left overnight until the early hours of Easter Monday. A forensic officer walks into Cocoparra National Park, where Stephanie Scott's body was found. Credit:Kate Geraghty Court documents outline how he later drove Ms Scott's car, with her naked body still inside, to Cocoparra National Park, about 70 kilometres north-east of Leeton, near Griffith. It was a place where Stanford went on regular camping trips with his mother Annekke Noort and other brother Luke.

Stephanie Scott's red Mazda 3 was found by police in a field outside the Leeton township. Credit:Ron Arel jr. Just off to the side of an orange dirt road, Stanford removed Ms Scott's body from the car. He then placed branches over her, poured petrol everywhere and set her remains on fire. Stephanie Scott's fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley reads a tribute on the gates of Leeton High School. Credit:Kate Geraghty In a depraved act, he took pictures of her burnt remains, images police later found on his camera.

When the officer in charge, Detective Sergeant Timothy Clark, later questioned Stanford about the photos, the offender told him he had downloaded the pictures "from a horror movie". Messages from friends, students and the community were placed outside the Leeton school gate. Credit:Kate Geraghty Stanford drove her Mazda back towards his home before dumping it in a field at Wamoon, eight kilometres from the Leeton township. Witnesses later told police they saw Stanford disposing of Ms Scott's laptop in a murky canal nearby. Stephanie Scott's family and fiance gathered for a memorial picnic on what was supposed to be the day of her wedding. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Bill and Gail Scanlan lived next door to Stanford and remember him waving over the fence of their Maiden Avenue home on Easter Monday. "We heard him come back on Monday, did all the washing, hung it all on the line, piles of it," Mrs Scanlan said. Marcus Stanford, the identical twin of Vincent Stanford, admitted he'd done a 'really stupid thing'. Credit:Emma Partridge It was not until Wednesday, April 8, that police brought Stanford in for questioning. He initially denied having anything to do with her disappearance and told investigating officers he had been grocery shopping on Easter Sunday.

But this was where the 25-year-old came unstuck. A sharp-thinking police officer rang the store where Stanford said he had been and was told the business never opened on Easter Sunday. Stanford was arrested later that night and police conducted another search when they found Ms Scott's keys, a red bra and the boot liner of her Mazda. A few days later, Stanford contacted police from Junee Correctional Centre and made full admissions about her abduction and murder. The day of his confession was the day Ms Scott was supposed to be married in front of an intimate crowd at the vine-covered archway of Eugowra's Eat Your Greens function centre.
When police arrived to recover the remains of murdered school teacher Stephanie Scott in thick scrub, they came armed with metal detectors for a special reason.

Off to the side of an orange dirt road they were hoping to find two precious items that belonged to the bride-to-be who was murdered by cleaner Vincent Stanford in the state's Riverina on Easter Sunday last year.

But officers scoured the bush of Cocoparra National Park in vain, for someone else already had what they desperately wanted.

The family wanted two small items belonging to Ms Scott back  her engagement ring and a crossover ring her mother had given her after she graduated from university.
A young Liberal who is managing Christine Forster's campaign to become Sydney's next lord mayor had to repay almost $14,000 to his former charity employer after it was discovered he had charged personal expenses to the organisation's credit card.

Mitchell Price, who is also a senior adviser to Coogee MP Bruce Notley-Smith MP, used a corporate credit card to purchase $13,816 of personal hire-car travel and social media and Facebook advertising while employed as an executive assistant to the CEO of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras from November 2013 to April 2015.

Mr Price, whose sudden departure from the organisation was subject to a confidentiality agreement, told Fairfax Media he had "mistakenly" charged his personal expenses to the charity's corporate credit card.

He attributed the mistake to an inadvertent linking of the charity's corporate credit card to accounts on his computer.
Brisbane's deputy mayor on Tuesday night threatened to cancel the popular Maroon Glider bus service to save $5 million if the state government did not help with the $10 million in costs to build roadworks to support the Queens Wharf casino and hotel development.

That "high stakes" call is indicative of the simmering tension between Brisbane City Council and the Palaszczuk Government, sources suggest.

Maroon City Glider - Brisbane City Council threatens to cancel it to save $5 million.

The Maroon CityGlider carries 1.2 million passengers a year, but the state-government transport body Translink refuses to pay for it, deputy mayor Cr Adrian Schrinner said.

Brisbane City Council's senior councillors are still seething at the Queensland Government's indifference to the Council having to close William Street for six years and pay the $10 million in costs for changes to 11 inner-city intersections and re-routing 50 bus services to allow the multi-billion new casino and hotel development to go ahead.
Pressure is mounting on the Queensland Government to speed up wider youth justice reforms, including removing pre-teens from detention and ending the practice of imprisoning children in adult prisons.

Academics and youth and justice advocates have come together to push the Queensland government to meet its international legal obligations and stop treating 17-year-olds as adults under the criminal justice system.

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath. Credit:Amy Mitchell-Whittington

Queensland is the only jurisdiction that considers children to be adults, leading to a backlash from human rights advocates. Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath is also working through issues that have arisen with the detention of children under 13.

A petition has been established to draw attention to Queensland's youth justice system. While the Palaszczuk Government has made changes  reinstating detention as a last resort and diversionary programs  it is still facing criticism.
Thor: Ragnarok stars Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston have taken time out from a busy filming schedule to visit children in Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital.

And young patient Koen Weir got to sit down for a chat with two of the biggest names in the movie world currently, and certainly the biggest in Queensland.

Fans had noticed the superstars, who play Thor and Loki respectively in Marvel's Thor franchise, had been tougher to spot among the hundreds of fans plus many cast and crew shooting the latest instalment in Brisbane on Tuesday.
A new study has found western Sydney-based small businesses appear to work harder than most in the city. No surprises there.

The study by NRMA Business Insurance found that business owners in the west take fewer leave days, feel more stressed and don't sleep as well at night.

Allen Cetinic on a home site that he has been managing between the tradies and builder. Credit:Steven Siewert

So how do you escape that cycle and still stay a small business person? Northmead tradie turned agent, Allen Cetinic found a way out.

"Yes that used to be me," the former renderer told Fairfax Media.
A burglar tied up a Melbourne man and tried to rape him at knife-point in his own home, Victoria Police allege.

Officers came across alleged burglar Mark McCormack by chance on Saturday as the 47-year-old was driving erratically around Frankston with his terrified victim tied up beside him.

Mr McCormack had forced the resident into his own car so he could drive the 54 -year-old to an ATM and make him withdraw cash, the Melbourne Magistrates Court was told on Tuesday.

Mr McCormack didn't appear in court because he was still in pain from injuries sustained when the car crashed on Saturday while he sped away from an unmarked police car, his lawyer said.
A bouncer who stabbed a man outside a Melbourne nightclub has been jailed for at least three years.

Remzi Orcanoglu was head of security at CQ Nightclub when he stabbed Cinar Peker, 24, after Peker pulled a knife on him outside the Queen Street venue early on April 3 last year.

The court had previously heard that Peker allegedly cut a bouncer with a knife and was chased from the venue.

The 37-year-old - who pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury and also assaulting a bystander who was filming the incident - was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the County Court on Tuesday.

Orcanoglu, who was one of 12 bouncers charged over the incident, must serve three years before he is eligible for parole.
The devastating impact of the drug ice has hit Victorian schools, with agencies fielding calls from desperate principals wanting help.

Students are turning up to class ravaged by ice, or crystal methamphetamine, with some teachers now working in pairs for safety.

At the same time, parents are calling for teachers to receive special training to help them respond to students using the drug.

Principals who spoke to Fairfax Media  but did not want to be named because they were concerned about their school's reputation being damaged  recounted the following incidents;
Here is my favourite response to today's writing prompt - How was the mystery of the politician, the lighthouse and the trained cormorant solved?

Express Reader Brent sent in the following piece:

"After almost 30 years precious holiday photos have been reunited with their owner.

Whilst on a round the world trip in the late 80's, former politician Frank Williams lost his camera overboard whilst photographing the Great Cape lighthouse, with its rare migratory cormorants.

Whilst relaxing at home in retirement Frank picked up the paper and recognised a photo of the lighthouse, to his astonishment he recognised his late wife's Nancy's hand on the boat rail that was in the shot.

His camera was found washed up on nearby beach some 30 yrs earlier and handed in at the local police station. It was only when a curious officer had the photos developed that something extraordinary was noticed (a missing presumed stolen) cormorant.

The trained sea bird was thought to have been stolen but had been discovered to have left on its own accord.

The bird named 'dutchy' returned some years later and the photo had been labelled, 'Dutchy's holiday'.

After Frank contacted the paper he was directed to the local police where they told him there were some 20+ photos from the same roll.

It was always a mystery who took the photos.
The first baby pygmy hippo to be born at Melbourne Zoo in 33 years has lost his mother.

Petre died on Monday at age 32 after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage.

Petre with her two-week-old baby Obi in June 2015. Credit:Joe Armao

A CT scan identified multiple sites of bleeding on her brain.

Melbourne Zoo's Wild Seas manager Marcia Salverson said there was no prospect of a recovery for the mother of four and she was euthanised.
But if there is one thing voters do hate, it is a new tax.

Uber was not going anywhere, making it illegal would have infuriated punters.

Uber Technologies has asked its Russian drivers to temporarily bear the load of a new tax charge.

It is about time. Uber and other ride sharing have been given the legal green light in Victoria, which must be welcomed by voters.

The new $2 levy on all taxi and ride-sharing trips is a gamble  it is double what passengers in Sydney pay.

The government hopes that voters will understand the money will be used to help the taxi industry transition and help investors get some relief  up to $100,000 per taxi license.

Labor also risks backlash over the buy back. But argues that given taxis are heavily regulated by the state, investors deserve relief if government so dramatically moves the goal posts.

And the decision to impose $2 opens Labor up to attack that it is slugging Victorians with a new tax, something it promised not to do.

Cleverly it has put the onus for the levy collection onto operators, who will have to find ways to make trips affordable in a highly competitive market.
Two men who used the dating app Tinder to groom underage girls have been jailed after they were exposed by a group of Melbourne university students.

The creators of the "Tinder Experiment" set up a fake profile of a 15-year-old girl in a bid to expose paedophiles grooming girls online.

A photo posted by the students to catch paedophiles grooming underage girls.

They then secretly filmed conversations and face-to-face meetings with the men before shaming them online.

Those videos were removed and their website shut down by police, but a specialised task force focused on internet-based child exploitation offences was able to use the information from the "experiment".
A young Yahoo 7 reporter who had a murder trial aborted has been ordered to front the Supreme Court with her boss to explain what happened.

Sydney-based online reporter Krystal Johnson filed a report on the Melbourne trial that included information not presented to the jury.

Rookie online reporter Krystal Johnson at Yahoo 7 has had a murder trial aborted.

The addition of a Facebook post risked causing an unfair trial, the Supreme Court heard.

Justice Lex Lasry discharged the jury in the case on Monday.
Acting Premier Roger Cook claims the new Liberals' whistleblower website is illegal. Credit:Emma Young "Are these series of events merely a coincidence or is this the purchase of a property in relation to a future government decision?" Mr Cook said. Mr Cook said the matter was further complicated by the fact the company that purchased the land was registered to the Premier's home address. "We need to know how a company that is listed at his home address came to make such a lucrative property arrangement and how that company would appear to be the direct beneficiary of a government decision," Mr Cook said. "This property is very much inside the Shire of Northampton where that ($30 million) decision relates and there would be beneficiaries of that decision."

The Opposition believes WA Premier cannot carry out his duties as Tourism Minister while his son Sam wants to develop a luxury camping resort in the Mid-West. Mr Cook suggested Mr Barnett would have a conflict of interest anytime he considered a decision that would boost tourism in the lucrative Mid West region now his son owned property in the area with a view to developing it for tourism. "This isn't a normal member of the public - this is the Premier of the State, we hold him to a high standard and we expect him to maintain that standard," he said "Here is a standard of accountability that we expect him to respond to." The Premier angrily refuted the conflict of interest claims.

"I angrily reject that," the Premier said of the Opposition's claims. 'Unethical' dealings with Sam Barnett The owner of the land at Yallabatharra, between Geraldton and Kalbarri, also claims Sam Barnett acted unethically in purchasing the property for just $140,000. Sandra Simpkin claims Mr Barnett told her he wanted to purchase both blocks for $600,000 - the for a cheaper rate so he could pay in cash, and more for the second, which he needed to finance. He then paid her $140,000 cash for the first lot but backed out of paying the additional $460,000 because he claims he couldn't secure finance.

Mr Barnett is a self-styled property developer who travels extensively raising cash from investors in Malaysia and Singapore to invest in WA property. "What he did wasn't illegal... to me it was just unethical ... the way it turned out," Ms Simpkin said. "I wouldn't have sold Lot 51 for that price without the combination of the value of both those pieces of land." Sam Barnett bought the property off Ms Simpkin prior to his father's $30m tourism announcement but the Premier denied any conflict of interest with his son's purchase, made through his company Pearllargo, which is registered to the Barnett family home and its ownership declared by the Premier to the parliamentary register of pecuniary interests. Sam Barnett has previous said he hoped to open the luxury resort in late September but the Shire of Northampton said any commercial tourism operation would require council approval and it had yet to receive an application.

The piece of land in question, just outside of the Port Gregory town site, had no access to running water, power or sewerage, the shire said. Other buyer was going to pay $400,000 Sam Barnett was not the only person interesting in purchasing the oceanfront properties, with another prospective purchaser also in the hunt. Anne-Marie Bevis told ABC News her family were prepared to pay more than $400,000 for each block and put in an offer, which was knocked back after they wanted to pay in instalments. "To find out that it has gone for that amount ($140,000), it's definitely worth a lot more than that," Ms Bevis said.
A Perth mother, meeting with Health Minister John Day on Wednesday to lobby for paid parking at public hospitals to be scrapped, has received more than 75,000 signatures in support of her cause.

Monique Garcia launched her campaign against the state government fee after she was fined $1000 for failing to buy a parking ticket when she rushed her chronically ill son to Princess Margaret Hospital's emergency department on August 3.

Nathan, 13, was born with half a heart and was suffering chest pains when he was taken to hospital.

Tougher parking fines were introduced in July, with the penalty for parking illegally at most public hospitals raised to $1000, and reduced to $200 if paid within 28 days.
She was a face that people passed on the sidewalk without noticing, a sickly young woman with red lipstick and a pile of clothes. She hawked skirts for $15 and scarves for $10, joking with passers-by about the tedium of life.

But to those who stopped to listen, the woman, Liu Lingli, offered an extraordinary tale. She had once been a university teacher of English in Lanzhou, a city in northwest China, but she was fired for absenteeism after being treated for ovarian cancer. She decided to sue the school for wrongful termination, and in the meantime, to sell clothes on the street to pay her medical bills.

Jiaotong University in Lanzhou.

For much of the past two years, Liu grappled with her medical and legal battles in private. But on Monday, her story exploded into the public sphere, after Lanzhou Jiaotong University said it was "deeply sorry" and agreed to pay the wages it had denied her.

There was only one problem: After months of legal wrangling, Liu, 32, died August 14 from complications of cancer.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the United St. Maarten (US) party MP Frans Richardson on Monday said that unparalleled changes on the island over the past decades have not only reduced areas of ecological value but have also undermined the durability of our economy.

No other island in the Caribbean has sacrificed as much of its natural resources as St. Maarten, Richardson said in outlining how his party plans to employ sound management of St. Maartens natural resources.

The proper management of natural resources has, however, never been high on the political agenda of most of St. Maartens decision makers. Disregard for the islands natural resources and poorly planned development has prevailed for more than four decades. As a consequence, there has been a tangible reduction in the amount of green area, an almost systematic destruction of areas of recreational and natural value and an overall reduction of the islands level of biodiversity, he said.

He added that as tourism and related services are the driving force of St. Maartens economy, sustainable development in St. Maarten calls for sustainable tourismtourism which is developed and maintained in such a manner and scale that it remains viable in the long run, does not degrade the natural environment, and does not prohibit the successful development of other activities.

The MP added that the durability of St. Maartens economy, particularly job creation and job security, greatly depends on nature conservation and environmental care. The United St. Maarten Party believes that in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of St. Maartens economy, we must find, implement and enforce ways to encourage and stimulate economic growth while protecting the natural environment, improve the overall quality of life of all residents and enhancing the on island experience of our many visitors, he said.

He stressed that USP will introduce legislation, policies, and plans aimed at the responsible management and restoration of our countrys natural resources. Richardson has a history of championing environmental affairs by partnering with local environmental organizations to table parliamentary motions in support of the protection of Mullet Pond, the Emilio Wilson Estate, Fort Amsterdam, including Natural and Cultural Heritage education in the school curriculum and banning plastic bags.

The USPs approach will include, but will not limit to: including standardized local natural heritage education in primary and secondary school programs, guaranteeing sound enforcement of and adherence to existing policies and ordinances, compiling, implementing and enforcing additional environmental legislation and policies such as an environmental policy plan, a nature policy plan and zoning plans, facilitating the carrying-out of economic valuation studies of Natural Heritage (including economic valuation of ecosystems) and establishing an independent Environmental and Social Impact Assessment review council.

St. Maartens natural surroundings, including ponds, lagoons, hills, valleys, beaches, the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and coral reefs, play an important role in our daily lives and have a positive effect on our health and overall well-being. Members of the general public, environmental groups, visitors, local and inter- national experts have long pointed out that St. Maartens natural resources are of considerable socio-economic value and must be properly managed, Richardson said.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Jimmy Challenger who recently announced during PJD2 radio interviews  with Mr. Wendell Moore and Lady Grace that he would be participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections has moved another step after his postulation on the National Alliance Slate, as candidate # 13, by making his board position available on various non-profit organizations that were established to enhance education, health care and the general wellbeing of our community.

Mr. Challenger stated: In light of my quest to be elected by the people and humbly serve in the next parliament of St. Maarten, I have made my position as a member of the board of MHF, SXM Red Cross and No Kidding with Our Kids Foundation available to their respective Presidents. The decision was one made in consultation to ensure a smooth transition as we begin the process of finding suitable replacements. This step would allow for good corporate governance compliance, while at the same time make room for other professionals to serve in these vital organizations. Furthermore, I would be able to concentrate on a campaign that will ask the voters to take the challenge and have a say at the poles for National Alliance candidate 13.

The St. Maarten Red Cross plays an integral role in (hurricane) disaster management, and is part of a wider network of the Netherlands Red Cross and other international Red Cross organs. The MHF serves as a key component of the health care system on the island, while the No Kidding with our Kids Foundation is one of the long standing after school activities programs, offering a place for young students to be constructively active outside of regular school hours.
Says opponents scared of what he can deliver

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Silvio Matser, in a very candid and personal interview on Tuesday, acknowledged that his legal troubles do worry him, his love for St. Maarten is unwavering, his political opponents fear his ability to deliver and his choice to contest the September 26 elections with the United St. Maarten Party (USP) was based in large part on consistent leadership.

Matser appeared on the Breakfast Lounge on PJD2 with host Lady Grace and addressed a range of issues including primarily the amount of soul searching he had to do before deciding to contest another election. In the end, he stressed, the decision was made when he asked himself one simple question: what has my country done for me? The answer was plenty.

Being human

I am human like everyone else. I get nervous, I get worried. You get up in the morning to go to work and you see your name in the papers and you get that tight feeling in your stomach. But all I do is say God please give me strength and I move on. This country has given me and my family a lot. I decided to run because I wanted to give back to my country and my people. I will not sit back and let a storm stop me from bringing light to others, he said.

The MP added that whether the scheduling of his legal cases was done to coincide with the elections is not something that will stop him from being himself. In 2014, he continued, when he ran on a list for the first time after supporting many parties, many people did not expect him to get the 495 votes he obtained.

Everybody saw me for the first time on a list and some was shocked with the numbers. But people dont understand that through my construction business with so many workers, I have helped so many people over the years. I have touched so many families. Guys that came out of prison and had a police record who nobody else wanted to help or give a chance at a job, those are the people Ive helped not to mention so many others. Its what I do, he said.

The MP added that many of his opponents are scared or intimidated by him because they know people will eventually see that he is not the person they portray negatively. I am not the person as described. I get a lot of people saying hey, you are different than they say once they get to know me. I am a Middle Region man, Im not an intellectual, I speak plainly, dont ask me to sound like an intellectual. I am not that person. But I can get the job done anyway. I focus on what my calling is and that is to make St. Maarten a better place, he said.

Leadership

In the same breath, he said the story about him leaving the UP party has two sides and people should not believe what is being spun from one side. Matser said the UP leader should finally soul search and see where he went wrong that so many followers have decided to leave his party.

If you dont communicate, things will fall apart. That is your role as a leader. Dont blame the rest of the world. I didnt jump ship, I abandoned ship. I'm not the band like on the Titanic. Im not gonna keep playing, I wasnt going down with the ship. I jumped into the life-raft and told my people to get onboard because they had no clue that the captain saw the ice berg and kept going straight at it, Matser said.

Turning to the leader of the USP, Matser described MP Frans Richardson as a consistent man with whom he has had a long open relationship. We communicate a lot and we argue alot. And when we are finished we sit like old school friends, laugh and admit where each was right and wrong. He calls all of us to discuss issues to ask us what we think about this and that, he said. In fact we talked so much in Parliament I used to say that Frans is more my leader than my then leader in Parliament.

Bureaucracy

MP Matser also used the opportunity to praise Minister of TEATT Ingrid Arrindell for doing a lot in a very short period of time and says he looks forward to seeing the Ministry do more in the coming weeks and beyond. He stressed that much has to be done to elevate the small man to middle class status starting with issues such as tax reform and other initiatives to put money in the pocket of the people.

He also made mention of the necessity of a hospitality school and lamented the fact that St. Maarten has turned away from a sector (hospitality) upon which modern day St. Maarten was founded. We were known as the friendly island and focused on good service. How did we manage to turn away from this, Matser questioned.

Bureaucracy he said, is stifling St. Maarten. Its like you cant do anything for anyone, anymore. St. Maarten was not built on this kind of Bureaucracy. You cant even call somebody to help somebody out anymore. Everything is red tape and formalities. When people come to St. Maarten to invest they come here for tranquility and do not expect the amount of red tape they face. They either gets turned off or leave. We will lose what we have this way, he said.

STA

The drama surrounding the appointment of Rolando Brison as the first ever Director of the St. Maarten Tourism Authority, Matser said, troubled me very deeply. He explained that although some people made an issue of him being in the picture with Brison and Minister Arrindell, he said it was just a matter of coincidence.

In his capacity of an MP on Parliaments Economic Committee, Matser explained that he was in the Government Administration Building on a different matter when he was called in to see history in the making. I even questioned if it was a good idea and everyone was like why not, you are a representative of the people and here we had a young St. Maartener making history. So the picture was taken and I was happy they selected him, he said.

Now I have to ask, when are we gonna stop destroying our young people. If the situation was so bad why didnt they charge him years ago. He told me but MP, this situation was settled with Winair almost 5 years ago. But no, its an election year and some people want to keep control so here they come bashing and destroying the young man.

The kid is in his prime. He has a two-month trial period and we all know he is dynamic and one of the best when it comes to marketing. His report from the selection committee shows him outscoring the other candidates 10 to 1. I will stick with him through thick and thin. I say let the process and vetting play out and stop destroying the young man because If we open Pandoras box on some individuals, people will be shocked about what is going on. I told the young man that these are the type of storms that those who refuse to give creates.

We are supposed to be a forgiving nation. That is our corner stone. What message are we sending to young adult? To come back home so we can destroy you because some people desperate to hold on to power. Destroying a bright, young local will not happen not under Silvio Matser, the MP concluded.
Sea Port Products Corp scallops sold to restaurants in CA, HI, NV

Scallops sold by Sea Port Products Corp have been voluntarily recalled after being linked to a Hepatitis A.

Scallops sold to restaurants in California, Hawaii, and Nevada have been voluntarily recalled by Sea Port Products Corp after at least 206 people became sick with hepatitis A.

The US Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting the Hawaii Department of Health in an ongoing investigation. The cases were first reported by the state of Hawaii on August 17.

Of those who contracted hepatitis A, 51 have been hospitalized. All of the cases involve adults, and they are all linked to the handling of raw scallops.

The scallops were not for sale in stores, but they were supplied to restaurants and other commercial groups. The FDA is working with Sea Port Products Corp to make sure the products are pulled off shelves, according to the FDA website.

The scallops under scrutiny were produced on November 23 and 24, 2015.

The federal agencies and the Hawaiian Department of Health told Sea Port Products on August 17 that tests had confirmed their scallops were positive for hepatitis A, and that they were the source of the outbreak.

The FDA suggests customers who would like to order scallops in the states where the recall is in effect should ask the restaurant where the scallops came from.

The FDA has an information line that will answer any question about food safety: 1-888-SAFEFOOD. Its open Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET

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Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is primarily spread when an uninfected (and unvaccinated) person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. The disease is closely associated with unsafe water or food, inadequate sanitation and poor personal hygiene.

Unlike hepatitis B and C, hepatitis A infection does not cause chronic liver disease and is rarely fatal, but it can cause debilitating symptoms and acute liver failure, which is often fatal.

The incubation period of hepatitis A is usually 1428 days.

Hepatitis A symptoms are more severe in older children and adults.

Symptoms of hepatitis A range from mild to severe, and can include fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark-coloured urine and jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes).

Adults have signs and symptoms of illness more often than children. The severity of disease and fatal outcomes are higher in older age groups. Infected children under 6 years of age do not usually experience noticeable symptoms, and only 10% develop jaundice. Among older children and adults, infection usually causes more severe symptoms, with jaundice occurring in more than 70% of cases. Hepatitis A sometimes relapses, so the person who just recovered falls sick again with another acute episode. This is, however, followed by recovery.
Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson Pledges to Legalize Marijuana

That's just like, your opinion, man: Gary Johnson reiterated his pledge to make Marijuana a Schedule II drug today, essentially legalizing cannabis products such as THC.

Yeah, well, that's just like, your opinion, man." Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski

In the United States, 30-50 million people use cannabis daily--fully 10% of the U.S. population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug). If you're one of them, you believe you need the green cure to go to work in the morning, and chill-ax in the evening. Your biggest fear is that one day, Federal Imperial Stormtroopers will break down your door, and take away what you need to exist.

From whence cometh our salvation, man? The DEA just announced they won't move Cannabis to Schedule II, despite a petition from 21 Governors. Clinton? Forget it; not on her agenda, and Bill was a big Federal Mandatory Sentencing guy. Donald Trump will be too busy deporting your gardner. But there is a Moses who promises to lead us out of the wilderness of Nixon Era Marijuana scheduling.

TAOS, New Mexico - Gary Johnson reiterated his pledge to make Marijuana a Schedule II drug today, essentially legalizing cannabis products such as THC.

Speaking to CNBC, Johnson described how he was a long distance biker, an "endurance athlete," who won the New Mexico governorship in 1994 on a national Republican victory night. While Johnson is a fiscal conservative, he became disillusioned with the big government aspects of social conservatism.

Johnson and his VP candidate former Massachusettes Gov. William Weld are both former Republicans whofavors smaller government, with less intrusive social policies. They are both in favor of legalizing marijuana

In 2005, Johnson says, he was almost paralized in a paragliding accident. He fractured his back and was in terrible pain. "I lost an inch and a half in height on that accident from the fracture in my back. And it took me three years to fully recover - although six months after the accident, I did bicycle from Santa Fe to Napa Valley."

"It was really painful and I have an aversion to painkillers. I'm laying on the floor and someone comes by and they said, "You know, you want me to get you some marijuana for this?" And I thought, "Yes, I do. Please." And I think that it absolutely helped me through this period that was really, really difficult."

From there, Johnson became the chief executive of a marijuana growing company. "The fact that I got to be the CEO of a publicly traded company in the marijuana space, that was something that was completely unexpected. But very quickly, marijuana products medicinally compete with legal prescription drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year. There's not been one documented death due to marijuana."

"Then on the recreational side, I've always maintained that legalizing marijuana will lead to less overall substance abuse because people will find it as such a safer alternative than everything else that's out there, starting with alcohol."

"The president of the United States, hiring the surgeon general, can de-schedule marijuana as a class one narcotic. And that would open up the research and the development. I would want to do that. Yes." said Johnson

Not to be confused with the Libertarians, The United States Marijuana Party (USMJParty) has also endorsed Gary Johnson. USMJParty is a cannabis political party in the United States founded in 2002 by Loretta Nall specifically to end the war on drugs and to legalize cannabis. Their policies also include other socially libertarian positions. Local chapters have been formed in 8 states, and they are affiliated with a number of international cannabis political parties.

In 2015, almost half of the people in the United States had tried marijuana, 12% had used it in the past year, and 7.3% had used it in the past month.These numbers are similar to the Johnson Weld ticket's national poll numbers, and that is not a coincidence.

TAOS, New Mexico - Gary Johnson reiterated his pledge to make Marijuana a Schedule II drug today, essentially legalizing cannabis products such as THC.

In 2014, daily marijuana use by US college students reached its peak level since records began in 1980, rising from 3.5% in 2007 to 5.9% in 2014 and had surpassed daily cigarette use.

In the US, men are over twice as likely to use marijuana as women and 18-29 year-olds are six times more likely to use as over 65-year-olds.[24] In 2015, a record 44% of the US population has tried marijuana in their lifetime, an increase from 38% in 2013 and 33% in 1985.

Marijuana use in the United States is three times above the global average, but in line with other Western democracies. 44% of American 12th graders have tried the drug at least once, and the typical age of first-use is 16, similar to the typical age of first-use for alcohol but lower than the first-use age for other illicit drugs.

While there is no poll of daily marijuana users, it's a good bet that, to the extent they vote, they will be voting Johnson Weld this November.
Most people pay their bills online, so no need to pay the rent on retail space

The interior of the Southern California Gas company office. In a story as old as the internet: Most people pay their bills online, so there's no need to pay the rent on retail space. So Cal Gas will close it's SM office permanently on 11/01/16. No worries, you can still pay at a couple retail stores in Santa Monica, or online at www.socalgas.com

Southern California Gas Company has announced that they are closing their Santa Monica storefront payment location after 40 years. The location at 1300 6th Street, allowed you to pay your bill "Low tech" way, i.e. with cash. It will close on November 1, 2016.

Those who wish to pay their Gas Co. bills in cash in Santa Monica, may still do say at Patton's Pharmacy, 734 Montana Avenue; at Mike's Liquor Store, 2402 Wilshire Blvd, or at Ocean Park Pharmacy, 2731 Ocean Park Blvd.

These days of course, most people mail in a check or pay their bill online at http://www.socalgas.com, which So Cal Gas company still welcomes you to do.

Natural gas is a fossil fuel used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is also used as fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals. It is a non-renewable resource.

The Southern California Gas Company (referred to as SoCalGas) is the primary provider of natural gas to the region of Southern California. Its headquarters are located in the Gas Company Tower in Downtown Los Angeles.

Can anyone else remember standing in line with their mom or dad to pay the gas bill?

This gas company's roots trace back to the 1800s when new settlers arrived in Los Angeles in search of a new frontier. In 1867, Los Angeles Gas Company, the forerunner of today's Southern California Gas Company, installed 43 new gas lamps along Main Street, making the city safer at night. The gas lighting business was run by five entrepreneurs who manufactured the gas from asphalt, a tar-like substance, and later from oil.

The company was enjoying modest success until Thomas Edison introduced his electric light in 1879.

With the future of the gas lamp business uncertain, the company began looking for other uses for gas, and Los Angeles soon had its first gas stove and heater. Meanwhile, Pacific Enterprises was looking to expand its gas business. Founded in San Francisco in 1886 as Pacific Lighting, the company bought several small gas manufacturing and distribution companies in the area, including the Los Angeles Gas Company in 1890. These companies ultimately became Southern California Gas Company.

By the early 20th century, natural gas-a colorless, odorless gas found in association with oil underground-was starting to gain attention. The breakthrough came with the discovery of the Buena Vista Oil Field near Taft, California in 1909, which included a huge reservoir of natural gas. Since natural gas had twice the heating value of manufactured gas, the company took the bold step to convert its system to natural gas and build pipelines throughout the state. Natural gas was soon found throughout the country, and demand for the fuel was rapidly growing. To meet customer demand, the company began storing gas in large holding tanks.

In 1941, the company introduced a new system to the Southwest United States: underground storage of natural gas. By 2016, the company had four separate underground storage facilities, all of them depleted oil and gas fields repurposed as gas storage. The four are, in order from largest to smallest, the Aliso Canyon field, north of Porter Ranch; Honor Rancho, near Newhall; the La Goleta Gas Field adjacent to Goleta; and the Playa del Rey storage facility, north of Playa del Rey, near the Los Angeles International Airport.

It is a story as old as the internet: Most people pay their bills online, so there's no need to pay the rent on retail space.
Local paramedics tired of running transients to the hospital three times this week

18 skid row residents required medical treatment from paramedics called to 429 E. Fifth St. in downtown Los Angeles late this morning. The call to rescue homeless folks came at about 10:30 a.m., said the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A similar mass sickness of transients occurred just a few blocks away on Friday, when 18 people were also treated. Fourteen people were transported to hospitals in Monday's incident.

"Obviously, there's a particularly potent batch of some illicit drugs that presumably people here are using," said Dr. Marc Eckstein, the department's medical director. He was the on scene commander ("OSC"). "It's obviously becoming a public health crisis." The patients treated Monday "appear to have similar signs and symptoms" to those treated on Friday, Eckstein said.

In that incident, the "presumed overdose" was attributed to "spice," another name for a synthetic marijuana that has highly variable potency and effects, according to Eckstein, who is also a professor of emergency medicine at USC's medical school.

"Patients have altered mental status. Some are combative and some have seizures," Eckstein said.

There is controversy about calling this substance Spice or K2 or synthetic marijuana. "Synthetic marijuana" is a misnomer according to Dr. Lewis Nelson, a medical toxicologist at the NYU School of Medicine who states they are "really quite different, and the effects are much more unpredictable. It's dangerous".

Since the term synthetic does not apply to the plant but rather to the chemical that the plant contains (tetrahydrocannabinol), the term synthetic cannabinoid is more appropriate.

Research on the safety of synthetic cannabinoids is now becoming available. Initial studies are focused on the role of synthetic cannabinoids in psychosis. Synthetic cannabinoids may precipitate psychosis and in some cases it may be prolonged.

Some studies suggest that synthetic cannabinoid intoxication is associated with acute psychosis, worsening of previously stable psychotic disorders, and it may trigger a chronic (long-term) psychotic disorder among vulnerable individuals such as those with a family history of mental illness. Synthetic cannabis is stated to be more toxic to the brain and more addictive than regular cannabis.

Underlying medical conditions and summer heat can combine with the drug's effects to create an emergency situation, he said.

In similar incidents that have occurred over the course of summer, patients who used spice were combative and "wandering" or "staggering through traffic," he said.

A homeless man near the statute of St. Monica, at the west end of Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica

The use of spice seems to be extremely prevalent in the homeless population of Skid Row, he said.

"This is creating a significant impact on the Fire Department and EMS resources in the downtown area," Eckstein said. "These are impacting the community hospitals as well."

Eckstein said the emergency response was expected to continue as abuse of spice grows.

"Patients' lives are in danger," he said. "This is a dangerous drug. People will smoke this drug at their own peril, serious risk of significant injury or death."

A woman who works at a community health clinic near Monday's LAFD response said spice sells for $1 per joint. Clients can use the drug and not test "dirty" while in drug treatment, the woman told KTLA, saying she'd seen the use of spice over the last couple of years.
Nominee Praises the Kansas Governor's Disastrous Economic Policies

Donald Trump has named Kansas Governor Sam Brownback as one of four politicians selected to serve as his Agricultural Advisory Committee, and in speeches across the country he is lauding Brownback's "Kansas solution" as a model for America.

Whoa.

THAT is scary.

Delusionally, fantastically, scary.

Of all of the many scary things that Trump has said at his campaign rallies, this unabashed praise of Sam Brownback may truly be the scariest of all.

For those who don't follow Kansas news, my home state has spent the last six years reeling with an unbridled economic recession.

Under Brownback's misguided and shortsighted stewardship, Kansas has suffered from credit downgrades, underfunded schools, healthcare cuts, increasing debt, revenue shortfalls, and massive job losses in all areas.

As other states, and the nation as a whole, have recovered from the woes wrought by the 2008-2009 global recession, Kansas has continued to see losses across the board. Hospitals have shut down, school years have been cut short, roads have not been repaired, and there has been a $150M budget shortfall, already, in 2016 alone.

The cornerstone of Brownback's policy is tax cuts. Big, big tax cuts for everyone, and especially for businesses. He believed that corporations would flock to Kansas, providing jobs and bolstering the economy.

That hasn't happened, and with little tax revenue, the state is not able to adequately provide even the barest of essentials for its citizens.

Actually, some business has even left, due to the bleak state of the state:

"It's not so much that I'm moving the company to Missouri as I'm moving it away from Kansas," Pathfinder Health Innovations chief executive Jeff Blackwood wrote in June.

"It is far past the time that Sam Brownback and his cronies admit the damage they've caused to the people of Kansas and resign in the shame they deserve."

The governor has proven himself to be a very, very, poor leader, and now it seems that Donald Trump wants to see the whole country suffer the same miserable, disastrous, fate that Kansas has endured.

"The members of my Agricultural Advisory Committee represent the best that America can offer to help serve agricultural communities," Trump said in a news release.

Nowhere to go but down.

If that's the best America can offer, Mr. Trump, then we are in a very sorry state, indeed.

Even the conservative bastion that was my prairie home has finally come to realize that Brownback's draconian trickle down economics is a big fail: they voted in a slate of moderates this year to replace and control Crazy Sam's extremists.

So why would anyone promote the program of someone who has been such a failure?

It's looking more and more like the Donald really doesn't want to win this election.

If he really wanted to win, he wouldn't even remotely consider the possibility of praising the visible and undeniable insanity that is Sam Brownback.
SugarCRM Sweeps CRM Category on CRNs 2016 Annual Report Card

CUPERTINO, CA  (Marketwired)  08/22/16  SugarCRM, the company that enables businesses to create extraordinary customer relationships with the most empowering, adaptable and affordable CRM solution in the market, announced today that it has emerged as the winner in the CRM and SFA (sales force automation) software category of s (ARC) awards program. The Annual Report Card summarizes results from a comprehensive survey that details solution provider satisfaction across product innovation, support and partnership for the hardware, services and software vendors they team up with. The vendors with the highest ratings are named to the prestigious Annual Report Card list of winners and celebrated as best-in-class by their partners. The results also provide the IT vendor community with valuable feedback  directly from their solution providers  that can be used to refine product offerings, enhance support offerings and improve communication with partners.

As a pure-play CRM vendor with an unconventional approach, SugarCRM offers a different kind of CRM application that helps our customers set themselves apart from the competition. Sugar empowers each individual employee to build extraordinary customer relationships, adapts to each organizations unique IT strategy, and delivers an exceptional business value through every engagement. Channel partners who resell Sugar are CRM mavericks who are smart, thoughtful, visionary architects who work closely with their clients to create a superior customer experience.

Our partner community is absolutely critical to our success in helping businesses get the most out of the Sugar platform, said Kevin Dunn, vice president of channel sales for the Americas and Asia Pacific at SugarCRM. We believe in an open, accountable and long-term relationship with our partners that creates an environment of trust and fosters success. The high marks from our partners for CRNs 2016 Annual Report Card are very satisfying and are a good indication that our companywide commitment to the channel has been well-received.

This years group of honorees was selected from the results of an in-depth, invitation-only survey by The Channel Companys research team. More than 2,840 solution providers were asked to evaluate their satisfaction with 80 vendor partners in 24 major product categories. The winners will be honored throughout The Channel Companys XChange 2016 conference (), taking place August 21-23 in San Antonio, Texas.

CRNs Annual Report Card gives solution providers a unique opportunity to evaluate vendors products and provide detailed feedback on their real-world experience working in the field as partners with those technology companies. In turn, ARC gives technology vendors valuable, actionable feedback on channel satisfaction levels across multiple facets of their partnerships, said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. An ARC Award is a truly meaningful distinction  a direct accolade from partners attesting to the quality and ingenuity of the winners product, support and partnership. We heartily congratulate each of this years ARC Award winners and look forward to celebrating them at this years XChange Conference in August.

The 2016 Annual Report Card results can be viewed online at and will be featured in the October issue of CRN.

enables businesses to create extraordinary customer relationships with the most empowering, adaptable and affordable customer relationship management (CRM) solution on the market. Unlike traditional CRM solutions that focus primarily on management and reporting, Sugar empowers the individual, coordinating the actions of customer-facing employees and equipping them with the right information at the right time to transform the customer experience. Based in Silicon Valley, SugarCRM is backed by Goldman Sachs, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, NEA and Walden International. More than 1.5 million individuals in over 120 countries rely on SugarCRM. To learn more visit or follow @SugarCRM.

NOTE: SugarCRM and the SugarCRM logo are registered trademarks of SugarCRM Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace.

, and

Melanie Turpin

The Channel Company

(508) 416-1195

Andrew Staples

SugarCRM

408-913-2395
Telecom26 Selects Enghouse Networks to Provide Secure Billing for Next Generation Mobile Services Platform

MARKHAM, ONTARIO  (Marketwired)  08/22/16  Enghouse Systems Limited announced today that Telecom26, one of Switzerlands most innovative mobile communication service providers, has selected the Enghouse Networks CDRator Revenue Management platform to enable monetization of next generation services.

Enghouse Networks has been a strategic partner of Telecom26, providing a secure foundation for their mobile messaging services, since 2014. The CDRator solution will now enable Telecom26 to deliver a secure and comprehensive billing platform for their unified mobile services and capabilities targeted to their corporate customers.

Telecom26s Mobile Services Platform integrates mobility, security and global network connectivity to provide services such as secure voice and messaging services to their customers. Telecom26 provides connectivity to over 700 networks worldwide, delivering true global secure mobile solutions.

Our vision is to integrate a world class billing system into our Mobile Services Platform, said Michael Ashdown, CEO of Telecom26. We chose Enghouse because of our long-term successful partnership with them based on their proven Telco domain expertise. Their solution fulfills our requirements for a secure billing system that can support multiple currencies, different rates, tariffs and services, as well as our technological requirements.

The CDRator Revenue Management Platform offers a comprehensive, end-to-end revenue management and customer lifecycle solution for mobile network operators, start-ups and maturing mobile virtual network operators. It delivers the fastest time-to-launch in the industry for mobile, internet, broadband, triple play, WiMAX or VoIP.

The CDRator Revenue Management Platform was integrated into the Enghouse Networks product lineup following Enghouse Systems acquisition of CDRator A/S, announced in March 2015.

About Telecom26 AG

Telecom26 is a licensed telecommunications service provider headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and a member of the GSM Association. The Company provides secure mobile solutions for global corporations, focusing on clients that have unique challenges imposed on them by the nature of their work or where they operate. Telecom26 provides new unified mobile services and capabilities for corporate customers with security, privacy and global coverage designed upfront. The Companys vision is to provide security solutions that leverage technology clients can trust and use globally.

About Enghouse

The Enghouse Networks software product portfolio includes BSS, OSS, VAS and Enterprise Communications applications supporting next generation telecommunications and utility network operators. Enghouses solutions have been deployed in hundreds of communications service providers around the world, including next generation, mobile, wireless, railway GSM-R operators and cable multiple system operators (MSO) that are building high speed broadband, cable, fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the tower (FTTT), and wireless LTE networks. For further information please contact .

Enghouse Networks is a subsidiary of Enghouse Systems Limited, a publicly traded, Canadian-based software and services company founded in 1984. Enghouse shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol ESL. Enghouse serves a number of distinct vertical markets (contact center, networks and transportation), each developing and selling enterprise oriented applications software. Further information about Enghouse may be obtained from the Companys website at .

Contacts:

Sam Anidjar

Vice President, Corporate Development

Enghouse Systems Limited

(905) 946-3200
World Vision Chooses Rubrik to Increase Organization Flexibility With Modern Data Management

PALO ALTO, CA  (Marketwired)  08/23/16  Rubrik, the Cloud Data Management company, announced today that global humanitarian organization, World Vision United States, has deployed Rubrik as part of its overall IT infrastructure. This allows World Visions IT team deliver automated backup, instant recovery and cloud archival for both their production and development workloads.

Rubrik provides us flexibility and speed, said Nathan Sielaff, system engineer at World Vision. Its simplicity and ability to scale-out transforms our infrastructure into an elastic, on-demand architecture. Rubrik allows us to automate backup, recovery, and archival which were previously time-consuming and manned with precious resources that we can now deploy to more strategic projects.

We want to ensure our business decisions are not prevented by our IT architecture because of applications that only run on tightly coupled infrastructure. We want the best products throughout our entire technology stack, Sielaff adds. Rubrik helps our team focus on providing value to the organization without having to worry about data protection, from backup to archival.

We are excited to help World Vision transform their IT infrastructure with Rubriks Cloud Data Management platform, said Bipul Sinha, co-founder and CEO, Rubrik. Every bit of savings on the operations front means World Vision can provide more support around the globe to very worthy causes.

World Vision United States is a Christian relief, advocacy and development organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision International is dedicated to working with the worlds most vulnerable people. World Vision United States serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. World Vision is currently responding to more than 20 humanitarian crises, in over 35 countries, assisting more than nine million people.

Rubrik has developed the worlds first Cloud Data Management platform for data protection, search, analytics, archival and copy data management for hybrid cloud enterprises. Fortune 500 companies use Rubrik to manage data at scale while realizing data-driven services anytime, anywhere. Rubrik has been named to Gartners Cool Vendors in Storage Technologies, 2016. For more information, visit and follow @rubrikInc on Twitter.

John Koo

844-478-2745
Read more articles by Brittany York.

Brittany York is a college educator, freelance writer, and the event producer for Ohio Civics Essential. She loves travel and photography. Keep up with Brittany on Instagram @brittbrittbrittbrittany.
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NASA has restored communications with the STEREO-B solar observatory, seen here in an artist's concept, after nearly two years of silence from the sun-watching spacecraft. The probe went silent on Oct. 1, 2014.

NASA has finally re-established contact with a sun-watching probe that was thought to be lost in space after it abruptly went silent in 2014.

A signal from the long-lost spacecraft, called STEREO-B, was detected Sunday evening (Aug. 21) by NASA's Deep Space Network, a collection of space tracking stations that follows the agency's space missions across the solar system and beyond. NASA scientists had kept vigil for STEREO-B, making monthly searches for the probe until it phoned home Sunday at 6:57 p.m. EDT (2257 GMT).

Right now, it's unclear how healthy the spacecraft is after drifting in space for nearly two years. NASA lost contact with it on Oct. 1, 2014, after commanding a reset from Earth. The spacecraft's twin, STEREO-A, is still working normally. [Watch: The Sun Spits Solar Fire at STEREO-B]

"The STEREO Missions Operations team plans further recovery processes to assess observatory health, re-establish attitude control, and evaluate all subsystems and instruments," NASA officials wrote in a statement.

The STEREO spacecraft twins (their name is short for Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory) were launched in October 2006 and were originally supposed to last until 2008. With an extended mission, however, came challenges. For example, the orbits of both STEREO spacecraft went behind the sun in 2015, for three months each.

STEREO-B was initially lost when NASA was testing a command loss timer, which is a reset triggered during solar conjunction. Conjunction was expected to happen between January and March 2015, when STEREO-B's orbit took it behind the sun, putting it out of contact with Earth.Both STEREO spacecraft have a command loss timer that resets the spacecraft every 72 hours when it is not communicating with Earth. In 2014, controllers deliberately stopped communicating with STEREO-A to test this process, and it worked perfectly after reorienting itself with respect to certain guide stars, and sending a signal to Earth.

With STEREO-B, however, the test did not play out as planned. The hard reset did occur, and STEREO-B sent a weak signal to Earth. But the spacecraft quickly faded into silence.

Only a few packets of data made it to Earth, but from that, the team concluded in December 2015 that the inertial measurement unit (which tells the spacecraft if it is rotating, and how fast) gave incorrect information into STEREO-B's guidance computer. At the time, NASA concluded that this set the spacecraft into a spin that left its solar panels out of sunlight most of the time, making it difficult to recharge the battery.

The team could have easily fixed the issue if STEREO-B had remained in contact, but at the time, the contact was too brief to take action, NASA added in 2015.

NASA said in a statement at the time that this meant that "the spacecraft is drifting in space with incorrect information about how it's moving  a big problem for a spacecraft that needs to keep itself pointed at the sun to stay powered on."

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebookand Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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1500 Americans float to Canada after heavy winds blew their inflatable rafts. It was supposed to be a fun-filled weekend for more than 1500 people from Michigan, who decided to take part in the annual Port Huron Float Down in the St. Clair River. However, torrential rains and winds turned the whole thing into chaos.

According to Canadian authorities, thousands of Americans (many of whom were drunk) found themselves struggling to stop their inflatable rafts and inner tubes from landing on Canadian shores, in vain.

Some attempted to swim back to America when they realized that they had landed in a foreign country without documentation or ID. Police and first responders from Sarnia, Ontario rapidly arrived at the scene and helped the stranded, tired, freezing, and shirtless Americans.

Gabrielle, 16, who was among those who landed in Canada, explained what occurred. The teen said:

When we reached the shore, we were met with some friendly Sarnia police that gave off the vibe that they were going to try their best to get us back to the U.S. But instead of waiting around we decided to use some muscle and get ourselves back. I jumped in the water with a life jacket and swam holding the rafts while my friend, Zach Howe, was in a kayak paddling.

Canadian police requested 19 Sarnia Transit buses to drive the Americans back to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Sarnia Police Service Staff Sgt. Scott Clarke said:

It was a bit of a nightmare, but we got through it.There were long waits and long lines, (the floaters) were cold and wet, but they all made it home.

Lee Patterson, Sarnia Transit deputy director, added:

From the transit side of it, it went very well. Most people were pretty well behaved and we did our best to get them back over and keep them warm and comfortable.

No one was injured, and all of the floaters were accounted for and safely returned home. However, now, there is another problem, who will handle the very expensive bill for the rescue efforts? Port Huron Fire Operations Chief Dan Mainguy shared:

The St. Clair County Sheriff Department wont have a total cost of the resources it took to support the event until the end of the week. The department will need to figure out how many marine division and dive team members were on hand, the pay rate of each, along with the amount of gas used for their motor vessels. On top of that, each team, including the U.S. and Canadian coast guards, and participating police and fire agencies, will each have their own additional cost as well.

The Port Huron Float Down has been around for more than 30 years, but there were no official organizers for the event. A Facebook page named Port Huron Float Down issued the following statement after the mini-international disaster:

We want to express our gratitude to the Canadian Authorities for their assistance and understanding with the floaters whove unintentionally been forced to the Canadian shoreline. Youve shown us true kindness and what it means to be amazing neighbors! This is exactly why we stress the importance of paddles and oars, and not entering the water if you are incapable of maneuvering on your own. We hope everyone returns home safe.

The Canadian Coast Guard was not happy after the incident and made its anger known in a statement, which read:

The Port Huron Float Down event has no official organizer and poses significant and unusual hazards given the fast-moving current, large number of participants, lack of life jackets, and as was the case this year, very challenging weather conditions.

Some are jokingly wondering if Canada should build a wall to stop partiers from crossing the border.
Nicolas Sarkozy wants his old job back and has joined the French presidential election race. The announcement was made on Monday, and this is something that many people were expecting.

Sarkozy will take part in the November 20 primary of Les Republicains, the conservative party that is hoping to replace President Francois Hollande. The unpopular leader of the European nation beat Sarkozy in a close race in 2012 but was not able to deliver on most of his campaign promises. Hollandes administration was marked by rising unemployment, terrorism, and failed economic reforms. Same-sex marriage is one of the only areas where the current French president managed to find some success although close to half of the country was opposed to the idea.

Sarkozy used the release of his book Everything for France this week to share the news with his supporters. He took to social media and wrote:

I have decided to be a candidate for the 2017 presidential election. I felt I had the strength to lead this battle at a troubled time in our history.

The former president is joining 12 other candidates seeking to win the nomination of their party. Alain Juppe, the 70-year-old mayor of Bordeaux and a former prime minister in Jacques Chiracs first administration, is currently leading Sarkozy in the polls. Juppe, who is described as quiet and intelligent, is the opposite of the controversial and hyperactive Sarkozy.

With the threat of Islamist terrorism that the country is facing, security is believed to be one of the main arguments presented by Mr. Sarkozy. Hollande is expected to run for the nomination of the Socialist Party in early 2017 although many members of the center-left coalition of his party are trying to discourage him. His numbers are abysmal, and the country no longer believes in his leadership.

According to experts, Les Republicains will likely return to power in May 2017.
An Akie Abe Pearl Harbor visit is being questioned by many Japanese. This week, Akie, the wife of Shinzo Abe, the current Prime Minister of Japan, did what she has become famous for  shocking her people by doing something unpredictable and very controversial. Mr. Abe is also making headlines for appearing in disguise as Super Mario at Rio Olympics closing ceremony.

This time around, Mrs. Abe flew to Hawaii where she visited the Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Honolulu and the USS Arizona Memorial on Oahu Island.

The USS Arizona Memorial is one of the most visited sites on the archipelago with more than 2 million tourists strolling in the sunken hull of the battleship every year. The memorial, which was built in 1962, marks the resting place of more than 1000 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which prompted America to declare war on Japan and enter World War II. More on the USS Arizona Memorial:

Accessible only by boat, it straddles the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. Historical information about the attack, shuttle boats to and from the memorial, and general visitor services are available at the associated USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center, which opened in 1980 and is operated by the National Park Service. The sunken remains of the battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark on 5 May 1989.

The spouse of the Prime Minister of Japan shared countless Facebook pictures from her trip including one taken at the USS Arizona Memorial where she can be seen praying after laying flowers. The first lady visited the site at 7:55 a.m., the time of the Japanese surprise attack occurred. Under one picture she wrote:

I offered my condolences to the victims and gave my prayer of gratitude for the peace that we have enjoyed and to establish the peace going forward.

While she captioned the other:

I understand that there are various debates and stances on Pearl Harbor, but I think that we have to pass on the memory to the next generation, transcending the feelings of hate and anger.

Akie Abes trip came just weeks after President Barack Obamas visit to Hiroshima in Japan. In May, Obama paid tribute to the victims of the U.S. atomic bombing. Akie Abes visit has many speculating that Shinzo Abe might be heading to Pearl Harbor on the anniversary of the attack this year. However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga released a statement saying that:

Abe was acting in a private capacity before attending a forum on maritime environment in Hawaii. The visit has no bearing on whether the prime minister will visit the memorial. Her visit there was a personal one, and the government will not comment on this.

If a visit were ever to take place, the White House said it would welcome Mr. Abe. He would be the first serving Japanese prime minister to visit Pearl Harbor. Back in Japan, the media is a having a field day with Abe, who is always pushing the envelope, openly criticizing her husbands policies, decisions, and creating political scandals. According to her bio:

She has said she opposes her husbands core agendas such as raising the consumption tax and promoting nuclear energy, as well as his stance over a contentious U.S. base in Okinawa. She even makes friends with her husbands opponents. After the Upper House election last month, she went drinking with Yohei Miyake, an opposition camp candidate who went down to defeat. Over the drinks, she dialed her husband on her smartphone and handed it to Miyake.

According to experts, Akie Abe remains a valuable asset for her husband.
Boumerdes (Algeria), August 23, 2016 (SPS) - The Prime Minister Mr. Abdelkader Taleb Omar called United Nations to assume its full responsibility and to impose the necessary pressure to end the situation of Moroccan illegal occupation of Western Sahara, and the release of all Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan jails, especially Gdeim Izik group without conditions and delaying maneuvers and clarify the fate of more than 651 Sahrawis missing.

"the Moroccan provocation ranging from attacks on the United Nations and his Secretary General, and the expulsion of the civil component of MINURSO, its violation of the terms of the cease-fire agreement. Abdelkader Taleb Omar said in closing ceremony of SADR and Polisario Front executives university."

Facing this escalation , he went on saying, the international community called to take decisive positions to save the region from this deadly epidemic and its devastating effects in order to prevent aggravation of the situation, noting that it is no longer a secret that Morocco now is the largest producer and exporter of cannabis in the world according to t international independent institutions.

The prime minister expressed Polisario Front full readiness in dealing with the efforts of the UN Secretary General and his Personal Envoy, Mr. Christopher Ross, in order to set a date for the free, fair and impartial referendum guarantees the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. (SPS)

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Boumerdes (Algeria), August 23, 2016 (SPS) - the Polisario Front, praised on Monday the European Court of Justice's decision of December 10, 2015, which annulated the Moroccan- EU agricultural agreement because the latter includes the territory of Western Sahara.

the cancellation of the agreement is a prominent feature in the current circumstances, especially as it confirms Saharawi people sovereignty over their natural resources, and the international legal personality of the Polisario Front as sole legitimate, representative of the Saharawi people and the non-recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. " the Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Omar said during the closing ceremony of Summer University

He regrets shameful positions of some well-known past colonial states in support of the Morocco expansionist thesis and its involvement in the looting of Sahrawi people wealth, which his country's Western Sahara still registered as occupied countries that its peoples are waiting their right to self-determination and independence. "

" we are convinced that the Europeans will favored in the end the logic of law and legality, justice and the values and principles of the European Union to protect the wealth and the inalienable rights of peoples to self-determination and independence," the Prime Minister added in his speech. (SPS)

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As students head off to college for the first time, it's helpful to know what they're walking into. In Connecticut, graduation rates for first-time, full-time students varies from university to university. Here's a look at which campuses boast the highest graduations rates and return on investment into education.
Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

If New York States new tougher drunk boating law has its intended effect, sailing, cruising and fishing on Long Island Sound will become a little safer.

Under the new law, which does not appear to have a counterpart in Connecticut, a boater convicted of piloting a watercraft while intoxicated in New York will receive a harsher sentence if he or she was convicted earlier of driving under the influence on New York roads.
T errorist attacks, strikes and floods saw Britons and other foreign tourists shun Paris, with officials calling for a relief plan after the region suffered 750 million (644 million) in lost revenue in the first half of the year.

France is the worlds most-visited country by international travellers and tourism makes up 7% of its economy, but whilst almost 85 million foreigners flocked there last year, tourists have stayed away since 130 people were killed in Paris in November and 85 people were massacred in Nice in July.

Paris hotels occupancy rates fell to 32% in the second half of July, from 77% last year.

Figures show Britons are picking Spain over France and other terrorism-struck countries such as Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt this summer. More than 2 million Brits visited Spain last month, up 17.5% on last year.

By contrast, there was a 23% fall in the number of flights booked to France by Britons during the last week of July, and Disneyland Paris saw an 11% fall in visitor numbers between April and June.

"It's time to realise that the tourism sector is going through an industrial disaster," said Frederic Valletoux, head of tourism in the Paris region, which employs some 500,000 people.

"This is no longer the time for communication campaigns but to set up a relief plan."

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Airlines easyJet, IAG-owned British Airways and Ryanair have all reported a downturn in flight bookings to France.
 Brexit does not mean exit, property tycoon Irvine Sellar has declared as he revealed demand for space at his Shard skyscraper had been undeterred by Britains decision to leave the EU.

He revealed a trio of firms have taken space at western Europes tallest building, where JLL and Knight Frank are the letting agents, including Tukcorp, part of Tabcorp Holdings.

Tabcorp will use the 7000 square feet on floor 13 for 70 staff at its new online UK betting business with News UK, Sun Bets.

Meanwhile, financial services firm Duff & Phelps, which has hit headlines as administrator to BHS, and software giant Sage have agreed to increase their existing office sizes at the building.

The 20,000 square feet of deals mean the tower, owned by Sellar and Qatars sovereign wealth fund and managed by REM, is now more than 90% let.

Sellar said: Brexit does not mean exit. The Shards leasing programme continues apace despite any perceived market slowdown. Advanced negotiations are taking place with further occupiers.

His comments come amid concerns that uncertainty created by the vote to leave the EU will damage business confidence and hit Londons commercial property market.
B usiness is booming, admits a friend who works in West End theatre. I voted Remain but things are going surprisingly well. Its important to be positive.

Two months ago such optimism would have been treated as eccentric in the creative sector. A poll by the Creative Industries Federation in May found that 97 per cent of its members wanted to stay in the European Union. More than 250 artists and cultural leaders  from Benedict Cumberbatch to Anish Kapoor  signed a letter arguing that Britains cultural industries faced disaster if we left.

Yet now that the dust has settled after the Brexit vote, quite a few people in the sector are feeling more upbeat and pragmatic, perhaps even a little regretful about how hysterical the debate became. The better-than-expected figures on economic growth and employment have reassured many and the falling pound is not entirely unwelcome either  overseas touring is more lucrative, London has enjoyed a tourism bonanza this summer and many of Londons designers and creative producers are enjoying a boost in sales.

Of course its not been great news for everyone. Some organisations booking foreign shows or artists are feeling the effects of a lower pound. And with the continuing uncertainty it is also still too early to be certain about our long-term economic prospects.

However, there is a belief that the cultural sector has faced turbulence before and that it will learn to thrive in the new normal. As designer Anya Hindmarch said recently, Like the good Brits we are, we will find the positive to all this

There is also evidence that the world beyond Europe has heard the message that London is turning outwards not inwards  that its not that we love Berlin and Rome any less but that we love Tokyo and Rio just as much. Nick Allott, managing director of Cameron Mackintosh Ltd says that for commercial theatre at least, Europe is decreasing in importance, while the market is growing rapidly in China and the Middle East. We are ready for a truly global future.

The issue now is not whether to accept the Brexit vote  democracy must be respected  but how to make it work. Londons cultural sector has a can-do spirit and should use it to lobby the Government for the kind of post-Brexit arrangements it needs.

An early priority has to be maintaining and improving access to global talent. A new points-based immigration system will allow companies to employ on equal terms designers, architects and artists from places such as India and China, which can only enhance our relations with those countries. We can be less Eurocentric and more international as a result.

Freedom of movement within the EU will end, and with it the right to automatic citizenship, but instead we should lobby for fluidity of movement; a system of visa waivers with certain countries and short-term work permits which, for the first time, anyone in the world should be entitled to apply for.

Likewise, the cultural sector should lobby to get funding to replace EU grants but with less of the soul-sapping bureaucracy. It should think about how government can use its freedom from EU rules to make London the most attractive place for creative investors and target incentives better at domestic producers  as one film industry commentator recently pointed out, it is possible to have a film that qualifies as fully British with an all-Italian crew, based on a Spanish story, told in German.

There is a massive opportunity to grow our world-class creative exports and develop international partnerships  Britain is free to negotiate its own trade deals for the first time in 43 years. Australia, Canada, India and China have already confirmed their willingness to do deals, as has the US (which is significant because the EU-US trade deal specifically excludes creative services at the behest of the French government). There is more: investing in training to give young Londoners better skills, improving intellectual property rights and copyright regulation  the wish-list for government could go on.

The Brexit vote brought home that some elements of the cultural sector are profoundly out of touch with much of the country

Yet perhaps the biggest challenge is not economic. The Brexit vote brought home that some elements of the cultural sector are profoundly out of touch with much of the country.

Sadly, there were quite a few creative people who dismissed Leave voters as a racist and ignorant underclass, describing them in snobbish terms that even the Victorians might have baulked at: a dictatorship of the illiterate and the opportunistic; the ugly face of this countrys spite; a post-pub gut reaction.

Which is surprising because for decades the cultural sector has genuinely tried to prove its interest in the views of diverse and less privileged communities. So why did relatively few people in the arts  particularly in London  take the arguments of Leave voters seriously? By labelling 17 million people as ignorant, some of them simply reinforced the perception that our sector is elitist and only comfortable in its own self-congratulatory echo chamber.

The Brexit vote did expose the ugly racism of a tiny minority but that doesnt invalidate the legitimate reasons why many millions of people voted to leave the EU. For them it was about the fundamental principles of democracy: being able to elect and dismiss the people who rule them. Brexit was about taking back control from a remote and unaccountable elite. There are some who would regard the arts as part of that same problem but at their best  by encouraging open debate and understanding the complex reasons why people chose to make this change  the arts can be part of the solution.
I n the rolling hills south of Siena I have just come across the nearest thing in Italy to the pub with no beer.

We have just run out of our best vintages  sold out, almost without any advertisement, I was informed by the proprietors of Fattoria del Colle, now one of the most celebrated wineries in Tuscany.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, whose family have lived there since 1592  it was once used as a hunting lodge and love nest by Tuscanys grand dukes  seems taken aback by her success.

It has been a vintage summer right across Italy in many respects this year. Tourism is booming, from the baking south, the Mezzogiorno, to the meadows and streams of the Alps and the Dolomites.

Fears of terrorism and upheaval further east and south in the Mediterranean have put Western tourists off visiting Tunisia and Turkey  though Turkeys President Erdogan hopes his rapprochement with Mr Putin will bring the Russians back to his beaches.

Italy, in its many faces, shows remarkable robustness and fortitude against what the world, dysfunctional government and the ever-demanding Eurocrats and the IMF can throw at it.

The figures look like the thunderclouds that pile most afternoons above Siena  youth unemployment is still around 20 per cent or more in poorer regions, and the budget deficit is still alarming.

Italians are fearful of the economic future. Many feel they are being left behind in the battle to save the euro

On top of that there is the bad news from the banks and finance. Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Europes oldest merchant bank and the third biggest in Italy, has just had to be rescued to the tune of 5 billion, after 3 billion went down the drain in some mysterious investments by a group of partners.

The bank has had to cut its overheads, which means it may not be able to fund the Palio, the historic race around Sienas central square.

Italy this summer holds a fascinating mirror up to Brexit Britain. Italians, too, are fearful of the economic future, and many feel they are being left behind in the battle to save the euro. Like in Britain, there is the contrast of the regions: London and the rich South against the impoverished and bewildered North in England, and the rich North of Milan and Lombardy against the difficulties of the poor South in Italy, complicated by the weekly arrival of thousands of migrants.

Italy still lives by ingenuity, and genialita  the brand of warmth in which so many Italians specialise.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini has built her success on this combination of imagination and humanity.

Nearly 20 years ago she inherited two farms where most of the vineyards were in decline  at one farm a giant fig tree grew through the main barn. Today this farm, Il Casato delle Donne, is a brand leader in producing Brunello, a classic vintage revived by her grandfather and now hugely popular in North America, Japan and Northern Europe  though hardly known in the UK.

Colombini is worried, too, that Italy could have its own Brexit. In October Italians will vote in a referendum on amending the constitution  though it will likely be a vote on the popularity of the prime minister, Matteo Renzi.

I fear he could lose, as Cameron did, she says. That would bring the revived Five Star Movement to the fore, which has made quitting the euro and the EU as it now stands leading manifesto commitments.

One can only wonder if it has a better exit strategy than befuddled Whitehall.
T he Notting Hill carnival is celebrating its 50th birthday this Bank Holiday weekend.

More than two million Londoners are set to descend on west London, policed by 9,000 of the Mets finest, to enjoy a weekend that celebrates Caribbean culture, music, food and drink. By the end of the weekend, Londons economy will be 93million for the richer, 15,000 costumes will have shimmied during the parade and a hangover-inducing 25,000 bottles of rum will have been polished off. It is a weekend of impressive numbers: only Rio has a bigger carnival and Notting Hill is the most popular street party in Europe. Its come along way from its Trinidadian roots.

What to bring

Remember it's not a serious weekend, it's a carnival: come to have a good time and you most likely will. Still, it gets busy and sweaty, so being at least a little prepared helps.

Take a bottle of water to stay hydrated: lots of shops shut-up, and those which dont sell out.

Pack napkins, hand sanitizer, or both: sticky hands makes for a sour afternoon.

A jumper, or a hoody: once the sun is done, it can get icy. An alcohol jacket only goes so far.

Notting Hill Carnival in numbers

What's on

Saturday August 27

Things officially begin late on Saturday. Head down to Emslie Horniman Pleasance Park on Bosworth Road, where, from 6pm until 10pm, theyll be hosting Panorama. Its a free, family friendly, open-air evening of steel band performances.

The show must go on: rain won't damped the party mood / Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images

Sunday August 28 (Family Day)

The next morning, the early risers of Notting Hill will lead Jouvert from 6am. Its the first parade of the carnival, with steel bands, riddim bands and African drummers. It begins and ends at Canal way in Ladbroke Grove, coming to a halt around 9am.

Sunday is the more family friendly day, with the highlight being the Childrens Parade, which has most of the costumes, Sound Systems and steel bands of its bigger sister on Monday. Things begin at 10am and run until around 8.30pm.

Over in Powis Square, the World Music Stage boasts calypso and soca performances from the Association of British Calypsonians.

Monday August 29

For anyone wanting the true carnival experience, head west on Monday, which features the main parade and grand finale. Food stands will be sizzling, Sound Systems will be blaring, dancers will be dancing and their costumes will be dazzling. The parade itself is 3.5 miles long, and follows the route in the map below, starting off at 10am and running until 8.30pm, though sometimes those in high spirits keep things rolling on later.

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There are a number of after-parties, listed here.

As with Sunday, Powis Square will host the World Music Stage.

Across the weekend

Elsewhere, there are around 38 static Sound Systems. These are, arguably, the heart and soul of the Carnival, and some have been running almost forty years. These are where the parties really get going, but youll need to get to one before 3pm, when most become intolerably busy.

Otherwise, there are 10 steel pan bands ringing out throughout the two days, and 70 stages showcasing various talent from across London.

Notting Hill Carnival over the years - In pictures 1 /53 Notting Hill Carnival over the years - In pictures 1972 Charlie Gillett/Redferns 1975 Richard Braine/PYMCA/Rex 1976 Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1977 Associated Newspaper 1977 Daily Mail 1978 Frank Barratt/Getty Images 1978 Bill Johnson/Associated Newspapers 1978 Frank Barratt/Evening Standard 1980 Stuart Nicol/Evening Standard 1980 Evening Standard 1980 Evening Standard 1983 Peter Anderson/PYMCA/Rex 1984 John Minihan/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1994 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1994 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1995 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 2003 Scott Barbour/Getty Images 2004 Graeme Robertson/Getty Images 2005 Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images 2005 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2007 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2009 Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images 2011 Oli Scarff/Getty Images 2012 Oli Scarff/Getty Images 2015 Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images 2015 Daniel C Sims/Getty Images 2017 Getty Images 2017 Getty Images 2017 Getty Images for RedBull 2017 Getty Images for RedBull 2017 AFP/Getty Images 2018 Getty Images for Redbull 2018 Getty Images 2018 Reuters 2019 Getty Images 2019 Reuters

Food and drink

With more than 300 food stalls, you wont go hungry. The perception of carnival food being all jerk chicken isnt exactly true, but isnt exactly untrue either: five tons of the stuff were shifted last year. Still, if you can, wander around  youll find curried goat, rice and peas, fried plantain (a must), spicy Jamaican patties and Caribbean dumplings.

Drinks wise, Red Stripe is naturally the go-to, and after than, rum. Guinness Punch is a must-try: despite the obvious Irish heritage, its stuff of carnival legend: Guiness packed full of spice, and sometimes milk, and sometimes rum.

Coconut water is hard to beat for refreshment, and theres a certain novelty to carrying around a coconut with a straw in it.

Parties

There are plenty of parties on across London cashing in on the Notting Hill theme. The Hip Hop Karaoke Carnival Special at Camdens recently refurbished Jazz Cafe gets our vote for the Sunday evening, to warm up for the celebrations on Monday, and if you're looking for an after party, have a read of these picks.

For more information, visit thelondonnottinghillcarnival.com

London Live (Freeview 8, YouView 8, Sky 117 and Virgin 159) will be live from Notting Hill on Sunday August 28 and Monday August 29, 4-6pm.

Follow David Ellis on Twitter @dvh_ellis

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Y ou dont have to spend a fortune this Bank Holiday to enjoy a great steak at home - simply head to your local Aldi.

The budget supermarket has announced that it will stock its shelves with the worlds most expensive steak - Wagyu rump steaks - for under 5.

Many London restaurants charge over 90 for cuts of Wagyu beef, but you can now pick up a rump steak for 4.99, little over the cost of a pint.

The steaks, which go on sale this Thursday August 25, follow the sell-out success of Aldis premium Wagyu ribeye and sirloin steaks earlier in the year, as well as their popular Wagyu beef burgers - 3,000 of which were sold per hour across the UK.

Wagyu is widely thought of as the best (and priciest) beef in the world, thanks to its distinctive taste and signature marbling of fat, which melts into the meat while it cooks.

According to the supermarket, the premium beef comes from cattle that are bred and grass-fed on open New Zealand pastures.

Tony Baines, Joint Managing Director of Corporate Buying at Aldi, said, Wagyu beef has proven very successful with our customers and we are delighted to offer Wagyu Rump Steaks for under 5.

Aldi are continuing to offer premium quality products at everyday low prices, allowing customers to make substantial savings on luxury products without compromise.

But if youre planning to stock up your fridge ahead of a Bank Holiday BBQ, youll have to be quick, as Aldi are expecting a scrum for the steaks from its customers.

Demand is expected to be so high that a limit of two steaks per purchase has been put into place.

Better set your alarm early then, Londoners.

Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle
O n December 31, 1600, Elizabeth I put her name to a Royal Charter giving a group of London merchants monopoly trading rights in the Far East. In so doing, the monarch had established what would become one of the most controversial and significant companies in history.

The East India Company came to dominate not only European trade with South Asia but as a company-come-coloniser, it also took over the administration of much of the Indian subcontinent. By 1803, it had a private army of 260,000 men, and was the vehicle through which British control of India was coordinated.

East India Company territories are shown in pink, they were formally made British territories in 1858. / Public Domain

The whole enterprise was headquartered out of the Monster of Leadenhall  a 200-foot long building on Leadenhall Street in the City of London. Built along classical lines, it had previously been used as a residence for the Lord Mayor of London. In 1861, the building was torn down following the absorption of the companys territories into the British Empire and the start of Queen Victorias period as Empress of India.



No plaque exists to commemorate East India House, and today this corner of the City is the site of the Lloyds of London building, completed in 1978.

A watercolour of "East India House," on Leadenhall Street, by Thomas Malton the Younger (1748-1804) / Public Domain

The ships of the East India Company were predominately carriers of commodity goods such as silk, cotton, spices, salt, tea, indigo dye and opium. Head out towards Blackwall and the East India DLR Station in Leamouth, you will pass through a section of the docklands that was once the main docking area for these vessels.



The East India Docks were capable of holding up to 250 ships at a time but today most of it has been filled in, with the Grade-II listed lock gates the only prominent reminder of the commercial activity that used to take place here. Though the docks may no longer be visible, the local area gives a nod towards its previous occupants. The neighbouring roads are named after the goods that were once brought here by the East Indiamen: Clove Crescent, Oregano Drive, Nutmeg Lane and Saffron Avenue being a few.



The EIC is infamous for the way in which it colonised and then subjugated so much of Southern Asia, not as a nation-state but as a joint-stock company, with a board of directors, answerable to shareholders. Its approach to the business of colonisation has led historian William Dalrymple to describe the venture as the supreme act of corporate violence in world history.

Tipus Tiger at the V&A: Made for the ruler of Mysore in the late 1700s. / Victoria and Albert Museum

Much of the companys heritage can now be found in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and in the British Library. The V&A also has holdings from the EIC, including the truly bizarre Tipus Tiger, which is both a sculpture and an organ that can be made to simulate the sounds of a dying European soldier being mauled by a tiger.

Operating during the golden age of the gentlemens club, the EICs directors felt that a suitable London club needed to be established for the servants of the East India Company and Commissioned Officers of Her Majesty's Army and Navy. Based near Chatham House in St Jamess Square, the East India Club remains open to this day.

Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the companys territories were handed over to the British Crown and in 1874, the company itself was wound up. Following the dissolution of the firm, the memb criteria was expanded and it counts among its past and present members Randolph Churchill, Denis Thatcher and Nigel Farage.

The club today boasts 66 bedrooms and 100 reciprocal clubs around the world. / Hugh Chevallier

The most recent iteration of the EIC has been its 2010 relaunch as a luxury goods brand, selling teas, coffees, chocolates and other items at stores around the capital. The ships, grand buildings, dockyards and overseas territories may be gone, but the company continues to be a presence on the British high street.
I n the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, many of us said we'd had enough of the UK. Feeling shocked and desperate, leaving the country seemed like the only hope for young progressives. Pub chats became opportunities to brainstorm dream destinations in which to live our new lives.

Well, it seems some of us really are planning to emigrate after the Leave campaign's victory  and they've set their sights on New Zealand.

The country is preparing for a "British invasion", according to the New Zealand Herald, as immigration inquiries from Brits hit a record high after the Brexit vote.

More than 10,500 people from Britain have registered their interest in moving to New Zealand on the country's immigration website since the referendum, the newspaper reported. There were just 4599 registrations from the UK over the same period last year.

In a typical month, around 3000 Brits interested in studying, working or investing in New Zealand will register with the website.

However, somewhat tellingly, on the day of the referendum result, 998 British people registered their interest, compared with just 109 the day before.

Professor Paul Spoonley from Massey University said Brits interested in New Zealand were "tired of a narrow-minded Britain". He told the New Zealand Herald: "New Zealand is very different, it is multicultural, very tolerant and it's got a good lifestyle and a more temperate climate."

Brexit holiday destinations in the UK 1 /10 Brexit holiday destinations in the UK Whistable and Faversham The Saxon Shore Way between Whistable and Faversham is dotted with historic villages, Iron Age hill forts, martello towers and ancient castles, and is ideal for summer walks. The Old Neptune pub in Whistable is the perfect place to sink a pint, before sampling the seafood at Wheelers Oyster Bar. Stay at Shepherd House in Faversham a Georgian townhouse thats been converted into one of the South East coasts most stylish stays. For foodies, theres also the brilliant Seasalter pub, which was just voted best gastro pub in UK  but be warned, youll need to book your table at least three months in advance. Alamy Stock Photo Osea Island Located in the middle of Essexs Blackwater Estuary, this private island  which is only accessible by boat, helicopter or car at low tide  boasts four and a half miles of its own beaches and coastline. Saltwater swimming pools and isolated fishing spots allow visitors to reconnect with nature during their stay, while there are acres of sandy shores and countryside for visitors to catch a breath of country air. Theres cluster of luxurious coastal boltholes on offer, that sleep up to 20 and are perched high above sea level with many with beautiful views across the Blackwater River. Alamy Stock Photo The Jurrasic Coast The Jurassic Coast in the South West covers 95 miles of truly stunning coastline from East Devon to Dorset, with rocks recording 185 million years of the Earth's history. The different rocks along the Jurassic Coast have been carved by the sea into bays, beaches, cliffs, stacks, arches and landslides. This marvellous variety in the landscape makes this coast one of the most beautiful in the UK. Make sure to stay in The Pig - a beautifully restored country bolthole with views along the sandy coastline and a fantastic restaurant. Alamy Stock Photo Isle of White The Isle of Wight has one of the UKs most spectacular and diverse coastlines, and along its length youll find a wealth of fascinating wildlife, natural beauty and places to explore. The West Wight remains rugged and unspoilt and is a favourite with fossil hunters searching for links with the Islands rich prehistoric past. East Wight is best known for its miles of sandy beaches and seaside attractions, and is perfect for family holidays where sun, sea and sand are on the agenda. The Hambrough Hotel is the jewel of Vetnor, an elegant 7-room boutique B&B and destination restaurant with unspoilt views across the coast. Alamy Stock Photo The Lake District Every year, some 15 million people pitch up to explore this national parks fells and countryside, and it's not hard to see why. Incredible scenery, green countryside and grand views cover a total area of just over 885 square miles. Its picturesque body of lakes, valleys, woodlands and fells make it an ideal place to reconnect with nature, whether hitting the hills on a mountain bike or taking a long hike. A stonesthrow from the beautiful lake Windermere is the Cedar Manor Hotel, a Victorian country house to rest up after a long day of walking. Alamy Stock Photo Bruton Scandi design shop Caro, brunch options and a world-renowned art gallery - there's plenty more to Bruton than stunning Somerset countryside. The recent arrival of Hauser & Wirth in the Somerset countryside has brought new glamour to Bruton and put it on the map for visitors from all over the world. Stay at Caro's one bed B&B or At The Chapel, both in the centre of this charming town. Alamy Stock Photo Antrim Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of Ireland. This green, rugged and awe-inspiring land is home to the Giants Causeway, an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The causeway coast is also one of the most picturesque walks  or runs - youll do in Ireland, with historic ruined castles and the world's oldest whiskey distillery to discover. Check into the super cosy Bushmills Inn  a cosy bolthole with roaring peat fires, nooks and crannies to get lost in and a secret library. Alamy Stock Photo Snowdonia and Angelsey Home to the Snowdonia National Park and the biggest mountain in Wales and England, Snowdon at 3,560ft, this nature-filled part of North Wales has plenty on offer for adventurous staycationers. As well as hiking the mountain, theres also a long coastline of sandy beaches, spectacular cliffs and glorious estuaries. Make the short drive to Anglesey and breathe in some fresh sea air along the bracing coastal path. Stay at the beautiful Chateau Rhianfa, a magnificent French gothic-styled chateau hotel with incredible views of the Menai Strait and the towering peaks of Snowdonia. Alamy

He added: "Migrants move for lifestyle reasons as much as they do for economic reasons, and New Zealand has a pretty good deal on offer."

According to another academic, the surge in interest mirrors the 1980s when "political refugees" emigrated to avoid Margaret Thatcher's Tory government. Professor John Morgan, a British expat and academic at the University of Auckland, told The Guardian: "New Zealand is really appealing for Brits because its a similar size and culture."

He also said New Zealand manages to "avoid the worst trappings of modern, consumerist culture".

For many of us, New Zealand mostly brings to mind rugby, sheep and The Lord of the Rings. But the country has much more going for it, and there are some very legit reasons why someone might want to emigrate there from the UK.

For a start, there's far more space. The country is roughly the same size as the UK but it has a population of just 4.7 million, compared with our 64 million. New Zealand is also known for its laid-back, outdoorsy lifestyle (post-work hike, anyone?), and its more moderate climate.

Oh and it has superb wine. Need we say more?

Last year, 4549 Brits gained residence in New Zealand, 21,999 gained work visas and 1388 student visas, the New Zealand Herald reported. Numbers that look set to rise far higher in the coming year.

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A 21-year-old man will stand trial over the killing of a 62-year-old carer found dead in Hyde Park.

Egyptian national Hani Khalaf, 21, is accused of beating Jairo Medina to death at the tourist hotspot in central London.

His body was found by a member of park staff near Speakers Corner shortly before 6am on August 12.

The professional carer, from Chelsea, west London, had been assaulted but a post-mortem examination did not ascertain a cause of death.

Khalaf appeared at the Old Bailey via video-link from Wandsworth Prison and spoke only to confirm his name with help from an Arabic translator.

Judge Timothy Pontius set a three-week provisional trial date of February 6 next year.

Khalaf is expected to enter a plea on November 8.

No application for bail was made and the defendant was remanded in custody.
T his is the moment armed police hauled a man out of a car in a suspected firearms bust in Sydenham.

The incident happened just before 3pm today, when officers armed with guns surrounded the vehicle in Sydenham Road.

Police said they recovered a weapon at the scene, adding that one man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm.

One eyewitness, who saw the arrest but did not wish to be named, said he saw the police cars screech to a stop, and managed to capture the arrest on film.

He told the Standard: "I was walking down Sydenham Road, just opposite Budgens Supermarket, and a bunch of police cars screeched to a halt and surrounded a parked car.

"There was lots of shouting from the cops. I saw them pull one guy out the car, got it on film, and someone else I heard say at least one other person was pulled out too.

"There were undercover cops there, I could tell because they had civvy clothes on but they put a yellow hat on so they didn't get shot."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Armed police stopped a vehicle in Sydenham Road junction with Mayow Road, at 14.57 on Tuesday, as part of an operation targeting those suspected to be involved in firearm offences.

"A man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm. A suspected firearm was also recovered by police.

"Upon arrest, the man was taken to a south London police station where he remains for questioning.

"The vehicle being used by the suspect has also been recovered."
T his is the shocking moment a man accompanied by two young children appears to hurl anti-Semitic abuse at a Jewish family in east London.

The 32-year-old alleged victim, who asked to remain anonymous, today told how his children had been left too scared to sleep after the ordeal.

He said the incident happened as he was enjoying a family day out in London Docklands.

During an appalling tirade, a man allegedly demanded the group to f*** off back to Isra-hell.

A video taken by the alleged victim, shows the man shouting dont come round here, go to Stamford Hill. Youre not welcome.

The father who is from Stamford Hill, which has a large Jewish population, described how the black male walking with two young children and a woman began to shout at them at around 5pm yesterday.

He told the Standard that he was parking his car before taking his wife and nine-week-old baby on the Emirates airline along with the couples older children aged 10, eight, seven, five and three, when the abuse started.

He said: He came up behind us and started shouting at us to f*** off back to Isra-hell and go back to Stamford Hill.

He was saying over and over again that we werent welcome.

He was using the same words over and over again.

I took my phone out and filmed it so I could show the police.

Stamford Hill is home to around 30,000 Hasidic Jews.

The family were forced to abandon their day-trip after their children were reduced to tears by the verbal attack which youngsters should never have been subjected to.

The alleged victim added: All of my children were crying, even last night they were too frightened to sleep and are saying they dont want to go out again.

As a father it makes me very sad to see that, to see my family upset in that way, it is very upsetting to me.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Detectives in Newham are investigating an allegation of anti-Semitic abuse which was reported to police on Monday, August 22.

"The incident is said to have taken place on the same day at 17:15hrs on Western Gateway, E16 near the Excel.

"A 32-year-old man states he was subjected to anti-Semitic abuse by another man.

"He also alleges a group of males sat on a bench nearby who witnessed the incident also joined in.

"No arrests have been made. Enquiries are ongoing.

"The investigation is ongoing and officers are from Newham Community Safety Unit (CSU) are investigating."

Anyone with information is asked to call Newham CSU on 0208 217 5889 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T his was the moment a man threatened customers with a knife before another man opened fire at a Turkish restaurant in Hackney.

Police today released CCTV footage of two men wanted in connection with the dramatic ordeal at Macho Bistro in Kingsland Road, Dalston.

Minutes later another man wearing a white motorcycle helmet fired a shot at two customers inside the popular eatery which boasts stunning views and a shisha lounge.

Footage then showed the suspect run down a flight of stairs, look around for the gun casing and flee on a moped.

Detectives want to speak to anybody who recognises the two men or has any information about the incident which happened on April 21.

The first suspect is described as around 16 years old, 5ft 8ins tall and possibly Turkish.

He was wearing a distinctive silver coloured ring with a small black stone on the ring finger of his right hand. He wore a black t-shirt, black or blue 'Puffa' style jacket and blue denim jeans.

The second man is described as a young male, 5ft 8ins tall and wearing a white motorcycle helmet.

He was dressed in a grey hooded top, grey jogging bottoms and a black jacket and was riding a grey coloured moped.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A murder investigation has been launched after a man died in a street near a school in Wood Green.

Police were called to reports of an injured man on Glendale Avenue, next to St Thomas More Catholic School, at 4:44am today.

Paramedics battled to save the man, aged in his 20s, but he died at the scene.

It is not yet clear what injuries the man, who has not yet been identified, was suffering from.

Police have not made any arrests and are appealing for witnesses to come forward to assist with the investigation.

Anyone with information concerning the incident is asked to call police on 0208 358 0100 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A digital manager for a leading interior designer has been jailed after paying for hotel stays and a diamond ring with the profits of a 100,000 fraud.

Gaurav Sachan, 31, was put in charge of the PayPal account of Alison At Home, the firm set up by Alison Cork, who writes for the Evening Standard and has presented shows such as ITVs Dont Move, Improve and Help! I Hate My House.

He used the privilege to steal 104,581 over nine months, splitting the profits with suspected accomplice Mahmudal Rubai. Southwark crown court heard Sachan, of Edgware, bought Tommy Hilfiger clothes, a ring for his wife, dined at Sushi Samba in Heron Tower and stayed at luxury hotels.

He was caught out on a long trip to India visiting his sick father, after Cork was forced to appoint a new head of digital.

It was discovered that somebody had been using the administrator privileges for the company to change the recipient details for monies supposed to be received by Alison At Home, prosecutor James Benson told the court.

The defendant used the monies to fund a lavish lifestyle  his bank accounts show him shopping at expensive designer outlets such as Tommy Hilfiger and Russell and Bromley.

Sachan pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position. Jailing him for 39 months, Recorder Duncan Atkinson QC told him: You have let down everyone around you. You committed that offence through the most flagrant abuse of your position.

Cork, who has also appeared on Channel 5s Cowboy Builders & Bodge Jobs and 60 Minute Makeover on ITV, said the fraud cost one employee their job and may have scuppered up to 2 million of sales. She has been forced to put part of the business up for sale.

She said: He deceived us all  he has caused untold damage to the stability of our young business.

Mr Rubai is believed to have fled the UK.
D J Nick Grimshaw today said he was absolutely fine after rolling his 80,000 Mercedes when he apparently swerved to avoid a stray cat.

The Radio 1 star, 32, hit the brakes to dodge the animal and veered into a car parked in the residential street in Stoke Newington.

The former X Factor judge, who returned for his 6.30am breakfast show this morning, is reported to have been driving at less than 15mph and escaped uninjured.

Asked on air by a colleague if he was alright, Grimshaw said: Yep, the car went upside down. Im absolutely fine.

"I turned out of my house... my car flipped over and went over on its side. People were like 'you can't have been doing 15 miles per hour' ... I was, that's how embarrassing this was."

A cat casually strolls along the pavement next to the scene of the crash / Lucy Young

He added: "I came out of my street, turned right, saw quite a large ginger cat. I was like 'oh no, a cat'. Rather than killing the cat I drove into a car.

"The car that I hit made my car tip over. The woman's car is absolutely fine... she needs a new wheel arch, which I guess I'm paying for."

Grimshaw said that he was driving so slowly that he knew that his car was going to tip over before it did.

He said: "When it happened it happened quite slow-mo. It looks really dramatic. It looks like Vin Diesel did it. It looks like The Fast And Furious."

He added: "I kept thinking have I avoided that cat and now flattened it? All I could think was 'is this cat as flat as a pancake under this car'? It was really giving me anxiety.

"The police had to come, the fire engines had to come, every neighbour in the street was out.

"The cat's fine. It sat there for the full two hours while I was out in the street.

"The cat met the police, the cat met the fire brigade, the cat watched me make a call to insurance to organise someone to pick the car up."

He waited at the scene as the black G-wagon was lifted upright and towed away.

Later, a cat was pictured casually strolling along the pavement next to a pile of sand used to cover motor oil that was spilled across the road during the crash.

Writing on Twitter after news of the collision emerged, Grimshaw said: Had an accident in the car but all ok - shout out to all my lovely neighbours for helping out. See you in the morning.... I'll er get a cab.

One neighbour said: Talking to him afterwards, his main concern was that cat was ok.

Neighbour Azzeddine Azouz said: I saw him talking to people after, he was a bit shaken up. He was saying how he was trying to avoid the cat which went across the road.

I think my neighbours car might be slightly damaged but whats important is everyone is physically ok.

The accident happened just before 7pm as Grimshaw was driving from his home nearby to appear on the Annie Mac show.

The appearance was cancelled with Mac telling listeners he: unfortunately had a bit of an accident.

Crashed: Nick Grimshaw returned to his breakfast show as normal on Tuesday / BBC

She added: He is fine, theres absolutely nothing to worry about, but he cant make it into the studio this evening,

Neighbours in close-knit Clissold Crescent said they believed the cat that triggered the accident is a friendly stray tabby, which was later spotted sitting at the roadside.

One said: Nobody seems to know who it belongs to but it is loved and always greets you when you leave your house.

Another said: I saw the car being picked up and put upright earlier today but I didnt see the actual accident.

People have said that it was the cat that hangs around here, its very friendly so were glad it was not hurt.

Fans took to Twitter to praise the DJs decision to save the cat at the cost of his luxury 4x4.

Ruslana March wrote: Glad to hear Grimmers is okay after his car accident. Not a lot of people would save a cats life by putting their own at risk.

Ellis Crawshaw said: Just saw that Grimmers crashed his car to avoid a cat... what a guy! 

And Hannah Boleyn tweeted: What a legend. There is a place in my heart for all cat people.

A BBC spokesman said: Nick is absolutely fine  he was driving at no more than 15mph.

A Met Police spokesman said: Police were called at 18.47 to reports of an overturned car on Clissold Crescent, at the junction with Burma Road in Hackney.

Officers attended. There were no reports of any injuries and no arrests.
P olice are hunting a suspected arsonist after a house was set on a fire in the early hours of this morning.

Detectives said a home in Walthamstow was deliberately set ablaze in a bid to hurt people inside.

Nobody was injured in the blaze in Shernhall Streetat about 2.15am today.

London Fire Brigade investigated and believe arsonists placed a flammable fluid on the window which was then set alight.

Detectives at Waltham Forest Borough are treating today's attack as arson with intent to endanger life.

Witnesses describe seeing two men who discovered the fire and shouted for help. Police want to find and speak to the two men in the hope they might have seen any suspicious activity.

But the only description given of the two men is that they are both black, Met Police said.

Detective Sergeant Ben Voss, from Waltham Forest Borough CID, said: "If you are one of these two men described in our appeal, please contact us.

You may have information, no matter how small you think it is, that could assist our investigation.

"We are also keen to hear from anyone else in or around the area at the time of the incident that hasn't already spoken to police."

Any witnesses or anyone with any information that could assist the investigation can call Waltham Forest CID via 101. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or at crimestopper-uk.org.
S adiq Khan is on the hunt for a nocturnal sidekick who can help him to champion the capital's night time culture.

The London Mayor is advertising for a "night czar" who can help him to take on the capital's dark side and ensure its after-dark economy thrives.

The post will be the first such role in the UK, and Mr Khan hopes the successful candidate will help him to shape London's future as a 24-hour city.

The successful candidate will work with Mr Khan, the Night Time Commission, local authorities, businesses, the Metropolitan Police Service, Transport For London and other agencies to create a "vision for London as a 24-hour city", the job advert on the mayor's website states.

The successful applicant must demonstrate "proven leadership ability, public profile and convening power, plus a thorough understanding of the night time economy and the ability to work in a political environment," it says.

The mayor is offering a 35,000 salary for the role, which is expected to take up two and a half days per week of the future night czar's time.

The post has been advertised as a fixed-term position, which is initially for one year.

Anyone interested must apply with a CV and cover letter by Monday September 12 at 11.59pm, with interviews due to take place at City Hall on Wednesday the following week.

The new role follows the launch of the 24-hour Tube on the Victoria and Central underground lines on Friday, which will be rolled out to the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines this autumn.

More than 100,000 passengers took advantage of the new overnight Underground service, with about 6,500 people tapping in at Oxford Circus on Saturday night, giving a boost to London's shopping district.

The Night Tube is also expected to spark job creation, adding 2,200 new roles in services, according to a report released by consultancy group EY and business advocacy group London First.

It is forecast to add 77 million to London's economy each year by 2029, the report added.
O f all the people in Sadiq Khans new team at City Hall, James Murray is under the most pressure to deliver. As deputy mayor for housing, the fresh-faced former Islington councillor has got the task of tackling the housing crisis on his watch. Expectations are high.

Mr Khan declared the mayoral race a referendum on housing and vowed that building thousands more affordable homes was his priority.

But the softly spoken Londoner does not seem fazed by the scale of the task ahead. Were going to work flat out every day. If you have a daunting prospect its not my style to sit back and do nothing, its my style to get on with it.

Since starting in the role almost four months ago, Mr Murray has become deft at expectation management. Its clearly going to take time to turn things round. We need to be honest with Londoners and say were not going to fix the housing crisis overnight.

Sadiq Khan: The first 100 days

He has already ruffled feathers by saying Mr Khans plan for 50 per cent of all new homes to be affordable was always just a long-term strategic target. But he denies he is back-pedalling on the Mayors commitments. Having that target as a long-term goal means were very clear about the direction were headed in. Were ambitious and practical about how were going to move towards that, he said.

He admits that the uncertainty caused by Brexit is one of his biggest challenges. Weve started and will continue to give the industry as much certainty as possible.

Mr Murray, 33, has first-hand experience of how hard it is to get onto the property ladder, admitting that he was only able to buy his two-bedroom flat in Islington in 2008 with help from the bank of mum and dad. You can see year by year it getting much, much harder for people. Even people on very good incomes now are feeling it getting further and further out of reach.

Previously he rented. It has got so much worse. When I see people just a few years younger than me trying to rent now its so much harder.

His answer to soaring house prices  up by more than 12 per cent in the year to June  is to build more homes, though he admits that alone will not be enough. We need to make sure were building the right sort of homes.

He is focusing on a range of tenures, from social housing to shared ownership, primarily to support first-time buyers, while working up the Mayors plans for a London Living Rent, capped at a third of average local incomes, though it is unclear how this would work without government support.

Like his boss, Mr Murray shies away from committing to a numerical target. Mr Khan regularly claimed he would be best placed to deliver the 50,000 homes a year the capital needs, but stopped just short of promising to do so.

The first 100 days: Sadiq on progress and challenges so far

When he appointed Mr Murray as deputy mayor, many developers across London were twitchy. During his time running housing at Islington he pioneered policies which were seen as aggressive towards developers. But Mr Murray has spent the past few months trying to put their minds at ease. He blushes when described as the Mayors bright young star but agrees the appointment of the well-respected Jules Pipe as deputy mayor for planning has helped.

What has been really important to me is to make really clear in public and through my actions that we want to work with everyone in London who has a stake in building homes for Londoners, he said.

Yet he did not rule out a London-wide version of his policy of fines for empty properties, simply saying: We need to make sure that any action we take is done in a way which recognises pressures on industry.

Mr Murray insisted the Mayor would live up to his promise never to build on the green belt, focusing on brownfield sites instead.

He has already ordered Transport for London to line up sites, some of which may be sold at less than market value, and is lobbying government for control of other public land.

Despite his gentle demeanour Mr Murray is clearly unafraid to play hardball with the more reluctant boroughs, notably Conservative-run Bromley, to build more homes.

We do need to be clear that we do expect everyone to play their part, he said.
A clear majority of Britons have swung behind House of Lords reform in the wake of David Camerons crony list of resignation honours.

Almost six in 10 say members of the Upper House should no longer be entirely appointed, a BMG Research study for the Evening Standard shows.

Half think former Prime Minister Mr Cameron brought the honours system into disrepute with his list of peerages, knighthoods and other awards.

The findings come as Whitehall officials are preparing a bumper list of honours to recognise the performance of Team GB at the Rio Olympics.

Prime Minister Theresa Mays spokeswoman said public support for Olympics honours showed the system was not tarnished: The fact many are calling for our Olympians to be recognised shows there is still value in honours.

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But the BMG study found:

Some 58 per cent wanted elections in the Lords, with 35 per cent saying all peers should face voters, and 23 per cent saying at least some should. Backing for reform was stronger among supporters of the main political parties  including 65 per cent of Conservatives and 68 per cent of Labour backers.

Almost one quarter (23 per cent) feel the chamber should be abolished.

A three-to-one majority of the public admitted they believe peerages and other honours can be bought in Britain by political donations. Some 54 per cent agree, and 18 per cent disagree

Almost half said Theresa May should take steps to ban resignation honours.

Mr Cameron handed 13 new peerages to aides and backers in a list that one minister said smacked of something out of the 19th century.

MPs on a Commons committee say they will summon him to explain why so many went to his inner circle.

Labour MP Paul Flynn, a member of the cross-party Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said the public were outraged by seeing the highest honours go to a Westminster elite.

Cameron degraded the system by showering honours on donors, which seems little different to what James I and Lloyd George did, he said.

Whats so painful is there are so many unsung heroes in our communities whose chances of a high honour are low.

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Committee chairman Bernard Jenkin said on launching its inquiry: Peers should be chosen as the best people to revise legislation and hold government to account, not solely as a reward.

Dr Michael Turner, research director at BMG, said Mr Camerons honours were not even backed by Conservatives: More Tories feel Camerons last act has done reputational damage to the honours system  41 per cent  than do not  36 per cent.
A row has erupted on Twitter after CCTV was released showing Jeremy Corbyn bypassing rows of empty seats before sitting on the floor and claiming the service was "ram-packed".

The embattled Labour leader was filmed, for footage later shared on the Guardian website, criticising the state of Britain's railways from his perch on the train floor.

However, Virgin Trains owner Sir Richard Branson has hit back after Mr Corbyn's criticism, by releasing the images apparently showing the Labour leader walking past unreseved seats before shooting the campaign film.

Mr Corbyn has attracted heavy criticism over "traingate", with CCTV footage taken from the three-hour Virgin Trains service on August 11 also showing the Labour leader taking a seat about 45 minutes into the journey.

Many claimed the film had been a "publicity stunt", designed to garner support from Mr Corbyn in Labour's upcoming leadership election.

Hani Mustafa tweeted: "Look who's sitting on a seat straight after filming his PR stunt. Plenty of room for the Shadow Cabinet #traingate."

While Sunny Hundal said: "I think the definition of a good media stunt is one that doesn't blow up in your face. #corbyn #traingate."

Comedian David Baddiel suggested: "Is it possible that what actually happened was Jeremy "had a fall" inbetween two carriages and just couldn't get up again? #traingate."

And Chris Idder tweeted: "The problem with describing yourself as an honest politician, is you then have to be honest #Corbyn #traingate."

However, others have leapt to his defence, claiming that they also witnessed a lack of seats, and sharing pictures of Mr Corbyn sat on the floor.

Some branded the release of the CCTV "simply a desperate attempt to smear" Mr Corbyn.

Journalist Charles B. Anthony, who wrote the Guardian's initial article on Corbyn's seatless three-hour journey, said the Labour leader had managed to get a seat only after passengers got off at later stops.

Scott Nelson tweeted: "Passengers travelling on the same Virgin train as Jeremy Corbyn say his version of events are correct and Virgin's is misleading #ASmearADay."

And Peter Walker said: "Just spoken to passenger on Corbyn train who 100% backs his story. Says she was sat in corridor with her 2 kids near him."

While Lucy Darbyshire said: "Regardless of whether #Corbyn's train complaint was real or not, this country needs to address the disgusting state of our #rail services."

In a statement, a Virgin Trains spokesman said: Our people deliver first-rate customer service day after day and wed like to thank Jeremy Corbyn for highlighting this with the media.

But we have to take issue with the idea that Mr Corbyn wasnt able to be seated on the service, as this clearly wasnt the case.

Ram-packed?: CCTV footage shows Mr Corbyn walking past reserved but empty seats at 11.08am in Coach F. / Virgin Trains.

We know that some of our services on our east and west coast franchises are extremely popular, and it can be hard to find a seat.

This usually happens in particular circumstances, for example when theres a big sporting event, or on the first off-peak train out of London. Unfortunately we cant do anything about cup finals or fares regulation, which could spread demand much more effectively if it was less of a blunt instrument.

We have discussed regulation with the Government at various points over the last two decades and wed be delighted to work with ministers if they were interested in reviewing the fares structure for long distance services, with the aim of reducing the overcrowding that can sometimes occur.

We can, however, rely on our fantastic on-board teams to help customers whenever possible and were delighted they could help Jeremy in this case.

Mr Corbyn's campaign team could not be reached for comment.
A teenager has died and a 37-year-old man is seriously injured after a rare supercar crashed on a sleep village road in Hampshire.

Police said they were called to the single vehicle collision off Hook Road, North Warnborough, shortly after 8.30pm on Monday night.

The crash involved a red Ferrari F50, which can reach speeds of up to 201mph and is one of only 349 ever built.

A spokesman for Hampshire Police said: "There were two people inside the vehicle, which was a red Ferrari F50, a 37-year-old man from Surrey and a 13-year-old boy from the Winchester area.

"Sadly, the teenager suffered life-threatening injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

"The 37-year-old suffered serious injuries and is being treated at the North Hampshire Hospital where his condition is described as stable.

"Officers who are continuing this morning to investigate the exact circumstances of this collision are appealing for any witnesses who may have been in the area to come forward."

Ferrari stopped making F50s in 1997. Today some are said to change hands for as much as 1.5 million.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Sgt Richard Grant, at Hampshire Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, on 101, quoting 44160315889, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A former boss of BHS who bought the retail chain for just 1 has been banned from driving for six months for speeding.

Dominic Chappell, from Winterborne Clenston, Dorset, exceeded a 40mph speed limit in Andover, Hampshire, on April 6.

The 49-year-old was driving a green Range Rover when a police officer clocked him driving at an average speed of 63.9mph.

After being pulled over, he told the police: I drive an average of 35,000 miles a year and I used to be a race car driver.

Chappell, who previously pleaded guilty to the offence, has 10 points on his licence for three other speeding offences in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Aldershot magistrates also gave him six points for his latest speeding offence, bringing the total on his licence up to 16.

He was also fined 665 and ordered to pay 150 in costs.

Chappell bought BHS off Sir Philip Green in 2015 through his company Retail Acquisitions.

Last month he denied the 2.6m package he took, including a 600,000 salary, contributed to the demise of the brand.
T he heartbroken family of a hero father who died saving his daughter from drowning on holiday in Spain today paid tribute to an amazing brother, father and friend.

Reece Morris, 40, clung on to nine-year-old Ruby to keep her afloat as the pair were dragged towards rocks by a strong current off the Costa del Sol.

The businessman from Epping handed his daughter on to a group of swimmers who dived into the turbulent waters to rescue them, before being brought back to the shore by lifeguards.

He collapsed from a suspected heart attack as he reached the beach.

Paramedics worked for an hour using a heart defibrillator in an attempt to save him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene on Sunday.

Heartbroken: Cary Eeles posted a picture of her with Reece Morris on Facebook after his death / Facebook

He had been staying at a villa near El Penoncillo Beach in Torrox, 30 miles from Malaga, with his wife Carly Eeles and their two daughters. Ms Eeles had gone back to the villa to get a snack for their younger daughter Mia, four, when tragedy struck.

Officials said a red flag was flying on the beach but locals said Mr Morris may not have seen it as it was hoisted on a watch tower 300 yards away.

Mr Morriss sister Kelly Morris today told of the family devastation as she paid tribute to her amazing brother.

She told the Standard: He was the best brother, father and friend anyone could wish for. My family and I are heartbroken at this tragedy.

He was trying to save Ruby. He was an amazing brother and I loved him more than words can say. We are all grieving and trying to come to terms with this.

Im so devastated, I love him so much. He was such a caring dad and loved his partner and those girls.

Words cannot explain how we are all feeling. Its the worst thing ever.

Samuel Pazo, 35, an administrative officer from Malaga, was among around a dozen sunbathers who dived into to the water after seeing the father and daughter struggling at 2.30pm.

Swimming tragedy: El Penoncillo Beach in Torrox

He said: The current was very strong and it was pushing the swimmers towards the rocks.

The man was holding his daughter, another swimmer reached him before me and he passed the girl to me. I helped lift her on to nearby rocks. By then there was a crowd who helped her out.

When I looked back at the man, he was still in the water. He was not talking and he had tried to stop his daughter drowning.

When they got him out they could not revive him. It seems like he might have suffered a heart attack trying to save his daughter.

Family and friends took to Facebook to post tributes to Mr Morris, who worked in the construction industry.

James ONeill said: Its a cruel world we live in where the best people get taken from us way too early. You are one of my oldest childhood friends and its hard to believe what as happened. You will be sadly missed Reece, may you rest in peace.
A Londoner dressed as a priest stormed an Irish beauty pageant in a bizarre lone protest that has been compared to scenes from comedy show Father Ted.

Competitors and audience members at the countrys Rose of Tralee event were left stunned when 49-year-old Matt OConnor donned robes and a dog collar and ran onto the stage shouting Fathers 4 Justice.

The one-man protest interrupted host Daiti O Ses interview with County Cavan contestant Lisa Reilly.

Ms Reilly looked utterly bemused as Mr OConner appeared behind her during the live TV broadcast of the pageant in which young woman from across the world compete for the title.

Mr OConnor held up a poster and urged support for Irelands broken families.

State broadcaster RTE cut to adverts until the demonstrator was removed from the arena - known as The Dome - before presenter Daithi O Se resumed his interview.

Amused viewers likened the unexpected interlude to comedy series Father Ted which feature three priests living on a remote isle off the coast of Ireland.

Conor Macauley tweeted: How Ted was that?

While Ibrahim Banks tweeted a picture of Dermot Morgan as Father Ted holding up a sign that reads down with this sort of thing.

The competition continues tonight when this year's Rose will be crowned.

The title is taken from a song about the "lovely and fair" Rose of Tralee.

In a statement, organisers said they "are satisfied that adequate security measures are in place in the Festival Dome".

A spokesman added: "A man in the audience walked on to the stage while the Cavan Rose was being interviewed by Daithi O Se.

"The man, who had purchased a ticket, was immediately removed from the stage by security personnel before being taken away by Gardai (Irelands national police service).

"The show resumed after a short break."
A soldier has died after he was shot in a military training area in Northumberland, police said.

The soldier, who was serving with the Royal Regiment of Scotland, was shot on the military ranges in Otterburn during a live firing exercise at about 11.15pm yesterday.

Northumbria Police said the male soldier was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering a "serious head wound".

An MOD spokesman did not identify the soldier, but said the Defence Safety Authority was investigating.

He did not release any further details or confirm whether any other personnel were involved.

A police cordon was in place today at the training area, which was set up by former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill and contains the second largest live firing range in the country.

Armed Forces Minister Mike Penning said: "My thoughts are with the soldier's family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.

"The safety of our personnel is our absolute priority and while deaths in training don't happen often, any death is a tragedy.

"As well as a police investigation, MOD accident investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident."

Northumbria Police said the soldier's next-of-kin had been informed.
C ounter-terror chiefs in Europe have pledged to maintain intelligence co-operation during Brexit, a minister has said.

The assurances will help allay fears stoked during the referendum campaign that MI5 and the police faced being frozen out from access to vital data and policing tools after the UK leaves the EU.

Security minister Ben Wallace told an MP that key partners have confirmed their commitment to continue to work closely in an area where the UK has played a key role in advancing European capability.

Government sources had insisted that there was no blanket assurance for the post-Brexit era because of the EUs refusal to hold formal negotiations talks until after Britain starts its formal exit procedures.

Keith Vaz, the chairman of the powerful Home Affairs Committee, said Mr Wallaces words were in total contrast to dire warnings given by the David Cameron before the referendum, but warned that key questions remained.

I welcome the ministers positive statement of co-operation with EU partners on security and policing issues, he said. This is in total contrast with what the then-home secretary and her ministers said to us before Brexit, namely that we would be cut adrift on these issues if we voted out, and we would need to negotiate 27 separate arrangements.

The key questions remain: will we have still have special access to Europol and will we still be part the European arrest warrant?

In April, former home secretary Theresa May concluded in a keynote speech that, on balance, Britain would be more secure within the EU.

Outside the EU, we would have no access to the European arrest warrant, which has allowed us to extradite more than 5,000 people to Europe in the last five years, she said.
A US soldier has been killed in Afghanistan from a roadside bomb.

Another American service member and six Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the blast, which happened in the countrys Helmand province on Tuesday.

According to a US military statement, the service member was on patrol when the explosive device went off near the provinces capital of Lashkar Gar, the Washington Post reported. The service member died from his injuries.

The American Department of Defense said the person who died is not yet being named until their family have been told.

General John Nicholson, commander of the US and NATO forces in the country, said: Our deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of those involved.

"We are deeply saddened by this loss, but remain committed to helping our Afghan partners provide a brighter future for themselves and their children."

US forces were on patrol conducting "train, advise, assist activities" with their Afghan counterparts when the bomb went off.

The US statement said an investigation is also being carried out to determine the exact circumstances of what happened.
I f youre a fried chicken enthusiast as well as a sun-worshipper, KFC has launched the product for you.

The fast food chain claims to have a created an SPF 30 sunscreen with the scent of its Extra Crispy chicken range.

The stunt follows the June launch of an ad campaign starring famously tanned US actor George Hamilton, who appeared in commercials as Colonel Sanders.

KFC, which is owned by Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum Brands Inc, has given away 3,000 bottles of the scented sunscreen.

It said it was out of stock just a few hours after they appeared on its website yesterday.

Unfortunately for sun-worshippers in the UK, the sunscreen was only available in the US.

Americans could apply for a bottle of the Col. Sanders Extra Crispy Sunscreen by visiting kfc.com/extra-crispy-sunscreen.

In May, KFC debuted an edible nail polish in an Asia as a play on the chains finger lickin good slogan.
T he Duke of Cambridge will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel for the first time at a gala in Germany.

William, who is visiting Dusseldorf for a series of events honouring the role of British armed forces based in Germany, is set to attend a ceremony with the German stateswoman tonight.

The gala will mark the 70th anniversary of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia - which was created by the British military government in 1946 after the Second World War.

Operation Marriage merged the regions of North Rhine, part of the largely Catholic Rhineland, and the predominantly Protestant Westphalia. A close link between Britain and the North Rhine-Westphalia state has endured since, partially thanks to the continued military presence.

William is expected to deliver a speech during a ceremony in the citys Tonhalle where the history of the North Rhine-Westphalia state will be celebrated with musical performances and short films.

Mrs Merkel, who will have just returned from a post-Brexit meeting to relaunch the EU project with Italian premier Matteo Renzi and French president Francois Hollande, will also speak at the gala.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet the Duke of Cambridge at a gala in Germany / REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Prior to the gala, the Duke will watch a British Forces Germany (BFG) military parade with the regions minister, President Hannelore Kraft, and meet BFG personnel at a reception.

He will see the 20th Armoured Brigade receive the Fahnenband - the federal states highest military honour - in recognition of their service to the defence of Germany.

William, who is carrying out the official visit at the request of the Government, will then meet servicemen and women and their families at Dusseldorfs NRW Forum.

Britain has had a large military presence in the region for 70 years. Around 27,000 British citizens live in the state and 1,400 British firms are based there.

However, British troops based in the region are being withdrawn under the Army Basing programme which began six years ago. It seeks to bring all UK military units back from Germany by 2020. By the end of this year, just 3,600 personnel will be left in Germany.
U sain Bolt took to the stage at an exclusive London nightclub during a second night of partying to celebrate his 30th birthday.

Fresh from his Olympic victory in Rio, the sprinting superstar picked up the microphone and partied with revellers at Sohos circus-themed venue Cirque le Soir.

Footage shows the sprinter, dressed all in black wearing a snapback and sunglasses, on stage surrounded by clubgoers as he continued to celebrate his birthday and his treble treble Olympic gold medal haul.

The club posted the video of Bolt to its Instagram page and said: He really is the fastest man on the planet! He left the Olympic closing ceremony in time for La Monday! Hope you enjoyed your party champ, @usainbolt.

He is said to have been downing shots and champagne inside the venue and stayed until about 4.30am.

Bolt is believed to have made an early exit from the Brazilian capital on Sunday night, missing the closing ceremony completely to head for London.

Early departure: Bolt was seen leaving Rio an hour before the Olympic closing ceremony

He was snapped heading for the departure lounge at the citys Galeo International Airport an hour before the event got underway.

It comes after he allegedly spent the night in Rio with 20-year-old mum-of-two Jady Duarte, who is said to be the widow of one of Brazils most dangerous drug lords.

Sleepy selfie: Images shared on Whatsapp appear to show Usain Bolt in bed with a 20-year-old student

Duarte told of how she was dying of shame after pictures of the pair, which appear to share them cuddling and kissing, were shared worldwide despite her claiming to have only sent them to girlfriends on Whatsapp.

She had allegedly met the athlete as he celebrated at All In, a club in the Barra de Tijuca suburb of Rio.

Speaking to Brazlian newspaper Extra, Miss Duarte said: It's very negative. I never wanted to be famous, I'm dying of shame.

She went on to describe her night with the Olympic megastar as normal.

Footage of the Olympian dancing with yet another girl during the night out has also circulated on Twitter.

The blowout marked the sprinters final Olympics at which he won three gold medals in the 100 meters, the 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay.

Last week, it was claimed Bolt is in a long-term relationship with 26-year-old fellow Jamaican Kasi Bennett.
C ara Delevingne, Margot Robbie and Amber Heard were reportedly turned away from a London strip club bar after asking to get in for free.

The trio attempted to enter renowned gentlemans club SophistiCats in Marylebone on Friday, August 19, but are thought to have been denied entry for not being respectful.

Speaking to the MailOnline, owner Simon Langer said: We welcome anyone as long as they are respectful but Cara and her friends weren't behaving how we would expect the majority of our clients to behave.

Unfortunately the club was full and there was a small queue outside but Cara was adamant that they should be let in immediately and without having to pay the 20 entry price.

Cara kept telling the staff: 'Don't you know who I am? I'm Cara Delevingne. I'm Cara and this is my friend Amber who's just got divorced!'

Delevingne, who was in a group of 15 people, reportedly became angry and agitated when asked to buy a bottle of champagne to secure a table  a rule that applies to all customers.

Suicide Squad London premiere - in pictures 1 /38 Suicide Squad London premiere - in pictures Margot Robbie and Will Smith bump into each other on the red carpet Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Cara Delevingne checks her phone as fans scream Dave Bennet Jay Hernandez, Joel Kinnaman, Will Smith, Ezra Miller, Margot Robbie, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara, Jai Courtney and Cara Delevingne arriving for the Suicide Squad European Premiere Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Will Smith, Jay Hernandez, Joel Kinnaman, Karen Fukuhara, Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jai Courtney and Jared Leto pose for a selfie Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Suicide Squad selfie @WarnerBrosUK Cara Delevingne attends the European Premiere of "Suicide Squad" Dave Benett Karen Fukuhara, Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne attend the European Premiere of "Suicide Squad" Dave Benett Margot Robbie and Will Smith share a joke in front of the crowd Dave Bennet Margot Robbie and Will Smith share a big hug Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Henry Cavill, Joel Kinnaman, Jay Hernandez, Ezra Miller, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevingne, Jared Leto, Ben Affleck and Jason Momoa Dave Benett Cara Delevingne hits the red carpet Richard Young/Rex Will Smith chats to fans in Leicester Square Yui Mok/PA Margot Robbie and Will Smith pose for pictures together at the London premiere Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Margot Robbie shows off the back of her dress Dave Bennet Margot Robbie and Will Smith wave to the huge crowd Dave Bennet Jared Leto looks like he's come in character as The Joker Dave Benett Ben Affleck makes a surprise appearance Dave Benett Ben Affleck aka Batman surprises fans on the red carpet Dave Benett Margot Robbie poses for photographers Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA The British actress poses in black leather Dave Bennet Cara Delevingne makes her way into the Odeon cinema Dave Bennet Squad member Joel Kinnaman looks dapper Dave Benett Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who plays Killer Croc in the film Dave Benett Jason Momoa jumps on Henry Cavill Dave Benett Karen Fukuhara attends the European Premiere Dave Bennet Cara Delevingne all in black Richard Young/Rex Cara Delevingne David Fisher/Rex Cara is supported by sister Poppy and James Cook Dave Benett Deborah Snyder and Zack Snyder Richard Young/Rex

The Evening Standard has contacted a representative for Delevingne for a comment.

Delevingne and Robbie recently starred together in DC Comics film Suicide Squad, while Robbie has previously opened up about her soft spot for Infernos night club in Clapham.

Heard last week received a $7 million divorce settlement following her split from Johnny Depp, the entirety of which she donated to charity.
I TVs brand new period drama Victoria is primed to become the new Downton Abbey  but despite its lavish production values, it wasnt all as expensive at it looks.

While the series has managed to recreate the interiors of Buckingham Palace, the production team were thrifty when it came to some of the props.

The show, which chronicles the reign of an 18 year-old Queen Victoria, used swords from pound shops and recruited art school students to paintscallop shells in gold, according to its star Jenna Coleman.

Talking about the series, the former Doctor Who actress revealed to the Telegraph: [Michael Howells, Production Designer] spent a lot of money on very expensive chandeliers from Croatia, but in order to counteract that, hes driven up to Scotland and got 22,000 seashells for free, and bought swords from the pound shop, all sprayed in gold.

The first series of the new show cost 10 million to produce eight episodes, portraying the opulence of the royal family in the 1800s.

We ran courses with Leeds College of Art and their students came and we taught them how to guild and decoupage, explains Howells.

ITV's Victoria Premiere 1 /13 ITV's Victoria Premiere Leading lady Jenna Coleman arrives for the premiere screening of ITV's Victoria at The Orangery Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Sophie Cookson joins Adrian Schiller who plays Penge, the Household Steward Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Rising star Margaret Clunie plays the Duchess of Sutherland Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Husband and wife Tom Hughes and Jenna Coleman play Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in the drama Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Duchess Nichola McAuliffe plays the Duchess of Cumberland Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Lady in red Nell Hudson turns heads in a revealing red dress Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Suitably dressed Peter Bowles dresses for the occasion in a black suit Tristan Fewings/Getty Images In support World War Z actress Aggy K Adams steps out to support the cast Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Up and coming Tommy Lawrence-Knight plays Brodie the hall boy Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Joining the cast Eve Myles of Torchwood fame Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

It was a real team effort. We had a lot of people working and a lot of workshops which were actually really fun because you get this great momentum of everything being made.

On the red carpet at the premiere of new television drama Victoria.

The series stars Coleman alongside Rufus Sewell as Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, Tom Hughes as Prince Albert, and Peter Firth as Duke of Cumberland.

Following its first episode, Victoria will go head-to-head with the return of the BBC's Poldark, as both dramas will air in the Sunday 9pm slot.

Sunday, ITV, 9pm
T he Olympics have kept us glued to our TVs for the last few weeks  but if you need some new evening viewing, youre in luck.

Brand new BBC thriller One of Us is here to bring some gripping drama of the murderous kind to your otherwise uneventful Tuesday night.

With more shocks, twists and turns than a Scottish country lane, here are seven things you need to know.

1) This is the latest thriller series from the guys behind The Missing

Between finishing the acclaimed first season of the 2014 drama, and working on the second (starring David Morrisey and Keeley Hawes), Jack and Harry Williams took a break from their child disappearance anthology series to delve into darker territory for One of Us.

2) Its a family affair - but its not for the whole family

The show begins  mild spoiler alert  with the horrific double murder of a young couple returning from their honeymoon.

And thats just the start  the real drama kicks off when the killer lands on the doorstep of the two victims families hours later, begging for help after a nasty car wreck.

3) Its going to raise some tough questions

What would you do if the man who just tore apart your family ended up in your hands? What would your family do? If youre concerned about what your relatives are capable of, this may not be one to watch with them.

The question of what would you do? is in every aspect of the story, from the murders to the secrets that come out about these families, the Williams brothers explain. Its putting the audience in the heads of these characters, trying to get them to empathise with them and ask if theyd do the same.

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

4) Its a bit Tarantino-meets-Shakespeare

No, really. One of Us sounds like a mash-up of Romeo and Juliet and The Hateful Eight, with the plight of young lovers bringing conflict between two families, who are trapped together with a killer during a storm. Whether it ends in Tarantino-like carnage remains to be seen.

The show is drawing from a rich history of family drama stretching through Shakespeare back to Greek tragedy.

I think people like to come on an extreme journey of human experience, cast member Juliet Stevenson said. They are the stories that last throughout the ages.

5) The cast is a whos who of heavy hitters (and Chris from Skins!)

Juliet Stevenson heads up an impressive cast list as grieving mother Louise. Along with appearing in other successful miniseries, including 2015s The Enfield Haunting alongside Timothy Spall.

Stevenson has a rich history onstage including a lengthy stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Skins Joe Dempsie takes a starring role as son Rob, himself already dealing with personal tragedies before tragic death of his brother.

Other cast members include Laura Fraser, coming back to Scotland after heading across the pond, where shes featured in little-known shows like Breaking Bad.

6) Its set in the remote Scottish Highlands

Remoteness is hugely important in Scotland and the story couldnt take place anywhere else, the Williams brothers say.

They quickly realised that the highlands was the only place to set this twisted tale. We shot some amazing stuff up there with helicopters. A lot of the story depends on people not being around to watch you, to guide you and to judge your decisions. Its like the if a tree falls in the forest idea.

7)  But it was actually mostly filmed in the Scottish Borders

Rain machines were used to turn the quaint village of Peebles into Braeston, the storm-ridden highlands village where One of Us is set.

When we set it in the Scottish Highlands we always thought it was going to be grey and overcast, Harry Williams explains, but it was a really good summer in Scotland, so a lot of it is quite sunny!

This four-part miniseries tonight on BBC One at 9pm.
Turkey is backing away from claims that a child suicide bomber sent by Islamic State carried out for Saturday's blast at a Kurdish wedding, killing 54 people.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Monday said speculation that a child was responsible was based on rumors from witnesses.

"We do not have a clue about who the perpetrators behind the attack were. Early information on who did the attack, in what organization's name, is, unfortunately, not right," he told reporters.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier described the bomber as being between 12 and 14 years old and sent by Islamic State. Nearly all the victims were Kurds younger than 18.

No one has claimed responsibility, but the style of the attack and the type of bomb used were similar to previous blasts blamed on Islamic State.

The bomber attacked a Kurdish wedding and celebration in Gaziantep, a city just 60 kilometers north of Syria and a prominent refugee community for people looking to escape the five-year civil war in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu vowed Monday his country would "completely cleanse" Islamic State militants from its border region with Syria.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports rebel fighters were massing inside Turkey to carry out an offensive on the Islamic State-held Syrian town of Jarablus. Cavusoglu did not confirm the rebel plans, but said Ankara supports any group fighting Islamic State.

The Gaziantep attack came amid continuing turmoil in Turkey in the month after Erdogan's government survived an attempted coup by rogue military officers, which the Turkish leader has blamed on U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.


The National Intelligence Service here on Monday said the North Korean Embassy in London's No. 2 man defected because he feared for the future of his children if they went to North Korea.

Pyongyang recently ordered diplomats overseas to send any children over 25 back to North Korea, and Thae Yong-ho's eldest son is 26.

"We understand that Thae made up his mind to defect after that," a senior NIS officer told the National Assembly.

But Thae had become disillusioned about the regime for some time and toyed with the idea of defecting, a lawmaker quoted the officer as saying.

More details about Thae's defection will become available next month.

Thae's eldest son has a degree in public health from Hammersmith Hospital in West London, according to the British press.

His second son Kum-hyok (19) attended Acton High School in West London, where he was a straight-A student, and had landed a place at Imperial College to study math and computer engineering.


Seoul and Washington kicked off another annual military drill on Monday. The exercise, dubbed Ulchi Freedom Guardian, is scheduled to run through Sept. 2 and involves 50,000 South Korean and 25,000 American military personnel.

The UN Command's Military Armistice Commission informed North Korea of the exercise and emphasized that the drills are defensive in nature.

The statement was a response to a threat by North Korea earlier the same day saying it would launch a preemptive nuclear strike if the allies "show even the slightest sign of aggression" against North Korea during the drills.

This year's exercise comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas following the defection of a senior North Korean diplomat last month.

The South Korean military is on high alert for any provocations from the North.
The types of jobs available for young Koreans and the host countries are diversifying. More IT specialists and medical technicians found jobs abroad, from 215 in 2013 to 890 last year. Over the same period, the number of financial experts and accountants who found work abroad also rose from 307 to 890.

According to the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, 2,903 Koreans went overseas to work last year, almost double the number in 2014, and in the first seven months of this year the number already stood at 1,528.

Growing numbers of young Koreans head overseas in search of work amid steadily rising youth unemployment, which hit 10.6 percent in the first seven months of this year.

But in service sector jobs numbers are shrinking, from 792 in 2013 to 644 last year, down about 20 percent. And the number of technical service workers fell from 154 to 68.

Of the 7,717 Koreans who found jobs abroad between 2013 and 2015, those working in the service sector still accounted for the largest proportion with 28.5 percent, but were followed closely by office workers with 28.2 percent and professionals with 24 percent.

"Three years ago, there was a lot of demand for construction workers and welders in Australia and Canada, but now there's more demand for IT, medical and financial workers in Japan, Singapore and the U.S.," an HRDS staffer said.

Some 307 Koreans found jobs in Australia in 2013, 296 in Japan and 219 in Canada. But in 2015, 640 Koreans found work in the U.S., 632 in Japan and 364 in Singapore. Koreans are heading to more and more countries, from 40 in 2014 to 67, ranging from Vietnam to Senegal.

Park Young-bin (26) found a job with a U.S. trading company in Ethiopia. "I want to get as much experience as I can and become an expert in doing business in Africa," he says.

Wages have also risen as more professionals head overseas. In 2013, 232 people who went overseas made less than W15 million a year (US$1=W1,126). But last year just 19 made that little, and 1,141 made more than W25 million, up from 746 in 2013.
Countries & Areas

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An untrue rumor that litter boxes are being placed in schools for students who dress up in furry costumes and identify as cats has made its way to two North Carolina school districts  despite the claim being easily debunked. After hearing chatter about litter boxes inside schools, an employee at North Lincoln High School in Lincolnton decided to put the rumor to rest. There is nobody ...
Monday, 22 August 2016 23:21:18 (GMT+3) | San Diego

According to Statistics Canada , investment in new housing construction rose 8.7 percent year over year to $4.4 billion in June. The increase at the national level was due to higher investment in all dwelling types, except semi-detached houses, which recorded a year-over-year decline for the 14th consecutive month.





Spending on apartment and apartment-condominium building construction totaled $1.5 billion in June, up 16.7 percent from the same month a year earlier. Investment in single-family dwellings rose 5.3 percent from June 2015 to $2.2 billion, while spending on row house construction increased 8.1 percent to $416 million.




Families pay huge fees to smugglers, known as coyotes, to bring them and their children north to a better future.

"These numbers are very, very high," said Patrick Moser, who authored the report. "There is no indication that they will get any lower. The conditions in the countries are such that children will continue leaving."

Most are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, three of the world's poorest and most crime-ridden countries.

In a report released Tuesday, UNICEF says in the first six months of this year 26,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the U.S. border. Nearly 30,000 more adults and young children traveled as families.

The UN children's agency warns the flow of migrant children from Central America to the United States continues at a high rate, despite the dangers of the journey and the risk of deportation.

 Violent, Harsh Journeys

But for many, the journey is violent. Young girls, in particular, face the risk of rape. Migrant children must also cross harsh desert terrain and rivers to reach the U.S.

Many never reach the United States. This year, more than 16,000 migrant children were apprehended in Mexico. Hundreds of others will die during the dangerous and difficult journey, and many more will go missing at the hands of kidnappers, human traffickers and murderers.

Those who do make it to the United States face detention and deportation.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs statistics in the UNICEF report, more than 75,000 nationals from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were deported during 2015.

For children, UNICEF says that can "end up being a death sentence," putting those who fled gangs and organized crime at risk of attack, rape and murder when they return home.

"We have to remember that whatever their migration status or nationality, children are, first and foremost, children," Moser said. "They deserve protection, they need protection, and they are entitled to protection."

He said that can mean safety from gang violence or drug cartels in their countries of origin or, on the migration journey, protecting them from kidnapping or human traffickers.

When unaccompanied child migrants are detained at the U.S. border, they are sent to government-operated shelters or are put in foster care homes. UNICEF says they are often in this situation for about one month, and are then are handed over to sponsors, who are often relatives.

 No Legal Resources

But many children do not have automatic access to immigration lawyers, the report says. Some children receive free legal help from charitable groups, but others are left to fend for themselves in a foreign legal system.

"In the United States, a defendant is entitled to a court-appointed attorney in a criminal case. These immigration cases are civil cases," Moser notes, so children are not automatically entitled to a free court-appointed attorney.

According to statistics quoted in the UNICEF report, about 40 percent of children without a lawyer are more likely to be deported than those who have representation. Those with lawyers had only a 3 percent deportation rate.

UNICEF said children should not be detained and should have full access to health care and other services, as well as be allowed to live with their families whenever possible.

For those who are sent home, UNICEF works with local governments and partner organizations to help children who have been traumatized by their journey and to get children who are ready back into school.
Monday, 22 August 2016 23:26:17 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo

Chilean rebar sales in June rose 31.9 percent, year-on-year, according to data released on Monday by the nations civil construction chamber, CChC.





According to CChC, Chilean rebar sales in June totaled 44,059 mt, 9.2 percent down, month-on-month.




Monday, 22 August 2016 23:23:11 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo





As previously reported by SteelOrbis, Vale is expected to raise up to $10 billion if it reaches a streaming iron ore deal, which could represent up to 3 percent of the companys future output for the commodity.





The company denied the information on August 10, but a new report by Bloomberg said CIC was in talks with the Brazilian miner.





The media report explained the sovereign fund consortium is negotiating the purchase of a portion of Vale s iron ore output for as long as 30 years. Despite the on-going conversations, no agreements have been reached, and the talks may not result in a deal, according to unnamed sources.





If a deal is reached, Vale would receive immediate cash, while remaining in charge of valuable assets, the media report said.




Tuesday, 23 August 2016 15:04:37 (GMT+3) | Istanbul

International credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings has announced that it has affirmed Turkey 's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings (IDR) at 'BBB-'. The outlook has been revised to negative from stable.

According to Fitch, the downgrade in the outlook reflects the political uncertainty following the unsuccessful coup attempt in July, which is expected to impact economic performance and poses risks to economic policy.

Fitch stated that it does not anticipate developments with a high likelihood of triggering an upgrade; however, a more stable and predictable domestic political and security environment and implementation of reforms that address structural deficiencies in the economy could lead to a revision of the outlook to stable.
Tuesday, 23 August 2016 00:00:29 (GMT+3) | San Diego

Import offers for mesh-quality wire rod to the US from Turkey are still trending neutral this week, with prices ranging from $425-$435/mt CFR FO in US Gulf Coast ports.
Monday, 22 August 2016 11:18:32 (GMT+3) |

El Bajio, which includes the Monterrey region, home to multiple steel-intensive industries, is a booming economic region in North-Central Mexico.

In the last several months, scrap prices in this region have consistently increased despite prolonged softness in the US scrap market. The sole exception occurred in early July when mills submitted synchronized bids to shave MXN 200-300/mt ($11-16/mt) off then current pricing. However, prices rebounded quickly as scrap dealers resisted. A month later a strike induced disruption in rail transit forced market premiums of MXN 300-500/mt ($16-27/mt). Market participants inform SteelOrbis that in select private deals, busheling fetched as much as MXN 5,500/mt ($301/mt) with strict quantity and delivery stipulations. Not all mills were equally affected.

Prices in the leading Mexican markets have remained stable since August 10, when SteelOrbis reported HMS I scrap at MXN 4,250-4,500/mt ($233-246/mt ), shredded scrap at MXN 4,800-5,100/mt ($263-279/mt ), P&S scrap at MXN 5,000-5,100/mt ($274-279/mt), and busheling at MXN 5,100-5,300/mt ($279-290/mt).

The exception is El Bajio, where prices are trending slightly higher due to a tight supply and high demand. For August 22, sources close to SteelOrbis report HMS I scrap at MXN 4,600-4,700/mt ($252-257/mt), shredded scrap at MXN 4,900-5,100/mt ($268-279/mt), P&S at MXN 5,100-5,300/mt ($279-290/mt), and busheling at MXN 5,300-5,400/mt ($290-296/mt).

Heading into early September, scrap dealers within the El Bajio region inform SteelOrbis of a possible 5 percent peso-denominated price decline across all grades. Contributing factors include the continued soft trend in US scrap prices, an increased flow of scrap into Mexico, reduced offers from local mills, and recent unanticipated softness in the Mexican economy as a whole. After growing by 0.8 percent in the 1st quarter of 2016, the Mexican economy shrank 0.3 percent in the 2nd quarter. In addition, industrial output fell 1.7 percent, the first contraction since early 2013.

$1 = MXN 18.27
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Air emissions after the fire that broke out on Monday at the Petromidia Refinery pose no threat to the life of the employees, the communities near the refinery or seaside tourists, refinery operator Rompetrol said in a statement to Agerpres on Tuesday. "According to air emission measurements performed following the event, no values were registered to point to a threat to the life of the employees, the communities near the refinery or tourists vacationing at the seaside, which is certified by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear analyses," the statement said.

The team of experts set up by the company is looking into the circumstances that led to the incident, to determine its causes, Rompetrol officials said. Refinery representatives also provided the authorities with all the necessary documents for the investigations to be carried out as per the requirements of the law. "Our company complies with the legislation in force on work safety and protection, as well as with the existing regulations in the field of environmental protection," Rompetrol officials say.

The Petromidia refinery is running at reduced capacity. "The entire team of our company expresses its profound sorrow for the loss of our colleague, I.B, following the Monday event, August 22, on the Petromidia platform. In this difficult period, we are together with the families of our colleagues. The management of the company was in close contact with their families during the night, as well as with the medics. The representatives of our company showed their availability in offering the full support for the treatment of the injured, as well as the availability to cover all the costs needed for the transfer abroad, if the medics decide this is necessary," reads the release.

Constanta prosecutors have opened a criminal case against Petromidia Navodari Refinery after a fire occurred Monday afternoon at its premises that injured four, one of whom died Tuesday morning of burns. "Investigations are being conducted for unintentional bodily harm, manslaughter, failure to take the legal occupational safety and health measures and violation of the legal occupational safety and health measures. Initial investigations have found that on August 22, 2016 around 18:00hrs, a team of workers were conducting repair works on a pipeline carrying heated crude vacuum distillate, when a fire broke out," informs a press statement of the Prosecution Office with the Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation on Tuesday. According to the source, the Prosecutor's Office with the Constanta Court of Appeal took over the case built by the Prosecution Office with the Constanta Court. "Two prosecutors of the Constanta County Prosecution went to the scene in the evening and investigations were resumed today by an officer of the Prosecutor's Office with the Constanta Court of Appeal, who coordinates a joint team of police officers and forensic experts. Investigations continue in order to clarify all the factual circumstances and determine the criminal liability in the case," the statement says.

Four persons were injured Monday in an explosion at the Petromidia Refinery, and they were taken to Bucharest hospitals by ambulance. Two victims who are being treated at the Burn Hospital in Bucharest are in stable condition and might undergo surgery on Wednesday, while another one at the Bagdasar-Arseni Hospital is stable, but still on a ventilator. A fourth man injured in the blast died Tuesday morning at the Bagdasar-Arseni Hospital.
Merger talks between Monsanto Co. and Bayer AG are advancing after a series of meetings in which the companies have addressed issues including the purchase price and a termination fee, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday, citing "people familiar with the matter."

A merger agreement could be reached in the next two weeks, according to those sources, Bloomberg said.

Bayer CEO Werner Baumann and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant have held "constructive meetings" in recent weeks, but Bloomberg said its sources caution that negotiations "could still fall apart or be delayed."

Creve Coeur-based Monsanto rejected Bayer's $55 billion bid in July, calling the proposal "financially inadequate." Bayer has since improved its offer.

Bayer and Monsanto spokespersons declined to comment on the latest developments, Bloomberg said.

Monsanto shares rose $2.60 to close Tuesday at $107.10.
Edward Jones, the giant Des Peres-based brokerage, failed its employees by picking overly-costly investments for the companys 401(k) retirement savings plan, a suit alleges.

An Edward Jones spokesman denied the allegations.

The proposed class-action suit, filed Aug. 19 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, says Edward Jones picked mutual funds for the plan that pay money back to Edward Jones. That practice, called revenue sharing, rewards a brokerage for directing large amounts of money into certain mutual funds.

The Plans investments show a high correlation to mutual funds offered by mutual fund families that pay Edward Jones the most money, the lawsuit alleges. Those funds gave Edward Jones payments equaling 0.02 to 0.13 percent of employees investments in the funds, according to the lawsuit.

This allegation is patently false, Edward Jones spokesman John Boul wrote in an email.

The suit also claims that Edward Jones used higher-expense versions of mutual funds when lower-expense funds were available. That cost employees $13 million, the suit alleges. For a period, Edward Jones also failed to offer a stable value option, instead offering a lower-yielding money market fund for employees looking for a very safe place for their money.

The suit makes numerous faulty assumptions, contains factual errors, and inaccurately characterizes the manner in which the plan is administered, Boul said. None of these has any evidentiary support and will be proven to be demonstrably false.

The Edward Jones plan has 38,000 participants, and the lawsuit demands that the company pay them.

The suit was filed by the law firm of Bailey Glasser of Charleston, W.Va. The firm opened an office in Clayton this month. The lead plaintiff, Charlene McDonald, of Berkeley, S.C., was invested in the Edward Jones 401(k).

The suit is among a flood of litigation filed in recent years against companies, universities and other employers charging that they did a bad job in running 401(k) plans, and that the employees were charged too much for their investments. The law requires that companies act in their workers best interest in running such plans.
In the past several weeks, the picture that we've gotten of the restaurant industry hasn't exactly been a promising one. Dunkin' Donuts saw traffic slip at its U.S. locations in the latest quarter. Potbelly Sandwich Works said it expects to be challenged by a "more cautious consumer" in the near future. And McDonald's said its sales were hampered by a broad-based retreat from dining out.

Talk of a "restaurant recession" has been percolating on the Internet after Paul Westra of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. used the provocative phrase in a research note to describe where the dining industry  and the overall economy  might be headed. So what's going on here? Here, we break down a few popular theories.

Theory 1: This is an early, foreboding sign that consumers are starting pull back on their spending. This is the most frightening of the possibilities, because if it's right, it suggests the broader economy could be poised for slowdown. But it's also the explanation that seems toughest to prove.

Let's start with the factors that are causing the hand wringing. For one, restaurants have been one of the bright spots of the broader retail industry for years now, but recent data suggests business is getting gloomier. NPD Group, a market research firm, found that visits to fast-casual eateries fell in the most recent quarter for the first time since it began tracking them in 2004. Trade publication Nation's Restaurant News found that sales at publicly traded restaurants saw a median decline of 1.7 percent in the second quarter.

There's some anecdotal evidence, too, that seems discouraging. Michael O'Donnell, the chief executive of the parent company of Ruth's Chris Steak House, told investors in late July that its a la carte dining business is struggling. Unlike its happy hour or private events business, that area is usually fueled by what he called "aspirational" diners, the ones who might go to the steakhouse for a birthday or anniversary dinner.

Mark Kalinowski, a restaurant industry analyst for Nomura, said he believes restaurant sales can offer the earliest hints of an economic downshift.

"How you eat and what you're spending money on to eat tends to be a very real-time decision by literally hundreds of millions of people," Kalinowski said.

But before you start fretting that economic storm clouds are forming, consider that there are plenty of other indications these fears are overblown. Healthy consumer spending is what powered GDP growth in the second quarter. The National Retail Federation recently bumped up its forecast for industry-wide growth for the year, saying factors such as high consumer confidence drove the decision. And then there's the fact that some retailers have seen shoppers coming out in full force. Home Depot recorded a 6 percent increase in revenue this quarter, and sales were up 8.1 percent of items that cost more than $900. TJX Cos., the parent of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, saw total sales soar 7 percent. Within the restaurant industry, Domino's Pizza and Papa John's had a solid quarter.

Theory 2: Grocery shopping is looking like a good deal right now. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for "food at home"  a proxy for grocery store prices  fell 0.2 percent in July and have declined 1.6 percent over the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the "food away from home" category has seen prices move in the opposite direction: They notched up 0.2 percent last month and 2.8 percent over the previous year.

Executives from McDonald's, Wendy's, and Jack In the Box each mentioned this pattern on their most recent earnings calls because they believe the wide gap in prices was a challenge to their sales in the most recent quarter. And it indeed seems plausible that some shoppers saw such good comparative value at the grocery store, they might have backed off from eating out. Plus, big chains such as Whole Foods Market are making a push around prepared foods, which offer more direct competition to quick-service and fast-casual restaurant players.

Theory 3: These earnings reports aren't capturing the full picture. Of the 25 largest restaurant brands in the United States this quarter, Kalinowski said only one likely posted an increase of 5 percent or better in sales at restaurants open more than a year. That would be lowest number of restaurants hitting that threshold in any quarter so far this decade, Kalinowski said.

But that doesn't necessarily mean things are looking rough out there. It just means business is tough for those particular mega-brands. It doesn't tell us much about how regional players or independent outposts are faring.

"Ultimately, consumers are spreading their purchasing across a broader range of brands," said Darren Tristano, president of restaurant research firm Technomic.

And then there's the customers who are lining up at local restaurants. The earnings of the big restaurant companies do little to illuminate what is going on with these experience-oriented consumers, who are dining out almost as a hobby.
Shoppers entering Schnucks groceries will no longer see cheerful Girl Scouts hawking cookies or Salvation Army bell ringers seeking donations.

All solicitors are being banned at Schnucks stores throughout the region, according to a new policy by the Maryland Heights-based chain that went into effect Monday.

The change will end a decades-long practice for St. Louis area nonprofit organizations, which have made a regular practice of soliciting donations and support near store entrances. Groups that regularly set up shop at area Schnucks stores are being notified this week.

Schnucks has always been and always will be committed to community service and supporting organizations, entities and individuals in their community activities, Schnucks spokesman Paul Simon said Tuesday in an emailed statement to the Post-Dispatch. However, our primary obligation is servicing our customers by providing the most pleasant and convenient shopping environment. Because of this, we have decided to end the solicitation of our customers or distribution of written or other materials at our stores.

The change, Simon added, is intended to maintain and promote a safe, attractive, clutter-free shopping environment for our customers.

The new policy comes as the family-owned chain, which has billed itself as the Friendliest Stores in Town since 1961, is embroiled in a fight with some local union leaders. Schnucks is laying off about 200 union warehouse workers in Bridgeton this year and Greenwich, Conn.-based XPO Logistics, a third-party logistics provider hired by Schnucks, is replacing them with nonunion workers at Schnucks new warehouse in Kinloch.

Teamsters Local 688, which represents the laid-off workers, has boycotted Schnucks stores in recent months and union workers have set up informational pickets outside Schnucks stores, handing customers leaflets about the dispute.

In May, the Teamsters filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that if others including the Girl Scouts and Salvation Army are allowed to stand in front of Schnucks stores, its union members should also be allowed.

Schnucks spokesman Simon declined to comment on whether the union dispute is connected to the new policy banning solicitors.

I would have to believe there is a connection, Mike Goebel, secretary and treasurer of Teamsters Local 688, said. I dont believe in coincidences.

Schnuck Markets Inc. has 99 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa. The company said it will continue to allow nonprofits to raise funds through its My Schnucks Card program in which customers designate a group, and up to 3 percent of their purchase is given to their group of choice. In 2015, Schnucks gave more than $1.8 million to schools and nonprofit organizations through this program.

We will also be exploring new and different ways to partner with community groups, Simons email to the Post-Dispatch said.

Some customers posted on social media that solicitors are annoying and theyre glad theyre now banned from Schnucks stores. But many shoppers blasted the chain for the decision and said theyll shop elsewhere.

As the Salvation Army gears up for its annual red kettle campaign to raise money to provide food and shelter to the homeless and others in distress, the policy change will have a big impact. Last winter, the Salvation Army collected $478,000 in donations at kettles at St. Louis area Schnucks stores, which represents just under 10 percent of its local red kettle fundraising. On its Twitter account, the Salvation Army said it was disappointed with Schnucks decision.

Dan Jennings, the Salvation Armys divisional commander for the Midland division, which is based in St. Louis, said in a phone interview that the nonprofit appreciates Schnucks past support. Theyre one of the best locations for us in the St. Louis region, Jennings said. Our hope is that as people find out were not in front of Schnucks stores this year, hopefully people will be generous at the spots where we will be ringing.

Well continue to have to feed people, and this will make it more difficult for us to do that, Jennings said.

For 20 years, members of the Moolah Shriners have handed out cards to Schnucks shoppers with information about a fall Hospital Awareness Day to support the Shriners Hospitals for Children, said Moolah administrator Gale Bennington. The group was notified Friday that it could no longer do so.

We respect their decision and were very grateful for what theyve done in the past for us, Bennington said, adding his group also gives out cards at some Dierbergs stores. Well move on and find another way to pick up what were missing out on with this program, he said.

Some retailers, including Target, have long banned solicitors. Others have policies in place that limit fundraising. Chesterfield-based Dierbergs, which operates two dozen groceries locally, continues to allow charitable groups to solicit outside the exit doors of its stores with the permission of management. Dierbergs limits solicitations to two Saturdays a month, and no more than one group per day.

Our policy balances the needs of the charitable organizations with that of our operation and our customers, said Dierbergs spokesman Todd Vasel, adding the chain has had its policy in place for a number of years.
WASHINGTON  The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing in late September to discuss the mergers of Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. as well as China National Chemical Corp.'s purchase of Syngenta AG, committee chair Charles Grassley said in a statement on Tuesday.

Grassley, a Republican from the farm state of Iowa, has already expressed concern that the deals would result in farmers paying more for seeds, pesticides and herbicides and reduce the companies' incentives to innovate.

"The seed and chemical industries are critical to agriculture and the nation's economy, and Iowans are concerned that this sudden consolidation in the industry could cause rising input costs in an already declining agriculture economy," Grassley said.

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 made a $43 billion bid for Swiss seeds and pesticides group Syngenta.

Executives from the companies will be invited to testify, as will consumer groups, the lawmaker said in a statement.

The committee has no formal say over whether the deals may go forward. The Justice Department is looking at the merger of Dow and DuPont, while the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing ChemChina's purchase of Syngenta.
Updated at 5:57 a.m.

LONDON  SABMiller shareholders can be treated as two separate groups when they vote on the company's takeover by Anheuser-Busch InBev, a court in London ruled on Tuesday, granting a request from SABMiller for a split.

The 79 billion pound ($103 billion) deal requires 75 percent approval by SAB shareholders. The largest two, which together control about 40 percent of the shares, have already signaled their support.

SABMiller requested that those two shareholders  cigarette maker Altria Group and Bevco, a vehicle of Colombia's Santo Domingo family  be treated as a separate class.

The judge said it was reasonable for SABMiller to want to separate the classes to prevent potential delays or challenges at a later stage from dissenting shareholders who might challenge the vote as unfair.

A split would effectively raise the hurdle, since each class would have to approve the terms by three-quarters.

"I have jurisdiction to order a meeting of public shareholders to be summoned that does not include Altria and BevCo," Justice Richard Snowden told the court on Tuesday.

The marriage of the world's largest brewers was agreed last year with an offer of 44 pounds per share in cash for general shareholders and a discounted cash-and-stock offer aimed at Altria and Bevco to help them avoid large tax bills.

But the arrangement grew contentious this summer after a fall in the British currency increased the relative value of the cash-and-stock offer. Several shareholders, including activist hedge funds, pressured SABMiller to seek a new deal.

To head off protracted renegotiations, A-B InBev sweetened its offer, which it declared "final."

SAB backed the new offer, but said it would seek to separate the shareholder classes, which would mean that up to 85 percent of the shareholders need to approve the deal, rather than the straight 75 percent.

One prominent investor, Aberdeen Asset Management, had voiced opposition to the revised offer, saying it still undervalued the brewer of beers including Castle Lager, which has a strong presence in fast-growing markets of Latin America and Africa.

There are planned meetings of shareholders of each company on Sept. 28. If approved, the deal is expected to close on Oct. 10.

The new entity will be almost wholly controlled by executives from A-B InBev, maker of beers including Budweiser and Stella Artois.

($1 = 0.7663 pounds)
Anheuser-Busch InBev has extended its contract with Craft Brew Alliance for another decade and plans to brew more of its beer under a new contract brewing agreement.

Belgium-based A-B InBev, which has its U.S. headquarters in St. Louis, said Tuesday that its current fee structure with Craft Brew Alliance has been extended an additional 10 years, through 2028.

A-B InBev already is a part-owner in Portland, Ore.-based Craft Brew Alliance, whose brands include Hawaiis Kona Brewing Co. and Oregons Widmer Brothers Brewing. Its other brands are Omission Beer, Square Mile Cider Co. and Resignation Brewery.

Under the new agreement, 300,000 barrels of Craft Brew Alliances beer will be brewed at A-B breweries.

As both of our companies evolved over the past 18 months, it became clear that our strategic focus and commitment to the growth of craft beer were increasingly more aligned, and we started to explore ways to collaborate more closely, Craft Brew Alliances CEO Andy Thomas said in a statement.

A-B InBev said the new agreement will expand Craft Brew Alliances brands domestically and internationally.

We will support the growth of CBAs brands and create new opportunities for both companies through our unparalleled network of U.S. wholesaler partners, dedication to quality through our industry-leading breweries and international reach, Felipe Szpigel, president of A-B InBevs High End unit said in the statement.
FENTON  The suspect in a carjacking here on Aug. 8 has been jailed in northwest Alabama on charges that he robbed a credit union and led officers on a high-speed chase there.

Justin N. Ratcliff, 38, of the St. Louis area, was held Tuesday in Colbert County Jail in Tuscumbia, Ala., charged with robbing the TVA Community Credit Union in Tuscumbia of about $2,000 on Aug. 10. The following day, the Mississippi Highway Patrol captured Ratcliff about 40 miles from Tuscumbia.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol said one of its troopers tried to stop Ratcliff for speeding near Belmont, Miss., just west of the Alabama state line. A spokesman said Ratcliff abandoned the car during the chase and ran, but was caught. The spokesman said he was driving a car stolen from Missouri.

Iniside the car, he said, they found evidence of the robbery in Tuscumbia.

St. Louis County Police said Ratcliff is a suspect in a carjacking Aug. 8 from the parking lot of the Walmart in Fenton. Police said he drove off after taking the car from its owner.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol contacted St. Louis County Police about the case last week. Ratcliff is not yet formally charged in Missouri, but faces charges in Alabama and Mississippi. He was held on $100,000 bond in Tuscumbia.
OFALLON, Mo.  Pamela Hupp thought she found the patsy who could help get some heat off her related to a 2011 murder near Troy, Mo., officials said Tuesday.

She somehow lured a gullible, brain-damaged man into her car last week and took him to her home in OFallon, then called 911 and emptied a revolver into his body as an operator listened, they said.

Officials speculate that Hupp told Louis R. Gumpenberger, 33, that she was a producer for NBCs Dateline program, and was willing to pay $900 to $1,000 for him to help her re-enact a 911 call.

When police arrived at her house to find Gumpenberger dead, Hupp told police that he had jumped into her vehicle and held a knife to her neck, demanding that she take him to her bank to get Russ money.

She claimed she broke away and ran into her house, grabbed a gun from her nightstand, and shot him when he entered the room.

Investigators later found a note in Gumpenbergers pocket purporting to be instructions on how to kidnap Hupp to get Russ money, in exchange for $10,000. He also had $900 in cash in his pocket, but police don't believe he put those things in his pockets himself.

The evidence seems to indicate she hatched a plot to find an innocent victim and murder this innocent victim in an apparent effort to frame someone else, St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said at a news conference.

Russ is Russell Faria, convicted in 2013 of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Elizabeth Betsy Faria, at their home near Troy two years before. Hupp was a key witness in that trial. But a Lincoln County judges refusal to allow the defense to make counteraccusations against Hupp helped win Russell Faria a new trial last year, in which he was acquitted.

Lohmar and OFallon Police Chief Roy Joachimstaler said Hupps story of last weeks shooting quickly fell apart, leading to charges Tuesday of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Hupp, 57, fell apart too.

Joachimstaler said that she refused to make a statement to police after her arrest Tuesday morning. While in a police bathroom, she stabbed herself multiple times in the wrist and neck with a pen she had hidden, he said. She was reported to be stable at a hospital.

Hupps husband did not respond to a message seeking comment, nor did lawyers who have represented her in a civil case.

Hupps story

Officials said Hupp claimed that Gumpenberger, a stranger, got out of a silver car driven by someone else and climbed into her SUV in her driveway at her home around noon on Aug. 16. She said the silver car left.

She initially told police she didnt know anybody named Russ, whose name she said was mentioned by the attacker. Then she said she did know Russ Faria, and she surmised the reference to money was Betsy Farias life insurance payout.

Hupp had collected on a $150,000 life insurance policy on her friend Betsy Faria after becoming the beneficiary just days before the woman was slain, and Hupp was the last person known to see the victim alive.

Hupp told police she had driven around St. Charles the morning of Aug. 16, looking for thrift shops, and stopped by her daughters home but nobody was there. That home is about two miles from Gumpenbergers.

But investigators re-created Hupps cellphones movements, and discovered that at 11:25 a.m., about 40 minutes before Gumpenberger was shot, GPS put her in his apartment complex in St. Charles, about 13 miles from her home. She spent about four minutes there.

Gumpenberger had suffered severe brain damage in a 2005 traffic crash and had significant physical and mental impairments.

She was very calculated looking for someone who fit a particular profile, Lohmar said. This victim fit that profile, someone not very sophisticated, someone easily swayed by a large amount of cash.

But, officials said, Hupp did not anticipate that Gumpenbergers limitations would have people who knew him doubting that he could have been involved in a such a crime.

Officials said an extensive investigation did not reveal any connection between Gumpenberger and Hupp or Russell Faria.

Gumpenberger had no cellphone or ID when he died. Lohmar said investigators do not believe that he placed the note or the $900 in his pocket.

A knife was found in Hupps car. Were confident we know where that came from, the prosecutor said.

Lohmar said that the case was still under investigation, but that the death penalty definitely remains in play.

Bail for Hupp was set at $2 million cash.

Looking for a victim?

Authorities also said a woman, not named in court documents, identified Hupp as someone in a dark SUV who approached her in the driveway of her St. Charles County home on Aug. 10, claimed to be a producer for NBCs Dateline and offered $1,000 to go with her and record a scripted sound bite about 911 calls.

That woman initially agreed, but then became leery because Hupp had no credentials and the story did not seem credible. Surveillance video from a camera on the womans home confirmed through the license number that the SUV was Hupps gray 2016 GMC Acadia.

What the woman described as the Dateline 911 script was very, very similar to what we were able to hear on the 911 call involving Hupp and Gumpenberger, Lohmar said.

The prosecutor noted, Our theory is ... that she was vetting a potential victim.

Joachimstaler said police would like to hear from anyone else who might have been approached by Hupp.

It appears she was searching for a patsy that could possibly take some heat off her, he said, later saying that the heat was connected to the Faria case. Our conclusion is that she was looking for a victim.

In court documents obtained by the Post-Dispatch on Monday, police report that the 911 caller at 12:08 p.m. said someone was trying to break into her house, and repeatedly asked for help. She could be heard refusing to get inside a vehicle. Shots were heard, followed by the sound of smoke alarms sounding, and the caller said that she had shot someone.

The Betsy Faria murder case and questions about Hupps possible role in it were the subject of a joint Post-Dispatch-KTVI Fox 2 investigation in 2014. The Dateline program also did a story on the case.

Lincoln County officials have said they were convinced that they had prosecuted the right person, Russell Faria, in his wifes death.

Faria sued officials there last month, claiming they fabricated evidence and botched the investigation.

Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Leah Askey, who twice took Russell Faria to trial, did not respond to messages seeking comment on Tuesdays developments.

U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan acknowledged Tuesday that his office has been reviewing the public record in the Faria case, but he said that he did not believe that the events of the last few weeks would have any bearing on that review.

Farias lawyer, Joel Schwartz, who has been convinced of his clients innocence, said, Ive been waiting for this day for a long time.

He said Faria is hoping that they are looping this in and can show (Hupp is) involved in the Betsy Faria murder, which weve always believed. Schwartz added that, Its not as if he had to prove to anyone he didnt do this. A fifth-grader can understand, based on the evidence.

Gumpenbergers mother, Margaret Burch, declined to comment Tuesday, referring a reporter to Pastor John Lundin of Hope Lutheran Church in St. Charles, where the family attended services.

Lundin said Burch was very much relieved by the arrest.

He said Gumpenberger was eager to please and a delightful man-child but that his brain injury had left him completely gullible.

Betsy Farias mother, Janet Meyer, declined to comment.

Some of Hupps neighbors on typically quiet Little Brave Drive said Tuesday they were glad to hear of the arrest and that a home invasion was not involved.

Its a big relief, said Cole Jones, 21. He said that ever since he and others on the block heard of Hupps involvement in the Faria case, they had concerns about her.

Nikki Melvin, 39, said, Its craziness, absolute craziness. Another neighbor, Nick Lloyd, 37, said the situation over the past week had been kind of freaky.

Hupps mother's death

On Oct. 31, 2013, Hupps mother, Shirley Neumann, 77, was found dead under the balcony of her third-floor apartment at the Lakeview Park Independent Senior Living community, at 1393 Bowles Avenue, near Fenton. There were no witnesses to the fall.

St. Louis County police investigated, and took a second look about a month later, after receiving an anonymous note referencing the Faria case and making other allegations. But detectives found no indication of a crime.

Hupp had taken Neumann home about 5 p.m. the day before, after taking her to the hospital and keeping her at Hupps home for a night, a police report says. Hupp told staff her mother had already eaten and would not be down for dinner, the report says. Hupp also reportedly said Neumann would not be down for breakfast but probably would eat lunch.

A housekeeper checked on Neumann about 2:30 p.m., after she didnt arrive for lunch, and found the apartment door open, the water running and the patio door open. The top railing on the balcony was intact, but there was damage to vertical bars under it. Neumanns body was on the ground.

The housekeeper said Neumann sometimes was unsteady on her feet if she took a pill for back pain.

Hupps brother, Michael Neumann, told police he did not have any concerns about foul play in his mothers death, the report says.

Asked about the deaths of Neumann and Betsy Faria, Lohmar said Tuesday, I cant speak to the evidence in other cases.

Joel Currier and Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
EDWARDSVILLE  Randy Pembrook hopes to bring some fresh ideas to his alma mater this fall.

Top on the list is how to make Southern Illinois University Edwardsville less dependent on Illinois notoriously volatile state funding, most likely by seeking creative community and business partnerships.

Pembrook, who started on the job Aug. 1, welcomed back students Monday for a fresh semester  one that followed months of acrimony over the states budget. It took a partial, emergency spending plan passed in July for lawmakers to siphon some money to colleges and universities, some of which were laying people off in the budget crisis.

Even so, Pembrook says he knows state funding will remain uncertain. The key, he said, is finding innovate ways generate revenue for the school.

Thats one of the themes that I am going to be talking a lot about. How do we make the institution as community-based as possible? he said. Its not just Illinois. You look at any state, and state support for institutions is down.

The circumstances are different, but the effect on higher education was similar back in Kansas where Pembrook was the provost at Washburn University in Topeka.

Washburn is a public school with a hybrid funding system. Its predominantly funded by a county tax, with the rest of the money coming from the state. So when the state cuts 5 percent of each institutions budget, its less of a hardship, Pembrook explains.

He had success back in Kansas identifying community and even state needs and finding ways to meet them in a mutually beneficial way.

A local hospital, for example, was seeing large numbers of uninsured people coming into the emergency room. The Washburn nursing school teamed up with the hospital to address the issue. The hospital paid for a mobile clinic, a full-time employee and the rest of the so-called staff were students and faculty.

Similarly, when the state of Kansas was unable to catch up on evidence processing, Washburn agreed to boost its forensics program. The state paid more than $50 million to build a facility, and paid to staff it, and the students gained a hands-on learning experience, he said.

I am convinced community partnerships are the future, he said.

You have to figure out a way that its a win-win for businesses, for health institutions and for educational entities to do partnerships together.

Pembrook is right  that is the future, according to Thomas Harnisch, director of state relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

The clear reality is that institutions have to be entrepreneurial and look for ways to generate revenue, Harnisch said, pointing to decreased state funding as the reason why.

Harnisch said institutions nationwide are leveraging the things that make them unique to meet needs of businesses and communities.

This is a reality of the increased privatization of higher education, he said. Its a reality that institutions cannot raise the revenue to make up from state budgets with tuition.

The budget patch that Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats in the Legislature agreed on this summer only funded about 85 percent of what higher education institutions received the previous year.

Its a little soon for Pembrook to identify areas where partnerships are possible, but in a few months he said hell be ready to have those discussions.

Hometown advantage

A couple of things have changed at SIUE since Pembrook graduated.

The Greenfield, Ill., native left Edwardsville with his bachelors and masters degrees in music education and piano performance, expecting that hed be back in a few years after getting his doctorate in Florida.

He did made it back  more than 30 years later.

SIUE has seen a 30 percent increase in enrollment during the last 15 years. Pembrook said he hopes to find a way to continue those trends in a professional challenge that is very personal for him.

There was this moment where I thought, OK, Im going to become the chancellor at an institution in the area where I grew up, Pembrook said. Where my nieces and nephews and the kids of my cousins are going to go. To think about growing this institution to strengthen it not just for our students but for the future generations of my family. How cool is that?

This area is poised to explode, and people are looking forward to expansion, he said. I think people have been just getting through the last year or two. Theyre ready to be challenged and to move forward. Thatll be fun.
WASHINGTON  With half of all government employees approaching retirement age, youd think millennials would be lining up to replace them in a job market that, over the last decade, has not been the greatest for them.

But thats not so, at least according to the Partnership for Public Service, which reported that while adults in their early 30s now make up about a fourth of the workforce, they constitute far lower percentages in the government, with estimates ranging from one in every 14 total government workers to about one out of six in the federal workforce. The non-partisan good-government group has been crusading for some time on this topic.

Experts have cited everything from younger peoples job mobility to older workers hanging onto federal jobs that are increasingly rare in this economy  positions that pay relatively well and actually have good retirement benefits.

Now comes a new expert with another thought: The challenge of applying for a job on the governments USAjobs.gov web site.

Ann Vanderslice, a retirement expert (www.anvanderslice.com), says USAjobs is a hornets nest and very cumbersome and that young applicants get lost in it  all anathema to millennials expectations of online communications. She says that the governments hiring process often takes so long that applicants get other jobs in the meantime. For workers that grew up online, these kind of obstacles can be a turnoff, she said.

But Vanderslice said those that stick with it could get rewarded by rapid advancement and relative job security, especially as tens of thousands of Baby Boomer public employees join the ranks of the retired in the coming years.

She said many millennials do not recognize the value of jobs with the exceptional benefits compared to other workers that government employees have.

Vanderslice said governments challenge will also be to depict public jobs as those that can be exciting and make a difference  two traits younger workers say they want in their careers. (Chuck Raasch)

ON THE WEB:

BY THE NUMBERS:

23  percent of total workforce that is 30 and younger, according to Partnership for Public Service.

7  percent of government employees in that age group, according to PPS.

16  percent of federal workers born after 1980, according to a 2014 federal Office of Personnel Management survey.

SHE SAID IT:

Not only would millennials benefit from joining the federal government labor pool, but the government would benefit, too. Millennials could bring with them some of that youthful enthusiasm. They also tend to be technologically savvy. Retirement expert Ann Vanderslice.
JEFFERSON CITY  A push to bring campaign contribution limits back to Missouri has survived its latest legal challenge.

In a ruling handed down Thursday, Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce rejected an attempt to remove a voter initiative from the Nov. 8 ballot. If voters approve, it will would impose caps on contributions for the first time since 2008.

In a six-page decision, Joyce said the proposal mirrors federal law and is not unconstitutional.

The ruling will be appealed.

In arguments before Joyce this week, attorney Chuck Hatfield said the initiative financed by Clayton businessman Fred Sauer unfairly limits some classes of businesses and associations from giving money to campaigns.

In particular, he said some classifications of banks and member-owned organizations such as the Association of Missouri Electrical Cooperatives would be barred from contributing to their own political action committee.

Hatfield argued that is unconstitutional.

Joyce disagreed.

Because state-chartered banks and utilities operate in highly regulated industries, the risk of corruption or the appearance of corruption is heightened, and thus the First Amendment permits the ballot initiative to impose more stringent contribution limitations on these entities than on other corporations, Joyce wrote.

The Missouri Campaign Finance Reform Initiative will ask voters in November whether they want to limit contributions to individual candidates to $2,600 and limit contributions to a political party to $25,000.

The referendum attempts to ban the current practice of funneling money through different committees to hide the source of the contributions. It prohibits contributions by foreign interests and companies not legally authorized to conduct business in Missouri.

Sauer, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2012, led the push to place the initiative on the ballot during an election season in which mega donors poured millions of dollars into the campaign war chests of a handful of candidates. Retired St. Louis financier Rex Sinquefield, for example, spent $11 million this year helping Republican candidates for statewide office. His biggest beneficiaries all lost their primary races this month.

As the Circuit Court held, these contribution limits are plainly legal, Sauer said in a written statement.

Missouri voters have the right to choose whether to enact such common-sense limitations to eradicate the plague of corruption from unlimited contributions.

Attorney Todd Jones, who drafted the initiative and serves as legal counsel for Sauer, also praised the decision.

Its one step closer for the voters to actually vote on our amendment to bring some common sense campaign limits to Missouri, Jones said Thursday.

Hatfield said he hoped to file an appeal by late Thursday.

We always expected that this case will have to be decided by the court of appeals, Hatfield said.

Secretary of State Jason Kanders office is expected to start notifying local election officials next week whether to include the measure on the November ballot.

We still have time to get these matters addressed, Hatfield said.
CREVE COEUR  A proposal to bump the minimum age for tobacco purchases to 21 years of age from the current 18 in St. Louis County is about to land on the desk of county lawmakers.

Councilman Sam Page, an anesthesiologist, announced plans to introduce the legislation Monday morning at a Mercy St. Louis briefing attended by health and medical professionals from across the region.

The start of the school year is the perfect time to hit the reset button, Page said. It is far too easy to purchase tobacco products in St. Louis County.

If enacted, St. Louis County will join Columbia, Mo., 18 metropolitan Kansas City municipalities and local governments in 12 other states in adopting what is known nationally as Tobacco 21 or T21 ordinances.

The age restriction would cover the sale of vape products in addition to cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco.

The T21 legislation in Missouris most populous county has the potential to cut into underage cigarette sales in a state that ranks among the top 10 nationally in tobacco use by young people.

A recent survey cited by Page determined that 8 percent of Missouri high school students reported trying cigarettes before the age of 13. The national average is 6.6 percent.

Additional studies have placed tobacco use among Missouri high school students at 17.1 percent compared to 14 percent nationally.

Health experts say Missouri inflates teen smoking rates with the lowest tobacco tax in the U.S.

The tobacco industry continually loses its customer base because it has a product that kills people, said Karen Englert, government relations director for the St. Louis area chapter of the American Heart Association. As a result they need replacement customers  our children.

Anti-tobacco advocates say hiking the minimum purchase age has had a profound impact on teen smoking rates elsewhere.

In Needham, Mass., teenage tobacco use dropped by 47 percent in the five years after the 21-and-older benchmark took hold, according to an analysis by the academic researcher, EDC.

Does it eliminate teen smoking? asked Ginny Chadwick, who while a member of the City Council spearheaded the T21 initiative in Columbia. No. But this is more effective than any other tobacco prevention program, including raising taxes or quality indoor air ordinances.

The T21 legislation will mark the second time this year St. Louis County has taken the lead on a health issue.

Led by Page, the County Council in March passed a prescription drug monitoring program  the first in the state to establish a database that physicians and pharmacies can use to track the distribution of Oxycontin and other opioid painkillers.

Jackson County in June began the process of adopting similar legislation. The policy is under consideration in St. Louis and other nearby jurisdictions.

Blocked by a legislator who claims the program impedes individual liberties, Missouri alone has yet to enact a statewide tracking system for prescription opioids.

Page said he hopes county adoption of T21  like the monitoring program  will prompt regional cooperation.

Chadwick acknowledged raising the minimum age for tobacco sales in one jurisdiction to the exclusion of neighboring communities can present a challenge.

But since increasing the age limit in late 2014, Chadwick said Columbia has found the kids who are already addicted to tobacco products will go across the border to get (cigarettes). But because the products are harder to get, the kids who arent addicted wont bother to drive to the next county.

The T21 legislation being sought by Page clashes with the councils reluctance to expand a county indoor smoking ban to the 135 establishments currently exempted.

The unwillingness to force the River City Casino and Hotel in the Lemay area, the Hollywood Casino in Maryland Heights, a handful of bowling alleys and a number of smaller watering holes to abide by the no-smoking rules has drawn fire from anti-tobacco and health activists.

Page on Monday distanced T21 from a three-year delay on expanded smoking ban legislation.

This fixes a lot of problems, the Democrat said, acknowledging that there are other issues out there. But we need to tackle them one at a time.

Phil Abraham, Washington University pediatrician and chair of the St. Louis Tobacco 21, said Monday the time for addressing teen smoking in St. Louis County and regionally has come.

Why wait until the next 13-year-old picks up his first cigarette? Abraham asked.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post.

At least two tourists warned Walt Disney World employees just minutes before an alligator fatally attacked a two-year-old boy, according to an investigative report released this week.

The findings raise fresh questions about the extent to which Disney bears responsibility for the June 14 incident, which made headlines around the world.

The report by Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also confirmed that Disney did not have signs warning of alligators around a lagoon at its Grand Floridian Resort & Spa near Orlando.

The FWC investigation did not discuss Disney's policies or what role they might have played in the death of the toddler, Lane Thomas Graves. The report was obtained and posted online by Channel 6 in Orlando. Disney declined comment, according to CNN.

Days after the incident, the Graves family said that it was "broken" by the tragedy but "will not be pursuing a lawsuit against Disney." It's unclear if the report will alter that decision.

Disney has made efforts to improve safety at the resort since the attack, which the company called a "tragic accident."

---

Building sand castles, then a bite out of the blue

Lane Graves stooped over the surface of the water, his small hands clutching a tiny bucket.

His father was just a few feet away, waiting for his son to return so they could build a sand castle - something the family couldn't do back home in the suburbs of Omaha.

Suddenly, Matt Graves heard a splash.

He thought the sound was a fish jumping, he told FWC investigators.

Instead, it was an alligator, seven or eight feet in length, bursting out of the water toward his son.

"I saw it come out to get him," he told investigators. Lane, with his blue eyes and toothy grin, was bent over the water.

The alligator "bit his head," his father said.

When the animal began pulling Lane back into the lagoon, Matt jumped in after it, reaching into the alligator's mouth and grabbing its teeth in a valiant but vain attempt to save his son.

The gator whipped itself back and forth, then retreated into the water with its prey, according to witnesses.

"It just took off," Matt said, leaving him with bleeding hands but no son.

The sun was setting, and in the gloaming, Matt could not see where the alligator had gone.

Christopher Tubbs, a resort employee, rushed over. He told Matt and his wife, Melissa, to stay out of the water, according to the report.

As bystanders and resort personnel called 911, the parents desperately scanned the water for sign of their son.

So did Tubbs. He saw an alligator 15-25 feet out into the lagoon, swimming away from the beach.

"He believes that he saw the victim being taken further out by the alligator, then says they both submerged," according to the report.

It was likely the last time anyone saw Lane alive.

Rescuers searched all night but could not find the toddler. The next day, divers discovered his body about six feet beneath the surface, not far from where he had been attacked.

---

He 'was going out the door to warn them when he heard the mother screaming'

According to the FWC report, at least two tourists warned Disney employees that they had seen an alligator just minutes before the deadly attack.

It's unclear from the report what action, if any, those employees took after being notified of the animal lurking in the lagoon.

At around 7:30 p.m., roughly an hour and a half before the incident, Jason Ochs saw an alligator swimming in the artificial lake.

Ochs was on his hotel balcony when he spotted the animal, which was "swimming from the island southeast of the hotel, toward the beach area," according to the report.

The report does not mention Ochs notifying employees of the animal.

It does, however, say two other tourists reported sighting the creature.

The first warning came from Alfred Smith.

The South Carolinian was on his hotel porch at 7:41 p.m. when he saw an alligator in the Seven Seas Lagoon and snapped a photo of it.

"He pointed the animal out to an unknown WDW employee who saw the alligator," the report said, using an acronym for Walt Disney World. The FWC investigation did not identify that employee or say whether he or she took any type of action after the warning.

More than an hour later, Smith saw kids playing at the edge of the lagoon and became alarmed, he told investigators.

He "was going out the door to warn them when he heard the mother screaming."

The second warning came shortly before the attack, according to the investigation.

Shawna Giacomini from North Carolina was on the beach at around 8:15 p.m. when her two daughters, ages 15 and 9, noticed the gator.

"The daughters saw an alligator about 5 feet from shore, near the marsh," according to the report. The resort was showing an outdoor movie, "Zootopia," which was about to begin.

"The eldest daughter told the WDW AV/Movie Coordinator about the alligator," according to the report. "The person she told ran to a man whose shirt said 'Coordinator' and told him about the alligator."

Again, it is unclear from the report whether Disney employees did anything after the warning.

The Giacominis left the beach and went to the resort's store, according to the report.

"When they returned, the attack had already occurred."

---

Quick improvements but lingering legal questions

In the days after the attack, animal experts and legal scholars debated if Disney had done enough to prevent the attack.

Some said it was "impossible" to keep alligators out of bodies of water in Florida, and that the attack was simply "bad luck."

Others, however, said the company could be held liable if there was proof of negligence.

Some critics pointed to the Grand Floridian's own website, which encouraged guests to "bask on the white-sand beach" abutting the lagoon, or the fact that there were no signs warning of alligators, only "no swimming" signs.

"The hotel owes a duty of care to its customers to take reasonable measures to make the premises safe," Alan Sykes, a professor at Stanford Law School, told The Washington Post in a June 15 article. "That would include if there are hidden hazards in a lagoon on the hotel property."

Sykes, who at the time stressed he did not know all the details of the attack, said a key question would be whether the resort had prior knowledge of alligators in the water near the hotel and what it had done to mitigate that issue, or at least adequately warn tourists of the potential dangers.

"If it gets litigated, it's most likely a case about reasonable warning," he said.

In the weeks since the attack, the resort made a number of safety improvements, including posting signs warning of "alligators and snakes in the area" and erecting a fence - later upgraded to a wall - around the lagoon, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Despite the legal questions and resort improvements, however, the Graves family said it had no intention of suing.

It remains to be seen whether the family rethinks that decision in light of the FWC report released Monday.

The report did not delve into Disney's safety policies.

It did, however, state that the alligator "lived in a high human use area and may have had a diminished fear of people."

Orange County, where the attack occurred, ranks fifth out of Florida's 67 counties in the number of unprovoked gator bites with 17 in the past 66 years, the report said. The June 14 incident was the first such attack to prove fatal.

Several factors may have contributed to the attack, according to the report. Alligators tend to hunt at dawn or dusk, and Lane likely appeared even smaller than he was because he was hunched over trying to fill his bucket with water.

The report also noted that the FWC is still investigating "incidents of alligator feeding near the attack location," although "preliminary investigation into these incidents indicate that no correlation can be made."

After the attack, investigators caught, killed and examined six alligators, two of which were found within two-tenths of a mile from the site of the attack. Those two gators, both female, had empty stomachs, "indicating their drive for food would be strong," the report found.

After comparing the animals' teeth to the puncture wounds on Lane's head and neck, however, efforts to identify the culprit were "inconclusive."

"While we cannot say with absolute certainty that the subject animal has been taken, we are confident that the evidence gathered shows it is very likely that one of the two females captured close to the attack location was the offending animal," the report said.
A condemned killer in Ohio survived a botched execution in 2009, and now he is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that a second attempt would be unconstitutional.

Lawyers for Romell Brown argue that giving the state a second chance to put him to death would amount to cruel and unusual punishment and double jeopardy.

A divided Ohio Supreme Court rejected Broom's arguments in March. Broom's attorneys appealed that ruling earlier this month to the U.S. Supreme Court and filed notice of that appeal on Monday with the state court.

The state stopped Broom's execution after two hours when executioners failed to find a usable vein following 18 attempts to insert needles.

The 60-year-old Broom is only the second inmate in U.S. history to survive an attempted execution.

Broom kidnapped, raped and killed a 14-year-old girl, Tryna Middleton, in 1984.
Can we be assured that the plant will not pollute our land or water supply so that we are not discovering something decades later like so many areas in Missouri?
LONDON MARKET 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.
David Sheen, of Sporting Barbers; Samantha Wheeler, owner of Rohan; Joe Baconnet, director of Stratforward; Stratoula Chatzisarou, of El Greco; and Kate Hampton from Langmans Dental Health Centre with their corporate ducks. (Submitted photo)

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON will go quackers this Saturday when the towns Rotary Club hosts its first Shakespeare Duck Race.

Among the racing ducks that will take to the River Avon at Lucys Mill Wier at 2pm will be a number of special corporate entries  hairdresser ducks, explorer ducks, business ducks and builder ducks.

Tickets for the duck race are proving really popular, with townsfolk and companies supporting the Rotarys efforts to raise money for Shakespeare Hospices new Children and Young Peoples Services.

Corporate ducks are 30, but individual ones are just 2.

They can be bought at http://campaign.justgiving.com/charity/stratford-rotary/shakespeareduckrace or from the hospice shops in Stratford.
Nomura Securities analyst Aleksey Yefremov reiterated a Buy rating and $92 on Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) saying the GRM deal is an incremental positive.

Yefremov commented, "On August 23, ALB announced plans to acquire lithium salt conversion assets from Jiangxi Jiangli New Materials Science (also known as GRM). Acquired assets include manufacturing facilities in Jiangxi and Sichuan, China, with a combined total 15KT of capacity to convert spodumene into lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but ALB stated economics were better than the alternative of spending $300-350mn to build a 25KT greenfield plant. Payback period for the investment is expected to be two to three years. The deal is expected to close in 1Q17."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Albemarle click here. For more ratings news on Albemarle click here.

Shares of Albemarle closed at $83.85 yesterday.
Mobileye (NYSE: MBLY) and Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE: DLPH) announced a partnership to jointly develop a complete SAE Level 4/5 automated driving solution. The program will result in an end-to-end production-intent fully automated vehicle solution, with the level of performance and functional safety required for rapid integration into diverse vehicle platforms for a range of customers worldwide. The partners' CSLP platform will be demonstrated in combined urban and highway driving at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and production ready for 2019.

Mobileye is the world leader in computer vision systems, mapping, localization and machine learning focused on the automotive domain. Delphi is a world leader in automated driving software, sensors and systems integration. Working together, the two companies will co-develop the market's first turnkey Level 4/5 automated driving solution.

The automated driving solution will be based on key technologies from each company. These include Mobileye's EyeQ 4/5 System on a Chip (SoC) with sensor signal processing, fusion, world view generation and Road Experience Management (REM) system, which will be used for real time mapping and vehicle localization. Delphi will incorporate automated driving software algorithms from its Ottomatika acquisition, which include the Path and Motion Planning features, and Delphi's Multi-Domain Controller (MDC) with the full camera, radar and LiDAR suite. In addition, teams from both companies will develop the next generation of sensor fusion technology as well as the next generation human-like "driving policy." This module combines Ottomatika's driving behavior modeling with Mobileye's deep reinforcement learning in order to yield driving capabilities necessary for negotiating with other human drivers and pedestrians in complex urban scenes.

"The Mobileye and Delphi relationship started in 2002 with the implementation of what was one of the most advanced active safety systems of the time. Our long history together is key to the success of this ambitious endeavor," said Professor Amnon Shashua, Mobileye Chairman and Chief Technology Officer. "Our partnership with Delphi will accelerate the time to market and enable customers to adopt Level 4/5 automation without the need for huge capital investments, thereby creating a formidable advantage for them."

Added Kevin Clark, Delphi President and Chief Executive Officer: "This partnership will allow us to give our customers an increased level of automated capabilities faster and more cost effectively. The collective expertise of our two organizations will accelerate the creation of new approaches and capabilities that would likely not have been possible working alone. This is a win-win for both companies and our customers."

A conference call will be held at 9:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, August 23. Mobileye's Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Amnon Shashua and Delphi's President and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Clark, will discuss details of the partnership. Members of the media will have an opportunity to ask questions.

Call-in details:Participant Toll-Free Dial-In: (866) 394-4604International: (706) 634-5096Conference Code: 69611943
Cobalt International Energy (NYSE: CIE) disclosed in an SEC filing:

On August 22, 2016, the purchase and sale agreement (the Purchase and Sale Agreement) between Cobalt International Energy Angola Ltd. (Cobalt Angola), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (the Company), and Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola-Empresa Publica (Sonangol) was automatically terminated pursuant to its terms.

On August 22, 2015, Cobalt Angola executed the Purchase and Sale Agreement with Sonangol for the sale by Cobalt Angola to Sonangol of the entire issued and outstanding share capital of CIE Angola Block 20 Ltd. and CIE Angola Block 21 Ltd., which respectively hold the Companys 40% working interest in each of Block 20 and Block 21 offshore Angola for aggregate gross consideration of $1.75 billion before Angolan withholding taxes of approximately $19.7 million (to be netted out of the gross consideration to be paid to Cobalt Angola) and certain other U.S. and Angolan taxes, expenses, and contingent liabilities. Sonangol Pesquisa e Producao, S.A., an affiliate of Sonangol, currently holds a 30% working interest in Block 20 and a 60% working interest in Block 21. The closing of the sale was subject to Angolan government approvals. In accordance with the Purchase and Sale Agreement, Sonangol had previously paid the Company $250.0 million.

If the requisite Angolan government approvals were not received within one year from the execution date of the Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Purchase and Sale Agreement provides that it is to automatically terminate and any obligations executed by the parties thereto shall be restituted in order to put such parties in their original positions as if no agreement had been executed. As the requisite Angolan government approvals were not received within one year, the Purchase and Sale Agreement automatically terminated. The Company plans to work with Sonangol to understand and agree on the financial and operational implications of the termination. The Company has begun the marketing and sale process of its Angolan assets.




Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CRK) announced an amendment to its previously announced offer to exchange any and all of its existing senior notes for three new series of secured notes and, in the case of the Company's 10% Senior Secured Notes due 2020, warrants exercisable for the Company's common stock, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed on August 1, 2016 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), as amended and supplemented (the "Exchange Offer").

The amendment to the Exchange Offer only applies to the unsecured senior notes exchange and reflects an increase in the mandatory conversion price to $12.32 per share from $10.47 per share. The Company is also providing certain registration rights to holders of the new second lien convertible notes who would be considered an "affiliate" under securities laws. In addition, the Company is making a clarifying change to the limitation on liens covering the new convertible notes to provide that the Company will not be permitted to create or incur any liens to secure indebtedness other than permitted liens (as defined in the prospectus).

The early tender date and expiration date of the Exchange Offer continues to be on Friday, August 26, 2016 at 11:59 p.m., New York City time. Accordingly, holders who validly tender (and not withdraw) their existing notes prior to the expiration date will be eligible to receive the Early Exchange Consideration shown below.

The following table sets forth each series of outstanding notes subject to the Exchange Offer and the revised consideration offered for such series in the Exchange Offer:

Notes to be Tendered Aggregate

Principal Amount

Outstanding

(in millions) Early Exchange Consideration

per $1,000 Principal Amount of Notes

Tendered by August 26, 2016 10% Senior Secured Notes due 2020 $700.0 $1,000 principal amount of Senior Secured Toggle Notes due 2020 and warrants exercisable for 2.75 shares of common stock



7.75% Senior Notes due 2019 $288.5 $1,000 principal amount of 7.75% Second Lien Convertible PIK Notes due 2019



9.5% Senior Notes due 2020 $174.6 $1,000 principal amount of 9.5% Second Lien Convertible PIK Notes due 2020

Accrued and unpaid interest on all tendered notes will be paid in cash upon closing of the Exchange Offer. The closing will occur promptly after the Expiration Date and subject to satisfaction or waiver of the closing conditions, as set forth in the registration statement, as amended and supplemented.

To validly tender their notes, the participating holders will be required to deliver a letter of transmittal and consent to certain amendments to the terms of the existing notes and related indentures that would remove certain of the covenants governing the existing senior notes and approve the release of the collateral with respect to the existing senior secured notes.

The Exchange Offer is conditioned upon among other matters (i) holders of (x) 90% of the outstanding principal amount of the existing senior secured notes and (y) 90% of the outstanding principal amount of the existing 2019 notes and 2020 notes (on a combined basis) having tendered and not validly withdrawn their old notes and (ii) completion of the Exchange Offer by September 15, 2016.

The Company will agree to pay a soliciting dealer fee equal to $5.00 for each $1,000 principal amount of old notes that are validly tendered for exchange and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the Exchange Offer to retail brokers that are appropriately designated by their clients to receive this fee, but only if the old notes of each applicable series that are tendered by or for that beneficial owner have an aggregate equivalent principal amount of $250,000 or less. Soliciting dealer fees will only be paid to retail brokers upon consummation of the Exchange Offer. No soliciting dealer fees will be paid if the Exchange Offer is not consummated, and the fees will be payable thereafter upon request by the soliciting dealers and presentation of such supporting documentation as the Company may reasonably request.

A prospectus supplement dated August 22, 2016, which describes the amendment, has been filed with the SEC. The supplement, the Company's previous supplement dated August 15, 2016 and the original prospectus may also be viewed by going to the Company's website at Prospectuses or on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Except as described above and as contained in the prospectus supplement, all terms and conditions of the Exchange Offer continue in effect. If you have previously tendered your existing notes, you do not need to take any further action in order to receive the benefit of the amendment.

BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as dealer manager in connection with the Exchange Offer. Holders of the notes may contact BofA Merrill Lynch at (888) 292-0070 (toll-free) or collect at (980) 388-4813 or (646) 855-2464 with any questions they may have regarding the Exchange Offer. D.F. King & Co., Inc. is serving as information and exchange agent for the Exchange Offer. You should direct questions, requests for assistance and requests for copies of the prospectus and letter of transmittal to the agent at (212) 269-5550 (for banks and brokers) or (877) 732-3619 (toll free) (all others).
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCE-A)(NYSE: FCE-B) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a process to review strategic alternatives for the company's retail portfolio, which consists of ownership interest in 14 regional malls in markets around the country, and 19 specialty retail centers, which are located primarily in New York City.

"Over the past five years, we have made tremendous progress transforming Forest City by focusing on core urban markets and products, reducing complexity, paying down debt, driving operational excellence and converting to REIT status," said David J. LaRue, Forest City president and chief executive officer. "As part of this ongoing transformation, and after careful consideration, we have made the decision to explore strategic alternatives for our retail portfolio. We intend to look at a range of options and expect the review process to be concluded by the first quarter of 2017. Assuming we identify and transact on a chosen alternative, or alternatives, our intent would be to redeploy the value from our retail portfolio into apartment and office assets that align with our focus on core markets and urban, mixed-use placemaking projects.

"While this process is ongoing, we remain fully committed to our retail properties and tenants, and to the customers and communities they serve, as well as to our associates who work at our retail centers and support our retail portfolio," said LaRue.

The company intends to retain its ownership interest in Ballston Quarter (formerly Ballston Common Mall) in Arlington, Virginia, which is being redeveloped into an urban mixed-use project to include office, multifamily, and retail uses.

There can be no assurance that this review process will result in any transaction being announced or consummated. Forest City does not intend to disclose further developments during this process until its Board of Directors has approved a specific course of action or the company has otherwise determined that further disclosure is appropriate.

The company will hold a conference call with investors to discuss this announcement on Tuesday, August 23, 2016, at 10 a.m., ET. Details on accessing the call will follow in a separate press release. The call will be webcast through the company's website, www.forestcity.net, and an archived replay will also be available.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ANZ) ("Alianza" or the "Company") announces that partner, 50 King Capital ("50 King") has informed the Company that it will not pursue its option to earn an additional 20 percent interest (for a total of 70 percent) in the Yanac Copper Property, located in the Ica Department of southern Peru. Under the terms of the Yanac agreement, 50 King will relinquish its 50% interest in the property in return for a 0.5% Net Smelter Royalty.

Jason Weber, President and CEO of Alianza stated, "With full control of the Yanac Property, we are now able to partner with a group to take the next step at Yanac which is to test it with drilling."

The Yanac Project is located approximately 60 km inland from the Pacific coast and 50 km from the town of Chincha Alta, in the department of Ica. It was acquired as a result of a regional exploration alliance with Cliffs Natural Resources. Prior to divesting its interest to 50 King, Cliffs brought Yanac to the drill-ready stage, identifying a 1.1 x 1.25 km area of porphyry style alteration and mineralization (pyrite-chalcopyrite-copper oxide-molybdenite) surrounded by a halo of quartz-pyrite veining. Results of an Induced Polarization geophysical survey indicates a potentially larger mineralized body at depth. A drill program had been planned by Cliffs, but was not completed due to a change in management at Cliffs in 2014, and a subsequent strategic shift away from mineral exploration.

Board Resignation

The Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of Mr. Adrian Fleming as a Director of the Company. Management and the Board sincerely thank Adrian for his contributions to Alianza and is predecessor Tarsis Resources.

"Adrian is a highly regarded member of the mineral exploration community and we are grateful for his input and contributions to Alianza over the past 6 years," stated Mark T. Brown, Chairman of Alianza. "We wish Adrian well in his future endeavours."

Mr. Fleming's resignation is effective August 23, 2016. The Company does not have any plans to add another board member at this time as it recently appointed Mr. Geoff Chater as a Director. The Board now consists of Mark T. Brown (Chairman), Marc Blythe, Geoff Chater, Craig Lindsay, John Wilson and Jason Weber.

About Alianza Minerals Ltd.

Alianza increases the chances of success in mineral exploration by using the "Prospect Generator" business model, focussing on gold and copper exploration in Latin America and Nevada.

The Company has 25.8 million shares issued and outstanding, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: ANZ). Mr. Jason Weber, BSc, P.Geo., Alianza's President and CEO is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.Mr. Weber supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this release.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. STATEMENTS IN THIS NEWS RELEASE, OTHER THAN PURELY HISTORICAL INFORMATION, INCLUDING STATEMENTS RELATING TO THE COMPANY'S FUTURE PLANS AND OBJECTIVES OR EXPECTED RESULTS, MAY INCLUDE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON NUMEROUS ASSUMPTIONS AND ARE SUBJECT TO ALL OF THE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES INHERENT IN RESOURCE EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT. AS A RESULT, ACTUAL RESULTS MAY VARY MATERIALLY FROM THOSE DESCRIBED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.

Contacts: Jason Weber President and CEO (604) 687-3520 Sandrine Lam Shareholder Communications (604) 687-3520 (888) 889-4874 (FAX) www.alianzaminerals.com

Source: Alianza Minerals Ltd.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VIETWATER 2016 Expo & Forum, Vietnam's leading international water supply, sanitation, water resources and purification event, organised by UBM Asia, will take place at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City from 9-11 November 2016.

Hosted by the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA) and supported by the Ministry of Construction (MOC), VIETWATER is renowned as the flagship business platform in the drainage & sewerage and water supply industries. With over 400 exhibitors from 38 countries & regions and 15 international pavilions such as France, Germany, Australia, Finland, Belgium, Japan, mainland China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and many others. VIETWATER 2016 expects to welcome over 10,000 trade visitors, professionals, consultants, engineers, key decision-makers, thought leaders and government representatives.

In collaboration with Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant, VIETWATER 2016 held a factory visit on 22 August 2016, with the participation of Mr. Cao Lai Quang, Chairman of Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA) and Ms. Eliane Van Doorn, Business Development Director ASEAN, UBM Asia, together with media reporters.

Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant is the biggest plant in Ho Chi Minh. It has invested to increase its capacity by 469,000 m3/day with a total capital of $VND 2,800 billion. Mr. Cao Lai Quang said, "The factory visit is one of the exhibition's highlighted activities at VIETWATER 2016. It can be said this is an insightful trip. We have experienced many practical lessons about factory operation and management as well as technical innovation. We would like to thank Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant for supporting us to organise such a successful visit."

On the same day, UBM Asia organised a Press Conference at Duxton Saigon Hotel to introduce VIETWATER 2016 (www.vietwater.com) and RE & EE VIETNAM 2016 (www.renewableenergy.com) to be once again co-located at SECC, Ho Chi Minh City from 9-11 November this year. The conference gathers many famous media agencies and exhibitors to listen to expert speakers including Assistant Prof., Dr. Nguyen Hong Tien, Director of Technical Infrastructure Department, Ministry of Construction; Mr. Cao Lai Quang, Chairman of VWSA; Mr. Huynh Kim Tuoc, Director, Energy Conservation Center HCMC (ECC -- HCM) and Mrs. Delphine Roussele, Project Director, EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN).

Ms. Eliane Van Doorn said at the Conference that UBM has extended the exhibition space as the events are growing, and that 97% of the booth space has already been booked, with many leading industry brands participating in order to showcase their new innovations, technologies and solutions.

Regarding the sustainable development of Vietnam's water, the event will come alongside an international conference titled "Sustainable Water Supply and Sewerage Development Solutions in the context of Climate Change: Water Resource Degradation, Drought, and Saline Intrusion", which will also be part of the Vietnam's leading renewable energy and energy efficiency exhibition- RE & EE Vietnam 2016. All activities will take place for three days under one roof.

Vietwater Pre-registration is now open. To save valuable time, please register at http://www.vietwater.com/en-us/Visitors/Visitor-Registration or contact VIETWATER team @+84 8 5401 2718.

Notes to Editors:

About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in Asia and the largest commercial organiser in China, India and Malaysia. Established with its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has strong global network of 32 offices and 1,300 staff in 24 major cities. We operate in 19 market sectors with 230 exhibitions and conferences, 28 targeted trade publications, 18 vertical portals for over 2,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world.

The Representative Office of UBM ASIA in Ho Chi Minh City6th Floor, KN Building, 74 Nguyen Khoai, Ward 2District 4, Ho Chi Minh CityVietnamT: +84 8 5401 2718F: +84 8 5401 2717

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/399990Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121014/HK92339LOGO-d

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/an-insight-into-the-operation-of-a-wastewater-treatment-plant-with-vietwater-2016-factory-visit-and-press-conference-300316832.html

SOURCE UBM Asia (Malaysia)
By Eric Knecht and Maha El Dahan

CAIRO (Reuters) - A fact-finding commission investigating corruption in Egypt's domestic wheat supplies has delivered its final report to parliament, a lawmaker said on Monday, amid mounting pressure on the minister of supplies to resign.

Egypt, the world's largest importer of wheat, has been mired in controversy over whether much of the roughly 5 million tons of grain the government said it procured in this year's harvest exists only on paper, the result of local suppliers falsifying receipts to boost government payments.

The wheat corruption report, delivered late last week to the head of parliament, concluded some 200,000 tons of wheat was missing at ten private storage sites visited by the commission, Yasser Omar, a lawmaker on the commission, told Reuters.

"Of course there is more than one million tonnes missing ... but we won't be able to know exactly how much is missing because we cant inspect every single site," he said.

Minister of Supplies Khaled Hanafi told Reuters last month only 4 percent of this year's procurement was missing. Grains industry officials have said the figure likely exceeds 2 million tonnes.

If Egypt's local wheat procurement numbers were misrepresented, it may have to spend more on foreign wheat purchases to meet domestic demand - even as the country faces a dollar shortage that has sapped its ability to import.

Parliament will discuss the report this week before questioning Hanafi and possibly holding a vote of no-confidence that could remove him from office, Omar said.

CALLS TO RESIGN

Egypt's fact-finding commission has brought an unprecedented level of scrutiny to Hanafi's management of the commodities sector which has already faced criticism from grains industry officials over issues such as hacked bread distribution smart cards to subsidized rice shortages.

Nader Nour El-Din, a former adviser to the ministry of supplies, said Hanafi's policies had allowed corruption to flourish, prices on staple commodities to jump to "unprecedented levels," and public sector companies to be "destroyed" amid favoritism for private sector businesses.

Hanafi maintains that his stewardship of the supplies ministry has led to numerous successes that include savings in flour and wheat as well as the end of bread lines.

While Hanafi has not been accused of directly profiting from corruption, parliamentarians, industry officials, and media commentators have in recent weeks pinned blame for the wheat crisis largely on his shoulders, with many calling for his resignation.

"The minister has to bear political responsibility for this," said Omar.

Criticism took an unexpected turn late last week, when fiery media personality and lawmaker Mustafa Bekry accused Hanafi on television of using 7 million Egyptian pounds ($788,300) in state funds to maintain a residency at a posh downtown Cairo hotel.

The minister later said in a statement he had paid for the long-term hotel residence with his own personal funds.

Appearing before a parliament committee on agriculture on Monday, Hanafi chose not to respond to questions about the hotel controversy, saying only that he had no plans to step down.

"My resignation is not whatsoever on the table," he said.

(Editing by Mark Potter)
DAKAR (Reuters) - A detained official from Gambia's main opposition movement died in hospital over the weekend, his United Democratic Party said, its second member to lose their life in custody since the start of a crackdown on protests.

Solo Krummah was arrested with 14 others on May 9 during rallies calling for electoral reform, and died on Saturday after an operation at the Edward Francis's Small Teaching Hospital in the capital Banjul, the UDP said.

His family had not authorized any operation and there were no details on what the treatment involved or how he died, the party added in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from the government or hospital authorities.

The U.S. State Department said the United States was "deeply concerned" by Krummah's death and was "troubled" by reports of government mistreatment of detained opposition figures, including allegations of torture.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner called for an "independent investigation of all credible allegations of torture and abuse" and urged Gambia to release all political prisoners and halt its crackdown on opposition politicians.

Activists and opposition members have been staging sporadic protests, demanding reforms before December elections - a rare display of defiance against President Yahya Jammeh.

Nearly 50 protesters were arrested in April and May, including UDP party leader Ousainu Darboe and at least 18 other senior members. Eleven opposition supporters were convicted in July, with sentences ranging from fines to three years in prison.

Krummah, the UDP's deputy chairman of the Sandu Constituency in eastern Gambia, was detained in Mile 2 prison in Banjul and admitted to hospital on August 8 under armed guard, the UDP said in its statement.

"The lawyers have been consulted and will act accordingly to get to the cause of the death of Solo and for the body to be given to the party and family for a fitting burial," the UPD added.

The party's national organizing secretary, Solo Sandeng, died in custody in April after being arrested in a similar protest.

The UDP says Sandeng was tortured to death - a charge dismissed by the government.

Foreign powers and rights groups have regularly accused Jammeh of stamping out dissent. He has ruled the West African nation of 2 million people since taking power in a coup in 1994.

(Reporting by Edward McAllister; Additional reporting by David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Sandra Maler)
A policeman stands guard at an entrance gate with wax-sealed padlock, beside a poster depicting Altaf Hussain, leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party, after paramilitary forces sealed the headquarters in Karachi, Pakistan, August 23, 201

By Syed Raza Hassan

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani paramilitary forces raided the headquarters of a powerful political party in the port city of Karachi on Tuesday after its London-based leader incited supporters to storm the office of a television channel the day before.

The operation deepens a dispute between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has dominated Karachi politics for decades, and local security forces that regularly spills into violence.

It also comes as members of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are set to elect an imprisoned MQM politician, Waseem Akhtar, as mayor of Pakistan's biggest and richest city on Wednesday.

Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar, who was detained on Monday after the attack on the TV channel, sought to distance himself from comments made by the party's influential, firebrand leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in self-imposed exile in London.

Sattar said that Monday's violence, during which MQM supporters fired shots at the office of a television channel, had been started by Hussain when he criticized Pakistani media in a telephone address to his supporters in Karachi.

The supporters later clashed with police outside the television building, leaving one person dead and several wounded.

"Whatever happened yesterday should not have happened, we condemn it," Sattar told reporters, in a rare public rebuke of Hussain. "MQM will be run from here (Pakistan). This message is for there (London) and it is for here."

Paramilitary Rangers forces sealed the MQM headquarters and media office on Tuesday. Police also lodged a case of treason against Hussain after he said that "Pakistan is a cancer for the entire world" in his Monday address.

In a statement issued from London on Tuesday, Hussain asked for forgiveness from the army and Rangers chiefs.

"From the depth of (my) heart, I beg pardon from the Pakistani establishment," he said. "I was under severe mental stress over extra-judicial arrests and (the) precarious condition of my workers sitting at (a) hunger striking camp."

Hussain is known for fiery addresses to his followers in Karachi though a loudspeaker connected to a telephone in his London home.

Many residents have grown increasingly intolerant of MQM's street protests, which can severely disrupt life for millions of Karachi residents.

But the party remains a major electoral force and in December swept local elections.

The MQM largely draws its support from the descendants of Urdu-speaking migrants from India who dominate Karachi and other urban centers of southern Sindh province.

The army has long accused the MQM of racketeering, kidnappings for ransom and targeted killings in Karachi.

MQM denies the charges and has accused the Rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown on crime in Karachi began in 2013. The Rangers deny any abuse.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said he had called on British authorities to support Pakistan's efforts to bring Hussain "within the ambit of the law".

Hussain was arrested in 2014 by British police on suspicion of money-laundering, which he denied.

(Additional reporting by Asad Hashim; Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Michael Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Mike Collett-White)
FORM 4 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549



STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP



Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Expires: December 31, 2014 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5 Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * DICICCO WENDY F (Last) (First) (Middle) C/O II-VI INCORPORATED 375 SAXONBURG BLVD. (Street) SAXONBURG PA 16056 (City) (State) (Zip) 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

II-VI INC [ IIVI ] 5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer

(Check all applicable) X Director 10% Owner Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) 3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)

08/20/2016 4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned 1. Title of Security (Instr. 3) 2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8) 4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) 5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4) 6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4) 7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price Common Stock 08/20/2016 A 3,696 A $ 21.67 34,946 D

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned

(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) 1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3) 2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8) 5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) 6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year) 7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4) 8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5) 9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4) 10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4) 11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) Code V (A) (D) Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares Option (Right to Buy) $ 21.67 08/20/2016 A 9,240 08/20/2026 Common Stock 9,240 $ 0 9,240 D

Explanation of Responses:

/s/ Jeffrey W. Acre, Attorney-in-Fact 08/23/2016 ** Signature of Reporting Person Date Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. * If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v). ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.

POWER OF ATTORNEY I, Wendy DiCicco, do hereby make, constitute, designate and appoint Jeffrey W. Acre and D. Mark McMillan, and each of them and their designees or substitutes, as my true and lawful Attorney-in-Fact, for me and in my name and on my behalf generally: 1. To execute and file any and all forms required to be filed by me with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") pursuant to Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including Forms 3, 4, and 5, and any amendment thereto; 2. To do and perform any and all acts which may be necessary or desirable to prepare, complete, and execute any and all forms required to be filed by me with the SEC) pursuant to Section 16 of the Exchange Act, including Forms 3, 4, and 5, and any amendment thereto, and timely deliver and file such forms or amendments with the SEC and any stock exchange or similar authority; and 3. To take any other action of any type whatsoever in connection with the foregoing which, in the opinion of either such attorney-in-fact, may be of benefit to, in the best interest of, or legally required by, me, it being understood that the documents executed by either such attorney-in-fact on my behalf pursuant to this Power of Attorney shall be in such form and shall contain such terms and conditions as either such attorney-in-fact may approve in either such attorney-in-fact's discretion. I hereby grant to each such attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do and perform any and every act and thing whatsoever requisite, necessary, or proper to be done in the exercise of any of the rights and powers herein granted, as fully to all intents and purposes as I might or could do if I was personally present, with full power of substitution or revocation, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each such attorney-in-fact, or each such attorney-in-fact's substitute or substitutes, shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue of this Power of Attorney and the rights and powers herein granted. I acknowledge that each of the foregoing attorneys-in-fact, in serving in such capacity at my request, is not assuming nor relieving any of my responsibilities to comply with Section 16 of the Exchange Act. I also acknowledge that none of the foregoing attorneys-in-fact assume (i) any liability for my responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act, (ii) any liability for my failure to comply with such requirements, or (iii) any of my obligations or liabilities for profit disgorgement under Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act. This Power of Attorney shall be effective immediately upon execution and shall be revoked by my giving to any such attorney-in-fact acting hereunder written notification of the revocation, which notice shall not be considered binding unless actually received. I hereby declare that this Power of Attorney shall not be affected by my disability or incapacity and that as against me and all persons claiming under me, everything which any such attorney-in-fact shall do or cause to be done shall be valid and effectual in favor of any person claiming a benefit thereunder, who, before the doing thereof, shall not have had notice of revocation of this instrument. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have caused this Power of Attorney to be executed this 16th day of August, 2016. GRANTOR: /s/ Wendy F. DiCicco Printed Name: Wendy F. DiCicco
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 15, 2016

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Nevada

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

000-29363

(Commission File Number)

88-0343702

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No)

1771 E. Flamingo Rd #201-A

Las Vegas, NV 89119

(Address of principal executive offices)

(702) 734-3457

(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Prepared By:

Sunny J. Barkats, Esq.

JSBarkats, PLLC

18 East 41st Street, 14th Floor

New York, NY 10017

P: (646) 502-7001

F: (646) 607-5544

www.JSBarkats.com

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 1.01 Entry Into a Material Agreement. Players Network (the Company or Registrant) entered into a definitive funding agreement with RxMM Health Limited (RxMM), attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1, on August 15th 2016 in which a convertible note will be issued for a total gross investment of $2,500,000 to be invested into Players Network. In consideration of such investment, RxMM will receive 50,000,000 callable warrants as a fee per the milestone schedule below, and will be entitled to 20% of all adjusted gross revenue and 20% of the gross income generated by the Company through any of its medical marijuana holdings or its media platform, of which shall reduce the principal until this debenture is either paid back or converted into equity. The warrants are callable if the stock averages 200% of the warrant strike price for any thirty (30) day trading period. The convertible debenture, bearing interest at 5% per annum, will mature 24 months after the full investment is realized, and is convertible into common stock at a 25% discount to the preceding 30 day average closing stock price.

Debenture Funding Milestone Warrants and Exercise Price Details $400,000 10 million shares exercisable at $0.05 per share over 2 years $400,001 - $800,000 15 million shares exercisable at $0.06 per share over 2 years $800,001 - $1,600,000 15 million shares exercisable at $0.07 per share over 2 years $1,600,001 - $2,500,000 10 million shares exercisable at $0.08 per share over 2 years

The Convertible Debenture and Stock Purchase Warrant Agreements are attached hereto as Exhibits 10.2 and 10.3, respectively.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

Exhibit No. Description 10.1 August 15, 2016  Definitive Funding Agreement by and between RxMM Health Limited and Players Network 10.2 August 15, 2016  5% Convertible Debenture by and between RxMM Health Limited and Players Network 10.3 August 15, 2016  Stock Purchase Warrant Agreement by and between RxMM Health Limited and Players Network

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

August 23, 2016

By: /s/ Mark Bradley Mark Bradley, Chief Executive Officer

RxMM Health Limited and Players Network Inc.

Definitive funding agreement

This agreement between RxMM Health Limited referred to in this agreement as the Investor or RxMM with its corporate offices located at 45 Ventnor Avenue West Perth 6005 Australia, and Players Network Inc. referred to in this agreement as the Company with it corporate offices located at 1771 East Flamingo Road, Suite 201a, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119 sets forth certain understandings and certain binding terms that were contained in the executed LOI dated April 21, 2016, and are being formalized in this Definitive Agreement relative to the transactions that were contemplated therein.

The following numbered paragraphs of this Letter (collectively, the Binding Provisions) reflect our mutual understanding of the matters contained in them. Each Party acknowledges that these provisions may become Nonbinding Provisions under the terms of this agreement if the referenced Debenture and Warrant agreements are not completed, and as of now they are not intended to create or constitute any legally binding obligation until such time. Neither Party shall have any liability to any Party with respect to the matters discussed in this Definitive Agreement and other related documents (the Definitive Agreements) including the fully executed Convertible Debenture as well as a Warrant Agreement prepared, authorized, executed and delivered by all Parties.

1. Basic Transaction . The transaction will involve a total investment of $2,500,000 to be invested into Players Network in the form of a Convertible Note Debenture. and in consideration of such investment RxMM will receive warrants as an Establishment Fee (Collectively, the Transaction) and that any portion when exercised will off-set and be credited as payment on the balance of the Note to the extent of the amount exercised, thus reducing the principal owed on the note pro-rata, and also a payable percentage of revenue of PNTV reduced with the same pro-rata until the Note is either paid back or converted to equity.

a. Upon closing the Transaction of the full investment based on the Investment Schedule (Exhibit A) until such time the Debenture is converted or paid off, RxMM will be entitled 20% of all Adjusted Gross revenue and 20% of the Gross Income generated by the Company through any of its medical marijuana holdings or its Media Platform or others sources as determined by PNTV. Revenues include but are not limited from; Green Leaf Farms Holdings (GLFH), Weed TV or any other platform licensee. Excluded from such Revenues are the potential settlement from PNTVs Comcast lawsuit and any professional and/or management services. The Adjusted Gross Revenue is defined as all revenues after deduction of the direct cost associated with the good and services and commissions, but before taxes. If the note is partially paid off, the percentage of revenue shares will be pro-rated and reduced to represent the percentage of revenue sharing based on the balance of the note. b. Payments to PNTV representing tranches of funding as received by PNTV according to The Convertible Debenture will mature in 24 months after the full investment is realized as outlined in the Investment Schedule (Exhibit A). c. The Company will grant RxMM 50,000,000 warrants as an Establishment Fee as per the Warrant Schedule in (Attachment C) upon signing of the Definitive Agreement and such warrants will vest according to the Warrant Schedule. d. The Adjusted Gross Revenue is defined as all revenues after deduction of the direct cost associated with the goods and services and commissions, management excluding taxes and overhead of the corporation form revenue directly generated by the Company, but not the Companys subsidiaries which is based on Gross Income. e. The Gross Income is defined as 100% of all the money distributed to Company by any of it subsidiaries. For Example; if the company is distributed $1,000,000 in Gross Income through any of its subsidiaries to the Company, the investor will receive $200,000 of that Income.

2. Other Conditions

a. The Company will utilize its available resources to provide marketing services to RxMM that may include up to 10 Dispensaries, Cultivation, Products and Technology for a period of 3 years from the closing of this Definitive Agreement at a cost based on the pass through of actual cost to PNTV. b. This includes setting up digital channels for the RxMMs various holdings on the WeedTV.com platform, with all professional services rendered as a pass through at their actual cost. These services include, but are not limited; to production, marketing and distribution services of content as outlined in the LOI at a 50% discount. c. All press releases will be mutually agreed prior to release, however no information in a release will be unreasonably withheld and will comply with Forward Looking Statement disclosures.

3. Due Diligence Period. RxMM has requested and received all documents related to this transaction and is fully satisfied with due diligence review of the business, financial statements, assets and prospects of the Company and the Entities from the date of the Letter of intent until the finalization of the Transaction Definitive Agreement (the Due Diligence Period).

4. Minority Protection Rights.

a. RxMM will have the right to appoint a qualified representative; in this capacity, he or she will serve as a Board Member of PNTV for a period that lasts through the debenture agreement. b. RxMM will have the right to recommend a Cultivation Manager to be appointed providing that the recommended person has the necessary qualifications, GLFH agrees to employ such person.

5. Contingencies

.

In addition to the execution and delivery of the Definitive Agreements, Debenture Agreement, and the Warrant Agreement, the following are RxMMs key conditions to finalizing the Transaction:

a. Receipt of all material third-Party consents; b. Completion of a customary due diligence review of the business, financial statements, assets and prospects of the entities and the PNTV during the Due Diligence Period; c. The absence of any material adverse change in the financial condition, sales, assets or operations of the business of the Company from the date of this Letter through the date of closing; d. That the Company will own or have rights to the assets required for the conduct of the business of the Company as are currently operating and are expected to be conducted in the future; and e. Approval of the transaction by its Board of Directors

The following are PNTVs key conditions to closing the Transaction:

a. Receipt of the approval of the Companys Board of Directors to the Transaction; and b. The execution and delivery of the Definitive Agreements, Debenture Agreement, and the Warrant Agreement.

6. First Right of Refusal Agreements . The Parties, as well as such other personnel that may be identified as other projects, have or will execute and deliver appropriate mutual non-competition (NDA) agreements and first right of refusal agreements on further financing opportunities in favor of PNTV that work for both Parties on or before the closing.

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7. Default. If either Party defaults in its obligations set forth herein, then the other Party upon serving First Notice to the defaulting Party demanding that such default be cured within 30 days, and such default then remains uncured, then the Party serving the First Notice shall have the right to terminate this agreement upon a Second Notice being served on the Defaulting Party. 7.a. If the Company defaults the price of the warrants will decrease by 1 cent (.01) per warrant on all warrant schedules for every 30 days that the company remains in default. It is agreed that there is no default by the company if RxMM fails to provide full funding. Defaults include; if the Company does not launch its channel and agree to provide marketing services within 60 days of the period of time requested by RXMM but not before the completion of the IPO. RXMMs marketing team and management will be required to assist in the forming of such channel by supplying content and insight that reflects its Brand, and; 7.b. Fails to allow RxMM to use its Weed TV database to assist in marketing the RxMM brands and affiliates from said period of time. 7.c. In regard to timely distribution of its 20% revenue sharing, RxMM will receive disbursements within 30 days from the close of each quarterly audit until the date the Debenture is paid off. If the disbursement is not paid with in 30 days, it shall constitute a default. If there are no revenues to disburse, there is no default 7.g. Fails to comply with SEC and FINRA reporting requirements or fails to deliver notices to participate in any Nevada MME opportunity that the company creates. 8. Potential Joint Ventures. The Parties agree to enter into a joint venture or other commercially structured arrangements with the intention to acquire or apply for medical marijuana dispensary licenses and operate such businesses subject to mutually agreed terms and conditions. It has been agreed that the branding of the dispensary businesses will be under RxMMs lifestyle retail formula and national brand. Such joint ventures may include third parties but will be approached in goodwill and fair dealings manner for the betterment of the Companys shareholders. 9. Both parties agree to remain compliant with the SEC rules and regulations 10. RxMM shall have the right to request independent accounting, right to audit, using GAPP procedures; audit to be paid for by party requesting the audit. 11. Both parties will work with best efforts to assist the other party in building their business. Whenever there is need for goods, services, distribution, marketing, product extensions or business development that the other party is capable of providing, the party seeking assistance will provide the other party a first look at any opportunities in their respective markets.

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS

A. REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, AND CONDITIONS 1. SELLER

Seller does hereby represent and warrant to Purchaser, as a material inducement to enter into this Agreement, that to the best of its knowledge and belief of management at the present time:

(a) The conduct of the business of PNTV is in full compliance with all applicable Federal, State and local governmental statutes, rules, regulations, ordinances and decrees;

(b) Upon the exercise of Warrants and issuance of the underlying Shares, Purchaser will become the owner of record of up to 50,000,000 shares of PNTV issued and outstanding Capital Stock.

(c) The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby do not require the consent, authority or approval of any other person or entity except such as has been obtained;

2. PURCHASER

Purchaser hereby represents, warrants, covenants and acknowledges that with respect to shares purchased hereunder not covered by a covenant to register, that:

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(a) The shares are being conveyed in compliance with the applicable provisions of Rule 144 without registration and under the provisions of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Act) pursuant to exemptions provided pursuant to Sections 3(b), 4(2) or 4(6) thereof;

(b) The purchaser is acquiring the shares for investment purposes and without a view towards further sale or distribution.

B. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. ENTIRETY

This Agreement together with the instruments referred to herein, contains all of the understandings and agreements of the parties with respect to the subject matter discussed herein. All prior agreements whether written or oral are merged herein and shall have no force and effect.

2. SURVIVAL

The several representations, warranties and covenants herein shall survive the execution hereof and shall be effective regardless of any investigation that may have been made or may be made by or on behalf of any party. The Seller covenants that it has not failed to disclose any material fact or circumstance to Purchaser, which if known to the Purchaser prior to or during this transaction would alter the Purchasers decision as to if or in what manner the Purchaser would acquire the subject shares from Seller.

3. SEVERABILITY

If any provision of this Agreement or any application of such provision to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall not be affected thereby.

4. GOVERNING LAW

This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Nevada.

5. LITIGATION

In the event disputes arise from a difference of interpretation of or failure of either party to perform under the terms of this Agreement, such disputes shall not be subject to litigation but submitted to binding arbitration for final settlement. For the purpose of this Agreement, any damages and costs arising from such disputes awarded to the prevailing party shall include attorney and arbitration costs in the aggregate.

6. BENEFIT OF AGREEMENT

The terms and provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors, estate, heirs and legatees. Notwithstanding anything contained herein elsewhere, no portion of this Agreement or any rights granted thereunder may be assigned, transferred or hypothecated by Purchaser without the prior written consent of Seller.

8. FURTHER ASSURANCES

The parties agree to do, execute, acknowledge and deliver (or cause to done, executed, acknowledged or delivered) and to perform all such acts and deliver all such deeds, assignments, transfers, conveyances, powers of attorney, assurances, stock certificates and other documents, as may, from time to time, be required herein to effect the intent and purpose of this agreement.

9. TERMINATIONS

In the event that both parties fail to complete the terms and conditions of the Agreement, then this Agreement shall be deemed terminated and void as between the parties with no party having any rights or liabilities against the other. The term of this agreement shall not exceed five years from the date of execution hereof. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this agreement, the Binding Provisions will terminate by mutual written consent of the Parties, provided that the termination of the Binding Provisions shall not affect the liability of a Party for breach of any of the Binding Provisions prior to the termination. Upon termination of the Binding Provisions, the Parties shall have no further obligations hereunder, except as stated in Paragraphs 11.b, c and d below, which shall survive any such termination.

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10. AMENDMENT

No modification, waiver, amendment discharge or change of this Agreement shall be valid unless same is evidenced by a written instrument subscribed by both parties to this Agreement.

11. NOTICES

a. All notices demands or other communications given hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given on the first business day after mailing by United States registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid and addressed as follows:

TO PURCHASER: RxMM Health Limited 45 Ventnor Avenue West Perth, 6005 Australia, TO SELLER: Players Network Inc. 1771 East flamingo Road Suite 201a Las Vegas, Nevada 89119

b. Disclosure . Except as and to the extent required by law, without the prior written consent of all other Parties, no Party hereto shall, and each shall direct its representatives not to directly or indirectly, make any public comment, statement or communication with respect to, or otherwise disclose or permit the disclosure of the existence of discussions regarding a possible Transaction between the Parties or any of the terms, conditions or other aspects of the transactions proposed in this LOI.

c. Confidentiality . Except as and to the extent required by law, no Party shall disclose or use, and it shall cause its representatives not to disclose or use, any and all information, documents or other proprietary information obtained by one Party (or its representatives) from any other Party (or its representatives) (collectively, the Confidential Information) in any manner other than in connection with such Partys evaluation of the transactions proposed in this LOI. For purposes of this paragraph, Confidential Information does not include information that the disclosing Party can demonstrate (1) is generally available to or known by the public other than as a result of improper disclosure by the disclosing Party, or (2) is obtained by the disclosing Party from a source other than a Party hereto, provided that each source was not bound by a duty of confidentiality with respect to such information. If the Binding Provisions are terminated pursuant to Paragraph H below, each Party shall promptly return any Confidential Information in its possession to the appropriate Party.

d. Costs . Each Party hereto shall be responsible for and shall bear all of its own costs and expenses incurred in connection with the proposed Transaction.

e. Assignment . Neither the Company nor the Investors may assign their rights under this LOI (and under any of the Definitive Agreements) to anyone without the prior consent of the other Party.

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If the foregoing is acceptable to you in principal, please sign and date this Definitive Agreement in the space provided below to confirm the mutual agreements set forth in the Binding Provisions and return a signed copy to the undersigned on or before July 25th 2016.

Dated: August 15th, 2016 Accepted by: Company Players Network, Inc. By: /s/ Mark Bradley Name: Mark Bradley Its: Chief Executive Officer

Investor RxMM Health Limited By: /s/ Ross Lyndon-James Name: Ross Lyndon-James Its: Chief Executive Officer

Attachments:

Attachment A  Debenture Agreement

Attachment B  Warrant Agreement

Exhibits:

Exhibit A  Investment Schedule to PNTV

Exhibit B  Warrant Schedule

Exhibit C  Conversion Rights

Exhibit D  Use of Proceeds

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EXHIBIT A

Investment Schedule to PNTV

Below is the Investment Schedule from RxMM to PNTV:

1. Upon signing this LOI, $25,000 paid to Players Network Inc. 2. Within 14 days of signing this LOI $125,000 paid to Players Network Inc. 3. Upon Signing Definitive Agreement $350,000, not to exceed 30 days on a best efforts basis. 4. 60 days after signing the Definitive Agreement $2,000,000 on a mutually agreed draw down schedule on a best efforts basis.

EXHIBIT B

Warrant Schedule

RxMM will be granted with the following warrants, which shall be issued at each funding milestone amount described in the table below. The warrant exercise price is defined in the table below and the timing of exercise shall be tied to the Companys share price based on a fourteen-day (14) trailing average basis.

RxMM reserves the right to convert part or the entire debenture into the warrant exercise price with any residual balance including interest to be repaid by the Company at Term.

The Warrants are callable if the stock averages 200% of the warrant strike price for any thirty days (30) trading period. As an example, if the stock is trading at 0.10 the Company can call the .0.05 warrants. RxMM would then have 10 days to exercise these warrants. After exercise of all warrants below and remaining principal and accrued interest could be converted into stock at a 25% discount to market and any excess over the amount of interest will be paid in cash.

Debenture Funding Milestone Warrants & Exercise Price Details $400,000 10 million at $0.05 for 2 years $401,000 - $800,000 15 million at $0.06 for 2 years $800,001 - $1,600,000 15 million at $0.07 for 2 years $1,600,001 - $2,500,000 10 million at $0.08 for 2 years

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EXHIBIT C

Conversion Rights

[Insert here]

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EXHIBIT D

Use of Proceeds

Exhibit D is a general use of proceeds of $2,500,000 and subject to be adjusted depending on other financing and capital sources.

Use of Proceeds PNTV Corporate General overhead $ 150,000 Debt reduction $ 150,000 Weed TV Launch Platform development $ 50,000 Sales team $ 125,000 Advertising $ 50,000 New content $ 75,000 Customer service $ 50,000 Membership services $ 50,000 Technical support $ 50,000 Management $ 50,000 Green Leaf Farms $ 1,700,000 Phase # 1 construction $ 650,000 Lighting HVAC $ 250,000 Water purification $ 125,000 Other supplies $ 40,000 Extractions equip. $ 30,000 General overhead $ 80,000 Payroll $ 150,000 Licenses fee $ 125,000 Professional fee $ 75,000 Security equipment $ 75,000 Other equipment $ 55,000 Office equipment $ 20,000 Contingency $ 100,000 Total $ 2,500,000

NEITHER THESE SECURITIES NOR ANY SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON THE CONVERSION HEREOF HAVE BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND THE RULES AND REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER (THE 1933 ACT), OR THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE. NEITHER THESE SECURITIES NOR ANY SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON THE CONVERSION HEREOF MAY BE OFFERED FOR SALE, SOLD OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED UNLESS THEY ARE REGISTERED UNDER THE 1933 ACT OR THE LAWS OF APPLICABLE STATES OR SUCH OFFER, SALE OR TRANSFER IS EXEMPT FROM SUCH REGISTRATION.

5% CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURE

DUE 24 months from the final investment of moneys advanced through that certain Letter of Intent executed by the parties named below dated 4/20/2016, combined with a draw down commitment, totaling $2,500.000 in the aggregate.

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Player Network Inc., a Nevada corporation (the Company), hereby promises to pay to RxMM Health or registered assigns (the Holder) on or before 24 months (the Maturity Date) from the date of the final total draw down the principal amount of $2,500.000 Dollars plus all accrued interest on the principal amount hereof, in such amounts, at such times and on such terms and conditions as are specified herein.

I. ARTICLE 1. Interest

The Company shall pay interest on the unpaid principal amount of this Debenture (this Debenture) at the rate of Five Percent (5%) per year, payable in arrears until the principal hereof is paid in full or has been converted. Interest on this Debenture shall accrue from the most recent date to which interest has been paid or, if no interest has been paid, from the date of issuance of this Debenture. Interest shall be computed on the basis of a 360- day fiscal year of 12 30-day months. If the Holder shall elect to convert this Debenture during any fiscal quarter, the Company shall pay to the Holder, upon conversion, the pro-rata portion of accrued interest payable through the conversion date, payable 15 days after the close of the fiscal quarter in which the conversion took place

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II. ARTICLE 2. Method of Payment

This Debenture must be surrendered to the Company in order for the Holder to receive payment of the principal amount hereof. The Company shall pay the principal of and interest on this Debenture in United States dollars. For payment hereunder the Company may draw a check or apply equivalent amounts of elected conversions by Holder of any of his Warrants then held for any payments of interest in any amount to the order of the Holder of this Note and mail it to the Holders address as shown on the Register (as defined in Section 7.2 below). Interest and principal payments shall be subject to withholding under applicable United States Federal Internal Revenue Service Regulations.

III. ARTICLE 3. Conversion

SECTION 3.1. Conversion Privilege

a. The Holder of this Debenture shall have the right, at its option, to convert it into shares of common stock, no par value per share, of the Company (Common Stock) at any time which is before the close of business on the Maturity Date, except as set forth in Section 3.1(c) below. The number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of this Debenture is determined by dividing the principal amount hereof to be converted plus all accrued interest thereon minus any required withholding by the conversion price in effect on the conversion date (as defined in paragraph (b) of this Section 3.1 below) and rounding the result to the nearest 1/100th of a share. On conversion, no payment of or adjustment (other than as provided in the previous sentence) for accrued interest shall be made whether or not such conversion occurs before, on or after an interest payment date. This privilege of Conversion is non-transferable without the written consent of the Company, which will not be unreasonable withheld.

b. The conversion price is Twenty-Five Percent (25%) off the 30 average market price of the Common Stock leading up to the conversion date.

c. Less than the entire principal amount of this Debenture may be converted into Common Stock if the portion converted is $2,500,000 or a whole multiple of $50,000 and the provisions of this Article 3 that apply to the conversion of the entire Debenture also apply to the conversion of any portion of it. All accrued interest on this Debenture shall be added to the amount converted if less than the entire principal amount of this Debenture is converted and shall be deemed to be paid and discharged thereby.

d. In the event any Debentures remain outstanding on or after the anniversary of the maturity date hereof, the unconverted portion of such Debentures will be convertible in the manner set forth in this Section 3.1; however, the conversion price shall be equal to the 30 day average market price on the conversion date, or converted by the exercising of the warrants per a fixed schedule see warrant agreement

SECTION 3.2. Conversion Procedure. To convert this Debenture into Common Stock, the Holder must (a) complete and sign the Notice of Conversion attached hereto and (b) surrender the Debenture to the Company. The date upon which the Company receives the completed Notice of Conversion (by mail, email, facsimile or otherwise) is the conversion date, provided that the Company shall not be required to deliver a certificate for Common Shares unless and until the Company receives the Debenture. Within five business days after receipt of the Notice of Conversion, providing the Company has received the Debenture from the Holder, the Company shall deliver a certificate for the number of full shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion and a check for any fraction of a share.

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SECTION 3.3. Fractional Shares. The Company shall not issue a fractional share of Common Stock upon the conversion of this Debenture. Instead, the Company shall pay in lieu of any fractional share the cash value thereof at the then current market price of the Common Stock as determined under Section 3.7 below.

SECTION 3.4. Taxes on Conversion. The Company shall pay any documentary, stamp or similar issue or transfer tax due on the issue of shares of Common Stock upon the conversion of this Debenture. However, the Holder shall pay any such tax which is due because the shares are issued in a name other than its name.

SECTION 3.5. Company to Reserve Stock. The Company shall reserve out of its authorized but unissued Common Stock or Common Stock held in treasury enough shares of Common Stock to permit the conversion of this Debenture. All shares of Common Stock which may be issued upon the conversion hereof shall be fully paid and non-assessable.

SECTION 3.6. Restrictions on Transfer. This Debenture being a Security and the Common Stock issuable upon the conversion hereof have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (the Act) and this Debenture and the Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of this Debenture may not be offered for sale, sold or otherwise transferred unless such offer, sale or other transfer is registered under the Act or such securities or such transfer is exempt from such registration.

SECTION 3.7. Current Market Price.

a. In Sections 3.1 and 3.3, the current market price per share of Common Stock on any date is the average of the quoted prices of the Common Stock for five consecutive trading days ending on the trading day before the date in question.

b. As used in this Section 3.7, the term quoted price shall mean (i) the closing bid prices thereof on any such trading date, as reported by Bloomberg, L.P. or (ii) in the event the Common Stock is not reported on such system, the fair market value of the Common Stock as determined by the Board of Directors of the Company in its good faith judgment.

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SECTION 3.8. Mergers, Etc. If the Company merges or consolidates with another corporation or sells or transfers all or substantially all of its assets to another person and the holders of the Common Stock are entitled to receive stock, securities or property in respect of or in exchange for Common Stock, then as a condition of such merger, consolidation, sale or transfer, the Company and any such successor, purchaser or transferee shall amend this Debenture to provide that it may thereafter be converted on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth above into the kind and amount of stock, securities or property receivable upon such merger, consolidation, sale or transfer by a holder of the number of shares of Common Stock into which this Debenture might have been converted immediately before such merger, consolidation, sale or transfer.

IV. ARTICLE 4. Mergers

The Company shall not consolidate or merge into, or transfer all or substantially all of its assets to, any person, unless such person assumes the obligations of the Company under this Debenture and immediately after such transaction no Event of Default exists. Any reference herein to the Company shall refer to such surviving or transferee corporation and the obligations of the Company shall terminate upon such assumption.

V. ARTICLE 5. Reports

The Company will mail to the Holder hereof at its address as shown on the Register a copy of any annual, quarterly or current report that it files with the SEC or the OTC Markets promptly after the filing thereof and a copy of any annual, quarterly or other report or proxy statement that it gives to its shareholders generally at the time such report or statement is sent to shareholders.

VI. ARTICLE 6. Defaults and Remedies

SECTION 6.1. Events of Default. An Event of Default occurs if (a) the Company does not make the payment of the principal of this Debenture when the same becomes due and payable at the Maturity Date, upon redemption or otherwise, (b) the Company does not make a payment of interest when such interest becomes due and payable and such default continues for a period of 10 days thereafter, (c) the Company fails to issue shares of Common Stock upon conversion, (d) the Company fails to comply with any of its other agreements in this Debenture and such failure continues for the period and after the notice specified below, (e) the Company pursuant to or within the meaning of any Bankruptcy Law (as hereinafter defined): (i) commences a voluntary case; (ii) consents to the entry of an order for relief against it in an involuntary case; (iii) consents to the appointment of a Custodian (as hereinafter defined) of it or for all or substantially all of its property; (iv) makes a general assignment for the benefit of its creditors; or (v) a court of competent jurisdiction enters an order or decree under any Bankruptcy Law that: (A) is for relief against the Company in an involuntary case; (B) appoints a Custodian of the Company or for all or substantially all of its property or (C) orders the liquidation of the Company, and the order or decree remains unstayed and in effect for 60 days. As used in this Section 6.1, the term Bankruptcy Law means Title 11 of the United States Code or any similar federal or state law for the relief of debtors. The term Custodian means any receiver, trustee, assignee, liquidator or similar official under any Bankruptcy Law. A default under clause (d) above is not an Event of Default until the holders of at least 25% of the aggregate principal amount of the Debentures notify the Company of such default and the Company does not cure it within 10 days after the receipt of such notice, which must specify the default, demand that it be remedied and state that it is a Notice of Default.

SECTION 6.2. Events of Default by the Holder. In the event Holder becomes insolvent or bankrupt, or transfers, hypothecates, or otherwise disposes or conveys any portion of any of Holders rights or interest in regard to this debenture to a third party not controlled by Holder, without the approval of the Company, the conversion privileges granted hereunder shall be suspended, until such action is either rectified or approved.

SECTION 6.3. Acceleration. If an Event of Default occurs and is continuing, the Holder hereof by notice to the Company, may declare the principal of and accrued interest on this Debenture to be due and payable. Upon such declaration, the principal and interest hereof shall be due and payable immediately.

VII. ARTICLE 7. Registered Debentures

SECTION 7.1. Record Ownership. The Company shall maintain a register of the holders of the Debentures (the Register) showing their names and addresses and the serial numbers and principal amounts of Debentures issued to or transferred of record by them from time to time. The Register may be maintained in electronic, magnetic or other computerized form. The Company may treat the person named as the Holder of this Debenture in the Register as the sole owner of this Debenture. The Holder of this Debenture is the person exclusively entitled to receive payments of interest on this Debenture, receive notifications with respect to this Debenture, convert it into Common Stock and otherwise exercise all of the rights and powers as the absolute owner hereof.

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SECTION 7.2. Registration of Transfer. Transfers of this Debenture may be registered on the books of the Company maintained for such purpose pursuant to Section 7.2 above (i.e., the Register). Transfers shall be registered when this Debenture is presented to the Company with a request to register the transfer hereof and the Debenture is duly endorsed by the appropriate person, reasonable assurances are given that the endorsements are genuine and effective, and the Company has received evidence satisfactory to it that such transfer is rightful and in compliance with all applicable laws, including tax laws and state and federal securities laws. When this Debenture is presented for transfer and duly transferred hereunder, it shall be cancelled and a new Debenture showing the name of the transferee as the record holder thereof shall be issued in lieu hereof. When this Debenture is presented to the Company with a reasonable request to exchange it for an equal principal amount of Debentures of other denominations, the Company shall make such exchange and shall cancel this Debenture and issue in lieu thereof Debentures having a total principal amount equal to this Debenture in the denominations requested by the Holder. The Company may charge a reasonable fee for any registration of transfer or exchange other than one occasioned by a notice of redemption or the conversion hereof.

VIII. ARTICLE 8. Notices

Except as otherwise provided in this Debenture, any notice which is required or convenient under the terms of this Debenture shall be duly given if it is in writing and (a) delivered in person (b) mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, or (c) sent by private overnight mail service (such as Federal Express) and directed to the Holder of the Debenture at its address as it appears on the Register or if to the Company to its principal executive offices. Such notice shall be effective, when personally delivered, upon receipt, when so sent by first class mail, four business days after deposit with the United States Postal Service, or when so sent by private overnight mail service, the next business day after deposit.

IX. ARTICLE 9. Time

Where this Debenture authorizes or requires the payment of money or the performance of a condition or obligation on a Saturday or Sunday or a public holiday, or authorizes or requires the payment of money or the performance of a condition or obligation within, before or after a period of time computed from a certain date, and such period of time ends on a Saturday or a Sunday or a public holiday, such payment may be made or condition or obligation performed on the next succeeding business day, and if the period ends at a specified hour, such payment may be made or condition performed, at or before the same hour of such next succeeding business day, with the same force and effect as if made or performed in accordance with the terms of this Debenture. Where time is extended by virtue of the provisions of this Article 9, such extended time shall not be included in the computation of interest.

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X. ARTICLE 10. Waivers

The holders of a majority in principal amount of the Debentures may waive a default or rescind the declaration of an Event of Default and its consequences except for a default in the payment of principal of or interest on any Debenture.

XI. ARTICLE 11. Rules of Construction

In this Debenture, unless the context otherwise requires, words in the singular number include the plural, and in the plural include the singular, and words of the masculine gender include the feminine and the neuter, and when the sense so indicates, words of the neuter gender may refer to any gender. The numbers and titles of sections contained in this Debenture are inserted for convenience of reference only, and they neither form a part of this Debenture nor are they to be used in the construction or interpretation hereof. Wherever, in this Debenture, a determination of the Company is required or allowed, such determination shall be made by a majority of the Board of Directors of the Company and if it is made in good faith, it shall be conclusive and binding upon the Company and the Holder of this Debenture.

XII. ARTICLE 12. Governing Law

The validity, terms, performance and enforcement of this Debenture shall be governed and construed by the provisions hereof and in accordance with the laws of the State of Nevada applicable to agreements that are negotiated, executed, delivered and performed solely in the State of Nevada.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has duly executed this Debenture as of the date first written above.

PLAYERS NETWORK, INC.

By

__________________________________________________________

Name

__________________________________________________________

Title

______________________________________________________

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NOTICE OF CONVERSION

[To be completed and signed only upon conversion of Debenture]

The undersigned, the Holder of this Debenture, hereby irrevocably elects to exercise the right to convert it into common stock, par value $ per share, of Players Network Inc. Company as follows:

[Complete if less than ____________________ Dollars ($_________)*____

all of principal amount ($50,000 or integral multiples of $50,000)

is to be converted]

[Signature must be _______________________________________________

guaranteed if registered (Name of Holder of shares if different than

holder of stock differs registered Holder of Debenture)

from registered Holder of

Debenture)

________________________________________________

(Address of Holder if different than address of

registered Holder of Debenture)

________________________________________________

(Social Security or EIN of Holder of shares if

different than Holder of Debenture)

*If the principal amount of the Debenture to be converted is less than the

entire principal amount thereof, a new Debenture for the balance of the

principal amount shall be returned to the Holder of the Debenture.

Date:________________ Sign:_____________________________________

(Signature must conform in all respects

to name of Holder shown on face of this

Debenture)

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Signature Guaranteed:

Assignment of Note

The undersigned hereby sell(s) and assign(s) and transfer(s) unto



(name, address and SSN or EIN of assignee)

Dollars ($ )

 - 

(principal amount of Debenture, $10,000 or integral multiples of $10,000)

of principal amount of this Debenture together with all accrued interest hereon.

Date: Sign:

 

(Signature must conform in all respects to

name of Holder shown on face of Debenture)

Signature Guaranteed:

________________________________________________________________________________

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THIS WARRANT AND THE SHARES ISSUABLE UPON THE EXERCISE OF THIS WARRANT HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SET FORTH HEREIN OR IN A SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT DATED AS OF May 15th, 2016, NEITHER THIS WARRANT NOR ANY OF SUCH SHARES MAY BE SOLD, TRANSFERRED OR ASSIGNED IN THE ABSENCE OF AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT FOR SUCH SECURITIES UNDER SAID ACT OR, AN OPINION OF COUNSEL, IN FORM, SUBSTANCE AND SCOPE, CUSTOMARY FOR OPINIONS OF COUNSEL IN COMPARABLE TRANSACTIONS, THAT REGISTRATION IS NOT REQUIRED UNDER SUCH ACT OR UNLESS SOLD PURSUANT TO RULE 144 UNDER SUCH ACT. ANY SUCH SALE, ASSIGNMENT OR TRANSFER MUST ALSO COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

Right to Purchase 50,000,000 Shares of Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share

STOCK PURCHASE WARRANT AGREEMENT

THIS CERTIFIES THAT, for value received, Rxmm Health Pty Ltd. or its registered assigns, is entitled to purchase from Players Network, Inc. a Nevada corporation (the Company), at any time or from time to time during the period specified in Paragraph 2 hereof, Fifty Million (50,000,000) Common Shares to be vested as outlined in the Definitive Funding Agreement dated August 15th, 2016, between Players Network and Rxmm Health. After each tranche is vested the warrant become fully paid and exercisable for the purchase of non-assessable shares of the Companys Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share (the Common Stock), and the warrants will be deemed earned and available to exercise at a price as outlined in Exhibit A Strike Price and Warrant Schedule (the Exercise Price). The term Warrant Shares, as used herein, refers to the shares of Common Stock purchasable hereunder. The Warrant Shares and the Exercise Price are subject to adjustment as provided in Paragraph 4 hereof. The term Warrants means this Warrant and any other warrants that may be issued pursuant to that certain Definitive Funding Agreement dated August 15th, 2016, by and among the Company and the Buyers listed on the execution page thereof (the Definitive Funding Agreement).

This Warrant is subject to the following terms, provisions, and conditions:

1. MANNER OF EXERCISE; ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES; PAYMENT FOR SHARES. Subject to the provisions hereof, the holder may exercise this Warrant Hereof, in whole or in part, by the surrender of this Warrant, together with a Completed exercise agreement in the form attached hereto (the Exercise Agreement), to the Company during normal business hours on any business day at The Companys principal executive offices (or such other office or agency of the Company as it may designate by notice to the holder hereof), and upon (i) Payment to the Company in cash, by against the forgiveness of the convertible Debenture by certified or official bank check or by wire or a combination of the two that will transfer for the account of the Company of the Exercise Price for the Warrant Shares specified in the Exercise Agreement or (ii) if the resale of the Warrant Shares by the holder is not then registered pursuant to an effective Registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), delivery to the Company of a written notice of an election to Effect a Cashless Exercise (as defined in Section 11 (c) below) for the Warrant Shares specified in the Exercise Agreement-. The Warrant Shares so Purchased shall be deemed to be issued to the holder hereof or such holders designee, as the record owner of such shares, as of the close of business on the date on which this Warrant shall have been surrendered, the completed Exercise Agreement shall have been delivered, and payment shall have been made for such shares as set forth above. Certificates for the Warrant Shares so purchased, representing the aggregate number of shares specified in the Exercise Agreement, shall be delivered to the holder hereof within a reasonable time, not exceeding three (3) business days, after this Warrant shall have been so exercised. The certificates so delivered shall be in such denominations as may be requested by the holder hereof and shall be registered in the name of such holder or such such holder shall designate other name as. If this warrant shall have been exercised only in part, then, unless this Warrant has expired, the Company shall, at its expense, at the time of delivery of such certificates, deliver to the holder a new Warrant representing the number of shares with respect to which this Warrant shall not then have been exercised.

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Notwithstanding anything in this Warrant to the contrary, in no event shall The Holder of this Warrant is entitled to exercise a number of Warrants (or portions thereof) in excess of the number of Warrants (or portions thereof) upon exercise of which the sum of (i) the number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by the Holder and its affiliates (other than shares of Common Stock which may be deemed beneficially owned through the ownership of the unexercised Warrants and the unexercised or unconverted portion of any other securities of the Company (including the Debentures (as defined in the Definitive Funding Agreement subject to a limitation on conversion or exercise analogous to the limitation contained herein) and (ii) the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants (or portions thereof) with respect to which the determination described herein is being made, would result in beneficial ownership by the Holder and its affiliates of more than 4.9% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. For purposes of the immediately preceding sentence, beneficial ownership shall be determined in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Regulation 13D-G thereunder, except as otherwise provided in clause (i) hereof.

2. Period of Exercise. This Warrant is exercisable at any time from the time after the date on which this Warrant is issued and delivered pursuant to the terms of the Securities Purchase Agreement (the Issue Date) and before 5:00 p.m., New York City time on the second (2) anniversary of the Issue Date(the Exercise Period).

(a) CALLABLE FEATURE. Anytime during the warrant exercising period if the price of the market reaches or exceeds the strike price of the warrant by 200% for a period of 30 days, the company can demand the exercise of the outstanding warrant and converted to stock based on the attached Schedule A, Strike Price and Warrant Schedule.

3. CERTAIN AGREEMENTS OF THE COMPANY. The Company hereby covenants and agrees as follows:

(a) SHARES TO BE FULLYPAID. All Warrant Shares will, upon issuance in accordance with the terms of this Warrant, be validly issued, fully paid, and nonassessable and free from all taxes, liens, and charges with respect to the issue thereof.

(b) RESERVATION OF SHARES. During the Exercise Period, the Company shall at all times have authorized, and reserved for the purpose of issuance upon exercise of this Warrant, a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock to provide for the full exercise of this Warrant.

(c) LISTING The Company shall as soon as practicable secure the listing of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrant upon a national or international securities exchange or automated quotation system, if any, upon which shares of Common Stock are then listed (subject to official notice of issuance upon exercise of this Warrant) and shall maintain, so long as any other shares of Common Stock shall be so listed, such listing of all shares of Common Stock from time to time issuable upon the exercise of this Warrant; and the Company shall so list on a national or international securities exchange or automated quotation system, as the case may be, and shall maintain such listing of, any other shares of capital stock of the Company issuable upon the exercise of this Warrant if and so long as any shares of the same class shall be listed on such national or international securities exchange or automated quotation system.

(d) CERTAIN ACTIONS PROHIBITED. The Company will not, by amendment of its charter or through any reorganization, transfer of assets, consolidation, merger, dissolution, issue or sale of securities, or any other voluntary action, avoid or seek to avoid the observance or performance of any of the terms to be observed or performed by it hereunder, but will at all times in good faith assist in the carrying out of all the provisions of this Warrant and in the taking of all such action as may reasonably be requested by the holder of this Warrant in order to protect the exercise privilege of the holder of this Warrant against dilution or other impairment, consistent with the tenor and purpose of this Warrant. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company (i) will not increase the par value of any shares of Common Stock receivable upon the exercise of this Warrant above the Exercise Price then in effect, and (ii) will take all such actions as may be necessary or appropriate in order that the Company may validly and legally issue fully paid and non-assessable shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of this Warrant.

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(e) SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS. This Warrant will be binding upon any entity succeeding to the Company by merger, consolidation, or acquisition of all Or substantially all the Companys assets.

4. ANTIDILUTION PROVISIONS. During the Exercise Period, the Exercise Price and the number of Warrant Shares shall be subject to adjustment from time to time as provided in this Paragraph 4. In the event that any adjustment of the Exercise Price as required herein results in a fraction of a cent, such Exercise Price shall be rounded up to the nearest cent.

(a) ADJUSTMENT OF EXERCISE PRICE AND NUMBER OF SHARES UPON ISSUANCE OF COMMON STOCK. Except as otherwise provided in Paragraphs 4(c) and 4(e) hereof, if and whenever on or after the Issue Date, the Company issues or sells, or in accordance with Paragraph 4(b) hereof is deemed to have issued or sold, Any shares of Common Stock for no consideration or for a consideration per share (before deduction of reasonable expenses or commissions or underwriting discounts or allowances in connection therewith) less than 20% below the Market Price (as herein after defined) on the date of issuance (or deemed issuance) of such Common Stock (a Dilutive Issuance), then immediately upon the Dilutive Issuance, the Exercise Price will be reduced to a price determined by multiplying the Exercise Price in effect immediately prior to the Dilutive Issuance by a fraction, (i) the numerator of which is an amount equal to the sum of (x) the number of shares of Common Stock actually outstanding immediately prior to the Dilutive Issuance, plus (y) the quotient of the aggregate consideration, calculated as set forth in Paragraph 4(b) hereof, received by the Company upon such Dilutive Issuance divided by the Market Price in effect immediately prior to the Dilutive Issuance

(b) EFFECT ON EXERCISE PRICE OF CERTAIN EVENTS. For purposes of Determining the adjusted Exercise Price under Paragraph 4(a) hereof, the following will be applicable:

(I) ISSUANCE OF RIGHTS OR OPTIONS. If the Company in any manner issues or grants any warrants, rights or options, whether or not immediately exercisable, to subscribe for or to purchase Common Stock or other securities Convertible into or exchangeable for Common Stock (Convertible Securities) (Such warrants, rights and options to purchase Common Stock or Convertible Securities are hereinafter referred to as Options) and the price per share for which Common Stock is issuable upon the exercise of such Options is less than 20% of the Market Price on the date of issuance or grant of such Options, then the maximum total number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of all such Options will, as of the date of the issuance or grant of such Options, be deemed to be outstanding and to have been issued and sold by the Company for such price per share. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the price per share for which Common Stock is issuable upon the exercise of such Options is determined by dividing (i) the total amount, if any, received or receivable by the Company as consideration for the issuance or granting of all such Options, plus the minimum aggregate amount of additional consideration, if any, payable to the Company upon the exercise of all such Options, plus, in the case of Convertible Securities issuable upon the exercise of such Options, the minimum aggregate amount of additional consideration payable upon the conversion or exchange thereof at the time such Convertible Securities first become convertible or exchangeable, by (ii) the Maximum total number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of all such Options (assuming full conversion of Convertible Securities, if applicable). No further adjustment to the Exercise Price will be made upon the actual issuance of such Common Stock upon the exercise of such Options or upon the conversion or exchange of Convertible Securities issuable upon exercise of such Options.

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(ii) ISSUANCE OF CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES. If the Company in any Manner issues or sells any Convertible Securities, whether or not immediately Convertible (other than where the same are issuable upon the exercise of Options) and the price per share for which Common Stock is issuable upon such Conversion or exchange is less than 20% below the Market Price on the date of issuance of Such Convertible Securities, then the maximum total number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion or exchange of all such Convertible Securities will, as of the date of the issuance of such Convertible Securities, be deemed to be outstanding and to have been issued and sold by the Company for such price per share. For the purposes of the preceding sentence, the price per share for which Common Stock is issuable upon such conversion or exchange determined by dividing (i) the total amount, if any, received or receivable by the Company as consideration for the issuance or sale of all such Convertible Securities, plus the minimum aggregate amount of additional consideration, if any, payable to the Company upon the conversion or exchange thereof at the time such Convertible Securities first become convertible or exchangeable, by (ii) the maximum total number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion or exchange of all such Convertible Securities. No further adjustment to the Exercise Price will be made upon the actual issuance of such Common Stock upon conversion or exchange of such Convertible Securities.

(iii) CHANGE IN OPTION PRICE OR CONVERSION RATE. If there is a Change at any time in (I) the amount of additional consideration payable to the Company upon the exercise of any Options; (ii) the amount of additional consideration, if any, payable to the Company upon the conversion or exchange of any Convertible Securities; or (iii) the rate at which any Convertible Securities are convertible into or exchangeable for Common Stock (other than under or by reason of provisions designed to protect against dilution), the Exercise Price in effect at the time of such change will be readjusted to the Exercise Price which would have been in effect at such time had such Options or Convertible Securities still outstanding provided for such changed additional consideration or changed conversion rate, as the case may be, at the time initially granted, issued or sold.

(v) CALCULATION OF CONSIDERATION RECEIVED. If any Common Stock, Options or Convertible Securities are issued, granted or sold for cash, the consideration received therefor for purposes of this Warrant will be the amount Received by the Company therefor, before deduction of reasonable commissions, Underwriting discounts or allowances or other reasonable expenses paid or Incurred by the Company in connection with such issuance, grant or sale. In case Any Common Stock, Options or Convertible Securities are issued or sold for a Consideration part or all of which shall be other than cash, the amount of the Consideration other than cash received by the Company will be the fair value of Such consideration, except where such consideration consists of securities, in Which case the amount of consideration received by the Company will be the Market Price thereof as of the date of receipt. In case any Common Stock, Options or Convertible Securities are issued in connection with any acquisition, Merger or consolidation in which the Company is the surviving corporation, the Amount of consideration therefor will be deemed to be the fair value of such Portion of the net assets and business of the non-surviving corporation as is Attributable to such Common Stock, Options or Convertible -Securities, as the Case may be. The fair value of any consideration other than cash or securities Will be determined in good faith by the Board of Directors of the Company.

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(vi) EXCEPTIONS-TO ADJUSTMENT OF EXERCISE PRICE. No adjustment to the Exercise Price will be made (I) upon the exercise of any warrants, options Or convertible -securities granted, issued and outstanding on the date of issuance of this Warrant; (ii) upon the grant or exercise of any stock or options which may hereafter be granted or exercised under any employee benefit plan of the Company now existing or to be implemented in the future, so long as the issuance of such stock or options is approved by a majority of the independent members of the Board of Directors of the Company or a majority of the members of a committee of independent directors established for such purpose; (iii) upon the exercise of the Warrants; or (iv) upon the issuance of shares of Common Stock in connection with the Companys acquisitions.

(c) SUBDIVISION OR COMBINATION OF COMMON STOCK. If the Company at any time subdivides (by any stock split, stock dividend, recapitalization, Reorganization, reclassification or otherwise) the shares of Common Stock Acquirable hereunder into a greater number of shares, then, after the date of Record for effecting such subdivision, the Exercise Price in effect immediately Prior to such subdivision will be proportionately reduced. If the Company at any Time combines (by reverse stock split, recapitalization, reorganization, Reclassification or otherwise) the shares of Common Stock acquirable hereunder Into a smaller number of shares, then, after the date of record for effecting Such combination, the Exercise Price in effect immediately prior to such Combination will be proportionately increased.

(d) ADJUSTMENT IN NUMBER OF SHARES. Upon each adjustment of the Exercise Price pursuant to the provisions of this Paragraph 4, the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Warrant shall be adjusted by multiplying a number equal to the Exercise Price in effect immediately prior to such adjustment by the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and dividing the product so obtained by the adjusted Exercise Price.

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(e) CONSOLIDATION, MERGER OR SALE. In case of any consolidation of any sale or conveyance of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company other than in connection with a plan of complete liquidation of the Company, then as a condition of such consolidation, merger or sale or conveyance, adequate provision will be made whereby the holder of this Warrant will have the right to acquire and receive upon exercise of this Warrant in lieu of the shares of Common Stock immediately theretofore acquirable upon the exercise of this Warrant, such shares of stock, securities or assets as may be issued or payable with respect to or in exchange for the number of shares of Common Stock immediately theretofore acquirable and receivable upon exercise of this Warrant had such consolidation, merger or sale or conveyance not taken place. In any such case, the Company will make appropriate provision to insure that the provisions of this Paragraph 4 hereof will thereafter be applicable as nearly as may be in relation to any shards of stock or securities thereafter deliverable upon the exercise of this warrant. The Company will not effect any consolidation, merger or sale or conveyance unless prior to the consummation thereof, the successor corporation (if other than the Company) assumes by written instrument the obligations under this Paragraph 4 and the obligations to deliver to the holder of this Warrant such shares of stock, securities or assets as, in accordance with the foregoing provisions, the holder may be entitled to acquire.

(f) DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS. In case the Company shall declare or make any distribution of its assets (including cash) to holders of Common Stock as a partial liquidating dividend, by way of return of capital or otherwise, then, after the date of record for determining stockholders entitled to such distribution, but prior to the date of distribution, the holder of this Warrant shall be entitled upon exercise of this Warrant for the purchase of any or all of the shares of Common Stock subject hereto, to receive the amount of such assets which would have been payable to the holder had such holder been the holder of such shares of Common Stock on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to such distribution.

(g) NOTICE OF ADJUSTMENT. Upon the occurrence of any event which Requires any adjustment of the Exercise Price, then, and in each such case, the Company shall give notice thereof to the holder of this Warrant, which notice shall state the Exercise Price resulting from such adjustment and the increase or decrease in the number of Warrant Shares purchasable at such price upon exercise, setting forth in reasonable detail the method of calculation and the facts upon which such calculation is based. The chief financial officer of the Company shall certify such calculation.

(h) MINIMUM ADJUSTMENT OF EXERCISE PRICE. No adjustment of the Exercise Price shall be made in an amount of less than I% of the Exercise Price in effect at the time such adjustment is otherwise required to be made, but any such lesser adjustment shall be carried forward and shall be made at the time and together with the next subsequent adjustment which, together with any adjustments so carried forward, shall amount to not less than 1% of such Exercise Price.

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OTHER NOTICES. In case at any time:

(I) The Company shall declare any dividend upon the Common Stock payable in shares of stock of any class or make any other distribution (including dividends or distributions payable in cash out of retained earnings) to the holders of the Common Stock;

(ii) The Company shall offer for subscription pro rata to the holders of the Common Stock any additional shares of stock of any class or other rights;

(iii) There shall be any capital reorganization of the Company, or reclassification of the Common Stock, or consolidation or merger of the Company with or into, or sale of all or substantially all its assets to, another corporation or entity; or

(iv) There shall be a voluntary or involuntary dissolution, liquidation or winding-up of the Company; then, in each such case, the Company shall give to the holder of this Warrant (a) notice of the date on which the books of the Company shall close or a record shall be taken for determining the holders of Common Stock entitled to receive any such dividend, distribution, or subscription rights or for determining the holders of Common Stock entitled to vote in respect of any such reorganization, reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, dissolution, liquidation or winding up and (b) in the case of any such reorganization, reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, dissolution, liquidation or winding-up, notice of the date (or, if not then known, a reasonable approximation thereof by the Company) when the same shall take place. Such notice shall also specify the date on which the holders of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive such dividend, distribution, or subscription rights or to exchange their Common Stock for stock or other securities or property deliverable upon such reorganization, reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, dissolution, liquidation, or winding-up, as the case may be. Such notice shall be given at least 30 days prior to the record date or the date on which the Companys books are closed in respect thereto. Failure to give any such notice or any defect therein shall not affect the validity of the proceedings referred to in clauses (I), (ii), (iii) and (iv) above.

(k) Certain Events. If any event occurs of the type contemplated by the adjustment provisions of this Paragraph 4 but not expressly provided for by such provisions, the Company will give notice of such event as provided in Paragraph 4(g) hereof, and the Companys Board of Directors will make an appropriate adjustment in the Exercise Price and the number of shares of Common Stock acquirable upon exercise of this Warrant so that the rights of the Holder shall be neither enhanced nor diminished by such event.

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(1) CERTAIN DEFINITIONS.

(I) COMMON STOCK DEEMED OUTSTANDING shall mean the number of Shares of Common Stock actually outstanding (not including shares of Common Stock held in the treasury of the Company), plus (x) pursuant to Paragraph 4(b) (I) hereof, the maximum total number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon The exercise of Options, as of the date of such issuance or grant of such Options, if any, and (y) pursuant to Paragraph 4(b)(ii) hereof, the maximum Total number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion or exchange of Convertible Securities, as of the date of issuance of such Convertible Securities, if any.

(ii) MARKET PRICE, as of any date, (I) mean the average of the last reported sale prices for the shares of Common Stock on the OTC Markets (the OTC ) for the five (5) trading days immediately preceding such date as reported by I Bloomberg, L.P. (Bloomberg), or (ii) if the OTC is not the principal trading market for the shares of Common Stock, the average of the last reported sale prices on the principal trading market for the Common Stock during the same period as reported by Bloomberg, or (iii) if market value cannot be calculated as of such date on any of the foregoing bases, the Market Price shall be the fair market value as reasonably determined in good faith by (a) the Board of Directors of the Corporation or, at the option of a majority-in-interest of the holders of the outstanding Warrants by (b) an independent investment bank of nationally recognized standing in the valuation of businesses similar to the business of the corporation

(iii) COMMON STOCK, for purposes of this Paragraph 4, includes the Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share, and any additional class of stock of the Company having no preference as to dividends or distributions on liquidation, provided that the shares purchasable pursuant to this Warrant shall include only shares of Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share, in respect of which this Warrant is exercisable, or shares resulting from any subdivision or combination of such Common Stock, or in the case of any reorganization, reclassification, consolidation, merger, or sale of the character referred to in Paragraph 4(e) hereof, the stock or other securities or property provided for in such Paragraph.

5. ISSUE TAX. The issuance of certificates for Warrant Shares upon the exercise Of this Warrant shall be made without charge to the holder of this Warrant or such shares for any issuance tax or other costs in respect thereof, provided that the Company shall not be required to pay any tax which may be payable in respect of any transfer involved in the issuance and delivery of any certificate in a name other than the holder of this Warrant.

6. NO RIGHTS OR LIABILITIES AS A SHAREHOLDER. This Warrant shall Not entitle the holder hereof to any voting rights or other rights as a shareholder of the Company. No provision of this Warrant, in the absence of affirmative action by the holder hereof to purchase Warrant Shares, and no mere enumeration herein of the rights or privileges of the holder hereof, shall give rise to any liability of such holder for the Exercise Price or as a shareholder of the Company, whether such liability is asserted by the Company or by creditors of the Company.

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7. TRANSFERS, EXCHANGE, AND REPLACEMENT OF WARRANT.

(a) RESTRICTION ON TRANSFER. This Warrant and the rights granted to The holder hereof is transferable, in whole or in part, upon surrender of this Warrant, together with a properly executed assignment in the form attached Hereto, at the office or agency of the Company referred to in Paragraph 7(e) Below, provided, however, that any transfer or assignment shall be subject to The conditions set forth in Paragraph 7(f) hereof and to the applicable provisions of the Securities Purchase Agreement. Until due presentment for registration of transfer on the books of the Company, the Company may treat the registered holder hereof as the. Any notice shall not affect owner and holder hereof for all purposes, and the Company to the contrary. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the registration rights described in Paragraph 8 are assignable only in accordance with the provisions of that certain Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of March 31, 1999, by and among the Company and the other signatories thereto (the Registration Rights Agreement.).

(b) WARRANT EXCHANGEABLE FOR DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS. This Warrant is exchangeable, upon the surrender hereof by the holder hereof at the office or Agency of the Company referred to in Paragraph 7(e) below, for new Warrants of Like tenor representing in the aggregate the right to purchase the number of shares of Common Stock, which may be purchased hereunder, each of such new warrants to represent the right to purchase such number of shares as shall be Designated by the holder hereof at the time of such surrender.

(e) REPLACEMENT OF WARRANT Upon receipt of evidence reasonably Satisfactory to the Company of the loss, theft, destruction, or mutilation of This Warrant and, in the case of any such loss, theft, or destruction, upon Delivery of an indemnity agreement reasonably satisfactory in form and amount to The Company, or, in the case of any such mutilation, upon surrender and Cancellation of this Warrant, the Company, at its expense, will execute and Deliver, in lieu thereof, a new Warrant of like tenor.

(d) CANCELLATION, PAYMENT OF EXPENSES. Upon the surrender of this Warrant in connection with any transfer, exchange, or replacement as provided in This Paragraph 7, this Warrant shall be promptly canceled by the Company. The Company shall pay all taxes (other than securities transfer taxes) and all other Expenses (other than legal expenses, if any, incurred by the Holder or transferees) and charges payable in connection with the preparation, execution, and delivery of Warrants pursuant to this Paragraph 7.

(e) REGISTER. The Company shall maintain, at its principal executive offices (or such other office or agency of the Company as it may designate by notice to the holder hereof), a register for this Warrant, in which the Company shall record the name and address of the person in whose name this Warrant has been issued, as well as the name and address of each transferee and each prior owner of this Warrant.

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(f) EXERCISE OR TRANSFER WITHOUT REGISTRATION. If, at the Time of the surrender of this Warrant in connection with any exercise, transfer, or exchange of this Warrant, this Warrant (or, in the case of any exercise, the Warrant Shares issuable hereunder), shall not be registered under the Securities Act and under applicable state securities or blue sky laws, the Company may require, as a condition of allowing such exercise, transfer, or exchange, (I) that the holder or transferee of this Warrant, as the case may be, famish to the Company a written opinion of counsel, which opinion and counsel are acceptable to the Company, to the effect that such exercise, transfer, or exchange may be made without registration under the Securities Act and under applicable state securities or blue sky laws, (ii) that the holder or transferee execute and deliver to the Company an investment letter in form and substance acceptable to the Company and (iii) that the transferee be an accredited investor as defined in Rule 5 0 1 (a) promulgated under the Securities Act; provided that no such opinion, letter or status as an accredited investor shall be required in connection with a transfer pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act. The first holder of this Warrant, by taking and holding the same, represents to the Company that such holder is acquiring this Warrant for investment and not with a View to the distribution thereof

8. REGISTRATION RIGHTS. The initial holder of this Warrant (and certain assignees thereof) is not entitled to the benefit of such registration rights in respect of the Warrant Shares, and is limited in the resale thereof subject to Rule 144 as above.

9. NOTICES. All notices, requests, and other communications required or permitted to be given or delivered hereunder to the holder of this Warrant shall be in writing, and shall be personally delivered, or shall be sent by certified or registered mail or by recognized overnight mail courier, postage prepaid and addressed, to such holder at the address shown for such holder on the books of the Company, or at such other address as shall have been famished to the Company by notice from such holder. All notices, requests, and other communications required or permitted to be given or delivered hereunder to the Company shall be in writing, and shall be personally delivered, or shall be sent by certified or registered mail or by recognized overnight mail courier, postage prepaid and addressed, to the office of the Company at 1771 east Flamingo Rd 201a, Las Vegas Nevada 89119. Attention: Chief Executive Officer at such other address as shall have been famished to the holder of this Warrant by notice from the Company. Any such notice, request, or other communication may be sent by Facsimile, but shall in such case be subsequently confirmed by a writing personally delivered or sent by certified or registered mail or by recognized overnight mail courier as provided above. All notices, requests, and other communications shall be deemed to have been given either at the time of the receipt thereof by the person entitled to receive such notice at the address of such person for purposes of this Paragraph 9, or, if mailed by registered or certified mail or with a recognized overnight mail courier upon deposit with the United States Post Office or such overnight mail courier, if postage is prepaid and the mailing is properly addressed, as the case may be.

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10. GOVERNING LAW. This Warrant shall be governed by and construed In accordance with the laws of the State of Nevada applicable to contracts made and to be performed in the State of Nevada (without regard to principles of conflict of laws). The Company and the holder irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of the United States federal courts and the state courts located in Delaware in any suit or proceeding based on or arising under this Warrant, the agreements entered into in connection herewith or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby and irrevocably *agree that all claims in respect of such suit or proceeding may be determine in such courts. The Company and the holder irrevocably waive the defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of such suit or proceeding. The Company and the holder further agree that service of process upon a party mailed by party in any such suit or proceeding. Nothing herein shall affect the right of the Company or the holder hereof to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. The Company and the holder agree that a final non-appealable judgment in any such suit or proceeding shall be conclusive and may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on such judgment or in any other lawful manner.

11. MISCELLANEOUS.

(a) AMENDMENTS. This Warrant and any provision hereof may only amended by an instrument in writing signed by the Company and the holder hereof.

(b) DESCRIPTIVE HEADINGS. The descriptive headings of the several paragraphs of this Warrant are inserted for purposes of reference only, and shall not affect the meaning or construction of any of the provisions hereof

(c) CASHLESS EXERCISE. Warrants can be exercised in part as forgiveness of the Convertible Debenture Agreement, without cash Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Warrant, if the resale of the Warrant Shares by the holder is not then registered pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act. Any amount of the value of the warrant that exceeds the amount of the value of the Debenture pay off is due in cash. This Warrant may be exercised by presentation and surrender of this Warrant to the Company at its principal executive offices with a written notice of the holders intention to effect a cashless exercise, including a calculation of the number of shares of Common Stock to be issued upon such exercise in accordance with the terms hereof (a Cashless Exercise). In the event of a Cashless Exercise, in lieu of paying the Exercise Price in cash, the holder shall surrender this Warrant for that number of shares of Common Stock determined by multiplying the number of Warrant Shares to which it would otherwise be entitled by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the difference between the then current Market Price per share of the Common Stock and the Exercise Price, and the denominator of which shall be the then current Market Price per share of Common Stock.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Warrant to be signed by its

duly authorized officer.

Players Network Inc. By: Mark Bradley Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dated as of August 15th, 2016

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FORM OF EXERCISE AGREEMENT

Dated: July 21th 2016

To: Rxmm Health, Inc.

The undersigned, pursuant to the provisions set forth in the within Warrant, hereby agrees to purchase 50,000,000 shares of Common Stock covered by such Warrant, and makes payment herewith in full therefor at the price per share provided by such Warrant in cash or by certified or official bank check in the amount of, or, if the resale of such Common Stock by the undersigned is not currently registered pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, by surrender of securities issued by the Company (including a portion of the Warrant) having a market value (in the case of a portion of this Warrant, determined in accordance with Section 1 l(c) of the Warrant) equal to $ ____________. Please issue a certificate or certificates for such shares of Common Stock in the name of and pay any cash for any fractional share to:

Name: _______________________

Signature: __________________

Address: ____________________

____________________

Note: The above signature should correspond Exactly with the name on the face of the within Warrant, and, if said number of shares of Common Stock shall not be all the shares purchasable under the within Warrant, a new Warrant is to be issued in the name of said undersigned covering the balance of the shares purchasable thereunder less any fraction of a share paid in cash.

FORM OF ASSIGNMENT

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, the undersigned hereby sells, assigns, and transfers all the rights of the undersigned under the within Warrant, with respect to the number of shares of Common Stock covered thereby set forth herein below, to:

Name of Assignee Address No of Shares

___________________________ ________________________ ___________

___________________________ _________________________

, and hereby irrevocably constitutes and appoints _______________________as agent and attorney-in-fact to transfer said Warrant on the books of the within-named corporation, with full power of substitution in the premises.

Dated: ______ __,20____

In the presence of:

__________________

Name: __________________

Signature: __________________

Title of Signing Officer or Agent (if any):

Address: __________________

__________________

Note: The above signature should correspond exactly with the name on the face of the within Warrant.

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EXHIBIT A

Strike Price and Warrant Schedule

RxMM will be granted with the following warrants, which shall be issued at each funding milestone amount described in the table below. The warrant exercise price is defined in the table below and the timing of exercise shall be tied to the Companys share price based on a fourteen-day (14) trailing average basis.

Unless the Warrants are called by the company, RxMM reserves the right to convert part or the entire debenture into the warrant exercise price with any residual balance including interest to be repaid by the Company at Term.

The Warrants are callable if the stock averages 200% of the warrant strike price for any thirty days (30) trading period. As an example, if the stock is trading at 0.08 the Company can call the .0.04 warrants. RxMM would then have 10 days to exercise these warrants. After exercise of all warrants below any remaining principal and accrued interest could be converted into stock at a 25% discount to market and any excess over the amount of interest will be paid in cash.

Debenture Funding Milestone Warrants & Exercise Price Details $400,000 10 million at $0.05 for 2 years $401,000 - $800,000 15 million at $0.06 for 2 years $800,001 - $1,600,000 15 million at $0.07 for 2 years $1,600,001 - $2,500,000 10 million at $0.08 for 2 years
Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee today welcomed the signing of a contract to upgrade the Royal New Zealand Air Force Underwater, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capability on our six Orion aircraft with Boeing for a total of $36 million.

Mr Brownlee says having an underwater surveillance capability deters interference with the sea lines of communication that New Zealand and many of its friends rely on for trade purposes.

Knowing what is happening underwater is integral to monitoring submarine activity, Mr Brownlee says.

This is particularly important in the Asia-Pacific region which is home to two-thirds of the worlds submarines.

The current Orion systems are old and have become less reliable.

I am pleased that New Zealand businesses Safe Air, Beca and Marops Limited will also be involved in supporting this acquisition through its life, with around 25 per cent of the value of the contract being spent with these companies.

The recently released 2016 Defence White Paper confirmed the importance of the New Zealand Defence Force having capabilities to cope with the realities of a complex and changing strategic environment, and to enable it to operate across a broad spectrum of geographic and operating environments.

Work is already underway within Defence on the Future Air Surveillance Capability project which will select a replacement for the Orion aircraft, which is due to retire from service in the mid-2020s.

Source: Office of Gerry Brownlee.
Government agencies will not ask for fines to be paid by iTunes or other vouchers, says Detective Senior Sergeant Iain Chapman.

Unfortunately, these calls are now being made to look like they are coming from New Zealand numbers, including those associated with Government departments such as police.



Detective Senior Sergeant Iain Chapman says iTunes and other vouchers are not a form of payment for fines.

While these numbers may show a New Zealand number, they are in fact coming from overseas.

Iain says police are seeing a huge numbers of these calls coming through, with over 900,000 calls showing as coming from one New Zealand number over the months of June and July.

Its really important to remember that Government agencies will never require or ask you to pay a fine by using an iTunes voucher.

If you get a call from someone saying you need to pay a fine by iTunes vouchers, Polices advice is just to hang up.

A wide range of the public are being targeted through these calls, including the elderly.

If you do have family members or relatives who are not technologically savvy, we do ask that you have a chat with them about this so they do not fall victim to this type of scam says Iain.

If you do have outstanding fines and are concerned, you should find the contact details of the organisation from the phone book or their website and use the generic number listed.
Dr. Ryan Magnuson joins Crouse Hospital as a member of Critical Care Associates in the ICU.

Previously, he served as medical director of the Acute Medical Care Inpatient Unit at Strong Memorial Hospital.

He served as senior instructor in the department of medicine, and completed his fellowship in critical care medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Magnuson received his medical degree from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine, and completed his internship and residency at University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Conn.
Camillus inland port 2.JPG

CSX railroad tracks near Airport Road in Camillus lead to an industrial waste bed that is being eyed for a proposed inland cargo port.

(Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)

Camillus, N.Y.  Planners of an inland cargo port are looking at an industrial waste bed in Camillus as an alternative site to an abandoned Jamesville quarry where neighbors have fought development plans.

Camillus Town Supervisor Mary Ann Coogan said engineers and officials associated with the project showed her conceptual plans for a cargo loading and off-loading facility at a former Allied Chemical site known as waste bed No. 12.

The site is south of CSX railroad tracks, between Route 695 and Airport Road. Created in 1968, it contains industrial waste, primarily calcium carbonate, from Allied's soda ash manufacturing operations in nearby Geddes, which closed in 1986.

She said the site is one of six sites, including the abandoned quarry in Jamesville and a CSX rail yard in Manlius, that are being studied as part of a required review of the project's potential environmental impacts.

However, Coogan said engineers from C&S Cos., the engineering firm preparing the environmental impact report, told her the waste bed in Camillus is the preferred site for the cargo facility because it:

An old Allied Chemical industrial waste site known as waste bed No. 12 in Camillus is outlined in red in this aerial photo. The site is being considered for an inland cargo port. (Click for a larger view.)



 Is isolated from residential areas, a big plus in light of the opposition that the Jamesville site has run into.

 Is located next to a railroad line.

 Has plenty of acreage for loading and off-loading cargo from freight trains and for associated warehousing and manufacturing facilities.

 Can be accessed from Pumphouse Road, which runs off the ramp from Interstate 690 to Route 695.

 Presents an opportunity to turn a polluted property into an economic engine with the potential to create hundreds of jobs.



"They felt this was the best site," she said.

The Port of Oswego Authority is developing plans for the port in conjunction with the state Department of Transportation and is the lead agency in charge of preparing the environmental impact statement.

Port of Oswego Executive Director and CEO Zelko Kirincich said he could not comment on the Camillus site until a draft of the environment impact report is released.

Mary Ann Coogan

Gary Holmes, director of communications for the Department of Transportation, also declined to comment on the site.

"The draft environmental impact statement for the inland port project is still in development," he said in response to an inquiry from syracuse.com. "Until the DEIS is complete, no site can be selected and we can't comment on potential locations."

Coogan said Port of Oswego officials contacted her about the site this spring and showed her a PowerPoint presentation depicting a cargo facility at the site. The plans showed a cargo loading and off-loading facility on the north side of the CSX tracks and a site for warehousing and manufacturing facilities to the south of the tracks, she said.

She said she toured the site with C&S engineers in late spring and again a few weeks later with Kirincich, CenterState President Robert Simpson and a representative from Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's office.

The waste bed is owned by Allied's successor, Honeywell International Inc., and sits next to another waste bed (No. 13) where Honeywell recently dumped dredge material from Onondaga Lake.

A sign warns against trespassing on CSX railroad property off Armstrong Road in Camillus. Planners of a proposed inland cargo port are eyeing an industrial waste bed next to CSX tracks in Camillus as a site for the project.

Camillus officials unsuccessfully opposed the dumping of the dredge material, but Coogan said she and the rest of the Camillus Town Council would support the development of waste bed No. 12 into an inland port if it is selected.

"It's a great project," she said. "We're all on board."

The Port of Oswego Authority last year proposed building the cargo facility at an abandoned 225-acre quarry on the north side of Interstate 481 in Jamesville. Modeled after the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, Va., the facility would serve as a logistics hub for cargo brought in by ship to the heavily congested Port of New York and New Jersey and transported by rail to Jamesville.

Proponents said the facility could create as many as 2,000 jobs in warehousing and manufacturing plants that companies would build near the facility to reduce transportation costs.

The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council, one of 10 regional economic development councils created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, included plans for the facility in its successful bid for $500 million in state funding under the governor's Upstate Revitalization Initiative.

However, residents of the hamlet of Jamesville to the south of the old quarry have opposed the project, fearing it would generate significantly more train traffic through their community.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
STEUBEN, N.Y. -- A teenage bicyclist was seriously injured Monday afternoon after he was hit by a milk truck in Oneida County.

Christopher R. Welch, 17, of Barneveld, was riding his bike near 9516 Route 274 in Steuben around 2:50 p.m. when he was hit by a milk tanker truck, said the Oneida County Sheriff's Office.

Brenda L. Brouty, 43, of Carthage, was starting to back the 2003 Peterbilt milk tanker into a farm's driveway when she heard a "loud noise," deputies said. When she got out of her truck to investigate the sound, Brouty found an injured Welch and a damaged bike, deputies said.

Welch -- who was wearing a helmet -- was on the ground behind the truck suffering from head and leg injuries, deputies said. His bicycle was under one of the truck's raised axles, deputies said.

Brouty called 911.

Welch was airlifted by Mercy Flight to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Utica. He was later airlifted from the Utica hospital to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he was listed in critical condition, deputies said.

Brouty was ticketed for not having reverse lights or an audible, working alarm, deputies said.

In addition to deputies and Mercy Flight, members of the Holland Patent Fire Department, Prospect Ambulance and New York State Police's Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit responded to the accident.
City road authority considers removing English content from traffic signboards

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-08-23 12:34

LOCAL authorities are canvassing opinions from local residents over the necessity to remove English road names on local traffic signboards.

The poll was led by Shanghai Road Administration Bureau prior to their actions to create the city's new traffic signs standards in order to improve the service.

In Shanghai, most of the traffic signs have road or area names on them in both Chinese and English. But the English road names are mostly in Pinyin. Wang Weifeng, the bureaus division chief, said such English versions of road names are not quite useful, Wenhui Daily reported.

Once the English versions are deleted, there would be more room to enlarge the Chinese characters to make them more recognizableto the drivers and others, Wang said.

Of course we will keep the English-Chinese traffic signs around some special areas, such as the tourism spots, CBD areas and some transport hubs, Wang said.

The bureau said it would come up with a final decision whether to remove the English information completely or not from traffic signs based on the result of the poll and as well as suggestions from traffic experts.

Locals are invited to log onto the website https://sojump.com/jq/9258608.aspxto give their vote. The website is in Chinese only. The poll ends on August 30.
S. Korea urges Japan to stop distorting history on 'comfort women'

2016-08-23 16:33

SEOUL - South Korea on Tuesday urged Japan to stop distorting a historical fact on "comfort women," a euphemism for Korean women forced into sexual servitude for Japanese military brothels before and during World War II.

Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a press briefing that the forcible recruitment of "comfort women" is an undeniable historical fact that the international community has already confirmed definitely.

His comments came as Japan's foreign ministry posted the comments, made in February by then Japan's deputy foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama, on its website.

Sugiyama said during the February session in Geneva of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that no documents had been found to confirm that the "comfort women" were forcibly recruited by Japanese military or government.

His claim drew strong criticism from neighboring countries, including South Korea, as Korean people suffered from numerous atrocities, including forced labor for Japanese munitions factories and sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels, under the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule.

In December last year, Seoul and Tokyo reached a "final and irreversible" agreement on the protracted dispute over the "comfort women," but Japan has denied the forcible recruitment of Korean women into sexual slavery.

Cho urged the Japanese government to refrain from words and deeds that could impair the spirit of the December agreement, calling for concerted efforts to restore the honor of dignity of the "comfort women" victims and heal their scars.
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Joshua Bartlett, 24, 5000 block of Southeast Jack Avenue, Stuart; possession of a controlled substance (psilocybin mushrooms).

Jamika Meeks, 20, Riviera Beach; warrant for accessory after the fact.

Javon Thomas, 26, 100 block of Carol Susan Lane, Fort Pierce; possession of marijuana over 20 grams; possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone hydrochloride).

Olga Castro, 40, Miami; out-of-county warrants, Broward County, criminal use of personal I.D. information, uttering a forged credit card, possession of an unlawful driver's license.

Terrence Moses, 21, 300 block of Southwest Tulip Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (domestic).

Tiffany Howk, 24, 4300 block of Southeast Chesapeake Bay Drive, Stuart; possession of hydromorphone with intent to sell.

Joseph Glenn, 55, no street address, Fort Pierce; warrant for fugitive from justice, Harrison County, Mississippi, possession of a counterfeit controlled substance, false representation.

Joseph Cannon, 28, 1200 block of Southwest Buckskin Trail, Stuart; warrant for battery, prior conviction. Arrested in St. Lucie County.

John Sikorsky, 26, 1000 block of Northeast Railroad Avenue, Jensen Beach; burglary of an occupied dwelling while unarmed; larceny/grand theft. Arrested in St. Lucie County.
By Will Greenlee and Laurie K. Blandford of TCPalm

MARTIN COUNTY  Jeff Fisher, stabbed as he tried to help his neighbors during a deadly attack last week, is recovering from his wounds and is handling it pretty well, his father said Tuesday.

Physically, I think hes going to be fine, said Fishers father, Steve Fisher. How he deals with it other than that is going to be up to him.

The younger Fisher called 911 the evening of Aug. 15 after investigators say Austin Harrouff, 19, stabbed him as he came to help his across-the-street neighbors, John Stevens III, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53, at their home on Southeast Kokomo Lane. Harrouff is accused of fatally stabbing Stevens and Mishcon in what Sheriff William Snyder described as an apparent random and unprovoked attack.

Harrouff, a Florida State University student, has been hospitalized ever since the incident, and he remained stable Tuesday but in critical condition at St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Snyder said Harrouff may have ingested caustic chemicals in the garage of the couples home.

Steve Fisher, 67, said his son was good friends with Stevens and Mishcon.

Hes handling it pretty well considering what he went through and what he saw, Steve Fisher said. Probably 90 percent better than most people would deal with it. Pretty strong-minded guy.

Steve Fisher said his son called 911, and his sons wife called him. Steve Fisher, who lives in the Jupiter area, said he arrived at the scene in southern Martin County before sheriffs deputies.

Steve Fisher said his son has a younger brother and a younger sister, who is a Palm Beach County sheriffs deputy.

He said his son is not ready to talk about the experience.And he may never, Steve Fisher said.

While Snyder called Jeff Fisher a hero, Steve Fisher said his son just was trying to help two good friends to save their lives.

Steve Fisher said his son, who was released Aug. 18 from St. Marys, went to the doctor for an MRI on Monday and has about 60 staples in his body after the knife wounds.

He said his son is a general contractor who graduated from FSU and got a masters degree in business administration from the University of South Florida. He is married and has a daughter.

Jeff Fishers wife is holding up pretty good, Steve Fisher said.

Detectives are waiting for Harrouff to become more awake and alert to interview him, said sheriffs spokeswoman Trisha Kukuvka. They havent been able to get a statement from him because he was on a breathing tube in a medicated state.

Doctors at St. Marys said he could be discharged this week if his health improves, she said. After hes cleared to leave, Harrouff will be arrested on first-degree murder and other charges.

On Tuesday, sheriffs officials released police scanner transmission from Aug. 15, the night of the attack.

The first deputy on scene initially was told she was responding to a report of a stabbing. The deputy can be heard telling dispatch Fire Rescue crews couldnt go in the house yet.

Ive got this guy wrapped around him, said the deputy, and hes biting him.

Yelling could be heard in the background as more deputies arrived at the scene.

It took multiple deputies, a police K-9 and a Taser to take down Harrouff, Snyder said. Deputies didnt shoot him because they were afraid the gunfire would go through Harrouff and into Stevens, Snyder said, and they didnt know at the time Stevens was dead.

We used a lot of force, Snyder said. They did the very best they could.

Snyder isnt yet releasing the names of the three deputies primarily at the scene, but he said they are back to work and never took time off.

They didnt kill anybody; they got into a bad fight, Snyder said. When you take this job, you sign on the dotted line, and you get called to do some things that are pretty gruesome.
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David Blackburn, 29, 1200 block of Heron Avenue, Fort Pierce; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.

Cody Johns-grose, 19, 500 block of Gregory Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for court order, revocation of release on own recognizance, possession of diazepam/alprazolam.

Steven Ridge, 31, 1200 block of Heron Avenue, Fort Pierce; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.

Andrew Gonzalez, 27, 6900 block of Northwest Kowal Court, Port St. Lucie; warrant for corrected order to revoke bond, sale/manufacture/deliver or possession with intent to sell/manufacture/deliver marijuana, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana.

Dhanrajie Harrington, 46, 2800 block of Southeast Melaleuca Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; warrant for fraudulent use of a credit card.

Michael Vecchio, 29, no street address/city; warrant for child abuse by intentional infliction of mental or physical injury  act of domestic violence in the presence of a child under the age of 16.

Joseph Cannon, 28, 1200 block of Southwest Buckskin Trail, Stuart; warrant for battery, prior conviction.

Edson Sainnatus, 19, 2600 block of South 10th Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for court order to revoke bond, inciting a riot.

Juan Cruz, 32, North Miami Beach; out-of-county warrants, Broward County, burglary of an unoccupied structure, grand theft.

Nashaunn Esquivel, 33, 6400 block of North U.S. 1, Fort Pierce; burglary with assault and battery.

John Sikorsky, 26, 1000 block of Northeast Railroad Avenue, Jensen Beach; burglary of an occupied dwelling while unarmed; larceny/grand theft.

Sean Vanburen, 26, Riviera Beach; out-of-county warrant, Palm Beach County, burglary of a conveyance, resisting an officer without violence.

Danielle Waldron, 22, 200 block of Southwest Starfish Avenue, Port St. Lucie; court order for revocation of release on own recognizance, uttering a forged instrument.

Jasmine Clark, 21, 1200 block of North 16th Street, Fort Pierce; re-admit, battery on a security officer.

Terrence Moses, 21, 300 block of Southwest Tulip Boulevard, Port St. Lucie; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (domestic). Arrested in Martin County.

Javon Thomas, 26, 100 block of Carol Susan Lane, Fort Pierce; possession of marijuana over 20 grams; possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone hydrochloride). Arrested in Martin County.

Joseph Glenn, 55, no street address, Fort Pierce; warrant for fugitive from justice, Harrison County, Mississippi, possession of a counterfeit controlled substance, false representation. Arrested in Martin County.
ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS Melissa Young, right, mother of former student James "J.W." Young, 19, who died June 23, sheds tears of joy while sitting next to student Andrew McClain during the presentation of the Califone Card Readers to the school. "These kids are going to get what they deserve," Young said. "A lot of times they get overlooked because they're silent, and this gives them a voice."

SHARE ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS Carolyn Forman, left, a teacher at the Challenger School, helps student Andrew McClain, 16, try out the Califone Card Reader, a device that incorporates imagery, sound and touch to teach communication. It was donated to the Challenger School for children with intellectual and emotional disabilities on Tuesday. The Visiting Nurse Association of Florida provided five card readers, headphones and supplies to the school, dedicating them in memory of Challenger students Hannah Lynne Zechiel, 16, of Sewall's Point and James "J.W." Young, 19, of Stuart, who both died this year from complications caused by their illnesses. ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS Terri Zechiel, mother of former student Hannah Zechiel, 16, who died in March, looks over the materials for the Califone Card Readers being donated to the Challenger School from the Visiting Nurse Association of Florida. "These are very important for these kids to have, especially the ones who really can't communicate," Zechiel said. "Hannah wouldn't have been able to really communicate at this level, but I think it's really great for those kids who can."

By Cathy Reeder

STUART ? It was an emotional morning Tuesday at the Challenger School in Stuart when the school's former nurse helped present electronic reading equipment in memory of two students who died this year from their disabilities.

Hannah Zechiel, 16, of Sewall's Point, died March 8. James "J.W." Young, 19, of Stuart, died June 23.

Registered nurse Sheila Moore had known both students since they were young children, when she was assigned by the Visiting Nurses Association of Florida to serve as the school nurse at Challenger for four years. On Tuesday, she was back with VNA CEO Don Crow, presenting a $700 Califone Card Reader Master Set in the students' honor.

"On paper, I was the school nurse. I gave out meds. I put on bandages. But I also fell in love with the kids here," Moore said, laughing to keep from crying. "Recently we lost these two. This electronic library will help them live on."

The card reader set includes recording equipment, three reading units, seven headphones and several sets of cards with pictures. The goal of the set is to help these students, who are mentally challenged, develop language skills that are at the infant to toddler level.

Each card has a picture of one object. A student pulls the card through the reading unit, and a voice states the name of the object. The student can work at his own pace, learning as many new words as he wants at one sitting. That independence is important, said Carolyn Forman, who taught Hannah and JW, and whose classroom received the donation Tuesday.

Forman could barely hold back the tears as she thanked Moore and Crow for the equipment.

"This will expand their worlds," she said. "There is so much we can do with this, especially the recorder. We can use the cards and make our own."

Forman's class will use the simpler cards, with pictures of food and other everyday objects.

"A lot of our kids are not going to be able to read words," Forman said.

Using an apple as an example, she said she would first use an actual apple, then a photograph, then a drawing, and at each stage she would say the word.

The many cards allow students to build their vocabulary on their own. Further, the motion of pulling the cards through the reader to hear the words exercises their gross and fine motor skills.

Melissa Young and Terri Zechiel both said they appreciate the donation that bears their children's names.

"Hannah would have loved using this," Zechiel said. "And it can be used to motivate these students to do other things: 'After I eat, then I can use the Califone.'"

DONATE TO THE CHALLENGER SCHOOL

The Challenger School is part of the Martin County School District. It is a therapeutic day program for students within two distinct populations: those with emotional/behavioral disorders and those with intellectual disabilities.

To donate, contact Principal Timothy Romano:

Phone: 772-219-1515

Address: 5150 S.E. Willoughby Blvd., Stuart, FL 34997

Adopt-a-Class Program: Palm City Chamber of Commerce, 772-286-8121, www.palmcitychamber.com
Patrick Murphy is running for the U.S. Senate. (FILE PHOTO)

By Isadora Rangel of TCPalm

Patrick Murphy gets by politically with a lot of help from his family.

The Democratic congressman has benefitted from the $2.3 million his father, mother, brothers and the family's Miami-based construction company have invested in his races since he first filed to run for his Treasure Coast seat in 2011.

With Murphy now running for the U.S. Senate, that investment has surged.

Murphy's father gave $1 million on July 13 to a super PAC that supports him. Just two days later, Senate Majority PAC announced it was spending the same amount to buy TV ads supporting Murphy.

Murphy also has been a prolific fundraiser on his own. He raised $1 million for his U.S. Senate bid from the beginning of July through Aug. 10 and has $4 million cash on hand, his campaign announced Monday. He's raised a total of $11.1 million for the race and is considered the front-runner in the Aug. 30 primary against main opponent U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson.

SUPER PACS

Murphy of Jupiter has been critical of the influence super PACs have in politics and said he wants to reform campaign finance laws to rein them in. His campaign declined to comment for this story.

Yet his father and family-owned Coastal Construction Group have poured $2.2 million into such groups since he ran for Congress for the first time in 2012. Two of those ran attack ads against his 2012 opponent Allen West. Super PACs receive unlimited donations, unlike campaigns, and are known for swaying elections, oftentimes by turning them negative.

Republicans have dubbed Murphy "privileged Patrick" and say his family company's donations to those super PACs might violate campaign finance laws that ban those groups from coordinating with a candidate. Murphy owns stocks at Coastal Construction and it's "unrealistic to believe" the two aren't coordinating, according to a complaint filed with Federal Election Commission in May by a conservative group.

If he wins the primary, Murphy likely will face Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and GOP groups already have begun attacking him. The Senate Leadership Fund, which promised to spend $1.5 million to support Rubio, launched a TV ad last month attacking Murphy.
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By Gregory Mackay

Health care expenses account for about one third of the Florida state budget. For this extraordinary sum, we currently provide an extremely inefficient, flawed system of coverage that wastes valuable taxpayer dollars. We need to provide a cost-effective, evidence-based health care plan for the uninsured to improve quality of life and lower the tax burden on Floridians.

Improving access to care for uninsured Floridians will prevent unnecessary illness, suffering and early deaths. It will keep Florida's workforce healthier and more productive. With health insurance, Florida families with limited financial reserves would not be at risk for complete bankruptcy from a single unexpected unfortunate accident.

The idea that if we ignore the problem it will go away just does not make sense. People are still going to get sick. If someone has insurance, he will see his doctor in the clinic for efficient, quality treatment in a low-cost setting. But the patient who has no insurance, and therefore no outpatient clinic options, must go to the emergency room, the most expensive site for care, for even the most routine illness. A visit for a headache that might cost $100 in the doctor's office may cost over $3,000 after CT scans, labs and expensive tests in the ER. But no one has to pay for that, right? Wrong. You pay. I pay. We all pay. And we pay three times! Here's how.

The first time we Floridians pay is with the $3 billion in federal taxes we all send to Washington D.C. each year to fund Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act that our state Legislature has said we won't accept. By declining the Medicaid expansion dollars that 30 other states gladly accepted, Florida gets none of this federal tax money back to help fund health care in our state. Other states are currently using your money to fund their health care. The second time you pay, in Indian River County, is with your property taxes to support the Hospital District to fund indigent care. Good program. Good people. But still paying mostly top dollar for disjointed care in the emergency room for nonemergent conditions.

The third time you pay is every month with your private health insurance premiums. Ask any business owner about these premiums and you will hear of shockingly high costs for even bare bones, high deductible plans.

When most hospitals and providers give indigent care, it seems for free, but to keep the doors open, they must pass on the cost to those who can afford to pay: those with private health insurance. This is why a Tylenol tablet at some hospitals may cost $10. This is called cost shifting. Everyone's premium goes up to pay for the uninsured.

There are problems with Obamacare. But we don't have to choose between implementing Medicaid expansion as written and paying three times for health care for the uninsured. To lower costs and provide efficient quality health care, we can craft a waiver  designed by Floridians, tailored to Florida's specific and unique circumstances  to Medicaid expansion. There is no reason why Florida can't have a waiver program that uses market-based forces to direct patients to the outpatient clinic where their primary care physician, physician's assistant or nurse practitioner can deliver cost-effective primary and preventive care. Other states, such as Ohio, have had excellent success with this approach.

Currently, Florida pays 42 percent of the cost of care for each citizen enrolled in Medicaid. Under the Florida Medicaid expansion waiver, the federal government would on an ongoing basis pay 90 percent of Medicaid costs and cover the majority of Floridians who don't currently have any health insurance. If most Floridians gained some basic health insurance, the state could save hundreds of millions of dollars that it pays to safety net hospitals and programs for the medically needy each year. To ensure participation by doctors, this waiver should pay primary care physicians at the Medicare rate, which is not high, but which is accepted by most physicians.

The estimated cost to our state to expand Medicaid is about $300 million per year or a 2 percent increase in the state Medicaid budget. For this investment, Florida would receive back $3 billion from Washington each year, which according to a University of Florida study would create 55,000 full-time health care sector jobs. .

Florida should accept $3 billion per year from Washington to expand health care coverage for many of our poorest uninsured citizens. This money belongs to Florida, and it should be used to help Floridians. We need legislators with health care experience to craft a smart, cost-effective, market-based, data-driven, Florida-designed waiver to Medicaid expansion. Let's pay for it with the federal tax money already due to us from Washington, but let's only pay for it once.

Gregory Mackay is a physician who lives in Vero Beach and a Republican candidate for the District 54 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
The forecast track of a tropical wave at 8 p.m. Tuesday being monitored by the National Hurricane Center. (NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER)

SHARE Forecast models Aug. 23, 2016, 2 p.m. Tropical Storm Gaston, Aug. 23, 2016, 11 a.m.

By Elliott Jones of TCPalm

A tropical wave heading toward Florida has a 70 percent chance of strengthening, possibly into a tropical depression, by Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The wave is projected to be close to the state over the weekend. A tropical wave usually brings strong rains, possible flooding and gusty winds.

A tropical depression includes winds up to 39 mph.

Right now, the disturbance that would be named Hermine if it becomes a storm, is a low-key tropical disturbance 1,800 miles away. Sunday, the westward-moving weather system could be in the area of the Bahamas.

Forecasters said it is too early to say if that system will impact Florida. However, local emergency management officials advise Treasure Coast residents to listen for weather advisories and to review their tropical storm preparations.

There is a lot of uncertainty in direction and how much it will develop as it gets closer to Florida, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Pendergrast, who is in Melbourne. The Weather Service isnt yet predicting what Florida might get from the system.

It is too far away and too disorganized to try and determine a potential path for something that has not yet formed into a tropical storm, said National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen, when asked if it could cross Florida and go into the Gulf of Mexico.

Looking toward Election Day

Still, wet weather could arrive before or with Election Day on Aug. 30.

Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan has prepared announcements, just in case. She has alternative polling places, if one or more is disabled. There are backup generators.

Election supervisors in all three Treasure Coast counties are urging voters to cast ballots early at selected locations through Saturday.

Thousands of people are expected to cast ballots between now and on Aug. 30 at more than 100 local precincts.

Because of the threat of a storm, I encourage voters to take advantage of early voting at the main elections office in Stuart, said Vicki Davis, Martin Countys supervisor of elections.

St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker is talking with the county about getting emergency generators and sandbags ready to safeguard the main election office where all the votes will be tabulated.

The wave is moving west-northwest at 15 to 20 mph. Environmental conditions are expected to favor it strengthening late this week as it moves toward Puerto Rico and the central Bahamas.

Fiona, Gaston no threat

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Gaston it forecast to veer north into the open ocean, not affecting Florida and the hurricane center is discontinuing advisories for Fiona, which is downgraded to a disturbance.

The annual hurricane season peak lasts for eight weeks, from mid August to mid October. That time accounts for 78 percent of the seasons days when tropical storms are active, Feltgen said. That is because environmental conditions are favorable including warm ocean temperatures. The height of the season is Sept. 10.

The wave is projected to be close to the state over the weekend. A tropical wave usually brings strong rains, possible flooding and gusty winds. A tropical depression includes winds up to 39 mph.

MORE | Live satellite image of Atlantic

The disturbance, which would be named Hermine if it becomes a named storm, is a low-key tropical disturbance 1,800 miles away. On Sunday, the westward-moving weather system could be in the area of the Bahamas.

Forecasters said it is too early to say whether that system will impact Florida.

However, local emergency management officials advise Treasure Coast residents to listen for weather advisories and to review their tropical storm preparations.

There is a lot of uncertainty in direction and how much it will develop as it gets closer to Florida, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Pendergrast, who is in Melbourne. The Weather Service isnt yet predicting what Florida might get from the system.

It is too far away and too disorganized to try and determine a potential path for something that has not yet formed into a tropical storm," said National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen, when asked if it could cross Florida and go into the Gulf of Mexico.

ELECTION DAY

Still, wet weather could arrive before or with Election Day on Aug. 30.

Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan has prepared announcements, just in case. She has alternative polling places, if one or more is disabled. There are backup generators.

Election supervisors in all three Treasure Coast counties are urging voters to cast ballots early at selected locations through Saturday. Thousands of people are expected to cast ballots between now and on Aug. 30 at more than 100 local precincts.

Because of the threat of a storm, I encourage voters to take advantage of early voting at the main elections office in Stuart, said Vicki Davis, Martin Countys supervisor of elections.

St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker is talking with the county about getting emergency generators and sandbags ready to safeguard the main election office where all the votes will be tabulated.

The wave is moving west-northwest at 15 to 20 mph. Environmental conditions are expected to favor it strengthening late this week as it moves toward Puerto Rico and the central Bahamas.

FIONA, GASTON NO THREAT

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Gaston it forecast to veer north into the open ocean, not affecting Florida and the hurricane center is discontinuing advisories for Fiona, which was downgraded to a disturbance.

The annual hurricane season peak lasts for eight weeks, from mid August to mid October. That time accounts for 78 percent of the seasons days when tropical storms are active, Feltgen said.

That is because environmental conditions are favorable including warm ocean temperatures. The height of the season is Sept. 10.

TROPICAL WAVE

Reports Tuesday afternoon from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate the tropical wave located a few hundred miles east of the Lesser Antilles has become a little better defined and could become a tropical depression in the next day or two.

Environmental conditions are only marginally conducive for development during the next couple of days while the system moves west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph near the northern Leeward Islands and the Greater Antilles.

Large-scale conditions could become more conducive later this week while the system moves nears the southeastern and central Bahamas.

Another Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate this disturbance Wednesday.

Formation chance through 48 hours: 50 percent.

Formation chance through 5 days: 70 percent.

MORE INFORMATION
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Softbank Group has agreed to buy British semiconductor maker ARM Holdings for Pounds 24.3 billion (about US$31.4 billion) in cash, the companies announced Monday.

Softbank agreed to pay a hefty premium for ARM, with a price of 1,700 pence (about US$67.28) per ARM share, which is a 42.9 percent premium over the $47.08 closing price as of Friday, the last business day before the deal was announced.

The surprise move will help Softbank gain a solid foothold in the Internet of Things, considered the next major wave of development in the enterprise computing business.

Softbank plans to preserve the ARM organization  including its senior management team and brand-partnership-based business model and culture  and it will keep the company headquarters in Cambridge, England.

In addition, Softbank plans to at least double its employee headcount in the UK and increase the headcount at ARM over the next five years.

We have long admired ARM as a world renowned and highly respected technology company that is by some distance the market leader in its field, said Softbank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son. ARM will be an excellent strategic fit within the Softbank Group as we invest to capture the significant opportunities provided by the Internet of Things.

The ARM board sees the Softbank deal as a compelling offer and has been reassured that ARM will remain a very significant UK business and will continue to play a key role in the development of new technology, said Chairman Stuart Chambers.

IoT Insight

ARM is a major semiconductor intellectual property supplier, with a core business in scalable, highly energy-efficient processors. Its technology is embedded in more than 95 percent of smartphones and more than 30 percent of all chips with processors sold worldwide in 2015, the company said.

This looks to be a strategic investment by Softbank in the semiconductor business, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

By buying ARM, Softbank has a piece of the growth segments in the semiconductor business  IoT, smartphones, automotive and servers  because ARMs IP is licensed by every major company in these markets, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Softbank may see the ARM acquisition as a long-term diversification strategy, suggested Dilip Sarangan, mobile and wireless communications industry principal at Frost & Sullivan.

It could be hedging against the limited success of some of its core businesses, including U.S. wireless provider Sprint, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Moving On

The slow growth of Sprint and the diminishing role of the carrier likely led to the move from Softbank, Sarangan said. Sprint was seen as an acquisition that could help Softbank grow despite the market pressures in Japan. However, with Sprint having failed to provide that growth, Softbank may be looking to diversify its product portfolio to capitalize on IoT revenue growth, rather than subscriber growth in the U.S.

The ARM deal ultimately is bad news for Sprint in the U.S., said Michael Jude, a program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan.

In light of Sprints inability to complete a merger with T-Mobile, the lack of future investment from Softbank will lead to longer-term questions about the viability of the company, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Softbank probably wants to minimize its exposure until it can find a way to divest itself of its Sprint holdings at minimal loss, and is looking for other investment opportunities, Jude reasoned.

The ARM deal came about six weeks after Softbank announced it would sell a $7.9 billion stake in Alibaba Group in order to reduce its debt and increase its liquidity. Both the Softbank and Alibaba boards had agreed to the coordinated deal.
The Internet of Medical Things, Part 1: A New Concept in Healthcare

The Internet of Medical Things, Part 2: Devices and Apps

Though quick to capitalize on connected health devices and the coming Internet of Medical Things, hardware manufacturers may be moving too slowly when it comes to building the necessary protections into the back end.

The National Security Agency last month told participants in a defense technology summit in Washington that it was looking into hacking connected medical devices.

The agencys interest is confined to researching the possibility of hacking IoMT devices, for now, and the fruit of its labor may be just another tool in the toolbox, according to NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett.

However, if the NSA is looking into hacking such devices, consumers can be sure that the black hats are on it too.

Where Theres a Web, Theres a Way

The cost of connected health programs will challenge the cultivation of the IoMT, as well the user experience and user interfaces, observed Scott Sellers, CEO of Azul Systems. Underneath it all lies a threat to the security of consumers most intimate data.

IoMT challenges include slow or uneven regulatory responses to changes in approach, mostly focusing around data security and, in some markets, reliability of communications, Sellers told TechNewsWorld, especially when traveling, or if patients are in rural areas with less robust network infrastructures.

In theory, any Internet-connected device can be hacked, said Brian Wassom, leader of Honigmans social, mobile and emerging media industry group.

Cybersecurity attacks thus far have focused on large networks  systems that have plenty of access points, are rich with high-value data, and are built on computer languages common enough to invite exploitation, he pointed out.

None of these conditions were met when connected medical devices were in the experimental stage, Wassom told TechNewsWorld.

Carriage and Horse

The Federal Trade Commission last year kicked off the conversation about getting out in front of possible security and privacy issues sure to proliferate as the number of IoT and connected medical devices pile up in coming years.

The Food and Drug Association for the past three years has been issuing guidance on improving the safety and security standards of connected medical devices, noted Stu Bradley, vice president of cybersecurity at SAS.

The proliferation of IoMT technology, and the healthcare industrys enthusiasm to adopt it, has put the veritable cart before the horse in terms of security, he told TechNewsWorld.

Manufacturers will need to embed more robust security solution into IoMT devices, meaning they must proactively address security concerns instead of retroactively responding, Bradley said.

This poses a real challenge for manufacturers whose core competency has historically been device, not software, development, he added.

Manufacturers of connected devices generally have focused on building systems to deliver the needed functionality of a device as cheaply and precisely as possible, noted Matt Gross, director of the SAS health care and life sciences global practice.

Manufacturers, in turn, use the cheapest underlying platforms  usually open source  to keep costs down and accelerate time to market, he told TechNewsWorld. That leaves these devices quite vulnerable to compromise.

Day Zero

Roughly 70 percent of IoT devices were vulnerable to cyberattacks as of two years ago, Honigmans Wassom noted, citing an HP study.

Weaknesses in admin tools, paltry means for updating firmware, and a lack of transport encryption were among the 250 vulnerabilities researchers found.

Bad habits die hard  and the practice of using basic passcodes carried over to IoT devices, the study revealed. About 80 percent of passwords securing IoT devices were 1234 and the like.

Medical devices are not immune to this minimalistic approach to data security, Wassom said.

Two researchers detailed how they remotely accessed a hospitals neonatal monitors in a presentation Wassom attended at last years DEFCON.

In many cases, hospital employees may not even realize that certain devices even have Internet connectivity, much less how to secure them, he said.

Another hacker found an easy way to take charge of an infusion pump, a device that delivers fluids to patients and is common in hospital rooms.

In theory, he could have emptied an entire vial of medication into a patient, said Wassom, and a hospital staff person monitoring the device from a central location would never have known.

While hackers could leverage exploits to modify systems and cause physical harm to other humans, its more likely theyll be motivated to use stolen data for financial gain, said SAS Gross.

They likely will use ill-gotten information to gain access to other systems, or encrypt it for use in ransomware attacks, he suggested. Until the first major breach occurs, however, focus will stay on more immediate threats.
It turns out that giving subscribers a bunch of free games every month is a bit more expensive than Sony first realized. The company will be increasing the price of their PlayStation Plus subscription by $10 starting September 22nd, bringing the price up from $49.99 to $59.99 per year.

Three-month PlayStation Plus subscriptions will also increase by $7, up from $17.99 to $24.99. One month subscriptions will remain at $9.99, though they still provide significantly worse value than the yearly plan.

The pricing changes won't affect current subscribers until their plans are up for renewal. Those whose plans expire before September 22nd will be treated to a full year of PlayStation Plus at the old $49.99 price, however any renewals on or after the date will be subject to the price hike. For those who don't have PlayStation Plus, it could be a good idea to purchase a yearly subscription now at the old price before it increases.

If you'd rather not pay an extra $10 per year for PlayStation Plus, Sony advises users to disable the auto-renewal feature in their account settings before September 22nd.

PlayStation Plus comes with a number of benefits for gamers in Sony's ecosystem. The subscription provides free games every month, which can be collected, downloaded, and played so long as the subscription is active. On the PlayStation 4, a PlayStation Plus subscription is required for online gaming in the majority of cases.
As ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft become increasingly popular, questions over the role of traditional taxis and their drivers are being raised. The issue has caused problems across the world, leading to protests that can often turn violent, but Massachusetts will use a unique method to placate and assist the taxi industry: make the app companies support it.

State Governor Charlie Baker has signed a law that will see a 20-cent per trip fee levied on the ride-hailing apps. 5 cents will go toward supporting rival taxi firms, helping them to adopt "new technologies and advanced service, safety and operational capabilities" and to support workforce development.

As for the remaining 15 cents, ten will go to cities and towns, and the remaining five goes toward a state transportation fund.

Considering that Uber and Lyft have a combined 2.5 million rides per month in Massachusetts, the fee is likely to raise millions of dollars per year.

Many of the anti-Uber protests around the world call for the app and its drivers to be banned because they don't follow the same rules and regulations as taxi businesses. Even with the new law, some Massachusetts taxi drivers continue to feel the same way.

"They've been breaking the laws that are on the books, that we've been following for many years," Larry Meister, manager of the Boston area's Independent Taxi Operator's Association, told Reuters.

Precisely how the fee will be collected and what it will be spent on is yet to be determined. The law bars companies from passing on the cost to riders and drivers, though some worry this will still happen.

Unsurprisingly, the ride-hailing services aren't happy about the fee. "I don't think we should be in the business of subsidizing potential competitors," said Kirill Evdakov, the chief executive of ride service Fasten.

The 5-cents will only go toward the taxi industry until 2021. From that point on, the 20-cent fee will be split between cities and the state for the next five years, disappearing completely by the end of 2026.
Tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter have joined more than two dozen rights groups in slamming the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over plans to inspect foreign visitors' social media accounts as a way of determining if they pose a security threat.

Back in December, the DHS confirmed it would be reviewing its policies on when officials can examine would-be immigrants' social media posts as part of the vetting process when applying for certain visas. The plan arrived just weeks after the San Bernardino Inland Revenue shooting.

One of the shooters, Tashfeen Malik, had allegedly "pledged allegiance" to ISIS on several social media sites, including Facebook, though this was later denied by FBI boss James Comey, who said support was expressed through "private direct messages."

In June, the DHS proposed extending the plan to cover all non-US citizens coming into the country who don't have a visa. Visitors will be asked: "Please enter information associated with your online presence---Provider/Platform---Social media identifier," on the travel forms they must fill out to enter the US. While filling in the section isn't mandatory, leaving it blank will doubtlessly raise suspicions.

Politico reports that leading tech firms have said the proposals could "have a chilling effect on use of social media networks, online sharing and, ultimately, free speech online."

In an open letter signed by 28 rights groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, the organizations wrote: "This program would invade individual privacy and imperil freedom of expression while being ineffective and prohibitively expensive to implement and maintain."

Access Now, a public interest group that also signed the letter, has submitted more than 2300 comments to the Customs and Border Protection's regulatory docket, the overwhelming majority of which oppose the plans. The government is taking comments on the proposal until August 22.
The next major consumer electronics trade show, IFA 2016, kicks off on September 2 in Berlin. Acer, just one of many exhibitors, is reportedly preparing to showcase a smartwatch for the gaming market if the latest report from Chinese site Economic Daily News (via DigiTimes) proves accurate.

Outside of its designation as a high-end wearable, nothing else is really known about the device at this time which leaves plenty of room for speculation.

Taken at face value, nobody is really expecting Acer to unveil a smartwatch designed strictly for gaming. With so little real estate, it's simply not plausible to ask people to try and become immersed in a gaming experience on such a small gadget. Instead, as Digital Trends notes, Acer may present some sort of social-focused wearable a la Razer and its Nabu (you know, the one that's designed for the zombie apocalypse).

Then again, Acer does have the gaming chops to pull off something pretty impressive. Its Predator line of gaming products spans desktops, notebooks, tablets, smartphones and even projectors - expanding to smartwatches could happen although again, it doesn't seem like a great idea.

In related news, Asus will reportedly unveil its third-generation ZenWatch at IFA 2016, this time sporting an all-new industrial design. Samsung, meanwhile, is said to be bringing its Gear S3 smartwatch for show-and-tell. Sources say it'll feature a built-in barometer that'll aid in forecasting the weather and an integrated speedometer for runners and cyclers.
Microsoft has already admitted that it won't hit its lofty goal of one billion Windows 10 installations within the first three years of launch. Still, the Redmond-based company is off to a great start with its latest operating system.

According to Net Market Share's desktop operating system figures, Windows 10 has managed to capture 21.13 percent of the global OS market since making its debut in July 2015.

That said, they're of course skewed by Microsoft's free upgrade offer but either way, with Windows 10 installations trending upwards and Windows 7 installs on the decline, the two are on an inevitable collision course. When exactly Windows 10 will overtake Windows 7 - which had an install base of 47.01 percent as of last month (down from 60.7 percent in July 2015) - is a bit difficult to pinpoint.

As ZDNet notes, Windows 10 installations could climb a couple more percentage points rather rapidly as the firm's numbers don't yet reflect what could be a sizable number of last-minute installations. What's more, Microsoft has left open a number of loopholes that people can take advantage of to continue to get the free Windows 10 update. Also, if you had previously started the upgrade before the deadline but halted it for whatever reason, you should still be able to move forward with it free of charge.

Perhaps the biggest unknown of all in trying to predict when Windows 10 will overtake Windows 7 has to do with enterprise users. Up to this point, most copies of Windows 10 have been installed on consumer devices as businesses typically wait until an OS has matured before upgrading their fleets.

Microsoft's recent decision to make Windows 7 updates cumulative in nature, however, is likely to influence enterprise upgrades as well.

Chart courtesy Net Market Share
Microsoft confirms it has signed an agreement to acquire Genee, an artificial intelligence-powered scheduling service. The Redmond-based technology company reveals its plans to integrate the productivity app on Office 365.

In a blogpost earlier this week, Microsoft corporate VP for Outlook and Office 365 Rajesh Jha divulged that along with the planned acquisition, Genee founders Charles Lee and Ben Cheung are also set to join Microsoft.

"We consider Microsoft to be the leader in personal and enterprise productivity, AI, and virtual assistant technologies, so we look forward to bringing our passion and expertise to a team that is committed to delivering cutting-edge language and intelligence services," Lee and Cheung commented on a future under Microsoft.

As part of the acquisition deal with Microsoft, Genee will shut down its services. Effective Sept. 1, Genee will cease to send agendas and useful reminders from users' calendars. Lee and Cheung noted that previous entries that Genee made will remain.

"The Genee team will take the valuable experiences and lessons that you taught us to Microsoft, where we'll continue to build amazing next generation intelligent experiences," the Genee founders added.

Details on how Microsoft plans to integrate Genee's capabilities into Office 365 are a bit scarce at the moment. Nonetheless, many expect that Genee's addition to the subscription-based Office suite will streamline and further refine the service experience, especially for setting up meetings.

Genee was released back in 2014, with the goal of automating appointment bookings and meeting scheduling. By accessing the user's calendar, Genee's AI can deduce the most suitable time for a meeting. It also gets better if parties that need to meet all use Genee since the AI can seamlessly compare individual calendars and come up with a time that's convenient for everyone involved. This eliminates the need to send emails for confirmation.

By breaking down the user's word commands, Genee can identify the meeting type, time, duration and location. Users can also use their personally curated presets for meetings. An address can be paired with the phrase "meet for coffee," which prompts to AI use the same address when the user asks to meet someone for coffee.

In the recent months, Genee's service has expanded rapidly, especially when reminders through SMS, email, Skype and common social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook were introduced. A huge part of this service should be credited to the AI's chat capabilities, which was first released for SMS and Twitter and was later introduced to Facebook and Skype.

Genee's acquisition did not come as a surprise for most since Microsoft has signed a number of acquisition agreements earlier this year. The list includes the $26 billion high-profile LinkedIn deal and Swiftkey, an intuitive smartphone keyboard.

Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A new material developed by engineers in Texas may soon pave the way for windows, sunroofs or even windshields that efficiently regulate heat and light from the sun while being friendly to your pockets.

Scientists from the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin invented a low-temperature and low-cost process that allows easier and cheaper ways to apply coatings compared with conventional methods.

Indeed, this new low-temperature and low-cost process sets apart the new material from current liquid crystal panels, according to Engadget.

Through this process, the material can lighten or darken with a small electric charge  something that scientists call a flexible electrochromic device. The material can thus control the transmission of near-infrared radiation, which produces heat.

Such smart and flexible windows are ideal for homes and businesses because they can save on cooling and heating bills.

The material generated from the low-temperature process possesses a unique nanostructure that doubles the efficiency of the coloration process. Because of this, it can switch from tinted to clear more quickly by using less power.

Like coatings produced by high-temperature processes, the new material is made up of an amorphous structure with atoms that lack any long-range organization. However, the low-temperature process produces a unique arrangement of the atoms in a chain-like structure.

Traditional amorphous materials have denser three-dimensionally bonded structures. The new material, on the other hand, is made up of chemically condensed niobium oxide that lets ions move in and out more freely.

As a result, the new material is twice as efficient in saving energy than conventional smart window materials.

The central part of the team's research is the rare insight into the atomic structures of amorphous materials, whose "messy" structures are difficult to characterize.

Associate Professor Delia Milliron, lead researcher of the project, says little has been known about how the properties of amorphous materials are impacted by local structure.

But Milliron and her team were able to characterize it with enough specificity  the condition of catalyzing or participating in one chemical reaction.

Meanwhile, Milliron believes that the findings of their research can inspire the development of amorphous materials as supercapacitors that release or store energy efficiently and rapidly.

Milliron and her colleagues' next challenge is to create a flexible material using their new low-temperature method that exceeds the best performance of electrochromic materials produced by conventional processes.

"We want to see if we can marry the best performance with this new low-temperature processing strategy," says Milliron.

The article about the team's new material will be published the journal Nature Materials in September.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Premium Android devices from Lenovo will soon come equipped with Microsoft's productivity apps, following a deal between Lenovo and Microsoft.

Microsoft Office, Skype and OneDrive will be pre-installed in millions of select Lenovo devices that run the Android OS. The worldwide rollout is expected to take place in the next several years, according to the two companies.

'More Productive, More Connected'

Lenovo has yet to announce exactly which mobile devices will have Microsoft apps baked into their system, but the deal will also cover Motorola gadgets since Lenovo owns the Motorola brand.

The patent cross-licensing agreement is part of Redmond's push to inject its software across multiple brands of hardware, and get as many PC and mobile users deploying Microsoft apps as possible. This strategy eliminates the need for partners to pay large sums of royalties to Microsoft.

"The marriage of Microsoft's apps and Lenovo's Android-based devices," notes Microsoft's Nick Parker, "will enable customers around the world to be more productive, more connected and achieve even more."

Under CEO Satya Nadella's leadership, Microsoft is now focusing on customer engagement and usage as "leading indicators of success."

Microsoft's OEM Partners

Lenovo is only the latest hardware manufacturer to join a long list of OEMs partnering with Microsoft. The roster also includes Samsung, Dell, Asus and Acer, among others, which have received the license to use Microsoft's productivity tools on the Android platform.

There are currently 74 OEMs in 25 countries that have signed a patent licensing deal with Microsoft.

Bloatware In Lenovo Devices

This is also not the first time bloatware will be pre-packaged in Lenovo devices.

In early 2015, the Chinese PC maker was embroiled in the Superfish controversy: it pre-installed an advertisement software, or adware, that not only served ads to the device user but also made the actual device vulnerable to hackers.

The adware, dubbed Superfish Visual Discovery, was a browser add-on that tampered with a website's security certificates. In bypassing these safeguards, devices with Superfish were said to be unable to determine fake websites from legitimate ones. This made devices open to hackers, Tech Times reported.

Superfish was found in millions of Lenovo laptops. The company ended up relying on Microsoft and security company McAfee to find an early fix against the vulnerability until it was able to develop its own remedy. The OEM was served with a class-action lawsuit nonetheless.

Lenovo has since apologized and vowed to release cleaner devices, without the Superfish adware.

Photo: Karlis Dambrans | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Wildlife experts in Montana are planning to conduct additional tests on the Yellowstone River and its tributaries to find out just how much of the environment has been affected by the recent massive fish kill.

The Montana state government decided to close down a 183-mile stretch of Yellowstone River indefinitely on Friday, Aug. 19, after a parasite in the water caused fish to suddenly die off by the thousands and wash up along its riverbanks north of Yellowstone National Park.

According to experts, they are still trying to find out whether the parasite infestation has also affected other parts of Yellowstone River downstream as well as its primary tributaries. The state's Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWS) department has also closed the river's tributaries while biologists continue their investigations regarding the incident.

Andrea Jones, a spokeswoman for the Montana FWS, said that throughout this week, technicians will collect fish samples from the Springdale area and three of the Yellowstone's tributary rivers  Boulder, Shields and Stillwater. The agency expects to receive the results of the lab tests within the next few days.

The culprit behind the massive fish kill is a parasite known to cause a development of proliferative kidney disease in infected animals. Officials believe that the recent increase in Yellowstone's water temperatures combined with low river levels likely made fish populations weaker and more vulnerable to dying.

Impact Of Yellowstone River's Closure

The state's decision to close Yellowstone is expected to deal a major blow to local businesses that depend on the river for much of their outdoor activities for tourists.

Officials, however, stressed that they need to keep the river closed in order to prevent the parasite responsible for the fish kill from reaching other waterways in the region. Yellowstone River could remain closed for the next few weeks or even months.

While the state government recognizes that it would be next to impossible to prevent all access to the river, it has called on the public to help in its efforts to contain the infestation by complying with its order.

Yellowstone National Park is not subject to the state government's order.

Livingston Chamber of Commerce executive director Leslie Feigel pointed out that the closure of Yellowstone River is going to force a change of plans for many of the independent outfitters that rely on the river for trout fishery.

While some outfitters can secure permits to relocate their business to other rivers, Feigel said others won't be able to do so.

She added that if the massive fish kill came in June, it would have had far worse consequences.

Photo: Yellowstone National Park | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In what a decent numbers of users of Mac will be relieved with, Microsoft has released the OneNote importing tool, which will allow the Apple (Mac) users to import data from Evernote to OneNote.

For users that switch or need to do so from Windows and Mac computers, the crossover would earlier be problematic, but will ease out because the tool will allow swift transfer of data between the note taking applications.

Microsoft OneNote incorporates the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook applications, and the tool can be downloaded from the Microsoft Windows report page, free of cost. According to data available from the company, since March this year, there have been 71 million Evernote page imports to OneNote.

For running the OneNote importer on Mac, users would need to run the 10.11 version of the operating system (OS). The Evernote notes can then be imported using this tool, after synchronizing the accounts, and accessed from all browsers and various devices, including Android. Microsoft also recommends that Evernote for Mac ought to be installed, for a faster transition between the apps.

In an official statement, as reported by the Times of India, Microsoft said, "You can then sign in to Evernote for Mac with your Evernote account and make sure your latest notes are all synced before importing," which makes it virtually seamless for users. The best part is, the importer tool works on iOS, Windows, and Android, so no hitches there either!
Earlier this year, the European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation  landmark legislation addressing data protection and privacy concerns. The regulations, which were ten years in the making, will take effect in 2018 and allow residents to decide how and when their data is collected and used. For example, if a super market issues a loyalty card that tracks your purchasing behavior, this regulation gives you rights as a customer to control the use of the data.

However, buried within the legislation are new regulations around how companies leverage automated individual decision making, including profiling. These regulations are some of the first formal restrictions on how automated software can be used to offer data driven services and complying could have a huge impact on the worlds tech companies.

Two key articles in the regulations (articles 13(2f) and 22(1) and (4)) address how businesses can use collected data. Most importantly, one of the articles in the regulation mandates that customers now have a right to explanation if their personal data is used to generate an automated service. Automated decisions that significantly affect EU citizens will be under scrutiny, which includes an automated response that assesses a persons performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements.

For example, if someone applies for a loan online and their application is turned down, he or she has a right to ask the system for an explanation. At this point, businesses dont know what constitutes a valid explanation. But if textual (linguistic) explanations are required, businesses will need to find an effective solution.

If a human expert made the decision, they can provide a reason; but now many businesses use algorithms to make decisions. Mortgage applications and insurance applications are now processed automatically by algorithms, so many of the financial services could be impacted by this regulation.

The users right to an explanation could be fulfilled manually by publishing a standard explanation for all users if the law allowed this. At this stage, businesses simply do not have any legal precedents. But if businesses are legally required to provide meaningful information about the logic involved in decision making, then businesses will look for algorithms that can auto-generate explanations.

These stipulations could have enormous implications for global Internet services. Take any social media network, such as Facebook or Instagram, that is leveraging personal data its collected to drive targeted advertisements. If these advertisements result in individuals being discriminated against because of their personal data, then the new regulation kicks in to protect these individuals. Globally, organizations are currently adopting unprecedented levels of business process automation (BPA), and therefore their exposure to the new regulation could be significant. Each automated BPA could be a potential vulnerability. From utility companies that calculate the value of your monthly payment to the recommender systems that provide you specific products, discounts or vouchers, each such data-driven service falls within the scope of the new regulation. In our day to day lives, we interact with numerous systems, from utility companies that calculate the value of your monthly direct debits, multiple banking services, the super markets that provide you specific discount coupons or vouchers, etc. These systems have become deeply ingrained in the daily operations and processes within organizations. All these systems will need to now explain the why behind the decisions that are being made in real time.

Explaining what goes into these types of automated decisions is incredibly complex. The algorithms that generate decisions often take millions of pieces of data into consideration; and while they sort through the data, asking how they do so is a whole new set of inquiries and are not yet easy to understand.

Natural language generation (NLG) is one possible solution for auto-generating the explanations necessary to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation. NLG is artificial intelligence technology that can translate data into text. In real time, the technology can absorb large sets of structured data, analyze it, and draw conclusions from it  generating summaries, detailed reports and even recommendations in a colloquial narrative format.

In this instance, NLG could be incorporated into existing algorithms (of the right kind), analyze the data being used, and generate an explanation in an easily digestible format as if it was written by a human. The technology is developed to receive information, analyze the information, and comprehend it similar to the human mind. The final reports could be produced in a number of different languages for different audience segments. Because the new regulation empowers individuals to seek personalized explanations, the user driven configurability of NLG technology is the key feature here.

Of course organizations may choose simpler solutions than NLG by simply listing out the business rules (if such rules drive the decision making algorithm) that fired for a given user as explanation. Alternatively, visualizations of the business logic could also be presented as explanations. However, if users demand textual explanations, then manually producing personalized explanations for each and every user is humanly impossible.

Regulators are still navigating the potential fallout from implementing the new regulation. The day-to-day impact these changes will have on both businesses and individuals will depend on the practical legal interpretation of the law, the level of detail required in explanations and the severity of penalties for those that do not comply.

Regardless of these pending specifics, the General Data Protection Regulation is the start of a new conversation  a new era for legislation and the future of human and computer interaction. What role should automation play in our day-to-day privacy and Internet use? And, how will governments move forward with monitoring and regulating this new and rapidly changing landscape? This regulation renders decision making algorithms accountable to the people they affect. But it remains to be seen if individuals would like to exercise their new rights and demand explanations. Historically, previous regulations of similar scope such as freedom of information law have shown that modern citizens are more likely to exercise their rights than not.

About the Author

Dr. Nikhil Ninan, PhD, is the Head of Technical Business Development Global for Arria NLG. Nikhil engages directly with client domain experts to understand, develop and deliver data and NLG-driven solutions to solve their problems. Prior to his current role, Nikhil was a Senior Data Scientists at Arria NLG. Nikhil is located in Aberdeen, UK, and received his PhD from the University of Aberdeen.

Edited by Alicia Young
Elecciones presidenciales

El pais mas grande de la region elige este domingo a su proximo mandatario. Tras no lograr hacerse con la mayoria de los votos en los comicios del 2 de octubre, Luis Inacio "Lula" Da Silva y Jair Bolsonaro se disputan la Presidencia en una balotaje que enfrenta tendencias y valores contrapuestas. Con equipos en el terreno, Telam presenta una cobertura exclusiva con noticias, analisis, opinion, fotos y mas.
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
Hackers have stolen 12.29 million baht from Government Savings Banks 21 ATMs in Bangkok and southern provinces of Thailand since August 1.

The thefts have forced the GSB to suspend indefinitely the services of about 4,000 ATMs which were manufactured by a Scottish company.

The malware attacks were deemed to have been targeting single machines to remain undetected for as long as possible. It is unknown how long the affected machines had been infected.

After these revelations, the bank closed its ATM network supplied by the affected vendor and uncovered 16 more machines infected with malware, costing it around $350,000 in missing cash.

According to Microsoft, among the 25 countries in the world that are most targeted with malware attacks, Thailand has been identified as one of the key countries within Asia-Pacific.

In Thailand, the prime targets are government websites. This observation is based on the recent assaults that Anonymous an international hacker group launched to object the single gateway scheme of the government.

GSB director Mr Chartchai Payuhanaveechai said Tuesday that the bank had suspended the services of the Scottish-made ATMs on August 8 after officials found out that 21 of the ATMs had been hacked with the use of Malware programme.

The GSB wants to inform the public and customers about the reason behind the closing of some ATM machines and to prevent more damage to the bank. This theft is not related to customers accounts and money,

Mr Chartchai said.

The hackers withdrew 40,000 baht each time from six ATMs in Phuket, two each in Surat Thani, Chumporn, Prachuab Khiri Khan and Petchaburi and five in Bangkok in Sukhumvit and Vibhavadi Rangsit areas.

Mr Chartchai said the bank had notified the Bank of Thailand about the electronic thefts so that commercial banks which have in their services similar brand of ATMs be warned and taken appropriate preventive measures.

There are about 10,000 ATMs in service in Thailand, including about 4,000 of the GSB.He said that the stolen money belong to the bank, not the customers, so GSB would demand compensation from the manufacturer of the machines.

In 2014 nearly 100 Thai Government websites were hacked and used to serve malware last month. More than 500 distinct attacks were launched from these websites, representing about 85% of all government-hosted malware in the world according to study revealed by Netcraft.

Seven of the hacked sites belong to Thai police forces, such as the Narathiwat Provincial Police website at narathiwat.police.go.th, where hackers have appended a large chunk of malicious VBScript to the page shown below.
Heavy traffic has been identified as a major cause of air pollution in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Khai/Tuoi Tre

Ho Chi Minh Citys environment department has proposed the city spend US$3.5 million on a new air quality monitoring system to replace an obsolete one.

In 2003 the city built nine automatic air monitoring stations with funding from the Danish and Norwegian governments, but they have been badly damaged and unusable since 2012.

The environment department has thus proposed nine new stations. The priority is to have at least four as soon as possible, which are estimated to cost around VND78 billion, or nearly US$3.5 million.

Air quality in the city now is now measured by a semi-automatic system that operates between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., and between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Environment officials said the timeframe is "impractical" as these are not the periods of heaviest traffic.

Besides, samples are taken, by human staff, on certain days each month for testing, which means the system cannot provide a complete picture of pollution.

The department in March urged the city government to set up 27 automatic air quality check stations and 225 semi-automatic ones by 2020. The stations are estimated to cost around $22 million.

Tests by the environment department released late last year found air pollution in the city has worsened. The concentration of toxic gases like carbon monoxide reached alarming points, especially at new urban areas like Districts 7 and Go Vap. The levels of dust in many places were twice the acceptable limit.

Vehicles, especially motorbikes, have been identified as a major cause of air pollution in the city, the most crowded in Vietnam with 12 million people including migrants.

Around 140 new cars and 750 new motorbikes are registered in the city every day.
Erosion on a Hau River islet in the Mekong Delta. Photo credit: VnExpress

Cao Van Ba lost half of his two-hectare orchard on Son Islet due to serious erosion in the past few years.

The islet used to be more than 100 hectares but it has shrunk to around 60 hectares, the 66-year-old farmer of Can Tho City told local media.

The islet on the Hau, a Mekong River tributary, was once known for fertile land and lush orchards. But in the past decade, more than 200 of the 300 families here have moved away due to erosion, local media reported.

Erosion is a problem faced by many other islets on the Hau River, with unchecked sand mining and upstream dams blamed as the main reasons.

Ca Doi Islet, for instance, has been wiped out completely. The 20-hectare islet used to stretch for four kilometers in Can Thos Thot Not District. Now there is no sign of it.

According to local authorities, the islet was eroded to only six hectares in 1990 before disappearing recently.

The case has worried residents on the nearby Tan Loc Islet, where erosion has devoured nearly 10 hectares in the past five years.

Erosion has become worse in recent years and many people are losing their land, said local official Le Thanh Nghi.

On July 18, about 50 residents clashed with sand mining workers accused of causing the erosion.

The media also warned about serious erosion on other Hau River islets, including Long Phu Thuan and Tay in Dong Thap Province, and Cho Moi in An Giang Province.

Dong Thap and An Giang authorities have reported that thousands of households living in erosion-prone areas need to be relocated.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Mekong Delta loses around 500 hectares of land every year. Relevant agencies have identified 265 riparian areas threatened by eriosion, stretching 4over 50 kilometers along river banks.

By 2050, about one million people in the delta are expected to suffer from erosion and land loss.

Upstream culprits

Experts said that upstream dams in neighboring countries have brought harmful impacts on the Mekong Delta, including erosion and degraded land and biodiversity.

In a recent move, Laos held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Don Sahong hydropower project and plans to build another, Pak Beng, next year.

Hydropower dams on the Mekong River. File photo Earlier in 2012, the country had broken ground for the controversial Xayaburi.

Meanwhile, Thailand is about to divert four billion cubic meters of water out of the Mekong River, to retain more for its own use.

Le Anh Tuan, deputy director of the Mekong Delta Institute for Climate Change Research, said the Mekong River Commission did not really play an important role in coordinating member countries in solving issues surrounding common water resources.

The Don Sahong will obstruct fish migration. Many fish species will become extinct because they will be unable to migrate to the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia for breeding.

Mainstream dams also have blocked sediments, which form the Mekong Delta, he said.

Duong Van Ni, a lecturer at the Can Tho University, said that hydropower dams in Lao will have devastating impacts on Vietnams Mekong Delta.

The threat is palpable and the delta may collapse, affecting the livelihoods of millions of people.
Most bike riders in Ho Chi Minh City wear face masks to protect themselves from dust. Photo: Diep Duc Minh

The levels of dust in many places are twice the acceptable limit

A new study from Ho Chi Minh City's environment department has found an increase in dust and toxic gas in many urban areas, warning that motorbike riders can be exposed to major health risks.

According to local media, t he environment observation and analysis center measured the dust and carbon monoxide (CO) concentration and noise across the city. Although the situation looks brighter in the downtown, it has worsened in new urban areas in Districts 7 and Go Vap.

The intersection of Dinh Tien Hoang and Dien Bien Phu, one of the busiest traffic spot in District 1, saw drops in all three categories, based on the average figures of last year and the first half of this year.

Its dust concentration fell 24 percent to 350 micrograms per cubic meter, its CO concentration from 9.93 to 9.24 milligrams per cubic meter and its noise from 77.5 to 77.2 decibels.

The permissible CO limit is 30 micrograms per cubic meter, with high levels from 55 micrograms able to cause nausea, heart failure, unconsciousness and even death.

Vietnam sets the dust safety limit at 300 micrograms per cubic meter and the noise limit is 70 decibels.

Hang Xanh Intersection also saw drops in dust and noise, but saw a slight increase of CO concentration from 5.6 to 6.0 milligrams per cubic meter.

Go Vap, the citys northwestern district which has seen a very fast rate of urbanization, recorded the highest CO concentration of almost 16 milligrams per cubic meter, a 44 percent increase from last year's average.

The district saw significant increases of dust concentration from 446.75 to 496 micrograms per cubic meter, and noise from 71 to 78 decibels.

In District 7, measurements at Huynh Tan Phat and Nguyen Van Linh Intersection showed a 26 percent jump in dust concentration to 614 micrograms per cubic meter, CO from 5.88 to 6.13 milligrams per cubic meter, and noise from 71 to 76.4 decibels.

Dr. Le Van Khoa, an environment lecturer at the Vietnam National University, said that the figures should be an alarm.

He said air pollution is particularly problematic for Vietnam because most people ride motorbikes and are thus directly exposed to the dust and toxic gas every day.

Constant exposure to such dusty air will surely affect ones health, especially with skin and respiratory conditions, Khoa said, as cited by Tuoi Tre.

Most bike riders in the city now wear face masks.

Khoa said the city should limit individual vehicles, encourage public transport and switch to cleaner energy such as natural gas and solar power for industrial activities.
Police and prosecutors from the southern island of Con Dao have been disagreeing for weeks over whether to start criminal proceedings in a theft case involving 116 sea turtle eggs.

The case reportedly happened on June 17 when park rangers caught Pham Van Tan, 28, stealing the eggs at the Con Dao National Park, according to media reports.

The Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources later concluded that the eggs belong to the endangered green sea turtle species (Chelonia mydas).

On July 27, Con Dao police requested local prosecutors ratify their proposal for a criminal investigation into charges of violating regulations on the protection of animals listed as endangered, precious and rare.

District prosecutors, however, rejected the proposal.

The chief prosecutor, Tran Thanh Tam, reportedly said that eggs could not be treated as animals, meaning there was no legal basis for a criminal case. He also said the provincial prosecutors office of Ba Ria-Vung Tau supported this decision.

Meanwhile, park rangers and police insisted that Tan should be criminally probed. Tan has repeatedly stolen sea turtle eggs in the park, they said.

The man has not been arrested as the debate continues.
Police in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai are investigating a man accused of attacking an airport employee after his girlfriend was not allowed to check in for a flight due to her late arrival.

A police statement said Nguyen Ngoc Tu, 21, and his girlfriend arrived at Pleiku Airport on Saturday. The woman was about to travel to Ho Chi Minh City.

She failed to check in 40 minutes before the departure time, as required under Vietnams aviation rules for domestic flights, and her ticket was canceled.

A senior police officer said Tu became irritated and insulted people working at the airport before he allegedly attacked a customer service staffer.

Security camera footage showed him kicking the employee, the officer said, as cited by Tuoi Tre.
The United Nations is ready to deliver aid into Syria's Aleppo, but needs commitments from all parties in the war - not just Russia - to abide by a 48-hour humanitarian truce, the U.N. aid chief, angered by lack of assistance to civilians, said on Monday.

Aleppo, Syria's most populous pre-war city and its commercial hub, has become the focus of fighting in the five-year-old civil war. Up to 2 million people on both sides do not have clean water after infrastructure was damaged in bombing.

Russia, which has been backing Syrian government forces with a bombing campaign, said on Thursday it supported the truce. The United Nations wants a weekly two-day halt in fighting to allow access to rebel-held eastern and government-controlled western Aleppo.

"While this (Russian) statement is positive, this cannot be a one-sided offer," the aid chief, Stephen O'Brien, told the U.N. Security Council. "Once we have the green light we can start to move assistance within 48 to 72 hours."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned last week of an unprecedented "humanitarian catastrophe" in Aleppo and urged Russia and the United States to quickly reach a deal on a ceasefire in the city and elsewhere in the country.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have been discussing the issue. The United States, which supports some Syrian opposition groups, has been bombing Islamic State militants in Syria.

Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs addresses a news conference for the launch of the Global Humanitarian Appeal 2016 at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland December 7, 2015.

A crackdown by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on pro-democracy protesters five years ago sparked a civil war, and Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq.

O'Brien said no aid had been delivered in August to nearly one million people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas because of fighting and Syrian government bureaucracy.

"I'm angry, I'm very angry," O'Brien said. "This callous carnage that is Syria has long since moved from cynical to sinful."

Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told the council that the Syrian government was not responsible for an air strike in rebel-held al-Qaterji neighborhood last week. A video of a dazed and bloodied Syrian boy - Omran Daqneesh - after he was pulled from the rubble of an air strike in that neighborhood last Wednesday shocked people around the world.

"The perpetrator must be elsewhere," Ja'afari said.
Democrat Hillary Clinton said on a late-night television show on Monday that sometimes she feels she is in an alternative universe in the U.S. presidential race against Republican Donald Trump.

I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe, Clinton said on ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live. I have to step into the alternative reality, answer questions about am I alive, how much longer will I be alive.

Clinton was for the first time responding to allegations made by Trump and some of his backers that she is suffering health problems that could be problematic in the White House should she win the Nov. 8 election.

Both Clinton and Trump have released notes from doctors declaring them physically fit for the presidency.

Kimmel asked Clinton to open a jar of pickles as a test of her strength. She did so successfully.

This has become one of their themes. Take my pulse while Im talking to you  make sure Im alive, Clinton said to Kimmel of the health rumors.

Clinton said that sometimes Trumps remarks about her  such as a recent charge that President Barack Obama and Clinton co-founded the Islamic State, which he later said was sarcasm  go beyond personal attacks and become harmful to U.S. national security.

Theres enough evidence now that when Trump talks the way he talks it actually helps the terrorists, Clinton said. I think its crazy, but I think its also harmful.

Clinton said she had begun preparing for the three presidential debates scheduled in September and October.

Obama, Biden meet Costa Rica's president, discuss steps to protect migrants: White House

I want to take it seriously, Clinton said. But youve got to be prepared for, like wacky stuff that comes at you and I am drawing on my experience in elementary school.

Clinton brushed off the possible release of an additional 14,900 emails that the FBI found when investigating her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

"My emails are so boring," Clinton said. "What's a few more?"

The U.S. State Department has already reviewed some 30,068 emails from her 2009-2013 tenure and released most of them, amounting to some 55,000 pages.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) and French President Francois Hollande (L) pose on the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi off the coast of Ventotene island, central Italy, August 22, 2016.

The leaders of the euro zone's biggest economies held talks on Monday in the aftermath of Britain's shock decision to leave the European Union and said Europe had to turn its back on populists who blamed Brussels for all its problems.

Speaking on an aircraft carrier off the Italian island of Ventotene, Germany's Angela Merkel, France's Francois Hollande and Italy's Matteo Renzi issued calls for closer security cooperation and better opportunities for young people.

In a meeting heavy on symbolism, the three leaders visited Ventotene to lay a wreath on the tomb of Altiero Spinelli, an Italian intellectual seen as a founding father of European unity.

They then boarded the Garibaldi, which is in the front line of an EU mission to combat people traffickers who have carried hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe across the Mediterranean.

"For many populists, Europe is to blame for everything that goes wrong," Renzi said at the joint news conference before the leaders sat down for talks aboard the ship.

"Immigration, it's Europe's fault, the economy is bad, it's Europe's fault. But that is not the case."

The meeting was designed to lay the groundwork for an EU summit in Bratislava next month.

Monday's talks marked the beginning of a week of meetings for Merkel with other European governments that will see her travel to four countries and receive leaders from another eight.

"We respect Great Britains decision but we also want to make clear that the other 27 (member states) are banking on a safe and prospering Europe," the German chancellor said.

Divisions

But questions of how to bring about prosperity have divided the three countries.

Heavily-indebted Italy, whose economy has barely grown since the introduction of the euro currency in 1999, has repeatedly chafed against stern EU budget rules, and both Renzi and Hollande want greater flexibility to help boost growth.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and French President Francois Hollande (L) lead a news conference on the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi off the coast of Ventotene island, central Italy, August 22, 2016.

Germany is keen for rules to be respected, and Renzi and Merkel sidestepped a question on deficit limits.

All three leaders are threatened at home. Merkel faces discontent over her controversial decision to let in a million mainly Muslim migrants last year.

France is reeling from a wave of Islamist attacks and Renzi faces a referendum on constitutional reform this autumn that could trigger his downfall.

The EU plans to offer incentives to African governments to help slow the flow of migrants into Europe, but divisions among member states are stark.

Italy, the main entry point for Africans but rarely their planned destination, is struggling to house migrants turned back from neighboring countries including France, and disagrees with Germany over how to finance the response.

Hollande stressed the need to protect the EU from militant violence by tightening borders and sharing intelligence.

"To have security we need frontiers that are controlled so that is why we are working to reinforce coastguards and border guards," he said. "We want more coordination in the fight against terrorism."
A tourist drinks a bottle of beer during sunset at Seminyak beach, near Kuta, on the resort island of Bali, in this March 3, 2015 file photo.

Indonesian authorities have tightened security in Bali, a police official said late on Monday, after reports at the weekend of a suspected militant plot to attack the holiday island.

"In connection with information about a terror arrest and a planned action in Bali, we are increasing security at all points of entry into Bali," said provincial police chief Sugeng Priyanto.

"The focus of our attention is also the small ports that are spread around Bali," he said, adding that informal points of entry are also being monitored.

Anti-terror police said at the weekend they were investigating whether a suspected militant arrested last week was plotting an attack in Bali.

Police found a bomb and "high (impact) explosive materials" during a raid on the suspect's house.

"The suspect told us in a statement that they were planning an attack in Bali but there are no details or timeline," said national police spokesman Agus Rianto by phone.

A nightclub bombing on the resort island in 2002 carried out by homegrown militants killed 202 people, mostly Australians, and prompted a nationwide security crackdown.

Indonesia has seen a recent resurgence in radicalism, inspired in part by the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East.

An IS-linked gun and bomb attack in the capital Jakarta in January killed four people and counter-terrorism forces have since arrested dozens of suspected militants.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald Dela Rosa takes the oath during the start of a hearing investigating drug-related killings at the Senate headquarters in Pasay city, metro Manila, Philippines August 22, 2016.

More than 1,900 people, or about 36 per day, have been killed in a violent campaign against drugs in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte came to office seven weeks ago, the country's national police chief said on Tuesday.

Director-General Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing there was no declared policy to kill drug users and pushers and that about 1,100 deaths were still being investigated.

"We are not butchers," he said.

The rest of the dead were people killed in police anti-narcotics operations, dela Rosa said.

"This has a chilling effect," said Senator Frank Drilon after the police chief's deposition. "We are all concerned about the number of deaths, by any language this is alarming."

Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", was voted to power promising to wipe out drugs and warning traffickers they risked death if they did not mend their ways.

The inquiry is being conducted by a staunch critic of the president, Senator Leila de Lima, who has summoned top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the "unprecedented" rise in the body count and reports of vigilante killings.

Duterte has warned legislators not to interfere with his campaign, saying they could be killed if they blocked efforts aimed at improving the country.

Nearly 700,000 drug users and drug peddlers have turned themselves in to escape the crackdown, police chief dela Rosa said. He said there was a decrease in overall crime, although murders and homicides had increased.

Outside the senate building, dozens of supporters cheered dela Rosa for leading the war against drugs, chanting his nickname, "Bato, Bato".

Some carried placards reading: "We are with you Bato in the fight against drugs".

The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said overnight it was "deeply concerned" by the reports of the killings and the State Department urged Duterte's government to abide by human rights norms.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald Dela Rosa (seated R) looks at relatives of slain people during a Senate hearing investigating drug-related killings at the Senate headquarters in Pasay city, metro Manila, Philippines August 22, 2016.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the United States and European Union members "should make it clear to Duterte that inciting such violence is unacceptable and will reap potentially severe diplomatic and economic costs".

"Otherwise, it's hard to envision when these killings will end," it said.

Police involved

The number of those killed provided by dela Rosa at the Senate hearing was higher than the 1,800 he gave at the hearing on Monday. He gave no explanation for the higher number but said the figures were updated.

Dela Rosa said about 750 of the dead were killed in police operations against drug peddlers. The other deaths were being investigated, he said.

"Not all deaths under investigation are drug-related," dela Rosa said, adding that 40 killings were known to be due to enmity or robbery.

He also said about 300 of his officers were suspected to be involved in the drugs trade, warning these personnel will be sacked and charged in court if found guilty.

There has been speculation in the local media that some of the killings were carried out by corrupt police officers who were wiping out drug peddlers to avoid exposure.
Relatives of slain people cover their faces as they attend a Senate hearing investigating drug-related killings at the Senate headquarters in Pasay city, metro Manila, Philippines August 22, 2016.

The Philippines has recorded about 1,800 drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven weeks ago and launched a war on narcotics, far higher than previously believed, according to police figures.

Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told a Senate committee on Monday that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1.

Police were also investigating 1,067 other drug-related killings, Dela Rosa said, without giving details. On Sunday, Duterte railed against the United Nations for criticizing the wave of deaths.

The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said it was "deeply concerned" by the reports, and U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner urged Duterte's government to ensure that law-enforcement authorities abided by human rights norms.

The drug trafficking crackdown and some strongly worded criticisms Duterte has made of the United States since coming to power present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a news conference in Davao city, southern Philippines August 21, 2016.

Toner made the dilemma clear in responses to questions at a regular State Department briefing in Washington, in which he referred to Duterte as "a plain-speaking politician."

"We continue to make clear to the Philippines government ... our concern about human rights, extrajudicial killings, but we are also committed to our bilateral relationship and strengthening that bilateral relationship," he said.

Toner said there was no question of the United States turning a blind eye to rights abuses and that the relationship with Manila, while good, was "frank and candid."

As recently as Sunday, the number of suspected drug traffickers killed in Duterte's war on drugs had been put at about 900 by Philippine officials. But this number included people who died since Duterte won the May 9 presidential election.

Duterte said in a strongly worded late-night news conference on Sunday the Philippines might leave the United Nations and invite China and others to form a new global forum, accusing it of failing to fulfill its mandate.

His foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, said on Monday the Philippines would remain a U.N. member and described the president's comments as expressions of "profound disappointment and frustration".

"We are committed to the U.N. despite our numerous frustrations and disappointments with the international agency," Yasay told a news conference. U.S. officials declined comment on Duterte's U.N. remarks.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald Dela Rosa (2nd L) takes the oath during the start of a hearing investigating drug-related killings at the Senate headquarters in Pasay city, metro Manila, Philippines August 22, 2016. Also pictured are (L-R) Roselyn Borja, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana, member of of the Commission on Human Rights, and Jose Luis Martin Gascon, chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights.

Last week, two U.N. human rights experts urged Manila to stop the extra-judicial executions and killings.

Yasay said Duterte has promised to uphold human rights in the fight against drugs and has ordered the police to investigate and prosecute offenders. He criticized the U.N. rapporteurs for "jumping to an arbitrary conclusion that we have violated human rights of people".

"It is highly irresponsible on their part to solely rely on such allegations based on information from unnamed sources without proper substantiation," he said of the United Nations.

Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of the president, started a two-day congressional inquiry into the killings on Monday, questioning top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the "unprecedented" rise in killings.

"I am disturbed that we have killings left and right as breakfast every morning," she said.

"My concern does not only revolve around the growing tally of killings reported by the police. What is particularly worrisome is that the campaign against drugs seems to be an excuse for some law enforcers and other elements like vigilantes to commit murder with impunity," De Lima said.
A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 18, 2016, shows a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber based at Iran's Hamadan air base dropping off bombs in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via REUTERS TV

The Russian military said on Monday its aircraft operating from an Iranian air base to conduct strikes in Syria had completed their tasks, but left open the possibility of using the Hamadan base again if circumstances warranted.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Russia had stopped using the base for strikes in Syria, bringing an abrupt halt to an unprecedented deployment that was criticized both by the White House and by some Iranian lawmakers.

"Russian military aircraft that took part in the operation of conducting air strikes from Iran's Hamadan air base on terrorist targets in Syria have successfully completed all tasks," a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said in a statement.

"Further use of the Hamadan air base in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Russian Aerospace Forces will be carried out on the basis of mutual agreements to fight terrorism and depending on the prevailing circumstances in Syria," Konashenkov said.

Last week, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used Nojeh air base, near the city of Hamadan, in north-west Iran to launch air strikes against armed groups in Syria.

It was the first time a foreign power had used an Iranian base since World War Two. Russia and Iran are both providing crucial military support to President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and jihadi fighters in Syria's five-year-old conflict.

Some Iranian lawmakers called the move a breach of Iran's constitution which forbids "the establishment of any kind of foreign military base in Iran, even for peaceful purposes".

Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan dismissed that criticism but also chided Moscow for publicizing the move, describing it as showing off and a "betrayal of trust."

"We have not given any military base to the Russians and they are not here to stay," Dehghan was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency late on Sunday.

He said there was "no written agreement" between the two countries and the "operational cooperation" was temporary and limited to refueling.

The U.S. State Department, which last week called the move "unfortunate but not surprising" and said it was studying if it violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that bars supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran, said that it was unclear if Moscow's use of the base had "definitively stopped."

Abrupt end

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Russia's use of the base had ended.

"Russia has no base in Iran and is not stationed here. They did this (operation) and it is finished for now," Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (3rd L) and Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan (2nd L) stand in front of the new air defense missile system Bavar-373, in Tehran, Iran August 21, 2016. President.ir/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo.

Iran's defense minister had said last week that Russia would be permitted to use the Nojeh base "for as long as they need".

While noting that Iran has long supported Assad, a U.S. official said Tehran may not have wanted its involvement to be so public ahead of the 2017 Iranian presidential election.

"The Iranians dont mind helping out quietly. They just dont want the world to know that they are contributing to the deaths of thousands of Syrian civilians," said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Its their elections ... Everybody gets squeamish around election time," he added.

Relations between Iran and Russia, long cordial, appeared to reach a new level last September when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military intervention in Syria in support of Assad.

After some delay, Russia supplied Iran with its S-300 missile air defense system, evidence of a growing partnership that is testing U.S. influence in the Middle East.

Dehghan said that to make up for the delay, Russia had suggested providing Iran with its advanced S-400, but that Tehran was not interested as it is working to advance its own home-made defense system.

Iran unveiled its new missile defense system, Bavar 373, on Monday, a system designed to intercept cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft and ballistic missiles.

Iran's defense minister also said Tehran has shown interest in buying Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and Moscow's reply "has not been negative so far."

The United States has said it would use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block the possible sales of the fighter jets to Iran.
Relatives of Kumri Ilter, one of the victims of Saturday's suicide bombing at a wedding, mourn during her funeral ceremony in southeastern city of Gaziantep, Turkey, August 22, 2016.

Turkey vowed on Monday to "completely cleanse" Islamic State militants from its border region after a suicide bomber suspected of links to the group killed 54 people, including 22 children, at a Kurdish wedding.

Saturday's attack in the southeastern city of Gaziantep is the deadliest in Turkey this year. President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday it was carried out by a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14, adding that initial evidence pointed to Islamic State.

But speaking to reporters in Ankara on Monday Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it was too early to verify the organization responsible or whether the attack was carried out by a child.

A relative of Kumri Ilter, one of the victims of Saturday's suicide bombing at a wedding, reaches out to touch her coffin at a funeral ceremony in southeastern city of Gaziantep, Turkey, August 22, 2016.

A senior security official told Reuters the device used was the same type as those employed in the July 2015 suicide attack in the border town of Suruc and the October 2015 suicide bombing of a rally of pro-Kurdish activists in Ankara.

Both of those attacks were blamed on Islamic State. The group has targeted Kurdish gatherings in an apparent effort to further inflame ethnic tensions strained by a long Kurdish insurgency. The Ankara bombing was the deadliest of its kind in Turkey, killing more than 100 people.

"Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders and we are ready to do what it takes for that," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara, using an Arabic name for the group.

On Monday, Turkey's military launched howitzer attacks on Islamic State while artillery pounded Kurdish YPG militants in Syria, whom Ankara sees as an extension of its own Kurdish insurgency. An official said the strikes were designed to "open a corridor for moderate rebels".

A senior rebel official said Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were preparing to launch an attack to seize Jarablus from Islamic State, a move that would deny control to advancing Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Grave holes are prepared as family members and friends attend the funeral of victims of a suicide bombing at a wedding celebration in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, Turkey.

The rebels, groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, are expected to attack Jarablus from inside Turkey in the next few days. Reuters TV footage showed around 10 Turkish tanks deployed at a village around 4 km (2.5 miles) from the border gate immediately across from Jarablus. It was not clear how long the tanks had been there.

Prime Minister Binali Yilidirm has said Turkey would take a more active role in Syria in the next six months to prevent the country from being divided along ethnic lines.

Turkey target

Cavusoglu said Turkey, a member of NATO and the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, had become the "number one target" for the militants because of its work to stop recruits traveling through Turkey across its over 800 km (500 mile) border into Syria to join the Sunni hardline group.

For Ankara, Islamic State is not the only threat across its frontier. Turkey is also concerned that attempts by Syrian Kurds to extend their control along the common border could add momentum to an insurgency by Kurds on its own territory.

Dogan news agency said the death toll in the Gaziantep bombing had risen on Monday to 54 after three more people died. Sixty-six were being treated in hospital, 14 in serious condition.

The attack comes with Turkey still shaken just a month after the government survived an attempted coup by rogue military officers, which Ankara blames on U.S.-based Islamist preacher Fethullah Gulen. Gulen denies the charge.

Turkish authorities have said a destroyed suicide vest was found at the scene of the bombing.

Family members and friends carry a coffin of a victim of suicide bombing at a wedding celebration during a funeral ceremony in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, Turkey.

A second security official told Reuters that they were investigating the possibility militants could have placed the explosives on the child without his or her knowledge and detonated them remotely, or that a child with a learning disability was duped into carrying the device, a tactic seen elsewhere in the region.

"It could be that someone was loaded with explosives without even being aware of it and it may have been detonated remotely," the official said, adding a search was underway for suspected militants who may have played a reconnaissance role.

In the latest southeast violence, two Turkish security force members and five PKK militants were killed in clashes and attacks in three areas of eastern Turkey over the last 24 hours, officials said.

Some in Turkey, particularly in the Kurdish southeast, feel the government has not done enough to protect its citizens from Islamic State.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said the wedding party was for one of its members. The groom was among those injured, but the bride was not hurt.
The top man overseeing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in south Louisiana said Monday the Comite River Diversion Canal, delayed for more than 30 years over a lack of funding and bureaucratic hurdles, could be built in two years if fully funded.

Col. Michael Clancy, corps district engineer and commander in New Orleans, made the estimate during a freewheeling meeting at DOTD headquarters with area mayors, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and others a day before Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to pitch President Barack Obama on the need to fund and finish the project.

Some have estimated the diversion  envisioned in the early 1980s during a period of severe flooding, authorized in 1996 and supported with local property taxes since 2001  would have avoided a quarter of the catastrophic flooding in the Baton Rouge region last week had the structure been finished.

The canal is designed to reroute high water from the Comite River west into the Mississippi River and lessen flooding in the Amite River Basin to the east. The $35 million Lilly Bayou Control Structure, a water-level control structure 2 miles east of the Mississippi, was built in 2011 and is the only major piece of the project that has been finished.

Wetlands mitigation starts The Amite River Basin Commission expects to soon begin buying some of the property needed to

Zachary Mayor David Amrhein pressed Clancy and other officials Monday during the hour-long meeting for a ballpark estimate on how long it would take to build the $250 million project so he could report that to his constituents.

"I'm asking for just a general idea. Five years, 10 years, 15, 20," Amrhein asked.

"Very fair question, and I'm reluctant to give you an answer because I don't know, based on funding  so perfect world, unlimited funding, it would take about two years to build," Clancy said. "You look at what the Corps of Engineers did in New Orleans after Katrina, it shows when the funding is there, we can build and do stuff."

The $14 billion investment the Corps made in New Orleans after Katrina incorporated some previously stalled projects in that city, though several new ones as well.

Shawn Wilson, state Department of Transportation and Development secretary, explained to Amrhein and others that major events like the Baton Rouge flood or Katrina are the time to make "an exceptional request to get something done."

Wilson added that he and Johnny Bradberry, Edwards' executive assistant on coastal activities and a former DOTD secretary, planned to brief Edwards about the project and, in coordination with the corps, on how much would be needed to finish the diversion in advance of Obama's visit.

While Wilson told Amrhein he couldn't tell him when the diversion would be finished, "we will tell you, on tomorrow, we're going to be putting a figure in front of the president of the United States ideally that will be consistent with what the colonel (Clancy) is sending up his food chain, so there is unanimity in thought on what we need."

A call to the White House press office Monday evening was not returned.

State officials and aides to the two congressmen in the meeting Monday sensed an opportunity for funding.

Ron Anderson, a senior policy adviser to Cassidy, announced moments before Clancy made his estimate that the senator would have an opportunity next month when Congress considers a continuing funding resolution for the federal government.

Wilson said plans for the diversion are 95 percent finished, waiting in part on utility relocation estimates, and all that should be left is funding for construction.

Bobby Duplantier, the Corps' senior project manager for the diversion, said in a later interview that the overall project, including the constructed Lilly Bayou structure, will cost about $245 million. About $165 million is needed to finish the job.

Duplantier said the federal share is $125 million, while the local and state share is another $40 million.

Residents in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes have paid an estimated $25 million into the diversion since a 3-mill property tax was passed in 2000 within the Amite River Basin. Collections started the next year.

But while Cassidy, the Baton Rouge Republican, said he supports the diversion, he also advocated for a likely more costly systemwide approach that would take into account the entire Amite basin, which also covers East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes in Louisiana and three counties in Mississippi.

One concern Cassidy shared with Clancy before the meeting began Monday is whether future drainage improvements planned for Bayou Fountain in East Baton Rouge could inadvertently worsen flooding on Bayou Manchac, which receives Bayou Fountain's water.

High water currently in Manchac is being blamed for high water in the Spanish Lake Basin, which has flooded homes in Ascension and Iberville parishes and threatened state prisons. Officials in Ascension Parish are planning to cut open a road later this week to allow the water out.

Ascension officials update timetable for cutting Alligator Bayou Road to release floodwater Ascension Parish officials estimate they will cut into Alligator Bayou Road Wednesday or Thu

Cassidy floated the idea of a relief system on Manchac to pump water from the bayou into the Mississippi, as one example of this systemwide approach.

In earlier remarks, Clancy said the inconsistency of funding has hindered the project. He added that past Corps' analyses found the Comite diversion had a cost-benefit figure of less than 2, which hinders the diversion when it's weighed against other projects. The Corps is reanalyzing that figure in light of rapid development in the basin.

But, Graves, R-Baton Rouge, who said he invited many of the local officials to the meeting, pointed out to Clancy that after more steady funding in the '90s, the Corps had shifted $40 million from the diversion in more recent history for other Corps projects.

Graves, like the mayors and others, took the opportunity Monday to impress upon Clancy and others that it is the diversion's turn.

"Why can't this be our day where the Corps goes around and looks at accounts around the country and lets us, for once, not be a bill payer, but actually be a receiver," Graves said.

While the focus of the meeting became jump-starting the diversion, the gathering also underscored the grinding process of fits and starts that the canal has had to work through in absence of sure funding.

Wilson announced that the meeting  previously scheduled as a working meeting with the Corps and far fewer public officials or the press  was originally meant to hash out utility relocation details for new bridges that will have to be built over the future canal at Airline Highway.

Wilson wanted assurances from the Corps that it would have money to build the bridges if the state spends an estimated $15 million on relocations.

It also emerged that while land acquisition for the diversion has been moving forward, some land would have to be expropriated. There was debate among the various officials whether the Corps has that authority yet.
A portable air conditioner consisting of an ice chest, fan and duct has a "high potential for success" in helping to drop the extreme heat indexes on Louisiana's death row that threaten three ailing condemned killers, an air conditioning expert appointed by a federal judge testified Monday.

The portable A/C units were referred to almost exclusively during Monday's court hearing as "IcyBreeze" units, which is a brand name, but during a hearing earlier this month and in previously filed court documents the units were called "Cajun coolers."

Whatever the name, Shane Hernandez, a professional engineer and A/C expert in Lafayette, told Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson the low-tech units placed outside the inmates' cells work.

Jackson ordered state corrections officials in December 2013 to prevent heat indexes  a measure of temperature and humidity  on death row at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola from topping 88 degrees.

Hernandez testified the humidity levels on the portion of tier "C" where the three inmates have been moved are "much more comfortable" than other death-row tiers that don't have the portable A/C units.

"My clients for the first time in three years are in a reasonable condition," Mercedes Montagnes, the inmates' lead attorney, told Jackson.

Mary Roper, one of the state's lawyers, argued the portable A/C units, as well as a hole cut in the tier C door to allow cool air from the air-conditioned guard pod to move into the tier, are merely "temporary and experimental" measures.

Roper maintained that the daily cool shower, ice chests filled with ice, and extra fans that condemned prisoners Elzie Ball, Nathaniel Code and James Magee are being provided are sufficient to remedy the constitutional violation that Jackson and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found on death row.

The judge and appellate court said subjecting the ailing inmates to such high heat indexes amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Jackson, who said the testimony given Monday was very helpful, promised to issue a ruling "in pretty short order."

The state contends its second heat-remediation plan -- the plan that includes showers, ice chests and fans, but no portable A/C units -- is adequate, but the inmates' attorneys dispute that contention.
East Baton Rouge Parish schools, which had been scheduled to reopen Wednesday, now won't reopen until Sept. 6, sending parents and caretakers on a desperate search for childcare.

And other school districts in the area are addressing their own reopening and repair issues.

East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent Warren Drake put the brakes on restarting school this week after learning that four more schools have mold.

Drake broke the news to School Board members and school principals in an email Monday afternoon. He did not identify the four schools but said they did not take in flood waters.

Baton Rouge public pre-k and kindergarten students will have later start, back to school Aug. 29 East Baton Rouge Parish schools plans to reopen on Wednesday dont apply to kindergarten an

He noted that 11 schools were previously identified as having received some flooding. Eight are so damaged the school system is sending their students to other campuses. Glen Oaks High and Twin Oaks elementary schools were originally thought to be repairable but they will take longer to clean up than at first thought.

Continuing transportation issues also are prompting the delay, Drake said.

Our Transportation Department is out of order because of flooding, our bus fleet is depleted and our drivers are dispersed, Drake wrote in the email.

He said school employees will continue to come to work as needed by their supervisors.

Beginning (school) after Labor Day will provide us time to work on the facilities and order new buses," he said. "I want you to know that this was a difficult decision but our students safety comes first.

The school system, the second largest in Louisiana, will now reopen at the same time as hard-hit Central schools tentatively plan to reopen. Livingston Parish public schools, also damaged badly by flooding, have yet to announce reopening dates.

Ascension Parish school officials also announced their plans for reopening schools and noted the homes of about 16 percent of their workforce were inundated in the catastrophic flooding that closed schools Aug. 15.

The plan calls for students in Donaldsonville and all Ascension Parish public school employees to return Wednesday while students on the east bank will return Monday, which will give officials time to figure out where to send the 5,000 students displaced because their schools flooded.

"We are working very methodically to find the best short-term solutions to provide a quality education for all students as we work to restore the schools impacted by floodwaters," Superintendent David Alexander said in a statement.

Alexander said school officials plan to allow every student the opportunity "to attend school with the teacher and classmates they began the school year with, although at an alternate site."

He said the details of the plan will be released on the school system's website as soon as possible.

Galvez Middle, Galvez Primary, Lake Elementary, St. Amant Primary, St. Amant High and the Central Office's Sorrento Distribution Center were all flooded and are now being repaired. St. Amant Middle was partially affected but the main campus is intact, school officials said.

"This touches every school and department in the district," school officials said in the statement.

Employees who cannot report to work Wednesday should contact their immediate supervisor, according to the statement, and those who normally work on campuses that flooded will be contacted by their principal with directions on where to report Wednesday.

The unexpected delay for East Baton Rouge Parish comes on the same day that dozens of other Baton Rouge area schools, both public and private, reopened their doors. More schools are reopening later this week, including schools in East Feliciana Parish and Zachary, which plan to reopen Tuesday.

Bakers five public schools were among those that opened Monday. More than 430 Baker High School students were in attendance Monday, not to the schools historic home at 3200 Groom Road, but at the middle school some of them attended years earlier as pre-teens.

Flooding earlier this month at the high school forced them and the schools 34 faculty members two miles down Groom Road. The middle school moved to Bakerfield Elementary. Bakerfield meanwhile is merging with Baker Heights elementary. That's a lot of change in a short time for a school system with only five schools and 1,400-plus students.

Baker High Principal Traci Morgan made sure she brought to the middle school campus a signature of the high school, a large dark brown statue of a Buffalo, the schools mascot.

We had to take a beam out of a door to get out it out of the building, Morgan said.

Morgan said all 34 of her faculty members were at work even though 10 of them suffered flooding. The students, however, had not all shown. About 86 who had been enrolled before the flooding were not at school Monday, she said, though Morgan said she is worried that even more are not going to show in the days ahead.

In Kelly Haynes Biology 1 class, the teacher, herself flooded out, broke the ice by asking what animals do when there is flooding. She said it prompted a lively discussion.

Amanda Jordan knew. She saw a gray snake in her flooded house Sunday, the first day her family was able to get back home. She's not a fan of snakes  or floodwater.

Everything was moldy, she said.

Jordan said they evacuated eight days before, wading out in knee-deep water, the family car flooded. They are now living in her brothers trailer in Baker. She said she was able to save little.

I had like two bags on each arm, she said.

The water that flooded many in Baker was hit and miss when it came to schools. Besides Baker High, the private school, Bethany Christian School, was badly flooded. But not far up Plank Road, Advantage Charter Academy had no damage.

Principal Clifford Wallace said roughly a quarter of the charter school's staff and students saw their homes or vehicles flooded. About 70 percent of the schools 500-plus students were at school Monday, Wallace said, a number he expects to grow in the coming days.

Advantage is part of a network of 82 for-profit charter schools run by Grand Rapids, Mich.-based National Heritage Academies. Its sister school in Baton Rouge, Inspire Charter Academy, also reopened Monday. Charter schools are public schools run privately.

A native of Ohio, Wallace said he did not personally flood but had to evacuate.

It gives me a new appreciation of snow, he said. With snow, you can just put salt on it and it melts.

A few miles south at 2401 72nd Ave. in Scotlandville, a school was fast emerging that hadnt been there earlier in the day. For years, this was home to Banks Elementary until it closed in 2011. Last school year, it was J.K. Haynes Charter Middle School and thats still the sign on the marquee out front. In July, the East Baton Rouge Parish school system began converting it into an alternative school, EBR Readiness Academy. But after the flooding, the school system abruptly shifted course. Now EBR Readiness Academy is heading to a new location and in its place is Glen Oaks Park Elementary, about five miles to the east.

Glen Oaks Park took on 4 feet of water. As of 10 a.m. Monday, it had moved into its new home in Scotlandville. About 50 volunteers showed up during the day to help get the school ready.

A carload of seven people from Tulane University dropped off mops, a bucket and other cleaning supplies.

We are familiar with this, said volunteer Sharon Courtney, so we wanted to help.

Assistant Principal Tonya Bethly said she can use all the help she can get. Basic school supplies such as paper clips, chairs and desks, hedge trimming, pressure washing, clothes for children, cleaning supplies, everything.

We want to do the things that make a place inviting for children, Bethly said.

She also plans to repaint, as soon as she can.

We are not yellow and green, Bethly said, looking with mild disdain at the colors she inherited. By this weekend, we are going to be red and black. We are going to be Panther country.
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, the Republican House Majority Whip who represents Louisiana's 1st District, is calling on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to travel to Louisiana to see the effects of catastrophic flooding first-hand.

Clinton has released statements saying she would visit Louisiana when her trip would not distract from recovery efforts in the wake of the floods that have left 13 people dead and thousands more displaced from their homes. Twenty parishes in Louisiana have received federal disaster declarations.

+16 Trump, Pence meet flood victims, tour hard-hit BR neighborhoods Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence traveled to Baton Rouge on Friday to visit floo

"The best way to help Louisianans affected by these terrible floods is to make sure they have the resources they need today," Clinton said in a statement released by her campaign Monday morning. "I am committed to visiting communities affected by these floods, at a time when the presence of a political campaign will not disrupt the response, to discuss how we can and will rebuild together."

But Donald Trump, Clinton's Republican rival in the presidential race, traveled to Louisiana on Friday, and President Barack Obama toured flood-ravaged areas of the state on Tuesday.

"I want to thank Donald Trump and President Obama for coming to south Louisiana to show that they care about the people struggling from the devastating flooding, while bringing more national focus to this disaster," Scalise said in a statement after Obama's trip. "Their presence contradicts Hillary Clinton's unbelievable claim that her presence would be a 'distraction' from our recovery.

Scalise traveled with Trump last week as he toured flood-hit areas in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes. On Tuesday, Obama was joined by U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R) and David Vitter (R) and U.S. Reps. Cedric Richmond (D) and Garret Graves (R), as well as Gov. John Bel Edwards (D).

"I saw firsthand how Donald Trump's presence in Denham Springs and Central gave hope to many who are struggling, and now President Obama has followed Donald's lead by coming here," Scalise said. "I would encourage Hillary Clinton to follow Donald Trump and President Obama's leads and come down to south Louisiana now to see for herself the damage that has been done as thousands of people work on recovering and rebuilding their lives. It's simply the right thing to do."
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You can say that President Barack Obama should have come to Louisiana and viewed the immense flood damage sooner, even though his administration was already on the ground and doing its job. You can say that he should, at the very least, have put out a personal statement from vacation that would have helped aim the bright presidential spotlight in our direction.

After today's visit to a flooded-out Zachary street, I don't think you can say that this was too little too late, as GOP nominee Donald Trump, who beat the president to the area by four days, did Tuesday morning.

Here's why: The attention Obama brought, and the points he underscored in doing so, should help the recovery in the medium term, and longer term.

Although the president's presence can provide comfort, the initial phase of federal response kicked in as designed, without the need for top-level action beyond the disaster declarations that arrived quickly. FEMA administrator Craig Fugate  "one of the best hires I made as president," Obama said  has been on the ground, and there's enough cash available to supply emergency aid and pay flood insurance claims.

So the president spent a good part of his remarks talking about the medium- and long-term needs, which will be substantial.

He called repeated attention to the scale of the suffering, and zeroed in on emotional individual stories, including one about a young girl who'd lost her father trying desperately to salvage mementos that made her feel close to him. He urged Americans to donate generously now and to keep monitoring the situation after the cameras move on, because it will take months for many residents to get back into their homes.

"If you're watching this today, make sure you find out how you can help," Obama said. "We're going to need to stay on this, because these are some good people down here," and "they've got a lot of work to do."

And he zeroed in on what the federal government will be called upon to do down the road, the things that actually require Congress and the administration to muster their collective will and that can make or break a successful recovery.

Trouble seeing the video? Click here.

Obama specifically mentioned infrastructure, permanent housing and mitigation strategies, and noted that those needs are still being assessed. The bipartisan group of Louisiana officials that accompanied him  including Democrats such as Gov. John Bel Edwards and U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, and Republicans such as Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, U.S. Sens. David Vitter and Bill Cassidy and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves  are starting to really focus on those things as well.

In an interview before Obama touched down, Cassidy said he'd ask that the administration fast-track the long-planned Comite Diversion Canal, just as President George W. Bush did with major flood protection projects in and around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. That project also figured into a long wish list that Edwards presented, along with reduced state cost shares for various expenditures, Community Development Block Grants to help homeowners who didn't have flood insurance, money to repair damaged roads and more.

Some of that will require congressional action, and Obama, who doesn't exactly have a great track record of convincing the GOP-led House and Senate to follow his lead, said that the "the good news is that we've got four members of Congress right here, and a number of them happen to be in the majority."

That wasn't Obama's only nod to the politics that will invariably continue to flare up. In what certainly sounded like a response to criticism from Trump and other Republicans over his decision not to come sooner, Obama argued that "this is not a one-off. This is not a photo-op issue."

"I guarantee you, nobody on this block, none of those first responders, nobody gives a hoot whether youre Democrat or Republican," he said. "What they care about is making sure theyre getting the drywall out and the carpet out, and theres not any mold building, and they get some contractors in here and they start rebuilding as quick as possible. Thats what they care about. Thats what I care about."
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Temporary background check changes

Child care centers hiring extra help have been able to bring new staff in while their criminal background checks are processed. Normally, there is a waiting period until the fingerprint background check can be completed for all child care employees and volunteers, said Barry Landry, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

However, the Child Care Association of Louisiana requested a waiver, citing problems with the Louisiana Sheriff's Association criminal background check program in the past week. The waiver allows early learning centers to hire employees before the background checks return, but the new employees are not allowed to be alone with children until the check returns clean. A person who has passed a background check must be in the room.

The new employees also must sign a written certification that they have not been convicted of certain crimes that would prevent them from working with children, and the day care center must fire anyone whose background check returns with these types of convictions.

The background check waiver expires Sept. 11.
After historic floods drove thousands from their homes this past week, Brandi Lipsey drove from her hometown in Concordia Parish to Ascension Parish with a trailer full of brand new medical supplies.

She arrived at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center, where hundreds of evacuees were being housed. But the shelter, which receives support from the American Red Cross, rejected her haul of wheel chairs, crutches, canes, diabetic supplies and other goods like clothes and water, Lipsey said.

She wasn't allowed to bring her donations inside of the facility, so people in the shelter, many of whom left their homes with only the clothes on their backs, came outside to her trailer where she handed out goods directly.

"The people standing at the door would say, 'No, you're not going in there,'" Lipsey said. "But then there's people inside who are so grateful for the help and asking you to come back with more items."

Lipsey is just one of many volunteers and evacuees who has recently voiced frustration at the policies of the American Red Cross, which is either managing or providing support to many of the regional shelters for evacuees. Lipsey and others say the organization is letting bureaucracy get in the way of common sense by denying offers for hot meals and turning away donations and volunteers that didn't go through their own channels, even when it's desperately needed.

Gov. John Bel Edwards' office acknowledged some of the problems. A spokesman for the office said they were addressing the issues and would reevaluate the state's partnership with the organization in the future.

We recognize the enormous task the Red Cross undertakes to help, and we are tremendously grateful to the many volunteers who jumped to our aid in the aftermath of this historic flooding. However, the governor has expressed several concerns with the Red Cross response to this storm," said Richard Carbo, Edwards' spokesman. "Going forward, the state intends to reevaluate its partnership with the Red Cross to ensure displaced citizens of any future disaster receive the best support possible.

Nancy Malone, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, said there's misinformation being spread around, and people are confusing the Red Cross with their partner organizations. She also said there are liabilities to feeding people food that doesn't come from certified vendors, which is why some offers to cook hot meals have been turned away.

But she categorically rejected allegations that the Red Cross has thrown away donations.

"If you came today and said you have 5,000 meals to offer, well, we already had food delivered today, let's find a way to arrange for you to help someone else or come back another day," Malone said. "It has to be about coordination. We are held accountable to state regulations. This food has to come from a certified kitchen."

The Red Cross has served more than 250,000 meals and snacks since their flood response began more than a week ago. They are managing or assisting at 19 shelters that served about 2,900 people Sunday night.

She also said the Red Cross relies on partner organizations to sort donated goods, because they don't have the staffing to do so on site at the shelters.

But the red tape has still been maddening for many who say that the Red Cross is turning away aid even when help is still needed.

Annie Spell, from Covington, said she was working at the North Park Rec shelter in Denham Springs, where as many as 180 evacuees were staying.

"I had to ask for permission to come clean the toilets," Spell said. "They told me no."

Initially, before the Red Cross got involved, the shelter relied on volunteers and donations from the community. She said when the Red Cross showed up, they rejected food from outside sources, which left a couple instances where people had to miss a meal.

She said one night last week, there was only one Red Cross certified volunteer overseeing the night shift taking care of about 100 people. No other volunteers were allowed to work because they weren't Red Cross approved.

Spell said Monday it appeared as if Red Cross managers were loosening their grip, allowing her to assist with some cleaning and other duties at the shelter and pass out individually wrapped, store bought muffins to evacuees, as long as it was right outside the shelter.

Spell's concerns about food and volunteers being turned away were echoed across social media in several posts from different people that have been shared thousands of times this week.

Capt. Clay Higgins, a reserve Lafayette city marshal who is running for Congress, posted a video of himself on Facebook saying he had tried to visit with evacuees and pray with them at the Heymann Center in Lafayette and was asked to leave by the Red Cross.

"Red Cross people here are great, but they have Red Cross rules they have to follow," he said in the video. "A man can't walk around the shelter and offer love and prayer for people who have been displaced."

Malone acknowledged that the organization does have a policy intended to be respectful of all faiths, but she said if Higgins had approached managers they would have accommodated him.

While the American Red Cross is one of the most recognizable names in disaster response, it's been under intense scrutiny in recent years for its response to high profile, prolonged crisis situations.

Most recently, after the March floods enveloped much of North Louisiana, ProPublica published a story that quoted parish officials and emergency response leaders who said the Red Cross had been a massive disappointment in providing assistance to their flooded communities.

Richard Gremillion, director of the Calcasieu Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, said in an interview with The Advocate that "there was a general dissatisfaction in the community about how things were handled by the Red Cross."

Gremillion said the Red Cross was slow to open a shelter when it was needed, so local volunteers put one together on their own only to have the Red Cross take it over later.

Asked if he felt the Red Cross helped the community, he said, "Well, that's hard for me to say."

Hotel assistance, disaster food program launching for displaced flood victims Help is on the way, at least temporarily, for people displaced by floods who are seeking hou

"I don't know how many people actually received help from them," he said. "If you're going to be in the shelter business you need to be prepared."

Patrick Mulhearn, who runs Celtic Studios, received support from the Red Cross after he opened up his studio to thousands of evacuees last week. He said their help was a welcomed relief.

"You need someone organized who understands the needs of dealing with a mass evacuation, and that's what they do. They're experts in that field," he said.

Mulhearn noted that people are naturally frustrated when they are turned away from helping, but shelters have been inundated and people's uncoordinated efforts can sometimes be more of a draw on resources.

"They have to turn away food that's perishable because we just didn't have capacity for it or it's going to go bad," he said. "No one should get their feelings hurt."
Two hours into his visit at the disaster relief center Monday, Brandon Wiley was at his third station.

He and his pregnant wife, Haley, have been sleeping in their car for the past week. Hes looking for a temporary housing after floodwaters destroyed everything they owned in a rent house near the Federal Emergency Management Administration center at the New Hope Baptist Church on Greenwell Springs Road in Baton Rouge.

Wiley and his wife were among the 104 applicants, by mid-afternoon, seeking aid at the newly opened disaster relief stations around south Louisiana.

Forty one applicants came into the center at New Hope Baptist on Sunday and 104 had come by early afternoon.

The average time from signing in, speaking with agents at the various stations to finishing up is about three to four hours.

Wiley said he arrived prepared and wasnt stressed by the lines. Its to be expected, he said as they moved from one chair to the next, a little bit closer to one of the agents at the U.S. Small Business Administration desk.

Recovery, which officials say could take a year, had begun in earnest Monday. A storm that that began Aug. 12 dumped as much as two feet of rain in some areas over 48 hours, causing catastrophic flooding in several parishes. At least 13 people died and more than an estimated 40,000 homes were flooded.

FEMA opened disaster recovery centers in East Baton Rouge, West Feliciana and Tangipahoa parishes Monday to help flood victims get recovery assistance. Three more will open Tuesday in Gonzales, Zachary and West Baton Rouge Parish.

The centers are open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday until further notice.

Renee Bafalis, a FEMA spokeswoman, said she was shocked Monday morning when arrived at New Hope and saw that 110,000 households have registered so far. The numbers will go up as more register online or upon arrival at the centers. Thats about double the number FEMA helped in the flooding in West Virginia in late June that resulted in 23 deaths.

This is the first step, Bafalis said. We can't get you back to where you were before the storm, but we can help you get to a safe, secure and sanitary environment.

FEMA stresses the goal of the grant program is not to make people whole, simply to give people cash for damage that will help put of roof back over their heads  either in their own secured property or with rent payments for temporary housing.

For all the flood victims who did not have flood insurance, the individual assistance grants are the primary resource to get money quickly. Although, it is capped at $33,000, over the last decade the per-person payout has tended to run between $3,000 and $8,000 on average, depending on the disaster.

In short, it tends to be far less than devastated renters and homeowners without flood insurance need.

FEMA also directs applicants to the U.S. Small Business Administration, which is often an underutilized tool, perhaps because of its name. During disasters, the SBA can make low-interest loans to renters and homeowners and funnels people back to smaller FEMA reimbursement programs if they dont qualify.

For that reason, FEMA encourages everyone to fill out an SBA loan application whether they think they need it or not.

The Small Business Administration received 1,195 disaster loan applications and approved more than $6.3 million in low-interest loans.

While it is not yet clear how many people who flooded had flood insurance, estimates based on the number of policies and the number of households suggest 86 percent of homes in East Baton Rouge Parish were not covered and 78 percent in Livingston werent covered.

Traditional homeowners policies do not cover floods, and all flood insurance is provided by the governments National Flood Insurance Program.

Like many of the Baton Rouge homeowners, Marvin Thomass north Baton Rouge home was near but not in flood zone.

In the 22 years hes owned the house, which sits on three-foot high pilings, it has never flooded  never came close. So, when the water came onto his lawn, he didnt really worry. When hit his top step, Thomas evacuated.

The floodwater rose another three or four feet and destroyed all his furniture and all his appliances. Hes going to have to replace the flooring and drywall. He lost both cars.

Even if Thomas qualifies for the maximum FEMA grant, hes also going to need one the SBAs low interest loans to buy appliances and repair his home.

I didnt know it would flood. Nobody told me that I was in danger of that happening, Thomas said. All I want is to get back to living.
Adlar Stelly, a rice and crawfish farmer in Vermilion Parish, was ready to harvest his rice fields the day the rain started coming down.

It would have been his first harvest of the year.

But the rain didn't stop. And after record-breaking, historic level flooding swept much of Southeast Louisiana, Stelly said more than half of his 800 acres of crops could be totally ruined.

"Probably about 500 (acres) of it is under water," he said. "The rest of it, we will try to salvage what we can, but the quality of it is down."

On Tuesday, the LSU AgCenter estimated the state's agriculture industry would suffer at least $110 million in losses because of the recent flood event, with experts saying that the number would easily double as more damage and loss is revealed in the coming days.

The AgCenter's preliminary loss estimate pertains mostly to crop loss. But it has yet to take into account damages to equipment and irrigation infrastructure, loss of live stock and damage to crops in reserves. It's also unclear at this point what impact the floods could have on crawfish farms.

What's worse is that severe flooding that took place across North Louisiana in March is already expected to cost the industry $90 million, said Kurt Guidry, an LSU AgCenter economist. The two flood events, in addition to low commodity prices this year, means Louisiana farmers and local economies reliant on farmers are likely to take a painful financial blow.

"This is going to be one of the largest agriculture losses we have sustained," said State Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain. "We have flooding all the way from the Florida parishes to the west side of the state and as far north as central Louisiana."

Guidry said the flooding had all of the punch of a hurricane, without the wind. But he said the event, while catastrophic, won't have the same toll on the agriculture industry that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had, which exceeded $1 billion in losses to farmers that year.

But he said the timing of this flood is particularly harmful because many farmers were preparing to harvest crops. In March, when flooding hit the northern parishes in the state, it was early enough in the growing season that whole yields of crops weren't totally ruined, because farmers had time to replant.

Most of the state's first crop of rice has been harvested, but Guidry estimated that flooding could hurt the 20 percent still in the fields, while water logged conditions could hinder the opportunity for a second crop.

"For a lot of producers, second-crop is where they make their profit margins," Guidry said.

Ray Schexnayder, a farmer with land in Pointe Coupee and West Baton Rouge parishes, said he expects about one-third of his corn plants are damaged, and likely 70 percent of soy beans have been hurt.

He and his two brothers have about 2,500 acres of farm land.

Schexnayder said what's particularly damaging right now is that there's still standing water  as high as a foot tall  around some areas of his land.

"Our beans are just sitting in water, it's taking so long for the water to recede," he said. "There's going to be really bad damage on those fields, it could be a zero yield."

Schexnayder said it's likely the loss of product will mean he and his brothers have to seek financing next year to get by.

"It's going to be another one of those surviving years, not a money-making year," he said. "It has the potential of being pretty bad."

Guidry said the weather over the next few days will be make-or-break for farmers. If it continues to rain, it only worsens the chance for crops to be salvaged.

LSU AgCenter predicted that the state's soybean crop sustained the most damage, with an estimated $46 million in yield loss projected.

The rice industry is expected to take a $33 million hit. And at least $3 million worth of sugarcane will have to be replanted.

Corn farms were not severely damaged, but wet conditions have delayed harvest which can cause plants to fall over and grains to sprout, which cost them about $10 million.

The AgCenter did not yet have a count for livestock deaths from the flood, but loss of pasture resources for the animals will cost farmers nearly $2 million.

During the March floods, about 600 cattle were lost, which Guidry expected to be the upper limit of how many could be lost from the most recent weather event.

But he said there are reports of some live stock getting sick from drinking polluted flood waters, which could continue to drive the numbers up.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged his commitment to a full recovery from floods that struck south Louisiana this month, leaving 13 people dead and thousands more displaced.

"Youre not alone on this," Obama said, standing in the driveway of a Zachary home that took three feet of water. "Even after the TV cameras leave, the whole country is going to continue to support you and help you until we get folks back in their homes and lives are rebuilt.

"The reason I can say that with confidence is because that's what Americans do in times like this," he said.

Obama spent about an hour meeting with flood victims in the Castle Place subdivision in Zachary, just north of Baton Rouge.

He was joined by Gov. John Bel Edwards; U.S. Sens. David Vitter and Bill Cassidy; Congressmen Cedric Richmond and Garret Graves; Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden; and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, who has been in Louisiana for the past week to coordinate response efforts.

More than 120,000 Louisiana residents in the 20 parishes that have received federal disaster declarations have applied for assistance from FEMA. The federal government says it has already authorized more than $127 million in payouts.

"Were going to need to stay on this, because these are some good people down here," Obama said. "Were glad that the families I had a chance to meet are safe, but theyve got a lot of work to do, and they shouldnt have to do it alone."

Edwards had presented Obama with a four-page letter of requests for federal assistance, including assistance with a task force Edwards says he will create to handle recovery efforts moving forward, an expansion of community disaster loans and other disaster dollars from the federal government.

"The people of Louisiana are strong and resilient," Edwards wrote in the letter. "However, the severity of this flood event, combined with the other difficulties faced in this state over the last several months, is testing our spirit in ways we have not seen since the challenges posed by Hurricane Katrina."

After Obama had departed back to Washington at around 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Edwards said he was impressed with the president's visit. He said he had about 20 minutes uninterrupted to further stress his request to the president over the course of the trip.

"We had an opportunity to give him a full briefing on the extent of the damage here," Edwards said. "He seemed very receptive."

The president walked door-to-door in the Zachary neighborhood, hugging flood victims in their driveways before going with them to view the damage that has wrecked their homes. Houses in the area received two to three feet of water in the flood. Every one of them had piles of debris lining their yards  water-logged mattresses, soggy carpeting and insulation, broken-down furniture. The smell of mildew and rotting food wafted in the air.

"I wish I was coming at a better time, but I'm glad to see everybody's safe," said Obama, who was dressed down in khakis and a blue-button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up in the sunny, 90-degree Louisiana summer weather.

+4 Transcript: President Obama addresses Louisiana floods after tour of damage President Barack Obama visited Baton Rouge on Tuesday, addressing the flooding that has left 13 people dead and thousands more displaced after

Naketa Woods stood in her driveway, holding up an iPhone as the president approached after speaking to several of her neighbors. Woods has lived in the home on Judith Drive, which took between two and three feet of water, for several years.

"We lost everything," she said, including two vehicles. "We have to start all over."

Obama had faced some criticism in recent days for not traveling to the flood affected area sooner. He was vacationing in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, when the flood hit. Edwards, also a Democrat, had defended the president's delay, saying that a presidential visit could take away from needed resources as homes remained flooded and rescue efforts were underway.

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump traveled to flooded neighborhoods in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes on Friday. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said she will travel to Louisiana, but has provided no specific date or details about that trip.

Woods said Obama's visit was important to the community.

"It shows us that he hasn't forgotten us," Woods said.

Obama approached Woods with a hug. "I'm so sorry for everything that's going on," he told her. "It's a beautiful home."

Two large leather couches, mattresses and office furniture were among the items that Woods and her family have had to discard on the front lawn.

After viewing the damage, Obama said he was "heartbroken" by the loss that surrounded him.

"People's lives have been upended by this flood," he said. "This is not just about property damage. This is about people's roots."

Obama also traveled to a disaster recovery center that has been set up at the Zachary Men's Club to meet with local volunteers.

Later he spent about 20 minutes in a closed meeting with families of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was killed in an altercation with police on July 5, and officers slain and wounded in a convenience store attack less than two weeks later.

The White House would not provide additional details about that meeting, and the president did not comment publicly. It was unclear who was represented among the families of the three slain officers.

Killed in the deadly attack were Baton Rouge Police officers Montrell Jackson and Matthew Gerald and Sheriff's Deputy Brad Garafola. Two other deputies, Nicholas Tullier and Bruce Simmons, were injured. Tullier remains in the hospital. Simmons was expected to be among those who met with Obama.

Obama repeatedly addressed both shootings after they happened, but had not traveled to Baton Rouge. Vice President Joe Biden attended a memorial for the fallen officers last month.
Local government officials estimated Tuesday that nearly 53,000 residences, 3,800 commercial buildings and 1,800 public buildings in East Baton Rouge Parish alone flooded amid storms and high water that swept through the region last week -- the first estimate that is more concrete in its measurement than the Baton Rouge Area Chamber's numbers, which also were updated on Tuesday.

The city-parish's geographic information systems department has been mapping the extent of flood inundation for the past few days. They stressed that their numbers are still preliminary but said they are based on calls for search and rescue, calls for sewer service, information from floodplain maps, public input and more.

Editor's note: Please allow several moments for the flooding 'layer' on the map to load.

Similar estimates of the number of structures damaged by flooding in surrounding parishes, many of which were hard hit, are not yet available.

While city-parish officials are still conducting their full damage assessment, GIS Manager Warren Kron said Tuesday that the flooding they have mapped is "a pretty good guess" at how many structures across the parish had floodwaters reach them after devastating storms starting slamming the parish August 12.

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has also been using maps of floodplains and neighborhoods to project how many homes and businesses may have been affected by floods, but their data has more caveats than the city-parish's.

BRAC's numbers are only meant to be a tally of the potential magntiude of the flood -- versus the city-parish's interpretation of how many places actually did flood -- and BRAC has steered clear of deeming their numbers a damage assessment. BRAC has used data from the city-parish to help attain its assessments as well.

The city-parish's latest numbers as of late Tuesday show that they estimate 52,944 residential structures flooded, 3,839 commercial buildings flooded and 1,775 public facilities flooded in East Baton Rouge parish. While the numbers fluctuated constantly over the first few days they started mapping it, Kron said, the changes have started to taper off.

The city-parish map, available online, allows people to type in their addresses and see whether their homes and neighborhoods have been marked as flooded. The city-parish's geographic information services department is encouraging people to contact them via Facebook or via email at gis@brgov.com to let them know where the map has inaccuracies.

"We want information about your entire street or neighborhood rather than just, 'my home didn't flood,'" Kron said.

EBR Metro Council approves emergency measures, gets look at municipal flood damage The East Baton Rouge Metro Council on Monday waived the parish noise ordinance for flood-rel

Kron said that the city-parish flood maps continue to be updated as debris pickup begins, which his department is also mapping and tracking in real time. Debris pickup in neighborhoods can help show where flooding happened, he said.

The city-parish also has workers doing survey damage assessments by measuring water lines on homes that flooded to give them a more accurate picture of how much flooding areas received.

BRAC's first assessment last week found that the number of homes with the potential to have been affected by recent floods across the whole region was 31 percent. Their updated number on Tuesday showed a dramatic increase, with their second analysis predicting that 41.5 percent of homes in the nine-parish region were in areas affected by floods.

Their updated numbers predict that more than 145,000 homes worth $30.4 billion could have flooded across East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension, East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana. But their estimate that just 15 percent of those homes were insured against flooding has stayed the same.

BRAC said the dramatic increase in their projected numbers is because they incorporated flooding data from hard-hit areas of Baker, Zachary and south Baton Rouge that were excluded from their preliminary report.

"The biggest difference is the East Baton Rouge numbers increased significantly," said Ansley Zehnder, BRAC's vice president of marketing. She said their numbers will continue to fluctuate as more data becomes available.

BRAC's estimates of how many businesses had the potential to be affected by flooding have also increased, with them now projecting 34.8 percent of businesses in the Capital Region may have been affected.

Overall, BRAC continues to find that Livingston Parish was slammed the hardest by the rains and floods, with 86.6 percent of homes there being in places where water pooled.
Debris removal units hit the streets Monday in the capital city region, with 20 trucks in Baton Rouge and 10 crews in Livingston Parish starting to haul off the furniture, drywall and other ruined possessions now piled up along streets after floods punished the region one week ago.

East Baton Rouge Parish's debris removal contractor, DRC Emergency Services, expects that it will take around 90 days to make three sweeps through neighborhoods and collect debris. The task is daunting  their preliminary estimate is that the city-parish could have 325,000 to 400,000 cubic yards of debris and that they picked up 6,000 cubic yards by Monday afternoon.

Each of their trucks can haul between 100 and 150 cubic yards of material, and DRC Vice President Mark Stafford estimated that his workers could pick up 20,000 cubic yards this week.

The city-parish could be spending around $5.6 million on debris pickup, depending on how much debris there is. Their contract with DRC specifies that City Hall will pay them $13.98 per cubic yard to pick up, process and dispose of construction and demolition debris.

DRC, in turn, expects to hire five to six subcontractors who they will pay $5 per cubic yard for debris pickup in East Baton Rouge.

FEMA is expected to reimburse the city-parish 75 percent of the costs of debris pickup and other cleanup and rebuilding because of the floods. City-parish Finance Director Marsha Hanlon said the FEMA reimbursement could be higher than 75 percent if the U.S. Congress increases the ratio, and that the city-parish plans to foot their 25 percent of the bill with landfill funds or reserves.

+4 Why Louisiana politicians could face hurdles in fight for federal disaster recovery dollars As the flood response in Louisiana turns from rescue to recovery, the role the federal gover

The first ZIP codes that DRC moved through on Monday were 70714, 70802, 70819, 70814 and 70811. They got a jump-start on collecting around 1,500 cubic yards of debris in some of the hardest hit areas over the weekend.

The next ZIP codes that crews will move into are 70805 and 70812.

As DRC and city-parish officials updated the Metro Council on Monday about their progress, council members said they are already impatient. They wondered if community members could help in the efforts, but DRC representatives said they have to follow strict rules about monitoring and measuring what they pick up so that FEMA will reimburse the cost.

For example, the contractors cannot pick up debris from businesses yet because FEMA will not reimburse that expense. DRC representatives also said cleanup in the wake of floods can be more difficult than other events, because the debris includes furniture and appliances whereas in Baton Rouge storms like hurricanes usually create mostly vegetative debris.

Metro Council members urged them to move as quickly as possible.

"Walking out your house every day and seeing all of your stuff, all of your baby's stuff, all of the things you've accumulated over the years, adds that extra amount of stress and pressure," said Metro Councilwoman Tara Wicker.

DRC is also the contractor for debris pickup in Ascension Parish. Stafford said the parish contracts are separate and have separate equipment and project managers. He said they expect to hire two subcontractors to help in Ascension.

Ceres Environmental Services is the contractor for Livingston.

Livingston's Emergency Preparedness Director Mark Harrell said he expects to ramp up to 40 or 50 trucks picking up debris there in the upcoming days. He said he could not verify which areas the trucks visited yet and where they will go next.

"Honestly, I haven't driven the whole parish and don't have a super grasp of how much is piled up, but what I have seen is terrible," Harrell said. "There are a lot of loads out there, but I'm hoping to manage it all with about 40 to 50 trucks in the end."

Harrell said he did not want to establish a schedule for picking up debris in each area of the parish because it would pressure residents to finish gutting their homes and businesses by a certain date. He asked people who are anxious to see their debris gone to have patience.

East Baton Rouge prioritizes debris collection; Livingston Parish hopes to start Monday When debris removal begins Monday in East Baton Rouge Parish, work will start at flooded pro

Ceres will begin debris removal Tuesday in Denham Springs under a separate contract with the city, Mayor Gerard Landry said. Routes have not yet been established there either, the mayor said.

Central, Zachary and Baker all have their own debris contracts being handled separately.

Debris collection took longer Monday in the parish because the state Department of Environmental Quality has not expanded their definition of construction and demolition waste to include things like mattresses and furniture. Stafford said they anticipate that will be changed, as it has been in previous disaster cleanups, but as of Monday the regulations stood.

Collection of 'depressing' East Baton Rouge Parish debris to begin in coming days Thursday marked the third day Stephen Chalmers and his siblings were still at work gutting o

As a result, as trucks get to Ronaldson Field in Alsen for disposal, staff has to sort through the debris so that anything not slated for a construction and demolition landfill can be taken out and hauled to the East Baton Rouge Parish North Landfill, Stafford said. City-parish Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel said the city-parish wants the flood debris to go to the Ronaldson Field landfill, but that they will switch to the North Landfill if Ronaldson Field fills up too quickly.

Greg Langley, DEQ spokesman, said the department was working on the issue.

Stafford said the company hasnt started collection in Ascension Parish yet because parts of the parish are still flooded, but that collection is expected to begin Wednesday or Thursday.
2 suspects still at large after 7th Ward shootout; state trooper released from hospital

2 suspects still at large after fatal 7th Ward shootout Sunday; state trooper released from hospital
A good Samaritan inadvertently helped a man who had just burgled the shed to jump start his car and get away, police said.

The burglar then crashed into the employees car as he made away with stolen power tools, batteries and a generator.

The burglar was driving a black Jeep Cherokee with ACT registration beginning in YEP, and which is also likely to have significant front end damage on its right side. Credit:Erin Jonasson

Police said they were called to the Weston Creek Men's Shed on Sulwood Drive, Kambah, about 7pm on Sunday.

They said a person had been assisting an unknown man outside the shed to jump-start his car.
AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin concedes the organisation has not done enough to promote women through the ranks and into high profile roles like that of ACT chief police officer.

On Monday, the AFP released a report into its diversity, authored by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick .

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin addresses the media during the release of the AFP's gender and inclusion review, at the AFP HQ in Canberra. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The report found "pervasive" sexual harassment and bullying in the organisation, in a finding that echoed revelations in the Australian Defence Force in recent years.

It found 46 per cent of women and 20 per cent of men reported being sexually harassed or abused in some way in the workplace, almost double the national average. Sixty-six per cent of women and 62 per cent of men said they had been bullied.
A 91MW $200 million Crookwell wind farm, to be built by Spanish-owned company Union Fenosa Wind Australia, has won the right to be paid feed-in tariff grants under the government's reverse auction process.

Environment Minister Simon Corbell on Tuesday announced what he described as the "final piece" in the government's plan for 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 .

A local wind farm has won a bid to supply 41,600 ACT homes with energy, while a third successful bid from a South Australian project means it will provide a major chunk of Canberra's renewable power by 2020.

The project, due to be completed in September 2018, will build 28 turbines able to power 41,600 Canberra homes.

Mr Corbell said the Crookwell farm would be paid $86.60/MWh for the energy it feeds into the grid, which he said was a record low for a NSW wind farm.

The other successful bidder was the Hornsdale Wind Farm, being built by Neoen International SAS and Megawatt Capital north of Adelaide.

The Hornsdale project has already been successful in the first and second rounds of ACT wind auctions, and is building the capacity for 309MW in total. That means the South Australian project will provide a large chunk of the ACT's renewable energy by 2020.

A third stage of development for the Hornsdale farm will see it with enough energy to power a further 56,600 homes in Canberra, at a fixed 20-year price to the government of $73/MWh.
Collingwood star Dane Swan confirmed his AFL retirement on Tuesday, as reported by Fairfax Media on Monday.

Swan's future has been up in the air since the 32-year-old suffered a serious foot injury in round one of the AFL season.

He is entitled to apply for final-year injury compensation  a figure that could be as high as $400,000  because of the injury.

The 32-year-old, who has not played since round one, will be entitled to 50 per cent of his base salary for 2016 should he push for a payout.
Receivers to collapsed steelmaker Arrium are facing another delay after a court pushed back to late October a legal stoush between the failed group and US financial powerhouses GSO Capital Partners and BNY Mellon.

Federal Court judge Justice Jennifer Davies will now hear the dispute on October 27 after lawyer for the US institutions Peter Jopling, QC, successfully argued for more time to prepare his case after accusing lawyers for KordaMentha of "gobbling up" time by changing their pleadings.

Arrium's Whyalla business employs thousands of people in South Australia and is a big player in the state's economy.

Lawyer for receivers Philip Crutchfield argued against a later trial date, citing the sale process.

The delay comes as potential buyers circle collapsed steelmaker Arrium's star ore-grinding business Moly-Cop, which was put up for sale by the receivers and is expected to fetch $1.5 billion. A float of Moly-Cop is also being canvassed, while a separate sale and recapitalisation process for Arrium's Whyalla business and related entities is also being explored.
Imagine a world where Australia produces few goods and services that may be taxed and, at the same time, loses out on billions of dollars of mining company revenue to China and India.

And where governments, scrambling to fund new roads, schools and hospitals for growing populations, raise taxes on individuals.

It's a depressing scenario, but one that big-four accounting firm KPMG predicts is imminent.

In fact, the future is already here. It's one where tax bases are rapidly diminishing and where revenue authorities battle it out for a greater piece of the pie.
A landmark high-rise apartment tower in Southbank whose glass exterior is wrapped in solar cells will provide its residents with "off-the-grid" power stored in Tesla-like batteries, its designers say.

The 60-level building will be the first skyscraper in Australia environmentally engineered to include solar cells in the facade, creating a far greater surface area for catching the sun's rays.

"We get an enormous area of solar panels by comparison to running them across the roof," said Peter Brook from Peddle Thorp, the architects behind the design.

The curved exterior of the building has been orientated to deliberately capture the sun's movement from east to west throughout the day, a feature that had created an "elegant tower".
The fallout from retailer Dick Smith's dramatic closure is still impacting the balance sheets of Australia's biggest property players.

A swagful of more than 300 Dick Smith stores closed at the start of May, and the chain was put into liquidation in July owing more than $260 million to creditors.

Vicinity Centres chief executive Angus McNaughton, presenting the group's results last week, said Vicinity had 41 Dick Smith stores in its portfolio, most of which it had now re-leased.

The electronics retailer's abrupt closure will cut Vicinity's moving annual turnover - a measure of sales - by 50 basis points, partly because Dick Smith sold expensive, big ticket items such as high-definition televisions and computers.
Dr Bernard Joseph ("BJ") Rooney, who has died in Melbourne aged 71, often remarked he had just two enemies in life  the taxman and the "TAB" man.

Typically astute, this was an accurate self-reflection from a man who judged no one and who loved nothing more than a punt and a party.

Dr Bernard Rooney, a long-serving GP.

He will be remembered by his many patients as a caring and dedicated doctor with a gentle manner, an open mind and deep empathy for the problems of others.

A rare commodity in Australia's stretched regional health sector, he devoted most of his professional career to the people of Traralgon as a general practitioner. He was a doctor of the traditional school  one who visited patients in their own homes, tirelessly served the elderly and acted as a compassionate friend and counsellor to people from all walks of life.
Fifty-five years ago this month, East Germany started building the Berlin Wall, a structure that became an emblem for the decades-long Cold War. Not only did the wall split Germany's historical capital, it divided two visions of the world that would remain in fierce competition for the next three decades. Looking back at images of barbed wire and guard towers, it's easy to forget that the wall's construction was actually greeted with some relief in the US because it ended a more volatile situation  East Germany's inability to stop its citizens from fleeing West through the city. Coming against backdrop of the US-Soviet nuclear brinksmanship, the Berlin Wall, despite being an affront to freedom, solved a problem that could risk an unintended conflict. Today, a quarter century after scenes of Germans atop the Berlin Wall celebrating its demise, the world is again searching for new limits. East German citizens climb the Berlin Wall after the opening of the East German border was announced in November 1989. Globalisation has reshaped economies, fuelling profound uncertainty for the middle classes in democracies. The economic openness the public was told would make them richer has instead enabled corporations to circumvent taxation and regulation. The ideology of free trade, used for years to justify globalisation, has collided with the reality of economic mercantilism from developing nations. Increased immigration, much of it uncontrolled, conjures fears not just of terrorism but of competition for jobs and livelihoods.

Spurred by the advent of the internet, there has been a challenge to the power and authority of nation states in the past few decades. This matters for Australia, because the historical rise of liberal democracies  and the rights they guarantee  go hand-in-hand with the fate of nation states. That doesn't mean, however, that Australia, already endowed with clear borders, needs to build walls like the one that divided Berlin. But we do face challenging questions. How can a state be strong if it embraces a global economic system that encourages multinationals to hide profits overseas? Can a nation be strong unless its citizens and would-be immigrants embrace democratic values and institutions? Can Australia secure its economic future if it can't articulate a realistic political vision of itself? A public unsure of its economic security will clutch at the political demagogues. The same angst makes erecting barriers a seductively simple choice. Tellingly, US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made building a wall a key campaign promise. Politicians here will try to exploit fears through dog-whistles or overly broad solutions. The internet is one of the most fraught areas for this  as it is for all mature liberal democracies. The ubiquity of the world wide web means that cyber attacks originating from abroad and even misinformation from afar, will create yet more situations where the easy  and wrong  thing to do would be to simply block and exclude swaths of websites from the outside world. Instead, as Australia takes steps to keep its political system strong, stable and relevant for the world today, the goal should be that borders  physical, cultural, digital - don't become barriers the way the Berlin Wall was. States can effectively control their borders, provide for the wellbeing of citizens, and encourage a healthy economy without creating new obstacles for travel, trade, commerce and ideas.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will look to turn the tables on the federal coalition and challenge Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to adopt Labor savings worth $80 billion over a decade.

In a major speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday designed to frame Labor as a fiscally responsible opposition, the political fight over budget repair will deepen when Mr Shorten declares he is ready to "step up and show the leadership the nation has lacked to get the budget back on track".

To that end, the Opposition Leader will promise to look constructively at a $6.5 billion omnibus savings bill the government is set to release by the end of the week - and that Labor's position on individual measures will reflect the position it took to the election.

With Parliament finally set to resume next week, Mr Turnbull and his economic team have begun to ratchet up pressure on the opposition over budget repair.
Former foreign minister Gareth Evans has questioned the Turnbull government's claimed national security motivation for knocking back Chinese bids for Sydney's Ausgrid network, saying it should not be taken "at face value".

Professor Evans, who served as foreign minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, told an audience at the National Press Club in Canberra the rejection of the bids for Ausgrid set a precedent that would make it difficult to see how foreign investment in other critical infrastructure would be allowed in future.

"I don't think we should be taking a security-based objection at face value without subjecting it to a considerable amount more scrutiny than it seems to have received," he said.

His remarks came during a debate with Hugh White, a professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University, about US-China relations in which Professor White warned that the US-China relationship and strategic rivalry were "getting worse".
Pauline Hanson had just two words to say when she arrived at Parliament House: "I'm back."

Senator Hanson joined her new colleagues on Tuesday for what is known as 'Senate school' - a guide to the procedures and practices that govern the upper house.

Flanked by her One Nation workmates Malcolm Roberts, Rodney Culleton and Brian Burston, the group took their place beside other new faces such as Derryn Hinch, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, from the Nick Xenophon Team, and returnee, Labor's Louise Pratt.

Official group photographs hardly make the most convivial setting for people to get to know each other but Senator Kakoschke-Moore made a beeline for Senator Hanson while Senator Pratt stood with Labor colleagues Pat Dodson and Malarndirri McCarthy.
One of the lead campaigners behind Ireland's historic same-sex marriage referendum has urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and parliamentarians not to go ahead with a plebiscite, warning the experience was "brutal" for gay and lesbian people and their families.

Grainne Healy, co-director of the Yes Equality campaign, said Irish volunteers needed counselling after abuse and hate speech from reform opponents, calling for MPs to stop Australia from seeing an unnecessary plebiscite campaign.

In a letter to all MPs, Dr Healy said a plebiscite on same-sex marriage would bring about hurtful and divisive commentary under the guise of fair debate.

"The 'no' side posters which declared that 'every child deserves a mother and a father' were deeply hurtful and upsetting for LGBT-headed families as they passed the posters on lamp posts and billboards across the country - explaining to our children that they were OK and trying to hide the posters from them was awful for LGBT parenting families.
The government's proposed legislation targeting the troubles of Victoria's Country Fire Authority looks set to live or die based on the position that Pauline Hanson's One Nation takes.

On Monday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced amendments to the federal Fair Work Act that hinder "militant union" influence in the CFA by making any provisions undermining volunteers unlawful.

Crossbenchers Derryn Hinch and Bob Day have declared their support for the proposal and Nick Xenophon, with his three Senate votes, and David Leyonhjelm have expressed in-principle support for the position of volunteers.

The government has 30 seats in the Senate, meaning they need to secure a further nine votes to pass legislation. With Labor and the Greens opposed to the legislation, they are sitting on 32 to 36 votes, setting up the four One Nation senators as the key - or barrier - to success.
In any classroom there are always two things going on - the lesson being given by the teacher and the positioning of the students.

When the new members of the Senate came together in Canberra on Tuesday it was the first time they had all been in the one place at one time.

Some of them had reputations that preceded them, others were more of the quiet achiever type.

The atmosphere for 'Senate school' was "very welcoming", Malarndirri McCarthy, a Labor senator from the Northern Territory said.
Growing up in Hollywood isn't all it's cracked up to be, just ask Clint Eastwood's son, Scott.

In an interview with GQ Australia the Suicide Squad star talks about being raised by Dirty Harry himself and the time he was slammed against a wall and punched in the face by his father when he was 16.

Scott Eastwood at the Suicide Squad premiere in New York. Credit:Getty

The 30-year-old recounts the time when he was 16 and took his younger sister, Kathryn, to a party where he abandoned her in order to enjoy a beer with his mates. She was 14 at the time.

"Later, dad found out... He popped me in the face and said, 'You don't ever leave your sister at a party. EVER.' And it was very old-school, very old-school of him. He was not afraid. None of this new-age bullshit where you can't even smack the kid because everyone's so afraid of being judged or whatever. That wasn't the way shit went down in that family If you did something wrong, you were gonna get punished. I learnt quickly - you don't do that," he said.
Courteney Cox has revealed she regrets having cosmetic procedures when she was younger.

Speaking to everyone's favourite talk show host, Bear Grylls (no, really! She was on Running Wild), Cox opened up about ageing in Hollywood.

Courteney Cox attends the Ivor Novello Awards 2016 at The Grosvenor House Hotel on May 19, 2016 in London, England. Credit:Getty

"Was there pressure to look a certain way?" Grylls asked the Friends actress during a pause in their hike through rural Ireland.

"Just being a woman in this business... getting older is not the easiest," Cox said. "But I have learned lessons. I think I was trying to keep up with being older."
"Why does anyone buy a beautiful bag?" says Caroline Sherman. "It's not just to put your wallet and keys in, is it?" True, that. The allure of the covetable fashion accessory is all tied up with status and desire. I've "invested in" bags because they were good quality, or irresistibly pretty, but also because magazines assured me this was the latest "it-bag". I once bought a ridiculously expensive clutch because it matched my new shoes.

If Sherman has her way, there will be a lot more Australian women buying the bags from her Among Equals label. Perhaps they will do so for the reasons above but there is a better one, she says: "These bags can change the lives of the women who make them. What put it in perspective for me was when I found out that one of the weavers we work with was able to buy walls for her house with the payments she received. She literally had no walls. It's quite common to have no electricity and no running water in the areas we're working in."

Caroline Sherman with a weaver at the Bilum Festival in Goroka. Credit:Among Equals

Among Equals is a collection of Bilum - hand-woven Papua New Guinean bags "of deep cultural significance" made the traditional way by women in the mountainous region around Goroka. Back in Sydney the bags are embellished, or as Sherman describes it, "given a contemporary twist", with tassels and painted wooden beads. She does this bit herself. "I spend a lot of time on the floor making pompoms."

A textiles designer by trade, Sherman was wandering around a government trade fair in 2014 when she "saw this flash of amazing colour and pattern". It was a group of indigenous women from PNG demonstrating traditional weaving techniques. "I sat with them for hours, I was so excited by their craft. I'd never heard of a Bilum."
Pechey only slipped into her first pair of ballet shoes a decade ago. Originally from Southend-on-Sea - "I'm an Essex girl," she tells me in her best accent - she had always dreamt of having ballet lessons. But she recalls: "Back in the Fifties, there wasn't a lot of money around, and there were times in the winter when my father was stood off - as a master decorator, he couldn't work outside when the weather was bad. That's why making my own living was always so important to me. There were rich people about, but we definitely weren't among them." As a little girl, Doreen would save up to see the ballet when it came to town; now, being able to afford lessons makes her success all the sweeter. She undertook her first class with her niece Diann, a ballet teacher, while visiting her in Canada in 2006. After returning home to Oxfordshire, where she has lived with her husband Bill, 68, for 33 years, she was inspired to keep going. "I had two false starts with instructors who didn't work out, but I refused to be put off," she says. Two years later, she began taking lessons with Cleaver, and now does a combination of group and private classes - as well as installing a barre in her kitchen so she can practise her plies at home. The pair have become fast friends; both are united in their appreciation of Carlos Acosta, the Cuban veteran of the Royal Ballet Academy ("We were this close to him!," they squeal when recalling a recent visit), and were thrilled to be "tripping over Tamara Rojo" at an English National Ballet event.

She says her health regime has undergone a total overhaul since she took up ballet: she has dropped five dress sizes, started eating off a smaller dinner plate and enlisted the help of a personal trainer. "I started taking classes because I loved to move to music - it had nothing to do with weight," she explains. "But once I started and realised that I was rather plump and that my high blood pressure was beginning to go down, I decided to keep the weight off." Since receiving her results last week, she has been flitting from one TV studio to the next, enjoying a sudden avalanche of attention that Pechey has found "hilarious - I feel like I'm in Calendar Girls!" She capped it all off with a celebratory bottle of Champagne at home with Bill, a fellow engineer, as the bubbles "cleanse my body," she says with a chuckle.

Ballet has recently undergone a high-energy revival, with numerous fitness studios offering classes from "barrecore" to "ballet sculpt", but Doreen prefers more traditional fare. Her favourite piece to dance to is the Mazurka, a 150-year-old folk tune from Coppelia. It's there that her penchant for convention ends, though. "My friends know I do crazy things, so they weren't surprised that I took ballet up at my age. I grew up in the Sixties, come on!" she laughs. She reveals that, before taking up dancing, she was best known in her circle for "teaching rude words in sign language and making a tiramisu potent enough to knock over a teetotaller from the fumes alone." Both she and Cleaver find themselves frustrated with the lack of fashion on offer for their age group - "you can only get teenage clothes or a twin set and pearls; don't they know 70 is the new 50?" - but Doreen has embraced the short-sleeve leotards often worn by younger dancers. Even though they expose her "wings", Doreen's rather cruel term for her upper arms, she has become so attached to them that she can often be spotted sporting one in the aisles of her local Waitrose.

"I just love the outfits," she admits. "I'm an introvert who behaves like an extrovert - I think ballet has definitely brought that out in me." - Why ballet is great for the over-50s Improves balance Our muscles weaken as we age, reducing balance and putting us more at risk of falls. "Ballet works lots of muscles in the legs - your gluteals, quadriceps and the calf muscles - which are vital for stability," says Sammy Margo, a physiotherapist. Dafna Merom, a researcher at Sydney University, has found that participation in dance reduces falls by as much as 37 per cent, thanks to improving flexibility, balance, joint strength and spatial awareness.

Protects against dementia A 21-year study by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City found that those who frequently danced showed a 76 per cent lower incidence of dementia - a greater reduction than any of the other activities studied, including reading and crossword puzzles. "Remembering so many different sequences is an excellent way to better your concentration," adds dance teacher Monica Cleaver. Gentle on the joints Ballet is made up of lots of small movements, which is less stressful on the joints than high-impact exercises such as running, and therefore more suitable to people aged 50 and over, says Dr Anne Hogan, director of education for the Royal Academy of Dance. It also strengthens the core and improves posture, making it a good choice for those who suffer back pain.
The workers, atop a 6-metre-high stage, were pouring in pumpable concrete to make the slab when the supporting pipes underneath gave away.
You may find yourself giggling at the internet's odd, viral tributes to the late gorilla Harambe, but it's no laughing matter to workers at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Thane Maynard, the zoo's director, has asked people to stop making memes about Harambe, citing the effect on grieving staff.

A visitor greets the statue of Harambe the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo. Credit:John Minchillo

"We are not amused by the memes, petitions and signs about Harambe," Maynard told the Associated Press.

"Our zoo family is still healing and the constant mention of Harambe makes moving forward more difficult for us."
"Maybe he doesn't hit you ..."

Those five words launched a campaign earlier this year that brought thousands of people to social media to share their stories of life inside a relationship plagued by emotional abuse and power imbalance.

"The most important thing you can teach (adolescents) is that love is a behaviour, rather than a feeling." - Author Jill Murray

#MaybeHeDoesntHitYou but he tells you what friends you're allowed to have

#MaybeHeDoesntHitYou but he threatens to kill himself when you muster up the strength to leave; so you stay and he manipulates you even more
The imprisonment rate for Aboriginal Australians has increased by an alarming 52 per cent over a decade.

But Indigenous people are missing out on rehabilitation programs that could help them avoid returning to jail because they are not being locked up for long enough to qualify, or cannot access culturally-appropriate services.

Indigenous people are missing out on rehabilitation programs that could help them avoid returning to jail. Credit:Cathryn Tremain

New research suggests this pattern has become a self-fulfilling prophecy: prisoners who miss out on rehabilitation are more likely to reoffend, and are contributing to Australia's burgeoning national crime rate.

Indigenous prisoners - who comprise almost a third of the Australian prison population - are particularly at risk of re-offending, the research shows.
Sssh. Don't tell the angry white men, but it's finally official.

Aussie-born blokes are twice as likely as their wives or girlfriends to reject the cultures and customs brought to the country by new migrants. And tradies are the most strongly negative of all.

The angry-white-man factor? Australian-born people are almost six times more likely than people born overseas to complain that "there are too many immigrants".

Of course, not every Australian-born male is white. Or angry.

But the picture is striking enough to alert social researchers to a worrying difference in attitude that threatens to undermine a widespread faith in multiculturalism.
The data in a new report on thyroid cancer was stunning. From 2003-07, as many as 70 to 80 per cent of women in Australia, France, Italy and the United States who were told they had thyroid cancer and who often had their thyroids removed actually had tumours that should have been left alone.

In South Korea, the trend is more pronounced  90 per cent of women with thyroid cancer probably did not require surgery.

Ultrasound and other scans may reveal small thyroid tumours, many of which would never progress if left alone. Credit:iStock

The same trend applied to men, but to a lesser degree. In the United States and Australia, overdiagnosis accounted for about 45 per cent of thyroid cancer in men over that four-year period. The rate in France, Italy and South Korea was about 70 per cent, the report concluded.

The report in The New England Journal of Medicine by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and the Aviano National Cancer Institute in Aviano, Italy, though, was not a complete surprise to cancer researchers. Call it the downside of screening, or the law of unintended consequences. Or, as a reader suggested by email, "vomit," for victim of modern imaging technology.
Australians returning from the Rio Olympics are reminded to practise safe sex to prevent the potential spread of the Zika virus.

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley says while Zika is usually spread by mosquitoes, there is a low risk of person-to-person transmission through sexual activity. She encouraged Australians returning from Brazil to be "conscious and cautious" about their potential exposure to the virus.

Zika can be transmitted via unprotected sex.

"If you've recently visited Rio for the Olympics, chances are you could have been bitten by a mosquito," Ms Ley said.

"This is no cause for alarm, but there are some simple tips the Australian government has developed to help identify symptoms of the virus and minimise its transmission."
A Sydney home builder hinted he could make his problems with a council disappear for $200,000 before he was threatened with being disappeared himself, an inquiry into Auburn Council has heard.

In a day of explosive, tortuous and highly contested testimony into planning decisions at the council, businessman Warren Jack said he had been threatened with what he interpreted as murder in a conversation with former councillor Ned Attie.

An inquiry has heard claims about former Auburn councillor, Hicham Zraika. Credit:Janie Barrett

"Ned mentioned that a chap by the name of Zod would be knocking at my door," Mr Jack said, in remarks he interpreted as an implied threat of murder. "He [Mr Attie] is very smart, in the way he gives those threats."

But in a stinging cross-examination Mr Attie's counsel, top Sydney silk Geoffrey Watson, reminded Mr Jack he continued to socialise with his client after the claimed threat including sitting down to breakfast.
The identical twin brother of a school cleaner who murdered Leeton teacher Stephanie Scott pawned two of the bride-to-be's rings for $705 after she was killed.

Marcus Stanford 25, was escorted from Leeton police station to Leeton Courthouse on Tuesday morning for his sentencing hearing.

He has pleaded guilty to accessory to murder after he sold Ms Scott's engagement ring and another ring for $705 at an Adelaide jewellery store.

His brother Vincent murdered the 26-year-old, days before she was to marry the love of her life Aaron Leeson-Woolley.
Premier Mike Baird is under fire for not delivering for almost seven months on an "urgent" call by a minister to fix the system by which hundreds of millions of dollars worth of private property is being forcibly acquired for infrastructure projects amid increasing concerns it is unfair to homeowners.

It has emerged Mr Baird was urged in February by finance minister Dominic Perrottet to allow cabinet to consider acting on advice about how to improve the compulsory acquisition system.

But the request has yet to be implemented, while properties are acquired across the city for the WestConnex, Sydney Metro and the CBD Light Rail, many of whose owners complain they are being offered compensation hundreds of thousands of dollars below market value.

The letter of request was released by Mr Perrottet's office on Tuesday in response to leaked documents revealing the Baird government in December rejected advice on how to make the compulsory acquisition system fairer.
Concerns over a rare infection have prompted NSW health authorities to replace cardiac surgery equipment at four Sydney hospitals as a precaution, and advise recent open heart surgery patients to consult their doctors.

An Australian patient has potentially contracted Mycobacterium chimaera (M. chimaera) from a piece of contaminated surgical equipment during open heart surgery, the Therapeutics Goods Administration advised.

The Sorin heater-cooler unit has been linked to the infections contracted during open heart surgery overseas. Credit:Sorin

The same equipment  surgical heater-cooler units  have been removed from Prince of Wales and St George hospitals, as well as the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick and the Children's Hospital at Westmead as a precaution. There have been no reported patient infections to date in NSW, NSW Health said.

NSW Health advised patients to see their doctors if they had undergone open heart surgery at the hospitals in the last five years.
The congregation at Brisbane's St John's Cathedral have learned to turn their heads a certain way and stay away from "dead spots in individual seats", due to the building's "fascinating" acoustics and an outdated sound system.

The gothic cathedral on Ann St in the CBD, completed in 2009 after the ground was broken more than 100 years ago, holds a number of weekday and weekend services and uses a PA system that Anglican dean, the Very Reverend Dr Peter Catt, said was in place since the building was shorter.

The reverb time at the cathedral is so lengthy it creates problems for large services. Credit:Glenn Hunt

"One day it works that everyone hears or others will say they couldn't hear and they will have to move to another area," he said.

"The sound bounces around the building and creates dead spots in individual seats."
A man was rushed to hospital after he fell into the Brisbane river during a late night walk on Monday.

Two men were near the river at Alice and Edward streets when one man fell into the water about 11.40pm.

Two men were walking along Brisbane River when one fell in late Monday night.

His friend frantically called emergency services and while on the phone to police, he managed to pull his friend to out of the water.

Paramedics arrived and treated the man, aged in his 30s, for hypothermia. He was transported to Royal Brisbane Hospital.
The parent company of infidelity dating website Ashley Madison was responsible for numerous violations of privacy laws at the time of a massive release of customer data in a cyber attack last year, privacy watchdogs in Australia and Canada have found.

The two countries launched an investigation after the 2015 breach of Avid Life Media's computer network, when hackers exposed the personal details of millions who signed up for the site with the slogan "Life is short. Have an affair."

The probe found the Toronto-based company had inadequate safeguards in place, including poor password management and a fabricated security trustmark on the website's home page.

While the company did have some personal information protections in place, it fell short in implementing those measures, the report found. For instance, it said some passwords and encryption keys were stored as plain, identifiable text on the company's systems.
"Yeah, I'm having a ball."

This was the last text message Kiara Mcnally received from her best friend Kristy Blackney, who drowned on the weekend in a flash flood while on holiday in Cambodia.

Ms Mcnally takes comfort that her friend died happy on a much-anticipated dream holiday through South-East Asia.

"She loves to travel and she saved up all her money to go over there," Ms Mcnally said. "She was having the time of her life, so that's one thing we can take away, that she was happy."
Health officials are investigating an outbreak of a rare and potentially serious infectious disease among meat workers in Melbourne's western suburbs.

People working in and around Vic Wide Meat Brokers and W J Drever in Laverton North are being tested for Q fever after six employees of the two meat businesses fell ill with it.

Other staff working at the site and at similar businesses nearby are now being contacted to ensure they are vaccinated against the disease which usually produces flu-like symptoms and can cause pneumonia and liver inflammation. While only half of all people infected with it get symptoms, it is fatal for one to two per cent of those people.

The Victorian department of health is now writing to contractors who may have visited the site since late last year to provide them with advice about signs and symptoms. The businesses are located at 9 Holcourt Road in Laverton North.
Police confront a major trust deficit when dealing with people born in South Sudan, according to a new survey of our attitudes to races, religions and cultures.

About 81 per cent of people born in Australia report "a lot of trust" or "some trust" in the local police  a figure that is even higher for people from Afghanistan, Iran and India. But the rating among South Sudanese stands conspicuously lower, at just 26 per cent.

Anyaak Abiel, a youth worker with a South Sudanese background, says a lack of communication with police has led to mistrust in the community. Credit:Penny Stephens

South Sudanese are also far more likely to mistrust employers and trade unions, though their trust in public institutions, such as schools, doctors and Medicare is on a par with average ratings throughout the population.

The findings, from a detailed new survey conducted by Monash University, also show people from the South Sudanese community report a very low level of trust in their personal dealings.
When Perth brother and sister Siham and Mirwan Carollisen put out a call to help host a one-stop pop-up shop for the homeless, they could never have anticipated the response.

On Friday, the duo's Facebook page, Brothers & Sisters Perth  which documents their good deeds to help the homeless - had around 200 likes.

Siham and Mirwan Carollisen (far right and far left) helping the homeless in Northbridge earlier this year. Credit:Facebook / Brothers & Sisters PERTH

By Sunday, it had more than 4,000 and had been flooded with offers of help from generous strangers.

The overwhelming response came after the siblings, originally from South Africa, posted an idea to host a one-stop shop for the homeless in Northbridge, to provide people in need with clothing, food and personal essentials.
An Australian artist who was deported from Britain has been told that living with a friend in Yorkshire for a month does not represent "the actions of a genuine visitor to the United Kingdom".

Jody Cleaver was in the middle of a five-month-long trip in Europe, when she was stopped at London's Stansted Airport, interrogated and incarcerated overnight.

Ms Cleaver said she wanted to stay in England for about a month, and planned to live with her friend in Leeds, where she would look after her friend's dog and help redecorate the house, while doing odd jobs online for an Australian gallery.

But British immigration authorities questioned Ms Cleaver's story, stating in a deportation notice: "you intend to stay with your friend ... in Leeds, and you intend to look after her dogs, help her redecorate her house in Leeds and sight-see in Leeds.
Hillary Clinton's campaign is set to be hit by a bombshell only months out from the election as the FBI uncovers more than 14,900 emails and documents that had not been previously disclosed by her lawyers.

A federal judge on Monday pressed the State Department to begin releasing the emails from her time as secretary of state sooner than mid-October as had been planned.

Justice Department lawyers said last week that the State Department would review and turn over Clinton's work-related emails to a conservative legal group. The records are among "tens of thousands" of documents found by the FBI in its probe and turned over to the State Department, Justice Department attorney Lisa Ann Olson said on Monday in court.

The 14,900 Clinton documents are nearly 50 per cent more than the roughly 30,000 emails that Clinton's lawyers deemed work-related and returned to the department in December 2014.
A fisherman in the Philippines discovered what may prove to be the largest natural pearl in existence  but, unaware of the significance of his find, he kept it under his bed for 10 years as a lucky charm.

It would have continued being a hidden secret if not for a fire that ravaged his wooden shack in Puerto Princesa, on Palawan island, the Daily Mail reported.

Weighing 34 kilograms and valued about $US100 million ($131 million), the enormous clam-shaped pearl went on display on August 22 at the Puerto Princesa City Hall after the fisherman showed it to a tourism official.

Aileen Cynthia Maggay-Amurao posted photos of the massive rock online after it passed authenticity checks, appealing for gemologists worldwide to certify its status as the biggest natural pearl ever discovered.
While it's doubtful how effective he would be in actual combat, a king penguin has been promoted to the rank of Brigadier by the King of Norway.

Already having made headlines after being knighted by the King, Sir Nils Olav received the honour at a special ceremony at RZSL Edinburgh Zoo on Tuesday, with a contingent of more than 50 members of His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard saluting the regal black, white and yellow bird.

Salute! Brigadier Sir Nils Olav inspects the troops. Credit:RZSS Edinburgh Zoo

Norway's practice of awarding honours to penguins dates back to 1972 when a king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo was named after two people including the then-King of Norway, King Olav.

The king penguin is the second bird to hold the titles and from now on will be known as "Brigadier Sir Nils Olav."
Rome: Italian school leavers may face the dismal prospect of 40 per cent youth unemployment, but at least they have one thing to look forward to - a 500 ($742) "culture bonus", courtesy of a government scheme to use the arts to combat extremism.

From next month, every 18-year-old will be entitled to claim the money and spend it on culturally-enriching pursuits such as going to theatres, concerts and museums, visiting archaeological sites, and buying books.

A life-sized copy of Michelangelo's David is displayed supine in a Florence square as a tribute to the victims of the Bastille Day attack in Nice in July. Credit:ANSA via AP

The scheme will benefit 575,000 teenagers, at a cost to the government of 290 million. Young people who turn 18 this year will be able to register online and then spend the money through an app called 18app.it. They will have until the end of next year to spend all the credit.

The scheme is available to other EU citizens living in Italy, including Britons - assuming that Brexit will not happen before the end of 2017.
A man has scaled a wall at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living for more than four years.

The incident happened at around 2.47am on Monday at the side of the building, which includes a window.

Sources said the man fled after being caught by the embassy's security.

Scotland Yard called off its multimillion-pound 24-hour surveillance of the embassy last October, saying the operation was "no longer proportionate".
The Denpasar police chief has claimed British DJ David Taylor went on a bloody rampage on the night a police officer was killed in Bali, accusing him of being a "bogus cop" and screaming: "Where's my bag? Where's my bag? F--- you."

Mr Taylor - the boyfriend of Byron Bay woman Sara Connor - admitted for the first time during police interrogation on Monday he had bashed police officer Wayan Sudarsa with binoculars, a mobile phone and a beer bottle.

It was a momentous change to his earlier story of being bitten while trying to help a man lying in the sand.

"In the beginning Sara and David denied or lied," Denpasar police chief Hadi Purnomo said on Tuesday.
Illegal Mexican migrants were rapists and drug dealers - they should be thrown out, en masse. Muslims were terrorists  they should be barred from entry, en masse.

If there has been a single theme to Trump's obnoxious quest for the Republican presidential nomination, it's been his crude dog-whistle calls on white Americans to rally behind xenophobia and bigotry  the 'other' that denies and threatens them had to be confronted and seen off.

Washington: If there's to be no mass deportation of illegal migrants and if the 'beautiful' border wall is in doubt, then what's left of Donald Trump's blow-hard policies  on immigration and, let's face it, his promises on just about every other aspect of American political life.

Is Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump choking on the immigration issue? Credit:AP

But these days he looks and sounds more like Donald the Dill as a realisation that [1], what he's talked of doing is not all that practical; and [2], what he's talked of doing is not winning the voter support he needs to get to the White House.

So how will he deal with the estimated 12 million illegal migrants in the US?

On Monday he told a television interviewer that he's use the laws already on the books, much as Presidents Obama and Bush had done. Surely he'd do is so much better  the best he could muster was  and the emphasis is mine - "perhaps with a lot more energy."

Perhaps? What sort of wuss is Trump becoming? Where is the hard-assed insurrectionist that he promised? Now he's starting to sound pathetically politically correct. This is the guy who promised a 'deportation force;' who insisted time and again, they 'all have to go,' as he spoke admiringly of a 1950s effort at mass deportation that went by the name Operation Wetback.
Washington: The FBI and other US security agencies are investigating cyber breaches targeting reporters at the New York Times and other US news organisations that are thought to have been carried out by hackers working for Russian intelligence, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed US officials.

"Investigators so far believe that Russian intelligence is likely behind the attacks and that Russian hackers are targeting news organisations as part of a broader series of hacks that also have focused on Democratic Party organisations, the officials said," CNN said.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The FBI declined to comment, and representatives for the US Secret Service, which has a role in protecting the country from cyber crime, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The intrusions were detected in recent months, according to CNN. Citing the US officials, it said the Times had hired private security investigators to work with national security officials in assessing the breach.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
Republicans face a real and looming threat to our survival as a major party: Just 20 percent of millennials identify with the GOP.

Our voting base, the baby boomer generation, is shrinking along with the popularity of Republicans in urban areas. As I detail in GOP GPS: How to Find the Millennials and Urban Voters the Republican Party Needs to Survive, out today, the Republican Party faces a choice: stay as it is and see its hold on government dwindle, or adapt and evolve in order to ensure at least 30 more years as the dominant party in American politics. To do the latter, the Republican Party must turn toward millennials.

When it comes to millennials, we need to actand fast. Millennials, men and women age 18 through 34, are the largest voting bloc in the United States. In 2015, they overtook baby boomers as the biggest generation in the country, numbering a whopping 75 million people. They are the biggest portion of the US labor force. Nearly one in four Americans belongs to the millennial generation, meaning their voices will be heard at the voting booth in November and for decades to come.

The assumptions of older Republican consultants, operatives and voters about millennials are way off. Millennials are not the pothead slackers that they are made out to be. Older millennials now have families of their own and are incredibly concerned about and engaged in the issues that confront us.

They care about education. They care about entitlements. They care about health care. They care about national security. They care about immigration. They care about marriage equality. They care about what is going on and where we as a nation are headed.

In the United States, the interests of millennials are ones that are tailor-made for conversion to the Republican Party. They are a diverse group of men and women who are socially more libertarian and economically more conservative.

The past few years have seen racial tensions flare, as groups like Black Lives Matter and the college safe space movements have protested what they believe is important. We Republicans reflexively pushed back by mocking and opposing these groups at almost every turn. Some of their grievances were and are ridiculous, while others are legitimate problems requiring redress.

GOP policies can and will help heal the divide, but only if Republicans can make themselves worth listening to. Of course, these groups view Republicans as the party of the crusty old white man, so are not exactly receptive to our ideas (a problem that is only compounded by the fact that millennials are the most-diverse generation in United States history). What incentive do they have to listen to us talk about race? None.

We can actually get millennials attention and demonstrate the Republican Partys commitment to racial equality, but we must first admit and acknowledge the simple truth that minorities do experience issues that are unique to them. We have not done so and we have suffered for it. Doing so would enable Republicans to have their ideas taken more seriously by millennials and minorities.

Republicans must also take up the issue of affordability and debt, both public and private. In terms of public debt, a great place to start would be with the cost of entitlements. Not through our standard ideas of raising the retirement age for Social Securityalthough it is a good ideabut by highlighting problems of entitlements that have received little-to-no attention.

Take Medicare and Medicaid, which are overseen by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). They have in place a policy that penalizes urban users who try to use telemedicine apps that enable a patient to speak with and be treated by a board-certified doctor with the push of a button on their smartphoneall without having to leave their home. The typical telemedicine visit costs $50, which many private insurance carriers cover. If you live in an urban area, CMS will not cover this because, in their antiquated view, patients are geographically close enough to a doctors office that they do not require telemedicine care for a noncritical issue. This view fails to take into account how many urban doctors are no longer accepting Medicare and Medicaid and have lengthy waiting periods. This pushes the patient to a place that does accept Medicare and Medicaid: the emergency room, where the average visit costs almost $1,250. Because of CMS, taxpayers are paying 25 times what they should for medical care for Medicare and Medicaid recipients.

Fixing Medicare and Medicaid so that these entitlement programs are paying less for carewithout sacrificing the quality of said carewill go a long way to helping their fiscal solvency.

Private debt is another matter that must be addressed. In 2015, the average millennial graduated from college with over $35,000 in student debt. This is a major ball and chain for millennials, one that leads many to put off buying a home while inhibiting general spending that would boost the economy.

Republicans must tackle the student debt crisis, not by making unrealistic promises of debt-free college tuition, but by finding ways to make college more affordable. Lets examine what many public universities are doing to attract students. They are using the taxpayers nickel to build dorms that rival many luxury apartment buildings. The University of Texas at Austin boasts a dorm with full maid service. The University of Arizona has one that offers residents a gym, executive meeting rooms, and a spa that includes a steam room and sauna. The cost of such lavishness is paid for not only by the taxpayer, but by the students themselves. The GOP must hold public universities accountable for spending taxpayer dollars like drunken sailors.

Another way in which we Republicans can and must bring millennials into the fold would be to push for a party platform that is more tolerant of the LGBT community. Almost 75 percent of millennials favor marriage equality, with 61 percent of young Republicans being in favor of it as well. Yet, many older members of our party stand against it, which contributes to the gulf between the GOP and millennials. Last month, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, the Republican Party missed a golden opportunity to show our commitment to the LGBT community by adopting a platform that was less-combative on LGBT issues. Now, we must see that members of our party embrace a more tolerant stance when it comes to gays and lesbians. A good start would be to adopt the attitude of John Kasich, who said in August 2015 that while he is personally against gay marriage, he will still love those who are gay and exercise their constitutional right to marry. It is not only pragmatic, but compassionate.

These are just the tip of the iceberg of issues that we must confront to win over millennials. Education, immigration, foreign policy, national security, and many more must all be covered.

Make no mistake, we Republicans have our work cut out for us when it comes to getting millennials to join us. For quite a long time, we have been pushing them and minorities away with our attitudes and actions which reinforce the caricature of us being the party of the old white guy and pushing the ideas of the past. If we do not, then we will have not only lost the largest generation in the country, but our relevance as a political party in the United States.

Were that to happen, we Republicans would only have ourselves to blame.
The latest sexual-harassment lawsuit against Fox News and deposed CEO Roger Ailes alleges that the networks executives actively retaliated against on-air personality Andrea Tantaros after she repeatedly complained about inappropriate conduct in the workplace.

Tantaros's lawsuit filed Monday in New York Supreme Court declares that Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny.

In particular, she names Roger Ailes, Bill OReilly, and several on-air contributors as having allegedly harassed her; and she accuses top executives including Ailess successor, Bill Shine, and chief flack Irena Briganti of trying to intimidate her from complaining further.

Among the allegations against Ailes are that after she rebuffed his repeated sexual advances, he demoted her from a regular co-hosting gig with 5 p.m. gabfest The Five to the noon hours Outnumbered. The longtime conservative commentator also claims that Ailes would suggestively ask her to twirl and show off her body in his office; that he would inappropriately pry about her personal life; and that he would make sexually charged remarks about her colleagues, including calling Kimberly Guilfoyle a Puerto Rican whore and asking whether The Five star hosts Greg Gutfeld and Dana Perino were engaged in an extramarital affair.

Tantaros claims she repeatedly sought help from Shine, Foxs top lawyer Dianne Brandi, and executive vice president of programming Suzanne Scott, but that she was told Ailes is a very powerful man and that she needed to let this one go.

According to the suit, OReilly also harassed Tantaros, despite having infamously once been accused of repeated sexual harassment by ex-producer Andrea Mackris. The primetime star allegedly attempted to lure Tantaros to his Long Island home for some privacy, and told her that he views her as a wild girl with a wild side. For their part, Fox took action by immediately ending her regular appearances on The OReilly Factor.

Fox Newss culture of sexual harassment, the suit adds, allegedly extends beyond top brass and ensnares low-level contributors who appeared as the One Lucky Guy on Outnumbered, the female-dominated noon talk show.

Former Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, she claims, made a number of sexually inappropriate comments to her, including the suggestive comment that she would be fun to go to a nightclub with. Later on, in a cafeteria, he allegedly snuck up behind Tantaros while she was purchasing lunch and put his hands on her lower waist. She immediately pulled back, telling Brown to stop. (Brown took to Twitter on Tuesday to vehemently deny the claims: As a survivor of sexual abuse, I would never perpetuate language or actions as described in Fox complaint. Actions referenced are fabricated.)

Additionally, she alleges, Dean Cainthe actor best known for playing Superman in a 90s TV seriesinappropriately groped her while appearing on Outnumbered alongside her. Fox News national correspondent John Roberts, she claims, also made uncouth comments on- and off-air, including asking Have you frozen your eggs?

The shows producers allegedly agreed that Roberts had behaved improperly, and Tantaros brought all three cases to the attention of Fox execs, but nonetheless, the network continued to book the guests alongside her on the show.

As her complaints became numerous and frequent, she says, the network waged a covert PR war against her, with Ailes mouthpiece Briganti leaking negative stories about Tantaros to friendly outlets and failing to arrange promotional interviews with outside media. (The Daily Beasts Lloyd Grove, however, did interview Tantaros in October 2014, around the time she alleges the flacks retaliation had begun.)

The network eventually threatened her firing unless she played ball. Fox News removed her from the air shortly before her book was set for publication and offered to continue paying her if she dropped her claims against Fox execs and personalities, turned over all personal materials concerning Fox or its employees, and agree to never discuss her time at the network from now until forever.

Ultimately, she decided, to go to court like Gretchen Carlson had done the month prior.
When the Senate reconvenes on Sept. 6, there may be a new faction supporting the confirmation of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court: Republicans.

As the slow-motion implosion of Donald Trumps candidacy continues, the calculus is shifting for moderate Republicans in particular, many of whom are fighting for their political lives. There are at least three reasons why this shift is taking place.

Hillarys Pick

First, the main reason Garlands nomination stalled in the first place is, obviously, that Senate Republicans thought they could get a better deal under a Republican president. Forget that nonsense about let the people decidethe people decided back in 2012, when they elected President Obama to a second full term. And never before have confirmation hearings (Judge Garlands being but the tip of an enormous judicial iceberg) been halted as early as the April before an election. No, this was transparently about getting another conservative on the Court.

Now, not only does that look increasingly unlikely, but several progressive organizations have strongly hinted that President Hillary Clinton should nominate someone more liberal than Judge Garland, who is widely perceived to be a moderate. (Like all other White House nominations, Garlands will expire on Jan. 20 when the next president takes office.)

Moreover, with the Democrats more and more likely to control the Senateand with the anti-filibuster nuclear option having already been exercisedits entirely possible that President Hillary Clintons nominee could be far more liberal than Garland, and could be confirmed as early as February.

This has always been the case for a lame-duck confirmation to be held in November. After the election, Republicans can cut their losses, and meanwhile Majority Leader McConnell can save face, saying the people have spoken. But there are reasons why they may want to act sooner.

Donald Who?

As Trumps numbers tank, its no secret that Congressional Republicans are trying to jump ship. While only a few have openly endorsed Hillary Clinton, the mainstream GOP leadership has largely sat out the presidential race, and there have been calls for the Republican party apparatus to shift its resources to saving its majorities in the House and Senate.

With Trump having strongly endorsed the anti-Garland blockade, confirming Garland could be a way for Senate Republicans to distance themselves from him. After all, it would be much easier for vulnerable Republican senators to say Im not Trump if they actually did something that Trump opposes.

And not just Trump. If McConnell continues to be the poster child for the stonewall, it wouldnt hurt for some senators to break from him, too. Recent polling shows McConnell to be one of the least popular politicians in the country, with a net 51 percent disapproval rating (i.e., 15 percent approve, 66 percent disapprove). Clintons, by comparison, is net 15 percent disapproval.

Of course, abandoning the hard line and compromising with Democrats will outrage the base, and the Breitbart-led Trump campaign. But its not the base that vulnerable senators need to worry about. Its moderate Republicansprecisely the people whom Trump has alienated, castigated, and driven into the arms of Clinton or Johnson-Weld. These voters may well stay home on Election Day, potentially costing the seats of vulnerable senators like John McCain, Kelly Ayotte, Rob Portman, Ron Johnson, and Pat Toomey.

Even Iowas Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the man who could make hearings happen in an instant, is surprisingly vulnerable this year. Hes come under heat for refusing to give a qualified candidate a hearingand with no practical benefit remaining, why incur the cost of being labeled an obstructionist?

Obviously, the Supreme Court is not at the top of anyones electoral agenda this yearthough both Trump and Clinton have spoken about it more than candidates usually do. But could it be enough to motivate some percentage of moderates to go the polls and support their incumbent Republican senators?

Sure. Polling data suggests that voters do care about the issue. As we reported last month, in 10 states with vulnerable GOP incumbents, 41 percent of voters said they were less likely to vote for senators who opposed giving Garland a hearing, with about 24 percent more likely to do so.

And remember, were only talking about swing voters in a handful of Senate races. If theres really no chance that Trump will be president, confirmation hearings are at least worth a shot. Especially considering the alternative.

Throw the Bastards Out!

As much as voters dislike Trump, they dislike Congress even more. The 114th Congress is widely perceived to have been ineffective, hamstrung by gridlock and partisan bickering. For heavens sake, it cant even pass emergency funding for Zika-infected pregnant women. (Republicans refused to support the funding unless Planned Parenthood was excluded from receiving it.)

Democrats smell blood. Even if voters just vote the bastards out, that will hurt incumbentsand there are more incumbent Republicans than Democrats. But to the extent that voters identify Congresss inaction with Republicans specifically, the result could be a boon for Dems.

Thats why Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is betting that if he can lead some shenanigans in the Senate that call attention to the Garland stonewall, that will hurt Republicans more than Democrats.

What might that look like? Democrats could filibuster defense bills, budget bills, or, yes, Zika funding, linking their passage to a confirmation hearing (or vote) for Garland. President Obama could even order the Senate into session right up until Election Day. Of course, thats precisely the kind of partisan bickering that voters are complaining about, but the gamble is that voters will care more about the underlying Republican obstructionism than the Democrats obstructionist tactics.

If Congress cant even pass funding to save infants from microcephaly, voters are going to be pissed. And fairly or not, theyre going to blame their vulnerable incumbents.

For these reasonsClintons alternative, Trumps unpopularity, and voters rage at gridlockthe ratio of benefits to costs is shifting for Republican senators. Who knows, they might just do their jobs.
The desperate father of a 2-year-old boy who was the victim of a horrific alligator attack at a Florida Disney resort reached into the reptiles mouth in a vain attempt to try to wrestle free his sons head from the reptiles grasp, officials said in a comprehensive report on the tragedy.

The investigation also found that at least two guests at the resort had warned Disney staff prior to the deadly attack that they had seen an alligator in the water.

Lane Graves was making sand castles at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort about 8:30 p.m. on June 14 when the alligator grabbed the boy by the head and began dragging him into the water, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The boys father, Matt Graves, who was standing nearby, put his hands inside the alligators mouth to try to wrestle his son free, but he was not able to free his son before the creature vanished into deeper water.

The boys mother was also standing nearby when the attack happened.

A patrol officer found the body of the missing child the following day in the large manmade lagoon, submerged in about 7 feet of water near where the attack happened. The body was intact.

In a separate report, the Orange County Sheriffs Office quoted a witness who said: The alligator first came in headfirst toward the beach but turned around once it had the child in its mouth and crawled back into the water.

Lane Graves, was about 37 inches tall and weighed about 30 pounds, the report said.

I saw it come out to get him, Matt Graves told investigators, according to the report quoted on time.com.

Alfred Smith, from South Carolina, saw an alligator in the artificial lake about an hour and a half before the attack. He even took a photograph from the porch of his hotel room, which he showed a member of staff.

The daughters of Shawna Giacomini from North Carolina also spotted an intruder in the lake and warned a member of staff.

It is unclear from the report whether these sightings were properly investigated or whether an alarm was raised.

As The Daily Beast reported yesterday, state officials said in the report they cannot definitively say they caught the alligator that attacked the boy: While trappers caught six gators in the aftermath of the tragedy, they were unable to make a positive DNA match.

However, the report added, officials are confident that one of the two females caught near the spot where Graves was snatched was the likely aggressor.

We continue to pray for the Graves family, FWC Director Nick Wiley said in a statement.

The child suffered injuries to his head and neck, officials said. A medical examiner deemed the death an accident.
Let me open by saying, for the benefit of readers who dont know me, that Ive written dozens of defenses of the Clintons going back 18 years, to the beginnings of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Until then I had mixed feelings about ClintonismI wasnt big on the New Democrat thing, but I did recognize that he saved the Democratic Party from possible permanent minority status.

As to Lewinsky, its not that I admired what President Clinton did there, obviously. But the way all that unfolded made me conclude, as my friend Joe Conason had been arguing for about three years at that point, that the get-Clinton campaign on the right was real and without precedent in American politics. The media hysteria around the Clintons was also something, in my view, without precedent.

I recoiled against this, because I felt that much more was at stake than the success or failure of the Clintons. That impeachment, to me, was an outragea pseudo-constitutional coup detat. The media throughout 1998 became a mob, and mobs are precisely what a free press exists to fight. So I fought.

At the same time, Ive never shied from criticizing the Clintons where I thought it appropriate. I wrote a book about Hillarys Senate campaign. It was certainly favorable overallit would have been hard for it not to be since she started out as a much-maligned carpetbagger and ended up winning a near-landslide victory. But I included many criticisms of her and her campaign in the book. Ive criticized her overly mistrustful posture toward the press. Ive knocked her for her vote in favor of the Iraq War many times, and I was tough on her and Bill during the 2008 primary campaign, with those sometimes awful things that came out of her mouth about those hard-working white Americans.

But in the main, Ive been a defender, and Im totally comfortable being so. I find much to admire in her. Yes, all the things that are usually saidshes very smart, shes always prepared, shes studious, and serious about the issues. But I admire other things too. I admire that it seems to be almost universally the case that Republicans who actually get to know her (former Senate colleagues, for instance) like and respect her. Trust me, that isnt true of all senators by a long shot. And I admire her toughness. She has been force-marched through quicksand for 25 years by people who want to see her in jail, because they want to discredit the things she represents, things that to them represent moral threats to tradition. Thats why she was targeted, back in 1992. And yet shes still standing and, seemingly, about to become president. Not many people could take it.

And on this subject: Its all-too-rarely pointed out that were seeing all the emails were seeing only because of the existence of one organization that is dedicated to her destruction. Judicial Watch is a $20 million a year nonprofit that is in effect a get-Clinton organization. The Judicial Watch people would take great umbrage at that, of course, and to be sure, theyve thrown enough punches at Republicans over the years to maintain their nonprofit status.

But go take stroll through the organizations webpage of its recent press releases. Theres nothing about any Republicans. There are a few about the IRS, a couple about some voter fraud allegations, a handful pertaining to President Obama. But most are about Clinton. Judicial Watch has FOIAd, as journalists say, nearly every document either Clinton has produced for 25 years. And thats how all this stuff is getting out to the publiclegal actions by one organization.

Im not saying the Clintons never do anything wrong, and indeed, Hillarys decision not to use a state.gov address is another matter over which Ive criticized her. But I am saying that the Clintons are the only political figures in America Im aware of whose every move is scrutinized by a $20 million organization with a battalion of lawyers whose job in essence is to find something on them that will drive them out of public life. I dont think there are very many politicians in the country, under such scrutiny, who would look any better than the Clintons. A heck of a lot of them would look worse. And Donald Trump? Please. Hed be in exile in Russia.

I give you all that background so that you know the full context in which I say: The Clintons should shut the foundation down.

Now, let me note immediately, so no one needs to tweet this at me in a rage: No, no one who benefits from the Clinton Foundations good works should or need suffer. This, by the way, is another forgotten point, the millions of lives the foundation has saved or lengthened, the health outcomes it has so vastly improved, and the rest; its all real and commendable. I should also note that the foundation has an A rating from Charity Watch, with only 12 percent of money raised going to overhead.

As The Boston Globe noted in its editorial last week calling on the Clintons to shutter the foundation, all the good work can continue. I know its all incredibly complex, but surely it can be farmed out to other nonprofits that do similar work. Joe Conason, in his upcoming book Man of the World, about Bills post-presidency, discusses how some of this could happen. Some programs could be just ended, others could continue independently but rebranded, others could be swallowed up by other nonprofits. Done right, there need be no interruption of services.

So its good that last Thursday, the foundation announced that if Hillary wins, it will stop accepting corporate and foreign donations. Its also good that Bill Clinton said Monday that hell pull back from the foundation, stepping down from the board and ending his fundraising role. But I dont think that takes care of it. For example, the recent statements say nothing about large donations from American citizens, so presumably the foundation will still accept those, even if its not Bill soliciting them.

Its depressingly easy to see how this could come to grief. A rich businessman donates millions to the foundation. He wants to build a pipeline across the Caucasus. Suddenly unrest erupts in Azerbaijan, and it becomes a global flash point. A Clinton administration has to make some policy decisions under a harsh international glarewith Putin looming large, since this is his corner of the world.

Then Judicial Watch obtains some emails or other documents showing that the businessman wanted to talk to a White House official. Not even that he did. Just that he wanted to. And what if he actually did talk to a White House official? There might well be nothing wrong with thatthe businessman might simply have some knowledge to impart. But nearly all of Washington would instantly assume corruption.

Yes, it all might be unfair. But it would happen. And it would be hell on her poll numbers. It would reduce public support for her agenda (remember, Rush Limbaugh once said, Whitewater is health care, meaning that if the Clintons could be dirtied up, their agenda could be blocked). And she surely doesnt want to give the opposition an excuse to do to her the kinds of things they did to her husband.

I cannot understand how the Clintons cant see this. In humanitarian terms, the foundation has been a godsend for millions. But in political terms, its an albatross. I cant fathom why they arent anxious to get the albatross out from around their necks.

They should have done it by now, in fact. Theyve known since at least the spring of 2015 that she was running, and they knew that she was very likely to be the Democratic nominee and would be favored to win the presidency. All of that has come to pass. Ive thought about this a lot since last spring, and I always hoped that by now, they would have announced that the foundation will operate under far more stringent rules in the event of her election. And theyve sort of done that. But ever since the Globe said just close it, I have to say, that strikes me as much simpler and cleaner. Its work will be done by others, but it just wont exist. If something doesnt exist, there can be no legitimate questions raised about it.

Such an announcement would, I think, surely nudge up her favorable numbers, which are stuck at around minus-14. And it would demonstrate, through action, that the Clintons want things to be different. Saying things will be different is not remotely the same as taking an action that shows people that things really will be different. I think it would help her a lot, and it would de-weaponize one of the only remaining clubs Trump has to use against her.

It would be a good thing to do right in advance of the first debate. But instead, what is apparently going to happen around then is the twelfth and final meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together dozens of corporate titans, foreign leaders, and celebrities. The Clintons are shutting down the CGI, and thats good; but again, why didnt they think of this last year? Seven weeks before Election Day and a week before the first debate, Bill hosts a three-day conference that will feed every negative Clinton story line.

Im voting for Hillary Clinton. And not just because her opponent is a madman. I think she has it in her to be a very good president. She was a lot better at finding common ground as a senator than most people know. And it is worth remembering that no big scandals arose during her Senate years, so maybe that eight-year period gives us reason to hope she can run a tight ship. But keeping the foundation going is just inviting lawsuits and attacks that can keep a majority disinclined to trust her and support her initiatives. It wont help her take the country where she wants to take it. It will get in the way. Again, I cant fathom why shed want that.
After 25 years of Republicans attacking Hillary Clinton, there are few new lines on any number of fronts but their nominee, Donald Trump, has found a new one: Claiming that she doesnt have the mental or physical stamina to be president.

At a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, last week he proclaimed that Clinton lacks the mental or physical stamina to take on ISIS. He repeated the claim this weekend, asking on Twitter: #WheresHillary? Sleeping!!! His surrogates have gone the next step, not only questioning her stamina but floating conspiracy theories about her physical health.

The idea seems to be that if Clinton isnt at a public event, shes slacking off; this exposes his biggest weakness as a candidate: In his mind, unless youre doing big rallies, youre not working at all.

It doesnt seem to occur to Trump that Clinton could be reading through policy briefings, writing speeches, filming TV commercials, doing debate prep or any number of activities that a thoughtful, smart candidate would engage inespecially in the quieter month of August. For him, its narcissistic, nationalistic celebrations of his candidacy or nothing.

Beyond that, heres why this attack wont work: Its Clintons incredible mental and physical stamina that has frustrated Republicans for 25 years. It is her strength and resilience that have driven them absolutely nuts. I imagine them asking themselves: How is she still here?

For years, people have said that it is her ambition that most inspires her detractors to attack her. I disagree. Clintons biggest sin in the eyes of her opponents is not that she is ambitious; it is that she dares to get back up after she is knocked down.

Theres nothing less attractive to the patriarchy than resilience in the face of authority that allows women to have their ambition as long as they submit when corrected.

So the fact that she keeps getting back up, time after time, is jarring to folks who think that theyve finally found a way to put her away for good.

Every time the GOP thinks theyve found a way to finally knock her down, theyre almost gleeful. We saw this most recently with the Benghazi hearings, with how eager Rep. Trey Gowdy was to be the one to finally end her career, but as we saw she calmly and crisply replied to 11 hours of questioning without missing a beat. When he finally released his report, Gowdy had nothing to offer after spending millions of taxpayer dollars.

Republicans keep failing in their quest to knock her down and keep her down because while she has, admittedly, made mistakes, there is no there there.

The only person who has cracked any code is Hillary Clinton. She resigned herself long ago to the fact that she would continually be knocked down and that her job is to not try to avoid being knocked down, but to always get back up.

As Trump and his supporters have finally begun to digest that he is heading toward an unprecedented loss they have become desperate enough to lob accusations at her that even her most strident enemies hadnt had the audacity to propose. And yet, shes still here, doing the smart, quiet work shes always done.

Some have suggested that Clinton in turn question, in a conspiratorial way, Trumps physical and mental stamina. But shes too smart to do that, she knows that when she attacks Trump she can quote him, while he has to resort to coming up with an interpretation of her intentions.

If he doesnt have a leg to stand on now, how could he possibly handle the religious, oil-fueled might of terrorists who wont be horrified by his tweets but emboldened by them?
In what may just be the most starkly crass, absurdly dishonest moment of the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump is now proclaiming himself black Americas last and best hope.

Well get rid of the crime, Trump told an audience Monday in Akron, Ohio. Youll be able to walk down the street without getting shot in inner cities, he continued. Now, he said, When you walk down the street, you get shot.

The election is not over yet, but make no mistake: Trump is in real trouble.

States that have not been in play in a decade or more, like Arizona and Georgia , have suddenly become battlegrounds. And with no discernible ground game and an undisciplined national messaging apparatus, the thrice-bankrupt real estate magnate has no meaningful way to recover.

Trump has calculated the likelihood that he will become the nations next commander in chief, and that number is somewhere in the ballpark of nil, zilch, and none. As he lumbers over scripted speeches, hires and fires senior campaign aides, and posts angry screeds on social media, the question isnt if he will losebut by how much.

Having refused invitations from the NAACP and National Association of Black Journalists, he also knows that he doesnt stand a chance in hell of convincing more than a handful of black people to vote for him. Trump has never addressed a tough audience, and he isnt about to start.

However, he also knows that his tense relationships with non-white sectors of the electorate are costing him support among one group that reliably votes for Republicans: suburban white women.

It is no small irony that now, after years of publicly deriding women and intoning some of the most hyper-misogynistic rhetoric ever heard in a modern-day election, Trump now needs women to save his proverbial hide. Specifically, he needs center-right, married white women.

Alarm over Trumps provocative policies and rhetoric also is costing him support among some white women who typically vote Republican, wrote USA Today s Susan Page . White women without a college degree have backed GOP nominees by double-digits in each of the past three presidential elections, Page notes. But in a Pew survey taken this summer Trump was leading among them by only three percentage points, 48-45 percent.

These women may be leery of Hillary Clintons scandal-plagued history, as polls indicate, but Trump has shown himself to be a brutish, unpredictable, and even dangerous choice. Perhaps even more critically, his penchant for racial and religious intolerance has all but destroyed his ability to grow Republican reach beyond what former nominees Mitt Romney and John McCain were able to muster.

In an attempt to lure right-leaning white female voters back into the fold, Trump launched a jaw-dropping, multi-city pander-fest designed to make himself more palatable. Taking to the podium last week, in city after city, the former reality star opened a head-scratching pitch to African-American voters: What the hell do you have to lose?

Much like his negligible understanding of foreign policy, his cartoonish view of black life appears to have been gleaned from watching the evening news. Trump, it seems, is more comfortable hawking fear and loathing than he would be immersing himself in the issues or, you know, actually meeting with and listening to black people.

In Akron, Trump was neither listening to nor talking to African Americans, writ large. He was talking to the rows of white people seated before him. But despite the applause inside the room as he emphasized the presidents full nameBarack Hussein ObamaTrumps hamfisted approach was not well-received among most political prognosticators. How could it have been? Even his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, laughed at Trumps assertion that he could win 95 percent of the black vote in a re-election bid.

Pence knows better, and so do we.

Certainly, if one were truly interested in building a winning coalition that includes significant African-American support, one does not install a D-list reality star with no political experience to run outreach . And clearly one does not hire the chairman of a conspiratorial white nationalist website with a demonstrable record of disdain for black voters to be ones campaigns chief executive. As political strategists from sea to shining sea begin calling on the Republican National Committee to pull the plug and use their resources to support down-ballot races, Trumps problem with non-white voters cant get any worse.

On the campaign trail, Trump, who has touted tremendous African-American support, has spewed stereotypical bombast most common among those who have little real interest in attracting black voters. But by making his case in places like West Bend, Wisconsin , a town that is 94.8 percent white and just 1 percent black, Trump inadvertently called attention to the fact thatoutside of a much ballyhooed, poorly attended meeting for black preachers hosted at Trump Towerhis campaign has not hosted a single event in a black church, barbershop, community center, or high school. In fact, in rally after rally, his supporters (and security guards) have displayed the kind of racial animus that might be more typical of a George Wallace road show.

Look at how much African-American communities are suffering from Democratic control, he told one audience. To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?

Trump, who polls as low as 0 percent and 1 percent with black voters in some states, must know how he got here and that his barrel-scraping attempt to woo them was over well before it started.

Monday wasnt the first time Trump uttered the presidents middle name as if it was synonymous with Beelzebub. Trumps public record on black people and black issues is clearfrom two Justice Department lawsuits over housing discrimination to challenging the legitimacy of the nations first black president.

Long before Trump was demanding to see President Obamas long-form birth certificate and his college transcripts, the New Yorker placed a full-page ad calling for the execution of five innocent black teenagers accused in the brutal rape of a Central Park jogger. And when those sentences were vacated after the real perpetrator was identified, Trump called the multimillion-dollar financial settlement a disgrace. Tellingly, he had never hired a single black senior executive at the Trump Organization and, reportedly, his black employees had to be out of sight when he visited his casinos.

So, when Trump asks, What the hell do you have to lose? the answer is everything.

Trumps closest advisers either do not understand the depth of the divide or they are lying. His surrogates pointed to how he integrated his south Florida resort Mar-a-Lagoa business-driven move that may have had an impact on 10 to 15 wealthy black families, at bestand one even said Trump was on the cutting edge of civil rights.

They understand, former House speaker Newt Gingrich said of Democrats, that this is a mortal threat to their power and they will do almost anything to stop him.

Gingrich, once a close confidant of Rep. Jack Kemp, has encouraged Trump to take his message to places like inner-city Philadelphia, claiming it could have an amazing result.

No, what is amazing is that Gingrich uttered this nonsense with a straight face.

The plain truth is the die has already been cast among African-American votersacross age, gender, income, and education. Maybe Gingrich likes seeing himself on television, but the notion that Trump has an opportunity to grow his support among black voters is the kind of bluster that has cost him any meaningful place on the national stage in 20 years.

Perhaps most tellingly, newly installed campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said she was moved by Trumps recent speeches and appeals to black voters, as a white woman. Conway, a Republican pollster, is believed to be the mastermind behind the new strategy. Working on behalf of conservatives like Dan Quayle, Ted Cruz, Todd Akin, and Fred Thompson, Conway understands the politics of white fear. Harnessing that into Trumps bastardized version of a tough love-style Sista Souljah speech is nothing more than a cheap ploy.

And thats just it. Like the gilded handrailings at Trump Tower, his outreach to black voters is all for show. Trumps callous attempts to soften the racial overtones and draw more support from suburban white women will, just like most Trump branded enterprises, wind up in the clearance bin.
The last time Hillary Clinton stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live, she was still battling it out with Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination and Donald Trump still had Ted Cruz and, to a much lesser degree, John Kasich, to worry about. Five months later, with a more unified base behind her and a solid lead in almost every battleground state poll, Clinton had nothing to do but come out swinging against her Republican opponent.

Clinton hasnt held a proper press conference with political reporters in more than 260 days, but this was her third time sitting next to Jimmy Kimmel since she became a 2016 candidate for president. But while Kimmel may be a friendlier interviewer than some, the questions about her trustworthiness came before she even emerged on the stage. During a Lie Witness News segment that preceded her appearance, Los Angeles pedestrians weighed in on a big announcement she hadnt made earlier that day, deeming it mostly full of lies.

Who would have guessed this audience would be so enthusiastic about the co-founder of ISIS? Kimmel asked Clinton after the applause died down. Laughing and calling that particular accusation one of the crazier things thats been said this campaign, Clinton said she doesnt get upset anymore about the things Trump says because Id be upset all the time. But on a more serious note, she said that type of rhetoric is harmful because it actually helps terrorists.

Asked how she plans to prepare for her upcoming debates with Trump, Clinton said, I watched a lot of his debates during the primaries and he insulted all of his opponents, he insulted all the moderators, he insulted, I guess about 80 percent of the American people and the rest of the world. So while she wants to take it seriously, she is also preparing for any potential wackiness by drawing on her elementary school experience.

Kimmel also helped Clinton clear up some of the recent rumors about her health by taking her pulseOh my God, theres nothing there, the host jokedwhile she defended her vitality. Back in October, The National Enquirer said I would be dead in six months, she said, so with every breath I take I feel like I have a new lease on life. On Kimmels request, Clinton successfully opened a jar of pickles.

As Clinton tried to steer the conversation back to issues like job creation and student debt, Kimmel kept the focus on Trump. If you were elected president, how great would it be if your first act was to deport Donald Trump to Mexico? he asked. When Clinton said this is such a serious time in our country, he replied, Not really.

I would prefer to be running against somebody who I thought was qualified to be president and temperamentally fit to be commander-in-chief, Clinton said to applause from the audience, even if that would make her job right now a whole lot more difficult. While she said America has seen some less than great presidents in our history, she added, I don't think weve ever been confronted with somebody who we see right now in the midst of this election is unqualified and temperamentally unfit.

It wasnt until his second segment with the candidate that Kimmel uttered the word she most likely dreads the most these days: emails. Asked if she is worried about the pending release of nearly 15,000 emails by the State Department just before the debate, Clinton repeated a line she has used before. My emails are so boring. She then added, Weve already released, I dont know, 30,000-plus, so whats a few more?

Kimmel ended the segment by playing a game with Clinton. He asked her to pick real Donald Trump quotes out of a fishbowl and read them aloud without cracking a smile. There was only one she refused to read and it was about Trumps more-than-fatherly affection for his daughter, Ivanka.
In a lot of ways, the rise of crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter has democratized product development. Theoretically, it allows anyone with an elevator pitch and internet connection to appeal to the World Wide Web for micro investments to turn their dream into a reality. Of course, not all new ideas are created equallyas evidenced by such lemons as Twerk Island, dog treats you can both eat, and Paul, the sexiest smartphone charger on the planet, replete with retracting anal, errr, (power) plug.

Since its inception in 2009, Kickstarter alone has seen more than 310,000 projects started, with 110,717 of them raising more than $2.2 billion and becoming successful. Yet with thousands of live projects to dig through at any given time, it can be daunting to sit down and start digging through them to decide which ones deserve your support. We decided to save you the hassle by spending some time finding the most stylishand uniqueprojects seeking backers.

SUSTAINABLE, STYLISH BAGS

Utilizing military surplus materials, Brit brand What Daisy Dids founders Daisy Hardwick and Ozric Vondervelden work with a local charity to employ homeless and vulnerable people to manufacture their Wayfarer line of stylish, rugged bags. With multiple designs, from a classic duffel and roll top pack to a messenger style shoulder bag and a large volume rucksack, the clean lines and nostalgically militaristic feel straddles the line between military surplus and hipster camping brand. Best of all, the canvas tent fabric they use is densely woven and waxed for durability and waterproofing, and they claim 95 percent of the materials they use are recycled.

PENS MADE FROM WWII BATTLESHIP DECKING

Yeah, you read that correctly. Some dude with woodworking skills named William H. Burger (just Bill on his Kickstarter page) had the chance to come upon the decking of the USS North Carolina, the most decorated battleship in World War II, and he went for it. Now hes crafting that historic teak wood into pens, cufflinks, and razors, each one accentuated with antique pewter, bronze, or copper. Our favorite is either the Bolt Action Pen ($70) or the razor with its own stand ($115), and any can be laser engraved with the name or message of your choice.

HARD CIDER HOMEBREW

Everybody brews their own beer now, so how about stepping it up a notch with your own countertop craft cider maker? For $299 you can get your hands on the super simple Alchema cider mill, which makes turning applesor other fruitsinto an alcoholic treat about as difficult as making coffee in the morning. All you need is the patience to wait two weeks, which is just enough time to start farming that hipster mustache youll want to be twisting as your friends sample your eclectic cider recipes.

THE LAST, BEST SCISSORS YOULL EVER OWN

Too much of our household stuff is just disposable crap these days. Luckily, the folks at Ernest Wright and Son remember a time when things were crafted with pride, and something as simple as a pair of heavy scissors could stand alone as a piece of art. Made in Sheffield, England, the home of stainless steel, these heavy-duty shears follow designs Wright and Son have been making for more than a century. There are a few designs to choose from, but the Kutrite is our favorite, a steal at $67. Plus, the makers feel so strongly that these are the strongest scissors youll ever need that they offer a lifetime guarantee.

MAGIC LEVITATING SMARTWATCH CHARGER

Your Pebble or Apple watch is a piece of modern, high-tech art, so why not display it as such when you arent wearing it on your wrist? Taking advantage of wireless charging and using an induction system inspired by Tesla, the Lift Anti-Gravity Charger makes charging your device truly a 21st century experience, for under $200. As an added design bonus, when it isnt getting your watch ready for another day at the office, the Lift doubles as a low-profile lamp.

THE ULTIMATE STANDING DESK

Its common knowledge that you should be standing at your desk instead of sitting. Hell, Hemingway did it, so why arent you? Now the ergonomically designed Gaze Desk takes away any excuses you may be harboring, with multiple memory functions, a two tier, wood-tone design, and even full control from an app on your phone. And yes, you can lower it and sit down if you have too much Chinese food for lunch (or have flat feet) and just cant even. But brace yourselfthe Gaze also tracks your health and calorie loss, so youre going to pay for it later. Actually, you should pay for it nowearly backers get a reward of 55 percent off.

YOUR NEW FAVORITE BOOTS

First of all, if youve never treated yourself to a pair of custom leather shoes or boots, youre missing out on one of the great joys in life. Second, now you have even less of an excuse, because these Aussie designers at Orca Leathercraft are launching Bulvier: high-end tailored boots for a fraction of what theyd cost if you wandered into a cobblers shop. Tooled from premium leather (or vegan leather, if youre into that) and featuring a hand-stitching technique employed since 1928, each classic-looking pair features modern memory foam insoles to keep you comfy all day long. There are a few styles to pick from, but the Liberty checks all the boxes for a do-it-all boot design for us, and is a heck of a deal for under $200.
Summers for Leonardo DiCaprio, the Oscar-winning actor and professional Victorias Secret slayer, are the stuff of Instagram envy: vaping on yachts overflowing with models, Citi Bikin through your hood with a model in tow, or achieving a state of fuckboy nirvana whilst frolicking in a field armed with a water gun. I mean, this is a guy who calls J. Lo boo boo, after all.

But alas, the superstar actors turn as the living embodiment of Prestige Worldwide has hit a major snag this past week. No, he didnt accidentally date someone over the age of 25; rather, hes found himself embroiled in a series of bizarre (and troubling) mini-scandals that seem very off-brand for the remarkably talented (and remarkably Teflon) thespian.

The first came last Wednesday, when The Hollywood Reporter uncorked a doozy of a story chronicling DiCaprios alleged ties to a $3.5 billion Malaysian embezzlement scandalone described by the U.S. Department of Justice as the largest single action ever brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. The fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was owned by the Malaysian government, and had raised upwards of $8 billion to benefit the Malaysian people. However, according to the DOJ, $3.5 billion of that money was misappropriated between 2009 and 2015, including establishing a production company called Red Granite Pictures that bankrolled DiCaprios 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street (and has an office right above DiCaprios production company, Appian Way, in West Hollywood, California), and also donating millions from the fund to the actors charity, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Though not directly targeted, DiCaprio is named as Hollywood Actor 1 in a 136-page complaint filed by the DOJ.

This fraud went on around the world, said Special Agent Darryl Wegner, chief of the FBIs International Corruption Unit, which investigated the case along with the Internal Revenue Services Criminal Investigative Division. At least $1 billion traceable to the conspiracy was laundered through the United States and used to purchase assets here.

DiCaprios foundation bills itself as dedicated to the long-term health and wellbeing of all Earths inhabitants, and claims to have awarded $59.6 million in charitable grants since 1998. Because it is a donor-advised fund (DAF) it is not required to disclose its financial revenue, so we cannot be sure exactly how efficient and accountable the organization is. This may also very well be a case of DiCaprio getting mixed up with the wrong people, with no prior knowledge of their alleged crimesthough the actor has made a habit of cozying up to sketchy figures in the past, from jailed money manager Dana Giacchetto to Helly Nahmad, an art dealer who was busted running a gambling ring out of his penthouse in Manhattans Trump Tower.

Given all the focus on his foundations connection to the embezzlement case, many an eyebrow was raised when DiCaprio backed out of hosting a $33,400-plate fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at the last minute. According to Page Six, guests at the pricey event were sent an email stating that the production schedule for [DiCaprios] climate change film Before the Flood has alteredwhich will prevent him from returning to Los AngelesAs a result, Leo personally asked his friends Justin Timberlake and wife Jessica Biel to host Tuesdays lunch with Hillary at their home in the Hollywood Hills.But Page Six, as is their wont, alleged that some attendees wondered if the move had more to do with the THR report on the DiCaprio Foundations ties to the embezzlement scandal. Given the Clinton Foundations ongoing scrutiny over everything from pay-for-play allegations with Hillary Clintons State Department to donations from hostile foreign governments, it sure wouldnt look good to have someone in the midst of their own charity imbroglio hosting a Hillary fundraiser.

In light of the THR report, the conservative street artist Sabo placed a poster on Hollywood Boulevard of DiCaprio and Clinton trapped in money laundering machines.

And if that werent enough, on Saturday afternoon at approximately 4:45 p.m., DiCaprio and his girlfriend, Victorias Secret model Nina Agdal, were involved in a fender-bender on Montauk Highway in East Hampton. According to Newsday, while ambulances were called to the scene, an East Hampton Village police spokeswoman said the injuries were just minor and did not disclose who caused the accident.

It aint easy being the king of the world.
Seth Meyers really doesnt like Donald Trump. The former SNL writer turned late-night host turned in one of the better anti-Trump stand-up routines at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinneryou know, back when the former reality star hinted at the unbridled racism yet to come by questioning whether our first black president was born in America.

Now, Trump is the Republican nominee for POTUS and Meyers is behind the desk hosting Late Night with Seth Meyers, a platform hes used to torch the real estate heir on numerous occasions during his A Closer Look segment. So, after a couple of weeks off due to NBCs Olympics coverage, Meyers returned to his show Monday night with a few things to get off his chest.

The 2016 campaign has settled into something of a pattern: Donald Trump spends weeks saying inflammatory things that drive his poll numbers down, then for a few days he acts relatively normal, and the media thinks hes ready to get serious, said Meyers. Well, its happening againeven as Trump surrounds himself with people who feed his worst instincts.

Just a few months before Election Day, Trumps campaign experienced yet another major shake-up, with the cotton candy-haired Kremlin apologist kicking his campaign chief Paul Manafort to the curb over his shady financial ties to a pro-Russian political movement in Ukraine. Instead, he hired Steve Bannon, the former honcho of Breitbart Newsan alt-right website thats acted as extended PR for candidate Trumpas his campaign head, while also reportedly seeking the counsel of disgusting former Fox News boss Roger Ailes, who was forced to step down after a series of disturbing sexual harassment allegations surfaced.

So, Trump got rid of his old campaign chairman who was trying to get him to tone down his rhetoric and hired people who want him to be even more controversial. Trumps like an alcoholic who fires his doctor and starts getting medical advice from his bartender, joked Meyers. I actually think this new Trump inner circle makes perfect sense. Trump is surrounding himself with the very people who created the right-wing media bubblea bubble built on paranoia, conspiracy theories, and white identity politics which allowed Trump to thrive in the first place.

Meyers teed off on Bannon, an unhinged right-wing propaganda filmmaker whos like a cross between Dinesh DSouza and Alex Jones. Lets first take Bannon, whose website Breitbart News has run headlines, among other things, accusing President Obama of shedding phony fascist tears and calling a conservative Trump critic a renegade Jew, said Meyers. And then there was this classic Breitbart headline: Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy, and if anyone should be the judge of whos unattractive and crazy, its pin-up model Steve Bannon. He looks like Jabba the Hutts deadbeat son. Then theres former Fox News chairman and current Jabba the Hutt Roger Ailes, who was forced out after an alleged pattern of sexual harassment and is reportedly advising Trump, Meyers continued. Ailes essentially shaped the modern conservative movement, so its no surprise that Trump is now using many of Ailess tactics.

These tactics include denying all the polls that show Trump is trailing Hillary Clinton by considerable margins, culminating in Trump attorney Michael You Cannot Rape Your Own Spouse Cohens jaw-dropping CNN appearance where, when questioned about how Trump is losing according to every conceivable metric, replied, Says who?Says who isnt just a dumb Trump supporters response to a few polls, its the rights reaction to everythingfrom climate change to unemployment numbers to health care. Says who is the product of decades of work by Ailes and others to dismiss facts that dont align with their worldview, offered Meyers. And now, with members of the alt-right conservative media advising Trump, theyve latched on to yet another conspiracy theory: this time questioning Hillary Clintons physical health, despite zero evidence and repeated assurances from her doctor that shes fit to serve as president.

Yes, despite the fact that Hillary Clinton appeared totally fine during her lengthy DNC speech, hasnt exhibited any clear signs of ill health, and had her doctor release a detailed 2-page note on her health declaring her fit to serve as presidentthis compared to Trumps sketchy doctors note from a wacky gastroenterologist that sounded as if it was written by Trump himself, Trump has chosen to regurgitate alt-right conspiracy theories claiming that Hillary is in poor health.

As Trump claimed during a recent interview, shell do an event, shell make a short speech off a teleprompter, and then she goes home and goes to sleep. Ill tell you, she isshe is dangerous.

Thats right: Hillary Clinton sleeps at night, and she sleeps great, said Meyers. You know why? Because shes seen the polls. All of them. Also, its not dangerous to sleep! Dangerous is staying up until 4 a.m. and hate-tweeting Morning Joe.
Decades ago, Stephen K. Bannon was just another hungry aspiring filmmaker trying to make it in Hollywood, co-writing scripts on subjects like the Rwandan genocide or Shakespearean hip-hop moralists caught in the middle of the 1992 L.A. riots.

Today hes running Donald Trumps presidential campaign.

The notorious Breitbart News honcho and CEO of the Trump campaign has a colorful history as a Hollywood Republican. For years, Bannon coasted through Hollywood as an unabashedly right-wing filmmaker (one openly influenced by Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl). But before he went full-on conservative documentarian, his artistic aspirations were more eclectic and unconventional.

No one knows this better than Julia Jones, who was Bannons Hollywood writing partner for a whole 18 years, working with him on various projects intended for film and TV. Jones, now based in Massachusetts, describes herself as a Bernie Sanders liberal but still considers Bannon like family. They keep in touch, even as Jones is trying to wrap her head around the reality that her former partner in crime is leading Team Trump.

I never knew the racist Steve thats being reported now, Jones told The Daily Beast. I never heard him make any racist jokes, and his best friend was an African-American who went to [college] with him I never saw even a hint of racism, but I did see this elitism He would always look down on poor people of any color. At one point, he told me that only people who own property should vote.

For all the ideological difference between the two of them, they managed to keep very close, personally and professionally. Artistically, we agreed 99 percent on everything we did, Jones remembers.

But the last time Jones and Bannon wrote together was in 2009, right at the dawn of the Obama era.

Over time, he went from great ideas to pure politics, Jones said. I will confirm that he is a screamerand a very creative screamerand that hes absolutely brilliant.

(Bannon did not respond to requests for comment on this story.)

In the years that the two of them typed out their screenplays side by sidethe bleeding-heart leftie Democrat and the hard-right Hollywood Reaganitethere was a time when Bannon was on something of a Shakespeare kick.

According to Jones, at one point Bannon wanted to adapt William Shakespeares brutal and bloody tragedy Titus Andronicus for the big screen. Jones says she pitched setting their adaptation on the moon with creatures from outer space. Bannon was apparently so thoroughly taken by the prospect of intergalactic carnage that thats what sold him on her. (Bannon would later co-executive produce Titus, the 1999 thriller and Shakespeare adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins. This one had nothing to do with Jones and was not set in outer space.)

Bannon also had an idea for a movie musical that even Lin-Manuel Miranda might find too aggressively left field: to take Shakespeares Coriolanus (based on the life of the Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus) and, according to Jones, make a rap film out of it set in South Central during the L.A. riotsthat was Steves idea.

A copy of excerpts of the screenplay that was shared with The Daily BeastThe Thing I Am, written by Jones and Bannonincludes rap music, racial tensions aplenty, looting, gangster foot-soldiers, and chaos at ground zero of the 1992 L.A. riots.

Coriolanuss Menenius Agrippa, a senator of Rome, is recast as Agrippa, Mack Daddy of South Central, an ORIGINAL GANGSTA (O.G.) upper-echelon Blood.

The rap lyrics were penned mostly by Jones and the son of Wendy Colbert, Bannons assistant. Steve [then] added stuffall the dudes are him, Jones recalled. Its not strictly rap. Its more Shakespeare in rap [music].

You choose. To act and dieor lie neath whiteys boot! the gang-member version of BRUTUS declares, standing on a chair, talking trash, shouting to be heard.

Die, die, die! the crowd roars back.

Much of the drama in the scene that follows feels drenched in the kind of race-war spectacles that Bannons then-future website would later cash in on.

Dear? Were cheap, not dear, Brutus says. Whiteys dear. His kibbles n bits, if wholesome, would relieve us, but they call us dear and cast us nothing. Our sufferings their gain. Lets avenge with guns and knivesa score for a score. I speak from hunger Our business is no mystery to the pols and popo. For two weeks they have known what we intend to do which now we do in deeds.

Soon after the musical begins, Agrippa and Brutus are already debating politics and class.

They dont care for us, Brutus argues, enraged. Their houses, crammed with good shit; their banks grow fat and daily they repeal fair acts against the rich while passing laws to chain the poor. If their wars dont eat us up, they will. And whats the love they bear us?!

Agrippa fires back, and in doing so commands the crowds attention.

South Central is the belly, you, niggas, its mutinous members; look on and youll see that the benefits which you receive proceed from them to you. In no way from your sorry black asses, Agrippa retorts.

According to the unproduced script, the Blood subsequently crosses to Brutus and grabs his crotch.

Hey, motherfucker, YOUwhat you thinkYOUas the great dick of this assembly? Agrippa asks.

Did you call me Brutus replies.

A dick, Agrippa says, cutting him off, in his face.

You motherfucker Brutus responds.

Agrippa grasps at Brutuss penis, one extra time.

In July 2006, Bannon and Jones were still excited to share their work of art with the worldor at least a part of their work.

That summer, the writing duo sent out an invitation to a special reading of The Thing I Am, to be staged at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center. According to the invitation shared with The Daily Beast, actors Robert Guillaume and John Wesley produced the staged reading.

Shakespeare was a natural rapper, the flier reads. This becomes evident in the delivery of this updated blend of two seemingly disparate genresstreet rap and Elizabethan drama Where does Shakespeare end and street rap begin?

Coriolanus, the adaptation, will shed light on the continuing subversive effects of racial abuse going back centuriesfrom the mines of Apartheid in South Africa, [to] slavery, prejudice and brutality, to gang cultures and the growing disregard for the disadvantaged in society today, the invitation continues. It will show how the culture of greed, elitism, discrimination and inhumanity repeats itself today in a self-defeating replay of atrocities

This project appears to embody the progressive, social-justice principles that Bannons media flagshipthe Breitbart networkemphatically rejects. And to his ex-creative partner, Bannons association with the racist alt-right cheerleaderswho define far too much of Breitbarts, as well as Trumps, audienceremains an unsolved mystery.

The Stephen I know was incredibly generous, Jones said. He would give you the shirt off his back, literally My fear of him being involved with Trump is knowing how effective he is. If anyone can pull this off, its Steve Bannon.

Jones concluded by saying she will likely never get the chance to work with Bannon againthat is, of course, unless he comes across with some Shakespeare thing he wants me to work on.
Former Johns Hopkins psychiatry chair Dr. Paul McHugh has a long history of staking out anti-LGBT positions. But The Washington Examiner and other conservative media outlets would have you believe that McHughs statements on LGBT issues are significant because he is a prominent psychiatrist.

At least, thats how the Examiner referred to him after he and Arizona State statistician Dr. Lawrence Mayer published a lengthy paper casting doubt on the scientific consensus around sexual orientation and gender identity. That paper appears in a recent issue of a journal called The New Atlantis and it has already generated the predictable far-right lovefest.Almost Everything the Media Tell You About Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Is Wrong, the Daily Signal gleefully declared. The Daily Signal is owned by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

The Christian Post weighed in on the paper, too, repeating the researchers claim that there is No Scientific Evidence That People Are Born Gay or Transgender.

There is plenty of evidence to show that this isnt McHughs first anti-LGBT rodeo.

In 2006, he was quoted as saying that sexual abuse in the Catholic Church was the result of homosexual predation on American Catholic youth, as GLAAD noted. Four years later, he filed an amicus brief supporting Californias same-sex marriage ban, arguing that sexual orientation is, in part, a choice. In 2014, McHugh wrote a widely-cited anti-transgender op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that contradicts position statements from several major medical organizations including the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association. Most recently, in the spring of 2016, he helped write a position paper for the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), a small Gainesville, Florida-based organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has called an anti-LGBT hate group. That position paper called health care for trans youth a form of child abuse.

It may be an intrinsic problem of American psychiatry to fall into a craze or cult-like misdirection once a decade, McHugh previously told The Daily Beast about his involvement with that ACPeds paper. Transgenderism seems to be this decades version.

So its no surprise to see McHughs name crop up yet again in connection with another round of headlines questioning LGBT identities.

In their new paper, McHugh and Mayer express skepticism over the concept of sexual orientation, writing that we may have some reasons to doubt the common assumption that in order to live happy and flourishing lives, we must somehow discover this innate fact about ourselves that we call sexuality or sexual orientation, and invariably express it through particular patterns of sexual behavior or a particular life trajectory.

With regards to transgender people, they advocate taking a skeptical view toward the claim that sex-reassignment procedures provide the hoped-for benefits. They especially question the provision of health care for transgender children, writing that they are disturbed and alarmed by the severity and irreversibility of some interventions being publicly discussed and employed for children.

On all of these counts, McHugh and Mayer are at odds with the positions of major physicians associations.

The 117,575-member American Psychological Association (APA), for instance, has long acknowledged sexual orientation, defining it as an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions to men, women or both sexes.

As the APA also notes, research demonstrates that feeling positively about ones sexual orientation and integrating it into ones life fosters greater well-being and mental health. That sounds a lot like a happy and flourishing life.

Several major medical associations also support health care for transgender people, including sex reassignment surgery.

The 200,000-member American Medical Association is on board: An established body of medical research demonstrates the effectiveness and medical necessity of mental health care, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgery as forms of therapeutic treatment for many people diagnosed with [gender identity disorder].

So is the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH): Sex reassignment, properly indicated and performed as provided by the Standards of Care, has proven to be beneficial and effective in the treatment of individuals with transsexualism, gender identity disorder, and/or gender dysphoria.

And although McHugh and Mayer are alarmed by the prospect of affirming health care for transgender youth, the 64,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a 2013 position statement supporting health care for LGBTQ youth. In an accompanying technical report, the AAP outlined the Endocrine Societys 2009 recommendations for puberty-suppressing drugs and eventual hormone therapy for transgender youth, calling them the product of the best available evidence with clinical experience from experts in the field of assisting transgender patients with transition.

In an August letter, too, AAP president Dr. Benard Dreyer summarized current research showing that social transition can improve transgender childrens mental health, writing, There appears to be no harmand possible benefitfrom such parent-supported early social transitions.

In addition, the use of puberty-blocking drugs among transgender adolescents is not nearly as alarming as McHugh and Mayer suggest.

Dr. Annelou de Vries, a Dutch psychiatrist who has studied transgender youth, told HealthDay in 2014: Since puberty suppression is a fully reversible medical intervention, it provides adolescents and their families with time to explore their gender dysphoric feelings, and [to] make a more definite decision regarding the first steps of actual gender reassignment treatment at a later age.

Another study from deVries, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found that [b]ehavioral and emotional problems and depressive symptoms decreased, while general functioning improved significantly during puberty suppression among transgender adolescents old enough to receive a prescription.

In a phone interview with The Daily Beast, McHugh denied that his statements on LGBT issues were in any way politically motivated, characterizing them as an exercise in the act of discussion with the public over important matters of human relationships."

I dont believe that this is politically-motivated, he said. I believe that this is motivated out of an understanding of what science does and does not say."

When asked about his positions being at odds with major medical organizations, McHugh said, My answer to that is this is not the first time Ive been contradicting traditions and, in these areas, I am saying that they do not have evidence-based medicine on which to back their prescriptions.
HASAKAH, Syria  U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters have Syrian President Bashar Assads militias under siege in the northern Syrian city of Hasakah, and they are leaving them two options: Surrender or die.

In a conflict where alliances shift kaleidoscopically and the potential consequences of unwanted clashes are apocalyptic, this battle has raised the possibility Washington will be drawn into a direct conflict with the Syrian regime even as the Obama administration continues to focus its war effort on the forces of the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS.

The Americans key allies in the Syrian theater, the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, are now very clearly fighting both ISIS and Assad. The lines of demarcation are increasingly hard to draw in Hasakahand above it.

On Thursday, U.S. planes scrambled over the region when Syrian Air Force SU-24 attack planes launched strikes near the city.

A Defense Department spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, suggested that coalition personnel were on the ground there. He did not get into specifics, but as we have reported previously, numerous American and European advisers are very close to the action in Syria.

We view instances that place coalition personnel at risk with the utmost seriousness, Davis added, and we do have the inherent right of self-defense when U.S. forces are at risk.

Davis said this is the first time U.S. planes have been scrambled in response to Syrian bombing, and pointed out that the coalition has never before seen the Assad regime take such action against the mainly Kurdish YPG.

Only a few days ago, these Kurdish forcesin alliance with some Arab contingents backed by U.S. airstrikes and supported by U.S. and other Western special forcesplayed a major role taking the strategic city of Manbij away from the fighters of the so-called Islamic State.

Now very confident, seasoned, and well-armed, the Kurds appear about to achieve a victory not just over Assads beleaguered partisans in Hasakah, but by extension against his strategic backers from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollahand Russia.

All the parties understand what a crucial turning point this represents.

Previously, the Assad regime and its supporters had acquiesced in the Kurdish operations against ISIS. Damascus was aware that the Kurds goal is to establish a federal autonomous (if not indeed independent from Damascus) region called Rojava along the northern Syrian frontier. Thats no secret.

But Damascus clearly thought it could address other threats first, putting its priority on crushing any remotely credible opposition, then perhaps turning on ISIS, which it initially helped foster, then taking care of the Kurdish problem one way or the other.

The Hasakah fighting has brought that tacit agreement to an end.

Moscow, hoping a deal might yet be made for a truce, sent a delegation last week to try to broker a ceasefire, but there was none to be had.

The Kurds now reject any form of agreement and demand regime forces leave the province of Hasakah altogether, giving the YPG and its political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), complete control.

Note that Hasakah province is rich in oil and gas resources. Prior to the Syrian war, nearly half of Syrias oil came from here. If Rojava is to survive, that oil and gas will be an important source of income, and the Kurds are not inclined to give it up.

The Assad regime is increasingly weak and the regimes external supporters have little ability to support the regimes armed forces there, Michael Stephens, the head of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in Qatar, told The Daily Beast. And the events of the last couple of days would seem to bear that out.

When the Russian-brokered truce failed, even as the Syrian regime jets started to hit Kurdish positions and American or other coalition aircraft took to the air to warn them off, the Kurdish offensive continued.

Here in Hasakah, its clear the fighting between the YPG and the regime forces is much more intense than skirmishes in April. This time the battle has gone on for six days.

YPG officials say there are only a few pockets of Syrian government control left in a municipality that used to have a population of 200,000 people, and those holdouts are low on supplies.

They used to say we are friends with the regime, but we are not a friend, we are supported by the people, local commander Loqman told me before manning a heavy machine-gun on a pickup truck and blasting away at government positions.

On television Sunday, the exhausted-looking Syrian governor of Hasakah, Mohammad Zaal Ali, desperately pleaded with the Kurds to stop the fighting.

Kurds in Hasakah are Syrians and cannot operate without the government, he insisted on Kurdistan24, one of the few local TV stations operating in northern Syria. Kurds cannot impose their control by force.

But local commander Loqman said that the Kurds would not stop the fight. Whats the job of the regime here? They have killed thousands of people, made millions of people homeless, he said. We should kick them out, that is my view.

He also complained about the presence of foreign Shia militia fighters backed by Iran. These Syrian lands are his home, he said. What is the work of Hezbollah here; what is the work of Russia here to kill civilians by airstrikes in Aleppo?

In Hasakahs dusty streets, local fighters wearing black scarves were keeping their heads down.

The town has a large Christian population, and one of the fighters, a Kurd with green eyes, wore a defiant white T-shirt: Blasphemer, it said. He also wore several crosses around his neck as he moved toward the front line. Christians fleeing the city center had given crucifixes to fighters, a local commander said.

Sniper fire is a major concern, and theres a common belief the sharpshooters are foreigners.

Iranian snipers hit civilians, no matter if they are Kurdish or Arabs, says a 22-year-old Arab who goes by the pseudonym Adam. There are Iranians, Afghans, Iraqis, Lebanese from Hezbollah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, he said, although I was not able to confirm this on this ground.

Dozens of Arabs from Hasakah and other towns have joined the Kurdish forces, but often wont talk on the record for fear of government reprisals against their families in areas still controlled by the regime.

I joined to protect our honor, because the Syrian regime is oppressing the people, killing civilians, and hitting them with airstrikes, Adam said.

On Sunday afternoon there were no Syrian airstrikes and fighting slowed, with occasional sniper and heavy machine-gun fire. From yesterday until now the airstrikes did not hit us, said Loqman.

The fighting stopped now because there are civilians; we must stop the war because there are civilians, said Saydo, the other local commander, who speaks English. But in the night the fight will begin again, he said as we talked near the citys central market.

Hussam Hassan, 50, a Kurdish civilian who was wearing a pink towel on his shoulders to deal with the sweat from the blazing heat, said he hoped to return to his house again soon.

We flee because of the security, he said near a Kurdish police checkpoint. We are afraid, and I have children. There are airstrikes, artillery, and bullets. He left by taxi to a village 15 kilometers away.

Sihanouk Dibo, a Kurdish official of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), accused the Syrian government of attacking the Kurds in agreement with Iran and Turkey, which opposes the declaration of a federal system for the Kurds and is hostile to the YPG/PYD, which is very closely allied with the insurgents of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) operating insider Turkey.

They dont want a democratic federal region from Qamisli until Afrin, Dibo said, referring to two major towns in northern Syria. They dont want us to cut all the roads for terrorists, Dibo said, noting that many ISIS recruits from abroad initially came into Syria through Turkey.

On Sunday evening, as predicted, heavy fighting resumed again in the city center and continues now, with the Kurds steadily advancing against Syrian government fighters.

The regime has only a few points left, and is running out of water and food, Ismael Resho, a YPG commander, told The Daily Beast.

The battle may be ending for now, but the kaleidoscope continues to turn, and the war goes on.
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Texas public school finance. It is such a frustrating, complicated, chronically deficient mish-mash that it is hard to know where to begin.

Texas is near the bottom of the list of states in terms of total funding per student. Even worse, there are still large differences in funding per student among Texas districts -- even among those with the same tax rates.

Desperate educators again went to court, hoping the judiciary would jump-start the Legislature and governor into action. In a Texas Supreme Court opinion issued in May, Justice Don Willett wrote that the system was constitutional, but pleaded with the Legislature for action: "Our Byzantine school funding 'system' is undeniably imperfect, with immense room for improvement." He called for "transformational, top-to-bottom reforms that amount to more than Band-Aid on top of Band-Aid."

Genuine change is dependent upon acceptance by the majority in the Legislature as well as Gov. Greg Abbott of the following principles:

 Every child in this state is of equal value. Funding equity (the equal opportunity for equal funding per child for equal tax effort subject only to adjustments which reflect legitimate special needs of students and districts) must be achieved if every child is to have a shot at a great education.

 Only the public schools are able and willing to take on the challenge of educating every child, regardless of language skills, giftedness, disabilities, poverty, or level of parental involvement. Perfect job? No. But far, far better than the public school bashers would have you believe. Diverting public funds to privatization of education is not the answer.

 Teachers and administrators are professionals with the incredibly important job of shaping the future of our children. Failure to compensate them as professionals cripples the school districts' ability to attract and retain the level of excellence required. We can spend on education, or we can pay the much higher price of an inadequate workforce, over-burdened social services system, and over-populated criminal justice system.

The heavy dependence on local property taxes for education is the single biggest barrier to change. Districts with low property wealth per student need more funding to compete and do well; property-rich districts are reluctant to share since that leaves less for their own kids. Incredibly, Texas Education Code Sec. 42.001(b) has been on the books for many years. It states, in part, that school districts shall receive "substantially equal access to similar revenue per student at similar tax effort, considering all state and local revenues of the districts after acknowledging all legitimate student and district cost differences."

If only our state government followed its own laws.

As was reported in The Eagle on Aug. 13, James Frank, a Republican state representative from Wichita Falls, had the courage to acknowledge that most school funding should come from a statewide tax, possibly even a state property tax (which would require a constitutional amendment.) How many others will muster the political courage to ditch the Band-Aids in favor of "top-to-bottom reforms"?

 C. David Stasny has been a member of the Bryan school board for more than 26 years. He recently completed six years on the Legislative Advisory Committee of the Texas Association of School Boards.
After a group of parents sued the Texas Education Agency over the 2016 administration of STAAR exams, state lawyers argued this summer that the parents had no standing and asked the courts to drop the case.

This week, the first day of school for many Texas children, Travis County District Court Judge Stephen Yelenosky denied their request in a one-page order with no further explanation.

The decision, which comes after a recent hearing, means the lawsuit brought by parents from Houston, Wimberley, Austin and Orangefield  whose children were in the third, fifth and eighth grades last school year  will be able to proceed.

The lawsuit, filed against the education agency in Travis County district court, argues that spring 2016 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness scores are invalid because the exams were not administered under parameters laid out in House Bill 743. The legislation, passed last year with bipartisan support, requires the state to design STAAR exams so that a majority of elementary and middle school students can complete them within a certain period of time (two hours for third- through fifth-graders and three hours for sixth- through eighth-graders.)

In court filings, state lawyers said the agency complied with the new statute and also asked the court to toss the suit due to lack of "harm" to students.

Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said the agency hadn't seen Monday's order and so could not comment.

Education Commissioner Mike Morath, listed as the primary defendant in the suit, threw out all grade promotion consequences for fifth and eighth graders this year because of score delays under a new testing vendor, the filings note. They also say that students could have been advanced to the next grade by a graduation committee regardless of Morath's decision, and that there are no such consequences for third-graders. The filing also says there is "no allegation any of the plaintiffs failed or were specifically harmed by the allegedly noncompliant test  or even that the length of the test affected the childs performance in any way."

But the parents would like to see all scores thrown out. Their lawyer Austin-area lawyer, Scott Placek, who hailed Monday's decision as a "big victory," said they will keep fighting until that happens.

"The judge said without qualifications they have the right to be there and they have the right to have their case heard, and so we're in the position now where the case can really go forward," he said. "I think we'll look to move the discovery expeditiously and get to trial as quickly as we can because kids are being impacted already as they head back to school."

The decision comes the same day the crowdfunded plaintiffs, members of a grassroots group called The Committee to Stop STAAR, announced they had secured an education agency report via an open records request showing STAAR administration did not comply with the law.

Their lawsuit was filed amid a fresh and fervent wave of dissent against the STAAR exams, a more rigorous series of tests first introduced in 2012. It was fueled by widespread logistical and technical issues with this year's administration under a new testing vendor, New Jersey-based Educational Testing Service, which has declined to comment on the issues.
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.
Why doesn't Vietnam have large businesses?

VietNamnet Bridge - Many newly emerged businesses have been sold to foreign investors as soon as they became better known, and before they could become powerful conglomerates.

Many newly emerged businesses have been sold to foreign investors as soon as they became better known, and before they could become powerful conglomerates.







More than 90 percent of Vietnamese businesses are small and Vietnam does not have large corporations which can act as pillars in most business fields.The rumors about FPT selling its retail chain are true. Sources said that Vietnam's largest information technology group, together with a consultant, is taking necessary steps to sell one of its most important subsidiaries. The partners interested in the company are all foreign entities.The deal, when wrapped up, will add one more item to the list of the Vietnamese enterprises sold to foreign investors.In late 2014, Kinh Do Group surprised the public with the announcement to sell 80 percent of its sweets manufacturing division to Mondelez International. The deal brought $370 million to Kinh Dos owner, a large sum of money for any Vietnamese enterprise. However, the deal has put an end to a purely Vietnamese brand which existed for 20 years long.In late 2012, Prime, the then-Number 1 ceramic tile was transferred to Thai Siam, after the group paid $240 million to acquire 85 percent of stake.Many other Vietnamese brands, which were once the pride of Vietnamese, have fallen into foreign hands. Da Lan, a toothpaste brand of Trinh Thanh Nhon, was sold by the businessman to Colgate Palmolive for $3 million. Diana of Do Minh Phu was transferred to Japanese Unicharm at the price of $184 million, while AAA insurance of Do Thi Kim Lien was sold to Australian IAG.Even emerging names associated with Vietnamese culture and lifestyle such as Pho, Highlands Coffee and Huda Beer have also been sold.In the case of FPT, if the plan is implemented as designed, another Vietnamese big retail name would be sold to foreigners. Nikkei has reported that FPT is now offering to sell its retail and distribution division at $120 million.Analysts commented that with more and more Vietnamese businesses sold to foreign investors, the market has been losing purely Vietnamese brands, while the economy lacks powerful Vietnamese brands.After Da Lan and P/S, two Vietnamese toothpaste brands were sold, the toothpaste market has been flooded with products bearing foreign brands. And since Kido was sold to the US company, there has been no Vietnamese brand strong enough to compete with foreign sweets brands.An analyst commented that Vietnamese businesses tend to sell their companies after certain periods of development instead of continuing to develop the businesses into powerful conglomerates.He said that limited financial capability and corporate management skills do not allow Vietnamese businesses to run companies when they become large.
Contributed photo

WESTPORT  A fugitive wanted in Florida on robbery and weapons charges was arrested here early Tuesday morning after he attempted to purchase several gift cards at a local pharmacy with a bad credit card, police said.

Officers had been called to the CVS at 397 Post Road East at 2:19 a.m. on a complaint of suspicious persons in the store, Lt. Anthony Prezioso said. Three men, including the fugitive from Florida had attempted to leave the store but arriving officers were able to stop their vehicle in the parking lot, he said.
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Former Gov. John G. Rowland is preparing to make a last-ditch appeal to the nations highest court in his 2014 conviction for campaign fraud, his second entanglement with the law since his resignation.

The fallen GOP star has hired Noel Francisco, the same high-powered Washington, D.C., lawyer who in June got the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the corruption conviction of fellow Republican and former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week granted Francisco an extension until Nov. 14 to file what is known as a petition for a writ of certiorari on behalf of Rowland.

The appeal, which is considered a longshot, could be Rowlands last hope of avoiding a 30-month prison sentence for working as a shadow political operative on the 2012 campaign of Lisa Wilson-Foley in the 5th Congressional District.

High-profile representation

Im not surprised that John Rowlands strategy, through his lawyers, is to fight the clock as long as possible, said Todd Fernow, the longtime director of the Criminal Clinic at the University of Connecticut Law School.

The Supreme Court receives about 1,000 of these types of appeals every year and agrees to hear about 80 of them, according to legal observers, who said four of eight sitting justices must decide to take up the case. With the death of Antonin Scalia in February, there is a vacancy on the nine-member bench.

Its doubtful that the courts going to take it up, said Steven Duke, a professor at Yale Law School.

Rowland, 59, who resigned as governor in 2004 and served 10 months in prison for accepting gifts from state contractor, has remained free on bond throughout the appeals process.

A request for comment was left Tuesday for Francisco, who is the latest high-priced lawyer enlisted by Rowland.

A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment about the latest development in the case.

It could take the court three to six months to decide whether to take up Rowlands case, according to those familiar with the appeals process. If it does, it would add another two to three years onto the timetable between briefs and oral arguments.

In 2014, a jury found Rowland guilty of conspiring with Wilson-Foley to hide his work on her 5th District campaign from the Federal Election Commission by receiving $35,000 in payments from a nursing home owned by the candidates husband, Brian Foley.

Rowland challenged his conviction in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York City, but lost, leaving him close to exhausting his legal options.

The case for an appeal

His lawyers contend that Rowland did legitimate work for the nursing home and it was his prerogative to volunteer for Wilson-Foleys campaign. They also argued that prosecutors withheld evidence that a law firm signed off on the contract between Rowland and the nursing home.

The youngest governor in Connecticut history, Rowland was elected to three terms, and was once mentioned as a contender for vice president before his downfall.

Some speculated that Francisco, basking in the afterglow of getting McDonnell off on a corruption conviction, may have taken on Rowlands case pro bono.

If this lawyer succeeds in getting the Supreme Court to reverse Rowlands conviction, that would be fantastic PR for the lawyer, Duke said.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in June that McDonnells acceptance of $175,000 in gifts and loans from a Richmond, Va., businessman  while tawdry  did not rise to the level of public corruption under a federal bribery statute known as the Hobbs Act.

The businessman had wanted state universities in Virginia to conduct trials on a new dietary supplement, but no tests were done.

Fernow said Francisco has a reputation as a seasoned appellate litigator. He said Franciscos challenge will be to find a broad precedent for the court to take up the case.

He may see an angle in here, like a local U.S. attorneys office going off the rails and unfairly punishing a politician, that fits into rubric of his particular specialty of the law, Fernow said.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
Humans may have balked at the recent run of hot, humid weather, but mosquitoes thrived in the sweaty temps  including a species associated with the feared Zika virus.

The species aedes albopictus, also known as the Asian tiger mosquito, has been found in 13 Connecticut towns, stretching along the coast from Greenwich to East Haven, said Theodore Andreadis, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, which runs the states mosquito trapping and testing program.

None of the mosquitoes found here tested positive for Zika, but another mosquito-borne illness, West Nile virus, is rampant this season. Mosquitoes have tested positive for the illness in 11 towns, including Bridgeport, Fairfield, Stratford, Stamford, Milford, Easton and Darien.

That hot weather, with temperatures in the 90s and high humidity  thats kind of perfect for this, Andreadis said.

There have been no confirmed human cases of West Nile in Connecticut yet, but Andreadis said thats likely just a matter of time.

Its quite likely that someones going to get infected, and get sick, he said. Were due, unfortunately.

West Nile virus came to the U.S. in 1999. The disease often has no symptoms, or causes mild illness, but for the elderly, those with compromised immune systems and other vulnerable groups, it can be serious.

It has been supplanted as the mosquito-borne scourge du jour by the Zika virus, which rose to prominence last year and has infected thousands of people in more than 60 countries. In the U.S., more than 2,000 people have been infected, including 58 in Connecticut. Most of those people infected traveled to Zika-afflicted areas, though 14 people in Florida acquired the disease locally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Zika commonly causes fever, rash or other mild symptoms and, rarely, a paralyzing neurological illness called Guillain-Barre syndrome. In pregnant women, it has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, in which the babys head is smaller than average.

The mosquito most associated with Zika, aedes aegypti, is rare in Connecticut, but the Asian tiger mosquito has also been known to carry the illness. Even though that mosquito has been spotted here, Andreadis said West Nile is the more pressing issue in Connecticut at the moment.

I think we are going to continue finding it in a lot of the same locations were seeing now, and it may branch out to nearby place, he said.
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DARIEN  Republican Greg Ehlers has been awarded a $95,710 grant through the Citizens Election Program as part of his effort to unseat Democrat Bob Duff in the 25th State Senate District this November.

I am excited and encouraged by all the support I have found in Norwalk and Darien, Ehlers said in a statement. People want change. They are tired of the incumbent and his politics that are failing our state. Under his watch, Norwalk families have suffered the two largest tax increases in our states history.

By raising more than $15,000 from at least 300 donors living within the district, Ehlers recently qualified for campaign financing through the Citizens Election Program. Overall, Ehlers2016 raised $16,274, according to the campaign committees most recent filing with the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

Ehlers, a Darien small businessman who works in the area of cyber insurance and regulatory consulting, is hoping to unseat Duff, a Norwalk Democrat and real estate broker. Duff is running for a seventh term representing the 25th District, which includes Norwalk and part of Darien.

If victorious Nov. 8, Ehlers said he will replace his opponents failed leadership and turn out state around, open our state to business, create good paying middle class jobs, and operate a government that focuses on delivering core services efficiently and effectively.

Duff, who has served as state Senate majority leader since early 2015, passed the threshold for a $95,710 grant through the Citizens Election Program months ago. Friends of Bob Duff had raised $48,218 through June 30, according to the campaign committees filing with the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

Duff, who formerly served in the state House of Representatives, stands by his record in Hartford.

I continue to love this job, Duff said Tuesday. Ive worked hard for the people of Norwalk and Darien and will work to make sure the accomplishments for Norwalk, Darien and the state of Connecticut are articulated during the campaign.

Duff added, the biggest issues facing the state right now are continuing to grow jobs and continuing to invest in areas like education, transportation and higher education. Its important for us to adapt to the new economic realities and to make sure that we are looking toward long-term growth.
NORWALK  Neil Diamond fans can head to Calf Pasture Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 24 to enjoy an exciting tribute to the popular international entertainer. The free First County Bank Concert beside Long Island Sound starts at 7:30 p.m.

Before the concert (6:30-7:30), Animal Embassy will provide interactive fun with live, exotic animals and wildlife artifacts.
If I had to use a single word to describe what is fundamentally wrong with government today, I would use the word fraud. Certainly nowadaysperhaps in every agegovernment is not what it claims to be (competent, protective, and just), and it is what it claims not to be (bungling, menacing, and unjust). In actuality, it is a vast web of deceit and humbug, and not for a good purpose, either. Indeed, its true purposes are as reprehensible as its noble claims are false. Its stock in trade is pretense. The velvet glove of its countless claims of benevolence scarcely conceals its iron fist of violence and threats of more violence. It wants to be loved, but it will settle for being feared. The one thing it will not do is simply leave us alone. Robert Higgs, 2004

Dr. Birzer: Thus begins Robert Higgss 2004 book, Against Leviathan, a sequel to his highly acclaimed Crisis and Leviathan. Theres no doubt that Dr. Higgs is an anarchist and a radical libertarian. Hes also, for those of us privileged enough to know him, a gentleman to the nth degree and a mentor and comfort to all who seek his friendship. A former professor of economics, he now resides rather happily in Mexico, having given up on the American experiment, believing the Constitution failed. If anything, Dr. Higgs has grown more disillusioned with political institutions since Crisis and Leviathan first appeared in the 1980s.

Adam Fuller, in our continuing discussions and dialogues, Im truly curious how you would take Dr. Higgss argument. Do you believe that the Constitution has failed, and do you believe its inevitable for all governmentswhatever their original intentionsto decay into corruption and wanton criminality? In his own writings on government, St. Augustine of Hippo argued that even the best governmentsthose which secure a world peace through a protection of justiceare nothing more than gangs of robbers who have done at least one thing (seeking justice) correctly. Otherwise, theres really nothing legitimate about political institutions that other civic associations and institutions have not already done more effectively and with more humanity.

Dr. Fuller: Well, first off, Id still much rather live in America than in Mexico. Wouldnt you? Ive never met Dr. Higgs, but it seems so peculiar to me that someone would be so distraught by the failings of the American experiment that he would prefer living in Mexico than in America, which, despite our many problems, is still the best country on the face of the earth to live in. And if I wanted to avoid political corruption and wanton criminality, I dont think Mexico would exactly be my destination.

Sure, Mexico may have a greater sense of national identity than we do. Theres perhaps a richer culture there. Family bonds are stronger. Its a country where people take pride in their history, religious beliefs, language, and heritage. Ive temporarily lived in other countries, too, where such elements were far stronger than here in America. Ive always admired it. But wouldnt we also have a much stronger national identity in that regard if we didnt continue to insist that America is nothing more than an experiment in self-government?

But to answer your question, I dont think the Constitution has failed. A document is incapable of failing. The fact that people sin doesnt mean the Bible has failed, does it? The failure is on us. We have failed to adhere to it.

Dr. Birzer: Thanks, Dr. Fuller. I must say, I have had the privilege of meeting Dr. Higgs several times, and hes definitely a man of integrity and character, whatever his specific views are. Ive learned a great deal from him personally, and hes been a good and kind mentor and friend. Hes also an incredible conversationalist. Although I dont know enough about Mexico to comment, it strikes me as a place of immense stability in certain regions and instability in others. Its history, especially since 1917, has certainly not been a happy one.

Leaving Dr. Higgs aside, and as to the Constitution, it strikes me that its failed for several reasons. All of these reasons are certainly not reasons to abandon it, or to think that it cant be corrected. Just as the Founders analyzed the failures and successes of the past, so must we. After all, we must remember, they sought not a perfect union, but a more perfect union. It is well worth remembering perhaps the most interesting of the neglected founders, John Dickinson, when he famously stated on August 13, 1787:

Experience must be our only guide. Reason may mislead us. It was not Reason that discovered the singular and admirable mechanism of the English Constitution. It was not Reason that discovered or ever could have discovered the odd, and in the eye of those who are governed by reason, the absurd mode of trial by Jury. Accidents probably produced these discoveries, and experience has given a sanction to them. This is, then, our guide.

Wouldnt believing in the Constitution and the authors of that Constitution demand we do the same to its history as they did to the history of the English Constitution?

Dr. Fuller: I mean no disrespect to Dr. Higgs. Ive never met him, but Ive heard only good things about him. I suppose I just have a Calhounian understanding of what it means to be an American. I dont conceive of America as a social contract that we can, or should, simply opt out of when the other party fails to live up to its side of the bargain.

As for the Constitution, to be perfectly honest, Dr. Birzer, I think the political Right in our country is on the wrong track. The Constitution is not directly what needs to be defended. What needs to be protected is goodness and decency, and since the Constitution is a document that is based on good and decent principles, a defense of it just naturally comes along for the ride when we argue on behalf of what is right.

Im entirely with you on the value of experience. But I think too many conservatives and libertarians have become oblivious to our experience. Many ignore the fact that the 1960s transformed the context of American politics. Challenging progressivism is no longer a matter of defending the Constitution. What we have to contend with now is what Lionel Trilling called the Adversary Culture. This culture is winning. But it is not winning because it has no regard for our Constitution. It is winning because while it is destroying everything that is good and decent, the political Right is distracted with its intense worry about the fate of the Constitution. But the Constitution is not what the New Left is seeking to destroy. I dont think they care much about it one way or another. The folks of that culture will attribute things to the Constitution when it suits them and will advocate going beyond it when they can find no constitutional basis for their means and ends. What we have to fight for is human nature and the American heritage. And since the Constitution is designed with human nature in mind, and because the Constitution is our heritage, well be preserving it too.

Dr. Birzer: Well, Dr. Fuller, I cant disagree with you too much. A constitution without a soul is a corpse. We seem to be missing the soul at the moment.

Books on the topic of this essay may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore.
Marine Pvt. Dale Robert Geddes was welcomed home to Grand Island on Monday, 72 years after his death, as his remains were laid to rest in Grand Island City Cemetery next to his parents, William G. and Minnie (Kent) Geddes.

Geddes died on Nov. 20, 1943, during World War II as Americans fought to capture the Japanese-controlled island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. About 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed, with another 2,000 wounded during the battle, which raged from Nov. 20 through 23, 1943. Geddes died sometime on the first day of the battle.

U.S. soldiers were buried in 43 cemeteries throughout Betio. Those cemeteries were eventually consolidated into a single cemetery. However, Geddes was buried in what eventually became known as the Lost Cemetery, which is why it took so long for his remains to be returned to Grand Island. At one time, the U.S. government informed Geddes family that recovery of his remains was considered improbable, if not impossible.

Still, the family never quite lost hope as Geddes mother requested that a marker for Dale be placed by the graves of her and her husband. On Monday, Geddes was buried next to his parents.

The ceremony was observed not only by members of his family but also by numerous Grand Island residents, many of whom were veterans themselves. Geddes was buried with full military honors by Detachment 1, Maintenance Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 451, U.S. Marine Corps.

Before the graveside service, family and friends gathered for visitation at Apfel Funeral Home, where Geddes remains lay in state, guarded by two U.S. Marines.

His remains were carried to the cemetery by a horse-drawn hearse once owned by his family, who operated Fralick-Geddes Co. Undertakers in Grand Island. A number of people stepped out onto their front lawns to pay respects to the procession from the funeral home to the cemetery.

Aurora, Colo., resident Linda Elliott, who is a grandniece of Geddes, said that, when Bill Baasch restored the horse-drawn hearse, he knew it needed to be restored to bring Dale home.

One person who was not present to watch the funeral procession was still able to honor Geddes by putting a sign on the lawn that said, Welcome Home, Marine Pvt. Geddes. A number of small American flags were also placed on the lawn, along with a larger American flag flying from a flagpole.

That was so touching. What a nice welcome home for Dale, Elliott said.

As the procession drew nearer to the cemetery, more and more people lined the route to pay their respects. Many stood with hands over their hearts, and many others stood while holding American flags. The Grand Island Fire Department stationed one of its trucks near Stolley Park Road, with the aerial ladder flying a very large American flag over the thoroughfare.

Chaplain Col. Richard L. Piontkowski Jr. (retired) led the graveside services, reading a number of prayers and Bible verses appropriate for the occasion. The first prayer included the lines, Let us give thanks unto God for the land of our birth, for its chartered liberties, for all the wonders of our countrys story. We praise thee, O God, for those who in hard times and places have been true and brave and, in the worlds common ways, have lived upright lives and have ministered to their fellows. We praise thee, O God.

Piontkowski next read from Psalm 139, which again had fitting lines for a U.S. Marine whose remains lay undiscovered for more than 70 years.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit, and whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up to heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, truly, the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me.

Piontkowski read a requiem prayer that said in part, We lived and fought together, thou and we, and sought to keep the flickering torch aglow, that all our loved ones might forever know, the blessed warmth exceeding fire and flame. ... We mark this spot in murmuring requiem, move on to westward, rest, warriors, rest.

Piontkowski noted that a chaplain wrote his own Marine prayer to send Geddes back to Grand Island after his remains had positively been identified:

Almighty God, father of the fatherless, now take me home. I was what others could and should be. I went where others feared to go and did what others failed to do. I ask nothing from those who gave nothing but gave hope, security and freedom to all. I have seen the face of terror, felt the stinging cold of fear and experienced the warm comfort of your home and protection through it all. I have enjoyed the sweet taste of life, comrades, love of country, your guiding hand and word. I have cried, failed, lived and longed. I have lived times others would say were best forgotten. ... I have done my duty and live with grateful pride of what I am, a United States Marine.

After those in the cemetery joined together in reciting the Lords Prayer, an honor guard fired guns in honor of Geddes, followed by the playing of taps. U.S. Marines then folded the American flag that had draped Geddes coffin and presented it to his oldest surviving niece, Shirley Nelson

I think his mother and father are very happy with the way things turned out, said Elliott, who appreciated all the people who stood along the funeral procession route to the cemetery to honor Geddes, as well as Grand Island residents who could only be present in thought.

At the end of the service, funeral director Derek Apfel offered final words of solace to the Geddes family, saying, You folks know that he (Geddes) has been at home forever ... but now hes home, his bodys home.
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.
The Madison County Board passed a resolution last week asking voters whether they think notices about property tax increases of more than 5 percent should be mailed directly to taxpayers.

As it stands, taxing bodies are required to give notice in a local newspaper about property tax increases of more than 5 percent. But County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan said that few people typically attend the public hearings that follow and he characterized the referendum as a call for transparency.

Were just asking that a letter be sent to their constituents, and I guarantee you they would have people at that meeting, Dunstan said at the August meeting of the Madison County Board.

The advisory question would read:

Shall a taxing body be required to mail taxpayers a Truth in Taxation public hearing notice at least 30 days prior to adopting a property tax increase?

But such mailings would be expensive, said Mick Madison, who represents Bethalto. Steve Adler, who represents parts of Alton, agreed. When folks levy more than 5 percent, they have to raise the levy a little bit more to cover the cost of mailing out all those letters, Adler said.

The resolution, and another advisory referendum urging state lawmakers to adequately fund public schools, constitute what Dunstan characterized as true property tax reform for the county.

In Madison County and throughout the state of Illinois, the burden of funding the numerous taxing districts is increasingly, and unfairly, being put on the backs of taxpayers through the payment of property taxes, Dunstan said in a news release.

Several board members said that designating the referendums as advisory rather than binding would confuse many voters, who fail to understand that it would have no immediate impact.

Other board members countered that most voters are able to read a ballot question and understand the implications of their vote.

Dunstan said the referendums would improve transparency and also remind taxpayers that the state is not fulfilling its obligation to fully fund public schools.

It is important that residents have the opportunity to share their opinions, through their vote, on these important issues, Dunstan said in a news release. This will help send a message to Springfield that property tax reform is needed in Illinois. And it is absolutely essential that the state fulfill its constitutional obligation to provide primary funding for education. That alone would provide significant property tax relief to taxpayers.
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Linkedin Irine Hiraswari Gayatri Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Two years after the latest direct presidential election we are still hearing an outcry, despite having a man of the people in power.

For those concerned about human rights, this anger has been sparked by at least three developments: the inauguration of an infamous former military commander, Wiranto, in the latest Cabinet; the execution of drug convicts; and the greater application of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.

Public reactions have been markedly different from the early days of President Joko Jokowi Widodos efforts to stabilize his new government in 2014.

The latest batch of executions took place despite protests inside and outside the country including that expressed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Nationwide, however, protests were minimal as public sentiment largely supports the death penalty.

A further reflection of poor concern for human rights and thus a serious blunder on the part of President Jokowi is the appointment of Wiranto. Though legally free of charges of human rights violation in Indonesia, the UN-created Special Crimes Unit in Timor Leste indicted Wiranto in 2004 for crimes against humanity for atrocities committed in 1999 in then East Timor, which involved Jakarta-backed militia, and issued an arrest warrant for him.

He has denied all charges and has been able to enter politics. He formed the Hanura Party with other retired military generals ahead of the 2004 election but failed to get support from other parties when running with media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo.

It was not surprising when in 2014, together with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Hanura supported Jokowi in the presidential election.

So what were the considerations in his appointment as coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister by President Jokowi? Whatever differences they may have, the PDI-P and Hanura share a similar conservative position regarding state sovereignty  with the right to apply the death penalty considered part of that. His appointment was also no surprise to opposition parties.

In the Cabinet, strategic positions relating to the economy and politics are shared among three political parties, namely the PDI-P, the NasDem Party and Hanura, while the Golkar Party has also been accommodated. The current attorney general, Prasetyo, currently mandated to carry out executions, is from NasDem.

As Wiranto is seen to be on good terms with hardline Islamists, his current position is hoped to add to the legitimacy of Jokowis administration among Islamists. NasDem fully backs the death penalty as part and parcel of the governments strong stance in applying the law on narcotics.

In general, political parties have no interest in reducing or lifting the death penalty as part of upholding human rights.

Other human rights concerns come from the application of the ITE Law that hinder freedom of expression. According to the independent Southeast Asian Freedom of Expression Network (SafeNet), almost 200 persons have been convicted of defamation and inciting hatred and animosity following postings on social media since the law was passed in 2008.

One recent case involved rights activist Haris Azhar, who spread an interview with executed drug kingpin Freddy Budiman regarding the involvement of the police, National Narcotics Agency officials and members of the military in his drug business. Haris faced the prospect of being taken to trial for defamation.

Following public pressure, however, an independent team was set up to investigate Haris story. Earlier the authorities did not bother to look thoroughly at Haris statement to find proof and to correct the decaying justice system, and ganged up on him instead.

The latest case was filed by a Bali-based community organization, Peoples Struggle Post (Pospera), known to be a strong supporter of Jokowi during his presidential campaign. It reported I Wayan Gendo Suardana, an activist from ForBali, an antireclamation movement in Balis Benoa Bay.

The two cases are among many similar ones where the ITE Law is used to quell critics of injustice.

The three developments above show Indonesia is still experiencing a democratic deficit, as political scholars say  showing a lack of democratic accountability and control over the decision-making

process.

Our country does not lack formal democracy, with simultaneous general and local elections to take place in a few years time. Yet freedom of expression is ignored while elected representatives largely do not mind such blatant abuses of democracy.

No political party has voiced its objection to the appointment of Wiranto, executions or the application of the ITE Law.

On the other hand, public protests against such developments, mostly from civil society organizations, have been channeled through various informal mechanisms. They continue to protest the ITE Law and to remind lawmakers and the President that they were elected on the hopes of millions for a significant change toward better, not worse, human rights compared to that of the New Order.

______________________________

The writer is a researcher at the Research Center for Politics at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Jakarta.
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Linkedin Ah Maftuchan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

The acceleration of infrastructure development is the key program of President Joko Jokowi Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.



However, despite the enormous budget allocation for infrastructure, how it is going to leverage human development in all forms remains an important question.



Simply boosting giant projects should not be the aim of infrastructure development; rather, the goal should be the enhancement of basic public services to increase access to quality health services, education and economic rights.



Decent and well-equipped classrooms, accessible and safe health facilities, real and high-quality vaccines and bridges and roads to improve rural peoples livelihoods should also be the aim of the infrastructure program.



Many of the current administrations infrastructure-related policies are based on Nawacita, Jokowis nine priority programs, which aim to increase productivity and competitiveness.



Increased spending in infrastructure is seen as vital to that end.



Realized funds for infrastructure reached Rp 189.7 trillion (US$14.42 billion) in 2015, more than double the 2010 allocation. In 2016, budget allocation for infrastructure rose again to Rp 313 trillion or 8 percent of the total state budget.



Nonetheless, many infrastructure projects have not been optimally implemented. The government has indeed inaugurated many new ports in eastern Indonesia and airports in several regions.



But in another case, the government has kicked off the operation of the Pejagan-Pemalang toll road on June 16 without a proper supporting system.



As a result, massive traffic jams trapped motorists and caused many deaths during the Idul Fitri homecoming exodus or mudik recently. This highlighted the fact that infrastructure development has not yet been integrated with surrounding facilities, nor have proper scenarios been forecast.



In addition, the progress of infrastructure development has not been paced up either  note the long delays to launch the new Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.



The facts indicate at least two big issues. First, a lack of national capabilities to develop infrastructure timely, according to financing and executing.



Second, participation of both the community and private sector in boosting infrastructure projects. Participation in infrastructure is considered only to relate to land acquisition and public-private partnerships (PPPs).



These problems make infrastructure development not timely and too top-down.



There are two agendas that should be revealed: The purpose of infrastructure and the users of infrastructure. Infrastructure is intended to accelerate economic growth, but also aims to make public services more affordable.



Sachs ( 2005 ), in his seminal work, The End of Poverty, indicated that the governments task was to invest in public goods and services, such as essential health services and education. If the conditions are met, people can access basic needs, and these two things are important to eradicate the cycle of poverty.



In economic terms, according to Ray ( 2016 ), a number of construction companies have booked huge profits from infrastructure programs.



Companies, especially state-owned firms such as Wijaya Karya, Adhi Karya, Waskita Karya and Pembangunan Perumahan, have posted a 40 percent rise in construction contracts. This shows a situation where the benefits of infrastructure are more likely to be reaped by big enterprises, not small and medium-sized ones.



Warung makan or small restaurants along the Pantura northern coast highway suffered significant economic losses after the opening of the Jakarta-Brebes toll road.



The government does not seem to have a scenario in place to anticipate this problem, a scenario that should have been planned before such a large infrastructure project began, as part of the projects social and environmental impact assessment.



The question is, if the focus of the governments infrastructure development is on constructing large infrastructure facilities to enhance competitiveness and economic growth only, then whither the role of infrastructure in the provision of basic rights for the citizens?



This requires a paradigm change for the Jokowi-Kalla administration regarding infrastructure. Constructing major infrastructure must be equally important to constructing public infrastructure to meet citizens basic rights. If the paradigm does not change, infrastructure development will simply boost disparity between citizens.



In the health sector, providing safe and accessible puskesmas or community healthcare centers as a first level service must be prioritized. Quality health services are still rare in Indonesias least developed regions.



Patients must travel long distance to reach the nearest health centers, which are often ill-equipped and lack medical workers. This leads to high mortality rates.



In the education sector, a lot of classrooms are shaky and many access roads are blocked, hindering students from accessing knowledge and improving their capabilities.



Hampering access for these students in the least developed regions means exacerbating disparity between the rich and poor regions human development quality.



It is often said that government lacks the resources to finance infrastructure projects. Priorities must be made. The priority of infrastructure should be social development.



This requires a humble decision from the government, because social infrastructure might be less of a lighthouse, more of a fundament for long-term human development investment.



The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) jargon of no-one left behind and people-centered development are a strong basis for development actors to ensure that people reap the benefits of infrastructure development.



How to go about this? Government should use a bottom-up approach in infrastructure development, to put peoples rights as the first priority. In other words, government should facilitate collaborative action in infrastructure issues.



Co-planning, co-financing and co-governing with people, government and the private sector is critical, in order to prevent the benefits from being enjoyed only by a small group of people or companies.

***

The writer is a public policy analyst and executive director of Perkumpulan Prakarsa (the Center for Welfare Studies).

---------------

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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 Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Wed, August 24, 2016

Conference gives birth to agreement to safeguard world cultural heritage

The sound of ketimbung marked the official opening of a strategic meeting of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) Asia-Pacific in Hotel Inna Grand Bali Beach, Sanur, Denpasar last Sunday. Denpasar was selected to host the conference and declaration of a global commitment to safeguard the cultural heritage of the respective countries.

The three-day world conference addressed strategic issues, the most important of which was the increasing threat of the loss of cultural heritage, largely because youth are increasingly apt to ignore their own cultural heritage. That is why all countries that are members of the OWHC have strived hard to devise a strategy to open the eyes of young people in order to foster in them a love of their cultural heritage.

The Denpasar Declaration is a source of pride. Denpasar could be a venue for the declaration. We discussed something that we never talk about: that is, youth and world cultural heritage. We hope that the Denpasar Declaration can serve as a barometer for world cultural heritage to remind the delegates of the pivotal role that youth plays in understanding cultural heritage, said Denpasar Mayor Ida Bagus Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra, accompanied by his deputy, IGN Jaya Negara, during the event.

The strategic conference, OWHC Asia-Pacific, was opened by YB Satya Sana Nugraha, the secretary for the coordinating human development and cultural affairs minister, along with the director general of UNESCOs International Information and Networking Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region, Dr. Kwon Huh. Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika also attended the conference.

.(-/-)

In Indonesia, only Surakarta and Denpasar are member cities of the OWHC. In the previous era of President Joko Jokowi Widodos leadership of Surakarta, Central Java, he once hosted the OWHC in the city.

It is not easy to become a member of the OWHC because verification is required. We became a member of the OWHC in 2013 when Pak Jokowi was the mayor. Once he also hosted the Asia-Pacific conference, explained Rai Mantra, a son of former Bali governor IB Mantra.

The OWHC is an association of cities, regions and parties that have a commitment to preserving their respective cultural heritages. To date, as many as 298 cities in the world have become members of the OWHC, of which 41 from nine countries attended the OWHC Asia-Pacific conference in Denpasar.

The opening of the conference was also enlivened by several programs, including a heritage-themed exhibition of photos, paintings and caricatures, as well as cultural performances. In attendance were also several heads of regions in Bali and Indonesia, which are included in the Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage Network. The conference was held from August 7 to 10.

The OWHC conference in Denpasar recommended that parties or communities in the respective regions, particularly young people, should be involved in dealing with cultural heritage issues. Appreciation of the existing heritage of Denpasar, Rai Mantra said, had increased, along with worries as well. But at the same time, these have led us to keep attempting to run any necessary action program in order to minimize the unnecessary changes by embracing all communities, especially children and the younger generation, to jointly strengthen the role of culture in Denpasar City as an integral part of both traditional and formal life communities.

To activate the role of youth, the existence of sekehe teruna teruni as a traditional community in Denpasar and generally In Bali is being preserved. Meanwhile, in the formal sector, to accommodate the active role of youth in discussing issues pertaining to the culture of Denpasar, a youth cultural preservation group was formed five years ago. This youth group discusses the development of the relationship between youth and culture. The Rare Bali Festival or Balinese Kids Festival, a youth- oriented event, is held In Denpasar almost every year.

We are aware that culture is not merely about arts, but it should also involve an introduction of culture to children at an early age through cultural reinforcement like the Bali Rare Festival in Denpasar, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kwon Huh explained that the strategic meeting constituted a golden opportunity for sharing issues, which could then be followed by the sharing of strategies to face heritage problems in the respective countries. We are sharing how we preserve heritage. In this world, only a few local governments care about how to preserve heritage, he said.
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Linkedin Asmara Wreksono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

While Indonesia is blessed with many traditional woven crafts, which are abundantly available at very cheap prices, some questions arise: are they getting the recognition and appreciation they deserve?

Well-traveled couple Lim Masulin and his wife, Yuliana, found out in 2006 that global brands like Fendi Casa and Kate Spades handwoven pieces that are made in Indonesia sell for sky-high prices. This led them to wonder why hand-woven pieces in Malioboro only sold at prices of less than US$ 10.

Lim then started to question why design and innovation in Indonesian weaving are driven by western brands. Thats how we got into weaving, to answer this question, Lim said to The Jakarta Post via email.

(Read also: Global warming and green architecture)

While weaving is seen as a complicated art form, in reality its very easy to learn and creates jobs in poverty-stricken villages, says Lim, who also took a dive into weaving because of the crafts strong significance in art, architecture, design, fashion, graphic, textiles and many more.

Weaving could be the only ultra-functional craftsmanship of our world. Master weavers vibrant expertise is deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of humanity, he explained, It can be done with different kind of materials, from the softest to the most durable ones. With proper training, the weaving industry is globally scalable in size, speed and form.

Combined with advanced computerization and aluminum framing technology, woven light filters are also able to be customized in their design and shape, not to mention electricity-saving in production. Lims BYO Building Material comprises steel slings, aluminum fiber, weatherproof recyclable HDPE fiber and other materials. (Lim Masulin/-)

With his BYO Living business, Lim has materialized his green-living idealism by incorporating weaving into furniture and ultimately architectural elements.

With our rapid development, weve invented new architectural technologies to incorporate weaving into buildings. Our research team found that not only can woven textiles be very lightweight, they can also filter light and warm air coming in and out of a building. This combination is an ultimate energy-reducing solution for green buildings. he said.

Combined with advanced computerization and aluminum framing technology, woven light filters are also able to be customized in design and shape, not to mention electricity-saving in production. Lims BYO Building Material comprises steel slings, aluminum fiber, weatherproof recyclable HDPE fiber and other materials.

(Read also: Bali designer takes origami to a new level)

Lim along with Indonesian architects Andra Matin, Budi Pradono, Yanto Effendi and Heru M Prasetyo -who have incorporated weaving into their designs, are scheduled to showcase Wonders of Weaving at Maison&Objet in Paris, from September 2 - 6. The lifestyle show overlaps with the merriment of Paris Design Week this year, which will be held from September 3 - 10.

Maison&Objet, an annual lifestyle show, brings together 360 product offerings that include design, decoration, furniture, accessories, textiles and many more. Lims woven architecture elements will be exhibited under the projects name Wonders of Weaving in Hall 8, the Projets hall, which is devoted to unique and singular know-how that sets apart any architectural project.

As this will be the first time for an Indonesian designer and architects to be featured in the famed lifestyle show, Lim's weaving had to go through a grueling selection process, After submitting the Wonders of Weaving Earth Dwelling concept and going through their curatorial process, we were selected to be the first Asian country ever to exhibit at their architecture/interior section [Hall 8], he said.

(Read also: Indonesian designer featured at Singapore furniture fair)

Although successfully bringing Indonesia onto the world stage, Lim still faces several challenges including funding, The challenge for Indonesia in introducing weaving to the world is consistency in funding and support. The major spending for the international exhibitions mainly comprises concept development and accommodation, Lim explained.

However small the support he receives, Lim is optimistic, We maintain a positive attitude toward introducing Indonesia's creative industry globally, [although] its our wish that there will be more support for this good cause.

Wonders of Weaving Earth Dwelling at Maison&Objets will be the worlds first exhibition to showcase energy/waste-reducing weaving and craftsmanship in new buildings designed by Indonesian architects. It is an open collaborative platform to innovate weaving and craftsmanship through design development in architecture, interiors, fashion and art with leading talent.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

A film about the mother of Vice President Jusuf Kalla is slated to premiere at local cinemas on Sept. 29.

Created by prominent filmmakers Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza under Miles Films, Athirah follows an optimistic woman who struggles to maintain her family after her husband, who is an admired and renowned figure in the community, decides to marry another woman. Set in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the movie is said to call Kalla by his childhood nickname, Ucu.

(Read also: Former president BJ Habibie reveals third movie based on life of late wife)

I hope [this movie] can provide a portrait of an Indonesian family. Although the events happened a long time ago, the issues are still relevant [today], Mira said in her capacity as the movies producer, as quoted by tempo.co.

Directed by Riri, Athirah will feature many of the country's popular actors including Cut Mini, Christoffer Nelwan, Nino Prabowo, Indah Permata Sari, Tika Bravani, Jajang C. Noer and Arman Dewarti. The movie is based on a novel by Albertheine Indah published last year, which is set to be rereleased this year with the movies poster as its cover. (kes)
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Linkedin Pandaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, August 22 2016

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly may not have the eloquence of a natural orator, but when defending his policy to grant Independence Day remissions to 82,000 prisoners in a media briefing last week, he used well-chosen words that sounded almost like he was giving a eulogy.

They are packed into small, terribly overcrowded cells. Some have to sleep standing with their backs bent forward. Others have to take turns to sleep. And they are all sons of the nation, just like you. No difference.

Trying to evoke empathy, he added, They cant go anywhere. They cant go to shopping malls or take a leisurely stroll.

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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Mon, August 22 2016

Most of the nations rice fields require special treatment to boost productivity because the organic content of the soil is below ideal, an official from the Agriculture Ministry has said.

The ministrys agriculture research and development agency head, Muhammad Syakir, said special treatment or therapy was needed to help increase rice production, as not all existing agriculture areas were fertile.

Speaking at a seminar at Padjadjaran University in Sumedang, West Java, on Friday, Syakir said half the countrys existing agriculture areas, amounting to 8.1 million hectares, was sub-optimal and needed organic fertilizer.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, August 22 2016

Business players in the property sector are urging participants of the governments tax amnesty program to invest their money in property-related instruments, which are expected to burgeon in the near term due to supportive policies in the sector.

Mortgage-focused state lender Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), which has been appointed as one of the gateway banks to receive repatriated funds from the tax amnesty program, said 30 percent of its targeted Rp 50 trillion in repatriated funds are expected to be channeled into two types of property-related investment instruments.

The two instruments are mortgage-backed securities (KIK-EBA)  which enables BTN to offer and sell its mortgage portfolios as investment instruments  and the real estate investment trust (KIK-DIRE), which uses commercial properties as underlying assets.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama on Tuesday insisted attending the officiation of the integrated child-friendly public space (RPTRA) park in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, amid warning from East Jakarta Mayor Bambang Musyawardana about objections from certain residents.

The mayor has warned me not to come because the situation is not conducive. But I think if they dont like me, they just dont reelect me on Feb. 15, 2017. It will be more civilized rejection, Ahok said in his opening remarks of the new public spaces in Cipinang Besar Selatan subdistrict.

During the event, there was no indication of objection to Ahoks presence. But hundreds of joint security forces from the Jakarta Police and Jakarta Public Order Agencys personnel were deployed to guard the surrounding area.

Beritajakarta.com, a news portal run by the city administration, reported that some 400 security personnel guarded the event.

The development of the RPTRA, which is a park with various facilities, is funded from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) contribution of PT Agung Podomoro Land, a developer of the reclamation project in the Jakarta Bay.

Ahok said the rejection was an action of thuggery. Dont let the country be defeated by thugs. We have to think soundly, he added. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama has told West Jakarta Mayor Anas Effendi to study the document of the disputed land in Mangga Besar, Taman Sari, West Jakarta, before carrying out any evictions as demanded by individuals who hold land ownership certificates.

I have warned the mayor. Those people have lived there for very long time. There should be compensation for them, Ahok said in Jakarta on Tuesday as reported by beritajakarta.com.

Ahok said because the land was not owned by the state, the mayor did not need to issue warning letters to residents.

(Read also : PDI-P politicians reject evictions in West Jakarta)

A resident of Mangga Besar said on Sunday that officers from the Jakarta City Public Order Agency had made preparations to evict the residents. Some 200 residents had blockaded the area to foil the eviction, said a resident.

Two politicians of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Jakarta City Council Speaker Prasetyo Edi Masdudi and House of Representative member Arif Wibowo visited the residents on Monday to express their support.

Ahok said the case was not easy because both the residents and the certificate holders failed to reach an agreement.

The only acceptable solution should be agreed by both parties, the governor said, adding that the case was different from evictions previously conducted by the Jakarta administration because state land had been occupied.

The 3,190 hectares of land in dispute is located in Community Unit (RW) 2, Neighborhood Units (RT) 2, 5, 7 and 9, Mangga Besar subdistrict. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23 2016





Gas talk: Industrial gas producer Aneka Gas Industri (AGI) finance director Nini Liemijanto (left), president director Heyzer Harsono (second left), vice president director Rachmat Harsono (second right) and president commissioner Arief Harsono smile during the companys public expose at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Jakarta on Monday. AGI, a subsidiary of diversified firm Samator Group, expects to raise Rp 989 billion (US$75.1 million), around 25 percent of its enlarged shares, from an initial public offering (IPO) slated for Sept. 19 to 22. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Industrial gas producer PT Aneka Gas Industri (AGI), a subsidiary of the diversified Samator Group, expects to raise Rp 989 billion (US$75.1 million) from its initial public offering (IPO), which will be launched next month.



AGI, the largest industrial gas producer in the country with 44 plants, plans to sell 766.66 million shares, about 25 percent of the companys enlarged shares. The new shares will be sold at a price range of between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,290 each during the IPO scheduled for Sept. 19 to 22. The new shares will be sold to the public at a price-to-earning (PE) ratio of between 16.8 and 21 times.



AGI vice president director Rachmat Harsono said that the firm would use 40 percent of the funds from the IPO for expanding its business, primarily to meet its target of operating 200 filling stations across the country by 2020. Currently, it has 80 filling stations in 25 provinces throughout the country.



After getting a strong grip in our domestic market, we would expand our market overseas, such as in Southeast Asia, Rachmat told a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.



Rachmat said that the countrys market for industrial gas increased rapidly in the past several years because of surging demand from not only from the transportation sector, but also from industries such as construction and agriculture.



He said that with the increase in the number of the filling stations to 200 by 2020, the company hoped its market share would increase to 40 percent, up from about 30 percent at present.



As the oldest gas firm in the country, AGIs history dates back to the establishment of two Dutch gas companies NV WA Hoek Machine enZuurstof in Jakarta in 1916 and NV Javasche Koelzoor Fabriek in Surabaya in 1924. In 1958, the two firms were nationalized by then president Sukarnos administration, becoming PN Zatas and PN Asam Arang.



In 1971, Zatas and Asam Arang were merged into PT Aneka Gas Industri and became a state-owned enterprise. After being sold to German firm Messer Griesheim GmbH in 1998, AGI was acquired by Samator Group in 2008.



AGI, which produces atmospheric gases, fuel gases and synthetic gases, was also planning to use another 40 percent of the IPO funds for debt payment and the remaining 20 percent to strengthen its working capital, Rachmat said.



Aneka Gas financial director Nini Liemijanto said that the firm was optimistic that it would post more than Rp 1.8 trillion in total sales this year. A half of the target was achieved in the first half of the year, Nini claimed.



The firm was planning to build at least nine new filling stations by the end of the year in a bid to reach the target, Nini added.



Securities firms DBS Vickers Securities Indonesia, Mandiri Sekuritas and RHB Securities acted as AGIs IPO underwriters.



AGI will hold road shows in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to promote the shares to foreign investors. However, the company has yet to determine the amount of shares to be allocated to foreign buyers. (mos)

---------------

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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Bali  Tue, August 23, 2016

Money politics, weak political parties and violence still mar democratic elections in Asian countries, Asia Network for Free and Fair Elections (ANFREL) chairperson Damaso G. Magbual stated on Tuesday.

As an example, Magbual said, candidates in Nepal and Sri Lanka could spend 15 times their annual salaries to participate in elections  a bad precedent that could discriminate qualified people from taking part in the democratic process. The laws in those countries dont provide limits on how much money the candidate can spend. This is not a fair election practice, he said during the Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum III at the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel in Bali.

According to Magbual, political parties weaknesses could be clearly seen in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia, citing as an example that politicians in the Philippines changed political parties as fast as they change their clothes.

This practice is bad. Political parties are supposed to define policies and propose programs to government. If [politicians] keep changing political parties, it means that political parties stand for nothing, Magbual stressed, adding that Asian countries could take an example from India where candidates who leave their political parties must forfeit their seats.

Meanwhile, violence in the implementation of elections still occurs in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. He cited that previously, politicians in Cambodia had tried to intimidate and eliminate other potential candidates in the upcoming 2017 election.
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) The Jakarta Post/Batam  Tue, August 23, 2016

The management of Radio Hang FM Batam has denied accusations by Singapores Home Affairs Ministry that the radio station had spread Islamist propaganda about the Islamic State (IS) group.

The ministry said a terrorism suspect arrested in Singapore under the Internal Security Act, had turned into a radical after listening to programs aired by the radio station.

One of the stations founders, Zein Alatas, said the baseless accusation could encourage the government to close down the station, as it had done in the case of Radio Era Baru Batam, which was shut after the Chinese government had protested a report related to Falum Gong.

Our radio station even cooperates with the National Police in trying to fight terrorism through our religious preaching program. I think the accusation is not merely baseless, but is also a mockery against the police, said Zein on Tuesday.

Our listener was denied entry to Singapore after security officers found the Radio Hang FM application installed on his cellular phone. It is a kind of terror against us, he added.

Zein said representatives of the station had visited the Singaporean Consulate General in Batam but failed to meet any Singaporean diplomat. We are worried that the Singaporean government may put pressure on the Indonesian government to close down our station, he added.

Last Friday, Singapores Home Affairs Ministry announced that Rosli bin Hamza, one of numerous people arrested, said he was familiar with the IS from a program on Radio Hang FM. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23 2016

In a humorous response to fun frequently poked at Bekasi, West Java, by Jakarta residents, the citys creative minds have established a community called Kedubes Bekasi (Bekasi Embassy).

Greater Jakarta citizens often jokingly call Bekasi a region from another planet, that requires a visa to enter, mostly because it is considered far away and has hotter weather than neighboring cities. A Bekasi Embassy, therefore, sounds like the logical consequence.

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Linkedin (Associated Press) Denpasar, Bali  Tue, August 23, 2016

Indonesian police say a British man suspected of involvement in the murder of a policeman on the tourist island of Bali has confessed to bashing the officer with a beer bottle and leaving him unconscious.

David Taylor and his Australian girlfriend, Sara Connor, were arrested Friday, two days after the bloodied body of traffic police officer Wayan Sudarsa was found on the beach outside the Pullman Hotel in Kuta, a popular tourist area.

Denpasar Police Chief Col. Hadi Purnomo said Tuesday that Taylor admitted getting into a fight with Sudarsa after Connor accused the officer of stealing her handbag.

Purnomo said the fight began when Sudarsa resisted Taylor and Connor's attempts to search him.

Taylor's lawyer, Haposan Sihombing, said his client admitted to the attack.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Tangerang, Banten  Tue, August 23 2016

No upturn in bus sales is expected in the second-half of this year in spite of the governments efforts to expand the road network across the country.



Hino Motors Sales Indonesia (HMSI), the sole distributor of Japanese bus and truck maker Hino Motors, said it had yet to benefit from the governments road expansion projects as bus operators had opted for austerity measures to respond to the economic slowdown.



In a weak economic situation, people tend to delay their plans to travel. Bus operators respond to this situation by taking austerity measures, such as delaying plans to renew their aging fleets, HMSI director for sales and marketing Santiko Wardoyo told The Jakarta Post recently.



Data regarding Hinos bus sales were not immediately available but Santiko said HMSI had sold 650 buses in the first period of the year. That compares to total bus sales between January and June of 1,582 units, Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) data show.



President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration is speeding up the construction of several major roads, such as the trans-Java and trans-Sumatra toll roads. Before the Idul Fitri holiday last month, the government opened up at least eight new toll roads, including the 17.57-kilometer Bawen-Salatiga road in Central Java and the 10-km Surabaya-Mojokerto in East Java.



Bus operators claim that they have yet to benefit from the governments efforts, with the number of passengers continuing to plummet from year to year.



Transportation Ministry data show that the number of passengers traveling by bus during the Idul Fitri season, which is usually the busiest period for transportation companies, dropped from 5.5 million in 2013 to 5.2 million in 2014 and 4.69 million in 2015.



Bus operator PO Sumber Alam owner Yudi Setiawan Hambali said that Sumber Alams passenger numbers and vehicle utilization had declined since 2013, with operating buses falling from 100 per route to 30.



Publicly listed bus operator Eka Sari Lorena Transport investor relations official Andy Porman Tambunan said the number of passengers served by the firm had gone down. Eka Sari Lorena Transport suffered a Rp 12 billion (US$912,000) loss in the first half of the year against profits of Rp 536 million during the same period last year.



However, bus assembler firm Karoseri Laksana Factory has expressed optimism that the governments road expansion efforts will bode well for the company to reach its sales target of between 1,200 and 1,500 units by the end of the year.



Laksana brand and marketing communication head Candra Dewi said that demand from regions across the country for its products, ranging from medium and long buses to city buses, would likely increase as more road networks were being provided by the government.



Last year, Laksana was among seven bus assemblers appointed by the Transportation Ministry to produce 1,000 buses for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in several regions throughout the country. It has so far produced 350 units.



Laksana is also eyeing to expand its overseas market, particularly in Southeast Asian and Pacific countries. The company has been exporting more than 150 buses on an annual basis to Fiji since 2009. (mos)

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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23 2016

ExxonMobil Cepu Limited (EMCL), a subsidiary of US giant oil and gas company ExxonMobil, hopes the government will approve the companys proposal to increase the oil production of the countrys newest wells at Cepu block in East Java ahead of an expected decline in the countrys oil production next year.



Cepu, the second-largest source of oil in the country, has reached a production rate of 185,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) since it started operating at the beginning of this year. Alongside its main field, Banyu Urip, the block is the backbone of national oil output.



Earlier this year, EMCL, the operator of Cepu block proposed upping the crude output to 200,000 bopd, but this was rejected by the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) on environmental and subsurface considerations.



However, SKKMigas head of operation control, Muliawan, revealed that the institution was in talks again with ExxonMobil about the issue and was reviewing the subsurface environment of the oil block.



The main concern for the increase, he said, is the facilitys maximum capacity.



The EMCL capacity is designed to withstand a maximum production of 185,000 bopd. Any production over that would entail modifications to the facility. Furthermore, we must also take into account the economic viability of it, Muliawan said on Monday.



Any change in production would affect the blocks economic feasibility, as the Cepu block is contracted under a dynamic sliding scale dependent on global oil prices.



The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has previously said it will revisit the option of increasing the Cepu blocks production in order to make up for the countrys natural oil decline, despite SKKMigas previous rejection of the plan.



The government has targeted a lifting rate of 780,000 bopd in next years state budget draft, much lower than this years target rate of 820,000 bopd. Ready-to-sell production reached 817,000 bopd in August.



The drop in expected lifting is caused by a combination of depleted reserves and lack of exploration in the past couple of years as a result of low crude oil prices.



Even so, the government seems optimistic about the price rising and has set the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) at US$45 per barrel. The ICP hovered around the $40 to $43 per barrel mark in July.



Countering SKKMigas claims, ExxonMobil spokesman Erwin Maryoto said that increasing production at the Banyu Urip facility would require no additional investment, although there would be a small rise in additional operating costs.



Furthermore, EMCL will submit a proposal of 200,000 bopd to SKKMigas for the 2017 work program and budget, negotiations on which will start next month.

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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Plans to increase cigarette prices to Rp 50,000 (US$4) per pack from currently Rp 15,000, will be effective to reduce the number of smokers as it will be shock therapy for them, says a researcher.

University of Indonesia's Demographic Institute researcher Abdillah Ahsan said the demand price elasticity for cigarettes varied between 0.1 and 0.8, depending on cigarette brands with the more closer to zero meaning the more inelastic prices were.

Abdillah said the price hike should be higher than 10 percent in order to be effective, otherwise it would not prevent smokers from purchasing cigarettes.

The government can actually increase prices four fold to as high as Rp 60,000. But, such an increase would be of [the governments] political prerogative, he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

According to him, the number of workers being employed by the cigarette industry account for only 2 percent of the countrys total labor market, however, the industry's contribution to state excise revenues reaches 90 percent, therefore cigarette makers are seen to be shielded from strong political pressures. (dmr)
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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

A couple of months into the governments showpiece tax amnesty program, less than 1 percent of its targets have been met, even though President Joko Jokowi Widodo expected that most of the funds to be raised would be secured in the early months of the program.

As of Monday evening, total penalty payments stood at Rp 947 billion (US$71.5 million), out of the Rp 165 trillion target, while repatriated funds amounted to Rp 1.51 trillion of the Rp 1 quadrillion goal, government data show.

The slow issuance of supporting regulations for the tax amnesty may be one reason behind low interest in joining the program, as taxpayers put legal certainty first, especially big corporations and high net worth individuals, said Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) advisory board member Chris Kanter.

Its already August. We basically only have one more month to enjoy low penalty rates in the tax amnesty program, added Chris.

To avail of tax pardons, tax amnesty applicants must pay penalty rates of 2 to 4 percent of declared asset value until September, which will rise to 3 to 6 percent from October to December and 5 to 10 percent from January to March next year.

The government hoped the tax amnesty, which was initiated to widen the nations taxpayer base, would see Rp 4 quadrillion of taxpayers assets declared, of which Rp 1 quadrillion was expected from the repatriation of funds stashed overseas.

Supporting regulations for the tax amnesty, including those on investment instruments and fund placements, were issued on July 18 and Aug. 8, several weeks after the amnesty was launched on June 28, .

Business players have been waiting for the regulations, how can we execute or prepare if there are no regulations? If we wait until the second period, there could be additional penalties and people might reconsider, Chris said.

The concerns were acknowledged by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati: Especially big taxpayers need time and legal arrangement they need to do, especially for wealth held in foreign countries.

She still maintains high hopes that a surge in asset declarations and repatriation in the amnesty program will occur in September to take advantage of the lower penalty rates after having sorted out financial and legal issues.

Sri Mulyani said the government had taken into account any potential tax revenue shortfall in general, including from the tax amnesty, which may amount to Rp 219 trillion in the 2016 revised state budget. Given the shortfall, the government has decided to further slash its spending by Rp 133.8 trillion.

The government expected Rp 165 trillion in additional tax revenue from the tax amnesty. But Sri Mulyani reiterated that the Rp 1.53 quadrillion overall tax income in the revised 2016 state budget would not only come from the tax amnesty, as there were other potential revenue sources.

As its latest effort to tempt taxpayers into availing of the tax amnesty, the government is set to issue a derivative regulation on special purpose vehicles (SPVs), or shell corporations, where it expects individuals or business entities operating through SPVs abroad to declare and repatriate the wealth held by the SPVs.

Although the details of the regulation remain obscure, the ministry stated that it would also expect business players to move the basis of operation of the SPVs to Indonesia as the government is considering setting up tax havens in the country.

Samuel Asset Management chief economist Lana Soelistianingsih warned that the government could run out of time in drafting and applying any new regulation, including the one on SPVs, given the limited time remaining.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is preparing water-bombing aircraft to anticipate haze problems, following the emergency status declared by at least six provinces, with the dry season predicted to peak in September.

The six provinces are Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan. September would be the peak of the dry season this year, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Tuesday. As part of preemptive actions, the provinces declared the alert status earlier than last year, when Indonesia suffered its worst forest and land fires.

"Usually September is the peak of forest and land fires when more hot spots are detected," he said as quoted by kompas.com.

In order to tackle worsening forest and land fires, the BNPB has prepared eight helicopters and two aircraft for water bombing and two Cassa airplanes for artificial rain across the six provinces.

"A total of 21.7 million liters of water has been used by the water-bombing aircraft to put out forest and land fires from April 1 to present," Sutopo said.

Around 2,937 hectares of forest and land fires in Riau had been put out by ground personnel, he said. The Riau Police have named 85 people as suspects for allegedly clearing land by burning, which resulted in haze problems from January through August.

Indonesia suffers annually from forest and peatland fires resulting from slash-and-burn practices for clearing land. The worst haze crisis happened last year when at least 19 people died and 500,000 people suffered acute respiratory illnesses. (rin)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

The Indonesian central bank has announced that as of June this year, the countrys external debt amounted to US$323.8 billion, growing 6.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

Of the total, public sector external debt growth soared, while private sector debt decreased, a Bank Indonesia (BI) release on Monday showed.

With this development, the ratio of external debt to gross domestic product [GDP] at the end of the second quarter this year registered at 36.8 percent, slightly increased from 36.6 percent at the end of the first quarter, the release said.

The bulk of Indonesias external debt position was private sector external debt. As of June, private sector external debt reached $165.1 billion (51 percent of total external debt), while public sector was $158.7 billion (49 percent). However, the public sector grew higher with 17.9 percent year-on-year (yoy) as of June, accelerating from 14 percent yoy in the previous month. On the other hand, private sector debt declined 3.1 percent yoy, deeper than the 0.5 percent in the previous quarter.

In the private sector, the external debt position was mainly concentrated in the financial, manufacturing, mining, as well as electricity, gas and water supply sectors. Combined, the debt from these sectors accounted for 75.9 percent.

Bank Indonesia views the development of external debt at the end of June as remaining healthy but continues to be vigilant about the risks to the national economy, it said in the release. (evi)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

The government will strengthen its supervision system of terrorist convicts in penitentiaries across the country, considering that inmates are highly vulnerable to the spread of radicalism, a top counterterrorism official says.

National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Com. Gen. Suhardi Alius said Monday the institution had mapped several areas across the country for closer monitoring, particularly detention facilities, where the potential for radicalization was high.

"We should assist terrorist convicts, both who have been released and those who are still in prisons, because even though penitentiaries also provide rehabilitation, the potential is high for [terrorist inmates] to repeat their crimes again," Suhardi said.

Similarly, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said there should be improvements on the supervision system of penitentiaries in order to prevent radical ideology from spreading among inmates. (dmr)
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Linkedin Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya, East Java  Tue, August 23, 2016

The governments plan to significantly increase tobacco excise has affected the price of tobacco at the farm level, a tobacco farmers association chairman has said.

Indonesian Tobacco Growers Association (APTI) chairman Soeseno said the planned tax increase, which would lead to a significant increase of cigarette prices from less than Rp 20,000 (US$1.51) per pack to around Rp 50,000, had been used by middlemen to spread fear among local tobacco growers, forcing them to sell their tobacco leaves at very low prices.

They told tobacco growers that Indonesias tobacco industry can absorb only a small amount of their tobacco leaves this year because cigarette prices will be increased to Rp 50,000 per pack. This condition has affected our tobacco growers, especially in East Java, Soeseno said on Monday.

In Pamekasan and Sumenep in Madura, Soeseno said, several farmers cultivating the Perancak 95 tobacco variety had complained that brokers had benefitted from circulating rumors about a significant cigarette price increase to push down tobacco prices among farmers.

They told me that in Pamekasan, brokers bargain tobacco leaves down to only Rp 18,000 per kilogram and Rp 19,500 per kg in Sumenep. All this time, the price of Perancak 95 tobacco leaves has reached Rp 40,000 per kg. They were even sold at Rp 60,000 per kg in 2010, said Soeseno.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said earlier that the government had not yet issued rulings on retail cigarette prices or cigarette excise. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the idea of increasing cigarette prices could potentially reduce the number of smokers and smoking-related health problems in Indonesia. (ebf)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23 2016

The Jakarta administration may be unable to complete the construction of two reservoirs, measuring 11.5 hectares and 5 ha, in Pondok Ranggon in Cipayung, East Jakarta, this year as a result of land-acquisition problems.

Water Management Agency official Asep Setia Permana said on Monday that his agency had measured and surveyed the locations but the land could not be purchased. This is because we cannot find the rightful owners of the land, he said, as quoted by beritajakarta.com.

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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit to Indonesia this week for the leaders' retreat with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has been postponed due to health reasons, an official has said.

"In view of PM Lee Hsien Loong's medical leave, the Indonesia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat has been postponed," a spokesperson from the Singaporean Embassy in Indonesia, Nicholas Lee, told The Jakarta Post on Monday, referring to the prime minister's official visit to Semarang, Central Java, that was scheduled for Aug. 24 to 26.

Officials on both sides were working to find new dates for the retreat, Nicholas added.

On Sunday, the National Day Rally in Singapore had been suspended after Lee was taken ill in the midst of delivering his speech. The Prime Minister had posted on his official Facebook account on Monday that he had gone to the Singapore General Hospital for a thorough checkup where doctors had advised him to rest.

"Im glad to report that the doctors think I am OK, but they have advised me to rest, so I will be on MC for this week," Lee wrote in his post. An MC refers to a medical certificate or a sick note given by a doctor.

Lee was set to meet with Jokowi in the annual bilateral meeting later this week. The leaders were set to strengthen economic ties, which would have been marked by the inauguration of an industrial area in Kendal, Central Java. Lee and Jokowi were also due to witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tourism. (evi)
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Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta, Central Java  Tue, August 23, 2016

Customs officers at Adi Sumarmo Airport in Surakarta, Central Java, confiscated on Monday more than 300 birds sent from Kualanamu Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, using fake documents.

The birds, which comprise several different species, were put inside a large case and equipped with a quarantine letter. In the letter, it stated the case contained 87 birds, containing three different species, namely the oriental magpie-robin or locally known as kacer, lovebird and blue-winged leafbird or also popular known as cucak ranting.

After a thorough inspection, the officers found the cargo contained 332 birds with 10 different species. They said the cargos content was not a match with the documents and that they were probably falsified.

We didnt deliver the birds to the recipient because we considered the documents as not valid, the airports agriculture quarantine coordinator, M.Farid, said at the Tarui Jurug Animal Park (TSTJ) in Surakarta, on Monday.

Improper handling: Officials find more than a half of the 332 birds they confiscated during an operation at Adi Sumarmo Airport in Surakarta, Central Java, on Monday, died due to improper handling. (thejakartapost.com/Ganug Nugroho Adi)

Farid said hundreds of birds confiscated were sent by Joko Perdana in Medan to a recipient identified only as Harno in Surakarta. The confiscation began from the customs officers suspicions over the large case, he went on.

The case was very large, where it was unlikely that it only contained 87 birds. Therefore, the officers opened the case, witnessed by the recipient, said Farid. He said 193 out of the 332 birds died due to improper handling while several of the remaining 139 birds were wounded.

Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Surakarta official Joko Triono said those birds were not categorized as protected species but their handling and delivery process had violated existing rules. (ebf)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Bali  Tue, August 23, 2016

Indonesias transparent presidential election in 2014 has gained praises as being a perfect example among Asian countries, the chairperson of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), Damaso G. Magbual, has said.

The decision by Indonesias General Election Commission (KPU) to widely publish the election results to the public had inspired neighboring countries, said Magbual. I learned that in 2014, Indonesia did something that has never been done before in Asia. I was very amazed that Indonesia has 600,000 polling stations and the KPU was able to post the results on the KPU website. That is transparency at its best, he said at the Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum III in Bali, on Tuesday.

Indonesia held its third presidential election on July 9, 2014, which elected Joko Jokowi Widodo as the seventh president of the country. It involved so many volunteers and employed technology that empowered people to engage in the democratic process.

Magbual, who is also a former professor of philosophy and political science at St. Louis University in the Philippines and member of the National Council of the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), said he proposed Indonesia's transparency method to be implemented in the Philippines. The suggestion was well received by the Philippine government in 2016.

He added that there was no such thing as a perfect election, however, the integrity and quality of election could be achieved through proper regulations.
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Badung, Bali  Tue, August 23, 2016

As Indonesia hosts the Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum III in Bali from Aug. 22 to 24, it hopes to share its experience to participating Asian countries on how to organize transparent and quality elections.

Indonesia wants to share best practices [for holding elections] that could be imitated by other countries. We want to share to the forum members about how we conduct the elections and uphold transparency during elections, General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Juri Ardiantoro told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Juri hopes that Indonesia could share more about the synergy between the KPU and non-governmental organizations in organizing quality elections. Such experience may be of help for other Asian countries to face electoral challenges, such as the lack of public participation in their respective elections.

Meanwhile, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) executive director, Ichal Supriadi, said Indonesia had become one role model in implementing a transparent electoral system thanks to its voters data system (Sidalih) and calculation system (Situng).

Ichal hopes that the event, which is joined by the representatives from 36 Asian countries, could agree on the "Bali Commitment" to follow up on the previous progress made by the forum, such as Bangkok Declaration on Free and Fair Elections in 2012 and Indicators of Democratic Elections in 2015.

Besides representatives from Asian countries, the forum is being also attended by the representatives from Guatemala, Columbia, Kenya, Togo, South Sudan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, and Zimbabwe. (dmr)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Jakarta insists that 177 Indonesians detained by Philippine immigration authorities for pretending to be Philippine haj pilgrims are victims of fraud, not perpetrators.

"It needs to be underlined that they are victims of organized crime," Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi told reporters on Tuesday.

The Indonesian nationals are currently held in a detention center in Manila for allegedly posing as Filipinos on their way to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with illegally obtained Philippine passports.

The Indonesian Embassy in Manila had so far verified the identities of 144 people based on data from the Immigration Management and Information System (SIMKIM), Retno said.

The minister confirmed in talks with the ambassador in Manila, Johny Lumintang, that similar cases had happened before. The government was prioritizing maximum protection for its citizens, she added.

The Law and Human Rights Ministrys director general for immigration, Ronny Sompie, said the passports had been issued in the Philippines.

Muhammad Yasin, the Religious Affairs Ministrys inspector general responsible for the haj, said the Indonesian citizens were unlikely to face legal consequences upon their return, as they were victims of fraud to illegal travel agents. He acknowledged that the long waiting list for the haj could have prompted the people to take the seemingly easy and quick path.

Yasin urged the public to be more cautious in choosing travel agents for the haj or umrah and only use services from 693 umrah travel operators (PPIU) and 269 haj operators (PIHK) listed on the ministry's website.

The Religious Affairs Ministry would continue to work with the National Police to pursue illegal travel agents, Yasin added. (rin)
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Tue, August 23, 2016

Meliana, an Indonesian woman of Chinese ethnicity, who made headlines in local and national media last month for allegedly triggering a riot after complaining about the volume of the adzan (Islamic call to prayer) broadcast from a mosque near her house in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, has finally decided to leave

the city.

Before departing for Medan, the 41-year-old woman and her husband, Acui, had been staying at the Tanjungbalai Police office for more than three weeks because of fears for their safety.

Currently, Meliana, Acui and their four children are living temporarily at their relatives home in Medan, because they are afraid to return to their day-to-day activities in a town she called home for eight years.

We feel traumatized living in Tanjungbalai. It is more comfortable to stay here, her husband Acui told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Acui said that Meliana still felt very upset about the riots and the burning of temples in the port city. She never imagined her complaint about the volume would trigger the countrys worst anti-Chinese violence since the May 1998 riots when hundreds of Indonesians of Chinese descent were reportedly attacked, raped and even killed in riots that led to the downfall of then president Soeharto.

The Tanjungbalai trouble erupted on July 29 after Meliana complained about the volume of the call to prayer from Masjid Al Maksum near her house. Such complaints are not unusual as even many Muslims object to the use of excessive amplification. Indeed the government has from time to time appealed to mosques to tone down their volume.

Annoyed by her complaint, a crowd converged on her house and the situation escalated with threats made to set her house on fire. Although neighbors banded together to drive off the mob, social media soon played a key role in spreading false rumors and vicious incitement. The mob then burned and ransacked at least 14 Buddhist temples throughout the city.

Meliana did nothing more than ask why the volume was so loud, Acui explained.

When asked about whether his wife had been reported by any individual or group to the police for blasphemy, Acui said he knew nothing about it.

She has never been questioned by the police for that, he added.

Tanjungbalai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ayep Wahyu Gunawan confirmed that the police had not questioned Meliana about blasphemy allegations.

We never arrested Meliana. She and her husband simply asked for protection at the police station in Tanjungbalai, but they have already left, he told the Post on Monday.

He added that the police would continue to investigate Melianas case and they had questioned 11 witnesses. Police have arrested 21 suspects but only two of them are currently in detention. Police have accused them of being instigators of the violence.

The police are now collaborating with linguists from the North Sumatra University (USU) to investigate the blasphemy allegation. Linguists from the university have already asked us about the chronology of the events. We just need to arrange a time to get their conclusions from them, Ayep said. (win)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has asserted that the plan to revise Government Regulation (PP) No. 99/2012 to scrap the justice collaborator clause for granting remission, is not to facilitate graft convicts, but instead to improve the judicial process system.

According to Yasonna, the plan to remove the justice collaboration clause is in accordance with the country's court system. Based on Law No. 5/2004 on the Supreme Court and Law No. 13/2006 on victims and witnesses protection, a justice collaborator can only be granted during a court process and not regulated through the government regulation.

"I don't like the way people think as if we were going to give remission for free [...] we just want to improve the system. We should first create a team and system to grant remissions," Yasonna said on Monday.

He ensured that the government would still uphold strict requirements in granting remission for inmates convicted of graft, terrorism, and drug-related cases. The remission would be processed through a detailed deliberation within special teams, all related to a particular inmate's case.

For example, deliberation on remission for graft convicts would involve the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), for terrorist convicts it would involve recommendations from the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), and for drugs convicts it would involve the National Narcotics Agency (BNN).

The ministry's plan to revise the 2012 government regulation has been met with criticism from the public and the KPK for what it calls "red-carpet treatment" to graft convicts. (dmr)
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Linkedin David Rising (Associated Press) Berlin  Tue, August 23, 2016

New and more dangerous smuggling practices and attempts to reach Europe by riskier routes have led to a spike in the number of migrants dying as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean, according to a new analysis released Tuesday.

The International Organization for Migration's Global Migration Data Analysis Center in Berlin said 2,901 people died or disappeared crossing the Mediterranean in the first six months of 2016, a 37 percent increase over the first six months of last year.

Most of the deaths, 2,484, occurred on the so-called Central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy, where some 70,000 people crossed in the first half of 2016.

"The numbers have not increased hugely in terms of those crossing, but the risk of death remains high and is increasing," said Frank Laczko, head of the Berlin center.

The Central Mediterranean route has always been the most dangerous route because of the length of the journey, and smugglers continue to overfill unseaworthy vessels with desperate migrants.

Adding to the problem now, however, are more frequent instances where smugglers are sending multiple boats at once, making rescue operations more difficult. In addition, newer routes, particularly from Egypt, are longer and riskier, and search and rescue efforts are often carried out farther away from land.

"Smugglers are showing absolutely no interest in the welfare of the people who are paying for their services, and cramming unseaworthy vessels with more and more people to increase profits," Laczko said.

He added that further study needs to be done to determine whether other factors in the rising death toll may be at play, like whether the overland journey to the coast has become so grueling that migrants undertake the Mediterranean crossing already undernourished and exhausted.

The number of deaths in the Central Mediterranean peaked in May at 1,130, and dropped to 388 in June, 208 in July and only 29 so far in August, but Laczko said it's too early to tell whether this may be part of a trend.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, however, few deaths have been reported since a March deal between the EU and Turkey, combined with Balkan border closures to migrants, has led to a dramatic drop in new arrivals.

Where some 885,000 migrants crossed from Turkey to Greece along the route in 2015, the IOM reported that new arrivals are down 98 percent since the March 20 agreement. Some 154,000 arrived in Greece in the first half of the year, but almost all in the first three months.

A total of 376 deaths were recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean in the first six months of 2016, but there were only 10 in April and none in May or June, according to the report.

Laczko said there are no indications that the EU-Turkey agreement has been forcing people to attempt the more perilous Central Mediterranean crossing, though in recent days there have been reports of some trying to make it to Italy from Egypt.

Laczko said the report shows there's a need for more legal channels for migrants to be able to come to Europe, but also for better information campaigns to make sure would-be migrants understand the dangers of the journey.
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

The Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR) is on track to return to its glory days as the countrys most powerful legislative body, as it will soon start deliberations over the fifth amendment of the Constitution, which will reinstate the now-defunct state policy guidelines (GBHN).



The amendment is expected to restore the authority of the assembly, the 692 members of which consist of 560 House of Representatives members and 132 Regional Representatives Council (DPD) members, to set the direction of national development policy.



The GBHN will serve as a guideline for long-term development plans for the country and it will be mandatory for the President to implement it. The proposal for the amendment was made by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which now controls the largest number of seats at the House, 109 out of 560.



To make it mandatory for the president to implement the GBHN, the MPR assessment body, which drafted the amendment together with scores of legal experts from 48 universities across the country, proposed a number of sanctions to be applied should the president fail to act on the guidelines.



An early proposal of the amendment stipulated that the MPR could demand accountability from the president based on a motion made by the House that deems the president as having failed to uphold the guidelines. Another form of punishment would be the House would refuse to approve the presidents state budget plan (RAPBN).



As the third option for punishment, the MPR would issue a recommendation that the president is not worthy of re-election, given his refusal to implement the GBHN.



Most political parties at the House prefer the third option.



MPR Deputy Speaker Mahyudin, a Golkar Party politician, said that since the president and vice president were directly elected by the people, it was the electorate that should mete out punishment, not the MPR.



There should be punishment somehow, or the GBHN will only be a paper tiger. We should only allow the people to impose punishment and the MPR can only recommend they not vote for the incumbent in the next election, Mahyudin said.



The PDI-P signaled that the punishment would not be binding or be forcefully implemented. The GBHN aims to direct the government, not to put it on a short leash. It will only give all state institutions a direction for their programs and responsibilities, said PDI-P secretary-general Ahmad Basarah, adding that currently, without any guidelines, the state institutions tended to follow their own agendas.



The planned amendment, however, would also face tough challenges as the DPD has demanded that it be given a role in political decision-making over legislation and more authority in budgeting and supervisory functions, a proposal that would rankle lawmakers at the House.



DPD member John Pieris, who represent Maluku province, said that the council only played a marginal role in the legislative process, as it could only give non-binding opinions and recommendations.



There should be no reason to reject our demands. We are the embodiment of regional aspirations, but all this time we have had no power, Pieris said.



PDI-P lawmaker Tubagus Hasanuddin shot down the DPDs proposal for a more inclusive legislative process.



Tubagus, who is also the deputy head of the MPR assessment agency, said the MPR should focus first on the GBHN issue and set aside other provisions.



The House and the DPD already have their own functions. No one should ask for more power for now. We should focus on how to bring back the GBHN, Hasanuddin said.



Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari said there was no need to award the DPD a greater role in the legislative process as it has actually been included in law-making on matters related to regional autonomy.



The Constitutional Court has twice, in 2015 and in 2013, ruled in favor of DPD speaker Irman Gusman, who filed a petition against the Legislative Institution Law (MD3), and allowed the council to play a role in the legislative process regarding regional autonomy and budgeting on matters related to the regions.



It appears that they did not read the Constitutional Court ruling, which has given the DPD a place in the law-making process, Feri said.



In March, PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri proposed that the MPR, which was a powerful legislative institution under the New Order regime, should have its power returned so the country had a reference point to determine what to do and where to go in the long term.

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Linkedin Adam Rizky Nugroho (Bareksa) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Cement producers faced hard times in the first half of 2016 as domestic cement consumption fell. However, a recovery is expected to come in the second half on the back of more robust infrastructure spending.

Cement sales in July 2016 showed a sharp fall of 29 percent from the previous month, due to the Idul Fitri holiday. In total, from January to July, domestic cement consumption rose only 4 percent from the same period in the previous year.

So what is the culprit? Keep in mind that the economic slowdown last year made total 2015 cement sales fall more than 9 percent from the 2014 figures. The main factor restraining domestic cement consumption is the low realization of infrastructure budgets.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo in a recent speech stated that the disbursement of regional government budgets is still slow. The President said that there was Rp 214 trillion of idle funds still stored in regional banks as of June 2016.

Jakarta recorded the highest amount of idle money, with Rp 13.9 trillion in its bank account, followed by West Java with Rp 8.03 trillion and East Java with Rp 3.9 trillion. "Please immediately spend it, so [the money] immediately circulates in the community," said Jokowi in front of regional leaders on Aug 4.

The infrastructure budgets of regional governments is expected to play a big part in national development. As stated in the medium-term infrastructure development plan budget 2015-2019, half of the funding to build roads, bridges, ports, railways or other projects is expected to come from the government.

In more detail, 40 percent of the infrastructure finance is to be sourced from the central government while the other 10 percent is from regional budgets. Twenty-six percent of the infrastructure allocation in the 2016 state budget is funneled to regional governments.

Apart from low budget absorption, cement producers are also facing competition with new players in the industry. A Citigroup research paper published on Aug. 15 mentioned that the 4 percent year-on-year (yoy) cement consumption growth was boosted by new producers namely Semen Merah Putih, Siam Cement and Anhui Conch.

At the same time, total sales of market leaders, including Semen Indonesia, Indocement, Holcim, and Semen Baturaja declined 0.6 percent yoy.

Monthly Domestic Cement Consumption (in thousand tons)(Bareksa.com/-)

Potential rebound

Despite many challenges, analysts expect cement demand to rise in the second half of the year due to strong government support of the property sector and efforts to increase budget realization, among other factors.

The recently issued Presidential Decree No. 34 seeks to boost the property sector by lowering income tax on property sales to 2.5 percent from the previous 5 percent. In addition, the government has also loosened the loan-to-value (LTV) rules and made property assets one of containers to absorb repatriated funds from the tax amnesty.

It is widely believed that the policy will attract investors to the property sector, which will in turn increase demand for raw materials used in building construction.

"We think property demand will also be supported by continued lower mortgage rates, lower transaction costs for property purchases, and implementation of looser disbursement policies for second and further mortgages in the second half of 2016," said Citigroup analyst Felicia Asrinanda Barus in a research report.

The current exchange rate stability also offers cement producers the opportunity to increase profit margins in the second half of 2016. In June, the rupiah touched Rp 13,600 per US dollar, but later strengthened to Rp 13,100 a month later on the back of tax amnesty sentiment and foreign inflow.A stronger rupiah is positive for cement producers, since they purchase coal, the main fuel for cement productions, in US dollars.

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Source: Bareksa.com
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

The Jakarta Police have revealed an online prostitution ring operating in Kalibata masked as a sales promotion girls supplier.

The directorate for the polices cybercrime unit announced on Tuesday that the website offered women who, according to the website, also worked as flight attendants, models and sales girls.

Jakarta Polices spokesperson Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono said police had named the owner of the site, AN, a suspect for pimping the women.

The suspect said most clients were businessmen, Awi said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The women, aged between 20 to 30 years, charged between Rp 5 million and Rp 7 million per date. For Rp 5 million, the suspect got a commission of Rp 1.5 million. He got Rp 3 million if the date was tagged at Rp 7 million.

There was a relationship between the victims [the women] and the suspect, Awi said.

During the investigation, detectives posed as potential clients and contacted AN through WhatsApp chat. AN sent a list of women with their pictures, age, background and rates.

After some negotiation, AN offered the detective a former model," known by the initial T, for Rp 5 million for a date. The police arrested the suspect in Kalibata, South Jakarta. Both AN and T were arrested after they exchanged money.

The police have not named T a suspect because in the Indonesian legal system, these women were victims of human trafficking. (evi)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Two politicians of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Monday visited residents of Mangga Besar in West Jakarta, who have been worried about their potential eviction by the Jakarta Administration.

Jakarta City Council Speaker Prasetyo Edi Masdudi and House of Representative member Arif Wibowo spoke to the residents and listened to their concerns regarding the eviction.

This house was built before I was born in 1963. How could they want to evict [me from] the house, a resident told the politicians from the PDI-P, which was considering to nominate incumbent Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama.

A resident said on Sunday that officers from the Jakarta City Public Order Agency had made preparations to evict the residents. Some 200 residents had blockaded the area to foil the eviction, said a resident as reported by tribunnews.com.

The security officers attempt to evict the residents ignored the rights of people, who held land certificates in the area. The visit of the two politicians was to support the residents. I want to investigate the history of the area, said Prasetyo.

Meanwhile, Arif stressed that the lawmakers from the PDI-P would reject any eviction by the Jakarta Administration. Such problems are frequently emerging in Jakarta. It is about legality of land, he added.

Based on Law No. 5/1960 on agrarian regulations, it strongly rules that people who have owned land from one generation to another should be prioritized in acquiring legal ownership of the land in question.

We as PDI-P lawmakers want to fight for the peoples constitutional right over their land that had been owned from one generation to another. [In such a case] there should be no eviction, said Arif. (bbn)
Visitors examine knitted handicrafts on display at Taman Pandang Istana (Palace View Park) beside the National Monument in Central Jakarta on Monday. The park, which was designed as a venue for protesters looking to stage demonstrations in front of the State Palace, also attracts local tourists.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)(Palace View Park) beside the National Monument in Central Jakarta on Monday. The park, which was designed as a venue for protesters looking to stage demonstrations in front of the State Palace, also attracts local tourists.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Denpasar Police chief Sr. Comr. Hadi Purnomo has said Australian Sara Connor admitted to police investigators of her role in assisting her British boyfriend David James Taylor in the assault of Second Adj. Insp. Wayan Sudarsa on Kuta Beach, Bali, last week, which lead to the death of the traffic police officer.

"In the beginning, both David and Sara denied [their involvement], but later they understood that they had lied to investigators and regretted their wrongdoings. It all began with Sara losing her handbag. She was involved in the beating and murder," Hadi was quoted by tribunnews.com as saying on Tuesday.

Connor's lawyer reportedly denied the Australian's role in the incident, asserting that Connor was only focused on retrieving her lost handbag. To investigators, Connor said Taylor had told her that the victim just fell unconscious.

Hadi said Connor was charged for being an accomplice in the assault.

Connor and Taylor have been detained over the death of Wayan Sudarsa. The policeman's body was discovered on Kuta Beach on Aug. 17 with several head and neck wounds. The pair face up to 15 years in prison if they are found guilty of murder. (dmr)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23 2016

The government has retained articles banning communism in a proposed revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP), raising concerns that a crackdown on cultural events and anything else related to the ideology will continue.

Despite adding a provision to protect academic study and analysis of Marxist-Leninist thought, the reluctance to scrap the prohibition reflects the governments persistent phobia over the political philosophy.

Copying the current KUHP, the ban is covered by articles 219, 220 and 221 in the draft revision.

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Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang  Tue, August 23, 2016

Indonesian fishermen from East Nusa Tenggara kicked off their legal battle on Monday at an Australian court, demanding justice for an oil spill in the Montara oil field that has destroyed their livelihoods for the past seven years.

The head of Care for West Timor Foundations (YPTB) legal team, Ferdi Tanoni, who represents more than 13,000 fishermen in the class action lawsuit filed at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney, said that other than Thailands PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Australasia, the Australian government should also be held accountable for the accident.

Australia cant wash their hands of this case because some eyewitnesses saw an Australian aircraft flying low above the Timor Sea while spraying liquid on top of the oil spill, he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

A fisherman, Muhammad Hatta, said he witnessed a red aircraft flying a week after the incident, during which the Montara oil rig, owned by oil and gas exploration firm PTTEP Australasia, exploded some 690 kilometers west of Darwin and 250 kilometers southeast of Rote Island, East Nusa Tenggara.

We were around Kolbano waters in Timor Tengah Selatan regency, East Nusa Tenggara. We saw the Australian airplane spray liquid on top of the oil spill in Kolbano waters, he said.

Ferdi said the liquid was used to disperse the oil spill to the bottom of the ocean based on a laboratory analysis done by experts from Australia, the US and Indonesia.

The dispersant is highly toxic and thus could destroy the marine ecosystem, Ferdi said.

It was alleged that the aircraft, caught by satellite photos, was operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

After the horrific explosion in 2009, gas and oil from the rig gushed into the Timor Sea for more than 70 days.

It is estimated that in excess of 300,000 liters of oil per day contaminated the sea, equivalent to pouring 10 Olympic swimming pools of toxic sludge into the ocean over the months the spill continued.

The oil spill has had a devastating effect on the livelihood of fishermen and coastal communities in East Nusa Tenggara, with fish catches and seaweed harvests continuing to decline in the heavily polluted waters.

Timor Sea Traditional Fishermen Alliance (Antralamor) chairman Mustafa said the fishermen in East Nusa Tenggara earned 70 percent less than what they got before the incident.

Before the pollution, we could get Rp 20 million [US$1,510]; now it is Rp 5 million, he said.

More than 13,000 seaweed farmers sued PTTEP for potentially more than A$200 million ($152 million) to cover damages.

Reuters reported that a Darwin-based lawyer, Greg Phelps, has pushed for compensation for Indonesian seaweed farmers whose livelihoods he believes were affected by the oil spill. Funding for the case will come from UK-based Harbour Litigation Funding.
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Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang  Tue, August 23 2016

Indonesian fishermen from East Nusa Tenggara kicked off their legal battle on Monday at an Australian court, demanding justice for an oil spill in the Montara oil field that has destroyed their livelihoods for the past seven years.

The head of Care for West Timor Foundations (YPTB) legal team, Ferdi Tanoni, who represents more than 13,000 fishermen in the class action lawsuit filed at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney, said that other than Thailands PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Australasia, the Australian government should also be held accountable for the accident.

Australia cant wash their hands of this case because some eyewitnesses saw an Australian aircraft flying low above the Timor Sea while spraying liquid on top of the oil spill, he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23 2016

An annual heads-of-government meeting between Indonesia and Singapore in the Central Javan capital of Semarang will be postponed following Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loongs collapse at a national rally on Sunday.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo was expected to meet with Prime Minister Lee in Semarang this week for annual consultations on economic matters, but the plan has been shoved back at least until the Singapore leader completes his medical evaluations.

Lee took ill while delivering a National Day rally speech on Sunday, but returned to the stage after a break of about an hour.

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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

Rights activists have slammed the government's draft amendment of the Criminal Code (KUHP), which still retains articles banning communism in the country, saying that the regulation is irrelevant in the present day.

The National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Roichatul Aswidah said Article 219 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that anyone who goes against the law by advocating communism can be sentenced to a maximum seven years' imprisonment, could be misused especially since the details were vague in explaining what actions constituted going "against the law".

Despite adding the provision to protect academic study and analysis of Marxist-Leninist thought, other articles covering the ban on communism, including Article 220 and 221, were open to multiple interpretations, she said, adding that the impact would likely result in more human rights violation rather than protecting the country.

"We should reflect on whether the [articles banning communism] is still appropriate for the present, especially because Criminal Code reform should really consider the transformation of the [political] context in the nation," Roichatul said on Monday, adding that the articles could be exploited as a repressive tool.

Meanwhile, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) executive director Supriyadi Widodo Eddyono said the articles did not conform with the legal principles of a democratic system, especially since the ambiguous content deviated from lex scripta principles which is applicable in the Indonesian legal system. (dmr)
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Linkedin Josh Lederman (Associated Press) Washington  Tue, August 23, 2016

With suspicions on both sides mounting, the United States is struggling to preserve its wobbly partnership with Turkey as it entertains a closer relationship with Russia and fumes over a US-based cleric it blames for orchestrating last month's failed coup attempt.

Vice President Joe Biden faces a difficult mission when he travels to Ankara on Wednesday to try to smooth over recent strains: He comes bearing no assurances that the US will agree to Turkey's demand that it extradite that cleric  Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Instead, he'll try to convey that the US still needs and values Turkey as a key NATO ally, even amid worrying signs that the US and Turkish approaches to the region's conflicts may be diverging  especially on Syria.

Tensions between the two countries were already bubbling under the surface before the attempted overthrow on July 15, but have since burst into the open. US leaders were incensed when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleged the US either supported or was involved in the coup attempt. As the US issued denials, Turkish officials complained loudly that Washington was slow to show support for Turkey's government at its time of greatest need, even though the US expressed support for Erdogan as the coup attempt was underway.

At the same time, the US has been rattled by Turkey's recent diplomatic flirtations with traditional US foes Russia and Iran, concerned they may indicate that a frustrated Turkey is rethinking its allegiance with the West in promoting regional stability. This month Erdogan traveled to Moscow to try to boost ties and possibly even collaboration on ending Syria's civil war, something Moscow has sought unsuccessfully with Washington. And following the Turkish foreign minister's surprise trip to Iran last week, Turkish media reported that Erdogan planned to visit Tehran on Wednesday  the same day he's also slated to meet with Biden.

"Clearly President Erdogan is sending a message by getting closer to Russia and Iran that he's unhappy with the attitude of the West," said Bulent Aliriza, a Turkey analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Turkey's still going to remain a NATO member and aspire for EU membership, but the atmosphere is worse than it was on July 14," the day before the coup attempt.

A breakdown of ties to Turkey would be problematic for the US, which is counting on Turkey to pursue the same approach to fighting the Islamic State group and addressing extremism across the Middle East. Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey shares borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria, where the porous border has allowed Islamic State fighters in to Turkey, and would-be recruits into Syria.

But the US and Turkey are unlikely to resolve their dispute over Gulen, who has lived in the US for years in self-imposed exile. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup attempt, in which more than 270 died, but Turkey's government has insisted the US return him to Turkey immediately.

The Obama administration wants more proof before considering extradition. Although Turkey has submitted extradition requests for Gulen, those requests have been based on previous alleged crimes by Gulen and not evidence of involvement in the coup attempt, senior Obama administration officials said.

The US is sending a Justice Department team to Turkey to help sort out the technical requirements of the request, said the officials, who briefed reporters ahead of Biden's trip on condition of anonymity. They added that Biden planned to tell Turkey's leaders that their public allegations of US complicity won't help their cause.

"People have an expectation that Gulen should be returned to Turkey immediately," said Gulnur Aybet, who teaches international relations at Turkey's Bahcesehir University. "If the extradition request is refused or delayed I'm afraid that's going to have serious repercussions."

The US once looked optimistically at Erdogan as a Muslim leader interested in working with the US and pursuing democratic governance. That optimism has been dampened as Erdogan has cracked down on press and other freedoms and his government has put a premium on opposing outlawed Kurdish rebels  sometimes at the expense, in the Obama administration's view  of focusing on IS.

Washington's concerns about human rights and democracy in Turkey intensified after the failed coup, which led the government to detain or fire tens of thousands of police, soldiers, teachers and journalists. Yet the US has been careful not to hammer Turkey over those concerns in public out of concern it would undercut the US message of support for Turkey's government.

The fragile situation in Turkey was compounded over the weekend when a suicide bomber killed at least 54 people at a Kurdish wedding celebration in Gaziantep, near the Syria border. It was the deadliest attack this year in Turkey, joining other deadly attacks by IS or by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK.

In another worrying sign for the US, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim appeared to warm to the possibility of Syrian President Bashar Assad maintaining a role in a transitional government. Turkey and the US have both called for Assad's ouster for years, insisting he can't be part of Syria's future government.

___

Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, video journalist Bram Janssen in Istanbul, and Dan Huff in Washington contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Pranoto Iskandar and Nicola Piper (The Jakarta Post) Cianjur, West Java  Tue, August 23 2016

Migration is now widely acknowledged as an issue that requires concerted coordination beyond the national level. As many studies confirm, if it is managed properly, migration can produce enormous potential for migrants and their families, region and beyond.

To be clear, this position applies not only to the so-called high-skilled but also, more importantly, to low-skilled migrants that have been viewed unfavorably in Southeast Asia, including, from the perspective of the sending countries such as Indonesia.

Seen from this point of view, migration is supposedly a win-win solution serving as a focal point for further integration rather than as division between sending and receiving countries.

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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, August 24, 2016

The government is seeking ways to ensure the completion of university degrees pursued by hundreds of Indonesian students in Turkey who had been grantees of PASIAD scholarships, the funding of which has been invalidated, a minister said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said she had spoken with the Technology, Research and Higher Education Ministry, the Culture and Education Ministry as well as the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) to discuss steps for the continuity of the education of the students.

There are currently 248 Indonesians studying on PASIAD stipends, Retno said, citing ministry data. Four of these are pursuing master's degrees while the rest are studying for bachelor's degrees. PASIAD, standing for Pacific Nations Social and Economic Development Association, is linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of orchestrating the failed coup attempt on July 15.

Indonesian students are spread across 20 cities in Turkey, with the majority of them located in Istanbul, Ankara and Kayseri. The Foreign Ministry has also begun discussions with the respective local governments on the education prospects of the students.

"After mapping out the students, we have to now chart out how these students can continue their schooling because it's clear that the scholarships from PASIAD no longer exist," Retno told reporters.

As proof of the government's commitment, the Indonesian Consulate in Istanbul had collected personal funds to subsidize one student's fees, after considering the urgency. The minister would not disclose the student's identity.

"We don't interfere with domestic politics, but what is our concern is the protection of Indonesian students," Retno said. (rin)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, August 24, 2016

Indonesia is continuing to push for consular access for two students detained in Turkey, with efforts carried out in both countries, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Tuesday.

"It's important that consular access is given to our representatives in Ankara to be allowed to meet with the two students," she told reporters, adding that she had conveyed the same message to the Turkish ambassador to Indonesia on Monday in a series of meetings with representatives from the Turkish government to discuss the issue.

Granting consular access is the responsibility of the host country, as clearly stated in the Vienna Convention, Retno added.

She spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevut Cavusoglu on Saturday, when the latter promised to continuously coordinate on the development of the issue. Meanwhile, the Indonesian ambassador to Turkey met with the local higher education deputy president on Friday to discuss the case.

The female students, initialled DP and YU, have met with a lawyer assigned by the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara, Retno added, promising that the families of the pair would be told of any news.

The two students were arrested in a crackdown on Aug. 11 at their residence in Bursa; it has been reported that they are grantees of the PASIAD scholarship associated with US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating a failed coup attempt in July. (rin)
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Linkedin Julie M. Aurelio (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) Manila  Tue, August 23, 2016

For failing to justify their travel to the country, more than 700 foreigners were turned away in July as part of the Bureau of Immigration (BI)s drive against undesirable aliens.

The BI said most of those barred from entering the Philippines were Chinese tourists, while the rest were from other Asian countries.

In July, 720 aliens were not allowed to enter the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and other ports of entry due to their inability to explain the purpose of their visit.

BI commissioner Jaime Morente explained that the foreigners who were turned away were likely to become public charges.

Also refused entry to the Philippines were aliens who were improperly documented and those on the agencys derogatory list.

Under immigration laws, a foreigner is a public charge if his presence here would constitute a burden to the state, thus he is deemed undesirable and therefore excludable, Morente said.

The turning away of such foreigners is part of the BIs intensified campaign to prevent undesirable aliens from coming to the Philippines.

Immigration officers have the discretion to order the exclusion of an arriving foreigner if he cannot satisfactorily answer questions on his travel itinerary, intended length of stay and reasons for travelling to the country.

Morente said the foreigners were immediately booked on the first available flight to their port of origin, after which they were included on the BIs blacklist.

Of the 720 aliens, 364 were Chinese, followed by 37 Indonesians, 31 Vietnamese, 27 Koreans, 26 Indians, 19 Taiwanese, 15 Cameroonians, 15 Americans, 14 Uzbeks, and 13 Nigerians.

The BI will be tapping six Chinese-speaking interpreters to be deployed in international airports to help the immigration officers communicate better with Chinese tourists.

BI spokesperson Antonette Mangrobang explained that this was due to the fact that most of the excluded foreigners were Chinese nationals.

This is to totally eradicate the possibility that aliens are excluded simply because our officers failed to understand the response of the passenger, she said.

Meanwhile, the BI has submitted a proposal to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to implement an Advance Passenger Information System.

This will require all incoming and departing aircrafts to submit to the BI an advance copy of their passenger manifests.

Mangrobang said this was in line with President Rodrigo Dutertes directive to expedite and improve frontline government services.

This will enable us to screen, vet and pre-clear international travelers prior to their arrival and departure, thus resulting in speedy immigration processing and reduced queuing time at our immigration counters, the BI spokesperson added.
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 23, 2016

The southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf militant group has been considerably weakened by the Philippine military, which continues to conduct offensive measures to secure the release of Indonesian sailors being held hostage, a minister has said.

The groups members are the perpetrators behind numerous boat hijackings and hostage-taking cases in Sulu waters.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Tuesday that the operation, which has deployed about 10,000 Filipino military personnel, joined by a number of rebel group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) troops, had successfully wiped out Abu Sayyaf's headquarters in Basilan province and the militant groups numbers were reduced by over 100 members from a total of 300.

"The military offense was putting pressure on the militants to always be on alert [so their guard on the hostages loosened]. It created a chance for the sailors to flee from the captors, he said, referring to two hostages who escaped Abu Sayyaf on Aug. 17.

Indonesia appreciated Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's serious commitment to putting an end to the string of hijacking and kidnapping cases, Ryamizard said, adding that he would continue to coordinate with his Filipino counterpart to push for the immediate release of the remaining nine hostages.

On Indonesia's Independence Day, two of seven Indonesian crewmen from the tugboat Charles successfully escaped their captors after being held hostage for over 50 days in the southern Philippines. There is no information yet regarding the sailors' return to Indonesia.
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Linkedin Lo Tern Chern (Associated Press) Bukit Metajam, Malaysia  Tue, August 23, 2016

A snake charmer had to be called in when freaked out residents of a four-story flat saw a cobra slithering out of a window on the third floor.

We could see the two-meter snake looking for a way back into a unit on the third floor. We contacted a snake charmer. He caught the snake and took it away in a gunny sack, said businessman Shaharudin Ahmad, 46, who lives at the Taman Pauh Jaya flats.

It is believed that the reptile, which was kept inside the third floor unit, was used in shows. Apparently, it escaped from its enclosure Monday.

The unit owner could not be contacted and the flats doors were locked.

Residents who spotted the snake crawling on the outer wall immediately alerted other dwellers and fled their homes. When they gathered at a courtyard, they could see the snake making its way into a unit on the second floor through a window.

We began calling people to get out of their flats. Everyone gathered to wait for experts to catch the snake, Shaharudin said when met at the scene.

Images and videos of the snake were recorded and widely shared on social media.

When contacted, the Fire and Rescue Department said it was not alerted about the incident.

Penang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Loo Kean Seong said they would find out whether the snake was indeed being kept in one of the units.
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Linkedin (The Star/ANN) Johor Baru  Tue, August 23, 2016

Malaysia hopes the US Periodic Review Board will reject a petition by known terrorist Hambali, aka Riduan Isamuddin, for his release from Guantanamo Bay prison.

The Government sees the former Al-Qaeda leader as a major security threat to South-East Asia.

Hambali is a dangerous individual, if his appeal were to go through, I hope the Indonesian authorities detain him, said Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

He said Hambalis presence in the region could bring a new dawn for terrorist groups that were now lacking a good and experienced leader capable of supplying them with firearms and bombs.

Hambali was a star attraction to such groups because of his time with Al-Qaeda and as a key figure in the regional terror network, said Nur Jazlan, after a working visit to the Home Ministry Complex at Setia Tropika here on Monday.

The man, who wreaked havoc in the region and masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202, is seeking his release from Guantanamo where he has been detained for 13 years. US President Barack Obama has pledged to close the prison. With his administration nearing its end, the board is reviewing the cases of prisoners with the aim of releasing them.

Hambali was 38 years old when he was caught and was held in a US prison overseas for three years before being transferred to Guantanamo on Sept 4, 2006.

He was behind the bombings of churches in Indonesia and a 2003 plot to kill world leaders at a Bangkok conference. He was referred to by some as the Osama bin Laden of South-East Asia.
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Linkedin Lim Yan Liang (The Straits Times) Singapore  Tue, August 23, 2016

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's doctors have said he is okay after a thorough check-up, a day after he made many anxious when he faltered midway through Sunday's National Day Rally.

Lee said he is taking doctors' advice to rest seriously, and will be on a week's medical leave.

Thanking rallygoers as well as Singaporeans for their concern and get-well wishes in a Facebook post, he said: "I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to meet you all after the Rally, as I went straight to the Singapore General Hospital [SGH] for a thorough check-up.

"I'm glad to report that the doctors think I am ok, but they have advised me to rest, so I will be on MC for this week."

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement that Lee underwent a series of checks at SGH on Sunday night and Monday morning, after he was taken ill while delivering his speech at ITE College Central.

Lee, who was helped off stage, was attended to by a medical team on site that assessed his condition was not serious. In fact, while initial tests were being done, Lee was busy re-editing his speech, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan added Monday.

Lee then returned over an hour later to complete his speech.

He had taken ill "due to a temporary drop in blood pressure, due to prolonged standing, exhaustion, and dehydration," the PMO said. "Doctors have confirmed there were no cardiac abnormalities and no stroke."

Lee will resume his duties next Monday, and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will cover Lee's duties during his absence, the statement added.

Lee's sudden pause on Sunday night was widely reported by foreign media outlets, including the BBC, CNN, The Guardian and Xinhua news agency.

The update that Lee is fine and recuperating drew relief from many Singaporeans Monday.

"My initial thought was 'Oh no, not again'," Balakrishnan recounted in a Facebook post, alluding to Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat's collapse from a stroke during a Cabinet meeting in May.

"And I am so glad it wasn't."

A medical doctor, Balakrishnan said Lee was fully conscious but sweating, and had a low heart rate and blood pressure during the spell. These are "classic symptoms" of a vasovagal episode, he added, referring to the condition when the body reacts to situations such as fatigue, dehydration or standing for too long, sometimes fainting.

President Tony Tan Keng Yam said he spoke with Lee Monday afternoon, and was glad to note that Lee was well after his brief fainting spell at the Rally, and back to "his usual jovial self".

"PM had a busy schedule recently, and the preparation for NDR took a toll on him," said Tan, using the abbreviation for the Rally.

"On behalf of all Singaporeans, I wish PM well," he added.

Lee was originally scheduled to travel to Semarang in Central Java with a delegation of Singapore ministers Wednesday for the Indonesia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat with President Joko Widodo and his ministers.

That trip will now be rescheduled. A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday: "In view of PM Lee Hsien Loong's medical leave, the Indonesia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat has been postponed. Officials on both sides are working to find new dates for the Retreat."
With deep pain and anguish we are saddened to report the petirah moments ago of Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis ah founder of HINENI and pioneer in the world of Kiruv. With the Rebbetzins petirah Klal Yisroel has suffered an irreplaceable loss.

The Rebbetzin was a trailblazer, for over a half century, crisscrossing the globe with her message of loving-kindness and hope. She was a teacher of Torah to millions of Jews from every walk of life.

She spent her life showing the beauty of Yiddishkeit to Jews across the globe bringing countless neshomos back to their roots.

Rebbetzin Jungreis was born in Szeged, Hungary in 1936, where her father HoRav Avrohom HaLevi Jungreis ztl was Chief Rabbi.

A Holocaust survivor, Rebbetzin Jungreis made it her life mission to bring back Jews to authentic Yiddishkeit. She was a pioneer in the world of kiruv/outreach and founded the international HINENI Movement.

The Jungreis family had been deported with other Jews from Szeged. After suffering through many concentration camps, Bchasdei HaShem, the family eventually arrived in Switzerland.

In 1947, after being spared the horrors of the concentration camps and the Holocaust, the Jungreis family arrived in Brooklyn, New York where the Rebbetzin married a distant cousin, HoRav Meshulem HaLevi Jungreis ztl. The newly-married Jungreis couple settled in North Woodmere, New York, where Rabbi Jungreis was the spiritual leader of Ohr HaTorah.

The Rebbetzin, together with her husband embarked on a lifelong mission devoting their lives to combatting the spiritual Holocaust that was occurring right in front of their eyes here in the United States. She waged a fierce battle against interfaith marriages, secularization, and other forms of assimilation, which she firmly believed was an existential threat to the continued existence of Klal Yisroel.

Under the Rebbetzins leadership HINENI became a worldwide movement, inspiring Jews to seek out their roots and return to Yiddishkeit. Rebbetzin Jungreis authored several best-selling books including The Jewish Soul On Fire, The Committed Life, and The Committed Marriage, all of which have been translated in many languages with millions of volumes disseminated in every corner of the globe. Her latest book  Life Is A Test was widely acclaimed as one of the 10 best Jewish inspiration books of all time.

The Rebbetzins pioneering work has been widely recognized, and she received brochos and encouragement from numerous gedolim, including such giants as the Satmar Rebbe, HaRav Yoel Teitelbaum ztl, HaRav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin ztl, HaRav Moshe Feinstein ztl, and many others.

She was also recognized by numerous world leaders for her work within the Jewish community to advance Yiddishkeit. Among them were such notables as the late Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin ah and President George W. Bush who asked the Rebbetzin to accompany him to Yerushalayim for the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel in 2008.

The Rebbetzin was an incredible woman  a person who has literally influenced and touched countless people. The many thousands of individuals who were fortunate enough to receive her brocho immediately felt the connection with this unique person.

Rebbetzin Jungreis is survived by her children Chaya Sora Gertzulin, Rabbi Yisroel Jungreis, Slovi Wolff and Rabbi Osher Jungreis, and by many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

THE LEVAYA WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY MORNING AT 11:00 AM AT THE AGUDATH ISRAEL OF LONG ISLAND, 1121 SAGE STREET, FAR ROCKAWAY, NEW YORK.

[TLS]
Women have been banned from attending university by a New York-based Ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect, in case they acquire dangerous secular knowledge.

In a decree seen by The Independent, the Hasidic Satmar sect  which has followers around the world  has declared that No girls attending our school are allowed to study and get a degree. It is dangerous. Girls who will not abide will be forced to leave our school. In a decree seen by The Independent, the Hasidic Satmar sect  which has followers around the world  has declared that No girls attending our school are allowed to study and get a degree. It is dangerous. Girls who will not abide will be forced to leave our school.

The decree, written in Yiddish, adds that we will not give any jobs or teaching position in the school to girls whove been to college or have a degree.

According to the sect, female higher education is against the Torah and the sect will be very strict about this.

The edict was seen exclusively by The Independent.

The Satmar follow an Ultra-Orthodox interpretation of Judaism, which features 19th Century dress, encourages extreme modesty, and requires women to cover their hair. It was founded in Transylvania in 1905, before moving its headquarters to New York after the Second World War.

The Satmar is the largest Hasidic sect in the world, and of the estimated 30,000 Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the UK it is the largest group.

The decree goes on to say that education for girls is against the base upon which our Mosed was built and We have to keep our school safe and we cant allow any secular influences in our holy environment.

Speaking to The Independent, Dr Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, Executive Director of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, calls the sect an isolationist enclave and the decree devastating.

She says, When one does not have access to education, career opportunities are out of reach. It forces one to stay within the community as everyone's personal lives are tied up with their professional lives as well.
Britain got some well needed good news as the legacy of London 2012 saw us reaching for gold in every event, resulting in us placing 2nd in the overall medals table. And yeah as the saying goes, not all that glitters is gold, but its pretty certain that Frank Ocean, who re-appeared dropping TWO albums and coated in glitter in a new video, will certainly produce something of a gold standard. Its up to you lot to decide whether this glistening new music deserves gold too.What felt like a never ending tease has finally culminated in an album, Blonde a stand-alone visual album, Endless and now a provocative new single 'Nikes'. Ive got two versions utters Ocean as his vocals interchange between laid back and high pitch auto-tune against a richly produced backdrop before zoning out to his natural voice as the track draws to a close. His stream of consciousness features tributes to Trayvon Martin, A$AP Yams and Pimp C and is brought to life in an enchanting, strictly no holes barred video.All proceeds from Muncie Girls latest single are to be awarded to Refugee Action - a charity supporting a fairer asylum system. The bands political message is demonstrated on Respect, which deals with the toxic rape and lad culture that troubles our society. For the next few years you can laugh and joke about your next victim, but when youre all grown up and your daughter cries, youll be sorry you did thism, Lande Hekt hurls as riffs and drums collide aggressively on this hard hitting punk track.Spanish producer Pional makes shiny pop music out of the darkest of places. Inspired by love and loss, 'Casualty' comes as part of a four-song EP mapping the stages of heartbreak. The lead singles charm-filled rhythms, fulfilling acoustics and cheeky dose of cowbells are sure to make you forget the hurt of heart break  even if its only for the night.Foregone Conclusion are back, David Brents new look band lead a tribute to the place he calls home. with 'Slough', Brent sticks to what he knows best. Highlighting the towns "equidistance between London and Reading" and "more convenience than a Tesco Express" Brent sells Slough in a way only a Sales rep could.Gearing up for the release of her third full length, MY WOMAN, Angel Olsen teases with the love song for impatient lovers - Shut Up Kiss Me. On first impression the tracks gentle acoustics sound melancholy and relaxed before the chorus dawns and sweet whispers turn to urgent commands as Olsen takes fate into her own hands.Ex Propagandhi and Weakerthans member John K Samson embarks on his second solo record, Winter Wheat, a record that has largely found inspiration from Neil Youngs On The Beach album. The track, which is musically backed up by three quarters of the Weakerthans, lets a fluttering, bluesy guitar line and a steady bass alongside Samsons soothing country tone narrate the tale of an aging student struggling to maintain faith in the possibility of a better world.The first taste of Australian trio The Peep Tempels upcoming third album, Joy, is an unadulterated commentary on suburban Australia. The band use howling guitars, a fast paced beat and lyrics drenched in apathy as their tools in creating pure punk rock.Teesides fuzzy rockers Mouses ooze potential with every single. 'Green' is the freshest cut from their upcoming debut The Mouses Album, featuring a jolting opening riff the band take us on a ride through surreal melodies, distorted vocals and lo-fi guitars with the first stop off being Reading and Leeds 2016.Danish post-punk outfit Marching Church take a shift in direction on the glistening 'Heart of Life'  the first cut from their upcoming second album. The track teeters from its bubbly up-tempo beginning, exploding into Eliass swagger drenched vocal slur which brings the storm behind the calm to the forefront.
Women face a wider pay gap than their male counterparts once they start a family, a study by a leading economic think tank has found.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that while the overall gender wage gap had narrowed over the past two decades, women with children were falling behind.

The study, carried out for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that on average, hourly pay rates for women are currently around 18% lower than for men. That compares with a gap of 23% in 2003 and 28% in 1993.

The study has found once women started a family, the gender pay gap widened consistently year by year (Joe Giddens/PA)

However once women started a family, gap widened consistently year by year so that by the time their first child had reached the age of 12, their hourly pay was 33% down on men.

The report suggested the difference may be down to women working fewer hours once they have children and, as a consequence, missing out on promotions  or simply accumulating less labour market experience  while their male colleagues pull further and further ahead.

It also found the closing of the overall wage gap was down to improvements in the pay rates of less well-qualified women, who didnt have A-levels or other higher qualifications, while for better-educated women the gap had remained unchanged for 20 years.

The difference may be down to women working fewer hours once they have children (Andrew Matthews/PA)

IFS director Robert Joyce, a co-author of the report, said: Women in jobs involving fewer hours of work have particularly low hourly wages, and this is because of poor pay progression, not because they take an immediate pay cut when switching away from full-time work.

Understanding that lack of progression is going to be crucial to making progress in reducing the gender wage gap.

TUC general secretary Frances OGrady said: It is scandalous that millions of women still suffer a motherhood pay penalty.

Many are forced to leave better-paid jobs due to the pressure of caring responsibilities and the lack of flexible working.

Without more well-paid, part-time jobs and affordable childcare, the gender pay gap will take decades to close. We need to see a step change in government policy and employer attitudes if we are to fix this problem.

The study found that for better-educated women the gap had remained unchanged for 20 years (Nick Ansell/PA)

A Government spokesman said: We want to make our country a place where there is no limit on anyones ambition or what they can achieve  that means making sure everyone, regardless of their gender, can succeed at work.

The gender pay gap is the lowest on record but we know we need to make more progress and faster. Thats why we are pushing ahead with plans to force businesses to publish their gender pay and gender bonus gap  shining a light on the barriers preventing women from reaching the top.

A Government spokesman said theyre pushing ahead with plans to force businesses to publish their gender bonus gap (Andrew Parsons/PA)

Labours shadow women and equalities minister, Angela Rayner, said: It is unacceptable that the wage gap between men and women with A-levels or degrees has remained unchanged over the last 20 years.

There is no excuse for this  women deserve equal pay for equal work. There is little incentive for those young women who have just qualified with their A-levels and are considering university, to see that in the future they will still be paid less than the men they study alongside.

She added: I expect a government led by a female prime minister to stamp out such wage discrimination.
A new study from Monash University in Australia suggests using mouthwash could help prevent infection from gonorrhoea.

Professor Christopher Fairley gathered 58 male volunteers at the Melbourne university, each of whom had detectable levels of throat gonorrhoea. Half were asked to gargle for a minute with salt water while the other half were told to do the same with supermarket mouthwash.

Gonorrhoea is a bacterial sexually transmitted infection able to harbour itself in peoples throats for weeks or months without symptoms.

(Gautam Singh/AP)

Five minutes later the levels of gonorrhoea in the mens throats was tested again, with significant reductions seen from those who used the mouthwash rather than salt water. Professor Fairley is now recruiting volunteers for a three-month investigation into the findings and how daily gargling may help.

Gonorrhoea is a growing problem in Britain. Public Health England (PHE) figures show between 2012 and 2015 gonorrhoea infections rose by 53%, from 26,880 to 41,193. The body is also concerned by an outbreak of super-gonorrhoea which is resistant to the antibiotic usually used to treat the infection, azithromycin.

Currently gonorrhoea resistant to azithromycin can still be treated by a different antibiotiotic, ceftriaxone, however PHE warn the bacterium could resist this too and thus become untreatable.

Prince Harry inspected a sample of gonorrhoea during a visit to Burrell Street Sexual Health Centre in Southwark earlier this year (Chris Jackson/PA)

Doctor and expert in sexual health Anatole Menon-Johansson told the BBC Professor Fairley could well be on to something with the study.

Its obviously still only a hypothesis. Theres lots more to do and explore. But its interesting, and its got everybody thinking. If you could use a mouthwash theres a chance that it might make a difference to infection rates he added.

Although the findings are promising, PHE still advise using a condom is the only protection from catching gonorrhoea, as well as other sexually transmitted infections.

You heard them - wrap it up, kids.
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Hanoi needs plan to protect environment

VietNamNet Bridge - The air quality in Hanoi has declined, especially in the inner city and near major transport routes and construction sites, the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and the Environment said in a report which noted the rapid increase in Benzene.

There are 5 million motorbikes and 500,000 cars of different kinds in circulation every day. Meanwhile, 70 percent of motorbikes cant meet standards on emissions





Protective masks, glasses and sunscreen are necessary for every Hanoian going out in summer.After I read the news about dust pollution in Hanoi, I bought dozens of nano-technology protective masks for my family members to wear when going out, said Ho Phuong Anh at No 81 Tran Cung street.Pham Van Dong Road in Bac Tu Liem district is one of the roads most seriously attacked by the dust. The 5-kilometer long road is always engulfed in thick dust kicked up by the large number of vehicles, including trucks laden with construction materials.Tam Trinh and Linh Nam Roads in Hoang Mai district is the nightmare for the people who use the roads to go to work. Nguyen Thi Ai, a local resident, said that four out of five members in her family have suffered from sinusitis.According to Hoang Duong Tung, deputy general director of the General Directorate of Environment, the biggest culprits that kick dust are motorbikes, construction sites and garbage incinerators.There are 5 million motorbikes and 500,000 cars of different kinds in circulation every day. Meanwhile, 70 percent of motorbikes cant meet standards on emissions, he said.Director of the department Nguyen Trong Dong said that the air quality in the city generally meets the medium level in both rainy and dry seasons.However, benzene has been increasing rapidly due to the increase in the use of fossil fuel (petrol) and the increase of vehicles.German environmental experts, who carried out a research project in Vietnam, said that dust accounts for a large proportion of pollutants in Hanoi. This is blamed on the increase of factories, vehicles and the equipment creating emissions to the atmosphere.They noted that the number of motorbikes in Vietnam in general and in Hanoi in particular has been increasing rapidly.There are six fixed air monitoring stations in Hanoi, four of which are controlled by central agencies and the other two by local environment departments. However, only two of them, one in Long Bien district and the other in Dong Da, are still operational.Hanoi has spent money on mobile air monitoring vehicles and automatic waste water monitoring stations, while it is following necessary procedures to receive 20 automatic air monitoring stations funded by the French Government.CV
Chinese Phuket tourists safe after runaway tour bus slams Patong temple wall

PHUKET: More than 30 Chinese tourists were taken to Patong Hospital after the tour bus they were travelling on sped out of control down Patong Hill and crashed into the perimeter wall at Wat Suwankhiriwong (Wat Patong) just before 8pm last night (Aug 22).

Chinesepatongtourismtransportaccidents

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 23 August 2016, 11:22AM

A mototbike rider narrowly missed being run over by the runaway tour bus. Image: CCTV provided to The Phuket News

The driver brought the vehicle to a stop by ploughing it into the temple wall. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The driver brought the vehicle to a stop by ploughing it into the temple wall. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

In a video provided to The Phuket News, a motorbike rider narrowly escaped being run over by the bus seconds before the driver brought the vehicle to a stop by ploughing it into the temple wall.

Police arrived with Kusoldharm rescue workers to find the blue bus with its side crunched into the wall. The front of the bus was damaged and broken window glass was strewn across the road.

There were more than 30 Chinese tourists, including children, on the bus at the time of the accident.

Most of them suffered scrapes and bruises, but there no serious injuries, said Maj Patapee Srichai of the Patong Police.

Regardless, all victims were taken to Patong Hospital, he added.

Also at the scene were two damaged minivans and a damaged Honda Jazz.

This road is very steep and the bottom of the hill has a very sharp turn, Maj Patapee said.

The bus driver is probably new to this route. He possibly he lost control of his vehicle while descending the hill, which meant he could not slow down or maybe the buss brakes failed.

However, we are still investigating this, he said.
Family of four saved from drowning at Phuket beach

PHUKET: A family of four on holiday in Phuket were taken to hospital after lifeguards rescued them after they were found struggling in the water near rocks at Surin Beach yesterday (Aug 22).

tourismmarineaccidents

By Chanida Summast

Tuesday 23 August 2016, 05:49PM

Mr Ongard suffered light lacerations from being pushed onto the rocks by large waves. Photo: Phuket Lifeguard Service

Lifeguards were preparing to go home when they were alerted to the family in distress at about 7pm. Phuket Lifeguard Service

The tourists were rescued at about 7pm after beachgoers saw them struggling in the water, Vitanya Chuayuan, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Lifeguard Service, told The Phuket News today (Aug 23).

The victims  two women, one man and a child  were from Nakhon Ratchasima, Ms Vitanya said.

Of the four, one man named only as Mr Ongard suffered lacerations from being pushed onto the rocks by waves.

They went for a swim near the rocks after the beach closed and guards were packing their belongings and getting ready to leave the area, she said.

After being alerted to the familys plight, lifeguards went into the water and rescued the family, who were then taken to Thalang Hospital, Ms Vitanya explained.

Last night, two of the victims remained in the hospital, but we were told that they were both discharged from the hospital this morning, she added.
Gem retailers turn in firing line from Phuket bus association

PHUKET: Four of the islands gem retailers have come under fire from local bus companies who say the retailers are denying local bus drivers work by drafting in their own buses to provide transport for the shops clients.

transporttourism

By Darawan Naknakhon

Tuesday 23 August 2016, 12:12PM

ATBA president Mr Chonnawee Ektwensakul (2nd from left) hands a letter to Ms Walairat Kanthong, a secretary from Royal Gems Co. Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

Members of the Andaman Tour Bus Association (ATBA) met representatives from the Phuket Tourism and Sport office and four gem retailers yesterday (Aug 22) and submitted a letter stating that because they are using their own buses to transport customers to and from their outlets local drivers are now facing a shortage of work.

ATBA president Mr Chonnawee Ektwensakul said, Many companies have ordered buses which they use to carry tourists in Phuket. This has caused local tour operators and drivers to lose their jobs during low season.

We want local officials to know that drivers belonging to ATBA are facing problems and want them solved fast.

Small entrepreneurs are causing a price war with operators from other provinces that came to operate in Phuket, and they offer discount prices. We also have to compete with jewellery shops who provide their own buses for their customers, he said.

At present ATBA has 500 buses and 130 members. What we want is for the Royal Gems, Gems Gallery Phuket, Wang Thalang and Royal Gems Pavilion to stop bringing buses from other provinces to service tourists in Phuket.

We have already asked for these companies to review their policies, and after submitting our request they say they that do not have such a policy, he added.

Ms Walairat Kanthong, a secretary from Royal Gems Co, said that she will forward the letter to her superiors, but she also insisted that their company does not have a policy of bringing buses from outside of Phuket to service their customers.

Most of the time we contact tour agents and have never agreed about bring buses in to service customers, she said.

Gems Gallery Phuket Manager Mr Chatchawan Onlaied reiterated Ms Walairats statement that his company does not bring outside companies here to transport customers.

In April 19, more than 50 people from the ATBA gathered at Chai Field, across from Phuket Provincial Hall to urge officials to protect the islands tour bus industry.

The group called for all factions of the industry to join the association in order to resolve disputes, especially to resolve the issue of tour companies in Phuket hiring buses and drivers from off-island. (See story here.)
Police reconsider, clear Ying Kai accusers

BANGKOK: Police have found a 19-year-old female university student and her mother did not commit theft as accused by alleged con woman Monta Ying Kai Yokrattanakan last year.

crimepolice

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 23 August 2016, 09:29AM

The infamous Monta Ying Kai Yokrattanakan made a huge error when she took accused Praphawan Jaikla (left) and her mother Praphaporn Thongfueng of theft. The duo took the complaint to higher police authorities and have been completely cleared of any crime, while Ying Kai is in prison, probably for the rest of her life. Photo: Apichit Jinakul

Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) acting commissioner Sanit Mahathavorn said yesterday (Aug 22) that Pracha Chuen police have reversed themselves and concluded that Praphawan Jaikla, a student at Kasetsart Universitys campus in Sakon Nakhon, and her mother, Praphaporn Thongfueng, did not commit theft as claimed by Ms Monta.

The decision came after Ms Monta was unable to account for assets which she claims were worth several million baht, and which she told police had been stolen by Ms Praphawan and Ms Praphaporn, who are both Ms Montas former housekeepers.

Their cases were sent to prosecutors who recommended indictment.

However, the cases were re-investigated after Ms Monta was suspected to have filed false charges against two women.

The prosecutors ordered police to compile more evidence following a petition by Ms Praphawan and her family seeking justice.

On June 21, Ms Praphawan and her parents submitted the petition with CSD deputy chief Chakrit Sawasdee.

Ms Praphawan said Ms Monta had filed a false complaint with Pracha Chuen police, accusing her and her mother of stealing valuables worth more than B10 million while they worked at the womans home at the National Housing Authoritys Pracha Niwet Building 1 in Chatuchak district on March 18 last year.

At the time, Ms Monta had tried to persuade Ms Praphawan to work in Hong Kong, claiming she would make good money there.

However, after Ms Praphawan turned down the offer and left the apartment with her mother without notifying the woman, Ms Monta was arrested by police on the theft complaint. They had CCTV footage of the pair leaving the house with bags.

Meanwhile, Pracha Chuen police chief Col Samart Promchart said yesterday that police also have wrapped up nine other cases involving complaints which Ms Monta had made against other former employees and forwarded them to prosecutors. Ms Monta, who is being held in a remand jail, was charged with lodging false complaints, human trafficking, defamation and lese majeste.

Read original story here.
Police say 20 trained southern Muslims did tourist bombings

BANGKOK: At least 20 people, most of them Muslims and from the insurgency-plagued South, were involved in the deadly bombings in seven provinces early this month, national police chief Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday (Aug 2).

crimedeathpolicepoliticsreligionviolence

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 23 August 2016, 09:00AM

National police chief Gen Chakthip Chaijinda says at least 20 trained men from the southern border provinces were involved in the Aug 11-12 attacks that killed four people and 37 others. Photo: Bangkok Post

Gen Chakthip said police know the meeting points of all the suspects and their travel routes before and after their bombing missions.

Most of the perpetrators were followers of Islam from the three Muslim-dominated southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. Many of them were previously unknown to police, but others were linked to violent attacks in the southernmost provinces.

He refused to comment whether any had dual Thai-Malaysian citizenship.

The incidents appear to be the work of the new generation, as we have had no profiles of several of them. The veterans [from the southern separatist movement] may have played a supportive role. This makes the investigation quite difficult, Gen Chakthip told a media briefing.

Officials, however, have evidence that there are more than 20 people in this network. We believe all of them received training before carrying out the coordinated attacks.

Gen Chakthip said he did not rule out any motive, whether the draft constitution referendum or the escalation of violence from the Southern region, adding that the group might have been hired by others to carry out the attacks.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Aug 11-12 arson and bombings which occurred in seven provinces and targeted key tourist areas, killing four people and injuring 37 others  26 Thais and 11 foreigners.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said a meeting on compensation for the victims yesterday resolved to offer B1.18 million to the family of each of the deceased, a similar amount paid to those killed in the Erawan shrine bombing at Ratchaprasong intersection last August.

The government will pay all medical bills for the injured people and restitution for damage caused to private residences and assets.

The injured would also receive redress and other compensation for lack of income and inability to work. The same criteria will be applied for the 11 foreigners injured by the explosions, who may also receive additional payment for travel expenses.

The 11 injured foreign tourists are from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia. One has been released from hospital and already left Thailand, Mr Wissanu said.

Read original story here.
Six arrested in kratom haul north of Phuket

PHUKET: Five men and one woman were arrested yesterday (Aug 22) with over 300 kilos of fresh kratom after two of the suspects were stopped at Tha Chatchai checkpoint the previous night.

crimedrugspolicetransport

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 23 August 2016, 03:15PM

The six were arrested with a total of 326 kilos of kratom leaves. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

At 11:30pm yesterday, Thalang officials led by Thalang District Deputy, Danai Jaikhang; local district Administration Officer (Palad), Siripong Leeprasit, narcotic control officers, territorial defence volunteers and Khok Kloi police arrested six people who were found to be in possession of a total of 326 kilos of kratom leaves at the Baiyang Resort in Khok Kloi, Phang Nga.

Officials also seized from the six eight mobile phones.

The arrests came after Thalang district defence officials and Tha Chatchai police on Sunday night (Aug 21) stopped a vehicle at the Tha Chatchai checkpoint due to its driver and passenger acting suspiciously.

Upon checking the vehicle nothing untoward was found. However, police decided to take the two men back to the station for questioning.

After six hours of questioning, one of the men told officials that his job was to lead a drug delivery vehicle to make sure it passed through the checkpoint. Police were told that the vehicle was waiting for the okay at a resort in Khok Kloi.

Mr Danai said, We contacted Khok Kloi police who found the four other suspects at the resort with many bags of kratom leaves in the room.

All six admitted that they bought the kratom from Malaysia were taking it to Phuket where they would sell it for B1,000 per kilo, he said.

All six were taken to Khok Kloi Police Station to face the charge of possession of a Category 5 drug with intent to sell.
The Ground Below

Flyover Country provides endless entertainment for travellers

Tuesday 23 August 2016, 03:16PM

Application ABCs is a monthly column highlighting the latest in tech, social media and mobile phone applications.

by Amy Bensema

Have you ever been sat in the window seat, looking at the landscape below and wondering just what exactly you were flying over? Learn about the ground beneath you as you fly with the all-new Flyover Country app.

Designed to let travellers track their flight with a mobile phones GPS, Flyover Country is an outstanding app funded offline by the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation utilises the app for geoscience outreach and data discovery. The aim of Flyover Country is to educate avid travellers and normal people, not just scientists, about the world around them. It is an educational, entertaining app to keep on ones mobile phone.

Flyover Country has been designed to let users know what areas of interest are near the land they are travelling over. Whether users of the app are hiking, flying or simply on a cross-country road trip, Flyover Country analyses the surrounding area. The app then provides interactive points of interest such as scenic areas, popular landscapes and tourist attractions. Flyover Country is also able to reveal the location of fossils based upon previous georeferenced Wikipedia articles. The app provides information for where users are located at any given moment.

Flyover Country is an amazing app to use while flying. Flyover Country is able to track the users GPS location including speed, altitude and the path in which the airplane is heading. Analysing the given flight path, Flyover Country caches points of interest and informative map data which in turn allows travellers to read about the exact locations that are currently beneath the airplane. The app is able to be used offline, so travellers do not need to rely on an airlines sketchy Wi-Fi connection to use it. Flyover Country can provide hours of educational fun during even the longest of flights.

Worried about downloading too much data? With Flyover Country, by downloading only the necessary data to a flight path, cache sizes remain manageable, allowing for a more robust experience offline when using the app.

Flyover Country is not limited to airplanes. It is also a wonderful app to use when hiking or while on a road trip or enjoying outdoor activities. Users are indeed able to learn about the world with this very innovative app.

Flyover Country is available for both Android and iOS, and the app is free to download.

Amy Bensema is a long-term Phuket expat with a keen interest in social media and tech. Check out @phuketstagram on Instagram.
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.
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The Driver will be responsible for the maintenance of the assigned UNHCR vehicle(s) as per technical guidance and specifications established by the organization. She will be required to follow strict instructions and security guidance provided by the supervisor. While the basic function of a Driver is to drive the official vehicles of UNHCR, she may be called upon to perform minor maintenance and repair of UNHCR vehicles. The incumbent will have regular contacts with staff within UNHCR office and with service providers outside UNHCR involving a limited exchange of information.






Job Title: Local TV Manager

Organization: IMK Business

Consultants (IMK)

Duty Station: Kampala,

Uganda

About US:

IMK Business Consultants (IMK) is a Business management consulting firm

offering practical and feasible business solutions. IMK operates regionally in

four East African countries namely; Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya and Rwanda; with

other occasional consultancies made world over to our clients in Europe and

other parts of the world. Our mission is to be a world leader in matching

demand for and supply of Talent, HR and Business development services by

ensuring quality work to our clients and having experienced competent

professionals with the best practical tailor made solutions/training skills to

our important asset-THE CLIENT.

Job Summary: The Local TV Manager

manages all operations of the Local TV station



Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Programming Management/Administration:

The Local Station TV station manager

directs, coordinates and supervises all station activities and personnel.

A large percentage of the managers efforts deal with developing and

acquiring programming.

The station manager serves as a creative

leader.

The job requires you to work with

directors, production staff and on-air talent to develop ideas for new

programs and to recommend and carry out changes to current programming.

Collect and analyze information about

viewer preferences and tendencies and uses the information to guide him in

making programming decisions.

The station manager also sets the

programming schedule and ensures that the station follows the schedule.

The station manager also sets the

programming schedule and ensures that the station follows the schedule.

Ensure staff are trained to enable high

levels of quality and efficiency.

Ensure compliance with Uganda

Communications Commission rules and regulations and play a role in human

resources.

Production and Financial :

The Station manager also develops and

manages the stations budget, develop and implement sales and marketing

plans.

The station manager also perform executive

producer duties

The Station manager makes hiring and

promotion decisions for production and direction jobs and on-air talent,

set work schedules and provide oversight and guidance for the stations

advertising arm.

Qualifications, Skills and

Experience:

The applicant must hold a Masters Degree in

Mass Communication or an equivalent

At least three years work experience.

The Local TV station manager must have

good critical thinking skills and exemplary decision-making and judgment

abilities. These abilities help in planning and setting programming.

The job also requires active listening and

learning ability, good communication skills, the ability to multitask and

manage time and the ability to solve problems.

The job also requires technology skills

related to TV production. Managers must know how to operate cameras and

control room equipment.

Proven ability to assess and report on

staff performance.

Ability to work under pressure.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates are encouraged to send

their personal suitability statement, copies of academic

transcripts/certificates and a detailed CV to: The Recruitment Manager, IMK

Business Consultants, P.O. Box 35090 Kampala, Uganda or via email to info@imkconsultants.com

and copy: nabagerekamatilda@hygieneconsultants.net Please specify the position

title as subject of the E-mail.

NB: Only shortlisted

applicants will be contacted. Applications received after the closing date will

only be considered for future related jobs openings.

th

October, 2016 Deadline: 11October, 2016
Organization: IMK Business

Consultants (IMK)

Duty Station: Kampala,

Uganda

About US:

IMK Business Consultants (IMK) is a Business management consulting firm

offering practical and feasible business solutions. IMK operates regionally in

four East African countries namely; Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya and Rwanda; with

other occasional consultancies made world over to our clients in Europe and

other parts of the world. Our mission is to be a world leader in matching

demand for and supply of Talent, HR and Business development services by

ensuring quality work to our clients and having experienced competent

professionals with the best practical tailor made solutions/training skills to

our important asset-THE CLIENT.



Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:



Provide strategic plans and reviews, preparing

and completing action plans, completing audits; identifying trends; determining

system improvements; implementing change.



Determines annual and gross-profit plans by

forecasting and developing annual sales quotas for regions; projecting expected

sales volume and profit for existing and new products; analyzing trends and

results; establishing pricing strategies; recommending selling prices;

monitoring costs, competition, supply, and demand.



Meets marketing and sales financial objectives

by forecasting requirements; preparing an annual budget; scheduling expenditures;

analyzing variances; initiating corrective actions.



Plan, develop, implement, and evaluate

advertising, merchandising, and trade promotion programs; developing field

sales action plans.



The incumbent will identify marketing

opportunities by identifying consumer requirements; defining market,

competitors share, and competitors strengths and weaknesses; forecasting

projected business; establishing targeted market share.



Improve product marketability and profitability

by researching, identifying, and capitalizing on market opportunities;

improving product packaging; coordinating new product development.



Sustain rapport with key accounts by making

periodic visits; exploring specific needs; anticipating new opportunities.



Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:



The applicant should hold a Masters degree in

Marketing, Business Administration or related fields



At least three years experience



Protects organizations value by keeping

information confidential.



Updates job knowledge by participating in

educational opportunities; reading professional publications; maintaining

personal networks; participating in professional organizations.



The job also requires active listening and

learning ability, good communication skills, the ability to multitask and

manage time and the ability to solve problems



Ability to work under pressure.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates are encouraged to send

their personal suitability statement, copies of academic

transcripts/certificates and a detailed CV to: The Recruitment Manager, IMK

Business Consultants, P.O. Box 35090 Kampala, Uganda or via email to

info@imkconsultants.com and copy: nabagerekamatilda@hygieneconsultants.net Please specify the position title as subject of the E-mail.

NB: Only shortlisted

applicants will be contacted. Applications received after the closing date will

only be considered for future related jobs openings.

th

October, 2016 Deadline: 11October, 2016



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For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com orfind us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline






Job Title: Protection and Rule of Law Manager

Organization: International

Rescue Committee (IRC)

Duty Station: Uganda

Reports to: Protection and

Rule of Law Coordinator

About US:

The International Rescue Committee helps people whose lives and

livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and

gain control of their future. It was created by Albert Einstein more than 80

years and has been working in Uganda since 1998. It has particularly working in

the conflict zones where tens of thousands of people have been kills and over

1.6 million displaced. Following a peace agreement in 2006, Ugandans are

returning home and looking to rebuild their lives. The IRC is there to protect

women and children from violence and exploitation by fostering a safe

environment and encouraging education, and is supporting farmers and small

businesses, and helping communities promote peace and long-term development.

Job Summary: The Protection

and Rule of Law Manager will be responsible for provision of technical guidance

and oversight of IRCs Protection and Rule of Law programming. This will include leadership of internal

protection and legal capacity building activities, activity design and

implementation as well the identification and analysis of legal and protection

issues of concern. The Protection and Rule of Law Manager will undertake

coordination with other relevant actors (among which UNHCR, government

counterparts, and other national and international NGOS), as well as

participating in local-level coordination forums (such as the protection

cluster), as needed.



Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:

Programme Management:



Manage the implementation of the Protection and

Rule of Law programming, including: timely recruitment; development of program

work plans; reporting in accordance with IRC and donor regulations.



Develops effective training materials in line

with IRC technical best practice and standards.



In cooperation with the Protection and Rule of

Law Coordinator, devises broader legal services programming strategy.



Steers the development of all training

materials, and provides follow up support and guidance to the volunteers

engaged with IRC on Protection and Rule of Law activities.

Staff Management & Technical Guidance:



Directly supervise two protection officers, one

legal officer and two Community Engagement officers, and support them.



Provide technical guidance to Protection and

Rule of Law and legal staff within IRCs Protection and Rule of Law department,

to ensure adherence to best practice in the approach and response to legal

protection issues.



Maintain up-to-date familiarity with all

relevant provisions of national laws and regulations, in particular related

refugees and asylum seekers.



Provide continuous support to build capacity of

the team, ensuring the submission of weekly work plans, weekly meetings and

professional development opportunities in-line with performance monitoring and

evaluation plans.



Discuss job expectations, set objectives and

provide appropriate and timely feedback regarding performance, including timely

implementation of the annual staff performance management system.



Clearly define the training needs of direct

reports and ensure they are able to access training and professional

development resources appropriate to their skill gaps/needs.



Maintain open and professional relations with

team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and

guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions including

staff development plans.



Provide leadership support for the successful

implementation of and adherence to the IRC Global HR Operating Policies and

Procedures.



Lead with commitment, integrity and

accountability to the IRC Way  Global Standards for Professional Conduct.

Representation, coordination and advocacy:



Build connections with counterparts including

INGO, Local NGO, governmental and other non-governmental stakeholders.



Collaborate with the WPE Manager and the Protection

and Rule of Law Coordinator to identify and coordinate advocacy plans and

initiatives on legal issues of importance and concern.



Collaborate closely with other program

departments in order to ensure that linkages between programs are made and

programs gain from training best practice.





All other duties as assigned.



Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:



The applicant should preferably hold a Law

Degree. PGD in Law from Law Development Center (LDC)



A minimum of three (3) years of prior professional

experience in protection programming and as a practicing lawyer or in a

position where legal advice, counseling and assistance was frequently provided

to vulnerable clients.



Previous experience providing legal counseling

and assistance on issues including HLP, employment law, and refugee and asylum

seekers issues.



Prior exposure and experience interacting with

judicial, security and administrative authorities as well UNHCR and INGOs.



Good protection background and knowledge of

refugee context, as well as demonstrated ability to identify and refer

vulnerable cases, is desirable.



Strong experience managing a diverse team.



Strong management and organizational skills.



Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work

as part of a team, as well as independently.



Excellent ability to interpret, analyze and

synthesize information in a fast-paced environment.



Excellent knowledge of the Uganda legal system,

its stakeholders and processes is strongly preferred.



Excellent organizational skills, timeliness,

ability to determine priorities and great attention to detail.



Proactive, flexible, team spirited and willing

to learn.



Good computer skills including MS Word, Excel

and PowerPoint.



Language Skills: Excellent drafting

and oral communication skills in English.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their

applications online at the link below.



find us on our facebook page

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com orfind us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline






The inquiry report into the illegal kidney trade racket at the prestigious Hiranandani hospital in Mumbai is expected anytime later this week. The three-member panel investigating the matter is giving final touches to the report after the preliminary enquiry.

It is likely that the probe findings would throw light on serious anomalies in paper work which precedes an organ transplant operation at any hospital. It is also expected to throw light on the "networked" nature of the offence and the all-round involvement of a few Hiranandani doctors and staffers. Also, other transplant operations carried out at the hospital by the doctors involved are also being scanned and investigated by the panel.

The incident had shocked many when Powai police, acting on a tip-off, picked up and arrested the CEO of Hiranandani hospital Sujit Chatterjee and its medical director Anurag Naik, along with a slew of other doctors and staff.

The racket was unearthed on July this year after whistle blower Sunder Singh Yadav alerted the authorities. A transplant operation was stymied mid-way after it turned out that the donor and the recipient were not related and that the papers were faked. Yadav is in hiding after receiving death threats.

The Directorate of Health Services, thereafter, ordered a detailed probe into the matter. DHS director Mohan Jadhav said that the report on the matter is in the final stages and that will be soon submitted to the health ministry. In fact, state health minister Deepak Sawant himself has taken a very active role in ensuring that the kidney scam is properly investigated.

The investigation report would enable the state government to moot harsher and tightened laws in regard to organ donations and transplant operations. However, the hospital has been continuing with its own internal examination into the matter.
Divya Spandana, better known as Remya, is facing sedition charges. A lawyer from Kodagu in Karnataka has filed a private civil complaint against the actress-turned-politician for her remarks that 'Pakistan is not hell'.

The actor had attended a SAARC event in Pakistan recently and on returning to India had made the comment. Referring to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement that "going to Pakistan is like going to hell", Remya said, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

The lawyer, Katnamane Vittal Gowda, said that he was "appalled" that Remya had praised Pakistan.

Remya has been a member of Congress since 2011 and a former lawmaker from Mandya. The case will be heard on Saturday.
Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin has sent a message of support for the Sefer Torah campaign that is being written in his merit.

The campaign is ending tomorrow when the Siyum will be held and currently has over 5000 participants.

In the email Sholom Mordechai sent to his family he described a visit a group of bochurim had with him and how he requested from them to join the campaign, and encourage others to do the same.

Please reach out to other mechanchim and ask them to join with their talmidim as well, he said.

Getzel Rubashkin who is Sholom Mordechais eldest son has also recorded a message encouraging all to take part in the Sefer Torah campaign.

We are Jews, and the Torah is our life, and this is a reality my father lives with on a daily basis inspiring all of Klal Yisroel, Getzel said.

My father asked to encourage all who can to participate in this Mitzvah and hopefully this will be the final Zechus that will hasten his personal geulah and he will return home to his family.

The arrest and unjustly long incarceration of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin is an ongoing saga that has captured the attention of Am Yisroel. His steadfast Emunah and Bitachon have inspired thousands and his acceptance of his fate has pushed those who love him to fight with superhuman strength to reverse it.

His fight is being fought on many fronts, by family, legislators and attorneys, but the ultimate power to fight for justice lies with us, Klal Yisroel, as we are able to beseech Hashem, the all-powerful Judge for a miraculous reversal of the injustice.

Today, you have the opportunity to unite with Klal Yisroel and become a partner in the writing of a new sefer Torah that is being written in Zchus of bringing Sholom Mordechai Halevi back to his family and Klal Yisroel.

The Siyum Sefer Torah will iyh take place, tomorrow the 20th of Av.

The website, Torah For Sholom, is built specifically to allow everyone to partake in this mitzvah.

To join in, simply visit the website, and click Participate.

And please help get the word out by sharing with your friends, family, and as many yidden as possible. Lets shake the heavens with Torah, Tefilah, Tzedakah!
With deep pain and anguish we are saddened to report the petirah moments ago of Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis ah founder of HINENI and pioneer in the world of Kiruv. With the Rebbetzins petirah Klal Yisroel has suffered an irreplaceable loss.

The Rebbetzin was a trailblazer, for over a half century, crisscrossing the globe with her message of loving-kindness and hope. She was a teacher of Torah to millions of Jews from every walk of life.

She spent her life showing the beauty of Yiddishkeit to Jews across the globe bringing countless neshomos back to their roots.

Rebbetzin Jungreis was born in Szeged, Hungary in 1936, where her father HoRav Avrohom HaLevi Jungreis ztl was Chief Rabbi.

A Holocaust survivor, Rebbetzin Jungreis made it her life mission to bring back Jews to authentic Yiddishkeit. She was a pioneer in the world of kiruv/outreach and founded the international HINENI Movement.

The Jungreis family had been deported with other Jews from Szeged. After suffering through many concentration camps, Bchasdei HaShem, the family eventually arrived in Switzerland.

In 1947, after being spared the horrors of the concentration camps and the Holocaust, the Jungreis family arrived in Brooklyn, New York where the Rebbetzin married a distant cousin, HoRav Meshulem HaLevi Jungreis ztl. The newly-married Jungreis couple settled in North Woodmere, New York, where Rabbi Jungreis was the spiritual leader of Ohr HaTorah.

The Rebbetzin, together with her husband embarked on a lifelong mission devoting their lives to combatting the spiritual Holocaust that was occurring right in front of their eyes here in the United States. She waged a fierce battle against interfaith marriages, secularization, and other forms of assimilation, which she firmly believed was an existential threat to the continued existence of Klal Yisroel.

Under the Rebbetzins leadership HINENI became a worldwide movement, inspiring Jews to seek out their roots and return to Yiddishkeit. Rebbetzin Jungreis authored several best-selling books including The Jewish Soul On Fire, The Committed Life, and The Committed Marriage, all of which have been translated in many languages with millions of volumes disseminated in every corner of the globe. Her latest book  Life Is A Test was widely acclaimed as one of the 10 best Jewish inspiration books of all time.

The Rebbetzins pioneering work has been widely recognized, and she received brochos and encouragement from numerous gedolim, including such giants as the Satmar Rebbe, HaRav Yoel Teitelbaum ztl, HaRav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin ztl, HaRav Moshe Feinstein ztl, and many others.

She was also recognized by numerous world leaders for her work within the Jewish community to advance Yiddishkeit. Among them were such notables as the late Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin ah and President George W. Bush who asked the Rebbetzin to accompany him to Yerushalayim for the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel in 2008.

The Rebbetzin was an incredible woman  a person who has literally influenced and touched countless people. The many thousands of individuals who were fortunate enough to receive her brocho immediately felt the connection with this unique person.

Rebbetzin Jungreis is survived by her children Chaya Sora Gertzulin, Rabbi Yisroel Jungreis, Slovi Wolff and Rabbi Osher Jungreis, and by many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The Levaya will be held on Wednesday morning at 11:00AM at the Agudath Israel of Long Island, located at 1121 Sage Street in Far Rockaway, NY.

Boruch Dayan HaEmmes
Chareidi soldiers are going to be deployed in new areas, including military police and the navy, Kol Berama Radio reports. The new program is scheduled to being in November 2016. Fifteen chareidi soldiers will be assigned to the military polices Erez Battalion. This unit is responsible for crossing points around the perimeter of Jerusalem.

The IDFs induction goal for chareidim in 2016 is 3,200 and officials hope this number will continue to increase. The military also hopes to place chareidim in the navy, a Dabur patrol boats which leave their base and patrol up to 48-hours at a time. This program is still in the planning stage and it has not yet been approved.

Hesder yeshiva soldiers are serving in this program and conditions for frum soldiers are difficult as there are no minyanim, soldiers live in close quarters and maintaining a kosher kitchen on these vessels is not a reality at present. The navy is known to be the most secular branch of the IDF.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
It has been fifteen years since the Versailles wedding hall disaster that claimed the lives of 23 people and left hundreds injured, some disabled for life. The families are still waiting for compensation that was ordered by the court.

Persons who were physically injured were to receive NIS 50,000. Those who were permanently disabled and classified by Bituach Leumi as 20% disabled receive NIS 6,000 for each percentage of disability. Families of the 23 people killed were ordered to receive NIS 75,000 plus NIS 10,000 for each year their life was cut short as per an accepted table of figures. Families were also to receive NIS 10,00 towards burial costs.

Three years after the disaster, the owners of the hall were convicted in the deaths and sentenced to 2.5 years in jail. The engineer, Eli Ron, was convicted in 2006 along with others, who were sentenced to prison for a few years. Bottom line is that today, 15 years later, no one has collected the compensatory payment due them.

The disaster occurred on May 24, 2001 during the wedding of Karen and Assaf Dror. A portion of an upper floor of the wedding hall complex collapsed on the participants of the chasenah below. Police, fire, Zaka, MDA and others worked for days to sift through the rubble for survivors.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Hamas continues to threaten Israel and on Sunday, 17 Menachem Av, the terrorist organization announced efforts to abduct IDF soldiers are ongoing. The Izzadin el-Kassam brigade of the terrorist regime that runs life in Gaza announced it continues efforts to abduct soldiers to use them as bargaining pawns towards gaining the release of terrorists imprisoned in Israel.

Hamas vows to continue fighting against the marine blockade on Gaza as well as expressing it resistance to the Israeli presence on Har Habayis.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Russia has stopped using an Iranian air base for launching airstrikes on Syria for the time being, Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday, just hours after the Iranian defense minister criticized Moscow for having kind of show-off and ungentlemanly attitude by publicizing their actions.

There was no immediate response from Moscow, which had used the Shahid Nojeh Air Base to refuel its bombers striking Syria at least three times last week.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran that the Russian airstrikes on militants in Syria were temporary, based on a Russian request.

It is finished, for now, Ghasemi said, without elaborating.

Last week, Russia announced it used the airfield, located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Iranian city of Hamedan. Iranian officials only confirmed Russias presence a day later.

Earlier Monday, state TV quoted Irans defense minister as saying that Russia will use the base for a very short and fixed span. The comments by Gen. Hossein Dehghan came after he chastised parliament this weekend for asking questions about Russia using the base.

Responding to a question about why Iran didnt initially announce Russias presence at the airfield, Dehghan appeared prickly on the state TV broadcast.

Russians are interested to show they are a superpower to guarantee their share in political future of Syria and, of course, there has been a kind of show-off and ungentlemanly (attitude) in this field, he said.

Dehghans remarks also suggest Russia and Iran initially agreed to keep Moscows use of the air base quiet. Its announcement likely worried Irans Sunni-ruled Mideast neighbors, which host American military personnel.

The Interfax news agency on Monday also quoted Russias ambassador to Tehran, Levan Dzhagaryan, as confirming that all of Moscows warplanes have been withdrawn from Iran. Dzhagaryan said, however, that he does not see any reason why the Russians cant use the Iranian base again.

For Iran, allowing Russia to launch strikes from inside the country is likely to prove unpopular. Many still remember how Russia, alongside Britain, invaded and occupied Iran during World War II to secure oil fields and Allied supply lines. But while Britain withdrew, Russia refused to leave, sparking the first international rebuke by the nascent United Nations Security Council in 1946.

Analysts have suggested Russia potentially leveraged Iran into allowing it to use the airfield over either economic or military interests, such as Tehran wanting to purchase Sukhoi-30 fighter jets or its deployment of Russian S-300 air defense missile systems. Russia initially held off on supplying the missile system to Tehran amid negotiations over Irans contested nuclear program.

Over the weekend, photographs of President Hassan Rouhani were published in Iranian state media near a Bavar-373 missile defense system. That system is designed to be the local equivalent of the S-300  perhaps an Iranian signal back to Moscow that its capable of defending itself without the Russian missile system.

In his comments, Dehghan said the Bavar-373 can hit targets at the height of 27 kilometers (16.7 miles)  the same height the S-300 can reach.

When we make Bavar-373 operational, we will not need to purchase another high-altitude and long-range air defense system, he said.

Dehghan added that Iran still sees the Sukhoi-30 as an appropriate fighting aircraft, though he acknowledged the U.S. could seek to block any fighter jet deal. The U.N. resolution enshrining last years nuclear deal with Iran prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran unless approved in advance by the Security Council.

The issue of purchasing the fighters has been raised and we have not heard any negative answer, he said. We are negotiating to learn how we can do this with the restriction that can be raised for the Russians.

Meanwhile, fighting continued Monday in Syria. In the northern Syrian city of Hasakeh, clashes again erupted between Kurdish fighters and pro-government militias, according to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency. The government and the Kurdish movement have shared control of the city since the early years of the Syrian civil war.

Syrian government planes bombed Kurdish positions in Hasakeh last week as the struggle for predominance in the city escalated.

(AP)
While Turkey over the weekend approved the reconciliation agreement with Israel, the Turkish Foreign Ministry was quick to condemn IDF air strikes over Gaza which were in retaliation for a rocket attack into Sderot on Sunday. Bchasdei Hashem there were no fatalities or injuries in the attack as a rocket landed between two homes. There was property damage however. The attack led to an Israeli response in which dozens of terrorist targets in Gaza were hit.

Turkeys Foreign Minister was quoted calling the IDF response a hostile attitude and fell short of any condemnation of the unprovoked rocket fire into southern Israel from Gaza. The statement continued, adding the attacks which led to injuries to innocent Palestinians are not acceptable regardless of their grounds.

The ministry statement added that reconciliation with Israel does not mean Turkey will remain silent in the face of such actions.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
[By Bayla Sheva Brenner]

Standing on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, its hard to believe that this very place where Jews fought to their deaths to preserve Jewish life, has now become the epicenter of a Jewish renaissance in Poland. But what is now even more astonishing is that some of its very leaders were often ignorant of their Jewish roots until later in life and sometimes were even raised as Catholics.

Walk into Warsaws Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw, the only shul that survived the Nazi ravages, and youll see that the shul is packed. Jewish Poles are coming for Torah classes, prayer services and Yom Tov celebrations  searching, desperately, for the heritage nearly lost to them.

Their ancestors were among the few thousand concentration camp survivors who chose to remain in Poland after the war. Unfortunately, their Jewish identities didnt. For decades, they hid the truth, from their Gentile spouses, their children, their grandchildren.

Fear is a powerful emotion, says Rabbi Michael Schudrich, todays chief rabbi of Poland. In 1990, Schudrich was sent by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation to seek out the Jews left in Poland who were interested in exploring their Judaism. He found them. And each one had a story to tell.

I was at a funeral a few months ago for a woman in her nineties, he says. Her 60-year old son told the people standing around the grave: I know some of you are wondering why we are here at the Jewish cemetery. His mother had been in the Warsaw Ghetto. Her entire family was murdered. She never spoke about being Jewish until she was in her seventies. The last sentence of his eulogy: Mother, now you are resting in the Jewish cemetery; you dont have to be afraid anymore.

In 1939, 3.3 million Jews lived in Poland. Today there are an estimated 30,000. Rabbi Schudrich and his growing congregation of late-bloomer Jews are determined to rebuild Polands Torah infrastructure  starting with Warsaw, once home to 393,950 Jews. It housed Polands largest Jewish community, a community which comprised one-third of the city.

With every effort, they continue to pick up momentum. The community members mostly started from zero, says Rabbi Moshe Bloom, who heads the community kollel, comprised of students and baalei batim who learn in the Nozyk synagogue every day from 9:00 a.m to noon. Every one of them discovered their Jewish origins later in life. Theyre not sure what to do with the knowledge. Most of them come to speak with the rabbi or someone actively Jewish in the community. Our goal is to bring them closer.

Aside from the weekly classes, the shul holds a regular Friday night community Shabbos seudah drawing over 70 participants, as well as Shabbatons. They all start out saying, Wow Im a Jew; what does it mean? They search on the Internet, the library, the cemeteries, says Rabbi Bloom. One person showed me his great-grandfathers grave. He told me this is the place where he feels the most Jewish. For him that was his connection.

The Warsaw community currently boasts a mikveh, kollel, and Lauder-Morasha day school (established by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation). With the current enrollment at 240 students from the ages of 3-16 and a staff of 80, including 50 teachers, the school is the first under Jewish auspices in Warsaw since 1949, and is the only Jewish school in Poland today.

As Warsaws Jewish community grew, with five kosher restaurants opening and a growing number of Orthodox Union (OU)-certified food manufacturers, there was an urgent need for mashgichim. In 1996, OU Kosher introduced the Harry H. Beren ASK OU Mashgiach Training Program, a summer program which has trained close to 1,000 mashgichim, many of whom serve in leadership positions with kosher agencies across North America, Israel, and other Jewish communities around the world.

Schudrich, as the OUs Rabbinic Field Representative overseeing the production of Polands OU-Kosher certified manufacturing plants, encouraged three of the communitys longtime members to register for the upcoming program: Curiel Kowalik, Yitzhak Moshe Krakowski, and Michal Samet.

Kowaliks journey began at 16, when he decided to deepen his spirituality. Although raised Catholic, he began attending the Nozyk synagogues shiurim and religious community activities. When he decided to convert, his mother realized she ought to tell him the truth about her background: She was a Jew.

Kowalik, a co-founder of the Lauder-Morasha Jewish Day School where he served as the Jewish Educational Program Director, currently heads the Museum of the History of Polish Jews Educational Centre.

Unlike Kowalik, Krakowski, a fellow ASK OU participant, discovered his Jewish roots on his fathers side. His father, a Holocaust survivor, married a staunchly Catholic Polish woman. Nevertheless, Krakowski gravitated to Judaism.

In Polish society, if you know you have some Jewish background, it touches you, says Krakowski. If someone tells a joke about Jews in your presence, youre affected. Eventually he converted. He studied at yeshivot in Israel, and then returned to Poland to assume an active leadership role in the growing Warsaw community.

Im called a professional Jew, jokes Krakowski, the gabbai of the shul, who also serves on the executive board of the Polish Jewish Community, the Religious Affairs Committee, and frequently assists Rabbi Schudrich with his mashgiach duties.

Samet, the third Warsaw participant in ASK OU, was born in Gdansk, a city left virtually empty of Jews. Samet travelled to Warsaw to learn Torah, and eventually returned to Gdansk to rebuild Jewish life from the ashes. Today, the citys synagogue, used as a furniture warehouse after the war, functions as Jewish headquarters, open for prayer and educational services.

Along with his duties as longstanding member of the board of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, Samet also served as the president of the Jewish Community of Gdansk and works in partnership with The Heritage Foundation for Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries and the Committee for Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe.

Approximately 100 Jews are registered as official members of Gdansks Jewish community. Samet presumes there are many more in the area who are either unaware of their heritage or afraid to reveal it.

Wherever Jews are, we must build a community, he says. We can better fulfill the mitzvos, whether it is praying with a minyan, reading from the Torah, or participation in festivals. Gdansk is home to one of the only synagogues still standing in this part of Poland. It is our responsibility to preserve it.

He aims to inspire the community to learn about Yiddishkeit by living as an example. He considers kashrus education, and its application, a pivotal part of that mission.

Knowing how to practically apply the halachos and gaining an understanding of the complexity of modern food production are essential tools for Jews in Poland, says Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO and Rabbinic Administrator of OU Kosher. By training our leaders were helping to spread this knowledge throughout the Jewish communities there.

One of the ASK OUs first graduates, Rabbi Joshua Spinner, founding director of Yeshiva Beis Zion in Berlin (sent in 1997 by Lauder to strengthen the German Jewish community), urged his talmidim to follow suit. Two of them graduated from ASK OU, and went on to earn semicha.

Those graduates continue to strengthen kashrus standards in Germany, says Rabbi Yosef Grossman, OU senior rabbinic coordinator and director of OU Kashrus Education. We hope to generate the same success this year in Poland.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recanted his support for a Public Broadcasting Corporation that isnt subject to public ethics. MK Rabbi Israel Eichler said: at the Hanegbi Committee I have already demanded the requirement to subject public broadcasting to ethics and minimal rules which are mentioned in the Nakdi document. This is the only way to stop the violation of the Haredi community and others.

The Nakdi document establishes rules for public broadcasting. It prohibits unilateralism and a broadcaster taking a personal opinion on controversial issues, without adequate disclosure.

MK Rabbi Eichler was not satisfied with only the recommendation and was able to pass the Nakdi law in the Knesset plenum. The Prime Minister panicked and abolished the law immediately within a few weeks.

The new law, which establishes a new Public Broadcasting Corporation has no binding ethical rules and carries a budget of a billion NIS and hundreds of jobs. Therefore, in order to protect the public that is maligned by the media, MK Rabbi Israel Eichler demanded that they adapt the ethical standards of the Nakdi document. This is a critical time for communication, but a time of grace for the Protection of the haredi community, its greatest victim.

After the government and the Knesset have lost the impact on public finances flowing to the Public Broadcasting Corporation we must apply rules of ethics to prevent violence and incitement in the public media. We must not let the rulers of the new corporation, evade the rules of ethics and we are required to protect the citizens from the media dictatorship.

There is no public broadcasting in a country that has no public uniform. The public is made up of a mosaic of people. There are a lot of opinions and attitudes. I expect people who preach openness and tolerance, will be willing to act upon what they preach. We cannot give control over the microphone to people who refuse to accept minimal public ethics.

We must stand up for the public interest and put an end to the hostility, arrogance and degrading treatment of Haredim in the Israeli media.

Such an absurd situation does not exist in any other country in the world country in the world  that the State and its citizens pay the salaries of those who viciously fight against them. It does not happen in democratic countries and neither in dictatorships. Israeli media is not free, it is completely controlled, not by the government or by the public, but by a small group of hostile people who took over the microphones all in the name of freedom of expression and freedom of the press  said MK Rabbi Israel Eichler.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk says President Barack Obama was acting like the drug dealer in chief when his administration delivered $400 million in cash to Iran contingent on the release of American prisoners.

The Republican made the comment to The (Springfield) State Journal-Register editorial board last week, saying the president cant be giving clean packs of money to a  state sponsor of terror.

Republicans have criticized the Obama administration after it acknowledged that the repayment of the money from a 1970s Iranian account was connected to a U.S.-Iranian prisoner exchange in January. The administration denies the money was ransom.

The comment is the latest by Kirk to raise eyebrows in his re-election campaign against Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth. A Duckworth spokesman accused Kirk of disgracefully insulting the president.

(AP)
New York Citys health department has launched a new, interactive mosquito information website as part of its three-year, $21 million effort to keep the Zika virus from spreading.

The new site includes information about mosquito surveillance and control activities across the city as well as recent mosquito control events by neighborhood.

Every day, members of our mosquito control team are collecting surveillance traps, investigating complaints of standing water, and using our tools to reduce the mosquito population, Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a statement.

The website includes interactive maps showing where the city is releasing pesticides. This week, residents in two dozen Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods can expect to see health department trucks spraying for the mosquitoes that are known to carry Zika.

Were gonna keep doing what we need to do and spending the money that we need to spend, but were expecting the federal government to be a partner, Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week.

He urged Congress to return from its recess to authorize $1.9 billion in funding to fight the Zika virus on a national level.

This is an international health crisis, the responsibility of the federal government, he said. Just like an international security threat would be the responsibility of the federal government.

Zika primarily spreads through bites from mosquitoes, but can also be sexually transmitted. Most people wont even know they have been infected by Zika because it often causes no symptoms at all or just mild symptoms.

In New York City, 483 people have been diagnosed with the illness, 49 of those patients are pregnant women. Health department officials say all of those cases are travel related and the numbers will likely climb.

Even as our local mosquito season ends at the end of October, beginning of November, we still expect to see those numbers rise because of travel, de Blasio said.

For those who do have symptoms, the most common include fever, rash, joint or muscle pain, conjunctivitis  also known as pink eye  and a headache. The symptoms usually last just a few days to a week.

The real issue is for pregnant women who are at greatest risk because the virus can cause devastating birth defects such as microcephaly, where the babys brain fails to develop normally.

Spraying in Brooklyn and Queens will begin at 10 p.m. Tuesday and will last through 6 a.m. Wednesday.

For more information to track spraying and get other Zika information, visit the new website at www.nyc.gov/health/mosquito.

As officials ramp up their efforts in New York City, concern is spreading in parts of Florida after the Miami Beach and Wynwood neighborhoods were designated Zika zones. The health department there is giving out free bug spray ahead of students returning to class Monday. Schools were also providing protective uniforms of long sleeves and pants.

The Centers for Disease Control is urging women who are pregnant, plan to get pregnant and their partners to postpone travel to the affected areas.

Experts predict the Zika virus could be around for another year to two years. Scientists at the National Institute of Health are already testing a vaccine.

(AP)
Syria has been warned not to fly warplanes in areas where American troops are advising Kurdish and Arab forces fighting the Islamic State group, the Pentagon said on Monday. But it insisted this does not amount to a no fly zone.

Reporters pushed press secretary Peter Cook to explain the distinction.

Our warning to the Syrians is the same that weve had for some time, that were going to defend our forces and they would be advised not to fly in areas where our forces have been operating, Cook said.

Its not a no fly zone,' he added. Later, he said, You can label it what you want.

Twice last week the U.S. scrambled fighter aircraft to protect American special operations forces and partner forces after Syrian government warplanes flew near the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh. Cook said there have been no similar incidents since Friday.

If need be we will send aircraft again to defend our forces, he said.

Cook said the most recent warnings to Syria not to fly in areas near U.S. troops were communicated through the Russian military, which is operating in support of the Syrian government in its fight against opposition forces, including the Islamic State militants.

Asked whether the U.S. policy is to shoot down a Syrian or Russian aircraft if it poses a threat to U.S. troops on the ground, Cook said, Were going to defend our forces on the ground, absolutely.

Cook was highly critical of Syrian military action in and around the divided city of Aleppo, which has become a main battlefield in Syrias civil war. Relentless shelling and airstrikes have killed more than 300 civilians in the city since rebels broke through a government blockade of the opposition-held east on July 31.

The Syrian regime aided and abetted by its allies, Russia and Iran, is driving the escalation with its indiscriminate bombing campaign, Cook said. Bombing densely populated urban areas, interrupting water and electrical services and maiming civilians is only adding fuel to Syrias civil war and does nothing to degrade extremist groups, which was of course Russias original reason for its military intervention in Syria.

(AP)
The IDF was summoned during the night (Monday to Tuesday) of 19 Menachem Av after a bus of Breslov chassidim arrived at Kever Yosef to be mispallel at the tziyun located in PA (Palestinian Authority) occupied Shechem.

The mispallalim did not coordinate the visit with the IDF as required and they immediately came under attack from Arabs hurling rocks. The IDF had to enter the area to extricate them.

The mispallalim were taken into custody for entering an area A, an area under exclusive PA autonomous control.

Attorney Itamar Ben-Givir, who is representing the chassidim laments the fact they were arrested, pointing out members of the Israeli left-wing routinely enter Ramallah to advance their agenda and they are never arrested.

Ben-Givir adds that placing the discrimination aside, in accordance with the Oslo Agreement, Israelis are to enjoy free access to holy sites including Kever Yosef while in practice, this is not enforced and one places oneself in perilous danger by trying to visit the site to be mispallel.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
On Monday, 18 Menachem Av, a group of Jews, among them children, was assaulted by Arabs as they toured the Old City of Akko during the afternoon hours. The Arabs attempted to push the tourists from the very high ancient wall of the city as they strolled at the site.

In response to the assault one of the tourists in the group, an IDF soldier, was forced to draw his personal weapon to defend the group. After the incident the soldier was detained for investigation and taken to the citys police station, where policemen confiscated his personal weapon. Honenu Attorney Adi Kedar is providing the soldier with legal counsel.

We were strolling along the walls of the Old City, about 20 people, including many children, when suddenly, for no reason, an Arab youth approached us and threatened to push us off of the wall, an enormous height of 12 meters. After a few minutes several more young men and youths joined the youth. One of them started to push members of the group off the wall and to genuinely endanger their lives. I and other members of the group, in order not to fall from the high side towards the sea and the boulders, were forced to jump from the wall to the low side.

In reaction to the assault one of the members of the group, a soldier, was forced to draw his personal weapon in order to deter the assailants and to protect the group, which included children. In response the police detained him for investigation and confiscated his weapon. We are on our way to the station to give testimony, said one of the tourists.

The group filed a complaint at the police station against the Arab assailants.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Life for the chareidim in the Haifa government has not been easy since Mayor Yona Yahav refused to honor a coalition agreement which involves permitting Degel Councilman Miki Alper to move into a deputy mayor slot. Yahav has decided to openly defy the agreement and show his disdain for the chareidim.

Degel Hatorah leader MK Moshe Gafne has decided not to resign from the Haifa coalition but to remain and continue despite the mayors defiance towards the chareidim.

Gafne is quoted by Yated Neeman saying he does not recall such a situation occurring in any other city in Israel in which a mayor brazenly defies a coalition agreement, stating When the Belz Chassidus buys a building privately and plans to convert it into a school because it has no other alternative, when nothing else works, he (Mayor Yahav) issues a closure order against the school  behavior that is out of the realm of logic. What does he expect, that they will learn in the street?

Belz took the matter to court as reported by YWN-ISRAEL and the court overruled the mayors decision in favor of Belz.

Gafne is quoted adding This reminds me of Haman HaRasha and Zeresh and his wise men. I am not chas vsholom making a comparison in the framework of Yahav and his wise men are beginning to fall. In my view, he is falling with the chareidim who he has harmed so and lacking any logic. He is a mayor who is bad for everyone.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Clearly Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman in recent days sent a strong message to Hamas and Hizbullah. Following a rocket attack into Sderot Lieberman ordered a series of responses which included an IAF assault on dozens of Hamas-related facilities in Gaza during the night that followed the attack. In another incident, Israel responded to a rocket fire into northern Israel, taking out the launcher that was used to fire the rocket from Syria across the border.

Lieberman announced there would be zero tolerance to cross-the-border rocket fire. The senior minister made his comments while visiting the northern border, escorted by senior IDF commanders. He explained that bottom line is that Hamas is just interested in building itself militarily and every time it goes into crisis, Israel, the UN or the international community is there to save it but Israel is not interested in playing this role.

He accuses Hamas of taxing its residents and instead of using the money generated for building, it prefers to use the tax generated funds to build itself militarily and Israel will not permit this. According to Lieberman, 70% of the tax funds are diverted to Hamas military agenda.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck South Korea's central county of Goesan on Saturday, the weather agency said, with no damage or casualties reported so far. The quake occurred i...

Flights from Seoul's Gimpo International Airport to Osaka and Taipei will resume later this week, the state-run airport operator here said Saturday, more than two years after the r...
The AA is launching a range of mortgages for its existing breakdown customers, it has announced.

The AA - best known for its roving mechanics in their yellow vans - reviewed its breakdown cover members' mortgage circumstances and found the average AA member has been on the same mortgage deal for over five years.

Over a fifth have not reviewed their mortgage for more than ten years, when mortgage rates were considerably higher than they are today.

The average AA member has been on the same mortgage deal for over five years

The firm is now hoping that its range of mortgage deals will tempt some of these members away from their existing lenders, with rates starting from 2.08 per cent for a two-year fixed deal at 60 per cent loan-to-value.

However some of the best rates on the market are lower than this. First Direct is offering customers with 40 per cent equity or deposit a two-year fixed rate at 1.74 per cent up to 60 per cent LTV.

The cheapest three-year fix is from Skipton Building Society at 1.99 per cent and the cheapest five-year fix at 2.08 per cent from First Direct.

AA has launched an unusual four-year fixed rate deal with the lowest rate on the market at 2.48 per cent up to 60 per LTV.

The four-year fixed market is very limited, but due to this the AA deals are the most competitive for all LTVs.

Rachel Springall, of personal finance site Moneyfacts, said: 'Its great to see extra competition on the market and the fact these deals charge no product fee will be appealing to borrowers looking to keep upfront costs down.

'Unfortunately some of the rates are not as appealing as it seems, particularly if borrowers have a large loan. If borrowers with a 200,000 mortgage go for a five-year fixed deal at 90 per cent loan-to-value with Coventry BS priced at 3.15 per cent, they would in fact save over 800 in the first year of their mortgage, versus the AA's 3.78 per cent deal, excluding the cashback incentive.'

All of the AA deals charge no fees, bringing the true cost of the mortgage down where the loan is on the larger side or the term is on the longer side. This is particularly relevant if you are thinking of taking a two-year deal as the impact of fees over a short period of time is higher. For longer term deals. fees are spread over several years, bringing the cost of that fee per year down.

The AA is best known for its roving mechanics in their yellow vans

They are also available across both purchase and remortgage and are backed by Bank of Ireland, which also provides the funding for Post Office mortgages.

Springall added: 'There is an abundance of lenders on the market fighting to grab the attention of borrowers, not only locked in a price war but in addition, competing on the overall package. With this in mind borrowers must work out the true cost of their deal to make sure whether it is right for them.'

Andrew Montlake, of mortgage adviser Coreco, said giving consumers more choice was always welcome, but it was important not to assume the AA brand would be the best value for money.

'The added benefits could come in very handy for many although it is important that borrowers do not just make decisions based on the add-ons and take proper, professional advice to compare the actual mortgage products to see if the mortgage really is the most suitable for their circumstances,' he added.

The AA already offers home insurance, breakdown cover, credit cards, savings accounts, cash ISAs and personal loans

Mark Harris, of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, called the AA branding of Bank of Ireland deals a 'gimmick'.

He warned: 'You shouldn't buy mortgages for gimmicks. Borrowers should always choose a mortgage based on best advice. That said, there is nothing wrong with Bank of Ireland mortgages, it is just important that AA members shop around as much as any other borrower.'

Mortgage broker Rob Killeen of Capital Fortune said the more competition the better but he suggested these deals might look like a new lender but were in fact Bank of Ireland deals wrapped up in yellow and black.

He added: 'The AA appears to be following a trend of other retail organisations seeking to leverage their national brand to enter the UK mortgage lender space.

'The dangers inherent with this strategy are manifold - to decline a customers mortgage application is one thing, to decline a loyal retail customer who has historically purchased goods and services and is strongly affiliated to the brand is another as it could seriously dilute the offering.'

You shouldn't buy mortgages for gimmicks. Borrowers should always choose a mortgage based on best advice.

Michael Johnson, director of financial services at the AA, defended the new offering and said: 'This mortgage range has been developed to respond to the needs of our members. Lots of people are currently on mortgage deals where they are spending far more than they need to. This could be down to a combination of high fees and a lack of information, stopping them from switching to a better deal.

'We want to help our members by removing hidden costs and providing simple, straightforward mortgages, with all standard upfront fees included. Were offering each member a no obligation mortgage MOT where members have the opportunity to speak with a mortgage expert to find out if they could be getting a better deal, from our mortgage range. This service aims to help them save money, even if that means recommending they stay with an existing deal.'

The mortgage launch comes a year after the AA announced its long-term partnership with the Bank of Ireland and builds on its existing financial product offer which includes credit cards, savings accounts, cash ISAs and personal loans.
Latest research has revealed that foreign firms' appetite for wanting to do business in or with the UK has not waned since the decision to leave the European Union.

A survey by consultancy company FTI of nearly 1,000 business leaders from nine countries - including the USA, Singapore, India, China and Brazil - shows 73 per cent support the idea of their country striking a free trade deal with the UK.

At the same time 72 per cent say their firm would look for opportunities in the UK once it leaves the EU.

On a sector by sector basis, businessmen in telecoms, media and technology were most keen for a deal - at 81 per cent - while bankers and financiers came in second place with 79 per cent.

Positive: Countries that were particularly in favour of signing free trade agreements, included India and China - at 81 per cent and 82 per cent respectively

Analysts said the survey showed that global businessmen do not want the UK to be 'punished' for its decision to vote Leave and instead are actively encouraging their politicians to come to a swift and sensible solution.

Dan Healy, FTI Consulting managing director and head of research, said: 'This is a clear message to politicians across the globe that they should not burn bridges with the UK over the EU vote.'

He added: 'When politics is stripped away the UK is simply too big a market for multinational corporations. Almost 3 in 4 'Global business leaders' want their country political leaders to engage with the UK so they can consider all potential trade agreements before deciding whether to remain or leave the EU.'

Countries that were particularly in favour of signing free trade agreements, include India and China - at 81 per cent and 82 per cent respectively.

Analysts said the results show how intertwined our economies have become over the past fifteen years. India's Tata Steel owns major UK steel and car manufacturing operations, including the Port Talbot plant in Wales and Jaguar Land Rover in Coventry.

China vowed last year to invest 30billion in deals and investment in the UK, which includes taking a 33.5 per cent stake in the nuclear plant at Hinkley Point.

Many foreign firms in Europe were also keen for a free trade deal, with the survey revealing that 69 per cent of French companies are in favour and 62 per cent of Germans.

Bullish: Firms across Asia and Europe were keen to sign free trade agreements, adding that the UK is simply too big a market for multinational corporations Source: FTI Consulting

And there are signs that politicians around the globe have calmed to the UK's new position in the world.

This week Germany's European Affairs minister called for Britain to win 'a special status' following Brexit, while calling for talks to begin early next year.

Michael Roth added that Britain should be granted a position distinct from that of Switzerland and Norway, which have both been cited as potential examples for the UK to follow.

Wharton was not surprised by the findings as the EU sells far more into UK than we sell into the single market

He said: 'Given Britain's size, significance and its long membership of the European Union, there will probably be a special status which only bears limited comparison to that of countries that have never belonged to the European Union.

'I want relations between the European Union and Britain to be as close as possible.'

Meanwhile US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan is calling for urgent talks on new trade agreements to ensure 'a smooth' relationship after Brexit, despite warnings from President Barack Obama that Britain would go the back of the queue in the event of a leave vote.

Ryan, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate and one of the party's most senior politicians, said: 'Obviously it takes time to do something like this but I think it is something we should be working on.

'We should begin discussions with Great Britain to ease concerns so that we do have a smooth trade relationship with Great Britain, because they are our indispensable ally.'

James Wharton MP for Stockton South said about the survey: 'It comes as no surprise. The EU sells far more to the UK than we sell into the single market.

'Our trading partners know this matters to them just as it matters to us. Politicians in Europe need to ensure they recognise the democratic decision of the British people to leave and work with us to secure an agreement that works in all our interests.'

But experts say that despite the positive sentiments, some businessmen and politicians have perhaps underestimated the scale of the project ahead and the intricacies involved when it come to bargaining trade deals.

History has shown that any major free trade agreement has taken more than four years to negotiate - much longer than the two years it will take the UK to leave the European Union once Article 50 is triggered.

The recent deal between Australia and the United States saw talks begin in early 2001, but not conclude until 2005 after heavy lobbying by the American agricultural sector against the agreement.

Breakdown: On a sector by sector basis, businessmen in TMT were most keen for a deal - at 81 per cent - while bankers and financiers came in second place with 79 per cent Source: FTI Consulting

Analysts say the reason for the long time frames are the nitty-gritty horse trading which takes place behind closed doors between nations.

A good example of this is the EU/South Korea treaty that was signed in October 2009.

It is over 1000 pages and provides special rules for trade in some bizarre areas, including unrooted tree cuttings, artificial joints, wooden roots for pipe making purposes and leather balls used in manufacturing.

The UK has argued that it can avoid this sort of minutiae - which the EU has made itself famous for - by employing better negotiators, diplomats and legal minds.

However once Article 50 is triggered in January the immediate issue for UK/EU negotiations will be around freedom of movement, which if not solved could lead to the UK leaving the Single Market and financial services firms losing their passporting rights.

What is a trade deal and why do we need them? Trade agreements are set up in order to boost business and economic activity by removing barriers to trade across international borders. They do this by reducing - or even eliminating - tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on items traded between countries. Once a country or bloc has made a deal they are required to notify the World Trade Organization (WTO). Deals involve negotiating tariffs and taxes that are applied to imports. They also reduce the cost to business of complying with multiple regulations. This includes banning discrimination against foreign firms or limits on how much business they can do. It also requires opening up government purchasing to bids by foreign business. Some agreements also cover labour rights, for example requiring signatory countries to allow workers to organise and join unions and outlawing child and forced labour. What about investment? The host country may be required to treat the foreign investor as they would a local investor. There are often restrictions on host governments 'expropriating' an investment. That means taking back government ownership without compensation.

Alasdair Douglas, chairman of City of London Law Society, said: 'Freedom of movement is likely to be a key sticking point. All the EU members have a veto, so one might imagine some being sticky for reasons of self-interest and while Germany might be very keen to continue trading with the UK, other members don't trade much and will so be less keen to agree matters.'

Martin Sorrell, chief executive at WPP, said: 'It's a colossal administrative task for the Troika and we have historically out-sourced our trade negotiation capability to Brussels. Not just for Boris Johnson, but for Liam Fox and David Davis too!'

One option for the UK would be to pull out of the European Union altogether, and fit in with standard Word Trade Organisation tariffs and rules instead.

According to Roderick Abbott, a former EU ambassador to the WTO, the tariffs set by the WTO are fairly straightforward and familiar for established UK exporters and importers.

For instance the standard WTO tariff on importing cars into Europe is 9.8 per cent, still much lower than the 20 per cent charge set by the US and Canada.
Auditing and consultancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers is hiring over 1,000 new specialists to tackle the growing threat from cyber fraudsters faced by its clients.

Around 600 of the new roles will be external hires, while over 400 will be staff transferred from other PwC sites.

The move comes after a string of high-profile hacks affecting the likes of banking giant HSBC, broadband firm TalkTalk, and accounting software group Sage.

Threats: Auditing and consultancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers is hiring over 1,000 new specialists to tackle the growing threat from cyber fraudsters faced by its clients

PwC said it also plans to hire around 200 data and technology graduates.

Hired recruits can expect to tackle anything from data management to cyber security and privacy risks.

The auditing and consultancy giant said the new hires will be placed in to its UK Risk Assurance team by 2020 to cover all industry sectors across the country.

Hemione Hudson, PwC's UK head of assurance, said: 'Business models that have served clients well for decades are being disrupted or destroyed due to the speed of digital disruption, the increase of regulatory scrutiny on technology risks, and the escalation of cyber threat, requiring us to respond and build a strong team of specialists.'

PwC's latest recruitment drive comes after a spate of cyber attacks among major businesses.

New jobs: Around 600 of the new roles will be external hires, while over 400 will be staff transferred from other PwC sites

Earlier this month, software company Sage raised the alarm over a data breach involving personal information of employees at over 280 UK businesses.

Meanwhile HSBC customers were locked out of online banking earlier this year after the lender was targeted by online criminals in a denial of service attack.

The bank, which has 17 million personal banking and business customers in the UK, said its website had been attacked, but it had successfully defended its systems.

And thousands of customers' bank account and contact details were also accessed after a cyber-attack at TalkTalk, the telecoms firm in October 2015.
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By Bill Parry

Nearly 1,000 steamfitters, plumbers, carpenters and concrete workers flooded Jackson Avenue in Long Island City for a lunchtime rally Tuesday to protest developer Jerry Wolkoffs practices at the site of the former 5Pointz graffiti mecca. During the public review process, Wolkoffs G & M Realty agreed to several major community givebacks, including a commitment to build and staff the site using 100 percent union labor, so that he could construct an additional 400 units.

Speaker after speaker charged Wolkoff with reneging on that deal. including Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building Trades Council of Greater New York, who offered the developer a Project Labor Agreement. Wolkoff would not sign the pact, but gave his word and shook hands on the deal, LaBarbera said.

He gave his commitment that this job was going to be a Building Trades job and he went back on his word, he lied to everyone, LaBarbera thundered in an expletive-filled speech. I come from the school that when you give your word its better than a signed contract. This man was in my office, shook my hand and promised this would be a union project.

LaBarbera then read from a letter to Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside), signed by Wolkoff announcing his intention to engage contractors which employ individuals represented by labor unions and promising 800 good paying construction jobs and 200 full time jobs after construction was completed. Van Bramer endorsed the issuance of the variance based on the promises in that letter from Wolkoff.

Jerry Wolkoff lied to me, Jerry Wolkoff lied to Gary, Jerry Wolkoff lied to every single New Yorker, Van Bramer told the roaring crowd. I will never believe another word you ever say nor will I ever approve any future project you want to build in my district or this city.

Wolkoff claims he never lied and that he would not sign the labor agreement LaBarbera offered because it would have cost him 25 percent to 30 percent more to build his 47- and 41-story 5Pointz towers. He also shrugged off Van Bramers threat to block any more of his projects in the city.

Look, Ive got nothing against Jimmy. Hes a good union guy, but the contract they offered me wouldve cost me $20 million more to build. Wolkoff said. He wouldnt do it and Im not doing it. I am not anti-union. but people should wake up and understand the world has changed. The unions might control the politicians, but they dont control the world anymore. There are other people out there who are non-union. What, they dont have a right to work?
Hopewell Community Park remains a 'labor of love' for local community

The lush green park is a product of the combined efforts of the Hopewell Township community and a symbol of decades of conservation efforts in Beaver County.
We need a new jail and soon.

The wheels have been turning, painfully slow as molasses, it would seem, on getting a new jail, something that became obvious after the Wichita County Jail failed a state inspection.

In addition to not meeting state standards, the jail is now also at capacity, with the combined capacity of the downtown facility and the Sprague Annex at about 500. The county is sending inmates to serve the remainder of their terms in other counties, some fairly close by, though nearby facilities either lack enough jail cells or adequate staff.

Talk around the water cooler is they may be shuttled to facilities as far away as South Texas, with the Wichita County commissioners in June approving a contract with LaSalle Corrections in Jefferson County.

All this moving of inmates is an expensive proposition.

'It is a budget-buster to place people outside of the county,' Sheriff David Duke said at a recent Wichita County commissioners meeting.

Chief Deputy Derek Meador noted that issues arise every weekend with the jail and that the county will continue to see problems until something is done, including the big price tag of moving inmates and paying other counties to house them.

The predicament surrounding getting something done  and faster than at a snail's pace  is that very few people in the community care about inmates or the kind of conditions in which they live. It is just not a priority for many people.

True, you would think anyone who has landed in jail has done something wrong. The consensus is that those people have to suffer, at least somewhat. They have to swallow the bitter pill of their punishment, as we might say in Texas. The frontier-minded Lone Star State is not known for its bleeding heart, after all.

Who cares if rain comes seeping through the roof, right? Who cares if inmates are squashed in there like sardines? Who cares if they do not have a proper kitchen in which to prepare their meals? Jails in Third World countries don't care, so why should we?

But we will care when an accused criminal commits a crime that hits close to home and was able to do so because of shorter jail terms tied to no jail space.

Of course, there is a difference between jail and prison.

Many inmates are in jail on short-term misdemeanor charges, or they are awaiting trial for a longer stay at a prison on a more serious charge, or they might actually be innocent. And as far as the law is concerned, isn't it still 'innocent until proven guilty'?

Inmates awaiting their day in court should be treated as such until then; in short, jail time oftentimes isn't yet the beginning of the harsh punishment phase.

Jails should fit the purpose for which they were created  one of which is to temporarily house the accused until sentencing  and meet the expectation of that higher standard.

Another issue is it takes a lot of money to build a new jail, whether it's a new building downtown or a renovation and expansion to the rain-leaking, kitchen-wanting Sprague Annex. Wichita County, after all, is not a rich county.

It is a shame this problem wasn't addressed sooner and that the county hadn't been putting a few dollars aside over the years, not that the county has that many dollars. Certainly, the county knew something would have to be done about the jail one day.

The architects in this whole jail conundrum have been waiting for six years to get going on this deal.

The county, meanwhile, is waiting to be in the best financial position possible before putting together a bond or pursing certificates of obligation. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, commissioners will decide on a consultant.

Whatever the decision will be on how to solve this jail pickle, we have to realize that a jail that can pass state muster has to be in place soon, otherwise we'll be in an even bigger pickle.

There is no option, after all, since having a jail is a state mandate. The Sprague Annex was a temporary solution as it was. It's obviously time to spend the money instead of patching things up, with an eye to getting it done for the long term.

When bond time comes around, I pick a new jail and whatever gets us there as quickly as possible.

Follow Times Record News senior multimedia journalist Lana Sweeten-Shults on Twitter @LanaSweetenShul.
J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS Hungarian Mushroom Soup

SHARE J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS Crepes were a hit in the 70s. Le Cirque's Spaghetti Primavera J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS Quiche Lorraine J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS Hold-The-Lime Guacamole

By Daniel Neman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (TNS)

The '70s were the decade-long equivalent of March. It came in like a lion and went out with a mirrored disco ball.

In between was a national malaise and a long, national nightmare. It was the best time for movies and the worst time for fashion. And we were more concerned about the price of oil than the fact that, for two full years, we had both a president and a vice president who had not been elected to their positions.

We got out of Vietnam, but we got into polyester.

In the culinary world, though, things were not that bad. In the '70s, people began to think more seriously about eating for their health; the health-food fad began in earnest and has yet to fade away. Yogurt became popular, and so did granola.

Two culinary events in the '70s changed forever the way we look at food.

The iconic restaurant Chez Panisse opened in Berkeley, Calif., in 1971, eliminating the stuffiness previously associated with fine dining and igniting a revolution of cooking with the best possible, local ingredients.

The other cuisine-altering event was the 1977 publication of "Moosewood Cookbook." One of the best-selling American cookbooks of all time, "Moosewood Cookbook" moved vegetarian food from something of a punchline into a viable and even popular way to cook (though "Moosewood" author Mollie Katzen, who originally self-published "Moosewood" in 1974, gives more credit to Anna Thomas, who came out with "The Vegetarian Epicure" in 1972).

So for my culinary sojourn through the 1970s, I turned to my favorite recipe in "Moosewood Cookbook," Hungarian Mushroom Soup. I had remembered liking it, but I did not recall just how staggeringly rich and filling it was.

As the book's recipes often did, this one calls for tamari or soy sauce to create an earthy, umami flavor to make up for a lack of meat. A shot of lemon juice, too, brightens the taste.

The soup has the expected mushrooms, onion, stock and milk, plus a hefty dose of paprika and dill for that authentic Hungarian piquancy. It also has lots of butter and sour cream  health food may have come into its own in the '70s, but plenty was still being served that wasn't healthy.

Like quiche Lorraine. Quiche Lorraine was everywhere in the '70s; any luncheon was bound to have it. And why not? With a filling made from eggs, cream and shredded cheese, it is basically a custard set inside a tart shell  with bacon.

Sales dipped dramatically after the 1982 publication of the book "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche," but maybe it is time to bring them back up again. It's hard to get any better than cheesy custard, crust and bacon.

Every bit as ubiquitous as quiche Lorraine in the '70s was, perhaps surprisingly, guacamole. Although it had been available in certain places for decades, when the country discovered it as a whole in the '70s it suddenly became a part of every summertime gathering.

Because everyone makes pretty much the same guacamole as everyone else (some use garlic powder and onion powder, some don't), I decided to go back to the basics with mine.

I made it without lime juice. That may not be the 1970s way to do it, but apparently it is the authentically Mexican way.

And I have to say I loved it, even though I am also a huge fan of limes. With just five ingredients (avocados, serrano chilies, cilantro, chopped onion and salt), this limeless version really lets the avocado flavor shine through. With guacamole, the avocado should always be the star.

The '70s simply would not have been the '70s without crepes. Crepe restaurants sprang up all around the country, most notably the Magic Pan, a chain that was owned by Quaker Oats throughout the decade.

The great thing about crepes is you can use them for practically everything. Their popularity soared when people realized they could be used to make a fancy presentation of leftovers, but they are also great with vegetables, chicken or seafood  try any of these with a simple white sauce. Just add a little sugar to the batter for dessert, and fill them with ice cream, whipped cream, or jam.

Or just eat them fresh off the pan, as I did. Well, some of them.

Finally, I made a big pot of pasta primavera, which, I was surprised to learn, was invented in the 1970s, in New York City. Its actual origin is a matter of some debate, but it is universally agreed that it came to prominence in 1976 with the opening of the famed Le Cirque restaurant in New York.

A 1977 recipe from Le Cirque in The New York Times sealed its popularity. It became the dish of the moment, the dish of the hour, the dish of the decade.

I made the version as originally printed in the Times, and it was so much better than any other version I've had that it was like eating a different dish. This one has the cascade of vegetables that you would expect (broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, peas and pea pods  I used sugar snap peas) plus some ingredients that you might not.

Butter, for one, and heavy cream. Plus, Parmesan cheese, lots of olive oil and toasted pine nuts.

All this time, I have thought of pasta primavera as a healthy meal, but no. It may not be good for you, but it tastes amazing.

QUICHE LORRAINE

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more

3 eggs, divided

3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

- Black pepper, to taste

3 slices bacon, finely chopped

- Chopped chives, to garnish

Directions

1 Place flour, butter and salt in a bowl; using your fingers, rub together until pea-size crumbles form. Add 1 of the eggs and 1 tablespoon ice-cold water; stir until dough forms. Briefly knead until smooth; form into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

2 Whisk together remaining 2 eggs, cheese, cream, milk, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Cook bacon in a small skillet over medium heat to render its fat, about 12 minutes; drain on paper towels until cool. Add to egg mixture. Set filling aside.

3 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into a 13-inch circle; transfer to an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, pressing into bottom and sides. Trim excess dough; chill for 30 minutes. Prick bottom with a fork; cover with parchment paper, fill with dried beans or pie weights, and bake until set, about 20 minutes.

4 Remove paper and beans; bake until light brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees; pour filling into crust. Bake until just set, about 20 minutes; garnish with chives.

Per serving (based on 8): 374 calories; 27 g fat; 15 g saturated fat; 137 mg cholesterol; 11 g protein; 22 g carbohydrate; 1 g sugar; 1 g fiber; 148 mg sodium; 421 mg calcium.

Adapted from Saveur

CREPES

Yield: 8 servings (16 crepes)

Ingredients

1 cup cold water

1 cup cold milk

4 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons butter, melted

- Cooking oil or more butter

Directions

1 Whirl water, milk, eggs, salt, flour and melted butter in a blender at high speed for about 1 minute. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

2 Set a small nonstick or cast-iron skillet over moderately high heat and brush lightly with oil or butter. Just when it begins to smoke, immediately remove from heat. Hold the pan with one hand and pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the pan with your other. Quickly tilt pan in all directions to run batter all over bottom of pan in a thin film, pouring back any batter that does not adhere to the pan.

3 Immediately set pan over heat and cook for about 1 minute. The crepe is ready for turning when you can shake and jerk it loose from bottom of pan; lift an edge to see that it is a nice brown underneath. Turn the crepe and cook for about 30 seconds on the other side. Slide the crepe onto a plate and continue with the rest of the batter, greasing the pan lightly each time it seems necessary.

4 If you make the crepes in advance, it is best to stack them between layers of waxed paper or foil to prevent them from sticking together.

5 Roll crepes around a filling of creamed fish, meat, vegetables or leftovers. If desired, cover with a white sauce, sprinkle with cheese and brown in the oven before serving.

Per serving: 225 calories; 10 g fat; 5 g saturated fat; 113 mg cholesterol; 7 g protein; 25 g carbohydrate; 2 g sugar; 1 g fiber; 56 mg sodium; 196 mg calcium.

Recipe from "The French Chef Cookbook," by Julia Child

LE CIRQUE'S SPAGHETTI PRIMAVERA

Yield: 4 servings (or 6 to 8 appetizers)

Ingredients

1 bunch broccoli

2 small zucchini, unpeeled

4 asparagus spears

1 1/2 cups green beans

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

3/4 cup fresh or frozen pea pods

1 tablespoon peanut, vegetable or corn oil

2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms

- Salt

- Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon minced hot red or green chili, or 1/2 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon minced garlic, divided

3 cups tomato cubes, cut into 1-inch dice

6 basil leaves, chopped

1 pound spaghetti

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream, or more

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts.

Directions

1 Trim broccoli and break into florets. Trim off ends of the zucchini. Cut into quarters, then cut into 1-inch or slightly longer lengths (about 1 1/2 cups). Cut each asparagus into 2-inch pieces. Trim beans and cut into 1-inch pieces.

2 Cook each of the green vegetables separately in boiling salted water to cover until crisp but tender. Drain well, then run under cold water to chill, and drain again thoroughly. Combine the cooked vegetables in a bowl.

3 Cook the peas and pods; about 1 minute if fresh; 30 seconds if frozen. Drain, chill with cold water and drain again. Combine with the vegetables.

4 In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat the peanut oil and add the mushrooms. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cook about 2 minutes, shaking the skillet and stirring. Add the mushrooms, chili and parsley to the vegetables.

5 Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a saucepan and add 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook about 4 minutes. Add the basil.

6 Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet and add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of garlic and the vegetable mixture. Cook, stirring gently, until heated through.

7 Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until almost (but not quite) tender, retaining a slight resilience in the center. Drain well.

8 In a pot large enough to hold the spaghetti and vegetables, add the butter and melt over medium-low heat. Then add the chicken broth and half a cup each of cream and Parmesan, stirring constantly. Cook gently until smooth. Add the spaghetti and toss quickly to blend. Add half the vegetables and pour in the liquid from the tomatoes, tossing over very low heat.

9 Add the remaining vegetables (but not the tomatoes). If the sauce seems dry, add 3 to 4 tablespoons more cream. Add the pine nuts and give the mixture a final tossing.

10 Serve equal portions of the spaghetti mixture in soup or spaghetti bowls. Spoon equal amounts of the tomatoes over each serving. Serve immediately.

Per serving (based on 4): 1,099 calories; 60 g fat; 20 g saturated fat; 73 mg cholesterol; 30 g protein; 117 g carbohydrate; 18 g sugar; 14 g fiber; 262 mg sodium; 295 mg calcium.

Recipe from Le Cirque restaurant, published in The New York Times in 1977
More than broken buildings and twisted rebar, more than images of Su-34 bombers and pickup trucks toting soldiers armed with AK-47s, the face of Omran Daqneesh, 5, tells the story of Aleppo, Syria.

In a photo taken after an airstrike hit his apartment building Wednesday, the dust-covered boy sits in an ambulance, staring blankly. The left side of his face is caked in blood. His left eye is nearly shut, his right eye appears encircled by a large bruise. His floppy hair is filled with dust, blood stains the neckline and sleeves of his shirt. He isn't crying, he shows no signs of being in pain. We don't know what he's thinking, but he appears numbed, patient even.

Omran was pulled from the rubble of his family's apartment building. His siblings, ages 1, 6 and 11, along with his parents, were also rescued from the building. An hour after Omran and his family were saved, the building collapsed. Neither Omran nor the rest of his family were seriously hurt.

The same shellshocked visage can be seen in civilians every day in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, ravaged by five years of civil war  the span of this boy's life. Images like Omran's face remind us that the mission in Syria isn't just about Islamic State and Assad, Iran and Russia. It is about civilians trapped by a war that, in places like Aleppo, have turned everyday life into moment-to-moment survival.

Aleppo has long been ground zero in the war between Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition rebels. Now it's at the center of an all-out offensive by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Assad to drive rebels out. Syrian and Russian fighter jets have been pounding rebel-held districts, indifferent to civilians there. Human rights groups say there's growing evidence that Syrian and Russian pilots are using incendiary bombs similar to napalm against rebel strongholds.

In April 2012, Obama promised Syrians that he would stand by them as they were 'subjected to unspeakable violence, simply for demanding their universal rights.' That promise rings hollow. Obama has largely sidestepped the plight of Aleppo and of civilians across Syria. A halfhearted, long-delayed effort to train and equip Syrian rebels collapsed. Cease-fires have come and gone. U.S.-brokered diplomacy has spun its wheels.

More recently, Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying to cajole Putin into reining in Assad's indiscriminate bombing, in exchange for joint U.S.-Russian operations against certain opposition rebels that both sides see as terrorists. The soft-sell approach to Putin has yielded  and will yield  nothing.

The Kremlin has a singular goal in Syria: Keep Assad in power  a goal shared by Iran.

Obama's goal looks to be: Appear engaged without doing much of anything.

Putin won't be deterred unless the U.S. wields leverage against him. Raising the prospect of military action against Assad, as a group of State Department officials suggested earlier this year, could provide that leverage. Those officials sent a cable to Obama, urging stronger military action against Syrian government forces. They suggested that could include cruise missiles and 'targeted airstrikes.'

That's what we mean by leverage, of a sort Putin would comprehend. It could entice moderate Syrian Sunnis, who oppose Assad, to side with the West in the fight against Islamic State.

Obama seems content to leave an ever-worsening Syria slaughter to his successor. Obama also will leave Syrian civilians trapped in a conflict the president should have taken seriously around the time Omran was born.
Charlie Dudley, Iowa Park

I would like to respond to a letter in the Aug. 21 edition of the TRN letters to the editor.

The writer made a lame attempt at scolding and lecturing Trump supporters about making fun of the handicapped.

If I may, I'd like to take this writer down his own selective Memory Lane.

In 2009 Barack Hussein Obama was a guest on the Jay Leno Show talking about his lack of bowling skills (imagine that). He said, 'It's like  it was like Special Olympics, or something,' and the crowd went crazy with laughter.

According to the writer's logic, he voted for Obama and he supports making fun of Special Education children along with all of the other supporters. Remember that one, Mr. Letter Writer?

How about this. During the campaign for Texas' governorship, Wendy Davis and her crew were caught making fun of Greg Abbott in a wheelchair. Not only once, but twice.

Your fellow haters would say he didn't have a leg to stand on. The writer's logic says he voted for Wendy Davis therefore he likes making fun of crippled people.

Such a delicious hypocrisy. Liberals can make fun of anybody they want to and get by with it. Take a look in your own mirror, Mr. Letter Writer, and see who's lying. You will be surprised at who you see. Well, on second thought, maybe not.

Your political party's 'do as I say  not as I do' mantra is getting very old and redundant. Hillary's coughing problems must have been caused by the trauma of her coming under sniper fire while landing in Bosnia.

What a 'whopper' that one was. Trump will make America great again
It's clear now that Donald Trump intends to continue the in-your-face, loose-cannon, make-it-up-as-he-goes kind of campaigning that he believes brought him the Republican presidential nomination in the first place.

No Mr. Nice Guy he, just the hard-nosed practitioner of take-no-prisoners, nose-thumbing, middle-finger outrage that has propelled his drive to the White House since the beginning. How does one spell civility? He has no idea.

If you have any doubt it should have been dispelled by his latest campaign shake-up that included turning to far right 'bomb throwers' (figuratively speaking) to take over for those who would shift his direction toward a more traditional approach that satisfies the GOP's establishment to one that suits him much better.

Leading the way will be one of the more irresponsible proponents of the firing squad, Stephen K. Bannon, once a Wall Street denizen turned Che Guevara, who runs something called Breibart News, a website of vitriolic claptrap and absurd allegations in the nastiest fashion. He also worked to oust Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan from Congress in a recent Wisconsin primary. His Trump appointment further strains the relationship with Ryan.

According to The New York Times some of Bannon's posts include just the kind of nastiness Trump seems to thrive on. They include charges that President Obama is importing 'more hating Muslims,' and calling conservative commentator Bill Kristol a 'renegade Jew.' He compared Planned Parenthood's work to the Holocaust and urged females who complain of online harassment to 'log off' and stop 'screwing up the internet for men.'

Way to go Banana (excuse me Bannon). That will drag a lot of women voters back from Hillary Clinton. But what the heck. The candidate himself already has sent women voters scurrying toward Hillary even those who profess not to like her.

Actually, none of this should come as a surprise. Slipping badly in the polls as the hybrid style of keeping his true believers happy and playing at accepting the moderating influence of mainline Republicans has seemed to fail badly, his response was to fall back on the stock and trade that confounded the primary pundits and turned the GOP on its ear.

If he is aware of the pitfalls of continuing to alienate more and more voters, including those among conservative and middle of the Republican ranks, he doesn't give much indication. His Cold War, McCarthy-like proposal to impose a stringent vetting process on even legal Muslim immigrants and others sent civil rights shivers through mainstream voters.

Bannon represents the farthest reaches of the Republican fringe and as it has been noted, his appointment comes shortly after Roger Ailes, a longtime conservative political adviser who just left Fox News under a cloud, took on an advisory role with Trump. That gives the GOP candidate an entree into the conservative media, which has been wary of him and links it to the far-right fringe. The question here is whether Trump's candidacy already has gone too far to be salvaged.

Reasonable, even detailed, substance of any kind has been a missing part of the picture from the beginning. We'll just build a wall and deport 11 million illegals and so forth without saying how any of these foolish ideas would become reality. He brushes off policy explanations like swiping the dandruff off his shoulders with a flick of the wrist and complete disdain for those who challenge him.

There is no doubt that some of Trump's popularity among the blue collar and disaffected voters can be traced to the fact he doesn't look like a politician and his anti-establishment rhetoric doesn't sound like one either. Those to whom he appeals the most express many of his same views. Whether Bannon and some of the other new hands he has signed can make a difference is anyone's guess. What isn't conjecture is Trump's own determination to remain fiercely anti-establishment.

Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service and a former vice president of Scripps Howard Newspapers. Readers may send him email at: thomassondan@aol.com
Albany

Franklin Graham, son of the iconic evangelist Billy Graham, will hold a "Decision America" prayer rally in Albany's West Capitol Park at noon Thursday.

Graham plans to hold similar meetings in all 50 states before Americans head to the polls in November. "We're asking Christians in New York to take a stand and pray ... to live out their faith at home, in public and at the ballot box," he says in a promotional video.

The tour asks followers to sign a pledge to "honor God with my vote  supporting, where possible, candidates who will uphold biblical principles, including the sanctity of life and the sacredness of marriage."

Graham has said the establishment of the Stonewall Inn, which played a key role in the history of LGBT rights, as a national historic site would create "a monument to sin."

Graham has not endorsed either major-party presidential candidate. In recent Decision America rallies, he has emphasized that God and not political parties are what the nation needs.

Graham will be in Augusta, Maine, on Tuesday and Montpelier, Vt., on Wednesday.

 Casey Seiler
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Scotia

Mark Whitacre, who exposed an Archer Daniels Midland price-fixing scheme and later serve time for embezzlement, will speak at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 13 at the annual Christian Business Men's Connection Inspiration Breakfast at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia. Reservations: Peggy Beadnell at 724-2260 or peggy.beadnell@1800law1010.com. The movie "The Informant" told his story.
PITTSTOWN  It's harder to find your way around this northern Rensselaer County town after thieves stole 17 road signs, State Police said Tuesday.

Troopers are seeking the public's help to capture the culprits who took the signs from around town.
Schenectady

Monday was a big day at Transfinder, the Schenectady-based company that makes software to route school buses.

That's because it was the first day of school for most students in the state of Texas where Transfinder has a large customer base.

In recent years Transfinder has been introducing a new product called "Infofinder i" which provides the bus routes and bus stops of students to parents.

Although districts were initially slow to adopt the new software, it is gaining popularity, with 62 new districts adding the product over the past 12 months.

Monday was the first real test of a new version of the software that is more mobile phone friendly and will hopefully allow parents to get bus route information more quickly than in the past.

That will also help Transfinder better manage the amount of server space they have to dedicate to Infofinder i, although Transfinder is using Amazon Web Services, which can be scaled up and down quickly to manage the amount of parents that are using Infofinder i at the same time.

"It's a big deal," Transfinder CEO Antonio Civitella said Monday afternoon as traffic on the Infofinder i site was spiking as parents were checking the site to see when their kids were coming home on the bus. "Today is it. So far, so good."

At about 1:30 p.m., as Civitella and a group of Transfinder employees gathered in the break room, 3,456 people were concurrently checking the site at that moment. That number peaked to 3,918 concurrent users later in the day.

Joseph Messia, chief operating officer of Transfinder, told the Times Union on Tuesday that the Infofinder i site got more than a half a million queries on Monday, a 52 percent increase from the same day last year.

Since the upgrades, the average search time has dropped from 3.4 minutes to just 1.3 minutes, a trend that continued Monday as well.

"As expected, we saw a much lower average engagement time," Messia said. "This was due to a much faster application and better design."

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Civitella said many districts at first balked at using Infofinder i because they were worried about privacy issues.

However, Civitella said, school districts often get swamped by last minute phone calls by parents about their kids' bus routes and bus stops on the first day of school. And they often don't call the bus garage or transportation departments.

The Infofinder i helps alleviate those calls, and it also helps district employees easily get bus information to parents over the phone if they do call.

"They (school districts) realize the benefits," Civitella said.

lrulison@timesunion.com  518-454-5504  @larryrulison
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Colonie

As the family of Jacquelyn Porreca marks the first year since her death, they are struggling to cope with their loss and the twists and turns of the legal case against her accused killers.

A barber at Recycled Salon on Sand Creek Road in Colonie, Porreca was stabbed three times on Aug. 21, 2015. She staggered out to the street, where passers-by tried to help her. She died two days later surrounded by her family.

Since then, the brutal murder and the ensuing legal drama have continued to cause emotional havoc for the survivors. Adding to the distress is a British documentary on life inside Albany County jail where one of the suspects appears to admit to causing Porreca's death.

"Everyone is devastated," said her sibling Gio Falciano. "I struggle with severe anxiety every day. It has really affected my family."

More than siblings, Jacquelyn and Gio were best friends. Falciano, who is transitioning genders and now identifies as female, had discussed having Porreca as her maid of honor when she one day marries. The day before she was stabbed, Porreca gave her sibling a haircut. Falciano has not cut it since.

"She was my barber too," Falciano said. "I'm not ready to let anyone touch it but her."

Michael Chmielewski is accused of stabbing the master barber, who was working alone, during a robbery to get money to feed his heroin addiction. His co-defendant, Sean Moreland, is accused as an accomplice who drove the getaway car.

The family has been upset by video of Chmielewski in a British documentary called "Life Inside Jail: Hell on Earth." Filmed for months inside the Albany County jail, the documentary shows Chmielewski shaking in his withdrawal from drugs right after his arrest. He talks extensively to the crew during the filming, which began the day he and Moreland were arrested.

At one point, Chmielewski responds to an interviewer who calls him a murderer.

"I'm a killer. I am not a murderer," Chmielewski says. "I did not murder her. I did not have any intent to kill her. I never wanted her death. I got no satisfaction from it."

Later, asked if he is a dangerous man, he says, "For one day, for one moment, I was."

He also says of his estranged wife, "She understands it wasn't me that did it, that it was me but that it wasn't the person I am. She knows full well I could never in my right mind hurt a woman."

While the documentary aired in Great Britain, it has been taken down from the internet. Sheriff Craig Apple said rights to air it in the United States have been sold to National Geographic.

The footage disturbs the family, especially as the accused is fighting to keep a statement to police admitting to the crime out of court. He and Moreland have both rejected plea bargains.

"He admitted he killed her but at the same time he pleaded not guilty," Falciano said. "To this day, he doesn't want to take responsibility for his actions."

Though strikingly pretty, Porreca did not have an ego to match, Falciano said.

"She was just such a humble, selfless girl," Falciano said. "All she wanted to do was to spread kindness."

After she was stabbed, Porreca regained some degree of consciousness but only for a few hours, Falciano said.

"When I saw Jackie die, it was literally the scariest thing I ever saw in my life," Falciano said. "My sister had a stroke. She was paralyzed. The only thing she could do was squeeze my hand."

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Falciano is still amazed that, after being attacked, Porreca managed to walk out of the salon.

"She was a very, very strong girl," she said. "She was a powerful woman. I want people to know that."

Porreca had helped her sibling start her own company, Gio Expressions Private Spa. The two shared a building for their businesses when Porreca owned her own shop, Jackson's Barber Shop, until it was destroyed in a fire.

"I am trying to do everything I can to make Jackie proud of me," Falciano said.

The family takes issue with descriptions of the accused killers acting out of an addiction. Being an addict doesn't make everyone violent, Falciano said: "That's not a sign of addiction. That's a sign of a very sick individual."

The case has also made news with the suspension of Chmielewski's defense attorney, Gaspar Castillo, over accusations he improperly maintained client funds and an escrow account, mixed his personal money in an attorney trust fund, did not promptly pay clients money they were entitled to receive and failed to keep required bookkeeping records.

"The whole situation is very upsetting," Falciano said.

The family has delayed holding a private memorial service to honor Porreca's memory, her sibling said, but is planning one for this fall to pay tribute to her life.

tobrien@timesunion.com  518-454-5092  @timobrientu
[August 23, 2016] Anaqua Opens its First German Location in Cologne

Anaqua, a leading provider of management software for intellectual property and related services with headquarters in the USA, opens its first German office in Cologne. Since 2015 the Anaqua team has doubled in size to over 250 employees worldwide. After London, Verona and Pau (France), Cologne is now the company's fourth location in Europe. "Expanding our presence in Germany is very important for us," says Bob Romeo, Anaqua's CEO. "With this we are linking the development of localized software solutions with even better support for our customers throughout the entire German-speaking region. This worldwide leading center for innovation has a tremendous need for innovative, strategic software for intellectual property." In recent months Anaqua has significantly developed the company as well as its technologies. The visualization of IP data and processes as well as readily available analyses of in-house and third-party data are among the requirements most urgently needed in modern IP departments. With the new HyperView Technology and by acquiring the analytics company AcclaimIP, Anaqua is integrating IP intelligence to a high degree into its unified platform. Furthermore Anaqua recently announced a strategic alliance with Wolters Kluwer's Corsearch, a worldwide leding company for brand and trademark information solutions. The initial phase of this alliance will include integrating Anaqua software and the Corsearch brand and trademark data. Corsearch provides the world's leading reliability and protection solutions as well as tools for trademark and brand professionals across the globe.



Michael Klein, Director of Sales and Sales Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has already begun establishing Anaqua in the German-speaking region: "I have gotten to know Anaqua as the most innovative and dynamic provider of IP solutions. Our goal is to establish Anaqua in the German-speaking region as the central IP platform for companies and law firms. At the same time, customer orientation and customer proximity as well as practical advancements of technologies are paramount." Address:

Anaqua Office Germany

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 27-29, 50672 Cologne

Tel: +49 (0) 221 569 4440

Email: [email protected]

About Anaqua About Anaqua, Inc.

Anaqua helps corporations and law firms turn intellectual property into competitive advantage. Its software platform combines insight from big data analytics with critical tools, best practice workflows and services into one efficient, intelligent environment that helps IP practices work more efficiently and make better decisions faster. Many of the best-known brands and most innovative products were conceptualized, evaluated, protected and monetized through the ANAQUA platform. Founded in 2004 by IP leaders from The Coca-Cola Company, Ford (News - Alert) Motor Company, Kimberly-Clark and British American Tobacco, Anaqua is a privately held company headquartered in Boston (U.S.) and has locations across Europe and Asia. For additional information, please visit http://www.anaqua.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005052/en/

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[August 23, 2016] EFG Companies and Northwood University Launch 2nd Annual F&I Innovator of the Year Competition

EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, together with Northwood University today announced the launch of their second annual F&I Innovator of the Year Competition. Held during the fall semester each year, this competition leverages the out-of-the-box thinking of today's Gen Z college students, coupled with F&I industry leaders' insight, to boost the F&I industry's focus on innovation. Visit http://bit.ly/Inn0v8te to learn more about the contest, last year's winners and the upcoming launch of the winning 2015 product. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005467/en/ EFG Companies and Northwood University announce the kick-off of the 2016 F&I Innovator of the Year competition. (Graphic: Business Wire) "The automotive industry is going through a period of extensive change," said John Pappanastos, President and CEO of EFG Companies. "Consumer expectations and buying habits have shifted towards a more value-conscious and long-term mindset. The Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are continuing to focus on transparent auto lending practices. Manufacturers are undergoing a shift with the rise of electric vehicles, connected cars and ride sharing services. Each of these aspects of a dealership's operations is in a mutually effective relationship with F&I. As new, young talent has brought significant advancements to other areas of the auto industry, it makes sense for the F&I industry to avail itself with new ideas from fresh minds, as well." The Annual F&I Innovatr of the Year Competition pits six teams of Northwood's junior and senior automotive students against one another to conceptualize and build a new F&I product, while earning course credit. With an F&I director as a mentor and guide, the competing teams develop a business case for their new F&I product that incorporates industry research, market viability, and the product's potential to facilitate F&I product sales in franchise dealerships. The teams will also keep weekly YouTube (News - Alert) video diaries of their progress, challenges and breakthroughs.



"This competition puts Northwood University students at the forefront of the innovation that will forever change the dealership landscape," said Keith Pretty, President of Northwood University. "Through this competition, our students have the opportunity to provide a never-before-seen solution to current dealership challenges and drive dealership profitability. This exemplifies our philosophy of hands-on learning and developing the leadership skills and talent necessary to bring the automotive industry into the future." A panel of leading dealer principals from across the nation and EFG executives will judge the business case competition in late November, and crown the newest champion in early December. The winning team will take home $25,000, and more importantly, EFG Companies will develop the winning F&I product and launch it to the retail automotive marketplace. The company will donate a percentage of the profits from the sale of the product back to Northwood University.

Last year's winning team, Quantum (News - Alert) Integration, applied consumer research, industry and mentor input and millennial sensibilities to create an F&I product for the connected car. Their product utilizes a mobile application to provide consumers a convenient way to stay current on vehicle maintenance, prevent theft, or recover their vehicle. EFG Companies will roll out the product in Q4 of 2016. Richie Durso, from Quantum Integration, had this advice for this year's competitors, "Think of real world problems and see how you can solve them to make people's lives easier. Also, remember that your product can be a service and not just a tangible item. Even if you don't win, the experience is priceless!" About EFG Companies EFG Companies combines almost 40 years of experience serving as an industry innovator of consumer and vehicle protection programs with the company's commitment to raising the industry bar in providing superior client engagement. With their field and administrative teams AFIP and ASE certified, EFG's professionals provide world-class product development and administration, go-to-market strategies, training and auditing support across a multitude of channels. www.efgcompanies.com About Northwood University Northwood University is committed to the most personal attention to prepare students for success in their careers and in their communities; it promotes critical thinking skills, personal effectiveness, and the importance of ethics, individual freedom and responsibility. Private, nonprofit, and accredited, Northwood University specializes in managerial and entrepreneurial education at a full-service, residential campus located in mid-Michigan. Adult Degree Programs are available in seven states with many course delivery options including online. The DeVos Graduate School offers day, evening, weekend programming in Michigan and Texas, and online. The Michigan-based Alden B. Dow Center for Creativity and Enterprise provides system-wide expertise in family enterprise, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and new business development. International education is offered through study abroad and in Program Centers in Switzerland, China (Changchun and Wuxi), Malaysia and Sri Lanka. For additional information regarding Northwood University, go to www.northwood.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005467/en/

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[August 23, 2016] Fednav welcomes new ship featuring innovative ballast system at Port of Indiana

PORTAGE, IN, Aug. 23, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Fednav Limited, the largest international bulk shipowner in Canada, today welcomes to the Port of Indiana  Burns Harbor, the Federal Caribou, one of seven new oceangoing lakers equipped with a ballast water treatment systema first for the Great Lakes. This vessel protects the Lakes by treating its ballast water two times: by conducting an exchange in the North Atlantic, and through filtration and a chlorine disinfection treatment on the ship. The Federal Caribou is part of a series of 16 Handysize vessels, representing an investment by Fednav of more than $400 million and designed specifically for the Great Lakes. The company is the leading international operator in the Great Lakes, has one of the most modern fleets of bulk carriers in the world, the average age being under 10 years. Of particular interest is that the Federal Caribou and its sister-ships have box-shaped holds in order to facilitate the handling of general cargo. In April 2015, Fednav announced the signing of an agreement with JFE Engineering Corporation for the installation of ballast water treatment systems (BallastAce) on board its new ocean-going lakers. The Federal Caribou is one of those ships, and its voyage to Burns Harbor highlights the fact that Fednav is the first shipping company in the Great Lakes to treat ballast water using an onboard system. JFE is now pursuing US Coast Guard certification, with expected approval in 2017. Other outstanding environmental characteristics of these vessels include: 25% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than similar vessels built less than 15 years ago

A decrease of over 15% nitrogen oxide emissions

A CLEAN notation from the DNV/GL classification society



Paul Pathy , President and Co-CEO of Fednav Limited and Chairman of Federal Marine Terminals noted: "This vessel confirms that the protection of the Great Lakes is a priority for Fednav and demonstrates the confidence we have in the region's future. These ships will allow us to offer our customers in Indiana and throughout the region an unparalleled service at a higher standard." "We commend and congratulate Fednav for its commitment to make these long-term investments that benefit so many on the Great Lakes," said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. "The company has always taken the Lake's environment very seriously and being the first to outfit its newer ships with on-board ballast water treatment systems further validates just how committed it really is. We are proud to call Fednav a 'true partner' at our port on Lake Michigan and salute the company for their innovation and leadership in the maritime industry."

Fednav Limited, established in 1944 is a privately owned international shipowning and operating company based in Montreal. The principal activities of Fednav Limited include the transport of bulk and general cargo worldwide. The company operates a fleet of about 85 vessels and has offices in Antwerp, Barbados, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, and Tokyo and regional offices in Canada and the United States. Fednav also has terminal, logistics, ice analysis, and shipping agency services and divisions. It employs 280 people and nearly 2000 crew members and stevedores. For more information, please visit www.fednav.com. Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. (FMT) is a subsidiary of Fednav Limited and has for over five decades operated stevedoring facilities at ports in the United States and Canada. With ten operations covering twelve ports, FMT operates in the US East Coast and Gulf Coast and in the Great Lakes. For more information, please visit www.fmtcargo.com. The Ports of Indiana is a statewide port authority managing three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. Established in 1961, the Ports of Indiana is a self-funded enterprise dedicated to growing Indiana's economy by developing and maintaining a world-class port system. Information: www.portsofindiana.com. SOURCE Fednav Ltd.

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[August 23, 2016] James Bannister Admitted to American Board of Criminal Lawyers

James W. ("Jim") Bannister, Managing Partner of Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC, was recently admitted as a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers (ABCL). A prestigious organization founded in 1978, ABCL is an exclusive national legal honorary society for outstanding criminal trial attorneys. Bannister is only the fourth attorney in South Carolina - and the first from Greenville - to be accepted into the society. He joins the ranks of some of the most recognized and respected criminal defense advocates in the country. "I think that any success I have had in my career or the courtroom comes from the simple fact that I love what I do," said Bannister. "I cannot imagine doing anything other than defending criminal cases. For me, it has always been about fighting for the underdog or the powerless." ABCL Fellowship is extended by invitation only to attorneys with successful felony trial experience and exceptional references speaking to a candidate's litigation abilities and ethical character. ABCL Fellowship applicants must receive two letters of recommendation from current Fellows, along with three letters of recommendation from sitting judges. All members have at least 10 years of criminal tria experience - trying at least 50 cases, of which 35 were felony jury trials - and are considered highly regarded criminal defense practitioners in the United States, Canada or Europe.



For nearly 20 years, Bannister has practiced criminal defense law, trying more than 60 felony cases in both federal and state courts. In 2007, he earned Criminal Trial Advocacy Certification from the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Bannister is a member of the South Carolina Bar, Federal Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, South Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and National Board of Trial Advocacy, and has been honored at the local, regional and national levels. In addition to private practice at Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC, he serves on the Board of Governors for the South Carolina Bar and as a Greenville Water Commissioner. Bannister graduated from the University of South Carolina honors program in 1992 and the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1995.

Please click here (http://bit.ly/JBannister) to download a high-res headshot for Mr. Bannister. About Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey, LLC Since 1976, the award-winning attorneys of Bannister, Wyatt & Stalvey have provided skilled, professional and tailored legal advice in the areas of criminal law, family law and real estate law in Greenville, South Carolina. Learn more at www.bannisterandwyatt.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005837/en/

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[August 23, 2016] Lake County, Ohio, Signs Appraisal Services Contract with Tyler Technologies

Tyler Technologies (News - Alert), Inc. (NYSE: TYL) has signed an agreement with Lake County, Ohio, for Tyler's CLT Appraisal Services to appraise all residential, agricultural, commercial, exempt and industrial properties in the county. Lake County, which uses Tyler's iasWorld appraisal and tax administration software, chose Tyler after a competitive review process to find a vendor that could effectively provide the best return on investment for the county. CLT Appraisal Services staff will appraise all real estate parcels using iasWorld's computer-assisted mass appraisal functionality. Tyler previously conducted a successful reappraisal project for Lake County, resulting in a positive relationship between the county and Tyler. Another key element of the county's decision to hire Tyler was the company's experience and success with large, complex jurisdictions. The reappraisal of more than 110,000 parcels in Lake County is expected to be completed by early 2018, which fulfills Ohio state la prescribing that property values must be updated every six years.



Tyler's CLT Appraisal Services - the country's only national mass appraisal solution - has appraised more than 30 million parcels across 46 states. Lake County is about 45 miles northeast of Cleveland on Lake Erie; the county covers approximately 231 square miles and has nearly 230,000 residents.

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/20160823005118/en/

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[August 23, 2016] New Book Documents Link between Poverty and High Healthcare Costs

The Physicians Foundation today announced the release of Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform, a thought-provoking and data-rich book documenting the impact of social determinants on healthcare costs. Authored by the late Richard (Buz) Cooper, M.D., the book draws on decades of health research and economic data to demonstrate the pervasive, debilitating effects of poverty on healthcare costs, resource utilization and overall patient outcomes. The book, now available, is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005886/en/ New book documents link between poverty and high healthcare costs. (Photo: Business Wire) "The essential truths uncovered in Buz's work are very clear from my own medical practice," said Joseph Valenti, M.D., FACOG, and Physicians Foundation Board Member. "Poverty has become one of the most challenging issues we face here in the U.S., particularly with the financial burden it places on our healthcare system in comparison to other developed nations. Insights from this book should help all healthcare stakeholders, including legislators, acknowledge the tangible impact of poverty on costs, outcomes and society as a whole." Dr. Cooper's book was commissioned by The Physicians Foundation, a nonprofit organization seeking to empower physicians to lead in the delivery of high-quality, cost-efficient healthcare. To hear more insights from Dr. Valenti as well as other colleagues, friends and family about Dr. Cooper's findings and life, view their video commentary here.



Healthcare Through the Lens of Poverty Throughout the book, Dr. Cooper builds an engaging and impassioned exploration of healthcare through the lens of poverty, utilizing an array of relevant research. This includes data sets drawn from city, state and federal levels, domestic and global economic assessments, and healthcare utilization statistics and reports.

His work takes both a macro and micro view, zooming in on specific cities or regions to uproot conventional policy assumptions - including those framed by the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. One example is his use of New York City's subway system in the first chapter. He follows the A train to map healthcare utilization and costs to changes in wealth among the populations along its route. Dr. Cooper examines other cities such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Grand Junction, Colorado, New Haven, Connecticut, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to reveal additional dimensions of his argument. Based on the distribution of household incomes throughout the U.S., Dr. Cooper estimates that if the poorest areas utilized healthcare at the rate of the most affluent, overall utilization and spending could be as much as 30 percent less. Even more striking, he reminds readers that life expectancy in poor neighborhoods is a full 10 years shorter than in the richest. Dr. Cooper also observes that despite America's overall wealth, the U.S. spends less on social services than is the norm among other developed countries of the Organization on Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), particularly on services for children and younger adults. According to Dr. Cooper: "care is inefficiently and redundantly used by low-income populations, whose costs are subsidized within states and cross-subsidized among states. By failing the 50 percent of children who are born into poverty, and by tolerating the poverty into which they are born, our nation bears a burden of healthcare spending that is higher than in any other developed country." The Myths of Healthcare Reform The dominant emphasis of healthcare reform over recent decades has been on eliminating perceived waste and inefficiency. Dr. Cooper challenges this paradigm, documenting how ignoring the impact of low income on healthcare utilization has led policy makers to miss the bigger and more relevant picture - and to reshape clinical practice in ways that impede providers who care for the poor. By illuminating the geographic patterns of poverty, wealth and healthcare spending, he analyzes the impact that regulatory interventions have had on clinical practice, physician wellness and on our nation's collective health. "The message that I hope the readers will take to heart is the need to take action now," said Michael Johns, M.D., and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Emeritus at Emory University. "If we don't address the healthcare needs of those living in poverty now, we're leaving a burden for future generations. This is America. We have to take care of all of our people." About the Author A prominent physician and academic, Richard (Buz) Cooper, M.D. (1936-2016), spent his professional life dedicated to investigating the increasingly prominent role poverty plays in accessing affordable, quality-oriented care. He was a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, the dean and executive vice president of the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he founded the Institute for Health and Society, and the cofounder and director of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. About Johns Hopkins University Press Founded in 1878, The Johns Hopkins University Press, recognized as one of the world's finest and most accomplished scholarly publishers, publishes over 80 scholarly periodicals and more than 200 new books each year. About The Physicians Foundation The Physicians Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to empower physicians to lead in the delivery of high-quality, cost-efficient healthcare. As the U.S. healthcare system continues to evolve, the Physicians Foundation is steadfast in its determination to strengthen the physician-patient relationship, support physicians in sustaining their medical practices and help practicing physicians navigate the changing healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.physiciansfoundation.org. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005886/en/

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[August 23, 2016] Renovation of Shuttered School Will Expand Access to Early Education for Flint Kids

The transformation of a shuttered elementary school into a hub of early childhood education services is underway in Flint, thanks to $1 million in funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and $500,000 from the Pritzker Children's Initiative, a program of the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation. The grants to the Foundation for the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation (FURC) are covering the costs of renovations at the former Cummings Elementary School, located on the city's southwest side. The project includes extensive physical improvements to the school and surrounding campus, as well as the addition of new technology and furnishings. The Uptown Reinvestment Corporation, a supported organization of FURC, is overseeing the renovations. The school is expected to reopen by mid-September as the site of the Great Expectations Early Childhood Program. The program will serve up to 220 area children ages 2 months to 5 years and will be available free of charge to Flint families affected by the city's water crisis. The improvements at the school will create a welcoming space in which educators, families and area partners can work together to help children get a strong start on their educational journey, said Mott President Ridgway H. White. "It's essential that all Flint kids have access to the best educational opportunities, beginning as early as possible," he said. "The good news is that there are a lot of people, organizations and government agencies working together to make that a reality." The joint philanthropic support for the renovations at Cummings, which closed in June 2015 as part of a restructuring by the Flint Community Schools (FCS) District, is just one example of that collaborative effort, says White. The Great Expectations program is a partnership of FCS, the University of Michigan-Flint and the Genesee Intermediate School District. State and federal funding will help support the program, and a $600,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will help early childcare providers at the Cummings site and throughout the community identify and address the educational, behavioral and health needs of children exposed to lead as a result of the city's water crisis. Studies have found that lead exposure can spark developmental delays and behavioral challenges among children. High quality early childhood programs are key to mitigating those impacts, but te need for such services in Flint currently outpaces the available slots by four to one.



The launch of the new program at Cummings is an important step towards balancing that equation, noted J.B. Pritzker, board chair of the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation. "High quality early childhood education, health care and nutrition are essential to ensuring that each child achieves their full potential," he said. "The Cummings renovations will allow Flint's children increased access to high quality programs during the critical first five years."

For FCS Superintendent Bilal Tawaab, the expansion of early childhood programs holds the potential for strengthening the overall educational system in Flint. "We know that early, high quality experiences can help create a solid footing for a child's educational career," he said. "Making those opportunities available to all our kids is fundamental to ensuring their future growth and success, and that of the greater Flint community." FCS is planning an open house to provide residents with an opportunity to visit the renovated Cummings site and learn more about the Great Expectations program. The open house will be held in mid-September, just before the program launches. Details will be posted on the district's website at www.flintschools.org. In May, Mott, Kellogg and eight other foundations announced a joint commitment of up to $125 million to help Flint recover and rise from the water crisis. That pledge includes up to $100 million over the next five years - as much as $50 million the first year alone - from Mott. The J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation is the latest philanthropy to engage in the collaborative funding effort. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in Flint, Michigan, by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the United States and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Education. In addition to Flint, offices are located in metropolitan Detroit, Johannesburg and London. With year-end assets of approximately $2.7 billion in 2015, the Foundation made 400 grants totaling more than $119 million. For more information, visit www.mott.org. Through its Pritzker Children's Initiative, the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation has long been a champion of quality early learning. For more than 15 years, the Pritzker Children's Initiative has been committed to a single, attainable goal: that all at-risk children throughout the U.S. will have access to high quality early childhood development resources, increasing their likelihood of success in school and life. With a focus on the importance of birth to age three, the Initiative supports programs that unlock public and private investments in early childhood development, increase the supply and reach of evidence-based interventions, and accelerate innovation and knowledge sharing. The Flint Community Schools (FCS) is an urban public school system with about 5,400 students and 500 employees. The district has a long and rich tradition of community education, and provides a range of academic, extended services and extracurricular activities to meet the needs of local students and their families. Its mission is to develop a community of learners that is prepared to live, work and contribute to an ever-changing society. To learn more about FCS and its various programs, visit www.flintschools.org. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823006241/en/

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[August 22, 2016] Telairity Consolidates Position in Asia with Win at Sri Lanka Telecom

SANTA CLARA, California, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S.-based Telairity, Inc., the broadcast industry leader in H.264/MPEG4 encoding technology, in partnership with systems integrator Mitter International Pvt. Ltd., announced today another milestone in providing encoding technology equipment to countries in the Asia-Pacific region: the sale of Telairity encoders and IRDs as the compression/decompression engines for an advanced IPTV video network being installed at multiple locations across Sri Lanka. Mitter International, based in Colombo, is a leading provider of telecom equipment and after sales support for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Telecom is the island nation's leading broadband and backbone infrastructure service provider, serving more than 6 million customers, including many large and small corporations, public sector clients, and retail businesses. The new live IPTV broadcasting system, implemented by Sri LankaTelecom on behalf of one of their major clients, links together locations in Colombo, Union Place, Mount Olephant, and Depanama.



According to Mitter International CEO, Mindika Hettiarachchi, "Mitter continually evaluates new products that we think might benefit our clients. Telairity's combination of performance, reliability, quality, and after-sales support made their equipment the clear choice for a client like Sri Lanka Telecom that demands suppliers must not only meet the highest standards of professionalism, but also deliver proven products that provide truly exceptional value over their lifetime." Added Steve Wang, Telairity General Manager for Asia-Pacific,"This win at Sri Lanka Telecom, added to earlier wins at other major regional Telco providers, including China Telecom and Thailand's CAT Telecom, plus the choice of Telairity equipment to stream the most recent 2015 Pacific Games, clearly indicates that Telairity encoders and IRDs have become a leading brand for Asia Pacific companies looking to provide new video services or expand existing operations. This sort of widespread acceptance is a tribute not only to the quality of our solutions, but also to the strong relationships we have formed with partners like Mitter International and customers like Sri Lanka Telecom. We wish to thank both for the opportunity to participate in this important new digital video initiative."

Telairity and AVClairity are trademarks of Telairity, Inc. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners. Telairity contact:

Harlan McGhan

Telairity

Tel: +1 (408) 764-0270 x518

Email: [email protected]

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[August 23, 2016] Kontena Announces Funding and Launches Developer-Friendly, Open Source Container and Microservices Platform

New Platform Helps Developers Leverage Container Technology Quickly and Easily with No Maintenance Required MENLO PARK, California and HELSINKI, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More and more organizations are looking to container technology to solve some of the most difficult challenges in software development distribution. However, many of the biggest names in the container platform space are aimed at massive systems that are difficult to install, use and maintain. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400288LOGO Kontena is introducing its developer-friendly container and microservices platform that is quick to install, easy to use and runs at any scale on any infrastructure, be it on-premises, cloud or hybrid. The company has raised funding with backing from Lifeline Ventures, a team of serial entrepreneurs that was one of the first to invest in Supercell. The funds will be used for entering the market and initial scaling of the company and business. Kontena provides a scalable, out-of-the-box solution that includes everything a developer needs to start running containerized applications, hassle-free. The platform is designed to maximize developer happiness through: Easy installation and ease of use: Kontena works off the shelfon any public cloud, on-premises or hybridand requires minimum effot to install. The platform requires no maintenance and includes automatic updates, which enables developers to spend more time working on what matters the most  their own software and applications.

Kontena works off the shelfon any public cloud, on-premises or hybridand requires minimum effot to install. The platform requires no maintenance and includes automatic updates, which enables developers to spend more time working on what matters the most  their own software and applications. Scalability: Unlike many other platforms, Kontena is feasible for running even the smallest container workloads and it may be scaled up when needed. This scalability means developers have just the right-sized tool for their unique organization needs.

Unlike many other platforms, Kontena is feasible for running even the smallest container workloads and it may be scaled up when needed. This scalability means developers have just the right-sized tool for their unique organization needs. Open source: Kontena is open source and integrates with other, complementary open source software as well as leading software-as-a-service offerings aimed at monitoring and logging. This minimizes vendor lock-in and ensures developers have a wide array of options available to them.



Miska Kaipiainen, chief executive officer and co-founder, Kontena, said:

"We started using Docker very early and soon realized that while it is great technology, it isn't so easy to master. Too many people struggle when moving from development to production. Our mission is to create the most developer-friendly, open source platform for running containerized apps and microservices. We want to make it possible for all developers around the world to take advantage of this amazing technology by making it more accessible and easy to use." Matti Paksula, CTO, AppGyver said:

"After years of using Heroku for our application hosting, we were seeking a new container platform that would provide us with the flexibility we needed. After looking at a number of other options, we found Kontena and have been very pleased. Kontena offers us the scalability and agility we need to deploy the services that power our enterprise cross-platform mobile app builder."

Petteri Koponen, partner and founder of Lifeline Ventures, said:

"We invest in companies that we are passionate about and that we believe we can help. With the radical shift in the developer landscape, this technology is a hot commodity, and we are committed to helping Kontena realize its vision of making container capabilities available for businesses of all sizes." About Kontena

Kontena, Inc. is the creator of Kontena, an open source, developer-friendly container and microservices platform. Kontena is built to maximize developer happiness by simplifying running containerized applications on any infrastructure: on-premises, cloud or hybrid. It provides a complete solution for organizations of any size. Founded in March 2015, Kontena was recognized as one of the best new open source projects in the 8th annual Black Duck Open Source Rookies of the Year Awards. For more information, visit: www.kontena.io. PR Contact:

Jessica M. Pasko

Nadel Phelan, Inc.

+1-831-440-2412

[email protected]



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[August 23, 2016] OnDeck Launches Initiative to Help Small Business Owners with Time Management

NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK), the leader in online lending for small business, today launched a national initiative to help small business owners overcome one of their most formidable challenges  time management. The first-of-its-kind initiative is in response to OnDeck's latest Main Street Pulse Report, a quarterly study of small business trends, which found that many small business owners are more pressed for time than ever before, with a whopping 86 percent of those surveyed saying that "one needs to be exceptional at time management to excel as a small business owner." The results from OnDeck's recent Main Street Pulse Report point to a challenging reality for small businesses. Half of the survey respondents agreed that: "As a business owner, work/life balance is an illusion," with even more  61 percent - saying that "they constantly feel like they are racing against the clock." When asked, "How many hours per week would you need to successfully run your business?" those surveyed felt they would need 69 hours on average. Click here to view an infographic detailing the time challenges of small businesses: www.ondeck.com/33hours In addition to applying for credit, other time-intensive parts of a small business owner's day as identified by a large number of respondents include customer service (42 percent), followed by marketing (41 percent), accounting (33 percent) and people/HR (31 percent). So, it's no surprise that time management skills are of paramount importance tothem.



"Our research shows that small business owners are pressed for time and need to find ways to free up more time in their day," said Andrea Gellert, chief marketing officer, OnDeck. "To help hardworking small business owners be more efficient, we'll be unveiling a host of time management tools. We're committed to helping small businesses obtain efficient access to capital so they can spend time on the things most important to them." According to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, small business owners spend an average of 33 hours searching and applying for a traditional bank loan. OnDeck's latest Main Street Pulse Report also examined how business owners value their time and what they would do instead if they could bypass the 33 hours spent buried in loan paperwork. Surprisingly, taking a vacation this summer wasn't their first choice. Rather, the most respondents, roughly 43 percent, said they would choose to take those theoretical hours back and spend quality time with family and friends.

To view a video of what else small business owners could do with 33 hours of time back, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLZwK2Hy1bU&feature=youtu.be The 2016 Small Business Time Management Initiative launches today with valuable advice that can help business owners overcome the challenges of running and growing a business, including: Time Management Series

OnDeck will provide time management tips to streamline common time-intensive areas of running a business, including marketing, customer service and people operations. The advice, which also includes work/life balance best practices, comes from OnDeck executives, SCORE President David Bobbitt, small business owners and other small business experts. SCORE is a non-profit organization comprised of 11,000+ volunteer mentors who provide free and confidential small business mentoring and advice. Facebook Live Chat: 7 Ways Small Business Owners Can Be More Efficient Marketers

OnDeck's small business expert Ty Kiisel will host a Facebook Live chat to share time management tips and best practices for being a more efficient marketer. To participate, tune in to OnDeck's Facebook page at Facebook.com/OnDeckCapital on Thursday, September 1 at 2 p.m. EDT. Quickbooks Online Essentials Contest: Streamline Your Accounting

OnDeck is hosting a contest for small business owners on their Facebook page to win a year's subscription to Quickbooks Online Essentials. One lucky business owner will be able to more efficiently track income and expenses, create estimates and invoices, manage and pay bills, generate sales and profit reports, and more. Visit Facebook.com/OnDeckCapital to enter. The contest launches today and will run through August 31, 2016. A winner will be notified the week of September 6, 2016. As the leading online small business lender, OnDeck has delivered over $5 billion to more than 50,000 customers in 700 different industries across the United States, Canada and Australia. OnDeck Survey Methodology

The OnDeck Main Street Pulse Report was conducted online by Lucid Market Research from June 27 to July 1, using a national sample from the Lucid panel of small business owners. The 348 respondents surveyed come from a wide range of industries and geographies. To learn more, visit: www.luc.id. About OnDeck

OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK) is the leader in online small business lending. Since 2007, the Company has powered Main Street's growth through advanced lending technology and a constant dedication to customer service. OnDeck's proprietary credit scoring system  the OnDeck Score  leverages advanced analytics, enabling OnDeck to make real-time lending decisions and deliver capital to small businesses in as little as 24 hours. OnDeck offers business owners a complete financing solution, including the online lending industry's widest range of term loans and lines of credit. To date, the Company has deployed over $5 billion to more than 50,000 customers in 700 different industries across the United States, Canada and Australia. OnDeck has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and operates the educational small business financing website www.businessloans.com. For more information, please visit www.ondeck.com. Media Contact: Miranda Eifler

1-917-677-7112

[email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150812/257781LOGO Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/399975-INFO Video - https://youtu.be/YLZwK2Hy1bU To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ondeck-launches-initiative-to-help-small-business-owners-with-time-management-300316616.html SOURCE OnDeck

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[August 23, 2016] Hillsborough, N.C. Selects Fathom to Improve Water Utility Customer Service

FATHOMTM, the largest Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) provider for water utilities, today announced it has contracted with the Town of Hillsborough, North Carolina to provide the FATHOM advanced suite of integrated utility services. This partnership will consolidate all the water management technologies onto one platform and help the town provide better customer service, fully optimize operations and recover revenue. The new platform will also provide customers with access to real-time consumption data and improve the customer experience. Hillsborough is the first in the state to implement the FATHOM Smart Grid for Water, underscoring its commitment to the community to deliver a truly modernized water utility. Centrally located in Orange (News - Alert) County, the town developed a 20-year plan with the county in 2006 to meet the needs of a growing population in a fiscally responsible manner. "Utilities today need solutions that are proven, low-risk and can easily scale to match population growth," said Trevor Hill, CEO of FATHOM. "We designed FATHOM to focus on key data, including water flow and consumptio data, ensuring that every customer is accounted for and billed correctly. Our consolidated platform will enable Hillsborough to use this data to better understand what's happening on the ground while providing superior customer service."



The agreement includes FATHOM's end-to-end Customer Information System (CIS), including utility billing and revenue management services, along with FATHOM Meter Data Management (MDM) software and the ability to support an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). With this technology, utility managers now have access to 720 readings per meter per month, enabling an hour-by-hour dissection of water usage across the town and enabling city managers to easily identify and fix problems as they arise. "Now that we're on a single platform, we no longer have to spend resources on managing and integrating data from different software and hardware. We're implementing a streamlined process for resolving important issues like customer billing inquiries and detecting water leakage, and we expect our response time to significantly improve as a result of this switch," said Heidi Lamay, Hillsborough's finance director. "FATHOM enables us save both time and money, which we can use to better serve our customers. Our investment has paid tangible dividends from day one and we anticipate that trajectory to continue over the time of our partnership."

The project is scheduled for completion in the fall of this year, and will cover 6,279 meters. About FATHOM Based in Phoenix, AZ and Austin, TX, FATHOM is a software-as-a-service company helping water utilities do more with declining resources. With rapidly deployable, risk-free, cloud-based solutions that address all aspects of the meter-to-cash verticals for water utilities, FATHOM increases revenue, decreases costs and delights customers. FATHOM was built by a water utility, for water utilities and delivers a risk-free solution to more than 160 organizations around the world. There is strength in numbers. To learn more, visit www.gwfathom.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005339/en/

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[August 23, 2016] DCT Telecom Group Appoints New Hires

WESTLAKE, Ohio, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DCT Telecom Group, Inc. (DCT), a Cleveland based Internet Service Provider (ISP) and leader in business class cloud, data and voice solutions, is pleased to welcome three experienced professionals to our growing team. Joining DCT as an Account Service Representative, Kearsten Brunst will be instrumental in fulfilling DCT's unique approach to proactive account management by interacting with customers on all administrative aspects of their account, as well as working to identify and facilitate on-going process and cost improvements. Ms. Brunst has an extensive background in supporting major corporate clients with the implementation and execution of operational initiatives. The combination of her technical skill set, results-oriented approach and ability to collaborate effectively throughout all levels of an organization will enable her to contribute successfully to DCT's goal of deploying the most current technology and customized services for our customers. Ms. Brunst holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Cleveland State University.



Sue Wohleber joins DCT as Customer Service Representative. In her role as a member of DCT's highly regarded customer service team, Ms. Wohleber is dedicated to providing top tier, local customer care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. As our customer's first line of contact she is responsible for handling service, billing and technical support. With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, Ms. Wohleber's customer support background and depth of technical knowledge will enable her to analyze and resolve client inquiries quickly and thoroughly. She earned her degree in Information Technology and Business Administration from the University of Mount Union. Stephanie Monroe joins DCT as Engineering Assistant. In her role Ms. Monroe provides direct support to the Director of Engineering, handling all scheduling, shipping and receiving, and administrative responsibilities. With 7 years of experience in customer service, administrative and support roles she will utilize her organizational and customer service background and strong attention to detail to assist in the overall operational success of our dynamic Engineering and Operations team.

"Providing outstanding customer service and operational excellence are top priorities for DCT," commented J. Anthony Rehak, President. "We look forward to the contributions of Kearsten, Sue and Stephanie as we continue to differentiate ourselves as a true partner to our clients and the clear choice for cloud, data and voice solutions." About DCT Telecom Group DCT Telecom Group has been delivering leading edge telephony services and support to business customers both domestically and internationally since 1993. Drawing on extensive wholesale relationships, our own network infrastructure and our expanded equipment and hardware as a service options, DCT assists businesses with the configuration, implementation and management of customized cloud, hosted PBX, data and voice solutions. DCT is a proud business partner of the Cleveland Browns, has been awarded a Top Workplaces honor by The Plain Dealer for two consecutive years, and as one of Northeast Ohio's fastest growing companies has been recognized as a prestigious Weatherhead 100 award winner seven times. Please visit www.4dct.com. A head shot for each of the above employees is available upon request. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140618/119261 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dct-telecom-group-appoints-new-hires-300316338.html SOURCE DCT Telecom Group, Inc.

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[August 23, 2016] NetRush Named To 35th Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies

VANCOUVER, Wash., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NetRush, a strategic retail agency that partners with premium brands on the Amazon marketplace, has been named to the 35th edition of the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America. NetRush is ranked 1482 with a three-year growth rate of 257%. "We're honored to be on the Inc. 5000 list alongside the country's fastest growing companies," said Brian Gonsalves, NetRush CEO. "We're very proud of our team, our partner brands, and the hard work they've put into making the growth of NetRush an enjoyable ride." p>Earlier this year, NetRush was ranked number one in Vancouver Business Journal's list of fastest growing private companies, and number one in Portland Business Journal's list of creative agencies.



"Our success is the result of shared passion that our partners and employees bring to NetRush everyday," added Chris Marantette, NetRush CFO. "The culture here is driven by our core values - to do the right thing and passionately contribute to the stories our brands tell. That's what continues to fuel our growth and create new opportunities." NetRush was co-founded by Gonsalves and Marantette in 2006. Today, the company partners with over 30 premium brands across a variety of categories and employs more than 100 people across its Washington and Kentucky locations.

About NetRush.com, Inc. NetRush is a strategic retail agency that partners with premium brands to deliver maximum value on the Amazon marketplace. As a collaborative partner, we create sustainable strategies that drive growth and proactively transform the marketplace experience. About Inc. 5000 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. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400230LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/netrush-named-to-35th-inc-5000-list-of-fastest-growing-private-companies-300316761.html SOURCE NetRush

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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.
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Google Pixel 7 vs. iPhone 14 camera shootout  which phone wins?

Which camera phone would you rather have with you? Our Google Pixel 7 vs. iPhone 14 camera face-off pits the two leading devices against each other in a variety of scenarios.
Liverpool vs Leeds live stream and how to watch Premier League game online

The Liverpool vs Leeds live stream will see two teams struggling to achieve their objectives this season square off at Anfield. Here's how to watch it live, wherever you are.
Having announced a massive headliner in Childish Gambino and with the full lineup set to drop this afternoon, the organisers of Falls Festival 2016 have now added London Grammar their rapidly expanding lineup.

The historic 24th instalment of the beloved annual New Years holiday festival will be hitting up its usual locations in Lorne, Marion Bay, and Byron Bay, in addition to debuting its new Fremantle leg.

Were really excited to be there again Its weird being somewhere so hot at Christmas time  its obviously a good thing, London Grammar vocalist Hannah Reid told the triple j Breakfast boys this morning.

Reid even teased that the band will have some fresh tunes to play for us come December. Yeah, I think thats the plan, a few new tunes for you, she said. Weve been working hard and hope you like it.

Make sure you stay tuned in to Tone Deaf and keep an eye out for that full lineup when it drops later today.

Falls Festival 2016/2017

London Grammar

joining

Childish Gambino

Wednesday, 28th December 2016  Saturday, 31st December 2017

Lorne, Victoria

Tickets: Falls Festival

Thursday, 29th December 2016  Saturday, 31st December 2017

Marion Bay, Tasmania

Tickets: Falls Festival

Saturday, 31st December 2016  Monday, 2nd January 2017

Byron Bay, New South Wales

Tickets: Falls Festival

Saturday, 7th January 2017  Sunday, 8th January 2017

Fremantle, Western Australia

Tickets: Falls Festival
Loving live music isnt just about attending music festivals and seeing an international artists massive arena show.

Even the biggest of big-name headliners started in the trenches, on the sticky carpets and bandrooms of your local bars and pubs  which is exactly where you should be if you want to discover your new favourite band or venue.

Here are our picks for this weeks best local gigs from Aussie talent  from Perth to the East Coast  and all for the price of a good meal.

Dorsal Fins

Where: Newtown Social Club, Sydney NSW

When: 7pm Thursday Aug 25

Why: Head down to the Newtown Social Club for a great night of choons from one of our favourite Melbourne bands, including new track Sedated  described as the sort of song youd write after spending 1000 years cryogenically frozen. Theyll be supported by Tees and DJ Sweetie Zamora.

Tickets & Info: $12 + bf, more info here.

Kllo

Where: Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA

When: 8pm Thursday Aug 25

Why: All West Coast lovers of textured beats and beautiful vocals should get down to the Rosemount this Thursday night for a night of grooves and slow jams from one of the most justified buzz bands in the country, fresh off a sold out hometown show. Theyll be joined by Kucka behind the decks, and several more.

Tickets & Info: $10.20, more info here.

Spike Fuck

Where: Wooly Mammoth, Brisbane QLD

When: 7:30pm Thursday August 25

Why: Thursday nights are perfect for calm guitars, strong harmonies and introspective lyrics. Nicholas Allbrook put us onto this one, so theres your guarantee. Hop down with some mates for an intimate night, supported by Bent.

Tickets & Info: Free entry, Wooly Mammoth, Brisbane QLD7:30pmnights are perfect for calm guitars, strong harmonies and introspective lyrics. Nicholas Allbrook put us onto this one, so theres your guarantee. Hop down with some mates for an intimate night, supported by Bent.: Free entry, more info here

Scott & Charlenes Wedding

Where: The John Curtin, Melbourne VIC

When: 8pm Friday Aug 26

Why: Scott & Charlenes Wedding are fresh off a long tour of central Australia with Up The Guts, and are no doubt keen to hit their hometown stage supported by Summer Flake. Dont miss out this Friday night when the group will debut some new tracks from their upcoming album Mid Thirties Single Scene which is set to release early September.

Tickets & Info: $15 + $1.50 b/f, more info here.

Witchgrinder & Envenomed

Where: Cherry Bar, Melbourne VIC

When: 8pm Saturday August 13

Why: Cherry Bar is synonymous with heavy rock and why would this Saturday night be any different? Don your denim jackets and get out to catch Witchgrinder & Envenomed thrash out, and make sure you pack your voltaren for the post-headbanging twinges.

Canary

Where: The Workers Club, Geelong VIC

When: 8pm Friday August 26

Why: Canary are an indie-pop outfit from Melbourne who will be bringing their acoustic vibes down the coast to Geelong this Friday night. With stunning harmonies and tranquil guitar, theyre one to keep an eye on this year, having just dropped a great EP in I Am Lion.

Tickets & Info: $14.30, The Workers Club, Geelong VICCanary are an indie-pop outfit from Melbourne who will be bringing their acoustic vibes down the coast to Geelong this Friday night. With stunning harmonies and tranquil guitar, theyre one to keep an eye on this year, having just dropped a great EP in I Am Lion.$14.30, more info here.

Feuds

Where: The Bearded Lady, Brisbane QLD

When: 8pm Friday August 26

Why: These Brisbane rockers are touring their new EP in their hometown this Friday night. Having already opened for Holy Holy and Bad//Dreems, theyre now headlining their own gig and are sure to make it a ripper night supported by beneb and more.

Tickets & Info: $10, These Brisbane rockers are touring their new EP in their hometown this Friday night. Having already opened for Holy Holy and Bad//Dreems, theyre now headlining their own gig and are sure to make it a ripper night supported by beneb and more.$10, more info here

Cold Hands Warm Heart & HTMLflowers

Where: The Gasometer Hotel, Melbourne VIC

When: 8pm Thursday Aug 25

Why: Its hard to pigeonhole these Melbourne musos. Self-described as psychedelic folk pop, they employ dreamy tones and soft melodies to truly enthral. Even better, theyre supported by the irrepressible HTMLflowers, who is similarly beyond categorisation. Just a great bill.

Tickets & Info: More info here.

Ur Boy Bangs & More

Where: Boney, Melbourne VIC

When: 8pm  5am Thursday Aug 25

Why: What a lineup, as Ya Boy Bangs is coming atchya with a night to remember. The Melbourne hip-hop sensation, famous for his tracks Take U 2 Da Movies and Take U 4 A Dinner is unleashing his rap talents alongside none other than Baro and Nico Ghost. Damn!

Tickets & Info: More info here.

Gold Class

Where: 53-55 Liverpool Street, Sydney NSW

When: 8pm Friday Aug 26

Why: These guys are quite simply smashing out some of the best rock songs coming out of Australia right now, and this gig is unbelievably cheap for an act of their stature, thanks to Red Bull. What more needs to be said?

Tickets & Info: $10 / $3 with RSVP, more info here.

Spookyland

Where: Marlborough Hotel, Sydney NSW

When: 9pm Thursday Aug 25

Why: These Sydney rockers are coming at you this Thursday night to take away all your bad vibrations through rock ballads and heartening lyrics. Surround yourself with some mates for this one, a group experience not to be missed.

Tickets & Info: More info here.

White Bleaches

Where: Yah Yahs, Melbourne VIC

When: 8:30 Saturday Aug 27

Why: These guys bring a lo-fi psych surf-rock attitude to their songs. Its not surprises then that Stu Mackenzie from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard recorded their latest record. Hit these guys up for a boogie this Saturday night

Tickets & Info: $11.44, more info here.
KANSAS CITY 3RD DISTRICTS VOTERS RAGE AGAINST COUNCILMAN JERMAINE REED OVER HIS EXPENSIVE SUPPORT OF THE TOY TRAIN STREETCAR!!!

How much is the Councilman costing the 3rd District with his streetcar support?

OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS COUNCILMAN JERMAINE REED HAS ALLOCATED $810K OF 3RD DISTRICT PIAC FUNDS FOR THE STUDY OF THE TOY TRAIN STREETCAR!!!

"He has been ineffective and incompetent. The 3rd District desperately needed that money for infrastructure improvement and repair. Everything from streetlights to water mains could have been benefited from those funds. Meanwhile, the reality is that it's very unlikely the streetcar is going to turn east in the near future."

"Why should the 3rd District pay for improvements in Downtown and Brookside? Councilman Reed has been negligent in his allocation of these funds and that's just one of many reasons that he doesn't deserve a 2nd term."

Sadly . . . The reality is that the streetcar is a mostly white effort supported predominately by hipster consultants . . . Even the middle-class residents of Brookside now stand against Phase II.

As usual, the urban core has been excluded from most discussions on recent Kansas City infrastructure and transit developments.However, the latest word fromreveals a lively streetcar debate to the east of Brookside.Accordingly . . .Kansas City Insiders have an exact total:For those who don't know . . .Here's the word from Kansas City East Side Insiders already looking for an opponent to oust Councilman Reed.Even more to the point . . .To be fair, if streetcar advocates were serious about their promises for economic development they would steer the toy train toward the East Side . . . 18th and Vine in particular is the best location for a toy train stop given that the Linwood route really isn't going to do any good.Even worse . . .It seems that Kansas City Toy Train Streetcar hype is coming to a halt after Councilman Reed has been taken along for a ride and given up almost a million dollars worth of 3rd District funds.Developing . . .
An effort championed by Former Councilman John Sharp and current 3rd District Rep. Jermaine Reed: Kansas City job applications stop asking about criminal histories





KCK effort earlier this year: KCK becomes first city in Kansas to Ban the Box





Gov. Jay mandate about a month ago: Nixon orders Missouri agencies to 'ban the box' in state jobs

IN A TRAGIC BIT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR IRONY . . . THE SO-CALLED "BAN THE BOX" EFFORT ADVERSELY IMPACTS MINORITY WORKERS AND HELPS WHITE CONVICTS EARN JOBS WITHOUT SCREENING!!!

"In the absence of a checkbox that would indicate a prior criminal conviction, prospective employers appear to have tried to determine which applicants fit a given racial background and then discriminated against those people more broadly. In contrast, white applicants who had a criminal record were actually helped by "Ban the Box" because prospective employers appear to have been less likely to assume those applicants had ever been convicted."

The call for felony forgiveness has been widely popular over the past few years in Kansas City.The move started in City Hall around 2013 and kept going from there . . .Tragically . . .Take a peek:Money line . . .And so, the best intentions of local advocates have not only made life harder for minorities without a criminal record but also helped to make local workplaces less safe by increasing the numbers of white ex-cons working.You decide . . .
FIRST ON TKC!!! KICK-ASS TKC TIPSTERS REVEAL A SURPRISING LAWSUIT FILED ON BEHALF OF STATE SENATOR RYAN SILVEY ARGUING FOR THE DISQUALIFICATION OF J RANEN BECHTHOLD!!!

Here's the proof, check casenet and 16CY-CV07090 - RYAN A. SILVEY V. J. RANEN BECHTHOLD (E-CASE) and take a look at the Verified Petition for Disqualification from General Election.

"Ryan Silvey disrespects Afghanistan veteran, calling him a nomad. Missouri State Senator Ryan Silvey filed a petition on 15 Aug 2016 to disqualify his opponent J Ranen Bechthold , an Afghanistan Veteran who recently returned to his birthplace in Clay County from active duty status. Silvey alleges that Bechthold failed to maintain residency requirements in the 17th Senate district due to time spent living outside the district as part of his military obligations. Despite the fact that Article 8, section 6 of the Missouri Constitution specifically exempts returning service members from residency requirements for a number of legal issues including voting and running for office, Silvey specifically stated in his petition these (Mr. Bechtholds) temporary nomadic living arrangements fail to establish permanent residency within Senate District 17.

THIS LAWSUIT AGAINST A VETERAN IS A RISKY PLOY FOR STATE SEN. SILVEY!!!

Kansas City Northland politics heats up this election season with a Missouri State Senate residency fightMost Kansas City political watchers know State Senatoras a bit of aby Missouri standards and a politico who has always had a tough time fitting in with more strident Republicans and his many Democratic Party Kansas City colleagues around his age group . . . C'mon, anybody who looks forward to hanging out with Statehas to be pretty hard up.but the point here is Silvey is always the last guy to get invited . . . Anywhere.Silvey's opponent is, a political newbie with a progressive campaign platform but also a self-described "Afghanistan Veteran" who supports the minimum wage increase "Fight For $15" in his campaign literature.Now . . .Now that we've provided context, here's the word from. . .Now . . .The legal tactic could backfire onand now risks a last minute legal challenge that kinda makes him look scared.You decide . . .
"Just got my latest monthly KC Star subscription bill. It went up from $28.03 to $35.38 per month, more than a 26% increase. And they still won't deliver any closer than 3/4 mile from my house. And even then, they'd fail to deliver about 10 times a month and never credit my account. I trained my dog to bring the newspaper each morning, but Winslow may soon be out of luck."

One of the most effective ways for a company to go out of business is to charge higher fees for a product with declining demand.With the exception of Adele . . . They're mostly giving CDs away now . . . Meanwhile, The Kansas City Star continues to bilk its customers according to some of their last remaining loyalists. Here's the word from anand his well-trained doggie:You decide . . .
Throughout history, a nation or empire is only as strong as its military forces. Growth and power have been predicated on the strength of your finest soldiers, and their ability to prove victorious on the battlefield. Even among the finest soldiers in history, some stand above the rest. These are some of the most fearsome and legendary groups of warriors the world has ever seen.

10. Medieval Knight

The first knights appeared during the reign of Charlemagne in the 8th century. By the ninth century, many knights and nobles held estates (fiefs) granted by greater lords, in return for military and other services. In some nations, the knight returned to foot combat in the 14th century. But the association of the knight with mounted combat, armed with a spear, and later a lance, remained a strong one. Medieval knights, or medieval mounted nobility, also varied significantly depending on which part of the Middle Ages we are talking about.

A Norman knight during the battle of Hastings, a knight templar in the Holy Land, and a late medieval, full plate armored knight would be very different in equipment. In Europe, plate armor reached its peak in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, with the development of full plate armor. This divided into the gothic southern German style, and the white northern Italian armor style. An actual English style of armor was probably also present, being independent of the two main continental styles. The weapons of a knight were his lance, his pole arms, his blunt weapons, and, although considered a secondary weapon on the battlefield, his sword.

9. Mongolian Archers

Mongolian horse archers sprouted from tribes of nomads who derived their sustenance from herds of cattle, sheep, and goats, which they followed from one grazing ground on to the next. Differently from the littoral (meaning by the shore), permanent settlement society, Eurasia saw entire peoples living in temporary structures. These nomadic men lived most of their lives on horseback, until their horses became virtual extensions of themselves.

Their cavalry archer units were equipped with bows made of a layer of sinew on the back, and a layer of horn on the inner surface, with a frame of wood in the middle. These bows could pull well over 100 pounds but they were short, so they could be used from horseback, allowing these troops to remain highly mobile.

8. English Longbowmen

After a march of 17 days from Harfleur, almost around the headwaters of the river Somme, the 28-year-old King Henry V of England set up his camp in the fields and orchards of Maisoncelles near Agincourt. The Battle of Agincourt is the most famous example of longbowmen put into action. In pitched battle (an encounter on a prearranged battleground), the danger posed by English longbowmen was well known.

There are many different opinions on the draw weight of a medieval longbow. Its been estimated from 90-110 pounds-force, although other sources suggest significantly higher draw weights in the 150-160 pounds-force range. What is sure is that the English longbow was a very powerful weapon, and the archer was a professional soldier who needed to be trained specifically to develop the strength and ability necessary to use his weapon.

The Englishman did not keep his left hand steady, and draw his bow with his right. Instead, he kept his right at rest upon the nerve, and pressed the whole weight of his body into the horns of his bow. Hence probably arose the phrase bending the bow, and the French of drawing one.

7. Genoese Crossbowmen

The Balestrieri Genovesi (Italian) were a famous military corps of the Republic of Genoa. They acted as mercenaries for both foreign powers and other Italian powers. The Genoese were famous not only because they were skilled professionals, but also because they were widely available in relatively large numbers. The high numbers of professional crossbowmen seems to have been a result of the city of Genoas naval capacity.

Galleys, under Genoese law, were legally required to have specific numbers of crossbowmen on board. Of course, the existence of such a law doesnt guarantee that it was always followed to the letter, but theres no doubting that the use of the crossbow was linked to the citys naval and mercantile success. They carried large pavise shields (scudo pavese, in Italian). Operating a crossbow was easier than a longbow, because they take less raw strength. But loading a medieval crossbow should still not be considered an easy task.

6. Spartans

Sparta was one of the dominant military city-states of ancient Greece. What made this city-state different from the others was its complete focus on extreme military training. Like other Greek city-states, the Spartans used phalanx warfare to engage the enemy in battle. However, the Spartan phalanx was considered to be among the best in battle because of this intense training system.

Spartan warriors were certainly highly trained soldiers. But in the ancient world, Sparta was admired as much for its constitution, its system of education, its philosophical culture, its economic self- sufficiency, its diplomacy, and its music and dance as it was for its famous hoplites. Ancient Sparta was far more complex and multifaceted. Plutarch claimed that devotion to the intellect is more characteristic of Sparta than love of physical exercise, while theyve also been categorized as warrior philosophers.

5. Immortals

The Immortals were an army of 10,000 heavy infantry, who were both the Imperial Guard and the standing army during the expansion of the Persian Empire and the Greco-Persian Wars. They were the elite force of the first Persian Empire. Being chosen to become an Immortal was a great honor. Herodotus gave the name Immortals to them, and we owe most of the historical knowledge we have about these elite warriors to his writings.

The name Immortal was given to them because when a member of the 10,000-strong force was killed or wounded, someone else immediately replaced him. Thus from an outsiders perspective, it would appear that each member of the infantry was immortal, and their replacement may have represented a resurrection of sorts.

They were sophisticated, well equipped; their armor glittering with gold. As described by Herodotus, their armament included wicker shields, short spears, swords or large daggers, and bows and arrows. They also wore a special headdress, believed to have been a Persian tiara.

4. Maori Warriors

Maori warriors bravery and savageness were legendary. The Maori fighting unit was called a hapu. A hapu rarely consisted of more than a few hundred warriors, often numbering less than 100. Most of the warriors were men, but women were also known to fight. Often, several hapu joined forces in battle. A chief usually led the warriors.

Maori warriors usually attacked at dawn. They were experts in the art of ambush and surprise raids. They could appear and disappear swiftly and noiselessly into the thick New Zealand, natural rainforest environment. Their equipment consisted of:

Wahaika: A short, flat club usually made from wood, bone, or greenstone.

Otiate: This short club was used where quick, in-fighting action required thrusting jabs.

Taiaha: The favored weapon on the battlefield, the notches on the weapons?sides are for catching the opponents weapon. With the right flick and twist of the wrist, the opponent could be disarmed.

Toki Pou Tangata: A long club, typically five feet in length or longer.

3. Vikings

The Vikings were Norse navigators, seafarers, and sea-borne raiders. Norse military, mercantilism, and demographic expansion constituted an important element in early medieval history. Current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural cliches and stereotypes, but the original Vikings were not professional privateers or full-time soldiers  or, at least, not at first.

Originally, they were full-time fishermen and farmers who spent much of the year at home. Only in the summer would they have rallied to the call of a local leader and ventured across the sea to raid, trade, or seek out new lands to settle.

Its very important to note that the word Viking does not refer to a race, per se. It refers to those Norse people who would go on a Viking  meaning an expedition overseas. The typical equipment of a Viking would consist of a spear (their most common weapon), a shield, an axe, and a sword, and their most typical armor would be mail armor.

2. Samurai

Samurai were the elite warriors of Feudal Japan, associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class, called bushi. Differently from popular belief, although they were also trained in sword combat, their weapons of choice on the battlefield were the bow (yumi) and the spear (yari). After trading with the Prortuguese, they also used matchlock type arquebus (tanegashima teppo). An arquebus was an early firearm.

Samurai were originally mounted warriors, who years later would also be deployed as foot soldiers. In the 7th century, the Japanese wore a form of lamellar armor, which would eventually evolve into the samurai armor called yoroi. Yoroi were rather heavy to wear because of the fact the weight mostly hung from the shoulders. But in the 1500s, with the advent of firearms, a new type of samurai armor called tosei gusoku was created. It was lighter and tapered at the waist, which allowed for quicker action in combat.

As far as the Heian Period is concerned, those who would fight on the battleground were called samurai. In other words, there was always a high demand for strong and proficient warriors regardless of their social status or role on the battlefield. During that period, anyone could become a samurai.

1. Roman Legionary

The figure of the Roman soldier, or legionarius, wearing his lorica segmentata is one of the most iconic symbols of ancient warfare. Their equipment and role varied depending on the era, for instance as a republican soldier or an imperial soldier. A late imperial soldiers weapons and armors would have varied significantly, from the early Clipeus (a Greek-like shield) and hasta (spear), to the famous scutum and gladius.

Their discipline and ability to fight effectively in tight formation are legendary. Particularly, the post-Marian reform professional heavy infantrymen were highly trained soldiers. They could march, fight, build, and scout enemy territory. They enlisted in a legion for 25 years of service, and had to be Roman citizens to be able to do so.

by Metatron

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Revelations that the Greek PM, Alexis Tsiprass associate on matters of social media, Matheos Tsimitakis was linked to billionaire and pro-FYROM George Soross group to influence public opinion in Greece against Russia in the Ukrainian conflict, has caused controversy in the domestic political scene. The government has so far refrained from making any comments on the information. In 2015, Tsimitakis had worked for one of Soross multiple open society NGOs in a concerted effort to sway Greek public opinion in favour of Ukraine during the military conflict with Russia.

The news caused the intervention of the Russian Embassy in Athens, which requested further details on the matter. In the recent past Tsimitakis was once at the centre of attention, when he openly supported the view expressed by Migration Minister Giannis Mouzalas regarding the name of FYROM. Mouzalas had repeatedly called FYROM Macedonia in the media, which caused a strong reaction by ANEL President Panos Kammenos.

Tsimitakis was quick to defend Mouzalas in his position, stating that everyone in the world called FYROM Macedonia. Soros NGOs have consistently backed the nationalistic and historically revisionist views in FYROM. Despite the gravity of the matter, no government official has made any comments on the revelations, with some political pundits believing it is yet another internal SYRIZA problem with various strains of lobbies operating within the party and promoting their agendas that find a welcoming environment in the leftist partys fold, especially on matters of national interest like the relations with Turkey and FYROM.

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Greece is the second most desirable destination in the world according to a comprehensive analysis of Google data

Greece is the second most desirable destination in the world according to a comprehensive analysis of Google data.

The website teflSearch looked at queries made between July 2015 and July 2016 from more than 80 countries in 52 languages to produce a series of maps that reveal the holiday wish lists of various nationalities.

Where the world wants to go

Croatia featured in 2.71 per cent of travel-related searches worldwide and was followed by a clutch of other beach favourites: Greece (2.54 per cent), Turkey, Thailand (both 2.47 per cent), Spain (1.99 per cent), Italy (1.9 per cent), Cuba (1.85 per cent), Portugal (1.66 per cent) and Malta (1.65 per cent). The US completed the top 10, while the most visited country in the world  France  didnt make the cut.

Where the British want to go

British travellers prefer to look closer to home, with the UK revealed to be the most sought-after destination (5.6 per cent), as well as farther afield, with Australia slotting into fourth place. Croatia was not among the top 10, nor were Italy, Portugal or the US, but Mexico and Cyprus did make the grade.

Where Aussies want to go

Aussies are mad about Fiji, with the little island nation the subject of 16.1 per cent of searches, followed by New Zealand (10.3 per cent) and Thailand (6.5 per cent). A couple of other South Pacific minnows  Samoa and Vanuatu  are also among the most searched-for spots.

Where Americans want to go

Americans also look to their closest neighbours, with Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica and Canada all inside the top 10. The most in-demand destination, however, is the UK.

Where Croatians want to go

Where do you go when you live in worlds most desirable destination? Somewhere even more idyllic, it would seem. The analysis revealed that the top destination for Croatians is the Maldives.

The places that love each other

Some places, meanwhile, are made for one another. Taiwan and Hong Kong were each others most in-demand destinations, as were Japan and South Korea.

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WikiLeaks said an unknown man had climbed the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Julian Assange has been staying for four years

WikiLeaks said an unknown man had climbed the Ecuadorian embassy in London where Julian Assange has been staying for four years. Users suggested that it was probably an assassination attempt, ordered by Clinton.

At 2:47am an unknown man scaled the side wall [and the] window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security, a statement from WikiLeaks said early Monday morning. Assange recently spoken to US media saying he would release more emails on Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, while he expressed suspicion of the death of a Hillary Clinton aide.

Later the group said that the intruder was male and he climbed the Ecuadorian embassy where Assange has asylum.

Assange has been living at the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012, under constant surveillance by British law enforcement. He was granted asylum after arguing that his extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning regarding allegations of sexual assault against two women in 2010  which he has always denied  would lead to a further extradition to the United States.

He says that if he goes to Sweden, the US will managed to secure his extradition over espionage charges related to his work for WikiLeaks. He insists that the website defends human rights and exposes illegal actions by revealing classified material to public scrutiny.

In February, a UN panel ruled that Assange has been arbitrarily detained in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, calling upon the UK and Sweden to end Assanges deprivation of liberty. However, both UK and Sweden rejected the ruling.

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Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, has signed an agreement with Burooj Property Development to offer customised financial solutions, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.



To read further, please visit GDNonline.






2017 is set to be the busiest year for hotel openings in the Middle East with 189 projects and 58,527 rooms, an industry report has revealed.



According to the Middle East Hotel Construction Overview report prepared by Tophotelprojects exclusively for The Hotel Show Dubai 2016, notable hotel openings scheduled for 2017 include: the worlds largest hotel in Makkah, Saudi Arabia with 10,000 rooms, and the worlds first Paramount Hotels & Resorts property, the Paramount Hotel in Dubai.



The report forecasts that the majority of new hotel rooms will open before 2020 with the UAE (180 projects) and Saudi Arabia (134 projects) remaining the most active hotel construction hotspots in the region.



Currently there are 541 new hotels in the pipeline across the Middle East  bringing an additional 158,950 hotel rooms to the region.



That are a lot of bedrooms, bathrooms, windows, doors, terraces, restaurants, pools, spas, gyms, and much more to be fit out and equipped over the next five years, said Gary Williams, event director of The Hotel Show Dubai, taking place September 17 to 19 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). This year the 17th edition of The Hotel Show, the largest hospitality supply event in the region, will run at the same time as Windows, Doors & Facades Event and Intersolar Middle East at the DWTC, as the need for all aspects of hotel construction  including its external or facade design and sustainable footprint, increases. We are providing the ultimate selection of sourcing, networking and educational forums for professionals interested in hotel construction in the Middle East.



The brand-new Windows, Doors & Facade Event (September 18 to 20) is a dedicated platform for global consultants, manufacturers and distributors of window, door and facade products, and will complement the interiors, lighting and design showcase at The Hotel Show. The event will host The Middle East Facades Summit on September 18, focused on innovation, efficiency, security, fire safety, and quality control in facade design and engineering.



A well-designed facade in a sustainable hotel will bring energy costs down considerably, and add to the building lifespan, said Muhammed Kazi, exhibition director of Windows, Doors & Facades Event.



Meanwhile, Intersolar Middle East (September 19 to 21) is focused on solar energy and sustainability, an important trend in hospitality. In 2017, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is forecast to open Dubais first 100 per cent solar-powered hotel.



Pascal Gauvin, chief operating officer, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), IHG said: Hotel Indigo Dubai The Sustainable City is a unique project designed to be integrated into an entirely sustainable community, and to meet the highest environmental, social and commercial sustainability standards. As a brand, Hotel Indigo is a direct reflection of its surroundings and in this case, the hotels first commitment to its neighbourhood was a net zero energy building where solar power will meet 100 per cent of the hotels energy needs. We see this project as a potential future trend, perhaps encouraging more hotels of its kind and more usage of solar energy.



Intersolar Middle East will also host the Global Solar Leaders' Summit (GSLS), expected to attract more than 300 regional leaders and policy makers and prestigious speakers from Tesla, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Irena, Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and many more.



The three complementary events are providing the ultimate opportunity for professionals to source new products, network and learn about hotel construction in the Middle East, from September 17 to 21 at the DWTC. - TradeArabia News Service
The European Union has condemned the escalation of conflict and violence in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The continuous bombing and the siege of the city is putting the already suffering population in even more danger and is moreover hindering the efforts of the international community to provide humanitarian assistance. The EU has also reminded that the Syrian authorities are primarily responsible for the protection of the Syrian people and that disproportionate attacks by the Syrian regime are unacceptable.

Brussels also reminded that the only way of ending the five-year long conflict is to create conditions for restarting intra-Syrian talks in Geneva under the auspices of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), endorsed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and agreed in talks convened by the United Nations. According to the EU, there is no military solution to the civil war and there will be no peace in the country without a genuine political transition, which is inclusive and representative of all Syrians.

The EU is vigorously pushing for the resumption of the Geneva talks as soon as possible in cooperation with the two ISSG co-chairs. Brussels calls for an immediate halt of fighting in Aleppo to facilitate medical evacuations, resume deliveries of humanitarian aid and repair water and electricity infrastructure. The EU also calls for all parties to the conflict to restore the cessation of hostilities, lift all sieges and allow a country-wide access of humanitarian aid to those in need.

Aleppo, Syrias second largest city and economic hub, has turned into a major battlefield since President Bashar al-Assads troops seized control of the last supply route into rebel-held areas in mid-July. The EU and its Member States are leading the international response to the Syrian conflict. They have mobilized more than 5 billion for relief and recovery assistance to Syrians in their country and to refugees and their host communities in neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt. The EU estimates that there are about 13.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria out of which about 4.5 million are in hard-to-reach besieged areas.
International Trade Gateway Company (ITG) will set up a high-voltage cable factory in Saudi Arabias King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).



The company has signed an agreement with KAEC for the purchase of a 9,000-sq-m plot located in Phase One of the Industrial Valley at KAEC.



The cable factory will be the first of its kind in the economic city, a statement said.



We are proud that KAEC, through the Industrial Valley and other components, is establishing itself as the go-to destination for national, regional, and global investors who will enable us to move forward towards achieving the governments strategic vision for the city, said Fahd Al Rasheed, group CEO and managing director of KAEC.



One of the strategic advantages of the Industrial Valley is its direct link to King Abdullah Port, which greatly increases the efficiency of imports/exports and manufacturing.



We will develop a new production facility that will expand our services and propel our strategic plans. We have determined that KAECs Industrial Valley is the ideal location from which to expand our business and reach a wider group of investors due to the strategic location, ease of procedures for new investments, and high quality infrastructure, said Khalid Makki, president of ITG.



He underlined the companys manufacturing capabilities and the value it will add to the city, thanks to its commitment to the highest standards of quality for its production lines in cabling, conductors, conveyors, transformers, control boards, and lighting.



The Industrial Valley offers world-class infrastructure and a wide range of tailored business solutions, supported by comprehensive facilities, including The Village, a customised accommodation solution for workers and supervisors, said Rayan Qutub, CEO of the Industrial Valley.



The Industrial Valley has attracted 120 national and global corporations so far, and the construction materials production sector is considered one of the six target sectors for the Industrial Valley.



ITG manufactures fireproof structural cabling in the 450-750 and 600-7,000 voltage ranges, as well as flex cables, gear and gauging instrument connection cables, and low-voltage cables, said the statement.  TradeArabia News Service


The Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) will promote the local maritime sectors competitiveness at the Shipbuilding, Machinery and Marine Technology (SMM) Hamburg 2016, a leading trade fair for the maritime industry, next month, in Germany.



The event will take place from September 6 to 9, in Hamburg.



DMCA will participate alongside the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote the citys leadership and standards of excellence to make the emirate one of the worlds most competitive maritime hubs, said a statement from the company.



On top of their participation, DMCA and the Dubai Chamber will also dispatch a trade mission to Germany from September 4 to 10 to meet with local and international business communities, it said.



The meetings will enable the Emirati authorities to highlight the features of the local maritime cluster, strengthen channels for direct communications, explore new investment prospects, and gain access to the latest innovations and emerging trends in the global maritime industry, it added.



DMCAs attendance in the biennial international fair is a major step towards showcasing the key aspects of the Dubai Maritime Sector Strategy (MSS) developed in accordance with the goals revolve around establishing a sustainable and integrated maritime sector; gaining regional and international investors confidence in domestic integrated logistics programs; building world-class infrastructure; and developing maritime regulations and legislations for smooth maritime operations in accordance with the highest professional safety standards, best environmental practices, and local and international resolutions, said a statement.



The event will also serve as a platform for DMCA to highlight the Dubai Maritime Cluster Office it recently established in response to the governments efforts to transform the local maritime sector into one of the worlds most comprehensive and competitive maritime clusters. It will introduce the offices pivotal role in strengthening the fruitful cooperation among government sector, private entities, and stakeholders involved in local, regional and global maritime activities.



The 3rd edition of Dubai Maritime Week is also expected to gain international interest during SMM Hamburg 2016. To be held from October 30 to November 3, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, Dubai Maritime Week is an integrated platform that features the latest emerging trends and best practices to improve the maritime sector locally, regionally, and globally.



Hisham Abdullah Al Shirawi, Dubai Chambers second vice chairman, is looking forward to attending SMM Hamburg 2016 as part of the UAE delegation along with DMCA.



Al Shirawi said: We organise the UAEs trade mission on the sidelines of the prestigious SMM Hamburg 2016 following our success during the 2014 edition, with UAE delegates meeting with their German and other foreign counterparts.



We are confident that our efforts, in cooperation with DMCA, will deliver tangible and positive results in terms of supporting the growth of maritime activity and consolidating Dubais reputation as a major global headquarters for operators of ports and a key global destination for ship owners, he added.



Amer Ali, executive director of DMCA, said: We are confident that DMCA and the Dubai Chamber will successfully represent the UAE in this important international event.



We have already made major strides in boosting Dubais capabilities in hosting key global maritime events and promoting the competitiveness of the local maritime clustering. Our series of quality initiatives have made a clear impact on promoting sustainability and competitiveness in Dubai and the UAEs maritime industry, he added.



We are also honoured to organise the upcoming trade mission as part of our mutually beneficial partnership with the Dubai Chamber, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
Euro Motors, the exclusive dealer and distributor for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in Bahrain, has won three awards in the 2015/2016 edition of Jaguar Land Rover Mena Marketing Awards.



Euro Motors, the exclusive dealer and distributor for Jaguar Land Rover in Bahrain, has won for the third time in a row in the annual Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Mena Marketing Awards, garnering three of the highly coveted awards in its 2015/2016 edition.



The event was held recently at the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara in Abu Dhabi, UAE and recognized the successes of the Jaguar Land Rover dealers in the Mena region, spread over 28 countries, for the fiscal year 2015/16.



The awards received by Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover were the Best Land Rover Discovery Sport Launch, Best Jaguar XF Launch and the Best Social Media Award.



Paul Yates, general manager of Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover said: This recognition from our peers in the Mena region emphasizes the significance of the proactive ventures we have taken over the past year and the outstanding essence of our work at Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover.



These awards go to recognize that the Jaguar Land Rover Bahrain Marketing team leads the way by example in the automotive sector in both the Kingdom of Bahrain and in the region as well and I would like to congratulate each member of our team for this triumph. This acknowledgement only pushes us to achieve greater heights as a team, following the path of the immaculate Jaguar Land Rover way of life, he added.



Hannane Laidouni, marketing manager, said: I would like to thank our senior management, led by the managing director, Nawaf Al Zayani, for their leadership qualities and guiding principles as if it were not for them, we would not be established in the position we are today and therefore, these awards also go to underscore their invaluable efforts in our collective growth.



Laidouni, a French national who joined the company in July 2013, also won the Marketer of the Year 2014/2015.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih and Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser will speak at the World Energy Congress to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in October.



The World Energy Congress, to be held from October 9 to 13, is the most inclusive global energy event and the first since COP21. It brings together all nations, all forms of energy and all stakeholders in a neutral environment.



Al-Falih joins the industrys elite at the congress, including BPs Bob Dudley, Gazproms Alexey Miller and EDFs Jean-Bernard Levy. Additionally, top executives from Royal Dutch Shell, GE, Total, ENGIE, VNG, DESFA, and China National Nuclear will speak at the congress on major issues facing the energy industry.



Other speakers include representatives from intergovernmental and international organisations, including the EU, the IEA and the WWF, as well as ministers from Iran, Iraq, UAE, Jordan, Germany, Switzerland, Algeria, Nigeria and Uruguay, among others.



Security is key at such a high-level gathering and the World Energy Congress has appointed New York-headquartered The Soufan Group to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the extensive security preparations for the event.



Murat Mercan, chair of the Organising Committee for the 2016 World Energy Congress, said: Khalid Al-Falihs attendance once again underlines the calibre of our 260 confirmed speakers - it is a whos who of the entire energy sector. The event will be a crucial gathering to set the agenda for the energy landscape for years to come.



"We are also delighted to appoint The Soufan Group with their outstanding expertise to work for the safety of our delegates, staff and exhibitors," Mercan said.



Ali Soufan, CEO of The Soufan Group, noted: We are honoured to be appointed to undertake an assessment of the security preparations underway for the 2016 World Energy Congress. One of the most prestigious events in the energy calendar, it is a truly market-leading event attracting the worlds most influential industry leaders. We will work tirelessly with the organisers to ensure that best safety standards and practices are in place during the Congress.



The triennial World Energy Congress is the World Energy Councils global flagship event, the premier international, multi-energy forum to better understand energy issues and solutions from a global perspective.



The World Energy Congress has gained recognition since the first event in 1924 as the premier global forum for industry leaders to debate solutions to energy issues, display their technologies and explore business opportunities.



The Soufan Group is an international strategic advisory firm that focuses on global security issues. Headquartered in New York, and with offices in Chicago, London, Doha and Singapore and operations in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, The Soufan Group provides management consulting, business intelligence, policy analysis, risk assessment, technical support and training services. - TradeArabia News Service
Iran, Opec's third largest producer, has confirmed it will participate in the upcoming Opec meeting in Algeria next month, an Opec source said on Tuesday.



Opec members will meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF), which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria on Sept. 26-28.



Opec will probably revive talks on freezing oil production levels when it meets non-Opec nations in Algeria, sources say.  Reuters






Angela Merkel said that there was no reason to lift sanctions against Russia, as the Kremlin has not fulfilled all of its commitments under the Minsk peace agreement. She said that Russia had triggered a major crisis by annexing Crimea in 2014 and by its support for separatists in the Donbas region. Europe had to react against this violation of basic principles, Chancellor Merkel said. She also reassured that herself and French President Francois Hollande were working hard to persuade both Russia and Ukraine to implement the Minsk ceasefire despite all difficulties. This is and remains the yardstick for the future of the sanctions, Mrs Merkel said.

In June, the EU agreed to extend sanctions to include energy, finance and defense but some policy makers, and most notably German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other leading German Social Democrats, have been promoting a milder approach to Russia by saying that the EU should gradually phase out the punitive measures if there is some progress in the peace talks. However, Ukraines UN envoy said that there had recently been a military build-up of Russian army on the countrys Eastern border, which could reflect very bad intentions. Ukrainian UN Ambassador, Volodymyr Yelchenko, said that Russia had amassed more than 40,000 troops in the region and on the Ukrainian border.

EUs sanctions against Russia include asset freezes and visa bans that apply to 149 persons while 37 entities are subject to a freeze of their assets in the bloc. This includes persons and entities responsible for actions against Ukraines territorial integrity, persons providing support to or benefitting Russian decision-makers and 13 entities in Crimea and Sevastopol that were confiscated or that have benefitted from a transfer of ownership contrary to Ukrainian law.
Malaysia Airlines, has today launched an end of summer sale, with flights to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand.



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - August 23rd, 2016 -

Malaysia Airlines, has today launched an end of summer sale, with flights to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand.

Between now and midnight on 6 September 2016, travellers can book flights with return fares starting at 479 (economy) and 1799 (business class) to selected destinations across the airlines network.

With Malaysia Airlines, travellers can visit the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur, soak up the sun in Phuket, leave the beaten track in Ho Chi Minh City. Explore the hidden treasures of Singapore, or discover Sydney - best known for its Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

The journey begins at London Heathrow airport onboard one of our twice daily Superjumbo A380s to Kuala Lumpur, from where a convenient and seamless connection will take you to any of our other exciting destinations around Malaysia, across Asia and Australasia.

Paul Simmons, Chief Commercial Officer, said: "We are committed to making travel more affordable for our customers. As the summer starts to draw to an end, make the most of this fantastic opportunity to enjoy some winter sun and adventure in our exciting destinations.

www.malaysiaairlines.com or via their local travel agent. To enjoy this promotion, customers can book now ator via their local travel agent.

-ENDS-

For further information contact Andrew McConnell: +447918 122062 or andrew.mcconnell@malaysiaairlines.com

Notes to Editors: Examples Sale Fares

Destination Economy Class Return from (GBP) Business Class Return from (GBP) Kuala Lumpur 479.00 2039.00 Penang 519.00 2199.00 Singapore 569,00 1929.00 Bangkok 479.00 1799.00 Ho Chi Minh City 539.00 1899.00 Sydney 689.00 2729.00 Auckland 729.00 3329.00

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VietnamTourPedia.com is a Hanoi based tour operator aiming to offer A to Z travel packages to explore best of Vietnam



(TRAVPR.COM) VIETNAM - August 23rd, 2016 - Hanoi, Vietnam, Auguest 23,2015 -- Viet Center Tourist & Event.,LTD (www.vietnamtourpedia.com) is here to present some of the best and wellplanned Vietnam tour packages at really affordable prices. The special holiday packages in Vietnam which are offered by VietnamTourPedia.com providea wonderful experience to adventure travelers as well as those seeking a unqieu and quality tour experience. In addition tourists can expect a lor more including Halong Bay Cruise in different class and style from standard to high end and luxury, classic tour packages, beach breaska and more to combine Vietnam with Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, said Hamid the marketing manager of Viet Center Tourist and event.

Vietnam tour packages are dividedd into 3 part in such Northern Vietnam, Central and Southern and all are designed in order to let travelers explore, learn and get involved into the real lifestyle of Vietnamese peoples, added Hamid.

In northern Vietnam, they design packages to cover Halong Bay, Hanoi, Sapa and green highlands of the country to let travelers experience something out of the ordinary including trekking, climbing and home-stay with the local families.

Central highlights of Vietnam including a visit to Hue, Hoi An and Da Nang, these packages are especially designed for need of each individuals whom are demanding something from classic touring as well as historical sightseeing while wanting to stay a few days at the nice beaches in either Hoi An and or in Da Nang.

In Southern Vietnam, travelers expect something totaklly different, the Ho Chi Minh city as well as the Delta of Mekong will offer once in a life time experience, there are beaches, war memorial sites and a lot more to discover if travelers select a southern Vientam tour package.

About VietnamTourPedia.com

A tour operator based in Hanoi, capital city of Vietnam, Found in 2008 and now covering Laos, Cambodi and Myanmar while offering custom designed tour packages for travelers and travel agencies from all around the globe. http://www.vietnamtourpedia.com/vietnam-tour-packages

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ChemChina gets US nod for takeover Updated: 2016-08-23 07:43 (Agencies)

A Chinese national flag and a company flag fly in front the logo of China National Chemical Corporation at the company's headquarters in Beijing, Mar 24, 2015. [Photo/IC]

$43 billion deal to acquire chemical company Syngenta expected to close by end of year

China National Chemical Corp on Monday received approval from US national security officials for its $43 billion takeover of Swiss chemical company Syngenta AG.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US has cleared the transaction, the companies said in a statement. The deal, expected to be completed by the end of the year, is still subject to antitrust review by regulators worldwide, according to the statement.

But getting the nod from CFIUS, a US interagency committee that has the power to block deals deemed to be posing a threat to national security, removes one of the biggest hurdles for the massive deal.

Analysts said that acquiring Syngenta, which got more than a quarter of its revenue last year from seeds and crop protection in North America, would help transform ChemChina into a pesticide and agrochemical giant.

The bid is leading a record wave of Chinese acquisitions that has prompted US officials to consider claims that some purchases could threaten national security.

CFIUS, led by the Treasury Department and including officials from the Defense and State departments, reviews acquisitions of US businesses by foreign investors for risks to US security and can recommend to the president that deals be stopped.

The committee often imposes conditions on transactions before clearing them, such as restricting the foreign company's access to parts of the US business.

Approval by the CFIUS may trigger criticism in the US. A group of farm-state senators in March called on the Treasury Department to closely scrutinize the Syngenta takeover, saying it could affect food security and safety as well as the US farm sector.

In June, Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, called the deal "concerning" and said the US needed to consider "strategic questions" before approving the sale of agricultural assets to foreign governments.

Reuters earlier reported the expected clearance, citing unidentified people. The mega-deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 23

The government is considering the recommendation of Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money to ban cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh, the CBDT chief said today.

The SIT recommendations are under consideration. As far as the Income Tax Department is concerned, we have put a 1% TCS (Tax Collected at Source) on cash transactions, we have made quoting PAN mandatory, all these aspects are also part of the SIT recommendation to stop the use of cash in the economy, said Rani Singh Nair, chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) while inaugurating an Assocham tax conference.

On the issue of advancing the date of General Budget presentation to January, she said it will bring in more efficiency in the Budget making as two-three months of the financial year will not be lost in the Budget process.

She also said the government was holding discussions for the renegotiated India-Singapore tax treaty.

So now that we have renegotiated Mauritius, Singapore is under discussion. We are discussing it, we hope we will soon have a discussion with them as this is a bilateral treaty, so we have to take the concerns of both the countries and then we will sign, she added.

She said during the course of past two years, the endeavour of the government and the CBDT has been to facilitate investments into India to ensure that the taxpayer pays his taxes with the ease of doing business because the tax coffers will never be full if there is no business in India.
Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 21

Suspecting his wife of having an extra-marital affair, an alcoholic man repeatedly stabbed his wife at their residence in Chaura village here this morning.

The accused later surrendered at the nearest police station.

The victim, Ravinder Kaur (41), is battling

for life at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh. The police have identified the accused as Ranit Singh (42).

After the victim raised an alarm, the villagers gathered at the spot and intervened.

She was rushed to Government Rajindra Hospital. Later, she was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. Her condition is stated to be critical, but out of danger, said DSP (Rural) Sukhminder Chauhan.

The police have registered a case under Section 307 (Attempt to Murder)

of the Indian Penal

Code (IPC) against the accused, who is now under arrest.

The accused was working at a private factory in Bahadurgarh. From there, he was thrown out of the job, said the police.
Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 22

A major tragedy was averted in Sector 17 today after a fire broke out in an electricity box in the CMC parking lot. A vehicle of the fire brigade, which was rushed to control the fire, got stuck in the parking lot for nearly 55 minutes due to haphazard parking.

The fire engine could not reach the spot and firefighters were left with no option but to go on foot and battle the fire with fire extinguishers.

Luckily, it was a minor fire and there was no loss of life or property. The driver of the fire engine, Sunil Parmar, and other firefighters were seen pushing a vehicle parked in the way.

Employees of the parking lot contractor made matters worse. Instead of helping the firefighters, they allowed more vehicles to enter the lot, creating further problems for them.

Upset with the attitude of the parking lot attendants, the firefighters put a barricade at the entry of parking lot to stop vehicles from coming in. Heated arguments

were witnessed between the firefighters and the parking lot attendants, who were not even properly dressed. The Fire Department received a call regarding the fire at 12.19 pm. After controlling the fire, the staff reached the fire station in Sector 17 at 1.20 pm.

Vehicles were parked in passage

People had parked their vehicles on the passage. There were three turns inside the parking lot, but cars were parked on two of these, leaving no space for other vehicles to take a turn. Parking attendants were deployed only at the entry and exit points and they were not available inside the lot to help people park their vehicles properly.

No police help reached

Firefighters said they called up the UT traffic police to assist them in getting the way cleared for the movement of the fire tender inside the lot. However, nobody from the UT police turned up.

No fire emergency lane

As per the rules, there should be a fire emergency lane in the parking lots for the movement of fire engines in case of a fire incident. However, no such emergency lane was marked in the parking lot.
Chinese tourist numbers rise despite slowing economy Updated: 2016-08-23 09:23 (Xinhua)

Tourists stretch to walk on a 69-meter-long glass pathway built along the face of a cliff in Shaohuashan national forest park in Weinan city, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, July 28, 2016.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Despite a slowing economy, more Chinese tourists traveled last year, according to a report released by the China Tourism Academy on Monday .

Urban residents made 2.48 billion trips in the country in 2015, while those living in rural areas made 1.13 billion trips.

The largest numbers of tourists came from the five provincial-level regions of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Tourist incomes were highest in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Sichuan, with combined per capita income exceeded 400 billion yuan (around $60 billion).

Eastern provinces raked in the biggest tourism revenue last year, accounting for 46.35 percent of the country's total. The northeastern region performed worst, receiving just 6.83 percent of total tourist revenue.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 22

Scenes of utter anarchy and unruliness were witnessed on the PGI campus here today as nearly 1,200 senior and junior resident doctors continued to strike work, resulting in severe crippling of the health services even as the PGI authorities and the police continued to remain mute spectators to the bedlam.

Over 7,000 patients were asked to return home without treatment in the wake of the strike and countless others suffered in the wards and Emergency of the institute.

All out-patient departments (OPDs) functioned with skeletal staff and the authorities struggled to keep the emergency services functional. The services were also hit at Emergency and the Trauma Centre of the institute, as faculty, nursing and support staff struggled hard to strike a balance in the absence of resident doctors. The strike also affected patients admitted to various wards. According to the PGI authorities, the OPD registration timings were reduced to one hour  from 8 am to 9 am.

The doctors were protesting against an assault on a resident doctor late last night in Medical Emergency of the PGI by the son of a patient, who blamed negligence by the PGI staff for his mothers death.

The strike, which started last night around 8.30 pm, crippled the health services today and is expected to continue tomorrow as well.

While the accused was immediately detained by the PGI security staff and kept in detention till the wee hours of today, last night, the residents held the entire PGI campus to ransom, closing the main gate for over two and a half hours. Eyewitnesses said several ambulances were denied entry to the PGI, which had to take a detour and enter from other gates. Sources said it was the first time that the main gates of the PGI were closed owing to a protest.

The health services were paralysed with residents even refusing to examine or treat patients admitted to Emergency and the Trauma Centre, alleged attendants of several patients.

The doctors remained out in the open protesting way past 3.45 am when an FIR was registered against the accused, who was then taken into police custody.

Anarchy during the day

During the day, resident doctors took out processions, pounding utensils and raising slogans against the PGI authorities. They started at 8 am from outside the Directors office in Kairon Block and visited several departments, including the new OPD, Advanced Cardiac Centre and Advanced Paediatric Centre, before blocking the

exit of the main gate around 11.45 am for over 45 minutes. From there, they marched back to Kairon Block, where they set up a camp on the lawns.

Several vehicles were left stranded on the PGI campus as well as outside due to the chaos even as ambulances had to wait several minutes before they could make their way in or out of the campus. There was a heavy security deployment on the campus throughout the day.

What the PGI says

Keeping the resident doctors strike in view, it was decided to reduce the OPD registration timings. However, the registration timings of the Radiotherapy OPD, dealing with cancer patients, were not reduced. Despite this, 4,110 patients were registered in different OPDs of the institute of whom 1,124 were new patients. The ICU emergency and trauma services functioned normally. The Emergency OPD, Trauma OPD as well as the Emergency OT and Trauma OT services functioned as usual. The diagnostic services also functioned normally. Indoor services were run normally by the faculty with the help of other staff.

Strike continues

Representatives of the Association of Resident Doctors (were summoned for a meeting with a six-member high-powered committee around 2.30 pm, which continued till 6 pm. Following that, the PGI Director called another meeting with the high-powered committee, which continued for another two hours. The doctors, meanwhile, continued to sit on a dharna outside. Though the PGI authorities accepted six demands made by the resident doctors with a time margin of one day to one week, the latter insisted on the immediate fulfillment of their demands, including putting a cap on the number of patients in Emergency. They said they would continue the strike till their demands were met. The authorities said it was difficult to put a cap on the number of patients in Emergency.

Directorspeak

We will set up a fact-finding committee that will investigate the matter. All reports of the inconvenience caused by the strike will be investigated. We will not allow such a protest in the future and warnings will be issued, said the PGI Director, Dr Yogesh Chawla. He said next time any such incident took place, disciplinary action would be taken.

He said, There are a few elements which tried to disrupt the health services at the PGI through the strike, we are trying to locate them. Suitable action will be taken if the strike continues. Just wait and watch.

Senior faculty and HODs were there last night, trying to pacify the residents. A high-powered committee has been formed which met the residents, Dr Chawla said.

Residents demands accepted: Director

Strengthening of security: The Chandigarh Police will deploy a van between Emergency and the Trauma Centre and keep a watch to prevent any untoward incident.

Hospital Information System: It will be set up in a weeks time.

Triage system in Emergency: Residents will be consulted to establish the most suitable system.

Appointment of laboratory staff for sampling work: Six staff members will join today.

Space enhancement in Emergency: The space allotment committee will meet residents today.

Referring back non-sick patients: Already written to the authorities concerned. A meeting will be held with them soon.

Man who assaulted doctor held

A day after an attendant assaulted a resident doctor at the PGI following a patients death during treatment, the police on Monday arrested the attendant and registered a case against him at the Sector 11 police station. According to the police, Harinder Kaur (72), a resident of Ludhiana, was admitted to the hospital on August 20. On Sunday, the patient died during the treatment following which the patients kin alleged that she died due to negligence by doctors. Infuriated over the patients death, Harpreet Singh allegedly assaulted Dr Mani. The doctor immediately brought the matter to the notice of his colleagues.

OPD registration only till 9 am today

For August 23, the OPD registration at the PGI will be open till 9 am only in view of the resident doctors strike.
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, August 22

A 30-year-old married woman was found dead in a jungle area on the rear side of Mansa Devi

Complex this morning. A case of murder against unidentified person(s) has been registered at the Mansa Devi Complex police station.

According to the police, no visible injury marks were found on the body of the woman, but it seemed she was strangled to death before being dumped. Around 7 am, a passerby saw the body and informed the police.

A man reportedly told the police that he saw an unknown auto-rickshaw driver throw the body.
Hasan Suroor

WHEN one of the most powerful European nations with a proud progressive tradition is spooked by a burkini it shows how badly the continent's culture wars are going for old-fashioned liberalism and common sense. For those who might not be quite up with the latest Sharia-compliant line in Muslim women's clothing, it's is a full-body swimwear ; more like a wetsuit worn by surfers than a burqa. Absurd though the idea of swimming in a full-length dress clearly is (but then what's not absurd about faux Islamist puritanism?) there's nothing "threatening" about a burkini. It doesn't come with a concealed suicide belt or waterproof explosives. Nobody is known to have blown themselves up in it. It is so safe that Australian lifeguards wear something akin to it, except that they don't call it burkini.

But we are in France in the midst of a charged atmosphere after the recent wave of attacks. And in the climate of prejudice and paranoia these have generated there's an automatic assumption that if Muslims are hung up on something there must be a sinister motive behind it. So, the axe has fallen on the humble burkini.

At least five French coastal towns have already banned it. Wearing a burkini now attracts a 30 euro fine and a police record. Authorities in Cannes have justified it on the basis that burkini signifies allegiance to terrorist movements which are at war with us. Despite doubts about its legal validity, the ban is set to spread, possibly to other European countries.

France was also the first country in Europe to ban the burqa and niqab in public places in 2010 setting in motion copycat bans in several other countries. It was in defence of France's aggressive secularism, the principle of laicite which envisages a strict separation between church and state. But extraordinarily, in the case of burkini the justification is protecting public order and  more bizarrely  national security provoking a leading Italian bishop to retort that it was difficult to imagine that a woman who is entering into the water is about to carry out an attack. The ban was vulgar.

France's Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls has been mocked for portraying it as a grave provocation by Islamist extremists, and incompatible with the values of the French Republic. In the face of provocation, the nation must defend itself. It is the expression of a political project, a counter society, based on notably on the enslavement of women, he said. One almost feels sorry for Narendra Modi for running scared of a bunch of slogan-shouting university students. Here, we have the mighty French Republic running scared of a garment with some extra bits of Lycra, as the BBC's Shaimaa Khalil wrote.

It might be relevant to point out that mayors of most the burkini-banned towns, including Cannes, belong to former President Nicolas Sarkozy's Nationalist Republican Party. And, five years ago, when Sarkozy imposed the burqa ban, Mr Valls' Socialist Party had opposed it accusing him of feeding Islamophobia.Today, the same Socialist Party is cheering criminalising a piece of clothing that few women care to wear. The mayor of one French town admitted that he had never seen a burkini-clad sunbather around but did not want to be caught offguard. The new mood among Socialists illustrates how the Left-Right divide in French politics in relation to attitudes towards the country's nearly five million strong Muslim community  the largest in the Europe Union and seething with resentment has blurred. With an eye on next year's parliamentary and presidential elections, parties are vying with each other to sound tough on Muslim extremism.

The move has ignited a heated debate- or rather reignited an old and bruising debate  over the French notion of hard secularism: how far and aggressively can it be pushed without offending French citizens of other faiths, and without stigmatising other religions? The French political class is said to be distorting the idea of laicite and peddling an extreme version for political purposes. The puritanical interpretation they are seeking to promote has an eerie echo of the puritanical interpretation of Islam peddled by Islamist. Noted French academic and a specialist in secular studies, Jean Bauberot, called burkini bans extremely irrational and intended to stigmatise the entire Muslim community. Such moves, it is feared, are likely to alienate even moderate Muslims whose support the government needs to fight extremism. It will accentuate tension within French society. We are teaching the French public to associate a woman in a burkini with the terrorist who assassinates, warned Leyla Dakhli, a French-Tunisian academic.

Feminists have questioned burkini's description as a medieval practice to enslave Muslim women. Actually, it has been designed by modern Western Muslim women who wish to enjoy a beach holiday without wishing to bare all in public. What is more French than sitting on a beach in the sand? We are telling Muslims that no matter what you do ... we don't want you here, said Rim-Sarah Alouane, a religious freedom expert at the University of Toulouse. The pro-ban lobby, she said, was raking outdated ideas about Islam to smear Muslims.

The French row will feed into the wider debate in Europe over Muslim integration; and striking the right balance between integration and assimilation. Should integration be voluntary or imposed by the state? Indeed, what does integration mean? Does it mean obliterating their own Muslim identity altogether? Muslims say, They want us to become invisible.

The debate is growing more acrimonious as the backlash against Muslim extremism has turned into Islamophobia with any expression of Muslim identity seen as a threat to presumed superior European values. Even countries which have mocked burkini bans are themselves either already practising restrictions on Muslim women's clothing or are contemplating them. Germany is considering a proposal to outlaw full-face veil in educational institutions. From my standpoint, a fully-veiled woman scarcely has a chance at full integration in Germany, said Chancellor Angela Merkel. Like the French President Francois Hollande, she is also facing elections next year amid intense pressure not only from far Right populist groups such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD), but her own party to take a harder line on immigration.

The problem is that coercive measures to push integration risk being counter-productive. The prognosis clearly doesn't look good. Europe, it must be remembered, has a rather unhappy history of sartorial prejudice in relation to Jews. From telling Muslim women what not to wear, it could easily slip into imposing a dress code on them if the Far Right gains power. Is that where Europe is headed?

The writer is a London-based commentator
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 23

Freedom fighters were today felicitated by Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung as a part of 70th year of India's Independence celebrations.

The function, titled 'Azadi 70 - Yaad Karo Qurbani' at the Raj Niwas was attended by freedom fighters and their families On the occasion, they recalled their days during the freedom struggle and sang patriotic songs.

Jung said, "Our freedom is the fruit of supreme sacrifices made by our great martyrs. Freedom Fighters amidst us are a repository of that history and can help enlighten the young about India's glorious struggle for Independence."

Jung also stated that while a generation that was born out of the freedom movement knows the value of the sacrifices and hardships faced by men and women during India's struggle for Independence, many belonging to the younger generation may not know of the country's glorious past.

He said that while there are many chronicles, biographies, novels, films, songs, etc which remind us of that history, there are still millions of untold stories which need to be unravelled and disseminated.
Tribune News Service

Panipat, August 23

The Special CBI court at Karkardooma in Delhi, has reserved the decision for August 26 on quantum of punishment in the rate interest scam involving former Speaker Satbir Singh Kadian and others.

The CBI and defence counsel for the accused concluded the final argument on quantum of sentence in the court of Special CBI Judge Jitender Kumar Mishra today.

Satbir Singh Kadiyan, former Speaker of the Haryana Legislative Assembly in the INLD government and former chairman of the Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) along with Vinayak Narayan Deosthali, a resident of Mumbai, Delhi residents  Anil Kumar Malhotra and Sunil Gorawara  and Karunapathi Pandey, former Senior Executive Manager, UCO Bank, Sansad Marg, Delhi, were held guilty in the scam and were sent to judicial custody in Tihar Jail on Saturday.

Kadiyan was appointed as the chairman of IFFCO by the then Deputy Prime Minster Devi Lal in December, 1989. The scam was unearthed in 1993.
Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has decided to postpone his three-nation tour till the end of this year.

Sources said Khattar had asked the Industries Department to postpone the trip scheduled for the first week of September owing to the announcement of relaunch of the Jat agitation and the coming golden jubilee celebrations of the state.

Khattar was to lead the delegation comprising Industries Minister Vipul Goel, industrialists, and officers of the Industries Department to Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Sources said the Chief Minister had asked the Industries Department to do its homework on attracting investment.

The idea is to get some investment back to Haryana after our tour. We will use the next couple of months to do our homework and identify the interested business houses. This will enable us to crystallise some of the deals, an officer said.

Khattar, who assumed power in October 2014, went for his first trip abroad to the US and Canada in August last year. Later, he undertook a week-long trip to China and Japan.

Earlier this year, the state organised Happening Haryana, its first business global business summit, to build upon the investors interests.

While a number of Japanese and Korean companies have invested in Haryana, the trip to Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea is being planned to bring in foreign direct investment.
Tribune News Service

Karnal, August 23

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today exhorted the citizens to maintain the dignity, prestige and glory of the National Flag.

He said that there was a need to take a pledge to save the unity and sovereignty of the country.

Addressing a gathering during the concluding ceremony of the Tiranga Yatra here, the Chief Minister said that the Tiranga Yatra generated the feeling of patriotism among the youth.

To spread the message of the service to the nation, it was necessary for everyone to be ready for any sacrifice for the nation, he maintained.

The Chief Minister flagged off the yatra from Sector 12 and participated in it, which passed through various areas of the city and concluded near the bus stand. The Chief Minister walked for a long distance with the yatra and later, he accompanied the procession in an open jeep.

During his yatra, Khattar paid tributes to Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra, BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. Karnal MP Ashwini Chopra, state Industry Minister Vipul Goel, Minister of State Karandev Kamboj, CPS Bakshish Singh and others participated in the event.

Earlier, the Chief Minister lauded the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enthuse the feeling of patriotism among the youth and said that the Prime Minister had tried to involve common man in this great initiative.

We are celebrating 2016 as the 70th year of Independence and 75th year of Quit India Movement. To make this year remarkable, the Tiranga Yatra was initiated by the Prime Minister, he said.

The yatra had made people aware of their duties towards national and social issues, he said. Thousands of residents participated in the yatra.
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 23

The anger of the people spilled on to roads after the recovery of the skeleton of four-year-old Yug from a tank. Hundreds of protesters, including family members, relatives and well-wishers of the deceased, today took out a procession from Ram Bazaar and protested in front of the Vidhan Sabha and marched to the High Court.

Shops closed

Expressing solidarity with the family, all shopkeepers of Ram Bazaar, Ganj, Middle Bazaar, Lower Bazaar and The Mall Road keep their shops closed till 1:30 pm. Shimla Veopar Mandal president Inderjeet Singh said, We have requested the Bar Association not to take the case of the accused and also asked the market sabha to isolate the families of the accused.

Police blamed

The family members, who met the Chief Minister at Vidhan Sabha, demanded strict action against them. Uncle of the victim Satish, who led the procession carrying photograph of Yug, said had the police acted on time, Yug would have been alive and now all they want was justice. The family was in a state of trauma as they could not even see the body of the kid. The residents were enraged over the casual attitude of the Shimla police and said when thieves at Chief Ministers ancestral palace Shanti Kunj in Sarahan could be traced in less than two days, why it took police more than two years in tracing the child.

Cops not serious

The parents of Yug and protesters alleged that the police did not take up the case seriously and in spite of being told that the kidnappers were demanding ransom and names of the suspects were given to the police, no serious efforts were made to trace the child.

The parents were not satisfied with the investigations by the police and the mother of the victim, Pinky Gupta, filed a petition in the High Court and also informed it about the calls for ransom being received by her husband following which investigations were transferred to the CID.

HC seeks reply from govt

Taking a serious note of the issue of recovery of the skeleton of four-year-old Master Yug Gupta from a water tank near Kelston here, the High Court on Tuesday sought response from the state government and directed the Investigation Officer to file detailed affidavit in this regard. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan passed this order during the hearing of a PIL on the issue of contaminated water supply in Shimla city. During the course of hearing, the amicus curie told the court that a skeleton of the four-year-old missing boy was recovered from the water tank.

Expressing concern on the issue, the court has directed the Investigating Officer to remain present before the court on September 27. Pinky Gupta, mother of Yug Gupta, had also filed a petition before the court with a prayer that her son was missing since June 14, 2014 from the premises at Dawarkagarh, Ram Bazaar, Shimla. Following this, the court had on July 12 directed the state to file status report in this matter.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 23

The J&K Police have registered 537 cases against rioters in four districts of south Kashmir which have been the epicentre of the present unrest.

In the past 44 days, the police have registered 537 cases against the rioters and anti-national elements. As many as 381 miscreants have been arrested and booked under relevant provisions of the law, an official spokesman said in Srinagar. Numerous rioters also got injured in action by the police and security forces while controlling the law and order situation," he said.

The spokesman said the police had remained on the forefront while dealing with the law and order situation all over the state.

All police stations and posts in south Kashmir are fully functional and are working round-the-clock with the aid of other security agencies in bringing the situation under control. The police have risen to the occasion and faced the challenges with tremendous restraint despite grave provocations in the form of mobs attacking police establishments, vehicles and personnel, he said.

Due to the ongoing problems, there is a very high concentration of security forces deployed at Tral and there are no inputs regarding running of any terrorist training camp, the spokesman said.

Following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, a resident of Tral last month, Kashmir has been on the boil which has so far left 67 people dead.
Li: Infrastructure boost planned to aid rural Jiangxi Updated: 2016-08-23 02:13 By HU YONGQI in Ruijin, Jiangxi(China Daily)

Premier Li Keqiang goes to a villager's house during a visit to Ruijin city in East China's Jiangxi province, Aug 22, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Premier Li Keqiang vowed on Monday to further improve infrastructure such as highways and internet connections in impoverished regions of southern Jiangxi province, where the Long March started nearly 82 years ago.

The premier said the government will invest more in highways, power grids and irrigation facilities for the region, during a visit to the Aobeigang Production Base for navel oranges in the city of Ruijin in Ganzhou, Jiangxi.

The Communist Party of China established its first national government in Ruijin in 1931 and started the Long March in 1934 to establish new revolutionary bases in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Li's visit to the city follows the State Council's development plan for the region, released in 2012, which aimed to cultivate industries suitable for local conditions and improve rural infrastructure and farmers' living conditions by 2015.

Ganzhou produces 1.28 million metric tons of navel oranges each year, China's largest yield of the crop and accounting for 13.4 percent of the global production. Local official Chen Baofu said the production base was opened in 1994 and now covers over 1,000 hectares that have helped lift about 3,300 locals from poverty.

Li was pleased to hear that each hectare of these oranges can produce 120,000 yuan in income ($18,000) per year. Farmer Deng Zhuping earns more than 120,000 yuan net income annually with oranges from 1.2 hectares of rented land.

"The price of navel oranges has increased by more than 10 percent over the past few years," Deng said.

Some farmers said they have started to sell the fruit online, and the premier said more investments will be made to install faster internet connections in villages to support the farmers' commerce.

"I hope the internet will help you (farmers) sell oranges, and you should adopt delicacy management processes to produce high-quality goods that lead market demand and in turn create more profits," Li said.

The plan also encompasses providing safe drinking water, new houses, new schools and upgraded power grids in rural areas.

Li visited the village of Huawu, where 102 families moved into new homes built next to their shabby old houses with subsidies from the central government in 2014. Now farmers rent rooms to visiting tourists in their new homes.

"The area's economy lags behind that of the neighboring provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, due to disadvantages in transportation, talent and way of thinking. But it has great growth potential if the infrastructure improves," said Li Minghui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn
Seema Kaul & Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 22

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today emphasised on dialogue and the need to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem within the framework of the Constitution.

His statement makes a significant departure from jingoistic statements by his party colleagues as regards the governments response to the unrest in the Valley (no compromise with those indulging in violence, as stated by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley).

Following a meeting with Opposition leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, the PM asked all political parties to work together to find a solution to the Kashmir issue.

The delegation was led by former CM Omar Abdullah. Modi appreciated the constructive suggestions made by them at the meeting.

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Grateful to @narendramodi ji for taking out the time to receive the delegation from J&K and giving us a patient hearing beyond allotted time  Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) August 22, 2016

The statement by the PMO after our meeting says dialogue is necessary for a lasting solution, we are moving in that direction. We have welcomed the PMs statement and we said to him: wherever our support is needed for a lasting solution, we are there with you, said Omar. He was addressing mediapersons after meeting CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury in the evening.

A PMO statement said the government and the nation stood one with Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister expressed concern and pain at the prevailing situation in the state. He said, Those who lost their lives during the recent disturbance are part of us, our nation; whether the lives lost are of our youth, security personnel or police, it distresses us.

He said all parties should reach out to the people. Reiterating his commitment to the development of the state and its people, he appealed for restoration of normalcy.

The PM said development has its own role, but it cannot be the only solution. I agree that in such situations, political initiatives and dialogue are essential, said JKPCC chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir.

I told the PM that in the coalition government agenda, you talked about including all political groups in a meaningful dialogue with all stakeholders to build consensus. Had you taken that up earlier, this situation would not have come, Mir said.

CPM leader MY Tarigami said, We requested the PM to take initiatives to reach out to the people of Kashmir, which has unfortunately not been done for 44 days.
Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 23

Buoyed by their encouraging meetings with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Opposition parties in the state have decided to meet next week to devise a strategy for future course of action. The Opposition parties will wait for the response of the state and Central governments before taking any further decision.

Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) spokesman Ravinder Sharma, who was a part of the delegation that visited Delhi to apprise the national leadership about prevailing situation in the state in general and the Kashmir valley in particular, told The Tribune that the delegations meetings with the leaders of the all parties were very encouraging. It is result of our campaign at Delhi that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is again visiting the Kashmir valley to review prevailing situation there, Sharma claimed while speaking for the Opposition parties. He added that all leaders, with whom the delegation, met were convinced by the suggestions that dialogue was the only way to restore lasting peace in this region. He further said the decision of Rajnath to visit the Valley again was a good beginning and it was an indication that Oppositions campaign had yielded desirable results.

During his two-day visit to the Kashmir valley beginning on Wednesday, Rajnath will review the situation and may hold talks with a cross-section of people. The Opposition parties have reasons to stake claim that it was result of their campaign that he was coming to Kashmir because on Monday their delegation had met with the Prime Minister.

This is the second visit of Rajnath in a month to the Valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces. Earlier, Rajnath had visited Kashmir on July 23 and 24.

When asked about future course of action of the opposition parties, Ravinder Sharma said all depended on the response of the Centre and state governments. Our priority is restoration of normalcy in the Valley because all sections of society are bearing brunt of the prevailing turbulence, he said, adding that it had been decided by Opposition parties to daily review developments in the state for future course of action.
New Delhi, August 23

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday during which he will review the situation and may hold talks with a cross-section of people, a move which comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep concern and pain over the situation there.

This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.

Also read: 17 injured in fresh clashes in Shopian

As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousand were injured so far in the recent violence.

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The Home Minister had said the Centre wanted an emotional relationship with the state and not just need-based.

Singh had said the central government would talk to whosoever needed once peace and normalcy is restored in the state.

As far as Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we dont just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir, he said, reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the state.

On Monday, while meeting a joint opposition delegation led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his deep concern and pain over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a permanent and lasting solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir. PTI
Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 23

Kashmir opposition parties passionate narration of anger and recall of the historical blunders and betrayals of Delhi made Prime Minister Narendra Modi come out with a reassuring statement, calling for dialogue and a permanent and lasting solution of the problem.

His statement emphasising that there has to be dialogue and we need to find a permanent and lasting solution to the problem within the framework of the Constitution was surprising for many because they read in it a dramatic shift from his tough talk on Independence Day, exactly a week ago.

Insiders told The Tribune that the Opposition groups from Kashmir did not mince their words and told the story of streets, besieged homes and the excesses  innocents being picked up while the real troublemakers, who were active keeping in with their pro-Pakistan ideology since 1947, were left untouched. This was deepening the anger and frustration and a sense of injustice was getting ingrained. That this may keep the land with the country but not the people had the Prime Minister thinking.

On Sunday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was reminded that Kashmiris had not asked for plebiscite in 1947, it was Delhi that took the matter to the United Nations, which in turn proposed it in its resolutions. Kashmiris had assisted the Indian Army in repulsing Pakistan-sponsored tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947-48. The group asked the Congress leader that do you think that they would behave in the same manner now, and then proceeded to declare that the answer was no.

The Prime Minister had known this line of argument put forward by the Opposition parties and articulated by Omar Abdullah was historically correct, and this helped him make up his mind to invoke clause 21, 22 of the Agenda of Alliance of the PDP-BJP government. All political parties in Kashmir had been waiting for him to do so since March 1 last year, when the Agenda of Alliance document was made public.

The clause 21 of the Agenda says, The earlier NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had initiated a dialogue process with all political groups, including the Hurriyat Conference, in the spirit of insaaniyat, Kashmiriyat aur jamhooriyat.

The coalition government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections. This dialogue will seek to build a broad-based consensus on resolution of all outstanding issues of J&K, the clause 22 reads.

Moreover, Modi was perhaps conscious of the perils of ignoring the prevalent situation in Kashmir and the need to embrace Vajpayees mantras that made him give up his tough stand. Perhaps, he wanted to script his chapter with course correction in the follies committed before his arrival on the scene.
Agartala, August 23

At least 17 people were injured in clashes between supporters and activists of Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) and local residents in different parts of the capital on Tuesday, the police said.

"A group of people from the procession of IPFT attacked some persons at the heart of the town at Kaman Chowmuhai and ransacked some shops and set fire to some vehicles, apparently without provocation.

"This incident resulted in clashes and at least 17 people, including women were injured," SP (Police Control), Uttam Bhaumick said.

Soon after the incident, DGP, K Nagraj and SP (West), Abhijit Saptarshi rushed to the spot with a large contingent of police and paramilitary forces brought the situation under control, he said.

Bhaumick said in one place the police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the unruly crowd.

The IPFT, a tribal based party, today took out a procession in the city demanding Twipra land, a separate state for the tribals by curbing out the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) from the state.

The tribal council constitutes two-thirds of the state territory and home to tribals who form one third of the population.

The ruling CPI(M) has condemned the activities of IPFT supporters and alleged it was a planned conspiracy to disrupt the communal harmony of the state.

"IPFT is trying to disrupt the communal harmony since long. Today's incident was a pre-planned and aimed at breaking the communal harmony and peace in the state. We appeal to all to maintain peace and calm," the party said in a statement.  PTI
Somwarpet/Bengaluru, August 23

Actress-turned-politician Ramya is facing a sedition charge filed against her by a lawyer in Karnataka for praising people in Pakistan, kicking up a controversy today with questions being raised over invoking a colonial-era law to curb free speech.

As Ramya's remarks triggered a bitter backlash on social media and BJP and ABVP workers staged protests terming her remarks "anti-national", the actress stood her ground in Bengaluru today.

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The complaint has sought a direction to police to book Ramya, an ex-Congress MP, under IPCs Sections 124(a) (sedition), 344 (wrongful confinement for 10 or more days) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).

Advocate K Vittala Gowda filed the complaint before Somwarpet Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, which yesterday admitted it and posted it for hearing on August 27.

In the complaint, Gowda accused the multi-lingual actress of "insulting" India and "provoking" people by appreciating Pakistan which is a "traditional enemy of India."

After a recent visit to Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers, Ramya had reportedly said at a meeting in Mandya, which she represented from 2013 to 2014 in Lok Sabha, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

Her remarks had come as an ostensible counter to comments of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, "going to Pakistan is same as going to hell."

Reacting to the controversy, Ramya said "...this is the state of affairs in this country today. Sedition is being slapped against anyone and anybody who is entitled to an opinion which should not be the case."

She accused BJP of trying to curb freedom of expression.

"I think that as an individual I should be allowed to air or express my thoughts, views and opinions. I think BJP government is trying to curb that."

She said other parties could also misuse sedition law and file cases against BJP leaders because of the "bizarre" statements some of them were making which were "seditious" but they do not do it and instead engage them in discussions.

Ramya also said the BJP "right now" would not do anything to repeal the sedition law as it using it to its advantage.

The sedition issue has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India by police, after anti-national and anti-Army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by it here recently.

The issue has turned into a major political slugfest with BJP, including several Union ministers, accusing Congress of "sympathising with supporters of terrorists" and giving a clean chit to Amnesty International.

Going into damage control mode, Karnataka Home Minister G Parmeshwara has, however, denied giving a clean chit to Amnesty International and said the law would take its own course on the issue.  PTI
Kolkata: The Maitree channel of the All India Radio (AIR) launched by President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday morning revived memories of the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh when the Kolkata station of AIR had played a key role. The channel aims to cater to Bengali listeners of both India and Bangladesh. While launching the channel, the President said it could play a significant role in promoting and preserving the composite Bengali cultural heritage, which is the proud inheritance of all Bengali speaking people irrespective of their geographical location. Akashvani Maitree, which will be on air 16 hours a day, will produce and broadcast programmes as reality shows, music and quiz competitions, discussions where participants from both the countries can take part. The channel will cover whole of Bangladesh and most of South East Asia. TNS
Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 22

Sarkar chalegi sanskar ke sath is the message that Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore has for the people of Punjab and Chandigarh. He assumed office as the Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator this evening.

Zero tolerance to drug abuse and a resolve to collectively promote a healthier society through yoga and sports; getting Amritsar and Jalandhar on the Smart City programme; modern irrigation techniques; crop diversification, innovation and research in agriculture  are some of the issues that the Governor says he will immediately look into.

Dressed in a traditional attire of a black bandgala with a brightly coloured Rajasthani pagdi, Badnore insists that his priority will be to run the government with a humane touch. Bade buzurgon ki dekhbhal this is an inherent part of our culture and I will be reinforcing these values, he said during an interaction with journalists after the oath-taking ceremony.

The widely attended ceremony may have been soaked and the elaborate high tea washed out in the heavy downpour this afternoon, but this did not stop Badnore from attending to the dignitaries gathered for his swearing-in ceremony and the VIPs who had come all the way from Rajasthan. In between, taking time to meet journalists, he outlined his priorities for both Punjab and Chandigarh. Development has to reach each and every strata of the society, he said. Clearly indicating that he will be taking stock of development works at regular intervals to assess the distance covered and the momentum needed to go forward, he said he would elicit views from the people of Punjab in this venture.

He said he would be engaging with educational and technical institutions in Punjab to take forward the flagship programmes of the Prime Minister like Digital India, Skill India, Start Up India and Make In India, so that the youth can join in this endeavour.

The Governor said Punjab would have to adopt modern irrigation techniques that used less water, so that depletion of ground water level could be checked.

Badnore, 69, who belongs to Bhilwara, replaces Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is the Governor of Haryana and was holding additional charge of Punjab Governor and Administrator of Chandigarh Administration since January 2015.
Gandhinagar, August 23

Around 50 Congress MLAs were on Tuesday suspended from the state Assembly and nearly 400 of its workers detained even as the party stepped up its offensive against the BJP government in Gujarat over atrocities on Dalits, including the Una flogging incident.

While the Assembly witnessed ruckus over the issue, thousands of party workers took out a Janakrosh rally against the oppressive government.

Nearly 400 of them, including senior leaders Shankersinh Vaghela, Bharatsinh Solanki, Shaktisinh Gohil, and Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry were detained.

They were later let off.

Around 50 Congress MLAs were evicted and suspended for a day from the Assembly after they staged a demonstration and disrupted the proceedings over the Una Dalit thrashing incident of July 11.

During a discussion on the issue, Congress members rushed to the well of the House displaying placards dubbing the government as anti-Dalit and threw bangles towards ministers.

At least 20 of the Opposition members wore body suit banners and kept up their protest, despite repeated warnings by Speaker Ramanlal Vora on the second and last day of the Monsoon session of the Assembly.

As the din continued, the Speaker ordered marshals to evict the Congress MLAs from the House and named and suspended them for a day. Subsequently, the Congress MLAs were forcibly taken out of the House.

The Speaker said the Opposition had come to the House with a pre-planned strategy as more than their concern for Dalits they were trying to garner political mileage out of the issue.

Speaker did not suspend Opposition leader Shankersinh Vaghela and senior legislator Mohansinh Rathwa as they remained seated during the ruckus, but later they too walked out protesting the action against their party colleagues.

Later, nearly 400 Congress supporters, along with senior leaders and MLAs, were detained as they took out a march towards the Assembly as part of the partys Janakrosh rally.

They were stopped when they reached the main gate of the Assembly, police said.  PTI
Having trouble viewing? View this mailing online. SUBSCRIBE TO THE FLAME HOTLINE DONATE TO FLAME FORWARD TO A FRIEND August 23, 2016 Egyptian Snub of Israeli at the Olympics Symbolizes Crippling Anti-Semitism in Arab Society Dear Friend of FLAME: While I normally wouldnt choose to cover so seemingly minor an incident as last weeks snub on the Olympic judo mat of Israeli Ori Sasson by Egyptian Islam el-Shehaby, the insult dramatically amplifies two striking realities in the Arab world. First, el-Shehabys refusal to shake hands after losing his match with Sasson exposed an anti-Semitism that is endemic among hundreds of millions of Arabs . This racism is emblematic of a broader affliction that burdens Arab culture like a cancer, preventing it from achieving much of value and limiting its outstanding contributions to the destruction of its own nations and the killing of innocent people around the world. (Well expand on the debilitating poison of Arab anti-Semitism in this weeks FLAME Hotline-featured article, below.) Second, because el-Shehaby was rightfully booed by Olympic crowds who witnessed his bad sportsmanship, the Egyptian press covered reaction within Egypt in an unusual waywith a semblance of openness. Certainly few in Egypt regretted el-Shehabys anti-Semitism. Jew hatred is deeply embedded in Arab culture, and few in any part of Egyptian society will object to its expression. However, many Egyptians did express shame at their country for having been disgraced on an international stage . Egypt is in the process of trying to normalize its relations with the greater Western communityin order to secure loans from the International Monetary fund and rehabilitate its tourist industryby smoothing out its image as a hotbed of radical Islam and cauldron of political chaos . In addition, Egypt is taking slow, deliberate steps to normalize relations with Israelevidenced by visits to Jerusalem by notable Egyptian politicians and increased military cooperation with Israel in opposing Islamic militants in the Sinai and Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Such an outward display of disrespect as el-Shehabys doesnt help Egypts make-nice diplomatic strategies, which was clearly articulated by some opinions in the Egyptian press. Such a public debate in Egypt about the shabby treatment of a Jew is remarkable. Now back to Arab anti-Semitism and the crippling effects such poisonous hatred has on the Arab world: This weeks FLAME Hotline featured article is a short piece by the outspoken political commentator Bret Stephens, who shows how the tiny el-Shehaby incident exposes a hidden iceberg of bankrupt Arab society . Stephens also demonstrates how anti-Semitism, as cruel that it can be to its Jewish victims, is its own far more costly form of punishment for the anti-Semite. As usual, Stephens offers a no-hold-barred candor Im sure youll find refreshingand will make you more articulate on this subject , as it has me. I urge you to pass his article on to your friends, colleagues and family membersespecially those who may take Arab anti-Semitism for granted and regard it as no big deal. In addition, I hope youll also quickly review the P.S. immediately below, which describes FLAMEs current hasbarah campaign addressing American funding of the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) and the organizations teaching of terrorism and hate to Palestinian youth. Best regards, Jim Sinkinson

Executive Vice President, Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME) P.S. A Palestinian boy, standing in front of his UNRWA school in Jerusalem, says They teach us that Jews are bad people. I am ready to stab a Jew and drive over them. This school is one of hundreds operated by UNRWA, which is supported by more than $400 million annually in U.S. taxpayer dollars . In order to make Americans aware of this travesty, FLAME has just begun publishing a new position paper in media nationwidewhich exposes the extent of UNRWAs perpetuation of Islamic jihad and murderous terror among Palestinian youth. I urge you to review this outspoken hasbarah message: "U.N. School for Terrorism. This paid editorial is appearing in magazines and newspapers, including college newspapers, with a combined readership of some 10 million people. In addition, it is being sent to every member of the U.S. Congress and President Obama. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel's behalf is critical, I urge you to support us. Remember: FLAME's powerful ability to influence public opinionand U.S. aid to Israelcomes from individuals like you, one by one. I hope you'll consider giving a donation now, as you're ablewith $500, $250, $100, or even $18. (Remember, your donation to FLAME is tax deductible.) To donate online, just go to donate now. Now more than ever we need your support to ensure that the American people and the U.S. Congress end our support of blatantly anti-Semitic, global jihadist organizations. As of today, more than 15,000 Israel supporters receive the FLAME Hotline at no charge every week. If youre not yet a subscriber, wont you join us in receiving these timely updates, so you can more effectively tell the truth about Israel ? Just go to free subscription. The meaning of an Olympic snub: The Arab world has a problem of the mind, and its name is anti-Semitism By Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2016 An Israeli heavyweight judoka named Or Sasson defeated an Egyptian opponent named Islam El Shehaby Friday in a first-round match at the Rio Olympics. The Egyptian refused to shake his opponent's extended hand, earning boos from the crowd. Mr. Sasson went on to win a bronze medal. If you want the short answer for why the Arab world is sliding into the abyss, look no further than this little incident. It did itself in chiefly through its long-abiding and all-consuming hatred of Israel, and of Jews. That's not a point you will find in a long article about the Arab crackup by Scott Anderson in last weekend's New York Times Magazine, where hatred of Israel is treated like sand in Arabiaa given of the landscape. Nor is it much mentioned in the wide literature about the legacy of colonialism in the Middle East, or the oil curse, governance gap, democracy deficit, youth bulge, sectarian divide, legitimacy crisis and every other explanation for Arab decline. Yet the fact remains that over the past 70 years the Arab world got rid of its Jews, some 900,000 people, while holding on to its hatred of them. Over time the result proved fatal: a combination of lost human capital, ruinously expensive wars, misdirected ideological obsessions, and an intellectual life perverted by conspiracy theory and the perpetual search for scapegoats. The Arab world's problems are a problem of the Arab mind, and the name for that problem is anti-Semitism. As a historical phenomenon, this is not unique. In a 2005 essay in Commentary, historian Paul Johnson noted that wherever anti-Semitism took hold, social and political decline almost inevitably followed. Spain expelled its Jews with the Alhambra Decree of 1492. The effect, Mr. Johnson noted, "was to deprive Spain (and its colonies) of a class already notable for the astute handling of finance." In czarist Russia, anti-Semitic laws led to mass Jewish emigration as well as an "immense increase in administrative corruption produced by the system of restrictions." Germany might well have won the race for an atomic bomb if Hitler hadn't sent Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi and Edward Teller into exile in the U.S. These patterns were replicated in the Arab world. Contrary to myth, the cause was not the creation of the state of Israel. There were bloody anti-Jewish pogroms in Palestine in 1929, Iraq in 1941, and Lebanon in 1945. Nor is it accurate to blame Jerusalem for fueling anti-Semitism by refusing to trade land for peace. Among Egyptians, hatred of Israel barely abated after Menachem Begin relinquished the Sinai to Anwar Sadat. Among Palestinians, anti-Semitism became markedly worse during the years of the Oslo peace process. In his essay, Mr. Johnson called anti-Semitism a "highly infectious" disease capable of becoming "endemic in certain localities and societies," and "by no means confined to weak, feeble or commonplace intellects." Anti-Semitism may be irrational, but its potency, he noted, lies in transforming a personal and instinctive irrationalism into a political and systematic one. For the Jew-hater, every crime has the same culprit and every problem has the same solution. Anti-Semitism makes the world seem easy. In doing so, it condemns the anti-Semite to a permanent darkness. Today there is no great university in the Arab world, no serious indigenous scientific base, a stunted literary culture. In 2015 the U.S. Patent Office reported 3,804 patents from Israel, as compared with 364 from Saudi Arabia, 56 from the United Arab Emirates, and 30 from Egypt. The mistreatment and expulsion of Jews has served as a template for the persecution and displacement of other religious minorities: Christians, Yazidis, the Baha'i. Hatred of Israel and Jews has also deprived the Arab world of both the resources and the example of its neighbor. Israel quietly supplies water to Jordan, helping to ease the burden of Syrian refugees, and quietly provides surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to Egypt to fight ISIS in the Sinai. But this is largely unknown among Arabs, for whom the only permissible image of Israel is an Israeli soldier in riot gear, abusing a Palestinian. Successful nations make a point of trying to learn from their neighbors. The Arab world has been taught over generations only to hate theirs. This may be starting to change. In the past five years the Arab world has been forced to face up to its own failings in ways it cannot easily blame on Israel. The change can be seen in the budding rapprochement between Jerusalem and Cairo, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which might yet yield tactical and strategic advantages on both sides, particularly against common enemies such as ISIS and Iran. That's not enough. So long as an Arab athlete can't pay his Israeli opposite the courtesy of a handshake, the disease of the Arab mind and the misfortunes of its world will continue. For Israel, this is a pity. For the Arabs, it's a calamity. The hater always suffers more than the object of his hatred. HOME SUBSCRIBE DONATE PR FOR ISRAEL HOTLINE ARCHIVE ABOUT CONTACT US THIS MONTH'S AD APPEARED IN PUBLICATIONS REACHING 10 MILLION READERS IF YOU SUPPORT PUBLISHING FLAME'S BOLD PR MESSAGES, PLEASE HELP US!! FLAME is the only organization that defends Israel with paid editorial hasbarah messages placed in media nationwide every month: The dire threats from Iran, Hamas and Hizbollah, the injustice of BDS, Palestinian anti-Semitism and more. If you support a bold voice that tells the truth about Israel in American media, please donate now. FLAME'S WEEKLY HOTLINE E-NEWSLETTER FLAME's Hotline e-newsletter keeps you up to date on the most important pro-Israel advocacy issues and features our choice of the week's most informative and thought-provoking article on Israel and the Middle East. If you only subscribe to one pro-Israel news service, make it the FLAME Hotline.

Facts and Logic

About the Middle East

PO Box 3460

Berkeley, CA 94703 Copyright 2016 FLAME. All rights reserved.
New Delhi, August 23

India has figured among the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world with a total individual wealth of $5,600 billion while the United States topped the chart.

According to a report by New World Wealth, India was ranked 7th ahead of Canada ($4,700 billion), Australia ($4,500 billion) and Italy ($4,400 billion), which came in at 8th, 9th and 10th slots, respectively.

The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total individual wealth held ($48,900 billion) while China stood second and Japan third, with total individual wealth of $17,400 billion and $15,100 billion, respectively.

Others in the top 10 club include the United Kingdom (4) with a total individual wealth of $9,200 billion, followed by Germany (5th, $9,100 billion) and France (6th, $6,600 billion).

Wealth refers to net assets of a person. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities, the report said adding that it excludes government funds from its figures.

The ranking of India as one of the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world is largely because of its large population. "Australia's ranking is impressive, considering it only has 22 million people living there," the report explained.

Over the past 5 years, China was the fastest growing wealthiest country in terms of dollar wealth growth.

On India, the report stated, "Australia and India also grew strongly and India, Australia and Canada have just overtaken Italy over the past 12 months."

The study ranked the wealthiest countries in the world as of June 2016 in terms of total individual wealth held.  PTI
R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 22

The Supreme Court today told the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party that the judiciary was not in a position to deal with all dimensions of the current unrest in the border state and advised the party to approach the Centre for the purpose.

Political leaders are meeting the Prime Minister. You also join them, a Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur asked Panthers Party chief and senior counsel Bhim Singh, who was pleading for the courts intervention for restoring normalcy in the troubled state.

Certain dimensions of the problem cannot be addressed by the court. You impress upon the government to accept your suggestions for improving the situation, the Bench told him. Singh pleaded that the Centre had not invited him for consultations as the Rasht-riya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) hated him. Taking serious exception to Singhs remark, the Bench directed him to keep politics out of court proceedings.

At this stage, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said the Centre had not invited any political leader. Party leaders from the state had taken the initiative of approaching the Prime Minister. He, however, said he would put in a word with the Union Home Secretary about Singhs desire to offer suggestions. Kumar, however, pleaded for disposing of the PIL as the state high court was monitoring the situation. The Bench clarified that Singhs suggestions were not judicially relevant, but were perhaps relevant politically.

There is no harm in giving a chance to him. Nevertheless, the court kept Panthers Partys PIL alive, asking Singh to file his response in two weeks to the Centres status report on the situation in the Kashmir Valley.

On July 29, the court had rejected the partys plea to place J&K under Governors rule and sought a status report on the law and order situation. As the Bench was not inclined to entertain the PIL, Singh pleaded that the judiciary had the primary responsibility of ensuring that the people of the state were not denied their fundamental right to life due to non-availability of food, medicine and essential services. In the plea, the party said a chaotic condition prevailed as the Valley was under siege.
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, August 23

The state government has sanctioned Rs 75 lakh for installing 1000 state-of-the-art closed circuit televison cameras in the border districts of Gurdaspur, Batala and Pathankot.

Nearly a thousand points have been identified where these cameras will be installed. Although the BSF has its own mechanism to track down infiltrators set up close to wire fencing on the border, police will fix cameras in the periphery. Some vantage points like petrol pumps, district sealing points (places where two or more police districts meet), state and national highways, hotels, banks, road intersections and crowded places like schools, colleges and stadiums have also been identified, Pathankot Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kaushal said on Tuesday.

Punjab Police felt the need for close surveillance after two terrorist attacks  the Gurdaspur attack in July last year and the predawn strike at a military installation in Pathankot in January this year.

Although there were images of the three militants that laid siege to Dinanagar Police Station on July 27, 2015, through a private bank's surveillance camera, there were none for the Pathankot strike.

The lack of footage became an impediment to NIA's investigations. This is perhaps one reason why the security agencies remained confused for several weeks about the exact number of militants that had entered the airbase, an officer said.

The Indian Air Force is now believed to have set up cameras on the rear part of their Pathankot airbase  the route militants took to enter the installation in January.

Cameras are a valuable aid of to survey urban places, such as schools, hospitals, railway stations and bus stands. This technology enables ubiquitous supervision of public and private spaces and adds to the capabilities of the police in crime detection crime, Batala SSP DS Dhillon said.

Four gunmen had attacked an airbase of the Indian Air Force in Pathankot on January 2. The terrorist strike  blamed on the militant Jaish-e-Mohammed of Pakistan  left seven security men and all attackers dead.

Three armed militants had fired on a bus and laid siege on a police station in Gurdaspurs Dinanagar on July 27, 2015. Seven policemen had been killed in the daylong standoff.
Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23

Legend has it that Sohnis lover Mahiwal hailed from Bukhara (Uzbekistan), which was a constituent of the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). About 60 years after a Soviet diplomat purchased an iconic Sohni-Mahiwal painting from Sobha Singh, the legendary artists family has appealed to Russia to trace the work and put it on display.

Sobha Singh, whose 30th death anniversary fell today, had made the painting in 1957. He created several versions of Punjabs love legend, even as his family knows about five such works.

Sobha Singhs grandson Hirday Paul Singh told The Tribune, Two Sohni-Mahiwal paintings are displayed in the art gallery at the artists home in Andretta (Himachal Pradesh). Another is part of the collection of Karan Singh, scion of the Jammu and Kashmir royal family, who purchased it in 1952 and got it printed in 1953-54.

Two paintings are unaccounted for  one made before Partition and the other which was bought by the diplomat. The latter was attracted to the painting due to Mahiwals Uzbek link, Hirday Paul added, while expressing inability to identify the envoy.

In his book, Divine Painter Sobha Singh, published to mark the artists birth centenary in 2001, researcher Kulwant Singh Khokhar wrote that the paintings fourth version was procured by the USSR official.

Freelance writer Daljit Ami, who has done research on Sobha Singhs iconography, said, The artist made the first Sohni-Mahiwal painting in 1937 in Sheikhupura, now in Pakistan.

The print commonly seen today is a copy of the painting that was purchased by Karan Singh.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23

A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Punjab to file a status report regarding the initiatives taken in association with the Union Government for retrieving the belongings of martyr Udham Singh from the Metropolitan Police in London and bringing them back to India.

The directions were issued by a Bench, comprising Justice SS Saron and Justice Hari Pal Verma, after a preliminary hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL). The PIL was filed by an advocate seeking issuance of a writ to Punjab and Union Ministry of External Affairs to bring back items, such as Udham Singhs pistol, diary and other belongings, from the United Kingdom.

The petitioner, while replying to a query by the Bench, said even if the belongings were case property, the Government of India could make efforts to get them back.

During the last hearing in the case on July 12, the PIL was adjourned to enable the petitioner-advocate to produce some precedents, if any, to support his proposition that the HC may direct the Central Government to take up the matter with the British Government.

Today, the petitioner produced and placed on record a judgment of the same High Court in a case filed by Singh Legal Foundation in 2007. In the said case, the HC had directed the Union Government to take up with the French Government the ban against Sikh students entering into schools while wearing a turban. The issue was effectively taken up by the Central Government.
London, August 23

A study revealed that the temperature of the Earth dropped during last year's eclipse of the sun, Britain's Met office has said.

The Met Office on Monday said it was the first time that satellites had been used to monitor surface "skin" temperatures during a total solar eclipse, Xinhua news agency reported.

The research showed the eclipse on March 20 last year resulted in a drop in land surface temperatures in parts of Britain and Europe.

The satellite results were combined with a study of one-minute observations of near-surface air temperature from meteorological stations across Britain, allowing scientists to build a picture of the factors that influence how the temperature changes during a solar eclipse.

"The results show that the amount of sun obscured by the moon, the eclipse duration and the timing, all influence the temperature drop during the event," a Met official said.

"The largest temperature drops occurred where the sun was most obscured, the eclipse was longer, or the timing was earlier in the day," he said.

Two scientific papers, written by Met office scientists Elizabeth Good and Matt Clark, will be published in a special solar eclipse edition of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions.

Good, from the Climate Monitoring and Attribution Team, said: "Local factors, such as vegetation cover, land use and cloud cover has resulted in previous studies struggling to find links between temperature and the obscuration of the sun." "However, the use of satellite data from across a large area has allowed for this to be investigated using observed data for the first time." The March 2015 eclipse was total across the North Atlantic, the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, and partial in Europe, Iceland, parts of North Africa and northern Asia. For most of Europe, the eclipse was a morning event.  IANS
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 23

Agitating guest teachers today begged for alms on the streets to express resentment against the state government. They demanded that the state government should reinstate them.

The guest teachers under the aegis of Uttarakhand Guest Teachers Association (Madhyamik) continued with their protest for the fourth consecutive day.

The protesters begged at Clock Tower, Buddha Chowk, Congress Bhavan, Indira Market and adjoining places to express their anger against the state government.

The protesters said a memorandum highlighting their demands was submitted to government officials several times, but to no avail. They said the state government had done nothing to overcome the shortage of teachers in schools.

Vivev Yadav, state president, Uttarakhand Guest Teachers Association (Madhyamik), said agitated guest teachers had decided to intensify the agitation in order to build pressure on the state government. He demanded that Congress-led state government should immediately draft a proposal to appoint 6,000 guest teachers in government schools in the state.

Harish Arya, Daulat Jagudi, Mahaveer Chauhan, Praveen Ranakoti, Vipin Sakhlani, Sandeep Pant, Rakesh, Poornima Devi, Manju Kumari and Puja Devi took part in the protest.
Karachi, August 23

Pakistani paramilitary forces have sealed the headquarters of a powerful political party in the commercial hub of Karachi and detained five of its top leaders, after supporters of the party stormed the office of a television channel.

Supporters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) rushed to the office of ARY News on Monday shortly after their leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, had in a telephone address sharply criticised the Pakistani media for failing to report on his workers recent hunger strikes.

Crowds of MQM workers then attacked the television office, firing shots and smashing the premises. They later clashed with police outside, leaving one person dead and several wounded.

We have sealed the MQM headquarters, their media office and (their) hostel, some weapons have also been recovered, Khurram Shahzad, the sector commander for the regional paramilitary Rangers force told reporters on Tuesday.

MQM said five of its leaders had been taken into custody.

In a statement issued from London, Hussain asked for forgiveness from the army and Rangers chiefs.

From the depth of heart, I beg pardon from the Pakistani establishment, he said.  Reuters
April 20, 1995  Terror in the heartland

The headline told the story well: Bombing Terror.

And a poignant picture of a fireman carrying a child who had been injured in a powerful explosion that killed 168 when it tore apart the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City added drama and reality to the page.

That days newspaper reported detailed of the worst terrorist attack in the nations history until Sept. 11, 2001, when fully loaded passenger planes were hijacked and crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

After hearing early reports about the bombing in Oklahoma City, rescue and medical workers from throughout the state, including many from Tulsa, headed for the capital to help victims. Tulsans also lined up to donate blood that might be needed, other stories reported.

The explosion also sparked a number of bomb threats to Tulsa businesses and government offices.

Timothy McVeigh, 27 who had served in the Army in Desert Storm and who was known to have anti-government leanings because of the Branch Davidian event in Texas, was arrested for the bombing two days later. He had been stopped for a traffic violation near Perry a few hours after the bombing. McVeigh was convicted of federal murder charges in 1997 and was executed four years later.

Co-defendant Terry Nichols, who had been an Army buddy of McVeigh, was convicted in both federal and state courts for his role in the bombing and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Rating: 2 Stars (on a scale of zero to four stars)

Sweet. Boring.

So the 2016 Petes Dragon is pretty much just like the original 1977 Petes Dragon, which was never all that original.

Now that Disney is moving full-bore into rebooting/reimagining/re-whatevering its nonclassic films, perhaps we can look forward to further cheese like The Apple Dumpling Gang or Flubber or The Boatniks.

Maybe a remake of The Haunted Mansion if Disney (which is not synonymous with classic in all cases) really wants to punish us.

Petes Dragon isnt quite that horrendous. But its not good.

Theres not much there beyond a simple tagline: Boy raised like Tarzan/Mowgli grows up in woods with a dragon; regular people discover him and the dragon; boy and dragon and their way of life are threatened.

Theres not much of a story. Theres not much action. Or humor, or drama, or character development.

Its difficult to call Petes Dragon an adventure because that term implies that something exciting or imaginative or unpredictable might happen. It does not.

The movie is the equivalent of a saccharine bedtime story that just might put parent chaperones to sleep.

It should work for the 5-year-old set for which its intended (despite a couple of dark moments), but siblings age 10 and older will be restless. Or napping.

Bryce Dallas Howard starred opposite dinosaurs in last summers biggest blast, Jurassic World, and now shes a park ranger in a forest with deep woods, an 11-year-old wild child and a dragon that flies.

A dragon that apparently no one has seen in the six years that the boy, Pete, and his dragon, Elliot, have been together as best buddies after the child was orphaned when a forest car crash kills his mom and dad.

From this dark beginning, we find the boy (a personable Oakes Fegley) forming a new family with the forests dragon, running and jumping in the great outdoors like a child whos never been exposed to electronic gadgetry.

This is a dragon that acts like a dog, looks like a cross between a bear and a lion, and has fur that resembles green shag carpeting. The special effects are not special.

Its a dragon with facial expressions that are human-like, conveying emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, anger and wonder.

Facial expressions are big in Petes Dragon.

Like the way the park ranger looks with wonder at grimy-faced wild-boy Pete.

Like the looks of disappointment she gives loggers who are chopping down trees too deep in the forest, which is how they discover a dragon.

Like the long, mushy looks she gives her fiancee (Wes Bentley) and his young daughter (Oona Laurence) at the prospect of Pete becoming a part of their future family.

Like the looks of anger she displays toward the men who would hunt down a dragon.

The anything-but-subtle message of the movie: Families, forests and creatures of the wild must be protected.

Playing the father of Howards character, Robert Redford is the only one in the movie who doesnt have a perpetual grimace on his face at this situation and who has any sense of humor about this modern-day dragon.

Either that or hes laughing at Disneys latest attempt to reinvent the past and make a classic out of a nonclassic.

Petes Dragon is sweet but toothless.

OPENING THIS WEEK

Hands of Stone, Robert De Niro, R

Mechanic: Resurrection, Jason Statham, R

Dont Breathe, horror, R

AT CIRCLE CINEMA

Equity, Anna Gunn, R

Dont Think Twice, Keegan-Michael Key, R

Mekko, Sterlin Harjo-directed, NR

NOW SHOWING

Movie Rating (on a 4 star scale) Finding Dory 3.5 Stars Cafe Society 3.5 Stars Ghostbusters 3 Stars Suicide Squad 3 Stars Star Trek Beyond 3 Stars The Legend of Tarzan 3 Stars Captain America: Civil War 3 Stars Central Intelligence 3 Stars Florence Foster Jenkins 2.5 Stars Sausage Party 2.5 Stars War Dogs 2.5 Stars Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie 2.5 Stars Jason Bourne 2.5 Stars The Secret Life of Pets 2.5 Stars The Jungle Book 2.5 Stars Ben-Hur 2 Stars Petes Dragon 2 Stars
OKLAHOMA CITY  A proposed toll road is under consideration to finish Tulsas Gilcrease Expressway, transportation officials confirmed on Monday.

Officials have previously considered a toll bridge over the Arkansas River at a cost of about $29 million to support extension of the Gilcrease, Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley said. The initial toll bridge plan would involve Edison Street to 21st Street, Ridley said.

It is the desire to have a full facility that would go from Edison (Street), which is on the north side of (U.S.) 412, at the interchange of (U.S.) 412, and go south all the way to (Interstate) 44, Ridley said.

The proposed route is 4.5 miles.

No final decision has been reached, Ridley said.

That is great news, said Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett. The Gilcrease Expressway, as we envision it, will be the completion of a very needed outer expressway loop not only benefitting the city of Tulsa, but the surrounding suburbs in and around Tulsa.

Transportation officials are working with the city of Tulsa and the Indian Nations Council of Governments to find a resolution for completing the Gilcrease, Ridley said.

The estimated cost is between $230 million and $240 million, Ridley said.

Transportation officials are waiting on a study to determine how much traffic it would generate and how much investment would be required, Ridley said. Officials wont know more until the end of October or early November, he said.

The Gilcrease Expressway project is among those being developed as part of the Turnpike Authoritys Driving Forward initiative, announced in October. The bond-financed projects include work on the Gilcrease Expressway, the Muskogee Turnpike, the Turner Turnpike, the H.E. Bailey Turnpike, the Kilpatrick Turnpike and a new Oklahoma City-area turnpike.

Work would include making the Turner Turnpike in both directions from Bristow to the Creek Turnpike six lanes, Ridley said. The project will be about 20 miles, said Tim Gatz, OTA director.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority on Tuesday will consider toll increases to pay for the projects, which will be in the neighborhood of $900 million, Gatz said.

The proposal calls for a total increase of 17 percent phased in over time.

The first increase would be 12 percent effective January 2017, followed by an additional 2.5 percent in January 2018 and another 2.5 percent in July 2019.

The timing of the toll increase corresponds with the schedule for selling additional bonds to pay for the Driving Forward initiative, Gatz said.

First and foremost, when you begin to talk about toll increases, the authority takes increases in tolls very, very seriously, Gatz said. And we always want to make sure when we take an action to increase tolls that we are doing it in a responsible manner and we are only looking at toll increases that are enough to support whatever action we are taking.

On average, toll rates per mile on the Oklahoma turnpike system are about 59 percent below the national average for passenger vehicles and 63 percent below for heavy trucks, according to the OTA.

School is still out as to whether they will proceed with that, Ridley said. That has to be a discussion by the board and the director because of the litigation that was filed.

Oklahoma City attorney Jerry Fent on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging how the OTA handles bonds for toll road projects.

The OTA will not sell bonds while litigation is pending, Ridley said.

Tolls were last increased 16 percent in August 2009 to raise revenue during a national economic downturn, Ridley said.

The Turner Turnpike, which opened in 1953 between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, was the states first toll road with the understanding it would be free once it was paid for.

A few years after it was built, the public voted to allow cross-pledging of toll revenue, so revenue from the Turner Turnpike could be used to pay for the Will Rogers Turnpike, Ridley said.

Since that time, we have built other turnpikes by the same referendum, Ridley said. That is the only way we could have built the Creek (Turnpike). That is the only way we could have built the Kilpatrick (Turnpike).
Turkey has recalled its ambassador in Vienna "for consultations and to revise relations," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday.

The minister said the move came after Austrian authorities did not allow Turkish citizens to hold anti-coup demonstrations in the country but allowed a pro-PKK march to take place on Saturday.

That is why we called the Austrian charge d'affaires at our ministry. [...] Likewise, we also recalled to Ankara our ambassador to Vienna for consultations and to revise our relations, Cavusoglu said, speaking at a joint news conference with Moldovan Foreign Minister Andrei Galbur in Ankara.

Cavusoglu said Ankara had complained to Austria for trying to give us freedom of assembly lessons, and on the other hand not allowing even a peaceful march [in support of Turkish democracy].

However we saw they gave permission to demonstrate in Vienna to the PKK and its supporters, Cavusoglu said. We cannot remain insensitive to this attitude supporting terrorism.

He accused Austria of being against some terror organizations while supporting terror organizations attacking Turkey.

Unfortunately, the ground on which our bilateral relations and cooperation with Austria can be normally sustained has disappeared, Cavusoglu said.

We will not remain insensitive in our bilateral relations, we will take certain steps, he said.

Cavusoglu added: We cannot be two-faced like them, we are against all kinds of terror.

The minister did not give further details on the steps to be taken, but warned: We will approach them the way they approach us.

Tensions between Austria -- where around 300,000 people of Turkish origin live -- and Turkey were raised last month when the mayor of Wiener Neustadt, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Vienna, called for the removal of Turkish flags hung by residents celebrating the defeat of the July 15 coup attempt.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz had also spoken out against importing the political conflict to Austria following demonstrations in support of Turkish democracy.

On Aug. 3, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern had also called accession talks with Turkey a "diplomatic fiction" and said he wanted the EU leaders to reconsider their approach with regards to Ankara. Later, Kern criticized anti-coup protests by Turks in Austria and called them "radical".

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had, at the time, slammed the Austrian chancellors remarks, saying Austria was the capital of radical racism.

Speaking at the news conference on Monday, Moldovan Foreign Minister Galbur, for his part, recalled that his visit to Turkey was planned before the failed coup attempt and that it symbolizes the deepening strategic partnership between our two countries.

Immediately during the coup attempt we expressed our position on the firm support of the democratically elected constitutional authorities of Turkey," he said, speaking about the July 15 coup attempt.

Anadolu Agency
Anadolu Agency has released new images of the Syrian regimes chemical attack in Syria's Damascus suburbs of al-Ghouta on August 20, 2013, which left more than 1,400 people dead.

The images have been released to mark the attacks third anniversary.

Anadolu Agencys new video of the attack, depicting dead bodies of the women and children at the scene, also shows doctors trying to revive people affected by the chemical gas attack.

In the video, some women and children could be seen lying down on the ground, who had difficulty breathing and were fighting for their lives. Civil defense officials wrote numbers on a piece of paper, which were then stitched to the victims heads for the sake of keeping records.

The images also showed heavy machinery being used to dig graves.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it documented 139 chemical attacks in Syria since September 2013 when the UN Security Council issued resolution 2118 for the dismantling of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

Some 136 attacks were carried out by the Syrian regime, the London-based group said.

It added that Daesh had also carried out three chemical attacks in Syria since 2013. According to the rights group, some 88 people had been killed in chemical attacks in Syria since 2013, including 45 opposition fighters and 36 civilians. The group registered the highest number of chemical attacks in northern Idlib province, Rif Dimashq province and central Hama province.

While Syrian opposition forces and human rights groups accuse the Bashar al-Assad regime of perpetrating the atrocity, the Syrian regime denies the claim.

The Human Rights Watch said it had strong evidence proving the regimes involvement in the Ghouta chemical attack.

Since March 2011, the Syrian opposition has demanded an end to more than 44 years of Assad familys rule and the establishment of a democratic state.

The Syrian regime had responded to the peaceful 2011 protests with military force, pushing the country into a vicious downward spiral of violence, bloody battles and a civil war that is still ongoing between the regime and opposition forces. Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research puts the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.
The CEO of Ramps Logistics says he is "really really disappointed" with the Guyana Revenue A


EXCLUSIVE: ABC Internationals partnership with Swisse is already at the centre of a branding problem, with Nick Murray, Executive Producer of Gruen and The Checkout, slamming ABC management over the deal.

Murray, from production company Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder, told TV Tonight, Its a disgrace.

It shows an appalling lack of judgement from ABC International.

(Swisse) spends about 30 times more on marketing than they do on the actual ingredients in their products and they have been found to have produced marketing materials which are (at best) inaccurate in material aspects.

A 2013 Checkout story on the Therapeutic Goods Administration suggested the companys products highlighted everything thats wrong with the regulation of natural medicines in Australia. A defamation lawsuit by Avni Sali, father of the CEO, followed against Murray, Julian Morrow and Craig Reucassel. It was eventually settled but not without lawyers at ten paces, with ABC management backing its Checkout team.

The story on The Checkout correctly pointed out that the father of the CEO of Swisse was involved in the testing of certain vitamin supplements which were marketed as being independently tested,' Murray said.

We dont like them and they dont like us. It is astounding that the ABC thinks that Swisse is an appropriate brand partnerABC yesterday announced Swisse, the Victorian Government and Monash University as partners for ABC International which showcases Australian life into Asia-Pacific on its Australia Plus service. It likened the deal to BBC Worldservice, noting ABC International is permitted under the ABC Act to partner with commercial organisations.

But Murray questioned how the deal would impact on ABCs editorial independence. Both Gruen and The Checkout are currently on air

You can see why Swisse are keen to attach themselves to a brand that is trusted. It follows in the footsteps of their pointless sporting brand ambassadors who presumably dont actually use the product, he said.

How is it going to be possible for the ABC to maintain relationships with commercial parties such as Swisse when it also broadcasts shows that Swisse dislikes?

How will ABC Management including Lynley Marshall and the Managing Director balance independent programming decisions with the commercial pressures from huge advertisers like Swisse?

The Checkout presenter Kirsten Drysdale also took to social media to question the deal.

Yesterday an ABC spokesperson told TV Tonight, All Australia Plus content is subject to the established and rigorous requirements of the Editorial Policies. The commercial partnerships will in no way undermine the ABCs commitment to these policies.
News Corp columnist and SKY News presenter Andrew Bolt will appear with Indigenous politician Linda Burney in ABCs documentary Recognition: Yes or No? next month.

The special looks at moves to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution.

Indigenous politician Linda Burney and controversial commentator Andrew Bolt interrogate a question all Australians need to grapple with: how important is it to the nation that the unique nature of Indigenous Australia is recognised in the Constitution?

Burney and Bolt are deeply divided on this question. Linda says changing the Constitution would heal wounds, help with reconciliation and be nation building. Andrew says it would be a racist act in itself that will divide rather than unite us.

Aiming to change each others views, they embark on a four-week journey to seek out opinions from community leaders, lobbyists and lawmakers in Australia and New Zealand. Some want the emphasis put on education, some on a treaty, and some are applying their minds to how to remove a section of the Constitution that still refers to race without affecting the legal foundation for native title.

How important constitutional recognition is for Indigenous Australia and the nation is a subject all Australians will need to consider if it goes to a referendum.

Recognition: Yes or No? production credits: Screen Australia and Australian Broadcasting Corporation present a Smith&Nasht production, in association with Screen NSW.

Writer and Executive Producer Simon Nasht, Producer Ruth Cross, Writer and Director Kay Pavlou. ABC Commissioning Editor Matt Scully, and ABC Head of Factual, Steve Bibb.

8.30pm on Tuesday September 20 on ABC.
Sydneys Carols in the Domain is moving from a Saturday event to Sundays this Christmas.

It will be held on Sunday 18th December.

There was overwhelming support for the event to switch to a Sunday which will be more family

friendly said Executive Producer, Michael McKay.

This year is all about celebrating our old traditions as well as embarking on a few new ones.

Screening on a Sunday certainly wont hurt its TV ratings either.

Now in its 34th year, the event will again screen on Seven and raise funds for the Salvation Army.

Reserved Ticketing will be released in August.
Chelsea and Paris, last season's UEFA Youth League finalists, gatecrash UEFA HQ in Switzerland to strut their stuff ...

Finalists show off their skills at UEFA HQ

Real Madrid use their skills to take you on a tour of their facilities ...

Real Madrids UEFA Youth League skills challenge

How Barcelona got on when they took the keepy-uppy skills challenge ...

Amazing Barcelona keepy-uppy skills challenge

Club legend Thierry Henry invites Arsenal's youngsters to prove their skills ...

2311_UYL Arsenal Challenge

Villarreal create a human castle ...

Villarreals skill challenge: Watch them build a yellow castle

Wolfsburg have a go ...

Wolfsburg youngsters show off their skills

Sevilla's challenge takes them from the gym to the pitch ...

1611_UYL Sevilla Challenge

Olympiacos get bored of life in the office and take to the pitch ...
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).
Russian-backed militants launched 54 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbas over the past day.

This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center.

As noted, in the Donetsk direction, the Ukrainian servicemen came under 120mm mortar fire near Verkhniotoretske (22km north-east of Donetsk). In Avdiyivka (18km north of Donetsk), the enemy shelled ATO troops, using mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. The grenade launchers of various systems were used against Ukrainian soldiers in Pisky (12km north-west of Donetsk) and Troitske (69km west of Luhansk).

In Mariupol direction, the terrorists used 120mm mortars to fire at Ukrainian positions in Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk) and Krasnohorivka (29 km west of Donetsk). Ukrainian defenders came under 82mm mortar and grenade launcher fire in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol).

In Luhansk direction, the tensest situation was observed in Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), where the terrorists used mortars, grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns to shell ATO troops.

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Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Andriy Shevchenko has announced that the preparation of the agreement in defence area between Ukraine and Canada is at its final stage already.

Shevchenko said this at the meeting of the press club at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We are completing the work on the agreement in defence area. I believe we will sign this important agreement by the end of 2016," he said.

According to the Ambassador, the agreement will create a legal framework "up to the possible supply of weapons."

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Western partners lend considerable assistance in providing Ukrainian army with military equipment and property.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said this while handing over the military equipment at the airport in Chuhuyiv, Kharkiv region, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"I want to emphasize that our western partners lend considerable assistance in providing the army with weapons, military equipment and property. We have received more than 700 units of military and special equipment as part of the established military and technical cooperation. We get position-radar stations for counter-battery fighting, unmanned aerial vehicles, thermal imagery devices, reliable communication equipment and many other units," the President said.

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The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at today's meeting will make a number of decisions that will allow the local authorities to independently interact with the international financial institutions to attract investments in the infrastructural facilities.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said this at the Cabinets meeting on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Today, we will make a number of decisions that will improve our interaction with the financial institutions and will provide an opportunity to attract billions of dollars to our infrastructure projects, including roads, modernization of heating systems, garbage processing. The decisions made today will provide an opportunity to attract funds through local solutions and local guarantees, independently from Kyiv," Groysman said.

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman urges the State Service for Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine and the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption to ensure the launch of an electronic declaration system on September 1.

This has been reported by the Governments portal.

The Prime Minister warned Chair of the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption Natalia Korchak and Chair of the State Service for Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine Leonid Yevdochenko of their personal responsibility for the launch of the operation of the e-service.

"If the e-declaration is not launched on September 1, I do not want to frighten anyone, but dismissal is the smallest thing that could happen. Today I will sign all the required instructions," he said.

"My goal is to launch e-declaration from September 1. I demand this," the PM said.

ish
3,080 Ukrainian captives have been released since the onset of the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine; 80 of them have been freed this year.

This was announced by First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group Iryna Gerashchenko, Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper reports.

"3,080 people have been released since the onset of the war thanks to the joint efforts of the President, the diplomatic mission, the Security Service of Ukraine... However, only 80 captives have been freed this year," she said at the meeting of the heads of diplomatic missions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Monday.

Yesterday, Adviser to the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Yuri Tandyt said that the DPR militants had confirmed they held captive 42 citizens of Ukraine now.

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In Iraq, displacement may be about to dramatically worsen with the focus of military action turning towards Mosul. Already, in recent months, some 213,000 people have fled their homes in different parts of the country. This includes 48,000 people from the Mosul area, 87,000 from the Falluja region, and 78,000 from Shirqat, Qayyara and surrounds.

Mosul is Iraqs second largest city, and the humanitarian impact of a military offensive there is expected to be enormous. Up to 1.2 million people could be affected. UNHCR is doing what it can amid enormous challenges to build more camps to accommodate people and mitigate suffering, but additional land for camps and funding is still needed.

Iraq is already one of the worlds biggest internal displacement situations. Some 3.38 million people have fled their homes since January 2014, among them families who have been displaced multiple times.

UNHCR continues to advocate, in a volatile, fast-evolving and complex conflict, for freedom of movement of civilian populations. This is especially critical when it comes to people fleeing combat zones. Everything possible should be done to ensure the safety and dignity of people affected.

UNHCR provides humanitarian support, including shelter, emergency relief kits and protection services, such as legal aid for displaced families. With the impending situation in Mosul we are now expanding our efforts to be able to assist hundreds of thousands more people.

Contingency plans have been drawn up to provide shelter assistance for up to 120,000 people fleeing conflict in Mosul and surrounding areas, as part of an inter-agency response to the crisis. And across the region a series of camps are in the process of being expanded or established while other shelter options are being prepared.

In Debaga, in Erbil Governorate, two camps were completed in July and August to house displaced Iraqis who fled villages to the east of the Tigris. Due to the number of daily new arrivals, UNHCR is looking to construct an additional site, and we are awaiting land to be made available by the local authorities. Debaga has swollen nearly ten-fold in just a few months  from a camp housing 3,500 displaced people in March to several sites now housing more than 34,000.

North of Mosul, work is almost completed at Zelekan site, in Sheikhan district, with a capacity for 1,200 tents. Site preparations are also underway at Amalla site, in Telafar district, north-west of Mosul, for a camp with a capacity for 3,000 tents.

In Kirkuk, UNHCR is constructing a new camp in Daquq district, with capacity for 1,000 tents, and expanding additional camp capacity at Nazrawa and Laylan, which are now completely full.

Work is also underway in Salah al-Din for a 1,000 tent camp at Tal al-Seebat.

UNHCR is also assessing and identifying other sites across northern Iraq in close consultation with authorities.

Altogether, UNHCR is looking to set up camps in up to six locations across northern Iraq although progress depends on both the availability of land and of funding. UNHCRs overall appeal for US$584 million for displaced people including Iraqi refugees in the region was only 38 per cent funded as of 2 August.

Finding available land for the new camps has become a critical issue. Land is identified and provided by the local authorities and assessed by UNHCR, other UN agencies and humanitarian partners for suitability. However, this issue is fraught with problems. Many private landowners are unwilling to lease land; other land may be unsuitable due its topography, its proximity to the frontline or military operations and the risk of contamination by UXOs or landmines, or it may be located in areas where the arrival of displaced Iraqis could inflame ethnic, sectarian, religious or tribal tensions.

UNHCR leads the protection, shelter and non-food items and camp coordination and management response. The agency currently has contingency stocks of tents and other relief items for 20,000 households country-wide.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
A displaced family from Mosul eat lunch at Baharka Camp on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq.  UNHCR/Cengiz Yar

GENEVA  Displacement in Iraq may be about to worsen dramatically with the focus of military action turning towards retaking Mosul, the countrys second largest city, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said today.

The city in northern Iraq was captured by militants in June 2014, a time when it had an estimated population of 2.5 million people. Iraqi Government forces have turned their attention on the city since successfully retaking Falluja in late May.

Mosul is Iraqs second largest city, and the humanitarian impact of a military offensive there is expected to be enormous. Up to 1.2 million people could be affected, UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday (August 23).

Already, in recent months, some 213,000 people have fled their homes in different parts of Iraq. This includes 48,000 people from the Mosul area, 87,000 from the Falluja region, and 78,000 from Shirqat, Qayyara and surrounds.

Mosul is Iraqs second largest city, and the humanitarian impact of an offensive is expected to be enormous."

UNHCR provides humanitarian support, including shelter, emergency relief kits and protection services, such as legal aid for displaced families. With the impending situation in Mosul, Edwards said the UN Refugee Agency is now expanding its efforts to be able to assist hundreds of thousands more people.

UNHCR is doing what it can amid enormous challenges to build more camps to accommodate people and mitigate suffering, but additional land for camps and funding is still needed, Edwards said.

He stressed that contingency plans have been drawn up to provide shelter assistance for up to 120,000 people fleeing conflict in Mosul and surrounding areas, as part of an inter-agency response to the crisis. Across the region a series of camps are in the process of being expanded or established while other shelter options are being prepared.

Altogether, UNHCR is looking to set up camps in up to six locations across northern Iraq although progress depends on both the availability of land and of funding. UNHCRs overall appeal for $584m for displaced people including Iraqi refugees in the region was only 38 per cent funded as of August 2.

Iraq is already one of the worlds biggest internal displacement situations. Some 3.4 million people have fled their homes since January 2014, among them families who have been displaced multiple times.

"Everything possible should be done to ensure the safety and dignity of people affected.

UNHCR continues to advocate, in a volatile, fast-evolving and complex conflict, for freedom of movement of civilian populations. Edwards said it is especially critical when it comes to people fleeing combat zones. Everything possible should be done to ensure the safety and dignity of people affected.

In Debaga, in Erbil Governorate, two camps were completed in July and August to house displaced Iraqis who fled villages to the east of the River Tigris. Due to the number of daily new arrivals, UNHCR is looking to construct an additional site, and is awaiting land to be made available by the local authorities.

Debaga has swollen nearly ten-fold in just a few months  from a camp housing 3,500 displaced people in March to several sites now housing more than 34,000.

North of Mosul, work is almost completed at Zelekan site, in Sheikhan district, with a capacity for 1,200 tents. Site preparations are also underway at Amalla site, in Telafar district, north-west of Mosul, for a camp with a capacity for 3,000 tents.

In Kirkuk, UNHCR is constructing a new camp in Daquq district, with capacity for 1,000 tents, and expanding additional camp capacity at Nazrawa and Laylan, which are now completely full.

Edwards said work is also underway in Salah al-Din for a 1,000 tent camp at Tal al-Seebat, while UNHCR is also assessing and identifying other sites across northern Iraq in close consultation with authorities.

Edwards said that finding available land for the new camps has become a critical issue. Land is identified and provided by the local authorities and assessed by UNHCR, other UN agencies and humanitarian partners for suitability. However, this issue is fraught with problems.

Many private landowners are unwilling to lease land; other land may be unsuitable due its topography, its proximity to the frontline or military operations and the risk of contamination by unexploded ordinance or landmines, or it may be located in areas where the arrival of displaced Iraqis could inflame ethnic, sectarian, religious or tribal tensions, he said.

Not all people likely to be displaced from Mosul will find shelter in formal tented camps, and UNHCR and its partners are also pre-positioning emergency shelter kits  poles, tools and plastic sheets  to distribute as needs arise.

UNHCR leads the protection, shelter and non-food items and camp coordination and management response. The agency currently has contingency stocks of tents and other relief items for 20,000 households country-wide.
UNICEF/UN028139/Zehbrauskas

NEW YORK, 23 August 2016  Every month, thousands of children from Central America risk being kidnapped, trafficked, raped, or killed as they make their way to the United States to seek refuge from brutal gangs and stifling poverty, and there is no sign this trend is letting up, UNICEF said in a report released today.

 In the first six months of 2014, more than 44,500 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the US border; the number dropped to almost 18,500 in the same period in 2015 and rose again this year to almost 26,000 by June.

 16,000 children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were apprehended in Mexico in the first six months of 2016.

 Data shows unaccompanied children who do not have an attorney in US immigration hearings  40 per cent  are more likely to be deported than those who do. In recent cases, 40 per cent of unrepresented children were ordered deported, as compared to 3 per cent for represented children.

These vulnerable children, many of whom are travelling without an adult, need protection every step of the way: in their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras  which have some of the worlds highest murder rates  as they cross Mexico, and when they arrive in the United States, UNICEF said in  Broken Dreams  Central American childrens dangerous journey to the United States.

It is heart-rending to think of these children  most of them teenagers, but some even younger  making the gruelling and extremely dangerous journey in search of safety and a better life, said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth. This flow of young refugees and migrants highlights the critical importance of tackling the violence and socio-economic conditions in their countries of origin.

In the first six months of 2016, almost 26,000 unaccompanied children and close to 29,700 people travelling as a family, mostly mothers and young children, were apprehended at the US border with Mexico. Thousands more never made it to the border  apprehended, kidnapped, trafficked, murdered, or fallen victim of the harsh environment along the way.



Unaccompanied children apprehended in the United States are guaranteed an immigration court hearing, but are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney. Children travelling with a parent risk swift deportation or months of detention.



Those who are deported face the risk of being attacked or killed by the gangs they sought to escape.



UNICEF said that detention of children on the basis of their migration status should be prevented. Children also should have full access to healthcare and other services and should be allowed to live with their families whenever possible.



Together with its partners, UNICEF is working to address the causes of migration by supporting the efforts of governments to improve childrens lives and address communal and criminal violence in countries of origin. UNICEF also works to strengthen services that reduce the vulnerability of children to violence, with a strong focus on education and health. It also advocates for the protection of childrens rights throughout their journey, and for governments to provide assistance to returnee children.



We must remember that children, whatever their status, are first and foremost children. We have a duty to keep them safe in a healthy and nurturing environment, Forsyth said.

# # #

The Child Alert Broken Dreams and broadcast quality video and photos are available here: http://uni.cf/2aJTg3f
After the call from the commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Apple and 32 other companies have joined a coalition on combating automated phone calls.

Headed by the Federal Communications Commission, the group of companies is called Robocall Strike Force, which held its first hearing on the subject in Washington, DC.

The government agency FCC is turning to companies like Apple, Google, AT&T and Verizon for the reason that it's on the quest for a solution to prevent telemarketers and big corporations from giving consumers a hard time with pre-recorded messages, according to The Verge.

FCC Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn stated that they are aware that there is a problem. They know how much consumers don't like these kind of calls. Also, the government agency realized that the public is frustrated, because they were prompted that after they registered for the Do Not Call list, the issue would stop. But it did not, and now is the right time to take some real action.

Commissioner Clyburn was careful to point out in her statements that the group of companies is walking a fine line between helping consumers.

The Robocalls, which is an automated telephone call that delivers a recorded message, are certainly something nearly everyone has experienced and they are very annoying. Robocalls is the reason on both pre-recorded messages from misleading phone numbers and automated text messages.

As the FCC brings together a group of companies who are normally in deep competition against each other, this move could give pleasure and satisfaction to the consumers, Tech Aeris reported.

However, in iOS, the wide-reaching black list is not featured, where known automated telephone calls are blocked by default, based on the report of Apple Insider.

Anyway, the FCC first began addressing the robocall issue from a technical end last year, when the government agency gave phone makers and telecoms the green light to implement robocall-blocking software.

Watch The Video Here:
She wanted to get an education first before doing anything else. Rooney Mara, also known as the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, studied non-profits and psychology at New York University.

Unlike her sister Kate Mara, she decided not to audition for any roles until she became 19 years old, according to Brit. This American actress made her on-screen debut with the slasher film titled Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, in 2005.

But her break out role was in Tanner Hall. But she is well known for her role as Lisbeth Salander - the title character in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It was a movie adaptation from Stieg Larsson's Millennium novel series. It was that role that earned her critical acclaim. But before she became famous, she was a normal girl that graduated from Fox Lane High School in 2003.

Unlike most college students, she went to Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia in South America. She did this for four months as part of the Traveling School. The Traveling School is an open learning environment. Afterwards, she attended George Washington University for a year. She then transferred to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She took up psychology, international social policy and non profits. Aside from being an actress, she is also a well known philanthropist.

She wanted to be like her sister. But she never wanted to act when she was a child. She said that "it never seemed that honorable to me, and I guess I was always afraid that I might fail." Her resistance drew her closer to education. The only time she delved into acting was for a high school play. She was Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. The thing is, she did not plan to audition for the role. She was signed up to audition. She dipped into acting at NYU and was able to do a couple of student films.

It was only at 19 that she started auditioning for acting gigs professionally.

Want to know some more Mara Rooney facts? Check out the video below where she spills the beans about her favorite movies and embarrassing scenes:
Inspark Science Network, an online interactive course has made a huge breakthrough in the digital education.

This innovation in education technology is inspiring students as it is allowing them to learn by challenging them to ask big questions.

With its state of the art interactive online technology, experts expressed their support over the course. The course was developed to help students in the completion of their general science education courses.

The Inspark Science Network creators Arizona State University and Smart Sparrow believes that general science education is a big factor affecting college completion. That is why they developed the course with the aim to have more students complete their college education.

Smart Sparrow, one of Inspark Science Network creators and a firm originally based in Australia has been receiving positive responses for the course. Bill Gates along with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released a $4.5 million cash grant to the SmartSparrow for taking the first step in this breakthrough in digital education, The Arizona State University Now reported.

As of this writing, there are about 50 United States universities and colleges using the "Habitable Worlds," Inspark Science Network's first course.

Habitable Worlds focuses on the study and finding another habitable planet should the earth fail to provide life to mankind.

Inspark Science Network is expected to grow into 100 United States universities and college users by 2017.

Dror Ben-Naim of the University of NSW in Australia was the one who lead the Ph.D. research that resulted in the development of this program that uses interactive online learning technology.

The Deakin University of Australia is now on its way to trying this Bill Gates-backed program. This year they are planning to introduce the Habitable Worlds followed by their 2017 use of the "BioBeyond," a course using the big question, "Are we alone in the universe?"

Beverley Oliver, deputy vice-chancellor for education at Deakin University describes the Inspark Science Network as a leap in the digital education, The Financial Review reported.

Watch this video about Bill Gates' hope for education.


The university of Southern California welcomes 400 first generation students as the school year opens.

This is not the first time that USC is opening the door for students who are the first ones in the family to attend a private college.

On the move-in day program, Michael Quick, the university provost welcomed the first generation students with a warm smile and an ice breaking remark.

Quick spoke in the midst of the mixed crowd of students from well-off families and first generation ones. He cited some very important life skills that they are expecting so see among their graduates. He named them as caring for others, dealing with failure, self-motivation and contributing something for the improvement of the society.

The provost emphasized on his statement that first generation students are lucky enough to have all those mentioned qualifications even at the age of five.

It has not been hard for the provost to reach out to these students for being a son of a construction worker, he himself is also the first one in his family to enter and graduate a private university.

Quick has been doing this job every school opening as he believes that it is necessary to break the gap between the rich kids and the first private university goers in the family. He also sees the need to show these first generation students that there are many others like them who desire to inspire people back home.

20 percent of this year's undergraduate students including the student body president are first generations. Most of them were given the privilege to enter USC through financial aid, The Los Angeles Times reported.

First generation students are not solely those who are not capable of spending on education. The first generation is a way to identify class diversity. They can also be students who belong to ethnicity whose parents did not have any college experience, The New York Times reported.

Watch this short video introducing some of the first generations students at the University of Southern California.
"America's Next Top Model" host Tyra Banks has been confirmed to teach an MBA class at Stanford University next year. She will be a guest lecturer for the prestigious institution on personal branding for two weeks.

Vogue reported that the subject is titled "Project You: Building and Extending Your Personal Brand." The supermodel-entrepreneur is slated to take up her new role in May 2017.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Tyra Banks will teach about 25 graduate students on how to utilize all types of media, both old and new, to display their strengths. The chief executive of TYRA Beauty will also share tips on how to handle press exposure as a leader in business.

The first assignment of Tyra Banks' Stanford University MBA class has also been revealed. Students are asked to create a short video that introduces themselves as well as the vision for a brand.

"If I see somebody not paying attention, I'm gonna call on them," Banks said about her teaching style. In addition, she aims to keep the class engaging and fun because she wants college students off their phones while she is speaking, unless they want to tweet something that she said.

Other celebrities have also taught at some of the country's top business schools. Oprah Winfrey taught a class, entitled "Dynamics of Leadership," at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Co-instructor Allison Kluger, a management professor at Stanford, approached Tyra Banks after she saw the 42-year-old supermodel-entrepreneur speak at a recent event for the Californian university, where Banks talked about how she transitioned from modeling to entrepreneurship. Kluger is a former producer for "The View" and "Good Morning America."

"I was mesmerized," Ms. Kluger said. "She's a natural."

In the next few months, Kluger and Banks will work together to develop the details for the course. It will be available for registration on a first-come, first-served basis.
August 23 2016

Simpson & Brown Architects have prepared detailed proposals for the upgrade of Charles Rennie Mackintoshs Willow Tearooms at Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, to form an adjoining visitor centre This will be facilitated by the construction of a double height rear extension housing a shop, exhibition space and dining room for the A listed cafe with a roof terrace, auditorium, conference suite and billiard room also on the cards.In addition to contemporary additions Simpson & Brown will also ensure Mackintoshs period tea rooms are made wind and watertight whilst integrating modern amenities such as lifts.The 7m intervention has been spurred by the fast approaching 150th anniversary of Mackintoshs birth in 2018, handing a readymade deadline to the Willow Tea Rooms Trust.Simpson & Browns competition winning scheme is being assisted by Studioarc, Rybka, David Narro Associates, Alliance CDM, Building Learning and People Friendly Design.
Financial burden of health care treatment affects patients financial well-being, quality of life and access to care. Dr. Zafars message included preventing financial toxicity, assessing financial toxicity, and reducing financial toxicity. To prevent we should focus on high value care.Discussing goals of care is critical in assessing this and is important for finance to come in this discussion. Value of care is directly related to the benefit and the cost. He describes three possible levels of intervention: policy, provider and patients. He gave an insightful discussion on how we can intervene now to affect our patients today as well as affect long term goals. He applauded the SWOG S1417 trial that includes financial toxicity via the COST-PROM questionnaire, currently being used in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. It is a simple instrument that is easily used and will provide important variables in assessing results and provides excellent patient centered outcome measure. It should be implemented in more trials and is critical in assessing value benefit.Dr. Zafar targeted each manufacturer & industry, government, insurer, and health system as areas of potential change. He states that in recent health care policy, the U.S. the government is not allowed to negotiate drug acquisition price with pharmaceutical companies and that this is unique to the United States. This contrasts other non US-based health care systems that allow for negotiation. He believes that this should be an avenue in which we in the US try to reduce drug prices.He further describes how insurers, who are the payers, implement a shot-gun approach to providing specific cost savings which is not patient orientated. Often the patient does not benefit from lower drug costs that the payer receives. Policy changes regarding specific benefits can be included in personalized plans that may increase coverage to some patients and flexibility can be included. He describes that through more efficient health care systems, costs can be cut and toxicity burden can be reduced. Furthermore, the provider should have a role in being cost considerate through the frequency and cost of interventions, visits and investigations. The provider should be able to make compromise with the patient regarding drugs and be open in discussing the cost, risks and benefits of each. And lastly, for financial toxicity prevention, he empowered the patient to get educated and shop around for insurance coverage, and allow the health care providers to help reduce the highly variable costs.In Dr. Zafars discussion on reducing financial toxicity he looks at patient communication. In a study with 298 patients, 52% of the patient wanted to discuss costs and 19% actually had discussion. Recognizing that a barrier to this discussion is patient fear where they fear that the discussion will result in them receiving a lesser quality of care. When they looked at the 19% of patients who had a discussion with the physician about drug costs, 57% of the time prices were reduced. Costs were reduced by simple changes including decreased frequency of visits, using different tests, and or patients being switched to less expensive medications, as well as providing involvement of financial support, and further advocacy in dealing with the patients insurance companies.Presented By S. Yousuf Zafar, MD, MHS - Duke Cancer Institute.Written by:Michael J Metcalfe, MD. Fellow of Urologic Oncology Urology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston TX



Ashish M. Kamat, MD, MBBS, FACS

President, International Bladder Cancer Network

Chair, Society of Immunotherapy for Cancer (SITC), BCTF

Director of Urologic Oncology Fellowship

Professor of Urology

Attending Surgeon, Division of Surgery

The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center




























FCAC Cancels Tuesday Meeting

The University of Wyomings Financial Crisis Advisory Committee has canceled its scheduled meeting Tuesday, Aug. 23.

The next meeting is noon-2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, in Room 506 of Coe Library.

Starting Monday, Aug. 29, the FCAC will no longer meet on Tuesdays for half of its twice-weekly sessions. Instead, the committee will meet on Mondays from 1-3 p.m., in addition to its Friday meetings from noon-2 p.m.

Most meetings take place in Room 506 of Coe Library, although a handful are scheduled in the Wyoming Union. For the complete schedule of FCAC meetings, locations, minutes and agendas, go online to www.uwyo.edu/president/budget_planning/fcac/.
Audiologist Dr. Erica Bush is thoughtful and naturally elegant  and then theres her blunt language. She makes it clear that she grew up in abject poverty and was likely either born deaf in her left ear or lost her hearing prior to age five due to illness and neglect.



Dr. Bush was first diagnosed with hearing loss at age five during a pre-kindergarten hearing screening at her public school. As a little girl in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Bush grew up with Christian parents who believed in the power of prayer.



My mother said, Ive prayed for you, and God says you can hear Dr. Bush says. Without any family emotional support, no financial support (no health insurance), no audiologists or knowledgeable hearing healthcare workers in this remote area of the Poconos, as well as the neglect in the school system, she received zero help until she was in the 4th grade when public laws were updated.



Often because of the way alphabetical seating was arranged, I was seated with my good ear to the wall, so I couldnt hear the teachers well or participate in any social conversations near me on a good day. On days where I was sick with frequent ear infections in my good ear, along with my tinnitus, I couldnt hear anything.

But now, hearing your story, I respect you even more.

She began excelling academically  working with a very compassionate, skilled hearing itinerant for which she will forever be grateful. But at the same time, All I wanted was to be was normal, she says. She never told classmates or any close friends she had hearing problems until late high school.With a major in Communications Sciences and Disorders and a Bachelors of Science degree from Penn State, Dr. Bush then continued on to study Audiology at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, earning her doctorate degree in Audiology.She completed a one-year residency at VA New York Harbor Health Care System (VANYHHS) and returned with her husband to VANYHHS four years ago.Dr. Bush started the BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid implant) program at VANYHHS a little over two years ago, after deciding to receive her own implant at New York University.

I want my Veterans to know all their options. I want to make sure they are educated and they know if they are a hearing aid candidate, a BAHA or a traditional cochlear implant candidate, she says. My implant has changed my life for the better.



The educational field and healthcare field should be reminded that it is our job to continue to learn and recognize we are not experts at everything. Team work is huge. Education and continuing education is huge. If you dont know the answer, figure it out or ask someone for help.



I do still believe in the power of prayer, as Gods strength has led me thus far, and specifically here to help myself and to help others.



As Dr. Bush interacts with a hearing implant patient, its clear that her own experience with hearing loss and hearing devices creates a bond of trust.



This one is heavier, this one doesnt give you that whistling feedback, she explains to patient Michael Fuller, an Army Veteran and accomplished N.Y. State professional in Community Services in Staten Island.



Fuller is straightforward in expressing his appreciation of Dr. Bush. I always respected you, but now hearing your story, I respect you even more. he says.



Dr. Bush says, The message I want to convey to both patients and clinicians is that education is power. No matter what you are or your background, everyone needs help. I am here to help, that is my gift to you. Pay it forward. Many people have helped me, and I wish to pay it forward.



We cant control ignorance by others, nor can we change the past. We must do the best with the hand we are dealt and move forward. We control our own destiny. We as healthcare workers can make a positive change.



Read a more detailed version of her story here.
photos by TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Josefina Ojeda Hernandez hugs her son Jose Arellano after arriving in Oxnard for the Mineros de Plata event on Sunday. The Migrant Club of Uriangato and other groups collaborated with the U.S. government to obtain special permits for senior citizens to visit family members they haven't seen in more than 10 years.

SHARE Family members cheer as they wait in anticipation for their relatives to arrive during the Mineros de Plata event in Oxnard on Sunday. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Consul de Mexico Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez speaks to family members during the Mineros de Plata event in Oxnard on Sunday afternoon. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Raul Badajoz hugs his mother Hermelinda Ortiz Aviles after her arrival in Oxnard on Sunday. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Miguel Guzman waves a Mexican flag as a van carrying relatives arrives in Oxnard during the Mineros de Plata event on Sunday.

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, Special to The Star

For the past 10 years, Beatriz Gutierrez couldn't hug her parents or talk to them in person.

Gutierrez, 30, left her home state of Guanajuato, Mexico, for California a decade ago. Since then she's had two children now ages 8 and 4, and watched multiple birthdays and Christmases come and go. Although the family members talked to each other over the phone or Internet each day, Gutierrez' immigration status and difficulty obtaining travel visas for her parents made it impossible for them to visit one another.

All that changed Sunday when three van loads of elderly visitors from Guanajuato pulled into a private back yard in Oxnard amid music, tissues and fanfare. The 27 people were participants in a new program organized by area migrant groups with the help of Mexican and U.S. authorities. The goal is to temporarily reunite parents or grandparents from Guanajuato with relatives living in the United States who haven't seen each other in a decade or more.

Among the gray and white heads arriving Sunday were Gutierrez' parents, Maria Trinidad Moreno, 60, and Antonio Gutierrez Aguilar, 62.

"When I found out they were coming, tears were the first thing that came out," Beatriz said in Spanish as she waited excitedly for her parents' arrival, alongside her husband, two children and other families eager to see their loved ones. "Sometimes I felt like I'd never see them again. My children didn't even believe they had a grandma and grandpa."

The program, Mineros de Plata, is the brainchild of the Oxnard-based Migrant Club of Uriangato, a service organization made up of transplants from the municipality of Uriangato in Guanajuato state. The club teamed up with another migrant group, Gente Bonita de Purisima, which represents local migrants from the Guanajuato municipality of Purisima del Rincon. Together  with help from the Mexican consulate in Oxnard, municipal and state authorities in Mexico and the U.S. government  the clubs worked for five years to make the program a reality, said Martin Martinez, president of the Migrant Club of Uriangato.

Martinez said the club realized there are many migrants from Uriangato and Purisima who live in and around Ventura County who cannot travel home and see their relatives. U.S. tourist visa requirements for Mexicans also make it difficult for those relatives to visit their family members in the United States, he explained.

Participants in Mineros de Plata had to meet rigorous requirements to obtain travel visas, and they will stay in the United States with their families for one month, he said.

"We fought; we tried many ways to figure out how we could do this," Martinez said, himself bursting with excitement as he prepared to greet the visitors Sunday. "This is a dream come true."

Mineros de Plata means "silver miners," in recognition of Guanajuato's silver mining history. It's the first program to bring Mexicans from Guanajuato to visit relatives in the United States, said Jonathan Alvarez, a representative from the Mexican Consulate in Oxnard. Of approximately 290,000 Mexicans living in Ventura County, an estimated 20,000 are from Guanajuato, he said.

Martinez said the clubs had hoped to bring more than 100 people into the United States but were only able to obtain visas for up to 30. He said he hopes more relatives from Guanajuato will be able to visit in the future. The clubs paid for the visitors' travel expenses through fundraising, he said.

Family members waiting for their loved ones included people from Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Lompoc and as far away as Nevada.

Ricardo Delgado, 48, traveled from Reno, Nevada, to be reunited with his 70-year-old mom. The burly man fought back emotion as he talked about how he hadn't seen his mother for 11 years.

"It's very hard when you're on your own. It's what one has to do for economic reasons so your family can live well," he explained. "(Seeing my mom) is an excitement you can't describe I'm so grateful to all these people who have made it possible."
ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Joe Cocke, of North American Numbering Plan Administration, and regulatory analyst Joanne Leung, of the California Public Utilities Commission, explain a plan to add a new area code to the 805.

SHARE ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Area code maps showing boundaries and different scenarios were on display during Monday's California Public Utilities Commission hearing in Oxnard. ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Sylvia Munoz Schnopp, a Port Hueneme City Council member, shares concerns about the effect a second area code could have on people with family outside the United States during a California Public Utilities Commission hearing in Oxnard on Monday. ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Brenda Birdwell, a field services manager for the Braille Institute, expresses concerns on how a new area code could affect vision-impaired people during a California Public Utilities Commission hearing in Oxnard on Monday.

By Tom Kisken of the Ventura County Star

Plans to add a new area code to the 805 mean Paul Strauss may one day have to dial 11 digits to call someone who lives next door.

That seems like a step backward to the Camarillo resident who spoke Monday at an Oxnard public hearing on a proposal that could be implemented in 2018.

"It's like we're catering to the technology instead of the technology catering to the individual," said Strauss, who is 62. " It's my generation that's going to have the hardest time with this."

The hearing focused on the dwindling prefixes available in the three-plus county region that currently uses an 805 area code that dates back to 1957.

Only 40 of 792 prefixes are left and they are expected to run out by the middle of 2018. That means a change in area code is unavoidable, said Joe Cocke, of the North American Numbering Plan Administration, which administers phone numbers in 20 countries, including the United States.

In the plan called an overlay and proposed by the telecommunications industry, people who currently use 805 would keep it. People who move to the region beginning in mid-2018 or who want to add lines could be assigned a new, still unknown area code.

A final decision from the California Public Utilities Commission, which organized Monday's hearing, is likely to come next year and be implemented before the prefixes are dialed out.

But the overlay means people would have to dial 10 digits with every phone call. On land lines, people would also have to dial a 1. The cost of the call would not be affected.

The extra dialing is a concern for some.

"The seven (digits) is bad enough," said Pat Brown, 75, of Oxnard, relating decades of telephone experience that date back to the days when operators connected local calls. "This overlay is going to be horrendous."

Brown suggested a better alternative that involves splitting off part of the 805 and assigning it a new area code.

But splitting an area code into two has become almost obsolete. The last split nationwide was nine years ago with California's most recent split coming 12 years ago.

In addition to technical problems that could temporarily affect text messages, a split means people have to change their phone numbers. That can carry a financial punch for some, said Cocke.

"It hurts a business if they have to change their phone number," he said.

Linda Calderon, 75, of Oxnard, said she supports the overlay in part because she does not want to change her phone number or her business cards.

Ten-digit dialing is routine for cellphone users, noted Jerome Candelaria, of the California Cable and Telecommunications Association.

"It appears that having to change the area code is more disruptive than having to dial the digits," he said.

Matt Dorros, of Simi Valley, questioned whether any change was needed. He said phone companies hoard prefixes that, if used properly, could extend the life of the current 805 indefinitely.

"I have counted an unbelievable number of ghost prefixes in the 805," he said, referring to numbers allegedly not assigned to anyone.

Cocke said a system of checks and balances is aimed at preventing any hoarding. He said phone and cable companies have to prove a legitimate need for new prefixes.

He said many of the so-called ghost prefixes are likely used for machine-to-machine communication, including Wi-Fi connections, faxes, medical devices and alarm systems.

Others at the public hearing asked about language barriers in making sure the county's Mixteco population is aware of the changes coming in 2018. Brenda Birdwell, of the Braille Institute, asked officials to consider the importance of phones to people without sight.

"It is their lifeline to the community," she said.

A public hearing on the area code was also held in Santa Barbara Monday night with a session scheduled for Tuesday morning in San Luis Obispo.

The next step will be the formal application for an area code before the public utilities commission. That could happen later this year with a decision by the commission possible by the middle of next year.

For more information on submitting opinions or concerns about the planned changes, go to http://bit.ly/2bANljm.
STAR FILE PHOTO Over 600 students from California Lutheran University converged on the Ventura River bottom to chop, clean up and remove arundo in 2015. The non-native plant grows 9 to 30 feet tall and in clumps. The student volunteers are part of "You Got Served," which CLU started in 2008 to give incoming students an introduction to service and justice.

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By Arlene Martinez, amartinez@vcstar.com

More than 500 students will head to the Ventura River next week to remove an invasive, nonnative plant that threatens the livelihood of local flora and consumes an inordinate amount of water.

The California Lutheran University students, working with the city of Ventura, are ripping out the arundo as part of their year-starting service project, "You Got Served."

Since 2008, when the school began the program, incoming freshmen have removed tons of arundo, trash and iceplant from the Santa Clara and Ventura river bottoms and the Ventura Harbor Wetlands Ecological Reserve. They also have worked to improve city parks, a historic site and a community center.

"The partnership has allowed all the incoming students to work together on a single project that introduces them to Cal Lutheran's commitment to service and justice and connects them with the local community in a meaningful way," a release from the city notes.

The nonprofit land trust Ventura Hillsides Conservancy owns the project area, which is between the Pacific Ocean and the Main Street bridge.

The students will work from 1-3:30 p.m. Aug. 29.
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Donald Trump's "pivot," desperately hoped for by sane Republicans, was over before it began. He couldn't pretend to be inclusive and statesmanlike for two days in a row if his life depended on it.

Anyone who doubts this should only consider Trump's idea of an appeal to African-American voters: "What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?"

That's right, black Americans. The Republican candidate for president says you live Hobbesian lives of misery and despair, with no options, no prospects, no joy, no hope. Oh, and he wants your vote.

For the record, sigh, let me take a minute to unpack the stunning ignorance in that ostensible pitch for African-American votes, which Trump made Friday before a virtually all-white audience in Michigan. The black poverty rate is about 27 percent. That's far too high  the poverty rate for whites is about 10 percent  but the fact is that most African-Americans lead comfortable middle-class lives.

The black unemployment rate is about 9 percent  again, too high but nothing like the impression Trump seeks to give. And his claim of 58 percent black youth joblessness is an out-and-out lie. The only way he can arrive at that figure is to include all young people between 16 and 24, including those who are attending high school. If you calculated white youth unemployment that same way, it would be nearly 50 percent. But it's ridiculous to count as unemployed a bunch of kids who, you know, have to do their chemistry homework.

Does Trump have the faintest clue what black America is really like? From the evidence, no. But I can't believe he actually thinks he has a chance of winning significant African-American support, given the way he has insulted President Obama, dismissed the issue of police violence and acquiesced in support from the white-supremacist fringe. Trump has registered as low as 1 percent or 2 percent among black voters in national polls  and his remarks last week probably cost him support.

Instead, he must have been seeking to appeal to white voters who can't bring themselves to vote for him because of the racist tone of his campaign. Message: I care about African-Americans, even if it's pretty obvious that I don't know very many.

Hey, at least it worked with Kellyanne Conway, Trump's new campaign manager. "I'm white," she said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "I was very moved by his comment."

The desire to convince whites he is not a flaming bigot may also be why one of the pillars of Trump's campaign  the promise to round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants  has suddenly gone wobbly.

If elected, Trump could never actually carry out such a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing. But antipathy toward Latinos who are "flooding" across the border, allegedly to take Americans' jobs and commit horrible crimes, is a central tenet of Trumpism. I thought Trump would have to stick with this paranoid revenge fantasy throughout the campaign  until Conway said Sunday that the final policy on forced deportation is "to be determined."

The previous day, in a meeting with a group of Hispanic advisers, Trump reportedly said he could consider a procedure in which at least some undocumented men and women could obtain legal status without first going back to their home countries. But Monday, Trump said "I'm not flip-flopping" on immigration  yet declined to give any specifics on what his position now is.

Poor Conway had better get used to explaining what her candidate must have meant as opposed to what he actually said. She also should get accustomed to the fact that Trump will frequently make her into a liar. "He doesn't hurl personal insults," she said Sunday  but then Trump took to Twitter. Within hours, he had slung a personal insult at a regular guest on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" (not me). And Monday morning, he lobbed even nastier personal insults at the show's co-hosts. Whatever, Donald.

Trump's pivot turned out to be a 360-degree pirouette: Back into the mud, where he feels most at home.

I've said it before: Trump is not going to change. No matter how many times he reshuffles his campaign, he is who he is. It's delusional to pretend otherwise.

Eugene Robinson's email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com. He writes for The Washington Post Writers Group.
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The following editorial appears on Bloomberg View:

A Donald Trump victory in November would presumably scuttle hope of soon fixing America's broken immigration system. But Hillary Clinton has vowed to push for comprehensive reform in the first 100 days of her administration, should she prevail. It's not too early to start planning.

Sen. Charles Schumer, of New York, who is likely to be the next Democratic leader in the Senate, has predicted that immigration reform will pass in 2017. Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, a Republican, has promised to revive the comprehensive reform that passed the Senate in 2013.

With Republican leaders once again eager to put the issue behind them, could Congress finally break the logjam next year?

This, of course, is the same logic that predicted comprehensive reform would follow in the wake of Mitt Romney's 2012 defeat. Immigration restrictionists in the House turned that logic upside down. The only legislation to make it out of the House in 2013 made a mockery of reform, explicitly rejecting the bipartisan measures passed by the Senate.

The United States cannot afford to miss its next opportunity. America's unrepaired immigration system entails high costs not only for families caught in the stalled gears, but for myriad businesses and the economy as a whole.

Technology companies in particular are on a crusade to increase the number of H-1B visas for highly skilled workers and to create a special visa for entrepreneurs. Likewise, activists have sought to curtail abuses of the current system. Neither group can be content with the flawed status quo.

The agriculture industry may be in an even tighter bind. In 2010, the year Arizona adopted its landmark law cracking down on immigrants, labor shortages cost American farms $300 million, according to the American Farm Bureau.

While there is no cap on H-2A agricultural visas, the process of obtaining temporary foreign workers under the program is costly, cumbersome and subject to manipulation by recruiting agents who sometimes cheat the workers they place in jobs.

Like the system for high-tech visas, the one for manual farm labor serves neither employers nor workers well.

An effective, market-based alternative would not only aid American agriculture but probably reduce the flow of illegal immigration, by making legal employment the preferable option.

It's impossible to support an innovative American economy without supporting an overhaul of the nation's antiquated and dysfunctional immigration laws. With each day of political stasis, the costs to the American economy rise.

The 2013 Senate bill stood to increase U.S. gross domestic product by 3.3 percent after 10 years, or about $700 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

There is no shortage of ideas on how to fix the immigration system. The basics of any political compromise will include new enforcement mechanisms, including mandatory use by employers of the E-Verify system, which checks work applicants against a federal database to determine eligibility; a path to legalization or citizenship for longtime resident undocumented immigrants; and an overhaul of key visa classifications, including those for tech workers and farm workers, to make sure American industries can operate at peak productivity.

The problems have festered too long. A final push, powerful enough to overcome political obstacles must begin in November.
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Re: David W. Rowlands letter Aug. 20, Fillmore and pot:

The city of Fillmore has a complete ban on medical marijuana in any way, shape or form and is very concerned about the passage of Proposition 64 and the negative impact it would bring. David, who is Fillmores city manager, says Fillmore is the Best Last Small Town, so I ask you, why doesnt this Best Last Small Town ban fireworks sales?

Fillmore is the only city in Ventura County still selling fireworks to its citizens and neighboring communities. Pot or fireworks  which is more dangerous to Ventura County residents?

This Best Last Small Town could very well go up in smoke. Fireworks sales have a negative impact on our community  injuries, debris, noise pollution and severely scaring pets. California has burst into flames this past month. Why play with a threat in this severe drought? Your city would make a lot more money  and help a lot more people suffering and in pain  selling medical marijuana than it does selling fireworks once a year. Think about it.

Carol Fergeson, Ventura


Mister 400 Degreez, Juvenile turned up the heat at LAX Nightclub inside Luxor Hotel and Casino on Thursday, Aug. 18 as the latest headliner in the venues Throwback Thursday series (Photo credit: Powers Imagery).

Photo credit: Powers Imagery.

The New Orleans-based Dirty South rapper delivered a six-song superset of hits to a full house, with his son, Young Juve, providing backup. The artist and longtime manager Drae Jackson were presented with a cake following the performance to commemorate eleven years of collaborating.

Photo credit: Powers Imagery.

Juvenile was at the forefront of the 90s bounce dance craze that emerged from New Orleans. With hits including Back That Thang Up and Ha, he released his No. 1 hit single Slow Motion in 2004. He is expected to debut his upcoming full-length album, 800 Degreez, later this year.

Photo credit: Powers Imagery.

On Thursday, Sept. 1, fellow New Orleanian Mystikal will headline the nightclubs Throwback Thursday series. Mystikal skyrocketed on the charts in the summer of 1999 with the No. 1 single Danger (Been So Long). He has since released hits including I Smell Smoke, If It Aint Live, It Aint Me and Bouncin Back, which was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2003.

Every Thursday at LAX Nightclub, DJs spin favorite hits from the 80s and 90s, with several memorable Throwback performers hosting select nights throughout the year.


Billy Idol brings his explosive rock show back to House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Billy Idol: Forever features Idol, his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens, and the rest of Idols band at the top of their game, performing songs from throughout Idols extensive catalog (Photo:  Erik Kabik /www.ErikKabik.com).

WHEN:

2016 performance dates:

Aug. 31

Sept. 2, 3, 7, 9-10

Oct. 12, 14-15, 19, 21-22

TICKETS:

Tickets for Billy Idol: Forever start at $79.50, plus applicable fees and go on sale Friday, March 11 at 10 a.m. Tickets are available by visiting HouseofBlues.com/BillyIdol, MandalayBay.com, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. For additional information, visit BillyIdol.net.

WHAT:

Carlos Santana continues his residency, An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live, at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. The venue has been home to Santanas live concert since 2012.

WHEN:

2016 performance dates:

Sept. 14, 16-18, 21, 23-25

Nov. 2, 4-6, 9, 11-13

2017 performance dates:

Jan. 25, 27-29

Feb. 1-4

TICKETS:

Tickets for An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live start at $99.50, plus applicable fees and are on sale now. Tickets are available by visiting House of Blues.com/Santana, MandalayBay.com, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. For additional information, visit santana.com.
Nguyen Thuy Duong Banking and FSO leader, E&Y Vietnam

People wonder whether this quiet implies a negative turn for the market or is simply a pause to gather momentum to race ahead once again? There was a series of M&A agreements among banks and financial institutions in previous years, yet there has been not a single deal so far this year. The market is quiet, without even the usual odd piece of information or flitting rumour about upcoming deals. We can view this as a period when the market is settling into shape after a wave of M&As. The banking and finance sector is concentrating on restructuring so as to consolidate newfound M&A synergies.

For banks and corporations that are new to the M&A scene, this is the time to assess deals conducted, draw conclusions, and digest the accumulated experience and resources for the next wave of transactions.

The above picture provides a plausible answer for the calm in transactions and indicates an evolutionary cycle for the market. According to expectations, this cycle will be followed by a cyclical boom, reinvigorating M&A activities. Grounds for robust M&A growth in the banking and financial market stem from objective factors, such as the foreseeable opening of the market as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) loosen regulations on cross-ownership, or subjective factors like financial institutions intrinsic need to sharpen their competitive edge.



M&A activities are expected to pick up in the second half of the year

Bank divestment pressure brings activity

Circular 36, intended to reduce cross-ownership ratios among banks, prescribes that a credit institution is allowed to purchase and hold a maximum of 5 per cent voting equity in another credit institution. Accordingly, shareholders with more than 5 per cent will have to make a corrective divestment to bring their assets in line.

Despite several successful rounds of divestments and acquisitions, there are a number of credit institutions holding more than 5 per cent equity in other banks or finance companies. For example, Vietcombank currently holds a 7 per cent stake in Military Bank, 5.07 per cent in Orient Commercial Bank, and more than 8 per cent in Saigon Commercial Bank. Vietinbank also has a 10.4 per cent stake in Saigon Bank for Industry and Trade, while An Binh Bank owns 8.4 per cent of EVN Finance Company.

Given the strict provisions of Circular 36, certain banks are expected to make divestments in the near future, which points to heightened market activity in the trading of banking shares.

Zero dong bank restructuring

In 2015, SBV purchased Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB), Global Petro Bank (GPBank) and OceanBank at zero dong. Currently, these three banks have executives in their management boards approved by Vietinbank and Vietcombank, as directed by SBV. The short-term goal is to restructure these banks to stabilise and streamline their operations. Thereafter, SBV will determine their future, subject to the degree of success of the restructuring process.

Nevertheless, given foreign financial institutions increasing demand to penetrate the Vietnamese financial market in the context of a set number of credit institutions, zero dong acquisitions can be seen as a highly coveted entrance ticket.

Previously, a foreign bank expressed interest in restructuring GPBank by purchasing its entire stake. This is also a precedent in the market that denotes a very high possibility of zero dong bank acquisition. The key issue here is that the operating licence attached to such an acquisition is attractive enough for foreign banks, but a takeover in this manner cannot guarantee to solve the banks issues.

Small banks need mergers to stay afloat

According to statistics, the current banking system includes up to 12 banks that have chartered capital below VND4 trillion ($179.4 million). This is fairly modest as capital goes, especially in the context of fierce competition. Funds are needed to promote lending activities, finance trade, as well as invest in business infrastructure facilities, and information technology systems.

In the foreseeable future, small and medium banks will have to navigate their ways to sustainable growth as competition grows ever more ruthless. When it is not possible to raise funds from existing shareholders, a bank is forced to look for an adequate partner to merge with, so as to maintain a competitive edge. This trend has previously been forecast and is expected to continue.

Foreign alliances to take over the consumer finance sector

The current face of the consumer finance industry is being rapidly reshaped by entrants and newcomers. 2014 and 2015 witnessed a number of deals between banks and finance companies. Examples include Maritime Bank acquiring Vinatex Finance Company, Techcombank acquiring Chemical Finance Company, Military Bank acquiring Song Da Finance Company, and Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) acquiring VinaconexViettel Finance Company.

Following the development trend of the consumer finance market, banks may imitate HDBank by entering joint ventures with foreign financial institutions that possess excellent experience in the field.

Leveraging foreign consumer finance experience and management competency is a wise step, as domestic credit institutions do not have the adequate capacity to operate in the sophisticated consumer finance segment. In the near future, numerous M&A deals may take place to establish joint venture finance companies.

AEC brings foreign giants to the yard

The AEC took effect from December 31, 2015, and saw member countries pledge to open all service sectors, including financial services, such as banking, insurance, and securities, and allow a minimum 70 per cent foreign ownership in local service companies. Given this pressure, stakeholders rightfully wonder about the chances of domestic banks going on sale.

As mentioned above, Vietnam has up to 12 banks with chartered capital below VND4 trillion ($179.4 million). These banks competitiveness will be impaired significantly when faced with regional rivals with deep pockets. For a bank to survive and grow sustainably in the market, it may opt for a capital hike, merger, or to redefine its development direction. If a bank fails to carry out any of these, it will be highly exposed to acquisitions. Specifically, the Vietnamese banking and financial market is opening up at full throttle, luring capital-rich foreign financial institutions to seek entry. As the number of credit institutions is not likely to increase under SBVs policies, small and medium sized local banks will face increasing acquisition pressure from foreign banks.

Although M&A activities in the banking and financial market found a relative calm in the first half of 2016, the second half promises more prominent transactions.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event on August 20, 2016 in Fredericksburg, Virginia AFP/Molly Riley

The Internet is awash with conspiracy theories claiming that she may have a brain tumor, Parkinson's or dementia, or complaining that she has "seizure-like facial expressions" or allegedly twitches.

Trump, who at 70 is 16 months older than his Democratic adversary, his spokespeople and surrogates have used innuendo and fabrication to peddle their theories that she is not physically or mentally fit.

"#WheresHillary? Sleeping!!!!!" he tweeted over the weekend.

Last week, he told voters in Iowa that Clinton was "not strong enough to be president."

On another occasion, he maintained that she "importantly also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS, and all of the many adversaries we face."

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump supporter, stepped up the attack on Monday, telling Fox News that Clinton was "tired" and "looked sick." Over the weekend, he came under fire for telling viewers to google Clinton's health.

"Go online and put down 'Hillary Clinton illness,' take a look at the videos for yourself," he said on Fox News.

Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who is not a doctor, last week diagnosed Clinton with dysphasia, a disorder that impairs speech and comprehension, and pushed conspiracy theories about her health promoted by some conservatives.

Team Clinton vehemently denies any health concerns, and released a letter from her doctor in July 2015 giving her an "excellent" bill of health.

But the root of the conspiracy theories lies in 2012, when Clinton was nearing the end of her stint as secretary of state and a stomach virus and dehydration prompted her to faint, causing what her doctor said was a concussion.

They said they found a blood clot on the brain and Clinton complained of double vision. She appeared in spectacles featuring a prism when testifying before Congress on Benghazi in January 2013.

But she was later given the all-clear. Her test results were normal, and her cancer screening evaluations all negative, said a letter released by her physician Lisa Bardack last year.

GENDER OVERTONES

Health is a legitimate subject of debate in presidential elections -- Americans want to know that the person they are going to elect to one of the toughest jobs in the planet is up to the task both mentally and physically.

But history is also peppered with coverups. The public had no idea John F. Kennedy had Addison's disease. The severity of Woodrow Wilson's stroke was concealed in 1919, as were concerns about Franklin D. Roosevelt's health before his fourth re-election -- just months before he died in 1945.

Ironically enough, Trump would be the oldest person ever elected US president if he wins. Clinton would be the second oldest after Ronald Reagan.

In 2008, then aged 71, Republican nominee and cancer survivor John McCain released more than 1,500 pages of medical history in a bid to lay to rest suggestions that he was either too old or too unhealthy to serve as president.

Jeanne Zaino, professor of political science at Iona College in New York, says Clinton may follow suit in releasing more medical records or have her doctor continue to reiterate her good health.

"I'm not sure it's going to hurt her but it does allow them (the Trump campaign) to come up with a counter to his tax issue," she told AFP.

What is clear is that running for president is grueling. Journalists trailing in Clinton's wake endure punishing schedules and little sleep.

The 68-year-old grandmother of two looks remarkably fresh faced and distinctly more robust than her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who underwent heart bypass surgery in 2004.

If Trump overplays the health card, it could backfire among women voters, who already have a very low opinion of the Republican nominee.

"Stamina, the word he keeps using, has gender overtones," Zaino said.

"To act as if this is a weak, frail woman who doesn't have the ability, the evidence suggests otherwise, and the same thing with him," she said.

"If you look objectively, it's hard to make the case that either one of them are suffering from lack of stamina."
The group has yet to disclose official information about the capacity of the steel manufacturing project. Previously, the board of directors expected the steel plant to have an annual output of six million tonnes.

Hoa Sen Group will hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting on September 6 to seek shareholders approval to take over the project.

Constructing the steel complex will help Hoa Sen to overtake Hoa Phat Group as the largest Vietnamese steel producer, following only Taiwanese Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co., Ltd., which has an annual capacity of 7.5 million of tonnes in the first phase.

On August 2, the group established five enterprises with the total investment capital of VND250 billion ($11.23 million) to support the implementation of the steel project.

Accordingly, Hoa Sen registered 26 business sectors for these five enterprises, including manufacturing iron, steel, cement, and wood products, and exploiting wood, ore, chemicals, among others.

In response to concerns about the heightened risks of environmental pollution in case the steel complex comes into operation, Truong Thi Lieu, deputy director of the Ninh Thuan Industrial Zones Management Authority (NITHIZA), said that if the project is licensed to implement, the investor will have to conduct an environmental impact assessment report and the NITHIZA will co-operation with the provincial authorities to monitor the investors implementation of environmental protection regulations. However, it is still the case of wait and see whether the investor would comply with environmental protection regulations.

Back in September 2008, the Ca Na IP-based steel complex with the annual production capacity of 14 million tonnes was licensed by a joint venture of state-owned Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) and Lion Group from Malaysia.

The joint venture registered $9.8 billion in the total investment capital for this complex, which became the largest foreign-invested project licensed that year. The construction started two months after its investment certificate was issued. The investors promised to complete the first phase by the end of 2011.

However, financial troubles of both partners forced Lion Group to withdraw from the project. In 2011, the NITHIZA announced to revoke the investment certificate of Ca Na steel complex.

A year ago, chairman of Hoa Sen Group Le Phuoc Vu met with the Ninh Thuan Peoples Committee and expressed interest in reviving Ca Na steel complex.

Established in August 2001, Hoa Sen Group is one of the leaders in terms of steel sheet production and trading business in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. The groups products are currently making up 40 and 20 per cent of the domestic steel sheet and steel markets, respectively, and its products are present in over 60 countries and territories around the world.
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tours John Marshall High School before holding a rally in Cleveland, Ohio August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Makela

The documents are part of a cache that the FBI turned over to the State Department at the end of its probe into Clinton's use of the server. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found Clinton was "extremely careless" with sensitive information by using the private server but recommended against bringing charges against Clinton. She has been dogged by questions about the issue throughout her run for the White House.

The State Department could make public the first batch of emails in October, weeks before the Democratic nominee faces Republican rival Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 election. State Department employees are due to craft a timeline for the release at a meeting on Sept. 23.

The revelation of more emails after 55,000 pages of emails were turned over by Clinton last year could provide continued fodder for opponents who have seized on the email issue to charge she is untrustworthy.

The announcement by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who is overseeing a group of lawsuits seeking to make Clinton's emails public, came the same day a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, made public a batch of Clinton's emails obtained through a lawsuit.

Judicial Watch says that the emails show donors to the Clinton family's charitable foundation seeking the access to her during the period she was secretary of state from 2009-2013.

The 14,900 documents referred to by Boasberg are believed to include emails that were not included among the 55,000 pages of emails that Clinton previously turned over to the State Department after her use of a private email server and private email account became public last year.

The new documents are believed to consist chiefly of emails to or from Clinton, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, and may include a mix of personal and work emails. Some of the emails were found on the servers of people she or her staff were communicating with.

Clinton, who is currently leading Trump in opinion polls ahead of the election, has said she did not compromise classified information and used a private server for convenience, and later apologised, saying "I take responsibility."

'TRYING TO PIN IT ON ME'

Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Colin Powell over the weekend dismissed reports that Clinton told federal investigators that it was at his suggestion that she used a personal email account, according to a media report.

Powell, who served as the nation's top diplomat from 2001-2005 under Republican president George W. Bush, told People magazine that while he did send Clinton a memo about his own email practices, Clinton had already chosen to use personal email rather than a government account while she had the job.

"Her people have been trying to pin it on me ... The truth is, she was using (the private email server) for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did," Powell told People on Saturday.

Last week, The New York Times reported that Clinton told federal investigators that Powell had suggested she use personal email for unclassified email when the two spoke over dinner. The conversation occurred "in the early months" of Clinton's tenure at the State Department, the Times said, citing a forthcoming book by journalist Joe Conason that first reported the dinner exchange.

Representatives for Powell, in a separate statement to NBC news, said he had no recollection of the conversation with Clinton but did write to her.

"He did write former Secretary Clinton an email memo describing his use of his personal AOL email account for unclassified messages and how it vastly improved communications within the State Department," his office told NBC on Friday.

The email exchange occurred in 2009, according to the Times.

Powell and aides to his successor as secretary of state in the Bush administration, Condoleezza Rice, received some classified information via personal email accounts, Reuters has reported. Clinton's additional use of a personal computer server at her home, however, broke State Department rules, an internal watchdog found.

The FBI last week turned over a number of documents to the U.S. Congress related to its probe into the emails, but this has riled both Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats have expressed concern over the potential for politically motivated leaks by Republicans to target Clinton less than three months before the election.

Republican U.S. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told MSNBC on Monday the documents lawmakers received "are overly redacted" and that they are asking for another version with more of the missing information so they can be made public as soon as possible.
One of the newest investors is Kimin Power from the United Kingdom, which plans to build a solar power plant with the total investment capital of VND5 trillion ($225.6 million) in Duc Pho district, Quang Ngai province.

In a meeting with the Quang Ngai Peoples Committee, the companys representative said that Quang Ngai has been recognised to harbour great potential to develop renewable energy, especially solar energy, in the future. Thus, the investor requested the province to provide favourable conditions for it to develop a 150-megawatt solar power plant on an area of 250 hectares.

The provincial leaders appreciated Kimin Powers plans, which will help to meet demand for power in the central region in general and Quang Ngai in particular.

Besides, if the project is implemented, it will create jobs and contribute to the local budget, while simultaneously picking a more sustainable alternative to coal-fired power plants.

Vietnams private group Thien Tan has also been developing a 19.2MW solar power project in Quang Ngai. The construction was kicked off in August 2015, with the total investment of nearly $41 million.

Along with Kimin Power, in October 2015, other English investors, G.T. & Associates and Marshall & Street Ltd., proposed building a solar power plant for $225 million in the neighbouring province of Quang Nam.

The first phrase of the plant, worth approximately $75 million, will have a capacity to produce 50MW of power, while the second phrase, valued at $150 million, will produce an additional 100MW. However, as of now, construction has yet to be implemented.

Kimin Power is a company dedicated to the development of renewable energy projects, with the main focus being on solar, wind, hydro, and waste to biomass plants.

The company has implemented numerous projects in the United Kingdom as well as countries across the world, including solar pipeline projects in Vietnam, Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Kenya, and biomass pipeline projects in Croatia, the US, India, and Bangladesh.

In addition, the company currently co-operates with large partners, including Orta Solar Group, GIB Steel Group, Hanstone Energy Limited, and British Solar Renewable Group.
The event (VIMS 2016) is expected to be the largest international motorshow in Vietnam to date. Organised for the second time in Vietnam, it will take place during October 2630, 2016 at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Compared to the nine automobile brands highlighted at VIMS 2015, the 2016 edition will gather 19 renowned automobile brands, both officially imported and locally assembled, including Audi, Bentley, BMW, BMW Motorrad, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Porsche, Renault, Rolls Royce, Subaru, Suzuki, UD Trucks, and Volkswagen.

Notably, each of the exhibitors will showcase an exclusive video clip featuring valuable and exciting information for visitors.

Gathering world-famous premium car brands, VIMS 2016 will offer ample opportunities for international brands to impress Vietnamese consumers. The motorshow is expected to attract about 120,000 visitors.

In 2015, the VIMS series was organised in Hanoi in October 9-13 for the first time by BAIC and Vehicles Importers Vietnam Association, including nine high-end automobile brands (Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Luxgen, MINI, Porsche, and Renault).
Shoppers look at meat at the AEON Long Bien Mall in Ha Noi. Most food sold at supermarkets is certificated for food safety and clear origin. - VNS Photo Doan Tung

The ministry's Domestic Market Department said the goods sold at traditional markets have accounted for 40 per cent of the country's total goods circulation.

The rate of fresh food accounted for nearly 70 per cent at traditional markets. Around 60 per cent of supermarkets in the country have been selling food.

The department said most of food sold at supermarkets have clear origin certificates or are sealed with food safety while those at traditional markets have seen risks of untested food.

Le Viet Nga, the department's deputy director told online newspaper plo.vn that the modern distribution channels had been an effective solution for consumption of safe agricultural production models.

The development of supermarket networks nationwide would play an important role in developing trade infrastructure to ensure food safety, Nga said.

She said that the ministry had approved the master plan for the development of markets, supermarkets and commercial centres in the country with an aim to develop a synchronous markets network. The plan aimed to promote circulation of goods, thus enhancing the processing and manufacturing sector as well as the agricultural sector.

She added that the modern distribution channels would see strong development in the next five years.

The department forecast that the amount of agro-forestry and fishery products sold through modern distribution channels would account for 40 per cent of the country's total market shares.

She said the management of traditional markets had been a big issue for the ministry.

The biggest difficulty for the building of distribution channel chains is the shortage of capital in rural areas, as much as 76 per cent out of 8,660 traditional markets were in these areas. In addition, 86 per cent of the total traditional markets have weak infrastructure.

For example, the pilot project on food safety traditional markets model under the national programme on food safety has been halted after implementation in 32 localities out of the country's total 63 localities due to a lack of capital.

In the 2011-15 period, the Government spent VND14.5 billion (US$645,000) to build the food safety markets. However, the spending was modest in comparison with the total expected amount of VND100 billion.

The ministry said the model had increased people's awareness on the business of food safety.

Statistics from the ministry showed that there have some big modern distribution channels in the country such as Metro with 19 units, Big C with 32 units, and Vinmart+ with over 400 units.
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Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday appealed to Cambodians to promote conservation at what he promised would be the first of many annual public forums to discuss the state of the countrys natural resources.

He also called on officials not to stand in the way of environmental campaigns at the event, which provided a rare opportunity for hundreds of activists to put their concerns to the premier.

During the forum Hun Sen acknowledged the lack of action on the part of government to protect Cambodias forests, rivers and other ecosystems.

I need the people to participate and I need to hear the true words and I need to know what the needed protections are, he said.

Venerable Buth Buntenh, a monk who has long campaigned on environmental issues, asked Hun Sen to urge the authorities to co-operate with conservation campaigns.

But what's necessary is good cooperation. As long as the cooperation is still restricted like nowadays, our mission to protect our forest will still fail. It's time to act now.

Hun Sen said he agreed with many of the points raised by environmentalists at the forum and called for local government reforms

According to the statement raised by [Buntenh], not only did the authorities not cooperate but also they blocked [activists]. So I want all the authorities concerned in different provinces and localities to cooperate in terms of actions that do not hamper national security. This change will contribute to the development of the nation which should be encouraged, he said.

Buntenh told VOA Khmer that conservationists would need to wait to see whether the prime ministers promises would bear fruit.

It's not matter of belief but it's matter of time. If the opportunity is lost, it is lost... if it's just talking and nothing is carried through, it is useless. So I believe that it's the proper time and it can be accomplished.
Turkey has officially requested that Cambodia close down all Zaman schools in the country, citing concerns about links to terrorism.

The request was made during a meeting between Ilhan Kemal Tug, Turkeys ambassador, and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon.

In July a failed attempt to launch a coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Thousands of people have since been arrested. A foreign ministry spokesman said Cambodia was considering the request.

Chum Sounry, the spokesman, said: The Turkish ambassador requested the ministry shut down Zaman schools and His Excellency the senior minister confirmed that the ministry will look into the request by working with relevant institutions.

Tug told VOA Khmer on Monday that Cambodia would be at risk if it continued to allow the schools to operate.

Every country that this terrorist entity operates [in] are of course eventually under threat. I mean, youll never know what will happen. I mean look at Uzbekistan, they also have this problem and they shut down the schools, because of this problem, he said. Its not only a school. Its media outlets; they are companies; they are banks; they are a very powerful, very resourceful terrorist organization.

Zaman has been linked to Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the United States whose Hizmet movement has been held responsible for the attempted coup on July 15.

Zaman officials and Gulen have condemned the coup, while Zaman has denied it has a formal relationship with Gulen and threatened legal action against the ambassador.

Deth Sokoudom, the vice rector of Zaman University, could not be reached for comment.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Nigeria Tuesday and Wednesday as part of his current tour that began in Kenya and will end in Saudi Arabia. Regional security and fighting terrorism are dominating Kerry's talks with local officials. The secretary also announced additional U.S. aid to help finance next year's general elections in Kenya, and to secure basic necessities for civilians displaced by conflict in South Sudan. Zlatica Hoke has more.
Turkey's bombarding of U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria is threatening to overshadow U.S. Vice President Joe Bidens visit to Ankara on Wednesday.

Turkish artillery also has been shelling Islamic State forces in the Syrian border town of Jarabulus since Monday. Jarabulus is a key supply route for IS, the last remaining town under its control on the Turkish border. The bombardment follows the Turkish foreign ministers promise to eradicate IS from the border.

"We will cleanse the Syrian border of Daeshs presence," Mevlut Cavusoglu said. Daesh is another name for Islamic State.

The foreign minister made the commitment following Saturday's suicide bombing of a Kurdish wedding in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. Initial reports blamed IS.

Turkey has been massing tanks on the Syrian border to offer support ahead of a widely predicted offensive by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army to capture Jarabulus.

But Turkish artillery is also targeting Syrian Kurdish forces of the YPG, in an action seen as seeking to thwart the rebel group's attempts to seize Jarabulus. The YPG makes up the vast majority of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which, backed by the U.S. military, have inflicted a series of crushing defeats on IS.

Link to PPK

Ankara, however, accuses the Syrian Kurds of being terrorists linked to Kurdish PPK rebels. International relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbuls Kadir Has University said differences between Ankara and Washington over the Syrian Kurdish political party, the PYD, and its military wing, the YPG, could dog Bidens visit.

"I havent seen anything to suggest that the Americans have stopped helping Turkey on the PKK," Ozel said. "What Turkey is saying [is], "Well, look, the PYD is a Syrian extension of the PKK, so you should also not help them.' But that argument has been rejected by the Americans time and again, and very consistently. So can they continue this game? I have no idea. I think this issue is going to be one of the major issues when Biden comes."

Ankara accuses the PYD of seeking to carve out an independent state on Turkeys border, which it fears will incite Turkeys own restive Kurdish minority. With U.S. and U.K. special forces believed to be in the midst of the Syrian Kurdish forces as advisers, Washington will most likely be seeking to defuse rising tensions.

Bidens visit comes as Ankara is also reaching out to Tehran and Moscow. Turkish political columnist Semih Idiz of the Al Monitor website said Turkish diplomacy is geared only toward thwarting Kurdish aspirations.

"If Turkish relations with Washington and Moscow and Tehran improve and are reinforced ... by Irans dislike of a Kurdish entity in northern Syria also, then the influence of the Kurds will start waning," Idiz said.

During his planned meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Biden is widely predicted to face intense pressure for Washington to abandon the Syrian Kurdish forces. Observers claim such a move is unlikely, given that the Syrian Kurds are viewed as the most effective force fighting the jihadists, especially with the key battle looming to capture Raqqa, Islamic States self-declared capital.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has said the United States had no prior knowledge of the Turkish coup and would never support the treasonous behavior of the military.

He spoke to the press after meeting Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara Wednesday. Biden said the U.S. will provide any assistance Turkey needs as it moves to strengthen its democracy and that the United States puts paramount importance on its relationship with Turkey, a crucial NATO ally.

WATCH: VP Biden on Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen

Biden arrived in Turkey earlier in the day, as Turkish military forces launched their first offensive into Syria to target Islamic State militants and Kurdish fighters.

U.S. warplanes aided the Turkish military incursion. The vice president will also meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Biden is President Barack Obama's highest-ranking and closest surrogate, often representing the White House in difficult diplomatic situations. He is known for cultivating personal relationship with world leaders, including with Erdogan, whom he calls an "old friend."

Calls for extradition

In Ankara Wednesday, Erdogan again called on the United States to extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for backing the failed July coup. The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that it has received an extradition request for the 75-year-old Gulen from Turkey, however the request is not explicitly linked to his alleged role in planning the plot.

U.S. Justice Department officials say a decision on the extradition request will be based on evidence and the rules of the two countries extradition treaty.

Biden and Erdogan are also likely to discuss their joint efforts to combat the Islamic State terrorist group. Turkey has the second largest military force in NATO and is also part of the U.S-led coalition to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In recent months, Turkey has been a frequent target of IS terrorist attacks.

Biden arrives at a time of tense ties between Ankara and Washington.

Many Turks say they are angry about what they see as a lack of solidarity from the West after the traumatic coup, which left at least 240 people dead and included the bombing of the Turkish parliament. Turkish analyst Kemal Kirisci told VOA most people in Turkey feel the West has been too critical and not shown enough sympathy.

In the Turkish publics mind there is a puzzlement, why is it, .why is it that it has taken such a long time for a very long-standing ally of Turkey to express solidarity and to manifest that solidarity with a visit to Turkey? And that also applies to the EU.

Kirisci pointed out that Erdogan recently had a supportive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin-a meeting that had already been planned before the coup.

But human rights groups and many in the West are concerned that Ankara has fired or suspended nearly 80,000 government employees and soldiers since the failed coup in a massive crackdown on the military, civil service, police, academia and judiciary.

The Gulen issue

One of the thorniest issues is likely to be the fate of the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Turkish President Erdogan blames the 75-year-old Gulen for planning the coup and is demanding that Washington turn him over right away: "We say to America: 'Aren't we strategic partners? Don't we have extradition treaties?' If that's the case, when you ask for terrorists [to be extradited] we didn't ask for documents.

Gulen and Erdogan are former allies who are now enemies. Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for 17 years. His mystic Islamic movement runs schools, charities and businesses around the world. At his Pennsylvania compound, Gulen told VOAs Turkish Service he was not involved in the coup and condemned the violence.

His lawyer, Reid Weingarten had this to say: It would be unprecedented and appalling if the United States took a frail, almost octogenarian, plopped him on a plane to go back into that kind of setting with the hideous things that are being said about him by the entire Turkish government.



Biden is likely to be pressed to release Gulen, and will likely repeat in Ankara what Press Secretary Earnest explained Monday: There is a treaty, an extradition treaty that's been on the books between United States and Turkey for more than 30 years.

Earnest said some U.S. Justice Department officials will travel to Turkey this week to meet with their Turkish counterparts and review some of the evidence against Gulen they have collected. He said the Justice Department will make the decision based on evidence and the rules on the extradition treaty. He insists that it is not a presidential decision.

At Tuesdays State Department briefing, spokesman Mark Toner confirmed to reporters that formal extradition requests for Gulen have been received from Turkey. Reporters were surprised to hear Toner say that the extradition requests for Gulen are not related to the July, 2016 coup. Toner stressed that the extradition request is not a public process, and that there is an ongoing sober, deliberate assessment of tranches of documents that have been sent by Turkey on Gulen.

The Islamic State Issue

Biden and Erdogan are also likely to discuss their joint efforts to combat the Islamic State terrorist group. Turkey has the second largest military force in NATO and is also part of the U.S.-led coalition to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In recent months, Turkey has been a frequent target of IS terrorist attacks.

More than 50 people were killed in a suicide bombing attack on a Kurdish wedding in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, believed to have been directed by the Islamic State group. The U.S. has repeatedly called on Turkey to boost its efforts to secure it border with Syria, to prevent terrorist fighters from crossing.
Foreign ministers of Japan, South Korea, and China have begun trilateral talks about regional tensions.

The leaders are expected to discuss territorial disputes, a U.S. missile defense system, and North Korea, during their Tokyo meeting.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida welcomed China's Wang Yi and South Korea's Yun Byung-Se to dinner Tuesday before formal talks Wednesday.

They are not not expected to issue a joint statement following the meeting. But the Yonhap news agency reports a South Korean spokesman said the three diplomats would end talks Wednesday with a news conference.

Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have been especially high as territorial disputes escalate over islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Chinese officials have also expressed discontent with South Korea, which is hosting the U.S. missile defense system known as THAAD, aimed at intercepting North Korean missiles.

But Beijing has voiced concern the system is intended to build up American power in the region and that its powerful radar system will be used to monitor China's military activities in northeast Asia.

North Korea will likely be a main point of conversation at the meeting, though opinions on how to deal with Pyongyang's missile development differ between the three countries.
Opponents of Congolese President Joseph Kabila went on strike on Tuesday to demand that he steps down when his mandate expires in December.

In the commercial center of the capital Kinshasa, home to 12 million people, rush hour seemed lighter than usual. In the city's surrounding districts, especially opposition strongholds such as Limete, many shops were shuttered.

Police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters from opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS party, who threw stones and erected barricades near the party headquarters in the Kinshasa district of Limete, a Reuters witness said.

The strike appeared to have significantly less uptake than one in February over the same issue. In the eastern city of Goma and southern mining hub of Lubumbashi, where foreign firms have big investments, residents said that activity largely carried on as usual.

"I really regret seeing our Congolese brothers and sisters open their stores," said Samuel Kazadi, a motorbike taxi driver on Kinshasa's Avenue de Commerce, where several shops had their metal doors locked.

But he added: "We are waiting for Dec. 19 ... Kabila won't stay in power. The population will be in the street every day."

Elections were due to be held in November, before Kabila's mandate runs out on Dec. 19, but will be delayed as authorities enroll millions of new voters.

Kabila's opponents accuse him of dragging his feet on holding the election in order to cling to power in Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that has not seen a peaceful change of government since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Western powers are leaning on him to honor the constitution, which limits a president to two terms, and step down. They fear political tensions could reignite a regional war in the country's mineral-rich east that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003.

A government spokesman on Radio France International, whose FM station was off air locally, as it often is on opposition protest days, dismissed the strike as the work of "some radicals ... having some old fashioned fun."

African Union-appointed facilitator, Togolese diplomat Edem Kodjo, opened talks on Tuesday on the timetable for the vote.

The main opposition alliance, led by Etienne Tshisekedi, is boycotting the talks, which it sees as a delaying tactic. The talks, expected to last until Saturday, are only meant to set a schedule for further talks whose aim will eventually be to set an election timetable.

In an olive branch to the opposition, the government agreed to free several democracy activists on Friday to try to ease tensions, but Tshisekedi called it insufficient.

Some opposition leaders did show up for the opening session, including Tshisekedi's former chief of staff Albert Moleka and president of the CDER party, Jean-Lucien Bussa.

"Our doors remain wide open. Today or tomorrow, they can join us at any time," Kodjo said in his opening remarks.

Kabila took power when his father was assassinated in 2001, then won his first election in 2006.
A pair of fatalities from lightning strikes over the weekend lifted the U.S. death toll from such accidents this year to 29, the most since 2010, the National Weather Service said on Monday.

The latest lightning-related deaths occurred in Colorado and Michigan on Friday, the NWS said in a report. With four months left in the year, the 2016 toll has already surpassed last year's 27.

Eight people have died from lightning this month, making it the deadliest August since 2007. In July, typically the month with the most fatalities, 12 people were killed by lightning.

"People are outside, enjoying beaches in the summer time," said John Jensenius, an NWS lightning safety specialist based in Gray, Maine.

"There's not much variance in lightning activity," he told Reuters, saying the rise was due more to behavior.

Fridays have been the deadliest day of the week this year, which Jensenius said was unusual. Typically, the highest number of incidents occur on Saturdays and Sundays, when Americans are outside barbecuing and enjoying other weekend activities.

This year, as is typical, Florida has posted the highest number of lightning deaths, with six. Louisiana and New York were next, with four and three fatalities, respectively.

Deaths from lightning have fallen sharply from the hundreds reported each year in the 1940s and 1950s, when there were more farmers riding tractors in open fields, Jensenius said.

The odds of being struck in a lifetime remain relatively low, about 1 in 12,000, NWS statistics showed. There is about one death for every 10 people hit by lightning.

But Jensenius advised caution, saying people should get inside during thunderstorms.

"If you can hear thunder, you're close enough to be struck," he said.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is demanding that an independent special prosecutor immediately investigate Hillary and Bill Clinton's Clinton Foundation, saying the FBI cannot be trusted to do the job.

Trump spent much of a Monday campaign speech in Akron, Ohio, on what he describes as the "vast scope" of Hillary Clinton's "criminality," saying he is shocked by it.

Clinton's Republican opponents allege that big donors to the charitable foundation used it to get special access to Clinton or her top aides when she was secretary of state.

Clinton has always denied the charge. Newly released emails show that while some Clinton aides were asked for favors, there is no evidence that they were granted or that Clinton herself was involved.

Bill Clinton announced last week that the foundation will change the way it does business if his wife is elected. It will stop accepting foreign and corporate donations and Bill Clinton himself will resign from its board, he said.

None of this has satisfied Trump. He demanded Monday that the foundation be shut down, calling it the most corrupt enterprise in political history," and accusing the Clintons themselves of caring more about donors and their own bank accounts than the American people.

But the Clinton campaign shot back at the billionaire real estate and industrial magnate.

"The Clinton Foundation is a charity that helps people around the world," spokesman Brian Fallon tweeted Monday. "Trump's businesses exist to enrich himself, involve a web of shady connections, and he still hasn't committed to divesting his holdings."

Trump and TPP

Also in Akron, Trump declared the "era of economic surrender is over," vowing to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and renegotiate NAFTA. He said bad trade deals have cost Akron, an industrial Midwestern city, thousands of jobs.

Trump warned that companies are currently negotiating to leave Ohio, and said he will stop them. He gave no details.

Poll results

The latest polls in Ohio give Clinton a 6 percentage point lead over Trump, and a nearly 6-point lead nationwide.

But Trump, who is not known for his modesty, said he is going to win by a landslide.

Jimmy Carter

Meanwhile, a former U.S. president says the American people do not like either candidate in the November election.

Jimmy Carter told the Associated Press "the way it's turned out, both choices in the major parties are quite unpopular, but I don't have any doubt that one of the candidates is better qualified than the other."

Carter did not say how he personally feels about each candidate, but he did say "everybody knows that I'm a Democrat and I'll be voting Democratic."
Opposition groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo have called for a nationwide strike Tuesday, hoping to force President Joseph Kabila to hold elections and step down when his second term expires at the end of this year.

Opposition boycotts National Dialogue

This came after the opposition coalition over the weekend refused to attend a dialogue with President Kabila, sponsored by the African Union and facilitated by former Togolese Prime Minister Edem Kodjo.

Martin Fayulu, leader of the Commitment for Citizenship and Development party and a member of the opposition coalition, said Kodjo is biased in favor of President Kabila.

Fayulu said the opposition will participate in dialogue under U.N. Security Council resolution 2277 which calls for discussions that respect the Congolese constitution.

We want to demonstrate to Mr. Kabila that the people of Congo they dont want to see Mr. Kodjo. We want the talks to take place in accordance with U.N. Resolution 2277. We are saying that Mr. Kodjo is becoming a bottleneck and has to go, he said.

DRC Information Minister Lambert Mende denied Kodjo favors President Kabila. He has urged the opposition to join the national dialogue that is intended reach a consensus necessary for a peaceful electoral process.

Opposition complains about violence in the east

Fayulu said Tuesdays strike is also intended to tell the Congolese people that Kabila has failed to address the violence that has been taking place in the east of the country.

We want to tell the people of Congo that Mr. Kabila is not taking care of what is going on in the Eastern part of Congo, mainly in Beni. They are killing people, almost a mass killing, and Mr. Kabila is doing nothing. He just wants to stay in power, Fayulu said.

The Congolese government has blamed terrorists for the violence in the east where 22 men and 14 women were hacked to death last week in their homes and fields.

Fayulu says this is further reason people should stay home on Tuesday and register their displeasure with the Kabila regime.

Information Minister Mende told VOA recently that the Congolese electoral commission is in charge of organizing upcoming elections, not President Kabila.

He said the commission has already announced it cannot hold elections before the end of this year because the electoral census has started and is expected to conclude in 10 months.

I think it is not ignorance but irresponsibility because President Kabila is not in charge of organizing election. According to Congolese law, it is the electoral commission that organizes elections, and the electoral commission has already announced that there is no way to organize election before the end of this year because the electoral census has started and will not end before 10 months, he said.

Fayulu has called for the resignation of Electoral Commission chair Cornielle Nangaa for failing to uphold the mandate given him by the constitution.

The constitution saying in Provision 73 that the electoral commission has to call presidential election 90 days before the end of the current presidents mandate. There is no place for him to say that the election cannot be held. I think for him the only solution is to resign, Fayulu said.
A new TB test has been developed that can tell doctors within one hour whether someone has tuberculosis. The test is in the experimental stages, but scientists say it has the potential to make a big difference in developing countries hit hard by TB.

TB is a potentially deadly disease that strikes 10 million people each year. Two million of them die of the disease, according to experts. There are antibiotics to treat TB, but it can take up to three weeks to get a diagnosis, which delays treatment.

The test that is often used in resource-poor countries is the Ziehl-Neelsen, or ZN, test. Developed in the 1880s, it is an 11-step process that begins when technicians put a sample of sputum on a microscope slide, then dye and rinse it multiple times. That alone can take several hours. In addition, it is often difficult to definitively detect the presence of the bacterium under the microscope.

Meanwhile, the same sputum sample may be sent away to grow the TB pathogen in a dish. But mycobacterium grows slowly, taking as many as three weeks to yield a result.

New test, quick results

However, an experimental TB test has the potential to show clinicians what they need to know within one hour.

Carolyn Bertozzi, a biological chemist at Stanford University in California, helped develop the rapid TB sputum test, which she said fills a treatment void in developing countries, where patients often disappear before they are diagnosed.

"So, it's a real public health problem to not have an accurate test that, first of all, is more specific for TB, will tell you whether the TB are alive, and can be performed in a period of time where you can keep somebody in the clinic so you can act on the diagnosis while they are still there," Bertozzi said.

How it works

The rapid test uses sugar molecules found in the cell walls of the TB bacteria. Investigators tag modified versions of the sugar molecule with a fluorescent dye, which the live pathogens take up and integrate into their cell walls. Under the microscope, only the live mycobacteria, which cause tuberculosis, glow green.

The test also could be used to check sputum samples to see whether someone being treated for TB is responding to the antibiotics, Bertozzi said.

There's still more work to be done before the test becomes a reality. For now, Bertozzi sees it as a way to confirm a diagnosis using a microscope for a first-pass look for the TB microorganism.

"I'm excited about it because it is so simple, she said. It is low-tech, but it kind of fulfills a niche in technology that doesn't exist right now in the world of either TB basic science or TB diagnosis."

Field trials of the experimental test began in June in South Africa. A number of charitable organizations, including the Gates Foundation, have shown an interest.

The work is being presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the world's largest scientific society.
Preliminary talks on elections got underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid continued tension over slow preparations for the poll and what the opposition says are attempts by President Joseph Kabila to cling to office.

There are about 50 participants at the talks, including some opposition politicians, as well as ruling coalition and civil society representatives.

The dialogue facilitator, Togo's former prime minister Edem Kodjo, released a list of opposition parties taking part, most of them small. The bulk of the biggest opposition party, the UDPS, and the other parties in the main opposition bloc, known as the Rassemblement, were not represented at the talks Tuesday.

Lawmaker Juvenal Munubo of the UNC, one of the parties that is taking part in the dialogue, told VOA there needs to be more of the opposition on board if the talks are to make progress.

"We must not think that everything is in place and we can now discuss the main points without trying to get the others involved," he said. Other parties continually need to feel welcome, he added, stressing that the best way to do that is through acts such as freeing political prisoners and abandoning the lawsuit against Moise Katumbi.

The government announced the release of 26 political prisoners last week, but the opposition says most of them had already been released weeks or months ago. Katumbi's bid to be an opposition candidate for the presidency is currently blocked by a lawsuit.

Munubo suggested some participants in the talks want to reach an agreement quickly.

There is no fixed duration for the dialogue, he said, but certain people say it should not last more than three or four weeks, because everyone is aware that September 20th, which is supposed to be the day for calling the elections, is very close.

Under the constitution, Kabila's second and final term ends in December, but the electoral commission has said it could take more than a year to prepare for the vote.

An opposition party, ECIDE, was campaigning Tuesday in Goma for the constitution to be respected. Party activist Christian Badose handed out red pens to passers-by to symbolize what he called the need to correct the work of the electoral commission.

The Congolese people must respect the constitution approved by popular vote, he said, adding that six million Congolese died before that vote could be held and it would be shameful to abandon the constitution.

Badose was referring to a widely quoted figure for the number of people who died as a result of Congo's recent wars. That figure is contested, but no one denies there was huge loss of life.
TechCrunch

Twitter's stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on November 8, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This comes a day after Elon Musk completed the company's takeover after a lengthy ordeal late Thursday. "The New York Stock Exchange hereby notifies the SEC of its intention to remove the entire class of the stated securities from listing and registration on the Exchange at the opening of business on November 08, 2022, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 12d2-2 (a)," the filing reads.
A new program in northern Cameroon is giving families displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency a pair of goats to help them get back on their feet.

Boukar Abba, 40, pulls his two goats outside the fence behind his house in Mozogo, a town on Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria.

He said he expects to raise the goats and make money to take care of his children's health, school needs and food. He plans to sell baby goats in the future and make some profit, but he said he still has to travel a long distance to fetch water for them.

He got the goats this month as part of an initiative by the French Red Cross and the government of Cameroon. Some 200 others, out of 510 targeted households, already have received animals.

Families affected by the conflict against Boko Haram are given a pair of goats. The family keeps the goats until they produce offspring. Then the parent goats will be passed on to another family in need.

Muje Dieudonne works for the French Red Cross, which is piloting the project.

Dieudonne said participants are taught good hygiene and techniques to care for the goats and for their food to prevent illness. Participants also receive counseling to help deal with violence inflicted on them during the conflict.

Economic impact of Boko Haram insurgency



Boko Haram has been carrying out attacks in northern Cameroon for more than three years. The conflict has hit the local economy hard.

Cameroon's National Institute of Statistics reports the unemployment rate at the border with Nigeria is over 90 percent. The government says poverty makes youth vulnerable to recruitment into Boko Haram.

Many youth abandoned raising livestock in their villages amid the violence.

The Red Cross' Dieudonne said insecurity makes it difficult for aid workers to reach places where there are displaced people. He said that because the initiative's participants continue to move to new localities out of safety concerns, it's not easy to retrieve the goats and hand them off to other families.

Money maker



Earlier this year, the United Nations, along with international NGOs and the governments of Cameroon and Japan, built a livestock market at the village of Zamai where youth can sell tje goats they raise.

Cameroon also provided $4 million of emergency funds to create jobs for youths on its northern border with Nigeria.
An estimated 1,500 Americans illegally and unexpectedly washed up in Canada late Sunday after strong winds blew them across the St. Clair River near Sarnia, Ontario.

The Americans were taking part in the annual Port Huron Float Down in the St. Clair River, which runs between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario.

But high winds blew the rafts off course.

"The event has no official organizer and poses significant and unusual hazards given the fast-moving current, large number of participants, lack of life jackets, and, as was the case this year, challenging weather conditions," the Sarnia, Ontario, Police Service said on its website.

The uninvited visitors had to be rescued by Sarnia police, the Canadian Coast Guard, Canada Border Service Agency and employees from a nearby chemical company, Lanxess Canada.

"It was a bit of a nightmare, but we got through it," Staff Sgt. Scott Clarke told the Times Herald. "There were long waits and long lines. They were cold and wet, but they all made it home."
Kicking off a six-day tour of Latin America, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday in Havana his visit would open a new chapter in the Islamic Republic's relations with Communist-ruled Cuba.

Iran, which has long been friendly with Cuba, is on a drive to improve foreign commerce after the removal in January of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"We will start a new chapter in the bilateral relations with Cuba on the basis of a big [business] delegation accompanying me on this visit," Zarif said at a meeting with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez.

The international community lifted sanctions on Iran as part of the deal under which Tehran curbed its nuclear program.

Rodriguez congratulated Iran on the "success of its foreign policy" while reiterating its longstanding support for "all countries to develop nuclear energy with pacific ends."

Cuba and Iran have in common a long stand-off with the United States. They were both on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorism sponsoring countries until Havana was removed last year as part of a detente with Washington.

"We have always been on the side of the great Cuban people in view of atrocities and unjust sanctions," Zarif said.

"The government and Cuban people have also always shown us solidarity with regards to the atrocities committed by the empire."

Zarif's tour will also take him to Chile, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela.

Just last week, Cuba's new Economy Minister Ricardo Cabrisas made a trip to Tehran where he met with President Hassan Rouhani.

German exports to Iran, mostly machines and equipment, jumped in the first half of the year following the removal of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic, official trade data showed on Monday.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says he thought he had only weeks to live after being diagnosed with brain cancer a year ago.

Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, spoke to a news conference Monday at a Habitat for Humanity construction project in Memphis, Tennessee. The 91-year-old Carter, a worldwide ambassador for the charity, is being joined by about 1,500 volunteers during a weeklong effort to build 19 homes in a low-income neighborhood near the city's downtown.

Carter said he feels "pretty certain about my cure," but that the doctors are "still keeping an eye on me."

The former president revealed in August 2015 that he had been diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his brain. He underwent treatment with a new drug, Keytruda, and by last December, he dramatically announced that the cancer had disappeared.

Four months later, he said scans showed he was free of cancer and was able to end the treatments.

But during the peak of his fight with the illness, he had his doubts.

"A year ago, I didn't think I was going to live but two or three weeks, because they had already removed part of my liver because I had cancer there,'' Carter said. "After that, when they did an MRI, they found four cancer places in my brain, so I thought I just had a few weeks to live.''

By last November, Carter was responding to treatment and was able to travel to Memphis for another Habitat for Humanity project.

"By the time I got to here, I was putting on a kind of a false optimistic face,'' he said.

The former president wore blue jeans, a hard hat, a tool belt and a red bandanna around his neck as he hammered nails into the wooden frame of a house he was helping build. The project involves constructing one- and two-story houses.

Moving amid the skeleton framing of the house, Carter appeared energetic and sure-footed as he talked with workers and used a level to make sure wooden beams were properly installed.

Jonathan Reckford, CEO of the Atlanta-based charity, said Carter and his wife have donated their time to help build and improve 3,944 homes in 14 countries.

The onetime peanut farmer said he plans to continue building houses next year, in Canada.
Cigarettes, long the unofficial currency of prisons, has given way to a new kind of underground money.

A study suggests that Ramen noodles are now the most common bartering tool among U.S. prisoners.

One big reason, according to the study by the University of Arizona School of Sociology, is that smoking has been banned from many spaces within prisons.

However, theres another driver, researchers say, and that is less food is available to prisoners, something the researchers call punitive frugality, as the burden and cost of care is shifting away from prison systems and onto prisoners.

"Punitive frugality is not a formal prison policy, but rather an observable trend in prison administration practice in institutions throughout the country," said study author Michael Gibson-Light. "Throughout the nation, we can observe prison cost-cutting and cost-shifting as well as changes in the informal economic practices of inmates," he said. "Services are cut back and many costs are passed on to inmates in an effort to respond to calls to remain both tough on crime and cost effective."

Citing U.S. Bureau of Prisons data, researchers say states spent $48.5 billion on corrections in 2010, a nearly six percent drop from the year before. They also said that since 1982, spending on prisons has not kept pace with the rising number of inmates.

For the research, Gibson-Light interviewed 60 inmates over a 12-month period from May 2015 to May of 2016.

"Prison staff members as well as members of the inmate population provided narratives of the history of changes in prison food -- the past few decades have seen steady decreases in the quality and quantity of inmate food," he said. "Prisoners are so unhappy with the quality and quantity of prison food that they receive that they have begun relying on Ramen noodles -- a cheap, durable food product -- as a form of money in the underground economy," he said. "Because it is cheap, tasty, and rich in calories, Ramen has become so valuable that it is used to exchange for other goods."

The other goods prisoners trade Ramen for include clothing, personal hygiene products and even services like doing laundry or having their cells cleaned. Ramen was also used in gambling for card games and wagering on sporting events.

"What we are seeing is a collective response -- across inmate populations and security levels, across prison cliques and racial groups, and even across states -- to changes and cutbacks in prison food services," Gibson-Light said. "The form of money is not something that changes often or easily, even in the prison underground economy; it takes a major issue or shock to initiate such a change," he said. "The use of cigarettes as money in U.S. prisons happened in American Civil War military prisons and likely far earlier. The fact that this practice has suddenly changed has potentially serious implications."
The U.N. refugee agency warns more than one million people could be uprooted from the Iraqi city of Mosul during an expected government offensive to wrest control of the city from Islamic State militants.

The U.N. refugee agency says it is preparing for a massive dislocation of people from Mosul. In recent months, the agency reports about 213,000 people have fled their homes to different parts of Iraq.

UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards says he fears displacement may be about to get dramatically worse as government military action turns toward Mosul.

Mosul, you probably do not need much reminding, it is Iraqs second largest city," he said. "The humanitarian impact of a military offensive there is expected to be enormous. Up to 1.2 million people could be affected.

Edwards says the UNHCR is doing what it can to build more camps to accommodate people and mitigate suffering. He says the agency faces enormous challenges because additional land for camps is scarce and funding to pay for this is in short supply.

He says the UNHCR is looking to set up camps in up to six locations across northern Iraq. He says finding available land has become a critical issue as it is identified and provided by the local authorities. He says the UNHCR and other U.N. and international agencies then assess its suitability for housing thousands of homeless people.

However, the issue is fraught with problems," Edwards said. "Many private landowners are unwilling to lease land, other land may simply be unsuitable because of its topography, its proximity to the frontline or military operations or because of possible contamination by unexploded ordnance and other problems.

Iraq already has one of the largest number of displaced people in the world.

Some 3.38 million Iraqis have fled their homes since January 2014, many multiple times. The UNHCR says it has drawn up contingency plans to provide shelter for up to 120,000 people fleeing conflict in Mosul and surrounding areas.

For an on-the-ground VOA report by Sharon Behn from Iraq see "Fleeing Mosul."
Officials in Myanmar say United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend a peace conference next week that seeks to end decades of armed conflict with ethnic minority groups.

The U.N. is expected to soon confirm Ban's attendance at the conference, which begins Aug. 31 in the capital, Naypyitaw.



The deputy director of the President's Office, Zaw Htay, said Tuesday the government invited Ban to what is informally dubbed the 21st Century Panglong Conference after he expressed an interest in attending. The plans were confirmed by Sai Kyaw Nyunt, general secretary of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, which is organizing the event.



"Ban Ki-moon will come to represent the U.N.,'' he said.



It will be Ban's first visit to Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party replaced an army-backed government in March this year. His last visit was in November 2014.



Suu Kyi, the country's leader, chairs the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, which includes representatives of the government, ethnic armed groups and political parties. She has issued a call for mutual trust and unity ahead of the meeting.



Suu Kyi's father, Gen. Aung San, arranged the first Panglong Agreement with ethnic minority groups in 1947. It sought to meet their demands for more autonomy from the central government, but broke down following Aung San's assassination shortly afterward. Conflict with armed ethnic minority groups has been an almost constant factor of Myanmar's politics since then.



Eight smaller ethnic groups signed a cease-fire agreement last year under the previous military-backed government of President Thein Sein, while seven have not yet agreed to put down their arms, and fighting continues in Kachin and Shan states. All the groups say peace cannot be sustained unless political arrangements are also made to accommodate demands for greater autonomy.
Religiously motivated extremist groups like Boko Haram will only be stopped when governments cut down on corruption and offer opportunities to their young people, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit with Nigerias top Muslim leader on Tuesday.

Kerry's visit to Nigeria -- his third and likely last as secretary of state -- comes as the country grapples with an impending economic recession and a number of security crises.

Speaking at the palace of Sultan of Sokoto Sa'adu Abubakar, the top Muslim leader in Nigeria, Kerry said it is up to governments to give people a reason not to join extremist movements.

To win the struggle for the future, nations need to do more than just denounce bankrupt dead-end ideologies that the terrorists support. They also have to offer their citizens an alternative that is better, Kerry said. There is nothing more demoralizing, more destructive, more disempowering to a citizen than the belief that the system is rigged against them.

Boko Haram

He condemned Boko Haram, which has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced as many as 2.7 million in its more than seven years of fighting for strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram boasts no agenda other than to murder teachers, burn books, kidnap students, rape women and girls, and slaughter innocent people, most of whom are Muslims, Kerry said.

While the military has made progress against Boko Haram, the fighting has put millions of people at risk of starvation in the war-ravaged northeast.

Kerry linked the fight against groups such as Boko Haram to Nigerias long-running struggle to curb the corruption that analysts say keeps most of its 170 million people living in poverty.

Corruption is a priority of President Muhammadu Buhari, who won office last year on promises to change the way of doing business in one of Africas top economies.

The president reiterated his anti-corruption stance at a meeting with Kerry in the capital, Abuja.

We will retrain our staff, so that they understand the new orientation. And those who run afoul of these rules will be prosecuted, no matter who is involved, Buhari said.

Anti-graft efforts

While some observers say the Buhari administration has broken campaign promises and hasnt put sufficient reforms in place to crack down on looters, Kerry said the U.S. supports the administrations anti-graft efforts.

Already, President Buhari is working with civil society to encourage official transparency and accountability. It is so important to restoring trust among the people, Kerry said.

Jibrin Ibrahim, a fellow at the Center for Democracy and Development, said Kerrys speech was mostly about keeping up appearances, but gave little indication of the path ahead for relations between the two countries.

He gave assurances of continuing support but thats sort of a normal support, Ibrahim said. [There were] no new developments that I was able to notice.

Kerry did issue a veiled warning to Nigerias military, which has long been accused of carrying out atrocities.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued numerous reports saying soldiers have tortured Boko Haram suspects and gunned down members of a separatist group and a Shi'ite Muslim sect.

Those allegations are one reason the U.S. has blocked weapons sales to Nigeria.

It is understandable that in the wake of terrorist activity, some people are tempted to crack down on everyone and anyone who could theoretically pose some sort of a threat, Kerry said. Extremism cannot be defeated through repression or just creating fear.

'Fatally wounded'

Shortly before Kerry's arrival, Nigerias Air Force on Tuesday claimed to have fatally wounded Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and several other high-ranking members of the group in air strikes carried out against the terrorist organizations headquarters.

Sani Usman, a spokesman for the Nigerian Air Force said in a statement that Shekau was fatally wounded in the shoulder when government planes bombed the Boko Haram jungle stronghold in the Sambisa Forest Friday.

Other Boko Haram leaders killed in the raid, including Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, Usman said. Several others were confirmed wounded.

Nigeria has previously claimed to have killed Shekau, but those claims were later thrown into doubt when video surfaced showing a man claiming to be Shekau alive and well.

Usmans statement didnt provide any further details about Shekaus death. Boko Haram did not immediately respond to the claims.
Hundreds of Nigerian protesters marched on Monday to the presidential villa in the capital, Abuja, to demand that the government do more to rescue more than 200 girls kidnapped in 2014.

The protest comes a week after Islamist militants from the group Boko Haram released a new video showing as many as 50 of the kidnapped girls. The militant group said several girls have died, and militants demanded a prisoner swap for the rest.

The mother of one of the abducted girls, Esther Yakubu, said the protesters are tired of having to petition the government to rescue the girls.

"Sadly, today we have been here again at the seat of power to drum up our pain to the president and his team that we are tired and are not ready to view any other video again from the abductors or from my girls," she said.

Yakubu is the mother of one of the girls shown in the militant video.

She told VOA last week that her daughter, Dorcas, was 15 years old in April 2014 when she was taken with nearly 300 other girls from a secondary school in the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. She urged Nigeria's government to meet Boko Harams demand to release militants in exchange for Dorcas' freedom and that of her fellow abductees.

The 11-minute video, posted on YouTube last week, shows a masked man wearing military camouflage with dozens of weary looking young women wearing head scarves, sitting and standing behind him.

About 218 of the 276 girls kidnapped remain missing despite more than two years of efforts by the Nigerian government to find them, and worldwide outrage at their abduction.

Through last year, the Nigerian military announced the rescue of hundreds of people who had been kidnapped by Boko Haram, but despite occasional reports to the contrary, the Chibok girls were not among them.

For the parents of the missing Chibok girls, the new video brings mixed emotions of sadness and relief that some of the girls are still alive.

But the video ends with graphic images of bloody corpses. The masked man says the bodies are Chibok girls who were killed by Nigerian airstrikes. Nigerian officials say it is unlikely the bodies are the Chibok girls.

Boko Haram, which says it wants to create a strict Islamic state in Muslim majority northern Nigeria, is blamed for some 20,000 deaths since beginning its insurgency in 2009.
North Korea has launched a ballistic missile from a submarine off its east coast, South Korean defense officials said in a statement.

The missile, launched about 5:50 a.m. local time Wednesday (2050 UTC Tuesday), flew about 500 kilometers, South Korea's military said. The statement said it wasn't immediately known if the launch was successful.

U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) said the launch of "a presumed KN-11 submarine launched ballistic missile" occurred off the coast of Sinpo.

"We strongly condemn this and North Korea's other recent missile tests, which violate U.N. Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," said a statement by the U.S. agency.

Earlier Tuesday, the United Nations Command said North Korea has been laying new landmines on its side of its heavily fortified border with South Korea.

North Korean soldiers have been spotted planting anti-personnel mines on its side of the so-called Bridge of No Return, a river crossing near the border truce village of Panmunjom.

The U.N. Command, which oversees the cease-fire that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, condemned Pyongyang in a statement released Tuesday, saying it "seriously jeopardizes the safety of people on both sides" of the Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea has been blamed for planting landmines along the DMZ that detonated last year, maiming two South Korean soldiers patrolling the border.

The U.S.-led command would not speculate on why North Korea is taking such action, but South Korea's Yonhap news agency said it was told by a government source that the mines are there to prevent front-line North Korean troops from defecting.

Escalating tensions

The launch comes at a time of escalating tensions between the two countries and a day after South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military exercises. About 25,000 U.S. forces and 50,000 South Korean troops are involved in the two-week Operation Ulchi Freedom exercise, which is largely simulated.

North Korea threatened military retaliation. A statement issued Monday by the North's military said its first-strike units were ready to turn the United States and Washington "into a heap of ashes through a Korean-style preemptive nuclear strike," if North Korea's sovereignty is threatened.

Both South Korea and the U.S. insist the exercises are purely defensive in nature.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have worsened in recent months, with North Korea enduring harsh U.N. sanctions over a series of tests of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Relations are also aggravated by the recent defection of a high-ranking diplomat, Thae Yong Ho, Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to Britain.

South Korean President Park Guen-hye told her National Security Council on Monday that Thae's defection was a sign of "serious cracks" in North Korea's ruling structure.

North and South Korea technically remain in a state of war dating from the 1950-'53 civil war that ended with a truce rather than a peace treaty.
President Barack Obama met with his Costa Rican counter-part, President Luis Guillermo Solis, at the White House Monday to finalize a deal that will send millions in military aid to the Central American country.

In a bid to help curb organized crime and human trafficking, Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, agreed to provide around $30 million in military supplies to Costa Rica, which includes two cargo planes, two large patrol boats and two smaller interceptor boats, air surveillance equipment and biometric software to help identify illegal immigrants in the field.

The agreement also provides supplies for law enforcement, including three armored vehicles, the construction of virtual shooting ranges and communication equipment for the guards at Corcovado National Park.

In addition to the equipment, the U.S. will provide Costa Rica with extensive Coast Guard training and maintenance packages for the boats.

Solis called the aid from the U.S. government the biggest assistance granted in the last 30 years" and lauded it as a sign of goodwill between the two countries.

The assistance is part of what Biden referred to in a Monday opinion piece for Univision as a two-track approach aimed at dealing with illegal immigration into the U.S. The first track being expedited processing for immigrants in immediate danger, and the second being long-term solutions to combat the root causes of illegal immigration.

Together, weve developed a comprehensive plan that is rooted in our commitment to improving securitythe indispensable foundation for all other progress, Biden wrote. And were going to keep working to eradicate the transnational criminal networks that drive drug smuggling, human trafficking and financial crime.

Last month, Costa Rica announced that it would offer temporary refuge to people fleeing from the violence-plagued Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala  a decision spurred by U.S. efforts to stem illegal entries along its southern border with Mexico.

As part of the program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will pre-screen people seeking protection and transfer them to Costa Rica for processing before resettlement in the U.S. or another country.

Obama also agreed to expand the Central American Minors program, which allows parents living legally in the U.S. to request refugee status for their children who are still living in one of the three designated Central American countries.
The Taliban has made "tactical victories" in Afghanistan, and its military campaign in a troubled southern province has prompted deployment of around 100 American troops to defend its capital at risk of falling to the Islamist insurgency, a spokesman for U.S. forces said Monday.

"The Taliban has had some tactical victories and that will likely continue as well  [But] they still have not been able to achieve their strategic desire and goal to seize a major population center here in Afghanistan," Brigadier General Charles Cleveland told reporters in Kabul.

Fierce battles have been raging in several districts of the southern Helmand province and territorial victories there have brought the Taliban closer to its capital, Lashkar Gah.

Cleveland said that recent deployment of U.S. forces in the city is meant to train, advise and assist Afghan partners to enable them to better plan counteroffensives and retake lost areas. But he ruled out the possibility of the city's fall to the Taliban.

"The Taliban have the ability to commit violent acts ... sometimes in the city or in the suburbs, and certainly we have seen that in some of the districts. But we don't believe that Lashkar Gah is about to fall," the spokesman asserted.

Cleveland acknowledged that Taliban fighters have used new tactics during recent fighting, enabling them to inflict losses on Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) in Helmand.

"Again, clearly concerning, but on the flip side of it they are still not able to hold in most instances major population centers or major strategic areas down in Helmand," he noted.

The largest Afghan province borders Pakistan, and its billions of dollars' worth of opium crop produces most of the world's heroin and is used to fund the Islamist insurgency.

The insurgents also have intensified attacks in northern and northeastern Afghan provinces, including Baghlan, Kunduz and Takhar near the border with Central Asian countries.

The Taliban overran a district in Takhar on Monday, but Afghan forces staged a counteroffensive with the support of airstrikes and retook the area hours later, although intense fighting was still raging there.

The rebels also captured a key district, Khan Abad, in Kunduz on Saturday but were pushed out by Afghan forces hours later. The territorial victory had brought the Taliban on the verge of attacking the provincial capital, also named Kunduz.

Officials and residents say that Taliban insurgents have intensified attacks in and around Kunduz over the past few days and have blown up a key bridge linking the city to several districts in the province.

The insurgent group has denied it destroyed the bridge and instead accused U.S. airstrikes of targeting the facility.

Local Afghan officials say that American attack helicopters are assisting government forces and attacking Taliban positions to keep the insurgents from Kunduz.

Cleveland, however, dismissed fears that the city is about to collapse to the Taliban, saying Afghan forces are better placed to defend Kunduz and, if needed, NATO as well as U.S. forces will be there to assist and "prevent strategic defeat."

The Taliban briefly captured the city for about two weeks before Afghan forces drove them out with the help of U.S. air support last October. This was the first time in the 15-year war that the insurgents captured a major city in Afghanistan, dealing a major blow to U.S.-trained Afghan security forces.
Counterfeit and substandard medications are a serious problem in the developing world, potentially harming patients who desperately need medical treatment.

Some of these drugs  including the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone  have been deemed essential by the World Health Organization for the treatment of infections. However, chemists in developing countries often do not have expensive instruments to determine whether a pill is genuine.

Now, a simple paper-based test may be the answer.

Instead of a $30,000 machine, a $1 paper card can test a drug in three minutes to determine whether the medication is inactive or of substandard quality. The tests come in 20-card packets.

Chemist Marya Lieberman of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana helped develop the inexpensive test.

"Really, this touches on issues of basic fairness and justice, Lieberman said. If people are paying for medicine, they deserve to get medicine.

Lieberman said the card can be used to test a wide variety of medications.

"This card is designed to test antibiotics and tuberculosis medications, but it also works for some other drugs, she said. For example, for some diabetes medications and heart medications."

How it works

To see whether a drug is genuine, researchers crush a pill and rub the resulting powder across 12 lanes on the card. Each lane contains a test for a separate ingredient.

The card is then dipped in water. Chemicals on the card react to the powder and turn a certain color, which is compared to a color pattern from high quality pills from a drug manufacturer.

The process sorts out active from inactive ingredients, as well as harmful ingredients such as heavy metals.

Sometimes medications break down if they are stored improperly in hot temperatures. In one experiment, researchers subjected the antibiotic ceftriaxone to high temperatures and then used the card to color test the ingredients. When compared to the color chromatic pattern provided by the manufacturer, scientists saw the active ingredient in the antibiotic was different from the properly stored drug.

The researchers also tested antibiotics from western Kenya and Uganda, and found between 10 to 30 percent of the medications were of poor quality.

Range of benefits

Undergraduate student Sarah Bliese of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, helped develop the drug test card, which was unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.

It is important to flag fake drugs at every level of a health care system, Bliese says.

"It affects the patients that are supposed to be receiving these medications, she said. It affects the caregivers, such as the pharmacists and doctors, that are prescribing these medications because it starts to make them question their confidence in the medical system. And it affects the buyers that buy a drug from the manufacturers because they start to question the quality of this investment that they are making into this pharmaceutical.

The test also may help authorities track down unscrupulous manufacturers of ineffective and unsafe drugs.

While the cards are used to test bogus and substandard drugs in the developing world, Lieberman says they eventually may be used to check the integrity of herbal medicines and nutritional supplements in the West, and even illegal street drugs.
A war on drugs campaign in the Philippines, launched by populist President Rodrigo Duterte in July, has triggered widespread debate over rights abuses as the government grapples with almost four million drug users nationwide.

A special senate inquiry this week, chaired by former Justice Secretary and now senator, Leila De Lima, highlighted the divisions between rights advocates and those backing Dutertes hard-line law and order policy.

Duterte, a former mayor, was elected by a landslide in May after threatening tough measures, including extrajudicial solutions to crime and drug issues.

The Senate inquiry was prompted by the escalating death tolls, homes searches, and arrests across the country as the campaign, code named Double Barrel, gained momentum.

By the numbers

Now seven weeks into the campaign, the Senate inquiry heard the death toll by police killings of suspects and illegal vigilante murders had reached 1,800.

Local media have shown the bodies of small time traffickers shot and killed by alleged vigilantes spurred on by the crackdown.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported soon after the campaigns launch that police had mounted raids in over 40,000 homes across the country, many in the southern region of Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao.

Philippine National Police chief, Ronald Dela Rosa, told the inquiry there are some 3.7 million drug users nationwide. Since July 1 to August 21, he said, police have detained a total of 10,153 alleged drug pushers and users, with more than 600,000 individuals surrendering to authorities.

Police operations alone had resulted in 718 deaths, while more than 1,080 people were killed by various syndicate groups involved with illegal drugs, Dela Rosa said.

Pros and cons

Chairperson De Lima said the escalating death toll was a key concern and reason for calling the inquiry.

What is particularly worrisome is that the campaign against drugs seems to be an excuse for some, may I just emphasize some law enforcers and other elements like vigilantes, to commit murder with impunity, De Lima said.

But a supporter of the campaign, Senator Alan Peter Cayteno, believes Dutertes hard line policy is bringing results.

The old norm was drug lords and their cohorts acted with impunity. People had low trust of the PNP [Philippine National Police] officers, judges, high ranking government officials, are involved in the illegal trade or [act as] protectors, Cayteno said. Now the respect and fear for the law had been restored. Drug lords and their supporters are on the run. People are beginning to feel safe, renewed trust of our law enforcers and government under President Duterte.

But the campaign has triggered stinging criticism from rights advocates domestically and internationally.

Outsiders speak out

Several United Nations agencies  including the UNs Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have also criticized the policy. The UNODCs executive director, Yury Fedotov, said he was greatly concerned of the rising death toll.

Two UN human rights experts, Agnes Callamard  a special rapporteur on summary executions -- and Dainius Puras  special rapporteur on the right to health  called for the Philippine Government to halt the wave of extrajudicial killings.

Duterte lashed out at the UN officials, saying that in commenting they had broken protocol and even threatening to withdraw the Philippines from the UN. The threat was later withdrawn by the Philippine Foreign Minister, who said the president was frustrated.

Philippine Police Chief Dela Rosa denied police were behind any extra judicial killings.

If any policeman is found that he violated laws on self-defense, he will be investigated, prosecuted and accordingly punished. On speculations on vigilante killing, the PNP does not and will never condone vigilante killings, Dela Rosa said.

But rights bodies such as the New York-based Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have raised alarm over rights violations tied to the campaign.

Human Rights Watchs deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, said the numbers of outright abuses under the campaign were absolutely shocking.

During [Mondays] senate hearing it became apparent that some police operations didnt even follow basic police procedures, including failing to secure arrest or search warrants, Robertson said in an email to VOA.

On Monday, the Philippines powerful church leaders joined calls for the government to reexamine its policy and the correctness of its approach in eradicating the illegal drug trade.

Philippine Senator, Risa Hontiveros, told the inquiry there was a need to shift the focus of this war on drugs from vendetta to real justice.

The war on drugs should not be reduced to killings. It must be a just campaign to promote new beginnings. I believe that in the governments war against drugs we cannot play gods and decide whose lives matters and whose lives dont, Hontiveros said.
Workers of a political party in Pakistan attacked the offices of a local TV channel Monday, leaving one person dead and several others injured.

When the violence started, MQM, a regional party that used to control Pakistan's commercial hub of Karachi, was staging a hunger strike in front of the Karachi Press Club against what it alleged were extra-judicial killings and disappearances of its activists by law enforcement agencies.

MQMs leader, Altaf Hussain  who lives in self-imposed exile in London  raised anti-Pakistan slogans during his address Monday and encouraged his followers to attack several TV channels that he said did not give due coverage to his party.

Channels in Pakistan are barred from giving him coverage by court order because of past controversial statements that the court deemed anti-state. However, other leaders from his party regularly appear on various channels.

Television and CCTV footage showed dozens of men and women holding batons and rods, ransacking the offices of the TV channel ARY. Several vehicles outside the offices were set on fire. A cameraman from a different channel, Samaa, was attacked while trying to take video of the events.

Rangers arrested a senior leader of MQM, Farooq Sattar, as he arrived to address a news conference in front of the press club after the attack.

Monday's address by Hussain was unexpectedly hostile because the party had been using passive resistance, despite the pressure and arrests following the Rangers operation to rid the city of massive crime and violence, according to Wusatullah Khan, a senior journalist from Karachi who contributes to BBC's Urdu language programming and co-hosts a show on a local TV channel.

Khan said this was the third hunger strike camp set up by the party during the last five or six months. All the previous ones ended peacefully after a few days of speeches and festivities. The current camp looked the same until Hussain's address started.

"Suddenly at 6 p.m., when Altaf Hussain started his address, he gradually raised the tempo and roused the workers," Khan said. The strikers, most of them women, attacked a nearby TV channel.

"The way MQM's leadership has been shocked today, it doesn't look like Altaf Hussain took them into confidence that he was going to do this," Khan added.

The locally based leadership of the party had held meetings with provincial and federal leadership to resolve their grievances prior to Hussain's address Monday.

Several channels in Pakistan have asked how the British government could allow one of its citizens to openly incite violence in another country.

Hussain has been living in Britain since 1992, and he requested political asylum due to another military operation to clean up Karachi in 1992. The British government gave him a passport in 2002.

Senior MQM leader Sattar was taken away by Rangers even as he was seen insisting on live TV that he would meet with them after his press talk.

Tahir Mashhadi, the leader of MQM in Pakistan's senate, said that while he was unable to discuss details of Monday's events, he knew that the sense of deprivation among MQM workers had been growing.

"Over 60 MQM workers have died in custody of the law enforcement agencies," he said, adding that another 160 or so were missing but were on record as having been picked up by law enforcement agencies.

Mashhadi also accused the government of pushing MQM supporters to join a rival political party, and not letting its charity arm collect donations.

He said he condemned the attack on the media "in the strongest terms," but said people should wait for a proper investigation to find out what happened before drawing conclusions.

Before the Rangers operation, many in Karachi seemed afraid to even talk about MQM and accused it of extortion, kidnappings for ransom, torture and murder.

MQM denies the allegations.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye tried to make the case this week that increasing North Korean defections are signs of growing instability inside the secretive, authoritarian state.

On Tuesday, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported that the South Korean coast guard on August 7 picked up three or four North Koreans on a boat in the Yellow Sea who requested asylum.

Last week, Thae Yong-ho, the deputy ambassador of the North Korean embassy in London, fled to South Korea with his family. South Korean media have also reported the defection of another diplomat in Russia, but the Seoul Unification Ministry has not confirmed it.

Critical level

While meeting with her National Security Council on Monday Park said increasing high-level defections from the North indicate that dissension and dysfunction inside Pyongyang is approaching a critical level.

Recently even North Korea's elite group is collapsing, followed by key North Korean figures defecting to foreign countries, showing a sign of serious cracks with chances of shaking the regime higher," said Park.

Some regional analysts support the presidents claim that Thaes defection is a symptom of a growing cancer of discontent within Kim Jong Uns inner circle.

It is a result of reckless management in the regime and may result in a series of additional movements in the future, said Cho Han-bum, with the Korea Institute for National Unification.

However other analysts say it may be premature to predict the imminent fall of the Kim government.

I dont see any other indicators of the coming collapse of North Korea or any major instability in North Korea, said Moon Chung-in, a political science professor with Yonsei University.

Sanctions

New and stronger United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea for this year's nuclear test and rocket launches have been in place for six months now.

But so far it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of these restrictions, which are intended to increase economic pressure on the North and further isolate the countrys elites.

We are still in the early stages to conclusively argue that sanctions have been working or sanctions have not been working, said Bong Young-shik with the Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies.

Soon after the sanctions were imposed, 12 waitresses at a North Korean restaurant in China defected to South Korea.

Beijing

China, as North Korea's most important trading partner, has tried to pressure its ally to give up its nuclear program without undermining the stability of the Kim Jong Un government.



I dont think there is any clear sign that the Xi Jinping government of China is ready to pull the plug on North Korea, said Bong.



Beijings sanctions enforcement have reportedly reduced vehicle traffic at the Sino/North Korean border, the suspension of currency transfers to North Korean banks, and increased inspections of North Korean vessels entering Chinese ports.



But there are also reports that food and fuel prices in North Korea remain stable, indicating the economic effects of the sanctions have, so far, not been crippling.

At the same time, relations between Seoul and Beijing have grown increasingly strained over the deployment of the American THAAD missile defense system in South Korea.



Foreign ministers from China, South Korea and Japan are meeting this week in Tokyo to address North Korea, Beijings concerns over THAAD and other regional security issues.



Unification

There have been past high-level defections that also prompted speculation of discord inside the Norths leadership, and after the death of the current leaders father, Kim Jong Il in 2011, some Korea watchers thought the government in Pyongyang would soon collapse.

While it is difficult to predict if this time defections and sanctions will lead to the fall of Kim Jong Un, President Parks critics say a sudden collapse in North Korea may not end in the peaceful unification scenario she often speaks about.



Instability in North Korea leading to collapse can be extremely violent, chaotic and traumatic, and I really dont think it will lead to a peaceful unification, said Professor Moon.
Two days of clashes between al-Shabab and regional forces in southwestern Somalia have killed at least 15 people, officials said.

The fighting took place outside Moragabey village in the Bakool region. Forces of the Bakool government and surrounding regions have recently stepped up military operations to open roads blocked by al-Shabab.

Intermittent clashes continued Tuesday after al-Shabab attacked a base used by regional government forces Monday, according to officials. Sources close to the Somali military told VOA that the dead include eight soldiers and seven al-Shabab militants.

Pro-al-Shabab media reported the village was captured by their fighters Monday, but the mayor of the nearby town of Huddur, Mohamed Moallim Ahmed, and residents disputed the claim.

"They [al-Shabab] failed to seize it [Moragabey]. It's in the government soldiers' hands," Ahmed told VOA Somali.

Ahmed said nine soldiers were also wounded in the attack. The government sent reinforcements from Huddur town.

Military sources in the Bakool region told VOA Somali that regional forces have so far succeeded in opening the road between Huddur and el-Barde, near the border with Ethiopia, but several other towns remain besieged.

Meanwhile, three Somali soldiers were wounded Tuesday after al-Shabab ambushed a convoy of Somali and Djibouti troops conducting a joint patrol west of Beledweyne town.

Officials said the convoy was attacked shortly after leaving Luq Jelow village, about 20 kilometers west of Beledweyne. No casualties were reported by the Djiboutian troops, who are with the African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM.
The historic Hearst Castle, a major tourist attraction on California's central coast, will be closed to the public through the week as a safety precaution due to a wildfire in the area that has destroyed more than 30 homes, state officials said on Monday.

The monumental estate, built in the early 20th century for publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, was no longer in immediate danger, but the so-called Chimney Fire had crept within 3 miles (5 km) of the castle over the weekend before shifting direction, authorities said.

The blaze, one of a half-dozen large wildfires currently raging across California, has charred nearly 32,000 acres (12,950 hectares) and destroyed 48 structures, including 34 dwellings, since erupting on Aug. 13 in the rugged coastal mounts of San Luis Obispo County.

Nearly 1,900 structures were listed as threatened and about 2,500 people remained under evacuation orders on Monday.

But crews had carved containment lines around 35 percent of the fire's perimeter, and the blaze was burning mostly toward the northeast, away from the castle and populated areas, said Stacey Nolan, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Nevertheless, the California Parks and Recreation Department said the castle, a state-designated "historical monument" that hosts nearly 800,000 visitors a year, would be kept closed through Aug. 28 "due to the proximity of the wildfire."

Public tours of Hearst's 124-room "vacation home," Casa Grande, were initially suspended on Saturday as flames neared the estate, marking the first major fire threat to the landmark property since the 1960s, parks spokesman Dennis Weber said.

For generations of movie buffs, the castle grounds are significant as the inspiration for the fictional Xanadu estate in the 1941 film classic "Citizen Kane," starring Orson Welles as a self-made mogul and politician loosely based on Hearst.

California was one of nine Western states contending with a rash of about 30 some blazes that have scorched more than 400,000 acres (162,000 hectares) combined across the drought-parched region.

Emergency officials confronting a cluster of wildfires with limited resources in eastern Washington state enlisted the help of local farmers to help battle flames that have destroyed about two dozen buildings near Spokane, authorities said on Monday.

Three blazes burning largely unchecked around the outskirts of Spokane, the state's second-largest city, had collectively blackened about 13,000 acres (5,260 hectares) of dry brush, grass and timber, with zero percent containment, officials said.

The blazes all erupted on Sunday, stoked by extremely hot, dry weather and gusty winds. Cooler temperatures, rising humidity and diminished winds were expected to help crews gain some ground on Monday, as firefighting reinforcements arrived.
Indonesian authorities have tightened security in Bali, a police official said late on Monday, after reports at the weekend of a suspected militant plot to attack the holiday island.

"In connection with information about a terror arrest and a planned action in Bali, we are increasing security at all points of entry into Bali," said provincial police chief Sugeng Priyanto.

"The focus of our attention is also the small ports that are spread around Bali," he said, adding that informal points of entry are also being monitored. Anti-terror police said at the weekend they were investigating whether a suspected militant arrested in Sumatra last week was plotting an attack in Bali.

Police found a bomb and "high [impact] explosive materials" during a raid on the suspect's house.

"The suspect told us in a statement that they were planning an attack in Bali but there are no details or timeline," said national police spokesman Agus Rianto by phone.

A nightclub bombing on the resort island in 2002 carried out by homegrown militants killed 202 people, mostly Australians, and prompted a nationwide security crackdown.

Indonesia has seen a recent resurgence in radicalism, inspired in part by the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East.

An IS-linked gun and bomb attack in the capital Jakarta in January killed four people and counter-terrorism forces have since arrested dozens of suspected militants.
South Africa's main opposition party has won control of the local government in the economic hub city of Johannesburg, for the first time since the end of apartheid.

The Democratic Alliance's candidate won the post of mayor in an election by local government councilors, following heavy losses by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) during August 3 municipal elections.

The win is one of several for the Democratic Alliance in urban areas, including taking political control of the capital, Pretoria, in elections last week.

It marks a shift in the political landscape in South Africa, where the ANC has faced virtually no opposition nationally since it came to power after apartheid ended in 1994.

The ANC is still the largest party in Johannesburg, winning 44.5 percent of the general vote compared to the DA's 38.4. However, the party failed to win an outright majority, and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters, with 11 percent of the vote, chose to align with the DA.

New Mayor Herman Mashaba, a successful businessman, promised Monday to bring jobs to Johannesburg and "get this city working again." He campaigned on a platform of creating jobs and routing out corruption.

Besides Johannesburg and Pretoria, the DA also controls the coastal municipality of Nelson Mandela Bay and the legislative capital, Cape Town.
South Sudan opposition leader Riek Machar is in Khartoum for medical treatment, a Sudanese minister said Tuesday.

Information Minister Ahmed Bilal told state media Machar was brought to Sudan in "serious condition." Bilal said the opposition leader is suffering from some sort of chest infection and a problem with his leg, and is in very bad condition because he kept walking for more than 15 days.

Bilal said Juba has been notified of the situation.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir sacked Machar from his post as first vice president after renewed fighting in the capital, Juba, last month between forces loyal to the longtime rivals. The clashes forced tens of thousands of people to flee.

Machar withdrew to the bush during the fighting and was picked up this month by U.N. peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a leg injury. His spokesman earlier said that Machar left South Sudan to evade Kiir's forces and that his injury is not serious enough to require medical attention.

"Dr. Riek Machar's health is stable currently and he will remain in the country under comprehensive health care until he leaves to a destination of his choice to complete his treatment," Bilal said, refusing to provide any more details.

When asked who accompanied Machar to Khartoum, Bilal responded, He is alone.

Machar and Kiir have long been rivals, even before South Sudan's independence in 2011, when they were both commanders in the SPLA force that fought Sudan's Khartoum-based government.

But by December 2013, the political rivalry between Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Machar, a Nuer, had again boiled over into a civil conflict, which often followed ethnic lines.

The two men signed a peace deal in August 2015. Under that deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as first vice president. But fighting flared last month and he was then dismissed.

The U.S. and the United Nations have urged both sides to make amends to bring peace to the world's youngest nation.

Last week, the U.N. Security Council voted to authorize sending an extra 4,000 troops to the country to bolster the existing U.N. mission, which South Sudan said it was considering.
A suspected al-Qaida leader held in Guantanamo Bay was seen by the public Tuesday for the first time since 2002.

Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian who was arrested shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks, is making a case for his release.

Zubaydah, now 45, and his attorneys have said that he poses no threat to the United States. He reportedly has said that he wants to be reunited with this family and start a business after he is reintegrated into society.

The U.S. accused Zubaydah of being one of the most senior figures in al-Qaida when he was captured in Pakistan in 2002, but has since dropped that claim.

Zubaydah fell into the CIA's secret "black site" prison network until he was moved to Guantanamo in September 2006. In more than a decade of imprisonment there, Zubaydah has never been charged with a crime.

CIA documents released in June revealed that Zubaydah was subject to "enhanced interrogation," including being waterboarded 83 times, even when interrogators told officials they believed he had no more information to offer.

A note in the documents specified that if he dies, his body will be cremated and that because of "planned psychological pressure techniques" he should remain in isolation for the rest of his life.

One of the undated documents says Zubaydah's cooperation had little correlation with the waterboarding. "In any event, there was no evidence the waterboard produced time-perishable information, which otherwise would have been unobtainable," it said.

A 2014 U.S. Senate report on the program reached a similar conclusion, saying the enhanced interrogation techniques were not an effective way to gather intelligence or gain cooperation from detainees.

According to a statement read at Tuesday's hearing by a U.S. military officer acting as his representative, Zubaydah "has stated that he has no desire or intent to harm the United states or any other country, and he has repeatedly said that the Islamic State is out of control and has gone too far."
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has abandoned his call to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, instead saying he would send convicted criminals to their home countries and handle other immigration residency disputes much the way the country does now.

Trump, a real estate mogul making his first run for elected office, told Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly late Monday, "The first thing we're going to do if and when I win is we're going to get rid of all of the bad ones."

"We've got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country," he added. "We're going to get them out, and the police know who they are. They're known by law enforcement who they are. We don't do anything. They go around killing people and hurting people, and they're going to be out of this country so fast your head will spin. We have existing laws that allow you to do that."

As for the remainder of immigration cases, Trump said, "We're going to go through the process, like they are now, perhaps with a lot more energy, and we're going to do it only through the system of laws."

Trump noted, "What people don't know is that (President Barack) Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. (President George W.) Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm going to do the same thing."

Backtracking on deportation force



For a year, Trump has told voters he would create a deportation force to send all immigrants living in the United States illegally, the vast majority from Mexico and Central America, back to their homelands, allowing some of them to return through an administrative process.



"They have to go," he said at one point, twinning his deportation stance with his vow to build a wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico to thwart the flow of more migrants into the United States.

Earlier Monday, in another interview, he rejected the idea that he was "flip-flopping" on the deportation issue. He has not ended his vow to build the wall.

Trump has adopted his new immigration stance as he faces daunting odds in his contest against Democrat Hillary Clinton to win support from Hispanic and African-American voters in the November 8 election to pick the successor to Obama when he leaves office in January.

Clinton lead among minority voters



A new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll Tuesday shows Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, with a wide advantage over Trump among minority voters, the fastest growing segment of the U.S. electorate.

The survey said Trump, a one-time television reality show host, holds a 50 percent to 41 percent edge over Clinton among white voters. But blacks favor Clinton, the wife of former U.S. president Bill Clinton, by an 87-8 margin, Hispanics by a 73-22 ratio and Asians by a 66-23 advantage.

Overall, NBC said Clinton holds a 50 percent to 42 percent lead over Trump, virtually unchanged from her nine-point edge a week ago in a previous poll by the news organization. An average of numerous national polls compiled by realclearpolitics.com shows Clinton with a 5.5 percentage point lead.

Clinton's lead in the NBC poll narrows in a four-way matchup that also includes Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party contender Jill Stein. Then, NBC said the polling showed Clinton at 43, Trump 38, Johnson 11 and Stein 5.



Trump on Monday also demanded an independent special prosecutor be appointed to investigate connections between the Clinton Foundation, founded by Clinton and her husband to promote charitable ventures throughout the world, and the State Department she headed from 2009 to 2013. Emails have surfaced showing that foundation officials often asked Hillary Clinton's top aides to connect the foundation's biggest donors with key officials at the State Department.

Clinton discounts jabs about her health



Clinton appeared Monday night on the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" comedy show, mocking Republicans' "wacky strategy" claiming that she is not healthy enough to become president. At one point, she opened a new jar of pickles, to show her hand strength.

Both candidates are attending fund-raising events Tuesday, Trump in the solidly Republican southwestern state of Texas and Clinton in the equally Democratic western state of California.
The Turkish military bombed Islamic State positions Tuesday in a Syrian border town in what reports said was preparation for an assault by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.

Some 1,500 rebels have gathered in Gaziantep, Turkey, ready to try to drive IS fighters from Jarablus, Syria. A suicide bombing rocked a wedding party Saturday in Gaziantep, leaving 54 people dead. Turkey blamed IS for the attack.

This renewed campaign by Ankara to target IS in Jarabulus is raising questions about Turkeys next move in Syria, analysts said, and about what roles competing forces in the region targeting IS will play.

A Syrian rebel incursion from Turkey could set up a direct confrontation with U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

A conflict between the two sides is inevitable, Daryous Darwish, a Syrian affairs analyst in France, told VOA in a phone interview. "This town is important to all parties involved, because any group that controls it would have access to nearly 100 kilometers along the border and 15 kilometers into the depth of Syrian territory.

Path for supplies, troops

Jarabulus, held by IS for more than two years, has served as a major border crossing through which military supplies and foreign fighters are reportedly transported to IS territories in Syria.

The U.S.-backed and Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces also want to liberate the city from IS. But Turkey does not want Kurds to control the town and has been training Syrian rebels in Turkey to push out IS.

Jarabulus represents a strategic significance for the SDF, said Syrian activist Mustafa Abdi. Taking control of "Jarabulus from [IS] means militants would have no access to the borders anymore, and it would allow the SDF to focus on fighting them elsewhere.

But Kurdish groups have voiced concerns about Turkeys real intentions as it increases military activities near Jarabulus.

The U.S.-backed SDF said that any Turkish incursion into Syria would have unintended consequences in the fight against IS.

Turkey intends to make obstacles for the war that local groups are waging against [IS] terror, the SDF said in a statement Monday.

The SDF accused the Turkish government of backing Islamist rebels in a bid to stop Kurdish advances in northern Syria.

Equally dangerous

Ankara has often said that IS and Kurdish groups are equally dangerous to Turkish national security. The Turkish government fears that any Kurdish gain in Syria would empower the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have been battling Turkish forces inside Turkey.

Turkey opposed Kurdish gains in the nearby town of Manbij that was liberated by the SDF this month with U.S. help. And as the weekend bombing in Gaziantep showed, IS is a direct threat to Turkey, Turkish officials say.

WATCH: Turkey Steps Up Work on Border Wall Against Islamic State

In a move to tighten its borders with Syria, Turkey has stepped up the construction of a 208-kilometer wall on the border between the two countries.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is determined to root out IS from the border area. Fighting IS is Turkeys most natural right, he said.

But critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan say it is too late for Ankara to act against the militants.

IS has built nests in at least three regions of Gaziantep, said Elif Dogan Turkmen, a member of the Turkish Parliament from the Republican Peoples Party (CHP). Currently there is no control on the borders. Anyone can cross the border [from Syria] easily.
The U.N. childrens agency warns the flow of migrant children from Central America to the United States continues at a high rate, despite the dangers of the journey and the risk of deportation.

In a report released Tuesday, UNICEF says in the first six months of this year 26,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the U.S. border. Nearly 30,000 more adults and young children traveled as families.

Most are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, three of the worlds poorest and most crime-ridden countries.

These numbers are very, very high, said Patrick Moser, who authored the report. There is no indication that they will get any lower. The conditions in the countries are such that children will continue leaving.

Families pay huge fees to smugglers, known as coyotes, to bring them and their children north to a better future.

Violent, harsh journeys

But for many, the journey is violent. Young girls, in particular, face the risk of rape. Migrant children must also cross harsh desert terrain and rivers to reach the U.S.

Many never reach the United States. This year, more than 16,000 migrant children were apprehended in Mexico. Hundreds of others will die during the dangerous and difficult journey, and many more will go missing at the hands of kidnappers, human traffickers and murderers.

Those who do make it to the United States face detention and deportation.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs statistics in the UNICEF report, more than 75,000 nationals from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were deported during 2015.

For children, UNICEF says that can end up being a death sentence, putting those who fled gangs and organized crime at risk of attack, rape and murder when they return home.

"We have to remember that whatever their migration status or nationality, children are, first and foremost, children, Moser said. They deserve protection, they need protection, and they are entitled to protection.

He said that can mean safety from gang violence or drug cartels in their countries of origin or, on the migration journey, protecting them from kidnapping or human traffickers.

When unaccompanied child migrants are detained at the U.S. border, they are sent to government-operated shelters or are put in foster care homes. UNICEF says they are often in this situation for about one month, and are then are handed over to sponsors, who are often relatives.

No legal resources

But many children do not have automatic access to immigration lawyers, the report says. Some children receive free legal help from charitable groups, but others are left to fend for themselves in a foreign legal system.

In the United States, a defendant is entitled to a court-appointed attorney in a criminal case. These immigration cases are civil cases, Moser notes, so children are not automatically entitled to a free court-appointed attorney.

According to statistics quoted in the UNICEF report, about 40 percent of children without a lawyer are more likely to be deported than those who have representation. Those with lawyers had only a 3 percent deportation rate.

UNICEF said children should not be detained and should have full access to health care and other services, as well as be allowed to live with their families whenever possible.

For those who are sent home, UNICEF works with local governments and partner organizations to help children who have been traumatized by their journey and to get children who are ready back into school.
U.S. authorities are investigating what they believe is a series of Russian intelligence cyberattacks targeting information collected by journalists at The New York Times and other news organizations.

The security breaches have been detected over the past several months, U.S. news organizations reported Tuesday. The attacks are thought to be part of a broader campaign targeting the Democratic Party, which is in the midst of trying to ensure former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's election as president.

U.S. authorities say the cyberattacks appear to be targeting American organizations outside government agencies, such as Washington think tanks and news organizations, to gain an understanding of the current American political scene in the weeks before the quadrennial presidential election on November 8. Clinton principal rival is Republican Donald Trump.

Information collected by key journalists could provide links to their sources or offer hints about possible unpublished stories related to Russia.

Shortly before last month's Democratic National Convention that nominated Clinton for president, the information-sharing group WikiLeaks released more than 19,000 emails from computers at the party's national headquarters in Washington. WikiLeaks has declined to say who its source was, but U.S. experts say they believe the hacking was carried out by Russians.

Some of the hacked emails showed party officials favored Clinton's nomination over that of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who engaged her in a spirited, monthslong campaign before ending his run for the White House and endorsing her.

Trump recently suggested that Russia ought to hack into Clinton's computer to see whether its agents could find 33,000 emails that Clinton said were private in nature from her days as the State Department chief from 2009 to 2013 and had been deleted.

A day later, after critics attacked Trump's suggestion that a foreign government meddle in the U.S. presidential campaign, he said he was being sarcastic.
The U.S. Treasury has imposed financial sanctions against two sons of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group fighting a bloody war in Central Africa.

The Treasury on Tuesday froze all assets in the United States belonging to Salim and Ali Kony, and prohibited Americans from doing business with them. Similar sanctions were imposed on Joseph Kony in March.

"Our initiatives that target the finances of the LRA and its leaders, while combating their involvement in illicit ivory trade, are part of the concerted international effort to fight against violence in the Central African Republic," said John Smith, acting director of the branch of the Treasury in charge of financial sanctions.

Salim and Ali Kony have been part of the hierarchy of the LRA since 2010. Ali is seen as a potential successor to his father. Both sons are responsible for enforcing discipline within the group. Treasury officials said Salim is suspected of killing members of the LRA who wanted to leave the insurgency.

Since 2014, the LRA has utilized elephant poaching and ivory trafficking to generate revenue to purchase weapons and ammunition that are, in turn, used to continue the group's attacks against civilians across Central Africa.

Salim and Ali Kony have played critical roles in the LRA's trafficking of ivory from Garamba National Park in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo through the Central African Republic for sale to local merchants.
A U.S. judge blocked an Obama administration policy that public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice, granting a nationwide injunction sought by 13 dissenting states just in time for the new school year.

While a setback for transgender advocates, the ruling is only the latest salvo in a larger legal and cultural battle over transgender rights that could be headed toward the U.S. Supreme Court.

Following milestone achievements in gay rights including same-sex marriage becoming legal nationwide in 2015, transgender rights have become an increasingly contentious issue in the United States, with advocates saying the law should afford them the same rights extended to racial and religious minorities.

U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, issued a nationwide injunction siding with the 13 states and blocking the Obama administration's bathroom guidelines Sunday, the evening before students in much of Texas and some of the other affected states were due back in school.

O'Connor found the federal government failed to provide states with sufficient notice and opportunity for comment before issuing the guidelines. He also said the guidelines had the effect of law and contradicted existing legislative and regulatory texts.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement it was disappointed by the decision and was reviewing its options.

Legal experts expected it to appeal, likely asking to put O'Connor's ruling on hold until the case could be litigated.

Guidelines

In May, the Justice and Education departments issued guidance that public schools must allow transgender students to use bathrooms, locker rooms and other intimate facilities of their choice rather than those matching their gender assigned at birth. The Justice Department has called the guidelines non-binding, saying they had no legal consequences.

But they were also backed up by a threat to withhold federal education money from states that refused to comply, drawing objections from 13 states, led by Texas, that sued.

Some conservatives have fought an expansion of transgender rights which they see as an attack on privacy and an example of federal government overreach.

In test cases around the country, various lower courts have differed in their interpretation on whether anti-discrimination laws apply to transgender people, potentially sending the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court for a definitive resolution.

O'Connor's ruling is "just one small part of an unfolding process," said Aaron Bruhl, a professor at William & Mary Law School in Virginia.

"This won't be the last word on this subject, obviously," he said. "There's a decent chance the U.S. Supreme Court could address this issue in the near future."

Katherine Franke, a law professor at Columbia University, said it was "shocking" that O'Connor had applied his injunction to the entire nation, especially since "there's an opposite decision from the 4th Circuit [Court of Appeals] and eight other lawsuits pending."

'Federal overreach'

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who frequently sues the Democratic Obama administration, said he was pleased with a decision against "illegal federal overreach."

But a group of five civil rights organizations supporting the Obama policy said legal precedent protects transgender students from discrimination, which a single judge cannot overturn.

"The court's misguided decision targets a small, vulnerable group of young people  transgender elementary and high school students  for potential continued harassment, stigma and abuse," said the five groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal.

The judge's decision came about eight hours before Jennifer Campisi took her 9-year-old son E.J., a transgender student, to the first day of school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. E.J. is not allowed to use the boys' bathroom and instead must use either the nurse's bathroom or a faculty bathroom.

"These policies just keep kids separate and they put unnecessary stress on parents," she said, adding that allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice is the best solution for all.

Another mother, Alison Kelley, who has two children in the Fort Worth Independent School District, said she that opposed the Obama guidelines and that local school authorities should decide what is best case by case.

"I am not anti-transgender," Kelley said. "I am anti-big government getting into my backyard."
An American soldier died as a result of wounds sustained during operations in the southern Afghan province of Helmand Tuesday while another was wounded, the U.S. military said.

It said in a statement released in Kabul that the wounded soldier is in stable condition. Six Afghan soldiers were also hurt during the operation near the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

The service member was killed conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under NATO authorities when their patrol triggered an improvised explosive device. An investigation is being conducted to determine the exact circumstances of the event, the statement added.

We are deeply saddened by this loss, but remain committed to helping our Afghan partners provide a brighter future for themselves and their children, said General John Nicholson, commander of USFOR-A and Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

He also expressed deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those involved on behalf of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan, as well as Resolute Support.

The U.S. military has recently deployed around 100 troops to Lashkar Gah to assist Afghan forces in their bid to defend the increasingly besieged city. The Taliban has captured several districts in Helmand in recent weeks and fierce battles have been raging in other districts bringing the Taliban close to the provincial capital.

On Monday, the U.S. military spokesman, Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, while announcing the deployment of fresh troops to Lashkar Gah, emphasized they have been tasked with training, advising and assisting Afghan partners to enable them to better plan counter-offensives and retake lost areas in Helmand.

He ruled out the possibility of the citys fall to the Taliban.

The Taliban have the ability to commit violent acts ...sometimes in the city or in the suburbs and certainly we have seen that in some of the districts. But we don't believe that Lashkar Gah is about to fall, said Cleveland.

General Cleveland acknowledged that Taliban fighters have used new tactics during recent fighting, enabling them to inflict losses on Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) in Helmand.

Again clearly concerning, but on the flip side of it, they are still not able to hold, in most instances, major population centers or major strategic areas down in Helmand, he noted.

The largest Afghan province borders Pakistan and its billion-dollar opium crop produces most of the worlds heroin and is used to fund the Taliban insurgency.
Venezuela's interior minister and former boss of the country's anti-narcotics agency, General Nestor Reverol, hit back on Monday at accusations by a U.S. federal court that he abetted cocaine trafficking.

Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors announced an indictment charging that from 2008 to 2010, Reverol and another official took payments to alert traffickers over raids, hinder investigations and arrange the release of suspects, cash and drugs. He called the accusations "unfounded."

"I reject them categorically in all their parts," Reverol, 51, said at a news conference at the anti-narcotics agency he used to lead in Caracas.

"They want to use it as a political weapon," Reverol said, flanked by General Edylberto Molina, his former deputy and until recently Venezuela's defense attache in Germany. Molina was also named in the Brooklyn court indictment and sat stony faced in a gray suit during the conference, without speaking.

Venezuela is a large, lightly populated country that shares a long and lawless border with Colombia. It is a major transport hub for its neighbor's cocaine destined to Europe and to a lesser extent to the United States.

Washington has long alleged senior Venezuelan military officials and political allies of President Nicolas Maduro were complicit in the trade. Last year, two nephews of the first lady were indicted in New York on charges of attempting to smuggle cocaine to the United States via Honduras.

Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez kicked out the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2005 and Reverol said cocaine seizures almost doubled the following year.

The numbers have varied since then, but last year overall drug seizures were 79 tons, most of that cocaine, current ONA head Irwin Escalona told Reuters. This year until Aug. 21, Venezuela had seized 33 tons of drugs, including 29 tons of cocaine, Escalona said.

Venezuela started seizing precursor chemicals used in cocaine production last year along the Colombian border, leading them to cocaine laboratories in Venezuela, he said.

Reverol accused the United States of hypocrisy, leading the fight against drugs on one hand while being lax on marijuana cultivation on its own territory and overseeing a surge in opium production in Afghanistan.

He detailed his actions against drug trafficking and organized crime while he was in charge of Venezuela's National Anti-Drugs Organization from 2006-2012, including installing a radar network covering all Venezuela's airspace for the first time, arresting traffickers and eradicating illicit crops.
When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visits Turkey on Wednesday, he will be the most senior Western leader to visit that country since the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15. Many Turks say they're angry about what they see as a lack of solidarity from the West, while many in the West are concerned that Ankara has fired or suspended nearly 80,000 government employees and soldiers. VOA White House Correspondent Cindy Saine looks at the strains on U.S-Turkish ties.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency says it has learned from intelligence sources that North Korea has recently ordered the adult children of its overseas diplomats to return home.

The sources say officials with South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, told a parliamentary oversight committee in a closed door session that Pyongyang issued the return order for all diplomats' children 25 years old and older , as part of an apparent effort to stop potential defections.

But a parliamentary source told Yonhap it is believed the order did not directly cause the recent defection of Thae Yong Ho, North Korea's second ranking official in Britain. The source says it is likely that Thae "had been seeking a chance to leave for some time."

South Korean President Park Guen-hye told her National Security Council Monday that Thae's defection was a sign of "serious cracks" in North Korea's ruling elites.

Pyongyang has denounced Thae as "human scum" and accused him of a number of criminal acts, including child molestation.
Some youth in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, have defaced Robert Mugabe Way sign posts and renamed the road Devolution Way as a form of protest against government's failure to devolve power to provinces, a provision enshrined in the country's supreme law.

We will give you an update on popular prophet Walter Magaya of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries who allegedly raped a 25 year-old Midlands University student. Magaya is out of custody on $2,000 bail.

Zimbabwe Rural Teachers Union abandon a 200 kilometer walk from Maramba Pfungwe district in Mashonaland East province to Harare claiming that their lives are in danger.

And the Zimbabwe Olympics Committee speaks with Studio 7 about the poor performance of competitors in the just-ended Rio Olympics and the way forward.

Stay tuned for these stories and more coming up on Studio 7 at 7:30 pm on 9-0-9 Medium Wave and on the 4-9-3-0, 5-9-4-0 and 1-5-4-6-0 shortwave frequencies. We also broadcast on www.channelzim.net. Please check us out on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

This evening on Livetalk our hosts will be talking with listeners about unemployed Zimbabwean graduates, who have resorted to selling different goods to make a living. What are your views on this issue?

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!!!!!!
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says some prices of basic commodities have gone up following governments enforcement of a Statutory Instrument 164 of 2016 that banned the importation of several consumer goods.

The introduction of the ban was met with stiff resistance from individuals and organizations who rely on cross-border trade resulting in the government relaxing the law to allow consumers to import a number of goods.

The law resulted in some organizations launching a campaign to discourage commercial activity at the countrys borders.

However, president of the International Crossborders Association, Dennis Juru, told Studio Seven that they had suspended their campaign because people can now bring into the country any number of items from outside the country.

"We are happy that the government listened to the cries of the people. You can now get a few items into the country from outside, especially groceries," said Juru.

Regional spokesman of the Consumer Council for Matabeleland, Comfort Muchekeza, told Studio 7 that the consumer food basket has gone up by 0.09 bringing it up to $567.00

"The main reason (for the increase) was the government gazetted statutory instrument 64," he said.

He added that the whole idea of introducing the statutory instrument was good but local producers raised their prices because they did not have any competition.

Muchekeza said despite the increases there was a slight drop in the prices of few goods, especially cooking oil.
The arrest of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) leader Prophet Walter Magaya on rape charges last week has been received with mixed reactions by his followers and ordinary Zimbabweans.

When Studio 7 visited the PHD Ministries premises in Harares Waterfalls high density suburb, there were a handful of followers who were praying in a fenced area that is commonly known by the churchs congregates as the Holy Ground.

However, security personnel at the church barred Studio 7 from interviewing followers inside the church building.

Studio 7 interviewed some of the followers, including one who identified herself as Mildred Chakanyuka.

Chakanyuka, who claimed to be living in Harares Budiriro high density suburb, said Magaya has no case to answer.

But Mbare resident Nancy Gonese said the allegations being levelled against the prominent cleric cannot be dismissed as he is exposed to a large number of women.

Another member of the church, Zakariah Chibaya, said Magaya should exonerate himself in court if he is going to remain a member of PHD Ministries.

His sentiments were echoed by PHD Ministries member, who only identified himself as Zindoga. He claimed that Magayas problems were politically-motivated.

Chakanyuka said she believes Magaya us a powerful prophet who cannot stoop so low to allegedly rape a women.

Studio 7 failed to get a comment from Magaya who was not answering his mobile phone while his lawyer Everson Chatambudza was said to be in South Africa.

Magaya attracted many followers in Zimbabwe when he announced that prominent Nigerian prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, commonly known as Prophet TB Joshua, is his godfather.

Since then many people, including cabinet ministers and senior government officials, have been worshipping at his church.
As protests in Zimbabwe continue, it has now become common to see young Zimbabweans wearing graduation gowns and hats staging their own protests over the high unemployment rate in Zimbabwe.

The college and university graduates have taken to the streets and social media under the #thisgown movement questioning the ruling Zanu PF governments promises of 2.2 million jobs during the run up to the 2013 national elections.

Some of these recent graduates are now vendors selling different goods to make ends meet.

One graduate is Samuel Wadzayi, who holds a masters in Human Resources Management and is director of the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation. His organization is seeking to bring together unemployed graduates to create a platform covering a wide range of issues.

Its unfortunate that we attained these masters, these degrees but we cannot use them anywhere in our country because of the situation, said Wadzayi.

Statistics show that more than 85 percent of the countrys population is unemployed though official figures are pegged at almost 11 percent.

And for graduates like Wadzayi the figure is too staggering.

We expect the government to be responsible that is the first thing. You know, they promised to create 2.2 million jobs and were campaigning during the election campaigning period. It was part of the current government manifesto that they were going to create the 2.2 million jobs.

The number of unemployed graduates with degrees is increasing in Zimbabwe as many companies continue to close shop due to economic hardships. Jobs have been decimated by company closures.

Recent graduate, Karen Nozipho Gumbo, told Studio 7 that after her undergraduate studies she wasnt able to find work.

She said apart from the lack of jobs, companies told her she wasnt bankable.

Gumbo is now back in school pursuing her masters degree, hoping the pastures will become greener.

When employers advertise on the media or whatever advertising tool they use, theyll be talking about three years and four years experience. And I couldnt get that experience. I tried doing internships and volunteering, but I couldnt get any volunteering because companies were skeptical about taking a person that they could not pay, said Gumbo.

Meanwhile, graduates in the #thisgown campaign said they will keep pressing government with protests but noted that even seeing young graduates selling wares on the streets should be telling enough for the state to address their concerns.
The Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) has called off a 200-kilometer protest march by its executive members from Mutawatawa in Maramba-Pfungwe district in Mashonaland East to Harare citing alleged threats from state security agents in the province.

The 15-member team launched its march a week ago with plans to walk for 10 days advocating for better education in rural areas and other issues.

The unions vice president, Thandiwe Dube, said they were threatened from day one of the march when they were allegedly threatened with death by members of the dreaded spy network Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) at Mutawatawa.

This happened after they tried to hand over a petition at the district education offices at the growth point.

The group was allegedly threatened again when it camped for the night at Mashambanhaka Primary School, at Nhakiwa Business Centre on the same night and at Murehwa Centre the following day where they were interrogated by security agents who accused them of trying to remove the government from power.

At Murehwa district, some of the arrested members faced charges of public nuisance which were later dropped by the state. But the president of the union, Obert Masaraure, was accused of allegedly contravening some provisions of the Public Order and Security Act.

Dube said they would, however, still hand over their petition to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education on Friday as planned despite abandoning the walk.

The group had covered about 120 kilometers of the expected 200 kilometers.
Just as in all wars, the war against Syria has triggered an avalanche of propaganda. And the use of children is always a winning strategy.

So, at the beginning of the war, Qatar wanted to demonstrate that the Republic, far from serving the general interest, actually despised the People. The petro-dictatorship then broadcast, on its TV channel Al-Jazeera, the legend of the children of Deraa, supposedly tortured by the police. To illustrate the cruelty of its adversary, Qatar specified that their fingernails had been torn out. Of course, despite research, no journalist could find any trace of these children. The BBC broadcast an interview with two of them, but their nails were still intact.

Since the myth could not be proved, Qatar then launched a new story  that of a child, Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb (13 years old), who had allegedly been tortured and castrated by the regimes police. This time, they provided a convincing image. Everyone could see that the body had no sex. However, the autopsy showed that the body had been poorly preserved, and that it had fermented and swollen. The stomach hid the childs sex, which was still present.

At the end of 2013, the British took over the task of war propaganda. They had a long experience in that sector, and are considered to have invented modern propaganda during the first World War, with the Office of War Propaganda. One of the characteristics of their method is to rely on artists, because aesthetics tend to neutralise critical thinking. In 1914, they recruited the great authors of the time  like Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells and Rudyard Kipling  to publish texts which attributed imaginary crimes to their German enemy. Then they recruited the heads of their major newspapers to publish the imaginary information invented by the authors.

When the United States adopted the British method, in 1917, with the Committee on Public Information, they made a more precise study of the mechanisms of persuasion, with the help of star journalist Walter Lippmann and the inventor of modern publicity, Edward Bernays (Sigmund Freuds nephew). But, persuaded of the power of science, they forgot about aesthetics.

At the beginning of 2014, the British MI6 created the company Innovative Communications & Strategies (InCoStrat) to whom we owe, for example, the magnificent logos of the armed groups, from the most moderate to the most extremist. This company, which has offices in Washington and Istanbul, organised the campaign to convince the Europeans to offer sanctuary to 1 million refugees. It was this company that photographed young Aylan Kurdi, drowned on a Turkish beach, and managed, in two days, to have it published on the front page of the main Atlantist newspapers in all NATO countries as well as those of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Every year, before the war, a hundred people died from drowning on Turkish beaches, and no-one mentioned it. And above all, only the tabloids showed photographs of the corpses. But this photo was so well composed

Since I noted that a body can not be washed up perpendicular to the waves, the photographer explained later that he had moved the corpse for the needs of the photo.

The photo of young Omran Daqneesh (5 years old), in an ambulance in West Aleppo, is thus accompanied by a video. The two supports enable the information to be exploited by both the written Press and the television. The scene is so dramatic that a news-reader from CNN could not stop herself from crying when she saw it. Of course, when we think about it, we notice that the child was not attended to by the medical personnel who gave him first aid, but by a group of extras, (the White Helmets), who placed him facing the cameras.

The British film directors care nothing about the child, whose only interest for them is as a feature in their images. According to Associated Press, the photograph was taken by Mahmoud Raslan, whom we can see in the video. According to his Facebook account, this man is a member of Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki (supported by the CIA, who supplied the group with BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles). Still according to his Facebook account, and as confirmed by another video, it was Raslan who, on the 19 July 2016, personally cut the throat of a young Palestinian child, Abdullah Tayseer Al Issa (12 years old).

European laws lay down strict guidelines for the use of children in publicity. Clearly, these laws do not apply to war propaganda.
Mariska Jagt is a Dutch interior designer who believes beauty is within the details, with a background in psychology, hospitality and travel, she found the perfect mix that brings all together in designing personal and sophisticated designs for her clients.

This home she designed caught my eye because of the large WDSTCK table and my all time favourite lamp by my sweet friends of Ay Illuminate. Creating contrast with new design, antiques and different shades of gray the home has a fresh and clean look that can be found throughout the whole home including the bedroom and the childrens room. I can imagine a family living here, lounging on the elements couch, childrens toys and books laying around and some big green plants to make it a real family home. More of Mariskas work can be found at Mariska Jagt design

pictures via Mariska Jagt with thanks
Photo: Barcroft Media/Getty Images

No need to watch a Georgian eraset costume drama today, because the BBC is here to fill all of your theatrical needs. Unless youve been living under the hood of a Pagani Huayra, youre well aware by now that Jeremy Clarkson  the bombastic former host of BBCs immensely popular motoring program Top Gear  was fired from the network last year after a fracas that involved Clarkson punching a Top Gear producer. (What initially started as a suspension ended with his contract not being renewed.) His fellow hosts, Richard Hammond and James May, proceeded to walk out with Clarkson, and the irreplaceable trio are now making Friends money by filming a new series, The Grand Tour, for Amazon. Still, despite the promising new show for Jezza, Hamster, and Captain Slow on the horizon  its set to debut sometime this fall  the inevitable questions lingered: Did Clarkson really have to be fired? Would a lengthy suspension have worked better? Did the show really need to return with new hosts? Mark Thompson, a former director general at the BBC, has some fighting words on the matter, specifically that the BBC shouldve tried harder to keep Clarkson on the network.

Clarkson can be a deeply objectionable individual, and I say that as a friend, Thompson told the Sunday Times. I dont think people should punch their colleagues. Its hard to keep them if they do  but I would say his pungent, transgressive, slightly out-of-control talent was something the BBC could ill afford to lose. Thompson added: He spoke to people who didnt find much else in the BBC. The fact no-one could ever quite believe the BBC allowed Top Gear to go out was a precious thing to hang on to. As a fan, I regret its passing. To Amazon we must go, then.
I wanted to show white people, you dont know everything about black culture, said Donald Glover. The 32-year-old actor was eating takeout sushi at a small table in his brothers Hollywood apartment, wearing a black pocket tee that matched his black velvet loafers, no socks. I know its very easy to feel that way. Like, I get it, you can hear about the Nae Nae the day it comes out, Glover continued as his brother played Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64 across the room. Skrrt Skrrt by the young Atlanta rapper 21 Savage blared on the speakers. You follow Hood Vines, and you have your one black friend and you think they teach you everything, I get it that Deshaun said that black people love  nigga, I hate Deshaun.

Glover was explaining the genesis of Atlanta, premiering on FX on September 6, which he created, co-wrote, executive-produced, and stars in. Its a dramedy about two cousins who live in, yes, Atlanta. Glovers character, Earn, wants to help manage his cousin Paper Bois newly hot career as a rapper. Paper Boi, played by Brian Tyree Henry, sells drugs with his friend and adviser Darius (Keith Stanfield). Earn  not unlike Glover himself  is familiar with his cousins world, but not an active participant; the show explores Earns ever-evolving balancing act between his origins and a life often spent in predominantly white settings.

Glover opted to develop Atlanta instead of returning for the sixth season of Community, the highly referential sitcom on which he played lovable Troy Barnes, a jock-ditz whose sweet silliness soon became synonymous with the actor himself in the popular imagination. Glover had landed at the show after leaving Atlanta for undergrad at New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts, an improv career with the Upright Citizens Brigade, and a stint writing for 30 Rock. Hed first gained onscreen notoriety in 2006 on YouTube as a member of his sketch-comedy troupe Derrick Comedy, known for Bro Rape, a fauxinvestigative report about the phenomenon of preppy and/or fratty guys luring in other preppy and/or fratty guys by way of beer and Family Guy.It was an early viral internet video, one that began to develop the idea of Donald Glover as the token black guy who understood white culture so well  maybe even better than he understood black culture  that he was the perfect candidate to skewer it. (Years later, when Lena Dunham was taken to task for the whiteness of Girls in its first season, she turned to Glover for a two-episode, winking arc in which he played her characters black Republican boyfriend.)

When Glover began a rap career as Childish Gambino in 2011, he was greeted with both deeply enthusiastic fans and harsh critics. The music was an acquired taste that could be understood either as bad improv or phenomenal hip-hop, but mostly it was seen as his hipster quirk, a side career, a reputation he wasnt entirely able to shake even after two Grammy nominations for his second album. Given the complicated way Glovers race gets rolled up into his image, its not exactly surprising that he wants people to realize theyve yet to learn who he is or where hes from.

That would be Stone Mountain, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, where his father was a postal worker and his mother a day-care provider. When Glover was putting together the writers room for the show, he looked close to home, hiring his younger brother Stephen (who previously worked as a songwriter) as a writer and story editor. The entire writing staff is black, which is virtually unheard of in television. And while many of the cast members and writing staff are Atlanta natives, with the exception of Glover and Stefani Robinson (FXXs Man Seeking Woman), it was everyones first writers room. The atmosphere was informal by design, and Glover asked the network if he could skip using an office. Instead, they worked in just this house in Hollywood called the Factory. We would just sit around and have conversations, he explained. There, Glover would write during the day and make music at night.

If that environment was anything like the one in Glovers brothers living room, it was unfiltered and wide-ranging: the banter among Glover, his brother, and Stephens roommate Jamal Olori  also a writer on Atlanta  covered O. J. Simpson, both the ESPN documentary and the FX show (Our relationship with O.J. is black peoples relationship with America, said Glover); The Catcher in the Rye (Glover again: When we were kids, it didnt make sense to us. This dude is like, Everybodys phony  thats such a white struggle, not realizing until youre a teenager that adults are full of shit. Black people learn that real early); the question of which is the classic, Ushers 8701 versus Confessions, Young Jeezys Trap or Die versus Lets Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (roomwide vacillation on both); and Michael Jordans newfound activism (skepticism all around).

Glover picked Hiro Murai, his longtime music-video director, as the primary director for Atlanta over other people he had met with and loved, including Tangerines Sean Baker and Creative Controls Ben Dickinson. Hirod never done narrative before, never done television, Glover said. Everybody kept asking, Are you sure you want to do it with him? And Im really glad, because when Id ask him, Is this normal for a show? hed be like, I have no idea, I dont know. But thats how we made something personal. Wed do something and then start giggling and be like, Thats tight, this is dope, Id like to see that. 

FX was supportive of Glovers vision, even if it didnt always get it. An original suggestion from the network was for Paper Boi to live in a home as run-down and traplike as possible. We were like, No, hes a drug dealer, he makes enough money to live in a regular apartment,  Glover said. There were some things so subtle and black that people had no idea what we were talking about. One actor purposefully delivered his line in a drawl that was nearly indecipherable if you didnt grow up in Atlanta. After three takes, Hiro took me aside and was like, I dont know what hes saying. To Hiro, this nigga is speaking patois. Glover laughed. That character is an artifact. Culturally, were becoming very homogenized. That dude isnt going to be around in seven years. You arent going to be able to find him. White people are moving into Bankhead, one of the historically blackest neighborhoods in Atlanta. Glover paused. Its important that dude gets represented in this show.

Glovers been thinking about this sense of place for a while. I needed people to understand I see Atlanta as a beautiful metaphor for black people, he said to me when I interviewed him last year. In other words, the city  encompassing Martin Luther King Jr., Aquemini, Freaknik, Madea, Gucci Mane, a cluster of historically black colleges, the legacy of Jim Crow, the legacy of the Black Mafia Family, extreme black poverty, 40-plus years of black mayors, extreme black wealth, and perhaps Americas largest black middle class  is an ideal laboratory to explore the true variety of the black experience.

Glover sees his own life as another useful lens on blackness. I know when I go to Baltimore, when I go to D.C., its like 50-50  half of them are like, I love this dude, this dudes cool. And the other half are like, This coon-ass dude,  he said in his brothers apartment. But I have no hate in my heart for no black person ever. Because were in a position where the system has fucked us up so bad we cant always trust each other.

The actor can sometimes seem moody or like he has a chip on his shoulder. Because, to some degree, he does. As Glovers career has progressed, hes become more reclusive, allergic to the world of sharing and oversharing and to the internet culture that helped create him. A lot of people dont understand me, which is good. I dont give a fuck, Glover said with a shrug. He admires Dave Chappelle, who so famously turned his back on fame at the height of his success. I just remember Chappelles Show, reading interviews, him being like, We just wanted to make this personal. So just let me try and make this show as personal as possible, and not just all the nice and fun stuff of being black shown all the time.

Glover stood up to play some of his new music. In September, hes throwing a three-day festival in Joshua Tree called Pharos; hes also got a gig in the next Spider-Man, following successful film turns in The Martianand Magic Mike XXL. But Atlanta is his focus. You know, I really believe that I have six to eight, maybe ten more years of being dangerous, Glover said. With this show, with this music, Im just trying to make classics. The second season of Atlanta will be a classic. He also changed the way he thinks about what makes something worthy of that distinction. I used to time-stamp things, like boom-boom-boom, this will bring me back to fifth grade, he explained. Now I want something that, depending on when you listen to it, watch it, it speaks to different things. It changes.

That makes sense: Glover has been playing around with perception for years. Is Childish Gambino an alter ego? How much of the actors personality showed up onscreen in Troy Barnes? Is Glovers character in Atlanta closer to his true self? How does race factor in to how we judge all these versions of him? Hell keep exploring identity politics on his show, but he still sees comedy as the backbone of his work. The No. 1 thing we kept coming back to is that it needs to be funny first and foremost. I never wanted this shit to be important. I never wanted this show to be about diversity; all that shit is wack to me. Theres a lot of clapter going on. He was referencing a Seth Meyers coinage: politically correct humor that elicits applause but that isnt actually funny. A lot of niggas be like   Glover started clapping exaggeratedly   So true, yes, so, so true. But what you did isnt funny; theyre just clapping and laughing to be on the right side of history.

*This article appears in the August 22, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
Michelle Obama. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

As her time in the White House draws to a close, Michelle Obama spoke to Variety about engaging with popular culture as First Lady, in what the mag calls a carefully planned strategy thats seen her dance with Jimmy Fallon, sing on James Cordens Carpool Karaoke, and even pop up on Billy on the Street, an appearance she still cant quite believe she did. (You know, thats when I thought, This is crazy.) These appearances were meant to promote her healthy-living initiatives, but deeper in the interview Obama also gives a strong argument for why its been important for her to put herself out in the pop-culture sphere. For so many people, television and movies may be the only way they understand people who arent like them, she says. And when I come across many little black girls who come up to me over the course of these 7  years with tears in their eyes, and they say: Thank you for being a role model for me. I dont see educated black women on TV, and the fact that youre first lady validates who I am.

And because of Americas long history of housing segregation, Obama says, cultural representation is even more important:

People [like the Obamas] who come from intact families who are educated, who have values, who care for their kids, who raise their kids  if you dont see that on TV, and you dont live in communities with people like me, you never know who we are, and you can make and be susceptible to all sorts of assumptions and stereotypes and biases, based on nothing but what you see and hear on TV. [] There are folks who now know black families  like the Johnsons on Black-ish or the folks on Modern Family. They become part of who you are. You share their pains. You understand their fears. They make you laugh, and they change how you see the world. And that is particularly true in a country where there are still millions of people who live in communities where they can live their whole lives not having contact or exposure with people who arent like them, whether that is race or religion or simply lifestyle. The only way that millions of people get to know other folks and the way they live  is through the power of television and movies.

If youre wondering why it seems like we talk so much about diversity, this is why.
Photo: Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

In the event you happen to be a massive Truman Capote enthusiast with an equally massive disposable bank account, allow us to present you with the strange deal of a lifetime. The famed authors cremains  which are stored in a Japanese wooden box and dated from August 28, 1984  have been put on sale at the Los Angelesbased auction house Juliens Auctions. The cremains are expected to fetch between $4,000 and $6,000, but if youre looking for something a little more practical, other Capote items such as photographs, pill bottles, and a polo shirt are also being auctioned off. No signed In Cold Blood limited editions, unfortunately.

Update, September 25: We have a winning bidder! Capotes cremains have sold for $45,000, thousands and thousands of dollars above the original estimate. I am sure people are going to think this is disrespectful, Juliens Auctions chief executive Darren Julien told Vanity Fair when the auction was announced. But this is a fact: Truman Capote loved the element of shock. He loved publicity. And Im sure hes looking down laughing, and saying, Thats something I would have done.

He added to CNN when the auction ended: We had people from Russia, Germany, China, South America, and here in the U.S. who had interest in them. I anticipated it could sell for over $10,000, but didnt anticipate it going to $45,000. Bequeathed to Capotes good friend Joanne Carson, the wife of Johnny Carson, Julien said the Carson estate didnt know what to do with the ashes after she passed away last year. (They, interestingly, were reportedly split between Carson and Jack Dunphy, who was Capotes companion of many years.) We hope youre happy with your purchase, mystery buyer.
The last 17 patients at the old Hillcrest Hospital complex on Herring Avenue recently moved across town. That ended an era that began in 1920 and included the 2009 opening of the $250 million Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center at Interstate 35 and West Loop 340.

Now 650,000 square feet of buildings and parking lots spread across 12 acres, the Herring campus had served as home to office space, rehabilitation services and skilled nursing services since the new Hillcrest opened across town. If it is not sold in three years, demolition crews will level a part of Wacos history, leaving memories for generations.

Officials said Hillcrest is not abandoning the heart of Wacos central city. The nearby MacArthur Clinic at 2201 MacArthur Drive will receive extra staffing, and Hillcrest is providing office space for organizations including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Hoops for Hope and Faith in Action Initiatives in a building it owns near the hospital.

We are closing a facility with a rich history, and we did not undertake it lightly, President Glenn Robinson said. But it was costing an additional $2 million to $3 million a year to operate that building, and if we kept it open, we probably were facing another $1 million a year in capital costs.

Fortunately, positions elsewhere in the system were found for all but one of the 200 people working at the old Hillcrest, Robinson said.

To meet its goal of providing healthcare services at a time when reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare are declining, we have to be good stewards and spend every dollar wisely, he said.

Additions to the hospital had produced a maze of hallways, and its climate control system was equally inefficient, he said.

Several real estate agents and developers said Monday that a complex of Hillcrests size and age represents a challenge to those wanting to give it new life.

City Manager Dale Fisseler, who was born at Hillcrest 57 years ago, said the city evaluated the complex and its potential for Wacos use.

It is such a massive facility that we really could not come up with anything that would suit our needs, Fisseler said. I would hope it stays in private hands. If the demolition is carried out, I want the area to remain an asset for the neighborhood, maybe green space or a park setting.

Fisseler said he spent most of the summer at Hillcrest when he was 10 years old, having broken his leg jumping on a trampoline in Houston.

It was a bad break, so I was in traction most of the time, he said. That is the last time I ever had anything to do with a trampoline.

Mayor Kyle Deaver said a brother and his two grown sons were born at Hillcrest, but he does not necessarily have an emotional attachment to it.

Hillcrest has done a great job with its new facility, and it needed to do what was best for its long-term business plan, Deaver said. Hopefully, we as a community can find a good use for what they left behind. I think the market will determine the highest and best use.

He said Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of the hit show Fixer Upper on HGTV and owners of Magnolia Market at the Silos, launched a 36-unit subdivision called Magnolia Villas at North 46th Street and Bosque Boulevard.

Downtown access

Something similar could take shape on the Hillcrest site, which is a nice spot in the middle of the city with easy access to downtown, Deaver said

The city bought the Hillcrest Tower adjacent to the hospital and made it headquarters for the Waco Police Department.

That has been good for the neighborhood, something that has served to revitalize the area, Deaver said.

Megan Henderson, executive director of City Center Waco, lives just blocks from the Hillcrest site.

She is hoping the Hillcrest complex, around which the diverse neighborhood has grown, will remain an anchor for the area in some form.

As someone who lives in that area, I believe it has a lot of potential, Henderson said. And as a lover of historic buildings  and some of that campus is really old  I hope that maximum effort is made to adaptively reuse the architecturally significant pieces. I think that our community is growing both in terms of its number of people but also in its ability to attract people for numerous reasons. I think the idea that a significant amount of space might be available is a big opportunity.

She said losing the building would be a setback, but if this is a move that strengthens Hillcrest, we need to support it and see how we can strengthen the neighborhood in the wake of that decision.

Buildings size

Not many projects make that size of a building make sense, but maybe the older part could become a medical office building and patio homes could be built nearby, she said. At this point, its important not to pigeonhole it too much. A lot of things would work there.

Real estate agent Jim Peevey said potential users probably would want to demolish things and start over.

With baby boomers reaching retirement age, demand is growing for retirement homes and assisted-living facilities, Peevey said. But Greater Waco already is seeing construction of several and more are on the way.

Providence Health Center, Wacos oldest hospital, left North 18th Street and Colcord Avenue in 1989 and, like Hillcrest, relocated to West Waco, where it has continued to grow. Providence deeded the 18th Street property to Mercy Housing, which placed there the 54-unit Brook Oaks Senior Residences.

Waco builder and developer Brian Alford is familiar with the Hillcrest area, having placed 12 patio homes on Hillcrest Drive between Lake Shore and Lake Air drives.

I would be a little more skeptical about that happening on the hospital site, Alford said. The price point would have to be less. The houses in my Bentwood Addition started at $350,000, but these houses would be priced somewhere between $175,000 and $225,000, I would think. Im just not sure thats a great location or not.

He said questions abound about the potential of the Hillcrest site, as they do for the site of the now-demolished Floyd Casey Stadium.

The city of Waco reportedly envisions a mixed-use development with housing, retail and restaurants at the former stadium site.
A $4.4 billion buyout involving a convenience store giant in Canada means the local Valero Corner Store locations will become Circle K outlets in the near future, with a color scheme of red, white and orange. The buyer, Couche-Tard, plans no changes in the management or staffing of the stores.

Circle K once had a prominent presence in Waco and other communities in Texas but left the local market shortly before 7-Eleven began to re-enter Greater Waco. But Circle K now belongs to Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., based in Quebec, Canada, which wants to make its presence felt in the Sun Belt of the United States, especially Texas.

Couche-Tard announced it would pay cash to acquire San Antonio-based CST Brands Inc., which controls 2,000 convenience stores, including about 200 with the Valero Corner Store brand. The transaction awaits regulatory approval, Couche-Tard spokeswoman Karen Romer said.

We look forward to welcoming CST to the Couche-Tard family, President and CEO Brian Hannasch said. CST is an excellent company and is well-positioned in the Southwestern United States, with an important presence in Texas, Georgia, the U.S. Southeast Region, New York and Eastern Canada. With this transaction, we would strategically strengthen our positioning in both the Sun Belt and the East Coast of North America. Our teams are looking forward to meeting CST customers and welcoming them to our family.

CST was spun off from San Antonio-based Valero Energy in 2013, becoming a publicly traded retailer of petroleum products and food items.

It has made its presence felt in Waco in recent years by building a new Corner Store at Lake Shore Drive and North 19th Street and remodeling the high-profile Corner Store at New Road and Bosque Boulevard, creating a larger store with more parking to serve a neighborhood whose occupants include Waco High School, Lions Park and the Extraco Events Center.

A total of seven Valero Corner Store locations do business in Greater Waco, and all reportedly will become Circle K stores.

Romer, the Couche-Tard spokeswoman, said the Circle K logo has changed from what local residents may remember. She said the company has rolled out what it calls the global Circle K brand that soon will appear on all Couche-Tard retail stores, including those previously named Statoil, Macs and Kangaroo Express.

We have opened a handful of our newly branded stores in Houston, and were eager to spread throughout Texas, she said.

She said employees of local Corner Store locations need not worry about losing their jobs because of the buyout.

Our CEO and his team visited 200 to 300 CST stores. This business is all about people, and they were terrific, Romer said. Let me just emphasize that when you visit your local Circle K to buy soda pop or your morning coffee, people you know will be there. If theyre not, it wont be because of this buyout.

She added that Couche-Tard representatives traveled to San Antonio this week to introduce themselves to CST officials.

What will change, she said, is the signage and color schemes of the stores. She said Circle K also will place its proprietary products in stores.

Left to be determined, said Romer, is the timetable for placing the Circle K brands on the newly acquired outlets.

Circle K can trace its roots to 1951, when Fred Harvey bought three Kays Food Stores in El Paso, then shortly thereafter spread into New Mexico and Arizona.

Through acquisitions, it grew to 1,000 locations by 1975, and in 1979, it entered the international market by placing stores in Japan.

In 1984, Circle K reached $1 billion in sales, and in 2003, it was acquired by Couche-Tard. It now has a presence in 20 countries.

Couche-Tard controls 7,888 convenience stores throughout North America and employs about 80,000 people within its North American retailing network and service offices. In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a retail network across Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltic states and Russia through 10 business units.

I have always thought that in our industry, size matters, whether that be for purchasing, logistics, best practices or for becoming famous for our product categories. The addition of CSTs exceptional people and its strategic assets takes us one step further toward all these goals, board chairman Alain Bouchard said.
Testimony is set to begin Tuesday morning in the trial of a former China Spring man charged with sexually abusing a young family member 15 years ago.

Erlis Joseph Chaisson, 47, is on trial in Wacos 19th State District Court on one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and four counts of indecency with a child by contact.

Prosecutors Gabrielle Massey and Andrew Erwin and defense attorneys Christy Jack and Stephen Gordon, both former longtime Tarrant County prosecutors, spent most of Monday selecting a jury.

Chaisson is charged with sexually abusing a family member beginning in 2000 when she was 9.

The alleged victim, who is now a state law enforcement officer, did not report the alleged abuse for a number of years.

Chaisson was indicted in January 2015 on 15 counts. However, prosecutors have since abandoned 10 of those counts.

According to documents filed in the case, Chaisson could face an automatic life prison term if convicted on the aggravated sexual assault of a child count because he has a 1993 conviction in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, for molestation of a juvenile.

He faces from two to 20 years on the indecency counts.

Records also show he has previous convictions for burglary and drunken driving.
A 22-year-old man was arrested on an aggravated assault charge Monday, accused of starting a shootout at Trendwood Apartments July 26 that left a 30-year-old bystander and her 5-year-old daughter with injuries, police documents and an arrest affidavit state.

Nathaniel James Hailey was arrested after police reported that Hailey was one of several people seen outside the East Waco apartment complex, at 1700 Dallas Circle, late on July 26. Two men reportedly became involved in an argument that spread into a physical fight in the parking lot at Trendwood, the arrest affidavit states.

According to the arrest affidavit, several subjects in the area were armed with guns, including Hailey. The fight was reportedly brief before Hailey had pulled out a pistol and pointed it at one of the subjects who was fighting.

Hailey made several threats then fired twice at (one mans) feet, the arrest affidavit states. (The man) and the vast majority of the crowd began to run at that point.

Several people connected to Hailey also began to shoot, and when one of the subjects ran past a car, a woman was struck by the gunfire, the arrest affidavit states. According to police reports, the 30-year-old woman suffered a gunshot to her lower back, and the 5-year-old victim had injuries to her eye from shattered glass.

Police reported one of the men involved in the initial fight saw the woman fall to the ground and attempted to help her, the arrest affidavit states. The man said he did not know whose bullet actually hit the woman, but Hailey started the shooting and fired shots at the man as he ran from the area, the document states.

There are approximately four different suspect shooters in this case, and 42 shell casings were located in the parking lot, the arrest affidavit states.

The woman and child were taken to an area hospital for medical treatment. Police reported that doctors were unable to remove the bullet, believing it would do more damage if it was removed, the arrest affidavit states. Police were unable to compare the bullet lodged in the victim to any firearm.

Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said seven vehicles and at least one apartment were hit with bullets during the shootout. Several people were detained for questioning, and five people were later arrested on outstanding warrants or on trespass charges because they had previously been warned not to be at Trendwood.

Initially, Swanton said the five suspects who were arrested were considered people of interest in the shooting. As of Tuesday afternoon, Hailey was the only person charged in the shooting.

This is still an active investigation, and it is safe to say that more arrests may come from the ongoing investigation, Swanton said.

Hailey remained in McLennan County Jail on Tuesday afternoon in lieu of a $50,000 surety bond.
ICE immigration detention private prison georgia

A growing group of prison reform advocates and lawmakers, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, are now urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cease its use of private prisons for undocumented immigrants.

The calls come after last week's news that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will phase out its contracts with for-profit prison companies for federal inmates.

A damning Inspector General's report had earlier declared that private prisons are more dangerous than their government-run counterparts.

The DOJ's move was hailed by some as progressive step toward national prison reform, but criticized by others for not going far enough  just 22,000 of the country's 2 million prisoners are federal inmates housed in private prisons.

Meanwhile, US immigration authorities use private prisons to house 62% of the roughly 400,000 people detained each year by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On Monday, Sanders issued a joint letter with Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) calling on Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to phase out contracts with for-profit prison companies by declining to renew them or reducing their scope.

"Given the impact on detainees, the high cost to taxpayers and the Department of Justice's recent decision, we believe the Department of Homeland Security can and should immediately begin phasing out for-profit, privately run immigration detention facilities," the letter read.

They're not the only ones to issue a public call on the DHS to end its use of private prisons. The New York Times ran an editorial Monday calling the ICE detention facilities a "national shame" with "hellish conditions," urging the department to follow in the DOJ's footsteps.

"They are notoriously violent and dysfunctional, operating even more opaquely than state-run facilities, while paying miserable wages," the editorial read.

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Privately run ICE facilities have long been under scrutiny from organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which in a 2014 report documented "dangerous, squalid, and tense conditions" in the detention centers.

According to the ACLU's investigation, detainees across the five facilities it examined were subject to conditions of overcrowding and extreme isolation, as well as insufficient medical care and lack of family contact.

In a statement last week, Carl Takei of the ACLU's National Prison Project slammed ICE for ignoring criticisms of its for-profit contractors and continuing to renew contracts with private companies.

"Now that the Justice Department has firmly declared its own private prison experiment to be a failure, any attempt by ICE to defend its continued relationships with these companies will ring hollow," Takei said.

Private prison companies like the GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America have been shifting their strategy for some time towards ICE facilities, according to Christopher Petrella, a lecturer at Bates College and member of Grassroots Leadership, an advocacy group that studies private prisons.

"They've been lobbying the Department of Homeland Security, in particular, very heavily," Petrella told Business Insider. "ICE is the growth sector  and I am loathe to use that language because were talking about human beings here. But from ICE and GEO's perspective, thats the discourse that they use."

ICE did not comment on Sanders and Grijalva's letter, but referred Business Insider to a statement issued last week.

"US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) remains committed to providing a safe and humane environment for all those in its custody," spokeswoman Jennifer Elzea said in the statement.

NOW WATCH: The Justice Department is ending its use of private prisons and the countrys largest one is tanking on the stock market





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The political history of the U.S. from the late 1830s through the 1850s is one long tragedy. President after president struggled to hold together an increasingly polarized nation. None served more than one term, two died in office  and by 1860 the country was falling apart.

We hear a lot these days that were in a new age of polarization, with measures of partisanship showing a divide greater than at any time since the Civil War. But theres a striking difference: Its pretty clear what the polarization of the 1830s through 1850s was about. Nowadays thats much harder to figure out.

All this is on my mind because Ive just spent several days driving up and down Interstate 95 listening to Lillian Cunninghams Presidential podcast. Cunningham is a reporter and editor at the Washington Post and, since the beginning of the year, she has been offering up weekly 30- to 45-minute examinations of the presidents, in chronological order. I recommend them.

For reasons not worth going into here, I decided to start with Martin Van Buren, who was elected in 1836. Van Buren had just finished serving a term as Andrew Jacksons vice president; before that he had built the political machine that got Jackson elected. Hes considered the inventor of modern party politics. But his presidency started with the worst economic downturn the young nation had yet experienced and never really got much better  with a standoff over whether to admit Texas to the Union as a slave-holding state one of the signature issues.

After that I really had to hear what came next. I skipped Van Burens successor, William Henry Harrison, because he died just 32 days after taking office, and went straight to John Tyler. Then it was James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. Failure after failure after failure.

Well, not Polk. During his one term, from 1845 to 1849, the U.S. annexed Texas, wrested the territories of Nuevo Mexico and Alta California from Mexico, and cut a deal with Britain for the parts of the Oregon Territory below the 49th parallel. Polk created the modern, continent-spanning United States  and probably would have been re-elected in 1848 if he hadnt held to his pledge to serve just one term. But even he didnt do anything to resolve the great conflict tearing the country apart. In fact, his acquisitions provided lots of new territory to fight over.

The conflict was over slavery, and whether it would be allowed to spread. Since the Missouri Compromise of 1820 the basic idea had been to balance political power between the North and South by keeping the number of free and slave states equal. By the late 1830s, westward expansion was testing this balancing act and, by the mid-1850s, it had completely broken down  with Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin, published in 1852, sharply reducing the Northern appetite for compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 turning the slave-versus-free-state deliberations into a bloody free-for-all.

Or something like that. I make no claim to expertise on this period. Apart from a couple of books read years ago and a bunch of Googling over the past few hours, my knowledge really is based entirely on Presidential podcasts. In those podcasts, one of Cunninghams interviewees will occasionally remark that some long-ago conflict or sign of political dysfunction is reminiscent of today. I kept being struck, though, by the differences.

Back then it really was all about slavery. And because of slavery, the South became utterly different from the North, with the differences only growing as the North industrialized and urbanized while the South stayed agricultural and rural. They were two countries, quite foreign to each other.

Now, by contrast, Im hard-pressed to describe the single great ideological divide across which Americans have become so polarized. Sometimes its religious versus secular. Sometimes its educated versus less-educated. Sometimes its pro-immigration versus anti. Sometimes its big government versus small government. Sometimes its gun-toters versus gun-controllers. Sometimes its fossil-fuel fans versus windmill-lovers. Sometimes its old versus young. Sometimes (not much, actually) its rich versus poor. Im sure you can come up with lots more.

As for geographic differences, too, coasts versus center and North versus South come up a lot, but its easy to find exceptions. Urban versus rural  or, more accurately, cities and inner suburbs versus outer suburbs and exurbs, because rural areas now account for a small and shrinking share of the population  may be the most consistent divide. Its an economic divide, too, with growth increasingly concentrated in a few big metropolitan areas, and cities gaining (by some metrics, at least) on suburbs.

Its really hard to envision the nations exurbs going to war with its cities. That seems reassuring  were probably not on the verge of another civil war! But its also puzzling. What exactly is it that were all so angry at each other about then?

Justin Fox is a Bloomberg View columnist.
Are you suffering from vacation envy?

I am. Theres the friend posting her photos from a cute villa in Provence. The neighbors sailing on a lake in Switzerland. The teacher hiking high above Cape Town. The former boss hanging out in Greece and Cuba with her students.

But guess what? Turns out they arent having as much fun as we thought. And its thanks to one man  Donald Trump.

Yep, this summer, an overseas vacation has become a relentless apology tour. Just about every American with a passport is being interrogated by the rest of the world about our bizarre presidential candidate.

Two weeks abroad and I lost count of how many baffled Europeans asked us to explain Donald Trump, tweeted Sherry Stern, a California magazine editor who found herself Trumpsplaining in London, Cambridge and Budapest.

Add another thing to the list of things Trump has stained.

I sympathized with Frank Rizzo, a now-retired theater writer for the Hartford Courant, who was bracing himself for a trip to Germany.

Im going to Berlin this month, he tweeted, and following the twitters of Trump will no doubt have to explain American Fascism to Germans. Oy.

Daunelle Wulstein, a childhood friend of mine from California who makes frequent trips to France for business and pleasure, said the Trumpsplaining is especially intense this year because so many French admire President Obama.

Obama helped gain our reputation back on the global stage, Wulstein said. The Donald, by comparison, isnt sure about NATO and keeps expressing his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Not good.

Heading across the Pacific instead of the Atlantic doesnt help.

The worst part about being abroad for four weeks is having to explain to people that most Americans are not like Trump. Its embarrassing, tweeted Californian Tom Pawlicki as he was returning from Hong Kong.

A Washington neighbor who recently travelled to India, Vietnam and Cambodia said she was questioned about our election everywhere she went.

People abroad seem afraid for themselves if Trump is elected, she said. In Cambodia or Vietnam we got a lot of questions about our love of guns. We met not a single person who thought Trump would be a good candidate.

Even our neighbors up north  the ones who seem just like us except for guns, poutine and good manners  are baffled by the meteoric rise of the real estate magnate and reality TV star.

On vacation with Canadian friends, reported Travis Bonnette-Kim, a United Methodist pastor from Massachusetts, on Twitter. Trying to explain Americas obsession with Trump is hard. Mainly because I dont understand it either!

Of all those staycation summers  when no amount of over-chlorinated pool water will cool a jealous burn over the parade of exotic vacation pics were seeing on Facebook  this one may not be so bad.

I already fulfilled my Trumpsplaining duties earlier this year on a family trip to Mexico.

How are you going to come back for vacation if that Trumpman builds his wall? asked one of the charming hotel employees we met in Yucatan, who taught us to say good morning (Maalob kiin) and thank you (Niboolal) in his native Mayan.

Merrit Drucker was so mortified by the way Trump has talked about Mexico, he didnt even leave the United States to launch an apology tour.

He lives in the nations capital so he wrote a letter to Mexicos ambassador and had it notarized, trying to make it part of an official record to the Mexican people.

I wish to extend an apology to you, your family and the Mexican people for the unkind and inaccurate statements about the Mexican people made recently by Mr. Donald Trump, a Republican candidate for the president of the United States. These were unwarranted, gratuitously insulting and not the hallmark of a statesman, wrote Drucker, 65, who once worked as a D.C. economic development official.

I checked with the embassies from other countries (long list) that Trump has insulted. None said theyve received similar, official letters of apology from the U.S. citizenry. But folks in the diplomatic corps said they are often greeted by Im so sorry from Americans they meet.

And theyre all working double-overtime, of course, trying to Trumpsplain for all their folks back home.

But come on, world. We know that plenty of yall totally get whats going on.

Back in Europe, my high school friend said that on many evenings, after a few more beverages are consumed, a reluctant Euro empathy unveils itself.

Everyone Ive spoken to also mentioned the same things happening in their countries. The rise of Marie Le Pen and the Front National in France, the anger against Angela Merkel in Germany, Wulstein said.

When Wulstein and her family left France for Italy last week, the burning of some immigrant camps there underscored the continents struggle with immigration and the simmering nationalism fueling some of our political rhetoric stateside.

In fact, last night, while having yet another appero with our Italian hosts, (the) father quipped: Well, its your turn now. We had [former Italian prime minister Silvio] Berlusconi and you have Trump. But its much worse with Trump because America is much more important in the world. 

And then theres Brexit, the British vote to exit the European Union.

Our friends who are taking in the London theater scene reported that the usual English criticism of America is a quite tempered now.

Its different this time because they [messed] up with Brexit and cant shake their heads at horrible U.S. politics, one said. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who championed Brexit, is a huge embarrassment, especially for those who first elected him in the city of London.

In other words, Londoners acting appalled about Trump would be a little like people living in glass houses throwing stones, right?

Glass skyscraper right now, my London friend added.

A weekend at Ocean City isnt looking so bad now, is it?

Petula Dvorak is a columnist for The Washington Posts local team who writes about homeless shelters, gun control, high heels, high school choirs, the politics of parenting, jails, abortion clinics, mayors, modern families, strip clubs and gas prices, among other things.
MEAD  During an Aug. 22 public hearing, the Village of Mead Board of Trustees heard comments from the public on the future of the villages water quality, before taking further action.

Craig Reinsch, project engineer with Olsson Associates in Lincoln, led the discussion and compared users estimated price increases between two potential solutions.

A prepared expense evaluation mapped out four potential options, 1) individual treatment, 2) centralized treatment with existing wells 3) centralized treatment with a new well and 4) connection to Wahoo.

Centralized treatment with a new well and connection to Wahoo were the focus of Monday nights discussion.

Each project has their own funding commitment, said Reinsch, who joined the project in 2013.

The option of centralized treatment with a new well would be funded by a State Revolving Loan, which would provide a 25 percent loan forgiveness.

Whatever that cost is, whether above or below that estimate, that is what the loan increases or shrinks to, Reinsch said.

This option would include a new treatment facility, new well, treatment components necessary to remove arsenic, magnesium and iron and would be chlorinated, Reinsch said.

Mead Utilities/Maintenance Superintendent Nick Raver said the village has no choice but to drill a new well should they choose to keep their own water source.

Youd be boiling water until the other one gets back up and running, Raver said.

Land to drill has already been purchased on the western most edge of the village and just north of the train tracks.

Under this proposal, the village would be responsible for making an estimated annual payment of $226,666, without the 25 percent loan forgiveness applied, over the course of the 20 year loan period. The villages approximately 233 service users flat rate is projected to increase $56.75 from the current $20 to $76.75, with the loan forgiveness applied. Customers usage would be added on top of the flat rate.

The connection to Wahoo, deemed the most feasible and cost effective by the United States Department of Agriculture, would utilize funding from a USDA rural development fund.

Reinsch said the USDA funds to a certain dollar amount per month, determined by the median household income.

If the project gets to be more expensive, if bidding becomes coming in over projections, then their funding slides to increase that, so in theory, the cost should not be very much more than what we discuss tonight, Reinsch said.

Under this proposal, the villages annual payment would be approximately $241,416, without the 25 percent loan forgiveness, for the life of the loan. Customers flat rate fee would increase an estimated $49 to $69 per month.

Steve Mayfiled said when he previously served on the board, the board heard nothing but horror stories about Colon connecting to Wahoo through a rural water system administered by the Lower Platte North Resources District (NRD).

Everything that has been said tonight hasnt changed my mind that we need to stay the hell away from Wahoos water source, Mayfield said.

Raver said should the village choose this option, the village would enter an inter-local agreement with Wahoo. A pipe would have to be installed from Wahoo to Mead, and the water that leaves Wahoo would be metered.

Mead would still be responsible for the water distribution lines and any necessary repair costs.

Say you have a fire hydrant thats broke, they have to fix it, and say its leaking for a year, we have to pay for that water, Raver said. You also have piping from Wahoo to Mead, that if it breaks anywhere, thats all our cost, too.

Reinsch said through the inter-local agreement, negotiations could be made, but that none currently had been.

He added that information reported at Monday nights meeting was based on initial studies and research, and that no contact had been made between the village and Wahoo or the NRD.

Raver said either option would require replacing the villages current 35,000 gallon water tower that was built in 1913.

Its beyond repair, he said.

The new tower, which will hold 150,000 gallons of water, would be built at the current water towers location. The towers estimated cost is $805,000, amounting to $14.51 per month per user. All estimate figures have included this amount.

Other public inquires included financing options, and inquired why agency funding was sought instead of bonds.

Reinsch said while there are bonds and other funding mechanisms available, the agencys funding seemed to more suit their needs.

Water and wastewater are unique, theyre not the same as streets. Youre not taxed necessarily, theyre treated more as services, he said. The goal is for water and sewer to be self-funded services.

Mondays discussion came after more than five years of discussions to combat the raising arsenic levels, which even included test drilling a site northeast of town. The idea was to blend that site with the existing well by the school to lower the arsenic level.

By golly, (that site) was low in arsenic, but it was high in uranium, Reinsch said.

Reinsch said the goal of Mondays meeting was to approve the preliminary engineering report, and to determine which option to move forward with.

By an informal show of hands, the vast majority of village members voted in favor for the treatment option with a new well. No one voted to enter an inter-local agreement with Wahoo. The board made a motion and voted to move forward with the option village members favored.

An estimated timeline has startup services projected as early as January to February 2018.
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Homophobic flyers targeting footy fans are just the start of what the LGBTI community faces ahead of next year's divisive marriage plebiscite, according to Victoria's Gender and Sexuality Commissioner.

On Saturday, AFL fans attending the St Kilda vs Richmond match at the MCG were confronted by a man handing out flyers suggesting there will be "another stolen generation" if same-sex marriage is legalised.

St Kilda fan John Wall with one of the flyers. Credit:Justin McManus

The pamphlet also accused the AFL of "bias" over the recent gay Pride match between St Kilda and the Sydney Swans, directing people to an anti-gay marriage website.

"Everybody is already welcome at the footy, it's no big deal who or what you are," the leaflet says.
Recently, emerging markets have looked more like a game of musical chairs than rich investment landscapes. Every time the music stops due to one crisis or another, investors hastily depart, bound for some other, more stable country, scrambling to fill the limited seats available there.

Related: Investors: Look Beyond Short-Term Strife in Emerging Markets

Just over the course of 2016, this "game" exhibited itself during the volatile first quarter, in China and Brazil; it's continued this summer with Nigerias devaluation of the naira.

And what's resulted has been that the uncertainty in these and other emerging markets has prompted investors to behave somewhat like tourists, dipping their toes into potential opportunities but never taking the plunge. And that's not smart, considering that the Institute of International Finance, reported, for example, that during this year's first quarter, Chinas net capital outflow stood at $175 billion, up $10 billion from the same period just last year.

South Africa also saw massive outflows in equities and bonds this January. Such activity indicates a short-term focus thats exacerbating instability in emerging markets.

In short, as long as investors continue hopping from one country to the next, theyll perpetuate this cycle of capital flight from areas that desperately need cash and continuity. Instead, both investors and governments must take a long-term approach that blends macroeconomic and microeconomic adjustments.

A call for state-investor realignment

On the macroeconomic front, governments must mitigate the effects of periodic economic slumps. These downturns scare away investors who have low risk tolerance and a subconscious bias against emerging markets. As a result, the contagion quickly spreads -- even to those with the stomach for uncertainty.

State agencies have begun to appreciate the value of flexible policymaking in the face of volatility, as was the case with Chinas stock market intervention this January. Central banks in many of the worlds major economies moved to quell volatility in the wake of the Brexit vote, as well.

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If more governments implement protocols for intervention, investors will gain confidence in emerging markets and the "tourist" effect will fade.

Related: Come Together: Entrepreneurs From Emerging Markets Converge At Seedstars Summit 2016

Investors have a significant role to play on the microeconomic landscape. These three steps can help along the way:

1. Examine and take the long view.

Firms must gird themselves for stormy weather and focus on long-term strategies. The glut of short-term investments only creates more noise, making it difficult to predict how economic development will play out over extended time lines.

Take Nigeria, for instance, where 11 percent to 18 percent of urban households earn $10,000 or more per year and are expected to drive consumer-facing investments during the next decade. Nigerias formal retail segment is extremely small at the moment, responsible for only 2 percent of aggregate retail transactions.

That sector is poised for explosive growth, but it wont happen without some pains along the way. However, investors who take the long view will be rewarded for staying the course.

2. Do the extra-credit homework.

Of course, long-term strategies must hinge on in-depth market analysis and research that emphasize growth and sustainability. Most emerging and frontier markets are only just beginning to develop robust retail segments, and growth wont always be a straight line. Many opportunities that appear straightforward on the surface will require fortitude and constant adjustment to keep pace with consumer and regulatory shifts.

Walmarts entry into the African retail space, for example, is quite telling about the extent to which investors need to be forward-looking and attentive to local dynamics. The retail giant began its expansion by acquiring a majority stake in South Africas Massmart Holdings Limited, which gave it a foothold in East Africa. This sort of tiered, multiyear approach can help reverse the "tourist" mindset investors have displayed.

3. Rebalance for variety.

Investors spent much of the past decade focused on geographically huge countries rich in resources, like Brazil, China and India. By rebalancing their portfolios across other emerging and frontier markets, this firms will diversify their risks and help reduce "tourist" investing.

Countries such as the Philippines and Morocco offer incredible investment opportunities for those willing to look beyond the go-to locations. More importantly, the inclusion of regional blocs, rather than specific countries, increases the likelihood of success. For example, the East African Community -- which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan -- boasts a population of more than 145 million people and ever-increasing disposable income.

Related: Overcoming Obstacles: Seven Tips for Startups Operating in Emerging Markets

The sooner the "tourism" approach is eliminated, then, the stronger these economies will grow and the more likely investors will be to see significant returns. Shifting even just some of the emphasis from China and Brazil to other areas represents a fundamental step toward integrating and stabilizing emerging markets. Is your company paying attention?
Prime Media Group chief executive Ian Audsley has called on politicians to reduce "onerous" television licence fees as the regional station wrote down the value of its licence by $123 million.

The write-down dragged Prime to $93.5 million loss for the full year and Mr Audsley said there was too much uncertainty in the industry to provide guidance for the first six months of the current financial year.

Despite the drop in earnings and the write-down, CEO Ian Audsley said the company had outperformed guidance. Credit:Louie Douvis

Without the write-down, the company would have reported a $27.3 million profit, which is higher than expected.

Despite the drop in earnings and the write-down, Mr Audsley said the company had outperformed guidance.
When the federal government blocked two Chinese firms from buying a 99-year lease of Sydney's electricity network, it sparked a firestorm of criticism. And it's still raging.

On the face of it, the critics seem to have a pretty good case. Most colourful was the former Labor foreign affairs minister, Bob Carr, a regular commentator on China now that he fronts the Australia-China Relations Institute.

Illustration: John Shakespeare

By preventing the two Chinese companies from buying a controlling 50.4 per cent stake in Ausgrid, said Carr, the Turnbull government had made "a policy sacrifice to the witches' sabbath of xenophobia and economic nationalism stirred up in the recent federal election".

It's a very unpleasant thought that Australia would turn away a prospective $10 billion investment out of sheer xenophobia. China's foreign affairs ministry picked up on the theme.
Since a marriage equality plebiscite was proposed by Tony Abbott a year ago the idea has been plagued by lack of detail, procrastination, vocal opposition and declining support.

In the lead up to the election Malcolm Turnbull could give no details about it, promising only that it would be before the end of 2016.

In the absence of critical details it is difficult for the government to claim a mandate.Now, even the promise about holding the plebiscite by year's end looks set to be broken. It may be pushed to February, meaning it will clash with the Western Australian election. I can see it being pushed out even further, given right-wing resistance to prioritising it. It appears Abbott's plebiscite plan is fulfilling its original goal of frustrating progress.

The only other detail flagged so far is the question: "Do you approve of a law to permit people of the same sex to marry?"
Chinese investors are being encouraged to seize a unique political moment to acquire Australian infrastructure assets even though the recent blocking of the $10 billion Ausgrid bids by two Chinese mega-firms has caused confusion in their ranks.

The advice is based on an assessment that the Coalition government is now more eager than ever to show it is pro-foreign investment.

Citing unspecified national security grounds, Treasurer Scott Morrison last week rejected separate proposals by Hong Kong-based infrastructure giant Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings and the Chinese state-owned enterprise, State Grid for a 50.4 per cent stake in the NSW electricity distributor, Ausgrid.

Mr Morrison's decision was based on unanimous advice from the Foreign Investment Review Board and came despite the fact that both Chinese entities already have extensive energy distribution holdings in Australia.
The Turnbull government won't say if taxpayers will fund an official guide to the arguments for and against same-sex marriage as part of plans for a national plebiscite on the issue in February.

Australian Electoral Commission advice to a parliamentary inquiry on the plebiscite in 2015 said that section 11 of the Referendum Act requires a government pamphlet outlining arguments for and against the proposal to be sent to more than 10 million households around Australia, warning it would be a "complex and expensive product".

Ahead of the 1999 referendum on an Australian republic and a new preamble to the constitution, production the official pamphlet was the largest single print job undertaken in Australia and the largest single mail out.

Production of the required 12.9 million pamphlets took nine high-speed presses in three locations 10 days of round-the-clock work to produce.
O'Neill said his reasons for loving hearing people engage in racial vilification are twofold: It reminds him that he lives in a "free society" and it gives him an opportunity to argue against the racism.

Free speech crusader Brendan O'Neill made the extraordinary statement that "I love hearing hate speech" during yet another debate about Section 18C of the racial discrimination act, which (in case you miraculously haven't heard about it) makes it unlawful to insult, offend, humiliate or intimidate someone based on their race.

The audience of Q&A has exercised its freedom of speech to call BS on a white man who courageously declared, among a panel of fellow white folk, that he loves hearing hate speech.

Too bad if you're the person actually targeted by the hate speech, of course. Later in the program O'Neill described an Aboriginal woman as a "coward" for pursuing justice against hate speech via the courts. Because it's not like Aboriginal people face ongoing violence and discrimination on top of the colonial legacy of intergenerational trauma and entrenched poverty.

Meanwhile, O'Neill described 18C as "a black mark against the good name of Australia," claiming it involves the government "policing thought".

But he was countered by Corinne Grant, someone who has actually read the law, who noted that section 18C is followed by the little-discussed 18D, which protects artistic works, scientific debate and "fair comment on matters of public interest". Are we really still wringing hands about how our free speech is being horribly curtailed by a law aiming to balance free speech with the right of racial minorities to live without fear and discrimination?

Twitter users were quick to point out just how easy it is for a straight white educated man to wax lyrical about the primacy of free speech at the expense of minorities' rights, given his privileged platform to speak.
Premier Colin Barnett has been forced to defend his son after he reneged on a complicated beachside property deal near Kalbarri in WA's Mid-West.

Sam Barnett promised to buy two sprawling blocks of land, 60km south of Kalbarri, for around $600,000 from Sandra Simpkin, whose family had owned them for decades.

Sam Barnett has been embroiled in several controversies recently. Credit:Facebook

He agreed to a $140,000 cash deal to purchase the first block and agreed to pay more to purchase the second parcel off Ms Simpkin but would need to seek finance first.

"He said 'okay, I can pay cash for 51 and I'll have to get finance for 52'," Ms Simpkin told ABC News on Monday night.
London: Charismatic extremist Islamists in English prisons are acting as "self-styled emirs", controlling and radicalising the wider Muslim prison population, a new UK government report has warned.

They lead a Muslim gang culture involved in violence and drug trafficking, they aggressively encourage conversion to Islam, and they intimidate prison Imams and other staff and exclude them from the room during weekly prayer meetings.

A former inmate says prison staff are frightened of the radical Islamists. Credit:Bloomberg

The review also found books and other materials promoting extremist literature were held by prisoners and even kept in some prisons' all-faith chaplaincy libraries.

In response to the report, the government announced a plan for special units in English and Welsh jails for extremist prisoners "who seek to poison the minds of others".
doctor patient concern worry

Pinal County, Arizona, right next to Phoenix, was founded in 1875 and is home to roughly 400,000 people.

It's also the county that Obamacare forgot.

After Aetna's announcement that it will roll back 70% of its offerings in public exchanges, Pinal County appears to be the only county in the US with a public exchange but zero insurers offering Affordable Care Act plans in 2017.

This leaves people that need insurance through the ACA in Pinal County with limited options. Currently, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is participating in the county, but it has plans to pull out in 2017.

According to Cynthia Cox of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan healthcare-focused think tank, convincing BCBS to stick around seems to be the easiest option.

"Plan A is to try and work with the Blue Cross Blue Shield in that state or another provider in the state to get them to move in," Cox said. "The question is if there is any plan B."

The plan B could simply be that there is no exchange offering and people have to buy insurance on their own, but that presents issues as well.

"If that's the case, it's mostly going to be unaffordable for those who are already receiving subsidies," Cox told Business Insider. "They're no longer going to be eligible for the subsidies, and it is likely that private coverage is not going to be affordable without the subsidies."

Cox said that these people would not be subject to any penalties under the individual mandate, but if they were injured or got sick during the year, they "could be faced with significant medical bills."

To be fair, even before Obamacare, many areas of the country had limited options when it came to health insurance, but that probably isn't much relief for people in Pinal County and other places around the US.

Even if BCBS stays in Pinal County, the situation will be far from ideal.

The number of insurers available and competing in a market is linked closely to the cost of premiums, and the withdrawals are leaving more and more areas with only one or two insurers. With that sort of monopoly or duopoly, premiums can increase even more than they already are.

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Cox told Business Insider that the situation in Pinal County will likely raise calls for a public option, or a government-run health insurance option similar to Medicare or Medicaid. This would provide an insurer of last resort for a county like Pinal and would drive competition where there are limited private options.

As it stands now, however, there is no such option for Pinal County and it appears that unless someone steps in, there will be an Obamacare marketplace, but no one selling anything in it.

NOW WATCH: Forget the gross factor: There are serious health reasons for why you shouldn't pick your nose





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COLCHESTER, VT--(Marketwired - August 23, 2016) - Green Mountain Power and Efficiency Vermont are partnering on a community-wide rapid energy transformation project in Panton to reduce energy costs, lower fossil fuel use and improve comfort. Known as eVolve Panton, the effort will put Panton at the forefront of energy innovation in Vermont as the first town to know its total energy use, cost and carbon impact, giving it the ability to track energy and carbon-saving improvements.

"When communities and energy providers work together, powerful things can happen," said Mary Powell, President and CEO of Green Mountain Power. "We will accomplish in 12 months what would otherwise take 20 years, and when we are done, the people of Panton will have transformed their energy system into one that is more reliable, efficient and affordable."

"This partnership will show that we are stronger working together to benefit Vermonters," said Scott Johnstone, the Executive Director of the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. "We are so excited to begin this innovative work in Panton, and to bring it to other communities across Vermont."

Green Mountain Power and Efficiency Vermont will work with local residents and businesses to get baseline data about energy use, cost and carbon and use the data to measure improvements. Residents will be offered technical assistance, financial incentives and financing to spur a dramatic and comprehensive energy transformation in Panton.

"Vermonters have long embraced energy efficiency," said Liz Gamache, Director of Efficiency Vermont. "But never before has there been such an intensive effort to help everyone in the community save energy and save money, helping to reduce carbon throughout the community and transform our energy future."

GMP and Efficiency Vermont will also partner with contractors to offer deep energy retrofits for homes and businesses, the addition of efficient heating and cooling systems like cold climate heat pumps, innovative technologies like battery storage, installation of renewable energy generation, and adoption of efficient transportation solutions. Both organizations say this program is the first of its kind in Vermont and Panton will serve as the pilot where strategies are tested to create rapid and lasting change.

Story continues

"This is an exciting opportunity that Green Mountain Power and Efficiency Vermont have brought to our town," said Howard Hall, a Selectboard member in Panton. "Helping to transform energy use and saving money for everyone in town is energizing our community to get involved and make a difference."

For more information or to sign up if you are a Panton resident call: 802-770-4088 or visit the eVolve Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/evolvepanton/

About Green Mountain Power Green Mountain Power (GMP) serves approximately 265,000 residential and business customers in Vermont and has a vision to be the best small company in America by partnering with Vermonters to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is focused on a new way of doing business to meet the needs of customers with integrated energy services that help people use less energy and save money, while continuing to generate clean, cost-effective and reliable power in Vermont. GMP is the first utility in the world to get a B Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards and committing to use business as a force for good. In 2014, Vote Solar named GMP a Solar Champion. More information at: www.greenmountainpower.com. Connect with GMP on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @GreenMtnPower.

About Efficiency Vermont Efficiency Vermont is a statewide energy efficiency utility that helps all Vermonters to reduce energy costs, strengthen the local economy, and protect the environment by making homes and business energy efficient. Efficiency Vermont provides technical assistance, rebates, and other financial incentives to help Vermont households and businesses reduce their energy costs with energy efficient equipment, lighting, and approaches to construction and major renovation. For more information, contact Efficiency Vermont at 888-921-5990 or visit www.efficiencyvermont.com.
NATCHITOCHES PARISH -- A Longview, Texas, man was killed Monday in a crash on I-49 in Natchitoches Parish, according to Louisiana State Police, Troop E.

Troopers said it happened around 3 p.m., south of La. 485. It involved a 2005 Honda Accord, driven by 18-year-old Deytwan Demetrius, of Fort Polk, and a 2015 Toyota Camry, driven by 39-year-old Jabe Maddox.

Troopers said the Honda was southbound on I-49 when Demetrius lost control and entered the median that separates the southbound lanes from the northbound lanes.

The Honda continued through the median and entered the northbound lanes of I-49, where it collided with the Toyota.

Troopers said Demetrius received minor injuries and was transported to Natchitoches Medical Center. His only passenger, identified as 18-year-old Trevon Lewis, of Leesville, received minor injuries and was transported to Natchitoches Medical Center.

Maddox was pronounced dead.

All occupants were properly restrained.

Routine toxicology tests and charges are pending.

Troop E troopers have investigated 32 fatal crashes in 2016, resulting in 37 fatalities.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Showers likely along with a possible rumble of thunder this morning, then partly cloudy during the afternoon hours. High 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.
If completed, Singtel's stake in AIS will rise to 31.8%.

The proposed acquisitions of 21% of InTouch Holdings and 7.4% of Bharti Telecom allow Singtel to entrench its positioning in the high-growth emerging markets of Thailand and India, says UOB KayHan

InTouch owns 40.5% of Advanced Info Service (AIS), 41.1% of Thaicom and other smaller businesses in Thailand, such as ITAS, MB, ITV and InTouch Media. Bharti Telecom is a holding company for a 45.1% stake in Bharti Airtel.

The deal would be funded by the proceeds of S$1,605m from the placement of 386m new Singtel shares to Temasek at S$4.16 each, and the balance from internal cash and short-term debt.

UOB KayHian analyst Jonathan Koh notes that the proposed transactions are in line with Singtel's intention to increase its stakes in its regional mobile associates.

"Thailand and India are high-growth emerging markets. AIS is the largest mobile operator in Thailand with 39m mobile subscribers and a market share of 46%. Bharti Airtel is the largest mobile operator in India with 256m mobile subscribers and a market share of 25%," he said.

Koh adds that the acquisition, if completed, will increase Singtel's effective stake in AIS from 23.3% to 31.8%.

"The 25% threshold for takeover is based on direct stake. Singtel is buying into InTouch and its direct stake in AIS remains unchanged at

23.3%. Thus, the acquisition does not trigger a general offer for AIS," he said.

Singtels effective stake in Bharti Airtel will increase from 32% to 36.2%. Temaseks stake in Singtel would increase from 51.1% to 52.3%.

Meanwhile Koh explains that the acquisition will have a neutral impact on EPS. Management estimates the transactions will increase Singtels NTA/share by 10.6% to S$0.84 and increase FY16 EPS by 0.4% to 24.4 cents. Singtel has not provided specific guidance on the impact on gearing.

"We estimate Singtels net debt/equity would be relatively unchanged at 0.32x," said Koh.

Lastly Koh said that the transactions are not expected to affect Singtels dividend policy, which remains unchanged at 60-75% of underlying net profit.





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All persons are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. According to Sheriff Mark Herford the following felony arrest were made for the week of 10/17/22 - 10/23/22. 10/18/22 Jennifer Gibson was arrested by BPSO Patrol Division and charged with Illegal Use of CDS in Presenc
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Aug. 23, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 23, 2016 | 04:56 PM | PADUCAH, KY

The Paducah Police Department is warning the public to be alert to the possibility of skimmers at area ATMs.



Paducah Police say a a Paducah man contacted them Tuesday and reported that someone had used his Regions Bank debit card to make a purchase at a local business. The card was also used at a second local business, but that transaction was declined. Police said the man told them he still has the card in his possession.



Police say they suspect someone may have obtained the mans debit card number through the use of a skimmer, and are warning ATM users to be very cautious when using the machines. They say that if the face of the ATM looks suspicious or feels funny when jiggled, users should contact their bank before inserting their cards. ATM users are also being advised to check the keypad to make sure an overlay isn't placed on it to record their PIN, and to check bank statements regularly.



Anyone with information about the case is being asked to call the Paducah Police Department at 270-444-8550 or Crime Stoppers at 270-443-TELL.
Search of Mayfield home snares alleged meth trafficker and two others
By The Associated Press Aug. 23, 2016 | 10:53 AM | FRANKFORT, KY

Gov. Matt Bevin's attorney says he will appeal a judge's ruling that temporarily reinstates a member of the Kentucky Retirement Systems board of trustees.

Steve Pitt told reporters Tuesday the governor does not believe Thomas Elliott should serve on the board of trustees. Bevin removed Elliott by executive order, and then abolished the entire board and re-created it as a board of directors. Bevin then threatened to arrest Elliott if he tried to participate in board meetings.

Elliott sued, and was joined by Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear. Monday, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ordered that Elliott should stay on the board, at least until the lawsuit is resolved. Shepherd also called Bevin's threat to arrest Elliott a "flagrant abuse of executive power."
By The Associated Press Aug. 23, 2016 | 05:08 AM | FRANKFORT, KY

Hunters in Kentucky this upcoming season will be asked to provide additional information about harvested deer and elk.

All deer and elk taken by hunters in the state must be reported to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources either by phone or online.

The additional information sought will help state biologists better estimate the size and age of the state's deer and elk herds.

Hunters reporting an antlerless male deer will now be asked to distinguish it as a male fawn or as an adult that has shed antlers. Otherwise, hunters will be asked to count the total number of antler points measuring one inch or longer for deer and elk and indicate if the outside antler spread is greater or less than 11 inches.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
Liverpool stalwart Lucas Leiva has hit out at a journalist over a spurious piece of tittle-tattle which has appeared in the transfer gossip columns today.

For his sins, James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo mentioned Lucas in passing while reporting on a potential loan move away from Anfield for Mamadou Sakho.

Sakho could depart on loan with Lucas now set to stay at Anfield #LFC https://t.co/49q9KFyKdl  James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) August 23, 2016

Having caught wind of the article, Lucas seemed to glean that Pearce was hinting that his insistence on staying put to see out the final year of his contract at Liverpool was forcing Sakho, a known fan favourite, out of the door.

As such, the long-serving Brazilian midfielder took umbrage at what he construed to be Pearces attempt to drive a wedge between himself and his adoring public.

Being a man of action, he decided to take a stand  insisting that the journo take more care when bandying players names around willy-nilly during transfer silly season..

@JamesPearceEcho can you have more responsibility when you involve my name?

You putting me against the fans for something Ive nothing to do  Lucas Leiva (@LucasLeiva87) August 23, 2016

You tell him, Lucas. Dont let the bastards grind you down!

Indeed, it would appear that Leiva wasnt the only one to voice their misgivings over Pearces oddly divisive Sakho piece

Some great responses to Sakho loan stuff. But nothing beats the fella who said my position was untenable after the 6-1 defeat at Stoke.  James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) August 23, 2016

People, eh?
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/08/2016 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a small room in a small home in the North End, 32-year-old Andrea Davis stands at her work desk, a steady stream of mid-morning light from the open door catching the colours of her book-binding textiles and tools.

She explains how she meticulously hand cuts different sizes of paper and leather, pre-punches dozens of tiny holes and stitches everything together with threads she describes as both esthetic and supportive; how the paper she uses is artist-quality, and how she tries to source as much of her material as she can from Canada and the U.S.; how she started binding her own books as a way to decrease purchasing products mass-produced in factories overseas and how that skill resulted in creating her own online business, We Are Bound Together.

And, how the catalyst for it all came from an unlikely place a life-altering diagnosis of endometriosis.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Andrea Davis had to quit her old 9-5 job after being diagnosed with endometriosis. She started a business, We Are Bound Together, which makes hand-bound journals and notebooks that are sold on the Etsy e-commerce website.

In 2008, Davis was diagnosed with the painful (and somewhat complicated) disease in which tissue that normally grows on the inside of the uterus instead grows elsewhere, often in the abdominal region, causing inflammation and adhesions that can make it agonizing to move.

One morning I woke up and I was in so much pain I couldnt go to work, I couldnt move, I couldnt do anything, so I went to the hospital and eventually it lead to a diagnosis of stage four endometriosis, she says, noting the severity of this disease, like many others, is graded in stages. Her surgeon said it was the worst case she had seen up to that point.

Daily activities became much harder, and it is difficult to peg which days will be good and which days will be bad, and which days will start off good and end bad. So Davis was forced to quit her job  working 9-5 became impossible.

After a two-year stint abroad with her husband of 11 years, Joey, the pair returned to Winnipeg and Davis decided she needed to occupy her time with something productive since she could not work. She had already been honing her skill of book binding, so it felt like a natural progression to turn her hand-made leather notebooks into a small online business. We Are Bound Together is run through Etsy, a peer-to-peer e-commerce website that focuses on handmade and vintage goods.

Ive always been a figure-it-out kind of person, Ive always been artsy, and if you can do it with your hands, I can learn it. So I just looked online and self-taught myself how to make books, she says. I had been making books for friends  its something that I liked doing and knew how to do, so I started with that. It took me six months to make my first sale, but since then its really taken off.

In the four years her company has been active, Davis has sold more than 300 of her hand-bound books in various sizes, along with a handful of other products, including cardholders and notebooks made of old floppy disks, to customers all over the world. In the last two years, she has managed to turn a more sizable profit, all of which gets donated to two charities that support persecuted Christians, a cause Davis is passionate about contributing to.

When you have a disease or youre sick you really feel like theres not very much you can do, you feel left out of life. This has let me do something, she says.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @NireRabel
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 22/08/2016 (2259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A wider review of residential-school compensation claims is needed in the wake of a Manitoba court decision that found some survivors claims were denied because they couldnt prove their abusers motives, the Assembly of First Nations says.

AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde is calling on the federal government to make it easier to re-open claims for those who were denied compensation after suffering sexual abuse at Canadas residential schools.

In letters sent Friday to federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and chief adjudicator Dan Shapiro of the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat, Bellegarde requested further review of all sexual abuse claims that may be affected by the Court of Queens Bench decision, and asked that a process be established to re-open all claims that are found to have been wrongfully denied.

CANADIAN PRESS FILES Assembly of First Nations national chief Perry Bellegarde.

Earlier this month, Justice James Edmond ordered a former Manitoba residential school students denied claim be re-opened because he had been wrongly required to try to prove that the nun who molested him did it with a sexual purpose in mind. The judge ruled that the adjudicator had misread the rules of the residential schools settlement agreement, which does not, in fact, require proof of the perpetrators intent. The same logic had been used to deny compensation in previous residential-school cases, court heard.

The courts decision could have a wider impact, Bellegarde said by phone from Ottawa Monday, saying the adjudicators error flies in the face of reconciliation.

If mistakes have been made, you correct the wrong. And if it takes time to do that, then take the necessary time to do that because its all about justice and restitution for the survivors, he said.

He said its not acceptable that some residential-school survivors seeking compensation were held to a higher burden of proof than is required to prove sexual assault in criminal court.

Its almost like its opening up the old wound again, blaming the victim. Being held to a higher standard (than is required in criminal law), its totally unfair and unjust. How is that to bring about healing and wellness and reconciliation? he said.

Bellegarde said he has yet to receive a response from the federal government.

The Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The federal government can still appeal the Court of Queens Bench decision, which involved a former Manitoba residential school student identified as J.W.

J.W. testified that a nun had called him over while he was waiting in line to use the shower and grabbed his penis. When he pushed her hand away, she took him by his left ear and tried to slam his head against the wall, he testified. The adjudicator said she believed J.W.s account. She didnt doubt that what happened to him had caused him embarrassment and certain harms, but she denied compensation because she was not satisfied on a balance of probabilities that there was a sexual purpose associated with (the nuns) conduct.

The case review AFN requested would deal only with sexual abuse cases that are considered to be the least severe under the rules set out in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement process.

Any touching of a student, including touching with an object, by an adult employee or other adult lawfully on the premises which exceeds recognized parental contact and violates the sexual integrity of the student, means the student is eligible for compensation that can add up to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the level of harm the student suffered, the independent assessment process states.

Justice Edmond found that the words any touching had been misinterpreted to mean sexual touching.

The decision to deny compensation based on a lack of proof of sexual motivation in J.W.s case was upheld during two different reviews within the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement hearing process. It was decided the original adjudicator had not erred because the same sexual motivation requirement had been tested before, and ultimately upheld, in at least two other cases where the claimants asked for a review after being denied compensation.

The mistake should have been corrected before the case made its way to the Manitoba Court of Queens Bench, the judge said in his decision.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/08/2016 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial and federal governments are offering open ears, but not necessarily open wallets, after the largest employer in The Pas announced Monday it will close.

Political reaction to the impending closure of the Tolko pulp-and-paper mill offered no immediate financial assurances to the 300 people who will lose good-paying jobs that are rare in the northern community.

Provincial Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen said the new Conservative government will listen to anyone with ideas for long-term sustainable development  but wont commit to bailout money.

Trevor Wright / Opasquia Times Tolko Manitoba Kraft paper mill in The Pas, MB.

Were always open to listening to people who want to invest in Manitoba, he said.

Cullen said he talked to Tolko before the company announced its closure, but he repeatedly refused to tell reporters on Tuesday whether the company has asked the province for financial or other assistance. He also would not say what tangible assistance the Pallister government might offer to keep the facility open or attract a new operator.

Cullen and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr met with reporters following the annual meeting of ministers of energy and mining in Winnipeg on Tuesday, but the media mainly wanted to ask them about the back-to-back blows to northern Manitoba  the loss of Omnitrax in Churchill and Tolko Industries in The Pas. Omnitrax recently shut the port of Churchill and reduced rail service to once a week.

Carr said Tolko did not notify the federal Liberal government of its plans to close its facility.

Your heart goes out to the people who lost their jobs, said Carr.

He noted the federal government has hundreds of millions of dollars available to help businesses create a green economy. Without making specific promises to The Pas, Carr said the federal government is offering significant investment in green technology, such as financial help to convert forest waste into biofuels.

We have literally hundreds of millions of dollars in the 2016 budget, said Carr, emphasizing that government has to look both at the impact of its investment on jobs and on environmentally-sustainable practices.

Cullen said the province has no interest in providing bailouts or short-term solutions. although we feel for those individuals, for those families.

He repeatedly pointed out Tolko owns the facility and it is up to the company to decide what to do with it, including selling the facility.

Were optimistic theres potential there, be it a mill or something else, Cullen said. We want to do everything we can to attract jobsmarket ourselves to the rest of the country, to the rest of the world.

Well be working with the community to see what opportunities might exist.

Cullen said that Tolko blamed the closing on a combination of low commodity prices, a shrinking market for heavy kraft paper  the lumber mill already closed eight years before  and aging infrastructure.

Its tough for government to do anything when its low commodity prices, said Cullen.

Earlier Tuesday, Association of Manitoba Municipalities president Chris Goertzen said the AMM will do whatever it can to help all the parties talk over possible solutions, but wont tell government what to do.

It starts with a dialogue about the challenges, said Goertzen, the mayor of Steinbach. There needs to be an appropriate dialogue take place.

Its important that each situation may be unique. They dont want to see handouts, they want to see solutions, Goertzen said.

NDP labour critic Tom Lindsay said in an interview that one of the smaller bargaining units at the mill had just approved a new collective agreement, and had no inkling the company was about to close.

Lindsay was not sure the mill could be converted to another use, but said government should be looking at whether it can help with transportation or energy costs. Government can provide money or loans if the investment is worthwhile, he said.

Omnitrax and Tolko came out of nowhere, Lindsay pointed out. The MLA for Flin Flon, Lindsay said there are always fears about the long-term futures of the mine in Flin Flon or the smelter in Thompson.

These are huge, huge things, particularly in the north. Who knows what is coming?

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/08/2016 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rodrigo Duterte, the new president of the Philippines, gives good copy. Heres a quote from his final election rally: Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out because Id kill you. Ill dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there.

Heres another, from last Sunday, after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UNs Office on Drugs and Crime condemned Dutertes apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings.

I do not want to insult you, Duterte said. (He only called them stupid.) But maybe well just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that rude, we might just as well leave. So take us out of your organization. You have done nothing. Never. Except to criticize.

NOEL CELIS / POOL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was known as The Punisher, when he was mayor of Davao.

What upset Ban Ki-moon and the UNDOC is the fact that Duterte is having people murdered. Since he took office three months ago, some 900 suspected drug dealers have been shot dead by police and civilian vigilantes acting in his name. None was found guilty by a court, and some, of course, were innocent.

Duterte is not denying it or apologizing. Before he leaves office, he says, hell just give himself an amnesty: Pardon given to Rodrigo Duterte for the crime of multiple murder, signed Rodrigo Duterte.

The Punisher, as he was known when he was mayor of Davao, is very serious about his war on drugs: he recently said he would kill his own children if they took drugs. But crime is not the Philippines biggest problem, and its not clear what else he is serious about.

But he does have a plan of sorts for what to do after he walks out of the United Nations. He says he may ask China and African countries to walk out too and form a rival organization. He doesnt know much about China or Africa, so maybe he thinks they would like to get together and defy the parts of the world where governments believe that killing people is wrong.

Duterte Harry (another nickname) is very popular in the Philippines, but he is not really a threat to global order. The hundred-million Filipinos will have to live with him for the next six years, but the United Nations is not doomed. In fact, it is doing better than most people give it credit for.

One proof of this is the fact the secretary general now has the right to criticize a member government merely for killing its own citizens. Thats not what it was designed for. When it was created in 1945, as the catastrophe of the Second World War was ending, its main goal was to prevent any more wars like that.

The founders tried to give it the appearance of a broader moral force by signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, but that was mainly window dressing. The UN was created by the great powers to prevent any government from launching another war of international aggression, not to make governments treat their own citizens better.

The UN has done well in its original task: it shares the credit with nuclear weapons for the fact that no great power has fought any other for the past 71 years. It has gradually moved into other areas such as peacekeeping and promoting the rule of law in the world, but it never interferes inside the territory of the great powers. Even in smaller countries it almost never intervenes without the invitation of the local government.

So when Duterte called the UN useless because if you are really true to your mandate, you could have stopped all these wars and killings, he was talking through his hat. Besides, he would never accept UN intervention in his own country to deal with an alleged crime wave. Hes just talking tough because he hates being criticized.

Its very unlikely he will carry out his threat. The UN is the keystone in the structure of international law that, among many other things, deters China from settling its territorial dispute with the Philippines by force. Rodrigo Duterte is just a problem for the Philippines, not for the UN or the world.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/08/2016 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The issue of development fees has made headlines again in Winnipeg as the city and its citizens consider how to handle expected population growth and the citys infrastructure. Hemson Consulting Ltd., the consultant hired to take on another study of growth financing in the city, completed its second and last engagement session on Aug. 18.

The primary purpose was to educate stakeholders on the method for calculating growth charges. Key stakeholders have been defined as primarily Winnipegs development industry, chiefly because developers will be the ones dealing with growth costs most directly.

While the development industry needs to understand and be part of the discussion, the premise that all citizens are not directly affected is fundamentally flawed. Neither Hemson Consulting nor the public service is responsible for the tight timelines and limited scope of the study. City council needs to provide all Winnipeggers with more information on the issue of growth charges. All Winnipeggers are dealing with the repercussions of development that does not pay its fair share and leaves taxpayers to cover the costs.

Winnipegs crumbling roads clearly demonstrate the effects of unsustainable and unfunded growth. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Social-policy groups, community-based organizations, recreation and neighbourhood-renewal corporations all know the first response from any city councillor or bureaucrat when pushing for better or expanded social programming is we have no money.

While cities such as Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver are creating complete communities through charging new developments some of the cost of creating affordable housing, Winnipeg is charging not-for-profit housing providers property taxes because it cant afford to waive them. The city could choose to apply growth charges in a way that fosters complete and equitable communities, waiving or reducing fees for infill development in the inner city, affordable housing and transit-oriented development.

Winnipeg is one of the only cities in Canada that does not charge new developments for the costs of regional infrastructure. Currently, agreements are negotiated on a case-by-case basis that requires developers to provide, or pay for, all of the infrastructure within a site, as well as some boundary roads, intersections and drainage infrastructure.

Larger developments must undertake a cost-benefit study to calculate how property taxes from the development will support water, sewer, regional roads, police, community services and all of the other services a city provides for its residents.

There is, however, no consistent process in determining the cost of increased pressure on existing infrastructure and services or in establishing the annual per-kilometre cost of maintaining the new roads, sewer lines, etc. While the initial installation of services is accounted for, the long-term and regional-scale effects of differing types of development may not be.

Infrastructure in low-density communities, such as those built in the last 20 years, cost more to develop, maintain and service. Transit cannot be efficiently provided at low densities, giving residents few alternatives to driving and increasing the demand on roads. More sewer and water infrastructure is required, which, even if the upfront costs are paid for, ultimately become the responsibility of the city. More emergency vehicles are required to keep response times similar to that in denser areas. New schools or busing programs may be required for students.

While the ad hoc system of developer agreements attempts to recoup some of these costs, they do not account for the city-wide and long-term effects of these developments.

The data making the case for changing Winnipegs existing development agreement framework, included in Hemsons initial report, are striking: when compared with similar Canadian cities, Winnipeg spends far below average on capital costs ($327 per capita, compared with $876 per capita); Winnipeg has an infrastructure deficit of at least $7 billion.

This is not to say developers are responsible for Winnipegs current financial situation; growth charges are not a panacea. Urban sprawl has major health and environmental costs that must be considered when approving new developments, whether the capital costs of this growth are paid for or not.

Developers need a fair and predictable environment in which to do business, but it should not be up to developers to decide how and where we grow as a city, how we provide for services for our residents, or how we create a more equitable city. Growth charges are an important tool to better steer development towards the type of dense, inclusive, complete communities called for in the citys OurWinnipeg initiative. They are one part of a puzzle in reducing Winnipegs spiralling infrastructure deficit.

And because these things matter to all Winnipeggers, citizens should be engaged in the important process of deciding how growth charges will be established.

Christina Maes Nino is a community animator with the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.
While we shouldnt live in the past, we can certainly learn from it. We are not the first humans to walk the Earth and yet too many, especially the young, suffer from the conceit that history is just a boring subject in school.

PBS is rerunning episodes on its award-winning series American Experience on modern presidents and the challenges they faced. Each episode retraces what presidents believed to be good ideas at the time  from Lyndon Johnsons program to wipe out poverty and defeat the communists in Vietnam, to George W. Bushs toppling of Saddam Hussein. In each episode, historians, as well as members of those administrations, are interviewed and provide perspective only hindsight can give.

One scene in the LBJ segment is particularly instructive when thinking about the two main candidates in the current presidential race. During consideration of Johnsons pledge to create a Great Society, there is film of him signing a large stack of bills passed by a Democratic Congress. The narrator says the bills were passed and signed so quickly no one had any idea what the programs would cost, or how they would be implemented.

This is the heart of liberalism. Little consideration is given to whether a program or idea will accomplish its stated goal, only intentions matter.

In a speech last week in Warren, Mich., Hillary Clinton borrowed from the past, not to learn from it, but to repeat it. So starting on day one, she said, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II. She followed with recycled promises to repair infrastructure, such as bridges, highways and airports.

Those with short memories may have forgotten her pledges have been tried in the very recent past. Remember President Obamas stimulus? Remember shovel-ready jobs? When they didnt materialize, even the president had to joke that shovel-ready was not as ... uh ... shovel-ready as we expected. Remember the infrastructure repair Obama promised?

Government doesnt create private-sector jobs, businesses do. Government can stimulate the private sector by lowering taxes and reducing unnecessary regulations. Hillary Clinton wants to do the reverse. In her view government has all the answers when, in fact, it has few. If it had answers, the problems we face would have long ago been solved. After so many failures, why would voters continue to trust government to fix anything?

Hillary Clinton again is using the liberal code word investment. She means spending. As the debt approaches $20 trillion, a wise person might say we need to spend less, not more, starting with reforming entitlement programs, which consume a great deal of the budget. Would any business survive a sales strategy that has failed so dramatically?

President Obama has tried everything Hillary Clinton is proposing. It hasnt worked. Economic growth is stagnant and the 5 percent unemployment rate masks a labor force that has either given up looking for work, is working only part time or is working at jobs that pay less than the employee previously earned. Insurance companies are pulling out of Obamacare due to its high cost. Taxes will soon rise. Bloomberg.com reports home ownership is at its lowest level since 1965.

The experience of Democrat liberalism is a theme Donald Trump should hammer home. If you like the damage President Obama has caused, vote for Hillary. She will give you more of the same and you wont like it.

In his best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren writes, We are products of our past, but we dont have to be prisoners of it.

President Hillary Clinton would impose a life sentence of failed liberalism.
Residents of Cannon Beach, Oregon, who rent out their homes to friends and family members who visit on vacation in the summer might want to prepare to pay more for the privilege.

Property owners in the small resort town are learning that no amount of regulation is ever too much for local bureaucrats.

Despite already having some of the strictest rules about vacation rentals in the state, the city council is considering new ordinances that would require residents who rent out their homes to register, pay hundreds of dollars in fees and acquiesce to a government-approved inspection.

The rules are being considered by the city council without being put to the residents for a vote. And residents are not happy.

Cannon Beach already has the most restrictive short-term rental rules on the coast, said Alaina Giguiere at a Planning Commission meeting, as reported by the Daily Astorian. The plan is working, our neighborhoods are protected.

The city runs a lottery program to allow residents to participate in the rental economy. Only 92 permits are granted in a town with a population of about 1,600 residents. Taxes for these kinds of short-term rentals bring in more than $288,000 in income for the city. But the city wants more.

New rules would require a $600 fee from those wishing to rent out their homes, generating even more money for the local bureaucrats. The newly required inspection would cost an additional $125 per resident.

Residents say the rules should be eased, not toughened. If anything, make it more lenient so the city can be enjoyed more and more, Steve Crane, a Cannon Beach resident, told the Planning Commission.

It appears there was no particular inciting incident that provoked the changes. Just a desire to be even more of a nanny on the part of the city council.

For a resort town predicated on tourism, the possibility of putting clamps on the stock of available units could put a dent in tourist activity. The local officials in charge, however, are intent on charging ahead with minimal public input  with a plan that forces residents to submit to government inspections and pay more in fees.

Tourism? Or just renting to a couple family members in town for the summer? It doesnt matter: the Cannon Beach city council is looking to jack up the price of summer vacation.
JUNEAU  A 42-year-old Milwaukee man charged with breaking his 3-month-old childs leg and causing a laceration to the childs trachea pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday.

Andrew Freeman is charged with one count of child abuse, intentionally causing great bodily harm. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.

Freeman appeared before Judge Steven Bauer. He is currently being held on a $25,000 cash bond. Freeman may not have any contact with his victims and must maintain absolute sobriety and a condition of his bond.

Freeman requested a bond modification hearing which will be scheduled at a later date.

On Oct. 17, 2015, officers were assigned to investigate a tip received from St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac regarding a 3-month-old child who was brought to the emergency room with an injury to the tracheal area of the throat.

Officers made contact with the treating physician who said the child was going into exploratory surgery to determine the extent of the injuries.

The childs mother told officers that she had left the child in the care of his father, identified as Freeman. When the mother returned at approximately 12:30 p.m. the child was lying on his back with a swollen neck. The mother said the child appeared blue and she immediately took the child to the hospital.

Doctors discovered a one-centimeter laceration to the childs right posterior pharynx which was allowing air to leak into the chest cavity. The doctor stated that some type of object mechanically caused the injury.

The child was transferred to Childrens Hospital where doctors discovered a fracture to the left femur and bruising to the face, right lower leg and tongue. Doctors determined that none of the injuries could have occurred during normal care for the child.
Environmentalists, farmers and concerned citizens came together to discuss the condition of area lakes on Friday during an informational session in Nekoosa.

The meeting, hosted by the Petenwell and Castle Rock Stewards (PACRS), was held at Lure Bar and Grill, on the eastern shore of Lake Petenwell. PACRS formed in 2007 to address the water quality on the Petenwell and Castle Rock lakes, along with the Wisconsin River watershed. The water in these lakes tends to turn pea green from algae blooms in the late summer and conditions have grown worse.

Excessive nutrients that seep into the water turn into phosphorus that stimulates algae growth. Phosphorus develops from a variety of sources, including sewage treatment plants, paper mills, farm runoff, and construction yards and sites. When weather turns warm in July, the phosphorus tends to cook in the lakes as water temperature rises.

For decades, the large lakes that border Wood, Adams and Juneau counties have been summer tourist hubs. However, due to the rise in algae blooms, tourists have been cautious to head into the murky, green water. Local businesses along the lakes that depend heavily on tourism dollars have seen the negative impact of the water pollution in recent years.

Scott Provost, from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said dogs have died near Lake Camelot near Rome, and children have become ill due to the poor water quality. Tourists have said the water stinks and breathing in the algae blooms can raise health risks.

Since 2008, PACRS has hosted Pontoons and Politics, taking elected officials out on boats to examine the water quality on the lakes. But, on Friday, the non-profit group invited farmers along the Wisconsin River watershed to see a presentation from the DNR and hear information about the damaging effects of algae blooms. The goal of Fridays meeting was to have a positive discussion and to find solutions to the phosphorus runoff problem.

We believe it is important to build a relationship of trust and partnership and work together to improve our water quality, said PACRS Secretary Collette Camerano.

Scott Provost, from the DNR, showed farmers a slide show flyover film of the watershed, from where the Wisconsin River begins from the far northern part of the state, down to where it runs off into the Mississippi River. The slide show showed the amount of phosphorus rises in urban areas, such as Wausau, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids. Provost said paper mills and hydroelectric dams in these areas contribute to the phosphorus runoff, along with other factors.

There are some areas where natural phosphorus gets deposited so youre never going to control all of it, Provost said.

As the flyover map reached Nekoosa, the level of phosphorus rose significantly.

These algae blooms dont only drive away business, they can also pose serious health concerns, Provost said.

In Juneau County, the Castle Rock and Yellow River watersheds contain a significant amount of phosphorus runoff, according to Provost. He said the problem can flow downstream, affecting tourism in the Wisconsin Dells area, as well as Lake Wisconsin. Provost said there are 35 cities and 92 villages along the watershed, and it includes 26 counties. More than 8,000 miles of streams feed into the Wisconsin River.

This is a complex issue and there is no quick fix, Provost said. We need people to continue working together to solve it.

While its impossible to totally eliminate all phosphorus in the water, Provost said steps can be made to reduce it, but the results could be years  even decades  down the road. Scott Bourdeau, Vice President of PACRS said, We need to start setting a goal of getting healthier lakes for the next generation to enjoy.

Some local farmers that attended the meeting said they often feel put on the offensive, when facing phosphorus runoff issues. While most farmers adhere to strict environmental regulations, there are always a few that run shoddy operations and dont monitor runoff, according to one area producer. Another farmer said the general public often doesnt see what many farmers do to be positive stewards of the land around them.

Bordeau said PACRS would like to have more meetings similar to Fridays to address pollution concerns with area farmers. For more information on PACRS, contact Camerano at pacrs2014@gmail.com.
A Baraboo woman is facing new charges of bail jumping after allegedly violating bond conditions in an attempt to make her cash bond for release from an arrest on Thursday.

Abigail Sawyer, 28, accused of two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping, appeared Monday in Columbia County Circuit Court. District Attorney Jane Kohlwey requested a significant cash bond, despite the case being a misdemeanor, noting that she had been in court just last Thursday.

She has shown that she has absolutely no regard for the laws or bond conditions, said Kohlwey.

It is my understanding that Ms. Sawyer never was released, said defense attorney Tristan Eagon, and did self-report her contact.

Portage police stopped Sawyer on Thursday at about 2:30 a.m. for making an unsafe turn while driving on Airport Road and Collins Street. She was then arrested on charges of driving after having her license revoked and failure to install a court-ordered ignition interlock device. After she had been taken to Columbia County Jail officers reportedly found heroin hidden in her bra.

That afternoon she was formally charged with felony possession of narcotics, eight counts of misdemeanor bail jumping and one count of operating a motor vehicle while revoked. In court she was ordered to be held on $50 cash bond.

The next day, around 8 p.m., a Columbia County Sheriffs Office deputy reported helping Sawyer make a call to Paul to get bonded out. After the call was made, Sawyer reportedly asked the deputy if Paul could bond her out even though she had a no contact order with him.

Paul Cebery, 41, of Portage, arrived at the jail less than an hour later, where he was recognized by a deputy.

On Sept. 16, 2015, Cebery and Sawyer were each charged with two counts of misdemeanor prostitution, with Sawyer released on a $500 signature bond and Cebery released on a $2,000 signature bond. Both were ordered to have no contact with the other as a condition of release, a condition that remains in place with their respective cases open.

Shes currently scheduled to begin treatment at a clinic at 8 a.m. tomorrow, said Eagon. She has been on a waiting list since last November to get into that program.

The court is very concerned based on the collective nature of the allegations against her, said Judge W. Andrew Voigt.

If it is true she finally has a place to get treatment it seems horribly unfortunate that she will probably not be there, but will be in the Columbia County Jail.

Voigt ordered Sawyer to be held on a $400 cash bond in this new case. She is scheduled to next appear in court Nov. 2.
A 15-year planning and fundraising effort and an aggressive 15-month demolition and construction effort will culminate Sunday with a solemn observance as well as a joyous public celebration in Wisconsin Dells.

The new St. Cecilia Catholic Church building will open its doors for its official dedication, officiated by the Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino, bishop of the Catholic Churchs Madison Diocese, beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Dinner and fellowship for the churchs parishioners  1,000 of which can now fit in the new building, triple the size of its predecessor  will follow the Mass, and then everyone in the Dells-Delton area is invited to a downtown celebration at the nearby municipal parking lot on La Crosse Street.

The public celebration will include a toast to the future, a robust ringing of the new church bells at 8 p.m., and a celebratory closing fireworks display for the entire community to enjoy, according to a news release from the church.

There have been many people from this community and beyond who have contributed to this project over the past 15 years  from large to small, monetary donations and in-kind efforts, St. Cecilias pastor, the Rev. Eric Sternberg  known popularly as Father Eric  said in a news release. Our congregation would not have been able to achieve this great goal without their support,

The fireworks display will take place at around 8 p.m., following a toast to the future by Sternberg and a jubilant ringing of the church bells. The fireworks are made possible by anonymous donors who want to show appreciation to the entire community for its support of the church project, according to the release.

Participants in the Mass earlier Sunday will be among the first to behold a soaring interior that combines elements of the 113-year-old building that preceded it, including 14 fully restored stained glass windows, hand-painted wall- and ceiling-scapes throughout and restored church statuary.

The new Saint Cecilias is a recognition of the preservation of the tradition and history of the parish in a place that is both modern enough to welcome all sorts of visitors and large enough to have room for them, Sternberg said. The church is also a beautiful space, showing something grand can be done in the contemporary period. We can aim high and achieve great things in the Dells area.

Among other features of the new church are two new church bells manufactured in the Netherlands as well as the churchs original, 100-year-old bell, which was restored in the Netherlands. The bells are housed in a tower that became the tallest building in the Dells, at more than 90 feet, when it was topped off with a cross earlier this summer.

Construction of the new building began in May 2015 with the careful deconstruction of the church building, which had served the Dells since 1902. The former building seated 350 parishioners, but could no longer serve a growing congregation  currently 650 families, according to the news release.

The previous buildings size also was increasingly challenged by the stream of visitors in town, especially in the summer months, for Dells-area activities.

The parish raised more than $11.5 million during the 15-year effort, which also was supported and encouraged along by Sternberg predecessors Monsignor Felix Oherlein and the Rev. Michael Richel.
Democrat Jim Zahn of rural Juneau announced his candidacy to represent the 39th District in the State Assembly Aug. 19.

He will face incumbent Republican Mark Born of Beaver Dam in the November election.

Zahn said he is unhappy with state leaders in Madison.

It looks like we are having a contest to see where we can make the biggest cuts in funding (except when it comes to their own wages), Zahn said.

Zahn said the state is not investing in the future of our communities.

Maintaining good infrastructure is important for our economy. Farms, industries and small businesses depend upon good roads, power sources and Internet access. Providing great public education opportunities for our young people always pays off in the long term. In contrast, cuts the current Assembly has made to public universities, technical colleges and K-12 schools as well as their reluctance to fund repair/maintenance of our infrastructure has already had a long-term negative effect on all of us, he said.

Zahn believes his candidacy will provide voters a choice to change the direction of the state of Wisconsin.

Zahn was born and raised in Dodge County. He attended parochial grade school, public high school and technical college. He has been a farmer all his life. He was also a school bus driver for more than 30 years and worked as an over-the-road semi-truck driver for 10 years. He served on the Dodgeland School Board.

His family immigrated to Dodge County in 1868 originally settling in the Lomira/Theresa area before moving to Juneau in 1932, giving him deep roots in this community.

My grandson now picks stones in the same fields my grandfather did. said Zahn.

Zahn believes that his background in agriculture will help him to understand the issues that are important to the many farmers in the 39th Assembly District.
Portage Community School District welcomed 28 new staff members Monday at a luncheon that connected them with local leaders and organizations  a day many speakers agreed came at a unique time in Portage generosity.

Portage is a special community, and we cant look past the operational referendums, District Administrator Charles Poches told the group assembled in the Portage High School cafeteria, referring to voters who in April passed a five-year referendum that allows the district to exceed the state-mandated revenue limit by $2.6 million each year.

We have the Splash Pad, now the skate park  both the result of community fundraising, Portage Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marianne Hanson said.

We dont function without the generosity of the community, said Tim Bressers of the Greater Portage Youth Education Foundation.

Bressers for the new teachers noted how Portage has long supported its schools, including donating nearly $1 million toward construction of Portage High School for an auditorium, a larger gymnasium and a technology center.

Another theme of the luncheon Monday regarded the districts efforts to keep teachers in Portage.

Over the last four or five years weve come together to gain a sense of where we are, to build toward common goals, school board member Dan Brown said. Brown, who came to Portage 38 years ago and taught for 31, said positive developments in recent years include a reasonable salary schedule and a collaborative decision-making process.

Brown asked that new teachers treat these committees with interest, noting how the District Leadership Team is one thats constructed mostly of teachers selected by their peers.

We want teachers to pick (members), Brown said. Please, get involved at all levels.

We hope you stay forever.

Hanson noted how any teachers looking to partner with local businesses in town can contact the Chamber, which functions as a community resource.

Also meeting with teachers Monday were Police Chief Ken Manthey and Fire Chief Clayton Simonson, along with new Portage Public Library Director Jessica Bergin.

Bergin noted a number of teacher resources available at the library, including a second library card for teachers to check out items for their classrooms and a truly fabulous childrens department.

The 2016-17 school year begins with classes Sept. 1 for kindergarten through sixth-graders, ninth-graders and for new Portage Academy students and for all other students on Sept. 2.
More than 100 people from several area churches attended Praise Night on Friday at Living Hope Church.

People came together as guitars, drums, keys, tambourines and songs of praise and worship filled the air with warm melodies.

Video clips were shown behind the musicians as they shared what praise and worship meant to them through songs.

Everyone really enjoys the music, we are hoping that next years event will really bring even more people from our neighboring churches, said worship director and Praise Night organizer Kristen Reynoso. We like that this has brought more togetherness as a community. Its growing.

Reynoso studied in New York City at Joffrey Ballet for two years before returning to the area to complete her degree in play performance. She resides in Baraboo and said she plans to lead additional similar events in the area.

Several local organizations gathered in the main entry, including Women of Hope, Community Christian School, People Helping People, the Sauk County Chapter of Right to Life and Next Generation Ministries.

We are trying to bring people from the community and inviting people into the church for fellowship and worship, said Living Hope Church Associate Pastor Dave Ekes. I cant sing but I can sure serve up some ice cream.

Attendees were invited to clap along, dance and stand with the musicians throughout the evening, though many seemed most content sitting and watching the show. The crowds laughed at the closing blooper reel of the musicians before being invited to partake in an array of ice cream with toppings, cookies and coffee.

It was a great moment as we believers can all come together to worship God together, said vocalist Steven Reynoso.
Around $16,000 in scrip cards were taken from local churches during burglaries reported Monday morning.

Beaver Dam Police Department is investigating break-ins at two churches and an attempted break-in at another.

Lt. Detective Terrance Gebhardt said scrip cards valued at $16,000 were missing from Grace Presbyterian, 215 Gould St., and First Lutheran Church, 311 W. Mackie St. Trinity Methodist Church, 308 Oneida St., was not broken into, but according to the police briefing, it appeared the doors had by tampered with.

Scrip cards are sold to churches, schools and non-profits by local vendors at a reduced rate. People then buy the cards at face value and the non-profit group makes a small profit. The cards are similar to pre-paid debit cards.

According to the police briefing, safes at Grace Presbyterian and First Lutheran were accessed. Besides the cards, nothing else was reported stolen.

Gebhardt said he isnt aware of any suspicious activity in the area of the three churches. However, he said that it is an active investigation.
A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administration from enforcing its guidance requiring public schools to let students who are transgender use the bathrooms and locker rooms associated with their gender identity.

In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX is not ambiguous about sex being defined as the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth.

While the injunction is in place, the Obama administration cannot enforce its rules on schools in states that were party to the lawsuit  which includes Wisconsin, according to the order.

Wisconsin, and 12 other states, challenged the White House directive as unconstitutional. OConnors order specified that the Obama administration could not enforce its guidelines on the plaintiff states schools.

Schools face the loss of federal funding if their policies and practices regarding bathroom facilities for transgender students go against the Obama administrations guidelines.

In a statement, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said the injunction was a victory for the rule of law and a clear statement that the federal government cannot force states to comply with an illegal policy that directly conflicts with existing federal law.

The Obama administrations efforts to rewrite federal law without congressional approval have been, once again, rejected by a federal court, said Schimel.

Guidance from state education officials to districts grappling with how to accommodate students who are transgender will likely not change, according to Wisconsin State Superintendent Tony Evers.

The best decisions for Wisconsin kids are made with the input of their local communities, Evers said in a statement. While national litigation around this issue will continue, it does not absolve a schools responsibility to provide a safe environment for all kids to learn. I do not anticipate any changes being made to our work to help Wisconsin schools achieve that goal.

Brian Juchems, senior director of education and policy at Madison LGBT advocacy group GSAFE, said its guidance for districts seeking their input wont change.

Juchems said the issue is clearly headed to the Supreme Court.

GSAFE continues to know that gender-inclusive practices, like those issued by the DOE/DOJ earlier this year, create learning environments that allow all students to not only be their full selves but also be successful, Juchems said. There continues to be no evidence, despite what some lawmakers and advocates continue to claim, that gender-inclusive practices makes anyone less safe. If anything, transgender and gender expansive students continue to be the target of violence, discrimination, and humiliation.

The lawsuit came after a legislative session during which a bill co-authored by Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, that would set gender restrictions on school bathrooms and locker rooms failed to get traction. Kremer has said he hopes to bring the legislation back.

The original bill would have set a statewide standard for bathroom use in Wisconsin schools. As it stands, schools are free to establish their own policies.

The federal guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other over a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places.

Schimel called the directive a new policy that conflicts with the plain language of Title IX, and is therefore an unlawful interpretation. Title IX does not prohibit gender identity discrimination, but sex discrimination.

The judge in the Sunday order also sided with Republican leaders in Texas who argued that schools should have been allowed to weigh in before the White House directive was announced in May.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, had argued that halting the Obama order before school began was necessary because districts risked losing federal education dollars if they did not comply. Federal officials did not explicitly make that threat upon issuing the directive, although they also never ruled out the possibility.

This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform, Paxton said. That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts.

The Justice Department issued a brief statement saying it was disappointed in the ruling and was now reviewing its options.

The ruling does not prohibit schools that allow transgender students to use the facilities of their choice from continuing to do so.

Transgender rights in public schools are a growing legal battleground. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia school board can block for now a transgender male from using the boys restroom while justices decide whether to fully intervene.

Paul Castillo, a Dallas attorney for the gay rights group Lambda Legal, said the latest ruling was a continuation of attacks on transgender people.

I think today is going to be a hard day for transgender students, Castillo said. The decision is certainly emotional and certainly an attack on transgender students dignity.

The federal government issued the mandate days after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over its bathroom law, which U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch likened to policies of racial segregation. Republicans have argued such laws are common-sense privacy safeguards.

The Obama administration had told the court that recipients of federal education dollars were clearly on notice that anti-discrimination policies must be followed. Texas alone gets roughly $10 billion in federal education funds.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It may require some creativity at times, but first responders from area agencies have learned to handle situations involving a language barrier.

With three major interstates and numerous tourist attractions in the area, Divine Savior Healthcare paramedic Bill Tierney said its inevitable that someone with limited or no ability to speak English will need help.

He said such situations remain rare, but preparing for the many different forms of communication that can be needed in an emergency is important for his department and the Portage hospital.

Divine Savior has some employees who speak Spanish, the most commonly encountered language other than English.

If an interpreter isnt available, emergency medical technicians use simple expressions or drawings to ask a patient about pain or symptoms. Technology also can play a role, as smart phone apps now offer language services. Tierney said despite the various communication choices available today, sometimes the best tool is an old-fashioned pencil and paper, which are especially helpful when first responders need to communicate with a patient who may be deaf.

Reedsburg Area Ambulance Service Director Josh Kowalke said paramedics at his agency use a Google translator app that can convert Spanish to English, English to Spanish and just about every other imaginable combination.

Technology makes it a lot easier when you cant communicate, he said.

Outside help

Departments also frequently turn to LanguageLine Solutions, a translation service that agencies can turn to for a per use fee. The services translators are experts in their languages, so their skills are vital to investigations and any information that may end up in court, said Mauston Police Chief Michael Zilisch. Zilisch said the department may turn to a community volunteer or language teacher if needed, but their experience could be questioned in court. LanguageLine translators are certified, so their expertise seldom becomes a legal issue.

Having access to experts is integral to Wisconsin Dells agencies since the community draws a steady stream of diverse traffic. Dells-Delton EMS uses a phone service when other options fail, said Director and Paramedic Janene Clark. She said emergency responders or patients usually know a few words to point out what they need or whats happening, but more detailed language requires a skilled speaker.

We have so many languages that come through here you cant possibly be fluent in all of them, she said.

Flip charts

Pictures, charts and keywords are another commonly used resource. Reedsburg Area Ambulance Service and Dells-Delton EMS have flip charts featuring diagrams, pictures and common questions to help patients and responders communicate.

Baraboo District Ambulance Service uses Kwikpoint, which allows a patient to point to numerous types of information, said EMS Director Dana Sechler. The chart includes flags for each nation so patients may indicate their homeland and language. They also can point to their symptoms or conditions, a 1-10 scale to rate their pain, allergies and other medically relevant data. In cases of assault, the chart may be used to ask what type of weapon was used or how the patient was struck. In the case of a fall, a patient can point to how they fell and the distance.

Speech volunteers

Many departments also have a list of volunteers, local teachers or even university staff who are willing to offer translations either over the phone, in person or through streaming video.

Thats a wonderful asset, especially for smaller communities with few resources, said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, director of Voces de la Frontera, a Milwaukee-based Hispanic advocacy group.

She said rural areas tend to have larger Hispanic populations due to the farming industry, so its imperative that those departments have access to some kind of Spanish resource. Community volunteers not only can help in a pinch; they also may serve as a liaison between the public and government agencies.

Having a Spanish-speaking representative also is vital during catastrophes. When the public is notified about where to go following a tornado or flood, it helps to have instructions in more than just English, she said. Whats even better is having a source who can answer questions and relay information. The ultimate goal is to make sure everyone in the community is informed and stays safe regardless, of the language they speak.

Bilingual speakers

The U.S. has experienced a spike in residents or tourists who dont speak English as a first language. However, there is another trend: More people, including immigrants, are bilingual.

Kowalke said in many cases involving a language barrier, a family member can speak English and serve as a translator.

Thats always the preferred method (of translation), he said.

In Lake Delton, EMS crews have invited family into the ambulance to help with communication, Clark said.

Departments are also hiring more staffers who speak multiple languages. At the Sauk County Sheriffs Office, a few deputies speak Spanish, said Sheriff Chip Meister. The department tries to send those deputies to situations where Spanish is spoken.

The Columbia County Sheriffs Office also has some Spanish speakers on staff, said Lt. Jim Stilson. He said the department tries to use its own employees whenever possible and then turns to a list of interpreters if it needs extra help.

In Sauk Prairie, Patrol Officer Jacob Hall knows some Spanish and has used it on calls. He said he has been with the local police department for about two years and took Spanish classes in college. He said he took Spanish as a requirement for his major but also chose the language because its common across the U.S.

Hes not completely fluent so he uses aids when necessary. Officers have sheets with common words and phrases, as well as field sobriety test instructions in Spanish.

Sechler has noticed a similar trend. Whether its Spanish, Hmong or other languages, theres almost always someone associated with a patient who speaks English when a language barrier is present.

Its very rare that we see somebody who just speaks (a non-English language), he said.

Bilingual characteristics are common among world travelers, Tierney said. People who visit Wisconsin or the U.S. usually know at least a little English and sometimes even several other languages.

This is especially true in Wisconsin Dells. Clark said groups that travel almost always have at least one interpreter or the travelers themselves may speak different levels of English.

Body language

Speaking isnt the only aspect of communicating in the event of a language barrier. EMTs and officers can gain a lot of information from a scene by reading body language.

As with any call, its important for officers to remain calm and professional. Zilisch said people tend to panic or become wary if they cant understand those around them, so an officer can alleviate fear by maintaining an even approach. Sometimes officers just need to take a breath, relax and realize that the call will take longer because of the barrier.

Language barriers are rare in Mauston but officers still need to know what to do, he said.

Does it happen every day? No, but it does happen, Zilisch said.

Sometimes barriers happen even within the English language. Sechler said EMTs have to know how to adjust their language when treating children. He said kids dont understand medical terminology and may be stressed due to the situation and their condition.

There are also times when a patient cant speak at all, so emergency responders need to use bodily clues to determine a patients condition. He said they can learn a lot from vitals, state of consciousness, pallor and the results of other quick diagnostics. While those checks wont answer every question, they do collect valuable information the hospital can use when the ambulance arrives.

First line

The first official most people who need assistance have contact with is at the dispatch center. When a call comes in, its immediately apparent if theres a language barrier.

Clark said dispatch centers work with hospitals, LanguageLine, bilingual staffers and interpreters to determine how best to help a caller.

The Reedsburg Police Department uses a machine to transcribe 911 calls from deaf and hearing-impaired callers.

Meister said Sauk County dispatchers frequently use LanguageLine when a caller needs assistance. The department most frequently encounters Spanish, Polish, Russian and Chinese, all common languages in the area due to the tourism industry.

He added that many departments, from EMS to fire and police, share resources if another needs assistance.

We all work really well together, he said.

Stilson said dispatchers also listen for tone of voice. Even if the English is broken, dispatchers can listen for audio clues to gauge the seriousness of the situation and determine which agencies to send to the scene.

Changing times

Despite rising diversity in the U.S., many department heads say they expect language barriers to become less of an obstacle in the future. They say thats due to more immigrants learning English and more people using technology to communicate.

Kowalke said its common for children of immigrants to speak English, even if their grandparents or parents do not. These children prove to be an invaluable communications resource when an EMT or officer needs more information to address a situation.

Meister doubts that language barriers ever will disappear due to Sauk Countys transient traffic. However, advancing technology and bilingual cultural shifts have the potential to make calls quicker and more efficient.

Tierney said English is taught in many countries, and those citizens who are well-traveled tend to understand at least some basic words and phrases. Being bilingual has become the norm in many nations, and not all of those languages are Spanish or English.

Speaking up

Neumann-Ortiz said its important for people come forward to report crimes or injuries, even if they cant speak English or are afraid of deportation.

She said states need to have laws that prevent law enforcement from asking about a subjects immigration status unless its relevant to the investigation. Having such laws improves the chances of immigrants calling 911 to report offenses.

Crimes that go unreported tend to continue, increase in number or escalate in violence, and immigrants are more likely to be preyed upon because they struggle with English. Neumann-Ortiz said perpetrators can threaten victims by claiming they will be deported if they contact authorities.

We want people to come forward and work with law enforcement, she said.

She added that the Census data may not accurately reflect the number of Spanish speakers in Wisconsin and the U.S. in general. Some families may not participate due to fear of deportation or just general distrust of government agencies. However, its important for people to be counted and also know that they have access to services.

Voces de la Frontera said it encourages Hispanic populations to speak up and participate in their communities. By being involved, they can form networks with local agencies and other residents, integrate into the area and learn English.
The former hardware store on Vine Street will receive an update thanks to a vote by Reedsburg Common Council.

Members approved a proposal to upgrade the sites electrical for $7,494. Councilman Calvin Craker cast the lone no vote and Council Dave Knudsen was absent from the meeting.

The vacant store at Vine and Park streets has been pegged for use as event and organizational space. Wormfarm Institute has already been approved to use the building during Fermentation Fest this October. Representatives from the Boys & Girls Clubs of West Central Wisconsin have also requested future use.

Funds for the improvement will come from the citys Capital Improvement Fund. Service Electric of Reedsburg submitted the bid.

Craker said he has heard from citizens who feel that any further spending on the site is a waste of money. The building will likely come down in less than 10 years and the people arent willing to spend money on the property.

Councilman David Moon agreed that he doesnt expect the building to last a decade but would still like to see some money put into it. He said the City can fix the electrical and rent out the site or let it sit vacant.

Electrical system aside, its a nice building, said Councilman Phil Peterson. He said theres plenty of interest in it by numerous nonprofits and at least one business, and the City is sitting on an opportunity.

In recent months the City has considered both updating the building and demolishing it.

Bike route

Council unanimously approved a resolution approving the creation of United States Bicycle Route 30 through the city. The City has been working with the Department of Transportation for about two years, said City Building Planning Inspector, Planning and Zoning Administrator Brian Duvalle.

Mayor David Estes said the route would be a bonus for Reedsburg since it could help drive traffic to the 400 Trail. The trail is already a hot spot for cyclists and could see further use thanks to the route.

The route would follow East Main Street to South Dewey Avenue, Plum Street, South Park Street, Railroad Street and Walnut Street before linking up with the 400 Trail head near the railroad depot.
Camping probably has never looked so stylish, as it has since Tara Martens came to town.

Ever since Martens opened Shear Cutz-N-Nailz Salon between Wisconsin Dells and Lyndon Station earlier this summer, she has attracted a steady stream of clients from the numerous campgrounds in the area northeast of the Dells.

Shes my savior here, Frances Conzemius, a new client and summer resident of the nearby Pines Campground, said during a recent morning of hair coloring, styling and manicure and pedicure at the new salon at W1395 63rd Street.

Because of a recent surgery, Conzemius said she cant bend over and do my toes anymore, so when she noticed the new salon one day while dining at the Local Pointe Restaurant and Bar across the street, she decided to give the salon a try.

Not only have local campers shown up for the occasional styling or pedicure, Martens said, but guests at nearby resorts whove seen positive reviews on Yelp as well as local residents also make up the new salons growing client base.

Customers have started coming, Martens said, because they dont want to be at a really busy salon, they just want something quiet, something they can kind of just enjoy themselves.

The new salon, with its recent remodeling by Martens and her husband, Steve, is hard to miss driving down 63rd Street. The pair spent a month working on the building, which originally housed a gas station and most recently was home to an auto repair shop before Martens became its latest tenant.

The new shop is the culmination of a long-held dream for Martens, a long-time bartender who seven years ago decided to pursue a career as a stylist. She got her start in 2010 at Cost Cutters in Baraboo -- one of the chains busiest stores in Wisconsin -- after attending Empire Beauty School in Madison.

Since then she also has operated a salon at a nursing home in Madison and also provides regular styling services at Fair View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Mauston.

Martens decided to take the leap into starting her own business when she learned earlier this year that the building might be available for a new tenant.

Ive always driven by this area and thought this building could be something super cute, she said.

She contacted the owner, she said, after which everything came into place.

An extensive, month-long renovation followed -- We had to paint like crazy. We did all the paint, all the trim, the ceiling, lights -- everything is brand new in here, Martens said -- and she opened the shop in late June.

The salon has two hair styling stations as well as a pedicure bowl, and Martens offers a full range of styling possibilities, for both women and men. Im full service -- do haircuts, pedicures, manicures, nails, up-dos, waxing, she said.

Just two months in business, Martens already has had days that were fully booked, and she hopes to draw clients from all over the area.

Its starting, she said. I just hope it keeps going.
Africas top research university encourages postgraduate study

The Postgraduate Recruitment Fair at Wits took place at the Science Stadium on Tuesday, 16 August 2016.

Hundreds of potential postgraduate students browsed pamphlets and posters, and spoke to representatives from schools across faculties about prospects for further study.

Professor Mary Scholes, Director of Postgraduate Affairs said there are currently 12 300 postgraduate students at Wits. The intention is to grow this number to 15 000 in four years.

Wits aims to become a research-intensive and postgraduate University. The annual fair provides an opportunity to explore the options available.

Scholes outlined support available to postgraduates at Wits, not least of which are academics who play a major role. Its hard to be a postgraduate, because of the expectation of immediate degree work, she cautioned, but pointed out that the Postgraduate Office offers over 55 workshops, writing retreats, and a symposium to support postgraduate students.

Scholes referred potential postgraduates to Dr Ian Geoffrey Kennedy, a Wits alumnus and independent researcher at the fair, who wrote a book entitled: How to do research: Todays tools and tips. Similarly, Dr Layla Cassim, an independent academic consultant, has produced a CD, The Postgraduate Toolkit. Eight students at the fair whose student numbers were randomly selected won copies of the CD.

The Postgraduate Association (PGA) also provides continual support. The PGA represents postgraduates on University governance structures, including Council. LeeAnne Masilela, Chairperson of the PGA said the association provides intense research support. It focuses on postgraduate funding; networking and mentorship (via alumni); and represents postgraduates in supervisor/student disputes.

We strive to ensure an amicable and fruitful postgraduate experience. Take advantage of the support structures in place, Masilela urged students. Postgraduate study can be emotionally, financially, and sometimes even physically taxing. You will receive training at Wits that is second-to-none. It will push you over the edge, but you will be a better version of yourself. Then you can say, pick me to make this world a better place.

Dr Puleng LenkaBula, Dean of Students, took the opportunity to introduce herself and encourage the students. She was appointed to the post in March 2016.

Before concluding proceedings, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs, said: Wits is officially the number one research university in Africa. He was referring to the Shanghai rankings announced days earlier, in which Wits was placed among the top 1% of universities worldwide. This gratifying performance is due in no small part to increased research output by academics that pursued Masters, PhDs and post-doctoral research.
north korea missile tests

The audacious ballistic-missile tests from the Hermit Kingdom continue.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports that the North has reportedly fired a submarine-based ballistic missile off the country's eastern coast near the city of Sinpo at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the launch appears to be an apparent protest against the annual military drill between Seoul and Washington.

The North first attempted a submarine-based missile launch last year and again at the end of April this year.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang simultaneously launched two "No Dong" intermediate-range ballistic missiles near the western city of Hwangju.

According to US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), one of the missiles exploded immediately after launch, while the other was tracked over North Korea before ultimately landing in the Sea of Japan. Notably, this was the first time that the rogue nation had targeted Japan.

norte

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the launch as a "grave threat" to Japan and said that Tokyo "strongly protested." Japan also said that its self-defense force would remain on alert in case of further defiant launches from the North.

According to Oh Joon, South Korea's UN ambassador, North Korea has conducted 13 rounds of ballistic-missile tests and has fired 29 various rockets.

Meanwhile, China, Pyongyang's closest ally, said that North Korean missile tests have expanded since the bilateral decision between Seoul and Washington to deploy THAAD.

Mad about THAAD

In July, the South Korean defense ministry announced that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile-defense system would be deployed to Seongju in order to counter North Korean threats.

Following that announcement, the Hermit Kingdom fired three ballistic missiles that had a range  between 300 and 360 miles  capable of reaching all of South Korea.

Story continues

As one of the most advanced missile-defense systems in the world, THAAD interceptors are able to identify and obliterate incoming enemy threats inside and outside of the atmosphere.

In conjunction with the approximately 28,500 US forces in South Korea, Seoul plans to have the unique air-defense system operational by the end of 2017.

Pressure to deploy THAAD was spurred after Pyongyang tested its fourth nuclear bomb on January 6 and then launched a long-range rocket on February 7.

US Army Gen. Charles Jacoby, former commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) stressed the importance of deploying THAAD to protect the Korean Peninsula and US interests.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

"The truth of the matter is THAAD was really the logical choice, and after intense debate and trying to assess what the complexities of the environment might hold ... we really can't get in a world where we refuse to defend ourselves," Jacoby said.

"There is still US forces there, they are playing a defense role, and they are at risk every day to a host of threats that now include the potential for ballistic-missile-carried weapons of mass destruction ... We cannot not act," Jacoby added.

Similarly, during a discussion at the Brookings Institution, CIA Director John Brennan said that the deployment of THAAD to the region was an "obligation" on behalf of the US.

"We have certain obligations to our partners and the region so that the appropriate steps are taken to reassure our friends, partners, and allies of US commitment to the security of that area," Brennan told Business Insider.

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Largest module in place at second Vogtle AP1000

23 August 2016

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The largest module has been installed at the Vogtle 4 nuclear construction project in the US state of Georgia. Emplacement of the CA20 module marks the heaviest lift at the project so far this year.

Vogtle 4's CA20 module is moved into position (Image: Georgia Power)

Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power said the CA20 module and sub-modules were assembled from prefabricated wall and floor sections within the modular assembly building at the Vogtle site. The completed CA20 module was installed within Vogtle 4's nuclear island on 20 August. The three-hour operation involved the use of the world's largest crawler crane to hoist the module, which weighs some 840 tonnes, into position.

The CA20 module comprises plant and equipment for used fuel storage, transmission, the heat exchanger and waste collection, among other things. The module - measuring 20 metres long, 14 metres wide and 20 metres high - is the largest component to be used in the construction of AP1000 units.

Over 1800 cubic yards (1376 cubic metres) of concrete will now be poured to fill the walls of the CA20 module.

Unit 4 is one of two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors under construction at Vogtle, joining two existing pressurized water reactors. Unit 3's CA20 module was lifted into place in March 2014. That unit is expected to enter operation by the middle of 2019, with Vogtle 4 following by mid-2020.

Two AP1000s are also under construction at VC Summer in South Carolina. Construction began on both units in 2013, with unit 2 expected to enter operations in 2019 and unit 3 in 2020.

The first two of four AP1000 units under construction in China - Sanmen 1 and Haiyang 1 - are expected to begin operations before the end of 2016, with Sanmen 2 and Haiyang 2 scheduled to be in operation by the end of 2017.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Barack Obama syria sweden

President Barack Obama infamously drew a "red line" with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria only to back away from it, and we now know why.

Wall Street Journal reporter Jay Solomon, who recently wrote a book called "The Iran Wars," told MSNBC on Monday that the Obama administration's determination to close the Iran nuclear deal is to blame for the failure to act on its own red line in Syria.

"When the president announced his plans to attack [the Assad regime] and then pulled back, it was exactly the period in time when American negotiators were meeting with Iranian negotiators secretly in Oman to get the nuclear agreement," Solomon said.

"US and Iranian officials have both told me that they were basically communicating that if the US starts hitting President Assad's forces, Iran's closest Arab ally ... these talks cannot conclude."

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful military arm in Iran, reportedly "would not accept a continued engagement with the US if its closest ally was being hit," Solomon said.

Ned Price, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, denied that US policy on Syria was a part of the Iran nuclear talks.

"The multilateral talks with Iran that culminated in the deal to verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon were focused squarely on Iran's nuclear program," Price said in a statement to Business Insider. "To be clear: our Syria policy was not a part of these talks, and reports to the contrary are false."

Obama said in 2012 that his red line with the Assad regime would be the use of chemical weapons. Later that year, Assad's forces killed nearly 1,500 people in a chemical-weapons attack.

But then Obama got cold feet  he sought congressional approval for military intervention in Syria, which he was not likely to get, and eventually brokered a deal with Russia that had Assad agreeing to destroy most of the regime's arsenal of chemical weapons.

Story continues

Many foreign policy experts have said that Obama's decision not to attack damaged US credibility in the international community.

Obama's establishment of the red line came as a surprise. Even his defense secretary at the time, Leon Panetta, told The Atlantic earlier this year that he "didn't know it was coming."

Obama gave The Atlantic several reasons for not enforcing the red line  uneasiness about a strike against Syria not being sanctioned by Congress, a lack of support from the international community and the American people, the possibility that the intelligence on the chemical-weapons attack wasn't 100% solid  but did not mention the Iran deal among them.

The Iran deal is thought to be the crowning foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration, and experts have speculated previously that his determination not to compromise the deal affected his policy on Syria.

Watch Solomon's full interview with MSNBC below:





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Russia notes progress with fast reactor technology

23 August 2016

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Russia has reached two more milestones in its endeavour to close the nuclear fuel cycle. Mashinostroitelny Zavod (MSZ) - part of Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL - has completed acceptance tests of components for its ETVS-14 and ETVS-15 experimental fuel assemblies with mixed nitride fuel for the BREST and BN fast neutron reactors. MSZ has also announced the start of research and development work on the technical design of the "absorbent element" of the core of the BREST-OD-300 reactor.

A Russian government decree published earlier this month indicates the country plans to construct 11 new nuclear power reactors by 2030 - including two BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast neutron reactors. The BN-1200 units are to be built at the Beloyarsk and South Urals nuclear power plants.

The decree also approves building a facility to produce high-density U-Pu nitride fuel and the construction by 2025 of the BREST-OD-300, which is part of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom's 'Proryv', or Breakthrough, project to enable a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The ultimate aim is to eliminate production of radioactive waste from nuclear power generation. The Breakthrough project comprises a fuel production/refabrication module for production of dense uranium plutonium (nitride) fuel for fast reactors; a nuclear power plant with a BREST reactor; and a used fuel retreatment module.

TVEL announced in October last year that MSZ had fabricated prototypes of ETVS-12 and ETVS-13 experimental fuel assemblies for the Brest-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor system, which was developed by the N A Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering, or NIKIET.

Assembly of the ETVS experimental fuel assemblies will be conducted by Siberian Chemical Combine, another TVEL subsidiary. Later, the ETVS-14 and ETVS-15 will be installed for pilot operation in the BN-600 unit at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant.

MSZ said it has this year made components for the four assemblies - ETVS-12 to ETVS-15 - and that next year it will do the same for six more - ETVS-16 to ETVS-21.

It will produce the absorbent element, or PEL by its Russian acronym, for BREST-OD-300, on behalf of VNIINM - the AA Bochvar Institute of Inorganic Materials. Rosatom awarded MSZ the RUB24 million ($371 million) contract for this work on 19 August and it is to be completed by 1 December. TVEL describes PEL as an element of the reactor core designed to control reactivity using a neutron-absorbing material. VNIINM is developing the nuclear fuel for BREST-OD-300.

A nuclear power plant with BREST-OD-300 is to be part of a pilot energy complex, or ODEK, under construction at the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine in the Tomsk region.

Separately, Rosatom announced that the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) has started a planned peer review of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant, which is in the Sverdlovsk region of central Russia. It has two shut down reactors and one in commercial operation - Beloyarsk 3. Unit 4 of the plant was connected to the national grid in December last year. The 789 MWe BN-800 Beloyarsk 4 is fuelled by a mix of uranium and plutonium oxides arranged to produce new fuel material as it burns. Its capacity exceeds that of the world's second most powerful fast reactor - 560 Mwe Beloyarsk 3.

The planned Beloyarsk 5 BN-1200 will use larger fuel elements than the BN-600 and BN-800 and have a simplified refuelling procedure. Russian nuclear engineering company OKBM Afrikantov is developing the BN-1200 as a next step towards future reactor designs, commonly known as Generation IV.

The WANO team consists of 26 international experts, headed by the deputy chief engineer of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, Vladimir Bandurko. The team - with representatives from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Slovakia and Ukraine, as well as from WANO's Moscow Centre, and the Balakovo, Kalinin, Rostov and Smolensk nuclear power plants.

Rosatom said the team will identify areas for improvement in activities such as administration, operation, maintenance, engineering support, radiation protection, improvement of production and service experience, chemicals management, training and the qualification of personnel, fire safety and emergency preparedness. The review is to be completed by 2 September.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Import and export trade dynamics are an essential aspect of economies as a whole because they create interdependence and mutual understanding between countries. When importing goods out of a country, the right paperwork is a requirement. Inaccurate paperwork or missing details will lead to delays of goods reaching the market, extra cost or the deal might not take place at all. An importer needs to understand the type of paperwork required by a country on all imports whether he is using freight forward or agents. Different countries have different import paperwork, but the universal paperwork spells out where the goods will be delivered, who to handle custom procedures and the details of the person receiving the import goods. Most developed countries have very minimum paperwork while developing countries are still struggling with the bulk of paperwork when importing goods and services. Some of the countries requiring the least paperwork to import goods are looked at below.

France

France's required number of documents to receive imports was measured at two in 2014 by the World Bank. It takes a maximum of only 11 days to import goods into France. Import paperwork is only done once the goods arrive in France. One of the most important documents needed is the certificate of conformity to ascertain that the goods comply with the technical standards of the country. Tariff payment document is also a common document necessary for clearance at the port. The little import paperwork in France is facilitated by the customs department to consolidate paperwork into a single portal to achieve a 100% paper free import process for efficiency in export. The little import paperwork has significantly reduced import delays in France.

Ireland

Importing goods into Ireland has been simplified by the customs department reducing their import receiving time hours significantly. Customs entry formalities are completed by the importer through the electronic data transfer of a single administrative document (SAD) declaration. Importers use Automated Entry Processing (AEP) to clear goods and pay any charges required by the customs. The digitization of the port activities has reduced paperwork significantly when clearing imports into the country. According to World Bank, Ireland has reduced paperwork to only two documents when clearing imports into the country. These documents are import license authorizing the importer to receive goods and a commercial invoice indicating the value of goods and the tariffs paid.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong requires that anyone importing goods into the country should make an accurate and complete declaration of doing so within 14 days of importation. Import documentation depends on the goods arriving into the country. Some of the most important paperwork in Hong Kong include financial documents, commercial documents, and transport document. Similar to Ireland, Hong Kong has also digitized most of its port activities eliminating paperwork significantly. Hong Kong has reduced paperwork to only three documents required for import clearing according to the World Bank. These documents include quotation documents, commercial invoice, and packaging list.

Making Import Processes Even More Efficient

The information and computer technology (ICT) sectors in many developed countries are working with customs departments to reduce the amount of paperwork involved in importation. A great deal of paperwork only duplicates information and are unnecessary in the importation process. With little paperwork, it is possible to monitor the movement of goods from the country of origin into the importing country. Lesser paperwork also opens up a country to a better market for imports.
Grapes are a popular agricultural crop all over the world. There are more than 10,000 different varieties of grapes worldwide, which are consumed in a variety of forms. Whole grapes intended for fresh consumption are called "table grapes." Grapes can also be dried to make raisins, preserved in jams and jellies, or crushed to make juice.

Global grape production currently amounts to more than 75 million metric tons per year. Today there are well over 18 million acres of cultivated vineyards worldwide. Italy produces the majority of the world's grapes, with an annual grape production of 8,307,514 metric tons. France and the United States aren't far behind, with annual productions of 6,740,004 and 6,206,228 metric tons, respectively. Spain and China each produce well over 5 million metric tons each year. Turkey produces 3,763,544 metric tons annually. Argentina, Iran, and Chile have an annual output of more than 2 million metric tons, and South Africa produces a solid 1,587,913 metric tons each year.

Much of the world's grape cultivation is intended for the production of wine, and nearly all of the countries on this list are among the world's top wine producers. Over 60% of the world's wine is consumed within Europe, with Italy, Spain, and France dominating the world's wine export market. Over half of the world's wine is exported from these three countries.

Europe's Wine-Making Giants

Italy

Italy is home to more than one million vineyards located in almost every region of the country, and wine has been produced here for thousands of years. Starting in the second century BC, the Romans pioneered techniques of large-scale wine production and developed innovative storage solutions for barrel making and bottling.

France

Nearly all of the world's most popular wine grapes are French varieties, having either originated in France or become famous through French winemaking. Many of these grape varieties are household names to wine consumers, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. The French are prolific wine consumers as well as producers, drinking nearly 74,000 gallons of wine in 2014.

Spain

Spain, due to its ideal Mediterranean climate, is also one of the top grape-producing countries in the world. Table grape production amounts to between 120,000 and 140,000 metric tons annually.

Grape Production In The Americas

United States

The United States is the third largest grape producing country in the world, after France. Nearly a million metric tons of US grapes are produced for eating, around one-seventh of the country's output.

Argentina

Argentina is an emerging player on the international wine market. It is also the seventh largest grape producing country in the world. Vine cuttings were introduced to Santiago del Estero in 1557, and grape cultivation quickly spread to neighboring regions and, later, to other parts of the country.

Chile

Although Chile ranks ninth in grape production, the country is a world leader in table grape exports. Over 800,000 metric tons are exported each year, primarily to North American and European markets. Chile and many common French grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenere, and Franc were introduced to the region in the mid-19th century.

Asia, Africa, And The Middle East

China

China has recently become one of the world's biggest grape producers. The country is home to world's second largest wine growing area, comprised of nearly two million acres of vines. Wine production is second to table grapes, which are consumed in the country or shipped to Southeast Asia.

South Africa

South Africa has been producing wine since the mid-17th century. Most vineyards and are concentrated around Cape Town.

Iran and Turkey

Iran and Turkey are two countries with high levels of grape production despite the fact that very little of Turkey's population consumes wine, and wine consumption is illegal in Iran. But both countries have an ideal climate for grape cultivation and produce massive amounts of table grapes and raisins.
An explosion at a chemical fertiliser factory left at least 200 people needing medical treatment after toxic gas spread across large parts of Chittagong. (File Photo)

CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH: An explosion at a chemical fertiliser factory left at least 200 people needing medical treatment after toxic gas spread across large parts of Bangladesh's second city Chittagong, officials said.

Police and fire officials said hundreds of residents were also evacuated from their homes near the di-ammonia phosphate (DAP) plant in the port city where a 500-tonne capacity ammonia tank exploded.

Mesbah Uddin, the district's chief administrator, said that 56 people had been admitted to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital after the gas leak, none of whom was in a life-threatening condition.

"Eight have been discharged. Forty-eight people are still in the hospital but they are out of danger," he told AFP.

"Around 150 people were given first aid locally," he added.

Firefighters battled through the night to halt the leak and finally declared that the situation was under control in the mid-morning.

"We used loudspeakers to urge people to evacuate the area. Hundreds did leave but they came back after the situation improved," said Uddin.

The local police chief Rafiqul Islam confirmed that hundreds of workers from nearby factories had also been ordered to leave their premises.

Other officials said that strong winds blew the toxic gas across a 10-kilometre radius and there were reports of people being taken ill at the southern city's international airport.

Authorities mobilised a special team of some 60 firefighters after the explosion triggered panic among people living nearby.

"We saved two other tanks by spraying water," Abul Kalam Azad, a senior fire official told AFP, adding that the explosion occurred when a tank was being refilled with ammonia gas.

The government has ordered an investigation into the explosion and a three-member inquiry team was scheduled to visit the fertiliser plant, chief administrator Uddin said.

 AFP News





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3 killed, 19 injured in boiler explosion at Vishal paper mill in India
Patrick Joseph Pat Hickey

By: Tanya Malhotra

(Scroll down for video) The president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, was arrested after being accused of illegally selling tickets at higher prices than face value, according to police in Brazil.

71-year-old Patrick Joseph Pat Hickey has announced his resignation from the Olympic Council after being accused of making about $3 million by illegally selling thousands of tickets.

Hickey is accused of conspiring with at least six others to illegally sell Olympic tickets. Hickey was arrested in a humiliating manner, while naked in his sonas hotel room in Rio.

Police first knocked on his hotel room door, but his wife told them that he left for Ireland. Police then knocked on his sonas hotel room door, and Hickey opened the door while completely naked.

Hickey asked police for permission to put on a robe before being taken into custody. After he put on a robe, he was led away by numerous police officers.

After his arrest, Hickey told police that had a heart condition.

He was taken to hospital, but doctors said that he was in perfect health. After resigning from the Olympic Council, Janez Kocijancic was named as his successor.
Protesters gather at Rizal Park during a rally to oppose the burial of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Heroes' Cemetery in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016. It was the biggest gathering so far since President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the burial of Marcos with full military honors and with the opposition announcing its plan to file a petition with the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

When Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' president, took office in June, he announced a sweeping crackdown on drug trafficking in the island nation.

In the seven weeks since, nearly 1,800 suspected drug dealers have been killed.

Under Duterte, 712 drug suspects had been killed in police operations since July 1, while 1,067 killings were carried out by vigilante groups during the same time frame, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa, told a Philippines Senate committee on Monday, according to The New York Times.

Senators have been questioning police on the killings as part of joint hearings by the Senate's Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs. The senators also heard from witnesses accusing police of gunning down their family members for being involved in illegal drugs.

Sen. Leila de Lima, head of the Senate Justice Committee, said that she's concerned that some law enforcers and vigilantes are using the campaign against drugs to "commit murder with impunity," since many killings had not been carried out legally, the Associated Press reported.

"We want to know the truth behind the killings and violence. What really happened and why does this continue to happen?" De Lima said in Tagalog. "I'm not saying the killings and the use of lethal force have no legal basis, but too many have been killed for us to not be suspicious and to not question whether the rules of engagement are being followed."

Between July 1 and August 15, 665 people were killed by police while another 899 were murdered by unknown killers, Dela Rosa reported to the committee last week, according to The Washington Post  a drastically lower number than the one reported on Monday.

Story continues

Police didn't explain the sudden increase in deaths over the past week, but senators are expected to question them about the tally on Tuesday.

Relatives of slain people cover their faces as they attend a Senate hearing investigating drug-related killings at the Senate headquarters in Pasay city, metro Manila, Philippines August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

The spate of killings has alarmed human-rights groups, including UN-appointed human-rights experts who have urged the country to stop the killings.

But Duterte's foreign ministers later said that the Philippines would not do so, and the president threatened to withdraw from the UN.

Perfecto Yasay, the Philippines' foreign secretary, said that his country is "certainly not leaving the UN," CNN reported on Monday.

Duterte, known locally as "the Punisher," campaigned on a pledge to rid the country of drug dealers and won a landslide presidential election in May. The 71-year-old leader has publicly advocated the killing of suspected drug dealers, urging citizens to kill criminals if they feel it's necessary.

"Shoot him and I'll give you a medal," Duterte said in June, according to the AP.

afp duterte threatens to pull philippines out of un

Richard Javad Heydarian, a political science professor at De La Salle University in Manila, told The Times that Duterte's brazen stance is indicative of outsize public expectations.

Duterte's massive support in the Philippines "largely has to do with dissipated public trust in existing judicial institutions, a sense that the normal democratic processes are not coping with the magnitude of the crisis," said Heydarian.

He threatened to declare martial law in early August when the Philippines' Supreme Court questioned his authority to oversee judges who've been accused of taking part in drug-dealing activities, Al Jazeera reported.

Jennelyn Olaires, 26, cradles the body of her partner, who was killed on a street by a vigilante group, according to police, in a spate of drug related killings in Pasay city, Metro Manila, Philippines July 23, 2016. A sign on a cardboard found near the body reads:

During Mondays hearing, one of the witnesses, Harra Bertes, said that policemen had beaten up, arrested, and killed her husband, a suspected drug dealer.

Police raided Bertes' house, demanded the surrender of drugs that she did not have, and removed the underwear of her 2-year-old daughter to search for illegal drugs, Bertes told the committee, according to Philstar.com.

Bertes admitted that her husband was a drug dealer, but that he had been planning on surrendering to the authorities soon.

Approximately 600,000 suspected drug dealers or users have surrendered to the police since Duterte's drug crackdown began, Philippines' authorities said, according to The Times.

NOW WATCH: There's a spa in the Philippines where hundreds of fish clean your feet





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VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 23, 2016) - Silver Range Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: SNG) ("Silver Range") announces that it has acquired the Happy Thought and Grumpy targets near a new proposed road in western Nunavut.

On July 10, 2016, the Nunavut Government and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the completion of a project proposal for the Grays Bay Road and Port Project located in the Western Kitikmeot Region. This project, championed by the Nunavut Government, is being advanced "in order to economically move resources from Nunavut to processing or markets elsewhere in the country and world for the benefit of all Canadians." The proponents envisage the construction of a public road from Grays Bay on Coronation Gulf south to Contwoyto Lake, there to link up with the Tibbett Lake to Contwoyto Lake ice road, and to roads in the Ekati Mine area. The Government of Nunavut sees the signing of this MOU as a significant step forward and views "a partnership with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association as important and meaningful to the success of this project." The MOU lays out a process to complete a Project Proposal to be submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board by May 2017.

Recognizing the impact this road will have on mineral development economics in the region, Silver Range Resources has moved to acquire two gold projects near the proposed road.

The Happy Thought Property is located on NTS sheets 76N03 and 76K14, 555 km NE of Yellowknife and 270 km SE of Kugluktuk (Coppermine). The property is accessible by fixed wing aircraft and is approximately 70 km east of the proposed Grays Bay to Contwoyto Lake road. The claims are underlain by Archean metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks, and the property includes seven NUMIN gold occurrences. These are hosted by sulphide-facies iron formation in rock units from 5 to 20 m thick, developed over strike lengths of up to 1.1 km. Gold occurs with pyrrhotite, pyrite and arsenopyrite in bedded sulphide-rich layers, with historic sampling ranging from 1 to 5 g/t Au. In contrast, the PTS showing (NUMIN showing 076KNW0009 ) is hosted in a 20 to100 m thick felsic tuff, traced for 6 km, and sulphidized for most of its length. Historic grab samples from this horizon reported up to 30% pyrrhotite, pyrite and arsenopyrite with assays as high as 13.44 g/t Au. Cursory sampling near this showing during staking yielded grab samples as high as 3.10 g/t Au.

The Grumpy Property is located on NTS sheet 76M10, 585 km NE of Yellowknife and 190 km ESE of Kugluktuk (Coppermine). It lies astride the proposed Grays Bay to Contwoyto Lake Road, 23 km south of the planned terminus on Coronation Gulf. The property is at the north end of the Archean High Lake Greenstone Belt in an area is underlain by felsic volcanics, dolomite and turbidites, locally intruded by diorite. The property covers the Grumpy Showing (NUMIN showing 076MNE0061) and the Cygnet Showing (NUMIN showing 076MNE0062). The Grumpy Showing is an anastomosing laminated quartz vein system, exposed for 105 m along strike and ranging from 1.1 to 2.3 thick. The vein system carries auriferous sulphides in cm-scale pods and along fractures. Seven trenches along the exposure returned historical best results of 20 g/t Au over 1.0 m, 19.3 g/t Au over 1.2 m, and 10.8 g/t Au over 1.9 m from vein material. Samples including adjacent wall rock assayed as high as 12.7 g/t Au across 1.6 m and 8.3 g/t Au across 2.5 m. The nearby Cygnet Showing consists of auriferous quartz veins at the contact between felsic volcanic rocks and dolomite. Individual veins are to 25 m long and 0.3 m wide. In this area, historical grab samples ranging up to 32.9 g/t Au and chip sample results ranging up to 0.3 m @ 16.9 g/t Au are reported.

Silver Range is building and exploring a portfolio of high grade gold targets in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Nevada to fulfil an increasing demand for gold projects in politically stable jurisdictions.

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mike Power, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and CEO of Silver Range Resources Ltd. and a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF SILVER RANGE RESOURCES LTD.

Mike Power, President, C.E.O. & Director

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.

This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.
Over the past weeks, there have been repeated calls, including from the Liberal-National government, for a new overhaul of tertiary education in Australia, including a dramatic reduction in the number of university enrolments. The campaign is a continuation of the bipartisan assault on higher education carried out by successive governments, Coalition and Labor, and is aimed at entrenching universities as elite institutions responsive to the needs of the market and accessible to only a wealthy few.

Earlier this month, Education Minister Simon Birmingham spelt out the federal governments agenda at the Australian Davos Connection Education Summit. The forum, brings together leaders from business [and] government to discuss public policy.

In his speech, Birmingham flagged financial measures to cut student numbers. He said the government would, look at how the financial incentives the government has in place actually drive behaviour by the universities in their decision in how many people to enrol in different disciplines.

Birmingham also indicated steps to direct resources to areas that would have a direct benefit to business. We need to find a method that drives an outcome which is frankly more attuned with what the employment market demands, he declared. The minister contemptuously told students to consider the prospects of finding work in a particular field before beginning their studies.

The speech followed a string of commentaries in the financial press complaining about the high numbers of students enrolled in courses such as law and teaching, compared to fields such as IT, which are central to the innovation economy being touted by the government.

An Australian editorial last week, for instance, declared that the government would do students, universities and the national interest a major service by reforming a system in which too many students with low tertiary entrance scores, who may not finish their degrees, are being drawn to courses with poor job prospects. The newspaper repeated its call for the government to direct resources to increasing places in fields with the most pressing skills shortages.

The editorial made clear that any conception of education as a social right aimed at the all-rounded cultural and intellectual development of individuals is a thing of the past as far as the corporate elite is concerned.

The heads of various university institutions have voiced similar conclusions. On August 17, Vicki Thomson, head of the Group of Eight wealthiest sandstone universities, called for an end to uncapped student enrolments. She called for a new model, to ensure access and equity for all who are eligible to the program most suited for them but not at the expense of quality.

In an earlier speech, Thomson said: Why are we all so reticent about stating the obviousthat university isnt for everyone. It was never intended for everyone.

In 2012, the previous Labor government uncapped the number of places universities could offer to students, while making their funding dependent on how many they enrolled. The move was aimed at opening higher education up to the demands of the market and driving ever-greater competition between universities for enrolments, particularly in the most lucrative business-related degrees.

At the same time, the Labor government, under both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, slashed a total of $6.6 billion from higher education and research between 2011 and 2013. This only intensified the fight between universities to attract both domestic students and full fee-paying international students, while cutting costs, thus driving up class sizes and reliance on lower-wage casual staff.

Both the Coalition and Labor opposition are committed to further cuts. The government is seeking to slash $3.2 billion from the sector. Birmingham earlier this month likened universities to five-year-olds pleading for more chocolate who dont appear to realise that budgets may have reached their limits already.

The government has also advanced plans for higher student fees for flagship courses. In 2014, the government sought to deregulate all fees, which could have seen the average three-year bachelors degree priced at $100,000. That plan stalled in the Senate. The latest proposal to partially deregulate fees is aimed at developing a two-tier system, with the most sought-after degrees accessible only to the wealthiest students.

For its part, during the campaign for the July 2 federal election, Labor announced at least $320 million in university funding cuts. Labors measures included lowering the repayment threshold for student fees and loans, so that students would be forced to pay back their debts when they begin earning $50,000, rather than the current $54,000. Labor also called for the abolition of concessional fees for students in numbers of fields, including early childhood education.

Already, there is a stepped-up assault on the jobs and conditions of staff and academics at universities. Last December, the University of Sydney (USYD) adopted plans to slash undergraduate degrees from 122 to just 20, and to amalgamate 16 faculties and schools into six faculties and three schools. The restructure is based on a model previously implemented at the University of Melbourne, including the destruction of hundreds of jobs. USYDs move includes the relocation of its visual design school, the Sydney College of the Arts, and the axing of 50 of its staff, or some 60 percent of the workforce.

Flinders University in Adelaide is similarly planning to merge its 14 schools and four faculties into six colleges, sparking fears of jobs cuts. Adelaide University is planning a restructure, while the University of Western Australia began the destruction of 300 jobs in June.

In addition, as a result of Labors restructuring of university funding, rates of casualisation across the sector have soared. Casual and sessional academics, most of whom earn less than $500 per week while teaching, now do half the teaching and research in Australian universities.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), which covers most academics and university staff, has played the central role in enforcing the ongoing restructure of universities. The union has done everything it can to politically subordinate the widespread hostility among staff and students to the process to its chief architect, the Labor Party, as well as the Greens, who kept the last minority Labor government in office. At the same time, the NTEU has worked hand-in-hand with university authorities to force through redundancies, faculty mergers and other pro-business moves.

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Australias education revolution sends university staff casualisation soaring

[11 August 2016]
In a rare summer session of the provincial legislature, British Columbias Liberal government adopted legislation earlier this month imposing a 15 percent property transfer tax on Metro Vancouver area homes purchased by those without Canadian citizenship or permanent residency status. This xenophobic tax follows an extended right-wing campaign by the political establishment and the corporate media to scapegoat foreign buyers for the region's soaring house prices, with an emphasis on buyers from China.

The Liberals announced the tax in late July and justified it on the basis of real estate purchase data collected over a period of just one-and-a-half months, from June to mid-July of this year. According to the Liberals, this data supposedly uncovered the central role foreign buyers are playing in driving up home prices in the B.C. lower mainland. The average price of a single-family detached home in the region now exceeds $1.5 million.

Rich foreign investors have played a part in this process, but the scale of their involvement has been inflated so as to channel anger over the lack of affordable housing into a right-wing, xenophobic campaign. The political establishment has united behind false claims that the more than 30 percent increase in property prices over the past year in Metro Vancouver is chiefly the responsibility of Chinese investors. The vast amounts of speculation undertaken by Canadian banks and the financial elite in real estate, which also finds expression in a 15 percent increase in property prices in Toronto over the past year, has been systematically covered up.

In reality, the figures show that foreign buyers made up just 5.08 percent of home buyers across the province, and represented only 6.5 percent of total investment in the Metro Vancouver housing market. In some areas, such as Vancouver City proper and nearby Surrey, the proportion of foreign buyers was even lower, at 4 and 3 percent, respectively.

The big-business Liberals acknowledged in a November 2015 document that foreign investment in residential real estate may not be sufficient to impact the Metro Vancouver housing market, except for a small segment of luxury homes. This conclusion was abandoned just months later, despite its validation by the June-July purchase data.

The blaming of Chinese investors for the housing crisis is a deliberate attempt to obscure the real cause of the unaffordability of housing for working people: the capitalist profit system.

The Metro Vancouver region is the most expensive place to live in Canada. It is, moreover, rapidly overtaking other high-priced housing markets like New York, San Francisco and London as the most expensive place to live on Earth. In June, the average cost of a single-family home had jumped 39 percent from the year before, to $1.6 million.

The sheer unaffordability of residential real estate in Vancouver is underscored further by the fact that half of the population rents. Yet, with vacancy rates at 0.8 percent as of last year, rents have skyrocketed to just under $2,000 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. The median income for renters in the city is less than $41,000 per year, meaning that many people pay more than half of their take-home wages just to stay housed.

With a median family income of $76,040 in 2014, Metro Vancouver incomes rank in the bottom quarter of Canadas major metropolitan areas. For families who manage to secure a starter condominium unit, upgrading to a slightly more spacious town home would cost an additional $147,000 and this is projected to skyrocket to $341,000 by 2026. Moving from a town home to a single-family detached would cost a family an additional $880,000.

An important factor driving up the surging price of real estate in B.C. and other lucrative housing markets worldwide is a crooked sales technique known as shadow flipping, which is practiced by a significant number of realtors. This involves a realtor working with a buyer to purchase and re-sell a property, sometimes multiple times, before the deal is closed between the original seller and a final buyer. This nets both the initial buyer and the middleman realtor tens of thousands of dollars in untaxed profit, because tax is only paid at the end of sale.

The practice is widespread, with the self-regulated Real Estate Council of B.C. largely turning a blind eye and imposing only token fines on the few who do get caught.

For decades, all levels of government have been slashing support for social housing. In a phony attempt to dress up the new transfer tax as of benefit to working people, the Liberals have said its proceeds will be invested in a new Housing Priority Initiatives Fund. But they concede that they have no idea how much money the tax will generate, nor have they provided any details whatsoever as to how the fund will be used.

The lack of affordable housing in Metro Vancouver is only the sharpest expression of a much wider phenomenon affecting workers across Canada and beyond. A recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer showed that Canadians have the highest household debt levels among G-7 countries. By the third quarter of 2015, household debt had reached 171 percent of disposable income, as working people scramble to cope with rising housing prices and decades of stagnant and falling incomes.

Even representatives of the financial elite, like Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Polloz, have acknowledged that such levels of debt are unsustainable and have issued warnings that they could trigger a financial crisis as the housing bubble in the US did in 2007-08.

The political establishment is seeking to channel the considerable social anger generated by the housing crisis in a reactionary direction.

Anti-Chinese and anti-Asian xenophobia has been a tool employed for over a century by the ruling class in western Canada to divide the working class. The new property tax on foreign buyers recalls the racist Chinese Head Tax enacted by the Canadian government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to prevent Chinese labourers who had worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway from bringing their wives and other relatives to come to Canada.

The corporate media has played a central role in promoting the anti-Chinese hysteria, publishing incendiary headlines. The Globe and Mail, the traditional mouthpiece of the Canadian ruling class, justified this noxious narrative with an article titled Meet the wealthy immigrants at the centre of Vancouver's housing debate. A column in Bloomberg warned of The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China's Billionaires.

The Globe has been no less aggressive in its denunciation of Beijing over the South China Sea dispute, with an editorial describing it as a rogue state following the politically-motivated ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that China had no valid territorial claims in the region.

B.C.'s trade union-backed New Democratic Party (NDP) has played a particularly odious role. Last month when the Liberals released preliminary figures illustrating the relatively minor influence of foreign buyers on the provincial housing market, NDP leader John Horgan made baseless accusations that the numbers were too low and that the province was suffering from an invasion of foreign investors coming in based on greed rather than a desire to live and work in British Columbia.

Such economic nationalism and anti-immigrant chauvinism are the stock-in-trade of the NDP. They vigorously promote, in tandem with their union allies, the slogan of Canadian jobs for Canadians. In 2012, the NDP-allied British Columbia Federation of Labour demanded that Chinese workers who had come to Canada to work at a mine owned by H.D. Mining International be sent home for costing Canadians jobs. In reality, the corporatist perspective of the trade unionstheir slavish subordination of workers interests to capitalist profithas led them to collude in the destruction of countless numbers of jobs and the imposition of wage cuts and other concessions.

The anti-Chinese campaign plays directly into the hands of the Canadian ruling class, which fully supports the Obama administration's Pivot to Asia, a strategy to economically and militarily encircle China and compel it to submit to Washington's demands. Ottawa has shown its full support for this agenda by backing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal which excludes Beijing, and by lining up with the US and Japan over the territorial disputes in the East China Sea.

According to some legal experts, the Liberals' new tax violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees certain civil rights to citizens and non-citizens alike. However, repealing the tax would not solve the fundamental question of affordable housing for workers and youth, who have been priced out of the market.

The reality of the housing crisis in B.C. is one of social polarization. Workers and youth are forced to surrender an ever greater portion of their earnings for ever-smaller residences, or seek more affordable housing dozens and even hundreds of kilometres away from their jobs. Many others cram themselves and their families into substandard housing, or, as many post-secondary students do, couch-surf in their friends' homes or sneak around campus looking for places to sleep. The most marginalized of society are forced to sleep rough and expose themselves to all the attendant dangers.

At the other pole, the wealthiest strata of society enjoy unlimited freedom to live and work anywhere in the region, treating it as their own personal playground. The richest tenth of the population monopolize over half of the province's wealth, including real estate, hoarding it and lording it over the vast majority of the population.
The attempted coup against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is gathering steam, as ballot papers for the September 24 party leadership contest were released Monday.

The election is the outcome of efforts, initiated by the Blairite right wing of the party, to overturn the result of last years leadership contest that saw Corbyn elected with an overwhelming majority.

According to a report by the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times, Labour MPs are plotting to sit as a new group in parliament if the Labour leader wins again. The overwhelming majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party is opposed to Corbyn, with 172 MPs having supported a motion of no confidence in him, with only 40 opposed.

Having failed to pressure Corbyn to stand down, they forced a leadership contest, with Owen Smith selected as the stop-Corbyn candidate. Despite the resort to anti-democratic methods, however, including barring more than 130,000 Labour members and supporters from voting, Corbyn is considered the favourite to win.

Under these conditions, the Sunday Times reported that his opponents will form a party within a party, through the mechanism of the Co-operative Party.

The Co-operative Party, which promotes businesses owned by workers and customers, is a separate entity from the Labour Party. However, since 1927, it has had an electoral agreement with Labour that members of both parties can contest elections as representatives of the Labour Co-operative Party.

Currently, there are 25 Labour MPs who are Co-op members, but the aim is to increase this to 100-plus. As a legally distinct entity that is recognised by the Electoral Commission, the Co-operative Party fits the requirement laid down by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Conservative MP John Bercow. He has reportedly stated that he can only recognise a different parliamentary opposition if it is registered with the Electoral Commission.

By gathering the support of more MPs than Corbyn can muster, the coup plotters hope to prevent any moves to de-select them from the Labour Party (removing them as candidates in the next election) and to apply to become the official opposition.

As members of the Labour Co-op, the group will appoint their own parliamentary whips and draw up their own policies in areas including Brexit and national security, it is reported. Thus would enable them to change the rules to elect the shadow cabinet so they can surround and smother Corbyn on the front benches, the Sunday Times reported.

Labours right wing was bitterly hostile to Corbyns election last year, especially his stated opposition to austerity and war. But attempts to overthrow him took off in the wake of the June 23 referendum on the UKs membership of the European Union (EU).

The majority vote to Leave has presented an existential crisis for the British bourgeoisie, as well as for US imperialism, as it jeopardises the stability of NATO at a time when it is ratcheting up its provocations against Russia and China, as well as in the Middle East.

As part of efforts to prevent Brexit (British exit from the EU), a section of the bourgeoisie hopes to refashion Labour as the party of the 48 percent who voted to Remain. But this only intensifies the need to remove Corbyn, who has said the Brexit vote must be respected.

At the weekend, London mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish Labour Party leader Kezia Dugdale threw their support behind Smith.

Writing in the Observer, Khan repeated the claim of the right that Corbyn is unelectable, despite Labour having won the last four by-elections, and all four mayoral elections in the past 12 months. Khans own victory in the May 2016 mayoral contestin which he won the largest number votes of any single candidate in the history of the UKhas been largely attributed to the support generated by Corbyns leadership victory.

Khan, a Remain supporter, attacked Corbyn for failing to show the leadership pro-EU campaigners desperately needed during the referendum.

Simultaneously, Dugdale, writing in the Scottish Daily Record, also insisted that Corbyn was incapable of winning a general election. This from the woman who presided over Labours worst-ever election defeat in Scotland in May 2016, placing third behind the Scottish National Party and the Conservatives.

The Labour Co-op plan is presented as a means by which the party right wing can avoid moving straight to a breakaway groupingforming a new party outside Labourthat would see them struggle to muster any support and threaten their ability to claim party assets.

But the prospect of Smith losing badly in the leadership contest means that this is not the only plot underway.

Last week, the Financial Times editorialised in favour of a breakaway. It is also the preferred option of Murdochs Times and Sun newspapers, which excoriate Smith for attempting to borrow some of Corbyns left policies in his leadership pitch.

The Sun on Sundaywhich backed Leaveeditorialised that the country is at a critical moment. The full after-effects of Brexit are not yet being felt. Nor have the terms of our withdrawal from the EU been sorted.

Yet, in the face of Corbyns awfulness, all Labour could muster as an alternative is Owen Smitha dire [former Labour leader Ed] Miliband clone who also wants to saddle the country with billions of pounds of extra debt and thinks he can negotiate with IS [Islamic State].

The wise old heads of Labour must wrestle back control of the party machinery from the armchair anarchists and student protesters, the newspaper insisted.

Likewise, the Sunday Times complained of a whiff of the desperados around the anti-Corbyn coup plotters, urging them to agree on a more inspiring figurehead than Owen Smith, whose leadership bid looks doomed. The moderates problem, it continued, is that they have no heir to Blair.

In the Daily Mail, Blairite Dan Hodges denounced Smith as spineless, incoherent, incompetent, citing specifically the MPs insistence, I am not a Blairite, I am a socialist just the same as you. I have never been a Blairite.

Rather than hurling himself at Corbyn with an unbridled political ferocity, this was proof that Smith was trying to cower and wheedle and ingratiate himself towards the Labour leadership.

Behind the scenes, it is reported that some Labour MPs are attempting to secure agreement with Tory MPs to force an early general election as the only means to ensure they can get rid of Jeremy Corbyn.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a Leave supporter, reported that he had been approached by three Labour MPs who asked him to step up his campaign for a snap general election, in the hope that Corbyn would be wiped out and they could take back control of the party.

Ive had very senior Labour MPs come to me and they have begged me to push for an early general election to finish Corbyn off. They say, Put us out of our misery. It would be a mercy killing, he told the Sunday Times.

Prime Minister Theresa May has a working majority of just 17 MPs. With parliament due to resume in two weeks, Tory eurosceptics have begun complaining that she is dragging her feet on starting negotiations with the EU on a British exit. Iain Duncan Smith, a leading Leave campaigner, has said this must begin in early 2017, to ensure the referendum result was not turned into a neverendum.

Ruth Davidson, Scottish Conservative leader, has suggested that an early election might be the best means to prevent the usual suspects on Tory backbenches causing problems for May.

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, has also made clear that he thinks May not only would, but should, call a snap election. With Labour in disarray, and the prospect of unrest amongst Tory eurosceptics, this was her best option, he opined.

His remarks were made in an interview with the Guardian, propagandist-in-chief against Corbyn. Watson has been the lead figure in the moves against the Labour leader, including efforts to restrict the ballot.

In his August 11 interview, he asked pointedly, If you were Theresa May, why wouldnt you [call an early election]? Honestly, why wouldnt you? Youd get your own mandate, youd have the easiest run at the election you could imagine, and in all likelihood youd come back with a bigger majority. Why wouldnt you do that?
In an article posted August 9, titled A new road ahead for the Green Party, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) gives its full endorsement to the Green Party of the United States and the proceedings at its national convention, where Jill Stein was nominated as the partys presidential candidate. The convention was held at the University of Houston August 4-7.

In addition to the ISO, Socialist Alternative, Solidarity and other pseudo-left organizations have endorsed Stein in the aftermath of Bernie Sanders declaration of support for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.

The ISO begins by covering for the Sanders campaign. It writes, Stein and the Greens have already gained national attention in media coverage of the presidential race, all the more so after Bernie Sanders outsider campaign for the Democratic nomination came up short and his millions of supporters consider their options in November [emphasis added].

The claim that Sanderswho ran as a Democrat and has allied himself with the Democrats throughout his 25 years in Congressis an outsider, whose campaign merely came up short, is a political fraud. While calling himself a democratic socialist, Sanders offered a program of tepid liberal reform combined with economic nationalism and support for the imperialist and militarist foreign policy of the Obama administration. He explicitly rejected any challenge to capitalist ownership of the corporations and banks.

The Sanders campaign drew widespread support due to his denunciations of Wall Street and social inequality. Millions who vote for him in the primaries did so because they were looking for a socialist alternative to capitalism. His campaign ended predictably with a craven capitulation to Clinton, whom he now claims is carrying forward his so-called political revolution. As the World Socialist Web Site continually warned, the entire purpose of the Sanders campaign was to channel the growing radicalization of workers and youth back into the Democratic Party.

The ISO goes on to support the Green Partys promotion of identity politics at its convention. The article praises the fact that the influence of movements like Black Lives Matter made issues of white supremacy and fighting racism central. The ISO singles out for praise the contributions made by YahNe Ndgo, a former Sanders supporter.

Commenting on Ndgos opening night speech, the ISO writes that she highlighted the significance of former Bernie Sanders supporters in infusing the Green Party with new energy and vision, On the final day of the convention, Ndgo told her audience, I would like all of the people in here who are racists to stand up. When some of the Green delegates stood, she pressured the others to do the same. All Americans, she said, have been programmed to be racist against each other and against ourselves.

By endorsing Ndgo and the Greens focus on white supremacy and the claim that the entire country is racist, the ISO is promoting the efforts of the Democratic Party and the political establishment as a whole to divide the working class and divert attention from the fundamental issues of social inequality and the drive to war.

In their appraisal of the Greens convention, the ISO commends the Green Party for adopting Platform Amendment 835, writing, The convention also saw the passage of an amendment to the party platform making the Greens an explicitly anti-capitalist party for the first time [emphasis added]. Later, the article mentions in passing that the amendment replaces old language endorsing responsible stakeholder capitalism.

The ISO argues that a three-paragraph amendment to the Greens program, adopted with virtually no discussion, has transformed an organization that for decades has supported capitalism and acted as a reformist pressure group on the two-party system into an anti-capitalist party.

In reality, the amendment represents a tactical maneuver by the Green Party in response to the success of the Sanders campaign and the growing interest among workers and youth in socialism. Discussion of the amendment began only in mid-May 2016, by which time Sanders had already won 20 primaries and 1,438 delegates.

The ISO article unwittingly makes clear the thoroughly opportunist character of the Greens platform amendment and the party as a whole. Ursula Rozum, co-chair of the Young Greens and secretary of the New York Green Party, is quoted as saying the amendment was drafted because the Sanders campaign made socialism a part of the mainstream discussion, and probably shifted some party leaders who previously feared an outright anti-capitalist position would marginalize the organization.

A closer examination of the amendment reveals that it contains absolutely nothing anti-capitalist. Rather, it is an eclectic mixture of anarchistic and anti-Marxist formulations that reject central planning, workers control over the means of production and the political hegemony of the working class.

The adopted amendment states, The Green Party seeks to build an alternative economic system based on ecology and decentralization of power, an alternative that rejects both the capitalist system that maintains private ownership over almost all production as well as the state-socialist system that assumes control over industries without democratic, local decision making. We believe the old models of capitalism (private ownership of production) and state socialism (state ownership of production) are not ecologically sound, socially just, or democratic and that both contain built-in structures that advance injustices.

The language in the amendment obfuscates the class character of the state and the relations of production, promoting illusions that there can exist an alternative economic system without abolishing bourgeois private property and the capitalist state.

In The State and Revolution, written during the buildup to the October 1917 Russian Revolution, Vladimir Lenin characterizes the state as an instrument of class rule, used in capitalist society by the bourgeoisie to suppress the working class and maintain the capitalists domination over economic life. He notes, The overthrow of the bourgeoisie is realizable only by the transformation of the proletariat into the ruling class, able to crush the inevitable and desperate resistance of the bourgeoisie, and to organize, for the new economic order, all the toiling and exploited masses.

If the Greens are opposed to state socialism (state ownership of production), i.e., the formation of a workers state, then which class will rule? The state is not a neutral arbiter, but an instrument of class rule. It is presently controlled entirely by the corporate and financial elite, which dictates foreign and domestic policy. In the absence of a working class revolution, the state will continue to function in the interests of the capitalists, pursuing policies of austerity and war.

Instead of providing a class analysis, the Greens substitute a nebulous, anarchistic and essentially primitivist notion of decentralization, community control and local autonomy. They write, We will build an economy based on large-scale green public works, municipalization, and workplace and community democracy. Some call this decentralized system ecological socialism, communalism, or the cooperative commonwealth.

In closing, the amendment claims that Democratic, diverse ownership of production would decentralize power in the workplace, which would in turn decentralize economic power more broadly.

The use of the word diverse, as with many other ambiguous terms in the document, such as communities instead of classes, is deliberately vague. By no means does diverse ownership rule out private ownership. It also implies a reference to identity politics and call for increasing racial and gender diversity in corporate boardrooms.

The ISO claims that this amendment has transformed the Greens into an anti-capitalist party, but their platform as a whole reiterates their support for American capitalism.

The platform, originally adopted in July 2014, upholds the Malthusian view that an abstract and ahistorical overpopulation and unsustainable consumption are the source of environmental degradation, instead of the exploitation of workers and pillaging of the environment by the capitalist class.

A particularly revealing section, titled Work and Job Creation, exposes their hostility to the American working class. They write that they support reducing consumption to minimize outsourcingthe exportation of jobs to other countriesthus reducing the relative price of using US workers.

In other words, the Greens in power will enact wage-cutting and austerity in order to further transform the US into a low-wage economy ripe for exploitation. The reactionary character of their concern about over-consumption is fully exposed by this platform proposal.

While hailing the Green Party, the ISO chose to omit any mention of the anti-war rhetoric used by Stein and others at the convention. In her acceptance speech, Stein declared, On the count of climate [change], and on the count of nuclear weapons and this insane nuclear arms race that we are once again headlong plunging into, and on account of these endless and expanding wars that are blowing back at us all around the world, we cannot afford to sit this one out.

Stein remained deliberately vague in her denunciations of war, not once referring to imperialism, Obama, Bush or Clinton, or pointing concretely to any of the myriad wars and atrocities committed by American imperialism over the past quarter century, which have left over a million dead. She also reiterated the Green Partys support for military interventions that are justified on the grounds of human rights and have the endorsement of the United Nations.

The ISOs omission was undoubtedly intentional. Prior to the Greens convention, it published another article urging the Green Party to openly support the US-backed revolution in Syria. It criticized Stein, saying she has sometimes downplayed the role of other imperialist forces, such as Russia, which is intervening to uphold its own interests.

It also criticized Steins running mate, Ajamu Baraka, for writing articles minimizing the scale of repression carried out by the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria against the revolutionary opposition, while reinforcing the myth that the Assad regime represents an expression of national sovereignty against US imperialism.

The ISO has specialized in presenting the imperialist-backed civil war in Syria, led by Islamic fundamentalist organizations, as a revolution, and painting those who denounce it as supporters of Assad and Putin. Their branding of Russia as imperialist echoes the war propaganda of the Obama administration and its media mouthpieces, who use this designation as an epithet against both Russia and China in order to justify future military action against them.
A wave of strikes and protests has taken place at several German hospitals in recent months. With some difficulty, the trade unions have succeeded in suppressing the justifiable anger over difficult working conditions and low wages.

The 1,600 employees of the AMEOS hospitals in Osnabruck and Hildesheim recently went on strike for 12 weeks. Under pressure from its workforce, the United Services Union (Verdi) cancelled their existing contract and entered into negotiations with the company for better pay and protections against dismissal. No agreement could be reached.

One of the longest labour disputes in the health care industry in Lower Saxony (Osnabrucker Zeitung) drew considerable attention. Among those participating in a rally at Osnabruck were leading representatives of the metalworkers union, IG Metall, and the Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG).

Also in attendance were members of the Volkswagen Works Council, as well as employee representatives from nearby businesses, including Councilman Frank Henning (Social Democratic Party, SPD) and Gisela Brandes-Steggewentz (The Left Party). They were clearly concerned that, due to the low level of organization among hospital personnel, Verdi could lose control of the strike.

The AMEOS hospitals, whose headquarters are in Switzerland, have frequently been accused of using a large number of temporary workers and outsourcing a significant portion of its workforce to subsidiary companies. The company employs around 12,000 workers in almost 50 facilities in German-speaking regions. AMEOS is majority owned by the investors Carlyle and Quadriga.

Verdi successfully limited strikes at hospitals in Osnabruck and Hildesheim. The union worked closely with management, despite its ruthless positions. The strike actions lasted only a short time in each case. Last week, Verdi announced the workforce had accepted an agreement for the next three years.

The agreement stipulates that salaries over the next three years will be raised by 6.75 percent and the protection against dismissal will be extended to April 2019. In addition to this, 50 temporary workers are to be taken on by the company. AMEOS regional spokesperson Gerald Baehnisch explained: We can live with the negotiation results.

More than anywhere else, there was growing unrest at hospitals in Berlin. For months there were walkouts and protests at the Median Clinical Centre in the Kladow district, most recently at the beginning of August. Some 340 employees have called for a standard agreement with more pay and an end to often-severe wage gaps.

The company, majority owned by financial investors Waterland since 2014, currently operates 78 acute care hospitals and rehabilitation facilities in 48 locations throughout the country. According to their own statements, they are also on course to expand. In the future, they will incorporate the General Hospital Society AG (AHG). With this, another 45 facilities and some 2,500 employees would be added to a workforce already numbering 13,000.

The company strives to keep wages as low as possible. In individual agreements, professional groups like nursing specialists or well-trained functional service staff receive better pay, while auxiliary staff or custodial workers are paid very poorly.

Verdi is well acquainted with the practices of Median. Verdi Secretary Michael Dehmlow told Junge Welt, Within just a single year, Median has reduced the percentage of workers covered by collective agreements from 70 percent to 7 percent. Despite this, Verdi works closely with company leaders and attempts to confine protests to a single location.

During a conflict with Helios, another large hospital operator, Verdi recently suppressed an already announced three-day strike in Bad Kissingen and Hammelburg. Five hundred fifty workers had planned to take part in the strike. But on Monday evening came the news that Helios had made a better offer, which had been accepted by the contract commission.

The main result: Over a three-year period, nonmedical personnel will receive a 7 percent increase: 2.5 percent retroactive to March 1 as well as 2.25 percent on February 1 and August 1, 2017, respectively.

At Berlin hospital operator Vivantes, Verdi has long played a similar game. This year, the union has already called several short protests and warning strikes in an effort to reduce tensions among workers. In doing so, the union leadership has been careful to ensure that different locations did not join together to fight for better working conditions and wages.

Verdi even made permanent the division of the workforce into separate professions. The union called a warning strike at the Vivantes subsidiary VSG in June. According to Verdi more than 250 VSG workers do not have a contract; they earn much less than workers with collective bargaining agreements. Among them are employees responsible for sterile materials preparations, patient escort services, facility management, construction, laundry services, and purchasing and logistics.

After two weeks and a few short, harmless rallies, Verdi declared there was no sign of concessions from management and ended the strike.

As a result, the state-owned hospital ended the fiscal year 2015 on a high note and in the black again. According to the Berliner Morgenpost, profits increased compared with the previous two years: from 7.9 to 8.5 million euros. Another 16.9 million euros were accrued as a one-time special effect. Revenue also increased from 1.03 to 1.09 billion euros.

In the suppression of strikes, Verdi has worked closely with the Left Party. Between July 11 and 15, members of the Left Party visited Vivantes hospitals in Berlin. By their own account, they travelled to facilities in Reinickendorf, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Spandau, Tempelhof-Schoneberg and Neukolln. They claimed they wanted to talk about their proposals for a solidarity-based health insurance system and higher quality care.

In reality, the Left Party prepared the same kind of betrayal of the workers they had already carried out at the Charite hospital. At Europes largest university clinic, with approximately 14,000 employs, Verdi, with the help of pseudo-left groups like Socialist Alternative (SAV), which operates within the Left Party, formalized a contract that made permanent the miserable working conditions at the hospital. SAV celebrated the contract as a success and openly declared that they wanted to introduce it at Vivantes and other hospitals.
The New York Times has been spearheading a media campaign to demonize Russian President Vladimir Putin and create an atmosphere of anti-Russian hysteria. This is in preparation for a sharp escalation of US military violence in the Middle East and stepped-up preparations for war against Moscow and Beijing.

Using unsubstantiated assertions, political amalgams and outright lies in a manner reminiscent of McCarthyism, the Times has published virtually daily articles, editorials and columns asserting, along with Russian aggression in Syria and Ukraine, that the Kremlin organized the hacking of the Democratic National Committees computers in order to embarrass Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and tip the election in favor of Republican Donald Trump.

The claimpresented by the Clinton campaign, the Times and much of the US media as indisputable factis that Trump is a political ally, if not a direct agent, of Putin. This allegation has become the focus of an attack by Clinton and the Democrats on the fascistic Trump from the right. It has been used to line up former CIA officials and Republican neo-conservatives deeply implicated in the invasion of Iraq, torture and other crimes of the Bush administration, along with an expanding list of billionaire financiers and CEOs, in support of Clinton.

There are precedents for such exercises in state propaganda in the guise of journalism. They have all ended with mass killings, the toppling of governments and, in many cases, the murder of government leaders portrayed as the incarnation of evilSaddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, for example.

In this case, the targeted leader presides over the second biggest nuclear arsenal in the world. Regime-change in Russia poses the very real threat of a nuclear holocaust.

On Sunday, the Times ratcheted up its propaganda campaign, publishing a front-page article by its Moscow correspondent, Andrew E. Kramer, under the headline More Enemies of the Kremlin End Up Dead: A Pattern That Suggest State Involvement. One might think that the so-called newspaper of record would make sure it had an airtight case before branding the president of Russia a mass murderer. Instead, it has published, with contempt for the most elementary principles of genuine news reporting, an example of the worst sort of yellow journalism.

The first thing to be said about the lengthy news article is that it contains no news. The author does not cite a single recent event. Why was it published? Why does it appear as a news piece on the front page? The answer: To advance the anti-Russian, pro-Clinton warmongering agenda of the Times and the ruling class forces for which it speaks.

The article is a classic amalgam, stringing together a series of cases of Russian oppositionists who allegedly were either poisoned but survived, who fled the country or who died. Some are named, many are not. In no case is medical evidence presented substantiating the claim that foul play was involved. No actual facts are presented proving Russian state involvement.

It is impossible from the article to determine whether or not the Putin government is guilty of the crimes alleged. The World Socialist Web Site holds no brief for Putin, the representative of a criminal oligarchy that enriched itself from the theft of state property during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and restoration of capitalism in Russia. We call on the Russian working class to deal with him and the rest of the Russian bourgeoisie with the methods of the class struggle and the fight for workers power. But one thing is clear: Kramers article is pure propaganda.

Before dealing in greater detail with the actual substance of the article, two points must be made.

First, even if one assumes that all the allegations made are true, when it comes to mass murder, Putin is a small-time amateur compared to President Barack Obama.

To this writers knowledge, no one has reported that Putin holds weekly meetings with top spies and professional killers to decide who is next in line to be assassinated by drone missile strikes, carried out extra-judicially on the say-so of the president. But as we know, based on the Times own reporting, Obama has presided over such Terror Tuesdays for years.

As a result, thousands of men, women and children have been obliterated across a swath of territory stretching from Central Asia to the Middle East to North Africa. The death toll includes at least four American citizens.

In his article, the Times Moscow correspondent expresses particular indignation over the fact that Killings outside Russia were even given legal sanction by the nations Parliament in 2006. Presumably, he prefers the modus operandi of the White House, which does not bother to secure passage of a law sanctioning its assassination program.

Other countries, notably Israel and the United States, pursue targeted killings, but in a strict counterterrorism context, Kramer writes. No other major power employs murder as systematically and ruthlessly as Russia does against those seen as betraying its interests abroad.

Tell that to the families, loved ones and friends of the thousands of people who have been turned into headless and limbless corpses by Obamas missiles!

Second, Kramer has a record of reporting for the Times that makes anything he writes worthy only of contempt. He has been caught penning fabrications and the crudest sort of historical falsifications and lies. A reputable newspaper would have long ago showed him the door.

In April of 2014, following the US-backed, fascist-led putsch that toppled the elected pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine, Kramer co-authored an article plastered across the front page of the Times purporting to present photographic evidence that Russian troops were in eastern Ukraine, leading the pro-Russian separatist rebellion against the right-wing regime in Kiev. The US State Department and the Kiev government had given the photos to the Times, which, in line with its role as a de facto state propaganda organ, immediately published them.

It took less than one day for the photos to be exposed as doctored and the article to be discredited as a fabrication. The Times was forced to retract the article, publishing a clumsy attempt at damage control under the headline Scrutiny Over Photos Said to Tie Russia Units to Ukraine.

The following year, shortly after the government in Kiev enacted a law rehabilitating the World War II-era Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, Kramer published an article whitewashing Banderas role in the mass murder of Jews and Poles as part of German imperialisms war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. The article was another propaganda piece, written to justify Washingtons backing for its rabidly nationalist puppet regime in Ukraine.

A compendium of half-truths and lies, the article sought to foist the blame for the crimes of German fascism and its Ukrainian nationalist accomplices on the Soviet Union and the Red Army.

In his August 21 article on alleged Russian government killings, Kramer writes: Muckraking journalists, rights advocates, opposition politicians, government whistle-blowers and other Russians who threaten that image are treated harshlyimprisoned on trumped-up charges, smeared in the news media, and, with increasing frequency, killed

Much of this is an apt characterization of the repression meted out by the Obama administration to those who expose the crimes of American imperialism. Kramer and his superiors at the Times seem oblivious to the fate of whistle-blowers and genuine journalists such as Julian Assange (holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for four years), Chelsea Manning (serving a 35-year term at a US military prison) and Edward Snowden (forced to live as a fugitive in Russia).

At one point, Kramer cites approvingly the role of multi-millionaire financier William F. Browder, a fanatical opponent of Putin who campaigned for the passage of the Magnitsky law, named after a lawyer Browder employed while he was making hundreds of millions of dollars as a financial player within the Russian oligarchy from 1995 to the late 2000s.

Magnitsky was jailed by the Russian government on tax evasion charges and died in prison in 2009. The law, passed by Congress in 2012, enables the US government to deny visas and block access to American banks to Russians accused of committing human rights abuses.

Indicative of Kramers journalistic methods is what he leaves out about Browder. The grandson of Earl Browder, the head of the Communist Party USA during the 1930s and early 1940s, Browder allied himself with Putin when setting up his hedge fund in Moscow. They had a falling out related to Browders investments in Gazprom, and the Kremlin shut down his Russian operation.

Thus, Kramers heroic fighter for human rights against the Kremlin is the heir of a Stalinist hack who made hundreds of millions off of the dismantling of state industry and theft of state assets and later ran afoul of his former protector. This is the man Kramer quotes to support his allegations of Kremlin poisonings and killings. Captains of industry and lawyers are not dying left, right and center like this in the West, says the former Putin ally.

Kramer and his fellow pseudo-journalists and accomplices of US imperialism at the Times are scoundrels. Critical to the political education of workers and youth coming into struggle against the growing threat of world war, dictatorship and mass poverty is a clear-headed awareness of the fundamentally reactionary role of the corporate-controlled media and the class interests it serves.

The Times, in particular, is fully integrated into the state. Its top personnel are state people. Kramer takes his orders from people such as the newspapers editorial board editor, James Bennet, a former White House correspondent who served later as the Times bureau chief in Jerusalem. Bennets father, Douglas Bennet, is a longtime Democratic operative who has held high positions in the State Department, was head of the US Agency for International Development, a CIA front, and oversaw National Public Radio.

The author also recommends:

The Ukraine crisis and the political lies of the media

[28 April 2014]

New York Times lies, falsifies history to promote neo-fascist Kiev regime

[2 May 2015]

The New York Times, the state and the making of an amalgam

Who is James Bennet?

[29 July 2016]
South Korea reported on August 17 the defection of one of the highest-ranking officials from North Korea to do so in recent years. Thae Yong-ho was the deputy ambassador at Pyongyangs embassy in Britain. This latest defection is a sign of the deepening crisis in the regime, which is under mounting economic and political pressure due to increased sanctions and isolation spearheaded by the United States.

According to South Koreas Unification Ministry, Thae arrived in South Korea with his wife and son. Thae, 55 years old, was a well-known official from Pyongyangs elite, having been stationed in Britain for ten years and charged with promoting North Koreas image in the West. He had studied in Denmark and was married to a relative of Oh Paek-ryong, who was an associate of the regimes founder, Kim Sung-il, a sign of the familys official prestige.

A slew of high-ranking defections have taken place in recent months. A South Korean official told Reuters defections in 2016 through July totaled 814, an increase of 15 percent over the corresponding months of 2015. Among them was an unnamed official from the Norths Office 39, who had been in charge of raising funds in Europe. He disappeared in June, according to South Korea. He is now being sheltered by a European government, along with his two sons, after reportedly taking $400 million.

These events are being watched closely in Washington, where the pressure on North Korea has been ratcheted up as part of the Obama administrations pivot to Asia, directed against China, which has been the Norths key ally. US strategists calculate that a collapse of the North Korean regime would present Beijing with major problems.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, wrote in an article last Thursday: The spate of high profile defections, including Thae Yong-ho, from the ruling class and elite groups in North Korea may indicate greater amounts of dissatisfaction with Kim Jong-un and the regime. This is significant because Kim Jong-un relies on the elite class to maintain power and control in North Korea. If increasing numbers of elites make a rational choice to abandon North Korea because of fears of punishment and an uncertain future, the Kim Jong-un regime will be in significant trouble.

North Korea responded bitterly to the defection announcement, calling Thae a criminal. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Pyongyang had informed Britain that: The fugitive [Thae] was ordered in June to be summoned for embezzling a lot of state funds, selling state secrets and committing child rape. Britain has not responded to the claims.

Sanctions and economic isolation are taking their toll on North Korea. According to the Souths Bank of Korea in July, the North Korean economy shrank 1.1 percent last year, the first contraction since 2010.

The Pyongyang regime has reportedly carried out a number of executions of officials in recent years. Much of the information regarding these stories comes from the Souths notorious National Intelligence Service, raising questions about their veracity. However, it is known that in 2013 Kim Jong-un had his uncle, Jang Song-thaek killed, the highest ranking official purged. Jang was politically close to China and supposedly favored pro-market reforms along the lines of those pursued for decades by the Beijing regime.

Since Pyongyangs fourth primitive nuclear weapon test in January, Washington, along with Seoul, has exploited the regimes militaristic bluster by ramping up the pressure. In March, the United Nations imposed harsh, new sanctions that included bans on exporting gold and coal, among others, that will further damage Pyongyangs economy. Then, in July, the US leveled sanctions specifically against leader Kim Jong-un for the first time, as well as ten other officials.

The US has long sought to destabilize the North Korean regime. In 1994, Washington and Pyongyang signed the Agreed Framework under which the US stated it would supply oil, as well as construct two light water reactors, in exchange for Pyongyang shutting down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. The Bush administration, however, effectively scuttled the Agreed Framework and ramped up the military threats against North Korea by branding it as part of an axis of evil together with Iran and Iraq.

Under subsequent six-party talks that included both Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia, Pyongyang closed its Yongbyon reactora fact confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2007in return for pledges of aid. The Bush administration reneged on this agreement by demanding tougher inspections in 2008. Since then, under Obama, Washington has demanded that North Korea acquiesce to all of its demands in exchange for returning to talks.

Washington and Seoul have also provocatively ramped up military tensions with the North. In July, the two agreed to station an anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea, which has led to sharper tensions with China. Last November, the two allies signed the Operation Plans 5015 (OPLAN 5015) that changed their military strategy to an explicitly offensive one, under which pre-emptive attacks would be carried out, alongside strikes to assassinate high-level officials, including Kim Jong-un.

Such moves would ultimately be aimed at China, allowing Washington to put troops on the border with Manchuria and ramp up its war preparations against Beijing, risking a descent into a full-fledged conflagration. Much like in Eastern Europe today, South Korean and Western companies would also turn the North Korean working class into a source of cheap labor.
Twenty years ago yesterday, on August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed bipartisan legislation that ended the federal guarantee of welfare assistance to the poor.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcilliation Act of 1996 was the first repeal of a major provision of the 1935 Social Security Act, which made relief to the old, the disabled, the jobless, single mothers and poor children a federally funded and guaranteed entitlement. Eligibility for what would become Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was expanded in 1962.

Instead of providing a safety net of minimal benefits, the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), which replaced AFDC, imposed a lifetime limit of five years, plus mandatory work and school requirements. The federal government sent a fixed amount of money, in the form of block grants, to the states, which were free to impose even harsher eligibility restrictions and cut off benefits once the money ran out, no matter how many people were left destitute.

As a result, millions of poor people lost all cash assistance and were bereft of any income. While AFDC benefits were always woefully inadequate, TANF assistance in all states currently provides less than half the income deemed necessary by the government to avoid poverty. In one-third of the states, the benefits are less than 20 percent of the official poverty level.

The 1996 law also cut food assistance to the poor. The tightening of eligibility for food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), has had devastating consequences. As a result of the lowering of maximum benefits enacted at that time, a working household of three people today receives nearly $400 less a yearor $33 a monththan it would have received had the reform not been enacted.

So draconian were Clintons measures, they were denounced by Senator Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat who had been reviled for joining the Nixon administration and initiating the first efforts to cut back on social programs. Moynihan denounced both parties for making cruelty to children an instrument of social policy.

In announcing that he was ending welfare as we know it, Clinton cynically claimed that his bill would help welfare recipients find work and attain economic self-sufficiency. That was a lie. The measure freed up billions for corporate tax cuts and military programs, while forcing millions of workers into low-wage, part-time jobs. The funneling of the desperately poor into the labor market contributed to the suppression of wages that continues to this day.

The corporate-controlled media has marked the anniversary by hailing its success and fondly recalling the bipartisan support for the measure. Media commentators suggest that the cross-party cooperation that succeeded in destroying welfare should be a model for laying siege to even more basic entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

A series of recent reports has detailed the human impact of Clintons cuts:

The number of US children living in families with monthly incomes below $2 per person per day doubled from 1996 to 2011, according to a 2013 analysis published by the National Poverty Center.





While 76 families received cash assistance through AFDC for every 100 poor families with children in 1995, by 2014, only 23 percent received TANF cash assistance. Because fixed benefit levels lost value due to inflation, cash payments for a family of three in July 2015 were at least 20 percent below their 1996 level in 35 states and the District of Columbia.





A 2015 review of the law by the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that declines in welfare benefits arising from leaving welfare often cancel out the earning increases, leaving income relatively unchanged. In addition, a significant number of single-mother families appear to have been worse off and to have higher deep poverty rates, defined as living below half the federal poverty line.





During the first decade of welfare reform, incomes fell by 18 percent for the poorest tenth of children of single mothers, and the share of children living in deep poverty rose from 2.1 percent to 3.0 percentfrom 1.5 million to 2.2 millionaccording to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. While the percentage of children in deep poverty was reduced to 2.6 percent in the following decade, this was largely due to the temporary extension of unemployment benefits and food stamps after the Great Recession, which has largely dried up.





The cancellation of welfare payments to legal immigrants through the imposition of long-term residency requirements led to a fall in high school graduation rates by as much as 17 percent, according to a recent article in the Washington Post.

In destroying welfare, President Clinton had the enthusiastic backing of his wife, Hillary Clinton, who is now the Democratic candidate for US president. The ex-president emphasized her role in a 2006 op-ed piece in the New York Times titled How We Ended Welfare, Together. In the article, Clinton boasted that welfare rolls had been reduced from 12.2 million to 4.5 million in the first decade of his reform.

The destruction of the federal welfare system was part of a social counterrevolution by the American ruling class initiated in the last years of the Democratic administration of Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s and escalated during the Reagan years of the 1980s. It marked the complete abandonment of the policy of liberal reform associated with Roosevelts New Deal in the 1930s and Johnsons War on Poverty in the mid-1960s.

The Clintons were leading figures in the Democratic Leadership Council, which renounced such reforms and helped transform the Democratic Party into the leading party of Wall Street.

Following the debacle of Hillary Clintons pro-corporate health care reform, the Democrats suffered a rout in the 1994 mid-term elections, which gave the Republicans, under the leadership of arch reactionary Newt Gingrich, control of both houses of Congress. The response of the Clintons was to shift further to the right.

The tossing of millions of welfare recipients into destitution was a calculated effort to curry favor from the ruling elite and reactionary sections of the upper middle class. In the current presidential campaign, Clintons wife has adopted a similar strategy, except even more reactionary.

The war on the poor, with its denunciations of generations of dependency and demands for personal responsibility, coincided with a bipartisan program of unlimited government welfare for corporate America and the super-rich. These were the days of irrational exuberance on Wall Street, the Clinton administrations repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act and other Depression-era banking regulations, the destruction of millions of better-paying manufacturing jobs, the growth of financialization, and the rise of a new financial aristocracy to the pinnacle of the American economy.

Over the last seven-and-a-half years, the Obama administration has intensified this social counterrevolution, slashing the wages of autoworkers, shifting the burden of health care and pensions onto the backs of workers, and funneling trillions to Wall Street and trillions more to the Pentagon to wage nonstop war.

Various pseudo-left and Democratic Party advocates of identity politics characterize Clintons welfare reform as a racist measure. Typical is a recent piece in the New Republic titled The Racist Roots of Welfare Reform.

This only serves to conceal the class character of the Democratic Party-led attackwhose victims include all races and nationalities, the majority being poor whites. In opposition to all such reactionary attempts to divide the working class, the Socialist Equality Party and our presidential and vice presidential candidates, Jerry White and Niles Niemuth, fight for the unity of the working class in a struggle against the capitalist system, the source of war, poverty and repression.
Ronald de la Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) testified Monday before a Senate investigation into the extra-judicial killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 1. He said the official police count of those who were killed by either police or vigilantes for the first six weeks of the Duterte administration was 1,789.

De la Rosa told the Senate that from June 1 to July 15, 712 people had been killed by the police as part of Dutertes war on drugs. Vigilantes, he stated, had killed 1,067 in the same time frame.

These official figures are at least twice the tally estimated by the press prior to de la Rosas testimony. They reveal that Duterte, who has repeatedly endorsed the state and vigilante killings of alleged criminals, has launched a crusade of mass murder.

This slaughter has received the support and funding of Washington. Secretary of State John Kerry visiting Duterte in Manila on July 30, pledged $32 million earmarked specifically to fund Dutertes anti-drug crusade.

Washington is not pleased, however, with Dutertes failure to aggressively assert the countrys territorial claims in the South China Sea following the ruling against China by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague. Where his predecessor, Benigno Aquino, actively spearheaded the US drive against China in the region, Duterte has pursued bilateral negotiations and trade talks with Beijing.

As Kerrys visit to Manila demonstrates, Washington has no qualms about funding Dutertes death squads, provided he toes its line. The recent flurry of negative international press about police and vigilante killings in the Philippines, headed up by the New York Times, is an implicit threat from Washington: Duterte will serve the US imperialist war drive against China, or the US will exploit human rights as a weapon against him.

On average, 40 people a day are being killed. Extrapolating on this basis, more than 2,000 would have been murdered by police and vigilantes under the Duterte administration by the time de la Rosa testified before the Senate.

The victims of the state murder campaign are the impoverished and oppressed. They are killed in the working class districts of Tondo and Quiapo. Their corpses, wrapped in duct tape and cellophane and shot through the back of the head, are abandoned in the narrow alleyways of shantytowns. Others, having been picked up without warrant, were executed while handcuffed in police custody.

The victims who have been identified in the press have been either unemployed or informally employed in occupations like pedicab driver or market vendor. Duterte is overseeing the systematic murder of the most oppressed layers of the Philippine population.

On August 18, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, called on the Philippines authorities to adopt with immediate effect the necessary measures to protect all persons from targeted killings and extrajudicial executions. She said Dutertes calls for killing criminal suspects amount to incitement to violence and killing, a crime under international law.

Duterte staged a two-hour press conference at two in the morning from his home in Davao in the southern Philippines in which he launched a profanity-laden tirade against the UN. He called Callamard a sh*t and threatened to pull the Philippines out of the international body. He said his role model was the vigilante played by Charles Bronson in the movie Death Wish.

Duterte postured as an opponent of imperialist interference, denouncing the hypocrisy of the UN voicing concern over death squads in the Philippines while allowing the big powers to bomb Syria and US police to murder black people.

Duterte is no opponent of imperialism, but is attempting with populist rhetoric to secure support for his administration. He has announced his full support for the basing of US military forces in the country, and has repeatedly proposed to alter the countrys constitution to allow increased access for foreign investors.

The next morning, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Perfecto Yasay held a press conference for damage control. No, he stated, the Philippines would not be pulling out of the UN. The president, he stated, had been tired and hungry the night before. We must give him leeway. He is also human.

However, Yasay said UN rapporteurs were not welcome to come to the country to investigate, because they had already jumped to conclusions.

A ubiquitous claim in the international media is that Dutertes murderous campaign enjoys mass support. The New York Times, for example, wrote on August 19 that his drug war has proved wildly popular in a country plagued by crime. This is a baseless slander against the majority of the Filipino people.

Only two pieces of evidence have been supplied to substantiate this claim. First, Duterte is stated to have received overwhelming support in the election, winning by a landslide. This is a lie. He received 38 percent of the vote, a mere plurality of those who actually went to the polls. Second, Duterte received a very high trust rating in a survey conducted in mid-June, that is to say before he ever took office.

The ruling class, on the other hand, has demonstrated that it supports the use of death squads and police killing. Virtually the entire political establishment has lined up behind the Duterte administration.

The Senate, under the joint leadership of the committee on Human Rights and Justice under Sen. Leila de Lima and the committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs under Sen. Panfilo Lacson, launched an investigation of the extrajudicial killings. PNP Chief de la Rosa testified before this committee regarding the number of people killed.

Lacson was one the chief torturers of the Marcos dictatorship in the Military Intelligence and Security Group before rising in the ranks of the PNP to become its head under the Estrada government. Lacson publicly stated that the investigation must not interfere with the momentum of the police war on drugs.

De Lima was head of the Justice Department under President Aquino. She was responsible for prosecuting corruption cases against various figures with economic ties to China as part the Aquino administrations integration in the US pivot to Asia. De Lima was responsible for securing the imprisonment of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as part of this campaign. Arroyo has now been rehabilitated under the Duterte government and is serving as a key ally in the legislature.

To the extent that there has been any political opposition to the extra-judicial killings it has been articulated by de Lima. At the opening of the Senate investigation she stated that Duterte could face charges before the International Criminal Court.

Duterte responded by denouncing de Lima as an immoral, adulterous woman, who had a long-standing affair with her driver. He claimed that her driver also served as her bagman to collect payoffs from various drug-lords.

There had been a proposal in the House of Representatives to carry out a parallel investigation into the police and vigilante killings, but this was immediately rejected and the lower body of the legislature voted instead to conduct an investigation of de Lima and her driver.

As the staggering figures of police and vigilante murders emerged on Monday, the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was preparing to hold the first round of formal peace negotiations with the government in Oslo. The talks are slated to run from August 22 to 26.

Joma Sison, the head of the party, hailed Duterte as a man who uses street language and methods of the mass movement. He declared that the CPP was ever willing to cooperate with the Duterte government in pursuing the just cause of national and social liberation against foreign and feudal domination.

The CPP is hostile to the working class and serves the interests of sections of the Filipino bourgeoisie. As Duterte, with funding from Washington, is carrying out a campaign of mass murder against the working class and the poor in the Philippines, the CPP is preparing to end its armed struggle and fully support his regime.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) reports that the number of workers that went on strike in Britain during 2015 was the lowest recorded in more than 120 years.

Just 81,000 workers were involved in strike action in 2015, down from 733,300 in 2014. The previous low was 93,000 in both 1998 and 2005.

This is the lowest level of strike action since records began in 1893. The virtual disappearance of strikes during a period when workers jobs, wages, terms, and conditions have been under unparalleled attack is a damning indictment of the trade unions.

Such low industrial stoppage figures demonstrate the extent to which the union bureaucracy is engaged in fighting the class struggle on behalf of the ruling class, in opposition to the most basic needs of workers.

Commenting on the figures, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) noted there were just 106 strikes in 2015, less than half the number that took place in 1995, and one-twentiethth of the strikes in 1975.

During 2015, just 170,000 working days were lost to strikes. This was sharply down from 788,000 in 2014 and is the second lowest on record. The lowest on record was in 2005, when just 157,000 days were lost. In contrast, 29.5 million days were lost in 1979 after the Winter of Discontent strike wave against the Callaghan Labour government, while 162.2 million were lost in 1926 due to the general strike.

Two thirds of the days on strike in 2015 were linked to disputes over pay. Another 20 percent of the days lost were disputes over redundancies.

Approaching a decade of government-imposed austerity, the British working class is suffering a drastic reduction in its standard of living. Many workers face conditions that are, as pointed out by a recently released parliamentary report on the situation facing agency labour at Sport Direct warehouses, Victorian in character.

The stifling of the class struggle by the TUC bureaucracy has necessitated them working night and day, hand-in-glove with management and the government to keep the lid on an explosive situation.

TUC General Secretary Frances OGrady responded to the ONS report: These figures show that going on strike is always a last resort when your employer wont negotiate and wont compromise. Strikes are far less common these days and tend to be short. Most strikes are about people demanding fair pay, which is unsurprising given that real wages have fallen off a cliff in the past decade.

There it is from the horses mouth. Strikes are only called, for a limited duration, when management refuses to negotiate with a union, as this threatens the privileged role of the union bureaucracy.

The fact that workers income is falling calamitously and that real wages have fallen off a cliff in the past decade, is entirely the responsibility of the union bureaucracy.

As the strike-level figures attest, the trade unions specialise in policing the working class. Their central preoccupation is to fulfil the requirements of the corporations and ruling elite.

Another report, authored by the TUC following the June 23 referendum vote for the UK to leave the European Union, amounts to a call for deeper collaboration with the ruling class at the expense of the working class.

Misleadingly titled Working people must not pay the price for the leave vote, the report details how in reality the union bureaucracy intends to hoist the social and economic costs of Brexit onto the backs of workers.

The reports aim is to assure big business and medium-sized enterprises that close collaboration with the unions is vital to making their operations more competitive and profitable. The TUC puts forward an economic nationalist agenda, centred on a national plan for industry, financial assistance for industry, modernisation and global competitiveness.

It counsels: At the heart of the plan should be a modern industrial strategy to revitalise the UKs manufacturing industry. The strategy should include: understanding the UKs existing and potential industrial strengths, and developing an agenda for nurturing those sectors where the UK can remain competitive. 

The TUC pledges to play a proactive role in defending British capital. Under the headings A National Plan for British Jobs and British Industry and Immediate Help for Industry, the TUC advocates A task force of national, regional and local government, unions and business that should monitor the situation in sectors and regions, to provide early warning of problems, and lay the foundations for a changed approach.

It warns: Our union representatives report that industry will face immediate challenges as extreme uncertainty hits demand and impacts on their order books. Automotive, aviation, agriculture, retail and financial service industries are immediately the most vulnerable.

In a prominent section of the report, Recognising how trade unions can help Britain succeed, the TUC authors remind their partners in crime in Whitehall that further collaboration is required in order to stem the demand from workers for higher wages, and better terms and conditions. It states: The government must recognise that trade unions have a constructive role to play in the post-referendum environment.

The TUC report cites Germany as a model of corporatist collaboration between management and trade unions that should be emulated: The involvement of employers and unions in the German response to the global financial crisis from 2008 onwards was a key factor in Germanys earlier recovery, compared to the UKs.

The unions could help secure deals with employers to preserve jobs (and in some places, sustain whole communities) through this time of uncertainty.

In order to achieve this, The government should set an example by involving unions in its planning, and should require employers seeking assistance from the national action plan to do so in consultation with the unions representing their workforces.

The TUC insists it is vital the government and business retain their services in suppressing the class struggle, stating, Throughout the recent steel crisis, unions worked constructively with government and business to safeguard jobs and investment.

They did indeed collaborate closely with government and management, but not on behalf of their membership. Workers at Tatas former steel works in Scunthorpe are seeing the reality of such claims. In April of this year, as part of the deal to prime the Scunthorpe operation for takeover by asset strippers Greybull Capital, the unions recommended, on pain of workers losing their jobs, a 3 percent pay cut along with changes to terms and conditions relating to enhanced payments outside the standard 40-hour week.

Such agreements have been agreed on by unions and management in workplace after workplace, in one section of the economy after another, as the unions have sought to isolate, demoralise and sell out the wages and conditions of their members.

The underlying message is that government and business can only impose the deepening levels of austerity and the economy and become more competitive globally if the unions are allowed to maintain their role as an industrial police force. The ONS figures on all-time-low strike activity make clear just how dedicated the trade union bureaucracy is to this task.
The annual joint US-South Korean military exercises known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) began yesterday amid rising tensions in Asia fuelled by the American military build-up throughout the region. While nominally aimed against North Korea, the war games consolidate Washingtons military alliance with Seoul as it makes preparations for conflict with China.

The military drills involve around 25,000 US military personnel, of which 2,500 will come from outside South Korea, operating alongside 75,000 South Korean troops. The US has 28,500 troops stationed permanently in South Korea and is currently restructuring its bases in the country as part of its broader reorganisation of American military forces in the Asia Pacific.

North Korea has responded with militarist threats to launch nuclear strikes on South Korea and the United States if they show the slightest sign of aggression. Such reckless and inflammatory threats, which have nothing to do with defending the North Korean people, play directly into Washingtons hands by providing a pretext for its own military expansion and provocations in the region.

The US-led UN Command Military Armistice Commission declared it had notified the North Korean army that the UFG exercises were non-provocative. This attempt to portray the joint war games as defensive and benign is false. Over the past five years in particular, the Obama administration has repeatedly exploited exercises with South Korea to make a menacing show of force in North East Asia.

Last November, the US and South Korea formally adopted a new military strategyOperational Plans 5015 (OPLAN 5015)that is explicitly offensive in character. In a conflict with North Korea, US and South Korean forces would make pre-emptive strikes on key targets, including nuclear facilities, and carry out decapitation raids to assassinate high-level officials, among them North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

OPLAN 5015 provides the framework not only for the UFG war games, but also the Soaring Eagle exercises currently being carried out by the South Korean Air Force, involving some 60 military aircraft and 530 troops. According to the Korea Times, the air force is practising to pre-emptively remove the Norths ballistic missile threats by proactively blocking the missiles and their supply route.

The Korea Times also noted that South Korean officials are paying keen attention to the possibility that Pyongyang would carry out military provocations during or after the UFG exercises. In reality, the huge exercises, which are premised on war with North Korea, have always heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. During last years drill, the US exploited the situation to station nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers at its bases on Guam in the western Pacific.

The current war games are particularly reckless because of growing signs of instability in Pyongyang. Seoul last week reported the defection of a high-level North Korean officialthe number two in its embassy in London. Washington has deliberately sought to destabilise the North Korean regime by strangling its economy through punitive sanctions and isolating the country diplomatically.

The US is boosting its defence ties with South Korea as part of its pivot to Asia and war drive against China. Earlier this month the Obama administration approved the sale of military GPS systems to South Korea to improve the capability of its Korea GPS Guided Bomb. On August 14, the Yonhap news agency cited a top official in Seoul saying that South Korea would expand its ballistic missile arsenal to be able to destroy all North Korean military installations simultaneously.

The most significant move, however, was the announcement last month that the US will station its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea as part of its anti-ballistic missile network in the western Pacific. THAAD, which can intercept and destroy ballistic missiles, is not aimed primarily against Pyongyang, but against Beijing. It is part of US preparations for nuclear war with China, which has objected to the THAAD deployment.

Relations between Seoul and Beijing have soured as South Korea has been increasingly integrated into US war plans. Chinese authorities joined their North Korean counterparts in condemning the US-South Korean war games. The state-owned Xinhua news agency criticised US muscle-flexing, warning it would lead to a vicious circle of violence for violence that could provoke fighting.

Last week, the Chinese military held its own exercises in the Sea of Japan involving a simulated bomber attack on a naval task force. The potential for a mistake or minor incident provoking a broader conflict was also highlighted last week when three Chinese military aircraft flew briefly into an area covered by overlapping Chinese and South Korean air defence identification zones. The South Korean air force scrambled fighter jets to escort the intruders out of the area.

Beijing is concerned that South Korea is not only strengthening military ties with the US but also with Japan. Until recently, Seoul resisted US pressure to coordinate more closely with Japan, given Tokyos brutal colonial record on the Korean Peninsula before 1945. The US is keen to integrate both its North Asian allies into military plans, pressing in the first instance for closer intelligence sharing, which is necessary to integrate US anti-ballistic missile systems in Japan and South Korea.

Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, encouraged by the US, Japan has moved to remilitarise and take a more aggressive stance against China, not only over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islets in the East China Sea but throughout the region. The Japan Times revealed over the weekend that China had warned Japan not to send its military forces to join provocative freedom of navigation operations challenging Chinese territorial claims in another flashpointthe South China Sea. Such an action by Japan would constitute a red linein other words, could lead to Chinese retaliation.

Five years after President Barack Obama announced the pivot to Asia, Washingtons reckless actions have led to a dangerous heightening of geo-political tensions throughout the Asia Pacific. The worsening of the longstanding confrontation on the Korean Peninsula is just one of the potential triggers for a war involving nuclear-armed powers that could rapidly engulf the region and the world.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi met yesterday for a summit off the Italian island of Ventotene.

This was a reprise of the June 27 crisis summit that brought Merkel, Hollande and Renzi together in Berlin shortly after Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU). After the Berlin summit, where they called for broad new economic reforms attacking the working class and a united EU military policy, they were determined to show unity and halt further disintegration of the EU. They assembled again yesterday to prepare next months EU summit in Bratislava.

Many thought that after Brexit, Europe was over, Renzi declared as he opened the summits joint press conference, on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Garibaldi. But it is not, and we want to write a new page in the future.

In fact, even before Britain invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin formally negotiating the terms of its exit from the EU, the EU is on the verge of a new explosion. At Ventotene, the three largest euro zone economies faced a broad range of urgent crises: the rapidly escalating war in Syria and the Middle East, the immigrant crisis and terror attacks in Europe, and the rising danger of a historic European banking collapse centered in Italy. However, they failed to unite around any common proposals, save more attacks on the working class and migrants democratic rights.

Much symbolism but nothing concrete, the Swiss Neue Zurcher Zeitung concluded about the summit. It mocked the three countries empty declarations of solidarity and fulsome praise of the European project and wrote: Their ideas broadly clash, so everything stayed at the level of generous promises.

Renzi, who is fighting to avert a run on Italys banks and to keep office amid the deepening slump of the Italian economy, pledged: We will also talk about economic issues. We want strong measures, quality investments accompanied by structural reforms, investing in Manufacturing 4.0 and renewable energy. We have to focus on the youth.

Renzis proposals were stillborn, however. In the run-up to the summit, Merkel downplayed Renzis calls for looser rules on state budget deficits, and Hollandes calls for the EU to back the formation of a 315 billion investment firm. Such policieswhich would lessen the pressure for social cuts by somewhat slowing the unfolding Italian fiscal crisis, and fund limited economic projects for Germanys European competitorsface significant opposition in Berlin.

While Merkel stated in her remarks that the EUs stability pact gives many opportunities for flexibility on budgetary issues, it is clear that Italys over 300 billion in bad debts cannot be painlessly absorbed by another EU bank bailout. Italys economy has ground to a halt, stagnating in the second trimester of 2016. As tax returns collapse, Italy faces a new state budget crisis that threatens to trigger a bank run.

Berlin is opposed, however, to yet another attempt to paper over all these crises with massive quantitative easing, that is, by printing euros at the European Central Bank.

New EU rules require depositors and creditors to contribute to paying the costs of a bank failure. As a result, many Italian savers who put their savings in smaller banks that went bust have already been ruined. With major Italian banks like UniCredit and Monti dei Paschi di Siena now in turn facing life-threatening financial crises, the conflicts inside the euro zone over how to handle the winding down of bad debts in Italy is set to take on explosive formspossibly leading to a decision by the Italian government to leave the EU and the euro currency.

It is unclear what such a decision would mean for France, which has hundreds of billions of euros invested in Italy, and whether Paris could itself under these conditions remain in the euro.

As we trend into the second half of the year, the situation in Italy, and its spill-over for the rest of Europe, will continue to be one of the biggest macro-political risks we are concerned about, Federico Santi, a London-based analyst at Eurasia Group, told Market Watch.

The crisis has the potential to trigger yet another exit from the EU. Renzis popularity has been undermined by his austerity measures, and he also faces a political challenge from the anti-euro and anti-EU Five-Star Movement (M5S), which has called for a referendum on exit from the euro. Particularly if Renzis proposed November referendum modifying the powers of the Italian Senate fails, and if he steps down as he has pledged to do, the result could be the coming to power of another anti-EU government in Italy.

Merkel, Hollande and Renzi tried to cover over the financial conflicts emerging from the crisis of European capitalism by aggressive, reactionary calls for a build-up of European military and intelligence agencies, as well as crackdowns on refugees and immigrants.

Europe needs to better ensure its own defense, and must also be practical. We need to better protect European borders and share more intelligence information. We also want more coordination, more facilities, and more resources in the defense sector, Hollande said. He also gave the thanks of the EU to the crew of the Garibaldi, the flagship of Operation Sofiathe navy patrols that force African migrant ships fleeing across the Mediterranean towards Europe to return to Africa.

Mentioning the escalating war in Syria and the refugee crisis, Merkel said, We should do more for the internal and external security of the EU. She also praised EU collaboration with other countries to block refugees from traveling to Europe: We will discuss migrants and control of the coastlines, but we need collaboration from neighboring countries. Collaboration with Turkey is a good thing; otherwise we cannot win the fight against people traffickers. But we also need help from the migrants countries of origin.

In this context, the decision of Merkel, Hollande and Renzi to visit the grave on Ventotene of Altiero Spinelli only further highlighted the EUs historic bankruptcy. While in prison during World War II on the orders of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Spinelli helped draft the so-called Ventotene Manifestoa founding document of the movement to build the EUcalling for a federal Europe without national states.

Spinellis manifesto is a generally counterrevolutionary document, reflecting his membership in the Stalinist Italian Communist Party (PCI) in the 1920s and 1930s, and the PCIs opposition to socialist revolution and the political independence of the working class. Insisting that capitalist businessmen play a lead role in the reconstruction of postwar Europe, the manifesto attacks workers, trained on the issue of class, who therefore cannot see anything but their own demands.

Spinelli later worked with the PCI during its Euro-communist turn of the 1970s, which prepared the PCIs support for the Kremlins restoration of capitalism in the USSR and the PCI majoritys subsequent transformation into Renzis pro-austerity Democratic Party (PD).

What the entire period of nearly 75 years since the drafting of the document has shown, in fact, is the deeply rooted inability of European capitalism to overcome the national divisions in Europe, as this crisis-ridden summit made clear.
Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of Telenor, delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain February 23, 2016. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo

By Joachim Dagenborg

ARENDAL, Norway (Reuters) - Norway's Telenor <TEL.OL> will set up a separate business unit to claim a share of the rapidly growing mobile advertising market in Asia, Chief Executive Sigve Brekke told Reuters.

Telecom operators like Telenor are facing challenges to their traditional business as increased data usage has opened the door for digital content providers like Netflix <NFLX.O> and Spotify and messaging companies such as Facebook <FB.O> to capture an increasing share of network revenue.

Telenor aims to fight back by staking a claim to a slice of the mobile ad market that is growing fast, especially in emerging and developing markets where a rise in smartphone sales is giving many consumers access to the internet for the first time.

"A lot of digital players are coming in and taking parts of the value chain," Brekke said in an interview last week. "It's a very demanding situation for mobile players right now and we are forced to make a decision on what we want to do going forward."

Its advertising strategy builds on technology from Tapad, a U.S.-based startup it acquired earlier this year for $360 million, which is designed to place relevant ads as individual users switch between their devices.

"We will try to use Tapad as an entry into mobile advertising as a separate business unit in our Asian growth markets," Brekke said, adding that Telenor "needs to be able to do business in a different way going forward."

Telenor has more than 211 million mobile phone subscribers across Asia, Scandinavia and southeastern Europe. More than 90 percent of those subscribers are in its six Asian markets, including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand.

Global mobile advertising is set to top $100 billion in revenue in 2016, representing around 16.5 percent of all media ad spending, according to a forecast last year by eMarketer.

More mature markets like the United States, China and Britain now account for two-thirds of all mobile ad spending among the top 20 markets, but mobile ad markets in the rest of Asia such as India and Indonesia are at least doubling in size every year, albeit from a far lower spending base, the media research firm projected.

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"DUMB PIPE"

"You can choose to be a 'dumb pipe', a network provider or you can try to take a larger digital position," Brekke said.

Industry-wide, he said he expected annual growth in networks of 1 percent, compared to 20-30 percent in digital.

In addition to the Tapad acquisition, Telenor has started a joint venture with Norway's Schibsted <SBSTA.OL> within online classified ads in Asia and Latin America. It also operates two bank and financial services providers in Serbia and Pakistan.

Digital businesses such as advertising and financial services accounted for just 2 percent of the group's total 2015 revenues of 26.5 billion crowns ($3.22 billion).

"The question is how far you should go into this segment. We will not do as some of our competitors have done and take positions in content like music and video streaming. That is not for us," Brekke said.

However, he did expect the company to make some smaller acquisitions to boost the move into mobile advertising.

"Some of it we can manage ourselves, but sometimes we will also need to acquire competence. These are just small acquisitions. We are not planning any major acquisitions right now," said Brekke.

Telenor is expected to give more details on its future digital strategy at its capital markets day in London on Sept. 22.

($1 = 8.2294 Norwegian crowns)

(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in Frankfurt; Editing by Adrian Croft)
ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia prison inmate has been sentenced to serve more than 12 years in federal prison for laundering money from a scam operated by inmates using contraband cellphones.

U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release Monday that 36-year-old Reginald Perkins of Atlanta has been sentenced to serve 12 years and seven months for laundering $1 million. He pleaded guilty in March.

Perkins was an inmate at Jimmy Autry State Prison in Pelham. Inmates used internet access on contraband cellphones to identify potential fraud victims.

Horn said the inmates posed as law enforcement and called victims to say they'd missed jury duty and that they had to pay a fine or be arrested. They then got the victims to wire them money or put money on prepaid cash cards.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The father of a toddler killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World last June reached into the animal's mouth in an attempt to free his son's head from the reptile's jaws.

A final report on the death released Monday by Florida's wildlife agency says that the 7-foot alligator bit 2-year-old Lane Graves' head as the boy bent down at the edge of a lagoon at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report says the boy died from a crushing bite and drowning.

The report says Lane did nothing to provoke the alligator and that the death is classified as a predatory attack.

The report says the alligator may have had a diminished fear of people by being in an area with lots of humans.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - Thousands of college students are back in the capitol as the fall semester gets underway.

Both Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College welcomed back their students on the first day of the fall semester.

TCC had welcome tables set up around campus to answer questions for students and they handed out maps, pens, and free water. The college will be starting its Saturday classes this fall.

And at FAMU, the Office of Student Activities were helping the incoming freshmen move-in to on-campus dorms.

Classes for Florida State University will start back next Monday, Aug. 29th. Over 42,000 students will be returning to FSU's campus.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - Florida Power and Light have proposed a $1.3 million base rate increase in a meeting Monday.

The proposal, if approved, would increase the monthly base rate for a typical customer using about 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity from $57 to $70 by 2020. The utility company told regulators that the hike is "driven by investment and infrastructure" rather than profit as critics have claimed.

J.R. Kelly, public counsel for the State of Florida, said, "We don't question Florida Power and Light's quality of service. However, we just don't think they need all of this money. We feel the evidence is going to show that it's just a big ask and it's a want, not a need."

FPL said they plan to use the money to pay for upgrades to its electricity service, reduce emissions, and strengthen the system so it can better handle severe weather and customer increases.

A decision from the commission is expected in the fall.
MIDWAY, Fla. (WTXL) -- There are three areas of interest in the tropical Atlantic basin, none of which are anywhere close to the Florida peninsula or the U.S. mainland:

Tropical Depression Fiona is several hundred miles southeast of Bermuda and continuing to move to the west-northwest. Somewhat dry conditions and a windy upper-level set-up has caused Fiona to lose strength and organization, and should not be a factor in weather conditions in the United States.

A tropical wave several hundred miles away from the Lesser Antilles has been tracked for a few days, and has a modest chance to encounter conditions that would lead to future development. Less upper-level wind and more moisture, along with warm ocean water temperatures, have sustained its chances to organize into a tropical depression or storm. Air Force hurricane hunters are scheduled to fly into the system Tuesday to gather data and observations.

A third tropical wave, a little farther east than the previously described system, will also enter a favorable environment to intensify, with the National Hurricane Center giving it a near 100% chance to form into a depression in the next two to five days. (4:45 pm UPDATE: This system has been upgraded to Tropical Depression Seven.)

It's important to note that each of these systems are far from the United States, and computer forecast guidance are still in the process of creating a series of model data over the course of the next several days, with an effort to establish a clearer picture to possible movement and development. Any social media postings of one specific model (out of many dozens of versions available) from less-than-qualified sources that suggest a hurricane impact or landfall in the Gulf region or locally should be generally disregarded at this point. Long-range forecast models are prone to a HUGE margin of error. Stick with sources like the National Hurricane Center or the Storm Team here at wtxl.tv and through our broadcast and digital platforms for reliable hurricane season analysis and forecasting.
By Natalia Zinets

BARYSHIVKA, Ukraine, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The goal was to make Ukraine more friendly for investors by reducing red tape. But reforms that loosened the rules for registering ownership of assets have left companies prey to fraudsters who can swipe entire businesses at a pen stroke.

The new laws, which took effect in December, give thousands of private notaries new powers to record changes of ownership of assets at registries around the country.

According to the government, on at least 250 occasions so far, fraudsters have taken advantage of the changes to seize control of shopping malls, building sites or other businesses, sometimes emptying bank accounts before they are discovered.

The fraud outbreak shows how steps taken by Ukraine's pro-Western government to open the country up to investment can instead backfire, providing more opportunities for criminals. The government says it is planning new legislation to tackle the problem, but those changes are months away, and meanwhile the authorities have few tools to stop the thefts.

Something was wrong when an accountant for Ukrainian real estate developer Stolitsa Group tried to log on to the company's online filing system one Monday in July.

The login credentials didn't work. But that turned out to be just the first hint of a much bigger problem. The company, it transpired, was no longer the owner of a $50 million subsidiary running one of its main projects.

A few days earlier, someone had walked into a registrar's office in Baryshivka, a village of about 10,000 people, 74 km (45 miles) outside the capital. The man presented forged documents, and re-registered the title to the subsidiary.

According the register, the new owner was now a 21-year-old living in territory controlled by separatists in eastern Ukraine, who had bought one of the highest-profile real estate projects in Ukraine for $400. Stolitsa says the whole transaction was fake.

"It happened out of the blue and we rushed to Baryshivka to that registry office," Valentyna Radionova, a senior manager at Stolitsa, told Reuters.

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Stolitsa, which has built hotels, shopping malls and office buildings across Kiev, was eventually able to recover control of its subsidiary, and the case is now the subject of a criminal investigation. Managers agreed to discuss the fraud on condition that the project that was targeted not be identified, to avoid undermining confidence in it.

The government says it responded as quickly as possible, helping Stolitsa recover its property. Mykhaylo Apostol, an adviser to the interior minister, personally went with Stolitsa representatives to Baryshivka to investigate.

Apostol told Reuters those behind the fraud appeared to have been involved in other cases as well, although he declined to give more details of the ongoing investigation.

"We are aware of the people at the very lowest rung, who had the affidavits on which the firm was transferred," he said. How long it would take to prosecute the case would depend on how long the chain went to find those ultimately responsible.

MOVING UP THE RANKS

Since a revolution ousted Ukraine's pro-Russian government in 2014, the country's new pro-Western leaders say they are trying to make Ukraine a better place to invest. Ukraine has crept up the World Bank's "ease of doing business" rankings from 112th to a relatively respectable 83rd, two spots above China.

One change was to speed up transactions by making it much easier to register changes in ownership of assets.

Previously, only centralised registries could record changes of ownership of property. But now such transactions can be recorded in local registries like the one in Baryshivka. Some 6500 private notaries can register a business, a change in ownership or the movement of collateral for banking loans. Transactions can be recorded day or night, at weekends and from any location.

"It was aimed to improve Ukraine's position in the World Bank's rating for doing business," said Svetlana Mikhaylovska, deputy head of Ukraine's European Business Association.

"But in practice, positive tools are being used by unscrupulous people while bona fide owners are not protected. An agent, motivated by money, can transfer your business to anyone, because the law does not assume any responsibility for notaries," Mikhaylovska told Reuters.

Deputy Justice Minister Pavlo Moroz told Reuters the government still has only limited tools to address the issue. The ministry can bar notaries suspected of wrongdoing from accessing state records, but it cannot withdraw their licences, nor is there a law that specifically classifies incorrect registrations as a crime.

In September the ministry plans to submit a draft law to parliament which will remove the right of notaries to change the ownership of businesses that are not in their local area.

More documentation will be required to register changes in property ownership, and owners will have the option of obtaining paper certificates that must be presented to transfer titles.

"I am confident as soon as these changes are approved this phenomenon will disappear," Moroz said.

HOSTAGES OF THE SITUATION

Since the reforms, foreign investors as well as Ukrainian firms have been hit by similar scams.

The same day that the Baryshivka village registry recorded the bogus purchase of Stolitsa's subsidiary, it also transferred ownership of Ave Plaza, a business centre and shopping mall in the eastern city of Kharkiv, from Austrian firms Uniqa Real Estate and Uniqa Real Estate Holdings.

"In our case it was clear from the first glance that documents had been forged. The names of our co-founders had been written with mistakes -- Unica instead of Uniqa," Yuriy Kushnir, general director of Ave Plaza, told journalists.

Like Stolitsa, Uniqa was able to recover control of its subsidiary. But the fraudsters managed to steal millions of hryvnias from the company's account before it was handed back. That case is also under investigation.

In another case, global agriculture producer Bunge says a private notary in the Vinnytsia region registered a grain elevator belonging to one of its subsidiaries to new owners.

The local subsidiary of Italian bank Unicredit temporarily lost a Kiev office building called Horizont Park that it had held as collateral for a loan. A private notary in a village had changed ownership, the bank says.

"A situation is developing in which notaries ... can, with complete impunity, carry out the illegal manipulation of property," Tamara Savoshchenko, CEO of UniCredit's Ukrainian subsidiary, told a news conference.

With a few multi-storey buildings surrounded by cottages nestled among fruit trees, the village of Baryshivka is almost big enough to be classified as a small town, earning it the official trappings of a district centre.

The registrar's office is located in a two-storey building on the main road, once named "October Street" for the Bolshevik revolution, now just called "Central Street".

Olha Honchar, a 57-year-old woman with short hair and a colourful dress, is one of four registrars who work there and accepted the documents in both the Stolitsa and Ave Plaza cases on the same day. She told Reuters she has a vague recollection of a man who appeared to be in his thirties, who came with the paperwork to register ownership of the Stolitsa subsidiary.

She became frightened, she says, when people in expensive cars turned up days later demanding the registration be cancelled. She was brought to Kiev for questioning by police, and the experience left her unable to sleep properly, she said.

"I believe that my actions were fully in accordance with the law, I'm sorry that it turned out to be fake," she said.

Reuters was not able to obtain the name of the suspects in the Stolitsa case, including the 21-year-old briefly listed as the owner of Stolitsa's subsidiary; the authorities say the identities are confidential parts of the police investigation.

Honchar's boss, Tetiana Posevkina, said staff were acting in good faith, and had no way to verify whether the documents they were presented were forgeries.

"We have become hostages of this situation, it is very unpleasant. We read different slurs about us every day, but who said that we acted illegally?" (Writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Peter Graff)
A different hue: Researchers say colored netting could mean more green for apple growers
Scenes from a brush fire burning on the Yakama Nation reservation near Tule Road southwest of Granger, Wash. on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. The bla
Seven jurors were seated Monday to review evidence and witness statements in the 2015 death of a man shot by three Pasco police officers.
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preet bharara

What's it like to be convicted of insider trading and later freed?

William D. Cohan wrote a fascinating profile for Fortune about Todd Newman, the hedge fund manager at now defunct Diamondback Capital, whose case has raised questions about the definition of insider trading.

According to the government's case against him, Newman allegedly heard fourthhand information that he then traded on. Newman has maintained his innocence, and he racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees defending himself, according to the Fortune piece.

Here's more from the article:

"As he reflects on the events that reshaped his life, Newman, 51, shows traces of bitterness but mostly exudes calm and a degree of satisfaction. That perspective has come only with time, though. The day the feds came calling, his feelings ran more toward fear, panic, and confusion."

In the Fortune article, Newman recounts the months he waited to see if he would be charged with wrongdoing, and how he feared that his young daughter would see him being arrested.

In 2013, Newman was sentenced to 54 months in federal prison. In December 2014, an appeals court overturned his conviction.

Much had been written about the legal meaning of that overturning, but Fortune's story is the first time we hear Newman's perspective.

Today, Newman says he cannot find another job in the hedge fund industry, and he plans to start a business that would help others through experiences like his, Fortune reported.

One suggestion from Business Insider: He might try reaching out to this Connecticut couple that ministers to people who are convicted of white-collar crime.

Read the full Fortune story 

NOW WATCH: MALCOLM GLADWELL: Anyone who gives a single dollar to Princeton has completely lost their mind'





More From Business Insider


"I swore to my mother that we'll never live in the territories," says Yael Sahal, smiling. She's 34, a family physician and mother of five. It's June, and Yael and her husband Yohan are piling boxes into their living room in Creteil, the sixth-largest suburb of Paris. The boxes would be unpacked about two weeks after that. Where? You guessed it, in the territories.

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And not just anywhere in the territories, but in the settlement of Brukhin in the Samaria region of the West Bank, which, up until two years ago, had been defined as an illegal outpost. Coming to Brukhin alongside the Sahals are 12 other families from France, all of whom will be living in a trailer park that has been prepared especially for them.

"When we came to a meeting for families who want to immigrate to Israel as part of a group, we were shown projects in Zikhron Ya'akov, Kfar Saba, Eli, and Brukhin. I was very impressed with the pretty photos of the Samaria and Binyamin areas, but Eli and Brukhin weren't an option. When we came for a visit to see these places up close, I realized that I had to quickly speak with my mother. We fell in love with Brukhin."

Yohan and Yael Sahal with their children at their new home in Brukhin (Photo: Tal Shahar)

Her mother says that while Dr. Sahal was a big girl and could do what she pleasedbabysitting visits from grandma were out of the question. "You have five children, you have responsibilitiesbut I will never come visit you," she says.

"But she just recently renewed her passport," Yohan says, laughing. "I think she won't just come and visit, but also immigrate to Israel."

The project that will bring the Sahal family to Israeland that brought me to Parisis part of a wide-scale initiative by the Absorption of Israel Communities foundation, which works to bring French Jewish families to Israel through group immigration.

The future immigrants go through a two-year process, half of which is done in France, which includes finding and preparing the families for the immigration process from a spiritual, mental and technical perspective.

Life of France's Jews In France, it's dangerous to be a Jew Itamar Eichner Since the attack on the kosher supermarket in Paris, Jewish institutions in France operate under heavy guard, with commandos outside schools and patrols during prayers at the synagogue; meanwhile, 57% of French Jews want to move to Israel. In France, it's dangerous to be a Jew

At the end of the first year, the families move to Israel and are absorbed into an existing community. For another year, they receive group and individual support, until they can stand on their own.

Behind the initiative is Rabbi Yehoshua Zuckerman, but those running it in practice is the Vach family from the settlement of Eli. For the past three years, the Absorption of Israel Communities foundation has been working with the Samaria Regional Council, and it is to that area that the largest group of Jewish immigrants will be coming this year.

"Anyone who makes aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) is crazy," Yohan, 38, says. "But those who make aliyah to the Samaria region are the happiest of crazies. There are terror attacks and anti-Semitism in Paris as well, so it's better to be in your own land, where at least you'll have someone to protect you. If you have to be afraid, then at least you should be afraid somewhere that's your home."

Yael and Yohan Sahal at their home in Paris (Photo: Tal Shahar)

Yohan is the son of a traditional family of Algerian descent. His grandmother immigrated to Ashkelon from France about two years ago, becoming the oldest new immigrant to Israel. He also has an uncle in the country, who was evicted from his home in Gush Katif during the 2005 Gaza disengagement, so his familiarity with the territories is somewhat greater than that of the average person making aliyah.

"We were excited by the vistas and the people," he says while explaining what convinced him that happiness awaited him and his family in Brukhin. "When we were there, we simply started crying. We felt like (the people there) really wanted us, wholeheartedly. We were told that Israeli children were rude, but we met families with a lot of calm and polite children."

Will you be able to live in a trailer?

"When we got married, we didn't have anything," Yohan remembers. "We slept on mattresses in a rented apartment. We started from nothing (and worked) until we bought this house, with a large mortgage. We've already sold our house here and we hope in the future to be able to buy a house in Israel as well. This house is 80 square meters, exactly the size of the trailer we'll be living in. If we succeeded here, we'll succeed there as well."

"We were afraid to make the decision," Yael says. "On the one hand, we fell in love with the people and the views. But on the other hand, Brukhin is a really new outpost, that doesn't even have a convenience store."

Isn't moving to a trailer on a rocky and barren mountain, without even a convenience store nearby, too extreme of a change?

"You're doing damage. Why did I bother bringing this settler to Paris, so she could ruin everything I've been working on for months?" jumps in Yossi Dagan, the head of Samaria Regional Council, drawing laughter from everyone in the room. "When we decided that Brukhin would take in the new immigrants group this year, the condition we made was that a convenience store is built there," he assures his listeners. "By the time they move there, the store will be ready."

The idea to immigrate as part of a group came to be after good friends of the Sahals returned to France disappointed following six years in Jerusalem. "When you're alone in a city, your chances of successfully integrating are much lower," Yael says. "You're lonely and there is no support around you. When my grandparents came to France as refugees from Poland, they were penniless and there was no one to help them integrate. We're happy. We have property, and an entire community to support us."

Life in the West Bank An outpost tries to hold its ground Oded Shalom, Elisha Ben-Kimon Ten years after the confrontation that has become a symbol, the residents of Amona are preparing for the next round; approaching the High Court of Justice's deadline for the evacuation of the outpost, the settlers are recruiting thousands of supporters to protest on the deadline and are pressuring right-wing ministers to find a way to circumvent the order. An outpost tries to hold its ground

Why didn't you choose Eli, a bigger and more established settlement?

Yael shrugged. "Eli is not for me. I was there at the synagogue on Shabbat. I didn't hear any Hebrew at all. Everyone was talking in French. That's not for me. This is no way to be integrated. If we don't want to have to come back, like our friends, we need to come with a group so we're not alonebut not to a ghetto. In Brukhin, not only will we receive more support, but we'll also have something to contribute. It's about coming to a place we are needed in."

"They're Zionists, dropping everything and making aliyah," Dagan enthusiastically added. "Instead of being refugees in Israel, they'll be pioneers in Brukhin."

"It's hard for me to use that word," Yael says, looking down. "I feel like it's a bit presumptuous to say we're great Zionists. We didn't serve in the army. We didn't lose anyone at war. In our eyes, only someone who contributed to the State of Israel is a Zionist. Maybe when my children enlist in the IDF we could use that word."

A pub? Why not

We meet with the Sahals again in the evening, this time at a cute local pub in the heart of Paris. Yael held a plate with a "Zionist" meringue cookiein blue and white. Slowly, the pub filled with the 12 excited couples making aliyah, anxiously awaiting the draw for the trailers.

The location was not chosen at random. The owners, Elodie Risberg and her husband, who have a chain of pubs in the French capital, are among the couples moving to Brukhin. Elodie, with her massive mane of curls, is flashing smiles everywhere. She doesn't know a word of Hebrew, and it's hard to see how she is going to fit into Brukhin, where women wear coifs and long skirts.

Elodie Risberg and her husband (Photo: Tal Shahar)

This, however, doesn't stop Dagan from doing business with her. A pub, he explains to her, will not be suitable in Brukhin, but would work great in the nearby Alei Zahav. "Really?" Elodie asks. "I'm not sure it's a good idea. I'm a bit concerned with how people would see us. Today, we're not religious and our pubs are not kosher. But I want to become observant."

"The Samaria Regional Council is 50 percent religious and 50 percent secular," Dagan explains. "Brukhin is a relatively religious settlement, but they realized that if they wanted to take in new immigrants, they have to accept everyoneincluding women in tank tops. I love to challenge our settlements. A community is a lot like nature: Standing water draw mosquitoes. A settlement focusing only on itself is an incubator of neighborly disputes. When a settlement takes on a social or national missionit only serves to strengthen it."

Sarah Zaafran might also seem out of place in Burkhin. Her youthful looks are deceitful, as she is an experienced dentist who speaks with great confidencebut only in French.

"Relatives told us about the project and we came to a meeting in which Shalom Vach, the founder of the Absorption of Israel Communities foundation, told us about group immigration to Israel," she says. "I didn't want to move to the Samaria region, I was afraid. But my husband, Stephane, was actually interested."

Making Aliyah Over 200 French Jews immigrated to Israel Eitan Goldstein An enormous event was held for 206 Jews making aliyah to Israel from France in the largest aliyah flight of the year; While 2012 saw only 1,900 French Jews make aliyah, that number has risen to over 7,800 in 2015; Jewish Agency claims that 10% of French Jewry has made Aliyah since 2000. Over 200 French Jews immigrated to Israel

When the time came to choose which of them will go on a visit to Israel to choose where they would live, Stephane insisted that Sarah goes. "He wanted me to see it with my own eyes and then decide. I was there for Shabbat, and all of a sudden I saw I wasn't afraid at all. I felt at ease. I felt safe. I really loved the people. I went back to France and gave Stephane a positive answer."

Stephane, who works in IT, is already familiar with life in the settlements. When he was young, he spent a year studying in Kokhav Ya'akov, and unlike his wife, his Hebrew is almost fluent.

"I am closely familiar with small settlements," he says. "Kokhav Ya'akov was a new settlement with 150 families (at the time), like Brukhin is now. I told Sarah a small settlement was a good thing, that we shouldn't rule it out because of fear. That's why it was important to me that she goes there and makes a decision herself. As a man, I can get along anywhere in Israel, but she, as a woman, who is more focused on the children, was more afraid."

The couple, who live in a rented apartment in a suburb of Paris, have a five-year-old son and another two-year-old son. Their elder son was worried about the expected change. "When I returned home, I calmed him down. I told him about the petting zoo at the school, the big playground opposite the synagogue and about how he could finally go outside alone to play on Shabbat," Sarah says. "Children in Ashdod or Ashkelon don't go outside alone, but inside a settlement they do. That's why I felt safe."

The five year old was immediately convinced, but his grandparents are still having a hard time handling the news. "At first my parents were not happy with the decision to make aliyah and move to the Samaria region," Sarah says. "For a month, I wasn't allowed to talk to them about the aliyah. But they're slowly accepting it."

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and Minister Ze'ev Elkin meeting with French Jewish families in an effort to bring them to the settlements (Photo: Samaria Regional Council)

"We're soon going to hold an Upsherin (haircutting) ceremony for the younger son, and then Sarah's parents will surely come to visit Brukhin," hopes Stephane, whose own mother already lives in Bat Yam. "Most of the couples who chose Brukhin thought at first that they would live in Netanya, Ashdod, and other known places. But when you come to Brukhin and you see the settlement and the familiarity between peopleyou realize that this would be the best place and the most fun place for children. Whenever there was some rioting in Paris, we got worried phone calls from Israelbecause to the outside observer, it appeared as if the entire city was burning. That's how the French see the Samaria regionas if there are only Arabs there, and there are shootings all day. The truth is the same can be says about many Israelis, who don't know the Samaria region and are afraid to cross the Green Line."

Two other immigration groups arrived in the Samaria region before this year's group heading to Brukhin: Eight families arrived about two years ago and settled in Yakir, and 12 families moved to Peduel last year.

Life of France's Jews France's Jews are more religious, feel less safe Yaniv Pohoryles A comprehensive survey of France's large Jewish community tells of lives lived in fear: two-thirds feel threatened and around half have been physically or verbally attacked. France's Jews are more religious, feel less safe

"This project was started by (previous council head) Gershon Mesika and has become my baby," Dagan says. "I travel to France along with a team from the council that would later accompany the new immigrants, to convince them to come to the Samaria. I'm not afraid to talk to them about pioneering and Zionism. It's what they're looking for."

Dagan says he was moved to action following his own evacuation from Sa-Nur 11 years ago. "I still wake up at night because of the expulsionI haven't been able to sleep easy sinceand I'm still preoccupied by the thought of what can I do so this won't happen again," he says.

"I realized the settlement enterprise's biggest enemy is ignorance, which is why it's important to me to bring people from Israel and from all over the worldof all types and kindsto visit Samaria. I also realized that what is important is having a mass of people. Ariel and Yitzhar are located at the same distance east of the Green Line. There's no dispute about Ariel anymore, while there is one about Yitzhar," he continues.

"My vision is to have a million people living in the Samaria. I believe that in a few years, the floodgates would open and 200,000 Jews would leave France. If we're prepared for it, they'll come to us to Samaria. Next year, we want to bring a much larger group," Dagan adds.

And who will fund this vision?

"The Immigration and Absorption Ministry is giving NIS 60,000. It's too little, but that's what we have. (The Settlement Movement) Amana built the trailers, the Samaria Regional Council laid the infrastructure for the trailers, and we're also raising donations from private individuals who wish to remain anonymous."

Trailer No. 1

A large man walks into the pub, his name is David Tzuriya. Two years ago, he left a renovated 400-square-meter apartment in Paris behind, and made aliyah to live in a narrow trailer in Yakir. He is in Paris on business, as he continues managing his real estate from afar, and has decided to come and greet the new participants in the project.

"It's hard to live in a trailer, but that's not what's important. What's important is being integrated (into society)," he says.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and Minister Ze'ev Elkin meeting with French Jewish families in an effort to bring them to the settlements (Photo: Samaria Regional Council)

"The decision to make aliyah came about quite suddenly," he tells them. "Our friends were planning on making aliyah as part of the project, but then the husband passed away. The wife wanted to make aliyah on her own, as a widow, but Shalom explained to her that it wasn't right, that it would be too hard for her. My wife was very angry, picked up the phone and called to yell at him that he should not be speaking to a widow in this manner. I'm not sure how, but he managed to calm my wife down and explained to her that he now has a spot available and that she was welcome to make aliyah with the group. And that's what happened."

French Jews in Israel Netanya: Israel's French capital Associated Press Record-breaking numbers of new immigrants from France are making Netanya their home, leading the city to become 'indistinguishable from Nice', and establishing a center of French culture in Israel. Netanya: Israel's French capital

"Because we rushed to make aliyah," he goes on, "and despite the fact we own many businesses, we arrived (in Israel) with only ten shekels in our pockets because we didn't have time to sell anything. In Israel, we have a house in Eilat, my parents have a vacation home in Ashdod, and my wife's parents have a house in Netanya. But we didn't want to be in some city and be alone. Had I made aliyah to Netanya or Ashdod, I know I would not have lasted. The way that it is, we're in our own bubble. Cities, in Israel or in France, with their overcrowding and the noise from air-conditioning, are great for vacationnot for living."

But Tzuriya might not build his permanent home in Yakir. He's more interested in setting up a new outpost, and already has a list of ten families that would like to join him.

"Every two days, he comes to me with a new idea," Dagan complains with a smile. "That is the kind of people I like, those who have initiative," he adds, and then turns to Tzuriya: "What do you think about opening a convenience store in Brukhin?"





Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan (Photo: Eli Mandelbaum)

As Dagan continues his search for an operator for Brukhin's convenience store, the draw is about to begin. An aerial photo of Brukhin is projected on the wall, showing 50 permanent homes and some 100 trailers. Two years ago, after an eight-year freeze, the building permits for the settlement were finally approved, and now dozens more permanent homes are being built there. The site the new immigrants are to live in is adjacent to trailers of Israelis who have been living there for several years already.

The draw begins. Moving speeches are made, a lot of tears come rolling down and each family is waving around a white card with the number of the trailer they received. The Sahals got Trailer No. 1, the leftmost one.

"This is the most important moment," they say, "because this is the moment in which we finally have a hold on the land of Israel, we have land."

The Zaafran family gets Trailer No. 7, which is located opposite the Sahal family's new home. They shake hands. In two months, they'll be neighbors.

Eating on the floor

The residents of Brukhin planned to welcome their new neighbors with a special event, which would start with people gathering the synagogue and then marching to the trailers; they would hear speeches, greetings will be made, and finallymezuzot will be set on the new inhabitants' doorposts.

But meanwhile, chaos reigns free. It was only a few minutes before 6pmwhen old and new residents alike were to gather at the synagoguethat the convenience store arrived, after four days of promises at the port that it would arrive at any moment.

A massive truck drives in reverse onto the unpaved road connecting the trailers of the Sahal and Zaafran families. The entire settlementyoung and old, women and childrenrush to the container. A new life spills from inside: refrigerators, ovens, closet doors, crates with books or clothes. All items are being carried, with great labor, to the trailers, placed on the ground just outside their doors.

Burkhin residents help new French olim unload container (    )

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A sweaty Stephane Zaafran, who coordinates the work, finally agrees to stop working for two minutes to pose for a photo to remember the moment. "I'm not comfortable with everyone working and me taking pictures," he mumbles before fleeing.

The Zaafran family has been wandering around the country for two weeks now. At first, they stayed with Stephane's mother in Bat Yam, then they stayed for a week at the Absorption Center in Haifa. After being assured that their container was on its way, they arrived in Brukhin. But as the container tarried a few more days, they spent them in the home of one of the families in the settlement. The look in Sarah Zaafran's eyes clearly conveys how desperately they need some privacy, and how desperately they need to regain that sense of home. But there's still chaos outside, and everything that makes a house a home is still on the ground, under the open sky.

Sarah and Stephane Zaafran with their two children in their new home in Brukhin (Photo: Tal Shahar)

At the Sahal family's trailer, things are more at ease. Their container arrived a few days earlier. "There aren't any people in Brukhin, only angels," Yohan Sahal determines. "For a few days and nights now that people are helping us unload and put everything together. People are here until 1am. At the moment, we still don't have cooking gas, so they are also providing us with three meals every day."

It takes until 7:30pm to empty out the Zaafran family container. The festive march from the synagogue to the trailers was, of course, canceled, and the residents come together to listen to a series of speeches in Hebrew and French about Zionism, pioneering, and even the arrival of the Messiah.

Brukhin's rabbi asks the new immigrants to say the "Shehecheyanu" ("Who Has Given Us Life") blessing, even though they are within the nine days before Tisha B'Av and such blessings are normally not said at this time. Regardless, one of the immigrants says the blessing with a shaky voice, and the crowd answers with a hearty "Amen."

"You see these mountains?" Yael Sahal points. "That is why I'm here, for this view."

Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan and Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Elkin meet with French Jews in an effort to bring them to the settlements (Photo: Samaria Regional Council)

Then, they set out to place the mezuzot on the doorposts of the new trailer homes. A particularly large, wood-carved mezuzah is put on the doorpost of the Sahal family trailer. "We got this as a gift from our friends before making aliyah," Yael says. "It's the same friends who made aliyah to Jerusalem and returned to France six years later. To me, it is very emotional and symbolic to be putting it on the doorpost here today."

The Zaafran family is still in shock. They politely decline offers to eat or spend another night as guests of one of the older families in the outpost.

Three "adoptive families" are allocated to each immigrant family, after it was determined two is not enough. The welcoming process starts when a group of veteran families come to the airport to greet the new arrivals. During their first days in Israelsince most of their possessions still haven't arrivedthe new immigrants stay with their "adoptive families." After that, they receive help unloading their containers and meals. They also get help with their children, and are aided in the complex process of learning Hebrew and finding a job.

The "adoptive families" accept Zaafran's embarrassment with understanding. One of the men is giving out orders, in the most sensitive of ways. "You now have an hour to unwind in your trailer and eat dinner in peace. Eat on the floor, it's not that bad. In an hour, we'll come back and start putting everything together. That way you can spend the night at the trailer."

The Zaafrans nod, content. Sarah crosses the unpaved road to the Sahal family's trailer, where the dinner prepared for them is waiting on three trays in the refrigerator: Moroccan fish, baguettes, salads and cheese toasts. She returns to the trailer, to her husband and children, and closes the door to her new home behind her.
Israeli authorities on Monday confirmed that they have begun the process of expanding an Israeli settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron, which has been the focus of nearly a year of violence. The Palestinians swiftly condemned the move, saying they would seek international pressure to halt the plan from going forward.

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The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli defense body responsible for civilian affairs in the West Bank, confirmed that permission "to plan infrastructures" has been granted. The site in question is next to Beit Romano, one of the settler enclaves inside Hebron.

Settlers in the city of Hebron (Photo: AFP)

While the Palestinians oppose all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, construction in Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, is viewsed as especially contentious. About 1,000 Jewish settlers live in heavily fortified enclaves in the city, surrounded by some 200,000 Palestinians. The city is holy to both Jews and Muslims. There is frequent friction between the sides, and the city has been a flashpoint of violence during the last year of fighting.

Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron, welcomed expanding the settlement, saying it "would be good news for the Jewish community here." Conversely, Kamel Hmeid, the Palestinian governor of Hebron, called it "one of the most dangerous decisions" by Israel. "What is happening is a cooperation and collusion between the government and the settlers," he added.

In response to the announced future development, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of trying to make Hebron "more Jewish." It vowed to turn to the Israeli Supreme Court, United Nations and international courts to stop the plan. "We stress the need for immediate action to prevent the implementation of this new settlement plan," the ministry said.

Hagit Ofran of the Israeli organization Peace Now said it was the first approval in the area in more than a decade. She accused Israel of using "legal acrobatics" of allocating the land to settlers, instead of turning it over to the Palestinian-run municipality.

The Israeli steps come at a time of deadlock in international peace efforts, though a number of parties, including the US, France and European Union, have attempted to restart negotiations. On Monday, both Egypt's president, Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and Palestinian officials said that Russia has also offered to host peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. However, gaps between the sides are so vast that talks appear unlikely anytime soon.

Despite the deadlock, a new Israeli-Palestinian poll released Monday showed that a narrow majority on both sides does favors a peace settlement that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Specifically, the poll found that 51% of Palestinians and 59% of Israelis still support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Tamar Hermann, a political researcher who conducted the survey with Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki, said that under the current circumstances, the results were "not amazingly encouraging" but also "not discouraging." She emphasized that "It showed there is still some basis for optimism with the right leadership."
Several ultra-Orthodox people of the Breslov sect made their way to the area of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus Monday morning without coordinating with the IDF. Their bus was pelted with stones by local Palestinians.

Two of those inside the bus were very lightly wounded. The bus left the area, escorted by IDF forces. Some of its inhabitants were taken in for questioning by the police.
A group of Breslov Hassidim attempted to visit Joseph's Tomb in Nablus without authorization overnight Tuesday, contrary to Israeli law. A bus containing 32 was attacked with stone-throwing, and two of the Israelis were very slightly injured. In turn, different groups of Breslovers who managed to reach the holy site threw stones at Arabs there.

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Their bus, which bore Palestinian license plates, did not reach the tomb, as it was stopped at the entrance to the city, where it was attacked by stones. The bus drove away, and its passengers began to flee on foot. A large force of IDF soldiers arrived at the scene to rescue the Hassidim. All the passengers were detained for questioning at the Israel Police station in Ariel, which is located in Samaria in the West Bank.

Hassidim fleeing their bus

Magen David Adom (MDA) reported that at 3:43am, they received a report of a 17 year old who was injured by a stone at the scene. MDA paramedics, working jointly with an IDF medical force, treated him and transported him to Petah Tikva's Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel.

The Judea and Samaria Division of the police reported that approximately 60 Breslovers visited Joseph's Tomb without authorization. At the site, public disturbances broke out, and the crowd threw rocks at local Arabs. IDF and police forces were called to the scene to calm the situation.

The police commented on the incident, "We view the events of tonight as extremely serious. Entries that aren't coordinated and that aren't under protection endanger both those entering and also the security forces who come to help."

The IDF Spokesperson Unit said that multiple units entered the area in response, and the Hassidim were transferred to the police for investigation. The IDF emphasized that the entrance of Israeli citizens to A areas is dangerous and against the law.
Istanbul  The boy looked scared and younger than 16 when Iraqi police grabbed him on the street in the northern city of Kirkuk. Pulling off his shirt, they found a two-kilogram bomb strapped to his skinny frame.

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That was last Sunday. Less than a day earlier, Turkey was less fortunate: a teenage bomber detonated his suicide vest among dancing guests at a Turkish wedding party, officials say, killing 51 people, nearly half of them children themselves.

Iraqi police cutting off explosive belt

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Saturday's attack at the wedding in Gaziantep marked not only Turkey's deadliest this year, but also the first time in Turkey that militants may have deployed a child bomber in a way already used to deadly effect in wars from Africa to Syria.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban has long used children. One 14-year-old bomber on a bicycle hit the Kabul NATO base in 2012 killing six people; two years later a teenager blew himself up at French cultural center in the Afghan capital.

Researchers and officials say ISIS and other militants are now increasingly using the same tactics, perhaps to build ranks depleted by losses, preserve adult fighters or simply catch security forces off guard.

In West Africa, Boko Haram has preyed on displaced children or young girls it kidnapped to force them to become bombers. In Iraq and Syria, activists say ISIS took in children from towns it captures or recruited families to its territory, and indoctrinated their children in its schools and camps.

The boy having an explosives belt cut off of him (Photo: Reuters)

ISIS in particular, highlights its child recruits for its "Cubs of the Caliphate" brigades, publishing images and videos on social media of children receiving training and indoctrination, and carrying out bombings or executions.

"Child recruitment across the region is increasing," said Juliette Touma, a UNICEF regional spokesperson. "Children are taking a much more active role ..., receiving training on the use of heavy weapons, manning checkpoints on the front lines, being used as snipers and in extreme cases being used as suicide bombers."

Little has been publicly released about the attacker in the Gaziantep bombing. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that the bomber was between 12 to 14 years old, and said ISIS was probably responsible.

The blast tore into celebrations at a Kurdish wedding on the street late at night. As many as 22 of the dead were under the age of 14. No one claimed the attack, but ISIS in the past has targeted Kurdish gatherings to stir ethnic tensions.

Mourners after wedding attack (Photo: EPA)

Turkey's prime minister was more cautious on Monday, saying it was too early to say who carried out the attack, though security sources say witnesses reported the bomber was a child.

Turkish authorities are also investigating whether militants may have placed the explosives on the suspect, without his or her knowledge before detonating them long distance.

That tactic has been used before in Iraq, where children or even mentally disadvantaged adults have been dispatched as unwitting bomb couriers into markets and checkpoints before they are blown up from afar.

Aftermath of wedding attack (Photo: AP)

Teenage recruits

In the failed attack in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk a day later, local television images and photographs showed the boy crying and screaming as he was grabbed by Iraqi security forces near an interior ministry building.

Security officials said the boy is 16 years old, though local media reports said he was much younger. He is an Iraqi national from Mosul, the largest urban center still under militant control, which Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by US air strikes are moving to liberate.

Hisham al-Hashimi, an analyst and author who advises the Iraqi government on ISIS, says militants this year had reactivated their Heaven's Youth Brigade, in reaction to the group's battlefield losses in Iraq and Syria.

"Teenagers are easier to recruit for suicide missions, especially in moments of suffering or despair having lost loved ones," he said. "They also attract less attention and less suspicion than male adults."

Child recruits who have escaped from ISIS ranks in its base in Syria's Raqaa have described how they were taught to handle weapons, and also how to detonate suicide belts.

A study in February for Combating Terrorism Center at West Point military academy that examined ISIS propaganda on child and youth 'martyrs' between January 2015 and 2016, found three times as many suicide operations involving children over the year.

Funeral for victim of wedding attack (Photo: AFP)

"They represent an effective form of psychological warfareto project strength, pierce defenses, and strike fear into enemy soldiers' hearts," the study said. "ISIS is mobilizing children and youth at an alarming rate."

Those tactics are mirrored in West Africa where UN officials have tracked a rise in attacks like the one carried out by a girl as young as ten who last year exploded a bomb in a busy market place in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing 16 people.

Security sources at the time said the explosive device was wrapped around her body.

In an April report, UNICEF said attacks involving child suicide bombers between 2014 and this year rose four-fold in northeastern Nigeria, where militant group Boko Haram is based, and neighboring Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

A 12-year-old Nigerian girl captured with explosives in Cameroon in March told police she had been abducted by Boko Haram after the group overran her village a year earlier.

According to the UNICEF report, nearly two thirds of all the child attackers they tracked were girls. In the first six months of this year alone, UNICEF says it has also noted 38 child suicide bombers in West Africa.

"This is one of the defining features of this conflict," said Thierry Delvigne-Jean of the agency's west and central Africa office.
ISTANBUL - Turkey's military returned fire at Islamic State targets in northern Syria on Tuesday, after two mortar shells from Syria hit a Turkish border town, broadcaster NTV said, citing the military.

The military fired 40 shells at four Islamic State targets in Syria, NTV said.

The two mortar shells, which hit the town of Karkamis but did not cause casualties, were apparently fired during clashes between Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency said.
The Qatar-based Al Jazeera aired on Monday a photo that purports to show two Palestinians allegedly kidnapped by Egypt in the Sinai a year ago, in what could further deteriorate the relations between Hamas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's regime.

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The photo was taken from afar reportedly at a security facility in Cairo. It purports to show two of four Palestinians allegedly captured, one bald-headed and the other bearded, both appearing half naked.

According to the Palestinians, armed men kidnapped the Gazans from the bus they were on after having crossed the Rafah border crossing.

Al Jazeera airs photo purporting to show 2 of the kidnapped

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There have been many versions concerning the identity of the four, including that they were Hamas men belonging to the organization's military wing.

Hamas placed the responsibility for the well-being of the four on the Egyptians.

A day after the mysterious abduction, security officials in Cairo claimed ISIS was behind it, while ISIS's branch in the Sinai Peninsula has so far made no mention of them in its many statements.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, family members of the abducted Palestinians claimed they recognized their son in the photo.

"The moment my sister saw the photo, she was in shock. It's him, based on the way he sits," one relative said.

The photo purporting to show 2 of the kidnapped Gazans

Other family members, including one of the younger children, claimed to have identified one of the abductees in the photo as well.

Hamas official Salah Bardawil, who spoke live from the home of one of the kidnapped men in Gaza, claimed that based on their answers to inquiries on the matter, it is impossible to ascertain whether the Egyptians want anything in return for information about the fate of the four.

"From the moment they were kidnapped, all evidence pointed to the fact there is no way the Egyptian Military had nothing to do with their abduction," he said.

"At first, the Egyptians said it was possible Israel or foreigners kidnapped them. That's not possible. Such statements are an insult to Egypt, and we won't let this matter rest," he added.

Bardawil noted that when Israel kidnapped Palestinian engineer Dirar Abu Seesi from Ukraine to later indict him for aiding Hamas, it still revealed what happened to him.

In recent months, the families of the kidnapped Palestinians held quite a few protests in the Gaza Strip and mounted campaigns on social media calling on Egyptian authorities to help bring to the release of the four.

A security official in Egypt's Interior Ministry rejected Al Jazeera's claims regarding the detainment of "several individuals" at a security facility in Cairo, saying the facility is no longer located in that area of Cairo and has been relocated elsewhere in the Egyptian capital.

The Qatari TV network Al Jazeera, known for its close ties with Hamas and its biased coverage of al-Sisi's regime in Egypt, has had exposes in the past thanks to Gaza terror organization and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Despite claims by the channel it received the photo from the kidnapped men's families, Hamas is suspected of being involved in the matter.
Monday's rocket fire from Gaza and the Israeli response have lead to some people being concerned about the possibility of an escalation into another violent conflict, as happened with 2014's Operation Protective Edge. There is, of course, no need for that to happen, as long as we operate in accordance with Israel's real interests.

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Israel's interests in Gaza are only security-related, and they can be divided into two parts: First, we want there to be no Gazan fire towards Israel. Second, we want the military strength of Gazan forces to be weakened.

Israel doesn't have any territorial, economic, or political interests in Gaza. And what of Hamas's interests? Well, the main two are achieving international legitimacy for its rule, and through that building the Gazan economy and infrastructure. The conflict of interests between Israel and Hamas is therefore not as absolute as one might imagine. This means that a mutually satisfactory reality could be created.

Gaza, after an IDF strike. A lack of Deterrence is not the problem. (Photo: AFP)

Such a reality can be brought about by using two means: On one hand, severely responding to any fire against us, thus preserving deterrence; and on the other hand, helping Hamas, or at least not hinder its efforts to, achieve some of its important goals. Israel tends to err on that second point.

For example, a few weeks ago, Israel protested to the United Nations about UN aid organizations giving funds to Hamas, as opposed to providing them directly to Gaza residents. This attitude is problematic, since Israel can't go on claiming that Hamas is responsible for any rocket fire emanating from Gazaregardless of who the actual perpetrators areand then turn around and pretend Hamas leaders are not the leadersand perhaps even the legitimate leadersof Gaza.

We should go even further: For the past ten years, Gaza has been a de facto independent state. It has clearly defined borders, a government, a foreign policy, and its own military. These are signs of statehood. True, it's an enemy state ruled by bad people, but not only is this a reality with which we must live, it is in fact the least bad reality available to us.

Facing this enemy, we can create a modus vivendi that would allow us to preserve our interestsprolonged quiet being chief among themand give the other side good reasons to keep calm as well.

Hamas. Israel can use this enemy's interests to serve its own. (Photo: AP)

The conflict that was Protective Edge did not occur because Israeli deterrence was warn down, but because Israel only used " sticks ", neglecting to offer Hamas and "carrots." More specifically, the carrot that was Hamas members' salaries was taken away. In their hour of need, Hamas took what it saw as the only available course of action: Firing rockets.

Apparently, the lessons were learned. Israel agreed that an international committee would convene one month after the ceasefire, dealing with the recovery of Gaza, but it also insisted that the committee would be led by Egypt and that the funds for Gaza's recovery be given to the Palestinian Authority. We thus agreed to let the two local actors most uninterested in Gaza's recovery handle the process.

If Israel does not encourage international aid to Gaza, with Hamas' government being in the loop, we may experience another armed conflict. This one, like the last, will not come about due to a lack of deterrencebut due to the lack of its necessary companion: positive incentives.
A month after an open letter of support, signed by 300 rabbis, was released in support of Rabbi Yigal Levinstein following his infamous "perverts" speech, the Ministry of Religious Services has expressed its support for those rabbis who fall under the ministry's purview.

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In response to the demand of Israel Hofsheet  Be Free Israel to hold hearings for rabbis who are connected with the ministry that signed the letter, which include chief rabbis of cities and neighborhoods who all receive salaries, the director general of the Ministry of Religious Services, Oded Plus, replied to the organization that he supported the rabbis.

Rabbi Yigal Levinstein

He wrote, "Rabbis are required to present so-called 'Torah opinions' or 'viewpoints of Jewish law,' even on sensitive topics, and even then they must speak and express an opinion in a proper and respectful way, unless they think that must state something unequivocally that leaves no room for doubt."

The executive director of Israel Hofsheet, Mickey Gitzin, said in an interview with Ynet, "Rabbi Levinstein's statements were serious, but the ministry's director general's statements are many times more serious. He explained that the letter implies that "Rabbi Levinstein's statements are our ministry's policy." Gitzin claimed, "The Ministry for Religious Services is saying here that rabbis are above the law, and not for the first time, and this is very dangerous."

Gitzin said that Plus's letter further implies that "every rabbi is allowed to say anything that he wants, and it doesn't matter whom he hurtsWe need to remember that in the case of these rabbis, they're civil servants; they're functionaries."

He clarified, "There's a difference between rabbis who aren't civil servants, who aren't functionaries that receive their salary from a government ministry, and people who are. Just like we wouldn't permit a branch head in the Ministry of Education or Culture to do this, we can't allow rabbis to."

Contacted for comment, the Ministry of Religious Services replied, "The director general of the ministry stands behind the content of his letter."
Paris  Islamist attacks, strikes and floods kept foreign tourists away from the French capital in the first half of the year and cost the Paris region tourism industry some 750 million in lost revenue, officials said on Tuesday.

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"It's time to realize that the tourism sector is going through an industrial disaster. This is no longer the time for communication campaigns but to set up a relief plan," Frederic Valletoux, head of the Paris region tourist board said in a statement on Tuesday.

Nice following the attack (Photo: AFP)

Valletoux said massive investments were needed to protect jobs in the sector and he urged Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to quickly meet with local tourism officials.

About 500,000 people in Ile-de-France have jobs linked to tourism, making it the biggest industry in the region.

France, which is seeking to revive its economy, depends heavily on tourism, which generates over 7 percent of national gross domestic product and over 13 percent of that of the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, the world's most visited city.

France's tourism industry has suffered since ISIS gunmen killed 130 people in an attack in Paris last year. It was dealt further blows in July when a gunman drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on July 14 in the Riviera city of Nice. Two weeks later, two men killed a priest in a small town in Normandy. Strikes against a controversial labor reform and floods in June also deterred tourists.

Scene from Nice attack

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Nightly hotel stays were down 8.5 percent in the Paris-Ile de-France region in the first half, with an 11.5 percent decline for foreign tourists and a 4.8 percent drop for French tourists.

Japanese visitors were down 46.2 percent in the first half compared with the same period in 2015, while Russians were down 35 percent, Chinese down 19.6 percent, and Americans down 5.7 percent, the Paris region tourist board statement said.

France is the most-visited country in the world, with almost 85 million foreigners last year, including 16 million in Paris.

Weak activity in France contributed to a fall in first-half operating profit for French group AccorHotels. Air France-KLM has said it expects its unit revenues to decline in July and August, partly due to the situation in France.
Many archaeological artifacts, some dating back 3,500 years, were discovered in the sea near an Israeli power plant by an employee over the span of decades. Family members of the employee, the late Marcel Mazliah, have now presented the ancient finds to Israeli officials, who say they were surprised by what they found.

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"The finds include a toggle pin and the head of a knife from the Middle Bronze Age, more than 3,500 years ago," said Ayala Lester, a curator with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). "Other items include two mortars, two pestles, and fragments of candlesticks, all dating back to the time of the Fatimid Caliphate around the eleventh century CE."

The artifacts also included grenade-like ceramic pieces commonly found in Israel during the Crusader, Ayyubid, and Mamluk periods.

Finds retrieved from the sea (Photo: Diego Barkan, Israel Antiquities Authority)

The objects, most of which are decorated, are believed to have fallen overboard from a metal merchant's ship in the Early Islamic period.

"The items were apparently manufactured in Syria and brought to Israel," Lester speculated. "They are evidence of the metal trade that had taken place during that period."

The discovery of the nature of the items started when members of the Mazliah family from the city of Givatayim, near Tel Aviv, contacted an IAA representative following the death of Marcel, who had numerous metal artifacts in his possession.

3,500-year-old toggle pin and knife head (Photo: Diego Barkan, Israel Antiquities Authority)

The family invited the official to examine the artifacts and explained that Marcel had been employed at the Hadera power station since its establishment and had retrieved the items from the sea while working there.

The IAA said in a statement that it would present the Mazliah family with a certificate of appreciation in the coming days. The IAA has also invited them to tour its laboratories, where the finds are to undergo treatment and conservation.

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev also praised the family for handing over the artifacts. She called on all Israelis to display good citizenship and to return treasures and antiquities that have historic and archaeological value.

Article reprinted with permission from TPS
Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman addressed the threat from Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning while in the north of the country.

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"It's impossible to expect the State of Israel to allow them to arm themselves, to steal money from the Gazans. They collect taxes and don't construct buildings with them, but tunnels," said the minister.

Addressing journalists, he commented, "You know my opinions, and I don't need to add anything new. What you need to understand is that my approach is rebuilding in exchange for demilitarization. That's the formula. They know that if a crisis happens, Israel will solve the problem for them, the UN will solve (the problem), the European Union. They aren't interested in solving the crisis, but in building strength."

Avigdor Lieberman addressing Education Corps soldiers in the Galilee (Photo: Ministry of Defense)

Lieberman was visiting the Education Corp's training base, Havat HaShomer, in the Galilee. He was joined by Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan and Chief Education Officer Brig. Gen. Avner Paz-Tzuk.

The minister spoke at length about educating IDF soldiers. He stressed that nothing has changed in the IDF's central roles in protecting the homeland and serving as a melting pot: "Nobody has cancelled the order to be a melting pot. No multiculturalism. We've seen the result of multiculturalism in Belgium

Avigdor Lieberman addressing the press

The condition for the existence of the Jewish people and the State of Israel is an army of the people. We won't lend any help to ideas like multiculturalism and a professional army. The IDF must remain at maximal consensus. There were disagreements about my approach and my perception, and I was shocked to see the IDF deal with controversial things. I'm talking about infiltrators

"First of all, they came here illegally, and this is the most controversial topic in Israeli society, and it's not possible that it's what the IDF is dealing with. The IDF must remain the army of the people, and the draft for all is the basis of the army of the people."

Regarding the Education Corps, Lieberman pointed out that next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War. He said, "That was the State of Israel's most beautiful moment, and it's worthy of a significant expression in the education program. Suddenly, when people talk about the Six-Day War, they talk about Mahmoud Darwish and not about the victories and the liberation of the Western Wall."
LAGOS - Nigeria's military said Tuesday it believes an airstrike has "fatally wounded" Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, but there was no way to confirm yet another claim of the death of Nigeria's Islamic extremist leader.

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A statement does not say how the military got the information but identifies other commanders as "confirmed dead" in an air raid on Friday.

Nigerian security forces have at least three times in the past declared that they have killed or fatally wounded Shekau, only to have him resurface in video and audio recordings. The military has said in the past that Boko Haram was using look-alike fighters to impersonate the supposedly dead leader.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (Photo: AFP)

"Those Boko Haram terrorist commanders confirmed dead include Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, amongst others. While their leader, so-called 'Abubakar Shekau', is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders. Several other terrorists were also wounded," he said.

The statement comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, with President Muhammadu Buhari, on a visit to discuss Islamic extremism and regional security. Kerry, speaking Tuesday morning in northern Sokoto city, made no reference to the army's report.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (Photo: AFP)

Shekau started the uprising in 2009 that has killed 20,000 people, driven more than 2.2 million from their homes, and spread across Nigeria's borders. It has been marked by deadly attacks and suicide bombings at schools, mosques and marketplaces and mass abductions including nearly 300 schoolgirls taken from a remote school in northeastern Chibok town in April 2014. Dozens escaped but 218 remain missing.

A video showing dozens of the girls last Sunday said Shekau is willing to negotiate a prisoner swap for detained Boko Haram commanders. President Buhari is under increasing pressure to rescue or negotiate the girls' release, but his spokesman has said officials are wary since previous negotiations failed because officials were duped into talks with the wrong people.

Boko Haram appears to be fractured by a leadership struggle as the Islamic State group announced it had a new leader . Shekau has insisted he is still in charge. He had pledged the group's allegiance to the Islamic State group last yeargiving ISIS its first franchise in sub-Saharan Africa.

Boko Haramwhich means "Western education is forbidden"resurfaced as a deadly force under Shekau, who took over after a military raid on the group's compound in Maiduguri, the biggest city in the northeast, killed some 700 people and captured leader Mohammed Yusuf was assassinated in police custody.
A huge party thrown for the Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to the US in September to celebrate the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashana, has raised the eyebrows of many workers in the Israeli Foreign Ministry

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They claim that the ministry approved an event which amounts to a total cost of $25,000 during a time when, much to their dismay, the ministry has suffered significant budget cuts which have affected their ability to functions effectively.

While officials in the ministry maintained that it was acceptable practice to throw parties for Rosh Hashana, they said that there has never been an occasion of such proportions. The total expenditure on this one event, they contended, equalled that required for Israels Independence Day celebrationsa time when it is more acceptable to prepare such an expensive party which attracts many more participants.

The requests made for Dermers party included $13,000 on catering alone, $9,000 for a marquee tent and $1,000 for alcohol, balloons and music. Dermer invited senior officials in the American government to the party, along with Jewish community representatives and others.

Prime Minister Netanyahu with Ron Dermer (Archive:GPO)

Despite what appears to be frivolous spending and critics saying that it constituted a gross mishandling of financial resources, the party was approved. No justification, said some workers, could be provided for such an extravagant event amid budget cuts.

There are diplomats in North America and other places who dont finish the month by pouring out money without thinking, complained one of the Israeli officials outside Israel. Why couldnt a more modest event be organized with refreshments, music and the raising of glasses like they do in the White House? It is ok to throw a large party in Independence Day, but why do another one on Rosh Hashana?

Another official added, At $25,000 it would have been possible to pay for a celebratory meal for hundreds of poor people. Diplomats outside of Israel are living in the minus and here they are throwing away money without thinking.

The Foreign Ministry responded to the complaints: A Rosh Hashana party is one of the two flagship events which have taken place for many years in the Israeli consulate in Washington. The budget for the event was approved as part of an annual program in advance and its costs were similar to those approved for the three previous years, the ministry claimed.

The budget for the previous period was even lower due to the fact that the previous ambassadors home was significantly larger than now and there was no need to construct such a large marquee to fit the huge number of guests.
Kosovo police ssid that the public broadcaster's building has been attacked with a hand grenade that caused material damage. The police's Tuesday statement said the grenade was thrown at the yard of the Kosovo Radio and Television headquarters in the capital, Pristina last night. No one was injured in the attack.

The attack has been condemned by the government, all political parties and the international community as an attack against freedom of speech.

The blast comes amid political tensions over a border demarcation deal with Montenegro and a separate agreement with Serbia that gives more powers to ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.
Nablus, the second largest city in the West Bank, was gripped by violent protests on Tuesday after the death of a Palestinian detainee shortly after he was seized by Palestinian security forces.

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Hundreds of protesters, some throwing stones, marched through the city to denounce the death of Ahmed Halawa, who was seized during a police raid that followed the death of two police officers last week.

"Security forces detained Ahmed Izz Halawa during a complicated and delicate security operation in Nablus," Adnan Al Dmairi, the spokesman for the Palestinian Authority's security services, said in a statement.

Palestinian security forces stand guard as riots take place in Nablus (Photo: AFP)

Halawa was killed after he was taken to Juneid prison in Nablus, he said, although the exact circumstances of his death were not clear. Akram Al-Rjoub, the governor of Nablus, said Halawa was beaten to death by members of the security forces.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah promised a full investigation, describing the incident as "rare".

Halawa was a senior member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militant group linked to the Fatah party.

In some cases militants have become involved in criminal activity on which the Palestinian security forces have been cracking down, the Palestinian government said.

Last week, security forces carried out a raid in Nablus targeting a criminal group suspected of harbouring weapons. Two suspects were killed, one of them a relative of Halawa's, and two officers were shot dead.

Rjoub said Ahmed Halawa was "the mastermind" behind the shooting of the officers.
The statement is further evidence to the normalizing of Israel's relations with Turkey, which was severely damaged when in 2010, the Marmara flotilla left Turkey heading for Gaza, bringing on a violent clash between the flotilla's protestors and the IDF soldiers sent to halt its progress. The incident, which resulted in the deaths of several Turkish citizens, quickly escalated into extreme diplomatic animosity, with Turkey expelling the Israeli ambassador in response.

Earlier this year, a reconciliation agreement between the two countries had been reached. The agreement included a transfer of $20 million to Turkey and Turkey withdrawing its demand for Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza.

So far, neither Israel nor Turkey has announced the identity of the new ambassadors.
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Despite ongoing tensions which reached their highest level since the signing of the Israel-Turkey reconciliation deal, Turkeys foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced Tuesday that the two sides plan to appoint ambassadors in the next few days.

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The statement was made days after the deal was officially ratified by the Turkish parliament at the end of last week, signalling an official conclusion of the state of belligerency that had existed between the two nations since the Mavi Marmara disembarked from Turkey in 2010 in an attempt to breach Israel's security blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Turkish Presiden Erdogan (Photo: AP)

The announcement also serves to reduce tensions which ensued over the past few days when Turkey heaped public criticism on Israel in the wake of its retaliatory strikes in Gaza after rockets were launched into its territory.

The normalization of relations with Israel does not mean that we have to remain silent about attacks against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the statement read. On the contrary, we will continue to defend the Palestinian issue in the face of Israeli actions which violate international law and are contrary to basic human morality.

With the already fragile diplomatic relations being rocked further, Israel issued its own official response, causing concern about the future of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"The normalization of our relations with Turkey does not mean that we will remain silent in the face of its baseless condemnations," said a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry. "Israel will continue to defend its civilians from all rocket fire on our territory, in accordance with international law and our conscience. Turkey should think twice before criticizing the military actions of others."

Subsequent to Israel's original response other senior officials were quoted as saying: "We have clarified for Turkey that we will not allow them to lash out at us. Overall the reconciliation with Turkey will continue as usual and will not slow down. There is no need to become excited over the damning criticism by Turkey. We never though Erdogan would become a Zionist overnight. Obviously he has to pay lip service to his Hamas allies. By the same token, we are not suckers and we wont ignore the baseless condemnation of the legitimate attacks on Gaza.
Yemen's Transportation Ministry says 7,600 Yemenis are unable to return home after a Saudi-led military coalition ordered the closure of the international airport amid stepped-up airstrikes against Shiite Houthi rebels. The rebel-controlled ministry said Tuesday that many were receiving medical treatment abroad and in neighboring Arab countries.

The Saudi-led coalition grounded flights into and out of the rebel-held capital earlier this month, as it launched a wave of airstrikes following the breakdown of peace talks. The coalition launched a military campaign in support of Yemen's internationally recognized government back in March 2015.
The Nazareth Magistrate court extended the arrest of Walid Yasin from the Arab city of Tamra, under suspicion that he had stabbed his wife Amna Yasin to death on Tuesday. The mother of two who was also nine months pregnant with her third child, Yasin's body was found in the early morning hours with numerous stab wounds.

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Samah Salaime, who heads a project aiming to fight the violence in the Arab community under the Sikkuy Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality, was adamant about the injustice of such repeated cases. "Violent men are not made to pay (for their actions). This is unquestionably an act of terror," she told Ynet.

The victim, Amna Yasin

"In addition to Amna being the mother of two, she was also nine months pregnant," continued Salaime. "As far as we're concerned, this is a double homicide, and that's horrible. A week ago there was another double homicide, in Lod. It's become normal for two masked individuals to take someone out from a car."

Trying to make sense of the horrifying statistics, Salaime said, "I think this is due to a proliferation of illegal firearms within in the Arab community and the helplessness of the police. Most of the murders that take place in the Arab community remain unsolved." As Salaime points out, "This means that there are criminals running loose and innocent people paying the price."

Since the beginning of 2016, 40 members of the Arab community have been murdered. Five of them have been women, all of whom were from the north.

In the case of Amna Yasin, there was a recorded history of domestic violence. "She should have had the support of the authorities," said Salaime. "She should have been removed from under her violent husband's roof and he should have paid the price. But violent men are not held accountable."

Salaime said that while the crime in the Arab community is not any one person's fault, "The situation doesn't bode well. Crime is on the rise, and as Arab citizens we feel that our security is less important to the state, so that our lives are run by criminals, by the people holding weapons."

According to Salaime, more than ten Arab women are killed in Israel each year. "Last year was especially hard, with 15 such cases. We're now at the end of August, so sadly I expect the current tally to rise."

Walid's brother, Khaled Yasin, expressed personal doubts as to what had actually happened. "This morning, when we entered the house, we saw the wife lying on the floor, still breathing, with a knife lunged in her chest. The main suspect is my brother, but there is still a chance she did it to herself. Right now, there's nothing to verify that he murdered her. It's best to wait for the investigation to finish. I'm sure things will look different in the end."

"We knew the couple was having problems," Khaled Yasin continued. "And while my brother does suffer from a mental illness, he isn't violent. It's true that in the past she had complained about him beating her, but I don't believe he did that, although at the time he was arrested for eight months. When the police came today, I told them he needs serious therapy. I don't know if they'll take this under consideration. I hope he didn't stab his wife, and that he will be released soon."
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This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

We hope you are equally as excited as us.

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Buying an ideal investment property doesn't do you any good if you don't have the best possible tenants staying there.

Securing the right tenant for your investment property is as important as finding the best housing assets to invest in  to thrive in the property investment scene, pairing an attractive home with a competitive and credible tenant will do wonders to help you achieve your investment goals.

There are five aspects of screening prospective tenants that every landlord should go through before agreeing to rent out a property.

Getting to know your potential tenants

The most important thing to do first is to get a clear understanding of the type of tenant you are hoping to do business with. Is your rental property targeted to small families? Maybe you are catering towards students? Or perhaps you're focused on leasing to young professionals.

Make a list of your perfect tenant's characteristics, and be sure to consider the source of income. Do they have stable employment? What are their means to pay the rent?

It will also be beneficial for you to personally screen and interview potential tenants. Talking to them will help you get a sense of how they interact with others, as well as insights into their attitude and personality. You can do a simple background check using social media, or you can ask them for character and professional references (there's nothing to stop you from doing both, of course). There is also the option to verify their names with a tenancy database to make sure there are no red flags.

Dressing (the property) to impress

To gain the attention of high-quality tenants, you must make sure the property is in its best shape.

Spend an ample amount of time inspecting your property. Take a look at the kitchen cupboards and make sure the cabinet doors are in crisp condition. If your budget permits, you can also invest in new appliances. The kitchen is one of the most frequented rooms in the house, so it makes sense to ensure that everything inside is functional and visually in good shape.

It is also important to pay the bathroom a visit to see if there is a problem with the pipework. Does the room need new tiles? Is it practical to invest in a new toilet seat? How about attaching new vanity mirrors?

Additionally, you can check the lighting of every room and consider replacing the bulbs with new energy efficient ones: they will be cheaper for your renters and brighten the interior of your house. A new paint job or fresh wallpaper can also give an instant makeover  just make sure to select muted and neutral colours, as these will suit most tenants.

Showing off the property's best assets

Another way to get people to talk about your property is to use several platforms to reach potential tenants. Listing sites, online ads, and social media sites are some of the avenues you can use to market your property, but only if you utilise them effectively. The key: be as creative as you can.

The general rule in advertising your property is that you cannot offer what you do not have. In this case, you should never make false promises and claims about the property. Beyond just being misleading, this can lead to fines or even earn you a trip to jail. Be as genuine as you can in making your advertisement, and you will go a long way toward earning the trust of your likely tenants.

Do not forget to include striking photos in your advertisements. It pays to learn how to effectively take photos  even if all you have is a mobile phone  to achieve decent yet vibrant-looking photos.

Put yourself in the shoes of the potential tenant: What will make you the most satisfied with the property you are advertising? What are the most important things you are looking for?

If the property is geared towards families with school-aged children, it would be better to highlight the house's proximity to schools, playgrounds, and other essential areas of interest relevant to these children.

If the target market are young professionals, put the spotlight on the spacious rooms which can offer ample opportunity for privacy and relaxation after a day's work. In other words, you'll want to tailor-fit to your ideal audience.

Hitting the right price

When deciding on the price tag to put on your property, carefully examine rates of similar houses in the area. While you want your rental rates to be competitive in order to maximise your return, you don't want to overcharge, as this could result in tenants coming and going because of costs.

If you find your ideal tenant, it may be worth approaching them with the opportunity to negotiate on the price to see if you can find a win-win situation.

Leaving your doors open

When putting your property up for viewing, it is important to consider that some (if not all) of your preferred tenants are working a regular 9-5 job. You should be prepared to take inquiries and viewing request out of regular business hours and even on weekends.

When looking for the right tenant, it's important not to be rigid with your process. This kind of arrangement is a two-way street, and you should be someone tenants could easily reach out to in the event of emergencies about the property.

At the end of the day, you want someone you can trust to take care of the property and keep it in great shape for their entire tenancy. If you establish yourself as a credible and effective landlord, you do not need to spend much effort to attract potential tenants for your future property investments.
Living Section

New York - Do you ever wonder why one person can be so drawn to another? Why is it that certain people have the ability to make others feel good? The answer is surprising. Wall Street Journal best-selling author, Dr. Rich "The Smile Dr." Castellano shows the secret to happiness is through non-verbal communication, with the release of his latest book, "The Smile Prescription," out August 8th.

Told through a first person narrative, "The Smile Prescription" takes readers on Dr. Castellano's journey to understand the unexpected and dramatic impact our non-verbal communication has on everyone we meet. From wacky Harvard research studies, to daily observations at his plastic surgery practice, Castellano proves that facial behaviors influence and reveal the wiring of the brain. As a facial analysis expert, Castellano has analyzed hundreds of thousands of faces, which allows him to provide a user-friendly and fun guide showing how facial expressions can be used as a tool to dramatically improve quality of life.

"Smiling and humor stimulate reward centers in our brain and it can radically change the way you think, live your live and interact with other people," says Castellano, who is on a crusade to make the world a happier place one face at a time. Cultivating your authentic smile will change the way you perceive the world and how the world perceives you.
Living Section

San Luis, Arizona - Need help preparing for the Citizenship exam? On Tuesday, September 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th, the San Luis Library will host Clase de ciudadania (Citizenship Class) at 5:00 p.m. Review test subjects, learn interview tips, and more. Instruction will be provided in English and Spanish.

There is no charge to attend; however, space is limited and registration is required. For more information, and to register, call Monica Colorado at (928) 627-8344.



The San Luis Library is located at 1075 N 6th Avenue in San Luis, Arizona.
Spanish News

San Luis, Arizona - Cafe Literario (Literary Cafe) is held every Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. at the San Luis Library. Meet with members of your community and enjoy coffee, tea, and lively conversation! The group will read popular Spanish books and discuss books, authors, and more.

There is no charge to attend.



Please note, discussion will be in Spanish.



The San Luis Library is located at 1075 N 6th Avenue in San Luis, Arizona. For more information, call (928) 627-8344.
My sole motivation behind letting myself into that abominable prison house called school was the little white stick that my mother allowed me to grab and lick after the classes were over. I used to look with wishful eyes the attractive white box of ice cream walla who also had other varieties-the red tangy one that came in twenty five paisa, the slightly yellow one that came in fifty paisa and the expensive white creamy one that came in full one rupee. My mother had warned me against eating the orange one as she said it contained worms that came out if you sprinkled salt on it! So my childhood remained deprived of that one single taste that so often contented the appetite of my not-so-affluent friends. <BR><BR> When I went to college I read about globalisation, about the invasion of markets by foreign goods and of absolute wiping out of the local economy by organized production houses. But I could not understand these things till one day while crossing from near my school my eyes failed to spot that old ice cream walla whose presence had become such an inseparable part of the entire set up. It came as a rude shock to me that his place was now taken by three four colourful wheeled vans endorsing attractive logos and pictures of branded ice cream. <BR><BR> That changes are always for better or worse is like putting an emotion into plain black and white. I may have in my own personal way some attachment with the white stick ice cream or with the more expensive soapy, frothy softie of my school days but the accessibility, taste and variety that the present day ice cream industry is offering is no doubt incomparable. <BR><BR> Who would have thought barely a decade ago of eating ice creams made of real fresh fruits- a la Gelato Vittorio or a cool creamy liquid fried in hot boiling oil or what is called today the fried ice cream. <BR><BR> In India the ice cream industry took sometimes to catch the global cue because the country has an indigenous rich and well developed dessert market. What ice cream would stand in competition against Indian sweets? But no you cant say so just because you are born in the land of Kulfi. You will have the authority only when you taste Baked Alaska (an ice-cream sponge cake dish topped with meringue), Arctic roll (British dessert made of vanilla and flour), Adzuki (Japanese red bean ice cream) and Dondruma( a Turkish ice made of salep and mastic resin). <BR><BR> We Indians who generally go gaga over a handful of varieties that Baskin Robbins offers are unaware of the fact that the company actually makes 1000 flavours! What we get in India generally as branded ice cream is nothing but milk and corn flour seasoned with a few chemicals and packed in attractive cones, cups and cornettos. Our knowledge of Ice cream is so poor that we do not even know what cornetto is! Most of us think it is the name of an ice cream that Kwality offers. Update your dictionary- it is actually the registered name of an improved variety of waffle cone that does not become soggy and that was invented and patented by an Italian firm called Spica in 1960! <BR><BR> The world offers so much in shape of that delicate, cool, tender delight called ice cream that I being a lover of it feel choked with emotion at my own minisculeness and misfortune of not having tasted even a fraction of that tremendous, rich and inexhaustible treasure. What is thy life O mortal, my heart cries out, if thou hast not known the glories of the Australian Giant Sandwich Monster, the Manoco Bar, the Irish Scottish Sliders, the Argentine Helado, the Greek Kimaki and the Japanese Macha! <BR><BR> Sometimes I wonder whether there is an intricate connection between the survival of a race and its appetite for ice cream! Otherwise why would the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese and the Persians survive the ravages of time and the Glorious Harappan civilization fade into oblivion? And let us be pragmatic and not blame some harmless ecology or innocent river for their decline. The reason I am sure was hidden in their food habits-they having failed to secure the divine blessings of the Gods. Yes, thats precisely what the ancient Greeks called ice cream! Imagine what foodies they must have been that nearly 4000 years ago they got for themselves ice houses constructed at the banks of Euphrates and as early as 5th century BC they began its marketing by selling ice cones mixed with fruit and honey. A honey flavoured cornetto.! <BR><BR> Roman emperor Nero (62 AD) was fond of fruit ice cream and hence sent his servants to fetch ice from mountains! The Falooda that we eat today is actually a Persian dish Faloodeh made from starch and has its origin around 400BC. The Chinese who claim to be the pioneers in almost everything -be it the first currency notes, the first stint with silk or the first to flood the markets of neighbours with cheap plastic goods-were not far behind in making ice cream too. They are credited to have invented a device that made quick ice using salt peter (no, it was not imported from Bihar, China had enough of it). <BR><BR> The unfortunate Charles I whom the world knows as an autocrat, a despot, a tyrant, an enemy of democracy and parliament was also a lover of ice cream! It is said that he made his chef keep the formula a secret so that it remained a royal prerogative. <BR><BR> Our great Mughals, we should not forget were the die hard lovers of food and all that is rich and luxurious in the modern Indian cuisine has a Mughal origin. So they too loved ice cream and they too enjoyed it in royal feasts and ceremonies. When they could get choicest fruits from Farghana and Samarquand and the best wines from Persia, why couldnt they send relays of horsemen to bring ice from Hindukush for their aromatic fruit sherbets? <BR><BR> But were sending horsemen to run and fetch ice or storing ice in underground icehouses near rivers, the only way of making ice creams in those days? Sadly, yes. And thats why the common man remained deprived of and unknown to its delectable taste. But lets thank Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia who first got the patent for a small hand run ice cream freezer. Gradually with the coming of electricity there also came a revolution in ice cream making. Thereafter Giant corporates like Howard Johnson, Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins, Gelato Vittorio, Ben and Jerrys, Haagen Dazs and Carvel changed the concept of ice cream in the world. Soft serves, Sundaes and super premiums began to be offered by shops next door. <BR><BR> Thanks to globalisation, the world has really become a small place to live in. Today I can access any ice cream from the world over in my local confectionary shop. but among the confused tastes of multitudinous flavours I some how always try to find that one singular taste of the white stick ice-cream which trickled through my fingers and ran into my nursery uniformspoiling it but leaving an imprint on my memory which has failed to faint in all these years.
SLOW DOWN ON THE JUNK

SLOW DOWN ON THE JUNK Research shows that eating too many high-fat-foods contributes to high blood-cholesterol levels, which can cause hardening of the arteries, coronary heart disease and stroke.
Washington: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has demanded appointment of independent special prosecutors to investigate into the alleged wrongdoings of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during her tenure as the US secretary of state.

"The Justice Department is required to appoint an independent special prosecutor because it has proven itself to be a political arm of the White House," Trump, 70, said at an election rally in Ohio yesterday as he ramped up his attack on Clinton, 68, who is currently leading almost all major polls.

Trump alleged that Clinton's actions corrupted and disgraced one of the most important Departments of the government, indeed one of only four established by the US Constitution.

"The Clintons' made the State Department into the same kind of Pay-to-Play operations as the Arkansas Government was: pay the Clinton Foundation huge sums of money and throw in some big speaking fees for Bill Clinton and you got to play with the State Department.

"The amounts involved, the favors done and the significant numbers of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a Special Prosecutor. After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewash of the Clinton email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton's crimes," he said.

Some former prosecutors have even suggested that the coordination between the pay-for-play State Department and the corrupt Clinton Foundation constitute a clear example of a RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organisation) enterprise, Trump claimed.

He alleged that as the secretary of state, Clinton signed off on a deal allowing Russians to take an increased stake in a company called Uranium One, giving up control of about 20 per cent of America's uranium supply to the Russians.

"Clinton's approval of the deal netted the owners of the uranium company millions of dollars. In exchange for signing off on the deal, some of the former owners of Uranium One gave the Clinton Foundation millions of dollars in donations. In addition, Bill Clinton received USD 500,000 for a speech to a Kremlin-backed investment firm that was a beneficiary of the deal," Trump said.
Dhaka: A British national, arrested in connection with the July 1 Gulshan cafe attack here, has been sent to 16-day judicial remand, media here reported on Tuesday.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ahsan Habib gave the order after Hasnat Karim was presented in the court on Monday on completion of his eight-day police remand, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The court fixed August 24 for hearing a bail petition filed by Hasnat, a former North South University teacher.

Humayun Kabir, an inspector of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit and the Investigating Officer, told the court that Hasnat had given important information about the terror attack, which investigators were verifying, and that he should be kept in jail until the investigation is completed.

Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told reporters at his office that police would not seek fresh remand for Hasnat for some time.

"The information we got from Hasnat during his two-term remand is being scrutinised," he said.

The law enforcers will seek remand for him in future, if necessary, Masudur added.

Hasnat was arrested on August 3 in the case linked with the killing of 22 hostages, including 18 foreigners and two policemen, in the terror attack at an upscale cafe in Dhaka.

He was subsequently remanded to eight days' police custody twice.

Police detained another suspect, University of Toronto student Tahmid Hasib Khan, on August 3. Tahmid has not so far been shown as arrested for the attack.
New Delhi: With Pakistan registering five cases, including sedition, against three top Baloch nationalist leaders for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, defence expert Sushant Sareen on Tuesday said they refused to be sold at the hands of Pakistan and continued with their freedom struggle from foreign asylums.

"The leaders who were booked are those whom Pakistan tried to buy (bribed); some of them sold themselves to Pakistan and returned home. Taking their names would not be appropriate, but everybody knows who they are. They have been a part of the government and wanted to be there. However, there are some committed leaders, who have waged a war against Pakistan for their freedom. As Pakistan could not buy them, it has registered fake cases against them, and would now seek their extradition," Sareen told ANI, adding "expect this from Pakistan".

Talking about the nationalist leaders` support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s remarks on Balochistan, he said, "The image of Balochistan - the prevailing situation over there and human rights violations - was very clear to the world, and thus, when Prime Minister Modi talked about human rights` violation there, it was hailed by pro-freedom Baloch leaders."

Sareen said the sections under which the trio was booked exposed Pakistan`s nervousness.

"It also exposes the ground realities; how Pakistanis, who pats on the backs of the Kashmiri separatist leaders even as they are openly supporting terrorism and are free to move and speak to Pakistani leaders. How can one compare Kashmiri separatists with Baloch nationalist leaders, who were forced to leave their houses and to live in exile due to atrocities on them by the Pakistani establishment?"

"In the past 10-12 years, hundreds of thousands of Baloch people went missing; they were kept in torture cells and were killed by the Pakistani military. These are realities, and nothing could be better than exposing these realities to the world," he added.

The Pakistan Police have booked three leaders Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch for supporting the Prime Minister`s statements on Balochistan.

Acting District Police Officer, Muhammad Ashraf Jatak said the cases were registered on the complaints at five police stations in Balochistan`s Khuzdar area.

Baloch leaders were booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address thanked the people of Balochistan, the people of Gilgit, and the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for the goodwill that they had shown towards him.

Baloch leaders thanked the Prime Minister for his statement on Balochistan and requested India to raise the issue of human rights violations and systematic genocide by the Pakistani Army.

Meanwhile, the US has expressed concern over human rights situation in Gilgit-Baltistan and asked all parties in Pakistan to resolve the issues through a valid political process.

When asked about the allegations of large-scale human rights violation in Gilgit-Baltistan, a State Department Spokesperson said that they do have concerns about the human rights situation there and have reported that for several years in their Human Rights Report.

The spokesperson said the US has consistently urged all parties in Pakistan to work out their differences peaceably and through a valid political process.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday briefed China about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir during their bilateral strategic dialogue, in an attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue.

Foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing during his two-day trip, also attended the bilateral strategic dialogue meeting.

The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China was held on Monday in Beijing where Chaudhry led the Pakistani delegation while the Chinese side was headed by assistant minister of foreign affairs for Asian and consular affairs Kong Xuanyou.

Chaudhry apprised his counterpart of the grave humanitarian situation in Kashmir and the ongoing human rights violations.

"He (Chaudhry) expressed the hope that the international community would play its role in calling on India to put an end to blatant human rights violations in the Valley," the foreign office said.

Both sides held detailed discussions on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and China, including the 46 billion dollar

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), economic cooperation, defence, counter-terrorism, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, culture, education and people to people contact.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in all areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Guwahati: The Assam Police have sought the help of their Arunachal Pradesh counterparts to secure the release of Kuldeep Moran, son of a BJP leader, who was abducted by the Paresh Barua-led anti-talk ULFA-Independent on August 1 from that state.

Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay today said, "As soon as we learnt about Kuldeep's abduction in Arunachal Pradesh, we filed a case at Nakhung police station in Changlang district of that state from where he was kidnapped".

"As the incident happened in Arunachal Pradesh, we will have to act only through their police. They are hopeful of securing his release."

"The main focus of the security forces and intelligence agencies is his safe release," he said.

On the ISIS-style video sent by the ULFA-I to TV news channels in which Kuldeep is purportedly shown surrounded by a group of armed masked militants, the DGP said it was the first time that such a video has been received.

"Its authenticity and contents are being investigated," he said about the video in which Kuldeep, son of BJP's Tinsukia Zilla Parishad vice-president Lakheswar Moran, is heard appealing to Assam Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal, his uncle and Sadia BJP MLA Bolin Chetia, and his parents to secure his release from the kidnappers.

In the video, Kuldeep also expressed the fear that his life was in danger as he could be caught in a crossfire between the kidnappers and security forces.

He also said he was being moved from place to place.

Asked if ULFA-I was responsible for the kidnapping as claimed by the insurgent outfit, the DGP said, "It is more or less confirmed."

On reports of ULFA-I's subversive activities increasing in Upper Assam and recruiting of fresh cadre, the state police chief said, "We are alert and are carrying out operations against them. We have zero tolerance to insurgency. We have been tackling them since the last 30 years."

He also informed that an umbrella organisation of ULFA-I, NSCN-K and some Manipur-based militant outfits were mainly active in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Myanmar.

A ransom of Rs one crore has been demanded from his MLA uncle Bolin Chetia and Kuldeep's mother and wife yesterday appealed to the ULFA-I through the media to release him, saying they do not have the finance to make the payment.

Stating that he had received a phone call from the ULFA-I regarding the ransom for his nephew's release, Chetia told reporters today that paying that amount was not possible for him and that he did not endorse the idea of paying ransom money.

Chetia also said that he had apprised the Chief Minister about the kidnapping and the ransom demand and it was for him to take necessary action.

The ULFA-I had in a recent release admitted to have abducted Kuldeep.
Washington: The United States has come out in the support of Amnesty International after a sedition case was registered against the global rights group in Bengaluru for hosting a Kashmir event where alleged anti-India slogans were raised.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US supported the right to freedom of expression for anyone, including the Amnesty.

"With Amnesty International, I`m sorry. Well, we obviously, as we do around the world, support the right to freedom of expression and assembly, including through civil society," Toner told reporters here on Monday.

He was asked about the sedition charge against the group in India after they staged an event called "Broken Families" on the situation of different families in Kashmir.

Toner said the State Department was aware of the reports that police in Bengaluru have "initiated a preliminary investigation into allegations of sedition against Amnesty International.

"I direct you to the police for more details into this investigation, but certainly, we, as I said, respect the right for Amnesty and others to express themselves freely."

The remarks came a day after Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said he had "not given any clean chit" to the rights group. He had earlier said the group was not involved in anti-national activities though some anti-India slogans were raised by some participants at the event at United Theological College in the city on August 13.

Amnesty organised the programme that had an interactive discussion on peace and justice in Kashmir and where three families from the strife-torn Valley shared alleged human rights violations back home.

Police registered the complaint after Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad`s (ABVP) alleged that Amnesty representatives and other participants had indulged in anti-national slogans and criticised the role of the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Amnesty International India, however, has said none of its employees had shouted any anti-India slogans.

ABVP is the student wing of the BJP, which leads the National Democratic Alliance government in New Delhi, and has been at the forefront of several protests against perceived anti-national activities.

(With IANS inputs)
New Delhi: With the flood situation in Bihar continues to be grim, Chief Minister of Nitish Kumar on Tuesday called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the unprecedented flood situation the state is facing.

Talking to media after the meeting, Kumar said after the construction of the Farakka barrage, siltation has increased in the Ganga and the presence of high level of silts in the Ganga is causing the floods.

He said he has requested the Prime Minister to send a team of experts to Bihar to assess the situation.

Kumar expressed hope that Prime Minister Modi will soon take a decision in this regard.

The Chief Minister said if corrective measures are not taken, the flow of the river may be affected.

Meanwhile, the Centre last night rushed 10 NDRF teams to flood-hit areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in order to launch massive relief and rescue operations to help those marooned in these states.

NDRF director general OP Singh said that while five teams are being airlifted for immediate deployment from its base in Odisha to Uttar Pradesh, the rest five are being picked by choppers from Bathinda in Punjab and will be sent to Bihar.

He said these teams will be equipped with boats and essential items like medicines.

Mr Singh said the teams will be in addition to the 56 such contingents already undertaking flood combat operations in these two states, besides Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The NDRF DG also briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the flood situation in these states late last night.

In order to launch massive operations in the two worst-affected states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the NDRF has created on-ground control rooms in these two states and deputed two senior Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) SS Guleria (Patna) and RK Rana (Varanasi) to take control of the situation.

Earlier yesterday, NDRF said it has rescued more than 26,000 people from the flood-ravaged areas of these states.
Patna: In an utterly insensitive remark, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday told flood victims in his state that they are lucky as not everybody gets Gangajal in his home.

Notably, Ganga and other major rivers have submerged vast swathes of Bihar, forcing thousands from their homes. The disaster has so far claimed 14 lives, including nine in Bhojpur district alone.

Lalu met flood victims who were complaining of the government's response and said: Not everybody gets Gangajal in his home. You are lucky. Ganga will save everyone.

The former Bihar chief minister's comment came on the day when flood victims held demonstrations across Bihar, expressing anger and impatience over the quality and quantity of government aid that has so far been provided to them.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the flood situation in the state.

With over one million people affected by floods and the situation remaining grim, district officials, particularly block development officers, and circle officers, are facing the fury of victims complaining about inadequate relief supplies.

Over a dozen teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force have been deployed in the flood-hit districts.

Officials said standing crops worth crores of rupees have been damaged and road communications at several places have been flooded.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought Centre's intervention as he insisted that desilting river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods in the state during Monsoon.

"PM Modi has offered assurance to me and has said immediate and positive action will be taken on my demands, including formulating a national silt management policy," CM Nitish said after meeting the Prime Minister.

CM Nitish also urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the unprecedented situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.

"The Prime Minister assured me that experts will be sent and a decision on this subject should be taken soon. Immediate and positive action will have to be taken," he said.

The Chief Minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years. Though Bihar has received 14 per cent less rains than normal during the monsoons, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rainfall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it.

All earlier records have been broken, Nitish Kumar said about the flood conditions. Kumar said he had taken up the matter with the UPA government as well and taken the then minister concerned Pawan Bansal on a tour of the flood-hit regions but nothing happened after that.

His government is yet to evaluate the losses caused by the floods, he said adding that the state had suffered massive damages.

"Floods have damaged more than 20 districts. But complete info can be given after damage assessment, Nitish concluded by saying.
New Delhi: Former AISA president and JNU student Anmol Ratan, who is accused of raping a fellow student, is likely to apply for an anticipatory bail in the Patiala House court in Delhi on Tuesday.

However, his bail plea is likely to be opposed by the Delhi Police0.

A case of sexual assault was filed against Ratan on Monday by a 28-year-old JNU student.

In her complaint, the woman alleged that Ratan sexually assaulted her in his room in the Brahmaputra hostel.

She said the accused offered her a copy of a movie she had been looking for and took her to his room where he gave her a drink spiked with sedatives.

She told the police that he raped her when she was unconscious and later threatened her to not report the matter.

The incident has triggered a protest in the JNU campus with several ABVP leaders demanding rustication of the accused and AISA activist.

The ABP has also initiated an aggressive social media campaign against Anmol's alleged crime under the title of "Bekhauf Azadi" (Unbridled Freedom).

Meanwhile, the AISA and other Left-leaning outfits have distanced themselves from the incident and appealed to the administration to act immediately against the accused.
New Delhi: The 28-year-old JNU PhD scholar, who has alleged that she was raped by an AISA activist from the university, on Tuesday again could not register her statement before a magistrate due to delay.

"The victim was present in the court today but when her turn came, it was late. The statement couldn't be recorded," additional DCP-I (South) Nupur Prasad said.

Earlier, the victim was scheduled to record her statement before the magistrate yesterday but it could not materialise as she had cited health issues.

Meanwhile, the accused AISA activist Anmol Ratan, a PhD scholar, today moved an anticipatory bail plea before a Delhi court.

The petition was filed before Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal who put up the matter for arguments on the next date of hearing on August 27.

Meanwhile, police said allout efforts are being made to arrest the accused who has failed to join the probe and is avoiding questioning.

The victim has accused Ratan of raping her after offering her a spiked drink in Brahmputra hostel of JNU, last week.

The accused was expelled from AISA after the rape allegation and there has been a political blame-game going on among the students organisations in the university over the case.
New Delhi: The Justice (retd.) A K Roopanwal Commission, which was constituted by the HRD Ministry to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad Central University, is learnt to have submitted its report.

Sources said the one-member Commission has submitted its report to UGC officials, though there was no official confirmation.

Top officials in the HRD Ministry, when contacted, remained mum on the development.

Higher Education Secretary V S Oberoi refused to either confirm or deny that the report has been submitted. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, when contacted, said that the report has not reached him yet.

The Roopanwal Commission had been formed by the HRD Ministry to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Vemula.

He had committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of a hostel room in the university.

The suicide by Vemula had triggered a huge political storm with opposition parties launching a massive attack on the Union Government over the issue. They also accused the University authorities of mishandling the situation, which led to Vemula's suicide.

The Commission report, it was learnt, has, however, not put the blame on the senior varsity officials.
Paris: Seven people with links to terrorist networks, at least three of whom were planning attacks, have been arrested in France this month, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Tuesday.

Cazeneuve said at a press conference that French police had arrested as many people for terror links in the first half of 2016 as for the whole of last year.

He gave no details of the latest arrests, however.

On August 8, a 16-year-old girl from the Paris suburb of Melun was remanded in custody on charges of planning a jihadist attack.

The teenager was an administrator of a group on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that was used by two jihadists to plan the murder of a priest in Normandy in July.

According to investigators, she "relayed numerous Islamic State group propaganda messages calling for attacks" and also expressed a personal desire to "take action".

Cazeneuve and his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere on Tuesday asked the European Commission to consider legal measures that could be taken against the operators of encrypted messaging services such as Telegram.

After a meeting between the two ministers, Cazeneuve said such legislation could "impose obligations on operators who show themselves to be non-cooperative, in particular when it comes to withdrawing illegal content or decrypting messages as part of an investigation."

Meanwhile a 19-year-old from the Riviera city of Nice -- who was born to a family of Jehovah`s Witnesses but converted to Islam -- was on Tuesday sentenced to three years in prison for glorifying terrorism.

He was sentenced for his regular visits to jihadist sites on which he posted "nauseating" comments and photos, said a source close to the investigation.

French security services are scrambling to prevent further violence after two attacks in July that shocked the country just as it was starting to rebound from the jihadist bloodshed in Paris in November.

On July 14, a 31-year-old Tunisian rammed a 19-tonne truck into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, killing 86 people and wounding more than 400.

And on July 26, two 19-year-olds stormed a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray and slit the throat of an elderly priest.

Several major cultural and sporting events were cancelled in the wake of the attacks on security grounds.
Gandhinagar: Gujarat Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora on Tuesday suspended all Congress MLAs -- barring Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela and Balwantsinh Rajput -- for the day after they created a ruckus over the alleged atrocities committed on Dalits in Una town last month.

Congress lawmakers were demanding an inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the incident where four Dalits were beaten by self-styled cow vigilantes in Mota Samadhiyala village of Una in Gir-Somnath district on July 11.

Tuesday was the last of the two-day Monsoon Session that began on Monday and was called to clear the Goods and Services Tax Bill.

The opposition members displayed banners in the house and shouted slogans in front of the speaker. They threw bangles at the treasury benches in a sign of protest with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his colleagues present in the house.

The Congress members later marched out of the assembly building shouting slogans and wearing the banners to join what they called a "Jan Akrosh", or public anger, rally organized by the party here.

Scores of people joined the rally after they surrounded the state assembly building.

On Monday, the house was adjourned after the unanimous election of new Speaker Ramanlal Vora, the BJP`s Dalit face, and election of Deputy Speaker by a voice vote.


Gandhinagar: The Public Enterprise Committee of the Gujarat Assembly has criticised the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for showing "over confidence" in acquiring the KG Basin block.

The committee, which monitors state-run public sector undertakings (PSUs), in their report tabled in the House Tuesday pointed out several flaws in the process adopted by GSPC in acquiring the KG gas block through aggressive bidding.

The committee noted that against the estimated expenditure of USD 109.70 million, GSPC actually incurred an expenditure of USD 1404.86 million for three phases of gas exploration, which is 21.81 times higher than what was estimated while placing the bids.

"It shows that the company has taken huge risk while placing the bids. Without assessing various financial and technical aspects, GSPC placed high bid to acquire KG block. Due to this, company's unsecured debt has rose to Rs 2,140.53 crore between 2006 and 2011," said the report.

The committee headed by former Gujarat Minister Narottam Patel has 15 members from both ruling BJP and opposition Congress.

This committee scrutinises observations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General on PSUs and suggests recommendations to the state government.

The latest report is based on the CAG's observations about GSPC for the year 2010-11.

"This committee feels that the company placed bids having high rates without assessing the advises of their technical consultant. This shows company's inexperience and lack of farsightedness. Due to such overconfidence, the company's costs sky rocketed," the report added.

The committee also raised objection about involving GeoGlobal Resources(GGR) into the project through 10 per cent participatory interest(PI), which according to the committee is against the interest of the PSU.

"This committee believes that the decision by GSPC to give away 10 per cent PI through pay-in-cash mode instead of hiring GGR and paying it for rendering technical services, was an improper financial decision. This committee is surprised to know that GGR was not at the risk in case of loss to GSPC, but, they would get 10 per cent from the revenue if production takes place," the report stated.

The committee then asked GSPC to inform them whether the government was aware of such financial model.

"We recommend to cancel the prevailing model and replace it with new one after understanding the concept of payments and partnership. This committee recommends PSU to enter into any payment related agreement under the supervision of government," it added.
Mumbai: The Mumbai Press Club Tuesday condemned "the brutal murder" of Kishore Dave, who was the bureau chief of a Gujarati newspaper 'Jai Hind' in Junagadh.

"He was stabbed six-seven times with knife on Monday night. He was alone when he was attacked. An office assistant found him dead", a statement issued by the Club said.

"Relatives of Dave, 53, allege that the son of a local politician is responsible for the murder," it claimed.

As per the statement, Mumbai Press Club seeks immediate arrest of culprit(s) and impartial inquiry in the case.

"We also reiterate our long-pending demand for a law to protect working journalists," it added.

Dave, was stabbed to death at the office of a Gujarati daily at Vanjari chowk around 9.30 PM yesterday, police had said.

He was the bureau chief of the newspaper which is published from Rajkot.
Gurgaon: In a shocking incident, a woman from Gurgaon, was abducted and gang-raped by three men.

The three accused hailing from Mewat's Taru area, allegedly kidnapped the married woman from her father's placeand took her to Aravalli hills in Badshahpur, where they sexually assaulted her.

It is being said the men committed the crime to take revenge against the woman.

A month ago, a village panchayat had pulled the three for harassing the 29-year-old in Taru. The panchayat had let off the accused after they publicly apologised to the woman.

The maternal family of the alleged victim has filed a police complaint against the accused.

In her complaint, she has claimed that on Saturday night, when she was sleeping with her younger brothers, the three barged in.

Thereafter, they abducted her on a motorcycle and took her to the hills of Gairatpur Bas village, where she was gang-raped.

While all this happened, her father was on night duty and her mother was admitted at a hospital.

The woman returned on Sunday morning and narrated the entire incidnet to her father.

The alleged victim has maintained that the three accused have been harassing her ever since she started to live in that area with her husband.
Hisar: Tension prevailed in Parijat Chowk and Nagori Gate area here on Tuesday morning after a statue of martyr Chandra Shekhar Azad was found vandalised.

This is the second time that the statue, which was set up by shopkeepers in 2012, had been found vandalised.

It is suspected that the statue was damaged by some anti-social elements, police said.

A case has been registered by city police under section 295 (destroying, damaging or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult religious sentiments of any class of persons) of IPC on a complaint of shopkeeper Shelender Chowdhary.

CCTV footage of the area showed three persons coming on a bike last night and damaging the statue.

Chandra Shekhar Azad was a firebrand revolutionary leader. He was instrumental in carrying out the Kakori train robbery in 1926 and assassination of John Poyantz Saunders in 1928 at Lahore to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
New York: Virtually endorsing India's consistent stand that Dawood Ibrahim is based in Pakistan, the United Nations has confirmed six addresses frequented by the underworld don in the South Asian country.

India, in a dossier, had cited nine addresses in Pakistan as those of Dawood. The UN Security Council's ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee has removed three addresses, finding those incorrect.

Notably, Islamabad has all along denied Dawood's presence in Pakistan.

The UN Security Council has also spelt out at least 14 latest aliases used by the wanted underworld don.

The listing of the Committee also includes information about Dawood's various passports, including those issued in Pakistan.

The Committee, which amended its entry yesterday concerning Dawood, a UN-designated terrorist, made no changes with regard to six addresses provided by India.

One of the three addresses which have been dropped by the Committee from its list was found similar to that of a residence of Islamabad's envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi.

"On 22 August 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry" concerning Dawood on its ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, it said.

It did not amend Dawood's addresses mentioned in the listing -- "Karachi, Pakistan (White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton)", "House Nu 37 - 30th Street - defence, Housing Authority, Karachi, Pakistan" and "Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad in Karachi".

The addresses were included in a dossier prepared by India in August last year that had listed nine residences in Pakistan of the mastermind of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts as evidence to show that he is holed up in Pakistan.

In the amendment, the Committee has stricken through the address "Main Property at Margalla Raod F- 6/2 Street no 22, House No 07, Islamabad number 29 in Karachi. This address was later found to be similar to that of a residence belonging to Lodhi."

When asked about the amendment, a top Indian official here told news agency PTI that one address of Dawood in the listing entry was incorrect. The address was "of Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, and not Dawood Ibrahim", the sources said.

"The amendment also strikes through other addresses "8th Floor of Mehran Square, near Pardesi House-3, Talwar Area, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan" and "6/A Kjauabam Tanzeem, Phase-5, Defence Housing Area, Karachi, Pakistan."

The listing says Dawood has a Passport number A717288 issued on August 18, 1985, in Dubai and a Pakistani number G866537 issued on August 12, 1991, in Rawalpindi but adds the term "misuse" of these two passports.

He also has Passport number C-267185 issued in Karachi in July 1996, Passport number H-123259 issued in Rawalpindi in July 2001 and Passport number G-869537 issued in Rawalpindi, according to the listing.

Dawood was listed on November 3, 2003, and the entry has been amended in March and July 2006, July 2007, and March 2010. Being a UN-designated terrorist, he is subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

The information about the residences in Pakistan, including one bought near the house of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in Karachi two years ago is contained in the dossier that had been prepared to be handed over to Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz during talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, which were later cancelled.

"Dawood is known to frequently change his locations and addresses in Pakistan. He has amassed immense property in Pakistan and moves under the protection of Pakistani agencies," the dossier had said.

Another amendment enacted by the Committee concerns details of his family.

The information "Father's name is Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Kaskar, mother's name is Amina Bi, wife's name is Mehjabeen Shaikh" has been underlined in the listing.

The amendment further struck out "Bombai" as his place of birth, noting instead that it is "Kher, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra".

It has added "Sheikh Farooqi, Bada Seth, Bada Bhai, Iqbal Bhai, Mucchad and Haji Sahab" as his "low quality" aliases.

Dawood is wanted in India for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 257 people were killed and nearly a thousand injured. He is also accused of masterminding other terror attacks and of money laundering and extortion.

The Committee's list is updated regularly on the basis of relevant information provided by member states and international and regional organisations, according to the Security Council press release.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: India is set to deliver more arms to Afghanistan to help it fight Islamist militants, Kabul`s envoy to New Delhi said, even if Pakistan is wary of closer military cooperation between countries lying to its east and west.

India has provided a little over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan in the last 15 years, but has been more measured in providing weapons in order to avoid a backlash from Pakistan, which sees Afghanistan as its area of influence.

Last December, after years of dragging its feet, New Delhi announced the supply of four attack helicopters in India`s first transfer of lethal equipment to the government in Kabul since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was toppled.

Kabul immediately deployed three of the Russian Mi-25 attack helicopters to go after insurgents, and the fourth will be inducted in the next few weeks.

Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the Afghan ambassador to India, said regional security was deteriorating and Afghan national forces were in dire need of military supplies to tackle the Taliban, Islamic State and other militant groups.

"We are grateful for the four helicopters. But we need more, we need much more. Today we are heading into a situation that is worrisome for everyone in the region including India," he told Reuters in an interview.

On Aug. 29, the head of the Afghan army, General Qadam Shah Shahim, is expected in New Delhi to submit a list of military equipment drawn up in consultation with the U.S. military, Indian defence officials said.

It is not yet clear how much would be paid for and how much would be handed over for free.

The equipment includes more Mi-25s, smaller helicopters used for transporting troops and medical emergencies, and spares for existing Russian-origin aircraft in the Afghan air force fleet.

"The agenda for the army chief`s visit is clear. We will be finalising the enhancement of defence ties," Abdali said. India, he added, had told the Afghans that it would do whatever it could to meet the security forces` requirements.

INDIAN LEADER RANKLES PAKISTAN

The fact that much of the proposed equipment originates from Russia need not be a stumbling block to an agreement, the United States has said, despite Western sanctions against Moscow.

Russia and the United States share a common goal in stabilising Afghanistan, and India can act as a go-between to help re-equip Afghan forces which fall well short of the capacity required despite billions of dollars in U.S. spending.

The Afghan government lost control or influence of nearly 5 percent of its territory between January and May, the U.S. government`s top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report, highlighting the challenges its forces are facing.

But the move to increase cooperation with Afghanistan is likely to aggravate fears in Pakistan of being wedged between two hostile neighbours.

Relations with both countries have cooled lately.

Afghanistan says Pakistan must do more to stop militants operating on its territory, while India has blamed Pakistan for unrest in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned up the dial a notch by making a rare reference to Pakistan`s restive Baluchistan province in a recent speech.

Asked about the prospect of closer military ties between Afghanistan and India, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said the government did not comment on bilateral ties between two countries.

But he warned against attempts to destabilise Pakistan, which, like its arch-rival India, has a nuclear arsenal.

"Our expectation is that India should not be allowed to use Afghan soil to create instability in Pakistan."

According to an Indian defence ministry official, discussions with Kabul included the possibility of increasing the number of Afghan officers being trained in Indian military institutions each year from around 800 now.

U.S. SUPPORT

The United States, which has allocated more than $68 billion to train and equip the Afghan security forces since 2002, has welcomed greater Indian military assistance to fill shortfalls in hardware and personnel.

Earlier this month, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, held talks with Indian officials to find ways in which New Delhi could help the Afghan air force, which is struggling to maintain ageing Russian aircraft because of sanctions on Moscow.

Nicholson said donor nations had contributed $4.5 billion to Afghanistan, but those funds could not be used to buy Russian aircraft or spare parts because of the restrictions triggered by the conflict in Ukraine.

India is not constrained by such considerations and can export Russian-made equipment it already owns or source hardware and spares from Russia to send on to Afghanistan.

"Any additional aircraft or spare parts that India can provide Afghanistan would be greatly appreciated and welcomed by them to help build and maintain the Afghan Air Force," Nicholson said at the end of his trip.

A Russian diplomat said Moscow supported efforts to strengthen Afghan forces, even if it cannot directly equip it.

"Our policy is simple; we would not like to be involved directly, but we would support any initiative that strengthens the ability of the Afghan authorities to fight against terrorist groups and stabilize the situation in the country," the diplomat said.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah will inaugurate a day-long workshop of party state core committees in New Delhi on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the concluding session this evening.

According to reports, the event will discuss strategies for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

It will also deliberate on plans to strengthen the party`s communication strategy, publicising the Centre`s schemes and construction of modern party offices in states, among other organisational issues.

Later in the week, Shah will meet chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, where he is expected to discuss the strategy to be adopted for the on the passage of 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill in state assemblies to ensure the smooth rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which passed by Parliament earlier this month. BJP ruled states Jharkhand, Assam and Chhattisgarh have already passed the bill.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to attend the key SAARC meeting in Pakistan scheduled to be held next week, marking an escalation in the diplomatic row between the two countries.

Jaitley is not expected to join the meeting of finance ministers of the regional grouping in Islamabad during August 25-26, sources told News18.

Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das, included in the delegation that was to accompany Jaitley, is likely to represent India at the meet, the source said, adding that the government is also evaluating the option of sending a minister of state as the official representative.

However, no formal announcement has been made from the government on the matter so far.

Last week, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was quoted as saying that 'going to Pakistan is the same as going to hell'. His remark came after Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Pakistan early this month.

During Rajnath's visit to Islamabad to attend SAARC ministerial meeting, barbs were exchanged between him and Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, who only had a tense and uneasy handshake at the event.

Also to be noted is that Pakistani authorities had then, did not allow entry of Indian media persons inside the venue of 7th SAARC home ministers meeting in Islamabad.



The finance ministers absence at the SAARC meet is expected to add to concerns about the regional grouping being hit by periodic tensions between India and Pakistan.
New York: The Indian-American community across the US recently celebrated Indias 70th Independence Day on August 21 by unfurling the tricolour and organising a series of cultural events here.

The Grand Marshal of the India Day Parade in New York was Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan. Chief Guests were Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, Jain Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muni, South Indian superstar Chiyaan Vikram and Priyanka Kothari. It was graced by several eminent people from India.

This was one of the largest events marking Indias Independence in the US where thousands of people lined up on both sides of the road in New York as the colourful parade passed. It began from 39th Street, went down to Madison Avenue and culminated near 26th Street where several food and other stalls were put up and cultural events were organised.

Speaking on the occasion, yoga guru Baba Ramdev said that Indian economy is the fastest growing economy in the world and has the youngest population.

India also has one of the largest pool of talent in the world and US is the land of opportunities, therefore the coming together of the two great nations can actually benefits businesses there.

Congratulating the Indian-American community on 70th anniversary of Indias Independence, Dr Lokesh said that India and US are the two largest democracies of the world that share common values of plurality, secularism, justice to all.

US and India are examples for the entire world, as both countries have complete freedom to practice and propagate their culture and religion. Both are a tolerant society since their existence, he added.

Acharya Lokesh Muni further said that Indian Diaspora, which is one of the largest in US, has immensely contributed to America's progress to which the US also reciprocated by giving opportunities to the deserving.

Now under Make in India, Digital India, Start-up India, India is now emerging as the land of vast opportunity for US companies. This collaboration will take both countries far ahead, he stated.

The Federation of Indian Associations hosted the 2016 India Day Parade in New York City.

This year marks the 36th annual event, where people gather around to watch marchers embrace Indian culture. Spectacular cultural tableaux were also displayed on the occasion.
Delhi: India and United States have signed on an agreement for multi-agency centre to tackle activities related to terror, as per a media report.

The agreement has reportedly been signed between US envoy Richard Verma and Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, as per Aaj Tak.

The move has been undertaken keeping in view the growing threat of ISIS and the terror activities around the world.

The IB and RAW, along with the FBI have initiated move to create Terror Screening.

This will help the two countries to share real-time information regarding terrorists' activities.

Meanwhile, enhancing anti-terror cooperation, sharing intelligence inputs and offering easy travel to each other's citizens would be high on the agenda during the visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the US next month.

Singh will lead the Indian delegation at the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue to be held in Washington in September-end with the US team to be headed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson.

The new dates have been fixed after the bilateral dialogue was postponed last month as Parliament was in session and the HM was busy with the proceedings, official sources said, as per PTI.

Further cementing anti-terror cooperation, real-time sharing of intelligence inputs, cyber security and critical infrastructure protection, countering illicit finance, global supply chain security, megacity policing and science and technology are some of the other key issues to be discussed at the strategic meeting.

This senior-level exchange between India and the US will reinforce the strategic homeland security partnership and enhance operational cooperation in investigations, capacity building, and countering threats, sources said.

Upcoming law enforcement engagement proposals include sharing lessons learned and best practices in police training and responding to mass casualty exercises, improving both nations' capabilities to respond to terrorist incidents and natural disasters.

(With Agency inputs)
Delhi: After China's warning against deployment of BrahMos missile in Arunachal Pradesh, the Army has said that how India addresses its security concerns should not be anybody else's concerns.

"Our threat perceptions and security concerns are our own, and how we address these by deploying assets on our territory should be no one else's concern," top sources in the Army was quoted by NDTV as saying.

China has warned that deployment of a special version of the BrahMos cruise missile in the Northeast would have 'negative influence' on stability along the border.

The official publication of Peoples Liberation Army, PLA Daily, has said that the deployment of the supersonic cruise missiles could lead to counter-measures by China.

India deploying supersonic missiles on the border has exceeded its own needs for self-defense and poses a serious threat to Chinas Tibet and Yunnan provinces, the commentary said.

Deploying BrahMos missiles is bound to increase competitiveness and confrontation in Sino-Indian relations and bring a negative influence to stability of the region, it added.

Further, it said that BrahMos missile could increase suddenness and effectivity of attacks, including crushing blows on time-sensitive targets like missile launchers and solid targets like command centres.

Moreover, the commentary by an expert from the PLA Navys engineering university also said that the missiles penetration capabilities poses a threat to Chinas border regions.

However, it maintained that the BrahMos missiles range cannot threaten Chinas deep zones.

On August 03, the government had sanctioned induction of additional BrahMos supersonic missiles, with steep dive capability and 290 km range, to be deployed in the Eastern sector to ramp up its capabilities along the border with China.

Defence sources had said that the government has cleared the fourth BrahMos regiment at a cost of over Rs 4,300 crore, as per PTI.

The regiment consists of around 100 missiles, five mobile autonomous launchers on 12x12 heavy-duty trucks and a mobile command post, among other hardware and software, sources had said.

The missile was under test by the Army and last known test of the missile in the Eastern sector was done in May, 2015.

The steep-dive attack cruise missile can hit enemy targets hidden in the shadows of mountains.

The Indian Army has already inducted three regiments of BrahMos in its arsenal. All are equipped with Block-III version of the missile.

The land-attack version of BrahMos has been operational in the Indian Army since 2007.

The fire-and-forget BrahMos has the capability to take on surface-based targets by flying a combined hi-lo trajectory, thus evading enemy air defence systems. Fire-and-forget missiles do not need further guidance after launch.

BrahMos is a stealth supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land and has been inducted in all the three services.

(With Agency inputs)
Islamabad: Amid uproar in India over Dawood Ibrahim's whereabouts, Pakistan Foreign Office on Tuesday categorically denied the underworld don's presence on its land and blasted UN's report, that confirmed six addresses, frequented by him - all in Karachi.

"UN report is motivated by India's aim to malign Pakistan and undermine our effort to curb terrorism," the Islamabad said.

Virtually endorsing India's consistent stand that Dawood Ibrahim is based in Pakistan, the United Nations has confirmed six addresses frequented by the international terrorist in the South Asian country.

India, in a dossier, had cited nine addresses in Pakistan as those of Dawood. The UN Security Council's ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee has removed three addresses, finding those incorrect.

The Committee, which amended its entry yesterday concerning Dawood, a UN-designated terrorist, made no changes with regard to six addresses provided by India.

Islamabad has all along denied Dawood's presence in Pakistan.

Under other information, the powerful UN organ said his father's name is Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Kaskar, mother's name is Amina Bi and wife's name is Mehjabeen Shaikh.

The UN Security Council has also spelt out at least 14 latest aliases used by the wanted underworld don.

The listing of the Committee also includes information about Dawood's various passports, including those issued in Pakistan.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Monday slammed the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government.

The reason behind slamming is Delhi government's response that it would mull over suggestions to install radio-frequency identification device (RFID) to levy entry cess, along with toll tax, on commercial vehicles entering the national capital.

Rapping the Arvind Kejriwal government, the apex court said,"We don't understand why you are not inclined to implement it. The whole world has the RFID system."

"Please tell them that they should be progressive and forward-looking and not be an obstructionist," a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said while entrusting the execution of the project to South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The apex court said green cess collected from commercial vehicles entering Delhi would be used for RFID installation at 13 entry points.

It asked the counsel appearing for the Delhi government to persuade his client to adopt the technology for levying the entry cess through installation of RFID.

'Progress and change; we're in 21st century'

"Let the system progress and change. We are in 21st century. Many countries have adopted the technology several years ago. In London, metro train is there for the last 100 years," the bench also comprising Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi observed.

When the bench inquired why RFID was not installed, the Delhi government said the transport department wanted to rethink about it.

'Delhi government dragging its feet'

The court then slammed the government for dragging its feet on the issue and asked whether it was advised by the toll contractors to rethink on RFID.

The remarks were made while accepting the August 10 report of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) which examined the feasibility of the RFID system for effective and credible levy and collection of the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC).

The bench also directed the Delhi government to release within six weeks Rs 93 lakhs as fees to RITES for vetting the contract or tender documents for the project.

ECC on commercial vehicles: SC

The apex court had last year imposed ECC on commercial vehicles entering Delhi in a bid to check high pollution levels in the city.

It had also directed the toll collectors to put in place RFID system at their own cost at nine main entry points "failing which the contractors will be treated as being in breach of their obligation.
Srinagar: Indian army chief, Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who visited Kashmir Valley on Tuesday to review the security situation, appealed to people to help restore peace and tranquility.

Army chief, Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag visited the Valley to review the security situation in the state after the killing of 'militant commander' Burhan Wani, a defence spokesman said.

"At Badamibagh headquarters of Chinar Corps in Srinagar, he made an earnest appeal to the people to eschew violence and help restore peace and calm at the earliest," he said.

The spokesman said that Northern Army commander, Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, and Chinar Corps commander, Lt. Gen. S.K. Dua accompanied the army chief during his visit to line of control formations and units in north Kashmir where he was briefed on the operational preparedness.

"Commending the alertness of all troops deployed along the line of control in foiling the nefarious designs of inimical forces, Gen. Dalbir Singh paid stress on the need to continue high degree of vigil and operational focus.

"The chief also visited the Victor Force Headquarters at Awantipura where he was apprised of the latest situation in south Kashmir.

"He appreciated the professionalism with which the troops had been operating in full synergy with other security and civil agencies to keep the situation under control.

"He impressed upon everyone to uphold human rights and exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with the protesting mobs," the spokesman added.


Jammu: Calling on the Centre to respond to Pakistan in kind for booking Baloch leaders for siding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) asserted that all anti-national elements, including the separatists in the Valley, must be booked on charges of sedition.

"The Baloch leaders who have been fighting for the cause of the people regarding the denial of the basic rights of Balochistan, thanked the Prime Minister for raking up their cause and projecting the sufferings of the people of Balochistan. And Pakistan, taking an extreme step of booking these people for sedition charges, this is ridiculous," JKNPP leader Harsh Dev Singh told ANI here.

Emphasising that this clearly shows the frustration of Pakistan, which is facing lots of pressure from within the country, he further said that Pakistan was booking only those people for sedition who are thanking PM Modi.

"The separatists and the anti-nationals who have been persistently waging war against India, who have launched the India-hate campaign in Kashmir, are propagating in favour of Pakistan. No action has been taken against these people," Singh said.

He called on the Centre to ensure to all those who have "waged a war against India" are booked under sedition.

Five cases have been registered against Baloch leaders-in-exile in Balochistan`s Khuzdar area for allegedly backing PM Modi`s remarks on the atrocities in Pakistan`s Balochistan province.The cases were registered against Baloch Republican Party`s (BRP) Brahamdagh Bugti, Baloch liberation leader Harbiyar Marri and Baloch Students Organisation chairperson Karima Baloch.

The complaints were filed by Munir Ahmed, Maulana Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Hussain, Ghulam Yaseen Jatak and Muhammad Rahim at five police stations in Balochistan`s Khuzdar area, reports the Dawn.Acting District Police Officer Khuzdar Muhammad Ashraf Jatak said the petitioners claimed that Bugti, Marri and Karima Baloch had `supported` PM Modi`s August 15 speech.

The Baloch leaders-in-exile were booked under Sections 120, 121, 123 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code which refer to "concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment", "waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan", "concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war", and "assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty".

PM Modi, in his Independence Day address, had thanked the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for the goodwill they have shown towards him.

He had in an all-party meeting on Kashmir said the "time has come that Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against the people in Balochistan and PoK".

His statement about atrocities in Balochistan has hit a nerve with Pakistan, which has now voiced that it would raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Last week, Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri slammed the Indian Premier`s remarks days after Baloch leader Bugti appreciated `support` given to the Baloch people.
Jammu: BJP Tuesday appealed to the youths of Kashmir to come under the national tricolour and hold it aloft to defeat the designs of separatist forces who are "disturbing peace" in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The youth should not fall prey into the trap of these separatist leaders and rather come under the national tricolour and hold it aloft to make it clear that Kashmiri youths are as nationalists as those from Jammu, Ladakh or any other state of the country," BJP state Vice President Yudhvir Sethi told reporters here.

"BJP will not allow disturbing of the social fabric and give a befitting replay to all such forces which are posing threat to the unity and integrity of the country," he said.

Sethi said that the recent 'Tiranga Yatra', initiated on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, has not only received overwhelming response but also succeeded in bringing enthusiasm and inducing the feelings of patriotism among the people.

Sethi said peace and development of Jammu and Kashmir was not possible without the participation of Kashmiri youths.
Srinagar: On a visit to Kashmir amid unrest, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh on Wednesday asked the forces to exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with mobs and uphold human rights.

He also made an earnest appeal to the people to eschew violence and help restore peace and calm at the earliest.

The Army Chief, who was in Kashmir a day ahead of the visit of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, travelled to south Kashmir, the epicentre of the ongoing unrest, and was briefed by officials about the situation there.

"Following his previous visit only a month ago, the Chief of Army Staff was in the Valley again for review of the security situation," an army official said.

He appreciated the professionalism with which the troops had been operating in full synergy with other security and civil agencies to keep the situation under control, the official said.

"The Army Chief impressed upon everyone to uphold human rights and exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with the protesting mobs," the official said.

The General also directed to ensure measures "to prevent armed terrorists who jeopardise the lives of innocent civilians from moving with impunity".

Lauding the humanitarian steps, Gen Singh reinforced the need to synergise efforts with all the other stakeholders.

Accompanied by the Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda, the Army Chief also visited formations on the Line of Control and units in North Kashmir.

"He was briefed on the operational preparedness besides the recent successful counter infiltration operations in which over ten terrorists have been eliminated over the past one month," the official said.

Commending the alertness of all troops deployed along the Line of Control in foiling the nefarious designs of inimical forces, Gen Singh stressed upon the need to continue high degree of vigil and operational focus, he said.

Later, the Army Chief visited the headquarters of the 15 Corps at Badamibagh Cantonment here where he was briefed by the Northern Army and Chinar Corps Commanders on the numerous initiatives undertaken by the Army all across the Valley to constructively engage with the people towards their well being and an early return of normalcy.
New Delhi: Welcoming Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh`s proposed visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Tuesday said the government should start the Rajnath Singh`s proposed visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Tuesday said the government should start the dialogue process immediately and decide who to hold the dialogue with.

The opposition party also said that dialogue was the way forward for peace in the Valley and not guns, lathicharge or use of tear gas and pellet guns.

"We had informed the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is very bad. We requested him to start the dialogue process. Who to talk to and when -- they should at least make an announcement and start the process," said Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

"We also told the government to ban the use of pellet guns. The Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) is going to Kashmir (on Wednesday); it is a good thing. He should keep going there. But, I don`t think by using guns and by Rajnath Singh) is going to Kashmir (on Wednesday); it is a good thing. He should keep going there. But, I don`t think by using guns and by lathicharge or by using tear gas and pellet guns we can bring peace there. Peace will come only by dialogue," he added.

Azad said the government should decide who to start the dialogue with in Kashmir.

"So many days have passed since the curfew has been imposed; they have not started the dialogue. We also told them we will not identify who to talk to. They are in power at both the Centre and in state; they should decide who to have the dialogue with," the Congress leader said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the situation in the Valley, where restrictions continued in many parts for the 46th consecutive day on Tuesday.

Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will accompany the minister on the two-day visit, official sources said.

Rajnath Singh`s visit, the second to the state in a month, comes after opposition legislators of Jammu and Kashmir held several meetings in Delhi including with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded a "political solution" to the ongoing unrest.

At least 68 people, including 66 civilians and two policemen, have died in the violence in the Valley since July 9, a day after Hizbul militant Burhan Wani was killed by security forces.
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday gave the nod for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take up the cases registered in Kerala's Kasargode and Palakkad against some youth, who along with their families, left their homes during May-July with the intention of joining terror outfit Islamic State.

The Home Ministry order points out that the preliminary inquiry has revealed that the aforesaid accused persons have entered into a criminal conspiracy to support and further the terrorist activities of IS.

At least 21 people including women and children have been reported missing from these two districts and it was the Kerala Police which first registered the cases after some of the missing people sent messages to their families here about their whereabouts, while some of them had said that "they have reached the Islamic State".

Of the 21 people, 17 are from Kasargode district in the northern tip of Kerala, and four from Palakkad district.

The Kerala government had also completed all the formalities and requested the central government to initiate a NIA probe.


Indore: The district administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the murder of a snake charmer on 'Nagpanchami' day on August 7 allegedly by some persons, officials said today.

The administration has also asked the police and forest department to submit a report in this regard.

"We have ordered a magisterial probe into the killing 45-year-old Prakash Nath, a snake charmer from Malharganj area. We have also asked a senior police official and Chief Conservator of Forest to submit their report by August 31," an official of the district administration told PTI.

"The administration through a probe by the Magistrate is finding out whether Nath died after being thrashed or due to any other reason. We are also inquiring whether any forest official or representative of an NGO roughed up Nath," said the official.

Nath's son alleged that on August 7 while the snake charmer was roaming in Malharganj, a suspected forest department worker and some representatives of an NGO thrashed him till he died while they were trying to seize the snake.
Morena: Union Minister Ananth Kumar has criticised Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh for "supporting" a human rights organisation.

Kumar did not name the organisation, however it was a veiled reference to Amnesty International, whose Indian chapter is facing sedition charges over alleged raising of anti-India slogans by its members during an event on Kashmir held in Bengaluru last week, a charge denied by the Nobel Peace Prize winning human rights body.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is enhancing spirit of patriotism through Tiranga Yatra. On the other hand, Digvijay Singh was supporting an organisation which was a Pakistani supporter," Kumar said.

He was addressing a gathering yesterday at Barbai near here, the native village of freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil, as part of the Tiranga Yatra.

"This organisation was involved in sloganeering against Indian jawans...Raised slogans for the country's destruction," the Chemical and Fertiliser Minister added.

He said Singh had tweeted to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, asking him not to take any action against this organisation.

"This can't be tolerated at any cost," he said.

Kumar said, "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir will be retaken."
Mumbai: As the hunt for tiger Jai continued after it went missing from Umred Karhandla wildlife sanctuary near Nagpur, state Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar Tuesday said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a CBI probe into its disappearance.

Rescuers, wildlife experts and volunteers have been scouring the forest, trying to locate the 250-kilogram tiger, who was last spotted on April 18.

Speaking to reporters here, Mungantiwar said, "I would soon write to Prime Minister demanding investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the missing big cat."

Meanwhile, BJP Lok Sabha MP from Bhandara-Gondia, Nana Patole, also said that he would seek PM's intervention into the matter.

Patole expressed apprehension that Jai might have fallen prey to poachers as there has been no trace of it since the past four months.

"Along with Jai, his grandfather Rashtrapati, his father Dendu and sibling Viru have also gone missing. Jai's disappearance has become such a hot topic of debate that even Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had in July said that he also felt that Jai was alive," the MP said.

According to Patole, Jai was radio-collared, but of late his radio collar had stopped working, giving rise to the worst fears.

He added that two persons were arrested on suspicion of poaching, further fuelling the poaching theory.

Meanwhile, sources in the Forest department said that a wide search for Jai is on covering the forest area between Bor in Wardha district, Bramhapuri in Chandrapur district and New Nagzira Navegaon Tiger Reserve (NNTR).

Named after Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan's character in the hit 1975 film "Sholay", Jai was in limelight three years ago after embarking on an epic hike through villages, rivers and perilously dangerous highways in successful pursuit of a mate.

Jai has been a firm favourite with tourists and conservationists alike. Wildlife officials have launched a search operation for the royal feline. So far, there is no substantial clue about the whereabouts of the tiger, whose electronic collar stopped transmitting his location in April.

The tiger population of Maharashtra, which was 169 in 2010, has gone up to 190 in 2015. Out of this 70-odd tigers are accounted for in Tadoba tiger reserve.

The state government has offered a reward of Rs 50,000 for information on Jai's location. Some people residing close to the Umred Karhandla sanctuary have also performed a pooja for his safety.

Jai's disappearance since for over four months has come as a huge setback for the state. Recently, the state had roped in Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador for its tiger conservation initiative.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress on Tuesday strongly criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine ruling in the state for what it said was a dictatorial move to bring in a law that gave special powers to the police.

The opposition party also said it will launch an agitation against the proposed law.

State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant blasted the proposal to formulate the Maharashtra Protection of Internal Security Act, 2016, (MPISA) and said it proposed to give sweeping powers to the police.

"The MPISA is similar to the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. It is nothing but a sort of special powers Act to arm police with draconian and dictatorial powers," Sawant told media persons here.

The state government recently invited suggestions and objections on the draft law which Sawant said would put a question mark on the civil liberties of the people.

Leader of Opposition in the assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil is expected to give his reply on the MPISA on Wednesday.

"We already have seen AFSPA experience and reactions against it in the north-east and Jammu and Kashmir," Sawant said while spelling out MPISA provisions.

"MPISA is severe. For instance, if you want to invite 100 persons for a private function, a birthday or a marriage party, you will be required to take police clearance," the Congress leader said.

Moreover, the proposed Internal Security Committee is also grossly one-sided with only government representation, he said.

While the state Home Minister will be its ex-officio chairman, Minister of State for Home, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, the Director-General of Police, Mumbai Police Commissioner will be members and state Intelligence Department chief the member-secretary.

"There is no role of the Leaders of Opposition, non-governmental organisations, prominent citizens, independent experts and others concerned on the panel," Sawant said.


Mumbai/Hyderabad: The Chief Ministers of Telangana and Maharashtra on Tuesday signed a pact for construction of irrigation projects across Godavari river, ending the inter-state dispute.

Touted as the historic pact, this will pave the way for construction of three barrages on Godavari and its tributaries Penganga and Pranahita.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis signed three agreements in Mumbai during the first meeting of Godavari Inter-State Board. Irrigation ministers of the two states, several cabinet colleagues of Rao, MPs and senior officials were also present.

Rao, his cabinet colleagues, Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma and top officials left for Mumbai in a special aircraft to sign the pact.

Under the first agreement, Telangana will build a barrage of 100-metre height and 16 TMC storage capacity at Medigadda. To be constructed as part of Kaleswaram project, the barrage will help irrigate 18.19 lakh acres of land in six districts. The water coming to Sriramsagar, Nizamsagar and Singur reservoirs will irrigate an additional 18 lakh acres.

The second agreement was for Tummadihatti barrage on Pranahita with a height of 148 metres and 1.8 TMC storage. This will help in irrigation of two lakh acres of land in Adilabad district bordering Maharashtra.

Under the third agreement, Chanaka-Korata barrage will be built on Penganga river. This barrage with 213-metre height and 0.85 TMC storage will irrigate land in Maharashtra and Adilabad district of Telangana.

Speaking on the occasion, Telangana CM said with this historic pact, the two states set a new trend at a time when there were water disputes among several states.

He said Maharashtra and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh had problems for last several decades over the projects across Godavari but no progress was made in solving them despite having the same party in power in both the states and at the Centre. Rao said he took the initiative to solve the dispute after formation of the new state of Telangana so that the water going waste into the sea could be utilised for the benefit of both the states.

Fadnavis said the agreements would protect the interests of both the states. He said the projects would ensure minimum submergence and would also lead to irrigation of 30,000 acres of land in Maharashtra.

He also extracted an assurance from Rao that Telangana will not question Maharashtra`s share in Krishna river water during the hearing of the case between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh before Krishna Tribunal and in the Supreme Court.

Rao clarified that their dispute is with Andhra Pradesh and not Maharashtra.
Imphal: A Manipur activist group will observe "Tribal Unity Day" on August 31 to remember nine people who were killed in early September last year -- and have not been buried as yet -- in violent protests against three controversial lawws that allegedly deprived tribals of the right to their land.

The Manipur assembly passed the bills on August 31 last year. But the legislations have not been converted into law because "the president has withheld one bill and sent back two others", according to Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei.

The bills created an uproar, sparking violent protests in the Churachandpur area and the nine were killed in the days of agitation that lasted till September 10.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) that spearheaded the protests said the "Tribal Unity Day" will be observed in memory of the dead.

"The function (beginning August 31) will continue for one week. People from all walks of life are expected to take part," a JAC spokesman said.

The activist group has refused to bury the bodies lying in a hospital morgue in protest against the bills. It wants the government to withdraw the bills.

"All anti-migrant bills are anti-tribals and as such we shall object," the JAC spokesperson said.

But the deputy chief minister said since there was no bill now, "there is no justification for carrying on the agitation".

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh had urged the JAC and other tribal activists to point out any clause in the bills which they feel are against the interest of the tribals.

Khaidem Mani a senior advocate who is closely associated with the campaign said: "Nobody has pointed out any such clause."
Agartala: Activists of a tribal party on Tuesday attacked civilians and traders in Agartala, injuring at least 17 people.

According to the Tripura Police, tension erupted after hundreds of tribals belonging to Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) took out a rally and indiscriminately attacked passersby and vehicles, triggering retaliation by people of different communities.

"A group of people from the procession of IPFT attacked some persons at the heart of the town at Kaman Chowmuhai and ransacked some shops and set fire to some vehicles, apparently without provocation.

"This incident resulted in clashes and at least 17 people including women were injured," SP (Police Control), Uttam Bhaumick said.

The injured have been taken to hospitals.

Soon after the incident, DGP, K Nagraj and SP (West), Abhijit Saptarshi rushed to the spot with a large contingent of police and paramilitary forces brought the situation under control, he said.

Bhaumick said in one place the police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse the unruly crowd.

The IPFT has been agitating for the creation of a separate state, carved out of by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council area.

The ruling CPI(M) has condemned the activities of IPFT supporters and alleged it was a preplanned conspiracy to disrupt the communal harmony of the state.

"IPFT is trying to disrupt the communal harmony since long. Today's incident was a preplanned and aimed at breaking the communal harmony and peace in the state. We appeal to all to maintain peace and calm," the party said in a statement.

Tribals constitute a third of Tripura's four million population.

(With Agency inputs)
Agartala: Section 144 was imposed in Agartala in Tripura on Tuesday after IPFT supporters created law and order situation, demanding separate tribal state 'Twipra Land'.

At least 20 people were injured, a few seriously, here after activists of a tribal party attacked civilians and traders in different parts of the capital, police said today.

Tension erupted after hundreds of tribals belonging to Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) took out a rally and indiscriminately attacked passersby and vehicles, triggering retaliation by people of different communities, police said.

The injured, including policemen, have been shifted to hospitals. The unruly IPFT members also set afire some shops and vehicles.

A huge contingent of paramilitary Tripura State Rifles and police have been deployed in the capital city.

The IPFT has been agitating for the creation of a separate state, carved out of by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council area.

Tribals constitute a third of Tripura`s four million population.
Chandigarh: Virtually snubbing the recent attempt by the Union Government to take the control of union territory of Chandigarh out of the Punjab Governor`s purview, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said on Tuesday that Chandigarh will always be an integral part of his state.

"Chandigarh was, is and will ever remain an integral part of the state. Any deviation from existing practice of appointing Punjab Governor as administrator of Chandigarh was not at all acceptable," Badal told media during a function in Lambi Assembly seat in Muktsar district, 250 km from here.

"As per States Reorganization Act, every parent state has sole right over its capital city but grave injustice had been meted out to the state by denying Chandigarh to the state. Punjab has the sole right over its capital and it must be given to the state at every cost.

"Till Chandigarh is not given to the state, the around four decades old practice of appointing Punjab Governor as the administrator of Chandigarh should be continued," said Badal, who was quite upset as the move came just as Punjab is six months away from assembly polls.

Badal`s comments came in response to a move by the Narendra Modi government last week in which it was decided to appoint Kerala BJP leader and former firebrand bureaucrat KJ Alphons as the new Administrator of the union territory.

The move would have ended a 32-year-old system of the Punjab Governor also controlling the union territory of Chandigarh as Administrator.

However, following objections raised by Badal, the ruling Akali Dal, and the opposition Congress in Punjab, the centre did not issue the orders of appointment of Alphons.

The Union government on Thursday appointed Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore as the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Under the earlier orders of appointment of the new Punjab Governor, Badnore was not given the charge of UT Administrator.

Speaking to IANS earlier, 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."

Chandigarh, a union territory, is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.
London: We probably do it every day but scientists have only now discovered a distinct new way in which we move our eyes.

The team from University of Tubingen in Germany assessed the eye movements of 11 participants using tiny wires attached to the cornea and with infrared video tracking.

They discovered a new type of eye movement that is synchronised with blinking and helps reset the eye after it twists when viewing a rotating object.

It is like avoiding tiny rotations of a camera to stabilise the image people perceive. People do not notice the eye resetting in this way because it happens automatically when they blink.

"We were really surprised to discover this new type of eye movement and it was not what we had anticipated from the experiment," said lead author Mohammad Khazali.

"We had expected to find that another, already well-known type of eye movement is synchronised to blinking, he added in a paper published in the journal eLife.

Although it is brief, blinking creates an interruption in our visual perception.

We spend up to a tenth of our waking hours blinking but hardly notice it.

It serves an essential role in lubricating the eye and may even provide the brain with small, frequent mental breaks.

The frequency and size of the movement is determined by how far the eyes have deviated from a neutral position.

It helps reduce strain in the eyes as they move to assess the world around us.

In further experiments, the scientists discovered that it even occurs when the eye is not tracking a rotating object.

"To discover such a ubiquitous phenomenon in such a well-studied part of the human body was astonishing to us and we're very grateful to the volunteers who took part in the study," Khazali added.
Puducherry: A 50-year-old private vehicle dealer was arrested at nearby Kalapet village on Tuesday for allegedly sexually abusing his two minor daughters.

Balasubramanian had been sexually abusing the girls for the past few months, police said.

The matter came to light after the girls narrated their ordeal to the staff of Childline during a counselling session at the school a few days back, they said.

The girls, aged 13 and 14, were later produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) which recorded their statements and also of their mother.

CWC, later, lodged a complaint with the police in Kalapet and a case was registered under section 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

The man was arrested today and remanded to judicial custody, police added.
Lucknow: Senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh Amar Singh has threatened to quit the party, alleging that he was being insulted, kept on `mute` and sidelined following his return to the fold after six years.

In a television interview in Delhi, the former national general secretary of SP said that he found it humiliating that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav did not take his telephone calls and even kept him waiting.

This is the second dissension bomb in SP only days after the rift between Akhilesh and his uncle and Public Works Department Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav was bridged by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"Is this the way one treats senior party leaders," Singh questioned while saying that he will talk to Mulayam Singh about the whole issue and if a solution was not found, he will submit his resignation as a Rajya Sabha MP to Chairperson Hamid Ansari.

Singh also accused some people in the party of trying to humiliate him and his associate, actress-turned-politician Jaya Prada.

"She is being deliberately cornered and humiliated," Singh said while claiming that she was promised a Legislative Council seat. It was also said that Jaya Prada was to be made the Chairperson of the UP Film Council, but that order has not yet been issued.

"Neither Jaya Prada nor I have sought any post for ourselves, then why are we being demeaned," he asked.

Singh also said,"People who were calling the shots during the Mayawati regime are still powerful as ever and senior leaders like Shivpal Singh Yadav and Balram Yadav are being humiliated."

He even accused the party of making him a "back bencher" in the Rajya Sabha while people much junior, like Naresh Agarwal and Surendra Nagar, being asked to present the party views in the House.

"Leaders like me, Reoti Raman Singh, Beni Prasad Verma have been asked to sit quietly," he said.

Singh`s dissatisfaction with the party has become public at a time when the ruling dispensation is smarting under serious differences within its leaders and is also fighting anti-incumbency ahead of the 2017 state Assembly polls.

Only on Monday, Mulayam Singh had held a close door meeting to "set things right" between his son Akhilesh, brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and cousin Ram Gopal Yadav.

Insiders, however, said that no one was happy with the re-entry of Singh into the party fold but relented when the SP chief put his foot down. A leader also told IANS that while he was reluctantly assimilated in the party, no senior leader wanted Singh to wield power like before.
Ghaziabad: A head constable was arrested today while taking bribe from a person to release his vehicle seized earlier.

A team of anti corruption organisation (ACO) arrested the head constable, Rishi Pal, posted at Sahibabad police station.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Aashish Srivastav said the ACO laid a trap based on a complaint of Rajeev, a resident of Sonipat, at the ACO office in Meerut.

He said his truck which was truck was seized by Sahibabad police. Later, a court passed orders for the release of the truck. But when he went to Sahibabad police station to get his vehicle, Pal demanded Rs 12,000 as bribe.

Pal was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe from Rajeev.

A case has been registered against him.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police's ATS arrested an ISI agent here on Tuesday in a joint operation along with the Rajasthan Police's CID wing, officials said.

The ISI agent has been identified as Jamaluddin, resident of Ghazipur in east UP, and is said to be funding other similar agents across Uttar Pradesh and other states.

An ATS official told IANS that he was getting continuous flow of money from the UAE and was under the radar of investigation and anti-terror agencies for some time now.

Jamaluddin was tracked down after a money trail to another agent, Govardhan Singh, a resident of Rajasthan's Pokhran who was arrested on December 27, 2015 for allegedly passing off information about activities of the Indian Army to Pakistan, led back to him.

"We are currently interrogating him for more leads and he will be taken on remand on Wednesday," an official further said.


Lucknow: Mafia don-turned-legislator Mukhtar Ansari on Tuesday ruled out the merger of his Quami Ekta Dal (QED) with the Samajwadi Party (SP) which is currently in power in Uttar Pradesh.

However, the doors are open for an alliance with the SP for the next Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, he said.

All decisions with respect to such an electoral alliance would be taken by his brother and QED President Afzal Ansari, he said.

Mukhtar Ansari, who represents Mau in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, faces several murder charges and has been lodged in Agra jail.

Having been allowed to attend the assembly session, he was in Lucknow on Tuesday and met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav who had opposed the SP-QED merger when it was first suggested in June.

Mukhtar Ansari was later also closeted for about 45 minutes with Akhilesh`s uncle and PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav who is widely believed to have favoured the merger.

He told reporters that he met the chief minister to apprise him of the flood situation in his area, and that there was no political significance to his meeting.

Uttar Pradesh will vote for a new government early next year.

A possible merger of QED with SP was first announced on June 21, but was shelved after Akhilesh Yadav put his foot down.

The issue has since caused much bad blood in the SP as well as within the Yadav family that controls the ruling party.

Akhilesh sacked his minister Balram Yadav apparently for facilitating the possible merger while Shivpal Singh Yadav made known his displeasure over the cancellation of the merger.

Akhilesh has, on more than two occasions, openly spelt out his opposition to any alliance with QED and told his party leadership that SP stands to gain if it goes alone in the polls.

Sources, however, say that despite resistance from Akhilesh, the two parties might come together in "some kind of electoral understanding" for the purpose of preventing the division of Muslim votes.
Kolkata: Accusing the central government of trying to disrupt smooth functioning of the state government, the TMC on Tuesday alleged that the BSF was providing "training" to 'Narayani Sena', a private army of the erstwhile Maharaja of Coochbehar.

The BSF, however, denied the allegation and termed it as "baseless".

"It is a deep-rooted conspiracy against the state government. How come BSF is giving training to Narayani Sena and other elements who are involved in smuggling?" senior TMC leader and state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters.

He said, "We have officially expressed our grievances and lodged a complaint with the highest quarters of the central government."

Chatterjee said this was being done by keeping the state government in the "dark".

His remark followed a recent probe report submitted by the DIG, Jalpaiguri Range at the state secretariat which said BSF officials in Mathabhanga area of Cooch Behar in north Bengal "imparted training to volunteers of the Narayani Sena".

Narayani Sena is an alleged militia which is being raised by the Greater Cooch Behar People's Association or GCPA in support of their demand for a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar on "ethnic grounds".

A senior BSF official on condition of anonymity denied the allegation, saying, "We have not imparted any such training as is being projected. It is a baseless allegation. A few days ago during an Independence day function we had taught youths living on the border on the art of attention, to stand at ease as is done in the Army."

"It is not a new thing. We always encourage youths to join armed forces, BSF or the police and serve the nation. We don't know who is Narayani sena. If the police had reports of their anti-national activity, why didn't they take action?" he said.
Kabul: Fifty Taliban militants were killed in the central Afghanistan Ghor province in air strikes by government forces, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

"A total of 50 rebels, including Mullah Ahmad Shah Ghori, the shadow governor of Taliban group for the western Ghor province, were killed after government forces conducted series of air strikes in Pashtunkot district of the neighbouring Faryab province on Monday," Xinhua news agency cited the ministry as saying in a statement.

A huge quantity of arms and ammunitions of the militants was also destroyed in the air raids, the statement said.

Taliban militants, who are active in parts of Faryab and the neighbouring Ghor province, were yet to make any comment.
Ontario: A rash of gun-toting Americans visiting Canada prompted its border agency to launch a public awareness campaign Monday reminding Americans about their northern neighbors` relatively strict firearms laws.

"Canadian laws are different than US ones," the Canada Border Services Agency said in a statement.

"Non-restricted firearms can be used for hunting purposes and protection against wildlife in remote areas."

But, it added, the "use of firearms for personal protection, or protection of property is not deemed a valid purpose to import firearms into Canada."

Switchblades, nunchucks, crossbows, blowguns and brass knuckles are also banned in Canada, it noted.

The announcement comes on the heels of two separate incidents in which Texas retirees denied carrying weapons at a border checkpoint in Saint Stephen, New Brunswick.

A search of their vehicles uncovered several handguns, a shotgun and loose ammunition, which were seized.

The two tourists were also fined more than Can$1,000 ($775 US) and kicked out of Canada, along with their wives.

In the first six months of this year, 413 guns were seized at the border -- both from smugglers and gun lovers. The figure is up from 386 guns seized during the same period in 2015, according to government figures.

Authorities have linked recent spikes in violent crimes to the smuggling of handguns and other prohibited weapons from the United States.

US gun culture is also a source of derision in Canada.

Canada only began arming its border guards in 2006.

South of the border, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump provoked fresh debate this month over gun rights when he appeared to suggest that "Second Amendment people," who view gun ownership as a constitutional right, could take dislike for his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton into their own hands.
Ontario: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday defended individual rights and freedoms while touting cultural diversity and tolerance when asked about a controversy swirling in France over a burkini ban.

"We should be past tolerance in Canada," Trudeau told reporters after meeting with his ministers to plan the government`s legislative agenda.

Some lawmakers in Canada`s Quebec province have called for outlawing "burkinis" -- body-concealing Islamic swimsuits -- following bans in at least 15 towns in France`s southeast.

They include the French Riviera resort town of Nice, the target of a jihadist attack on July 14, with the proponents citing the need to prevent public disorder.

Trudeau called for "the respect of individual rights and choices."

This, he said, should be "at the top of public discourse and debate."

Trudeau dismissed the idea of a burkini ban in Canada, saying Canadians should rise above the controversy.

"In Canada, can we speak of acceptance, openness, friendship, understanding? It is about where we are going and what we are going through every day in our diverse and rich communities," he said.

Trudeau bemoaned instances where governments preach tolerance but act to undermine individual rights, saying with irony: "Tolerating someone means accepting their right to exist on the condition that they don`t disturb us too, too much."
Phnom Penh: Cambodia`s UN-backed court on Tuesday heard harrowing new details about the Khmer Rouge`s forced marriages, one of the brutal regime`s less reported atrocities.

The Khmer Rouge oversaw the deaths of up to two million Cambodians from 1975-1979 -- nearly one-quarter of the population -- in their quest for a Marxist agrarian utopia.

But the testimony is the first time the court has heard about the tens of thousands of couples who were forced to marry, often in mass ceremonies, as part of a Khmer Rouge plan to boost the population.

One woman described being raped by a Khmer Rouge commander after she was threatened with execution for refusing to consummate a forced marriage to her husband.

The regime`s two most senior surviving leaders, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 90, and former head of state Khieu Samphan, 85, are on trial.

They have already been convicted of crimes against humanity, but a second trial is investigating their alleged complicity in the mass murder of Cambodia`s ethnic minorities, forced marriages and mass rape -- subjects that remain taboo in conservative Cambodia even today.

Rights groups and historians say the second trial is a significant step for victims of Khmer Rouge sexual violence.

The woman, now elderly, appeared in court wearing a dark suit.

Identified only by a court pseudonym she described being forced to marry a fighter twenty years her senior in a joyless mass ceremony in early 1978.

Those who refused simply disappeared or were killed, she told the court, including her cousin.

"They forced us to marry," she said.

She detailed how a commander raped and threatened to shoot her if she didn`t consummate the marriage and she later gave birth to a daughter.

The pair became separated in the turmoil of Cambodia`s civil war years but she later went back to her husband under societal pressure, she said.

"I never told such a story to anyone, but now it is time for me to speak out," she added.

Another male born transgender victim described being forced to marry a woman.

After the ceremony, Khmer Rouge soldiers would spy on the couples.

"We had to have sex to survive," the 75-year-old told the court, adding that her wife became pregnant.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said more research is needed on the mass rape and forced marriages carried out under the regime.

"Rape took place within those forced marriages. There still needs to be an investigation about how widespread it was, but the issue is very sensitive in Khmer culture," he said.

The current trial is expected to conclude later this year, with a judgement to follow by the end of 2017.
Paris: French President Francois Hollande voiced his "concern" over a spike in tensions in Ukraine, in a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, his office said on Tuesday.

The call, which also included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, came after Putin earlier this month accused Kiev of plotting an armed incursion into Crimea, and Ukraine`s President Petro Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion.

Hollande "expressed his concern over a rise in tensions these past weeks and a growing number of ceasefire violations," it said in a statement after the call.

"He underlined the risk an escalation of violence posed to the (peace) process."

Ukraine has been in the grip of a conflict between its army and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country for two years.

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine and deploying troops across the border -- claims which Moscow denies.

More than 9,500 people have been killed since the conflict started in April 2014, and deadly clashes continue to occur despite several truces.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine soared earlier this month after Putin accused Kiev of attempting an armed incursion into Crimea -- the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Putin on Tuesday told the French and German leaders of a "gross provocation by the Ukrainian side," the Kremlin said.

He said that Kiev`s "inclination to this kind of military action harms the Minsk process and cooperation" under the so-called Normandy format, which groups Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany.

Meanwhile, as fighting increased in the east, Ukraine`s President Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion.

Merkel, Hollande, and Putin agreed to "continue personal contacts on the topic of Ukraine" on the sidelines of the G20 Summit to be held in China on September 4 and 5, the Kremlin said.

Putin earlier this month said the alleged incidents in Crimea meant he would not hold a "senseless" meeting at the G20 with Poroshenko along with the French and German leaders.
Baghdad: Thirty-six men hanged in Iraq for a sectarian mass killing of soldiers were denied a proper legal defence at their trials and the executions appeared to have been "fuelled by vengeance", the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The hangings were carried out on Sunday at a prison in southern Iraq, state TV said. Those executed were suspected Sunni Muslim militants convicted in the killings of as many as 1,700 soldiers, mostly Shi`ite Muslims, after they were taken captive by Islamic State insurgents two years ago.

"The individuals who have been executed were convicted only on the basis of information provided by secret informants or by confessions allegedly extracted under duress," UN human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told reporters in Geneva.

She said the defendants` court-appointed lawyer did not intervene during the proceedings apart from a three-minute statement just before the verdicts were delivered.

The United Nations, she said, had urged Iraqi authorities "to ensure that any trial conducted in connection with the massacre respects due process ... rather than be fuelled by vengeance. Unfortunately, this (36 hangings) was not the case".

In a recent report, Amnesty International said one of the hanged men had told its researchers that the defendants were beaten into making confessions, but that his complaint was ignored and not investigated.

The soldiers were killed after Islamic State overran Camp Speicher, an ex-US military base near Saddam Hussein`s home town of Tikrit, in 2014. US-backed Iraqi government forces and Iranian-supported Shi`ite militias retook the region last year.

The Shi`ite-led government came under increased pressure from local Shi`ite politicians to execute militants sentenced to death after an Islamic State bombing killed at least 324 people in a Baghdad shopping street on July 3.

Justice Minister Haidar al-Zamili said on Sunday he expected more death sentences to be carried out over killings after Camp Speicher`s fall to Islamic State, dismissing UN and human rights groups concern over the fairness of the trials.

The truck bomb was the deadliest militant attack since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003.
Yangon: Officials in Myanmar say United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend a peace conference next week that seeks to end decades of armed conflict with ethnic minority groups.

The UN is expected to soon confirm Ban's attendance at the conference, which begins August 31 in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The deputy director of the President's Office, Zaw Htay, said today the government invited Ban to what is being called the 21st Century Panglong Conference after he expressed an interest in attending. Another official involved in the peace talks confirmed Ban's plan to attend.

It will be Ban's first visit to Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party replaced an army-backed government in March this year. His last visit was in November 2014.
Karachi: Pakistani paramilitary forces raided the headquarters of a powerful political party in the port city of Karachi on Tuesday after supporters of the party stormed the office of a television channel the day before.

The operation deepens a dispute between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has dominated Karachi politics for decades, and local security forces that regularly spills into violence.

It also comes as Karachi, a metropolis of 20 million people and home to the stock exchange and central bank, is set to formally swear in imprisoned MQM politician, Waseem Akhtar, as mayor on Wednesday.

Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar, who was detained on Monday after the attack on the TV channel, sought to distance himself from comments made by the party`s influential, firebrand leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London.

Sattar said that Monday`s violence, during which MQM supporters fired shots at the office of a television channel, had been started by Hussain when he criticised Pakistani media in a telephone address to his supporters in Karachi.

The supporters later clashed with police outside the television building, leaving one person dead and several wounded.

"Whatever happened yesterday should not have happened, we condemn it," Sattar told reporters after his release. "MQM will be run from here (Pakistan). This message is for there (London) and it is for here."

Paramilitary Rangers forces sealed the MQM headquarters and media office on Tuesday.

In a statement issued from London on Tuesday, Hussain asked for forgiveness from the Army and Rangers chiefs.

"From the depth of (my) heart, I beg to pardon from the Pakistani establishment," he said. "I was under severe mental stress over extra-judicial arrests and (the) precarious condition of my workers sitting at (a) hunger striking camp."

Hussain is known for fiery addresses to his followers in Karachi through a loudspeaker connected to a telephone in his London home.

Many residents have grown increasingly intolerant of MQM`s street protests, which can severely disrupt life for millions of Karachi residents.

But the party remains a major electoral force and in December swept local elections, including jailed leader Akhtar.

The MQM largely draws its support from the descendants of Urdu-speaking migrants from India who dominate Karachi and other urban centres of southern Sindh province.

The Army has long accused the MQM of racketeering, kidnappings for ransom and targeted killings in Karachi.

MQM denies the charges and has accused the Rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown on crime in Karachi began in 2013. The Rangers deny any abuse.
Rabat: Two senior functionaries of a Moroccan Islamic movement that promotes, among other things, a puritanical world view in which adultery is punishable with death, were caught by police in a sexual act in a car near a beach north of Casablanca, the north Africa country's commercial capital, officials confirmed.

Moulay Omar Ben Hamad, married with seven children and a professor of Islamic studies at the Faculty of Arts in Rabat, and Fatima Nejjar, widow and mother of six children, were caught in a compromising position on August 20 by the police near the beach of El Mansouria, Mohammedia region, in a Mercedes.

The two, who police and Moroccan officials said were important members (first and second vice-presidents) of the Movement for Unification and Reform (MUR), were presented the day after their arrest to the prosecutor, who ordered their conditional release, fixing trial for September 1.

Ben Hamad is a member of the World Union of Muslim Ulema and the General Secretariat of The League of Ulema Ahl Assounna which sends him as a special emissary of the MUR on preaching missions abroad, particularly during the month of Ramadan.Hamad is a member of the World Union of Muslim Ulema and the General Secretariat of The League of Ulema Ahl Assounna which sends him as a special emissary of the MUR on preaching missions abroad, particularly during the month of Ramadan.

Hamad is also known as the main advocate of an association called Dar Al Quran created on February 14, 1996, in Mohammedia which is dedicated to teaching the Quran to children. He also served as 'khatib' of Friday prayers.

Hamad has a wide reputation in the MUR as a person responsible for preaching to the youth members of the Islamist political party Justice and Development, and in the four regions of the kingdom.

The woman, Fatima Nejjar, has a reputation as a well-known preacher and has conducted countless religious talks and lectures posted on YouTube on the virtues of faithfulness, purity and shunning of all kinds of permissive behaviour as it was against the tenets of Islam.

A senior Moroccan official said the scandal exposed the hypocrisy of the Islamists who were giving a bad name to the religion and taking advantage of the gullibility common people with their distorted preachings.

Morocco, a predominantly Muslim country, practices a secular form of Islam and frowns on all kinds of extremism.

Under King Mohammed VI, it has had a lot of religious reform, introducing the concept of women imams, promoting gender parity with women not stopped from wearing modern clothes or working alongside men, and being vigilant in keeping extremism at bay.
Istanbul: Turkey vowed Tuesday to give full support to efforts to free a key Syrian border town from the control of Islamic State (IS) jihadists as anticipation grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group.

Turkish forces also pounded jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes after a deadly suicide bombing in the city of Gaziantep at the weekend and repeated rocket fire across the border.

Activists have said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group to seize control of the Syrian town of Jarabulus, which lies opposite the town of Karkamis in Turkey.

Without confirming the operation, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged to give "all kinds of support" to push the jihadists out of Jarabulus.

"We do not want Daesh (IS) to exist in Iraq and Syria," he told reporters.

In an interview with private NTV television, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey saw Jarabulus "as a national security matter".

"What we have said, since the beginning, is that having Jarabulus or any other city held by IS is unacceptable," he said.

The authorities also ordered residents to vacate Karkamis and the surrounding area for safety reasons after the rocket fire, although there was no indication this was linked to the impending operation.

"Residents of the town centre and six neighbourhoods (are) advised to relocate to more secure areas," the local governor`s office said in a statement.

Nine mortar rounds fired from Jarabulus hit the centre of the town while two more hit another neighbourhood, it added.

No casualties or injuries reported.

Turkish artillery responded by shelling IS positions around Jarabulus.Abdulkadir Selvi, a well-connected columnist for the Hurriyet daily, said the Turkey-backed offensive "could begin at any moment".

The move by Ankara-backed rebels could potentially put them on collision course with the militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) which Ankara vehemently opposes and which also has designs on Jarabulus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from IS.

Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the "Turkish shelling in Syria aimed to prevent the advance of troops backed by Kurds from Manbij towards Jarabulus".

He told AFP the commander of Kurdish-dominated forces headed to Jarablus, Abdel Satar al-Jader, was also "assassinated" on Monday after announcing he planned to resist the Turkish advance. There was no confirmation from Turkish sources.

Turkey regards the PYD as a terror group, although Washington sees its People`s Protection Units (YPG) militia -- as the most effective fighting force against the jihadists.

US Vice President Joe Biden is due in Ankara Wednesday to meet Turkey`s leadership, with agreeing a unified strategy on Syria set to be a crucial issue.

The movements have come at a critical juncture for Turkey in Syria`s five-and-a-half-year war, with signs growing it is on the verge of a landmark policy shift.

Ankara has always called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad as the key to ending the conflict, putting Turkey at odds with his main supporters Iran and Russia.

However Prime Minister Binali Yildirim at the weekend for the first time acknowledged that Assad was one of the "actors" in Syria and may need to stay on as part of a transition.

Kurtulmus also acknowledged that the Assad regime would have to be part of final peace talks with the opposition, saying: "If there is going to be a peace table, that table must have two sides."Turkey has been shaken by one of the bloodiest years in its modern history, with a string of attacks by IS jihadists and Kurdish militants and the botched July 15 coup.

The attack in Gaziantep on a Kurdish wedding party for a young couple has horrified the country, with the majority of the 54 victims aged under 18 and including children as young as four.

But there is confusion as to who was behind the attack, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially saying the suicide bomber was a child aged 12-14 acting on the orders of IS.

However Yildirim on Monday said Turkey still had no clue who carried out the attack and said all "rumours" over the age and affiliation of the bomber should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Hurriyet said the authorities still suspected IS was behind the attack as the main line of inquiry, with investigators taking DNA samples in Gaziantep from the families of possible IS suspects.

One guest, Emine Ayhan, lost four of her five children in the blast.

"To finish off the evening the young guys wanted one last song. It was in the middle of this song that the bomb went off," Hurriyet quoted her as saying.
Ankara: Turkey will give full support to an operation to take the Syrian border town of Jarablus from Islamic State, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, after Syrian rebels said they were preparing an assault from Turkish soil.

The operation is important for Turkey`s security, Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara. Turkey does not want to see the Kurdish YPG militia, which already controls swathes of northern Syria, capture the strategic border town.

Cavusoglu also said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the YPG and Islamic State had ramped up attacks on Turkey since a failed coup attempt on July 15. More than 330 foreign ministry staff have been recalled or suspended since the abortive putsch, and 31 are still being sought, he also said.
Istanbul: Turkey`s military returned fire at Islamic State targets in northern Syria on Tuesday, after two mortar shells from Syria hit a Turkish border town, broadcaster NTV said, citing the military.

The military fired 40 shells at four Islamic State targets in Syria, NTV said.

The two mortar shells, which hit the town of Karkamis but did not cause casualties, were apparently fired during clashes between Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency said.

Karkamis neighbours the Syrian town of Jarablus, which Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are preparing to attack and seize from Islamic State, according to a senior rebel official, a move that would frustrate Kurdish hopes to expand there.

The mortar shells hit the garden of a property linked to a mosque in Karkamis after striking power lines, Anadolu said. Security forces subsequently sealed off the area and warned people over a loudspeaker to stay at home, it said.

On Monday, Turkey`s military launched howitzer attacks on Islamic State while artillery pounded Kurdish YPG militants in Syria, whom Ankara sees as an extension of its own Kurdish insurgency.
The Pentagon warned the Syrian regime Monday it is prepared to shoot down planes threatening US-led coalition forces in northern Syria, but stopped short of declaring a no-fly zone.

US military officials reacted furiously last week after jets from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad targeted Kurdish forces and coalition advisers fighting Islamic State jihadists around the north-eastern city of Hasakeh.

The US military scrambled fighters on at least two occasions to ward off the Syrian planes, but neither incident resulted in air-to-air contact.

It was apparently the first time the coalition scrambled jets in response to regime action, and possibly the closest call yet in terms of Syrian forces wounding coalition advisers.

"We would continue to advise the Syrian regime to steer clear of those areas," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters.

"We are going to defend our people on the ground, and do what we need to defend them."

Despite the warning, Cook avoided using the politically charged term "no-fly zone."

Secretary of State John Kerry and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have both said they support no-fly zones, but President Barack Obama is reluctant to commit resources and troops to enforce such a measure.

"It`s not a no-fly zone," Cook said.

"But... the Syrian regime would be wise to avoid areas where coalition forces have been operating."

The United States has passed warnings to Syria via Russia, with which the US military has an established line of communication.

When pressed, Cook said the warning also extended to jets from Russia, which has been bombing in support of Assad since last year.

"If they threaten US forces, we always have the right to defend our forces," he said.

The United States would protect not only coalition advisers, but also partner forces on the ground -- in this case Kurdish fighters.

America has for two years led an international coalition against the IS group, conducting daily strikes and working with local forces on the ground to help them fight the jihadists.

Russia started bombing in Syria last year, but most of its strikes have been in support of the regime.

In June, Russian aircraft conducted a series of air strikes near al-Tanf in southern Syria targeting US-backed counter-IS forces.

In that incident, the United States did not scramble jets, but the attack frayed an already tense relationship between the coalition and Russia.

Washington and Moscow have been in contact for weeks over establishing military cooperation to fight IS in Syria.

But Cook said such an agreement was far from a done deal.

"We are not there yet, and the regime and Russia`s recent actions only make it harder to consider any potential coordination," he said.
United Nations: A yearlong investigation to determine who is behind deadly chemical attacks in Syria takes center stage at the United Nations this week when the panel presents its much-awaited findings.

The Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) set up by the UN Security Council has been collecting evidence in nine cases of alleged noxious gas attacks on Syrian villages in 2014 and 2015.

Diplomats are hoping that the 24-member panel tasked with identifying those responsible will finally point the finger at President Bashar al-Assad`s forces.

"I expect absolute clarity that there have been these chemical weapons attacks in Syria, and -- to the extent that the evidence allows it -- absolute clarity about who is responsible for each one," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

"We are very keen indeed to ensure full accountability. Whoever uses chemical weapons in Syria needs to be held accountable," he said.

French Deputy Ambassador Alexis Lamek said "this is a very important report" and stressed that the council will have to follow up on "whatever its findings will be."

The report will be presented on Wednesday to the council, which will then discuss the findings at a meeting on August 30.

The JIM has presented two reports to the council including an update in June in which it reported progress, but stressed that identifying the perpetrators hinged on gathering sufficient information.

The panel is looking into nine attacks on seven villages in the Hama, Idlib and Aleppo provinces.

The probe dates back to the April 2014 attack on the rebel-held village of Kafr Zita, followed by a string of alleged use of noxious gas in Idlib province on the towns of Talmenes, Al-Tamana, Qmenas, Binnish and Sarmin.

Several people including children died in the attacks and dozens were hospitalized suffering from vomiting and shortness of breath, according to rights groups that have documented witness accounts.

Blame could also be assigned to Islamic State militants suspected of using mustard gas on the town of Marea in Aleppo province on August 21 last year.Most of the cases point to the alleged use of chlorine gas in barrel bombs dropped from helicopters.

The United States, Britain and France maintain that only the regime has helicopters, but Russia, Damascus` ally, insists that there is no concrete proof that Assad`s forces carried out the attacks.

To build its case, the JIM has had full access to evidence gathered by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which has sent fact-finding missions to Syria.

JIM investigators traveled to Syria twice this year, in March and May, to question government officials and interview witnesses.

If the panel concludes that the Assad regime was responsible for some of the chemical attacks, the Security Council would then decide whether to impose sanctions or possibly ask the International Criminal Court to take up the matter as a war crime.

Many diplomats say Russia appears unlikely to back such a move.

Paul Walker, a director at Green Cross International, a think tank founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, said he believed Russia would not block efforts to punish those responsible for chemical weapons use.

"Everyone draws the line when it comes to chemical weapons use, even if they support President Bashar al-Assad," said Walker, an expert on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

"Our expectations is that they really will be able to point the finger at some entities such as the Syrian military, perhaps even certain divisions," he said.

Chlorine use as a weapon is banned under the CWC, which Syria joined in 2013, under pressure from Russia.

Russia worked with the United States to rid Syria of its chemical weapons stockpile following a sarin gas attack on a Damascus suburb in August 2013 that left 355 dead, according to the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

cml/bfm


LIVE-2 Inning |29-33

NEW ZEALAND VS SRI LANKA

NZ 167/7 VS 20/4 SL

Sri Lanka need 148 runs in 90 balls at 9.86 rpo
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In the Bronx (and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere) when your belongings are seized as "evidence," it can be impossible to ever get them back, even if you're never charged with a crime.

For starters, half of the clients on the Bronx Public Defenders' roster say they were never given an itemized receipt for their seized property. Then there's the fact that you need two pieces of ID to get your stuff back, and the ID in the wallet that the cops seized doesn't count.

But then you need a signed letter from the DA saying your stuff isn't evidence anymore. The Bronx DA doesn't give those out, generally speaking (nor does the DA's office explain why they won't send such a letter). The poorer you are, the less recourse you have, because the next step is to hire a lawyer  not a public defender to go through a complex administrative process to challenge the ongoing retention of your seized property.





The most commonly seized items are wallets, cash and smartphones (when the cops seize your smartphone, you have to keep up payments on your plan, but you don't get to use it anymore). For self-evident reasons, depriving someone who's already poor of their smartphone, ID, and money is especially debilitating. For good measure, the cops also steal poor peoples' winter coats.

The Bronx Defenders have filed a class-action suit against New York City, alleging that there is a "policy, pattern, and practice" of abusive, unconstitutional conduct on the part of the city toward their client.

If this sounds familiar, it's probably because you're thinking of civil asset forfeiture, the process by which cops across America were able to steal pretty much anything and keep it for themselves or sell it to cover their departmental budget  a practice that is now falling into disrepute and declining somewhat in the field.

As with civil forfeiture, this evidence scam can enrich police departments, because items that are not "claimed" (heh) are auctioned off.



All manner of other things get taken, too. James King, a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, says his clients often want to get their winter coats back after an arrest. "Since they're hiring us, they can't afford attorneys," King said. "These are people who are poor." But the hunt to get their coat back sometimes takes so long that, even if it's ultimately successful, winter has ended by the time the coat is returned. In New York, a clock starts ticking the moment a criminal case is over, whether or not it resulted in a prison sentence: A property owner has 120 days to demand the return of their things before the NYPD has the right to dispose of the property, which can mean auctioning off a vehicle or sending seized cash to the city's general fund. If they can't demand the property back in personperhaps because they're behind barsthey must formally authorize an attorney, friend, or family member to do so. (If the items are categorized as evidence, the property owner has another 270 days after making the original demand to secure the elusive district attorney's release. If the items are slated for forfeiture, the owner also needs an additional release from the NYPD civil legal bureau.)

Police Can Use a Legal Grey Area to Rob Anyone of Their Belongings

[Kaveh Waddell/The Altantic]





(via Techdirt)





(Image: 111117-A-BE343-008, Arctic Wolves, CC-BY)
"C" you later.

The head of iconic piano maker Steinway & Sons is out at the New York-based company, three years after he helped entice billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson into buying the firm for more than $500 million.

Steinway CEO Michael Sweeney's departure last week came four months after the 163-year-old company opened a lavish, and expensive, new Steinway Hall retail and performance space in Midtown Manhattan, which was designed by renowned high-end architect Annabelle Selldorf.

In addition to that 19,000-square-foot space Steinway also said this past spring it was leasing an additional 20,000 square-feet of space in the same building on Sixth Avenue to serve as the company's global headquarters.



A Steinway spokesman would not say if Sweeney, 58, resigned or was forced out of the company, or reveal what led to him leaving.

"Correct," said the spokesman, Stephen Millikin, when asked if Sweeney was no longer CEO at Steinway. "That was last week."

"That is, unfortunately, all I can say on the matter," Millikin said.

He did say, however, that Steinway's president, Ron Losby, had taken over as CEO from Sweeney.

Losby, 61, has been Steinway president since 2008, having joined the company as Midwest district manager in 1998.

A spokesman for Paulson, who took Steinway private after he bought it, said he had no comment on Sweeney or any other executive moves at the company.

Sweeney, who had previously been president of Starbucks Coffee UK and chairman of the Star Tribune Media Company, did not respond to requests for comment.

Steinway pianos are coveted by piano-cognoscenti and command prices of tens of thousands of dollars. The company's pianos, which can take nearly a year to make by hand, have been the preferred choice of composers and performers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Gustav Mahler, Vladimir Horowitz, Billy Joel, Lang Lang and Harry Connick Jr.



In 2013, Paulson told CNBC that "I grew up in a family of piano players," including his two sisters, who "asked my dad to buy a Steinway."

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"My father did his shopping and at the end of the day it was not something we could afford," said Paulson. He added that one of his sister's wept when their dad brought home a baby grand piano and she realized it wasn't a Steinway.



But Paulson, who made billions of dollars shorting the U.S. housing market in 2008, could more than afford a Steinway, and also could afford the entire company by 2013.

Paulson emerged as Steinway's buyer in September of that year after the then-publicly traded company negotiated a tentative sale agreement to buyout firm Kohlberg & Co. for $35 per share, or $438 million. Steinway's bankers, on the heels of that agreement, conducted a go-shop period that allowed other would-be suitors a chance at topping Kohlberg's offer.

Paulson & Co. did just that, with a final offer of $40 per share, or $512 million.

Soon after the sale, Paulson said he viewed Steinway as "an investment," that he expected to increase in value over time.

"They are the epitome of high culture and value," Paulson told CNBC. He added, "I don't think anyone should worry about the new owner."

"When you have something that is perfect, that occupies a position and sector unrivaled, by anyone else, that's one thing we do not want to tamper with."

Sweeney at the time told CNBC that, "We were delighted that John was the ultimate buyer of Steinway."



"Steinway now has a steward who understands and cares passionately about our mission," Sweeney told "Power Lunch."

"Well, I hope John will be involved," Sweeney said when asked about Paulson's level of involvement in day-to-day operations at Steinway. "But he does have a management team here at Steinway that's been intact for quite some time and we're making good progress in the business."
Distance Learning

Bard Gets Online Treatment in U Colorado Boulder Hybrid Course

Just in time to honor the 400th anniversary of the death of the Bard, a new hybrid certificate at the University of Colorado Boulder tackles the topic of William Shakespeare in an immersive experience. The first course, a three-credit graduate-level survey class, can be taken online or on campus.

Then everybody will come together for two weeks during a university-hosted Shakespeare festival, where they'll participate in small group activities to learn from cast members and English, theater and dance faculty and earn an additional six credits. Those on-site days will immerse students in acting, directing, stage combat, script reading, Elizabethan culture, rehearsal visits, classes on how to teach Shakespeare and related topics.

Within two months of attending that, students will be required to write a 15- to 20-page project that analyzes a single play from a teaching, acting, reading or directing perspective.

According to the university, this is the first "applied" Shakespeare program in the country. The credits earned here can be applied to a master's degree in applied Shakespeare currently under development.

"This will be an incredible, immersive and action-packed dive into the Bard of Avon's work," said Tim Orr, an instructor in the program and producing artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, in an article about the certificate.

Registration is open until Nov. 15, 2016.
TUESDAY, Aug. 23, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Prescription drug prices are skyrocketing in the United States due in large part to government regulations, a new analysis finds.

These regulations allow drug manufacturers to charge monopolistic prices that aren't opposed by competing market forces, the researchers believe.

The result? For each person in the United States, $858 was spent on prescription drugs, compared with an average of $400 per person across 19 other industrialized nations. Prescription medications now comprise an estimated 17 percent of overall health care expenses, the authors of the new report said.

Drug makers charge high prices for drugs thanks largely to "market exclusivity" regulations intended to allow them to recoup the research and development costs for new breakthrough medications, said senior author Ameet Sarpatwari. He's an instructor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

The companies can do this largely unopposed because the nation's largest health insurers -- Medicare and Medicaid -- aren't allowed to negotiate prices, he added.

Those insurance programs cover one out of every three Americans, but under federal law must pay whatever price the drug makers charge.

"Without giving them that power, we're sort of shooting ourselves in the foot," Sarpatwari said. "It is one of the reasons why we don't have as low prices as we could during that exclusivity period."

Public outrage over drug price gouging has made headlines in recent years:

Mylan Pharmaceuticals is under fire this week for increasing the cost of the EpiPen from about $57 in 2007 to more than $500 today, potentially placing allergy sufferers at risk, according to Forbes .

. Turing Pharmaceuticals increased the price of the anti-malaria drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent last year, charging $750 per pill for a drug that used to cost $13.50 per pill, according to the study.

The cost of hepatitis C drugs manufactured by Gilead became a presidential campaign issue last week, with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton criticizing the company for charging $900 to $1,000 per pill, according to UPI.

A drug company industry group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, didn't respond to an emailed request for comment on the new analysis.

Between 2013 and 2015, net spending on prescription drug prices increased about 20 percent in the United States, outstripping a forecast 11 percent increase on all health care costs combined, the authors said in background notes.

These high prices affect consumers, even those with insurance, Sarpatwari said. Insurance companies have started placing more high-dollar drugs onto higher tiers of their medication coverage, which requires a larger co-pay for each prescription.

"That is hitting consumers hard," he said, noting that the result is poorer health. "The higher the cost of the medication, the poorer the adherence to the medication because people can't afford to take their medicines."

Sarpatwari and his colleagues argue that market exclusivity is the most important factor allowing drug makers to set high prices for brand-name drugs.

Upon approval of a new drug, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets a period of market exclusivity that can last from five to 12 years, the authors said. During that period, no low-cost generic version of that drug can be sold.

Exclusivity regulations are being exploited through tactics like "evergreening" and "hard switching," Sarpatwari said.

"Evergreening" occurs when drug companies renew their market exclusivity for a product by patenting a new version that is slightly different, Sarpatwari said.

According to Gina Moore, assistant dean for clinical and professional affairs with the University of Colorado's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, "We see that consistently with drugs that are about to come off-patent."

Moore said that "the drug company will make a trivial change to a drug they have on-patent, and then promote that newer medicine as being superior to the earlier version, even though it has limited clinical benefits."

Sarpatwari explained that in "hard switching," manufacturers stop selling an older drug about to go generic and replace it with a new high-price market-exclusive product.

"When the generic version of the prior drug goes onto the market, many patients wouldn't automatically be taken onto it because they're now prescribed the new product," Sarpatwari said.

Consumers could fight back against these high prices by refusing to pay them, but that's not an option for the nation's largest health insurance plan, he added.

Medicare covers more than 55 million people, and Medicaid programs cover more than 70 million. But federal law prevents the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers, Sarpatwari said.

Moore pointed out that most other countries allow their government health programs to negotiate drug prices. Americans pay more because their ability to push back is hampered.

Katherine Hempstead is a senior advisor who leads the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's work on health insurance coverage. She said, "Some people would probably say we are subsidizing drug development for the rest of the world."

Sarpatwari and his colleagues said that the FDA needs to apply more stringent requirements on the award and extension of exclusivity rights.

In addition, Congress should reconsider allowing Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate drug prices, rather than forcing the programs to pay whatever pharmaceutical manufacturers demand, the authors stated.

Meanwhile, Hempstead said, other efforts are underway that could help lower drug prices.

For example, the non-profit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has started performing cost-effectiveness analyses of pharmaceutical drugs, which can help insurance companies and doctors steer patients to medications that cost less but are as effective as expensive alternatives, Hempstead said.

"Right now it's a fertile time where people are trying to do a lot of things to address rising drug prices," she said.

In addition, Sarpatwari suggested, regulators also can take steps to make sure generic versions are available when a drug's exclusivity lapses, and promote the availability of more than one generic alternative.

"In terms of palatable options for reform, the major policies we need to consider are ensuring there is early access to generic drugs, and that means tackling how we view this exclusivity system and what we want to provide exclusivity for and making sure that system is not abused," he said.

The study was published in the Aug. 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

More information

For more on new drug product exclusivity, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
f35

As tensions mount in the troubled waters of the South China Sea, US might is considered crucial, and a weapon considered well suited for the region is almost ready for deployment: the F-35 Lightning II.

"It will absolutely thrive in that environment," retired Air Force Col. John "JV" Venable told Business Insider.

At a cool $100 million per jet, Lockheed Martin's "jack-of-all-trades" aircraft is America's priciest weapons system, and its development has become one of the most challenged programs in the history of the Department of Defense.

Since its inception, in 2001, the F-35 has experienced setbacks that include faulty ejection seats, software delays, and helmet display issues.

f35

In July 2015, after cost overruns, design modifications, and serious testing, the Marine Corps became the first of the sister-service branches to declare the tri-service fighter ready for war.

A year and change later, the Air Force also declared their version of the fifth generation jet initial operational capability (IOC). Currently the US Navy variant, the F-35C, is slated to reach IOC by February 2019.

"Having three different types of fighters working for you in that environment [South China Sea] is also an extraordinary advantage," Venable, a fighter pilot and former commander of the celebrated Air Force Thunderbirds, told Business Insider.

With rival territorial claims by Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, and China, the South China Sea  rich in natural resources and crisscrossed by shipping routes  is one of the most militarized areas on the planet.

map south china sea

Currently the US, with the world's largest navy, dominates the region; however, that is poised to change as Beijing dramatically expands its naval capabilities.

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"At some point, China is likely to, in effect, be able to deny the US Navy unimpeded access to parts of the South China Sea," Robert Kaplan, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and author of "Asia's Cauldron," wrote.

"The withdrawal of even one US aircraft carrier strike group from the Western Pacific is a game changer."

According to Venable, the F-35, designed to marry stealth and avionics, would thrive in the armed camp that has become the South China Sea.

"The Chinese would be right to fear the United States Air Force, United States Navy, and the United States Marine Corps armed with those jets."

NOW WATCH: A Top Gun school graduate explains what the movie got wrong





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WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Interleukin Genetics, Inc. (OTCQB:ILIU) a life science company focused on the genetics of chronic inflammation, today announced the publication of the article Influence of Obesity on Periodontitis Progression is Conditional on IL-1 Inflammatory Genetic Variation in the Journal of Periodontology (http://www.joponline.org/doi/abs/10.1902/jop.2016.160408). The article is the result of a scientific collaboration with key researchers at Boston University and strongly supports the value of Interleukin-1 (IL-1) genetics in amplifying the negative impact of obesity.



Interleukin Genetics continues to build scientific support for the clinical value of IL-1 genetic information, said Ken Kornman, Chief Scientific Officer. This study shows the important role of IL-1 genetic variations in periodontitis progression in obesity, a growing epidemic worldwide.

The study, which evaluated the influence of IL-1 genetic patterns on periodontal progression, was conducted on 292 participants from the Department of Veterans Affairs Dental Longitudinal Study. The analysis found significant interactions between IL-1 genetic variations and obesity-related traits in predicting periodontal disease progression. Participants who were both obese and IL-1 test positive were 70% more likely to experience periodontal disease progression than those without these risk factors.

This study provides further evidence that obese and over-weight patients who are IL-1 positive will benefit from more intensive dental management, said Mark B. Carbeau, Chief Executive Officer of Interleukin Genetics. Based on these findings, we are including expanded education and engagement tools for this high risk population into our product, thus further enhancing value to patients and employers who offer this expanded benefit.

About PerioPredict

PerioPredict is an innovative, easy-to-use genetic test that identifies individuals with an increased risk for severe and progressive periodontitis, due to a life-long genetic predisposition to over-produce Interleukin-1 (IL-1), a key mediator of inflammation. Such individuals may benefit from enhanced dental care to prevent or treat periodontitis and thereby lower their systemic inflammatory burden. Targeted management of systemic inflammation has been shown to help manage several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. The PerioPredict test is made available to employees in covered health plans under the supervision of a licensed dentist or physician, and the results provide important information to dental professionals for assessing prevention and treatment options for their patients. The PerioPredict test is run solely in Interleukins CLIA-certified lab in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.PerioPredict.com.

About Interleukin Genetics

Interleukin Genetics, Inc. (OTCQB:ILIU) develops and markets proprietary genetic tests for chronic inflammatory diseases and health-related conditions, with significant expertise in metabolism and inflammation. Our tests provide information that is not otherwise available to empower individuals and their healthcare providers to manage their health and wellness through genetics-based insights and actionable guidance. Interleukin Genetics leverages its research, intellectual property, and genetic panel development expertise in inflammation and metabolism to identify individuals whose risk for certain chronic disease may be increased due to variants in one or more genes, which can enable a more targeted approach to the individuals healthcare. The company markets its tests through healthcare professionals, partnerships with health and wellness companies, and other distribution channels. Interleukin Genetics lead products include its proprietary PerioPredict genetic test that identifies individuals at risk for severe periodontal disease and a life-long predisposition to overproduce inflammation, and its Inherent Health line of genetic tests. Interleukin Genetics is headquartered in Waltham, MA and operates an on-site, state-of-the-art DNA testing laboratory certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). For more information, please visit www.ilgenetics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements that obese and over-weight patients who are IL-1 positive will benefit from more intensive dental management. Because such statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those risks and uncertainties described in Interleukins annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Interleukin disclaims any obligation or intention to update these forward-looking statements.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Search Solution Group has been named the fastest growing executive search firm in North Carolina!



Search Solution Group, a premier executive search and headhunting firm, has been recognized by Inc. Magazine for the second consecutive year as a member of the prestigious Inc. 5000 List. This honor is reserved for America's 5000 Fastest Growing Companies, and Search Solution Group's 3-year revenue growth has landed them in the top 20% of these booming companies, ranking #995 overall in 2016. Of the 5000 honorees, Search Solution Group is joined by 129 other companies based in the state of North Carolina. Search Solution Group was ranked #18 for Human Resources companies in the country, #7 in overall growth for the Charlotte area, and the #1 Executive Search Firm in North Carolina for growth.



Inc. Magazine's 500|5000 list represents the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. In order to qualify for the list, a company is measured according to percentage revenue growth over a three-year period. The company's core methodology is rooted in creating and facilitating mutually beneficial relationships between employers and job-seekers. This relationship-centric approach has catapulted Search Solution Group in becoming the fastest growing recruiting and executive search firm in North Carolina. Search Solution Group has its corporate headquarters in Charlotte NC, along with offices in Baltimore MD, and Buffalo NY.



Search Solution Group's Director of Operations Eric Fehr had this to say when asked about being named to the list in 2015 and now 2016:



"To be honored by an organization such as Inc. Magazine is an achievement that speaks volumes. In our minds, sustaining the velocity of SSG's growth is an even greater testament to the standard to which our incredible team holds themselves. It's been a true pleasure to partake in our successes thus far, and we don't plan on slowing down anytime soon!"



Search Solution Group is joined by other fast growing companies like Plasticard Locktech International and Transportation Insight on the list this year as well as more than 40 other companies with headquarters in the Charlotte North Carolina area. Search Solution Group headhunts and performs executive searches in the specialty areas of accounting and finance, engineering, human resources, information technology, marketing, supply chain, life sciences, sales & business development, operations & manufacturing management, and compensation and benefits. The company was selected as one of five Charlotte companies to have its profile featured with a full-page spread in the "Leading Charlotte Business" section of the Fortune, Bloomberg BusinessWeek and Money Magazine.



SSG expanded in 2015 from its Charlotte headquarters to open an additional office in Baltimore, M.D. which focuses in the complex, technical life sciences marketplace. Search Solution Group has also re-engaged the Buffalo NY market due to impressive growth and economic forecast in the area. Search Solution Group's corporate headquarters is located at 2201 South Boulevard, Suite 300, Charlotte N.C. 28203.

About Search Solution Group



Search Solution Group delivers executive search and recruiting services by locating and vetting the most qualified candidates through traditional headhunting methods. As the new faces of old school headhunting, Search Solution Group has created permanent and sustainable employment solutions both locally and nationally since 2002. The company's dedicated team of recruiting and headhunting experts work all across the nation, and are physically located in Buffalo, Baltimore, and Charlotte offices. To become a client, or to view job openings and additional information, please visit www.searchsolutiongroup.com

Photos accompanying this release are available at:

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=41202
IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WNC, a national investor in real estate and community development initiatives, announced today it has closed WNC Institutional Tax Credit Fund 42, L.P. (WNC Corp. 42), a $102 million institutional low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) fund.



WNC Corp. 42 is estimated to include 1,504 affordable housing units in total, and is comprised of 17 family and senior housing communities scheduled for new construction and rehabilitation. The properties will be located in 12 states, including Arkansas, California, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

Approximately 28 percent of the projects in WNC Corp. 42 are new construction and will help to expand the nations limited stock of affordable housing, said WNC Senior Vice President of Investor Relations Christine Cormier. The remaining 72 percent of the funds projects include traditional and historical renovation, preserving the desperately needed affordable housing supply currently available to seniors and families in eight states. WNC is proud to continue existing investment partnerships and expand our investor base with this fund, which consists of two economic investors and four CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) investors.

This is the second national fund and third multi-investor fund WNC has closed in 2016, totaling $329.7 million year-to-date.

About WNC

WNC, founded in 1971 and headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a national investor in real estate and community development initiatives, as well as a leading investor in low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC). WNC has acquired more than $7.6 billion of assets totaling in excess of 1,300 properties in 45 states, Washington D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since 2000, WNC has been awarded four New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocations, totaling $178 million, and has facilitated development of 17 low-income community projects. WNCs investor base exceeds 19,500 institutional and retail clients, including Fortune 500 companies, multinational banks, and insurance companies. Additional information is available at www.wncinc.com.
'Harry Potter And The Cursed Child' takes up the tale of Harry Potter nineteen years after the end of the last Potter novel.

Harry Potter fans (Potterites) in South Korea will soon be able to read "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", the latest offering in the Potter canon, on their electronic devices, according to Publishing Perspectives.

Following on from China, who announced the new available "Cursed Child" format in late July, South Korea is the latest country to reveal plans for an e-book version of the playscript, as well as the seven Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling, all in Korean.

The eighth story from the series, and the only play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" picks up 19 years after the end of the last book, and follows the adventures and challenges faced by Harry Potter and his oldest son, Albus. Fans, while delighted that the Potter stories have not yet been exhausted, voiced disappointment that the story would only be available in a playscript format, and would be written by British playwright Jack Thorne, based on a story by Thorne, John Tiffany and Rowling. The show, divided into two parts, had its premiere on July 30 at London's Palace Theatre.

The US-based digital distribution firm Trajectory will work with three premiere retail partners in Korea -- Yes24, Kyobo Book Center and RidiBooks -- to sell the Harry Potter series and the latest playscript. Just as with the Chinese offering, the e-books will also be available in English, which will feature on a new English-language online store run by Trajectory.

Pottermore, the franchise's London-based publisher, chose Trajectory to manage the project overseas. The firm will work in partnership with digital content consulting agency Co.Mint, based in South Korea, to produce and distribute the eight Harry Potter e-books. The original seven have sold more than 450 million copies in 200+ territories worldwide, and have been translated into 79 languages.

The announcement comes alongside the news that Pottermore will release a series of e-book shorts from Rowling's wizarding world, entitled Pottermore Presents', on September 6. The e-books, each roughly 10,000 words long, will include short stories and first-person observations from Rowling.
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Young consumers are a mercurial bunch and nowhere is this clearer than in the retail apparel industry. A clothing line that's de rigueur one day is mocked as out of fashion the next. The fickle spawn of baby boomers (generations X, Y and Z) typically show little brand loyalty and impatiently flit from fad to fad.

This merciless dynamic has been very bad news for Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) , the once-dominant clothing chain store that appears to be in a death spiral. Abercrombie & Fitch is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

Unlike the half-naked models in the company's notoriously risque clothing catalogues, Abercrombie & Fitch's earnings picture won't be pretty.

The average analyst estimate is for Abercrombie & Fitch to lose 20 cents a share on an adjusted basis. In the same quarter a year earlier, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 12 cents. On average, analysts expect third-quarter adjusted EPS of 43 cents, vs. 48 cents in year-earlier period. Full-year adjusted EPS is expected to come in at 80 cents, compared with $1.12 in 2015.

Based in New Albany, Ohio, Abercrombie & Fitch operates 754 stores in the U.S. and 178 stores in Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As sales have tanked in recent years, the company abandoned the eponymous logo that once made its preppy clothing one of the hippest and coolest brands in the shopping mall. The company also is redesigning its stores to give them a more open and inviting look. The revamped retail spaces are slated to open in early 2017.

From our perspective, it's all to no avail. Abercrombie & Fitch belongs to a group of stressed equities that are poised for collapse.

In fiscal 2015, the company reported $3.52 billion on the top line and $35.6 million on the bottom line, representing the third consecutive year of weakening profit and the second-worst bottom line of the last 10 years. (The company broke even in fiscal 2009.) Things will only get worse.

Once all the rage, Abercrombie & Fitch has fallen into disfavor with youngsters, who are now flocking to cheaper and trendier fare offered by fashion brands such as Forever 21, Zara, and H&M. Weighing on the entire retail apparel industry are onerous student debts, stubbornly high youth unemployment levels, a tepid economy recovery and competition from e-commerce.

Abercrombie made the logical decision to slash prices, but its clothes are still costlier than those sold by "fast fashion" competitors that have narrowed the runway-to-shelf turnover time and enjoy lower operating costs than Abercrombie & Fitch. Deep discount retailers, led by Ross Stores, also are giving Abercrombie & Fitch a run for its money by offering fashionable brand-name clothing at bargain basement prices.

Abercrombie & Fitch stock has fallen 16% so far this year. That's even as the SPDR S&P Retail ETF, which tracks the retail sector, has risen 6.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 7.2%. After Abercrombie & Fitch reports dismal earnings next week, look for the stock to fall further.

To be sure, it's been a mixed bag for corporate earnings this season. With nearly all of the the S&P 500 reporting earnings to date for the second quarter, the blended earnings decline is 3.2%, according to the research group FactSet.

That said, several bellwether retailers came in unexpectedly strong, beating expectations. Notably, Wal-Mart Stores, which operates the Walmart retail chain, reported second-quarter EPS of $1.07, vs. analyst expectations of $1.02. Ross Stores last week reported second-quarter earnings of $281.9 million, up 9% from the same quarter a year earlier. EPS was 71 cents, topping analysts' expectations for 67 cents. Growth opportunities still exist in retail apparel, but Abercrombie & Fitch isn't among them.

Abercrombie & Fitch shares now trade at a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 26, compared with the average trailing P/E of 24 for the retail apparel sector. That valuation is still too high, considering the stock's meager growth prospects. The average one-year price target from analysts who cover the stock is $23.03, which would represent a gain of only 1.6% from current levels. This erstwhile clothing emperor has lost its retail power.

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A crisis is coming. When it hits, weak companies and their investors will be washed away. Don't let that happen to you! I've found seven companies you should own no matter what the economy is doing. Each one of these powerful yet overlooked companies barely notices when the market tumbles. And they'll skyrocket when it rebounds. You can pick up all seven for pennies on the dollar right now. To get the names of these "seven survivor stocks," click here.

John Persinos is an editorial manager and investment analyst at Investing Daily. At the time of publication, he owned none of the stocks mentioned. Persinos appears as a regular commentator on the financial television show "Small Cap Nation." Follow him on Twitter.
Canada Safety Board Investigating Toronto Trains' Collision

Police and Canadian Pacific Rail officials said the incident posed no threat to public safety, although the derailment caused a small diesel leak that was quickly contained.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada sent an investigator to Toronto after two freight trains collided Aug. 21 in Toronto. Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he will act quickly if safety lapses are found to have caused the derailment.

Police and Canadian Pacific Railway officials said the incident posed no threat to public safety, although the derailment caused a small diesel leak that was quickly contained; a CP Rail spokesman said one car that derailed was carrying batteries and aerosols, which are classified as dangerous goods, but they did not leak.

Train derailments and hazmat rail shipments have a higher profile in Canada since the Lac-Megantic disaster in July 2013, when a freight train carrying Bakken crude oil rolled, unattended, down a grade and derailed in the center of that Quebec town, causing a fireball and explosion. At least 42 people were killed.
NEWTON, MA(Marketwired  Aug 23, 2016)  Paytronix Systems, Inc., a leading provider of reward program solutions to restaurants and retailers, today announced upgrades to the Paytronix Platform that allow users to amp up both the customer experience and merchant experience. The new capabilities include mobile Pay at the Table, Scoring, Survey Tools, and a new Account Filter user interface.

Pay at the Table  Restaurant guests at table service concepts can leave when theyre ready when they pay using their own mobile device. Brands that deliver convenience in the moments that matter will gain a competitive advantage. This new technology is designed to give the guest an engaging payment experience that empowers them to redeem rewards, leave a tip, pay the check, and exit the restaurant on their own schedule.

An enhanced combination of campaign tools, data at the users fingertips, and messaging options enable marketers to learn quickly and act instantly. The newest Campaign Center innovations include:

New Account Filters UI  Enables marketers to quickly build out customer segments across 52 dimensions, including demographic information, guest behavior, and predictive analytics. With the ability to build easily segments, marketers will motivate

Scoring  Predicts future customer behavior by blending data to indicate the likelihood a member is to present a specific behavior or attribute. Each member is assigned a score thats as easy to interpret as a FICO credit score. This simple and powerful capability helps marketers reach consumers, including Millennials, with highly targeted, relevant communications.

Survey  Allows marketers to elicit and collect guest feedback within a single platform. Marketers can avoid the complications and time consumption of creating, deploying, analyzing and rewarding behavior across multiple systems. This new toolset brings the customer data to the marketer more quickly. As a result, marketers can gather preferences directly from customers, quickly respond to customer sentiments and adjust their offerings accordingly.

Paytronix is fully engaged in listening to its customers and responding to their requests with new features and capabilities in the Paytronix Rewards Platform, said Andrew Robbins, president, Paytronix Systems, Inc. Pay at Table, survey, scoring and all of the new analytics capabilities introduced to the Paytronix Campaign Center were created to enhance both the merchant and customer experience for all.

The new Paytronix capabilities will be showcased at PXUX 2016, the second annual Paytronix User Experience meeting, August 24 & 25, 2016, at the Royal Sonesta Boston in Cambridge, MA. Merchants from multi-unit restaurant and convenience store chains from across the country will attend the two-day, interactive conference, which will showcase high-impact rewards programs, big data applications, and mobile marketing thought leadership as well as a roadmap for the Paytronix Rewards Platform.

About Paytronix Systems, Inc.

Paytronixs proprietary guest engagement platform helps more than 300 restaurant and retail chains manage and grow more than $18 Billion in guest spend. Customers benefit from big data consumer insights that Paytronix generates from 1-to-1 engagement with more than 165 million loyal guests  through mobile, social and todays most innovative digital marketing tools. As a result, customers can more effectively segment and motivate their guests to increase spend and drive revenue. For more information, visit www.paytronix.com.
French President Francois Hollande voiced his "concern" over a spike in tensions in Ukraine, in a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, his office said Tuesday. The call, which also included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, came after Putin earlier this month accused Kiev of plotting an armed incursion on Crimea, and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion. Hollande "expressed his concern over a rise in tensions these past weeks and a growing number of ceasefire violations," it said in a statement after the call. "He underlined the risk an escalation of violence posed to the (peace) process." Ukraine has been in the grip of a conflict between its army and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country for two years. Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine and deploying troops across the border -- claims which Moscow denies. More than 9,500 people have been killed since the conflict started in April 2014, and deadly clashes continue to occur despite several truces. Tensions between Russia and Ukraine soared earlier this month after Putin accused Kiev of attempting an armed incursion into Crimea -- the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. Putin on Tuesday told the French and German leaders of a "gross provocation by the Ukrainian side," the Kremlin said. He said that Kiev's "inclination to this kind of military action harms the Minsk process and cooperation" under the so-called Normandy format, which groups Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. Meanwhile as fighting increased in the east, Ukraine's President Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion. Merkel, Hollande and Putin agreed to "continue personal contacts on the topic of Ukraine" on the sidelines of the G20 Summit to be held in China on September 4 and 5, the Kremlin said. Putin earlier this month said the alleged incidents in Crimea meant he would not hold a "senseless" meeting at the G20 with Poroshenko along with the French and German leaders.
(Photo: Seth Lui)

[UPDATE on Tuesday 22 August 2016, 4:32pm to include 7-Elevens response to the recall]



The hugely popular Chun Cui He milk tea from Taiwan has been taken off the shelves of exclusive retailer 7-Eleven in Singapore due to a non-permitted additive.

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said on Tuesday (23 August) that it has worked with the supplier to recall the drink, which contains L-theanine. The ingredient is currently not on the list of permitted food additives under the Food Regulations of Singapore.

AVA said in a media release that the drink poses no food safety risk. It added, Consumers who have consumed this product and have any health concerns can consult your doctor or seek medical advice.

A 7-Eleven spokesman told Yahoo Singapore that the retailer has begun removing the drink from its stores island-wide. Some stocks were already sold out before the AVAs announcement.

Customers who have concerns over the safety of the drink can go to any 7-Eleven outlet for a refund of unopened bottles, the spokesman added.

Since the launch of the milk tea in Singapore on 13 July, stocks of the drink have been sold out across 7-Eleven stores within hours after being put on the shelves, causing the retailer to impose a limit of six bottles for every single receipt purchase.

However, there is still hope for fans in Singapore to enjoy the drink, as 7-Eleven said that the importer, Abana Singapore, is in the process of registering L-theanine as an approved additive with AVA.

We are also working with the supplier to bring in new flavours that comply with AVAs guidelines, the spokesman said.

The Chun Cui He brand of latte drink, which is also sold at 7-Eleven, is not affected by the recall and will continue to be sold, the spokesman added.
This article was originally on GET.com at: Universities In Singapore - From The Cheapest To The Most Expensive

Most people in Singapore agree with the idea that it pays to have a degree in Singapore. But the reality is that most people don't have the money to pay for a degree from their own pockets. Some of us will resort to education loans which is definitely one way to do it, but make sure you've had a look at these 7 interest free student loans to see if you're eligible before you settle on one.

If going to university is your next step in life, then GET.com has compiled a list of universities in Singapore arranged from the cheapest to the most expensive, so you can get a rough estimation of how much you will need to prepare for school. When coming up with this list, we've decided to use the Bachelor of Accountancy as a control course, since it is one of the 4 degrees you can consider for easy employment in Singapore for illustration purposes. We used each school's per annum fees for this comparison.

Universities In Singapore - From The Cheapest To The Most Expensive

1. Nanyang Technological University

Image source: NTU

Coming in as the cheapest on this list is NTU's Bachelor of Accountancy, which is priced at $9250 per annum.

2. National University Of Singapore

Image source: NUS

Just costing slightly more than NTU, NUS' Bachelor of Accounting in the School of Business would cost you $9450 per annum.

3. Singapore Management University

Image source: SMU

Coming in third, is SMU's Bachelor of Accountancy. Jumping out of the four-digit category, the degree would cost you $11,300 per annum.

4. SIM Global Education

Image source: SIM Global Education

A Bachelor of Business in Accountancy at RMIT University, which is originally based in Melbourne, Australia, would cost $14,124 per annum.

There's also a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Accounting and Finance by University of London that costs approximately $9266 per annum.

Story continues

The University of Sheffield in SIM also offers a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Accounting and Financial Management that costs $30,174 for the entire degree.

5. Kaplan

Image source: Kaplan

At Kaplan, because the Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting there can be done in 16 months, they count the fees in its entirety, which is a few hundred dollars shy from $20,000, costing $18,297 in total.

Which Uni Suits You?

The Straits Times reported recently that university fees were projected to go up in 2030 to cost as much as 70.2% of a person's yearly income.

While this is still not the case today (not yet at least), university fees in Singapore have already started to increase every year since 2010. If you want to get enrolled in uni, maybe it's time to do it soon before the prices start to go up exorbitantly.

If you're lucky enough to not have to think about your finances when it comes to paying for your school fees, then maybe you might even want to consider going to an overseas uni. Even though sometimes it may cost a lot more, it's okay to spend on an overseas degree especially if the courses you want to do are not readily available here in Singapore.

What do you think? Share your comments with us below!

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Lithuania on Monday signed a deal for German-made armoured vehicles intended to boost its defence capabilities, as it seeks to allay concerns of a military resurgence of Russia on its doorstep. In its biggest-ever arms purchase, the Baltic NATO member will buy 88 Boxer armoured fighting vehicles for 386 million euros ($435 million). Produced by the German-Dutch ARTEC consortium, the vehicles are fitted with Israeli-made turrets. "It's a long-term investment into national defence and also a signal that Lithuania takes its security and investing in it seriously," Defence Minister Juozas Olekas said after inking the deal. The first vehicles are expected to arrive in Lithuania in 2017 and the rest by 2021. The largest of the three Baltic states that broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, Lithuania has increased its defence budget by about a third each year since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Next year, the nation of three million has earmarked 725 million euros for defence, or 1.79 percent of economic output. Alarmed by the Russian annexation of Crimea and a series of war drills staged near its borders, it also reintroduced limited conscription last year. Despite the efforts, Lithuania largely depends on its NATO partners to guarantee its security. Germany agreed to lead a multinational battalion in Lithuania last month when NATO approved a troop boost in the Baltic states and Poland to reassure allies once ruled from Moscow. The Kremlin denies any territorial ambitions and insists that NATO is trying to encircle Russia.
Weekend in the City returns to Manchester this coming weekend, with three days to film a five minute edit in the Greater MCR area and then one week to edit the footage together to be in with the chance to win various prizes. The premieres will be held at Fallow Cafe on Sunday 4th September alongside a charity raffle for the Uchira Childrens Fund  click the flyer for details on that, and check out some of last years edits to get the gist

The premiere of this year's WITC edits will be taking place this Sunday the 4th of September at Manchester's Fallowcafe, alongside a last minute pre-premiere...

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STEM

Cyber Patriot Adds American Military U Support

American Military University (AMU) has become the newest sponsor of the Air Force Association's CyberPatriot STEM program.

"CyberPatriot, the nation's largest and fastest growing youth cyber education program, is the Air Force Association's flagship STEM initiative dedicated to strengthening cyber skills among American youth and exciting students toward careers in STEM," according to a news release.

The program is designed to encourage students to pursue education and careers in cybersecurity and other STEM disciplines through a national competition, camps and an education initiative.

"We're proud to partner with the Air Force Association to support the success of the CyberPatriot program," said John Aldrich, vice president of military, veterans & educational partnerships for American Public University System, in a prepared statement. "Our organizations share a commitment to providing a robust educational experience grounded in practical, real-world applications to help ensure that students are best equipped for career success."
STEM

Kids-Tech Launches Elementary Classes Using VR, Drones and 3D Printing

Kids-Tech, an Atlanta-based ed tech company, has launched Tech Class, a year-long program for elementary school kids designed to help build a foundation of knowledge in technology.

The weekly classes cover 3D printing, app building, drones and virtual reality. They typically take place after school, after general, daytime instruction has ended. Kids-Tech offers skills building and hands-on experiences for students as young as 3 years old.

Supplying all of the equipment, with classes held at the kids schools, Kids-Tech is currently offering classes to more than 500 children in the Atlanta area. Instead of teaching students difficult terminology and technique processes first, Kids-Tech teaches by allowing the children to interact, engage and learn naturally. Along the way, the students are expected to pick up the details.

It is never too early to foster a love and understanding for learning, Kids-Tech says on its website. Our philosophy is: the stronger the foundation, the taller the building. The faster children can become acquainted with technology in a structured and directed manner, the more they will be able to flourish in it.

Kids-Tech integrates the demand and need for STEM and technological skills into engaging, bite-sized classes that children enjoy, according to a news release.

More information about Kids-Tech and its Tech Class can be found at the companys website.
Learning Resources

Newsela Rolls Out Non-Fiction Library

The library includes primary source material and historical documents and offers adapted versions for learners at various reading levels.

Newsela, an education startup working to improve literacy, has launched a new library of primary source material, historical and biographical resources, available in English and Spanish and arranged by reading standard.

We are aiming to improve reading comprehension, knowledge acquisition and reading motivation among students of different abilities, CEO and co-founder Matthew Gross told TechCrunch.

Launched in 2013, Newsela publishes news articles daily at five levels of complexity for students in grades 212, as well as Common Core-aligned quizzes to test reading comprehension and critical-thinking. Following the same format of their news, the library will provide multiple versions of historical and biographical resources for readers at different reading levels to understand.

The library is available now on the Newsela site.
France's President Francois Hollande, right, poses with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, prior to the Balkans summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Monday, July 4, 2016. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Balkan nations are meeting to better prevent extremists from sneaking in with migrants who are moving west across Europe. ()

AP Photo/Thibault Camus

It is preliminary PMI day in Europe, meaning we are getting the first read on growth across the European Union in August.

Germany missed growth forecasts due to weaker than expected service sector growth, but still posted decent numbers overall. France and the EU as a whole topped expectations thanks to better than forecast service sector growth.

Here are the headline numbers from across the EU (anything above 50 signals growth in activity, while anything below means contraction):

Composite: 53.3  a slight beat against an estimate of 53.2, which was July's reading.

Manufacturing: 51.8  a miss compared to a forecast of 52 and down from 52 in July.

Services: 53.1  beating an estimate of 52.8 and an acceleration from July's 52.9.

The EU's flash figure for overall growth in August suggests the economy is growing at its fastest pace in 7 months. It comes off the back of July's figures, which showed that Britain's vote to leave the EU in late June had almost no effect on growth.

Financial data company IHS Markit is behind the PMI figures and Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit, says in a statement: "The August flash PMI indicates that the eurozone remains on a steady growth path in the third quarter, with no signs of the recovery being derailed by Brexit uncertainty.

"The survey data are consistent with the regions GDP growing at a quarterly rate of 0.3% in the third quarter, or 1.2% annualised, which is similar to that seen on average over the first half of the year."

Germany: 'A note of caution'

Germany delivered a slightly disappointing set of numbers, with service sector and overall economic growth both missing forecasts.

Here are Germany's numbers:

Composite: 54.4  a miss against the forecast of 54.8 and down from a reading of 55.3 in July.

Manufacturing: 53.6  beating estimate of 53.5 and against July's figure of 53.8.

Services: 53.3  a big miss against a forecast of 54.3 and well below July's 54.4 number.

Story continues

Oliver Kolodseike, Economist at IHS Markit, says in a statement: "Todays survey results highlight that the German economy is continuing its uninterrupted upward trend in August. However, output, new orders, and employment all rose at slightly weaker rates during the month, thereby signalling that business conditions have become a bit more challenging since the prior month.

"Moreover, a closer look at the underlying data reveals a note of caution for service providers. Not only did business activity rise at the slowest pace since May 2015, but confidence about the 12- month outlook dropped to a near two-year low."

France at 10-month high

France had pretty much the opposite experience to Germany, with a rampant service sector helping overall economic growth beat expectations. Here are the figures:

Composite: 51.6  beating forecasts of 50.5, the growth recorded in July.

Manufacturing: 48.5  lower than estimates of 48.8 and down from July's figure of 48.6.

Services: 52  a big beat on estimates of 50.5, which was July's reading.

That is a decent set of numbers from France. While manufacturing is still in decline, the service sector is picking up the slack and overall economic growth is outpacing estimates by a significant margin. Overall, the private sector grew at its fastest pace in 10 months.

Jack Kennedy, Senior Economist at IHS Markit, says in a statement: "Frances private sector economy gathered some momentum in August, raising hopes of a pick-up in GDP growth after the stagnation seen in the second quarter.

"A stronger contribution from the service sector bolstered overall output, while manufacturing held its ground to halt a recent slide. That said, the trend in incoming new business remains muted while firms indicated a return to job shedding in the latest month, suggesting that the recovery remains stuck in the slow lane."

NOW WATCH: How 2 brothers turned a virtually indestructible cooler into a half-billion-dollar brand

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Brexit is having almost no impact on the European economy

DON'T MISS: STIGLITZ: Italy could be the 'cataclysmic event' that leads to the fall of the eurozone
It "appears" does it, maybe get your eyes checked. This thread is about federal waste. The majority of shyte that machjo posted does not fall under federal authority. Not that I expect him to get very much right when he posts.





As for the "10K", there are 2 links there, and their titles have 2 different amounts. Which is it, 10k or 6k, or is it a significantly lower number? Did the Conservatives spend a similar amount of money during a similar event for a similar thing? I would lay odds that the answer is yes, but that the right wing pundits would rather ignore that.
PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius said on Friday that tourism revenue in 2016 will be 1.8 percent higher than it had previously forecast, after a surge in visitors during the first half. Tourism is a valuable source of foreign exchange for the tiny Indian Ocean country known for its luxury spas and beaches. Earnings from the sector are now expected to reach 56 billion rupees this year, up from an earlier forecast of 55 billion in May, according to Statistics Mauritius, an official body. Last year, tourism earnings totalled 50.2 billion rupees. The statistics agency also raised its forecast for 2016 arrivals to 1,250,000 tourists from 1,240,000. Visitors in 2015 numbered 1,151,723. In the first half of 2016, Mauritius attracted 586,464 tourists, up 9.9 percent from a year earlier. (Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; Editing by Aaron Maasho and Dominic Evans)
PokerStars' Neil Johnson About the EPT Now Paying Out 20 Percent of the Field

August 23 2016 Frank Op de Woerd

Season 13 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour has kicked off in Barcelona with a hugely popular Estrellas Main Event and a 10,000 event. Yesterday, the 50,000 Super High Roller has started with a slate of familiar faces.

One of the big changes this season is the announced new payout structure that pays 20 percent of the field, compared to the 15 percent it paid in recent years.

We spoke to PokerStars Department Head of Live Poker Operations Neil Johnson about the change and its implications.

How did the European Poker Tour and PokerStars come to this decision?

We did a lot of research over the summer. We looked at the players, the player base, the overall tour, everything.

One of the interesting statistics we found is that 46 percent of the players on EPT Season 12, played only 1 or 2 events. The whole point, the reason why we have 100 events at a festival, is because we want people to be able to play as many as they can. Thats why we have the $100 and $200 events for example; because we want people to be able to play more and have more fun.

One of the things that came up was looking at the payouts. One of the interesting things in our industry is that it has grown very organically over its history. The payouts have thus grown the same way, from winner-take-all to 5 percent, to 10 percent and 15 percent.

We started looking at the payouts in a vacuum and to see what made sense. We took all the preconceptions out of it. We saw that if we would pay out 20 percent instead of 15 percent, we could give 5 percent of the field a do-over. Its effectively like saying Thanks for coming, I hope you had a lot of fun. Sorry you didnt make it into the big money, good luck the next time because heres money for another shot. If someone has a buy-in to play another poker tournament, thats a good thing. So thats the direction we ended up going.

Have you done a survey amongst EPT players?

Before the start of Season 10, the last time we changed the pay-outs, we did a big survey. We had 1,600 responses to the question which pay-out percentage they wanted. The options were 10 percent, 12.5 percent, and 15 percent, and all three of them got 33 percent of the votes. Whatever we did, 66 percent was going to be angry. We did what we thought was in the best interest of the poker economy at that time.

This time, we ran all the data we had and decided again to do what we thought was in the best interest of the poker economy and poker players. Weve done what we think was the right thing to do.

Is this a try-out, or is this a definitive decision?

Were doing it for the 2016 portion of EPT season 13; Barcelona, Malta and Prague. We really want to give it a solid run. Its like 200 tournaments and this way we will be really able to take a good look at it, and get the feedback from the players. This ultimately is a player driven industry and if the overwhelming feedback is that players love it, hate it, or want it tweaked, well certainly go back and look at it. But it will be in place for these 3 events.

Super High Roller regular Steve O'Dwyer talking to Neil Johnson about the changes

Does the decision come from the ever growing field sizes in live events?

You have these massive small buy-in events where thousands of people sign up. Take for example the opening WSOP circuit events and the Colossus or our PokerStars Cup events. People are paying something like $300 and play huge prize pools, but a lot of money is never flowing back into the poker economy.

Let's say first gets $200,000 in a $300 buy-in event. Thats great and amazing for that player. $197,000 of that is probably leaving the poker economy forever though. A $300 player is not going to become a $2,000 player overnight. Thats just not how progression works in poker. Lets say we now make first place prize $175,000, thats still a huge number of times their buy-in and still life changing money. You take that $25,000 and pay out a lot of people at the bottom, and give them all another bullet to become that $175,000 winner in one of the other events.

To keep a healthy poker economy, a solid liquidity for live tournament poker, you need more winners. You need more people able to buy in and play so the fields continue to grow. You dont want to see a situation where it just stagnates, which happens if theres not getting new money in.

I read an interesting article on Part Time Poker by Steve Ruddock, talking about the consolidation of online gaming. He pointed out something we all know but not think about generally, that poker is the only vertical in gaming that requires other players. It requires a healthy liquidity and a healthy ecosystem and the operators do have to keep that in mind.

The announcement spoke of 20 percent, but the first big event it was implemented came out to 22.9 percent of the field in the money.

We definitely acknowledge the argument whether the 20 percent should be the ceiling or the floor. The old EPT payouts had a 15 percent payout where the 15 percent was the ceiling. Quite frequently events paid out 12 percent or 13.

As the emphasis of this new payout was to pay out more people, the decision was to make the floor 20 percent. In practice, that means it will be in the 20 to 22 percent range.

Thats something were open to looking at. Maybe, if we get all the feedback, that turns out to be a mistake and we move to 17 to 20 percent and make the 20 percent the ceiling. We want to do it in a way that players appreciate it so were always open to looking at any decision as part of the overall process.

What was the consideration to implement a small min cash, worth just about the buy-in?

There was a commenter on the 2+2 forum, RedOak, and he said something that sometimes gets lost. When we went to 15 percent we had a lot of people saying 1.7 times the buy-in as a min cash isnt enough. People commented they needed gas money, hotel, travel money so 1.7 times the buy-in back is not enough.

The reality is that its 1.7 times more than $0, which is what the previous payout was. So people that are saying 1.1 isnt enough are missing the point that we were paying zero dollars before, and now pay out the buy-in back. As that commenter accurately pointed out, these were people walking away with nothing, and now theyre walking with their buy-in back. Theyre getting a do-over.

Some people might say Thats now why we play poker. We respect theres a bunch of pros that say that and I certainly acknowledge that they play poker for a big first place prize, but is that the minority or the majority of people that are playing? We feel the vast majority of players are our online qualifiers and recreational players. While everyone does look at the first place prize, cashing an event is already a big deal for them.

Has the difference between low buy-in events with huge amounts of entries, and the (Super) High Rollers with relatively small field sizes been considered? And the differences between reentry events and freeze-outs?

Weve taken a look at out reentry figures and they average out to between 15 and 20 percent over the course of everything. So that isnt really an argument to make for a bigger min cash. If 50 percent of the players in an event reenters youd have the majority of players in for double the buy-in. But when the vast majority is in for just one buy-in, which is the case at EPTs, we think you need to cater to those guys.

Were going to talk to the guys in the Super High Roller. Weve seen the tweets from Mike [McDonald], Steve [ODwyer] and Daniel [Negreanu]. There's two schools of thoughts. For a tournament that is unlimited reentry where people are firing 5 or 6 bullets, I absolutely agree to differentiate them. We have very few reentry events and the vast majority of them are single reentry though. The only unlimited reentry event is the Super High Roller.

The 50,000 and above Super High Rollers are a unique animal. Its the same 100-200 people across the world who play those. I personally would give em winner take all if they wanted to, really.

But below that is something slightly different. For all of EPT12 we had 6 High Rollers that had 1,672 entries and 1,309 uniques. We satellite 163 players in for 12.5% of the unique fields. So we would argue in that instance, you dont have 1,300+ individuals who are all massive 5-figure buy-in players that would be disappointed with 11,000, the min cash if it had todays pay-out structure.

People might say nobody wants their buy-in back as min cash, but, respectfully, our research disagrees and I will add again, we dont believe we lowered what the min cash means, we added spots that used to be 0 and now pay those spots a 1.0x to 1.2x cash.

Theyre the players we listen to all the time and we want their opinion, so Im going to come in tomorrow before the event starts and talk to everyone. I dont know I would make a change right there for that event as it is difficult to build a consensus with a large group in such a short window of time.

Neil Johnson and the European Poker Tour, after this interview was conducted, decided to switch back the payout structure to 15 percent for the 50,000 Super High Roller and 25,000 Single-Day High Roller.

More players able to enter more events means more rake for PokerStars and the European Poker Tour. Was that not a consideration?

I saw a couple of guys that said Stars is just trying to rake them again! Rake didnt come into it when we were deciding on what to do. I dont say you entering again doesnt give us extra rake, the two are obviously interconnected. But the goal of all of these discussions, and we spent 2 months doing exactly that this summer, was that we wanted people to play more. The reason we run tournaments like Deuces Wild is because we want players to have fun. We want people to be able to play more and we think this min cash gives people the opportunity to do that.

Additionally, this would be arguably one of the most convoluted ways to raise rake possible. First, we have to handle 5% more payouts for every single tournament which increasing staffing and registration costs for all those tournaments, then we have to hope all those players play another event? If, as some have suggested, we wanted to do a rake grab, why wouldnt we just raise the fee on the Estrellas Main to 125 or 150? Much simpler.

Theres been some critique that the announcement came literally the day before the Estrellas Main. Why was the announcement made so late?

It was approved 10 days ago. It has been under discussion a lot, but obviously, its a big change so we had to do the research.

After the new payout was agreed on, it took a couple of days to decide if we wanted to do it for EPT Season 13, or if we want to wait and implement it for events in 2017 when we can launch it for all of our tours, as were kind of in the middle with the APPT, LAPT, UKIPT, etcetera right now. We talked it through and eventually decided to do it for Barcelona. If its ready and we think its the right thing to do, why hold it for 3 months was our train of thoughts?

I definitely understand players feeling that we didnt give them enough notice and acknowledge we could have done better. For that I accept full responsibility and we will try harder in the future to make sure players are better informed in advance.

We really do believe this is the way forward for live event and live room payouts and we hope that everyone who plays in Barcelona, Malta and Prague will provide us with feedback both in person at the events and online via email, Twitter, Facebook, etcetera. We might not answer every Tweet or post, but everything gets seen or read and added to the feedback. We want to hear everyones opinions on the change.

Hi all, thanks for the feedback on 20%, please keep it coming, we're reading it all. Thank you. @PokerStarsEPT #EPTBarcelona  Neil Johnson (@NeilJPoker)

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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.
Ares Management is reportedly seeking to raise more than $45bn for its latest batch of funds.
Woah.Huge list of infrastructure projects coming up.Thanks Trudeau!!!!The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario have reached a bilateral agreement that will provide more than $2.97 billion in combined funding for projects that will reduce commute times and make public transit more efficient and inclusive for people in the province.The Government of Canada is providing Ontario with $1,486,680,000 under the new Public Transit Infrastructure Fund, and will cover up to 50 per cent of the funding needed for projects supported under this agreement.To reach this agreement, projects representing a significant portion of the total federal funding for transit needed to be identified. The following projects have been approved for federal funding amounting to $688,745,733 to date. With the agreement now in place, all eligible communities will be invited to nominate projects for funding beginning in early September.
brownness. Yet this is asserted as what happens, as some universal fact. And then promptly contradicted:



Eating food from another culture in isolation from that cultures history and also current issues mean [sic] that were just borrowing the pieces that are enjoyable  palatable and easily digestible.



Um, isnt that rather the point? You know, tastiness without baggage? Isnt that what makes foreign cuisine commercially viable, a livelihood of millions? Or is ordering takeout only acceptable following lengthy, brow-furrowing investment in each and every vendors ancestral culture and current politics? Should every visit to, say, a Pakistani restaurant entail a stern lecture on the pros and cons of European colonialism and a lifetime subscription to the fever dream of Islam? Would that aid digestion? Stated plainly, it sounds a little silly. But Ms Kuo wishes to appear concerned, deeply concerned, that people of pallor might enjoy falafel and a spot of hummus but not understand or address the ongoing Islamophobia in the US.



Contra Ms Kuo, Im pretty sure that the family running my local Chinese takeaway actively encourages heathen white folk to sample their wares, regardless of whether those paying customers are intimately familiar with All Of Chinese History, and regardless of whether those customers dutifully ponder how the cooking of this particular family may differ from other Chinese families in a country as vast and sprawling as China. the complex relationships and power dynamics between Asian countries and issues of labour equity and immigration policy as a precondition of buying hot tossed chicken. No. What they want is custom. Pretentiously agonised pseudo-sensitivity is, alas, not billable.



And yet for Ms Kuo neurotic fretting is, and should be, a staple of eating out:



Food can be used as a tool of marginalisation and oppression Its critical for us to reflect on how we perceive the cultures that were consuming and think about the relationships between food, people, and power.



Imagine the fun. The thrillingly politicised mealtime conversation.



Ms Kuo describes herself as a scholar and educator based in New York City. Her interests include racial justice, intersectional feminism and digital media activism.



davidthompson: The Mouthing of Bollocks



The Feminist Guide to Being a Foodie Without Being Culturally Appropriative a Everyday Feminism



davidthompson: Undone By Her Radical aDo



https://twitter.com/rachelkuo



What they want is custom. Pretentiously agonised pseudo-sensitivity is, alas, not billable.And yet for Ms Kuo neurotic fretting is, and should be, a staple of eating out:Food can be used as a tool of marginalisation and oppression Its critical for us to reflect on how we perceive the cultures that were consuming and think about the relationships between food, people, and power.Imagine the fun. The thrillingly politicised mealtime conversation.Ms Kuo describes herself as a scholar and educator based in New York City. Her interests include racial justice, intersectional feminism and digital media activism. And I very much doubt that they expect their patrons to acquaint themselves with  Well.Ms Kuo, Im pretty sure that the family running my local Chinese takeaway actively encourages heathen white folk to sample their wares, regardless of whether those paying customers are intimately familiar with All Of Chinese History, and regardless of whether those customers dutifully ponder how the cooking of this particular family may differ from other Chinese families in a country as vast and sprawling as China. Or subsuming histories and stories into menu items. Its a meal, not an attempt to absorb world history or to flirt with some notional. Yet this is asserted as what happens, as some universal fact. And then promptly contradicted:Eating food from another culture in isolation from that cultures history and also current issues mean [sic] that were just borrowing the pieces that are enjoyable  palatable and easily digestible.Um, isnt that rather the point? You know, tastiness without baggage? Isnt that what makes foreign cuisine commercially viable, a livelihood of millions? Or is ordering takeout only acceptable following lengthy, brow-furrowing investment in each and every vendors ancestral culture and current politics? Should every visit to, say, a Pakistani restaurant entail a stern lecture on the pros and cons of European colonialism and a lifetime subscription to the fever dream of Islam? Would that aid digestion? Stated plainly, it sounds a little silly. But Ms Kuo wishes to appear concerned,concerned, that people of pallor might enjoy falafel and a spot of hummus but not understand or address the ongoing Islamophobia in the US.

Via the pages of Everyday Feminism, Rachel Kuo instructs the dull masses on how to avoid cultural appropriation while eating:When we talk about ethnic food, were not referring to French, German, or Italian cuisine, and definitely not those Ikea Swedish meatballs.I suspect few people think of German cuisine as particularly mysterious and alluring. There are, I fear, very few German restaurants beyond the borders of Germany. Good, though.Usually, were talking about Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Ethiopian, and Mexican food  places where food is cooked by the brownest people.As is the custom with articles in Everyday Feminism, the density of assumption in what follows is quite high. For instance, when my family ventures out for a meal, table for twenty, I can say with some confidence that the choice of restaurant isnt determined by the melanin levels of the people cooking it.What happens is that food becomes the only identifier for certain places. Japan reduced to ramen and sushi, Mexico reduced to tacos and burritos, India reduced to curry, and so on.Again, note the loadedness, the questions begged. I dont think Ive ever eaten, say, chili while convinced that said meal was an adequateof the entire population of Mexico and Texas, past and present. Nor can I recall fetishizing the sustenance of another culture.
Modified On Aug 23, 2016 04:32 PM By Arun for Hyundai Elantra 2015-2019

The wait is over! Multiple speculations and spyshots later, the sixth generation of the Elantra has been launched in India with prices starting at Rs 12.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The Hyundai has been battling it out with the likes of the Toyota Corolla Altis, the Skoda Octavia and the Volkswagen Jetta.

Here's a look at the introductory (ex-showroom, Delhi) prices, which will be valid till December, 2016.

Petrol Diesel Elantra 2.0 MPi S - 12.99 lakh Elantra 1.6 CRDi S - 14.79 lakh Elantra 2.0 MPi SX - 14.79 lakh Elantra 1.6 CRDi SX - 16.39 lakh Elantra 2.0 MPi SX (AT) - 15.89 lakh Elantra 1.6 CRDi SX (O) - 17.69 lakh Elantra 2.0 MPi SX (O) - 16.59 lakh Elantra 1.6 CRDi SX (O) AT - 19.19 lakh Elantra 2.0 MPi SX (O) AT - 17.99 lakh

Now that we have the prices, let's run through the basics:

The Looks

When the 'Neo Fluidic' Elantra debuted in 2012, it was greeted by a lot of 'oohs' and 'wows'. That said, it was slightly in-your-face (and maybe even over the top) for a few. The D segment that the Elantra slugs it out in is known for clean and minimal design. Naturally, with this version, Hyundai has subdued the curves, and replaced them with some clean and crisp lines. The sixth generation looks like an evolution of the existing car, and that isn't a bad thing at all. Based on an all new platform, the Elantra is both longer and wider compared to its predecessor.

The tapered headlamps, 16-inch alloy wheels, the coupe-like sloping roofline and the LED taillamps do their bit in making the saloon look modern. It gets a big thumbs up from our side as far as design is concerned.

The Cabin

With the 2015 update, Hyundai also introduced an all-black interior colour scheme for the Elantra. This was a bold move, especially considering how much our country loves beige interiors with wooden accents. The trend continues, and the Elantra gets just as many goodies as before. The layout has been heavily revised and looks more in tune with the times now. Features include a 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), dual-zone climate control, leather upholstery and electric seats. Our favourite has to be the handsfree boot release. Simply approach the boot with the key in your pocket and the boot will open. Pretty nifty!

The Drive

We will be driving the new Elantra over the weekend, so do stay tuned for a detailed first impressions report. There are two engines on offer: a 1.6-litre diesel and a 2.0-litre petrol. While the diesel has been carried over from the previous generation, the petrol engine is all-new. Both engines can be had with either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic. Speaking of specs, the diesel produces 128PS of power and 260Nm of torque. On the other hand, the petrol motor is good for 152PS and 186Nm of torque.

Hyundai has high hopes with the Elantra and is banking on the new one not just to revive itself, but breathe some life into the segment as a whole. What do you think about the new Hyundai? Let us know through the comments section below.

Read More on : Elantra
Modified On Aug 23, 2016 04:47 PM By Alshaar

After a warm response from the Delhi diaspora earlier this month, the Land Rover Experience tour is now set to make the next stop on its adventurous journey in Nagpur. The off-roading event will be held in the terrains of Suraburdi Meadows, Waddhamna, from August 26 to August 28, informed a press release.

Keeping up the tradition since its inception in 2013, the event will familiarise Nagpurs Land Rover customers with the capabilities of the muscular Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque SUVs. The event aims to bring participants closer to real-life adventure and to offer them an unforgettable experience, added the release.

Nagpur will be the sixth city to host the off-roading affair in the 2016 edition of the Range Rover Experience tour. The Indo-Brit automaker has so far seen participation from over 700 enthusiasts this year.

The event was first organised in Kochi with 130 Land Rover customers and was staged with 220 customers from Bengaluru and 165 from Hyderabad, in the following weeks. The tour then travelled further up north as around 195 people signed up for the Aamby Valley leg, before 200-plus drivers showed up in Delhi.

On the occasion, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL) president, Rohit Suri, said, We are delighted with the response of our customers to such events who are amazed by the capability of Land Rover cars showcased as a part of the drive experience.
While Dana Sumner admits to having butterflies in his stomach over NCUAs final member business lending (MBL) rule, he says credit unions should view the changes as an opportunity.

A lot still needs to be decided before were comfortable with these rules, says Sumner, president/CEO of the consulting firm DFTC. These are the biggest changes weve seen in the member business lending arena for some time.

He says NCUAs overhaul of its MBL regulations will allow credit union business lenders to expand their efforts and, with changes to loan participation rules, mitigate geographic risk.

This is an exciting time, Sumner says. Be as open-minded as possible, but dont take this lightly. NCUA will hold our feet to the fire regarding the business loans we do, and well have to understand the rules very well.
Thank god the Olympics are over. Id rather watch another video of Armenian weightlifter Andranik Karapetyan dislocating his elbow than suffer through another painful night of NBCs Olympic coverage. The networks outdated programming has only reinforced televisions growing relevancy problem with tech and social-savvy viewers.

Is your credit union making the same mistakes?

Take, for example, the networks sexist commentary. I had seen some social media posts criticizing the network but didnt think much of it. Everybody criticizes the media.

But not even five minutes after tuning in, my jaw dropped when I saw it for myself. As gold medalist swimmer Abbey Weitzeil entered Aquatics Stadium, commentator Rowdy Gaines quipped, Lets get a smile, Abbey.

No commentator would dream of encouraging Michael Phelps to smile for the good folks watching on TV right before he competed for Olympic gold.

Why does it matter? Because it communicates that men compete, while women merely perform. Thats sexist, outdated and flat-out repulsive.

If you dont realize how much women bristle at being told to smile, youre probably loathed in your credit union. Millennial women often respond to such a patronizing request with indignation. Baby boomer and Gen X women arent as obvious. Theyve grown accustomed to forcing a pleasant facial expression the clueless man perceives to be a smile intended to brighten his big, important day.

The outward response doesnt matter  all three generations of women note to avoid this man in the future. If hes in the business of growing market share, hes striking out with half of his prospects.

NBCs scheduling and delivery channels are also frustrating. Because the network only shows events during prime time, by the time it airs here on the West Coast, Ive known the results for three hours or more. NBC is live streaming events this year for the first time ever on its website, but a cable provider login is required.

In an omnichannel world, NBC will die a slow, painful death if it limits online viewers to only cable subscribers. By the next Olympics, its estimated at least  of U.S. households wont have cable service. The network paid $4 billion for exclusive domestic broadcast rights in the U.S.; thats a lot of money to limit access to a rapidly decreasing market.

Does your credit union provide an omnichannel experience? If you dont communicate with members via text message, interact with them on social media or provide a mobile app that offers complete account access, the answer is no. And if thats the case, youre also dying a slow, painful death.

Consumers today want what they want, when they want it and how they want it. There may be significant operational hurdles that prevent you from offering a true omnichannel experience, but consumers dont care about your problems. The cooperative structure is important within the credit union community, but consumers arent willing to sacrifice convenience and innovation to support the credit union philosophy.

Just like Netflix, Hulu and livestreaming apps provide an alternative to cable television, there are plenty of innovative financial service providers ready to steal your market share. Like the Olympics, the purchase of goods and services will survive the ages. How you deliver that service determines whether you survive, too.
NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND NAZIS

HARD FACTS ABOUT ISLAM

The best way to take control over a people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, the people will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed.

From "Mein Kampf", the book by Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Nazi Germany.





Does this sound familiar? Is this not exactly what is happening to most western secular nations under the guise that the loss of our freedoms is for the sake of security against terrorism - Muslim terrorism? In the USA, since 11 September 2001, Americans have been restricted in the way they act, travel and do many things that were completely free to them. They are harassed by TSA officials and police, who grab them and literally physically assault them when patting them down to look for weapons or bombs.





The freedoms that Australians have taken for granted for so many decades have been eroded slowly, all because of Islamic terrorism, not because a despotic government wants more powers. The carefree Australian way of life is slowly vanishing under a raft of restrictions by government, along with demands by Muslims for special concessions and conditions, even to controlling the food supply by coercing and blackmailing producers into obtaining Halal certification, a disgraceful way of extorting money that most probably ends up in the hands of terrorists and at best, pays for the propagation of Islam in secular nations.





The problem is that Islam is not like any other religion. Islam is a death cult and a malignant political system that is responsible for virtually all the terrorist acts in the world. Islam is a doctrine that imposes the most Draconian and barbaric punishments for acts that would attract little or no penalty in any other nation, such as an automatic death penalty for anybody who renounces Islam.





Islam can easily be compared to Nazism, however even the Nazis complied with a certain standard of human behaviour and morality. At least the Nazis respected the rules of war in most cases and treated their prisoners of war reasonably well, whereas Muslim groups such as Islamic State simply massacre their captives and rape their women and then keep them as sex slaves. Even the Nazis did not stoop to such barbarity. So it is not hard to determine that Muslims are far worse than Nazis, simply because the evidence says so.



SIMILARITIES



Nazis wanted to conquer and subjugate the world.

Muslims want to conquer and subjugate the world

Nazis followed and worshipped a genocidal maniac called Adolf Hitler

Muslims follow and worship a genocidal maniac called the Prophet Mohammed

Nazis believed in the National Socialist holy book called Mein Kampf that called for world conquest and genocide.

Muslims believe in the Islamic holy book called the Koran that calls for world conquest and genocide.

Nazis wanted to exterminate the Jews.

Muslims want to exterminate the Jews.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAZIS AND MUSLIMS?
This daily digest focuses on market sentiment, new developments in Chinas foreign exchange policy, changes in financial market regulations and Chinese-language economic coverage in order to keep DailyFX readers up-to-date on news typically covered only in Chinese-language sources.

- NDRC encourages private capital to participate in the 165 national projects addressed in the 13th five-year plan.

- Government-led purchases increased in financial and real estate stocks in the second quarter.

- Poland and the World Bank will issue Yuan-denominated and SDR-denominated bonds respectively in the coming week.

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Sina News: Chinas most important online media source, similar to CNN in the US. They also own a Chinese version of Twitter, called Weibo, with around 200 million active usersmonthly.

- The Chinese government encourages private capital to participate in the 165 national projects addressed in the 13th Fifth plenum (Chinas five-year plan), said Vice Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Hu Zhucai on August 23rd. Mr. Hu pointed out that currently Chinese private investors have doubts on where to invest; the five-year plan provides guidelines for them to find investment opportunities. In July, the growth of private investment dropped to 2.1% from 11.3% a year ago, indicating private investors are lacking investment opportunities. At the same time, private investment is crucial for the Chinese economy as it has accounted for approximate 60% of the countrys GDP. Within such context, the Chinese government takes actions to help private capital to find investment opportunities.

Hexun News: Chinese leading online media of financial news.

- As of the end of July, 619 Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) deals have been signed with a total value of 1 trillion Yuan, according NDRC. PPP refers to cooperation between government agencies and private companies on projects focusing on infrastructure and public services. The PPP model has been promoted by the Chinese government as it can help to cut fiscal expenditures and also provide investment opportunities to private investors who are holding excessive of cash.

- Central Hujing Investment and China Securities Finance, two government-led institutions, have purchased stocks of 320 listed companies as of August 18th, according to the semi-annual reports of 928 listed firms. After Chinese equities plunged last August, the Chinese government stepped in and started to purchase stocks in the effort of stabilizing equity markets. Ever since then, the moves of government-led purchases have been considered to be the bellwether of the equity market. In the second quarter of 2016, among all the government-led purchases, financial stocks and real estate stocks increased the most, indicating these industries are the governments main focuses. On the other hand, manufacturing shares were significantly reduced among government-led holdings in the second quarter, hinting at low returns in these industries amid production cuts.

China Finance Information: a finance online media administrated by Xinhua Agency.

- World Bank plans to issue the first SDR-denominated bonds in Chinas interbank market on August 31st, which is worth 500 million SDR ($701.7 million). This will be the first SDR-denominated bond issued in the global market since 1981. On October 1st, the Chinese currency will officially join the SDR basket and the launch of SDR-denominated bonds in less than two months before the Yuans entrance brings a symbolic meaning for China.

On August 25th, Poland will issue 6 billion Yuan of government bonds in China; this will be the first European country selling a government bond in Mainland China. As the Yuan officially becomes a reserve currency on October 1st, it is expected that foreign demand in Yuan assets will continue to increase gradually. The opening-up of Chinas interbank market provides access for foreign countries and institutions to hold Yuan assets.

As of August 22nd, 23 foreign central banks and national development banks have been approved by the PBOC to participate in Chinas interbank market; they are allowed to trade multiple products, including spots, forwards, swaps and currency swaps.

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We take this threat to our fish very seriously, and were looking at every option to protect our fish. We dont want to go through another catastrophe like the fish kill in 2002, and we will do anything we can to avoid that outcome this year, said Thomas P. ORourke, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe.

The Klamath River salmon fishery, an integral part of the culture, religion and livelihoods of the Yurok, Hoopa Valley and Karuk Tribes of Northern California, is going through some tough times this year.Because of the record-low run of fall-run Chinook salmon projected by federal fishery managers earlier this year, the Yurok Tribe, the largest Indian Tribe in California, held its Klamath Salmon Festival this August without serving traditionally-cooked salmon to the public as it has done for 54 years.Then on August 19, the Tribe announced that Yurok Fisheries crews conducting routine fish disease monitoring have found that salmon in the Klamath River on the Yurok Reservation are infected with a potentially deadly disease.Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, commonly known as ich (pronounced ick), is capable of causing large fish kill events, according to the Tribe. Ich was the primary pathogen that caused the 2002 fish kill in the Klamath River and killed more than 35,000 adult Chinook salmon and steelhead after the disease spread in low, warm conditions spurred by Bush administration water policies that favored irrigators over fish and downstream water users.Michael Belchik, Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program. said the diseases was found at relatively low severity in the Klamath River last year, but is back this year at concerning levels.It appears that a small number of adult salmon migrated upriver in extremely warm water temperatures and then became stuck in a relatively small thermal refuge where they are getting infected with the pathogen, stated Belchik. What this means for the health of the fall Chinook run that is yet to migrate upstream is unclear.Belchick said diseases such as ich are exacerbated by low flows and water temperatures that currently exist in the lower Klamath and Trinity Rivers.In a statement, the Tribe said it will be working closely with Federal, State, and Tribal partners to determine what management actions are necessary to prevent further spread of ich and protect the main portion of the fall Chinook salmon run which has not entered the river as of yet.We take this threat to our fish very seriously, and were looking at every option to protect our fish. We dont want to go through another catastrophe like the fish kill in 2002, and we will do anything we can to avoid that outcome this year, said Thomas P. ORourke, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe.An alarmingly low number of fall run Chinook salmon are expected to return to the Klamath this year, due to adverse river water conditions during the past few drought years, combined with poor ocean conditions.The total combined subsistence salmon allocation for the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes this fall is just 7400 fish. The allocations of Klamath fall-run Chinook salmon for the ocean recreational and commercial fisheries, as well as the in-river recreational fishery, are also very small this season.In March, Dr. Michael OFarrell of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) forecasted an abundance of only 142,200 Klamath River fall Chinooks in the ocean this year, based on the returns of two-year-old salmon, called jacks and jills.OFarrell said the 2016 abundance forecast for Klamath River fall Chinook is 93,393 for age 3, 45,105 for age 4 and 3,671 for age 3. The abundance forecast for the salmon that are expected to return to the river to spawn is just 41,211 fish this season  and the fishery managers must target an escapement of at least 30,909 fish.The depressed salmon run is arriving this fall as the Klamath River Tribes and fishing groups are engaged in litigation against the federal government and federal water contractors over their failure to protect the rivers salmon. On July 29, the Hoopa Valley Tribe filed a lawsuit against the federal government for violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) over management actions that have imperiled Coho salmon on the Klamath. ( http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/29/1554325/-Hoopa-Valley-Tribe-Files-ESA-Lawsuit-to-Protect-Salmon This ESA suit is not the warning of a miners canary; it is the tsunami siren alerting North Coast communities of impending environmental catastrophe and cultural devastation for the Hoopa Valley Tribe, said Chairman Ryan Jackson.The Tribe filed the litigation against the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Marine Fisheries Service in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division, to protect the Coho salmon, listed as an endangered species under the ESA.The Hoopa lawsuit is expected to be followed by several other lawsuits. On July 20, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens Associations (PCFFA), Institute for Fisheries Resources, and Klamath Riverkeeper, represented by Earthjustice, put Reclamation and NMFS on 60-day notice that they could be sued under the federal Endangered Species Act if they fail to reopen and improve water management in the Klamath River.The 60-day notice by Earthjustice followed similar notices sent by the Yurok and Karuk Tribes in June. Citing a disease infection rate of 90% of sampled juvenile salmon in 2015, the Karuk Tribe presented Reclamation and NMFS with a 60 day notice of intent to sue over violations of the ESA.We cannot allow mismanagement by federal agencies to destroy what little remains of our fisheries, said Karuk Chairman Russell Buster AtteberyIn announcing their 60 day notice to sue, Yurok Chairman ORourke said, We cannot stand by and do nothing while our salmon hover over the brink of extinction. We will not continue to watch water managers jeopardize the fate of our fish and our river.Meanwhile, Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists continue to push for the removal of four PacifiCorp dams on the Klamath to reopen the upper watershed for spawning migrations by salmon and steelhead. On April 6, representatives of the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerce, the States of Oregon and California, the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe and PacifiCorp signed an agreement clearing the path for dam removal on the river. ( http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/7/1511799/-Tribes-State-and-Feds-Sign-Klamath-Dam-Removal-Agreement At the same time that the lawsuits and dam removal process move forward, Governor Jerry Brown is promoting his Delta Tunnels project, the California WaterFix, that tunnels opponents say will devastate the Klamath and Trinity River ecosystems if it isnt stopped. Critics say the twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta will hasten the extinction of Sacramento winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and long fin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species, as well as imperil the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.Massive quantities of Trinity River water are every year diverted to the Sacramento River watershed and the Delta to be exported through the state and federal pumping facilities to the Westlands Water District and agribusiness tycoons including Linda and Stewart Resnick, owners of The Wonderful Company, in Kern County.
Foothill College Umoja Learning Community Now Accepting Students;An Education Thats Personal & Meaningful to Each StudentMake your college experience more meaningful by joining Foothill Colleges newest learning community: the Umoja Community at Foothill College. An innovative instructional opportunity for all students, Umoja groups English, communication, and psychology courses in a three-quarter program. Students are admitted to the program each fall, and progress through the academic year as a learning community cohort.Meet Umoja Students, Faculty & Staff September 21Prospective students can learn more about Umoja and its exciting curriculum, and meet Umoja faculty and counselors at an orientation on Wednesday, September 21, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Foothill College campus in Los Altos Hills.The Umoja Communitynow at more than 30 California community colleges, and expected to exceed 50 campuses during 2017provides courses that promote learning about African and African American culture, comprehensive student support programs, on- and off-campus enrichment activities, and a safe place for students to discuss real issues that affect them and the broader community. We believe that when the voices and histories of students are deliberately and intentionally recognized, the foundation for academic success is formed, says Foothill Umoja Co-coordinator and English Instructor Samuel White, M.A. We actively promote student success for all students through a method of curriculum and instruction that is responsive to the legacy of the African and African American diasporas. White says that students who tend to get the most out of the Umoja learning community are those who generally prefer to work with a group of peers, and want to become active, responsible, and conscious learners.Umoja also seeks to help students develop a sense of pride, ownership and responsibility in their own speaking and writing. The program coordinators see this as vital, given the low numbers of African Americans in Silicon Valley. The Umoja Community wants to educate students who may not be aware of the contributions of the black community to the success of this area. Engaging in the practice of sharing historical importance enables students to experience language as power, says Foothill Umoja Co-coordinator and English Instructor Kimberly Escamilla, M.A. As Umoja faculty members, we are in a unique position to share our stories and our experiences to humanize our classroom instruction. Doing so, helps us create an environment that gives our students the confidence to participate in deep learning and share their individual stories and life experiences.By emphasizing a distinct history created by their predecessors, students enrolled in the Umoja Program study a variety of literary contributions from various authors, such as Phillis Wheatley, David Walker, Malcolm X, Ta-nehisi Coates, Robert Johnson, W. E. B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Langston Hughes, Desmond Tutu, Barack Obama, and other trendsetters, artists and intellectuals.Umoja courses provide students with the opportunity to not only discuss issues relevant to the African American experience, but students are encouraged to critically analyze these issues. As an example, students who enroll in Foothills four-unit ENGL 12: African American Literature course, read Malcolm Xs speech, The Ballot or the Bullet, which, when written in 1964, demanded deliberate action on the part of Americas black citizens. Students write about the implications of Malcolms call to action; they also conduct research to determine how similar calls to action are issued today, and the associated implications on present-day society, White says.To support students, Umoja prioritizes the powerful one-to-one relationship of the Umoja student and the Umoja counselor. Data suggest that a major reason that students drop out of college is that they have experienced isolation or alienation. To combat dropping out, each student works with a dedicated Umoja counselor throughout their cohort schedule to develop realistic, and attainable academic and career goals, says Foothill College Umoja Academic Counselor Tracee Cunningham, M.A. The unique relationship between a student and a counselor can often provide the encouragement and motivation that a student needs to remain committed to achieving his or her goals.To further enhance the student experience, the Umoja Community features a dedicated study and social space on campus that Umoja students can claim as their own. Also, significant to the program, are Umojas recently signed pathways to transfer agreements with the University of California (UC) system and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).Umoja courses that will be presented during the 20162017 academic year include:Fall 2016COMM 4: Group Discussion andENGL 1A: Composition & Reading orENGL 110: Introduction to College Writing orENGL 209: Introduction to College ReadingWinter 2017ENGL 12: African American Literature andENGL 110: Introduction to College Writing orENGL 1A: Composition & ReadingSpring 2017PSYC 22: Psychology of Prejudice andENGL 1A: Composition & Reading orENGL 1B: Composition, Critical Reading & Thinking through LiteratureMATH 220: Elementary Algebra (optional)For more information about Umoja, visit foothill.edu/umoja/. To schedule free English and math placement tests, visit foothill.edu/placement/. To schedule an appointment with Umoja Counselor Tracee Cunningham before September 21, e-mail cunninghamtracee [at] foothill.edu
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., August 22, 2016  Three conservation groups filed a notice of intent today to sue the cities of Colton and San Bernardino and their regional wastewater reclamation authority for illegally killing federally protected Santa Ana sucker fish. By halting water releases critical to maintaining surface flows of the Santa Ana River, the Rapid Infiltration and Extraction (RIX) treatment plant is stranding and killing threatened fish, violating the Endangered Species Act and driving the fish closer to extinction, according to the suit.

Its outrageous that these cities are killing and injuring Santa Ana suckers without any attempt to comply with the Endangered Species Act, said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been working to protect the rare fish for more than a decade. So once again were having to take legal action to protect these fish from going extinct in their namesake river.Since at least 2014, more than 100 Santa Ana sucker deaths have been documented in three instances when the Colton/San Bernardino Regional Tertiary Treatment and Water Reclamation Authority halted water releases into the river. Each shutdown caused the Santa Ana River to go dry, stranding and killing the endangered fish as well as other native fish. In addition, during the shutdowns more than 1,200 Santa Ana sucker fish have been salvaged in buckets, then re-released once the water starts flowing, likely causing harm to the surviving fish. Records show that at least 60 shutdowns have occurred since 2014, but very few were monitored to document what happened to the fish.The sucker fish is struggling to survive in the Santa Ana River as it is. Repeatedly shutting off the water that the fish rely on without even seeking the necessary federal permits is decimating this population and making recovery impossible, said Kim Floyd, conservation chair for the San Gorgonio Sierra Club.We are stepping in to enforce the Endangered Species Act because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  the federal agency tasked with protecting our public-trust resources  has so far refused to act to protect the Santa Ana sucker, said Drew Feldmann, conservation chair for the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society.The Santa Ana sucker is a small, olive-gray fish found in clear, cool, rocky pools of creeks, as well as gravelly bottoms of permanent streams with slight to swift currents. Many of these streams are naturally subject to severe seasonal flooding, which can decimate resident fish populations. Yet the Santa Ana sucker possesses adaptations that enable it to repopulate its birth streams rapidly after such unpredictable events. The fish primarily eats algae, which it searches out with the large lips that gave it its common name. The species was well distributed throughout the Los Angeles, San Gabriel and San Bernardino rivers historically, but is now relegated to only a few stream stretches.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.The San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society is the local chapter of the National Audubon Society for almost all of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, and has about two thousand members in that area. Its missions are the protection of natural habitat for birds and other wildlife, and public education about the environment.The Sierra Club is Americas largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.4 million members and supporters nationwide. In addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation.Center for Biological Diversity
Cannon Ball, N.D., August 22, 2016  The curbing of peaceful protests at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction is in violation of our core principles of free speech.

Jennifer Cook, policy director of the ACLU of North Dakota has released the following statement on the government action regarding ongoing demonstrations at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction in Cannon Ball, ND.The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy and the interference with that right by agents of the counties and the state of North Dakota violates both the spirit and letter of the First Amendment. As the courts in this state have recognized, the First Amendment forbids the enactment of laws abridging the freedom of speech ... or the right of the people peaceably to assemble. The protest at the Dakota Access pipeline is precisely the type of assembly protected by the First Amendment. Peaceful protest is at the core of the First Amendment and restrictions to such activity, such as the closing of highways with the effect of preventing assembly or effective messaging of protesters, should be viewed skeptically. Law enforcement agents have a duty to ensure that the rights of protesters are protected, not just the rights of corporations. While law enforcement officers have a right to ensure the safety of all of our citizens, this goal should be achieved by ensuring that all citizens, including protesters, are protected and that there are enough police in place to prevent violence, but not prevent peaceful protest or assembly.The ACLU of North Dakota supports peaceful protests and encourages protesters to know their rights. Anyone who believes their First Amendment rights have been violated should contact us at http://www.aclund.org/get-help .
The new and completed edition of Stalin, the critical biography Trotsky was working on at the time of his death, was officially launched at the Museo Casa de Leon Trotsky (Leon Trotsky House Museum) in Mexico City by the IMT with presentations by Esteban Volkov, Trotskys grandson, and Alan Woods, the editor of the new edition of the book.

The International launching of the book, painstakingly worked on and completed over almost three years by Alan Woods, the editor of In Defence of Marxism, took place on August 20, 2016, at the very location where Trotsky was assassinated and on the 76th anniversary of the attack that led to his death on August 21, 1940.

Buy the book at WellredBooks.net

Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaThe meeting was held in the auditorium of the museum before a packed house with some 120 to 130 people in attendance. By the time the meeting started there was standing room only as people were eager to hear the speakers.

The meeting was presented and chaired by Ubaldo Meneses, a comrade with the IMT in Mexico. Ubaldo explained that Trotsky was working on the book when he was assassinated, and that his biography of Stalin was not only of historic interest and remained relevant to this day.

The book presents a powerful historical analysis that offers many ideas and opens possibilities for the Trotskyist movement, as well as for the youth and workers struggling against capitalist exploitation and oppression today.

Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaUbaldo explained that Trotsky was one of the giants of the 20th Century, a man whose ideas animated and fuelled the greatest event in human history  the Russian Revolution of October 1917.

Trotskys ideas, particularly the theory of permanent revolution, along with his great work on The History of the Russian Revolution and his analysis of the bureaucratic degeneration of the revolution in Russia rank among his most important contributions to Marxist theory. The new edition of Stalin can also be added to this list of his most important works.

Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaBut as Ubaldo explained, Trotsky was not only a great theoretician, writer and orator. He was a revolutionary through and through and lived his life and engaged in political work and his personal interests with great intensity, who along with Lenin was one of the leaders of the Russian Revolution.

Although he was one of the principal leaders of the October Revolution, had played a key role in the formation of the Red Army and was the commander of Red forces in the Civil War, Trotsky considered the defence of Marxist ideas in the face of the Stalinist counterrevolution in the Soviet Union to be the greatest and most important task of his life.

Restoring the biography

Esteban Volkov - Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaUbaldo then introduced Esteban Volkov, Trotskys grandson and the director of the Trotsky House Museum, who has dedicated most of his life to defending the ideas of Trotsky, and fighting for the truth about his life and struggle against Stalin.

Esteban began by thanking Alan Woods and the IMT for their admirable work in completing and restoring the book, which is now as close as possible to Trotskys original intentions for the biography.

Esteban has long fought for the restoration of the Stalin biography and discussed the history of the work and the role played by Charles Malamuth in the original publication following Trotskys death.

He explained that contrary to what many believe, Trotsky did not undertake the biography to spite Stalin or out of a sense of resentment or hatred against him and his cronies in the Kremlin.

In fact, as Esteban explained, Trotsky had no real interest in writing a biography of Stalin. His real interest at that time was completing a book on the life of Lenin, which he had already started.

The time Trotsky and his family spent in exile was one of extreme hardship and danger, and Esteban explained that one of the primary motivations in writing the biography was the extremely difficult economic situation they found themselves in.

When an American publishing house, Harper & Brothers, offered a considerable sum of money for a biography of Stalin, Trotsky, though reluctant, undertook the task in earnest.

After Trotskys assassination by a Stalinist agent, and motivated by purely commercial interests, Harper & Brothers tasked the translator of the work, Charles Malamuth, whose work Trotsky was not entirely pleased with, with the editing and completion of the biography for publication.

Malamuth effectively butchered and destroyed the book by shortening it considerably and adding many of his own annotations that went directly against the ideas expressed by Trotsky in the work. Despite the many problems and inaccuracies in the edition completed by Malamuth and the objections of Trotskys family, the publishers went ahead and released the book anyway.

Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaAt this point Esteban compared a copy of the original publication with a copy of the new edition, explaining that by removing Malamuths poor annotations and by translating and including the material he had removed or not included, the work was now some 30 to 40 percent larger than the original. Holding the books side by side he pointed out that the original edition was some 500 pages long, with the new edition containing nearly 900 pages.

Esteban went on to explain that Trotskys biography of Stalin was not only of interest because of Stalins exceptional criminality, and that the book was not simply an historical recounting of these crimes. In fact, the work is multi-dimensional, and presents a meticulous analysis of historical processes and individual personalities, making it a profoundly political work.

Esteban finished by explaining that the IMT had set itself the task a number of years ago of saving and rescuing the work, a task that had been successfully achieved. He personally thanked Alan and the IMT for the meticulous and hard work that was put into restoring the book, adding that Alan Woods and the IMT were able to achieve this task as genuine representatives of the ideas of Trotsky.

Marxism, the history of the Soviet Union and the role of the individual in history

Alan Woods - Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaAlan Woods was then invited to speak and discuss the publication of the latest and most complete edition yet of Stalin. Alan began by explaining the historic nature of the book launch meeting at the Trotsky House Museum.

Trotskys biography of Stalin, along with Trotskys other key works, is a work on the highest order in the theoretical arsenal of Marxism. Yet, the book did not necessarily have to exist. Stalin was utterly intent on destroying the book, and did not want it to see the light of day. Why? Because Trotsky was a witness who knew Stalin and the true history of the man and the Russian Revolution. Stalin feared this above all.

Stalin was in fact obsessed by Trotsky. Stalin always had the latest works of Trotsky on his desk every morning, often before they were published. But he didnt follow the writings and work of Trotsky and the Left Opposition, and later the Fourth International, out of political interest. Stalin was one of the greatest criminals in human history, and like all criminals he was intent on eliminating and destroying all witnesses  witnesses to his true past and to his crimes.

Stalin was in reality a very superficial and mediocre person. He was profoundly jealous of Trotsky, and the role he played in the Russian Revolution and Civil War. In the face of accusations that he had allowed his hatred of Stalin to influence his judgment and ideas, Trotsky explained that he had no personal relations with Stalin. He had explained that they had parted ways so long ago that any personal relations between them had been entirely extinguished, and that his personal feelings towards Stalin were in reality no different than his feelings towards Hitler or Mikado, for example.

Alan went on to explain the rise and development of the cult of personality around Stalin after the death of Lenin. During Stalins rise to power, the idea was developed by the cronies in the Kremlin that one person could determine the fate of an entire country, without any collaborators or assistance, a monstrous distortion of the historical process. An analysis of this cult of personality is what helps to make Trotskys biography of Stalin unique in Marxist theory.

When the USSR collapsed, the bourgeoisie around the world was euphoric. They pronounced the death of socialism and the end of history. There was a veritable avalanche of attacks and relentless propaganda against socialism, communism, Marxism and the Russian Revolution, etc. Demoralized and cynical, many former communists and Stalinists joined in on these attacks.

Alan explained that if the ruling class and the bourgeois media attack Marxism, and continue attacking Marxism, it certainly isnt because its dead  in fact the opposite is the case.

Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaAs Alan pointed out, the coming year marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution, which was in fact the most important event in human history. It was the first time that the masses  millions of ordinary workers and peasants overthrew a rotten regime that had existed for hundreds of years and set themselves the task of building a socialist society.

Russia in 1917 was exceptionally backwards  more backwards than countries like Pakistan or Mexico today. The country was largely illiterate, and out of a total population of around 150 million, only some 3.5 million were industrial workers.

Enemies of the revolution claim that the October Revolution really amounted to nothing, or that it was simply a coup detat led by a small minority. The truth of the matter, however, is that the Russian Revolution was the most democratic, mass revolution in history.

Yet, the Revolution unfortunately ended in an aberration, a bureaucratic caricature of the spirit and ideals that animated October. As Alan explained, the brutal methods and crimes of the Stalinist bureaucracy had nothing in common with the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. The roots of the degeneration of the Revolution and the rise of the Stalinist bureaucracy were explained by Trotsky in one of his most important books, The Revolution Betrayed, a book Alan encouraged all present to read and study.

Alan continued by explaining that one of the most common and greatest attacks on Marxism appears on college and university campuses. This is the argument that says that Marxism essentially reduces everything to economics. This simply is not true, and any serious study of the ideas of Marxism will demonstrate this. In the final analysis, economics are a decisive factor, but they are not the only factor to the exclusion of all others.

History is not simply determined by economics. History is the history of men and women, of people and individuals. In certain periods of history, individuals can play a decisive role, for example Lenin and Trotsky in the October Revolution.

Marx explained that men and women make their own history, but that they do not make it as they please, as free agents independent of the economic and social context they find themselves in.

Alan explained that Lenin and Trotsky played a key role in the Russian Revolution. Without their presence, the October Revolution would not have happened, or at least it certainly would not have unfolded as it did. Yet after the death of Lenin, Trotsky was powerless to change the situation individually in the context of the Stalinist counterrevolution.

A superficial and simple response to the question of why Stalin was victorious and Trotsky lost in the struggle following Lenins death is that Stalin was more prepared, or that he had a better grasp of tactics.

But this is not true, and is really too simplistic an explanation for what was an extraordinarily complex process. Stalin was ignorant and mediocre. Trotsky was a giant. Yet, Trotsky lost the struggle to the lesser man. Alan explained once again that men and women are not free agents, adding that many others have sought the reasons for Trotskys defeat in psychology, arguments which do not hold up under serious scrutiny.

Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaAlan then explained the connection between Trotskys biography of Stalin and an important work written by Karl Marx, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Louis Bonaparte was an utterly mediocre man, yet managed to win power in France. Through the development of the Marxist theory of the role of the individual in history, we understand that there are historical periods, heroic periods in which the giants of history dominate, and other periods of demoralization in which mediocrity dominates.

As Alan explained, there are historical similarities between the Thermidorian Reaction in France and the Stalinist counterrevolution in the USSR, which Trotsky often referred to as the Thermidorian Reaction in the Soviet Union.

Trotsky explained that a revolution is like a great strike, only on a broader scale and on a national level. Strikes and revolutions develop according to the same laws. As Alan explained, during the period of revolutionary ascent in the French Revolution, an heroic period, we see the rise of figures such as Robespierre, Danton and Saint-Just, who were historical giants.

However, when the revolutionary desires of the masses are not met, a contrary process opens. The participation of the masses declines. This is when space is cleared for mediocrity and the rise of lesser men and women. It was during this period of the French Revolution that we see the rise of the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte, who destroyed many of the conquests of the Revolution, restored the Catholic Church and declared himself emperor. There is a similarity between these events in the French Revolution and the rise of Stalin in the Russian Revolution.

Alan continued by discussing the final years of Lenins life, when he battled against the unhealthy and corrupt elements in the Soviet Union and the Communist Party. Given the crushing backwardness of Russia at the time, and after years of war, revolution, and civil war that had left the country utterly in ruin, the Soviet Union had developed around a weak edifice of workers democracy.

As Marx had explained, the development of the productive forces is a necessary premise of communism, because when want and misery are generalized, the struggle for necessities begins anew, and that means that all the old crap must revive.

The degeneration of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Stalinist bureaucracy were rooted in this backwardness  in this revival of all the old crap. When during the Civil War and afterwards with the delay in the international revolution and with the economy in ruin and millions of people dying of starvation, you cannot speak of socialism.

This process of the degeneration of the revolution was reflected in the theory of socialism in one country, which in reality is an anti-Marxist idea. Lenin and Trotsky never saw the Russian Revolution as an isolated national event, but rather as one of the first steps in the world revolution.

Alan explained that this was the context in which the struggle between Trotsky and Stalin took place, the struggle between the ideas of Marxism and for workers democracy against the narrow interests and brutal methods of the privileged bureaucracy, represented in the end by Stalin. Stalin wasnt victorious because he was more intelligent or more prepared, but precisely because he was mediocre, something that fit the situation to a far greater degree.

A revolutionary epoch requires heroic leaders, great writers and speakers, and bold thinkers who can take the desires of the revolutionary masses and push the movement forward  such as Robespierre and Danton, or Lenin and Trotsky.

But a counterrevolutionary period is a period of ebb and demoralization. These periods do not require the giants of history, who often find themselves isolated and fighting against the stream, but require mediocre men of lesser stature.

Alan then discussed the topic of Trotskyism itself, which he explained doesnt exist in reality. Trotskyism was an invention of Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Stalin. The idea was to create a dividing line between Lenin and Trotsky in an effort to isolate the genuine revolutionaries struggling against the rise of the privileged bureaucracy. In reality, however, the ideas of Trotsky are rooted in and are not different from the ideas of Marx, Engels and Lenin, and in fact represent a continuation of these ideas and traditions, going all the way back to The Communist Manifesto and earlier.

Many people argue that Trotsky lost because he didnt understand tactics, or that he didnt understand how far Stalin would go to defeat him. The reality was, on the basis of his understanding of Marxism and history, Trotsky knew that he was going to lose.

Alan explained that as Trotsky had pointed out, with the exception of the nationalized planned economy, Stalins regime in the Soviet Union could only be compared historically to the fascist regimes of Mussolini and Hitler.

In this light, many have argued that the Soviet Union under Lenin and Trotsky was the same as the regime under Stalin. Many have argued that Trotsky and Stalin were really the same as well. But if this were truly the case, then why did Stalin annihilate the Bolshevik Party? Why did he have to annihilate the vanguard of the Old Bolsheviks?

Criminals cannot suffer witnesses, and likewise Stalin, one of the greatest criminals in all human history, could not have any witnesses. Trotsky knew that he could not win, knew that the movement of history was against him and watched as all those around him capitulated to Stalin and were killed.

Trotsky refused to capitulate. He fought to defend the banner of October, the genuine ideas of Lenin and the Bolshevik Party for future generations. Bukharin, Zinoviev and the others who capitulated lost everything, and no traditions based on their ideas remain. In this sense Trotsky was victorious, and he won for this generation of revolutionary workers and youth.

A vile and cruel counterrevolutionary assassin killed Trotsky with an ice pick. Stalin achieved his goal of killing his enemy. As Alan explained, human beings are frail and fragile. They can be shot, or stabbed, or otherwise killed. In fact, it is rather easy to end the life of an individual. Ideas are not so easily destroyed. It is not possible to kill an idea, especially an idea whose time has come.

Alan explained that in this sense too Trotsky was victorious. The ideas of Leon Trotsky, the ideas of Leninism, Bolshevism and the October Revolution did not die in August 1940. In fact, the struggle based on these ideas continues to this very day. It has been 76 years since the death of Leon Trotsky. Where are we today? The ideas of Trotsky, the ideas of Marxism, remain the only ideas today that can take us forward in the struggle against the misery, poverty, class exploitation and oppression we face under capitalism.

The fact that Trotskyism continues to haunt the bourgeoisie and the reformist and Stalinist leaderships of the labour movement is evidence of the power of these ideas. The ideas of genuine Marxism are the only ideas that can explain the problems of society and their solutions for the workers and youth. This is the power of these ideas that Stalin could not destroy.

Alan finished by explaining that the only way forward is to struggle, and to continue struggling on the basis of these ideas. People can unfortunately fall into despair, and want to hide away from the struggle. As has often been said, you can ignore politics but politics wont ignore you. One can try to hide from it at home, but politics will inevitably come knocking at the door. For this reason we must be bold, prepared, and organize.

Alan finished his presentation by explaining the great revolutionary traditions of the Mexican people. The key task now is for the workers and youth to return to the ideas of Marxism to take the struggle forward. We must unite and organize around the ideas of Marxism. To this end he encouraged all present to read and study Stalin as well as the ideas found in the other works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. United on the basis of Marxist ideas, we can only win in our struggle against the misery of capitalism.

Discussion and remarks

Photo: La Izquierda SocialistaThe presentations of Esteban Volkov and Alan Woods were followed by a lively discussion. The discussion was mostly focused on how to take the movement and the struggle forward in Mexico and other various countries, and how to take the ideas of Trotsky and genuine socialism to the masses.

Esteban Volkov offered his final remarks by saying that we want a better world, and that the future of humanity depended on the achievement of a better world. There are two perspectives, either the destruction and misery of the planet under capitalism, or a humane world under socialism. He finished by offering a few memories on the death of Leon Trotsky, explaining that he was very pleased and proud that there were still so many interested in the ideas he defended.

Many of the questions in the discussion period had been directed to Alan Woods about the history of the Soviet Union and Stalinism. Alan explained the achievements of the nationalized planned economy, including the spectacular growth rates and scientific achievements that were achieved and never matched by any capitalist country, despite the gross corruption and mismanagement of the privileged bureaucracy in the USSR. These achievements offer us but a glimpse of what could be achieved with the building of genuine, international socialism.

One of the greatest lies put forward by the ruling class and the enemies of Marxism is that it was socialism that failed in the Soviet Union. In reality, what failed and what had to fail, as Trotsky explained and predicted in 1937, was Stalinism.

As Trotsky had explained in the 1930s, the nationalized planned economy requires democracy, genuine workers democracy, as the human body requires oxygen. Without genuine workers democracy, bureaucracy and corruption will take hold, as has been demonstrated repeatedly in history. The parasitic growth of the Soviet bureaucracy, which acted as a plug on the Soviet economy, are not arguments against economic planning, nationalization, or socialism, but rather are powerful arguments against Stalinism, bureaucratic mismanagement and corruption.

The final point of the discussion was on the developing world crisis of capitalism. The tide of history turned profoundly with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. But history is turning once again. The crisis of Stalinism has led to a much more profound crisis  the crisis of the capitalist system as a whole.

The crisis of the global capitalist system can be seen almost everywhere, from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America to Greece and Spain to Britain and now even the United States. In the United States, this was reflected in the rise of the Bernie Sanders phenomenon. Over a year ago almost no one had heard of Bernie Sanders, but with the crisis his call for a political revolution against the billionaire class resonated with people and found a powerful echo. Now is not a time for demoralization and despair, but a time of hope and optimism.

Alan finished the discussion but explaining that the crisis of capitalism was knocking people hard over the head, waking the masses from a long slumber, and now we are seeing the resulting shifts and changes in consciousness. The Marxists are still found but in small groups, but if we unite and organize around the ideas defended by Lenin and Trotsky, we can transmit these ideas to the mass of workers and youth. These ideas show us the way forward, and are the only ideas capable of leading to the overthrow of capitalism and the building of a truly human society  that of international socialism.
Today, France is clearly the most threatened country. The question about the threat is not to know "if" but "when" and "where."

Terrorism  is a threat that weighs heavily on France and will continue doing so for a long time.

we should learn to live with terrorism.



mo akbar



https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/2016/08/22/western-leaders-want-islamic-terror-to-seem-normal/

 Times have changed andmo akbar

so do the cucks.As hardly a few days pass without an Islamic terror attack in the West -- recently an Allahu Akbar-shouting man stabbed a Jew in France and an Allahu Akbar-screaming woman ran over two policemen in Canada -- the West risks becoming desensitized. Of seeing Islamic violence as just part of life.The words and deeds of Western leaders are not helping.After the Islamic terror attack in Nice, France, where 84 were killed, counterterrorism chief Patrick Calvar said:Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared:As if such resignation wasnt bad enough, at the memorial event for the 84 Nice victims Valls declared
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

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2:45pm: Matz will placed on the disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 15, with tightness in his left shoulder, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

AUG. 22, 1:09pm: Matz has been diagnosed with a mild strain and some inflammation of the rotator cuff in his left shoulder, but doctors found no structural damage, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Theres no word yet on whether hell require a stint on the disabled list, however, and the Mets have yet to formally announce the test results.

AUG. 19: Mets left-hander Steven Matz has been scratched from tonights start due to discomfort in his left shoulder, as Newsdays Marc Carig writes. The New York Posts Mike Puma writes that hes likely to be examined on Monday in New York.

Matz stated that what hes experiencing is just discomfort and said hes not too worried about the issue, but theres obviously at least some cause for concern for both Matz and the team. Matz, of course, has been pitching through a bone spur in his left elbow, and while Carig writes that neither the team nor Citi Fields Trackman software has detected any mechanical changes to his delivery due to the spur, theres still no immediate way of knowing whether the elbow ailment has contributed to his newfound shoulder troubles. Matz first felt the discomfort when throwing off flat ground earlier this week and didnt feel improvement when throwing prior to yesterdays game.

Right-hander Seth Lugo will start in Matzs place tonight. The 26-year-old has quite been good in his first taste of the Majors this season, albeit in a limited sample. In 17 innings, Lugo has a 2.65 ERA and a 16-to-6 K/BB ratio with a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate. He could potentially step into the rotation if a replacement for Matz is needed for more than one start. Alternative options in Triple-A include Gabriel Ynoa, Robert Gsellman and Sean Gilmartin. None of the bunch owns particularly exciting numbers in Triple-A this season, though the Las Vegas home of the Mets Triple-A affiliate is a notoriously hitter-friendly environment.
- The move by President Muhammadu Buhari to secure emergency powers may not see the light of the day

- The president made the move in order to address Nigerias

- Some senators say the president was seeking to transform himself into a tyrant

President Muhammadu Buhari's proposed bill to the National Assembly entitled Emergency Economy Stabilisation Bill 2016 may be dead on arrival.

A report by Thisday indicates that Nigerian senators are not favourably disposed to assenting the bill because of fears that Buhari was seeking to transform himself into a tyrant and would foist a dictatorship on the nation.

Being a former military president who served as the nation's head of state from December 1983 to August 1985 after taking power in a military coup, such moves by Buhari has always being viewed with suspicion.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Buhari's emergency powers bill is billed to be sent to the National Assembly by the president upon resumption from its summer vacation and after the Eid el Kabir holidays.

According to the senators, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, some of the provisions in the bill were unnecessary and it as nothing more than a subtle way of avoiding counterpart funding by the present administration.

According to them, if the bill is passed as proposed, the president will gradually transform himself into a dictator.

The fear of the legislators is that, even without the so-called emergency powers at his disposal, the president has continued to trample on the powers of the legislature.

The senators vowed to kill the bill before, as there are concerns that the president wants to use the bill to demean the legislature and turn it into a rubber stamp body.

READ ALSO: Islamic Development Bank opened today in Nigeria (photos)

The objectives of the bill includes:

1. Shoring up the value of the naira

2. Job creation

3. Boosting foreign exchange reserves

4. Reviving the manufacturing sector and

5. Improving power supply.

The bill is an idea of the economic team headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The economic team examined the state of the nation and concluded that there was urgent need to take some drastic decisions that the nations extant laws do not provide for.

The bill seeks to give the president unfettered powers to set aside some extant laws of the and and simultaneously be empowered to come up with an economic recovery initiative within the next one year.

The bill seeks to:

1. Empower the president to abridge the procurement process with a view to guaranteeing stimulus spending on critical sectors of the economy

2. Make orders to favour local contractors/suppliers in contract awards; abridge the process of sale or lease of government assets to generate revenue

3. Allow virement of budgetary allocations to projects that are urgent, without a recourse to the National Assembly and

4. Amend laws such as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, so that states that cannot access their cash trapped in the commissions accounts as a result of their inability to meet the counterpart funding can do so.

READ ALSO: National Assembly management demotes Saraki, Dogara aides

Meanwhile, these are hard times for Nigerias federal legislature as the dwindling economy has affected the finances of the National Assembly.

According to a recent media report, contractors and suppliers are grumbling over the inability of the management of the National Assembly to liquidate their accumulated debts.

Similarly, renowned economist and businessman, Mr Atedo Peterside has warned that the recession currently experienced in Nigeria will last for a long time.

Peterside who is also the President & Founder of Anap Foundation said business confidence is low and investors are holding back on investing in Nigeria.

Source: Legit.ng
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- Boko Haram terrorist commander Abubakar Shekau has been fatally injured

- Shekau was reportedly injured following an air raid

- The air assault took place on Friday, August 19

Reports by the Nigerian Air Force suggests that Boko Haram terrorist commander, Abubakar Shekau has been fatally wounded.

Boko Haram commander, Abubakar Shekau reportedly injured following air raid by Nigerian army.

In what one could describe as the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid, the army has just confirmed that as a result of the interdiction efforts of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), some key leaders of the Boko Haram terrorists have been killed while others were fatally wounded.

READ ALSO: Tension in Anambra: Police arrest 23 terrorists

According to a statement issued by the Army through its spokesman, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, the air interdiction took place last week Friday, August 19, while the terrorists were performing Friday rituals at Taye village, Gombale general area within Sambisa forest, Borno state.

Those Boko Haram terrorists commanders confirmed dead include Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, amongst others.

"While their leader, so called Abubakar Shekau, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders. Several other terrorists were also wounded," the statement read in parts.

In the same vein, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, the chief of air staff, has reported about a series of successful airstrikes against Boko Haram in the last few weeks.

Acording to Mr Abubakar, up to 300 militants were killed during airstrikes in Borno state this Friday.

The air marshal announced the news after commissioning the borehole and hospital construction built by the Nigeria air force to address the health crisis afflicting the Bama internally displaced persons (IDP) camp.

Source: Legit.ng
Lebanese-American man was shot and killed by a neighbor who had used violence and insults against the Arab family for years. Khalid Jabara, 37, was killed on his front yard in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday.The Arab familys neighbor, Stanley Venon Majors, was arrested and will be charged with first-degree murder later this week, according to Tulsa police.The 61-year old neighbor was awaiting trial for assault after he hit Jabaras mother with his car last September, causing her numerous injuries. He was released on bond in May."My family lived in fear of this man and his hatred for years," Victoria Jabara Williams said in a family statement posted online on Monday."Only 30 minutes prior to my brother's shooting, Khalid called the police stating this man had a gun and that he was scared for what might happen. The police came and told him there was nothing to be done," the statement said.The family said Majors repeatedly offended them with anti-Arab slurs, including calling them dirty Arabs, Aye-rabs, filthy Lebanese, and Mooslems.A spokesman of the Tulsa police said it is still too early in the investigation to say whether Majors will be charged with a hate crime.The police, however, confirmed that officers had responded to a call from Jabara the evening he was killed.
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- Justice Abang has disqualified himself from a case against President Buhari

- Incorporated Trustees of Oron Union brought a case against PMB regarding his nominations

- The nominations of Mr Obong and Frank Samuel to the NDDC board led to the filing of the suit

President Muhammadu Buhari

Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja federal high court, on Tuesday, August 23 disqualified himself from presiding over a suit accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of illegal nominations.

The suit against Buhari accused him of breaching certain laws when he nominated persons not from oil producing regions, into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The law suit was filed before the court by a body known as Incorporated Trustees of Oron Union, Akwa Ibom state.

The plaintiff said it was illegal for President Buhari to nominate Mr Obong Nsima Ekere and Frank Samuel George, as Managing Director and Commissioner, respectively, on the board of the NDDC since they were not indigenes of oil producing areas of Akwa Ibom state.

READ ALSO: Ikpeazu wins again as Appeal Court nullifies his sack, berates Justice Abang

They said that the action was in violation of the NDDC Act, in the laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004.

According to Vanguard, the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, the National Assembly and the two nominees were also defendants in the case.

The plaintiff appealed to the court for the following:

A declaration that the nominations of the 5th Defendant as the Managing Director of NDDC, and the 6th as Commissioner on the Board of the said NDDC, by the 1st and 2nd Defendants, and the subsequent forwarding of the names of the 5th and 6th Defendants to the 3rd and 4th Defendants for confirmation and for appointments as Managing Director and Commissioner respectively on the Board of NDDC when the said 5th and 6th Defendants are not indigenes of oil producing areas of Akwa Ibom State, are all done contrary to the provisions of section 12(1) of the NDDC Act, Cap N86, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and therefore illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever and howsoever."

The Oron Union which covers five local government areas of Akwa Ibom also prayed the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction restraining the National Assembly from confirming the nominations.

READ ALSO: Fast all in one -- UC Browser

However when the matter came up on Monday, August 22, all the defendants asked Justice Abang to remove himself from the case, due to conflict of interest, since he is also from Oron.

The 6th defendant, George, who is also one of the nominees wrote a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, asking that the case-file be retrieved from Justice Abang.

Consequently, in a bench ruling, Justice Abang disqualified himself from the case and returned the case-file back to the Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge.

He said: Having regard to the fact that I am from Oron nation of Akwa Ibom State with the plaintiff and the 5th and 6th defendants are also from Akwa Ibom my state of origin, I hereby disqualify myself.

Justice must not only be done but seen to be done. This case is hereby remitted back to the CJ for reassignment to any other judge other than myself, upon the court resumption from vacation."

Meanwhile, on Thursday, August 18, Justice Abang was faulted by the appeal court in Abuja for refusing to hands-off the suit that led to the removal of Ikpeazu as Abia state governor.

The five-man panel equally faulted him for over reaching his powers, by wrongly interpreting the Appeal Court Rules.

Source: Legit.ng
It appears that the feud between Nigeria's former first lady Patience Jonathan and minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi, is over.

The duo were spotted on Saturday, August 20 at the funeral mass of former minister of foreign affairs, Ojo Madueke, in Abia state.

Patience and Amaechi were constantly at loggerheads during the last administration as they battled for control of Rivers state where they both come from.

It was alleged that the real quarrel between Jonathans wife and Amaechi,started when the first lady tongue-lashed the former governor for the demolition of houses in her town Okrika to make way for educational structures.

READ ALSO: Amaechi And Patience Jonathan: How It All Began

Patiences grouse is that Amaechi looked certain to demolish and compensate the people without first seeking their consent; Amaechis is about the manner in which the first lady addressed the matter in public without according him due respect as man constitutionally saddled with the task of running the state.

Although theres only an eight-year gap between the two of them, Patience once referred to Amaechi as my son.

Source: Legit.ng
A Roanoke College poll shows that Donald Trump is down 16 points in the battleground state of Virginia:

Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has opened a 16-point lead over Republican Donald Trump among likely voters in Virginia (48%-32%), according to The Roanoke College Poll. Libertarian Gary Johnson received the support of 8 percent of likely voters, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein trailed the field with 3 percent, while 9 percent remain undecided. In a two-way matchup, Clintons lead extends to 19 points (55%-36%). The candidates were tied in the May Roanoke College Poll.

Minor analysis: Even the Trump voters say theyre more against Hillary Clinton than they are for Donald Trump, by a 49-35 margin, which means that even most of his own voters understand hes a terrible candidate.

Major analysis: Heres how Democrats have fared in Virginia over the last few presidential elections:

2012: +3.9

2008: +6.3

2004: -8.2

2000: -8.1

1996: -2.0

1992: -3.1

1968-1988: All Republican, all the time. (Except that one weird election where a rogue faithless elector cast his ballot for a Libertarian named John Hospers, but come on, who cares?)

Obamas wins in the state show the changing demographics as the D.C. area grows and more northerners make their way to the state, but it doesnt come close to explaining a 16-point lead. Maybe Tim Kaine makes a difference, but again, 16 points? Theres only way to read this, which is that Trump is facing an historically huge deficit in one of those so-called swing states that he really cant afford to lose.

How does he swing the election back? Maybe three great debate performances, plus muzzling himself in public, plus more revelations about Hillarys emails. Beyond those dramatic swings, though, all were likely to see is eight or nine more campaign directors, and more movement in the wrong direction. The Trump campaign isnt quite on life support, but its getting close.
Officials Named for Examinations, Records & Transcripts, and Admissions

By: Saint Monica University

End

-- Saint Monica University (SMU): The American International University today named both senior and junior staff for the Registrar's Office. The Registrar's Office supervises three major activities including examinations, records and transcripts, and finally admissions and retention.At the helm of the Office is, whose position ashas been re-affirmed. Dr. Wirdze, who holds a PhD in Educational Psychology, has held that office since joining SMU in 2014. He brings in over 10 years of experience in the education industry at the secondary and higher education levels. He also holds a Master of Education in Educational Psychology and a Bachelor of Philosophy degree.is also staying in his position as, but this time he will focus on the organization of. Mr. Fonge came to SMU after retiring as a High School Principal and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Chief Examiner for History. He holds a Bachelor's degree in History and is pursuing a Master of Public Administration from SMU.Joining the team as theisShe previously worked in the secondary education sector before transferring to SMU last year as the Admissions Director. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from SMU, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics.is the new. Prior to this, he was the pioneer Director of Online Education at SMU and also has secondary education experience. He holds an MBA in Human Resource Management from SMU and a Bachelor of Philosophy. He is working on a Master of Philosophy and PhD in Human Resource Management.Assisting this team is, who will serve as the. She studied for the MBA in the US before returning to Cameroon, where she previously taught at SMU.At the Admissions Office, which is under the Deputy Registry for Admissions and Enrollment Management are the following professionals:1) Admissions Officer for the School of Arts, Education and Humanities as well as Saint Monica Vocational Training Center is Ms. Gift Isi, who is also working on her Bachelor of Arts in Communication.2) Admissions Officer for the School of Business and Public Policy is Mr. Donald Njanjo, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from SMU and is pursuing an MBA still at SMU.3) Admissions Officer for the School of Health and Human Services is Ms. Blessing Ekpo, who is a Bachelor of Nursing student at SMU.4) Admissions Officer for the School of Science, Engineering and Technology is Mr. Jarvis Jabea Molua, who is doing his Master of Science in Agriculture at SMU.5) Admissions Officer for Students from Equatorial Guinea is Mr. Fernando Nguema, who is a Bachelor of Science student in Banking & Finance at SMU.6) Admissions Officer for Students from Nigeria is Mr. Elijah Tokunbo-Daniel, who is studying for his Master of Science in Medical Laboratory Science at SMU.7) Admissions Officer for Online & Distance Education Students is Ms. Carine Nfor, who is an SMU student in the Master of Public Health program."The Registrar's Office is extremely important and these appointments are meant to make the Office more efficient and effective," said Professor Januarius Jingwa (JJ) Asongu, President and Chief Executive Officer of SMU. "I am confident that these professionals under the leadership of the indefatigable Dr. Wirdze and his deputies will be up to the task. After doubling the staff of this Office from last year's numbers, I expect excellent customer service from the team."Saint Monica University (SMU) is a leading private university in Cameroon. It is an American-style non-ecclesiastical Catholic institution, offering career-focused programs that are at the intersection of the liberal arts, science and technology. It is dedicated to providing educational opportunities for the intellectual, social, entrepreneurial and professional development of a diverse student population. SMU is focused on the student experience and helping our students achieve their educational and career goals, and contributing to a more sustainable society. We offer various certificates and diplomas as well as bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through the School of Arts, Education, & Humanities (SAEH); School of Business & Public Policy (SBPP); School of Health & Human Services (SHHS); and School of Science, Engineering & Technology (SSET). SMU is accredited in the United Kingdom by the Accreditation Service for International Schools, Colleges, and Universities (ASIC) with Accreditation No: AS22357/0614 and is listed on the UK Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP) with the UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN): 10048183. SMU is also fully accredited in Cameroon by the National Commission on Private Higher Education at the Ministry of Higher Education (MINESUP) with the Ordinance of Creation No: E14/0028/MINESUP/SG/DDES and the Ministerial Letter No: 15-09643/L/MINESUP/SG/DDES/ESUP/SDA/MM authorizing SMU to offer over 60 undergraduate and graduate diploma and degree programs. SMU is a member of many international academic organizations including the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), Global Universities In Distance Education (GUIDE), and the Talloires Network. For more information about SMU, visit our website: http://www.smuedu.org or write to us at admissions@smuedu.org.
Central Florida Women's Summit

Media Contact

Vasaj Communications

***@vasajcommunications.com Vasaj Communications

End

-- There's something uniquely empowering for women spreading across the country, particularly in the heart of Central Florida. It is a new platform for achievement in careers, entrepreneurship, money management, networking, health education, community enhancement, and more. It's called theTheis scheduled for Tuesday, October 25, 2016. The event will be held at Orlando Marriott Lake Mary, in Lake Mary, Florida. It will feature symposiums on a variety of pressing topics that will assist in the improvement of life quality for all its attendees. This conference will include a continental breakfast, an empowerment luncheon, topical plenary sessions, panel discussions, and a networkingat the conclusion of the day."We're working to make sure our attendees are equipped with more knowledge and connections to maximize potential for success," statesand parent company of the event. "Our ultimate goal is to generate a more inclusive culture throughout all industries and communities as it relates to money, health, careers, business, and educational arenas," furthersCheck-in and breakfast will begin at 7:00 a.m., with symposiums commencing at 7:45 a.m. Conference activities will end at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are currently on sale through the Opal Network Alliance website at www.onatoday.com . Early-bird registration of $165.00 ends October 17, 2016. General admission is $179.00 per person, $165.00 for chamber of commerce members, and $150.00 for college students, with ID.Othal Partners, LLC is a full service creative marketing, advertising, and corporate communications consultancy that specializes in niche event creation, management, and publishing. To learn more about this organization, visit: www.othalpartners.com . To learn more about the Central Florida Women's Summit, visit: www.onatoday.com.
Dozens of local vendors, wedding displays, freebies, and everything you can think of to plan your special day.

By: Kansas City Bridal Group

Media Contact

Angela Lukenbill

***@kansascitybridalgroup.com

(816) 813-2638 Angela Lukenbill(816) 813-2638

End

-- Brides, grooms and wedding planners will have plenty to choose from during the Kansas City Bridal Group Bridal Show on Sunday, August 28th, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pavilion Event Space located at 14831 E. US Hwy 40 Kansas City, Mo 64136.Hosted by the Kansas City Bridal Group, the event is designed for participants to plan as much of their wedding as needed in a single afternoon. There will be local vendors from wedding planners, travel agents, photographers, photo booths, limousine companies, and so much more. Whether a girl is just engaged or about to walk down the aisle, this show guarantees something for every bride and groom at any stage of wedding planning. Up-and-coming brides and their fiances will be seeking new and innovative ideas from over 30 different wedding professionals eagerly waiting to showcase their products and services, as well as registering to win a multitude of prizes!Cost is $5 per person or free by making a donation to any group member's charity. You can go to www.Kansascitybridalgroup.com/ community-outreach to make your donation and get your free tickets. . The group collectively will be giving away a free wedding to a local cancer patient from the various upcoming bridal shows planned this year. Make sure you like the Kansas City Bridal Group on Facebook and stay connected for the next bridal show on September 17, 2016.For more details, go to www.kansascitybridalgroup.com
Contact

Rosatom Asia

***@rim-pn.ru Rosatom Asia

End

-- The Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM and the National Council for Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Cambodia (NCSD) held the first Joint Working Group meeting on August 17-18. Say Samal, Cambodian Minister of Environment, Chair of the NCSD, and Dmitry Tsvetkov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Cambodia, participated in the opening session of the meeting.The event was the first step in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the joint working group for studying the peaceful use of atom, which was signed earlier this May."Russia and Cambodia are now actively developing bilateral economic relations, and nuclear technologies are among the most promising areas of cooperation. The atom may become the cornerstone of Cambodia's sustainable development:on the one hand, it is able to satisfy the energy needs of the growing nation's economy, on the other hand, being a clean energy source, it may help to preserve the country's unique nature", Ambassador noted.Various companies of ROSATOM participated in the meeting, including representatives of Rosenergoatom, the group's nuclear power plants operator, who shared the Russian experience and solutions in the sphere of national nuclear infrastructure development in countries, which are nuclear energy newcomers.From the Cambodian side in the event participated representatives of following organisations:National Sustainable Development Council, National Science and Technology Council, Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, as well as other Cambodian authorities and educational institutions.At the meeting the parties discussed the possibilities of various implementation of nuclear technologies to support the socio-economic development of Cambodia, with the immediate priority given to public awareness raising and human resource development in nuclear energy and nuclear technologies."The cooperation between Cambodia and Russia in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes is part of our effort to promote the overall socio-economic development of the country, to modernize our economy, to move toward a knowledge-based economy by reducing our dependence on natural resources, and by promoting research, development and innovation. We are interested in nuclear technology for its many applications in healthcare, industry, agriculture, and other sectors of the economy, and, in the long run, as possible option for meeting our increasing energy demand. We are glad that the first steps in this direction we are making together with such an experienced partner as ROSATOM", said Say Samal.One of the key areas of the Russia-Cambodia cooperation in nuclear industry, is the dissemination of reliable information about nuclear technologies among the population. To achieve this, the parties are implementing the project to establish Nuclear Energy Information Centre in Cambodia."The center is a comprehensive communications platform, which will allow people of various age and professions to learn in an interactive form about the basics of atomic energy and technologies. ROSATOM has already opened 17 such centers, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Turkey. According to the statistics, more than 80% of people positively change their attitude towards nuclear energy after visiting these centers", told Egor Simonov, Vice-President ROSATOM  Southeast Asia.In May 2016 ROSATOM and National Council for Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Cambodia signed two documents: Memorandum on Nuclear Energy Information Center in Cambodia and Memorandum on the Cambodia-Russia joint working group on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Both documents were signed by Mr. Sergey Kirienko, Chief Executive Officer of ROSATOM, from the Russian side, and Mr. Say Samal, Minister of Environment and Chairman of the National Council for Sustainable Development, from the side of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Memoranda were signed with witness of Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Mr. Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia.In November 2015 the National Council for Sustainable Development of Kingdom of Cambodia and ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation signed a Memorandum of cooperation for the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The memorandum involves the following areas of cooperation between the parties: cooperation in the area of engineering, construction and operation of a nuclear research center on the basis of multiple research reactors; basic and applied research; nuclear and radiation safety, use of radioisotopes and radiation technologies and their application in industry, medicine, agriculture and other fields; education and personnel training.
Flexible fares, additional baggage allowances and date change flexibility available with valid student or teacher ID

By: British Airways

Contact

Azad News

***@azadnewsme.com Azad News

End

-- British Airways is offering students and teachers travelling overseas for the new school term up to 10 per cent discount on advertised fares, one additional piece of checked baggage and flexibility on date changes to ticket bookings.The benefits are currently available for all students and teachers flying in World Traveller with British Airways from the United Arab Emirates to the UK, Europe or North America when they book through a British Airways shop or selected travel agent. Travel agents who are eligible to sell British Airways' student fares in the UAE are Etihad National Travel & Tourism, Nirvana Travel & Tourism LLC, Bin Moosa Travel LLC, Al Masaood Travel & Services, Asrar Travel & Tourism and Dunya Travel LLC in Abu Dhabi. In Dubai, FCM Travel, Airlink Travel, Dnata and SNTTA."Studying abroad is a once in a lifetime opportunity and our experience shows that students travelling abroad need to take a lot of extra baggage, particularly if they are on their maiden trip, but the worry of excess baggage can be a concern for them." says Paolo De Renzis, Head of Middle East, Africa and Central Asia Sales for British Airways."If you are a teacher starting a new job, we will help make sure that you have enough allowance so that when you arrive in a new country, you will have everything in your suitcase to get the new academic year off to the best possible start."When purchasing a ticket and checking-in at the airport, students and teachers need to provide valid identification to take advantage of the travel offers.*All flights from the UAE arrive at the airline's home at London Heathrow Terminal 5. British Airways customers can enjoy stress-free onward connections to cities in the UK and Europe from Heathrow.A full timetable of British Airways' flights to London and beyond is available online at ba.com, where students and teachers can find the lowest fares and book, pay and check-in online for their flights.Read More -
Learn about Spain's MQ-9 procurement deal with Spanish MoD representative presenting at this year's Airborne ISR

By: SMi Group

Visit the website to view agenda

Contact

Shannon Cargan

***@smi-online.co.uk Shannon Cargan

End

-- MQ-9 users USA, UK, France, Netherlands and Spain will meet in London to discuss ISR Capability DevelopmentSMi reports (2016.08.23, London, UK): Learn about Spain's MQ-9 procurement deal with Spanish MoD representative presenting at this year's Airborne ISRIN THE NEWS: "Spain has moved forward with its procurement ofafter putting California-based remotely piloted aircraft manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems on contract for four aircraft and two Block 30 ground control stations." (Flight Global, 2016)Learn about the huge procurement deal with Spanish MoD representative, Colonel Enrique Martinez Vallas, presenting on 'Medium and Long Term Plans for the Integration of Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance UAV into the Armed Forces', covering: Current UAV capability within the Armed forces and the need for a MALE system Current platforms available and the requirements of the Spanish Armed Forces Plans to procure and integrate the MQ9 into current force structure The potential for long term future co-operation on joint-European projects, such as the European MALE UAVAt the, taking place inThe Colonel will be joining a selection of keynote speakers from other MQ-9 using nations, including the: USA, UK, France and Netherlands. But this is just a small scope of the subject matter to be covered at this year's event.Proudly sponsored byand, the eagerly awaited event includes 14 thought provoking speakers, over 5 hours of networking, leading ISR military & industry specialists all under one roof, and is still growing.So far, the expert speaker line-up for Airborne ISR 2016 includes a variety of senior personnel from: Joint Forces Command UK, RAF, United States Air Force, French Air Force, German Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, Ministry of Defence Spain, Defence Command Denmark, RUSI, NATO, DSTL and many more!The programme will also featureon 'Effective Concepts of Operation for Collection of Intelligence' and 'Deliberating the Direction and Requirements of Command and Control for ISTAR Operations'.For more information on the two-day conference or to book at the '200 off' August rate, visit:26th - 27th October 2016Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London, UK#airborneisr2016Sponsorship enquiries, contact Sadia Malick on +44 (0) 207 827 6748 or smalick@smi-online.co.ukDelegate enquiries, contact James Hitchen on +44 (0) 207 827 6054 or jhitchen@smi-online.co.ukMedia enquiries, contact Shannon Cargan on +44 20 7827 6138 or scargan@smi-online.co.uk* News source http://bit.ly/ 2aGDubV ---- END ----About SMi Group:Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the world's most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk
A local Ukrainian IT company has given Ukrainians a means to promote the country's 25th year of Independence

Ukraine25_Avatar Generator

Media Contact

Mobilunity

pr@mobilunity.com Mobilunity

End

-- IT outsourcing company Mobilunity has launched a greeting website for all people who love, live or were born in Ukraine. The Avatar Generator allows one to generate a national profile picture for themselves, their relatives, friends and colleagues. The main aim of the website Ukraine25.Mobilunity.com is to congratulate the nation on its 25th anniversary of Independence and help promote the brand of Ukraine among family and friends whether they live in Ukraine or are abroad.The avatar platform allows users to upload their pictures and edit them online without providing any contact details. People can easily add national symbols, stickers, or apply various filters and frameworks to the pictures. As a result they get a patriotic photo that can be used either as a profile avatar, a greeting card, or a picture for a post. The avatars generated at Ukraine25.Mobilunity.com can be used for any and all social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The functionality of the website allows users to either download the picture to their cell phone, notebook, or computer, or to share it via Facebook to timelines as a greeting to friends."The website is an application that helps people not only generate customized national pictures, but also helps a whole Ukraine and Ukrainian expats living in Canada, Portugal, Italy or any other country promote Ukraine as a sovereign and independent state," says Anna Yatsenko, Mobilunity Project Manager.Although Mobilunity has developed numerous projects, http://ukraine25.mobilunity.com/ en/ is unique as it is the 1st social project initiated by our company. Mobilunity's marketing, development, and design teams applied a lot of effort to plan and develop a good platform for Ukrainians, and help them nationalize their profiles to promote Ukraine.Test the Ukraine25.Mobilunity.com avatar generator, nationalize your social media profile, and help celebrate Ukraine's 25th anniversary of Independence.About MobilunityMobilunity is a Ukrainian IT outsourcing company established in 2010 in Kyiv. The company is working with Startups, digital agencies, and numerous corporations from around the globe, with clients from over 16 countries, across 3 continents. The projects they work on include, but are not limited to, web and mobile application development, systems integrations, UI/UX, custom web design, 24/7 tech maintenance of servers and IT systems, SEO, branding, promotion, and business analysis. For more information, please visit www.mobilunity.comIf you want to get more information about website development or if any questions arise, please contact us:Mobilunity70A SaksaganskogoKiev, 03680 Ukrainepr@mobilunity.com
By: Triangle Real Estate Group

End

-- Triangle Real Estate Group, a locally owned real estate company that specializes in the sales and marketing of residential and commercial properties in the greater Raleigh area, congratulates Mark Steward of the Mark Steward Team for receiving the 2016 Outstanding Service award from the Miss North Carolina Organization.The award was given to Steward, NC Real Estate Broker, at the Miss North Carolina Pageant held in Raleigh on June 25th. The Miss North Carolina Organization is a part of the Miss America Organization, which is the leading scholarship provider for young women in our nation today. The women involved are deeply rooted in volunteerism, promoting style, scholarship, success, and service."Mark is truly a perfect example of everything the Miss North Carolina Organization stands for. He has done so much for us over the past few years, and really helped to advance the organization and further our growth. We are so very thankful for his expertise and guidance in helping us promote our brand throughout the Triangle and beyond, as well as networking with potential sponsors that so generous provide Miss North Carolina with a place to live throughout her reign and many more" said Kate Peacock, Miss North Carolina 2015.Steward states that he was "surprised and honored to receive this award from an organization that I am so passionate about."Established in 2013, Triangle Real Estate Group has achieved phenomenal success in assembling one of the region's most experienced sales teams. That team of neighborhood experts stands ready to meet the needs of clients throughout the Triangle area. Utilizing the latest tech tools, Triangle Real Estate Group continually strives to offer agents and clients the most up-to-date resources, ensuring outstanding results. Growing at a rapid pace, Triangle Real Estate Group opened an additional office, Triangle Real Estate Group West, in 2014 to better serve the Triangle area. Today, Triangle Real Estate Group is one of the most visited firms for selling and buying real estate in Triangle areas, including Greater Raleigh and Durham.
Warm-weather destinations are especially popular over the year-end holidays.

By: AdventureSmith Explorations

Baja whale watching

Contact

Widness & Wiggins PR

***@travelnewssource.com Widness & Wiggins PR

End

-- Cruises to warm-weather destinations are especially popular over the year-end holidays. Smallship cruise expert AdventureSmith Explorations (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/), the company that brings cruise guests into intimate contact with seldom-visited shorelines around the world, reports that cabin space, some with special booking offers, is still available over this period. And several of this company's holiday-flagged destinations are near mainland America, cutting down on flying time and jet lag., for example, are easy to access and are family friendly with a range of itineraries on small 8-to-84-guest ships, some with early booking special offers including savings on air. Baja cruises in late December and early January are marked by the beginning of peak gray whale viewing season and spectacular snorkeling with sea lions. Excellent holiday availability exists on a range of cruise options:- Baja's Bounty ( http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/ bajas-bounty ) is an eight-day itinerary aboard the 84-guestwith rates from $2,995 per person double which does not include a $300 savings per couple if booked before Oct. 28, 2016. Baja, a rich archipelago, is an important bird refuge and migration corridor. It is a place author John Steinbeck found "ferocious with life" and it was once described by Jacques Cousteau as "the aquarium of the world." As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and biosphere reserve, it is one of the most biologically diverse marine environments on earth. Holiday departures: Dec. 17, 24, and 31.- Wild Islands & Treasures of Baja California ( http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/ wild-islands- tr... ) aboard the 62-guestoffers a $750 per person air credit and invites families with children to take 50 percent off the cabin rate for every child under age 18. The per person double rate is from $5,990 for eight days. Guests experience coming ashore on expedition landing craft; they kayak, snorkel, hike and beachcomb, always with an eye out for humpback whales, brown pelicans, gulls, wandering tattlers, great blue herons, and blue-footed boobies that thrive in this protected marine environment, some of which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Holiday departures: Dec. 17, 24, and 31.- Westward Voyages in the Sea of Cortez (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/westward-voyages-in-the-sea-of-cortez) aboard the historic and intimate eight-guest yacht,is a 12-day journey from $5,750 per person double. Guests snorkel with whale sharks, view cave paintings of ancient people and say hello to sea lions and whales while passing by. Holiday departures: Dec. 16 and 29.accommodate sailings year-round,but December's great weather and green landscapes make it an especially popular time of year. Giant tortoise eggs start to hatch and green sea turtles begin egg laying in January. Water temperatures are on the rise, so it's also an ideal time for snorkeling. Availability is already limited on most of the holiday programs to Darwin's magical archipelago except forand on a land-based Galapagos Island Hopper. The 16-guest, first-class Galapagos Islands yachtoperates two unique eight-day Galapagos cruise itineraries which can be shortened into four- or five-day cruises or combined into more comprehensive 11- or 15-day cruises. For example, a four-day program is from $1,843 per person double. Galapagos Island Hopper (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/galapagos-island-hopper) is a five- to six-day, land-based program from $2,099 per person double. Guests discover miracles abounding on the top two Galapagos volcanic islands: Santa Cruz and Isabela, and their splendid places where the wildlife is unafraid of human visitors. Guests also explore by boat other islands during the day and return to their three distinct lodges by night.is friendly, tropical and easy to access, plus (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/costa-rica) it's a great holiday destination, one famed for being family friendly. Verdant rain and cloud forests offer an astounding diversity of tropical birds and wildlife, active volcanoes, waterfalls and beautiful beaches. Plus, the new Uncharted Isthmus (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/costa-rica-panama-small-ship-cruise-manuel-antonio-national-park-corcovado-oiba-panama-canal)cruise brings a whole new level of activity (with the addition of stand-up paddle boarding as well as hiking and kayaking). Here's a look at holiday dates with current availability on these departures:- Uncharted Isthmus! Sloths, Monkeys & Mangroves (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/costa-rica-panama-small-ship-cruise-manuel-antonio-national-park-corcovado-oiba-panama-canal) Dec. 17 ($350 savings available), Dec. 23, Dec. 30.- Costa Rica & the Panama Canal (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/costa-rica-panama-canal-barro-colorado-cruise-national-geographic-guides)  Dec. 17, Dec. 24, Dec. 31.- Treasures of Costa Rica & the Panama Canal (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/treasures-of-costa-rica-the-panama-canal) Dec. 21 and Dec. 30.- Quest for Pura Vida (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/quest-for-pura-vida)  Dec. 20.aboard the all-inclusive 36-guestpair the tropical allure of the islands with active inclusions like stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, hiking and snorkeling. These are the only unstructured inter-island yacht cruises in the Hawaiian Islands, where the next port may not be a port at all. Instead it may be watching whales, or a secluded sandy beach or a quite cove for exploring surroundings on the shore or in the water. An eight day Hawaiian Seascapes cruise (http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/hawaiian-seascapes-hawaii-cruise-uncruise-molokai-lanai-honomalino-safari-explorer)is from $3,795 per person double. Holiday departures: Dec. 17, 24, and 31.For more information on cruising over the holidays in these and other international destinations please see http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/holiday-travel-2016-small-ship-cruises-christmas-new-years.For information on all of AdventureSmith's small ship cruises, itineraries, availability and 2016-2017 reservations, Phone: 800-728-2875 toll-free or visit http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/Founded in 2003, AdventureSmith Explorations is based in Tahoe City, CA, along the northern shore of Lake Tahoe. A recognized leader in small ship cruising, owner Todd Smith is a member of's prestigious Travel Specialists List as the world's expert on small ship expeditions.Sara Widness / 802-234-6704 / sara@widnesspr.comDave Wiggins / 720-301-3822 / dave@travelnewssource.com
Contact

Royal Neighbors of America

***@royalneighbors.org Royal Neighbors of America

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-- Fighting cancer is not a new campaign for Royal Neighbors of America. For nearly 100 years the women-led life insurer has been educating women and their families about the deadly disease, as well as providing financial support to cancer survivors through Royal Neighbors' volunteer efforts and community outreach activities.Early actions to fight cancer started with limiting cigarette-smoking in its buildings in the early 1900s. Royal Neighbors took the cancer fight up a notch when it cautioned women about the disease in an article in the July 1920 issue ofmagazine. The article, Fourteen Points about Cancer, included information from the American Society for the Control of Cancer about cancer statistics, detection and treatment.Royal Neighbors' emphasis on cancer support extends beyond the needs of its members. It was founded in 1895 on the dual mission of both providing financial protection through life insurance and "neighbor-helping-neighbor" community service.Unlike many life insurers, Royal Neighbors is a fraternal benefit society, a group of like-minded, socially conscious people who share a common bond and also share the desire to help their neighbors make a difference in their communities. Royal Neighbors specializes in the needs of women, but males are welcome to join, as well as take part in volunteer projects.Cancer advocacy can take other forms. In 2015, Royal Neighbors made headlines when it launched the initial stage of a patent-pending process including a Cancer Waiver rider designed to help in the event of a diagnosis of cervical, ovarian, or breast cancer at Stage II or higher.The Cancer Waiver rider waives insurance premiums or monthly deductions for two years following the diagnosis. It was only available on Whole Life insurance.* Now, in 2016, Royal Neighbors is offering the same rider with Universal Life insurance.**"When a woman undergoes cancer treatment her focus should be on getting well," said Cynthia Tidwell, President/CEO of Royal Neighbors. "With this new coverage, we can provide women that extra support when they need it most."Sometimes support comes in smaller amounts, but involves more hands-on volunteerism. In January 2016 Royal Neighbors launched the Difference Maker Fund. The new program offers Royal Neighbors' members $200 in seed money to support a community project that aligns with the life insurer's mission. One of the first projects funded was a cancer-related project, Blankets for Breast Cancer Patients in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The group provides cozy blankets to help cancer patients stay warm and comfortable during infusion treatments.Due to the steady increase of cancer, many of Royal Neighbors' neighbor-helping-neighbor community service efforts focus on supporting women who have the disease. This is especially evident in Royal Neighbors' signature program, Nation of Neighbors,which provides financial support to a person who has a plan to start or expand a business or organization/group that helps women and girls in their community.A 2015 Nation of Neighbors recipient, Jane Morse Swett, founder of Women With Purpose, received a $10,000 grant. The Tampa-based, non-profit organization provides cancer patients with non-medical financial assistance for basic necessities by paying rent, mortgages, utilities, car payments, gas and food cards. Royal Neighbors representatives surprised Morse-Swett with a check at a fundraising fashion show event, Catwalk for a Cause."I am so blessed and so grateful," said Morse-Swett as she dabbed away a tear. "This $10,000 is just going to put us over top."Stacey Michelle, creative director of Women With Purpose, and the emissary who helped coordinate the surprise check presentation with Tamica Gooden, a Royal Neighbors member and employee who nominated Morse-Swett for the award, was equally appreciative to Royal Neighbors."We are very grateful to be able to help many, many, patients who are awaiting assistance,"said Michelle.Across the U.S. in Scottsdale, Arizona, another cancer-related charity that has benefited from Royal Neighbors' generosity is Singleton Moms. The non-profit organization is dedicated to nurturing single parents battling cancer, and their minor children, by meeting the practical day- to-day needs of the entire family. In the last nine years Singleton Moms has provided financial assistance, nutritious meals, house cleaning, kid's events and emotional support to over 300 single parents and their 1000+ children. In addition to being a past Nation of Neighbors grant recipient, Jody Farley-Berens, founder and executive director of Singleton Moms, is a favorite charity of Royal Neighbors' chapter in Mesa, AZ.Royal Neighbors of America, one of the nation's largest women-led insurers, empowers women to meet the needs of their families with annuities and life insurance products such as whole life, simplified issue, and universal life.Royal Neighbors was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Rock Island, IL, with a branch office in Mesa, AZ. For more information, visit www.royalneighbors.org or call (800) 627-4762.*Promise Plus is Essential Whole Life insurance (Form Series 1314) + Cancer Waiver of Premium Rider (Form Series 2084). Certificate and riders are not available in all states. Contractual provisions and limitations may vary by state. Subject to reinsurance and underwriting requirements. Patent Pending.**Secure Life Universal Life Cash Value (Form Series 1315). SecureLife Universal Life Death Benefit (Form Series 1211). Certificate and riders are not available in all states. Contractual provisions and limitations may vary by state. Subject to reinsurance and underwriting requirements.Form EM2016-87Linkshttp://www.royalneighbors.org/http://www.womenwithpurposefl.org/http://www.singletonmoms.org/http://www.royalneighbors.org/community-connections/difference-maker-fundhttps://www.facebook.com/RoyalNeighborsofAmerica
Saint Monica University Plans to Suspend Doctoral Degree Programs in Cameroon Only While it Sought Further Authorization in the Country

By: Saint Monica University

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-- The President of Saint Monica University (SMU), which is registered in Cameroon as "SMU Higher Institute," today announced that the press release from the Minister of Higher Education confirms SMU's authority to train students for bachelors and masters degree program. The press release only prohibits the institution from training students for PhD programs in Cameroon."We want to re-assure our current and prospective students that Saint Monica University has the required permit to run over 50 undergraduate and graduate programs in Cameroon," said Professor Januarius Jingwa (JJ) Asongu, President and Chief Executive Officer of SMU. "We are going to comply with the Ministry's order not to train students at the level of the PhD in Cameroon."It should be noted that Saint Monica University is an international university with operations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Cameroon. While we may not be allowed to operate certain programs in Cameroon, we have the authority to do so in other countries. We currently have partnerships with multiple universities in the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, and British West Indies, where our students can earn accredited foreign degrees.Saint Monica University (SMU) is a leading private university in Cameroon. It is an American-style non-ecclesiastical Catholic institution, offering career-focused programs that are at the intersection of the liberal arts, science and technology. It is dedicated to providing educational opportunities for the intellectual, social, entrepreneurial and professional development of a diverse student population. SMU is focused on the student experience and helping our students achieve their educational and career goals, and contributing to a more sustainable society. We offer various certificates and diplomas as well as bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through the School of Arts, Education, & Humanities (SAEH); School of Business & Public Policy (SBPP); School of Health & Human Services (SHHS); and School of Science, Engineering & Technology (SSET). SMU is accredited in the United Kingdom by the Accreditation Service for International Schools, Colleges, and Universities (ASIC) with Accreditation No: AS22357/0614 and is listed on the UK Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP) with the UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN): 10048183. SMU is also fully accredited in Cameroon by the National Commission on Private Higher Education at the Ministry of Higher Education (MINESUP) with the Ordinance of Creation No: E14/0028/MINESUP/SG/DDES and the Ministerial Letter No: 15-09643/L/MINESUP/SG/DDES/ESUP/SDA/MM authorizing SMU to offer over 50 bachelor's and master's degree programs. SMU is a member of many international academic organizations including the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), Global Universities In Distance Education (GUIDE), and the Talloires Network. For more information about SMU, visit our website: http://www.smuedu.org or write to us at admissions@smuedu.org.
According to an Office Market Snapshot by Cushman & Wakefield, the healthy economic situation in the Czech Republic is supporting a robust office real estate market. However, there may be some side effects of the UKs Brexit vote indirectly via a slowdown in Eurozone growth and a potential deterioration in

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As far as images reveal, this convertible version of Maruti Jimny seems good enough to be considered for factory production
The 10 millionth truck radial tyre came out of the mould at JK Vikrant plant in Mysuru. JK Tyre took over this plant from the Karnataka Government in the late 1990s. An investment of over Rs 1200 cr has seen the plant being transformed into a modern state-of-the-art plant.

Raghupati Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director, JK Tyre says when the company started operations in 1977 with its first tyre plant in Rajasthan, annual capacity stood at 5 lakh units.

Since then, the company has grown multifold. Over time, JK Tyre has set up green field plants, expanded production capacity, acquired plants across continents and in India. Most recently, three 3 plants of Cavendish Industries in Uttarakhand to keep pace with increased tyre demand in India and global markets.

The commercial vehicle tyre market in India stands at 7.18 lakh (2015-16) units. JK Tyre has been a market leader introduced Truck and Bus Radial tyres back in 1999. Today, the company is the largest segment producer. Today, JK Tyre manufactures a complete range from a 3 kilo scooter tyre to the 3.7 tonnes Ultra Large OTR tyre.

JK Tyre operates 12 plants globally with a future ready capacity of 350 lakh tyres per annum. Its Rs 2200 cr acquisition of Cavendish has helped JK Tyre enter the high growth 2-3 wheeler segment with brand Challenger.

Earlier this year, the company completed phase 2 expansion of its pure radial plant at Chennai with a total investment of Rs 1430 crore. The plant makes truck radials and car radials and has a production capacity of 12 lakh TBRs and 45 lakh PCRs. The plant can be scaled up to 2 million truck radials and 10 million PCRs. JKs Mexico plants are under expansion with capacity to go up to 5 million tyres from 3.5 million units per year.
A love of paper projects preceded a passion for public service.

Fremonter Kay Hartmann has a bent to helping causes.

A longtime fan of origami, Hartmann had folded countless cranes throughout the years.

But in 2011, her art took flight -- hitting a high point with Cranestorm.

Hartmann participated by folding 100 colorful paper cranes for a Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska (BIA-NE) display.

Cranestorm was launched to bring awareness to brain injury.

Hartmann even received a certificate for recognition of her contribution to Cranestorm.

In 2015, she received the Above and Beyond award from BIA-NE for going above and beyond the average volunteer for bringing brain injury awareness to the forefront of the state.

From her Lincoln office, Peggy Reisher, executive director of the BIA-NE, spoke of Hartmanns conviction.

We have appreciated her dedication to build awareness and bring in funds, Reisher said.

She is one of the hardest workers  she does it with compassion, Reisher added.

Hartmann takes it personally.

Im epileptic. That was my inspiration, Hartmann said.

Hartmann has had a connection with brain injury for almost 60 years.

I had convulsions in my crib, Hartmann said she was told.

An official diagnosis of epilepsy came at age 12.

I was gainfully employed until 1994, Hartmann said.

Seizures rendered her unconscious.

She suffered concussions.

Reisher recognizes her struggles.

She doesnt drive, Reisher said.

Hartmann turns to other means to raise awareness  and funds.

A lot by phone, Hartmann said.

I walk and visit businesses, Hartmann added. Im not shy to ask.

She visits schools.

The Brain Injury Alliance has partnered with the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) to raise awareness of concussions, Hartmann explained.

Posters display the phrase, When in doubtsit em out, she said.

I encourage the school to hang the banner in a prominent place, she added.

Hartmann continues to raise the bar with her volunteer work.

In one year alone, Hartmann raised more than $5,000.

Simply as a solo act, Hartmann said.

I am constantly trying to do something for them, she added.

Hartmann is also a two-time breast cancer survivor  diagnosed in 2006.

I raised money for (American Cancer Society) Relay for Life before the Brain Injury Alliance, Hartmann said.

Over $15,500 as an individual, she added.

Hartman said she raised those funds over a few years.

Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska recently was added to the roster of the 19 premier charities supported by Community Health Charities of Nebraska.

We are excited to be part of Community Health Charities, Reisher said. It is helpful for us in spreading awareness about our association.

An opportunity to support BIA-NE and 18 other charities is offered by some area employers through payroll deduction.

An avid supporter of CHC-NE, retired teacher Ruth Register, of Cedar Bluffs, also stresses the need for education.

I never would have put epilepsy with brain injury, Register said. We (sometimes) dont connect the dots.

We are learning more about how they are related, said Caris Kenny of Omaha, director of community partnerships for CHC-NE.

Register will be honored for her volunteer work with CHC-NE Aug. 25 at CHC-NE annual meeting at the Omaha Country Club.

Register will receive The Partnership in Health award.

Meanwhile, Hartmann submitted one of her crane creations at the 2016 Dodge County Fair, competing in the senior arts division.

Although volunteering can be physically demanding, Hartmann isnt ready to fold it up yet.

I like a challenge, Hartmann said.
OTUA is slated to be of the highest quality, command the highest load carrying capacity and have the longest range per charge
Each Rolls-Royce Cullinan scale model is built to order with over 1,000 individual components and 450 hours of attention to detail

Scale model collection is a popular hobby among automotive enthusiasts. Based on the size or scale, the collection varies in terms of exclusivity, detail, features and price. For instance, one can buy an extremely rare 1:64 Hotwheels for around Rs 120-400 or a readily available 1:18 Bburago/Maisto product for more than 20 times this price. In the eyes of collectors, the former has more value.

In most cases, collectors stick onto just one scale and maybe a secondary Hotwheels collection. Mainstream scale model or die-cast brands (Maisto, Bburago, Welly, Road Signature, etc.) would be short of certain special cars. Meanwhile, these models would be available with more premium brands such as AUTOart, GTSpirit, Kyosho or Minichamps; thus making automotive miniatures an expensive hobby. The most sought-after scale remains 1:18  anything smaller would be low on details while anything larger would be tough to store.

A good majority of OEMs also offer die-casts in their collectibles portfolio. As a prime example in India, Tata Motors introduced a 1:20 Tata Altroz model alongside the hatchbacks formal debut. However, none of these OEM scale models has hit headlines as Rolls-Royces new 1:18 scale Cullinan. Priced at $36,000 (~ Rs 28 lakh), it is one of the most extreme examples of an officially licensed collectors item.

At this price point, though the scale model is a lot cheaper than the actual Cullinan (price in India is Rs 8.2 crore), the scale model is still more expensive than most of the brand new cars on sale in India, including the likes of Jeep Compass SUV.

Why so expensive?

Rolls-Royce states that each unit is built to order with over 1,000 individual components. In typical Rolls-Royce fashion, there are endless spec possibilities. Off the shelf, the limited-production scale model is available in Tungsten / Arctic White shade. As a whole, the package comes in an elegant display case with a removable perspex cover.

It takes around 450 hours for each model to be produced. In comparison, a real-deal Cullinan in the exact spec requires only about half this time. The models are hand-painted, polished and pinstriped with extreme precision. Interior material quality is almost identical to its actual avatar. Other highlights include opening doors and compartments, remote-operated LED lighting (exterior and interior) and immense attention to detail.

Still, from a collectors perspective, the new Rolls-Royce Cullinan 1:8 scale model does not seem to be an ideal buy (regardless of the price). For starters, it is sized pretty much unconventionally and made complicated (and possibly unreliable for long-term storage) with electricals. If we had $36,000 put aside only to spend on scale models, we would opt the entire AUTOart range and build a mancave of our dreams.
Scientists may be closing in on a way to let consumers savor the sweet taste of cake, cookies and other culinary delights without the sugar rush. In preliminary tests using a new device developed in-house that allows them to screen for odor compounds in real foods, they have isolated several natural aromatic molecules that could be used to trick our brains into believing that desserts and other foods contain more fat, sugar or salt than they actually do.

The researchers will present their work today at the 252nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

"Most consumers know that they should be eating more healthful foods made with reduced amounts of fat, sugar and salt. But this is problematic because these are the very ingredients that make many of the foods we like taste so delicious," says Thierry Thomas-Danguin, Ph.D. "Based on our lab work, we've come to believe that aromas can help compensate for the reduction of fat, sugar and salt in healthful foods and make them more appealing to consumers."

Aroma plays a vital role in how we perceive food (just try pinching your nose closed while you eat -- odds are you won't taste anything). Based on this fact, food scientists have long used chemical aromatics, essential oils and botanical extracts to enhance the flavor of food and beverages to boost sales.

Recently, scientists have turned their attention to using aromas to improve the taste of foods made with reduced amounts of fat, sugar and salt, which many consumers avoid because of their notoriously bland flavor.

"If you buy a product made with 30 percent less salt, and you don't like it because it isn't very tasty, what do you do?" Thomas-Danguin asks. "You'll probably reach for the table salt and put some into the product. So the target is missed. Our goal is to optimize the reformulation process, so the food industry can produce more healthful products that consumers will like as they are and will choose to eat them regularly."

In earlier work, Thomas-Danguin set out to prove that if the right aroma is added in the right amount in the right places in the right food, the brain can be fooled into thinking there is more fat, sugar or salt in it. Study participants were asked to taste flan, a type of custard, made in layers containing varying amounts of ham aroma and salt. The researchers found that the ham aroma, even though it contained no salt, increased the perception of saltiness of the flan. In fact, some participants thought one variation of the custard made with ham aroma and salt distributed unevenly in layers throughout it tasted the same as a flan made in the traditional way with 40 percent more salt.

In their latest study, Thomas-Danguin and his colleagues at the Centre des Sciences du Gout de l'Alimentation in France, sought to find a new way to isolate aroma molecules associated with sweet tastes. So they created a first-of-its-kind device called a Gas Chromatograph-Olfactometry Associated Taste (GC-OAT) and used it in conjunction with an olfactoscan, which delivers a continuous stream of aromas through a tube to a subject's nose.

Participants were asked to smell real fruit juice aroma through the olfactoscan. Meanwhile, the researchers used the GC-OAT to isolate molecules from the juice. Then, they added the molecules one at a time into the olfactoscan tube. As the participants smelled each of these mixtures, they were asked if the molecule contributed to their perceived sweetness of the fruit juice. Thomas-Danguin says the preliminary results suggest that this new technique could eventually help food manufacturers better formulate more healthful foods without sacrificing taste, aroma or texture of the original products.
High school students who completed higher levels of math, performed better academically, and had a greater sense of control of their future were more likely to migrate and work in labor markets with larger shares of college-educated workers, according to a new study by sociologists at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin).

The United States has one of the highest internal migration rates in the world, with nearly one in four adults moving from one U.S. city to another in the past five years, as reported in a Gallup survey. Migration shapes the national landscape -- sometimes at the expense of equality of opportunity across labor markets. "Innovative" labor-markets with higher shares of college-educated workers expand due to economic growth and technological innovation and attract even more highly skilled workers, leaving other labor-markets behind, the researchers said.

"The uneven expansion of high-skilled jobs creates geographic inequalities in the workforce opportunities and differential opportunities for upward social mobility across generations," said lead-author Chandra Muller, a UT Austin sociology professor and research associate in the university's Population Research Center.

In their paper, which they will present at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA), Muller and her team of researchers analyzed the evolution of spatial inequality by examining the role of high school curriculum and performance in an individual's decision to move by midlife.

The researchers used data from the High School and Beyond sophomore cohort -- a nationally representative sample of 14,825 sophomores in 1,015 U.S. high schools initially surveyed in 1980 and surveyed again in 1984, 1986, 1992, and 2014, when the respondents were around 50 years old -- to weigh the influence of cognitive and non-cognitive skills, college preparatory courses, and academic degrees attained on migration between adolescence and midlife, over a time period that saw a rise in technology that drastically changed occupational demands.

In the sample, 36 percent of people moved across labor markets between high school and midlife, and they migrated an average distance of 676 miles. A person's level of internal locus of control, or the extent to which people believe they control their own destiny, was one predictor of who moved, with those ranked in the 68th percentile of locus of control being 3 percent more likely to move than those with average (50th percentile) levels of locus of control.

The researchers also found that people who had achieved more academically in high school -- as indicated by their test scores, their GPAs, and taking advanced math coursework -- were all more likely to move. For example, people who performed in the 68th percentile of the math achievement test were 2.3 percent more likely to move than those at the 50th percentile. Having a GPA in the 68th percentile increased the probability of moving by 2.5 percentage points over having an average GPA. And students who completed advanced mathematics were 6.2 percent more likely to move than students who only completed algebra 2, who were 4.2 percent more likely to move than students who had completed neither algebra 2 nor advanced mathematics.

"Data showed that some of the effects of academic preparation on moving were due to students attending college -- some likely first moved to attend college," Muller said.

The researchers also found that by midlife, individuals who had earned at least a bachelor's degree lived in areas with larger shares of college-educated workers than their high school classmates who had not graduated from college. Having college-educated parents also predicted who lived in areas with a larger share of educated workers by midlife.

"Indeed, the educational gradients in employment, health, and many indicators of well-being have become steeper and opportunities for intergenerational social mobility have declined," Muller said. "Although the data do not allow us to establish whether early skills and education cause migration and living in a labor market with a better economy, the evidence is consistent with the possibility."
Job satisfaction in your late 20s and 30s has a link to overall health in your early 40s, according to a new nationwide study.

While job satisfaction had some impact on physical health, its effect was particularly strong for mental health, researchers found.

Those less than happy with their work early in their careers said they were more depressed and worried and had more trouble sleeping.

And the direction of your job satisfaction -- whether it is getting better or worse in your early career -- has an influence on your later health, the study showed.

The good news is that people whose job satisfaction started low but got better over the course of their early career didn't have the health problems associated with consistently low or declining satisfaction.

"We found that there is a cumulative effect of job satisfaction on health that appears as early as your 40s," said Jonathan Dirlam, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in sociology at The Ohio State University.

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Dirlam conducted the study with Hui Zheng, associate professor of sociology at Ohio State. They presented their research Aug. 22 in Seattle at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Zheng said the results showed the importance that early jobs have on people's lives.

"You don't have to be near the end of your career to see the health impact of job satisfaction, particularly on your mental health," Zheng said.

The researchers used data from 6,432 Americans who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, which followed adults who were between the ages of 14 and 22 when the survey began in 1979.

The NLSY79 is conducted by Ohio State's Center for Human Resource Research for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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For this study, the researchers examined job satisfaction trajectories for people from age 25 to 39. These participants then reported a variety of health measures after they turned 40.

Participants rated how much they liked their jobs from 1 (dislike very much) to 4 (like very much).

The researchers put participants in four groups: consistently low and consistently high job satisfaction, those whose satisfaction started high but was trending down and those who started low but were trending higher.

The average score of those classified as the low group was nearly 3 (indicating they liked their job "fairly well"), Dirlam noted. But there was a lot of variance in that group, meaning that it included all the people who said they disliked their jobs somewhat or very much.

About 45 percent of participants had consistently low job satisfaction, while another 23 percent had levels that were trending downward through their early career.

About 15 percent of people were consistently happy at their jobs (nearly 4 on the scale) and about 17 percent were trending upward.

Using those who were consistently happy as the reference, the researchers compared how the health of the other three groups compared.

Mental health was most affected by people's feelings about their jobs.

People who were in the low job satisfaction group throughout their early careers scored worse on all five of the mental health measures studied, study results showed.

They reported higher levels of depression, sleep problems and excessive worry. They were also more likely to have been diagnosed with emotional problems and scored lower on a test of overall mental health.

Those whose job satisfaction started out higher but declined through their early career were more likely than those with consistently high satisfaction to have frequent trouble sleeping and excessive worry, and had lower scores for overall mental health. But they didn't see an impact on depression scores or their probability of being diagnosed with emotional problems.

Those whose scores went up through the early career years did not see any comparative health problems.

The physical health of those who were unhappy with their jobs wasn't impacted as much as mental health. Those who were in the low satisfaction group and those who were trending downwards reported poorer overall health and more problems like back pain and frequent colds compared to the high satisfaction group. But they weren't different in physical functioning and in doctor-diagnosed health problems such as diabetes and cancer.

As was true for mental health, no effects were seen on physical health for those trending upward.

Zheng said it is important to remember that participants were studied when they were only in their 40s.

"The higher levels of mental health problems for those with low job satisfaction may be a precursor to future physical problems," Zheng said.

"Increased anxiety and depression could lead to cardiovascular or other health problems that won't show up until they are older."

Dirlam noted that the study ended before the Great Recession.

"The recession almost certainly increased job insecurity and dissatisfaction, and that could have resulted in more negative health effects," he said.
Researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have invented a new flexible smart window material that, when incorporated into windows, sunroofs, or even curved glass surfaces, will have the ability to control both heat and light from the sun. Their article about the new material will be published in the September issue of Nature Materials.

Delia Milliron, an associate professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, and her team's advancement is a new low-temperature process for coating the new smart material on plastic, which makes it easier and cheaper to apply than conventional coatings made directly on the glass itself. The team demonstrated a flexible electrochromic device, which means a small electric charge (about 4 volts) can lighten or darken the material and control the transmission of heat-producing, near-infrared radiation. Such smart windows are aimed at saving on cooling and heating bills for homes and businesses.

The research team is an international collaboration, including scientists at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and CNRS in France, and Ikerbasque in Spain. Researchers at UT Austin's College of Natural Sciences provided key theoretical work.

Milliron and her team's low-temperature process generates a material with a unique nanostructure, which doubles the efficiency of the coloration process compared with a coating produced by a conventional high-temperature process. It can switch between clear and tinted more quickly, using less power.

The new electrochromic material, like its high-temperature processed counterpart, has an amorphous structure, meaning the atoms lack any long-range organization as would be found in a crystal. However, the new process yields a unique local arrangement of the atoms in a linear, chain-like structure. Whereas conventional amorphous materials produced at high temperature have a denser three-dimensionally bonded structure, the researchers' new linearly structured material, made of chemically condensed niobium oxide, allows ions to flow in and out more freely. As a result, it is twice as energy efficient as the conventionally processed smart window material.

At the heart of the team's study is their rare insight into the atomic-scale structure of the amorphous materials, whose disordered structures are difficult to characterize. Because there are few techniques for characterizing the atomic-scale structure sufficiently enough to understand properties, it has been difficult to engineer amorphous materials to enhance their performance.

"There's relatively little insight into amorphous materials and how their properties are impacted by local structure," Milliron said. "But, we were able to characterize with enough specificity what the local arrangement of the atoms is, so that it sheds light on the differences in properties in a rational way."

Graeme Henkelman, a co-author on the paper and chemistry professor in UT Austin's College of Natural Sciences, explains that determining the atomic structure for amorphous materials is far more difficult than for crystalline materials, which have an ordered structure. In this case, the researchers were able to use a combination of techniques and measurements to determine an atomic structure that is consistent in both experiment and theory.

"Such collaborative efforts that combine complementary techniques are, in my view, the key to the rational design of new materials," Henkelman said.

Milliron believes the knowledge gained here could inspire deliberate engineering of amorphous materials for other applications such as supercapacitors that store and release electrical energy rapidly and efficiently.

The Milliron lab's next challenge is to develop a flexible material using their low-temperature process that meets or exceeds the best performance of electrochromic materials made by conventional high-temperature processing.

"We want to see if we can marry the best performance with this new low-temperature processing strategy," she said.
Microsporidia cause diarrhea, an illness called microsporidiosis and even death in immune-compromised individuals.

In spite of those widespread medical problems, scientists were uncertain about how these single-celled fungi reproduced in human or animal cells.

But in a study that employed transparent roundworms, biologists at the University of California San Diego succeeded in directly observing how these microorganisms replicate and spread. And what they saw surprised them.

The UC San Diego biologists report in this week's issue of Nature Microbiology that microsporidia fuse the cells of their animal hosts together so they can multiply and quickly spread, alien-like, within their hosts' uninfected cells.

"Viruses and bacteria have been shown to fuse host cells together to facilitate the spread of an infection," said Emily Troemel, a professor of biology who headed the study. "But this is the first time we've seen this mode of infection by a eukaryotic pathogen, which is a single-celled organism with a distinct nucleus containing genetic material."

"It's like microsporidia have figured out that, like soldiers fighting in an urban warfare, it's easier and safer to go from house to house by entering adjacent houses through a common wall, rather than by going through the front door of each house," said Troemel.

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Microsporidia are typically found in the intestinal tracts of animals and humans, which are made up of millions of cells. That's one reason why studying their mode of reproduction before had been so difficult.

"We often don't know where pathogens invade or how they spread from cell to cell," explained Keir Balla, a graduate student working in Troemel's laboratory and the first author of the paper. "This is partly due to the complex arrangement of cells in the body. Because the gut is made up of millions of cells, it's virtually impossible to tell which gut cell was first invaded or the extent to which infection was able to spread. And this can prevent effective treatment."

Although some compounds have been used to treat infections with microsporidia, none have proven effective, leading to widespread infections among humans as well as animals. A recent study conducted in the Czech Republic found that roughly one-half of the population was infected with at least one of the 14 species of microsporidia known to infect humans.

"It's been an unappreciated medical issue because of how difficult it's been to detect microsporidia," said Troemel.

Balla and two other scientists in Troemel's lab -- graduate student Robert Luallen and postdoctoral fellow Malina Bakowski -- used the tiny roundworm, C. elegans to figure out how microsporidia replicate from a single infection. Not only is the worm transparent, allowing the researchers to directly observe the process, but it has a very simple gut.

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"The entire body of this worm is roughly 10 times shorter than a single human eyelash and its gut is made up of just 20 cells," said Balla. "But despite the drastic differences in the number of gut cells between the worms and humans, their gut structure is quite similar. This means there are probably parallels in how microsporidian infections spread in both the human and worm cells."

By labeling the RNA of microsporidia with a red fluorescent dye and tagging the membranes of the gut cells in green, the researchers were able to microscopically track a single infection of one microsporidia cell in one gut cell as it reproduced over two days by more than 50,000 individuals and travelled through all 20 gut cells. Thus, one parasite cell can replicate to take ultimately over the entire intestinal organ.

"While watching these infections in the living worms, we saw the microsporidia grow and spread beyond the initially invaded cell by fusing neighboring gut cells together," said Troemel. "This process continued across all of the gut cells until the majority of the entire intestine was fused into one giant cell filled with microsporidia."

When the researchers infected the worm's muscle cells with microsporidia, the same process occurred. The invaders fused the cells together into one continuous structure, suggesting that the same mode of reproduction microsporidia employ in gut cells occurs in many other types of animal cells they infect -- including humans.

"Our observation in this study that a single microbe can fuse many host cells into one should provide insights for other scientists designing more effective treatments for microsporidia infections," said Balla. "Because these pathogens remain hidden within their hosts' cells, treatments will need to be designed that deliver drugs or other agents to these intracellular regions."

The study was supported by grants from the Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (R01GM114139) and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
A study from Oxford and Basel universities may point the way to maintaining our immune systems as we get older.

In a paper in the journal Nature Immunology, scientists explain how they uncovered the effects of a protein called Foxn1, which is a critical factor in the development of an effective immune system.

Humans, like all higher animals, use T cells as part of the immune system, to fight off infections and cancer. T cells are generated in an organ called the thymus, where they closely interact with thymic epithelial cells (TEC) as they mature. People without TEC cannot generate T cells, severely compromising the immune system and consequently increasing the risk for life threatening infections and cancer.

More than 20 years ago the transcription factor Foxn1 was identified as an essential molecule for the normal development of TEC. However, the genes directly controlled by Foxn1 -- and thus responsible for the various TEC functions -- have remained unidentified.

The researchers used new experimental models and analytical tools to investigate which genes were regulated by Foxn1 and how it affected them. Transcription factors bind to particular sections of our DNA and the team is the first to identify the DNA sequence bound by Foxn1. From there, they identified the hundreds of genes whose expression is regulated by this master regulator. These include genes that are essential to attract precursor cells in the blood, which are destined to become T-cells, to the thymus, genes that commit these precursor cells to become T cells and genes that provide the molecular machinery which allows the selection of those T cells that best serve an individual.

Experiments in which Foxn1 expression by TEC was inhibited, confirmed that the transcription factor needs to be continuously present for TEC to function normally.

Professor Georg Hollander from the University of Oxford's Department of Paediatrics said: 'The thymus is the organ in humans that first displays an age-dependent, physiological decline in function.

'It grows until puberty and then shrinks throughout the rest of our lives. This is thought to contribute to the decline in immunity in older people, which makes them more susceptible to opportunistic infections and cancers.

'The findings from these studies therefore provide important insight into the genetic control of regular TEC function and identify new potential strategies to preserve thymus function with age, raising the prospect of a healthier old age.'
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists have shown that unexpectedly, esophageal cancer cells do not divide faster than their normal neighbours. But unlike normal cells, the tumour cells produce slightly more dividing daughter cells than non-dividing ones, forming a tumour.

The study, published in Nature Cell Biology today, could lead to the development of new treatments for cancers that do not respond to current therapies which target fast-growing cells.

Normal cells produce equal numbers of dividing and non-dividing cells, a balance which sustains the tissue. For every 100 normal cells, 50 of them will divide and 50 of them will not. The researchers found that for 100 pre-cancer cells the balance was slightly skewed in favour of dividing cells, with 52 of those cells dividing and 48 remaining undivided. This is the first time this has been shown. The subtle shift loads the odds in favour of cell division and over time this can lead to tumour growth.

esophageal cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Each year 8,750 people are diagnosed with the disease, which is hard to treat even with aggressive therapy. Understanding the processes underlying tumour growth could help in the development of new cancer treatments.

Dr Philip Jones, lead researcher from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "We created a new model of human squamous cancer of the esophagus in mice, and measured the rate of cell division. In these mice all the cells in the body divided once per day, proving that precancerous and cancerous cells can divide at the same speed as surrounding normal cells. But the pre-cancerous cells produced a small excess of dividing over non-dividing cells -- it was this marginal gain of cells that led to malignant tumours."

Tissues can naturally change the ratio of dividing versus non-dividing cells in response to certain events. For example, cells divide at the edge of a wound, but this imbalance in cell division stops once the wound has healed.

The scientists saw that in very early tumour tissue development, multiple different cells, each with different alterations in their DNA, came together to form a polyclonal pre-cancerous tumour. However, the researchers showed that as these various pre-tumour cells became cancerous, they evolved differently with some gaining an advantage by producing a greater proportion of dividing daughters. This led to a group of cells in the tumour that dominated and out-competed the other cells in the tumour.

Dr Julia Frede, a lead author from the Sanger Institute, said: "Our research showed that esophageal carcinoma and possibly other hard-to-treat cancers may behave in a very similar manner to normal cells, rather than dividing more rapidly. This would explain why treatments such as radiation therapy that target fast-dividing cells don't work with all cancers. More research is needed to find the mechanisms that drive the proportion of cells that divide."

Dr Justine Alford, Cancer Research UK's Senior Science Information Officer, said: "This study, carried out in mice, uncovered surprising evidence that unbalanced cell division is important in the development of a certain type of esophageal cancer. The next important step will be finding out whether the same is true in patients with the disease. If scientists can unpick the biology causing the imbalance, then it may lead to new treatments for this hard to treat type of cancer and boost the number of people surviving."

About esophageal Cancer:
Leaving a child unattended is considered taboo in today's intensive parenting atmosphere, despite evidence that American children are safer than ever. So why are parents denying their children the same freedom and independence that they themselves enjoyed as children? A new study by University of California, Irvine social scientists suggests that our fears of leaving children alone have become systematically exaggerated in recent decades -- not because the practice has become more dangerous, but because it has become socially unacceptable.

"Without realizing it, we have consistently increased our estimates of the amount of danger facing children left alone in order to better justify or rationalize the moral disapproval we feel toward parents who violate this relatively new social norm," said Ashley Thomas, cognitive sciences graduate student and lead author of the work, published online this month in the open-access journal Collabra.

The survey-based study found that children whose parents left them alone on purpose -- to go to work, help out a charity, relax or meet an illicit lover -- were perceived to be in greater danger than those whose parents were involuntarily separated from them.

The researchers presented survey participants with five different scenarios in which a child was left alone for less than an hour. Situations ranged from a 10-month-old who was left asleep for 15 minutes in a cool car parked in a gym's underground garage to an 8-year-old reading a book alone at a coffee shop a block from home for 45-minutes.

"Within a given scenario, the only thing that varied was the reason for the parent's absence," said Kyle Stanford, professor and chair of logic & philosophy of science. "These included an unintentional absence -- caused by a fictitious accident in which the mother was hit by a car and briefly knocked unconscious -- and four that were planned: leaving for work, volunteering for a charity, relaxing or meeting an illicit lover. After reading each scenario and the reason behind each child being left alone, the participants ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 how much estimated danger the child was in while the parent was gone, 10 being the most risk."

Overall, survey participants saw all of these situations as quite dangerous for children: The average risk estimate was 6.99, and the most common ranking in all scenarios was 10. Despite identical descriptions of each set of circumstances in which children were alone, those left alone on purpose were estimated to be in greater danger than those whose parents left them alone unintentionally.

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"In fact, children left alone on purpose are almost certainly safer than those left alone by accident, because parents can take steps to make the situation safer, like giving the child a phone or reviewing safety rules," said Barbara Sarnecka, study co-author and associate professor of cognitive sciences. "The fact that people make the opposite judgment strongly suggests that they morally disapprove of parents who leave their children alone, and that disapproval inflates their estimate of the risk."

This is also born out in participants' view of children left alone by a parent meeting an illicit lover as being in significantly more danger than children left alone in precisely the same circumstances by a parent who leaves in order to work, volunteer for charity or just relax.

In scenarios where participants were asked to judge not only how much danger the child was facing, but also whether the mother had done something morally wrong, researchers expected the perceived risk ranking to be lower.

"We thought giving people an alternative way to express their disapproval of the parent's action would reduce the extent to which moral judgments influenced perceptions of risk," Thomas said. "But just the opposite happened. When people gave an explicit judgment about the parent's conduct, estimates of risk to the child were even more inflated by moral disapproval of the parent's reason for leaving."

In fact, people's risk estimates closely followed their judgments of whether mothers in the scenarios had done something morally wrong. Even parents who left children alone involuntarily were not held morally blameless, receiving an average "moral wrongness" judgment of 3.05 on a 10-point scale.

The authors found another interesting pattern when they replaced mothers in the stories with fathers: For fathers -- but not mothers -- a work-related absence was treated more like an involuntary absence. This difference could stem from the view that work is more obligatory and less of a voluntary choice for men.

"Exaggerating the risks of allowing children some unsupervised time has significant costs besides the loss of children's independence, freedom and opportunity to learn how to solve problems on their own," Sarnecka said. "As people have adopted the idea that children must never be alone, parents increasingly face the possibility of arrest, charges of abuse or neglect, and even incarceration for allowing their children to play in parks, walk to school or wait in a car for a few minutes without them."

"At a minimum," she continued, "these findings should caution those who make and enforce the law to distinguish evidence-based and rational assessments of risk to children from intuitive moral judgments about parents -- and to avoid investing the latter with the force of law."

The study involved survey responses by 1,328 participants on Amazon Mechanical Turk ranging in age from 18 to 75, with a fairly even split of men and women and those with and without children. Females accounted for 52 percent of respondents, while 48 percent were male; and 56.43 percent had children, while 43.57 percent did not. More than 80 percent of the participants were white, and two-thirds had completed at least some college.
Today

U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberrys office open, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 641 N. Broad St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

TOPS 58, 6-7 p.m., St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Fremont. Weigh-ins are from 5:30-6 p.m. For more information, contact Nancy Wit at 402-727-6745.

Narcotics Anonymous open meeting, 6:30 p.m., Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 540 W. Eighth St., Wahoo.

Narcotics Anonymous It Works Group, 6:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Education Building, west of the church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Enter through the rear door.

Al-Anon meeting, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club front room, Fremont. This support group is for families and friends of alcoholics.

Narcotics Anonymous open meeting, 8 p.m., United Faith Church, 218 W. Gardiner St., Valley.

Wednesday

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fresh Hope Support Group, 7 p.m., Trinity Lutheran School, 16th Street and Luther Road, Fremont. The support group offers faith-based help for those with mood disorders and for loved ones trying to understand. For more information, call David and Wray Lynn Trost at 402-480-1777.

Narcotics Anonymous Library Group, 7 p.m., Keene Memorial Library East Building, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Thursday

Alcoholics Anonymous big book study, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Storytime, 10-10:30 a.m., Keene Memorial Library auditorium, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Cosmopolitan 100 Club, noon, Midland University cafeteria, Fremont.

Fremont Kiwanis Club, noon, Fremont Golf Club.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Pioneer Amateur Radio Club, 6 p.m. supper, 7 p.m. meeting, Gambinos Pizza/Hero Deli, 1900 E. Military Ave., Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous It Works Group, 6:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church East Building, west of the church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Enter through the rear door.

Bingo, 7 p.m., Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8223, 742 N. Main St., North Bend. Everyone is welcome.

Civil Air Patrol, 7 p.m., 1201 W. 23rd St., in yellow hangar at Fremont Airport.

Storytime, 7-7:30 p.m., Keene Memorial Library auditorium, Fremont.

Tally Ho Toastmasters, 7-8 p.m., Midland Universitys Anderson Building, Ninth and Clarkson streets, Fremont. Everyone is welcome to learn skills in communication, self-confidence and leadership. For more information, call Jan at 402-720-5526.

Alcoholics Anonymous big book study, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous open meeting, 8 p.m., First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 N. Davis Ave., Oakland.
<p>Transfrontier Africa</p>

The dog raced through the bush, searching for a wounded rhino. As he leapt over some rocks, his leg got caught in a crevice. He tried to keep running, but the leg snapped at the shoulder, shattering the bone into fragments. The dog fell over, whining in pain.

Transfrontier Africa

Shaya, a Belgian shepherd, works as a detection dog for Transfrontier Africa and the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit, two organizations set up by Craig Spencer to protect wildlife in the Balule Nature Reserve in South Africa. Shaya can sniff out rhino horn, ivory, weapons and ammunition, and track poachers through the South African bush. He's also trained to protect Spencer's back whenever Spencer conducts searches in local villages and roadblocks.

Transfrontier Africa

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Transfrontier Africa

For Spencer, Shaya is more than a working dog - he's Spencer's "right hand man" and constant companion. So when Shaya was hurt, Spencer did everything he could to help him. "We had a veterinarian with us at the time, so we got Shaya on a helicopter and took him back to the city," Spencer tells The Dodo. "The initial vet we saw said we'd need to amputate. We said no, we want a second opinion."

Transfrontier Africa

A veterinary clinic in Johannesburg gave Spencer the opinion he wanted: They could pin Shaya's leg back together, but Shaya would have to take it easy for several months so the bone could heal. Once Shaya got fitted with his cast, Spencer tried to keep him calm and quiet in a kennel. But Shaya refused to keep still, wriggling and squirming - so much that he broke his leg again, this time above the cast, severing the nerves.

Transfrontier Africa

When the vet re-examined Shaya, he told Spencer they'd have to amputate now. "It was a very difficult decision," Spencer says. "He was such an incredible animal - so intelligent, so smart - and he lived for work. Work for him is play."

Transfrontier Africa

Everyone believed Shaya wouldn't work again, including Spencer, and this was absolutely devastating. "I felt as if my right arm was going to be amputated," Spencer says. "I'd become used to working without the need to carry a firearm, and I always relied on Shaya. I'd have to adjust to the loss of having Shaya with me day and night, and this was a big blow."

Transfrontier Africa

Shaya spent four months recovering at the clinic in Johannesburg. When Spencer eventually collected him, Shaya was obviously missing a leg, but otherwise, he seemed pretty normal. "On the way back to Balule, I stopped on the side of the highway and hid a few old bullet casings in the shrubs to test his working drive and ability," Spencer says. "He performed as if he'd never been through the trauma."

Transfrontier Africa

Transfrontier Africa

Not only did Shaya still have his working drive, but he also seemed to have the same amount of physical energy. "He honestly didn't seem to notice that he didn't have a leg," Spencer says. "He used to knock into a few things here and there, and he'd fall over when he lifted his leg on a tree or something until he figured out that he'd have to lean against the tree now. But it doesn't slow him down, and it doesn't stop him. He jumps around, he flies around, he runs around. He sniffs and works like a Trojan still. It looks a bit awkward, but he just doesn't notice."

Transfrontier Africa

Shaya was 3 and a half when he lost his leg, and he's now 8. Spencer needs to make sure Shaya keeps his body weight down so he'd not putting undue stress on his remaining legs, but Shaya's in excellent health. "He is more than a working dog," Spencer says. "Shaya is my friend and companion, my emotional crutch and inspiration to continue saving wildlife even when I feel it's hopeless."

Transfrontier Africa

The Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit is a mostly-female group that patrols the Balule Nature Reserve in South Africa to protect rhinos, elephants and other endangered species. To support the group's important anti-poaching work in Africa, you can donate here.

Transfrontier Africa
"Without rescue, the life waiting for Sammy could have been one out of a horror story," Lao Wildlife Rescue Center (LWRC) wrote this week.

Sammy is a 7-month-old bear cub who was discovered being sold at an illegal market after her mother was probably killed by hunters. "[S]he would have probably ended up being sold for consumption or to waste her life away in a small cage while being kept as a pet," the rescue group wrote. Many illegal markets exist along the Lao-Vietnam border - the region is a major gateway for the illegal wildlife trade from southeast Asia to China.

But Sammy's luck changed when wildlife authorities confiscated her from traffickers and called the LWRC for help. "The story of [Sammy's] rescue will probably end up in the books as one of the most nerve wrecking journeys our rescue team had to travel," the group wrote.

"We are unsure about how long she had been kept at the market before she was confiscated. We assume it must have been at least several weeks," Michelle Walhout-Tanneau, of LWRC, told The Dodo. "Although she was found to be in relatively good physical health, mentally she has suffered a lot. She showed extreme signs of stereotypical behavior for her young age and was overall very fearful and stressed by the presence of humans."

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After picking up Sammy to bring her back to the rescue center, the team expected the 870-mile return trip to take them just one night. Instead, they traveled through typhoon storms and flooding for the next four days - all the while toting a bear cub in a crate.

"[We drove] for more than 58 hours while facing flooded streets, collapsed roads and landslides blocking the already harsh to travel routes through the mountains of Northern Lao," LWRC wrote. "Fortunately Sammy proved herself to be a real patient and tough passenger, exhausted from the conditions she previously had to endure she slept most of the drive."

Finally, the rescue team arrived at Sammy's new home.

The bear who had been found being sold in a cage took her first few steps toward her brighter future.

Sammy got the opportunity to sniff around and explore the rescue center's forest.

And she was quite curious about all the shrubs and smells.

"Even after a day at our facilities we can slowly see her settle in and starting to flourish," Walhout-Tanneau said.

Sammy will soon join the other recently rescued bear orphans, Lucy and Missy.

Together, they'll grow into big and healthy bears.
Three years ago, Sammie, an elderly sheep living on a farm, was about to become homeless. She was 9 years old, and the sheep farmer who kept her was about to move from the East Coast to Colorado. The farmer didn't want to bring Sammie with the rest of the flock because she was so old.

At the last minute, she contacted Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville, Maryland, to hand Sammie off. The farmer said she waited so long to find Sammie a home because she was "hoping she would just die" before the move.

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Three years later, though, Sammie is alive and kicking - with her best friend Daisy, whom she met at the sanctuary.

"Our two elderly sheep, Sammie and Daisy, find comfort in each other," the sanctuary wrote. "Sammie has had a wonderful 3 years living at Poplar Spring. Although she is very arthritic, she loves to get scratches and treats."

Daisy has lived pretty much her whole life at the sanctuary, after she was found as a tiny lamb on a street in Philadelphia 14 years ago. "She has lived here happily ever since and despite having become blind from cataracts a few years ago, she still finds her way around, grazes in the pasture, and seeks out Sammie to spend her day with," the sanctuary wrote.

Sammie also acted as a "grandma" to a disabled sheep named Andy, who sadly passed away earlier this year.

"She loved to cuddle with him when he was taken out of his wheelchair cart," Terry Cummings, director of Poplar Spring, told The Dodo. "Every day when he would come back to the barn she would 'baaah' for him until they were back together."

"Every day the elderly sheep receive arthritis medicine in a cookie sandwich, senior feed, fresh hay and chopped forage, which they can consume easier with their missing teeth," the sanctuary wrote. "[A]long with Franny, another elderly ewe, they are nicknamed 'the Golden Girls.'"
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gili-Carriage-Horse-Support-Network/180970802061296">Gili Carriage Horse Support Network (GCHSN)</a></p>

The Gili Islands look like a tropical paradise: People flock from around the world to luxuriate on their white sand beaches and in their crystalline waters. What tourists may not know is that they are inadvertently promoting the vicious abuse of horses who are literally getting worked to death on their behalf.

The horses are brutally beaten, neglected and whipped as they cart unwieldy loads of tourists and supplies around the islands, advocates say, given only salt water to drink and, at best, a few hours rest at night - sometimes left chained to their harnesses. Their salvation is in the hands of just a few welfare groups, hotel allies and conscientious tourists who are desperately trying to stop a culturally ingrained cycle of abuse. The horses' life span, some activists say, is a mere 1 to 3 years. Located off the coast of Indonesia, the Gili Islands are a sequence of three islands with stunning beaches and a booming tourist development. There is no motorized transportation on the Gilis, so the tens of thousands of annual visitors - often Americans, Europeans and Australians - can either rent a bike or pay for a "cidomo," a horse and cart, which costs about $6 for a 15-minute ride. Warning: Disturbing images below Cheri Beauchemin went to Gili Trawangan in 2010 and was shocked by what she saw. "I didn't know anything about the ponies on the island," she told The Dodo. "In front of my hotel there was a horse carriage loaded with tourists and luggage. At that time, the roads were mostly deep sand, and the poor pony struggled to pull all the excessive weight through that sand." The driver, she says, beat the pony mercilessly. She decided then and there the plight of the horses would be her life's work.

Beauchemin, who lives in Bali full time, immediately launched an organization called Gili Carriage Horse Support Network (GCHSN). She estimates there are 500 horses being used on the three islands, and the group's goal is to abolish the cidomos altogether. According to Beauchemin, the horses - technically ponies due to their size - are all brutally caught from the wild on a neighboring island and brought to the Gili Islands after they have been trained to pull carriages. She says the animals are "tamed" by chasing them into a large hole, where they are left until they are "weak" and easy to handle. GCHSN's checklist of neglect and abuse incidents is long and sorrowful. "I [have seen] horses with open wounds, horses left out in the sun waiting for passengers, horses severely dehydrated with white foam pouring out of their mouths," Beauchemin says.

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Some of the horses, she says, are forced to work 18 hours a day. The constant sunshine leads to rampant eye injuries and blindness. The horses are deprived of socialization and any "playtime" with other horses. Beauchemin claims the animals don't have paddocks and sleep in filthy stalls. In some cases, the owners don't disconnect the equipment from the horse when the shift is over, so the equines are strapped to carriages all day and all night. They are, Beauchemin says, slaves.

Some tourists are shocked by the abuse. TripAdvisor has a number of reviews about the Gilis that mention the horses. A recent review reads: The ponies on the island are treated horribly and the abuse they are dealt with is heartbreaking. For a minimum of 12hrs a day they are forced to cart massive amounts of cargo, often more than 10 times their body weight and all without shelter or water. They're not given the most simplest of necessities and are abused throughout the process. The sight of this cruelty is enough to spoil any trip to the island, it is truly gut wrenching. Please boycott the island as it is full of rubbish anyway but by far the worst sight is this inhumane treatment of the poor little ponies. If you must go, please please please do not contribute to this horrific abuse... Some tourists welcome the horses, however, and another reviewer wrote that it's "wonderful to stay somewhere in Indonesia where your senses are not assaulted by the constant buzz or roar of scooters or motorbikes ... all you will hear is the soothing clip-clop of horses' hooves!"

GCHSN works in tandem with other local organizations, including the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) and Gili Eco Trust (GET). JAAN conducted an investigation into the Gili horses in 2010 and found there wasn't a resident veterinarian or farrier on the island, which means the horses' hooves were not being trimmed, leading to immense pain for horses on their feet for hours. The investigators also found horses standing in 10 inches of excrement. In one particularly astonishing finding, JAAN observed that owners were only giving their horses salt water from the wells, which leads to dehydration and illness.

Beauchemin believes the life expectancy for the Gili horses once they begin to work on the islands is a mere one to three years. "As soon as a pony has been beaten close to death or is so dehydrated from drinking salt water and suffer[ing] kidney failure, the horse is immediately sold to a slaughterhouse," she says. Efforts by GCHSN, JAAN and GET are proving successful in some areas. GET says it offers free veterinary care at clinics two times a month and mobile clinics on occasion.

Beauchemin says hoof care is improving, as well as equipment fitting. Weight regulations for carts were implemented in November 2014, although she maintains the rules are not enforced by island officials. Unfortunately, hotel construction is on the rise, which means the horses are needed for lugging cement, rebar, cement bags and other supplies. The zinger is this: Despite the groups' efforts, "the beatings, exhaustion and overworking have become far worse," Beauchemin says. Many of the wounds the horses endure are from "building material being thrown in a rough manner on [a] cart and hitting [a] horse's head and body. Horses are constantly beaten if they cannot pull the large loads." Beauchemin says a hotel owner told her at least one horse is collapsing per week.

The Dodo spoke to two hotel managers who are extremely concerned about the horses' welfare. Tenaiya Brookfield, vice president of sales and marketing at Aston Sunset Beach Resort, says her hotel refuses to book horse rides directly online, offering guests the choice of either walking or riding bikes. The bikes are free, which she hopes will encourage guests to use them and save money, and she recently asked the hotel to purchase 50 more of them. Unfortunately, she adds, many guests will book the horses themselves "as they don't want to walk or bike." The other manager asked to remain anonymous due to repercussions he and his family could face from what he calls the "horse mafia." He says another hotel owner was recently beaten by six horse owners while he tried to stop a horse "whipping" session. The manager echoes what Beauchemin says; he sees the horses being abused almost daily. In an email from the Gili Islands, the manager wrote to The Dodo: Almost 50 percent of the carts are overloaded carrying up to 6 people plus driver (the horses only weigh maybe [440 lbs.]), carrying 50 cases of beer, a ton of cement etc. a lot of guests complain as in the back roads out if the sight of tourist the horses are whipped after they collapse from exhaustion. I've seen horses buckle from too much weight and dragged to its feet to re-attach the trailer. I've seen them water them with brackish water and make them stand out in 86 degree-plus heat while 4-5 drivers rest in the cart in the shade. Many times, the horses are drooling as they are malnourished and dehydrated. The manager said it takes only about an hour and a half to walk the whole of the island, so the horses aren't even needed. "If everyone stopped using them then it will force the horse mafia to look into other options," he says. Efforts to reach the islands' business association, Asosiasi Pengusaha Gili Trawangan (APGT), were not immediately returned. Video of horse in distress, according to GCHSN:

The plight for working equines like those on Gili extends to nearly all corners of the world. According to The Brooke, a charity that works to promote the welfare of working equines, there are 100 million horses and donkeys working for 600 million of the world's poorest people. Donkeys and horses are used for transportation, to carry crops, water, food, medicines or the families themselves. "Unlike equine animals in industrialized nations, who generally enjoy reasonably high status as pets and in sport, working animals often have very low status even among the nations that depend on them for economic stability," the organization states on its website. They can be worked so hard, The Brooke's site notes, that the animals "literally drop in their harnesses."
Early in the morning last week, rescuers with Ford County Fire & EMS (FCFD) in Dodge City, Kansas, received a rather distressing call - a 3-week-old kitten was reportedly trapped inside a toilet.

The floor after the toilet was removed to rescue the kitten | Ford County Fire & EMS

Upon arriving at the scene, the rescue team learned that a 4-year-old child who was left unsupervised took the female kitten away from her mother, who had just given birth to a litter, and decided to flush the young cat down the toilet.

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Ford County Fire & EMS

Rescuers heard the kitten mewing for help and worked to first remove the toilet completely, hoping to recover the animal that way - but her rescue proved to be slightly more difficult. "The kitten had traveled 4 feet and made a turn in the piping where the pipe would go outside to empty," Robert Boyd, FCFD fire chief, told The Dodo. A camera placed down the pipe showed the kitten firmly lodged just past a pipe bend.

Ford County Fire & EMS

After nearly three hours of cleaning away dirt and cutting pipe, rescuers were finally able to reach in and pull out the trapped animal. "The kitten was very lethargic and not moving much," Boyd said. "We immediately began to warm her up and put her in a towel. The owners washed her off and placed her back with her mother."

The rescued kitten, who managed to survive the ordeal | Ford County Fire & EMS

Later that day, the kitten was reported to be doing just fine - she had miraculously survived and, naturally, earned the name Miracle from her owners.
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sugarshinesanctuary/" target="_blank">Sugarshine Sanctuary</a><span></span></p>

The calf was in bad shape when Kelly Nelder found him. He was weak and listless, and severely underweight. When Nelder approached the calf in his dirt pen, he barely lifted his head.

The calf had been born on a dairy farm in New South Wales, Australia. Male calves are viewed as "waste products" of the dairy industry. After their mothers give birth, the male babies are sent to slaughter so their mothers' milk can be used for human consumption. When a woman living in Sydney heard about the calf, she offered to adopt him. The woman's intentions were good, but she didn't know how to feed a calf, and the baby lost weight when he should have been gaining it.

Nelder, who founded Sugarshine Farm Sanctuary near Lismore, Australia, arrived at the woman's suburban property to pick up three pigs, including a piglet Nelder named Baby. When Nelder stepped into the woman's backyard, she spotted the baby cow. "He was alone in the dirt pen," Nelder tells The Dodo. "I was shocked when we were told he was 4 weeks old, because he looked much younger."

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The woman agreed to give the calf to Nelder, along with her three pigs. Nelder loaded the animals in her battered two-door Toyota Echo and drove them back to the sanctuary. The calf was so small, he just rode in the backseat. Earlier that day, Nelder had attended a funeral of her beloved grandmother Bunny, so Nelder named the calf "Bunny" after her.

Instead of putting Bunny into an outside pen, Nelder took him inside her house. "Bunny was very sick," Nelder says. "He slept on a little mattress inside the sunroom, but he was very uncomfortable. He was weak and in pain, and he couldn't settle."

Nelder tried to keep Bunny isolated, but Baby the piglet had other ideas. "I was going into the sunroom to feed Bunny when Baby trotted in and began nuzzling Bunny's face and climbing around him," says Nelder. "We told Baby to shoo because Bunny was too sick to play, and I popped Baby outside the room. While I had my hands full feeding Bunny, Baby pushed the sliding door open with her snout and ran in and jumped on the mattress."

Nelder tried to push Baby away again, but she noticed Bunny snuggle into Baby like a pillow. Nelder was surprised - the animals had come from the same property, but they'd been kept in separate pens and hadn't met until now. Yet Bunny and Baby acted like old friends, and Bunny seemed to relax for the first time since he'd arrived at Sugarshine.

Even with Baby's company, Bunny's health continued to deteriorate. His nose started to run and he had difficulties breathing. Nelder rushed Bunny to the vet, and she got some bad news: Bunny had pneumonia, and the vet thought the only option was euthanasia. Nelder, however, thought Bunny still had a chance. She got him a prescription for antibiotics along with hydration medication, and took him back to Sugarshine. Bunny improved for about 24 hours, but then he went downhill again. "He was so weak, he couldn't hold his head up," says Nelder. "I had to hold his head up with one hand and put a syringe in his mouth with the other. I'd wait until he'd swallow, but sometimes he was too weak to swallow. He wasn't able to stand to go to the toilet, which distressed him a lot, so I'd have to hold him up so he could go."

Then Bunny started to have seizures. Really bad seizures. His eyes rolled back into his head and his neck arched back. "It was a truly awful experience," Nelder says. "I tried to get the on-call vet to come euthanize him, but he was caught up elsewhere." Baby stayed by her best friend's side the whole time. "After the seizures, Baby would snuggle up to Bunny and soothe him."

After an exhausting and tearful night, Nelder called the vet again to see if he could euthanize Bunny, but something extraordinary happened. "As I was on the phone with the vet nurse, I noticed Baby dancing around Bunny's face," Nelder says. "Bunny had his head up and his eyes were open. This sounds unbelievable, but it's true! I told the vet I'd call him back."

Slowly but surely, Bunny started using his legs when Nelder helped him up to go to the bathroom. Then Bunny started taking steps on his own. Whenever Bunny fell down, Baby would dash over to him.

Bunny has joint issues after his bout of pneumonia, and he's needed ongoing pain relief and antibiotics. But he's a different calf now - playful, curious and loves to skip around the animal sanctuary with his best friend, Baby. He also moos loudly for his breakfast, and likes soaking in the afternoon sun.

"I believe that the love and affection and confident spirit that Baby Piglet shared with Bunny absolutely made a difference to his recovery," says Nelder. "Probably a life or death difference. Seeing Bunny and Baby happy and healthy together remind me that the world is a beautiful place, and that the love animals can give is boundless."
Right off that cliff.

Thats one way of looking at the brave, or possibly foolhardy, leap being taken by Aritzia Inc., the Canadian fashion retailer that in the course of a mere decade has created such recognizable lines as Tna (street-inspired collections for elevated, casual dressing) and Wilfred (effortless style for the feminine romantic.)

In filing a preliminary prospectus, the born-in-Vancouver chain is placing a huge bet that female millennials in Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Denver and such  target markets for the company  will find some branded distinction in a flooded retail landscape. We know those targeted women have the dough  the company cites United Nations research that estimates the global millennial population at two billion, with the expectation that this group will become the new dominant source of accumulated wealth and consumer spending. This is not news.

The Aritzia offering, the company hopes, will stand out from the retail pack precisely because of its exclusive in-house brands, which account for 90 per cent of the companys revenues, married with an aggressive ecommerce push, including a plan to start shipping to international markets this autumn.

This is audacious. The companys financial results, now on public display, show impressive growth, with net revenue for the 2016 fiscal year reaching $542 million, compared with $69 million in 2005. What was a single-store outfit has grown to a chain of 75, the majority here in Canada. Its a compelling story.

Whats eye popping is the companys aim to reach between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion in net revenue in a mere five years  a doubling, in other words, coinciding with the opening of a minimum of 25 to 30 new stores.

Well, Aritzia has made some interesting timing decisions before. In 2007 the company pushed into the U.S. (Seattle and Santa Clara) as that country was settling in for a recessionary luge ride. The prospectus does not break out store-by-store performance, so we cant know precisely to what degree those stores struggled in the early going. But lets assume that CEO Brian Hill knows what against-the-odds retail feels like.

Certainly the Hill family knows retail: Aritzia was born as a boutique within the familys Hills of Kerrisdale shop in Vancouver, which was started by Brian Hills father, before launching on its own in 1984. The newly created Aritzia promised beautiful clothes in aspirational spaces with exceptional service.

In 1999 the company entered the Toronto market, targeting a niche that it defines as somewhere between fast fashion and affordable luxury through the vertical manufacture of their own lines. As an example the consumer can look today to Aritzias offerings of leggings and capes and slouchy cardigans that graze the knee and its line of vegan leather wear, from the skin tight Daria pant to the Spurlock skirt. The marketing pitch: Looks as good as the real thing. Feels even better.

The turning point for the company arrived in 2005 when the private equity firm Berkshire Partners of Boston purchased a majority stake for an undisclosed sum. Berkshire managing director Kevin Callaghan, ex of Lehman Brothers, has been on the Aritzia board since as the chain has grown its retail presence in the U.S. to 18 stores. In a 2009 interview with the Business of Fashion, Brian Hill said of Berkshire: We really see eye to eye. They let us run the business and we turn to them when we need their expertise and support. It works really well.

Aritzias public offering is very Canadian, comprised as it is of subordinate shares. The Hill Group, and Berkshire, will control the company through multiple voting shares, with each superior share carrying 10 votes. The Hill family has stated its intention to stay in for the long haul.

The degree to which the offering will appeal to investors is, of course, not yet known. Initial public offerings are not immune to failure, as we know.

Should Aritzia be successful in selling investors on a dual-class share structure, and on the companys aggressive growth plan, it will be backed by the belief that for the first time in a long while a Canadian company has what it takes to capture that ever fickle American shopper. Either that  or its right off that cliff.

jenwells@thestar.ca

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OTTAWAMany mosques and Islamic schools in Canada are placing young people at risk by espousing  or at least not condemning  extremist teachings, a new study says.

Co-authors Thomas Quiggin, a former intelligence analyst with the Privy Council Office and the RCMP, and Saied Shoaaib, a journalist originally from Egypt, base their findings on research conducted quietly in mosque libraries and Islamic schools.

The study, titled Lovers of the Death?  Islamist Extremism in Mosques and Schools, says what worried them was not the presence of extremist literature, but that they found nothing but such writings in several libraries.

The study says what worried them was not the presence of extremist literature, but that they found nothing but such writings in several libraries.

Further research is required to determine the depth and breadth of this problem.

The authors say openly available material and analysis of social media postings helped confirm their views that many Canadians, including leading politicians, are turning a blind eye to the dangers.

They argue the issue is too important to ignore, given that a number of young Canadians have become radicalized to violence.

Canadian Muslims with humanist and modernist outlooks are being drowned out by those with extreme views, the study says. The struggle for the soul of Islam between Islamists and humanists goes on in Canada and the U.S.A., not just in the Middle East, Europe and South Asia.

The Canadian Council of Imams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Liberal government plans to soon announce details of its plans for a national office of counter-radicalization to carry out research and co-ordinate activities across Canada.

One year ago, the Senate defence and security committee issued a report saying some foreign-trained imams had been spreading extremist religious ideology and messages that are not in keeping with Canadian values, contributing to radicalization.

It called on the government to work with the provinces and Muslim communities to investigate the options that are available for the training and certification of imams in Canada.

The report was not supported by Liberal senators on the committee. It was denounced by the National Council of Canadian Muslims as stigmatizing and failing to offer effective solutions to the challenge of violent extremism.

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MONTREALThe man charged in the 2012 shooting death of a man outside a club where the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois was celebrating its election victory sat impassively Tuesday as he was convicted of second-degree murder.

Richard Henry Bain, who shouted out The English Are Waking Up as he was arrested four years ago, was also found guilty of three counts of attempted murder.

In convicting Bain after 11 full days of deliberations, the 12 jurors rejected the defences argument he was not criminally responsible by way of mental disorder.

Bain, 65, was facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of lighting technician Denis Blanchette outside the Metropolis as then-Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois was delivering her victory speech Sept. 4, 2012.

Instead, the jurors found him guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. One of the attempted-murder convictions was in connection with Dave Courage, another stagehand who was struck by the bullet that killed Blanchette.

The two other convictions related to provincial police officer Stephane Champagne and a dozen fellow stagehands who were nearby when the weapon was fired.

Bain, dressed in a black suit, showed no reaction in the prisoners box and stared straight ahead as the verdicts were read out.

His lawyer said although the outcome was not a victory, his client was satisfied the jury rejected the possibility of finding him guilty of premeditated murder.

He (Bain) is very happy because had he been convicted of first-degree murder at his age, it would have been a death sentence, Alan Guttman told reporters after speaking briefly to Bain.

Bain faces a sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for at least 10 years on the second-degree murder conviction. Guttman said that is what he will seek at sentencing arguments scheduled for early September.

He also said he will consider whether to appeal the convictions.

Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos said he hopes the victims will be satisfied with the jurys decision.

I hope the verdicts will provide them with at least some measure of closure to help them get through this chapter in their lives, he said.

Galiatsatos would not specify the sentence he would seek for the conviction, which stipulates Bain can be denied parole eligibility for up to 25 years.

He said the Crowns position would reflect the fact that Mr Bain attacked not only stage technicians, working men and working women, citizens and police officers, but he also attacked democracy and the very values that our constitution stands for.

Galiatsatos left the courtroom flanked by Blanchettes sister and Gael Ghiringhelli, a fellow lighting technician who had been at the Metropolis visiting friends when the shots rang out.

Its been almost four years to the day that we were shot at while having a cigarette, four years weve been waiting for answers, Ghiringhelli told reporters.

Ghiringhelli, who described Blanchette as a close friend, said he was still processing his emotions but the long-awaited verdict was a relief.

A page is turning, and I think Denis can really rest in peace now, he said.

After the jury read the verdict, the judge who presided over the trial thanked the seven women and five men for their service and said the case had been a difficult one.

You all rose to the occasion and proved that real and substantive justice is a reality, Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer said.

Guttman argued throughout the trial Bain was mentally ill at the time of the slaying, while the Crown said the crimes were planned and deliberate and politically motivated by anger over the PQ victory.

Bain was heavily armed and wearing a balaclava and a blue bathrobe when he fired a single shot before his rifle jammed.

Blanchette, 48, and Courage were milling about with a dozen colleagues outside the Metropolis waiting for the PQ rally to end.

Bain was tackled by police and arrested without firing off another shot, despite several attempts to keep going, civilian and police witnesses told the court.

Nearly four years later, the case centred on Bains state of mind as the accused mounted a mental disorder defence outlined in Sec. 16 of the Criminal Code.

The Crown and defence presented two different versions of the nights events, in part through the duelling reports of two forensic psychiatrists.

The defences Marie-Frederique Allard claimed Bain was psychotic the night of the shooting, likely stemming from undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Bain believed he was on a mission from God.

The Crowns expert, Joel Watts, argued Bain wasnt sick at all and likely acted out of anger over the PQ victory.

At trial, the accused claimed to have no recollection of the events.

Bain said hed overdosed on Cymbalta, an anti-depressant, which he suggested triggered a memory loss.

There was no trace of Cymbalta in his blood and neither psychiatrist believed the 2012 psychosis was linked to an overdose on anti-depressants.

The Crown had doubts about the defence of not criminally responsible. Galiatsatos suggested Bain made several decisions that night that raised questions about the defence claim he was psychotic.

Bain asked for directions to the Metropolis, chose the right weapons, loaded them properly and took care to remove the licence plate from his car, Galiatsatos said.

Galiatsatos said Bain appeared to be very aware during conversations with police and in particular with a nurse he told two days after the shooting: I know what I did was wrong.

The Crown also referred repeatedly to a series of handwritten answers from Bain during a November 2012 meeting with Allard.

The accused wrote he intended to kill as many separatists as I could and that he would have kept going had his weapon not jammed, even shooting Marois had he had the chance.

Galiatsatos said Bain was political and stayed that way after his arrest, cold-calling various radio and television stations in both languages to discuss his political vision for Montreal to separate from Quebec.

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One of the citys most notorious killers, Tyshan Riley, returned to Toronto last week to attend a visitation for his late father at a west-end funeral home ringed with police cars and heavily armed Emergency Task Force officers.

After all that he has done? Hes supposed to be in custody and hes getting out to visit a casket? Leonard Bell, one of his victims, said Friday. The criminal justice system in Canada is becoming a joke. How can taxpayers pay for privileges for these monsters?

Bell, a renovator, continues to suffer chronic pain 12 years after Riley and his associates shot him numerous times as he sat in a car stopped at the intersection of Finch Ave. E. and Neilson Rd. in March 2004. The driver, Brenton Charlton, 31, was killed.

A member of the prosecution team was shocked Correctional Service Canada allowed Riley to leave the maximum security Quebec prison, under escort, to travel to Toronto to spend about an hour inside the Jerrett Funeral Home at St. Clair Ave. West and Dufferin St. on Thursday afternoon.

Given the callousness of his crimes, hes lost the right to be given that consideration, said the Crown attorney, who asked not to be identified.

A senior Toronto police source was also appalled by the federal departments decision, given the potential risk involved and the magnitude of Rileys crimes, which included randomly trying to kill two other young men.

On Thursday, around 3 p.m., Riley, 33, who appeared to be handcuffed, was brought to the back of the building in a black unmarked van accompanied by correctional officers.

A residential street was sealed off by uniformed police officers and members of the Emergency Task Force. Only neighbours were allowed access to the area, while others were ordered to stay clear of the funeral home.

Police on scene would not confirm that Riley was in the area or explain the heavy security presence. Corrections Canada and Parole Board of Canada spokespeople said the Star would have to file an access to information request to confirm the temporary absence and reasons for it.

Correctional Service Canada allows inmates to be granted temporary absences for compassionate reasons, to attend to urgent matters affecting the members of his/her immediate family or other persons with whom he/she has a close personal relationship.

Riley was the onetime leader of the Galloway Boys, a street gang that terrorized the eastern part of the city during the early part of the 2000s.

In 2009, a jury found Riley guilty of killing Charlton and attempting to murder Bell. Both men were innocent, random victims, attacked for no other reason than they happened to be in the "gang territory" belonging to the Malvern Crew, arch rivals of the Galloway Boys.

The Crown did not proceed on two additional first-degree murder charges because Riley was already sentenced to life following the largest  and costliest  street gang prosecution in the citys history. The security bill for the preliminary hearing and trial ran into the millions. It paid for unprecedented measures such as ETF officers patrolling the downtown Superior Court house every day.

Former chief Bill Blair declared Riley one of the most dangerous men to ever live in this city.

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Eritrean refugee Tesfalem Beyin Sengal waited 11 years before he was resettled to Canada from an Ethiopian camp in March.

Now, the Toronto man faces being permanently separated from his wife and newborn baby due to an obscure immigration law banning immigrants and refugees from bringing over undeclared dependants after getting permanent status.

The rule took effect in 2002 to combat fraud and misrepresentation, assuming the non-disclosure was meant to deceive officials, as in cases where an applicant left out a sick family member to get around the medical requirement and later tried to submit a humanitarian sponsorship.

Unfortunately, critics say, the law also inadvertently catches many who have legitimate reasons not to name family members when applying, as was the case with Beyin Sengal. Refugee advocates are urging the government to repeal the catch-all law.

I miss my wife and I want to be with her and our first child, said Beyin Sengal, 31, who was resettled by the West Toronto Sponsorship Group on March 8, leaving behind pregnant wife Selamawit Tesfalem Halefom at the Shimelba refugee camp. Son Selhom was born in the camp on July 23.

His sponsors have been frantically trying to help reunite the family.

According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, the law disproportionally affects refugees. Reasons for non-disclosure include: lack of information, misinformation on officials part about the regulation, cultural shame of a child born out of wedlock, and sometimes the applicants lack of awareness that the dependent existed at the time.

Some Chinese immigrants named their first child and did not report the existence of other kids for fear of exposing violations of Chinas strict one-child policy, thinking they could later sponsor the others.

Xue and her husband, both from Fuzhou, had a daughter in 1999. A second girl, born in 2002, was sent to be cared for by Xues parents in a remote village, and was never registered. The couple and older child arrived in Toronto in July 2006.

Our immigration consultant told us not to include our younger girl and we could sponsor her once we arrived Canada, recalled Xue, who has asked that her full name not be used. After three failed attempts to sponsor the youngest girl on humanitarian grounds, the family finally won an appeal at the federal court to allow the now 14-year-old girl to join her family in Toronto earlier this year.

We fought for 10 years to get our family back together. Its just so unfair, said Xue. Now, shes much older. Its more difficult for her to adapt to a new environment. She is having trouble adjusting and we are just not as close because of all the years we were separated.

Erika Gates Gasse, who leads the Toronto group that sponsored Beyin Sengal, said they contacted immigration officials through their local MP, Julie Dzerowicz, as soon as they met Sengal at the Pearson airport and learned that he had met someone, married and fathered a child, all after his interview with Canadian officials overseas in December 2014.

They have since been advised to submit a new application to sponsor Halfom and the baby here, which could take at least six years.

We are willing and happy to support them, but it just doesnt make sense to separate the family. Its going to delay their integration. A refugee camp is not the best place for them. Its not in the familys best interests and Canadas best interest to keep them apart.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said Beyin Sengal had been clearly informed during the 2014 interview that any undeclared family members could not be sponsored later.

The intent of the excluded family members clause is to encourage honesty and full disclosure at the time of application in order to enhance the overall integrity of family-class immigration, and to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians, said immigration spokesperson Nancy Caron.

In the absence of 117 (9) (d), a foreign national could circumvent provisions in the Immigration Act without consequence.

In 2014, an immigration department review of the rule reported 185 so-called 117 (9) (d) cases involving 237 people, 103 of them children, within a six-month period. Two-thirds of humanitarian applications were unsuccessful.

The humanitarian system is not working well. It is extremely slow and it is very inconsistently applied, said Janet Dench of the refugee council. The law already has provisions to deal with those who deceive to get around inadmissibility. We ask the federal government to immediately scrap 117 (9) (d).

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A Progressive Conservative campaign training session for young party activists was marred by shoe-throwing, sexist language and participants being denied adequate food and water, the Star has learned.

More than 100 youth members paid between $295 and $395 for the Conservative Leadership Foundation (CLF) event and the party has received 40 complaints from participants and their parents.

Organized by veteran strategist John Mykytyshyn  and attended by Tory Leader Patrick Brown  the Aug. 12-14 conference at McMaster Universitys Les Prince Hall was designed to prepare young Tories for the hothouse atmosphere of a campaign.

But sources said the election boot camp got out of hand with the youth members being deprived of food and water in the seminar room  including a diabetic who experienced considerable discomfort  and an official hurling his shoe and yelling sexist epithets at a young woman during his presentation.

One Tory, who declined to speak for attribution in order to freely discuss the situation, told the Star the tenor was at times abusive and noted many attendees were shocked at how they were treated.

In an extraordinary move, the PC Party of Ontario issued a formal apology about the event, acknowledging there was a great deal of feedback from participants who attended the training weekend.

Unfortunately it is clear from the feedback received that the CLF weekend did not meet the standards of some of the participants who paid to attend, and therefore of the PCPO, the Tories said in an email sent to those who attended.

As a result, the PCPO will be conducting a fulsome review of the structure and governance of the CLF program.

The PCPO apologizes to any participants who were disappointed with the quality or tone of the sessions or event organization, or were otherwise offended by any particular session or presenter.

Brown spoke to the party activists and endorsed the event on Twitter on Aug. 13.

Proud to speak at the Conservative Leadership Foundation Conference in Hamilton. Way to go @CLFTraining ! #onpoli, the leader tweeted with a photo of him and the organizers and participants.

Despite lending the CLF training weekend his imprimatur, Browns office said he stands by the partys contrite email and the pledge to revamp things.

Tamara Macgregor, his director of communications, said the alleged misbehaviour was unacceptable.

The party is investigating concerns raised. As these are serious matters, we are conducting a full review before taking any specific action, Macgregor said Monday.

Mykytyshyn, who was an ardent Brown supporter during last years Tory leadership race, did not return messages seeking comment.

He is no stranger to controversy; in 2000 he resigned from the executive of the Canadian Alliance, a precursor to the federal Conservative Party of Canada, for saying Maritime residents dont want to work for a living, to go to where the jobs were, like all our ancestors did.

The CLF imbroglio comes as Brown, whose party leads Premier Kathleen Wynnes Liberals in most public opinion polls, is trying to ready the Conservative for a provincial election to be held in May or June 2018.

According to the prospectus for the event, the CLF teaches the essential lesson of politics: how to win.

The CLF identifies, trains and mentors the next generation of senior staffers, campaign managers, thought leaders, riding presidents, party executive members, as well as future candidates, cabinet ministers and leaders of the party, it said.

Consider that past CLF graduates include Patrick Brown, Kellie Leitch, Walied Soliman and numerous candidates and campaign managers, the prospectus continued.

The CLF produces highly talented, highly energized young political operatives who are reshaping the conservative movement today  and who will make an even more significant impact tomorrow. Its three days of the best political training available in Canada, it said.

Youll hear from speakers who are leaders in their fields, who have worked in the trenches and commanded the troops. Youll go through training and simulation exercises with leading campaign experts. Youll also expand your networking circle and develop team-building and leadership skills. The CLF is designed to meet the needs of varying levels of experience and knowledge.

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AUSTIN, TEXASA federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administrations order that requires public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.

In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX is not ambiguous about sex being defined as the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth.

The judge said the order would apply nationwide. The ruling, he said, was not about the policy issues of transgender rights but about his conclusion that federal officials simply did not follow rules that required an opportunity for comment before such directives are issued.

This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students rights and that of personal privacy ... while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school, he wrote.

The ruling was the second recent setback for transgender advocates. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia school board can block for now a transgender male from using the boys restroom while justices decide whether to fully intervene.

Texas and 12 other states challenged the White House directive as unconstitutional.

The judge also sided with Republican state leaders who argued that schools should have been allowed to weigh in before the White House mandate was announced in May.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, had argued that halting the Obama order before school began was necessary because districts risked losing federal education dollars if they did not comply. Federal officials did not explicitly make that threat upon issuing the directive, although they also never ruled out the possibility.

This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform, Paxton said. That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts.

The Justice Department issued a brief statement saying it was disappointed in the ruling and was reviewing its options. If the Obama administration challenges the injunction, the case would head next to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Supporters of Obamas directive also questioned how a district judge in Wichita Falls, Texas, could issue a blanket injunction for the entire U.S. when higher courts elsewhere have upheld transgender rights.

One example is the Virginia school board case: Even though the Supreme Court is keeping the status quo for now, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the board discriminated against the transgender student.

Its Wichita Falls. It doesnt have jurisdiction over the entire country, said Josh Block, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ruling does not prohibit schools that allow transgender students to use the facilities of their choice from continuing to do so.

Paul Castillo is a Dallas attorney for the gay rights group Lambda Legal, which had urged the court to let the White House directive stand. He said the latest ruling was a continuation of attacks on transgender people.

I think today is going to be a hard day for transgender students, Castillo said. The decision is certainly emotional and certainly an attack on transgender students dignity.

The federal government issued the mandate days after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over a state law that requires people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch likened that law to the policies of racial segregation. Republicans have argued such laws are common sense privacy safeguards.

The Obama administration had told the court that recipients of federal education dollars were clearly on notice that anti-discrimination polices must be followed. Texas alone gets roughly $10 billion (U.S.) in federal education funds.

The lawsuit was filed in May by Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia, and the Republican governors of Maine, Mississippi and Kentucky. Two small school districts in Arizona and Texas, which have fewer than 600 students combined and no transgender persons on their campuses, also joined the effort to prevent the directive from being enforced.

Last year, OConnor granted an order that temporarily blocked federal rules that would have expanded medical leave benefits to some gay couples.

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BALTIMORE More than a decade after the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, whose guilt or innocence became the subject of the popular podcast Serial, two former high school classmates have emerged, saying a key alibi witness would make up a lie to help his case.

The former Woodlawn High School students, who are sisters, gave sworn statements to the Maryland Attorney Generals Office this summer, recalling a heated argument in 1999 with Asia McClain in class after she said she believed in Syeds innocence and wanted to help him, according to a new court filing.

Syed was convicted by a jury of murder in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison.

McClain testified at a post conviction hearing this year that she saw Syed in the Woodlawn library during the time that prosecutors believe his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, was killed. While a judge overturned Syeds sentence in June on different grounds, the alibi provided by McClain could be revived as the appeals process plays out.

The two classmates who cast doubt on McClains account had reached out to her on Facebook and then came forward the week after Syed was granted a new trial.

I think its sad he may actually be set free because of you and this fabricated story, one of the former classmates wrote to McClain in a recent Facebook message cited in court documents.

The statements from the sisters are included in a supplemental filing by the attorney generals office as it appeals a judges decision in June to overturn Syeds sentence. Their identities are not revealed in the filing.

McClains attorney, Gary Proctor, said in a statement Monday: Given that the case is now before an appellate court, we question the timing of these bizarre, and wholly factually untrue, allegations.

Syed had petitioned for a new trial on the strength of McClains account and other issues, and his attorneys were successful in raising questions about the reliability of cellphone tower evidence used in the original trial.

Circuit Judge Martin P. Welch was not swayed by McClains testimony. Instead, he cited questions over the cellphone evidence as grounds for a new trial.

The attorney generals office says it wants the classmates claims to be part of the record as the state and defence pursue cross-appeals that could make McClains testimony relevant.

The State submits that supplementing the record with affidavits that directly undermine McClains truthfulness would reinforce the grounds for denying Syeds petition and would provide the post-conviction court an opportunity, with a more complete record, to resolve the McClain-alibi contention as a matter of law, Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah wrote.

One week after Welchs ruling, the state says, it received an unsolicited email from one of the former classmates.

McClains story about seeing Adnan in the library the day Hae was killed is a lie, the letter said.

The classmate said she remembered that in a conversation in co-op class, McClain said she believed so much in Adnans innocence that she would make up a lie to prove he couldnt have done it.

Both my sister and I (more so my sister) argued with Asia about how serious this situation was. She just said that it wouldnt hurt anything that if he was truly guilty, then he would be convicted. Im not sure what can come of this information but I felt I had to let someone know.

When attorneys for the state hinted at the classmates claims earlier this month, McClain told The Baltimore Sun at that time: I will say that these allegations are false, and that I can prove it.

McClain has maintained for years that she was stuck at the Woodlawn library on the day of Lees death, waiting for her boyfriend, when she struck up a conversation with Syed. She testified at his February hearing that Syed was acting completely normal that day.

Syed had failed in previous attempts to gain a new trial, but the Serial podcast breathed new life into those efforts by raising questions about the case. Syeds supporters said McClains account had been wrongly overlooked by his trial lawyers and merited a new trial.

McClain first raised the potential alibi immediately after Syeds arrest in 1999, writing a letter to him in jail and offering to help if he thought the information would be useful.

If (you are) innocent I (will) do my best to help you, she wrote, urging him to acquire surveillance footage from the library. But if youre not only God can help you.

She wrote a second letter a day later, she said, but never heard from Syeds attorneys. Later, she said a prosecutor told her that her account would not have changed anything about the case.

McClain said the podcast persuaded her to speak up.

In order for justice to be served, all information has to be out on the table, McClain testified at Februarys hearing.

At that hearing, Vignarajah cited notes from the trial teams case file to argue that McClains account did not mesh with Syeds account to police about his movements that day. He said the letter McClain wrote to Syed raised a number of warning signs and red flags and that Syeds attorney could have reasonably chosen to shy away from her as a witness.

Asia McClain was not a weapon for the defence, but a potential weakness, Vignarajah said in February.

After the hearing, McClain published a book called Confessions of a Serial Alibi.

On June 30, Welch reversed Syeds conviction and ordered a new trial. Syed remains jailed as the appeals are sorted out.

The sisters reached out to the state on July 7, and police obtained their Facebook messages with McClain as far back as 2014, when Serial was released.

I had no idea you had been involved all those years ago, one of the sisters wrote to McClain.

On July 1, that sister wrote again to McClain, saying Syed never told anyone, the police or his attorney to pursue you in the investigation because he knew you were full of it he knew it never happened. She then blocked McClain on Facebook.

McClain then wrote to the other sister, saying she had received a crazy message and wondered if her account was hacked.

The other sister responded, Ive sat back and let you have your 15 minutes of fame on behalf of that poor girl because I didnt think anyone would actually (entertain) you or your fabricated story about seeing him in the library. I remember that day in Ms. Grahams like it was yesterday. I remember getting into a heated argument with you about how serious the situation was and that a girl lost her life and (redacted) actually had to break up our verbal altercation.

Wow, this is crazy, McClain wrote back. Im not lying about any of this.

Syeds defence filed a cross-appeal this month, arguing that Welch was wrong to not grant Syed a new trial based on McClains account. His trial attorneys failure to present an alibi defence was all the more damaging because such an alibi would have rebutted the relatively weak theory the state offered regarding the timing of the murder, Syeds attorneys wrote.

A timeline for Lees death of 2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. figured prominently in the states case against Syed. McClain says she saw Syed in the library between 2:15 and 2:35.

Had McClain been contacted and testified at trial, her testimony not only would have dismantled the States timeline regarding the murder itself; it would have undermined the credibility of the States star witness his alleged accomplice, Jay Wilds, Syeds attorneys said.

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ANKARA, TURKEYTurkey signalled Tuesday it would step up its engagement in the Syrian war, as Turkish-backed Syrian rebels massed along the border to assault one of the last Syrian frontier towns held by Daesh militants.

Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusolgu pledged every kind of support for operations against Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, along a 100-kilometre stretch of Syrian frontier, putting the NATO member on track for a confrontation with U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria, who have been the most effective force against Daesh and who are eyeing the same territory.

Cavusolgu said Turkey would support twin operations stretching from the Syrian town of Afrin in the northwest, which is already controlled by Kurdish forces, to Jarablus, in the central north, which is held by the Daesh group.

It is important that the terror organizations are cleansed from the region, Cavusolgu said in a joint news conference with his Hungarian counterpart.

Turkish artillery shelled Jarablus for the second consecutive day as reports circulated that Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were preparing to storm the town, a vital supply line and the last border point that directly connects Daesh with Turkey and the outside world.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said some 500 Syrian rebels were massed on the Turkish side of the border in preparation for an assault, including local fighters from Jarablus. One rebel at the border told the BBC the number was as high as 1,500 fighters.

The latest developments have thrust the town into the spotlight of the ongoing Syrian civil war. Jarablus, which lies on the western bank of the Euphrates River where it crosses from Turkey into Syria, is one of the last important Daesh-held towns standing between Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria.

Located 20 miles (33 kilometres) from the town of Manbij, which was liberated from IS by Kurdish-led forces earlier this month, taking control of Jarablus and the IS-held town of al-Bab to the south would be a significant step toward linking up border areas under Kurdish control east and west of the Euphrates River.

Turkey has increased security measures on its border with Syria, deploying tanks and armoured personnel carriers in recent days. On Tuesday, residents of the Turkish town of Karkamis, across the border from Jarablus, were told to evacuate after three mortars believed to be fired by Daesh militants landed there, Turkeys Dogan news agency said.

Turkey has vowed to fight Daesh militants at home and to cleanse the group from its borders after a weekend suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in southern Turkey killed at least 54 people, many of them children. Turkish officials have blamed Daesh for the attack.

Ankara is also concerned about the growing power of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, who it says are linked to Kurdish groups waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

The Kurdish-led group known as the Syria Democratic Forces, or SDF, recaptured Manbij from Daesh earlier this month, triggering concerns in Ankara that Kurdish forces would seize the entire border strip with Turkey. The U.S. says it has embedded some 300 special forces with the SDF, and British special forces have also been spotted advising the group.

Syrian activists, meanwhile, said that hundreds of Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters were gathered in the Turkish border area near Karkamis in preparation for an attack on Jarablus.

Nasser Haj Mansour, an SDF official on the Syrian side of the border, said the fighters gathering in Turkey include terrorists as well as Turkish special forces. He declined to comment on whether the SDF would send fighters to the town, but an SDF statement said the Syrian Kurdish force was prepared to defend the country against any plans for a direct or indirect occupation.

The reports and rhetoric appeared to set up a confrontation between the SDF, the most effective U.S. proxy in Syria, and NATO ally Turkey.

A rebel commander affiliated with the SDF was killed shortly after broadcasting a statement announcing the formation of the so-called Jarablus Military Council and vowing to protect civilians in Jarablus from Turkish aggression.

Abdel-Sattar al-Jader was shot by unknown gunmen late Monday, an hour after he accused Turkey of mobilizing fighters and terrorists for an assault on Jarablus. Al-Jader had pledged to resist Turkish efforts to take control of the city and warned Ankara against further aggression.

The Jarablus Military Council blamed the killing on Turkish security agents. There was no immediate comment from Turkey. Haj Mansour said two suspects were in custody but declined to comment on their identities.

The Kurds outsized role in the Syrian civil war is a source of concern for the Syrian government as well. Fierce clashes erupted between the two sides over control of the northeastern province of Hasakeh last week, and Syrian warplanes bombed Kurdish positions for the first time, prompting the U.S. to scramble its jets to protect American troops in the area.

The Syrian government and the Kurds agreed on a ceasefire Tuesday, six days after the clashes erupted. The Kurdish Hawar News Agency said government forces agreed to withdraw from Hasakeh as part of the truce.

Syrian state media did not mention any withdrawal, saying only that the two sides had agreed to evacuate the wounded and exchange detainees. Government and Kurdish forces have shared control of Hasakeh since the early years of the Syrian war.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army and its allies intensified their attacks on militant positions around the so-called military college in the northern city of Aleppo.

A video obtained by The Associated Press showed air raids, shelling and firing on the complex, which was taken over by al-Qaida-affiliated fighters earlier this month. Plumes of smoke were seen billowing overhead.

Russias Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said in emailed comments on Tuesday that Russia and the Syrian government will announce the first 48-hour humanitarian break in hostilities in Aleppo as soon as they receive an official request from the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.

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LISBON, PORTUGALPortugals foreign minister says the alleged beating of a 15-year-old Portuguese boy by the teenage sons of Iraqs ambassador to Lisbon is extremely serious.

Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said in a television interview late Monday that Portugal may ask for the diplomatic immunity of the ambassadors 17-year-old twin sons to be lifted if prosecutors decide to bring charges.

The Portuguese boy was reportedly still in a coma Tuesday after last weeks nighttime attack in a street of Ponte de Sor, a rural town about 180 kilometres northeast of the capital Lisbon. One of the diplomats sons was studying at a flying school there.

Local emergency services said the boy had multiple facial fractures and was evacuated to a Lisbon hospital by helicopter. The incident has brought an outcry in Portugal.

A statement published on the website of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said the sons of Ambassador Saad Mohammed Ridha were victims of a heavy beating by six people at a restaurant in the town, with one of the pair suffering a broken nose and rib. It alleged the group cursed the diplomats sons because they were Arabs and Muslims. The ambassador has filed a complaint with local police, the statement said.

The Iraqi boys gave an interview to Portuguese television channel SIC, with brief excerpts broadcast Tuesday. They indicated they had been involved in an altercation with a group of local youths at a bar earlier in the evening. They said they havent claimed diplomatic immunity and have co-operated with the police investigation.

The excerpts did not feature a direct question about whether the pair had attacked the Portuguese boy. The brothers had no visible injuries.

A woman who answered the phone at the Iraqi embassy said no information would be provided about the matter because it was being handled between the embassy and the Portuguese Foreign Ministry. She declined to provide further information and refused to give her name.

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After spending a few days reflecting on his immigration stances and consulting with Hispanic supporters, Donald Trump on Monday detailed how he would deal with the millions of immigrants illegally living in the United States: Enforce laws that are already on the books and continue to do the same thing President Obama is doing, although perhaps with a lot more energy.

This strategy marks a sudden change for the Republican nominee, who has presented himself as a politically incorrect outsider who is not afraid to take extreme measures to combat illegal immigration, such as deporting 11 million people or constructing a massive wall along the southern border. For more than a year, Trump insisted that all illegal immigrants have got to go and that he would create a deportation force to carry out the task.

Trump struck a starkly different tone during an interview with Bill OReilly of Fox News that aired on Monday night. Trump said he would separate the countrys undocumented immigrants into two groups: The bad ones who would be kicked out of the country as soon as he takes office and everybody else who would go through the same process that the Obama Administration is currently using.

The first thing were going to do if and when I win is were going to get rid of all of the bad ones, Trump said. Weve got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country. Were going to get them out, and the police know who they are. Theyre known by law enforcement who they are. We dont do anything. They go around killing people and hurting people and theyre going to be out of this country so fast your head will spin. We have existing laws that allow you to do that.

The United States has long deported illegal immigrants who are violent criminals, and Obamas administration has focused on targeting felons, not families. As the United States recently saw a surge of tens of thousands of women and children fleeing violence and corruption in Central America, the administration has deported all new arrivals who did not qualify for political asylum in hopes of deterring others from making the dangerous journey  a stance that has angered immigrant rights groups. Clinton has said that she would only deport violent criminals and terrorists.

Trump has long called for quicker removal of illegal immigrants who become violent. On Monday night, Trump explained how he would address nonviolent illegal immigrants.

As far as everybody else, were going to go through the process, Trump said. What people dont know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, Im going to do the same thing.

Later in the interview, Trump again explained how this group of people would be treated.

As far as the rest, were going to go through the process, like they are now, perhaps with a lot more energy, and were going to do it only through the system of laws, Trump said.

At one point, OReilly asked Trump about expanding the court system to adjudicate all of these cases and setting up detention centres to house people as they wait for their immigration cases to be heard. Trump quickly batted down the suggestion that he would house people in detention centres.

You dont have to put them in a detention centre, Trump said. Bill, youre the first one to mention detention centre. You dont have to put them in a detention centre ... Im not going to put them in a detention centre. No.

OReilly said that he suggested detention centres because Trump had previously likened his plans to mass deportations carried out during the 1950s under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

I said that its something that has been done in a very strong manner, Trump said, explaining why he had originally referenced the historic deportations. I dont agree with that. Im not talking about detention centres. I have very, very good relationships with a lot of people, a lot of Hispanic people. Were talking about it.

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Theyre cheap, theyre light and they can carry a small bomb; the commercial drone is essentially a new terror gadget for organizations such as Hezbollah, Daesh (also known as Islamic State, ISIS and ISIL), or anyone else looking to wreak havoc on a budget.

Thats the same quad copter you can get on Groupon or go down to Sams Club and buy for $400, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said last week at a Washington forum on future warfare.

The elusive nature of small drones is one reason the federal government has designated the District of Columbia a national defense airspace and prohibited drone flights there.

A recent spate of drone-related incidents, including one last year in which a drone crashed on the White House lawn, probably didnt help, either.

But the problem is no longer about enthusiasts with a bad sense of direction.

Weaponized to various degrees of sophistication, such unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now being used in the Syrian civil war and along parts of Lebanese and Syrian borders with Israel, where Hezbollah holds sway.

There has been an increasing concern in the military and a wider acceptance of how pernicious this problem is going to be, moving forward, says Andrew Metrick, an intelligence security analyst at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. From a U.S. and allies perspective, we havent had to think about how to fight where we dont have total aerial supremacy.

The U.S. military has begun studying small drones and how best to respond.

Earlier this month, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued a request for ideas on how to protect troops from the new threat; it is planning a workshop next month.

Were looking for scalable, modular, and affordable approaches that could be fielded within the next three to four years and could rapidly evolve with threat and tactical advancements, a DARPA program manager, Jean-Charles Lede, said in a statement.

Closer to the battlefield, the Marine Corps has begun integrating small drones into training exercises at the Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., Neller said.

A Marine or soldier who spots a drone overhead would typically shoot it down, but smaller drones can operate surreptitiously and elude radar since they are barely larger than a bird.

Their small motors make acoustic detection enormously hard, and while wide-area camera sensors deployed on the ground might detect a drone, they usually require large computational resources in the field.

One solution is an electronic signal jammer to prevent a drone operator from flying within a certain vicinity, an approach that U.S. forces have studied.

Unlike an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), a small drone cant be used by an enemy to blow up a tank, but you can more easily attack individual war fighters, you can collect intelligence, and you can tie down a lot of resources by forcing U.S. personnel to respond to the danger, said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute.

If you think theres a drone nearby that might be watching you or might be a threat, then you have to be more careful, and that means youre distracted from your primary mission.

Its worth noting that the U.S. deploys small drones, typically for reconnaissance and surveillance.

One of these, called Switchblade (PDF), is a model from California-based Aerovironment Inc. thats been used by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The 5.5-lb. drone can carry a lethal charge and has been flown in Syria, Metrick said.

When it comes to large drones, the U.S. has shown itself, somewhat controversially, to be without peer. Remotely piloted Reaper and Predator drones have been used in thousands of attacks, including targeted killings for more than a decade. And the U.S. has major ocean-going drones: The autonomous Echo Voyager from Boeing Co., for example, can patrol underwater for months.

Those drones are all highly advanced platforms, with technology and price tags that put them far out of reach of almost all but the most advanced militaries.

For the guerrilla masses, the numerous cheaper, lightweight models are far more accessible.

Their easiest use would be simply to monitor U.S. activities.

But its their potential for modified, deadlier use that worries U.S. military tacticians.

When was the last time an American military force worried about being bombed by enemy air? World War II? Neller said. So what capabilities do we have to defend ourselves from enemy air or enemy unmanned air?

Such drones represent only one facet of a future battlefield on which the U.S. military will no longer enjoy complete dominance, the general said. Technology has given potential adversaries new advantages, especially as the U.S. has developed a system of war fighting that is very dependent upon the internet, the network, and space. All three are vulnerable because they establish an electronic signature as they operate. Mobile phones, for example, put soldiers in harms way in the new digital conflict zone, because a drone might home in on them and explode.

Weve just got to change, Neller said, describing a future battlefield in which fighters must become virtually invisible, a return to a time when electronic detection was impossible because there were no satellite radios, Google Earth maps, or GPS-enabled mobile phones.

In many ways, the new era he envisions would replicate the operating environment a soldier in 1916 might have known. Youre living out of your pack. Youre going to stop at night. Youre going to dig a hole. Youre going to camouflage, and youre going to turn off all your stuff. And youre going to sit there and try to sleep. And youre going to be careful to not make any noise and youre going to try to have absolutely no signature.

Because if you can be seen, you will be attacked.

Thats the difference.

And thats what weve got to get.

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You have the right to remain silent  for now. If certain law enforcement officials have their way, we may soon be required to divulge our Facebook and iPhone passwords to the police.

Last week, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police adopted a startling resolution calling for legislation that, on judicial authorization, would compel the holder of an encryption key or password to reveal it to law enforcement. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale invited public debate on the proposal.

Police are responding to new challenges wrought by modern technology. Encryption renders data unintelligible without the users password. Even with a warrant to seize and search a cellphone or computer, police cannot gain access to the valuable information stored on those devices unless they can guess the password (or hack into the device, as the FBI recently did with a locked iPhone in the San Bernardino case).

Police worry criminals are going dark i.e., using encryption to evade detection and prosecution. Compelling suspects to surrender their cellphone and computer passwords is an enticing solution to this problem. But it is one that ought to be unacceptable in a free and democratic society.

The police chiefs proposal would lead to a radical erosion of our constitutional rights protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. When the state accuses us of a crime, we are entitled to say, prove it. The Supreme Court of Canada has said this right  the right against self-incrimination  is the organizing principle of our criminal justice system. An accused person is under no obligation to assist the state in her or his own prosecution, whether by answering questions about where she was the previous night or by revealing passcodes.

Canadian law jealously protects the right against self-incrimination for reasons that are both historical and principled. The right against self-incrimination has its roots in the revulsion towards the 17th century courts of the Star Chamber, which would detain supposed enemies of the state on mere suspicion, compel them to swear an oath, and then require them on pain of punishment to answer questions.

Our constitutional law protects the right against self-incrimination because we recognize there is a power imbalance in criminal prosecutions, which frequently pit a single (often marginalized) individual against the overwhelming power of the state. The right against self-incrimination is the great equalizer. It ensures an individual is put through the criminal process only once police have built a case. It also protects the dignity of the accused and limits the risk that state officials will abuse their power.

Supporters of the police chiefs proposal may point out that there are already certain contexts under our laws where the right against self-incrimination has been abridged and individuals are required by law to provide information to the state. But these exceptions are narrow and in highly regulated contexts.

Drivers are required to report car accidents. Travellers must answer questions posed by customs officials about the contents of their bags. The difference is that the state treats driving and international travel as privileges bestowed only on those who agree to relinquish some liberty in order to participate in the regulated activity. And even in these highly regulated contexts, as soon as the states purpose shifts from compliance with the regulatory regime to a criminal investigation, the individuals full panoply of Charter rights  including the right against self-incrimination  are engaged.

Any response to the challenge of encryption must also take into account the heightened expectation of privacy that individuals have in their digital devices. Our cellphones and computers can hold a massive amount of highly private and personal information about ourselves. As the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized, searches of these devices are profoundly invasive.

Expediency of criminal investigations has not been and cannot be the only goal of the criminal justice system. Encryption is new but the need for law enforcement to adapt to changing technologies is not. With every technological advancement, criminals become more sophisticated and law enforcement must meet the challenge. The police should invest in training the next generation of tech-savvy law enforcement officers. But sacrificing the right against self-incrimination should be off the table.

Nader R. Hasan is a lawyer practicing criminal, constitutional and regulatory law at Stockwoods LLP in Toronto, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Stephen Aylward is a lawyer practicing criminal, regulatory, and civil litigation at Stockwoods LLP.

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As Canada began to phase out compulsory Indian residential schools in the 1950s, it found a new way to pursue its longstanding policy of forced assimilation. Over two decades starting in the early 1960s, thousands of First Nations children were taken from their families, often without consent, and placed in non-indigenous care. To ensure the children would never return to their First Nations communities, death certificates were issued expunging any record of their aboriginal existence.

The so-called Sixties Scoop has received much less attention than residential schools  until quite recently it was a well-kept secret  but it, too, has left a shameful legacy of intergenerational scars and cultural loss, as Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said last year.

Yet, despite Ottawas shifting rhetoric on indigenous issues, the federal government has been remarkably slow to acknowledge its failure and compensate its many victims. Worse still, Ottawa continues to fight a series of class-action lawsuits filed in recent years by survivors.

The plaintiffs in the first such suit, filed in Ontario in 2009 on behalf of some 16,000 indigenous individuals, will finally have their day in court on Tuesday, after numerous failed attempts by Ottawa to have the case thrown out. The Trudeau government, which has promised a renewed relationship between the federal government and indigenous peoples built on trust, recognition and respect for rights, should stop contesting the suit, apologize for the Sixties Scoop and compensate survivors.

After all, Ottawa had a fiduciary responsibility to protect those children who were forcibly taken from their parents and deprived of their cultural heritage. Many experienced direct racism and abuse. Instead, in the case of Ontario, the federal government signed an agreement that allowed the forced adoptions to proceed from Dec. 1965 to Dec. 1984.

The suit claims that the government of Canada breached its constitutional duty to protect aboriginal children, allowed provincial child welfare officials to extinguish their rights under the Indian Act, failed to provide services to which they were entitled and encouraged a policy of cultural assimilation.

The representative plaintiff in the case, Marcia Brown Martel, was taken from her family at the age of 4. Social workers told her parents, who lived in the Beaverhouse First Nation near Kirkland Lake, Ont., that she was mentally handicapped and that she would fare better with a non-indigenous family. Initially she was placed in a series of foster homes before being adopted at the age of 9. Nine years later her relationship with her adoptive mother broke down and she returned to Beaverhouse, where she later became chief. She no longer speaks her native language.

Brown Martels mission isnt about money, she insists. Its about ensuring no aboriginal child will ever have to go through what she endured.

Ottawa should want that, too, of course. Yet government lawyers continue to argue the Sixties Scoop was a product of a different era when policy-makers genuinely believed that adopting out aboriginal children to white families improved their chances of escaping poverty, getting a good education and settling into a productive middle-class life. But nothing can excuse the dislocation and pain the policy caused or absolve todays legislators of the responsibility for repairing their predecessors tragic mistakes.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett hinted last week that she is open to finding a solution outside the courts. She should move quickly to do just that. Ottawa cant have it both ways. A new relationship must mean an end to the adversarial one that preceded it. The government should begin by saying sorry and paying up.

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Toronto was lucky over the weekend  no one was hurt and damage was minimal after a train derailment in the heart of Canadas largest city. Crews were busy Monday morning cleaning up 1,200 litres of diesel oil spilling from a locomotive, but the fuel didnt enter the sewer system or pose any threat to the public. And dangerous freight remained intact.

But this outcome is no cause for complacency on rail safety; not after a train crash, and subsequent inferno, killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic three years ago. And not in light of additional safety measures that still need to be undertaken.

Canadas Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Sunday morning derailment, and federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau has said he will act quickly to close any safety gaps revealed by that probe. But there are steps he could take now to bolster public confidence in the reliability of Canadas rail network.

Preliminary indications are that human error was a factor when two Canadian Pacific freight trains, headed in opposite directions, sideswiped one another at a switch near Dupont and Bathurst Sts. at about 5:20 a.m. As reported by the Stars Ebyan Abdigir, one of the trains was carrying batteries and aerosol containers, which are classified as dangerous goods, but its cargo remained intact.

The incident serves to underline a compelling need to find alternate routes for shipping dangerous goods, detouring such material around densely populated areas. Several Toronto city councilors and Mayor John Tory signed a letter to Garneau earlier this year urging consideration of substitute routes that would mitigate risk of a catastrophe.

Its a significant concern. A Star investigation in 2014, monitoring CP rail traffic on one line through Toronto, found more than 130 cars and tankers carrying dangerous goods such as crude oil, methyl bromide (a neurotoxic gas) and other compounds. Thats what was found in just two 12-hour shifts.

Councillor Josh Matlow has suggested that CP work with the Canadian National Railway to run its dangerous freight on CN lines north of the city. This seems a reasonable approach and federal officials would do well to encourage such cooperation.

Since the tragedy at Lac-Megantic Ottawa has adopted several worthwhile measures improving rail safety in Canada. But theres clearly more to be done. In addition to promoting alternate routes for hazardous cargo, federal officials should strive to speed up the retirement of older, less puncture-resistant tank cars from transporting flammable material. Safer, sturdier cars arent scheduled to completely assume shipment of such goods until 2025.

And railways should be required to give residents living near freight lines more information about the dangerous material travelling, sometimes quite literally, past their own backyards.

Better protection of the public is essential. The next time a rail accident occurs in midtown Toronto, or some other large metropolitan centre, residents might not be as lucky as they were this weekend.

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Re: Set rules for miners, Editorial Aug. 22

Set rules for miners, Editorial Aug. 22

I remember well watching the CPAC channel back on Oct. 27, 2010. Bill C-300 (a piece of legislation designed to force Canadian mining companies to exercise greater accountability when it came to some of their very questionable mining practices overseas) was up for third reading. It was going to be a close vote and I was all set for the drama that was to come.

Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal leader at the time, had only a week earlier chided then prime minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives for their poor human rights record when it came to ethical mining standards abroad. Now was his chance to effect a positive change in Canadas mining industry, an industry fast becoming labeled as the bad boy of unfair mining practices. The stage was definitely set for all this to happen.

But, alas, it was not to be. Ignatieff, along with about 10 other Liberal MPs, didnt bother to even show up in the House and Bill C-300 bit the dust.

Just the week before, Ignatieff had been applauding the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) claiming how a Liberal government would incorporate tough CSR guidelines for Canadian businesses operating overseas. Talk about passing up a glorious opportunity to put your money where your mouth is.

As you said in your editorial, its time to revisit Bill C-300. Six years later, are Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government up to the challenge?

Tom McCarthy, Mississauga

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Re: Terrorism series, Aug. 20-21

Re: Terrorism darkens our doorstep, Aug. 18

Terrorism series, Aug. 20-21

Canadians are no doubt benefiting from the detailed series of articles by Michelle Shephard calling for a more humane approach to dealing with terrorists, like Aaron Driver. But her focus on how Denmark deals with this escalating global problem needs to be put into perspective.

While there may be a tolerant policy in the city of Aarhus, Denmark stands out as quite the most intolerant Western democracy country in dealing with the principal victims of the Middle Eastern terrorist crisis  the mainly Muslim refugees who seek better lives in the West.

As the Washington Post has documented, in Denmark the refugees are denied social security benefits, police are free to seize their cash and jewelry, their relatives have to wait for three years  up from one year  to bring family members in, and courageous Danish citizens who aid refugees in allegedly illegal activities are prosecuted.

The government of Denmark also buys advertising in Lebanese newspapers warning refugees they are not to seek solace in Denmark.

Sadly, this hardline approach has widespread support among the Danish people. In stark contrast, refugees are welcomed to Canada not only by our governments, but by the vast majority of Canadians.

Raymond Heard, Toronto

Terrorism darkens our doorstep, Aug. 18

I was dismayed to read Judith Timsons article on terrorism in Toronto. I expect, and generally receive, better from the Star.

Terrorism poses a statistically insignificant threat to Canadians. Comparing this non-threat Canadians face to the horrors facing Syrians is ridiculous and embarrassing.

The silliest part is that if terrorists want Torontonians to feel fear, this article serves their cause.

Walter Wilson, Guelph

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Delta Air Lines (DAL) is reportedly offering its 13,000 pilots a raise of approximately 27% over four years, well below what the employees had proposed in contract talks.

The amount was disclosed in a letter Sunday to pilots from John Malone, chairman of the Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, according to Bloomberg. The Atlanta-based airline and its employees have been discussing pay since the contract became amendable on Dec. 31.

Pilot union leaders have pushed for an immediate 22% pay increase, followed by two 7% annual raises, leading to a total base pay increase of 39.7% by 2018, the Motley Fool reports. The union has argued that the carrier's recent profits justify a reversal of pay and benefits reductions adopted in the 2000s.

A Delta spokesperson told Bloomberg in an e-mail that the company is committed to reaching an agreement that is "market-based, sustainable, and that also ensures Delta pilots have an industry-leading package of pay, benefits and work rules."

The parties had initiated talks under the oversight of the National Mediation Board on March 31. The board suspended the discussions for three weeks earlier this month, while Malone implied that the board thought progress had stalled.

Shares of Delta closed lower on Monday.

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 has this to say about the recommendation:

We rate DELTA AIR LINES INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B. This is driven by multiple strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, increase in net income, good cash flow from operations, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

You can view the full analysis from the report here:

DAL

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It's soon going to be a whole lot easier to buy stocks on the world's second-busiest stock market. But that doesn't mean foreign investors will rush to join the trading.

Last week, China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang announced that a trading link between the Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock exchanges will launch this December. This will make it easier for international investors to buy Shenzhen-listed shares -- and Shenzhen is home to China's second-biggest stock exchange (after Shanghai).

The trading link is similar to the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect that started in November 2014. This made Shanghai-listed stocks more easily available to foreign investors. Prior to the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect, foreign institutional investors needed government approval to invest in China's mainland stock markets.

A bubble in Shanghai-listed stocks started forming after the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 109% in just the following seven months.

But the Stock Connect was not the main cause of the bubble. Lower margin lending rates in China and the government's promotion of investing in the stock market played a much bigger role.

That bubble came to an end the way most bubbles do ... with a spectacular crash. From its 2015 high to 2016 low, the Shanghai Composite dropped 49%. It's still 40% lower than its 2015 peak.

Don't expect a similar bubble to form for the Shenzhen market once the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect launches. For one thing, caution has replaced the cowboy attitude in Chinese markets. Plus, a lot of investors were less than impressed with the ham-fisted way China handled the Shanghai market crash. Market regulators seemed to forget that they can't control the stock market like they can other markets. Not when investors can vote with their feet in a few seconds.

But the big issue with the Shenzhen market is that its listed shares are very expensive. The average price-to-earnings ratio for Shenzhen-listed shares is 46. That means that investors are paying 46 yuan for every yuan of company earnings. Hong Kong's Hang Seng has a P/E of 12, and the Shanghai Composite's P/E is 17. (The S&P 500's is now at 20.) So, Shenzhen should see limited investor interest because of these high valuations.

Prime Minister Li said the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect is "a substantial step forward in terms of legalisation, marketisation and internationalisation" of China's capital markets.

More market liberalization is one of the key steps to mainland China-listed shares -- called China A-shares -- being included in emerging market indices, like the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) index. Investment funds that manage more than $1.5 trillion in assets track the MSCI EM index. So if China A-shares get included in that one index it will have a major effect on A-share prices. It would mean billions of dollars in new A-share purchases over time.

MSCI said in June that A-shares would not be added to the EM index, adding that it will take a "wait-and-see" approach to Chinese shares.

But if MSCI does eventually add A-shares to its collection of other indices, other index providers will follow suit -- meaning even more money chasing China A-shares.

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong link is a signal that China is working at liberalizing its stock markets. But, the real test for liberalization will be how Chinese regulators handle the next market crisis, like the ones faced last summer and this January.

Foreigners who want to invest in mainland China shares have a better, cheaper option than what's available on the Shenzhen exchange.

They're called China H-shares. H-shares (not to be confused with A-shares) are Hong Kong-listed shares of mainland China firms. Because they're listed in Hong Kong, it's easier for foreigners to trade them. Plus, they have an average P/E of just under 8 (based on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or HSCEI, which tracks H-share prices). This means the H-share market is one of the cheapest markets on the planet.

One way to invest in H-shares is to buy the iShares China Large-Cap Fund (FXI) on the New York Stock Exchange. This tracks the FTSE China 50 Index and gives you exposure to some of China's largest companies.

Kim Iskyan is the founder of Truewealth Publishing, an independent investment research company based in Singapore. Click here to sign up to receive the Truewealth Asian Investment Daily in your inbox every day, for free.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Trina Solar (TSL) were advancing in pre-market trading on Tuesday after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the 2016 second quarter.

Before the opening bell, the Chinese solar power company reported adjusted earnings of 42 cents per diluted share, beating analysts' estimates of 32 cents per share.

Revenue for the quarter was $961.6 million, higher than analysts' estimates of $866.6 million.

Trina Solar shipped modules totaling 1,658.3 megawatts in the period. During the same quarter last year, the company shipped 1,231.6 megawatts.

For the full year 2016, the company expects to ship modules between 6.3 gigawatts and 6.55 gigawatts.

"Module shipments were driven mainly by continued demand from China ahead of the expected subsidy policy adjustment," CEO Jifan Gao said in a statement.

"Our new production facility in Thailand is ramping up its capacity on schedule and is helping to strengthen our competitiveness in the U.S.," he added.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Cobalt Energy undefinedwere falling in pre-market trading on Tuesday as the company failed to receive approval to sell two Angolan oil blocks to the country's state oil company from the country's government, Reuters reports.

Last August, Houston-based Cobalt announced it would sell its 40% stake in the offshore fields to state-owned Sonangol. Sonangol holds the remaining stake in the blocks.

Cobalt's portion of the blocks was worth roughly $1.75 billion, according to an SEC filing.

However, the Angolan government did not give approval within one year which automatically terminated the deal, Reuters noted.

The company has begun the marketing and sale process of the assets after the first failed transaction.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Mylan (MYL) were falling in early-afternoon trading on Tuesday as the Canonsburg, PA-based pharmaceutical company continues to face public criticism over its high EpiPen prices.

Citigroup analysts say the heightened scrutiny won't hurt Mylan's earnings, but it could "weigh on the stock's multiple" in the near term.

Drug pricing has become a central issue ahead of the upcoming election cycle, in part due to the controversy surrounding Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), which involves claims that it defrauded investors.

Now that investors have turned their attention to drug pricing, it could result in added pressure to Mylan's stock, the firm said, according to Barron's.

Mylan isn't likely to face regulatory action, Citigroup noted, but persistent criticism, particularly in the form of a Senate Judiciary Committee review, could result in "self-regulation" of pricing increases on the EpiPen.

"Access and affordability remains the key issue for all therapeutic stocks over the medium term, in our view, with increasing focus on innovation in order to justify premium pricing," Citigroup continued in an analyst note, according to Barron's. "This has constituted part of our more cautious stance on the specialty pharmaceuticals space over the past 12 months, given the higher risk inherent in some of these companies to drug pricing headlines."

The price of Mylan's portable allergic reaction inhibitor has increased to about $500 from around $100 in 2008, an increase of approximately 450%.

Wall Street currently models annual declines in the EpiPen franchise from 2018, likely based on the introduction of a generic EpiPen in that time frame, Citigroup said.

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 has this to say about the recommendation:

We rate MYLAN NV as a Buy with a ratings score of B. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, good cash flow from operations, expanding profit margins, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and growth in earnings per share. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: MYL

MYL data by YCharts
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of American International Group (AIG) were higher in mid-afternoon trading on Tuesday as the company is in talks of selling insurance operations related to Lloyd's of London to Canada's largest pension fund.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is exploring the possibility of purchasing AIG's business at Lloyd's of London, the Wall Street Journal reports. AIG owns an underwriting syndicate at Lloyd's of London, an insurance and reinsurance marketplace.

The discussions further the New York City-based insurance giant's efforts to improve results by limiting its focus and delivering approximately $25 billion in capital to shareholders. Meanwhile, the Canadian pension fund has been moving to establish itself as a major player in the insurance industry.

A deal with the CPPIB could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds for AIG. The company has recently been under pressure to hone performance, as activist investors Carl Icahn and John Paulson have called on AIG to break itself into three parts.

CPPIB is also in talks of buying a related insurance company based in Bermuda.

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 has this to say about the recommendation:

We rate AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP as a Hold with a ratings score of C+. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, good cash flow from operations and growth in earnings per share. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including disappointing return on equity, a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and poor profit margins.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: AIG

AIG

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Chevy Chase venture fund New Enterprise Associates upped its bet on ThreatQuotient, a Reston-based cybersecurity analytics start-up, in a $12 million investment announced Tuesday.

ThreatQuotient operates a set of data analytics tools for corporate cybersecurity analysts, meant to help sort through the millions of data points that might predict the next hack. The company was founded in 2013 by two technologists working out of AOLs Fishbowl Labs incubator in Sterling, Va., and chief executive John Czupak joined in late 2015.

Czupak padded the companys ranks with connections from his previous 12-year career at SourceFire, a Maryland-based cybersecurity company that sold to software giant Cisco for $2.7 billion in one of the biggest local technology deals in recent memory.

ThreatQuotient got its first big chunk of capital from New Enterprise Associates, an early Sourcefire backer, and Tuesday at least half of ThreatQuotients leadership team comes from Czupaks former employer.

Ive been very fortunate that Ive been able to attract a lot of Sourcefire DNA, said Czupak.

Before SourceFire, Czupak was a vice president at Riverbed Technologies, a mobile computing company that also got money from New Enterprise Associates before being acquired in 2002. Between Riverbed, Sourcefire, and now ThreatQuotient, the investors at NEA have been working with Czupak his associates for more than 15 years.

Really what it boils down to is you just dont get a better team than this. . .thats why NEA is being so aggressive, said Harry Weller, a partner at NEA. These guys have made $4 billion worth of exits for me.

As part of the deal, NEA managing partner Peter Barris joined the companys board.

There are dozens of other companies playing in the fast-growing field of cyber-threat analytics, including a local, venture-funded competitor called ThreatConnect.

Its a hot new emerging market without any clear leaders, Czupak said.

Weller said the company is now generating revenues approaching $10 million a year. Czupak declined to disclose company financials but compared the start-ups early financial performance to that of some industry heavyweights.

I would compare these numbers to those we saw in the early days at SourceFire, comparable to what we saw in the early days at FireEye, he said. Its a business thats going to triple in size for the next few years.


There is no part of me that attaches my social status or economic condition to the color of my skin. None, said Tunde Wey. Its a privileged emotional reality that I live. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post)

When Nigerian chef Tunde Wey brings people together over a beautiful meal to talk about some of the ugliest problems facing our country  racism, sexism, police brutality  he cant help but notice one recurring theme. After the people of color in the room have voiced their frustrations, fears and sorrows, someone  usually a white ally  would ask, So whats the solution?

White folks or privileged folks are quick to try to find a solution, or ask for a solution, as opposed to sitting in the discomfort, said Wey. How do you answer what the solution is to racism or systemic injustices?

Wey is traveling across the country in service of a provocative dinner series he calls Blackness in America. Over his meals, he and guest speakers moderate an exasperated and mournful conversation about what its like to be a person of color in a year in which 152 black people have been shot and killed by police so far, and poverty rates for African Americans are more than twice as high as for white people.

There is catharsis among the black guests at the dinner, and understanding among the others. But there is no solution, other than for the guests to sit there with their plates of jollof rice and pepper soup, and stew in their discomfort.

Weys dinners are not exactly fun, as he warns at the outset: This conversation is supposed to be impolite, he said at a recent dinner in Pittsburgh. Its supposed to be uncomfortable. If guests are having a good time, theyre missing the point.



Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Tony Norman, middle, helps Nigerian chef Tunde Wey lead a discussion on "blackness" at the ImageBox in Pittsburgh. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post)

No one would be so naive as to say that sitting down at a table over a nice meal is the answer to some of the countrys most pervasive social justice problems. But for Wey, the dinners serve a specific purpose: Creating a space for black discourse.

What that means is were prioritizing the perspectives of black people, Wey said. The diners predominantly are black, and the conversation is about all kinds of black experiences: black feminism, LGBT blackness, black hair, black education, black politics and  for this particular dinner, held the week after Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were killed by police and five Dallas police officers were killed by a lone gunman  policing and blackness.

The conversations serve as an emotional release. When he brings people together over dinner to vent, I can feel the collective exhale from the folks in the room, said Wey. Im reassured  yeah, this . . . is necessary.

Its necessary for Wey, too. The dinners are a way for him to grapple with his experience as an African immigrant, forced to confront Americas racial realities when he came here at 16.

When he was growing up in Lagos, Nigeria  he is Yoruba  the doctors were black. The pilots were black. The president was black. Everybody was black. There is no part of me that attaches my social status or economic condition to the color of my skin. None, he said. Its a privileged emotional reality that I live.



There was some sort of obscenity to the whole thing, this foodie movement, Wey said. You eat at one of these new restaurants with small plates, and the food tastes good, but its not saying anything. What its saying is just Look at me. Its self-referential. Thats where the obscenity comes from: When you can say nothing, surrounded by so much to say. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post)

One of four children born to a pair of middle-class business owners, Wey, 32, came to the United States for school and settled in Michigan with relatives. (His parents remained in Lagos.) He went to community college intending to become a doctor, but he rarely went to class. He tried studying Chinese, then running a short-lived market that started failing the day before it opened. He left college and became a partner in Revolver, a Detroit restaurant that hosted a rotating array of chefs, serving the kinds of meals that check off every buzzword in our contemporary dining lexicon: communal tables, a modern take on local ingredients, rustic-industrial decor. It left Wey searching for meaning.

There was some sort of obscenity to the whole thing, this foodie movement, he said. You eat at one of these new restaurants with small plates, and the food tastes good, but its not saying anything. What its saying is just, Look at me. Its self-referential. Thats where the obscenity comes from: when you can say nothing, surrounded by so much to say.

He decided to become a chef. He has no formal training but cooks recipes from his family that have been part of West African cuisine for ages. (The concept of Nigerian food is a colonial construct, he is quick to point out, because the country encompasses many ethnic groups, and its borders were determined by British rule.) The motto on his website: Nigeria. Independent since 1960. Making dope food since forever.



Chef Tunde Wey sometimes laments the need for a formal menu at his events. (Michael Litchfield/Courtesy of Tunde Wey)

From implicit to explicit

In 2014, he set off on a tour of America by Greyhound bus, cooking his countrys food at pop-ups in major cities. It was during that trip that Wey was detained by immigration authorities in Texas. His visa was contingent upon his enrollment in school, but it had lapsed in 2006 because he had dropped out. He was sent to an immigration detention center for 20 days, and he lost 12 pounds before getting bailed out by family. He is scheduled to meet with an immigration judge next year. In the meantime, he has applied to normalize his status.

After his tour ended, Wey opened a Nigerian food stall in New Orleanss St. Roch Market. Running it solo made him a better cook, but the restaurant posted a loss of $13,000 before closing one year ago. Six months later, Wey went on tour again  this time, with a new mission.

I wanted to move from this implicit commentary to more explicit commentary to say, Hey, whats up with black people in America? Whats up with women in America? Whats up with America?  he said. And so thats why I started, because I felt like people and food werent saying anything at all. . . . In the Black Lives Matter era, you cant not say something. Its ridiculous.



When prominent food historian Michael Twitty was attacked on social media, Wey came to his defense. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Offering up a challenge

Wey is a person you can count on to say something. Thats what he did after an Eater article questioned whether the Charleston, S.C., food scene was owning up to its appropriation from Gullahs, the descendants of West African slaves. African American food historian Michael Twitty was attacked on social media for his comments about white chefs projecting ownership onto a food culture that is not entirely theirs.

Although he is not as well-known, Wey spoke up for Twitty. And he did so in a bold way: When noted white Southern food writer John T. Edge struck up a dialogue with Wey and offered to let him co-write one of his columns in the Oxford American, Wey called out what he saw as Edges complicity in a culinary scene that marginalizes black voices. The resulting column, in which Wey asked Edge to give up his job as a type of restitution for celebrating the appropriation of black Southern food, is a deeply squirmy, uncomfortable read.

That meant a lot to me, for someone from a different part of the black world to look at my story and say, This is my cousin, and Im down with what he had to say,  said Twitty. Its very culturally powerful that all these chefs I know are declaring culinary solidarity with African Americans and with the idea that our food is part of a family tree.

Twitty, who has hosted dinners on former plantations, sees parallels between his and Weys work.

People like Tunde and I, we have no choice, he said. To be engaged in what I call culinary justice  is inextricable from the experience of being a black chef in America. We feel compelled to bring this issue up.



Chef Tunde Wey, left, and journalist Tony Norman, right, lead a discussion over dinner in Pittsburgh. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post)

And even though Edge did not act on Weys suggestion, he found a friend in him, too.

I see him offering a challenge to people who gather for that dinner series in the same way he offered a challenge to me, said Edge. America is ready for that.

After the tone of this years political discourse, is it really? Nevertheless, theres something powerful about the idea of gathering around a table to break bread and hash out our differences, as Kumbaya as it sounds.

It is no accident that Dr. King used the term the table of brotherhood,  said Twitty.

Weys table can be adversarial, said Edge.

Meals shouldnt always be about comfort, he said. Instead of arguing for the welcome table resolution, where we all gather at the table and find common purpose, Tunde is suggesting that its okay if we dont find common purpose. The table can be a place where we talk about difference.



Tunde Wey's stewed chicken is made with red bell peppers, tomato, onion, curry, garlic, ginger and thyme. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post)

Merging food and commentary

In Pittsburgh, Wey and his guests, mostly black, talked about Philando Castile. They talked about the fact that Micah Xavier Johnson, the killer of the Dallas cops, was killed by a robot. They talked about Sen. Tim Scotts (R-S.C.) revelation that he had been pulled over by police seven times in one year. One woman talked about how, when she walked down the street, other women would switch their bags to their other shoulder, away from her, even though I have a cuter bag than them.

The one thing they didnt talk about was the food. Served buffet-style, it barely even merited an introduction from Wey, even though he had spent the past two days cooking it. (The food tastes better if it sits.)

Earlier that day in the kitchen, as he was frying plantains and stirring his jollof rice, he lamented the fact that he needed to provide a menu for the $65 dinner at all.

I just want to cook and see what happens that day, he said.

His casual indifference might be a front. Later, he confessed that even though I act nonchalant, I want my food to be the best. (I think hes a really good cook, said Edge.)

Wey doesnt make money on the dinners but said he does them because he believes the publicity and networking contacts will eventually bring him more paid work. He is in the process of pitching a documentary-style show about his dinners and hopes to one day open his own restaurant in either New Orleans or Detroit. He wants it to be a place where food and commentary can coexist. Until then, he continues to tour: Next, Louisville, and he plans to schedule a Washington dinner this winter.



Theres so many disparate parts of culture that should be in dialogue, said Wey. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post)

Among the dishes on Weys menu were dodo and ayamase, or fried plantains with green peppers and locust bean sauce; okra in a seafood broth; chicken wings with a red pepper-tomato sauce; jollof rice, stewed in a tomato sauce; and puff-puff, which he explained were akin to Nigerian doughnuts, for dessert.

Guests who had never eaten Nigerian food before could be forgiven for mixing up some of the dishes, which were unlabeled. Later in the conversation, Wey told the group that that was intentional: Were eating the food wrong. You guys dont know what this food is, you dont know what goes with what, he said. Thats purposeful, because what Im trying to do is detach us from our reference points.

Besides, there were more important things to talk about.

Theres so many disparate parts of culture that should be in dialogue, said Wey. Food should be talking to art, food should be talking to music, food should be talking about social issues. The last thing food should be talking about, when it checks off all those boxes, is itself.

Correction: A previous version of this story said that Tunde Weys friends bailed him out of immigration detention. His family bailed him out.
Five members of the Prince Georges County school board called for the resignation of the boards top leaders this week after the county lost $6.4 million in federal funding for early childhood education because of allegations of child abuse in the local Head Start program.

The board members asked County Executive Rushern L. Baker III to seek the removal of board chair Segun C. Eubanks and vice chair Carolyn A. Boston, citing a lack of confidence in their leadership and failures in accountability, transparency and collaboration.

A spokesman for Baker (D) said the county executive has full confidence in the boards leadership and does not intend to ask Eubanks and Boston to step down. Eubanks and Boston did not respond to requests for comment, but Eubanks released a statement Tuesday saying that he and Boston will remain focused on doing everything in our power to ensure the continuous and ever-improving operation of the Head Start program in Prince Georges County for years to come.

[Read the board members letter]

The clash came days after Prince Georges district officials say they were notified that the school system would be losing its federal Head Start grant for failing to correct deficiencies identified earlier this year. Federal officials said that problems included at least two abusive situations: a 3-year-old was forced to mop up his urine in front of class after an accident and two children were made to hold heavy objects over their heads after they played during nap time. Federal officials also cited a case in which a 5-year-old left a school unnoticed and walked home alone.

[Feds end Head Start grant after finding schools humiliated kids, used corporal punishment ]

The five board members who signed the Aug. 22 letter  Beverly Anderson, Edward Burroughs III, Zabrina Epps, Verjeana M. Jacobs and Sonya Williams  wrote that they horrifyingly learned for the first time of the abuse during an emergency conference call Aug. 17  the same day it was publicly reported that the federal government was pulling the Head Start funding.

They said the full board was not properly informed of problems in Head Start and had not discussed incidents of child mistreatment or possible termination of the federal grant. The letter also alleged that the chair and vice chair make unilateral decisions, not recognizing that oversight authority belongs to the full board and that decisions can be made only when the board is in session.

Please know we believe that if the first instance of inappropriate behavior by a PGCPS Head Start teacher were brought to the attention of the full board for discussion, there would not have been a second or third incident of mistreatment of children, the board members wrote, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post.

The board members also said that Eubanks and Boston were disingenuous in public claims last week that the board had been made aware of the concerns and the federal review, saying that board documents they received in March did not mention the abuse and that members were never made aware of the potential for federal termination of funding.

For five and one-half months, while children continued to be harmed, the Chair and Vice Chair concealed pertinent information regarding the issues attendant to the Head Start program, the letter said. Had the full board known of specifics, it said, we could have directed the administration to provide the board with regular reports of corrective action.

Prince Georges schools chief Kevin M. Maxwell said last week that the incidents outlined in the report showed poor judgment from a handful of people. He and Eubanks pledged that the program, which serves more than 930 children from low-income families, would open as planned on Monday.

It is unclear how the county will come up with the additional $6.4 million it would need to maintain the program at current levels, and school officials are trying to figure out how to fund Head Start in the future.

In an effort to turn around the struggling school system, Baker several years ago tried to wrest full control of the county school system from the elected school board, telling state lawmakers that the school system was stifling the countys ability to attract businesses. And while state legislators did not support the full takeover, they did give Baker the authority to select the schools chief, the boards leadership and the appointment of three new board members.

Baker appointed Eubanks and Boston to their positions in 2013. Baker originally appointed two of the board members who signed the letter  Anderson and Williams  to the newly constituted 13-member board. Williams was appointed in 2014 to fill a seat vacated by an elected member, and she won election to the seat later that year.

The reconfigured board was created three years ago as residents and lawmakers complained about a lack of accountability surrounding operations of the school system. The letter calling for leadership resignations indicates that divisions on the board continue.


An aerial image of Cape Cod Academy in Osterville, Mass. The school has been attracting a significant number of Chinese students in recent years. (Mark Cote/Courtesy of Cape Cod Academy)

OSTERVILLE, Mass.  When the lunch bell rings at Cape Cod Academy, students line up for a weekly treat  food from Great House, a local Chinese restaurant.

At first glance, the piles of fried rice and barbecue pork might seem ideal for the private high schools international students. Nearly 20 percent of the student body is Chinese, and in the hallways, throngs of students can often be found chatting in Mandarin.

But the Chinese students dont find the lunch offerings especially appetizing.

They put too much oil in it, says Yunshu Zhang, 18, a third-year student who, here, in a village of 3,500 people on the southern Cape coast, goes by Tony. To be honest, that shop will probably shut off if it was in China.

The international flavor of Cape Cod Academy, or CCA, contrasts sharply with local demographics. The school is in one of the states least-diverse counties  a summer oceanfront getaway in the town of Barnstable, about 70 miles southeast of Boston  with a population that is 93 percent white and less than 2 percent Asian, according to census data.

But in the wider context of U.S. education, CCAs international program is part of a growing trend. Tens of thousands of Chinese students attend U.S. schools, a number that is rapidly rising as Chinese families look to tap into the nations top-tier colleges and universities  which now host hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals seeking a U.S. degree.

[Hear Daniel A. Grosss radio report on PRIs The World]

A lot of Chinese families are realizing that they have to get into the process earlier, said Christine Yeh, a researcher at the University of San Francisco who studies the experience of East Asian immigrants in U.S. schools. That drives them to seek a U.S. high school education to gain an edge for college admissions. Its getting so competitive.

The move is creating growing pockets of Chinese children in U.S. schools, sometimes in places not known for international diversity  such as Osterville. For the U.S. schools, the change can mean a financial windfall from full-paying Chinese families and an opportunity to broaden their student bodys horizons.

Joe Remillard, who directs the program at CCA, has begun hosting Chinese students in his home. When we heard of this opportunity, we loved it, because then we could bring the world to our table, Remillard said.

Graduation at Cape Cod Academy. (Sarah Jane Thornington/Studio by the Sea/Courtesy of Cape Cod Academy)

Cape Cod Academy, a pre-K-through-12th-grade private school, started its program for Chinese students five years ago, after it began conversations with EduBoston, a company that serves as a middleman between recruiters in China and private schools in the United States. This year, 70 Chinese students applied to CCA and five were accepted, an admissions rate comparable to that of elite universities. The school has a total enrollment of 240 and all graduates are accepted to college, according to the school.

Chinese students who do gain admission to U.S. schools often struggle to adapt. When Zhang arrived from his home town of Guiyang, he worried that his U.S. classmates would see his mullet haircut and assume he was a bully. He felt that the move forced him to grow up, as he was living on his own with a host family, about as far from home as possible.

You are alone, he explained. You are in charge of everything that you own. Your money, your cellphone, your studies, your future.

Ziqi Zhao, a 17-year-old Beijing native who goes by Katherine, started to consider North American schools after a friend chose to study in Canada.

I heard from TV and magazines about Americas student life, she said, recalling how the idea did not immediately sit well with her parents. After weeks of discussion, they relented. My parents were very worried.

The move from China to the United States can seem especially pivotal because it is often a one-way street, meaning the Chinese students really have to stick it out through high school, even if it is not a great fit for them. Once you leave your school in China, you cant really reenter, said Alexandra Tolischus, who is director of admissions at CCA.

And arriving in the United States as a Chinese student can be daunting, with a dramatic cultural difference but also a sense that many U.S. residents are cautious and skeptical, given the global competition between the two countries. Some parents worry that having Chinese students in their schools means that it will be even harder for their students as they seek higher education.

Students Ziqi Zhao and Yunshu Zhang at Cape Cod Academy. (Daniel A. Gross/For The Washington Post)

There is a sense of fear . . . that theyre so smart theyre going to take away spots in college from my child, Tolischus said.

Zhang said he has encountered some stereotyping, but it does not really bother him when his peers call him a math genius or science genius.

They may think we are nerds  nothing besides study. But to be honest, we are human beings as well. We play sports, he said with a laugh. He plays basketball and lacrosse at CCA.

The influx of Chinese students can be a boon for the private schools that accept them, with the costs meeting or exceeding what one might pay for a private college education here, and the wealthy Chinese families footing the bill.

CCA costs international students about $50,000 per year, which covers tuition, a home stay, supplementary classes in English and global history, and fees for EduBoston and consultants in China.

According to Kason Park, EduBostons chief executive, the industry of international education has become so lucrative that hundreds of recruitment companies have entered the field. A lot of private schools, and even public schools, look at international programs as a solution to their enrollment problems and financial problems, he said.

Park said some of his competitors dont provide enough help to the foreign students, which can cause concern on many levels.

They bring these kids and place them into school, and they sort of cross their fingers and hope that things will work out, Park said. In particular, he said some students feel isolated, and others act out against their host parents, who sometimes dont have the proper supports in place to handle it. These problems are rampant.

Yeh, the university researcher, said international programs can be risky, requiring a delicate balance.

At what point is this a lucrative market, and at what point is this an opportunity to diversify the school? Yeh said. Diversity, she said, should mean more than the presence of students from different backgrounds; it should be an educational philosophy that celebrates differences.

The dining hall at Cape Cod Academy. (Daniel A. Gross/For The Washington Post)

Isabelle Lifton, 15, a member of the CCA Class of 2019, said she was a little surprised to find so many Chinese students when she started at the school. She said that while sometimes the Chinese students congregate and speak their native language, they also bond with the U.S. students and bring new perspectives.

When I came to CCA, that was the first time I was really immersed with Chinese students, Lifton said. Theyre on the teams with us, theyre in most of our classes with us. So its finding just another culture that youre with.

When lunch wraps up at the school, the platters of Chinese food are put away and groups of Chinese students rejoin their American peers as they head to class. Integration takes time, said head of school Thomas Trigg, adding that diversity is more important than profitability for his schools international program.

Most important, Trigg said, is the chance for students and staff to learn from each other.

Zhao and Zhang plan to attend U.S. colleges after they graduate next year. Recent alumni of Cape Cod Academy have gone on to public and private universities including Penn State, the University of California at Los Angeles, Brandeis and Georgetown.

Zhao hopes to study piano at Bostons elite Berklee College of Music; she is not sure whether she will ultimately return to China.

But Zhang thinks he will eventually go back to his native land. He hopes to stay in New England for college, with dreams of studying economics and education at Brown University just west of here, in part because he wants to help shape the Chinese educational system. Zhang thinks that his encounter with U.S. education has given him choices that he did not have in his home country.

Thats what I want to take back to China, he said.



A hallway at Cape Cod Academy, which has welcomed many Chinese students in recent years. (Daniel A. Gross/For The Washington Post)

Gross is a freelance reporter based in Massachusetts. Twitter: @readwriteradio


Donnell Honesty, a student at Ballou High School in Southeast Washington, attends summer school at Ballou on July 17. Honesty went through the schools restorative-justice program, which is changing the way discipline is handled at the school. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

Donnell Honesty cant remember what the fight was about or even quite how it started.

He was a junior at D.C.s Ballou High School in 2015 when another student stepped toward him in the schools cafeteria. Within seconds, the two were trading punches.

Almost as quickly as it started, the fight was broken up. Both students were led to a counselors office, and school officials began the process of addressing the flare-up. In previous years, the penalty for an in-school fight was almost certainly a suspension, with the length adjusted for severity. But under new principal Yetunde Reeves, Ballou was trying something different.

And so a day after the fight, Honesty and the other student were back at Ballou, meeting with their parents and members of the schools restorativejustice team. Rather than simply banishing a misbehaving student from the school for a set number of days, the restorative-justice program requires that students engage in a mediation process. There, they take responsibility for their actions, apologize to the people they have affected and renew their commitment to the school community.

For Reeves, the process does not absolve blame, but it moves the resolution in a positive direction.

Youve made the school look bad; youve done harm to the community; youve taken people away from their work, Reeves says of the message students receive. Now lets bring people together, lets have a conversation, lets resolve the conflict, and lets talk about how we [repair the] harm.

Honesty and the other student agreed to refrain from fighting, among other conditions. They apologized to each other and to the teachers and administrators. But the process did not end there.

They dont just let you fall by the wayside, Honesty said. They stay on you about everything.

For Honesty, 18, who had had run-ins at previous schools and had been arrested a couple of times, the extra attention worked.

It taught me how to control myself and that everything is not a game, he said. Lifes real.

[Suspension and expulsion rates at D.C. schools continue to drop, report finds]



Yetunde Reeves, the principal at Ballou High School, stands in the cafeteria on July 17. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

Reeves came to Ballou in 2014 after 10 years in the public school system in Oakland, Calif., which uses a restorative-justice approach. Reeves wanted to try it in Washington, and it fit in well with a D.C. Public Schools effort to reduce the number of suspensions and come up with alternatives to punishments that seem to exacerbate discipline problems rather than resolve them.

Two years before Reeves arrived at Ballou there were 816 students and 1,018 suspensions or expulsions at the school, about 125 suspensions for each 100 students. In the 2014-2015 school year, Reevess first year at the helm, there were 827 students at Ballou and 742 suspensions, or nearly 90 per 100 students. Last year the school had 929 students, but the number of suspensions plunged to 473, or 51 suspensions per 100 students. It was the biggest decrease in suspensions at any school in the city.

I wanted to create a different culture, Reeves said in an interview at her office in the schools gleaming new $125 million building, which opened last year. Sending the kids home for 10 days isnt going to solve the root cause. Restorative justice gets to the root cause of whats happening. So if a student cusses me out, most likely its not about me.

The restorative process allows us to figure out what exactly is going on here. It allows for a conversation, Reeves said. Giving kids space to reflect, to acknowledge wrongdoing, to talk through how they felt during that interaction  I think that creates more of a relationship.

She also thinks that students can adopt the restorative process and transfer it to other environments outside of school.

Its teaching young people skills like patience and communication, being apologetic, owning their behavior, she said.

Andre Ford, the assistant dean of students at Ballou, has embraced the restorative-justice approach. And he sees that when students go through the process, they often call on techniques they have learned to deal with confrontations or situations that might otherwise have landed them in trouble.

Suspending students isnt the answer, Ford said. We dont know what those students are going home to, so we would rather have them here. They understand that they have to have a consequence, but basically theyre saying, Please dont give up on me, because everybody usually gives up on me. 

While students have embraced the approach, some parents have to be persuaded, Reeves said. Parents typically want quick action, especially if their child is a victim. Parents and even teachers, Reeves said, do not always think the penalty or consequence is enough.

Part of the challenge is helping people see that its not about whats enough, its about the student owning the behavior and trying to do something different going forward, Reeves said.

As the new school year begins, one of Reevess priorities is building on the interactions between her staff and students. She thinks that the more that kids connect with adults in the building, the greater chance of success they have. Those relationships, she says, are the foundation of all learning.

My goal is that every kid feels welcomed and loved in the building, she said. And even if they make a horrible mistake, that we welcome them back with open arms.
MARYLAND

Man is charged with harassing Miss Maryland

A Montgomery County man was arrested Friday after he was accused of harassing Miss Maryland, police said.

On Friday, 19-year-old Hannah Brewer  who was crowned Miss Maryland in June and will compete in the Miss America competition next month  filed a report that she had been subjected to frightening and unwanted contact by Valencio Fernandes Pires, 51, of Germantown, Maryland State Police said in a statement.

Pires initially contacted Brewer in person at a Miss Maryland event in Hagerstown on Aug. 15, the statement said, and he can be seen in two photographs at the event staring at Brewer. Pires also used social media and email to contact her, even after requests were made for him to stop, police said.

Pires was arrested Friday and charged with harassment, stalking and electronic mail harassment, police said. He is being held without bond.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

Man sentenced for silicone injection death

A federal judge in Greenbelt sentenced a North Carolina man to 14 years in prison for giving a Maryland woman silicone buttock injections before her death, officials said.

Vinnie Lysander Taylor, 44, of Wilmington, N.C., traveled the country injecting women with silicone, which he said would give them larger buttocks, prosecutors said. They said at least one of the women died days after undergoing the procedure at a hotel in Capitol Heights.

 Dana Hedgpeth

VIRGINIA

Police seek man accused of sexual assault

Police in Virginia said they are looking for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman Sunday near the Key Bridge.

The woman was walking on the bridge about 2:30 a.m. when she saw the man walking toward her, Arlington County police said in a statement. After passing the woman, the man grabbed her and pulled her off the sidewalk and down near the George Washington Memorial Parkway before covering her mouth and trying to place his hands under her shorts, the statement said.

The woman broke free, and the man fled on foot along Key Bridge toward the District, police said.

Police asked anyone with information about the incident to contact Arlington police at 703-228-4240. Anonymous tips can be given by calling 866-411-TIPS (8477).

 Justin Wm. Moyer

Bystander is injured in police traffic chase

A pursuit by Fairfax County police Monday ended with the pursued vehicle crashing into a another vehicle, authorities said, and a woman in the bystanders vehicle suffered injuries that did not appear life-threatening.

About 5:15 a.m., an officer ran a check on the tag of a vehicle and tried to make a traffic stop, Fairfax police said. The vehicle sped off, and a brief chase ensued, police said.

The chase ended with the crash, at Beulah Road and Mountain View Lane, police said. A 62-year-old woman injured in the bystanders vehicle was taken to a hospital. Police arrested two people in the first vehicle, but they were still looking for the driver, authorities said.

 Justin Jouvenal
Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) is calling on Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) and other elected officials to band together to thwart the efforts of those who seek to destroy a long-planned regional hospital center.

Millers letter to county lawmakers came in response to a column in the Capital Gazette last week by Michael Collins, a Republican activist from Anne Arundel County.

[Capital Gazette column: State should approve Anne Arundel proposal ]

Collins wrote in support of a proposal to open a cardiac-surgery program at Anne Arundel County Medical Center, a project that could compete for patients with the Prince Georges Regional Medical Center that is planned for Largo. Collins called the Prince Georges project, a joint effort between the county and the University of Maryland Medical Center that is awaiting state approval, a Taj Mahal.

Millers letter said he was concerned about the partisan drivel in the column and the Maryland Health Care Commissions selection of Robert Moffitt, a Republican who lives in Anne Arundel County, as the hearing examiner for the required certificate of need for the Prince Georges project.

Rendering of proposed proposed Prince Georges Regional Medical Center.. (Courtesy of Dimensions Healthcare System)

[Read the letter from Senate President Miller]

Earlier this year, Moffitt called for the Prince Georges project to be scaled down. A revised proposal is expected by the end of this month.

I believe that we stand at a precipice regarding the future of this project, Miller said in the letter. Our two decade fight for a solution to the failing Prince Georges hospital system may well not be over.

Miller said Prince Georges should not have to wait for a new health-care facility, and he compared delays to the countys four-year wait to build a casino at National Harbor so casinos in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City could become established.

In this instance, we must also insist in the denial or delay of any duplication of new and competing services with the resulting siphoning off patients to other regional hospitals prior to a shovel even being placed in the ground for the Prince Georges Regional Medical Center, Miller wrote.
A longtime congressional staffer failed to file tax returns for five years, according to prosecutors in Virginia.

Isaac Lanier Avant, of Arlington, was charged Monday in Alexandrias Eastern District federal court with five counts of willfully failing to file a tax return.

According to court documents and public records, Avant has been a staffer for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) since about 2002. In recent years, he has also served as a staffer on the House Homeland Security Committee, on which Thompson serves as the ranking Democrat. He currently serves as Thompsons chief of staff. From 2009 through 2013, Avant earned annual wages of more than $170,000, according to prosecutors but did not file a personal income tax return for any of those years.

In May 2005, prosecutors say, Avant filed a form with his employer that falsely claimed he was exempt from federal income taxes. Avant did not have any federal tax withheld from his paycheck until the Internal Revenue Service mandated that his employer begin withholding in January 2013, according to a prosecution affidavit filed in federal court.

On Jan. 26, 2015, Avant was interviewed by IRS and FBI agents and admitted to knowing that he was required to file tax returns and pay income taxes, according to the affidavit.

Avant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted on the misdemeanor charges. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Hanly and Assistant Chief Todd Ellinwood. A defense attorney has not been named.

In a statement, Thompson said that he learned of the charges Tuesday evening.

After learning of these accusations, I spoke to Mr. Avant and he assured me that when the proper forum is provided to him, he will fully explain this situation, Thompson said. Until such time, I trust that everyone will afford Mr. Avant the presumption of innocence to which all Americans are constitutionally entitled.

Avant did not respond to a request for comment sent to his work email.
A man in Roanoke County allegedly shouted Allahu Akbar while attacking a man and woman with a knife Saturday in an incident that is being investigated by the FBI.

Roanoke County police said the attack occurred Saturday evening at the Pines Apartments as a man and woman were entering an apartment building. Witnesses heard their attacker yelling Allahu Akbar, police said Monday night.

While one official described the attack as a possible attempted beheading because of one victims neck wound, county police disputed that characterization.

The male victim suffered multiple lacerations all over his body, including his neck, but the attack did not appear to be an attempt at a beheading, said police spokeswoman Amy Whittaker.

The man fought off the attacker, who fled the scene, police said.

Wasil Farooqui, 20, has been charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail. (Western Virginia Regional Jail)

Officers arrested a suspect, Wasil Farooqui, 20, of Roanoke County, when he came into the same emergency room where the two victims were being treated.

Farooqui has been charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail.

Police said that the attack was believed to be random and that the suspect had no connection to the victims.

In a statement provided by local police, Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBIs Richmond Field Office, said that the agency is involved.

While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident, he said.

Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
Police in Virginia said they are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a woman Sunday near the Key Bridge.

At about 2:30 a.m., the woman was walking on the bridge when she saw the man walking towards her, Arlington County police said in a statement. After passing the woman, the man grabbed her and pulled her off the sidewalk and down near the George Washington Memorial Parkway before covering her mouth and attempting to place his hands under her shorts, the statement said. The victim was able to break free from the suspect before he fled the area on foot along Key Bridge toward the District, according to police.

Police described the suspect as a clean-shaven white male with dirty blonde hair in his late 20s or early 30s, about 58 to 510 tall, with a medium build. He was wearing a dark T-shirt with tan shorts or possibly pants.

Police asked anyone with information about the sexual assault to contact the Arlington County Police Department at 703-228-4240. Anonymous tips can be given by calling 866-411-TIPS (8477).
The Johnny Reb statue in Alexandria, known as Appomattox, should remain at the intersection of Prince and Washington streets, a racially divided citizens advisory group recommended to the City Council last week. But to appease those who are offended by the statue, the city should make additional efforts to add context to its story.

The seven-member Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Confederate Memorials and Street Names included two African Americans. Neither supported the groups findings.

One of them, Eugene Thompson, founding director of the Alexandria Black History Museum and a member of the Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage, explained his stance in an email: I am not looking for any context to be added to the statue. I think it should be moved, but it cannot be moved without permission of the state. If the city is not going to ask the state for permission to one day move the statue, then we should stop discussing the statue.

After nearly a year on the advisory group, Thompson was exasperated. Five public hearings, testimony from more than 60 people and scores of comments posted on the city governments website had not yielded the outcome he favored.

[Should Alexandria rename Jefferson Davis Highway?]

In recommending that the Appomattox statue not be moved, the report said: Unlike similar statues elsewhere in the former Confederacy, the location was chosen for its own significance. It marks the site from which the 17th Virginia Regiment mustered to withdraw from the city prior to Union occupation in 1861, and the names inscribed on it are of local residents who fell during the war.

Alexandria had voted to secede from the Union, join the Confederate States of America and wage war against the United States in defense of a way of life based on slavery. The statue, a seven-foot bronze Confederate soldier standing atop a large concrete and marble base, was erected in 1889. It is now owned and maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Thompson, a native of Alexandria, had lived through and participated in the civil rights struggles of the 1950s, 60s and 70s  all of them continuations of the Civil War over the subjugation of blacks and perpetuation of white supremacy. Although Alexandria is very much a part of a relatively liberal-leaning Northern Virginia, Thompson still referred to the advisory group as the most difficult committee I have ever been on.

The group was tasked with determining whether to move the Appomattox statute to a location where fewer people would be offended and figuring out what to do about streets named after Confederate figures. The killing of nine churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., by a white Confederate sympathizer in June 2015 appeared to have opened up a space in the national psyche for civil discourse on the meaning of Confederate symbols and memorials.

[South Carolina House votes to remove Confederate flag from statehouse grounds]

But that space closed up fast.

By the end of the public hearings, many of those who posted comments were contemptuous of the advisory groups mission and accused the group of trying to destroy Southern heritage if not white identity. To some, merely questioning the appropriateness of displaying Confederate flags and monuments on public lands was no different than cultural cleansing by ideologues such as the Taliban, as one wrote. Another posted: You will never erase history. This is something that cannot be done no matter how many of you self-appointed Politically Correct Obama Gestapo Agents think it can be done.

The advisory group did recommend changing the name of Jefferson Davis Highway, named for the president of the Confederate States of America. But that hardly addressed the magnitude of the street problem as Thompson saw it.

It was not until my junior year of college, when I took a course on the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction, that I began to associate the names of Confederate officers to the street names in my city, he recalled. The city has between 30 and 50 streets that are named for Confederate officers. If I could wave my hand and get rid of all of the street names, I would. Do I think it is realistic to think that city officials would do that, since it would affect thousands of people? No.

Weary though he may be, however, Thompson has not given up hope. The City Council is expected to take up the recommendations next month, and a new round of public hearings will begin.

I was encouraged by a few of those young voices that I heard at the public hearings, both African American and white, he said. If there is to be any change, it has to be younger people who continue to press for that change.

To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy.
Sparky, a male Sumatran tiger, shown at the National Zoo. Keepers hope to breed him with a female at the zoo and that the pair will produce cubs. (Courtesy of the National Zoo)

Keepers at the National Zoo are hoping that the newest bachelor at the facility, a Sumatran tiger named Sparky, takes a liking to bachelorette Damai.

If all goes well, zookeepers said, the two will breed and produce cubs. But breeding tigers is risky; males have killed females in other zoos if it isnt a good match.

Native to Indonesia, Sumatran tigers are listed as critically endangered, with only 300 to 400 left in the wild and 78 in accredited zoos in North America.

Sparky, 12, and Damai, 7, were matched under an extensive species survival plan, zookeepers said. It was recommended that Sparky be bred with Damai based on their genetics.

He has never sired cubs, and she has had two  Sukacita and Bandar  that turned 3 years old this month.

Sparky, a male Sumatran tiger recently moved into the National Zoo. The Zoo says Sumatran tigers are critically endangered and about 400 remain in the wild. (National Zoo)

[Rare Sumatran tiger cubs born at National Zoo]

Sumatran tigers are relatively small, weighing up to about 275 pounds. They live up to 20 years in zoos and 10 to 12 years in the wild. Known for being territorial and solitary, Sumatran tigers are carnivores.

They dont pair up, hang out and raise cubs together, said Dell Guglielmo, an animal keeper at the zoo. In the wild, they cross into each others territory, breed cubs and thats it.

The male goes away, and the female raises the cubs on her own.

In captivity, it is crucial to take it slow in the early stages. Zookeepers said it can take months to monitor their relationship and whether they will mate.

Like most first dates, it starts gradually for tigers. In fact, they dont actually see each other in the beginning.

The two will start by smelling each other in the same building without actually seeing the other.

Theyll share the same space but not at the same time, Guglielmo said.

Then, zookeepers said, they will be introduced to each other via a door with a mesh screen, called a howdy door, where the tigers can see each other. If things are going well, the tigers will make distinct vocalization, Guglielmo said.

It is a friendly greeting, she said. Theyll head rub against the mesh to each other.

And if things arent going well? Theyll growl, hiss and make a noise that sounds like a bark.

The courtship can last for months and will be closely watched so that  fingers crossed  the two breed and have cubs, zookeepers said.

The reason it is done so gradually and slow is to make sure it is going to work because the repercussions can be death, Guglielmo said.

Their two personalities are similar.

Sparky came to the zoo about a month ago. He was in a 30-day quarantine and zookeepers said he is adjusting very well.

He came to us as a very calm, laid-back tiger, Guglielmo said. Hes proven that to be true.

Damai is also an easygoing cat, zookeepers said. She came to the zoo in 2011 and mated with Kavi.

Their two cubs  Sukacita, known as Suki for short  is on a breeding loan to a zoo in Dallas, and the male cub, Bandar, will be going to another facility for breeding, according to zookeepers.

[Two tiger cubs make debut at National Zoo]

Whether  and when  there will be more Sumatran tiger cubs at the zoo remains unknown, but zookeepers said they are hopeful. Sparky has been paired with one female but is still without cubs.

Hes got a good sperm count, Guglielmo said.
OHIO

Court upholds shorter early-voting period

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Ohio law that trims a week of early voting in the swing state, reversing a judges decision that had restored the time.

Democrats had challenged a series of Republican-backed changes they claimed disproportionately burdened black voters and those who lean Democratic. Among the policies was the elimination of a week of early voting in which Ohioans could also register to vote, known as golden week.

The states attorneys argued that scrapping the days helped alleviate administrative burdens for local elections officials while reducing costs and the potential of fraud. But plaintiffs, who include the states Democratic Party, said the burden on voters outweighed any benefit to the state.

In a 2-to-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati ruled that the golden-week cut still allows for abundant opportunities to vote within a 29-day window. Prior to the law, Ohioans had a 35-day period. Early voting in Ohio is set to begin Oct. 12.

The ruling comes after the state appealed a decision by U.S. District Judge Michael Watson in May.

 Associated Press

pennsylvania

Man ruled not guilty in retrial of 1991 rape case

A jury on Tuesday found a man not guilty in his retrial in the rape and murder of a 77-year-old woman a quarter-century ago, after DNA evidence pointed to another man.

Anthony Wright was sentenced to life without parole in the October 1991 slaying of his neighbor Louise Talley, whose nude body was found face-down on a bedroom floor in her North Philadelphia home. Talley had been raped and then stabbed 10 times in the neck, chest and back with a kitchen knife.

Jurors spent less than two hours deliberating Tuesday before returning with the not guilty verdict.

The district attorneys office agreed to a new trial in 2014 at the request of Wrights defense team, led by the Innocence Project, after DNA tests showed that sperm found inside Talleys body belonged to a former Philadelphia-area crack addict who died in a South Carolina prison.

Wright, 44, took the witness stand on Friday and again denied he had anything to do with the crime or had ever confessed.

 Associated Press

OKLAHOMA

Hate-crime charge in killing of Lebanese man

Prosecutors charged a Tulsa man on Tuesday with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime in the killing of his Lebanese neighbor  a violent culmination of the mans feud with the family that spanned several years and included a regular barrage of insults and personal confrontations.

Stanley Majors, 61, was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and threatening a violent act in the Aug. 12 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara. The hate-crime charge is a misdemeanor under Oklahoma law and accuses Majors of intimidating and harassing Jabara and his mother, Haifa Jabara, because of race, color, religion, ancestry and national origin, according to court papers filed Tuesday by prosecutors.

 Associated Press

Regulators want ban on Hawaii dolphin excursions: Federal regulators are proposing to ban swimming with dolphins in Hawaii, a move that could imperil one of the Aloha States most popular tourist activities and the industry that has sprung up around it. The National Marine Fisheries Service says Hawaiis spinner dolphins  the nocturnal species that humans usually frolic with  are being deprived of rest during the day and becoming stressed out.

 Associated Press
Lee Gross is worried. He has practiced family medicine in North Port, Fla., near Sarasota, for 14 years. But he and two partners are the last small, independent medical group in the town of 62,000. Everyone else has moved away, joined larger organizations or become salaried employees of hospitals or health companies.

Were struggling to survive, Gross said. Our kind of practice is dying in this country, and medicine itself is changing so rapidly that doctors everywhere seem to be burning out.

The latest challenge  a target of growing physician anger and frustration nationwide  is a 2015 federal law that changes the way Medicare pays doctors. Many fear it will sharply increase the financial pressures that physicians in rural, solo and small practices face.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act was Congresss boldest step since the 2010 Affordable Care Act to push the health-care system to reward quality over quantity. The law, which passed with bipartisan support, seeks to use monetary incentives and performance measures to promote better care. It replaced a widely derided reimbursement formula that Congress regularly ignored because it would have cut payments to doctors.

This is a big change, we know, said Tim Gronniger, deputy chief of staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But the current way we pay doctors incentivizes them in bad ways  to waste resources, for example.

The new law has two payment tracks. On one, doctors whose performance and quality of care exceeds benchmarks will get bonuses of up to 4 percent of their total Medicare reimbursements. Those will start in 2019, based on evaluations of care delivered in 2017, and will rise to a maximum of 9 percent by 2022.

At the same time, physicians who score poorly on the benchmarks will face penalties at the same levels.

The other track involves alternative payment models, which hold large practices or organizations accountable for the quality of care delivered by all of their physicians. Between 2019 and 2024, the law will provide a 5 percent annual bonus to these doctors.

The law requires providers to choose one of the payment paths; the only exceptions are those who see too few Medicare patients or whose income from Medicare is too low. The amount the government will spend on the bonuses  estimated at $833 million for 2019, not including a special $500 million bonus pool for five years for exceptional doctors  must be balanced by the penalties to keep the program budget neutral.

Experts agree that Congress primarily intended for doctors to join those larger organizations or systems, which generally are considered better equipped to manage and coordinate care, improve quality and lower costs. The concern is that the new payment system  laid out in 962 pages of proposed regulations  will put doctors in solo or small practices at high risk of incurring penalties.

The ways its structured now, the large practices will do well and the small practices will do badly, said Paul Ginsburg, director of the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings Institution.

During a public comment period, the American Medical Association and dozens of other physician trade organizations and every state medical association said the system needs to be simplified and must accommodate the needs of physicians in rural, solo or small practices in order to enhance their opportunities for success and avoid unintended consequences.

According to the AMA, one of those consequences could be penalized doctors limiting the number of Medicare patients they see or dropping Medicare.

I have no idea what Im going to do yet, acknowledged primary-care physician Jean Antonucci, who has a solo practice in Farmington, Maine. Half of her patients are covered by Medicare. If Im going to lose money, Ill have to see what my options are.

Like Gross in Florida, Antonucci wants to preserve her small practice. I dont want to spend the bulk of my time doing paperwork or collecting data on my patients, she said. Thats what the doctors in my community who are employed [in larger groups] seem to spend most of their time doing.

Some experts agree that the reporting burden with quality-of-care metrics is significant.

We dont yet have a good system to measure the performance of individual physicians, said Robert Berenson, a physician and fellow at the Urban Institute and former director of Medicare payment policy for the federal government. And yet we are going to peg billions of dollars in payment to such measurement. Its a little crazy.

A recent study published in the journal Health Affairs calculated the current scope of that data collection and reporting, as required by Medicare, private insurers and others. The total: $40,000 per doctor per year, or $15.4 billion nationally.

Gronniger said CMS has already scaled back the number of physician measures as part of the new law. Even so, the AMA and other physician groups are pushing to delay the start date from next January until at least July.

This is all very complex, said Andrew Gurman, president of the AMA. But we are committed to trying to make the new law work.

Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
ITALY

6.1-magnitude quake strikes central region

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck central Italy early Wednesday, with reports of damaged buildings and blackouts in the vicinity of the epicenter, near the city of Rieti, and residents fleeing their homes and running into the streets.

The quake struck just after 3:30 a.m. and was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital, Rome, where residents of homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Center put the magnitude at 6.1 and said the epicenter was northeast of Rome, near Rieti. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.2.

The mayor of Amatrice, near Rieti, Sergio Perozzi, told state-run RAI radio that there were downed buildings in the city center and that he was unable to get in touch with emergency responders. Perozzi said residents are buried under debris and that the town isnt here anymore.

 Associated Press

NIGERIA

Military says leader of Boko Haram killed

Nigerias military said Tuesday that it believes an airstrike has fatally wounded Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and killed about 300 militants, but there was no way to confirm yet another claim of the death of the Islamist extremist leader.

The military statement did not say how the information was obtained but identifies other Boko Haram commanders as confirmed dead in an air raid Friday.

Nigerian security forces have on at least three earlier occasions declared that they have killed or fatally wounded Shekau, only to have him resurface in video and audio recordings. The military has said Boko Haram used look-alike fighters to impersonate the supposedly dead leader.

The military statement Tuesday said the air force carried out the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid while Shekau was praying on Friday, Islams holy day, in Taye village in Boko Harams Sambisa Forest hideout in northeast Nigeria.

A separate air force statement said the raid killed 300 militants and was a result of human intelligence and reconnaissance indicating that key Boko Haram leaders were to preparing to meet.

The statements came the same day that U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry met in Abuja, Nigerias capital, with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss Islamist extremism and regional security. Kerry, speaking Tuesday morning in the northern city of Sokoto, made no reference to the militarys report.

 Associated Press

AUSTRALIA

Frenchman reportedly stabs Briton to death

A Frenchman shouting the Arabic phrase Allahu Akbar stabbed a British woman to death and wounded two men in an attack at a hostel in northeast Australia, police said.

Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said on Wednesday that the 29-year-old suspect did not have any known links to the Islamic State group and appeared to have acted alone. Police were still investigating the motive behind the attack and will consider whether mental illness or drugs were a factor.

The attack took place Tuesday night at a hostel in the town of Home Hill in northern Queensland. Police said that a 21-year-old British woman was found dead at the scene and that a 30-year-old British man was in critical condition.

 Associated Press

N. Korea allegedly planting mines near border village: The American-led U.N. Command in South Korea accused North Korea of planting land mines near a truce village inside the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas. Much of the border is strewn with land mines and laced with barbed wire. But South Korean media said no land mines had been planted in the area of the truce village of Panmunjom until North Korea placed an unspecified number there last week. The Yonhap News Agency, citing an unidentified South Korean official, said the North apparently planted the mines to prevent its front-line troops from defecting to the South via Panmunjom.

Bahamas says islands safe despite 4 Zika cases: The Bahamas has confirmed four cases of mosquito-borne Zika virus, including two transmitted in the islands. The Health Ministry said all four cases were on the most populous island, New Providence. Health Minister Perry Gomez said authorities had intensified insecticide spraying on the island. The government insisted that the island chain is a safe place to travel. Zika infections during pregnancy can cause birth defects.

 From news services
Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein warned against the "politics of fear" or "voting for the lesser evil during a speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Aug. 23. (Reuters)

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein warned against the "politics of fear" or "voting for the lesser evil during a speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Aug. 23. (Reuters)

Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential nominee, favors alternative energy  and she leads by example. On Tuesday, she burned one of her own supporters.

Stein, making an appearance at the National Press Club in Washington, took her campaign on an unexpected detour when she accused the famed leftist Noam Chomsky of being cowardly. The 87-year-old icon of the left, though a backer of Steins, has said that the only rational choice for swing-state voters is to support Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

How do you get past that hurdle? Sam Husseini from VotePact, a group that supports third parties, asked Stein from the audience.

The candidate, in reply, accused Chomsky of embracing this politics of fear that tells you you have to vote against what youre afraid of rather than for what you truly believe. So, Noam Chomsky has supported me in my home state, you know, when he felt safe to do so. I think its fair to say my agenda is far closer to his than Hillary Clinton. But he subscribes to the politics of fear.

If opposing Trump is subscribing to the politics of fear, then put me down for a lifetime subscription.

Recent U.S. politics has favored candidates from the Democrat and Republican parties, but here are seven examples of candidates who ran under a different mantle. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

In ordinary times, a voice such as Steins contributes to the national debate. But these are not ordinary times. Trumps narrow path to the presidency requires Stein to do well in November, and polls indicate Trump does better with her in the race. But, 16 years after Ralph Nader helped swing the presidency to George W. Bush from Al Gore, liberals (including Bernie Sanders supporters) who otherwise agree with Stein are more inclined to recognize that she makes more likely the singular threat of a President Trump.

Thats why, even in this year of change, shes polling about 3 percent in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. And that, in turn, is why only about half of the 20 seats were full when I arrived in the Press Clubs Bloomberg Room (even the Green Party nominee cant escape those billionaires) a few minutes before her news conference.

There is much to like about Stein, 66. She arrived by cab and took all questions  in marked contrast to Clinton, who has gone more than 260 days without a news conference. She spoke with a passion for policy, remarking unbidden on the plight of the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota and speaking with a physicians authority about air pollution and its various sequelae.

We have a climate emergency, said Stein, an absolutely devastating sea-level rise that would essentially wipe out coastal population centers, including the likes of Manhattan, and Florida in 50 years. She called this a Hail Mary moment, and one in which were really looking our mortality in the face.

Stein offered a refreshing break from the 2016 debate, which ricochets from Clintons emails to Trumps outrages and staff shake-ups but rarely settles on substance. Our future is imperiled, she said. There are more important things for us to be talking about.

But a moment later, there Stein was saying Clinton put at risk national security and the names of CIA agents. Stein said Clintons character is not compatible with someone that you want to trust as the leader of the country. She continued to talk this way about Clinton with reporters in the hallway after the session, which naturally led to headlines not about climate change but along the lines of this from David Weigels article in The Post: Jill Stein: Clinton emails reveal security risks, special deals for donors.

Stein complained about the 15 percent polling threshold keeping her and Libertarian Gary Johnson out of the presidential debates. But can she expect more than her 3 percent when she talks of boycotting Israel, spreads unwarranted fears about vaccines and WiFi, and has a running mate  Ajamu Baraka  who called President Obama an Uncle Tom? On Tuesday, Stein spoke of her plans for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission like post-apartheid South Africas. We are the most violent country in the world, she said. (Syrians would beg to differ.)

Most disturbing is the Green Party nominees creation of a phony equivalence between Clinton, a flawed and unloved but conventional candidate, and Trump, who is running a campaign of bigotry, xenophobia and intimations of violence.

Donald Trump says terrifying things. Hillary Clinton actually has an extremely troubling record, Stein said Tuesday, calling the Democrats the party of fracking, the party of expanding wars and the party of immigrant deportations.

This is the sort of stuff I heard driving between campaign stops with Nader in 2000. It wasnt entirely true then. Now, with Trump on the ballot, any attempt to draw parallels between the two parties is preposterous.

Noam Chomsky knows that. It appears voters do, too.

Twitter: @Milbank

Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
An employee in the software development department of DraftKings, a daily fantasy sports company, in 2015. (Stephan Savoia/Associated Press)

The Aug. 17 op-ed by Glenn Hutchins, How to avert Americas Brexit, started off in the best interest of the middle class but moved on to how business leaders propose to increase productivity.

One proposal was reforming our immigration laws to admit more highly educated and skilled workers, particularly in the technology and engineering fields.

That stands in contrast with what benefits Americas middle class. While not directly mentioned, this implied H-1B visas.

The request by business for H-1B labor sounds reasonable as corporations say they have a shortage of workers. The reality is that foreign labor will work for much less than their American counterparts, who are then laid off and replaced with foreign workers.

Software and engineering are now done largely by H-1B labor here at home, which Michelle Malkin and John Miano document in Sold Out. Over the past 25 years, more than 2 million H-1B workers have been brought into the country to replace U.S. workers.

This problem ties into other solutions offered to displaced workers: science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and tech training. How do they help when 65,000 H-1B workers are brought in every year, and businesses want to bring in more?

Wallace Howery, Fairfax Station
Last week, the Justice Department announced that it was directing the Bureau of Prisons to stop using private contractors to run federal prisons, phasing them out as contracts expire over the next five years.

Federal private prisons are a small part of the prison-industrial complex, because most private prisons are at the state and local level. But the Justice Departments announcement may mark the beginning of the end of what has been a miserable failure of privatization. The stock prices of the two leading private prison companies  the Corrections Corporation of America and the Geo Group  cratered on the news.

Privatizing the incarceration of people was always a ridiculous idea. If companies are going to make money out of jailing people  by competing to offer lower prices  the competition can only be perverse. Theyll push to increase the number of inmates in a facility, decrease the services provided them, pile on fees to charge them or their families and decrease the number or training or quality of guards, medical staff and others. Overcrowding, rotten food and bad medical services become profitable efficiencies until violence breaks out.

The Justice Departments announcement is a tribute to independent journalism. Three years ago, Seth Freed Wessler heard reports about people dying needlessly in the federal governments private prisons. Private prisons proliferated in the mid-1990s after the decision to criminalize border crossings inflated the federal inmate population. Private companies offered to expand prisons quickly and cheaply. Government officials were happy to cut a deal.

With the support of the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, Wessler spent years digging. He filed open-records lawsuits, interviewed former prison guards, tracked down whistleblowers in the Bureau of Prisons and talked to the families of former inmates.

His series of investigative articles, published (Im proud to report) in the Nation magazine  (in a partnership with Reveal News; and a separate article in Mother Jones by Shane Bauer on a Louisiana facility)  blew the lid off the reality. Literally dozens of inmates were dying unnecessarily in federal private prisons. This month, an Inspectors General report confirmed Wesslers revelations, finding private prisons significantly less safe, less secure and more costly than the Bureau of Prisons public prisons. The private facilities, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates wrote, simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources and do not save substantially on costs.

Wessler wasnt telling truth to power, as the old adage goes. Here, as is all too often the case, those in power already knew the truth. The governments own watchdogs had sounded the alarm about private prisons for years. But year after year the contracts were renewed. And top Bureau of Prisons officials have become executives and board members of the two leading private prison companies, cashing in even as inmates were dying because of inadequate health care. When the articles were published, the officials may have been embarrassed but not shocked.

What Wessler and the Nation did was reveal the truth to the people. The story came out just as the Black Lives Matter movement had put the injustice and racism of our criminal justice system at the top of the national agenda. The combination gave more conscientious executive branch officials the traction to take on the companies and their lobbies and issue the directive.

This is but a small step toward reform. Only about 22,100 inmates are held in privately run federal prisons. Most of these are either immigrants detained for crossing the border illegally or those arrested for federal drug crimes. And the prison-industrial complex remains a multi-billion dollar behemoth armed with lobbyists from both sides of the aisle. But the Black Lives Matter movement continues to push for reforms. Mass incarceration in the United States has become a global embarrassment. Hillary Clinton has pledged to phase out all private prisons. The companies involved will mobilize to defend their contracts. What this victory shows is that, despite the corruption of our politics, reform is still possible, citizen movements and independent journalism still matter and decent officials can make a difference.

Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvels archive or follow her on Twitter.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump energized voters during his speech where he called for equality for African Americans, gays and Hispanics. (The Washington Post)

Speaking at a campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump energized voters during his speech where he called for equality for African Americans, gays and Hispanics. (The Washington Post)

Donald Trumps pivot, desperately hoped for by sane Republicans, was over before it began. He couldnt pretend to be inclusive and statesmanlike for two days in a row if his life depended on it.

Anyone who doubts this should only consider Trumps idea of an appeal to African American voters: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? Youre living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?

Thats right, black Americans. The Republican candidate for president says you live Hobbesian lives of misery and despair, with no options, no prospects, no joy, no hope. Oh, and he wants your vote.

For the record, sigh, let me take a minute to unpack the stunning ignorance in that ostensible pitch for African American votes, which Trump made Friday before a virtually all-white audience in Michigan. The black poverty rate is about 27 percent. Thats far too high  the poverty rate for whites is about 10 percent  but the fact is that most African Americans lead comfortable middle-class lives.

The black unemployment rate is about 9 percent  again, too high, but nothing like the impression Trump seeks to give. And his claim of 58 percent black youth joblessness is an out-and-out lie. The only way he can arrive at that figure is to include all black people between 16 and 24, including those who are attending high school. If you calculated white youth unemployment that same way, it would be nearly 50 percent. But its ridiculous to count as unemployed a bunch of kids who, you know, have to do their chemistry homework.

Speaking at a rally in Dimondale, Mich., Aug. 19, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused Democrat Hillary Clinton of exploiting African American voters. "America must reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton," Trump said. (The Washington Post)

Does Trump have the faintest clue what black America is really like? From the evidence, no. But I cant believe he actually thinks he has a chance of winning significant African American support, given the way he has insulted President Obama, dismissed the issue of police violence and acquiesced in support from the white-supremacist fringe. Trump has registered as low as 1 percent or 2 percent among black voters in national polls  and his remarks last week probably cost him support.

Instead, he must have been seeking to appeal to white voters who cant bring themselves to vote for him because of the racist tone of his campaign. Message: I care about African Americans, even if its pretty obvious that I dont know very many.

Hey, at least it worked with Kellyanne Conway, Trumps new campaign manager. Im white, she said Sunday on ABCs This Week. I was very moved by his comment.

The desire to convince whites he is not a flaming bigot may also be why one of the pillars of Trumps campaign  the promise to round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants  has suddenly gone wobbly.

If elected, Trump could never actually carry out such a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing. But antipathy toward Latinos who are flooding across the border, allegedly to take Americans jobs and commit horrible crimes, is a central tenet of Trumpism. I thought Trump would have to stick with this paranoid revenge fantasy throughout the campaign  until Conway said Sunday that the final policy on forced deportation is to be determined.

The previous day, in a meeting with a group of Hispanic advisers, Trump reportedly said he could consider a procedure in which at least some undocumented men and women could obtain legal status without first going back to their home countries. But Monday, Trump said that Im not flip-flopping on immigration  yet declined to give any specifics on what his position now is.

Poor Conway had better get used to explaining what her candidate must have meant as opposed to what he actually said. She also should get accustomed to the fact that Trump will frequently make her into a liar. He doesnt hurl personal insults, she said Sunday  but then Trump took to Twitter. Within hours, he had slung a personal insult at a regular guest on MSNBCs Morning Joe (not me). And Monday morning, he lobbed even nastier personal insults at the shows co-hosts. Whatever, Donald.

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.

Trumps pivot turned out to be a 360-degree pirouette: back into the mud, where he feels most at home.

Ive said it before: Trump is not going to change. No matter how many times he reshuffles his campaign, he is who he is. Its delusional to pretend otherwise.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.


Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks at the Republican Party of Palm Beach Countys 15th annual Lobsterfest on Aug. 18 in Boca Raton, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

In a banquet hall brimming with Republicans preparing to don bibs and tuck into lobsters, Marco Rubio appealed for a second term in the U.S. Senate much like he tried  and failed  to become the partys presidential nominee.

He called the election a generational choice. He oozed optimism about the United States status as the greatest country in the world. He jokingly compared his first job in office to being on a condominium board without any power. On the tables were signs bearing his distinctive lowercase logo, with an outline of Florida dotting the i in his name where the continental United States used to be.



Marco Rubios Senate campaign logo, as seen in this composite image, is the same as his presidential logo  but the dot above the i is Florida rather than the United States. (Left: Alex Holt for The Washington Post; Right: Sean Sullivan/The Washington Post)

His uplifting themes were badly out of step with an irascible Republican base that chose Donald Trump as its presidential nominee. But Rubio is wagering that they will fare better as part of his reelection bid in a state that could go either way in November.

I do think they can resonate, Rubio said in a brief interview. But more importantly, its who I am, its why Im in public service. So Im going to continue to talk about the things that I believe in.

Many others have concluded that there is an additional consideration: Rubio never stopped running for president and has his sights set on carrying his ideas into 2020 or beyond. Either way, a whole lot is at stake for the 45-year-old senator.

A win would serve notice to the GOP that he holds a formula for success in a battleground state, thrusting him back into the center of the fight to shape the future of the party. A loss would be the second in his home state in less than a year  and would devastate if not end his political career.

The first hurdle Rubio must clear will come in the Aug. 30 primary, when he is favored to defeat businessman Carlos Beruff, who is running on a Trump-like platform but without the nominees support. Rubio is largely zeroing in on Rep. Patrick Murphy, the Democratic front-runner who is trying to get past Rep. Alan Grayson.

Although Rubios core pitch to voters is largely the same as it was during the presidential campaign, his circumstances have changed. He has identified a new villain in Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), who is in line to be the next Democratic leader. Instead of courting Iowans in Oskaloosa, he is talking about local issues such as algae bloom from Lake Okeechobee discharges. He is no longer the youthful upstart  Murphy is 33  or a non-incumbent.

He also is carrying baggage from his disappointing White House run. Even supporters concede that his oft-stated frustrations with the Senate, his many missed votes and his repeated promises not to seek reelection complicate his pitch. So do the accusations by his rivals that he is an overly ambitious and scripted politician with a thin record of accomplishments.

Initially he said hes out, said Gabriel Motz, 56, of South Florida, an early Trump supporter who backs Rubio for reelection and thinks the senator wants to run for president again. With a chuckle, Motz ventured a guess about why Rubio reversed course: I guess once he realized hes got to go get a job, maybe?

As it was in the presidential primary, Rubios fate will be tied to Trump. Republicans think the senators crossover appeal will help him run ahead of the White House hopeful, who has fallen behind in Florida. But a landslide by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton could wipe him out.



Plates of lobster are shown during the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's 15th annual Lobsterfest on Aug. 18 in Boca Raton, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

Place settings at the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's 15th annual Lobsterfest on Aug. 18. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

Speaking at Lobsterfest, a Palm Beach County GOP fundraising dinner where he gave the keynote address Thursday night, Rubio framed his candidacy as one with national implications and said he is a critical bulwark against a Democratic Senate majority.

If we lose the Florida Senate race, we put the balance of power in danger in the U.S. Senate, he said. And even if we win the presidency, you wont be able to get anything done because Chuck Schumer is blocking it. We cannot lose the Senate. And we cannot lose Florida.

Rubio highlighted many of the broad thoughts he touched on when he ran for president: The country should champion vocational job training, and it should re-embrace free enterprise, the Constitution and the notion that a powerful U.S. military power is good for the rest of the world. He reached the same aspirational conclusion he often reached on the trail in Iowa, New Hampshire and elsewhere.

Im telling you that if we return to these principles and apply them to the unique challenges of the 21st century, our children and grandchildren will grow up to be the freest and most prosperous Americans that have ever lived, Rubio said. And if we fail, then we will be members of the first generation in the extraordinary history of America  the first generation  that left their kids worse off than themselves.

Those lines were met with a shrug in the presidential primary. Rubio won only three contests  in Minnesota, Puerto Rico and the District. He was trounced by Trump in Florida and ended his campaign after that painful defeat.

As many of you know, I ran for president earlier this year, Rubio told the crowd in Boca Raton, which barely reacted at first. And, uh, yes, you may have seen it on TV, he added, drawing a hearty, if delayed, round of applause.

He underscored the Supreme Court vacancy opened by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in his argument for a Republican Senate majority and for supporting Trump. Like many other Republicans in swing states, Rubio is trying to walk a fine line with the presidential nominee.

When Rubio announced in June that he would run for reelection, he reversed his long-standing promise not to try to return to the Senate in 2017. At an event this month, he said that he didnt want to freeze the GOP field in such a critical Senate race as he ran for president.

Rubio has said that concerns about a Clinton or a Trump presidency motivated him to come back and try to serve as a check against either one, as did concerns that Democrats would win his seat. But he supports Trump, and Trump supports him.

Murphys campaign recently released an online video spotlighting Rubios intense criticism of Trump during the presidential primary  he called him a con artist  alongside their current mutual endorsements. The video concludes that Rubio is not strong enough to stand up for us.

As a White House contender, Rubio told voters that only a new president could bring about significant change. As he once put it: Were not going to fix America with senators and congressmen.

He also missed many votes. For a time, he was the most frequently absent member of the Senate, one study found. Beruffs campaign cast Rubio as an absentee senator in a recent TV ad.

Some Republicans worry that this will all come back to haunt Rubio in the fall, even if only marginally.

I think it will cost him a little bit but I dont think it will cost him the election, said Steven Ledewitz, 71, president of the Republican Club of Central Palm Beach County.

Sharon Greenhouse, a Rubio supporter from Boca Raton, was more forgiving.

I think things change in politics. And thats how he sees it, she said.

A recent Monmouth University poll showed that more than half of Florida voters said Rubio was running for reelection more to improve his chances for a future presidential run than to serve the public. Only a quarter said he was doing it more to serve the public.



Sen. Marco Rubio, right, smiles as he leaves the Republican Party of Palm Beach County's 15th annual Lobsterfest on Aug. 18. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

Rubio has come out swinging against Murphy. He labeled him one of the most unaccomplished and ineffective members of Congress. He also has negatively highlighted Murphys family wealth and the infusion of cash he has received to help his political career.

How can someone run for office claiming to be the champion of the little people when not a single day of your life have you ever had to worry about where your next paycheck is going to come from? Rubio asked in Boca Raton.

As he makes the case for another term, Rubio has spent more time highlighting local issues. The morning after his speech, he visited the Space Coast for a roundtable discussion with industry figures arranged through his Senate office. He also has been an outspoken advocate of funding to fight the Zika virus.

With Trump struggling to gain traction nationwide and stoking new controversies each week, there are conversations in the GOP about what the party ought to stand for if the presidential nominee loses. If Rubio can win in Florida  even if Trump cannot  it will give his message new life after many left him for dead.

But a defeat, supporters fear, would be lethal to Rubios political future.

If he loses, then its probably the writing on the wall, said Dan Hodgeman, 53, of Boca Raton.
President Obama consoles a woman after touring her flood-damaged home in Zachary, La. Obama is making his first visit to flood-ravaged southern Louisiana as he attempts to assure the many thousands who have suffered damage to their homes, schools and businesses that his administration has made their recovery a priority.

Aug. 23, 2016 President Obama consoles a woman after touring her flood-damaged home in Zachary, La. Obama is making his first visit to flood-ravaged southern Louisiana as he attempts to assure the many thousands who have suffered damage to their homes, schools and businesses that his administration has made their recovery a priority. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

President Obama toured a flood-damaged neighborhood here Tuesday and urged Americans to rally behind residents, many of whom have complained in recent days of feeling forgotten.

The floods that hit the Baton Rouge region killed 13 and have been described as the worst natural disaster in the United States since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. But they have not received as much news coverage as that crisis.

Sometimes, once the floodwaters pass, peoples attention spans pass, Obama said. This is not a one-off, this is not a photo-op issue . . . this is how we make sure a month from now, three months from now, six months from now, people are still getting the help they need.

So far, more than 100,000 people in Louisiana have applied for federal assistance. The government, meanwhile, has set aside $127 million to help those displaced find temporary housing, pay for home repairs and collect flood insurance. But the president cautioned that federal relief alone wouldnt be enough to replace the losses.

[Louisiana flooding is the countrys worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy, Red Cross says]

President Obama visited Baton Rouge Aug. 23 after floods in Louisiana killed 13 people. The Fixs Chris Cillizza explains why Obama wont face enduring criticism for his response to this natural disaster even though he didnt interrupt his vacation to visit the area. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

Before leaving Baton Rouge, Obama also met with the family of Alton Sterling, a black man fatally shot by police in an incident that reignited the debate over policing and race in America, as well as with the families of slain and injured officers of the Baton Rouge Police Department and East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office, White House officials said.

Obama landed in Louisiana on a stiflingly humid day and walked through one of the Baton Rouge areas hardest-hit neighborhoods, where residents were mourning friends and relatives, hauling away debris and helping each other.

The president described one elderly woman who had lost her daughter and was living alone. She was being helped by the son of one of her neighbors.

He said he spoke with another young woman whose husband had died shortly after the birth of her second child. The woman told Obama that her daughter was trying to salvage keepsakes from her flood-damaged room that reminded her of her father.

This is not just about property damage, Obama said. It is about peoples roots.

Obama was criticized by Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and the Baton Rouge newspaper for not cutting short his vacation plans last week in Marthas Vineyard and rushing to view the flood damage or offer condolences.

[Trump, drawing contrast to Obama, visits flood-ravaged Baton Rouge]

In Baton Rouge, where the focus was on the cleanup, Obama had ditched his blazer and donned hiking shoes. He said his visit had nothing to do with politics. When disasters strike, thats probably one of the few times where Washington tends not to get political, he said. I guarantee you nobody on this block, none of those first responders, nobody gives a hoot whether youre Democrat or Republican. What they care about is making sure theyre getting the drywall out and the carpet out, and theres not any mold building. . . . Thats what they care about. Thats what I care about.

Obamas motorcade ferried him from the airport to the Castle Place subdivision in Zachary, a short drive away. In the streets were furniture, toys and mattresses, and an entire piano. Two doors down from the driveway where the president spoke, someone had written Help seven times on the panes of glass in front of their house.

Its real good that he did show up, said Quincy Snowden, 33, who talked with Obama. I believe that it brought more attention to everything that did go on down here.

Snowden and his neighbors told the president that the water in their houses rose to nearly four feet.

Thats why you gotta listen when they tell you to get out, Obama said.

Obama moved through the neighborhood, hugging residents in their driveways. How yall doing? he was heard saying more than once, saying, I know its tough now, and I wish I was coming in better times.

He talked with Pernell Parker, 20, who wore rubber gloves as he worked to remove his flood-

damaged belongings.

He even came to walk through the house and see the damage, Parker said. He asked me about the damage and about how everything is going in terms of getting back to normalcy.

Just a mile from the airport where Obama landed, Eugene and Loretta Warren worked with their two sons to lug their flooded possessions  a microwave, their 2-year-old grandsons toys, an entire dining set  to the curb. The home they rent here took on four feet of water, and the family is currently living in a shelter.

But the elder Warren and his wife were hopeful about Obamas visit. Maybe it might speed things up, he said. It might help.

In his brief remarks, Obama focused on making sure the flood victims received not just federal help, but also assistance from private charities and volunteers.

The whole country is going to continue to support you and help you until we get folks back in their homes and lives are rebuilt, Obama said. Thats what Americans do in times like this.

He urged all Americans to stay focused on the city, and urged those interested in helping to go to fema.gov or whitehouse.gov for information on how to donate.

Cusick is a freelance writer.
ABVP students stand in front of their campus graffiti at New Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University. Ravi Ranjan, center, is a PhD scholar and a senior member of ABVP. (Rama Lakshmi/THE WASHINGTON POST)

A somber Amnesty International event recently featured families from trouble-torn Kashmir province recounting stories of abusive behavior by the Indian army, before it dissolved into angry calls for freedom from India.

Members of the countrys right-wing student group All India Students Council  or ABVP  were also there, quick to counter with protests of their own. A police complaint that Amnesty had organized an anti-India event resulted in a sedition charge against the rights group and a call for it to be banned.

In recent months, the powerful student organization has become the self-appointed conscience of the nation, watching campuses and conferences to ferret out critical voices that it regards as unpatriotic. The group has ties to the Hindu nationalist organization called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi also belongs. In the past two years, it has disrupted campus events on caste, Kashmir, the death penalty and religion.The group has also complained to the police and politicians about what it calls anti-national conferences, seminars and talks that are offensive to Indian culture and even handed over video recordings of speakers to TV studios.

[Indian students called it free speech. The government called it sedition.]

Critics say its tactics are having a chilling effect on free speech.

Their narrative of nationalism has made speaking freely about many things very difficult in the past few years, said Aakar Patel, executive director of Amnesty International in India. After examining the evidence, the police in Bangalore said Saturday that the sedition charge against Amnesty may be dropped.

More than half of Indias 1.2 billion people are younger than 25, and student politics is enjoying a resurgence after two relatively quiet decades. Analysts say that ABVP is on the front line of the ideological battle that Modis Hindu nationalist party is waging against critics in academic institutions.

ABVP complaints landed some students in jail for sedition in February after a similar event about Kashmir took place at a university in New Delhi, which they also called anti-national.

We consider it our prime duty to expose anti-national voices in society, said Vinay Bidre, general secretary of ABVP in Bangalore. We are the strongest voice on campuses today on the issue of nationalism. The authorities across India cannot ignore our complaints. We will not spare anyone who speaks against the country.

Formed in 1949, soon after Indias independence from Britain, one of ABVPs first campaigns was to change Indias name to the Hindi word Bharat. It played a key role in nationwide protests against the state of emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi from 1975 to 1977, and it has been a training ground for many prominent leaders in Modis government, including the ministers of finance, home, law, road transport, health and education.

Many say that Modis government tacitly supports the groups activities. His government is scrutinizing the foreign funding that many activist and nongovernmental groups receive and has canceled thousands of approvals. Officials on Thursday denied permission to Amnesty International to set up a South Asia hub in India.

The student group has used its newfound clout to reverse a controversial program at Delhi University, launched by the previous government, that lengthens the undergraduate degree program from three to four years. It has also protested against beef-eating and demon-worshiping rituals on campuses, and disrupted the screening of a documentary film on Hindu-Muslim rioting and a reading seminar on the caste system.

When the group reported a lower-caste doctoral student for engaging in anti-national activity because he was protesting the execution of a man convicted of terrorism, the student lost his grant and was thrown off his campus in southern India. He hanged himself in January, setting off student protests against ABVP.

The political churning that you see elsewhere in India is reflected in student politics. The ABVP is challenging the left-dominated campus culture everywhere, said Ashok Malik, a political columnist. After Modi was elected in 2014, the ABVP naturally got a shot in the arm and gained political currency.

Despite the controversy, membership is soaring, leaders say. ABVP grew from 2.2 million members in 2013 to 2.8 million last year. Leaders expect the number to climb higher next month.

There is a new wave of patriotism now in India. People are tired of groups who misuse their freedom of expression or hide behind the shield of human rights to attack India or Indian culture, said Sunil Ambekar, the groups national organizing secretary.

On campuses, students say they are working against divisive forces that undermine Indian pride.

There is too much debate on campuses about what divides us  caste, class, gender and religion. There is not enough emphasis on what connects us all as Indians, said Shruti Agnihotri, 25, a Spanish language student and a member of ABVP at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. If we see some anti-India speech, we will record it with our smartphones and report to the police.

[A spate of suicides highlight the pressures on students in India]

The impact of their vigilance is being felt on campuses.

At JNU, new rules require post-dinner speaker sessions in dormitory dining halls to be filmed by guards.

Nobody will talk freely if they know that there are guards with webcams around, said Shehla Rashid, vice president of the students union at JNU and a leftist opponent of ABVP. They want to sanitize debates about difficult issues like Kashmir.

A Muslim-majority region, Kashmir has been the site of an armed separatist insurgency for three decades. In the past month, more than 60 people have been killed when police have fired at demonstrators during street protests.

When students in Hyderabad Central University in southern India gathered to protest the deaths in Kashmir last month, dozens of ABVP students rode motorcycles around the campus with the national flags, shouting Salute Mother India.

They created an intimidating atmosphere on campus, said Arpita Jaya, a PhD student opposed to ABVP.

Read more:

She was raped at 13. Her case has been in Indias courts for 11 years  and counting.

India already had some of the worlds strictest gun laws. Now its tightened them.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
South Koreans protest a visit of Gen. Mark A. Milley, the U.S. Army chief, at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Friday. Milley arrived Wednesday to discuss the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antimissile system. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

As the United States has looked for various ways to punish North Korea for its nuclear intransigence, one factor has remained constant: China.

Financial transactions, mineral exports, luxury imports  all of them come through China, making the nations enforcement of international sanctions critical to their success.

A once-reluctant Beijing had shown more willingness to inflict pain on Pyongyang this year. But that could be changing, the unintended result of the United States and South Koreas decision to move an antimissile battery onto the peninsula to protect against North Korea.

China has been complaining about this at the highest levels, said Scott Snyder, a Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. Will this be a factor that diminishes their implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions?

President Park Geun-hyes administration in Seoul had been equivocating on whether to host a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile unit for the U.S. military, fearful of angering Beijing. China is South Koreas biggest trading partner, with its bilateral trade worth twice as much as that with the United States.





[ North Korean missile lands perilously close to Japan ]

But North Koreas recent actions  its nuclear test and long-range missile launch at the beginning of this year  prompted Seoul to agree in July to host the battery. Early Wednesday, the North was reported to have test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast.

Beijing, which views the THAAD deployment as a way to keep China in check, has taken a range of actions recently to express its displeasure. The United States has a strategic plot to destabilize regional security, the state-run Peoples Daily said in an editorial shortly after the decision.

So far this month, Beijing has suspended operations of the travel agency that helped South Koreans get multiple-entry visas for China  a visa used especially by those doing business, with 300,000 issued a year  and tourism has been hit.

One tour-bus company told South Koreas CNBC channel that 30 to 40 percent of reservations had been canceled, while the Dong-A newspaper quoted travel firms as saying that Chinese tour package reservations for September and October were one-fifth lower than the same months last year.

Some South Korean actors who star in dramas that are popular in China have had their public appearances canceled, and some here even saw THAAD behind the Chinese city of Qingdaos last-minute decision to cancel its participation in a chicken-and-beer festival in its South Korean sister city of Daegu.

[ South Korea, U.S. to start talks on antimissile system ]

Throughout North Koreas decades of malfeasance, Chinas overarching concern has been to ensure that its irascible neighbor remains intact and does not spill hungry refugees  or nuclear material  over its border.

But in the past few years, Beijing has shown signs of cracking down on the Kim Jong Un regime, most recently in March, when it supported the U.N. Security Council resolution to impose tough new sanctions  on mining exports in particular  on Pyongyang.

Hopes that China would follow through with implementation appear, however, to have been short-lived.

Chinese customs data showed that bilateral trade with North Korea was valued at $504 million in June, three months after the sanctions were imposed and the month before the THAAD announcement. That is almost 10 percent higher than the year before.

Trade has continued at a brisk pace in the past two months, said Lim Eul-chul of Kyungnam Universitys Graduate School of North Korean Studies.

Chinese companies that had held back on trading with the North have started to ship more goods after hearing the news that Seoul-Beijing relations have taken a turn for the worse over the THAAD issue, Lim told the Yonhap News Agency.

[ North Korea says it has been practicing to blow up South Korean airports ]

The effort to squeeze the North has probably been neutralized by THAAD and the Chinese response, Snyder said.

The THAAD decision had coincided with other U.S. moves: to sanction Kim by name, to designate North Korea as a primary money laundering concern and to endorse an international ruling rejecting Chinas claim to the South China Sea.

Even if each decision may have been correct on its own, Snyder said, the four things together project an image of U.S. policy that is clearly not well received in Beijing.

Kim Sook, a former South Korean ambassador to the United Nations, agreed.

THAAD happened at the same time as the South China Sea decision, so China might have been doubly disappointed, he said, adding that the South Korean decision to host the missile battery was the right one even if the timing was off.

Strategically, our government has mishandled the case, Kim said. They hesitated for three years when they should have moved swiftly.

Read more

North Koreas deputy ambassador to Britain defects from London

We scrutinized North Korean Viagra  and discovered it might actually work

North Koreas military buildup isnt limited to its nukes

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
People wave Turkish national flags as they gather this month at Kizilay Democracy Square in Ankara during a rally against a failed military coup on July 15. (Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images)

The landmark agreement that halted a torrent of migrants flowing from Turkey into Europe is nearing collapse in the wake of the Turkish coup attempt and the subsequent nationwide crackdown.

Turkish and European leaders are threatening to abandon the deal  the Europeans because they say they are worried about widespread human rights abuses; the Turks because of European reluctance to fulfill a promise to drop visa restrictions for Turkish nationals.

Now, even as it detains tens of thousands of people in response to last months coup attempt, Turkey has given the European Union an October deadline over the visa pledge  or it will walk away from its commitment to stem the flow.

An end to the agreement, which came after more than a million migrants and refugees entered Europe in 2015, would mark another blow to the contentious relationship between the E.U. and Turkey, which is petitioning to join the bloc. It could also result in a fresh surge of asylum seekers traveling from Turkey, which would confront E.U. leaders with a new humanitarian and political dilemma after a relatively quiet spring and summer.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said this month that Turkey was headed toward dictatorship and that Europe should reset talks with the Turkish government.

I do not know if the deal with Turkey will be officially terminated, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said in an interview with a German publication this month. But what we are experiencing now are threats and the attempt by Turkey to give us an ultimatum for visa liberalization.

On Monday, in a blunt acknowledgment of the rising tension, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Vienna for what Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called consultations.

For months, Europe has demanded changes to Turkeys harsh anti-terrorism legislation before it loosens its visa rules. But Turkey has fired back, pointing to the terrorist attacks that have hit the country in recent years.

Now, as Turkish authorities clamp down on dissent, the dispute is more heated than ever. Where E.U. leaders see rights violations, Turkish officials see measures necessary to head off another coup attempt.

[Turkeys purge turns a former national hero into a fugitive]

It cannot be that everything that is good for the E.U. is implemented by our side, but Turkey gets nothing in return, Cavusoglu told Germanys Bild newspaper.

I dont want to talk about the worst-case scenario, he said, referring to the potential for another swell of migrants. But its clear that we either apply all treaties at the same time or we put them all aside.

Migration agencies and analysts say the consequences of the deals breakdown are difficult to predict. At stake are Europes fragile migration system, more than $6 billion in aid for refugees and Turkeys broader relationship with the West.

For thousands of migrants and refugees, their futures may be at risk.

Under the agreement, the E.U. can send back migrants who have arrived from Turkey in exchange for aid and visa-free travel for Turks. Before the pact went into effect in March, an average of 1,740 asylum seekers, mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, were arriving in Greece every day, according to E.U. figures.

But by May, the average number had plummeted to just 47 a day. And aid agencies say that it was clear Turkish security forces were working to block the stream of people leaving for Greece, just across the Aegean Sea.

Although the number of arrivals is down, Greek authorities say they have returned only 482 of more than 10,000 people who have arrived on their shores from Turkey since March. The implementation of the agreement was slow, but deportations were delayed even further when Turkish liaison officers posted to Greece were recalled after the coup attempt, aid officials say.

As part of the widespread purge that has followed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to consolidate control over the security services. In addition to detaining 18,000 military personnel, Erdogan shook up command structures and placed the Turkish coast guard under the control of the Interior Ministry.

The purge will kill the bureaucracys ability to think, said Aaron Stein, an expert in Turkish politics and a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. So things slow down and grind to a halt.

[Welcome to Greeces refugee squats]

The chaos may have also led to a rise in the number of arrivals in Greece over the past month, according to figures from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More than 2,700 asylum seekers landed in Greece from Turkey from July 15 to Aug. 15, or about 90 a day. And although that is a fraction of last years influx, its still nearly double the late-spring average.

We need to be prepared. Contingency, its important  its something we are doing with Greece and with other countries, telling them you need to be prepared in case this happens, said William Spindler, a spokesman for the UNHCR.

More than 800,000 men, women and children arrived in Greece last year, overwhelming the nations weak response system. Any new spike in arrivals could crowd the camps Greece has established to house migrants and refugees, which are over capacity.

But the greater pressure on Europe may have abated, even if Turkey refuses to patrol its coastline for asylum seekers.

Because western Balkan nations sealed their borders this year, the migrants who make it to Greece are marooned there, unable to press northward. Germany and Sweden, once generous to new refugees, have become less so as their respective governments face a domestic backlash against the influx.

People in Turkey who had been thinking about migrating to Greece know that there they will get stuck, and Greece is not their final destination, said Eugenio Ambrosi, the director of the E.U., Norway and Switzerland office of the International Organization for Migration, which is involved in providing aid to asylum seekers in Greece and Turkey.

There are a series of constraints that now exist, he said, regardless of the deal.

Still, a full pullback from the agreement could affect broader cooperation between Europe and Turkey  and also make life tougher for refugees.

The E.U. pledged $3.4 billion in aid for refugees in Turkey, and as much as $3.4 billion in additional money by 2018. This funding could help ease living conditions for the 2.7 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey.

But what happens to that money if the deal falls apart is unclear. And advocacy groups have warned of the human consequences should the two sides walk away from each other.

Canceling this agreement would inevitably risk a return to smuggling of human beings, illegal trafficking, illegal trade and a massive undermining of human rights, said Daniel Holtgen, a spokesman for the Council of Europe, a human rights group.

But the crackdown after the coup attempt suggests to some critics that Turkey wont be able to fulfill its human rights obligations under the agreement.

Its another nail in the coffin of the deal, Elizabeth Collett, director of the Brussels-based Migration Policy Institute Europe, said of the crackdown. Its another reason to be skeptical.

Cunningham reported from Istanbul.

Read more:

Europes migrant deal with Turkey was flawed from the start

In quest to punish coup plotters, Turkey squeezes out room for dissent

U.N. slams Turkey for alarming reports of human rights abuses

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world


Pro-government fighters take a break before returning to the front line against the Islamic State in Sirte, Libya. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

When the Islamic States religious police arrived at his door, Ahmooda Abu Amood feared he would never see his family again.

The two militants drove up in a beige sport-utility vehicle, Abu Amood said, the kind used to transport anyone who broke the rules to an office to pay a fine, to get a whipping  or to jail.

But the men didnt come to arrest him that cool February evening. They offered him a job.

They told Abu Amood, who had been a traffic police officer in the city before the group seized it last year, that they were launching a new traffic police department, and they wanted him to be its head. It would evolve, they said, into a Department of Motor Vehicles.

They wanted to eventually issue drivers licenses to all the people who live inside the Islamic State, Abu Amood said.

Even as they ruled through fear and brutality, as their counterparts have in Syria and Iraq, Islamic State officials in Libya aspired to create a government with a functioning bureaucracy, public services and a credible judicial system.

Residents in the fractured coastal city of Sirte described the militants ambitions in interviews last week, offering a portrait of the groups efforts to extend its self-proclaimed caliphate into Libya. With its defenses crumbling in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State increasingly saw Sirte as a possible substitute capital, especially if its Syrian haven of Raqqa fell.

That goal now appears distant as pro-government militias, backed by the United States and other allies, have captured key positions that were held by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and are pursuing hundreds of militants remaining in Sirte.

[U.S. Special Operations troops aiding Libyan forces in battle against ISIS]

But what unfolded in Sirte opens a window into the groups still-bubbling aspirations in North Africa. It also illuminates its vision of a nation run by a harsh interpretation of ancient Islamic codes and a carrot-and-stick approach to ruling the populations under its control.

If you accepted living under their way of life, you were not touched, said Mohamed Ziyani, 27, who runs his familys furniture shop. They were definitely trying to create a state.



Mohamed Ziyani and his father owned a furniture shop in Sirte during the time the Islamic State controlled the city. They fled to Misurata because of the fighting. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

Proper procedures

Sirte held symbolic and strategic value for the Islamic State. It is Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafis birthplace. And it was where he was killed during the revolutions that swept through Libya and the Arab world five years ago. The city is in the nations lucrative petroleum crescent, the center of much of Libyas oil and gas reserves.

The Islamic State affiliate emerged after the uprising, exploiting Libyas instability and tribal rivalries to become the groups strongest branch outside the Middle East. In early 2015, Islamic State fighters entered Sirte, gaining support from jihadist networks and tribal leaders who had been loyal to Gaddafi but felt disenfranchised after his death.

By the summer, the Islamic State was in control of the city.





Men were forced to grow beards. They had to roll up their pants legs a few inches above the ankles, especially when praying, in accordance with sayings of the prophet Muhammad. Women were told to wear black niqabs or veils that covered their faces and eyes, forcing them to see through a filmy gauze. And their abayas, the head-to-toe garments worn by conservative Muslim women, had to be made from thick material. Religious police, prevalent in every neighborhood of the city, enforced the new rules.

Residents were ordered to attend mosque five times a day, and stores and businesses were required to close during prayers. Satellite TV dishes were taken down to prevent residents from watching Western and other immoral programming. Cigarettes and alcohol were confiscated and destroyed.

At first, the militants made examples out of people who violated the decrees.

They killed anyone caught drinking or taking drugs right away, said Rawad bin Sawood, 27, a tire shop owner. They stopped terrorizing people only after they set up the court system and judges. Proper procedures were then established.

[Two of her daughters joined ISIS. Now shes trying to save her two younger girls.]

This metal frame was used by Islamic State religious police to execute offenders in Sirte. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

The limbs of thieves were amputated, and adulterers were stoned to death in the main square. Fortunetellers and sellers of charms to ward off evil spirits were branded sorcerers and beheaded publicly. So were Sufi Muslims, considered heretics by the Islamic State.

Many of the summary executions took place at a roundabout in the Zafran enclave. Pedestrians were stopped and drivers ordered to pull over to witness the brutality.

The first person executed there was a man named Ahmed Abu Zumita, who was accused of spying on the Islamic State. His arms and legs were strapped to a black metal frame about 20 feet tall, as if in a crucifixion. His executioner placed a cardboard tag around his neck with the phrase Fajr 166 on it, a reference to a Misuratan militia that tried and failed to retake the city last year.

Then, they shot bullets into his head, recalled Abu Amood, who said he witnessed the killing with 200 others.

Abu Zumitas body was displayed for the next three days as a warning to residents.

Others were killed silently.

At a makeshift prison inside a large house painted lavender, Long Live the Islamic State is scrawled on a wall above You infidels. In one corner of the compound, near a brick wall, pro-government fighters unearthed a grave last month that contained nine bodies. Many had been shot in the head.

Tariq Zarga would have been the 10th victim there.

He was jailed for sending text messages praising the pro-government militias. They beat me with a whip and then gave me electric shocks, recalled Zarga, the scars still visible on his body. They kept telling me, You are not a true Muslim. 

He was sentenced to death without a trial.



Personal items that belonged to inmates are scattered in a prison used by the Islamic State. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

His brothers, Mustafa and Mosbah, were accused of the same crime and were handed over to a court. But because they had erased their messages, the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence.

When they found nothing against us, they told us to leave, Mustafa Zarga said.

The day Tariq Zarga was scheduled to be executed, pro-government fighters entered the enclave and liberated him.

Wanted: Local help

The militants, however, carefully picked whom they would target. They sensed that they needed experienced local help to create a state.

Rather than executing local officials, bureaucrats and police officers, as they publicly have done in Syria and Iraq, commanders demanded that they repent in the main mosque for working for the government  and embrace the Islamic States teachings.

[Inside a prison in Fallujah where the Islamic State tortured and killed]

And while the militants have reportedly sexually assaulted foreign women in Libya, they didnt force girls and single or widowed women in Sirte to marry their fighters, nor did they hold them as sex slaves as they have in other countries, residents said.

It never happened here, said Mosbah Zarga, 23, a hairdresser. If they had forced people to give their daughters to their fighters, we would have resisted.

The militants made it clear they ran the city. Their trademark black flags flew over government buildings, hospitals and schools. Billboards promulgated their brand of Islam.

They operated a radio station that played Koranic verses and broadcast news about the organizations attacks around the world.

They employed workers to clean the streets, and assisted the poor and orphaned children, especially at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, residents said. People were allowed to travel out of the city, to Misurata and other areas.



Damaged buildings can be seen along the road from Sirte to Misurata. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

And the militants treated shopkeepers with respect.

One day, an Islamic State fighter and his wife entered Ziyanis furniture shop and bought about $400 worth of goods.

They always pay, Ziyani said. They have a lot of money.

Libya, the next frontier

By the end of the summer of 2015, the state-building had grown more sophisticated.

The Islamic State started referring to its self-declared territory in northwestern Libya as Wilayat Tarabulus. In Arabic, it means province of Tripoli, a region that includes the Libyan capital.

In propaganda and social-media forums, the group began portraying Libya as its next frontier as hundreds of foreign fighters arrived to support the cause. Female militants from other countries were encouraged to join them, and doctors, engineers and lawyers who practiced sharia law were recruited to help run the state. Most of the foreigners came from North Africa, Syria, Saudi Arabia and sub-Saharan Africa.

In Sirte, black stamps with the words Office of General Services  in English and Arabic  were on the walls of every shop, every business. They meant that the owner was registered with the Islamic States revenue-collection department and was paying taxes.

While there were some foreign doctors working in the hospitals, there werent enough. So the militants tried to recruit from the local population.

They told me to join the hospital or else my head would roll, recalled Salim Shafglouf, 23, a nurse and pharmacist.

The next day, he fled to Misurata.

In a neighborhood near the prison, the militants set up a department that oversaw punishments for anything they deemed un-Islamic, including smoking or dressing inappropriately. It was called al-Hisba, which in Arabic means accountability. Each transgression came with a specific fine, flogging or jail time.

The system was 100 percent organized, said Abu Amood, the traffic police officer.

The militants also had a department that collected vehicle transfer fees for anyone wanting to sell a car. After the sale, the cars logbook was marked with an Islamic State stamp.

They then wanted to expand into issuing drivers licenses and other official documents. Outside Abu Amoods house on that February evening, the two religious police officers asked him to persuade 17 colleagues to join the new traffic police department as well.



Ahmooda Abu Amood was recruited by the Islamic State to head its traffic police department in Sirte. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)

Abu Amood, who had repented and pledged allegiance months earlier to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, had no choice but to agree. I was frightened, he said.

The militants ordered him to attend meetings to enact their plan. Then, they left in their SUV, emblazoned with the Islamic State flag.

They were still working out their plans when the pro-government offensive began in May.

Until this moment, we are waiting for our new uniforms, Abu Amood said, smiling.

Read more:

Even with U.S. airstrikes, a struggle to oust ISIS from Libyan stronghold

The story of a girl married at 11 tracks the horrors of Yemens war

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Vice President Biden suggested Tuesday that Donald Trump doesnt know what hes talking about on foreign policy and told U.S. NATO allies to ignore him.

Dont listen to that other fellow. He knows not of what he speaks, Biden said in a speech to Baltic leaders here. He paused for emphasis, then said, And he doesnt know of what he speaks.

Biden never mentioned Trump by name. But his audience, smiling with approval, clearly understood the reference to the Republican presidential nominee and his frequent description of the U.S. commitment to NATOs mutual defense pact as depending on whether the allies pay their bills for American protection.

Bidens remarks echoed President Obamas assessment this month of Trump as woefully unprepared for the presidency.

Earlier in the day, Biden said the United States had pledged its sacred honor to Article 5 of NATOs founding charter and would never renege. The fact that you occasionally hear something from a presidential candidate . . . its nothing that should be taken seriously, because I dont think he understands what Article 5 is.

Biden held bilateral talks with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis in Riga, Latvia. (Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images)

Bidens trip here, designed to reinforce U.S. and NATO determination to stand against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, fell on two anniversaries of major importance to the region. On Aug. 23, 1939, the foreign ministers of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a nonaggression treaty that divided parts of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence and was quickly followed by Hitlers invasion of Poland and the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.

On the same date in 1989, more than 2 million people joined hands in a line across Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia  all then part of the Soviet Union  to demonstrate their desire for independence. All three nations formally joined NATO in 2004.

Dainis Ivans, a Latvian journalist and founder of the anti-Soviet Popular Front, introduced Biden by referring to Trumps stated admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the darkest nightmare of many Baltic people . . . of a potential Putin-RibbenTrump pact.

Biden held bilateral talks here with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, followed by a working lunch with the leaders of all three Baltic nations. The warm welcome he received was something of a respite before he heads Wednesday to what is likely to be a far more difficult visit to Turkey, another NATO ally.

The vice president will be the first high-level U.S. official to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since a coup attempt there last month. Some Turkish officials have alleged that the United States was involved in the unsuccessful uprising and has been insufficiently sympathetic to the subsequent arrest of tens of thousands of alleged coup backers in the military and across a wide spectrum of society.

The upheaval has shaken already difficult U.S.-Turkey relations and led to indications that Ankara is looking elsewhere for support. In the past two weeks, Erdogan has visited Putin, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has exchanged visits with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, amid reports that the three countries are working toward joint action in Syria.

I dont think were concerned that were at some tipping point bilaterally or with Turkey in NATO, a senior administration official said of the relationship. Theres a whole host of reasons why our partnership with Turkey remains as important as ever. It is a view the administration believes that Turkey shares, said the official, who briefed reporters on the trip under White House-imposed conditions of anonymity.

But officials traveling with Biden indicated that they are unsure what kind of reception they will receive and how serious Ankara is about strengthening ties with Moscow and Tehran at the perceived expense of the United States. Biden is not bringing with him what the Turks say they most want  assurance that the United States will extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a U.S. resident they charge instigated the coup attempt.

A Justice Department team arrived in Turkey this week seeking clarification of the Turkish charges against Gulen, the administration official said.

Russia and Iran, which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have been on opposite sides of the Syrian civil war from Turkey, which has shared the U.S. view that Assad should step down. But Erdogan now says his government will work with Moscow and Tehran, at a level of coordination he has yet to specify.

Turkey, which shares a 500-mile border with Syria, is a key component of the U.S. strategy against the Islamic State. But the partnership has been fraught with difficulties and mutual mistrust, beginning with U.S. and coalition concerns that Turkeys porous border has allowed free passage for the groups fighters and supplies.

More recently, as it has been unable to build a strong enough Syrian Arab force to fight the militants, the United States has increasingly relied on Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are allied with Turkish Kurds engaged in a separatist war against the government in Ankara.

A year ago, the United States began using Turkeys Incirlik air base for strikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Turkey agreed to the deal in exchange for pledges to limit the expansion of territory held by the Syrian Kurds along the border.

But the Kurds, aided by U.S. airstrikes, have now expanded westward in northern Syria beyond the limits the United States and Turkey agreed upon. Turkish media reported this week that the Turkish military has begun cross-border shelling of Kurdish forces that this month helped retake the Syrian city of Manbij, considered a crucial step in U.S. efforts to eventually oust the Islamic State from its headquarters in Raqqa.

Read more:

Turkeys migrant deal with Europe may collapse under post-coup attempt crackdown

Turkey withdraws ambassador to Austria amid diplomatic spat

Islamic State, losing fighters and territory, increasingly turns to child bombers


A file picture shows a U.S. flag at Delta Camp 5 on the United States Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on from 14 September 2005. (Mike Brown/EPA)

A suspected facilitator for al-Qaeda who was captured more than a decade ago and tortured repeatedly at a secret CIA prison in Thailand, including being waterboarded 83 times, appeared Tuesday before a review board to argue for release  his first public appearance since his detention in 2002.

Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, known as Abu Zubaida  the first prisoner in the CIAs detention-and-interrogation program and the first to be waterboarded  said through a military officer representing him that he wants to be released from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, so he can be reunited with his family and live a peaceful life.

Abu Zubaida, a Saudi-born Palestinian, has stated that he has no desire or intent to harm the United States or any other country, and he has repeatedly said that the Islamic State is out of control and has gone too far, his military representative, who was not identified, said in a statement.

[20 key findings about CIA interrogations]

The review-board process was established by the Obama administration to conduct periodic assessments of the continued detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and give them a chance to argue for their release. The interagency boards are made up of senior national security officials.

Abu Zubaida. (Obtained by The Washington Post)

The public session of Tuesdays periodic review board, which was live-streamed for reporters at the Pentagon, adjourned after about 15 minutes without Abu Zubaida speaking.

Another official, arguing for the U.S. government, said that Abu Zubaida has shown a high level of cooperation with the staff at Guantanamo Bay and has served as a cell block leader, assuming responsibility for communicating detainees messages and grievances to the staff and maintaining order among the detainees.

But the official nonetheless argued against release, saying that Abu Zubaida probably retains an extremist mind-set and has not espoused his views recently probably to improve his chances for repatriation.

Abu Zubaida has used his time in Guantanamo to hone his organizational skills, assess U.S. custodial and debriefing practices, and solidify his reputation as a leader of his peers, all of which would help him should he choose to reengage in terrorist activity, the official said.

The closed session of the hearing involves a question-and-answer period with the detainee, and a decision for continued detention or release could be made within 30 days, officials said. There are currently 61 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Abu Zubaidas military representatives said the detainee at first did not believe he had any chance or hope to be released because of the reputation created through the use of his name but that he since has come to believe that he might have a chance to leave Guantanamo through this process.

Abu Zubaida, now 45, was captured in Pakistan following a shootout in the city of Faisalabad in March 2002 that left him wounded. He was taken to a secret CIA facility in Thailand, where he was provided medical care and subjected to harsh interrogations. He was held at a number of secret CIA prisons overseas before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006 along with a number of other high-profile detainees, including the alleged organizers of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

President George W. Bush described Abu Zubaida in 2002 as al-Qaedas chief of operations, but U.S. officials later assessed that he was a Pakistan-based fixer, not a formal member of the group, who helped aspiring Islamist militants make their way to training camps in Afghanistan.

Abu Zubaida, who lost an eye while trying to alter his appearance before his capture, endured some of the roughest treatment of all the detainees in CIA custody.

At the hearing Tuesday, the detainee, sporting a trim beard and wearing a traditional white tunic, looked to be in good health; he used eyeglasses and left his eye patch hanging around his neck.

At one point the Justice Department had planned to prosecute Abu Zubaida in the Eastern District of Virginia, according to former federal prosecutors, but he has never been charged with a crime by the United States.

[Senate report on CIA program details brutality, dishonesty]

According to a Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA program, Abu Zubaidas waterboarding  which subjects someone to the sensation of drowning by pouring water over their cloth-covered face  induced convulsions and vomiting.

The report said that after one session, Abu Zubaida became completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth.

The CIA also used a variety of other harsh interrogation techniques on him for 24 hours a day, for 17 straight days. These included slapping, stress positions, white noise and sleep deprivation. He also was placed in what the CIA called confinement boxes.

The CIA interrogators told Abu Zubaida that the only way he would leave the facility was in the coffin-shaped confinement box, the Intelligence Committee report said. Abu Zubaida spent 11 days in that box.
World Watch Monitor

The trial of two Sudanese church leaders has started in Khartoum. They are among four Christians accused of trying to tarnish the image of Sudans government.

According to the Sudan Tribune, Rev. Hassan Taour and Rev. Kuwa Shamal were charged on Sunday (21 August) with fabricating videos of incidents of claimed genocide, killing of civilians and burning of villages, besides claims of persecution of Christians in Sudan.

The prosecutor told the Khartoum North Court the defendants also conducted intelligence activities and provided material support for rebels in South Kordofan.

Apart from the two Sudan Church of Christ pastors (both ethnically from South Kordofans Nuba Mountains), also charged were Abdulmonem Abdumawla Issa Abdumawla, a Darfuri graduate; and Petr Jasek, a Czech Christian advocate.

Two of the four denied the statements presented by the prosecutors as theirs, while the other two approved their statements, said Sudan Tribune, without specifying.

They put pressure on the country

According to Sudan Tribune, the prosecution relied on material contained in laptop, mobile phone and flash memory, saying the defendants sought to distort the image of the government by disseminating information that could be used to put international pressure on the country.

The prosecutors said that charges have been filed against the defendants under articles of the Criminal Code, as well as Article 29 of the Passports and Immigration Law on sneaking into the country illegally, and Article 23 of the Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act regarding running a voluntary organisation without registration.

Since Sundays high security court session, World Watch Monitor has not learned when the defendants are next due in court.

A week earlier, an initial session was attended by four defence lawyers representing prosecution witnesses, and 21 lawyers defending the two pastors, said Radio Tamazuj.

Rev. Taour had been detained without charge since 18 December, in contravention of Sudans own law. Rev. Shamal was detained on the same date, released, and then re-arrested again without charge on 24 May.

On 10 May, authorities released another church leader after nearly half a year in detention. Despite his release, the file of Telahoon (Telal) Nogosi Rata is believed to have remained with the Attorney General.

A number of other Christian leaders face restrictions, as Sudans government continues to impose a unified Arab Islamic character on territories left under its rule since the independence of the largely African-Christian South in July 2011.

Following South Sudans independence, President Omar al-Bashir  wanted by the ICC for crimes including genocide  has reasserted Sudan as an Islamic state governed by Sharia. Pressures have been ratcheted up against Christians since.

Arrests, confiscations and demolitions of churches have increased, and the government has repeatedly stated that new church licences will not be issued.

In August 2015, Khartoum yielded to international pressure and released two South Sudanese pastors, whom it had accused of spying. Yat Michael and Peter Yen were in prison for eight and seven months, respectively.

According to Open Doors 2016 World Watch List, Sudan is ranked 8th in a list of 50 countries where Christians come under the most pressure. The country has a rating of extreme and for the past two years has remained among the top 10 offenders.

Earlier this month, democracy watchdog Freedom House described as preposterous the charges, including espionage and terrorism, Sudan had filed against six civil society activists.
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.

While earning an online master's degree in education can open the door to a higher salary or a new teaching opportunity -- and some school districts even require it after a couple of years in the profession -- it still comes with the price tag of paying for grad school.

One way for prospective students to evaluate an online master's program in education -- other than by reputation and specialization -- is looking at the cost per credit, which varies among out-of-state programs, for example.

[Learn about the challenges of pursuing an online graduate degree in education.]

For students looking at an out-of-state program, the per-credit cost for out-of-state students pursuing online master's degrees in education ranged from $203 to $1,850 in 2015-2016, according to data reported by 252 ranked schools to U.S. News in an annual survey. The University of Texas of the Permian Basin charged the least with $203 per credit, compared with the University of Miami, where tuition was $1,850 per credit.

Out-of-state students studying in a graduate online education program, on average, paid about $612 per credit -- a 3 percent increase compared with the prior school year. Among the top 10 schools with the lowest per-credit fees for out-of-state students, the average cost per credit was $260.

[Get tips on paying for an online education.]

Many of the lowest per-credit costs for out-of-state students were at schools based in the Southwest or Midwest with the majority -- six in total -- located in the Lone Star State.

Story continues

Below are the 10 online graduate education programs with the lowest out-of-state, part-time tuition on a per-credit basis. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.

School name (state) Part-time, per-credit, out-of-state tuition (2015-2016) U.S. News rank University of Texas of the Permian Basin $203 136 (tie) Morningside College (IA) $225 RNP* Lamar University (TX) $235 78 (tie) Fort Hays State University (KS) $253 48 (tie) Texas Tech University $270 78 (tie) University of Texas--Arlington $273 30 (tie) West Texas A&M University $281 RNP Sam Houston State University (TX) $285 30 (tie) Valley City State University (ND) $286 83 (tie) Louisiana State University--Shreveport $291 RNP

*RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of all rank-eligible online master's programs in education. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.

School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed 252 schools for our 2015 survey of online graduate education programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Online Graduate Education Programs rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The tuition data above are correct as of Aug. 23, 2016.





More From US News & World Report


AK-47

Here is what you need to know.

Tuesday is PMI day in Europe. German manufacturing slipped from 53.8 in July to 53.6 in August, but that was ahead of the 53.5 that economists were expecting. In France, the service sector saw an improvement to 52.0 from 50.5 while the manufacturing sector remained in contraction with a 48.5 print. The euro is little changed at 1.1328.

Oil is under pressure. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is lower by 1.1% at $46.87 a barrel. Tuesday's selling has the energy component lower for a second straight day following its seven-day winning streak.

China controls 2 of the North Sea's biggest oil fields. Nexen, a company owned by China National Offshore Oil Corporation, extracts nearly 200,000 barrels of oil each day across those two fields, according to The Times' analysis of CNOOC accounts. The Chinese company gained a foothold in the region after George Osborne, the former British chancellor, gave tax breaks for oil companies in the North Sea in an effort to combat the drop in oil prices.

Bayer and Monsanto are nearing a deal. Talks between the two sides have continued after Monsanto rejected Bayer's $55 billion offer back in July. The companies continue to work toward a deal, progressing on issues such as purchase price and a termination fee, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

Lyft says it's not looking to sell itself. The company is pushing back against reports that it had failed to sell itself to six different companies. Lyft's president, John Zimmer, told Business Insider's Biz Carson the company wasn't seeking a buyer and, "Getting approached and then having it characterized as us wanting to sell the business and failing to do so is a large mischaracterization."

Toll Brothers beat on the top and bottom lines. The luxury homebuilder earned $0.62 a share as revenue spiked 23.5% to $1.27 billion. "Given our land holdings, geographic diversity, variety of product offerings and brand name recognition, we believe we will continue to benefit from our strong position within the luxury new home market," CEO Douglas C. Yearley Jr. said in the press release.

Story continues

Amazon is working on a music subscription service. The online retailer is in the planning stages of a subscription music service that would run through its Echo hardware, Recode reports, citing sources. Amazon is reportedly deciding whether the service will cost $4 or $5 a month.

Stock markets around the world are mixed. Spain's IBEX (+1.1%) leads in Europe after Japan's Nikkei (-0.6%) lagged in Asia. S&P 500 futures are up 5.25 points at 2,186.75.

Earnings reports trickle out. Best Buy and JM Smucker will release their quarterly reports ahead of the opening bell.

US economic data remains light. Markit US Manufacturing PMI and new home sales will cross the wires at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is higher by 2 basis points at 1.57%.





More From Business Insider


In the latest chapter of the long saga of Hillary Clintons woeful mishandling of highly sensitive government documents and email, the government confirmed on Monday that the FBI uncovered nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed documents that Clinton sent or received during her four years as secretary of state.

The 14,900 Clinton documents that the Justice Department revealed in federal court are nearly half again as many as the roughly 30,000 emails that Clintons lawyers assessed as work related and delivered to State in December 2014 as part of a federal probe into Clintons use of a private email server in her home.

Related: Clintons Staff Ignored Investigators as They Looked Into Her Emails

FBI Director James Comey said in July that investigators found several thousand more emails that were not included in the December batch. Theres no way of knowing how many of those new emails were related to official business or overlap with previously released emails. However, they are almost certain to add more fuel to the controversy over Clintons trustworthiness and bolster Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps assertion that she was incompetent and criminal in her conduct.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently warned her colleagues that Russian hackers might release fake or doctored documents in a move to embarrass Clinton and the Democrats in October. But now theres a chance that more damaging information about Clinton could leak out in the form of these newly discovered emails. That  at least potentially -- could provide a real October Surprise that could tip the scales in a very close election November 8.

Republicans are desperate for scraps of information to help them make a case they were unable to make after spending millions of dollars and years investigating Clinton for her role in the run-up to a terrorist attack the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012 that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. That she intentionally misled the families of the victims and the public about the cause of the terrorist attack. And that she somehow impeded U.S. forces from responding to the attacks  all assertions that thus far have been proven groundless.

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They are also looking for further evidence to suggest that Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were trading on her role as secretary of state to attract tens of millions of dollars in donations to the Clinton Family Foundation from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other foreign countries and wealthy individuals. Several other recently released Clinton emails provided tantalizing evidence of what Republicans call a pay for play environment in which foreign powers donated to the global family foundation to buy influence within the administration.

Related: We Now Know Hillary Lied Multiple Times About Her Email Server

The email scandal has such a huge dripping effect over the news cycle that to have these emails made public in October couldnt be worse possible timing for the Clinton campaign, Ron Bonjean, a Republican Washington policy adviser and a former congressional aide said on Monday.

At the very time she will be making the case for why she should be president and try to overcome widespread public perception that she is not trustworthy or honest, the release of the newly revealed emails could further undercut her arguments, Bonjean said in an interview. This is very unhelpful for their campaign, and something that theyre going to have to try to figure out how to manage, especially if these email releases happen around a presidential debate, Bonjean said.

Trump has yet to agree to a final schedule for the crucial presidential debates this fall, but the first one, for now, is scheduled for Monday, Sept., 26, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. The second will be held Sunday, Oct. 9, at Washington University in St. Louis, and the final one is currently set for Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg signaled an urgency to release the newly discovered documents and ordered the State Department to provide a status update by Sept. 22 on how many of the documents it has reviewed to determine whether they may be produced under a Freedom of Information Act request made by Judicial Watch. He rejected a proposal by State Department officials to begin releasing batches of the newly discovered emails starting in mid-October.

Related: Another Batch of Clinton State Dept. Emails Included Top Secret Material

FBI Director James Comey announced July 5 that while no criminal charges would be brought against Clinton following a one-year federal investigation by his agency and the Justice Department, the presidential candidate had been extremely careless in the way she handled email and risked having top secrets and other highly sensitive material hacked by foreign agents.

Although Clinton had repeatedly insisted that she never knowingly transmitted secret information on her personal email, two thousand of the email were upgraded to classified status, according to Comey, while the FBI concluded that 110 emails contained information that had been classified as secret at the time Clinton sent or received them.

House Republicans were the first to uncover the fact that Clinton had used a private server for all her email correspondence as Secretary instead of relying on a government server that assured greater security.

Outraged that Comey had decided against prosecuting Clinton for mishandling her email, House Republican leaders last month formally requested that the Justice Department probe into whether Clinton may have perjured herself during her testimony before a House Committee and during an interview with the FBI. The request from the chairs of the House Oversight Committee and Judiciary Committee noted that Clinton testified that she never received or sent emails marked classified and had turned over all her work-related emails to the State Department when that wasnt the case.

Related: If Clinton Loses Her Security Clearance, Could She Still Be President?

The email case has haunted Clinton practically from the first day it was revealed she had relied on a private email server. And she has been chastised by critics in both parties and the media for often offering conflicting or incredulous explanations for why she had done that.

The New York Times reported last Friday that Clinton told FBI investigators that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had advised her early in her tenure at State to use a personal email account, except for transmitting classified information. Powell told PEOPLE magazine over the weekend that Her people have been trying to pin it on me.

"The truth is, she was using [the private email server] for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did," Powell added.

Related: Former U.S. Secretary of State Powell brushes off Clinton over emails

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said yesterday, in the wake of the revelation about the additional emails, that Clinton provided the State Department with all the work-relate emails she had in her possession in 2014. We are not sure what additional materials the Justice Department may have located, but if the State Department determines any of them to be work-related, then obviously we support those documents being released publicly as well, he said.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
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.
Many investors like to look for momentum in stocks, but this can be very tough to define. There is great debate regarding which metrics are the best to focus on in this regard, and which are not really quality indicators of future performance. Fortunately, with our new style score system we have identified the key statistics to pay close attention to and thus which stocks might be the best for momentum investors in the near term.

This method discovered several great candidates for momentum-oriented investors, but today lets focus in on BHP Billiton plc BBL as this stock is looking especially impressive right now. And while there are numerous ways in which this company could be a great choice, we have highlighted three of the most vital reasons for BBLs status as a solid momentum stock below:

Short Term Price Change for BHP Billiton

A great place to look for finding momentum stocks is by inspecting short term price activity. This can help to reflect the current interest in a stock and if buyers or sellers have the upper hand right now. It is especially useful to compare it to the industry as this can help investors pinpoint the top companies in a particular area.

With a one week price change of 4.3% compared to an industry average of 1.6%, BBL is certainly well-positioned in this regard. The stock is also looking quite well from a longer time frame too, as the four week price change compares favorably with the industry at large as well.

Fiscal Year EPS Estimate Changefor BBL

In addition to price performance, it is also important to take a look at earnings estimate changes for the full year. This can show if AGI is poised to make a run based on fundamentals, or if the company is simply moving on speculation.

Over the past month, the full year earnings estimate for BBL has risen by 12.9%. On its own this is impressive, but consider that it also beats the industry average of 0.0% too. The trend is undeniably in BHP Billitons favor right now, and it suggests that the momentum might be long lasting for this stock.

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BBL Earnings Estimate Revisions Moving in the Right Direction

While the great momentum factors outlined in the preceding paragraphs might be enough for some investors, we should also take into account broad earnings estimate revision trends. A nice path here can really help to show us a promising stock, and we have actually been seeing that with BBL as of late too.

Over the past two months,1earning estimate have gone higher compared to 1 lower for the full year, while we are also seeing that 2 estimates have moved upwards with no downward revisions for the next year time frame too. These revisions have helped to boost the consensus estimate as two months ago BBL was expected to post earnings of 36 cents/share for the full year, though today it looks to have EPS of 39 cents for the full year now, representing a solid increase which is something that should definitely be welcomed news to would-be investors.

BILLITON ADR Price and Consensus

BILLITON ADR Price and Consensus | BILLITON ADR Quote

Bottom Line

Given these factors, investors shouldnt be surprised to note that we have BBL as a security with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Momentum Score of B.So if you are looking for a fresh pick that has potential to move in the right direction, definitely keep BBL on your short list as this looks be a stock that is very well-positioned to soar in the near term.

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Finding companies with the criteria you want isnt always easy. You could spend hours searching ticker after ticker, only to find companies which arent worthy of your hard earned cash. An easier way to navigate through this is by using high quality stock screeners. Screening helps investors narrow down companies to invest in based on their ability to meet every criteria selected. Any company who misses even one of the criteria requirements will be filtered out.

This lets one easily choose ideal metrics. Screens are effective because they sift out bad stocks and only keep the cream of the crop in. It isnt always easy to create an effective screen. Our Zacks Premium Screens have helped with this, bringing profits to many investors over time. Our predefined criteria are chosen carefully to capture special kinds of companies.

Today, weve dug up 5 stocks using one of our premium screens known as Sales & Earnings Growth Winners. Some of the metrics of this screen requires a stock to have trading volume above 100,000 shares per day, a forward PE under 20, and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) or better. Ive only included tech stocks that passed this screen because the sector has high growth expectations over the long run.

ARRIS International Plc-ARRS

Arris International is an IP, video, and broadband technology company. It offers video infrastructure, delivery networks, home and business connectivity, devices, and other related products. Arris is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and it has a market cap of $5.16 billion. Earnings are forecasted to grow by 36.7% this year, and the company has a trailing ROE of 19.93%. ARRS shows strong growth potential, and it is promising to see that sales are projected to grow by 41.5% this year.

Arris stock looks cheap across quite a few valuation metrics. Shares trade at a forward PE of 10.53, and its price-to-book ratio is relatively tame at 1.77. Arris price to sales is just 0.76, and this exceeds the industrys average price-to-sales of 1.49 by a notable margin. The corporation is not too leveraged, as it has debt-to-equity of just 0.77. ARRS has a PEG of just 0.60, so it may be undervalued relative to its long term growth rate.

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Qorvo Inc-QRVO

Qorvo Inc. provides technologies and RF solutions for aerospace, defense, infrastructure, and mobile applications. Its products are used for wireless communications applications such as cellular and PCS, cordless telephone, wireless LANs, industrial radios, wireless security, and remote meter reading. QRVO stock is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and it has a grade of B for value in our Style Scores.

Sales and earnings are projected to grow by 19% this year. In addition to showing growth potential, QRVO shows fiscal responsibility by having a current ratio of 3.53 and a low debt-to-capital of 16.41%. Qorvo shares currently trade at a price-to-earnings of 13.28, and its PEG of 0.86 may suggest that there is value present.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation-SMI

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, also known as SMIC, is a semiconductor foundry that provides integrated circuit manufacturing service at 0.35 micron to 65 nanometer and finer line technologies. SMIC is based in China, but it also has customer service and marketing offices in the US, Europe, and Japan. SMI stock is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and it gets a grade of A for value in our Style Scores.

Like Qorvo, SMIC looks attractive across a range of valuation metrics. The companys shares are currently trading at a price-to-book of 1, so it could be undervalued. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation has a forward PE of 13.21 and a PEG of 0.85. When a companys PEG is under one, it could be undervalued relative to its long term growth rate. Sales are projected to grow by 27.5% this year, while EPS is forecasted to increase by 21.87%.

j2 Global Inc-JCOM

j2 Global Inc. provides cloud-based communications and storage messaging services. It offers online fax, virtual voice, hosted email, email marketing, online backup, and unified communications services. Some of the corporations brands include eFax, eVoice, Electric Mail, Campaigner, KeepItSafe, and Onebox. JCOM stock is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and it has a market cap of $3.16 billion. Its worth noting that the stock doles out a 2.1% dividend to shareholders.

j2 Global has a score of B across each of our Style Score categories (value, growth, and momentum). JCOM trades at a PEG of 0.92, and it also has a low PE of just 13.84. The cloud firm has a nice capital structure, as it has a current ratio and debt-to-capital of 2.66 and 0.39 respectively. This year, revenues are expected to grow by 18.8%. The company has been profitable, clocking in a trailing twelve month net margin of 17%. In addition to increasing sales, j2 looks to pick up growth on the bottom line, with EPS forecasted to climb by a whopping 74% this year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd-TSM

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC for short, is the worlds largest integrated circuit foundry. By using advanced production processes, the corporation manufactures ICs for its customers based on their proprietary IC designs. TSM stock is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and it is the largest company in this article, boasting a market capitalization of $148.52 billion.

TSM stock has a low PEG of 1, and a forward PE of 15. It also boasts a great deal of profitability, and it posted a (TTM) net margin of 33.94%. In spite of its large size, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has managed to grow sales consistently in each of the last five years. Compared to five years ago, sales have grown by 82.7%.

Bottom Line

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One bride-to-bes family is noticeably nervous in the new episode of 90 Day Fiance.

In the episode, Nicole, 21, and Azan, 23, met through a messenger app but have never met in person. Nicole has a 20-month-old daughter and has never traveled outside of America. She is set to travel to Morocco for five weeks to meet Azan for the first time.

In this exclusive clip from the episode, Nicole and her family share a tense dinner in which they question Azans intentions. Is he just using Nicole to get a green card?

Also Read: 'Little People, Big World' Lands Season 12 Renewal From TLC (Exclusive)

Also in the new season of the reality series:

 Narkyia, 36, and Lowo, 28, met on a Facebook group called Beautiful Big Women when Lowo privately messaged Narkyia. Lowo tried catfishing Narkyia by pretending to live in Alabama, along with other far-reaching lies.

 Matt, 42, and Alla, 30, met on an international dating site. Matt, married and divorced three times, had traveled to Ukraine looking for love. There, he found Alla, but bringing her to America also means bringing her 7-year-old son.

 Jorge, 25, and Anfisa, 20, met when Jorge stumbled on Anfisas Facebook page and began courting her. Soon, he was taking her on expensive trips across Europe. Now he plans to show Anfisa a life of luxury in America where he hopes she will fit in with his large family, which includes protective older sisters.

Also Read: TLC's Second 'Baby Story' Live Birth Delivers 280,000 Facebook Views (Exclusive)

 Chantel, 25, and Pedro, 24, met when Chantels former Spanish teacher pointed her to Pedros Facebook page so she could learn Spanish faster. Chantel has hidden the truth about her relationship with Pedro from her family. They think he is entering the US on a student visa and have no idea that Pedro has only 90 days to marry Chantel or leave the country.

A special premiere of the new season of 90 Day Fiance airs tonight at 8 p.m./7c on TLC, with the new season resuming on Sept. 11.





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WATERLOO  Disappointing, but not unexpected.

Thats how one United Auto Workers Local 838 official described John Deeres announcement Monday that 115 Deere Waterloo workers and another 30 at the Davenport works are being placed on indefinite layoff by the end of September.

The announcement came after company officials announced a 10th consecutive quarter of declining year-over-year earnings Friday and noted a sustained agricultural downturn has been most pronounced in the sale of higher-horsepower models, which are made in Waterloo.

It was pretty much expected, said Tim Niedert, a UAW Local 838 shop chairman who, along with other union representatives, met with company officials and affected employees Monday morning.It isnt just Deere, Niedert said, noting other ag equipment manufacturers and dealers have a high inventory right now in proportion to product demand.

Niedert said some workers had already been on temporary layoff as company officials tried to adjust production to meet demand. The Deere-UAW contract allows temporary layoff inventory adjustment shutdowns under which workers could be idled up to 16 weeks in a production year. The layoffs announced Monday, however, are indefinite.

Its a bad deal, UAW Local 838 President Tom Ralston said. Our hearts go out to the guys and gals getting affected. Well do everything we can to make sure they have all the benefits coming to them. We were hoping we were done with this, and it turned out not to be the case.

Ralston said 663 Deere Waterloo workers are still on indefinite layoff following a pair of major work force reductions announced in fall 2014 and spring 2015 that initially idled about 1,000 people. Some workers have been called back since then and subsequent layoffs were announced but did not occur.

We had just called back 25 in the Foundry, Niedert said, in a move by company and union officials to bring as much outsourced work back into the plant as possible as provided under the contract. That was just two weeks ago.

Workers affected by the current layoff are at other facilities in town, including tractor cab assembly on East Donald Street and drive train operations along Westfield Avenue near downtown, among others. Foundry operations function separately, with a separate seniority list.Ralston and Niedert said the union will meet with affected workers over the next month.

Well get together with them at the union hall like we did the last time and go through what
90 Day Fiancereturned to television on Monday, and the show that explores Americans looking for love abroad didn't disappoint. The premise is rather simple, the show follows the engagements of lonely, often extremely naive, Americans and their foreign love interests. The love interests are given 90-day Visas which stipulate that the couples have to be married within 90 days or the visiting partner has to return to their native homeland. On Monday's episode we met several Americans looking for love but it was subjects Nicole and Jorge that caught our attention. Nicole had had a previous long-distance internet relationship that ended poorly in America so she doubled-down and got engaged to a guy named Azan who lives even further away in Morocco and whom she's never met. Nicole's mother described the pairing as such, "Nicole's a beautiful girl, but she's not the most beautiful girl out there and Azan looks like he's a very handsome man and it's difficult to understand, with this variety of women on the internet, why Nicole?" 26-year-old Jorge is engaged to a Russian woman named Anfisa. Anfisa has demanded that Jorge provide her with luxury designer gifts such as Louis Vuitton purses and jewelry from Tiffany's. Jorge said he has spent over $70,000 on gifts for her despite only having met her briefly. When Jorge refused to buy her a $10,000 purse before his visit to Moscow, she refused to talk to him. And to make matters worse, she erased his iPhone, canceled his flight to Russia, and locked him out of his email. The show is essentially made up of people who would've fit perfectly into the old SNL "Bad Idea Jeans" commercials.
A new study published by the PEW Research Center has deduced that over half of men in America believe that sexism is officially obsolete.

Obviously, these men havent heard of the gender pay gap, which still sees women being paid roughly 75 cents for every $1 a man makes.

Obviously, 63% of women stated that discrimination had made their lives harder, with only 34% saying otherwise.

Most Republican respondents (both male and female) were more likely to feel that sexism doesnt stop American women in the work place and three-quarters of Republican men felt that sexism in the work place had disappeared. Democrats were more likely to feel the opposite.

But, what is shocking, Democrat men aged under 35 were more likely to feel that discrimination against women had vanished from the place.

Overal, just 53% of all Americans believe that there are still significant obstacles that make it harder for women to get ahead than men, while 45% claim that the obstacles that once made it harder for women than men to get ahead are now largely gone.

However, as The Washington Post notes, it seems that the study may have been slightly skewered by not giving an explicit definition of what constitutes sexism. They say that, perhaps, respondents felt that sexism was derived from a Mad Men-era sense of bottom slapping and overt sexual harassment.

Of course, we know that sexism in the work place and in general life can take shape in more nuanced and subtle manifestations, such as assuming a woman would prefer to have a baby than work, or take the recent sexism rows surrounding the Olympics, or what about these hilarious cartoons that showcase the double standards that women face at work literally everyday?

Speaking to The Washington Post, Peter Glick, a social sciences professor at Lawrence University, said that these mens opinions about sexism might not be stem from delusion, but come from a place where they see women actually performing well in education and the workplace. However, this could also tap into #masculinitysofragile, too

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Theres this tendency as social change takes place  you see it with whites, too  the privileged group says, Were the ones being discriminated against, Glick said. Any policies that favor minority groups or women, theres backlash: Theyre getting special breaks, and were getting screwed over.

*Sigh*
Lorena Meritano is not letting breast cancer defeat her.



The Argentinian actress is sharing her inspiring message of perseverance after undergoing a double mastectomy, with a photo proudly baring her scars.



"Life throws us curveballs to teach us things and to allow us to realize the number of changes we must undergo on every level," Meritano, 45, writes on Instagram.



Meritano, a popular telenovela star, found a breast cancer lump back in March 2014 during a self-check. She quickly went in for treatment and underwent chemotherapy and multiple surgeries to remove the tumors in the summer of 2014, plus a single mastectomy to her right breast.







But in January 2016, the tumors were back, and to make her recovery even tougher, Meritano's husband left her after learning that she would have her other breast and her ovaries removed.









"People think that not having a breast, losing your hair, eyelashes or getting thin means you're suffering, and those who have lived through this, know thatas the least of it all. At least for me," she says.





RELATED VIDEO: People Exclusive: Rita Wilson Has Breast Cancer, Undergoes Double Mastectomy and Reconstructive Surgery

Now healing after her second mastectomy, Meritano says she plans to have her areolas tattoed on, and she's focusing on what she's learned from the entire experience.



"I give testimony of my life day after day to generate consciousness of the importance for breast self-exams as well as the importance to face obstacles with faith, bravery, humility and strength," she says. "I'm nothing more than human, and like many, I am faced with difficulties and I'm proud of my faith and strength. I feel as if I'm succeeding: Thanks to God."
Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck have all donned the cowl and cape to play the Dark Knight. But for millions of superhero fans, the original Batman was the one found on ABCs 1966-68 TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward as DC Comics Dynamic Duo. Those still nostalgic for that shows lighthearted, campy take on Gotham Citys crime-fighters will no doubt be thrilled to know that West and Ward  along with Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman  will reprise their roles in an upcoming direct-to-video animated film, whose trailer suggests a throwback of the cheekiest order.

Full of cartoonish action and punny one-liners, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusader will pit West and Wards Batman and Robin against a collection of their most fearsome adversaries, including Newmars Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler. Alas, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin (who, respectively, portrayed those villains on the 60s show) are no longer with us, so its not a complete reunion. Still, from its visual style and blam-pow-wham sound effects to its famous theme song, this DC Comics feature should be a tongue-in-cheek trip back in time  albeit one whose heroes, while still looking young in animated form, sound a bit older than they did during their small-screen heyday.

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders arrives on digital formats on Oct. 11, and on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 1.
Rome (AFP) - An Afghan migrant travelled 400 kilometres (250 miles) along an Italian highway strapped by leather belts to the bottom of a lorry, police said Tuesday.

The young man was arrested after other motorists on the Naples-Rome stretch of the A1 motorway caught sight of him suspended from his makeshift harness and alerted police.

The Bulgarian drivers of the lorry, who were on a trip from Turkey to Spain, said they had been unaware of the stowaway and were allowed to continue their journey.

In an interview with Sky TG24, the Afghan man said he had paid 900 euros ($1,017) to a trafficker who had attached gim to the lorry on a ferry from Greece, where he had spent six months in a migrant camp, to the Italian port of Brindisi.

He said his 22 hours under the lorry were tough but not unbearable. "I have been through much more dangerous things in Afghanistan than this journey," he said.

The exhausted Afghan was briefly hospitalised before being released to a migrant reception centre. He was ordered to leave Italy within seven days after indicating he did not want to register an asylum request in the country.

More than 100,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year. Many of them try to avoid registering there in the hope of being able to deposit asylum requests in northern Europe.

Aid workers said they were hopeful that the Afghan stowaway would change his mind and register an asylum request in Italy. He told Sky TG24 he wanted to get to France to meet friends and that his mother and brothers were living in Switzerland.
Afghanistan Tuesday welcomed the deployment of around 100 US troops to Lashkar Gah to help head off a potential Taliban takeover, the first major American deployment to the southern city since foreign forces withdrew in 2014.

Fighting has recently escalated in the southern opium-growing province of Helmand, with insurgents coming within a few kilometres of its capital Lashkar Gah, raising alarm that the city was at risk.

The Taliban have also closed in on Kunduz, the northern city which the insurgents briefly seized last year in their biggest military victory so far, leaving Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts.

"This is a big effort by the Taliban. It's probably the most serious push we've seen of the (fighting) season," Brig Gen Charles Cleveland, spokesman for US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters on Monday.

Cleveland said around 100 US troops had been deployed to Lashkar Gah, in what he called a "temporary effort" to train and advise local forces, although he refused to specify a time frame.

"We do not believe that Lashkar Gah is about to fall," he added.

The Afghan defence ministry welcomed the US reinforcements.

"The (US) troops... are providing all the support necessary to our forces on the ground," ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh told AFP.

"We have enough Afghan troops on the ground in Helmand, but they need support and training from our international partners. We appreciate their presence alongside our forces."

The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, underscores a rapidly unravelling security situation in Afghanistan.

Fighting has left thousands of people displaced in Helmand in recent weeks, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.

NATO officially ended its combat mission in December 2014, but US forces were granted greater powers in June to strike at the insurgents as President Barack Obama vowed a more aggressive campaign.

The US intervention has fuelled the perception that foreign powers are increasingly being drawn back into the conflict as Afghan forces struggle to rein in the Taliban.

The fighting in Helmand comes as Afghan troops are stretched on several other battlefronts across Afghanistan -- including eastern Nangarhar province where the Islamic State group is making inroads.
The American Film Institute is facing an internal rebellion, as the faculty union has declared it has no confidence in the dean, Jan Schuette, and several instructors have resigned.

The no-confidence vote follows a year of rising conflict at the elite postgraduate conservatory, which claims such alumni as Terrence Malick and David Lynch. In the spring, the faculty voted overwhelmingly to form a union. Over the summer, five faculty members were dismissed in what the union claims was an act of retaliation.

Theres been a disruption in the leadership of the conservatory thats impacting everything, said Kevin Jones, an instructor who was let go in June. This is damaging the reputation of the school and someone needs to open their eyes and see that.

Faculty members say the problems began soon after Schuette was hired away from the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin in 2014. Upon arriving, he held a number of meetings in which he said he wanted to improve the conservatory.

But according to Jones, he seemed intent on altering the way the institute handles thesis films, which students complete in their second year.

Essentially he was trying to dismantle the rigorous approach to thesis, Jones said. He wanted to make it easier. He was trying to take a rigorous professional program and turn it into film camp.

The faculty also objected to what many perceived as Schuettes high-handed style, which did not allow for input and collaboration. In October, some 30 faculty members sent a letter to AFI CEO Bob Gazzale outlining their objections. In the letter, they alleged that Schuette was adopting many of the practices of the Berlin film school, generally without consultation. He would often say, I am the dean, I can do whatever I want, according to the letter.

He also remarked that AFI was too inbred in explaining his resistance to hiring AFI alumni for teaching positions, and said he did not want to hire old white guys, according to the letter. The letter also quotes Schuette as saying, I dont believe in awards and juries, because Ive seen gay juries just give the award to the gay film, which some found offensive. It also cited a discussion of need-based scholarships in which Schuette was quoted as referring to a nice Jewish boy as an example of someone who would not need a scholarship, which also caused umbrage.

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The faculty also dug up articles in the German press which referred to similar complaints during Schuettes tenure at the Berlin film school. According to the articles, students at the school protested Schuettes decision to fire a instructor, and also raised concerns about arbitrary decision-making and poor communication.

The AFI faculty also complained that some instructors were let go without clear reasons, and that some new hires lacked qualifications for their roles.

We could not communicate and there was no effort made to communicate from the dean, said Tom Rickman, an instructor in the screenwriting program who resigned in protest. It was done in this crude and nasty way.

The institute hired a consulting firm to look into the complaints. Producer Marshall Herskovitz, an AFI trustee and co-chair of the Conservatory Committee, also got involved in the investigation. In an interview with Variety, Herskovitz said that faculty opinion was evenly divided about Schuette, and that many strongly supported him. Much of the opposition to Schuette seems to have been concentrated in the editing discipline.

This was not a monolithic uprising, Herskovitz said.

The administration did confer with Schuette about improving his outreach.

The dean immediately responded and acknowledged that he had made errors  communication errors, Herskovitz said. He had not reached out to people in way he needed to do. He immediately set about to try to change the circumstance.

Herskovitz strongly disputed the idea that Schuette wanted to relax the standards on thesis projects. In fact, he said that conversations with recent alumni showed that, if anything, the program needed to be even more rigorous. He also said its not surprising that a group of passionate artists would have strongly held views.

Theres nothing at all strange about the fact that theres drama at the American Film Institute, Herskovitz said. What youre seeing are passionate disagreements about how to move forward.

Many on the faculty were not satisfied with the administrations review. Feeling their issues had not been heard, they began to organize a union. In March, they voted to join the American Association of University Professors on a vote of 54 to 7.

Most of the instructors at AFI are adjuncts. They are paid relatively well for adjunct work  perhaps $7,500 per semester. The faculty work on year-to-year contracts. There is no tenure. The union organizers say they were not motivated by pay and benefits, but rather by an interest in creating a faculty senate that would share governance with the administration and give faculty members more of a voice.

AFI did not oppose the unionization. After the vote, the institute pledged to work with AAUP.

As always, the Conservatory remains committed to a positive and productive work environment for its faculty in order to assure the highest standards of training for its fellows, the institute said in a statement.

In June, AFI let go five members of the faculty who had been supportive of the union. They included Rob Mandel, the dean who preceded Schuette and who had stayed on as a part-time instructor. The others let go were Jones, Marie Cantin, an associate dean; Phil Linson, a vice dean and former head of the editing program; and director Andy Wolk.

Herskovitz said the personnel changes were part of the ordinary turnover of faculty at AFI, and had nothing to do with the unionization drive. Rob Spera, the president of the union chapter, still works at AFI.

Two weeks ago, the union circulated a statement calling the firings transparently retaliatory.

Dean Schuettes history of dismissing faculty input; discouraging collegial discourse and debate by canceling faculty meetings; imposing changes to curriculum, infrastructure and the admissions process without faculty consultation; as well as the recent transparently retaliatory firings demand that the strong collective action of a No Confidence vote is held to protect the future interests of faculty, staff and fellows as well as the future of the Conservatory, the statement reads.

The vote passed 35-8.

Stan Stalfas and Farrel Levy, lecturers in the editing program, have since submitted their resignations. Students in the editing program have also sent a letter protesting the staffing changes. In his letter, Stalfas said that students had begun referring to the administration as a dictatorial South American regime.

In a statement on Monday, AFI said that the board and the administration stand with the Dean of the AFI Conservatory.

World class film schools are fueled by a visionary dean and a passionate faculty, the institute said. The AFI Conservatory has both  and, often, it is differing opinions that catalyze positive change in this ever-evolving art form.

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DES MOINES | The state utilities board will hear oral arguments this week on a petition to halt a proposed oil pipeline, the board announced Tuesday.

The Iowa Utilities Board scheduled an oral argument proceeding regarding an emergency motion filed by landowners asking the board to stop enforcement of its approval of the pipeline, which when constructed will transport crude oil through Iowa.

The oral argument hearing is slated for 10 a.m. Thursday at the boards offices in Des Moines.

Landowners opposed to the pipeline asked a judge to stop the project, but a district judge ruled Monday that the courts cannot intervene because landowners had not yet exhausted administrative remedies before bringing legal action.

The landowners immediately filed the emergency action request with the board.

The landowners claim the state board acted unconstitutionally by using eminent domain to forcibly allow developers to access land so a private company, Texas-based Dakota Access, can construct the pipeline.

Plans call for a $3.8 billion, 1,168-mile underground pipeline from North Dakotas Bakken oil fields to a distribution hub in Illinois. The pipeline would transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily and will cross from northwest to southeast Iowa, spanning 346 miles and 18 counties.
By Natalie Schachar and Alizeh Kohari MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Heavy storms earlier this year hammered the forests that North America's monarch butterflies migrate to in central Mexico, a study showed on Tuesday, fueling fears the habitat could eventually become untenable. Conservationists said storms and strong winds in March uprooted more than 20,000 trees in Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, which lies west of the capital on the border of the states of Mexico and Michoacan. Nearly 54 hectares (135 acres) of the core of the reserve were hit, the most significant impact since storms during the 2009-10 season ravaged more than 100 hectares (250 acres), said Omar Vidal, director-general of the Mexican arm of the World Wildlife Fund. That represents a small portion of the 13,551-hectare (34,000-acre) area of the reserve's core. But Vidal said: "It's worrying because this may indicate that the weather will continue to become more extreme." Butterflies fell to the ground during the storms, were hit by rains and froze to death, he said. "It's a large amount of trees, it's a large amount of forest, so essentially we're losing habitat for the monarch in this sanctuary," he added. "We need to restore areas that have been deforested, either by illegal logging or violent winds, so that the monarch continues visiting these areas in the long run." The black and orange monarch, the world's farthest-migrating butterfly, travels every November from Canada and the United States to the temperate forests of the states of Mexico and Michoacan to hibernate for five months. Erratic weather accounted for more than four times the amount of damage as illegal logging this season, which declined by 40 percent from the previous year, the study noted. The study was carried out by the WWF in partnership with Mexico's National Autonomous University, the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas and others. Earlier this year, surveys indicated that the monarch was on the rebound and that numbers could soon reach about 150 million, although well below the 1 billion range seen two decades ago. The increase was attributed to favorable weather at the time and a concerted effort to plant more milkweed, where the butterflies lay their eggs. (Editing by Simon Gardner and Peter Cooney)
Acquisition of New Age/Xing transformed the scale and resources of Bucha, Inc. Provides an excellent platform for growth

nBev integration and capturing of cost and revenue synergies on track or ahead of schedule and plan

DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / New Age Beverages Corporation (NBEV) (formerly ABRW) the Colorado-based owner of the XingTea, XingEnergy, Aspen Pure, and the Bucha Live Kombucha brands today announced earnings for its second quarter, with Net Revenues achieving $13,950,735, an increase of 2% on a pro forma basis versus the second quarter in 2015.

nBev reported a consolidated balance sheet for the 1st half in its most recent 10Q filing, but only filed a standalone income statement for Bucha, Inc. as the acquisition of New Age/Xing did not close until June 30, 2016. On a consolidated proforma basis, nBev net revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 were $15,015,620 on a gross sales basis and $13,950,735 in net revenues on a pro forma basis, a 2% increase versus the 2nd quarter in 2015. As previously reported, the consolidated company had its highest recorded month in history in June versus any comparative measure (prior quarter, prior year, or trailing twelve months).

For the six months ended June 30, 2016, consolidated revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 were $26,480,825 on a gross sales basis and $24,038,350 in net revenues on a pro forma basis, a 1% decline vs. prior year. Revenue reflects the impact of the Bucha acquisition transition in 2015 and weaker Q1 performance in Xing, offset by significantly improved performance in Q2 across all business segments. In adjusted EBITDA for the 1st half (non-GAAP), the company lost $160,000, when removing the one-time expenses associated with the acquisition of Xing of $1.4 million and an estimated $400 thousand in other one-time, non-recurring expenses. In addition to the non-recurring expenses, the reduction of more than $500 thousand in interest expenses and other cost synergies emanating from the acquisition are expected to materially impact net income performance.

Brent Willis, Chief Executive of New Age Beverages Corporation commented, "Normally acquisition integrations run into snags or difficulties of some sort, but so far so good. Our primary focus has been on defining and rolling out a new performance-focused, metric-driven culture and capturing cost and revenue synergies. We have given ourselves 12-18 months to achieve these, so we will only start to see the benefit of these in Q3. We are pleased with the progress so far, and although we had plenty of one-time costs with the merger, our operating performance substantially improved in the quarter. We expect more progress in Q3 as our initial synergies begin to have impact, and Bucha benefits from the scale and resources of the new Company."

About New Age Beverages Corporation (OTC:NBEV)

New Age Beverage Corporation is a Colorado-based, healthy functional beverage company originally founded in 2003 and re-created via the combination of XingTea, Aspen Pure Artesian Water, Bucha Live Kombucha, and New Age Beverages in June 2016. The Company trades under the newly issued symbol nBev (formerly ABRW) on the OTC exchange. The Company competes in the fast growing healthy functional beverage segments including Ready to Drink (RTD) Tea, Kombucha, Energy Drinks and Functional Waters with the Brands XingTea, Bucha Live Kombucha, XingEnergy, and Aspen Pure. The brands are sold in 46 states within the US and in more than 10 countries internationally across all channels via direct and store door distribution systems. The company operates the websites www.mybucha.com, www.xingtea.com, www.aspenpure.com.

Safe Harbor Disclosure

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions 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. Forward-looking statements are any statement reflecting management's current expectations regarding future results of operations, economic performance, financial condition and achievements of the Company including statements regarding New Age Beverage's expectation to see continued growth. The forward-looking statements are based on the assumption that operating performance and results will continue in line with historical results. Management believes these assumptions to be reasonable but there is no assurance that they will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements, specifically those concerning future performance are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. New Age Beverages competes in a rapidly growing and transforming industry, and other factors disclosed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission might affect the Company's operations. Unless required by applicable law, nBev undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

For investor inquiries about New Age Beverages Corporation please contact:

Chuck Ence

cence@newagebev.us

Websites:

www.mybucha.com

www.xingtea.com

www.aspenpure.com

SOURCE: New Age Beverages Corporation
Delayed El Nino effects are still damaging the sector in 2H16.

Singapore-listed agribusiness companies, Bumitama Agri, Golden Agri-Resources, Wilmar, and First Resources, are still expecting low FFB production in 2H16 as lagged effects of El Nino threatens to dry up production.

UOB Kay Hian revealed that companies slashed 15% YoY in their 2H16 FFB production outlook. It worsened by 10ppt from previous forecast. Bumitama Agri adjusted its guidance by the most and is now expecting 2016 FFB production to decline 5-10% YoY (+8 YoY previously). Plantation companies including Golden Agri-Resource, Wilmar, and First Resources also revised down their FFB nucleus production guidance as the FFB production recovery has been slower than expected.

Most of the companies indicated that FFB production remained weak in July, affected by the one-week Eid Fitr holidays. We understand the rainfall has normalised in 1H16. However, the lagged impact from the El Nino will still suppress yields, UOB Kay Hian explained.

For 1H16, most of the companies FFB yields plunged 18.8-32.5% YoY. FFB production will only pick up from Sep 16 to Dec 16, and about 60% of the years production will be harvested in 2H16, UOB Kay Hian said.







More From Singapore Business Review


(Reuters) - An Agrium Inc worker has been injured at the Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, potash mine, a union official said on Tuesday, less than two weeks after another died of work-related injuries at the same mine. Union president Darrin Kruger said the incident happened on Sunday. While Agrium said the potash mine, which can generate 7,000 tonnes per day, has reopened, Kruger said production remains shut. Kruger said the worker is recovering in hospital after surgery. "His injuries are not life-threatening, but he's got a long road to recovery," Kruger said. "Full recovery is unknown at this time." He declined to comment on the specifics of the injuries or how they occurred, saying the worker's family requested privacy. Kruger said a provincial workplace safety body is investigating, and it might take days for production to resume. An Agrium spokesman confirmed the incident and said the company is also investigating. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
(Reuters) - American International Group Inc (AIG.N) is in early talks to sell Lloyd's of London Ltd's [SOLYD.UL] insurance operations to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

If the deal comes through, it could fetch the insurance conglomerate hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/2bfo1gj)

CPPIB is also in talks to buy a related reinsurance company based in Bermuda, the WSJ reported.

AIG and CPPIB declined to comment.

AIG, the largest commercial insurer in North America, has been cutting jobs and trying to restructure its business as part of a sweeping overhaul promised to shareholders to fend off activist investor Carl Icahn, who had urged the company to break into three.

The insurer said last week that it would sell its mortgage-guaranty unit to Arch Capital Group Ltd (ACGL.O) for about $3.4 billion.

The CPPIB, which manages Canada's national pension fund, had said earlier this month that Britain's decision to leave the European Union had curbed gains in its investments during the latest quarter would create more uncertainty down the line.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Savio D'Souza)
(Adds background, CPPIB declining to comment)

Aug 23 (Reuters) - American International Group Inc is in early talks to sell Lloyd's of London Ltd's insurance operations to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

If the deal comes through, it could fetch the insurance conglomerate hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/2bfo1gj)

CPPIB is also in talks to buy a related reinsurance company based in Bermuda, the WSJ reported.

AIG and CPPIB declined to comment.

AIG, the largest commercial insurer in North America, has been cutting jobs and trying to restructure its business as part of a sweeping overhaul promised to shareholders to fend off activist investor Carl Icahn, who had urged the company to break into three.

The insurer said last week that it would sell its mortgage-guaranty unit to Arch Capital Group Ltd for about $3.4 billion.

The CPPIB, which manages Canada's national pension fund, had said earlier this month that Britain's decision to leave the European Union had curbed gains in its investments during the latest quarter would create more uncertainty down the line.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Savio D'Souza)
(Reuters) - American International Group Inc <AIG.N> is in early talks to sell Lloyd's of London Ltd's [SOLYD.UL] insurance operations to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

If the deal comes through, it could fetch the insurance conglomerate hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/2bfo1gj)

CPPIB is also in talks to buy a related reinsurance company based in Bermuda, the WSJ reported.

AIG and CPPIB declined to comment.

AIG, the largest commercial insurer in North America, has been cutting jobs and trying to restructure its business as part of a sweeping overhaul promised to shareholders to fend off activist investor Carl Icahn, who had urged the company to break into three.

The insurer said last week that it would sell its mortgage-guaranty unit to Arch Capital Group Ltd <ACGL.O> for about $3.4 billion.

The CPPIB, which manages Canada's national pension fund, had said earlier this month that Britain's decision to leave the European Union had curbed gains in its investments during the latest quarter would create more uncertainty down the line.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Savio D'Souza)
* Q2 profit 1 mln rgt vs 132.9 mln rgt loss year-ago

* Q2 revenue 883.2 mln rgt vs 653.0 mln rgt

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Malaysian long-haul budget airline AirAsia X posted a profit for the second quarter, buoyed by higher passenger traffic and lower fuel costs.

Net profit for April-June was 1.0 million ringgit ($248,508), compared with a loss of 132.9 million ringgit in the same period last year, AirAsia X said in a statement on Tuesday.

Revenue rose 35 percent to 883.2 million ringgit.

Passenger traffic for the quarter rose 27 percent year-on-year, while load factor increased 7 percentage points to 75 percent.

The airline said the passenger numbers for the third quarter were encouraging, based on the current forward booking trend.

Forward loads and average fares are also better than in the corresponding period of the previous year, it added. ($1 = 4.0240 ringgit) (Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Sunil Nair)
The Rev. Al Sharpton is throwing his weight behind embattled writer and director Nate Parker, whose film Birth of a Nation has been marred by a rape charge Parker faced nearly two decades ago while a student at Penn State University.

Speaking in Harlem to supporters of the organization he runs, the National Action Network, Sharpton lashed out at Hollywood's power brokers and a right-wing media for trying to "discredit" Parker just at the moment when his film is set to debut.

"Now, all of a sudden, they rediscover what they already knew," said Sharpton, according to comments first published in The Root. "The way you kill the message is you try to smear the messenger."

Birth of a Nation tells the story of the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. The unflinching portrayal of slavery's horrors and Turner's personal story captivated audiences at the Sundance Film Festival in January and fetched a record $17.5 million when it was sold to Fox Searchlight. Parker has said he modeled the movie in part on Braveheart, and has spoken eloquently about Turner's central and often overlooked place in American history.

Read more: Nate Parker on Rape Accuser's Suicide: "I Am Filled With Profound Sorrow"

But the past rape charges have gained a narrative power of their own in the months since the film gained traction. Parker's writing partner on Birth of a Nation was Jean Celestin, who was accused alongside Parker when the two were Penn State wrestlers in 1999.

Police arrested the pair in 1999 after an unnamed freshman student alleged that together, they had raped her while she lay unconscious in Parker's apartment.

Parker was eventually acquitted during a trial, while Celestin was convicted and sentenced to six months behind bars. The conviction was later overturned on appeal when prosecutors declined to pursue the case, citing difficulties in gathering all the necessary witnesses.

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The accuser, who had been ready to testify, received a $17,000 settlement from the university a decade later. She committed suicide in 2012, according to family members.

"Nobody is justifying wrong, but if you go to court, charge somebody with the crime and the courts in Pennsylvania in 1999 find you not guilty, you can't have it both ways," Sharpton said, according to The Root. "All I want to know is, what is the standard? Is the standard now that you can take an almost two-decade acquittal and beat him down and deny him the Oscars, but it's all right for others who've done crazy stuff to be Oscar material? I just want to know, what is the standard?"

He added about Parker's Birth of a Nation, "Somebody has to have enough courage to tell the truth no matter what the consequences are.

"All these millions of dollars these folks get paid, and they won't tell our story. All these elaborate homes they build, and they won't tell our story. And here comes a man with a wife and five children who puts it all on the line, and you think I'm going to be quiet? We are going to stand up and tell our story."

Read more: Toronto Film Festival Will Screen Nate Parker's 'Birth of a Nation' Despite College Rape Trial Fallout
ALGONA  The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board has awarded KOFAB of Algona $250,000 in direct financial assistance and tax benefits for job creation and expansion.

The company is planning to construct a $4.7 million building to increase capacity and sales growth.

KOFAB was also given a tax credit under the High Quality Jobs program as the company is expected to create 32 jobs with this new facility.

Of the 32 jobs, 27 are above the starting wage of $19.15 per hour.

KOFAB is a Division of Precision Inc. and is formerly known as Kossuth Fabricators Inc., which was founded in 1977. Kossuth Fabricators was purchased by Precision Inc. in 2014.

The company has two facilities in Algona that manufacture conveyor systems, dumpers, lifts and more for food products.

 Courtney Fiorini
(Adds Wildrose Party comment)

By Nia Williams

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The Alberta government raised its 2016-17 budget deficit forecast to C$10.9 billion ($8.44 billion) on Tuesday, largely because of a massive wildfire that ripped through the province's oil sands hub of Fort McMurray in May.

In a first-quarter fiscal update, the Canadian province's New Democratic Party government said the net impact of the wildfire would be an estimated C$500 million. With other changes, that will increase the projected deficit by C$527 million from April's budget, the government said. The 2016-17 fiscal year ends on March 31.

Finance Minister Joe Ceci said Alberta's gross domestic product was expected to shrink by 2.7 percent in 2016, a steeper decline than forecast in April. He attributed 0.6 percentage point of that directly to the wildfire. GDP contracted by 3.7 percent last year in Canada's leading oil-producing province.

More than 88,000 people fled Fort McMurray as wildfires raged in and around the city, destroying 1,500 commercial and residential structures and forcing oil sands producers in the region to halt output as a precaution.

Alberta said as much as 1.5 million barrels per day of oil sands production was suspended at the height of the fires, and at least 40 million barrels in total, equivalent to 110,000 bpd annually, were likely shut in over a two-month period.

The wildfire disruption came on top of two years of low oil prices that have roiled Alberta's once-booming economy, pushing the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent in July and prompting energy companies to slash investment.

"The oil price collapse continues to reverberate through the economy, and the wildfire has added considerably to the economic impact, reducing revenues and royalties to government," Ceci said.

Alberta expects a mild recovery in 2017 with GDP growth of 2.4 percent, supported by reconstruction in Fort McMurray and rebounding oil production, and said it would stick with its plan to maintain spending in public services while investing in infrastructure to stimulate growth.

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Direct borrowing to fund the fiscal plan was forecast to be C$7.1 billion, up from C$5.4 billion in the April budget, because of lower than expected final 2015-16 results.

"It's clear the NDP plan isn't working," said opposition Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean. "We need to reverse course on the NDP's risky economic agenda, start saving pennies on every dollar spent across government."

In a rare bright spot, Alberta said revenue forecasts had increased by C$708 million, partly due to its raising the forecast for the benchmark U.S. oil price to $45 a barrel from $42 a barrel.

($1 = 1.2911 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Peter Cooney)
(ANNAPOLIS, Md.)  An alibi witness for a man whose murder conviction was re-examined in the popular Serial podcast told two classmates more than 20 years ago she would lie to help him, the Maryland attorney generals office wrote in court filings Monday.

Officials wrote that two sisters who were classmates of the witness at Woodlawn High School approached the attorney generals office this summer, after a judge ordered a new trial for Adnan Syed. The sisters gave sworn statements saying they got into a 1999 argument with the witness, Asia McClain, who has said she saw Syed at the Woodlawn library about the same time Hae Min Lee was murdered and buried in a shallow grave in a Baltimore park that year.

Syed was convicted in 2000 of murdering Lee, his former high school girlfriend. He was sentenced to life in prison.

One of the classmates sent an unsolicited email to the attorney generals office on July 7, a week after the judge ordered the new trial. The woman, who is not identified in court papers, wrote she initially planned to stay out of the case, because she didnt think Syed would be granted a new trial. But she decided to reach out after the judges decision.

I very much remember, as does (my sister) having a conversation with Asia in our co op class about Asia saying she believed so much in Adnans innocence she would make up a lie to prove he couldnt have done it, she wrote in the email.

The attorney generals office is asking that the sisters affidavits be used in court if McClains alibi claim is introduced.

Courts operate under the comfortable assumption that a person ordinarily would not be willing to lie to assist someone charged with murder, the attorney generals office wrote. Two witnesses who were previously unknown to the state have now come forward and affirmed that this assumption does not apply in the case of Asia McClain. To correct that assumption prior to appellate review is in the interests of justice.

In his ruling this summer for a new trial, now-retired Baltimore Circuit Judge Martin Welch said he disagreed that Syeds lawyer erred when she failed to contact McClain. He ruled that Syeds attorneys were deficient, because they failed to note the unreliability of cellphone tracking evidence cited by prosecutors to place Syeds phone near the site where Lee was buried.

The Serial podcast attracted millions of listeners who became armchair detectives as the series analyzed the case for weeks in the winter of 2014.
Nearly a year after first making headlines around the world, "Tabby's star" is still guarding its secrets.

In September 2015, a team led by Yale University astronomer Tabetha Boyajian announced that a star about 1,500 light-years from Earth called KIC 8462852 had dimmed oddly and dramatically several times over the past few years.

These dimming events, which were detected by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope, were far too substantial to be caused by an orbiting planet, scientists said. (In one case, 22 percent of the star's light was blocked. For comparison, when huge Jupiter crosses the sun's face, the result is a dimming of just 1 percent or so.) [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Alien Life]

Boyajian and her colleagues suggested that a cloud of fragmented comets or planetary building blocks might be responsible, but other researchers noted that the signal was also consistent with a possible "alien megastructure"  perhaps a giant swarm of energy-collecting solar panels known as a Dyson sphere.

Astronomers around the world soon began studying Tabby's star with a variety of instruments, and reanalyzing old observations of the object, in an attempt to figure out what, exactly, is going on. But they have yet to solve the puzzle.

"I'd say we have no good explanation right now for what's going on with Tabby's star," Jason Wright, an astronomer at Pennsylvania State University, said earlier this month during a talk at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, California. "For now, it's still a mystery."

More surprises

In fact, that mystery may have deepened over the past 12 months.

For example, in January, Bradley Schaefer, a professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University, determined that, in addition to the weird short-term dimming events, the brightness of Tabby's star had dropped by about 20 percent overall between 1890 and 1989. That pattern is very difficult for known natural phenomena to explain, he said.

Story continues

Schaefer came to this conclusion after poring over old photographic plates of the night sky that captured Tabby's star. Other researchers suggested that the trend Schaefer saw could have been caused by changes in the instruments used to take those photos over the century-long timespan. However, a new study bolsters Schaefer's interpretation.

In the new work, Benjamin Montet (of the California Institute of Technology and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and Joshua Simon (of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington) reanalyzed Kepler observations of Tabby's star from 2009 through 2013. They found that the object dimmed by 3 percent over that span, with a rapid 2-percent brightness dip over one 200-day period.

"Of a sample of 193 nearby comparison stars and 355 stars with similar stellar parameters, 0.6 percent change brightness at a rate as fast as 0.341 percent [per year], and none exhibit either the rapid decline by > 2 percent or the cumulative fading by 3 percent of KIC 8462852," Montet and Simon wrote in the new study, which they uploaded to the online preprint site ArXiv on Aug. 5. "No known or proposed stellar phenomena can fully explain all aspects of the observed light curve."

Schaefer's results, combined with those of Montet and Simon, make the comet hypothesis look less and less likely, Wright said in his SETI talk.

"Why would comets, over a century, make the star dimmer?" he said. "What's going on?" [5 Bold Claims of Alien Life]

Alien megastructure?

The sustained dimming of Tabby's star is still consistent with at least some variants of the "alien megastructure" hypothesis, Wright said.

"Some people have sort of facetiously offered that perhaps this is a Dyson sphere under construction: You're seeing lots of material getting built," he said. "In just 100 years, they've blotted out 20 percent of the starlight. That seems kind of fast to me  but, you know, aliens, right?"

It's also possible that the alien megastructure  if it exists  is fully constructed, and some parts are just denser than others, Wright added.

"That would naturally make the star get brighter and dimmer, as dense parts of the swarm came around," he said. "So if I had to invoke megastructures to explain it, that seems consistent. You've got lots of panels of different shapes, different sizes, and the big ones make big dips and the little ones make little dips, and the whole swarm is sort of like a translucent screen that makes the whole thing dimmer."

But Wright and others have always stressed that the "E.T. did it" scenario is very unlikely, and that a more prosaic explanation will probably rise to the top eventually. And indeed, other recent observations throw some cold water on the alien-megastructure idea  and any other hypothesis that invokes some object or phenomenon near Tabby's star.

Any structure surrounding the star, be it alien-made or naturally occurring, would heat up and give off infrared radiation, Wright said. But he and his colleagues saw no signatures of such "waste heat" in data gathered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft. And another research team  which analyzed observations by the Submillimeter Array telescope and the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array-2 instrument, both of which are in Hawaii  also came up empty.

Whatever is blocking the starlight from Tabby's star is "not surrounding the whole star  it must be along our line of sight," Wright said. "So you can do that if it's in a disk of some kind. And that hopefully will help constrain what the heck is going on."

Wright has a hunch that the answer lies far away from Tabby's star, out in the dark depths of space.

"I think I've all but abandoned circumstellar explanations, and I think now we're going to have to talk about [some] bizarre structure in the interstellar medium, and stuff like that," he said.

Still, Wright hasn't given up on the alien-megastructure hypothesis. While the lack of waste heat is "almost a fatal blow" for the idea, he said, it's still viable if the purported aliens are doing something with the waste heat  turning it into matter, for example, or converting the heat into radio waves for communication purposes.

Astronomers have already searched for such signals coming from Tabby's star using the Allen Telescope Array, a network of radio dishes in northern California operated by the SETI Institute. They found nothing. But Wright and his colleagues plan to conduct another search beginning in October; they've secured time on West Virginia's huge Green Bank Telescope for this purpose.

"This is a 1-in-300,000 object," Wright said. "People have gone looking for more, and it's the only one. So that also says you're allowed to invoke one really rare thing, because it is a rare phenomenon."

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

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A reader of ours, Ira Straus, has been pushing an unpopular idea about NATO for decades now, but his idea may have never been more unpopular than right now. After all, as an American pro-NATO advocate and the founder of the Committee for Eastern Europe and Russia in NATO (CEERN) who was a Fulbright Scholar and taught in Russia, Straus is so convinced of the benefits of NATO that he thinks the alliance or something in its image should expand infinitely, to include all of Eastern Europe, Russia, and eventually the whole world. Yet the Republican Partys nominee for President of the United States, who could take office in six short months, recently caused what passes for an uproar in the navel-gazing community of foreign policy commentators by mentioning that he might not honor the alliances obligations.

When Trumps comment blew up, we at The Atlantic examined the issue from several sides: Jeffrey Goldberg looked at how identical to Putins outlook the Trump foreign policy platform had become; Uri Friedman spoke to a former general about what would happen if Russia invaded and a Commander-in-Chief Trump followed through on his suggestion of doing nothing; I interviewed Michael Mandelbaum, a foreign policy luminary and NATO expert, about the history of the alliance and its function; and Jeffrey Tayler wrote in an article and a a follow-up note that Trumps position contains more than a kernel of wisdom: NATO is outdated, outmoded, and counterproductive, and many of the worst foreign policy outcomes of the past several years could have been avoided if it hadnt been for the aggressive posture of the American-led alliance and its policy of expansion.

Recommended: Al-Qaeda Has Been at War With the United States for 20 Years

Now Straus has written in via hello@theatlantic.com to challenge what he says are a set of misconceptions about the costs and benefits of NATO, arguing, in effect, that the Trump take has things precisely backwardsthe alliance is, on Strauss view, a strategic and financial bargain. While taking a best-case view about what Trumps intentions may have been in making anti-NATO comments, Straus bears that out below, in his Four points on why NATO is the Greater America and saves us money:

1. It is pure myth that NATO is costing America money. a. The U.S. actually pays a meager 22% of NATOs (very small) budgetfar less than Americas proportionate share. The allies are paying disproportionately much for NATO. So NATO gets us a net gain in the form of their spending; but again, it is a small budget. b. The European allies provide and pay for more than 90% of the allied troops that are in Europe and defending Europe, while the U.S., less than 10%. In earlier years we had put up a slightly more respectable fraction of the troops defending Europe, but Europe always put up more than 80% of them. None of these troops are NATO-hired forces; they are all national forces, so NATO isnt costing either America or Europe any money for these forces. They are our own expenditures, by our own choice. What NATO does, however, is to make sure these forces are never directed against us, and to give us some actual use of all these European forces. It does this by putting them under our joint training and coordination and planning. Thanks to this, they lack plans or practical capabilities for acting against us, and they are instead fairly well prepared to be commanded by our U.S. Commanderwho is also the NATO SACEURwhenever were attacked or whenever its agreed to take a joint action. In this respect, NATO gets us some big things for free. Some people might prefer to have a real empire instead of NATO (even while they incongruously attack NATO as an empire), and to be able to call up European troops at will and tax Europeans as much as we want. I wont argue with the goal that someday in the future we should have an Atlantic union where we have a joint army and joint taxation to pay for it with complete burden sharing. I insist on only one thing:

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Amy Schumer stopped by The Howard Stern Show not only to promote her new book, but to also let the public know that sexual assault comes in all forms.

In the midst of her press tour for her book The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo, the comedienne stepped away from her humorous persona and got candid with Howard Stern regarding the sexual abuse she faced at the hands of her former boyfriends.

Im trying to speak out, said Schumer. I think it is important to talk about because its made me feel less alone when other women have come forward about being sexually assaulted.

Schumer discussed being raped by her boyfriend at the time, who began having sex with her while she was asleep on the couch. She noted that many people doubted her allegations against the assault.

Its not this perfect rape,' Schumer continued. People, they want you to have been raped perfectly, and they want you to be a perfect victim. People hear me say that and they go, no, shes like a slut and I bet she knew  like, right away, you start doubting. Were so critical and it makes victims really not wanna speak up, and so I think its me saying, look, I didnt have a perfect rape.'

Schumer has recently been in the spotlight because of Kurt Metzger, a comedian who wrote for her Inside Amy Schumer and generated headlines when he posted controversial statements about sexual assault.

Also on her press tour, Schumer revealed in an interview with The Late Show With Stephen Colbert that she was hospitalized this summer with bronchitis in Hawaii while shooting the upcoming comedy Mother/Daughter with Goldie Hawn.

Hawaii  it didnt totally agree with me, said Schumer.

Listen to Sterns interview below.

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Walgreens, the U.S. pharmacy chain with more than 8,000 stores, will become the first merchant to integrate its loyalty program into Android Pay, the company announced.

Users will be able to tap to earn and redeem loyalty points at the checkout ahead of making a payment. This is a significant development because loyalty is the top desired service among mobile wallet users, and Apple Pay already offers this capability.

Twenty-two percent of US adults noted that they would like to use their mobile phones to organize, track, and store gift cards, memberships, loyalty, and rewards points as of the end of last year, according to the Federal Reserve. That number spikes when loyalty is directly affiliated with mobile wallets specifically  67% of UK and US adults want loyalty card integration for their mobile wallets, according to data from Urban Airship.

And when it is available, consumers take to it quickly. In Q4 2015, just a few months after Apple Pay enabled store and loyalty card integration, 25% of cards loaded into Apple Pay among US iPhone 6 users were store or loyalty cards.

Pharmacy chains are a good place for mobile wallets to begin implementing loyalty. Its likely that pharmacy chains like Walgreens have strong loyalty programs with an active, engaged user base because consumers tend to visit on a recurring basis to buy goods or fill prescriptions. Walgreens counts 85 million members in its Balance Rewards program, 45 million of whom are likely Android users based on data from comScore.

That provides Android Pay with a strong addressable base who might test Android Pay for Balance Rewards and ultimately load in other payment cards and begin using the service in other locations. And in turn, it might give the service, which remains largely underutilized, a needed boost and begin to kickstart adoption.

Story continues

Mobile payments are becoming more popular, but they still face some high barriers, such as consumers' continued loyalty to traditional payment methods and fragmented acceptance among merchants. But as loyalty programs are integrated and more consumers rely on their mobile wallets for other features like in-app payments, adoption and usage will surge over the next few years.

Evan Bakker, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile payments that forecasts the growth of in-store mobile payments in the U.S., analyzes the performance of major mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay, and addresses the barriers holding mobile payments back as well as the benefits that will propel adoption.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

In our latest US in-store mobile payments forecast, we find that volume will reach $75 billion this year. We expect volume to pick up significantly by 2020, reaching $503 billion. This reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 80% between 2015 and 2020.

Consumer interest is the primary barrier to mobile payments adoption. Surveys indicate that the issue is less the mobile wallet itself and more that people remain loyal to traditional payment methods and show little enthusiasm for picking up new habits.

Integrated loyalty programs and other add-on features will be key to mobile wallets taking off. Consumers are showing interest in wallets with integrated loyalty programs. Other potential add-ons, like in-app, in-browser, and P2P payments, will also start fueling adoption. This strategy has been proved successful in China with platforms like WeChat and Alipay.

In full, the report:



Forecasts the growth of US in-store mobile payments volume and users through 2020.

Measures mobile wallet user engagement by forecasting mobile payments' share of their annual retail spending.

Reviews the performance of major mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Addresses the key barriers that are preventing mobile in-store payments from taking off.

Identifies the growth drivers that will ultimately carve a path for mainstream adoption.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, youve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of how mobile payments are rapidly evolving.





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Anne of Green Gables is coming to Netflix: Heres what you need to know

Anne of Green Gables is coming to Netflix: Heres what you need to know

Fans of Anne of Green Gables, rejoice! (And yes, thats definitely Anne with an E.) Netflix just announced that theyll be adapting the series for a brand new, eight-episode release in 2017. Whether you prefer reading about Anne thanks to the original book series created by Lucy Maud Montgomery, or know her best from the mesmerizing TV miniseries that hit back in 1985, this is great news for everyone.

anne

The series introduced many of us to the phrase kindred spirits, and made us realize what true friendship looked like. Anne Shirley and Diana Barry were like the Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins of our childhood, so knowing that a new generation will get to know these two bosom friends is extremely special.

Anne Shirley is one of Canadas greatest gifts to the world, known and loved internationally, said Elizabeth Bradley, the vice president of Netflix.

Moira Walley-Beckett, who previously worked on Breaking Bad, will be the show-runner for the new series, and big names like Miranda de Pencier and Niki Caro are already rumored to be helping with production. The series will start shooting in Canada next month, and the first episode is set to be 2-hours-long. In order to help distinguish it from past adaptations, it looks like itll be titled Anne when its released.

All we need to know is wholl be playing Anne. And, uh, wholl be playing Gilbert Blythe. As he was the first crush of many, that casting information is definitely pretty important.

The post Anne of Green Gables is coming to Netflix: Heres what you need to know appeared first on HelloGiggles.
(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Ohio law passed in 2014 that shortened the state's early voting period and abolished a so-called Golden Week when residents could register and cast ballots in the same week. The 2-1 decision from a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a May ruling by U.S. District Judge Michael Watson who struck down the law that limited early voting, saying it violated voters' rights. Tuesday's ruling is the latest in a flurry of legal battles over state voting rules ahead of the Nov. 8 election, including stricter voter identification laws in some states and laws on the voting rights of felons in others. . Ohio has long been a battleground swing state in presidential elections where Democrats and Republicans are tightly matched. Ohio's Republican-controlled legislature abolished "Golden Week" and shortened early voting to 29 days from 35 days, which critics said directly limited opportunities for minority participation in elections. Civil rights groups the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had challenged the law, but their arguments were not accepted by the majority opinion at the appeals court. In the ruling on an appeal filed by the state government the judges said Ohio is a national leader when it comes to early voting, allowing people to vote early and in person for four weeks. "This is really quite generous," the ruling said. The ruling said the challenged law does not result in injury under the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act and that despite the changes, "Ohio continues to provide generous, reasonable, and accessible voting options to all Ohioans." (Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Alistair Bell)
OSAGE  Hampton Police Officer Alan Brandt only needed one word to describe Ronald Rands demeanor the night police say Rand murdered his girlfriend.

Talkative.

Brandt and another police officer told jurors Rand, 51, accused of killing his girlfriend, Michelle Key, repeatedly and without prompting told them hed accidentally killed shot her to death that night, Dec. 13, 2015, at his home in Hampton.

The first officer on the scene, Dave Kelley, said Rand started speaking while he was being handcuffed in the living room while Key lay on her back nearby, slumped over the side of an orange couch in a magenta nightgown.

As I approached him, he stated, I killed her. I killed my baby. He said, I didnt mean to do it., said Kelley, of the Hampton Police Department. And as I placed my handcuffs on him, stood him up, patted him down, he stated. It was an accident. I didnt mean for it to go off. I shot her and shes dead.

Key, 51, of Waterloo, was later shown in crime scene photos resting with her right arm on the couch armrest. Her left arm rested beside her on the couch, cigarette lighter clenched in her hand.

Rand is charged with first-degree murder.

His trial began Tuesday morning at the Mitchell County Courthouse in Osage. It was moved from Hampton at his request due to pre-trial publicity.

Police were summoned to Rands home the night of the shooting by a friend, who was concerned Rand was suicidal. The friend met Kelley at the door, visibly shaken.

Inside the house, Rand was hunched over on the same couch as Key, forearms on his legs sitting on the edge of a cushion at the opposite end, Kelley said.

Dried blood was spattered on his eyeglasses, face, beard and clothes.

A loaded 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun police believe was used to kill Key was found on a pillow on a table in garage, put there by the friend for safety reasons, police said.

Documents shed light on Hampton death HAMPTON  A Waterloo woman killed in Hampton last week was shot to death with a shotgun afte

Rand, who said hed taken a number of prescription pills, was taken to a police car for transport to the hospital for evaluation.

Before they left, officers testified Rand knocked on the window and asked Kelley if he could go in and console Key and give her a kiss.

After being informed Key was dead, Rand explained the couple had been drinking and having fun that day. Rand told the officer things changed when Key revealed shed cheated on him four times over the course of their 11-year relationship, Kelley said.

Rand told Kelley he lost it because Key was laughing as she confessed.

He said he brought the shotgun back, he pointed it at Michelle, said If you ever did this again, this is whats gonna happen. He stated that Michelle got up off the couch and grabbed the shotgun barrel and pulled it like a tug-of-war, twice.

He said the gun went off and he killed her.

Hampton police were joined on the witness stand by a Franklin County sheriffs deputy and agent from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

In her cross-examination, defense attorney Susan Flander asked questions which seemed to hint that what Rand told officers wasnt exactly what he meant.

When an officer testified Rand told him Im a murderer, Flander the asked Have you ever heard anyone say, Im a manslaughter-er?

The officer had not.

First-degree murder, which Rand is accused of, is a charge described in the Iowa Code as killing someone willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation.

Manslaughter is a lesser charge in which a person causes someones death unintentionally or in a sudden fit of passion or emotion.

All the officers who Rand allegedly confessed to testified Tuesday he told them it was an accident.

Rand cried at times during Tuesdays testimony, taking off his glasses and wiping away tears.

He looked down and held his hand across his forehead, shielding his eyes, when crime scene photos were shown on a big screen to his left.

Flander will call her own witnesses after Assistant Iowa Attorney General Coleman McAllister finishes calling witnesses for the prosecution. McAllister expected the state to wrap up its case by Thursday morning.

Flander revealed late Tuesday that Rand may testify in his own defense.

After the jury was dismissed for the day, Flander made arrangements with District Court Judge DeDra Schroeder, who is presiding over the case, and court security officers to spend time with Rand in the courtroom after Wednesdays testimony has concluded.

She told Schroeder the purpose was to allow Rand to sit in the witness chair.

So, if he decides to testify, hes comfortable there, Flander explained.
Hot 100 Fest headliner Ariana Grande is known for both her amazing vocal range as well as her signature high ponytail, so Billboard spoke exclusively with celebrity hairstylist Aaron Light, the man behind Grande's modern '60s fringe bang.

"The bang was an equal collaboration," says Light, who has worked with Grande since her Nickelodeon Victorious days. "There are so many stars that will go drastic and cut off all their hair, bleach it or do something wild, but if a look is amazing, it just needs a little tweak here and there. You don't have to go so extreme to make a statement," he added.

Light, who regularly styles Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel, also styled Grande's locks over the weekend at Hot 100 Fest. Keep scrolling to read his five tips to re-creating Ari's signature ponytail.

yesterday in Ny -- 

A photo posted by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on Aug 21, 2016 at 10:23pm PDT

Start With Your Bangs

Light suggests beginning your routine by blow-drying bangs with a 1-inch round brush and then placing them in a 1-inch roller. "I like to use this product on her called Royal Blowout from Orbie. It's a great blow-drying aid that keeps moisture in the hair and prevents heat damage," says Light. "A lot of my clients are getting their hair done constantly, so a good heat protectant is important."

Pro Tip: If you don't have rollers, wrap the hair around your finger and secure with a clip or bobby pin.

Ariana Grande: The Billboard Cover Shoot

Don't be Afraid of Oil

After blow-drying the rest of your hair, use a serum so your strands are silky smooth. Light uses Matrix Oil Wonders Flash Blow Dry Oil on Grande to keep the hair from drying out.

Pro Tip: Using a heat-setting spray and a flat iron is a great alternative to blowing your hair out straight.

I love you

A photo posted by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on Aug 21, 2016 at 11:35am PDT

The Right Hair Tie Is Essential

Story continues

To create a tight ponytail with no slippage, first brush your hair up into a high pony on the top of your head and then secure with a hook bungee.

Pro Tip: Smoothies Bungee Bands is the hair tie of choice.

Billboard Cover: Ariana Grande on Defending Female Pop Stars and Staying Away From Drama

Borrow from the Boys

Spray a barbering brush with a light hold hairspray and brush backwards from the hairline to the hook bungee, smoothing out any flyaways and bumps.

Pro Tip: For an extra finish, wrap a small piece of hair around the bungee and secure with a bobby pin. Oribe Superfine Spray is the recommended option.

Saltwater Spray Should be Embraced

Spray ponytail with a sea-salt spray, like Kevin Murphy Hair Resort Spray, for a textured look.

Pro Tip: Keep rollers in bangs until this step, them smooth as desired.
People convey meaning by what they say as well as how they say it: Tone, word choice, and the length of a phrase are all crucial cues to understanding whats going on in someones mind. When a psychiatrist or psychologist examines a person, they listen for these signals to get a sense of their wellbeing, drawing on past experience to guide their judgment. Researchers are now applying that same approach, with the help of machine learning, to diagnose people with mental disorders.

In 2015, a team of researchers developed an AI model that correctly predicted which members of a group of young people would develop psychosisa major feature of schizophreniaby analyzing transcripts of their speech. This model focused on tell-tale verbal tics of psychosis: short sentences, confusing, frequent use of words like this, that, and a, as well as a muddled sense of meaning from one sentence to the next.

Now, Jim Schwoebel, an engineer and CEO of NeuroLex Diagnostics, wants to build on that work to make a tool for primary-care doctors to screen their patients for schizophrenia. NeuroLexs product would take a recording from a patient during the appointment via a smartphone or other device (Schwoebel has a prototype Amazon Alexa app) mounted out of sight on a nearby wall. Using the same model from the psychosis paper, the product would then search a transcript of the patients speech for linguistic clues. The AI would present its findings as a numberlike a blood-pressure readingthat a psychiatrist could take into account when making a diagnosis. And as the algorithm is trained on more and more patients, that reading could better reflect a patients state of mind.

Recommended: Why Divorce Spikes in August and March

In addition to the schizophrenia screener, an idea that earned Schwoebel an award from the American Psychiatric Association, NeuroLex is hoping to develop a tool for psychiatric patients who are already being treated in hospitals. Rather than trying to help diagnose a mental disorder from a single sample, the AI would examine a patients speech over time to track their progress.

Story continues

For Schwoebel, this work is personal: he thinks this approach may help solve problems his older brother faced in seeking treatment for schizophrenia. Before his first psychotic break, Schwoebels brother would send short, one-word responses, or make cryptic to references to going there or hereworrisome abnormalities that all made sense after his brothers first psychotic episode, he said.

According to Schwoebel, it took over 10 primary-care appointments before his brother was referred to a psychiatrist and eventually received a diagnosis. After that, he was put on one medication that didnt work for him, and then another. In the years it took to get Schwoebels brother diagnosed and on an effective regimen, he experienced three psychotic breaks. For cases that call for medication, this led Schwoebel to wonder how to get a person on the right prescription, and at the right dose, faster.

To find out, NeuroLex is planning a pre-post study on people whove been hospitalized for mental disorders to see how their speech patterns change during a psychotic stay or a depressive stay in a hospital. Ideally, the AI would analyze sample recordings from a person under a mental health providers care to see which drugs are working the best in order to reduce the time in the hospital, Schwoebel said.

Recommended: What It's Like to Chestfeed

If a persons speech shows fewer signs of depression or bipolar disorder after being given one medication, this tool could help show that its working. If there are no changes, the AI might suggest trying another medication sooner, sparing the patient undue suffering. And, once its gathered enough data, it could recommend a medication based on what worked for other people with similar speech profiles. Automated approaches to diagnosis have been anticipated in the greater field of medicine for decades: one company claims that its algorithm recognizes lung cancer with 50 percent more accuracy than human radiologists.

The possibility of bolstering a mental health clinicians judgment with a more objective, quantitative assessment appeals to the Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatrist Arshya Vahabzadeh, who has served as a mentor for a start-up accelerator Schwoebel cofounded. Schizophrenia refers to a cluster of observable or elicitable symptoms rather than a catchall diagnosis, he said. With a large enough data set, an AI might be able to split diagnoses like schizophrenia into sharper, more helpful categories based off the common patterns it perceives among patients. I think the data will help us subtype some of these conditions in ways we couldnt do before.

As with any medical intervention, AI aids have to be researched and validated. Thats my big kind of asterisk, he said, echoing a sentiment I heard from Schwoebel. And while the psychosis predictor study demonstrates that speech analysis can predict psychosis reasonably well, its still just one study. And no one has yet published a proof-of-concept for depression or bipolar disorder.

Recommended: Sometimes, Getting to Church With a Baby and a Full-Time Job Is Just Too Hard

Machine learning is a hot field, but it still has a ways to goboth in and outside of medicine. To take one example, Siri has struggled for years to handle questions and commands from Scottish users. For mental health care, small errors like these could be catastrophic. If you tell me that a piece of technology is wrong 20 percent of the timeor 80 percent accurateIm not going to want to deploy it to a patient, Vahabzadeh said.

This risk becomes more disturbing when considering age, gender, ethnicity, race, or region. If an AI is trained on speech samples that are all from one demographic group, normal samples outside that group might result in false positives.

If youre from a certain culture, you might speak softer and at a lower pitch, which an AI might interpret as depression when its not, Schwoebel said.

Still, Vahabzadeh believes technology like this could someday help clinicians treat more people, and treat them more efficiently. And that could be crucial, given the shortage of mental-health-care providers throughout the U.S., he says. If humans aren't going to be the cost-effective solution, we have to leverage tech in some way to extend and augment physicians' reach.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Steve James will serve as keynote speakers at Getting Real '16, a biennial filmmaker conference presented by the International Documentary Association and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The conference will take place Sept. 27-29 at the Academy's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study and other locations in Hollywood. This year, the conference, which was first launched in 2014, has as its theme "Art, Diversity and Sustainability."

DuVernay, whose next film is documentary The 13th, producer-director Shola Lynch and James, whose credits range from Hoop Dreams to Life Itself, will appear Sept. 27, while Marcia Smith, president and co-founder of Firelight Media, will deliver a keynote Sept. 28.

Other participants at the conference will include filmmaker Ezra Edelman as well as Oscar-winner Roger Ross Williams in a conversation with award-winning producer Julie Goldman.

The program will include a focus on international issues; case studies on the craft of documentary film to be held at the NeueHouse in Hollywood; a VR Doc Summit bringing together VR makers; and one-on-one mentorship meetings between filmmakers and industry mentors.

"Getting Real represents the coming together of a diverse and dynamic community, not just to celebrate individual films, but to strengthen the connections within the field," Simon Kilmurry, IDA's executive director, said. "While passion for the truth through documentary storytelling drives many of us, it is only through building community and strengthening infrastructure can we forge an industry that thrives."

The Conference will feature three special events open to the public: Digital Diaspora Family Reunion with Thomas Allen Harris; Adventures and Discoveries in Early Documentaries: Kukan (1941) and Aloha Wanderwell Baker; and StoryWorks: The Overnighters, which will explore the intersection of documentary film, investigative journalism and live performance.

A partial lineup of events, speakers and panels is available at https://www.documentary.org/gettingreal16 and conference passes are available for purchase at www.documentary.org/gettingreal.
GARNER | A Klemme man is accused of stealing from Iowa Mold Tooling Co. in Garner.

Jacob Ganseveld, 24, was charged Monday with two counts of felony third-degree burglary in connection with a string of burglaries at the company in July, according to the Hancock County Sheriff's Office.

Klemme man accused of copper theft MASON CITY | A man accused of stealing copper wire from an Alliant Energy construction site 

Ganseveld, who is in the Cerro Gordo County Jail, is accused in two other North Iowa thefts.

He was charged last week with felony second-degree theft for allegedly stealing copper wire on May 31 from an Alliant Energy construction site in Meservey.

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 was charged with felony second-degree theft in July for allegedly stealing a rifle May 13 from a Clear Lake farm building.

-- Mary Pieper
Its been almost a year since Shawn Donovan decided to devote his life to caring for his infant daughter, Zariah, even when doctors told him the end was near and that there was nothing further they could do to save her after she was born at just 24 weeks.



Shawn put his job as a health club manager in South Jordan, Utah, on hold, packed a suitcase and made Salt Lake Citys Primary Childrens Hospital his second home, giving Zariah skin-to-skin contact for up to 15 hours a day to keep her calm so she wouldnt fight the oxygen ventilator that was keeping her alive.



Now, with Zariah soon to celebrate her first birthday on Sept. 13, Shawn is still at it  this time at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where Zariah was transferred last month to receive specialized care for bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung condition affecting premature babies with undeveloped lungs.



Because his wife, Vilayvone V Thipsouvan, a pharmacist, has a better health insurance plan than he does, Shawn took leave from work to focus on Zariah so that Vilayvone could continue working in Utah and care for the couples other daughter, Raven, 2, with help from his mother-in-law.



With Zariah probably a year away from her lungs developing enough that she can leave the hospital, its hard to be so many miles apart, Shawn, 32, tells PEOPLE, but seeing how much Zariah has improved keeps me going. Shes fought every inch of the way and has completely changed the value of life for me. Waking up and breathing is something that we all take for granted. I cant imagine not being by her side.









Vilayvone was six months into her pregnancy with Zariah when she went into premature labor and was turned away by two hospitals because premature infants born at 24 weeks werent considered viable. Finally, she was life-flighted to Primary Childrens Hospital, where Zariah was delivered weighing only 1 pound, six ounces.



It took eight minutes for doctors to revive her and get her breathing, and everybody told us that she wasnt going to make it, Vilayvone, 37, tells PEOPLE. We were told that if she did live, shed be blind, shed have cerebral palsy, shed be disabled. But we could see that her eyes were perfect  we could see that there was hope.



For months, their tiny daughter fought to live as she recovered from open-heart surgery, three bouts of pneumonia and a partially-collapsed lung.



We were told that she had a zero percent of survival, says Shawn, but that was a percentage I wasnt willing to accept.





Story continues

Day 11: Zariah opened both eyes today for the 1st time earlier in the day. Today Doctors put in her PICC line. Everything is still going well. Posted by Shawn Donovan onA Wednesday, September 23, 2015





To keep his daughter from fighting her ventilator, he began to sleep next to her incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit to calm her with gentle touches, reading and singing to her when she cried and struggled to breathe.



I rubbed her head, held her hand and started doing some Reiku massage, he tells PEOPLE, and it seemed to help. So I kept it going, eight to 15 hours a day, sometimes.



After another setback last month, though, when Zariah had to be medically paralyzed to allow her lungs to heal, doctors again told him and Vilayvone that there was little hope.



The couple, not yet married, decided they would like to have a wedding in Zariahs room in the ICU on July 22, before they moved their daughter to Ohio for further treatment.



With family members  including their young daughter Raven  gathered around, they were married by a hospital chaplain, thinking that if Zariah wasnt going to make it, we all wanted to be together, says Shawn. There were such mixed emotions  happiness and love with the nightmare of not knowing whether Zariah would be alive the next morning.



After she was transferred to Nationwide Childrens Hospital, though, Zariahs survival odds went from zero to 96 percent in just a few weeks. Friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help with her uncovered medical expenses.





MUST WATCH!!! BEST ZARIAH VIDEO EVER!!! Can you feel the love??? ZARIAH UPDATE: The PICC line has cleared!!! Thank You #PrayerWarriors for the Prayers and Positive Energy. We will keep a close eye on it over the next few days but for now we are in the clear. We are hoping to have the PICC line out in a week. Zariah had a Great Day! ZARIAHS BABY REGISTRY: Today I received several Amazon packages. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH Ill make sure to get individual pictures, videos, and thank yous out over the next few weeks! If you are able to even get one small item for Zariah PLEASE we would so GREATLY APPRECIATE IT! ZARIAH DESERVES THE BEST! AS A FATHER IT HURTS TO ASK FOR HELP WHILE IM OUT OF WORK BUT WE ARE SO GRATEFUL AND THANKFUL FOR EVERYONES PRAYERS, LOVE AND SUPPORT! http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/2PM912MA6BGZY #ZariahStrong #PrayersAndShares #WeWillWin #NICU #NICUBABY #NationwideChildrensHospital #ChronicLungDisease #BPD Posted by Shawn Donovan on Monday, August 15, 2016





Shes a miracle child, says Vilayvone, who now sits down with Raven daily to Skype with Shawn, and plans to fly to Columbus next month to celebrate Zariahs first birthday.



Well have cake and balloons on her birthday, and happy tears that she is still with us, she tells PEOPLE. We are very, very thankful and have so much to celebrate.



As for Shawn, he plans to stay by his daughters bedside for as long as it takes.



She still tolerates my singing, he says, so Ill probably sing her favorite song, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, then Ill fall asleep in the room with her. She weighs 20 pounds now, half of it in her cheeks. To see that little smile and know shes going to make it  theres just no better feeling.
London (AFP) - Musicians were warned Tuesday to clean their wind instruments regularly after British doctors reported that "bagpipe lung" had killed a man who inhaled fungi growing inside his pipes.

An article in the medical journal Thorax recorded the case of a 61-year-old man who played the bagpipes daily but had struggled with a dry cough and breathlessness for seven years.

His condition improved rapidly when he went on a three-month trip to Australia, leaving his bagpipes at home.

This prompted doctors treating him to take samples from inside the pipes.

These revealed a host of different fungi growing in the moist bag, neck and mouthpiece area of the instrument, which the man had been inhaling when he played.

Despite treatment, the man died in October 2014 and a post-mortem examination showed he had suffered extensive lung damage.

This is thought to be the first reported case of a bagpipe player being exposed to fungi which may have triggered hypersensitivity pneumonitis, the inflammatory lung disease which the man suffered from.

"Wind instrument players need to be aware of the importance of regularly cleaning their instruments and of potential risks," the study said.

"Physicians should be aware of this potential risk factor and promote wind instrument hygiene."

Andrew Bova of the National Piping Centre in the Scottish city of Glasgow told the BBC: "When it comes to cleaning a woodwind instrument, I would say give it a swab after every time you play.

"The moisture can sit in the nooks and crannies and you don't want that."
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange board has unanimously backed a takeover bid from Singapore Exchange Ltd, a deal that will give SGX access to a trading platform for the multibillion-dollar freight derivatives market.

The exchanges have agreed on the terms of the SGX offer, they said in a joint statement on Monday, with Baltic shareholders entitled to 160.41 pounds per share plus 19.30 pounds per share as a final dividend, giving the business a total valuation of about 87 million pounds ($114 million).

"The proposed acquisition will accelerate the growth and development of the Baltic Exchange beyond what it could achieve on its own," Baltic Exchange Chairman Guy Campbell said.

Founded in 1744 as a forum for chartering vessels, the Baltic Exchange now produces benchmark indexes for global shipping rates. SGX's offer comes as freight costs wallow at record lows after a slump in commodity markets coincided with an increase in the number of vessels.

"We look forward to working together with the Baltic Exchange to develop new products, benchmarks and services to the benefit of Baltic members, SGX shareholders and the shipping community worldwide," SGX Chief Executive Loh Boon Chye said.

The deal requires the approval of the majority of the Baltic Exchange shareholders and SGX said it has the support of directors and certain shareholders representing about 74 percent of the company's issued share capital.

SGX is looking to expand its global presence in shipping and has been developing Asian pricing benchmarks for commodities such as iron ore, liquefied natural gas and coking coal as it seeks to diversify revenue streams in the face of sluggish equities markets.

The deal is expected to be completed towards the end of November, subject to the necessary shareholder, regulatory and court approvals, the companies said.

The London Metal Exchange, CME Group, ICE, state-run conglomerate China Merchants Group and Platts were among other potential bidders, sources told Reuters previously.

Jefferies International is acting as financial adviser to SGX, with Nomura International advising the Baltic Exchange.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and Anshuman Daga; Editing by David Clarke and David Goodman)
Bangkok (AFP) - The trial of two Chinese Uighurs accused of killing 20 people when they allegedly bombed a Bangkok shrine was postponed Tuesday because the men still do not have a translator.

The delay is the latest snag in a cryptic case that has so far shed little light on the horrific attack in Thailand's capital last year that also left 100 people wounded.

More than a dozen ethnic Chinese were among the dead when explosives -- apparently left in a backpack -- detonated at the Erawan Hindu shrine popular with tourists, in August 2015.

The blast came weeks after Thailand's junta forcibly repatriated 109 Uighurs to China, where rights activists says the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority face cultural and religious repression.

Thailand had long been a transit hub for Uighurs fleeing China, most heading for Turkey.

But since the 2014 coup, which sparked criticism from western allies, Thailand's military leaders have grown closer to Beijing.

Junta authorities have been criticised for a murky investigation that appeared to wind down shortly after the arrest of the two men, leaving more than a dozen key suspects at large.

Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed have denied all charges, and have accused their jailers of beating them and denying them halal food in the military prison where they have been held for the past year.

Authorities deny the two men have been mistreated.

Their case was further complicated when their translator, an Uzbek national, fled after he was hit with drug possession charges in June.

Sirojiddin Bakhodirov accused police of planting drugs on him as punishment for helping Thailand's Uighur community -- a charge officers denied.

"He did not come to the court today so the trial needed to be postponed so that we can find a new translator," defence lawyer Schoochart Kanpai told reporters outside the courtroom.

The judge agreed to table the proceedings until the next hearing date on 15 September, according to an AFP reporter inside the courtroom.

Story continues

The postponement "reflects poorly on the judiciary's preparations to try these suspects", said Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.

"Everyone knew that there were no other translators immediately available when the previous person was arrested on drug charges. This raises concerns for the suspects' right to justice, fairly and speedily served," he told AFP.

Prosecutors accuse Mohammed of placing the bomb inside a backpack at the shrine and say Mieraili was involved in transporting the device.

They say the bombing was carried out by a people-smuggling gang angered by a police crackdown.
Police have abducted the son of a top Bangladeshi war crimes convict, his family said Tuesday, the latest in a series of forced disappearances of opposition leaders' children.

More than 30 plainclothes officers seized Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, formerly a decorated brigadier general in Bangladesh's powerful army, from his home in the capital Dhaka on Monday evening, his family said in a statement.

"The officers cordoned off the whole street before breaking down the door and forcibly entering the family home, blindfolding the caretaker and severely beating him until he fell unconscious," the statement said.

The police had no warrant and gave no reason for arresting Azmi, the family said.

"No official acknowledgement of his arrest has yet been made, without which there are credible fears for a possible extrajudicial abduction," the statement said.

Azmi's father Ghulam Azam, the former head of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), was sentenced to 90 years in prison in 2013 for war crimes during the 1971 independence war against Pakistan. He died in prison in 2014.

The alleged abduction came weeks after similar incidents -- involving two other sons of opposition leaders convicted of war crimes -- which were blamed on plainclothes policemen in Dhaka.

"We don't know anything about these incidents," a national police spokesman told AFP.

Bangladesh's highest court is also set to decide the fate of another top Islamist leader who was sentenced to death in 2014 for war crimes.

If Mir Quasem Ali, who was a top financier of the JeI, loses his final appeal, with hearings expected to start Wednesday, he will be executed within weeks.

His son Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, who was part of his legal defence team, was allegedly abducted earlier in August.

Critics say the abductions are an attempt by police to sow fear and prevent Islamists from staging protests against Ali's imminent execution.

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"The government must investigate (the families') claims. Unfortunately there has been no visible move to find out their whereabouts," leading rights activist Nur Khan Liton told AFP.

The United Nations on Tuesday urged the government to annul Ali's death sentence and to give him a retrial in compliance with international standards.

Five opposition leaders, including four top Islamists, have been executed for war crimes in the past three years despite rights groups' criticisms that their trials were flawed.
When Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson went on their first date in 1989, they went to see Do the Right Thing.

In the eyes of Richard Tanne, however, there was enough material from interviews and anecdotes to make for a feature film, Southside with You, which opens on Friday.

We know they went to Do the Right Thing [in its] opening weekend and they ran into a partner at the law firm, and they had their kiss outside the Baskin-Robbins, he says. And so I was able to take the lynchpins of the date that were factual, and then imagine what they talked about, and use creative license to get the two characters connecting and clashing and falling in love.

The movies conflict, Tanne adds, is that Michelle was not interested in Barack. But she gave him one day to prove himself, and by her own admission, he did just that. So to me that had the makings of a romantic drama, the sort of classic boy-chases-girl story.

The movie was shot in Chicago, the Obamas hometown, but Tanne did not rely on the First Couple or those in their inner circle for input on the script. In fact, he said that a source close to the Obamas told him around the time of the Sundance Film Festival, where the movie premiered, that the couple were excited by it but also confused. I think the first lady was just baffled at what the movie could have been about, because it was just a date.

Roadside Attractions and Miramax picked up the movie, and John Legend, a friend of the Obamas, came on board as executive producer.

Legend was saying the other day that he has had a conversation with the president and first lady about it, and told them that it was a really good movie, and he thought they would enjoy it. We know they are aware of it, and hopefully they will see it at some point and enjoy it.

Tika Sumpter, who plays Robinson and is a producer of the movie, read Tannes outline for the project in 2013, and back then expressed a desire to play the future first lady but also to help get it made, whether that happened or not, Tanne says. Barack Obama is played by Parker Sawyers, a native of Indiana who had been living in England. He sent Tanne a tape of himself as Obama.

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The physical resemblance was uncanny, Tanne recalls. He was doing a very good but overt President Obama, commander in chief Obama.

He told Sawyers to do another take and to forget about the president, forget about the guy you see on TV every night, you are just a guy trying to get a girl.

It worked.

There were still little Obamaisms that surfaced, but they did so in an organic way, he says.

The movies biggest creative license is when Barack and Michelle go to a community organizing meeting on their date, and she sees what kind of work he had done earlier in his career. That actually happened early in their relationship, but not on their first date, Tanne says.

I just thought that would be a perfect turning point in the story, he says.

There occasionally has been buzz that the Obamas life story would be brought to screen, but Tanne says that he never set out to make a biopic. I never set out to do the Barack Obama life story or the Michelle Obama life story. I was first just sort of struck by the way that the president and the first lady are together, the way that they look at each other, the way they flirt, I think they have a special connection. Thats on display for the world to see, and I think thats pretty rare in people, your friends in life or your family, but it is even rarer in public figures.

Listen to the full interview with Tanne on Varietys PopPolitics on SiriusXMs POTUS Channel, below:

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Tika Sumpter on Playing Michelle Obama in 'Southside With You': 'She Doesn't Apologize For Being Who She Is'

Why the Little Moments Were the Most Important at the 2016 Democratic National Convention

DNC Beats RNC for Third Straight Night in Early TV Ratings
Get ready to feel old.

Friday marks the 20th anniversary of 7th Heaven's debut on the WB, and actress Beverley Mitchell is celebrating the milestone by sharing priceless throwback pics of her and her on-screen siblings when they shot the pilot episode together. Mitchell, 35, sweetly gushed about her co-stars -- Jessica Biel, Barry Watson, Mackenzie Rosman, and David Gallagher -- on her personal blog.

PICS: Favorite TV, Music and Movie Reunions

"It honestly is a little too much for me," Mitchell writes about the sentimental occasion. "It is pretty hard to explain what these people mean to me -- they were more than my coworkers, they were more than my friends, they truly became my family and no matter how much time passes or how long we go before seeing one another, one thing is certain, the bond that we share and the love that we have is always there."

Mitchell -- who is still close to 34-year-old Biel -- says the two got along immediately.

"We truly were the best of friends," she reflects. "I mean THANK GOD for this girl, we have truly gone through it all and I couldn't have picked a better partner to have had this adventure with. We didn't always see eye to eye and sometimes we may have wanted to kill each other, but no one has taught me more than this girl."

"She has loved me through the best and worst of times and has always been there when I needed her," she adds. "20 years ago I was given a sister and I couldn't have asked for a better one!"

Mitchell also admits she and Biel had a shared crush on 42-year-old Watson, before he quickly assumed the big brother role both on-screen and off.

"Barry was the greatest big bro you could ask for -- you could always go to him for anything [and] though his advice was not always serious, the one [thing] that you always knew was Barry had our backs," she shares. "He still does and I love him to death!"

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As for the now all-grown-up Rosman -- who posed for Maxim in 2013 -- Mitchell says the 26-year-old actress is a bit of a "wild child."

"We truly watched her grow up!" Mitchell writes. "Mack is our wild child, she always keeps us guessing and loves to shock us. Thank you Mack for always keeping me on my toes!"

Mitchell also has nothing but respect for 31-year-old Gallagher, who she says she has a "special connection" with.

"David is one of the most thoughtful and caring people I know," she gushes. "A ridiculously talented actor but an even better human."

7th Heaven, which revolved around Reverend Eric Camden (Stephen Collins), his wife, Annie (Catherine Hicks), and their seven children, lasted 11 seasons before going off the air in 2007. Years later, the cast proved to still be a tight bunch. In February, Mitchell, Watson, Rosman, and Hicks reunited with Biel in Los Angeles at her kid-friendly restaurant, Au Fudge.

ET exclusively chatted with Mitchell last May, when she talked about her special relationship with Biel, whom she said she was the closest to "from the get-go." The Valentine's Day actress was even a bridesmaid at Mitchell's 2008 wedding.

"I would describe our friendship as a sisterhood for sure just because we've gone through the ups and downs," she said.

WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- Beverley Mitchell on Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel's Parenting Skills: 'They Are an Incredible Team'

 But could we be seeing Mitchell showing off her dancing skills soon?! ET talked to Fuller House star Jodie Sweetin at the premiere of Kubo and the Two Strings earlier this month, when she revealed she's been talking to the mother of two -- as well as Step by Step actress Christine Lakin -- about appearing on Dancing With the Stars. Mitchell is filming Hollywood Darlings with Sweetin and Lakin -- an unscripted docu-comedy series on Pop -- debuting in 2017.

"We'll see. They might. You never know," said Sweetin, who appeared on ABC's popular dance competition herself last season.

Watch the video below to see more stars we would like to see compete on season 23 of DWTS.

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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has raised doubts about the American commitment to come to the defense of NATO allies, a comment that understandably spooked Baltic members of the alliance. On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden sought to quell those fears.

Speaking in Latvia  a country with a large Russian population that fears it could be Russian President Vladimir Putins next target  Biden suggested that Trump did not understand NATOs Article Five, which states an attack against one member of the alliance is an attack against all 28 NATO members.

I want to make it absolutely clear to all the people in Baltic states: we have pledged our sacred honor, the United States of America  to the NATO treaty and Article Five, Biden said in the Latvian capital Riga.

He added, I dont think he understands what Article 5 is, referring to Trump. The only time NATO has invoked Article 5 was to defend Trumps hometown after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The GOP nominee has suggested that the United States would not come to the aid of NATO members who did not spend two percent of GDP on defense, a requirement that is only met by the United States, Greece, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Poland. He made this comment in June, when asked about Russias threatening activities, including its annexation of Crimea in Ukraine. Hes the first major U.S. presidential candidate who has suggested that aiding NATO allies could be optional.

Concerns about Trumps stance has been heightened by his budding bromance with Putin. Hes called on Russia to hack his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump has also praised the Russian strongman, and vice versa; Putin has called Trump bright, and the businessman welcomed the compliment. Some senior Trump campaign officials also have financial ties to the Kremlin.

Despite Trumps stance on NATO and warm ties with Russia, Biden sought to reassure allies that the U.S. commitment was unwavering.

The fact that you occasionally hear something from a presidential candidate in the other party, its  nothing that should be taken seriously, he said.

Photo credit: PETRAS MALUKAS/Getty Images
Riga (AFP) - US Vice President Joe Biden promised unwavering commitment to NATO's collective defence Tuesday as he sought to reassure Baltic allies spooked by a resurgent Russia and White House hopeful Donald Trump.

"Let there be no doubt -- America's Article 5 commitment is rock solid and unwavering," Biden said, referring to a cornerstone of NATO that an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, sparked ire last month among Baltic and eastern NATO members ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era when he questioned the alliance's key Article 5 collective security guarantee.

"Don't listen to that other fellow -- he knows not of what he speaks. America will never fail to defend our allies. We will respond," Biden said, after talks with the presidents of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

"And we want you to know, we want Moscow to know, that we mean what we say."

Tensions between the 28-member NATO and Russia have reached their worst level since the Cold War following Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

Asked in July by the New York Times about the Russian activities that have alarmed Baltic NATO members, Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations "have fulfilled their obligations to us."

"If they fulfil their obligations to us, the answer is yes," he said.

Biden said Tuesday he doubted whether Trump "even understands" what NATO's Article 5 commitment to collective defence means, while insisting it was America's "sacred honour" to fulfil it.

- Enhanced US presence -

Several of NATO's eastern European leaders have fired back at Trump, with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka going so far as to say that Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is better than Trump on security for NATO allies.

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"Considering the pre-election statements made by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, from the point of view of guarantees for the allies, I see more security if Clinton is elected," Sobotka told the Tuesday edition of Czech financial daily Hospodarskie Noviny (HN).

Clinton, a former US secretary of state, offers "a greater guarantee of maintaining trans-Atlantic cooperation," he added.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Tuesday that Baltic leaders "are sure that no matter what... will be after the elections in the United States, the commitment of this country (the US) to NATO and to Baltic regions, will stay."

Hungary's anti-migrant rightwing Prime Minister Viktor Orban however became the first European leader to endorse the like-minded Trump last month, calling him a "better option" for the bloc than Clinton.

Referring to NATO's July decision to deploy multi-national battalions led by Canada, Germany, Britain and the US in the Baltic states and Poland, Biden said "the concern that the United States is somehow disengaging from the region is simply not true.

"As a matter of fact our presence will be enhanced. The fact is there will be more NATO partners on the Russian border."

Biden travels next to NATO member Turkey for high-level talks with leaders there who have been leaning toward Moscow in the wake of a failed coup attempt in July.

Biden and the Baltic leaders "expressed strong solidarity with the people and democratically-elected leadership of Turkey," in a statement issued following Tuesday talks.

The US vice president also condemned a recent string of deadly terror attacks in eastern Turkey.
scale

You've probably heard that once you hit 40, it's all downhill when it comes to your weight.

That inexplicable force we call our metabolism does begin to grind a bit slower every year from age 30 onward.

Here's the good news: The rate at which your metabolism slows down is actually rather minimal. In reality, most weight gain that happens in midlife isn't the result of a slower metabolism at all.

Instead, it comes down to a simple but changeable truth: As we get older, we get less and less active.

While this might sound depressing, it's actually great news. There's plenty we can do to counteract the slow, seemingly inevitable onset of poundage. But first, here are some basics about what metabolism is  and what it isn't.

Your metabolism isn't just your metabolism

Our resting metabolic rate is a measure of how much energy we expend  or "burn"  when we're at rest. It's determined by a combination of factors, including your height, sex, and the genes you got from your parents, and it can't be altered much, no matter what you do.

Beyond that, our bodies appear to enter into three more distinct phases of calorie burning, depending on what we're doing. These three are the types of metabolism that most people are referring to when they say doing certain things, like eating spicy food or working out, can "boost" your metabolism.

Most of the things that people say will boost your metabolism won't

When we're eating, we burn a small number of calories (roughly 10% of our total calories burned for the day). This is called the thermic effect of food, and it's the first of those three phases I mentioned earlier. We can turn up the heat on this process a tiny bit (but not by a whole lot) by doing things like drinking stimulant beverages like coffee and eating large amounts of protein.

healthy eating

"Eating foods like green tea, caffeine, or hot chili peppers will not help you shed excess pounds," notes an entry in the ADAM Medical Encyclopedia, hosted by the National Institutes of Health. "Some may provide a small boost in your metabolism, but not enough to make a difference in your weight."

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Instead, get active

Unsurprisingly, the most important calorie-burning activity we engage in is just that  activity.

Whether we're taking the stairs, stepping away from our desks for a coffee, or sweating it out in a hot yoga class, we're expending energy. Researchers call this second phase physical-activity expenditure.

After a strenuous workout, we continue to burn more calories than we would while at rest  and that's the third phase, or what's called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.

When it comes to counteracting weight gain, these two phases  the ones related to physical activity  are the most important. Your best bet for burning more calories throughout the day is to increase your levels of any kind of activity, be it running or walking.

A man running up the valley

Many people think strength training or weight lifting fits into this category, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

Weight lifting can only do so much for your metabolism. Why? Because muscles don't burn a whole lot of calories, as the NIH points out. As far as calorie-melting organs go, your brain is actually far more efficient than your bicep.

"Brain function makes up close to 20% of" resting metabolic rate, Dr. Claude Bouchard, a professor of genetics and nutrition at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University, told The Los Angeles Times.

"Next is the heart, which is beating all the time and accounts for another 15-20%. The liver, which also functions at rest, contributes another 15-20%. Then you have the kidneys and lungs and other tissues, so what remains is muscle, contributing only 20-25% of total resting metabolism," Bouchard said.

So while strength training is a healthy habit that will certainly have a helpful effect on things like agility and balance, it won't change your metabolism a great deal.

"This idea that one pound of muscle burns hundreds of extra calories per day is a myth," Gary Foster, Weight Watchers' chief scientific officer and an adjunct professor of psychology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told Business Insider.

And be mindful about eating

According to the NIH, in addition to getting less active as we get older, we also appear to become less perceptive about our body's nutritional needs over time.

Our natural appetite-control mechanism seems to dull. A good way to be more mindful of how full you're getting is to eat smaller meals and get more only when you're still hungry, rather than sitting down with a large plate of food, which might encourage you to overeat.

"By staying active and sticking with smaller portions of healthy foods, you can ward off weight gain as you age," the NIH website says.

NOW WATCH: This is what Tom Brady eats to play pro football at 38 years old





More From Business Insider


One of the most powerful moments at the Democratic National Convention last month was when gun-control proponent Mike Bloomberg unloaded his verbal assault weapon on Donald Trump. But the former New York mayor isnt stopping with the rat-tat-tat takedown of his fellow billionaire.

On the apparent theory that any friend of his enemy is an enemy, too, Bloomberg is going after Republican politicians who are supporting Trump -- and he is also getting behind those who have declined to endorse their partys nominee.

Related: Battle of the Billionaires: Why Bloomberg Will Savage Trump

On Friday, the Bloomberg-funded Independence USA PAC began running TV ads against incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. The 30-second spot has Ayotte promising to be an independent strong voice for New Hampshire.

Then with a washed-out image of Trump in the background and a reference to a Vox story from August 15 entitled, The 40 Top Republicans (and counting) Who Wont Support Donald Trump for President, a voiceover says, Independent-minded Republicans across America put principle ahead of party and said no to Trump  but not Kelly Ayotte. She says she still supports Trump. If shes so independent, why is she still supporting Trump?

Morning Consult says the PAC will spend $2 million to air the commercials.

Related: The Five Most Endangered Senate Republicans

On the flip side, Independence USA is backing incumbent Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. The PACs website has a statement from Bloomberg, whom it calls the leading political independent in the United States, praising Toomey for crossing party lines after the 2013 shootings in Newtown, Conn., to lead the fight to reduce gun violence in America.

Independence USA has sponsored TV ads supporting Toomey, according to The Hill

Bloomberg also writes that he is supporting candidates on both sides of the aisle who are willing to lead from the center and compromise. As I said when I appealed to Republicans and Independents from the stage of the Democratic National Convention in PennsylvaniaI look at the candidate, not the party label because we can only solve our biggest problems if we come together across party lines. Chances are that no candidate is ever going to be perfect for you on every issue, but when brave people buck party orthodoxy and demonstrate bold, pragmatic leadership, they deserve support from all of us.

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Still, despite the lofty language, there is one other likely reason Toomey has Bloomberg behind him: the one-term senator has not endorsed Trump or even said he would vote for him.

Toomey could be key to the Republicans retaining control of the Senate, and despite the money that is pouring in to support him (including from the Koch brothers, The Hill says), he could be in a tough spot because of the double-digit lead Clinton now has in battleground Pennsylvania.

Related: Clintons New Plan to Peel GOP Voters Away From Trump

So by supporting Toomey, Bloomberg is essentially staying true to his stated purpose of electing pragmatic leaders, no matter what their party label  even if that means the Republicans retain control of the Senate.

And by opposing Ayotte, the man Trump referred to in a July 29 tweet as "Little" Michael Bloomberg, who never had the guts to run for president, may be sending a message to other Republican politicians who are lined up behind The Donald: Ill be gunning for you.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria's military claimed Tuesday to have seriously injured Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau and killed other commanders in an air strike on the Islamist group's forest stronghold.

The announcement was met with scepticism by Boko Haram experts who pointed out that Nigeria has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous raids only for the militant leader to surface shortly afterwards in videos.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is on a visit to the northern Nigerian city of Sokoto, praised the country for its recent gains against the Islamic insurgents but made no mention of the claims that the group's leader was injured.

Shekau was "fatally wounded in the shoulder" during Friday's raids, said army spokesman Sani Usman in a statement, without giving further details.

"I said wounded, if there is any other development I will let you know," Usman told AFP in a text message.

Usman also said three Boko Haram commanders -- Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman -- were confirmed dead with several others injured.

The claim comes as Kerry visits the country on a two-day trip for talks likely to focus on the fight against Boko Haram and the sputtering economy.

"It is unclear if there is any other confirmation that Shekau himself has died of his wounds, and we should remember that Shekau has been claimed dead on a number of occasions before," Omar Mahmood, a researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told AFP.

"Nonetheless, the announcement comes at an interesting time given the recent leadership rift within the movement and if Shekau is incapacitated as a result that will be a major blow to his faction."

The Nigerian military may be trying to prove the legitimacy of using airstrikes after a video was released earlier this month claiming that some of the 218 kidnapped Chibok girls had died following an aerial attack on Boko Haram camps by government forces.

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"This is the Nigerian military saying that this is a very viable strategy," security analyst Ryan Cummings said.

The mysterious Shekau's fate has been the subject of speculation recently amid claims he had been replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the group's former spokesman.

Barnawi's appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year.

But only a week later, the shadowy Shekau surfaced in a video posted on social media, ridiculing suggestions of his death and looking more composed and energetic than in previous appearances.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose strict Islamic law in Nigeria's mainly-Muslim north, has killed some 20,000 people and forced at least 2.6 million others to flee their homes since 2009.
By David Shepardson

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH said claims it was a knowing participant in Volkswagen's decade-long scheme to evade U.S. anti-pollution laws were "wild and unfounded."

In a filing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco late on Monday, Bosch responded to attorneys who are suing Volkswagen AG on behalf of U.S. owners of the polluting VW diesel vehicles, who had said Bosch was a "knowing and active participant in the scheme.

Bosch makes an engine control unit used by several top automakers including VW. It 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.

The plaintiffs' attorneys said Bosch had worked with Volkswagen to develop a so-called cheat device to circumvent U.S. emissions tests and trick regulators.

The Bosch filing said an initial review of the plaintiffs' documents "indicates that the plaintiffs have made wild and unfounded allegations" that in some cases are based on speculation.

Most of the allegations involving Bosch remain under seal because the documents have been designated as confidential by Volkswagen.

Bosch said it did not oppose making public most of the allegations under seal, except to keep the names and job titles of Bosch employees confidential, citing strict German privacy laws. Bosch said the plaintiffs' complaint cites 38 Bosch employees - in addition to its chief executive, Volkmar Denner, who is a named defendant.

Bosch said the allegations are supposedly based on documents turned over by Volkswagen "but in many cases based only on speculation, and oftentimes directly contradicted by the terms of the documents cited."

Bosch has not been charged with any wrongdoing. 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.

The engine control system for VW's clean diesel engine was customized through years of close collaboration between the carmaker and Bosch, plaintiffs' lawyers said.

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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 a continuing 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 efforts to cheat on U.S. diesel emissions tests.

In June, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates said the VW investigation is looking at "multiple companies and multiple individuals."

Reuters reported last week Volkswagen has held preliminary talks with the U.S. Justice Department to settle a criminal investigation of the emissions cheating case.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bill Trott)
HAMPTON  The Franklin County Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously approved a construction plan for a Dows-based farm to build dual 45,000-capacity chicken confinement buildings.

Tri-B Farms LLC of Dows wants to build two new 45,000-head broiler chicken confinement buildings. The company said the chicken buildings will expand across the road from an existing swine facility with 5,440 market hogs.

The confinements will be located in the 700 block of 100th Street in rural Dows.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources inspected the site Monday afternoon, according to County Environmental Health Director Dan Tilkes.

Basically, everything turned out fine in terms of distances and all the hoops that (the company) have to jump through are done, he said.

Supervisor Michael Nolte was not present at the meeting. There were no comments from the public, according to the meetings minutes.

Efforts to reach company representatives were unsuccessful.

It allows it to market more of our raw projects in a finished form, said Supervisor Gary McVicker. Its a win for an agricultural community like Franklin County.
SAO PAULO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government is considering the creation of a private-sector fund to help subsidize insurance for farmers, potentially cushioning them from possible budget cuts in agricultural aid, newspaper Valor Economico reported on Tuesday.

According to Valor, the proposed fund would bear part of the cost of farming insurance policies, adding that the idea is under discussion between Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi's team, insurers and farming groups.

Efforts to contact the ministry's press staff in Brasilia for comment before working hours were unsuccessful.

The government currently subsidizes up to 55 percent of the cost of farming insurance policies depending on the region or the type of crop, Valor reported.

Maggi, who is also a major soybean farmer, says a greater share of the insurance costs should be borne by private investors, the paper said.

His remarks underscore efforts by interim President Michel Temer's administration to scale back heavy government intervention that led to a record budget deficit and Brazil losing investment-grade credit ratings.

The proposed farming insurance fund resembles one created in Spain, according to Valor. Talks on the project are preliminary and may not yield an accord, Valor said.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef, poultry, soybeans, coffee, eucalyptus pulp, concentrated orange juice and tobacco.

(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal Editing by W Simon)
Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff enters her final battle to win back power on Thursday, when senators open an impeachment trial expected to remove her from office for good.

That would formally end 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America's biggest economy.

During a trial expected to last several days, the former Marxist guerrilla, 68, will take the stand to defend herself against charges that she fiddled state accounts.

She denounces the impeachment drive as a "coup" by her rivals, led by her replacement, former vice president Michel Temer.

"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 told reporters.

But media estimate that most senators will vote to remove her.

"This will be the last chance she has to defend herself. For our part, we will treat her with respect," said one of the senators seeking to impeach Rousseff, Cassio Cunha Lima.

"It will also depend on her attitude. If she is aggressive and provocative, there will be a reaction," he told AFP.

The trial opens on Thursday, August 25, four days after the Olympic Games closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

Rousseff is scheduled to appear in person to defend herself on August 29.

Senate president Renan Calheiros said the final vote would likely take place on August 30.

If two-thirds of the senators vote against her, she will be out.

"Dilma would need a miracle for that not to happen," said political analyst Everaldo Moraes from Brasilia University. "Even her own allies can see that."

- Torture survivor -

Rousseff survived torture in the 1970s under Brazil's military regime. She later beat cancer and became the country's first woman president.

But she was unable to resist the turning of the political tide as she struggled to cope with a recession that hit in 2014 and failed to maintain alliances.

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"She made every kind of mistake that a president can make," said Sergio Praca, an analyst at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

"She failed to keep her campaign promises, didn't pay enough attention to her coalition, ignored her own party and didn't listen to anyone."

Political chaos and scandal have compounded Brazil's recession.

A probe into corruption in the state oil firm Petrobras has implicated Rousseff's rivals and allies. The impeachment, however, is not linked to the scandal.

Instead, she is accused of manipulating the public accounts to hide the size of Brazil's deficit while she was running for re-election in 2014.

"Those who commit crimes must be held responsible for them," Senator Aecio Neves, whom she defeated in that election, said this month.

"The conditions are firmly in place for removing Dilma Rousseff."

He spoke as the Senate voted to hold the trial. It had already approved her temporary suspension in May.

If Rousseff is removed from office, Temer will be president until the next elections in 2018.

His approval ratings are almost as low as Rousseff's. Demonstrations for and against him have broken out and he was booed at the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.

Some analysts say investors are optimistic Temer can strengthen Brazil's giant economy in the medium term. But they warn that he too risks getting caught up in the Petrobras affair.

Temer's opponents complain his pro-business austerity policies will hurt the poor.

He is working to pass public spending limits and pension reforms.

He urged the Senate this month to move quickly to remove Rousseff.

"People need to know who the president is," he said.
Brasilia (AFP) - The lawyer representing Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff is a giant underdog going into her impeachment trial Thursday, but says he is counting on the weight of history to sway senators in her favor.

The landmark case, in which Rousseff's fate and 13 years of leftist rule hang in the balance, has meant a late career shift for her lead attorney, Jose Eduardo Cardozo.

At 57, Cardozo, a former justice minister with a long career in politics, has returned to his first job -- the law.

But he faces an uphill battle.

Political analysts say the Senate is all but certain to vote at the end of the trial to definitively remove Rousseff, who is accused of fudging the national budget. She denies breaking the law and condemns the trial as a "coup" by her opponents.

AFP interviewed Cardozo at the apartment in Brasilia where he has been holed up preparing her defense, at a table piled high with law books and documents.

He spoke about the "complex" case and his strategy to beat the odds and persuade more than one-third of the 81 senators to acquit.

Q: What is your defense strategy?

A: It's clear this case would already be dead if there were a rational, balanced judgment. There's no proof of an impeachable crime. That's a pretext they are using to oust her. Our job is to show that to Brazil and the international community, so people understand what's happening here today: the ouster of a legitimately elected president by illegitimate means.

Q: What will Rousseff's role be?

A: She'll testify as the accused party. She'll speak about how she sees this trial, Brazilian democracy and the inconsistencies in the accusations. Then she'll answer senators' questions.

Regardless of the tone of the questions, whether they're aggressive or not, president Rousseff will conduct herself as head of state, as befits her historic role.

Q: Do you expect legal questions to outweigh political ones?

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A: Impeachment is a legal-political process. Certain legal precepts have to be met. If it's purely political, as it has been so far, there will be an institutional rupture, a government that is born illegitimately, a violation of democracy.

Society has a very crucial role in observing what's happening. The more we unravel the accusations, the clearer it will become what's behind this trial: a farce, a coup.

Q: So the defense will speak directly to Brazilian society?

A: We'll speak to the senators, society and also to history.... That's the only way to show that there's not the slightest basis for this trial. Brazil is a country with a very young democracy, won through great struggle. To injure it in this way.... That's basically the idea behind our defense strategy.

Q: Will you appeal to the Supreme Court?

A: If the president's right to fulfill her mandate is violated, the judiciary can intervene. We don't rule out the possibility of appealing to the courts at any point, including after the vote. The court can annul this whole process, and in fact should have done it already, because there have been many irregularities.

Q: What's it like becoming a lawyer again on a case this big?

A: It's strange that I've returned to the law on a case as complex as this.... The case makes me a little sad... but I'm proud as a lawyer to be on the right side of history.
By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Ser Educacional SA, Brazil's third-largest listed for-profit education company, has hired lawyers to lobby against a merger of two larger rivals, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Ser Educacional hired advisers from law firm Sampaio Ferraz Advogados to try to block the merger, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private.

A source previously told Reuters that Ser planned to use all legal means to ensure that the merger, involving Kroton Educacional and Estacio Participacoes SA, met antitrust rules.

A spokesman for Brazil's CADE antitrust authority said it has yet to be formally notified of the merger.

Shareholders of Kroton and Estacio approved the combination on Aug. 15 and it has been touted as a deal that will create the world's largest education firm by number of students.

Kroton managers said the deal would be submitted to CADE for approval once shareholders gave it the greenlight.

In June, a branch of Brazil's National Bar Association filed a complaint against the deal saying the combined company would have too much market power. A few days later Estacio accepted Kroton's offer valued at about 5.5 billion reais ($1.72 billion), rejecting Ser Educacional's own offer of 590 million reais and a share swap.

Ser, Kroton and Estacio did not immediately return requests for comment. Sampaio Ferraz Advogados did not return a request for comment.

Kroton and Estacio have said previously in securities filings that they were studying proposing potential remedies to win CADE's approval of the deal, including possible asset sales in the distance-learning segment.

($1 = 3.1993 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Ana Mano; editing by Christian Plumb and Tom Brown)
If we are to believe Marine Le Pen, the palm-lined promenades, golden sands, and dazzling sea of the Cote dAzur have become a battlefield this summer, where a fight is being waged for the very soul of France.

Writing on her personal blog last week, Le Pen  the leader of the far-right National Front  voiced her disgust over the presence of the burkini, a full-body swimsuit worn by some Muslim women, on Frances beaches and offered her support to the various towns and resorts that have banned the garment in quick succession over the past few weeks. French beaches are not places where women cover their bodies, Le Pen wrote, adding, nostalgically, The French beaches are those of Bardot and Vadim.

Le Pen was referring to the films of celebrated French director Roger Vadim and his first wife and muse, Brigitte Bardot. Le Pen may have, in particular, been thinking of Vadims iconic 1956 film And God Created Woman, which featured a young, scantily clad Bardot as the sexually charged 18-year-old orphan Juliette. The films official trailer describes it as set in the pagan paradise of the French Riviera, of which the characters make full use, but there is more to this story than a scenic beachside sex romp.

At the time, France was in the midst of a postwar economic boom that saw the rise of mass tourism, bringing many working-class families to beaches for the first time. Club Med  or Club Mediterranee  which would later go on to become a global vacation brand, had just been founded in Paris a few years earlier.

But if life was a beach in the 1950s, just a few years earlier, things had been very different. By invoking French nostalgia for the famous duo and the era they represented  and then linking the burkini to the recent attacks in Nice and Normandy  Le Pen isnt just harking back to a mythical time before covered-up Muslim women ruined the eroticism of the deserted French coastline; she is also playing on deep-rooted national anxieties by offering a reminder that the French beach hasnt always been a place of rest and relaxation. It has also been the site of violence, trauma, and invasion.

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The beach has long been a powerful symbol in France and a repository of French national identity. In addition to filmmakers, the beach has inspired French artists, writers, and philosophers. Famous Frenchmen have even claimed beaches beyond their own borders: Painter Paul Gauguin left his mark on Tahiti, for instance; writer and escaped convict Henri Papillon Charriere did the same for Venezuela and satirical novelist Michel Houellebecq for Thailand. But just what exactly the beach has stood for has shifted over the years and varied with the context of each era.

For centuries, the French coastline stood for vulnerability and exposure  not of bodies, but of the nation. Beaches were liabilities to be defended (although, according to an oft-cited anecdote, Louis XIV complained that he lost more territory to the Italian astronomers he commissioned to map his coastline than he had in foreign wars because of their precise tools and measurements, which revealed French coasts to be smaller than expected). Post-World War II, barbed wire and bunkers scarred the French Atlantic for years, providing an ongoing reminder of the German occupation. Club Med co-founders Gerard Blitz and Gilbert Trigano actually opened their first resorts outside France, on the Spanish island of Majorca and in Salerno, Italy, because they felt the French holidaying population needed above all to be taken somewhere beyond the national horizon, with its reminders of war and everyday life.

In the postwar 1950s and 1960s, however, the French idea of the beach began to transform. The combined power of French cinema and brands like Club Med promoted the beach as a mythical site of hedonistic freedom and sexual transgression. At the same time, the beach was held up as a place of social equality. The 1970s saw the further growth of all-inclusive holiday resorts and the expansion of paid annual vacation, which by 1982 had increased to five weeks and was viewed as a right to be enjoyed by all French citizens rather than a privilege. Club Med began to define itself as a space of anti-capitalist, anti-bourgeois counterculture: Club Med marketing slogans celebrated its resorts as an antidote to civilization, where guests used bar beads to pay for drinks instead of money and were welcomed in arrival ceremonies that encouraged them to shed the trappings of their everyday bourgeois lifestyles. Henri Raymonds 1960 sociological study of a Club Med village de vacances, or vacation village, made note of a common assertion repeated by holidaymakers: There are no social differences when everyone is in a swimming costume.

We can still see traces of these early French attitudes toward beach tourism today in the powerful response elicited by the burkini. It is unlikely that, even in the 1960s, anyone ever wholeheartedly subscribed to the myth that only wearing a pair of trunks or a sarong eliminated all social hierarchy. Nevertheless, there remains a sense today that stripping off at the beach constitutes a personal commitment toward removing the trappings of bourgeois existence. Not only does the burkini remind people of the class, race, and gender tensions back in the city, but those wearing it seem to be refusing to participate in the pretense of social leveling that is supposed to occur through the exposure and vulnerability that stripping down entails.

The problem for those who want to see the burkini gone, then, is not the arrival of the burkini itself on the French beach, but rather the perception that those sporting it are not actively participating in and maintaining existing myths. If the French beach is a place that everyone regardless of status and background can use and enjoy in the same way, then the appearance of the burkini on the beach demands that Frances Muslim population be written into the countrys various existing narratives: Muslim citizens, too, are entitled to a five-week paid vacation, an exodus from Frances cities, and childhood trips to crowded beaches.That French Muslim women might opt to play and swim with their children at the beach rather than hide themselves away in the shadows of Frances deserted cities challenges misconceptions about female agency and Islam. The myopic vision of French society presented to us by people like Le Pen insists that the beach remain a space of unapologetic, dated misogyny and female objectification embodied in the cinema of the 1950s.

Although, for some, the presence of the burkini threatens the fragile equilibrium of a beach culture predicated on bare flesh and secularism, for others, it has sparked welcome debates about whom and what the beach is for. Le Pens allusion to the iconic beach scenes of And God Created Woman conveniently overlooks the deeper plot of Vadims film. The film is actually a story of a changing economic landscape: Bardots sexually voracious Juliette finds herself caught between the shipyard owners and brothers Antoine and Michel Tardieu, whose family represents old French seaside culture, and the wealthy land developer Eric Carradine, who is looking to build a new casino on their strip of beach. It is not without a certain amount of irony that the current leader of the far-right in France has chosen to affirm an image of economic change where fishing and shipbuilding  traditional forms of labor and industry usually championed by Le Pen  must make way for bars, casinos, and the fulfillment of hedonistic sexual desire.

On her blog, Le Pen presented the French beach as a sort of sacred space  a timeless marker of French national identity. But the beach lends itself to national myths precisely because it is a space that is forever changing. It is subject both to erosion and reclamation but also to redevelopment and the arrival and departure of different individuals and groups.

The beach does not have to be a battlefield. Those looking for an antidote to Le Pens ideas about who and what gets to define the French beach would do well to look to another New Wave film director and contemporary of Vadim, Agnes Varda. Her 2008 film The Beaches of Agnes uses the theme of the beach to provide a highly personal retrospective on her life and filmmaking career. Appearing in various imagined, reconstructed, and historical guises, the beach is a site of return and reflection embodied most poignantly in the images of Jacques Demy, her husband, shortly before his death in 1990.

Throughout the film, Varda is present as a fully clothed octogenarian, celebrating the beach as a site of enduring love alongside casual sex, family ties alongside adventure and risk. The beach may be a constant feature in the French cultural imagination, but, as Varda shows us, it can represent difference, change, and love, rather than sameness, exclusion, and hate.

Photo credit: RAYMOND ROIG/AFP/Getty Images/Cocinor/Foreign Policy illustration
Dubai (AFP) - A British-Australian man detained in Dubai last month for highlighting the work of an Afghan refugee charity on social media has been released on bail, a campaign group said Tuesday.

Scott Richards, 41, had been held at a Dubai police station since his arrest on July 28 for allegedly breaching a new law on promoting foreign charities.

UK-based support group Detained in Dubai said in a statement on Facebook that Richards was home with his family in Dubai after being "finally bailed".

"He is home, relieved and recovering with his family, and will later prepare (his) legal defence," group founder Radha Stirling said on Facebook.

The group did not provide any details about bail conditions or potential charges against Richards, who had been denied bail on three previous occasions.

Richards grew up in Adelaide in Australia and then lived in London, before moving to Dubai about eight years ago, according to the campaign group. He is married with two sons aged 14 and three.

He came across the charity during a visit to Afghanistan, where he worked as an economic development policy advisor for the government, according to his brother Brett Richards.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A British man arrested over the killing of a policeman on Indonesia's holiday island Bali says he was involved in a "confrontation" with the officer over his girlfriend's missing purse, but denies killing him, his lawyer said on Tuesday. The body of Wayan Sudarsa, a traffic police official, was found in the early hours of Aug. 17, face-down in the sand on popular Kuta beach, with wounds to his head and neck, according to media reports. David Taylor, 33, and his Australian girlfriend Sarah Connor, 45, were arrested last week over the killing. The pair are suspects in the case, according to police. Under Indonesian law, charges are only laid once the case gets to court. "David maintains that he did not kill the victim, only that he was looking for (his girlfriend's purse)," Taylor's lawyer Haposan Sihombing said. "He approached the victim, checked the victim's pockets and there was a confrontation but David did not hit the victim." However, Connor has told police that she saw Taylor beating the officer as she searched for her purse, according to her lawyer Erwin Siregar. "When she tried to find her lost purse, she saw David sitting on the back of the victim. And as Sarah looked past David and saw that he was beating the victim. Because she only saw him from behind, she didn't clearly see if he used his bare hands or had a tool," Siregar said late on Monday. Taylor, who is a musician with the stage name DJ Nutzo, is scheduled to be questioned by police on Tuesday. Connor's lawyer said she was questioned for nine hours on Monday. Police have said the investigation could take weeks before the case goes to court. (This version of the story corrects spelling of lawyer's name to Sihombing in paragraph 4) (Reporting by Slamet Kurniawan and Reuters stringer in Denpasar; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Michael Perry)
Britney Spears is calling on her fans to help Louisiana residents affected by the the state's devastating flooding.

MusiCares Offering Help to Louisiana Flood Victims

The pop star has teamed with the American Red Cross and fundraising website Crowd Rise to raise money to support flood victims, offering a chance to win her outfit from her performance at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards or a flight to New York to attend the show and meet her in person. Each $10 donation is an entry to win.

Taylor Swift Donating $1M to Louisiana for Flood Relief

Ten days ago deadly flooding hit southeastern Louisiana around Baton Rouge and is being called the worst U.S. disaster since Hurricane Sandy. As of Monday (Aug. 22) morning, according to ABC News, the floods have damaged more than 60,700 homes and 102,000 people have registered for federal assistance. At least 13 people have been killed in the flooding.

Spears grew up in Kentwood, Louisiana, and on Twitter asked her fans to support her home state in this time of need.

I've teamed up with @RedCross and @crowdrise to raise funds for the victims of the horrible flooding in my home state of Louisiana.

- Britney Spears (@britneyspears) August 22, 2016

Every $10 donation is a chance to win the outfit I wear at the MTV VMAs or a trip to meet me in NYC for the show! https://t.co/i8Zla5UPld

- Britney Spears (@britneyspears) August 22, 2016
Indonesian police said Tuesday that a Briton flew into a rage and repeatedly hit a Bali police officer over the head with a beer bottle after accusing him of being a "fake cop".

Traffic policeman Wayan Sudarsa was found dead last week with wounds to his head and neck on a popular beach in the south of the Indonesian resort island.

Briton David Taylor and his Australian girlfriend Sara Connor were arrested and have been named as suspects, a step in the Indonesian legal system meaning investigators believe they have enough evidence to consider filing charges.

Taylor, a DJ, admitted in questioning Monday to having a fight with Sudarsa on the beach after accusing him of stealing Connor's bag. He hit the officer with bottles, binoculars and a phone after being pushed, according to his defence lawyer.

Giving his account of how the fight began, Hadi Purnomo, police chief in the Balinese capital Denpasar, said Taylor had "searched the victim, accused him of being a thief, and called him a fake cop even though he was wearing a uniform".

Taylor got "mad" and they started to fight on the beach, with the Briton repeatedly hitting the policeman's head with a bottle until it broke, Purnomo said.

"David was hitting violently, in a rage, with the bottle," said the police chief.

Connor, a mother from New South Wales, has maintained her innocence, saying she only sought to separate the fighting men.

However Purnomo said Tuesday he believed that she had taken part in the killing.

A day after the policeman's body was found, the couple checked out of their hotel and burned their clothes, the police chief said.

They had initially tried to deny any confrontation with Sudarsa and had offered a series of confusing and contradictory accounts of what had happened, he said.

They could face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of murder.

Bali, a pocket of Hinduism in Muslim-majority Indonesia, is a popular tourist destination known for its tropical climate and palm-fringed beaches.

Petty crime is common but murders are rare.
FOREST CITY  Two of the four 2016 Forest City High School graduates charged with criminal mischief after the school was damaged on graduation day have received deferred judgments and one year of probation.

Pierce August Gelhaus, 18, and Timothy Ryan Thompson, 19, both of Forest City, each were assessed a $625 civil penalty last week for misdemeanor third-degree criminal mischief.

They also were ordered to pay restitution.

Gelhaus and Thompson, along with Joseph Alexander Cronkwright, 18, of Leland, and Blake James Jacobs, 19, of Forest City, entered the high school without permission on May 22 and caused more than $1,470 in damages, according to Winnebago County District Court documents.

All were charged with felony second-degree criminal mischief as well as misdemeanor trespassing. Gelhaus and Thompson pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of third-degree criminal mischief. The trespassing charges were dismissed.

Jacobs and Conkwright are scheduled to be tried Oct. 26.

 Mary Pieper
Burkini bans in France have boosted sales and interest in the full-bodied Islamic swimsuit, particularly from non-Muslim women, the Australian credited with creating the design said Tuesday.

The burkini has sparked huge controversy in France, with bans in 15 towns in the country's southeast amid high tensions following a string of deadly jihadist attacks.

But Australian-Lebanese Aheda Zanetti, who claims the trademark on the name burkini and burqini and created her first swimwear for Muslim women more than a decade ago, said the furore in France has attracted more publicity for her products.

"It's just been so hectic," she told AFP.

"I can tell you that online on Sunday, we received 60 orders -- all of them non-Muslim," the 48-year-old Sydneysider said, adding that she usually received 10 to 12 orders on Sundays.

Zanetti did not have sales figures for the rest of the past week but said she had also received numerous messages of support -- and only one disparaging email -- since the French bans.

They include messages from cancer survivors and other swimmers who use her light-weight, quick-drying two-piece garments as protection from the sun.

There are other Islamic swimsuits but Zanetti has said her designs are the first to be streamlined into two-piece swimwear with a head covering.

"A lot of the correspondence... was that they are survivors of skin cancer and they've always been looking for something like this, saying, 'Thank god we've found someone like this producing such a swimsuit'," she said.

"The support I'm getting is somehow about empowering women... I feel like I've been a counsellor. It's a cry of need that they want to have this enjoyment.

"Women are standing together on this. It doesn't matter what race or religion."

She said the one critical email questioned why Zanetti wanted to cover up women in France, noting "we prefer our women to be naked".

Australia is grappling with a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment after a series of attacks by radicalised youth but the burkini has not attracted strong criticism in a country where people regularly cover up at beaches to protect their skin under the harsh sun.

While there are divisions over the burkini in France, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday dismissed the idea of a ban in his country, saying Canadians should rise above the controversy as he called for the respect of individual rights and choices.
The designer of the burkini said she has seen an increase in sales since several French towns banned women from wearing the Islamic swimwear.

Australian-Lebanese Aheda Zanetti, 48, who resides in Sydney, said the swimsuit  which covers the body and head  is growing in popularity particularly among non-Muslim women, Agence France-Presse reports.

Women are standing together on this. It doesnt matter what race or religion, she said, adding that her orders last Sunday more than tripled. The support Im getting is somehow about empowering women.

The garment is currently at the center of controversy in France, as 15 towns in the countrys southeast have banned the full-body two-piece following a string of deadly attacks linked to Islamic militants.

As far as Zanetti is concerned, the recent media interest in the burkini has only attracted more publicity and the swimsuits are enjoying a growing following among female cancer survivors and other swimmers concerned about sun protection.

A lot of the correspondence  was that they are survivors of skin cancer and theyve always been looking for something like this, saying, Thank god weve found someone like this producing such a swimsuit, she said.

[AFP]
By Rory Carroll SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to extend the state's ambitious program to fight climate change beyond 2020, but minutes later it posted disappointing results from an auction of carbon permits that is key to the plan. California's program to cap emissions and trade carbon permits is a crucial component of a broader effort to reduce the state's output of heat-trapping greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the end of the decade. But it has come under fire from critics who have said the program suffers from a glut of permits, reducing the incentive for businesses to cut emissions and curtailing revenue from a program that funds key low-carbon initiatives such as the state's high-speed rail project. The Assembly voted 42 to 29 on the bill, known as SB 32, which goes back to the Senate for an up-or-down concurrence vote by the end of August. California Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday said he was ready to sign the legislation into law, which would require the state to slash its emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. "Today, the Assembly speaker, most Democrats and one brave Republican passed SB 32, rejecting the brazen deception of the oil lobby and their Trump-inspired allies who deny science and fight every reasonable effort to curb global warming," Brown said in a statement. California sold just a fraction of the carbon permits offered to cover emissions this year, receiving the minimum price at an auction last week, regulators said on Tuesday. Carbon market participants said the weak auction results were an indication that the program is oversupplied with permits and that businesses are uncertain about the program's future, but added that passage of legislation to extend it should raise demand. The California Air Resources Board, which regulates the program, has said unsold allowances and low prices are an indication that emissions reductions are occurring beyond the program's annual targets. But critics cited the results as an indication that the program is not working. "Today's failed results are yet another reminder that this government program is inherently troubled and should be abandoned," Senate Republican Leader Jean Fuller said in an email. The state on Tuesday said it failed to sell any permits offered to cover carbon emissions in 2016 and sold just 660,560 of the 10 million permits it offered to cover emissions in 2019, at the auction floor price of $12.73 a tonne. That money will go into the state's greenhouse gas reduction fund, which funds low-carbon projects. The majority of the allowances the state sold at the August auction were permits consigned to the state by electric utility companies and do not provide revenue for the state fund. The cap and trade program has raised $4 billion through its quarterly auctions since launch in 2013. Last week, Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon unveiled a plan for $1.2 billion in unspent cap-and-trade revenue that gives priority to improving air quality in low-income communities in Los Angeles and the Central Valley. (Reporting by Rory Carroll; editing by Bill Rigby, G Crosse)
By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) - The historic Hearst Castle, a major tourist attraction on California's central coast, will be closed to the public through the week as a safety precaution due to a wildfire in the area that has destroyed more than 30 homes, state officials said on Monday.

The monumental estate, built in the early 20th century for publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, was no longer in immediate danger, but the so-called Chimney Fire had crept within 3 miles (5 km) of the castle over the weekend before shifting direction, authorities said.

The blaze, one of a half-dozen large wildfires currently raging across California, has charred nearly 32,000 acres (12,950 hectares) and destroyed 48 structures, including 34 dwellings, since erupting on Aug. 13 in the rugged coastal mounts of San Luis Obispo County.

Nearly 1,900 structures were listed as threatened and about 2,500 people remained under evacuation orders on Monday.

But crews had carved containment lines around 35 percent of the fire's perimeter, and the blaze was burning mostly toward the northeast, away from the castle and populated areas, said Stacey Nolan, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Nevertheless, the California Parks and Recreation Department said the castle, a state-designated "historical monument" that hosts nearly 800,000 visitors a year, would be kept closed through Aug. 28 "due to the proximity of the wildfire."

Public tours of Hearst's 124-room "vacation home," Casa Grande, were initially suspended on Saturday as flames neared the estate, marking the first major fire threat to the landmark property since the 1960s, parks spokesman Dennis Weber said.

For generations of movie buffs, the castle grounds are significant as the inspiration for the fictional Xanadu estate in the 1941 film classic "Citizen Kane," starring Orson Welles as a self-made mogul and politician loosely based on Hearst.

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California was one of nine Western states contending with a rash of about 30 some blazes that have scorched more than 400,000 acres (162,000 hectares) combined across the drought-parched region.

Emergency officials confronting a cluster of wildfires with limited resources in eastern Washington state enlisted the help of local farmers to help battle flames that have destroyed about two dozen buildings near Spokane, authorities said on Monday.

Three blazes burning largely unchecked around the outskirts of Spokane, the state's second-largest city, had collectively blackened about 13,000 acres (5,260 hectares) of dry brush, grass and timber, with zero percent containment, officials said.

The blazes all erupted on Sunday, stoked by extremely hot, dry weather and gusty winds. Cooler temperatures, rising humidity and diminished winds were expected to help crews gain some ground on Monday, as firefighting reinforcements arrived.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Aug 23 (Reuters) - Rusoro Mining Ltd, a small Canadian gold miner, said on Tuesday it was awarded more than $1.2 billion in damages as a World Bank tribunal ruled that Venezuela had unlawfully seized the company's gold mine.

The company, which had a market value of C$82.6 million ($64 million) as of Monday's close, had in March 2013 filed a statement of claim against Venezuela and was seeking $3.03 billion in compensation over the nationalization of its gold assets in the South American country. (http://reut.rs/2bCOhWa)

Venezuela had unlawfully expropriated Rusoro's investments without paying compensation, according to a ruling on Monday by the Arbitration Tribunal operating under the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

The tribunal ordered Venezuela to pay Rusoro $967.77 million in damages as of the expropriation date of September 2011, plus the interest due till the payment date, along with $3.3 million towards the company's arbitration costs, Rusoro said.

The Vancouver-based company, backed by Russia's Agapov family, had assets of $46,728 as of June 30, including $41,846 in cash.

Venezuela's mining ministry could not be immediately reached for comment. ($1 = C$1.29) (Reporting by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
(Reuters) - Authorities have killed nine bears in three days in a western Canadian city, a conservation officer said on Monday, warning that the death toll will rise if unsecured trash continues to draw the animals into residential areas. Dan Bartol, who helped kill the bears, said the animals were killed last week in the city of Revelstoke, British Columbia, because the bears had wandered too close to humans, with one coming within a few feet (meters) of a toddler in a garage. "I had to make the most difficult decision I had to make in my career, and that's to destroy the exact object I'm working so hard to protect," he said by telephone. Bartol said the majority of residents in the city of 7,000 does not have bear-proof bins, and he is still hearing about bears breaking into people's houses. According to the local Revelstoke Bear Aware group, bears become increasingly active in the summer, and their keen sense of smell allows them to identify potential food sources from considerable distances. The group's website said the city has long had a bear problem, with 23 bears killed in 1995, but in recent years the average annual number had been fewer than seven. The city of Revelstoke was not immediately available for comment. In a information brochure posted online on Monday, the city said its bylaws stipulate garbage containers must be dry, odor-free, with lids and cannot be in a location accessible by wildlife unless left for collection. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Sandra Maler)
CLARION  The Wright County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved some of the final steps in securing a $240 million pork processing plant.

The supervisors unanimously approved a development agreement with Prestage Foods of Iowa and an urban renewal plan, which will allow the county to finance development where Prestage wants to locate.

Development includes constructing wastewater treatment facilities, resurfacing and improving roads and supporting other plant development.

Close to 110 people attended the meeting, with about 40 from Wright and surrounding counties speaking in favor of Prestage during a public hearing. About 12 people from Wright County and outside North Iowa spoke against the plant proposal.

Nicole Woodley, pastor at First Lutheran Church in Clarion, spoke in support of the plant, as did her husband. Speaking about change, Woodley said its an opportunity to welcome new people to the community.

Change is never easy, Woodley said. When change is well thought out, fears begin to dissolve.

Kathy Schnell of Belmond spoke against the agreement and chastised the supervisors.

I feel that youre creating a culture of fear  grow or die, Schnell said.

A Des Moines-based environmental advocacy group said in a statement it wants a moratorium on new or expanding factory farms until the state has fewer than 100 polluted waterways.

Were not against agriculture  were against corporate ags system that traps farmers in a cycle of debt, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement organizer Erica Blair said in the statement. Were against agribusiness that puts their private profits above our communities and above our environment.

We can do better. Its time for big corporations like Prestage, Iowa Select, Monsanto and others to get out of Iowa, she said in the written statement.

Blair also spoke during the public hearing.

Prestage is taking advantage of you, she told the county.

Before the vote, the supervisors took a moment to comment on the project.

I sense tremendous overwhelming public support, Supervisor Stan Watne said, referencing several meetings and the feedback hes received from the public.

Watne said if the county does not try to grow business, population and opportunities, it will continue to shrink.

Karl Helgevold took a moment to thank Economic Development Director Bryce Davis for his work on the development agreement.

There was loud applause from the audience as the supervisors approved the development agreement and urban renewal plan.

The positive outweighs the negatives, Helgevold said after the meeting. We have two years before its built and everybodys working together.

I bet you theres problems we dont even know about right now, but well overcome them, Watne said. Weve got to grow this rural area.

Ron Prestage, a company executive, said in a statement hes pleased the company can move forward with its state-of-the-art plant.

The Mason City Council turned down in May on a tie vote a development agreement for a similar plant proposed by Prestage to be located in Mason City.

We are investing in Iowa and believe it is good for the state, good for agriculture and good for our family-owned and run business, Prestage said.

He said the company has been raising hogs in Iowa for more than a decade, and plans to buy 40 percent of the hogs needed for the Wright County plant from local, independent farmers.

After the meeting, Prestage told the Globe Gazette that he expected the supervisors to vote in favor of the agreement.

Kudos to the Wright County supervisors for doing a very good job of having a healthy, respectful debate in Wright County, he said. We look forward now to proving were going to do what we said we would do and being an asset to this community.

Company founder Bill Prestage said the company felt humbled and honored by the supervisors approval.

This is a great group of people, Bill Prestage said. We hope they feel the same as they do today five years from now.

The next steps are getting the required state and Department of Natural Resource permits. Development Director Davis said the plant is not a sure thing until permits are approved, but passing the county development agreement is a huge step.

Well take this time to prepare for development, to prepare for the growth, Davis said. We have a lot of other businesses were working with.

Prestage COO Jere Null said in a statement the company plans to break ground in early spring 2017, with construction finished by late 2018. The company says it will use Epstein Contractors of Chicago as its architect and general contractor due to its experience building food plants worldwide, but plans to employ a number of Iowa contractors during plant construction.

Prestage announced in July it wanted to locate its $240 million pork processing plant near Highway 17 and 320th Street, about 5 miles south of Eagle Grove. The company says it is committed to running a sustainable operation by placing emphasis on clean air, water quality and energy efficiency.

At full strength, Prestage says it will employ about 1,750, with the average worker earning more than $47,000. The plant will boost Wright County payroll by $43 million, according to the company, and will also provide economic benefits to surrounding counties.

The state economic development board last week awarded Prestage a $11.5 million incentive package, which includes an $8.6 million tax credit and $2.9 million tax refund.
Paris (AFP) - Scottish champions Celtic withstood a furious fightback from Hapoel Beer-Sheva to reach the Champions League group stage on Tuesday despite a 2-0 defeat in Israel, while Porto beat nine-man Roma 3-0 to advance.

Leading 5-2 from last week's first play-off leg in Glasgow, Celtic were made to sweat in the Israeli desert with goals from Ben Sahar and Ovidiu Hoban setting up a nervy finish.

However, Brendan Rodgers' side held on to progress 5-4 on aggregate and qualify for the group stage for the first time in three seasons, with Maharan Radi's first-half penalty miss proving particularly costly for the Israeli champions.

Joining Celtic in Thursday's draw will be two-time former winners Porto after the Portuguese giants punished Roma for their indiscipline in the Italian capital, after the first leg finished 1-1.

Felipe headed Porto into an eighth-minute lead but Roma lost captain Daniele de Rossi to a straight red card before the break after a wild lunge on Maxi Pereira, with Emerson Palmieri dismissed just after half-time following another crude tackle.

Two quick-fire goals from Mexico internationals Miguel Layun and Jesus Corona then rubberstamped Porto's place in the group stage.

A stoppage time penalty from Fabinho handed Monaco a 3-1 aggregate victory over Villarreal, with Legia Warsaw ending the dreams of Irish champions Dundalk as a 1-1 draw sent the Polish club through 3-1 overall.

Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria advanced 4-2 on aggregate over Viktoria Plzen following a 2-2 draw in the Czech Republic.

On Wednesday, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City will look to finish off Steaua Bucharest after a resounding 5-0 victory in Romania last time out.
From Esquire

The Trump campaign's FEC filings became public recently, and they are a treasure trove of extra-special Trumpian delight. For one thing, they identified a number of people working for the campaign who have not yet appeared on cable television to make jackasses of themselves. And, as The Associated Press discovered while spelunking through the social media accounts of several of the passengers on this particular plague ship, they are quite a group.

The AP examined the social media feeds of more than 50 current and former campaign employees who helped propel Trump through the primary elections. The campaign has employed a mix of veteran political operatives and outsiders. Most come across as dedicated, enthusiastic partisans, but at least seven expressed views that were overtly racially charged, supportive of violent actions or broadly hostile to Muslims. A graphic designer for Trump's advance team approvingly posted video of a black man eating fried chicken and criticizing fellow blacks for ignorance, irresponsibility and having too many children. A Trump field organizer in Virginia declared that Muslims were seeking to impose Sharia law in America and that "those who understand Islam for what it is are gearing up for the fight."

This is what "extreme vetting" gets you, I guess.

Phillip Dann, a field organizer in Massachusetts who recently relocated to Florida, was paid $6,153 between January and March. He shared a meme mocking "Muslim sympathizers." He also shared an article about Trump threatening to bring back waterboarding "or worse," and added "where is the gasoline?" Dann told the AP in a phone interview he had no antipathy against Muslims in general. Dann attributed inflammatory comments of other Trump staffers to the fact that the campaign had drawn on people inexperienced in politics. While he has been politically active for decades-originally as a leftist, he said-he described the field staff Trump acquired in the primary as unfamiliar with traditional campaign rules.

Story continues

(Aside-I was a field organizer in 1976 for the Udall campaign, and I can tell you that two grand a month is some sweet cash for that gig.)

[contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related Story" customtitles="Curt Schilling Wants to Challenge Elizabeth Warren" customimages="" content="article.47895"]

No, Phil. "Inexperience" is when the volunteer accidentally burns the storefront down while trying to change the toner in the copier, or when the volunteer accidentally sends an invitation to a campaign pig-roast to nice old ladies who keep kosher. If your campaign is consistently bedeviled by volunteers who publicly express bigotry and who publicly yearn for extra-political violence, that's not "inexperience." That's proof that your campaign's message is really getting through.

Scott Barrish, who earned $12,250 as Trump's political director for the Tampa Bay, Florida, region, took his views beyond social media posts. In 2011, he drew local press coverage for writing to the head of the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group for Muslims in the U.S., saying he was wise to its plans to establish a totalitarian theocracy in the United states. "This is us vs. you," wrote Barrish. "In the great words of the late President Ronald Reagan, 'I win, you lose!'" Separately, Barrish tweeted in 2013 that he hoped America wasn't headed for civil war, but "if our freedoms must be defended against a tyrannical government, so be it." "Those comments at that time were made by me and were my own personal view," Barrish said in a brief interview with AP. He said he stopped working for Trump's campaign after the Florida primary. "I don't want to detract anything from the campaign." Barrish separately complained to editors at AP about its review of publicly accessible material on Trump employees' social media accounts, saying "the liberal media, yellow journalists are really grasping at straws with their ad hominem circumstantial logical fallacies!"

I think if you read that last part with a drum machine backing you up, you might have a hit record on your hands.

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Canada-based global information technology company CGI Group Inc.s GIB subsidiary, CGI Federal Inc., recently announced that CONNECT Gateway has been certified for use in the eHealth Exchange program of non-profit organization, The Sequoia Project.

CGI Federal, in collaboration with U.S. Federal Health Architecture ("FHA"), has been developing CONNECT since 2010. It is an open-source platform that has earned a solid reputation for providing secured exchange of health information for more than 2000 organizations in the U.S. It also helps clients to enjoy benefits like program management, development, end-user support & training and so on.

The Sequoia Project manages eHealth Exchange  one of the most prominent health information exchange networks in the country. Safe operation of eHealth Exchange necessitates secure and interoperable exchange of health information, thanks to CONNECT, which is ideal for the job. eHealth Exchange helps in connecting over 100 million patients through both the U.S. federal agencies and non-federal organizations, including over 40% of hospitals.

CGI GRP INC -A Price

CGI GRP INC -A Price | CGI GRP INC -A Quote

CONNECTs certification highlights its ability to comply with industry standards and provide secure health exchange information in a cost-effective manner. We believe that obtaining this certification is a major step forward for CGI Federal in supporting national health IT standards in the federal health domain. CGI Federal long-term growth strategy involves collaborating with federal agencies to foster development of state-of-the-art technology for defense, civilian, healthcare and intelligence missions.

However, of late, CGI Federals business has been hurt by lackluster performance in defense business. This apart, weaknesses in some end markets including Eastern, Central and Southern Europe are weighing on the CGI Groups financials. Especially, ongoing industry-wide challenges in Germany, stemming from the Dutch public sector, are increasing CGI Groups challenges.

CGI Group currently holds Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks include CSG Systems International, Inc. CSGS, Ebix Inc. EBIX and Forrester Research, Inc. FORR. All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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As per data provided by the Vertical System Groups Mid-Year 2016 U.S. Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard, Charter Communications Inc. CHTR has surpassed Verizon as the third largest Ethernet carrier in the U.S. The ranking is based upon the retail port share of each provider.

Notably, Charter is believed to have gained considerable synergy from its recent horizontally integrated merger with previously Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. AT&T Inc. T and Level 3 Communications Inc. LVLT still occupy the top two positions per the report.

A Significant Jump

At the end of 2015, Charter lacked the necessary retail port share i.e. greater than 4% to be listed in the leaderboard. However, Time Warner Cable was ranked fifth at that point of time. But after the recent mergers, Charter has gained access to a large base of fiber and hybrid fiber coax footprint. This has been instrumental in providing Ethernet service to many small and medium scale businesses (SMB).

Additionally, Charter can leverage Time Warner Cables Ethernet footprint to provide services to large business enterprises as well. Charter saw an uptick in SMB related businesses in the second quarter of 2016.

Verizon Falls Behind

In recent times, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ has witnessed declining Ethernet Cable orders, with its customers opting for a switch to cable multi-service operators (MSO) for the purpose. Additionally, Verizon sold its wireline assets in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier Communications Inc. This is likely to have impacted the figures considered for the ranking. However, Verizon is slated to introduce its Titan Ethernet program through which it intends to price its Ethernet cable offering aggressively to entice wholesale as well as retail customers and control churn.

At present, Verizons fiber presence is restricted to certain locations. However, with the completion of the acquisition of XO Communications fiber network next year, Verizon will look to intensify its Ethernet penetration in the future, thereby leveraging its Ethernet service offerings. This can take Verizon back to the lost position and even challenge the incumbent leaders, going forward.

Story continues

The Bottom Line

The spotlight is now on the Ethernet market, with both telecom operators and cable MSOs vying for a reasonable share. As the industry gains further accretion, expanding its scope and makes way for higher Internet speeds, increasing competition is likely to induce price compression in the future. However, one thing is for sure - SMBs are going to be the ultimate beneficiaries of such a competition.

CHARTER COMM-A Price

CHARTER COMM-A Price | CHARTER COMM-A Quote

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American Airlines

If you are planning any trips, today is the day to book your flight.

August 23 is called "Cheap Flight Day." It's the day most airlines drop the prices on flights because it marks the start of the fall season where kids have already flown back to school and the rush to book vacations dies off, Brian Ek, a travel analyst at Priceline, told Go BankingRates.

Several airlines have deals for Cheap Flight Day, they include: American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Delta Airlines, Emirates International, Fiji Airways, JetBlue, Norwegian Air, Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines, and Virgin America.

Deals include the ability to fly from Miami to Turks and Caicos Islands for as low as $68 one way on American Airlines, and the ability to fly from New York to Bangkok, Thailand for as low as $682 for a round-trip ticket on Qatar Airways.

These deals, though, are only available for a short window of time, which lasts from now to about November when airline travel picks back up for the holiday season.

To save even more money on "Cheap Flight Day," remember to try other travel hacks as well, like keeping your dates flexible and traveling during off-hours, like early in the morning or late at night.

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True romance is worth the wait!



For Josh Schmitz, giving his girlfriend Danielle Roesch a memorable proposal meant spending a year planning and preparing to get down on one knee.



The Chicago couple met in 2014 on Tinder and by the next year, Schmitz knew he wanted Roesch to be his wife, but was determined to come up with a special way to ask, reports NBC Chicago.







After thinking it over, the heavy equipment manager reportedly decided to use their weekly method of communication  writing notes.



Schmitz, 29, told the network that the pair doesn't see each other often during the week because of their opposite work schedules, so every morning when he left at 4:45 a.m. he would leave Roesch, 29, a note. When he returned home, there would be a note from Roesch waiting for Schmitz.





Chicago Man Spends an Entire Year Planning Romantic Proposal for His Girlfriend| Engagements, Real People Stories, The Daily Smile



"It's always something to look forward to and it's a part of our routine," he told NBC Chicago. "I wanted to be able to show her how much I cared about her every day and I wanted to be able to incorporate work into it too because I spend a lot of time at work."



Those things in mind, Schmitz came up with the idea to record a video featuring himself and a written note every day over the course of a year. The video, shared on YouTube, shows Schmitz at work, during travel and in the couple's apartment holding a white board that has a different message written on it in every clip beginning August 19, 2015.



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"The first month making it was like, 'Okay, this is pretty fun' and then it turned into 'Wow, I've got 11 more months. That's a long time,' but I stuck with it," he added.



Once the video was finished, Schmitz reportedly had a friend of Roesch's to put together a mock corporate event, at which he played the video for Roesch.









At the end of the 21-minute mini-movie, Schmitz asks his girlfriend to meet him at the lake, where he proposed, reportedly holding another sign that read, "Will you be my wife?" Roesch had two check box options, yes or no. On Augusts 19, she said yes.



"To see the look on her face of that surprise and you could just tell, she's known how much I love her but I think it really soaked in," he told NBC Chicago. "It's the first and hopefully the last time I'd want to see my girlfriend cry at something."
By Chen Aizhu and Meng Meng

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's crackdown on alleged tax evasion in the oil industry will target independent refineries and follows complaints by state energy giants, in the first major sign of growing tensions between established players and their upstart rivals.

In a statement on Tuesday, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said it will ban crude imports for up to a year or, in certain cases, cancel import licenses for any companies found guilty of tax fraud.

It did not give any further details, identify which companies it was targeting or provide the reason for the announcement.

But industry sources in China familiar with the matter say the government launched an investigation earlier this year into complaints by government-owned firms that the nation's independent refiners, known as teapots, are not paying enough sales taxes.

Officials from the NDRC and the State Administration of Taxation have visited some teapots, they said.

"(The probe) was triggered by strong complaints from state oil companies that local refineries were paying much less fuel tax compared to them," said a senior official with the China Petroleum & Chemical Industry Federation, a semi-official agency. He declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Inspectors from the NDRC are also looking into allegations that refineries with import licenses are selling foreign crude oil to companies without, breaking rules set by Beijing when it started granting the quotas a year ago, according to four industry officials with knowledge of the inspections.

The complaints illustrate how the rapid rise of the teapots, which are mainly privately owned and nimbler than their state-run rivals, like Sinopec and PetroChina, has roiled the domestic industry since Beijing granted the import permits a year ago.

Any steps to curb their imports would be a major blow to this small but fast-expanding group, which have grabbed a growing slice of the domestic market by selling diesel and gasoline at discounts to state-run majors, and forcing them in turn to sell their excess into a saturated global market.

Story continues

"Previously, state refiners have been (turning) a blind eye on teapots, because they are not a big enough threat. Now things have changed. Big SOEs are quite sensitive over teapots' business practices," Lin Boqiang, energy researcher with Xiamen University.

When asked about the probe last week, Sinopec spokesman Lu Dapeng said he had no knowledge of the government's inspections, and would not comment further.

BREWING

Rancor over taxes has been brewing for months, according to local media reports and traders.

Before they had access to foreign crude, teapots mainly refined fuel oil and whatever excess crude they could pick up from the state-owned players.

"A (teapot) plant of five million tonnes of annual capacity pays less than half of that of a state-owned refinery," Li Tianshu, a PetroChina refinery manager was quoted as saying by the 21st Century Business Herald in July.

"Competition from teapots forced us to lower operations, they are now the biggest challenge to our profitability," the paper cited a second state refinery official as saying.

In an apparent response to growing criticism, Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group, the country's largest teapot operator, last week said via a social media post that it paid a record amount of taxes totaling nearly 1.28 billion yuan ($193 million) between January and April to the government of Heze, where it is headquartered.

That's nearly 40 percent of total tax revenue for the city of 9.6 million people, it said on wechat.

An executive with a leading teapot refiner said independents were paying lower taxes because many were configured to treat heavier crude oil that yields a smaller amount of gasoline and diesel versus more sophisticated plants.

Many produce heavier products like bitumen that are not subject to consumption levies, he added.

($1 = 6.6423 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Additional reporting by Florence Tan in SINGAPORE; Editing by Josephine Mason and Christian Schmollinger)
A top Shanghai official Tuesday defended his controversial visit to Taiwan as "open and transparent" as protesters burnt his photo and accused him of promoting the island's unification with China.

Sha Hailin, a standing committee member of the Communist Party in the city and head of the United Front Work Department there, arrived on Monday for a forum on municipal exchanges.

He is the highest-level mainlander to visit since cross-strait ties worsened under Taiwan's new government.

"Expel Sha Hailin!" about 100 angry protesters shouted outside a hotel in Taipei where the forum is taking place, tearing down and burning photos of Sha and Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je.

Protesters had also rallied at an airport and other locations Sha visited Monday, shouting slogans against communism and for independence for Taiwan.

"For my visit... there is no 'secret deal' as some people claim. Everything is open and transparent," Sha said in response to the protests.

"The journey for peaceful development, mutual understanding, respect and cooperation between the two sides will not be smooth sailing."

Relations with China have grown increasing frosty since Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the island's presidency in January. Beijing is highly suspicious of Tsai because her party is traditionally pro-independence, and has warned her against any attempt at a formal breakaway.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office announced it had suspended official contacts with Taipei after Tsai's government, which took office in May, failed publicly to accept the "one China" principle which governed relations under her predecessor.

Sha reiterated that "one China" was the basis for major progress in ties under Taiwan's previous Kuomintang government. He praised Mayor Ko for "openly expressing his understanding and respect" of it.

Taiwan has been self-ruling since splitting with the mainland in 1949 following a civil war but has never declared independence. Beijing still sees it as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
Chipotle

Chipotle has been banned from punishing employees for their social-media activity.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled last week that the company's social-media policy, which prohibits employees from disparaging the company publicly online, violates federal labor law, Eater reports.

The NLRB has ordered Chipotle to get rid of the policy, as well as terminate a number of other policies, including one that restricts employees from circulating petitions for better working conditions and another that prohibits employees from discussing politics and religion.

Chipotle has been ordered to post signs at its restaurants noting that the policies were illegal.

The social-media rule in particular banned employees from "posting incomplete, confidential, or inaccurate information and making disparaging, false, or misleading statements," according to the NLRB ruling.

The NLRB issued the order in response to Chipotle's 2015 firing of James Kennedy, a Philadelphia-area restaurant employee, who circulated a petition claiming that workers weren't able to take breaks just before he was fired. Two weeks before circulating the petition, Kennedy was reprimanded by Chipotle management for a tweet about the company's wages.

He wrote: "@ChipotleTweets, nothing is free, only cheap #labor. Crew members make only $8.50hr how much is that steak bowl really?"

Kennedy later removed the tweet at the request of a supervisor.

An administrative judge ruled in March that Chipotle must offer to rehire Kennedy and pay him for lost wages.

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Ciara and Russell Wilson on their wedding day at a castle in England. (Photo: @ciara/Instagram)

It seems only fitting that Ciara, whose middle name is Princess, would always dream of getting married in a castle. Well, the singer did just that when she wed Russell Wilson in July  but the couple actually originally envisioned tying the knot in North Carolina. In fact, their wedding planner, Mindy Weiss, recently told The Knot she had to plan the event three different times.

They were first getting married in North Carolina, but they called it off due to the transgender bathroom laws, Weiss said, referring to the states House Bill 2, which has prompted a boycott of the state. (They also tried Paris, but Couture Fashion Week got in the way of that.)

Before the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality last year, there were several celebrities who put their weddings on hold until their gay friends could wed everywhere, but this is the first weve heard of someone changing their destination entirely for political reasons.

Truthfully, I havent heard too many stories of couples changing their wedding location because of strong objections, Kellee Khalil, founder and CEO of the wedding planning app and site Loverly, tells Yahoo Style. But I totally get it, especially with some of the most recent political puzzles.

If you find yourself facing a moral dilemma such as Ciara and Russell Wilsons, chances are you wont be able to blow thousands of dollars in deposits on a moments notice, so this is a decision to be made carefully.

Youll most likely need to make your decision by a certain date or be at risk for losing hefty (sometimes nonrefundable) deposits, Khalil says. My biggest advice is to reach out to all of your vendors and make your grievances transparent from the get-go. Vendors are people too, and even though money is at stake  [they] might cut you a break or make special concessions.

If you decide to change your weddings location and the invitations have already gone out, be sure to send out a correction card, or communicate via phone or email if youre cutting it close. You dont necessarily have to explain your decision to guests, Khalil explains.

Story continues

That said, if youre really passionate about changing the circumstances of your special day and want to have your guests understand, then I would totally open up about it, she adds. Surely youll have plenty of curious close friends and family who will want to know the scoop!

Another option that wont risk the loss of deposits or require guests to scramble to change their travel plans is to contribute money to the cause youre passionate about. This is along the lines of what Cyndi Lauper and Louis C.K. recently did in North Carolina; instead of canceling their shows  like Maroon 5, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Demi Lovato, and others  they donated proceeds to the LGBT advocacy group Equality North Carolina.

Regardless of where its taking place, you can make a political statement at your wedding if thats your style. One popular small gesture is to replace traditional wedding favors with cards informing guests that youve made charitable donations in their names. Asking for donations in lieu of gifts is also becoming more common.

There is always a fine line between having a passion and making a statement and going too overboard with pressing your personal agendas, Khalil says. However, I think and encourage couples to incorporate their beliefs into their special day. Thats what modern wedding planning is all about  breaking the rules!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.


Picking up stocks for ones portfolio is the key to success or breakdown. Success in the sense that it wins you great portfolio returns and its a breakdown as it may erode your moneys worth. Thus, investors exercise great caution when adding a stock to their portfolio.

Here we bring you Citi Trends Inc. CTRN, a stock that seems to hold promise for the future as its stock price has picked up nearly 24% in the past three months. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock is also seeing upward movement in the Zacks Consensus Estimate following last weeks second-quarter fiscal 2016 results.



Whats Driving the Stock Up?



Citi Trends bounced back in second-quarter fiscal 2016 with narrower-than-expected loss per share and sales beat. While the company reported loss per share of 1 cent for the fiscal second quarter, Citi Trends reverted to posting positive surprises after missing estimates for three straight quarters. Further, sales inched up 0.9% year over year to $155.3 million and also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $153 million.

CITI TRENDS INC Price and Consensus

CITI TRENDS INC Price and Consensus | CITI TRENDS INC Quote

Though comparable store sales (comps) for the quarter were a soft spot, being down 1%, the company remains encouraged by its comps performance so far in fiscal third quarter backed by solid inventory position. Also, the company expects robust sales in the fiscal third quarter with persistent improvement in its home business mix and improvements to apparel variety.



The Zacks Consensus Estimates for fiscal 2016 has trended up 8.7% to $1.00 per share, while the estimate for fiscal 2017 rose by a marginal 0.8% to $1.30 per share.



Further, we believe Citi Trends should continue to gain from progress on strategic initiatives like better utilization of floor area, improvisation of merchandise margins and inventory management. The companys strong balance sheet and cash flow generation ability, which highlight its commitment toward shareholders, also bode well.



Stocks that Warrant a Look



Other well-ranked stocks in the same industry include The Children's Place, Inc.PLCE, with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and L Brands Inc.LB and American Eagle Outfitters Inc.AEO, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2.



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By Jon Herskovitz

(Reuters) - Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday accusing a small Arkansas city of running what they said amounted to a modern day debtors prison where a local court imposed inordinate fees on the poor and jailed them if they did not pay.

The groups, including the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the American Civil Liberties Union, said the city of Sherwood, with a population of about 30,000 people, generated some $12 million over the past five years through the system, which the lawsuit claimed is illegal and targets African-American residents.

A lawyer for the city and a municipal court judge, named as a defendant, did not respond to requests for comment.

The ACLU said what is going on in Sherwood, a suburb of Little Rock, is being repeated by numerous localities across the country who impose what the group sees as unlawful court fees to fill municipal coffers.

In Sherwood, there is a "hot check" court where local officials can leverage a check with insufficient funds written for $15 into several thousand of dollars in court fees and fines enforced with jail for those who do not pay, the lawsuit said.

"These costs are often borne by the poorest and most disadvantaged citizens in the community ... who find themselves in a never-ending cycle of court proceedings they do not understand, arrests they cannot avoid (and) payments they cannot afford," the lawsuit said.

One of the plaintiffs in the suit filed in federal court in Arkansas wrote a check for $28.93 in 2011 that was returned for insufficient funds. The woman was arrested seven times as a result of the returned check and is currently in a county jail for failure to pay $2,656.93 in court costs.

The lawsuit claims these practices violate U.S. civil rights law and the Constitution.

The Sherwood District Court said on its website its hot check division issues over 35,000 warrants a year related to bad checks and can "boast an 85 percent collection rate for all cases handled."

Last March, the U.S. Justice Department said it would issue federal guidelines for municipalities on the issue after finding the city of Ferguson, Missouri - the St. Louis suburb convulsed in 2014 by a white policeman's fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen - made widespread use of the practice.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alan Crosby)
From Esquire

One of the most remarkable places I have visited in the course of business was Shishmaref, a small Native village on a barrier island in the Chukchi Sea in arctic Alaska. Because of complications due to climate change, Shishmaref is gradually being devoured by the Chukchi Sea. The island is eroding because the permafrost that was its fundamental foundation is disappearing and because the ocean doesn't freeze as long and as hard as it used to freeze.

Since the Chukchi Sea is where typhoons eventually go to die, and since they no longer can beat themselves to death over deep sea ice, the storms regularly tear great chunks out of the island. Houses have collapsed. You can see the legacy of the ongoing losing battle against the winds and tides in the hunks of the previous seawalls that are strewn around the rocky beach.

People have been living in Shishmaref for over 400 years. On Friday, the residents of Shishmaref voted (again) to abandon their village rather than try to save it from the merciless pounding that doesn't seem to promise to get better any time soon. The Alaska Dispatch News covered the balloting.

The vote is significant, said Sally Russell Cox, a state planner who is working with Shishmaref and other communities at risk of being lost as their land crumbles away. "It is the community's expression of what they want to do," Cox said. "If they want to start moving forward with agency support on relocation, the vote is really what triggers that support." Relocations cost millions of dollars but the project can be broken into stages completed over time, as the village of Newtok is doing. The vote wasn't overwhelming but it appears voters on both sides of the issue recognize the village is eroding, even those who opted to protect what they have, Barr said. In October 1997, a big storm gobbled up more than 30 feet of the island's north shore. Fourteen homes and the National Guard Armory had to be moved, and five more homes were relocated in 2002, according to the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs. The island is only 4 miles long and some parts are just one-quarter mile wide, Barr said. Ten to 30 feet of shore are being washed out a year and the village eventually will have to move, she said.

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I spent a week there, talking to as many people as I could. The older folks told me about growing up as subsistence hunters, tracking musk ox on land and spending long weeks out on the ice, catching seals and fish and ducking the occasional polar bear. They joked with me about using what they called "the Eskimo freezer," burying their meat in the permafrost, which acted like a natural refrigeration unit. This is another thing that climate change has cost them. The younger kids showed me how they carved things out of whatever bones were still available to them. At the end of my stay, I won $150 in the weekly Bingo night at the town center, which was set far enough back from the ocean that it hadn't been swallowed yet.

Photo credit: Gabriel Bouys/Getty

Nobody in Shishmaref is a climate denialist. In fact, the people I talked to were amazed that the simple scientific fact of climate change even was a matter for debate anywhere in the lower 48. They have reckoned, of course, without The Daily Caller, the wizened oak tree on which Tucker Carlson has hung the entrails of a once-promising career.

TDC would like you to know that the fault lies in 150 years of big government meddling and, its voice dropping to a whisper, in a sense of dependency fostered in the locals, who now expect Uncle Sugar to bail them out. Go hunt a seal on the ice and come back and talk to me. (Did you know that Shishmaref wasn't even an Alaskan name? Burn!) And, as the good folks at DeSmog Blog tell us, Dan Kish and the Institute for Energy Research, also cited in the piece, are fronts for the usual suspects in the extraction industries. (The Institute was founded by a former Enron executive, which is still a golden line on a resume in some corporate circles, primarily to lobby against investments in green energy.)

As we have more and more climate refugees, I will guarantee you that this will become the conservative response to them: Why'd you ever live there in the first place, and the money's simply not there. People will be told to sink or swim who cannot afford to do either one.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

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Washington (AFP) - White House hopeful Hillary Clinton suggested that rival Donald Trump could be an unpredictable adversary in upcoming presidential debates, saying she is girding for "wacky stuff."

With the first debate scheduled to take place a month from now near New York, Clinton joked about what to expect from her unorthodox opponent.

"You've got to be prepared for wacky stuff. I'm planning on drawing off my experiences from elementary school," she said on late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Trump has suggested he might not attend all of the three scheduled debates.

But he is trailing badly in the polls and the highly watched events offer a much-needed chance to break through with undecided voters.

For a first-time debater, this cauldron of presidential political theater could present a daunting challenge.

Trump has thrown a series of barbs at Clinton, describing her as "crooked" and making opaque suggestions lately that she has unspecified health problems.

Host Kimmel asked Clinton to open a jar of pickles to show she was in good health and also took her pulse as she brushed off a scandal over emails sent from a private server when she was secretary of state.

After Clinton told Kimmel that she used FaceTime video phone calls to visit with her grandchildren, he teasingly demanded whether she had ever considered using FaceTime instead of email.

Clinton also hit back at Trump's highly contested assertion that she and President Barack Obama created the so-called Islamic State extremist group.

"Who would have guessed this audience would be so enthusiastic about the cofounder of ISIS?" Kimmel asked, after a rousing welcome for Clinton from the crowd.

Clinton responded that she thought "when Trump talks the way he talks, it actually helps the terrorists."

"I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe," she said.

"I have to sort of step into the alternative reality and, you know, answer questions about am I alive?" she said incredulously, referring to the health rumors.
New York (AFP) - On the skids in the polls and under fire for not releasing his tax returns, Donald Trump's campaign is sharpening a new attack on Hillary Clinton: claiming she is not healthy enough to serve as president.

The Internet is awash with conspiracy theories claiming that she may have a brain tumor, Parkinson's or dementia, or complaining that she has "seizure-like facial expressions" or allegedly twitches.

Trump, who at 70 is 16 months older than his Democratic adversary, his spokespeople and surrogates have used innuendo and fabrication to peddle their theories that she is not physically or mentally fit.

"#WheresHillary? Sleeping!!!!!" he tweeted over the weekend.

Last week, he told voters in Iowa that Clinton was "not strong enough to be president."

On another occasion, he maintained that she "importantly also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS, and all of the many adversaries we face."

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump supporter, stepped up the attack on Monday, telling Fox News that Clinton was "tired" and "looked sick." Over the weekend, he came under fire for telling viewers to google Clinton's health.

"Go online and put down 'Hillary Clinton illness,' take a look at the videos for yourself," he said on Fox News.

Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who is not a doctor, last week diagnosed Clinton with dysphasia, a disorder that impairs speech and comprehension, and pushed conspiracy theories about her health promoted by some conservatives.

Team Clinton vehemently denies any health concerns, and released a letter from her doctor in July 2015 giving her an "excellent" bill of health.

But the root of the conspiracy theories lies in 2012, when Clinton was nearing the end of her stint as secretary of state and a stomach virus and dehydration prompted her to faint, causing what her doctor said was a concussion.

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They said they found a blood clot on the brain and Clinton complained of double vision. She appeared in spectacles featuring a prism when testifying before Congress on Benghazi in January 2013.

But she was later given the all-clear. Her test results were normal, and her cancer screening evaluations all negative, said a letter released by her physician Lisa Bardack last year.

- Gender overtones -

Health is a legitimate subject of debate in presidential elections -- Americans want to know that the person they are going to elect to one of the toughest jobs in the planet is up to the task both mentally and physically.

But history is also peppered with coverups. The public had no idea John F. Kennedy had Addison's disease. The severity of Woodrow Wilson's stroke was concealed in 1919, as were concerns about Franklin D. Roosevelt's health before his fourth re-election -- just months before he died in 1945.

Ironically enough, Trump would be the oldest person ever elected US president if he wins. Clinton would be the second oldest after Ronald Reagan.

In 2008, then aged 71, Republican nominee and cancer survivor John McCain released more than 1,500 pages of medical history in a bid to lay to rest suggestions that he was either too old or too unhealthy to serve as president.

Jeanne Zaino, professor of political science at Iona College in New York, says Clinton may follow suit in releasing more medical records or have her doctor continue to reiterate her good health.

"I'm not sure it's going to hurt her but it does allow them (the Trump campaign) to come up with a counter to his tax issue," she told AFP.

What is clear is that running for president is grueling. Journalists trailing in Clinton's wake endure punishing schedules and little sleep.

The 68-year-old grandmother of two looks remarkably fresh faced and distinctly more robust than her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who underwent heart bypass surgery in 2004.

If Trump overplays the health card, it could backfire among women voters, who already have a very low opinion of the Republican nominee.

"Stamina, the word he keeps using, has gender overtones," Zaino said.

"To act as if this is a weak, frail woman who doesn't have the ability, the evidence suggests otherwise, and the same thing with him," she said.

"If you look objectively, it's hard to make the case that either one of them are suffering from lack of stamina."
(Adds details, CME quote)

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - CME Group Inc urgently suspended a futures trader from its markets for spoofing on Monday, the exchange operator said, the latest regulatory action over the manipulative trading practice.

The company, which owns Comex, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and other markets, barred Andrey Sakharov from trading for 60 days and could extend his ban, according to a disciplinary notice.

Contact information for Sakharov could not immediately be found.

CME suspended him based on "a good faith determination that there are substantial reasons to believe that such immediate action is necessary to protect the best interests of the exchange," the disciplinary notice said.

On multiple dates starting last month, Sakharov entered electronic orders in CME's gold and natural gas markets that he did not intend to trade, the disciplinary notice said.

The practice of placing bids to buy or offers to sell contracts with the intent to cancel them before execution is known as spoofing and is illegal. It is used to create an illusion of demand in markets, so that spoofers can influence prices to benefit their market positions.

Sakharov repeatedly placed large and small orders on opposite sides of the August 2016 gold and natural gas futures markets while improperly using an account in someone else's name, CME said. Less than 100 milliseconds later, he generally canceled the large orders and the small orders were filled, according to the notice.

Sakharov also entered trades for at least four other accounts held in other people's names, the notice said.

He told a trading firm that while "he wanted to have individual access to these accounts, as well as future accounts he planned on opening with the firm, he did not want to be officially associated with the accounts since he was concerned that he may be banned from trading," the notice said.

The trading firm, which was not named, told CME that an account Sakharov used "was reported to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission following suspicions of money laundering," the notice said.

Story continues

In an unrelated case that began last year, two metals traders that CME suspended for spoofing through the same process used to discipline Sakharov were eventually banned permanently from U.S. trading.

Last month, a U.S. judge sentenced trader Michael Coscia to three years in prison for spoofing on futures markets run by CME and rival Intercontinental Exchange Inc. He was the first person criminally convicted of spoofing.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)
(Reuters) - Cobalt International Energy Inc (CIE.N) said the proposed $1.75 billion sale of a 40 percent stake in two offshore oil blocks in Angola to the state oil company was terminated as it did not get the necessary approvals from the country's government.

The deal was automatically terminated after the Angolan government did not give the approvals within one year, Cobalt said on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/2bCsPk2)

The oil and gas producer announced in August last year the sale of its 40 percent stake in the fields to Angola's Sonangol, which holds the remaining stake.

But, three weeks back Cobalt warned that it was unlikely to close the deal.

Cobalt said on Tuesday it has begun the marketing and sale process of the assets.

The company's shares had tumbled more than 40 percent on Aug. 2 when the company first said that the deal was unlikely to close. Since then the stock has pared most of it's losses through Monday's close.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
College students and their parents probably don't spend much time worrying about identity theft when they think about navigating the minefields of university life. But as students head back to school this fall, they should take precautions to prevent their identities from being stolen.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were 490,000 complaints about identity theft filed in 2015a 49 percent increase over the prior year. Households headed by individuals aged 18 to 24 were far more likely to experience identity theft.

An even more disturbing report from Javelin Strategy and Research found that 22 percent of students in 2014 were notified that they had been a victim of identity theft fraud after they were denied credit or contacted by a debt collector. Thats three times higher than average fraud victims. Moreover, students were four times more likely to be taken advantage of by someone they know compared with other consumers, according to the market researcher.

Identity thieves use a variety of low- and high-tech strategies to steal a student's personal information. They range from "shoulder surfing," in which a criminal looks over a victim's shoulder to see his ATM personal identification number to sending out bogus credit card offers that ask for detailed information.

Take Precautions

Guard your numbers. Personal information that could be used by fraudsters such as Social Security numbers, ATM codes, and computer passcodes should only be given to people on a need-to-know basis and to as few people as possible. Never carry your Social Security card and driver's license together and never lend an ATM or credit card to anyone.



Be careful sending important documents by mail. Don't send important documents to dormitories and off-campus apartments where mail might not be secure.



Avoid pubic WiFi. Dont pay bills on public computers in libraries and try not to use public WiFi connections which may not be secure.

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Be savvy on social media. Many students are so comfortable sharing their lives on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and SnapChat that they give away too much information too easily. Meredith Krisher, Security/Process Improvement Manager with the Ohio State's Student Life Technology Services, notes that fraudsters can mine social media posts for information that could help them get past account security questions on various sites.

"Trusting, oversharing, and not adequately protecting access to their electronic devices are probably the most common mistakes that students make with regards to disseminating their personal information on social media," says Krisher.





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(Repeats Aug. 22 item. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)

By Andy Home

LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Hope springs eternal in Cornwall when it comes to reviving tin mining in this southwestern corner of the United Kingdom.

Canada's Strongbow Exploration is the latest to try to rekindle the dying embers of what once was one of the world's largest tin-mining hubs.

It has just bought out of administration the South Crofty mine, which was the last Cornish tin mine to close in 1998.

Many others have tried and failed to get South Crofty producing again.

There is still plenty of tin in the area, albeit submerged beneath the water that has flooded the mine since closure.

The real issue is price.

Low prices laid the Cornish tin industry low in the 1990s. And although the current London Metal Exchange (LME) tin price of around $18,500 a tonne is much higher than back then, it is a far cry from the peak of $33,600 recorded in 2011.

The price slide in the intervening five years derives in part from the same sort of supply shock that sent prices spiralling in the early 1990s.

Then it was the surprise emergence of a new mega-mine in Brazil. Today it is the equally unexpected impact of a huge, new tin-mining area in Myanmar.

BRAZIL THEN...

No one knew there was tin at what became the Bom Futuro mine in Brazil until a chance discovery by loggers in 1986.

Wildcat miners, termed "garimpeiros" in Portuguese, flooded into the area in their thousands.

By 1989 Bom Futuro is thought to have been producing at an annual rate of almost 30,000 tonnes of contained metal in concentrates.

Exact numbers are hard to come by since Bom Futuro existed in the shadows of the global organised tin trade.

Operated on an artisanal basis, much of its output was smuggled out of the country until the government and the official sector finally wrested legal control from the "garimpeiros" in 1992.

By that stage Bom Futuro was almost a ghost mine, a victim of the price collapse it had triggered by flooding the tin market with surplus supply. (This potted history comes from "The International Tin Trade", by Peter Roddy, published in 1995.)

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When LME trading resumed in 1989 after a break occasioned by the collapse of the International Tin Council, the tin price made it as high as $10,000 per tonne. By 1991, it had slumped to half that. Stocks ballooned to 47,000 tonnes over the same period.

The "Happy Future" mine translated into an unhappy end for the Cornish mining sector.

Geevor and Mount Wellington closed in 1991. South Crofty struggled on for several more years, selling surplus land to offset operating losses, before succumbing to the inevitable in 1998.

...NOW MYANMAR

The parallels between Bom Futuro back in the late 1980s and the Man Maw tin-mining hub in Myanmar today are uncanny.

As with Bom Futuro, no one saw the new supply coming.

The first indication came in the unlikely form of China's trade figures, which from May 2013 started showing a steady flow of raw material into the country from its neighbour.

Chinese imports of tin concentrates had totalled just 32,400 tonnes (bulk weight, not metal contained) in 2012.

That figure mushroomed to 96,600 tonnes in 2013; almost all of it, 89,100 tonnes, coming from Myanmar.

As the flows steadily increased over the course of 2014 and 2015, the global tin industry woke up to the existence of a major new driver of mine supply.

China's imports of Myanmar material totalled 285,600 tonnes last year, equivalent to around 41,000 tonnes of tin metal, according to industry group ITRI.

To put that figure into context, ITRI estimates world production of refined tin at 340,600 tonnes last year.

Myanmar, in other words, now accounts for well over 10 percent of global tin mine supply. Just a couple of years ago, the figure was close to zero.

DEFICIT DREAMS

The running ironic theme of the tin market for many years has been the fear of structural supply shortfall.

The mining boom of the last decade passed tin by. While major resource houses poured investment into the likes of copper and iron ore to feed Chinese demand, spending on new tin mines was negligible.

Indonesia, the world's largest tin exporter, has seen production and exports steadily fall since 2012, partly due to degrading mine economics but partly because of a government clampdown on the anarchic cluster of independent tin mines and smelters operating on the islands of Bangka and Belitung.

Indonesia is an echo of the free-wheeling days of the Bom Futuro wildcatters and the Brazilian authorities' five-year battle to control them.

Now it is Myanmar's turn to emerge from the shadows as a major new source of the metal.

ITRI, the official tin producers body, has itself only recently got into Myanmar to see what's happening.

Its assessment is that production is plateauing at around 50,000 tonnes per year as the easily accessible reserves are exhausted.

But somewhat ominously, it also notes that while smaller operators have left the area, bigger players are mechanising what was previously an artisanal operation.

And "there is still significant potential for the discovery of new ore resources". ("Myanmar tin production may have reached peak", Aug. 18, 2016).

Man Maw is the hard reality that looms large over Cornwall's dreams of reviving its historic tin sector.

Perhaps tin is not the answer at all.

Consider, for example, the Hemerdon tin mine in neighbouring Devon which closed in 1944.

It has just been put back into action by Wolf Minerals , not as a tin operation but as a tungsten mine with a bit of tin by-product.

Strongbow's attempt to revive South Crofty would benefit greatly if the company could find something other than tin in those flooded shafts.

How about lithium? Unlike tin with its flat-line usage profile, there's a metal with a very bright future indeed!

(Editing by Dale Hudson)
By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - Opponents of Congolese President Joseph Kabila went on strike on Tuesday to demand that he step down when his constitutional mandate expires in December. In the commercial center of the capital Kinshasa, home to 12 million people, rush hour seemed lighter than usual. Many shops were shuttered in the city's surrounding districts, especially opposition strongholds such as Limete. Police fired teargas to disperse dozens of protesters from opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS party, who threw stones and erected barricades near the party headquarters in Limete, a Reuters witness said. But the strike appeared to have significantly less uptake than one in February over the same issue. In the eastern city of Goma and southern mining hub of Lubumbashi, where foreign firms have big investments, residents said that activity largely carried on as usual. "I really regret seeing our Congolese brothers and sisters open their stores," said Samuel Kazadi, a motorbike taxi driver on Kinshasa's Avenue de Commerce, where several shops had their metal doors locked. But he added: "We are waiting for Dec. 19 ... Kabila won't stay in power. The population will be in the street every day." Elections were due to be held in November, before Kabila's mandate runs out on Dec. 19, but will be delayed as authorities enroll millions of new voters. Kabila's opponents accuse him of dragging his feet on holding the election in order to cling to power in Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that has not seen a peaceful change of government since independence from Belgium in 1960. Western powers are leaning on him to honor the constitution, which limits a president to two terms in office, and step down. They fear political tensions could reignite a regional war in the country's mineral-rich east that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003. U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement that Washington was monitoring the situation and was concerned "the window to reach consensus on an electoral timeline and plan for transition is narrowing". Toner urged government and opposition leaders to try to advance a national political dialogue that began on Tuesday with Edem Kodjo, a Togolese diplomat and African Union-appointed facilitator, who is working with the parties on a timetable for the vote. The main opposition alliance, led by Etienne Tshisekedi, is boycotting the talks, which it sees as a delaying tactic. The talks, expected to last until Saturday, are only meant to set a schedule for further talks whose aim will eventually be to set an election timetable. In an olive branch to the opposition, the government agreed to free several democracy activists on Friday to try to ease tensions, but Tshisekedi called it insufficient. Some opposition leaders did show up for the opening session, including Tshisekedi's former chief of staff Albert Moleka and Jean-Lucien Bussa, president of the CDER party. "Our doors remain wide open. Today or tomorrow, they can join us at any time," Kodjo said in his opening remarks. Kabila took power when his father was assassinated in 2001, then won his first election in 2006. (Additional reporting by Amedee Mwarabu Kiboko and David Alexander; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Alison Williams and G Crosse)
By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - Opponents of Congolese President Joseph Kabila went on strike on Tuesday to demand that he steps down when his mandate expires in December. In the commercial centre of the capital Kinshasa, home to 12 million people, rush hour seemed lighter than usual. In the city's surrounding districts, especially opposition strongholds such as Limete, many shops were shuttered. Police fired teargas to disperse dozens of protesters from opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS party, who threw stones and erected barricades near the party headquarters in the Kinshasa district of Limete, a Reuters witness said. The strike appeared to have significantly less uptake than one in February over the same issue. In the eastern city of Goma and southern mining hub of Lubumbashi, where foreign firms have big investments, residents said that activity largely carried on as usual. "I really regret seeing our Congolese brothers and sisters open their stores," said Samuel Kazadi, a motorbike taxi driver on Kinshasa's Avenue de Commerce, where several shops had their metal doors locked. But he added: "We are waiting for Dec. 19 ... Kabila won't stay in power. The population will be in the street every day." Elections were due to be held in November, before Kabila's mandate runs out on Dec. 19, but will be delayed as authorities enroll millions of new voters. Kabila's opponents accuse him of dragging his feet on holding the election in order to cling to power in Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that has not seen a peaceful change of government since independence from Belgium in 1960. Western powers are leaning on him to honour the constitution, which limits a president to two terms, and step down. They fear political tensions could reignite a regional war in the country's mineral-rich east that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003. A government spokesman on Radio France International, whose FM station was off air locally, as it often is on opposition protest days, dismissed the strike as the work of "some radicals ... having some old fashioned fun". African Union-appointed facilitator, Togolese diplomat Edem Kodjo, opened talks on Tuesday on the timetable for the vote. The main opposition alliance, led by Etienne Tshisekedi, is boycotting the talks, which it sees as a delaying tactic. The talks, expected to last until Saturday, are only meant to set a schedule for further talks whose aim will eventually be to set an election timetable. In an olive branch to the opposition, the government agreed to free several democracy activists on Friday to try to ease tensions, but Tshisekedi called it insufficient. Some opposition leaders did show up for the opening session, including Tshisekedi's former chief of staff Albert Moleka and president of the CDER party, Jean-Lucien Bussa. "Our doors remain wide open. Today or tomorrow, they can join us at any time," Kodjo said in his opening remarks. Kabila took power when his father was assassinated in 2001, then won his first election in 2006. (Additional reporting by Amedee Mwarabu Kiboko; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Alison Williams)
YouTube personality Connor Franta took the stage at the 2015 GLSEN Respect Awards - Los Angeles, an event that also welcomed such Hollywood stars as Julia Roberts, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, J.J. Abrams and Zachary Quinto - and presented the Student Advocate of the Year Award to teen Mars Hallman.

It was a touching moment inside the Beverly Wilshire ballroom and one that would result in a standing ovation for Hallman. Franta will be back at the big event this year, scheduled for the same location in Beverly Hills on Oct. 21, with an opportunity to garner a round of applause just for him as the 23-year-old has just been selected to receive a GLSEN prize.

The announcement from GLSEN, a leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe and affirming schools for all students, marks the first reveal of the 2016 honorees for this year's Respect Awards, which were introduced in 2004 and held annually in L.A. and New York. The awards events "showcase the work of students, educators, individuals and corporations who serve as exemplary role models and have made a significant impact on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth," according to GLSEN.

Read more: Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel Talk Parenting Skills, 'Poopy Diapers' and Oscar Wilde at GLSEN's Respect Awards

Franta has been singled out for his commitment to youth welfare and LGBTQ advocacy. Through his online presence (he has 5.6 million subscribers on YouTube) that touches millions of youth, he has elevated GLSEN programs such as GLSEN's Day of Silence, and is collaborating with the organization on a charitable campaign in partnership with his Common Culture lifestyle brand. His "Coming Out" video, posted in December 2014, has garnered more than 11.1 million views to date.

Past honorees Matt Bomer and husband Simon Halls, Bob Greenblatt, Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jim Parsons and Todd Spiewak, and Julia Roberts and Danny Moder will return as honorary co-chairs for the event. Sponsors of the 2016 GLSEN Respect Awards - Los Angeles include presenting sponsors Wells Fargo, Target and the Walt Disney Company.
Cops say three little girls  including an infant  and a man are dead after an arsonist torched a Chicago apartment building early Tuesday, according to reports.

Multiple people leapt for their lives from porches after a man ignited the 32-unit building in the South Chicago neighborhood following an argument he had with a woman there, according to local reports.

Little Mellanie Watson, 3 months, was found beside a man who'd jumped to escape the blaze. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Read: Fire Chief Investigated for Deadly Arson That Killed 10 at Holiday Inn

Inside the building 4-year-old Madison Watson, and Shaniya Staples, age 7, who were found dead in the same apartment once firefighters finally extinguished the deadly fire.

In another unit, officials say they found the body of the adult male victim.

Firefighters encountered heavy flames on the second and third floors after receiving reports of the fire at 1:35 a.m., the Chicago Tribune reported.

Read: Video Shows Arsonist Accidentally Setting Himself on Fire: Cops

Fire had engulfed stairs in the building as well as the rear porches. According to Deputy Commissioner Arriel Gray, firefighters were forced to combat the blaze from the outside due to its extreme intensity.

At least two others were reportedly injured in the blaze. A 36-year-old man and 48-year-old man were both treated at area hospitals.

A police spokesperson told InsideEdition.com that the arson unit is investigating the matter. Further, police say a person of interest has been identified and is currently being questioned as part of the investigation.

Watch: Principal Living in Motel After Angry Students Allegedly Start House Fire

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Oscar de la Renta has allegedly got its eye on fashion designer Alber Elbaz as a potential Creative Director, following Peter Copping's departure from the brand in July.

The US fashion house is considering Elbaz as the man to step into Copping's shoes for its Fall/Winter 2017 ready-to-wear collection, reports Italian site MF Fashion. If the rumors are true, the move could be the final piece of the fashionable puzzle that has shaken up the industry over the past year.

Moroccan-born Israeli designer Elbaz helmed the Parisian house of Lanvin for 14 years, before leaving the company in October 2015 due to reported tensions with its owner Shaw-Lan Wang. His departure sent shockwaves through the industry, coming just weeks after Raf Simons hit the headlines by quitting Dior. Rumors abounded that Elbaz was being lined up for the new Dior post, but they proved erroneous -- Dior relied on the expertise of its in-house design team until this July, when it appointed ex-Valentino designer Maria Grazia Chiuri as its head creative, and Elbaz has remained a free agent. Lanvin replaced him with the French designer Bouchra Jarrar.

Oscar de le Renta's Spring/Summer 2017 collection, meanwhile, has been taken care of by the in-house design team, after Copping stepped down citing "personal circumstances" earlier this summer. The collection is set to preview this fall.

It is not difficult to imagine Elbaz, whose revival of Lanvin was based on a modern yet ultra-feminine aesthetic, at Oscar de la Renta, which is famous for its enchanting red carpet styles. The match was reportedly made via Vogue US Editor Anna Wintour.

The fashion world has seen a rapid succession of high-profile resignations in recent months, beginning with Alexander Wang's departure from Balenciaga last summer and including Hedi Slimane quitting Saint Laurent and Francisco Costa and Italo Zucchelli parting ways with Calvin Klein.
Could Jeremy Clarkson return as host of BBCs Top Gear just one year after he was fired for punching a producer? What had once seemed unthinkable now looks like a possibility.

Former BBC boss Mark Thompson this week told Britains Sunday Times Magazine said kicking Clarkson out at the curb was a mistake.

And the shows been on the downslide since Clarksons departure  without an emergency brake.

Ratings have tanked, with the recent seasons finale pulling in a mere 1.9 million viewers in the U.K. Last season, the Clarkson-led program averaged 6.49 million viewers per episode.

Also Read: Former BBC Boss Say Firing Jeremy Clarkson From 'Top Gear' Was a Mistake

Plus, the host slot has become a bit of a revolving door.

Not only did Richard Hammond and James May followed their boy Clarkson out the door last year, but even Clarksons replacement, BBC radio host Chris Evans , has already quit Top Gear.

And when the shows other new co-host, Matt LeBlanc was asked recently about doing more of the BBC series, the former Friends star simply said, I dont know  call the BBC.

TheWrap did just that, but those phone calls were not immediately returned. Nor were our requests for comment from Amazon, which is planning a fall premiere of Clarksons new auto-themed show, The Grand Tour, also with Hammond and May.

Also Read: Ex-'Top Gear' Host Chris Evans Won't Be Charged Over Sexual Assault Allegations

Im not sure whats happening with Top Gear just yet, but this is my priority, LeBlanc added during the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, referring to his new CBS family comedy Man With a Plan.

He sounds really enthusiastic about his new gig.

Additionally, Evans and LeBlanc are either friends or foes  it depends whom you ask. In other words, the failure of the Evans experiment could work either way with the Episodes star.

Also Read: Jeremy Clarkson Settles Lawsuit With 'Top Gear' Producer

Story continues

Amazon gave the former Top Gear trio a three-year deal, but The Grand Tour hasnt exactly garnered much buzz  will fans of the free BBC franchise subscribe and pay for a Prime Video knockoff version? That remains to be seen.

And for whatever reason, Grand Tour was nearly non-existent at Amazons TCA promotional day, which is the traditional time for networks to give new fall series a push.

So could Clarkson return to Top Gear? Well, he probably wouldnt do so without Hammond and May, since those two have proven loyal. The BBC has also removed another potential roadblock: The producer that Clarkson decked, Oisin Tymon, is no longer a part of the series. The two have also settled their lawsuit.

As long as the BBC has fixed its catering issues  the original reason behind the verbal and physical attack  perhaps anything is possible.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Matt LeBlanc on Returning to 'Top Gear': 'I Don't Know  Call the BBC'

Ex-'Top Gear' Host Chris Evans Won't Be Charged Over Sexual Assault Allegations

'Top Gear' Fans Declare New Hosts, Series 'Flop Gear'

Former 'Top Gear' Hosts Name New Amazon Show 'The Grand Tour'
Cambodia's UN-backed court on Tuesday heard harrowing new details about the Khmer Rouge's forced marriages, one of the brutal regime's less reported atrocities.

The Khmer Rouge oversaw the deaths of up to two million Cambodians from 1975-1979 -- nearly one-quarter of the population -- in their quest for a Marxist agrarian utopia.

But the testimony is the first time the court has heard about the tens of thousands of couples who were forced to marry, often in mass ceremonies, as part of a Khmer Rouge plan to boost the population.

One woman described being raped by a Khmer Rouge commander after she was threatened with execution for refusing to consummate a forced marriage to her husband.

The regime's two most senior surviving leaders, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 90, and former head of state Khieu Samphan, 85, are on trial.

They have already been convicted of crimes against humanity, but a second trial is investigating their alleged complicity in the mass murder of Cambodia's ethnic minorities, forced marriages and mass rape -- subjects that remain taboo in conservative Cambodia even today.

Rights groups and historians say the second trial is a significant step for victims of Khmer Rouge sexual violence.

The woman, now elderly, appeared in court wearing a dark suit.

Identified only by a court pseudonym she described being forced to marry a fighter twenty years her senior in a joyless mass ceremony in early 1978.

Those who refused simply disappeared or were killed, she told the court, including her cousin.

"They forced us to marry," she said.

She detailed how a commander raped and threatened to shoot her if she didn't consummate the marriage and she later gave birth to a daughter.

The pair became separated in the turmoil of Cambodia's civil war years but she later went back to her husband under societal pressure, she said.

"I never told such a story to anyone, but now it is time for me to speak out," she added.

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Another male born transgender victim described being forced to marry a woman.

After the ceremony, Khmer Rouge soldiers would spy on the couples.

"We had to have sex to survive," the 75-year-old told the court, adding that her wife became pregnant.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said more research is needed on the mass rape and forced marriages carried out under the regime.

"Rape took place within those forced marriages. There still needs to be investigation about how widespread it was, but the issue is very sensitive in Khmer culture," he said.

The current trial is expected to conclude later this year, with a judgement to follow by the end of 2017.
Crutchlow: Rivals Are 'Wimps'

By: Charles Bradley

LCR Hondas Cal Crutchlow, the first British winner of a top-level motorbike race since Barry Sheene 35 years ago, branded his fellow MotoGP stars wimps for not gambling on tire choice.

Crutchlow scored a 7s win over Valentino Rossi after gambling on hard-compound wet tires, front and rear. Only Loris Baz, who finished fourth on his Avintia Ducati, made the same choice  with Rossi running a hard rear with a soft front.

I took the gamble, nobody else did  or I dont know if anybody else did on the grid, said Crutchlow. As far as Im concerned theyre all wimps. I dont know why youd choose one [hard] and not the other.

Im really, really pleased for my team, we worked hard for this. We did the best job we could today. I smashed the bike yesterday and honestly they didnt leave the circuit until midnight last night. It was a good way to repay them today.

Crutchlow, who recently became a father, said the feeling of getting his first win on his 98th MotoGP start didnt quite match the arrival of his daughter.

I expected probably a different feeling but with Lucy [wife] giving birth the other week, that was the best feeling in the world, he said. Dont get me wrong, winning races is fantastic, I had the best present a couple of weeks ago, as we know.

The last Briton to win at this level was Sheene in the 1981 500cc Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp.
By Karen Brettell

Aug 23 (Reuters) - The rising cost of hedging U.S. Treasuries in the foreign exchange market is eroding the attractiveness of the bonds for international investors, as it negates the extra yield U.S. bonds pay over comparable European and Japanese debt, Deutsche Bank said in a report.

U.S. government bonds offer far higher yields than comparable debt in Japan and Europe, where yields on many bonds return nothing, or have turned negative, meaning that investors pay for the perceived safety of holding the bonds.

Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes, for example, yield 1.54 percent, while comparable German bond yields are negative 0.08 percent and Japanese 10-year notes yield negative 0.02 percent.

Higher U.S. yields have attracted international investors seeking higher returns, with the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to raise rates again this year as Japanese and European central banks remain highly accommodative.

Recently, however, the yield pick-up has disappeared, as the cost of hedging the foreign exchange risk of the bonds using short-dated forwards has increased, Deutsche Bank strategist George Saravelos said in the report, sent on Monday.

"There now isn't any global fixed income investor that can make decent money by buying hedged U.S. Treasuries," he said.

A year ago Japanese investors could earn almost 1 percent in extra yield by buying currency-hedged Treasuries, compared with local bonds. However, now that difference has tumbled to almost nothing, Deutsche Bank noted.

Euro-based investors similarly could have generated an approximately 0.60 percent in extra yield from Treasuries a year ago, and now would earn less than local bonds, the bank said.

Foreign investors seeking U.S. government debt will now need to buy the bonds unhedged for the trade to be profitable, or turn to higher-risk bonds such as corporate debt to generate income, Saravelos said.

In the euro/dollar cross-currency market, where a bank can swap euro interest payments with a lender for dollars, the three-month cross rate has widened to minus 44 basis points, from minus 24 basis points a year ago.

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Conversely, the currency distortions may make European and Japanese bonds more attractive to U.S. investors as they get a yield increase from the hedges.

PIMCO's $7.71 billion dollar-hedged Foreign Bond Fund, for example, held $1.16 billion in Japanese Treasury bills at the end of the first quarter, according to a regulatory filing.

(Reporting By Karen Brettell; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Danish lawmakers will travel to the Pacific island of Nauru to visit a controversial Australian immigration centre and study the use of offshore settlements for asylum-seekers, one of the MPs said Tuesday.

Six members of the Danish parliament's Immigration and Integration Affairs Committee will leave on Saturday for Australia and Nauru, Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen of the leftist Red-Green Alliance told AFP, confirming reports in Danish media.

Schmidt-Nielsen said that although she found the Australian system "grotesque", the trip -- planned for several months -- was a chance for her to "ask some of the questions that the Australian government is preventing journalists from asking."

The release of more than 2,000 leaked reports of incidents on Nauru detailing allegations of widespread abuse and self-harm, including children wanting to kill themselves, have renewed calls for a parliamentary inquiry in Australia.

But the Nauruan government said last week that asylum-seekers had made up most of the claims in hope of being relocated to Australia.

Under Canberra's immigration policy, asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are turned back or sent to detention centres in other countries, Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

The chairman of the Danish parliamentary committee, Martin Henriksen of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party (DPP), has previously described the Australian policy as being "very sensible".

The ruling Venstre party's hardline integration minister, Inger Stojberg, is not on the committee, but has said that the Australian system "apparently works in an Australian context" and that her government would "continually consider... experiences from other countries."

The Australian government said on August 17 that it had agreed to close the Papua New Guinea camp.

The Guardian, which published the Nauru reports, said that only two Australian journalists had been granted access to the Nauru detention centre in the past three years.

The Danish government rules with the help of the anti-immigration DPP in parliament and has passed tough legislation to deter migrants from coming to the country, including allowing police to confiscate some of the asylum seekers' valuables to help pay for their accommodation.
Delphi Automotive PLC DLPH and Mobileye N.V. MBLY announced that they have joined forces to develop a complete SAE Level 4/5 automated driving solution. This means that the companies will develop a fully automated vehicle solution. This is expected to offer the performance and functional safety required for rapid integration into diverse vehicle platforms.



Mobileye has leading expertise in computer vision systems, mapping, localization and machine learning focused on automated driving. Delphi Automotive, on the other hand, is a leader in automated driving software, sensors and systems integration. This partnership will enable both companies to develop the market's first turnkey Level 4/5 automated driving solution.



This automated driving solution will combine the key technologies of both companies. It will incorporate Mobileye's EyeQ 4/5 System on a Chip with sensor signal processing, fusion, world view generation and Road Experience Management system, which will be used for real time mapping and vehicle localization. The solution will also use Delphi Automotives automated driving software algorithms from the Ottomatika acquisition, incorporating the Path and Motion Planning features, and the companys Multi-Domain Controller with the full camera, radar and LiDAR suite. Moreover, both Mobileye and Delphi Automotive will develop the next generation of sensor fusion technology and human-like driving policy.



Both companies had collaborated earlier as well. Mobileye and Delphi Automotive first joined forces in 2002 for the implementation of one of the most advanced active safety systems. Delphi Automotive believes that this partnership will help it to provide its customers with better automated capabilities at a faster rate but at lower cost.

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From Cosmopolitan

This weekend, two women joined thousands of others who've made the same journey by traveling from their home country of Ireland to Britain to have an abortion, reports the Washington Post.

Tweeting from an anonymous account, @TwoWomenTravel, a woman seeking an abortion and her friend documented the long trip from Ireland (where abortion is effectively illegal, unless a woman's life is at risk) to Britain. According to the U.K. Department of Health, they were among 3,000 women who leave Ireland each year to terminate pregnancies.

Forced 2 leave Ireland, @EndaKennyTD joined by more Irish in waiting room,waiting for our loved ones #twowomentravel pic.twitter.com/19FNUacPJD - Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 20, 2016

As the Washington Post notes, Ireland is a largely Catholic country, and its abortion law comes from the country's Eighth Amendment and gives the same rights to a fetus as to its mother. The law is largely supported by Edna Kenny, the country's prime minister, whom the two women mentioned and tagged several times through their live documentation of the abortion trip to Britain.

Mara Clarke, director of the Abortion Support Network in Great Britain, told Cosmopolitan.com last year that in England, Scotland, and Wales, abortion is a free procedure on the National Health Service up to 24 weeks. Throughout their 48-hour trip to England, the two women traveling noted how many people had endured the same incredible difficulty.

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Friend is out & safe. Procedure was quick & staff very warm. Our love to you all. @EndaKennyTD failed us. You did not. #twowomentravel - Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 20, 2016

Not the first or the last bleeding women about to face a long treck home @EndaKennyTD #twowomentravel pic.twitter.com/08q2CQE3Yw - Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 21, 2016

Leaving their names out of the tweets, the account was met with overwhelming support on Twitter, in light of the lack of support from their home country.

@TwoWomenTravel @EndaKennyTD so sorry you have to go through this ordeal. I hope your journey home isn't arduous. Giant hugs to you both xxx - Marian Keyes (@MarianKeyes) August 20, 2016

We are nearly home. Thanks to everyone for unreal support - with one glaring exception. @EndaKennyTD #twowomentravel pic.twitter.com/yuqCNUSysJ - Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 21, 2016

Follow Hannah on Twitter.
Photo: Faig Ahmed/Facebook

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but sometimes its just outright plagiarism, and artist Faig Ahmed would agree. The Azerbaijani artist is accusing Topshop of copying one of his designs and using it on a T-shirt.

While Ahmed wanted to sue the company, he cannot because, as he shared, it costs from 20,000 to 50,000 pounds, and their lawyers are capable of extending the judicial process, which can cost even more money  which leads to the bankruptcy of the artist. So, like any other up-and-coming creative in the millennial age, he took to social media to stir an uproar.

On his Facebook page, he posted side-by-side images of his work of art and the article of clothing being sold through Topman, Topshops mens department, to show the uncanny similarities.

The U.K.-based brand was selling the shirt for 25 pounds before it went on sale for 15 (about $20).

Ahmeds studio has reached out to Topman, but according to an interview with Hyperallergic, the artists team has been given the runaround.

Topman is dismissing the allegations by blaming the company that designed the T-shirt, Globe, pointing out that the stores are simply responsible for selling it, not manufacturing or production. A representative from Topman told Refinery29, Topman is aware that Faig Ahmed has made certain allegations in relation to a T-shirt that was sold by concessionaire, Globe Europe, on the Topman website. Topman had no input in the design, creation, or selection for sale of the T-shirt. Faig Ahmed has not contacted Topman in relation to this matter.

Ahmeds interpretative carpets have been showcased in galleries and festivals in cities including New York, Venice, and London. He is well known for his conceptual works that utilize traditional decorative craft and the visual language of carpets into contemporary sculptural works of art. His works reimagine ancient crafts and create new visual boundaries by deconstructing traditions and stereotypes, his Facebook bio reads.

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So theres no denying that Ahmed came up with the bleeding carpet design, which he began showcasing on Facebook in 2015. According to his website, he was making carpets with the Topman-style designs in 2012.

Despite the similarities and what could be considered an honor, Ahmed says there is no link between himself and Topman. We can fight this system if we unite, as we are the consumers and the parts of it! Their strength is us and ours is unity! #topshame, he wrote on Facebook.

Im not surprised [about the shirt], as plagiarism is a very common practice among such big companies. But unfortunately, the international judicial settlement costs a lot of money, and not every artist for this reason can defend their rights. One of the main points in my art is that Im not doing it for the commercial purposes. I have received various invitations to collaborate with designers and large companies, but I always refuse direct involvement in the production of mass products, since this contradicts the very principle of art, Ahmed told Hyperallergic.

But the worst part is that its not even an accurate copy. If you will look at their design closely, you can immediately see a huge number of defects and inaccuracies. And cutoff sleeves?! They could have at least made it cute.

As of now, the tee is out of stock, and it has been removed from the European site.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.


From Road & Track

Having written on a variety of automotive topics, I have met some people who had really cool jobs. One man I met recently was George Miller, a Product Planner at Chrysler from 1957 to 1991. What kinds of things did George get to do while he was there? He spent a little over a year crunching numbers on automotive turbineswhich is why I first met himbut when that was over he worked on the Dodge Charger. That would be the car Chrysler hung a nosecone and a wing on to race in NASCAR. And then there was the time his wife took his company caran orange Hemi Superbird to the hardware store to pick up sand for the backyard. We'll get to that shortly.

In 1963, Chrysler built a fleet of Turbine Cars and lent them to the public as part of a huge publicity stunt. The program was so successful that some Chrysler higher ups thought the idea should be put to market. Could a turbine be mass produced and sold to the public? The car buyers were there: Chrysler had been inundated with letters from people wanting to buy a Turbine car. But the fleet of 50 was getting worn out and Chrysler never intended to sell those ones to the public.

The "production" turbine would be an American-built 1966 Charger and they hoped to sell 500 of them. Dodge put together a prototype and asked George and his cohorts to find out if the cars could be made and sold economically. As in, could the price tags make sense? Everyone knew that the Ghia Turbine cars were far too expensive to act as a pricing modelthey had been hand-built in Italy and the official price tag of the engine was never disclosed. But rumored numbers were astronomical.

When George asked about how cheaply the engine for the 1966 Turbine Charger could be made, he got some vague answers. How about this? Could the engine be built for less than $10,000in 1966 dollars? The answer came back: No. George didn't have to break out the calculator to render his verdict. At a time when a V8 like a 318 cost $300, and a Hemi was a $700, how on Earth could they put $10,000+ engines into 500 cars and sell them to the public? They would either have to be horribly overpriced or sold at a gargantuan loss. Neither option looked pretty in 1966and the program was quietly killed.

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George left the turbine program around this time and went to work with the Charger. The 1966, which had been looked at as a possible platform for the turbine engine, became a resounding sales success with piston engines under its hood. And the restyle in 1968 was also a winner. At least, it sold well. But, as some have noted, it did not race well on the big tracks of NASCAR. Which led rocket scientists to convince Chrysler to let them slap a nosecone and a wing on it and call it a Daytona. George got to watch the process and even do a little of the accounting which saw those carsand the Plymouth Superbirdbeing built and sold at a loss. And that was when they could be sold. The tail end of the program saw some of the winged cars sitting on lots for months while panicked sales memos flew back and forth as Chrysler urged dealers to unload the cars any way they could.

Which brings us to the orange Hemi Superbird George drove home one day and parked in the driveway. He had promised to build a sandbox in the backyard and his wife told him today was the day. So George went to get lumber in the other car and his wife got the Superbird. Inside the hardware store, she asked the clerk if he could help her load the sand into her car and he obliged. When asked which car was hers she thought for a moment. Driving different company cars, she could be forgiven for not recalling immediately. "Oh, the orange one."

The clerk had never seen a Superbird up close. Certainly not an orange one. Or, one with a Hemi. He loaded the trunk with the sand and she brought it home for George to finish the sandbox.

George enjoyed his time at Chrysler. He got to work with some great people and got to drive many of the landmark cars they built and sold. But when it came to driving experiences, he clearly remembers the times he drove the Ghia Turbine Car home. After the first few days he learned to get it in the garage quickly and shut the door. "It was a burden to take it home. You had to hide it in the garage." Otherwise, "you'd get a flock of people" who wanted to ask about it.

Steve Lehto is a writer and attorney from Michigan. He specializes in Lemon Law and frequently writes about cars and the law. His most recent books include Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow, and Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird: Design, Development, Production and Competition. He also has a podcast where he talks about these things.
Is the reason youre eating too much while at a restaurant related to your server? The Doctors discuss a study that might explain why you feel like indulging from time to time!

According to study from Cornell Universality and Germanys University of Jena discovered that diners who were served by someone with a high body mass index (BMI) ordered more items compared to people that are served with a low BMI.

The study found that people being helped by overweight servers were 4 times as likely to order dessert, along with ordering 20 percent more alcoholic beverages. The study theorizes that the server set the social norm for the meal.

Watch: Healthy Eating On The Go

Family medicine physician Dr. Rachael Ross contends that this feeling also extends to who your fellow diners are.

When I go out to dinner with my friends, if Im out with a health nut, I tend to eat healthier, she shares. If Im out with one of my larger friends, I order dessert, I order the appetizer we really have a moment together.

ER physician Dr. Travis Stork adds, I think that its important, whether youre eating at home or youre eating out you need to decide what you want and you shouldnt let others influence what you want to eat. At the end of the day, its your life, your body, your health, make the choice that you want.

Watch: Foods that Fight Fat

Tell us what you think  do you indulge more if your server is overweight?
Donald Trump

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton's involvement with the Clinton Foundation during her tenure as US secretary of state during a rally in Akron, Ohio, on Monday.

Trump accused his Democratic rival of corruption, claiming that donors of the foundation were given preferential treatment and awarded with special favors.

He went on to say that the investigation calls for special circumstances, as the US Department of Justice "has proven itself to be a political arm of the White House."

"After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewash of the Clinton email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton's crimes," Trump said at a campaign rally in Akron, alluding to Clinton's use of a private email server.

The GOP nominee is also demanding a complete shutdown of the Clinton Foundation after emails released by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog organization, revealed that Clinton may have given donors special access.

"There is absolutely no connection between anything that I did as secretary of state and the Clinton Foundation," Clinton said in a statement last month.

In light of the accusations levied against Clinton, her campaign said that the foundation would stop receiving foreign and corporate donations if she is elected in November.

NOW WATCH: Watch Mike Pence laugh over Trump's claim that he will have 95% of the black vote in 2020





More From Business Insider


Maybe our society should congratulate itself occasionally on how much progress its made in the last half-century toward equality and individual rights, especially for women, racial minorities and LBGT.

Or maybe self-congratulation isnt called for just for doing the right thing. And some of our steps in the right direction have been timid and tentative.

Nevertheless, good things have been done. Yet our ambitious, magnificent experiment in democracy, freedom, human rights and the progress of civilization is hampered by our reluctance to abandon a practice that we share only with repressive countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and Iran: the prerogative of the state to put citizens to death.

For many this characteristic of American life is largely invisible. Twenty states have abolished the death penalty already and many of the others havent executed anyone in decades.

Even in my home state, Texas, which is the nations most active death penalty state, an execution doesnt draw much attention. Every month or so a short article, buried in the B-section of the newspaper, announces that another criminal has been put to death. Even in Texas, executions are generally beyond the publics notice.

But a couple of Associated Press articles last week provide the occasion to consider the practice of capital punishment in America in the 21st century.

If you were looking for someone who deserves to be executed, John Battaglia would be a good candidate. In 2001, Battaglia murdered his 9-year-old and 6-year-old daughters with gunshots while his ex-wife listened on the phone. The older child, Faith, begged for her life before he pulled the trigger. And, indeed, last week a district judge in Dallas set an execution date of Dec. 7.

On the other hand, three defense psychiatrists testified at his trial that he has bipolar disorder which distorts his sense of reality, and he reportedly suffers also from narcissistic personality disorder.

The court said Battaglia showed evidence of mental illness and delusions and that his competence is in question.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has ruled that a criminal may be executed if he understands that he has been condemned to die and why. In accordance with that low standard, Battaglia will be executed in December.

The article just above Battaglias reports the case of Sheborah Thomas, who faces capital murder charges in Houston for drowning her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter in the bathtub. Apparently, the children fought back, struggling for their lives, but she held their heads under the water until they died.

She waited a day and then dumped her childrens bodies in a trash container behind her house. Later she tried, unsuccessfully, to bury them and then rolled them under a neighbors house.

To say that a mother who could commit such a crime is mentally unstable seems redundant. In fact, Thomas attorney says that she has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression.

Dont mistake this column for an effort to generate sympathy for Thomas and Battaglia. On the other hand, anger doesnt feel like the right response, either. How about futility, in two versions?

The first is the futility of the principal argument in favor of capital punishment, the idea that it serves as a deterrent to crime. Both Battaglia and Thomas already live in an active capital punishment state, and its impossible to believe that crimes based in mental instability like theirs could be deterred by the threat of execution.

The second futility is the one we feel when we try to give people like Thomas and Battaglia what we think they deserve merely by killing them. Well never succeed as long as were limited by the cruel and unusual language in the Constitution.

And since weve neither figured out how to administer the death penalty equitably, without regard to race, gender or economic status, nor how to prevent the occasional execution of innocent people, maybe its time for the U.S. to join the rest of the West and to abolish a practice whose only real purpose is an essentially unsatisfying feeling of revenge.
Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a 2015 campaign event in Dallas. (Photo: L.M. Otero/AP)

AUSTIN, Texas  After weeks of campaigning in mostly battleground states like North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Donald Trump takes his insurgent campaign for the presidency here Tuesday night, with a public rally scheduled in the heart of the Texas.

But the open question for many Republicans in Texas and beyond is why? Neither Mitt Romney nor John McCain visited the state so close to Election Day in 2012 and 2008.

For a candidate who often likes to tout his history-making bid for the White House, Trump is again breaking convention, investing time and money in a state that has been reliably Republican territory for the last nine presidential campaigns. The last time Texas voted for a Democratic nominee was in 1976, when it went blue for Jimmy Carter. And even amid continued Republican angst over Trumps bid and an influx of new Latino voters who could lean toward Hillary Clinton in 2016, almost no one believes the state is going to play a decisive role in November.

This is not Georgia or Arizona, a Clinton aide said, referring to a pair of red states where Democrats have started to invest money in staff and ads, and where polls have suggested that Clinton has a chance.

Meanwhile, a local GOP official who declined to be named criticizing the candidate, told Yahoo News, I am glad he is here. But I dont know why hes here.

So why is Trump in Texas? Part of the reason is money. Facing a massive fundraising deficit against Clinton, the celebrity businessman turned politician is scheduled to headline two fundraisers benefiting his campaign and the Republican National Committee.

But the other reason, according to Republicans close to the campaign, is that Trump, who has taken an unusually hands-on role in guiding his schedule and strategy, simply wanted a big rally in the Lone Star State. Instead of meeting with donors and flying to headline an event in a swing state, the GOP nominee argued for a public rally in Austin, as well as in Jackson, Miss., another Republican stronghold where Trump is scheduled to campaign on Wednesday night.

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I think part of it is an ego thing. He wants to feel the love, and hes going to places where he knows he will, one Trump adviser said. Pointing to the massive rallies that occurred last summer, taking the party by surprise, the adviser said, He wants to feel like its the Summer of Trump again.

The decision to divert the candidates finite campaign-trail time from critical battlegrounds has raised eyebrows among aides at the Republican National Committee, who have privately expressed frustration with the candidates all-over-the-place strategy, as one put it. And it exemplifies the struggle that Trumps new campaign team faces in trying to reign in an inexperienced political candidate who has often bragged of being his own best adviser  particularly as the election enters the final stretch.

Earlier this month, Trump, who has previously suggested he didnt need a ground operation because he wasnt a typical candidate, personally ordered the RNC to open up joint campaign offices in all 50 states. It was a last-minute request that party aides believed could potentially undermine already-stretched resources in battleground states like Ohio and Florida, where the Trump campaign already has a smaller presence than Clinton.

At the same time, Trump has continued to say both publicly and privately that he can reshape the electoral map. Trump argues, as he repeatedly did in the primaries, that he can win traditionally blue states like Connecticut, where he campaigned earlier this month, California and New York  in spite of polls showing Clinton well ahead there.

Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Fairfield, Conn. (Photo: Michelle McLoughlin)

Next week, Trump had been scheduled to visit Oregon and Washington, two other mostly Democratic states where hes argued he can win, for both fundraisers and rallies. But on Monday, the Trump campaign abruptly scrapped the swing  as well as other planned events on the schedule this week in Colorado and Nevada  a shift an aide credited to the Trump campaigns new brain trust, including campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, as they try to plot out how to best position the candidate for the little over two months before Election Day.

The move potentially suggested a new willingness by Trump to rely more on aides to determine the upcoming calendar. And it marked another compromise for the famously unpredictable candidate, who has relied on teleprompter speeches at rallies over the last week, in a new effort to stay on message.

Though Trump pushed for a Texas rally, the decision might also attract attention to one of his biggest problems heading into November  the angst that many Republicans continue to feel about his candidacy, particularly in Texas.

While some current and former public officials are expected to join him here, many prominent Texas Republicans wont be present. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is out of the state, recovering from burns he suffered to his legs last month. A spokesman said Texas Sen. John Cornyn is also traveling out of state.

Earlier this month, George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, broke with his family and publicly called for Republicans to back Trump. But he, too, is not expected to appear in Austin.

Perhaps the most prominent no-show will be Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has pointedly declined to endorse his former primary rival. In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly insisted he doesnt want Cruzs backing, but has still bitterly complained about it, reminding the public that Cruz promised to back whoever became the eventual GOP nominee.

At a Monday rally in Akron, Ohio, Trump, reading from the teleprompter, made no mention of Cruz or his other GOP rivals, but insisted he no longer cared about Republicans who oppose his campaign. That list includes Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another former primary rival.

I wear their opposition as a badge of honor, Trump said.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump cancelled scheduled campaign events in Colorado, Nevada and Oregon in a week that was originally billed by the campaign as focusing on immigration.

While Trump will attend a private fundraiser in Aspen, Co. he will not make a speech on immigration that was scheduled in Denver on Thursday, according to the Denver Post.

The Trump campaign also said it had cancelled a planned rally in Las Vegas on Friday, according to local ABC affiliate KTNV. No reason was given for the Nevada cancellation, but a planned Lake Tahoe fundraiser will continue as planned.

Another planned rally and fundraiser in Portland, Ore., scheduled for Aug. 31, was cancelled, according to local CBS affiliate KOIN. Trumps Oregon campaign director, Jacob G. Daniels, cited Trumps visit to Baton Rouge, La., which has been ravaged by heavy flooding, as the reason for the cancellation.

Trumps new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN on Thursday that these events would be part of immigration week, where the billionaire would hone in on his message via policy speeches.

The GOP is struggling with Hispanic voters as Trump continues to make anti-immigrant comments on the campaign trail.
From Esquire

At a rally in Akron, Ohio, Donald Trump essentially told his supporters that they need to vigilantly "watch" the polls for voter fraud, according to Toronto Star correspondent Daniel Dale-despite the fact that voter fraud has proven to be very rare.

Full quote: Donald Trump asks his supporters to "go out and watch," hint hint, on Election Day. pic.twitter.com/twMPKilJNT - Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 22, 2016

"You've got to get every one of your friends, you've got to get every one of your family, you've got to get everybody to go out and watch," he said. "And go out and vote."

He then made it sound as though he's not talking about "watching" whatsoever:

"And when [I] say 'watch,' you know what I'm talking about, right? You know what I'm talking about. You've got to go out and you've got to watch."

What Trump was actually talking about is, arguably, bizarrely vague, his statement comes just weeks after he suggested that "Second Amendment people" "do" something about Hillary Clinton, and less than a week after Trump adviser Al Baldasaro claimed that he wants Clinton to be "executed."

Only 77 days until the election, folks!

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Kinshasa (AFP) - Business slowed in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Tuesday after the opposition called for a national strike to demand President Joseph Kabila end his 15-year rule when his mandate runs out in December.

Rush-hour traffic in Kinshasa was unusually jam-free in the busy city of 11 million people but it appeared to be business as usual in other cities.

"It took me seven minutes to drive from (the northwestern district of) Kitambo to the central station when it usually takes me 30," said Kinshasa taxi-driver Firmin Luzitu.

At the city's main market, two out of five stalls were shuttered and fishmonger Marguerite Makengo said: "No one's buying."

The call for a nationwide shutdown was issued by new opposition coalition, "Rassemblement" ("Gathering"), headed by veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, to protest against a delay in this year's scheduled presidential election.

The coalition also refused to join Tuesday's all-party talks over the election row, run by Togo's former premier Edem Kodjo, who was asked to step in by the African Union (AU).

The opposition has said it will join the AU-run talks if Kodjo -- seen as biased towards Kabila -- steps down and if the government releases all political prisoners.

In an apparent sign of compromise, the government last week promised to free some two dozen prisoners of conscience, but the opposition says 112 political prisoners remain behind bars.

And in the latest sign of a delay to the election, the electoral commission said this weekend that a voter registration drive launched in March would not be complete by December as it would need around a year of work.

The country's highest court earlier this year ruled that Kabila could stay in office beyond December if no election were held.

- 'High treason' -

Tension has been building for months in the vast mineral-rich nation of 71 million over fears Kabila will follow in the footsteps of neighbouring heads of state and change the constitution to extend his rule with a third term.

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When Tshisekedi, who is 83 and frail, returned to DR Congo last month after a two-year absence he was welcomed by hundreds of thousands of supporters.

In a fiery speech in Kinshasa, Tshisekedi warned Kabila not to extend his rule, saying it would be "high treason" if the electoral process were not launched on schedule on September 19.

He told a rally that date was the "first red line which must not be crossed".

"The electoral body must be convened (by that date) for the presidential election. If it is not, high treason will be proved in the person of Mr Kabila, who will take responsibility for the misery of the Congolese people," Tshisekedi said.

"From that moment, his three-month notice period on the presidential palace begins. On December 19 the notice expires and on the 20th the house must be free," he added, to rousing cheers.

An immensely popular figure who emerged as a leading dissenting voice as far back as the 1980s, when he was a critic of strongman Mobutu Sese Seko, Tshisekedi in June in Brussels accomplished the rare feat of uniting the opposition.

Also in June, another leading light of the opposition, Moise Katumbi, was sentenced in absentia to three years in jail for property fraud.

The presiding judge in the case has since claimed the authorities pressured her into signing off on a guilty verdict to ensure Katumbi would be ineligible to run for office, according to a letter seen by AFP.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A retired Dutch general will lead an independent investigation to establish whether UN peacekeepers failed to protect civilians during heavy fighting in South Sudan's capital last month, the UN announced Tuesday.

Major General Patrick Cammaert will present a report within one month to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the findings will be made public, the UN spokesman said.

UN troops in South Sudan have come under heavy criticism for allegedly failing to protect civilians including women and girls raped near a UN base when fighting engulfed the capital Juba in early July.

The United Nations says it has documented at least 200 cases of rape in July alone by men in uniform, mainly troops loyal to President Salva Kiir.

Ban last week announced that he would launch an investigation of reports that peacekeepers failed to come to the aid of civilians during the fighting and will also look into a separate attack on a hotel in Juba.

South Sudanese soldiers allegedly gang-raped women, assaulted aid workers and shot a local journalist during the July 11 attack at the Terrain Hotel in Juba while peacekeepers reportedly failed to act.

The investigation will determine whether the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS "responded appropriately to prevent these incidents and protect civilians within its resources and capabilities at the time," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been sheltering at eight designated sites protected by UNMISS peacekeepers since the war began in December 2013.

The UN Security Council this month authorized the deployment of a regional force of 4,000 troops under UNMISS command that will ensure security in Juba and help protect UN bases.

Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting in early July between Kiir's government forces and those loyal to ex-rebel chief Riek Machar.

Machar fled the capital during the violence and the Sudanese government announced Tuesday that he had arrived in Khartoum for medical treatment.
Prague (AFP) - US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is better than her Republican rival Donald Trump on security for NATO allies, the Czech prime minister said Tuesday, echoing leaders of other alliance members in eastern Europe.

"Considering the pre-election statements made by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, from the point of view of guarantees for the allies, I see more security if Clinton is elected," Bohuslav Sobotka told the Czech financial daily Hospodarskie Noviny (HN).

Clinton, a former US secretary of state, offers "a greater guarantee of maintaining trans-Atlantic cooperation," Sobotka added.

Trump sparked ire last month among eastern NATO members who were ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era when he waffled on defending NATO partners, thus questioning a key security guarantee of the alliance.

Asked by the New York Times about Russian activities that have alarmed the Baltic nations, NATO's newest members, Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations "have fulfilled their obligations to us."

"If they fulfil their obligations to us, the answer is yes," he said.

A cornerstone of the 28-member trans-Atlantic alliance is its Article 5 commitment that an attack on one member state is an attack on all, a pledge invoked after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and led to NATO's operation in Afghanistan.

Baltic presidents were quick to fire back at Trump at the time, with Lithuania's Dalia Grybauskaite saying "its not necessary to interpret the words of presidential candidate Mr. Trump. We know the US will always be our most important partner."

US Vice President Joe Biden remarked Tuesday in the Latvian capital Riga that he doubted whether Trump "even understands" what NATO's Article 5 commitment to collective defence meant, insisting it was America's "sacred honour" to fulfil it.

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"I want to make it clear to all the people of the Baltic states - we have pledged our sacred honour, the United States of America - our sacred honour to the NATO treaty and to Article 5. We mean what we say," Biden said, ahead of talks with the presidents of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

"The concern that the United states is somehow disengaging from the region is simply not true.

"As a matter of fact our presence will be enhanced. The fact is there will be more NATO partners on the Russian border," he said, referring to NATO's July decision to deploy battalions from the UK, Germany and Canada in the Baltic states and Poland.

Hungary's anti-migrant rightwing Prime Minister Viktor Orban became the first European leader to endorse the like-minded Trump last month, calling him a "better option" for the bloc than Clinton.
London (AFP) - The Ecuadorian government on Tuesday criticised British authorities after security intercepted an intruder trying to enter its London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been sheltering since 2012.

"In the early morning hours of 22 August 2016, an unidentified person sought to gain unauthorised access to (the Ecuadorian) embassy in London," the Ecuador government said in a statement.

The government accused British authorities of not responding to the intrusion quickly enough, saying they had a duty to protect foreign missions.

"The Ecuadorian government therefore expresses its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place," said the statement.

"The government of Ecuador regrets that, despite the enormous resources that the British government has undertaken to prevent Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorian embassy, the authorities did not respond more quickly to this extremely serious attempt at unauthorised entry," it added.

The official WikiLeaks Twitter page carried live updates of the incident, with the first post saying: "16 mins ago at 2:47am a 'cat burgler' (sic) scaled the side wall+window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security."

Prosecutors in Sweden want to interview Assange in connection with a 2010 rape allegation against him.

The 45-year-old Australian sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in June 2012 after exhausting all his legal options in Britain against extradition to Sweden.

Assange claims that if he were sent to Sweden to face trial, he could be extradited to the United States to be tried over WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of classified documents and face a long prison sentence or the death penalty.
Well always remember the sorrow North Iowans shared in 2011 when beautiful little Kadyn Halverson, 7, was killed when hit by a vehicle as she was crossing a rural road to board a school bus.

We celebrated a year later when a law was passed to increase the penalties for illegally passing stopped school buses. The lobbying effort by her family and friends was so intense that the law gained, appropriately, the nickname Kadyns Law.

But as the new school year arrives, there is some distressing news: The number of people charged with violating the school bus laws has declined and the laws tough penalties may make prosecutors more willing to accept reduced charges, according to an Associated Press story we published Monday.

The penalties, to us, seem to fit the crime: a 30-day license suspension for first offense, stiff fines and high-risk, expensive insurance. But the number of drivers charged with illegally passing a bus fell from 1,030 in 2012 to 895 in 2015, according to The Des Moines Register. The number of drivers who had their license suspended dropped from 977 in 2012 to 582 last year.

Wed like to think some of that is drivers being more responsible when approaching stopped school buses  their lights flashing and stop arm extended. But one school bus driver believes the problem has gotten worse and, to no ones surprise, blames distracted driving.

Ive seen a lot of people on their cell phones, texting, putting makeup on. Ive seen one guy brushing his teeth, another shaving. Theyre not paying attention, said bus driver Marilyn Hawkins of Des Moines Schools.

Part of the problem is that the bus driver is the only witness, some authorities say, noting that since bus drivers are not trained observers, proving guilt can be difficult. Cameras would seem a logical tool in convictions but not all buses have the expensive cameras.

Thus some prosecutors find reduced penalties to be the best alternative.

Its certainly not anything that a law enforcement officer or prosecutor takes lightly, said Peter Grady, assistant attorney general with the Iowa Department of Justice. But we cant convict unless we have evidence.

An alternative in Dubuque County, where the conviction rate has been 23 percent, is a plea agreement allowing the motorist to complete a distracted driving course and do community service.

Were not going soft on them, said Assistant County Attorney Ry Meyer. Sometimes violations are very dangerous and you cant let them go.

No, you cant. And thats a good approach to keeping kids safe. But we also understand the problem of pursuing cases without solid evidence. If good comes of the plea bargains  distracted driving courses and community service  then prosecutors have achieved at least some success.

Plus, publicizing these cases and spreading the word on what penalties could be handed down hopefully will get the message across  the anti-distracted driving message  especially as school buses are starting to roll across Iowas roads once again.
Weve been flying around the country for the last three years, visiting dozens of towns that are reinventing themselves after some kind of big economic or demographic change. I have also, in a way, matched those flights stroke by stroke in Americas public swimming pools. On our first day on the ground in any town, I search for a public pool. I started swimming around the country as a way to maintain some sense of normal in my physical activity after all that flying. And then I came to appreciate it as another window into the culture and spirit of the towns we visited. I wish Ryan Lochte could share some of my experience.

Like much of Americaand Im betting most of the many hundreds of kids I have seen swimming in pools around the nation, tooI was glued to the Olympic swimming events. Katie Ledecky, Maya DiRado, Michael Phelps, truth-teller Lilly King. And then, enter Ryan Lochte.

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Unless you were under water for the past week, you know the Olympic story of Ryan Lochte. And you may have even seen Lochtes fumbling apology to NBCs clearly angry Matt Lauer, to whom Lochte had first related what he now says was an over-exaggerated story of his Rio run-ins. At one point, Lauer asked Lochte about plans for redemption. Lochte indicated that he is still is holding open the door for a return to the Olympics in four years. Michael Phelps did that after his DUIs. And maybe thats what gave Lochte the idea that the world would embrace him once again if he reformed and won a tonnage of gold.

But Lochtes case is different, and his plan for redemption should be different. Phelpss meltdown was as a private citizen and not as an ambassador for America on the world stage, wearing his official USA Swimming regalia. I was happy to see Phelps turn his life around and swim himself to a different, more mature place. But Lochte? Im not looking for a four-year commitment to his winning a bunch of gold medals in Tokyo. No, Im not looking for that kind of victory. Im looking for a payback to all those kids I saw in all those swimming pools I visited around the United States who were excited about USA Swimming and its swimmers, including Lochte.

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Heres what I suggest: USA Swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee should offer Lochte a trip around the countryto the kinds of communities I have seen, ones that use swimming as a way to teach the value of discipline, dependability, teamwork, and good behavior. They could ask Lochte to search his soul and come up with some thoughtful, articulate, and truthful way of explaining his behavior in Riohow it spun out of control and what he learned from it. Then he could tell that story to the nations kidsone pool at a time.

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He could start with some of the nations more than 2,700 YMCAs, which are invariably welcoming, from Burlington, Vermont, to Redlands, California, and from Duluth, Minnesota, to Columbus, Mississippi. YMCAs find it perfectly natural that a stranger or an out-of-towner might show upjust like libraries do. In Rapid City, South Dakota, for example, the receptionist waived the daily entry fee for me because she was worried that I only had an hour before closingnot enough to get my moneys worth. That wasnt unusual. They wish you a good workout when you enter and ask if you enjoyed it when you leave.

The Ys and other public pools are as democratic a place as youll find anywhere in a town. All strata of a towns society mingle at the public pools. You can tell in many towns that the hot showers at the Y are the nicest that some patrons are able to afford. You can see, as in Holland, Michigan, the mix of cultures at the pool on the board that showcases the teenage swimming record-holders, from the traditional Dutch stock of Vans to the more recent arrivals of Garcias. In my hometown of Washington, D.C., I run into everyone at the Y, from kids attending the elite Sidwell Friends Schoola frequent choice of presidential familiesto kids from Woodrow Wilson High School, which is next door to the pool and whose enrollment is 46 percent black, 17 percent Hispanic, and 24 percent white.

In Winters, California, the public pool is next door to the library, and the kids ping-pong from one to the other during summer vacation. In Bend, Oregon, high schoolers compete as swimmers to score a first job as one of the lifeguards, who work with precision clockwork and dependability in setting up lanes or moving pool dividers. In Dodge City, Kansas, where the new public pool opened this summer, school kids of all ages give up their summer sleep-ins to start swim-team practice by 7 a.m., before the pool officially opens for fun. In Greenville, South Carolina, you can swim in a different YMCA or public pool nearly every day of the week, every day of the year.

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Consequences are surely coming to Ryan Lochte. Business disapproval began on Monday, when his four major sponsors canceled their endorsement contracts with Lochte. The lost contracts will hurt him. More public disapproval will follow. And now, USA Swimmingwhom Lochte has perhaps hurt the most as a reflection of its current and future American swimmershas a chance to come up with a creative, positive way to address Lochte. I hope they will ask him to explain himself to the kids swimming Americas pools. And I hope Lochte will do the right thing.

That kind of public service would be a much stronger display of Lochtes commitment to restitution, and to his sport, than more gold medals around his neck.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.


A bus carrying seven students between the ages of 5 and 9 veered off the road in Midland, Georgia, on Monday morning, killing the driver and sending several of the children to the hospital, PEOPLE confirms.



Roy Newman, 67, was on his route to Mathews Elementary School and was about a mile away from school when he suddenly went off the road and slammed into a tree. The incident happened at about 7:45 a.m., Valerie Fuller, director of communications for the Muscogee County School District, tells PEOPLE.



Four of the students were transported to Midtown Medical Center, but one of them was later airlifted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, Fuller says. The other three children were treated at the scene and released to their parents, but they eventually all went to the emergency room to be checked out.



As for what caused the crash, "everything is under investigation," Fuller says. "There are still a lot of questions."



Because the accident was so close to the school, several staff members were there moments after the crash occurred, Fuller says.



"I can tell you that every administrator at that school was on the scene today," she adds. "This was one of those things where you're not just going to sit in the office."



After the crash, rescuers arrived to find Newman unconscious in the bus, Fuller says, adding that initially, the injuries to the driver and the students "weren't life-threatening at the time of the report."



Newman lived in Columbus with his family, Fuller says. He started working for the school district as a bus driver trainee in November 2013, and became a full-time employee in March 2014.



"To some of these people, the bus driver was a neighbor, and these children are friends of their kids," she says, adding that counseling will be provided to students and staff at the school. "You can't help but have compassion."



Muscogee County Schools Superintendent David Lewis said his thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones with all of those involved, WRBL.com reported.



"We would like to thank and commend all of the emergency personnel who responded quickly to the scene with tremendous expertise and professionalism," he said in a statement.
By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies slipped on Tuesday following strong U.S. housing data, but caution prevailed ahead of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Friday.

New U.S. single-family home sales unexpectedly reached a nearly nine-year high in July, offering additional support to growing expectations of a U.S. rate hike this year.

Traders have been anxiously awaiting Yellen's remarks at the annual central bankers meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for clues over the timing of a rate increase.

Recent comments by Fed policymakers have generally taken a hawkish tone, but minutes from its last policy meeting suggested officials remained divided over the issue.

Mexico's peso weakened for the fifth straight day, and the Colombian peso fell about 1 percent, despite rising crude prices .

Stock markets were mixed, however, as strength in the U.S. economy could also spell good news for companies from its Latin American trading partners.

Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 0.8 percent after posting its biggest daily loss since June the day before.

Traders also awaited suspended President Dilma Rousseff's trial at the Senate, set to begin on Thursday. Lawmakers are widely expected to confirm her impeachment, but many traders expect that to be a trigger for further inflows into Brazil.

Mexico's IPC stock index fell 0.6 percent despite a nearly 20 percent jump in shares of ICA as optimism over the beleaguered construction firm's prospects grew as it participates in major tenders.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1620 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 904.53 0.03 13.86 MSCI LatAm 2452.40 0.01 34.01 Brazil Bovespa 58303.75 0.9 34.50 Mexico IPC 48024.66 -0.56 11.74 Chile IPSA 4172.83 0.32 13.39 Chile IGPA 20625.72 0.3 13.63 Argentina MerVal 15772.15 1.77 35.09 Colombia IGBC 9960.58 0.48 16.53 Venezuela IBC 11963.15 -1.29 -17.99 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.2185 -0.57 22.63 Mexico peso 18.3510 -0.28 -6.11 Chile peso 671.5 -0.45 5.69 Colombia peso 2916 -0.88 8.69 Peru sol 3.358 -0.24 1.67 Argentina peso (interbank) 14.8350 0.03 -12.49 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.44 0.13 -7.58 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
When writing for the married Russian spy couple at the center of FX's The Americans - Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Elizabeth and Philip Jennings - so much of their relationship is about what's left unsaid that Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg often find themselves winnowing down scripts to bare moments that the actors then breath meaning into. Whether with a glance or the perfect tone, Russell and Rhys bring the writers' words to life. It's just one part of the collaborative writing process that Fields and Weisberg divulge in their scene breakdown from their nominated script, "Persona Non Grata."

1. "In our first draft, Philip and Elizabeth had a lengthy discussion about what life would be like for their family in the USSR if they went back home," said Fields and Weisberg in a joint email. "We pared it down and down until it finally became just these two lines."

2. "We have a special calendar we keep on the wall of our 'writing vault,' which shows the dates on which the episode occurs, including some real-world events that happened during the episode. We are obsessed with the real timeline in which our fictional characters are living."

3. "We do a lot of our writing while walking," says Fields (above left, with Weisberg).

4. "The cutout of Ronald Reagan in our writers office always is there to remind us of his presence in [the era of] the show."

5. "We get extensive notes from every member of our writing staff on every draft."

6. "We talked a lot about the right tone for this - was Elizabeth asking nicely, was she being bossy, was it a matter-of-fact request? We had our own feeling about how it should play, but we don't give our actors directions on lines, and Keri and Matthew found the perfect tone for it: worried, urgent, but collaborative parenting.

This story first appeared in the Aug. 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
GAME OF THRONES (HBO)

Joe Bauer, VFX Supervisor

Outstanding Special Visual Effects

Scenes for HBO's epic fantasy drama Game of Thrones are created by 13 effects houses in six different countries. This past season of Thrones, its sixth, was VFX supervisor Bauer's fourth with the series - and he already has Emmys for the three prior (plus another one for Star Trek: Voyager).

In this season's "Battle of the Bastards" episode, the VFX team had to tackle two separate fight scenes. In the first, Bauer says, "the difficulty was having Daenerys [Emilia Clarke] convincingly fly on the back of one of the dragons during the attack, and also the entire environment needed to be created digitally. For the Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton battle, it was multiplying 60 horses [and as many as 200 extras] into a combined 5,000 - and having very close coverage. Rather than being on a hill looking at it from a distance, we were in the middle of it."

During the series, the dragons have grown in size, from about 3 feet long to more than 100 in season six. "The level of the complexity and size and scope with each season seems to grow in proportion with the dragons," says VFX producer Steve Kullback, who has four Emmys for Game of Thrones (plus one for John Adams). "It's an excellent collaboration.  We're kind of at the same table all day long, just talking through all the various mechanics."

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HANNIBAL (NBC)

Robert Crowther, VFX Supervisor

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in Supporting Role

Canada-based VFX supervisor Crowther, with a team led by Toronto-based VFX house Rocket Science, earned Hannibal's only Emmy nomination - ever - for the third and final season of the NBC thriller (he worked on all three seasons).

"Every episode is very different, almost like a mini-feature with interesting and creative things to pull off," says Crowther, whose other credits include TV series The Firm. "[The nominated episode] had a bloodbath in the kitchen, from Will Graham's [Hugh Dancy] point of view. For this we referenced The Shining - the blood flowing through the hotel corridor. In Hannibal Lecter's case, it's blood flowing out of the stag creature of Will's imagination. It was a combination of [practical and CG elements] and was shot in a pool."

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Other work included a set extension of a chapel in Sicily. "There was some photography in Italy but the chapel was a set built in Toronto, which was extended in VFX to create a larger space," says Crowther. "[Also in this episode] a man that Hannibal has killed comes back to life as a sort of stag creature. That was also a combination of practical and visual effects."

SHERLOCK (BBC AMERICA)

Sara Bennett, 2D Supervisor

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in Supporting Role

Sara Bennett already has a huge accolade from earlier this year: an Oscar, for the visual effects on Ex Machina - making her only the second woman to win an Academy Award in the VFX category (the first was Suzanne M. Benson for 1986's Aliens). She also was part of the BAFTA Craft Award-winning team for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, led by U.K.-based VFX house Milk, which she co-founded. In June, she was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and in July she earned her Emmy nomination.

"I never really thought about [being a woman in VFX] because I have worked with women throughout my career," says Bennett. Milk's work included a sequence in which Sherlock dissects a scene where the Abominable Bride is shooting into a street from a balcony and he examines it from 360 degrees. Milk made the rotating camera viewpoint, blending two plates to create the rotating, 180-degree camera move, which had been shot on a camera track around an actor who remained static during the take, then revealing an outdoor version of the lounge area of Sherlock's Baker Street house.

This story first appeared in a special Emmy issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Doctors and parents are speaking out after Mylan, the manufacturer of EpiPen, raised the price of the allergy injector again to over $500, a more than 400 percent hike since they started selling the product in 2007.



The small device filled with epinephrine that many parents, kids and adults carry around in case of a life-threatening allergic reaction from bees, peanuts and more cost just $57 when Mylan bought the company in 2007, according to Bloomberg News.



Since then, the price has soared each year, and went up 32 percent between just 2014 and 2015.



Mylan now earns around $1.2 billion in profits, according to NBC News, thanks to strong marketing campaigns that lobbied for regulations requiring most U.S. schools to carry EpiPens in nurses' offices. Additionally, Mylan is now the only brand on the market, as the only other producers of an auto-injector of epinephrine folded in February.







Parents have filled the company's Facebook page with negative comments.



"I am disgusted to find out about the enormous price hike for the Epipen," writes one woman. "My son has life threatening allergies and I am required to have a twin pack at school and a twin pack at home. I have a high deductible HSA plan and am expected to pay about $700 to refill. Are you kidding me??? This is a disgrace and seems unethical. How do you people live with yourselves? There needs to be an investigation into this immediately."









"The recent price increase on the epipen has left myself and thousands of other people unable to afford a medication that could be the only thing to save or lives," adds another. "Your company and their greedy price grabbing practices are just another symptom of how screwed up our health care system is in the US, but you could do the right thing and cut prices to save people's lives. Instead you just keep increasing it."









In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Lauren Kashtan, Mylan's head of North America communications, says that the price shift is due to rising costs throughout healthcare.



"With changes in the healthcare insurance landscape, an increasing number of people and families are enrolled in high deductible health plans, and deductible amounts continue to rise," Kashtan says. "This shift has presented new challenges for consumers, and they are bearing more of the cost. This change to the industry is not an easy challenge to address, but we recognize the need and are committed to working with customers and payors to find solutions to meet the needs of the patients and families we serve."



The statement also includes information about how to use coupons to receive the device for free, however they require patients to be commercially insured.





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Multiple U.S. senators have since reached out to the company to determine the cause of the price hike, including Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa, and former presidential candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.





There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. https://t.co/rVWUlMxD0Q a Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 18, 2016





"The drug industry's greed knows no bounds," Sanders told NBC News. "There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. The only explanation for Mylan raising the price by six times since 2009 is that the company values profits more than the lives of millions of Americans."



Martin Shkreli, the former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals LLC who famously upped the price of the malaria and HIV medicine Darapim from $13.50 to $750 overnight and is out on bail awaiting trial for a separate money laundering scheme, even spoke up about Mylan's price hike.



"These guys are really vultures," he told NBC News. "What drives this company's moral compass?"
Outrage over Mylan Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:MYL) price hikes on EpiPens, a potentially life-saving injection device for children with severe allergies, has members of Congress calling for an investigation.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Mylan CEO Heather Bresch demanding an explanation for the price increase while Sen. Amy Klobucha (D-MN) called for an investigation into the companys trade practices by the Federal Trade Commission.

In an exclusive interview with FOX Business Networks Countdown to the Closing Bell, Allergy Kids Foundation Founder Robyn OBrien said Mylan is taking advantage of a growing epidemic of people with food allergies.

The number of people in the United States with food allergies is skyrocketing. From 1997 until 2010, there was over a quadrupling of the number of people with the peanut allergies. So suddenly we have this epidemic and the price has been kicked up six times in the last six years on a product that was first invented in 1977, OBrien said.

The EpiPen auto injector has seen its price rise from $57 when Mylan acquired the allergy shot in 2007 to upwards of $700 in the U.S. today. Mylan EpiPen profits reached $1.2B in 2015 and EpiPen accounts for 40% of the companys profits.

OBrien, known as the Erin Brockovich of food has been fighting against the EpiPen price increase for at least a year and describes Mylans actions as abusive, leaving parents unable to afford a life-saving device for their children.

To have parents suddenly reaching out saying, you know what Robin, I cant afford the EpiPen anymore. To have school nurses reaching out and say, Robin you gotta help us we have these non-compliance kids in the classroom whose parents cant afford the EpiPen, lives are at risk, OBrien told host Liz Claman.

When asked what she would say to Bresch, OBrien said, I would say, youve built your business model on the backs of American children and its time to take ownership for that.

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BRUSSELS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

--Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to buy Italian betting company Sisal Group (approved Aug. 11)

-- Japan Tunnel Systems Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to set up a joint venture (approved Aug. 18)

-- Dutch employment agency Randstad to acquire French peer Ausy (approved Aug. 16)

-- Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp to acquire U.S. wire and cable maker Wireco (approved Aug. 17)

NEW LISTINGS

None

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

AUG 30

-- Polish chemicals company Synthos to acquire Swiss-based chemicals group Ineos' expandable polystyrene business INEOS Styrenics (notified July 25/deadline Aug. 30)

SEPT 1

-- U.S. healthcare services provider McKesson Corp and asset manager Blackstone to set up a joint venture (notified July 27/deadline Sept. 1/simplified)

-- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire New Zealand resins and coating company Nuplex Industries (notified July 27/deadline Sept. 1)

SEPT 2

-- Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and Public Sector Pension Board to jointly acquire Cubico Sustainable Investments Holdings Ltd which in turn will acquire five renewable energy power generation companies in Italy and the UK (notified July 28/deadline Sept. 2/simplified)

-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Altor Fund to jointly acquire marine electronics maker Navico and marine maps provider C-Map (notified July 28/deadline Sept. 2/simplified)

SEPT 6

-- Buyout group CVC to acquire Swedish cigarette pack maker AR Packaging (notified Aug. 1/deadline Sept. 6)

-- German forklift truck and robotics maker Kion to acquire U.S. peer Dematic (notified Aug. 1/deadline Sept. 6/simplified)

SEPT 7

-- German energy companies Alpiq AG and Getec Energie AG to set up a joint venture (notified Aug. 2/deadline Sept. 7/simplified)

Story continues

-- Buyout firm Carlyle to acquire a 50-percent stake in Portuguese plastics packaging company Logoplaste (notified Aug. 2/deadline Sept. 7/simplified)

SEPT 8

-- CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd and Vimpelcom to merge their Italian mobile operations (notified Feb. 5/deadline extended to Sept. 8 from Aug 18)

SEPT 9

-- Commodities trader Archer Daniels Midland Co and Singaporean palm oil processor Wilmar International Ltd to acquire joint control of Olenex joint venture (notified Aug. 4/deadline Sept. 9)

-- Investment fund Partners Group to acquire real estate services provider Foncia Holding and its subsidiaries (notified July 4/deadline Aug. 9/simplified)

SEPT 12

-- South African furniture and household goods retailer Steinhoff International to acquire British retailer Poundland (notified Aug. 5/deadline Sept. 12/simplified)

-- French carmaker Groupe PSA subsidiary Automobiles Citroen SA and Spanish management services provider Estacionamientos y servicios, S.A.U. to set up a car sharing joint venture (notified Aug. 5/deadline Sept. 12/simplified)

-- Investment fund OpenGate Capital to acquire Belgian materials group Umicore's zinc chemicals business (notified Aug. 5/deadline Sept. 12/simplified)

SEPT 14

-- Private equity firm First Reserve to acquire UK service provider Morrison Utility Services (notified Aug. 9/deadline Sept. 14/simplified)

-- Investment company Cerberus to acquire control of French financial companies GE Money Bank SCA, Sorefi SCA, Somafi-Soguafi SCA and General Electric Financement Pacifique (notified Aug. 9/Sept. 14/simplified)

SEPT 15

-- Private investment company Ardian to acquire joint control of fibre product producer Kemide and its subsidiary Kermel (notified Aug. 10/deadline Sept. 15/simplified)

SEPT 16

-- Dutch infrastructure fund DIF and French utility EDF to acquire German gas grid Thyssengas (notified Aug. 11/deadline Sept. 16)

SEPT 19

--French oil and gas major Total to take over Lampiris, Belgium's third-largest natural gas and renewable power vendor (notified Aug. 12/deadline Sept. 19)

--Canon Inc to acquire Toshiba Corp's medical equipment unit (notified Aug. 12/deadline Sept. 19)

--A division of Chinese aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA Group to buy U.S-based Carlson Hotels Inc, owner of the Radisson hotel chain (notified Aug. 12/deadline Sept. 19)

SEPT 20

-- Impulsora Del Desarrollo Y El Empleo En America Latina, S.A.B. De C.V., CPPIB and Ontario teachers' pension plan create strategic partnership to invest in infrastructure assets in Mexico (notified Aug. 16/deadline Sept. 20/simplified)

-- China's HNA Group to acquire Swiss airline catering firm Gategroup (notified Aug. 16/deadline Sept. 20)

-- Agricultural commodities trader Bunge to acquire majority stake in German company Walter Rau (notified Aug. 16/deadline Sept. 20/simplified)

SEPT 21

-- Computer Sciences Corporation to merge with Hewlett Packard Enterprise's information technology services segment.

(notified Aug.18/eadline Sept.21/simplified)

SEPT 22

-- Verlinvest and China Resources Co. to acquire joint control over Resources Verlinvest Health Investment.

(notified Aug.18/deadline Sept.22/simplified)

-- Czech investor EPH and private equity group PPF Investments to buy from Sweden's stale-owned utility Vattenfall lignite mines and power plants in Germany - Vattenfall Mining and Vattenfall Generation. (notified Aug.18/deadline Sept.22)

SEPT 23

-- Swiss bank PostFinance and infrastructure group SIX to acquire joint control of a new mobile payment system Twint. (notified Aug.19/deadline Sept.23/simplified)

-- Allergan to sell its Anda distribution business to Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. (notified Aug. 19/deadline Sept. 23/simplified)

-- Buyout firm Hellman & Friedman, Permira Advisers and Technology Crossover Ventures buy stake in Genesys, a U.S. provider of call centre software. (notified Aug.19/deadline Sept.23/simplified)

-- Triton Group to acquire sole control over Stromboli, holding entity of Flakt Woods. (notified Aug.19/deadline Sept.23)

-- FIH Mobile to buy from Microsoft Mobile Vietnam and other assets from Microsoft Mobile. (notified Aug.19/deadline Sept.23)

-- Valeo and Siemens to set up 50/50 joint venture. (notified Aug.19/deadline Sept.23/simplified)

OCT 24

-- U.S. rail equipment maker Wabtec Corp to acquire French peer Faiveley Transport SA (notified April 4/deadline Oct. 24/commitments offered July 25)

DEC 20

-- U.S. chemicals company Dow Chemical to merge with DuPont (notified June 22/deadline extended to Dec. 20 from Aug. 11 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)

SUSPENDED

-- SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state energy company, to buy stakes in Greek natural gas grid operator DESFA from Greek natural gas utility DEPA (notified Oct. 1/deadline suspended on Jan. 21)

GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS

DEADLINES:

The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company's proposed remedies or an EU member state's request to handle the case.

Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.

SIMPLIFIED:

Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved.

(Compiled by Brussels Newsroom)
Q2 revenues surge by 90%, reaching $2.8M, compared to Q2 2015.

Q2 gross margin surge by 94%, reaching $2.2M, compared to Q2 2015.

Q2 net profit was $818k, compared with a loss of $759K in Q2 2015.

HACKENSACK, N.J., Aug. 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brainsway USA Inc., a subsidiary of Brainsway Ltd. (TASE:BRIN), a leader in the advanced non-invasive treatment of brain disorders, announces the promising results of its consolidated financial reports for Q2 2016 and provides company updates. The report shows a total revenue of $2.8 million, a 90 percent increase from Q2 2015. The increase is mainly due to the sale of new systems in the United States (U.S.) market.

Joseph Perekupka, VP of North American Sales and Operations states, We are very excited with our Q2 results. Our rapid growth rate proves that our commercial strategy of focusing on the U.S. market is effective. Brainsway is well-positioned and intends to be a substantial player in non-invasive brain stimulation.

With a new office in Hackensack, New Jersey, Brainsway shows its commitment to the U.S. growing its team to 16 people in marketing, sales, support, and management. Health insurance companies, including Medicare, cover the Brainsway Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment for over 90% of the U.S. population.

Key financial results and highlights include: Q2 2016 income jumped by approximately 90%, reaching $2.8M compared with revenues of $1.4M in Q2 2015. The increase is mainly due to the lease and sales of new systems, but recurring revenue from legacy systems continue to generate profit. In the first half of 2016, the revenues jumped by 93% to $5.2M, compared to $2.7M in the first half of 2015. The companys cash and short term deposits total ~$11M, as of June 30th, 2016. The companys equity capital is $12M.

Every quarter we continue to improve our financial performance as we reach profitability. Even though Brainsway invested significant resources in clinical trials, R&D and marketing, the Company managed to decrease its monthly burn rate to less than $200K, providing enough cash to execute its strategic plan, said Hadar Levy, Chief Financial Officer for Brainsway.

Brainsway also continues to invest in its R&D pipeline, including its four multi-center clinical trials in OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorder and smoking cessation. The OCD trial, expected to be completed first, is currently underway and progressing as planned. The OCD trial has recruited 69 out of the 98 total patients to complete the study.

Brainsway continues to form partnerships with key opinion leaders in the U.S., as well as with leading universities, medical centers and mental health experts who are all rapidly adopting Deep TMS. We consistently receive positive feedback from our clinical partners and reference sites. This strong clinical foundation generates great interest in Deep TMS within the business, media, public policy, and scientific communities as well.

About Brainsway

Brainsway Ltd./ Brainsway USA is a leader in non-invasive treatments for brain disorders utilizing Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Deep TMS). Our unique patented technology was developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and is FDA and CE cleared to treat patients with depression who are not currently responding to medication. The treatment has been enthusiastically supported by many academic communities and is widely covered by most insurance payers. For more information, please visit www.brainsway.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein. Investors should consult the Company's ongoing quarterly filings and annual reports for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
By Abhinav Ramnarayan

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Germany's benchmark 10-year bond yield nudged off a one-week low on Tuesday after strong data from the euro zone's two biggest economies pointed to resilience in the face of the UK's shock vote to leave the European Union.

German private sector growth slowed in August, but remained robust overall, a purchasing managers' index showed, suggesting Europe's biggest economy is set to keep on expanding in the summer months after it grew more than expected in the second quarter.

France's private sector grew at its fastest pace in 10 months.

The eurozone figures are closely watched for evidence of the Brexit impact on the UK's largest trading partner, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"While it's too early to get this from the hard data, releases like the PMIs are a good source of early insight into how the region will respond," he said.

The yield on Germany's 10-year bond was up marginally at minus 0.08 percent, off a one-week low touched in early trade. France's 10-year bond also edged higher to a yield of 0.15 percent, according to Tradeweb.

"It seems be a technical market - we haven't seen much supply of late and investors have cash to put to work and are picking up some bonds," said David Schnautz, an analyst at Commerzbank.

"We could be back to normal next week when supply comes back properly," he said.

Germany on Wednesday plans to sell 4 billion euros of five-year debt, a tap of its zero percent October 2021 notes. Analysts believe Finland may return to the market with a new bond via syndication either this week or the next.

The issuer has in the past said it will look at a five-year maturity, but analysts pointed out that a longer tenor has not been excluded.

"If anything, we could imagine that agency moving out towards the seven-year tenor, given that five-year rates trade below the deposit facility rate threshold for ECB purchases," strategists at ING said in a note.

Story continues

Finland's five-year bonds were yielding minus 0.46 percent on Tuesday morning.

Trading in euro zone bonds is likely to remain cagey ahead of a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week.

U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak on Friday and is largely expected to signal that the central bank is preparing to hike rates once again.

"Yellen's speech on Friday remains the headline event this week and I think we could continue to see an element of caution in the markets in the lead up to this," said Erlam.

U.S. 10-year yields briefly hit a two-week high of 1.60 percent earlier on Monday before tracking back to 1.55 percent by Tuesday morning.

For Reuters new Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets (Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan)
By Abhinav Ramnarayan

LONDON (Reuters) - Germany's benchmark 10-year bond yield nudged off a one-week low on Tuesday after strong data from the euro zone's two biggest economies pointed to resilience in the face of the UK's shock vote to leave the European Union.

German private sector growth slowed in August, but remained robust overall, a purchasing managers' index showed, suggesting Europe's biggest economy is set to keep on expanding in the summer months after it grew more than expected in the second quarter.

France's private sector grew at its fastest pace in 10 months.

The eurozone figures are closely watched for evidence of the Brexit impact on the UK's largest trading partner, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"While it's too early to get this from the hard data, releases like the PMIs are a good source of early insight into how the region will respond," he said.

The yield on Germany's 10-year bond was up marginally at minus 0.08 percent, off a one-week low touched in early trade. France's 10-year bond also edged higher to a yield of 0.15 percent, according to Tradeweb.

"It seems be a technical market - we haven't seen much supply of late and investors have cash to put to work and are picking up some bonds," said David Schnautz, an analyst at Commerzbank.

"We could be back to normal next week when supply comes back properly," he said.

Germany on Wednesday plans to sell 4 billion euros of five-year debt, a tap of its zero percent October 2021 notes. Analysts believe Finland may return to the market with a new bond via syndication either this week or the next.

The issuer has in the past said it will look at a five-year maturity, but analysts pointed out that a longer tenor has not been excluded.

"If anything, we could imagine that agency moving out towards the seven-year tenor, given that five-year rates trade below the deposit facility rate threshold for ECB purchases," strategists at ING said in a note.

Finland's five-year bonds were yielding minus 0.46 percent on Tuesday morning.

Story continues

Trading in euro zone bonds is likely to remain cagey ahead of a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week.

U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak on Friday and is largely expected to signal that the central bank is preparing to hike rates once again.

"Yellen's speech on Friday remains the headline event this week and I think we could continue to see an element of caution in the markets in the lead up to this," said Erlam.

U.S. 10-year yields briefly hit a two-week high of 1.60 percent earlier on Monday before tracking back to 1.55 percent by Tuesday morning.

For Reuters new Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets

(Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan)
(ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets) Updates prices)

* STOXX Europe 600 index ends up 0.9 pct

* Housebuilders among top gainers

* UniCredit helps Italy outperform

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - European shares advanced on Tuesday, with housebuilders leading the market higher and mining companies rebounding from their declines the day before.

Britain's second-largest housebuilder, Persimmon, rose 4.2 percent after reporting its reservation rate had risen an annual 17 percent since the start of July. Some builders have warned Britain's vote in June to leave the European Union could slow the property market.

"The group's interims have run out better than we anticipated," Shore Capital analyst Robin Hardy said. "The statement is bullish and confident and again seeks to ... push the message that the Brexit result is set to have little or no impact on the new homes market."

Persimmon's peers Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Bellway rose 4 to 6.1 percent.

The European basic resources index rose 2.6 percent, the biggest gain by a sector. BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American rose 3 to 4.9 percent.

The pan-European STOXX 600 ended up 0.9 percent. Germany's DAX rose 0.9 percent and France's CAC gained 0.7 percent, helped by upbeat surveys of economic activity.

French economic activity accelerated to levels last seen just before militant attacks in Paris last November. German growth slowed in August but remained robust overall, suggesting Europe's biggest economy would continue to expand .

A third survey showed activity in the euro zone was little changed in August, though manufacturers may face a tougher September as new order growth slowed.

UniCredit rose 6.6 percent on speculation the Italian bank could be close to selling its remaining stake in Polish unit Bank Pekao to beef up its balance sheet.

On Monday, sources told Reuters the chief executive of Poland's biggest insurer, PZU, would travel to Milan this week to discuss buying a stake in Pekao.

Story continues

Other Italian bank stocks were also in demand. That helped Italy's FTSE MIB index gain 2.5 percent, outpacing the wider European market.

Swiss PC accessories maker Logitech fell 1.7 percent, the worst performance in the STOXX 600 index, after UBS cut its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "buy", citing the risk of sales growth setbacks.

(Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni in Milan, editing by Larry King)
By John Miller and Caroline Copley ZURICH/BERLIN (Reuters) - Europeans in a number of countries are seeking to arm themselves with guns and self-defense devices in growing numbers following a series of attacks by militants and the mentally ill. Some weapons sellers also link their increased business to the arrival of huge numbers of migrants in Europe, although a German police report stated that the vast majority do not commit crimes of any kind in the country. The picture is patchy, with no up-to-date data available at a European level, leaving national and regional authorities to release statistics that are far from comprehensive and not always comparable. Reasons also vary for civilians to own guns legally, including hunting and sport as well as self-protection. Nevertheless, applications for gun permits are climbing in Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic. Their larger neighbor Germany has not followed the trend in lethal firearms, but permits for carrying devices designed to scare off assailants, such as blank guns and those that fire pepper spray, have risen almost 50 percent. FACTBOX on trends in weapons permits: Little research into the reasons for the recent apparent trend has yet been published, but the assumption is that attacks in the past year including in Paris, Brussels, Nice and Munich have stirred fear among some citizens. "There's no official explanation for the rise, but in general we see a connection to Europe's terrorist attacks," said Hanspeter Kruesi, a police spokesman in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. Kruesi advised against buying weapons, saying they did little to improve citizens' security while presenting problems over safe storage and raising legal questions over their proper use in a conflict. "People could actually make themselves criminally liable," he said. After he spoke to Reuters, the canton was the scene of an attack aboard a train this month. The suspect and a woman victim died later, although police said his motive was unclear. One Swiss resident who has just bought his first ever weapons - a pistol and a pump-action shotgun - pinned his decision on a feeling of insecurity created by the attacks combined with criminality that he blamed on north Africans, as well as concern over recent break-ins in his neighborhood. "Buying weapons for self-defense won't protect you from terrorist attacks," said the 55-year-old who lives in a town near the capital, Bern. "Nevertheless these attacks are contributing to a subjective sense of threat, as is the rising pressure from migration and the high crime rate among migrants from the Maghreb," he said, requesting anonymity due to concerns about his safety. Figures are hard to come by on whether the rate of crime, serious or petty, is higher among migrants than the general population in Europe. The report from the BKA federal police in Germany - where more than a million people fleeing violence and poverty arrived last year - said migrants committed or tried to commit about 69,000 crimes in the first quarter of 2016. However, it did not say how this compared with the overall number of crimes. 'THE SUM OF THESE EVENTS' Like Kruesi, authorities in Europe - where levels of gun ownership are comparatively low and controls are often tight - have avoided encouraging their citizens to buy weapons. But Czech President Milos Zeman broke ranks after an 18-year-old with a history of mental illness killed nine people in Munich in July. "Citizens should be able to arm themselves ... in order to be able to act against these terrorists," he told TV Nova. Czechs may already be doing so. Gun permit holders grew by almost 6,000 to close to 300,000 in the first five months of 2016 after several years of declines. In Switzerland, the land of the legendary crossbow marksman William Tell, a rising trend emerged last year. Of the country's 26 cantons, the 12 that responded to a Reuters inquiry all reported higher 2015 applications for permits entitling people to buy guns. Interim 2016 figures show a further rise. While those from people with serious criminal convictions or suffering from mental illness are rejected, most are granted. "Nobody says directly: I'm buying a gun because of the attacks in Nice or Munich," said Daniel Wyss, president of the Swiss weapons dealers' association who runs his own gun shop. "But the sum of these events has fostered a general feeling of vulnerability." Switzerland's defense relies heavily on tens of thousands of citizen soldiers who store their automatic rifles at home, but almost no civilians have the right to carry loaded guns in public. Some people want this changed. Jean-Luc Addor, a parliamentarian and member of the Swiss gun lobby, aims to introduce legislation in September to ease the restrictions. Addor contends that more armed civilians mean safer streets. "The state is not equipped to guarantee public safety," he said. "Sometimes citizens - not every citizen, but those who have appropriate training - should be given means to protect themselves and their families." AN EROSION OF TRUST? Suggestions that governments might be falling short in their duties have also surfaced in Germany. Ingo Meinhard, head of the German association of gunsmiths and specialist gundealers, said demand for blank guns and pepper spray jumped after sexual assaults on women at New Year in the city of Cologne. These were blamed largely on migrants. Meinhard said demand subsequently fell off but rose again after three fatal attacks in July, including by an Islamic State sympathizer who detonated a bomb near a German music festival. "We're now noticing high demand in urban areas," he added. Police drew heavy criticism for failing to prevent the Cologne incidents, since which an Iraqi and an Algerian have been convicted of sexual assault. German permits for firearms possession have fallen marginally in the past year, while those for scare devices jumped 49 percent in the year to June to 402,301. No permit is required for pepper spray aerosols marketed as a protection against animals such as aggressive dogs, though officials say anyone who uses them on humans could get into trouble with the law. Dagmar Ellerbock, a history professor at Technische Universitaet Dresden, said the New Year incidents may have prompted Germans to question the authorities' competence. "This trend towards self-defense could be a reason to worry if it signals an erosion of trust, that citizens who experienced the assaults in Cologne no longer feel safe or protected by the state," she said. Gun sellers said weapons interest grew in Austria after large numbers of migrants arrived in the country at the northern end of the now closed 'Balkan Route'. "Fear is very much a driving force," said Robert Siegert, a gunmaker and the weapons trade spokesman at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce "That's what we keep hearing from salespeople in shops." AMERICAN MINDSET Gun ownership remains low in Europe. According to the Geneva-based group Small Arms Survey, the United States easily surpasses the continent in per capita terms. There are over 100 guns per 100 U.S. residents, more than twice the figure for Switzerland and three times that for Austria, Germany and France. France requires background checks for those seeking a weapon for the two purposes it considers legitimate: hunting or joining a shooting club. This scrutiny can take more than a year. Consequently, it is unlikely that legal French gun ownership has changed much since 2015, said Thierry Coste, secretary general of the Comite Guillaume Tell (William Tell) lobby group. "Gun ownership is extremely regulated, getting there is like an obstacle course," he said. "We don't have the same mindset as Americans." Gun control laws in Britain, which has also experienced a number of Islamist militant attacks in recent years, have been strict since a school massacre in 1996. Licensed firearms numbers in England and Wales have remained relatively stable in the past year. Even in the self-defense business, some doubt the benefits of a personal arsenal. Marco Schnyder, who runs a training center in Zurich, said knowing how to restrain an assailant was better. "I have people in my shooting classes who want to protect their families or themselves," he said. "They would be better served getting a watchdog or an alarm system. I tell them that, too." (Additional reporting Violette Goarant in Stockholm, Matthias Blamont and Michel Rose in Paris, Jan Lopatka in Prague, Francois Murphy in Vienna and Giles Elgood in London; editing by David Stamp)
Nigeria claimed on Tuesday that its air force had killed a number of senior Boko Haram militants, possibly including the groups elusive and notorious former leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Government planes attacked the fighters in the village of Taye inside the Sambisa forest in Borno State during a raid on the Islamists northeast heartland on Friday night, Reuters reports. Army spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said, in a statement, that Their leader, so called Abubakar Shekau, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders.

However, this is at least the fourth time Shekaus death has been reported. Despite the military declaring him killed in 2009, a man purporting to be Shekau reappeared in videos posted on the internet less than a year later, when he ridiculed suggestions of his death.

BREAKING NEWS: NIGERIAN AIR FORCE RAID KILLS BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS COMMANDERS ABUBAKAR SHEKAU FATALLY WOUNDED!  Nigerian Army (@HQNigerianArmy) August 23, 2016

The Boko Haram militant, named among TIMEs 100 Most Influential People in 2015 as the scourge of Africa, was reportedly ousted from his leadership position by ISIS chiefs earlier this month. Heres what we know about him:

Ruthless ideologue



Abubakar Muhammad Shekau is believed to have been born between 1965 and 1975 in Shekau village in Nigerias north-eastern state of Yobe, according to the BBC. He was a theology student and is fluent in his native Kanuri language, as well as Hausa and Arabic, and appears to understand English too. Shekau has been described as having an intense ideological commitment and ruthlessness.

He has demonstrated a blood-thirsty nature, saying in one video: I enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill  the same way that I enjoy killing chickens and rams.

Story continues

Journey to becoming a warlord

The jihadist group Boko Haram, whose name translates roughly to Western education is forbidden, was founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf. Shekau took over as leader in 2009 after Yusuf was paraded and then executed in front of a crowd by Nigerian security forces, retaliating after 70 Boko Haram fighters attacked a mosque and police station in the town of Bauchi. Shekau is said to have married one of Yusufs four wives and adopted their children, following the former leaders death.

Shekau then began to stage increasingly daring kidnapping and killing raids on schools, police stations, federal institutions, churches and mosques thought by Boko Haram to be violating their interpretation of Islam. Under Shekaus leadership, Boko Haram has killed some 20,000 people and displaced more than two million, according to the International Business Times.

In 2013, the U.S. governments bounty for Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau stood at $7 million  $2 million more than what was offered for the Afghan Talibans top man, Mullah Omar. He formally pledged allegiance to ISISs self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in March 2015, and gave ISIS its first franchise in sub-Saharan Africa.

International pariah

The abduction of over 270 schoolgirls in April 2014 brought Boko Haram into the international spotlight, with many using the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag to raise awareness of the campaign to find the abductees. In a series of videos posted online at the time, Shekau admitted to kidnapping the girls and said he would sell them. I abducted your girls. There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell, he said, grinning. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women, he added, occasionally laughing throughout the segment.

Some of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls have been killed by Nigerian military air strikes, according to a new video appearing to come from Boko Haram, which shows one kidnap victim pleading for authorities to bow to the extremists demands that they release detained militants in return for the girls. Its not clear how many have died among the 218 who remain missing.

Ousted by ISIS leaders

At the time of his reported death Shekau had been in a leadership battle with Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who was named by the Islamic State group as the new leader of what it calls its West Africa Province on Aug. 3. An audio speech released the following day, purporting to be from Shekau, criticized his rival and said al-Baghdadi did not respond to letters in which he claimed al-Barnawi is an infidel preaching false creeds.

According to the Associated Press, Shekaus speech highlighted ideological differences with al-Barnawi, who has promised to end the attacks on mosques and Muslim markets that had become a hallmark of Boko Haram.

One of many deaths



In 2009, rumors of Shekaus death by security forces did the rounds in Nigeria  however many believed that the announcement was merely a ruse, designed to provoke Mr. Shekau into making a public appearance or statement, in the hope of flushing him out, The New York Times reports. He then appeared in a videotaped interview with a local Nigerian journalist in July 2010, as Boko Harams new leader, a position he had held since taking over from Yusuf the year before.

In 2013, an army spokesman announced that Shekau may have died between July 25 and Aug. 3 during a shoot-out with security forces. And one year later, the Cameroonian military released photos believed to be of Shekau, suggesting he was killed during a cross border raid inside Nigeria. At the time, Ryan Cummings, a security analyst, said Is this his fourth or fifth death? He dies more often than an iPhone battery, according to the U.K.s Times newspaper.

After Shekaus third death in 2014, theories circulated that the body was that of an impostor. The Washington Post reported that the Nigerian military issued a statement saying a corpse photographed by Cameroon militarys photograph was that of a doppelganger, masquerading as the leader.

Tuesdays statement made no mention of a doppelganger. Only time will tell if this fourth reported death proves to be terminal.
Allaudin Mohamed, a Muslim community leader, used to stay near the late President S R Nathans house. (Yahoo photo: Erin Kimbrell)

Allaudin Mohamed, chairman of Masjid Khalid, used to cook his popular briyani monthly for a very special friend: Singapores former President S R Nathan.

During the annual Presidents Challenge Charity Briyani, Nathan would never miss the chance to eat the savoury dish, said Allaudin, 63, who is responsible for cooking the briyani for the event.

Allaudin was one of the first few Singaporeans who attended Nathans funeral wake on Tuesday (23 August) at the former Presidents house at 122 Ceylon Road. Nathan, 92, passed away on Monday night (22 August) at the Singapore General Hospital, three weeks after suffering his second stroke.

Speaking to Yahoo Singapore after his visit, Allaudin said that even after Nathan stepped down as President in 2011, he would still cook briyani regularly for Nathan.

I would send the briyani over to his house monthly. It was only recently when he was sick that his wife told me to send smaller portions to Mr Nathan.

I was told that each time I sent the briyani over, he would keep it in the fridge and heat it up, and he could eat it for three days in a row, said Allaudin.

The two men were previously neighbours - Allaudin was a child when he was staying in a kampung near Nathans house.

Allaudin said Nathan was a simple family man who had no airs and would regularly socialise with his neighbours regardless of race. Even when Nathan became President and after Allaudin moved out of the area, he would still invite the Muslim community leader and his family to his house.

In the conversations between their two families, Nathan would often emphasized on the importance of education to Allaudins children.

He would tell my children to work hard in school. My children were inspired and I think it was because of the advice by Mr Nathan that all five of my children managed to go to university, Allaudin said.

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PM Lee and DPMs Tharman and Teo at the wake

Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, fourth from left, leaving Nathans wake on Tuesday afternoon. (Yahoo photo: Safhras Khan)

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching arrived around 11.50 am to pay his condolences to Nathans family. He spent about 30 minutes in Nathans house before taking his leave.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who was also at the wake, told reporters after his visit that Nathan was one of the pioneers who made Singapore what it is today.

He was multiracial to the core. He was Singapore and he was also someone with a common touch. He was like that and that is the way I will always remember him, Tharman said.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean told reporters after his visit to the wake that Nathan was a caring person whose values would continue to inspire Singaporeans. Teo added that Nathan had a long and close relationship with his wife Urmila Nandi.

She (Urmila) is definitely saddened by the loss but she is strong and I think she is strengthened by all the good wishes from family friends and all Singaporeans. She is in good heart, good spirits and we wish her well, Teo said.

- additional reporting Erin Kimbrell
Warning: Spoilers ahead from Monday's killer episode of Guilt! Do not proceed if you haven't watched the finale. If you have, read on...

Molly Ryan's killer has finally been revealed!

Freeform's mystery drama Guilt -- summer's best-kept secret -- answered its season-long question on Monday's shocking finale, naming the culprit behind the gruesome stabbing death of the Irish student. Luc (Zachary Fall), Grace Atwood's boyfriend, confessed to being the one behind the fatal blow, but he wasn't alone in his act.

Instead, it was club DJ and high-end madam Roz (Simona Brown) who blackmailed Luc to kill Molly, with whom she was having a secret affair. Unhappy that Molly was in love with the British prince, with whom she was expecting a baby, Roz orchestrated her murder. In a moment of clarity, Grace (Daisy Head) put all the pieces together and confronted Roz in the London flat where Molly died, before bludgeoning her to death in bloody fashion.

RELATED: Why You Need to Watch Freeform's 'Guilt,' Summer's Best-Kept Secret

ET jumped on the phone with Brown to discuss the shocking finale, whether Roz deserved to die and what lies ahead for Grace.

ET: Did you have an idea that Roz was the mastermind behind Molly's death?

Simona Brown: I was completely clueless. I knew that Roz was going to either die or run away, but I had no idea. By the time we got to shooting, people would ask me who it was and I didn't even quite know because everyone seemed culpable in some way for the death of Molly Ryan.

Did you discover it when you read the script?

I found out in the last three weeks of filming -- I think it was before we received the scripts for [episodes] nine and 10. [Creators] Nichole [Millard] and Kathryn [Price] called me and told me Roz was going to die, but they didn't tell me Roz was also behind [Molly's] death, everything. So we literally discovered that in the last two weeks of filming. It was very hush-hush. No one had a clue. They did a very, very, very good job of keeping it a secret.

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Freeform

When you found out that Roz was the catalyst behind Molly's death, what were your initial thoughts? Did it make sense to you?

I wouldn't put it past Roz to be involved in some sort of mastermind scheme and I did have my suspicions about her and Molly's relationship  whether or not they'd gone past the point of friends. But I never put the two together. I had written her off because I figured she wasn't at the scene of the crime, so she had an alibi of being at the club. It was hinted to me when we were filming in Budapest for the first episode that Roz and Luc had a past and I figured it was because he was a gigolo and she had some sort of power over him, but never did I think she'd have that much power to blackmail the poor guy into killing her one and only love.

RELATED: Meet the 6 Breakout Fall TV Stars You'll Absolutely Fall in Love With

Before you learned it was your character, who did you suspect to be Molly's killer?

I thought it was Prince Theo (Sam Cassidy) because of the baby, or he got his man, Phillip (Osi Okerafor), to do the dirty work for him. That's what I figured and it's probably the most obvious choice. I never thought Luc could have done it because in the first episode, he was adamant he was up on the roof. For a moment, I did think it could have been Grace's stepdad, but I think he's too cowardly. Never my character.

Are there any specific moments in past episodes you wish you could have done again knowing now what you didn't back then?

With hindsight, I don't think I would have wanted to know because that would have influenced my character choices too much. When I found out that Roz was behind the death of Molly, there were so many beats and moments throughout the whole series I didn't even notice that made so much sense [now]. I think Roz is a survivor and she's had to endure a lot of pain and loss. Her keeping that offbeat exterior is completely believable to the plot and her character, so I don't think I would have changed anything if I could.

We have to talk about that final showdown between Grace and Roz in the flat. What was it like filming that moment?

For the first time, [Roz] really gave herself the chance to mourn Molly's death. Ever since she died, it's been go, go, go. She's been so busy trying to keep on top of things and she's been so preoccupied with everything. With the trial over, she got away with it all and she can finally exhale and start to grieve and Grace caught her in a vulnerable moment. It was quite intense for me. I left with a headache that day. (Laughs.)

RELATED: The 6 New TV Shows You Cannot Miss This Fall

Freeform

Does Roz regret having Molly killed?

I don't think she expected Molly's death to create so much speculation and drama and draw so much attention to her life. It affected her life much more than she expected it to. She thought ridding Molly would mean she could go on with her life  Molly being there was the constant reminder of what she couldn't have and Roz isn't quite used to that. I think she did regret killing Molly because I don't think anybody deserves to die like that.

Do you think Roz deserved to die in such a violent fashion?

I don't think anybody deserves to die in that way, even if they inflicted that on someone else. It's quite a horrendous way to go. I guess karma is a beotch. (Laughs.) Whatever comes around, goes around. She had it comin' so yeah, an eye for an eye.

At the end of the finale, Grace puts herself in a precarious situation after beating Roz to death. Where does this leave her as we look ahead to a potential second season?

She's quite an interesting character and she's definitely a survivor. In this situation, she's going to have to convince her sister to help her get rid of the body and maybe they're trying to escape the country or maybe they aren't. I have absolutely no idea. Maybe the prince will show up. But I definitely think that was quite a cliffhanger and the story has much more to go. She's got a lot ahead of her and Daisy does such a good job playing her character. It's going to be a whirlwind for sure.

Are you surprised by who killed Molly Ryan and who was behind it all? Tell us your thoughts by tweeting @ETnow!

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ExxonMobil Corporations XOM Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) project or PNG LNG project is looking for multi-year contracts for sales of spot cargoes to utilize surplus production, per co-owner Oil Search.



The aforesaid decision of the LNG industry is a highly unusual one as it is usually dominated by long-term contracts. Also, the move reflects robust output at the LNG project  12% above nameplate capacity at 7.7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) two years after coming online.



In the first half of 2016, the project sold eight spot cargoes. This was over and above the 6.6 mtpa locked in long-term contracts to customers in Japan, China and Taiwan.



The project is currently undergoing recertification of the proven reserves in its foundation gas fields. This, Oil Search believes, will create a bigger reserve base to support multi-year contracts for spot cargoes in the future.



Per the project partners, these contracts would cover a significant part of spot volumes and the strips could extend to as long as five to seven years. ExxonMobil is responsible for marketing of PNG LNG.

EXXON MOBIL CRP Price

EXXON MOBIL CRP Price | EXXON MOBIL CRP Quote

In the first half of 2016, eight spot cargoes were sold, of which six went to Japanese customers. The Japanese customers like PNG LNG for its high heating value or high energy content. Other buyers too have started picking up spot cargoes.



ExxonMobil carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players from the energy sector are Devon Energy Corporation DVN, NGL Energy Partners LP NGL and Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. EEP. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).



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FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaya Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:KAYS), announced that it has disclosed Q2 results of operations by filing its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016. Results of operations in the Form 10-Q show that through June 30, 2016, KAYS has continued to consistently maintain the 700%+ increases in average monthly revenues achieved since the inception of recreational marijuana sales in Oregon in October 2015. Based upon results of operations for the first six months of 2016 and assuming that sales continue at these levels, KAYS believes that it is on track for its first $1mm in annual marijuana sales for 2016. This projection is based on operations of its two current Kaya Shack retail outlets and Kaya Farms grow operations, without giving effect to the Companys planned retail expansion. A copy of the Companys Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, as filed with the SEC, is available online at www.sec.gov.



Separately, KAYS is pleased to announce that work and licensing is progressing for its next two planned Kaya Shack Marijuana Superstores, which when fully licensed and operational, will bring the total to four retail marijuana outlets operated by the Company under its Kaya Shack brand.

Store #3 is planned for north Salem, Oregon, adjacent to a Starbucks Coffee and the planned location for Store #4 is central Salem, Oregon, near a Popeyes Chicken and other nationally recognized fast-food and retail outlets. Both of these new locations are being developed using the attractive Marijuana Superstore footprint, which KAYS believes allows for enhanced revenue opportunities.

KAYS CEO Craig Frank stated, Our financial model is beginning to come together and we believe that adding these next two stores will bring the Company to cash flow positive operations, which will in turn allow us to explore many additional opportunities for continued growth.

Finally, the Company reported that its accounting and legal team has completed filing amendments to the Companys Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2015 to more properly document derivative liabilities caused by certain of KAYS outstanding convertible debt instruments. These adjustments had no effect on our revenues or our operating expenses.

About Kaya Holdings, Inc. (KAYS)

Kaya Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:KAYS) through its majority owned subsidiary Marijuana Holdings Americas, Inc., owns and operates Kaya Shack legal marijuana dispensaries in Oregon as well as its Kaya Farms Grow operations, which produce, distribute and/or sell premium legal cannabis products under the Companys own brands, including flower, concentrates, and cannabis-infused baked goods and candies. KAYS is the first publicly-traded U.S. company to own and operate marijuana dispensaries and a vertically integrated legal cannabis grow and manufacturing operation.

Important Disclosure

KAYS is planning execution of its stated business objectives in accordance with current understanding of State and Local Laws and Federal Enforcement Policies and Priorities as it relates to Marijuana (as outlined in the Justice Department's Cole Memo dated August 29, 2013), and plan to proceed cautiously with respect to legal and compliance issues. Potential investors and shareholders are cautioned that the Company will obtain advice of counsel prior to actualizing any portion of its business plan (including but not limited to license applications for the cultivation, distribution or sale of marijuana products, engaging in said activities or acquiring existing cannabis production/sales operations). Advice of counsel with regard to specific activities of KAYS, Federal, State or Local legal action or changes in Federal Government Policy and/or State and Local Laws may adversely affect business operations and shareholder value.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe," "estimate," "project," "expect" or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, acceptance of the Company's current and future products and services in the marketplace, the ability of the Company to develop effective new products and receive regulatory approvals of such products, competitive factors, dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.

For more information visit www.kayaholdings.com or contact Investor Relations: 561-210-7664
PARIS (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy will run for president in 2017, hoping to return as France's head of state after being unseated in 2012 by the now deeply unpopular Francois Hollande. Sarkozy will join more than a dozen contenders vying for the Les Republicains ticket in primaries, where former prime minister Alain Juppe will be his strongest rival. Below are some key points from his policy platform outlined in a new book "Everything for France". IMMIGRATION * "Drastically reduce" the number of foreigners who canenter France every year. * Any foreigner wishing to become French will have to spendat least 10 years in France before seeking citizenship, comparedwith five years now. * Economic migration must stop during the next five-yearpresidential term. * The right of legal immigrants to bring to France immediatefamily members will be suspended until there is a coherentimmigration policy at the European level. ISLAMIST ATTACKS * Create a special court for "anti-terrorist security". Asimilar court was used in 1963 against the OAS, a far-rightparamilitary organization that carried out attacks andassassinations in a brief attempt to prevent the independence ofAlgeria, a former French colony. * Sarkozy indicates he favors a return to "doublepunishment" of convicted foreigners - a measure he abolished aspresident. It could require a reform of the European Conventionof Human Rights.LABOR LAWS * Allow companies to determine the working hours of theiremployees. If management and unions cannot reach an agreement, acompany vote would determine the length of the working week. * The minimum retirement age would be increased to 63 yearsin 2020 and 64 years in 2025. * The working week for civil servants would increase to 37hours from 35 hours. * Unemployment benefits would be gradually reduced. TAXATION * "Immediate elimination" of the so-called solidarity taxpaid by those who have assets of more than 1.3 million euros. * Income tax would be cut by 10 percent as soon as July2017. * Sales of companies would benefit from a tax credit of 85percent or a total tax exemption if the business is maintainedfor at least five years, with a job guarantee for a majority ofemployees. * The tax relief plan for companies implemented under thecurrent Socialist government would be doubled. At least 34billion euros in social contributions would be cut to increaseFrench companies' competitiveness.LAW & ORDER * Stiffen sentences for multiple offenders. After threeconvictions, the offender's sentence would be automaticallyincreased by 25 percent. After five convictions, by 50 percentand after 10 convictions, by 100 percent. * The age of criminal responsibility would be lowered to 16from 18 currently. (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; editing by Richard Lough and Jon Boyle)
In 2015 and 2016, the fashion world appeared to be playing a game of musical chairs, ushering in radical changes and a variety of new perspectives for the major labels concerned. The first collections of some of these new designers will be presented in the course of the 2017 spring-summer shows to be held in Paris this September and October. In short, all eyes will be on the French capital. Here's a roundup of key events scheduled for this fall.

Maria Grazia Chiuri

Newly appointed as creative director for Dior, the Italian designer will present her first collection for the luxury brand on September 30. Competition for front-row seats at the show, which has everything it takes to arouse the curiosity of fashion addicts, will likely be fierce -- all the more so because Chiuri is the first-ever woman to occupy the post of creative director at the Parisian fashion house.

After more than 20 years of working for Valentino in collaboration with Pierpaolo Piccioli, Chiuri was officially appointed by Dior on July 8 to take over from by Raf Simons, who left the French fashion house to move to Calvin Klein in October 2015.

At the upcoming Dior show, attention will be particularly focused on the accessories, which are one of Chiuri's specialties.

Anthony Vaccarello

The Belgian designer became the driving force for renewal at Yves Saint Laurent Paris, following the departure of the previous artistic director Hedi Slimane last April. Taking over from Slimane, who did much to reposition the French brand, will represent a considerable challenge for Anthony Vaccarello. His first show for the luxury French fashion house will also be the center of attention, because it will doubtless be an introduction to a new look that is expected to replace Slimane's somber rock style with a simpler, sensual and more feminine silhouette.

If the schedule for Paris Fashion Week allows, Yves Saint Laurent may opt to make a splash by holding its show on the first day so as to focus the spotlight on its new artistic director.

Bouchra Jarrar

The third major French fashion house to rethink its artistic direction, Lanvin has called on the services of French designer Bouchra Jarrar, who took charge ofwomen's wear collections when she replaced Alber Elbaz. The forty-year-old, who has collaborated with such major labels as Christian Lacroix and Balenciaga, will take center stage when she presents her first collection for Lanvin, which has been hotly anticipated by the public and business professionals alike.
The FBI is investigating a stabbing in Virginia on Saturday, after Roanoke County police said witnesses heard the attacker yell Allah Akbar while assaulting a man and a woman with a knife, the Washington Post reported.

Wasil Farooqui, 20, fled the scene but was arrested when he arrived at the same emergency room where the victims sought treatment, the Post reported. He has been charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding.

Roanoke police said the attack appeared to be random. The FBI is investigating the incident.

The FBI is working with the Police Department following the incident that occurred on Saturday evening, the head of the FBIs Richmond field office, Special Agent in Charge Adam Lee, said in a statement, according to ABC News. While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident.
Washington (AFP) - Hackers with apparent ties to Russia have conducted a series of cyber attacks on US media outlets including the New York Times, CNN reported Tuesday.

The FBI and other US law enforcement agencies are examining the breaches, US officials told CNN, and investigators believe Russian intelligence is likely to be behind the hacks.

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a New York Times spokeswoman did not confirm the investigation to CNN.

According to CNN, investigators think the latest hacks are part of a broader of series of attacks that also targeted Democratic Party organizations.

Hillary Clinton's campaign has accused Moscow of hacking into Democratic National Committee emails.

CNN said Russian hackers are also believed to be attempting cyber attacks on Washington's many think tanks, which frequently employee former government officials to provide expert analysis on national security issues.

Cyber vulnerabilities have become something of a crisis in the US government.

The head of the Office of Personnel Management was last year forced to resign after her agency suffered a massive hack -- which many suspect originated in China -- that affected a staggering 21.5 million people.

Even America's top cyber snooping organization, the National Security Agency, is in the midst of a hacking scandal in which it appears some of its top secret code was leaked or stolen.
The Federal Election Commission will now be enforcing a policy to ask people who submit presidential candidate forms to prove they are qualified, or they dont represent fictional characters or animals.

mccubbins campaign photo

Source: Official campaign website

Last Thursday, the FEC issued a statement that it is setting up a staff working group to verify information in filings from the 2016 election cycle that appear to be unlawfully false or fictitious.

The FEC says that it is looking to verify that two official candidate registration forms dont contain patently false candidate or treasurer names, questionable contact or bank information, or material that does not relate to campaign finance, such as drawings, essays, and personal court records.

Specifically, the commission wants to eliminate filers listing fictional characters, obscene language, sexual references, celebrities (where there is no indication that the named celebrity submitted the filing), animals, or similarly implausible entries as the name or contact information of the candidate or committee.

According to various media reports, the FEC has seen a big uptick in such filings. We checked the current list of all 1,850 Form 2 filers, and we found candidate names for Rocky Balboa, Moose the Dog, One Cent Piece, Cobra Commander, Anakin Skywalker and The Muslim Dictator Trump (listing Trump Tower as the campaign address).

The popularity of a filing by a candidate called Deez Nutz last year may be one reason for the novel campaign filings. (It was later revealed the candidate filing was made by a 15-year-old boy.)

While this all may sound like a joke gone bad, in a PPP poll last week the fictional candidate Deez Nutz was attracting 3 percent of the general election vote in Texas.

The filings are no laughing matter to the FEC. It has the ability to seek punishment for false filers under 52 U.S.C. Section 30109(a) and 52 U.S.C. Section 30107(a)(9).

Last September, Brad Crate from the Independent Journal Review broke down the possible problems related to false filings during the publicity wave for Deez Nutz, especially if these candidates have received campaign contributions.

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The [campaign] Treasurer who signs a Form 1 (Statement of Organization) or campaign finance report certifies that to the best of his or her knowledge, the report is true, correct, and complete subject to the penalties of 52 U.S.C. 30109 including fines and possible imprisonment. Clearly, making up a fake name causes some problems here unless the filer changes his legal name to Deez Nuts and assumes a new identity, Crate said.

One of the more popular Form 2 candidates is Limberbutt McCubbins, a five-year-old rescue cat from Louisville, Kentucky. McCubbins filed under its (or his) name in May 2015 using an electronic signature on the campaign form. Since then, McCubbins has set up a campaign website and Facebook page, and the cat was profiled by the Today Show, and in the New York Daily News.

And the Pulitzer prize-winning service PolitiFact talked about McCubbins when it tackled the important constitutional question of a cat presidential candidate. PolitiFact turned to election scholar Michael Gilbert and constitutional scholar Sarah Duggin to answer the basic questions.

Gilbert, from the University of Virginia, said that he was quite sure that any court that considers the matter will interpret the Constitution to require federal officeholders to be human beings.

Duggin, from Catholic University, said the 14th Amendment restricts citizenship to human beings, for starters.

The famous first sentence of the 14th Amendment reads, All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

I suspect that there might also be a strong case for arguing that cats are aliens, and its very hard to argue that cats are subject to anyones jurisdiction  just kidding, Duggin told PolitiFact.

In an interview with the Today Show, it turned out that three high school students were behind the McCubbins campaign as part of a youth politics club experiment, and they didnt plan to accept campaign contributions.

Whether McCubbins will get a letter from the FEC remains to be seen. The FEC policy allows the recipient of such a letter to voluntarily withdraw the campaign filing. But the commission also reserves the right to pursue or refer action for false filing.

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(Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday barred further elections for the Ferguson, Missouri, school district until it reforms a system he said violated the rights of black voters in a city that has become the face of a fierce U.S. debate on race.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel wrote in a 119-page order that while there was no intentional discrimination at play in the Ferguson-Florissant School District elections, a number of factors including racially polarized voting patterns combined to effectively thwart black candidates.

"The political processes for electing board members in the Ferguson-Florissant School District deprives African-American voters of an equal opportunity to elect representatives of their choice," Sippel wrote in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the NAACP civil rights organization.

The mostly black suburb of St. Louis became the focus of international attention in 2014 after a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. The incident sparked protests across the country against police treatment of minorities, giving rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Cindy Ormsby, an attorney for the school district, said the district was "very disappointed" with the ruling and was considering an appeal. She said the current board was representative of the racial composition of the community and that African-Americans had won a seat on the board in the past three years.

"The Board is united in the belief that this at-large system does not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act," she said.

Jeffrey Mittman, director of the Missouri ACLU, called the ruling an important step toward remedying "the long history of governmental policies in Missouri that have worked to disfavor communities of color."

Sippel's order noted that three of the board's seven seats were held by African-Americans, while the student body for the district was predominantly black and the voting-age population in the area was about 50 percent African-American.

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The judge also said that since 2004, white candidates had won election to the school board at a rate of nearly 70 percent, while black candidates won only about 11 percent of the time.

"There is a history of officially sanctioned discrimination in the region and the district, and that history is not just a distant memory," Sippel added.

He said that in addition to racially polarized voting where white voters would not back black candidates, factors like subtle racial campaign appeals combined to weaken the African-American vote.

Ferguson-Florissant uses an at-large system for electing school board members, meaning the entire region votes when a member's term is up.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Celebrities perform Fight Song for a video played at the Democratic National Convention. (Screenshot: YouTube/Democratic National Convention)

Its Hillary Clintons fight song, but some listeners dont have a lot of fight left in them.

Before and after the Democratic nominee takes the stage at rallies, her campaign inevitably plays the 2015 pop hit Fight Song by Rachel Platten. The catchy tune inspires hatred from some outsiders, but some Clinton campaign staffers insist theyve grown to love it.

Los Angeles Times music writer Gerrick Kennedy was blunt when Yahoo News asked him for a review of the track.

I hate Fight Song. Its one of the worst songs ever released, Kennedy said. Its schmaltzy, forgettable.

Clintons rivals also find the song ripe for mocking. One former Bernie Sanders campaign staffer described it as wrecking balls inside my brain.

Those in close proximity to Clintons team end up listening to Fight Song a lot.

Several reporters who have covered her events turned to social media to complain about repeatedly hearing Clintons campaign anthem. On July 24, the Daily Beasts Olivia Nuzzi unfavorably compared Fight Song to a song from Donald Trumps soundtrack.

I would rather be strapped to a chair and forced to listen to Tiny Dancer on a loop for 9 hours than hear Fight Song one more time, Nuzzi wrote, later adding, If I hear Fight Song one more time I am joining ISIS.

And Clintons theme music has also provoked negative reactions from Democrats  even some of her own staffers. Guy Cecil, the political director of Clintons 2008 presidential bid, who was rumored to be in the running for a top position on her current campaign, took to Twitter to complain about the tunes catchiness.

Somebody help me!! I cant get Fight Song out of my head, Cecil wrote.

And anti-Fight Song tweets have been favorited by members of Clintons team  a gesture that could be seen as a silent, social-media scream from a campaign that has cracked down on leaks. Some staffers declined to even anonymously give an assessment of the song for fear of being disciplined. One Clinton aide admitted to initially disliking the song, but the person suggested the star-studded video of it played at the Democratic National Convention improved their opinion of it.

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The version they played at the convention was actually awesome. It made me stop hating the song, at least temporarily. Like, Im confident I can handle it for three more months now, the aide said.

Yet other Clintonites insist they love Fight Song. One aide referred requests for comment about the tune to the campaigns director of millennial media, Christopher Huntley, who suggested that it epitomizes Clintons values.

I actually love Fight Song. It represents how Hillary Clinton will never give up, and she will do everything she can to make sure families get ahead and stay ahead, Huntley said.

Huntley also directed Yahoo News to the Clinton campaigns millennial vote director, Sarah Audelo.

For me, Fight Song is a reminder of whats at stake in this election. The fight for immigration reform, the protection of black lives, environmental justice and the continued fight for reproductive justice. We cant afford to give up  the stakes are too high, Audelo said.

And even other staffers who remained anonymous still praised the song when asked about it. While some pointed to its kitschy appeal, one person said they developed an attachment upon hearing it after Clintons wins in the Democratic primary.

Fight Song is an anthem. Fight Song is a way of f***ing life, the staffer said. It un-ironically brings me joy.
MADRID  London-based Film Republic has acquired world sales rights to Anashim Shenem Lo Ani (People That Are Not Me), a Tel Aviv-set romantic dramedy.

Premiering earlier this month at the Locarno Film Festival, where it played in the Signs of Life section, People That Are Not Me is about people who are very much like the friends and contemporaries of director Hadas Ben Aroya, a young Israeli writer-director who self-produced People That Are Not and plays its lead. People marks her first feature.

Also DP-ed (Meidan) and edited (Or Lee-Tal) by other recent alums of the Steve Tisch School of Film at Tel Aviv University, People That Are Not Me turns on Joy (Ben Aroya), whos a mess. She cant let go of her ex, sleeps around, then meets Nir, a free-willed intellectual who does and says what he wants, inspiring Joy.

The movie deals with urban loneliness within the Y generation. The young people of Tel Aviv who yearn for intimacy and are also terrified by it, who talk endlessly but never say anything authentic, the plot summary reads.

Ben Aroya commented that was in her last semester at the Steve Tisch School of Film that she realized that she was part of something. Western society teaches young people that they are special little unicorns. Well, Im not. So People That Are Not Me is about her friends and their non-unicorn lives, what unites and defines us.

Making a film about unauthentic people requires strict authenticity, she said. So she cast non-actors and played the lead.

The world sales rights deal on People That Are Not Me was negotiated by Film Republic managing director Xavier Henry-Rashid who attended Locarno. Film Republic will continue to introduce the film to buyers at the Busan Festivals Asian Film Market and at the Rome Festival market.

A rarity  a London-Based arthouse sales agency  Film Republic has a strong line in film from a new generation of filmmakers, arthouse and more more mainstream foreign-language titles, such as Scottish filmmaker Ben Sharrocks Pikadero, about two frustrated young lovers in a crisis-struck Basque village, and Swiss Niklaus Hilbers Amateur Teens, which centers on a group of teens at a secondary school in Zurich.

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LISLE, Ill., Aug. 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Armour, the makers of great and convenient products including frozen meatballs, pepperoni and portable meal kits, honored an unsung hero today. Armour hosted a school assembly at Evanston Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio to honor Laura Marsh as part of their campaign to recognize Great Moms across the country.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/043efb88-8e2f-408d-bf7a-e6c5f29ed87e

Marsh, a single mother, is a kindergarten teacher who is known for going above and beyond to give back to both her own son as well as her students. Marsh makes sure her students needs are met both inside and outside the classroom- often spending her own money to ensure that her students have clean clothes, food to eat and coats to keep them warm through the cold winter months. She has also led several fundraisers for technology needs, field trips and school uniforms.

In addition to her work at Evanston Academy and within the Cincinnati community, Marsh has demonstrated how to be a Great Mom to her own son, Elijah. Marsh has instilled the same drive and passion she has for serving her students into her son. Marsh and Elijah have an inseparable bond that shows what a Great Mom she is. Marsh spends her time with her son traveling and playing sports.

Marsh was celebrated during an assembly at Evanston Academy in front of her family, friends, co-workers and students of Evanston Academy. To recognize Marsh for being a Great Mom and community leader, Armour surprised Marsh with $2,500 in free groceries at Kroger.

Laura Marsh exemplifies the spirit of the Armour Great Moms campaign, said Jennifer Zmrhal, Senior Director, Marketing, Smithfield Foods. She has not only shown dedication to her school and community, but is also a wonderful mom to her son. We are honored to celebrate and reward her with $2,500 in free groceries at Kroger.

Armour was pleased to partner with Kroger to recognize and reward Marsh as part of their Great Moms campaign.

The campaign is a national program designed to highlight and reward everyday great moms across the country. Great Moms often go without praise and Armour is helping to change that by showing its appreciation for these everyday champions.

The campaign includes monthly events through November to surprise and celebrate Great Moms across the country for their extraordinary efforts in their communities and at home.

Being a mom has been one of my strongest identities, said Marsh. What Armour is doing to recognize moms is awesome. Most moms go unnoticed, but they are the ones who are making it all happen. I wish we could recognize every mom I know. Im really thankful they honored me today.

Armour is currently hosting the Great Moms sweepstakes. From now through November 30, look for specially marked Armour products or visit www.armourgreatmoms.com to enter for a chance to win up to $5,000 in free groceries. No purchase is necessary to enter the sweepstakes.

About Armour

With America's favorite frozen meatballs, LunchMakers portable meal kits, and pepperoni products, Armour is proud to be a trusted brand that provides convenient, delicious and affordable meal options for smart, sensible families since 1867.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, John Morrell, Cook's, Kretschmar, Gwaltney, Curly's, Margherita, Carando, Healthy Ones, Krakus, Morliny, and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.
HELSINKI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Finnish police are cracking down on Uber drivers caught operating without a taxi driver's licence by issuing fines and confiscating earnings via the courts.

Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc, valued at over $60 billion, has faced bans and protests from established taxi operators around the world, but is legal in Finland - provided drivers hold the proper licence.

Helsinki police have so far given small fines to about 50 drivers, but recently they have started to make preliminary investigations into all cases.

"This way, we can investigate the scope of (a driver's) business and gains from it," Inspector Pekka Seppala said on Tuesday.

He said the police currently had around 60 cases under investigation which could lead to criminal prosecutions.

Local courts in April ordered two Uber drivers to give up their earnings - 12,250 euros ($13,880) and 3,000 euros respectively, to the state. Both have appealed against the verdicts.

The government has said it plans to introduce legislation to make the taxi market easier for newer entrants, but the bill is yet to be shaped amid disagreements in the ruling coalition.

"It's disappointing that there's a return to enforcement just when modern ride-sharing regulation is being prepared," an Uber spokesman said, adding more than 100,000 Finns had downloaded the Uber app.

One Uber driver, who declined to be named, said it took too long to get a taxi permit in Finland and he planned to continue driving without one.

"I pay my taxes and take care of my accounting. But I don't have a taxi licence so I've been fined twice," he said.

($1 = 0.8826 euros) (Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell; Editing by Mark Potter)
From Popular Mechanics

Russian engineers are finishing the design of a brand new space freighter that would replace the veteran Progress cargo ships supplying the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, food, water and other goods, industry sources tell Popular Mechanics.

The new vehicle will be about a ton heavier than its predecessor and will feature a radical new design. If it's actually built, the next-generation cargo ship will allow Russia to reduce the number of annual cargo shipments to the ISS from four to three while still delivering all necessary provisions for three people to live more or less permanently aboard the ISS.

Not coincidently, all of these ISS problems have acquired added political significance this year. Faced with latest economic problems, and the need to reduce the number of Progress cargo launches, Russia's space agency Roskosmos made plans to cut the permanent crew of ISS cosmonauts from three to two people. However the full international crew on the ISS is supposed to include six people with half of it reserved for Russia.

To resolve this supply problem, Roskosmos ordered RKK Energia, its key contractor responsible for human spaceflight, to prepare a preliminary design of a bigger cargo ship by the end of this month. Engineers quickly put together this proposal that would combine off-the-shelf hardware with new technology.

Photo credit: NASA

Since 1978, seven-ton Progress cargo ships have been flying one-way supply missions to the Soviet and Russian space stations. They were instrumental in setting many long-duration records in space by Russian cosmonauts in the 1980s and 1990s. From the turn of this century, Progress have continuously supplied international crews on the ISS, including the recent "Year-in-Space" mission. After delivering their cargo, Progress ships are filled with trash and sent on a destructive reentry into the Earth atmosphere.

Over the years, Progress went through several rounds of modest upgrades, while several more radical versions were also proposed, including those that would not only deliver but also return cargo back to Earth. (The cargo return capability is now provided on ISS by the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.) The most important new feature of the proposed cargo ship will be the six-tank cluster to carry more than 1.8 tons of propellant to the station. It will simultaneously serve as a tanker for the space station while also feeding the ship's own propulsion system. As a result, the new design provides significant mass savings in comparison to the current Progress ships, which need two separate sets of tanks for refueling and maneuvering.

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The main engine for the new cargo ship will be borrowed from an existing satellite. Meanwhile, 28 small thrusters for orbit correction and maneuvering will be copied practically unchanged from the Progress.

A pressurized cargo section with an internal volume of around 18 cubic meters will accommodate around 2.4 tons of food, clothes, and other supplies for cosmonauts, including 400 kilograms of water and more than 50 kg of air. It will be connected by a lattice structure to the tanker section, which will operate in the vacuum of space. Various electronics will be spread between both compartments.

The new ship will be able to remain at the ISS up to a year and fly solo missions lasting up to a month. For its ascent to orbit, the new ship will take advantage of the most powerful version of the Russian Soyuz rocket known as Soyuz-2-1b. The three-stage booster is capable of delivering nearly 8.2-ton vehicles into orbit.

Even with all the shortcuts and the streamlined design, the new ship is not expected not reach the launchpad until at least 2020. In the meantime, the Russian crew aboard the ISS is expected to go down to two people beginning next March. In 2018, the Russian crew might go back to three people temporarily, when cosmonauts are expected to conduct extensive work outside the station to integrate the new multi-purpose module slated for launch at the end of next year.

In addition to the latest design, Russian engineers were also considering a concept of an even larger cargo vehicle, which would need Russia's new-generation Angara rocket for launch.

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Hundreds of millions of people suffer from serious lung disease. But innovative new approaches for diagnosis and treatment will reduce the human and financial toll.

TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / CEOCFO Magazine, an independent investment publication that highlights important technologies and companies, today describes five promising new medical technologies for diagnosing, monitoring, and treating lung disease.

Lung diseases take a huge human toll. One condition alone, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is the third leading cause of death around the world. Hundreds of millions more people suffer from asthma, emphysema, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), lung infections, and other illnesses.

But the suffering and financial costs of lung disease have also inspired many new innovations in diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment. Here are five of the most promising:

1) New biomarkers: In the past, doctors fighting COPD and other diseases have been hamstrung by the lack of biological indicators that reveal the extent of the disease and how quickly it is worsening. No longer. One biomarker in particular, called A-Val360, appears to accurately measure the severity of COPD and emphysema, offering an effective guide to treatment.

2) Advanced scanners: Researchers are developing far more precise tools for imaging the lungs - and the extent of disease. One promising approach uses specially treated krypton gas to dramatically enhance the image from an MRI, while another generates high-resolution pictures of the actual motion of lung tissue - and the airflow through the lungs - offering a new window into the severity of disease.

3) Mobile sensors: Small mobile devices connected to smartphones are revolutionizing health care by enabling patients to monitor everything from heart rhythms to blood sugar, and even to diagnose many diseases with one Star Trek-like tool. Now the same technology is coming to lung disease. A device named SpiroSmart lets people monitor their lung function by blowing into their smartphones, while a number of smartphone apps and other tools are helping people better manage asthma.

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4) New drug regimes: Some diseases have lacked effective drugs. But for IPF, at least, recent clinical trials show that an oral drug, called pirfenidone, which directly affects the biological pathway that leads to scarring of the lungs, is effective in slowing the progression of the disease.

5) Advances in inhaled drug delivery: Often, the best way to fight COPD, asthma, and other lung diseases is to inhale drugs into the lungs where they are most needed. But most existing inhaled drug delivery approaches have limitations in the amount of drug they can efficiently deliver. The main problem: much of the drug typically gets stuck in the throat before it gets to the lungs, causing side effects and limiting effectiveness. But scientists now have been able to engineer dry powders that 'fly' much more easily into patients' airways, while delivering virtually any type of drug. One of the first drug candidates using this innovative delivery technology is an inhaled drug for COPD being developed by Pulmatrix, Inc. (PULM) and its collaborator, pharmaceutical giant Mylan. Clinical trials show that the drug, called PUR0200, can use a dose of the active drug that's 80% lower than that of the current standard of care and achieve similar benefits.

Contact:

Bud Wayne

Editorial Executive

CEOCFO Magazine

budwayne@ceocfomagazine.com

SOURCE: CEOCFO Magazine
Tammy and Brian Bossard almost lost their 23-month-old daughter late Friday night when their family boat hit a power line and flipped over on Florida's Indian River.



But thanks to the persistent, brave actions of the Cocoa Beach, Florida, police department, Kennedy  who was found tucked inside an air pocket under the vessel  is safe and back with her parents and 7-month-old sister, Charlotte.



"This was truly a miracle," Tammy tells PEOPLE. "It's just unreal, it's every parents worst nightmare to think that you could lose your child, and this was so real it was a nightmare come to life."



"We are so, so lucky."





Florida Toddler Survives Under Capsized Boat by Staying in Air Pocket: 'This Was Truly a Miracle,' Says Mom| Personal Tragedy, Real People Stories



The family of four was returning from dinner at Grills Riverside Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar when the boat capsized, sending all four passengers into the river.



"I'm in the river. My boat crashed and I have a baby still in the water. Please God send someone now ... please hurry!" Tammy screamed in a chilling 911 call.



"I woke up in the water with Charlotte in my arms," explains Tammy. "Brian came up around the top of the boat."



"We yelled and called to [Kennedy] as we waited for first responders and then we quieted down after our initial shock and that's when we heard her cry. Brian dove under the boat time after time again, but couldn't find her because it was pitch dark outside."





Florida Toddler Survives Under Capsized Boat by Staying in Air Pocket: 'This Was Truly a Miracle,' Says Mom| Personal Tragedy, Real People Stories



Authorities were quick to arrive at the scene and immediately located Tammy, Brian and Charlotte.



But Kennedy was nowhere to be found.



"It was pure terror, just absolute terror to know that your baby is alone, is in the river, and you don't have eyes on her," Tammy explains. "She's very tough, but we knew she was scared and there was nothing we could do."





Florida Toddler Survives Under Capsized Boat by Staying in Air Pocket: 'This Was Truly a Miracle,' Says Mom| Personal Tragedy, Real People Stories



An hour passed before Officer Matt Rush and Cpl. Alan Worthy spotted the toddler caught underneath the boat  alive thanks to an air pocket that was created when the vessel overturned. The officers immediately dove into the water and pulled her out from under the hull.



Kennedy was found wearing her life jacket  something Tammy and Brian had insisted on before setting out in the boat  and in stable condition.



"We were getting ready to leave and we did hear a cry coming from the boata I could hear her saying something inside," Rush told FloridaToday.com.



"Usually incidents like this don't turn out like this. A boating accident that severe with that much damage could have been a lot worse. Air pocket in the boat and a life jacket I would say saved her life."





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Florida Toddler Survives Under Capsized Boat by Staying in Air Pocket: 'This Was Truly a Miracle,' Says Mom| Personal Tragedy, Real People Stories



The toddler suffered minor injuries including a black eye and a scratch on her face, but is now home after spending two nights at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.



"I would tell any parent that your child's life is more important than anything," says Tammy. "Make sure if you are on a boat they are wearing a life jacket! It saved Kennedy."





Florida Toddler Survives Under Capsized Boat by Staying in Air Pocket: 'This Was Truly a Miracle,' Says Mom| Personal Tragedy, Real People Stories



The family says their boat "No Tomorrow" is completely totaled, but it will take some time for them to get back out on the water.



"But when we're ready we have already decided on a new name for our boat," says Tammy. "We are going to call it 'Second Chance' because Kennedy got a second chance at life."


The gap between rich and poor is by some measures as wide as its been in nearly a century. According to tax data tracked by Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, the average income for the top 1% of households in the U.S. climbed 7.7% last year to $1.36 million. That group saw pay climb at almost twice the rate of income growth for the other 99% whose pay averaged a mere $48,768. Pretty stunning, no?

The implications are certainly being felt politically with polarized elections here and around the globe and economically as well with companies for instance changing up what they sell and where they operate.

Many people think that income and wealth inequality is a problem that can only be solved by government. Not Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. Under Walker the Ford Foundation with some $12.6 billion in assets, making it the nations second largest foundation after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundationhas shifted its focus to addressing and alleviating income inequality around the world.

Walker believes that NGOs like Ford need to pay particular attention to this most pressing issue, but refreshingly perhaps for the head of a nonprofit, he believes the private sector can play a significant and positive role too.

First he says we should acknowledge that a focus on short-termism in business (a focus on only the next quarters profit for instance) has implications for income inequality. Short-termism is a challenge for our culture writ large. And it certainly manifests in the markets in ways that distort the behaviors of corporate leaders, of corporations and business in general. Short-termism favors incumbents. It favors those who are already privileged and it compounds that privilege.

As Larry Fink [CEO of Blackrock] says in his most recent letter, short-termism is a problem in our economy and we as market makers and market leaders need to take the action to acknowledge this. And I think consumers and investors should be working towards long-term investment. And that our policies should incent long-term and disincentivize short-termism.

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BlackRock CEO Larry Fink

Walker brings a number of perspectives to the debate. As a poor African American boy raised by a single mother in Texas who benefited from Head Start and a Pell Grant, Walker understands the value of investing in deserving individuals. My background has given me an understanding of the need for investment in human capital and the centrality of private philanthropy making a difference in the lives of people, he said in a 2013 interview.

After graduating from the University of Texas undergraduate and from UT law school, Walker went to work as lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb. He later worked at UBS for seven years, so he understands the world of Wall Street and business from a practitioners prospective.

I asked Walker if its just a matter of companies raising wages to address inequality. Well, I think we have to look at the question of wages, he said. I think we also have to look at how business operates. Business actually is essential to solving the problems of our societies today, wherever they operate in the world. And so Id like to think that the best businesses see themselves, of course, first and foremost committed to shareholder value, to their customers, to their employees, to their communities, and that they see themselves as part of the problem-solving ecosystem in American and the world. The capacity of a business to solve big problems is infinite. And the most visionary of those business leaders we see today, theyre out there doing that. Theyre solving problems. Theyre generating ideas and solutions to major, major challenges.

Another way businesses can participate in battling social ills in a productive way is through impact investing. I asked Walker about that as well.

Impact investing is an exciting frontier, Walker says. Impact investing is what I call double-bottom-line investing. Some call triple-bottom-line investing. And that is getting a financial return, a social return, and an environmental return. And through a strategy that seeks all three objectives, its possible to return money to your investor, to help the planet, and to have a good social outcome and build sustainability into your business model.

Because ultimately, businesses have two balance sheets. They have the published balance sheet, but then theres a phantom balance sheet. And that phantom balance sheet is really a set of externalities that we all pay for. And so what Im hoping is that we can have a balance sheet that actually reflects the material impacts of the business they happen to be in.

But the good news is, weve got policies now. Weve got policies that can encourage and incent us to do more impact investing. We have structures like B-corps, for example, that allow us to think about businesses in different ways. So the exciting thing is that were in this moment of experimentation and innovation that I am really quite enthusiastic about.

Sounds like Walker believes theres room for government, NGOs and businesses as well to play a part here.



Andy Serwer is editor-in-chief at Yahoo Finance.

Read more:

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The BBC made a massive mistake by firing Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson last year  or so the networks former boss thinks.

While the drama surrounding Clarksons suspension and subsequent dismissal for assaulting a producer sparked huge headlines around the world, its resulted in a disaster for the networks hit car show.

Clarkson can be a deeply objectionable individual, and I say that as a friend. I dont think people should punch their colleagues. Its hard to keep them if they do, Mark Thompson, who is now CEO of the New York Times, told Britains Sunday Times Magazine.

But I would say his pungent, transgressive, slightly out-of-control talent was something the BBC could ill afford to lose, Thompson said. He spoke to people who didnt find much else in the BBC.

Also Read: Matt LeBlanc on Returning to 'Top Gear': 'I Don't Know - Call the BBC'

After Clarkson left the show in a blaze of controversy that included a lawsuit brought against him by producer Oisin Tymon, British radio host Chris Evans was brought in to take the wheel  but then he quit last month.

Stepping down from Top Gear,' Evans announced on Twitter. Gave it my best shot but sometimes thats not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.

Saturday Kitchen star and celebrity chef James Martin is now the frontrunner for the jinxed hosting gig, according to the Daily Mirror.

Also Read: Jeremy Clarkson Settles Lawsuit With 'Top Gear' Producer

Ratings for Top Gear plummeted after Evans took over the show, with the series finale drawing an all-time low of 1.9 million viewers in the U.K.

Thompson went on to say that Evans had done himself no favors by trying to impersonate Clarkson.

The former BBC chief went on to recall how he first heard about the incident between Clarkson and Tymon.

Also Read: 'Top Gear' Hosts Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc Mock Report That They Hate Each Other

Clarkson phoned up out of the blue when I was on a day off. His first words were: I wont apologise. I dont care what you say: I wont,' he revealed.

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I said: Er, why would I want you to apologise? He told me that hed just called Gordon Brown, who was then prime minister, a one-eyed Scottish idiot and a c. We agreed that he would apologise for calling him one-eyed.'

As for former Friends star Matt LeBlanc, who was named as co-host after Clarksons reign ended, the American actor doesnt know if hell be returning either.

I dont know  call the BBC, LeBlanc told reporters at the Television Critics Associations summer press tour in Beverly Hills earlier this month

Im not sure whats happening with Top Gear just yet, but this is my priority, LeBlanc said, referring to his new CBS family comedy Man With a Plan.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Ex-'Top Gear' Host Chris Evans Won't Be Charged Over Sexual Assault Allegations

'Top Gear' Fans Declare New Hosts, Series 'Flop Gear'

'Top Gear' Host Jeremy Clarkson Fired by BBC For Assaulting Producer
Application and LORs* due

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interview complete

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1st Round Consortium***

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Essay 1: Tuck educates wise leaders who better the world of business. What are your short- and long-term goals? How will a Tuck MBA enable you to become a wise leader with global impact? (500-700 words words)

Essay 2: As a diverse and global community, our students arrive at the same place from many different paths. Tell us about an experience in which you have had to live, learn and/or work with other people very different from yourself. What challenges and/or opportunities did you experience, how did you respond, and what did you learn about yourself as a result? (500 words)

Situation: Explain the situation and the people involved in it. What was your challenge or conflict?

Explain the situation and the people involved in it. What was your challenge or conflict? Action : How did you deal with the challenges?

: How did you deal with the challenges? Result : What happened in the end? What did you learn about yourself and others?

: What happened in the end? What did you learn about yourself and others? Significance: Why do you think this experience is meaningful to you?

Optional Essay: Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application. (500 words)

Re-applicant Essay: How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally. (500 words)

Essays :Like last year, applicants will response to two required essays. However, Tuck has recently made changes to their first required goals essay that focuses on global approach. Also, the second required essay, the longstanding essay about a meaningful leadership experience has been replaced with more of a focus on diversity.Key Application Dates:10/5/1610/31/1612/16/1611/2/1611/11/162/10/171/4/171/31/173/10/174/5/174/5/175/12/1710/15/1610/31/1612/16/161/5/171/31/173/10/17Here is Advice from Tuck Admissions Blog:Tuck has long provided its graduates with the knowledge and inspiration to do well and do good  to become the difference in the world of business and beyond. As the global economy continues to become more dynamic and diverse, the call for broad, values-driven leadership will continue to grow louder. With this in mind, weve made some changes to this year's essay questions, so please read carefully.Remember, the essays are your opportunity to share with us who you are beyond the numbers and the resume, so reflect, take your time, and be genuine. Think carefully about your content as well as delivery. Communicate clearly and in your voice, not who you think we want you to be; and most importantly, answer the question you are asked.Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay questions. There are no right or wrong answers. We encourage applicants to limit the length of their responses to 500 to 700 words for Essay #1 and 500 words for Essay #2. Please double-space your responses.Lets take a closer look at the essays.This year Tuck has provided 200 extra words for its goals essay . In addition, it has added a statement about global impact in the world of business. Addressing members of the AIGAC , (Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants) during their visit to the Tuck campus this summer, Dean Matthew mentioned that Tuck strives to develop wise leaders to better the world of business. This mission statement highlights the interaction between business and society. The term wise leaders focuses on confident, empathetic, and humble people who are also good decision-makers, and the to better the world of business focuses on enhancing traditions, creating opportunities, and giving hopeIn view of this change, you may start the essay with your overall vision for bettering the world of business. After that introduction, you may continue with the discussion of your short term goals and long term goal. Provide specific info about the position you are aiming for post MBA and also the organizations /companies you are interested in. Also, explain how you see yourself progressing from your short term goal to your longer term vision. After discussing your goals, comment on why you believe that an MBA is the next logical step in your career path and how an MBA will fill the gaps in your career and bring you closer to the fulfillment of your goals? Please note that this gap can best be established with a brief career summary to show the skills you have acquired in your six years experience in the banking industry.To address the second part of the question, explain how an MBA from Tuck is your best bet at this time and how it will help you achieve your goals. It is important to connect your goals to specific resources/ offerings of Tuck e.g. courses, faculty, student community, clubs, organizations. A through research and understanding of Tuck culture and offerings is key to answering this part of the question. Demonstrating your fit with the unique culture of Tuck is the key here. You should connect with Tucks alumni and /or current students and share insights you have gained from your interactions. By reaching out to current students and alumni you can learn more about the experiences and classes that would help you develop as a global leader. Conclude your essay with a comment on how you will contribute to the close knit community of Tuck in Hanover and establish your fit with the schools culture.Tuck has changed its second essay from most meaningful leadership experience to the one focused on diversity and the applicants ability to grow and learn in a diverse setting. To answer this question well, you will need to do significant amount of introspection to come up with a story/ experience when you had interacted with someone or some people who was entirely different from you in terms of language, accent, nationality, values, beliefs etc. Think about a time when you were truly challenged by a person or group of people different from yourself, and how you resolved the experience. Make sure your story not only shows your respect for other cultures and value systems but also your adaptability in cross -cultural settings and the resulting growth.You use the following 4 point structure to organize this essay:A compelling narrative will demonstrate learning and growing through interacting with others.An optional essay is an opportunity for you to give the Ad Com relevant information that you could not provide in other essays or other parts of your application essays, recommendation letters, and resume. This question is also meant to shine a spotlight on an experience or side of your personality that has not been revealed in the other parts of your application.To provide context for a weakness in your profile, such as low GPA or GMAT or a gap in your job history, make sure your reason is genuine to convince them that your low grades occurred due to unforeseen circumstances beyond your control.Also, keep in mind that your story should not only explain that particular weakness in your profile, but also bring out your other strong personality traits. That means your response should be positive, straightforward, and fact-focused and should not sound like you are making excuses for a weakness in your profile.Through this question Tuck Ad Com would like to know that your need of Tuck is as strong as it was last time. Hence you should demonstrate your continued interest in Tuck by mentioning any meetings you have had with alumni/ professors/ad com, or any information session you have attended. Tuck wants its applicants to tell them how they have enhanced their application since they applied last time. You may answer this by focusing on the areas you have improved upon since you applied last. Whether you have taken extra classes, received a promotion, led a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on a personal challenge, the key here is to demonstrate that you are now a better and stronger candidate. Your conscious efforts to strengthen your profile and to work on your weak areas will prove how determined you are about your Tuck MBA.Lastly, and most importantly, you should use the feedback you received from the school on your previous application and focus specifically on those areas e.g. clarity of goals and improved essays with clarity of message.For more MBA articles, visit myEssayReview blog. For questions, email me at .com">poonam@ .com
Ile de Sainte-Marie (Madagascar) (AFP) - Police investigating the double murder of two French volunteers on an island off Madagascar have arrested seven suspects.

Authorities arrested four people who were at the same nightclub as the two victims on Sunday, but have not yet established a firm link to the murders.

Prosecutor Thierry Rajaona Lauret, who is running the investigation, said three more suspects -- a French national living on the resort island of Sainte Marie, and two Madagascans -- were arrested on Tuesday.

There is "no doubt" the two volunteers were murdered, police said. "We just need to determine a motive."

The bodies of the two French citizens, a man and a woman aged in their 20s, were found Sunday on a beach of Sainte Marie with head injuries.

They had been volunteering at Cetamada, a local environmental non-profit organisation working to protect ocean mammals.

According to authorities on Sainte Marie, an island famous for eco-tourism, it is the first time French citizens have been murdered there.

In 2012, a French couple was found dead on a beach in southern Madagascar.

A year later, two Europeans were attacked and killed by a mob on the northwest island of Nosy Be, suspected of involvement in the death of an eight-year-old local boy.
Wellington (AFP) - A Chinese-born businessman has agreed to pay New Zealand authorities US$31 million to settle their money laundering investigation into him, although he remains wanted by Beijing over the alleged multi-million-dollar fraud.

William Yan, 45, holds New Zealand citizenship and denies any wrongdoing. Although he was never charged in New Zealand with money-laundering, China still considers him one of the country's most-wanted suspects.

New Zealand police said Tuesday they have frozen assets worth NZ$42.85 million (US$31.22 million) including luxury cars, property and millions of dollars in bank funds, which will not be released until the money is paid.

The settlement with Yan, his wife Wei You and two associates follows a complex three-year investigation into alleged laundering of money derived from a series of frauds in China between 1999-2001.

"The outcome in this case reflects the effective working relationship between Chinese and New Zealand law enforcement agencies," said Paul Hampton, manager of the police financial crime unit.

The High Court had approved the settlement, police said in a statement.

"They were alleged to have assisted in money laundering and various property associated with them was restrained, including three Auckland properties, a Porsche and Maserati, and over NZ$4.5 million in bank funds.

Chinese authorities claim Yan stole NZ$129 million and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key revealed, following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this year, that Yan was fifth on China's most-wanted list.

It is not known if China will seek the extradition of Yan, who arrived in New Zealand in 2001 and was granted citizenship despite having multiple identities and an Interpol alert against his name.

In 2012, he was acquitted on charges relating to false declarations on immigration and citizenship papers.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Yan has said he made his fortune legitimately as a businessman and the two identities he came to New Zealand with, Yong Ming Yan and Yang Liu, are valid because he was a foster child.

Both his birth parents and foster family registered him with different names and dates of birth, said Yan, who claimed the Chinese government considered him an enemy because he is associated with the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and is pro-democracy.
The Grove just got a little sweeter.

French luxury bakery Laduree is setting up shop at the popular outdoor shopping destination for its first L.A. location, and a branded barricade has been set up in front of one of the spaces facing the fountain.

Laduree, which first established a tea room in Paris near the Place de la Concorde in 1862, is said to have originated the idea of French macarons, not the cakes, but the idea of sandwiching them with fillings. Popular flavors include rose, pistachio and salted caramel.

Over the years, Laduree has collaborated with a host of fashion designers on limited edition macaron flavors and boxes, including Lanvin, Reed Krakoff and Emilio Pucci.

The jewel box-like tea rooms, including the one in the 6th arrondissement in Paris, are regular haunts of the fashion set during Paris Fashion Week.

Since 1997, under new owner David Holder, Laduree has been expanding internationally. It opened its first location stateside on Madison Avenue in New York City in 2011, followed by Soho and Miami.

Laduree has also expanded into gift and beauty items.

A popular take-home gift from their Cannes boutique on Rue d'Antibes, especially during the annual festival, it looks like there's no need to head to the City of Light for your favorite desserts anymore.
Paris (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande voiced his "concern" over a spike in tensions in Ukraine, in a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, his office said Tuesday.

The call, which also included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, came after Putin earlier this month accused Kiev of plotting an armed incursion on Crimea, and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion.

Hollande "expressed his concern over a rise in tensions these past weeks and a growing number of ceasefire violations," it said in a statement after the call.

"He underlined the risk an escalation of violence posed to the (peace) process."

Ukraine has been in the grip of a conflict between its army and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country for two years.

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine and deploying troops across the border -- claims which Moscow denies.

More than 9,500 people have been killed since the conflict started in April 2014, and deadly clashes continue to occur despite several truces.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine soared earlier this month after Putin accused Kiev of attempting an armed incursion into Crimea -- the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Putin on Tuesday told the French and German leaders of a "gross provocation by the Ukrainian side," the Kremlin said.

He said that Kiev's "inclination to this kind of military action harms the Minsk process and cooperation" under the so-called Normandy format, which groups Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

Meanwhile as fighting increased in the east, Ukraine's President Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion.

Merkel, Hollande and Putin agreed to "continue personal contacts on the topic of Ukraine" on the sidelines of the G20 Summit to be held in China on September 4 and 5, the Kremlin said.

Putin earlier this month said the alleged incidents in Crimea meant he would not hold a "senseless" meeting at the G20 with Poroshenko along with the French and German leaders.
French defence contractor DCNS has been hit by a massive leak of secret data on its submarines likely to alarm India, Malaysia and Chile which use the boats, The Australian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The 22,400 leaked pages, which the daily said it had seen, detail the combat capability of the Scorpene-class DCNS submarine designed for the Indian navy, variants of which are used by Malaysia and Chile.

Brazil is also due to deploy the vessels from 2018.

Australia in April awarded DCNS an Aus$50 billion (US$38 billion) contract to design and build its next generation of submarines.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull sought to play down the impact of the leak, saying in Canberra that while it was "of concern", the Scorpene was a different model to the subs Australia is buying.

"The submarine we are building or will be building with the French is called the Barracuda, quite, completely different submarine to the Scorpene they are building for India," he told Channel Seven.

"We have the highest security protections on all of our defence information, whether it is in partnership with other countries or entirely within Australia."

The leaked documents were marked "Restricted Scorpene India" and gave the combat capabilities of India's new submarine fleet, The Australian said.

They also included thousands of pages on the submarine sensors and thousands more on its communication and navigation systems as well as nearly 500 pages on the torpedo launch system alone.

Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar ordered a probe into the newspaper report, saying the documents could have been obtained through hacking.

"I have asked the navy chief to investigate the matter and find what has been leaked and how much of it is about us," Parrikar told reporters in India.

"What I understand is there is a hacking," he said without giving details.

DCNS told AFP it was aware of the articles published in the Australian press and "national security authorities" had launched an inquiry into the matter, without giving details.

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"This inquiry will determine the precise nature of the documents which have been leaked, the potential damage to our customers as well as those responsible."

The Australian said DCNS implied that the leak may have come from India rather than France.

The daily, however, said the data was thought to have been removed from France in 2011 by a former French naval officer who at the time was a subcontractor for DCNS.

The data is believed to have passed through firms in Southeast Asia before eventually being mailed to a company in Australia, the newspaper said.

Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said in a statement the leak "has no bearing on the Australian government's future submarine programme".

Pyne said the programme "operates under stringent security requirements that govern the manner in which all information and technical data is managed now and into the future".

Australia awarded its submarine contract to DCNS but the secret combat system for the 12 Shortfin Barracudas is being supplied by the United States.

The submarines are a scaled-down conventionally powered version of France's 4,700-tonne Barracuda.
Before allegedly fatally stabbing a couple and trying to eat one victim's face, police say the 19-year-old Florida State University student likely consumed unspecified chemicals he found in the couple's garage, PEOPLE confirms.



A police spokesperson tells PEOPLE investigators have been unable to interrogate Austin Harrouff, who they believe drank some hazardous household chemicals moments before allegedly attacking 59-year-old John Stevens and his 53-year-old wife, Michelle Mishcon.



Based on tests performed at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where he remains in critical but stable condition, hospital officials suspect Harrouff ingested "something caustic" the night of the killings.



The police spokesperson tells PEOPLE Stevens' garage contained several solvents and other dangerous solutions, such as paint thinners and chemical cleansers.



Police can't say with confidence whether Harrouff drank the chemicals to hurt himself.



The spokesperson also tells PEOPLE that, soon after his arrest, Harrouff allegedly challenged the police who'd detained him to test him for drugs, saying: "Test me...you won't find any drugs."



 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.



Authorities initially believed Harrouff may have been under the influence of the synthetic drug flakka when he allegedly attacked the couple and tried to eat Stevens' face.



Harrouff tested negative for common street drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, but more extensive testing, which might take up to three weeks, is being performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether Harrouff was under the influence of bath salts or flakka.



Police have yet to release the results of the couple's autopsies, which showed Mischcon died from blunt force trauma injuries and Stevens died from multiple injuries.



Once he's released from the hospital, Harrouff will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as attempted first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing the coupleas neighbor, 47-year-old Jeff Fisher, who tried fending off their attacker.



He also faces burglary and resisting arrest charges.





Story continues

FSU Student Who Allegedly Tried to Eat Man's Face Drank Chemicals in Victim's Garage: Police| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime

Investigators say they are still trying to determine what allegedly drove Harrouff to commit last week's rampage.



Harrouff's parents issued a statement over the weekend, expressing their condolences. "There are no words we can offer to give any real comfort for this tragic loss," the statement reads. "There are no words we can offer that we can make up for the injury sustained by Jeff Fisher who is doing what we would want all good neighbors to do which was to try to help innocent people from being hurt or killed."



On Friday, the Martin County Sheriff's Office released video showing Harrouff walking out of the Duffy's Restaurant in Jupiter, Florida, the night of the attack.







It is unclear whether Harrouff has retained legal counsel.



In YouTube videos uploaded four days before the attack, Harrouff is seen discussing steroid use. In other clips, Harrouff appears to lift weights and makes references to himself as "The God of Fitness."



Harrouff wrote on YouTube page believed to be his, "I've got a psycho side and a normal side," and "I've lost my mind help me find it."
Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - A member of The Gambia's main opposition has died in state custody, the United Democratic Party (UDP) said, in a case that sparked UN, US and French demands for an inquiry.

The death, the second such case in five months, comes just months ahead of polls expected to land President Yahya Jammeh a fifth term in office.

Local party official Ebrima Solo Kurumah, who was detained in May during a rare protest, died in hospital on Sunday, a day after he underwent surgery, the UDP said on Monday.

"We went to the mortuary... and confirmed the death of Ebrima Solo Kurumah," party president Dembo Bojang told AFP.

The party will make sure "a post-mortem is conducted by the doctors before his body is handed over to the family for burial," he added.

Neither activists nor Kurumah's family had been given any information about his medical state and were "repeatedly denied access to him throughout his stay in state custody," the UDP said.

- Government blamed for death -

Kurumah had been hospitalised on August 8, it said, quoting unofficial sources.

The party blamed the government for the death, accusing it of "intentionally inflicting bodily harm and then steadfastly withhold urgent lifesaving medical interventions."

Prominent opposition activist Solo Sandeng died in custody this April, triggering protests at which UDP leader Ousainou Darboe was arrested.

Darboe and about 30 other co-accused were sentenced to three years in jail last month over that demonstration.

The United Nations, the United States and France separately voiced concern at the deaths and urged them to be probed by a neutral inquiry.

"We urge the authorities to investigate the death in State custody of Mr. Sandeng and Mr. Kurumah as well as allegations that detainees are denied access to medical care," Cecile Pouilly, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.

"We remain troubled by reports of the Gambian government's continued mistreatment of detained opposition figures, as evidenced by recent deaths and allegations of torture," deputy spokesman Mark Toner said at the US State Department.

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In Paris, the French foreign ministry also urged the release of political prisoners and said allegations of torture were "particularly worrying."

Jammeh, who came to power in a 1994 coup, rules The Gambia with an iron fist.

Presidential elections are scheduled for December.

His regime is regularly accused by rights groups of arranging the forcible disappearance of opponents.

He has blasted the UN and Amnesty International for demanding an investigation into Sandeng's death, saying they could "go to hell".
(UNITED NATIONS)  Thousands of children trying to escape gang violence and poverty in Central America have made their way to the United States this year  and there is no sign that the flow is letting up, the U.N. childrens agency said in a report released late Monday.

In the first six months of 2016, UNICEF said almost 26,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the U.S. border along with 29,700 people traveling as a family, mostly mothers and young children.

Most are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, three countries with some of the worlds highest murder and poverty rates, UNICEF said.

It is heart-rending to think of these children  most of them teenagers, but some even younger  making the grueling and extremely dangerous journey in search of safety and a better life, UNICEFs Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said in the report. The flow of young refugees and migrants highlights the critical importance of tackling the violence and socio-economic conditions in their countries of origin.

The United States pressured Mexico to step up detentions of migrants after the number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S. border soared to more than 44,500 in the first six months of 2014. Last year, Mexican authorities apprehended nearly 36,000 children, more than half of whom were unaccompanied. By comparison, Mexico detained just 9,600 children in 2013.

According to Mexican government figures quoted by UNICEF, more than 16,000 migrant children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were apprehended in Mexico during the first six months of 2016.

But thousands still make it to the United States.

While unaccompanied children apprehended in the United States are guaranteed an immigration court hearing, they are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney.

But UNICEF cited data showing that having an attorney makes a huge difference.

A comparison of cases initiated in 2015 showed that by June 2016, 40 per cent of unrepresented children were ordered deported, compared with 3 per cent of children who had lawyers.

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If deported, some of them could be killed or raped by the gangs they sought to escape in the first place, UNICEF said.

UNICEF detailed the risks of trying to get to the U.S. in the report entitled Broken Dreams: Central American childrens dangerous journey to the United States. They range from being trafficked, kidnapped or targeted by powerful criminal syndicates to dying in the desert heat.

Many girls have reportedly been forced to work in brothels and bars in Mexico and Guatemala, and UNICEF quoted an Amnesty International report saying as many as six out of 10 women and girls experience sexual violence during their journey.

UNICEF said child migrants should not be detained and should have full access to health care and other services, and be allowed to live with their families whenever possible.

With its partners, UNICEF said it is working to address the causes of migration.

We must remember that children, whatever their status, are first and foremost children, Forsyth said. We have a duty to keep them safe in a healthy and nurturing environment.
Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca.

Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt.

Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
DHAKA (Reuters) - More than 100 people fell ill in Bangladesh after inhaling gas that leaked from a fertilizer factory in the port town of Chittagong, officials said on Tuesday. Police and the fire brigade worked to contain the spread of ammonia that began on Monday night and authorities were able to plug a leaking pipe after several hours, said Mesbah Uddin, the district's deputy commissioner. "The leakage has been repaired but a few hours more will be needed to get the situation back to normal," Uddin said. Safety standards in Bangladesh have come under an international spotlight in recent years after a series of fires in garment factories, and the collapse of a garment factory complex, in which many hundreds of workers have been killed. Uddin said about 50 people remained in hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The rest had been sent home after treatment. The state-owned factory producing diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer is on the bank of the Karnaphuli river, across the water from Chittagong, but wind pushed the gas from a leaking pipe toward the city. Residents of the area were told to stay indoors. (Reporting by Serajul Quadir in Dhaka and Nazimuddin Shyamol in Chittagong; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Robert Birsel)
germany

Leave it to the uber-efficient Germans to create one of the most innovative economic experiments around right now.

On Tuesday August 23, the crowdfunding project Mein Grundeinkommen (translation: "My basic income") announced it will give seven people $13,600 (or 12,000) over the course of one year, paid in monthly increments. That brings the total number of people who have gotten free money from the project to more than 50.

Under the lottery's terms, people will receive the money no matter what  no matter whether they're unemployed or ultra-wealthy, or if they plan to invest in repairs or splurge on vacations.

Mein Grundeinkommen began in 2014 to promote the radical economic policy known as universal basic income (UBI), which calls for a regular allowance to be dolled out to everyone in a given region or society, enabling them to cover basic expenses like food and clothing regardless of their other income.

Over time, basic income advocates claim, the policy could improve social welfare by eliminating poverty. A great deal of research over the last several years has suggested that may be the case.

Mein Grundeinkommen was started by German entrepreneur Michael Bohmeyer, who had quit his job as a web developer and was living on stocks from his previous company. Already endowed with an understanding of basic income, he decided to find a way to give regular, crowd-funded incomes to the general public.

Today, the project awards one-year salaries to over a dozen people per year. Ordinary folks can log onto Mein Grundeinkommen's website to make a contribution to the salaries, enter the lottery to win one, or both. True to its mission of promoting the "universal" part of UBI, one of the lottery's biggest upsides has been that anyone can win.

One of the first recipients, in fact, was an 8-year-old boy named Robin who, upon learning he'd won, asked "Do I get a book every month?" He's since said the best thing about the project was the excitement of getting free money and the happy feelings it gave him.

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Bohmeyer's idea has also spawned other basic income lotteries around the world.

The Dutch organization MIES (translation: Society for Innovations in Economics and Community) awarded a monthly income of $1,100 to a Dutch man named Frans Kerver in July 2015. He recently stopped receiving his monthly checks, but has said the added free time to spend with his family was tremendous.

And in June 2016, the American nonprofit My Basic Income awarded its first basic income salary of $15,000 to a man named Edwin from Sarasota, Florida. An Indiegogo campaign helped fund the project, and now the organization receives donations on the crowdfunding site Patreon.

Over time, organizers of these lotteries hope their experiments can eventually turn into formal public policy.

Ideally, the public will see the success stories of people who couldn't pay their medical bills or, in Robin's case, read as many books as they'd like, and realize something like UBI has what it takes to beat out traditional welfare in the goal of erasing poverty.

There are at least 50 Germans who'd probably bet money it could.

NOW WATCH: The secret to selling your house for more money





More From Business Insider


LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - German 10-year bond yields fell to a one-week low on Tuesday after the Bank of England saw weak demand when it attempted to buy long-dated bonds under its relaunched quantitative easing scheme.

The fall tracked moves in British bonds as the reverse auction hinted at an unwillingness for investors to sell debt that could prove problematic for the central bank's stimulus programme.

German 10-year yields reversed an earlier rise and were down 2 basis points on the day at a one-week low of minus 0.10 percent. Most other euro zone yields were lower on the day, giving up an earlier rise after better-than-expected euro zone data.

"The market reaction suggests the Bank of England will struggle to buy back bonds," said Lyn Graham-Taylor, a fixed income strategist at Rabobank .

"But it's still too early in the process to reach a conclusion." (Reporting by John Geddie; editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
ROME (Reuters) - Germany has agreed to take in hundreds of migrants who are blocked in Italy in a move that might revive the European Union's failed relocation program, Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Tuesday. As part of a deal to relieve pressure on Europe's frontline states in the migration crisis, the European Commission last year devised a plan aimed at moving thousands of new arrivals away from Italy and Greece towards other EU members. Under the scheme, up to 40,000 migrants could be relocated from Italy over two years, but so far only a few hundred have been flown out with many EU allies apparently reluctant to welcome in asylum seekers and refugees. "Up until now, the relocation has been a real flop," Alfano told la Repubblica TV. "(But) today we have heard that from September hundreds of refugees will be able to go each month to Germany. If things go well with Germany, we think they will also go well with other countries," he added. Italy has taken in more than 420,000 boat migrants since the start of 2014, official figures show. Many of the newcomers move swiftly on, looking to reach wealthier northern European nations, but a crackdown on border crossings has slowed the flows, leading to overcrowding in Italy's transit camps and refugee centers. "We must remember that Germany already took in more than one million migrants in 2015. If it also takes in some of our (refugees) ... the message will be extremely strong, because if Germany can do it, then so can all those who have not put in the huge effort that Germany already has," Alfano said. Merkel has faced criticism in Germany for being too open to migrants, and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to perform well in local elections in two German regions next month. Only Syrians, Eritreans and Iraqis qualify for the relocation program, meaning the bulk of migrants reaching Italy, many from West Africa, are not be eligible for relocation. According to latest data, some 3,915 Eritreans, 787 Syrians and 686 Iraqis reached Italy in the first seven months of 2016. (Reporting by Antonella Cinelli; Editing by Dominic Evans)
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co's Gillette unit on Tuesday sued the maker of Schick razors, claiming it falsely marketed a line of private label three-blade razors and cartridges as being equal to or better than its popular Mach3.

Gillette said tests of men aged 18 to 55 showed that razors from Edgewell Personal Care Co created a "statistically significant number of greater nicks and cuts," and thus were not "as good or better than Mach3," as their labels claim.

"By falsely promoting its razor as being 'as good or better' than Mach3 and providing reduced irritation as compared to Mach3, Edgewell's actions threaten harm to Gillette's reputation and that of Mach3, thus jeopardizing Gillette's hard-earned standing and market share," the complaint said.

The complaint filed in Manhattan federal court also said that the "many months" of lead time needed for Edgewell's June rollout of its shaving products meant that company had to infringe three patents for the Mach3 that expired on April 10.

Gillette dominates the retail market for men's razors and blades, where it can charge higher prices for premium brands such as Mach3 and Fusion. But it faces pressure from lower-cost rivals and online sales.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, a halt to alleged false advertising and royalties for products sold under such names as Blade, Daylogic and Equate, and by Kroger Co.

Edgewell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the complaint, Edgewell told Gillette that its claims for the private label razors were based on a "well conducted product test" and had offered to substantiate the "as good or better" claim to retailers that asked.

Shaving products, including Schick, Wilkinson Sword and Edge, account for more than half of Edgewell's profit and revenue.

The company also sells Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen, as well as tampons and other feminine care products under such brands as Playtex and Stayfree.

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Edgewell, based in Chesterfield, Missouri, was spun off in July 2015 by battery maker Energizer Holdings Inc. Gillette is based in Boston, and P&G in Cincinnati.

The case is Gillette Co v Edgewell Personal Care Co, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-06623.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Move along folks, nothing to see here. It is just an alligator taking a leisurely stroll through a Florida neighborhood.

Read: Homeowner Nearly Steps on 10-Foot Gator in His Garage: 'It Had Blood Over Its Mouth'

Randy Spencer, a resident in Land O'Lakes, Florida, was checking his mail Monday afternoon when he saw something peculiar walking around  a gator.

I was slowly backing up thumbing through the mail and heard something move, I turned around and he was right there in my neighbors driveway about 5 feet away. Somehow I didn't see him till then, he said. No kids nearby as it was during school hours but they play right there all the time.

The alligator "smiled" as he strolled around the property in Pasco County.

Spencer told InsideEdition.com that the gator, which was about 7-and-a-half feet long, was sitting in a neighbors driveway when he first saw it. The reptile then decided to head to the grass and walk between a couple homes.

Spencer did not disturb the beast, but he did film the gator as it walked around.

He captioned his video with Walking up my neighbors driveway and in between the houses.

Read: Man Arrested For Shooting Alligator He Says Threatened His Horses: 'I Wasn't Shooting Him Just To Be Shooting'

I was not scared, Spencer told InsideEdition.com. [I was] just surprised... It's Florida and Ive seen plenty of gators but not one that large sunning itself in a driveway so far from the water.

No trappers or animal control were called and the gator just went along its merry way to a swampy area about 75 yards behind the homes.

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He got up, decided to high walk between the houses back to that swampy area after I watched him for a couple minutes, Spencer said.

Watch: Toothbrush With Death: Man Who Calls Himself 'Gator Crusader' Cleans Gator's Teeth: 'I Treat Them Like My Kids'

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Donald Trump

A fiercely anti-Donald Trump GOP strategist explained in a new book how the Republican Party can gain millennial and urban support and capture a future presidency after a tumultuous 2016 election cycle concludes.

In Evan Siegfried's "GOP GPS: How to Find the Millennials and Urban Voters the Republican Party Needs to Survive," released on Tuesday, the commentator wrote that the party "must" begin challenging Democrats by investing time and money in urban areas.

Siegfried pointed to states such as North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, and New Mexico  all of which have leaned toward Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in recent polling  as states that Democrats have pushed from "red" to "purple" over the past two decades. He said that this was a result of Republicans not challenging them in strongholds like California, New York, and Illinois.

"Because the Republicans were no longer challenging Democrats in urban areas, the Democrats didn't have to spend money and resources defending their home turf," he wrote in the book. "Instead, they took these savings and decided to put the GOP on the defensive in areas where it was previously strong."

He said that that push began in the 1990s and first proved majorly successful in 2008, when President Barack Obama captured many states once associated with the GOP and held on to most of them in his 2012 reelection effort.

"These are all states that the Democratic Party targeted, established a beachhead in, and then slowly built up a presence that moved the electorate," he wrote. "What states has the Republican Party done this same thing to? None."

He put forth three points on what would happen if the GOP went through with his plan:

By challenging Democrats in Democratic strongholds, Democrats would be forced to spend resources that would've been dedicated to swing states. Republicans would make progress with voting blocks such as inner-city African-Americans and Hispanics. While he said that "a majority" would not cross over, some would move away. That would also "help to kill charges that the GOP doesn't care about minority voters." Over a prolonged period, the targeted states could move into swing-state territory, which would further thin Democratic resources.

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The policy platform for such an initiative, he said, is to come down on the side of supporting same-sex marriage, buying into climate science and combating climate change, and using "conservative ideas" in dealing with social-justice issues while maintaining traditional conservative ideals on education, gun rights, the economy, and foreign policy.

"This book was written because Republicans have a path to winning in the future, but it is a path that some are reluctant to take or simply just don't know how to begin the journey," he wrote.

NOW WATCH: 'PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE': James Carville goes on an impassioned rant in defense of the Clinton Foundation





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Susan Gardner started "gluing things" to the front of her Cobble Hill home as a therapeutic exercise after 9/11. She has since transformed her home at 108 Wyckoff Street into the much admired mosaic mecca of the neighborhood, a "celebratory statement that would cheer and amuse" passersby and locals alike. It is a community arts project with a take-a-penny leave-a-penny ethosonly instead of pennies, there are colorful trinkets, shiny beads, discarded DVDs, and anti-Trump signage.

It's impossible to miss Gardner's glittering home. Plenty of people put up impressive and edgy displays for Halloween and Christmasbut Gardner's home is a year-round celebration. "The neighborhood has embraced and encouraged the project," she wrote on her website. "The joy of sharing it with strangers has made me very happy. The materials include shells, beads, buttons, jewelry, tiles, mirrors, broken cups/dishes and much more."

Now with the 15 year anniversary of her project (and September 11th) upon us, we visited the Mosaic House to get a closer look at the display. Check out those photos above, and a short video profile of Gardner below.





NYorkers // Susan Gardner from NYorkers on Vimeo.

[h/t CBS New York]
When Molly Ryans murderer confesses to his/her crime a mere 15 minutes into Mondays (series?) finale of Guilt, you know theres another twist coming  and the Freeform drama certainly delivered one.

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Detective Bruno and his partner discover Lucs DNA on the dead body of Jessica Marshall, leading Graces beau to cry that it was an accident. He, like Molly, worked at the posh sex club, and Jessica happened to like it rough, which resulted in her not breathing. Luc tells the authorities he had to kill Molly or she would expose the truth about Jessicas demise. Desperate and high on drugs, he then takes his own life.

But theres still two-thirds of the episode left, so there has to be more to the story. After the murder charges against her are dropped, Grace visits her old loft to retrieve a sweater Molly gave her. She finds more than just a warm souvenir when she gets there. Their roomie Roz is crying as she watches a lovey-dovey video of herself and Molly. Roz reveals to Grace that she and Molly were in a relationship, but Molly wishfully thought Prince Theo was going to leave his fiancee for her. Unable to live with the idea of her girlfriend loving someone else, Roz  the actual she Luc feared  blackmailed the French artist into killing Molly. And thats not the end of the murderous twists! An angry and upset Grace attacks Roz, eventually knocking her out  for good?

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What did you do? a horrified Natalie asks as her sister stands over the body, her face covered in blood.

But wait, theres more! Mollys brother cant bring himself to shoot Theo, so his Irish pal takes care of business. As the prince bleeds out, his fiancee Charlotte decides its not worth calling for help. Elsewhere, reporter Veena discovers that Stan is her father.

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What did you think of the Guilt finale? Did you guess the killer correctly?



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By Carolyn Crist (Reuters Health) - A report from The Netherlands adds to the evidence tying chronic gum disease to heart disease and stroke. In a study of more than 60,000 dental patients, those with gum disease were twice as likely to have had a heart attack, stroke or severe chest pain. Previous studies have linked periodontitis and clogged arteries, but this is the first to investigate the link in a group of people this large, the researchers say. At the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, the largest dental school in the Netherlands, investigators reviewed the medical records of 60,174 patients age 35 and older, looking for an association between periodontal gum disease and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases such as angina, heart attack and stroke. About 4 percent of patients with periodontitis had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, compared to 2 percent without periodontitis, the researchers found. Even after taking other risk factors for cardiovascular disease into account, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking, those with periodontal disease were still 59 percent more likely to have a history of heart problems, according to a report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. In periodontal disease, the advanced stage of the gum disease gingivitis, the gums pull away from the teeth and create pockets that can become infected. Periodontitis has also been tied to other conditions such as skin disease and dementia. Its clear that periodontitis is associated with chronic inflammation, so it makes sense biologically that if you have a heavy infection in your mouth, you also have a level of inflammation that will contribute to heart conditions, said Panos Papapanou of Columbia University in New York, who has studied the association between gum disease and heart disease but wasnt involved in the current study. The research team suggests that gum disease develops first and may promote heart disease through chronic infection and bacteria in the circulatory system. Dr. Bruno Loos, the senior author of the new report, said by email that plausible mechanisms to explain the relationship may include a common genetic background for the way the body handles inflammation, oral bacteria and immune responses. Still, this kind of observational study cant prove that gum disease causes heart problems. The association  does not provide proof (of causation), even when the results from our study corroborate findings from previous similar research, study coauthor Geert van der Heijden said by email. Papapanou told Reuters Health that while the new findings are from patients with a relatively high socioeconomic status, were repeatedly seeing the same conclusion. It seems all over the globe we have to consider this relationship, Loos said. In the U.S., heart disease is the leading cause of death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each year, more than 600,000 people die from heart disease, which accounts for one in four deaths. Dr. Frank Scannapieco, chairman of the Department of Oral Biology at the University at Buffalo in New York, who wasnt involved with the study, commented to Reuters Health that while the association of periodontitis and coronary disease is robust, the strength of the link is moderate compared to traditional risk factors such as hypertension. Papapanou advises: Take care of your oral health for oral health itself. If you know theres a positive association between oral health and other diseases, would you ignore it? I wouldnt.
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haiti officially kicked off its campaign season for parliamentary and presidential elections in October after first-round presidential voting results last year were scrapped because of massive electoral fraud and violence.

"Many people were skeptical, there were doubts about how the elections would be conducted," said Leopold Berlanger, who heads the provisional electoral council, or CEP.

"But today, as you can see, the campaign has begun."

Haiti has been mired in deep political crisis since violence disrupted parliamentary elections in August 2015, prompting the vote to be canceled in nearly a quarter of constituencies.

The crisis later came to a head following the announcement of results from the first round of the presidential vote in October.

Challenged by the opposition after an independent commission concluded that the vote had been plagued by "massive fraud," the government annulled the results and called for a fresh presidential election.

Nearly 6.2 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots on October 9 in the first round of the presidential election as well as a legislative vote. The presidential election's second round is scheduled for January 8.

Berlanger urged calm.

"A competition is not a fight, it is not a pitched battle," Berlanger told a news conference.

"We want to tell all compatriots taking part in the electoral competition, political parties, organizations and candidates, they have a duty to respect the rules of democratic contest," he added.

"We can't descend into a battle in which insults and violence mar the campaign."

Barely a quarter of the electorate turned out in 2015. The CEP acknowledged its work is cut out for it to encourage voters to return to the process following last year's fiascos.

"We want the people to be proud of these elections, to protect these elections so that no one disturbs them," Berlanger said. "We want to prove to all countries that we can take our own affairs in hand."

Of the 54 candidates who took part in the presidential vote last year, 27 have confirmed they will participate in the election of a successor to Michel Martelly, who left office in February without a replacement.

Haiti is still led by interim president Jocelerme Privert, whose mandate officially ended in June.
Halle Berrys dramatic reading of Oops I Did It Again is, weirdly enough, what we all needed

Halle Berrys dramatic reading of Oops I Did It Again is, weirdly enough, what we all needed

The unbelievably gorgeous and time and space-defying (HELLO Halle just turned 50, srsly whats your secret?!) recited a dramatic reading of Britney Spears classic OopsI Did It Again during a sit-down with W Magazine.

In the video, Halle sensuously looks right into the camera and recites the lyrics from the song, proving that its not what you say its how you say it, completely changing the way we think about the song, all while holding the lyrics on a sheet of paper in front of her. Cause you know, those lyrics can trip you up. Were not going to lie though, listening to this video is making us crave some Brit. Not to worry though: She not only has a new album out, Glory, but shell be performing at the VMAs on Sunday August 28th (her first time gracing the VMA stage in nearly 10 years!). Spears craving covered. But heres more Halle Berry.

With open arms I welcome 50... I'm so blessed to be here! A photo posted by Halle Berry (@halleberry) on Aug 14, 2016 at 12:23pm PDT

Can we please all be this glorious?

The post Halle Berrys dramatic reading of Oops I Did It Again is, weirdly enough, what we all needed appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Halle Berry plays a mom who experiences the horror of having her son abducted in a new, anxiety-inducing trailer for the Relativity thriller Kidnap.

The film was originally supposed to be released last year but was pushed back, first to earlier in 2016 and then to this fall, amid distributor Relativity's financial difficulties, which included filing for bankruptcy in July of last year. The Ryan Kavanaugh-led company emerged from bankruptcy in March. Kidnap is now set to hit theaters Dec. 2.

In the trailer, Berry's character is shown playing the game Marco Polo with her son when he stops answering. She frantically looks around for him before seeing him being taken into a car. She races after the car, even grabbing onto the roof as it pulls her along, but isn't able to rescue her son.

Still she doesn't give up, speeding after the kidnapper's car and ultimately taking matters into her own hands after she fears waiting to file a report with the police will result in her little boy being missing for years.

Berry's mom character is shown fighting to get her son back at the end of the trailer, defiantly proclaiming, "You took the wrong kid!"

Read more: James McAvoy Plays Kidnapper With Multiple Personalities in M. Night Shyamalan's 'Split'

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Gabrielle Stewart has been appointed managing director of world sales company HanWay Films. Its slate includes Lone Scherfigs Their Finest, starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy, Juan Carlos Medinas The Limehouse Golem, and Khyentse Norbus Hema-Hema, which are all bound for the Toronto Film Festival.

Stewart joins the London-based company, chaired by producer Jeremy Thomas, in October, replacing Thorsten Schumacher, who announced his departure in July.

Stewart has served as senior VP of international sales and distribution at Los Angeles-based Bloom Media since she left Exclusive Media with Alex Walton to establish the company three years ago. Prior to Exclusive she spent eight years in London at Focus Features International, where she served as VP of international sales. She started out in the business at Renaissance Films. Stewart will remain part of the Bloom team during the Toronto Film Festival.

Thomas said: For nearly 20 years HanWay has distinguished itself as the filmmakers sales company. Our strength is in our deep relationships with producers and talent, and the care and attention we give to the details. Gabrielle brings tremendous sales expertise and experience to our business: shes had the good fortune to sell films for some of the most prestigious filmmakers working today within both a studio and independent environment. She joins an outstanding management team of some 25 people run by our peerless department heads.

Stewart said: After some fabulous years working in Los Angeles I am excited to be returning home to London to work for a company that stands out as a beacon of the best in independent cinema.

HanWays deputy chairman Peter Watson added: Gabrielle has built a career selling great films by great directors. Shes a perfect fit for us. Whats more shes highly cultivated, a marvelous linguist, tenacious and tremendously charming.

Other films on HanWays slate include Yorgos Lanthimos The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which is in production, How to Talk to Girls at Parties from John Cameron Mitchell, Haifaa Al Mansours A Storm in the Stars, Stanley Tuccis Final Portrait, which is in post-production, and, coming up, Wash Westmorelands Colette, starring Keira Knightley.

Story continues

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James Corden was in para-para-paradise when he got a special birthday serenade from Coldplay on Sunday night.



The Late Late Show host, who turned 38 Monday, hopped onto the stage during the band's show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Together they paid tribute to Prince with a performance of "Nothing Compares 2 U." But it didn't end there.









After the song, Chris Martin and Co. honored the Carpool Karaoke host by singing "Happy Birthday"  a song viewers did not see during the segment they taped in February.













"We're here at the Rose Bowl," Corden said before a crowd of more than 50,000 fans. "I'll be honest, I didn't know how big it was when I said, 'Yes.'"



He continued, turning to the band: "I'm a little nervous, but thanks to the four of you on behalf of this audience ... for this incredible night that you have given us all."



Reese Witherspoon, Meghan Trainor, Chris O'Donnell, Chloe Grace Moretz, Suki Waterhouse, Matt Damon and a galaxy of other stars were also in attendance.
From Town & Country

The Christmas special was always the highlight of each Downton Abbey season. Filled with engagements, deaths, and intrigue, it showcased the best (and soapiest) of Downton drama.

This year, Highclere Castle-the real life estate where the Masterpiece series was shot-is tapping into that holiday spirit by throwing a gala in December. Sadly, the Crawley family and their servants won't be in attendance, but Friendly Planet Travel is giving fans exclusive access to the event through their Downton-themed tour of England.

The five-day package costs $2,799 and features not only a ticket to the party, which will include a three-course dinner, champagne, and carols around the Christmas tree, but also roundtrip flights from the U.S., four nights in London, and the option to add a day trip to Paris.

Better yet, the trip is planned for December 14-19, meaning you'll get home just in time to spend Christmas Day with your family. Sounds like the perfect way to bide time waiting for confirmation of that rumored Downton film.

[h/t Conde Nast Traveler]
From Town & Country

As T&C reported last week, the William and Kate are heading to Canada next month-and now we know exactly where they're going.

The British royals, who are expected to travel with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, will spend a week away on their second visit our neighbor to the north, Kensington Palace announced today. Among their stops are Vancouver, the Great Bear rainforest, and Whitehorse and Carcross in the Yukon.

Here's the full itinerary, courtesy of People:

September 24: Victoria, British Columbia

September 25: Vancouver, British Columbia

Here the royals will take a tour of the city focused on mental health.

September 26: Bella Bella and Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia

They'll visit Bella Bella, an Indian reserve, and the 250-mile-wide Great Bear Rainforest. There they can expect to see waterfalls, grizzly bears, sea lions, and humpback whales.

September 27: Kelowna, British Columbia and Whitehorse, Yukon

September 28: Whitehorse and Carcross, Yukon

Carcross was established as a hunting camp and received its name from the caribou herds that would transverse a narrow spit of land between two lakes. The local First Nation community population was 289 in 2011.

September 29: Victoria, British Columbia

September 30: Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

Hailed as one of National Geographic's 20 Best Trips in 2015, Haida Gwaii is an archipelago formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands. Of the area's total population of approximately 5,000, at least one third are indigenous Haida people.

October 1: Victoria, British Columbia
Mayor de Blasio is on vacation again, which is good for the groundhogs that have been slowly trying to take over City Hall, but not so good for his public image. "De Blasio would rather be on vacation than deal with New York!" one Post headline screams. "Dont Give the Mayor a Break!" says another, from NY1. But Governor Cuomo says it's totally cool for de Blasio to take a little rest anytime the job's too much for himnot that he'd ever need a vacation, because breaks are for the weak.

Cuomo was asked about de Blasio's current weeklong vacationhis second this summerat a press conference on Long Island."I dont comment on anyones vacation schedule," he said, before going on to point out how much better he is at working than de Blasio. "For me, I am not comfortable leaving the state. If I leave the state and something happens, I like to be hands-on."

De Blasio's been getting flack for this trip, in which he and his family will travel to Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. In July, they went to Italy for a week, and the mayor spent a few days in Seattle to visit his brother. The de Blasios have also visited their son Dante at Yale, and went to daughter Chiara's graduation in California this summer, though neither of these events should count as vacation (but do to most employers!). It's not not a lot of travel time in a short period of time, and the Post isn't having it, especially since he's been lax about holding public events. The next mayoral election is, after all, only about a year away.

His poll numbers have taken a bunch of hits, hes lost ground, and this is a time when you can start to make it up, Bill Cunningham, formerly a communications director for Mayor Bloomberg, told the tabloid. "The summer is when he controls media in the sense that he controls his public appearances, where he goes, what he says. He has a stage that he can paint the picture the way he wants. So every day he takes away from the canvas is a lost day."

NY1, meanwhile, suggests de Blasio get a vacation home at, say, Brighton Beach or City Island, so it'll be more convenient for him to show up an hour late to an important press conference or emergency event. "I suggested during the Bloomberg administration - and Im re-suggesting now - that a vacation-craving mayor should establish a summer Gracie Mansion somewhere else in the city," columnist Bob Hardt wrote. "When they served as mayor, both William ODwyer and Abe Beame had homes in the Rockaways and even had separate inaugurations there."

Anyway, Cuomo says we're stuck with him, no matter how many jaunts de Blasio takes. "I don't care what it is. If it's a problem with the MTA, god forbid, a train derailment, a hurricane, a flood, I like to be there. I think thats my job. I got that ethic, frankly from my father, who was governor for 12 years. His point to me as a young fellow was, 'to do the job you have to be there.' You wanna be the governor of New York? Be in New York. I can count on one hand in 12 years how many days my father left the state," he said.

Mayor Bloomberg, meanwhile, famously never took a vacation, except for all those weekends and snowstorms in which he flew off to Bermuda in his private jet.
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton holds a 16-point lead over Republican rival Donald Trump among likely voters in Virginia, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

The former Secretary of State leads the New York businessman 48% to 32% in a four-way race that includes Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, results from the latest Roanoke College Poll show.

In a two-way matchup, Clinton leads by 19 points, with 55% support compared to Trumps 36%. The two candidates were tied in Roanokes poll in May.

Hillary Clinton has improved her position among her core constituencies as well as ideological moderates and political independents, Dr. Harry Wilson, director of the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research, said in a statement.

There is no silver lining in this dark cloud for Donald Trump, Wilson added. His numbers are mostly negative and stagnant. The election is 11 weeks away, but he has a lot of ground to make up.

The Roanoke College Poll interviewed 803 likely voters in Virginia between August 7 and August 17. It has a margin of error of +/-3.5%.
Hillary Clinton would like you to know that any rumors regarding her health are being fabricated by the Donald Trump campaign.

VIDEOSSeth Meyers to Clinton: Ignore Trump, Prep Jim Halpert Look for Debates

The Democratic presidential nominee appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday and was immediately asked about Rudolph Giulianis remarks insinuating that she is too ill to serve as Commander-in-Chief, let alone run for office.

On the one hand, its part of the wacky strategy  just say all of these crazy things and maybe you can get some people to believe you, she said. On the other hand, it just absolutely makes no sense. Kimmel then asked that she open a jar of pickles (as seen in the video above) to prove that she is indeed in top physical condition.

RELATEDTrevor Noah: Trump Needs to Be Put Away After Second Amendment Joke

Prior to her fitness test, Clinton was asked about how shes preparing for her debates opposite Trump who, according to her, spent Republican primary debates insulting all of his opponents, all of the moderators, and 80 percent of the American people and the rest of the world.

VIDEOSDenis Leary, James Corden Dress as Clintons to Sing About Ahole Trump

Finally, Kimmel  who you might have forgotten is running for vice president  grilled Clinton about her decision to pick Tim Kaine (aka a man who looks like he jumped out of the front row of a Jimmy Buffet concert) as her running mate:

Press PLAY on the videos above for more from Clintons interview, then sound off below.

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Jimmy Kimmel was greeted by the secret service and bomb-sniffing dogs when he returned to work after a two-week vacation. "All of course because Hillary Clinton is here," the host told his Jimmy Kimmel Live! audience, who cheered for the Democratic presidential nominee when the ABC late-night show returned Monday.

The cheers continued when Clinton, wearing a bright red blazer, appeared, prompting Kimmel to joke: "Who would have guessed the audience would be so excited for the co-creator of ISIS?"

Referencing the comment made by Donald Trump (who said President Barack Obama was the "founder of ISIS" and that Clinton was the "co-founder"), Kimmel pressed the nominee on how she handles such a claim, politically and personally.

"That was one of the crazier things that has been said during this campaign," she told the late-night host. "I don't get upset anymore, because I'd be upset all the time. I think it's crazy, but also harmful."

She continued, "When Trump talks the way he talks, it actually helps the terrorists. Because they make a case that Hillary Clinton and Obama created ISIS," saying, "we heard it from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump."

The visit marked Clinton's first late-night appearance since the Democratic National Convention and her historic nomination as the party's presidential nominee.

Read more: Leonardo DiCaprio Backs Out of Hillary Clinton Fundraiser

During Kimmel's opening monologue, Kimmel said Clinton is gearing up for the general election debates, but that her campaign is having trouble finding a mock stand-in for Trump, given his divisive rhetoric and persona.

"I'm here to ask for your help!" Clinton told Kimmel. "You have to be prepared for wacky stuff that comes at you. I am drawing on my experience in elementary school - the guy who pulled your ponytail."

Case in point: Trump claimed that Clinton "lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS." Kimmel asked her about the charges that she is unhealthy, as well as Trump's recent Second Amendment remark. Both claims were categorized by Clinton as being a part of the "alternate universe" of this election.

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"I don't think we've ever been confronted with somebody that we see as unqualified and temperamentally unfit [at this point]," she said. Kimmel then took her pulse - "Make sure I'm alive," she joked - and had her prove her strength by opening a pickle jar.

How great would it be if her first act as president was to deport Trump to Mexico? Kimmel asked.

"I'm not into deporting anybody," she said, adding, "except violent people."

Read more: Casey Wasserman Mentioned in New Batch of Clinton Emails

Kimmel then turned talk to the DNC's most viral moment: Bill Clinton's love for the American-themed balloons that closed out the weeklong event.

"It seemed like he had seen balloons for the first time," said Kimmel, sparking big laughs from Clinton.

"We were all pretty excited about the balloons," she said. "That's one of the things that I love about my husband, is that he enjoys so many things and balloons is one of them."

Kimmel then showed a picture of one of the balloons in the Clinton suite, as the grandparents said they took one home so they could play with their granddaughter, Charlotte.

"The balloon fantasy and excitement continued," she said.

When Kimmel asked her how she handles being away from Charlotte on the campaign trail, the nominee said she'd be "distraught" if she didn't have FaceTime.

"Have you considered using FaceTime instead of email?" he joked, getting a laugh and a clap from Clinton. "Actually, I think that's really good advice," she replied

On a serious note, he asked if she is concerned about the next batch of emails being released so close to the election.

"We've already released 30,000-plus emails, what's a few more?" she asked, saying she's not concerned about Trump finding something to use against her. "He makes stuff up. If he would stick to reality, I wouldn't have a care in the world."

Clinton also has never sent Trump an email, she said.

For the lighter parts of the show, Kimmel had Clinton read Trump quotes out of a bowl that was topped with a wig resembling the reality star's hair. The nominee, however, couldn't read this one: "I said if Ivanka weren't my daughter perhaps I'd be dating her."

Before letting her go, the host pressed Clinton on why she hadn't picked him as her running mate, ripping on her vice presidential ticket pick, Tim Kaine, for seeming like a guy who would wear Crocs, a cellphone belt buckle and have a funny song on his voicemail.

Finally she conceded and named Kimmel as her "Vice Vice President."

John Krasinski, whose film Hollars premieres this weekend, was Kimmel's second guest of the night. "I was really thrown by that," he said of his second-rate billing.

Read more: Watch James Corden, Denis Leary Sing "Trump's an Asshole" Dressed as the Clintons
A freelance radio copywriter from Syracuse, N.Y., Rod Serling toiled for years as an unproduced screenwriter. Then, in 1956, his 72nd screenplay, the intense corporate drama Patterns, was broadcast live (as most TV was back then) on NBC's Kraft Television Theatre. It won Serling an Emmy.

He won a second the following year for Requiem for a Heavyweight, which starred Jack Palance as a washed-up prizefighter. Newly minted as the most celebrated writer in a hot new medium, Serling moved his family to California, where the TV industry was exploding. Once there, he quickly grew frustrated by how much sway corporate sponsors had over his content. So Serling hatched a plan: Since science fiction seemed to fly past network censors, he'd create an anthology series in that genre, using it to smuggle through some big ideas about politics, racism and the human condition.

Everything about The Twilight Zone - from its unsettling Marius Constant score to its Joe Messerli-designed logo to Serling himself as the guide into the unknown - is now immutably iconic. The show ran on CBS from 1959 to 1964, picking up two Emmys in 1960 and 1961 for Serling's writing. A lifelong smoker, he died June 28, 1975, of a heart attack during open-heart surgery. He was 50.

This story first appeared in a special Emmy issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
This horrifying story proves that you should probably follow your roommate on social media

This horrifying story proves that you should probably follow your roommate on social media

A 21-year-old man in Gilbert, Arizona, is facing murder charges after he allegedly shot and killed his roommate.

While this in itself is pretty darn horrifying, this story has got a twisted and terrifying backstory thatll make you want to find all your roomies social media accounts and follow them instantly.

Zachary Penton, the man in question, lived with 41-year-old Daniel Garofalo.

Just two days before the alleged incident, Penton tweeted (although its still being investigated whether or not this is Pentons real account) the following

Penton allegedly was pissed at his roommates after they got in a drunken fight.

@Zac_Penton they literally just got into a drunk fight after one of them was stung by a bee, like wtf  Zac (@Zac_Penton) August 20, 2016

Scrolling through Pentons Twitter feed youd be forgiven for thinking that the threat was just the rantings of an angry 21-year-old. We mean, there have been moments where weve been super annoyed with our roommates after they finish all the milk, dont clean up their mess in the kitchen, or when they get back late from a night out and wake you up. Its part and parcel of living with other people.

However, if you scroll back through his Twitter feed, you come across a young man who has a little bit of a fascination with weapons the the pro-gun lobby.

Holy shit buying a gun is so easy  Zac (@Zac_Penton) June 3, 2016

If it says no guns allowed on the front door I ain't going in.  Zac (@Zac_Penton) July 14, 2016

Anyone wanna shoot todayyyyy  Zac (@Zac_Penton) August 12, 2016

According to a report by ABC 15 Arizona, it appears that Penton was the one who called the police following the incident, and he was taken into custody without incident. Police in Gilbert refused to confirm whether the above Twitter account was indeed the perpetrators, but Josh Davidson, an attorney, told the news channel not to take the status literally.

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According to ABC, Penton told police that hed scuffled with Garofalo after being told to move out, and had feared for his life before confessing to shooting him.

Authorities have stated that theyre investigating whether the Twitter feed is indeed Pentons, and what occurred in the build up to the shooting.

While were sure this is a unique case, it probably worth having a scroll through your roommates Twitter feed.

[H/T Gizmodo]

The post This horrifying story proves that you should probably follow your roommate on social media appeared first on HelloGiggles.
(ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets)

* STOXX Europe 600 index up 0.8 pct

* Housebuilders among top gainers

* UniCredit helps Italy to outperform

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - European shares advanced on Tuesday, with housebuilders leading the market higher following a solid update from Persimmon while miners bounced back from sharp declines in the previous session.

Persimmon rose more than 4 percent after Britain's second largest housebuilder said its reservation rate had risen an annual 17 percent since the start of July. Some builders have warned the Brexit vote could slow the property market.

"The group's interims have run out better than we anticipated," Shore Capital analyst Robin Hardy said. "The statement is bullish and confident and again seeks to ... push the message that the Brexit result is set to have little or no impact on the new homes market."

Persimmon's peers were also in demand, with Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments and Bellway rising 4.0 to 5.7 percent.

The European basic resources index rose 2 percent as copper prices recovered. BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American rose 2.4 to 3.1 percent.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.8 percent by 0834 GMT. Both Germany's DAX and France's CAC rose around 0.9 percent, also helped by upbeat private sector surveys.

Activity in the French private sector accelerated to levels last seen just before militant attacks in Paris last November, while in Germany, growth slowed in August but remained robust overall, suggesting Europe's biggest economy was set to keep on expanding in the summer months.

A third survey showed private business activity in the euro zone was muted but stable in August, though factories may face a tougher September as new order growth stumbled.

UniCredit rose 4 percent after sources told Reuters the chief executive of Poland's biggest insurer PZU is to discuss buying the country's second-largest bank, Bank Pekao SA, from the Italian bank.

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That helped Italy's FTSE MIB index gain 1.3 percent, outpacing the wider European market.

Swiss PC accessories maker Logitech fell 2 percent, the worst performer in the STOXX 600 index, after UBS cut its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "buy", citing the risk of sales growth setbacks.

(editing by John Stonestreet)
old earthrise moon lunar orbiter 1 nasa

Before an Apollo-era NASA could launch a few humans on top of a rocket and plop them down on the moon, it needed to find safe places to land.

So from 1966 through 1967, the space agency launched five spacecraft, which it not-so-creatively named Lunar Orbiters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

lunar orbiter one nasa

Lunar Orbiter 1 was the first to swing around the moon. It automatically took film photos, processed and scanned them, then beamed the images back as radiowaves to receivers on Earth, where technicians recorded them onto analog data tapes.

On Aug. 23, 1966  50 years ago Tuesday  Lunar Orbiter 1 took the above photo: the first-ever of Earth rising up above the cold, bright dust of our planet's biggest satellite.

However iconic, it looks pretty crummy.

That's because 1960s technology couldn't access the full depth of the data NASA had on its tapes. So after printing out what it needed to select landing sites, the space agency mothballed the tapes in a Maryland storage unit.

"They changed hands several times over the years, almost getting tossed out before landing in storage in Moorpark, California," Doug Bierno wrote at Wired in 2014.

The tapes were well-kept, but the refrigerator-size tape drives  the only devices capable of accessing the data  had sat in the barn of Nancy Evans, a former NASA employee who saved them from going into the garbage, for the better part of a few decades.

mcmoons nasa ames flickr copyright cara mccormick

That is, until space entrepreneur Dennis Wingo found out about the situation through a web group in 2005.

Wingo immediately contacted Keith Cowing, a former NASA employee and founder of NASAWatch.com, for help.

The duo eventually launched the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP), which aimed to digitize the photos and make them public.

They received limited funding, rounded up technical help, and set up shop in an abandoned McDonald's on the campus of NASA Ames Research Center.

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They called the home of their archivist project "McMoons." The old fast-food restaurant flew a Jolly Roger pirate flag in its window and was steps away from part of an old ICBM missile.

Years later, LOIRP had recorded terabytes' worth of high-quality digital imagery that might have otherwise been lost to history.

"The resolution of our images vastly exceeds the original prints," Cowing told this reporter in 2012.

To see the difference, simply scroll down:

earthrise recovered loirp nasa

And this is just one low-resolution slice of the fully assembled image.

That full-resolution photo file is roughly 1.2 gigabytes in size  enough, Cowing told me, that "printed out at native resolution it would be larger than a standard billboard."

All of the photos are now being prepared for final submission to NASA's Planetary Data System, alongside images the USGS recovered in a separate digitization effort.

Cowing told Business Insider in 2015 that LOIRP donated all of its gear to the Library of Congress.

"[T]hat project is more or less at an end," he wrote in an email. "Not much happens [at McMoons] any more."

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of dead fish washed up in a New Jersey creek this week, state officials said. The fish, which were discovered in Waackaack Creek in the borough of Keansburg, are commonly known as peanut bunker, a name that describes immature specimens of the Atlantic menhaden, a common saltwater fish. Bob Considine, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environmental Protection, said the fish may have been chased into the waterway by pursuing predators and then suffocated because the water did not hold enough dissolved oxygen to support them. But he said it was hard to know precisely how the fish ended up in the creek. "Obviously we can't interview the fish," he said. The fish first washed up on Monday and have been carried in and out on the tide, Considine said. "It's hard to miss," he said. Fish kills, as the phenomenon is known, occur once or twice a year, particularly in the summer months when the heat lowers the amount of oxygen in the water, Considine said. Last week, Montana wildlife officials took the drastic step of closing more than 150 miles (241.4 km) of the Yellowstone River after a parasite killed tens of thousands of fish along what is a popular destination for fly fishing. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Sandra Maler)
One of the largest real estate developers in the country has submitted plans to demolish a row of five Beaux Arts-style tenement buildings in the East Village to make way for a luxury hotel specifically branded to draw millennials, despite a push from local preservationists who argue the buildings should be given landmark status.

Opponents to the planned Moxy Hotel also find it suspect that demolition permits have been submitted by Lightstone Group, which is headed by David Lichtensteina developer who has made sizable donations to New York democrats and was recently appointed by Mayor de Blasio to the NYC Economic Development Corporation's Board of Directors. In defense of their case that the tenements should be protected, opponents note that the Landmarks Preservation Commission recommended the block of East 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues as a possible historical district as recently as 2008.

"The only thing that's changed since 2008 is who the mayor is and who the owner [of the buildings] is, and the owner now is one of Mayor de Blasio's major fundraisers and political allies," said Andrew Berman, President of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. "That's a sort of stunning level of hypocrisy."

Lightstone filed a demolition permit application on Thursday, August 4th, according to the Department of Buildings. It has not been approved as of Tuesday, though DNAinfo noted this week that pre-demolition asbestos abatement is already underway at the addresses, located across the street from Webster Hall.

As Public Advocate, Mayor de Blasio supported Lightstone's luxury development on the Gowanus Canal, which is designated 20% below-market rate and received 56,000 applicants for 86 of its affordable units this spring. Also this spring, the New York Post reported that Lichtenstein was the developer behind a $50,000 donation to Nassau County democrats, reportedly at the request of Ross Offinger, de Blasio's former campaign treasurer.



(Scott Lynch / Gothamist)

The Moxy Hotel brand, a self-described "new millennial-focused boutique hotel concept," is a subset of Marriott, with outposts in Europe and the French Quarter in New Orleans. It boasts mirrored elevators with photo booth props to encourage selfies. ("We want to entertain you and give our guests an opportunity to gain some social currency," the Marriott's global brand director for Moxy told WSJ in December.) Rooms are priced somewhere between a hostel and a traditional hotel, and come with Netflix, tap beer, and ample USB ports.

"The mayor says housing is his number one priority," Berman said. "Well, here are five buildings that for generations housed a considerable amount of affordable housing that are going to be torn down for a trendy, hip hotel where young globe trotters with dispensable income will make a pit stop."

A good hot iron can sort out any kind of crooked mess.  Get into the steamy hot goodness #atthemoxy. A photo posted by Moxy Hotels (@moxyhotels) on Jul 31, 2016 at 8:37am PDT

The Real Deal first reported on the East 11th Street hotel project in May, prompting Berman's group and other preservation-minded organizations including the Historic Districts Council to send a letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, urging that city office to schedule a public hearing to discuss the possibility of landmarking the tenements. The groups say their request garnered no response until after Lightstone filed demolition permits. On August 9th, the LPC confirmed that the block in question was not suitable for a historic district.

But a spokeswoman for the LPC countered that there was nothing suspect in the decision to notify the preservation groups after the demolition application was submitted, clarifying that it's within the LPC's rights to designate a landmark up until a demolition permit application is approved.

"After careful review, the Commission responded to this inquiry on August 9th, finding that the nine buildings submitted for historic district consideration lack cohesion and a distinct sense of place in terms of age, scale, typology and their siting on only a portion of the block," the LPC stated on Monday. "And therefore, do not rise to the level of architectural significance necessary for designation as an historic district."

#Regram: @mikeymcclain # The Moxy has provided us with everything we need Even Coop with a stache. #atthemoxy #moxytempe A photo posted by Moxy Hotels (@moxyhotels) on Jul 27, 2016 at 10:48am PDT

The Mayor's office reiterated the LPC's decision, adding that Lightstone's project at 112-120 11th Street is "as-of-right," meaning it doesn't require approvals from the City Planning Commission or City Council, much less input from local community boards. It has no affordability requirements, and no requirement to accommodate housing.

"The Landmarks Preservation Commission determined these buildings did not meet the merits of historic designation," said Mayoral spokesman Austin Finan. "Moreover, that designation would not have prevented the property's conversion into a hotel."

"It is our understanding that the LPC reviewed and formally rejected the Request for Eligibility," said Lightstone in a statement.

According to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, 112-120 11th Street were occupied until a few weeks ago. The group isn't sure when tenants vacated, and under what circumstances. Lightstone did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this process.

State Senator Brad Hoylman addressed protesters on Monday, pledging to investigate the circumstances under which the apartments were emptied. His office maintains that some of the units were rent-regulated. "This goes to the heart of the on-going fight across Manhattan to preserve historic buildings, not only for the sake of neighborhood character, but also because they often contain affordable, rent-regulated units, as in this instance," he stated.

"Let's say everything was done totally legally," Berman offered. "That still means that housing that could be affordable could be lost."
The Discovery network will follow the British actor in his quest to become a professional kickboxer on its reality show.

Although Elba used to kickbox in his younger years to stay fit, the actor never boxed professionally. This time though, the reality series will film Elba training over the course of one year with the help of a number of former world champions. Elba is also expected to take part in a real fight, reports The Wrap.

The series will be broken down into three episodes of 60 minutes, and cover numerous locations around the world. "Fighter" will be broadcast in more than 220 countries including the UK and the United States at the beginning of 2017.
By Rajendra Jadhav

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian gold refiners just months ago were ramping up capacity and struggling to secure enough ore from miners. Now, they are suspending operations as a surge in smuggled bullion wipes out wafer thin margins.

Gold importing banks and big jewellers have also been hit by the growing entry of illicit gold, which avoids import duties and makes its way on to the so-called "grey market" where it is sold to end-users at a discount.

Smuggled gold could account for more than a third of demand this year in India - the world's second-biggest buyer of the metal after China - potentially costing the government over $1 billion in lost revenue.

The upsurge will lead to pressure for a reduction in the 10 percent import duty and a rethink on recently introduced levies on gold jewellery, which critics say are boosting the unofficial trade the government has been trying to curb.

"Gold refiners have less than a 1 percent margin. If smugglers offer 4 or 5 percent discounts, then we have no choice but to close our operations," James Jose, secretary of the Association of Gold Refineries and Mints told Reuters.

All 32 refineries in the country have stopped buying dore - a semi-pure alloy made by miners - in the past few months and are relying on treating scrap gold until market conditions normalise, he said.

"Last fiscal year we refined 120 tonnes of gold. With local scrap supplies we can produce 20 tonnes of refined gold in the current year," said Rajesh Khosla, managing director of MMTC-PAMP India, the country's biggest refinery.

SMUGGLING GROWS

India raised the duty on gold imports to 10 percent three years ago, aiming to dampen buying and narrow the current account deficit in a country where gold is seen as a store of wealth for rich and poor alike.

Smugglers evade the duty and offer cheap gold to buyers such as bullion dealers and small jewellers, who can pay up to $100 an ounce below official domestic prices, currently around $1,340 an ounce.

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Falling gold prices deterred the illicit trade last year but smuggling has surged in recent months amid rising prices and the reintroduction in March of a 1 percent local sales tax on gold jewellery.

Smuggled gold into India could double to as much as 300 tonnes in 2016, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, director at All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, although the World Gold Council (WGC) has put the figure at 160 tonnes. At 300 tonnes, the government would forego about $1.3 billion at current gold prices.

The new sales tax has encouraged smaller jewellers in particular to buy on the grey market, said Somasundaram PR, managing director of the WGCs' Indian operations. The jewellery must be sold without receipts, but goes to customers looking to hide funds from the authorities.

The finance ministry did not respond to requests for comment on gold smuggling.

BANKS HIT

The legal trade is also facing headwinds from a 26 percent rise in the gold price this year which has discouraged overall buying and made smuggled gold available at deep discounts.

India's official gold imports fell 57 percent in the first seven months of 2016 to 215 tonnes, and could fall more than 60 percent for the year to 350 tonnes to 400 tonnes, the lowest level in two decades, said Sunil Kashyap, managing director, Global Banking and Markets at Scotiabank.

Banks, which until last year were the main source of gold supply, are losing their market share quickly.

"Since there were hefty discounts in the grey market, consumers shifted from banks to grey markets," Arindam Sarkar, senior vice president at Axis Bank, the biggest bullion importing bank in the country, told Reuters.

"So far in 2016 our bullion business is down nearly 75 percent," he said.

Bigger, more reputable jewellers are also suffering.

"Small jewellers buy gold at 4 or 5 percent discount and then sell jewellery at 1 or 2 percent discount," said Aditya Pethe, a director at Waman Hari Pethe Jewellers in Mumbai.

"The business of big jewellers like us is getting affected.

But jewellers buying from the grey market say they have little choice.

"I wasn't buying gold from grey market for months, but others were buying and doing business," said a Mumbai-based jeweller, who declined to be identified.

"In the last two months I've also started buying as I have to survive. I have to pay employees."

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Richard Pullin)
By Dave McKinney and Karen Pierog

CHICAGO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Potential action this week by Illinois' biggest public pension fund could put a big dent in the state's already fragile finances, Governor Bruce Rauner's administration warned.

A Monday memo from a top Rauner aide said the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) board could decide at its meeting this week to lower the assumed investment return rate, a move that would automatically boost Illinois' annual pension payment.

"If the (TRS) board were to approve a lower assumed rate of return taxpayers will be automatically and immediately on the hook for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in higher taxes or reduced services," Michael Mahoney, Rauner's senior advisor for revenue and pensions, wrote to the governor's chief of staff, Richard Goldberg.

When TRS lowered the investment return rate to 7.5 percent from 8 percent in 2014 the state's pension payment increased by more than $200 million, according to the memo.

Illinois' fiscal 2017 pension payment to its five retirement systems was estimated at $7.9 billion, up from $7.617 billion in fiscal 2016 and $6.9 billion in fiscal 2015, according to a March report by a bipartisan legislative commission.

The country's fifth-largest state's unfunded pension liability stood at $111 billion at the end of fiscal 2015, with TRS accounting for more than 55 percent of that gap. The funded ratio was a weak 41.9 percent.

An impasse between the Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature left Illinois as the only state without a complete 2016 budget. A six-month fiscal 2017 spending plan was passed in June.

Mahoney cautioned that "unforeseen and unknown automatic cost increases would have a devastating impact" on Illinois' ability to fund social services and education.

One of Rauner's top Republican legislative allies, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, urged the TRS board to delay a vote Friday to give the public time to weigh in on its possible actions.

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"This issue is important enough at the very least to put the TRS board on notice we don't want them taking any action that could cost taxpayers $200 to $300 million without appropriate scrutiny," she said.

TRS spokesman Dave Urbanek said the pension system was not aware of Mahoney's memo until Tuesday and that Rauner's office had requested "information about the scenarios under consideration."

He added TRS did not offer "potential scenarios" either to the governor's office or legislative leaders and noted the TRS board has not yet discussed the matter.

(Reporting by Dave McKinney and Karen Pierog; Editing by James Dalgleish)
By Dave McKinney and Karen Pierog

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Potential action this week by Illinois' biggest public pension fund could put a big dent in the state's already fragile finances, Governor Bruce Rauner's administration warned.

A Monday memo from a top Rauner aide said the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) board could decide at its meeting this week to lower the assumed investment return rate, a move that would automatically boost Illinois' annual pension payment.

"If the (TRS) board were to approve a lower assumed rate of return taxpayers will be automatically and immediately on the hook for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in higher taxes or reduced services," Michael Mahoney, Rauner's senior advisor for revenue and pensions, wrote to the governors chief of staff, Richard Goldberg.

When TRS lowered the investment return rate to 7.5 percent from 8 percent in 2014 the state's pension payment increased by more than $200 million, according to the memo.

Illinois' fiscal 2017 pension payment to its five retirement systems was estimated at $7.9 billion, up from $7.617 billion in fiscal 2016 and $6.9 billion in fiscal 2015, according to a March report by a bipartisan legislative commission.

The country's fifth-largest state's unfunded pension liability stood at $111 billion at the end of fiscal 2015, with TRS accounting for more than 55 percent of that gap. The funded ratio was a weak 41.9 percent.

An impasse between the Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature left Illinois as the only state without a complete 2016 budget. A six-month fiscal 2017 spending plan was passed in June.

Mahoney cautioned that "unforeseen and unknown automatic cost increases would have a devastating impact" on Illinois' ability to fund social services and education.

One of Rauner's top Republican legislative allies, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, urged the TRS board to delay a vote Friday to give the public time to weigh in on its possible actions.

Story continues

"This issue is important enough at the very least to put the TRS board on notice we dont want them taking any action that could cost taxpayers $200 to $300 million without appropriate scrutiny, she said.

TRS spokesman Dave Urbanek said the pension system was not aware of Mahoney's memo until Tuesday and that Rauner's office had requested "information about the scenarios under consideration."

He added TRS did not offer "potential scenarios" either to the governor's office or legislative leaders and noted the TRS board has not yet discussed the matter.

(Reporting by Dave McKinney and Karen Pierog; Editing by James Dalgleish)
IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces that a class action lawsuit was filed against K12, Inc. ("K12" or the "Company") (LRN). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between November 7, 2013 and October 27, 2015 (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm prior to the September 19, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline.

If you purchased K12 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, K12 issued false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that the Company published misleading advertisements about students' academic progress, parent satisfaction, graduates' eligibility for admission into the University of California and California State University, class sizes, the individualized and flexible nature of K12's instruction, hidden costs, and the quality of the materials provided to students; that the Company submitted inflated student attendance numbers to the California Department of Education in order to receive additional funding; that K12 was open to potential civil and criminal liability due to these practices; that K12 would likely be forced to end these practices, which would have a negative impact on its operations and prospects; and as a result of the above, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When this news was announced, shares of K12 fell in value, causing investors harm.

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.

Story continues

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




Getty Image

For those who might not know him, Dave Sholler is basically the closest thing the UFC has to a human Swiss Army knife. Aside from overseeing public relations efforts for the organizations 40+ live, global events, the UFCs vice president of public relations & athlete marketing can often be seen filling in for Dana White at post-fight press conferences, delivering media briefings and other special announcements, and working behind-the-scenes to improve the health benefits of the UFCs more than 600 fighters.

To most of us, however, Sholler will forever be that Jon Anik-looking fellow who unsuccessfully attempted to stop Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier from brawling at the UFC 178 media day.

Despite being made the butt of the joke by both his boss and SportsCenters Not Top 10, Sholler seemed to take the incident in stride (how many of us would have been able to do anything differently?), even receiving something of a social media spotlight in its fallout. But if you happened to catch the absolute sh*tshow that was the UFC 202 press conference last Wednesday, you might have also spotted Dave as the guy who brought Conor McGregors Monster Energy-throwing spree to an emphatic end.



Clearly, Sholler took the criticism of his grappling skills to heart and made the proper adjustments to improve upon them, a facet of the lead-up to UFC 202 that went almost completely overlooked by the mainstream media. Well, we noticed, which is why weve decided to give Mr. Sholler his due respect via this Jack Slack-esque breakdown of his ever-improving grappling game.

First, lets take a look at some of Shollers earlier tape.

The event: UFC 178 media day. The date: Aug. 4, 2014. Heated rivals Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier were in the process of facing off when a shove by Cormier prompted Jones to drop his belt and engage in a full-on fist fight with his challenger right then and there. Obviously, Shollers need to stand facing the cameras during the staredown (and the fact that he gives up at least 50 pounds and 10 inches in height to Jones) put him at an inherent disadvantage, but still, there were several common mistakes made that at the very least, could have slowed Jones down a bit and allowed security a couple extra seconds to break things up.

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Sholler 1

Notice how Shollers hips are turned perpendicular to Jones, effectively nullifying his ability to establish a solid base? Already, he is sacrificing power and leverage by allowing Jones to lead the dance, so to speak. For most wrestlers, the question of staggered stance vs. square stance often boils down to a matter of preference  with the former making forward and backward movement easier and the latter making lateral movement easier  but here, the staggered stance actually works against Sholler, making it far easier for his much larger opponent to use gain momentum and shove him out of the way like a childs plaything.



To his credit, Sholler quickly realizes his mistake and attempts to square up on Jones, but by then its already too late.

sholler 2

Of course, Shollers initial mistakes with his feet are only compounded by the ones he makes with his arms. Its a generally regarded principal in wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu to never reach across your opponents torso, as it not only makes you more susceptible to having your back taken, but creates a much shorter distance between you and your opponent, who it bears repeating was a seven-time light heavyweight champion in this instance. In failing to pummel and secure at least one underhook on Jones (thusly allowing Jones to secure his underhooks), Sholler has all but sealed his fate as a piece of finely-groomed roadkill.



ezgif.com-crop

Heres where it gets interesting. Even as a novice, Sholler demonstrates at least a basic familiarity with the teachings of Judo in the closing moments of the exchange. He places one hand on the back of Jones elbow and the other on the inside of his shoulder, surely attempting a throw known as the Morote Seoinage, or Two-Armed Shoulder Throw. A classic demonstration of the technique can be seen below.

seoi2

The problem is, such an advanced technique is essentially rendered moot when the person executing it hasnt first established a base upon which to pivot. Had Sholler approached Jones with a firm, squared stance and then switched to a staggered as he was rushing in (rather than the opposite), I have no doubts that he would have launched Jones across the stage and into the lobby of the MGM Grand, forever shaming the pound-for-pound king and proving that the P in PR actually stands for Pain-Inducing.

Now, lets see how Sholler performed last week. (Head to the 20:20 mark to skip right to the goods.)

Establishes a square base? Check. Works for the underhooks? Not only does he, but Sholler even places a hand on McGregors torso first to disguise the set-up. Just a marvelous display of subtle manipulation here. Sholler is in complete control the entire time, but Id like to draw attention to one particularly fine detail: Shollers left foot. (Scroll to around the 1-minute mark for the good stuff.)



Things just got real between Diaz and McGregor at the UFC 202 press conference. pic.twitter.com/cxD8yYBl4W  Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 17, 2016

Did you see it? Whenever McGregor tries to break loose, Sholler cuts him off at the pass by placing his left foot between McGregors. I dont know how many times Ive heard Joe Rogan wax on about the importance of keeping your lead foot in between your opponents to not only open them up to inside leg kicks, but make it far easier to set up a power double leg takedown if needed, and clearly the Sholl-man was listening. Had Conor shifted his weight to his back leg, he would have even been able to take him down with a Karate-style driving foot sweep if he so desired.

Instead, Sholler opts to just strong arm McGregor off stage like the f*cking savage that he is while Dana White just stands there like a dope.

giphy (2)

Gets his hook in, pivots, and actually ends up twisting Conors hips into the staggered stance to throw him off his momentum. I swear, McGregor is so caught off guard by Shollers technique that he mustve thought that Diaz had somehow managed to teleport behind him. You can see the surprise  and dare I say, fear  in his eyes, as Sholler channels the spirit of Tim Boetsch to ragdoll him into perpetual darkness.

Obviously, you could make the case that Shollers relative similarity in size to McGregor was responsible for how he fared this time around, but to do so would be to ignore the improvements of what is clearly in a future grappling master on the rise. Sholler 2.0 is here to bang, bro, and every fighter from featherweight on up to welterweight would do themselves a favor to take notice.
New Delhi (AFP) - Police in central India are sticking glow-in-the-dark strips on the horns of stray cattle to prevent motorists from crashing into the animals as they wander across roads at night, an officer said Tuesday.

Following a spate of road accidents, traffic police in one district of Madhya Pradesh state have stuck orange radium reflective bands on the horns of 300 cows and bulls to help drivers spot them.

Stray cattle are a major traffic menace in India, with hundreds of bovines roaming freely on roads across the country.

"Many drivers injured themselves or killed the cattle after running over them at night," Kailash Chauhan, traffic police inspector for Balaghat district told AFP.

"There was an urgent need to prevent such accidents," he said.

Because of the success of the scheme, officers say they now plan to buy permanent radium paint to cover cows' horns, as the plastic bands only last for a few weeks.

Authorities have also asked farmers to fix glow-in-the-dark bands on their own cattle to help them be seen more easily.

In 2015 more than 550 people were killed in India in accidents involving stray animals, according to road ministry figures.

A World Health Organisation report in 2013 said more than 231,000 people die on India's deadly roads each year.
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This indie makeup brand just launched the most perfect dessert-inspired eyeshadow palette

This indie makeup brand just launched the most perfect dessert-inspired eyeshadow palette

Have you ever found yourself longingly staring through the glass of an ice cream case, mesmerized by the delicious array of colors? To top it off, have you ever found yourself wishing you could scoop those colors out of the case and apply them to your face as cosmetics? If so, youre in luck! The company Dose of Colors is releasing an ice-cream inspired eyeshadow palette and it looks just as appetizing as it sounds!

Treat Yourself!!! You deserve it! The Limited Edition EYEE palette will be launching on Monday August 22nd at 10am PST on www.doseofcolors.com #DoseofColors #Eyescreampalette A photo posted by DOSE of COLORS (@doseofcolors) on Aug 21, 2016 at 4:46pm PDT

Appropriately named the Eyescream Palette, Dose of Colors mouth-watering end of summer line includes glittering renditions of all the best ice cream flavors including: Mint Chip, Sherbert, Double Scoop, Lavender Honey, Blueberry Swirl, Hot Fudge, and Bubblegum  all of which can be purchased for $50 as of today. You can legitimately get in on the ground floor of this cosmetic ice cream factory and emerge covered in sparkles.

Feast your eyes on the yummiest eyeshadow swatches! The EYEE palette will be launching on Monday August 22nd at 10am PST on www.doseofcolors.com (Limited Edition) Price for palette: $50 USD #EyescreamPalette #Drooling #DoseofColors A photo posted by DOSE of COLORS (@doseofcolors) on Aug 19, 2016 at 7:03pm PDT

Now we can all become the sparkling ice cream cone we want to see in the world, melting underneath the cruel heat of the sun as we emanate the true nature of dessert  relaxation.

The best time for EYEE is alwaysso here's the latest OO: You guys rock!! The EYEE palette will be launching on Monday August 22nd at 10am PST on www.doseofcolors.com We will be EIG you with swatches next! #Eyescreampalette #doseofcolors "Bikini Body" by @dawin A video posted by DOSE of COLORS (@doseofcolors) on Aug 19, 2016 at 5:40pm PDT

Truly though, for anyone who finds aesthetic pleasure in sweet, fruity shades of pearlescent blue or chocolate matte browns, this palette is your personal cosmetic Neapolitan bar that will enable you to be your very own ice-cream man, but for your face.

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Also, for those of us who can get down with a technicolor eyeshadow, but have suffered the cruel tribulation of lactose intolerance, this Eyescream palette can serve as a mediator between what our stomach and face desires. So in a sense, not only is Dose of Colors offering a pretty dessert-inspired cosmetic spread, but theyre offering a window back to the world of dairy that so many of us long for.

giphy (10)

The post This indie makeup brand just launched the most perfect dessert-inspired eyeshadow palette appeared first on HelloGiggles.
As evening fell on the first day of the 1971 prisoner uprising at Attica, a request was granted for a doctor to be allowed into D Yard, an area that was then under the control of the prisoners. That physician was Dr. Warren Hanson, a surgeon at a hospital 15 miles south of the prison. Shortly before midnight, Hanson entered Attica.

After being given assurance of safe passage by the prisoners in the DMZ, Hanson was assigned a personal security guard who told him, Doctor, I am responsible for your safety. . . . I dont want to be holding and pushing you around [so] why dont you hold my arm and let me kind of lead you, and you just follow me. Once in D Yard, Hanson saw two long lines of prisoners who were wearing white armbands, had linked elbows, and faced each other. These men had, in effect, formed a secure human tunnel for him to walk through. He was very grateful.

Hanson met with the leadership group, and then was escorted to the medical station, which consisted of three tables and a chest with some medications and bandages. After being briefed by the prisoners medical team, Hanson headed over to the hostage circle. The hostages, who were still surrounded by the security team of Black Muslims, were huddled together in an oval-shaped space, some of them sitting up, others lying down. By now the hostages had been blindfolded for almost ten hours and Hanson found them in a state of severe emotional distress. He did his best to try to calm them down, and was pleased to find that they were in quite good shape. The prisoners had already tried to tend to the hostages, in several cases splinting possible fractures as well as doing some emergency suturing, and while a number of the hostages had various wounds and injuries, none of them were life-threatening.

Although the prison administration had sent Dr. Hanson in to check on the health of the hostages, when the leaders in D Yard asked him to look at the prisoners who were also in need of care, he readily agreed. Returning to the medical station, he held a sick call attended by approximately twenty-five to thirty men. Some had been injured during the takeover, but others sought his help for long-standing problems. As Richard Clark explained, We had sick prisoners who had never received any medical attention in Attica. In need of more supplies, Hanson asked permission to send prisoner Tiny Swift out of D Yard to get medicine and splints. Swift had been sent to Attica on a life sentence for murder, but Hanson found him to be a dedicated caregiver in this stressful situation. Hanson was in fact so impressed with Swifts dedication to patient care that when he returned with the supplies, the doctor decided to give him some additional on-the-spot medical training so that he could do more good once Hanson left.

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After taking care of the ambulatory patients, Dr. Hanson began making rounds, accompanied by a security detail of four or five prisoners. As they walked through the now dark yard, one of the men worked a bull- horn: Anybody want a doctor? Anybody want a doctor? Hanson grew somewhat fearful, especially when he noticed that the leaders were no longer keeping tabs on him. It was dark, and people were guiding me around with flashlights, and all these menacing people were carrying clubs and weapons of all kinds. But eventually he realized he had nothing to worry about. After also taking a trip through two tiers of D Block, where some of the elderly or infirm prisoners who might need care had chosen to sleep, Hanson was escorted out of the yard by the same man who had brought him in four hours earlier. He shook the doctors hand and thanked him on behalf of his brothers.

Around the same time that Dr. Hanson was leaving the prison, two top aides to Governor Rockefeller were coming in: General Buzz OHara, who earlier that day had facilitated getting water to the men in D Yard, and T. Norman Hurd, New Yorks state budget director. Oswald briefed the governors men and took them on a tour of A Block, then invited them to a meeting with [Deputy Commission Walter] Dunbar, [Warden Vincent] Mancusi, and Major John Monahan and Chief Inspector John C. Miller from the NYSP. Everyone at the meeting was gratified to learn that Oswald, while still insisting on seeing negotiations through, was at least willing to discuss what would be required to retake the prison. Major Monahan felt that with five to six hundred troopers assembled outside, ready to move in as soon as they received the go-ahead, they now had everything they needed. General Buzz OHara disagreed; in his view, CS gas (a kind of tear gas) was essential for success in such an operation, and they had neither the gas nor the plane with which to disperse it over the prison yard. So OHara reached out to his contacts in the National Guard, who worked through the night to secure a CH-34 helicopter with an M-5 chemical dispenser and enough gas to incapacitate everyone in D Yard.

Back in D Yard, prisoners and hostages alike were still counting on successful talks. Both groups were grateful to have seen Hanson, but some felt fearful when he left. This was particularly true of the men over in the hostage circle. These men had been glad of the security afforded them so far, yet were worried about whether the Muslims could really protect us. On this score, hostage Don Almeter felt more scared than I ever was in Vietnam, and hostage John Stockholm was so scared that he could not even go to the bathroom when his captors gave him the chance to do so. As he recalled, his body just shut down. As the hours passed, though, these men began to feel much better about their prospects. In the middle of the night, a number of prisoners went into D Blocks cells and dragged out mattresses for the hostages to sleep on as well blankets to keep them covered.

The prisoners knew that the hostages were all that stood between them and what they believed would be a bloody assault on the prison. Despite the bravado they had displayed in their discussions with prison officials throughout the day, the men in D Yard were also terrified. They were not at all sure they could trust [lawyer Herman] Schwartz to get them an injunction against reprisals and they worried mightily about the sharpshooters that the NYSP had been placing on the cell block roofs above them. For this reason, as one prisoner explained, most of us slept right out there in the yard. At least out in the open theyd know if an attack was starting.

Despite the sense of foreboding, there were moments of levity and, for some, even a feeling of unexpected joy as men who hadnt felt the fresh air of night for years reveled in this strange freedom. Out in the dark, music could be hearddrums, a guitar, vibes, flute, sax, [that] the brothers were playing. This was the lightest many of the men had felt since being processed into the maximum security facility. That night was in fact a deeply emotional time for all of them. Richard Clark watched in amazement as men embraced each other, and he saw one man break down into tears because it had been so long since he had been allowed to get close to someone. Carlos Roche watched as tears of elation ran down the withered face of his friend Owl, an old man who had been locked up for decades. You know, Owl said in wonderment, I havent seen the stars in twenty-two years. As Clark later described this first night of the rebellion, while there was much trepidation about what might occur next, the men in D Yard also felt wonderful, because no matter what happened later on, they couldnt take this night away from us.

This is an excerpt from BLOOD IN THE WATER by Heather Ann Thompson. Copyright  2016 by Heather Ann Thompson. Reprinted by permission of Pantheon Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 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 shares of Tokai 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 via 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
MONROE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / La-Z-Boy Incorporated (LZB) will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss the results of the fiscal 2017 first quarter, to be held Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time.

To participate in this event, dial 877-407-0778 domestically, or 201-689-8565 internationally, approximately 5 to 10 minutes before the beginning of the call. Additionally, you can listen to the event online at www.investorcalendar.com/IC/CEPage.asp?ID=175253 as well as via the La-Z-Boy Incorporated website (http://investors.la-z-boy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=92596&p=irol-IRHome).

If you are unable to participate during the live webcast, the event archive will be available at http://investors.la-z-boy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=92596&p=irol-IRHome.



You may access the teleconference replay by dialing 877-660-6853 domestically or 201-612-7415 internationally, referencing conference ID # 13643410. The replay will be available beginning approximately 2 hours after the completion of the live event, ending at midnight Eastern on August 31, 2016.

About La-Z-Boy Incorporated

La-Z-Boy Incorporated is one of the world's leading residential furniture producers, marketing furniture for every room of the home. The La-Z-Boy Upholstery segment companies are England and La-Z-Boy. The Casegoods segment consists of three brands: American Drew, Hammary, and Kincaid. The company-owned Retail segment includes 124 of the 338 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores.

The corporation's branded distribution network is dedicated to selling La-Z-Boy Incorporated products and brands, and includes 338 stand-alone La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores and 559 independent Comfort Studio locations, in addition to in-store gallery programs for the company's Kincaid and England operating units. Additional information is available at http://www.la-z-boy.com/.

SOURCE: La-Z-Boy Incorporated
Tehran (AFP) - Russian warplanes bombed Aleppo at Iran's request to assist its military advisors on the ground in the flashpoint Syrian city, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.

Ali Shamkhani, the top official coordinating security and political affairs between Tehran and its allies, Moscow and Damascus, was quoted by state television saying Iran called in Russian strikes "next to the land operation" in Aleppo.

"Iran has brought the powerful Russia along... due to its need to cooperate with Syria" in the fight against jihadists, added Shamkhani.

Iran and Russia are key backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but Tehran has remained relatively guarded about its precise involvement in the conflict.

Russia surprised the international community last week when it announced that its warplanes had flown out of Iran's Hamedan base to conduct strikes against targets in Syria.

That announcement prompted Iranian defence minister General Hossein Dehghan to criticise Russia's "showing off and inconsiderate attitude".

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman on Monday denied any differences with Russia over the use of Hamedan, adding that Russian raids from Iranian territory had ended for now.

"These planes did not leave (Monday) but on Thursday, in accordance with the land operations and not under pressure from any other country," Shamkhani said on state television.

It is illegal under Iran's constitution to give military bases to foreign armies.

"The coalition among Iran, Syria and Russia to fight terrorism exists," Shamkhani added.
Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi special forces led an operation on Tuesday aimed at retaking the jihadist-held town of Qayyarah, a key staging base for operations to attack Mosul, military sources said.

Qayyarah lies on the western bank of the Tigris river, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul, the Islamic State group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

With the clock ticking down on what Iraq expects to be its biggest anti-IS operation yet, the UN warned of population displacement on a scale not seen in years.

"The operation started at dawn with the participation of Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and army forces," Brigadier General Firas Bashar told AFP.

US-led coalition aircraft provided support, said Bashar, the spokesman for the operations command in Nineveh, the province in which Qayyarah and Mosul are located.

"The operation is ongoing and currently achieving its goals," CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman said.

"Qayyarah will be cleared and the operation wrapped up quickly, bolstering our plans... for the final battle to liberate Mosul," he told AFP.

He said Iraqi forces had been working with armed residents inside the town for this offensive, a rare occurrence.

"There has been coordination with groups of armed residents inside," Noman said, declining to provide further details.

Iraqi forces have spent weeks positioning themselves around the town, which is expected to be used as a launchpad for a broader operation against Mosul in the coming weeks or months.

The US-led coalition said in its daily strike report that its aircraft had carried out four raids on a large number of targets in Qayyarah on Monday.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday reiterated his promise that "the city of Mosul will be liberated in 2016".

- 'Insufficient camps' -

The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) said that 200,000 Iraqis had already been forced to flee their homes this year and warned that Mosul could trigger an unprecedented crisis.

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"Worse is yet to come," the UNHCR representative in Iraq, Bruno Geddo, said. "We predict that it could result in massive displacement on a scale not seen globally in many years."

Nearly 3.4 million people have already been displaced in Iraq since the start of 2014.

Mosul is Iraq's second city and had an estimated population of around two million before IS took it over in June 2014 in an offensive that sparked large-scale displacement.

Accurate numbers for the population remaining in the city are hard to come by but the UN and other officials have said that up to one million civilians may still be living under IS rule in the Mosul area.

"We are building new camps and pre-positioning emergency relief kits to ensure people fleeing get rapid assistance," Geddo said.

"But even with the best-laid plans, there will be insufficient camps for all families needing shelter and we need to prepare other options," he added.

Saleh al-Juburi, the mayor of Qayyarah district, said around 15,000 civilians were believed to be trapped under IS rule in the Qayyarah area.

"There are plans to bring food and medical supplies to those who are still in their homes and did not manage to escape Qayyarah," he told AFP.

"We will distribute this aid immediately after the liberation of the town."

Juburi said CTS forces were making quick progress in Qayyarah and had already retaken key landmarks in the town hours after the launch of the operation.

"Most of the Daesh (IS) fighters have been killed or have fled," he said.

After retaking Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in June, the main focus of Iraqi security forces is Mosul, which is IS's de facto capital in Iraq.

The Iraqi authorities and the aid community, including the UN, came under criticism for failing to cope with the much smaller influx of people displaced from Fallujah.
On Monday, news broke that Michelle Tan, who had been the editor in chief of Seventeen since 2014, was let go from the Hearst magazine while on maternity leave  leaving women everywhere wondering if being let go during this period is even legal, and what protections pregnant women and new mothers are entitled to in the workplace.

To understand the legal issues at play, you first have to understand those issues behind family leave in the United States, the only First World economy without a federally guaranteed, paid family-leave policy. What we do have in the U.S. is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

There is no federal law providing all workers with standard maternity leave, says Maya Raghu, the Director of Workplace Equality with the National Womens Law Center, in an email to Yahoo Style. If a person is eligible for FMLA leave, they can use that as maternity leave  12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave.

Raghu notes that under the FMLA, an employee can take that leave all at once or intermittently (in separate blocks of time). Employees usually must provide a 30-day notice to their employers when requesting an FMLA leave, and employers can ask for certification of the need for leave (such as a doctors note). Furthermore, if employers provide health insurance, employees are entitled to continued coverage during the FMLA leave on the same terms. When employees return from an FMLA leave, they must be reinstated in the same or equivalent job.

The FMLA doesnt prohibit employers from firing an employee while they are on FMLA leave  whether it is unlawful depends on the facts and reasons, Raghu says. Firing someone while they were on FMLA leave just because they gave birth would probably be discriminatory. Firing someone on FMLA leave for performance reasons could be permissible, depending on the motivation and timing.

Possible discrimination that pregnant women or new mothers might potentially face in the workplace can take other forms.

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Pregnancy discrimination is another threat and is defined as treating either a job applicant or an employee unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition, says Raghu. She notes that the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) protects not only women who are pregnant or who have given birth, but also women who might become or intend to become pregnant, or have been pregnant. The act prohibits discrimination in all aspects of employment, including pay, job assignments, promotions, training and access to such benefits as leave and health insurance. It also guarantees that pregnant workers cannot be treated less favorably than nonpregnant workers who have a similar ability or inability to work.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have gone beyond the basic federal protections and have enacted laws explicitly granting pregnant employees the right to reasonable accommodations. But the laws vary, Raghu says. So pregnant workers rights can depend on the state in which they live or work.

If you think you have been discriminated against because of employment action related to pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition, you can contact the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to assess and determine next steps, file a charge and have an investigation conducted.
LSEG's RNS service will use the Blueprint Platform to compose, edit and live file directly with the SEC for its listed companies reporting in the United States

LONDON, ENG AND MORRISVILLE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / Issuer Direct Corporation (NYSE MKT: ISDR) a market leader and innovator of disclosure management and targeted communications solutions, today announced it has expanded its partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) ("LSEG") to include the licensing of its Cloud-based Blueprint SEC Reporting Platform to the RNS service.

LSEG/RNS needed a cost-effective solution with a user friendly interface, that could be integrated into their current workflow and provide a comprehensive view of compliance tasks. They were also looking for a modern SEC Filing solution that was flexible, with enhanced compatibilities to meet future development needs. LSEG/RNS was looking for a solution that would automatically convert HTML content generated from their systems into the SEC EDGAR format and Issuer Direct was able to meet the demand with its Blueprint platform.

Issuer Direct has been a strategic partner of LSEG for many years, providing investor information to millions of shareholders. Earlier this year, the companies entered into a deal to extend ACCESSWIRE's news distribution with the addition of the Exchange's RNS service. This new Blueprint addition solidifies the long-standing relationship as both parties continue to work together to further expand each other's platforms to its listed clients.

"Although Blueprint has been in the market for just a short time, the signing of several marquee clients, and most recently LSEG/RNS, further validates the high quality of this product," said Brian R. Balbirnie, Chief Executive Officer of Issuer Direct. "We're excited to have expanded our relationship with the London Stock Exchange and look forward to being their trusted regulatory platform provider for years to come."

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"Blueprint was adaptable to our immediate needs by providing automated conversion and custom features, while also offering the ability to grow with our changing requirements," said Rawdon McMaster, Head of RNS at London Stock Exchange Group. "I have been impressed with the efficiency with which we have been able to deploy Blueprint and look forward to working closely with Issuer Direct as we further develop our relationship."

Blueprint is one of the only regulatory reporting platforms in the cloud that can handle virtually any document type with its proprietary compliance editing platform that looks and feels like you'd expect from the power of a desktop editor.

To learn more about Blueprint and/or schedule a demo, click here.

About Issuer Direct Corporation

Issuer Direct is a disclosure management and targeted communications company. Our integrated platform provides tools, technologies and services that enable our clients to disclose and disseminate information through our network. With a focus on corporate issuers, the Company alleviates the complexity of maintaining compliance with its integrated portfolio of products and services that enhance companies' ability to efficiently produce and distribute their financial and business communications both online and in print.

Learn more about Issuer Direct today: Investor Tear Sheet.

Forward-Looking Statements. 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") (which Sections were adopted as part of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "prospects," "outlook," and similar words or expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may," and "could" are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated results, performance or achievements. The Company disclaims any intention to, and undertakes no obligation to, revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, a future event, or otherwise. For additional risks and uncertainties that could impact the Company's forward-looking statements, please see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 including but not limited to the discussion under "Risk Factors" therein, which the Company has filed with the SEC and which may be viewed at http://www.sec.gov/.

For Further Information:

Issuer Direct Corporation

Brian R. Balbirnie

919-481-4000

brian.balbirnie@issuerdirect.com

Brett Maas

Hayden IR

(646) 536-7331

brett@haydenir.com

James Carbonara

Hayden IR

(646)-755-7412

james@haydenir.com

SOURCE: Issuer Direct Corporation
An Italy country-specific exchange traded fund, along with Italian banks, is rallying Tuesday as the chief executive of Polands biggest insurer flies to Milan for talks to acquire UniCredits Bank Pekao.

On Tuesday, the iShares MSCI Italy Capped ETF (EWI) rose 2.0%. EWI, though, declined 17.0% year-to-date.

PZUs chief executive, Michal Krupinski, is going to Milan this week to discuss a possible deal to buy Polands second-largest bank, Bank Pekao, from the Italian bank UniCredit, Reuters reports.

SEE MORE: Italy ETF on the Mend, but Challenges Remain

The move is seen as part of a larger plan by the government to take back control of the countrys banking sector, which foreign investors own about 58% of.

One buys banks to gain more control over the economy, not for profits, a Warsaw-based analyst told Reuters. The deputy prime minister prepared a development plan and wanted to encourage banks to take part in infrastructure projects, but they hesitate. If banks are state-run again, they will not hesitate.

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Speculation of the major acquisition helped Italian bank stocks rally Tuesday. Intesa Sanpaolo was up 3.6% and Banco Popolare was 4.5% higher.

Italian banks have been under pressure to sell assets to support their troubled balance sheets.

Related: Rome Extends Italy Banks, ETFs a Helping Hand

The iShares MSCI Italy Capped ETF includes a hefty 28.9% tilt toward the financials sector, including a 10.2% position in Intesa Sanpaolo.

Moreover, the broader iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF (EUFN) , which the financials sector in the European region and a 4.7% weight toward Italy, was up 1.6% Tuesday.

For more information on Italy, visit our Italy category.

iShares MSCI Italy Capped ETF
Ivanka Trump wearing a dress of her own design at the Republican National Convention. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ivanka Trump and her licenser, Marc Fisher, found themselves at the center of controversy back in June when Aquazzura filed a lawsuit accusing the label of ripping off a few of the Italian brands designs. But despite the marked similarities between the shoes mentioned in the court documents, Trump is seeking to get the lawsuit thrown out.

One of the most disturbing things in the fashion industry is when someone blatantly steals your copyright designs and doesnt care. You should know better. Shame on you @ivankatrump! Imitation is NOT the most sincere form of flattery. #aquazzura #ivankatrump Proud of mine #madeinitaly #italiansdoitbetter ???????????????????????? A photo posted by Aquazzura by Edgardo Osorio (@aquazzura) on Mar 4, 2016 at 5:30am PST

As documents obtained by the Daily Mail show, Trumps lawyers claim there havent been any issues of infringement, unfair competition or deceptive trade practices when it comes to her shoes. Back in June, Marc Fisher CFO Matthew Burris told the Huffington Post that its Hettie high heel, which bears a striking resemblance to Aquazurras Wild Thing fringed shoes, is representative of a trending fashion style, is not subject to intellectual property law protection and there are similar styles made by several major brands. The lawsuit is without merit and we will vigorously defend ourselves against the claim.

Aquazzura, whose head designer is Edgardo Osorio, says in its filing that the brands Forever Marilyn and Belgravia heel styles were knocked off as well. The court papers also state that Trump lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations.

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Izara (left) apologised for her choice of outfit.

23 Aug  Actress Izara Aishah has apologised for wearing a sexy outfit while attending the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week (KLFW 2016) recently.



The apology was posted on her Facebook page.



"I apologise to those who are uncomfortable. I will be dressed by decently next time. I accept all of your advice."



"What all of you have said is true. I'm sorry. This is a lesson for me to learn," she posted.



Izara also hopes that those who have taken photos of her at the event will delete them.



Netizens praising Izara's move on making an apology.

The controversy first started when a photo of Izara and Kilafairy had become viral following their outfits by designer Xema Su which were deemed to be too fitting, thus bringing attention to their curves.



She and Kilafairy were then chastised by many of their followers who called their outfits inappropriate.



As soon as the "Sinaran" actress posted her apology, she had received praise from her fans who applauded her positive attitude towards accepting their criticism and advice.



The photo of Izara Aishah and Kilafairy which went viral.

In fact there were even some netizens who said that other local artistes should follow the humble footsteps of 24-year-old Izara who is open to improving herself.



(Photo Source: Izara Aishah Instagram & Facebook)
Author J.K. Rowling has taken to Twitter to speak out against "voluntourism" and the well-meaning, but misled, tourists who volunteer at orphanages abroad.

In a series of long-running tweets posted on Sunday, August 21, Rowling wrote about the why the rise of voluntourism, particularly when it comes to working in orphanages in developing countries, does more harm than any good.

Rowling raised the issue after a charity asked the writer to promote their work connecting tourists with orphanages on Twitter, she explained.

But in reference to her children's charity Lumos, which works "to end the institutionalization of children", Rowling pointed out that neither she nor her charity endorses the trend, calling voluntourism one of the drivers breaking up families in poor countries and incentivizing orphanages to run as a business.

"Globally, poverty is the no. 1 reason that children are institutionalised. Well-intentioned Westerners supporting orphanages...perpetuates this highly damaging system and encourages the creation of more institutions as money magnets," Rowling tweeted.

Rowling isn't the first to highlight the controversy over voluntourism.

Different groups including NGOs and travel experts have pointed out that some orphanages are nothing more than child trafficking operations.

A report from UNICEF, for instance, found that 75 percent of children in Cambodian orphanages are not orphans at all but have at least one living parent.

In some cases, children are deliberately separated from their families, or parents and relatives are talked into sending their children away in exchange for money.

"Further, while orphanage volunteers are generally well-intentioned they often do not realize they could inadvertently cause harm to children," reads an explainer from UNICEF.

"Volunteering for short periods of time without appropriate skills and training could contribute to a repeated sense of abandonment felt by already vulnerable children."
DAKAR (Reuters) - A detained official from Gambia's main opposition movement died in hospital over the weekend, his United Democratic Party said, its second member to lose their life in custody since the start of a crackdown on protests. Solo Krummah was arrested with 14 others on May 9 during rallies calling for electoral reform, and died on Saturday after an operation at the Edward Francis's Small Teaching Hospital in the capital Banjul, the UDP said. His family had not authorised any operation and there were no details on what the treatment involved or how he died, the party added in a statement. There was no immediate comment from the government or hospital authorities. The U.S. State Department said the United States was "deeply concerned" by Krummah's death and was "troubled" by reports of government mistreatment of detained opposition figures, including allegations of torture. State Department spokesman Mark Toner called for an "independent investigation of all credible allegations of torture and abuse" and urged Gambia to release all political prisoners and halt its crackdown on opposition politicians. Activists and opposition members have been staging sporadic protests, demanding reforms before December elections - a rare display of defiance against President Yahya Jammeh. Nearly 50 protesters were arrested in April and May, including UDP party leader Ousainu Darboe and at least 18 other senior members. Eleven opposition supporters were convicted in July, with sentences ranging from fines to three years in prison. Krummah, the UDP's deputy chairman of the Sandu Constituency in eastern Gambia, was detained in Mile 2 prison in Banjul and admitted to hospital on August 8 under armed guard, the UDP said in its statement. "The lawyers have been consulted and will act accordingly to get to the cause of the death of Solo and for the body to be given to the party and family for a fitting burial," the UPD added. The party's national organising secretary, Solo Sandeng, died in custody in April after being arrested in a similar protest. The UDP says Sandeng was tortured to death - a charge dismissed by the government. Foreign powers and rights groups have regularly accused Jammeh of stamping out dissent. He has ruled the West African nation of 2 million people since taking power in a coup in 1994. (Reporting by Edward McAllister; Additional reporting by David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Sandra Maler)
Japanese First Lady Akie Abe visited Hawaiis Pearl Harbor Sunday, where she paid tribute to the several thousand Americans who died when Japanese forces attacked the navy base in December 1941.

I have been to Hawaii many times but I have never been to Pearl Harbor, Abe told a Japanese media outlet, according to Reuters. Over the past year  I have had many chances to think about [World War II], and I felt a strong urge to visit at least once in my lifetime.

The Japan Times reports that she visited the site  where she said a prayer and placed flowers  shortly before 8 a.m., the same time at which Japanese forces commenced the surprise assault on the base on Dec. 7, 1941. The attack pushed the U.S. into World War II.

Japanese authorities made it clear that Abes visit was an unofficial one  she came to the site as a private citizen, not in any capacity related to her role as First Lady. Still, news of the trip has kindled discussion over whether her husband, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, would also visit Pearl Harbor. No incumbent Japanese Prime Minister has ever done so, the Japan Times reports.

Read More: Obama Becomes First Sitting U.S. President to Visit Hiroshima

More than seven decades after the end of World War II, the memory of the conflict continues to tint outward shows of diplomacy between the U.S. and Japan. In May, President Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, where in August 1945 the U.S. dropped one of two atomic bombs. Though Obama did not directly apologize for the U.S.s actions, which effectively brought World War II to a close, his message was one of reconciliation. The United States and Japan have forged not only an alliance but a friendship that has won far more for our people than we could ever claim through war, he said in his remarks at the time.

[Reuters]
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Japan on Tuesday strongly urged North Korea to refrain from provocations following a string of missile launches and threats from Pyongyang of nuclear retaliation in response to US-South Korean military drills.

Japanese senior official Kiyoshi Odawara told a UN Security Council debate on non-proliferation that North Korea's missiles launches, the most recent of which reached Japanese-controlled waters, were "blatant violations" of UN resolutions.

"Japan strongly urges North Korea to refrain from further provocations and to comply faithfully and fully with the relevant Security Council resolutions," said Odawara, Japan's parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs.

North Korea on Monday threatened a pre-emptive military strike as South Korea and the United States kicked off large-scale annual military exercises.

Japan this month joined the United States in calling an emergency session of the council after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile that landed off Japan's northern coast and within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

But the council failed to condemn that August 2 launch after China sought to include language in a statement opposing the THAAD missile defense system that the United States plans to deploy in South Korea.

Odawara said North Korea's missile launches "cannot be condoned for any reason."

China's Ambassador Liu Jieyi took a swipe at the United States and its allies when he stressed the need to "avoid any action that is provocative to each other and may escalate tensions" on the Korean peninsula.

"Non-proliferation cannot be used as a pretext to beef up military deployment, step up military presence and scale up military exercises," said Liu.

Japan called on all UN member-states to redouble their efforts to fully implement all resolutions including a measure adopted in March that imposed the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea.

"These efforts are crucial and their significance and impact cannot be underestimated," said Odawara.

North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
A Japanese father stabbed his 12-year-old son to death with a kitchen knife after the boy failed to study for a school entrance exam, officials said.

Kengo Satake, the boys 48-year-old father, told police that he argued with his son for not studying before a test to enter a private junior high school, according to public broadcaster NHK.

AFP reported that the son, named Ryota, died from loss of blood in hospital on Sunday, as confirmed by officers working in Aichi prefecture in the city of Nagoya.

The father was arrested after hospital staff phoned the police. He told the officers that he had stabbed Ryota by mistake.

NHK said that the boy was hoping to gain a place at one of the leading private schools in Aichi prefecture and his father had regularly scolded him over his studies.

Local media reported that the boys mother was at work when the incident occurred.
fitbit alta

Fitbit did not steal Jawbone's trade secrets, according to a ruling issued on Tuesday by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

The case began when Jawbone accused Fitbit of poaching its employees and using their knowledge of Jawbone's trade secrets. Jawbone also claimed that Fitbit violated some of Jawbone's patents. Jawbone's hope was that the ITC would ban Fitbit from importing its products to the US from its overseas manufacturing partners.

Jawbone and Fitbit make devices overseas and import them to the US.

The ruling means that Fitbit will be able to continue to import its products to the US and sell them.

"[N]o party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret," the ITC ruling reads.

"We are pleased with the ITC's initial determination rejecting Jawbone's trade secret claims," said Fitbit CEO James Park said in a statement to Business Insider. "We greatly appreciate the ALJ's [administrative law judge's] time and diligent work on this case. From the outset of this litigation, we have maintained that Jawbone's allegations were utterly without merit and nothing more than a desperate attempt by Jawbone to disrupt Fitbit's momentum to compensate for their own lack of success in the market."

A Jawbone representative provided a statement, saying that the company intends to ask for a review of the ITC ruling.

"We intend to seek review of today's ruling before the full Commission," the rep said. "The case in the ITC involved a very small subset of Jawbone's trade secrets asserted against Flextronics and Fitbit because of the limited jurisdiction of the ITC. Jawbone is continuing to pursue its much broader trade secret case against Fitbit, which is headed to a jury trial in California state court. The California court already has granted a preliminary injunction and rejected Fitbit's efforts to dismiss the case. Jawbone is confident it will prevail when the full scope of its claims is heard by the jury."

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The ITC invalidated the last of Jawbone's patent claims in April, and the case came down only to Jawbone's accusation that Fitbit stole Jawbone's trade secrets.

Hosain Rahman Jawbone

Fitbit is the most popular wearable-device maker with almost 25% global market share at the end of the first quarter of 2016, according to research firm IDC. Jawbone's market share is too small to crack IDC's list of top wearable device makers.

The ITC decision was something Jawbone had hoped would be in its favor. This spring, Jawbone's CEO, Hosain Rahman, told Business Insider that he felt confident the ITC would ban Fitbit from importing its products, giving Jawbone the advantage by default.

But as the case dragged on, Jawbone has had its share of troubles. It raised a new round of funding  $165 million  in January at about half its previous valuation: $1.65 billion versus its previous valuation of $3.3 billion, according to Recode. Jawbone declined to comment on its valuation.

Sameer Samat, a Google executive hired as Jawbone's president, left the company and returned to Google in January after less than a year on the job.

Jawbone has also tried to sell its Jambox Bluetooth speaker business, a source familiar with Jawbone's plans told Business Insider earlier this year. But Jawbone's hope was that a buyer would pay a premium for the Jambox brand. The company hasn't had any luck finding a buyer, according to the source. A Jawbone representative says that there are several parties interested in the Jambox business.

Jawbone also hasn't released a new fitness tracker since spring 2015 and has sold inventory to a third-party reseller, a source told Business Insider this spring. The company says that it remains committed to making wearables. A Jawbone rep says the company still has fitness-tracker inventory.

Most of Jawbone's effort has gone into developing a new "clinical grade" wearable that can track health data like blood pressure, according to a source. Rahman, Jawbone's CEO, also told Business Insider this spring that Jawbone was interested in exploring clinical wearables.

But, Jawbone had problems getting the clinical device to work properly as recently as this spring, the source said. A Jawbone representative denies the company has had problems with the new wearable.

Most recently, Jawbone lost its head of product, Travis Bogard, in July, Lauren Goode of The Verge first reported.

NOW WATCH: Apple retail boss Angela Ahrendts told us how Apple Stores are changing





More From Business Insider


And another! Jessa Duggar is pregnant and expecting her second child with her husband, Ben Seewald, Us Weekly can confirm. Their little one is due in February.

We are overjoyed to announce that Spurgeon has a new title in life as 'big brother'! We are so thankful that God is adding to our family," the couple tell Us in a statement. "2017 is shaping up to be a wonderful year already and we know Spurgeon will do a great job in his new role. Having Spurgeon has been such a wonderful blessing and we cannot wait to see the face of this sweet new baby (or babies!)."



PHOTOS: Duggar Family Photo Album: 19 Kids and Counting

The 19 Kids and Counting alum, 23, and Seewald, 21, married in November 2014 at the First Baptist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas. They kissed for the very first time behind closed doors after the ceremony.

Duggar and Seewald welcomed baby boy Spurgeon, now 9 months, in November 2015. The Counting On star opened up about motherhood during an interview with Us Weekly in April.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Babies 2016

"Spurgeon is still pretty young, but Im sure that as he continues to grow, I will find that I tend to do some things differently than my mom [Michelle Duggar] did. Thats the beauty of the individual family. No one is identical," she said at the time. "There will be variations with little things here and there, but I know that our foundational goals remain the same  to raise our kids to love God and be a blessing to others."

The couple have also been vocal about wanting to adopt. "We have many friends who have walked this road, so we have seen firsthand the amazing power of adoption. There are so many kids out there who are longing for the love of a family, and we feel strongly about opening our hearts and our home to welcome them in," Duggar told Us in May.



PHOTOS: TV Pregnancies: How Stars Worked Around Their Baby Bumps

"We dont know what the future holds, but as the Bible says, 'Man plans his way, and God directs his steps,'" she continued. "So we want to move forward with paperwork and a home study, and just be ready for however God opens those doors."

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Their new addition will have plenty of aunts, uncles and cousins to play with. Jessa's older sister Jill Duggar and her husband, Derick Dillard, are also parents, of son Israel, 16 months.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Siblings

Jessa and Seewald's baby news comes just weeks after Jessa's sister Jinger Duggar announced her engagement to soccer player Jeremy Vuolo.



Counting On returns on Tuesday, August 23, on TLC at 8 p.m. ET.







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Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli security forces rushed to the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday to rescue ultra-Orthodox Jews stoned by Palestinians as they visited a Jewish shrine, police said.

A statement said that about 60 members of a Hassidic sect went on a pre-dawn trip to Joseph's Tomb, in a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the city, which many Jews believe holds the remains of the biblical patriarch Joseph.

Palestinians believe an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yussef Dweikat, was buried there two centuries ago and the Palestinian office of religious sites considers it to be an Islamic archaeological monument.

Patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers, before rising to become vizier of Egypt.

Once a month, the Israeli army runs escorted nightime visits to the tomb by Jewish pilgrims but there are frequent attempts at wildcat pilgrimages.

"During the course of the night about 60 Hassids entered Joseph's Tomb without authorisation," the police statement said. "Disturbance broke out at the scene and stones were thrown at them."

Israeli media said the bus carrying the worshippers was brought to a halt by Palestinian protesters before it actually reached the shrine.

"Police and soldiers were called to the scene to rescue (them)," the police statement said, adding that about half of the worshippers were detained for questioning.

Haaretz newspaper said that one of the Jews was slightly injured by a stone and Palestinian news agency SAFA said that three Palestinians suffered from inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces.

The incident happened in part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank designated "Area A", which is under Palestinian security control and off-limits to Israelis unless visits are coordinated in advance.

"Unauthorised entry to Area A is a criminal offence," the police said.

"Entry without coordination and without escort is dangerous for those who enter and also for the security forces who go in to rescue them."

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The tomb, which has been the scene of repeated clashes, was torched in October 2015 and later repaired.

In October 2000, at the start of the second intifada, or uprising, Palestinians partly destroyed it after driving out an Israeli border police detachment stationed there.

One of the policemen died in the fighting, along with six Palestinians.


From 'Desperately Seeking Susan'

Madonna and New York. Its hard to imagine one without the other. As the story goes, Madonna Louise Ciccone dropped out of school at the University of Michigan, arrived in New York with $35 in her pocket, and told her cab driver to take her to the center of everything. He dropped her off in Times Square. The year was 1978 and it was love at first sight. New York quickly became her town, a place she said gave her the rush of sticking her finger "in an electric socket."

Madonna's status as a musical legend was established decades ago. She still sells out arena shows. She played the Super Bowl. She's the Queen of Pop.

Her reputation as an actress, on the other handnot quite so stellar. Now, a retrospective opening August 27th at the Metrograph Theater on Ludlow Street is re-examining Madge's career on the silver screen. Titled "Body of Work"a play on Body of Evidence and a promo for the 1990 compilation "The Immaculate Collection"the retrospective is taking on perhaps the most maligned musician-cum-movie star in recent memory. The criticism Britney and Mariah faced for Crossroads and Glitter pales in comparison to the flak Madonna got for films like 2000's The Next Best Thing or 2002's Swept Away. (Wisely, Metrograph is not showing these films).

What's distinguished Madonna, though, has been her persistence. Britney and Mariah called it quits on Hollywood after racking up the Razzies. But Madonna has kept at it, trying after each dud movie to redeem herself as an actress. She really cares about actingon several occasions, she's said she identifies most keenly with the art form. In fact, after dancing, acting was the first art form she pursued in New York. Within a year in the city, she secured the lead role of the dominatrix Bruna in the ultra low-budget Stephen Jon Lewicki film A Certain Sacrifice.

Madonna is at her rawest and most experimental in Sacrifice, exuding the vulnerability of a time when she was still finding her footing in the city. In a handwritten letter Madonna penned to Lewicki after responding to his ad in the back of a newspaper, she admitted to a dream of hitting it big in Hollywood. "By the time I was in the fifth grade, I knew I either wanted to be a nun or a movie star," she wrote.

(The film, which won't be shown at the retrospective, came back to haunt Madonna in the mid-'80s, when Playboy and Penthouse dug up photos from her starving artist days as a nude model. Wanting to capitalize on the ensuing tabloid frenzy, Lewicki re-released A Certain Sacrifice, much to Madonna's chagrin.)

So began a lifelong quest for a woman who has always demanded total excellence of herself. That's the personality trait that made her a superstarand it probably explains why she has tried to carry off so many starring roles in the face of near universal contempt. She's appeared in more than 20 movies, if you include cameos in films like Vision Quest, Blue in the Face, and Die Another Day.

Opinions on Madonna's acting abilities may vary, but her on-screen presence is always memorable. And for New Yorkers, or those who just love the city, Madonna's films are enriched by her love for her honorary hometownin spite of how many times it may have done her wrong in the early days. "New York wasn't everything I thought it would be. It did not welcome me with open arms," she once remarked.

Many of the films Metrograph has selected to showcase are love letters to NYC. There's Desperately Seeking Susan, Who's That Girl, and Dangerous Game, as well as the requisite Woody Allen, Shadows and Fog.

Desperately Seeking Susan is one of the great films of 1980s New York and it capitalizes on Madonna's post-"Like A Virgin" fame. Madonna shows off her inimitable street urchin look in the film, which also features her club classic "Into the Groove." With cameos from iconic downtown club Danceteria and numerous scenes of Susan barely getting by on charm, smooth talk, and connections, the film is a perfect snapshot of a certain moment in New York. It will make any viewer a little nostalgic for the old days.

Madonna followed her role in Desperately Seeking Susan with the disastrous adventure comedy Shanghai Surprise, then sought redemption with James Foley's screwball comedy Who's That Girl. The film tanked, but it's notable for Madonna's Nikki Finn, an archetypal street-smart, audacious, and abrasive New Yorker who has no qualms about boosting a few tapes or taming a wild cougar. Who's That Girl also gave us "Who's That Girl" and "Causing A Commotion," plus an eponymous world tour.

In 1990, Madonna played one of her greatest dramatic partsherselfin the music documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. Truth or Dare chronicles the Blond Ambition World Tour and features Madonna playing the dual role of a genuinely vulnerable artist and an over-the-top send-up of her public persona. In a memorable New York scene, Madonna and her dancers form a prayer circle backstage to honor the late Keith Haring. The show was dedicated to Haring and part of its proceeds were donated to the HIV/AIDS non-profit AmFAR. Truth or Dare director Alek Keshishian will appear at select screenings at Metrograph for audience Q&A's.

The inclusion of Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog in the retrospective seems a bit of an odd choice, as Madonna's role is small, really just a cameo. (Allen is reported to have cut quite a few of Madonna's scenes from the film.) Still, M's turn as a seductive tightrope artist sets off a pivotal sequence in the film. While Madonna has an almost blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene, it's the most salacious and overtly sexual moment in the filmand perhaps in any Allen film.

A gem in the lineup at Metrograph is the 1993 Abel Ferrara flick Dangerous Game, excoriated as tasteless and offensive at the time but featuring a terrific performance from Madonna. M stars as actress Sarah Jennings, who has an affair with her director, Eddie Israel, a New York intellectual-type played by Harvey Keitel. Art begins to imitate life as the abusive relationship Jennings' movie character has with her co-star, portrayed by Jame Russo, parallels her relationship with Israel.

After Dangerous Game was crucified in the press, Madonna, with characteristic sarcasm, complained by fax to producer Joe Roth, "How foolish of me to think I had the ability to play a vulnerable character unlike anything I've done to date. I should just stay in the gutter where I belong working with low lifes like Abel Ferrara and being hated by the general public."

Ultimately, what's clear about Madonna's life on screen, through the ups and downs, is that New York was always her best co-star. And that makes sense. It's the city where she became Madonna.
By Manon Jacob and Maria Haase Coelho BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Molenbeek, the Brussels borough that gained unwanted notoriety last year when Islamic State militants from the area attacked Paris, has become an unlikely tourist draw - and not just for those with ghoulish tastes. Even as the broader city's visitor numbers dropped after the French bloodshed and the March bombings in Brussels itself, tour guides report growing interest from those keen to see the long-blighted district for themselves and view an industrial heritage that once earned Molenbeek the sobriquet "Little Manchester". "We are seeing rising curiosity about Molenbeek from Belgian tourists and foreigners alike since the attacks," said Corentin Descamps, an adviser to Brussels' tourism agency. A borough of 95,000 people, up to 40 percent of them Muslim and mainly of Moroccan origin, it sits just across a once warehouse-lined canal from the old heart of Brussels, whose Renaissance Grand-Place, beer bars, chocolate shops and art galleries are the more typical destinations for tourist throngs. Long shunned by fellow Bruxellois, Molenbeek hit world headlines in November when locals with links to Syria took part in the attacks that killed 130 in Paris. Then in March, key fugitive Salah Abdeslam was caught there after four months hiding just a few streets from his family home and suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and the city's metro. Some of the new visitors curious about the neighborhood do have a ghoulish streak and ask to see places associated with the IS attacks, tour guide Alan Debaecke conceded. "There are sometimes people looking for the places where those people lived or where they were arrested, where they were in hiding," he said. He tries to avoid satisfying their curiosity, however. REGENERATION Many tours take in Molenbeek's elegant town hall and the pretty square in front which hosts a lively twice-weekly market; it also houses the apartment where Abdeslam grew up alongside an elder brother who was among the Paris suicide bombers. Debaecke says most tourists are happy to let him show them a bustling neighborhood where urban regeneration projects are drawing in affluent loft dwellers but also aim to improve lives for locals in one of Belgium's poorest boroughs, a 10-minute underground train ride from European Union headquarters. "They're amazed to see the image they get of this area is totally unlike what they've seen in the media," he said. "They realize most of the population are people like you and me." Officials report falls in visitor numbers to Brussels since November. Data is still being collated but officials stress that Molenbeek remains a marginal attraction for most visitors. However, numbers are also aided by the opening of new attractions, such as the Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art (MIMA) in the century-old Belle-Vue brewery on the canal, and interest in this former international hub for crafts. La Fonderie museum displays the cast of a bronze lion, made in Molenbeek 80 years ago for American sculptor Paul Manship, which adorns his grand Art Deco gateway at New York's Bronx Zoo. "The people we hitch-hiked to Brussels with told us how dangerous Molenbeek was," said Jacob, a young Swede, after a visit organized by the Brussels Greeters organization. "But after doing the tour, we see this is not the case at all." Some locals resent the global attention and the talk of the area as a "breeding ground" for jihad. And, while tourist interest in its history is welcome, many want to forget the recent past. Rachid sees people regularly, as he waits for a bus to his job at a chocolate factory, staring at the house where Abdeslam was arrested. "It's still going on. It'll never end," he said of the unwanted attention. "People should forget about it. It's all over." (Additional reporting by Francois Lenoir and Robert-Jan Bartunek; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Updated with video: Who would have thought this audience would be so excited about the co-founder of ISIS,! ABC late-night star Jimmy Kimmel enthused when Hillary Clinton walked out on his stage tonight.

Turns out, preparing to interview Hillary Clinton on a late night show is not so hard these days what with Donald Trumps camp writing so much good comedy. Like that ongoing storyline Clinton is very ill.

Clinton played along, though mostly she tried to stay on-message.

Kimmel wondered how she is preparing to debate Donald Trump.

I watched lot of his debates, and he insulted all of his opponents, and all of the moderators, about 80% of the American people, and the rest of the world, she noted. But you got to be prepared for wacky stuff that comes at you. I am drawing on my experience in elementary school.

If you are elected President, how great would it be if your first act would be to deport Donald Trump to Mexico, Kimmel imagined, wondering if she would prefer to be running against somebody boring  like Mitt Romney:

Talk turned to becoming a grandparent:

He presented her with a fishbowl in which were slips of paper printed with actual Donald Trump quotes. She read several gamely, until one set off a red flag. Oh I cant read this. I cant read it:

Clinton last visited Kimmels show in March, where she learned late-night comedy can be hard.

I am going to be your secret weapon, because Im going to help you win this election, no problem, Kimmel told Clinton, who then was the Dem frontrunner, as she made what was then her second visit to Kimmels show of the election cycle. Kimmel offered to help man-splain campaign speech-giving to the political veteran, then asked if she understood the expression.

Yeah, thats when a man explains something to a woman in a patronizing way, Clinton responded.

Actually, its when a man explains something to a woman in a condescending way  but you were close, he joked.

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt22Y9-dfNk&w=620&h=340]

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The indie thriller will also star Imogen Poots, Rosemarie Dewitt and Odessa Young.

Written by brothers Ben and Paul China, the picture will be directed by Jamie Dagg ("River"). "Daredevil" star Jon Bernthal will take on the role of a former rodeo star who befriends Christopher Abbott's character, a young hitman responsible for a streak of violence in the area.

Filming begins August 27, 2017, though no release date has been set, reports Variety. Bernthal will next be seen in Ben Affleck's "The Accountant", while Abbott's next release will be the indie drama "Katie Says Goodbye".
Hulu has found its leading man for The Handmaid's Tale.

American Horror Story and Shakespeare in Love star Joseph Fiennes has been cast as the male lead in the streaming giant's take on Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Read more: Elisabeth Moss to Star in Hulu Straight-to-Series Drama 'Handmaid's Tale' (Exclusive)

Picked up straight to series, the 10-episode drama stars Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and tells the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the U.S. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism that treats women as property of the state. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Moss), is a handmaid in the commander's household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world. She is forced to navigate between commanders, their cruel wives, domestic "Marthas" (servants) and her fellow handmaids - where anyone could be a spy for Gilead - all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter who was taken from her.

Fiennes will star as Cmdr. Fred Waterford, a founding father of Gilead, he is a powerful, high-ranking official who rules the household where Offred (Moss) is a handmaid.

Bruce Miller (The 100) penned the script for the MGM TV entry and will executive produce alongside Daniel Wilson (feature film The Handmaid's Tale), Fran Sears (The Sophisticated Gents) and Warren Littlefield (Fargo). Ilene Chaiken (Empire, The L Word) will also exec produce. Atwood is on board as a consulting producer on the property, which was adapted as a feature film in 1990 starring Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall. The Hulu drama will premiere in 2017 with production starting in the fall in Toronto. The cast includes Orange Is the New Black's Samira Wiley, Max Minghella, Ann Dowd and Madeline Brewer. Reed Morano will direct and exec produce the first three episodes.

Story continues

Read more: 'Orange Is the New Black's' Samira Wiley to Co-Star in Hulu's 'Handmaid's Tale' (Exclusive)

For Fiennes, the role marks his return to series regular television following the second season of FX anthology American Horror Story. His TV credits include Camelot andFlashForward. On the feature side, his roles include the BAFTA-nominated lead in Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth andThe Merchant of Venice. He's repped by WME, Anonymous Content and Artists Partnership.
(Adds comment from plaintiffs' lawyer)

By Jessica Dye

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - General Motors Co said Tuesday a Texas judge had denied its bid to throw out a lawsuit over a fatal 2011 crash blamed on a faulty ignition switch, after the company accused a car driver and his lawyers of fabricating evidence about the vehicle's key.

Harris County Judge Robert Schaffer said in his mid-trial ruling, however, that he would instruct jurors that a key shown to them was not the one used by Zachary Stevens to drive the 2007 Saturn Sky involved in the crash, according to GM.

GM moved to dismiss the case on Monday, saying the key displayed in the courtroom did not belong to that vehicle and accused Stevens and his parents of trying to buttress their case by displaying a key chain carrying more weight than the one actually used in the crash.

The carmaker, which recalled 2.6 million vehicles in 2014 for defective ignition switches, has warned that added weight to key chains can cause the switches to rotate out of position and cut power to brakes, steering and air bags.

Stevens previously said that he had just a few items on his key chain at the time of the crash, while the key chain shown to jurors had additional items attached to it, including a gym membership card and souvenir Eiffel Tower.

Plaintiffs' lawyers acknowledged in a court filing on Monday evening the key displayed in court was not the one from the crash but said GM was attempting to turn a "justifiable misunderstanding" about the key "into a criminal conspiracy."

According to Stevens, switch rotation caused him to lose control of the car, hitting another vehicle and killing the driver.

GM maintains Stevens' driving caused the accident. In a statement, the company said: "It will be up to the jury to make sense of the plaintiffs' confusing, contradictory and misleading story about the key."

Josh Davis, a lawyer for Stevens, said GM's claims that his client intended to mislead jurors were "ridiculous."

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"This is not the stuff of John Grisham, but a simple mistake," he said.

Stevens filed the lawsuit last year and it is the first to go to trial among roughly 20 pending in Texas state court.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Grant McCool and Alan Crosby)
In a victory for student teaching assistants nationwide, the National Labor Relations Board ruled today that graduate students can unionize.

The NLRB released a statement the decision:

The National Labor Relations Board issued a 3-1 decision in Columbia University that student assistants working at private colleges and universities are statutory employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act. The Graduate Workers of Columbia-GWC, UAW filed an election petition seeking to represent both graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, along with graduate and departmental research assistants at the university in December 2014. The majority reversed Brown University (342 NLRB 483) saying it deprived an entire category of workers of the protections of the Act without a convincing justification. For 45 years, the National Labor Relations Board has exercised jurisdiction over private, nonprofit universities such as Columbia. In that time, the Board has had frequent cause to apply the Act to faculty in the university setting, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Federal courts have made clear that the authority to define the term employee rests primarily with the Board absent an exception enumerated within the National Labor Relations Act. The Act contains no clear language prohibiting student assistants from its coverage. The majority found no compelling reason to exclude student assistants from the protections of the Act. Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce was joined by Members Kent Y. Hirozawa and Lauren McFerran in the majority opinion. Member Philip A. Miscimarra dissented in the case. The decision reverses the case dismissal by the Regional Director and remands the case to the Agencys Region 2 Office in Manhattan for further action.

The case reverses a 2004 NLRB decision, involving the UAW and Brown University, that said graduate students weren't employees and couldn't collectively bargain, claiming they were "primarily students and have a primarily educational, not economic, relationship with their university.

Paul Katz, of Graduate Workers at Columbia, told the Columbia Spectator, "We're throughly excited that the NLRB has ruled in our favor. It's particularly exciting that this is paying off not only at Columbia but across the country."

Columbia's graduate students, who got a raise earlier in the summer, will vote on whether to join the UAW.

A spokesperson for Columbia told the NY Times, "While we are reviewing the ruling, Columbia  along with many of our peer institutions  disagrees with this outcome because we believe the academic relationship students have with faculty members and departments as part of their studies is not the same as between employer and employee."
Just a week ago, Justin Bieber seemed to be heating up with Sofia Richie, but could there already be a new girl in his life?



The pop star spent the weekend in the U.K. with aspiring model Bronte Blampied, who also hung out with his group during a recent vacation in Hawaii (where he was rumored to be hooking up with Sahara Ray).



Every night, she went back to his luxury apartment, says a source of Bieber, 22, and Blampied. They looked like a couple, and she stayed over at his place.





Floatie floatie A photo posted by Bronte Blampied (@brontebw) on Aug 4, 2016 at 12:35pm PDT







Those dips A photo posted by Bronte Blampied (@brontebw) on Aug 9, 2016 at 7:40pm PDT

A photo posted by Bronte Blampied (@brontebw) on Aug 5, 2016 at 3:47pm PDT





Although there was no PDA while they were out and about, she was with him the whole weekend and never left his side, says the source.





Justin and Bronte on Saturday, August 20, 2016. (Photo: AKM-GS)

(Photo: AKM-GS)



(Photo: AKM-GS)

The pair partied on Friday at Tape night club and stayed in Saturday night after visiting a spa together and attending the V festival, where Bieber performed.









Last week, Bieber traveled to Japan for his Purpose World Tour with Richie, 17, and the pair were photographed holding hands and kissing in a park.



However, a source told PEOPLE its virtually impossible where hes at in his life and career for anything to last with these girls. Hes not settling down.



 Reporting by PHILIP BOUCHER

For more E! News Now celebrity news, visit Yahoo View.
The Kardashian brand includes a collection of brand associations, from Balmain to Calvin Klein to FitTea, but the family might soon have to make it clear what exactly those associations entail.

Kim, Kylie, Khloe, Kendall and Kourtney were put on alert last week by consumer watchdog Truth In Advertising for failing to "disclose their relationships with the companies being promoted" in their posts, which is required by federal law.

"We have found that members of the Kardashian/Jenner family are engaged in deceptive marketing campaigns for various companies by routinely creating and publishing sponsored social media posts for such companies without clearly and conspicuously disclosing that they are paid representatives of those companies or that the posts are advertisements," the organization wrote in an Aug. 17 letter addressed to Kris Jenner and lawyer Michael Kump.

The letter threatens to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission unless more than 100 allegedly deceptive photos are removed from the family's various Instagram accounts.

Truth In Advertising also sent the letter to the family's alleged sponsors, which include Balmain, Calvin Klein, Estee Lauder and Karl Lagerfeld.

Despite the widespread use of native advertising across social media and the internet in general, consumer protection laws haven't changed substantively in decades.

"The scenarios we're seeing have produced a few more gray zones," Bonnie Patten, executive director of Truth In Advertising, told The Hollywood Reporter, "but the laws are the same."

Several of the photos in question have been removed from Kardashian and affiliate brand Instagram accounts as of Tuesday.
Women in Pakistan-administered Kashmir offered their bangles to Ban Ki-moon Tuesday, an insult in patriarchal South Asia aimed at the UN head's perceived inaction over violence on the Indian side of the disputed region.

Hundreds of refugee women marched in Muzzafarabad, capital of the Pakistani side, chanting slogans against the UN and India as some clutched their bangles in their hands in protest at the weeks of deadly violence.

Much of Indian-administered Kashmir has been under curfew since protests broke out over the death on July 8 of a popular young rebel leader in a gunfight with security forces.

More than 60 civilians have been killed in clashes between protesters and police and troops and thousands more injured in the worst violence to hit the restive region since 2010.

Hospitals have reported hundreds of young men and boys suffering serious eye and other injuries from the pellets.

"If the secretary general of the UN Ban Ki-moon can't help Kashmiris, he should wear these bangles and rest," protester Irshad Qureshi told AFP, clutching her bracelets.

Others held placards saying the bangles were "For UN". The protesters also burnt the Indian flag.

Bangles are deeply embedded in female identity in Pakistan.

To offer the delicate bracelets to a man is to say he is acting like a woman -- still seen as an insult in the deeply conservative country, where women have been fighting for their rights for decades.

Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan region in full.

The Kashmir Valley, where the recent violence has occurred, is the epicentre of a separatist insurgency seeking either independence or merger of the territory with Pakistan.
By Lesley Wroughton NAIROBI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged South Sudan's leaders to "get the job done" by fully implementing a peace deal or face a U.N. arms embargo and sanctions. His warning followed meetings in Nairobi on Monday with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and foreign ministers from Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan to discuss escalating violence in South Sudan and the deployment of a U.N. protection force. "It's really up to the people, the leadership of South Sudan to lead and to do the things that they've promised to do," Kerry said in an interview with South Sudan's "Eye Radio" broadcast on Tuesday morning. "If they dont, then obviously it may be that the U.N. arms embargo and sanctions are going to be the tools of last resort. Its not what people wanted to have to do, but our hope is that the government, the transition government will seize the bull by the horns here and get the job done," he added. Fighting in the capital Juba last month has raised fears that the five-year-old nation could slide back into civil war. The violence prompted the United Nations to authorise the deployment of 4,000 extra U.N. troops to bolster a U.N. mission there, warning South Sudan it would face an arms embargo if it did not cooperate. South Sudan's government initially said it would not cooperate with the new U.N. troops which will be under the command of the 12,000-strong UNMISS mission. But since then it has said it was still considering its position. Kerry said the force was not an intervention force that would challenge the sovereignty of the country. Its main task would be to protect property and civilians in Juba. South Sudan secured its independence in 2011, but by December 2013 the longtime political rivalry between Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Machar, a Nuer, had led to civil conflict that often followed ethnic lines. The two men signed a peace deal in August 2015, but spent months wrangling over details while sporadic violence flared. Crucial elements of the deal, such as integrating the government and former rebel forces, have not been carried out. The fighting has killed thousands of people and driven more than 2 million people from their homes, with many of them fleeing to neighboring states. Ask whether the United States was willing to help South Sudan's economy recover, Kerry said it would only do so if the nation's leaders implemented a peace agreement and was doing whatever necessary to stabilise the country. "If they choose not to do that, then we, who have been the largest donor in the world to the government of South Sudan, will have to rethink what were doing," he added. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Edmund Blair and Michael Perry)
Former Sen. Mary Landrieu, (D-LA), who served in the Senate during Hurricane Katrinas devastation in Louisiana in 2005, discussed the recent flooding in the southern part of the state and efforts to kick start the recovery process.

Landrieu viewed reports that FEMA was already on the ground in Louisiana working with flood victims as reassuring for concerned residents of the state.

That is exactly what people want to hear: what the federal government can do, what the state and local governments can do. They recognize theyve got to do for themselves as well. And of course non-profits and churches and charities will step up. But its a real partnership between the individual, their community and the government to get this fixed and done and to get people back in their homes, Landrieu told the FOX Buisness Networks Sandra Smith.

Landrieu then responded to criticisms of a delayed decision by President Obama to visit the flood zone in Louisiana days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump surveyed the damage.

Well, first of all, the flooding wasnt a one-day event, the waters actually just went down a day or two ago. The flooding happened all last week  I know because I was there for part of it. And so, you dont want to have a presidential visit for sure in the middle of water rising and the rescue operation. So, I think Gov. Edwards was right to reach out and ask the president to come. This is a good time with the water going down, you can access a lot of areas.

According to Landrieu, Trumps visit was appreciated for bringing attention to the damage and recovery process.

I thank Donald Trump for coming and anything that can bring attention to our state. But you need to do more than come, he made a contribution which was wonderful. And most importantly, people want to hear from him, from the president and from Secretary Clinton, what they can do to make the situation even better.

Landrieu also weighed in on Hillary Clintons statement explaining her decision to delay her visit to the flood zone so her campaign would not be a distraction from recovery efforts and whether it is a mistake.

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No, I think the timing is very important and Im sure shell come. I mean she was a real leader in the rebuilding [after] Superstorm Sandy; I know because I served with her in the Senate. Landrieu continued, But most importantly its what she does as president  can we improve our flood insurance program, can we get money on the ground sooner, can we work better with non-profits?

Then Landrieu reacted to sentiment that delaying Clintons trip would be less effective because time is of the essence to keep attention on the damage and potentially lead to an increase in much needed funding and donations.

Well, its not going to be a month and it shouldnt be, but as you know if youre from Louisiana, these recovery efforts last decades. I mean, we hope this doesnt last decades, were still recovering from Katrina and that was over 10 years ago. Now hopefully this will be quicker, its terrible but its not the same scale as Katrina, but yes, absolutely. Again, the most important thing is to get FEMA money to people, get help for them and to organize strategically.

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Coffee house barista looking bored (Getty Images)

Debt delinquency amongst millennials was up 12 per cent in the second quarter of this year. Youth unemployment hit 13.3 per cent in July with 28,400 jobs lost across Canada. The housing markets are out of control and millennials are still living in their parents basements. But if theres any solace to be had in poverty-focused charity Oxfams new report on global youth, its that were all in this together. No really, millennials are feeling the squeeze worldwide.

Theres a huge swath of people all across the planet in that age bracket that are poor and poorer than the people in the same age of the generation before them, says Kelly Bowden, manager of campaigns for Oxfam Canada. (But) there is no one who is escaping the impact of the inequality gap  whether youre teenagers, millennials or baby boomers, its affecting every one.

Millennials, she says, just happen to be having a harder time bouncing back from the economic downturn.

The report cites a study last year by Dr. Paul Kershaw, an associate professor at UBCs school of population and public health, which found that the typical 25-34 year old earns $4,200 less today for full-time work than three decades earlier.

Alone, that deficit is probably manageable, but when contrasted with the endless string of bad news for todays millennials, it compounds.

Student debt is higher than it has been for the past five years and its getting increasingly larger in this country, says Bowden pointing out that it can be debilitating for young Canadians struggling to start their post-education lives, especially when they chased that education in the first place to earn more. I think theres a combination of factors that play in this  the general stagnation in wages minimum wages arent rising as rapidly in the past 25 years and wages in general are smaller.

But not everyone agrees theres a struggle.

There have been plenty of headlines about millennial entitlement and a July poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that one in three Canadians believe that millennials living with their parents is bad for society and young people are soft.

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Sure, you can find droves of evidence supporting each sides views. But amidst all the name-calling and polls showing entitlement or generations of mismanagement and the policies the report says have enabled an outrageously large portion of the worlds wealth to accrue to the very top of the income spectrum (delivering) a difficult present and uncertain future to a huge majority of todays youth, there is some action.

In January 2016, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced a program to allow 165,000 students to attend 30 universities for free  the byproduct of the so-called Penguin Revolution a decade prior where somewhere between 600,000 and one million students went on strike at over 250 schools.

In Kenya, where approximately 80 per cent of the countrys 2.3 million unemployed were youth between the ages of 15 and 34, the 2012 Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) was created so that group, plus women and people with disabilities, could tap into 30 per cent of government tenders. And at home, in Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed himself the countrys first federal Minister for Youth with plans to build his Youth Council by Oct. 7 and boost interaction between policymakers and young people.

Weve seen positive impacts creating spaces where young people can be more engaged in policies and political decision-making processes, says Bowden. And making sure there are good economic policies in place that are good for young people but also just good for everyone in terms of closing the gap between the rich and the poor  we have a positive hope for what that can look like.
A driver with the ride-sharing service Lyft waits for a customer on a street in Santa Monica, California October 17, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Finance Insider is Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.

To sign up, scroll to the bottom of this page and click "Get updates in your inbox," or click here.

Markets are quiet  really quiet.

For 31 straight days, the S&P 500 has not moved 1% or more in either direction, and volatility in the market, as measured by the VIX, has declined sharply since spiking after the UK's vote in late June to leave the European Union.

That "could set up the market for a highly volatile and correlated sell off on the next shock," according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Direct Match, a Wall Street trading startup focused on the US Treasurys market, is exploring strategic options that could include a sale. Jim Greco, the CEO and cofounder, explained why in an article for Business Insider.

Lyft President John Zimmer blasted reports that the ride-hailing company is shopping itself around, disputing a series of recent news stories saying that Lyft had failed to find a buyer after talking to six different companies.

"Lyft is not seeking a buyer," Zimmer told Business Insider.

Bed Bath & Beyond paid less than $30 million for One Kings Lane, a startup that was once worth $900 million. Best Buy popped after earnings beat expectations. And ad tech company The Trade Desk has filed to go public.

Real business investment has declined in the US for the third straight quarter, and there's reason to believe that something might be going on here beyond just record-low prices for commodities and oil.

Lastly, this $850,000 Aston Martin convertible is a work of art.

Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday:

One of the most popular trades in the world is no longer profitable  We're living in a world of negative interest rates.

Tesla will announce a new product today - CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the product announcement would come at noon PT (3 p.m. ET). We don't know for certain, but it could be an announcement relating to when Tesla will roll out Autopilot 2.0 and the new features that will come with the upgrade.

Story continues

Deloitte is being sued after failing to flag up more than $200 million of money laundering - A Dubai-based investment group is suing the Middle Eastern arm of Deloitte and Touche after the accounting firm failed to flag up money laundering at a now-defunct Lebanese bank.

Meet the matchmaker who sets up dates for Goldman Sachs bankers for a 9,000 annual fee - Long hours and heavy workloads mean that bankers, brokers, lawyers, and accountants rarely meet anyone outside of the corporate jungle.

The US has a $1.4 trillion hole that needs to be filled - We're not going to stop talking about it: everybody wants more government spending.

What it's like to have your world turned upside down by an insider trading conviction - William D. Cohan wrote a fascinating profile for Fortune about Todd Newman, the hedge fund manager at now defunct Diamondback Capital, whose case has raised questions about the definition of insider trading.

All of the US economy's problems come back to one thing  It's all about jobs.

Bentley's ultra-luxurious Bentayga SUV has a year-long backorder here's what makes it so coveted - The Bentley Bentayga is a hot commodity right now.





More From Business Insider


PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's largest dairy producer, Lactalis, said on Tuesday it was ready to renegotiate milk prices paid to producers after hundreds of farmers protested outside its headquarters in northwestern France demanding higher prices.

Lactalis will meet French milk producers in Paris on Thursday morning, members of France's largest farm union FNSEA said separately after holding talks with Lactalis representatives near the company's base in the town of Laval.

European milk farmers are struggling with a slump in prices caused by the European Union ending quotas last year, Russia's ban on Western food imports and weak Chinese dairy imports.

Unions say the current price paid by Lactalis to French producers of 257 euros per 1,000 liters of milk is well below producers' costs and is between 10 and 30 euros below the price paid by competitors such as Danone, Sodiaal and Bel.

Family-owned Lactalis' brands include President, Bridel, Galbani and Lactel, producing butter, milk and cheese.

"The group is ready to-reopen talks," Lactalis spokesman Michel Nalet told Europe 1 radio without giving any details on any potential price change. "We never closed our door."

Nalet stressed that the group faced strong competition elsewhere in the European Union where prices have fallen more steeply in the past year than in France.

In June, raw milk prices paid to producers stood at 27.70 euros per 100 kilograms in France, compared to 23.22 euros/100 kg in top producer Germany, 25.12 euros/100 kg in the UK and 25.00 euros/100 kg in the Netherlands, European Commission data showed.

As many as 400 farmers staged a protest at Lactalis' headquarters in Laval overnight and between 250 and 300 were still there on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by tractors, cows and trailers.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll on Monday called for talks on milk prices, adding that the government was ready to mediate to help resolve the situation.

Le Foll said he would put forward "in the coming days" a wider plan on the implementation of EU measures to limit milk output, which would also tackle price slumps in the livestock and grain sectors.

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The European Commission, the EU executive, said in July it would grant an additional 500 million euros ($567 mln) to struggling farmers, including subsidies to reduce milk output.

It also granted a package of 500 million euros in September last year, targeting mainly cash-flow difficulties and market stabilization.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris and Pierre-Henri Allain in Laval; Editing by Jason Neely and Susan Fenton)
A person uses the Uber app while seated behind the wheel of a car. (Digital Trends)

Language has become the latest battleground for regulators looking to monitor the slow creep of ride-sharing and driver-hire platforms like Uber.

The San Francisco-based company is suing the City of London in the U.K. over new regulations from Transport for London (TfL), the citys transport authority, including one requiring private-hire drivers coming from a non-English speaking majority country to pass a language test.

We support spoken English skills, but this exam is harder than the test for British citizenship, wrote Alana Saltzman, Uber UK and Ireland spokesperson, in an emailed response to Yahoo Canada Finance. (Uber Canada did not respond to repeated requests).

While the English proficiency has gained the lions share media coverage, the tech company cites three other grievances including the requirement for hire and reward insurance even when vehicles arent in use, the requirement to inform TfL of changes to their operating model before they are made and a rule that will require Uber to establish a call centre in London.

Andreas Schotter, assistant professor of international business and global strategy at Western Universitys Ivey Business School says hes study the model and tested it out in Asia, Europe and throughout North America and found that localness has a profound impact on the app and how its received. And perhaps, more importantly, how regulators perceive it.

The City of London went too far, he says. My projection of what will happen is Uber will sue, there might be a compromise on the language test and then it keeps on going.

But he admits that Uber has shown overconfidence when going into these cities and the effect it may have  in other words: they need to respect the regulator.

The regulator in this case has to both protect the incumbent and have control over the service (to) maintain safety standards (and) tax compliance, says Schotter. I think they went too far with the language requirement  I think the language requirement makes sense, no doubt about it, but Uber has a case its a little dramatic.

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With that being said, he feels its not entirely unlikely that regulators in major Canadian cities could turn to something like language proficiency as a way to regulate and control car sharing companies.

But Dr. Sean Wise, an expert on startups and venture capital and a professor of entrepreneurship at Ryerson University says the City of London, like many other cities, is just trying to feel its way in the dark through the unprecedented disruption these so-called sharing economy companies bring.

We havent seen change at this speed, change is usually generational, and this Uber and Airbnb economy  theyre not a flash in a pan its a fundamentally different way to earn a living, he explains.

But when it comes to regulators, heed his warning: Its economical evolution (and) I think you cant put breaks on evolution, says Wise. I think theyll just climb around it, theyll go to every other country in the EU and then leave the UK and say change your legislature and then someone will run on an Uber-only platform  thats how things change.
A Las Vegas exterminator who was stung by hundreds of bees has died two weeks after the incident, according to multiple reports.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars Weve Lost

Jose Moreno Pacheco, 49, died on Thursday, August 18, at a local hospital, the Clark County coroners office told the Associated Press on Monday, August 22.

According to Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling, Pacheco wasnt wearing protective clothing when he removed a beehive from a Vegas home on August 4. The exterminators coworkers were wearing protective clothing at the time and left the scene uninjured.



PHOTOS: Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time

Firefighters (who wore special gear for the rescue) were called to the scene to remove Pacheco from the swarming bees. He was then transported to a nearby hospital, the AP reported.

According to KLAS-TV, the victim was stung more than 200 times.

It was horrific, Las Vegas resident Amber Howerton told the local news outlet on August 5. It felt like something from a Stephen King novel.



PHOTOS: Celebrity Health Scares

Nevada law states that pest control companies who kill bees must be licensed by the state. Bee removal companies, however, are not required to be regulated. Pachecho worked for a bee removal company.

It is unclear what kind of bees attacked Pachecho.

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Flirty 30!



On Sunday night, Lea Michele celebrated her milestone birthday with six of her closest girlfriends at Hollywood hot spot ROKU Sunset.



Arriving around 7:30 p.m., the Scream Queens star wore a black turtleneck dress paired with sky-high, nude heels. "She was in such bright spirits and was in the best mood all night long," says an onlooker.



Her group  including her former Glee costar Becca Tobin and Jamie-Lynn Sigler  dined on yellowtail sashimi, lobster rolls and spicy tuna on crispy rice as they toasted with champagne in honor of Michele's 30th birthday.









Let the birthday festivities begin! Thank you @rokusunset for a fabulous night! A photo posted by Lea Michele (@msleamichele) on Aug 21, 2016 at 9:37pm PDT



After dinner, the actress was presented with a birthday cake featuring an array of sparklers.



"She had the best time," says a source of Michele, who left with her group around 10:30 p.m.
We updated our research report on Liberty Property Trust LPT on Aug 22, 2016. This Malvern, PA-based real estate investment trust (REIT) is engaged in providing leasing, property management, development, construction management, design management and related services for industrial and office properties.



Liberty Property has been concentrating on divesting its non-core assets and using the proceeds for gaining the preferred properties across the U.S. The company recently declared its 2016 disposition plan of selling $1.2 billion suburban office and flex non-core assets. The company intends to use these proceeds to finance its growing development pipeline as well as potential acquisitions.



Further, fundamentals of the industrial market have remained strong, backed by increasing demand for industrial properties amid limited supply. In turn, this has resulted in strong rent growth, increased occupancy and development opportunities. Therefore, given its premium quality industrial portfolio located in upscale locations, Liberty Property is poised to gain.



On Jul 26, Liberty Property reported second-quarter 2016 funds from operations (FFO) per share of $0.68, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.64. The prior-year quarter figure was $0.67. Results reflect growth in same-store operating income for the industrial distribution portfolio.



However, the companys huge development pipeline, though encouraging, exposes the company to different types of risks. Further, the earnings-dilutive effects of divestiture and any rise in the rate of interest are concerns before Liberty Property.



Over the past seven days, the current quarter estimate has remained unchanged at 65 cents per share.

LIBERTY PPTY TR Price

LIBERTY PPTY TR Price | LIBERTY PPTY TR Quote

The stock presently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



Investors interested in the REIT sector can consider stocks like Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. ARE, Arbor Realty Trust Inc. ABR and CoreSite Realty Corporation COR. All these stocks hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Story continues

Note: All EPS numbers presented in this write-up represent funds from operations (FFO) per share. FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

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The Robert Durst story is headed to TV  again.

Robert Durst, the subject of HBOs The Jinx, could be the center of another television project, as Lifetime is developing a telepic revolving around the famed murder suspect, Variety has confirmed.

Currently in early development, Lifetimes TV movie would be told from the perspective of Dursts late wife, Kathie Durst, who disappeared in 1982 and became the first suspected victim to be killed by the troubled American real estate heir.

Lifetime has optioned Matt Birkbecks book A Deadly Secret: The Bizarre and Chilling Story of Robert Durst, to serve as source material for the script, which will be penned by Bessie scribe Bettina Gilois. Linda Berman is producing with Lincoln Square, A+E Studios and Lifetime.

The real estate heir was sentenced in late April to seven years and one month in prison on a weapons charge.

He was jailed on the weapons charge on March 14, 2015  a day before The Jinx finale. The show concluded with an audio recording in which Durst is heard muttering what sounds like a murder confession. The docu-series detailed the disappearance of Dursts first wife in 1982; his friend and former spokeswoman Susan Bermans murder; and the killing of one of Dursts neighbors.

News of Lifetimes potential Robert Durst movie, first reported by Deadline, comes shortly after the cable network ordered a TV movie about JonBenet Ramsey.

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You get four Tony winners for the price of one in Speech & Debate, the upcoming movie based on Stephen Karams first play.

Karam, also the films screenwriter, just picked up the Tony Award for best play for The Humans, currently selling well in its new Broadway home. But Speech & Debate, directed by Dan Harris and screening for potential distributors this fall, has also roped in a slew of theater names to fill out its ensemble: The cast list includes this years fellow Tony champ Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) in a cameo; Roger Bart (Tony winner for Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown) in a somewhat larger role; and Kristin Chenoweth (also a Tony winner for Charlie Brown), singing an original song over the end credits.

Those performers and more were attracted not only by Karams ties to the theater world, but also by a storyline that celebrates high school theater-nerds everywhere. The film and the 2007 play that inspired it, which kickstarted Karams career and simultaneously launched the emerging-artist incubator Roundabout Underground, follow three misfit high school students who find their voices through the speech and debate team. One of the three, Diwata, is a rabid theater fan who joins the team when she cant score a good part in the school play, and throws herself into the acting events that are an integral part of forensics competitions.

I really do think of it as a love letter to anyone who did speech and debate or did the school play, Karam said. To have the movie infiltrated by the actual Broadway community is something I never envisioned when I was writing the play. I wrote it when I was 25. I didnt know anyone in the Broadway community!

Right off the bat theater fans will recognize one of the movies leads. Sarah Stiles, currently appearing in The Humans, plays Diwata  reprising the role she originated almost ten years ago at Roundabout Underground. In the film, she stars alongside Liam James (The Way, Way Back, The Killing) and Austin P. McKenzie, who played the lead in the recent Broadway revival of Spring Awakening.

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Miranda shows up in a brief, goofy role  it involves a VHS and harem pants  and Hamilton gets a shout-out, too, in one of Diwatas audition medleys. Bart plays the school principal, one of the adult roles fleshed out as Karam expanded the story beyond its roots as a four-actor play. Gideon Glick, another alum of the 2007 Speech & Debate, also pops up. So does Darren Criss. Over the end credits, Chenoweth sings Losers are Winners, an original song penned by Karam.

The writer had once given hope on a movie version of Speech & Debate ever coming to fruition, after the production company that initially optioned the play in 2008, Overture, folded. But Harris, working outside the comic book realm in which hes done his best known work (as screenwriter of X-Men 2, Superman Returns and X-Men: Apocalypse), remained attached to the project, and eventually producer Tom Rice (Begin Again, The Way, Way Back, Submissions Only) and Sycamore Pictures signed on to revive it.

Rice loved the play  and sees a healthy potential audience for the movie. Last year over 300,000 kids were in high school productions of The Crucible alone, said the producer, referring to the Arthur Miller play that figures prominently in the films climactic musical performance. There must be millions of teenagers out there wholl recognize themselves in the movie.

When I think of myself in high school, I would have craved a movie like this, Karam added.

Although he remains committed to theater  I think Im best when Im starting from scratch, and in terms of going forward, Im focused on the next play  Karam has another movie in the can, too. Its another play adaptation: A movie version of Chekhovs The Seagull, directed by Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and starring Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan and Elisabeth Moss, currently in post-production.

Both Seagull and Speech & Debate ended up filming over the same several weeks in the summer of 2015. Karam ended up shuttling between upstate New York (for Seagull) and Mississippi (doubling for Salem, Ore. in Speech & Debate).

Among the onscreen elements on which he had a strong influence: A musical-theater T-shirt that appears in the movies early scenes. Honestly, writing aside, if Ive made any contribution to the film, it was strongly suggesting the kind of Miss Saigon T-shirt Diwata would be wearing, he said. She would have cut it herself, and I knew exactly how she would have done it.

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Broadway Box Office: Tony Champ 'The Humans' Has Best Week Yet
Miami (AFP) - Youths who suffer traumatic brain injuries such as concussions are more likely than their unharmed siblings of experiencing long-term psychological and social problems, a major study said Tuesday.

The study in the journal PLOS Medicine included some 100,000 children and adolescents in Sweden who were born between 1973 and 1985 and had sustained at least one traumatic brain injury, or TBI, before the age of 25.

They compared this group to their unaffected siblings, and followed them into adulthood, until age 41.

"We found TBI consistently predicted later risk of premature mortality, psychiatric inpatient admission, psychiatric outpatient visits, disability pension, welfare recipiency, and low educational attainment," said the study said the study, led by Seena Fazel of the University of Oxford.

"The effects were stronger for those with greater injury severity, recurrence, and older age at first injury."

TBI is the leading cause of injury and death among people under 45 around the globe, according to background information in the article.

About nine percent of youth are believed to suffer some sort of TBI in their lives, according the analysis which was based on Swedish health registries including more than one million people.

In an accompanying Perspective article, researchers Donald Redelmeier and Sheharyar Raza of the University of Toronto Department of Medicine cautioned that the relative risks described in the study are derived from comparing two groups of people.

This is not the same as absolute risk which reflects an individual's lifetime chance of developing a given problem or disease, and is often a far smaller percentage.

"Most individuals seem to recover fully," and "most individuals do not experience adverse outcomes," they wrote.

Furthermore, the study's median follow-up period was only eight years, so longer term effects of brain injury remain unknown, they added.

Story continues

Nor could the study prove that brain injury caused the problems in later life, only that an association exists.

Another outside expert, Michael Swash, emeritus professor of neurology at the London School of Medicine, found fault with the "rather striking lack of detail about the head injuries" in the study.

"For example, the nature of the head injury, the degree of brain abnormality as shown by imaging (at least in more recent cases), the socio-economic class of those injured and the family history with regard to psychiatric illness are all not described," he said.

However, Huw Williams, associate professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Exeter described the research as "incredibly strong."

"They've taken huge care to try to manage a whole range of covariates and confounders and the story is very consistent with what is emerging across various areas (sports, crime and mental health) that traumatic brain injury (TBI), of various levels of severity, is problematic in the long term," he said.
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Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes the emergency allergy medication EpiPen, is under pressure.

The drugmaker's stock is down 4% Tuesday. That's after Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote separate letters asking for more information from the company about how the drug's price has increased more than 500% since 2009.

mylan stock chart

In response to questions about its high list price, Mylan noted in an email to Business Insider that about 80% of people with commercial insurance who also used a "My EpiPen Savings Card" received the device for $0, though they did note that changing insurance plans with higher deductibles could be adding to the price pressure.

"This shift has presented new challenges for consumers, and they are bearing more of the cost. This change to the industry is not an easy challenge to address, but we recognize the need and are committed to working with customers and payors to find solutions to meet the needs of the patients and families we serve."

NOW WATCH: This lunch box for adults could change the way you eat





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The family of slain photographer Teresa Halbach will have a say in whether Making a Murderer subject Brendan Dassey will be retried for her murder, according to Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schmiel.

According to People, Schmiel told reporters on Monday that the attorney generals office will consult with Halbachs relatives before it makes a decision regarding Dassey, whose conviction was overturned last week.

There are a number of directions this case can go and before we make a determination as to which option well pursue, we are going to want to give Teresa Halbachs family an opportunity to have some input, Schmiel said. Weve been in communication with them. Well continue to outline all the different options, what the likelihood of best success are for each one.

Also Read: Brendan Dassey Will Finally Go to Wrestlemania, Thanks to Porn Company

Dassey, the nephew of fellow Making a Murderer subject Steven Avery, was convicted of murdering Halbach in 2007. However, earlier this month, Dasseys conviction was overturned by a judge who determined that investigators coerced his confession. In his order, Judge William E. Duffin wrote that investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened on October 31 [when Halbach disappeared] and assured Dassey that he had nothing to worry about.

The judges order concluded: These repeated false promises, when considered in conjunction with all relevant factors, most especially Dasseys age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dasseys confession involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Duffin gave prosecutors 90 days to decide whether or not they want to re-try Dassey.

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Steven Avery Speaks Out on Brendan Dassey's Overturned Conviction

Dassey was 16 when he was interrogated, without his parents present. He later recanted his confession.

Though Dassey filed his writ of habeas corpus, which eventually led to the overturned conviction, in 2014, his case, along with Averys, gained widespread attention with the December 2015 release of the Netflix series Making a Murderer, which led many viewers to question Dassey and Averys guilt.

Story continues

Related stories from TheWrap:

Brendan Dassey Will Finally Go to Wrestlemania, Thanks to Porn Company

'Making a Murderer': Steven Avery Speaks Out on Brendan Dassey's Overturned Conviction

'Making a Murderer': Nancy Grace Thinks Brendan Dassey Belongs in Prison
A 32-year-old man who drowned at a Washington water park over the weekend may have been submerged for 15 minutes before lifeguards found him at the bottom of a pool, according to witness accounts.

Vijayarengan Srinivasan, a programmer who had moved to Washington state from India just two weeks earlier, died Saturday in a pool at Wild Waves Water Park. Children who said they saw a body at the bottom of a pool alerted a lifeguard, but they were initially dismissed because the 21-year-old lifeguard believed that they were pranking him and did not think anything of it, according to a Federal Way Police Department report.

Another lifeguard thought she saw a person at the bottom of the pool but couldnt find anyone when she looked closer, police said. It was not until a lifeguard was diving to find another guests glasses about 15 minutes later that Srinivasan was discovered lying face up at the bottom of the pool near the water slides, authorities said.

Lifeguards and medics performed CPR but Srinivasan was unresponsive, not breathing, and had no pulse, according to the report. The King County Medical Examiners Office said Srinivasan died from drowning, and the death was ruled an accident.

Srinivasan, a programmer with Infosys, had only recently arrived in Washington from India, where his wife and 3-year-old child live, his friend told police.

Srinivasan went to the water park with his friend, Kesava Duraipandia, and told Duraipandia that he wasnt a strong swimmer. Earlier in the day, the two were about to jump from a large rock platform into a 10-foot pool when Srinivasan changed his mind, according to the police report.

Duraipandia, 32, jumped safely while Srinivasan said he might go down nearby water slides because kids were doing it and they were OK, the friend told authorities. Duraipandia said he went looking for Srinivasan when he didnt find his friend at their decided meeting place.

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Wild Waves said in a statement that the water parks entire team is greatly saddened by this loss as they work with authorities to fully understand the circumstances around this tragic accident.

We take safety extremely seriously and have made our entire team available to investigators, the statement said. During this very difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with the guests family.

The U.S. water park death comes after a 10-year-old boy named Caleb Schwab was decapitated earlier this month while riding what has been dubbed the worlds tallest water slide at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, police said. The tragedy prompted calls for change in how the amusement park industry is regulated and run.
(Reuters) - Women's groups and social media users on Tuesday criticized as too lenient the two years' probation given to a Massachusetts student athlete who sexually assaulted two women as they slept, likening it to a recent California case that also raised a firestorm.

David Becker, 18, a former three-sport athlete from East Longmeadow High School in western Massachusetts, escaped jail time even though prosecutors recommended a two-year sentence.

Becker admitted in court last week to sexually assaulting two 18-year-old women as they slept after a party, and an initial charge of rape was amended to indecent assault and battery, according to court records. Becker also agreed to undergo treatment and evaluation as a sex offender and submit to drug and alcohol screenings for two years.

The judge, Thomas Estes, in District Court in Palmer, Massachusetts, declined to comment.

Becker's defense attorney, Thomas Rooke, was unavailable on Tuesday to comment, a representative at his office said.

"We all made mistakes when we were 17, 18, 19 years old, and we shouldn't be branded for life with a felony offense and branded a sex offender," Rooke said in court, as reported by The Republican newspaper. "Putting this kid in jail for two years would have destroyed this kid's life."

The case resembled that of Brock Turner, a former Stanford University swimmer who received a six-month sentence after being convicted in March of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman following a party on campus. Prosecutors had asked for six years in prison.

The judge in the California case, Aaron Persky, faced widespread criticism, and more than 1.3 million people signed an online petition to remove him from the bench.

Karin Roland, chief campaigns officer with the women's rights group UltraViolet, called the Becker sentence "outrageous" and "an example of rape culture at work."

"Judge Estes was more concerned with the rapist's long-term well-being than with justice for the survivors," Roland said. "Both Brock Turner and David Becker were privileged white athletes who could afford strong legal representation. In both cases, the judge could readily identify with the rapist and prioritize their well-being. In both cases the judges disregarded sentencing recommendations from prosecutors."

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The case gained widespread attention on social media as commentators expressed outrage under hashtags such as #DavidtheRapist and #DavidBecker.

"Another judge needs to be disbarred, another rapist w/white privilege," wrote Twitter user N.K. Jemisin, under the handle @nkjemisin, with nearly 22,000 followers.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Angela Moon; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
An ancient Mayan text captured the moment when a royal astronomer made a scientific discovery about the movement of Venus across the night sky.

The text, called the Dresden Codex, contains laborious measurements of the rising and setting of Venus. Based on these recordings, historians can now place this astronomer within a 25-year span within the first half of the 10th century.

"We can see the moment when this person puts it all together," said Gerardo Aldana, a science historian in the Department of Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a co-author of a new study describing the findings. [10 Biggest Historical Mysteries That Will Probably Never Be Solved]

Fascinating backstory

The Dresden Codex is a gorgeous Mayan text of 39 double-sided pages with a murky and fascinating backstory. The document somehow made it out of the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Royal Library in Dresden, Germany by the 1730s, according to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. Then, in the late 1800s, Ernst Forstemann, a German mathematician with no background in Mayan history or culture, came upon a table of Mayan numerals on page 24 of the codex. Forstemann deduced that the table contained measurements pertaining to Venus, even though no one at the time could decipher Mayan hieroglyphics.

Then, in the 1920s, chemical engineer John Teeple looked more carefully at the numbers and realized that the Maya were using a sophisticated technique to correct for the shift in their calendar caused by the irregular cycle of Venus, Aldana said. Many scholars assumed that these corrections were done by using numerological techniques, for instance by inventing a past Venus event and then predicting future ones by calculating from that fictional anchor event. [See Photos of Mayan Calendar Carvings]

But few had taken a careful look at the text that surrounds the table. (That was in part because Mayan hieroglyphics were not deciphered until well into the 20th century, when much of the early scholarship had already taken place, Aldana said.)

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Ancient astronomer

For this new research, Aldana analyzed the wording around the Venus table. From that, he deduced that the Maya were actively measuring the phases of Venus in order to time their ceremonial events with more precision. That meant the first anchor event was an actual, historical measurement.

The Maya "had a really elaborate ritual set of events that were tied to the calendar," Aldana said. "They were probably doing large-scale ritual activity connected to the different phases of Venus."

The corrections in the Venus table, then, were made because the Maya didn't want to have their holidays at the wrong time: Little inaccuracies in the calendar wouldn't have mattered much in the short term, but over hundreds of years, they could lead to a big mismatch in when certain ritual events were supposed to occur and when they actually did occur.

The combination of the text and the table reflects a sophisticated scientific method of observation at a specific point in time in the "Terminal Classic Period," or the 10th century.

"There's this 25-year period, a window, when an astronomer could have been making these records," Aldana said.

This Mayan Copernicus, whose name is unknown, could have been looking up at the star-speckled night sky for years, making minute observations from the shell-shaped observatory called El Caracol at Chichen Itza. What's more, he may have been put to this task by a historical figure named K'ak' U Pakal K'awiil, Aldana reported in the current issue of the Journal of Astronomy in Culture.

The Venus table also matches another measurement of a Venus event found in a text from an ancient Mayan civilization called Copan, in what is now Honduras. That text was written 200 years earlier than the Dresden Codex, suggesting that the Maya were keeping centuries of astronomical data around for future scientists to analyze, Aldana said.

Venus rising

The measurements in the Dresden Codex coincide with a time period when Venus became much more religiously significant in Mayan culture. In the Classic period, between A.D. 300 and 1000, civilizations at Copan, Palenque and Tikal had no oversize interest in Venus.

But in later years, a feathered serpent named Kukulkan emerged as a dominant figure in Mayan religion. (Kukulkan is very similar to the deity Quetzalcoatl that was worshipped by the Aztecs.)

"There's this transition that occurs in the post-Classic [period]," Aldana said. "Some scholars have argued there's closer to a pan-Mesoamerican religion tied to this Quetzalcoatl figure who is very tied to Venus."

As a result, the Maya of the last Classic period would have had an increased interest in studying the movement of the planets, Aldana said.

Original article on Live Science.

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The countdown to the 2016 winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award is nearly over. On August 26, to mark the opening of the annual Melbourne Writers Festival, the coveted AUD $60,000 prize will go to one of the five shortlisted writers.

The Miles Franklin Literary Award

Acknowledged as one of Australia's literary greats, the writer and feminist (Stella Maria Sarah) Miles Franklin is perhaps most known for her self-published debut novel "My Brilliant Career" (1901). The award was established posthumously in 1957 after Franklin left provision for the creation of the prize in her will (1954). Her objective was the "advancement, improvement and betterment of Australian Literature."

Previous winners of the Miles Franklin Literary Award include Tim Winton ("Shallows"), Thea Astley (Drylands"), David Malouf ("The Great World") and Peter Carey ("Oscar and Lucinda"). The very first receipient was Patrick White ("Voss").

The 2016 shortlist

The 2016 shortlisted writers are:

HOPE FARM by Peggy Frew (Scribe Publications)

LEAP by Myfanwy Jones (Allen & Unwin)

BLACK ROCK WHITE CITY by A.S. Patric (Transit Lounge)

SALT CREEK by Lucy Treloar (Pan Macmillian)

THE NATURAL WAY OF THINGS by Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)

The Melbourne Writers Festival, August 26-September 4

This year's edition of the Melbourne Writers Festival has a lineup packed with literary heavyweights. Aside from the announcement of the Miles Franklin Award winner, highlights include P.J. Harvey, who will be readings poems from her collaboration with the Irish photojournalist Seamus Murphy in Kosovo, Man Booker winners Richard Flanagan and Yann Martel, and Maxine Beneba Clarke ("Foreign Soil") who will be talking about her new book "The Hate Race". In total, 400 guest speakers are expected.
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Tuesday on the EU and North African countries to do deals modelled on a controversial agreement with Turkey to stem migrant flows to Europe.

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, Ankara agreed to take back one Syrian who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send one from its massive refugee camps to the bloc in a more orderly redistribution programme.

The deal also pledges billions of euros in EU aid for Turkey, visa-free European travel for Turkish citizens and accelerated EU membership talks.

"We must agree on similar deals with other countries, such as in North Africa, in order to get better control over the Mediterranean sea refugee routes," Merkel told regional daily Neue Passauer Zeitung.

"Such agreements are also in the interest of the refugees themselves," she said, pointing to the huge risks migrants take in crossing the Mediterranean in rickety vessels, as well as the large sums they have to pay smugglers for the perilous sea passage.

"It is safer for them and there are good reasons for them to remain in Turkey, close to their homeland, where the cultural and language barriers are lower," she said, defending the deal with Turkey as "correct, as before".

"We should work to ensure that it lasts," she said.

But fears are mounting in the EU that the pact with Turkey to curb migrant flows could collapse as a rift deepens over Ankara's crackdown following a failed coup.

Turkey angrily rejects EU criticism that its post-putsch purges might violate rights norms Ankara must meet under the agreement in return for visa-free travel for Turks and accelerated negotiations for bloc membership.

Meanwhile, Merkel also urged EU partners to step up to their responsibilities in taking in refugees who had arrived in Greece.

Before the EU-Turkey deal took effect, some 45,000 refugees had already arrived in Greece as Macedonia closed its borders to the migrants.

"That is, if one compares it to the number of residents, as if 360,000 refugees were to arrive in Germany over the course of a few weeks," she said.

"That shows what Greece has had to deal with," she said, noting that the 3,000 refugees distributed so far to other EU states falls below the expectations of what the member states should take on.
Neil Young's typically all-star annual Bridge School Benefit concert will return this year to celebrate its 30th year with performances by Metallica, Roger Waters, My Morning Jacket and more.

Watch Temple of the Dog Reunite at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit Concert

The all-acoustic non-profit charity event, organized annually by Neil and Pegi Young, is scheduled to be held Oct. 22 and 23 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. It will also include performances by Young and Promise of the Real, Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, Cage the Elephant, case/lang/veirs and E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren.

The Bridge School Benefit Concerts raise money for the Bridge School nonprofit organization, which helps children with severe speech and physical impairments. Pegi Young helped found the school in 1987 with money raised from the first concert in 1986, after she was unable to find a suitable school placement for her son with Neil Young who is non-verbal and suffers from cerebral palsy.

2013 Bridge School Benefit Concert Photos

This year's event marks the third appearances for both Metallica and My Morning Jacket, as well as Jones' fifth and Matthews' seventh overall, as Rolling Stone reports. This is Lofgren's fourth performance for the series, including that first show in 1986.

Last year's concert included performances from Young, Lofgen, Dixie Chicks, Ryan Adams, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow, Spoon and Gary Clark Jr.

A trailer for this year's concert teased additional "special guest" performances. Tickets go on sale Aug. 29.
By Ankit Ajmera and Paul Lienert

(Reuters) - A new technology partnership between top auto suppliers Mobileye NV <MBLY.N> and Delphi Automotive Plc <DLPH.N> could pull ahead production of self-driving cars to late 2019, executives of both companies said Tuesday.

Other automakers and suppliers previously have targeted 2020-2021 for initial deployment of fully automated, or Level 4, vehicles that require no human driver.

Mobileye, a key supplier of vision-based sensing systems, and Delphi, a provider of automotive safety systems, said they plan to begin testing a jointly developed turn-key system for self-driving cars early next year.

Mobileye's U.S.-listed shares were up 8.3 percent at $50.42 in mid-day trading, while Delphi's shares rose 3.2 percent to $67.15.

Both companies supply parts and systems to many of the world's automakers, but declined to say if they had specific customers for their new system.

The Mobileye/Delphi alliance is the latest in a series of partnerships aimed at speeding deployment of automated driving systems, raising questions about how and whether federal safety regulators will respond.

"At this pace, we question whether regulators will be ready for these developments, but we think automakers and suppliers will push to accelerate the approval process," said S&P Capital Market Intelligence analyst Ephraim Levy in a research note on Tuesday.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

In the past week, Ford Motor Co <F.N> said it plans to begin selling self-driving vehicles to commercial ride-sharing fleets in 2021 and has acquired a stake in Velodyne, a maker of laser-based lidar sensing systems.

Ride services giant Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] last week said it had acquired self-driving truck startup Otto and planned to partner this fall with Geely Automobile's <0175.HK> Volvo Cars on a test fleet of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh.

Story continues

Other large automakers, notably Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, Volkswagen AG <VOWG_p.DE> and General Motors Co <GM.N>, are developing self-driving vehicles in-house.

Mobileye and Delphi plan to invest "hundreds of millions of dollars" in their self-driving system, which will combine hardware and software developed by both companies. The system will employ an array of sensors, including cameras, radar and lidar, and will have high-resolution mapping ability.

The two companies said their technology would cater to smaller automakers that may not necessarily want to develop their own self-driving systems.

"The smaller OEMs need a lot more assistance in autonomous driving and the Mobileye-Delphi platform would be high on the list for these companies," said IHS Automotive analyst Egil Juliussen.

Mobileye earlier this year announced a self-driving vehicle partnership with German automaker BMW AG <BMWG.DE> and U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp <INTC.O>, aimed at production in 2021.

Mobileye Chairman Amnon Shashua on Tuesday said the new alliance with Delphi will be "complementary" to the BMW/Intel deal and that BMW had not selected a supplier for its planned self-driving system and components.

Shashua also said "we are not changing our minds" about Mobileye's recent decision to end a partnership with Tesla Motors Inc <TSLA.O>.

Mobileye cut its ties with Tesla last month after the electric carmaker's Autopilot system faced scrutiny from regulators following a fatal accident in early May.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)
(Reuters) - Israeli driving assistant software maker Mobileye NV said on Tuesday it was developing a self-driving system with Delphi Automotive Plc that will be ready for production by 2019.

Mobileye had cut its ties with Tesla Motors Inc last month after the electric carmaker's autopilot system faced scrutiny from regulators following a fatal accident in early May.

Tesla's autopilot system uses EyeQ chips from Mobileye to help with image analysis for steering and staying in lanes.

Mobileye and Delphi said their technology would cater to automakers that may not necessarily want to develop their own self-driving systems.

Automakers and technology firms are striking new alliances to commercialize self-driving cars after being caught off guard by Silicon Valley companies such as Alphabet Inc, Tesla Motors Inc and Apple Inc, which have invested millions of dollars in the technology.

Last week, Swedish automaker Volvo AB agreed to a $300 million alliance with ride-hailing service Uber to develop self-driving cars.

Ford Motor Co also said in the same week that it plans to offer a fully automated driverless vehicle for commercial ride-sharing in 2021.

Delphi and Mobileye said they will demonstrate their autonomous driving system in urban and highway driving at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2017.

Mobileye's U.S.-listed shares were up 4.7 percent at $48.75 in premarket trading, while Delphi's shares rose 3.9 percent to $67.62.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
On Aug 23, we issued an updated research report on Molina Healthcare Inc. MOH.



Molina Healthcares second-quarter 2016 bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as improved year over year. Improvement in Ohio and Texas health plans, which were supported by a substantial decrease in the medical care ratio, primarily drove the upside.



With respect to surprise trend, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) health maintenance organization beat estimates in three of the last four quarters, with an average of 2.09%.



Molina Healthcare has been witnessing robust growth in two of the major components of its revenue mix  premiums and service revenues mainly due to growing membership. The momentum continued into the second quarter with revenues improving 24%.



Molina Healthcare has been growing inorganically via in-market or tuck-in acquisitions that helped the company grow significantly in existing markets. After 2015, which was deemed the most active MA (Mergers & Acquisition) year, the company completed its acquisition of Universal Americans UAM Total Care Medicaid plan month and agreed to acquire certain Medicare Advantage assets from both Aetna Inc. AET and Humana Inc. HUM in 2016. These deals reflect the company's focus on arranging health care services for patients with complex requirements, which in turn, is expected to boost revenues.



Molina Healthcare also possesses a healthy balance sheet with steadily improving cash flow. Though the company witnessed a decline in operating cash flow in the first quarter of 2016, the metric recovered in the following quarter and generated $139 million. A long-term trend of rising operating cash flow has been strengthening the companys cash position and is facilitating efficient capital deployment.



However, rising medical care costs have been putting margins under pressure and hence, remain an area of concern for Molina Healthcare. The increased expenses mainly stemmed from higher utilization factors and were most evident in connection with physician and outpatient costs. High operating expenses also continue to pose a risk for the company's operating leverage and can weigh heavily on margins, bottom line and cash flows going ahead. The companys dependence on debt financing that resulted in an increase in interest expenses is another negative.

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Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation MNR disclosed the acquisition of an industrial building in the Orlando, FL MSA for $37.78 million. This new class-A facility is net-leased for 15 years to FedEx Ground Packaging System, Inc.



Spanning 310,922 square foot of space, this built-to-suit distribution center is situated on around 47 acres at 5000 North Ridge Trail, Davenport. Its acquisition by Monmouth Real Estate seems a strategic fit for its preferable location right off of Interstate 4. It is adjacent to the Walmarts recently built two large e-commerce fulfilment centers, spanning a total 2.35 million square feet of space.



Amid an e-commerce boom and heightened urbanization, retailers are shifting their strategy toward services like same-day delivery and other such options, propelling demand for distribution facilities. With a larger customer base, companies are opting for supply-chain consolidation, resulting in greater demand for logistics infrastructure and efficient distribution networks, thereby creating scope for industrial REITs.



In fact, per a CBRE Group Inc. CBG study, the industrial market is on its lengthiest stretch of recovery, with availability rates declining for the 25th straight quarter to 8.8% in Q2, the lowest since mid-2001.



This is expected to provide enough scope to Monmouth Real Estate to capitalize that specializes in single-tenant, net-leased industrial properties. Its portfolio consists of 98 properties situated in 30 states, encompassing a total of about 15.7 million rentable square feet.



Monmouth Real Estate currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the REIT industry may consider stocks like CoreSite Realty Corporation COR and Gramercy Property Trust Inc. GPT. Both the stocks holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

MONMOUTH RE CLA Price

MONMOUTH RE CLA Price | MONMOUTH RE CLA Quote

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By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - A federal judge has dismissed lawsuits in which the California cities of San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley sought to force agricultural company Monsanto Co (MON.N) to help pay for reducing PCB contamination to San Francisco Bay.

In a decision late Monday, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said the cities did not show that Monsanto's sale many decades ago of products containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) caused a public nuisance that damaged their property rights.

Monsanto, whose products include genetically modified crop seeds and pesticides, was the only U.S. maker of PCBs. It faces lawsuits by at least eight West Coast cities raising similar claims.

PCBs were outlawed by the U.S. government in 1979, and have been linked to cancer, immune system difficulties and other health problems.

The California cities claimed that Monsanto's PCBs polluted stormwater flowing into San Francisco Bay, forcing them to spend money to lower the discharge and comply with environmental laws.

But the San Jose-based judge said stormwater should be considered "public water of the state" under California law, even if it was discharged through manufactured pipes.

"The cities do not take ownership of stormwater merely because it flows through municipal pipes on the way to the bay," Davila wrote. "Therefore, they cannot pursue nuisance claims for damages."

Davila said the cities can pursue their nuisance claims against St. Louis-based Monsanto again, though it remained "not altogether clear" what their property interest might be.

John Fiske, a lawyer for the cities, said in an email on Tuesday: "The cities look forward to providing the court further information in the amended complaint regarding their stormwater management and legal standing."

Scott Partridge, Monsanto's vice president of global strategy, in a statement called the decision "a victory for all organizations threatened by dangerous public nuisance lawsuits."

Story continues

PCBs were once used widely to insulate electrical equipment, helping reduce fire risk. They were also used in such products as caulking, floor finish, paint and even carbonless copy paper.

Monsanto produced PCBs from 1935 to 1977, and has said it stopped making them because they are not readily biodegradable.

Other cities that have sued Monsanto over PCB contamination include San Diego; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Long Beach, California and Spokane, Washington. All eight cities are represented by the same two outside law firms.

Monsanto has been in talks with Germany's Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE) and others about possible transactions. It rejected a takeover by Bayer in July but said it was open to more talks.

The cases in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, are City of San Jose v Monsanto Co et al, No. 15-03178; City of Oakland v Monsanto Co et al, No. 15-05152; and City of Berkeley v. Monsanto Co et al, No. 16-00071.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Alistair Bell and Frances Kerry)
Youre more likely to get divorced during these months

Youre more likely to get divorced during these months

Is divorce season upon us?

A new report from researchers at the University of Washington suggests that there are two months when couples are most likely to divorce: August and March.

According to associate sociology professor Julie Brines and doctoral candidate Brian Serafini, who presented their findings at the American Sociological Associations recent conference, couples are more likely to call it quits after family-heavy periods of the year  i.e. summertime and the winter holidays.

People tend to face the holidays with rising expectations, despite what disappointments they might have had in years past, said Brines. They represent periods in the year when theres the anticipation or the opportunity for a new beginning, a new start, something different, a transition into a new period of life. Its like an optimism cycle, in a sense.

But when expectations dont match reality, cracks in the foundation of a marriage can become more apparent  which leads to higher divorce rates.

The researchers reviewed divorced divorce filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and quickly saw a pattern emerge. They hypothesize that couples with kids file in August because their children have not yet gone back to school, so they have the opportunity to make a move before schedules get back into full swing.

As for the March filings, Brines and Serafini suggest that couples are likely taking time to find lawyers and save money after the holidays before heading to court.

The pair also looked at divorce filings in Ohio, Minnesota, Florida and Arizona  states that have similar divorce laws to Washington  and found that the pattern was the same.

*Sigh*

Hang in there, friends. Its almost September.

The post Youre more likely to get divorced during these months appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Rabat (AFP) - Morocco has announced a 5.6 percent drop in foreign tourist arrivals for the first half of 2016, with holidaymakers apparently put off by unrest and attacks across the region.

Tourism is a backbone of the North African country's economy, along with revenues from exports and the remittances of Moroccans who work abroad.

Morocco has been spared unrest triggered by the Arab Spring revolts that have rocked North Africa and the Middle East since 2011, as well as attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

But the number of tourist arrivals dropped by 5.6 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2015, said the Moroccan tourism office.

It said the number of British visitors fell by eight percent, with arrivals from Germany down by seven percent and those from both France and Italy five percent lower.

The number of Moroccans living abroad who visited the country in the first half of the year was up by 1.7 percent, said the Moroccan Observatory for Tourism.

Overall, nearly 4.2 million tourists visited Morocco in the first six months of the year, or 2.6 percent fewer holidaymakers than for 2015, it said.

Marrakesh and Agadir, the country's two main tourist destinations, also suffered from the slump, it added.

Marrakesh was the scene of a deadly attack on a cafe in 2011 that killed 17 people, mostly of them foreigners.

It was the deadliest attack in Morocco since the 2003 Casablanca blasts that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers.

The decline in tourist arrivals in Tunisia follows a series of attacks that killed dozens of foreigners in Tunisia and Egypt last year and were claimed by IS jihadists.

Morocco has reinforced its security measures since 2014, after IS declared an Islamic "caliphate" in territory it seized straddling Syria and Iraq.
Moscow (AFP) - Russia called on the US to do more to combat the al-Nusra Front in Syria, considered a terrorist group by both Moscow and Washington even after it split from Al-Qaeda.

"Washington agrees that al-Nusra, which will henceforth be called the Fateh al-Sham Front, is a terrorist organisation, but it has not been the target of strikes" carried out in Syria by the US-led international coalition, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"It has been nearly a year in which the Americans have refused to share with us their data on the location of al-Nusra militants," the statement said.

"Instead of taking practical steps (against al-Nusra), the Americans have made any intensification in their fight against terrorism conditional on promises of (regime) change" in Syria, it added.

Russia warned the US against creating a "new terrorist monster in Syria".

America has for two years led an international coalition against the IS group, conducting daily strikes and working with local forces on the ground to help them fight the jihadists.

Russia started bombing in Syria last year, but most of its strikes have been in support of the regime.

In June, Russian aircraft conducted a series of air strikes near al-Tanf in southern Syria targeting US-backed counter-IS forces.

Russia surprised the international community last week when it announced that its warplanes had flown out of Iran's Hamedan base to conduct strikes against targets in Syria.
Kuldeep Moran Kuldeep Moran, the son of Tinsukia Zila Parishads vice-president Ratnaswer Moran, was abducted on August 1 from Nampong in Arunachal Pradesh, but the matter came to light much later when a video surfaced where the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) militants are seen demanding a ransom of Rs 1 crore. Photo  Kuldeeps Facebook profile

The increasing rate of kidnappings in India has become a major socio-criminal issue. Ransom, invariably, is the prime motive for such a crime, and thus the abductors target high networth individuals, rich politicians and industrialists.

Kidnapping has thus acquired the status of a highly profitable business activity, turning into a mini-industry of sorts.

The latest the case of ULFA militants kidnapping the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Assam has caught both media and public attention. Here is quick glimpse at some other high-profile cases of abduction in India:

(Inputs from Wikipedia)
Aug 23 (Reuters) - The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Tuesday. To inform us of other job changes, email moves@thomsonreuters.com.

DEUTSCHE BANK

The bank has hired Lackland Bloom, former co-head of oil & gas investment banking at JP Morgan, to run its Houston office as a managing director in the natural resources group.

PAULSON & CO

Sihan Shu left Paulson & Co at the end of June and is in the early stages of preparing his own hedge fund firm, according to two people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity because the information is private.

KKR & CO LP

The global private equity firm is set to hire Ashish Shastry from Singapore-based Northstar Group as the head of its Southeast Asian business, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

DANSKE BANK

The bank has hired Susanna Norum as a senior originator in the debt capital markets team. Norum will cover financial institutions and sovereigns, supranationals and agencies, IFR reported.

BANK OF SINGAPORE

The unit of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd, hired two senior bankers from Credit Suisse to boost its Philippines team.

PGIM REAL ESTATE

The unit of PGIM Inc, the global investment management businesses of Prudential Financial Inc, named Cuong Nguyen head of Asia Pacific investment research.

NOCTUA PARTNERS

Ricardo Navarro, the former head of international debt capital markets at Brazilian investment bank Itau BBA, has joined asset management firm Noctua Partners as a portfolio manager, IFR reported.

GRAMERCY FUNDS MANAGEMENT

The fund management company named Chris Tackney a managing director and co-head of its trading desk, IFR reported.

(Compiled by Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru)
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Two shipments of coffee beans from Myanmar arrived in the United States this month, the first commercial-scale imports in over 15 years and the fruits of a U.S. government development program for farmers in the once-isolated southeast Asian economy.

The two containers, totaling 600 60-kg bags, imported by Seattle-based Atlas Coffee Importers are a fraction of the 24.8 million bags of coffee consumed annually in the United States. But the shipments could herald a welcome diversification from traditional supply areas that are being hit by climate change.

Whole Foods Market bought 41 bags and La Colombe, a specialty chain backed by Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya, purchased 10 bags. The arabica beans will be on show at La Colombe cafe in Washington on Tuesday.

"It will be sold as single origin and as special coffee that we're offering," said Darrin Daniel, director of sourcing for Allegro Coffee Company, a Whole Foods subsidiary that supplies much of the food store's coffee.

Myanmar exported only modest amounts of coffee in the 1990s and a shipment of 17 60-kg bags in 2015 was the first delivery since 2000, U.S. government data shows. Burmese immigrant Melvin Tan, who founded Austin, Texas-based Irrawaddy Coffee Roasters in 2015, said he imported 10 bags from Myanmar that year.

"I'm down to 1-1/2 bags. I would say ... I'm going to more than triple it this year from last year," Tan told Reuters.

Poor diplomatic relations between the United States and the former military dictatorship made traders and roasters cautious in conducting business up until recently, industry sources said.

USAID, the federal government's aid agency, launched a funding program to help the country's coffee farmers bolster the quality of beans two years ago as part of a shift toward open economic and political relations with Myanmar.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has been running a separate program since 2014 to help farmers switch from growing opium poppy to coffee. The agency has worked with 1,280 farmers to plant 1,000 hectares of coffee, and expects its first harvest at the end of this year, said program coordinator Jochen Wiese.

Story continues

James Tooill, who handles La Colombe's sourcing and roasting of single-origin coffees, said if farmers keep up quality after USAID-funded training ends in 2019, Myanmar could become a reliable origin for specialty coffee.

"The ability for it to run once the initial investment is over is a crucial turning point," Tooill said.

Further buying by roasters could encourage more production, said Craig Holt, founder of Atlas Coffee Importers.

"A lot of people that contributed this year just did a tiny portion of their harvest as an experiment to see if it was worth the money," Holt said.

Myanmar produces about 115,000 bags per year, according to Atlas, less than neighboring Laos and Thailand, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture says produce 525,000 and 1 million bags annually, respectively.

(Reporting By Luc Cohen; Editing by Andrew Hay)
(Repeats earlier story with no changes to text)

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Two shipments of coffee beans from Myanmar arrived in the United States this month, the first commercial-scale imports in over 15 years and the fruits of a U.S. government development program for farmers in the once-isolated southeast Asian economy.

The two containers, totaling 600 60-kg bags, imported by Seattle-based Atlas Coffee Importers are a fraction of the 24.8 million bags of coffee consumed annually in the United States. But the shipments could herald a welcome diversification from traditional supply areas that are being hit by climate change.

Whole Foods Market bought 41 bags and La Colombe, a specialty chain backed by Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya, purchased 10 bags. The arabica beans will be on show at La Colombe cafe in Washington on Tuesday.

"It will be sold as single origin and as special coffee that we're offering," said Darrin Daniel, director of sourcing for Allegro Coffee Company, a Whole Foods subsidiary that supplies much of the food store's coffee.

Myanmar exported only modest amounts of coffee in the 1990s and a shipment of 17 60-kg bags in 2015 was the first delivery since 2000, U.S. government data shows. Burmese immigrant Melvin Tan, who founded Austin, Texas-based Irrawaddy Coffee Roasters in 2015, said he imported 10 bags from Myanmar that year.

"I'm down to 1-1/2 bags. I would say ... I'm going to more than triple it this year from last year," Tan told Reuters.

Poor diplomatic relations between the United States and the former military dictatorship made traders and roasters cautious in conducting business up until recently, industry sources said.

USAID, the federal government's aid agency, launched a funding program to help the country's coffee farmers bolster the quality of beans two years ago as part of a shift toward open economic and political relations with Myanmar.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has been running a separate program since 2014 to help farmers switch from growing opium poppy to coffee. The agency has worked with 1,280 farmers to plant 1,000 hectares of coffee, and expects its first harvest at the end of this year, said program coordinator Jochen Wiese.

Story continues

James Tooill, who handles La Colombe's sourcing and roasting of single-origin coffees, said if farmers keep up quality after USAID-funded training ends in 2019, Myanmar could become a reliable origin for specialty coffee.

"The ability for it to run once the initial investment is over is a crucial turning point," Tooill said.

Further buying by roasters could encourage more production, said Craig Holt, founder of Atlas Coffee Importers.

"A lot of people that contributed this year just did a tiny portion of their harvest as an experiment to see if it was worth the money," Holt said.

Myanmar produces about 115,000 bags per year, according to Atlas, less than neighboring Laos and Thailand, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture says produce 525,000 and 1 million bags annually, respectively.

(Reporting By Luc Cohen; Editing by Andrew Hay)
By Gina Cherelus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York City Police Department routinely violated court-mandated rules on handling investigations of political activity, particularly Muslim groups or individuals, the department's watchdog said in a report released on Tuesday.

The 64-page report by the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD found police were non-compliant with a number of rules governing the conduct of probes, including routinely extending investigations after their legal authorization expired before seeking renewals. The examination also showed that police used confidential informants without proper documentation.

The report said 95 percent of police investigations governed by the guidelines involved individuals or political activities predominantly associated with Islam. The report said it investigated cases closed between 2010-2015.

The report was intended to measure the department's compliance with a longstanding set of rules, known as the "Handschu" guidelines, first imposed on the NYPD decades ago as part of a federal court settlement.

"These failures cannot be dismissed or minimized as paperwork or administrative errors," the report said. "The very reason these rules were established was to mandate rigorous internal controls to ensure that investigations of political activity - which allow NYPD to intrude into the public and private aspects of people's lives - were limited in time and scope and to ensure that constitutional rights were not threatened."

The regulations were relaxed following the al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to allow police to expand counter-terrorism and intelligence efforts.

Earlier this year, the city agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed a secretive NYPD program that conducted broad surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods, mosques and businesses violated the Handschu guidelines. The unit that oversaw those investigations was disbanded in 2014 after Mayor Bill de Blasio took office.

Story continues

At a news conference on Tuesday, police officials characterized the violations as technical and administrative errors, not a failure to renew expired cases.

John Miller, the department's top counter-terrorism official, said working within the guidelines of the law is necessary to stop terrorist groups.

"If you're investigating al Qaeda, and TTP and ISIL plots against New York City, your investigating targets are going to be who they are," Miller said, referring to the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State.

This summer, the NYPD activated an electronic case tracking system dedicated to all Handschu investigations that automatically tracks renewed dates and authorizations, according to police documents.

"We take our Handschu responsibility very seriously," said Lawrence Byrne, the department's deputy commissioner for legal matters. "There was no violation of the Handschu laws."

(Additional reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Bernard Orr)
When Prince William and Princess Katefly to Canada next month, they will do so with their trusted entourage by their side for the eight-day tour, which kicks off Sept. 24.



So much has changed since the couple's first official visit in 2011, and with their children Prince George and Princess Charlotteexpected to join them this time, that means more staff to help out.



At the same time, William and Kate, who will arrive on a scheduled jet, will want to keep numbers to a minimum and to their best-known staffers. Around a dozen people, plus security, will be in the entourage  many of whom also took part in the couple's last foreign tour, of India and Bhutan, in April.





A Nanny, a Hairdresser and More: See Who Is Set to Head to Canada with William and Kate| The British Royals, The Royals, Kate Middleton, Prince William



Heading their public office are two private secretaries: Rebecca Deacon, who works alongside Kate, and William's right-hand man, Miguel Head.









A Nanny, a Hairdresser and More: See Who Is Set to Head to Canada with William and Kate| The British Royals, The Royals, Kate Middleton, Prince William



The pair organize the royal couple's diary on a daily basis and are regularly by their side on official engagements and oversees tours.



If, as expected, George and Charlotte do come along, the tour will be structured similarly to the one the royals took in 2014 to New Zealand and Australia, when George was stationed in one place and his parents headed back and forth from there.



The children will be taken to a handful of public engagements along the lines of George's first public play date in New Zealand and his zoo outing in Australia.





A Nanny, a Hairdresser and More: See Who Is Set to Head to Canada with William and Kate| The British Royals, The Royals, Kate Middleton, Prince William



That means nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo will be along for the tour, which is expected to last a little more than a week.



 Want to keep up with the latest royals coverage? Click here to subscribe to the Royals Newsletter.



Maria, who is sometimes seen around the village of Anmer, walking with George and pushing Charlotte in a stroller, is respected and trusted so much by Kate that she dresses her children in clothes sourced and possibly gifted by Maria and her family.





A Nanny, a Hairdresser and More: See Who Is Set to Head to Canada with William and Kate| The British Royals, The Royals, Kate Middleton, Prince William



Also in Canada will be Natasha "Tash" Archer, Kate's personal assistant, who also helps with her wardrobe on tour and requesting outfits at home in the U.K. Also among her duties: keeping track of the royal couple's respective wardrobes. (Kate's is kept in monogrammed cases with white piping and "C" lettering; William's "W" is in red.)





Story continues

A Nanny, a Hairdresser and More: See Who Is Set to Head to Canada with William and Kate| The British Royals, The Royals, Kate Middleton, Prince William



Tending to Kate's hair will be regular Amanda Tucker, who was also present on the tour to India and Bhutan in April. (Both Tucker and Archer joined Kate and William for a five-hour hike in the Himalayas during the couple's visit to Bhutan in April.) Tucker wasn't the tour hairdresser when William and Kate headed to Canada last time: Back then, they took James Pryce from Richard Ward's salon in Chelsea, who had styled the royal wedding with Ward in 2011.





There is a New Princess in Kensington Palace!







A Nanny, a Hairdresser and More: See Who Is Set to Head to Canada with William and Kate| The British Royals, The Royals, Kate Middleton, Prince William



Providing diplomatic advice will be Sir David Manning, an ex-British ambassador to the U.S who previously worked with former prime minister Tony Blair and was appointed as an advisor by Queen Elizabeth to William and Prince Harry back in 2009.





A Nanny, a Hairdresser and More: See Who Is Set to Head to Canada with William and Kate| The British Royals, The Royals, Kate Middleton, Prince William



Leading the PR team of four will be Jason Knauf, the American who has been advising them since the beginning of 2015. There is also expected to be a tour secretary and logistics manager to help with organizing all the transport and luggage.
stereo spacecraft nasa

Twenty-two months ago, NASA lost contact with its Stereo-B spacecraft during a routine 72-hour test.

The long silence ended on Sunday, when the probe  some 189 million miles away from Earth  finally said "hello" again to the space agency.

However, scientists in charge of the Stereo sun-observing mission are not celebrating just yet.

"The very hard and scary work is just beginning," Joe Gurman, a Stereo project scientist, told Business Insider.

"This spacecraft was designed to be as autonomous as possible when it ran into trouble," Gurman said. "If we turn on the computer, which is the only way we can get insight into the current state of the spacecraft ... what got us into this mess in the first place could turn back on again."

That means that even though NASA has reestablished contact, scientists will have only about two minutes to rescue Stereo-B before they lose the spacecraft to the void again.

A race against time

stereo a b spacecraft orbit sun earth nasa

NASA launched two Stereo spacecraft in 2006 to monitor our backyard star from all angles.

One is named "A" for "ahead," and the other is named "B" for "behind," since their Earth-like orbits are slightly staggered.

stereo cme nasa

These twin spacecraft allowed NASA to keep tabs on the sun's frequent and angry eruptions, plus get amazing 3-D views of solar flares, huge loops of plasma, coronal mass ejections, and more.

Though the $550 million mission was supposed to wrap up in 2008, it was a big success, and NASA kept it going.

But trouble struck on Oct. 1, 2014, when Stereo-B went into a hard reset and lost touch with Earth.

As NASA explained in a December 2015 article about the recovery effort, the space agency was preparing Stereo-B for a three-month period when it would slip behind the sun and lose contact. (The sun is "the biggest source of noise in the sky," Dan Ossing, Stereo's mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, told NASA.)

Story continues

The 72-hour, 20-minute test succeeded. But then Stereo-B stopped talking.

By poring over the last bits of data Stereo-B sent, technicians learned that the instrument that tells the spacecraft whether it's rotating and how fast had failed. That's a big problem for a robot that needs to aim its solar panels at the sun  without that instrument, it won't point in the right direction, and its batteries will drain.

NASA tried every week, and then every month, to use the Deep Space Network to regain contact over the course of 22 months. It finally succeeded on Sunday, after the sun had trickle-charged the probe from a glancing angle.

The challenge now, Gurman said, is to upload some kind of fix to Stereo-B before it drains its whatever charge is has left in its batteries.

"We have something like two minutes between when Stereo-B receives the command to boot up one of its computers and when it starts doing what we don't want it to do," Gurman said.

Making matters worse, it takes about 20 seconds to send commands to the spacecraft  a data rate that makes a dial-up modem seem lightning fast.

As a result, Gurman said engineers are taking their time to hammer out a set of brief rescue instructions while they know the spacecraft is still responsive.

If their efforts to point Stereo-B's solar panels back toward the sun fail, he said they'll have another chance to send instructions in six months, when the spacecraft has partially charged its batteries again by slowly orbiting the sun.

Gurman said this is the third solar spacecraft he's been involved with rescuing, including the Solar Maximum and SOHO missions, in more than three decades.

"I could do with a little less excitement," he said.

NOW WATCH: Watch a solar flare capable of radio blackouts on Earth erupt into space





More From Business Insider


From Esquire

Around the Stupid Cafe, we're going to miss Senator Ron Johnson (R-Paint Chips) when Russ Feingold beats him like a drum in Wisconsin come November. Ron, best known to the staff here as ol' Shreds of Freedom, has been a regular here ever since he came to prominence by beating Feingold six years ago. Over the weekend, he stopped by again and grazed the All U Can Eat buffet for a good hour or so. A reporter from Inside Higher Ed was in the next booth.

"Is that guy OK?" the reporter asked his server, who just smiled and walked back to the kitchen.

"We've got the internet-you have so much information available. Why do you have to keep paying different lecturers to teach the same course? You get one solid lecturer and put it up online and have everybody available to that knowledge for a whole lot cheaper? But that doesn't play very well to tenured professors in the higher education cartel. So again, we need destructive technology for our higher education system," he said. Johnson added, "One of the examples I always used-if you want to teach the Civil War across the country, are you better off having, I don't know, tens of thousands of history teachers that kind of know the subject, or would you be better off popping in 14 hours of Ken Burns's Civil War tape and then have those teachers proctor based on that excellent video production already done? You keep duplicating that over all these different subject areas."

Why stop there? I know some places where you could get some fine instructional videos on human biology, and vibrators, too.

An earlier version of this post mistakenly identified Sen. Johnson as D-Paint Chips. He is R-Paint Chips. We regret the error.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

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If the rumors are true, Rozonda Chilli Thomas is sleeping with a college freshman. Thats because Nick Cannon has enrolled at Howard University  and yesterday was his first day at school.

The Americas Got Talent host, who graduated from high school in 1998 and soon after started working on Nickelodeons All That, documented his momentous day, from posing by a Howard sign with a Louis Vuitton backpack and Timberlands for an Instagram captioned Class of 2020 to flying home from Washington, D.C.

Turning these Airplanes into School Buses! #FirstDayWave #BeNcredible A photo posted by Nick Cannon (@nickcannon) on Aug 22, 2016 at 3:40am PDT

Nick, who seemed overdressed for August in the capital, also seemed to be psyching himself up by posting several inspirational quotes about education, including one by the late Nelson Mandela: Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Im ready!!! A photo posted by Nick Cannon (@nickcannon) on Aug 22, 2016 at 4:03am PDT

All About the Benjamins!! Education Over Everything! #Ncredible #EOE A photo posted by Nick Cannon (@nickcannon) on Aug 22, 2016 at 4:02am PDT

The Internet is cracking itself up with jokes about Drumline, the 2002 movie Cannon starred in about a drummer who goes to college.

Nick Cannon trying to live Drumline?!?  jenae. (@ashleyjb3_) August 21, 2016

One of the tweets was from his co-star, Orlando Jones.

Just remember @NickCannon Youre on time if youre 5 minutes earlier, Youre late if youre on time! #OneBandOneSound PS  Congrats  Orlando Jones (@TheOrlandoJones) August 21, 2016

Nick, who has twins with Mariah Carey, did not say what he plans to study. However, he is still keeping a busy schedule with Americas Got Talent and a zillion other projects, including the If I Was Your Man video he just shot with his rumored real-life love, Chilli Thomas of TLC fame. In the video, they are canoodling in bed. However, theyve been more vague about their real-life relationship.

Cannon is not the only one shining up his shoes for his first day at school. Ashley Judd announced last week that she has enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley to pursue a PhD in public policy. Meanwhile, Tyra Banks will be teaching a personal branding class at Stanford.
(Editors Note: Please be advised that this story contains language in paragraph 10 that may offend some readers)

(Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Monday declined to bring criminal charges against a police officer in New Jersey who fatally shot a black man as he exited a car with his hands raised during a routine traffic stop.

The December 2014 slaying of Jerame Reid in Bridgeton prompted protests in the city similar to demonstrations that have been held across the United States in response to a series of fatal police shootings of unarmed black men.

Reid was killed by Bridgeton Police Officer Braheme Days after the driver of the car in which Reid was riding was pulled over on suspicion of ignoring a stop sign, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.

Reid was unarmed, the attorney's office said.

"Viewing the evidence as whole, the government determined that federal charges are not warranted," U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.

The charging decision follows a $1.5 million tentative settlement agreement Reid's family reached about a month ago with the city of Bridgeton and the officers.

A grand jury in Cumberland County last year declined to file charges against the officers, local media reported.

Video of the incident shows Days approaching the parked car on Reid's side. "Hey, how are you all doing?" he says before asking why they had not stopped at a stop sign.

Within a few seconds, Days pulls out his gun and tells his patrol partner, Roger Worley, who is white, that there is a gun in the glove compartment.

"Don't you fucking move. I'm going to shoot you," Days said.

He also shouted at Worley to get the men out of the car.

The video shows Days reaching into the car and removing what appears to be a gun and dropping it to the ground. Days repeatedly orders the men not to move and show their hands.

Moments later, Days shouts: "He's reaching! He's reaching!"

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Days steps back from the car, and Reid emerges with his hands up around shoulder height.

Almost instantly, both police officers shoot at him. At least six shots can be heard as Reid falls to the ground.

Although Worley also fired his weapon, only the shots fired by Days struck Reid, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

A lawyer for the family did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Bridgeton Police Department.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Andrew Hay)
CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday he doesn't want to bet against J.M. Smucker (SJM) CEO Mark Smucker after the company posted quarterly revenue that fell short of analysts estimates.

The company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.86 per share on $1.82 billion in revenue. Analysts had expected the company to report earnings of about $1.74 a share on $18.9 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

The drop in revenue occurred as the company's Kibbles 'n Bits and Meow Mix brands were hurt amid intensifying competition. J.M. Smucker's shares dropped more than 8 percent Tuesday following the report.

"It was the pet food division ... which had been so strong," Cramer said on " Squawk on the Street ." "There's a mix issue that brought their margins down."

Reuters reported the two dominate pet-food players, Nestle (Swiss Exchange: NESN-CH)'s Purina and Mars Petcare, are competing for a bigger share in the market by using promotions and discounts. J. M. Smucker joined the pet food market last year with its acquisition of Big Heart Pet Brands.

"Despite the impact of deflation on the top line, we remain on track to achieve our original expectations for full-year earnings per share," Smucker said in a press release. "We are strengthening a great portfolio of brands by investing in new capabilities and on-trend platforms that are essential to long-term sales growth."



The company maintained is full-year fiscal 2017 earnings outlook of $7.60 to $7.75.

Smucker's stock was trading at $143.70 Tuesday morning. The stock has risen this year, up more than 16 percent.

SJM 2016 Chart

 Reuters contributed to this report.
Testing will determine the viability of membrane separation of lithium carbonate directly from the mineralized claystones

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / Noram Ventures Inc. (TSX-V: NRM Frankfurt: N7R) ("Noram" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of bulk sampling on its South Block (Zeus and Hades) lithium claim groups in Nevada's Clayton Valley (see Figure 1). The lithium-rich claystone samples have been send to Membrane Development Specialists LLC (MDS) to test the viability of membrane separation of lithium from the claystone material (August 2, 2016).

The focus of the bench testing is to substantiate the recovery yield of lithium carbonate directly from the mineralized claystones using MDS's environmentally friendly system.

Bulk samples weighing approximately 50 kg each have been collected from two locations on the Zeus and Hades claim groups. The first bulk sample was collected from the same area on the Zeus claims as samples ZS-2-029 through ZS-2-031 that averaged 917 ppm lithium. The second bulk sample was from the spoils pile surrounding the previously announced borehole discovered on the Hades claims (July 22, 2016). Three samples previously collected from the spoils pile averaged 933 ppm lithium.

Bradley Peek, MSc and CPG, as independent technical consultant supervised the collection of the bulk samples.

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michael Collins, PGeo, who is a Qualified Person with respect to Norma's Clayton Valley Claim Group Project as defined under National Instrument 43-101.

About Noram Ventures Inc.:

Noram Ventures Inc. (TSX-V: NRM Frankfurt: N7R) is a Canadian based junior exploration company, with a goal of becoming a force in the Green Energy Revolution through the development of lithium and graphite deposits and becoming a low-cost supplier for the burgeoning lithium battery industry. The Company's primary business focus since formation has been the exploration of mineral projects that include the lithium projects in Clayton Valley in Nevada and the Jumbo graphite property in British Columbia. Noram's long term strategy is to build a multi-national lithium - graphite dominant industrial minerals company to produce and sell lithium and graphite into the markets of Europe, North America and Asia. Please visit our web site for further information: www.noramventures.com

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ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

/s/ "Mark R. Ireton"

President & Director

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 the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements; the uncertainty of future profitability; and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. 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.

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: Noram Ventures Inc.
Washington (AFP) - The head of the Organization of American States denounced corruption and violence in Venezuela, saying a 14-year prison term for an opposition leader there marked the end of democracy in the country.

In an eight-page letter to opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, Luis Almagro highlighted the climate of "intimidation" against the political opposition in Venezuela and those working to recall leftist President Nicolas Maduro.

"No regional or subregional forum can ignore the reality that today in Venezuela there is no democracy or rule of law," Almagro said, calling Lopez a "friend."

"Under no circumstances should power be used... to prevent the sovereign will of the people from being expressed."

The former foreign minister of Uruguay said Venezuelans are a "victim of bullying".

The Venezuelan government "seeks to maintain its power and deny the people the right to make decisions through voting, by resorting to violence against those demonstrate or hold other opinions," Almagro said.

"It has crossed a line, which means it is the end of democracy."

On August 12, Venezuela's court of appeals upheld a 14-year sentence for Lopez that was handed down after a closed-door trial. The sentence was strongly condemned by the European Union, the United Nations and the United States.

Lopez, one of Maduro's most hardline opponents, had repeatedly declared himself innocent of the crime for which he was convicted -- inciting violence at anti-government protests in 2014 that left 43 dead.

Once-booming Venezuela, home to the world's largest oil reserves, is gripped by recession that has contributed to severe shortages of food, medicine and basic goods that have triggered violence and looting.

Maduro blames the recession on wealthy business magnates he says are conspiring against his government.

The opposition is racing to force a referendum to recall Maduro from office, blaming him for the crisis and mishandling the state-led economy.

Earlier this month, 15 members of the OAS called on Venezuela to act "without delay" to clear the way for the election.
Big insurers like Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare arent the only ones why say theyre struggling to make a profit on the public exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act.

Oscar Insurance Corp., a startup created specifically to cater to customers on the Obamacare exchanges, has also seen significant losses, prompting the young company to pull out of two markets next year, Bloomberg reports.

Related: How Donald Trump Just Single-Handedly Saved Obamacare

The individual market isnt working as intended and there are weaknesses in the way its been set up, Oscar CEO Mario Schlosser told Bloomberg. We want to focus on the markets we understand well, we want to focus on the markets where we have our own model in place.

The company said its going to stop offering plans in Dallas, where several large carriers have pulled out and others have asked for big rate increases, and New Jersey, where its network of providers is too broad.

As the list of insurers pulling out of the exchanges grows, consumers will face fewer choices at open enrollment, along with rising premiums. An Avalere Health analysis issued last week estimated that more than half of exchanges will have two or fewer insurers in 2017, and more than a third will have only one.

Related: Heres Whats Driving Your Health Insurance Prices Higher

Aetnas announcement last week that it would be pulling out of a number of exchanges left Pima County, Ariz. as the first place in the country that may have zero providers on the exchanges next year. That would leave residents there who need to purchase an individual policy ineligible for the subsidies under current law.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
BILLINGS -- Tombstones can only hint at the story of the person buried there, often vaguely.

They have inscriptions like: He was a kind and loving father; or she was a beloved mother and sister. And a white cross inscribed with only the persons name and the dates of birth and death indicate the resting place of a soldier.

So maybe its not surprising to discover that two marked graves greeting visitors along a popular forest route to the Cloud Peak Wilderness in Wyoming, a short drive west of the community of Buffalo, hint at a larger but inaccurate story.

Pre-Buffalo

Buffalo, Wyoming was founded in 1879 along the base of the southeastern face of the Bighorn Mountains. The community was established next to Fort McKinney, one of several U.S. Army encampments created to protect travelers along the Bozeman Trail as they migrated west in search of riches in Montana gold camps.

Two years earlier, in 1877, a French member of an Army survey crew died along North Clear Creek, a now popular entryway for hikers, horseback and off-trail vehicle riders.

Theres not an awful lot of information, said Sylvia Bruner, director of the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo.

But from a slim folder she pulled information gathered from earlier newspaper articles written based on the memories of some of the first forest workers. Within that folder the story of P. Garde seems somewhat unlikely, maybe an excuse concocted for a more tragic death.

He was cleaning his gun and accidentally shot himself, Bruner said the story of the 28-year-old Garde goes.

Garde was buried along the winding creek that is lush with willow. His grave was placed on a hillside that provides a broad view of the granite bulk of the Bighorn Mountains to the west. A cross must have marked the original gravesite.

Tie hack

Forty-five years later, in 1922, a lumberjack hired to cut, or hack, ties for the railroad  workers known as tie hackers  suffered an apparent heart attack while hiking back from nearby Seven Brothers Lakes after a day of fishing.

Carl Johnson, a Swedish immigrant, wasnt found until May of that year and was buried by his coworkers. His birth date was not printed on the tombstone. Tie hackers would often work in the winter since it was easier to peel the logs and skid them out in the snow, according to information on the Shoshone National Forests website.

Although Buffalo is situated in Johnson County, Bruner said Carl does not appear to have been related to any of the founders of the area.

There are a lot of Johnsons around and, from what I can tell, none of them are related to each other, Bruner joked.

Memorialized

Over the ensuing years the burial sites have been maintained and small, six-sided concrete headstones were added at some point, in addition to wooden crosses and log enclosures. Under P-Garde the stone reads: Soldier.

A 1925-era photo, probably shot by Forest Service regional manager John Spencer, shows three men and their horses standing next to the knee-high log-enclosed graves with large white crosses erected. Bruner provided the photo from the museums collection and noted the black and white shot was lushly hand-tinted.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the nearby large meadow was given the name Soldier Park on maps starting in 1979, although the name likely predated that official recognition in local lore because of the graves. Yet according to Bruners slim file of facts neither one of the men were soldiers.

People just must have though Peter Garde was a soldier, Bruner speculated.

And now people assume the gravesites are two soldiers resting places since the nearby field is named Soldier Park  an odd quirk of history.

Rough route

The road to reach the gravesites is a rutted, rocky and narrow route about three miles from the Hunter trailhead, a popular spot for horsemen and women to park and unload their trailers. Vehicles are allowed along the road in the summer, but only the most brave or ignorant drive the entire way to Soldier Park.

I have seen a LeBaron (sedan) all the way at the top, Bruner said, amazed that the low-clearance vehicle had driven so far. I guess they made it out, but weve found car parts on the way out.

The road cuts the distance to the Solitude Trail, one of Bruners favorite places to ride with her husband and their mules in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. Its also a popular route for hikers following the Clear Creek drainage up to Florence Pass.

The route is one of the most scenic and popular routes in the Cloud Peak Wilderness, according to Erik Molvars book, Hiking Wyomings Cloud Peak Wilderness. Its also a wilderness entryway with a unique, and maybe a bit misleading, history.
There comes a time during the professional life of many adults when they come to the conclusion that going back to school to earn a new degree is the best choice moving forward.

Perhaps you've decided on a complete career shift, or maybe it's just something as simple as wanting a higher degree in your field to increase your earnings potential and career ceiling. Whatever the reason, a new degree is what you need.

The catch -- there's always a catch, isn't there? -- is that going back to school is expensive . Not only are tuition costs higher than ever before, there's also the issue that you're potentially walking away from significant income to earn that degree, which will make your day-to-day home life much more difficult.

Here are six strategies you can consider if the idea of going back to school for a new degree or certification is potentially in your future.

[See: 11 Money Tips for Older Adults.]

1. Start a 529 college savings plan for yourself immediately. The best financial move you can make in terms of managing the financial impact of going back to school is to have money saved up for it, and a 529 college savings plan is simply the best avenue for most Americans to do that. If you want to make your return to the educational world as financially sustainable as possible, start saving now for that education, even if your return to school is several years off.

When you invest in a 529 college savings plan, the return on investment that you earn is tax free (in terms of federal taxes) if you use it for educational purposes. Plus, many states offer additional tax benefits simply for contributing to your state's 529 college savings plan, which can lower your state income taxes right now.

[See: U.S. News 529 Plan Finder.]

2. Talk to your employer. If you're hoping to earn more degrees and certifications within your field, have a conversation with your employer about it. Many employers offer some degree of assistance for their employees as they further their education. They may help cover tuition costs or offer flexible hours while you're pursuing your education.

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Often, these arrangements come with agreements to stay with the company for a certain period of time after completion of study, but that's a small price to pay for drastically raising your career ceiling.

3. Look for tuition discounts based on age. Some colleges and universities offer tuition discounts for people who are older than the typical student. In some cases, particularly in states with strong state university systems, this can even mean tuition-free schooling.

Contact the state universities and other colleges near where you live and see if they have any tuition discounts or other programs for older students. You may be surprised at what they have to offer for returning students.

4. Start at a community college. If you're pursuing a new degree, you can often take many of the basic educational requirements in the evenings at a local community college before attending a four-year university, transferring the credits when you enroll at your final school.

This offers a number of advantages. First of all, community college credits are less expensive. Second, community colleges often have evening and weekend classes that work well for professionals. Attending community college classes on the nights and weekends also enable you to start on your degree without having to leave your current employment situation.

If you live near a community college, see what it offers in terms of classes that can help push you toward your educational goals at a reasonable price.

[See: 7 Things You Didn't Know About 529 Plans.]

5. Talk to the school about "experiential" credit. Many universities will allow you to bypass some coursework related to your career path by accepting "experiential" credit, meaning that they award you some academic credit for your real-world experience.

The benefit of experiential credit is that you'll be spending less time in school earning your new degree, which means lower tuition costs and potentially less time away from the workforce.

Talk to the schools you're interested in about use of experiential credit in your degree plan. You might be surprised by what you can save.

6. Look for grants, scholarships and fellowships that target older students. There are many grant programs, scholarships, fellowships and other types of assistance that target adults who return to school during or after their careers, reducing the financial impact of their educational return.

Google can be your friend here. Another place to look is in the financial aid office at your school. Ask around about grants, scholarships and fellowships for older students, because every dollar from those programs is a dollar that stays in your pocket.

Returning to school can be a very powerful way to jump-start your career, but it's a very expensive way to do so. These strategies can help you keep the costs of going back to school in check so that you can focus on your education and get the most value out of your new degree and your increased earnings potential.

Trent Hamm is the founder of the personal finance website TheSimpleDollar.com, which provides consumers with resources and tools to make informed financial decisions.





More From US News & World Report


Olivia s Nathalie Trad Olivia s Nathalie Trad Carrying the Dysdera clutch. Splash News Maryam Nassir Zadeh

Olivia Palermo is a woman about town and therefore in need of an extensive collection of evening bags. Her go-to designer of late is Nathalie Trad, whose eponymous clutches have graced red carpets on the likes of Sienna Miller, Laverne Cox and Anne Hathaway. Based in Dubai, her brand is just three years old but has made a fortuitous splash onto the celebrity scene thanks to intricate craftsmanship (each bag is handmade by artisans in the Philippines) and unique design details. The label is one to watch ahead of next years awards seasonwere willing to bet these clutches will be on the arms of many leading ladies. Here, some recent sightings on Olivia and a handful of our current favorite styles (plus budget-friendly options for your next evening soiree).
Christine Christine



All photos courtesy Rick Guidotti

When youre a little person, the camera isnt normally your friend.

My girlfriend is a little person and often, when were out in public, shell see a stranger fiddling with their camera out of the corner of her eye.

That guy just took my picture! shell whisper, and sure enough, Ill see someone surreptitiously angling their camera towards her from their hip and it will be too late. The photo is already taken, lost to the ether where it can be used for who knows what.

Thankfully, at this years Little People of America Conference in Boston, there was one man who was using his camera for good  and redefining beauty in the process.

Rick Guidotti has always been drawn to beauty in all its forms. First, it was the aesthetic of space that compelled him to photograph buildings while studying architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia. Then it was photographing his actor and designer friends when studying photography at New Yorks School of Visual Art. Finally, it was traveling the world between Milan, Paris and New York photographing the most beautiful women in the world at the height of the supermodel era.

But then a chance encounter permanently expanded his definition of beauty and forever changed his life.

The girl at the bus stop

About 18 years ago, Guidotti had just wrapped a photo session with Cindy Crawford and was leaving his Park Avenue studio when he spotted her. She was waiting for a bus at the corner of Park and 20th, and couldnt have been more than 12 at the time. But with her long, flowing white hair and porcelain white skin, Guidotti had never seen anyone more spellbindingly beautiful in his entire life  he had to take her picture.

But, like anyone who had some random stranger approach them and insist on taking their picture, the girl vehemently declined. She would get on the bus that day without ever knowing the transformative impact of their seemingly incidental interaction.

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Undeterred by her reaction, Guidotti scoured bookstores, libraries and the internet for any information he could find on this girl and people like her. Through this research he learned she had a condition called albinism. Albinism is a rare genetic disorder characterized by a lack of pigment in the skin eyes and hair. Though it can cause susceptibility to skin cancer and vision problems such as sensitivity to light, Guidotti assumed hed find great photos of such a beautifully unique characteristic. What he found instead shocked him.

This kid was beautiful. I was fully expecting to find at least some beautiful photographs, but I was thrown across the room by how negatively presented they were.

What he saw was people with albinism in their underwear or naked up against walls in doctors offices with black bars across their eyes.

This was presenting humanity to me and I was like, No its not! These are images of despair and sadness.

It was then that he knew what he had to do. The fashion world was always telling him what and who was beautiful from moment to moment and right then it was clear: there was so much more to the beauty spectrum than the industry could contain.

Expanding the beauty spectrum

As an artist you need to be empathetic to all forms of beauty in however you present your art. Your art should always come from your heart and when you have a preconceived idea of beauty, but are not aware of it, then youre almost following someone elses lead and not being true to yourself, says Guidotti.

He knew he was following someone elses lead photographing supermodels, so he decided to move from showcasing models to showcasing the beauty of those with genetic differences.

It was time to be my ultimate audience and get excited about sharing my discovery with the public at large. I was no longer going to be lead around by the hand and try to live up to an editors idea of beauty or a fashion industry standard. I realized I had to trust my own instincts because as an artist thats all I have.

So he approached the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation [NOAH] and asked if he could photograph their members  showcasing them in magazine articles and exhibitions just like hed done while shooting models  with the ultimate goal being to show the world what he saw at that bus stop.

A revolution in positive exposure

Initially, NOAH was not on board. They were very skeptical and concerned about the exploitation of their members. After all, those with albinism are routinely portrayed as evil and sinister characters in the media. You may remember the religious assassin in The Da Vinci Code, the dreadlocked henchmen in The Matrix Trilogy and the savant who killed his mother while in the womb in Powder. It was no wonder NOAH was a little hesitant, but these photos were different.

Im an open book and my heart is always on my sleeve. I dont take photographs. I collaborate with my subject on the images and if there are people out there who do think I have an agenda, all they would have to do is be with me for two seconds and theyll see where this is coming from, says Guidotti.

Eventually NOAH did see where he was coming from and as Guidotti started taking the photos, amazing things began to happen. One girl, Christine, walked into his studio all hunched over  not wanting to make eye contact. Guidotti kept insisting she was beautiful, but after years of bullying and torment at the hands of her peers and her community, she didnt believe him.

It took holding up a mirror to her and saying, 'Look, youll see! When she looked in the mirror and saw beauty in that reflection that changed everything for her. Of course, she needed to change the way she saw herself. Her community needed to change the way they saw her and it created a see how you change, change what you see philosophy, says Guidotti.

I knew instantly she was going to walk into school the next day not with her head down and shoulders hunched, but with her head held high because once youre enriched like that and you see your beauty and its power you dont shift back  you stay empowered.

Guidottis been empowering people with disabilities through his photography ever since. As people began to see their kids open up through the transformative power of having their own genuine beauty reflected through a professional camera lens, more and more families insisted that Guidotti take their childs picture and that first opportunity snowballed from the next, into the next, into the next.

Soon Guidotti found himself photographing all kinds of people who happened to have differences, first across the genetic disorder spectrum and then expanding to photographing other disabilities. In 1998, he founded Positive Exposure, a non-profit organization with the mission of changing public perception of people with disabilities and genetic disorders through photography, film and narrative.

Every time I meet Rick, he compliments me. Each time, he makes me feel more confident in my own skin. I think its important for all people with physical differences, to realize how beautiful and unique they are, says Becky Curran, president of the New York Chapter of Little People of America, who recruited Guidotti to speak at and photograph the LPA Fashion Show she co-hosted in Boston at this years conference.

Much like Positive Exposure, Curran created the LPA Fashion Show to encourage LPAs members to feel confident with their own image and strut their stuff. This year, more than 70 people participated  from kids, to adults and families. All of them represented a variety of dwarfism types and a variety of physical abilities.

Rick reminds us that we have a purpose and we were all put on this earth for a reason. We are all beautiful and should feel confident. The fashion show is another reminder. We couldnt have asked a better person to set the tone and introduce the 70-plus runway models.

Beauty and beyond

These days, Guidotti is moving past empowerment through photography and taking Positive Exposure to the next level. Not only is the organization releasing its first photography book called Change How You See, See How You Change featuring 150 photographs of those with genetic conditions that Guidotti has photographed over the years, but the organization has also set their sights on changing minds in the medical community and making sure those black bars in medical text books are things of the past.

This new initiative for medical schools is called F.R.A.M.E. (Faces Redefining the Art of Medical Education) and features brief six to eight minute films presenting various genetic, physical or developmental conditions in a very different way.

As presented not by the scary medical text books with their scary medical text, but by someone living with that condition and their families, says Guidotti.

Were really trying to provide opportunities for med students and the healthcare community to really get to see people with a variety of differences  see them laugh, giggle and interact. Were putting front row and centre in medical education, the humanity.

Their stretch goal is to create a permanent centre in New York City that celebrates diversity. Called The Positive Exposure Center, it would be a place where diversity and difference would be celebrated through the arts. Not a museum, but a place where theatre and arts programs for those with differences could ply their trade or rehearse. A safe space, where no one would be mocked any longer and the public would get an opportunity to educate themselves and internalize diversity. It would a place for dialogue and action, not secrets or spies, a place for sharing and openness, not silence and fear and a place of love and acceptance, not hate or bigotry.

Every student comes through New York City at one point or another, why couldnt they come through The Positive Exposure Center and learn what diversity really looks like, what it feels like and what it sounds like.What it really means to be inclusive and build an inclusive community? asks Guidotti.

Right now, Positive Exposure is trying to really identify the players who can make this dream a reality, so if this is something youd like to be a part of, e-mail rick@positiveexposure.org and donate the funds necessary to make it happen through this link.
One more point to add to Why-We-Love-Deepika list: She is amazing with kids

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has been roped in as the new brand ambassador of domestic airline company Vistara. A new multimedia brand campaign of Vistara along with its first TV commercial (TVC) was launched on Monday.

The campaign reinterprets and delivers on the brand promise of Fly the new feeling, through the eyes of Deepika. The concept of the TVC revolves around how Deepika Padukone feels the same wonder and joy every time she flies Vistara, as she felt when flying for the first time.

The campaign intends to elaborate on the core interpretation of the brand promise which is about the feeling of looking forward to flying again.

It is a matter of great pride for me to be associated with Vistara, a brand that is reliable, warm and friendly; a brand that carries the lineage of Tata and Singapore AirlinesThe new TVC aims to capture that feeling in a charming and evocative manner, Deepika said in a statement.

The airline has been giving a sneak peek to its customers through its ongoing teaser campaign #WhichStar running on various platforms, that has captured the imagination of millions of people already. The integrated campaign will be deployed across multiple platforms including TV, Digital, Print, Outdoor, Cinema and Airports.

Our new brand campaign with Deepika Padukone highlights the unique feeling of flying Vistara. Through this campaign, she has brought to life the special spark of happiness that people feel when they fly with Vistara, the airline that is proud to carry the remarkable heritage of Tata group, JRD Tata, and Singapore Airlines, Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said.

IANS

All photos by YOGEN SHAH
According to Oregons Department of Revenue, the state has collected more than $25 million in taxes on marijuana in 2016 so far.

As KGW reports, the total revenue from January 1 to July 31 this year is far more than the $18.4 million the Oregon Liquor Control Commission anticipated for the two-year period starting in July 2015.

A statement on the Department of Revenue website explains that medical marijuana dispensaries started collecting a 25% tax on their recreational marijuana sales in January, which spokeswoman Joy Krawczyk told KGW has contributed to the high amount of tax, the revenue of which will pay for police, addiction programs and schools in the state.

In January alone, the state collected $3.48 million in taxes.

In 2014, Colorado brought in $76 million in tax revenue from legal cannabis sales when the state became one of just two (along with Washington) to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 or older. Figures from the states Department of Revenue in 2015 showed that it outpaced revenue from alcohol taxes in the fiscal year ending on June 30.

By July 8 this year, Washington states treasury had taken in more than $250 million in excise tax since marijuana legalization began in July 2014.
Pakistani police charged the exiled leader of a major political party with treason and inciting terrorism Tuesday, as his own second-in-command vowed to disown him a day after a violent protest in Karachi.

Altaf Hussain, leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which rules Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, was accused with a dozen other party leaders of shouting anti-Pakistan slogans at the demonstration Monday.

Security forces also sealed the party's headquarters, a day before the city council was due to elect imprisoned MQM member Waseem Akhtar as mayor.

MQM activists clashed with police and ransacked a private television station in the southern port city Monday leaving at least one man dead and seven others injured.

The violence erupted soon after Hussain gave a telephone address to supporters from London in which he castigated the media for not giving due coverage of his workers.

According to a police report, seen by AFP, he chanted "down with Pakistan" and called the country a "bastion of terrorism".

For more than two decades, Hussain has addressed supporters through a loudspeaker linked to his London home telephone.

Later Tuesday, Hussain's second-in-command Farooq Sattar, who was also briefly arrested after Monday's violence, said the MQM "completely disowns" Hussain's statements, accusing him of repeatedly embarrassing the party.

"We have decided to address his mental tension, or illness, or whatever condition he is suffering from," he said of Hussain at a press conference in Karachi.

"The MQM cannot afford to suffer this damage time and time again," he said, explaining what he claimed was a party decision to take control away from Hussain.

"It is MQM Pakistan, so it should be operated from Pakistan," he added.

Hussain issued an apology Tuesday for his comments.

- At home in London -

The MQM, run by Hussain from London -- and accused of using extortion and murder to cement its grip on power -- has long been blamed for ethnic violence in Karachi.

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It has clashed repeatedly with authorities who, according to rights groups, have resorted to hundreds of extra-judicial killings during a "clean-up" operation that began in 2013 in a city already plagued by violence.

Last year Pakistani police registered a case under terrorism laws against Hussain over a speech criticising the country's powerful military establishment.

Previous charges have not resulted in action or extradition requests against Hussain, who has lived in London since fleeing a military operation against his party in 1992 and is a British citizen.

Hussain remains a highly influential figure in Karachi, Pakistan's economic centre and main port, though observers believe his grip on power is gradually diminishing in his absence and his party is no longer the force it once was.

Earlier this year another party stalwart also turned on Hussain. Mustafa Kamal, a former MQM mayor of Karachi, broke away to form his own political party, taking several party leaders with him.

Hussain was arrested in June 2014 by British police on suspicion of money laundering charges, but later released on bail, leading to speculation that his once cosy ties with London -- who viewed his party as a bulwark against Taliban terrorism -- were fraying.

As well as the money-laundering case, British police are also probing the murder of MQM politician Imran Farooq in London in 2010.
Erik Eneboe thought hed take a job with the state of Montana after graduating from Montana State University to get some experience.

Twenty years later and still with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, he joined 240 other state workers to be honored for the work they do.

Several hundred state employees as well as family members and friends filled the meeting room at the Best Western in the Great Northern Town Center on Monday for this years Governors Awards for Excellence in Performance, the 27th such event.

For Eneboe, who is the DNRC unit manager and works with a five-county region from his office in Conrad, the award was an opportunity to be recognized for his work.

It was also a chance to have his parents, Kitty and Jim, join him for a photograph with Gov. Steve Bullock and DNRC Director John Tubbs.

Several things have kept him with the department, he said.

Helping to manage state lands to produce revenue for schools is important to him, he explained, as is maintaining the long-term production and integrity of the lands so theyll continue to produce revenue indefinitely.

I like doing the states business face-to-face in a small town. Thats really rewarding, Eneboe said.

Its really humbling to me to get the award, and it really means a lot to me, he said.

Working on behalf of the state of Montana isnt about the money for Eneboe, who added its about the job satisfaction and doing meaningful work and making a difference.

Sheila Hogan, director of the state Department of Administration, presented the awards and told the audience each year the governor and state leaders come together to recognize the innovation, talent, commitment and positive impact that state employees make every day.

Today we honor 241 Montanans from across state government and across the state for their important contributions to Montana. We are proud to call you colleagues, and we are grateful for your service to this state.

Bullock also acknowledged the work that earned this group recognition. Some of those who were honored received their accolades for individual performances, while others were the result of team efforts.

I look at this group gathered and I see talent, I see innovation, I see commitment. I see employees who have worked hard to accomplish absolutely incredible things for this state over this past year and indeed more than over this past year -- throughout their careers, Bullock said.

Today, he said to the employees, is your day.

Today we recognize you for those long hours, those challenging projects, for the good things that youve done and you continue to do for communities all across Montana, Bullock said.

As state employees, you have a tremendous, tremendous impact on the quality of life for Montanans. Citizens of Montana depend on you, he continued.

And as Hogan called the employees to the front of the room to receive their awards, she briefly explained why each group or individual was singled out.

In her prepared remarks, she said the Secretary of States information management team collaborated to create an online application allowing for real-time business entity information and the ability to meet business filing obligations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This teams commitment led to a more efficient, convenient and secure service for Montanas business customers, Hogan noted.

Among other groups of employees in state government who were honored was Tom OConnell, who has more than 45 years with the state.

As state architect, Toms collaborative spirit and do-the-right-thing approach exemplify his life-long dedication to public service and his staff, Hogan stated of this member of her department.

Michael Buckley, with the Department of Corrections, was lauded for his work to transform the Treasure State Correctional Training Center from a boot camp correctional institution into an evidence-based modern program built upon a holistic environment geared toward positive change, self-respect, discipline and accountability.

A portion of the Department of Revenues property assessment division, which covers an eight-county region that has seen most of its team change in the last four years, was honored for focusing on both learning the job and preparing to meet the two-year reappraisal cycle.

Montana Historical Society volunteer coordinator Katie White was praised for her exceptional level of commitment to the 150 volunteers who comprise the Friends of the Montana Historical Society."

The Montana State Librarys Water Supply Mapping Team earned notice this year for its mapping of water information used by natural resources and agricultural communities as well as universities, state government and others.

After the presentations, White said she loves her work, those with whom she works at the Montana Historical Society and the volunteers who are in her charge.

To be acknowledged for that publicly is very special and appreciated, said White, who has been with state government for 14 years.

Rebecca Corbett has been with the Department of Public Health and Human Services for 11 years. Shes a program officer and is involved in the management of a contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana.

I love to help people, she said and explained that the program shes involved in is an awesome way to do that.

Her reward from what she does is just knowing people who didnt have health coverage before are able to have it. Its a great thing to help people. Its been a really great team effort.

April Gifford, a property valuation specialist with the states property assessment division, is one of the 18-member teams newer members. She started but a few months ago.

The interaction with Montanans is part of what makes the work enjoyable for her, she said, as is just helping Montana citizens.

Every single Montanan deserves respect, Gifford said.

The teamwork is important to her as well, she continued and added that none of those involved in the work could do it alone.

We all want to help each other, she said. We want to give back to the community.
A parrot that can imitate a wolf whistle and makes beeping noises like Star Wars droid R2-D2 is missing in Maine, its owner said.

The 10-year-old Timneh African Grey parrot named Paco flew off into the woods in East Madison, Maine after getting spooked by something while perched on his owners shoulder last week, the Morning Sentinel reports.

The parrots owner, Oscar Cornejo, is offering a reward for anyone who finds his 10-inch-tall charcoal gray bird, which has a burgundy tail and some human personality traits and talents. Hes got some sass and attitude, but hes got a sense of humor, Cornejo, 34, told the Sentinel.

Cornejo raised Paco since the bird was about a month old. The parrot can speak some words in English and Spanish, but most of the noises he makes sound like beeps and whistles. If you hear a microwave beep or a smoke alarm beep in the woods, thats him, Cornejo said. He sounds like R2-D2 sometimes.
Pat McGrath may be the most influential makeup artist of our time. From her groundbreaking work on the runways with John Galliano at Dior and so many others during fashion weeks around the world, to her product development for Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Covergirl cosmetics, she's done it all, including releasing cultishly collected makeup kits under her own name, the newest of which launches later this month.

"These are all my favorite colors from my history of working at shows and editorials," McGrath says as she swipes richly pigmented yet featherweight lipstick after lipstick on the side of her hand, topping it with opulent glitter, on a penthouse balcony of the Chateau Marmont. "Like, my ultimate nudes, ultimate reds, ultimate burgundies - colors I can mix together to create 20 colors, or more, really."

The formulas are part of her limited-run Lust 004 kits ($60) - releasing Aug. 30 at 9 a.m. on her website, and Sept. 8 in seven Sephora stores (including Hollywood and Highland) and online at Sephora.com. McGrath is in town from New York to promote her fourth release, which first debuted at the Atelier Versace show in Paris in June.

Each kit comes with two balmy, hydrating yet matte lipsticks, which feature suspended pigments for a lightweight feel with strong coverage ("this is legendary, you don't feel it," says McGrath). Also included, a clear gloss, fine gold pigment and complementary glitter so you can "style out your lips, do lip art. It's like jewelry," she says.

McGrath's legacy began long before she started releasing limited-edition products in fall 2015. Designers and houses including Maison Martin Margiela and Prada have relied on her season after season to create trend setting, instantly iconic looks for runways and editorials.

No wonder she has such a devoted fan club. At a sneak peek cocktail party in L.A. on Monday night, Amber Valletta and Chrissy Teigen stopped by while Jaime King tested out the Vermillion Venom shades. Social media star Shay Mitchell has already Snapchatted herself in it.

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Having experienced them, the formulas are silky-smooth, indelible and can be combined in a mind-blowing number of ways. With the addition of the glitter - like she created on Bella Hadid and some 40 other models for the fall 2016 Versace - it's truly a show stopper.

Safe to say Lust 004 is our new beauty obsession. (Limited-edition lipstick singles will be sold for $25 each.) While McGrath was in L.A. (where she likes to dine at Soho House, Chateau Marmont and Giorgio Baldi), we talked to the makeup magician about her history of genius lip looks and her infatuation with Old Hollywood films.

Read more: Taraji P. Henson Teams With MAC Cosmetics for Collection

How long did Lust 004 take to conceive and formulate?

I've been doing these kind of looks since the early 2000s, but actually to formulate, just a few months. That's how it is in the labs. It's making formulas and bringing them straight to market - it's not about designing expensive packaging, it's expensive formulas. These are kind of the most expensive lipsticks in the world, that's why the packaging is no padding so to speak. You look at the packaging for a minute, but it's about what's inside.

You're not only giving customers a great product but you're opening the door for them to be creative with how they use it, and of course providing amazing inspiration. How do you like to use the Lust 004 products?

You can use the Matte Lipsticks alone, or combine the two shades for a custom ombre effect. Adding a layer of the Vinyl Gloss will give you the effect of plump, intensely glossy color. Of course, layering the glitter on the lip is so gorgeous. The way it sparkles is just unreal.

The Metallic Gold Pigment is fabulous. For people who love to do lip art, just use it with a little water and accent the cupid's bow, create endless lip designs or use as eyeliner. I love to push the boundaries of makeup, where its not just a lip - it's gold in the cupid's bow, a little darker in the center. That's that we've been doing at shows for 20 years or more, but this is what every girl is doing on her Instagram [now].

Read more: Lily James, New Face of My Burberry Black, Talks Scent Memories and Power Dressing

What have been some of your career highlights thus far?

There have been so many remarkable moments over the years, from working with the most legendary designers, faces and photographers to receiving an MBE by the Queen, and now launching my own line, which is so exciting and a dream come true.

You've said classic and Old Hollywood films had an influence on you - how?

My mother and I used to watch so many old films. I was always obsessed with the Old Hollywood movies and how the skin looked, and how flawless they were, and when you think about it that was not retouching, that was the magic of film and light. Looking back I realize that at a young age I began to study faces and makeup and how beauty is perceived. Subconsciously it taught me all those subtleties and nuances in how makeup can transform a face.

EYES ON YOU: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as Cleopatra and Mark Antony in Cleopatra (1963). (Photo: Photofest)

What are some of your favorite movie makeup moments?

I was always obsessed with obviously, like, Liz Taylor, Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones, I always loved the insanity of Derek Jarman films - Jubilee, I mean the brilliance - and then of course [Luchino] Visconti, amazing makeup. Those are the ones that are really iconic to me and made an impact. Belle du Jour - there are so many. I love Eve Harrington (played by Anne Baxter) in the film All About Eve. Such precise, glamorous eye makeup. Bette Davis always looked phenomenal as well, and of course Vivien Leigh had some incredible beauty looks in Gone with the Wind and Waterloo Bridge. I adore Elizabeth Taylor's makeup in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and in Cleopatra - those brows will forever be so major. Silvana Mangano in Death in Venice is incredible. Liz Taylor in BUtterfield 8 with that bright lip. I was recently talking about Catherine Deneuve's red lip in The Hunger.

Do you often reference film looks on the runway or in editorials?

So many times. I love films today, of course, but gosh, for me I do mainly carry my history book of films to make sure I have those by my side to pull up easily. But today there are so many great actresses in Hollywood too. We did a Dior show once with John Galliano that was inspired by Cleopatra.

Read more: Celebrity Facialist Joanna Vargas Opens First L.A. Salon

Do you ever dream about moving into the movie world and leading the makeup team on films?

I love films, the fantasy of getting completely enthralled in a story and the cinematography, really believing it. It is a completely different industry from fashion, but there are so many parallels that really interest me. Creating characters is what I have done for my whole career, so when the opportunity has come up to design a look for a character in film I've jumped at the chance. For The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, in which I created Rooney Mara's looks to portray hacker Lizbeth Salander, we ended up with such an iconic look for that character. That was incredible, such a genius experience. The actual attention to detail was second to none.

How different was that experience from creating a runway look?

It's a longer study of character. When I'm at a show we speak about the inspirations, whether it's a woman or something that happened in the past, a movie, anything. It's that same journey, but instead of like three months it's two days, one day, five hours, and you have to react fast - that's fashion. But at the same time bring to life looks that are perfect for that moment. That's an incredible pressure, but a great test.

I have a few pictures. What do you remember about this look from the John Galliano spring 2011 show?

It was a long while ago but that was inspired I think by Brassai. Yes, like '20s Brassai photography. I know it was definite eccentricity to the max. We were looking at a lot of Brassai pictures.

ECCENTRIC: A model on the John Galliano spring 2011 runway. (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

What about Prada fall 2012?

This one was really a different inspiration. It was about decorating. Decoration of the eye, maximal decoration, pushing all the limits. Also to be very daring, playing with shape, playing with color. It was as simple as that: Decorating, and then to go all the way. Coming up with that was a lot of fun.

DECORATION: A model on the Prada fall 2012 runway. (Photo: AP Images)

And tell me about the Versace fall '16 look, which you said you didn't need to reapply even after the models ate sandwiches, drank and talked on the phone. It's like Dorothy's shoes in The Wizard of Oz, and is very bold like an early Dior look with red studded lips and the gold lip you did at Prada for Spring 2016--and indeed, a bit like the effect you can get by using your latest kit.

I love playing with those incredible lip moments. Donatella wanted something modern and very strong but I had showed her the [Blood Wine] kit and she was saying "wow," but when you think about a red lip in theater, you do think about too much makeup, right? But daring to do it on a bare skin or a natural face you look completely modern, completely young and fresh. And it's not that insane. If you've got a ton of eyeliner, ton of blush, yes, it's too much. But this is like that one piece of perfect jewelry you're wearing. It looks like that on every girl and it works even in the day. I think we're pushing makeup to its most daring, and that's what it's about.

BACKSTAGE BEAUTIES: Taylor Hill, left, and Bella Hadid backstage at the Versace fall 2016 show. (Photo: Francois G. Durand/WireImage)
LONDON (Reuters) - Standing in line for a special ceremony, uniformed soldiers of His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard are carefully inspected -- by a penguin. Sir Nils Olav, a resident king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, was honoured with the title of brigadier on Monday during a parade in the Scottish park. The bird is the mascot of His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard and was made a knight in 2008. Under cloudy skies, Sir Nils Olav slowly made his way down the zoo's Penguin Walk, ending his inspection with a cry and a scratch of his head. A zoo keeper then bestowed the honour on his wing. The penguinial link between Edinburgh Zoo and Norway goes back to 1914 when a Norwegian family presented the zoo with king penguins. In 1972, one of the zoo's king penguins was named Nils Olav after Norwegian Major Nils Egelien, who arranged his adoption, and Norway's then King Olav. Two others have shared the name since. More than 50 Norwegian soldiers are in Scotland to take part in The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and it has become a custom for them to promote the penguin when in the city. (Reporting By George Sargent Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
A Penn State University professor is dead and two suspects  including a women the professor allegedly proposed to twice  are in custody over an alleged murder plot for money, police say.



The body of Ronald Bettig, 56, an associate professor of communications, was discovered Aug. 17 at the bottom of a quarry in Centre County, Pennsylvania, two days after he was reported missing by one of the suspects.



George Ishler Jr., 39, allegedly told police in that missing persons report that he and Danelle Geier, 32, were friends of the victim. He allegedly said Bettig, of Lemont, Pennsylvania, was last seen on the evening of Aug. 12 when he left for dinner after all three had returned together from a trip to Rehobeth Beach, Delaware.



But as police dug deeper, Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Thomas Stock tells PEOPLE, the accounts of Ishler and Geir began to splinter and diverge.



Now Ishler and Geier are in jail, charged with first- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. Geier is facing a separate charge of conspiracy to commit murder.



They have not yet entered a plea, and are due in court Aug. 31. It could not be determined if either has consulted with an attorney.







They were basically using him for his money, Stock alleges. His bank account was emptying and his credit card bills were going up. Although Geier was living with Bettig at the time of his death, he was going to cut ties with them and kick her out of the house.



According to a criminal affidavit obtained by PEOPLE: Geier and Ishler agreed to these crimes in hopes of financial gain of a will that Ishler had written and claims that Bettig had signed.





First Alleged Plot Fell Through

The pairs allegedly murderous plans took shape on Aug. 10  first, with a decision that Ishler would drown Bettig in the ocean on that trip to the beach, and when that didnt occur, for Ishler to push Bettig off a ledge into the quarry where the trio reportedly had stopped to harvest marijuana plants, according to the criminal affidavit.



Ishler and Geier were known to law enforcement, Stock says. They were known drug users.



Stock tells PEOPLE that Ishler was the first to befriend Bettig and then he introduced the professor to Geier, who moved in with Bettig about six months ago. It started out as just a friendship relationship, but it turned into a romantic relationship, he says, apparently to the point where Mr. Bettig allegedly asked her to marry him two times. Thats what [Geier] says.





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For more news videos, visit Yahoo View.



Although Ishler lived in a nearby town, he was always over at Mr. Bettigs residence, Stock says.



Sometime after Bettig indicated that he wanted Geier to move out, the two of them came up with a plan to kill Mr. Bettig on a trip down to Rehobeth Beach, Stock says. The plan was for Mr. Ishler to drown Mr. Bettig while they were out in the ocean swimming. That plan fell through.



Stock declined to specify why the alleged plot fell through, saying only, Theres just some conflicting statements on why that fell through.



 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.





Second Alleged Plot Involved Ruse of Marijuana Plants

On the way home to Pennsylvania from that beach trip on Aug. 12, Ishler and Geier allegedly devised a Plan B while sitting in a gas station: According to authorities, they told Bettig that along the way they needed to detour to a quarry in Centre County, Pennsylvania, under the ruse that they would be able to harvest some marijuana plants that Ishler was growing there, Stock says.



Ishler allegedly said the plants were close to the 80-foot high ledge. The plan was to push him off the edge, Stock says.



According to the probable cause affidavit, Geier stayed in the car with her son while the two men got out and walked toward the quarry.



Ishler said he heard Bettigs body 'crunch once he impacted with the quarry floor, the document states. Later Ishler returned to the vehicle and Geier had asked Ishler if he had really done it. Ishler acknowledged that he had pushed Bettig over the ledge.



The document continues: The two agreed to later return with the victims vehicle and leave it parked at the scene along with other items Ishler placed  water bottles, a flashlight, a small hand rake and a bag, all taken from Bettigs home  to make it appear that Bettig was alone at the quarry.



In an Aug. 19 interrogation, Ishler allegedly told police that Bettig recently had signed a new will and there was a possibility of financial gain for both Geier and Ishler if Bettig was deceased, according to the affidavit. Ishler allegedly told police he had the original copy.



During the trios trip to Rehobeth Beach, Geier became upset with Bettig making comments to her about how she was raising her son and she texted Ishler stating that she was 'So ready I am pissed off, the affidavit alleges. Geier admitted that 'So ready was in reference to her ready for Ishler to kill Bettig.



The pair allegedly conspired to wait three days after the Aug. 12 incident at the quarry before calling police on Aug. 15 to report Bettig missing. Local police issued a missing persons alert on Aug. 16. Bettigs body was discovered Aug. 17, after a caller reported spotting Bettigs maroon Ford Focus on a roadside near the quarry.



Asked if either Geier or Ishler had expressed remorse, Stock says, None.
c130

The Pentagon's largest weapons supplier has been awarded a contract for a deal that could end up amounting to $10 billion.

The Department of Defense contract for Lockheed Martin's C-130J Super Hercules aircraft is worth up to $10,020,000,000 for all future delivery orders.

The C-130J is the Air Force's "freight train," responsible for transporting bulky equipment and troops around the world.

According to the contract, work will be carried out in Marietta, Georgia and is slated to be completed by August of 2026.

Last week, defense giant Boeing scored a haul of $3.2 billion in Pentagon funding for various projects.

NOW WATCH: America's $400 billion warplane has some major flaws





More From Business Insider


Lima (AFP) - A so-called "death squad" established within the Peruvian National Police has executed at least 20 criminals extrajudicially, amid a growing wave of insecurity in the South American country, the interior ministry found.

Earlier this month the ministry announced a probe into the alleged abuses after they surfaced in media reports.

"There are serious indications of the existence of an irregular group formed by officers and noncommissioned officers of the National Police of Peru," Ruben Vargas, deputy minister of internal order, said Monday.

Those officers "falsified intelligence information feigning confrontations in order to take out people in at least six cases," he said.

The killings were carried out for economic gain and promotions, which are generally given for capturing gang members, the report found.

Most of the killings were carried out between 2011 and 2016, with the squad leader receiving two promotions and six awards in recognition of fighting crime.

The report said at least 20 suspected criminals were executed in six different instances, across a number of towns.

Peruvian authorities reported that the squad was formed by "an officer and at least seven noncommissioned officers who intervened indiscriminately in each of these events."

Vargas did not reveal the identity of the officers involved in the "death squad," as it has been dubbed by the press.

The report will be delivered to the prosecutor's office for possible criminal proceedings, authorities said.
may have checked one thing off its shopping list in purchasing Medivation for $14 billion on Monday. But when it comes to an overall growth strategy, the company still seems not to be able to find the right aisle.

In the past year, Pfizer has vacillated between bulking itself (acquiring Hospira last year), trying to move overseas (its collapsed $160 billion inversion deal with Allergan ) and considering breaking itself up. Earlier this month, Pfizers CEO suggested that, actually, the company might want to stick together after all.

So it this the right deal for the flailing pharmaceutical firm?

Medivation gives Pfizer a valuable prostate cancer drug, Xtandi, and a relatively quick earnings boost, but it does nothing to lower Pfizers taxes--the primary motivation behind all other major deals Pfizer has pursued in recent years except Hospira.

In fact, the Medivation deal might even raise Pfizers taxes. Pfizer is paying for California-based Medivation all in cash, some of which will come from inside the U.S. and some of which will come from abroad. But repatriating foreign cash, as Pfizer says it plans to do in a tax-efficient way, can still come with an additional bill from Uncle Sam. (The company says the deal wont affect its tax rate this year, but will offer guidance on the impact for 2017 when it reports its fourth-quarter earnings.) It will also make Pfizer bigger, making it harder to do an inversion down the road.

As for what Pfizer will do next, its unclear if the company even knows what it really wants. The company still isnt sure whether it should split itself up, but it promised again on Monday to decide on that by the end of this year. At the same time, Pfizer CEO Ian Read has declined to rule out going after even bigger acquisition targets that analysts have put forward, including and even AstraZeneca , the British drugmaker that Pfizer already tried and failed to acquire in 2014.

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[Business development] is where you implement strategies, its not a strategy on its own, Read acknowledged cryptically during a conference call Monday discussing the Medivation deal. We're open to any type of deal that would continue to add value for shareholders.

As Pfizer has laid the groundwork for a potential split, its acquisitions have been primarily focused on bolstering what it calls its innovative side of the business--a portfolio of newer drugs with faster-growing sales than Pfizers slow-and-steady established unit. With Medivation, though, Pfizer might have reached a point of equilibrium. As for priorities, I think we're moving to a more balanced view now, Read said, responding to an analysts question about whether the company might seek further deals on the innovative side. Weve put a lot of money into both businesses.

Certainly, Pfizer was willing to pay up to win the competitive bidding process for Medivation. It was reportedly up against and Sanofi , the latter of which had offered up to $61 per share for the company. Pfizer is paying $81.50 per share of Medivation--or about $20 more than Sanofis offer per share. Medivation stock surged nearly 20% on the announcement of the deal.

Still, that might not be enough to satisfy investors. We continue to believe that [Pfizer] still needs to pursue either a large, transformative acquisition or a string of several additional acquisitions to firm up its Innovation Core before the company can be broken up, analyst John Boris wrote in a research note Monday. The most important catalyst for Pfizers stock this year, he added, will be what management decides to do on the M&A front. Pfizer shares traded down slightly Monday afternoon.

Pfizer is likely still hunting for a deal that would lower its tax rate, and some investors havent given up on the possibility that it might again attempt an inversion overseas, despite fierce government and political opposition. Pfizer wouldnt discuss specific future M&A targets, but if it tries a third time to invert, it will certainly have to fight even harder than it fought for Medivation.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has lifted fishing restrictions on two central Montana rivers in the wake of recent cooler weather.

The rivers affected are:

 Smith River  from the confluence of the North and South forks to Eden Bridge south of Great Falls

 Sun River  from Highway 287 Bridge to the mouth of Muddy Creek west of Great Falls

FWP's drought policy in late July had led to afternoon and evening closures on those rivers. However, water temperatures in the Sun and Smith rivers have moderated because of recent cooler day and nighttime air temperatures.
On Aug 23, 2016, we issued an updated research report on NJ-based Phibro Animal Health Corporation PAHC  a leading global diversified animal health and mineral nutrition company. The company provides a broad range of products for animals consumed as food, such as poultry, swine, beef and dairy cattle, as well as aquaculture.

Phibro sells the bulk of its products to a number of regional and national feed companies, distributors, co-ops, blenders, integrated poultry, as well as swine and cattle operations. Significant consolidation of the companys customers may result in these groups gaining additional purchasing leverage. This in turn might increase the product pricing pressures challenging Phibros business.

The company is subject to currency risk to the extent that its costs are denominated in currencies other than those in which the company earns revenues. During the last reported third quarter, Phibro witnessed tough currency challenges in its Animal Health segment primarily owing to the movement of Brazil, Argentina and South African currencies relative to the U.S. dollar.

Notably, Phibro manufactures some of its major products in Brazil and Israel, where production costs are largely denominated in local currencies, while selling prices are largely set in U.S. dollars.

Phibro also faces competition from generic alternatives of some of its products that may weigh on its future financial health and operational performance.

However, Phibro is currently well poised in the fast growing food animal species segment of the animal health market with significant presence in poultry and swine, which are projected by Vetnosis to grow globally at compound annual rates of 5.9% and 5%, respectively, between 2014 and 2019.

Further, Phibro has established direct presence in many important emerging markets. Outside the U.S., Phibros global footprint extends to key high-growth regions including Brazil and other countries in South America, China, India and Asia Pacific, Mexico, Turkey, Australia, Canada and South Africa and other countries in Africa.

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Currently, Phibro has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Key Picks in the Sector

Some better-ranked medical products stocks worth mentioning are GW Pharmaceuticals plc GWPH, Quidel Corp. QDEL and Baxter International Inc. BAX. While GW Pharmaceuticals and Quidel sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Baxter carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Strong Buy).

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MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine Supreme Court ordered the government on Tuesday to put on hold a divisive plan to bury former dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a heroes' cemetery, a court spokesman said. A plan supported by President Rodrigo Duterte to bury the former president in the cemetery has been criticised by human rights groups and many politicians, including Vice President Leni Robredo and senators allied with former President Benigno Aquino. The 15-member high bench of the court, responding to a petition filed last week by opponents of the plan, told the government not to do anything on the issue for 20 days, Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters. Te did not elaborate on why the court had issued the order but said it had called for arguments from both sides to help the judges decide on the issue before the planned burial on Sept. 18. As a dictator in the 1970s and '80s, Marcos, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $10 billion in ill-gotten wealth and thousands of suspected communist rebels and political foes were killed. His wife, Imelda, denies amassing wealth illegally. In 1986, he was ousted in a "people power" revolt and fled to Hawaii where he died three years later. His remains were returned in the early 1990s and have been kept in a family mausoleum in his hometown in the north. Newly elected president Duterte has said Marcos, as a former leader and a soldier, should be buried at the cemetery. Marcos was a guerrilla leader during World War Two when the former U.S. colony was occupied by Japanese forces. Opponents of the plan say burying a dictator at the cemetery, known as the Libingan ng mga Bayani, would violate military regulations that bar "those who have been dishonourable discharged from service or personnel convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude". (Reporting by Manuel Mogato and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By Manuel Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he expects talks with China on their South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an international ruling rejecting China's claims there when he attends a regional summit next month. An arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July when it ruled that China had no historical title over the South China Sea and it had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with various actions there. Raising the issue at a summit in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, together with its "dialogue partners" including China, the United States and Japan, would inevitably compound China's anger. Duterte, speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Manila, said it was "better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there". Asked about a date for bilateral talks, he said: "Within the year." The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that has been concerned about China's pursuit of territory in the South China Sea, said it welcomed efforts by rival claimants to manage and resolve differences peacefully. At the same time, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said Washington "urge(d) that negotiation should be undertaken on terms acceptable to all parties, free from coercion or the use or threat of force." Washington was a strong backer of the case the Philippines brought against China, but has sought unsuccessfully to forge a unified position among Southeast Asia countries on the issue. Richey-Allen did not comment on Duterte's comment that he would not raise the issue at Sept. 6-8 Laos summit, which U.S. President Barack Obama is due to attend. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims to parts of the sea. Duterte said the Philippines had no intention of raising the arbitration ruling during the summit, although he added: "If somebody dwells on it, we will discuss, but for the Philippines, we have talks." If formal negotiations with China were to fall through, "where do we go?" he asked. A former Philippine president, Fidel Ramos, traveled to Hong Kong this month in an effort to rekindle damaged ties with Beijing. While there, Ramos said the Philippines wanted talks with China to explore a path to peace and cooperation. Duterte said his government wanted to talk to China so Philippine fishermen could return to the disputed Scarborough Shoal fishing ground. In 2012, China seized the shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case. China has ignored the court's ruling that none of its claims in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile (320 km) exclusive economic zone. Its construction work on reefs there has alarmed other claimants, as well the United States and Japan. China says its aims are peaceful and it has the right to do what it wants on its territory. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel and Alan Crosby)
By Karen Lema and Manuel Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - More than 1,900 people, or about 36 per day, have been killed in a violent campaign against drugs in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte came to office seven weeks ago, the country's national police chief said on Tuesday. Director-General Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing there was no declared policy to kill drug users and pushers and that about 1,100 deaths were still being investigated. "We are not butchers," he said. The rest of the dead were people killed in police anti-narcotics operations, dela Rosa said. "This has a chilling effect," said Senator Frank Drilon after the police chief's deposition. "We are all concerned about the number of deaths, by any language this is alarming." Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", was voted to power promising to wipe out drugs and warning traffickers they risked death if they did not mend their ways. The inquiry is being conducted by a staunch critic of the president, Senator Leila de Lima, who has summoned top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the "unprecedented" rise in the body count and reports of vigilante killings. Duterte has warned legislators not to interfere with his campaign, saying they could be killed if they blocked efforts aimed at improving the country. Nearly 700,000 drug users and drug peddlers have turned themselves in to escape the crackdown, police chief dela Rosa said. He said there was a decrease in overall crime, although murders and homicides had increased. Outside the senate building, dozens of supporters cheered dela Rosa for leading the war against drugs, chanting his nickname, "Bato, Bato". Some carried placards reading: "We are with you Bato in the fight against drugs". The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said overnight it was "deeply concerned" by the reports of the killings and the State Department urged Duterte's government to abide by human rights norms. New York-based Human Rights Watch said the United States and European Union members "should make it clear to Duterte that inciting such violence is unacceptable and will reap potentially severe diplomatic and economic costs". "Otherwise, it's hard to envision when these killings will end," it said. POLICE INVOLVED The number of those killed provided by dela Rosa at the Senate hearing was higher than the 1,800 he gave at the hearing on Monday. He gave no explanation for the higher number but said the figures were updated. Dela Rosa said about 750 of the dead were killed in police operations against drug peddlers. The other deaths were being investigated, he said. "Not all deaths under investigation are drug-related," dela Rosa said, adding that 40 killings were known to be due to enmity or robbery. He also said about 300 of his officers were suspected to be involved in the drugs trade, warning these personnel will be sacked and charged in court if found guilty. There has been speculation in the local media that some of the killings were carried out by corrupt police officers who were wiping out drug peddlers to avoid exposure. (Additiong reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Newly elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched a war on drugs about seven weeks ago. The grim result? More than 1,900 dead and counting.

Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the countrys national police force, said at a Senate hearing in Manila this week that only around 750 of those people have been killed by police and that the rest of the deaths are now under investigation. Whether its 750 or 1,900, the Philippine government has made no effort to mask the intentional targeting of anyone believed to be dealing drugs.

But according to dela Rosa, police were never given shoot-to-kill orders for those suspected to be drug dealers.

Funny he should claim that, because Duterte himself told a group of reporters the exact opposite earlier this month.

My order is shoot to kill you, he said about drug users and dealers. I dont care about human rights, you better believe me.

Dela Rosa seems to have forgotten about those remarks, acknowledging at the hearing that the campaign has been aggressive but denying that the police are butchers.

He addressed the Senate as part of an ongoing investigation into the massive drug crackdown, which has prompted criticism from the United Nations and human rights organizations, which say the mass execution of suspected drug dealers violates international norms. Duterte doesnt exactly seem to care. On Sunday, he threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations after the international body criticized his violent efforts to curb drug use in the country.

He called two U.N. experts who criticized the extrajudicial killings very stupid and told the U.N. it should stop worrying about the bones of criminals piling up.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay took back Dutertes suggestion that the Philippines would separate from the U.N. on Monday, and blamed the presidents statements on being tired, disappointed, [and[ hungry.

We must give him leeway, he said. He is also human.

Story continues

Harra Besorio, the partner of a small-time drug dealer killed during the raids, also testified before lawmakers and described the raid that led to the arrests  and eventual executions  of her partner and his father. According to her, police stormed into her home, searched her infant for drugs, and then brought the two men to the station. They never returned. Now two of the police officers involved in their deaths are facing murder charges, a rarity in the ongoing drug war that has torn apart families across the island archipelago.

The same day Duterte acknowledged his shoot-to-kill orders, he said that some 500,000 people had already turned themselves in to avoid being shot.

Apparently the government considers this a success.

I admit many are dying but our campaign, now, we have the momentum, dela Rosa said at the hearing.

Photo credit: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images
MISSOULA -- The stink of wildfire smoke rolled into the Missoula Valley on Monday morning, and continued hot weather may keep the skies hazy for a few more days.

The Roaring Lion fire west of Hamilton got help from several other forest fires in Idaho to push the air quality rating in the Bitterroot Valley to unhealthy for sensitive groups by late Monday morning. While Missoula and Frenchtown remained in the good zone, morning joggers and commuters noted the unpleasant change from Sundays bluebird skies.

Hamilton was solidly in the good zone until about 9 a.m. when particulate matter levels went from 14 to 59, according to Montana Department of Environmental Quality monitors. Levels between 50 and 100 drop the air quality index to moderate, meaning the levels may cause problems for a very small number of people unusually sensitive to pollution.

The Copper King fire 8 miles east of Thompson Falls took a significant run on Sunday afternoon, sending up large columns of smoke as it expanded to 6,908 acres. Red flag weather is forecast to continue through Monday, with west winds blowing 20 to 30 mph and gusts in the 40 mph range. A Type I incident management team, which handles the most serious fires, was moving into position on Monday afternoon to coordinate expanded containment efforts. The fire employs 317 people.

The Roaring Lion fire west of Hamilton sent up visible columns of smoke, but fire officials reported no outbreaks from the containment lines. Instead, they said the fire was consuming interior pockets of trees that hadnt already burned in earlier runs. Those flare-ups will continue until a season-ending rain or snow storm arrives. Smoke from Idahos Moose, Cedar and Elk Ridge fires were also contributing to the haze, but all were more than 11 air miles from the Roaring Lions western edge.

Across the border in Idaho, the Pioneer fire near Boise jumped almost 10,000 acres on Sunday to a total 96,469 acres. Activity in eastern Washington and Oregon has also picked up.

A low-pressure weather pattern was expected to move over the Montana-Idaho border in the next 24 hours. While that will sustain the red flag warnings for firefighters through Tuesday, it may also shift the general wind direction to north-south by Wednesday. Thats expected to direct smoke from out-of-state fires away from Montana and bring cooler temperatures to boot.
Robert DeNiro, Usher, Edgar Ramirez, and Ana de Armas celebrated the premiere of the Jonathan Jakubowicz directed biopic on Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran and his famed No Mas fight against Sugar Ray Leonard at The Redbury in New York City. Despite 10 plus years away from the big screen, producers and cast members had nothing but praise for Ushers performance as Leonard. Usher blew our minds. He never left the project, even when the film fell apart three times. He said Im sticking by you guys. said producer Jay Weisleder.

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Violence erupted earlier this month in Milwaukee after a man fleeing a traffic stop was shot and killed by police. Authorities say video from the shooting will not be released during the investigation. (Photo: Calvin Mattheis/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

Pics or it didnt happen.

Its a popular response on the Internet when someone makes an extraordinary or unverifiable claim.

But in many ways, its also become the voice of the public in the aftermath of officer-involved fatal shootings. Increasingly, citizens want video proof before theyll accept what authorities tell them about police shootings. The demand is creating a Catch-22 for police chiefs trying to juggle the publics right to know, officer safety and the integrity of a criminal investigation.

Police departments in major cities across the country are aware of the delicate balance between what the community needs to know  and the criminal justice process, Milwaukee Chief Edward Flynn said the day after an officer-involved fatal shooting sparked rioting in his city earlier this month.

A Los Angeles Police officer wears body camera during a 2014 police presentation. (Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP)

Milwaukee, like a growing number of U.S. cities seeking better accountability and transparency, requires its officers to wear body cameras. The camera on patrolman Dominique Heaggan-Browns uniform was recording on Aug. 13 when he shot and killed Sylville Smith during a foot chase. Two other officers on the scene were also wearing body cameras.

A day after the shooting, Flynn described to reporters what he saw on the video.

The individual was armed, the chief said. The individual did turn toward the officer with the firearm in his hand. You cant tell when the officer discharges his firearm.

The video hasnt been released to the public, nor will it be anytime soon.

Release of the videos would compromise the integrity of the investigation, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel told reporters Monday. Schimel, head of the states Department of Justice, which is leading the probe, said the footage most likely wont be shown to the public unless charges are filed.

That decision isnt sitting well among residents and activists.

What the video depicts already has been described by local authorities, and keeping it from the public only fuels speculation on what it reveals, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote in an editorial last week. More harm in the form of unwarranted speculation can come from not releasing the video than from releasing it. Tensions in the Milwaukee community remain high.

Story continues

Police stand guard during disturbances following the police shooting of a man in Milwaukee in early August. (Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)

Milwaukee officials want the video released as soon as possible, but are at the mercy of state investigators. Some argue the police chief is already forming public opinion by discussing what he viewed on the cameras.

To release or not release has been a source of scrutiny in recent years, and the fact that seven sessions at an upcoming national conference for police chiefs will be devoted to body cameras is reflective of the increased spotlight on the issue.

When there is an officer-involved shooting, I think police departments should err on the side of releasing that footage after theyve made sure privacy concerns are protected, Kami Chavis, a Wake Forest University law professor recently told Time. Theres been so much distrust and a history of tensions between some communities and police. This can help the public in terms of increasing transparency.

There is no national policy on when a police department must release body camera video. Footage is generally considered public information under state freedom of information laws, with the exception for video that is part of an ongoing investigation.

One size does not fit all here, Philip Hilder, a Houston defense attorney, told Yahoo News.

The Chicago Police Department  which has been plagued by police abuses  recently surprised many by releasing body camera video just eight days after an officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager. Milwaukees chief called Chicagos release a modern record.

A new Chicago policy calls for such material to be made public within 60 days. That change and other reforms represent the citys effort to restore citizen confidence in the police department after video released last year showed a black teenager, Laquan McDonald, being shot 16 times by a white officer.

Simply put, the longstanding policy the city followed for decades is out of date and this new policy strikes a better balance of ensuring transparency for the public while also ensuring any criminal or disciplinary investigations are not compromised, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in February.

Making the Milwaukee shooting video public wont answer all the questions about what happened, the attorney general said.

They give only a narrow and incomplete glimpse of the overall picture, Schimel said.

Hilder, a former federal prosecutor, said the premature release of video could also create more questions.

Often times there is a lot of activity that occurs outside the view of the video  also before and after the video, he said. Video can be illuminating, but it can be very misleading as well.

Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).




Getty Image

Despite being British, David Bowie will always be associated with Berlin, Germany. This is due to the fact that in the days of the Berlin Wall, Bowie lived in West Berlin, along with Iggy Pop. During that time, the late, beloved artist made his Berlin trilogy of albums, Low, Heroes, and Lodger. Now, Berlin is paying tribute to its former resident by unveiling a plaque on the house that Bowie lived in those many years ago.

A memorial plaque unveiled this morning at former David Bowie's house in Berlin. Quieter place now #Bowie #Berlin pic.twitter.com/OMwaUnRPAD  Christophe Robin (@XopheRobin) August 22, 2016

The plaque is mostly in German, but the rough translation of the text reads, In this house lived from 1976 to 1978 David Bowie 8.1.1947  10.1.2016. In this time arose the albums Low, Heroes, and Lodger. They go by the Berlin Trilogy in the history of music. Then, in English, a line from Heroes, a song inspired by seeing producer Tony Visconti kissing his girlfriend at the Berlin Wall: We can be heroes, just for one day.

Its a simple tribute to Bowie, whose death earlier this year led to a tremendous outpouring from the multitudes of people who loved his music. People will likely want to make the pilgrimage to Bowies former house in Berlin to see this plaque, and to see his former home. Its an officially marked piece of music history now, as it should be.

Berlin puts up plaque to Bowie https://t.co/38pgdNkWnM pic.twitter.com/7TkGvsU4vq  Norman Lebrecht (@NLebrecht) August 22, 2016

(Via Consequences of Sound)
MELBOURNE, Aug 23 (Reuters) - ExxonMobil Corp's Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is eyeing multi-year contracts for sales of spot cargoes to soak up excess production, co-owner Oil Search said on Tuesday.

The unusual move for the LNG industry, dominated by long-term contracts, reflects strong output at PNG LNG, which is producing 12 percent above nameplate capacity at 7.7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) two years after start-up.

The project sold eight spot cargoes in the first half of this year, beyond the 6.6 mtpa locked in long-term contracts to customers in Japan, China and Taiwan.

The project is in the process of having the proven reserves in its foundation gas fields recertified, which Oil Search is confident will result in a bigger reserve base that could underpin multi-year contracts for future spot cargoes.

"With a positive outlook on the recertification, we'd certainly be looking at longer term strips of sales - contracts that would be potentially a number of years," Julian Fowles, Oil Search's executive general manager for PNG, told analysts on a conference call.

Such contracts would cover a substantial portion of spot volumes, and the "strips" could extend to as long as five to seven years, he said.

Marketing for PNG LNG is handled by ExxonMobil for all the partners.

Of the eight spot cargoes sold in the first half of 2016, six went to Japanese customers, who like the PNG gas for its high heating value, or high energy content. Other buyers outside the core customers have also started picking up spot cargoes.

"So we've got other customers getting used to PNG LNG product - and that's also very good for future marketing of longer term spot cargoes," Fowles said.

(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Richard Pullin)
(Reuters) - Australian police are searching for four men who left three malnourished saltwater crocodiles in a school, after breaking in to steal computer equipment. Northern Territory Police said the men entered the Taminmin College in Humpty Doo, 40km (25 miles) south of Darwin, early on Sunday after pushing the crocodiles through a broken window. CCTV footage released by police showed the men stealing a computer monitor before running away. Parks and Wildlife rangers said the reptiles, who had their mouths taped shut, had probably been taken from a nearby crocodile farm but were unlikely to survive as they were in such poor health. "Basically skin and bones, not much meat left on them; they were really quiet and easy to catch," ranger Luke McLaren told ABC radio. "We'll determine what farm they're from and we'll try to take them back to that farm but looking at their condition it's likely they'll have to be destroyed." (Reporting by Reuters TV. Editing by Patrick Johnston)
By Agnieszka Barteczko

WARSAW (Reuters) - Loss-making Polish miner JSW, the European Union's biggest coking coal producer, may need to raise more than 500 million zlotys (99.30 million pounds) in new capital through a share issue or other means, a government official said.

State-run JSW debuted on the Warsaw bourse in 2011 when the treasury ministry sold 39.5 million shares or 33 percent of the company for 136 zlotys per share.

Since then it has lost 78 percent of its value due to a coal price slump and high labour costs.

The company ran into trouble at the end of 2014 when its cash reserves were depleted by high costs and low prices.

Since then, JSW has cut its workforce by 10 percent and slashed production costs by almost 30 percent, but despite a coking coal price recovery it remains in the red.

"We are seriously considering launching a financial support instrument," Grzegorz Tobiszowski, the deputy energy minister responsible for restructuring the coal industry, told Reuters.

He did not rule out a JSW share issue, which has already been flagged as a possibility by the ministry, but said the final decision on the type of financial tool to be used to raise new funds would be taken at the start of September. [nW8N17G02A]

"When it comes to JSW's capital needs, I am still waiting for detailed information, but on the basis of the talks I have had so far I am afraid that this could be more than 500 million zlotys," Tobiszowski said.

JSW said last week its first-half net loss narrowed to 149 million zlotys from 624 million a year ago, thanks to its restructuring programme, but reiterated that the risk of losing liquidity remained high. [nL8N1AZ14R]

CLOSING MINES

The pro-coal ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) won an election in October in part on promises to rescue the mining industry, which employs 88,000 workers mostly in three state-run mining groups - JSW, PGG and KHW. [nL5N17I4DG]

But despite the huge funds the industry has already received it is difficult for PiS to keep all the mines afloat because of the extent of the restructuring required and a state budget strained by social spending.

Story continues

Since the start of 2015 seven mines employing almost 8,000 people were transferred to SRK, a state-run firm whose task is to close the mines.

JSW's Krupinski coal mine will be transferred to SRK by the end of January 2017 and the government is in talks with the trade unions on the future of KHW's Ruch Slask and PGG's Sosnica, Tobiszowski said.

SRK said it is expected to receive 1.045 billion zlotys from the state budget this year to cover the cost of closing mines compared to 693.5 million in 2015.

JSW trade unions have already opposed transferring the Krupinski mine to SRK and the ruling party runs the risk of miners' protests against mine closures. Poland holds its next parliamentary election in 2019.

The Energy Ministry is also struggling to raise 700 million zlotys to rescue KHW, whose problems have been overshadowed by the hunt for investors for KW, which finally received 1.8 billion zlotys from other state-run firms. [nL8N1AC3ED]

The initial plan was for state-run coal trader Weglokoks and utility Enea to invest in KHW, but when the miner's financial needs turned out to be larger than expected, a third investor became necessary.

Tobiszowski declined to identify this third investor but said: "We are considering one specific entity - a state-controlled company, but not a listed one."

Securing cash from investors and reaching agreement with KHW's debtholders must be done by autumn, he added.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Adrian Croft)
It would appear Lawrence Pettit's opinion article on Trump and authoritarianism missed the mark. Amongst liberal stock is an inability to take an honest intellectual view of themselves and the results of their policies. If you want to see what the Democrats are up to, just look at what they are accusing the Republicans of doing. If you want to see who Democrats really are, look at what traits they ascribe to the Republicans. You don't see hardly any violent right-wing protesters. Most conservatives just want to be left alone to raise their families and live their lives as they see fit.

For most of us, it is plain to see that Democrats favor an ever-expanding federal government. This alone shows their tendency toward authoritarianism. Making a baker pay a $135,000 fine for not baking a cake for a frequent customer because of her religious conviction is authoritarianism at its finest. Promoting the Black Lives Matter movement in an effort to bring federal control to the police departments across the country is another example. The liberal media promoted the lie of the year -- "hands up don't shoot." George Soros payed the initial protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and President Obama welcomed the activists to the White House. This movement didn't just happen. It happened for a purpose.

A 2012 study printed in the American Journal of Social Science, Correlation not causation: the relationship between personality traits and political ideologies" completely backs up Mr. Pettit's assertions. However, a June 11 Washington Times article reported the journal had issued an erratum. In fact, it was liberals who who exhibited psychoticism expressed as tough-mindedness and authoritarianism. This shows the fallibility of science when desired outcomes trump hard facts.

Mussolini was admired by liberals of the 1930s. The Nazis were socialists. Yet many on the left consider them conservative. There are no libertarian socialists and no conservatives that believe in the religion of the state as they aspire to a much higher power. This is another example of intellectual dishonesty and projection. If you replace Jews with Republicans you can see the similarity between the Nazis and the far left. The psychoticism of fear, projection and irrationality permeate the far left and endanger civil society.

Currently we are watching the political assassination of the current Republican presidential candidate by the mainstream media. The perpetuated lies and disinformation leave the average American with an inaccurate view of the candidate and conservatism in general. I urge the reader to be more pragmatic and less dogmatic in their assessment of the current political climate.

Ed Starke

Helena
By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese police are investigating the beating of a local youth by two teenage sons of the Iraqi ambassador which landed the victim in intensive care and caused an uproar in Portugal. Media reports said the 17-year-old twin sons of Ambassador Saad Mohammed Ridha beat and kicked 15-year-old Ruben Cavaco in an incident on the night of Aug. 17 in a town in central Portugal after an earlier brush with a group of young men at a bar. In an early statement the Iraqi embassy said the brothers, Haider and Ridha, had acted in self-defense and their attackers had shouted racist and anti-Muslim slurs, though the brothers themselves in later comments to media did not repeat this. The incident threatened to turn into a diplomatic row when Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva suggested it was so serious the Iraqi brothers might forfeit their diplomatic immunity from prosecution. In televised comments Santos Silva said: "if the investigation requires asking Iraq to lift diplomatic immunity of the two sons of the ambassador, the foreign ministry will make this request and will expect cooperation" from Iraq. He met the Iraqi ambassador on Monday before the envoy traveled to Baghdad on Tuesday. Police declined to comment on the incident which took place in Ponte de Sor where one of the brothers is attending flying school. In an interview with SIC television channel, recorded at the embassy on Monday, the brothers said they had first been attacked by a group of young men, including Cavaco, after a night of drinking in a bar. "It's a dangerous recipe when you have teenagers, when you have alcohol, when you have this group mentality. Things get out of control," said Haider, who also apologized to Cavaco and his family. They said that after initial brawling with the group they were again confronted by Cavaco which is when they beat him. "I'd say that we collectively are victims of circumstance, which is very easy to happen in Portugal," said Haider. He said the media had exaggerated the case and said he and his brother were cooperating with the investigation. After several days in a drug induced coma, Cavaco was out of intensive care on Tuesday. His lawyer said he was still unable to talk to investigators. (Reporting By Andrei Khalip; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
The price of EpiPens has gone WAY UP and its a problem for parents everywhere

The price of EpiPens has gone WAY UP and its a problem for parents everywhere

The EpiPen has been the #1 prescribed epinephrine auto-injector for over 25 years. This means that, with one injection, it can save the life of someone with a life-threatening allergy.

People who have severe allergies likely carry around an EpiPen everywhere they go. And parents with kids who have serious allergies do the same. In fact, many doctors recommend that patients carry two EpiPens at all times. This means that EpiPens are needed everywhere  at work, at school, at home, and in the car. Because without an EpiPen, being exposed to the wrong stimuli can cost someone their life.

As if having a child with a severe allergy wasnt terrifying and hard enough, it just got a lot harder following a spike in the price of EpiPens.

Mylan, the makers of the EpiPen, recently increased the price of each device from about $100 to anywhere from $400 to $700, depending on pharmacy rates and insurance coverage. So for kids with severe allergies who, lets say, want to go to camp but also want to live through it  theyll need to spend a lot more money for extra EpiPens.

In other words: Their parents will need an extra thousand dollars or so.

Of course, no one can put a price on their childs health, but a $600 increase on a life-saving medication is unreasonable. Bernie Sanders  a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions  thinks so. too.

The drug industrys greed knows no bounds, Sanders said in a statement to NBC News. Theres no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. The only explanation for Mylan raising the price by six times since 2009 is that the company values profits more than the lives of millions of Americans.

There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. https://t.co/rVWUlMxD0Q  Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 18, 2016

After the removal of Auvi-Q (EpiPens competitor) from the market last year, EpiPen was basically handed a monopoly on epinephrine pen sales.

This is a mainstream product that people carry, and its getting harder and harder for people to afford it, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar told NBC News, according to PopSugar. Its just another example of what we keep seeing  outrageous price increases when a monopoly situation ends up in a companys lap.

We truly hope that Mylan decides to do the right thing by caring less about money, and more about the health and safety of those with severe allergies.

The post The price of EpiPens has gone WAY UP and its a problem for parents everywhere appeared first on HelloGiggles.
From Harper's BAZAAR

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be making their way across the pond for a royal visit to Canada next month. According to official announcements by Kensington Palace on Twitter, the royal couple has a lot planned for their two-week stay in British Columbia and Yukon. They'll be visiting Vancouver, Victoria, Bella Bella, Haida Gwaii, Kelowna, Whitehorse and Carcross during their tour from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1. Young royals Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who will be making her first trip abroad, will also reportedly be in tow.

The last time the Duke and Duchess visited Canada was in 2011, their first trip abroad together as a married couple. Five years later, they're expected to return with their two children, and with plenty of outdoor activities planned, according to a Kensington rep.

Fingers crossed that the nature-friendly trip will yield more picture-perfect moments like this:

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Networking program The Producers Lab Toronto, which brings together 24 producers from Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, returns to Toronto Film Festival next month for its seventh edition. The event, which runs Sept. 6-9, allows producers to discuss project ideas, share information about funding, and seal co-production deals.

The Producers Lab has facilitated the development of several trans-Atlantic co-productions, such as the Canadian-Irish pic Unless by Irish director Alan Gilsenan, which was presented at the Producers Lab in 2011 and will have its world premiere at this years festival. The Irish producer Tristan Orpen Lynch will present the projects genesis in a case study together with his Canadian partner Jennifer Kawaja from Sienna Films to this years participants.

Participating producers will take part in various networking events, from 1:1 meetings, funding sessions on the different possibilities in Canada, Down Under and Europe through different financing models to the case study on Unless. They also will present new projects with international market potential. These include Frances Helene Cases, who will pitch The Mercy Seat by director Alix Delaport (The Last Hammer Blow), and Germanys Amir Hamz, who attracted international attention with the mystery-drama Der Nachtmahr (2015), and is now preparing the production of Immortality.

The Producers Lab, which is organized by European Film Promotion in collaboration with the Ontario Media Development Corporation and the festival, is financially supported by the Creative Europe  MEDIA Program in association with Screen Australia, the New Zealand Film Commission, the participating EFP member organizations, Eurimages and Telefilm Canada.

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Netflix is adding a pair of ABC dramas to its exclusive streaming lineup.

The streamer has struck deals with ABC Studios to become the sole U.S. subscription video home of Quantico and American Crime. Both shows are available to stream in full beginning Tuesday, Aug. 23.

Quantico, which stars Priyanka Chopra as an FBI recruit who is blamed for a deadly terrorist attack, debuted its freshman season last September. It returns Sept. 25 on ABC with Blair Underwood signed on as a new series regular.

John Ridley's anthology drama American Crime has aired two seasons on ABC, both of which are now available on Netflix. Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton and Regina King are returning for a third season, which will be set in North Carolina and focus on labor issues.

American Crime has been an award show staple since its 2015 release, with 10 nominations at the 2015 Primetime Emmys and a win for Regina King in the supporting actress in a limited series or movie category. The show is up for four Emmys this year.

Netflix is already the exclusive subscription streaming home to all past seasons of ABC's Shondaland shows - Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder and Grey's Anatomy. The deal for Quantico and American Crime comes on the heels of an expansive pact between Netflix and the CW that will see new seasons of the broadcast network's shows, including critical darlings Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, stream exclusively on Netflix eight days after each show's season finale.

Read more: 'American Crime': Connor Jessup Returning for Season 3
On Aug 23, 2016, we issued an updated research report on Quest Diagnostics, Inc. DGX  a major commercial laboratory services provider.

Quest Diagnostics has successfully complied with its five-point strategy that strongly focuses on areas with high potential such as gene-based esoteric testing for cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease and neurological disorders. Although during the second quarter, revenues declined 1% on a reported basis, this was primarily due to the companys efforts to refocus on its core business.

Once again the company is optimistic about remaining in a strong position for the rest of 2016 (second quarter 2016 Diagnostic Information Service revenues grew by 2.2% on a year-over-year basis).

In the last couple of months, the company has made a number of strategic product launches and forged new partnerships.

This includes three new cancer test services that will provide clinically actionable insight into an individual's risk of developing hereditary forms of cancer. These tests will be part of the company's newly branded Quest Vantage cancer test menu.

We are also looking forward to the companys recently formed alliance with HealthONE System of HCA Healthcare (HCA) to improve the quality and value of diagnostic services. Per the agreement, Quest Diagnostics will manage in-patient laboratory operations for six Denver-area hospitals under the HealthONE system.

We are also encouraged about the current favorable demographic trends along with Quest Diagnostics mergers and acquisitions activity which is in line with its strategy. The companys recent acquisition of the Outreach Laboratory Services business of Clinical Laboratory Partners (CLP) as well as the Professional Lab Services Agreements from Barnabas Health, are aiding in delivering a continuous implementation of an accelerated growth plan.

However, through the past several quarters, the overall soft industry trends, responsible for low volume growth, have been a major concern for the company. Furthermore, Quest Diagnostics is highly disappointed with the recent CMS proposal related to the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA). While CMS' has once again decided to further delay the execution of the new payment system until Jan 1, 2018, Quest Diagnostics is apprehensive about the effect of the final rule, taking into consideration the clinical lab fee schedule representing approximately 12% of its revenues.

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Moreover, lower healthcare utilization continues to be a headwind. Although the company has observed signs of modest increase in utilization, sustainability is still a concern.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Key Picks in the Sector

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector worth considering are Almost Family Inc. AFAM, RadNet, Inc. RDNT and US Physical Therapy Inc. USPH, all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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A regulatory one-two punch this past December had a dramatic impact on small webcasters (when you see that word, just think "web radio station"), either forcing their closure or at least putting them between a rock and very hard financial place. The first punch, the clincher really, was the lapse of the Webcaster Settlement Act, a law from 2002 (extended in 2009) that allowed small webcasters, those making less than $1.2 million in revenue annually, to pay a percentage of their revenue instead of the standard streaming rates, a rule which protected small web stations from drowning due to royalty costs. In addition to that law passing into extinction, the rates that webcasters pay per stream were increased by 21.4 percent.

Last December's rule change resulted in the shuttering, this past January, of Live365, one of the earliest and largest hubs for radio listening on the internet. (It was preceded in spirit by Broadcast.com, the literal "radio on the internet" concept which made Mark Cuban into a mogul after its billion-dollar sale to Yahoo! in 1999.) Live365 debuted in 1999 and aggregated thousands of stations, drawing attention from an impressive list of musicians. Notably, the company fostered the growth of homegrown web radio by offering tools to broadcast radio stations, or entrepreneurial web hosts, for streaming their own stations on the web. It was never a massive financial success, but it was stable.

Live365's closure was another sign of an inexorable trend. December's webcasting rule changes could have a similar effect -- through different means -- as the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which eliminated the cap on radio station ownership, previously 40 stations nationwide (the rules were reaffirmed a couple weeks ago). That resulted in American broadcast radio ending up, broadly speaking, in the hands of just a few companies, with iHeartMedia at the front with 850 stations. (iHeartMedia, it's no coincidence, is also the second-largest digital radio broadcaster in the U.S., behind Pandora.) Much as smaller broadcasters were protected before 1996 because ownership rules fostered more ownership diversity, larger webcasters are now protected from smaller entrants.

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"For small webcasters just starting out, it's very difficult to monetize until you get scale," David Oxenford, a partner at D.C. law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer and someone who helped craft the 2002 Webcaster Settlement Act, tells Billboard. Otherwise, as is well understood, "advertisers won't be very interested in you. In order to attract them, you've got to have large, large scale -- and you're paying for every listener before you've reached scale."

One source with intimate knowledge of one major webcaster's internal opinion says it welcomes the whetstone that competition provides.

A well-known brand -- even one with a bad name -- always has a second chance at life, and that's exactly what Live365 is getting. Sorta. In July, Jon Stephenson bought Live365 at a bankruptcy auction for an undisclosed sum. But Stephenson's Live365 is likely to resemble the original in name only.

Stephenson owns and operates the content delivery network EmpireStreaming, which helps broadcasters stream digitally and secures advertising in aggregate for those clients. "We work with a lot of small-to-medium sized broadcasters," he tells Billboard on the phone from Italy. "If you're a single station, or a really small station, we aggregate all of their ad inventories, so we can go directly to advertisers" with a larger scale, and greater negotiating leverage. Jon says his purchase of Live365 would've been worth it if he'd just gotten the hardware they'd left behind, however. But that's not the plan. "I definitely see that there's an opportunity with bringing back a lot of smaller radio stations. There's a huge opportunity with representing scale. And if we're able to rebuild Live 365 in some shape or form, then we have that branding and we can actually go compete with iHeart or Pandora. We can actually build a significant scale." That's a big if.

Stephenson already has a company, EmpireStreaming, that's working for him. He's just hoping some pieces of Live365's property, intellectual and literal, can bolster it. There's no reason for this young entrepreneur to reinvent the wheel, or try to get rid of it altogether -- which maybe points to a deeper problem. Certainly, without significant capital behind a project, its chances of survival and/or development are negligible. (That sound you probably already hear is Marc Andreessen furiously tweeting.)

Anyone "surfing the information superhighway" in the mid-'90s experienced something like a beehive with no queen, no organizing principle other than the underlying structure of the web itself (which remains basically the same), limited significantly -- helpfully, maybe -- at the time by bandwidth, which allowed only minimal graphics and pretty much no video or music outside of laughably terrible MIDI audio. Now we have broadband -- via seemingly two companies, one of which is also a media conglomerate -- that connects us quickly to a funnel. The web's earliest "internauts" (ugh) were kidding themselves to think something like the internet would remain a pure intellectual or fiscal meritocracy. Just read Nick Denton's good-bye letter. It's not a revelation that power tends to consolidate.

"I think a lot of folks," Oxenford says, "looked at the internet and said 'This is a way for more musicians [you could put nearly any creative profession in place of 'musicians'] to make money.' But you still have the hierarchy [in place]... the same way it has been forever!" The only novel thing is the speed at which we've been able to watch the Wild West become Los Angeles.
Rashi Bajaj was three months old when her parents got her to the small town of Bhadohi in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, after her birth in Kolkata; the town had no infrastructure to speak of, no roads nor electricity. Her parents had moved to Bhadohi to set up a small business where they could manufacture and export hand-knotted carpets. Since there were no good schools there either, she was packed of to a boarding school at the tender age of eight.

Rashi shares I left for my boarding school in 1993 and spent all my schooling, graduation and post graduation years in various cities across the country. After my M.B.A, I moved to Hyderabad to work for Infosys and during one of my trips to Bhadohi, my father shared that the the once flourishing carpet industry had taken a huge hit as the younger generation of skilled laborers did not wish to stay in a rural area or become weavers like their parents. Most of them migrated to bigger cities and took up odd jobs there. With China rising as a competition and the European economy weakening, business in Bhadohi was becoming very difficult.

In 2009, Rashi got married & moved to Delhi. She says This was also a time when my entrepreneur husband got to know more about the Indian carpet industry because of his frequent visits to Bhadohi. While I was still thinking of taking up a corporate job after moving to Delhi from Hyderabad, he envisioned launching a carpet brand which was born in India but would be known across the world. He was convinced that in todays era of fast food, machine made things, augmented reality etc., a hand-woven carpet, made painstakingly knot by knot, would definitely be something of a novelty. We decided to get into the business of hand knotted carpets and thus was born Carpet Couture - an Indian brand of luxury carpets & rugs.

Working With Artisans.

Rashi says that initially it was quite difficult to interact with the weavers at the factory level. She shares While in Delhi I had to interact with clients, which was not an issue at all. In fact something very interesting that I experienced was whenever I worked with a female client, they were very supportive of my work. Most of them always mentioned how refreshing it was to see a female selling carpets! However in Bhadohi, at the factory, the weavers were not used to listening to a female at all and initially, I faced some resistance from them but eventually they did get used to it and now whenever I visit the factory they are very comfortable around me. Rashi paid the artisans more than double the regular wages to help survive this dying art and to encourage them to continue weaving magic.

Challenges And Rewards/Awards.

Rashi opines Handmade carpet industry in India is full of challenges. Availability of good quality raw material is difficult. This is where we really lose out especially in the international market where we compete mainly with China. They have excellent raw material availability coupled with skilled labour and advanced machinery and hence have the ability to come out with a product that is excellent in quality at only a slightly higher price. Also in India, there are no formal training schools / centers or skill enhancing opportunities for weavers, tufters, spinners or other skills that are required to make a good quality carpet. With all these challenges we are trying our level best to improve quality as much as possible with the available resources and even trying to put processes in place. Today I am proud to say that our carpets adorn the floors of many houses, villas, private jets/yachts and five star hotels across the world like Taj Vivanta, Amritsar, Mariott- Jaisalmer, Conrad Bengaluru & many prestigious hotels in Middle East and we are clocking Rs.7 crores annually. In this journey of 7 years, Carpet Couture has won several awards both in India & abroad. Rashi won the Stevie Award in New York for Young Women Entrepreneur twice - in 2013 and 2014; Enterprising Women of the Year award by The Enterprising Women Foundation, Cary, NC in 2015, and in 2016, she got the "Prashashti Samman National Award for Excellence as an Emerging Entrepreneur.

Inspirations

Rashi says For me inspiration comes in many ways. When I travelled outside the country and saw how carpets & rugs made by Indian artisans were adorning the floors of the most prestigious buildings of the world, I was inspired to take this legacy forward and desired to take these to each and every country on this planet. My everyday inspiration comes from countless women who multi-task and manage so many things like home, children, family, social obligations and their jobs so well. I am so inspired & encouraged by the women of today who just do not give up. For design inspiration, Rashi likes to base them on things that surround us like nature or the colours of nature. Even monuments, ruins and antiques have inspired her collections. She adds One of my collections is studded with Swarovski crystals and the inspiration comes from the night sky..

Future Plans.

Rashi says of her future plans I want the carpets & rugs from Carpet Couture to be in every nook & corner of the world. I also want to come up with new & improved yarns, new weaving techniques and new design concepts. This requires a lot of R&D and doing this along with regular business is a huge challenge but that is surely on my wish list and agenda.

Advice To Budding Entrepreneurs.



Rashi has learnt over the years that one should know each and every aspect of ones business. She elaborates As a business owner you have to understand & execute everything from production, packaging, marketing , client servicing, feedback, advertising, employee management, accounts, finance & HR. Even if you hire the best talent from the industry, the first step has to be taken by you. You have to make the first sale, you have to handle the first customer complaint, you have to decide and execute the first marketing campaign & you have to handle the first and many employee grievances on your own. A business owner can never say Thats not my job!

Images Courtesy : Rashi Bajaj and Carpet Couture.


By Andrew MacAskill and Sinead Cruise LONDON (Reuters) - At an English country mansion last month, lawyers for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) sat down with representatives of angry shareholders to broker an end to what may end up being the costliest case in British legal history. The meeting at The Grove, an 18-century estate near London that served as the secret World War Two HQ for Britain's biggest railway company, was convened to persuade investors to drop claims they were misled into stumping up 12 billion pounds just a few months before the bank's bailout in 2008. But the low-profile gathering came to nought, an outcome that could have huge implications for Royal Bank of Scotland's recovery as it risks adding up to 6 billion pounds to the lender's litigation bill, lawyers said. Once a small Scottish retail bank, RBS staged a meteoric rise to global prominence over two decades with an aggressive expansion that threatened to topple the UK financial system. By early 2008, bad bets on toxic mortgage debt, increased loan defaults and a highly leveraged takeover spree had left RBS's balance sheet in desperate need of capital, and management turned to investors for the ill-fated cash call. More than 35,000 shareholders who took part, including some of Britain's biggest institutional investors and public pension funds, allege RBS deliberately concealed the extent of its financial woes when it raised the money in April 2008. The bank succumbed to a 45.5 billion pound bailout just six months later in October and has since failed to post an annual profit. The shares issued in the rights issue have lost nine-tenths of their value, and the investors who bought them now want to be compensated. At the meeting at The Grove, RBS offered investors about 700 million pounds, according to two sources present, but the claimants reckon they should get 4 billion pounds in damages, plus another 2 billion in interest and legal fees. "They are offering pennies when we are after pounds," said one lawyer, who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential. "We are never going to meet in the middle. So we are now focused on pursuing the actions through the courts." TOO FAR APART The next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8 at the High Court in London. Over the next few months lawyers on both sides will learn who will be called as witnesses. Former RBS Chief Executive Fred Goodwin, who has shouldered the blame for the bank's rapid demise from national treasure to national disgrace, is likely to be called, dealing another blow to the lender's efforts to draw a line under its troubled past. RBS, which is now 70 percent state owned, has always denied any wrongdoing and said its former bosses did not act illegally. "We continue to strongly defend these claims," the bank said in a statement. "We have always been clear that the bank is open to exploring an out of court resolution to matters, consistent with our legal obligations," RBS said. The bank flew in commercial dispute resolution specialists from the United States and New Zealand to mediate at The Grove, one of the sources said, demonstrating the lender's desire to avoid a lengthy stint in court. "We all thought we were going to get a deal," said another source at the talks. "The strategies are going to evolve over the coming months, but I think the parties are too far apart to get a deal." Scheduled to begin in March, the case comes just as RBS is preparing to settle a record U.S. fine for mis-selling mortgage bonds before the crisis and shows how deeply the 2008 financial crisis haunts what was once the world's biggest bank by assets. The investor lawsuit says RBS made no mention in its prospectus for the cash call that its capital levels had fallen below the regulatory minimum; that the government had ordered the bank to raise the cash, or that RBS was already using $11.9 billion of "secret" loans from the U.S. Federal Reserve. INFORMATION TRAIL The first part of the trial to establish if RBS must compensate shareholders is scheduled to last six months. If it loses, another case may decide how much it must pay and lengthy appeals are expected, sources close to the matter said. So far, RBS has been forced to disclose 25 million pieces of information, including private emails and other messages sent by senior executives at the time, to lawyers who are hoping to prove that management deliberately hid evidence of the bank's deteriorating health before shareholders were tapped for cash. The initial stage of the trial is expected to generate defence and prosecution fees of about 140 million pounds because of the number of claimants and the complexity of the case, according to four sources working on it. If those estimates are correct, the case will become the most expensive in British legal history, exceeding the almost 100 million pounds of costs incurred during the News Corporation phone-hacking trial. But some of the bank's shareholders say the U.S.-style shareholder class action suit against RBS is counterproductive and will just delay the point at which the bank can return capital to shareholders by resuming dividend payments. "Institutional investors suing themselves for the enrichment of the lawyers is bananas but it is what it is," one shareholder, who declined to be named, told Reuters. "It chips away at the investment case, which is the return of surplus capital." "Analysts typically have a few billion for the Department of Justice (settlement) but they've not had much in for the shareholder litigation ... you could be thinking, what surplus capital?" the investor said. RBS CEO Ross McEwan has admitted he is worried about the damage the case could inflict on the bank's battered reputation but he has also said he could not agree to a settlement that was unreasonable and is ready to fight if the case reaches court. "We have to assess this from many angles. One of those is the public reputation but the other one is for our shareholders ... we shouldn't be signing up for something that we don't think is fair," he told reporters this month. "It will be very public. But so be it."
There continues to be widespread concerns about the global economy. Many are wary of a chronically disappointing recovery, reeling from the aftermath of another crisis de jour in Brexit and in a world which now boasts negative sovereign bond yields as commonplace.

Perhaps global growth fears are best illustrated by the unconventional, massively accommodative economic policies for the first time being employed in concert about the globe.

These panicky policy responses being employed not only in the U.S. but also by Japan, the Eurozone and China are fueling fears that the recovery is in trouble and the current surprising stock market run is simply a sugar high without any fundamental underpinnings.

However, we believe the first synchronization of economic policies in this recovery is likely to produce a rare global synchronized economic bounce. While the U.S. has persistently employed stimulus, other developed and emerging economic policies have often been in conflict. Today, though, Japanese policy officials are no longer hesitant but rather are implementing full-out Bernanke stimulus.

Likewise, the Eurozone, which earlier adopted fiscal tightening, is now also fully embracing central bank balance sheet expansion. Moreover, the oil crisis has forced energy-based economies like Canada and Australia, which earlier felt sheltered from many ongoing global struggles, to recently boost accommodation.

Finally, China is no longer attempting to moderate its recovery as it was until 2015 but rather is using all weapons (a collapse in its sovereign bond yield, a surge in the growth of its money supply and a more aggressive Yuan devaluation) to quicken growth. While few may expect it, economic policies around the world are finally attuned suggesting the odds of a synchronized global economic bounce may be far greater than widely perceived.



Indeed, a global economic upturn may already be underway. As illustrated by the enclosed chart, the Westpac Positive Surprise Global Index has surged since March to one of its best levels of the recovery. This index measures the percentage of global economic releases beating consensus estimates in the previous 8 weeks. Based on economic surprises, global economic momentum has changed quickly this year. In late February, this index was weaker than 94 percent of the time in this recovery.

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Now, a few months later, most major economies have positive surprise readings and the overall global surprise index is better than 82 percent of the time. Perhaps because global economic momentum has improved so fast in recent months, most simply do not yet fully appreciate the change.



With the exception of sovereign bond yields, improving economic momentum is also increasingly suggested by the financial markets. The U.S. stock market has reached new record highs and is up by about 25 percent from lows earlier this year. Similarly, in U.S. dollar terms, the MSCI all country ex-U.S. stock price index has risen by about 16 percent from early year lows and the MSCI emerging market stock price index has jumped by about 33 percent!

Moreover, the global stock market rally is broadening around a "better economic growth" theme. Increasingly, it is being led by higher beta and more economically-sensitive sectors including technology, industrials, materials, energy, small capitalization stocks and emerging market stocks.

The U.S. commodity market is also signaling better economic momentum. Crude oil prices have risen by about 85 percent from early-year lows while the overall S&P GSCI U.S. commodity price index has recovered by about 36 percent! Even the Journal of Commerce industrial commodity price index (those commodities most sensitive to economic activity), has risen by 22 percent from January lows.

Finally, while sovereign bond yields have not yet responded much to improved economic growth (are they being overly manipulated by global policy officials?), corporate bond yield spreads continue to tighten about the globe reflecting lower credit risk implied by improved economic momentum.

In a rare show of solidarity, policy officials everywhere are attempting to improve the economic recovery, economic surprise indexes have strengthened considerably across the globe and the financial markets are increasingly reflecting better economic momentum.

While we are not forecasting strong economic growth any time soon, we do suggest investors consider an outcome which few expect  a synchronized global economic bounce. This would certainly force a change in the consensus view, boost earnings expectations, quicken the exit strategy by the U.S. Federal Reserve and suddenly make the recent stock market move appear much more fundamentally supported.

Commentary by Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist and economist, Wells Fargo Capital Management, a unit of Wells Fargo Capital Management.



Follow CNBC's Opinion section on Twitter @CNBCopinion.
On Aug 23, Zacks Investment Research updated the research report on industrial goods manufacturer Regal Beloit Corporation RBC.



Headquartered in Beloit, WI, Regal Beloit is a leading manufacturer of electrical and mechanical motion control products. The company offers a wide array of stock model and customized electric motors, blowers, electric generators, transfer switches, switchgear, valves, gearboxes, power generation components and controls. Regal Beloit has manufacturing, sales and service facilities throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. The company markets its products to a diversified customer base across the globe including OEMs, distributors and end users.



Macroeconomic Woes



Regal Beloit reported lackluster second-quarter 2016 results with a significant year-over-year decline in net sales and adjusted earnings owing to macroeconomic woes. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.14 per share compared with $1.53 per share in the year-ago quarter and well behind the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.26.



Net sales fell to $838.6 million from $942.2 million in the year-earlier quarter owing to adverse foreign currency translation and an adverse impact due to divestitures. Quarterly revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $860 million.



Regal Beloits second-quarter results were severely impacted by the fragilities in the oil & gas sector and the overall industrial end markets. The company expects its sales to be affected by the continued weakness in industrial markets. Consequently, the company revised its guidance for 2016 and anticipates adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $4.35 to $4.55, significantly down from the earlier projection of $4.40 to $4.80.



Electric motor manufacturing is a highly competitive and fragmented industry. With intensifying competition, Regal Beloit is witnessing a decline in its product prices, which is denting its overall margin. Moreover, the company has to continually invest heavily in R&D to introduce newer value-added products to cushion itself from competition. All these limit the companys profitability to some extent.



Regal Beloit also faces increased concentration risks as a significant amount of its revenue is obtained from a handful of customers. Loss of any of these customers could adversely impact the companys top line.



Nevertheless, Regal Beloit continues to focus on prudent investment decisions for disciplined capital allocation, strong and flexible balance sheet position and cash flow enhancement to support dividend growth. We believe that such moves along with its robust operating platform and an efficient management team will help in the execution of its strategic priorities and drive net asset value and dividend growth in the future.



Other Stocks to Consider



Regal Beloit currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry include Franklin Electric Co., Inc. FELE, EnerSys ENS and AO Smith Corp. AOS, each holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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Every day, the scope of alleged Russian hacking against U.S. organizations widens. On Tuesday, CNN reported that the FBI is investigating hackers believed to be working for Moscow who carried out a series of cyber breaches targeting reporters at the New York Times and other U.S. news organizations.

But later on Tuesday, the Times reported that CNN had overstated the nature of the attack on the paper. Hackers, likely working on behalf of Russia, had attempted to breach the Times Moscow bureau. The paper has no evidence they breached its computer systems there.

The Times reported that the FBI was looking into the attempted hack. An anonymous government official told the paper that the FBI has no investigations underway of such episodes at other news organizations.

The cable news outlet cited anonymous U.S. officials briefed on the matter and said that the FBI, along with other agencies, are investigating the attempted breach at the Times. The officials speaking to CNN said the intrusions at the paper and other outlets were detected in recent months and said they had been part of a campaign that has also targeted Democratic Party organizations.

The FBI declined to comment, and the Times did not respond to FPs questions about the reports veracity.

We are constantly monitoring our systems with the latest available intelligence and tools, Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Times, told the paper. We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised.

If the CNN report is in fact correct, the hacking of the Times and other outlets would hardly come as a surprise. Cybersecurity experts who have studied the activities of Russian state-sponsored hackers say that the groups target a wide range of U.S. groups  from companies, defense contractors, NGOs, think tanks, to government entities and members of the media.

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But organizations that have been targeted by hackers are typically loath to go public with that information  for fear of damage to their reputation or for fear of lawsuits. The full scope of Russian hacking is all but certainly broader than the range of organizations that have so far been named as targets. These include, so far, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, some Republican officials, the Trump campaign, and, now, the Times, in addition to other unnamed media outlets.

Members of the media represent attractive targets for state-sponsored hackers. In touch with government sources and a large number of individuals, journalists can give state-backed hackers insight into which government officials matter, the future direction of policy, and future media coverage.

State-sponsored hackers have previously targeted the Times: In late 2012 and early 2013, Chinese operatives broke into the email accounts of several reporters working for the paper. That breach appeared to have come in retaliation for a series of articles documenting the fantastic wealth of senior Chinese officials; reporters who had worked on that story were specifically targeted.

The apparent Russian hacking campaign against U.S. organizations became a major issue in the presidential campaign after what are believed to be Russian hackers broke into the computers of the Democratic National Committee. WikiLeaks posted emails from the group that led to major discord within the party and the resignation of party chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

That, in turn, led the Clinton campaign to accuse Moscow of trying to tilt the election toward GOP nominee Donald Trump, who has espoused a series of policies welcomed by Russia.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday said police officers cannot stop and search vehicles belonging to out-of-state motorists simply because of where they reside, including states where marijuana use is legal.

By a 2-1 vote, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said two Kansas Highway Patrol officers violated the constitutional rights of Colorado motorist Peter Vasquez in December 2011 by pulling him over and searching his car after he had been driving alone at night on Interstate 70.

The officers relied heavily on Vasquez's residency to justify the search, which uncovered nothing illegal, saying Colorado was a known "drug source" where marijuana is legal.

But the court said that would justify searching motorists from the 25 U.S. states that permit marijuana use for medical purposes, and the four states, including Colorado, plus Washington, D.C., where recreational use is allowed.

"It is time to abandon the pretense that state citizenship is a permissible basis upon which to justify the detention and search of out-of-state motorists, and time to stop the practice of detention of motorists for nothing more than an out-of-state license plate," Circuit Judge Carlos Lucero wrote.

"Absent a demonstrated extraordinary circumstance, the continued use of state residency as a justification for the fact of or continuation of a stop is impermissible," he added.

The decision revived Vasquez's civil lawsuit seeking damages from officers Richard Jimerson and Dax Lewis for violating his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. A lower court judge had dismissed the case in November 2014.

Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich dissented, saying the case was a "close call" but that reasonable officers might have thought Vasquez's travel plans suspicious and the search acceptable.

Jennifer Rapp, a spokeswoman for Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, said he intends to ask the entire appeals court to review the panel's decision.

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Vasquez, now 37, said in a telephone interview that the decision shows that "police officers shouldn't be able to do whatever they want" because they wear badges.

"I'm ecstatic," said Vasquez, who now lives in San Antonio.

The 10th Circuit decision applies in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

The case is Vasquez v Lewis et al, 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 14-3278.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Baghdad (AFP) - Rights groups said Wednesday that the executions by the Iraqi state of 36 men over a 2014 massacre claimed by the Islamic State group were failing to deliver justice and security.

Iraq on Sunday hanged 36 men found guilty of involvement in the killing of up to 1,700 military recruits who were captured by IS and allied militants from Camp Speicher, near the city of Tikrit.

The executions came after trials that rights watchdogs and the United Nations said failed to meet most basic standards.

"When such a high-profile trial as this is mired with due process violations, what faith can anyone, on any side, have in Iraq's justice system," asked Human Rights Watch in a statement.

HRW pointed out that among the 36 who were hanged were 24 men who had an earlier death sentence in the same case overturned over procedural errors.

The group of defendants was then expanded and death sentences handed down again in February 2016 after a one-day hearing.

Amnesty International also criticised the hangings.

"Executing men who were forced to 'confess' under torture and were not given a proper chance to defend themselves is not justice," the London-based group said.

"Relying on executions to counter Iraq's security challenges is completely misguided. It does not address the root causes of deadly attacks and will only serve to perpetuate the cycle of violence," it argued.

According to Amnesty, at least 81 executions have been carried out in Iraq so far this year and at least 123 people sentenced to death.

Sunday's hangings were attended by officials and relatives of Speicher victims.

The Speicher massacre is considered one of IS's worst crimes since it took over large parts of the country in 2014 and proclaimed its "caliphate".
Accused murderer Robert Durst will be getting the Lifetime treatment in a new scripted film, TheWrap has learned.

The untitled drama will be adapted from the book A Deadly Secret: The Bizarre and Chilling Story of Robert Durst by Matt Birkbeck, and will be told through the eyes of Dursts first wife and alleged victim, Kathleen.

Bettina Gilois is writing the adaptation, which is described as being in early development, while Linda Berman is producing with Lincoln Square, A+E Studios and Lifetime.

Also Read: Robert Durst Gets 7-Year Prison Sentence in Plea Deal

Durst garnered notoriety after HBO documentary The Jinx became a sensation, made all the more irresistible when its finale captured the alleged killer confessing to his crimes when he didnt realize his microphone was on  airing just one day after Durst himself was arrested in New Orleans.

The murder suspect was returned to L.A. following extradition orders. He had been in New Orleans, where he was arrested for the murder of his friend Susan Berman in March.

In 2000, police were preparing to question Berman, a friend of Dursts, in the investigation of the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack.

Also Read: Robert Durst Pleads Guilty to Gun Charges, Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

Before they were able to get to Berman, she was found in her Benedict Canyon, California, home shot to death execution-style, on Dec. 24, 2000.

L.A. district attorneys reopened the Berman case after evidence was revealed during The Jinx that further implicated Dursts involvement.

On March 14, just one day before the shocking finale of The Jinx would air, Durst was taken into custody on a first degree murder warrant out of Los Angeles County. On March 16, Louisiana State Police filed charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with a controlled substance against Durst.

Related stories from TheWrap:

'The Jinx' Robert Durst to Be Extradited to Los Angeles

'Making a Murderer' Review: Netflix True-Crime Series Picks Up Where 'The Jinx,' 'Serial' Left Off

'The Jinx's' Robert Durst Sued for $100 Million by Missing Wife's Family
(Adds comment from Rusoro board member, background on dispute)

By Jim Finkle

TORONTO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Canada's Rusoro Mining Ltd said on Tuesday it has been awarded more than $1.2 billion by a World Bank tribunal that ruled Venezuela had unlawfully seized the company's gold assets four years ago.

Shares in the Vancouver-based mining firm, which is backed by Russia's Agapov family, more than doubled on Tuesday, trading for as much as 32 cents - their highest level since Venezuela's asset seizure.

Rusoro, whose shares had a market value of C$83 million ($64 million) prior to Tuesday's rally, was one of about 20 Canadian miners and other international firms that filed complaints with the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, over Venezuela's action.

Rusoro, which was the largest gold miner operating in the South American country before the asset seizure, said the ICSID determined that Venezuela had unlawfully expropriated the company's investments without paying compensation.

ICSID representatives could not be reached for comment. The organization's website confirmed that a final ruling in the case had been issued on Monday, but did not provide details.

It was not immediately clear whether Venezuela intended to comply with the order, which stemmed from disputes over a 2011 law that targeted international gold firms as part of an effort to overturn "the serious impact of the capitalist mining model."

While Canada's Gold Reserve Inc this month disclosed it had reached a settlement on a similar case, Venezuela has said it would fight an order from the same tribunal that it pay $1.4 billion to Canadian miner Crystallex International Corp over similar claims.

Rusoro, which has no employees or revenue, is "optimistic" that it can reach a final financial settlement with the Venezuelan government to end the five-year dispute, board member Gordon Keep told Reuters.

The board would probably return to shareholders "a good chunk" of any funds received, Keep said.

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Representatives of Venezuela's mining ministry could not be reached for comment.

The Gold Reserve deal calls for Venezuela to pay $770 million in damages and interest by the end of this year and buy technical mining data from the company for $240 million.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle in Toronto; Additional reporting by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru and Diego Ore in Caracas; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Christian Plumb and Paul Simao)
From Cosmopolitan

Ryan Lochte may finally be starting to feel the effects of his lie about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio.

On Monday, Speedo, Ralph Lauren, Airweave, and Syneron Candela all terminated their contracts with the swimmer, costing him approximately $1 million in annual sponsorship money that would have likely gone toward paying for his training for Tokyo 2020.

The official response regarding our sponsorship of Ryan Lochte. pic.twitter.com/0DdP2RyceD - Speedo USA (@SpeedoUSA) August 22, 2016

Speedo was the first to terminate their contract with the swimmer, saying they would donate $50,000 of Lochte's fee to Save The Children, a charity dedicated to helping kids in need in Brazil.

"While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for," they said in a statement. "We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience."

Shortly after, Ralph Lauren announced the termination of their contract with Lochte, as well, saying the endorsement deal was "specifically in support of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games," and they "will not be renewing his contract." Airweave offered a similar explanation for cutting ties with Lochte. However, both emphasized they would still continue to support other athletes at both the Olympics and Paralympics.

Syneron Candela, which produces a variety of skin-care and hair removal products, also released a statement Sunday, stating Lochte's actions did not live up to the company's standards.

"We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners," they said in a statement. "We wish Ryan well on his future endeavors and thank him for the time he spent supporting our brand."

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So far Lochte has only responded to Speedo's decision, issuing a statement thanking them for their support over the years.

"I respect Speedo's decision and am grateful for the opportunities that our partnership has afforded me over the years," he said. "I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved together."

Originally, Lochte claimed he and fellow Team USA swimmers James Feigen, Jack Conger, and Gunnar Bentz had been robbed at gunpoint two weeks ago after a night of partying. Authorities quickly discovered what had actually happened was the swimmers had vandalized a local gas station and came up with the story to avoid getting into trouble. Conger and Bentz were allowed to leave Rio after admitting to authorities Lochte had made the whole thing up, while Feigen was allowed to leave after making an $11,000 donation to Reaction Institute, a local charity.

Additional reporting from the Associated Press.

Follow Gina on Twitter.
The national flag hangs at half mast to mourn the passing of former president S.R. Nathan at the parliament house in Singapore August 23, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su



Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has sent a letter to Mrs Nathan to express his condolences on the passing of the late president S R Nathan.

The two-page letter sent on 23 August hailed Nathans varied and stellar public service career, which took him to the unions where he played an instrumental role in preventing the Communists from taking over Singapore.

After Singapore became independent, Nathan also helped build up Singapores diplomatic networks, as well as his contributions to the Security and Intelligence Division (SID), before returning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as Permanent Secretary. He then retired from the civil service.

Lee, who had known Nathan for almost 40 years, also noted Nathans contribution in later years. During his presidency from 1999 to 2011, Nathan established the Presidents Challenge to help the less fortunate in Singapores society.

And even after stepping down as president, Nathan never stopped giving back to Singapore sharing his experiences and insights with a younger generation of diplomats, students and Singaporeans when he joined the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and the Nanyang Technological Universitys S Rajaratnam School of International Studies as Distinguished Senior Fellow.

Lee concluded, I remember him as a man who lived his life guided by a deep sense of duty to the nation. Without fail, he stepped up each time. He was a true son of Singapore.


By Richard Lough PARIS (Reuters) - When Nicolas Sarkozy went fishing for votes in the electoral waters of France's far right for a second presidential term in 2012 it ended in defeat, as voters alienated by his rhetoric and disappointed by a moribund economy deserted him. Fast forward four years and the conservative is banking on a change in mood. Islamist attacks on French soil have killed some 230 people since January, 2015. Europe's migrant crisis has exacerbated concerns about immigration and fueled the rise of far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen. An Ifop poll in July showed security trumping unemployment as the hot-button issue of the 2017 race despite an economic malaise and Sarkozy's comeback bid pitches him as a president who would be tough on security and immigration. In a new book entitled "Everything for France", to be published on Wednesday, Sarkozy courts National Front voters with a promise to limit the right to French nationality of children born to immigrants. He pledges to suspend the right of immigrants to bring immediate family members to live in France until the European Union draws up what he says is a coherent immigration policy. And he vows to "drastically reduce" the number of migrants France accepts and end economic migration within five years. By promising to ban the Muslim head scarf from universities and public companies he furthermore presents himself as an energetic defender of the secular state that is a key part of France's identity. Sarkozy said France's biggest battle would be how "to defend our lifestyle without giving into the temptation of cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world," a veiled reference to British voters' decision in June to leave the European Union - in part due to concerns over immigration. CHANGING CAMPAIGN The Nice attack on crowds celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday and the murder of a Catholic priest in a Normandy Church have shifted the focus of the campaign away from the economy and toward Sarkozy's strongest suit, said Frederic Dabi at pollster IFOP. At the turn of the year, opinion polls showed him well behind Alain Juppe, a mainstream conservative and his principal rival for the Republicains nomination, both among party supporters and the center-right more broadly. Now, Sarkozy leads Juppe by 63 percent to Juppe's 36 percent among the party faithful, an Elabe poll showed on Tuesday. However the primary is open to any voter who pays 2 euros (dollars) and signs a pledge that they agree with the "values of the right and center". That wider constituency favors Juppe. The Elabe poll gave him 53 percent support to Sarkozy's 46 percent, underscoring the challenge facing the one-time interior minister. "Sarkozy is in the stronger position, even if - for now - Juppe remains ahead in voter support," said Dabi. "The primary race on the right will be somewhat hardline in tone. That doesn't have to mean that Juppe fails." "NOT SEEKING REVENGE" Monday's comeback announcement was vintage Sarkozy: drawing parallels between the challenges awaiting the next president with those that confronted war-time hero Charles de Gaulle, the architect of France's current political system. In his first term, Sarkozy's high-energy style and abrasive manner polarized voters, while his modest attempts at tax and labor market reform and limited success fostering job creation disenchanted both free-marketeers and leftist voters whom he had also assiduously courted to win election. After his May 2012 defeat to Francois Hollande, Sarkozy promised to quit politics altogether, but returned to the fray in September 2014 citing the need to rescue France from what he described as the socialist's catastrophic presidency. "I am not seeking revenge, I have no egotistical score to settle," Sarkozy said on social media on Monday as he announced his bid. While Juppe has kept a low profile over the summer -- campaigning for the primary in November is expected to hot up in the days ahead. Juppe holds a rally outside Paris this weekend. Sarkozy's leftist opponents, meanwhile, have been swift to attack the former president's social policies. "This policy platform is a platform for the division of French people, not their coming together," Socialist lawmaker Jean-Marie Le Guen told Europe 1 radio. Le Guen said Sarkozy's economic platform would favor the wealthy. Sarkozy's friendships with the rich, powerful and the world of showbiz earned him the nickname "President Bling Bling" and caused widespread distaste on the left but also in some conservative circles. ($1 = 0.8833 euros) (Additional reporting by Marine Pennetier; Editing by Jon Boyle)
By Will Caiger-Smith

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (IFR) - Schroders said it has made three senior hires for its New York credit and trading teams to help handle the growing global interest in the US credit markets.

The UK-headquartered asset manager said that David Knutson, formerly with Legal & General, is taking on a newly created role as head of credit research for the Americas.

Chris Eger, previously a credit trader at JP Morgan focused on domestic and Yankee banks, is joining as a portfolio manager, also in a newly created position.

Both will report to Wes Sparks, head of US credit.

Eric Skelton, formerly a credit trader at now-closed hedge fund Achievement Asset Management, is joining the global fixed income and FX trading team as a US credit trader.

That role is not newly created, but Schroders declined to say who Skelton was replacing.

Skelton will report to Gregg Moore, head of trading for the Americas.

The new hires reflect an increase in fund inflows, particularly from corporate pension funds and foreign financial institutions, said Karl Dasher, North America CEO of Schroders.

"We're seeing the US opportunity set become a larger proportion of global investor budgets, because of zero interest-rate and negative interest-rate policies in Asia and Europe," he told IFR.

"A significant part of what we are receiving globally is finding a home in the US and emerging markets, because that is where you can still receive some level of reasonable compensation for credit risk."

That demand should remain "relatively persistent" for the next five to 10 years, he said.

Schroders currently has over 150 employees focused on fixed income globally, with over US$125bn in assets under management as of March 2016.

It has 22 portfolio managers and researchers dedicated to US credit.

That number will increase when Schroders closes its acquisition of Brookfield Investment Management's asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities team in September.

(Reporting by Will Caiger-Smith; Editing by Marc Carnegie)
The marine emblem for the Australian state of Victoria is the weedy seadragon. But that doesnt stop seals from hesitating for even a moment as they hunt the unsuspecting prey under the Victorian seas.

This footage, taken by Seaford resident Pang Quong between 2012 and 2014, shows seals attacking the eye-catching marine animal, a fish which can only be found in Australian waters, according to Victorias Department of Sustainability and Environment. Credit: Pang Quong
Two witnesses have come forward claiming the alibi witness of Adnan Syed, the subject of the popular Serial podcast, told them she'd "make up a lie" to show Syed's innocence, PEOPLE confirms.



Asia Chapman, formerly Asia McClain, said that she was with Syed in a school library at the time prosecutors believe he killed his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. But two former classmates of Chapman's told the Maryland Attorney Generals Office in an email that her story is untrue.



"Chapman's story about seeing Adnan in the library the day Hae was killed is a lie," one of the witnesses, who are sisters, wrote. She noted that Chapman told them she would "make up a lie" because she "believed so much in Adnan [sic] innocence," according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. The documents were filed as part of an appeal by prosecutors of a judge's June decision to grant Syed a new trial.





Serial Subject Adnan Syed's Alibi Witness Promised to Lie to Free Him from Prison, Former Classmates Say| Crime & Courts, Death, Murder, True Crime, True Crime

The documents include a Facebook chat exchange between one of the witnesses and Chapman, with the woman writing, "I think it's sad [Syed] may actually be set free because of you and this fabricated story."



Lee was found strangled and dumped in the wooded area of a park in Baltimore. Syed, now 35, was convicted of her murder in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison.



 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.



Chapman's testimony was part of Syed's effort to land a new trial earlier this year. Among other alleged legal errors, lawyers claimed that Syed's former attorney Christina Gutierrez never contacted Chapman.



However, Judge Martin P. Welch's decision to grant a new trial wasn't based on Chapman's testimony but rather the reliability of cell tower evidence the prosecution used to place Syed was in the park where Lee's body was found.



The sisters, who were former classmates at Woodlawn High School, approached the attorney general's office this summer, after Syed was granted the new trial. Officials asked that the sisters' statements be used in court in the event that Chapman's story is introduced.





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The Story Behind the Story: Alibi Witness for 'Serial' Subject Adnan Syed Finally Gives Evidence in Court

Serial Subject Adnan Syed's Alibi Witness Promised to Lie to Free Him from Prison, Former Classmates Say" data-ad-channel="Brightcove" data-ad-subchannel="" data-auto-play="no">



The sisters told the attorney general's office that they tried to talk Chapman out of allegedly lying to help Syed.



"Both my sister and I (more so my sister) argued with Asia about how serious this situation was," one of the women said. "She just said that it wouldn't hurt anything  that if he truly was guilty, then he would be convicted."





Serial Subject Adnan Syed's Alibi Witness Promised to Lie to Free Him from Prison, Former Classmates Say| Crime & Courts, Death, Murder, True Crime, True Crime

Chapman's attorney, Gary Proctor, questioned the claims of the witnesses in a Monday statement, according to The Baltimore Sun.



"Given that the case is now before an appellate court, we question the timing of these bizarre, and wholly factually untrue, allegations," he said.
Part of The Seven Deadly Sins of American Politics, a series in which OZYs Sean Braswell examines the literal and metaphorical vices that grease the rails of American governments. See part one, on gluttony, here.

Even after 18 years, the Starr Report hasnt lost its ability to shock  not only because it documents a president being serviced in the White House by an intern but also because an independent counsel felt it was his sworn duty to record the details as if dishing the dirt in a junior high bathroom. So now, in the pages of junior high history textbooks  between images of the Berlin Wall and the twin towers  is the face of that intern, whos just as famous as those former landmarks for having gone down before the world.

Such a record is a testament to the timeless lure of sex and power  both for those who engage in sordid horseplay within the vestibules of power and for the rest of us who stoop to buy a newspaper, launch a congressional inquiry or fire up our computers to consume every salacious detail. And while the 1990s  bookended by a pubic-hair-laden can of Coke and the fall of a House speaker carrying on his own extramarital dalliance at the very time he was leading the presidential witch hunt  are particularly raunchy, the sin of lust in American politics has been coursing through the veins of the republic since its founding.

So, with Donald Trump pronouncing Bill Clintons sex scandal fair game again, let us summon our inner Kenneth Starr to investigate the history of this titillating sin, to satiate our deep yearning for, ahem, edification.

How Not to Get Caught Doing It in the White House

On the frigid afternoon of Jan. 20, 1961, a newly inaugurated John F. Kennedy uttered his famous Ask not what your country supplication. By that evening, as the libidinous president arrived at a party in Georgetown, he had a completely different kind of ask in mind: Where are the broads?

In addition to his name, looks and libido, Kennedy had inherited from his father, Joseph, a love of skinny-dipping with young women, a pastime he had the good fortune to pursue in the White House pool. When embarking on his candidacy for president, JFK had worried that his opponents would make hay of his rampant philandering, lamenting in a note to his staff, I suppose if I win  my poon days are over. His opponents refrained; Kennedy did not.

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Evolving mores of the American press meant that philandering politicians were temporarily spared public consequences for private misconduct. Today its a different story.

While no discussion of political sexploits is complete without JFK, his liaisons hardly stand alone in the annals of presidential politics. Warren G. Harding, for example, needed just a 5-square-foot coat closet in the White House for congress with his mistress  while a Secret Service member stood watch for the first lady. Franklin D. Roosevelt brazenly conducted a nearly 30-year affair with his wife Eleanors secretary.

Thanks to a cooperative press, canoodling by these commanders in chief went largely unreported, as did the indiscretions of the men running for the highest office in the land. Consider this: As his campaign bus pulled into a Midwest town at the end of a long day in 1956, a pent-up Estes Kefauver  senator, womanizer, presidential candidate  exclaimed, I gotta fuck! with Russell Baker of The New York Times right there. Baker refrained from taking the remark any further; Kefauver presumably did not.

Lusting After Politicians Personal Lives

But the press corps has not always been as deferential to politicians private lives as they were in the mid-20th century. In the late 19th century, muckraking journalism was rampant, even if it didnt always deter bad behavior. Grover Cleveland managed to win the presidency in 1884 despite siring an illegitimate child, committing the mother to an asylum and enduring taunts of Ma, Ma, wheres my pa?

Over time, however, the evolving mores of the American press  not to mention its cozy relationship to the political class  meant that philandering politicians were temporarily spared public consequences for private misconduct. Today its a different story. Watergate whetted the medias appetite for scandal, and an entire generation of reporters grew up believing sunlight was the best disinfectant for whatever was rotten in the state of American politics. In 1976, Jimmy Carter confessed to Playboy Ive committed adultery in my heart many times, and in 1987, Colorado Sen. Gary Hart was forced to abort his presidential campaign after three Miami Herald reporters broke the story of his alleged affair with model Donna Rice. (Harts campaign denied the accusation.)

The list of sex-scandalized politicians goes on: Anthony Weiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford and David Vitter, to name just a few (of the overwhelmingly male examples). And yet, despite the waves of scandal, the question remains: How relevant are a politicians personal transgressions to his public life?

Is Abstinence the Best Policy?

Theres never been a conclusive correlation between a politicians flawed personal life and his public performance. We can get a time machine and we can go back and we can throw out Franklin Roosevelt  and we can throw out John Kennedy and we can throw out pretty much every president of the 20th century, Matt Bai, a Yahoo News political columnist, tells OZY in The Contenders: 16 for 16, premiering on PBS next month. But I think history has proven well beyond a doubt that not everything about your marriage [and] your personal life is relevant to how youre going to govern.

Yet a dodgy personal life can lead to some very public consequences. Did Kennedys secret liaisons embolden him to take risky, clandestine chances in public affairs like the Bay of Pigs? Did Clintons personal impropriety compromise his second term in office? Sometimes that kind of personal behavior can expose a political figure to blackmail and to all kinds of political pressure, says Claremont McKenna College politics professor John J. Pitney Jr. At that point, sexual misbehavior stops being a private matter and becomes a security risk.

But to avoid such risks and restore our deflowered democracy, we need more than abstemious politicians  and reporters. The true test of our resolve depends on how well you, I or anyone can forgo the thrill of instant gratification once that clickbait headline appears or that news notification vibrates in our pocket. When temptation arises and we come across an article like this one, will we have the discipline to keep it in our pants? Or, when it comes to tales of political lust like the Starr Report, are we destined to respond like a pent-up Kefauver, bursting off that bus and exclaiming, I gotta read!?

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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC reminds investors that a securities class action has been filed on behalf of those who purchased shares of Eaton Corporation plc ("Eaton" or the "Company") (ETN) and certain of its officers, during the period between November 13, 2013 and July 28, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period").

This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").

The Complaint alleges that Defendants issued false and misleading statements regarding Eaton's ability to divest its automobile-part manufacturing business. Eaton has primarily focused on vehicle component manufacturing, but as of 2008, Eaton has extended its electrical component businesses. In 2012 Eaton entered a merger with Cooper Industries plc, which reincorporated Eaton in Ireland. Following the Merger, Eaton's executives guaranteed its shareholders of the feasibility of divesting the automobile-part manufacturing business on a tax-free basis, thus artificially inflating Eaton's stock price. On July 29, 2014, Eaton's Chief Executive Officer, Alexander M. Cutler, informed investors that due to the merger with Cooper Industries plc and the associated tax-law restrictions, Eaton would not be able to divest its vehicle business until late. Cutler added the Eaton was "well aware" of these restrictions "all along." Following this news, Eaton stock dropped $6.24 per share, or 8.13%, to close at $70.51 on July 29, 2014.

No Class has yet been certified in the above action. To discuss this action, or for any questions, please visit the firm's site: http://www.bgandg.com/#!etn/d4r9k or contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484 or via email info@bgandg.com. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address and telephone number. If you suffered a loss in Eaton, you have until September 23, 2016 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firm's expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz

212-697-6484 | info@bgandg.com

SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (SRNE) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty by the board of directors of the company. To obtain additional information, go to:

http://zlk.9nl.com/sorrento-therapeutics-srne

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
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 23, 2016 / Lundin Law PC (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit was filed against Eaton Corporation plc ("Eaton" or the "Company") (ETN) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between November 13, 2013 and July 28, 2014 inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period should contact the Firm in advance of the September 23, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline.

To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here. You can also call Brian Lundin, Esquire, of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or e-mail him at brian@lundinlawpc.com.

No class has been certified in the above action yet. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also choose to do nothing and be an absent class member.

According to the complaint, Eaton issued false and misleading statements about the Company's ability to divest its automobile-part manufacturing business. Since 2008, the Company shifted away from its vehicle business and expanded its electrical component businesses. In 2012, Eaton merged with Irish-headquartered Cooper Industries plc, which reincorporated the Company in Ireland. After the merger, Eaton executives assured investors of the continued feasibility of divesting the automobile-part manufacturing business on a tax-free basis. This kept the Eaton stock price artificially inflated. On July 29, 2014, Eaton's CEO Alexander M. Cutler informed investors that the Company could not feasibly divest the automobile-part business until late 2017 because of tax law restrictions related to the merger. Mr. Cutler also revealed that the Company was "well aware" of these restrictions all along. When this news was released, shares of Eaton decreased in value, causing investors harm.

Lundin Law PC was established by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding shareholders' rights.

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This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in certain jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contact:

Lundin Law PC

Brian Lundin, Esq.

Telephone: 888-713-1033

Facsimile: 888-713-1125

brian@lundinlawpc.com

http://lundinlawpc.com/

SOURCE: Lundin Law PC
During an interview on the FOX Business Networks Varney & Co. Tuesday, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke discussed Donald Trumps recent appeal to the African-American community.

The Democrats take the black vote for granted so they dont have to appeal to anything I havent heard Mrs. Clinton talk about the urban pathologies in the American ghetto that are the result of progressive urban policies  failed policies[Trump] is making an appeal. He is pleading to black Americans who are stuck in these ghettos. The American ghetto has replaced cotton fields where Democrats have gathered black [Americans] and these horrible miserable conditions all for political power, he said.

Even though black Americans have largely showed outward support for Democrats in previous presidential elections, Clarke said they have traditionally voted Republican.

It was Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, who freed the slaves. It was the Republicans in Congress [that] did the heavy lifting to get the Civil Rights Act passed as well as the voting rightsOnce we reconnect black people with their history their eyes will open and theyll see theyve been hoodwinked by this monolithic voting for Democrats, he said.

He also said the conditions of the American ghetto need to be discussed.

These progressive policies have wrecked some great American citiesLook at Chicago right now  455 murders to date. Thats more than the deaths of coalition forces in Afghanistan since the start of Obamas second term in 2013, he said.



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Dar es Salaam (AFP) - Sweaty passengers crammed into battered buses and stuck in traffic jams look on enviously as Tanzania's shiny new commuter buses fly by on the pristine asphalt of dedicated highway lanes.

In Dar es Salaam, the East African country's biggest city of five million people, rush hour has always meant chaos, until now.

The first phase of a new bus rapid transit system opened earlier this year offering a swift, clean alternative to the traditional "dala dala" buses, a twist on the English word "dollar" coined in the 1970s when the system started as an answer to inadequate public transport.

The new route cuts through 20 kilometres (12 miles) of the seaside city with two lanes of tarmac running down the middle of the existing highway.

When completed the route will extend for 130 kilometres, separated from the traffic by a crash barrier that prevents motorists from taking advantage of its free-flowing smoothness.

- 'Unique in East Africa' -

"Every day, hundreds of thousands of people lose time, and therefore money, in traffic jams, which have become a very big problem in Dar es Salaam," says Robert Lwakatare, head of the government agency responsible for overseeing the Dar Rapid Transit (DART) project.

A recent study estimated that traffic jams cost the Tanzanian economy $188 million (167 million euros) a year.

"It's amazing," says one young passenger who gave just her first name Judy, as a Chinese-made bus with bright blue-tinted windows pulls up to the platform.

There are 140 buses and 27 new stations in the transit system, enough to meet demand for the time being.

"Before I took two to two and a half hours to go into the centre of Dar es Salaam, and now it takes me 30 minutes," Judy said after scanning her ticket at an automated gate.

"This might seem normal in Europe, but it's not in our countries," says Lwakatare. "All this is unique in East Africa."

Story continues

The clean vehicles themselves are a far cry from the dilapidated dala dalas, of which there are 7,000 registered in Dar es Salaam today, according to African Development Bank figures.

The drivers on the new buses wear short-sleeved shirts, ties and neatly pressed trousers and politely ask passengers to sit before starting off. Aboard the dala dalas, passengers find any space they can, while drivers shout and conductors hang precariously from open doors.

- 'People still need us' -

The first phase of construction cost $290 million (260 million euros), mostly funded by a World Bank loan, and Tanzania is relying on the African Development Bank to fund the remainder of the project.

Lwakatare says that around 100,000 people already use the new buses every day, a figure predicted to rise to 300,000 in the months ahead.

Costing 400-800 Tanzanian shillings ($0.18-0.37, 16-32 euro centimes) the ticket price is a little more expensive than on the dala dalas, which are destined to be phased out as the new system comes online.

Part of the budget is earmarked for compensating dala dala owners, who have also been included in a private sector consortium to operate the network in partnership with the government DART agency.

A dala dala tout named Justin, in faded jeans and an old green and grey jumper, views the new buses and what they mean for his future with equanimity.

"For the moment, people still need us because the blue bus does not go everywhere and are a bit more expensive."

"Later, we'll see," he says with a shrug, "but I think there will always be a need for a cheaper service."
No fly? No way. American jets scrambled over northern Syria twice last week to chase away Syrian warplanes which had bombed U.S.-backed Kurdish forces  coming uncomfortably close to a group of American commandos advising the Kurds. Afterward, U.S. military leaders issued a stern warning to both the Syrians and Russians not to fly combat operations in areas where Americans are operating.

If that sounds like a no-fly zone, the Pentagon would respectfully disagree. Spokesman Peter Cook insisted Monday that we are going to tell the Syrians and anyone else who may threaten our force in that area that we will defend them and they have a right to defend themselves. But its not a no fly zone, he said.

In a long back-and-forth with reporters during a Monday press conference at the Pentagon, Cook also swiped at an issue that has long been the focus of debate: whether the United States would use force to protect U.S.-backed Kurdish and Syrian Arab rebels on the ground in Syria. Those forces that are taking the fight to [ISIS] and partnered with us, will enjoy the support of the United States, Cook said, adding, were going to continue to support, and protect, and provide that military support for our coalition forces andour coalition partnered operations on the ground.

Dangerous new fight for the Kurds. The Syrian bombing runs come amid heavy clashes between the Syrian regime and Kurdish forces, who have mostly kept a shaky peace in northern Syria. The Wall Street Journal points out that the fighting comes amid a warming of relations between Turkey and Mr. Assads allies Russia and Iran. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this month followed by a visit by Turkeys foreign minister to Iran. Kurdish leaders see the regimes new aggression toward their forces as a sign of a rapprochement between Syria and Turkey in a conflict with constantly shifting alliances.

On Tuesday, Syrian Kurdish forces said that after days of intense fighting with the Syrian army, they had gained control over almost the entire city of Hasakah, and that government forces were surrounded in a few buildings in the center of the city.

Deal or no deal. The top American military officer in Iraq says hes skeptical that Washington and Moscow can reach any real agreement to share intel on ISIS and Nusra front in Syria, but that he can get the job done, regardless. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who took command on Sunday, said as a soldier, Im fairly skeptical of the Russians, and hes hesitant to believe the coalition can cooperate with them. Secretary of State John Kerrys team is leading the talks with Russia, but speaking in Kenya on Monday, Kerry didnt sound like a man who was about to strike a deal. it is my hope that we are reaching the end of those discussions one way or the other, he said, adding, it is possible that something could be agreed at upon before the end of the month but I cant tell you whether its likely. I wouldnt express optimism  I would express hope.

Hack slack. War is messy, and mistakes are made. But in Russias information war against the West, mistakes are made and then published for all the world to see. FPs Elias Groll flags a good one, writing that after two supposedly independent hacking groups, believed by security experts to have ties to the Kremlin, posted the same documents stolen from a philanthropy run by George Soros. But the hack included a twist: Some of the documents taken by one group were altered in a bid to try and link Soros to Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, revealing how hackers likely working for Moscow are editing documents to smear their victims.

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

2016

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has insulted a Gold Star family, criticized Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for being captured in Vietnam, and suggested that troops in Iraq stole millions and millions of dollars in aid money for Iraq  and veterans overwhelmingly support him for president in recent polls. The Washington Post explores some former troops affection for Trump, finding that his calls for reform of the Department of Veterans Affairs, (newfound) distaste for U.S. intervention in Iraq, and a traditional preference for Republican candidates within the military have given him double digit support over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Still, in the end, the views offered by the vets dont sound all that much different from other civilians who support the Republican candidate.

China

Chinese military jets flew into South Koreas air defense identification zone (ADIZ) just as the two countries foreign ministers are set to meet. The Korea Times reports that three Chinese planes showed up at the margins of the two countries ADIZs, prompting South Korea to scramble fighter jets to intercept them. The incident comes before Wednesdays meeting of foreign ministers from Japan, China, and South Korea for talks in Tokyo. The talks are likely to touch on disagreement between China and South Korea over the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles. China opposes the deployment, fearing the system could be used to target Chinese missiles, as well as North Korean ones.

Europe

Finland is moving quickly to sign an agreement with the United States on closer military cooperation, Reuters reports. The deal doesnt involve NATO or commitments for collective defense, but would increase joint training and information-sharing. The move follows increased anxieties in traditionally neutral Finland over an increasingly aggressive Russia. Finnish officials are trying to hurry the agreement through in the waning days of the Obama administration before a new administration comes in.

Lithuania has signed a deal with Germanys Rheinmetall to armor up its military, according to UPI. The deal, worth $441 million, will supply 88 Boxer infantry fighting vehicles equipped with 30mm cannons. The vehicles are expected to be delivered through 2021.

Yemen

France may be lending military support to the Saudi-led coalitions war in Yemen, according to new satellite imagery. War Is Boring reports that hangars consistent with French designs show up in the latest Google Earth imagery of the United Arab Emirates-run Assab air base in Eritrea, which is used as a transshipment hub to support the war in Yemen against the Houthi movement. Little is known about whats in the hangars, but the distinctly French constructions follow a series of supportive recent statements from French leaders about the countrys commitments to its Gulf allies.

Phillippines

The Philippines new president Rodrigo Duterte has called for Filipinos to kill drug dealers in response to the long national problem of drug addiction, FPs Henry Johnson writes. Now, the country has responded, killing 1,900 people since Duterte came to office. The figures come from the Philippine National Polices top cop, Director-General Ronald dela Rosa, who said about 750 of the deaths are to due to police actions with the remaining 1,150 carried out by civilians. Dutertes calls for vigilantism have received harsh criticism, both at home and abroad, from close allies including the United States.

Photo Credit: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f186968%2fsleighbellsdemilovato

After calling out Demi Lovato for copyright infringement on Twitter last year, Sleigh Bells have taken the matter to court.

Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller filed a lawsuit alleging that "Stars," a bonus track on Lovato's 2015 album, Confident, rips off "Infinity Guitars" from the duo's 2010 debut album, Treats.

SEE ALSO: Demi Lovato wants bizarre Poot meme to stay in the basement it came from

"A comparison of the two songs reveals that, at the very least, the combination of the hand claps and bass drum, structured as 3 quarter beats and a rest, with the bass drum providing a counter-rhythm to the hand claps, is at least substantially similar in both works," according to the documents (below) filed in a California district court. "This infringing material repeats throughout the Defendants song."

Lovato by mashablescribd on Scribd

You can listen to both tracks below:

The band initially accused Lovato of sampling "Riot Rhythm" as well, but the law suit focuses on "Infinity Guitars," which was licensed by Samsung for a commercial.

The song's producers denied sampling Sleigh Bells and stated that Lovato had nothing to do with the production of the song, but the band remain confident they have a case against her.

Krause and Miller request $150,000 in damages and recuperation of their legal fees. Additionally, they seek a permanent injunction prohibiting the reproduction, distribution, sale, public performance or other use or exploitation of Infinity Guitars by Defendants.

It'll be tough sledding for Sleigh Bells: to prove copyright infringement in court, a jury must determine that offending song corresponds to the original's "deposit copy"  or sheet music. And since hand-claps and tub-thumps aren't generally represented on sheet music, arguing this case is going to be close to impossible.

Even Led Zeppelin got "Stairway to Heaven" cleared in court earlier this year, and the guitar riffs in question were pretty well documented on paper.
Sony might not have any surprises left for its upcoming PlayStation Meeting by the time September 7th rolls around. Over the weekend, someone got their hands on the unannounced PS4 Slim. Hours later, video footage of a new DualShock 4 controller began making the rounds. And now it appears that Sony itself has accidentally spoiled another announcement on the PlayStation Blog.

DON'T MISS: 5 best new features in Android 7.0 Nougat

Yesterday, Joel Smith, Art Director for the PS VR game PlayStation VR Worlds, published a post discussing the challenges of art direction when building virtual reality worlds. It was a fairly innocuous article, but some very astute readers realized that when they let their cursor hover over the final two images in the post, a line of text appeared, reading "PS Now on PC Announce Post":

PS Now on PC

There are really only two reasonable explanations for this occurrence:

Someone from the EU PlayStation Blog loves trolling gamers. Sony is about to announce PlayStation Now on PC.

In case you haven't heard of PlayStation Now, it's a cloud gaming service that allows PS4 owners to either rent PS3 games for a limited time or subscribe to access the full collection of PS3 titles at any time. It was an exciting idea on paper, but the fees have been exorbitant from day one and the addition of backward compatibility to Xbox One has made the service look even worse.

All of that said, bringing over 400 PS3 games to the PC is a great way to add value to the service. Maybe Sony will even take this opportunity to rethink the price of the service in order to get more gamers on board.

UPDATE: Sony confirmed the news on Tuesday afternoon. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, the PS Now app will launch "in parts of Europe soon and will come to North America shortly thereafter." Additionally, Sony will introduce a DualShock 4 USB Wireless Adapter for $24.99 to allow PS4 gamers to seamlessly connect their controllers to their PCs and Macs.

Story continues

PS4 USB Adapter

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
YouTube? Netflix? That stuff's old hat at this point. It's almost hard to remember a time when watching a movie meant having to go to a store.

Blockbuster Video

To say nothing of long downloads!

Bizarrely, there's no Netflix for video games  there's no easy streaming service that lets you play whatever game you want, immediately, without download. There is, however, one limited contender from Sony: PlayStation Now. It enables you to play "over 400" PlayStation 3 games over the internet, no download required.

That means great stuff like "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" and "Journey" and, well, it's a lot of games.

And now PlayStation Now is on your computer!

PlayStation 4 controller in a computer

That image above is a bit deceptive  that's a MacBook. PlayStation Now unfortunately isn't heading to the Mac just yet. It's PC only for now. It'll arrive in Europe "soon," with North America getting access "shortly thereafter," according to Sony.

That said, the PlayStation 4 gamepad (the "DualShock 4") is going to start working with your PC or Mac. And that means you can stream games from your PlayStation 4 to your Mac. How's that? Simple.

PlayStation 4 gamepad dongle

You may have also noticed a black USB stick in the MacBook above? Good eye. That's the new $25 device that makes the PlayStation 4 gamepad work with your PC or Mac. It arrives this September.

Of course, if you'd rather not buy the stick, you can always just plug your PS4 gamepad into your computer via USB. Check out the full library of PlayStation Now games right here.

NOW WATCH: The PlayStation 4 has the best VR headset  heres why





More From Business Insider


CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal's South African business and the country's government have agreed a new pricing model aimed at bolstering the domestic steel sector and reviving the economy. The company was fined a record 1.5 billion rand ($111 million) on Monday for setting prices at the level consumers would have to pay for imported steel, but Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies told parliament on Tuesday that it had agreed on a mechanism that would provide transparent pricing based on domestic prices in a number of other countries. The government of Africa's most industrialised country formed a team six years ago to find ways to lower domestic steel prices after consumers complained that the European group's South African subsidiary was charging high prices. "This has been the concern that we've had for a long time, that the price of domestically produced steel has been supplied in the market on the basis of what the import parity price would be," Davies said. The local price for flat steel products will now be calculated through a formula using the weighted average of domestic prices in countries such as Germany, the United States and Japan, but excluding China and Russia, Davies said. In future, when ArcelorMittal South Africa changes its flat steel prices, it will have to use a transparent mechanism based on the forecast basket prices of fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, as well as vehicle and other transport equipment, Davies added. "The basket aims to provide a fair price during boom and bust periods," he said. ArcelorMittal South Africa officials were not available to comment. South Africa, which has the only primary steel mill in sub-Saharan Africa, imposed a 10 percent import tariff last year to protect an industry hurt by cheaper Chinese imports. ($1 = 13.4800 rand) (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia and David Goodman)
* South Africa has proposed 20 pct tax on sugary drinks

* Industry body says tax to wipe out 14 billion from GDP

* National Treasury dismisses claims as 'scare tactics'

By Tanisha Heiberg

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A South African business lobby group warned on Tuesday that a proposed tax on sugary drinks will hurt the economy and lead to job losses, an assertion tossed aside by the government and health campaigners as fear-mongering propaganda.

The government has proposed a 20 percent tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to fight growing obesity in the continent's most lucrative market for Coca-Cola.

However, the Beverage Association of South Africa (BevSA), a non-profit organisation that represents the interests of the non-alcoholic drinks industry, said the levy would wipe 14 billion rand ($1.04 billion) from the economy, representing 0.4 percentage points of GDP growth, and cost as many as 70,000 jobs.

Coca-Cola's South African head Velaphi Ratshefola, also chairman of BevSA, said that implementation of the tax would force his company to rethink its investment plans over the next three years.

"It means we will postpone and reduce capex in the next two to three years," Ratshefola told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that the tax could also lead to a 25 percent drop in Coca-Cola volumes in the country.

The National Treasury dismissed BevSA's the industry comments on the impact of the tax -- first announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in February -- as speculative "scare tactics" aimed at frustrating the process.

"Claims of job losses are mere speculation at this stage of the process. The industry should not jeopardise constructive engagement on this issue by resorting to scare tactics," spokeswoman Phumza Macanda said.

National Treasury data shows that more than half of South Africa's adults are overweight, with 42 percent of women and 13 percent of men categorised as obese.

"We do believe there is a need to regulate. There is no nutritional value in the beverages that have sugar in them," said the Department of Health's head of communications, Popo Maja.

If the proposed law is passed, South Africa will join Mexico, France, Hungary and most recently Britain in introducing taxes on sugary drinks to fight obesity. ($1 = 13.4518 rand)

(Additional reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by David Goodman)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's finance minister has been told to report to a police investigating team on Thursday over allegations relating to a rogue tax unit, an online news service said on Tuesday, but a police spokesman said he knew nothing of the report. The elite Hawks police division is investigating a tax surveillance unit within the South African Revenue Service (SARS) set up in 2007 when the minister, Pravin Gordhan, was the commissioner of the revenue authority. Gordhan and four officials at SARS have been asked to report to the Hawks at 10am on Thursday, the online news service Daily Maverick said. Gordhan was informed that he would be receiving a 'warning statement' given to an accused person before they are charged with an offence, the report said. Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said he knew nothing about the report. In May, Mulaudzi said Gordhan was not a suspect and that police were not singling out the finance minister in its investigation of the surveillance unit. The rand fell nearly three percent after the story was published and was two percent weaker by 1629 GMT. Gordhan, who headed SARS from 1999 to 2009, has said the unit set up at the tax agency was lawful. Gordhan, who was reinstated as finance minister in December, said last week that a previous newspaper report of his imminent arrest was an attack on the Treasury. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana, Stella Mapenzauswa, Ed Stoddard and Kenichi Serino; Editing by Joe Brock and Richard Balmforth)
Harry Potter fans (Potterites) in South Korea will soon be able to read "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", the latest offering in the Potter canon, on their electronic devices, according to Publishing Perspectives.

Following on from China, who announced the new available "Cursed Child" format in late July, South Korea is the latest country to reveal plans for an e-book version of the playscript, as well as the seven Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling, all in Korean.

The eighth story from the series, and the only play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" picks up 19 years after the end of the last book, and follows the adventures and challenges faced by Harry Potter and his oldest son, Albus. Fans, while delighted that the Potter stories have not yet been exhausted, voiced disappointment that the story would only be available in a playscript format, and would be written by British playwright Jack Thorne, based on a story by Thorne, John Tiffany and Rowling. The show, divided into two parts, had its premiere on July 30 at London's Palace Theatre.

The US-based digital distribution firm Trajectory will work with three premiere retail partners in Korea -- Yes24, Kyobo Book Center and RidiBooks -- to sell the Harry Potter series and the latest playscript. Just as with the Chinese offering, the e-books will also be available in English, which will feature on a new English-language online store run by Trajectory.

Pottermore, the franchise's London-based publisher, chose Trajectory to manage the project overseas. The firm will work in partnership with digital content consulting agency Co.Mint, based in South Korea, to produce and distribute the eight Harry Potter e-books. The original seven have sold more than 450 million copies in 200+ territories worldwide, and have been translated into 79 languages.

The announcement comes alongside the news that Pottermore will release a series of e-book shorts from Rowling's wizarding world, entitled Pottermore Presents', on September 6. The e-books, each roughly 10,000 words long, will include short stories and first-person observations from Rowling.
Southside With You is a walk-and-talk romance between an attractive, well-educated couple on their first date on a warm summer evening in 1989, when both were young lawyers in Chicago - the couple being Barack Obama and his future wife, Michelle, then Michelle Robinson.

Richard Tanne's directorial debut, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, stars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter as the 20-something future first couple, with Obama a summer associate at the law firm where Robinson is a full-time associate.

"I am your advisor at your law firm. It would be tacky," Robinson says in an exclusive clip from the film, which The Hollywood Reporter is debuting. She offers several reasons why she and Obama can't pursue a romantic relationship, the most pressing of which being her unique, precarious position at the law firm as a minority female lawyer.

"How's it going to look if I start dating the first cute black guy that walks through the law firm's doors?," Robinson asks, rhetorically. "You think I'm cute?" Obama shoots back (not rhetorically).

In his Sundance review, THR film critic Todd McCarthy wrote, "[Southside With You] makes you realize how few realistic and three-dimensional date movies have been made in an era of throbbing hook-up encounters and R-rated horny teen gross-outs."

Southside With You hits theaters Friday.

Read more: Dressing the Obamas on Film: How The 'Southside With You' Costume Designer Defined the Power Couple

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Madrid (AFP) - They're young, mostly British, on holiday, drunk and sometimes high, and they decide to jump from their hotel or apartment balcony into the pool. But some miss and end up in hospital... or worse, dead.

The so-called "balconing" craze has taken off to such an extent in Spain's Balearic Islands that doctors at the Son Espases hospital in Palma de Majorca -- a major trauma centre -- decided to study what they call an "endemic" phenomenon.

"It's only the tip of the iceberg of a major phenomenon which is low-cost tourism involving young people who come here for the sun, beach and to consume alcohol in excess," says Juan Jose Segura, a surgeon and the study's lead author.

"All these people run the risk of suffering various accidents, traffic accidents, bar brawls... Everything revolves around alcohol consumption."

- Cost of 1.5 million euros -

The 2010-2015 study only covers patients who were treated in hospital and not those who died while "balconing" -- a term that refers to people who throw themselves into pools or fall while trying to get to another balcony or simply leaning over.

Altogether, the hospital treated 46 patients during that time, more than 60 percent of whom were British, followed by Germans and then Spaniards, the study found.

Only one woman was involved, all the others were men, aged 24 on average.

The fall itself was from an average height of eight metres (26 feet).

Alcohol was involved almost every time, and in close to 40 percent of the cases, drugs also played a role.

Altogether, the craze has cost 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million) in hospital fees, says Xavier Gonzalez, head of surgery at Son Espases who also participated in the study, as patients can remain in intensive care for a long time, some ending up paraplegic.

It is unclear exactly how many people have died from "balconing", but Spanish media have reported more than a dozen deaths over the past five years.

Story continues

"Initially... we had expected to find that these people had some sort of mental problem, or that they drunk a lot of alcohol on a daily basis," says Segura.

"But no, these are normal guys who in a festive context take bad decisions."

- 'Hit every balcony on way down' -

"Balconing" also happens on Spain's northeastern Costa Brava, but it is most prevalent in the Balearic archipelago, which includes Magaluf and Ibiza among its famous resorts which attract millions of visitors every year.

Further afield, Bulgaria has also been hit by the craze.

In a bid to curb the trend, authorities in the Balearic Islands have implemented measures -- printing preventative leaflets and handing out fines to people caught trying to jump from balconies.

"As a precaution, when they see a group of young people arrive, hoteliers no longer put them on top floors but on the ground floor," adds Gonzalez.

Britain has also tried to warn its nationals of the dangers of throwing themselves off balconies.

In 2012, the British foreign ministry published leaflets called "Booze and Balconies Don't Mix," using the story of Jake Evans from Liverpool.

Drunk, he fell from the seventh floor of his flat in Magaluf in 2011.

"I hit every balcony on the way down, as they jutted out like steps," he was quoted as saying.

"I landed on a sun lounger which broke my fall and probably saved my life.

"I fractured my skull, broke front teeth which pierced through my upper lip, snapped my right wrist and broke all the fingers on my right hand," he said.

"The accident has changed my life... I have recurring problems with my back and right wrist and doctors have told me I probably always will."
By Ned Parker and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON(Reuters) - Shiite militias in Iraq detained, tortured and abused far more Sunni civilians during the American-backed capture of the town of Falluja in June than U.S. officials have publicly acknowledged, Reuters has found. More than 700 Sunni men and boys are still missing more than two months after the Islamic State stronghold fell. The abuses occurred despite U.S. efforts to restrict the militias' role in the operation, including threatening to withdraw American air support, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. The U.S. efforts had little effect. Shiite militias did not pull back from Falluja, participated in looting there and now vow to defy any American effort to limit their role in coming operations against Islamic State. All told, militia fighters killed at least 66 Sunni males and abused at least 1,500 others fleeing the Falluja area, according to interviews with more than 20 survivors, tribal leaders, Iraqi politicians and Western diplomats. They said men were shot, beaten with rubber hoses and in several cases beheaded. Their accounts were supported by a Reuters review of an investigation by local Iraqi authorities and video testimony and photographs of survivors taken immediately after their release. The battle against Islamic State is the latest chapter in the conflict between Iraq's Shiite majority and Sunni minority, which was unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The war ended decades of Sunni rule under Saddam Hussein and brought to power a series of governments dominated by Shiite Islamist parties patronized by Iran. Washingtons inability to restrain the sectarian violence is now a central concern for Obama administration officials as they move ahead with plans to help Iraqi forces retake the much larger city of Mosul, Islamic States Iraqi capital. Preliminary operations to clear areas outside the strategic city have been under way for months. Sunni leaders in Iraq and Western diplomats fear the Shiite militias might commit worse excesses in Mosul, the countrys second-largest city. Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group, seized the majority-Sunni city in June 2014. "CENTRAL TOPIC" U.S. officials say they fear a repeat of the militia abuses in Mosul could erase any chances of reconciling Iraqs Sunni and Shia communities. "Virtually every conversation that we have had internally with respect to planning for Mosul - and virtually every conversation that weve had with the Iraqis - has this as a central topic," said a senior Obama Administration official. In public, as reports of the abuses in Falluja emerged from survivors, Iraqi officials and human rights groups, U.S. officials in Washington initially played down the scope of the problem and did not disclose the failed American effort to rein in the militias. Brett McGurk, the special U.S. envoy for the American-led campaign against Islamic State, expressed concern to reporters at a June 10th White House briefing for reporters about what he called reports of isolated atrocities against fleeing Sunnis. Three days before the briefing, Gov. Sohaib al-Rawi of Anbar Province informed the U.S. ambassador that hundreds of people detained by Shiite militias had gone missing around Falluja, the governor told Reuters. By the time of the White House briefing, Iraqi officials, human rights investigators and the United Nations had collected evidence of scores of executions, the torture of hundreds of men and teenagers, and the disappearance of more than 700 others. Nearly three weeks later, on June 28, McGurk struck a measured tone during testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said reports of abuses had been received in the early days of the operation, many of which have turned out not to be credible but some of which appear to be credible. McGurk declined a request for an interview. Mark Toner, the State Departments deputy spokesperson, said American officials had expressed concern both publicly and privately about reported atrocities. We find any abuse totally unacceptable, Toner said, and any violation of human rights should be investigated with those responsible held accountable. Militia leaders deny that their groups mistreated civilians. They say the missing men were Islamic State militants killed in battle. EXACTING REVENGE Iraqi government officials also challenged the reports of widespread violence against civilians. In an interview, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadis deputy national security adviser, Safa al-Sheikh, said there were a few incidents, but added: There are a lot of exaggerations, and some of the reports didnt have any basis. Iraqs main Shiite militias, trained and armed by Tehran, emerged during the 2003-2011 U.S. occupation and have grown in power and stature. After helping the government defend Baghdad when Islamic State seized Mosul in 2014, the militias became arms of the Iraqi government. Islamic State has slaughtered thousands of Iraqis, of all faiths. There now are more than 30 Shiite militias whose members receive government salaries. The major groups have government posts and parliament seats. Their might has also been enhanced by some of the more than $20 billion in military hardware the United States has sold or given to Iraq since 2005. Their weaponry includes armored personnel carriers, trucks, Humvees, artillery and even tanks, according to U.S. officials, independent experts and pictures and videos militia members have posted on the internet. Collectively, the Shiite militias are known as the Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The militias officially answer to Abadi. In reality, the main groups answer only to themselves, display their own flags and emblems, and are advised by the Quds Force - Irans elite foreign paramilitary and intelligence service. The Falluja offensive began on May 22. For more than a year, American officials had warned Iraqi officials repeatedly that the United States would suspend air support in areas where militias were operating outside the Iraqi militarys formal chain of command. The policy was designed to prevent American planes from inadvertently bombing Iraqi forces and to restrain militias from entering areas considered sensitive to Sunnis, according to U.S. officials. In the first two days of the Falluja offensive, reports emerged of militiamen separating males from fleeing families. American, Western and U.N. diplomats pressured Abadi, other top Iraqi officials and militia leaders to stop the abuses. Abadi and other political leaders publicly called for protection of civilians. "DON'T BE TREACHEROUS" The Americans' influence was hindered by the fact they had no forces in Falluja and couldnt observe specific abuses, according to the Western diplomat who tracked the campaign. On May 26, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, pleaded with combatants to protect civilians. Aid agencies estimated at the time that as many as 100,000 people remained inside Falluja. Don't be extreme ... don't be treacherous. Don't kill an old man, nor a boy, nor a woman. Don't cut a tree unless you have to, Sistani said, citing sayings of the Prophet Mohammed. Sistanis pleas and the American threats fell on deaf ears. The first known instance of systematic abuse by the militias in the Falluja offensive occurred May 27 northeast of the city, in the farming region of Sejar. Militiamen and security forces stopped a group of fleeing Sunnis, pulled aside somewhere between 73 and 95 males aged 15 and older and took them away, according to Gov. al-Rawi of Anbar Province and a Western diplomat who monitored the offensive. Women and children were freed. We are still in contact with women and children who were handed to government people, said the Western diplomat. They still dont know where the men are. On May 29, militiamen just west of the farming areas of Sejar, separated 20 men from a group of fleeing Sunnis and started killing them, said the Western diplomat. The police arrived when there were three left alive. The police took the three and dumped them in a camp east of Falluja for people displaced by the civil war. Terrified that the militias would storm the camp and kill them, the trio arranged protection for themselves in Baghdad, the diplomat said. Gov. al-Rawi confirmed this account. A Sunni academic said he spoke to three survivors of the alleged massacre, two brothers and their cousin. The men said the killings occurred during fighting between Iraqi federal police forces and Islamic State, according to the academic. SURVIVOR ACCOUNTS The three survivors told the academic that they were among some 50 people who had sought shelter in a house when they saw federal police raise the Iraqi flag at a nearby school. The group waved white cloths and was directed to leave the house by the police. When the group emerged, the three said, the police separated the men from their families. One officer then opened fire and killed 17 men, the academic quoted the survivors as saying, adding that the three were spared when another officer intervened. The shooter was arrested, according to the Anbar governor. Worse was to come. Shiite militiamen seeking vengeance against Islamic State rounded up Sunnis on June 3 from the town of Saqlawiya, according to witnesses interviewed by Reuters, U.N. workers, Iraqi officials and Human Rights Watch. According to these accounts, more than 5,000 Sunnis, mostly members of the al-Mohamda tribe, left Saqlawiya, a farming community five miles northwest of Falluja. The Sunnis made their way toward what they thought was the safety of government lines marked by Iraqi flags. A gray-haired man described the scene in a video recorded by local officials after he and 604 other men were freed two days later. When we arrived there, we discovered they were the Hashid, the Shiite militias, the witness said. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein, two senior Iraqi officials, and a 69-year-old survivor interviewed by Reuters identified the militiamen as members of Kataib Hezbollah. One of the most powerful Shiite paramilitaries, Kataib Hezbollah was organized by and retains close ties to Irans Quds Force. Both are deemed to be terrorist groups by the United States. Kataib Hezbollah denied being involved in abuses in Falluja. "They make these claims based on accusations from politicians that ISIS is depending on," said Kataib spokesman Jaafar al-Husseini. "They are trying to keep us far from the operations of Anbar and Mosul." The militiamen separated out an estimated 1,500 males aged 15 and older and moved them in groups to different locations, including warehouses and an Iraqi base called Camp Tariq, according to survivors, U.N. investigators and Human Rights Watch. "FISTS, KNIVES AND CABLES" The survivors described being crammed into small rooms and halls and denied food and water, straining to breathe in the stifling heat. Militiamen using sticks, pipes and hoses beat the detainees and declared that they were taking revenge for Camp Speicher  a June 2014 massacre by Islamic State of 1,566 Shiite and other non-Sunni air force cadets. A 32-year-old man, one of six survivors Reuters interviewed, said he was packed into a room with dozens of other captives, his hands tied behind his back. They started hitting us with their fists, knives and cables, he said. When people fainted, we yelled they were going to die, and the guards told us thats what they wanted. The guards, the survivor said, told the captives they were avenging the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers killed in fighting around Falluja since 2014. In a video recorded by local officials, another survivor told how men craving water were given bottles in which to urinate and told to drink their own waste. A 47-year-old survivor described how he watched militiamen repeatedly beat his 17-year-old son and carry off the corpses of 15 men who appeared to have been beaten to death. The man was one of the 605 survivors released on June 5. His son was not among them, he said; the boy hasnt been seen since. We want to know the destiny of our sons, the man told Reuters. We consider the Americans responsible for everything that has happened. UNACCOUNTED FOR In all, militiamen killed at least 49 men who were detained in Saqlawiya, four of whom were beheaded, according to the U.N.'s Zeid. The brutality ended without explanation for some 800 detainees after two days. But 643 Saqlawiya detainees remain unaccounted for. Their names are recorded on a list circulated by local officials to the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and government investigators and reviewed by Reuters. On June 7, Sheikh Ali Hamad, a leader of the Mohamda, a Sunni tribe, decried on television what he called a genocidal crime and the deaths of tens of our sons. The same day, the Anbar governor informed U.S. Ambassador Jones that hundreds of Sunni men were missing. U.N. envoy Zeid issued a statement citing extremely distressing, credible reports of abuse, including summary executions of men and boys by militiamen. On June 9, the day before McGurks White House briefing, Human Rights Watch issued a report on the alleged atrocities in Sejar and Saqlawiya. The regular Iraqi security forces, including the U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Service, eventually established safe corridors and guided civilians out of the city. Some 100,000 civilians escaped as a result. A PIECE OF THE ACTION Today, the Shiite militias are clamoring to join the Mosul offensive, fired by zeal, a desire for revenge and hopes of burnishing their political standing within their sect. They will want a piece of the climactic battle, said Kenneth Pollock, a former CIA analyst now with the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy institute. Ryan Crocker, a career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009, said the Obama administration has downplayed abuses by both militia and Iraqi forces. This administration is so determined to be able to declare victory over ISIL (that) they dont really care about any of the rest of it, said Crocker. Over the disapproval of the Mosul provincial government, Abadi and militia leaders have said that militias will participate in the campaign to liberate the city. The chief PMF administrator is Jamal Ibrahimi. Known by the nom de guerre Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, he is on the U.S. international terrorist list. U.S. officials say Ibrahimi is the leader of Kataib Hezbollah, the militia that Iraqi officials, Western diplomats and others hold primarily responsible for the atrocities committed in the Falluja offensive. Ibrahimi and the militia deny that he heads Kataib Hezbollah. Abadis office has announced that a committee will investigate allegations of rights abuses in Falluja. It is uncertain if the inquiry will find anyone responsible beyond a handful of low-level suspects whose arrests Abadi reported on June 13. (This version of the story has been refiled to remove word "new" from headline) (Edited by David Rohde and Michael Williams)
Paris (AFP) - Jamaica's newly-crowned double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson will headline a strong field featuring 27 Rio medallists in Friday's Diamond League meeting in Paris, event organisers announced on Tuesday.

French supporters will also have a chance to welcome back four of their own Olympic stars including pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, who was left in tears after losing his title to Brazil's Thiago Braz da Silva in front of a jeering partisan crowd.

However, Usain Bolt, who sealed a historic "triple triple" with gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in his final Games, will not take part having already decided to take a break from competition.

The Jamaican superstar also missed the 2015 meeting in the French capital with a leg injury.

Nine Rio gold medallists including women's 100m and 200m champion Thompson will take part though, with Kerron Clement set to run the 400m hurdles and fellow American Ryan Crouser competing in the shot put.

Kenyan-born Ruth Jebet, who became Bahrain's first Olympic champion when she claimed the women's 3000m steeplechase, will also race at the Stade de France.
By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stanford University has tightened campus drinking restrictions, banning large liquor bottles from undergraduate student housing and barring hard alcohol from being served altogether at parties for undergrads.

The new policy, issued on Monday in a letter to new and returning students, follows a public furor surrounding the sexual assault of an unconscious, intoxicated woman by Stanford swimmer Brock Turner outside a frat party in 2015.

Outrage over the six-month jail term Turner received in June, widely condemned as too lenient, and the victim's account of the assault and its repercussions on her life has helped galvanize concern about rape on U.S. college campuses and the role played by alcohol abuse.

It also brought a torrent of unfavorable attention to Silicon-Valley-based Stanford, which ranks as one of the nation's most prestigious private research institutions.

Stanford insisted on Tuesday that the new policy was part of long-evolving tighter alcohol restrictions that had nothing to do with Turner.

University officials pointed to a letter to students in March calling for new solutions to the "serious issue" of on-campus drinking, particularly hard alcohol. The letter cited U.S. government data that more than 1,800 college students die each year from alcohol-related incidents and nearly 100,000 fall victim to sexual violence associated with alcohol.

"It does not emanate from the Brock Turner case," university spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said on Tuesday. "Having said that, do we want to make sure that cases like Brock Turner don't happen again? Absolutely."

The new policy prohibits any liquor bottles of 750 ml or larger in any housing for its nearly 7,0000 undergraduates - even students at or above California's legal drinking age of 21. Smaller containers of hard alcohol, defined as 20 percent alcohol by volume, are still allowed.

Also newly banned is consumption of hard liquor by undergrads at all campus parties, regardless of container size or students' age.

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The policy exempts graduate housing and parties hosted by campus groups consisting entirely of grad students.

The new rules drew criticism from some quarters, including Stanford law professor and sociologist Michele Landis Dauber, who called the restrictions misguided.

Dauber, who is leading a petition drive seeking to recall the judge who sentenced Turner, said rather than curb liquor consumption the policy would "change the place where it's consumed" by students.

"They're going to pound as much hard alcohol as they possibly can in a short time period before the party," she said.

(By Steve Gorman)
WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - State insurance regulators in a court brief on Monday said a powerful U.S. council made up of the heads of all the federal financial regulatory agencies disregarded their work when it designated of MetLife Inc. as "too big to fail."

MetLife, the largest U.S. life insurer, sued the federal government last year after the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated it a systemically important financial institution. That label can lead to additional regulation and capital requirements.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer decided in March to rescind the designation and the U.S. government is currently appealing her decision.

In the brief supporting MetLife, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said the council appeared to ignore or discount the state regulatory system, state regulators' opinions, and the council's insurance expert "in favor of speculation, assumptions about consumer and regulatory responses to distress that have no basis in fact or history, and a flawed analysis of the insurance business and its regulation."

Unlike many other financial products, insurance is regulated at the state level. When Congress established the FSOC in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law in order to ward off another major financial crisis, it gave a seat to an insurance expert. That expert, Roy Woodall, voted against designating MetLife as systemically important.

NAIC said MetLife's subsidiaries are subject to extensive regulation and states can review many of its holding company transactions. It also said that due to the nature of insurance contracts, the company will probably not experience a "run on the bank."

"MetLife is a highly regulated company and the existing regulation has served the company and its policyholders well," the commissioners said.

Only four non-banks have been designated systemically important. Two others, American International Group and Prudential Financial, Inc., are also insurers.

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The American Council of Life Insurers, which represents the country's major insurance companies, including MetLife, said in a separate brief also filed on Monday that the council was wrong in treating insurers in a similar manner as banks.

It said policyholders do not use life insurance for liquidity and the gradual maturity of companies' contracts means they do not have to have "fire sales" of assets to pay policies.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Washington Legal Foundation and the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank, along with a panel of eight academic experts, also filed briefs supporting MetLife.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Alan Crosby)
Seeing as how the chances of Ryan Lochte coming clean to Stephen Colbert about his gas station incident in Rio de Janeiro seem highly unlikely, the Late Show host did the next best thing.

By way of a little fancy editing, Colbert inserted himself into Lochte's much talked-about sit-down with NBC's Matt Lauer. In the original interview, which aired Saturday, the Olympic gold medalist admitted that when he claimed a gun was cocked and put to his forehead, he "over-exaggerated that part."

WATCH: Speedo and Ralph Lauren Drop Ryan Lochte Sponsorships

In Colbert's heavily edited clip, the comedian points out "that part is really the whole part."

"Without a gun cocked at your forehead, it's really just a story about some guys urinating on a gas station," Colbert says. "How could you get that so wrong?"

"I was intoxicated," Lochte "replies" in the video.

As late-night shows continue to mine comedy out of the situation, it's no laughing matter for sponsors.

When the story went from Lochte being allegedly pulled over and robbed at gunpoint by men posing as police officers to a story about paying for damage done to a gas station, both Speedo USA and Ralph Lauren announced they were dropping sponsorships with the 32-year-old swimmer.

WATCH: Ryan Lochte Calls His Behavior in Rio 'Immature' Amid Robbery Scandal

While Lochte has not said he lied, he assured Lauer he is "taking full responsibility," calling his behavior "immature."

"We just wanted to get out of there. We were held... I mean, there was a gun pointed in our direction. We were all frightened, and we wanted to get out of there as quick as possible," Lochte stated. "And the only way we knew is this guy saying, 'You have to give him money.' So we gave him money, and we got out."

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Steven Hill, an Emmy-nominated actor known for lead roles on the popular TV series Mission: Impossible and Law & Order, died Tuesday, August 23. He was 94.



PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars Weve Lost

His daughter Sarah Gobioff confirmed his passing to The New York Times. He lived in Monsey, New York, located in Rockland County.



PHOTOS: Best TV Couples of All Time

Hill was a veteran of stage and TV at age 44 when he was cast as Daniel Briggs in Mission: Impossible in 1966, but he exited the CBS action series after the first season. He actually left acting from 1967 to 1977 to pursue other career paths, including real estate.



PHOTOS: TV Shows Gone Too Soon!

Hill eventually returned to showbiz and is perhaps best known as Law & Order district attorney Adam Schiff, a role he played from 1990 to 2000. He earned two Emmy nominations for the character, who he also portrayed in a 2000 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.



"Steven was not only one of the truly great actors of his generation, he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever met," Law & Order creator Dick Wolf said in a statement. "He is also the only actor I've known who consistently tried to cut his own lines. He will be missed, but fortunately he can be seen ubiquitously on Law & Order reruns."



Hill appeared in such 1960s TV series as Dr. Kildare, Rawhide and The Fugitive, and in films including Yentl (1983), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), Running on Empty (1988) and The Firm (1993).

He is survived by second wife Rachel and their five children, as well as four children from his first marriage to Selma Stern, an actress who had roles in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Bruce Almighty (2003) and Made of Honor (2008).





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The Doctors investigate the ultimate stomach ache nightmare story  which ends with a 20-foot tapeworm!

A 38-year-old Chinese man recently went to the hospital after feeling weak and experiencing stomach pain and vomiting for 3 days. The problem was not due to over-eating or the flu, but something much worse. Doctors removed tapeworm, measuring 20 feet in length!

D8106 35

Watch: Live Tapeworm Discovered in College Students Brain

The physicians were able to deduce what was ailing the man after he revealed he enjoyed eating raw beef, which can cause people to get a tapeworm. The worm was thought to be in the man for up to two years, but was removed from his body 2 and half hours after being treated with an oral prescription.

ER physician Dr. Travis Stork says this somewhat gruesome story highlights the importance of being mindful about eating uncooked meat.

Eating raw meat comes with its own risks. These parasites, the eggs can live in the raw meat these tape worms can get to this size, there are a lot of different types of worms that can live for a long time in your GI tract. So be aware eating raw meat or traveling, he warns.

Watch: How Long Can a Tapeworm Grow in Your Body?

According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of a tapeworm include:

Nausea

Weakness

Loss of appetite

Abdominal pain

Diarrhea

Weight loss and inadequate absorption of nutrients from food

Watch: Tape Worm Diet?

If you believe you have a tape worm, please seek medical attention.
Photo credit: Buyenlarge - Getty Images

From Popular Mechanics

In April 1861, Richard Jordan Gatling watched hundreds of Union soldiers march through Indianapolis, ready to ride the rails to the front. In the opposite direction came a never-ending stream of badly wounded men, to say nothing of those who lost their lives. Gatling set about inventing a "labor-saving device for warfare" he hoped would minimize the number of men needed to fight a war, and thus minimize the number of men exposed to its horrors.

DIVE DEEPER  Read best-in-class military features and get unlimited access to Pop Mech , starting now.

A Destructive Weapon Meant for Good

Working throughout the summer of 1861, Gatling developed the invention that would carry his name though history: the Gatling gun, a weapon featuring a barrel that was 2.21 feet long and weighed a total of 170 pounds. The Gatling is the most famous of late 19th century's manual machine guns and paved a way for the modern machine guns we recognize today.

In an age of slow-loading rifles, the Gatling offered unprecedented firepower. Even today, a century and a half after its design, the gun retains its iconic status. So why does the world still know the name of gun that's been obsolete for a hundred years?

Photo credit: US Patent Office

Gatling would refine the basic design of his gun over its 40-year lifespan, but the basic operation remained the same. The Gatling featured four to 10 barrels arrayed around a central axis and a top-loading magazine which loaded each barrel in turn before the continuing turn of the gun's crank fired the weapon. Each barrel fired with one turn of the crank, and the weapon's rate of fire was limited only by the speed at which the gunner could crank it. Early models fired up to 200 rounds per minute (later ones could get up to 700 to 1,000 rounds in 60 seconds)all this while an enemy soldier in the line of fire took the same amount of time to charge and fire once.

Yet this fast-firing weapon got off to a slow start. Gatling earned his first patent in November 1862, for the "Improvement in revolving battery-guns," his idea for reducing the number of men needed to fight the American Civil War. In hindsight, we know how flawed this logic proved to be, as the Gatling gun and later machine guns caused untold death and destruction. At the time, Gatling had a difficult path even getting his weapon into the war. While the new weapon was promising, the U.S. army's reluctance to embrace the machine gun meant Gatling was ignored, at least at first.

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It wasn't until summer 1863 that the Washington Navy Yard began testing the Gatling gun, with an evaluating officer reporting: "The mechanical construction is very simple, the workmanship is well executed, and we are of the opinion that it is not liable to get out of working order."

Despite this glowing report, the U.S. Navy declined to adopt the gun and it would wait another three years before the military took it seriously. A few Army officers bought Gatling guns themselves and throughout 1864-5, Union General Benjamin F. Butler first used the gun at the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, but the invention would see little action in the war that inspired its creation.

Photo credit: U.S. Army

The U.S. Army made its first order for 50 1-inch and 50 .50-caliber Gatling guns in 1866, right after war's end, and Gatling approached Colt to manufacture them. Following tests at Fort Monroe, the U.S. Army used the Gatling extensively throughout the 1870s during its campaigns against Native American tribes in the West.

Custer's 7th Cavalry left their two Gatling guns behind when they embarked on the ill-fated 1876 summer expedition of the Great Sioux War. Custer believed they'd slow his advance, but without them, he and his men were famously overwhelmed and massacred.

The Gatling Gun Goes Abroad

Foreign interest charged up. In Europe, Russia became the first country to buy Gatling guns directly from Colt while the British W.G. Armstrong & Co. became one of the first European manufacturers to purchase a license to build and sell the new weapons

The first British use of the Gatling gun came in 1879 during the Zulu War. At the Battle of Gingindlovu, two guns broke up a Zulu attack with long bursts of suppressive fire that forced the Zulus to take cover. At the Battle of Ulundi the guns were used to great effect, despite several jams. The British commander, Lord Chelmsford, later wrote that the Gatlings: "proved a very valuable addition  machine guns are, I consider, most valuable weapons  where the odds against us must necessarily be great."

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Indeed, this statement typified the use of the Gatling during the late 19th century: The guns, with their incredible volume of firepower for the time, acted as force multipliers in engagements where the enemy were far more numerous. The Gatling would go with British units to Afghanistan, Egypt, and the Sudan in the late 1800s, remaining in service until the Maxim gun came around.

Photo credit: Bettmann - Getty Images

The British were not the only European nation to embrace the Gatling gun, Imperial Russia made large orders, and the Tsar used his Gatling guns against the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War 1877-8 and again in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. Gatling guns went to South America during the War of the Pacific, with Peru deploying them first in 1879. By 1880, nations and individuals around the world had bought Gatling's guns.

The Gatling gun of the late 1870s was greatly improved from the early models, of tremendous rates of fire they were lighter, more reliable and extremely well made. The improved Gatling gun's finest hour came during the Spanish-American War. During the Battle of San Juan Hill, Lieutenant John Parker's Gatling Gun detachment laid down suppressive fire on Spanish positions by firing over 18,000 rounds during the American attack, preventing the Spanish from firing down on the U.S. forces.

The detachment turned back the Spanish counter-attacks, too, by decimating an attacking battalion of Spanish regulars. This success helped to prove to the U.S. Army that machine guns could be used offensively as well as defensively, with President Theodore Roosevelt himself praising Parker's "invaluable work on the field of battle, as much in attack as in defense."

The End of an Era

But the end was approaching.

Photo credit: USMC Historical

Despite American forces using the weapon into the 1890s, the Gatling gun fast became obsolete. The culprit in its quick death was Hiram Maxim's new automatic machine gun, introduced in 1886. The weapon would come to define early 20th century warfare.

Maxim's gunlike the Gatling gunwas hand operated, too, but took much less work to fire. Instead of turning a crank, the Maxim machine gun was recoil-operated, using the recoil energy created when the weapon was fired to cycle the action. All the user needed to do was keep their finger on the trigger. Feeding from a cloth belt, the Maxim could fire up to 600 rounds per minute.

Gatling tried several times to revive his design after he saw market share slipping away. In 1893 he patented a Gatling powered by an electric motor. In 1895, he tried to create a truly automatic gas-operated Gatling gun. These designs proved to be too complex or cumbersome, losing the simple practicality that made the original Gatling so good. In 1911, the U.S. Army declared all its remaining Gatling guns obsolete and began a process of rearming with automatic machine guns.

Gatling himself never confined his life's work to firearms design. The inventor patented a successful seed planter and wheat drill in 1855. He later patented designs for flushing toilets, a device to control wagon reins, and a steam plough. He died in February 1903 at the age of 84.

More than 100 years later, the Gatling gun is one of a rare few weapons that are iconic and instantly recognizable. The Gatling owes a lot of its fame to its unique operation and appearance, one cemented in the public imagination, first through Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows and later through comics, pulp fiction, and countless films.

Today, Gatling's design lives on in the form of electrically powered M134 Minigun and fearsome auto-cannons like the GAU-8 used in the USAF's A-10. There's even a helicopter-mounted version of the Gatling gun called the Vulcan minigun which is also referred to as "Puff, the Magic Dragon" because it produces flames and smoke while firing. The Vulcan minigun is able to fire 6,000 rounds per minute and the 20mm Vulcan, the larger version of the mini, is used against other aircraft.

Even now, in the 21st century, the Gatling gun is easily distinguished from other classic weapons thanks to its distinctive design.

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Stranger Things composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein will embark on a fall U.S. tour with their Austin synth outfit, Survive, who have also released a pulsating new track, "Wardenclyffe."

The instrumental song is rife with the same eerie, spacey vibes that made Dixon and Stein's Stranger Things soundtrack a smash, but as an album cut, "Wardenclyffe" moves and mutates in ways mood-setting scores often can't. Survive anchor "Wardenclyffe" with grungy, thudding percussion and unleash a dynamic array of synths that play off each other while building to a head-spinning apex.

"Wardenclyffe" marks the second single from Survive's upcoming album, RR7349, out September 30th via new label Relapse. The previously released, "A.H.B." can be heard on the group's Bandcamp, where the LP is also available to pre-order.





Survive will also kick off their North American tour September 30th with a hometown show at the Barracuda in Austin. The trek ends in early November, though the group is scheduled to play a New Year's Eve gig at It'll Do in Dallas. A complete list of dates is below.



Along with RR7349, Dixon and Stein's work on Stranger Things was recently collected and released in two separate volumes. Both are available digitally, while the physical version for Volume 1 drops September 16th and Volume 2 arrives September 23rd.







Survive U.S. Tour Dates

September 30  Austin, TX @ Barracuda

October 4  Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress

October 5  San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar

October 6  Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex

October 7  San Francisco, CA @ Elbo Room

October 8  Sacramento, CA @ Harlow's

October 11  Portland, OR @ Holoscene

October 12  Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

October 14  Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium

October 16  Joshua Tree, CA @ Desert Daze Festival

October 26  Atlanta, GA @ The Earl

October 27  Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle

October 28  Washington D.C. @ U Street Music Hall

October 29  Philadelphia, PA @ 714 (Making Time)

October 31  Brooklyn, NY @ Good Room

November 1  Jersey City, NJ @ Monty Hall

November 2  Allston, MA @ Great Scott

November 3  Buffalo, NY @ Studio at Waiting Room

November 4  Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Lodge

November 5  Detroit, MI @ El Club

November 6  Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle

December 31  Dallas, TX @ It'll Do

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The health insurance industry has been creating a lot of noise lately with players cribbing about their bad experience in the individual exchange business on public exchanges also popularly called Obamacare.

While UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH was a the first to disclose its unpleasant experience on public exchanges last year, this year Aetna Inc. AET, Humana Inc. HUM, Anthem Inc. ANTM and now CIGNA Corp. CI have joined the bandwagon.

UnitedHealth which was present in 34 states in 2016, has already exited public exchanges in more than two dozen markets and will exit more. In2017, it will completely exit the business or at the most be present on only three to four. Aetna has a similar saga to share. After its second-quarter earnings, the company announced that it is calling quits in the public exchange business in 11 of the 15 states in which it is currently present.

Aetna will reduce its individual public exchange participation to 242 counties from 778 for the 2017 plan year. This development comes after Aetna suffered 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.Aetna is now expecting losses (pretax) north of $300 million on policies sold on public exchanges for 2016.

Another player Humana Inc. (HUM) recently announced it will sell plans through public exchanges in 11 states in 2017, down from 15 states this year because of losses. Anthem Inc. (ANTM) also witnessed huge claims in its public exchange business in the second quarter.

While at the outset it seemed that public exchanges would add to the topline of the players by bringing in more enrollments, it did not turn out that straight. Insurers witnessed an adverse mix of population signing up for insurance on these exchanges. Those who sought insurance were mostly sick who went on to utilize healthservices, therefore causing a spike in claim ratio. In short, the premium paid by these members did not compensate for the care they sought, thus giving rise to losses on these policies.

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Medical Sector Price Index

Medical Sector Price Index

Friction with Regulators

Up next, the players might see the axing of the mega mergers of Aetna with Humana and Anthem with Cigna announced last year. These mergers have drawn flak from regulators on concerns that the deals will stifle competition and reduce the number of players in the industry from five to three. The Department of Justice is closely scrutinizing the deal and has sued each of the four parties involved to block the merger.

The cause of concern for the regulators is that the mergers would mean more power in the hands of the surviving companies Anthem and Aetna as theywill gain in size and scale. It is feared that the companies if equipped with more strength will bother less to serve its customers. It is also being contemplated that these insurers will have lesser incentive to improve the quality of their product and service since there will be fewer and smaller players to compete against them. They might also hike premium and increase out-of-pocket costs, and in turn harass customers.

Merger was the most sought after strategy by these players to grow faster in the rapidly changing health insurance industry. The players wanted to gain in scale and size in one shot via these mergers which would have given them an upper hand in negotiating claims with hospitals. Investment in technology from cost savings, expanded reach to care by gaining quick access to new markets were other advantages of the merger cited by them.

The health insurers are being caught up in a series of events one after another. The presidential election that is coming up is the next major event for the industry.



What does Presidential Election Hold for Insurers?

Obamacare has become a political fodder with a contentious election around the corner. Both candidates have spoken length and breadth about the law displaying their varied opinion.

The presidential candidates are looking at ways to fine tune the provisions of the healthcare legislation, which, if implemented, will upend the business models of insurers.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons priority includes a crackdown on insurers to limit out-of-pocket costs. These costs are expenses like deductibles, coinsurance and copayments for covered services among others that aren't reimbursed by insurance.



Also on Hillary Clintons agenda is giving more power to lawmakers to reject undue rate hikes by health insurers.



Donald Trump on the other hand proposes to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something that would require a lot less money. He wants to propose a health plan that will return authority to the states and operate under free market principles. Trumps plan will provide choice to buyers, provide individual tax relief for health insurance and keep plans portable and affordable. The plan will break health insurance company monopolies and allow individuals to buy across state lines. Health insurers will have a rough ride if Trump wins the election since he commented that The insurance companies are getting rich on Obamacare. The insurance companies are getting rich on health care and health services and everything having to do with health. We are going to end that.

As it is insurers seem to have no respite from the series of events unfolding one after another. Now, we have to wait and see how these players turn the tide in their favor.

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Here are 5 stocks added to the Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) List today:

 WebMD Health Corp. WBMD seeks to offer health information through its online platforms. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has been revised 1.2% downward over the last 30 days.

 Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. CCU has successfully positioned itself as a Chilean multinational beverage company, with diversified businesses and operations focused on the Southern Cone of South America. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has declined 7.2% over the last 30 days.

 MGP Ingredients Inc. MGPI produces and markets ingredients and distillery products to the packaged goods industry. It has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings being revised 8.2% downward over the last 30 days.

 Abaxis, Inc. ABAX develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements. The Zacks Consensus Estimate revision for its current year earnings was a negative of 2.2% over the last 30 days.

 Robert Half International Inc. RHI is a specialized provider of temporary and permanent personnel in the fields of accounting and finance. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings has moved 7% lower over the last 30 days.

View the entire Zacks Rank #5 List.



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Khartoum (AFP) - South Sudan's former rebel leader Riek Machar has arrived in Khartoum for "medical treatment," the Sudanese government said Tuesday, after he escaped to the Democratic Republic of Congo following deadly clashes last month.

Machar was replaced by Taban Deng Gai as South Sudan's first vice president after hundreds died in Juba last month in clashes between Machar's forces and government troops.

"Sudan has received Riek Machar on humanitarian grounds and so he can have medical treatment," Sudanese government spokesman Ahmed Bilal said in a statement.

He did not specify when Machar arrived in Khartoum, but said that he was in need of "immediate medical treatment".

"He is now stable. He will continue to stay in the country until he decides when to leave," Bilal said, without providing further details on the treatment.

After a 1983-2005 civil war, the mainly Christian south of Sudan split from the Muslim north on July 9, 2011, following a referendum six months earlier.

But in December 2013 a brutal civil war erupted in the world's youngest country between supporters of President Salva Kiir and Machar, after Kiir accused his deputy of plotting a coup.

Ties between Khartoum and Juba have strained since then amid allegations that Sudan backs Machar in the civil war that has killed tens of thousands and forced more than two million from their homes.

Sudan's announcement of Machar's presence in Khartoum comes just a day after Deng wrapped up his first official visit to Khartoum.

South Sudan's ambassador to Khartoum Mayan Dout confirmed that Juba had been informed about Machar's presence in Sudan.

"The government of Sudan informed Vice President Taban Deng that it had received Riek Machar on humanitarian grounds," Dout told AFP.

He added that President Salva Kiir was informed of Machar's presence in the Sudanese capital.

The civil war in South Sudan 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.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has again restored the voting rights of about 13,000 felons after his previous attempt was blocked by the state Supreme Court, the Democrat said Monday.

Virginia's highest court sided with Republican lawmakers in a July ruling that said governors cannot restore rights en masse, and must consider each offender on a case-by-case basis. That ruling invalidated an executive order issued by McAuliffe in April that had given back the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons who had completed their sentences.

After the decision, McAuliffe pledged to move quickly to ensure the 13,000 people who had registered to vote before their rights were stripped away by the court would be able to cast ballots this fall. His administration processed each felon's paperwork individually to comply with the ruling, McAuliffe said.

"These individuals are gainfully employed. They send their children and their grandchildren to our schools. They shop in our grocery stores and they pay taxes. And I am not content to condemn them for eternity as inferior second-class citizens," McAuliffe said while standing in front of the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial.

The governor also laid out a plan for how he will restore the rights of the tens of thousands of other felons who were impacted by the court ruling. The orders also allow the felons to serve on a jury, run for public office and become a notary public.

The Virginia Supreme Court's 4-3 decision striking down the executive order was a significant blow for McAuliffe, who called felon disenfranchisement a vestige of the state's Jim Crow past because it disproportionately affects African-Americans.

Republicans have accused McAuliffe of trying to add more Democrats to the voter rolls to aid presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in November, but McAuliffe has dismissed criticism that his motivations were political. GOP House Speaker William Howell, who sued McAuliffe over the order, said lawmakers will carefully review the process McAuliffe laid out Monday to ensure it meets the requirements set by the court.

"From the beginning, we have done nothing more than hold the governor accountable to the constitution and the rule of law. The Supreme Court's decision vindicated our efforts and we will continue to fulfill our role as a check on the excesses of executive power," Howell said in a statement.

McAuliffe's administration had argued that there is nothing in Virginia's constitution that says governors must restore felons' rights on a case-by-case basis. But the Supreme Court rejected that argument, saying the claim that governors can restore rights en masse is "irreconcilable" with the requirement that governors must report to lawmakers the "'particulars of every case' and state his 'reasons' for each pardon."

Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky and Florida are the only states that still remove voting rights for felons for life unless a state official restores them, according to the Washington-based Sentencing Project. Virginia is among three states where more than one in five black adults have lost their voting rights, the group says.

___

Follow Alanna Durkin Richer on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aedurkinricher. Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/alanna-durkin-richer.
* Bank fined $180 mln for AML violations, lax Panama oversight

* Taiwan prosecutors gathering documents for local probe

* Mega Financial chairman says bank didn't launder money

* Says bank failed to declare a rejected suspicious remittance (Adds travel ban on Mega Financial's ex-chief, assistance of current chief)

By Liang-Sa Loh and J.R. Wu

TAIPEI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan is investigating if Mega Financial Holding Co and its banking unit broke local criminal laws in a case that led to U.S. authorities fining the state-controlled group $180 million for anti-money laundering violations.

New York authorities on Friday slapped Mega International Commercial Bank with the fine for violations that included lax attention to risk exposure in Panama, the first time in a decade that a Taiwan-based financial institution has been penalized by U.S. authorities.

The fine is a major embarrassment for the Taiwan government because Mega Financial, whose management has close ties to key government officials, is an industry pillar in the island's financial system.

The disciplinary action comes as anti-money laundering (AML) controls at banks in Greater China are under intense scrutiny abroad, following a series of high-profile judicial investigations and regulatory probes in the United States and Europe.

Taiwan authorities are examining documents from Mega Financial and its banking unit as part of the investigation, Chang Chieh-chin, deputy head prosecutor with the Taipei District Public Prosecutors Office, told Reuters by telephone.

The former chairman of Mega Financial Tsai Yeou-tsair is a defendant in the case and has been banned from travelling outside of Taiwan, Chang said, adding that current Chairman Shiu Kuang-si was asked into the prosecutors office late on Tuesday to assist with the investigation.

Tsai has quit as a board director of Cathay Financial Holding Co, another Taiwanese firm, due to personal reasons, Cathay said in a statement Tuesday.

Story continues

Prosecutors also are reviewing information from the island's finance ministry and Financial Supervisory Commission regarding the matter.

"We are gathering information and will review it to see if there has been any violation of criminal law in Taiwan," Chang said.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) said Mega's U.S. compliance program was a "hollow shell" with insufficient transaction monitoring and reporting controls and inconsistent compliance policies.

The bank's compliance staff also lacked familiarity with U.S. AML regulations while several were also conflicted because they held multiple roles, the DFS said in a court document.

The DFS found that nearly $11.5 billion of credit transactions took place between Mega's New York and Panama branches in 2013 and 2014. "The bank's head office was indifferent toward risks associated with transactions involving Panama," despite the fact it was recognised as a high risk jurisdiction, the DFS said in a statement.

Mega Financial chairman Shiu defended the bank's conduct, saying it did not help customers launder money overseas. Mega International Commercial's New York branch failed to report a "suspect transaction" to U.S. authorities, as required by law, he told Reuters.

Mega's branch in Colon, Panama, had closed an account by a customer from Central or South America because it was deemed a suspicious account, he said.

When money was remitted to the shuttered account, the branch rejected and returned the funds to the originating bank, he said. However, under U.S. rules, remittances involving suspicious accounts must be declared to New York financial authorities, which Mega failed to do, he said.

Mega Financial said in a statement that about 200 corporate customers are mentioned in the Panama Papers, most of whom are Taiwanese firms with offshore banking accounts. It said it was checking the identities of these customers.

The leak earlier this year of more than 11.5 million documents, the so-called Panama Papers, put a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies used for tax evasion, prompting authorities across the world to investigate possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful.

Mega Financial shares slumped 6.3 percent on Monday, after news of the U.S. fine. They were down 0.2 percent on Tuesday.

WELL-CONNECTED BANK

Mega International Commercial has two branches in Panama: one in Panama City since 1974 and one in the Colon Free Zone since 1982, according to the bank's website.

The bank, which was created from the merger of two state-run local banks more than a decade ago, is one of Taiwan's largest banks by asset size. It is viewed by analysts as a well-connected financial group and its head is appointed by the government.

Shiu, the brother-in-law of Taiwan's central bank governor, was appointed by the finance ministry this month as chairman of Mega Financial. He had been its president till 2014, before leaving to join other state-run banks in Taiwan.

Chinese banks' aggressive overseas expansion has met with a number of regulatory hurdles in recent years.

Last year the U.S. Federal Reserve instructed both Bank of China (BoC) and China Construction Bank Corp to improve their anti-money laundering (AML) procedures.

In Spain, six Industrial and Commercial Bank of China bankers were arrested in February, suspected of facilitating money laundering and fraud. The bank has said it implemented AML regulations and operated strictly within the law.

Many Chinese banks are now beefing up their risk management and compliance controls in response to the crackdown, Reuters reported in June.

(Additional reporting Faith Hung and Emily Chan in TAIPEI and Michelle Price in HONG KONG; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
DARPA cyber grand challenge

In a large ballroom inside the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas earlier this month, the next leap forward in the digital revolution took place in front of a crowd of hundreds of hackers in town for the Def Con security conference.

There wasn't a charismatic CEO on stage who would demonstrate a revolutionary new smartphone, nor was there an engineer showing off computer hardware that would be standard for years to come.

Instead, on stage in front of the audience in Las Vegas were no humans at all. There were just seven supercomputers, demonstrating for the first time that the security of networks, computers, and the very Internet itself, could potentially be saved by fully-autonomous systems, independent of any human control.

'There's no way I can keep up with that'

The event in the Paris ballroom was the culmination of a competition created by DARPA, the US military's research-and-development arm, called the Cyber Grand Challenge. Announced in 2013, its goal was to figure out whether a machine could discover, confirm, and fix software flaws in real-time.

To understand why this was such a big deal, it's worth explaining what the status quo is.

Throughout the entire history of computing, software programmers would write code, test it, and then ship it out to the world. They might have quality assurance, but inevitably, there would be some bugs, or worse, major security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers to take control of a system or cause damage.

There were infamous examples like the Morris worm, which slowed the nascent Internet to a halt in 1988. Ten years later, an infamous hacker group testified before Congress that it had a different method that could take down the Internet in just 30 minutes with just "a few packets." And more recently, a flaw named "Heartbleed" was discovered that had wide-ranging effects on the encryption that protects online transactions and other sensitive data.

Since software is built by humans, and humans always make mistakes, it's inevitable that problems would arise. But what if a machine could be the human's QA department, analyzing, discovering problems, and fixing them, automatically?

Story continues

That's what DARPA was seeking, and that's exactly what it got.

"I just keep thinking," Tyler Nighswander, a member of the winning ForAllSecure team, said during the competition. 'Man, our [cyber reasoning system] does these awesome, fast decisions, fast patches, fast exploitation, and as a human, there's no way I can keep up with that.'"

DARPA cyber grand challenge

'We would have been talking about science fiction'

The final event of the CGC was much like a sporting event, with a live stream over the Internet and hundreds in attendance watching it happen as announcers offered a play-by-play. The event was a game of "capture the flag" between the seven computers with names like "Shellphish," "Codejitsu," and "Mayhem."

Networked together, the computers would be fed never-seen-before software code, and then race to find the flaws within and fix it, while also defending their digital flags and pointing out problems with their adversaries.

"Mayhem"  which ultimately won the event  was built by ForAllSecure, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based startup founded by Carnegie Mellon alums. Much like their competition, the team led by Dr. David Brumley worked for two years to build a system that would be able to run through the challenges all while being able to react to the unforeseen, like running out of disk space.

One of those issues propped up about halfway through the competition. Mayhem  with a commanding lead over its competitors  started to crash and burn.

"We noticed that Mayhem didnt work as intended," Alex Rebert, cofounder of ForAllSecure, told Business Insider. "I think we noticed the issue at 2 or 3 p.m. The whole rest of the day we were just depressed, thinking we would lose.

Fortunately for Mayhem, its early success in finding and patching vulnerabilities kept it high up on the leaderboard, while later challenges it sat out proved difficult for the other six teams. After 95 rounds of bug hunting and all-machine hacking, Mayhem was the champion, with "Xandra" not far behind.

ForAllSecure took home $2 million in prize money, which Rebert says will go to pay some of its team and fund future operations for the next year or two. But the competition was about more than glory, respect, or cash. It was about proving automated systems can protect everyone from the tens of thousands of known software flaws, and more importantly, the ones we still know nothing about.

"If we were to talk about something like this 15 years ago," said Visi, a hacker announcing the tournament. "We would have been talking about science fiction."

DARPA cyber grand challenge

But it was all too real. The competition's creators used real-world examples such as the Heartbleed bug and SQL Slammer  a nasty worm that took down 75,000 computer systems in 10 minutes back in 2003, according to Dark Reading.

But instead of these issues having to be worked on over days and weeks by humans, many of the systems found and fixed them within minutes.

"In a five-minute window, a totally previously-never-seen-before challenge binary was researched and evaluated and found vulnerable  and patched  by a completely autonomous system," Visi said, of SQL Slammer.

Now that the competition is over, DARPA is hopeful that the technology may someday give defenders an upper hand against attackers within their networks. And it isn't the only one: Researchers from Microsoft and Raytheon  which had a team in the competition  see these automated machines as having serious potential.

This first step is about lighting a spark, igniting an automation revolution, and watching the technology that will follow Mayhem in the years to come," said Mike Walker, DARPA program manager, at the ceremony to announce the winners. "Automation may someday overcome the structural advantages of network offense and give the defense a chance at a fair fight. It cant happen fast enough.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee is paying a former adviser to Gov. Bill Haslam to assist in ''communications strategies'' with lawyers representing the school in a Title IX lawsuit that has since been settled.

According to a letter obtained through a public records request, Tennessee agreed to hire a ''communications professional'' who would work from March 2016 through February 2017 and ''the maximum liability of the University shall be $240,000.'' The information was included in a May 2 letter that Tennessee interim treasurer and chief financial officer James Maples sent to Bill Ramsey, the lawyer representing the school in the lawsuit.

Although the letter didn't identify the communications professional, Tom Ingram of Ingram Group confirmed he was the one hired to assist Bill Ramsey, whose firm was representing the school in the lawsuit. Ingram is a former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and ran campaigns for Haslam, Alexander and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel first reported the agreement.

Tennessee reached a $2.48 million settlement in July with eight unidentified women who said the school had violated Title IX regulations and fostered a ''hostile sexual environment'' through a policy of indifference toward assault complaints against athletes.

Although the suit has been settled, Ingram said Tuesday he is continuing to assist Ramsey and the school because ''there's still a lot of follow-up'' to be done, including media inquiries and appointment of an independent commission to recommend changes in the school's policies and programs related to preventing, investigating and resolving incidents of sexual misconduct.
From Good Housekeeping

Earlier this year, Celine Dion mourned the loss of her husband, Rene Angelil, who died after a long fight with cancer. And only two days after that, her brother, Daniel, also succumbed to cancer. Now, several months later, the music icon is reportedly dealing with another family member fighting the disease.

According to WENN.com, Dion's sister, Claudette, told Echos Vedettes magazine that their sister Liette's husband, Guy Poirier, is being treated for cancer that has spread to his lungs, brain, and bones. (Celine has 12 brothers and sisters.) Poirier is being treated at the Maison Adhemar-Dion, a palliative care facility named after Dion's father, who died of bone cancer in 2003.

"My brother-in-law is at the Maison Adhemar-Dion and he is still conscious," she told the magazine. "My sister (Liette) is with him and she is very strong. People of the Maison are angels and they are taking very good care of our brother-in-law." The family is asking for any well-wishers to donate to the facility.

Dion is doing her best to jump back into her career and show strength after loss. She has been continuing her Las Vegas residency, touring around the world, and recording new music since her husband's death. "I feel fulfilled because I was with the best man," she told the Montreal Gazette. "He gave me so much knowledge. And he gave me three magnificent children and I look at them and I see him every day."
costco shopping mom cart

America's largest retailers are facing a threat that is rarely discussed: student-loan debt.

Consumers make $80 billion in student loan interest payments a year, Moody's retail analyst Charlie O'Shea said on Bloomberg TV. This means that they have less money to spend at retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, and Costco.

Total loan payments add up to $160 billion annually.

"The average salary per college graduate has increased by only about 3% in the past seven years, while the average student debt burden has increased by roughly 53% over the same period," O'Shea told Bloomberg.

He says that America's more than $1.3 trillion in student loans could hurt the American economy more than a recession because it will last for decades to come.

Industry website Retail Dive notes that younger people are so burdened by student-loan debt that they're frugal.

"It's slated to get worse as retailers find that millennials in their thirties are hampered by debt in what should be their highest-spending years," writes Daphne Howland at RetailDive.com.

Student debt could also be part of the reason why sales are contracting at department stores like Macy's, Sears, Nordstrom, and Kohl's. Off-price retailers like TJ Maxx are thriving because consumers have less money to spend on clothing.

Macy's same-store sales fell 7.4% in the most recent quarter, Nordstrom's fell 1.7%, and Kohl's dropped 3.9%. Shares of Macy's and Nordstrom have lost about 50% of their value in the last year, and Kohl's stock price has fallen 40%, notes Business Insider's Hayley Peterson.

Shopping visits made to off-price retail stores increased by 4% in the 12 months ending April 2016, compared to the same period last year.

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By Sam Karlin BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - More than 3,000 Louisiana residents were still in emergency shelters as record flood waters receded on Monday, while government officials weighed options for temporary housing after the state's worst disaster since Hurricane Katrina. About 60,600 homes have been reported damaged or destroyed in flooding that swept through 20 parishes, or counties, in the southern part of the state after torrential rains earlier this month. With swollen rivers, streams and bayous returning to normal, many people were going back to their homes and businesses, and state offices had reopened. But the governor's office said 3,075 residents were still living in shelters as of Monday, a day before President Barack Obama is due to tour the stricken area. The extent of the damage prompted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend a grace period to renew lapsed flood insurance policies for parts of Louisiana for the first time since Katrina in 2005. "We've seen major destruction to communities across the state," Roy Wright, deputy associate administrator for FEMA's Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, said in a statement about the extension. Residents have already filed more than 25,600 flood insurance claims. But only 42 percent of Louisiana homes in high-risk areas had flood insurance, while only 12.5 percent of homeowners in low and moderate-risk zones were covered, according to FEMA estimates. The agency has also already received some 110,500 applications for individual assistance, and $74 million in individual grants has been paid out. "When it comes to a home that is lost, FEMA money is not designed to replace insurance or make people whole again," said FEMA spokesman Rafael Lemaitre. "It's a life vest, not a life boat." So far, the number of people affected by the floods pales in comparison with the nearly 74,000 families forced out of homes after Katrina and the 11,000 displaced after Hurricane Rita, a storm that came a few weeks later in 2005. In 2005, FEMA faced widespread criticism for what many considered a slow, inept response. But the agency appears to have benefited from experience. "From the vantage point of a citizen, what we see is a much more coordinated state, federal and local partnership on the response," said Adam Knapp, head of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and a former deputy director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority after Katrina. "That is a perhaps a hard-fought, hard-won experience for us since Katrina  when we learned how important it is to be coordinated in the immediate response." FEMA has formed a task force to identify temporary housing options for the thousands displaced by the floods, Lemaitre said. That may include manufactured housing units that meet or exceed government certifications, he said. FEMA paid $6.6 billion to about 1.07 million households and individuals in the Gulf states after Katrina, $5.3 billion of which went to Louisiana alone. In response to this month's flooding, FEMA has issued more than $15 million in advanced flood insurance payments to Louisianans who sustained damages, the agency said in a statement on Monday. (Additional reporting and writing by Chris Prentice in New York; editing by Frank McGurty and Tom Brown)
Paris (AFP) - Seven people with links to terrorist networks, at least three of whom were planning attacks, have been arrested in France this month, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday.

Cazeneuve said at a press conference that French police had arrested as many people for terror links in the first half of 2016 as for the whole of last year.

He gave no details of the latest arrests, however.

On August 8, a 16-year-old girl from the Paris suburb of Melun was remanded in custody on charges of planning a jihadist attack.

The teenager was an administrator of a group on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that was used by two jihadists to plan the murder of a priest in Normandy in July.

According to investigators, she "relayed numerous Islamic State group propaganda messages calling for attacks" and also expressed a personal desire to "take action".

Cazeneuve and his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere on Tuesday asked the European Commission to consider legal measures that could be taken against the operators of encrypted messaging services such as Telegram.

After a meeting between the two ministers, Cazeneuve said such legislation could "impose obligations on operators who show themselves to be non-cooperative, in particular when it comes to withdrawing illegal content or decrypting messages as part of an investigation."

Meanwhile a 19-year-old from the Riviera city of Nice -- who was born to a family of Jehovah's Witnesses but converted to Islam -- was on Tuesday sentenced to three years in prison for glorifying terrorism.

He was sentenced for his regular visits to jihadist sites on which he posted "nauseating" comments and photos, said a source close to the investigation.

French security services are scrambling to prevent further violence after two attacks in July that shocked the country just as it was starting to rebound from the jihadist bloodshed in Paris in November.

Story continues

On July 14, a 31-year-old Tunisian rammed a 19-tonne truck into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, killing 86 people and wounding more than 400.

And on July 26, two 19-year-olds stormed a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray and slit the throat of an elderly priest.

Several major cultural and sporting events were cancelled in the wake of the attacks on security grounds.
The Hague (AFP) - A Malian jihadist accused of attacking the fabled desert city of Timbuktu chose its most revered ancient shrines for destruction "to serve as examples", the International Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.

Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi pleaded guilty as his unprecedented warcrimes trial opened Monday before The Hague-based ICC, where he stands accused of razing some of the west African city's most historic mausoleums.

Mahdi, aged about 40, is the first Islamic extremist charged by the tribunal and the first charged with crimes arising out of the conflict in Mali.

The wanton destruction by jihadists triggered global outcry, and archaeologists hope the trial will send a stern warning that such plundering of the world's common heritage will not go unpunished.

During an interview with ICC investigators in early September last year, Mahdi said he chose to destroy the mausoleums drawing the largest numbers of Muslim worshippers, a witness said Tuesday.

The ICC has heard how jihadists including Mahdi regarded worshipping at the shrines as idolatrous, according to their strict interpretation under Sharia law.

"He said he selected cemeteries based on where most... 'transgressions' had taken place... for them to be the best examples," said the witness whose voice and identity was masked.

"They decided to start in the North and move to the South," added the witness, who conducted an interview with Mahdi in Niger after he was arrested.

Prosecutors showed shocking satellite images, pictures and video footage Monday of the wave of destruction that followed after armed jihadists took control of northeastern Timbuktu in 2012.

The bespectacled Mahdi is accused of "intentionally directing attacks" against nine of Timbuktu's famous mausoleums as well as the Sidi Yahia mosque between June 30 and July 11, 2012.

Founded between the fifth and the 12th centuries by Tuareg tribes, Timbuktu's very name evokes centuries of history and has been dubbed "the city of 333 saints" for the number of Muslim sages buried there.

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Revered as a centre of Islamic learning during its golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries it has been designated as a UNESCO world heritage site.

UNESCO's assistant director-general for culture Francesco Bandarin, told judges how the world's cultural organisation only took Timbuktu off its world heritage "in danger" sites list in 2005 after years of struggle to preserve the city from desert elements.

"When a site is destroyed deliberately... it sometimes is a wound that is very hard to heal," Bandarin said.
Photo: TLC

I would call Monday nights premiere of Too Close to Home  TLCs first scripted drama, created, written, and directed by Tyler Perry  a riot of tone and style, but that might suggest an organized chaos that the two-hour premiere lacked. The tale of a young woman caught up in a presidential sex scandal  No, wait!  The tale of the poor inhabitants of a trailer park. Actually, Too Close to Home is really both of these  and so much less. The ostensible center of the show is Anna (Danielle Savre), a perennially woeful-looking gal whos working in the social office of the White House and has convinced her fellow interns that her parents are fabulously wealthy.



In truth, Anna is the scion of a dirt-poor clan in Alabama, and Tyler Perry provides us with the dirt to prove it. The premiere kept cutting back and forth between the White House and a trailer park so dowdy, the actors seemed to open doors with their fingernails to avoid contact with verminous germs. In this latter location, we were introduced to mumbling Southerners named Bonnie and J.B. and Shelby and Brody, all of whom dropped their gs and mumbled about drinkin, whorin, and not havin enough money.

Photo: TLC

So what is the connection between the White House and the Dirty House? Anna, of course: She lied about her roots, and now she is lyin down with the president of the United States (a rigid Ken doll played by Matt Battaglia), conducting an affair in the Oval Office, right under the nose of the First Lady (Heather Locklear, imported as a special guest star). By far the productions biggest name, Locklear was given the shows most dramatic scene. After sex with Anna resulted in a presidential heart attack, Locklear mustered her best Dynasty-fierce-frown and summoned up the spirit of Joan Collins while heaping withering scorn upon Anna. Telling the girl she will be forever known as the dumb hick who sucked off the president, Locklear sneered a thunderbolt threat: You have no idea of the monster who stands before you!



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Cut to the small town in Alabama (that I think Tyler Perry actually named Happy) where Annas various relatives and former friends  among them, Bonnie (Kelly Sullivan), her sister, and Brody (Instagram legend Brock OHurn), her ex-boyfriend  continued to communicate their dissatisfaction in the rich tapestry of life by grunting monosyllabically. Brody, who wears his hair long and lustrous and rarely appears with a shirt  in an apparent homage to Fabio  is an especially resentful whiner, groaning about Anna, She wanted the big city, so whut could ah do?



Tyler Perrys research for writing about white-trash trailer culture seems to have been limited to watching reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies and reading old Lil Abner comic strips. His closest approach to wit occurred after a baroque scene in which the drug-addled Shelby rutted with J.B. in the cab of his big 18-wheeler rig, and then, after he declined to give her money for their two minutes of heaven, kicked him out of his own truck and drove the gigantic vehicle off-camera. She took mah load! J.B. whined to Bonnie. Bonnie: She took both your loads!



Its clear why TLC was interested in Too Close to Home. Burned by those danged Duggars and their bad-for-business sex scandals, the former Learning Channel decided the best way to keep shoveling manure to its audience was to make it fictional manure. Perry, for his part, saw an opportunity, after giving the world shows such as House of Payne and Meet the Browns, to make white characters as venal and dumb as the black characters hes created. Win-win, right? Yet Too Close lacked the snap and vigor of your average episode of Toddlers and Tiaras, and as a veteran TLC watcher, I can say decisively that it did not approach the fireworks of even the most lackluster entry in the Jon and Kate Plus 8 canon.



Incoherent as storytelling, lacking anything approaching dramatic structure, Too Close to Home is a gamble for TLC and Perry: Just how bad can a nighttime soap opera be and still attract an audience? The suspense is great, but not as great as the last-minute disclosure that the commander in chief whose heart attacked him is named President Christian. If Tyler Perry hasnt named the veep replacing him Vice President Muslim, Im washing my hands of this whole sordid enterprise.



Too Close to Home airs Monday nights at 9 p.m. on TLC.


Broker ratings are often the driving force behind a stocks performance. This is because, its not easy for an individual investor to identify the underlying factors that could help or hurt a stock. And the perception that brokers being the specialists have the knowhow leads individual investors following them. So, adding broker rating upgrades to ones stock screening criteria could optimize returns.

For an individual investor, identifying a stocks driving force is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. This is where the role of broker ratings comes in handy. Of the three types of brokers/analysts (sell-side, buy-side and independent) present in the investment world, sell-side analysts are most common. Various brokerage firms employ them to provide unbiased opinion to investors after thorough research. Buy-side analysts are employed by hedge funds, mutual funds etc. while the independent ones simply sell their reports to investors.

Brokers, not only scrutinize the publicly available financial documents, but also attend company conference calls and other presentations. Naturally, it is in the best interest of investors to pay heed to such well-researched information as they aim to generate maximum returns from their portfolio.

Earnings Estimate Revisions

Since brokers arrive at their recommendation (buy, sell or hold) on a stock after thoroughly analyzing the nitty-gritties associated with the company, it is natural that for investors to be guided by the direction of estimate revisions while deciding their course of action on a particular stock. The estimate revisions serve as an important pointer regarding the price of a stock. In fact, a rating upgrade generally leads to stock price appreciation. Similarly, the price of a stock may plummet following a rating downgrade.

One of the well-accepted winning strategies is to maintain a diversified portfolio to generate handsome returns irrespective of the surrounding market conditions. For example, in a regime of extremely low oil prices, analysts become bullish on airline stocks and consequently raise estimates. Naturally, adding such stocks to ones portfolio in such a scenario might prove to be a winning strategy. Similarly, analysts might trim estimates and downgrade a stock following some adverse events like lackluster earnings performance or pipeline failure (for a biotech player). Naturally, investors would look to off load such stocks from their portfolio based on brokers stance.

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Making the Most of What Analysts Say

We have designed a screen to shortlist stocks based on improving analyst recommendation and upward revisions to earnings estimates over the last four weeks. Also, since the price/sales ratio is a strong complementary valuation metric in the presence of analyst information, it has also been included. The price/sales ratio takes care of the companys top line thereby making the strategy foolproof.

Screening Criteria

# (Up- Down Rating)/ Total (4 weeks) =Top #75 (This gives the list of top 75 companies that have witnessed net upgrades over the last 4 weeks).

% change in Q (1) est. (4 weeks) = Top #10 (This gives the top 10 stocks that have witnessed earnings estimate revisions over the past 4 weeks for the upcoming quarter).

We have also added the following screening parameters to ensure that the strategy is a winning one:

Price-to-Sales = Bot%10 (The lower the ratio the better, companies meeting this criteria are in bottom 10% of our universe of over 7,700 stocks with respect to this ratio).

Price greater than 5 (as a stock trading below $5 will not likely create significant interest for most of the investors).

Average Daily Volume greater than 100,000 shares over the last 20 trading days (Volume has to be significant to ensure that these are easily traded).

Market value ($ mil) = Top #3000 (This gives us stocks that are the top 3000 in terms of market capitalization).

Com/ADR/Canadian= Com (This takes out the ADR and Canadian stocks).

Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:

Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. CVGI, based in New Albany, Ohio, provides interior systems, vision safety solutions, and other services to the commercial vehicle industry. The company has delivered massive earnings surprises (in excess of 100%) in each of the last two quarters. The 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has increased 61.5% to 21 cents per share over the last 60 days.

Boise Cascade Company BCC, based in Boise, ID, operates as a wood products manufacturer and building materials distributor. The company has an impressive track with respect to earnings, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters by an average in excess of 100%.

Datalink Corporation DTLK, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, is a provider of data center services and solutions. The companys expected earnings growth rate, over the next 3-5 years, is well over 100%. The 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has increased 22.6% to 38 cents per share over the last 60 days.

DXP Enterprises, Inc. DXPE, based in Houston, Texas, engages in distributing, maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products, equipment, and services to industrial customers in the U.S. The company has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters. The 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate has improved significantly over the 60 days and currently hints at an earnings of 30 cents per share compared with a loss of 38 cents 2 months ago.

Global Brass & Copper Holdings, Inc. BRSS: The company, based in Schaumburg, IL, is a converter, fabricator, distributor and processor of copper and brass products primarily in North America. The company also engages in metal melting and casting, rolling, drawing, extruding and stamping to fabricate finished and semi-finished alloy products. The 2016 Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has increased 4.2% to $2.24 per share over the last 60 days. The companys 2016 earnings are projected to grow at 8%, which compares favorably to the industry average of a loss of 1.6%.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

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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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Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea began a two-day meeting on Tuesday with their countries at odds over territorial disputes, a US missile defence system and perennial regional problem North Korea.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, China's Wang Yi and South Korea's Yun Byung-Se met for dinner at a Tokyo hotel before the start of formal talks on Wednesday.

The three shook hands and smiled for the cameras without making any remarks.

The talks are the first since March last year and come ahead of a Group of 20 summit in China early next month.

"It is extremely important for the foreign ministers of the three countries that play major roles in the region to gather together and exchange opinions frankly," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters earlier.

Sino-Japanese tensions over a territorial dispute have risen this month, while China and South Korea have sparred over the planned deployment in the latter country of a US anti-missile system.

The Tokyo-Seoul relationship is also prone to periodic tension due to the legacy of Japan's harsh colonisation of the Korean peninsula from 1910-45.

Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

Tokyo has lodged more than two dozen protests through diplomatic channels since August 5, saying there have been about 30 intrusions by Chinese vessels into its territorial waters.

"We will deliver Japan's thinking directly and clearly," a foreign ministry official said regarding the dispute with China. "It is important for us to send our message firmly."

The visit is the first by a Chinese foreign minister to Japan since Xi Jinping became president in March 2013.

Separately, China has complained about the planned deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, arguing the missile shield damages its own security interests and will heighten regional tension.

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South Korea, wary of offending China, had wavered about the installation but went ahead in the face of North Korea's continued missile development.

North Korea is likely to be a key topic at the meeting, though finding common ground will be difficult

Japan and South Korea regularly condemn Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile development, and feel frustrated by what they see as a lack of pressure on the country by the North's economic lifeline China.

Bilateral meetings between Kishida and his Chinese and South Korean counterparts are also scheduled.

The three-way meeting is expected to be followed later this year by a summit. The leaders met in November last year in South Korea.

"I strongly hope that the meeting will create big momentum" for a successful summit, said Japan's Suga.
Tan Cheng Bock (Photo: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo Singapore)



The man who almost succeeded S R Nathan as president has paid tribute to the late former president as a kind and caring man.

In a Facebook note on Tuesday (23 August), former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock, 76, thanked Nathans family for his many contributions to Singapore.

Nathan, 92, died on Monday evening (22 August), a month after suffering a debilitating stroke.

Tan recalled that he got to know Nathan during his time as a Member of Parliament, when Tan was in the Government Parliamentary Committee for defence and foreign affairs and Leader of the Singapore Asean Parliamentary group.

Nathan invited him to many meetings with ASEAN state leaders, said Tan. At these meetings, l met former Presidents and other leaders. His interaction with the leaders was genuine and cordial. I could sense the deep respect that his guests had for him.

Tan added, His involvement with and suggestions on how to help the disadvantaged when he was President also revealed his kind and caring side.

In 2011, Tan ran for president and lost to current president Tony Tan by a mere 7,382 votes. Six months ago, he declared his intention to run for office again.

During the National Day Rally on Sunday (21 August), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed that he had accepted the main recommendations of the Constitutional Commission on the Elected Presidency (EP).

The government will publish a White Paper on the forthcoming changes to the EP.

Tan told Yahoo Singapore in June that he sees no reason for the Commission to disqualify him as a presidential candidate.
For the second year in a row, the number of people killed in traffic fatalities increased substantially from January through June.

New data from the National Safety Council found approximately 19,100 people were killed in crashes on U.S. roads during the first six months of the year, a 9 percent increase over the same period in 2015. That represents an 18 percent rise compared with the first six months of 2014.

The organization blames the increase on a combination of factors, including a stronger economy and lower gas prices, which cause people to drive more miles. There is also an alarming number of teenage drivers who are willing to use social media behind the wheel, the council found.

Because of these factors, the busy Labor Day weekend will likely be the deadliest on American roads since 2009, said Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council.



"We cannot keep accepting these highway fatalities," Hersman said. "It would be the equivalent of two major plane crashes happening every week. Our hair would be on fire [if that happened]. We wouldn't accept that. Why do we accept it on highways?"

In a survey of more than 1,000 newly licensed drivers between the ages of 15 and 17, 35 percent said they would use social media when behind the wheel. Additionally, 21 percent admitted they would video chat and drive at the same time. Roughly 43 percent said they're willing to text and drive.

"People are very willing to engage with social media when they are behind the wheel," Hersman said. "People have a lot of selfies that you can tell that they are in a car when they are taking those. We know that people are using Facebook (FB), Snapchat and Twitter (TWTR) when they are behind the wheel."



The National Safety Council's report comes as regulators and automakers debate what rules should be required for semi- and fully autonomous vehicles.

Tesla (TSLA), for example, is explicit in telling drivers they must stay engaged when using its Autopilot system. Still, some motorists who have been in accidents while the system was engaged have admitted they weren't paying attention, as they thought the technology would steer their car away from other vehicles or guardrails. Critics argue that until such systems are truly autonomous, they should not be labeled as "autopilot."



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Meanwhile, many have voiced concerns that self-driving cars can be hacked or will simply malfunction. That could cause accidents and endanger drivers and pedestrians.

While the reliability of technology and artificial intelligence in vehicles is being discussed, it's clear humans  especially teens  are keeping their phones in their hands, even when they know it's against the law.

"Even though we have more than 46 states that have texting bans in place, we are seeing the use of these devices when people are behind the wheel go up in spite of all the education," Hersman said. "In fact, people say they know they shouldn't be doing it."

Questions? Comments? BehindTheWheel@cnbc.com .


SPRINGFIELD  A federal judge will hear arguments Wednesday over whether the Illinois State Board of Elections should be ordered to print David Gills name on the Nov. 8 ballot as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District.

Gill, a Bloomington physician and frequent Democratic congressional candidate, failed to gather the 10,754 petition signatures he needed to earn a spot on the ballot, but he sued the State Board of Elections in federal court because he says the requirement is unfairly high for independent congressional candidates.

With a Friday deadline looming for the board to certify the ballot and early voting set to begin next month, Gill is also asking that U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough order the elections board to print his name on the ballot alongside those of U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Democratic challenger Mark Wicklund of Decatur.

Sam Cahnman, the Springfield attorney representing Gill, has argued publicly and in court filings that the signature requirement for independent congressional candidates is out of line with not only the requirements for major party candidates but also for independent candidates for other offices.

As the candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, Davis and Wicklund each had to collect only about 740 signatures, nearly 15 times fewer than was required of Gill. He ended up collecting 8,593 valid signatures, according to a review by a hearing officer for the elections board.

Meanwhile, independent candidates for U.S. Senate are required to collect 25,000, five times more than major party candidates.

Cahnman has called the states requirement for independent congressional candidates patently absurd, egregious and clearly unconstitutional.

Gill said he "just can't even fathom an argument" for why the bar should be proportionally so much higher for independent candidates for Congress than for Senate.

"Frankly, I think the Legislature made a grave error," he said.

The state has no compelling (reason) to keep off the ballot a candidate who filed 8,593 valid signatures, so that two candidates from the same tired old two major parties  can have the ballot all to themselves, and disenfranchise the multitude of votes who are yearning for another alternative, Gills attorney argues in a court filing.

But Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigans office, arguing on behalf of the elections board, begs to differ.

In response to Gills request for an injunction ordering the board to print his name on the ballot, the attorney generals office calls the signature requirements reasonable, nondiscriminatory regulations designed to protect the integrity of the election process.

Assistant Attorneys General Sarah Newman and Thomas Ioppolo argue in a response filed Monday that the state has an interest in preventing voter confusion and overcrowding of the ballot.

The courts have long recognized that the management of elections necessarily demands considerable and close regulation, they write, noting a number of cases in which similar signature requirements have been upheld.

The attorney generals office also argues that granting Gills request would, in effect, give him the outcome hes seeking in his lawsuit before the case is settled. And if the court order were overturned on appeal, it would create problems for local election authorities, who would have to reprint ballots without Gills name, and could disenfranchise voters who cast ballots for him during early voting.
The travel and tourism industry headed into 2016 with a lot of strikes against it. There were Zika and Brexit to contend with. There was political instability. And there was the persistent cloud of terrorism. But despite the setbacks in the first half of the year, new stats show that travel and tourism is still expected to grow three percent in 2016.

In the latest update of the World Travel and Tourism Council's Economic Impact Reports 2016, analysts found a positive global outlook on the state of travel, with growth expected to outpace economic growth, currently forecast at three percent.

Leading the charge is South Asia, which is predicted to grow by six percent, thanks largely to the strong economic prospects in India, according to the WTTC report.

Visits to Northeast and Southeast Asia are also expected to show solid growth at around four percent, while growth to North America is forecast at three percent.

Europe is predicted to post a more modest performance at two percent.

At the other end of the spectrum, a contracting economy and political turmoil across Latin America -- notably food shortages in Venezuela and pre-Olympics protests -- have made Latin America the worst performer, with growth downgraded from one to nearly two percent.

This despite Brazil's star turn hosting the Rio Olympics.

While Brexit may have caused shockwaves through the markets this year, travelers took advantage of the lower exchange rate, boosting travel to the UK. Higher international spending by foreign visitors also helped offset weaker domestic spending and a decline in outbound travel, says the WTTC. The result is a projected growth of nearly four percent in 2016.

On the flip side, countries like Australia, India, France, Spain, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates were the most impacted by the drop in UK visits.

In France, the ongoing threat of terror attacks has also downgraded growth from three percent to one percent for the rest of 2016.

The most recent estimates reported by Le Figaro peg losses of up to 1 billion for Paris's tourism industry in the first eight months of 2016, compared to 2015.

Likewise, terror attacks in Turkey and the failed coup have reduced growth prospects down three percent from 0.2 percent.
As Illinois police continue to investigate the brutal beating death of a cancer patient, her community mourns.



On Tuesday, friends and family gathered in memory of Shannon Vincel, the 46-year-old woman who police say was killed Monday night while she and another patient were outside a Zion, Illinois, cancer treatment center.



Vincel's family held a memorial at the St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church in Des Peres, Missouri, and asked attendees in lieu of flowers to donate to local animal shelter Stray Rescue.



Vincel had travelled from Springfield, Missouri, to Zion to receive medical care for breast cancer from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. She and another patient were waiting for a hospital shuttle to pick them up from their hospital residence when they were attacked by an unidentified man, Zion police tell PEOPLE.



The suspect approached the pair and started hitting Vincel with a blunt object, police said. Vincel sustained severe head trauma and was taken to a local hospital where she died hours later, officials tell PEOPLE.



Vincel was not robbed and police say there is no clear motive for the attack. Witnesses described the suspect as a black male wearing dark clothes, police said.



Zion police are working alongside the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force to identify Vincel's killer. Police declined PEOPLE's request for a copy of the incident report, citing the ongoing investigation.



Police declined to comment on whether they are checking security footage from the treatment center.



 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.



In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Cancer Treatment Centers of America offered their condolences to the Vincel family and sayed they have increased security presence.



Vincel's death has garnered national attention not only for it's brutal nature but because of her health issues.





Tributes Pour in for Missouri Cancer Patient Brutally Beaten Outside Treatment Center| Crime & Courts, Death, Murder, True Crime, Cancer



"It's a tragedy," Andrea Radar of the Susan G. Komen Foundation tells PEOPLE. "We were all very shocked and disturbed to hear this story and our hearts go out to her family."



"I think its fair to say that breast cancer diagnosis and treatment is hard enough," Radar says. "To go through the roller coaster of feeling well and being treated for this terrible cancer and then to be attacked and die this way, it's dreadful."



In an online funeral guestbook set up by Vincel's family, friends shared their memories.



"So much of my childhood includes wonderful memories with you; dancing to the Thriller album in your basement, spending hours picking out clothes for the Duran Duran concert," Jenny Meacham wrote. "You were always kind, fun, and beautiful. I have so many wonderful memories of you and I will cherish them all."



Cancer Treatment Centers of America has pledged $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Vincel's killer.



Anyone with information is urged to call Zion police at 847-872-8000 or Lake County Crime Stoppers at 847-662-2222.
By Steve Holland

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged the Justice Department on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if donors to the Clinton Foundation got special treatment from the State Department when it was run by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Trump made the appeal at a rally before thousands of cheering supporters in Akron, Ohio, as he tries to rebound from a slide in national opinion polls with little more than two months to go until the Nov. 8 election.

Trump accused former President Bill Clinton and his wife of turning the Clinton Foundation charity into a pay-for-play scheme in which wealthy donors, foreign and domestic, got favors from the State Department during Hillary Clintons 2009-2013 tenure as the countrys top diplomat.

Trump faulted both the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation for not indicting Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. FBI Director James Comey cited her careless handling of classified emails but opted not to prosecutor her.

The Justice Department is required to appoint a special prosecutor because it has proved to be, sadly, a political arm of the White House, Trump said. Nobody has ever seen anything like it before."

Trumps appeal came the same day a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, released 725 pages of State Department documents, including some it said were examples of preferential treatment provided to donors at the request of former Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band.

Trumps call for an independent investigation followed an announcement by the Clinton Foundation that it would no longer accept foreign donations should Clinton be elected president.

The Clinton campaign fired back at Trump, saying the foundation had already laid out "the unprecedented steps the charity will take if Hillary Clinton becomes president."

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement that Trump "needs to come clean with voters about his complex network of businesses that are in debt to big banks, including the state-owned Bank of China, after a New York Times report on the subject.

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Donald Trump should stop hiding behind fake excuses and release his tax returns and immediately disclose the full extent of his business interests, Podesta said.

SEEKING TO EXPAND BASE

While keeping up the attack on Clinton, Trump in his speech also outlined some agenda items, as Republicans have been urging him to do for months. The more disciplined Trump followed a campaign shake-up last week that brought in veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager.

But in a sign that organizational challenges remain, Trump canceled a rally planned for later this week in Las Vegas and postponed an immigration speech in Denver.

Earlier on Monday, Trump insisted he was not flip-flopping on immigration, despite a comment by Conway on Sunday that his plan to deport 11 million illegal immigrants was still under review.

In his Akron remarks, Trump, struggling to broaden his support beyond the white working-class voters who have been his base of support, again urged blacks and Hispanics to give him a chance, saying: What the hell do you have to lose? repeating a line he delivered on Friday that was criticized by Clinton as ignorant."

Trump said Democratic politicians had not been able to stem crime and poverty in inner cities despite pledges to do every election year.

"I say it and Im going to keep saying it and some people say: Wow that makes sense and some people say: 'Thats not very nice, Trump said. And I say it with such a deep-felt feeling, what do you have to lose? Well bring jobs back. Well bring spirit back. Well get rid of the crime."

(Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham and Ginger Gibson; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Donald Trump insists he hasnt flip-flopped on the harsh immigration policies he used to rally conservatives to his side during the GOP primary season. But in an interview Monday night with Fox Newss Bill OReilly, the Republican presidential nominee did a 180 on his long-standing vow to round up and deport more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.

At one time, Trump wistfully hearkened back to the Eisenhower administrations Operation Wetback, when more than one million illegal immigrants were arrested or interned in prison camps and frequently unceremoniously dumped across the border in Mexico without food and water. But since Trump met last Saturday with an advisory group of Latino activists and lawyers at Trump Tower in New York to discuss more humane ways of dealing with the problem, senior campaign advisers have been signaling that an overhaul of the candidates most controversial proposal was in the works.

Related: Is Trump Dumping His Plan to Deport 11 Million Illegal Immigrants?

During his appearance on Fox late yesterday, the real estate mogul emphatically ruled out the possibility of massive roundups, imprisonment and deportation of millions of illegal immigrants currently in the country. Instead, he said, he would enforce existing immigration laws and continue to do what President Obama and former Republican President George W. Bush have done, although perhaps with a lot more energy.

Although Trump has frequently criticized the Obama administration for failed immigration and border security policies that allowed many illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central American to slip across an open border, immigration authorities have deported or turned back more than 2.5 million people during the past seven years, including a record 438,000 in 2013 before tapering off.

ProPublica shed some light on how the administration was able to increase deportation by 23 percent from the Bush administration. The private prison company, Corrections Corporation of America, which has been part of the government's immigration enforcement for years, had a $1 billion contract to build and maintain a detention facility for women and children in South Texas. The kicker--the prison was guaranteed payment whether the prison was full or not.

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Now were going to obey the existing laws, Trump said. Now the existing laws are very strong. The first thing were going to do, if and when I win, is were going to get rid of all of the bad ones. Weve got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country. Were going to get them out. The police know who they are. Theyre known by law enforcement who they are . . . Theyre going to be out of this country so fast your head will spin. We have existing laws that allow you to do that.

Deportations by Criminal Status, 2013

Maybe...but that's what Obama and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been doing. Of the 2.5 million deported illegal immigrants, 59 percent had committed a crime, according to a report in The Washington Post based on Pew Research.

As far as everybody else, were going to go through the process, he added. What people dont know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. Bush the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, Im going to do the same thing.

Related: 5 Reasons the Trump Immigration Plan Doesnt Pass the Reality Test

As has been often the case, Trump was more content to espouse high concepts than the details of his proposals. He offered only the vaguest of descriptions of how he would divide illegal immigrants between the bad dudes who would be deported and the rest of the more law-abiding undocumented immigrants who would be allowed to stay. He said nothing about how he would actually round up and detain those destined for deportation, and how that might affect their families. He stressed, however, that We want to do it in a very humane manner.

When OReilly noted that any effort at mass deportation would mean immigration and police raiding homes and placing illegal immigrants in detention centers until they can be adjudicated and removed from the country, Trump seemed surprised.

Youre the first one to mention detention center, Trump said. You dont have to put them in a detention center. I never even heard the term. Im not going to put them in a detention center.

This was a far cry from Trumps tone during the GOP primaries when he regularly derided his rivals for being too weak on the immigration issue. He vowed to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and mobilize a deportation force to oust millions of illegal immigrants. Trump first broke into the 2016 GOP campaign limelight a year ago by denouncing the illegal immigrant population as a cesspool of rapists and criminals who are preying on Americans, taking their jobs and exhausting their social services. Attacks on illegal immigrants, Mexicans, Muslims and other groups became standard fare in Trump stump speeches.

Related: Could the New Zika Outbreak Sink Trumps Chances in Florida?

Theres been considerable speculation about Trumps motivation in making this policy shift now, a week after he authorized a major shakeup in his top campaign organization and sought to soften his image by publicly expressing regret for some of his nastiest and most hurtful comments and attacks. With post-national convention polls showing Trump trailing Clinton substantially, especially in a handful of key battleground states including Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Trump may be trying to lure back more moderate Republicans who have been offended or even horrified by some of his harsh rhetoric and attacks.

He is also badly trailing Clinton among Hispanic voters who have been turned off by his immigration and deportation stands. Hispanic voters proved important in some of the GOP and Democratic primaries this year and could make an important difference in battleground states such as Florida, Arizona and Colorado.

While he might be able to win back some of that support, Trump will come nowhere close to George W. Bushs 40 percent showing among Hispanic voters in his successful 2004 reelection campaign  the last time a Republican captured the White House. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney garnered only 27 percent of the Hispanic vote in his loss to Obama in 2012. Its highly doubtful Trump can even match that losing effort.

Trump must also be careful not to antagonize his hardline conservative political base by moderating his views on immigration too much. Any move to embrace more moderate reform proposals, such as creating a possible pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants or abandoning plans for a wall, would be viewed as a betrayal by many of Trumps most ardent supporters, even while a recent Gallup survey showed that 76 percent of all Republicans favor creating a path to citizenship.

Related: The Map That Keeps Getting Uglier for Trump

Precisely where Trump will finally come down on immigration reform remains to be seen. His campaign over the weekend said he would deliver a major immigration speech in Colorado on Thursday, but then canceled the speech without explanation. Instead, Trump was rerouted to Texas, where he is focusing on border security and his new call for a special prosecutor to investigate Clintons emails during her four years as secretary of state.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Turkeys armed forces have begun attacking ISIS targets as well as U.S.-supported Kurdish forces across the border in Syria, shortly after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday pledged to rid the region of ISIS militants.

On Tuesday, Turkeys military fired 40 shells at ISIS targets in northern Syria after mortar shells hit the Turkish border town of Karkamis, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

On Monday, Turkish artillery fire hit several areas north of the Syrian city of Manbij as well as the border town of Jarablus, Reuters cited local media as reporting. Syrian activists had earlier reported hundreds of Turkish-backed fighters massing in the town of Karkamis.

The strikes come a day after Cavusoglu said the border should be completely cleansed of ISIS extremists, following a suicide bombing at a wedding in the town of Gaziantep on Saturday, which killed at least 54 people. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said initial evidence from the attack, which counted at least 22 children among its victims and injured more than 60 people, pointed to the terrorist group, but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said authorities were still trying to determine the bombers affiliations.

[Reuters]
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey vowed to give full support to efforts to free a key Syrian border town from the control of Islamic State (IS) jihadists as anticipation grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group.

Turkish forces also pounded jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes after a deadly suicide bombing in the city of Gaziantep at the weekend and repeated rocket fire across the border.

Activists have said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group to seize control of the Syrian town of Jarabulus, which lies opposite the town of Karkamis in Turkey.

Without confirming the operation, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged to give "all kinds of support" to push the jihadists out of Jarabulus.

"We do not want Daesh (IS) to exist in Iraq and Syria," he told reporters.

The pledge came a day before US Vice President Joe Biden was due in Ankara to meet Turkey's leadership, with agreeing a unified strategy on Syria set to be a crucial issue.

He is by far the highest-ranking Western official to visit Turkey since the coup attempt to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In an interview with private NTV television, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey saw Jarabulus "as a national security matter".

"What we have said, since the beginning, is that having Jarabulus or any other city held by IS is unacceptable," he said.

The authorities also ordered residents to vacate Karkamis and the surrounding area for safety reasons after the rocket fire, although there was no indication this was linked to the impending operation.

"Residents of the town centre and six neighbourhoods (are) advised to relocate to more secure areas," the local governor's office said in a statement.

Nine mortar rounds fired from Jarabulus hit the centre of the town while two more hit another neighbourhood, it added.

No casualties or injuries were reported.

Story continues

Turkish artillery responded by shelling IS positions around Jarabulus.

- 'May begin any time' -

Abdulkadir Selvi, a well-connected columnist for the Hurriyet daily, said the Turkey-backed offensive "could begin at any moment".

The move by Ankara-backed rebels could potentially put them on a collision course with the militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara vehemently opposes and which also has designs on Jarabulus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from IS.

Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the "Turkish shelling in Syria aimed to prevent the advance of troops backed by Kurds from Manbij towards Jarabulus".

He told AFP the commander of Kurdish-dominated forces headed to Jarablus, Abdel Satar al-Jader, was also "assassinated" on Monday after announcing he planned to resist the Turkish advance. There was no confirmation from Turkish sources.

Turkey regards the PYD as a terror group, although Washington sees its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia -- as the most effective fighting force against the jihadists.

The movements have come at a critical juncture for Turkey in Syria's five-and-a-half-year war, with signs growing it is on the verge of a landmark policy shift.

Ankara has always called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad as the key to ending the conflict, putting Turkey at odds with his main supporters Iran and Russia.

However Prime Minister Binali Yildirim at the weekend for the first time acknowledged that Assad was one of the "actors" in Syria and may need to stay on as part of a transition.

- 'The last song' -

Turkey has been shaken by one of the bloodiest years in its modern history, with a string of attacks by IS jihadists and Kurdish militants and the botched July 15 coup.

The attack in Gaziantep on a Kurdish wedding party for a young couple has horrified the country, with the majority of the 54 victims aged under 18 and including children as young as four.

But there is confusion as to who was behind the attack, with Erdogan initially saying the suicide bomber was a child aged 12-14 acting on the orders of IS.

However Yildirim on Monday said Turkey still had no clue who carried out the attack and said all "rumours" over the age and affiliation of the bomber should be taken with a pinch of salt.

One guest, Emine Ayhan, lost four of her five children in the blast.

"To finish off the evening the young guys wanted one last song. It was in the middle of this song that the bomb went off," Hurriyet quoted her as saying.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will give full support to an operation to take the Syrian border town of Jarablus from Islamic State, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, after Syrian rebels said they were preparing an assault from Turkish soil. The operation is important for Turkey's security, Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara. Turkey does not want to see the Kurdish YPG militia, which already controls swathes of northern Syria, capture the strategic border town. Cavusoglu also said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the YPG and Islamic State had ramped up attacks on Turkey since a failed coup attempt on July 15. More than 330 foreign ministry staff have been recalled or suspended since the abortive putsch, and 31 are still being sought, he also said. (Reporting by Gulsen Solaker and Can Sezer; Writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Nick Tattersall)
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey pledged Tuesday to give "all kinds of support" to push Islamic State (IS) jihadists out of the Syrian town of Jarabulus near the two countries' border.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the promise amid reports Ankara-backed rebels were massing on the border in anticipation of an impending operation against IS.

"We will provide all kinds of support to the Jarabulus operation," Cavusoglu said, promising to help "cleanse" IS from neighbouring countries.

"We do not want Daesh to exist in Iraq and Syria," he told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

Turkey on Tuesday pounded IS positions in Syria with artillery strikes after a deadly attack near its border killed at least 54 people.

"We shelled ISIS positions across the border," said a Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Turkish media reported that tanks and armoured vehicles amassed on the Syrian border.

In a live interview with private NTV television, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey was closely monitoring the developments on the Syrian side of the border, adding that Ankara has sees this "as a national security matter."

"What we have said, since the beginning, is that having Jarabulus or any other city held by IS is unacceptable," he said.
BLOOMINGTON  Deb Smith and Mary Ann Pullin saw more than three pallet-loads of donated shoes outside the Home Sweet Home Ministries Warehouse on Monday.

They saw opportunities for people to take steps in the right direction.

The 14th annual OSF Shoe Drive collected a record 3,524 pounds of shoes  157 pounds more than last year  for Home Sweet Home, representatives of OSF St. Joseph Medical Center and Home Sweet Home announced Monday outside the warehouse, 1700 W. Washington St.

The three pallet loads of shoes were part of the total of 9 pallet loads of shoes donated during the drive, said Pullin, Home Sweet Home CEO.

"Awesome," Tina Donnelly of Lexington, a Home Sweet Home shoe sorter, said when told of the amount donated as she sorted shoes inside the warehouse.

Donnelly also shops for shoes and clothes at Home Sweet Home's Mission Mart in Bloomington and Lincoln because she can get quality apparel "and it's not too pricey."

"Some of these shoes look brand new," added Smith, St. Joseph vice president and chief nursing officer, as she looked at the donated shoes. Among them were shoes donated by herself and her family.

"They have a lot of steps to walk yet," she said. "They'll be put on feet of people to further their growth and help them to take steps to improve their lives."

New and gently used shoes were donated  Aug. 5 though 14  in bins in parking lots of St. Joseph in Bloomington; OSF Medical Group-College Avenue, Bloomington; and Center for Health at Fort Jesse, Normal; and also during business hours inside entrances to the hospital.

Donors were OSF employees and their families, patients and the general public.

"This is one of the community events we strongly support and Home Sweet Home Ministries is a great partner," said Smith, who recalled that the drive began with podiatrist Dr. Todd Snoeyink and expanded when Snoeyink joined OSF Medical Group.

"We feel a sense of great gratitude toward the community and how much the community cares for its neighbors," Pullin said. "People will get good, wearable shoes at affordable prices."

OSF volunteers began sorting shoes on Saturday and sorting continues by Home Sweet Home workers.

Wearable shoes will be sold at Mission Mart locations in Bloomington and Lincoln, with proceeds used to support Home Sweet Home programs to lift up the homeless and others in need through meals, shelter and other services, Pullin said.

Non-wearable shoes will be recycled.

While this year's drive was the most successful so far, it's unknown how many pounds of shoes were donated during the first 13 years because OSF and Home Sweet Home switched last year from counting pairs of shoes to weighing shoes.

But Pullin said 25,000 pairs of shoes were donated during the first 13 years.
The second part of the 600 MHz low-band wireless spectrum auction, popularly known as Incentive Auction, witnessed bids of over $11.5 billion in the first week after the U.S. telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened it on Aug 16. The seventh round of bidding was completed on last Friday.

The Incentive Auction, which was initiated by the FCC on Mar 29, 2016, completed its first part early last month. In the first part, which was essentially a reverse auction, the airwaves were freed by TV broadcasters who no longer had any productive use of the same. The TV broadcasters had agreed to free a substantial amount of 126 MHz of spectrums for a massive $86.4 billion.

In the second part of the auction process, the FCC will re-sell these airwaves to wireless operators, cable MSOs (multi service operators) or tech firms through competitive bidding. The second part is thus evidently known as forward auction. Needless to say, the total bid price of the forward auction must reach at least $86.4 billion for the Incentive Auction to be successful.

The FCC has received as many as 62 applications for the second part of the Incentive Auction. All 62 bidders have made upfront payments. Important bidders include national telecom giants Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, AT&T Inc. T, and T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS, satellite TV operator DISH Network Corp. DISH and cable MSOs (multi service operators) Comcast Corp. CMCSA and Liberty Global Inc.

Low-band spectrum is essential for wireless operators as the signals can be transmitted over longer distances and through brick-and-mortar walls in cities. However, several industry experts believe that telecom operators may be unwilling to shell out such a hefty sum for low-band airwaves.

Some industry watchers have also predicted that telecom operators may need around 70 MHz to 80 MHz of spectrums in the 600 MHz bands instead of the total freed up 126 MHz airwaves. In such a scenario, the FCC may have to conduct another round of reverse auction for a reduced volume of spectrum at lower prices.

Story continues

The FCC was initially hopeful of completing the Incentive Auction process by the end of the third quarter of 2016. However, industry watchers are now expecting it to be much more prolonged and may continue till early 2017. Notably, the freed spectrums cannot be utilized commercially before 2020.

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On Monday, China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina) received approval from U.S. national-security officials for its $43 billion takeover of Swiss agrochemical company Syngenta AG. Although the deal still needs to be reviewed by antitrust regulators worldwide, getting the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) the green light was seen as the final hurdle for what looks like the biggest Chinese overseas acquisition of all time. Syngenta shares jumped 10% upon the news. The proposed transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, read a statement by the Basel-based firm, which has 28,000 employees in over 90 countries.

The deal has been controversial in the U.S. for national-security implications. The fact that a [Chinese] state-owned enterprise may have yet another stake in U.S. agriculture is alarming, said Iowa Senator Charles Grassley. But the deal has arguably been more controversial in China: Syngenta has pioneered the manufacture of genetically modified (GMO) crops, and ChemChinas interest is seen as spurred by the Beijing government eyeing Syngentas valuable GMO-seed patents. However, the Chinese public remains vehemently against GMO. A recent survey in the state-backed China Daily revealed 84% of respondents consider GMO unsafe. It remains illegal for locally grown food.

Read More: China May Not Have Enough Arable Land to Feed Its People. But Big Changes Are Coming

The Chinese government has launched a massive propaganda offensive to change this. On paper, it is easy to see why: GMO could solve many of Chinese agricultural problems, especially in the arid, freezing north. Chinese farmers are generally poorly trained and work tiny, family plots, overusing fertilizers and pesticides to the point in which land is degraded and water supplies contaminated. In 2007, farmers in southern Chinas Guangdong province spread 310 kg of fertilizer per acre, according to the World Bank  six times that was used in the U.S. Experts believe 60%-70% was wasted and ended up polluting water supplies. Despite education programs encouraging farmers to use fewer chemicals, today four out of five underground wells in China produce water unfit even for bathing. As such, the lure of innately high-yield and pest-resistant GMO crops isnt going away.

China began heavily investing in GMO technology in the 1980s, and has around 10,000 state-employed scientists working on the topic today. At Beijings Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, dozens of white coats crowd over petri dishes, seeking to isolate and extract genes that can make crops frost-resistant or thrive on less rain. Traditional farming has many limitations in China, says Professor Huang Dafang, who has spent three decades developing GMO. And climate change has really impeded the development of agriculture in recent years.

Read More: These 5 Facts Explain Chinas Coming Challenges

Yet the Chinese public still equates GMO with previous food-safety scares. In recent years, consumers have faced abominations such as cadmium-laced rice, fake eggs and infant formula tainted with the toxic chemical melamine  a scandal that killed six babies and left 300,000 ill. As such, the Chinese Communist Party lacks the necessary social capital to persuade its citizens that GMO is benign. Allegations by the environmental group Greenpeace that GMO crops had been illegally planted in the countrys northeast have further agitated a public wary of stealthy tampering with their food. The scale of [GMO] contamination is truly shocking, said Li Yifang, head of Food and Agriculture Campaign.

In many ways, though, GMO has already arrived to China: a large percentage of the soya beans imported are genetically modified, while the vast majority of locally grown cotton  employing more than 6.6 million farmers  is also GMO. But that has not swayed the public. On July 17, Huang was harangued at a public forum on GMO by protesters calling him a traitor. It was not the first time. Public figures, like former China Central Television anchor and political adviser Cui Yongyuan, continue to rile against GMO in blog posts. Last week, a Beijing court agreed to hear a lawsuit filed by parents about the alleged use of GMO oil at a school canteen. And reaction to the U.S. regulatory thumbs up did not hint at a softening of stances. This is an obituary for the Chinese nation, posted one user to Chinas Twitter-like microblog Weibo.

For the Chinese government, CFIUS approval may not be the final hurdle after all.

 With reporting by Zhang Chi and Yang Siqi / Beijing
The worlds chemical weapons watchdog has repeatedly found traces of deadly nerve agents in laboratories that Syria insisted were never part of its chemical weapons program, raising new questions about whether Damascus has abided by its commitments to destroy all of its armaments, according to a highly confidential new report.

The discoveries of precursors for chemical warfare agents like soman and VX at several undeclared facilities, including two on the outskirts of Damascus, underscored what a 75-page report by the director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) describes as a troubling pattern of incomplete and inaccurate Syrian disclosures over the past three years about the scope of the countrys chemical weapons program.

Those gaps have confounded the inspectors attempts to verify whether or not Syria has fully abandoned its chemical weapons program, fueling suspicions by the United States and other Western powers that the government may be seeking to retain a limited capacity to use the nerve agents and other lethal toxins against the rebels working to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In a confidential two-page summary of the report, OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu writes that the majority of 122 samples taken at multiple locations in Syria indicate potentially undeclared chemical weapons-related activities. Many of Syrias explanations for the presence of undeclared agents, he added, are not scientifically or technically plausible, and  the presence of several undeclared chemical warfare agents is still to be clarified.

The incomplete and sometimes misleading assertions by the Assad government have shaped the often rocky relationship between foreign inspectors and their Syrian counterparts, bedeviling international efforts to determine whether or not Damascus has abided by its obligation to destroy its chemical weapons. Assad promised to eliminate his stores in 2013 to avert promised U.S. airstrikes against regime targets.

Story continues

The findings of the OPCWs Declaration Assessment Team report  which is marked highly protected  contrast sharply with Assads public insistence that Syrias chemical weapons have been largely eliminated. In the summer of 2014, the chemical weapons watchdog confirmed that all of Syrias declared stockpile had been removed from the country.

The OPCWs conclusions could also pose political challenges for U.S. President Barack Obama, who has pointed to the deal as proof that diplomacy can often work better than overwhelming American firepower in stemming the spread of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. The president has emphasized that he is very proud of his decision not to launch airstrikes against the Syrian regime after it used the chemical agent sarin on civilians near Damascus, killing more than 1,400 people. Obama had previously said the use of such weapons was a red line that would bring an American military response but instead signed onto a Russian-crafted deal with Assad designed to eliminate the weapons. Secretary of State John Kerry said in 2014 that the agreement meant the administration had successfully got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out of Syria.

But U.S. and European officials who have studied the July 4 OPCW report are expressing growing alarm that Damascus may have hidden key parts of its once secret chemical weapons program. Those worries have intensified in recent weeks, as the worlds chemical weapons watchdog voiced concern that top Syrian officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, have provided the OPCWs scientists with conflicting explanations about the presence of chemical warfare agents at sites the government hadnt acknowledged to be part of its chemical weapons program. The lapse suggested that Syria maintained a network of chemical weapons sites far greater than it has acknowledged.

The new information presented by the Syrian Arab Republic during recent consultations does not resolve the outstanding issues surrounding the countrys chemical weapons program, Uzumcu wrote in the summary, which was shared with the U.N. Security Council. In many instances, such new information presents a considerable change in the narrative from information provided previously  or raises new questions. In some cases, this new information contradicts earlier narratives.

Uzumcu wrote that gaps in his agencys understanding of Syrias chemical weapons capabilities have increased steadily over time. Unless Syria dramatically steps up cooperation with his agency, the former Turkish diplomat warned, the OPCW is unlikely to ever conclude that Syria has destroyed its whole program.

The OPCW report also found that the Syrian government has failed to provide sufficient access to senior leaders in its chemical weapons program or to adequately account for 2,000 aerial bombs that Syria acknowledges were designed to deliver mustard gas. Syrian officials claim the bombs were converted into conventional explosives and dropped on enemy targets in 2013 as part of Syrias civil war, but Uzumcu wrote that the lack of physical evidence makes it impossible to verify that said bombs were repurposed and consumed.

As far back as August 2014, a team of OPCW chemical weapons experts met behind closed doors with Syrian officials to learn about the history of the countrys once secret chemical weapons program. The inspectors were in for a bitter surprise: Syrian officials claimed that they had destroyed the records out of fear that some sites related to the chemical weapons program might fall under the control of armed groups, the report found.

In his confidential summary, Uzumcu wrote that the lack of original documentation has been a major barrier in corroborating much of the information provided by the Assad government while the watchdogs lack of access to senior Syrian officials from the weapons program precluded the Secretariats understanding of [its] full scope and activities.

U.S. officials and their European partners have gone even further. During a July 12 OPCW public session, Washingtons representative to the organization, Kenneth Ward, accused Syria of engaging in a calculated campaign of intransigence and obfuscation, of deception, and of defiance.

The U.S. diplomat said samples of undeclared chemical warfare agents taken by the OPCW are indicative of production, weaponization, and storage of [chemical warfare] agents by the Syrian military that has never been acknowledged by the Syrian government. We, therefore, remain very concerned that CW agent and associated munitions, subject to declaration and destruction, have been illicitly retained by Syria.

The United States and other Western powers are weighing whether or not they can use the reports findings to make the case that Syria is in violation of a U.N. demand, issued in Resolution 2118, that the country fully cooperate with international inspectors. Those governments could make the case that the Security Council should impose penalties on Syria for failing to fully comply with its disarmament obligations, but they would likely face intense pushback from Russia.

U.S. efforts to challenge Syrias alleged activities have been constrained by Russia, one of Assads closest allies. Last month, Moscow blocked a U.S. initiative in the OPCWs Executive Council to express grave concern over Syrias conduct and call on Uzumcu to bring the watchdogs full report to the attention of the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to sanction countries whose actions threaten international peace and security. Uzumcu went ahead and shared a redacted copy of the report, plus the two-page summary, with the 15-nation council. Still, the reports findings are unlikely to persuade Russia to agree to punish Syria for its uneven and incomplete cooperation with the OPCW.

I think the fundamental question for the United States, and also for the OPCW, is  have we come to the end of the road in terms of our ability to pursue a reasonably cooperative process with the Syrian government? said Rebecca Hersman, the director of the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. If we have, then its incumbent for the OPCW Executive Council and director-general of the OPCW to report to the Security Council their concerns with Syrian compliance.

The United States and other Western powers have also claimed that the true scope of the program has been obscured, in part, by the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), a top secret branch of the Syrian Defense Ministry that Western powers believe has been at the center of Damascuss chemical weapons program for decades.

The White House claimed in August 2013 that officials linked to the SSRC were preparing chemical weapons munitions just days before the Syrian government allegedly attacked the Damascus suburbs of Ghouta with sarin, killing more than 1,400 people. French intelligence maintains that a small part of the SSRC, called Branch 450, managed the chemical weapons program. The unit, according to a French intelligence assessment released in September 2013, is composed solely of Alawite military personnel  [and] distinguished by a high level of loyalty to the regime.

But Syria has long denied that the SSRC  which runs numerous laboratories and facilities throughout the country  was involved in its chemical weapons program. OPCW inspectors began scrutinizing the center after realizing that none of the chemical weapons facilities declared by Syria seemed to have appropriate capabilities to enable development of a chemical weapons program.

In May 2014, and again this January, OPCW inspectors paid visits to one of the centers research and development facilities, Institute 3000. They collected multiple samples with traces of pinacolyl alcohol, a chemical precursor for the production of the nerve agent soman. The Syrian government initially denied the presence of soman. But two years later it confirmed the findings and offered a number of explanations for the presence of the agent, including one account suggesting the head of the SSRC ordered limited research on the material that was unrelated to chemical weapons work.

The OPCW report cast doubt on that claim, saying it was not technically or scientifically plausible because pinacolyl alcohol does not have any other use for peaceful purposes, especially in the present context. Asked for further explanation, the Syrian government said the SSRC head, who had previously worked at a Syrian chemical weapons facility, had set up special teams to conduct experiments with tiny samples of warfare agents for defensive purposes only, according to the report.

The investigators also found significant gaps in Syrian declarations on other chemical agents, including sarin, ricin, mustard gas, and VX. During a September 2015 visit to an undeclared SSRC-run facility in the village of Jamraya, which lies to the north of Damascus, inspectors discovered trace amounts of DIPA ethanol and DIPAE sulfonic acid, chemicals that are closely associated with the nerve agent VX.

Although the United States, Britain, and France have long been aware that Syria has been withholding information about the centers role in its chemical weapons program, they initially sought to avoid a confrontation with the regime over it, fearing that it might provoke Damascus into halting the destruction of its declared chemical weapons stockpile. But with peace talks stalled, Western diplomats have little reason to downplay concerns over Syrias chemical weapons activities.

Its not only the Syrian governments undeclared chemical weapons stockpile that has nonproliferation experts worried. The OPCW also faces a decision over a separate investigation into a series of chlorine gas attacks over the past year, for which the United States has blamed the Syrian government. Such attacks would be in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2235, which threatened action under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter  possibly including economic sanctions or military force  if chemical weapons attacks continued in Syria. The team of investigators established by that resolution, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), is planning to publish its findings this week on who conducted the attacks, which could pave the way for further Security Council action and potentially set the stage for a new confrontation with Russia, which will have to decide whether or not to allow the council to punish its ally.

The JIM has examined nine chemical weapons attacks, including an alleged Islamic State mustard gas assault on the village of Marea, north of the city of Aleppo, on Aug. 21, 2015. The eight other attacks allegedly involved the use of chlorine or other toxic agents by the Syrian government in heavily populated areas.

One of those attacks occurred in the town of Sarmin, in northern Idlib province, on March 16, 2015. Local medical workers said victims were streaming into the local hospitals, some of them foaming at the mouth and reeking of chemicals. Helicopters were still hovering in the sky as Mohammed Tennari, a doctor in the town, rushed to the hospital, where he found much of the staff in a panic as they tried to determine whether or not their own families had been injured.

As night fell, the hospital received a report of another chemical attack on the town. It happened on one of the buildings  two barrel bombs were thrown, Tennari told Foreign Policy. One of them fell in a chimney hole and went all the way from the roof to the cellar.

Hiding in the cellar were six members of the Talib family, including three small children. The entire family died after inhaling a large portion of gas, becoming the only deaths in the attack. Dozens of others were injured in the two assaults.

Tennari has no doubts who is to blame for the chlorine attacks. The [Assad] regime is the only one who has helicopters and who has barrel bombs, he said. It is very clear that the fingers are pointing to the regime for this action.

The JIMs chief investigator, Virginia Gamba, recently informed key Security Council members that her team might require an additional six months to say definitely who is responsible for the nine attacks. But council members urged her to conclude her work on schedule this month.

Hersman told FP that the team should be able to draw conclusions about who is responsible for at least some of the attacks. But she acknowledged that the chemical weapons issue is so heavily politicized that the JIM might only assign blame when there was overwhelming evidence, which even Moscow would hesitate to deny, pointing to which side bore responsibility.

The JIM has a very tightly worded mandate, with sharply limited time frames and a highly politicized Security Council environment into which they need to report, Hersman said. So its a challenge. They want to be excruciatingly credible, [and] they want everything to be irrefutable so it can withstand the kind of picking apart it may get.

The question looming over all this diplomacy, however, is whether or not the United States actually has an appetite to pick a fight with Russia over its clients use of chemical weapons. The situation on the ground has changed dramatically since the 2013 agreement, most notably with Moscows decision to launch a massive air campaign in support of the Syrian government.

Robert Ford, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and a former U.S. ambassador to Syria who helped negotiate the chemical weapons deal, doubts that the Kremlin would support aggressive action against the Assad regime at the same time it is trying to prop up its ally in Damascus.

Do we really think that the Russians are now going to allow Chapter 7 sanctions against their client? Ford said. The administration has worked itself into a position thats just untenable. They look foolish.

Photo credit: JM LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
By Jon Herskovitz

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. district judge on Monday denied a motion from three University of Texas professors who wanted to ban guns in their classroom after the state gave some students that right under a law then went into effect this month.

The professors had argued academic freedom could be chilled under the so-called "campus carry" law backed by the state's Republican political leaders. The law allows concealed handgun license holders aged 21 and older to bring handguns into classrooms and other university facilities.

But U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said the professors "have failed to establish a substantial likelihood of ultimate

success on the merits of their asserted claims," and denied a motion for an injunction to ban guns.

"It appears to the court that neither the Texas Legislature nor the (university's) Board of Regents has overstepped its legitimate power to determine where a licensed individual may carry a concealed handgun in an academic setting," Yeakel said.

Republican lawmakers said campus carry could help prevent a mass shooting.

"There is simply no legal justification to deny licensed, law-abiding citizens on campus the same measure of personal protection they are entitled to elsewhere in Texas," Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement.

University of Texas professors had lobbied unsuccessfully to prevent campus carry, arguing the combination of youth, firearms and college life could make for a deadly situation.

"Sometimes a public policy is so extreme that it can catch the courts by surprise and take them some time to catch up," said Renea Hicks, a lawyer for the professors.

The lawyers are considering what their next move will be.

The university has threatened to punish professors who try to ban guns in classrooms.

The professors had argued that they discuss emotionally laden subjects such as reproductive rights in class, and they would be forced to alter their classroom presentations because of potential gun violence.

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The Texas campus carry law took effect on Aug. 1 as the University of Texas held a memorial to mark the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest U.S. gun incidents on a college campus.

On Aug. 1 1966, student Charles Whitman killed 16 people in a rampage, firing from a perch atop the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, the state's flagship public university.

Eight states have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on public postsecondary campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state laws.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Sandra Maler)
UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. humanitarian chief on Monday urged all combatants in Aleppo to agree to a 48-hour pause to allow delivery of desperately needed aid, warning that otherwise the world risks seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed in Syria.

Stephen OBrien said Aleppo is being bombed every day, including a dozen new attacks on Monday, and has become the apex of horror in the greatest crisis of our time.

He told the U.N. Security Council, which has been deeply divided over Syria, that you have the power with a pen  a simple pen stroke  to allow food to people.

OBrien said the U.N. asked to deliver aid to nearly 1 million people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas in August, but the Syrian government approved less than 50 percent of the requests, denying aid to rebel-held eastern Aleppo and several other besieged areas.

OBrien said that not one aid convoy has moved yet due to fighting, insecurity and bureaucratic requirements, and the end of the month is just nine days away.

Russia, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assads government, said last Thursday it was ready to back the U.N. call for weekly 48-hour cease-fires in Aleppo, provided aid convoys travel to both rebel-controlled and government-controlled parts of the city.

U.S. deputy ambassador Michele Sison reiterated American support for the humanitarian pauses in her speech to the council, saying it is imperative that all armed groups in Aleppo respect these pauses. She urged Russia to follow its unilateral declaration with genuine steps to support regular and sustained access to Aleppo.

OBrien welcomed the Russian announcement but also stressed that we need the agreement of all parties to let us do our job.

In Aleppo we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed and carnage in the Syrian conflict, he said. Once again, I cannot stress strongly enough the need for a 48-hour pause in fighting to be approved by all sides and come into effect, so that safe and sustained humanitarian access is opened to all areas of Aleppo.

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The U.N. humanitarian chief said he and his office are working with all sides seeking to ensure that the Russian offer can be turned into a comprehensive pause.

Rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where up to 275,000 people live, has been almost entirely cut off from vital supplies including food, water, medicine and electricity for over a month, OBrien said, while access to the estimated 1.5 million people in government-controlled western Aleppo remains extremely difficult.

The U.N. has found a new route into western Aleppo and has delivered some aid, and it is preparing 20 trucks to deliver food and other supplies to eastern Aleppo as soon as a cease-fire takes place, he said.

This is a race against time, as fighting rages on, with ever more shocking reports of bombed hospitals and wrecked schools, OBrien said. Electricity is out, water is scarce, and movement is restricted.

He repeated his appeals for U.N. action, not just on Aleppo, but to end the war in Syria saying: When hospital attacks have become the new normal, when medieval sieges of entire cities and neighborhoods have become a lasting reality for hundreds of thousands of people, this council cannot look the other way.

Russias U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin urged all those with influence to spur the opposition to move forward to a political settlement.

Without that and without effectively combatting terrorism the necessary radical improvement in the humanitarian situation in Syria is impossible, Churkin said.

Syrias U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari agreed, stressing that a political solution must be Syrian-led without any external preconditions or interference and must be parallel to fighting terrorism.
UNESCO has chosen Aug. 23 to commemorate the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition, but the historical significance of that day may escape many. On the night that spanned August 22 and 23, 1791, slave rebels in the French colony of Saint-Domingue started the Haitian Revolution, the only instance of a successful slave rebellion in world history and the founding event of the first modern black republic. More than the American Revolution and its aftermath, which resulted in the gradual abolition of slavery in the northern states, the Haitian Revolution, which continued until 1804, constitutes a landmark in the history of abolition. It highlighted the abuses of slavery and dealt a blow to the Atlantic Slave Trade, the profitable and inhumane traffic in human beings from the west coast of Africa to European colonies and countries in the Americas.

The history of abolition begins with those who resisted slavery at its inception. African resistance to enslavementepitomized in the more than 200 shipboard insurrections that dot the four centuries of the slave trade and in maroon communities of runaway slaves on both sides of the Atlanticis often forgotten in the recent scholarship on African nations participation in the slave trade.

The Black Jacobins of Haiti were not only influenced by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of the French Revolution of 1789, but also by the long tradition of petit marronage and slave resistance established by enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue. Under the brilliant military leadership of Toussaint Louverturewho warded off challenges to his authority by slaveholders, free men of color, French emissaries and the armies of the slaveholding British and Spanish empiresblack Saint-Dominguans laid the foundation for Haitian independence after 13 years of unremitting warfare. Louverture was eventually imprisoned and died in France, but his successors defeated the world-conquering army of Napoleon, who, after the first French Republic attempted to abolish slavery, re-established the practice in the rest of the French empire.

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More than 300 years after Christopher Columbus landed in Hispaniola, destroyed its native population and introduced African slavery, the island witnessed the birth of the independent Republic of Haiti, its native name, on Jan. 1, 1804. The Haitian Declaration of Independence simply stated, We have dared to be free, let us be thus by ourselves and for ourselves.

Four years later, on that very date, Britain and the United States abolished the African slave trade. Interestingly enough, the first instances of modern racial slavery did not take place from Africa to the Americas but among the native Taino population of Hispaniola, who virtually disappeared through warfare, disease and enslavement by the Spanish. In the long history of the slave trade and European colonization of the Americas, the Haitian revolutionaries were truly Avengers of the New World.

Their bloody, decisive challenge to slavery and white supremacynotwithstanding Haitis subsequent political instability and poverty, which were aggravated by the colonial policies of its erstwhile rulersbecame sanctified in abolitionist memory.

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French abolitionists in the Societe des Amis des Noirs, or society of the friends of the blacks, founded in 1788, campaigned for the rights of free people of color and the abolition of the slave trade. The French abolitionist Abbe Henri Gregoire viewed the Haitian republic, not the United States of America, as the custodian of revolutionary ideals and a beacon to the world.

The link between the Haitian Revolution and the British movement to abolish the slave trade was also intimate. British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson wrote one of the first briefs in defense of the slave rebels of Saint-Domingue in 1792 and argued for an end to the slave trade. Clarkson became an unofficial ambassador of Haiti, lobbying the French to recognize it.

American abolitionists too praised the Haitian Revolution. In his The Rights of Black Men, Abraham Bishop of Connecticut asked antislavery societies to assist the Haitian revolutionaries with pen, the tongue, the counsel, the swordand money. The founder of the African Masonic Lodge, Prince Hall of Boston, asked enslaved blacks to look to their African brethren in Haiti for inspiration. Black and white abolitionists would long praise Haiti, the glory of the blacks and the terror of tyrants. They demanded that the United States government extend diplomatic recognition to Haiti, which the Lincoln administration finally did during the Civil War.

The best exponents of revolutionary abolition were the slaves themselves, whose world-historical actions forever changed the dynamic in the battle between slavery and freedom in the Americas. How apt it is then that, in 1994, Haiti asked UNESCO to map The Slave Route, to remember the victims of the slave trade and slaveryand that the U.N. has named the day that the Haitian Revolution began as abolition day. Haitis abolitionist heritage belongs to all of humanity.

The Long View

Historians explain how the past informs the present

Manisha Sinha is the author of The Slaves Cause: A History of Abolition.
By Stephanie Nebehay and Stephen Kalin GENEVA/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in and around Mosul could be uprooted by the military assault to retake the city from Islamic State, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. "In Mosul we believe the displacement situation may be about to dramatically worsen," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a briefing in Geneva, saying the agency needed more land for camps. "The humanitarian impact of the military offensive is expected to be enormous, up to 1.2 million people could be affected." About 3.4 million people have already been forced by conflict to leave their homes across Iraq, taking refuge in areas controlled by the government or in the Kurdish autonomous region east of Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital. With a population at one time as large as 2 million, Mosul is the largest city under the ultra-hardline militants' control in either Iraq or neighboring Syria. Iraqi and Kurdish forces are gradually closing in on the city 400 km (250 miles) north of Baghdad, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition. Its fall would mark the effective defeat of Islamic State in Iraq, according to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. "Mosul will be liberated in 2016. We have a plan to liberate Nineveh," he told a news conference on Tuesday in Baghdad. Nineveh is the province where Mosul is located and is home to a number of religious and ethnic groups including Christians, Turkmen and Kurds, in addition to Sunni Muslim Arabs. Abadi said the government was in contact with all sides to find a way to manage Mosul, which he said would be done in cooperation between the federal government, the Kurdistan government, local residents and security forces. The Iraqi military is battling its way up the Tigris river and has about 60 km (40 miles) left to reach the outskirts of Mosul; Kurdish peshmerga forces are deployed 30 km east of the city. The Iraqi army said on Tuesday it had clashed with militants in the town of Qayyara, near an air base it plans to use as a main hub to support the Mosul offensive. The army captured the airfield last month and U.S. forces are helping to rehabilitate it. (Additional reporting by Maher Chmaytelli in Baghdad; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Stephanie Nebehay and Stephen Kalin GENEVA/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in and around Mosul could be uprooted by the military assault to retake the city from Islamic State, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. "In Mosul we believe the displacement situation may be about to dramatically worsen," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a briefing in Geneva, saying the agency needed more land for camps. "The humanitarian impact of the military offensive is expected to be enormous, up to 1.2 million people could be affected." About 3.4 million people have already been forced by conflict to leave their homes across Iraq, taking refuge in areas controlled by the government or in the Kurdish autonomous region east of Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital. With a population at one time as large as 2 million, Mosul is the largest city under the ultra-hardline militants' control in either Iraq or neighbouring Syria. Iraqi and Kurdish forces are gradually closing in on the city 400 km (250 miles) north of Baghdad, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition. Its fall would mark the effective defeat of Islamic State in Iraq, according to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. "Mosul will be liberated in 2016. We have a plan to liberate Nineveh," he told a news conference on Tuesday in Baghdad. Nineveh is the province where Mosul is located and is home to a number of religious and ethnic groups including Christians, Turkmen and Kurds, in addition to Sunni Muslim Arabs. Abadi said the government was in contact with all sides to find a way to manage Mosul, which he said would be done in cooperation between the federal government, the Kurdistan government, local residents and security forces. The Iraqi military is battling its way up the Tigris river and has about 60 km (40 miles) left to reach the outskirts of Mosul; Kurdish peshmerga forces are deployed 30 km east of the city. The Iraqi army said on Tuesday it had clashed with militants in the town of Qayyara, near an air base it plans to use as a main hub to support the Mosul offensive. The army captured the airfield last month and U.S. forces are helping to rehabilitate it. (Additional reporting by Maher Chmaytelli in Baghdad; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon appointed a former Dutch major general on Tuesday to lead a month long inquiry into the response by peacekeepers to some attacks on civilians, including at a hotel, during violence in South Sudan's capital last month. Patrick Cammaert "will review reports of incidents of attacks on civilians and cases of sexual violence that occurred within or in the vicinity of the U.N. House Protection of Civilians sites in Juba," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The inquiry will determine whether the U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan responded appropriately to those incidents and an attack on Juba's Hotel Terrain during several days of fighting between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing former Vice President Riek Machar last month. Dujarric said last week in a statement that Ban was "alarmed" by the initial findings of a U.N. fact-finding mission into the attack on the hotel on July 11 by uniformed men who killed a journalist and raped several civilians. The findings of Cammaert's inquiry will be made public, Dujarric said. Hundreds of people were killed, and the United Nations said government soldiers and security forces executed civilians and gang-raped women and girls during and after last month's fighting. South Sudan rejected the accusations. The U.N. Security Council earlier this month authorized the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force to ensure peace in Juba as part of the U.N. mission and threatened an arms embargo if the government did not cooperate. U.N. peacekeepers have been in the oil-producing country since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. South Sudan descended into civil war after Kiir dismissed Machar as his deputy in 2013. They signed a peace deal in August 2015, but implementation was slow and sporadic fighting continued. Machar has since fled South Sudan and is receiving medical treatment in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Former Dutch Major General Cammaert most recently led a U.N. Board of Inquiry into deadly violence in a U.N. compound in South Sudan's Malakal in February. The inquiry found that confusion over command and control and rules of engagement marred a response by peacekeepers. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing in late September to discuss the mergers of Dow Chemical Co and Dupont Co as well as China National Chemical Corp's purchase of Syngenta AG, committee chair Charles Grassley said in a statement on Tuesday.

Grassley, a Republican from the farm state of Iowa, has already expressed concern that the deals would result in farmers paying more for seeds, pesticides and herbicides and reduce the companies' incentives to innovate.

"The seed and chemical industries are critical to agriculture and the nation's economy, and Iowans are concerned that this sudden consolidation in the industry could cause rising input costs in an already declining agriculture economy," Grassley said.

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 made a $43 billion bid for Swiss seeds and pesticides group Syngenta.

Executives from the companies will be invited to testify, as will consumer groups, the lawmaker said in a statement.

The committee has no formal say over whether the deals may go forward. The Justice Department is looking at the merger of Dow and DuPont, while the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing ChemChina's purchase of Syngenta.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Andrew Chung

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fitbit Inc did not steal rival Jawbone's trade secrets, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled on Tuesday, dashing Jawbone's hopes of securing an import ban against Fitbit's wearable fitness tracking devices.

The judge, Dee Lord, said that there had been no violation of the Tariff Act, which gives the commission the power to block products that infringe U.S. intellectual property, because "no party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret."

The ruling means Jawbone comes away with nothing from a complaint it filed with the trade agency in July 2015, accusing Fitbit of infringing six patents and poaching employees who took with them confidential data about Jawbone's business, such as plans, supply chains and technical details.

Two of the patents were withdrawn, however, and four others were invalidated by the judge, before a May trial that was limited to the trade secrets claims.

Fitbit Chief Executive Officer James Park said in a statement on Tuesday that Jawbone's allegations were without merit and an attempt "to disrupt Fitbits momentum to compensate for their own lack of success in the market."

A representative for Jawbone could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fitbit is biggest maker of wrist-based and clippable fitness devices, which track users' steps, calories burned, heartrates and other parameters. It sold 5.7 million devices in the second quarter, beating revenue estimates.

Jawbone makes a range of activity trackers under the UP brand but has been losing market share. It is no longer among the top five wearables vendors, according to market research firm International Data Corp.

Tuesday's ruling comes on the heels of a victory for Jawbone in a separate trade case filed against the company by Fitbit. On July 19, another commission judge found all three Fitbit patents in that case were invalid. Fitbit has asked the full trade commission to review the ruling.

Story continues

Jawbone first sued Fitbit last year over trade secret violations in California state court, where the case is still pending. The companies, both based in San Francisco, are also litigating over patents in federal court.

The case in the U.S. International Trade Commission is, In the Matter of Certain Activity Tracking Devices, Systems and Components, No. 337-963.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Cynthia Osterman)
(Adds detail from ruling)

By Andrew Chung

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Fitbit Inc did not steal rival Jawbone's trade secrets, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled on Tuesday, dashing Jawbone's hopes of securing an import ban against Fitbit's wearable fitness tracking devices.

The judge, Dee Lord, said that there had been no violation of the Tariff Act, which gives the commission the power to block products that infringe U.S. intellectual property, because "no party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret."

The ruling means Jawbone comes away with nothing from a complaint it filed with the trade agency in July 2015, accusing Fitbit of infringing six patents and poaching employees who took with them confidential data about Jawbone's business, such as plans, supply chains and technical details.

Two of the patents were withdrawn, however, and four others were invalidated by the judge, before a May trial that was limited to the trade secrets claims.

Fitbit Chief Executive Officer James Park said in a statement on Tuesday that Jawbone's allegations were without merit and an attempt "to disrupt Fitbit's momentum to compensate for their own lack of success in the market."

A representative for Jawbone could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fitbit is biggest maker of wrist-based and clippable fitness devices, which track users' steps, calories burned, heartrates and other parameters. It sold 5.7 million devices in the second quarter, beating revenue estimates.

Jawbone makes a range of activity trackers under the UP brand but has been losing market share. It is no longer among the top five wearables vendors, according to market research firm International Data Corp.

Tuesday's ruling comes on the heels of a victory for Jawbone in a separate trade case filed against the company by Fitbit. On July 19, another commission judge found all three Fitbit patents in that case were invalid. Fitbit has asked the full trade commission to review the ruling.

Story continues

Jawbone first sued Fitbit last year over trade secret violations in California state court, where the case is still pending. The companies, both based in San Francisco, are also litigating over patents in federal court.

The case in the U.S. International Trade Commission is, In the Matter of Certain Activity Tracking Devices, Systems and Components, No. 337-963.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Cynthia Osterman)
By Andrew Chung NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fitbit Inc did not steal rival Jawbone's trade secrets, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled on Tuesday, dashing Jawbone's hopes of securing an import ban against Fitbit's wearable fitness tracking devices. The judge, Dee Lord, said that there had been no violation of the Tariff Act, which gives the commission the power to block products that infringe U.S. intellectual property, because "no party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret." The ruling means Jawbone comes away with nothing from a complaint it filed with the trade agency in July 2015, accusing Fitbit of infringing six patents and poaching employees who took with them confidential data about Jawbone's business, such as plans, supply chains and technical details. Two of the patents were withdrawn, however, and four others were invalidated by the judge, before a May trial that was limited to the trade secrets claims. Fitbit Chief Executive Officer James Park said in a statement on Tuesday that Jawbone's allegations were without merit and an attempt "to disrupt Fitbits momentum to compensate for their own lack of success in the market." A representative for Jawbone could not immediately be reached for comment. Fitbit is biggest maker of wrist-based and clippable fitness devices, which track users' steps, calories burned, heartrates and other parameters. It sold 5.7 million devices in the second quarter, beating revenue estimates. Jawbone makes a range of activity trackers under the UP brand but has been losing market share. It is no longer among the top five wearables vendors, according to market research firm International Data Corp. Tuesday's ruling comes on the heels of a victory for Jawbone in a separate trade case filed against the company by Fitbit. On July 19, another commission judge found all three Fitbit patents in that case were invalid. Fitbit has asked the full trade commission to review the ruling. Jawbone first sued Fitbit last year over trade secret violations in California state court, where the case is still pending. The companies, both based in San Francisco, are also litigating over patents in federal court. The case in the U.S. International Trade Commission is, In the Matter of Certain Activity Tracking Devices, Systems and Components, No. 337-963. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Cynthia Osterman)
Under Armour has ended its sponsorship of a female hunter after her husband fatally speared a bear, and now the couple's supporters are threatening to boycott Under Armour as a result.

The company dropped Sarah Bowmar, the wife and hunting partner of US hunter Josh Bowmar, in response to a video showing Josh killing a bear with a spear in Alberta, Canada, Reuters reports.

Many people were outraged by the video, which Sarah filmed, saying it showed an inhumane way to kill a bear. The Alberta government responded by outlawing spear hunting, and it is now considering filing charges against Josh.

After customers threatened to boycott the company, Under Armour bowed to the pressure and dropped Sarah.

"The method used to harvest this animal was reckless and we do not condone it," Under Armour spokeswoman Danielle Daly told Reuters.

Celebrating our last night in Vegas, we were only here for a couple days and it's off to Salt Lake City tomorrow morning! We don't drink or gamble so Vegas is all about shows and food for us, and celebrating our engagement anniversary! Tonight we are seeing Zumanity! @joshbowmar A photo posted by Sarah Bowmar, MBA (@sarah_bowmar) on Aug 9, 2016 at 8:46pm PDT on Aug 9, 2016 at 8:46pm PDT

Now Under Armour's decision is sparking fresh outrage among the Bowmars' many supporters.

"After throwing the Bowmar under the bus I will not buy any Under Armour product again and will strongly encourage others not to purchase your products, unless you reinstate Sarah Bowmar as a sponsor," Phil Meyer wrote on the company's Facebook page. "For a company to stab hunters in the back after so many of us have used and endorsed your products is intolerable!"

"It will be interesting watching your whole hunting line of business go down the toilet," Stan Smyla wrote.

"I guess the liberals are in charge of UA now," another Facebook user wrote. A fourth added: "Better just make a UA line that caters to skinny jeans and manbuns, cause that's all you will have at this rate."

Story continues

A petition to reinstate Sarah Bowmar's sponsorship deal has reached 6,400 signatures as of Tuesday morning.

Under Armour did not respond to a request for comment.

Sarah Bowmar released the following statement to her more than 1 million followers on Instagram:

"I love and care about all of you and wanted to let you know that due to recent circumstances and media attention of a LEGAL hunt, @underarmour and @uahunt have terminated their relationship with us due to international social pressure from anti hunters. It really breaks my heart, we lived and breathed the brand for years and gave them everything that we had. We will never speak ill of the company. Just wanted to let everything know our current situation and how heartbroken we are when we did nothing wrong. Receiving that phone call was one of the hardest things I've ever went through. Don't be silent in this. If this bothers you  please reach out to UA and let them know."

She responded to critics on Twitter, saying she and her husband eat bear meat and that they had "bear fajitas" after the hunt:

Josh's side of the story: https://t.co/pJsnHSSa8a  Sarah Bowmar, MBA (@sarahbowmar_) August 20, 2016

We eat bear. And it's delicious. https://t.co/f7D8S24fC7  Sarah Bowmar, MBA (@sarahbowmar_) August 22, 2016

Didn't I just answer you...? We had bear fajitas that night. https://t.co/leT2vZRrq8  Sarah Bowmar, MBA (@sarahbowmar_) August 22, 2016

I didn't even do the hunting! I was the one filming and I got dropped. https://t.co/U65HEtg0OR  Sarah Bowmar, MBA (@sarahbowmar_) August 20, 2016

She also joked that at least she can still wear her Lululemon leggings:

At least I can wear my lulu leggings again  Sarah Bowmar, MBA (@sarahbowmar_) August 19, 2016

NOW WATCH: A peek inside the transparent culture of the company Walmart is buying for $3 billion





More From Business Insider


By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The new deputy head of the U.N. children's agency is determined to rein in the politics of hate over migration following the murder of one of his closest friends during Britain's polarised debate about leaving the European Union (EU). Justin Forsyth's friend and former colleague, British parliamentarian Jo Cox, was shot and stabbed in northern England in the run-up to Britain's June 23 vote to leave the EU by a man who witnesses said shouted "Britain first". Cox, who once worked with Forsyth at the charity Oxfam, had spoken of the positive impact of immigration during the Brexit debate, while "Out" campaigners blamed EU membership for uncontrolled migration to Britain. "The whole refugee migrant crisis has become a lightning rod for populist politics," Forsyth, deputy chief executive of UNICEF since May, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on a stopover in Nairobi after visiting South Sudan. "We see the rise of the right wing in Europe so it's so important ... to keep bringing the humanity of the story alive and keep the public on side," Forsyth said. If not, Europe would see a rise in "isolationism and some very dangerous forces", he said, pointing to the backlash in Germany against Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to welcome one million migrants. SLAVERY Forsyth's first overseas trip after moving to U.N. headquarters in New York was to the Italian island of Lampedusa, on the frontline of Europe's migration crisis. He spent a day watching the Italian navy rescue migrants, coming from Libya in overloaded rubber boats, from drowning. "They (the boats) collapse in the middle and the women fall through these (decking) boards and they drown in about two feet of water and they are trampled to death," he said. Forsyth wants to step up UNICEF's assistance to children who survive the journey, 90 percent of whom are travelling alone. Child migrants endure horrendous ordeals before reaching Europe, he said, recalling a Nigerian girl who told him she was held in an underground prison in Libya and raped every day for eight months. "The bit at sea is terrible ... but by far the worst bit is the route from northern Nigeria through Niger in the desert into Libya or through Eritrea," Forsyth said. "It's like modern day slavery," he said, referring to the abuse migrants face at the hands of smugglers and traffickers. HOLY GRAIL A prolific user of Twitter, Forsyth wants to revolutionise UNICEF's use of social media and technology to raise money and advocate for children's rights. "The old fundraising model is reaching its limit," he said, describing the use of television adverts to recruit support. "The real holy grail on this is digital and nobody has really cracked that yet -- amazing content which captures the emotion of what is happening on the frontline." Forsyth gave Japanese government officials a virtual reality tour of Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan at a recent meeting. "It's much more powerful than me talking to them for half an hour," he said. "What our supporters want is to feel they are with us on that frontline." Forsyth, a special adviser between 2004 and 2010 to British prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, has a strong track record of fundraising. He increased Save the Children's income by one third during his five year term to 390 million pounds ($515 million) in 2015. He intends to continue to build unusual private sector partnerships, even though deals with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and The Sun newspaper, famous for its topless Page Three girls, ruffled feathers at Save the Children. "What I feel passionate about is harnessing their core business ... to achieve change," he said. While Forsyth acknowledges that UNICEF needs to be more diplomatic than a charity, he is excited about its credibility, scale and ease of access to senior government figures. "You give up a little bit in terms of the edginess of campaigning and advocacy but you gain a lot also by these other influencing strategies," he said. ($1 = 0.7577 pounds) (Reporting by Katy Migiro; Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.)
From Country Living

Losing a best friend is always a struggle, even for animals.

According to his owner Jacquie Litton, George the dog was heartbroken when his friend Blackie, a black lab, passed away after12 years of friendship. Litton says that during the two years after Blackie's passing, George was stricken with grief and anxiety-until an unexpected friend showed up, that is.

The duck appeared on the Litton's front porch in Tennessee the same week that marked the two-year anniversary of Blackie's death, she wrote on Facebook.

Litton says she has no idea where the duck came from, but since his arrival, George hasn't cried once.

The two are now inseparable.

Litton told reporters at WKOW that even though "they're totally different species, they found company and comfort in each other."

(h/t The Dodo)
Washington (AFP) - The United States confirmed Tuesday that Turkey had made a "formal" request for the extradition of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for last month's coup attempt, but specified the request was not linked to the failed putsch.

Gulen, who has lived in self-exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

"We can confirm now that Turkey has requested the extradition of Mr Gulen. But I wouldn't characterize the request as relating to the coup attempt," deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

"We have received a formal extradition request, just not one pertaining to the coup attempt," said Toner, who did not offer further details on the dossier submitted by Ankara.

For weeks, Turkey has said that it requested Gulen's extradition to face trial in his home country. It has even accused him of running a "parallel state" in Turkey.

Despite constant pressure from Ankara, Washington appeared to be dragging its feet on the issue, saying it had not received a "formal" request and was looking for "evidence" of Gulen's involvement in the failed putsch.

The latest State Department comments come as diplomats and officials from the US Justice Department were due to meet with Turkish authorities about the Gulen case.

Vice President Joe Biden is also expected in Turkey on Wednesday. He will be the highest-ranking US official to visit the NATO ally since the coup attempt.

The controversy swirling around Gulen, 75, has complicated already difficult ties between Washington and Ankara. Turkey has suggested a failure to deliver Gulen would severely damage bilateral relations.
Washington (AFP) - The United States has begun using attack helicopters to target the Islamic State group in the jihadists' Libyan former stronghold of Sirte, a defense official said Tuesday.

American jets have since the start of August been helping fighters loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) retake the coastal city of Sirte, conducting dozens of strikes on IS fighting positions and equipment.

Lieutenant Commander Anthony Falvo, a spokesman for the US military's Africa Command, said Marine Corps AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters had in recent days joined the operation.

"The Cobras provide additional precision air strike capability," Stuttgart-based Falvo told AFP in a phone interview.

"It gives us a little bit more flexibility."

SuperCobra gunships are based on the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship in the Mediterranean.

Harrier jets are also being launched from the ship to conduct strikes on Sirte.

As of Monday, the United States had conducted 77 air strikes in the city.

Pro-GNA forces, backed since August 1 by US air strikes, began an assault in mid-May to expel IS from what had been its Sirte stronghold.

The jihadists seized control of the city, which had been the hometown of Libya's slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, in June 2015.

They fought their way into Sirte on June 9 and have since faced a barrage of sniper fire, suicide bombings and booby traps, pinning down the jihadists in a downtown area near the sea.

More than 350 pro-GNA fighters have been killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in the battle, according to medical sources. IS casualty figures are unavailable.

The Pentagon has said US involvement in the Sirte operation would last "weeks not months," but Falvo did not want to speculate on how much longer the United States would continue its air campaign.

"We are there at the request of the GNA," he said.

"We will continue our support for as long as it is requested. If they were to tell us tomorrow they don't need our support any more, we would end our support at that point."

While the Pentagon insists operations to support the GNA will be conducted from the air only, officials acknowledge that small teams of special operations forces have been in and out the country to gain intelligence and build relationships with local forces.


There is way too much cheese in America, so the US Department of Agriculture is buying a massive amount of it.

According to a release from the USDA, it will buy 11 million pounds  worth roughly $20 million by its estimate  and distribute it to food banks around the country.

The US cheese market has had a significant oversupply problem for most of the year because foreign buyers have looked elsewhere for their dairy products as a result of the strong dollar. Before this slowdown in exports, many farmers had ramped up their production because of record-high prices.

We understand that the nations dairy producers are experiencing challenges due to market conditions and that food banks continue to see strong demand for assistance, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in the release announcing the move.

This commodity purchase is part of a robust, comprehensive safety net that will help reduce a cheese surplus that is at a 30-year high while, at the same time, moving a high-protein food to the tables of those most in need, he said.

The USDA said that there was a number of reasons for the low prices in the cheese market.

While USDA projects dairy prices to increase throughout the rest of the year, many factors including low world market prices, increased milk supplies and inventories, and slower demand have contributed to the sluggish marketplace for dairy producers, said the release.

(Andy Kiersz/Business Insider)

According to Joe Schmit, head trader and cofounder at Dairy Opportunities, the government support makes sense given the recent moves of the commodity.

Over the summer, the price of cheese rallied about 30% despite a seemingly large buildup in inventories. It appears that traders were speculating that the government was going to step in.

And while it did, the 11-million-pound purchase, however, is only 1% of the inventory built up, according to Schmit. Combined with the fact that the buy is smaller than expected, it may lead to a drop in prices in the coming days.

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The government made a much smaller buy than originally thought, and the price was slightly lower than where it was trading, said Schmit. For those reasons, I wouldnt be surprised if there was some sell pressure.

Additionally, said Schmit, the government consistently buys smaller amounts of cheese for its programs and has even done these sorts of special large-scale buys in the past, so the support for dairy farmers is not unprecedented.

Its not surprising to see the government giving the cheese market a little boost, concluded Schmit.

NOW WATCH: The secret ingredient to add to your grilled cheese

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ah 1w super cobra

Beginning in early August, the US Marines aboard the USS Wasp have conducted airstrikes against ISIS' Libyan stronghold of Sirte from the Mediterranean. This has forced the group to retreat to a point where the Marines can now use the big guns: AH-1W SuperCobra attack choppers.

While drones and Harrier jump jets launched from the deck of the USS Wasp helicopter carrier had been attacking ISIS targets in Libya for weeks, the use of the SuperCobra represents a change in tactics.

Because helicopters can hover, loiter, and maneuver easily, they are ideal for seeking out hidden targets in urban areas. ISIS has been forced to retreat as Libyan and US forces drive the group into the "densest, most built-up part" of Sirte, a Defense Department official told The Washington Post. The birthplace of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Sirte is an important port city in the divided nation.

But the SuperCobras are vulnerable to rocket fire, and shoulder-fired antiaircraft platforms have become common in North Africa and the Middle East. The choice to use manned helicopters suggests that the Marines are confident they have weakened and chased down ISIS fighters in the city.

USS Wasp activity infographic

The SuperCobra attack choppers are guided by US Special Forces on the ground in Libya along with other allied and Libyan forces aligned with the Government of National Accord, a UN-backed government that has requested US assistance in riding the country of ISIS.

The Libyan parliament, however, recently passed a vote of no confidence on the GNA, further complicating the situation.

Before the US air campaign, ISIS was estimated to have 6,000 fighters in Libya, mainly massed around Sirte.

Sirte's position in the Mediterranean means it could be a staging point for ISIS looking to mount attacks in Europe. The power vacuum left over from the death of Gaddafi in 2011, as well as internal disagreements in Libya, has caused the country to become a hub of crime and human trafficking.

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libya flag

Though Libya remains divided, the ousting of ISIS can only be a good thing for the country's stability. A recent statement from US Africom said only a few hundred or so ISIS fighters remained in Libya.

NOW WATCH: The 'Zulu Cobra' helicopter is one of the Marines' most powerful weapons





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Washington (AFP) - The United States announced sanctions Tuesday against the sons of Joseph Kony, leader of the central Africa-based Lord's Resistance Army rebel group.

The Treasury Department said it targeted Salim and Ali Kony "for acting for or on behalf of the LRA and/or Joseph Kony."

The move follows sanctions launched against Joseph Kony in March "for engaging in the targeting of civilians in the Central African Republic through the commission of acts of violence, abduction and forced displacement," it added.

The LRA, which emerged in northern Uganda in 1987, acquired a fearsome reputation because of its brutal activities in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the CAR.

The group has killed more than 100,000 people and kidnapped more than 60,000 children, forcing many of them to become child soldiers, the UN says.

Charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Joseph Kony remains at large.

Tuesday's action freezes any assets belonging to his sons within US jurisdiction and bars Americans from engaging in business with them, the Treasury Department said.

The move "targets the finances of the LRA and its leaders, while also combating their participation in the global illicit ivory trade," Treasury added, calling it "the latest in a collaborative international effort to address the widespread violence in the Central African Republic."

The LRA has moved freely across porous regional borders, crossing in 2008 into the CAR, where a 2013 coup prompted ethnic and religious clashes that claimed thousands of lives and displaced about a quarter of the population.

Combining religious mysticism with guerrilla tactics and bloodthirsty ferocity, Joseph Kony has turned scores of young girls into his personal sex slaves while claiming to be fighting to impose the Bible's Ten Commandments.

Salim and Ali Kony, part of the LRA's leadership since 2010, are among its senior officers, the Treasury Department said, adding that Ali, a potential successor to his father, is "predominantly involved in LRA operational planning and its intelligence apparatus."

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Salim heads most of the LRA's field operations and manages the group's financial and logistical networks.

"Salim and Ali have been jointly responsible for enforcing discipline within the LRA, and Salim is reported to have killed LRA members who intended to defect," the statement said.

Although weakened by the capture or defection of several commanders, the LRA has been stepping up attacks in the CAR, expanding into new areas and abducting more children, according to the United Nations.

Some 2,000 Ugandan soldiers backed by US troops are currently deployed in eastern CAR as part of an African Union mission to tackle the LRA rebels, on top of another 10,000 UN troops stationed in the country.
Kabul (AFP) - A roadside bomb killed an American soldier Tuesday near the capital of Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province, following the first major US deployment to the southern city since foreign forces withdrew in 2014.

The blast, which occurred during an anti-Taliban operation, left another American and six Afghan soldiers wounded, the US-led NATO coalition said.

The casualties came just a day after NATO announced the deployment of around 100 US troops to Lashkar Gah to help head off a potential Taliban takeover of Helmand's capital as fighting intensifies.

"One US service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Lashkar Gah in Helmand," NATO said in a statement.

"The service member was killed conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under NATO authorities when their patrol triggered an improvised explosive device."

The Pentagon said the troop's identity would be released after family were notified.

It marks the first American combat fatality in the country since January, when a US soldier was killed while conducting a mission with Afghan special forces in Helmand's Marjah district.

"This tragic event in Helmand province reminds us that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place, and there is difficult work ahead even as Afghan forces continue to make progress in securing their own country," US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a statement.

NATO said the soldier was not part of the new deployment to Lashkar Gah, which the coalition has called a "temporary effort" to train and advise local forces.

There are currently around 700 US troops in Helmand as part of a similar counter-insurgency training mission, NATO said.

Fighting has recently escalated in the opium-growing province, with insurgents coming within a few kilometres of Lashkar Gah -- raising fears the city is at risk of falling.

- 'Serious' Taliban offensive -

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The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, underscores a rapidly unravelling security situation in Afghanistan.

Fighting has left thousands of people displaced in Helmand in recent weeks, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.

The Taliban have also closed in on Kunduz -- the northern city they briefly seized last year in their biggest military victory so far -- leaving Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts.

"This is a big effort by the Taliban. It's probably the most serious push we've seen of the (fighting) season," said NATO spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland.

But coalition forces have insisted that neither Kunduz nor Lashkar Gah are at risk of falling to the insurgents.

NATO officially ended its combat mission in December 2014, but US forces were granted greater powers in June to strike at the insurgents as President Barack Obama vowed a more aggressive campaign.

The US intervention in Helmand has fuelled the perception that foreign powers are increasingly being drawn back into the conflict as Afghan forces struggle to rein in the Taliban.

The fighting in Helmand comes as Afghan troops are stretched on several other battlefronts across Afghanistan -- including the eastern province of Nangarhar, where the Islamic State group is making inroads.
France has been seized by a silly hysteria over the burkini, prompting me to wonder when Europeans will get serious about their Islamist challenge.

For starters, what is a burkini? The word (sometimes spelled burqini) combines the names of two opposite articles of female clothing: the burqa (an Islamic tent-like, full-body covering) and the bikini. Also known as a halal swimsuit, it modestly covers all but the face, hands and feet, consisting of a top and a bottom. It resembles a wetsuit with a head covering.

Aheda Zanetti of Ahiida Pty Ltd in Australia claims to have coined the portmanteau in 2003, calling it smaller than a burka while two piece like a bikini. The curious and sensational cross of two radically dissimilar articles of clothing, along with the need it fit for active, pious Muslim women, the burkini (as Aheda notes) was the subject of an immediate rush of interest and demand. Additionally, some women wear it to avoid a tan, while pious Jews have adopted a variant garment.

In 2009, a public swimming pool in Emerainville excluded a burkini-wearing woman, on the grounds that she violated pool rules by wearing street clothes. But burkinis only erupted into a national political issue on Aug. 12 when the mayor of Cannes, a resort town on the French Riviera, banned burkinis on the Cannes beaches because it represents Islamism. A court then confirmed his ban and the prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, further endorsed it as did Francois Fillon, a likely candidate for president next year. Thus encouraged, other French municipalities followed suit, including the city of Nice, plus another nine towns in the Alpes-Maritimes Department as well as five towns in the Var Department.

This development astonishes me, someone who has argued that the burqa (and the niqab, a similar article of clothing that leaves a slit for the eyes) needs to be banned from public places on security grounds. Those formless garments not only hide the face, permitting criminals and jihadis to hide themselves, but they permit the wearer to hide, say, an assault rifle without anyone knowing. Men as well as women use burqas as accessories to criminal and jihadi purposes. Indeed, I have collected about 150 anecdotes of bank robberies, abductions, murders, and jihadi attacks since 2002.

In contrast, the burkini poses no danger to public security. Unlike the burqa or niqab, it leaves the face uncovered. Relatively tight-fitting, it leaves no place to hide weapons. Men cannot wear it as a disguise. Further, while there are legitimate arguments about the hygiene of large garments in pools (prompting some hotels in Morocco to ban the garment), this is obviously not an issue on the coastal beaches of France.

Accordingly, beach burkinis should be allowed without restriction. Cultural arguments, such as the one made by Valls, are specious and discriminatory. If a woman wishes to dress modestly on the beach, that is her business, and not the states.

The Islamist threat to the West is very real, from the Rushdie rules to sex gangs, taharrush, polygyny, honor killings, partial no-go zones and beheadings. With the influx to Europe of millions of unvetted Muslim migrants, these problems will grow along with the number of Islamists.

Issues concerning Islam are arguably Europes No. 1 concern, ahead even of the European Union and the financial crisis; they need to be dealt with by confronting real problems, not by focusing on symbolic irrelevancies such as burkinis, halal shops and minarets.

Daniel Pipes, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f18574%2fpeaceflag

It's uncommon for people to talk to their neighbors nowadays, but Cari and Lauri Ryding feel so lucky to know theirs.

When the married couple recently came back from vacation to their home in Natick, Massachusetts, they discovered that their home had been vandalized. Their front porch had been egged and their rainbow pride flag stolen. The couple was crushed, so neighbors decided to show support by putting up their own rainbow flags.

SEE ALSO: The Rio Olympics are the queerest yet, but coverage still has so far to go

More than 40 pride flags were posted in total  on fences, over driveways, doors and front porches.

Cari Ryding first moved to the neighborhood 23 years ago. She always loved the feel of the community, and raised two children there. Four years ago, her partner Lauri moved in, and was immediately welcomed.

"I was embraced, Lauri told The Boston Globe. Our relationship was embraced.

It came as a total shock to the couple to find that their home had been vandalized. The couple told The Boston Globe that it was their first experience of prejudice in the neighborhood.

The Rydings had put up their pride flag to show support after the Orlando massacre.

After neighbor Maura Gaughan heard of the crime, she decided to responded by putting up a pride flag. Not just on her house, but everywhere.

"The first thing when I heard about it. Alright, Im going to put up a flag. We should all put up flags," Gaughan told WCVB.

Other neighbors felt and responded similarly. The group ordered flags from the Rainbow Peace Flag Project, a local organization that gives them away for free. On Sunday, a group of neighborhood children on bicycles cycled from house to house to distribute the flags.

While the crime initially made the Rydings anxious about their neighborhood, their neighbors' response encouraged them to stay.

"What they did completely overshadowed that fear and we are just overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity," Ryding told The Boston Globe.

These are neighbors you can count on.

BONUS: Corgi tea party
Caracas (AFP) - Hospitals in crisis-hit Venezuela are facing shortages of about eight in 10 medications and medical supplies needed to treat patients, according to a study published Tuesday.

The 2016 National Hospital Survey found that 76 percent of the medicines and 81 percent of the medical and surgical supplies that doctors need had run out or were hit by severe shortages in the country's public hospitals.

That was up from 67 percent of medicines and 61 percent of supplies a year ago.

The study, which analyzed more than 240 health centers nationwide, was carried out by a non-profit medical organization and academics at Central University of Venezuela.

It found that 90 percent of hospital emergency services were hit by "periodic failures" and that 70 percent of hospital nutrition programs reported shortages, in a country where food has also grown scarce.

The shortages "explain why there are waiting lists at all the hospitals," said opposition lawmaker Jose Manuel Olivares, who presented the study in congress.

The opposition-held legislature passed a law in April requiring President Nicolas Maduro's leftist government to accept humanitarian aid for the food and medicine shortages.

But the Supreme Court, which the opposition says Maduro controls, ruled the measure unconstitutional.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called the situation in Venezuela a "humanitarian crisis." But Maduro's government rejects the term.

The president blames the shortages hitting the once-booming oil producer on an "economic war" by wealthy elites seeking to destabilize his government.

The opposition says the failure of Maduro's socialist economic model is to blame.
Philippe Dauman will leave his post as Viacom chairman-CEO next month with a $46 million check in hand as part of a severance package estimated to be worth about $72 million.

Dauman will also be eligible for a 2016 bonus of up to $20 million, under the terms of the settlement disclosed Tuesday morning in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Viacom, the media conglom that Dauman has led for the past 10 years.

The filing also confirms that new Viacom board member Thomas May, chairman of Massachusetts-based Eversource Energy, has already been elected to serve as non-executive chairman following Daumans exit on Sept. 13. Daumans role as CEO will be filled by his longtime lieutenant, former Viacom COO Thomas Dooley, through at least Sept. 30, which marks the end of Viacoms fiscal year.

The deal calls for Dauman to receive a severance payment of $58 million, most of which will be payable upon his exit. The remaining $11.6 million will be paid out over the next 29 months. The ousted CEO also gets to keep his health care package for two years, while Viacom will fund outside office space for him and the salary and benefits for his executive assistant for three more years.

On Monday, Viacom disclosed that as part of the settlement agreement it had accelerated the vesting of 300,000 shares, at a value of about $12.85 million, that Dauman was entitled to as part of a stock award he received in January 2015.

As previously disclosed, the deal also covers all of Daumans legal expenses incurred during the past three months as he battled Viacom controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone, for control of Viacom.

Daumans exit deal also gives him the right to make a presentation to the new Viacom board, which added five new members as part of the settlement agreement, on his bid to sell a minority interest in Viacoms Paramount Pictures.

As part of that process, the board will meet with Dooley and Paramounts management, presumably including chairman Brad Grey, soon for a review of the studios 2016 performance, its 2017 budget and planned business activities in such level of detail as the Viacom Board may request. The filing makes it clear that activity at Paramount will be closely watched by the new board which may require that even some routine transactions receive the approval of the board.

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By Ian Simpson

(Reuters) - The FBI is investigating a double stabbing by a Virginia man who shouted the Muslim phrase "Allah Akbar," while authorities on Tuesday denied media reports that the attack may have been an attempted beheading.

The suspect, Wasil Farooqui, 20, of Roanoke, is charged with randomly attacking a man and woman with a knife on Saturday when they entered a Roanoke apartment building, Roanoke County police said.

The man and woman were severely injured. The man fought off the attacker, who was shouting "Allah Akbar," police said. The phrase means "God is greatest" in Arabic.

Farooqui is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail near Roanoke, about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Washington.

Police contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the attack. Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBIs Richmond Division, said the agency was working with police.

While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident, he said in a statement.

NBC News quoted federal law enforcement sources as saying that there was no evidence that the attack was linked to the militant Islamic State.

Amy Whittaker, a spokeswoman for Roanoke County, denied reports by Fox News, ABC and others that the attack may have been an attempted beheading.

"I'm not sure where that information came from but it is not accurate," she said in an email.

NBC said Farooqui told authorities he heard voices and investigators believed the most likely explanation was that he was mentally disturbed rather than terrorist-inspired.

Police arrested Farooqui when he showed up injured at a hospital emergency room. He is charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding.

NBC News reported that Farooqui was known to the FBI, which had earlier looked into his travel. He may have tried to get to Syria, where the Islamic State is recruiting sympathizers, but was not charged with anything after the FBI examined his travel.

Federal law enforcement officials say both victims in the attack are Muslim, though the attacker may not have known that, NBC said. A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry, Bernard Orr)
Hollywoods most famous dogs on TV

Giggy, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpumps Pomeranian, is perhaps one of TVs most pampered pups, with his own personal chef and Twitter account. He has become such a fan favorite that he now makes his own red carpet appearances, rich owner in tow.

Gidget, the 12-pound chihuahua known for the ubiquitous catchphrase, Yo quiero Taco Bell! was propelled to stardom after landing the lucrative fast-food campaign in the late 90s. She also starred as Bruisers mom in 2003s Legally Blonde 2 alongside Reese Witherspoon.

Brigitte, a five-year-old French bulldog actress, best known for her role as Stella on ABCs hit comedy Modern Family, won Best Dog in a Television Series at the inaugural Golden Collar Awards in 2012. Yes, thats a thing.

Even though Sadie isnt exactly a TV star, Oprah Winfreys cocker spaniel has been mentioned so many times on her show, shes almost as famous as her gazillionaire owner. In 2009, Dogtime.com reported that Oprah set aside $30 million for her five dogs, including Sadie.

Cookie Frankel, Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankels dog, has more than 25,000 followers on Twitter. The Lhasa apso gets regular massages and is constantly fed antioxidant-rich carrots. Everyday is a spa day for her, Bethenny has said.

Million Dollar Listing star Fredrik Eklund insists his miniature dachshund, Fritzy, needs a big living room to play in. But Eklund is realistic, insisting he would never spend more than $2 million on his dogs digs. Moderation is key, people.

Pal, the original Lassie, made $4,000 a week in 1954 or $51,000 in todays world. Lassie has since been played by 10 generations of Pals descendants.

Moose, the Jack Russell terrier who played Eddie on Frasier, earned a cool $10,000 per episode. In total, Eddie earned $3.2 million in his 11-year run. He also received more fan mail than any of his costars! Fun fact: Eddies biological son, Enzo, took over the role after his dad retired.

Flame Jr., also known as Rin Tin Tin IV, starred in the TV hit ABC show The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin from 1954-59. The famed dog was responsible for increasing the popularity of German shepherds as family pets and was nominated for the American Humane Associations PATSY Award for animal performers.

Famous dogs on TV
DECATUR  The man who died in a crash involving a semitruck and a passenger car on Illinois 121 between Decatur and Warrensburg on Monday has been identified as Harley G. Conner, 84, of Forsyth.

Macon County Chief Deputy Coroner Dee Coventry said Conner died at 4:49 p.m. in the Decatur Memorial Hospital emergency room from massive head and torso trauma.

After receiving a call at around 3:50 p.m. Monday, Sheriff's Office deputies discovered a passenger car had collided with a Freightliner pulling a trailer in the intersection.

Also injured in the accident was the 80-year-old female driver, also from Forsyth, who was treated for what are believed to be minor injuries.

The 58-year-old male driver of the semitruck wasn't injured and refused medical treatment at the scene.

Prelimary investigation by the sheriff's office Accident Reconstruction Team indicated the semitruck was traveling northwest on Illinois 121, while the car was traveling north on Wyckles Road. Once the semi entered the intersection, the car collided with the semitruck between the tractor cab and the trailer.

No citations were issued, pending the outcome of the full investigation by the Accident Reconstruction Team. Drugs and or alcohol are not believed to have played a role in the crash.

The accident caused the closure of Illinois 121 between Glasgow and Bearsdale roads, and also Wyckles Road between Illinois 121 and Park Road, for approximately two-and-a-half hours.
A number of reasons may be cited for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.s WMT upbeat second-quarter fiscal 2017 results reported last week. The retail giants earnings and revenues both exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate, driven by an improvement in comps and higher e-commerce sales.

Wal-Mart has been making efforts to understand the evolving needs of its customers to regain their confidence, and thus, boost sales. It has delivered positive comps in the U.S. in the last eight consecutive quarters. Lower fuel prices aided sales as it eased consumers spending power. E-commerce has also contributed to the companys sales.

Additionally, Wal-Mart is making huge investments in e-commerce initiatives to compete with the biggest online retailer Amazon.com AMZN and to improve customer service. The company has recently sold its Chinese e-commerce business Yihaodian to local retailer JD.com to expand its reach in China. The company also closed underperforming stores, including 102 Walmart Express stores to improve its sales results.

Apart from these, the most important initiative of the Bentonville, AR-based company was paying its workers more and training them to improve its stores performance. Paying more and better than other companies is working for Wal-Mart, which had been struggling to boost its sales.

WAL-MART STORES Price and Consensus

WAL-MART STORES Price and Consensus | WAL-MART STORES Quote

Wal-Mart, being the largest private employer in the U.S. with 2.2 million employees, raised wages of more than 1.2 million employees of Walmart U.S. and Sams Club in February, as was announced in Jan 2016. Under the plan, the biggest retailer raised its hourly wage to least $10 per hour for around 500,000 employees hired before Jan 1, 2016. Those who were already paid higher got a 2% pay hike. The entry-level associates hired after Jan 1 got $9/hour and will be given at least $10/hour after completing their training program. Walmart has also raised the minimum wage of its non-entry level hourly workers. As a result, the new minimum wage for top-level hourly employees will increase to $15 an hour from $13, while the base salary for assistant managers will also rise.

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Walmarts average full-time hourly wage is now $13.38/hour. The average part-time hourly wage is $10.58/hour. The companys wage increases would cost $1.5 billion and lead to a 6%12% drop in profits in fiscal 2017 (ending Jan 2017).

The move marks the second phase of the companys two-year $2.7 billion investment in workers. Wal-Mart spent $1 billion on raises and training last year, per the plan announced in Feb 2015 to hike wages of approximately 500,000 full-time and part-time associates at Wal-Mart U.S. stores and Sam's Clubs.

Moreover, under the Labor Department rules unveiled in May 2016, more than 4.2 million additional American workers will qualify for overtime pay, which will be effective in December.

Along with pay raises, Walmart and Sams Club have launched new short-term disability and simplified paid time off (PTO) programs in Mar 2016 that will streamline paid vacation, sick time, personal time and holiday time into one category. These changes will expand support for associates dealing with extended health issues and provide them greater control over their paid time away from work.

As a result of wage increase and better training, Wal-Mart has managed to reduce inventory turnover and improve working capital management, having been criticized in the past for underpaying its workers.

Though the wage hike will raise the expense burden on the retailer and reduce its earnings over the near term, we believe this will keep workers contented and also help improve Wal-Marts customer service. This will ultimately encourage shoppers to spend more. With fewer people quitting jobs, the company aims for better margins. In fact, investors are optimistic on the stock as shares are on an upswing and have jumped more than 19% since the pay increase was announced in January.

Wal-Mart currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Stocks to Consider

Other well positioned retailers include Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. BOOT and Citi Trends, Inc. CTRN. Both hold the same Zacks Rank as Wal-Mart.

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* IPO likely in mid-2017 -source

* Anbang is China's No. 2 insurer with 10 pct market share (Ads details of business, background)

By Denny Thomas and Julie Zhu

HONG KONG, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Anbang Insurance Group Co, which owns New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel, plans to list its life insurance business in Hong Kong and has invited investment banks to pitch for advisory mandates in the coming weeks, sources familiar with the matter said.

Beijing-based Anbang, which earlier this year aborted a $14 billion bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, has not set a firm timetable of the planned initial public offering (IPO), the people told Reuters..

However, one source said banks had been asked to submit requests for the proposal by Aug. 26, and an IPO could take place by mid 2017.

Privately-owned Anbang, established in 2004 as an auto insurer, has emerged as one of China's most aggressive acquirers of overseas assets in the past two years, spending more than $30 billion buying luxury hotels, insurers and other property assets. But its relentless pursuit of overseas assets and ad hoc style have raised regulatory questions both at home and abroad.

Chinese financial magazine Caixin reported in March that China's insurance regulator was likely to reject Anbang's bid for Starwood as it would put the insurer's offshore assets above a 15 percent threshold for overseas investments.

Anbang's decision to list its insurance business has surprised some, especially since the company is known to be secretive about its operations and little is known about its shareholders or the company itself.

Anbang's chairman Wu Xiaohui has given few press interviews, but he told a Harvard students gathering in 2015 that eventually all of Anbang's subsidiaries will be listed.

Anbang offers a full range of insurance products, and at the end of June its total life insurance premium was 228.4 billion yuan ($34.4 billion), accounting for 10 percent of China's life insurance market, according to the company's website. That makes it the country's second-biggest insurer behind state-owned China Life Insurance Co Ltd .

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Anbang has nearly 2 trillion yuan of assets under management, and has more than 30,000 employees and 35 million customers worldwide, its website says.

An external spokesman for Anbang declined to comment on Anbang's IPO plans. The sources declined to be identified as the information is not public.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas and Julie Zhu; Additional reportin by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Keith Weir and David Evans)
Real business investment has declined in the US for the third straight quarter, Credit Suisse pointed out in a note to clients on Tuesday, and there's reason to believe that something might be going on here beyond just record-low prices for commodities and oil.

Here's the long and short of it: Before now, the last time the US experienced three straight quarters of declining business investment without an accompanying recession was back in 1986-1987. As you may recall, that was during an oil price rout like the one we're seeing now.

So maybe we're good. After all, most of the decline in business investment was experienced in mining, energy, and other sectors associated with those industries, like "Other Trucks," "Trains," and "Mining Machinery." A drop in commodity prices has also weighed on business investment in the agricultural sector.

chart sectors hurt by oil business investment

Of course, that isn't to say these sectors don't matter. They have a big impact on the economy.

"Indeed, parts of the investment data that directly measure energy and mining investment have fallen precipitously since late 2014  and not just in the United States," the Credit Suisse note said.

"For example, a subcategory called 'mining structures investment' has dropped from roughly $160bn to $50bn, taking $110bn directly off the levels of investment and GDP. The current level of nominal business investment would be almost 5% higher if that decline had not occurred."

business investment trucks chart

But wait, there's more

Additionally, Credit Suisse noted worriedly, there have been smaller declines in investment in sectors across the board.

investment categories

equipment investment categories

This decline has taken place even though conditions for corporations to borrow money have been incredibly favorable, so that's not really a factor here. Most corporations see their profits declining in the second half of 2016, though, and that very may well be.

Plus there's that sticky US election coming up.

"In the very near term, the outlook is so muddled by political and global factors that it is hard to expect a major rebound," Credit Suisse noted. "Firms delay investments during periods of high uncertainty because there is option value in waiting for clarity. We wonder whether getting past key events such as the election could ultimately appear to trigger a rebound."

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Then again, maybe this is just 1986-1987 again. One to think about.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to get down to business.

NBC has released the first promo for its new-look Celebrity Apprentice featuring Schwarzenegger taking on oversight of the boardroom.

Read more: Arnold Schwarzenegger Named New 'Celebrity Apprentice' Host

The Terminator-themed 35-second promo features the network promoting the series with the tagline, "We're building a new boss," with Schwarzenegger possibly revealing one of his new catchphrases. "Let's get down to business," he says in the spot.

The two-term California governor will take over as host of NBC's reality competition series in January. Host turned Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was, as his Celebrity Apprentice persona would say, "fired" from the network last year after making derogatory statements about Mexican immigrants.

Read more: 'Celebrity Apprentice' Adds Warren Buffett, Jessica Alba, Tyra Banks as Advisors

Schwarzenegger will be joined by new advisers Warren Buffett, Jessica Alba and Tyra Banks when Celebrity Apprentice returns in January. Check out the promo, below.
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Last night, Jimmy Kimmel challenged Hillary Clinton to read Donald Trump quotes out of a wigged bowl with a straight face.

Do you think she giggled her way through? Or was she past the point of laughing at Trump's outlandish statements?

Either way, this is something we never thought we'd see.

Elementary teacher drops incredible back to school rap video for his students

Eight year old's video of her stuffed bear is so cute it will make you sick

Joey Bada$$ serves up a dramatic interpretation of Kanye's McDonald's poem

7 things you didn't know about 'Trainspotting'
By Swati Bhat

MUMBAI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Welspun India's shares plunged 20 percent for a second day on Tuesday, as the fallout from Target Corp's decision to terminate business with the firm for passing off cheap sheets as premium Egyptian cotton escalated.

Shares in Welspun, one of the world's largest textile manufacturers, were suspended after a few hours of trading, as on Monday, after dropping by 20 percent, their daily limit.

Target said on Friday that it was severing ties with Welspun after its extensive investigation had confirmed that the Indian company, which purportedly used Egyptian cottons to make sheets and pillowcases sold to the retailer, substituted non-Egyptian cotton instead.

Target is Welspun India's biggest customer after Bed Bath and Beyond. It accounted for about $90 million, or 10 percent of the company's total business in the financial year through March, Welspun executives said on a conference call on Monday.

Welspun said on the call that it was investigating the product specification issue and would hire a Big Four accountancy firm to review its supply processes.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Welspun's third-biggest customer, is also reviewing the company's cotton certification records, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A spokesman for Welspun said the company did not wish to comment on the reported Wal-Mart review.

The U.S. retail giant accounts for about 8 to 9 percent of Welspun's revenues, according to Elara Capital analyst Sumant Kumar.

"The risk is there as these are still early stages, so we need to wait and see," Kumar said.

Sales of Egyptian cotton bedding account for only about 6 percent of Welspun's total sales, according to Kumar, but the loss to the company's credibility means other customers could withdraw all their business as Target has done.

Analysts said Welspun did not provide clear answers during Monday's conference call, when asked whether other customers could follow Target's move to cut ties.

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"We are actively engaged with our clients," Welspun's Managing Director Rajesh Mandawewala said, in response to that query on the call.

Kumar, in his note, said Welspun executives were vague on facts during the call, which threw up more questions than answers.

(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Euan Rocha and Susan Fenton)
By Swati Bhat

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Welspun India's shares plunged 20 percent for a second day on Tuesday, as the fallout from Target Corp's decision to terminate business with the firm for passing off cheap sheets as premium Egyptian cotton escalated.

Shares in Welspun, one of the world's largest textile manufacturers, were suspended after a few hours of trading, as on Monday, after dropping by 20 percent, their daily limit.

Target said on Friday that it was severing ties with Welspun after its extensive investigation had confirmed that the Indian company, which purportedly used Egyptian cottons to make sheets and pillowcases sold to the retailer, substituted non-Egyptian cotton instead.

Target is Welspun India's biggest customer after Bed Bath and Beyond. It accounted for about $90 million, or 10 percent of the company's total business in the financial year through March, Welspun executives said on a conference call on Monday.

Welspun said on the call that it was investigating the product specification issue and would hire a Big Four accountancy firm to review its supply processes.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Welspun's third-biggest customer, is also reviewing the company's cotton certification records, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A spokesman for Welspun said the company did not wish to comment on the reported Wal-Mart review.

The U.S. retail giant accounts for about 8 to 9 percent of Welspun's revenues, according to Elara Capital analyst Sumant Kumar.

"The risk is there as these are still early stages, so we need to wait and see," Kumar said.

Sales of Egyptian cotton bedding account for only about 6 percent of Welspun's total sales, according to Kumar, but the loss to the company's credibility means other customers could withdraw all their business as Target has done.

Analysts said Welspun did not provide clear answers during Monday's conference call, when asked whether other customers could follow Target's move to cut ties.

"We are actively engaged with our clients," Welspun's Managing Director Rajesh Mandawewala said, in response to that query on the call.

Kumar, in his note, said Welspun executives were vague on facts during the call, which threw up more questions than answers.

(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Euan Rocha and Susan Fenton)
Ranbir Kapoor enjoys an immense star power in the country, but the actor was once left heart broken and was asked to get lost by Natalie Portman.

During a recent interview with Rajeev Masand, the 33-year-old actor revealed that he is as star struck as we are.

On being asked how was it when he met Quentin Tarantino in London, the Tamasha actor recounted, So with Quentin Tarantino recently, he was promoting The Hateful Eight and we were shooting Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in London. I was shooting in a basement and he was in the building. I heard that he was doing an interview so I went running up. I told Karan, Listen, I have to meet him. Not that Im going to say that Im an actor from India. I just wanted to meet him, take a picture, an autograph.

Recommended: Say What! Ranbir is secretly on social media

After waiting for almost an hour, Quentin appeared but this fanboying turned out to be a funny episode.

I saw him coming and from far Im saying, Quentin, Quentin. He walks, looks at me, goes and sits in his car. When the door opens, Im like, Sir, picture picture?and they have it on video. It was really funny and I got teased by the entire crew of Ae Dil, but just to see Quentin Tarantino, he added.

Apart from Quentin, Ranbir has also chased Natalie Portman. And while it may seem pretty hard to digest he was asked to get lost by the 35-year-old Hollywood actress.

Ranbir said, Ive run behind Natalie Portman at Tribeca. She was on the phone and she was crying. I went quickly behind her and said, I love your Before I could say work, she turned and said, Get lost! So Ive had my heart broken but I would still chase them.
A concrete slab fell off the back of a semi that was hauling it, blocking Highway 46 for hours on Monday morning.
From Esquire

A group of about 20 "White Lives Matter" protesters gathered outside a Houston NAACP office on Sunday, The Houston Chronicle reports. Some were carrying assault rifles, and at least one protester, according to TPM, was wearing a hat supporting Donald Trump's campaign for president.

"We came out here to protest against the NAACP and their failure in speaking out against the atrocities that organizations like Black Lives Matter and other pro-black organizations have caused the attack and killing of white police officers, the burning down of cities and things of that nature," Ken Reed, the Trump supporter, told the Chronicle. "If they're going to be a civil rights organization and defend their people, they also need to hold their people accountable."

The group was met with counter-protests, but Reed insisted they were "not out here to instigate or start any problems."

"Obviously we're exercising our Second Amendment rights but that's because we have to defend ourselves. Their organizations and their people are shooting people based on the color of their skin. We're not."

Photo credit: Screenshot

He also insisted the Confederate Flags were about "heritage" and Southern pride. But others in his group shouted the slogan "14 Words," code for a White Supremacist creedo: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

(It is here that we can pause to remember that the flag's defenders in South Carolina also treaded the "heritage not hate" line. Its proponents continue to insist it has nothing to do with race-even people in a White Lives Matter protest outside an NAACP office.)

The crowd was eventually dispersed around 3:30PM, the Chronicle reports. There were no injuries or arrests.

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Marking Wall Street's latest turn in favor of emerging markets, BlackRock said Monday it upgraded EM equities to overweight as the firm expects a stable U.S. dollar, low rates and a better outlook for growth.

"The most important part and what drives our [view on] the EM performance over the long term is the fundamentals, but you need to be aware of the sentiment around EM. Now both of them have aligned," said Gerardo Rodriguez, portfolio manager of the BlackRock Total Emerging Markets Fund.

He said BlackRock was encouraged in three areas where there had been concerns. For one, there are signs of stability after a sharp slowdown in China's economy. Commodities prices are no longer falling, and the U.S. has not edged closer to recession. Improving current account balances, appreciating currencies and attractive valuations provide fundamental support for investing in EM, Rodriguez said.

U.S. dollar stability is a key factor in that outlook. Strength in the greenback puts pressure on emerging market nations, which may be forced into a competitive devaluation of their currencies to remain competitive, while finding it harder to pay down dollar-denominated debt.

Now, "the 'lower-for-longer' rate outlook reduces the risk of a sharply rising U.S. dollar, expands the scope for EM rate cuts (25 so far this year), and makes high-yielding EM assets relatively attractive," BlackRock analysts said in a note Monday.

Meanwhile, investors searching for returns in a low-growth world increasingly favor emerging markets. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) (NYSE Arca: EEM) is up more than 15 percent year to date, versus about 6.8 percent gains in the S&P 500 (^GSPC).

In April, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reversed its five-year negative view on emerging markets to become "structurally bullish" on the asset class.

BlackRock was neutral on EM equities back then.

Since the 2013 taper tantrum, about $150 billion has flowed out of EM equity exchange-traded and mutual funds, according to EPFR Global data cited by BlackRock. Investors are now dipping back in  slowly  with $26 billion in inflows since February, the data showed.



"There is a lot of space for inflows to move to EM," Rodriguez said.




When you're recovering from an addiction, there is no greater feeling than achieving your first 30 days of sobriety -- 30 full days without drugs and alcohol, including nights and weekends. The mental fog created by mind-altering substances starts to dissipate, creating a childlike high on life. Despite what you have put your body through and how hopeless and suicidal you may have once felt, you now have a second chance at life.

[See: 9 Things to Do or Say When a Loved One Talks About Taking Their Life.]

At 60 days, the substance-induced fog is a mere memory and reality can hit you like a bag of bricks. This is a period of sobriety those of us in the addiction field like to call "whack-a-mole" recovery. Just when you think you can breathe a sigh of relief, you start to notice a variety of painful behaviors that seem to have no correlation with substance abuse, but evoke similar feelings. Now, instead of battling drug or alcohol addiction, you may be on your way to sex addiction, gambling addiction, codependency, food addiction or something else.

Why? Because there is almost always a deep behavioral addiction or mental disorder that serves as a catalyst to substance abuse. In an addict's natural state, he or she wants to reach externally to dull an internal problem. Whether the external source is a person, a mind-altering substance or an adrenaline-provoking action, the goal is to mask uncomfortable feelings by any means necessary. Taking drugs and alcohol from an addict is similar to taking a flotation device away from someone who doesn't know how to swim: He or she will panic and grab on to anything to stay afloat. Rarely do I see someone enter treatment with an addiction solely to drugs and alcohol.

That vicious cycle is why New Method Wellness, the recovery treatment center where I'm the clinical director, places a heavy emphasis on intensive outpatient treatment after a primary treatment program. Outpatient treatment serves as a safety net for our clients when these addictive behaviors rear their ugly heads. But even if outpatient treatment is not an option for you, there are a handful of tools out there that can aid in combating these addictive behaviors. Among them:

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1. Support Groups

Developing a community of people who understand your way of thinking and relate to your reactionary behavior will give you hope for recovery while also augmenting your feelings of connectedness. No longer will you be able to support thoughts such as "Nobody understands me" and "They just don't get it; I am hopeless." Anonymous groups exist for nearly every addiction under the sun. Here are a few them:

-- Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous

-- Gamblers Anonymous (626-960-3500)

-- Codependents Anonymous (888-444-2359)

-- Overeaters Anonymous (505-891-2664)

2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is the most common therapeutic technique to treat addiction. Luckily, CBT is a very interactive style of therapy, meaning it will provide you with behavioral tools you can use outside of the clinic. Here are a few common CBT strategies:

-- Thought Monitoring: Make a daily log of your negative and obsessive thoughts throughout the day. Rank each thought on a scale of 1 to 10, based on how much anxiety the thought gives you.

-- Rationalized Thinking: You can take thought monitoring a step further by writing a rational response to your anxiety-tagged thoughts. For example, an anxious thought could be, "My boss must want me to fail with this workload," while a rational response would be, "My boss is giving me these responsibilities because she sees me as a trustworthy employee who can handle this workload."

-- Relaxation Techniques: Breathing work can help immensely when we feel anxious, overwhelmed or when our minds cannot relax enough to think rationally. A good breathing technique is the 5-5-5 method. Breath in for five seconds, hold your breath for five seconds and let your breath out for five seconds. Repeat this breathing technique until you feel relaxed.

[See: 8 Ways to Relax -- Now.]

3. Outside Therapy

I always recommend seeking help from a therapist. Specialized therapy allows the recipient to delve deeper into the core behavioral addiction while establishing coping mechanisms to integrate into everyday life.

[See: How to Find the Best Mental Health Professional for You.]

While I highly recommend attending outpatient treatment after a 30- or 60-day inpatient program for substance abuse and behavioral addictions, I believe that each one of these tools -- or a combination of them -- is a good alternative for addressing the chaos that evolves during the recovery process.

DeAnna Jordan is the clinical director at New Method Wellness, a substance abuse treatment center in Orange Country, California. Jordan has over 20 years of experience working with clients in recovery and is a marriage and family therapist specializing in the maintenance of healthy relationships. As a recovering addict, Jordan brings a breadth of personal recovery experience to her clinical leadership and believes a comfortable, structured and supportive environment is an essential part of maintaining long-term sobriety. In addition to her passion for recovery, Jordan is extremely involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. As a current Woman of the Year candidate, Jordan is campaigning to raise funds for LLS blood cancer research in honor of local children who are blood cancer survivors.
If you only read one thing: Hillary Clintons email problems arent going away, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported Monday that it had found nearly 15,000 messages and documents from her time at the State Department that were not turned over after she revealed the existence of her private server. Clinton attorneys deleted thousands of emails they claimed were personal, after running a series of searches to pull out obviously work-related messages. It is as yet unclear whether any of those new documents are federal records, which would indicate that Clinton may have violated federal records laws. Either way, the next tranche of those documents are scheduled to be released before Election Day, keeping the saga in the news all the way through November 8. Meanwhile a separate batch of documents from top Clinton aide Huma Abedins account shows how donors to the Clinton Foundation received special access, if not favors, from the State Department during Clintons tenure.

Donald Trump is trying to keep the pressure on Clinton over the foundation and her emails to the extent that he can. In prepared statements and speeches hes called for a special prosecutor to investigate her, but his off-the-cuff remarks and tweets have him swinging at morning cable anchors.

Trump also appears to be revising his position on illegal immigrationperhaps the defining issue of his primary campaigncanceling a planned Colorado speech on the issue Thursday as his campaign manager said his position was to be determined. On Monday, Trump and his aides maintained he wasnt flip-flopping on the issue, but then described an enforcement similar to the Obama Administrations existing policy for prioritizing the removal of violent offenders.

Meet Trumps new campaign manager. Melania threatens a lawsuit. And the Biden doctrine.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

Why Donald Trump Picked Kellyanne Conway to Manage his Campaign

Job One: manage the candidate [TIME]

Story continues

Donald Trump Staffers Express Racially Charged and Anti-Muslim Views on Social Media

Theyve declared Muslims unfit to be citizens and mocked Mexicans [Associated Press]

Emails Reveal How Foundation Donors Got Access to Clinton and Her Close Aides at State Dept.

Saga wont end for Clinton [Washington Post]

Clinton Foundation Prepares To Hand Off Programs, Scale Back Operations

The foundation will do more than restricting donations if Hillary Clinton is elected president [BuzzFeed]

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Ages 68 and 70, Share Few Health Details

Both candidates lag behind established precedent [New York Times]

Sound Off

I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe. I have to step into the alternative reality and, you know, answer questions about, am I alive, how much longer will I be alive, and the like.  Hillary Clinton to Jimmy Kimmel Monday

Im not flip flopping. We want to come up with a fair but firm process. Fair but firm.  Donald Trump to Fox News Monday on a seeming shift in his position on illegal immigration

Bits and Bites

Donald Trump Cancels Campaign Events in Colorado, Nevada and Oregon [TIME]

Donald Trump Calls for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Hillary Clinton [TIME]

Transgender Students Face Unsettled Rules on Bathrooms as They Return to School [TIME]

Donald Trump Outreach Inaccurately Claimed Top Hispanic Pastor as Advisor [TIME]

Melania Trump pursues Daily Mail over 100% false rumors about her past [The Guardian]

The Biden Doctrine [The Atlantic]

Clinton: Trump health allegations a wacky strategy [Associated Press]

Clinton to Offer Plan for Small Businesses [Wall Street Journal]
NATO Trident Juncture

Between rival states, military exercises almost always provoke condemnation, but virtually never wars, and a new study seems to offer some insight as to why.

In 2015, Russia strongly condemned NATO's Trident Juncture exercise in Eastern Europe saying they could have "explosive consequences."

Now the US and Ukraine are condemning proposed Russian drills in Crimea, with a US defense official saying he was "extremely concerned."

Presently, about 25,000 US and 50,000 South Korean troops are participating in Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which is being condemned by China and North Korea,. Chinese state media has said the drills would jeopardize peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

Later this year, China and Russia will hold military drills in the South China Sea, which the US has preemptively condemned, with Adm. Scott Swift, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, saying that the drills could have been held somewhere less destabilizing.

But Trident Juncture came and went with only planned, controlled explosions, just as it has in years past. Most likely, so will all the other planned drills.

China military

A new study says that at least in one specific case at least, war games don't provoke meaningful military responses.

The study, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Beyond Parallel blog finds that US military drills in South Korea do not really cause an increase in belligerent acts from North Korea.

From Beyond Parallel:

The state of US-North Korea diplomatic relations before the exercise period (defined as 4-8 weeks prior) is actually a better indicator of whether North Korea will carry out provocations during or after the exercises. In the study, if US-DPRK bilateral relations were coded positively prior to the exercises, the Norths response remains restrained both during and after the exercises. If pre-exercise relations were coded negatively, then there is a higher likelihood of North Korean belligerence during and after the exercises.

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In other words, the military drills are inconsequential, and the larger political context and climate doesn't bend too much to the influence of flashy military drills.

In light of this study, and countless examples from around the world where military drills are protested much, but impact little, it's reasonable to assume that condemning military drills is a formality.

The fact is that ready, often-drilled militaries do deter wars, despite how defense officials might posture and talk tough.

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Why Stevie Nicks solo debut, Bella Donna still matters to me  and to music  today

Why Stevie Nicks solo debut, Bella Donna still matters to me  and to music  today

Comfort kills careers; the working man adage even applies to shawl twirling seraphs like Stevie Nicks.

In 1981, as Fleetwood Mac recovered from a failed album, Tusk, and toyed with respective solo projects, feather-haired, lace-yoked Stevie Nicks was conjuring up what she expected to be her first and last solo effort. Bristling with country-tinged melodies, lush pop arrangements, and her now-trademark mysticism, Stevie Nicks Bella Donna was a grand entrance by an artist who needed no introduction.

I can sit and look at my album for the rest of my life and say Here it is. I did it. And whatever that had to go before is all right, because I did this, Nicks said in an interview with Canadian Television in 1981.

Truer words couldnt have been spoken  35 years and seven solo albums later, Bella Donna endures as Nicks legacy piece, for herself, for me, for flocks of women who can only dream of living in a world as magical as the one that exists within Bella Donna.

Photo of FLEETWOOD MAC and Stevie NICKS

The day I stumbled upon the album, I was barely as tall as a doorknob, thumbing through my parents musty record collection. When I slid some love-worn record out of its resting place to reveal a heliotropic cover, a batty-eyed beatnik, and her fowl friend, I knew that I had discovered something I had waited my whole life for.

Stevie Nicks Bella Donna Album

Im sure that Stevie Nicks was gnarled by the same air of anticipation while creating the album. With her Fleetwood Mac songwriting credits teetering around 50 percent per album, critics and fans alike were unsure if she possessed the brio and musicality to carry an album without her Fleetwood Mac bandmates. Would she harness the hushed vulnerability Sara? Can the bedroom eye allure of Gypsy be recreated?

The brazen piano chords and dense harmonies that crowd Bella Donnas first ten seconds laid all doubts to rest, and it left me spellbound as a child.

The albums title track, a dulcet tale of Nicks seeking stability amidst the cocaine haze and bright lights of fame, became a scarf twirling ballad for woolgathering younguns across the world. Years after its release, I was one of them  head in the clouds and hand in lace glove.

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Critics were just as blindsided by the jubilant debut, as well. It was a 42-minute LP that would top U.S. charts, churn out four Top 40 singles, and climb to the Top 20 in six other nations.

One of Bella Donnas many musical triumphs is its star-studded crew of cohorts that helped Nicks bring her crystal visions to life. She enlisted friends like Tom Petty and Roy Bittan of the E Street Band to help build the foundation of her gypsy fight songs.

Nicks became a conductor rather than a collaborator. She made it feasible for female artists to consult male counterparts without losing ownership over her work, or herself

Photo of Stevie NICKS and FLEETWOOD MAC

The lore backing Nicks bohemian persona bewitched my father, who told me the  Lindsey and Stevie Love Saga

Think About It, one of the tracks, is crowded with harmonies and maudlin proclamations of love, a theme that peaks with the shameless balladry of After The Glitter Fades, and Nicks only wades in Fleetwood Mac tropes ever so briefly  a brisk backbeat here, a groovy organ accompaniment there.

The true anchor of Bella Donna, though, is the spine slinging hit Edge of Seventeen. Thumping at a mile a minute, the track revitalizes the otherwise willowy LP by channeling Nicks cocaine mania and budding showmanship.

Nearly 30 years after Bella Donna, Nicks released a commentated live performance of showstopper single Edge of Seventeen from the albums tour.

As the minutes dwindle and intensity mounts, Nicks divine facade is cracked by tears shed not for her admiring fans, but for her independence  as she was returning to work with Fleetwood Mac and thought it may likely be the last night of her solo career.

Bella Donna was much more than a proof of concept for Nicks solo career. It was a woman expunging the foothold of her past and building a new identity in front of the world  a seemingly ludicrous task for many women, even today.

In 1981, everyone knew that Nicks was one in a million. On Bella Donna, she finally believes it, too.

The post Why Stevie Nicks solo debut, Bella Donna still matters to me  and to music  today appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Who says cable conglomerates are out of touch?

Cable giant Comcast is debuting three exclusive digital series on its Watchable streaming video service on Tuesday, from Refinery29, Latin-focused mitu and Cut.com. Later in 2016, Watchable will premiere six more new exclusives, including shows from BuzzFeed Motion Pictures and CollegeHumor, as well as Studio71s Logan Paul vs., which follows the affable, ambitious Vine star as he does things like wrestling a bear and riding a bull.

Its all part of Comcasts efforts to reach an audience that isnt necessarily receptive to whatever a cable company might be selling: Millennials, particularly those in the 24-34 age group.

Also Read: Netflix Headed to Comcast's X1 Platform

Thats why last September, the company quietly introduced Watchable, a free, ad-supported service available to anyone on any device, regardless of whether youre a Comcast customer  though the service is also accessible through Comcasts X1 cable system. For a while, it was mostly just another repository for videos from digital-first studios like Defy, BuzzFeed, Vice and Studio71. In other words, content that could also be found in other places.

We wanted to see what would happen if we took all this native digital content and put it on a TV screen, Craig Parks, Watchables VP of programming, new services and development, told TheWrap. We wanted to see how to market to the younger audiences that rally around this content.

Also Read: Social Media Star Hayes Grier Injured in Car Accident

The experiment went well enough that, after seeing users devote 30 minutes at a time to watching videos on the service, the company decided to take a more aggressive approach to the content game.

Exclusive content was always part of the plan, Parks said. But before striking these exclusive deals, the Watchable team wanted to sit back and watch what some of the other digital video players, a la Verizons go90 and Vessel, were doing. They learned some valuable lessons. The idea of windowing content for three days doesnt seem to have panned out for Vessel, Parks said. It does feel like [go90] tried a lot of things, they threw a lot at the wall in the hopes it would stick.

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Parks and his team also saw a hunger in the video marketplace for another outlet, one that could provide an even bigger platform to stand on  everyone wants to be on TV, including companies that started as multichannel networks (MCNs) on sites like YouTube.

Thats not to say TVs the Holy Grail, but it is becoming part of that ecosystem, Parks said. As the MCN models are starting to not necessarily pan out, a lot of these companies are converting to semi-network, semi-studio situations.

For the on-screen talent, getting in bed with a cable giant is a no-brainer. Its a natural transition for someone like Paul, getting to play to his short-form strengths while getting onto a slightly bigger screen. This path is increasingly well-trod by digital natives  Netflix recently ordered an unscripted series centering on another Vine star, Cameron Dallas.

Also Read: Vine Star Cameron Dallas Lands Netflix Reality Series

And for Comcast, Watchable is a way to experiment with yet another method of trying to reach younger audiences who are far more likely to not subscribe to a traditional cable bundle. The shows chosen for Watchable are targeted to those in the 24-34 age range, the older Millennials who are finally moving out on their own and maybe  just maybe  might be convinced to subscribe someday.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Netflix Headed to Comcast's X1 Platform

Comcast Extends CEO Brian Roberts' Deal for 1 Year

Vine Star Cameron Dallas Lands Netflix Reality Series
On 18 August 2016 the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan Argo Avakov met with the Deputy Head of the Armenian Police Vardan Yeghiazaryan to discuss developments related to the 17 July seizure of the Erebuni police compound in Yerevan and the OSCE Office in Yerevans willingness to provide assistance to Armenian authorities and civil society to strengthen trust and co-operation between the police and the public.

Ambassador Avakov informed the police about the OSCEs approach to overall security sector reform, which promotes co-operation between civil society and authorities and supports the strengthening of independent monitoring and oversight mechanisms. He described the Offices initiative to create a civil society advisory council that will serve as a consultative body for the OSCEs work in security sector reform. In the specific area of policing, the Ambassador described OSCE initiatives that can promote direct dialogue between police, civil society and the public at large on issues such as public order management and the exercise of freedom of assembly.

The Deputy Head of the police proposed to organize police-media roundtable events to improve police relations with the mass media and civil society. The Office representatives noted that in the course of the previous roundtable discussions between the police and the media facilitated by the OSCE Office some of the concerns raised by civil society representatives about the police behavior during assemblies unfortunately remained unresolved. The Office proposed that the police take into consideration the issues raised and suggested that the roundtable discussions could come up with recommendations and solutions on the improvement of public order management in Armenia.

Ambassador Avakov expressed his condolences to the Deputy Head of the Police and the families of the police officers who lost their lives and commended the professionalism of negotiators who had prevented further loss of life among hostages and armed men in the Erebuni compound.

Ambassador Avakov welcomes the actions taken to investigate allegations of inappropriate behavior and violence by individual police officers toward journalists and demonstrators during the recent demonstrations.

OSCE good practice is that police forces, other law enforcement agencies and prison services are subject to independent oversight systems, with transparent internal discipline and public complaint procedures.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

The Minnesota Wild asked, and the fans responded.

Princes Lets Go Crazy will be the new goal song for the Wild beginning with their Sept. 27 preseason game against the Colorado Avalanche.

This summer, the Wild sent an email to season ticket holders asking for their feedback about the potential change from Joe Satrianis Crowd Chant to the classic Prince track.

Our in-arena experience is designed for the fans, so its great to be able to show them we take their feedback to heart, said John Maher, vice president of brand, content and communications for the Minnesota Wild. At the same time, its our privilege to celebrate an iconic hometown artist that clearly has had an incredible impact on our community and the world.

During the Wilds first home playoff game following Princes death on April 21, the team used Lets Go Crazy for the first time as its goal song and reaction was overwhelming, which let to them soliciting feedback for a possible permanent change.

Heres what it sounded like inside Xcel Energy Center:

Its now safe to say that the Wild and Buffalo Sabres own the two best goal songs in the NHL. (UPDATE: Totally forgot to add the Pittsburgh Penguins and their use of Andrew W.K.s Party Hard. So theres the top three.)

      

Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Blame it on the lower value gains on investment properties.

Property developer and lifestyle company Wing Tai Holdings Ltd. has posted an overwhelming decline in its net profit for the quarter ending in June 30, 2016, with the amount diving 98% from $116 million in the previous quarter to $1.88 million.

According to the group, the slump is attributable "to the lower fair value gains on investment

properties of Wing Tai Properties Limited in Hong Kong."

For the said quarter, its revenue registered a 35% pullback to $140.7 million.

On a yearly basis, the group's total revenue for the financial year sank 20% from the $676.7 million recorded the previous year to $544.5 million.

The group claimed this was because projects that previously contributed to the group's numbers, Foresque Residences and Helios Residences, did not contribute in the 2016 financial year.

"Revenue for the current year was mainly attributable to the progressive sales recognised from The Tembusu and the additional units sold in Le Nouvel Ardmore in Singapore, The Lakeview in China as well as the contribution from Phase 2 of Jesselton Hills in Penang," the group added.







More From Singapore Business Review


The stuntman who pioneered the wingsuit and BASE jumping has died after crashing into a tree in the French Alps.

Read: Watch These Daredevils Jump Off One of the World's Tallest Buildings

Alexander Polli, 31, was known to soar like an eagle in his wingsuit. The Italian-Norwegian citizen crashed into a tree Monday while jumping in the Couloir Ensa near Chamonix.

The area where he died is popular with BASE jumpers.

"It's a location where there are a lot of accidents," a PGHM rescuer named Mercer told NBC News.

Polli became a YouTube sensation in 2013 when he flew through the narrow opening of the so-called Batman Cave" in Montserrat, Spain, while reaching speeds of 155 miles an hour.

Polli had not updated his Twitter feed since December 2015, however, he did have a catchphrase in his bio which read: Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose to live with no regret.

Many of Pollis colleagues paid tribute to him following the announcement of his passing.

Read: Gutsy Grandfather, 80, Jumps on Pickup Truck to Stop Thieves Stealing His Bike

The World Wingsuit League posted on their Facebook page: Alex was known for his hard-core proximity lines and that legacy continues to inspire new generations of jumpers for years to come.

Viewpoint Film, who worked with Polli in the past, took to Twitter to say: Rest in peace big man.

Saddened to hear a good friend Alexander Polli died yesterday doing waht he loved. Rest in peace big man. https://t.co/VOzdj4ojZe  Viewpoint Film (@Viewpoint_Film) August 23, 2016



Watch: World Champion Skydiver Wouldn't Try World Record Jump Without Parachute: 'I Wouldn't Have the Courage'

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Dedicating their lives to the pursuit of every iteration of the musicalfrom Broadway, to film and TVNeil Meron and Craig Zadan have successfully reinvigorated a cultural phenomenon that has laid dormant for many years, in the form of the live TV musical. With the unquestionable validation of their 2013 test runas 22 million viewers tuned in for The Sound of Music Live!the producers have turned a one-off event into an annual NBC franchise, watching with great satisfaction as other networks follow suit. Taking six Emmy nominations for their latest, The Wiz Live!, the producers spoke with AwardsLine about their pioneering efforts in broadcast TV, their commitment to diverse casting, and the resonance of Hairspray in our times.

Youve spoken of your appreciation of TV musicals from the 50sthose musicals that emerged in tandem with the very medium of television. How did those musicals affect you and your desire to bring the live musical back to TV?

Neil Meron: We always look backwards in order to go forward. One of the things that weve always been a big fan of was certainly the history of musicals in generalBroadway, features, televisionand being somewhat of a geek about it, I was familiar with the musicals of the 50s; not that I recall seeing any of them, since I was thankfully too young. In exploring this, and looking at YouTube, and getting bootleg copies of things, it was fascinating how popular these musicals were. It was a different era, mind you, and the Broadway sound was a more popular type of sound to an audience than it is now, but they were wildly popular.

Weve always thought about what the next iteration of musicals should be for ussince we did TV musicals on film, and then we did feature film musicals, and weve done Broadway musicals, what would be another challenge? We batted around the idea of actually doing something live to capture the attention, kind of akin to what happened in the 50s. Because looking at the way programming is, and in terms of how broadcast networks were eager for event programming and things that people didnt DVRthat theyd have to show up towe thought, what if we married this old tradition with some new way of looking at it?

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When [NBC chairman] Bob Greenblatt called us, and said, Are you guys interested in doing a new TV film musical of Oklahoma? we said, We think we have something a little bit different that may create a little bit more excitement and eyeball watching. And then we pitched him Sound of Music Live! and without hesitation, he committed to it.

Craig Zadan: We had never done any live stuff on TV before, but all of the sudden we found ourselves doing the Oscars for three years in a row, and live musicals, and we then had two of the biggest events on TV every year, and they were live. So all of the sudden, we were sort of pioneering that aspect of it for ourselves, because we were learning as we were going. When you do these things, there are no rulebooks.

It must feel special to have built your musical franchise with NBCone of the networks that pioneered the TV musical back in the 50s.

Zadan: It really comes down to one thing, and that is that its all, 100 percent, Bob Greenblatt. When Bob started at NBC, the first show he picked up was Smash. We did two seasons of Smash with himit had its pluses and minuses, but it was a really amazing experiment. So when it was over, it was sort of like, OK, what do we do now? And thats when we had the discussion about doing The Sound of Music, because Bob is the only one that understands the benefit of doing theater on TV, and that theres an audience out there for theater on TV.

With these musicals, youve entered into the arena of event television in a time when viewing patterns continue to shift to streaming and DVR. It seems that youre swimming against the tide, and yet seeing remarkable success in these endeavors.

Meron: Thats exactly why we decided to venture forward with thisjust to see if our instincts were correct in thinking that maybe doing this type of programming would create more audience interest in broadcast TV. And, thankfully, its proven correct. Were thrilled that Grease had the success it did on Fox; its very encouraging, and very flattering, and were happy that its reflected in terms of the Emmy nominations this yearthe fact that Grease: Live got a boatload of nominations and so did The Wiz. It shows that this really has impacted on broadcasting in general. So its a great thinga great thing for broadcast TV.

Given that this is now an annual staple for NBC, do you feel that there are unlimited musical properties to draw from, going forward?

Meron: Thats a very, very good question. We do think that we have to be very careful in our choices, because we think that not everything is right to be done live. We have to really analyze, why would an audience care about what were doing? There are a million choices that wed love to do, but certainly out of those choices, maybe a handful would be right for a contemporary audience. I do think that there is a finite group of adaptations to be done, and then wed have to look at new ways of reinventing what we reinvented.

Zadan: The other point Id like to make is that we made Bob promise us that if we were successful with the musicals, that he would then, at some point, take a shot at doing a live play. In the case of A Few Good Men, we felt it was the right title because its a well-known title, where people know the play and the movie, which was so successful. Its Aaron Sorkin, who is a geniusand when we went to Aaron Sorkin and said, How do you feel about doing A Few Good Men live on TV? he flipped out. He immediately said, Oh my god. This is like a dream. I would do anything to have this happen.

Hes so excited, and hes even rewriting the playbecause when he wrote the play, he was 26 years old, and he said, I think Im a better writer now than I was when I was 26. I would like to take another shot and rewrite it, and make it better. There arent many authors who would say theyre going to go back to their classic piece and rewrite it. So were putting that together right now, and the Hairspray show is going to air in December, and were going to air A Few Good Men in February.

Meron: Were casting right now.

Youve spoken often about the decision to film your musicals live without an audiencebut what exactly is behind this decision?

Zadan: Everything we do is thought through very carefully, so we looked at the way musicals have been presented. We looked at these shows that have used audiencesthey mostly were PBS broadcastsand there was something very much like a static, museum kind of approach to it. We wanted to create a world where the camera can move in every single area of the set and the performance, where we can create visuals that you can only create if you were shooting it almost like a movie. So we made the decision on the ones that we did previously to not have an audience for that reason.

Also, do you really want an audience sitting in bleachers while the Nazis are marching in in The Sound of Music? It didnt feel appropriate to have people giggling or applauding, or doing all that stuff in the shows that weve done.

Now, we were very aware of when Fox did Grease, that they chose the opposite. There was an interview with Tommy Kail, the director, and he said his approach was that it was a big partynow, Grease is a big party. But The Sound of Music is not. The audience was so appropriate, and so right on for Grease, and yet not appropriate for the ones that we had done prior to this. That changes somewhat on Hairspray, simply because in Hairspray, more than half the show is done at The Corny Collins Show, in front of a studio audience.

So you are going to alter your approach with Hairspray Live?

Zadan: Organically, the question is: Can you actually do The Corny Collins Show with no one there? You cant, because thats not what the show is. Thats something we looked at in deciding how to go forward with Hairspray Live!

Between your three years producing the Oscars and your live musicalswith their diverse and surprising ensemblesyou seem to occupy a unique position in relation to the ongoing diversity conversation.

Meron: Craig and I have this discussion all the timediversity has suddenly become the current word of the moment. But if you look back, from 1997, when we did Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella with Whitney Houston and Brandyit was the first African American Cinderella. We have been doing that from the start of our careers. Its not anything new to usits something that now has become new, when people should have been doing this right from the get-go. Its great that more and more people are taking an active look at how to make their casts more diverse, but, wake up guys! You should have been doing this for a long time.

Was it disheartening to be thrust into the midst of the Oscars controversy, when youve been actively working with diversity in mind for so long?

Zadan: The thing is that if you look at the number of diverse people who presented on the Oscars that we didwho performed on the Oscars that we didwe were so conscious of doing the right thing, because you have to. Why wouldnt you do that? It was not even something that we had to calculate. When we did The Sound of Music, the very first person that we went after was Audra McDonald to play Mother Abbess. Even Audra said to us, Are you sure you want me? And we said, why? She said, Well, because you want to cast a black Mother Abbess. And we said, First of all, we believe in colorblind casting, and second of all, we did research, and during that period of time in that place, there were black nuns. So it made so much sense to us; and then when she did it, everybody went crazy.

Looking back at your careers, Hairspray is one of a few musicals you have returned to on separate occasions, across different formats. What was it about that piece that originally resonated with you, and continues to do so?

Zadan: Thats easy, actually, because we had just come out with Chicago, and it had just won the Oscar. We were saying, OK, weve got to do another movie musicalwhat do we want to do? We wanted to do something totally different. We were in New York, and we went to a preview of Hairspray, and we were going insane; it was the most exciting evening of theater we had seen in ages. Neil and I actually went to New Line Cinema and we staged a campaign we went there and said, This is our movie. We have to produce this, until New Line said, OK, its yours.

After The Wizafter doing something that had an African American element to it, with a contemporary sound, and a cool, hip feel to itwe wanted to do something that was more contemporary, and something that dealt with issues that were interesting to the times we live in. Now, when we committed to it, we had no idea what was going to happen in this country in the last year. We had no ideabut, my god, by the time this thing airs in DecemberWhat Hairspray is about is exactly what every debate is about, what every question of racism and integration is about. Its unbelievable to usits like Hairspray was written for these times.

Meron: Yes, and hopefully well have a new Presidentand she will be able to be representative of the values that we have in Hairspray Live!

For a look at the first promo for Hairspray Live!, click below:

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After a woman plunged to her death from the top of a California cliff when she reportedly tripped on her flip-flops, authorities are warning against wearing the footwear in rugged terrain.

Lorena Barrera, 21, was celebrating her first day in the Golden State after moving from Nevada when she tried to take a selfie at the edge of a San Pedro overhang.

Read: Woman Hiking Grand Canyon Posts Breathtaking Photo, Falls to Her Death Hours Later

Instead, she plunged about 100 feet to her death and became the third sightseer to die this month at the dangerous site.

A review by Inside Edition found that dozens of tourists are killed each year when they fall from wet, slippery surfaces. And a website for Yosemite National Park makes it clear that summer shoes have no place on a nature trail.

Do not pack flip-flops and think you can hike in them  you are asking for trouble, the warning states.

Read: Listen to Daughter Making Frantic 911 Call After Mom Falls Off Cliff

The scenic outlook in San Pedro also has warning signs telling visitors to stay behind a barrier wall and avoid the rugged terrain.

But those posts are often ignored by people who climb over the fence to get a better view.

Watch: 21-Year-Old Taking Photo Dies After Tripping On Flip-Flops and Falling Off Cliff

Related Articles:
Washington (AFP) - World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim will seek a second term of office, the global development lender said Tuesday as it announced the start of a selection process for the presidency.

Kim's bid to remain as president comes in the face a rare public rebuke from the Bank's rank-and-file, who earlier this month declared that the institution faced a "crisis of leadership."

"The executive directors expressed unanimous support for an open, merit-based and transparent selection, with nominations open to all member countries," the executive board said in a statement.

Kim's five-year term ends on June 30.

Following an unwritten rule, the United States, the Bank's largest shareholder, has always chosen its president, while the International Monetary Fund leader has been drawn from Europe.

The World Bank staff association said in an open letter on August 8 that this tradition flew in the face of principles of transparency, diversity and merit-based selection, given that the process had always selected an American man.

The executive board said Kim had been selected in 2012 according to new principles meant to ensure an "open and transparent" process and that the next president would be as well.

Kim was the first American candidate to face competition when Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also contended for the presidency.

The latest selection process begins at midnight on Thursday, launching a three-week window for nominations.

Kim's current term is not due to expire for more than 10 months, meaning the pending selection process begins significantly earlier than the previous one, which was conducted and concluded in the quarter prior to Kim taking office.

A medical doctor and former president of Dartmouth College, Kim was the first Bank president not to be drawn from the financial or political worlds.

After taking office in 2012, Kim announced a new goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 and a sweeping internal reorganization to foster collaboration across the Bank.

However, the reforms appear to have alienated many staff members, who in employee surveys have reported feeling detached from senior management and unsure of the direction of policy.

The Bank currently faces questions about its continuing relevance on the world stage as developing countries can now turn to a growing number of other lenders -- such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, founded at China's initiative, which held its first annual meeting in June.
By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Tuesday formally launched a bid for a second five-year term as head of the multilateral development lender, whose board pledged an "open, merit-based, and transparent" selection process.

Kim, a global public health expert and former Dartmouth College president, notified the board of his intention to continue in the bank's top job after his current term ends on June 30, 2017, the bank said.

The notification typically kicks off a new selection process, and the bank said it would follow criteria adopted for the 2012 selection, when Kim was first appointed president.

Nominations for the position via the bank's executive directors will open on Thursday and will close on Sept. 14.

"I have informed the Dean of the Board that I would be honored to be considered for a second term as head of the World Bank and continue to work with its dedicated staff," Kim said in a statement. "Together, we have accomplished so much over the past four years, and I would be proud to carry on this important work."

Kim already has the backing of the World Bank's largest shareholder, the United States.

"The United States fully supports Dr. Kims presidency at the World Bank, including the steps hes taken to enact important reforms," a U.S. Treasury spokesman said in a statement.

No challengers have emerged for the job thus far. The World Bank's former managing director, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, had been considered a possible successor. But last month she returned to Jakarta to become Indonesia's finance minister for a second time.

Since its founding in 1945, the World Bank has been run by an American citizen, while its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, has traditionally been run by a European.

Some emerging market countries had challenged these traditions in the 2011 IMF leadership race, backing Mexican central banker Agustin Carsten, who lost out to former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. Such a challenge was not repeated earlier this year when Lagarde was appointed to a second term at the IMF.

Story continues

Among the selection criteria, the bank said candidates should have a proven leadership track record of managing a large organization with international exposure; the ability to articulate a clear vision for the World Bank Group's development mission; a firm commitment to multilateral cooperation; effective communication skills, impartiality and objectivity.

The last World Bank president to serve two terms was James Wolfensohn, from 1995 to 2005.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f187072%2f8d5ff10f4b974d6c8f8f0861e5c27b5d

One of the world's largest and most expensive truffles ever has been sniffed out by a man and his dog in Australia.

Stuart Dunbar of Yarra Valley Truffles posted the 1.5-kilogram (3.3 pounds) haul online, valued at A$3,000 ($2,291). It might look like a big pile of poop, but what a score!

SEE ALSO: Twitter embraces #foodporn, signs partnership with 17 top chefs

Herald Sun reported that Dunbar came across the big brown beauty when he and his dog were inspecting their orchard.

The black truffle, which is the type uncovered by Dunbar and his dog, is the second most expensive edible fungus behind white truffles.

The fate of this particular truffle? Dunbar says despite interest from buyers, he'll be preserving the smelly treasure with a portion of it going into some truffle vodka, because why not?

He even got down to the nitty gritty, writing on his blog, "Five grams does a bottle of truffle vodka, so its big enough to infuse 210 litres [44 gallons], although it will more likely be used for future promotional activities."

The prize truffle in its natural habitat.

Image: Stuart dunbar
By Takahiko Wada

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's financial regulator is extending provisions that help regional financial institutions get public funds in response to risks posed by Britain's vote to leave the European Union, sources said on Tuesday.

The Financial Services Agency, the regulator overseeing banks, securities brokerages and other financial institutions, is extending by five years a programme allowing regional banks and credit unions to borrow from the public purse more easily, people knowledgeable about the matter told Reuters.

The extension comes as authorities remain wary of risks posed by Brexit.

The day after Britain's June 23 vote, Japan's stocks suffered their biggest daily fall in more than five years, while financial markets were roiled and fears raised of a shock to the already fragile global economy.

The Nikkei's drop was its steepest since March 2011, when threats of a nuclear catastrophe following a devastating earthquake and tsunami had sent financial markets reeling.

In the wake of the nuclear disaster, the FSA set up a safety net under an Act on Special Measures for Strengthening Financial Functions, which scrapped requirements such as setting profitability goals for regional financial institutions when applying for much-needed public funds.

The deadline for applying for funds under the scheme was originally set at March 2017.

The FSA is also extending by five years, to 2022, a deadline for Banks' Shareholdings Purchase Corporation, which buys shares in Japanese banks to help reduce cross-shareholding among banks, to purchase equities, the sources said.

Government financial assistance to Life Insurance Policyholders Protection Corporation of Japan, which offers support to bankrupt life insurance companies, is also to be extended by five years from March 2017, the sources said.

(Writing by Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Robert Birsel)
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  August 23, 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 HP Inc. (HPQ), International Business Machines (IBM), Broadcom Limited ( BRX) and Movado Group, Inc. (MOV).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Mondays Analyst Blog:

Whats in the Cards for HP Inc. (HPQ) Earnings Wednesday?

HP Inc. (HPQ) is set to report third-quarter 2016 results on Aug 24. Last quarter, the company posted a positive earnings surprise of 5.1%. Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to Consider



HP reported mixed results for the second-quarter of fiscal 2016, wherein earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate but revenues lagged the same. The year-over-year top-line comparison was unfavorable as well. HPs top-line performance was hurt primarily by a persistent decline in PC shipments and tepid IT spending.



The persistent decline in PC shipments is a substantial headwind for HP. As the PC business generates over 60% of its total revenue, the reduction in business volume at the segment is a concern. The company is also witnessing a secular decline in this segment due to the ongoing shift toward tablets and smartphones, a space in which it is yet to gain a foothold.



It is worth mentioning that the company recently entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Customer Communications Management (CCM) assets to Open Text Corporation, a Canada-based business software maker. We believe that HPs latest asset divestment is a part of the companys restructuring plan. The move will help the company to realign its businesses and focus better on the PC and printing businesses.



However, macroeconomic challenges and tepid IT spending remain near-term concerns. Competition from International Business Machines ( IBM) and Accenture add to its woes.

Story continues

HP INC Price and EPS Surprise | HP INC Quote

Earnings Whispers?



Our proven model does not conclusively show that HP is likely to beat earnings this quarter. A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to surpass earnings estimates. However, that is not the case here due to the following factors:



Zacks ESP: HPs ESP is 0.00% since both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 45 cents.



Zacks Rank: HPs Zacks Rank #3 when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.



We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 and 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum.



Stocks to Consider



Here are some companies, which you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:



Broadcom Limited (BRX), with an Earnings ESP of +0.87% and a Zacks Rank #3



Movado Group, Inc. (MOV), with an Earnings ESP of +6.45% and a Zacks Rank #3

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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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HP INC (HPQ): Free Stock Analysis Report



INTL BUS MACH (IBM): Free Stock Analysis Report



BRIXMOR PPTY GP (BRX): Free Stock Analysis Report



MOVADO GRP INC (MOV): Free Stock Analysis Report



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The fast fashion retailer has been accused of bait-and-switch pricing. (Photo: Getty Images)





The reason American Zara stores keep some items priced in euros may not be to give shoppers the feeling that theyve escaped to Milan for a fun shopping spree. In fact, it might be to deceive them, a legal filing claims.

Shopper Devin Rose has filed a lawsuit against Zara claiming that it deceived American consumers through bait-and-switch pricing. According to the Fashion Law, the $5 million-plus proposed class action lawsuit claims that Rose (and other Zara shoppers) has been damaged in that Zaras deceptive pricing practices caused him to overpay for the garments he purchased.

These practices allow Zara to charge American customers $5 to $50 more than the lowest tag price in euros on an item, and Zara is unjustly raking in billions of dollars this way, the suit charges.

Rose says, Behind its facade of attainable elegance, Zara is engaged in a widespread practice of deceiving American consumers through a classic bait and switch. Zara is known for classic lines and affordable pricing that have attracted the likes of Olivia Palermo, Selena Gomez and Kate Middleton.

How can you avoid falling prey to Zaras alleged schemes? Heres what to look for:

When items tagged in euros are rung up at check out, the price is converted to U.S. dollars. But Rose claims that the company adds on another few  or more  bucks, thinking it can dupe customers who dont know the current exchange rates.

Also, you may notice that when the price tags are in U.S. dollars, they are stickers. This is to cover up the original price in euros, which, if converted, is allegedly less than the price on the sticker.

Rose noticed this when he bought three shirts that were tagged in euros from a California shop. The tags each said 9.95 euros, and he was charged $17.90 each. That is a roughly 60 percent markup; the correct pricing should have been $11.26. Yikes!

The suit claims that Zara violates State and Federal law by luring consumers to the register with perceived lower prices using a foreign currency and surreptitiously imposing an arbitrary markup without making an appropriate, or any, disclosure to the consumer.

Story continues

Zara is claiming that there was no wrongdoing on its part. In a statement to the Fashion Law, a spokesperson for the brand said:

Zara USA vehemently denies any allegations that the company engages in deceptive pricing practices in the United States. While we have not yet been served the complaint containing these baseless claims, we pride ourselves in our fundamental commitment to transparency and honest, ethical conduct with our valued customers. We remain focused on providing excellent customer service and high-quality fashion products at great value for our customers. We look forward to presenting our full defense in due course through the legal process.

If Roses proposed class action lawsuit is certified by the court, individuals who were allegedly duped by Zara in the U.S. around the time Rose made his purchases can join the case and share in the settlement amount. So, keep your receipts.

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Zoe's Kitchen, Inc. ZOES reported mixed second-quarter 2016 financial results, wherein earnings were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate while revenues lagged the same.



Notably, the companys shares declined nearly 16% in afterhours trading on Aug 22, mirroring investor concerns surrounding the companys revenue and comps guidance cut for full-year 2016.



Earnings and Revenue Discussion



Zoe's Kitchens adjusted earnings of 6 cents per share were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Notably, the figure increased 20% from the prior-year quarter earnings of 5 cents, on the back of improved revenues and margins.

ZOES KITCHEN Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

ZOES KITCHEN Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | ZOES KITCHEN Quote

Revenues of $66.3 million lagged the consensus mark of $67 million by over 1% but improved 21.7% year over year backed by a 4% comps increase.



Behind the Headline Numbers



Comparable restaurant sales increased 4% driven by 0.9% improvement in transactions and product mix along with a 3.1% price hike. However, the figure compared unfavorably with the prior quarter comps growth of 8.1%.



Restaurant contribution margin went up 40 basis points (bps) to 21.7% as commodity costs declined year over year. The improvement was, however, partially offset by an increase in labor and store operating expenses.



2016 Guidance



Zoe's Kitchen slashed its guidance for restaurant sales and comps for full-year 2016. The company trimmed the upper end of its restaurant sales outlook and now expects it to be in the range of $277 million to $280 million (earlier $277$281 million). Meanwhile, comps are likely to grow in the 4% to 5% band, down from the prior guidance of 4.5%6%.



Also, the company predicts restaurant contribution margin in the range of 20.5% to 20.8% (earlier 20.5%21%).



Meanwhile, the company reaffirmed its projection for adjusted general and administrative (G&A) expense margin between 11.5% and 11.7%.



Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider



Zoe's Kitchen has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked stocks in this sector include Papa John's International Inc. PZZA, Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. TACO and Restaurant Brands International Inc. QSR. All the three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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OTTAWA (Reuters) - The parent company of infidelity dating website Ashley Madison was responsible for numerous violations of privacy laws at the time of a massive release of customer data in a cyber attack last year, privacy watchdogs in Canada and Australia said on Tuesday. The two countries launched an investigation after the 2015 breach of Avid Life Media Inc's computer network, when hackers exposed the personal details of millions who signed up for the site with the slogan "Life is short. Have an affair." The probe found the Toronto-based company had inadequate safeguards in place, including poor password management and a fabricated security trustmark on the website's home page. The company, recently rebranded as Ruby Corp, has entered into agreements with authorities in both countries to comply with investigators' recommendations, which are enforceable in court. The company is also the target of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigation, Avid Life Media executives told Reuters in July. [nL1N19R1MA] The FTC's consumer protection unit investigates cases of deceptive advertising, including instances when consumers are told that their information is secure but then it is handled sloppily. The FTC could not immediately be reached for comment. The investigation conducted jointly by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner found that certain information security safeguards were insufficient or absent at the time of the hacking attack. While the company did have some personal information protections in place, it fell short in implementing those measures, the report found. For instance, it said some passwords and encryption keys were stored as plain, identifiable text on the company's systems. At the time of the breach, Ashley Madison's home page displayed various trustmarks suggesting a high level of security, including an icon labeled "trusted security award," the report said. Company officials later admitted they had fabricated the trustmark and removed it. The company also inappropriately retained some personal information after profiles had been deactivated or deleted by users and did not adequately ensure the accuracy of customer email addresses, the report said. This meant that some people who had never signed up for Ashley Madison were included in databases published online after the hack, it said. Among the investigators' recommendations, Ruby will have until the end of the year to complete a review of the protections it has in place for the protection of personal information. The company said on Tuesday the review was a key priority and already underway. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Tom Brown)
Nearly a year after Comcast made a digital play with the launch of online video service Watchable, the media conglomerate is planning to release its first slate of exclusive digital series.

Watchable launched last September during a flurry of digital moves from big media companies, among them Verizon's go90 app. But while Verizon has spent significantly to acquire exclusive content for the ad-supported go90, Comcast has taken a more measured approach. It first built up a library of as many as 400 shows licensed non-exclusively for Watchable from digital video producers including BuzzFeed, Redbull, Wired, The Young Turks.

Now Watchable is beginning to buy up exclusive content, and on Tuesday it will debut a handful of shows from Refinery29, Mitu and Cut.com. In the next few months it will premiere six additional series from producers that include BuzzFeed, CollegeHumor and Studio71.

Jamie Gillingham, vp strategic development at Comcast, says he expects Watchable to roll out as many as 10 exclusives by the end of the year. "We didn't want to invest ahead of demand, and we wanted to learn about our audience and really be thoughtful about how we were spending our money on exclusive content," he explains. "Some others have come out in the market with a fairly big splash. We waded in a little bit more slowly are getting progressively deeper as we move along. We think we're doing it in an economically rational way."

Most of Watchable's exclusives fall into unscripted or scripted, non-serialized formats. Refinery29's Ballin on Budget, for example, stars comedian and rapper Awkwafina explaining how to live the high life in New York on a limited budget. How to Human from Seattle-based Cut.com mixes the how-to format with comedy. Comcast's Craig Parks, who oversees programming for Watchable, describes the content as "pushing the envelope," explaining that "in digital content you don't have a lot of the rules that you have in television, and we wanted to lean into that."

Story continues

Most of the Watchable Exclusives partners are companies that had already licensed videos to the service, which is available via app, web browser and Comcast's X1 platform. Comcast approached those partners first when it decided to make the jump into buying exclusive content. Mitu, for example, began licensing shows on Watchable last year and then sold the service its first exclusive series. "They were really interested in reaching this young audience that was multicultural and led by Latinos," says Mitu president Beatriz Acevedo. Mitu's Cholos Try debuts Tuesday.

Cut.com, which makes the popular 100 Years of... video series, was in talks with Watchable about licensing its videos to the service and instead began talking about a deeper partnership in which they would work on original projects together. Watchable ended up striking a deal for three of the five pitches that Cut submitted and also will soon license Cut's library of videos. "They were both really involved but at the same time they trusted us to tell the stories that we wanted to tell," says Cut creative director Mike Gaston of working with Comcast.

With Watchable, Comcast now joins a growing number of buyers starting to scoop up digital projects. Verizon's go90 has been rapidly buying up digital series since last year. Fullscreen's new subscription video app has acquired a number of original projects and YouTube has been working with homegrown stars to develop TV-length series for its Red subscription service.

But while Verizon has been paying competitive price for go90 projects and other outlets are said to be doing deals that approach basic cable budgets, Watchable executives acknowledge they aren't investing heavily in their service just yet. "We're taking a fairly measured approach to the investment here," says Gillingham. "We're very happy with the approach, and we're happy with the quantity and quality of the content that we're going to have this year and next year."

The flood of buyers into the digital space provides new outlets for online projects that once would have ended up being self-distributed via YouTube or other platforms. But it isn't yet clear whether these new services are taking off with the young, millennial viewers they hope to reach.

Comcast, which with Watchable is targeting millennials in the 24-35 age range, has yet to reveal how many people are watching the service each month. Instead, the company says that mobile traffic has been growing by 40 percent every month since January and that viewing sessions via the X1 service are averaging 30 minutes. "We're finding ways to program the content that taps into the lean-back experience that people are looking for when they're tuning into television," says Gillingham, referring to Watchable's preprogrammed video playlists.

He adds that 2016 has been "a year of learning" for Comcast, noting that they are "trying to test ourselves on our ability to market to different types of audiences on different platforms and build traffic and a user base outside of the set-top-box where we don't have that kind of privileged relationship with audiences."
Thai soldiers march past the Military Court in Bangkok in August (AFP Photo/Lillian Suwanrumpha)

Bangkok (AFP) - A Thai military tribunal on Tuesday indicted eight people with sedition for running a Facebook page that mocked the kingdom's junta chief, making them the latest victims of the regime's crackdown on dissent.

Thailand's generals have clamped down on politics and severely curbed free expression since their 2014 power grab, jailing scores of critics of the government and monarchy -- often for comments posted on social media.

The eight Facebook users were arrested in April by military raids in Bangkok and northeast Khon Kaen province, according to Human Rights Watch.

They now face up to seven years in prison for running a page that featured memes and doctored photos of junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha -- the former army chief who seized power two years ago.

"The court indicts all eight and will later call them in for a plea," the group's lawyer, Winyat Chartmontree, told AFP.

They have been charged with sedition and violating the kingdom's computer crime act, two broadly-worded laws that are routinely used to silence critics.

The number of computer crime, sedition and royal defamation charges have all shot up since the junta seized power in a May 2014 coup.

Some have seen jail sentences as long as 30 years for Facebook posts deemed insulting of the monarchy.

The government has defended its clampdown on free speech as an effort to heal political conflict that has ripped Thailand in two.

But critics say the junta is chiefly bent on crippling the political network loyal to the ousted government, a faction led by former premiers and siblings Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra.

The family is adored by rural supporters in Thailand's northeast but loathed by a military-allied elite based in Bangkok.

They have won every poll in the past decade but seen two of their governments knocked down by military coups since 2006.

Each Friday Prayut delivers a nationally televised speech titled "Returning Happiness to the People."

Story continues

In his speech last week he touched on his dislike for social media.

"I have never used any online media or any social media platform to communicate with the public," he said.

"I prefer to only meet people face to face through official channels."
By Rishika Sadam BENGALURU (Reuters) - Informatica, a privately held software developer, said it expects its valuation to double to at least $10 billion in the next five years, driven by investments in big data and cloud computing. The Redwood City, California-based company was taken private last year by Permira and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for about $5.3 billion. Informatica also has Microsoft Corp and Salesforce Inc as strategic investors. The company is aiming to go public again in early 2019, Chief Product Officer Amit Walia told Reuters in an interview. "We have been public for the longest time and for us to go public again is on the cards," Walia said. The 23-year-old company, whose customers include General Electric Co and Amazon.com Inc, provides cloud-based data management tools to businesses. "The change in valuation will come from investing in growth areas, the top ones being cloud and big data," Walia said. Informatica has a 22 percent share of the market for "integrated platform-as-a-service," a cloud computing model that helps customers develop applications and manage data over the internet. The market is dominated by companies such as Amazon, Salesforce and Microsoft. (http://infa.media/2bbEfwZ) "We have a 50 percent growth rate in the cloud area ... I do not think it will take us long to grow our market share in cloud to a third of the total," Walia said. Informatica, which generated over $1 billion in revenue in 2015, plans to invest in startups, beef up its hiring capacity and invest further in research and development to boost growth. The company allows startups to use its cloud platform to connect to various customers through a revenue-sharing model. This exempts startups from paying a huge fee at the beginning and requires them to pay Informatica a share of their revenue as they grow. "Strategically they are in a good place ... in cloud management," said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, adding that if the company is successful in this space it will not be a problem for its valuation to double. (Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
Youd have thought that nobody can steal your Tesla thanks to its advanced tracking system. Thieves foolish enough to try to get away with it could be easily caught with the help of the on-board GPS. However, thats not really the case. Tesla cars are incredibly valuable, which means thieves will do whatever it takes to grab one and leave no traces behind. In fact, at least two such thefts have already been reported in Europe.

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Two Tesla owners in Germany discovered that their Tesla Model S cars were stolen, Electrek reports. One of them is a brand new Tesla Model S P90D that was picked up on August 2nd, and another model disappeared on June 11th. Neither car has turned up yet, and its not clear how it happened or whether their owners will ever get them back.

Its believed that hackers were able to breach the owners' Tesla accounts and then use iPhone or Android apps to access and drive the cars away. One of the drivers said he still has the keys to the car.

They also had to jam the GPS signal on the cars, although its not clear how they did it.

Last year, a Model S was briefly stolen in Vancouver, but the owner was able to direct the police to the location of the car by using tracking data from his account.

It would certainly be interesting to hear how the thieves plan to use these stolen Teslas. Simply painting the cars over and changing their plates wont suffice. To take advantage of Teslas features, you also have to use the cars software. And we all know Tesla keeps track of what happens with each car, so it might be able to find these stolen vehicles if they ever reconnect to the system.

Tesla has yet to comment on the matter, but its likely that the company is looking at ways to retrieve the stolen cars, and prevent similar thefts in the future.

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Chicago, IL  August 23, 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 Intel (INTC), Facebook (FB), Alphabet (GOOGL), Oracle ( ORCL) and Microsoft (MSFT).

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Technology Stock Roundup

The hottest news last week came out of the Intel (INTC) Developer Forum (IDF) 2016. But Facebooks (FB) decision to open source its artificial intelligence (A.I.) research, Alphabets (GOOGL) Duo and Oracle (ORCL) asking for a retrial in its case against Alphabet over Java also made headlines.

Here are the top stories-

Intel Developer Forum

This was a mega event where Intel talked about everything but PCs. Well, almost. The company seems to think that the next big thing driving chip growth for PCs is VR capabilities (since its a computationally intensive exercise, its a good way to sell its chips).

To that end, it announced Project Alloy, a reference design for cordless headgear that merges the AR and VR worlds and runs on Microsofts ( MSFT) Windows Holographic OS. Alloys design will be open sourced sometime next year when Holographic will also be offered to all Windows PCs.

Intel didnt say how this will impact its processor business (specs werent revealed) but we do know that the device uses a couple of its Real Sense 3D cameras. So the plan seems to be to push Intel-powered and Microsoft run PC like devices at around when VR goes mainstream. Classic Wintel.

Intel did say however that Kaby Lake (Core i7-7700K enabling up to 4.5 GHz clock speed) would have the power to support 4K video and that the first laptops with Kaby Lake would ship in the fall with PCs getting the chips next year. The claim is that with integrated graphics in Kaby lake a discrete specialized GPU wont be necessary any more.

Story continues

But AMD had a few things to say about processor speed as well. The company displayed its upcoming 8-core Zen chip, comparing it with Intels 8-core i7 6900K at 3GHz clock speeds. The demo showed that the AMD chip was a tad faster than Intels currently available lineup.

Not to be left out of any major new chip development, Intel announced Knights Mill to target the A.I. segment. Lots have been said about A.I. already, especially that it uses neural networks resembling the way the human brain processes information. The Xeon Phi chip, which is not a successor to the current generation Phi but a different grade, offers low-precision calculations that work well when used together to make decisions in neural networks.

On the memory side, Intel said it was working on DDR5 for a 2020 launch. Initial specs could be available later this year. Intel expects it to be denser and more energy efficient than DRAM (though DRAM will most certainly also evolve!). At any rate, battery life is set to increase. On the 3D XPoint front, Intel said its Optane chips will ship next year (as will Microns version). For now, its making the technology available for testing through the cloud because enterprise users typically try and test things before implementation. ScaleMP, which offers virtualization solutions for HPC applications, also announced that it will be using some Optanes to run its virtual machines. This is the first step toward creating flash-based DRAM alternatives for the cloud.

Intel also has plans for the self-driving car segment and announced a partnership with Baidu to further these plans.

For the maker community, it announced Joule, a maker board for robots, drones, smart devices, and wearables that comes packed with 802.11ac connectivity, DDR4 memory, 4K capable graphics, a 64-bit quad-core Atom processor and support for Intels RealSense 3D camera. There was also the Euclid computer for robots and Aero development kit for drones.

To wrap up with the bombshell, Intel said it would license ARM designs and manufacture at its leading edge foundries and it even has a partner in LG. And pigs fly!

Facebook Open Sourcing AI-Based Language Research

Facebook AI Research (FAIR) lab is open sourcing its fastText bot-building AI library in the hopes of attracting more developers to its platform and thereby speeding up its development. This is something like an advanced auto-text corrector (which most people know is often incorrect and usually irritating). Facebook says that a compiler with good C++11 support can now be used to access fastText on Github. It talked up its tech saying that it can train bot models on more than a billion words in less than 10 minutes using a standard multi-core CPU. It also has a rather interesting feature: breaking words down into root words, suffixes and prefixes so they are better understood by computers.

Google Duo

Google wants to get into easy communication with video calling and text messaging, so it has been working on Duo and Allo to meet these two needs, respectively. Last week, the company launched Duo that is a free app enabling you to connect with friends and family as long as they have an Android or iOS phone number.

Since this is the umpteenth messaging app out there, it probably wont stir up much excitement. But Duo could still gather some momentum because the thing has been designed with a slower Internet connection in mind. So it could gain momentum in developing countries where smartphone penetration is still low and where Android phones continue to sell well. Of course Facebooks WhatsApp and Messenger have picked up strongly across developed and developing markets and video calling on WhatsApp is just around the corner.

Oracle Wants Re-Trial In Google Case

Oracle lost the retrial of its case against Alphabet when the jury decided that the companys use of Java API code should be considered fair use. But last week, Oracle lawyers made a fresh appeal saying that Google withheld key information. One of the defenses Google took in the retrial was that it had used the desktop version of Java while Android was used in mobile devices. Oracle says that the recent launch of Google Play on Chrome therefore renders this defense groundless. They therefore think another retrial is justified so the jury can have access to this information.

Googles response was that during discovery Oracle had asked for and received information about App Runtime for Chrome (ARC), so Oracle could have pursued the matter then. And the update ARC++ was still in the works at the time, so wasnt mentioned, especially since it was beyond the scope of the trial.

The judge told Google "If I had been in your position, I would have disclosed." But he also questioned Oracles asking for a retrial because it didnt use the information available to influence this jury and was asking for another hearing. He will rule on the new angle in writing. For more details read: Why Google Needs To Win The Android Case Against Oracle

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When Tim Kaine stopped at Trina Holz's lemonade stand after a fundraiser, it was not a quick visit. Kaine moved comfortably, asking questions and listening, grinning and laughing. He kneeled down and talked with Trina  about Hillary, campaigning and the vagaries of the lemonade versus Gatorade choice. He posed for pictures and talked to the folks gathered in the front yard. PHOTO BY JOHN NICHOLS
A voter marks a ballot for the New Hampshire primary inside a voting booth at a polling place Tuesday, Feb. 9, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan: Hillary Clinton's clearly the better choice for creating jobs
At 19, John Vietnam Nguyen had already established a legacy.

As an activist, b-boy, rapper, poet and student at UW-Madison he touched members of the community with a vision of coming together through hip-hop that still inspires those who knew him or his work, even after his death.

Today a street in Chicago bears his name, the JVN Project continues his mission of social change and Mayor Paul Soglin declared Aug. 30  the anniversary of the day he drowned in Lake Mendota in 2012  an official Madison holiday.

He kind of got involved with the hip-hop genre and he saw that as a way to communicate his feelings and experience to others, said Nguyens father Joe Hertel, who recently completed a short documentary narrating his sons life. What he tried to do and what he encouraged others to do, was to tell their own story.

To celebrate Nguyens story, the JVN Project is hosting a festival this Saturday and Aug. 28 to engage the community and empower people through hip hop, the way Nguyen once did. There is also an emphasis on uniting a community that doesnt always interact, according to Zhalarina Sanders, director of the JVN Project.

Nguyen wore his heritage in his name and art; he was the son of a Vietnamese refugee and an American veteran who had fought in Vietnam. He was born and raised in the Uptown section of Chicago, a rougher neighborhood, and used hip hop to reach beyond cultural barriers.

We want to bring people together, we want them to have a good time and we want to help them find creative ways to deal with issues that are uncomfortable, Sanders said. Also to kind of show people who dont know what hip hop truly is.

The event counters the negative perception the public has of modern hip hop due to its commercialization. Instead it will portray hip hop as a form of expression, a way to create a dialogue about social issues and a form of love, according to Sanders, who was a member of the First Wave fifth cohort with Nguyen.

The tribute to hip hop and Nguyen will start Saturday at 6 a.m. with a sunrise open mic at the Lake Mendota Nguyen memorial. Artists are invited to share new work that has never been produced or performed for the public.

That is to keep the spirit of Johns work ethic, Sanders said about limiting the performances to new work. Do it and do it excellently, and try not to let anything to deter what you were born to do.

The Gatekeepers ceremony Saturday focuses on One Life, a community outreach group run through the JVN Project.

One Life hosts afterschool literacy and writing workshops using hip-hop and poetry to get kids excited about learning in a creative way.

At the ceremony the JVN Project will hand out awards to honor students with outstanding qualities such as leadership and creativity. There will also be an art show where local artists can show and sell their work.

The first day will close with a movie night featuring a surprise showing that the organizers believe embodies the tenets of hip-hop, according to Sanders.

Sunday will include an event called Drew It Up, where people can break dance, rap and contribute to a spray-painted project. The idea is to embody the five elements of hip-hop: Rapping, break dancing, deejaying, graffiti and knowledge, as in the pursuit of knowledge and the knowledge of self, according to Sanders.

Its kind of showing people that there is love here, that there is community here, but also that there is struggle here, Sanders said about Drew It Up. There are cultural barriers that could be easily torn down by a dance battle.

The festivals finale will be a large concert featuring local artists  including Sanders, Broadway, Rich Robbins, Son!, Heru and Matan  as well as a headliner.

This legacy that he left just continues to grow as people are influenced by him and his work, Hertel said. So if any good came from this tragedy it would be that he left a lot of himself with us.
Dane County Board members illegally discussed whether to renew a lease for three billboards that stand on county land along Aberg Avenue near the Dane County Regional Airport, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the county by Adams Outdoor Advertising.

The lawsuit over the billboards alleges that Sup. Paul Rusk, whose district includes the land where the billboards are located, violated the state open meetings law and its prohibition on walking quorums by emailing colleagues urging them not to approve the lease renewal, telling one of them at one point that he was trying to do a vote count.

Adams is asking a judge to overturn the County Boards 18-16 vote on April 7 against the lease and order a new vote by the board.

Rusk said he has been told by county lawyers not to comment, saying only that the lawsuit is without merit or legal basis.

Dane County Corporation Counsel Marcia MacKenzie also said the lawsuit is baseless.

If you examine the statutes that are cited in the complaint you will see that the law they cite does not support any of their allegations that any laws were violated, she said. That said, we will not comment further, as litigation has commenced.

In an email to County Board members on Friday, Adams general manager Todd McWilliams wrote that the then-anticipated filing of the lawsuit was simply a requirement to preserve Adams rights to pursue litigation, if we cant work something out with the board in the next month or two.

McWilliams said Tuesday that was still the case. All hes asking, he said, is for another vote by the board, under the right conditions, without people abusing the rules. We just want to be treated fairly. I dont think we were.

Dane County would not be the first local municipality Adams has sued in recent years. In February, a Dane County judge rejected Adams lawsuit against the city of Madison that claimed a bike path bridge that blocked the view of one of its billboards was a taking of private property. Adams has appealed. A similar suit against the city of Fitchburg is pending.

Billboard companies have leased space in the area on the north side of Aberg Avenue, on Madisons North Side, since 1966. Adams took over the billboards in 1987, when it purchased Hansen Advertising. The signs currently in place have been there since 1984.

The last lease expired in December. Since then, various county government committees have approved a new lease, in which Adams agreed to pay the county $35,000 per year or 28 percent of gross revenue from the billboards, whichever was greater. Revenues go to the Dane County Regional Airport.

Then on April 7, the County Board voted down the new lease.

Adams has not had to take down the billboards because it says it still has a holdover lease that extends the existing agreement until Dec. 31. The county, however, told Adams that it needed to take down the billboards by July 29, the lawsuit states.

The county allowed Adams to keep the billboards up through December after Adams threatened to sue, according to the lawsuit.

In the meantime, Adams requested and received records that it says show that the County Boards vote was tainted by violations of the state open meetings law and by some board members personal bias against Adams.

Rusk, in particular, urged colleagues to vote against the new lease for Adams, the lawsuit states. Based on the email correspondence received, it appears as if Mr. Rusk was lobbying as many supervisors as possible to ensure that the Dane County Board voted down the successor lease, the lawsuit states.

Rusk created a walking quorum of enough board members to violate the state open meetings law, Adams lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also claims that Rusk was biased against Adams because as executive director of the Alzheimers and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin, he was dissatisfied with advertising obtained from Adams in 2008 and 2010 and expressed that dissatisfaction to board colleagues. It also accuses Rusk of incorrectly telling colleagues that the current neighborhood plan advocates removing the billboards when it does not.

Sup. Dorothy Krause, who is also a member of the Fitchburg City Council, also took part in the vote and the email discussions, the lawsuit states, even though Adams has a lawsuit pending against Fitchburg over a bike path bridge that blocks one of Adams billboards on Highway PD.

Krause and Rusk should not have voted on the lease, the lawsuit states.
MILWAUKEE  Wisconsins attorney general acknowledged Monday that former Milwaukee police officers, who now work for the state Department of Justice, are investigating this months fatal shooting of a black man by a Milwaukee officer.

Attorney General Brad Schimel said he doesnt see a conflict in using former Milwaukee officers in the investigation into the Aug. 13 shooting of Sylville K. Smith.

Smith, 23, was killed after what Milwaukee police said was a brief foot chase when he ran from a traffic stop. A few hours after Smiths death, a protest on the citys largely black north side erupted into violence that reignited the following night in the Sherman Park neighborhood.

Milwaukee PD has about 2,000 sworn officers as I understand. The likelihood that there would be some relationship between a particular patrol officer, whos going to be much younger than an experienced detective... is small. And if there is any relationship at all, that officer, that investigator would not be permitted to have any role in the investigation, Schimel said at a news conference in downtown Milwaukee.

He said the DOJ hires many retired officers to work for the Division of Criminal Investigation in the region that they have previously worked. An agency spokesman later said DCI has about 100 officers statewide; of 18 field agents in the Milwaukee office, eight once worked for the Milwaukee Police Department.

State Rep. David Bowen, who represents a large portion of the citys north side, questioned the use of former Milwaukee officers in the investigation and called for Schimel to turn the case over to the U.S. Department of Justice.

People are crying out for transparency and crying out for accountability, said Bowen, who grew up in the Sherman Park neighborhood.

Schimel said his investigators have interviewed all critical witnesses at least once, but the investigation into the fatal shooting of Smith is not yet complete. His office has been working closely with Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who ultimately will decide whether any charges are warranted against the officer who shot Smith, he said.

The attorney general said there are two videos from body cameras worn by two of the three officers who were at the scene of the shooting that show similar vantage points, but that no video or images from it will be released until Chisholm is done with the case. There is no surveillance video from the neighborhood, he said.

While the videos are a component of the investigation, Schimel said theyre just pieces among many sources of information.

They give only a narrow and incomplete glimpse of the overall picture, he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin has pressed Schimels office to release the body camera video. Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said the video clearly shows Smith was holding a handgun and turned toward the officer when he was shot.

Schimel said a 30-second audio delay, set up by the Milwaukee Police Department, means the initial portion of the video, from the time the officers turned on the body cameras, has no sound. The shooting happened very quickly, he added.

Its not easy to see everything unless you slow it down he said.

Smiths family has been cooperative in the investigation, Schimel said.

State law requires an investigation of any fatal officer-involved shootings by at least two individuals outside of the police agency involved.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction. The original misstated the law requiring independent investigations of fatal officer-involved shootings. The law requires an investigation by at least two individuals outside of the police agency involved, which may or may not include the state Department of Justice.]
Firefighters struggled getting to the source of a vehicle fire in Downtown Madison on Monday, but the fire eventually was extinguished and nobody was injured.

The fire was reported at about 10:30 a.m. in the 100 block of North Blair Street, the Madison Fire Department said.

The vehicle was in a parking lot at the rear of the building, with a moderate amount of smoke coming from the engine compartment of the Dodge Durango SUV.

The SUV's doors and hood were opened to locate the source, but more digging was necessary.

"Though the smoke appeared to be contained to the engine compartment, firefighters struggled to find where it actually was coming from," said MFD spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster.

Portable extinguishers, then the bumper line on Engine 3, were used on the fire, but the smoke continued to pour out.

"The air filter housing, spark plug wires and plastic covering to the inner passenger side wheel well were all removed in an attempt to better penetrate the suspected source of the smoke," Schuster said. "That's when firefighters were finally able to put an end to the smoke."

The SUV owner returned to the vehicle as firefighters were cleaning up.

"He informed firefighters he just picked up the vehicle from a muffler shop where he had the entire exhaust system replaced," Schuster said.

No damage estimate was given.
A former Madison man had his hopes dashed in a Dane County courtroom Monday afternoon of receiving concurrent sentences for multiple felonies that he committed in three counties over two days in 2013.

James M. Kruger, 39, who was convicted in May of recklessly endangering safety for a stabbing at an East Side residence that police say began the string of crimes, was sentenced to eight years in prison by Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke. He then ordered the sentence to begin after a 14-year prison sentence given to Kruger in Grant County.

The gravity of the offense is quite high here, and thats what drives this case, said Ehlke, who added five years of extended supervision, also to run consecutively with the Grant County sentence.

Krugers sentence for three felony convictions in Grant County runs concurrently with a 15-year sentence for two federal counts of possessing a firearm as a felon.

Kruger, who has a long history of mental illness, still must stand trial on multiple felony counts in Iowa County related to the crimes, which began on Sept. 9, 2013.

It included Kruger attacking and stealing money from his uncle in Cassville several hours after leaving the scene of the stabbing in Madison.

Kruger also took a farmer hostage outside Cassville and drove the two of them around Grant and Iowa counties in the farmers truck, pulling along a trailer with a cow inside. After the farmer escaped near Dodgeville, Kruger dumped the truck, stole a car and was arrested near Mount Horeb after a high-speed chase.

Ehlke went along with recommendations made by prosecutors and in a pre-sentence report that Kruger deserved to have his time in prison lengthened.

There was no doubt the victim was stabbed and was bleeding badly and that his injuries, which required surgery to repair, were fairly bad and couldve been worse, Ehlke said.

Although witnesses offered various and confusing accounts of what happened prior to the incident that led Kruger to stab Darin Mays, none of it justified the escalation of somebody being stabbed, Ehlke said.

Ehlke recognized Krugers mental health problems as well as his work with homeless people during his time out of prison prior to sentencing. He called Krugers character a mixed bag.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Jambois asked Ehlke to sentence Kruger to a 10-year prison term to run consecutively with the Grant County sentence. After telling the court that Kruger has a long history of anti-social behavior, Jambois said, I just know this: The defendant has been and always will be a very dangerous person.

Krugers attorney, Ron Benavides, asked Ehlke to make Krugers sentence run concurrently with the others because of Krugers profound history of mental illness, citing a pre-sentence report that said Kruger has appeared delusional for years.

But Kruger denied he was delusional. That is an absolute absurdity, he told Ehlke. He then said he was under stress at the time of the stabbing because a Madison police detective was trying to extort $100,000 from him.
One of two men convicted of killing a state and federal drug informant last year was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison, and told by a judge that had he gone to trial his case would have ended much worse.

Dane County Circuit Judge Ellen Berz told Rudy Ramirez-Milian, 29, who had aspired to become a U.S. citizen, that he had the qualities sought in citizens, such as being a good father and a hard worker free of criminal convictions.

Those qualities are overshadowed by your character as a drug dealer, your character as a liar, and your character as a murderer, Berz said, handing down a sentence close to what Assistant District Attorney Robert Jambois had sought.

Ramirez-Milians lawyer, Michael Short, asked for three years in prison and seven years of extended supervision.

Ramirez-Milian pleaded guilty in June to second-degree intentional homicide for the death of Jacob Payne, 23, whose stabbed and bludgeoned body was found anchored in Lake Mendota in April 2015.

Payne was killed a few days earlier at a town of Burke auto garage that Ramirez-Milian operated. He was first stabbed and slashed by Ramirez-Milian, then was hit on the head with a sledgehammer by Juan Aguilar-Vargas, 28, who was later convicted of first-degree intentional homicide. He is to be sentenced Oct. 31.

Payne was secretly helping to build a drug case against Ramirez-Milian, but in text messages to state and federal agents was becoming increasingly anxious and angry about being around Ramirez-Milian. Payne was virtually homeless and slept in a car parked at the garage.

Berz told Ramirez-Milian that had he gone to trial, he would certainly have been convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, resulting in a vastly longer sentence than the one she handed out Monday.

At a trial in June for Aguilar-Vargas, others who were at the shop told the jury that Ramirez-Milian was arguing with Payne, locked the doors to the garage, warned them not to be alarmed by what was to happen next and then approached Payne from behind and cut his throat.

Berz said that the witnesses, all friends of Ramirez-Milian, testified that Ramirez-Milian began stabbing Payne repeatedly, then asked for help from Aguilar-Vargas.

Juan did, by taking a sledgehammer and crushing the skull of Mr. Payne, at your request, Berz said. She said Ramirez-Milian was the only person there who had motive to attack Payne.

I feel bad for what happened, Ramirez-Milian said in a statement in court, but claimed he was defending himself.

Ramirez-Milians wife, Casey Ramirez, said they married in 2012 and have known one another for nine years. They have a 19-month-old son together.

The tragedy that happened is not in Rudys nature at all, she told Berz.

An immigrant from Guatemala, Ramirez-Milian is likely to be deported after finishing his prison term.
A 20-year-old man, who was out on bail after pleading guilty to first-degree reckless homicide less than two weeks ago, was arrested on new tentative charges Friday, the Dane County Sheriff's Office said.

Wyatt A. Staff, of Stoughton, tentatively faces charges of delivery of heroin and three counts of bail jumping, said sheriff's office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer. In February, Staff purchased heroin for two other men, which resulted in one man dying from an overdose.

In June, Staff testified that he bought heroin from 36-year-old Christopher T. Jenkins at a Far East Side motel on Feb. 10. He testified he brought it to a van where it was used by two Waupun men, Joshua M. Strate, 32, and David J. Beloungy, 21, which resulted in Beloungy becoming unconscious and Strate's death.

Staff's new tentative charges come as he was on a bail monitoring program for the previous charge, and he was taken to the Dane County Jail after his arrest, Schaffer said.

He had testified that in the February incident he became scared and drove the van to the town of Pleasant Springs near his parents house. The van with the two men in it was seen by a passer-by the next morning.

Staff has an initial hearing for the new tentative charges scheduled for this Friday, Schaffer said.

Jenkins, the man who sold Staff the heroin, was convicted of first-degree reckless homicide, delivery of heroin and second-degree reckless endangerment after Staff cooperated with police to purchase more heroin from Jenkins.

Beloungy pleaded guilty earlier this month to a heroin possession charge. He was sentenced to two years probation, but also received three years in prison for two earlier cases.
A Janesville man who suffered stab wounds to his neck, chest and back drove himself to the hospital early Tuesday morning, with police finding and arresting the alleged suspect later in the morning.

The victim and suspect, Erik Reents, 27, of Janesville, were involved in a fight in an apartment at 222 N. Franklin St., Janesville police said.

Police went to Mercy Hospital at about 4:15 a.m. Tuesday after getting a report of a stabbing. The Janesville Gazette reported the victim drove himself to the hospital, and had non-life-threatening injuries.

Reents was arrested without incident at a friend's residence in the 1500 block of Joliet Avenue, the Gazette reported.

Police said Reents was tentatively charged with aggravated battery while armed.
Testimony began Tuesday in the attempted murder trial of a man accused of shooting another man in the face more than two years ago in the driveway of a rural Deerfield home.

Dane County Assistant District Attorney Robert Jambois told jurors that Yadiel Nunez-Munoz, 20, of Orlando, Florida, shot 26-year-old Alvaro Avila-Jimenez on April 26, 2014, in order to rob him of money he had been paid for work, and money he was about to be paid.

Avila-Jimenez, despite losing an eye after being shot, managed to wrestle Nunez-Munoz for the gun, strongly enough that Nunez-Munoz fled from the truck they were in, Jambois told the jury in his opening statement in the trial.

Nunez-Munoz is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide and aggravated battery. Florida prison records indicate he is currently serving a 12-year sentence there for attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

The lawyer for Nunez-Munoz, Jason Gonzalez, said theres no clear evidence about what happened in the truck that day, no clear motive for Nunez-Munoz to shoot anyone, and if Nunez-Munoz did fire a shot that day, it was in self-defense.

You wont hear clearly beyond a reasonable doubt who shot who and when, Gonzalez said.

Jambois said that Nunez-Munoz was in Madison to install countertops at a project of his step-fathers on Madisons West Side. When he needed help, Avila-Jimenez was sent up from Chicago. The two had never met.

They stayed at the Americas Best motel near the Beltline and the Interstate. When the work was finished, Jambois said, Nunez-Munoz was to take Avila-Jimenez back to Chicago, after first paying him the balance of what he was owed for his work.

But instead of driving him to an ATM, Jambois said, Nunez-Munoz drove Avila-Jimenez to rural Deerfield, got him outside the truck purportedly to help him turn the truck around in a narrow driveway, and shot Avila-Jimenez when he got back into the truck.

Gonzalez said, though, that Nunez-Munoz had driven to a bank near the intersection of Highway 73 and Highway 12-18 and decided not to pay an ATM fee there. The driveway was not far from the bank, and Nunez-Munoz had only pulled into it to turn the truck around when the shooting occurred, Gonzalez said.

Youll hear that it was at best accidental, Gonzalez said.
A 14-year-old Madison boy was arrested Monday in the shooting of a 17-year-old Friday afternoon, which police said appears have been drug related.

The suspect, whose name was not disclosed, was arrested by Madison police officers from the gang unit and the violent crimes unit. He was booked into the juvenile jail on tentative charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, police said.

The shooting happened about 3:30 p.m. Friday in the 2900 block of Traceway Drive. Police originally thought the shooting happened in Fitchburg but investigators later determined it happened in Madison.

The victim, from Fitchburg, was shot multiple times in the back.

"The violence appears to be drug related," Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said. "The victim remains hospitalized, but is expected to recover."
A Michigan-based company suing the state over a law that requires a minimum markup for gasoline sales has paid fines for violating the same law and has been under investigation by the state for more than five years.

Krist Oil is one of two plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty in Vilas County Circuit Court. The other is Green Bay resident Robert Lotto, a consumer seeking to pay the lowest possible price for gas.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the states 1939 Unfair Sales Act, also known as the minimum markup law, which prohibits retailers from selling merchandise at less than cost and also sets a minimum price markup for tobacco, alcohol and gasoline sales.

This lawsuit seeks to vindicate the right of Wisconsin businesses to serve their customers free of anti-competitive, arbitrary and irrational government regulation, the lawsuit states. This lawsuit also seeks to vindicate the right of Wisconsin consumers to purchase products at the most competitive price, free from arbitrary and irrational government regulations that drive up prices.

State and federal courts have rejected 11 similar lawsuits dating back to 1940, according to the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association.

Brandon Scholz, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Grocers Association, said companies such as Krist Oil trying to overturn the law want to push smaller competitors out of the market.

He wants to sell below cost, Scholz said. He wants to get rid of having competition by pricing them out of business.

Big box retailer Wal-Mart and several conservative Republican lawmakers have called for repealing the law, saying it unfairly imposes a burden on consumers. WILL president Rick Esenberg said the law has a dubious objective of attempting to protect consumers from low prices.

In Wisconsin, the law means gasoline includes a 9.18 percent markup over cost. The price also cant be changed for 24 hours after being posted. There are some exceptions to the law that allow for lower pricing, though the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, which polices the law, receives hundreds of complaints each year of alleged violations.

Almost all of those complaints are filed by gas stations against competitors. In 2014, Krist Oil filed the most, according to an analysis by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank.

But Krist Oil, which owns and operates more than 70 gas stations in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, has been the subject of several complaints as well, according to public court records and memos from DATCP Secretary Ben Brancel to Gov. Scott Walkers office, which the State Journal obtained under the state open records law.

In 2007, Krist Oil agreed to pay nearly $4,000 after the state charged the company with changing the price of gas more than once in a 24-hour period. Nine months later, the company committed more violations for which it agreed to pay more than $2,100 in 2009.

Also, in 2010 the Department of Justice filed an enforcement action against Krist Oil for under-filling propane gas containers, which resulted in the company paying a more than $45,000 fine.

Enforcement of the Unfair Sales Act was put on hold from February 2009, when U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa struck it down, until September 2010, when an appeals court reversed Randas decision. According to a memo from DATCP Secretary Ben Brancel to Walker, former Gov. Jim Doyle did not authorize DATCP to investigate complaints after the lawsuit was resolved.

Then in February 2011, DATCP sent an informational letter warning the company about alleged violations of the law at four of its Wisconsin gas stations. On March 8, 2011, the companys owners called DATCP for further explanation of the law, and said they would comply, according to Brancel.

But between Feb. 25 and March 31, 2011, the state received 15 additional complaints against Krist Oil. Brancel authorized the agency to open an investigation in April 2011.

In June 2011, Brancel reported to Walker that the agency had found the manager of at least one Krist gas station was falsifying records. In October 2012, Brancel reported to Walker that of 18 complaints against Krists Antigo station, it had substantiated 12 of the complaints and found an additional 30 violations.

DOJ is now determining whether to prosecute the case, Brancel wrote. This would be the first case brought in this administration.

DATCP spokesman Bill Cosh said earlier this summer the agencys investigation is still open more than five years after it began. He didnt have further comment Tuesday before the agency reviews the latest lawsuit.

DOJ spokesman Johnny Koremenos said his agency is also reviewing the lawsuit, but didnt provide further comment on what happened to the DOJs review of the DATCP investigation after 2012.

Esenberg said in a call with reporters Tuesday that part of the problem with the law is that it can soak up state resources that might be used trying to investigate the numerous complaints that get filed.

Krist Oil doesnt make any secret of the fact that it believes itself to be an efficient operation that wants to charge its consumers low prices, Esenberg said of the companys past violations. Thats what were seeking to address here.

Krist Oil owner Krist Atanasoff declined to comment. Esenberg said because complaints against and by Krist Oil are ongoing, it isnt appropriate for Atanasoffs separate private lawyer to comment.

Krist Oil doesnt make any secret of the fact that it believes itself to be an efficient operation that wants to charge its consumers low prices. Rick Esenberg

Wisconsin Institute for

Law and Liberty president
Honda Cars has opened its 300th dealership at Kochi in Kerala.

Kerala has always been a very important market for Honda Cars India with the state contributing about 9 per cent to our sales in the country, says Honda president Yoichiro Ueno

By India Today Web Desk: Honda Cars India announced the opening of 300th dealership in India with the latest outlet having come up at Kochi in Kerala.

ALSO READ: Honda to unveil 2017 Civic Hatchback this year in US

The company has added the last 100 dealerships in around 20 months that has helped it expand reach to a wider audience, making stronger inroads in tier II and tier III cities.

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"We are delighted to reach the milestone of 300 dealers in India. Network expansion is a critical part of enhancing the customer experience with Brand Honda as we make deeper inroads in the country," Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) President and CEO Yoichiro Ueno said in a statement.

ALSO READ: Honda Motorcycles to double pre-owned two-wheeler outlets to 200 by 2018

Kerala has always been a very important market for Honda Cars India with the state contributing about 9 per cent to our sales in the country, he added.

"With the opening of new facility Perfect Honda, we now have a strong network of 20 outlets in the state," he added.

ALSO READ: Honda sells 2.5 lakh units of Livo within an year of launch

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Islamabad has consistently denied that Dawood is living in the country.

By Press Trust of India: Three of the nine places cited by India as addresses of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan have been found incorrect by a UN committee, which has removed these from its list.

One of the addresses which have been dropped by the UN Security Council's Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee was found similar to that of a residence of Islamabad's envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi.

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However, the six other addresses provided by India have not been amended. India, in a dossier, had cited these nine addresses as those frequented by Dawood.

The Security Council's ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee amended its entry yesterday concerning Dawood, the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, with "underline and strikethrough".

In the amendment, the Committee has stricken through the address "Main Property at Margalla Raod F- 6/2 Street no.22, House No.07, Islamabad number 29 in Karachi. This address was later found to be similar to that of a residence belonging to Lodhi."

When asked about the amendment, a top Indian official told PTI that one address of Dawood in the listing entry was incorrect. The address was "of Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, and not Dawood Ibrahim", the sources said.

"The amendment also strikes through other addresses "8th Floor of Mehran Square, near Pardesi House-3, Talwar Area, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan" and "6/A Kjauabam Tanzeem, Phase-5, Defence Housing Araea, Karachi, Pakistan."

INDIA'S DOSSIER ON DAWOOD



In evidence to show that Dawood Ibrahim is holed up in Pakistan, a dossier prepared by India had listed nine residences of the underworld don in that country and stated that he is known to frequently change his locations and addresses there.

"On August 22, 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry" concerning Dawood on its ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, it said.

Dawood's other addresses mentioned in the listing "Karachi, Pakistan (White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton)", "House Nu 37 - 30th Street - defence, Housing Authority, Karachi, Pakistan" and "Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad in Karachi" have not been amended.

The addresses were included in a dossier prepared by India in August last year that had listed nine residences of the underworld don in Pakistan as evidence to show that he is holed up in Pakistan.

PAK DENIES DAWOOD'S STAY



Islamabad has consistently denied that Dawood is living in the country.

The information about the residences in Pakistan, including one bought near the house of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in Karachi two years ago is contained in the dossier that had been prepared to be handed over to Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz during talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, which were later cancelled.

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"Dawood is known to frequently change his locations and addresses in Pakistan. He has amassed immense property in Pakistan and moves under the protection of Pakistani agencies," the dossier had said.

FAMILY DETAILS



Another amendment enacted by the Committee concerns details of his family.

The information "Father's name is Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Kaskar, mother's name is Amina Bi, wife's name is Mehjabeen Shaikh" has been underlined in the listing.

Dawood was listed on November 3, 2003 and the entry has been amended in March and July 2006, July 2007 and March 2010. Being a UN designated terrorist, he is subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

The amendment further struck out "Bombai" as his place of birth, noting instead that it is "Kher, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra".

It has added "Sheikh Farooqi, Bada Seth, Bada Bhai, Iqbal Bhai, Mucchad and Haji Sahab" as his "low quality" aliases.

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The listing includes information about his various passports, including those issued in Pakistan.

The listing says Dawood had a Passport number A717288 issued on 18 August 1985 in Dubai and a Pakistani number G866537 issued on 12 August 1991 in Rawalpindi but adds the term "misuse" for this two passports.

He also has Passport number C-267185 issued in Karachi in July 1996, Passport number H-123259 issued in Rawalpindi in July 2001 and Passport number G-869537 issued in Rawalpindi.

Dawood is wanted in India for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 257 people were killed and nearly a thousand injured. He is also accused of masterminding other terror attacks and of money laundering and extortion.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) A three-and-a-half-year old boy was killed today when he was crushed by his school van while the driver was allegedly reversing the vehicle without realising that the boy was standing behind it in Civil Lines area of north Delhi.

The victim, identified as Aviral was a student of John Wesley School and he was dropped off by his school van around 2 pm outside his house in Shri Ram Railway Colony today.

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"The driver didnt check whether the boy was standing behind and reversed the vehicle. The boy was crushed under the wheels and was rushed to Parmanand Hospital where he was declared brought dead," deputy commissioner of police (North) Madhur Verma, said.

There were other children in the van when the incident happened.

The accused driver, Rahul, 28, ran away leaving the van but was caught later by the police.

A case under sections 279 and 304(A) IPC has been registered at the Civil Lines police station and the accused has been arrested, added the officer. PTI SLB VIT KUN

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By PTI: Somwarpet/Bengaluru, Aug 23 (PTI) Actress-turned- politician Ramya is facing a private complaint in a court seeking action on sedition and other charges against her for "insulting" Indian patriots by her remark that "Pakistan is not hell".

As Ramyas remarks triggered a bitter backlash on social media and BJP and ABVP workers staged protests terming her remarks "anti-national", the actress stood her ground in Bengaluru today.

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The complaint has sought a direction to police to book Ramya, an ex-Congress MP, under IPC sections 124(a) (sedition), 344 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).

Advocate K Vittala Gowda filed the complaint before Somwarpet Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, which yesterday admitted it and posted it for hearing on August 27.

In the complaint, Gowda accused the multi-lingual actress of "insulting" India and "provoking" people by appreciating Pakistan which is a "traditional enemy of India."

After a recent visit to Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers, Ramya had reportedly said at a meeting in Mandya, which she represented from 2013 to 2014 in Lok Sabha, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

Her remarks had come as an ostensible counter to comments of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, "going to Pakistan is same as going to hell."

Reacting to the controversy, Ramya said "...this is the state of affairs in this country today. Sedition is being slapped against anyone and anybody who is entitled to an opinion which should not be the case." She accused BJP of trying to curb freedom of expression. "I think that as an individual I should be allowed to air or express my thoughts, views and opinions. I think BJP government is trying to curb that." She said other parties could also misuse sedition law and file cases against BJP leaders because of the "bizarre" statements some of them were making which were "seditious" but they do not do it and instead engage them in discussions.

Ramya also said the BJP "right now" would not do anything to repeal the sedition law as it using it to its advantage. The sedition issue has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India by police, after anti-national and anti-Army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by it here recently.PTI COR RA BN DV

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Karan Johar's sixth directorial venture is one of the most anticipated films of the year, and will get a Diwali release.

By India Today Web Desk: The date is out! The first teaser for Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil will come out on August 30. The director and the Dharma chief took to Twitter to make the announcement, his tweet reading "The #AeDilHaiMushkil teaser will be out on the 30th of August....my 6th directorial feature....@DharmaMovies @FoxStarIndia."



The #AeDilHaiMushkil teaser will be out on the 30th of August....my 6th directorial feature....@DharmaMovies @FoxStarIndia Karan Johar (@karanjohar) August 23, 2016

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The film is already one of the most anticipated movies of the year, with a cast boasting of actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma, Fawad Khan among others. This will be KJo's first directorial venture since 2013's Student of the Year.

ALSO READ: Shah Rukh Khan to have an extended cameo in Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil?

The KANK director recently wrapped up his dream team tour in USA, where he was accompanied by the likes of Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Parineeti Chopra, Aditya Roy Kapur, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra, and they just concluded the six city-tour in USA. The film has surprisingly been kept under wraps with a Diwali release closing in.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, written and directed by Johar, is reportedly based on complex adult relationship which centre around love, friendship. The director himself has confessed that a film has never come quicker to him and more organically. Johar will be teaming up with all the actors for the first time ever, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. There are rumours that regular leading man and dear friend Shah Rukh Khan might do a special appearance in the movie.

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Supporters of Indigenous People's Front of Tripura today resorted to violence without any provocation in Agartala.

By Manogya Loiwal : Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) supporters walking in a procession through Agartala town today created mayhem and lawlessness in larger part of the town.

As a result more than forty people sustained injuries and a large number of cars and motor bikes were burnt down and there was arsoning in several places.

Taking advantage of the inaction of police the IPFT, known for unruly behaviour of it cadres had entered Agartala town with lethal primitive weapons like 'Takkals' , clubs and spears and started

stalking the town in a procession.

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They attacked a married lady and her child in the Surya Chowmuhuni around 2.15 PM for trying to cross over to the other side of the road through a gap.

MOTHER CHILD ATTACKED

Both the woman and her child sustained serious injuries and were hospitalised. Since police was totally inactive the trouble escalated fast as the unruly IPFT thugs went on the rampage, attacking businessmen, pedestrians and roadside shop-keepers at will.

They also burnt down two jeeps and a scooter in the Colonel Chowmuhuni area. Even as police and TSR jawans failed to make much headway the tribals and non-tribals engaged in clashes and many innocent people including tribals had to flee for lives and take shelter in most the unlikely places.

In reaction of group of hyperactive youths severely beat four tribal youths in front of Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan and burnt one jeep. Later, police rushed to the spot and dispersed the irate mob and send all the injured persons to GB Hospital.



VICTIMS RUSHED TO VARIOUS HOSPITALS

Finally, to tackle the situation the DGP K Nagraj, SP (West) Abhijeet Saptarshi and other senior officials took to the streets. The police have started rescue work to save lives even though more than 25 people have already been admitted to various hospitals with varying levels of injuries.

The West Tripura district administration has imposed prohibitory orders under Section-144 all over Agartala town to prevent illegal gathering of people.

The IPFT has been agitating for the creation of a separate state Twipraland to be carved by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council area.

Also read:

All major parties in Tripura reject statehood demand by IPFT



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Ananya Verma, just 4-year-old, gets a direct admission to class nine, but she is not alone in her achievement; her 15-year-old sister is the youngest PhD scholar in India and her brother passed high school at the age of nine.

By India Today Web Desk: Last year, 15-year-old Sushma made national headlines for being the youngest PhD scholar in Lucknow. Now, her youngest sibling, 4-year-old Ananya Verma, follows suit with another ground-breaking achievement - she has been enrolled in Class 9 after a formal clearance by the education department.

Ananya, who is just 4 years, 8 months and 21 days, is all set to appear for the UP board examinations in the next two years and if she clears it, the toddler might trump her sister's record. Sushma Verma passed the 10th grade when she was just 7 years old. Both sisters are from the same school, UP board-affiliated St Meera's Inter College in Lucknow.

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According to a Deccan Chronicle report, a school teacher accidentally discovered Ananya's talent when he met her father at a local market. Her father, Tej Bahadur Verma, who works as a supervisor in the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, bumped into this teacher from St Meera's Inter College where his two children had studied. While the two started talking, Ananya casually picked up one of her books and started reading it fluently.

Photo: @Ei_Samay

Stumped by what he witnessed, the teacher immediately called Tej Bahadur and his young daughter to the school. When Ananya cleared the test, they realized that the toddler was fit for the ninth grade.

The school manager Vinod Ratra told the newspaper, "Ananya is even more talented than her siblings. We have sought permission for her admission to class nine from the district inspector of schools and have cited the cases of her siblings. We are confident of getting the permission and we will also ensure that Ananya gets free education in our institution".

Her mother Chhaya told the newspaper that the 4-year-old has always been a quick-learner and has read the Ramayana so many times that she remembers it by heart. She adds that they never forced their children into studying and that they are blessed with 'wonderkids'.

Photo:Facebook/Daijiiworldnews Photo:Facebook/Daijiiworldnews

Ananya's siblings are equally famous for their mind-blowing academic record; her brother Shailendra, the eldest, completed his BCA when he was 14. Sushma got admission for a PhD programme at BBAU when she was just 15. In 2007, she was recognised by the Limca Book of Records as the "youngest student" to clear class X when she was just 7 years.

Ananya might also enter the Limca Book of Records if she clears her tenth board exams before she hits 7 years.

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Bhawna Khanduja turned a year older yesterday and Arjun Bijlani had the sweetest wish for her.

By India Today Web Desk: Arjun Bijlani might have a huge fan following, thanks to his successful shows like Naagin and Meri Aashqui Tumse Hi. But the actor is humble enough to heap praises on his Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa choreographer Bhawna Khanduja, who has been working hard for the show, despite her poor health.

On Bhawna's birthday the other day, Arjun made her Jhalak team member feel really special.

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"Happy birthday to my dear friend and the best choreographer @bhawnakhanduja. Lots of love and may we win Jhalak. I wish I can gift u that. I'll definitely try," Arjun captioned their pic together on Instagram. Bhawna sure looked cute with cake smeared all over her face.

Happy birthday to my dear friend and the best choreographer @bhawnakhanduja .lots of love and may we win Jhalak ??????I wish I can gift u that.il def try..??? A photo posted by Arjun Bijlani (@arjunbijlani) on Aug 21, 2016 at 5:36am PDT

Also read: Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9: Arjun Bijlani gets injured while rehearsing

The duo have had faced quite a lot of roadblocks in their Jhalak journey. First it was Bhawna who fell ill, then it was Arjun's turn to get injured. But not the ones to get demotivated, the duo went on and have so far managed to stay in the race.

"Bhawna is one of the hardest working individuals I have seen. The girl is always on the go, coming up with new steps so that our performance can stand out from the rest. Recently she wasn't keeping well, but she still wanted to continue with the rehearsals," Arjun had told IANS.

Don't forget to watch our performance tonight on #jhalakdikhhlajaa #jdjhothai #jhalakdikhlajaa9 @colorstv @bhawnakhanduja ..full tollywood style..?????? @10pm ??? A photo posted by Arjun Bijlani (@arjunbijlani) on Aug 20, 2016 at 1:26am PDT

Also read: Naagin actor Arjun Bijlani will soon be seen in Kawach in a brand new avatar

"It was a Herculean task for us to convince her to take some time off. Compared to me, Bhawna's determination to take home the Jhalak trophy is much stronger. I just hope that I will be able to match her enthusiasm sufficiently through my performance," he added.

Now that's what we call the perfect team members.

Watch video: Arjun Bijlani aka Jinn kidnaps Monjulika



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He impressed upon everyone to uphold human rights and exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with the protesting mobs.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : Following his previous visit only a month ago, the Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh was in the Valley again for review of the security situation.

Accompanied by the Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. DS Hooda and the Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Satish Dua, the Army Chief today visited LC formations and units in North Kashmir where he was briefed on the operational preparedness besides the recent successful counter infiltration operations in which over ten terrorists have been eliminated over the past one month. Commending the alertness of all troops deployed along the LoC in foiling the nefarious designs of hostile forces, Gen Dalbir stressed upon the need to continue high degree of vigil and operational focus.

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EXCISE MAX RESTRAINT WITH MOBS

The Chief also visited the Victor Force Headquarters at Awantipur where he was apprised of the latest situation in South Kashmir. He appreciated the professionalism with which the troops had been operating in full synergy with other security and civil agencies to keep the situation under control. He impressed upon everyone to uphold human rights and exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with the protesting mobs. The General also directed to ensure measures to prevent armed militants who jeopardise the lives of innocent civilians from moving with impunity.



RESTORES PEACE,CALM AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE



Later, the Army Chief also came to BB Cantonment, Srinagar where he was briefed by the Northern Army and Chinar Corps Commanders on the numerous initiatives undertaken by the Army all across the Valley, to constructively engage with the Awaam towards their well being and an early return of normalcy. Lauding such humanitarian steps, Gen Dalbir reinforced the need to synergise efforts with all the other stakeholders. He also made an ernest appeal to the people to eschew violence and help restore peace and calm at the earliest.

Also Read: Kashmir unrest: Situation remains tense as curfew continues for 46th day, BSF deployed



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Army's engagement is more at the tactical level between company commanders and commanding officers of various battalions and village elders, clergymen and youth leaders in their respective areas of responsibility.

This time the interaction is at a deeper level with the army giving a patient hearing to the boys and advising them against wasting their lives pelting stones.

By Gaurav C Sawant: The army has initiated a quiet engagement with stakeholders of peace in the Kashmir Valley. This is different from the official engagement of the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Army's engagement is more at the tactical level between company commanders and commanding officers of various battalions and village elders, clergymen and youth leaders in their respective areas of responsibility.

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While the engagement is a continuous process through out the year, this time the interaction is at a deeper level with the army giving a patient hearing to the boys and advising them against wasting their lives pelting stones and playing right into Pakistan's hands.

Lt Gen DS Hooda, Army commander northern command has also suggested that the Mehbooba Mufti government come out with a `path-breaking initiative' to mainstream those Kashmiri boys who abandon the gun and the path of violence. "The army commander has spoken of engaging the Valley at every level politically. He has suggested that the PDP-BJP government work on a project to bring into mainstream youth who are keen to abandon the path of violence. This would mean quiet engagement with them, bringing them over ground, and giving them gainful employment - making them stakeholders in the development of the Valley,'' top sources in the Srinagar based Chinar Corps told India Today.

SKILLING IS VITAL FOR TOURISM



Skilling in the tourism sector is an important part of this initiative and several youth - both young men and women have shown key interest in the hospitality industry. At the tactical level the army has already started a number of skill development initiatives for youth north and south of Pir Panjal both for boys and girls. "Software and hardware courses in computers, skilling in education, technical courses - there are various initiatives that the army has undertaken,'' sources added.

Several young men and women feared they will be hounded for going to army run skill development centres, so the army has shifted some of the bright students out of the state. Some are employed or undergoing training with big multi-national companies across the country. "There are some boys who are employed by auto giants and some by computer and communication companies. Recently some of the parents thanked us that their sons were away form the stone pelting violence,'' another official said.

VIOLENCE FOLLOWING WANI'S DEATH A SET BACK



The army concedes the spiraling violence in the state after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani had been a set back to their initiative. "Some bright youngsters dropped out of the skilling course. But we have reached out to their parents, teachers and even the clergy. One thing is clear - the people want a bright future for their children. We are talking to all stakeholders - parents, clergy and the youth - telling them about the futility of strikes, hartals and stone pelting. Most agree but because of pressure either from peers, terrorists of separatists end up choosing the wrong path,'' he added.

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The security forces will also create an environment to free them from fear as the central and state leadership begins a new initiative of engagement with all stake holders of peace and development. As far as foreign terrorists are concerned, the army is clear - the guns will do the talking.



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Parks and Wildlife rangers said the reptiles, who had their mouths taped shut, had probably been taken from a nearby crocodile farm.

Screen grab from CCTV footage showing men dumping crocadiles into the school and vandelising the place. (Image: Reuters video)

By Reuters: Australian police are searching for four men who left three malnourished saltwater crocodiles in a school, after breaking in to steal computer equipment.

Northern Territory Police said the men entered the Taminmin College in Humpty Doo, 40km (25 miles) south of Darwin, early on Sunday after pushing the crocodiles through a broken window.

CCTV footage released by police showed the men stealing a computer monitor before running away.

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STOLEN FROM CROCODILE FARM

Parks and Wildlife rangers said the reptiles, who had their mouths taped shut, had probably been taken from a nearby crocodile farm but were unlikely to survive as they were in such poor health.

"Basically skin and bones, not much meat left on them; they were really quiet and easy to catch," ranger Luke McLaren told ABC radio.

"We'll determine what farm they're from and we'll try to take them back to that farm but looking at their condition it's likely they'll have to be destroyed."



ALSO READ:

Delhi Congress uses fake crocodile and shark during protest against potholes

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Bhanuprakash, who runs a private health consultancy firm on MG Road, has been accused of raping his female staff and video recording it while on official tours.

By Mail Today Bureau: A managing director of a Bengaluru-based firm has been accused of raping his female staff and video recording it while on official tours to different parts of the country. The Bengaluru Police, which received a joint complaint from 3 female employees of the firm, are now planning to arrest him.

According to the police, Bhanuprakash, a resident of MICO Layout, runs a private health consultancy firm on MG Road. Police said, he would hire girls for telemarketing jobs and take them to different cities for induction and training. He allegedly sedated three such employees and raped them on different occasions in his hotel room. When the girls learnt about it and threatened to complain to the police, he allegedly showed them the video of the rape.

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Bhanuprakash allegedly also threatened to upload the rape video on the internet, if the girls approached the police for help. It is alleged that subsequently, the accused sought sexual favours from the girls by blackmailing them.

However, The victims decided to approached the city police commissioner, who in turn directed the jurisdictional police to probe the incident.

Also read:

Underage boy held for attempt to rape in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: 2 held for attempt to rape in hospital

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Sapna Bhavnani in a recent interview revealed that people had advised her "not to speak against Salman Khan as she could get killed."

By India Today Web Desk: After Bigg Boss 5 contestant Akashdeep Saigal accused Salman Khan of sabotaging his career, it's Bigg Boss 6 contestant Sapna Bhavnani's turn to spit fire on the megastar. Sapna who's coming up with his memoir Chapter 1 in one of her recent interviews said that she didn't include Salman in her book as she didn't want to give him importance as he misuses people.

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Even during her stay in the Bigg Boss house, Sapna called Salman a serial woman-beater; when she came out of the house, a lot of people warned her that she could get killed for speaking against the Sultan star.

Also read: It'll be stressful this time: Salman Khan opens up about hosting Bigg Boss 10

"Actually a lot of people told me, I was warned that you shouldn't talk about him like that because you could get killed, and I was like, 'what!' I had heard rumours, but I have been channelling this 'no fear' thing for the past four years and I am not going to let a monkey scare me. I have been through a gang rape, I know what it feels like, I am a surviving member... there is nothing worse you can do to me really," she said in an interview with Hindustan Times.

Recalling her experience in the Bigg Boss house, Sapna says: "You have a male chauvinistic f***ing pig as a host of this f***ing show, that insults people, so people watch the show, and people worship him on the show because people want a job in one of his stupid f***-all movies where he dances like a monkey - that's big boss in a nutshell," she says.

Also read: Sapna Bhavnani abuses Salman Khan on Bigg Boss 6, calls him a serial woman-beater

And here's what she had to say about Salman's infamous rape comment.

"It's insulting to have an Indian man talk like that on an international platform. I am embarrassed to call myself an Indian when statements like these go out worldwide. I was very vocal about it on Twitter, and everywhere. I got a lot of flak for it, but flak or stalkers and trollers should not be the reason why you should stop voicing the truth," Sapna told HT.

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Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Agarwal and Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav visited relief camps in Patna and Patlipurta respectively and ate with the flood-affected people.

Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Agarwal and Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav sharing meal with the flood affected people at the relief camps.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: As Bihar reels under floods for almost a week, flood victims at the relief camps are complaining about the lack of arrangements in the camps.

At various relief camps, people are complaining about the lack of nutritious food and clean drinking water.

However, a District Magistrate is going all out to ensure that the flood-affected people at the relief shelters are not left isolated.

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SOME BUREAUCRATIC EFFORTS COMFORT FLOOD-AFFECTED PEOPLE

Sanjay Agarwal, Patna DM, today visited a relief camp in Patna and inspected the quality of food that was being prepared and served to the flood victims.

He did not limit himself to just inspection but also served food to the people.

He later sat with the food victims on the ground and shared meal with them.

POLITICIAN TOO JOINS

Similar efforts were made by Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, who is touring the flood affected areas in his parliamentary constituency Patliputra for the last two days.

Yadav today visited a flood relief camp and inspected the food being served to the flood affected people.

He too ate the meal being served to the flood victims- an act that comforted hundreds of flood victims.



Also Read:

Bihar floods: Situation worsens, Lalu Prasad seeks Modi's attention after Nitish Kumar meets PM

Bihar flood crisis: Army and air force on alert, Nitish holds emergency meeting

Bihar floods: Villagers camp on Patna-Bakhtiyarpur Expressway over lack of aid from government

Oops! When Ram Kripal Yadav's boat got stuck in Ganga during Bihar flood inspection



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After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met the Prime Minister in Delhi, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav sought Modi's attention to flood victims in the state. Meanwhile, water levels in Ganga and Sone rise again, affecting lakhs of people.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: RJD President Lalu Prasad has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attention towards the apathy of the flood victims as Bihar reels under severe floods since the last one week. This comes after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met the PM in Delhi to discuss the flood situation.

The flood situation has remained grim in the state for last two days and is likely to worsen as water discharged from Ban Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday has now reached Bihar, which has again swelled Sone and Ganga river.

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"Central government and the Prime Minister should pay attention to Bihar flood victims. The Centre should have looked into when water from Ban Sagar was being discharged", said Lalu Prasad.

Earlier tooday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met the Prime Minister Modi in Delhi and apprised him of the flood situation in the state.

Also Read: Bihar flood crisis: Army and air force on alert, Nitish holds emergency meeting

FLOOD SITUATION WORSENS, WATER LEVEL IN SONE AND GANGA RISE

While the water level in Sone and Ganga registered a declining trend for the last two days but it has started to rise again in both the rivers in the last 12 hours.

The next 24 hours now remain crucial for the 12 flood-affected districts, including Patna, as the water level is rising in both Sone and Ganga river.

By Monday night, almost four lakh cusec water from Ban Sagar dam reached Sone and further worsened the flood situation in the state.

Districts like Buxar, Arrah, Chapra, Vaishali, Patna, Begisarai, Khagaria, Samastipur, Munger and Bhagalpur, which are along the Ganga basin, are witnessing an increase in the water level.

RJD SUPREMO ASK PEOPLE TO GO TO RELIEF CAMPS

RJD President Lalu Prasad today said that the flood situation in the state was worse than what it was in 1975.

He expressed concern over the loss of life, property and crops in the floods.

A group of flood affected people today came to meet the RJD chief at his residence in Patna seeking relief.

"There has been a massive loss to life and property in the floods. Many people are still stranded in remote areas. I have been appealing to the people to leave their houses and come to relief camps", said the RJD Supremo.

Also Read: Lalu Prasad asks Bihar govt to arrange more boats to evacuate flood victims

Lalu Yadav assured the flood victims that adequate arrangement has been made at the relief camps and asked the Bihar government officials to ensure that people at the camps get proper food and water.

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He also asked the officials to assess the losses which farmers suffered due to crop damage and compensate them accordingly.

The RJD supremo asked all the public representatives, mukhiyas and sarpanchs who lost panchayat elections that was held in the state couple of months back to shun politics and come forward to help flood victims.

Also Read:

Oops! When Ram Kripal Yadav's boat got stuck in Ganga during Bihar flood inspection



Bihar floods: Villagers camp on Patna-Bakhtiyarpur Expressway over lack of aid from government

More than 33 lakh people affected in Bihar floods, toll reaches 95

Rescue operations underway in Bihar, MP, UP, Rajasthan after rain spell halts



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Nitish Kumar demanded the demolition of the Farakka dam saying it was the only way to protect Bihar from flooding in the future.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has written to PM Narendra Modi seeking the Centre to consider demolishing the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal. Nitish wrote to the PM on Monday, a day before he met him in Delhi on Tuesday.

FLOOD SITUATION

Apprising the PM about the present flood situation in the state in which 95 lives have been lost, Nitish said that Bihar had suffered immensely because of the floods in the northern and southern parts of the state. Nitish said that at least 28 districts in the state were hit severely by the floods.

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In the last week, the water level in Ganga and Sone have risen substantially and are flowing above the danger mark in 12 districts in the state along the Gnag basin.

Click here to Enlarge PM Modi meeting Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

FARAKKA DAM ALLEGATION

Nitish on Sunday, after holding an emergency meeting with the officials, asserted that floods were caused due to the construction of the Farakka dam in 1975. Nitish alleged that the silt deposition in the Ganga had reduced the depth of the river and therefore, the water was spread across a larger surface area, leading to flooding in a lot of areas.

Nitish demanded the demolition of the Farakka dam saying it was the only way to protect Bihar from flooding in the future. He had also appealed to the Centre to formulate a National Silt Management Policy, a demand which he has been raising with the Centre for last 10 years.

A LIABILITY

Nitish maintained in the present day scenario, Farraka dam was more of a liability than an asset to the state.

"We should review the utility of the Farakka dam. Post the construction of the Farakka dam in 1975, there has been lot of problems. Centre should consider demolishing the dam??, wrote Nitish.

The Bihar CM also demanded the Centre's assistance for flood hit Bihar to cope with the crisis. He also asked for a team of experts to be sent from the Centre to review the silt deposition in the Ganga and take a final decision on whether the demolition of the Farakka Barrage was necessary to save Bihar from annual flood.

ALSO READ:

Bihar flood crisis: Army and air force on alert, Nitish holds emergency meeting

Bihar floods: Situation worsens, Lalu Prasad seeks Modi's attention after Nitish Kumar meets PM



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Five years ago when Alan Gemmell OBE, of British Council dropped into Chennai, he was working with the organisation in Mexico, and possibly viewed this south Indian city from a distant vantage point. This time, he arrived as British Council India's director and came with an agenda as enterprising as his position and as dynamic as the city.



"I should say that this is my first proper visit to Chennai. And it's about two things--me understanding and being inspired by the things we do every day and conceptualising new initiatives that will mark the upcoming year of culture between the UK and India," he says. "India is the British Council's biggest and most important operation. We have 600 colleagues working around the country.

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There are brilliant projects running already, and my job is a bit like a conductor," he adds. Cultural exchange remains Gemmell's prime point of focus and as part of it, he has announced 'Mix the Play', British Council's collaborative work with Indian playwright Roysten Abel to take Shakespeare to young audiences through their smart phones.

The process is simple--Abel will choose a scene from one of Shakespeare's plays and take Indian actors, costume designers and musicians to record this several times. He will then work this together with a British digital business called The Flying Object. This would enable people to explore over a hundred variables to this scene, helping them direct their own scene of the Shakespeare play and share it with their friends on social media.

"It will celebrate Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death. We also believe that his plays and the ideas he addresses in them are just as relevant today as they were 450 years ago. We want young people to connect with those issues through these plays, and this project with Roysten is going to do just that," says Gemmell. This is scheduled to start in November. The second key initiative is 'Mix the City'.

If Mix the Play is about you becoming a director, Mix the City is about you turning into musician. "We've asked Sonia Mazumdar of the world music label Earthsync, to help us create the sights and sounds from north, south, east and west India, with the help of local musicians," says Gemmell. "Coupling this work with The Flying Object, you'll be able to remix and reinterpret it, and share it on social media.

It will celebrate contemporary life and music-making in these cities, and is set to launch from January next year," he adds. In addition to these cultural exchanges, the British Council is training one million teachers and working with 35 million children as part of its programme in government schools in India, according to Gemmell.

"Right now, we are just as keen to have the strongest possible educational, cultural, economic, social and diplomatic relationship with India. We've just come through a referendum, we've got a new Prime Minister and through these exchanges, we want to be most connected to the contemporary Indian, than India in general."

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The West Bengal government has submitted an intelligence report claiming that the BSF was "training" a "people's militia" of GCPA that is looking to break away from Bengal in Coochbehar district.

By Indrajit Kundu: The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is livid with the centre over reports that the Border Security Force (BSF) may be involved in "training" a "people's militia" for the Greater Cooch Behar People's Association (GCPA) which has been fighting for a separate statehood for a long time.

According to a probe report submitted by the DIG of West Bengal police (Jalpaiguri Range) to the ADG (Law and Order), BSF officials in the Mathabhanga area of Coochbehar district were training volunteers of an outfit called the "Narayani Sena".

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The outfit has been raised by the Greater Cooch Behar People's Association (GCPA) demands a separate state of Greater Coochbehar for the ethnic Rajvanshi tribes residing in the area.

The report states that after a probe conducted by the Police Superintendent in the district, it has emerged that the BSF had conducted a training session for the Sena between August 16 and 20th this year.

The Trinamool Congress has alleged that the ruling BJP at the centre was trying to destabilise the state for narrow political games.

"How can BSF train them? There should be some sense. They should not try and disturb the law and order in such a nasty way. We shall raise this issue in the parliament and seek the Centre's explanation," said Trinmool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay.

Bandopadhyay said, BJP MP SS Ahluwalia had written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh in April requesting the Centre to create a separate infantry regiment named "Narayani Regiment" for the Rajbanshis.

In his letter Ahluwalia wrote "Undoubtedly credit of uniting North-eastern India must go to the Koch army, who were famously known as 'Narayani Sena'. Since there is no separate regiment them and numbers of Rajbanshi youth are without job, a new infantry regiment named 'Narayani Regiment' should be immediately raised."

"BSF is training them in Coochbehar district while the GCPA is demanding a separate state which we have thoroughly opposed. Similar agitation (for separate state) was thwarted in Darjeeling too. People of Bengal are fully satisfied with Mammata Banerjee's government and the centre must realise this or else they will have to face consequences," Bandopadhyay added.

The movement for a separate Greater Coochbehar state had long been suppressed by the state government in West Bengal. However, the 2016 assembly elections in the state gave a fresh lease of life to the GCPA with the BJP allying with them in north Bengal.

The Mamata government feels that the formation of the Narayani Sena, a voluntary peoples militia comes on the heels of the Darjeeling BJP MP writing to Union Home Minister. The GCPA on its part accepts that it had requested the BSF to train its cadres but says, it was only meant for a formal guard of honour the party was planning on August 28 - the day the princely state merged with the Indian Republic in 1949.

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"The chief guest of our programme will be union minister SS Ahluwalia. We don't know how to conduct a guard of honour, so we had requested the BSF and Army for training," said GCPA chief Maharaja Ananta Roy.

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Constable Saurabh Tyagi, who was depressed over his duty schedule, opened fire inside Police Lines, killing Manoj and injuring Chatrapal. He later committed suicide.

By India Today Web Desk: A police constable killed one of his colleagues and injured another before committing suicide at Police Lines in Bulandshahr on Tuesday.

DETAILS OF THE CASE

Constable Saurabh Tyagi, who was depressed over his duty schedule, opened fire inside Police Lines, killing Manoj and injuring Chatrapal. He later committed suicide.

The incident took place at Quarter Guard in Police Lines.

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PROBE ON

"The two were admitted to a hospital in Noida where Manoj succumbed to his injuries," said SSP Anis Ansari.

Police is now investigating the matter. The IG and the DIG have left for Bulandshahr to assess the situation.

Also read:

Police sub-inspector commits suicide in Telangana

Another cop suicide, this time in Telangana: Sub-inspector takes his life in police station

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This English college teacher was sacked after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Despite her illness, Liu battled the wrongful termination and lack of funds with great strength.

By India Today Web Desk: An English college teacher was fired because of absenteeism which began after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The college reversed its decision but it was too late.

Liu Lingli, 32, was a teacher at Lanzhou Jiaotong University's Bowen College in Lanzhou, China. She died on August 14.

When she applied for sick leaves in July 2014 after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she was sacked instead. Liu filed a case and wanted to sue the school for wrongful termination. In the meantime, she started selling clothes on the streets so that she could pay her medical bills.

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Soon, a court declared the decision to sack her invalid. However, the ruling was not implemented, reported China.org.cn. Liu continued to sell clothes even after she was on wheelchair.

"I used to be a teacher who stood at the podium, and now I've ended up selling clothes on the street", Liu had once told a friend reported New York Times .

According to Liu's mother, the college had stopped paying Liu and her medical insurance back in September 2014 itself.

She went to the hospital only when she was extremely ill as the cost of the treatment was extremely high. This worsened her condition and led to her death.

After Liu's death, Jiang Xueyun, personnel director, was suspended from the college for "errors" in dealing with Liu's case.

More than two years later, the college revoked the decision to fire her. The college authorities said they are "deeply sorry" and agreed to pay 57,600 yuan as wages that were denied and 14,400 yuan as compensation for the unfair dismissal.

But how would money matter now?



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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) As Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley tomorrow, Congress today made a strong pitch for initiating talks to calm down the situation in the state which is on the boil for the past 45 days.

"PM should initiate talks. Unless they take a step forward, situation in J&K wont improve," the party tweeted quoting Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, today.

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The remarks came close on the heels of former Union minister P Chidambaram batting for sending an all-party delegation to the Valley.

Chidambaram said earlier today the meeting between a delegation of J-K opposition parties and Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday must be welcomed if it is the first sign of "fresh thinking".

"Yesterdays meeting between PM & J&K opposition parties: if it is the first sign of fresh thinking, we must welcome it.

"Next step should be sending All Parties Delegation to J&K," the senior Congress leader said on the micro-blogging site.

Only yesterday, Congress had dismissed as "shooting from the hip" the Prime Ministers call for a dialogue to find a lasting solution to the unrest in Kashmir Valley.

"It looks that the Prime Ministers words keep changing. What he said at the all-party meeting, his remarks in the Independence Day address and today he is talking of dialogue, but dialogue with whom? There is a suspicion that these are mere words, mere empty rhetoric for the Prime Minister. He is unfortunately shooting from his hip and merely shooting the breeze," party spokesman Manish Tewari had said.

Modi had a 75-minute-long meeting with a joint opposition delegation led by former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday.

The Prime Minister emphasised on the need for dialogue to find a "permanent and lasting solution" within the framework of the Constitution and also asked all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rajnath Singh today said he will review the situation in Jammu and Kashmir during his two-day visit there beginning tomorrow, and may hold talks with cross sections of people.

This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the Valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces. PTI SPG SRY RG SRY

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Sonakshi's serving style with just the right amount of sass and edginess.

By Hemul Goel: With Akira nearing its release, it's the promotional duties that are keeping actress Sonakshi Sinha busy. Taking cues from her strong character essayed in the A.R. Murugadoss film, the actress has taken to dressing with a touch of edge during the promotions.

Also watch: Sonakshi Sinha talks about curvy girl style rules, her guilty pleasures and more

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This is the perfect business-on top, party-below dress. Pairing it with a choker and statement sandals lent an interesting visual element to Sonakshi's look.

Sonakshi finished her white number with black accessories. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@mohitrai

As a college student who has zero chill for corruption in the movie, Sonakshi's Kanika Kapoor dress is just perfect. What would we not give to wear it every Monday! Paired with a half bun and flatform sandals, we know Sonakshi loves comfort as much as we do.

Also read: Stunner in Spain: Three looks of Sonakshi Sinha you'll regret missing

Sonakshi gets us! Picture courtesy: Instagram/@aslisona

Sonakshi hit it out of the park in her sexy asymmetrical Nikhil Thampi jumpsuit. Featuring cutouts and metal detailing aplenty, paired with statement earrings and slicked back hair, the ensemble did only favours for the gorgeous actress.

This is black magic! Photo: Yogen Shah This is black magic! Photo: Yogen Shah

Among the three looks spotted on the actress, which one has your vote? Let us know in the comments!



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The Mumbai Police have drawn the sketch of the accused who heckled a man over suspicion of cowhide bag in Andheri.

By Vidya : Mumbai Police has made a sketch of the auto rickshaw driver who allegedly heckled Barun Kashyap after alleging that he was carrying a bag made of cowhide. The police made the sketch with the help of inputs from Kashyap.

The Amboli police station is investigating this case and according to Kashyap he had told the driver that he had recently visited Pushkar in Rajasthan and had purchased the bag made of camel hide from there.

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According to Mumbai police officials, the sketch is being circulated at all the police stations across the city to track down the driver and seek information from people.



POLICE EXAMINE CCTV FOOTAGE

Amboli Police had also collected the CCTV footage from around area that Kashyap was pushed out of the rickshaw and threatened. However, the footage apparently has not revealed any information according to senior police officers.

Meanwhile, the police is also working on identifying the driver through the registration number of the auto rickshaw. However, they have as yet not enlisted for any help from the auto rickshaw unions in the city.

On Sunday night, Mumbai Police had collected over 1,000 documents from the Regional Transport Office pertaining to registrations of auto rickshaw in western suburbs. However, these documents do not carry photographs so it is difficult for the complainant to recognise the rickshaw driver.



Also read:

Beware!!! Carrying leather bag may attract ire of Gau Rakshaks as a Mumbai executive experienced



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The Mumbai Police tracked down Dawood Ibrahim's 9 addresses after decades of investigation. The UN Security Council confirmed 6 of these addresses.

Dawood Ibrahim's nine addressed were identified by Mumbai Police after years of investigation.

By Mustafa Shaikh, Vidya : Mumbai police has tracked down the addresses of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim after nearly two decades of investigation.

Dawood's Clifton address is said to be so famous that the crime branch officers recounted many anecdotes around it.

THE FAMOUS CLIFTON ADDRESS

A senior officer remembered how an old lady was sent by Dawood's sister, late Haseena Parker, to look after a young mother after a baby was born in his extended family in Pakistan.

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"The old woman had gone to Dubai and had to return from there but she was taken to Pakistan and was given access through special channels. She stayed there at Clifton for a few months, met Dawood and came back." said the officer on condition of anonymity.

The woman was not educated and had no idea where she was going- all she knew was that Haseena had sent her in 1999, the officer said.

It was at the Mumbai airport that the Pakistan seal on her passport was noticed and she was then taken into custody and interrogated.

She gave a detailed description of Dawood's residence in Moin palace at Pakistan defence area of Cliffton, in Karachi.

According to the Mumbai police's report, Dawood's bungalow is guarded by around two dozen heavily armed men, including few Pakistani retired Army officers.

Also Read : United Nations confirms Dawood Ibrahim's six addresses in Pakistan

HOW THE POLICE GOT THE ADDRESSES

Karimullah Khan, Dawood's driver who sneaked into India from Pakistan via Nepal, was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch in 2010.

He gave around three addresses of Dawood and his kin in Maragalla road and Amir Khan road at Karachi.

In 2010, Mumbai police had arrested Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan alias Hamza, from Navi Mumbai.

The 1993 Mumbai bomb blast accused had visited Dawood thrice between 1996 and 1997.

According to the police, he had also attended Mustaqin's (Dawood's son) marriage. During the marriage, he had stayed with Dawood at his house at Clifton and other places.

In 2005, Jamiruddin Ansari alias Jumbo, an associate of the D-gang was arrested in a gutka smuggling case. In his confession, he said that he had been handling the hawala operations for Anees Ibrahim, brother of Dawood Ibrahim, between 1988 and 1998.

During all these transactions, he had been in touch with the D family at their Pakistan residence.

While Dawood is reported to be living with his family in Pakistan, his younger brother, Iqbal Kaskar, and Haseena and their family are here.

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UN CONFIRMS 6 ADDRESS, STRIKES DOWN 3

The UN Security Council Committee, which investigates the locations of criminals before taking steps like assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, upheld the six addresses that India gave as the location where India's most wanted frequented.

The Council Committee also struck down three addresses that India had proposed.

Also Read:

Dawood Ibrahim won't skip nephew's Mumbai wedding, he'll Skype it

Exclusive: Indian politicians on Dawood Ibrahim's frequent dialler list



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Deepika Padukone is the only Bollywood actor and the only newcomer in the top 10 highest-paid Hollywood female actors' list.

By India Today Web Desk: Clearly, the makers of xXx: Return of Xander Cage have paid a bomb to rope in Deepika Padukone for their film. According to the Forbes magazine list of world's highest-paid female actors, Deepika Padukone is the only Bollywood actor and the only newcomer in the list. She is ranked 10th with total earnings of USD 10 million.

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ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone reveals her biggest regret in Bollywood

SEE PICS: Deepika Padukone looks stunning in the sets of Return of Xander Cage



For the second year in a row, Hunger Games star Jenniger Lawrence topped the last with earnings of over USD 46 million. She is followed by Melissa McCarthy.

However, Lawrence's earnings are nowhere close to that of Hollywood's male stars. Forbes will release its list of highest-paid Hollywood male actors on Thursday (August 25). Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. was first at the list last year with an estimated earning of USD 80 million.

Sex symbol Scarlett Johansson who plays Black Widow in the Marvel universe of films was third at the list with USD 25 million worth of earnings.

These estimates include earnings from films, television and product endorsements.

The rest of the of highest-paid female actors of Hollywood by Forbes as reported by Reuters are as follows:

4. Jennifer Aniston - $ 21 million

5. Fan Bingbing - $ 17 million

6. Charlize Theron - $ 16.5 million

7. Amy Adams - $ 13.5 million

8. Julia Roberts - $ 12 million

9. Mila Kunis - $ 11 million

10. Deepika Padukone - $ 10 million

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The Aam Aadmi Party leader is now hardly seen in the city he's presiding over. He has missed half of the Delhi assembly's four-day monsoon session that began on Monday.

By Pankaj Jain: Caught in a bitter slugfest with the BJP-led centre, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is busy building a new political capital outside of Delhi.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader is now hardly seen in the city he's presiding over. He has missed half of the Delhi assembly's four-day monsoon session that began on Monday. Till Tuesday, the CM has been campaigning in Goa, insiders said.



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ANTI-MODI SARCASM



Kejriwal's second in command, Manish Sisodia, is instead running Delhi's administration in the chief's absence. A key minister in the AAP government, Satyendra Jain, offered anti-Modi sarcasm to defend the CM's absence from Delhi. "Arvind Kejriwal is learning from the prime minister. We are at least staying in India. But he (Modi) is always campaigning abroad as if he's fighting some international election," Jain mocked.



As convenor of his party, the Delhi chief minister has to visit at least smaller states, where elections are due next year, he insisted. "Like the prime minister, we too have to tell the people about our work," Jain argued.

KEJRIWAL MULTI-TASKING

Delhi's water minister Kapil Mishra claimed his chief was closely supervising the working of the Delhi government even while on tours. "The CM is taking daily briefings about the administrative work. He is monitoring us," he said.

The water minister also cited PM Narendra Modi's foreign trips to support Kejriwal's outstation travel. "Who ran the country when the prime minister travelled abroad for so many days?" he asked. Mishra also contended other states want to emulate the "Delhi model" of governance.

Also Read: Mohan Bhagwat should produce 10 kids himself before provoking Hindus: Arvind Kejriwal

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By PTI: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Aug 23 (PTI) Amid reports that Chinas "logistic facilities centre" in Djibouti includes weapons stores and small contingents of marines, the state-run media here today asserted that Beijing has no intention of following the US pattern of establishing military bases around the world.

China has no intention of following the US pattern of establishing military bases around the world to project its power over other countries, and Chinese facilities in Djibouti are meant to support Chinese peace-keeping and anti-piracy missions near Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, a report in the state-run Global Times said.

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"Due for completion next year, the naval outpost is expected to feature weapons stores, ship and helicopter maintenance facilities and possibly a small contingent of Chinese marines or special forces," the Wall Street Journal, (WSJ)on Friday cited experts monitoring the bases development as saying.

TheWSJ report said the outpost is a historic step that marks a bold new phase in Chinas evolution as a world power.

It went on to say that it is a sign of "Chinas strategy to extend its military reach across the Indian Ocean and beyond".

"They are misinterpreting Chinas foreign policy, believing that China intends to follow the US pattern of building military bases globally or to meddle in other countries domestic affairs," Li Weijian, a professor of West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies said.

China has a very limited overseas military deployment and the country largely lacks the capacity to protect its citizens and interests in Africa, the report aid.

"The facilities in Djibouti serve to protect Chinas economic interests in Africa and to help safeguard regional peace, as China is only beginning to learn to behave like a responsible global power," Li said.

Djibouti provides a major foothold in the Indian Ocean for China in the Indian Ocean.

The Chinese Ministry of Defence early this year said under a deal reached between China and Djibouti, the facilities will also help Chinese troops carry out international peacekeeping operations and perform humanitarian rescues.

Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier said the centre, which the American defence officials termed as a military base is aimed to provide better facilities to the personnel on Chinese vessels can get better rest and replenishments.

Djibouti is strategically located near the worlds busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. It serves as a key refuelling and transshipment centre, and is the principal maritime port for imports to and exports from neighbouring Ethiopia.

China uses Indian Ocean Island nation of Seychelles where Chinese escort ships halt for supply and rest facilities and invested in two major ports, Hambathota and Colombo in Sri Lanka. In the Arabian Sea China has taken over the Pakistan port of Gwadar as part of its development of the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. PTI KJV AJR ASK AJR

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After a 65-year-old woman was killed after being mauled by stray dogs, yet another incident has come to the light in the same village in Thiruvananthapuram.

By Revathi Rajeevan: Three days after the death of 65-year-old Shiluvamma who was bitten by stray dogs, a 58 year old man was mauled in the same coastal village of Pulluvila in Thiruvananthapuram. This is the fifth such case in the village after Shiluamma and her neighbour Daisy were attacked on Friday night.

Anthonyappan, the victim was returning after fishing around noon when dogs attacked him on the shore. He was immediately taken to the nearest primary health centre and later transferred to the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital in an ambulance.

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"His thighs, legs and private parts were bitten by the dogs," said an official from the hospital.

Anthonyappan who was seriously injured has been shifted back to the primary health centre but the locals continue to panic over the continuous attacks of canines in the area.

VICTIMS TRAUMATISED AFTER ATTACK

"The dogs bit me and left me lying there. Ate a part of me," says Daisy, hardly able to speak. Shiluamma and Daisy were attacked when they stepped out of their house to use a toilet.

"Mother doesn't remember much after the incident. My husband was bitten the next day," tells Selvi, Daisy's daughter.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday called an urgent meeting of local self government and health officials to discuss the issue and urged the officials to tackle the menace.

STERLISATION UNITS TO PREVENT DOG BITES



"We want to set up sterilisation units, mobile sterilisation units to prevent dog attacks. Government has decided to launch a campaign for three years because this cannot work if it done only when there is an issue," said KT Jaleel, Minister of local self governments in Kerala.

The stray dog menace and how to deal with it has been a touchy subject in Kerala that has often put the locals and animal rights activists against each other. The angry locals demand culling of stray dogs, while activists protest against it.

"We have been asking the government, pleading to them to please implement the animal birth control programme. Now it is too little, too late. The damage has been done," says Sumitha Susheelan, animal rights activist.

Also read:

Kerala: Stray dogs devour 65-year-old lady, injure another



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According to a report, SpiceJet, in its request to the government, has asked permission to operate its flights out of Ahmedabad to the Gulf

By India Today Web Desk: Indian airlines do not want to fly over Pakistan. Instead, they have asked the government's permission to fly to the Gulf from airports in Western India, mainly Ahmedabad, over the Arabian Sea. The airlines' request to the Centre comes in light of security fears due to the recent deterioration of India-Pakistan ties.

Four airline operators - Air India, IndiGo, Jet Airways and Spice Jet - operate flights to the Gulf. These flights usually fly over Pakistan - a much circuitous route instead of over the Arabian Sea.

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According to a report, SpiceJet, in its request to the government, has asked permission to operate its flights out of Ahmedabad to the Gulf under the "flexi-use of airspace". Flexi-use of airspace allows commercial aircraft to use airspace reserved for the air force and the navy.

However, SpiceJet's official reason for this request was to save fuel and route navigation flight charges (RNFC). In its request, SpiceJet said that the direct route over the Arabian Sea would help the airline operator save money per flight and will help reduce carbon emissions.

However, the defence authorities have not yet given their nod to the request for direct access as it involves flying over some sensitive areas.

An aviation ministry official was quoted in the report as saying that the government has received many requests and that there has been some progress in the matter.

Added later

However, the request to skip Pakistani airspace while flying to the Gulf region could be economic rather than security related as a flight over Arabain sea to the Gulf countries saves fuel and navigation flight charges. According to a report, the budget airline may save rupees one lakh if it takes direct oceanic route for its Ahmedabad-Dubai flight.

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Speaking before the Home Ministry, Tayal said that the incident took place two months ago and that the NSG had to be summoned to defuse the explosive.

By India Today Web Desk: In a huge admission, National Security Guard (NSG) chief RC Tayal today said that an explosive was found inside Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) headquarters in Delhi.

Speaking before the Home Ministry, Tayal said that the incident took place two months ago and that the NSG had to be summoned to defuse the explosive.

"Two months back an explosive was found at DRDO Bhawan, when no other agency was able to handle it, the NSG defused it," said RC Tayal.

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"Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) was detected during excavation outside DRDO Bhawan. This took place in mid-July. NSG was called in but there is no link of terrorism to it at all," sources in the Home Ministry said.





WATCH: Two months back an IED was defused in DRDO Bhawan by the NSG: RC Tayal, NSG DGhttps://t.co/vgDi5i9IOL ANI (@ANI_news) August 23, 2016

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Adinife Raphae's visa and passport expired in 2015, but he continued to stay illegally in the country.

By Mail Today Bureau: The Bengaluru police arrested a Nigerian national for allegedly indulging in drug peddling and recovered cocaine worth Rs 13 lakhs from him.



ILLEGAL MIGRANT

According to the police, Adinife Raphael (37) of Lagos in Nigeria came to India in 2010 and stayed in Mumbai. After spending two years in Mumbai and New Delhi, he settled down in Bengaluru in 2012. His visa and passport expired in 2015, but he continued to stay illegally in the country.

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Later, he joined a group of drug peddlers, who procured the contraband material from suppliers in Goa. It is alleged that Adinife would supply cocaine to college students in east Bengaluru.

ARREST

The police, who received a tip-off on the activities of Adinife, raided his home on Monday in the Bagaluru police station limits.

The police found out that Adinife had destroyed his passport. The police have registered a case against him under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

ALSO READ:

Notorious drug supplier arrested who once escaped by faking death

Juvenile crimes directly linked to drug abuse

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The epicentre of the earthquake was determined 57 km from Khampat in Myanmar.

By Indo-Asian News Service: An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale jolted Myanmar, neighbouring Bangladesh and parts of the region today morning.

The epicentre of the earthquake was determined 57 km from Khampat, Myanmar (Burma), which hit the region at 7.41 am, the US Geological Survey said.

Police and fire officials said there were no reports of any major damage so far, Xinhua news agency reported.

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The limited edition lotion is being given away for free to get you smelling 'extra crispy delicious'.

This all-new sunscreen will have you smelling like fried chicken, and keep the sun's glare away. Picture courtesy: Twitter/kfc

By Shreya Goswami: You might wonder why nobody came up with this idea before, because smelling like our favourite food sounds just amazing! Of course, we do have lotions that make us smell deliciously fruity or even chocolatey.

But fried chicken? Now that's a different ball game altogether.

Just imagine the aroma of crispy fried chicken-the golden brown batter's earthy and fiery flavour, the tender and juicy chicken underneath. Yum! Who wouldn't want to smell like that?

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And KFC has actually made this drool-worthy aroma a reality, and not just with its world famous crispy chicken. Their all-new Extra Crispy Sunscreen, announced and launched just yesterday, will do wonders for your skin and your soul.

While the lotion smells of something edible, you shouldn't ingest it at all. Picture courtesy: Twitter/kfc

The Extra Crispy Sunscreen will keep the sunburns away, while attracting everybody with that crispy fried chicken aroma. Picture courtesy: Twitter/kfc

This SPF 30 product comes with two brilliant uses: It'll keep sunburns away, and it'll have you smelling 'extra crispy delicious'. Their hilarious, but totally effective advertisement announces, this 'Extra Crispy Sunscreen doesn't just keep you smelling great, it keeps you feeling delicious!' Of course, you can't eat this lotion, so you can't let the attractive aroma confuse you.

The new KFC lotion was announced yesterday, but is already sold out. Picture courtesy: Twitter/kfc



Also read: In a clever campaign, KFC gets Mumbai's dabbawalas to deliver meal boxes

The sunscreen is being given away for free for a limited period of time in the US. KFC's special sunscreen site announces that the limited edition product would be available till 30 September or while stocks last. And guess what? There was such a surge of ordering that KFC has already run out of the Extra Crispy Sunscreen!

A new KFC product to drive you crazy with chicken-craving. Picture courtesy: Twitter/willganss A new KFC product to drive you crazy with chicken-craving. Picture courtesy: Twitter/willganss

According to the Time magazine, there were 3,000 bottles of the lotion on offer, all of which have sold out within a day! Deliveries will be made within eight weeks, so we don't know how good the product is as yet. But, one member of the test groups was quoted in Time saying that the scent left quite a number of people 'at a loss for words'.

Even though this product is sold out, we can relive its memory by watching the advertisement. Picture courtesy: Twitter/BetterOnTV

So while we can't get any more bottles of this aromatic lotion till the company creates some more, we can satiate our craving for this new, extra crispy delight by visiting their site, which assures us that this sunscreen is 'definitely real, and definitely not edible. So do not eat this.'

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We do hope that the next time supplies of KFC Extra Crispy Sunscreen are available we in India can order and get some. Till then, we can watch this brilliant advertisement, and laugh our guts out while craving some fried chicken:



We made a sunscreen and it's free* and it smells like fried chicken and fried chicken smells delicious.https://t.co/fdqaJWcnpY KFC (@kfc) August 22, 2016

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) Ten more teams of the NDRF were today deployed for rescue and relief operations in flood-hit Bihar and Uttar Pradesh even as the force rescued over 33,000 marooned people from various states.

Witnessing continuous rains and with people not wanting to leave their homes, the force has also deployed a number of boat ambulances in these states on which the personnel of the force provide pre-hospitalisation treatment and medicines to the affected.

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"The 10 teams that were airlifted yesterday for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have been deployed. We are intensifying our operations," National Disaster Response Force chief O P Singh told PTI.

A special control room at the forces headquarter here is monitoring the situation 24X7, he said.

As per reports coming from the flood-affected areas of UP, the water level is increasing by 1 cm per hour in areas around Varanasi and about 15 cm rise in the water level has been seen in the day till now, a senior official said.

There are reports of waterlogging in Varanasi and Ghazipur, the official said.

"So far, NDRF teams have evacuated/rescued 33,210 people and provided medicine assistance to 9,197 needy people," the national contingency force said, adding rescue operations in four other states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Assam are in "full swing".

Apart from the 10 fresh teams, 17 rescue teams of the NDRF are operational in Bihar.

As per data, while 650 people were rescued from Patna, 1,580 from Didarganj, 450 from Sonepur, 65 from Vaisali, 780 people from Bakhtiyarpur and 300 people and 10 cattles were rescued from Digaghat Danapur to safer locations.

"Thus, NDRF has rescued a total of 14,178 people in last four days in Bihar," it said.

Similarly, 19 teams of NDRF are deployed in different parts of Uttar Pradesh.

In order to launch massive operations in the two worst-affected states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the NDRF has created on-ground control rooms in these two states and deputed two senior Deputy Inspector General-rank officers (DIG) to take control of the situation. PTI NES DIP ZMN DIP

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By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) Former Mumbai Mayor Hareshwar Patil, who had left Shiv Sena for Congress a few years ago, joined BJP today.

BJPs Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar was present to welcome Patil to the party fold. As a member of Shiv Sena, Patil had served as the Mayor and Chairman of Standing committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, a statement by BJP here said.

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"I decided to join BJP as the schemes undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are of immense benefit to the common man. I will work hard to fulfil his commitments to the people," the release quoted Patil as saying. PTI MM KRK NSD JMF

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: vintage

New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) In a faux pas, NSG Chief R C Tayal today claimed his men defused an Improvised Explosive Device recovered from high-security DRDO Bhawan after "no other agency" could handle the situation, but it later turned out to be a bomb of World War II vintage.

Speaking to journalists at an event to inaugurate the newly constructed building of the Anti-Hijack unit of the elite National Security Guards in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Tayal created a flutter when he said a team of NSGs bomb disposal squad recently defused the IED found at the sensitive DRDO Bhawan.

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However, according to the daily report of the Union Home Ministry, three 120 mm shells of World War II vintage were found on April 14 when labourers were engaged in excavation work in the compound where construction activity was going on.

NSGs bomb disposal squad later took them to the banks of river Yamuna where the only live shell of the three recovered was defused.

With a touch of bravado, Tayal hailed the NSG bomb disposal squad as the "number one", saying when "no other" agency could handle the situation, it was his men who defused the IED.

NSG later issued a statement claiming that one of the shells was taken to Manesar where it was destroyed under controlled conditions.

The NSG has a special bomb disposal squad which not only assists its counter-terror and counter-hijack commando units during operations, but also helps neutralise high-level bomb threats involving IEDs and cleverly concealed explosives.

The squad had lost its Commanding Officer Lt Col Niranjan EK while he was sanitising a terrorists booby-trapped body at the Pathankot airbase which was attacked early this year.

The elite force had come under criticism over its handling of the Pathankot IAF air base attack after its operation to neutralise the terrorists stretched to 82 hours. Its claim of six terrorists being involved in the assault had also come under question as the bodies of only four perpetrators could be found.

Tayal today said his commandos had eliminated the Pathankot terrorists "within half-an-hour" after they "established contact" with them.

Whatever time was taken to conclude the operation, was spent in locating the terrorists who had sneaked into the air base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, he said.

Tayal said challenges and engagements for the force are going to rise in the future and the NSG was prepared to meet any challenge. PTI NES SKL SK SK

--- ENDS ---
India has provided a little over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan in the last 15 years.

By Reuters: India is set to deliver more arms to Afghanistan to help it fight Islamist militants, Kabul's envoy to New Delhi said, even if Pakistan is wary of closer military cooperation between countries lying to its east and west.

India has provided a little over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan in the last 15 years, but has been more measured in providing weapons in order to avoid a backlash from Pakistan, which sees Afghanistan as its area of influence.

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Last December, after years of dragging its feet, New Delhi announced the supply of four attack helicopters in India's first transfer of lethal equipment to the government in Kabul since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was toppled.

Kabul immediately deployed three of the Russian Mi-25 attack helicopters to go after insurgents, and the fourth will be inducted in the next few weeks.

Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the Afghan ambassador to India, said regional security was deteriorating and Afghan national forces were in dire need of military supplies to tackle the Taliban, Islamic State and other militant groups.

"We are grateful for the four helicopters. But we need more, we need much more. Today we are heading into a situation that is worrisome for everyone in the region including India," he told Reuters in an interview.

On August 29, the head of the Afghan army, General Qadam Shah Shahim, is expected in New Delhi to submit a list of military equipment drawn up in consultation with the US military, Indian defence officials said.

It is not yet clear how much would be paid for and how much would be handed over for free.

The equipment includes more Mi-25s, smaller helicopters used for transporting troops and medical emergencies, and spares for existing Russian-origin aircraft in the Afghan air force fleet.

"The agenda for the army chief's visit is clear. We will be finalising the enhancement of defence ties," Abdali said. India, he added, had told the Afghans that it would do whatever it could to meet the security forces' requirements.

PM MODI RANKLES PAKISTAN

The fact that much of the proposed equipment originates from Russia need not be a stumbling block to an agreement, the United States has said, despite Western sanctions against Moscow.

Russia and the United States share a common goal in stabilising Afghanistan, and India can act as a go-between to help re-equip Afghan forces which fall well short of the capacity required despite billions of dollars in US spending.

The Afghan government lost control or influence of nearly 5 percent of its territory between January and May, the US government's top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report, highlighting the challenges its forces are facing.

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But the move to increase cooperation with Afghanistan is likely to aggravate fears in Pakistan of being wedged between two hostile neighbours.

Relations with both countries have cooled lately.

Afghanistan says Pakistan must do more to stop militants operating on its territory, while India has blamed Pakistan for unrest in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned up the dial a notch by making a rare reference to Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province in a recent speech.

Asked about the prospect of closer military ties between Afghanistan and India, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said the government did not comment on bilateral ties between two countries.

But he warned against attempts to destabilise Pakistan, which, like its arch-rival India, has a nuclear arsenal.

"Our expectation is that India should not be allowed to use Afghan soil to create instability in Pakistan."

According to an Indian defence ministry official, discussions with Kabul included the possibility of increasing the number of Afghan officers being trained in Indian military institutions each year from around 800 now.

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US SUPPORT

The United States, which has allocated more than $68 billion to train and equip the Afghan security forces since 2002, has welcomed greater Indian military assistance to fill shortfalls in hardware and personnel.

Earlier this month, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, held talks with Indian officials to find ways in which New Delhi could help the Afghan air force, which is struggling to maintain ageing Russian aircraft because of sanctions on Moscow.

Nicholson said donor nations had contributed $4.5 billion to Afghanistan, but those funds could not be used to buy Russian aircraft or spare parts because of the restrictions triggered by the conflict in Ukraine.

India is not constrained by such considerations and can export Russian-made equipment it already owns or source hardware and spares from Russia to send on to Afghanistan.

"Any additional aircraft or spare parts that India can provide Afghanistan would be greatly appreciated and welcomed by them to help build and maintain the Afghan Air Force," Nicholson said at the end of his trip.

A Russian diplomat said Moscow supported efforts to strengthen Afghan forces, even if it cannot directly equip it.

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"Our policy is simple; we would not like to be involved directly, but we would support any initiative that strengthens the ability of the Afghan authorities to fight against terrorist groups and stabilize the situation in the country," the diplomat said.

Also read:

Karzai backs Modi on Balochistan, advises Kashmiri leaders to keep Pakistan away

PM Modi inaugurates palace via video conference, says Stor Palace is a reminder of glory in Afghanistan

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) India is renegotiating over a two-decade old tax treaty with Singapore and the revised protocol will take into account the concerns of both. "Negotiations are under way with Singapore... It is a bilateral treaty. We have to take concerns of both the countries and then we will have to sign," Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson Rani Singh Nair told reporters. India is keen to rework the treaty because it wants to extend to Singapore the capital gains tax provisions of a revised tax pact with Mauritius. "They are under the same protocol as Mauritius. So, now that we have renegotiated Mauritius, Singapore is under discussion," Nair said even as she did not divulge a timeline for conclusion of the revision. India and Singapore had entered a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) on May 27, 1994. The bilateral tax treaty helps in avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. India on May 10 amended the 34-year-old tax treaty with Mauritius. After toiling for almost a decade to redraw the contours, India will start imposing capital gains tax on investments in shares through Mauritius from April next onwards.

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Following the revised agreement, short-term capital gains tax will be levied at half the rate prevailing during the first two-year transition from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. The gains are taxed at 15 per cent at present. The full rate will kick in from April 1, 2019. The redrawn Mauritius treaty has prompted the government to go for a similar amendment in Indias tax treaty with Singapore.

Mauritius and Singapore accounted for USD 17 billion of the total USD 29.4 billion India received in FDI during April-December 2015. PTI JD ARD

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Indian Navy will soon induct Kalvari, a brand new French-designed Scorpene submarine, having old German SUT torpedos. The first Scorpene submarine, however, was supposed to use Blackshark Heavy Weight Torpedos but the Defense Ministry refused at the last moment.

Kalvari, the brand new submarine, and a first diesel-electric submarine in nearly 2 decades.

By Jugal R Purohit: In a bizarre instance depicting the ways in which defence forces are made to operate, the Indian Navy has been left with no option but to fit old weaponry on a brand new platform.

The Indian Navy (IN), after much delay, is inching towards inducting its first diesel-electric submarine in nearly two decades.

However, the stand of the Ministry of Defence to not purchase 98 'Blackshark' Heavy Weight Torpedo (HWT), which was the agreed-upon choice earlier, has been a nasty blow to the navy.

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This will lead to a scenario where a brand new submarine will join the fleet (likely by the end of the year) without its deadliest, primary weapon - the torpedo.

This, senior sources have confirmed, has left the IN with no option but to arm its upcoming French-designed Scorpene submarine with old German SUT torpedos. These torpedos are in use on the older German-designed HDW submarines called 'Shishumar' class of submarines.

KALVARI TRIALS TO BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER

The first Scorpene submarine, named Kalvari, is presently with the Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.

The sea trials for Kalvari will recommence from the first week of September, post monsoon. In these trials, Kalvari will seek to prove aspects like diving, speeds and manoeuvring among others.

"Since Kalvari is the first in six boats, there are hiccups which we are encountering. Hopefully by the end of the year, we would have achieved all parameters and then we will have the weapons firing using the upgraded SUT. It is not so much a hardware issue but a marriage of software, which is doable, we have ascertained that," said a top source.

What appears easy, however, is likely to complicate matters further for the IN's already-ailing underwater arm.

SOMETHING BETTER THAN NOTHING?

"We had about 60 odd SUT torpedos which were undergoing upgradation for the four, older Shishumar submarines. Now, the Scorpene submarine too will use this torpedo, which means further strain. But it is better than not having anything," said a source.

According to insiders, the SUT, even post upgrade, is no match to the benchmark the navy had sought when it got the Blackshark HWT.

"SUT is the technology of the 80s and thus has limitations. When we selected Blackshark, we were looking at ranges in excess of 50km to destroy a target. It has better tracking and homing features making it a next generation weapon," explained a senior officer.

However, there are those in the navy too who believe the SUT was ahead of its time when inducted and still remains a very good weapon.

Vice Admiral KN Sushil, a submariner, who retired as the head of Southern Naval Command said, "There is no problem in marrying an older torpedo to a new platform. However, we need to ask if that is what we'd set out to achieve."

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MAKE BLACKSHARK AT HOME?

He said, "The Blackshark was a generation ahead of SUT in so many ways. It is time to make full use of the Make In India campaign and become a self reliant country. Our previous efforts at learning and producing torpedos doomed in the mid 90s. Now we have torpedo made by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which can only be fired from a ship, not a submarine."

'Blackshark' is manufactured by a firm under the Italian group Leonardo Finmeccanica, which has been linked by the MoD to charges of corruption in the VVIP helicopter case.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had reportedly stated that he would annul the deal and that the MoD had alternatives. Top sources confirm that for now, the SUT is that alternative till a fresh procurement, which could take years, materialises.

Requests for clarification made to the IN and MoD did not elicit a response.



KNOW YOUR KALVARI Length: 67 metre Width: 6.2 metre Displacement: 1550 tonnes Crew: 72 Weapons: Torpedos, tube-launched anti ship missiles (fired either underwater or from surface) Cost: $ 3.5 billion (Project 75) Kalvari was to have joined the navy in 2012

Also Read:

How Indian Navy flew 15-year-old's heart 200 km to save Kochi woman

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Indian Navy's submarine-hunting Kamov-28 choppers to get major upgrade after Parrikar intervention

EXCLUSIVE: Naval officer red-flagged purchase of ships with inferior steel from Italian firm





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It's now possible to detect depression through a person's choice of Instagram filters.

Which filters do you use the most? Picture courtesy: Instagram/_maryam

By India Today Web Desk: Instagram may be revealing more about you than you intend to. Researchers from Harvard and the University of Vermont have found a way to analyze pictures for the user's current state of mind. These scientists used the photos' attributes--brightness, color, saturation etc--to identify if the user is suffering from depression, at a better rate than an average physician, reports CNNMoney.com.

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The computer identified 70 per cent of the instances of depression. As it turns out, pictures with decreased brightness, decreased saturation and increased hue indicated depression.

While Valencia turned out to be most-used filter with users who were not depressed, supposedly depressed users leaned more towards Inkwell. For the uninitiated, Valencia lightens photos and Inkwell converts them to black and white.

This development can actually prove to be a huge leap in the realm of mental health.

"It's all a good thing," Michael Thase, the director of the Mood and Anxiety Program at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNNMoney. "It's only not a good thing when the information would be sold to somebody who might make a buck from interfacing with depressed people."

Thase went on to add that mental-health researchers can actually rely on feedback from social media, in the near future--a user who gave consent would have their photos scanned for signs of potential mental illnesses.

"Did you know your choice of hues and colors go along with people who are prone to depression. Would you like to know more?" Thase suggested as a possible private message that could be sent to users who appeared depressed.

The researchers analyzed about 13,000 photos by 166 Instagram users.

The computer learned to make predictions after comparing pictures of depressed users, with those who were not depressed.

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A joint team of Rajasthan CID and the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terror Squad nabbed an ISI agent in the state capital Lucknow late on Tuesday evening.

By Rajat Rai: A joint team of Rajasthan CID and the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terror Squad nabbed an ISI agent in the state capital Lucknow late on Tuesday evening.

INVOLVED IN FUND TRANSFER

According to reports, the cops arrest one Jamaluddin who is a native of Ghazipur district and was involved in transfer of funds.

"The Rajasthan CID team contacted the UP ATS and after sharing inputs, a joint team nabbed Jamaluddin. Initial investigations have revealed that he was working for ISI and was involved in transfering money to various modules of the ISI.

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He used to receive money from UAE and based on further interrogation, more arrested could be made from across India", Daljit Chaudhary ADG (Law and Order) told media persons.

ALSO READ:

Pakistani Hindu spy detained in Jaisalmer, exposes ISI link

AAP slams Sukhbir Singh Badal over ISI attack theory on Punjab's political leaders

--- ENDS ---
Moroccan couple known for advocating chastity allegedly caught having sex on the beach.

By India Today Web Desk: In an unusual turn of events, an exalted Islamist couple both in their 60s were expelled from their party on Monday after reports said they were caught having sex on a beach.

The party, Unity and Reform Movement (MUR), released a statement today confirming the expulsion of Moulay Omar Benhammad (63) and Fatima Najjar (62). The party conducted an emergency meeting after the incident created a stir on social media.

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Interestingly, MUR is considered to be a religious party and an ideological wing of another prominent party Justice Development Party (PJD). The party officials state that incident violated the principles of the movement, its orientation and its values.

Sources said that the elderly couple were detained on Saturday morning from a beach in the port city of Mohammedia some 60 kilometres from Rabat, the capital of Morocco.



CAUGHT IN ACTION

The couple were reportedly found in a compromising position inside a car. Sources said that although they were released by a magistrate later, the duo has been asked to appear before court on September 1.

While Benhammad is married and father of seven children, Najjar is a widow and mother of six children. Najar has been booked for adultery and Benhammad has been booked for attempted corruption.

Sources said that Benhammad in his defence even claimed that he was linked to Najjar by common law marriage. Interestingly, his wife did not file any complaint.

After the incident came to light social media users shared Najjar's videos where she advocated the use of Islamic headdress and asked female students to stay away from temptation and vice.



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By India Today Web Desk: Anmol Ratan, former AISA president and JNU student accused of raping a fellow student, is likely to apply for an anticipatory bail in Patiala House court in Delhi today.

However, Delhi Police is planning to oppose his bail plea.

This comes a day after a case of sexual assault was filed against Ratan, on the basis of a complaint lodged by a 28-year-old woman.

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RAPE COMPLAINT



In her complaint, the woman alleged that Ratan sexually assaulted her in his room in the Brahmaputra hostel. She said the accused offered her a copy of a movie she had been looking for and took her to his room where he gave her a drink spiked with sedatives. She told the police that he raped her when she was unconscious and later threatened her to not report the matter.



PROTESTS ERUPT

Following the incident, protests erupted in the campus with several ABVP leaders demanding rustication of the accused and AISA activist. Since the accused is a leading face of left leaning student body AISA, ABVP, an RSS affiliate, has once again blamed Ratan's organisation for lack of women's security inside the university campus.

The right-wing also initiated an aggressive social media campaign against the alleged Anmol's alleged crime under the title of "Bekhauf Azadi" (Unbridled Freedom).

Meanwhile, the AISA and other Left student organisations distanced themselves from the incident and appealed to the administration to act immediately and strictly against the accused.

Also read: Protests in JNU over student's rape, accused AISA leader absconding



--- ENDS ---
Anmol Ratan, a PhD student and activist from the far-left All India Students Association (AISA), has been accused of sexually assaulting a comrade.

The ABVP conducted several rounds of protests on Monday, going room to room in hostels, messes during lunch and dinner, at the office of the V-C outside the administrative block and in various schools such as that of languages, social sciences and science

By Siddhartha Rai, Astha Saxena: An alleged rape on campus has emerged as a potential flashpoint between ideologically divergent student groups at the city's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which has been at the centre of a swirling debate over nationalism and free speech this year.

Anmol Ratan, a PhD student and activist from the far-left All India Students Association (AISA), has been accused of sexually assaulting a comrade. The incident has given rival ABVP ammunition to attack AISA and the right-wing group has launched a sweeping campaign at the university by raising the issue of women's safety.



WHO IS ANMOL RATAN

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The accused, who's reportedly absconding, is a student of the Centre for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion (CSDE) under the prestigious School of Social Sciences (SSS) while the alleged victim too is a PhD student.

The accused, Anmol Ratan

The matter has come as another nettlesome test for AISA after three of its members were charged with sedition following an event on campus in February commemorating Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

While the association has expelled Anmol from its primary membership, sources say he was previously the secretary and then president of the group's Delhi state unit.

CASE FILED

The 28-year-old woman had on Sunday approached Delhi Police and filed a case against Anmol, accusing him of raping her in his room in the Brahmaputra hostel. She said the accused offered her a copy of a movie she had been looking for and took her to his room where he gave her a drink spiked with sedatives. She told the police that he raped her when she was unconscious and later threatened her to not report the matter.

"The victim was sent for recording her statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC, but she cited illness, due to which it has been postponed now," said RP Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police, southeastern range. He said the statement was expected to be recorded on Tuesday. "The accused student has not joined the probe and is unavailable for questioning."

The university administration has denounced the incident. "The Jawaharlal Nehru University always stands for dignity of the individual, respect for women and democratic values," it said in a statement. "The administration does not tolerate such incidences and resolves to take appropriate measures to prevent them in future. The entire JNU community stands with the victim."

It also appealed to students, staff and teachers to remain vigilant against such incidents.

PROTESTS ERUPT

The ABVP conducted several rounds of protests on Monday, going room to room in hostels, messes during lunch and dinner, at the office of the vice-chancellor (V-C) outside the administrative block and in various schools such as that of languages, social sciences and sciences. The day's protest agenda culminated in a demonstration at the ground in front of the Sabarmati Hostel, the same place where the Afzal Guru row had been ignited.

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The right-wing also initiated an aggressive social media campaign against the alleged Anmol's alleged crime under the title of "Bekhauf Azadi" (Unbridled Freedom). The sole representative of ABVP in an otherwise Left-dominated JNUSU, Saurabh Sharma, told Mail Today that he had already written to the V-C, demanding stern action against the accused, including his immediate rustication from the varsity.

The AISA and other Left student organisations distanced themselves from the incident and appealed to the administration to act immediately and strictly against the accused.

"The fact that a leading activist of ours is accused of sexual violence calls for serious introspection and reinvigorating the process of sensitisation against sexual violence within and outside the organisation," said the association's president, Sucheta De.

NECESSARY ACTION

The vice-president of JNUSU and also an AISA member, Shehla Rashid, who was seen on many occasions with the accused during protests, called for "necessary action" and had "written to the vice-chancellor in this regard".

"We have asked the V-C to issue a statement from JNU, as an institution, asserting the autonomy and freedom of women within and outside the campus," she said. "The responsibility of women's safety cannot be placed on women, but it is the responsibility of the society (in this case, campus community) to respect women's integrity, autonomy, freedom and consent."

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Rashid accused the right-wing of trying to find out the identity of the complainant. "We know that in Modi government's Union cabinet ministry, a rape-accused, namely Nihal Chand, was never made to step down," she said. "The double standards of the right-wing groups can be seen in their constant habit of abusing women on the Internet in the most patriarchal terms."

Also Read

Rape in JNU puts AISA and ABVP at loggerheads, protests kick off



JNU student allegedly drugged, raped by AISA activist in hostel





--- ENDS ---
Kishore Dave (53), bureau chief of a Gujarati newspaper called Jai Hind, was allegedly stabbed by some unidentified persons at Vanjari on Monday night.

By India Today Web Desk: A journalist was today found murdered at the office of a newspaper he was working with in Gujarat's Junagadh district.

Kishore Dave (53), bureau chief of a Gujarati newspaper called Jai Hind, was allegedly stabbed by some unidentified persons at Vanjari on Monday night. Police say that he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest.

"He was stabbed six-seven times with knife. From injury marks, it appears that personal enmity could be a reason behind the murder," Superintendent of Police Nilesh Jajadiya said.

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The deceased's body was sent for postmortem. A case has been registered against unidentified assailants at Junagadh B division police station.

Police are now probing the case.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 23 (PTI) Actress Sonam Kapoor today trashed reports, which have suggested that Kareena Kapoor Khan has walked out of their forthcoming film "Veere Di Wedding".

While Kareena, yesterday, said at an event that she would shoot for the chick flick in October, a section of the media has reported that the actress, who is expecting her first child with husband Saif Ali Khan in December, has opted out of the movie.

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Reacting to the reports, Sonam told reporters here, "The newspaper did not clarify things with us (team of Veere Di Wedding). The story is untrue. Its a miscellaneous gossip and its a baseless news. Its irresponsible reporting. I am very upset."

"Kareena is part of Veere Di Wedding and she will be shooting for us in October and some portions in April," the "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo" actress said.

Sonam, 31, feels the perception about pregnant working women needs to change in society.

"We all women, be it actresses, sportswomen, reporters and others go through this phase (pregnancy) and its normal. There are people in society who think women cant work during pregnancy. I think they are just being judgemental and unfair," she said.

"I am very optimistic that things will change and people will not think all this," she said.

Sonams sister Rhea Kapoor, who is producing the film along with Ekta Kapoor, has also stated Kareena will shoot for the film in October.

"The report (of Kareena not doing the film) is completely untrue. Kareena is very much a part of Veere Di Wedding and will be shooting for us in October and early next year," Rhea said in a statement here.

The movie will celebrate the spirit of modern Indian woman. Also starring Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania, it will be directed by "Khoobsurat" fame Shashanka Ghosh. PTI KKP GK PSH PSH SDM

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Kareena Kapoor Khan has been under the microscope, ever since she and husband Saif Ali Khan announced her news of pregnancy. Much to the actor's annoyance photographers have been chasing her for that one picture, constantly asking about her acting career as if the pregnancy is the death sentence for her.

ALSO WATCH: Kareena Kapoor's baby bump makes Neha Dhupia jump with joy

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The actor even lost her cool, and once retorted to a question like that saying, "I'm pregnant, not a corpse." She even went on to request the papparazzi to stop making her pregnancy sound like a national emergency. She has now even gone on to say on record that she is happy about this phase (pregnancy) in her life and that there's nothing to hide.

"Whichever role I do, I am not going to camouflage it on screen. I am proud of this phase (being pregnant) that I am in and there is nothing to hide about it. Whichever film I choose to do you will see me the way I am," the Omkara actor was quoted as saying.

Kareena Kapoor is looking forward to shooting for Shashanka Ghosh's Veere Di Wedding with Sonam Kapoor, which follows the story of four women travelling from Delhi to Europe ahead of a wedding function.

--- ENDS ---
Karisma Kapoor says that the entire Kapoor khandan is awaiting Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan's first child together.

By India Today Web Desk: Kareena Kapoor Khan is expecting her first child with husband Saif Ali Khan, and the entire Kapoor khandaan is awaiting the baby. And her sister Karisma Kapoor says Bollywood's famous Kapoor clan can't wait to see the baby.

ALSO READ: Kareena Kapoor's baby bump makes Neha Dhupia jump with joy!

ALSO READ: Nothing to hide, says Kareena Kapoor on pregnancy



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Asked about Kareena's pregnancy, Karisma told IANS, "Well, I think it's happy news for all of us out there. We are also eagerly waiting (for the baby) as a family."

The news of Kareena's pregnancy has been doing the rounds since the couple was spotted at a pre-natal clinic in London. Soon enough, the rumours about Bebo's pregnancy began. Later, the couple issued a joint statement confirming the news and said that they are expecting their first child together in December this year.

The Udta Punjab actor, who is often spotted flaunting her baby bump, has kept her professional committments on the backburner for the time being due to her health issues. The 35-year-old actor is in her second trimester and doesn't want to stress herself too much.

On the work front, she would soon begin shooting for Rhea Kapoor's Veere Di Wedding. The film also stars Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhaskar.



--- ENDS ---
MHA sources say BSF deployment will imply extra boots on ground and will help in controlling the protestors.

A member of the security forces patrols a street after a night of clashes between protestors and security forces in Srinagar as the city remains under curfew following weeks of violence in Kashmir. Reuters photo

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The Home Ministry today cleared deployment of Border Security Force (BSF) in Kashmir Valley to deal with protestors. A total of 56 BSF companies are to be deployed.

As per high level sources, while 26 companies of BSF are already on the way, the rest 30 companies will be sent soon. MHA sources say BSF deployment will imply extra boots on ground and will help in controlling the protestors.

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BSF was taken off counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir in 2004, and has been deployed in Srinagar after a gap of 12 years.

This is for the first time since 2004 that BSF has been called for active duty in the city.

The BSF, which conducted anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir for nearly 13 years from 1991, was replaced in the city by CRPF in 2004 during Upa regime.

The BSF troops were then moved to their primary duty of guarding the Line of Control and the international border.

Kashmir unrest: Rajnath Singh to make second visit in a month to the Valley



--- ENDS ---
The government has deployed the Border Security Force (BSF) to aid the forces on the ground to control the unrest.

Rubble thrown by protestors litter a deserted street in Srinagar as security forces enforce a curfew following weeks of violence in Kashmir. Photo: Reuters

By Shuja-ul-Haq : The situation in the Valley continues to remain grim on the 46th day of unrest.

BSF MEN PATROL STREETS



The government has deployed the Border Security Force (BSF) to aid the forces on the ground to control the unrest. BSF is known for its role in countering militancy when it was at its peak in 90s. The locals remember it as an aggressive and ruthless force. The border gaurds were pulled out of the Valley in 2005.

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Educational institutions, markets, public transport and other businesses remained closed as separatists extended their protest shutdown till August 25.

CURFEW CONTINUES

Curfew continued in old Srinagar city and Anantnag town while restrictions remained in force in all other districts of Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Baramulla, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kupwara and Badgam.

68 people including 66 civilians and two policemen have died in the violence in the Valley since July 9, a day after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces in a gunfight.



Watch the video here

Also read:

No Governor's rule, solve Kashmir issue politically: Supreme Court

Kashmir unrest: Mehbooba Mufti agrees with Omar Abdullah, asks Centre to initiate dialogue



--- ENDS ---
Most of the school buildings in Srinagar alone are deserted as security forces patrol the city in the face of violent mobs.

By Ashwini Kumar, Shuja-ul-Haq : With teachers not reporting to work and parents too scared to send their children to school, education in the Kashmir valley has suffered a massive blow from the unrest of the past 46 days. Most of the school buildings in Srinagar are deserted as security forces patrol the city in the face of violent clashes.



STUDENTS, TEACHERS SCARED



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"We haven't seen our school for almost two months now. We are too distant from our books," exclaimed a ninth grader. "How can we go to school when people are dying outside?" he asked.



Authorities have ordered educational institutions to operate. Teachers have also been advised to report back to duty. But not many are heeding to official directions because of safety reasons. Last week, a contractual teacher was allegedly beaten to death by soldiers at Khrew in Pulwama district. Local Kashmiris feel the overall situation is far from conducive for education to resume.

"Look at how that Khrew lecturer was killed. What was his fault?" asked Muddasir Ahmad, a Srinagar resident.

"Education has suffered the most in these times. The ongoing upheaval was shattering the future of Kashmiri children," said Ahmad. "Their future is under a grave threat," he said.

SIXTY SEVEN DEAD, THOUSANDS INJURED

At least 67 people have lost their lives and thousands injured in the clashes between protesters and security forces sparked by the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in July.

In Srinagar's main business district, pensioners were seen queuing up outside a branch of the State Bank of India. An elderly man told India Today the facility hadn't been able to disburse the money for quite a few days. Supplies of cash to banks have been hit because of tight security restrictions. "Now, we have been told that someone will arrive soon to disburse pensions," he said, waiting outside the bank.



PRESSURED BY LOCAL POPULACE



At Bahrampora in Sopore, two personnel of the state police's special operation group Tuesday announced their resignation publicly, citing local pressure. The SOG is considered the most effective and successful anti-terror squad in Jammu and Kashmir.

Waseem Ahmad and Firdous Ahmad announced that they were disassociating themselves from the police force. Waseem Ahmad alleged that they were pressurised by protesters in their village to leave their jobs. "If my villagers feel that I should not work for the police, I then decide to do so. At least my family and home will not be targeted," he claimed.

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POLITICIANS QUIT

Since the killing of Wani, as many as 12 police posts and two police stations have come under attack by protesters in South Kashmir. Homes of policemen and politicians have also been targeted. Many police officers are unable to resume their duties in different parts of the valley because of public pressure. Some politicians have also quit their parties and joined separatists.

Also Read: Kashmir unrest: More boots on ground as MHA deploys BSF to control protestors

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Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti agrees with Opposition leader Omar Abdullah who said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should initiate a dailogue to deal with the unrest in Kashmir.

By Naseer Ganai: With opposition parties led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate a credible and meaningful dialogue with all stakeholders to address the unrest in the State, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti echoed similar views in J&K and asked the centre to initiate confidence building measure and dialogue.

Mehbooba said political leadership in New Delhi and within the State must jointly work towards initiating the confidence building measures to respond to the people's innermost yearning for peace with dignity.

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"The renewed trust people of the State have time and again reposed in the democratic institutions, offers an opportunity to work through peaceful and reconciliatory means towards addressing all the dimensions of the Kashmir issue in a manner that balances and promotes enduring political and economic stability in the State," Mehbooba said addressing a gathering at Bhagwati Nagar.

NO SECURITY PRISM

She said the Centre shouldn't see Kashmiris through the security prism. "I want to make an appeal to the Centre that do not judge all the people of Kashmir. Kashmiris are peaceloving people and they don't like violence. They are not stone-pelters. They want to open their shops, they want to send their wards to school, they want to come out of the fear-psychosis they have been forced into. I appeal to the Centre to take care of the majority of the peace-loving people in Kashmir and reach out to them. They are our own people and they are suffering," Mehbooba said.

She said the prevailing painful situation in Kashmir necessitates reaching out to all shades of the political opinion in the State and initiating substantive political and economic measures to revive and consolidate the peace and resolution process.

Also Read

Pakistan meddling in Kashmir with local help: Arun Jaitley to India Today

Vajpayee almost solved Kashmir issue but other govts didn't follow up: RSS chief Bhagwat

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By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be on a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley from tomorrow during which he will review the situation. He is likely to hold talks with people and political representatives. However, he is unlikely to meet Hurriyat "separatist leaders." No separate invite will be sent to them, but if they wish to join, they are welcome to said a senior officer in ministry.

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Rajnath will hold a review meeting on security, also meet the CM and Governor. He will also be a part of unified command meet.

Significantly, the move comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" over the situation there.

On Monday, while meeting a joint opposition delegation led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his "deep concern and pain" over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a "permanent and lasting" solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the Valley which has been witnessing unrest with violence spilling on to streets, since killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on 8th july this year.



REACHING OUT TO COMMON MAN

The HM in the Parliament had stated that he would visit Valley soon and reach out to common people. But situation has shown only little sign of improvement. This even as government functionaries have largely blamed Pakistan for sponsoring terror in Valley.

As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousand were injured so far in different violence.

Narendra Modi government at the Centre and PDP-BJP alliance has been criticised for its handling of state which has been reeling under crisis for over 45 days. "As far as Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we don't just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir," Rajnath said while reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the state.

In another appeal to youth, Singh said there should be pen and books in their hand instead of stones.

Rajnath will be accompanied by Home Secretary and joint Secretary Kashmir division. The trio will fly in special aircraft and will return on August 25.

Kashmir unrest: More boots on ground as MHA deploys BSF to control protestors

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The relatives and neighbours found the boy lying in his house with injuries all over his body. The boy was locked up for a long time as he was passing urine and stool where he was tied up.

By Revathi Rajeevan: In a shocking incident, a nine-year-old boy was found beaten and locked up in his house in Adimaly in Kerala's Idukki district. The boy, Naufal, was found by relatives and neighbours lying in a room in his house with burns and injuries all over his body.

WHAT'S HAPPENED SO FAR?



"We found him in a room where he was locked up for a long time because he was passing urine and faeces there itself. He has burn marks all over his body, beaten up so badly mostly with an iron rod. You can see the bone in one of his legs, flesh has come out. the boy told us that his face was smashed with a coconut," said Vijayan, Naufal's uncle who is currently at Kalamassery medical college hospital in Ernakulam where the boy is also admitted.

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"It seems that he was starved from the last ten days," said Vijayan.

BOY'S MOTHER MENTALLY UNSTABLE, TAKEN INTO CUSTODY

Childline volunteers and police had sent Naufal and his mother Seleena to Kottayam Medical College today but police said that the mother escaped from there to Ernakulam where she was taken into custody by the police. Naufal was initially sent to Ernakulam general hospital and later shifted to the medical college hospital.

"Adimali police informed us that the boy's mother does not look mentally stable. That is when we took her into custody. She has been sent to Shanthi bhavan, an organisation run by the corporation with her two other kids," said a police official.

Naufal was examined by doctors of all departments and is presently in the burns ward.

Also read - Kerala: Yet another youth goes missing, ISIS link suspected



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By Hemul Goel: Kim Kardashian can never not set tongues wagging with her Instagram posts. Be it her nude selfies, her expertise at unintentional shade throwing or her ability to take down haters in one go, no one can stop this mommy of two.

Also read: Inside Kim Kardashian's daughter's cute mermaid-themed birthday bash

While enjoying some downtime in Mexico with her gal pals and children--3-year-old daughter North and 8-month-old son Saint--Kim took to Instagram to share pictures from her extravagant vacay, including this shot in a swimsuit, which left our mouth hanging wide open.

But first, let me take a selfie. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@kimkardashian

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As banging as the entrepreneur's bod looks in that one-piece, we can't help but wonder, how the hell does one get inside it?

Drinks with the gals. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@steph_shep

It's even more revealing from behind, which just makes it an object of greater contemplation (and we're referring to logistics, of course). Like, will we get an instruction manual when we buy that and do we need a team of minions (read colleagues) that will strap us breathless into that simple-looking contraption?

Also read: These pictures prove that birthday girl Kylie Jenner has the sexiest swimwear collection

The ever-adoring mommy. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@s.indyx The ever-adoring mommy. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@s.indyx

Like her friends, Kim also flaunted her body in another white swimsuit, which left little to imagination.

One with the gals! Picture courtesy: Instagram/@kimkardashian

There's Kim getting ~dirty~ on the beach.

WOAH! Picture courtesy: Instagram/@kimkardashian

The question still remains, though--how does one get into that swimsuit?

Sonam Kapoor to Bipasha Basu: Season's hottest swimwear picks you just can't miss

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Abhi and Pragya will be seen sharing a romantic moment in the upcoming episode of the show.

By India Today Web Desk: Ekta Kapoor's Kumkum Bhagya is one popular show alright, as the ratings clearly show. Fans of the show already know that in the current track of the serial, Abhi (Shabbir Ahluwalia) has suffered partial memory loss after an accident and doesn't remember Pragya (Sriti Jha) or getting married at all.

Also read:Kumkum Bhagya: Abhi meets with a deadly accident, loses memory, forgets Pragya

A promo poster of the show. Picture courtesy: Instagram/kumkum.bhagya

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According to a report in India Forums, in an upcoming episode of the hit show, the duo (Pragya and Abhi) will be seen getting closer to each other as a result of Pragya's sprained leg. Abhi will be seen lifting Pragya and the two will share a romantic moment. But don't jump to conclusions. They will just be staring deeply into each other's eyes for some time.

A still from the show. Picture courtesy: Instagram/kumkum.bhagya

Apparently, according to the same report, Abhi has staged his memory loss to protect Pragya from her rivals. Well, if that turns out to be true then that will be quite a shocker for the family and a pleasant surprise for Pragya.

Now, only time will tell whether Abhi did indeed stage his memory loss as a part of a larger strategy to protect his wife.



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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Lt Governor Najeeb Jung today suspended Navelendra Kumar Singh, former OSD to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and another official for allegedly handing over land meant for DUSIB to a private party.

Singh, currently posted as ADM (South/East), and SDM (Model Town) Amit Kumar Pamasi have been placed under suspension.

Also, ADM (North) KC Surendra has been "recommended to be placed under suspension by the Union Home Ministry".

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"Navelendra Kumar Singh had passed an illegal order to hand over prime land in Bhalswa to a private individual, which was acquired for DUSIB (Delhi Urban Shelter Development Board)," a source said.

The action was taken against the other two

as they implemented the "illegal" order passed by Singh after his transfer.

"The case for further investigation is being referred to CBI immediately," the source added. PTI BUN SBR TIR ZMN TIR

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Maharashtra and Telangana signed agreement on Godavari water irrigation projects. The Congress alleged that the project would be very harmful for Maharashtra and that the pact was signed under pressure from Maharashtra Governor, who hails from Telangana.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Maharashtra and Telangana today signed a 'historic' agreement on the construction of irrigation projects on Godavari river on inter-state borders.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao signed this pact in Mumbai.

The agreement is likely to benefit lakhs of farmers from both the states.

The Telangana government agreed to reduce the Thammidihatti dam size from earlier proposed 152 metres to 148 meters.

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WHAT ALL HAVE BEEN AGREED UPON

Another significant agreement is related to the Medigadda barrage, besides Chanaka-Korata, Rajapet and Penpahad projects. All these projects are part of the redesigned version of Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation scheme that has been renamed as Kaleswaram project.

According to government figures, the projects under Kaleswaram put together are expected to irrigate 16.4 lakh acres in Telangana and over 50,000 acres in tribal areas of Maharashtra.

The Chanaka-Korata project would be taken up jointly by Telangana and Maharashtra at 213 FRL on Penganga river with 105 tmc capacity.

While 102 tmc of water will be utilized by Telangana, 5 tmc will be used by Maharashtra.

The agreement for the survey of the construction of Digras barrage proposed by the Maharashtra government will also be signed.

All the issues relating to utilization of water, submergence and project designs have already been analysed by the officials of the CDO (Central Design Organizations) of the two states in detail and were approved.

BOTH STATES WILL BE BENEFITTED

Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao said, "With this historic pact, Maharashtra and Telangana have set a new precedent. While the two states had problems for the last several decades over the projects across Godavari, no progress was made in solving them despite having the same party in power in both the states and at the Centre."

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said the agreements would protect the interests of both the states.

He said the projects would ensure minimum submergence and would lead to irrigation of 30,000 acres of land in Maharashtra. Maharashtra will get 60 kms of backwaters of the proposed project.

SIGNED UNDER PRESSURE FROM MAHARASHTRA GOVERNOR?

Meanwhile, the Congress has alleged that the pact has been signed under the pressure from the Maharashtra Governor Chennamaneni Vidyasgar Rao, who hails from Telangana.

Speaking to India Today , Congress Leader and MLA Vijay Wadettivar said, "The Medigadda Barrage will destroy the farmers completely. No transperancy has been maintained in the project. The state government should have taken the local public representatives and farmers into confidence."

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He said, "almost 21 villages in Sironcha Taluka of Gadchiroli district will be submerged in water because of this project. Maharashtra stands to lose to Telangana and the pact is signed only under the pressure from the Maharashtra Governor, who is from Telangana."

Also Read:

Why linking rivers won't work



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The super talented Manish Paul doesn't like it when people talk about his salary.

By India Today Web Desk: Popular television personality and film actor Manish Paul doesn't like it when people just go on and on about what he gets paid for his work. He would rather that the media focused more on his work projects than anything else.

Not too long ago, there were reports about the talented star getting paid a sum of Rs 2.5 crore to host the current season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. But Manish just chooses to ignore such reports.

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Also read:Guys, stop saying that Jacqueline Fernandez did Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9 for a 'hefty' cheque



"I love the work I do and I enjoy it. I think people should talk about my work rather than the money I make. I read these reports, but decided to ignore them," Hindustan Times quoted Manish as saying.

Manish on the sets of Jhalak. Picture courtesy: Instagram/manishpaul

"A man should never be asked his salary, that is something that I believe in," the actor/host added.

Manish has other things to take care of besides reacting to aforementioned reports; like his personal life. Manish welcomed another child to his world this June, and admits that he was a bit anxious about how his elder child, his four-year-old daughter Saisha, would react to the new-born.

Manish Paul and Karan Johar on the sets of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9. Picture courtesy: Instagram/manishpaul Manish Paul and Karan Johar on the sets of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9. Picture courtesy: Instagram/manishpaul

"We were worried. But she is super protective towards him. She tries to play with him all the time. We are so happy that she has taken this well," the actor told Hindustan Times in an interview.

Manish Paul is currently hosting Season 9 of the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.



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Trump has placed several news organisations on notice of her legal claims against them, including Daily Mail among others, for making false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an 'escort' in the 1990s.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Melania Trump, the wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, is preparing to take legal action against British daily The Daily Mail for an article about her past that she considers to be defamatory, her attorneys said on Monday.

"Mrs. Trump has placed several news organisations on notice of her legal claims against them, including Daily Mail among others, for making false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an 'escort' in the 1990s before she married the real estate magnate," attorney Charles Harder said in an e-mail sent to online daily Politico on Monday.

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"All such statements are 100 per cent false, highly damaging to her reputation, and personally hurtful," Efe news quoted Harder as saying.

According to Harder, Trump's wife "understands that news media have certain leeway in a presidential campaign, but outright lying about her in this way exceeds all bounds of appropriate news reporting and human decency".

He referred to an article published on August 19 by The Daily Mail questioning the biography and the modelling career of Melania Trump, who is of Slovenian origin and has been married to the mogul since 2005.



ALSO READ:



Bring back my speech: Internet's funniest responses to Melania Trump's plagiarism

Did Donald Trump marry an 'illegal' immigrant? Melania Trump in the midst of an immigration row

Melania Trump's convention speech plagiarised from Michelle Obama's 2008 address?



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In a bid to buttress the effectiveness of his force before the Home Minister, he declared from the podium, "An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was found at DRDO Bhawan and we went there and de-fused it".

By Jugal R Purohit: Speaking in front of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at an event where a new building complex of the country's premier counter-terrorism force, the National Security Guard (NSG) was being inaugurated, Director General RC Tayal was making a typical speech, saying all the right things. Suddenly, a few words he uttered made everyone stand up and take notice.

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IED FOUND

In a bid to buttress the effectiveness of his force before the Home Minister, he declared from the podium, "An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was found at DRDO Bhawan and we went there and de-fused it". He mentioned that the NSG was called in when all the others could do nothing about it.

Having uttered this, he carried on speaking. His words, meanwhile electrified the press corps. After looking at each other and confirming what they had heard, correspondents began furiously typing messages, emails, tweeting and sending the information to their offices. A deluge of questions were fired at the DG and few were paying attention to what Tayal was later saying.

QUESTIONS

Who placed an IED inside DRDO Bhawan? When did this take place? Why was there no declaration of this? Has the government arrested those who were behind this?, were some of the questions that were fired.

An IED is among the deadliest form of explosives because it is, as the name suggests, improvised. It can be made out of chemicals available in the open market and thus is a favourite tool of terrorists, Maoists and other militants.

DRDO Bhawan in the capital is a stone's throw away from sensitive installations like the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Ministry of External Affairs, Prime Minister's Office and the Rashtrapati Bhawan. DRDO which stands for Defence Research and Development Organisation is the country's premier defence establishment involved in missiles, fighter planes, ships and what not.

Meanwhile, Tayal gave way to Singh who spoke about his ministry's role and had a few suggestions for the NSG leadership. In this time, the press corps began receiving calls from their colleagues. People wanted to know more and rightfully so.

No sooner did Singh conclude his speech than the journalists surrounded him. Much to their disappointment, he excused himself. Next was Tayal who also uttered something to the effect that it was inappropriate for him to speak when the Home Minister had not.

He walked away without clarifying a word on something as important as an explosive which he declared had been found inside the heart of the capital's power edifice.

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CLARIFICATION

I must confess, we made attempts to make him understand the gravity of the situation. Some of my colleagues went out of their way and said, "If you do not wish to clarify on camera, it is fine. Just give us a statement. Even an off record explanation will do but this is far too serious to keep it hanging". Sadly, neither the home minister nor the director general were persuaded and they all drove away.

But the phones were still ringing. Tweets were turning into re-tweets and more information was urgently required but there was no source to get it from.

After a while, some NSG officers approached us and tried to informally brief us. "It was nothing. A very minor event," they said. None of them had precise details and wanted us to dismiss it just like that. That wasn't somethin that was acceptable to us.

DENIAL

Meanwhile, the Minister of Defence picked up the story. DRDO and DRDO Bhawan were both under the MoD and so after the initial denial from their end, things began taking shape. I must say despite it not originating from their end, the MoD worked as fast as it could to issue a structured denial unlike the NSG which wanted us to simply let it go.

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By 1:30pm, I got a call from someone in the NSG. He dictated to me a statement to attribute to the Direct General Tayal.

STATEMENT

Here is the statement:

"On April 14, 2016, during some excavation work at DRDO's Metcalfe House, an un-exploded ordnance (UXO) was found in the form of a 120 mm artillery shell. Two empty shells were also found alongside. NSG was asked to look into it and we carried those shells using our Total Containment Vessel to Manesar where they were eventually demolished."

Clearly, IED is not the same as unexploded ordnance. Clearly, Metcalfe House is not DRDO Bhawan and clearly it wasn't as if all agencies had tried and failed in decoding the shells.

Those from the MHA told us there was nothing linked to terrorism in this case. The NSG chief, who was expected to know better, either did not know this or thought he will quickly impress the Home Minister without anyone really calling his bluff.

When I asked those from the NSG and MHA about this episode, a common response that I encountered was, "Let it be. He just doesn't understand the meaning of what he said."



ALSO READ:

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Powerful IED found in Cgarh ahead of MPs visit

Two unclaimed bags contained no explosive: Police

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A new study suggests that lovers need to meet at least four times before they find each other attractive.

Bella and Edward in a still from Twilight.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Lovers need to meet at least four times before Cupid's arrow strikes their hearts, said a study.

The findings showed that people often find themselves drawn to individuals after multiple encounters, even when there was no initial attraction.

"Cupid's arrow is often slow to strike. It may be attributable to the gradual change in attractiveness from repetition," Ravi Thiruchselvam, Psychologist at Hamilton College in New York, was quoted as saying by Daily Star on Sunday.

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For the study, the team gave snaps of people's faces to a group of young men and women.

The researchers then wired the participants brains to monitors as the group ranked the attractiveness of people in the pictures.

The subjects were then shown the snaps for a second time, and rated those they found attractive much more highly.

The attraction was even stronger on the third occasion and strongest of all on the fourth.

The fourth attempt showed extra activity around the excitement and pleasure centres of the brain of the participants.

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Chief Justice TS Thakur said that since the issue has certain dimensions, a judicial order will not suffice and a solution can only be found out at the political level.

By Harish V Nair: There is only a political solution to the law and order problem which keeps recurring in Jammu and Kashmir and there is no point rushing to the Supreme Court seeking some relief, a Chief Justice TS Thakur-led bench told National Panthers Party President and advocate Bhim Singh.



Singh had filed a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to impose Governor's rule in the strife-torn state.

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The remarks came on a day when a joint delegation of opposition parties led by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him of the ground situation with an appeal to adopt a political approach in dealing with the unrest in the Valley.

JUDICIAL ORDER WILL NOT SUFFICE

CJI Thakur clearly told him that since the issue has certain dimensions, a judicial order will not suffice and a solution can only be found out at the political level. The judges asked Singh to participate in the consultations.

When Singh retorted that an "RSS-dictated government will not invite him for discussions", the CJI asked him not to make any political speeches inside the courtroom.

The CJI told Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar who represented the Centre: "See Singh is a respected leader of Jammu and Kashmir and has always been fighting for civil liberty. Ensure that he also can attend the meetings. There is no harm in hearing what all the parties have to say. There are certain issues which we cannot handle. There are certain dimensions to the problem which the court cannot decide judicially. These issues find resolution in such meetings where all the stake holders get a listening. So ensure that Singh also gets a hearing."



ANTI-INDIA SLOGANS



Significantly an affidavit filed by the Centre earlier said the public address systems of mosques were being used time and again to raise anti-India slogans.

"Inimical and anti-social elements exploited the news of Wani's death on the social media to inflame passion. Public address systems of some local mosques were being used to raise pro-freedom slogans and incite the youth to indulge in stone pelting," it said.

The report said: "Curfew is in force only in certain areas of the three districts in the Valley. However, due to persistent efforts of the security forces or the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the situation has shown remarkable improvement, with the number of incidents declining progressively since the outbreak of violent protests and clashes."

The SC said that in these 872 incidents, 42 civilians and two security personnel were killed, while 2,656 civilians and 3,783 security personnel were injured. Kumar said that 28 government establishments were set ablaze and 49 such establishments were damaged and due to the violent incidents the curfew was initially imposed on 10 districts out of the 22 districts of the state.

Also Read



Kashmir unrest: Chief Minister Mehbooba agrees with Omar Abdullah, asks Centre to initiate dailogue





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By PTI: Kathmandu, Aug 23 (PTI) India did not have a hand in building or bringing down the Nepali government, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said today.

Rae said India wants to work with Nepal in development projects by improving bilateral ties between the two countries.

India did not have a hand in bringing down the government in Nepal, Rae was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times.

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He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Nepal after Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahals visit to India.

Pointing out the need for promotion of religious tourism in Nepal, Rae informed that "homework" is being done for direct air connection between major Indian and Nepali cities.

Nepals Prime Minister Prachanda was elected Prime Minister on August 4 for the second time after his brief stint with premiership came to an end in 2009. The Prime Minister?s post had been left vacant since last month after CPN-UML chairman K P Sharma Oli tendered his resignation.

Nepal had plunged into a political turmoil after Olis resignation.

Ties between India and Nepal were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

Madhesis, mostly Indian-origin, had launched a six-month-long agitation from September to February in which more than 50 people were killed. The agitation had also crippled the landlocked countrys economy as supplies from India were blocked. PTI UZM ASK UZM

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By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today said the Delhi government has no plan to ban liquor in the city even as he maintained that the AAP dispensation does not want to run the city administration with money collected from sale of alcohol in the national.

The Deputy Chief Minister, who was responding to a question of AAP MLA Pankaj Pushkar from Timarpur in the Assembly, accused the Opposition of spreading "misleading" figures on the number of liquor shops in the city to "deceive" the public.

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Sisodias statement comes at a time when there is a controversy over rise in liquor shops in Delhi. The Deputy CM said in many areas, liquor vends have been closed after complaint from public and soon Mohalla Sabhas will take a call on existence of liquor shops.

"There is an attempt to create an environment that we are the liquor mafia. We ended corruption in distribution of licence for liquor vends and that is why we are being targeted. We have shifted liquor shops to mall as they have arrangement to deal with anti-social elements," he said.

Sisodia claimed only six retail vends have come up in the city and the number of other licenced establishments serving alcohol has actually gone down since the AAP assumed office.

"I fail to understand how six new retail shops have contributed towards doubling the revenue collection? A section is deliberately misleading and trying to create a wrong perception. It is almost like we have turned into liquor mafia but no one is noticing how many Ponty Chadhas we have put out of business," he said.

"Delhi will become the first place where locals will decide the location of liquor vends. We have ended the inspector raj and corruption in excise department. Now, an officers job is to stop corruption and dont think about liquor vends.

"Earlier, politicians or their relatives used to own liquor shops, now in our government no MLA supports opening of vend in his or her area," Sisodia said.

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. There are over 460 liquor shops in residential neighbourhoods.

The development comes amid a campaign by the Swaraj Abhiyan, led by former AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, against "proliferation" of liquor vends in the city.

Quoting an RTI reply from Delhi governments excise department, the group has claimed that 58 liquor vends had come up in the city since last February. (MORE) PTI BUN SBR SMN

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By PTI: Srinagar, Aug 23 (PTI) Over 500 cases have been lodged against "rioters and anti-national elements" in the four districts of south Kashmir in the last 44 days, with 381 "miscreants" arrested, officials said today.

"All the police stations and posts in south Kashmir (comprising Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian districts) are fully functional and are working round-the-clock, along with the other security agencies, to bring the situation under control.

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"In the last 44 days, the police have registered 537 cases against rioters and anti-national elements. As many as 381 miscreants have been arrested and several rioters injured in police and security forces action while controlling the law-and-order situation," a government spokesman said here.

He said the state police has remained at the forefront while dealing with the situation.

"Police have risen to the occasion and faced the challenges with tremendous restraint, despite grave provocations in the form of mobs attacking their establishments, vehicles and personnel," the spokesman said.

Refuting reports of militant training camps being run in the Valley, he said, "There is a very high concentration of security forces at Tral due to the ongoing problems and there is no input regarding any terrorist training camp being run."

Kashmir is on the boil since July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, a resident of Tral, was killed along with two of his associates, in an encounter with the security forces at Kokernag area of south Kashmir.

The ensuing widespread clashes between protesters and law enforcing agencies have left 65 persons dead so far and over 8,000 injured, mostly in the districts of south Kashmir. PTI MIJ TA RC SK RC

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By PTI: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Aug 23 (PTI) Pakistan has launched a fresh drive to gather support for its NSG membership bid with a top official today embarking on a visit to Belarus and Kazakhstan to gain their backing.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi is undertaking visits to Belarus and Kazakhstan from August 23 to 27 as a special envoy of Premier Nawaz Sharif, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

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"The objective of the visits is to seek the two friendly countries support for Pakistans membership of the (48-nation) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," it said.

The Special Assistant is carrying letters from Sharif addressed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"In his letters, the Prime Minister has underscored the need for the NSG to adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of the membership for non-NPT states in order to promote strategic stability in South Asia and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime," the Foreign Office said.

While in Belarus, Fatemi will call on President Lukashenko and will hold meetings with Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov and Minister of Industry Vitali Vovk, it said.

In Kazakhstan, the Special Assistants programme would include meetings with Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan M Ashikbayev.

Pakistan faces a tough challenge in gaining entry into the nuclear trading club as it has failed to get the support of the US which is pushing for Indias membership. PTI SH ASK ASK

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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", was voted to power promising to wipe out drugs and warning traffickers they risked death if they did not mend their ways.

Funeral workers carry the body of one of the five suspected drug pushers killed in a police operation in Quiapo city, metro Manila, Philippines (Photo:Reuters)

By Reuters: More than 1,900 people, or about 36 per day, have been killed in a violent campaign against drugs in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte came to office seven weeks ago, the country's national police chief said on Tuesday.

Director-General Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing there was no declared policy to kill drug users and pushers and that about 1,100 deaths were still being investigated.

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"We are not butchers," he said.

The rest of the dead were people killed in police anti-narcotics operations, dela Rosa said.

RISE IN BODY COUNT



"This has a chilling effect," said Senator Frank Drilon after the police chief's deposition. "We are all concerned about the number of deaths, by any language this is alarming."

Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", was voted to power promising to wipe out drugs and warning traffickers they risked death if they did not mend their ways.

The inquiry is being conducted by a staunch critic of the president, Senator Leila de Lima, who has summoned top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the "unprecedented" rise in the body count and reports of vigilante killings.

Duterte has warned legislators not to interfere with his campaign, saying they could be killed if they blocked efforts aimed at improving the country.

Nearly 700,000 drug users and drug peddlers have turned themselves in to escape the crackdown, police chief dela Rosa said. He said there was a decrease in overall crime, although murders and homicides had increased.

WAR ON DRUGS

Outside the senate building, dozens of supporters cheered Dela Rosa for leading the war against drugs, chanting his nickname, "Bato, Bato".

Some carried placards reading: "We are with you Bato in the fight against drugs".

The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said overnight it was "deeply concerned" by the reports of the killings and the State Department urged Duterte's government to abide by human rights norms.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the United States and European Union members "should make it clear to Duterte that inciting such violence is unacceptable and will reap potentially severe diplomatic and economic costs".

"Otherwise, it's hard to envision when these killings will end," it said.

Click here to Enlarge A member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) investigation unit shows confiscated methamphetamine along with illegal firearms seized from suspected drug pushers (Photo: REUTERS)

POLICE INVOLVED

The number of those killed provided by dela Rosa at the Senate hearing was higher than the 1,800 he gave at the hearing on Monday. He gave no explanation for the higher number but said the figures were updated.

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Dela Rosa said about 750 of the dead were killed in police operations against drug peddlers. The other deaths were being investigated, he said.

"Not all deaths under investigation are drug-related," dela Rosa said, adding that 40 killings were known to be due to enmity or robbery.

He also said about 300 of his officers were suspected to be involved in the drugs trade, warning these personnel will be sacked and charged in court if found guilty.

There has been speculation in the local media that some of the killings were carried out by corrupt police officers who were wiping out drug peddlers to avoid exposure.

ALSO READ:

Notorious drug supplier arrested who once escaped by faking death

Scotland Yard intercept drug smuggling drones





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This is one race you wouldn't want to miss, especially since the Olympics are over.

By India Today Web Desk: Sprinter Usain Bolt has been making quite a few headlines of late. The latest reason, however, is one you just wouldn't want to miss. Great Britain's Prince Harry has challenged the Olympian to a race!

On Usain Bolt's 30th birthday (August 21), Prince Harry posted through the official Kensington Palace Twitter account a congratulatory message for the sprinter--calling him "officially the greatest"--and asked for a chance to test his speed against the world's fastest man.

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Bolt's response--"Let's do it."

Congratulations @usainbolt - now you're officially the greatest you might be ready for a re-run! ??? Happy 30th -H. pic.twitter.com/Wa0yOZMDc2 Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) August 21, 2016

Let's do it. Respect for the bday wishes https://t.co/HS6wGKrD86 Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) August 22, 2016

In case you'd missed out, Prince Harry's first race with Bolt happened during one of his Jamaica visits, in 2012. And well, the British royal won--by jumping the starting gun, in good humour, of course. Bolt then requested a rematch at the then-upcoming London Olympics, but Harry cheekily told him he was "busy" at the time. And Bolt ended up teaching the prince his signature celebratory move.

"He's cool, very down to earth. When you meet dignitaries you think it will be difficult but he just wanted to laugh--it was an honor and a pleasure to meet him," Bolt told BBC about that encounter.

Clearly, the two still remember the time fondly. And we hope we get to see a rematch!



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Civil society in Kashmir valley is hoping to break the impasse and set the ball rolling towards restoration of normalcy in the region.

By Ashwini Kumar: Ahead of second visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Jammu and Kashmir from Wednesday, civil society in Kashmir valley is hoping to break the impasse and set the ball rolling towards restoration of normalcy in the region.

POTENTIAL FOR BREAKTHROUGH

Since the visit of one of the senior most union leaders is taking place close on the heels of formal meeting between leaders of the opposition parties from J&K and the Prime Minister of India, hopes have been raised of a significant break through at least this time round.

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In his previous visit to the state Union Home Minister had to satisfy himself with meeting lesser known delegations following tensions in the valley. Several prominent civil society groups and trader bodies had decided to boycott the visit of the Union Home Minister.

This time we are looking forward to meet Union Home Minister to present our side of the story and seek early resolution of the issue to ensure peace returns to Kashmir valley, a senior member of the prominent civil society group claimed.

CARRYING THE DIALOGUE FORWARD

Since separatists have already rejected the offer of holding parleys within the ambit of the constitution it remains to be seen whether any significant effort is made to initiate back channel talks with some of the moderate voices to explore the possibility of carrying forward the dialogue process. Mainstream politicians and other groups are expected to call on Union Home Minister during his two day long stay in the valley.

Sources said on one hand the central government rushed 26 more security companies to the region to deal with violent outburst but and on other hand, the Modi government reiterates giving a healing touch to Kashmiri people.

ALSO READ:

PM Modi on Kashmir: Dialogue must for lasting solution



Pakistan continuously trying to create unrest in Kashmir: Rajnath Singh

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Protests erupted in parts of Mandya and she was even trolled on twitter. "Sedition is not a surprise at all. And I stand by what I said," she said, unapologetic and defiant.

By Pratiba Raman: When actor-turned-politician Ramya answered my call, she said, "You never remember me nor say 'hi' unless I land myself in controversy." She seemed cool and breezy. "Call me in 5 minutes and let's meet," she said.

When I met her at home, she jovially said, "Now don't tell me this is yet another controversy." Well, a fight with actor Sudeep, later with Karnataka minister Ambareesh and now with ABVP/BJP. This morning she woke up to a sedition case filed against her by Kodagu Pragatiranga President and Advocate, Vittal Gowda.

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HER PAKISTAN REMARK

All this in the backdrop of a statement made by her when defence minister Manohar Parikkar equated Pakistan to hell. "Pakistan is not hell. I went there for a summit and they treated us all well," she said rejecting the minister's statement.

Protests erupted in parts of Mandya and she was even trolled on twitter. "Sedition is not a surprise at all. And I stand by what I said," she said, unapologetic and defiant. "When the minister can express his opinion, why can't I?" she continued.



SEDITION

However, this has been perceived as anti national by certain sections with a case seeking sedition that will be heard on August 27th. "How can the court allow this petition? That in itself is appalling," said author Ramachandra Guha, rising in support of Ramya.

"Sedition is being misused by the government. It should be repealed. Sedition does not go hand in hand with a country that is democratic in nature," Ramya said. "It is used as a tool by political parties to suppress voices of dissent and opponents," said Guha.

One of Ramya's tweets took a dig at RSS and Modi. "Didn't RSS call Pakistan its brother? Modi went uninvited to Pakistan!" she said.

"I would term Modi as being more hypocritical than all," said Guha.

Ramya said that she doesn't have a problem with apologising if she felt she had done something wrong. "But this is not something that warrants an appologu. I will fight it legally," she said.



ALSO READ:

Actor-politician Ramya, charged with sedition, says she won't apologise for 'Pakistan not hell' remark

Amnesty sedition case: Congress caught on the wrong-foot?





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By India Today Web Desk: Known to be a powerhouse himself, Ranveer Singh has his own favourites in B-Town. The Bajirao Mastani has given the title of the most energetic actor to Akhsay Kumar in industry.

ALSO READ: Ranveer Ching returns and Rohit Shetty reinforces all his film cliches into this ad

ALSO READ: Ranveer asked for Padmavati script from Bhansali after Shahid came on board?



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"If you talk about energy, the name that immediately comes in our mind is Akshay Kumar. He lives such a healthy lifestyle. He does not smoke or drink, early riser, regular workouts," Ranveer told IANS.

When asked how much he enjoys the TAG 'Ranveer Superstar Singh', he said, "Thank you... I take that as a compliment. I am very thankful for all the good works coming my way and most of all is the love of the audience."

Reportedly Ranveer might work for the third time in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati (after Ramleela and Bajirao Mastani), but he said he is not able to speak about any of his upcoming projects.

"Something relevant about my upcoming projects, I will be the first person to let you know." he told media.

On the work front, he will be next seen in Aditya Chopra's Befikre. Set in the city of love, Paris, the romantic drama is slated to release on December 9. The film marks the comeback of Aditya as a director after a gap of 8 years.



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By India Today Web Desk: Not much is known about the storyline of Kabir Khan's Tubelight except that it revolves around a mentally deficient character who falls in love with a Chinese girl in the backdrop of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. After delivering two back-to-back hits with Salman Khan - 2012's Ek Tha Tiger and 2015's Bajrangi Bhaijaan - much is expected from Kabir Khan's third collaboration with bhai. The fact that Chinese pop star and actor Zhu Zhu has been cast opposite Salman, instead of an established Bollywood actor, has generated a lot of industry buzz.

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ALSO READ: Who is Salman Khan's Tubelight actress Zhu Zhu? Find out here

ALSO READ: Salman Khan wraps up Tubelight's shooting in Ladakh



However, according to a latest report in BollywoodLife.com, Tubelight is not based on an original script but is actually a remake of the 2015 Hollywood film Little Boy. The report goes on to say that the only difference between the films is that while Little Boy has a father-and-son track, Tubelight has the same plot device involving two brothers played by Salman and Sohail.

Little Boy is a fantasy film set during World War II. The story is about Pepper (Jakob Salvati) or the 'little boy' who is bullied by his classmates becuase of his small height. However, when Pepper's father and guardian (Michael Rapaport) is captured in war as, probably, a Japanese prisoner, Pepper sets out on a journey to find him against all odds and obstacles.

Salman will play the titular character of Tubelight, who on account of being slow to pick up things, fits into the narrative of getting mocked. Supposedly, the Michael Rapaport character will be played by Sohail Khan.

Tubelight is slated to release on Eid next year.

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By PTI: From Aditi Khanna

London, Aug 23 (PTI) Supporters of Julian Assange fear an assassination attempt was made on the Wikileaks founder after an intruder scaled the walls of his Ecuadorian Embassy hideout here.

Ecuador today expressed concern over the "inadequate" response from the British authorities to the incident at the embassy, which has been Assanges home for over four years.

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An official statement from Ecuador said: "The Ecuadorian government expresses its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place.

"The government of Ecuador regrets that, despite the enormous resources that the British government has undertaken to prevent Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorian embassy, the authorities did not respond more quickly to this extremely serious attempt an unauthorised entry," the statement said.

The statement said it has made available all evidence in its possession to help clarify this "serious incident" to the UK diplomatic police.

"The government of Ecuador expresses its willingness to cooperate with the security forces in the UK to prevent future incidents and renews its commitment to protect Julian Assange," it added.

A number of social media users suggested it was an assassination attempt "ordered" by Hillary Clinton, while others thought US President Barack Obama was involved.

Wikileaks wrote on Twitter earlier today: "At 2:47am an unknown man scaled the side wall (and the) window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security.

However, Scotland Yard seems to be treating the incident as an "attempted burglary".

"Police are investigating an alleged attempted burglary at diplomatic premises in Kensington and Chelsea. Detectives from Kensington and Chelseas CID are leading the investigation alongside colleagues from the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue," a Metropolitan Police statement said.

Assangeis wanted in Sweden in relation to a 2010 rape allegation, which theAustralian national denies. He has fought against being extradited to Sweden, saying he fears he would then be transferred to the US to face charges on Wikileaks activities.

In 2012, while on bail, he claimed asylum inside the Ecuadorean embassy in central London after the UK Supreme Court had ruled the extradition against him could go ahead.

A UN working group had ruled in February thatAssangewas being arbitrarily detained. However, the UK Foreign Office has called for the UN decision to be reviewed, sayingAssangewas staying in the embassy voluntarily and that the UK had a legal duty to extradite himto Sweden.

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Met Police had scaled back its multi-million-pound security presence from the Ecuadorean embassy last year, saying the operation was "no longer proportionate".

The round-the-clock vigil onAssangehad reportedly cost the force around 11.1 million pounds.

Earlier this month it emerged that Swedish prosecutors investigating the rape allegation against Assangehave agreed to question him at his embassy hideout. PTI AK UZM

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Sushma Swaraj today in a series of tweets appealed to the stranded Indian workers in Saudi Arabia to return by September 25.

By Anil Kumar: Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today appealed the stranded Indian labourers in Saudi Arabia to return by September 25. She added that the expenses will be borne by the Indian government.

Swaraj said on Twitter that "General V K Singh visited Saudi Arabia twice to resolve the problems of Indian workers rendered unemployed due to closure of companies there.

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She advised all such Indian workers to file their claims and return home by September 25. She added that the government will bring them back free of charge and said that when the Saudi government settles with the companies, the worker's claims will also be settled.

Indian workers who have lost their jobs should file their claims and return by 25th September. We will bring them back free of charge./2 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 23, 2016

Swaraj also warned that "those who do not return by September 25 will have to make their own arrangements for boarding, lodging and return journey."



Those who do not return by 25th September will have to make their own arrangements for boarding, lodging and return journey. /4 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 23, 2016

Thousands of Indian workers lost jobs in Saudi Arabia due to slowdown.

Earlier the king of Saudi Arabia Salman gave instructions to help the thousands of Indian workers stuck in the Saudi Arabia, including giving them free passage back home. Minister of State for External affairs V K Singh interacted with important Saudi authorities.



Thousands of Indian workers lost their jobs due to slowdown in Saudi economy which was triggered by low oil prices and cut in spending by the government.



Also read:

More than 2,000 Indian workers stuck in Saudi Arabia seek Modi, Sushma's help



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Just before its official launch, RJio is doling out free SIM cards on 4G phones promising 90 days of free service.

By Devina Gupta: The latest promotional offer from Reliance Jio (RJio) Infocomm Limited to hook consumers to 4G services has the telecom industry divided.

At the heart of the controversy is the promotional scheme of Reliance Industries Limited telecom venture RJio. Just before its official launch, the company is doling out free SIM cards on 4G phones promising 90 days of free service.

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Although RJio has tied up with Samsung and LG phones to rollout this promotional offer, a quick check at the Reliance Digital stores in Delhi shows that you can avail this service on other phones too.

"This scheme has been available for the past 6 months, only now they are publicising it. But its available on other phones too", said an executive at the Reliance Digital Store in Delhi.

While RJio's strategy is to expand its consumer base, other telcos are crying foul. They have claimed that RJIO has started giving full fledged 4G services in the garb of promotional offer and it is an unfair trade practice.

"It's a full fledged commercial scheme. All we are saying is that Reliance should come out and accept it that they are giving full 4G service, otherwise its creating an uneven competitive field", said Rajan Mathews, DG, Cellular Operators Association of India.

Reliance Jio has already written a letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, claiming its competitors are denying interconnect points, resulting in at least 65 percent call drops made by its 'test customers' pool.

India Today Television has accessed the letter from RJio to TRAI, which explicitly mentions how it has invested over Rs 1.34 crore in the project and is currently conducting test trials after informing the Department of Telecommunication.

RJio has also targeted leading telcos Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular Limited claiming 'core members of COAI have control over the conduct of COAI' and are deliberately creating roadblocks.

But COAI leading the battle on behalf of the other telcos has hit back.

Speaking to India Today Television, COAI DG, Rajan Mathews claimed that RJIO has been given sufficient interconnect points to support at least 15-20 million users.

"Actually what members are saying is that it really takes 30 paise to carry that call and deliver it on our network. So even in this instance, you are at the best paying 14 paise. So in a sense, for every call that is coming, we (other telcos) are subsidising it by 15 paise as per TRAI rules. So there is a real financial impact on all the operators which needs to be recognised," said Rajan Mathews, DG,COAI

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Highly placed official sources in the telecom ministry told India Today Television that Mukesh Ambani had a long meeting with telecom secretary JS Deepak last week, discussing full rollout of RJio in Delhi.

When questioned about the raging 4G war, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha told India Today Television that consumers would be put first.

"We will intervene when needed. Whenever there is a need for consumer, we will work for them", Manoj Sinha told India Today Television.

While industry sources indicate RIL will rollout RJio officially by October, this never seen before promotional scheme is first of its kind move and can lead to ugly showdown between the telcos.

Interestingly, RJio is a telecom arm of RIL which bought a controlling stake in Infotel Broadband Services Limited for Rs 4,800 crore in 2010, giving it access to 4G spectrum in all 22 zones in India. And with the next spectrum auction around the corner, 4G wars is set to only heat up.



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Baazigar co-stars Vatsal Seth and Ishita Dutta might be seeing each other, according to a source.

By India Today Web Desk: Vatsal Seth and Ishita Dutta are currently starring in a new dramatic daily called Rishton Ka Saudagar-Baazigar. Yes, the very same Vatsal Seth who wowed us with his performance in the dramatic-thriller Ek Hasina Thi.

Also read:I dont have a negative role in Baazigar: Vatsal Seth



According to reports, the lead pair of the show--Ishita Dutta and Vatsal Seth are dating in real life. Although it is not unusual for co-stars to fall for each other while shooting, but this one came as a surprise since both Ishita and Vatsal were asked to sign a contract that stated that the two are not allowed to date each other.

A promo poster of the show. Picture courtesy: Instagram/ishidutta

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Yep, you read that right. As soon as the news surfaced on the internet, people couldn't stop discussing it. In fact, the TV industry itself was apparently quite shocked when it came to know of the no-dating clause in a contract, as this rarely happens.



"Both the actors spend long hours in each other's vanity vans. They decided to spend some quality time together and took off on a holiday to Bangkok," Mid-day quoted a source as saying.

Vatsal Seth and Ishita Dutta. Picture courtesy: Instagram/ishidutta

However, Ishita flatly denied the rumours, but chose not to speak about the said Bangkok vacation.

"Vatsal is a great friend. He is a chilled out guy and I love working with him, just like I enjoy working with my other co-actors. But I am not dating him. Having said that, it's not that the contract is stopping us from meeting each other," the actress told Mid-day.



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By PTI: From Anisur Rahman

Dhaka, Aug 23 (PTI) The son of a top Bangladeshi war crimes convict was blindfolded and picked up by security officials from his residence here, his family claimed today, amid an intensified vigil ahead of a Supreme Court verdict on the fate of another war crimes accused.

Abdullahil Aman Azmi, son of war criminal and ex-Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Ghulam Azam, was blindfolded and picked up by some plainclothes men without an arrest warrant from his Boro Moghbazar residence in the capital last night, his family members were quoted as saying by local media.

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Police, however, said they had no idea whether any other security agency had picked him up.

"We know nothing about the incident," officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station Mashiure Rahman told reporters.

Azmi is the elder son of Ghulam Azam, the former head of Jamaat-e-Islami, who died two years ago in prison. He was handed "imprisonment until death" for committing crimes against humanity siding with the Pakistani troops in 1971.

Jamaat was opposed to Bangladeshs 1971 independence from Pakistan while most of its top leaders were tried for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.

A former brigadier general of army, Azmi was sent on forced retirement as the incumbent government assumed office after the landmark 2008 general elections and initiated the trial of major perpetrators of 1971 war crimes.

The development came as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is expected to dispose a review petition of death-row convict and Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali, whose death penalty was upheld earlier by the apex court itself.

Unidentified plainclothes men had earlier this month picked Ahmed Bin Quasem, son of top Jamaat leader and convicted war criminal Mir Quasem Ali.

Police also arrested executed war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhurys son Hummam Quader Chowdhury from a court compound in the city on August 4. PTI AR AJR ASK AJR

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After the deadliest attack of the year in Gaziantep on Saturday, Turkeu has taken it upon themselves to wipe out the Islamic State militants at the border.

Women mourn as they wait in front of a hospital morgue in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, after a suspected bomber targeted a wedding celebration in the city, Turkey.

By Reuters: Turkey vowed on Monday to "completely cleanse" Islamic State militants from its border region after a suicide bomber suspected of links to the group killed 54 people, including 22 children, at a Kurdish wedding.

Saturday's attack in the southeastern city of Gaziantep is the deadliest in Turkey this year. President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday it was carried out by a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14, adding that initial evidence pointed to Islamic State.

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But speaking to reporters in Ankara on Monday Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it was too early to verify the organisation responsible or whether the attack was carried out by a child.

THE WEDDING ATTACK

A senior security official told Reuters the device used was the same type as those employed in the July 2015 suicide attack in the border town of Suruc and the October 2015 suicide bombing of a rally of pro-Kurdish activists in Ankara.

Both of those attacks were blamed on Islamic State. The group has targeted Kurdish gatherings in an apparent effort to further inflame ethnic tensions strained by a long Kurdish insurgency. The Ankara bombing was the deadliest of its kind in Turkey, killing more than 100 people.

"Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders and we are ready to do what it takes for that," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara, using an Arabic name for the group.

ATTACK ON ISLAMIC STATE IN SYRIA

On Monday, Turkey's military launched howitzer attacks on Islamic State while artillery pounded Kurdish YPG militants in Syria, whom Ankara sees as an extension of its own Kurdish insurgency. An official said the strikes were designed to "open a corridor for moderate rebels".

A senior rebel official said Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were preparing to launch an attack to seize Jarablus from Islamic State, a move that would deny control to advancing Syrian Kurdish fighters.

The rebels, groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, are expected to attack Jarablus from inside Turkey in the next few days. Reuters TV footage showed around 10 Turkish tanks deployed at a village around 4 km (2.5 miles) from the border gate immediately across from Jarablus. It was not clear how long the tanks had been there.

Prime Minister Binali Yilidirm has said Turkey would take a more active role in Syria in the next six months to prevent the country from being divided along ethnic lines.



TURKEY TARGET

Cavusoglu said Turkey, a member of NATO and the US-led coalition against Islamic State, had become the "number one target" for the militants because of its work to stop recruits travelling through Turkey across its over 800 km (500 mile) border into Syria to join the Sunni hardline group.

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For Ankara, Islamic State is not the only threat across its frontier. Turkey is also concerned that attempts by Syrian Kurds to extend their control along the common border could add momentum to an insurgency by Kurds on its own territory.

Dogan news agency said the death toll in the Gaziantep bombing had risen on Monday to 54 after three more people died. Sixty-six were being treated in hospital, 14 in serious condition.

The attack comes with Turkey still shaken just a month after the government survived an attempted coup by rogue military officers, which Ankara blames on U.S.-based Islamist preacher Fethullah Gulen. Gulen denies the charge.

Turkish authorities have said a destroyed suicide vest was found at the scene of the bombing.

A second security official told Reuters that they were investigating the possibility militants could have placed the explosives on the child without his or her knowledge and detonated them remotely, or that a child with a learning disability was duped into carrying the device, a tactic seen elsewhere in the region.

"It could be that someone was loaded with explosives without even being aware of it and it may have been detonated remotely," the official said, adding a search was underway for suspected militants who may have played a reconnaissance role.

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In the latest southeast violence, two Turkish security force members and five PKK militants were killed in clashes and attacks in three areas of eastern Turkey over the last 24 hours, officials said.

Some in Turkey, particularly in the Kurdish southeast, feel the government has not done enough to protect its citizens from Islamic State.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said the wedding party was for one of its members. The groom was among those injured, but the bride was not hurt.

Also Read

Turkey: 50 killed in suicide blast at wedding party in Gaziantep





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By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) A woman allegedly killed her six-year-old daughter before committing suicide in suburban Kandivali, a senior police official said here today.

Police suspect that financial issues might have led 28-year-old Prerana Katakdaund to take the extreme step.

She used to stay with her husband, a contractual labourer with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and their daughter at Charkop in Kandivali.

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"She strangled her daughter and later hanged herself from a ceiling fan last evening," a senior official said.

He added that prima facie it appears that the woman took the extreme step due to some financial problems and added that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

Charkop police have registered a murder case in this connection, the official added. PTI AVI NP TIR RYS

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A woman was arrested at the Mumbai Airport for reportedly smuggling gold worth Rs 64 lakh in her innerwear.

By Shivendra Srivastava: Custom officials arrested a woman passenger at Mumbai airport with gold bars worth Rs 64.38 lakh. The accused identified as Farhath Unnisa tried smuggling 2.2 kilograms gold in her inner garment. She was later released on bail.

Official sources said that Unnisa was a frequent traveller and that they had detained her over suspicion. Unnisa had arrived from Dubai. Upon interrogation, she told the police officials that she smuggled the gold on behalf of someone else.

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Sources said that smugglers were using more women to smuggle gold and currency. According to officials, these smugglers also sought assistance from airport staff.

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A purported video of the incident, which occurred at a bakery in Bhosari area on August 15, has gone viral, while the three accused have been arrested, police said.

By PTI: Workers at a bakery here were made to do sit-ups allegedly by members of a local Ganesh Mandal for refusing to pay them donation for the upcoming festival, police said today.

A purported video of the incident, which occurred at a bakery in Bhosari area on August 15, has gone viral, while the three accused have been arrested, police said.

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WHAT HAD HAPPENED



According to an official of Bhosari police station, the accused went to the bakery and demanded vargani (donation) of Rs 151 from the workers for the Ganesh festival. The workers, who are non-Maharashtrians, said the owner of the shop was not there and hence they did not give the donation, the official said.

Following the denial for donation, the accused, identified as Prakash Landage (30), Ganesh Landage (30) and Mahesh Mare (31), abused the workers and later made them to do sit-ups, the official said.

A complaint was filed by one of the workers, Irshad Mommammed Ayub Khan, and a case under IPC sections 294 (obscene act or words in public), 341 (wrongful confinement), 385 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered, the official said, adding investigations are underway.





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By India Today Web Desk: So, you're a fisherman and you go out fishing one fine day, hoping to get a good haul. That's it. That's all you wish for. But as fate would have it, you end up finding a 34-kilogram pearl, which turns out to be the largest of its kind in the world .

That's what happened to a lucky person in Palawan Island, Philippines. An unnamed fisherman fished out a giant clam from the sea that housed the pearl, roughly worth $100 million in the market.

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But displayed to the world only yesterday, the pearl's discovery had taken place at least a decade back. Probably unaware of the gigantic gem's value, the fisherman had kept it tucked under his bed as a "good luck charm" for the last ten years.



Here's what happened:

In 2006, during one of his trips into the sea off the coast of Palawan Island, Philippines, the fisherman found the enormous clam while trying to dislodge his boat's anchor that was wedged on it.

"He noticed that it [the anchor] was lodged on a shell and swam down to pull up the anchor, and also brought the shell with him," said Tourism officer Aileen Cynthia Amurao. "He didn't know how much it was worth and kept it tucked away at home as a simple good luck charm."

Recently, after a fire broke out in his property, he was forced to move the pearl from his home. He then handed it in to the local tourism officers in Puerto Princesca, who shared its pictures on social media.

"We were amazed when he brought it to us," said Amurao. "We now need help from gemologists to fully certify it. We're waiting for authentication from Gemologist Institute and other international authorities."

"But we believe Puerto Princesca is likely to earn another prestigious title and a record breaker for having the world's biggest natural giant pearl from a giant clam," she said.

They are most probably correct. This chunk of rock is one-foot wide and 2.2-feet long. Compared to that, the current world's biggest pearl, the 6.4kg weighing Pearl of Allah, is a dwarf.

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By India Today Web Desk: Hina Khan aka Akshara has been admitted to the hospital because of an abdominal ailment. The actress had just returned to Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai shoot from her London holiday when she was diagnosed.

"Hina had been off for a vacation, post which she resumed shoot. However, she suffered from an abdominal ailment post which she was admitted," a source told TellyChakkar.

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Also read: Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai: Akshara aka Hina Khan to sport a modern look post-leap



Hina is under treatment right now in a Mumbai hospital. To justify her absence from the show, a new track in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai shows Akshara heading to Delhi for some urgent work.

Of late, rumours of Hina throwing tantrums on the sets of the show have been doing the rounds. It is being said that the actress shoots only for five hours a day and even refuses to give retakes, even if the shot is riddled with mistakes. She is also known for her short temper. Fed up of her high handedness, the makers have reportedly decided to cut short her presence on screen by focussing more on her on-screen children--Rohan and Naira, reports Asian Age.

Also read: This DDLJ moment starring Hina Khan and on-screen son Rohan Mehra will make you very nostalgic



Hope the issues between Hina and the makers get resolved. Meanwhile, here's wishing a speedy recovery to Hina Khan.

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Dr. Rafizadeh goes on to give some background, Born in Esfahan, Iran, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri was one of the founding fathers of the Islamic Republic, a human rights activist, Islamic theologian and the designated successor to the Regimes Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, until the very last moments of Khomeinis life. His pictures were posted next to Khomeinis in the streets. Many believed that he could have stayed silent, acquiesced, and followed the agenda of the ruling leaders  including Khomeini, Rafsanjani, Khamenei, and the senior cadre of IRGC  in order to receive the highest religious and political position in the Islamic Republic.

However, Montazeri felt that he did not have a response on the Day of Judgment, and that he felt that it as his duty to speak up and warn Imam [Rouh Allah Khomeini]. With that, Montazeris fate was sealed. Right before Khomeinis death, Montazeri was replaced by a junior cleric Ali Khamenei.

He always felt compelled to speak up; he thought the Islamic Republic had significantly diverted from the ideals of the revolution, he believed religion was intervening in the political affairs of the state, the image of Islam was being tarnished by the Islamic Republic, and he thought people should be given more power over the government. says Dr. Rafizadeh.

One of the core tensions between Montazeri and the ruling elite was his criticism that the governments policy is violating the inalienable rights of the people and restricting their freedom, according to Dr. Rafizadeh, The surfacing of this audio by Montazri has shed light on underlying pillars of the Islamic Republic in consolidating its power and governing.

In response to the enormous mass executions in 1988, Montazri said, I am a straight-talking person. I dont hold back what is in my heart. In contrast to some gentlemen who do what is politically expedientBelieve me, I havent been able to sleep and this issue (executions) occupies my mind 2-3 hours every night  how will you respond to the families? How much Shah executed? Compare our executions to his! When asked for his permission to execute 200 people, he retorted, I dont give permission at all. I am even against a single person being executed.

Many members of those who were executed were from the opposition group, MEK which is led currently by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) President-elect, Maryam Rajavi. Amnesty International estimates that in the summer of 1988, the overall number of people executed were 4,500. Some estimates reach as high as over 30,000 people. Many of them belonged to the (PMOI / MEK).

Montazeri points to the un-Islamic, illegal and unjust elements of these executions which also included executions of children and pregnant women.In Esfahan, a pregnant woman was among them [those massacred]. In Esfahan they executed a pregnant woman. [In clerical jurisprudence] one must not execute a woman even if she is a mohareb (enemy of God). I reminded [Khomeini] of this, but he said they must be executed. In the month of Moharram, at least in the month of Moharram, the month of God and the Prophet, it shouldnt be like this. At least feel some shame before Imam Hussein. Cutting off all meetings and suddenly engaging in such butchery, dragging them out and Bang! Bang!!! Does this happen anywhere in the world? 

Montzaeri argued that opposition should not be addressed by executions but by challenging their ideology.

. Executing them without (their having committed) any new activities brings into question all prior judges and judgments. How do you justify executing someone who was sentenced to something less than execution? Now we have cut off all meetings and telephone calls. But tomorrow what answer can we give to their families?  Ultimately, the Mujahedin-e Khalq are not simply individuals. They represent an ideology and a school of thought. They represent a line of logic. One must respond to the wrong logic by presenting the right logic. One cannot resolve this through killing; killing will only propagate and spread it.

Dr. Rafizadeh, says, The government could not eliminate Montazri the way it did with other opposition leaders due to his religious authority and the large number of followers he had. He was put under house arrest and his speeches and activities were heavily controlled.

He continues, Ironically, all those people to whom Montazri is addressing and warning in the audio, all of those who were involved in these crimes, appear to enjoy high positions currently. Mostafa Pourmohammadi was a representative of the intelligence ministry to the notorious Evin prison, and he was recently appointed by the so-called moderate president Hassan Rowhani to be justice minister. Ebrahim Raeisi was a public prosecutor and is currently the head of Astan Quds Razavi, which has billions of dollars in revenues. What is crucial to point out is that realistically speaking, these people are only few of those who would be involved in such large scale crimes against humanity. They have been awarded higher positions, power, and money.

Poignantly, Montazeri tells the ruling politicians, Beware of 50 years from now, when people will pass judgment on the leader (Khomeini) and will say he was a bloodthirsty, brutal and murderous leader. I do not want history to remember him like that

Dr. Rafizadeh, concludes, Finally, it is incumbent on the human rights organizations, the United Nations, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct rigorous investigations and bring those who have committed and continue to commit these crimes  and more likely who currently serve in high positions in Iran  to justice. Calls to bring these people to justice are increasing.
But on Monday there was arguably a positive sign for people like Krauthammer, who are concerned about what appears to be a growing series of challenges from an Iran-Russia alliance that may also include Iraq, Syria, China, and others. Although these sorts of critics had emphasized that the Obama administration did nothing to push back against the threat that was put on display by the new Russian air strikes, the arrangement between Russia and Iran apparently deteriorated anyway, entirely on its own.

The end of the Iran-based bombing raids was detailed by the Washington Post on Monday. It explained that Iranian officials had expressed distaste for Russian efforts to publicize the arrangement. Moscow had issued a press release on the topic shortly after launching its first bombing raid from Iran. The Russian narrative had expressed confidence that there was country in the Middle East that is friendlier and better from the security angle than Iran.

This is in keeping with an assessment of the air base arrangement which was published in the National Interest on Sunday. In it, George Mason University Professor Mark N. Katz explained that for Russia, the effort to carry out military activities directly from Iran was not so much an element of strategy as it was an effort to project a symbol of unprecedented cooperation. And as various reports had indicated last week, the cooperation was apparently unprecedented, as the Islamic Republic has never allowed another countrys military forces inside its territory.

On the other hand, the end of the arrangement on Monday seemed to suggest that Iran was the passive party, having given assent to Russias use of its air bases, but only in response to a Russian request. The National Interest article suggests that this gesture was important to Russia in large part because it would encourage the US and its allies to persist in a soft policy toward Russia, on the assumption that Moscow would be able to intercede with Tehran over the future of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and other areas of joint foreign policy.

But accepting this Russian narrative would have meant that Iran ceded power to its partner, and this does not seem to be something that the Islamic Republic is willing to do. In fact, the Washington Post specifically reported that Iranian officials were concerned with being perceived as a Russian client. Consequently, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan accused the Russians of showing off and maintaining an inconsiderate attitude. The subsequent cancellation of the shared air base arrangement may have served to send the message that Iran is still fully in control of its own foreign policy and willing to engage Syrian rebels on its own, even though various earlier reports have suggested that Iranian forces are stretched to the breaking point.

It may or may not be coincidental that at the same time Iran was striving to look strong in the face of Russian influence, it was also publicly unveiling new domestic weapons, in the latest of a long series of attempted shows of force. Agence France-Presse detailed the premier of the Bavar-373 missile defense system, which is reportedly Irans first domestically produced, long range missile system.

Interesting, work on the Bavar-373 was initiated in response to the 2010 postponement of a deal between Iran and Russia for the purchase of the latters S-300 missile defense system. The resumption of that deal was announced prior to the conclusion of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. But actual delivery of the missiles is still ongoing, apparently having been delayed because of Russian nervousness about the potential reactions from other countries, including Israel.

The domestic alternative may afford Iran some leverage over Russia by implying that the Islamic Republic is not dependent on the completion of the deal and is capable of finding domestic alternatives to other would-be Russian-sourced arms purchases. However, the truth of that implied claim is in dispute, since the specifications of the Bavar system have not been independently verified and Iran is known for exaggerating its own military capabilities.

Exaggeration notwithstanding, with the missile unveiling taking place so close on the heels of a slight contraction in Iranian-Russian relations, one might suppose that the two countries have demonstrated contrasting perspectives on their tenuous alliance. Both stand to benefit from mutual challenges to Western interests, but each wants to seem like they are in control and thus in a position to personally dictate terms to the US and Europe.

In this way, Irans military relationship with Russia is somewhat reminiscent of its economic relationship with many of the countries who formerly participated in nuclear-related sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Since the conclusion of negotiations with the P5+1, Iranian authorities have been simultaneously eager to economically re-engage with the world and nervous about relinquishing the nations self-image as a powerful bulwark against Western influence in the region.

An article published in the Japan Times on Sunday pointed out that Iran is still struggling to attract foreign investment, due in part to relations between Iran and its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, lingering sanctions from the United States and the slow reform of Irans financial sector. The Iranians have not seriously addressed these or other concerns, but numerous officials have attempted to pressure the Obama administration to help Iran achieve a greater economic recovery, lest the recent nuclear agreement be cancelled in the same way that Iran cancelled its much more recent air base arrangement with Russia.
[August 23, 2016] Lumesse Enhances Footprint in Asia with Revolutionary Talent Management Platform

SINGAPORE, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumesse, the global leading Human Resource software provider, today announces its new set of Talent Management solutions -- Empower in Asia. Empower solutions are the next generation of Lumesse ETWeb, and are designed to encourage broad enterprise adoption, increase engagement and drive better business outcomes by empowering all employees to proactively manage careers. Empower taps the proven capabilities of ETWeb and extends those capabilities with several enhancements. Intuitive interface compatible with mobile devices and new versions of Windows

Enhanced usability that reduces complexity, improves efficiency and drives adoption

Simple, flexible, rapid navigation through the entire application

Intuitive reporting form as foundations for strategic analysis and improved planning Although ETWeb has always been at the cutting edge of Talent Management, Empower delivers significantly more powerful analysis and more accurate metrics to optimize and execute organizations' talent strategies. Empower provides new capabilities both for managers and the broader employee pool. With Empower, managers are now able to comment the salary review records and determine employee's start page providing a more comprehensive record throughout a career. Streamlining time-consuming tasks, users can also choose to hide or unhide the forms and fields without customization. Embracing the Lumesse Open Platform commitment as the means to deliver highest custome ROI, a portal enables integration and data synchronization with other software solutions.



Carsten Busch, Lumesse General Manager of Talent Management solutions underscored the company's sustained efforts at enabling excellence for its customers. "Through the past three decades, Lumesse has been devoted to developing a world-class Talent Management platform. We are proud to provide solutions to more than 2400 enterprises across the globe, and based on what we have learned in partnership with those customers, are always improving our technology and services. Empower is out most ambitious effort to date, and one of which we are exceedingly proud." "We are constantly looking for ways to better serve our customers," Busch continued, "And this evolution of ETWeb are enhancing both our product and services."

In a response to customer desires for intuitive, simple usage of the entire application suite, ETWeb empower was designed to deliver a people-centric experience via a consumer application-like interface. With an overall objective of optimizing enterprise talent management through broad adoption of tools the single user interface for all applications in the suite and synchronized data from end-to-end are critical enablers. "I believe the footprint of Empower will expand in the next few years around Asia,", said Mehul Rajparia, VP of Lumesse APAC, "Based on the new capabilities in Empower, we can bring user experience to the next level and help enterprises drive broad adoption that will improve employee engagement." For more information about Empower, please visit: www.lumesse.com or call Henry Xu, Marketing Manager of Lumesse APAC at +86 21 6258 6653. About Lumesse Lumesse provides Talent Solutions to more than 2,400 organisations in over 70 countries enabling them to engage and nurture the best talent in an ever-changing and demanding global environment. With our unique and highly adaptable Talent Solutions our customers are well prepared to capitalise on the fast evolution of new technologies and disruptive business conditions, making talent management their business advantage. Lumesse Talent Solutions are optimised around customers' best practises and can be deployed in the cloud, hosted internally or externally. They are designed to meet all their global and local business requirements, giving them the edge in the race for talent, wherever they do business. Each year, Lumesse Talent Solutions provide over 4.3 million performance plans, process more than 51 million job applications and fulfil more than one million vacancies, in addition to having delivered 100 million learning courses.

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[August 23, 2016] Nexenta to Showcase Innovative Open Source-Driven Software-Defined Storage (OpenSDS) and All-Flash Solutions at VMworld 2016

Nexenta (@Nexenta), the global leader in Open Source (News - Alert)-driven Software-Defined Storage (OpenSDS), today announced their participation in VMworld 2016, where they will lead speaking sessions and showcase their OpenSDS product portfolio within the Nexenta Booth #1757, including an All-Flash Zone with partner participation from Dell, Lenovo, Mellanox, Micron, SanDisk a Western Digital brand, Supermicro, and VMware. Nexenta and VMware have forged a long-term strategic partnership to deliver solutions that work with any hardware, any protocol, any cloud, any app and any stack, virtualizing the data center. VMware-Nexenta solutions can offer enterprise customers a myriad of benefits including high performance, simplicity, agility and lower cost of ownership for the Software-Defined Data Center. Additional information on these solutions can be found here. "We are thrilled to continue developing our partnership with VMware and showcase our joint solutions at VMworld again this year," said Tarkan Maner, CEO and Chairman at Nexenta. "Nexenta is proud to work with such an innovative company that is continuing to optimize its virtualization services for organizations across the enterprise. VMware shares our passion and ongoing dedication to providing customers with solutions that can be successfully implemented across any platform or environment." Nexenta will present two speaking sessions during the conference. Nexenta's Field Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Michael Letschin (@mletschin) will lead the first session titled, "Journey to the SDDC: The Who, What, Why and Oh No of Moving to a Modern Data Center Platform." Letschin will discuss how the data center of today is dependent on flexibility and efficiency, which is a drastic change from vendor-driven monolith solutions of the past. He will delve into how the data center has transitioned from the cost center of old to today's software-defined center and will focus on exploring the types of solutions that can enhance today's systems, from all-flash to software-defined storage and networking. In this session, multiple customers will share their insights on the pros and cons of making this transition into the modern data center. This session (STO9449-SPO) will take place on Wednesday, August 31, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. PT at South Pacific D, Level 1, Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Letschin will also present with Bryan Young, Senior Product Line Manager at VMware, in a joint session titled, "File Services on Virtual SAN." Leschin and Young will discuss the considerations for using Virtual SAN to deliver file services to an organization and will explore virtual NAS based solutions that address file services with both NFS and SMB protocols. They will share reasons as to why Virtual SAN is ideal for file services, while providing details of several partner solutions and design tradeoffs when selecting a particular solution. This session (STO9423) will take place on Wednesday, August 31, from 4:00-5:00 p.m. PT at Islander G, Level 1, Mandalay Bay Convention Center.



Letschin will also participate within a panel at the VMware Opening Acts on Sunday, August 28th at 11am in the Liberty Loft meeting space at New York-New York Hotel and Casino. The panel focuses on how to move your career forward. In this panel, they'll discuss how to act professionally on social media even when you're in competition with other folks in technology, tips on how to cope with imposter syndrome, and how to maintain a healthy work/life balance. Nexenta will be in booth 1757, where they will offer daily cash raffles and demos encompassing their full product suite, including NexentaStor, NexentaEdge, NexentaFusion, and NexentaConnect, over the course of the four days. Nexenta will also be hosting Next.Talks, where customers and partners will join Nexenta in discussing the latest trends in the software-defined storage market and highlighting their newest products, and the ways in which they work with Nexenta. Attendees will also receive a gift for listening.

Nexenta's booth will also feature the "All-Flash Zone," which will showcase joint software-defined storage solutions optimized for all flash deployments with partners including Dell, Lenovo, Mellanox, Micron, SanDisk, Supermicro, and VMware. About VMworld 2016 VMworld 2016 is the industry's largest virtualization and cloud computing event. With more than 400 unique breakout sessions and labs, and more than 220 sponsors and exhibitors, attendees will have unparalleled access to the knowledge and tools they need to master the new cloud landscape and transform their business. To learn more about VMworld, please visit: www.vmworld.com Tweet this: [email protected] to participate and present at @VMworld 2016, showcasing Open #SDS and all-flash solutions. #OpenSDS #OpenSDx About Nexenta Nexenta is the global leader in Open Source-driven Software-Defined Storage (OpenSDS) with 6,000+ customers, 400+ partners, 42 patents, and more than 1,500 petabytes of storage under management. Nexenta uniquely integrates deep software-only "Open Source" collaboration with one of the largest and most vibrant Open Source communities (46,000 members) and a comprehensive vision around a commodity hardware-centric "Software-Defined Storage" innovation enabling ANY app, cloud platform and protocol. Nexenta is 100% Software-based; and 100% hardware-, protocol-, cloud platform-, and app-agnostic providing organizations with Total Freedom protecting them against punitive "vendor-lock-in", "vendor-bait-n-switch", and "vendor-rip-n-replace" gimmicks. Nexenta provides enterprises with the "true" benefits of "true" Software-Defined Everything-centric Cloud Computing - from data centers to end users; from the infrastructure to apps. Nexenta enables everyday apps from rich media-driven Social Living to Mobility; from the Internet of Things to Big Data; from OpenStack and CloudStack to Do-It-Yourself Cloud deployments - for all types of Clouds - Private, Public, and Hybrid. Founded around an "Open Source" platform and industry-disrupting vision, Nexenta delivers its award- and patent-winning software-only unified storage management solutions along with enterprise-scale 24x7 - around the globe - All Love - service and support with a global partner network, including Canonical, Cisco, Citrix, Dell, Docker, HPE, IBM, Lenovo, Micron, Quanta, SanDisk a Western Digital brand, Seagate, Supermicro, VMware, Western Digital, Wipro (News - Alert), and many others. Nexenta: 100% Software. Total Freedom. All Love. For more information, visit, www.nexenta.com, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. Also, download the newly published Nexenta Special Edition Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC) for Dummies eBook. Nexenta, NexentaStor, NexentaConnect, NexentaEdge and NexentaFusion are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nexenta Systems Inc., in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks, service marks and company names mentioned in this document are properties of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005297/en/

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[August 23, 2016] World Possible Awarded $250,000 to Launch an Innovative Prison Education Program in the United States

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- World Possible is pleased to announce that it has been awarded $250,000 to launch World Possible Justice, a U.S. based prison education technology pilot program. The program will rely exclusively on open-source and creative commons licensed technologies to bring digital educational opportunity to correctional facilities. World Possible has hired Frank Martin, formerly the Education Administer of the Oregon Youth Authority, to lead the pilot program, which will build a roadmap for low-cost, high-quality digital education in state and federal, youth and adult, correctional facilities. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400266LOGO "The incarcerated populations in the United States are not being given adequate 21st century skills they need to re-enter society. By leveraging current open-source collections of content and unique offline technologies, we're bringing educational opportunities into a place that was off limits just a few short years ago," says Frank Martin. "If we prepare inmates, and I prefer the term students, for re-entry by equipping them with appropriae digital skills, access to education, and career content, we are going to reduce recidivism and unlock the potential that is in each of these returning citizens."



The pilot program will focus on the use of World Possible's RACHEL (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning) Offline technology and Endless Computers' educational Endless OS to implement technology without the need for internet connectivity. RACHEL-Plus is built on Intel Corporation's Content Access Point and allows for a small slice of the internet to be stored locally on the device for use in a classroom or remote area without needing the internet. RACHEL-Plus is now used in over a dozen countries and is in independent pilot programs across correctional facilities in 11 states around the United States. Intel Corporation recently published a case study on the development and deployment of the innovative RACHEL-Plus solution.

"World Possible Justice is a natural extension of the programs we have run in Latin America and Africa over the past decade," says Jeremy Schwartz, World Possible's Executive Director. "We see immediate benefit to providing digital literacy, educational opportunity, and a pathway to a college degree in an offline setting that fits the needs of prison administrators." World Possible will engage MANAUS consulting to document and study the pilot programs. World Possible Justice marks the fifth chapter in World Possible's social entrepreneur program, following successful incubation of chapters in Kenya, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, and Namibia. Media Contact:

Jana Melpolder

Email

(814) 490-0114 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/world-possible-awarded-250000-to-launch-an-innovative-prison-education-program-in-the-united-states-300316853.html SOURCE World Possible

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[August 23, 2016] Ultrasonic Testing Market Worth 3.93 Billion USD by 2022

PUNE, India, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Ultrasonic Testing Market by Type (Time-of- Flight Diffraction, Phased Array, Immersion Testing, Guided-Wave), Equipment (Flaw Detectors, Tube Inspection, Transducers & Probes, Bond testers), Service, Vertical, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to reach USD 3.93 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 8.3% between 2016 and 2022. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 66 market data Tables and 59 Figures spread through 178 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Ultrasonic Testing Market".

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ultrasonic-testing-market-131229239.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The factors which are driving the growth of market include development of portable phased array ultrasonic testing equipment, need for reliable non-destructive testing technique for fiberglass and carbon fiber composites in manufacturing, growth in ultrasonic testing services market, and government mandates. "Ultrasonic flaw detectors accounted for a major share of the overall UT market during the forecast period" The ultrasonic flaw detectors are expected to lead the UT market between 2016 and 2022. Flaw detectors are widely used as the depth of penetration is superior to other methods and they provide highly accurate flaw sizing and shape of the equipment to be tested. Moreover, this equipment generates and displays an ultrasonic waveform that is interpreted by a trained operator, often with the aid of analysis software, to locate and categorize flaws in test pieces "Training services expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2016 and 2022" With the aging infrastructure and the growing rate of new infrastructure development, the demand for skilled NDT technicians is expected to grow in the near future. Appropriate training enables the UT supervisor the ability to detect flaws with a high degree of accuracy and reliability without causing damage to the structures or components. "APAC expected o dominate the UT between 2016 and 2022"



Countries in Asia-Pacific are involved in the manufacturing of defense aircraft, which would increase the scope of UT in the defense and aerospace sector. The UT market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow tremendously owing to the rapid infrastructural development. The market for UT equipment is expected to grow fast, driven primarily by major infrastructure advancements and automation in manufacturing processes in countries such as India and China. Inquiry Before Buying: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=131229239

The major players involved in the ultrasonic testing market include General Electric (U.S.), Olympus Corporation (Japan), Ashtead Technology Ltd. (U.K.), Mistras Group Inc. (U.S.), and TecScan Systems Inc. (Canada), Sonatest Ltd. (U.K.), Amerapex Corporation (U.S.), NDT Systems Inc. (U.S.), Applied Technical Services, Inc. (U.S.), and Sonotron NDT (Israel). Browse Related Reports Non-Destructive Testing and Inspection Market by Technique (Visual Testing, Magnetic Particle, Liquid Penetrant, Eddy Current, Ultrasonic, Radiographic, Acoustic Emission, Terahertz Imaging), Service, Vertical, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/non-destructive-testing-ndt-equipment-services-market-882.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.



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[August 23, 2016] NCR Announces NCR Innovation Lab to Enable Digitally Integrated Businesses

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a global leader in omni-channel solutions, today announces the NCR Innovation Lab, a brand new research and development hub, which will focus on cross-functional research, innovation, and design-thinking. The NCR Innovation Lab will bring together NCR's R&D teams with its global innovation labs to drive a unified omni-channel focus and build upon NCR's position as a leader in the digitally connected economy. To be located in NCR's new global headquarters under construction in Atlanta, the NCR Innovation Lab will keep NCR at the forefront of new technologies and innovations, including in the areas of mobile, big-data, cloud, Internet of Things, machine learning, and predictive analytics, to leverage them to deliver innovative solutions for digital commerce in a wide variety of industries. The company will develop new APIs to enable digitally integrated businesses and create new revenue generating opportunities in the API enabled economy. "The NCR Innovation Lab will accelerate our transformation to a platform based business model. We are living in exciting times where developers and customers from various ecosystems co-create and exchange value, which is changing the way we research, innovate, and design and think about our solutions and offerings," said Eli Rosner, chief technology officer and senior vice president of software solutions, NCR. "Omni-channel has evolved. It is now a strategic, end-to-end solution with a horizontal opportunity across all industries, in every geography, and for all tiers of customers," Rosner continued. "NCR has a big role in shaping this industry, enabling digitally integrated businesses, and powering the digital economy for our customers." The first challenge the NCR Innovation Lab took on was a "90-Day Challenge" - a program that brought ogether R&D and Product teams to design and develop new solutions. The program resulted in a working demo and several patent application filings earlier this year. The NCR Innovation Lab will continue to run "90-Day Challenge" programs, as well as solutions-focused Hackathons and several other activities to promote innovation.



"Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing technology centers in the nation, and is emerging as an international hub for technology," said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. "NCR's Innovation Lab will be a key addition to Atlanta's vibrant innovation community of research institutions, corporations, start-ups and organizations developing game-changing technologies that will shape our future." The NCR Innovation Lab intends to work and collaborate with researchers and students at Georgia Tech, the developer community in the state of Georgia and around the globe, and other companies, including start-ups and customers, on innovation. These engagements and innovations should also help to create additional business opportunities.

"In Georgia, we are fortunate to have a diverse array of centers and incubators that are forging new pathways in digital integration, putting our state at the forefront of progress in the industry," said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Chris Carr. "We are excited that industry giant NCR will also open their innovation lab here, and we look forward to seeing the new ideas that spawn from this collaborative space." About NCR Corporation NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leader in omni-channel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables more than 550 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier. NCR is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia with over 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries. Web Site: www.ncr.com Twitter (News - Alert): @NCRCorporation Facebook (News - Alert): www.facebook.com/ncrcorp LinkedIn (News - Alert): www.linkedin.com/company/ncr-corporation YouTube (News - Alert): www.youtube.com/user/ncrcorporation View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005735/en/

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[August 23, 2016] PrairieIT Announces ThePhotoStick, the Digital Photo Back-Up Solution

HAXTUN, Colo., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PrairieIT announces their new digital photo back-up product, ThePhotoStickthe fast, easy and safe way to find, rescue, and save photos and videos from a Mac or PC. ThePhotoStick solves the problems regarding photos and videos on your computer: how do you find and save the thousands of photos and videos scattered throughout your computer on countless directories? What if your computer crashes and you lose all your photos? Is the cloud the only safe place for your photos? Says Mark Oman, founder of PrairieIT, "Photos are more than just snapshots. They're priceless memories." Oman speaks from experience as he once lost precious photos from a special family vacation. This motivated him to come up with a way to easily find and save all the photos on his computer to prevent this from happening again. Oman and his team at PrairieIT used thir knowledge from their innovative product, Xtra-PC, to create ThePhotoStick.



ThePhotoStick is a USB stick that contains proprietary software and storage to make it simple to find all your photos and videos on your Mac or PC and easily save them to the USB sticknot just to a server or just to the cloud. ThePhotoStick is simply the best option for protecting your memories. ThePhotoStick comes in three sizes8GB, 64GB and 128GB. For typical photo file sizes, this allows you to store from 3,000 photos on a 8GB or up to 60,000 photos on a 128GB stick.



ThePhotoStick is a one-time cost, starting at under $20 each, and is available to ship today. To learn more, visit www.ThePhotoStick.com. ThePhotoStick is a product of PrairieIT LLC, makers of products that give new life to old computers. They are located in the town of Haxtun on the prairie of Colorado. 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/prairieit-announces-thephotostick-the-digital-photo-back-up-solution-300315824.html SOURCE PrairieIT

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The Domain Name Server (DNS) Response Policy Zone (RPZ) is an open, vendor-neutral standard for the interchange of DNS firewall configuration information. RPZ was developed by the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) to fight the abuse of the DNS by groups or individuals with malicious or harmful intent. RPZ is a standard feature of BIND 9 (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) as of version 9.8.1 and was built upon the Mail Abuse Spam Project, which introduced reputation data as a means of protecting against email spam. Due to the proliferation of criminal activity on the Internet, it is difficult for the Internet security industry to remove criminal infrastructure at domain registries, hosting providers or ISPs on a timely basis.

RPZ allows a DNS server (a recursive server) operator or administrator to maintain their own firewall policies and share those policies with all internal name servers. They may also subscribe to external firewall policies, such as commercial or cooperative "threat feeds" which are provided and updated on a regular basis (typically several times per day) by security service and reputation data providers. Through the use of RPZ, an administrator can implement their own policies based on reputation data provided through these subscriptions. This allows them to provide near-real-time protection to their users.

RPZ extends the use of reputation data into the DNS by allowing the administrator to essentially rewrite new address information on top of the answer returned by a global DNS in response to a user DNS query. The rewritten information then blocks, redirects, or provides an alternate destination for the query. RPZ stops malware-infected hosts from reaching command and control servers by blocking DNS resolution to known harmful or malicious hosts and sites.

This functionality is also known as a DNS firewall.

How It Works

In the simplest sense, RPZ provides a redirect function that overrides the DNS response when a user clicks on a link (on a website or in an email) or enters a website address or IP address that would go to a known bad website or address. This redirect function then either blocks the query or takes the user to an alternative website. RPZ is essentially a filtering mechanism that prevents users from visiting specified Internet domains or redirects them to other locations on the Internet.

More specifically, the RPZ function allows a DNS recursive server to choose from a set of specific actions for a specified set of domain name data (i.e., zones). The actions that can be taken include:

Allow the query to proceed and send the user to the requested domain (normal behavior)

Return a message that the domain or record type does not exist (NXDOMAIN or NODATA)

Ignore the query and not respond to it

Return a message that the user should go to a different domain (CNAME)

Automatically reroute the user to a predefined safe website

Automatically reroute the user to a predefined alternative location (a walled garden)

Administrators use RPZ by creating an RPZ master file (that clients do not query directly) which lists the bad locations users are not able to access, and then enabling RPZ in BIND. The master file contains the rules, stored in a DNS resource record set (RRset), which consist of a trigger and an action. These triggers and actions then determine the response returned, such as redirecting a user to an alternative website (the action) after entering a known bad website address (the trigger).

Administrators need to be aware that if more than one RPZ zone is configured, the zones are checked in the order they are entered. If the administrator wants his own (local) RPZ rules applied first, he must make sure to put those first, then the external RPZ entries.

NOTE 1: BIND applies the Response Policy only when a server is queried recursively

NOTE 2: DNS RPZ will block DNS resolution; machines connecting to command and control servers via a specified IP address will not be blocked

Why Use RPZ

RPZ is a relatively easy way for network administrators to protect users from navigating to known bad domains, IP addresses, host names and name servers. RPZs essentially apply a filter to the user query that protects the user from going to a known bad location.

DNS RPZ provides the same capabilities as a DNS block list, but with faster response times and increased scaling. In addition, administrators can combine their own local zone policies with other zone feeds provided by security and reputation data providers for a stronger, more customized protection policy.

Summary

Cyber criminals continue to hack and penetrate networks to disrupt service, implant viruses or malicious code, and steal sensitive data and corporate information. A recent study indicates that the averaged annual impact of cyber crime on the enterprise is $15M. In order to protect themselves, enterprises must use every tool available.

DNS RPZ is one of many tools that enterprises can use to defend their network infrastructure. By blocking DNS resolution via RPZ to known hostile, malicious and dangerous sites, administrators are able to prevent damage to connected devices and the network, secure the network against data theft and prohibit misuse of corporate resources.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi
CHARLESTON -- A Chicago man was sentenced to prison after he admitted taking part in a fight that reportedly involved four people outside a Mattoon residence.

Robert J. Lawrence, 21, also allegedly brandished a gun during the May 12 incident but a charge accusing him of having the gun was dismissed with the agreement reached in his case.

Lawrence pleaded guilty to a mob action charge, a felony offense that accused him of a role in the fight and disturbing the peace outside 1519 S. Third St. in Mattoon.

With the agreement, Lawrence was sentenced to two years in prison for the conviction that could have resulted in a one- to six-year prison term.

His prison time could be longer because records show he was on parole from a sentence for a Cook County conviction at the time.

The dismissed charge was possession of a weapon by a felon and accused Lawrence of having the gun though his criminal record meant he wasn't legally allowed the have the firearm.

A conviction for the weapons possession offense would have required a prison sentence of three to 14 years.

Lawrence also agreed to forfeit the gun he had during the incident. Coles County Circuit Judge Teresa Righter sentenced Lawrence based on the terms of a plea agreement that Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bucher and Public Defender Anthony Ortega recommended.

Records show that Lawrence was paroled from prison in April of last year after serving part of a sentence he received for a 2013 Cook County conviction for possession of a weapon by a felon.

Court records indicate that a woman told police that two other women attacked her outside the residence and Lawrence and another man then joined the fight.

A witness said Lawrence pulled a gun during the confrontation and police found a gun in his possession when he was located later, the records say.

The two women charged in connection with the incident face mob action charges and both are scheduled for hearings next month. They are Monshana K. James, 19, and Seanta M. Wilborn, 22, who both have addresses on record of 712 N. 20th St., Mattoon.

The other man charged in the case was Eric M. Lavaly, 22, of Mattoon, who was killed during a shooting incident in Greenup last month.
Illinois has a couple of months before the General Assembly returns for its fall veto session. Let's hope that's enough time for lawmakers to vet Gov. Rauner's veto of needed voter registration changes.

Last week, the governor vetoed a proposal (passed by both chambers) that would implement automatic voter registration when someone gets or renews a driver's license or state identification card. It's a move beyond the "motor-voter" process that allows people to choose to register when getting or renewing those documents.

Instead, the proposal would make that registration automatic unless the registrant opts out.

Information from the automatic registration would be sent from the Secretary of State's Office to the Illinois State Board of Elections for verification, according to a story by the Lee Enterprises capitol bureau. The information then would go to local election authorities, who would handle the actual registration.

Rauner, in his veto message, wondered whether the idea was fully thought through. What if the people who are automatically registered aren't citizens? The Secretary of State's office, which oversees driver registration and state ID cards, isn't set up to check citizenship.

Point made, Governor. And it's a good one - but not good enough to fully do away with the idea.

To his credit, the governor didn't suggest doing away entirely with automatic registration. It seems he just wants the proposal to contain the extra steps to verify the legality of someone registered to vote.

Illinois has a long and storied history of ineligible people casting votes - sometimes several votes - and sometimes from beyond the grave. Voter rolls need to be purged periodically, and most are, and registrars make sure that voters are legally able to cast a ballot.

That means residency and citizenship. And citizenship is not required to have an Illinois driver's license.

All that aside, it's wise to remember the reason behind the automatic registration proposal.

An alarming number of people are not registered to vote, or choose not to cast a ballot. That means a relatively small number of people - those who do vote - make the decisions that affect the rest of the state. Automatic registration also might help quell lines on Election Day, where same-day registration now is allowed.

The Lee bureau reported that Rauner said he would continue working with supporters to craft a proposal that meets our shared goals while complying with federal law and preventing voter fraud.

There is time to get that work done before the fall veto session, and that should be the goal of the governor and the registration supporters.

In the meantime, lawmakers should consider overriding Rauner's veto and then amending the legislative bill if problems do, in fact, arise.

-- The Bloomington Pantagraph
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 47th And Used To it, Plus: Susana Nicked In New TV Ads, Also: Not Liking Ike; Councilor Scored Over ART Defense



. . . the current state unemployment rate; the improvement in the state unemployment rate over the past year; the per capita state GDP in 2015; the percent change in real state GDP between 2014 and 2015; the percent change in state personal income per capita, from the third quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016; and the percentage growth in year-to-date increases in jobs for 2016.



Just three of the bottom 10 states in 2013 -- Connecticut, Mississippi and New Mexico -- stayed stuck in the magazine's bottom 10 in 2016.



With that gloomy news and so much more facing her, you would think her foes would use any advertising time they buy to take Gov. Martinez out on the economy. . .



There is a TV ad campaign up and running that takes on Martinez--not for the lousy economy--but for her environmental record.



The ads are the first negative TV featuring the Governor since her re-election bid in 2014 when an underfinanced Gary King nicked her. These ads are also relatively tame, not the hard-hitting sort that the Guv's machine has run with success over the past six and a half years.



Often times it is the donor of the cash for the TV time who determines the content.



Martinez's approval rating has slipped below 50% in the most recent PPP poll (47%) and she will officially become a lame duck following the November election.



NOT LIKING IKE



Councilor Benton An Alligator strike today on none other than mild mannered ABQ Democratic City Councilor Ike Benton. Why does this Gator no longer say, "I like Ike?"



Well, that's because the North Valley councilor stuck his head out of the foxhole briefly to praise Mayor Berry's hyper-controversial rapid bus line for a nine mile stretch of Central Avenue known as ART.



Ike is an environmentalist and urbanite from way back so his support (his op-ed is



Councilor Benton has come out from the shadows to admonish the public for not paying enough attention to the ART project during its inception and for being "confused." Curiously, in the same op-ed, Benton admits that he and the city both failed to communicate to citizens about the project. If anyone knows about communication, it's Ike, who completely lost it at the ART meeting in his district.



Ike wants us to shut up and take our medicine and accept the project as it is because it's already done and solid. Hey Ike, a little tip--the city is calling around scrounging for money because they don't have what they need to pay for trees along the ART route.



It's amazing that this Berry Administration enabler continues to exist in one of the most liberal districts in the city. As quiet as a church mouse, he's failed to say anything of significance about the police crisis or take the Berry Administration to task for anything.



If this is the level of opposition and alternative to the Berry Administration Dems are providing, it's no wonder the Republicans will continue to hold the mayor's office.



ART was given the legal go ahead last week by a federal appeals court in Denver and construction on the bus line is expected to begin in a matter of weeks, to the chagrin of its many opponents and many of the business owners along the designated route. Still, it's hard to stop liking Ike, even as we disagree with him on this one.



HATCH AND HATCH



There were a couple of problems with our first blog draft Monday on former NM US Senator Carl Hatch. First, we'll blame the spell checker for turning "Carl" into "Clyde" but this next one is on us. We blogged, based on information given to us by one of our longtime readers, that the village of Hatch in Dona Ana County was named after the former Senator. We should have know better. Really.



Hatch, NM began long before the 20th century career of Senator Hatch. The



Hatch was originally settled as Santa Barbara in 1851, however Apache raids drove the farmers away until 1853 when the nearby Fort Thorn was established. When Fort Thorn closed in 1859, the town was abandoned again in 1860. It was not until 1875 that it was re-occupied and at that time it was renamed for Indian fighter Edward Hatch, who was then commander of the New Mexico Military District.



Thanks to several Hatch readers for pointing us in the right direction. There is always more to learn about our Land of Enchantment..



This is the home of New Mexico politics.







Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.



( c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2016 Other states would grow sullen if they saw their state ranked 47th out of 50th in the Governing Magazine economic rankings , but we're so beaten down around here anytime we're not 49th or 50th it's a cause for a mini-celebration. The magazine looked at. . .Just three of the bottom 10 states in 2013 -- Connecticut, Mississippi and New Mexico -- stayed stuck in the magazine's bottom 10 in 2016.With that gloomy news and so much more facing her, you would think her foes would use any advertising time they buy to take Gov. Martinez out on the economy. . .There is a TV ad campaign up and running that takes on Martinez--not for the lousy economy--but for her environmental record. The ads come from the progressive nonprofit ProgressNow NM and might strike some as esoteric as they deal with a sinkhole problem in Carlsbad.The ads are the first negative TV featuring the Governor since her re-election bid in 2014 when an underfinanced Gary King nicked her. These ads are also relatively tame, not the hard-hitting sort that the Guv's machine has run with success over the past six and a half years.Often times it is the donor of the cash for the TV time who determines the content.Martinez's approval rating has slipped below 50% in the most recent PPP poll (47%) and she will officially become a lame duck following the November election.An Alligator strike today on none other than mild mannered ABQ Democratic City Councilor Ike Benton. Why does this Gator no longer say, "I like Ike?"Well, that's because the North Valley councilor stuck his head out of the foxhole briefly to praise Mayor Berry's hyper-controversial rapid bus line for a nine mile stretch of Central Avenue known as ART.Ike is an environmentalist and urbanite from way back so his support (his op-ed is here ) is not out of line. But that's not enough to spare him the bite marks of an Alligator's sharp teeth who is especially upset that Benton seems to fault the public opposed to ART for supposedly not paying attention and being "confused.":ART was given the legal go ahead last week by a federal appeals court in Denver and construction on the bus line is expected to begin in a matter of weeks, to the chagrin of its many opponents and many of the business owners along the designated route. Still, it's hard to stop liking Ike, even as we disagree with him on this one.There were a couple of problems with our first blog draft Monday on former NM US Senator Carl Hatch. First, we'll blame the spell checker for turning "Carl" into "Clyde" but this next one is on us. We blogged, based on information given to us by one of our longtime readers, that the village of Hatch in Dona Ana County was named after the former Senator. We should have know better. Really.Hatch, NM began long before the 20th century career of Senator Hatch. The correct version Thanks to several Hatch readers for pointing us in the right direction. There is always more to learn about our Land of Enchantment..This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Links HOME

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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 ...
The City budget is our plan for implementing the communitys vision of what we want Lincoln to be. Thousands of residents over the years have helped us set the agenda for Lincolns future. Their guidance so far has resulted in amazing successes. The next City budget must keep us on that pathway forward.

The City Council has delivered its plan. The laws that govern the budget process provide that we must now decide between the Councils plan and the original budget plan offered by our Administration.

Both plans emphasize keeping our community safe. The Council accepted our recommendation to fund four new police officers and six new firefighter paramedics to enhance public safety.

Both plans commit, in differing degrees, to building the infrastructure that supports growth. The Council supported our recommendations to invest in streets, water, and wastewater to spur economic growth and job creation.

Fiscal responsibility is where the plans diverge. By avoiding the tough choices, the Council majority threatens the Citys financial stability.

By focusing on the quick fix, the Council majority is ignoring long term issues that will create permanent structural deficits:

The first issue involves the Citys telecommunications occupation tax. Rapid advances in technology have changed consumer habits and increased competition. As a result, the City lost $1.7 million for the 2016-17 budget and must be prepared for even larger reduced revenues in the future. The Council had two choices to solve this gap: make responsible cuts or increase revenues. They chose neither, ensuring future deficits.

Second, the police fire pension is consuming an ever greater portion of the general fund budget. We had to put nearly $8 million in this years budget in order to meet our financial obligations. When I first took office that number was only $3.5 million. The cost to the City has been increasing about $500,000 per year over the last ten years. This trend is likely to continue. Again, the Council did not make sustainable cuts or provide a source of revenue to meet a challenge that continues to grow.

Third, the Emerald Ash Borer will kill nearly all of the Citys 14,000 public ash trees over the next several years. This crisis is staring us squarely in the face. The price tag is an estimated $2 million per year over 15 years. The Councils budget does not adequately deal with the crisis. We know from other communities that any delay now will cost us more in the future.

Finally, the Councils plan removes $420,000 from the Administrations budget that pays debt service on new and replacement streets lights. The Councils cut doesnt eliminate these costs. Instead their choice increases taxpayer interest payments and adds to future budget deficits.

The Councils actions are the very definition of the old cliche, kicking the can down the road.

Other Council actions reduce transparency, accountability, and efficiency. These include the Councils last-minute decision to cut almost one-third of the Citizen Information Centers budget as well as the elimination of the Citys budget officer, and the removal of much needed modern management software.

Another troubling aspect of the Councils budget is its impact on the community most important priority: public safety.

My budget included not just six additional firefighter paramedics but also a 7th ambulance. Both are badly needed to provide faster emergency response to people in need and ensure better medical outcomes. By taking the needed ambulance out of the budget, the Council is delaying the right choice for our growing community.

I cannot in good conscience sign a budget I consider fiscally irresponsible. The Council majoritys budget fails the community in four ways: it contributes to a long term structural deficit; delays todays obligations to tomorrow; reduces accountability, transparency and efficiency; and harms our emergency response.

Thats why I am vetoing this budget.

Avoiding tough budget choices today only serves to make those challenges larger and more expensive tomorrow. This threatens our ability to continue the community investments that have made us a great City.

My record on this issue is clear: in crafting budgets, I have not relied on false solutions. I have made the hard choices to both increase revenues and initiate major cuts, including more than 100 jobs since I took office.

This balanced approach is one of the reasons Lincoln is touted by the 24/7 Wall Street website as one of the best managed cities in the country. We have a triple A bond rating, a statement of our commitment to fiscal responsibility held by only the most financially sound cities in the nation. Our reputation for financial responsibility provides numerous financial advantages to Lincoln taxpayers. I cannot and will not jeopardize that reputation.

As I said last week, my oath to the people of Lincoln is to do whats right for our future, even if it isnt politically popular. Failing to address problems and allowing them to get bigger and more expensive is not doing whats right for Lincolns citizens.

Now, the road ahead is difficult. Four elected officials of the Councils majority support the Councils budget. And four elected officials, the Council minority and I, support the Administrations budget. We are deadlocked.

Fortunately, the law outlines what happens next in this case. When the Mayor exercises his authority to veto the budget, the Council has the opportunity break the deadlock with five votes to override the Mayors veto. If they cannot, the Mayors budget becomes adopted law.

I understand the City Council majority may be hesitant to vote for the property tax levy necessary to support the adopted budget after my veto.

But the law is clear. If the Council does not have the five votes necessary to pass their version of the budget, the Mayors proposed budget is the Citys adopted budget. The Charter states that the adopted budget shall become the basis for the property tax rates for the ensuing biennial period. That is how the law resolves the deadlock and allows us to move forward.

Some are questioning the legal opinion of the City Attorneys Office that supports this position. They suggest that the opinion is politically motivated. They say that other attorneys do not agree.

I would remind them that the opinion was authored by one of the most respected legal minds of our generation and a man whose integrity is beyond reproach. John Hendry was the Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court before he became City Attorney. Anyone who knows Judge Hendry knows that he would have resigned his position as City Attorney rather than author a legal opinion with which he did not agree.

I believe the current language provides a clear and fair process for our citizens. However, if Council members think the law should be changed for future budgets, they can take the steps to change it. That is the American way. But until the City Charter is changed, we all must follow the law. That is also the American way.

I am confident that the City Council majority will do their duty and follow the law. I am confident that the budget adopted will best serve the citizens of this community. And I am confident that after putting this budget issue behind us, the Council and I will work together to continue moving our community forward. That is the Lincoln way.
A federal appellate court on Tuesday ruled a lower court erred when it cleared Lincoln police officers of violating the constitutional rights of a double amputee forced out of his car at gunpoint during a traffic stop.

In a 2-1 decision, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court sent the case back for further proceedings and ruled the officers' actions weren't shielded from liability as a judge decided last year when he dismissed the case.

Tuesday's decision is the latest in a legal fight that began in 2012 over the incident, which Leroy Duffie said left him wounded mentally.

Around 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, 2011, Lincoln police pulled over Duffie's 1998 Chevrolet Astro van as he was southbound on 27th Street.

The officers were looking for a man who had brandished a handgun in a "'90s style Astro van" parked outside a convenience store.

They didn't pull over Duffie's van for any traffic violation, according to court documents. Instead they were looking for the suspicious person from the convenience store.

Ordered out at gunpoint, Duffie fell to the ground as one of his prosthetic legs detached, he said. He knocked his teeth out and tore one of his rotator cuffs.

Officers handcuffed Duffie as he lay on the ground and searched his car finding only a paintball gun Duffie said he planned to donate to a local charity.

After several minutes, the officers seized the paintball gun and released Duffie.

Judge Lavenski Smith, who wrote for the appeals court majority, took issue with the reason Duffie's van was pulled over in the first place and that officers continued a high-risk traffic stop with a mismatched suspect description.

In June 2015, Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf granted the city's request for summary judgment, ending the case without a trial.

Kopf ruled that the officers' actions were protected by legal doctrine called qualified immunity, which shields police and other government officials from liability for mistakes made acting in good faith.

There wasn't evidence, Kopf said, that the officers intended to cause harm to Duffie.

But in his appeal, Duffie alleged the stop itself violated his constitutional rights to be free of searches and seizures without reasonable suspicion.

Ruling in favor of Duffie, the appellate court said qualified immunity doesn't protect police when their actions violate someone's established constitutional rights.

Smith started with the underlying reason for the stop: the young man with the gun.

A report of a person with a handgun isn't enough to create a reasonable suspicion of a crime, Smith wrote, noting that in Nebraska and Lincoln people can openly carry handguns.

Also, the clerks reported only that the young man with the gun acted strangely. Though one clerk saw the man blowing smoke off the barrel, the clerk didn't say it was directed toward him, Smith wrote.

After spotting the van, Officer Nathan Kaiser tried to see the driver to compare his appearance to the description of the suspicious person, Smith said. Darkness made that harder, the judge said.

"Nonetheless, an objectively reasonable police officer would not mistake a 58-year-old bald man for a young adult with hair."

"Officers may not turn a blind eye to facts that undermine reasonable suspicion."

Judge Bobby Shepherd, the lone dissenting judge, said he believed the stop was constitutional because officers were told to be on the lookout for the van as part of an investigation and that police don't have to first exclude the possibility the man at the store lawfully possessed the gun to justify stopping Duffie.

Reasonable suspicion relies on the factual and practical considerations prudent people make in everyday life, Shepherd said.

The appellate judges didn't specifically address Duffie's claims that the officers mocked him as he lay on the ground, as he alleged in his lawsuit.

Duffie is seeking more than $600,000 in damages. His attorney declined to comment on Tuesday.

Lincoln City Attorney Jeff Kirkpatrick said he was disappointed in the appellate court's decision.

He can understand the court's sympathy toward Duffie, Kirkpatrick said, but he believes the officers acted appropriately.

The city could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or wait for the case to be tried in federal court.
After Rebecca Rickertsen earned a fine arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she got a job as a para-educator at Lincoln Public Schools.

It was a test of sorts, a way to dip her toes into education to find out whether being an art teacher might be her calling.

It didnt take long to realize thats exactly what she wanted to do.

I love it, she said. I love it more than I thought I would. Its the kids that definitely make that happen.

She started her third year as a para-educator this fall, her second year at Prescott Elementary. Shes enrolled in a graduate program at Doane College to earn her teaching certification and shes spending half her time doing a practicum with the Prescott art teacher.

All of which means her days as a para-educator are numbered.

She is not alone.

Of the 815 para-educators at LPS last year, more than half had been there two years or less. And 231 -- 28 percent -- had been there less than a year.

The numbers have not escaped district officials notice.

In the time Ive been here weve had a really difficult time completely filling our para positions, said Eric Weber, associate superintendent of human resources. Its always something thats been challenging.

At one point in recent weeks, the district had 21 unfilled para-educator positions. Two weeks earlier the number was at 36, Weber said.

The district has had the same problem in hiring and holding onto its 57 health technicians -- the people who work in school nurses offices. Of those, 44 have been there less than 10 years.

Concerned for some time about turnover and retention of both groups, the proposed LPS budget includes $790,000 for incentive pay.

On Tuesday, the Lincoln Board of Education will consider increasing para-educators pay by 16 cents an hour, and the health technicians' hourly rate by $2, to $14.35 an hour.

Para-educator pay ranges would increase from $11.58-$13.95 an hour to $11.74-$14.11.

Para-educators do a wide range of work, from checking in visitors at school entrances, to working with small groups of students who need more help with reading, to working one-on-one with students with a wide variety of needs -- from children with various learning disabilities, to autism to those with physical disabilities.

More than three-quarters of para-educators work with special education students. They are paid on four different levels, depending on the amount of time they spend with students and the intensity of that work.

Its a real diverse group of employees, so theres a fair amount of turnover, Weber said.

Prescott Principal Ruth Ann Wylie said years ago para-educators helped teachers with clerical work: checking papers, laminating, making copies. Today budget restrictions mean schools primarily can afford to hire only those who work with special education and preschool students.

The work they do is a critical part of the schools education plan, she said.

We just could not do without these paras, she said. We value them so much.

Over the summer, Wylie said she had to hire six new para-educators. Those who'd quit did so for a variety of personal reasons including one who moved. Another earned her degree and got a job as a teacher at LPS. Another got a higher-paying job as a legal assistant.

Huntington Elementary Principal Rik Devney has faced similar struggles and the school was understaffed for most of last year.

"For last school year, the para turnover factor was a challenge for us," he said. "Every para situation kind of has its own story. When all of those kind of come together within a full school year it can be a bit of a challenge to provide consistent programming."

Making the pay more competitive is especially important with health technicians, who need to be able to help kids with medications, treat asthma and do health checks, Weber said.

Our competition is the clerical world but also to some extent the health care world, Weber said. They can go into the work world and be a certified nurse assistant or something like that. We need to be competitive.

To some extent, schools like Prescott and Huntington face similar competitive pay issues with their para-educators. Both schools receive federal Title I money to help educate students living in poverty. Last year, 359 of the 815 para-educators in LPS worked in Title I schools.

Title I schools must hire para-educators with associate degrees or a certain amount of college credits, Weber said. They can also take an online college-level course to be eligible for a job in those schools.

Title I money typically pays the wages of some of those schools para-educators, often those who work with small groups of students who struggle in reading or math.

But hiring people with associates degrees means LPS is competing with higher-paying jobs in other fields, Weber said.

Not all schools have faced such staffing problems, nor do all para-educators leave for other work: 21 have been at LPS for 25 years or longer.

Noreen Moore is starting her 33rd year at Prescott as a para-educator, a job she got after volunteering in her daughter's classrooms for five years in the 1970s.

Shes done most everything: monitored the entrance, worked in the media center, helped teachers with paperwork, worked in small groups or one-one-one with students.

The works gotten harder over the years as students needs have increased, their problems escalated, she said. But the kids are the reason shes stayed long after her daughter grew up.

When the federal government began requiring higher education levels several years ago, Moore and several other longtime para-educators at Prescott took the online course so they could remain there.

She thinks her experience as both a parent and a para-educator helps her understand and work with parents -- but she also likes the diverse ages of her coworkers.

I love working with young people and young teachers, Moore said. They come in with new ideas and it keeps me young.
Northeast High School seniors Destiny Allen and Nigeria Jones sat outside the school eating Canes chicken fingers late Monday morning in the shadow of the Rocket.

They like the new symbol of their school, a replacement for one that stood there years before they were born and has been gone since 1990.

I like how they added it our last year, said Allen. It adds a lot of flavor to our school.

For years, an old Ajax defense missile donated to the school added the flavor, a symbol of school spirit held in place with five-gallon buckets of concrete.

It was also a prime target for school rivals, who stole it numerous times over the years, until it disappeared for good in 1990.

Last year, Jason Lemon, an alum and lifelong resident of northeast Lincoln, began an effort to build a new one.

With the blessing of Principal Kurt Glathar, Lemon took seed money -- $5,000 in winnings from an online contest and $6,500 for being named an inspiring school by the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools -- and began the work of making his dream a reality.

He sold 350 commemorative bricks that now surround the new rocket. He enlisted the help of school alums and area business owners who donated time and talent to help design and build the new symbol.

The rocket's three-sided support symbolizes the communities that came together to form Northeast High School in 1941. Havelock, University Place and Bethany all began as separate towns and for years Burlington Northern and Goodyear employed many who lived in the northeast neighborhoods.

The school took its mascot from the Rock Island Rocket, a lightweight, streamlined diesel-electric passenger train that sped through northeast Lincoln years ago.

On Monday morning, students, teachers, alums and neighbors dedicated the new 10,000-pound steel rocket amid much pomp and fanfare.

The $55,000 symbol is bigger and better than the original: It's 16 feet long, its nose stands 22 feet off the ground and its stand is planted in the ground firmly enough its not likely to be stolen again.

Lemon said he hopes it remains a symbol and gathering spot for generations.

Ive always dreamt big and seeing this current rocket in front of the school -- I havent gotten goosebumps like that since (former Board of Education member Marian Price) handed me my diploma in 1991, he said.
The Republican majority of the Lincoln City Council passed a budget plan on Monday that could be headed to a mayors veto and a potential court fight.

In approving a two-year budget with no property tax increase, the four Republican council members called their plan responsible and said not raising the property tax rate was a matter of principle.

The three Democrats, who continued to support Mayor Chris Beutlers original proposal and its small property tax increase, said the mayors plan was responsible, with an eye to the future.

The Republican plan, which includes deep cuts to the mayor's staff, puts off paying some debt and eliminates some new positions, could face a veto.

Youll know tomorrow, said Rick Hoppe, chief of staff to Beutler, when asked about a veto decision after Mondays council meeting.

Based on a city attorneys opinion, the mayor could veto the council's budget -- and without five votes to override the veto -- Beutlers original proposal would become the two-year spending blueprint.

But Councilwoman Cyndi Lamm, an attorney, disagrees with that opinion.

Giving the mayor that kind of power doesnt make sense, she said.

Lamm believes the mayor has no power to veto the council-approved budget. I strongly believe that whatever we pass today will be the operative budget for the city, she said during the Monday meeting.

The city attorney's opinion also says the council must approve a property tax levy necessary to bring in enough money to fund the city's budget.

That means at least one of the Republican council members will have to vote for a tax levy increase or the city administration will have to take the issue to court, assuming Beutlers original budget proposal becomes the two-year budget.

The seven council members agreed on much of Beutlers original proposal, including adding police officers and firefighters, improving bus service, replacing old water mains more quickly, addressing pension obligations and assuring good funding for street work.

They disagreed over a property tax increase of 1.17 cents per $100 valuation, or about $17.50 a year more for a home valued at $150,000.

Before the 4-3 vote on the main budget, the council passed several amendments to the budget on 7-0 votes.

The entire council agreed to use additional property tax revenue -- around $235,000 more each year because the official valuation is higher than estimates -- for the building and safety fund the first year, so that inspection fees would not be diverted. And they unanimously agreed to use that money for the emerald ash borer program during the second year of the two-year budget, restoring some of the funding included in Beutler's budget plan.

But the rest of the votes continued along party lines.

No Republican would second a motion by Democrat Leirion Gaylor Baird to make changes to Beutlers budget plan which would have cut the property tax increase in half.

That compromise, Gaylor Baird said, would allow the council to overcome a mayoral veto.

Each council member offered comments about the tax-funded portion of the two-year budget -- $179.7 million in the first year and $181 million the second year -- before the final vote.

The Republicans' plan is a well-reasoned, reasonable, common sense budget that cuts no services, said Lamm. "Its about living within our means," she said.

Republican Jon Camp pointed out that he usually votes against a budget proposal, but not this one. "This budget allows for a lot of good things, said Camp.

Trent Fellers, like other Republicans, pointed out that the budget includes higher fees for some, and a voter-approved property tax increase for stormwater projects.

Fellers also noted other increases, including the previously approved quarter-cent sales tax increase for the 911 radio system and fire stations, and the Lincoln Electric System dividend, which gave the city additional revenue several years ago.

"Setting budgets is about setting priorities and making choices. I'm voting based on principle," Fellers said. The city should maintain the same property tax rate year after year."

Republican Roy Christensen said the vast majority of the taxpayers who contacted him wanted no property tax increase.

Principles can not be compromised; they can only be abandoned. "I will not abandon mine," he said.

Democrat Carl Eskridge said the Republican budget was like the story of the little Dutch boy trying to plug the dike with his finger.

"We are leaving some big holes. I am concerned about where we go in our future, said Eskridge.

Democrat Jane Raybold said the Republican plan was "short-sighted, short-termed and short-funded".

And she mentioned specifically reductions to funding for the emerald ash borer program, putting off debt payments on some smaller bonds, and cuts to the mayors staff, which she said were an example of "petty, partisan politics."

It is easy to do a political budget. It is a lot harder to make choices that meet our needs, said Democrat Gaylor Baird.
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Every election cycle we must endure challenges and allegations about fraud (conservatives) and discrimination (liberals) when it comes to voter ID laws. This year is no different.

A federal court ruled that the Texas Voter ID law passed in 2011, requiring voters to present official photo identification, discriminated again poor, minority and disabled voters and ordered a judge to approve new interim rules for the Nov. 8 election. The new rules will broaden the list of acceptable forms of ID. Voters will now be able to present, among other things, an expired ID, a government check or a current utility bill. Supporting documents dont have to have a photo, reports The Austin Chronicle, but if they happen to, then voters will need to present the original. Otherwise, they can present a copy.

Similar battles over voter identification laws are being waged in other states, notably Wisconsin and North Carolina.

Its worth reviewing the list of the seven forms of identification currently accepted by Texas law  a Texas driver license issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS); a Texas election identification card issued by DPS; a personal identification card issued by DPS; a license to carry a handgun issued by DPS; U.S. military identification card containing the persons photo; U.S. citizenship certificate containing the persons photograph; a U.S. passport.

Granted, most poor people are unlikely to have a passport, but the state will issue any legal resident an identification card. Are civil rights groups who sued the state contending that poor and minority people are so inept that they cant apply for an identification card? If that is their position, how are they able to apply for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program) benefits, which require a photo ID? Why is voting the one category in which you dont have to prove your citizenship and legal residence?

I will answer that question in a moment.

Three years ago during a similar controversy, Ashe Schow of The Washington Examiner compiled a list of 24 things that require a photo ID.

You must have a photo ID if you are 25 or under and wish to purchase alcohol or cigarettes. Store signs say so. Want to open a bank account? Photo ID required. Here are the rest of the categories: applying for welfare, Medicaid and Social Security (presumably poor people take advantage of one or more of these programs); unemployment benefits (ditto); rent/buy a house, or apply for a mortgage; drive/buy/rent a car; get on an airplane; get married; buy a gun; adopt a pet; rent a hotel room; apply for a hunting or fishing license; buy a cellphone; visit a casino; pick up a prescription (or buy restricted over-the-counter medications); donate blood; apply for a license to hold a demonstration; buy an M-rated video game; purchase nail polish at CVS.

Again, why is voting placed in a separate category? Why are liberal groups determined to repeal laws requiring proof of citizenship and residence? The answer is found in a definition of the word fraud: deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.

Since many poor people are receiving government benefits, they are responsive to Democrats claims that Republicans want to cut them off, so they had better vote early and vote often, as the saying goes, or else. Notice the left never focuses on emancipating people from poverty. That might make the poor independent of government, which would be intolerable to the left. They need a reliable voting bloc and keeping the poor dependent on government is a modern form of slavery that is cynical in the extreme.

Unless discrimination against an individual can be proved, these voter ID laws should be upheld. Otherwise, expect more votes from dead people, illegal aliens, people with false addresses and even Mickey Mouse. All of these scenarios have occurred in previous elections and are likely to be repeated in this and future ones without proper identification.
I call foul on the naked Donald Trump statues.

Im not the first person to register my discontent, but Im chiming in because we have about 2  more months until the presidential election, and we can all do better.

Anarchist art collective Indecline placed life-size sculptures of the Republican presidential candidate in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Seattle last week, showing Trump with no clothes, a bulging belly and in want of certain anatomy.

Ha, ha, ha, right? Lets laugh at the gross body, where the parts we like big are small and the parts we like flat are bloated. Lets focus on his reproductive organs and mock him accordingly. And lets do all this in the name of dissent.

Better yet, lets not.

The easy taste test, of course, is to imagine a far-right group doing similar statues of Hillary Clinton. Many feminists and progressives  starting with me  would be outraged at the attempt to reduce a political candidate to her body parts and then mock those parts for failing to adhere to cookie-cutter norms of attractiveness. As though that has any bearing on a persons ability to lead (or on attractiveness, frankly).

Were already getting a dose of that at the Trump rallies that sell buttons touting a KFC Hillary Special: 2 Fat Thighs, 2 Small Breasts  Left Wing. Theyre tacky and cheap and add nothing of value to our political discourse.

The Trump statues are worse.

City officials removed the statues quickly (Cleveland, the most quickly), but not before people gathered around them, snapping selfies and declaring their genius. Its horrendously, tragically beautiful, one woman told The Guardian.

I disagree.

We dont get to be the movement that preaches inclusiveness  particularly around gender  if we embrace this type of mockery. We cant, in good conscience, advocate for civil rights protections for transgender folks  to safely use public restrooms, for example  if we point and laugh at reproductive organs. We cant push for women to fill more offices  political and glass  and then indicate that lacking testicles is a liability.

Nothing is being said by the piece that is difficult for one in the current political climate to say  that Trump is a joke, or that fat people must be shamed, or that male bodies that dont conform to masculine notions of genitalia deserve scorn, Meghna Sridhar writes in a Feministing essay. Indeed, the real naked emperors seem to be the installations smug audience instead, parading around in seeming robes of progressive politics, which actually, upon closer inspection, are their own naked delusions of open-minded, non-oppressive grandeur.

More simply, she asks: Are we really turning the tables on the oppressor, or are we continuing to stomp on the oppressed?

The latter, I would say, under the guise of the former.

We can spend the next 70-odd days making our voices heard, agitating passionately and thoughtfully for whatever candidate we choose. And we can leave anatomy out of it.
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." -- Susan B. Anthony

If Sen. Bill Kintner really thinks that a higher power, as well as his constituents, wants him to stay in the Legislature, he ought to follow the advice given him by Gov. Pete Ricketts and Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley.

The pair suggested that Kintner resign and put himself on the ballot for November.

If the voters in District 2 return him to the Legislature then, the scandal-stained senator will be able to claim he was right when he said remaining in the Legislature was being obedient to Gods will.

Thats the best idea anyone has come up with yet for dealing with the aftermath of Kintners use of a government laptop for a cybersex session with a woman he met online.

As the Journal Star editorial board said previously and a host of other Nebraskans have also opined, Kintners effectiveness as a legislator from this point forward will be zilch if he insists on staying in the Legislature.

Kintner apparently has deluded himself into thinking he plays an important role, picturing himself as a leading advocate for limited government, lower taxes and public safety.

One sin doesnt take away all of the stuff Ive done the last three years, he has said.

Actually, Kintner didnt wasn't that effective even before the scandal. In his years in the Legislature, only one bill that he sponsored has become law.

As Ricketts and Hadley have pointed out, if Kintner resigns now, any potential opponents would have until Sept. 1 to gather the approximately 1,300 signatures needed to be on the ballot.

So would Kintner. (District 2 includes all of Cass County and parts of Otoe and Sarpy counties.)

The November ballot must be certified by Sept. 16 so military ballots can be sent out by Sept. 23.

If Kintner waits until after Sept. 8 to resign, the governor is required to appoint a replacement within 45 days, but that appointee will not stand for election, the governor and the speaker said in a letter to him.

By putting himself on the ballot again now that his misdeeds have become public, Kintner could restore the public faith in the political process and minimize the continuing distraction.

If he doesn't take that step, then most Nebraskans will come to the obvious conclusion: Kintner is afraid the voters will throw him out of office.
Mayor Chris Beutler is the first mayor in Lincoln's history to be elected to a third term; translation: We think hes doing a great job. However, some City Council members dont agree with his budget proposal. They support cuts to money used to combat the emerald ash borer, pulling money from a building and safety cash fund and more.

More includes cuts to the mayor's staff, such as the possible elimination of the City Ombudsman ("Budget cuts hit mayor's office," Aug. 11).

The term ombudsman is a Swedish word dating back to 1809. The objective of this position is to ensure that constituents receive fair, equitable treatment by all departments of city government. It provides a check on government activity in the interests of the citizens and oversees the investigation of complaints of improper government against the citizen.

The current Ombudsman, Lin Quenzer, was hired by Mayor Don Wesley in 1999 and supported by the City Council. The Ombudsman also is the Citys Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender liaison, serving as spokesperson on behalf of the city to the local LGBT community.

Do the right thing and keep the Ombudsman as watchdog.

Leta Powell Drake, Lincoln
Gage County has paid more than $1.2 million to attorneys from six Lincoln firms to represent it in a federal civil rights trial brought by six people exonerated in a 1985 murder.

A review of expenses since the so-called Beatrice 6 filed suit in U.S. District Court in 2009 brings the total cost of litigating the case to more than $3 million.

If a federal judge upholds a verdict handed down at the end of a trial in which a jury found Gage County responsible for a reckless investigation and prosecution of the six, the county could be on the hook for as much as $31 million.

Attorneys for the six have turned in a $1.8 million bill for their fees and costs of representing them.

The federal jury awarded $28.1 million to the estate of Joseph White and to Ada JoAnn Taylor, Thomas Winslow, Kathy Gonzalez, James Dean and Deborah Shelden, who spent a combined 70-plus years in prison for the 1985 murder of Helen Wilson before DNA evidence cleared them and pointed to another man in 2008.

It was the second trial in the civil rights case; the first ended in a hung jury in 2014.

The County Board of Supervisors has approved payment to its attorneys on an ongoing basis dating back to 2009, according to records provided by the county.

The costs include:

* More than $590,000 to the Boucher Law Firm for 2009-15. Richard Boucher was listed as an attorney for each of the 11 named in the suit, including Gage County.

* Nearly $253,000 to the firm of Butler, Galter, OBrien & Boehm since 2010. Patrick OBrien was named one of the countys lead attorneys in 2012. OBrien has also been paid an additional $32,380 from Gage County separate from his firm, the county indicated.

* More than $110,000 to Paul Douglas, a former Nebraska attorney general hired by Gage County at the beginning of the lawsuit; he died in 2012, two years before the case went to trial.

* The Amen Law firm, where lead attorney Jennifer Tomka practices, has been paid nearly $99,000 over the past two years, including $90,000 so far this year.

* More than $125,000 to Wolfe, Snowden, Hurd, Luers & Ahl LLP for work done by Melanie Whittamore-Mantzios since she joined the case this year.

Costs will likely continue to grow, as the County Board met with Tomka, OBrien and Whittamore-Mantzios in mid-July to determine how to move forward.

A few weeks later, the countys legal team filed motions seeking a new trial and asking a judge to reduce the amount awarded by the federal jury on July 6.

On Aug. 17, attorneys for the six filed a 96-page brief in which they responded to a litany of arguments filed by Gage County -- arguments the attorneys for the six say are not supported by evidence and continue to waste time and create work.

In the brief, Jeffry Patterson argues Gage County is still trying to argue that the six were complicit in Wilsons murder, dredging up old issues settled by the court.

They were arrested in 1989 after a cold-case investigation by sheriff's deputies.

Plaintiffs do not find it helpful to, once again, confront each and every misrepresentation of fact found in defendants argument, Patterson wrote. It is enough to say that the defendants want the court to act as their superjury, accept their misrepresentations of the evidence (misrepresentations that have been rejected by the Court of Appeals on three occasions), and reassess what defendants claim is the only evidence in a light more favorable to defendants.

The amount awarded by the jury, Patterson argued, was 73 percent of the damages sought by the six and substantially less than what has been reported as average for jury awards for wrongful convictions.

Defendants are not entitled to reduction in damages when the jury based its award on facts the defendants stipulated to, and should be thankful the damages awarded were not consistent with what the Seventh Circuit found were the average and median awards for wrongful convictions, he wrote.

Post-trial briefs for the second federal trial will continue, as will the county's efforts to determine whether its insurance will cover any of the damages.

Its carrier, the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association, has said it would not be covered for something that took place before it joined the insurance pool 20 years ago.

Gage County had not filed any claims with the association since the case ended in early July, and the association did not respond to an inquiry last week seeking an update.

Also last week, the County Board agreed to pay Joel Bacon and Joel Nelson of Keating OGara law firm in Lincoln $7,600 to determine whether it was covered for prior bad acts on its liability insurance.
AUSTIN, Texas  Nebraska joined four other Republican-led states in filing another lawsuit Tuesday seeking to roll back the Obama administration's efforts to strengthen transgender rights, saying new federal nondiscrimination health rules could force doctors to act contrary to their medical judgment or religious beliefs.

The lawsuit is the second in recent months in which conservative states have sued over federal efforts to defend transgender rights.

Social conservatives claimed victory Sunday when a federal judge in Texas halted an Obama administration directive requiring public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Now they're asking that same court to block new regulations intended to ban discrimination by doctors, hospitals and insurers against transgender persons.

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson accused the Obama administration of trying to "redefine" language in the Affordable Care Act as approved by Congress, which defined sex as a "biological category."

"The federal government is now attempting to unlawfully redefine the regulation so that 'sex' includes one's gender identity," Peterson said in a statement.

The latest lawsuit contends that the rules, which were finalized in May, could force doctors to help with gender transition contrary to their religious beliefs or medical judgment. Transgender rights advocates called that a far-fetched hypothetical, saying a person would not approach a doctor who lacked suitable experience and expertise.

Joining Nebraska in the lawsuit are Wisconsin, Kentucky, Texas and Kansas, along with the Christian Medical and Dental Association and Franciscan Alliance, an Indiana-based network of religious hospitals.

"It discards independent medical judgment and a physician's duty to his or her patient's permanent well-being and replaces them with rigid commands," the lawsuit states.

Jillian Weiss, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the new federal rules were groundbreaking and pointed out that other states already had similar protections. Ten states and Washington, D.C., require private insurers to cover transgender health care, while six states plus the nation's capital cover such services through their Medicaid programs, according to advocates.

"The only thing a doctor is obliged to do is treat all patients, including trans patients, with dignity and respect and to make treatment decisions free from bias," Weiss said. "If a doctor has a sound, evidence-based, medical reason to delay transition care for a specific patient, that would be respected under the regulations."

The Obama administration finalized the regulations around the time it issued its directive to public schools regarding transgender students. Thirteen states signed on to fight that directive, including three involved in the latest lawsuit, and won a temporary injunction this week from U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor.

O'Connor ruled that the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX "is not ambiguous" about sex being defined as "the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth." He also said federal officials skirted rules requiring a chance for input and feedback before new rules were implemented.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will appeal the ruling.

Peterson said that lawsuit "involves the very same issue" as the case filed Tuesday: "For consistency purposes we felt it was necessary to address the issue on both fronts."

The new health regulations broadly affect the health care system because service providers who accept federal funding have to comply. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit.

An increasing number of large employers are voluntarily covering transgender treatment, following medical recognition that it can lead to healthier outcomes overall for the individuals involved.
ORLANDO, Fla.  The father of an Omaha toddler killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World in June reached into the animal's mouth in an attempt to free his son's head from the reptile's jaw, according to a final report on the death released Monday by Florida's wildlife agency.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report said that the 7-foot alligator bit 2-year-old Lane Graves' head as the boy bent down at the edge of a lagoon gathering sand for a sandcastle at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and that the boy died from a crushing bite and drowning.

Separately, the Orange County Sheriff's Office released its report and ruled the death an accident. One witness, a 16-year-old tourist, said he was walking with his younger siblings on a beach-area walkway when he heard a scream from the lagoon and saw the alligator taking the boy away.

"The alligator first came in head first toward the beach but turned around once it had the child in its mouth and crawled back into the water headfirst," Peter Courakos told deputies.

Several guests at the resort reported seeing the alligator swimming in the lagoon shortly before the attack.

Tourist Alfred Smith said he photographed the alligator from his hotel room balcony about an hour and a half before the attack. A short time before the attack, he said, he saw children playing in the ankle-deep water. He was heading out the door to warn them about the alligator when he heard Lane's mother screaming, the wildlife agency report said.

Another tourist, Shawna Giacomini told investigators her two daughters saw the alligator five feet from shore about 45 minutes before the attack. The eldest daughter told a Disney employee about it, and that employee went to inform another Disney worker. The Giacominis went to a nearby store and when they returned the boy had been attacked, according to the wildlife agency's report.

Disney lifeguard Christopher Tubbs told deputies that after the boy was snatched he saw Lane's feet sticking out about 20 feet from shore.

"He saw the alligator start slash(ing) around and the shoes went under the water and the alligator began its death roll," the sheriff's office report said.

The wildlife agency's report said Lane did nothing to provoke the alligator and that the death is classified as a predatory attack.

The alligator may have had a diminished fear of people by being in an area with lots of humans, and wildlife officials are still investigating if alligator feeding took place, according to the wildlife agency.

Lane's parents have said publicly they don't plan to sue Walt Disney World over the death.

After Lane's death, Disney World made changes to limit possible visitor contact with alligators on the property.

Workers were building a stone wall around the lagoon and "No Fishing" signs were installed around waterfront areas. Fishing at Disney World was changed to be limited only to excursions.
COLUMBUS  Several people were injured when a school bus transporting Lakeview Community Schools students collided with another vehicle Monday afternoon near the district's junior/senior high school.

Rescue personnel were called to the accident around 4 p.m.

According to a Platte County Sheriff's deputy, the westbound bus was transporting students from Shell Creek Elementary School when it struck a Chevrolet Avalanche that was stopped in the roadway while waiting to turn into the Lake North camping area.

The deputy said the bus driver attempted to stop before the collision, but was unable to do so. Lakeview contracts with Mid States School Bus Inc. of Wayne for its busing services.

No one on the bus was injured, but four passengers in the Avalanche were taken to Columbus Community Hospital, including a 6-year-old girl who was later flown by medical helicopter to an Omaha hospital. The driver, 29-year-old Brian Zierke of rural Columbus, wasn't hurt.
PENDER  A divided Thurston County Board of Supervisors has decided to add the motto "In God We Trust" on a prominent place in the county courthouse.

The supervisors voted 4-2 on Monday to put the phrase in letters of a readable size in the boardroom of the courthouse.

Valentine resident Barb Otto spoke to the board Monday before they voted. Otto is traveling the state to encourage county elected officials to add the religious-motivated phrase in public buildings.

"It is our national motto," Supervisor Leonard Peters said. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

Roger Nelson, Dan Trimble and Mark English also voted in favor of the motto.

"It is on our currency," Trimble said. "I don't feel there is anything wrong with displaying that. It is not putting any religion down. ... I am not trying to offend anybody."

Darren Wolfe and Georgia Mayberry voted against the resolution.

Wolfe said displaying the motto isn't good public policy because it violates the separation of church and state.

"It is just like having a cross on the wall," Wolfe said. "That will lead to the interpretation. ... that all our judgments are based on what our religious beliefs are. I don't have problems with people who have a religious belief. But it doesn't belong on a county building wall."

A conservative legal defense organization called the Pacific Justice Institute is ready to defend any lawsuit that would be filed against the county taking that step.

"We are seeing an explosion of municipalities choosing to do this," said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute.
OMAHA  A woman has pleaded no contest to helping her boyfriend dump his mother's body in southeast Omaha.

Gabriela Guevara pleaded no contest Monday to being an accessory by helping her boyfriend, Roberto Martinez-Marinero, transport and dump his mother's body in 2015.

Martinez-Marinero pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother, 45-year-old Jesus Ismenia Marinero, and his 4-year-old half brother, Josue Ramirez-Marinero. He was sentenced to life in prison.

After killing his mother, Martinez-Marinero took her two youngest children in an attempt to eliminate witnesses. He dumped his then-11-month-old half brother in a La Vista dumpster. The child was found later, bruised but otherwise uninjured.

He threw the older boy off a bridge to his death.

Guevara will be sentenced in October.
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Troy and Penny Cleveland live in Texas, but their relationship had its beginnings in Lincoln, so thats where they recently chose to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They were able to not only reconnect with memories from their dating years, but also with some of their family history, including a century-old photo of Troys grandparents.

As part of the weekend festivities, Troys cousin Patsy (Cleveland) Martin of Lincoln was asked for ideas of what visitors could do while in town. Several relatives had worked for the telephone company, so she suggested they tour the Frank H. Woods Telephone Pioneer Museum, 2047 M St.

When a group of 20 toured the museum Aug. 6, they discovered an old framed photo of an LT&T employee picnic at Capitol Beach Amusement Park included Roy and Ada (Hartley) Cleveland, Troy and Patsys grandparents.

Adas brother Joe Hartley was, among other things, a cartoonist for the company newsletter. Many of his cartoons and drawings are displayed at the Woods Telephone Museum, in addition to a large painting by Hartley, a reproduction of The Song of the Talking Wire by Cincinnati artist Henry F. Farny, which portrays a Native American pressing his ear against a telegraph pole.

I always thought of my great uncle as a cartoonist, Patsy commented. I hadnt realized he was such an artist. And this was painted on a bed sheet. Its just amazing.

The groups walk down memory lane included a tour of the museums more than 500 vintage telephones and related artifacts, many of them specific to Lincoln and southeast Nebraska. The direct links to the groups family history provided a special touch to the museum visit.

A lot of people commented on how much they enjoyed the tour, said Patsy. The cutest thing was a little boy trying to dial a rotary phone. They all use cell phones now.

The Woods Telephone Museum is open 1 to 4 p.m. every Sunday and by appointment. For more information, call (402) 436-4640.
RACINE  InSinkErator has confirmed that the company will be moving the production of motors for its food waste disposers from Racine over the next three years, but will retain disposer assembly operations here.

InSinkErator is gradually transferring in-house production of motors for its food waste disposers from Racine to other Emerson locations, David Baldridge, spokesman for InSinkErator, said Monday, adding that the company is growing and needs to make the the best use of our manufacturing assets.

InSinkErator, with headquarters at 4700 21st St., is a division of Emerson Commercial and Residential Solutions. Baldridge said the company expects this transition to be complete by the first quarter of 2019.

This will be a gradual process and spread out in stages over the next three years, so its too early to say what the net effect on employment might be, Baldridge said. As this production shift gets underway, InSinkErator will be investing at its Racine facility to reconfigure and optimize the plant layout for improved product flow to meet customer demand.

Shaft machining and die casting will be provided by suppliers, Baldridge said. Assembly of InSinkErator disposer products will continue at Racine as well (as) some stamping operations.

InSinkErator currently employs roughly 1,200 people in Racine, Kenosha and Sturtevant. According to the companys website, InSinkErator is the worlds largest manufacturer of food waste disposers and instant hot water dispensers for home and commercial use. The company, founded by Racine architect John W. Hammes in Racine in 1927, in April announced Emerson executive Chad Severson as its new president.

In May 2014, InSinkErator announced plans to lease a 160,000-square-foot building in the Business Park of Kenosha and add 165 new jobs to meet growing production demands and streamline its production process. The investment was estimated to total $65 million, which included $43.7 million to buy new equipment and renovate the Racine facility.

The jobs commitment was made in return for $15.5 million in state tax credits authorized by Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Gov. Scott Walker traveled to Racine to announce the tax credit.

InSinkErators Sturtevant facility includes a warehouse/distribution and customer service facility at 2001 Renaissance Blvd.

St. Louis-based Emerson is a diversified manufacturer of a variety of products and has more than 111,000 employees in 205 manufacturing locations including 70 in North America.
RACINE  A city panel on Monday affirmed the recommendation of the city attorney to reject a $10 million claim from a man who has been in jail since March.

The claim came from Clyde Oliver Jr., of the 1800 block of Geneva Street, and requests $10 million in reimbursement for damages allegedly arising from his arrest on March 19. Oliver, a convicted felon, allegedly robbed Dusty Treasures, a thrift shop at 1709 Douglas Ave., at gunpoint and fled from police.

According to City Attorney Scott Letteney, Oliver and police officers got into a violent altercation after Oliver tried to flee.

He pointed his firearm at a store clerk, who chased him, Letteney said.

Oliver claims he had his spleen removed later, but Letteney said they have no records to substantiate that claim. According to Letteney, Oliver refused treatment for potential injuries at the scene of his arrest.

Jail records show Oliver has been behind bars since March 23 on a probationary hold. The next day, March 24, he was charged with seven offenses, including two felonies: robbery with use of force and possession of a firearm as a felon. His bond was set at $50,000, according to court records.

Part of Olivers rationale for claiming $10 million in damages stemmed from a constant fear of police he developed during the incident, according to Letteney.

He would like us to pay him $10 million for medical expenses, pain and suffering, legal fees and a lifetime fear of law enforcement, Letteney said.

Oliver pleaded not guilty in late April and has a status conference scheduled for Friday, records show.

On Monday, Letteney recommended denying Olivers claim, and three aldermen sitting on the citys Finance and Personnel Committee  Dennis Wiser, Mary Land and Michael Shields  unanimously affirmed his recommendation.

The item will go before the City Council on Sept. 6. Olivers attorney Lori Kuehn declined to comment on the matter.
RACINE  A Kenosha County man accused of breaking into two Racine businesses in late July allegedly left a shirt with his name ironed into it at one of the crime scenes, court records indicate.

Dustin L. Brannon, 35, of the 23000 block of 127th Avenue, Trevor, is facing two felony counts of burglary in connection to the incidents on July 28 and 30, in which similar tactics were used, according to a criminal complaint.

Brannon first allegedly burglarized Port of Call Liquors, 918 West Blvd., at about 3 a.m. on July 28.

Officers found the business with two broken glass doors and a gray T-shirt lying in the doorway. Brannon reportedly stole a cash register, valued at $1,000 and containing approximately $300, the complaint said.

Inside the T-shirt, officers reportedly found the name Dustin Brannon ironed onto it, according to the complaint.

Two days later, another burglary occurred at Citgo Gas & Food Shop, 2240 Northwestern Ave., in which a similar scene was found, the complaint said.

A front window was smashed by what appeared to be a piece of a cement cinder block. Based on surveillance video, Brannon allegedly was observed in the store for a minute after smashing the window, according to the complaint.

While inside, Brannon reportedly attempted to break the Plexiglas around the front counter and attempted to kick and shoulder the steel door to the counter area. Brannon was unsuccessful and went to the cooler and allegedly removed a four-pack of Steel Reserve beer and then exited through the broken window, the complaint said.

Brannons fingerprints were later matched to fingerprints lifted from the scene at Citgo, investigators said.

Brannon faces two felony charges for burglary of a building or dwelling. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 1 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. He remained in custody as of Monday night at the County Jail, online records indicated.
CALEDONIA  A 20-year-old Caledonia man is facing weapons charges after he was allegedly caught drinking Saturday during the annual festival at St. Rita's Parish, 4433 Douglas Ave.

According to the criminal complaint, Ricky L. Brown, 20, of the 3800 block of Cheyenne Court, was discovered by security guards at the parish grounds allegedly drinking with another suspect on the playground during the festival.

When confronted, Brown and the other suspect reportedly fled on foot and festival security guards gave chase, the complaint said.

The two suspects hopped a fence near Suds and Grub Tavern, 4507 Douglas Ave. While jumping the fence, Brown reportedly dropped what appeared to be a gun. The gun later turned out to be a BB gun, according to the complaint.

Brown was later located and detained in the 1700 block of Ellis Avenue. While being questioned, he admitted the gun was his and to consuming Sky Vodka, the complaint said.

Brown was transported to the Racine County Jail and faces three misdemeanor charges for disorderly conduct, posessing dangerous weapons on school premises, and carrying a concealed weapon. He is scheduled to be in court on Sept. 15 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., for a pre-trial conference.
RACINE  The city's Public Safety and Licensing Committee will discuss a few tavern related issues at Tuesday evening's meeting.

The first item on the agenda involves Michael Winston, a local business owner, who has been attempting to open a bar in the city for the past few months. Winston, who owns Winston Automotive at 1207 Dekoven Ave., wants to re-open 1301 Washington Ave., the former site of Warning Track.

Winston originally targeted 345 Main St. for his tavern, but decided against it in July because he didn't want to rent all three spaces attached to that property. Two weeks ago, his application at the new location was deferred because of a personal business tax mix-up with his automotive business.

From the beginning however, Winston has vowed to make his bar different than what he perceives as a negative culture surrounding certain taverns in the city.

You see the problems they are having in other places, its not working, he said. I really want to take a different approach.

Also on the agenda

Kanwaljit Singh, the registered agent for both Top Matrangas Supermarket, 1200 Villa St., and Top High Street Pantry, 704 High St., is attempting to transfer his responsibility as agent on both stores. Two weeks ago, the items were deferred because of licensing issues with Singh's potential replacements.

The committee has requested the presence of the agent for The Faccia Bella Club, 3422 Douglas Ave., for a status update and discussion of an undisclosed incident the agent was involved in. Records list Todd Anderson as the registered agent.

Sixth District Alderman Sandy Weidner is proposing the committee create a separate ad-hoc committee to review, revise and update a section of city ordinances involving local businesses.
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Basundhara-based Ishan Children Hospital tense following death of child patient

The Basundhara-based Ishan Children and Women's Hospital in Kathmandu remained tense following vandalism by the relatives and parents of a child who died in the course of treatment on Sunday morning.
Bhairahawa ousts Birgunj as largest import gateway

Bhairahawa customs point has knocked Birgunj out of the top spot as the largest import gateway.
Bound by faith

Artist Kabi Raj Lamas solo-exhibitiontitled Fragmentsopened in the Capital on Sunday.
Case against me ill-intended: CIAA Chief Karki

Chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Lokman Singh Karki, submitted a written response at the Supreme Court relating to a case on contempt of court on Tuesday.
Govt to make public appeal for funds into hydel projects

The government is to make a public appeal to citizens as well as public bodies for investment in hydropower projects in the country.
Guideline on anvil for protection of ancient settlements

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is preparing a guideline to allow rebuilding and protection of the traditional housing settlements destroyed by last years devastating earthquakes.
Hearing pushed back due to petitioners absence

The Chitwan District court has rescheduled hearing on the murder case of Krishna Prasad Adhikari for September 11 after the petitioner failed to show up to testify in the case on Monday.
Indian aid for women in Khalanga

The government of India has provided a financial assistance worth Rs 144,000 for a women empowerment programme in Khalanga of Darchula district.
Information Minister assures to implement minimum wages to working journalists

Minister for Information and Communications Surendra Kumar Karki has committed to implementing the recommendations made by the Minimum Wages Fixation Committee regarding the wages and services of the working journalists.
Man arrested for misusing Japanese mans credit card

Police have arrested a man on charge of misusing credit card of a foreign national.
More sponsors drop US swimmer Lochte

Four sponsors have dropped disgraced US Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, including swimwear manufacturer Speedo and fashion label Ralph Lauren.
NC makes a pitch for at least 1,000 units

Several Nepali Congress (NC) leaders speaking on the last day of the partys two-day deliberations said on Monday that the Local Body Restructuring Commission (LBRC)s proposal to have 565 local units across the country is not only illogical but also impractical.
NC steps up discussions on local body restructuring

The Nepali Congress (NC) has intensified discussions regarding the restructuring of local body.
NEA restores power to Mahendra Manjil

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) restored the power supply to Mahendra Manjil on Monday, less than 24 hours after the state-owned utility disconnected the electricity lines to the residence of former Queen Mother Ratna Rajya Laxmi Shah.
NHRC urges PM to respect rule of law, human rights

As Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's recent remarks over not granting amnesty to serious human rights violators have been making rounds, the National Human Rights Commission has said that its attention has been drawn towards the PM's remarks.
Nidhi, Mahara brief Cabinet about visits

Deputy Prime Ministers Bimalendra Nidhi and Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who recently returned home after the visits to two close neighbours, India and China respectively, briefed the Cabinet meeting about their visits.
NOC: Shortage caused by short-term supply upset

Gasoline lines are back with frantic motorists forming long queues in front of the few petrol pumps that are still open as another shortage hits the Kathmandu Valley while Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) claims that there is no short supply.
One arrested for black marketeering

A shopkeeper here was arrested by police on Monday on the charge of selling petroleum products in the black market.
Panel tells Home Ministry to probe Ramdulari Rana murder case

The Parliamentary Women, Children, Elderly Citizen and Social Welfare Committee has renewed its directive to the Home Ministry to investigate the murder of Ramdulari Rana
Plaint lodged at NIC for CIAA chief Karkis property details

The Bibeksheel Nepali, a political party, has lodged a complaint at the National Information Commission (NIC) seeking property details of chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority Lok Man Singh Karki.
DPM Nidhi arrives home after five-day India visit, says his trip was successful

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi returned home on Tuesday after concluding his five-day official visit to Indian Capital New Delhi. He landed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu by Nepal Airlines plane.
Public finance in schools

Policies should be made flexible so as to enable local stakeholders to use public money more creatively
Quake-survivors arrive at Gorkha district headquarters demanding grant

The quake-survivors from Aarughat in Gorkha have arrived at the district headquarters demanding compensation and house reconstruction grant.
Tanahu hydro: Prequalification of bidders to be done within a month

Tanahu Hydropower Limited, a subsidiary of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), is at the final stage of prequalifying bidders for the construction of the Tanahu Hydropower Project.
Devkota is an expert in federalism and local governments, and is an independent member of the National Assembly.
Two killed as bus knocks down motorbike in Chitwan

Two persons were killed when a passenger bus knocked down a motorbike in Bharatpur, Chitwan on Tuesday.
UML to go by LBRC proposal

The main opposition CPN-UML has said the Local Body Restructuring Commission (LBRC)s proposal based on the terms of reference (ToR) given to the commission by the government led by the party will be acceptable to it.
Yes, its hard to to tell when one enters the city limits

Yes, they will make the city more inviting

Maybe ... does it really matter?

No, the signs in place are fine

No, it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars

Vote

View Results
ANGOLA  The mental health of a 26-year-old man who allegedly shot his father in March is under examination.

Cody Scott Smith is charged with murder, which carries 45-65 years in prison. He allegedly shot his father, Rusty Smith, 51, during an altercation in front of Rustys residence in the 5300 block of C.R. 400N on March 9.

Smith appeared in Steuben Superior Court Monday morning with his public defender Anthony Kraus. Judge William Fee agreed to continue the jury trial to allow time for mental health assessments.

The trial is now set for April 25-28 in Superior Court.

We checked with our witnesses so that should be good for everybody, said Chief Deputy Prosecutor Travis Musser.

Kraus requested a pretrial conference later this year to keep things moving. A hearing is set for Dec. 12 at 8:30 a.m.

Friday, Kraus filed a motion to determine Smiths competency to stand trial. Fee appointed Cates and Associates of Fort Wayne and the Bowen Center for the purpose of evaluating Smiths ability to understand court proceedings.

If he is found mentally unfit to participate in a trial, Smith could be remanded to a state mental health facility until he is able to stand trial. He is being held without bail in Steuben County Jail. Transportation orders were entered to the Bowen Center in Angola on Sept. 26 and the Bowen Center in Warsaw on Oct. 27.

Monday, Kraus said he had no objection to the professionals assigned by the court.

As the short hearing drew to a close, Smith spoke up. May I say something? he asked the judge. Fee suggested Smith speak through his attorney and after Kraus and Smith spoke in hushed tones, no further commentary was made.

When Smith appeared by videoconferencing equipment at his initial hearing before Steuben Magistrate Randy Coffey the day after the alleged shooting, his words sounded garbled and he seemed confused. He was arrested at a residence on Nevada Mills Road several hours after Rusty Smith was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound to his head early in the afternoon of March 9.

According to court documents, Smith admitted to a passing mail carrier that he had shot his father. Police recovered a semiautomatic pistol believed to be the murder weapon.

Cody denied shooting Rusty in an interview with Detective Mike Meeks at the sheriffs department, say court documents. In the affidavit of probable cause, Meeks reported that Codys pupils were fully dilated and he appeared to be agitated one second and then crying the next. From his experience, Meeks said Cody appeared to be under the influence of a stimulant.

At least two witnesses were reported to be at the scene of the shooting, including Codys girlfriend who had her infant child with her.

The shooting was reported by the mail carrier. According to court documents, Cody told the mail carrier his prints would be on the gun.

Cody had lived in the Angola and New Haven areas earlier this year.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 63F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low around 40F. Winds light and variable.
With another 32 theses down, and dozens more to go, a Lutheran-Catholic document that caps five decades of theological discussions is considered another major step in repairing the rift between the denominations.

Were a long way from one church, but weve come together on so many things, said Bishop Jim Arends, head of the La Crosse Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We are closer together.

The 931-9 approval of the document during the ELCAs recent Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans and its aftermath were so emotional that tears flowed among the delegates, said Arends, of La Crescent.

The 120-page document, Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist, is the product of a task force created in 2011 as part of ecumenical dialogues between Lutherans and Catholics tracing back 50 years. As the 500th anniversary of Martin Luthers posting of his 95 theses disagreeing with Catholic teaching propelled the Protestant Reformation, the denominations continue to find common ground.

The document, which ELCA bishops and the Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops affirmed in October and forwarded for consideration higher up their theological chains, chronicles 32 statements that the denominations agree are not church-dividing.

Recognition of each others baptism and that members of both denominations are members of the Body of Christ are among the most vital, Arends said.

The phrase on the way is very important, he said, because it acknowledges that differences remain.

The pact is considered to be on a par with a 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, one of the pivotal breaks Luther had with the church, along with his condemnation of indulgences as, in effect, tantamount to selling tickets to heaven.

In that decree, Catholics and some Lutheran bodies agreed that grace comes through belief in Jesus Christ, although their applications may differ.

Salvation by grace alone  we together understand that to be true, Arends said. The justification document was huge.

Contrasts remain, though, said Arends, whose synod includes 74 churches, partner camps, nursing homes and Lutheran campus ministries in southwestern Wisconsin and southeast Minnesota.

We are still not ready to say we are one church body  and we cant say we are totally welcome at one anothers communion, he said.

After the vote, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton presented a communion chalice and paten to Catholic Archbishop Denis Madden of Baltimore, who co-chaired the Declaration on the Way task force.

I thank you for allowing me and my colleagues to join you in the Eucharist celebrations, which have been a great joy and always a remembrance that soon we will be celebrating these together as one body, Madden told assembly delegates.

For many of us, that was much more moving than the vote, Arends said.

The Rev. Kent Johnson of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in La Crescent, one of the delegates, described the new document as one hurdle, but a significant one.

Older theologians never thought they would see this in their lifetimes, said Johnson, associate pastor at Prince of Peace.

Arends and Johnson lauded 20-year-old delegate Khadijah Islam of the town of Onalaska for her address at an assembly hearing about the significance of the document in general and for her personally.

To see this happen to Catholics and Lutherans, showing how they have things in common, is a super good model, Islam said during an interview Monday.

The practical application in her life is the fact that she is godmother to 2-year-old Emmalynn Passe, the daughter of a Catholic family friend, said Islam, a member of Journey Lutheran Church in Onalaska.

Emmalynns mother said I was important to the family in choosing her to be godmother, Islam said.

Islams paternal grandparents are Muslim, but her family is Lutheran, she said.

Overall, the assembly was absolutely amazing, she said. There are some really progressive things going on, such as repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery that had claimed native lands for incoming Europeans.

Rejecting the doctrine affirmed the rights of indigenous peoples, as did assembly initiatives supporting Black Lives Matter, said Islam, adding, I have a pretty strong heart for social justice.
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has a new international education director.

The university has hired Emelee Volden, the intercultural program manager at Wyomings Northwest College to take on the role. UW-L has gone through several international education directors in recent years due to turbulence in the Office of International Education and Engagement, and part of Voldens responsibility in the role will be to rebuild the universitys population of international students as well as expand study abroad programs.

Volden replaces Fred Pierce, who was fired by the university in May and whose last day was in August. Volden is expected to begin her duties at the end of October.

UW-L hired Pierce in August 2013 as an associate vice chancellor for academic affairs in the provosts office with oversight of the international education office. Personnel issues arose after the former director of the office, Jay Lokken, and one of his subordinates, Sandra Sieber, sued UW-L, alleging actions taken by Pierce and other administrators were discriminatory.

UW-L settled with Lokken and Sieber on Aug. 18, 2015, apologizing to them and paying them back wages and attorney fees. In October, the university restructured the provosts office, eliminating Pierces position and naming him the new director of the international education office.

Volden has been at Northwest College since 2012 and was the associate program director at the University of Minnesota Learning Abroad Center before that. UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow said she brings a lot of energy, passion and enthusiasm to the role, which will contribute to efforts to bolster the number of international students on campus.

The university also hopes to expand its study abroad options Gow said. Her experience in this area will help as UW-L offers more opportunities for students to take classes and immerse themselves in other cultures.

Our new director brings a lot of energy and experience to the role, Gow said.
Heather Quackenboss will leave her 10-year position as program director of the La Crosse Community Foundation to coordinate a collaborative effort to dovetail behavioral health services in the Coulee Region with the support of a $1.5 million, eight-year grant.

The La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium was awarded the grant  one of 10 across the state  from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Labeled Changemaker by design to highlight the goal of helping communities improve, the grant will provide $200,000 a year to support the initiative, including the full-time coordinator and a half-time evaluator.

Quackenboss will begin the job in September, according to a joint announcement on Monday from the consortium and Great Rivers United Way. Diana DiazGranados, who was appointed to the evaluator position, and Quackenboss will operate under the guidance of a steering committee representing consortium and United Way partners.

DiazGranados, who led Great Rivers United Ways 2012 Compass community needs assessment, recently returned from an overseas assignment for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in which she mentored and trained public health researchers in project design, monitoring and communications.

Too often, we picture mental health in a negative light  it is stigmatized or ignored, Quackenboss said in an interview. Yet mental health has touched all of us  whether it be a family member, a co-worker, a friend or ourselves. All of us deal with mental health every day.

As we realize how important our mental health is, community programs have started to change to support peoples mental wellness, she said.

The first year of funding is to be focused on developing a five-year plan to improve behavioral health, as well as physical health of those with behavioral health challenges and improve prevention and healthcare resources. The next five will be devoted to implementing the plan, and the last two, to disseminate and work toward sustaining its findings.

Having dedicated staff and eight years, including a year just for planning, to improve behavioral health in our region is a rare and valuable opportunity, said consortium director Catherine Kolkmeier.

There are so many positive projects, programs and people in our community working to improve mental health, Quackenboss said.

This grant and collaboration give our community the opportunity to focus on area efforts that are working, look at the gaps that we are missing and develop a realistic plan that covers the entire spectrum of mental wellness and health to truly help people, she said.

The longevity of the grant gives us the ability to get to the root of the problems and make true change, Quackenboss said.

The 10 communities that received grants, administered through the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program, also will collaborate through their steering committees to support each others efforts.
When college is affordable for students at all income levels, we are able to tap the best and the brightest for the skills needed to make America great. Let's take a look at the Wisconsin candidates for U.S. Senate to determine who has the better plan to support our future scientists, teachers and health professionals.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson attributes student debt woes to the availability of federal student loans. He has not yet proposed alternatives. However, consistent with his opposition to these loans, he voted for significant cuts in Pell grants, which provide subsidies for low-income students. He also voted against allowing people to refinance student loans.

Democrat Russ Feingold, on the other hand, supports legislation to allow refinancing of student debt. As senator, he led a bipartisan effort to increase Pell grant subsidies. In 2016 campaign interviews, he continues to support federal student loan availability.
Sen. Ron Johnsons call to replace college classroom instructors with videos sounds like a corporate refrain that celebrates efficiency in education at the cost of effectiveness, said University of Wisconsin-Madisons Clif Conrad.

I find that very troubling, Conrad said Monday.

The Republican senator from Wisconsin, who is locked in a tough re-election battle with former Sen. Russ Feingold, last week denounced the "higher education cartel for raising prices and preventing reforms that would make college more affordable, like using the internet to access lessons by one solid lecturer.

If you want to teach the Civil War across the country, are you better off having, I dont know, tens of thousands of history teachers that kind of know the subject, or would you be better off popping in 14 hours of Ken Burns Civil War tape and then have those teachers proctor based on that excellent video production already done? Johnson asked at a luncheon forum hosted by WisPolitics.

Ive met Ken Burns and I very much appreciate his documentary on the Civil War, Conrad, a professor in the School of Education, said when asked to comment on Johnsons remarks. At the same time, I think its critically important that we view documentaries like his as supplementary material. We do not need to replace effectiveness in college and university classrooms with mere efficiencies, he said.

We need to have faculty and students engage in spirited dialogue in which they cultivate higher-order thinking skills and learn to express themselves, added Conrad, who last month was named faculty director of UW-Madisons Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education.

Other commenters were not so measured in their remarks.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, focused like Conrad on the absence of discourse in her criticism of Johnsons idea, but struck a different tone.

Leave it to someone from a party led by a reality TV star to confuse videotape with the learning experience of a classroom, Weingarten said in a statement. What Ron Johnson doesnt get is that education happens when teachers can listen to students and engage them to think for themselves  and that can include using Ken Burns masterful work. But this is typical for a party with an education agenda as out-of-date as Johnsons Blockbuster Video card."

UW is a leader in competency-based learning, which gives students credit for knowledge gained on the job and employs distance education, Inside Higher Ed noted. But Johnson insisted such a creative approach doesnt play very well to tenured professors in the higher education cartel.

We know Ron Johnson graduated from college 40 years ago, but we assumed it was from a university here on planet Earth, quipped Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now. Not only does Ron Johnson oppose common sense measures like student loan refinancing that would immediately reduce costs for 515,000 hardworking Wisconsin borrowers, but he apparently thinks the solution to the nations higher education student debt crisis is getting rid of diplomas and watching more television.

Huffington Post took the opportunity of Johnsons video remarks to recall his analysis of why so many students carry high debt.

In March Johnson said students took more than four years to graduate for the fun of it.

Loans are actually pretty easy to get and college is a lot of fun, Johnson said, noting he worked his way through the University of Minnesota and wanted to be done as soon as possible.

ThinkProgress said Johnson seems to want the kind of education usually ridiculed as ineffective.

A common cultural trope of the incompetent teacher is one who plays videos for their students on a regular basis instead of lecturing and overseeing in-class activities and projects, Casey Quinlan wrote. Yet thats exactly the kind of education one Republican senator would like to see college students receive.

Update: Early Tuesday morning, Burns tweeted his view on the dust-up:

I'm here to support teachers, not replace them. https://t.co/AXaSE0z0uD  Ken Burns (@KenBurns) August 23, 2016
16 MSU Law Graduates Earn Positions with Judges and Courts



Sixteen MSU Law graduates will undertake positions with judges and courts in 2016, in places as near as Lansing and as far away as South Dakota.

Were thrilled to see so many students walk out of this building with their next big step ahead of them, said Beth Wickwire, Interim Assistant Dean for Career Development. Clerkships are a prestigious opportunity for young lawyers to develop skills that they will use for the rest of their careers. They will work closely with judges and examine complex questions of law every day.

Law clerks assist judges in a variety of ways, including researching statutory and case law, drafting opinions and orders, and keeping notes on courtroom proceedings. Judicial clerkships are a competitive class of employment, often with rigorous application requirements. New lawyers who complete judicial clerkships are highly sought after by private and public sector employers due to the unique skills and insight the clerks acquire from their time with the courts.

Below is the complete list of new graduates who will undertake judicial clerkships beginning in fall 2016.

Federal District Courts

Frankie Dame - Judge Bernard Friedman, Eastern District Michigan

Herman Hofman - Judge Robert Jonker, Western District Michigan

Kelly Herrmann - Judge Karen Schreier, District of South Dakota

Leah Jurss - Judge Roberto Lange, District of South Dakota*

State Supreme Court

Brian Anhalt - Justice David Viviano, Michigan Supreme Court

State Intermediate Appellate Courts

Autumn Gear - Judge Peter Reyes, Minnesota Court of Appeals

Elizabeth Kingston  Research Division, Michigan Court of Appeals (Grand Rapids)

Joni Roach  Research Division, Michigan Court of Appeals (Grand Rapids)

Ken Laskowski  Research Division, Michigan Court of Appeals (Grand Rapids)

Josh Labar  Research Division, Michigan Court of Appeals (Detroit)

Sean Soard  Research Division, Michigan Court of Appeals (Lansing)

Wes Margeson  Research Division, Michigan Court of Appeals (Lansing)

State Trial Courts

Stephen Foucrier - Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, Ingham County Circuit Court

Aaron Levin  Judge John Maurer, Eaton County Circuit Court

Ann Puluka  Court of Common Pleas, Clarion County, Pennsylvania

Kathleen Sieber  Thirteenth Circuit Court, Greenville, South Carolina

*2016 graduate; 2015-2016 Indigenous Law & Policy Center Fellow

Pictured, left to right: Autumn Gear, Herman Hofman, Brian Anhalt, Kelly Herrmann, Leah Jurss, Josh LaBar, Joni Roach, Wes Margeson, Frank Dame.


Artist Rachel Rymont did not plan on spending part of her day inside a dark building when she visited Washington, D.C. But she changed her mind after taking one look at a new exhibit at the world-famous Smithsonian Institution.

The exhibit can be seen at the Smithsonians National Museum of African Art. It is called "Senses of Time: Video and Film-based Works of Africa."

"Senses of Time" is a video and film show that explores how people experience time.

"It is a really different experience than being in a gallery or looking at a painting," said Rymont, who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. "It kind of forces you to step back and co-exist with the piece instead of just glancing at it."

Time is the main subject that connects all of the works, although the subject matter differs from work to work.

The exhibit includes Yinka Shonibare's work "Un Ballo in Maschera." It is based on Giuseppe Verdi's 1859 operatic work, A Masked Ball.

Shonibares piece questions the nature of time. In it, a leader, played by a woman, is killed. She then rises again and dances once more.

Moataz Nasr's film, The Water, is very different from Shonibares colorful work.

Nasr's film is in black and white. Faces appear in water on the ground, but before you, the viewer, can see any details, a foot steps on the image.

Art and Politics

Rachel Rymont liked how the exhibit was political, but did not try to teach about politics in an unwanted way.

"A lot of time with political work, there's a tendency for things to get a bit cold or didactic, but that didn't happen in there," she said. "All of it was very moving, and it was very human."

Perhaps the most openly political piece is Sammy Baloji's "Memoire. It was filmed against a series of former copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Choreographer and dancer Faustin Linyekula does a dance, while speeches from some of the country's earlier and current leaders play.

The piece shows how the reality of the present has not lived up to the promises of the past.

Linyekula expresses this idea in a heartbreaking way by shouting, "Vive l'independence" (Long live independence) to nothing but silence.

Other works tell of difficulties that political activists faced in the past.

For example, Sue Williamson's work, called "There's Something I Must Tell You", shows six South African women from the generation of former President Nelson Mandela. The women talk about their experiences to their young relatives.

In total, seven films are shown at the same time in the African art museums exhibit hall. The experience tests not only perceptions of time, but also ideas about what artists can accomplish with film.

Im John Russell.

Rosie Brown wrote this report for VOANews.com. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

exhibit  n. an object or a collection of objects that have been put out in a public space for people to look at

gallery  n. a room or building in which people look at paintings, sculptures, etc.

choreographer  n. a person who decides how a dancer or group of dancers will move during a performance

accomplish  v. to succeed in doing (something)

viewer  n. someone who sees or watches something
Many young Muslim-Americans report having difficulty finding a spouse in the traditional way, so they are using websites that connect Muslims who want to be married.

Filza Satti and Obaid Akram have been married for more than a year. They met on a website for Muslims who want to take part in halal dating.

Halal dating is a way for Muslims to learn about one another to decide if they want to be married, while at the same time observing the beliefs of Islam.

When Muslim men and women date one another, it is with the intention of marrying one another or deciding against marrying. As they are dating, they do not become physically intimate. They meet only in public places and with friends. And they must have permission from their parents or other older people to date one another.

"I joined a matrimonial website two years ago. You'll find a lot of people there with different backgrounds and cultural values."

Obaid Akram says he once supported so-called arranged marriages, in which family members bring a man and woman together to be married. But he says finding a wife through a website was easier.

Halal dating, I think, is gonna be the next thing for our Muslim community, because we need it. You need to do that. We need, we all need to do that."

Some Muslims still prefer the traditional method of matchmaking, or arranging marriages. Huma Qureshi lives in Houston, Texas. She has been a matchmaker for the past 16 years.

Online dating has impacted our work, because its so easy to go to the website and create a profile for a nominal fee. Boys and girls can also meet in the process we follow but that involves families first. You do find halal dating amazing as youre young and are attracted to the opposite sex, (but) its more like a fun thing...

Meeting other Muslims on a website and then taking part in halal dating is new. But Satti and Akram believe this is the way most Muslims will meet in the future. They believe learning about a person before a marriage takes place will help prevent some of the problems that arranged marriages produce.

Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.

VOA's Madeeha Anwar reported this story from Dallas for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the 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

spouse  n. someone who is married; a husband or wife

intimate  v. involving sex or sexual relations

background  n. the experiences, knowledge, education, etc., in a persons past

prefer  v. to like (someone or something) better than someone or something else

matchmaker  n. a person who tries to bring two people together so that they will marry each other

impact  v. to have a strong and often bad effect on (something or someone)

profile  n. a brief written description that provides information about someone or something

nominal  adj. very small in amount
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Please visit my other blog lewstringercomics.blogspot.com which will continue.





Running from 2006 to 2019, BLIMEY! was dedicated to British comics past and present. The images of old comics on my blog are copyright their respective publishers and are only used here for review purposes. They have been scanned from my own personal comics collection, in over 50 years of collecting.The prose articles, with the exception of press releases, are Copyright  Lew Stringer and must not be reproduced without permission.




A Mitchell man charged with motor vehicular homicide had been traveling at speeds exceeding 120 miles per hour, according to court documents.

Joshua Bolzer, 23, allegedly failed field sobriety tests and tested above the legal limit of alcohol in a preliminary breath test following a crash that killed a 19-year-old man Saturday, according to court documents. Officers arrested Bolzer on charges of felony motor vehicle homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol and willful reckless driving. He is scheduled to be arraigned on charges Monday afternoon.

Nineteen-year-old Dereon Betancur died in the crash that occurred at about 4 a.m. on the west edge of Mitchell. Betancur graduated from Mitchell High School in May 2015.

According to an arrest affidavit, a Morrill Police officer had responded to the accident and had the first contact with Bolzer. The officer stopped Bolzer as he was walking on railroad tracks near the accident and the man told him that he had been driving in the crash.

Officers observed a strong odor of alcohol coming from the man and he had bloodshot and watery eyes, according to the arrest affidavit. He had also suffered several scrapes on his arms and head.

An officer transported Bolzer to the Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs Office, where field sobriety tests were conducted and allegedly suggested impairment. Officers also administered a preliminary breath test, the findings of which exceeded the legal limit of .08 blood alcohol concentration. Authorities obtained a search warrant to have the mans blood drawn for toxicology tests.

Officers also interviewed one of the other passengers in the truck, Braydon Weideman. Weideman told authorities that Bolzer had been driving on Highway 26 when he turned and drove back toward Mitchell. He told authorities that he had looked at the speedometer and saw that they were traveling in excess of 120 miles per hour. He said he had yelled at Bolzer to slow down.

The Nebraska State Patrol said Bolzer lost control of the pickup he was driving on a curve, struck a utility pole, and then a tractor. The vehicle also struck the Ice Box liquor store, destroying the front of the building. The crash was so severe that the cab and the bed of the truck were separated and the transmission and engine were among the parts littering the roadway.

Weideman and another man, Thomas Riley, 19, were injured and hospitalized after the accident. None of the men were wearing seat belts and all of them were ejected from the vehicle.

During a hearing Monday, Judge James Worden outlined that Bolzer could face up to 20 years imprisonment on the motor vehicle homicide charge, a Class IIA felony, and at least one year license suspension, but not exceeding 15 years, on the motor vehicular homicide charge. The driving under the influence charge is a Class W misdemeanor and the sentence is a maximum of sixty days imprisonment and a $500 fine. The willful reckless driving charge is a Class III misdemeanor, with a maximum sentence of three months imprisonment, a $500 fine or both.

Attorney Sterling Huff is representing Bolzer. Bond in the case was set at $250,000, with Bolzer being required to post $25,000 before being released from jail.

He is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 30.
A Scottsbluff man involved in a standoff Saturday had recently been discharged by a veterans hospital after a seven-day psychiatric evaluation.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs deputies arrested Daniel Converse, 65, of Scottsbluff, on two counts of terroristic threats, a Class IIIA felony, after the 11-hour standoff at Converses home in rural Scottsbluff. The man had told friends, family and law enforcement that he had a hand grenade. The standoff resulted in the deploying of the Scotts Bluff County SWAT team, a bomb squad team and negotiators from the Scottsbluff Police Department and Nebraska State Patrol.

During a court hearing Monday, Converse, shown at the detention center via video arraignments, wheeled a suitcase device with oxygen connections and tubes on his face. The man spoke softly, saying yes, when asked if he understand after a prosecutor read charges outlining he was charged with threatening his wife and a brother. Converse said he could not afford an attorney and a public defender was appointed to represent the man.

Also on Monday, Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman said that bomb technicians had been searching Converses home since the standoff concluded. At least one explosive device was discovered, and Overman was waiting to consult with technicians further before releasing additional details.

Prior to Saturdays standoff, Converse had been in and out of hospitals in recent weeks. According to an affidavit filed in Scotts Bluff County Court, Converse had been placed on an emergency protective hold, which typically is a 72-hour hold, on Aug. 2 by a Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs deputy as he was threatening to kill family members and to shoot up the hospital and staff. He was evaluated by psychiatric staff at Regional West Medical Center, but released without the convening of a mental health board that could have ordered he be committed further. Family transported the man to the Cheyenne, Wyoming, veterans hospital on Aug. 8 for a mental evaluation, where he was placed on a required 72-hour hold. A seven-day evaluation period followed and the man was released on Aug. 18.

On Saturday, just two days later, the arrest affidavit says, Converses wife, Elsie called authorities at about 7:35 a.m. to report that her husband was having issues and was possibly armed with a hand grenade. Responding deputies found the man walking across his yard from an outbuilding to his main residence. They observed the man having an object in his hand that they said resembled the size and shape of a hand grenade. Deputies were unable to get him to stop and he entered his residence.

An acquaintance of Converses told authorities that the man did tell him that had a hand grenade in his possession. A brother confirmed that the man had shown family members a hand grenade in the past. During his last contact with his brother, the man had allegedly said that he had replaced the safety pin in the grenade and that it was sitting on the kitchen table, with Converse refusing to leave the residence. Throughout the day, authorities attempted to negotiate with Converse. At times, the man refused to communicate with the negotiators, the arrest affidavit says. He finally left the residence at about 6:38 p.m., after the SWAT team deployed CS gas into the residence.

According to the affidavit, Converse was treated at Regional West Medical Center before being transported to the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center, where he remained Monday. His bond was set at $50,000, with Converse needing to post 10 percent of his bond to be released from jail.

If convicted, Converse faces up to three years imprisonment and 18 months of post release supervision, a $10,000 fine or both.

He is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 30.
Samsungs third smartphone to ship with the Tizen operating system is somewhat oddly called the Samsung Z2. It follows the Z1 and Z3. Go figure.

The new phone is launching in India, where it sells for INR 4,590 (about $68), and its the first Tizen smartphone to ship with support for 4ZG networks.

As you may have guessed from the price, the phone isnt exactly a powerhouse. It features a 4 inch, WVGA display, a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, a 5MP rear camera, a VGA front camera, and a 1,500 mAh battery.

The phone does have dual SIM support and a microSD card slot.

Tizen is an open source, Linux-based operating system which is theoretically available for any device maker to use. But Samsung is the only company to release phones based on the software so far. Samsungs smartwatches and smart TVs also use Tizen.

Still, Tizen phones make up a pretty tiny portion of Samsungs portfolio, with most of the companys phones running Android. But Samsung has been hedging its bets for a few years by trying to build a Tizen ecosystem, starting with entry-level devices like the Samsung Z2.
One can almost state this in writing. If you praise/defend or say literally anything about Pakistan, someone, somewhere will get offended. This time, it is actor-politician Ramya (Divya Spandana) who is facing ire for her comments on Pakistan.

The Kannada actor and member of Congress since 2011 was recently in Islamabad to attend a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference, where she referred to Manohar Parrikar's statement, "going to Pakistan is like going to hell," by responding with "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well," reports NDTV.

Soon after a Karnataka based advocate, K Vittal Gowda, lodged a complaint of sedition against Ramya for her statement, accusing her of insulting India and provoking Indians by appreciating Pakistan. CNN-News 18 reports that Judge Shyam Prakash will hear the case on 27 August.

Ramya's statement has also sparked protests across the state by local ABVP and BJP cadres, who are demanding an apology from her, failing which, they want her to move to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Twitterati are doing what they do best: troll. Ramya has been called all sorts of names, including the most popular: "anti-national".

At the forefront of the backlash is Kannada actor Jaggesh. Times of India reports while participating in an ABVP protest on anti-nationalism, he said, "People who have not studied and don't have any experience are praising Pakistan. They should be given a peace prize, maybe a Nobel. They should also be allowed to stand next to Bill Clinton and take photos," adding that those who support anti-national sentiments are "mosquitoes and bedbugs" and should be destroyed with poison.

This is not the first time Jaggesh and Radha have had a war of words; they had previously fought over Radha walking out of his movie Neer Dosa.

Ramya responses to this nation wide protest on Twitter has been dignified.

"Delusion arises from anger.Mind is bewildered by delusion.Reasoning is destroyed when mind is bewildered"- the Gita pic.twitter.com/Gcedc7XtQg  Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) August 21, 2016

On Tuesday morning, she spoke to the media about her comments:

#BREAKING Actor Ramya faces sedition charges for calling Pakistanis 'nice & hospitable', says Defence Min was wrong in calling Pak a 'hell'  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 23, 2016

#EXCLUSIVE | No question of apologising for praising Pakistan: Actress @divyaspandana to CNN-News18 on the sedition complaint  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 23, 2016

#EXCLUSIVE I'm entitled to freedom of speech. Nobody can curb it: @divyaspandana to CNN-News18 on sedition complaint pic.twitter.com/XVlUm9QCjS  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 23, 2016

#EXCLUSIVE It's important that sedition law gets repealed. Didn't do anything wrong. Pakistanis are good people,just like us: @divyaspandana  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 23, 2016
When Ranbir Kapoor sat down for an interview with CNN News 18's Rajeev Masand last week, the conversation covered everything from his relationship with Katrina Kaif, his film choices, dealing with success and failure and a whole lot more.

There was one aspect of the chat, however, that showed a very different side of Ranbir  the star-struck fan, rather than the star.

Ranbir is known to be quite the fan of Quentin Tarantino and Rajeev Masand asked the actor to describe a recent meeting he had with the filmmaker in London, while shooting for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

This is what Ranbir said:

"Its not just Quentin Tarantino. I am star struck. Ive run behind Natalie Portman at Tribeca. She was on the phone and she was crying. I went quickly behind her and said, 'I love your' Before I could say 'work', she turned and said, 'Get lost!' So Ive had my heart broken but I would still chase them."

"So with Quentin Tarantino recently, he was promoting The Hateful Eight and we were shooting Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in London. I was shooting in a basement and he was in the building. I heard that he was doing an interview so I went running up. I told Karan, 'Listen, I have to meet him.' Not that Im going to say that Im an actor from India. I just wanted to meet him, take a picture, an autograph."

"So I was waiting at the car for like half an hour. I saw him coming and from far Im saying, 'Quentin, Quentin.' He walks, looks at me, goes and sits in his car. When the door opens, Im like, 'Sir, picture picture?' and they have it on video. It was really funny and I got teased by the entire crew of Ae Dil, but just to see Quentin Tarantino!"

"Man, this guy really affected my life. His movies  Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction  are instrumental to the work I am doing. Subconsciously Ive taken so much from those films so it was a big star struck moment. I dont feel bad about it. I dont feel like he is such an ass or a rude guy. I understand that it happens because he is in his own world and he is an artist. Artists are supposed to be weird."

In case you missed it, read the full interview with Ranbir here.
New Delhi: Billionaire Anil Ambani's elder son Jai Anmol today joined the board of Reliance Capital as an additional director after two years of training.

Anmol, 24, has been working in various financial services businesses within Reliance Capital since 2014.

Besides, chairman Anil Ambani, Anmol is the only other family member to have joined the board of the financial services arm of Reliance Group. He will become the full-time executive director at the forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM) next month.

He has been actively involved in internal business reviews across companies and has also been part of interactions with Nippon Life for increasing stake in Reliance Life Insurance and Reliance Capital Asset Management in the last two years. Anmol's cousin Akash is employed with father Mukesh Ambani's company, Reliance Industries.

The board of directors of Reliance Capital today approved the induction of Anmol on its board as an Additional Director, the company said in a statement.

The induction follows the recommendation by the nomination and compensation committee of the Board of Reliance Capital, comprising largely of Independent Directors.

"We would like to welcome Anmol on the board of Reliance Capital. Anmol has been a fast learner, active participant in all reviews and displayed sharp business acumen in various decision making processes," Reliance Capital Group CEO and ED Sam Ghosh said.

Anmol, who has a degree from Warwick Business School in the UK, has also been visiting branches and meeting employees across businesses in different regions to get exposure and detailed understanding of businesses at grass-root level in last two years.

"The last two years have given me great learnings about the financial services business. I look forward to using this experience for scaling up our businesses and contributing towards their growth and progress," Anmol said.

With a revenue of over Rs 4,000 crore, Reliance Capital has various verticals dealing with life insurance, commercial finance, securities, general finance and mutual funds.
New Delhi - In the last few days, newspapers have had screaming headlines of loss of thousands of jobs across the services sector.

On Monday, The Indian Express reported Infosys, the country's second largest software exporter, has cut 500 jobs after the company recorded poor quarterly results were and lost a contract from RBS.

Over the weekend, reports said about 4,000 people were about to lose their jobs due to a suspension of operations at e-commerce website AskMe. Earlier Flipkart had asked about 700 underperformers to leave. Meanwhile, Snapdeal is shutting down a luxury fashion portal which could lead to loss of hundreds of jobs. Taxi aggregator Ola has shut down operations of TaxiForSure, a company it had acquired in March 2015, again resulting in hundreds of lay-offs.

Should a few thousand jobs getting axed in the services industry worry us? It should, indeed. The services sector has been the key jobs creator in India, since manufacturing has not been a big draw. Remember, about a million Indians reach the employment age every month. Finding employment for them is in itself a daunting task and the enormity of the problem becomes larger when seen in the context of job cuts in the sectors which were seen as most employment friendly.

Already, the governments own data show job growth slowed to a six-year low in 2015 under the NDA government. There is no data to show if the decline has been arrested in the first six months of this calendar year since the Labour Bureau is yet to release these figures.

Let us look at the IT sector, one of the largest services sector employers. This story points out that Indias IT industry is faced with one of the leanest years of growth in its history and the lower demand for IT services is driving down hiring numbers. Automation is adding to the worries. Companies like Infosys and Wipro have become selective in hiring even freshers -- a departure from the traditional "mass hiring" strategy that IT firms have followed for the last two decades.

In the ecommerce space, jobs are being lost in large numbers as the sector begins a painful consolidation drive. Unconfirmed reports have already suggested that one of the poster boys of Indias ecommerce industry may be looking to merge with another biggie  if this were to happen, there could again be a massive realignment of jobs.

D K Joshi, chief Economist at Crisil says India needs to create high-value added jobs as lower level jobs are already getting eliminated on increased automation. Joshi was one of the authors of a 2014 Crisil report on jobs which predicted a slowdown in employment generation in the coming years. The decline in employment creation has been compounded by falling labour intensity in the economy as automation rises.

This is because the GDP growth in recent years has been driven by less labour-intensive services such as IT/ITeS, business and financial services and the capacity of labour intensive sectors such as manufacturing to absorb labour has diminished considerably in face of rising automation and complicated labour laws.

Sectors such as IT/ITeS require only around 1-2 people to produce Rs 1 million of real value-added GDP so that higher growth in these sectors does not create large-scale employment. Also, the labour dependency of the manufacturing sector - which once used to be the most labour-intensive sector barring agriculture - has diminished considerably as automation has increased.

According to this report, the Internet of Things is expected to take away close to a lakh jobs in India in the next five years because of technological innovation.

A report by HDFC Bank on Indias tapering jobs growth says that employment elasticity in the economy is now close to zero  for every one point rise in GDP, jobs grow only 0.15.

Fifteen years ago, it was 0.39. The economys job creating potential has shrunk 60 percent during the last decade-and-a-half. Put simply, we are close to literally achieving jobless growth.

The Crisil report has also predicted a sharp decline in employment generation in the non-agriculture sector in the coming years as the economy treads a lower-growth path.

CRISIL estimates that employment outside agriculture will increase by only 38 million between 2011-12 and 2018-19 compared with 52 million between 2004-05 and 2011-12. Due to insufficient employment creation in industry and services sectors, more workers will become locked in the least productive and low-wage agricultural sector. We estimate that 12 million people will join the agriculture workforce by 2018-19, compared with a decline of 37 million in agriculture employment between 2004-05 and 2011-12."

Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist at Care Ratings, had pointed out earlier that job creation has been slow in the last few years because of a virtual stagnation in manufacturing sector growth.

"There has been limited job creation in the last couple of years despite India's GDP showing an uptrend. This is because in the physical segment, we have not seen similar growth commensurately". He pointed out that the government has really offered no new jobs in PSUs etc whereas even the private sector has seen layoffs or some replacement jobs at best these last few years.

Already, overall job creation has been suffering under the Modi Government despite Indias galloping GDP, as the governments own data show. Last available data of the Labour Bureau for the December quarter of 2015 show no new jobs were created but there was actually a decline of 20,000 jobs across eight labour intensive sectors.

Remember, the September quarter of the same year had added 1.34 lakh new jobs across the same eight sectors and was still the slowest quarter in the previous six years (barring 2012 where quarter wise data was not available). Now, with the December quarter data in, the total number of new jobs created across the eight sectors between January-December 2015 stood at just 1.35 lakh. This is the slowest pace of new jobs being created since 2009.

Here's some easy math for grasping the enormity of this slowdown in jobs under the NDA: The Modi government took charge in mid-2014 and for that full year, 4.93 lakh jobs were added across these eight sectors.

So job addition in the first full year of this government fell to just a fourth of 2014 and was only a tenth of the growth seen in 2009, when the UPA was in power.

Joshi of Crisil says the government is not oblivious to job creation and points to the recently announced package for the textiles sector to boost jobs. The textile and apparels industry employs over 100 million people directly and indirectly and is thought to have the potential to create 50 million more jobs by 2025. But India lags in competitiveness to even Bangladesh in textiles and reaching the target of 10 million additional jobs over the next three years looks tough.

Employment in the textiles and apparels sector fell 0.11 percent in April-June 2015, rose 0.18 percent in July-September and 0.23 percent in October-December 2015, according to Labour Bureau estimates. Hardly the pace at which the expected job creation will happen.

Jobless growth is a reality staring India in the face. The government and industry must work together to solve this crisis.
New Delhi: India has figured among the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world with a total individual wealth of $5,600 billion while the United States topped the chart.

According to a report by New World Wealth, India was ranked 7th ahead of Canada ($4,700 billion), Australia ($4,500 billion) and Italy ($4,400 billion), which came in at 8th, 9th and 10th slots, respectively.

The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total individual wealth held ($48,900 billion) while China stood second and Japan third, with total individual wealth of $17,400 billion and $15,100 billion, respectively.

Others in the top 10 club include the United Kingdom (4) with a total individual wealth of $9,200 billion, followed by Germany (5th, $9,100 billion) and France (6th, $6,600 billion).

Wealth refers to net assets of a person. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) minus any liabilities, the report said adding that it excludes government funds from its figures. The ranking of India as one of the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world is largely because of its large population.

"Australia's ranking is impressive, considering it only has 22 million people living there," the report explained.

Over the past 5 years, China was the fastest growing wealthiest country in terms of dollar wealth growth. On India, the report stated, "Australia and India also grew strongly and India, Australia and Canada have just overtaken Italy over the past 12 months."

The study ranked the wealthiest countries in the world as of June 2016 in terms of total individual wealth held.
Raipur: The Chhattisgarh Assembly on Tuesday witnessed uproar over statements of some BJP MLAs who blamed Jawaharlal Nehru for the Kashmir problem.

The special day-long session had been called to ratify the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST.

While senior BJP MLA Devjibhai Patel was speaking on the uniformity in taxation system from "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" which GST would bring, a Congress member mentioned the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir.

Patel said the country's first Prime Minister was responsible for the problems in Kashmir, to which the Congress MLAs objected.

Another ruling party MLA, Shivratan Sharma, said the country is still suffering consequences of Nehru's decisions on Kashmir and he was solely responsible for Kashmir problem.

State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said such comments were highly objectionable. Echoing him, the leader of opposition T S Singhdeo referred to a book by a former IAS officer to state that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had argued that Kashmir, being a Muslim-majority area, should go to Pakistan.

It was Nehru who sent troops when the Pakistani tribesmen advanced in the valley, he pointed out.

Singhdeo also said his party was ready for discussion on the issue, to which Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Chandrakar said BJP too was ready for the same. But the Speaker pacified both of them.

Later, during his reply to the discussion on GST, Chief Minister Raman Singh stressed that Sardar Patel had never said that Kashmir should have been a part of Pakistan.

Patel merged the princely states with Union of India, and credit for the present shape of India goes to him, he said.

Singh also made a comment about rulers of the princely states, to which Singhdeo took objection.

Raman Singh said he was ready to hold a discussion on Kashmir issue in the Assembly. However, the issue was not further discussed and the GST bill was ratified unanimously.
China reportedly warned India against the deployment of the Brahmos supersonic missile in the North East. This comes just a few weeks after the governments clearance to raise a new regiment which will be equipped with an advanced version of the Brahmos.

The new regiment will be deployed at Arunachal Pradesh, reported The Hindustan Times. The regiment would be developed for mountain warfare at a cost of more than Rs 4,300 crore.

PLA Daily, the official publication of Peoples Liberation Army, has warned that Indias move could lead to counter-measures from China.

The Financial Express quoted sources as saying, This version of Brahmos will have additional features such as steep-diving capabilities.

India deploying supersonic missiles on the border has exceeded its own needs for self-defense and poses a serious threat to Chinas Tibet and Yunnan provinces, the article in PLA Daily read.

It also warned India of increasing competitiveness and confrontation in the ties between India and China.

The article also said that other steps taken by India to increase its capabilities along with Indo-China border, such as the deployment of UAVs and Su-30 combat jets were part of a policy of counterbalance and confrontation.

It also added that the missile range of Brahmos, which is 290 kilometres, cannot threaten Chinas deep zones.

NDTV quoted some sources in the Army as saying that the deployment of the Brahmos in Arunachal Pradesh should come as no surprise since India already uses several missile systems to defend its territory.

It has also made it clear that its decisions would not be influenced by China. "Our threat perceptions and security concerns are our own, and how we address these by deploying assets on our territory should be no one else's concern, NDTV quoted a top Army official.

The Congress on Tuesday said that these kind of mechanisms that the government must operate and this should also be applicable to Pakistan, Business Standard reported.
New Delhi: The Centre on Monday night rushed 10 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams to flood-hit areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in order to launch massive relief and rescue operations to help those marooned in these states.

NDRF Director General O P Singh told PTI that while five teams are being airlifted for immediate deployment from its base in Odisha to Uttar Pradesh, the rest five are being picked by choppers from Bathinda in Punjab and will be sent to Bihar.

"These fresh teams will be launched into operation by early Tuesday," the DG said, adding they would be equipped with boats and essential items like medicines. Singh said the teams will be in addition to the 56 such contingents which are undertaking flood combat operations in these two states, besides Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The DG also briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with full updates of the flood situation in these states late on Monday. In order to launch massive operations in the two worst-affected states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the NDRF has created on-ground control rooms in these two states and deputed two senior Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) S S Guleria (Patna) and R K Rana (Varanasi) to take control of the situation.

Earlier on Monday, the NDRF said it had rescued more than 26,000 people from the flood-ravaged areas of these states. "So far, the NDRF teams have evacuated more than 26,400 people from various flood-prone areas in the country this monsoon season. Besides the rescue work, these teams have provided medical care to the more than 9,100 people in these States," the NDRF said.

In Bihar on Monday, NDRF teams evacuated 3,400 people from Didarganj, 580 from Bakhtiyarpur, 545 from Danapur, 380 from Chhapra, 355 from Vaishali and 15 from Maner in Patna. The NDRF said 11 flood rescue teams rescued 275 people from Ballia, 275 from Varanasi and 325 from Chitrakoot in UP on yesterday.

Nearly 150 marooned people were shifted to safer places from Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

"An NDRF team pre-positioned in Sikkim conducted similar operations in Tingbung and Lingdang villages and evacuated more than 450 people on Sunday," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised full support to these flood-hit states in the conduct of rescue and relief operations.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh is closely monitoring the situation and had telephonic conversation with Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav (UP), Harish Rawat (Uttarakhand), Nitish Kumar (Bihar) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) and took stock of the flood situation in the states.
Its scary, definitely Orwellian in the grim possibilities it entails.

Imagine a situation where the state outsources its responsibility to hooligans and treats them as its eyes while implementing a law or several of them. The case of Barun Kashyap, the youth in Mumbai who was harassed by an auto rickshaw driver for allegedly carrying a bag made of cowhide, should make it amply clear that no one is safe if thugs, particularly the ideologically-driven ones, get a free hand. That makes the Maharashtra governments move to engage volunteers as welfare officers to monitor the ban on beef a troubling one.

According to a report in The Indian Express, such welfare officers, who wont receive any salary, would be provided official identity cards. Their job would be to monitor and report acts of cruelty against animals. Its the card, according to the report, which has got fringe elements in the Hindutva Parivar  many of the applicants are self-proclaimed gau rakshaks  excited. The reason is not hard to surmise. It virtually legitimises their activities and the card offers a sense of immunity, and power.

Some days ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi was harsh while denouncing the hooliganism going on in the name of cow protection. He said 70-80 percent of these of gau rakshaks were anti-social elements. The states needed to come down heavily on them, he emphasised. Many media investigations later revealed that cow protection had become a flourishing illegal business. The primary job of the people involved was not ensuring the well-being of the cow per se, but extortion of money from people involved with businesses related to cows one way or the other.

The advertisement of the Animal Husbandry Department of the Maharashtra government came before all this. However, now that the prime minister himself has advocated strong action against fake cow protectors from the state governments, the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra can review its move. In fact, this will serve as a case study about whether states are serious about following up on the prime ministers call or whether they would prefer to pander to the Hindutva crowd threatening social harmony with their brazen acts of lawlessness.

While we wait and watch how Fadnavis acts, we need to give a thought to the potential threat from such card-holding volunteers to the society at large. Come back to Barun Kashyaps case. According to his account, the autorickshaw driver touched his bag and concluded it was made of cow leather. He was lucky that he was not thrashed; with vigilantes on the loose thats always a possibility.

But what if he had the card that the government promises to volunteers? The auto driver could have physically harmed him and dragged him to the police. Since he is a card-holder  a person recognised by the government, the police would have let him go. Barun, meanwhile, would be doing all the explaining on how the hide involved was not that of a cow but of a camel, and perhaps ending up in lock-up.

Imagine such government-approved vigilantes all over the city, pulling up and harassing people on suspicion alone. Forget anything to do with cattle, whats the guarantee that such people wont get into other activities too? For example, with a card in hand they can expand their role to moral-policing. In simple words, the governments idea is in some ways an invitation for hooligans to take control of the lives of the citizenry. How much more ridiculous can it get?

One fails to understand why any government would invest so much energy in matters of cattle? It could be a matter of religious ideology pervading politics, hence the undue interest, but can it work by antagonising the common citizen? Why can the government not just go slow on the beef ban? This ban has started threatening to hurt it politically too. Will the Maharashtra government pay heed to the words of Modi? The prime minister has said 80 percent of cow vigilantes are criminals.

And the reality is that an identity card from the Maharashtra government will legitimise the activities of these criminals and arm them with the authority, even if unintended, to take the law into their hands. If it has no resources to bring the full force of the law to bear upon its beef ban, the state government has only two options: It should either lift the ban  because it is both impractical and regressive  or allow it to be followed in breach, rather than in practice. There's no third option, that of outsourcing law enforcement to goons blinded by religious extremism.
New Delhi: IITs have decided to increase the number of seats in various courses for admitting "non-resident students" with an aim to take their total intake to one lakh by 2020.

According to senior officials, in a meeting of the IIT Council headed by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday, "in-principle" approval was given to the proposal for admitting non-resident students.

The authorities of different IITs will now undertake an exercise to fix the number of additional students they can accommodate.

"At present, the IITs have around 72,000 students in their undergraduate, postgraduate or doctorate courses which are residential. However, it is now planned that students, who will not stay in hostels, should be admitted to these institutes," an official said.

The plan is to increase the number by 10,000 per year so that the number of IITians touches 1 lakh by 2020, the official said, suggesting that ideally there would be an increase of 4,000 seats in undergraduate courses and 6,000 seats in postgraduate and PhD seats, an official said.

Speaking after the meeting, Javadekar announced that the IIT Council has also approved a proposal to introduce the Prime Minister's Research Fellowships.

The move aims at encouraging IITians passing out of B.Tech to enroll in PhD courses straightaway.

Another decision taken by the council is to introduce an induction course to help new students adjust as they join these institutes after a rigorous competitive examination.

The IIT Council has also given its nod to a "pilot" run of an aptitude test, the officials said, adding that the

modalities will be worked out. They said that this test would not have a bearing on admissions.

Another scheme which was approved the Council is 'Vishwajeet' which will help IITs to secure top ranks globally.

On the new education policy, Javadekar said the government has received inputs from various quarters a workshop would soon be organised in this regard. He said education is a subject beyond politics and the government is willing to listen to all views on the issue.
It is just a matter of Rs 1,000. If Julian Pradhan and his two brothers pay this money as a fine to their neighbours, things will return to the way they were. But eight years after they lost their homes in Kandhamal riots, the three brothers are refusing to pay, braving a social boycott in their village.

Julian remembers the good, old times. He was born, 62 years ago, in Bodigunda village in Odishas Kandhamal district. As a child, he and his brothers, Jasinta and Pavitra, had played in the forest behind their village.

My father spent his entire life in creating that forest, Julian says.

The Pradhans are Kandhas, the largest tribal community in Odisha. Most Kandhas are Hindus, but some of them converted to Christianity under the influence of missionaries. Julian says someone among his forefathers became a Christian towards the end of the 19th Century. But it hardly made any difference in the village where people continued to live as a close community; every one was free to use the resources of the forest Julians father had created. In 1995, says Julian, he dug up a well with the help of a few missionaries near the land he owns and that he tills with his brothers to grow paddy. That well also benefited all the families in the neighbourhood.

There are 40 Christian families in Bodigunda, but in the Brainguda Panchayat ward, there are only three Christian families  those of the three Pradhan brothers. There was another big Christian household, but its members converted to Hinduism. One of the boys fell in love with a Hindu girl, so they all converted, says Julian.

And then the 2008 riots happened, triggered by the killing of Kandhamals popular Hindu leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. The Kandha Hindus suspected the missionaries to be behind his murder and began to target Christian families all over Kandhamal.

One day, Julian stepped out of his home and saw a group of villagers standing outside. He knew most of them. They carried axes and other sharp-edged weapons. They told us to leave immediately or else they would hunt us down like pigs, recalls Julian. The three brothers and their families fled immediately. They went to the hills and stayed in the forest.

After a few days, when they returned to their street, their houses had been burnt down, and the rioters hadnt disappeared. Their street was patrolled by armed men who asked the Pradhans never to return. They left again, this time taking one hill after another to reach a relief camp set up by the state government.

At the camp, based on their testimony, five people from their village were arrested by police for rioting and had to serve a jail sentence. The Pradhans were forced to spend three years in the camp, after which they returned to their homes.

But the village had changed. Julian says that after their return, no one would speak to them. In their absence, the well Julian had dug had been damaged. They were barred from using the other well or picking up firewood from the same forest their father had created.

A few months ago, the villagers held a meeting and said that the Pradhans could again become a part of the community if they paid a fine of Rs 1,000. We thought about it, but then decided against it. We have not committed any wrong, so why should we pay a fine? asks Julian.

It has been five years since the Pradhans returned. But their neighbours now treat them as pariahs.

They hardly talk to us or call us for community feasts, says Julian.

The Pradhans would like to have their life back. I miss the community life, says Julian. But I will not pay the fine. That is what my conscience tells me.

Part One: 8 years after Swami Laxmanananda Saraswatis killing, Kandhamal is still a ticking time bomb
New Delhi: The appellate authority which heard the appeals of the 21 JNU students who were penalised in connection with the controversial 9 February event has found all of them guilty of indiscipline even as the financial penalty imposed on some of them has been reduced.

"The panel has found guilty the 21 students who were penalised in connection with the 9 February event. The punishments still stand but fines imposed on few students have been reduced. Fresh letters informing the decision have been issued to students," a source said.

There was, however, no clarity on who all have benefited with reduction of penalty. In the light of the recommendation of the High Level Enquiry Committee and subsequently the recommendation of the panel constituted to assist the Appellate Authority, the university had on Monday informed that the Vice Chancellor has come to a conclusion and has taken the final decision on the appeals made by the students.

JNU was at the centre of a controversy in February this year because of an event on campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

Three students including the students union president Kanhaiya Kumar were arrested in a sedition case over the event and are now out on bail. 21 JNU students were slapped with varied punishments ranging from rustication, hostel debarment to financial penalty on basis of the probe by the HLEC which found them guilty of violation of discipline norms.

The students had gone on an indefinite hunger strike against the decision which lasted for 16 days. As the varsity refused to relent and withdraw the punitive action proposed against the students despite their failing health, some students moved the Delhi High Court challenging the action.

Following this, the High Court issued directions to JNUSU to immediately withdraw the hunger strike and to not launch any fresh agitation. It had stayed action against the students till their appeals have been decided by the appellate authority.

JNU had then formed a four-member committee to hear appeals of those who had been found guilty of indiscipline by the varsity probe panel.
Srinagar: On a visit to Kashmir amid unrest, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh on Tuesday asked the forces to exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with mobs and uphold human rights.

He also made an earnest appeal to the people to eschew violence and help restore peace and calm at the earliest.

The army chief, who was in Kashmir a day ahead of the visit of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, travelled to south Kashmir, the epicentre of the ongoing unrest, and was briefed by officials about the situation.

"Following his previous visit only a month ago, the chief of army staff was in the Valley again for review of the security situation," an army official said.

He appreciated the professionalism with which the troops had been operating in full synergy with other security and civil agencies to keep the situation under control, the official said.

"The army chief impressed upon everyone to uphold human rights and exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with the protesting mobs," the official said.

The general also directed to ensure measures "to prevent armed terrorists who jeopardise the lives of innocent civilians from moving with impunity".

Lauding the humanitarian steps, General Singh reinforced the need to synergise efforts with all the other stakeholders.

Accompanied by the Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda, the army chief also visited formations on the Line of Control and units in North Kashmir.

"He was briefed on the operational preparedness besides the recent successful counter infiltration operations in which over ten terrorists have been eliminated over the past one month," the official said.

Commending the alertness of all troops deployed along the Line of Control in foiling the nefarious designs of inimical forces, Gen Singh stressed upon the need to continue high degree of vigil and operational focus, he said.

Later, the Army Chief visited the headquarters of the 15 Corps at Badamibagh Cantonment here where he was briefed by the Northern Army and Chinar Corps Commanders on the numerous initiatives undertaken by the Army all across the Valley to constructively engage with the people towards their well being and an early return of normalcy.
Srinagar: Curfew was lifted on Tuesday from most areas of Srinagar in view of the improving situation, even as normal life in the Valley remained affected for the 46th straight day due to restrictions and strike in the wake of violence following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

Curfew has been lifted from most areas of Srinagar district. However, it will remain in force in five police station areas of downtown city and Batamaloo, Maisuma and Kralkhud in the uptown, a police official said.

He said curfew was also in force in Anantnag town of south Kashmir.

The official said the restrictions on the movement of people in many areas of the Valley were lifted following improvement in the situation.

The authorities on Monday relaxed curfew for eight hours in the jurisdiction of 12 police stations in Srinagar from 9 am and the relaxation period passed off peacefully, without any untoward incident.

Barring five incidents of stone-pelting, the situation in the Valley remained by and large peaceful throughout the day on Monday, the official said.

The lifting of the curbs allowed movement of people in the city as there was increased movement of private cars and auto-rickshaws in and around Lal Chowk city centre on Tuesday.

However, the official said, restrictions on the assembly of four or more persons under Section 144 of CrPC will continue to remain imposed in the entire Valley to maintain law and order.

The separatist camp, which is spearheading the agitation in the Valley over the civilian killings during the protests against Wani's killing, has asked women to hold peaceful protests on Tuesday.

65 persons, including two cops, have been killed and several thousand others injured in the clashes that began on 9 July, a day after Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in Kokernag area of Anantnag district.

Meanwhile, normal life remained paralysed for the 46th consecutive day due to curfew, restrictions and separatist sponsored strike.

Shops, private offices, educational institutions and petrol pumps remained closed while public transport continued to be off roads. The attendance in government offices and banks was also affected.

Mobile internet also continued to remain suspended in the entire Valley, where the outgoing facility on prepaid mobiles remained barred.
New Delhi: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the meeting between a delegation of Jammu and kashmir Opposition parties and the Prime Minister must be welcomed if it is the first sign of "fresh thinking" even as he pitched for sending an all-party delegation to the Valley.

"Yesterday's meeting between PM & J&K opposition parties: if it is the first sign of fresh thinking, we must welcome it. Next step should be sending All Parties Delegation to Jammu and Kashmir", the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.

On Monday, Congress had dismissed as "shooting from the hip" the prime minister's call for a dialogue to find a lasting solution to the unrest in Kashmir Valley which is on the boil for last 45 days.

"It looks that the Prime Minister's words keep changing. What he said at the all-party meeting, his remarks in the Independence Day address and today he is talking of dialogue, but dialogue with whom? There is a suspicion that these are mere words, mere empty rhetoric for the Prime Minister. He is unfortunately shooting from his hip and merely shooting the breeze," party spokesman Manish Tewari had said.

Modi had a 75-minute-long meeting with a joint opposition delegation led by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday.

The prime minister emphasised on the need for dialogue to find a "permanent and lasting solution" within the framework of the Constitution and also asked all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
Thane: A district court here has issued a show cause notice to Kalyan Jail authorities after they

failed to produce one of the accused before it in connection with the 2013 Mumbra building collapse case, in which charges were to be framed.

The notice was issued by Thane District Judge VV Bambarde on Monday. In a strongly-worded letter to Adharwadi Jail Superintendent, the Judge sought an explanation for his failure to produce accused  Laxman Dhanaji Rathod  in the court on Monday.

Earlier, the court had issued an arrest warrant for the AMC of Mumbra, Shyam Thorbole after he remained absent for the hearing in the collapse case.

Following the warrant, Thane policemen went to Thorbole's house but drew a blank as he had gone to Tirupati.

The action against Kalyan Jail authorities was initiated after the special public prosecutor, Shishir Hirey pointed out that this was a deliberate attempt by the accused (Rathod) to delay the proceedings inordinately and urged the court to act upon it.

"You know that accused Laxman Dhanaji @ Damu S/o Shivaji Rathod is lodged in your prison. He is accused in one of the sensitive case of Shil Daighar police station bearing CR No: I-63/2013, Sessions Case No: 38/2014.

"Your were directed by writing... on warrant that the case was fixed for framing of charge, it is time bound and you were directed to send the above named accused to this court without fail. You also personally know that this court is trying this case very urgent, top priority basis and Honble High Court has directed this court to decide case within 18 months," read the show cause notice.

"Today you have sent accused Manikandan Selaram Nadar and Prabhu @ Prabhakaran Nadar in Sessions case 528/2015 and accused Roshni Omprakash Tupam in Special case No; 105/2014 in the court of Bhatia Saheb.It appears that you deliberately avoided to send accused Laxman Dhanaji to this court to prolong and create hurdle in a sensitive case. You are therefore directed to give explanation forthwith," it said.

At least 74 people were killed and 62 injured when a seven-storey structure, which was under construction, collapsed in Shil-Daighar area of Thane's Mumbra town in April 2013. The dead included 18 children.

There are 27 accused in the case, of whom 25 have been arrested while two are still at large.
New Delhi: The government will take all steps to "strengthen" the country's elite counter-terror force  NSG  by providing better infrastructure and weapons, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

The minister, after inaugurating a composite building for the counter-hijack squad of the force near Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), said he would also welcome a proposal for creation of a new category of medals for these commandos and those from other special forces to recognise their shaurya (bravery) and to boost their morale.

Singh lauded the National Security Guard (NSG) for its role during the terror attack early this year at the Pathankot IAF base which ensured that there was "no damage to the strategic installations and equipments" inside the air force station.

"I will make efforts to see that your infrastructural needs are met...Any special force like NSG needs special training and some very sophisticated equipments. The Home Ministry will take all steps to strengthen NSG," he said, noting countries across the globe are facing the scourge of terrorism.

The counter-hijack squad complex, modelled on the pattern of the German special counter-terror force GSG-9 and built at a cost of Rs 38 crore, houses some vital assets of the force like a base for 'black cat' commandos who undertake counter-hijack operations, a sniffer dogs squad and a bomb disposal squad.

Singh said NSG commandos get their motivation and courage to combat the terrorists from their feeling of "national pride". "You have a special place in the hearts of the people...Whenever NSG is deployed, the country knows they are in safe hands. You have done your job very ably," Singh said as he made a special mention of the Akshardham temple attack operation of 2002 during which NSG neutralised the terrorists.

He asked NSG to commemorate the birth and death anniversaries of its martyrs as suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to all central security forces, by holding special events.

He said the commandos should train themselves and ensure when in operation they should kill the enemy and not get killed.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday during which he will review the situation and may hold talks with cross section of people, a move which comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" over the situation there.

This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the valley which has been witnessing unrest since 8 July when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.

As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousand were injured so far in different violence.

The Home Minister had said the Centre wants an emotional relationship with the state and not just need-based. Singh had said the central government will talk to whosoever needed once peace and normalcy is restored in the state.

"As far as Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we don't just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir," he said, reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the state.

On Monday, while meeting a joint opposition delegation led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his "deep concern and pain" over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a "permanent and lasting" solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
New Delhi: While Perumal Murugan has emerged from a self-imposed literary exile with a new book of poems, the Tamil author who was forced to publicly renounce writing after protests against his novel 'Madhorubagan', says he now censors his own characteristic realistic style.

"A censor is seated inside me now. He is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, or it may be interpreted thus, is a real bother. But I'm unable to shake him off. If this is wrong let the Indian intellectual world forgive me," Murugan said after his new anthology was released in New Delhi late on Monday evening.

In December 2014,a dismayed Murugan had declared in a Facebook post that the writer in him was dead. He described the subsequent period as "nightmarish". "Between December 2014 and June 2016 I couldn't so much as scratch a line in the first three months. As though the fingers of my heart had become numb. I couldn't read a thing," the author said adding that it was then he realised the full meaning of the Tamil phrase nadaipinam, 'a walking corpse'.

The dark period, he said, ended in 2015 when he spent a few days at a friend's house in a room stacked with books. "With nothing to do I lay dazed night and day. I wallowed in a dark hole without the urge to see or talk to anybody. But as I ruminated over my existence, there came a certain instant when the sluice gates were breached. I began to write. I chronicled the moment when I felt like a rat, dazzled by the light, burrowing itself into its hole," Murugan said.

The poems that emerged after that stay finds place in his just released anthology 'Kozhayin Paadalkal,' (Songs of a Coward.) "As I started to write, I began to revive little by little, from my finger nails to my hair. It was poetry that saved me," he said.

In July this year, the Madras High Court dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of the author and ban of his "offensive" book in Tamil, besides forfeiting all the copies of its English translation "One Part Woman" saying there was nothing obscene in the book.

Commenting on the judgment, Murugan said, "The learned judges have also said that 'Perumal Murugan should be able to write and advance the canvas of his writings'. The last word of the verdict -'Write' - sounds to me both as a command and as a benediction."

Murugan also expressed his gratitude to writers from Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country and the world who extended their support to him. "Across the country voices were raised in support of freedom of expression and against intolerance. It is those voices which have brought me here today. I accepted this invitation to speak here only to express my gratitude to those voices," he said in a statement that he read out in Tamil followed by a translated version that was also read out.
The issue of the radicalisation of Indian Muslims is one that has been gaining momentum for a while now. While some continue to swim in the 'this only happens in other country' sea of denial, others are beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation and suggesting ways to counter it. In an exclusive four-part series on radicalisation in India, Tufail Ahmad examines a variety of conditions and scenarios that have made it possible to radicalise youths in Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Kerala and indeed, India as a whole. You can read the first part of the series titled 'Radicalisation of Muslim youths in India' here. The second part follows:

On 9 August, the Urdu daily Roznama Inquilab published three reports that shed light on radicalisation of Muslims in Maharashtra in favour of the Islamic State, or IS. One report quoted Muslim leader Abu Asim Azmi as telling Muslims in Mumbai: "The Islamic State is an un-Islamic organisation which is using Muslim youths by misleading them. It has no connection with Islam." As per the second report, a letter was sent to the Jalgaon district collector threatening to bomb four train stations including those in Jalgaon and religious places like Shirdi on Independence Day. The letter contained slogans such as: "Long live Pakistan, Death to India!" A third report noted that the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of Maharashtra had arrested Raisuddin Siddiqui, an Urdu school teacher from Hingoli town over his attempt to join the IS.

These reports reveal the crux of the jihadi problem confronted by Muslims. One, Azmi's statement is an act of denial telling Muslims to shut their eyes to the radicalisation of youths, even as many Muslim suspects are being arrested. Two,the letter containing a slogan like "Long live Pakistan, Death to India" underlines a societal process in which pro-Pakistan slogans are legitimate in the eyes of some Muslim and Hindu journalists. Similarly, the waving of Pakistani flags outside Jammu and Kashmir, such as in Bihar's Nalanda district, is seen as a legitimate act by Muslims. This is because Indian leaders like Nitish Kumar visit Pakistan, unconsciously sending a sociological message to Indian Muslims that they are Pakistanis. The same leaders never visit Bangladesh.

This societal process represents a sociology of the mind that divides Indian society. Ideas, whether negative or positive, have consequences for people and nations, whether or not we desire them. We are seeing a "new cycle of partition" that could constitute a long-term threat to India's territorial integrity, says journalist Siddharth Singh. India has influential organisations like Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind which has said that the Muslim Personal Law cannot be subjected to the Constitution of India. Thirty madrassas of Ujjain were in the news recently for seeing religion in food as they refused to accept mid-day meals from a Hindu temple. In 2014, youths in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district wore t-shirts that had slogans like: Islamic State Pakistan.

However, the immediate issue before the Indian state is the pro-IS radicalisation. Jihadi organisations succeed only when societies have an existing infrastructure of ideas supportive of their cause. Of all the states, Maharashtra has witnessed perhaps the most radicalisation of Muslim youths during the past three years. It was here, specifically from Mumbai, that four youths went to Iraq and joined the IS in 2014. Of them, Areeb Majeed was brought back from Turkey where he ended up for treatment after being injured in Syria. The vital point is this: The four left India much before Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi had declared himself the caliph of all Muslims. After this, it was thought that radicalisation of Muslims would cease.

Conversely, the recent arrests in Aurangabad district indicate that Maharashtra has continued to experience radicalisation from 2014 through now. The following persons, all residents of Parbhani, were arrested: Naser Bin Yafi aka Chaus and Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan were arrested on 14 and 23 July respectively. The ATS also arrested Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Ahmad and Raisuddin Siddiqui separately on 8 August. Of the four, Chaus was in touch with Farooque, a jihadi in Syria. Media reports, quoting rival politicians, put the number of Muslim youths missing from Aurangabad and Nanded regions from eight at the lowest to a hundred. These figures are inaccurate, but help in understanding the level of people's concern. Perhaps this is why the ATS has begun an "I am anti-terrorist" campaign across Maharashtra in which 25,000 college students have enrolled.

Significantly, the Parbhani module was not something that bucked the trend of radicalisation among Muslims. In 2015, four Muslim youths from the Malwani suburb of Mumbai went missing. Of the four  Wajid Sheikh, Mohsin Ibrahim Sayyed, Ayaz Sultan and Noor Mohammed Sheikh  two returned, but Ayaz travelled to Iraq. Before Republic Day this year, security officials arrested 14 youths from 12 locations in six cities  Tumkur, Mangaluru, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Mumbai. Of them, Imran Moazzam Khan Pathan belonged to Vaijapur town and Mudabbir Shaikh to Mumbra, both in Maharashtra. For links with Pathan, another person, Khalid Ahmed Ali Nawazuddin, was arrested from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Much like in Bangladesh where the current crop of jihadis comes from Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, an offshoot of Jamaat-e-Islami, many suspects in India too seem to be linked to previously known terror groups like the Indian Mujahideen and the Students Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI which grew out of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. For example, Chaus wanted to carry out a lone-wolf attack on the police headquarters at Aurangabad to avenge the death of SIMI operative Khalil Qureshi, who was killed in a police clash in 2012. Qureshi's name also appears as Khalil Khilji, who was part of a module that sought to kill judges of the Allahabad High Court for a verdict it delivered on the Ayodhya issue.

Some other cases reported in Maharashtra include: Anis Ansari, who was arrested for planning a suicide attack on the American School in Bandra; a 16-year-old Pune girl was detained as she wanted to join IS; three youths from Hyderabad were detained at Nagpur airport as they were heading to join the IS; Shoaib Ahmed Khan and Shah Mudassir, both from Maharashtra, were detained in Hyderabad; Zubair Ahmed Khan, a journalist from Mumbai, was arrested in Delhi after he visited the Iraqi Embassy for a visa  to join IS; a policeman was stabbed at Pusad in Yavatmal district leading to the arrest of an Islamic cleric who had radicalised the attacker Abdul Malik and others. Also this year, five members of a Mumbai family left India to join the IS.

Currently, the number of Indian Muslims with IS in Syria is estimated to be around 30, but it could be higher. In June, it emerged during interviews by intelligence agencies that some educated and rich Muslim youths of Pune were attracted by the global idea of the caliphate and expressed the view that Shari'a law is not subject to the Indian Constitution. Not all of them are enemies of the State, but some of them could be radicalised by Islamic preachers. To stop radicalisation, India must watch the role of Islamic clerics, televangelists like Zakir Naik and Brother Imran, Urdu journalists as well as various Islamic organisations, especially those of the peaceful variety.

Stay tuned for the other parts of the series:

Part One: Radicalisation of Muslim youths in India

Part Three: Radicalisation of Muslim youths in Hyderabad

Part Four: Radicalisation of Muslim youths in Kerala

Former BBC journalist Tufail Ahmad is a contributing editor at Firstpost, and executive director of the Open Source Institute, New Delhi. He tweets @tufailelif
Lagos: Nigeria's military claimed today to have seriously injured Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau and killed other commanders in an air strike on the Islamist group's forest stronghold. Nigeria has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous raids only for him to appear shortly afterwards in videos.

Shekau was "fatally wounded in the shoulder" during Friday's raids, said army spokesman Sani Usman in a statement, without giving further details.

Usman also said three Boko Haram commanders  Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman  were confirmed dead with several others wounded.

The claim comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry visits the country for talks likely to focus on the fight against Boko Haram, which launched an uprising in 2009. Nigerian forces, with the support of regional troops, have recently recaptured swathes of territory lost to the jihadists. The mysterious Shekau's fate has been the subject of speculation recently amid claims he had been replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the group's former spokesman. Barnawi's appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year.

But only a week later, the shadowy Shekau surfaced in a video posted on social media, ridiculing suggestions of his death and looking more composed and energetic than in previous appearances.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose a strict Islamic law in Nigeria's mainly-Muslim north, has killed some 20,000 people and forced at least 2.6 million others to flee their homes since 2009.
India is in the middle of an undeclared war over Kashmir. And we are losing the fight. Not only because we don't understand the nature of the beast, the sad truth is we are not even interested. As New Delhi alternates between hackneyed responses to an inscrutable attack and futile promises of healing touch that evoke derision in the Valley, the enemy has taken the battle right till our doorstep and like metastatic cancer, it is using our own agencies against us.

Our political parties remain in stout denial, the hands of our security agencies have been tied at the back and our liberal intelligentsia  not for the first time  is busy helping enemies of the state in building a false narrative against India as a brutal regime.

When a territorial integrity of a nation is threatened, when non-state actors and hostile enemy states fuel discontent within our boundaries and create a situation where young lives are lost and maimed, it is expected that political parties will settle their differences and pull in one direction for a greater cause. Yet the 'compulsions' of our Parliamentary democracy are such that even in this hour of crisis, our opposition parties (be it in Jammu and Kashmir or at the Centre), are busy fishing in troubled waters to meet their narrow ends.

The latest canard being spread, an unholy routine that we are forever doomed to repeat, is that Jammu and Kashmir is not a law and order problem and that it requires a "political solution". An eight-member Kashmiri delegation, led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, told Modi it was "dismayed" at the lack of a "political approach" in dealing with the current unrest.

In his assertion of a 'political solution', National Conference leader Abdullah was backed by Congress that on Sunday said "if you think the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is a law and order matter, then you are wrong. Kashmir is not an issue of law and order. It is a political issue and we should see how to progress with a solution."

Political approach? What exactly is this political approach? Is this some sort of a dialogue process with mainstream political parties which will involve confidence-building measures? Things become clearer when we look at the demand in entirety.

In a memorandum, the Kashmiri delegation that met the Prime Minister on Monday urged him to start a "dialogue" with all stakeholders.

"We are of the firm opinion that the Central Government should waste no further time in initiating a credible and meaningful political dialogue with all stakeholders to address the unrest in the state," the memorandum read.

Since the mainstream political parties are already either in dialogue with the Centre or have an alliance with it in the state, the delegation demand of meeting "all stakeholders" can only be an euphemism for separatists and Pakistan-sponsored terrorist and Islamist forces.

In other words, the Indian state must start a dialogue process with the very agents that are spreading discontent and inciting violence in the Valley  the ISI-puppet Hurriyat Conference and sundry pro-Pakistan, Islamist separatist groups operating in Kashmir like the Jammat e Islami and the Dukhtranan-e- Millat who are being actively funded by Islamabad.

And the magical belief from these political parties and even a section of the media is if the Centre initiates dialogue, forces that threaten India's territorial integrity and turn our citizens against us will somehow be convinced to drop their demands and let Kashmir be as it was  in a state of sullen acceptance. This is either the most cynical political strategy or a cannabis-fuelled Utopian dream.

Consider the Hurriyat reaction to Prime Minister's statement, released on Monday after meeting the all-party delegation. Modi expressed deep concern and pain at the prevailing situation and appealed for the restoration of normality. He emphasised that there has to be dialogue and we need to find a permanent and lasting solution to the (Kashmir) problem within the framework of the Constitution.

What do these six words  within the framework of the Constitution  mean? The Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1957, accepts accession to India. Article 3 of that document states: Relationship of the State with the Union of India:- The State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India."

So it indicates that the Centre is willing to talk  even, it would appear, to separatist forces  provided the premise of it being held within the 'four corners of the Constitution' is met.

Hurriyat, which simply wants 'azaadi' from India, reacted with disdain.

It said: "Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani said for the lasting solution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the Indian state must shun state violence and uphold international law, respect and adhere UN charter and especially the UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir." And Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Aasiya Andrabi said "people must not pay heed to the useless activities of mainstream politicians of Kashmir.

So much for dialogue process.

The point is, Pakistan now believes that if not a Kargil-style convention war, at least a Palestine-style, never-ending intifada against the Indian state can be fuelled by exploiting India's demography and creating within the Valley a state of permanent unrest. It shall be fought on three fronts. By employing non-state actors like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin to foment terror, funding the Hurriyat and other pro-Pakistan agents to incite daily violence and launching a vicious propaganda war to show India as an "oppressive, rogue force" before the world community.

Pakistan-based scholar Ayesha Siddiqa writes in a recent column in The Wire: "There is also the threat of the Islamic State (IS) finding sympathisers in the valley Rawalpindi may not have the capacity to do another Kargil but the Kashmir uprising turning Palestinian intifada-like is considered a preferred option. Indeed, the images of bullet-riddled bodies and faces in the media are what Rawalpindi and its JuD allies hope for. At least in the short to medium term, this will turn Indias promising image around the world on its head."

While waxing eloquent about a 'political solution' to this problem, we are not only undermining its magnitude and seriousness, we are also playing into the hands of our enemies. As long as Pakistan continues to back terrorist operating in the Valley, is a political solution possible? The government believes that Islamabad has poured Rs 24 crore in the last three weeks only to keep the embers burning. "With the kind of money being pumped in it is unlikely that protests will die down. The youth of the valley are being paid to continue with protests and attacking security forces," reported NDTV.

The way attacks are being synchronized against police stations in four south Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag indicates a level of planning and execution that doesn't fit the narrative of "vociferous protests from school children and angry young men".

In the 21st century, technological developments have ushered in a sea change in the dynamics of war. The battlefield now lies wide open, amenable to easy manipulation due to faster communication and close-knit international networks. In this new-age war, all familiar metrics of military might is useless and even counter-productive. Why? Because the enemy frequently uses non-combatants as shields and even a single casualty, which is inevitable during violence, provides the other side a narrative of victimhood and grievance which can then be exploited to recruit and expand the uneven war.

It has become fashionable of late to denounce India's security forces as "brutal" and "excessive".



Truth to tell, a casualty figure of under 70 (that also includes security personnel) in 45 days of explosively violent unrest show that India's security agencies were admirably restrained in face of provocation. The number of deaths is put in perspective when it is compared to casualties in zones of large-scale, sustained violence around the world. Among the huge number of people injured so far, many are security forces. Protesters have set fire to police stations, bolted away with automatic rifles and regularly attacked security installations. The choice of missiles are often stones but there have been reports of attacks with hand grenades and even petrol bombs. On 16 August, for instance, 300 people reportedly attacked a bus in Budgam carrying CRPF jawans, who opened fire. Five were killed.

How have we responded? We have asked our forces to exercise even more restraint. This has emboldened the violence mongers and kept alive the daily dose of bloodshed. Our counter-violence strategy is so self-defeating that our police forces are feeling insecure and the non-state actors are getting a free run.

A Times of India report points out how demoralized J&K policemen are afraid of being the target of mobs, and allege they have been 'abandoned' by the government. Houses of dozens of policemen have been burnt down and that almost every family, especially those of officers, has received threats.

In four districts of Kashmir have descended into anarchy with hundreds and thousands holding 'azaadi' rallies almost daily in absence of an effective police force. Out of 36 police stations in these districts, only three one each in Pulwama, Rajpora and Awantipora  are functioning with any semblance of efficacy. Barring these, all cops have evacuated police stations. Most have turned into empty shells now guarded by the Army and CRPF.

Is this how we plan to usher in normalcy in Kashmir? All that we have done, faced with a coordinated attack, is to wring our hands and cripple the only apparatus that could have restored some sort of normalcy in Kashmir, paving the way for confidence-building measures in the future. Win the battle first, winning hearts and minds will follow.
The 'right' is leading the protest in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) now, burning effigies of 'rapists' and the 'left' is on the receiving end. This stands in sharp contrast to the protests that rocked JNU campus in February this year and continued for more than a month, with left parties demanding the release of the student union president who was booked on sedition charges.

While there is dramatic role reversal with the erstwhile victims becoming the perpetrators, a few things remain unchanged at the JNU campus: politics continues to overwhelm all other concerns in the prestigious university, even an alleged rape of a research scholar.

Six months after JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested, police again entered the JNU campus on Saturday  this time it was for Anmol Ratan  a leading activist of All India Student Association (AISA). A 28-year-old JNU student had filed a case against Anmol Ratan alleging rape.

Shehla Rashid, JNUSU vice-president, who spearheaded the protest movement following the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, in an elaborate statement released on behalf of JNU student union wrote, "Over the past few months, JNU has seen a vibrant movement in defence of JNUs progressive culture. We have asserted that the JNU model is a model of gender justice and social justice. However, this has been possible only because we are not afraid of self-criticism. While we stand in defence of JNU, we also want to stress the need for introspection and further sensitisation."

Sucheta De, national president of AISA, her statement said that the association takes serious note of the fact that Anmol Ratan, a leading activist of AISA, is facing a criminal complaint of sexual assault and he is henceforth expelled from the primary membership of AISA".

But the assurances and words of regret offered by the AISA office-bearers and that of JNU student union vice-president has done little to prevent the vitiating atmosphere in the JNU campus once again. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which has been at the receiving end for their alleged role in 9 February incident, is in no mood to let this opportunity go when they can score some political points.

Speaking to Firstpost, Saurabh Sharma, joint secretary of JNUSU said, "Now they are saying that we are politicising the issue. They raise anti-national slogans and when we oppose them it is politicising the issue, now an AISA member has raped a fellow student and when we are demanding justice for her, they are again saying the same thing. What sort of logic is this?

Sharma had dubbed Anmol Ratan as "Rapist Left Brigade" on Monday after the PhD student had filed a case against the accused.

When asked whether he intends to raise the larger issue of safe environment in the campus rather than just targeting the opponents, Sharma retorted, "Why is it seen as politics? This is not the first case against these people  they talk about female emancipation but indulge in such crimes. In past, they would silent the victims at gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment (GSCASH) level and would get this issue resolved there itself. But this time they have been exposed, as the victim straight away went to the police. We are just demanding justice for the girl."

C P Bhambhri, professor emeritus, Centre for Political Studies at the JNU, in an open letter to young students seeking admission to the JNU wrote that they  should not be disturbed by the news, comments and opinions about the events on the campus in February-March, 2016." Dwelling into "distinct characteristics" of JNU he said that JNU works on pedagogic principles that regard all students as adults and young students are allowed to frame their own boundaries.

The libertarian pursuit that professor Bhambhri spoke about, certainly had good intentions behind it, aiming at creating free-thinking individuals. But it seems that self-created 'boundaries' are colliding in the campus and is creating a rupture that is palpable.

JNU has been grappling with perception problem post Kanhaiya Kumar's incident. From comments by likes of Gyandev Ahuja  BJP MLA from Ramgarh in Rajasthans Alwar district who had "discreet information" as to how many condoms were used daily in the campus  to a dossier alleging that "JNU has become a den of organised sex racket" caused much damage to the universitys reputation.



Take this for example: "Over one thousand boys and girls (sic) students have been fined from Rs 2,000/- to Rs 5,000/- for consuming alcohol, for indulging in immoral activities in their hostels. On a casual glance at the gates of the hostel one can see hundreds of empty alcohol bottles. Sex workers have been openly employed in hostel messes, where they not only lure JNU girls into their organised racket but also pollute the boys. How come big and high brand cars are moving around the hostels particularly in the night hours. Some security staff is (sic) also involved in this racket. Freshers are particularly inducted in this ring of vice by luring through money, sex, drugs and alcohol, so that they become tied up with the cause of foreign agencies," Firstpost had reported on one of the documents in the dossier earlier.

When the reputation of the university has already suffered serious blows, this incident was unfortunate and the resultant politics over the issue completely undesirable.

"The point now is that the Left parties, who are at the receiving end in this case, are complaining about politicisation of the issue. But then this campus is now reduced to a political battlefield and Left has greatly contributed to it. It has become a place where different ideologies are not struggling to co-exist but trying to kill the other," says Pankaj Kumar, who recently completed his PhD from JNU.

The campus that once flaunted the best academic minds, is now sadly recognised for all the wrong reasons. On Monday, this esteemed university silently watched as effigy of a rapist student was being set on fire. A question instantly pops up  has too much politics subdued the intellectual rigour of the university that its students are engaging in street theatrics now?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden statement during the ongoing crises seeking permanent solution to the Kashmir problem within the Indian constitution is unlikely to calm down tempers in the valley. However, experts claim that Modis reaction, after meeting with J&K opposition leaders, exposes Mehbooba Mufti as a weak Chief Minister of the strife-torn state.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led opposition, experts say, managed to convince the Prime Minister on a perspective, something which Mufti failed to do in the last forty-five days, even after appealing for the same from different platforms. Modis statement had once again exposed strains and actual power equations within the PDP-BJP government of the state.

In a way it is not a right reflection on PDP or current Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Noor Ahmad Baba, a political science professor at Central University of Kashmir, told Firstpost.

When you are in crisis, it is a crisis for all and any well-meaning initiative is welcome. That J&K opposition exhibiting a certain degree of seriousness, concern, a degree of unity and togetherness and impressing people in Delhi is in itself a good thing, he added.

Chief Minister Mehboob Mufti had met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and had requested the Prime Minister to initiate a dialogue on Kashmir last week. But experts say the Prime Minister's statement has left PDP red-faced as it came after the opposition parties from the state met him, and not when the PDP had sought it.

I wont say it is necessarily anti-government. For Kashmir is not simply normal politics, it is not the issues of governance where government fails or succeeds. The problem is beyond normal jurisdiction of a state government. But since this party was committed to that kind of long term solution of Kashmir issues  the party in power  PDP should have impressed from that perspective. They should have been more impressive. That means it has not been successful enough, Baba added.

Modi's statement, an apparent climbdown by the ruling BJP from its tough stand that it will not hold talks with separatists, came after opposition parties led by the former chief minister Omar Abdullah met him in Delhi to reach out to people of Kashmir for easing the situation.

After the meeting, the PMO issued a statement: "Permanent and lasting solution to the problem within the framework of the constitution needs to be looked into through dialogue."

Mufti tried to put up a brave face, saying it is really a good thing if the solution is found by opposition's meeting with the Prime Minister.

But one of the PDP leaders, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, tweeted that time will only recognise Chief Ministers role in facilitating dialogue. With time you may recognize the role of JKPDP and CM in particular in facilitating the peace process, Para wrote on Twitter.

Paras tweet came in response to the National Conference (NC) leader, Tanvir Sadiq. At least JKNC pressure made Delhi move from its Development will solve everything to lasting solution. A good beginning is half done, he wrote.

@tanvirsadiq @jkpdp @ndtv With time you may recognise the role of @jkpdp and CM in particular in facilitating peace process!  Waheed Ur Rehman (@parawahid) August 22, 2016

Rekha Chowdhary, a political analyst and professor of political science at Jammu University, said the hardline stances taken by the BJP for few days had to stop at some point, and it had to revert because they (the central government) could not have gone on having a non-negotiating position on Kashmir.

When you take a position, that it is an internal matter  I think that had to be reverted at some point. I feel the opposition parties meeting gave the government a stamp. You have to understand that Kashmir is going into a situation when you cant further stretch it. I think it would be cumulative result because Mehbooba Mufti must have informed the home Minister of whatever is happening in Kashmir. And also Centre must be looking at the point were it can reverse its position, she said.

The separatists, however, are not enthused by the Prime Minister's statement. For a lasting solution of the dispute, the Indian state must shun state violence and uphold the international law, respect and adhere to UN charter and especially the UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. We understand the universal principle of Right of Self-Determination is the only road through which peace can be achieved in Jammu and Kashmir, said Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

And the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said New Delhi should first acknowledge that Kashmir is a political issue and stop killing and maiming people. Let them first acknowledge Kashmir issue and stop human rights violations, killing people, using pellet guns et al, he said.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday had claimed that only five percent of unhappy people in Kashmir are creating trouble and trying to unsettle the PDP-BJP coalition government.

It is an absurd theory. If it was five percent than she should have been able to resolve it. It than speaks inaptness of the government that small five percent of the people are against it and they are not able to handle it, Baba added.

On Tuesday, curfew was lifted from many areas in capital Srinagar in view of the improving situation, even as normal life in the Valley remained affected for the 46th straight day due to restrictions and strike in the wake of violence following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Close to seventy people have been killed in the ongoing unrest, and thousands injured.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar warmly shaking hands looked like a picture perfect occasion. Their handshakes, as also the barbs have always made news and had loaded political implications.

On Tuesday, Nitish had gone to meet Modi to discuss the flood situation in Bihar and seek Centre's intervention and assistance, both immediate and longer term. The Centre has already deployed several teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Bihar for immediate rescue and relief works. Apart from the immediate relief, the Bihar Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister to send specialised Central teams to make an on spot assessment of the damage and to formulate a long-term National Siltation Policy to de-silt river barrages and dig trenches so that the extent of flood fury could be minimised in the future.

It was interesting to note that while seeking Central assistance, Nitish endorsed Modi's cherished Namani Ganga Programme, stressing that uninterrupted flow of the Ganges was vital to the economy and societal good. He elaborated to suggest how he himself was keen to see success of this ambitious programme.

Mark Nitish's words said after meeting with Modi. He (Nitish)was born and brought up on banks of Ganga and even had his early education in the same vicinity. By saying so, he sought to make a deep emotional connect with the Ganga.

Recall what Modi had to say when he had gone to contest parliamentary election from Varanasi: "I have been called here by mother Ganga." By saying so, he was trying to convey a deep emotional connect he had with Ganga and its flow. Two different situations concerning two different leaders but their sentiments are the same.

The ravaging flood waters of the Ganga forced Nitish to meet Modi and seek help but perhaps in a much friendlier manner than before. The federal structure of the Indian polity demands that the Centre and the states work in close cooperation over all issues. Taken on its face value, today's meeting between the two leaders can be dubbed as routine. But Modi and Nitish over the years have had a politically most gripping love-hate relationship. For the last three years they remained sworn political rivals. The political rivalry still remains to be the same but it was heartening to see the emerging co-operative federalism between them.

In 2008, when the swollen Kosi river left a trail of destruction leaving the Bihar government almost in a state of helplessness to tackle the unfolding natural calamity, Modi as Gujarat chief minister then did sent out lots of relief material to Bihar. He even donated Rs 5 crore to the Bihar chief minister's relief fund. So far so good.

However, in June 2010 and things changed drastically. The BJP was holding its National Executive in Patna ahead of the state Assembly polls. Although the JD(U)-BJP combine was then ruling the state and alliance was expected to go together in the elections, Nitish had quietly started wooing the Muslim electorate, particularly the Pasmanda community in the state. The day Modi (first significant visit after rising to prominence) landed in Bihar on 12 June to attend the BJP conclave, an advertisement was placed in prominent dailies with picture from a 2009 NDA rally in Punjab, where Modi and Nitish were holding hands together. Later, an infuriated Nitish cancelled dinner for the BJP leaders which he was to host that night and three days later he returned Rs 5 crore cheque sent by Modi to the Gujarat government. Modi-Nitish relations had hit the lowest ebb, finally culminating in Nitish severing ties with the BJP in 2013 after Modi was announced to be his party's leader to lead the 2014 parliamentary campaign.

The irony of today's picture where Modi is warmly receiving Nitish and the two leaders having a friendly hand shake couldn't be more stark.

Eight years ago Modi's helping hand for flood relief assistance and a subsequent picture indicating bonhomie between the two had separated them but today the need to seek assistance from the Centre for rescue and relief in flood affected areas in Bihar made Nitish to land at official residence of the Prime Minister. In changed scenario, the two wouldn't have recalled events of 2008 and thereafter. After all politics is about learning art of possible.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's advice to Hindus on producing more kids shows his organisation is still caught in a time warp. While the world has moved on and rejected the ideas that inspired the RSS, Bhagwat is still on the cusp of the 19th century.

In March 1931, RSS ideologue BS Moonje visited Italy and came back inspired by the Fascist methodology of 'catching them young'.

After meeting Mussolini in Rome, Moonje visited some of the Fascist training schools where boys in their teens performed physical exercises, learnt basic man-to-man combat skills and listened to speeches on nationalism and supremacy of their race.

On returning to India, Moonje decided to implement the idea in RSS Shakhas by recruiting young kids and indoctrinating them. To give the Shakhas the facade of a quasi paramilitary academy, the recruits were given a uniform  borrowed from the Mussolini brigade  and crash courses on wielding an oiled lathi, the weapon of choice against enemies real and perceived.

Mussolini's fascism was rejected just a few years after Moonje's visit. Lathis and the idea of basic combat training became obsolete after the advent of modern weapons. The concept of stopping an enemy with a stick became laughable with the evolution of the concept of an enemy who now comes less from an enemy state and more from terror cells from within the country  disguised, intent on a suicide attack, difficult to identify and, thus, impossible to stop.

Prima facie, it is really absurd that a group of celibates want women to produce as many children as possible for the benefit of Hindutva. In this new age and era, how does Bhagwat's idea of 'rashtravad benefit from Hindu women becoming child-producing machines? Does he really believe that numerical strength of a particular race or religion, armed with lathis and dressed in khaki shorts, guarantees a nation's development, supremacy and security against enemy countries and terror attacks?

India's current population is almost 1.3 billion; 80 per cent of it are Hindus. Yet, the Indian army faces a perennial shortage of officers and soldiers. In 2015, according to government figures, the army had 55000 vacancies, 11000 of them for officers, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Obviously, feelings of rashtravad and patriotism among Indians remain largely confined to drawing room debates and social media discussions; they do not reflect in the army's numbers. So, for argument's sake, even if Hindu women start reproducing at an even higher rate, how will it help Bhagwat's idea of a more martial India?

The other argument that India needs more Hindu children to maintain the country's demographic balance is also bogus. Several studies have extrapolated the current fertility rates in India to conclude that 80 per cent Indians would be Hindu even when the rate of growth of Muslims  the Sangh's real enemies  peaks.

As this article in Mint argues, the Hindu growth rate in between 2001 and 2011 was 1.55% annually, while Muslims grew at 2.2%. However, the figures for the previous decade (1991-2001) were an annual 1.8% and 2.6%, respectively. If this decline in growth rates persists (both continue to grow at slower rates), both Hindu and Muslim populations will hit a peak in 2061. Then, Muslims will number 29.24 crore and Hindus 140.25 crore. Indias overall population at the time would be 173.03 crore with the Muslim proportion at 16.89%. Hindus will actually account for 81.06% at that time.

So, why does Bhagwat want Hindu women perennially in labour? To add to the growing employment, rat race for useless degrees and to devour the already depleted natural resources?

Every time the RSS talks of an imminent danger to Hindus, it actually plays on the most basic of human emotions  fear. The Sangh knows that fear blinds most humans and makes them take decisions rooted in conservatism, bigotry and even hate. It turns individuals into herds that can then be shepherded for political and ideological gains.

In a letter to the then Home Minister Sardar Patel, Congress leader Rajendra Prasad, who later went on to become India's first President, had argued that when the RSS was formed, it dreamt of ruling India after the British left.

Prasad wrote: "Through the RSS, the Maharashtrian Brahmins have been dreaming of establishing a Peshwa Raj in India, after the withdrawal of the Britishers. The RSS flag is the Bhagwa flag of the Peshwas. The RSS people argue that the Peshwas  Maharashtrian rulers  were the last to be conquered by the British and, after the termination of the British rule in India, the Maharashtrians should be vested with political powers."

Some witnesses who deposed in front of Justice JL Kapur, who probed the RSS role in Mahatma Gandhi's death, averred that soon after Independence, the organisation was considering a coup d'etat with the help of secret armed militia being trained at Alwar, Bharatpur and some other places and establishing a Hindu India, according to Volume IV of JL Kapur commission report.

But, the RSS dream of ruling India was thwarted by two factors. One, the British decision to hand over governance to the Congress. And, two, Jawaharlal Nehru's steering of India into a secular, liberal culture where the majority was not constantly kept on its guards with frequent acts of crying wolf.

The RSS, however, has not given up its dream. It still aims to put together a Virat Hindu Parivar that will rule India for a 1000 glorious years.

There is, however, a fundamental flaw in the RSS strategy. Its theory of unifying Hindus is based on outdated principles that inspired Moonji in 1931. While hoping that giving Hindu boys a kachcha, danda and a quick lecture on Hindutva will send them rushing into each other's arms, the RSS forgets that dealing with challenges of day to day life  hunger, poverty, unemployment, falling agrarian incomes, poor infrastructure, casteism  is a more pressing concern for people than establishing a Hindu rashtra.

India can become a great country only if all its citizens have equal rights and opportunities, they coexist without fear or feelings of supremacy, persecution or prejudice. When, as Ashutosh Varshney argues in The Indian Express, we learn to deal with our internal conflicts and address existing fault lines, like the animus and distrust between upper class Hindus and Dalits over cows.

"For decades, Hindu nationalists have coveted Hindu unity as a cultural, social and political objective. That pursuit has always run into conflict with their ideological view, which privileges the proverbial doctrinal tolerance of Hinduism but radically under-recognises an equally true historical phenomenon: That traditional Hindu society has practised caste oppression for centuries, reserving severe indignities for Dalits," Varshney writes.

Turning Hindu women into factories for producing more sons, who can be indoctrinated in Shakhas and fed delusions of taking on an increasingly invisible enemy with weekend drills and sticks dipped in oil, or the nonexistent threat of demographic imbalance will never help India, or the RSS.

Bhagwat better get into a time machine and travel out of 1931.
There are some double standards about cows. We call it the mother and treat its urine and dung with respect.

There is also a delicacy known as kharwas in Marathi, junnu in Telugu, and ginnuin in Kannada made from the colostrum, which is the first milk produced by the cow on calving. Rich in protein, minerals and antibodies, this is a thick secretion from the mammary glands which gives the calf, which is no more in the protective confines of the cows womb, a leg up to face the world as it boosts its immune system.

This delicacy, a kind of pudding, is much-favoured and available easily at some sweetmeat shops. This implies that the much-needed colostrum is denied to the calves. Further, if these calves grew up to be healthy will provide plenty of milk (and if male, draught). And for those with a taste for it, they could even be used for beef.

So far, I have not heard even once a word of regret from anyone, including the gau rakshaks, who Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as "70  80 percent will be those who indulge in anti-social activities and try to hide their sins by pretending to be cow-protectors". Media reports have shown that he is right, mostly.

To families, which have cajoled me to savour it, I have not flinched to mention that even Hindus, who revere cows as mother, ought to know that they are depriving a whole new generation of bovine animals their right to a good start. That a good cow or bull is as important as a mere undernourished set.

This is a matter of concern because not all cattle-rearing, even for milch purposes is a primary profession, and to many who do, it is a secondary occupation. These animals feed from the shrubs and whatever edible they come across when they are left to graze, which may or may not be adequate to nourish and nurture them optimally.

Hitherto, the word gau rakshak was hardly heard except in some instances where people ran a few shelters  not all of them non-profit or charitable  which were few and far between. Now Google the word and you would come up with nearly half a million links in three-quarters of a second. It is suddenly in vogue.

If they are anti-social, and made him "angry" as Modi said earlier this month at his town hall event, and asked state governments to prepare dossiers, the states apparently havent taken him seriously. If they did, they havent shared the details with the public yet, making me suspect that it was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

On the contrary, according to The Indian Express, Maharashtra has called for "volunteers" to help enforce the beef ban. The prime minister had described cow vigilantism as a "business" and he was not off the mark. They are supposed to be people with "no political affiliations" but it also reported officials as saying "there are many religious and political affiliations."

This state-promoted vigilantism is dangerous for it licences or outsources the implementation part to people who would potentially further "business" Modi spoke about. There never has been a campaign to save cows, or "protect" them from plastic.

Animal husbandry departments in any state have not sought the support of people to ensure that plastic is minimised if not entirely avoided, for it is apparently not its business. There is as much plastic flying and lying around the countryside as is discarded in the city drains by reckless citizens.

But it is the same departments officials in Maharashtra who have to vouch for the character  integrity, if you please  of the applicants who want to be the eyes and ears of the authorities. It is not that they have the means to ensure due diligence about the men and women who want to volunteer and get an identification card. These officials are not like the former justices of peace.
New Delhi: India is set to deliver more arms to Afghanistan to help it fight Islamist militants, Kabul's envoy to New Delhi said, even if Pakistan is wary of closer military cooperation between countries lying to its east and west.

India has provided a little over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan in the last 15 years, but has been more measured in providing weapons in order to avoid a backlash from Pakistan, which sees Afghanistan as its area of influence.

Last December, after years of dragging its feet, New Delhi announced the supply of four attack helicopters in India's first transfer of lethal equipment to the government in Kabul since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was toppled.

Kabul immediately deployed three of the Russian Mi-25 attack helicopters to go after insurgents, and the fourth will be inducted in the next few weeks.

Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the Afghan ambassador to India, said regional security was deteriorating and Afghan national forces were in dire need of military supplies to tackle the Taliban, Islamic State and other militant groups.

"We are grateful for the four helicopters. But we need more, we need much more. Today we are heading into a situation that is worrisome for everyone in the region including India," he told Reuters in an interview.

On 29 August, the head of the Afghan army, General Qadam Shah Shahim, is expected in New Delhi to submit a list of military equipment drawn up in consultation with the US military, Indian defence officials said.

It is not yet clear how much would be paid for and how much would be handed over for free.

The equipment includes more Mi-25s, smaller helicopters used for transporting troops and medical emergencies, and spares for existing Russian-origin aircraft in the Afghan air force fleet.

"The agenda for the army chief's visit is clear. We will be finalising the enhancement of defence ties," Abdali said. India, he added, had told the Afghans that it would do whatever it could to meet the security forces' requirements.



Indian leader rankles Pakistan

The fact that much of the proposed equipment originates from Russia need not be a stumbling block to an agreement, the United States has said, despite Western sanctions against Moscow.

Russia and the United States share a common goal in stabilising Afghanistan, and India can act as a go-between to help re-equip Afghan forces which fall well short of the capacity required despite billions of dollars in U.S. spending.

The Afghan government lost control or influence of nearly 5 percent of its territory between January and May, the U.S. government's top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report, highlighting the challenges its forces are facing.

But the move to increase cooperation with Afghanistan is likely to aggravate fears in Pakistan of being wedged between two hostile neighbours.

Relations with both countries have cooled lately.

Afghanistan says Pakistan must do more to stop militants operating on its territory, while India has blamed Pakistan for unrest in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned up the dial a notch by making a rare reference to Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province in a recent speech.

Asked about the prospect of closer military ties between Afghanistan and India, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said the government did not comment on bilateral ties between two countries.

But he warned against attempts to destabilise Pakistan, which, like its arch-rival India, has a nuclear arsenal.

"Our expectation is that India should not be allowed to use Afghan soil to create instability in Pakistan."
Beijing: Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to China ahead of India shows her wish to strike a "balance" among major powers, state-run Chinese media said on Tuesday and called on the Communist nation to broaden base ties with Myanmar, not relying on military alone.

Referring to Japanese media reports that India's position in Myanmar's diplomacy will outweigh China, an article in the state-run Global Times said Suu Kyi's visit to China last week "shows that China seems to be more significant than India in Myanmar's diplomacy".

"Yet in June, (State Counsellor and Foreign Minister) Suu Kyi expressed her wish to visit India during her meeting with VK Singh, India Minister of State for External Affairs," it said.

"Suu Kyi has chosen China for her first overseas trip outside ASEAN probably not because she is emotionally close to Beijing, but out of Myanmar's domestic politics and national interests. She will lead the country to seek a balance among major powers," the article co-inciding with the just-concluded visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Myanmar said.

While China laid the red carpet for her, making a strong push for Myanmar to revive the stalled USD 3.6 billion Myitsone dam, Suu Kyi during the five-day visit sought China's help for Myanmar's peace process with a number of rebel groups, some of whom are ethnic Chinese outfits who received support from across the border.

The article, written by a state-run think tank said, "like China, India is one of few countries that kept a close relationship with the Myanmese government during the military rule. Yet Suu Kyi was never a fan of New Delhi's dual-track policy - supporting democratic forces and meanwhile having close ties with the military junta. She believes that India, the largest democratic country in the world, should not have kept a distance from Myanmar's democratic forces during the latter's democratisation."

The ties between Myanmar and India are full of peculiarity, complexity, and versatility due to historical connections, "as they face problems including border disputes, cross-border ethnic minorities and Indians in Myanmar, their relations have been far from smooth," it said.

"But for Myanmar, enhancing ties with India can help counterbalance China's influence in Myanmar and also develop its economy by using Indian investment," it said.

"Compared with China, India has advantages in developing relations with Myanmar. They share a lot in culture, religion and democratic values, and their high-level officials have had close relationship for a very long time.

"For instance, Suu Kyi's mother used to be Myanmar's Ambassador to India. Suu Kyi spent her adolescence in the country and graduated from University of Delhi. Apart from that, many other democratic activists have been supported and protected by India," it said.

The Myanmese people have strong sense of self-esteem and independence and they stick to the five principles of peaceful coexistence, pursue a non-aligned independent international status and hope to develop friendly relation with all countries, especially with their neighbours, it said.

The article said that as a pragmatic statesperson, Suu Kyi will lead Myanmar to balance among powers like the US, Japan, China and India and maximise the country's interests, "without completely tilting to any side".

Also Myanmar is quite special in Indian diplomacy.

"Due to its location, Myanmar is considered by India as a buffer state between it and China and therefore cannot be controlled by major powers like China," it said.

Myanmar is a crucial link to Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which is part of Beijing's Silk Road plan and has worked jointly with China on oil and natural gas pipelines and port construction, it said.

"India is thus worried that Myanmar may become a convenient corridor for China to come and go in the Indian Ocean, which can hence threaten India's national security and its peculiar interests in the waters," it said.

Myanmar is also a gateway for India's Look East Policy toward both East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Connectivity between the two is therefore crucial to a stronger economic, political and cultural relationship between India and Asean.

"As there are a large number of cross-border ethnic groups and rebels from Northeast India have military bases in Myanmar, relations with Myanmar matter a lot to the security of Northeast India," it said.

"Moreover, Myanmar, which has abundant oil and natural gas, is important to India that suffers energy shortages. With Myanmar's economic reforms and the lifting of the West's economic sanctions, the Myanmese market has become far more attractive to Indian companies," it said.

In an apparent reference to China's long-backing for Myanmar's military junta which kept Suu Kyi in house detention for over one-and-a-half decade, the article said "China needs to learn the lessons these things teach."

"The Chinese government must keep contact with both Myanmar's government and people. Beijing should also increase guidance for non-governmental organisations abroad and student exchanges to promote people-to-people exchanges and boost the friendship between the two sides," it said.
Three separatist Baloch leaders, Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch, were booked by the Pakistan police for allegedly supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statements on Balochistan.

The Baloch leaders were booked under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. The sections refer to "concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment", "waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan", "concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war", and "assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty".

Munir Ahmed, Maulana Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Hussain, Ghulam Yaseen Jatak and Muhammad Rahim had registered complaints at five police stations in the province's Khuzdar area. According to Dawn, one of the petitioners alleged that the Baloch leaders encouraged India to "commit aggression against Pakistan."

Bugti, Baloch nationalist leader, in an interview with The Indian Express, thanked Modi for drawing attention of the international community to their national movement and said that Pakistan's involvement in terrorist attacks in a known fact.

Talking about the human rights violation in Balochistan, he accused Pakistan of oppressing the Baloch people and denying them "their basic human rights". On India's role, he told The Indian Express, "We expect India to play a role as a responsible neighbour and the worlds largest democracy to intervene in Balochistan and stop genocide."

Modi, in his Independence Day speech, said the people of Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir "thanked him a lot in the past few days".

Modi's controversial statement 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, Dawn said.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri, in a speech last week alleged that the Indian government "fully supports the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan".

Zehri's speech came days after a video showing exiled Bugti appreciating "support" given to the Baloch people by Modi began circulating on social media. He also alleged that the Indian government "is deeply involved in sponsoring elements like Bugti, Harbiyar Marri, Zamran Marri and Allah Nazar".

He accused Bugti of "getting funds from Indians", alleging "that's why he supported Modi's statement".

Days after Modi's speech, Baloch activist Karima Baloch had sent the prime minister a Raksha Bandhan message, urging "Brother Modi" to be the "voice of the Baloch people". She had said that though the people of Balochistan will fight their own battle, they need Modi to help voice their concerns on the international platforms.

Meanwhile, the United States expressed concern about the human rights situation in Gilgit Baltistan and asked all parties in Pakistan to resolve the issues through a valid political process.

"We do have concerns about the human rights situation there, and have reported that for several years in our Human Rights Report," a State Department Spokesperson told PTI.

With inputs from agencies
United Nations on Tuesday confirmed six out of the nine places cited by India as addresses of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan, reported CNN-News 18.

Three of the addresses were found to be incorrect. One of the addresses which have been dropped by the UN Security Council's Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee was found similar to that of a residence of Islamabad's envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi.

However, the six other addresses provided by India have not been amended. India, in a dossier, had cited these nine addresses as those frequented by Dawood.

The Security Council's Islamic State and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee amended its entry yesterday concerning Dawood, the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, with "underline and strikethrough".

In the amendment, the Committee has stricken through the address "Main Property at Margalla Raod F- 6/2 Street no.22, House No.07, Islamabad number 29 in Karachi. This address was later found to be similar to that of a residence belonging to Lodhi."

When asked about the amendment, a top Indian official told PTI that one address of Dawood in the listing entry was incorrect. The address was "of Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, and not Dawood Ibrahim", the sources said.

"The amendment also strikes through other addresses "8th Floor of Mehran Square, near Pardesi House-3, Talwar Area, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan" and "6/A Kjauabam Tanzeem, Phase-5, Defence Housing Araea, Karachi, Pakistan."

In evidence to show that Dawood Ibrahim is holed up in Pakistan, a dossier prepared by India had listed nine residences of the underworld don in that country and stated that he is known to frequently change his locations and addresses there.

"On 22 August, 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry" concerning Dawood on its ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, it said.

Dawood's other addresses mentioned in the listing "Karachi, Pakistan (White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton)", "House Nu 37 - 30th Street - defence, Housing Authority, Karachi, Pakistan" and "Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad in Karachi" have not been amended.

The addresses were included in a dossier prepared by India in August last year that had listed nine residences of the underworld don in Pakistan as evidence to show that he is holed up in Pakistan.

Indian Government already knew it: Kiren Rijiju, MoS Home on UN panel report confirming Dawood's addresses in Pak pic.twitter.com/cSKScEn7cK  ANI (@ANI_news) August 23, 2016

Islamabad has consistently denied that Dawood is living in the country.

The information about the residences in Pakistan, including one bought near the house of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in Karachi two years ago is contained in the dossier that had been prepared to be handed over to Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz during talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, which were later cancelled.

"Dawood is known to frequently change his locations and addresses in Pakistan. He has amassed immense property in Pakistan and moves under the protection of Pakistani agencies," the dossier had said.

Another amendment enacted by the Committee concerns details of his family.

The information "Father's name is Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Kaskar, mother's name is Amina Bi, wife's name is Mehjabeen Shaikh" has been underlined in the listing.

Dawood was listed on 3 November, 2003 and the entry has been amended in March and July 2006, July 2007 and March 2010. Being a UN designated terrorist, he is subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

The amendment further struck out "Bombai" as his place of birth, noting instead that it is "Kher, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra".

It has added "Sheikh Farooqi, Bada Seth, Bada Bhai, Iqbal Bhai, Mucchad and Haji Sahab" as his "low quality" aliases.

The listing includes information about his various passports, including those issued in Pakistan.

The listing says Dawood had a Passport number A717288 issued on 18 August 1985 in Dubai and a Pakistani number G866537 issued on 12 August 1991 in Rawalpindi but adds the term "misuse" for this two passports.

He also has Passport number C-267185 issued in Karachi in July1996, Passport number H-123259 issued in Rawalpindi in July 2001 and Passport number G-869537 issued in Rawalpindi.

Dawood is wanted in India for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 257 people were killed and nearly a thousand injured. He is also accused of masterminding other terror attacks and of money laundering and extortion.

With inputs from PTI
Rome: The leaders of France, Germany and Italy insisted that Britain's decision to quit the European Union would not kill the bloc.

Speaking aboard an aircraft carrier anchored off the Italian island of Ventotene, one of the cradles of the dream of a united, integrated Europe, the leaders vowed to relaunch the European project in the wake of the Brexit shock.

"Many thought the EU was finished after Brexit but that is not how it is," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said. "We want to write a better page (in European history).

"It is easy to complain and find scapegoats and Europe is the perfect scapegoat. But it is also about peace, prosperity and freedom."

French President Francois Hollande said Europe was faced with a risk of "fragmentation and division" and needed a "new impulse" on three fronts: the economy, defence and security, including ensuring jobs and education opportunities for young people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalled that the EU had been born from some of the "darkest moments" of European history and stressed the need to deliver "growth to ensure people have jobs and hope in the future."

The three leaders were speaking ahead of a working dinner aboard the Italian navy's Guiseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier.

Renzi called the meeting in a bid to forge a common position on the way forward ahead of a summit of the 27 remaining EU states in Bratislava next month.

Europe's economic outlook, jihadist attacks, the refugee and migrant drama, the Syrian conflict, and relations with Russia and Turkey were also expected to be covered.

The Brexit vote has raised fears of similar referendums in other countries, particularly the Netherlands, which opposes changes to the EU to achieve closer integration.

Coming up with a road map acceptable to all will not be easy, with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia vowing after Britain's vote to draw up their own plans for a less centralised EU.

Renzi had earlier taken his guests to the grave of Altiero Spinelli, one of the founding fathers of the ideal of European integration.

Imprisoned on the island by the fascist government during World War II, Spinelli and fellow captive Ernesto Rossi co-wrote the "Ventotene manifesto" calling for a federation of European states.

The choice of the Garibaldi for the working dinner and press conference was also highly symbolic. The carrier is the flagship of the EU's "Sophia" mission against people trafficking in the Mediterranean.
New York: On the skids in the polls and under fire for not releasing his tax returns, Donald Trump's campaign is sharpening a new attack on Hillary Clinton: claiming she is not healthy enough to serve as president.

The Internet is awash with conspiracy theories claiming that she may have a brain tumor, Parkinson's or dementia, or complaining that she has "seizure-like facial expressions" or allegedly twitches.

Trump, who at 70 is 16 months older than his Democratic adversary, his spokespeople and surrogates have used innuendo and fabrication to peddle their theories that she is not physically or mentally fit.

"#WheresHillary? Sleeping!!!!!" he tweeted over the weekend.

Last week, he told voters in Iowa that Clinton was "not strong enough to be president."

On another occasion, he maintained that she "importantly also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on IS, and all of the many adversaries we face."

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump supporter, stepped up the attack on Monday, telling Fox News that Clinton was "tired" and "looked sick." Over the weekend, he came under fire for telling viewers to google Clinton's health.

"Go online and put down 'Hillary Clinton illness,' take a look at the videos for yourself," he said on Fox News.

Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who is not a doctor, last week diagnosed Clinton with dysphasia, a disorder that impairs speech and comprehension, and pushed conspiracy theories about her health promoted by some conservatives.

Team Clinton vehemently denies any health concerns, and released a letter from her doctor in July 2015 giving her an "excellent" bill of health.

But the root of the conspiracy theories lies in 2012, when Clinton was nearing the end of her stint as secretary of state and a stomach virus and dehydration prompted her to faint, causing what her doctor said was a concussion.

They said they found a blood clot on the brain and Clinton complained of double vision. She appeared in spectacles featuring a prism when testifying before Congress on Benghazi in January 2013.

But she was later given the all-clear. Her test results were normal, and her cancer screening evaluations all negative, said a letter released by her physician Lisa Bardack last year.

Health is a legitimate subject of debate in presidential elections -- Americans want to know that the person they are going to elect to one of the toughest jobs in the planet is up to the task both mentally and physically.

But history is also peppered with coverups. The public had no idea John F. Kennedy had Addison's disease. The severity of Woodrow Wilson's stroke was concealed in 1919, as were concerns about Franklin D. Roosevelt's health before his fourth re-election -- just months before he died in 1945.

Ironically enough, Trump would be the oldest person ever elected US president if he wins. Clinton would be the second oldest after Ronald Reagan.

In 2008, then aged 71, Republican nominee and cancer survivor John McCain released more than 1,500 pages of medical history in a bid to lay to rest suggestions that he was either too old or too unhealthy to serve as president.

Jeanne Zaino, professor of political science at Iona College in New York, says Clinton may follow suit in releasing more medical records or have her doctor continue to reiterate her good health.

"I'm not sure it's going to hurt her but it does allow them (the Trump campaign) to come up with a counter to his tax issue," she told AFP.

What is clear is that running for president is grueling. Journalists trailing in Clinton's wake endure punishing schedules and little sleep.

The 68-year-old grandmother of two looks remarkably fresh faced and distinctly more robust than her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who underwent heart bypass surgery in 2004.

If Trump overplays the health card, it could backfire among women voters, who already have a very low opinion of the Republican nominee.

"Stamina, the word he keeps using, has gender overtones," Zaino said.

"To act as if this is a weak, frail woman who doesn't have the ability, the evidence suggests otherwise, and the same thing with him," she said.

"If you look objectively, it's hard to make the case that either one of them are suffering from lack of stamina."
Washington: White House hopeful Hillary Clinton suggested that rival Donald Trump could be an unpredictable adversary in upcoming presidential debates, saying she is girding for "wacky stuff."

With the first debate scheduled to take place a month from now near New York, Clinton joked about what to expect from her unorthodox opponent.

"You've got to be prepared for wacky stuff. I'm planning on drawing off my experiences from elementary school," she said on late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Trump has suggested he might not attend all of the three scheduled debates.

But he is trailing badly in the polls and the highly-watched events offer a much-needed chance to break through with undecided voters.

For a first-time debater, this cauldron of the presidential political theater could present a daunting challenge.

Trump has thrown a series of barbs at Clinton, describing her as "crooked" and making opaque suggestions lately that she has unspecified health problems.

Host Kimmel asked Clinton to open a jar of pickles to show she was in good health and also took her pulse as she brushed off a scandal over emails sent from a private server when she was secretary of state.

After Clinton told Kimmel that she used FaceTime video phone calls to visit with her grandchildren, he teasingly demanded whether she had ever considered using FaceTime instead of email.

Clinton also hit back at Trump's highly contested assertion that she and President Barack Obama created the so-called Islamic State extremist group.

"Who would have guessed this audience would be so enthusiastic about the co-founder of Islamic State?" Kimmel asked, after a rousing welcome for Clinton from the crowd.

Clinton responded that she thought "when Trump talks the way he talks, it actually helps the terrorists."

"I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe," she said.

"I have to sort of step into the alternative reality and, you know, answer questions about am I alive?" she said incredulously, referring to the health rumors.
An Indian-origin woman faces 25 years to life in prison in the US for strangling her 9-year-old step-daughter to death as federal prosecutors charged her with the murder and her ex-husband for obstructing the investigation.

Arjun Shamdai Pardas, 55, was arraigned on Sunday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gerald Lebovits on a criminal complaint charging her with one count of second-degree murder-an intentional killing that is not premeditated - of Ashdeep Kaur.

Pardas, who faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted, was ordered held without bail. She will return to court on 2 September. Pardas' former husband Raymond Narayan, 65, is being held on charges of obstructing governmental administration and faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Pardas' actions are "beyond comprehension" and she will be brought to book. "This is a horrifying case of a child, a defenceless nine-year-old, who was left in the care of her stepmother who allegedly strangled her to death. Her actions, if true, are beyond comprehension and must be severely punished," Brown said.

Queens Assistant District Attorney Michael Curtis said Pardas repeatedly and on numerous occasions threatened to kill the victim, "most recently doing so this past Tuesday. On Friday, she made good on that threat."

Kaur had arrived in the US from India three months ago and was living with her father Sukhjinder Singh and Pardas in an apartment in Queens that was shared with another couple. The housemate had seen Kaur go in the bathroom with Pardas, who later came out alone and left the building. She allegedly said that Kaur was taking a bath.

The charges added that on the evening of 19 August, the housemate saw Pardas leaving the house along with Narayan, and her two grandchildren aged 3 and 5. When the housemate asked Pardas about Kaur, she allegedly said that the child was in the bathroom and was waiting for her father to pick her up.

The housemate had observed that the bathroom light had been on for several hours and called Kaur's father. She was instructed to break open the bathroom door at which time she found Kaur's lifeless naked body in the bathtub. There were several bruises on her body.

A report filed by the Medical Examiner's Office determined that the cause of death was manual strangulation. It is further alleged that New York Police Depratment detectives went to Narayan's residence and found him, Pardas and the two grandchildren inside the apartment.

Pardas refused to come out and refused to allow entry to the police for over one hour. Narayan later opened the door and both defendants were apprehended.

Kaur's relatives said the young girl had been previously allegedly abused by Pardas, who had been entrusted with her care while Singh worked in a local restaurant.

With inputs from PTI.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday defended individual rights and freedoms while touting cultural diversity and tolerance when asked about a controversy swirling in France over a burkini ban.

"We should be past tolerance in Canada," Trudeau told reporters after meeting with his ministers to plan the government's legislative agenda.

Some lawmakers in Canada's Quebec province have called for outlawing "burkinis"  body-concealing Islamic swimsuits  following bans in at least 15 towns in France's southeast.

They include the French Riviera resort town of Nice, the target of a jihadist attack on 14 July, with the proponents citing the need to prevent public disorder.

Trudeau called for "the respect of individual rights and choices."

This, he said, should be "at the top of public discourse and debate."

Trudeau dismissed the idea of a burkini ban in Canada, saying Canadians should rise above the controversy.

"In Canada, can we speak of acceptance, openness, friendship, understanding? It is about where we are going and what we are going through every day in our diverse and rich communities," he said.

Trudeau bemoaned instances where governments preach tolerance but act to undermine individual rights, saying with irony: "Tolerating someone means accepting their right to exist on the condition that they don't disturb us too, too much."

With inputs from AFP
On last Saturday night, an Islamic State suicide bomber played havoc in Turkey in a virulent attack on the Kurdish wedding party near the countrys border with Syria. According to the latest news reports, the death toll from the Turkey attack has risen to 54 with more than 69 innocent people severely injured.

Worst of all, this attack was perpetrated by an Islamic State-linked minor bomber, a child only 12 to 14 years old, as the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his earliest remarks on Sunday also confirmed. Regrettably, almost half of the deceased are children. This is the most tragic part of this Turkey terror attack. Nearly 29 of the victims in the wedding attack have been identified as minors aged four to 13-year-olds. Such an obnoxious instance of the child assault has rarely been seen even in the previous Islamic State-inspired barbaric terrorist acts.

A recent Firstpost article explores how the terror outfits like Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Islamic Jihad and Hamas are promoting the concept of 'martyrdom' to school children and recruiting them as suicide bombers. The article has mentioned Brooke Goldstein, a human rights attorney, author and filmmaker, who says in an interview that,

Children are being picked up, literally, from the classroom and sent out with explosives in under 48 hours!

One wonders how the new-age young Muslim youth and even minor children are consciously or unconsciously being indoctrinated into a dangerous doctrine of violent jihadism. At this juncture, I am reminded of what an avowed Islamic State fighter, Abdullah the Belgian, once proclaimed:"This generation will fight the infidels and apostates The right doctrine has been implanted in these children."

Scores of youths and children in Syria are being indoctrinated into this so-called right doctrine. This has been reported in detail in a documentary released by Vice News titled, Grooming Children for Jihad". The documentary explores how gullible children with impressionable minds are being trained to kill those declared as kafirs (infidels). In order to indoctrinate children into this virulent doctrine, the Islamic State runs 'teaching vans' in war-torn areas. Once children are caught, they are brainwashed to join the Islamic State militants. They are trained to tread the path of violent jihad, which is taught to them as the path of Allah (fi sabeel lillah). But what helps jihadists best to lure the minor children into the violent jihadism is actually the doctrine of takfirism  declaring others infidel  which they believe as the right doctrine. Islamic State exhorts the brainwashed children to murder and maim the infidels because they kill Muslims. This video shows the footage of the same teaching van of the Islamic State travelling along the Euphrates River in Syria and radicalising the children.

The Islamic State's indoctrination of minor children was first exposed when an image showing the 7-year-old son of Australian jihadist Khaled Sharrouf holding up the severed head of a Syrian soldier went viral on social media. This upsetting image was posted on a Twitter account which was owned by the boy's father, Khaled Sharrouf, with the caption "That's my boy!, as The Australian reported.

The above video clearly shows that the Islamic State preachers teach the children to kill all of the infidels (not only non-Muslim infidels but also Muslim infidels), like the infidels of the Europe who live in secular and democratic countries, the un-Islamic nations. This is the murderous doctrine of Takfirism that prepares a minor child to engage in brainless violence. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) warned Muslims against the same dangerous ideology in his last sermon in Hajj. He said: "Do not revert to takfir after me by cutting the necks of one another."

Takfirism, or declaring each other Kafir, is of course not a monopoly of a particular sect in Islam. It is an ideological problem which is common to all Muslims  Sunnis and Shiites alike.

But when Takfirism turns into a violent wave, it creates much damage as an ideology of indiscriminate killing, wanton mayhem, and mindless atrocity.

This violent ideological extremism strikes all the essential principles of tolerance and plurality enshrined in Islam. Takfirists are hell-bent on imposing their beliefs upon everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims alike and declaring those who dont follow them Kafir (infidel) or at least Munafiq (hypocrite). In their crazy bid to accord it an Islamic justification, they selectively apply verses of the Holy Qur'an and, thus, further their nefarious ends. But this actually goes completely against what the Qur'an exhorts in so many words. For instance, there should be no compulsion in religion (2:256); religious pluralism is Gods will (5:48); and that Muslims have to believe in the revelations of all the prophets (3:84).

Turkish Muslims, like the mainstream Muslims in all democratic and secular countries, were traditionally anchored in a mystical Islam and hence opposed to the violent practice of Takfirism. God the omniscient and omnipresent cannot be confined to any one creed, said Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the great Turkish mystic highly revered in the country. But the Takfirism-inspired clergy infiltrating in Turkey began to declare people of other Islamic sects as untrue and misguided Muslims or beyond the pale of Islam. However, all these religious polemics were seen only on an ideological level, not in the combatant jihadists battle. But now Takfirism is seemingly taking its bloodthirsty incarnation in todays Turkey. The latest terror strike in the country at the street wedding in the city of Gaziantep close to Syria is a lively evidence of that.

Ironically, the Turkish President Erdogan, who himself said that the attack was "perpetrated by Daesh (Islamic State)" and that the bomber aged 12-14" was IS-trained, is oblivious to this ideological factor. He continues to live in denial of the growing religious extremism in the grab of political Islam in the country. In fact, he too seems to be a motivated political Islamist leader who wants his own Islamic state. Erdogan has a political Islamist background, though he describes himself as a conservative democrat. Since his Justice and Development Party (AKP) ) came to power, religion has been used in the country in the most effective way to further the political ends. Therefore, his political agenda and ideals are often referred to as Erdoganism. Lamenting on Erdoganism in the post-secular Turkish state, Mustafa Akyol, the veteran Turkish journalist, wrote on 21 June:

It is no secret that President Recep Tayyip Erdogans New Turkey, which was hailed five years ago as the shining model of a Muslim democracy, now looks rather bleak. Turkey makes the news today not because of its domestic reforms and regional soft power, but because of its increasingly authoritarian regime and frequent terror attacks.

The political Islamists are of the view of practising Islam as an ideology, not as a spiritual path, and ending up with the notion or creation of an Islamic state which ultimately seeks to eliminate the ideals of secularism and democracy. This holds true for all the political Islamist leaders  from Ibn Abdul Wahhab, the 18th century father of political Islam to Hassan al-Banna in 1949; from Sayyid Qutb in 1966, the founders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, to the founder-ideologue of Jamat-e-Islami in Indo-Pak, and Maulana Maududi, the Indian-origin Ahl-e-Hadithi political Islamist scholar and leader.

Given this historical perspective, caution is warranted on the Turkish support for the political Islamist movements like the Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) and Rabita al-Alam al-Islami (The Muslim World League)  a pan-Islamist movement massively funded by the Saudi government to promote Wahhabism.

Given this, it is not difficult to see why the Turkish president lets this Takfirist ideology of Islam continue to spread in the country, which threatens the entire social stability at the local, national, and regional levels creating serious geopolitical dangers to the world at large. Instead of tackling the Takfirist problem head on, Erdogan is playing a blame-game against the US-based scholar and interfaith dialogue activist, Fethullah Gulen, known for his moderate views on Islam. It is patently clear that Erdogan is diverting the attention of the world governments from the real case by blaming Gulen and his civic, educational, and cultural bodies across the world, for the recent failed coup in Turkey.

Mohammad Behzad Fatmi, an Indian journalist and political commentator who has lived in Turkey for three years and worked at Mevlana (Rumi) University Konya, writes:

It is not surprising to see the government accusing the Gulen movement for this coup attempt. Whenever it is in the government's interest to blame the Gulen movement for something, it does so. However, like other allegations, this too hardly seems to be holding the ground.

The author is a scholar of Comparative Religion, Classical Arabic and Islamic sciences, cultural analyst and researcher in Media and Communication Studies. Write to him at grdehlavi@gmail.com
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced in his book Tout pour la France (All for France) that he has decided to be a candidate in the 2017 presidential election.

In an extract released on Facebook and Twitter, he wrote, I decided to run for the 2017 presidential election. France demands that we give her everything. I felt I had the strength to lead this battle during this troubled time of our history.

Ce livre est le point de depart -NS #ToutpourlaFrance pic.twitter.com/22pIXvfWq5  Nicolas Sarkozy (@NicolasSarkozy) August 22, 2016

The troubled time of history refers to the state of emergency since the terror attack in Paris in November last year. This was followed by a driver ploughing his truck through a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing more than 80 people.

France also reels under a deep economic, social and political crisis. Unemployment has risen and the economy has flat-lined under President Hollande, reported The Telegraph.

Although France was not on the target list of the Islamic State during Sarkozys rule, he managed to contaminate his tenure with corruption charges and a number of scandals.

Sarkozy served as the French president from 2007 to 2012 and as this BBC report points out, the country he left behind as he walked from the Elysee was not a happy one.

His term became so infamous that he is remembered as Frances first president not to be re-elected for a second term since Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1981.

Sarkozy is caught in multiple legal scandals, including the Bygmalion scandal. His party, Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), allegedly conspired with a PR company to hide the actual cost of his 2012 presidential election campaign.

France has a limit on campaigning expenditure. Employees of the company have accepted allegations and several UMP members are facing charges.

According to BBC, he is under investigation for "suspected illegal financing of an election campaign for a candidate, who went beyond the legal limit for electoral spending," the Paris prosecutor said.

Apart from this, he has allegedly also tried to influence senior judges who were looking into his charges and an anti-corruption team in Nanterre has also placed him under formal investigation.

In 2013, he was reportedly charged with taking advantage of the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. However, the case against him was later dropped. The infamous LAffaire Bettencourt involved the countrys richest family and Sarkozy. He was charged with exploiting the weakness of the worlds richest woman, who suffers from dementia, according to Forbes.

Another inquiry revolves around Sarkozy receiving campaign funding from the late Libyan strongman Col Muammar Gaddafi.

According to The Guardian, the French investigative website Mediapart claimed to have seen a confidential note suggesting that Gaddafi contributed to Sarkozys election fund in 2007.

Sarkozy also seems to contradict himself. When he lost to Hollande and left the Elysee Palace, he said he was leaving politics and would find a different way to serve his country, reported Fox News.

However, nothing is as convenient as good old politics. He returned to politics in 2014 after sensing the hopelessness, anger and lack of future among the French.

The unemployment rate was high and the purchasing power had decreased under Sarkozy, according to The Foreign Policy Journal. The retirement law of increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 and a full pension age from 65 to 67 irked the labour unions, which held demonstrations for several weeks.

However, he has also been credited with sending warplanes into action against Gaddafi's forces in Libya and brokering an end to the August 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia, reported BBC. He pushed through the no-fly UN resolution and bombed Gaddafi's tanks.

In the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crises, he developed a close working relationship with German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Hollande has been disapproved by 90 percent of of the French according to a new poll, The Washington Times report said. In 2013, he was called the "most unpopular president in recent French history" for the first time, following approval ratings of 26 percent. Sarkozy's ratings, however, never fell below the 30 percent landmark.
Islamabad: Continuing with its efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, Pakistan has briefed China about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir during their bilateral strategic dialogue.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who is on a two-day visit to China, attended the bilateral strategic dialogue meeting and also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing during his trip, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China was held on Tuesday in Beijing where Chaudhry led the Pakistani delegation while the Chinese side was headed by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asian and Consular Affairs Kong Xuanyou.

Chaudhry apprised his counterpart of the "grave humanitarian situation" in Kashmir and the ongoing "human rights violations", the statement said.

"He (Chaudhry) expressed the hope that the international community would play its role in calling on India to put an end to blatant human rights violations in the Valley," the Foreign Office said.

Both sides held detailed discussions on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and China, including the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), economic cooperation, defence, counter-terrorism, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, culture, education and people to people contact.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in all areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries. The Foreign Secretary and his Chinese counterpart also exchanged views on regional situation including India, Afghanistan and South China Sea.

Cooperation in multilateral forums including at the UN was also discussed, the statement said. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They agreed to continue to share their respective perspective, it said.
Islamabad: Pakistan has launched a fresh drive to gather support for its NSG membership bid with a top official on Tuesday embarking on a visit to Belarus and Kazakhstan to gain their backing.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi is undertaking visits to Belarus and Kazakhstan from 23 to 27 August as a special envoy of Premier Nawaz Sharif, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"The objective of the visits is to seek the two friendly countries' support for Pakistan's membership of the (48-nation) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," it said. The Special Assistant is carrying letters from Sharif addressed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"In his letters, the Prime Minister has underscored the need for the NSG to adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of the membership for non-NPT states in order to promote strategic stability in South Asia and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime," the Foreign Office said.

While in Belarus, Fatemi will call on President Lukashenko and will hold meetings with Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov and Minister of Industry Vitali Vovk, it said.

In Kazakhstan, the Special Assistant's programme would include meetings with Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan M Ashikbayev. Pakistan faces a tough challenge in gaining entry into the nuclear trading club as it has failed to get the support of the US which is pushing for India's membership.
Washington: Republicans stepped up their attacks on Monday on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and pointed to newly released messages to allege that foreign donors to the Democratic presidential nominee's family charity got preferential treatment from her department.

Congressional Republicans issued subpoenas to three technology companies that either made or serviced the server located in the basement of Clinton's New York home. The subpoenas were issued on Monday by House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith of Texas with the support of Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

In a joint statement, Smith and Johnson said the move was necessary after the three companies Platte River Networks, Datto Inc. and SECNAP Network Security Corp. declined to voluntarily answer questions to determine whether Clinton's private server met government standards for record-keeping and security.

The subpoenas were among several developments that showed a new GOP emphasis on Clinton's emails after the FBI recently closed its yearlong probe into whether she and her aides mishandled sensitive government information that flowed through her server. The FBI recommended against criminal charges.

The State Department is now reviewing nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed emails recovered as part of the FBI investigation. Lawyers for the department told US District Court Judge James E Boasberg on Monday that they anticipate processing and releasing the first batch of these new emails in mid-October, raising the prospect that new messages sent or received by Clinton could become public just before November's election.

Boasberg is overseeing production of the emails as part of a federal public-records lawsuit filed by the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch. Representing the State Department, Justice Department lawyer Lisa Olson told the judge that officials do not yet know how many of the emails are work-related, rather than personal.

Clinton, who was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, had claimed she deleted only personal emails prior to returning more than 55,000 pages of her work-related messages to the State Department last year. The department has publicly released most of those emails, although some have been withheld because they contain information considered sensitive to national security.

The thousands of previously undisclosed Clinton emails obtained by the FBI came from the accounts of other people she communicated with or were recovered through the bureau's forensic examination of her old server.

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon reiterated on Monday that Clinton provided all the work-related emails she had "in her possession" when the State Department asked for copies in 2014. "If the State Department determines any of them to be work-related, then obviously we support those documents being released publicly as well," he said.

Olson said the department earlier this month received seven discs containing "tens of thousands" of emails Clinton sent or received during her tenure as the nation's top diplomat. The first disc, labeled by the FBI as containing nonclassified emails not previously disclosed by Clinton, contains about 14,900 documents, she said.

She said it was "extremely ambitious" for the agency to complete its review and begin releasing the first batches of emails to Judicial Watch by 14 October given the volume of messages.

Also Monday, Judicial Watch released 20 previously undisclosed email exchanges involving Clinton that were turned over by her former deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin.

Among them is a 23 June, 2009, message to Abedin from Doug Band, a longtime aide to former President Bill Clinton who then was an official at the Clinton family's charitable foundation. Republicans charge that donors to the foundation, including foreign governments and corporations, got preferential treatment from the State Department while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

Band sought to arrange for the crown prince of Bahrain to meet with Hillary Clinton while the prince was visiting Washington. "Good friend of ours," Band wrote to Abedin, one of Clinton's closest aides.

Crown Prince Salman had in 2005 made a $32 million commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative, a program run by the foundation.

In later emails Abedin confirmed that Clinton would meet with the prince. Copies of Clinton's calendar obtained by the AP confirm the meeting occurred in her State Department office on 26 June, 2009.

State Department spokesman Matt Toner said on Monday there was nothing improper or unusual about the messages with Clinton Foundation staff.

"There was no impropriety," Toner said. "This was simply evidence of the way the process works in that, you know, any secretary of state has aides who are getting emails or contacts by a broad range of individuals and organizations."

In a statement, the government of Bahrain said the $32 million pledge was in support of a scholarship program for young men and women from the Persian Gulf kingdom who attend universities in Europe and North America. The purpose of Salman's 2009 visit with Secretary Clinton was wholly unrelated, according to the statement.

"As deputy head of state, the crown prince has and will continue to meet with US officials to address matters of mutual interest in the future," the statement said.
Dhaka: About 250 people, including children, have fallen sick and hundreds of residents have been evacuated from their homes after a toxic gas leak from a fertiliser unit in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong, officials said on Tuesday.

Di-ammonium phosphate (DPA) leaked from the DAP Fertiliser Company Limited on the bank of Karnaphuli river last night and firefighters battled until late morning to plug the leakage.

DPA is one of a series of water-soluble ammonium phosphate salts that can be produced when ammonia reacts with phosphoric acid.

Reports quoting officials said one of the gas tanks with 500-tonne capacity leaked at around 11:30 pm on Monday night.

The gas quickly spread across large parts of the city. Strong winds blew the gas across a 10-kilometre radius and reports suggested that people felt breathing problems at the southern city's international airport.

"The gas spread from the unit causing breathing problems to the people across several kilometres," officer-in-charge of the nearby police station said.

Of the nearly 250 taken ill, 56 people, including more than 10 children, were admitted to hospitals in the port city.

All the people being treated were stated be out of danger. Hundreds of residents were evacuated from their homes near the plant, police and fire officials said.

"Several people reported to doctors just because of panic," the city's civil surgeon Azizur Rahman Siddique said.

Chittagong's Deputy Commissioner Mesbahuddin Ahmed said the situation was under control as leakage has been plugged.

The reason behind the leak could not be known immediately. Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), which runs the unit, formed a 10-member committee to investigate the

incident, while the district administration has formed a three-member panel to probe the leak.

At the time of the incident, the amount of ammonia in the air was recorded at 600ppm (parts per million) whilst workers at the factory can tolerate conditions with ammonia gas up to 25ppm, the environment department said.

Ex perts said exposure to ammonia could cause slackening, vomiting and breathing problems.

"I have been informed that the fire service men nearly brought under control the situation," Chittagong's deputy commissioner Mesbahuddin Ahmed said.
Ankara: The process to relocate Turkish military bases outside of city centres after the coup attempt has begun at military barracks in Ankara and Istanbul, local NTV reported on Monday.

Six trucks carrying armoured military vehicles including tanks left the Bastabya Military Barracks, Istanbul, and headed for Corlu and Besiktepe in the Marmara province of Tekirdag, Xinhua news agency reported.

Police took security measures during the transport of the vehicles.

The Bastabya Barracks of the army's 66th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command was the first base to be relocated from Istanbul.

In the capital Ankara, the Etimesgut Barracks for Armoured Units was relocated to Sereflikochisar, some 148 kilometers south of the city.

Prime Minister Binali Yidirim announced earlier in August that all military barracks used by coup plotters on 15 July would be moved out of city centres, and Akinci air base, a stronghold for the coup plotters, would be shut down.

Turkish authorities plan to complete the relocation of bases in Ankara and Istanbul by 11 September.

During the coup attempt on 15 July, coup plotters were quick to mobilise their resources, from tanks and fighter jets to troops, seeking to seize strategic facilities located in city centres.

Defence Minister Fikri Isik said that bases in city centres would be relocated, and would be "opened for public use".

Akinci air base will be converted into a "democracy park", in a tribute to the civilians, military and police officers who were killed while resisting the coup attempt, authorities announced earlier.
Washington: Two Indian-American women have been selected for the prestigious White House Fellow programme that offers first hand experience of working at the highest levels of the US federal government.

Astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi from California and physician Tina R Shah from Chicago are among the 16 White House Fellows appointed from across the nation for the year 2016-17, officials said.

Shah is a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician-scientist focused on transforming healthcare delivery for patients with chronic diseases.

She recently completed her clinical fellowship at the University of Chicago (UC), where she redesigned the care cycle for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), dramatically reducing hospital readmissions.

As the recipient of the inaugural UC Innovations Grant, Shah also led an inter-professional research team to evaluate this value-based care delivery programme.

Shah was a trustee for the Chicago Medical Society and has held leadership positions in other medical societies to advocate for her patients and for a sustainable medical workforce. She received a BS and an MD from the Pennsylvania State University/Jefferson Medical College accelerated six-year medical program and MPH from Harvard.

Tripathi, an astrophysicist recently at Harvard University, focuses on the formation and evolution of planets. She has pioneered the characterisation of planet forming environments and developed the first 3D simulations of planets evaporating due to extreme atmospheric heating.

Tripathi has also been involved in modelling the Milky Way and the search for dark matter. Previously, she has conducted particle physics, seismology and engineering research at Fermilab, Caltech, MIT, and NASA JPL, as part of the mission operations team for the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

Her commitment to improving her community has been recognised by Harvard, MIT, and the American Red Cross.

Tripathi will receive her Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard, where she earned an AM in Astronomy as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. She received M.Phil in Astronomy from Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar and SB in Physics, with a minor in Applied International Studies, from MIT.

The White House Fellows Program was created in 1964 by President Lyndon B Johnson to give promising American leaders "first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs".

Selection as a White House Fellow is highly competitive and based on a record of professional achievement, evidence of leadership potential and a proven commitment to public service. Each Fellow must possess the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute meaningfully at senior levels of the Federal government.
United Nations: Japan on Tuesday strongly urged North Korea to refrain from provocations following a string of missile launches and threats from Pyongyang of nuclear retaliation in response to US-South Korean military drills.

Japanese senior official Kiyoshi Odawara told a UN Security Council debate on non-proliferation that North Korea's missiles launches, the most recent of which reached Japanese-controlled waters, were "blatant violations" of UN resolutions.

"Japan strongly urges North Korea to refrain from further provocations and to comply faithfully and fully with the relevant Security Council resolutions," said Odawara, Japan's parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs.

North Korea yesterday threatened a pre-emptive military strike as South Korea and the United States kicked off large-scale annual military exercises.

Japan this month joined the United States in calling an emergency session of the council after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile that landed off Japan's northern coast and within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

But the council failed to condemn that 2 August launch after China sought to include language in a statement opposing the THAAD missile defense system that the United States plans to deploy in South Korea.

Odawara said North Korea's missile launches "cannot be condoned for any reason."

The Japanese official called on all UN member-states to "redouble their efforts" to fully implement all resolutions including a measure adopted in March that imposed the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea.

"These efforts are crucial and their significance and impact cannot be under-estimated," said Odawara.

North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
Washington: The United States has backed Amnesty International after a sedition case was registered against the global rights group in Bengaluru for hosting a Kashmir event where alleged anti-India slogans were raised.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that US supported the right to freedom of expression for anyone, including the Amnesty.

"With Amnesty International, I'm sorry. Well, we obviously, as we do around the world, support the right to freedom of expression and assembly, including through civil society," Toner told reporters on Monday.

He was asked about the sedition charge against the group in India after they staged an event called 'Broken Families' on the situation of different families in Kashmir.

Toner said the State Department was aware of the reports that police in Bengaluru have "initiated preliminary investigation into allegations of sedition against Amnesty International.

"I direct you to the police for more details into this investigation, but certainly we, as I said, respect the right for Amnesty and others to express themselves freely."

The remarks came a day after Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said he had "not given any clean chit" to the rights group. He had earlier said the group was not involved in anti-national activities though some anti-India slogans were raised by some participants at the event at United Theological College in the city on 13 August.

Amnesty organised the programme that had an interactive discussion on peace and justice in Kashmir and where three families from the strife-torn valley shared alleged human rights violations back home.

Police registered the complaint after Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) alleged that Amnesty representatives and other participants had indulged in anti-national slogans and criticised the role of the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir.

ABVP is the student wing of the BJP, which leads the National Democratic Alliance government in New Delhi, and has been at the forefront of several protests against perceived anti-national activities.
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China National Chemical Corp. said yesterday a U.S. national security panel has cleared its proposed acquisition of Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta.

The USD43 billion acquisition still requires approval from anti-trust and other regulators in the United States and other countries, the state-owned company, also known as ChemChina, said in a two-sentence statement.

If completed, the deal would be the biggest foreign acquisition to date by a Chinese company. Shares in Syngenta jumped over 11 percent to 423 Swiss francs yesterdays news of the security clearance.

A group of U.S. legislators called in March for a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. They cited the potential for risks to our food system and the U.S. agriculture industry.

CFIUS, led by the U.S. Treasury Department, has objected to a handful of Chinese purchases of U.S. technology industries but almost all acquisitions have been approved. Still, mergers consultants say the prospect of undergoing a CFIUS review has put off some potential Chinese buyers of U.S. assets, making acquisitions in Europe and other markets look more attractive.

The Syngenta bid comes amid a spree of global acquisitions by Chinese companies that are looking for technology, brands and new markets to speed their development.

ChemChina Chairman Ren Jianxin is Chinas most aggressive global dealmaker and has spent more than $60 billion on acquisitions since 2010. They include Italian tire brand Pirelli, Norwegian chemical supplier Elkem and KraussMaffei, a German industrial machinery maker.

Ren has said he hopes to expand Syngentas presence in China and other emerging markets.

The Syngenta deal is also part of a shake-up of the global agricultural and chemical industry as tumbling commodity prices squeeze spending by farmers. AP
Chinas coast guard launched live-firing exercises in the Tonkin Gulf yesterday, the latest in a series of military drills that come amid renewed tensions among disputants to territory in the South China Sea.

The Maritime Safety Administration said ships and boats were barred from the area between its southern island province of Hainan and the northern coast of Vietnam from yesterday until tomorrow.

Chinas navy and air force have held a series of drills in surrounding waters since an international arbitration panel issued a ruling last month invalidating Chinas claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. China angrily rejected the ruling and said it would begin flying regular air patrols over the strategic waterway while continuing to develop airstrips, harbors and other infrastructure of military value on man-made islands it controls in the disputed Spratly group.

On Sunday, China said its planes and ships held war games in the Sea of Japan last week, during which it deployed its latest-generation frigate.

Beijing didnt say who the latest military drills were targeting or why the Sea of Japan was chosen as the location. However, China has grown increasingly assertive over its claim to a chain of uninhabited islands controlled by Japan, recently dispatching more than a dozen coast guard vessels to the area as Chinese fishing vessels swarmed the surrounding waters.

China also plans joint naval exercises with Russia in the South China Sea next month in a move criticized by the U.S. as harming regional stability. AP
A local resident and car owner was the victim of an unusual theft after he was driven by an unknown person, the Judiciary Police (PJ) informed in a press conference held yesterday at its headquarters.

This unusual story starts with a man (30) doing the right thing, according to the PJ. As he had drunk multiple alcoholic drinks in a hotel bar in the NAPE area, he decided around 4:00 a.m. last Saturday that he was not in a condition to drive home.

But the praiseworthy attitude was not rewarded as he expected.

He asked an unidentified person in the hotel to drive his car to the car park of the Macao Science Center, which the person did.

During the short trip, the car owner fell asleep only to wake around 9:30 a.m. inside his car in the parking lot.

He decided that he was now in an acceptable condition to drive and so proceeded to return home.

However, shortly afterward he realized that his wallet was open and missing a sum of money that he claimed was inside.

The man filed a complaint to the PJ claiming to have been the victim of a theft of some MOP47,000 in different currencies (MOP, HKD and RMB).

For the time being there are still no suspects, but the PJ says it is investigating the case.

In a separate case, the police informed that in the early hours of August 19 a man (20) noticed that his mobile phone was missing after leaving a Karaoke Bar in the NAPE area.

Using another phone he tried to call his missing phone without success.

A few hours later (around 11:00 a.m.) he received a call from his phone number. On the other side of the line was a man claiming to have found his phone but asking the sum of RMB500 as compensation in exchange for returning it.

The amount should be transferred to a WeChat wallet account, a condition the victim accepted and performed accordingly. However he did not receive his phone, but instead a second call from the same man demanding more money.

The complainant then decided to file a complaint to the PJ claiming a total loss of MOP6,000 (phone) and RMB500 (compensation paid).

The case is also being currently investigated.

Group of three caught loaded with stolen goods

A group of three men from Mongolia was caught at the Border Gate Square with luggage full of stolen goods from several shops in the peninsula and islands, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) informed in press conference yesterday.

According to the police report, the men were acting suspiciously, carrying heavy luggage into the Border Gate area around 7:00 p.m. on August 20.

Approached by the officers on duty in the area, the men were requested to open their luggage. Inside was discovered a large quantity of new clothes, wine bottles, shoes, phone chargers, bags and foods.

The majority of the clothing items still had their anti-

shoplifting alarms attached; a indication of the origins of the products.

Also found with the stolen merchandize were shopping bags with their interiors modified to include metallic foil paper with the apparent purpose of disguising the goods from alarm systems at shop exits.

Further questioning at the police station found that the men holding valid tourism visas had come to the territory with the purpose of stealing high-value goods intended for resale in Mainland China.They claimed to be living with financial difficulties and performed the robberies in order to raise money so that they could return home.

The thefts occurred across several shops in Cotai and the Border Gate area and in supermarkets in Taipa.

The total value of the stolen products is said to amount to MOP22,000.

The men were presented to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) accused of aggravated theft.
In the next five years, a majority of U.S. consumers will have bought a Chinese-brand smartphone. Such a prospect may raise the hackles of purported American patriots and presidential candidates, but its reality.

Outside of Apple and Samsung, Chinese brands rule the global smartphone market. LG gets a hand in from time to time, Blackberry isnt dead yet, and Nokia keeps bouncing from one identity crisis to another  but the trend is irreversible.

Yet ask any consumer in the U.S. to name a smartphone that isnt Apple, or at the very least one that isnt Apple or Korean. Theres only one way for Chinese brands to go from here. Thats why their pending dominance is a fact, not just speculation or fear mongering.

Just as television makers Zenith, Motorola and RCA were eventually replaced by Japanese names like Sony, Sharp and Panasonic, so too will Chinese brands overtake the U.S. market.

The latest entrant looks set to be Xiaomi. The richly valued upstart appears ready to dip its toes in one of the worlds most important electronics markets. While China is larger by volume, the U.S. is lucrative because average device prices are much higher.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday, Xiaomis vice president and international front man Hugo Barra said a U.S. move is inevitable:

We will lead with social media, with the channels that allow us to get in touch with the young generation that are enthusiastic about new technology. We are definitely going there.

Xiaomis entry into the U.S. has been in doubt on concern that the Chinese company, which has been widely criticized as a wholesale copycat of Apple and others, would immediately face intellectual property lawsuits.

However, Xiaomis purchase this summer of around 1,500 patents from Microsoft seems to have quelled those worries and given the Beijing startup the courage to move directly onto Apples home turf.

The Chinese company wont be short of compatriots. ZTE, the worlds number six smartphone brand, is fourth in the U.S., while TCL-Alcatel holds fifth spot. And then theres Huawei, now the worlds number three, which will start selling its latest device under the Honor brand later this week. With solid technology, financial muscle and global aspirations, expect to see more of Huawei in the U.S. in years to come.

Whats significant about a Xiaomi move is that along with the brand, the company is likely to bring the same business model that emaciated profits in the Chinese smartphone market: namely, direct online sales, social media-focused marketing and razor-thin margins.

That model has proven so compelling that Lenovo (which now owns Motorolas smartphone business) and Huawei have both incorporated it into their own strategies, while Oppo and Vivo are key beneficiaries. With ever fewer differences between Android models, this price fight portends declining share for Apple and Samsung.

This means that Chinese expansion will result in the U.S. starting to look a lot like every other market in the world. Whereas Apple and Samsung hold a combined 59 percent of the U.S. market, according to Counterpoint Research, they have just a 33 percent share worldwide. Global slots three through seven are all Chinese.

So while the nostalgic may decry the rise of China, they still need to face the fact that the U.S. smartphone industry has passed its zenith. Tim Culpan, Bloomberg
South Korea and the United States began annual military drills yesterday despite North Koreas threat of nuclear strikes in response to the exercises that it calls an invasion rehearsal.

Such fiery rhetoric by Pyongyang is not unusual. But the latest warning comes at a time of more tension following the defection of a senior North Korean diplomat and a U.S. plan to place a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea.

The Norths military said in a statement that it will turn Seoul and Washington into a heap of ashes through a Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike if they show any signs of aggression toward the Norths territory.

The Norths first-strike units are ready to mount retaliatory attacks on South Korean and U.S. forces involved in the drills, according to the statement, carried by Pyongyangs state media.

South Koreas Unification Ministry expressed strong regret over the Norths warning, saying the drills with the U.S. are defensive in nature. Seoul and Washington have repeatedly said they have no intentions of invading Pyongyang.

The 12-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills that began yesterday are largely computer-simulated war games. The training involves 25,000 American troops and 50,000 South Korean soldiers, according to the U.S. and South Korean militaries.

The drills come just days after Seoul announced that Thae Yong Ho, No. 2 at the Norths embassy in London, had recently defected to South Korea because he was disillusioned with the Norths leadership. Pyongyangs state media called him human scum and a criminal who had been ordered home for a series of alleged criminal acts, including sexually assaulting a minor.

South Koreas President Park Geun-hye said yesterday that there were signs of serious cracks in the Norths ruling elite class after defections of key figures she didnt identity. Park told a security meeting that Pyongyang could carry out cyberattacks or other provocations on South Korea to divert public attention away from such domestic problems.

Many analysts said Thaes defection was an embarrassment to the North Korean government of leader Kim Jong Un, but would not weaken the unity of the countrys elite class.

North Korea has already boosted its war rhetoric because of the planned deployment of the U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea, which Washington and Seoul says is needed because of the increasing North Korean threats.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from North Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with armistice, not a peace treaty. Hyung-Jin Kim, Seoul, AP
A group of Chinese investors said its acquiring ad-tech startup Media.net for about USD900 million in cash, with plans to eventually sell the company to an obscure telecommunications firm whose shares have been suspended from trading since last year.

Media.net, which is based in Dubai and New York, is touting this as the third-largest ad-tech acquisition in history. However, the complex deal more closely resembles a reverse merger, where a private company takes over a public one and bypasses the formalities of an initial public offering.

Technology entrepreneur Divyank Turakhia started Media.net in 2010 and bootstrapped the business. The company provides the technology powering contextual ads offered by Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp.s Bing search engine. The system is similar to one offered by Google, choosing which ads to show based on the content of the web page they appear on.

The deal comes as merger activity involving ad-tech companies is declining. There were 43 deals during the first half of the year, according to research firm PitchBook Data. Thats a 45 percent decline from the same period last year.

Media.net generated $232 million in revenue last year, more than half of which came from mobile visitors, Turakhia said. The U.S. accounts for 90 percent of Media.nets revenue, but the company is hoping to make a big push into China after the deal, he said.

The consortium buying Media.net is led by Zhang Zhiyong, the chairman of Beijing Miteno Communication Technology Co. His telecom firm has been moving aggressively into mobile advertising and hoped to accelerate the transition through an acquisition, Zhang said through a translator.

But the cellular tower provider only has about $23 million in cash and equivalents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. To pull off the deal, Miteno needed to orchestrate a two-step financial dance. First, the financiers made a payment of $426 million to Turakhia, the founder, chief executive officer, and sole shareholder of Media.net. He said hell collect the rest later. Then Miteno will acquire Media.net from the consortium, which Turakhia expects will happen before the end of the year. That transaction may involve equity, additional fundraising or a combination of the two, he said.

Trading of Miteno shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange has been halted since December, which is unusual. Zhang said suspending a stock is a common regulatory practice when a company is looking at acquisitions. Turakhia said he expected shares to resume trading in September.

Zhang said the structure of the two-part transaction has allowed Miteno to start raising money while waiting for regulatory approval. He said he expects many other companies, especially those in China, to copy the strategy in the future. Bloomberg
Twin Falls Police Chief Craig Kingsbury tweeted Monday that he had been challenged by another Idaho police chief to complete the 22-Pushup Challenge.

Wow. I just got challenged on FB to the 22 day: 22 push-up challenge by Eagle Chief Pat Calley. @AdaCoSheriff @TwinFallsPD starts tomorrow!

 TFPD Chief (@ChiefKingsbury) August 23, 2016

But the pushup challenge, while requiring some exercise, isnt some sort of physical fitness challenge  like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge before it, the 22-Pushup Challenge is a social media initiative designed to raise awareness for a serious issue, in this case the daily suicide rate among U.S. military veterans.

Its kind of a fun way to help raise awareness about a very serious issue, Kingsbury said Tuesday. We have lots of veterans here on the Twin Falls police force, and lots of veterans in our community, and we want to support them.
TWIN FALLS  Burnt Lemon Grill wants to move into a former bank building on Shoshone Street, pending approval from the city.

Owner Brenden Taylor wants to lease the 2,646 square-foot facility because it has outgrown its current location. The Planning and Zoning Commission will review a request Tuesday for a special use permit at 1040 Shoshone St. E., formerly Bank of America.

The permit applicants believe the building, which has been on the market for longer than a year, is an ideal spot for a restaurant.

Theres really only been two offers on it, and both have been restaurants, said Jim Woodland, real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty East Idaho.

The property has been approved for a legal nonconforming use for a financial institution, but Vista View has requested to replace it with a different nonconforming use permit to allow for a restaurant with a drive-through pickup window.

The commission must determine whether the applicant has shown the building cannot be reasonably converted to a conforming use. The current zoning allows for medium density residential uses and professional services by special use permit.

Burnt Lemon Grill anticipates having 75-100 cars per day between 10:30 a.m. and 9 p.m., with the drive-thru window for order pickup only, eliminating the need for an outdoor menu and speakers.

We think its a good fit, because its 50 cars per day less than the bank had, Woodland said.

The former Bank of America had approximately 120-140 cars per day, with a 24-hour ATM serving 12-15 cars after 9 p.m., according to Washington Federal Manager Jeff Harris.

The owners of the building met with neighbors last week to address concerns, and were successful in getting a signed petition of support, Woodland said.

Extensive remodeling will be done if the special use permit is approved, including installation of a kitchen. Woodland said the business is at least five months away from opening in that location.

The Planning and Zoning Commission meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 305 Third Ave. E. Also at the meeting, commissioners will reconsider the initiation of the revocation of a special use permit granted to Mark Gordoski of Markys Supertow.
LDA Security opens

Twin Falls store

TWIN FALLS  Lock Doc of America Security LLC has opened a location in Twin Falls.

The locksmith and security company was started in December 1973 in Pocatello. It is a family- owned and -operated business now serving the Magic Valley. It offers a complete lineup of security services including keys, locks, lock repair and replacement, re-keying, safes, access control, alarm systems, chip key programming and lockout services.

The business at 622 Blue Lakes Blvd. N., is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Staff are available 24/7 at 208-749-4012 for emergency and after-hours services.

McDonalds opens in

new building

TWIN FALLS  McDonalds has opened in its new building at 305 Blue Lakes Blvd. N.

The restaurant hosted a grand opening Aug. 17 and is open daily from 5 a.m. to midnight. Following Labor Day, the closing times will close to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Things have gone really well since we opened, Valley Food Service Inc. President Bill Kyle said.

The restaurant has 66 employees, which include all former staff and about 20 more than whats typical for that location. The new McDonalds building replaces what was the first McDonalds constructed in the Magic Valley.

Canyonside Irwin Realty joins Coldwell Banker

TWIN FALLS  Canyonside Irwin Realty is now serving the Magic Valley real estate market as the newest member of the Coldwell Banker global franchise network, and the firm will now do business as Coldwell Banker Canyonside Realty.

The company was acquired in 1988 by Bob and Betty Veeh from Dick Irwin, who sold the company to Gary and Beverly Shook. Coldwell Banker Canyonside Realty has three offices with 49 independent sales associates.

We were impressed with Gary and Beverlys passion for expanding their business in concert with the Coldwell Banker brand, said Budge Huskey, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. We are proud to have Coldwell Banker Canyonside Realty as part of the Coldwell Banker network and look forward to increasing the our presence in south central Idaho.

We are confident that our association with Coldwell Banker will allow us to better equip our agents as well as serve our customers and clients through the unmatched resources and marketing power offered by Coldwell Banker, Gary Shook said.

We are still experiencing a shortage of inventory at the lower end of the market because homes that are priced right and in good condition are selling fast, Shook said. However, inventory at the middle to high end of the market is now at a healthy level. ... We are optimistic about the growth pace of our local economy.
TWIN FALLS  The Twin Falls City Council asked city staff to continue pursuing designs for an electronic reader board to replace hanging banners.

City employee Kathy Markus showed the Council drawings for one proposal  an archway over Shoshone Street at City Park that would advertise community events. The proposed electronic reader board would cost $150,000, Markus said. The Council offered ideas to help pay for the sign and asked city staff to flesh out a plan for that or a similar sign board. The Council voted last month to stop hanging banners advertising community events over Shoshone because of safety risk to the workers but also asked city staff to look into alternative ways the city can help advertise these events.

The City Council also congratulated Twin Falls Olympic sharpshooter Will Brown on his accomplishments at the XXI Olympiad and commended his efforts as a member of the U.S. Shooting Team.

Brown, 24, recently returned from Rio de Janeiro, where he competed in the U.S. Mens 10-meter air pistol and the 50-meter free pistol categories. Brown was the only athlete from Twin Falls and one of two athletes from Idaho who represented the U.S.

In addition, Tami Billman and Public Works Director Jon Caton invited Mayor Shawn Barigar and Council members to a dedication ceremony Saturday for the Purple Heart City signs that will be going up at the main roads into town. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in City Park.

Council members gave Nancy Taylor, chairwoman of the citys Historic Preservation Commission, the go-ahead to apply for a $2,000 Community Enhancement Grant from the Idaho State Historical Society. The ISHS money, an in-kind matching grant, will be used to reprint the historical walking and driving brochures for the four historic districts in Twin Falls. It will also start the process of using Quick Response Codes to showcase the towns historic culture.

City Manager Travis Rothweiler also presented his recommended budget for FY 2017 to the council.
TWIN FALLS  A Twin Falls bachelorette party turned violent earlier this month when a Hazelton man threatened to shoot one party goer with a rifle and punched another attendee in the eye with brass knuckles, police said.

David Wayne Ford, 19, was arraigned Monday in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court on felony counts of aggravated battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police and prosecutors said Ford became enraged during the Aug. 4 party at a home on Fourth Avenue East, prompting most party goers to leave, but not before he threatened a man with a loaded AR-15 rifle and punched a man with brass knuckles, causing the mans eye to swell shut and require six stitches.

The two victims of Fords alleged criminal conduct and the mother of Fords girlfriend told this story of what happened:

At some point during the party, Ford started getting violent and aggressive and started physically grabbing the breast and crotch area of one of the females, court documents said. Ford then began screaming at people to find his keys and was walking around wearing brass knuckles swinging at people.

When Cody Jasper tried to help Ford calm down, Ford instead retrieved an AR-15 rifle.

Ford then loaded a magazine into the rifle, racked the charging handle, which chambered a live round, and began waiving the rifle around, an officer wrote in a sworn affidavit. Ford then pointed the weapon directly at Mr. Jasper and took the weapon off safe making the rifle ready to fire.

Jasper asked Ford to hand him the weapon and calm down, to which Ford responded dont tell me what to do, and tried hitting Jasper with the brass knuckles.

Ford then walked to where Tyler Icazuraga was sitting on the floor in the dining room, yelled expletives at him while demanding Icazuraga find Fords keys, and punched him in the left eye with the brass knuckles. Icazuragas eye was swollen closed from the injury, which later required six stitches.

Jasper and Ford went to the hospital, while Ford and his girlfriend took off  with the intent of fleeing.

The girlfriends mother later contacted police, saying shed received more than 100 phone calls about Fords behavior at the party and that Ford and her daughter were running away because they knew that Mr. Ford would be arrested.

A $100,000 warrant was issued for Fords arrest Aug. 10 and he was arrested over the weekend, but a Twin Falls judge Monday set his bond at $35,000. Ford posted bond Monday and is out of custody as he awaits a Sep. 2 preliminary hearing.
Q: How long the angel statue been on top of the salon on Main Avenue in Twin Falls? When and why? There was a story about upstairs of the now tanning salon was a house of ill repute but that little has left me with a curious mind.

A: We wonder sometimes if people notice him up there watching over the comings and going, said Mary Ellen Wagenman, of Native Skin Tanning. We placed the angel on top of the building in April 2010.

Wagenmans husband bought the angel at Inspired Living, another downtown business.

Wagenman said the angel is male. Her husband Jim was determined to have an angel guarding Main Avenue. He purchased him and walked him down the street while I was working on the lower level. He called me and asked me to come outside and look up. It was a total surprise and it brought tears to my eyes. We love our building very much and felt it appropriate to place him there. Many of our neighbors love the symbolism of being watched over.

Jim Wagenman recently did yearly maintenance on the statue since the weather takes its toll.

Our home above the salon was an old boarding house and has been used as a bordello, Mary Ellen said. It has lots of history and we love the character of the building.

We have owned the building since 1999 but Jim made the basement into a nail salon as his first project after getting the tanning salon up and running, she said. Now the lower level is used by my sister Diane Bennett Stevens and she has a sweet shop called Redoux filled with pieces from days gone by. Then Jim began work on the upstairs. I think we have been here around nine years.

While Mary Ellen worked as a nail tech, she met a woman who had information about the upstairs because her husband was related to the woman that ran the place.

She was his aunt and later we actually met his sister who was born upstairs, she said. She was very hesitant to talk about the business so we didnt press her. The woman that ran the upstairs for many years goes by the name Claudia. I was actually given pictures of her. She was eccentric and different.

Mary Ellen said there were nine rooms and since living there, the couple has left the room numbers on most of the doors. There was a bathtub room, a toilet and a kitchen that everyone shared. Each room had a corner sink and closet.

There was a story that was never published in the newspaper nor were charges filed, she said. Allegedly, a woman followed her husband to the upstairs establishment and was calling out for him. She was at the bottom of the stairs at street level. He didnt want to go out to be seen so his lady went out instead. The wife shot her and the blow was deadly. There is no way to know the details of the boarding house used as a bordello since those things were never published. But that story was validated by an older gentleman who recalled the event. Many bordellos existed back in the day and no one really talked about them.

As her husband was doing renovations for the couple to move in, the two realized there was a light fixture at the top of the stairs that was most likely a red light to indicate from the street if someone was available for services, Mary Ellen said.
TWIN FALLS  The College of Southern Idahos fine arts department will host a spring break trip in March 2017 to Italy.

The educational trip  led by CSI theater and English instructor Shane Brown  is being extended to community members.

The first informational meeting is slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the CSI fine arts recital hall.

The 10-day trip will include stops in Assisi, Florence, Rome, Pompeii and Capri, with a mixture of professionally-guided tours and free time to explore each of the destinations. Prices include airfare, transportation, room and board, and entrance into museums.

More information is available at eftours.com/educational-tour/florence-rome.

Periodic meetings will be held at CSI prior to the trip. There will also be a few non-mandatory meetings to discuss the art and sites participants will see, historical background and some conversational Italian.

For more information, call Shane Brown at 208-732-6774, email sbrown@csi.edu, or stop in office 81 in the Fine Arts Building on CSIs Twin Falls campus.
TWIN FALLS  Idaho will soon have a new way to gauge public school performance.

Earlier this month, the Idaho Board of Education approved a framework for a new accountability system. A plan is still being developed and will be tested out this school year.

Idaho is required to create a plan to align with the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which was signed into law in 2015. It largely replaces No Child Left Behind.

Im encouraged by what Ive heard, Twin Falls School District Superintendent Wiley Dobbs said about Idahos plan. I view this as an improvement.

The board of educations vote Aug. 11 will allow an accountability oversight committee to continue to move forward. Its not required to turn anything in to the U.S. Department of Education until 2017.

Debbie Critchfield, an Oakley resident and member of the Idaho Board of Education, was on the committee that developed the proposal.

The biggest change under the new plan: There wont be a rating system for schools.

State education officials dont want to take lots of bits and pieces from different indicators to come up with a one-time score, Critchfield said. We didnt believe it was an accurate reflection of whats happening in our schools.

Idaho used to operate under a five-star accountability system, which was unpopular among educators. Schools were given a score  one being the worst and five the best.

Factors included academic growth, test scores, graduation rates and how many students taking advanced classes.

But the system has been suspended since the 2013-14 school year. Thats because there wasnt enough data from the new Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced Assessment to calculate student growth.

Even though there wont be school ratings, Idaho will still be required by the federal government to identify schools in need of improvement.

The lowest-performing schools will receive federal money to get extra help. Its not to say theyre doing a poor job, Critchfield said.

Schools wont receive an accountability score this year. Were hoping it will take away some of the anxiety of testing out some of the indicators, Critchfield said.

Under the new system, there will be measures of success for three different types of schools: kindergarten through eighth grade, high schools and alternative high schools.

One big change: having separate accountability measures just for alternative schools. With the old five-star system, those schools were lumped in with regular high schools and often scored poorly.

For each group of schools, there will be academic and school quality measures.

Shoshone School District Superintendent Rob Waite has read news stories about the new accountability system, but hasnt received official information from the state.

Waite said he likes the new system has multiple measures of success, but I dont think it goes far enough.

He said hes also frustrated that many of the decisions about performance indicators werent made at a local level.

In Shoshone, we always do better when a system is based on student growth, Waite said. If its based on the end outcome, that to me is not a fair and equitable measure.

And a lot of student achievement isnt tied to test scores, Waite said. He said he knows its hard to measure, but hed like to see a broader range of factors, including participation in music and drama programs.

Since 2012, Idaho was given flexibility to avoid some requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind and use its own system to hold schools accountable. More than 40 U.S. states had a waiver.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001  championed by President George W. Bush  was a pass-fail system based on standardized test scores.

In December 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Idahos school quality measures will include teacher quality and engagement, and chronic absenteeism rates among students.

State officials will create an online dashboard where parents can see data for their childs school.

The state board also wants feedback from school districts. That will help shape the final plan it sends to the federal government.
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FORT BRAGG, N.C.  The judge overseeing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahls military trial said Monday that a top general must testify about destroying letters that he received from supporters and critics of the soldier who walked off his post in Afghanistan.

The judge, Army Col. Jeffery Nance, also cast doubt on the viability of an early 2017 trial date for Bergdahl, but stopped short of changing it.

Nance expressed skepticism about the relevance of the approximately 100 letters that Gen. Robert B. Abrams put in a burn bag to be incinerated, but the judge still decided that the head of U.S. Army Forces command must testify. Abrams has been traveling and has the option to testify in person or by phone at a pretrial hearing this week.

There are some questions I have to ask about the 100 or so letters, Nance told the lawyers.

The destruction of the letters is one of several reasons why the defense says Abrams, who referred the case to a general court martial, should be disqualified from the case. They also cite his prior role advising former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during efforts to return Bergdahl from captivity and questions about whether Abrams considered defense objections to the findings of a preliminary hearing.

The defense is seeking a reset in the case that would allow another commander to decide whether it warrants a general court-martial.

Prosecutors say the letters  which were largely sent by members of the public  didnt constitute evidence and that Abrams shouldnt be required to testify, nor should he be disqualified.

Bringing him into court to testify would provide no value, said prosecutor Maj. Justin Oshana, who noted that defense lawyers have already interviewed Abrams outside of court.

Defense attorney Eugene Fidell argued in court that the letters were valuable for reasons including that they may have contained leads that Bergdahls lawyers could have pursued.

Well never know what they said. All we have are Gen. Abrams assurances, Fidell told reporters afterward, stressing the need to question him further.

The judge also said Monday that defense attorneys can propose a significant revamping of pretrial deadlines, and he may consider changing the trial date in the future.

The defense has argued that trial deadlines have been jeopardized by the pace at which prosecutors are producing classified information. Prosecutors acknowledged Monday that they were likely to miss an upcoming deadline on the documents, saying its taking time to get military and intelligence agencies to review them.

Fidell said after the hearing that there is a lot of doubt surrounding the February trial date.

Bergdahl, who is from Hailey, walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and wound up as a captive of the Taliban and its allies until 2014. The Obama administration won his release by swapping him for Guantanamo Bay detainees. Bergdahl faces a court-martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The latter charge carries up to a life sentence.
Congress must reject TPP

Donald Trump correctly opposes the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership because it would destroy individual liberty, jobs and national independence. Hillary favors TPP. TPP is 5,554 pages of regulations. Over 500,000 American jobs are estimated to be lost as more foreign migrants and refugees will provide cheap labor.

Hillary wants to greatly increase Muslim refugees from Syria from 10,000 to 55,000 per year. Many could be ISIS jihad terrorists and add to the potential Muslim jihad terrorist already here. ISIS terrorists have indicated they will use the refugee program to bring in their Jihadists. Due to incomplete vetting, Trump favors a pause in Muslim immigration.

Only five of 29 chapters of TPP deal with highly regulated trade. Twenty-four chapters reveal political and economic mergers to create regional government. Chapter 10 requires the USA to open its borders to foreign service companies. Trump wants to build a wall to stop illegal immigration. Hillary wants open borders, which brings in cheap labor to replace American workers.

The TPP creates a powerful European Union-style commission which meets, appoints unelected bureaucrats, adopts rules and can change TPP after adoption. Congress is left out! TPP creates tribunals (courts) to rule on matters.

TPP sneaks in mandatory global warming CO2 restrictions to further destroy our economy. Global warming is a hoax to control energy and make us a third-world country. Obama and Hillary favor additional CO2 restrictions, which is causing power rates to skyrocket already.

The end game is to create a regional government as a building block to erecting the elite globalists New World Order with United Nations control. These globalists have created the refugee crisis which is destroying Europe and will destroy US culture and economy.

Congress must vote NO on TPP and get out of the un-American United Nations!

Adrian Arp, Filer
In 2015 our iron ore exports alone were four times the value of all of our combined services exports to China. And in services the only things that really count are tourism and education. Thats not going to change for a long, long time.

The alas now gated article, by Greg Sheridan, is of interest more generally and concerns some myths about China and Australia.

Addendum: To read the piece, try here.
Tehran unveiled its first locally made long-range air defense missile system during the Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) in the presence of President Rouhani.

The system baptized Bavar-373 is designed to neutralize flying objects like drones, missiles and combat aircrafts. Minister of Defense Hossein Dehghan said we did not intend to make an Iranian version of the S-300 when the project was commissioned in 2010 but instead worked towards building an Iranian system and it has been achieved.

Mass production of the missile defense system is expected to begin before the end of the year. The Bavar-373 project was launched after Russia suspended the S-300 missile defense sale to Tehran due to UN sanctions over its controversial nuclear program. Putin lifted the ban this year and some parts have already been received by Iran.

Iran has been working on developing its military power over the past few years by developing its local capacity and neighboring countries have been closely monitoring the developments. Tehran has made a series of announcements proclaiming achievements of its defense forces in reinforcing their arsenal. President Rouhani stated that the conclusion of the nuclear agreement in July 2015 was due to its military power. In April 2015, he said if we are able to discuss with world powers around the negotiating table, it is because of our national strength, because of our national unity.

The country recently increased its military budget as Minister Dehghan claimed that Iran is one of the eight countries worldwide to have mastered the technology to build turbo engines that could reach an altitude of 15,000 kilometers. Iran could soon be unveiling a sea-based supersonic cruise missile as its development is in progress. One of the countrys that have voiced out concerns is Israel due to Tehrans recurrent statements of rubbing it off the map.
Egypts President Abdel fattah al-Sisi has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to host direct talks between Israel and Palestine as part of efforts to end the long standing conflict between the two parties.

al-Sisi made the remarks on Sunday evening; the day a high-level Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials to revive negotiations with Palestine.

The Egyptian president said, There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the Palestinians, who will have a State next to Israel. Israel is becoming more and more convinced as to the importance of a peace agreement, and thats a positive sign, he said, without any further details on the proposed Moscow meeting.

Sisi noted that a two-state agreement between Israel and Palestine can only be reached when Hamas and Fatah reconcile and orient their efforts towards the establishment of a Palestinian State. He urged all parties who are able to influence the peace process to positively participate in it because reaching an agreement requires a huge amount of effort.

The preparatory efforts to organize a meeting between senior Israeli and Palestinian officials are still hampered by the Palestinians demand for freezing construction on occupied territories and freeing Palestinians jailed in Israeli. Tel Aviv wants to hold talks without pre-conditions. A diplomatic source stated that the demands of the Palestinians are only a way of placing preconditions on the very hold of negotiations, something not acceptable to Israel. The source added that Prime Minister Netanyahu will immediately meet with President Abbas if the latter is interested in meeting without conditions.

It is unclear if Tel Aviv will accept Moscows desire to host the talks after it strongly rejected Frances peace conference earlier this year. President Abbas recently turned down an American proposal for a meeting with Netanyahu in the presence of Arab and western leaders. The American proposal was explained as a counter-plan of the French initiative.
Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra Sunday made a surprising statement saying that Algeria was eager to upgrade cooperation with regional rival, Morocco, in all domains.

Analysts were surprised by the statement as Ramtane Lamamra is known for his staunch support to the Polisario Front claiming the independence of Western Sahara and for his tireless efforts to harm Moroccos interest.

Yet, some analysts say the statement can be understandable as it was made on the morrow of the speech delivered by Moroccos King Mohammed VI wherein he stretched Rabats friendly hand to Algiers.

We hope that the commitment and sincere solidarity which have always bound the Algerian and Moroccan peoples will be rekindled so that we may continue to work together, honestly and in good faith, to serve Arab and Maghreb causes and rise to challenges in Africa, King Mohammed VI said in the speech he delivered on Saturday on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People.

Some observers say the Algerian Foreign Minister, who used to fire shots at Morocco, adopted a soft tone as he was surely smoothed by President Abdel Aziz Bouteflikas friendly message to King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People, where he voiced willingness to strengthen ties with Morocco.

This revolution constituted a milestone in the fight against French colonization as it speeded up the independence of Morocco and of the other Maghreb and African countries.

In his speech, the Moroccan king recalled that that historical era was characterized by coordination and solidarity between the leaders of the Moroccan resistance movement and the Algerian Liberation Front.

Algeria harbors the will for cooperation with Morocco in all domains, Lamamra said on the sidelines of a meeting at his department.

The Algerian Presidents message to King Mohammed VI is a clear indication that Algeria is willing to promote cooperation with its regional neighbor, Lamamra said.
Tunisias Islamist party and largest group in the parliament Sunday indicated it has reservations on nominated Prime Ministers unity government line-up.

Ennahda counts 69 members in the 217-seat Parliament. The partys supreme institution, the Shura Council, met Sunday and stopped short of naming political figures it deems are maneuvering to thwart its influence on the new cabinet.

We have some observations and reservations to pass on to the head of the government-designate, Abdelkarim Hanouni, head of the Shura Council, told reporters.

We will not accept any suspicion of corruption (among the government members) nor any personality who would seek to exclude Ennahda or any other party, Hanouni said.

The Sunday reaction came following the presentation of a new cabinet by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed.

The long-waited cabinet proposal counts, according to the Islamist party, 3 Ennahda ministers against only one in the previous cabinet of Habib Essid; the former Prime Minister.

Ennahda, prior to the cabinet naming, had called on Chahed to consider the position of the Islamist party; the largest in the Parliament.

Party leaders indicated on Sunday that despite the reservations they would not prevent the Parliament from endorsing the new cabinet.

We will not go as far as blocking the government, Harouni said.

The new cabinet which also includes members of Nidaa Tounes, smaller parties as well as opposition figures, independents and ministers close to the powerful UGTT labor union, has received bitter criticism from Afek Tounes; a party allied to President Caid Essebsis Nidaa Tounes.

The partys council on Sunday criticized the way the cabinet was formed and said the party would decide whether to join the unity government only after holding talks with Chahed.
Egypt and Russia have agreed on a roadmap to resume direct flights, suspended by President Putin following the October 2015 air crash of a Russian airplane that killed all 224 onboard. Egyptian civil aviation minister Sherif Fathy said the agreement was reached after a series of security inspections of airports, hotels and resorts by the Russians.

Yet, flights remain suspended until another delegation, expected in the country before the end of the month, submits a final report to Putin, who is to make the resumption decision. Fathy explained that the situation should not be considered as a political impasse and the inspection visits of the nations airports do not detract the states sovereignty. It is a right reserved for all countries and Egypt exercises the same right in other countries, he said, assuring Egyptians that the security of the airports will continue to be handled by national forces.

The downing of the Russian plane, claimed by the Islamic State group, dealt a severe blow to the tourism sector.

Earlier this month, Egypts finance minister said the past 10 months are the worst for the tourism sector in 15 years. The governments effort to revive the sector has been faced with insecurity setbacks, which has forced several Western countries to warn their citizens against travelling to the country.
The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) received a heavy blow after it failed to obtain the confidence of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) in a vote held on Monday.

The Presidency Council (PC) was approved under condition that its members are limited to eight Ministers. One hundred and one member of the 198 parliamentarians were present; making it the first time that a quorum was reached in five months.

A spokesman at the HoR, Adam Boussakhra, said the majority of the lawmakers at the parliament session voted no confidence in the government. Results showed that 61 voted against, 39 abstained and only a single MP has confidence in the GNA.

Those who were absent at the session claimed foul play because they were not informed of the changes made to the agenda, which only contained a number of HoR procedures and the proposed constitution from the Constitution Drafting Assembly. Their complains were downplayed by Ali al-Marimi, spokesman of President Ageela Salah of the HoR, who claimed that the vote of confidence was scheduled for a previous session which didnt take place and shifting it to the next one was a legitimate move.

Some of the absentees are reported to have been boycotting parliamentary sessions while those who abstained during the voting are mainly parliamentarians who stepped out of the hall in protest to the holding of the vote.

Faiez Serraj is the president of the PC and also doubles as the Prime Minister-designate of the GNA. He has not reacted to the outcome of the much-delayed vote but there are fears that it could worsen the political crisis because the powerful Misrata lobby group and its forces support the GNA cabinet.

Under the Libyan Political Agreement reached in Morocco last year, the HoR has the right to approve or disapprove the government but the circumstances surrounding the vote could weather the parliament as some of the MPs who were absent support the GNA that now has all its decisions invalidated.
Prime Minister-designate Youssef Chahed met with some members of his national unity government ahead of a vote of confidence that would take place on next Friday, August 26, but voices of contestation are continuing to rise against some of the appointees.

Several political parties claim that some of the would-be ministers of the new government are suspected of corruption and cannot therefore get their support. The country is battling against economic and financial crisis.

The Al-Irada party said the appointments do not characterize national unity and underlined that serious suspicions of corruption hang over some designated ministers that do not allow them to be part of the government. Ruling out the participation of the party in the national unity government, the statement also lamented about the lack of harmony in the government and its complacency on sectorial and ideological policies.

President Yassine Brahim of the Afek Tounes party said, after meeting with Chahed, the party had put forward proposals for consideration. Afek Tounes has four of its members appointed as ministers but it is against the composition of the cabinet as a whole and threatens that it will not be part of the government if the prime minister-designate does not review his appointments.

Meanwhile the Popular Front has boldly stated that it would vote against what it considers to be a government of political quotas representing Nidaa Tounes and Ennahda which is also decorated by some political and union figures.

Both Nidaa Tounes and Ennhada have also raised eyebrows over the composition of the cabinet but are willing to support it at the parliament. There are reports that at least 19 of the 54 parliamentarians of the ruling Nidaa Tounes party are threatening to resign from the party because the government included some incompetent people.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Chemicals used in certain pesticides and as insulating material banned in the 1970s may still be haunting us, according to new research that suggests links between higher levels of exposure during pregnancy and significantly increased odds of autism spectrum disorder in children.

According to the research, children born after being exposed to the highest levels of certain compounds of the chemicals, called organochlorine chemicals, during their mother's pregnancy were roughly 80 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism when compared to individuals with the very lowest levels of these chemicals. That also includes those who were completely unexposed.

Although production of organochlorine chemicals was banned in the United States in 1977, these compounds can remain in the environment and become absorbed in the fat of animals that humans eat, leading to exposure.

With that in mind, Kristen Lyall, ScD, assistant professor in Drexel University's A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, and her collaborators, decided to look at organochlorine chemicals during pregnancy since they can cross through the placenta and affect the fetus' neurodevelopment.

"There's a fair amount of research examining exposure to these chemicals during pregnancy in association with other outcomes, like birth weightbut little research on autism, specifically," Lyall said. "To examine the role of environmental exposures in risk of autism, it is important that samples are collected during time frames with evidence for susceptibility for autismtermed 'critical windows' in neurodevelopment. Fetal development is one of those critical windows."

Their paper describing this study was titled, "Prenatal Organochlorine Chemicals and Autism," and published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Now a researcher in the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute's Modifiable Risk Factors Program, Lyall was with the California Department of Public Health when she began the work. She teamed with researchers from the department, including Gayle Windham, PhD, and Martin Kharrazi, PhD, members of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research (which includes the study's principal investigator, Lisa Croen, PhD), as well as an expert on measuring organochlorine chemicals, Andreas Sjodin, PhD, of the Division of Laboratory Sciences of the National Center for Environmental Health.

The team looked at a population sample of 1,144 children born in Southern California between 2000 and 2003. Data was accrued from mothers who had enrolled in California's Expanded Alphafetoprotein Prenatal Screening Program, which is dedicated to detecting birth defects during pregnancy.

Participants' children were separated into three groups: 545 who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, 181 with intellectual disabilities but no autism diagnosis, and 418 with a diagnosis of neither.

Blood tests taken from the second trimester of the children's mothers were used to determine the level of exposure to two different classes of organochlorine chemicals: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, which were used as lubricants, coolants and insulators in consumer and electrical products) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs, which include chemicals like DDT).

"Exposure to PCBs and OCPs is ubiquitous," Lyall said. "Work from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which includes pregnant women, shows that people in the U.S. generally still have measurable levels of these chemicals in their bodies."

However, Lyall emphasized that exposure levels were key in determining risk.

"Adverse effects are related to levels of exposure, not just presence or absence of detectable levels," she said. "In our Southern California study population, we found evidence for modestly increased risk for individuals in the highest 25th percentile of exposure to some of these chemicals."

It was determined that two compounds in particularPCB 138/158 and PCB 153stood out as being significantly linked with autism risk. Children with the highest in utero levels (exposure during their mother's pregnancy) of these two forms of PCBs were between 79 and 82 percent more likely to have an autism diagnosis than those found to be exposed to the lowest levels. High levels of two other compounds, PCB 170 and PCB 180, were also associated with children being approximately 50 percent more likely to be diagnosedagain, this is relative to children with the lowest prenatal exposure to these PCBs.

None of the OCPs appeared to show an association with higher autism diagnosis risk.

In children with intellectual disabilities but not autism, the highest exposure to PCBs appeared to double the risk of a diagnosis when compared to those with the lowest exposure. Mid-range (rather than high) OCP exposure was also associated with an increased level of intellectual disability diagnosis when measured against children with the lowest exposure levels.

"The results suggest that prenatal exposure to these chemicals above a certain level may influence neurodevelopment in adverse ways," Lyall said.

These results are a first step to suggest these compounds may increase risk of development of autism, and Lyall and her colleagues are eyeing up more work in the field.

"We are definitely doing more research to build on thisincluding work examining genetics, as well as mixtures of chemicals," Lyall said. "This investigation draws from a rich dataset and we need more studies like this in autism research."

Explore further Low-dose exposure of environmental contaminants can be harmful to the human brain
Doctors writing in the journal Thorax have warned musicians who play wind instruments of a potential hazard they have dubbed 'bagpipe lung.'

The warning comes after a man died of the chronic inflammatory lung condition hypersensitivity pneumonitisthought to have been caused by regularly breathing in mould and fungi lurking inside the moist interior of a set of bagpipes.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is triggered by the immune system's response to an inhaled environmental antigen and can progress to disabling or fatal lung disease. It is often associated with occupational exposure to birds, particularly pigeons. But in a significant proportion of cases, it's not always clear what has triggered it.

The doctors describe the case of a 61 year old man who in 2014 had had a dry cough and progressive breathlessness, despite treatment with immunosuppressant drugs, for seven years. His condition had worsened to the point that he couldn't walk more than 20 metres, and was finding it hard to breathe, prompting admission to hospital.

He had been diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in 2009, although the cause had not been identified: he was not a pigeon fancier, nor did his house harbour mould or show signs of water damage. And he had never smoked.

But he played the bagpipes daily as a hobby, and didn't take them with him on a three month trip to Australia in 2011, during which time his symptoms rapidly improved.

This prompted samples to be taken for testing from several areas inside the bagpipes, including the bag, the neck, and the chanter reed protector.

The samples grew various different fungi, including Paecilomyces variotti, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium species, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Trichosporon mucoides and Exophiala dermatitidis.

Despite treatment, the man died: a post mortem examination revealed extensive lung damage consistent with acute respiratory distress syndrome and tissue fibrosis (scarring).

This is an isolated case, and the cause of the man's condition was not definitively proved.But there have been other reported cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, arising in trombone and saxophone players, say the doctors.

"This is the first case report identifying fungal exposure, from a bagpipe player, as a potential trigger for the development of [hypersensitivity pneumonitis]," they write.

"The clinical history of daily bagpipe playing, coupled with marked symptomatic improvement when this exposure was removed, and the identification of multiple potential precipitating antigens isolated from the bagpipes, make this the likely cause," they conclude.

They warn that any type of wind instrument could be contaminated with yeasts and moulds, making players susceptible to the risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Although there isn't any guidance on the optimal hygiene regimen, cleaning instruments immediately after use and allowing them to drip dry could theoretically curb the risk of microbe growth, they suggest.

But both doctors and musicians need to be aware of this potential hazard and the importance of good instrument hygiene, they conclude.

Explore further Workplace exposure to metalworking fluid may cause irreversible lung disease

More information: Case report: Bagpipe lung: a new type of interstitial lung disease? Thorax, DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-208751 Journal information: Thorax Case report: Bagpipe lung: a new type of interstitial lung disease?
Patients with persistent face pain should be tested to ensure they get the best and most rapid treatment whilst also saving the NHS money, say experts at Newcastle University.

However, for this to work, they add, there needs to be better-structured systems of care put in place.

Persistent orofacial pain which is pain in the face lasting over three months, affects approximately 7% of the UK population. In many cases, patients are seen by different medical and dental practitioners over several months before getting effective treatment.

Now the first study in the UK carrying out a cost analysis of the treatment these patients receive is published today in the Journal of Dental Research.

It has shown that screening patients with a well-established graded chronic pain scale could ensure that those most severely affected immediately receive specialist caresaving money.

The authors say the current average six month cost of care per patient is 642 and they argue this could be substantially reduced by better-structured systems of care and, at the same time, care would be improved.

Persistent orofacial pain

Persistent orofacial pain (POFP) is caused by various conditions that affect the muscles, joints, nerves or blood vessels of the face or mouth. The conditions are all known by different pseudonyms but the most common conditions include Temporomandibular Disorders, Trigeminal Neuralgia, Burning mouth syndrome and Neuropathic pain including nerve pain following wisdom tooth removal or "phantom" tooth pain.

Lead author, Dr Justin Durham, who is Senior Lecturer and NIHR Clinician Scientist at Newcastle University, and Honorary Consultant Oral Surgeon at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust explained: "Pain is not just how it hurts but how it interferes with your everyday life.

"Patients with this type of pain are not seen very often by GPs and dentists, and as a result practitioners can be uncertain of the best route to take to refer patients for treatment.

"This can result in patients being referred to several different branches of health care and dentistry looking for diagnosis and management, but this can continue for several months until a diagnosis is given and appropriate management agreed. This increases the costs to the health service and adds to the inconvenience experienced by patients.

"This is unsatisfactory for patients as they continue to experience substantial problems over this period of time but this might be averted by using an initial test to establish whether specialist treatment should be offered straight away."

High disability, instant treatment

198 patients were recruited to use the well-established seven item questionnaire graded chronic pain scale (GCPS) and were interviewed and completed questionnaires to measure what treatment they had received in the last six months. The results demonstrate that patients ranked as "high" on the GCPS were considered to have significant pain related disability and needed more care.

Costs of healthcare were grouped into three categories: consultation costs (visits to health care professional for discussion); medication costs; appliance (dental or surgical) and intervention costs (dental/medical/surgical). Consultations - the number of visits patients had to make to healthcare practitioners - accounted for the biggest burden of cost because of the current complex care structure for POFP.

The authors highlight that there may have been some problems with recalling use over the last six months and despite the wide sociodemographic range the cohort may not be representative of other populations, however the study supports the findings of previous research.

Hub and spoke solution

Rather than patients having to undertake a protracted search to get a diagnosis or better pain management, the team suggest that an improved service could be offered by using a hub and spoke model. This would mean patients assessed by the graded chronic pain scale as being low disability being seen by a range of health care professionals in regional clinics. Any patient assessed as high disability would be instantly referred to a specialist in a central hub.

Dr Durham adds: "It is likely that this hub and spoke model would be more efficient and effective for patients but can only work if there is investment and enough experts are recruited.

"Ultimately it is likely this model would provide faster, more effective treatment for patients but at a lower cost."

The research is possible thanks to the Newcastle Academic Health Partners, a collaboration involving Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University. This partnership harnesses world-class expertise to ensure patients benefit sooner from new treatments, diagnostics and prevention strategies.

Lead author, Dr Justin Durham is funded by a National Institute for Health Research Clinician Scientist Award.

CASE STUDY: A long wait for patients

For patients with persistent orofacial pain, it can be a long and worrying battle to get the condition diagnosed.

Alison Ellerbrook, 38, from Morpeth, Northumberland, began to get the symptoms in her early 20's.

She said: "I was having a lot of dental work done - fillings and root canal workbut this didn't end the nagging pain. This went on for 12 years and I changed dentist three times as many of them said they couldn't find anything wrong.

"When I was finally referred to a specialist, Dr Durham, I was prescribed a drug more commonly used for epilepsy to help with the neurological pain and within a couple of weeks I felt better.

"Even so at points I can be so desperate that I will ask the dentist to pull a tooth out to take the pain away - the only way I can describe it is like a gnawing pain deep in my face. My specialist understands and advises me to wait and invariably the pain ebbs.

"The most important thing was that someone believed me and I didn't feel like I was going crazy. Just having that pain acknowledged was a huge relief."

Explore further Chronic pain costs are high to Ontario health care system and to individual patients

More information: Healthcare cost and impact of persistent orofacial pain: DEEP Study's cohort. J. Durham. J Shen. M Breckons, JG Steele, V Araujo-Soares, C Exley, L Vale. Journal of Dental Research. Journal information: Journal of Dental Research Healthcare cost and impact of persistent orofacial pain: DEEP Study's cohort. J. Durham. J Shen. M Breckons, JG Steele, V Araujo-Soares, C Exley, L Vale.
UK deaths from heart disease and stroke have plummeted by almost 70% over the past 30 years, but these improvements have not been equally distributed among all four countries, or between men and women, finds an analysis of the available data, published online in the journal Heart.

Furthermore, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease hasn't budged during this period, but drug and surgical treatments have increased, particularly over the past decade, adding up to a "substantial burden" for the UK, say the researchers.

In a bid to gauge the overall burden of heart disease and stroke, the researchers examined information from national annual datasets to assess trends in deaths, ill health, and treatment for cardiovascular disease (CVD) as a whole, and individually for coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, from 1979 up to 2013.

They used data provided by the 2015 Cardiovascular Disease Statistics report published by the British Heart Foundation; the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) incentive scheme for family doctors in England; the Health Surveys for England and Scotland; and the General Lifestyle Survey, an annual cross sectional survey for Great Britain, which ended in 2011.

They also scrutinised NHS data on hospital admissions.

Their analysis showed that, when standardised for age, deaths from CVD, CHD, and stroke fell by around 70% across the UK during this timeframewith even larger declines in premature death before the age of 75, of around 80%.

The largest falls across all three indicators occurred in Northern Ireland, with premature CVD and CHD deaths among women falling by 83% and 87%, respectively, and premature stroke deaths among men plunging by 77%.

Overall, the prevalence of CVD hasn't budged, however, remaining at 3% in England, and 4% elsewhere. The prevalence of stroke hasn't changed either, staying put at 2%, although the data indicate that there has been an increase among the over 75s, and for men aged 65-74, and a small decrease among 45-64 year old women.

Trends in treatment reveal gender disparities. Across the UK admissions to hospital for CVD rose by 46,000 between 2010-11 and 2013-14, most of which (36,000) were among men.

During this period, admissions among men for coronary heart disease rose by almost 3000, but fell by around 5000 among women. And while admissions for stroke didn't change among men, they fell by 4500 among women.

Between 2005-6 and 2013-14, the overall number of admissions for CVD rose by 11% in England and by 15% in Wales. But the patterns for CHD and stroke were different.

In Wales, CHD admissions rose by 4%almost entirely driven by those among men as these admissions fell by 6% among women. In England CHD admissions fell by 6%, overall, but the fall among women was 11% compared with 4% for men.

Admissions for stroke rose by 13% in England among men, but by 6% among women, while in Wales, stroke admissions rose by 7% among women but by 17% among men.

England topped the UK league table for drug prescriptions for diseases of the circulatory system, which includes CVD.

Between 1991 and 2014 these soared by 243 million78%. Between 2005 and 2014 they rose by 5.5 million (23%) in Wales, by 2.3 million (9%) in Scotland, and by 2.5 million (28%) in Northern Ireland.

Surgical treatments also rose: seven times as many PCIs (percutaneous coronary interventions) were carried out in 2013 as in 1993, while there were a third fewer coronary artery bypass grafts in 2013 compared with the 1990s.

"Despite large reductions in mortality from CVD, CHD, and stroke, these conditions have remained a substantial burden to the UK, with rises in treatment and hospital admissions for all CVD," conclude the researchers.

"There is some evidence that improvements have not occurred equally for men and women or between the countries of the UK," they write, adding: "Although these are promising trends for mortality and stroke admissions in women, prevalence and treatment are increasing over time for all CVD and stroke."

Explore further Snoring tied to increased cardiovascular risk in women

More information: Trends in the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in the UK, Heart, DOI: 10.1136/heartjnl-2016-309573 Journal information: Heart Trends in the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in the UK,
Relation between holding low- and high-power positions and measures of mood, cognitive ability, and interpersonal relations, including power-irrelevant situations as comparison baseline. Mood, perceived control, and closeness were measured on -3 to +3 scales; stress and mental exhaustion were measured on 0 to 6 scales; and responsibility was measured on a 0 to 4 scale. The questions about feeling close to others and feeling responsible for others were not asked if participants were not in a low- or high-power position. Credit: University of California - San Diego

Quick: right now, do you feel powerful? Powerless? Somewhere in between?

Most of what we know about power comes from studies in artificial laboratory environments or business organizations. But this ignores the many other contexts in which power plays out in daily life. Innovative research exploring how people experience everyday power finds that power and powerlessness are commonly experienced in many facets of life outside the workplace.

Pamela K. Smith, an assistant professor of management at the Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego, co-authored a paper, recently published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examining how individuals experience power in everyday life.

"This research was inspired by the question, 'What does power look like in everyday life?'" Smith said.

For three days, 210 U.S. adults (aged 18-67) completed 5 surveys each day at random times. In each survey, they reported how powerless or powerful they felt, and whether they were currently in a position of power over someone, someone had power over them, or neither. They then answered questions about their situation. Altogether, the researchers studied 2502 moments in the lives of Americans. Uniquely, the researchers allowed participants to define power on their own terms.

Key findings

Smith and her colleague found that power differences were a common experience. 83 percent of participants experienced either a position of power or someone having power over them at least once during the three days. Participants more often experienced someone having power over them than having power themselves. However, positions of power were not limited to a select few: almost half of participants reported having power over someone at least once.

When participants reported others currently had power over them, they felt worseworse mood, more stress, more mental exhaustion, more helplessnesscompared to when they had power over others. In fact, these negative effects of lacking power were larger than the benefits that came with having power. However, when participants had power over others, they reported feeling closer to others and more responsible for them, which Smith mentioned carries its own burden.

Participants' feelings of power came more from the different situations they were in, than from stable personal characteristics. In fact, most of participants' demographic characteristics, such as their gender, education level, and race/ethnicity, were not consistently related to how much power they experienced. Age was the exception: Older participants reported experiencing more power. Participants also reported being in a variety of social roles when experiencing power or powerlessness, many outside the workplace.

From their findings, Smith and her colleague hope to shake up the perception of power.

"People in powerful positions are typically seen as cold, uncaring, and distant," Smith said. "But our findings show this is an oversimplification. Power exists in many forms, including between parents and children, and in romantic relationships. Power is embedded in our personal relationships."

One of the most important takeaways, Smith believes, is about how we perceive power daily.

"In this study, participants could define power as it related to all aspects of their lives. That allowed us to study a rich variety of powerful and powerless experiences. We found that participants' feelings of power came from more than just the position they held. In particular, even when participants reported that someone currently had power over them, they sometimes still reported feeling powerful. This is good news, since such powerless moments are more common than moments when we hold powerful positions."

Explore further Expectations can minimize unethical behavior in the powerful
Micrograph showing cortical pseudolaminar necrosis, a finding seen in strokes on medical imaging and at autopsy. H&E-LFB stain. Credit: Nephron/Wikipedia

A phase 2 clinical trial of a drug that may alleviate brain swellinga dangerous stroke complicationsuggests the treatment may help reduce brain injury and death, and information from the study will help design the phase 3 trial. While the trial did not meet its prespecified primary objective, as described in a paper receiving online release in The Lancet Neurology, it did provide additional evidence that intravenous glyburide treatment may improve patient outcomes.

"Although a follow-up clinical study is needed to confirm our preliminary finding, this is the first time a drug has been tested to prevent brain swelling after a major stroke," says W. Taylor Kimberly, MD, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Neurology, co-corresponding author of the report. "We believe that glyburide treatment may be an important strategy to minimize injury resulting from brain swelling."

Strokes caused by blockage of the blood supply to a large area of the brain can lead to the accumulation of fluids called edema, causing brain tissue to swell. Since the brain is confined with the skull, significant swelling and the resulting increased pressure can push brain structures out of their normal position, leading to a 50 percent mortality rate for this complication. Treatment with drugs designed to draw fluids out of the brain have had limited effectiveness, and hemicraniectomysurgical removal of a portion of the skull to allow brain tissue to swell freelyis not appropriate for all patients and carries its own risk of complications.

Previous studies in animal models of stroke have suggested that glyburidea drug used to treat type 2 diabetes - might prevent brain swelling in stroke patients. A pilot study led by Kimberly and his co-corresponding author Kevin Sheth, MD, Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, indicated that glyburide treatment was safe for stroke patients and led to the phase 2 trial, sponsored by Remedy Pharmaceuticals. Conducted at 18 hospitals across the U.S., the study - entitled the Glyburide Advantage in Malignant Edema and Stoke (GAMES-RP) trialenrolled 77 patients with strokes affecting one-third or more of a brain hemisphere. Participants were randomly assigned to continuous intravenous treatment with either glyburide or a placebo for a total of 72 hours.

The prespecified primary endpoint of the study was the proportion of patients who, 90 days after their stroke, achieved scores of 0 to 4 on a standardized stroke scalea range extending from no symptoms to moderately severe disability - without surgery to relieve brain swelling. While around 40 percent of those in each group met those criteria, the authors note that the decision to have surgery was made by the physicians caring for each patient and may have been arrived at more often at some sites than at others.

"Deciding to proceed to a hemicraniectomy is complicated and depends on the judgment of the stroke neurologist, of the neurosurgeon, and the wishes of patients or their families," says Sheth. "This led to variation in practice across the sites, which is appropriate for clinical care but not ideal for the endpoint of a clinical trial; and we believe this is the main reason the primary endpoint was not reached."

The results for other endpoints, however, were more promising - particularly the brain imaging measure of midline shift, which reflects the extent to which brain structures are pressed out of place by brain swelling. "The degree of midline shift was reduced about 40 percent in patients treated with glyburide, and there was a similar reduction in levels of MMP-9, a biomarker that previous studies have associated with brain swelling after stroke," says Kimberly. "From a clinical standpoint, there was a 50 percent reduction in mortality and a promising trend towards better functional outcome at 90 days." The results of this study are being used to design the phase 3 trial, which will begin enrolling patients in 2017.

Explore further Drug cuts mortality rate after stroke, trial finds
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Ex-President addressing voters from Ukraine

By Messenger Staff

Georgias former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is wanted for allegedly committing several crimes in Georgia and now serves as Odessa's Governor in Ukraine, continues to address voters ahead of Georgias upcoming October 8 parliamentary elections.This time, the ex-President made an appeal on his official Facebook page, despite the government's reaction to a previous video appeal causing negative responses amongst Georgia's NGOs.The NGOs said Saakashvili, who is no longer a citizen of Georgia, was deprived of his right by the Georgian constitution to be involved in election campaigning.Georgias Central Election Commission has stated as it had no levers to fine those not living in Georgia for such an illegality, those individuals and parties would receive fines which ensured the live video addresses to voters from those having no Georgian or no citizenship.I look forward to getting back to my vineyard and each of you in order to resume the building of the country, Saakashvili said in his address to the population of Georgias eastern Kakheti region, famous for winemaking.Saakashvili stated Kakheti is a potentially rich region, and poverty must be eliminated and become a thing of the past."Dear Kakhetians, my next-door neighbours, Kakheti is one of the main foundations of Georgia. It has huge potential and is an exceptional community. We made the region a centre of tourism  we built so many new facilities with your help, your support, and your participation.We were hit by the Russian embargo and that's when I decided to buy a small vineyard in Kvareli in order to bring global leaders and journalists there to show them our wine, says Saakashvili in the address.Mikheil Saakashvili has already released similar addresses to the populations of Tbilisi, Samegrelo and Adjara.Many Georgian analysts believe Saakashvilis involvement in the pre-election campaigning would more encourage the loyal and stable voters of the UNM, which consist about 10 percent of Georgian voters, to turn out the elections.The analysts believe that that section of the voters still see Saakashvili as the key chain of the UNM.Meanwhile, other analysts believe that such appeals could trigger more negative than positive reactions amongst the Georgian population as Saakashvili refused to challenge the government's deprival of his Georgian citizenship and unlike other former top officials who are now charged or imprisoned in Georgia, hid from the processes.
Russias military exercise in Tskhinvali region

By Messenger Staff

Russia has launched large-scale military exercises in the occupied territory of South Ossetia (Tskhinvali).According to the press service of Russias southern military forces, more than 5,000 soldiers are participating in the exercises.Soldiers stationed in both South Ossetia and the North Caucasus are involved in the exercises, which are scheduled to last for several days.The exercises come several days after Russia stated it had signed no ceasefire deal with Georgia after the Russia-Georgia war in 2008, which obliged Russia to withdraw its forces from the de-facto territories of Georgia.In the statement, Russia stressed that Georgia 'still failed to recognise the independence of two Republics on its territory'.At the same time, senior Russian officials stress they want peace with Georgia and love the Georgian people/There are hundreds of thousands internally displaced people in Georgia and the rights of those Georgians living near or in the occupied territories are blatantly being violated.The recent military exercises are the latest example of Russia's aggressive policies which display Moscow's complete disregard for the opinions of the international community and its lack of fear of any consequences.Russia will continue its policy across the former USSR until the international community launches genuine steps to curtail Russia's actions.
THE STAGGERING COST OF ALL THAT 'CHEAP' LABOR: Encouraging both legal and illegal mass immigration continues to be a primary aim for both politicians and organizations on the left. Breitbart News previously revealed that the wealthy Ford Foundation poured an astonishing $114 million into organizations that push for mass immigration and amnesty. Spencer Lindquist
For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page
BILLINGS  By the summer of 2014, 17-year-old Timothy Bates had all but given up.

On a steady stream of depression medications since he was 14 and prone to self-harm that included cutting  "I loved my razor blades for a while," he said  the Wyoming teen was depressed and suicidal when he was checked into Billings Clinic's psychiatric department for a two-week stay, his second such trip in just a few months.

"I was pretty much done," said Bates, now 19. "I had given up on all of it."

With other methods showing little to no improvement, staff there pitched a experimental but low-risk and low-cost approach involving sleep disruption and specialized light therapy that in limited studies had shown promise in quickly reducing depressive and suicidal tendencies.

Figuring he had little else to do, Bates agreed to be the first youth to undergo the treatment there. To hear him tell it, the results were not only rapid, but also remarkable.

"It was a realization that things can get better," he said.

Bates' turnaround was so dramatic and it piqued staff's interest so much that the psychiatric department sought and gained approval to undertake what appears to be one of the first studies on the effectiveness of the treatment, called triple chronotherapy, in teenagers.

The open label pilot study is only about halfway through, having been completed on a handful of teenagers so far, but its potential for helping to reduce depression has staff cautiously optimistic.

"You can see the differences it makes, but you need to see some more data, some more information, to really know," said Dr. Mariela Herrera, a psychiatrist at the clinic.

Sleep and light

Triple chronotherapy involves three distinct parts, beginning with 36 hours of sleep deprivation for the patient.

That is followed by advancing the patient's sleep cycle to a normal bedtime over the next three days. A typical cycle might begin with having the patient sleep from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on the first day, 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. and finally from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., followed by a regular 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. sleep schedule.

Finally, every morning beginning after the first night of sleep deprivation, the patient undergoes 30 minutes of light therapy at the same time each day using a specialized, but common, light box.

The box is the same type used to help patients suffering from seasonal affective disorder and, for the purposes of the clinic's work, is a 10,000-lux light.

The therapy should never be done without supervision from trained medical professionals.

Diane Hurd, a registered nurse, said the therapy is aimed at reducing depressive and suicidal tendencies quickly, while longer-term efforts such as traditional therapy and medication are ongoing. It has been used with adults, and there have been limited studies in that vein, but there's just not much data on its long-term effect in youth.

"We started to realize there was a gap in the research, and it was such a great success here," Hurd said, noting that they'd used the therapy with several other youth before the study started in early 2016. "We saw a pilot study in the adult population and we looked at that protocol and went on to do more patients."

That study, conducted in 2014 by Dr. Gregory Sahlem at the Medical University of South Carolina, looked at the treatment's effect in 10 depressed and suicidal patients.

It found that the therapy is "feasible and tolerable" in such patients. It showed a significant decrease in depression and suicidal scale scores recorded by both clinicians and patients.

"Based up on the results of our small open label pilot study, triple chronotherapy is safe and feasible to administer in acutely depressed and suicidal inpatients," the study concluded.

However, staff at the clinic say there's still a lot of research to be done before its effectiveness can truly be determined, and larger data samples will be necessary in the future. As of early July, the initial study was about half completed and they're looking at a number of different elements.

"What's the effect on depression outcomes?" asked Herrera. "Are they suicidal? Is there self-harm or anxiety? We want to see if there's a positive or negative correlation with the quality of sleep."

'I'll always remember day 3'

Bates said he's struggled with depression almost as long as he can remember.

Late in the spring of 2014, it got to the point where he was on suicide watch at the hospital in Lovell, Wyoming. When that stay ended, he spent time in two other facilities in Montana before coming to Billings for the first of two stays in the youth inpatient psychiatric center.

He said he'd use just about anything he could get his hands on to cut himself. Medications he'd been on for the previous three years were not only not working, but possibly making him worse, he said.

"At that point, I was just done," he said.

He'd been working with Dr. Eric Arzubi, a child psychiatrist and head of the clinic's psychiatric department, on finding a solution.

During Bates' second stay, Arzubi pitched triple chronotherapy.

"They offered up a couple of different ideas, and he said, 'We have this, but it's never been tried here before. Let's give it a shot,'" Bates said. "I thought, 'Well, I've got nothing to lose. I'm going to be here anyway.'"

As with Bates' case, the therapy and current study is being done with suicidal and moderately to severely depressed patients who are already there for inpatient care and aren't sought out outside of the department's confines.

And, like Bates, they must be motivated to complete the entire therapy. Hurd said some patients simply don't want to participate or don't think they'll be able to finish, and that's OK.

For Bates, the prospect of possibly going home to live with his grandmother was motivation enough. During the sleep deprivation phase, staff stayed up with him the entire time, playing games or shooting hoops.

Within a few days, he noticed a change  not only on paper in his depression scale scores, but in how he felt.

"Day Three," he said. "Ill always remember Day Three. My score sheets, they always had a high depression score. Thats the day where my score was down, it was something better. It was a realization that things can get better."

He felt energized and wasn't drowsy all of the time, "actually awake and functioning," he said, and the results were encouraging, both for Bates and the staff.

By the time he went home a few days after the conclusion of the therapy, he'd reached an agreement with Arzubi to stay off meds but continue the scheduled bedtime and daily light therapy.

Bates did just that for about three to four months after and now, at the age of 19, says his life has completely turned around, from having a better handle on suicidal thoughts to higher-quality sleep, and now hopes others can find hope in his story.

"It was just a new outlook," he said. "It was almost like a timeout from everything that happened. When you deal with depression, you dont ever get rid of it. You just learn to deal with it. Depression isnt something to be taken lightly, but its definitely workable. I came through it."

Today, Bates works with a Wyoming construction company. He's married and the couple recently celebrated their one-year anniversary. He hopes to go to college once his wife graduates from her own program in Lovell.

'It got everybody's attention'

Arzubi said that Bates' case led directly to the ongoing study.

"The results were good enough that it gave us hope to move forward and study it," he said.

The underlying idea of the study is to look at the impact of depression, suicidality and sleep. Problems with sleep have long been linked with depression, and resetting the circadian rhythm  sort of the body's internal clock, regulating sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day  can help some to get more sleep.

In addition, the light boxes, which can be purchased online or at home supply stores, have been shown to help with the depressive symptoms in conditions such as seasonal affective disorder.

Hurd and Herrera both noted that the study, and the therapy itself, is a team effort, with physicians, nurses, mental heath workers, social workers, statisticians and others across the hospital pitching in.

But because of the treatment's experimental nature, a lot had to go right for everybody to sign off on the study. They both credit what happened with Bates as a major driver.

"To see a patient turn around like that, it got everybody's attention," Herrera said. "There's a lot of reasons why something like this won't go forward, so we're happy it did."

It's too early to know what the results of the study will be, staff said, but they plan to continue tracking patients and the effect of triple chronotherapy and hope to be able to conduct a larger and more comprehensive study in the future.

Bates said he still uses the light occasionally on days he thinks he might need it and does his best to get at least eight hours of sleep each night. He knows his depression isn't gone, but also knows he feels better equipped to deal with it, thanks in large part to what he believes started with the therapy.

"Things are going to get better and worse," he said. "There are ups and downs, but I can say this: More days are better than not any more."
Coming soon

Red Willow Center  For more information on the following classes at the learning center, 825 W. Kent, call 721-0033 or visit redwillowlearning.org:

"Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction" with Greg Satya Shanks, Sept. 13-Nov. 8, 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, $300. Attendance at one of these free classes is required: Aug. 23 or Aug. 30, 6-8:30 p.m.

"Qigong Self-Massage" with Libby McIntyre, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, $55.

"Intro to T'ai Chi Chuan" with Michael Norvelle, Sept. 7-28, 7:45-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, $40.

"Breath, Mindfulness and Movement" with Kathy McIntyre, Sept. 19, 6-7:30 p.m., $40.

"Basics of Resilience" with Kathy Mangan, Sept. 22, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., free.

Ongoing classes include "Yoga for Wellness" at noon Mondays, $12 or $40 for four weeks; "Mindfulness Meditation" at 12:10 p.m. Tuesdays, $12 or $40 for four weeks; "Yoga Beyond Cancer" at 4 p.m. Tuesdays, $40 for any weeks; "Yoga for Chronic Pain" at 4 p.m. Wednesdays, $40 for four weeks plus $50 for prerequisite screening.

BodyTalk ACCESS  A class will be taught by Kathy Mangan on Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Red Willow Learning Center. The cost is $125, including manual. For details and registration, call Tori at 880-8749 or register at bodytalksystem.com.

Ongoing programs

AA and Al-Anon  For the latest Alcoholics Anonymous meetings list, visit aa-montana.org or call the Missoula hotline at 543-0011. For more information on Al-Anon and Alateen, which are 12-step recovery programs for relatives and friends whose lives have been affected by alcoholism, visit mt.al-anon.alateen.org.

Acupuncture for cancer caregivers  Missoula Community Acupuncture, located in the Radio Central Building, 127 E Main St., Suite 314, offers free acupuncture treatments for friends, family, nurses, doctors or anyone who takes care of cancer patients 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays. No appointment is necessary. For more information, call Michael Peluso at 406-926-1611.

Adult Asperger's support group  An open meeting for those with Asperger's as well as their family and friends is held every Thursday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the University Center, Room 216, on campus. Contact Monique Casbeer at 721-3947 or Cindy Bacon Janego at cjanego@communitymed.org for more information.

Alzheimers support  Meets the second Wednesday of each month at noon at the Summit Independent Living conference room, 700 S.W. Higgins Ave. Another group meets the fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Missoula Senior Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. For more information, contact Jackie Johnson at 549-3433 or jackiej45@yahoo.com.

Alzheimers caregivers support group  Meets the fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m. of each month at the Missoula Senior Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. For more information, call Jackie Johnson at 549-3433.

Arthritis programs  The Montana Arthritis Program offers physical activity and self-management education programs, such as the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, Walk with Ease and Stanfords Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. Classes are available in several communities including Florence, Hamilton, Kalispell, Libby, Missoula, Plains and Polson. To find a class or for more information, visit dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/arthritis.

Bereavement support groups  Frontier Hospice offers open door meetings 6-7 p.m. Thursdays at the following locations: The Springs at Whitefish on the first Thursday; Rising Mountains Assisted Living Community in Bigfork on the third Thursday; and Frontier Hospice in Kalispell on the second and fourth Thursdays. Call 406-755-4923 for more information.

Breast cancer support group  Meets the first and third Wednesday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon at the Montana Cancer Center, St. Patrick Hospital Broadway Building, second floor. Call 329-5656.

Cancer Center support group  Meets noon-1:30 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at the Montana Cancer Center, 500 W. Broadway. For more information, call Bonnie at 240-0996.

Cancer Resource Guide  The online guide covers resources including support groups, treatment centers, camps and retreats, in Missoula, Mineral and Ravalli counties. It is available at CancerResourcesMT.org.

Cancer support group  A support group for anyone affected by cancer meets noon-1 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays at the Polson United Methodist Church, 301 16th Ave. For more information, call Tammy at 406-883-7284 or 824-2868.

Celebrate Recovery  The Christian-based 12-step recovery program meets 6-9:30 p.m. every Friday at Christian Assembly Foursquare Church, 1001 Cleveland St. Dinner is available from 6 to 7 p.m. and child care is provided for ages birth to 11. For more information, call 721-6884 or email cafc@4bible.com.

Cheerful Heart  Lake County cancer patients in treatment can receive a massage and help with hair and skin problems, free of charge, from local therapists and cosmetologists. Other non-medical services include transportation to treatment and doctor appointments, running errands, yard work and meal preparation. Appointments may be scheduled by calling 406-883-3070.

Colorectal Cancer Support Group  Meets 1-2 p.m. the third Friday of every month through March 20, Community Cancer Care Conference Room, 2827 Fort Missoula Road.

"Coping, Education & Support for Women with All Cancer Types"  The support group for women in all stages of cancer treatment or survivorship will be held noon-1:30 p.m. the second Monday of every month through March 14, 2016, at the Community Cancer Care Conference Room, 2837 Fort Missoula Road. For more information, call Deb Rivey at 327-3912, Terri Paxinos at 327-3957 or Kimberly Hardwick at 327-3906.

Diabetes program  At 6:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, there will be a short presentation on a topic related to the management of type 1 diabetes at the YMCA, 3000 S. Russell St. It will be followed by the option for socializing in the foyer or being active together at the Y. A fee of $5 per individual will be collected at the door for those choosing to use the facility. Designed for ages 14 and older, children are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent/caregiver.

Double Trouble in Recovery  The 12-step program for people with mental health and addiction issues meets 3-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Winds of Change Recovery Mall, 2685 Palmer St., No. C (second floor). Coffee is provided. For more information, call Veronica at 721-2038.

Epilepsy support group  Meets the first Monday of the month from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Summit Independent Living Center, 700 S.W. Higgins Ave., Suite 101. Patients, friends, family and caregivers welcome. Call Debbie at 721-0707 for more information.

Free health exams  Women ages 30 to 64 who meet necessary income guidelines and either have no health insurance or have insurance that will not pay for breast and cervical health exams can receive free exams through Partnership Health Centers Montana Cancer Screening Program. Call 258-4162 for more information.

Gentle yoga class  The Missoula Senior Citizen Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave., offers a class that focuses on balance training, back strength and core conditioning through gentle yoga matwork every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m. Fee is $4 per class. All ages welcome. For more information, call 543-7154.

Health Insurance Assistance Service  Montana cancer patients can call the American Cancer Societys 24-hour toll-free number to be connected to a health insurance specialist to ask about coverage and insurance programs specific to the state. The number is 800-227-2345.

Mens cancer support group  Open to men in all phases of testing, treatment and followup, the group meets the fourth Tuesday of the month from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Montana Cancer Center, 500 W. Broadway. It is facilitated by Gary Weisbrich and Tom King. Call 329-5628 or email gary.weisbrich@providence.org for more information.

Narcotics Anonymous  Meets at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Alano Club, 8 Third Ave. W., Polson. Call 406-883-4135.

National Alliance on Mental Illness  NAMI Missoula meets every Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon in the lower level (behind the cafeteria) of the Providence Center. It is open to anyone affected by mental illness or interested in learning more about the group. The NAMI Connection group for adults living with mental illness meets 1:30-3 p.m. Thursdays at the NAMI offices, 202 Brooks St., Room 210. Call 880-1013 with questions.

NAMI Family Support Group  National Alliance on Mental Illness Missoula meets Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 Brooks St., in Room 210. The peer-led support for adult family members, caregivers and loved ones of individuals with mental illness is free. For more information, call 406-880-1013 or email namimissoula@gmail.com.

My No-Nonsense Nutrition Program  A seven-week webinar course to improve your nutrition and fitness. Faith based approach to better health. Free initial consult with Judy Gilman, registered nurse, diabetes and wellness educator. mynononsensenutrition.com or 546-7819.

Overeaters Anonymous  Local meetings include 7 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 Brooks St. A meeting for newcomers is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday followed by a "Back to Basics" meeting at 7 p.m. at St. Paul's. Everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively is welcome. There are no dues, weigh-ins or lectures. For more meeting information, visit oa.org.

SAA  For the latest Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting list visit saa-recovery.org, call the Missoula hotline at 241-4005 or email MissoulaBetterway@yahoo.com. SAA is a 12-step fellowship of men and women who share experience, strength and hope for the purpose of finding freedom from addictive sexual behavior and helping others recover from sex addiction.

S-Anon  Local meetings are held weekly for this recovery program for people affected by another persons sexual behavior. Visit sanonmontana.org or call 406-544-1271 to learn more.

Stroke and Brain Injury Support Group  Meets the second Thursday of each month from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Providence Center, 902 N. Orange St., in the dining area on the fourth floor. For details, call 329-5784.

Tai Chi for Arthritis  Class offered 9:15 a.m. Mondays at the Missoula Senior Citizens Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. $4 per class. All ages welcome.

Tai Chi Chih  Classes are offered at the following locations: Missoula Senior Citizens Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave., 9:15 a.m. Wednesdays, $4 per class; PEAK Health & Wellness Center, 5000 Blue Mountain Road, 11 a.m. Tuesdays, call 251-3344; and The Womens Club, 2105 Bow St., 9 a.m. Fridays, call 728-4410.

TOPS  Take Off Pounds Sensibly, an affordable, nonprofit, weight-loss support and wellness organization, meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the First Christian Church, 2701 S. Russell St. Another TOPS meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 2512 Sunset Lane. For additional meetings, go to tops.org, click on "Find a Meeting" and enter your zip code or call 800-932-8677.

The Women's Club  For more information on the following classes at The Women's Club, 2105 Bow St., call 728-4410:

Foundation Training, 12:15-1 p.m. Monday and Thursday. Improve posture, strength and athletic ability.

Pickle ball open play, 1-4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Paddles provided. All levels welcome.

Kick and Core high-intensity cardio workout with focus on strengthening core.
The Missoula City Council unanimously approved the development agreement for the Missoula Mercantile building, to be completed by HomeBase Montana of Bozeman, staying on task despite a mid-meeting interruption by Mayor John Engen to break news of the Grant Creek fire.

The agreement spelled out HomeBases plan to build a 150-room Marriott hotel on the existing site, while leaving the northwest corner, or pharmacy portion, of the building intact and following the existing construction sketches.

Jerry Ballas, a former architect, praised the council for ending the citys debate around the controversial issue, adding he looked forward to the mighty redwood that would grow in the empty Mercantiles place.

I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate you on making a very, very tough decision, he said.

The council also approved another $53,803.02 in legal fees to be paid to Seattle firm Perkins Coie in the case against the Carlyle Group, bringing the total fees paid by the city of Missoula to just under $7 million. Ward 2 representative Harlan Wells was the single dissenting vote on the Mountain Water funds.

After Ward 2 residents complained about Wells attendance record on Aug. 15, two came forward Monday night to defend the council member, one saying the call for his resignation was unfounded.

Among the over $1.3 million in weekly city expenses approved by the council were two charges for Dippin Dots, an ice cream treat, for Splash Montanas concessions stand totaling $5,188.70.

The intent to annex Linda Vista 15th supplement, a 16-acre piece of land bordering Jeff Drive and Upper Miller Creek Road, passed, to be discussed at a public hearing Sept. 12. The property will be added to Ward 5 and the Miller Creek neighborhood council.

Engen pronounced the week of Sept. 5 Suicide Prevention Week, before Susan Patrick of the Western Montana Suicide Prevention Initiative spoke on what she called a public health crisis.

If any other case was taking 68 of our residents in the last two years, there would be a public outcry, she said, urging the public to partake in the planned events that week.

***

A proposed city ordinance to address the legality and taxation of tourist homes, such as those posted on Airbnb, in Missoula met with some dispute from members of the public and council over the best ways to regulate such businesses.

The ordinance, which council members Bryan von Lossberg and John DiBari stressed was not just theoretical, noted that there are over 200 tourist home operations in Missoula, many of which are illegal. It was sent back to committee, to be discussed in a public meeting Aug. 24.

The next City Council meeting is scheduled Sept. 12, the week after Labor Day, though all other committee meetings will continue as planned.
Mandatory evacuation restrictions have been lifted for the Colorado Gulch area, even as firefighters work the slopes above Grant Creek to keep new fires from starting.

The announcement was sent out at 4:22 p.m. Tuesday, exactly 20 hours after the fire started less than 100 yards above the main Grant Creek Road.

Law enforcement and fire officials are asking only Grant Creek residents enter the Grant Creek area to keep roadways clear for continued fire operations. Brenda Bassett of the Missoula County Sheriff's Office said a deputy will still be posted at the bottom of the Colorado Gulch Road to make sure only residents are returning to the area.

Roughly 25 homes were evacuated soon after the fire broke out about four miles north of Interstate 90. A fifth-wheeler in which somebody was living was destroyed, as were several outbuildings and some vehicles, Bassett said. No one was injured.

Firefighters were working Tuesday to reinforce line and lay hose around the wildland fire that started in spectacular fashion Monday evening about four miles north of Interstate 90.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, fire officials had estimated the fire's size at approximately 15 acres, up from 10-12 acres at 9 p.m. Monday, roughly 2 1/2 hours after it broke out. Bassett said the initial cause looks to be a downed power line caused by high winds. That investigation continues.

A multi-agency response corralled the fire by dark and contained it at 2:22 a.m., according to Jordan Koppen, public information officer for the Montana Department of Natural Resources.

Work on Tuesday was focused on eliminating interior hot spots. A Type 1 helicopter was standing by if needed to eliminate interior heat. Officials were assessing structures in the area to develop structure protection plans as needed.

The National Weather Service calls for northwest winds around 10 mph this afternoon in the Missoula area, with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Winds will be easing to 5-9 mph, becoming calm after midnight.

According to a joint release by the Lolo National Forest and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the firefighters who appear to have a handle on the fire are from Missoula City and Missoula Rural fire departments, DNRC and the Forest Service.
A fast-moving wildfire forced the evacuation of roughly 25 homes in the Colorado Gulch area of Grant Creek on Monday evening as aircraft dropping retardant roared overhead.

At least one fifth-wheel trailer (a large RV home) was burned, along with several vehicles and some outbuildings, according to the Missoula County Sheriff's Department.

A line of cars streamed up and down Grant Creek Road as people ferried their pets to town or raced up to check on their property.

The fire, located about 4 miles north of Interstate 90, was between 10-12 acres in size as of 9 p.m. It is burning in timber and grass. Approximately 20 structures were threatened, according to Boyd Hartwig, a spokesman for the Lolo National Forest. Multiple agencies responded, Hartwig added. Several aircraft were attacking the blaze, including a heavy tanker and a helicopter.

Retardant drops from tankers have been effective in checking fire growth, Hartwig said. Law enforcement is coordinating with fire officials to notify homeowners of immediate evacuations."

No injures were reported as of 10:30 p.m. Monday night.

The cause of the Colorado Gulch fire has not been determined, but it started at 6:22 p.m. Homeowners along Starwood Drive, south of Colorado Gulch, were advised to prepare to evacuate by the Missoula County Sheriffs Office. Brenda Bassett, spokeswoman for the MCSO, said the department used a reverse 9-1-1 system to notify residents and had deputies knock on doors. They utilize a ready-set-go system for fire evacuations. Colorado Gulch residents are on go; the residents of Starwood Drive are on set. She recommended people stay away from the area, even if they havent been ordered to go.

"I know there's always an issue with people who don't want to leave when the fire's coming, Bassett said. But should that fire weather change, they might put other people at risk, and truth be told, we might not be able to get up there."

Traffic on Grant Creek Road was opened late Monday night, but a roadblock was still in place on Colorado Gulch.

Jordan Koppen, a fire information officer with the Montana Department of Resources and Conservation, said that firefighters responded very quickly.

"We're doing our best up there," he said. "Once you turn into Colorado Gulch (the fire) is on the left, but it's a little ways up there."

Saskia Jacobson was one of the residents of Colorado Gulch who was waiting at the intersection of Grant Creek and Starwood Drive to find out more information. She said her family and pets werent in the house, and it had a metal roof, but she was still worried.

There's not that many structures that high on the hill, but we are the highest," she said.

She described the forest around her house as "thick."

Maps of the area and more information are posted on the Sheriff's Department Facebook page.
A man convicted of shooting a Missoula man in the head in 1996, and who was arrested in June following an armed standoff with law enforcement, has a new $100,000 warrant for his arrest after allegedly cutting off his GPS monitor.

Chad Earl Williams, 38, who stopped reporting to his probation officer, was arrested June 28 after a nearly seven-hour standoff in Bozeman after he was found in a trailer home, armed with a handgun.

After Williams was brought back to Missoula, District Court Judge Robert "Dusty" Deschamps set his bail at $100,000, saying that Williams had "gone off the deep end."

A $100,000 warrant for Williams' arrest was issued Monday. Williams was set to be sentenced for his probation violations on Wednesday.

In 1996, Williams was sentenced to 60 years in the Montana State Prison with 25 years suspended after he was convicted of shooting Louis Donald Craighead twice in the head and at least once in the stomach while trying to rob him. Craighead survived the attack.
CHICAGO  Seated in his office here, wearing neither a necktie nor a frown, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is remarkably relaxed for someone at the epicenter of a crisis now in its second year and with no end in sight. But, then, stress is pointless when the situation is hopeless. Besides, if you can ignore the fact that self-government is failing in the nations fifth-most populous state, you can see real artistry in the self-dealing by the Democrats who, with veto-proof majorities in the state legislature, have reduced this state they control to insolvency.

Illinoiss government, says Rauner, is run for the benefit of its employees. Increasingly, it is run for their benefit when they retire. Pension promises, though unfunded by at least $113 billion, are one reason some government departments are not digitized at all.

What is misleadingly called the states constitution requires balanced budgets, of which there have been none for 25 years. This year, revenues are projected to be $32.5 billion, with spending of $38 billion. Illinois Democrats are, however, selective constitutionalists: They will die in the last ditch defending the constitutions provision that says no government pension can be diminished or impaired.

The government is so thoroughly unionized (22 unions represent almost all government employees), that I cant, Rauner says, turn on a light switch without permission. He exaggerates, somewhat, but the process of trying to fire someone is a career, not an option.

At last count, $7.6 billion was owed to many of the states vendors. But the law in its majesty requires that the states legislators  those who write the laws  get paid under any circumstances. This removes perhaps the most important potential pressure for compromise. If schools were unable to open this month, parents with pitchforks would march on Springfield, so a quasi-budget was cobbled together to keep government semi-funded for six months.

Under Rauners Democratic predecessor, the legislature passed a temporary tax increase, serenely expecting that when it expired they would enjoy the truth of Ronald Reagans axiom that there is nothing as immortal as a temporary government program. They did not count on the first Republican governor in 12 years.

Rauner let the tax lapse. To their demand for more tax increases, he sweetly says: Lets talk. About pension reforms and tort reform. And about exempting local governments from paying on construction projects the prevailing wage  which Rauner says is, effectively, whatever unions tell them they want it to be, and which raises costs 30 to 40 percent.

Rauner favors term limits for state legislators. Democrats have job security, thanks in large part to the financial support of grateful public- and private-sector unions. Illinois voters overwhelmingly want term limits, which Democratic politicians oppose because, they say, such limits restrict voters ability to get what they want.

Illinois is a leading indicator of increasing national childishness  an unwillingness to will the means for the ends that it wills. Nationally, state and local governments pensions have somewhere between $1 trillion and $4 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities, depending on, among other things, assumptions about returns on pension funds investments. The Wall Street Journal reports that in 2001, the 20-year median return was 12.3 percent and every percentage-point decline in returns increases liabilities by 12 percent. Last year, the largest fund, California Public Employees Retirement System, which assumes 7.5 percent returns, instead gained 0.6 percent. This, in the sixth year of the recovery from the 2008-09 crisis, was the worst performance since then  and another recession will surely happen.

Nationally, neither party is eager to talk about the rickety structure of the entitlement state, although the Democratic platform promises to make matters worse. Although scheduled Social Security benefits vastly exceed the value of worker and employer contributions plus interest, the platform, a case study in reactionary liberalism, opposes even raising the retirement age. This, even though benefits are available at 62, three years younger than when the system was created in 1935, when life expectancy at 65 was 12.5 years. Today, it is 19.3 years for men and 21.6 for women. If in 1935 Congress had indexed the age of Social Security eligibility to life expectancy, the age today would be 72.

The federal government can continue to print money. There are bankruptcy procedures for cities but not for states. So, high-tax Illinois will continue bleeding population and businesses, but with one contented cohort  the Democratic political class, for whom the system is working quite well.
HELENA  An inmate accused of smuggling drugs into Montana State Prison has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, the last of five defendants accused in the conspiracy to do so, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Under the deal, Ian Scott Barclay would plead guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute controlled substances and to giving bribes. In return, federal prosecutors would drop additional charges and recommend a more lenient sentence because Barclay is accepting responsibility.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $1 million fine, while the bribery charge has a 10-year maximum sentence and a $250,000 fine. A federal judge must approve the plea agreement.

Barclay is an inmate at the Deer Lodge prison. He persuaded prison laundry worker Erin Bernhardt to smuggle drugs to him in exchange for cash bribes, prosecutors said in charging documents.

A friend of Barclay's named Cordero Metzker arranged to have two Tennessee women mail methamphetamine and a drug called Suboxone to Bernhardt between April and August 2015, the court documents said.

In the first transaction, Cordero sent one of the women, Rachel Ross of Collierville, $400 to buy Subuxone, according to prosecutors. Barclay pocketed between $4,000 and $5,000 after selling the drug, authorities said.

That exchange was repeated at least two times with methamphetamine, according to prosecutors, with Bernhardt receiving at least $1,000 in cash for her role.

Bernhardt and Ross pleaded guilty last week to charges related to the drug-smuggling operation. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 1.

The second Tennessee woman, Lauren Hoskins of Somerville, is scheduled to have a change of plea hearing on Sept. 19.

Metzker entered his guilty plea last month and is to be sentenced on Oct. 27.
WEST GLACIER  The Secretary of the Interior will spend the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service in Montana.

Sally Jewell will tour Glacier National Park on Thursday morning, and be in Gardiner on Thursday night for a celebration and concert at Yellowstone National Parks Roosevelt Arch.

The park service is in the midst of a yearlong celebration of its centennial, but Thursday is the actual birthday of the federal agency overseen by the Department of Interior. On Aug. 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill creating the National Park Service.

The bill gave NPS its increasingly difficult marching orders, given the growing popularity of Americas national parks: to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

Both Glacier and Yellowstone were designated as national parks before the National Park Service existed  Glacier in 1910, when William Howard Taft was president, and Yellowstone way back in 1872, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed the law creating Americas first national park.

***

Jewell will join Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow, scientists and stakeholders to learn more about how climate change is affecting the park, where glaciers are disappearing. The group will depart Lake McDonald Lodge early Thursday morning on Going-to-the-Sun Road for Logan Pass, and hike a trail in the vicinity of the Continental Divide.

Thursday evening, the secretary will speak at the Roosevelt Arch event, which is expected to draw 6,000 people.

An Evening at the Arch also will feature a concert by Grammy Award winners Emmylou Harris and John Prine.

Also scheduled to attend the Yellowstone celebration: National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis; Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead; Theodore Roosevelt V, the great-great grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt; Steven Mather McPherson, grandson of Stephen Mather, the first director of NPS; Christy Goldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; Al Baldwin, chairman of the National Park Foundation Board; and, of course, Yellowstone Park Superintendent Dan Wenk.
BILLINGS (AP)  A federal judge has ordered a Louisiana company not to disclose details of cultural studies conducted in an area near Glacier National Park where the company bought a disputed energy lease.

Solenex LLC of Baton Rouge wants to drill for oil and gas in northwest Montana's Badger-Two Medicine area. The company wants U.S. District Judge Richard Leon to overturn a March decision by federal officials canceling its 6,200-acre lease.

The area is considered sacred by the Blackfoot tribes of the United States and Canada. Studies on its significance have been conducted since the 1990s.

Judge Richard Leon said in a Monday order that Solenex cannot disclose information from those studies as it pursues its lawsuit against the government. Attorneys for the government and Solenex had previously agreed to the restriction.
BILLINGS  When not catching crayfish and learning to play guitar, 12-year-old Emma Power has spent the past two years corresponding with her city government.

Since age 10, Emma has been writing Billings City officials asking that a section of guard rail be installed along the Alkali Creek Trail to protect cyclists from a drop off.

Her determination finally paid off this summer when the guard rail was installed with the help of some Boy Scouts from Troop 7, and $5,000 from the city.

Emma, a self-proclaimed future novelist, lives in the Heights near Alkali Creek Road, where the biking trail was finished a few years ago. She bikes often on the trail, with her pink helmet secured over her bright blue hair. Her only worry had been a 15-feet section of the trail that ran along a large drop off.

Concerned for the safety of riders who might be unfamiliar with the path, the then-10-year-old Emma wrote to Mayor Tom Hanel and asked if it was something he could help with. He could not.

She wrote to the Director of Parks and Recreation, who apologized, but said he also couldn't help.

After 12 letters and countless emails, Emma tried a new tactic, getting in touch with her city council representative.

First ward Representative Mike Yakawich took an immediate interest.

Yakawick's council ward covers the Pioneer Park area all the way to Hilltop in the Heights. He had biked the Alkali Creek Road many times and had noticed the large drop off that caused Emma concern.

"There is no better way to know the potholes, cracked sidewalks, creek conditions, trails, cross walks and the general infrastructure of the ward than by either walking or biking," Yakawich said.

About a year and a half ago, Yakawich met Emma and her mother, Virginia Power, along the stretch of trail causing Emma's concern. Emma said Yakawich was able to win over Billings Public Works Director David Mumford.

Mumford told Emma the path was within city safety regulations, but was something he would look into. He spoke with City Engineer Debi Meling who contacted Troop 7 Eagle Scout candidate Matthew Charles.

The city provided $5,000 in materials for the project and over the weekend of Aug. 6, Charles and his friends and family installed the railing along the bike trail. When Emma came to see the project being done, she said people called out thanks as they drove by.

"It's a neat thing how it all came together," Yakawich said. "All because of a young lady who loves her neighborhood and who knows how her city government works."

Emma said throughout the process she met people who worked for the city who were "very nice" and others who were "really, really serious." Whenever she and her family cycle the path, they point to the railing, a tangible reminder of Emma's persistence.

Emma plans to follow her brothers to Montana State University Billings and said she wants to continue to stay involved with the improvement of Billings.

"I love my city," Emma said.
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A 25-year-old Butte man faces multiple charges involving destruction to eight vehicles in Uptown Butte early Sunday.

Brendon Michael Heim was charged in Butte district court Monday with felony criminal endangerment, misdemeanor false reports to agencies of public safety and misdemeanor criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to police reports, Heim began his rampage about 3 a.m. Sunday when a witness reported that he set off a fire alarm and discharged a fire extinguisher on the second floor of the Leggat Apartments, 50 W. Broadway St.

Nearly three hours later Heim allegedly shattered windows and side-view mirrors on eight different vehicles with a broken broomstick, said Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester.

Police believe Heim may have been under the influence of a drug during the early-morning frenzy. He told officers that a federal Homeland Security employee authorized him to damage the vehicles, which Heim said belonged to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Seven of the vehicles were parked along Broadway Street. One was on the first block of South Dakota Street. A witness reporting seeing a man carrying what appeared to be a broomstick near the Finlen Hotel, Broadway and Wyoming, police said.

Heim was apprehended in an alley in the area of Idaho and Montana streets. He advised police that he had a syringe in a pocket, which was confiscated along with the broken broomstick.

In city court Monday, Heim received a 180-day suspended sentence after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of criminal mischief in connection with Sunday incidents. He was ordered to pay a $385 fine.

This is Heims third arrest in less than two weeks. Two prior arrests involved disorderly conduct likely fueled by methamphetamine use. During one incident he screamed and yelled, insisting that snakes were crawling on him.

Lester said the damages to the eight vehicles  including a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta and a 2009 Ford Explorer  was unknown as police are still investigating.

County prosecutors intend to seek restitution for the damaged vehicles, according to the complaint filed in district court.

Heim is being held at the county jail on $20,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is slated for Sept. 22.
DEER LODGE  A Deer Lodge man is facing an attempted deliberate homicide charge after he allegedly attacked a man with a knife at the sheriff's office on Wednesday.

Powell County Sheriff Scott Howard stopped the attack by drawing his gun, ordering Anthony Ray Keys, 24, to drop the weapon and arresting him.

Keys is in the Deer Lodge jail awaiting arraignment in district court.

He also faces charges of assault with a weapon and three counts of criminal trespass to property (for entering two offices without authority while in the building).

The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. in the lobby where Keys was waiting for a ride to Butte to catch a bus to Oregon.

John M. Dunne, 27, also of Deer Lodge, entered the sheriffs office on official business when, without provocation, Keys pulled a knife and slashed him on the arm and face, according to the police report. Thats when the sheriff intervened.

Howard said that prior to the incident Keys had voluntarily gone to the hospital and was medically cleared, and the Mental Health Crisis Response also determined he did not fit the criteria for them to see him.

After the incident, the sheriff called the response team who came to see Keys, but determined he does not have a mental illness.

Dunnes injuries did not require medical treatment, Howard said.
A newly established mental health council says Butte-Silver Bow County and surrounding areas are in dire need of a youth crisis center where troubled kids can get immediate help in safe surroundings.

Several entities offer mental health services and adults in crisis can often get immediate attention, members of the Mental Health Local Advisory Council said Monday. But youths  especially those in their early teens or younger  often go without quick help they need.

Thats not good when a young person is a danger to himself or to others, they said, and those situations happen frequently.

If a mom and dad call me up and say Johnny took a knife at them today and they need this child to be out of the home for a while  my best option is to call everyone I can figure and try to piece things together, said Bryan Greer, a service administrator for AWARE, Inc.

Thats not a great option, he and others said, and it is often unsuccessful.

They cant do anything but ask for help and usually all I can tell them is, Well, I can make some phone calls, said Greer.

Commissioners authorized the formal advisory group, called the LAC for short, last November to explore mental health issues here, including ways to provide or improve services. Several Montana counties already had such councils.

County Health Director Karen Sullivan requested formation of the 23-member panel including health professionals and stakeholders to help address what a major health report identified as the Butte areas most pressing issue in terms of scope and severity  mental health.

The council includes several providers, including Western Montana Mental Health and AWARE, which provides community-based services to people with mental, emotional and sometimes physical challenges.

But half of the councils members have had mental health problems or have relatives who have suffered from them and received services.

Robert Watt, who has faced bipolar disorder for years, is one of them and he agreed with the overwhelming consensus Monday that the area needs a youth crisis center.

Ideally it would offer counseling and other help to kids or teens facing a mental health crisis in a safe place on a short-term basis, usually between 72 hours and 10 days, so a situation could at least be stabilized. Watt said that help could pay dividends later on.

A crisis center is needed more than anything because I believe earlier intervention will stop a lot of things, said Watt. Even if it was for four counties it would be a place to place somebody. Right now there is no place for them to go.

There are some youth centers in Montana, but space is sometimes reserved for teens who have mental health issues and have committed crimes. One of the only places with acute care for younger kids in crisis is Shodair Childrens Hospital in Helena, but it is often filled.

The youth detention center at Galen, called Reintegrating Youthful Offenders (RYO), closed in January. The privately operated facility sometimes took short-term, detention-related placements from counties.

Greer noted that Acadia Montana, which has a center in Butte, provides longer term help for youth with mental health problems. Those can include substance abuse. But there is a need for short-term care, he said.

What the council is picking up on is that for kids in crisis under 14  there is no place for them to go, Sullivan said after the meeting. If there is, she said, it is often out of state  far away from their families.

The council has adopted bylaws and has begun to identify possible funding sources for its efforts, and among its early goals is trying to get a youth crisis center established.

The council would only be one of many partners involved, Sullivan said, but it could play a key role.

That is why formation of this council at a community level is important  it gives it teeth, Sullivan said.

Kids who arent even in their teens yet can face a crisis they dont know how to handle. One member recalled the 11-year-old boy  a student at Emerson Elementary School in Butte  who took his own life last October.

Greer suggested that such a center be community or state driven. Although various private providers do great work, they often have diagnostic or legal or insurance-related criteria that can make immediate placement difficult.

It is sad for me not to be able to help people immediately, he said.

A community health needs report issued late last year, with backing from St. James Healthcare, the Butte-Silver Bow Public Health Department and Southwest Montana Community Health Center, listed mental health as the most important issue.

The system is overwhelmed by the sheer number of patients who need professional help, said a non-physician health provider. Many comments cited a lack of psychiatrists, especially for young people.
Jamie Ritter may be your doctor one day.

A soon-to-be first-generation college graduate and 2011 Butte High School alum, she aims to be a rural physician. She is a success story in the flesh.

Low-income students like Ritter help the federal Talent Search college support program receive federal money  most recently, a $1.2 million grant spread over five years that will maintain a strong student support system locally and in nearby towns.

Headquartered at Montana Tech, Talent Search outreach ensures that future Jamie Ritters from Butte, Helena, Anaconda and Deer Lodge get  and stay  on the college track.

I really believe that its student success that put us over the edge, said Amy Verlanic, executive director of the Institute for Educational Opportunities. Her office houses TRIO, an umbrella term that encompasses Talent Search, Student Support Services and Upward Bound on campus.

A grant-writing expert who conducts nationwide trainings, Verlanic announced the $1.2 million award to 30 school officials and guidance professionals Monday.

Students in our program are four times more likely to attend college, Verlanic said.

That means 86 percent of students in the area Talent Search program attend college  compared to 26 percent of all low-income students and 45 percent nationwide.

In comparison, 78.5 percent of students from wealthier households attend college as do 49 percent of wealthier students from the Butte area.

All told, local Talent Search serves 510 students in grades six through senior year of high school.

If one of our students goes to college, we hand them to Student Support Services, said Verlanic. Thats where the idea of TRIO comes from.

Verlanic calls it a pipeline from middle school to high school to college that allows Talent Search Associate Director Michelle Christianson to recruit low-income students early and keep college in the forefront.

This program is often the students first exposure to Montana Tech, said Doug Abbott, Techs Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

He praised Verlanics leadership and ability to snag ongoing grants.

Ritter, 23, adorned in power purple and sporting a wide smile, attributes her awareness of college preparation to her years at Butte High, where Theresa Rader steered her and parents Cynda and Gary Ritter through the unknown: Applying for college, scholarships, financial aid and other crucial steps that traditional college-bound families may take for granted.

By the time I was 12, my parents knew Id become a college graduate, said Ritter.

Rader, now Tech Student Support Services associate director, eased them through the tricky financial aid form, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

She helped us set up FAFSA, and that really helped my mom and me, added Ritter.

In December, Ritter will earn two degrees  in cell biology/neuroscience and exercise science at Montana State University as part of a pre-med path. She has her sights set on earning a masters degree, then heading to medical school.

Id love to do rural medicine or orthopedic medicine, said Ritter. I love the whole concept. Id love to get involved in the WWAMI Trust program.

WWAMI is a University of Washington student medical program that serves the Northwest, including Montana, struggling with insufficient healthcare resources and physician training opportunities. The trust targets underserved rural areas and small cities within the region.

Ritter attended Tech for two years and tried on different majors, but then transferred to MSU, where she continued to get services and prep help applying for masters programs. She advises younger students to take advantage of TRIO opportunities.

The name Talent Search is a misnomer that technically entails educational support and not a talent show; its been in existence since 1965, created as part of President Lyndon B. Johnsons War on Poverty.

For sure, Verlanic, Christianson and company provide a stable base for students.

Verlanic said Talent Search tips the scales in favor of talented kids whose families may not keep college on regular radar  typical of some parents who did not attend college.

We have a presence in the school, but were not a super-intrusive program, added Verlanic. If a talented student wants to come to us, well have the services they need.
The first family of refugees has arrived in Missoula amid an ongoing debate about whether refugees should settle here.

Missoulians can continue these important community discussions about refugee resettlement but must not tolerate any hostility toward this family. They have likely already experienced much trauma and upheaval.

Heres a chance for western Montana to showcase the famous spirit of fairness and freedom for which our nation is known throughout the world. Whatever their native nationality or religion, we can all join together in extending this family of six a hearty welcome.

At the same time, we can make it clear that the sort of inflammatory rhetoric espoused by Greg Gianforte in a recent mailer is absolutely unwelcome. The mailer is a terrible example of factually challenged fear-mongering, and the Republican candidate for governor ought to apologize for it.

One side of the mailer shows a photo of a man with a scarf wrapped around his head and holding a rifle, along with a photo of Gianfortes opponent, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. This is accompanied by the text: Governor Bullock supports bringing Syrian refugees into Montana. The awful attempt to link Syrian refugees to terrorists  or at least to some stereotype of what a terrorist looks like  is bad enough.

However, the other side of the mailer doubles down with a smiling photo of Gianforte paired with the following quote: My heart breaks for those families torn apart by Radical Islamic Terrorists abroad and I feel we have a moral obligation to help. However, that obligation does NOT include settling unvetted refugees in our communities and homes here in Montana. As Governor, Ill stand up to dangerous refugee programs.

Numerous groups involved with the refugee resettlement process  including the International Rescue Committee, which re-opened an office in Missoula this year, and Soft Landing, a local organization founded by members of the community  have repeatedly explained that refugees seeking admission to the United States undergo the most rigorous vetting process this country has to offer. To characterize them as unvetted is just factually wrong.

Second, the governor of Montana  or of any state  has no authority whatsoever over refugee admittance. Once a refugee is approved for resettlement in the United States, that person has the same right to move freely about the country that every other American enjoys. Bullock can no more stop refugees from coming to Montana than he can stop Californians from moving here.

The timing is insensitive at best. While a Gianforte campaign spokesman said it was sheer coincidence that the mailers arrived in Missoula at about the same time as the refugees, thats a coincidence that could have been avoided had Gianfortes campaign communicated with the IRC office in Missoula.

For the record, the refugee family includes a mother, father and four children, three of whom are school-age. Three of the children have also spent their entire lives in a refugee camp in Tanzania after their family fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Christians have been killed by the hundreds by Islamic terrorists.

The new family will undergo a 90-day orientation period aimed at helping them transition, and fortunately, local volunteers have stepped up to serve as family mentors. Additional teams of volunteers have signed up to help the next family; the IRC expects a total of 25 refugees to arrive in Missoula by the end of September, and between 100 and 125 refugees within the first year.

This plan has been met with resistance by those who fear terrorists could be planted among the refugees, as well as those who have legitimate concerns about the financial costs and other effects on their community.

Unfortunately, Gianfortes mailer does not address these concerns and offers no realistic solutions. Rather, it is aimed squarely at stoking the flames of fear in order to score cheap political points. In its eagerness to whip up votes, the Gianforte campaign seems to have forgotten that there is a real refugee family living in Missoula  and more are on the way.

We can only imagine what these families have been through. Whatever their country of origin, refugees have often experienced unspeakable violence and death. They have been persecuted for their religious or political beliefs. They have been discriminated against because of their ethnic backgrounds.

Will they now be met with ignorance and hatred in Montana?

Will they, Mr. Gianforte?

-- The Missoulian
Everytime I turn on the television or pick up a newspaper these days Im told that I need to vote for a politician or I will lose my access to public water. By now we all recognize the pitch, usually couched in terms of class warfare, pitting real Montanans against rich out-of-staters. Its easily digestible political mush, but this is a meat and potatoes issue that deserves disciplined reasoning and real leadership.

The Montana Stream Access Law (SAL) represents a well-crafted and thoroughly vetted compromise between the public right to access our state waters and the rights of landowners to protect their privacy, property and livelihood. It was carefully drafted by experienced legislators who also happened to be farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishers and conservationists. It may very well be the most equitable stream access law in the nation. Its not public access or landowner rights that need protection in Montana, its the Stream Access Law itself.

I am a real Montanan who owns land with public water running through it. I also grew up hunting and fishing in post-SAL Montana with other real Montanans. It never occurred to us that we needed a judge to tell us how to get along with each other. Access was based on mutual respect for the resource and the rights of the other guy. Thats in stark contrast to the recent rhetoric of politicians in Montana promising to lawyer up on our behalf and force others do what the courts say.

Nowhere is this more important than in the race for Supreme Court Justice. Dirk Sandefur has decided that picking a side on the issue of stream access suits his immediate political needs. Vote for him and hell use his position on the Court to make law favoring access over landowner rights. Kristen Juras takes the view of an independent Justice, not an opportunistic politician. She says the law is settled and her role as Justice is to apply it, not to change it.

Montanans figured this out decades ago. We dont need an all-knowing Justice legislating from the bench to fix it for us. Im supporting Kristen Juras. I believe she has the experience and the respect for the laws of Montana to be a fair and objective Justice.

-- Greg Trangmoe, Stevensville
The stink of wildfire smoke rolled into the Missoula Valley on Monday morning, and continued hot weather may keep the skies hazy for a few more days.

The Roaring Lion fire west of Hamilton got help from several other forest fires in Idaho to push the air quality rating in the Bitterroot Valley to unhealthy for sensitive groups by late Monday morning. While Missoula and Frenchtown remained in the good zone, morning joggers and commuters noted the unpleasant change from Sundays bluebird skies.

Hamilton was solidly in the good zone until about 9 a.m. when particulate matter levels went from 14 to 59, according to Montana Department of Environmental Quality monitors. Levels between 50 and 100 drop the air quality index to moderate, meaning the levels may cause problems for a very small number of people unusually sensitive to pollution.

The Copper King fire 8 miles east of Thompson Falls took a significant run on Sunday afternoon, sending up large columns of smoke as it expanded to 6,908 acres. Red flag weather is forecast to continue through Monday, with west winds blowing 20 to 30 mph and gusts in the 40 mph range. A Type I incident management team, which handles the most serious fires, is moving into position on Monday afternoon to coordinate expanded containment efforts. The fire employs 317 people.

The Roaring Lion fire west of Hamilton sent up visible columns of smoke, but fire officials reported no outbreaks from the containment lines. Instead, they said the fire was consuming interior pockets of trees that hadnt already burned in earlier runs. Those flare-ups will continue until a season-ending rain or snow storm arrives. Smoke from Idahos Moose, Cedar and Elk Ridge fires were also contributing to the haze, but all were more than 11 air miles from the Roaring Lions western edge.

Across the border in Idaho, the Pioneer fire near Boise jumped almost 10,000 acres on Sunday to a total 96,469 acres. Activity in eastern Washington and Oregon has also picked up.

A low-pressure weather pattern should move over the Montana-Idaho border in the next 24 hours. While that will sustain the red flag warnings for firefighters through Tuesday, it may also shift the general wind direction to north-south by Wednesday. Thats expected to direct smoke from out-of-state fires away from Montana and bring cooler temperatures to boot.
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.,

Plaintiff,

vs.

ESTATE OF KENNETH EUGENE BEEDING; SPOUSE OF KENNETH EUGENE BEEDING; SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; STATE OF IOWA; ESTATE RECOVERY PROGRAM; ALL KNOWN AND UNKNOWN CLAIMANTS AND ALL PERSONS KNOWN OR UNKNOWN CLAIMING ANY RIGHT, TITLE OR INTEREST AND ALL OF THEIR HEIRS, SPOUSES, ASSIGNS, GRANTEES, LEGATEES, DEVISEES AND ALL BENEFICIARIES OF EACH AND ALL OF THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ALL CREDITORS, HEIRS, SPOUSES, ASSIGNS, GRANTEES, LEGATEES, AND DEVISEES OF KENNETH EUGENE BEEDING,

Defendants.

To the above-named Defendants: Estate of Kenneth Eugene Beeding, Spouse of Kenneth Eugene Beeding and All known and unknown claimants and all persons known or unknown claiming any right, title or interest and all of their heirs, spouses, assigns, grantees, legatees, devisees and all beneficiaries of each and all of the above-named defendants, including but not limited to all creditors, heirs, spouses, assigns, grantees, legatees, and devisees of Kenneth Eugene Beeding

You are notified there was on 5/3/2016 filed in the Office of the Clerk of the above-named Court a Foreclosure Petition, which prays for foreclosure of a mortgage in favor of the Plaintiff on the property described herein and judgment in rem in the amount of $46,400.76 plus interest at the rate of 4.31% per annum from 5/21/2009, such amount equaling $6.21 per day, the costs of the action including title costs of $250.00, and reasonable attorney fees and that said sums be declared a lien upon the following-described premises from 5/21/2009, located in Muscatine County, Iowa, to-wit:

Lot Eight (8) of Scholten's Addition to the City of Muscatine, Iowa, according to the Auditor's Plat thereof, together with the perpetual use, with the owners of the property of the South and West thereof, of a driveway as described and referred to in a Deed recorded in Book 61 of Lots at page 210 of the records of Muscatine County, Iowa

that the mortgage on the above-described real estate be foreclosed, that a special execution issue for the sale of as much of the mortgaged premises as is necessary to satisfy the judgment and for other relief as the Court may deem just and equitable. The attorney for the Plaintiff is David M. Erickson, whose address is The Davis Brown Tower, 215 10th Street, Suite 1300, Des Moines, Iowa 50309-3993, Phone: (515) 288-2500, Facsimile: (515) 243-0654.

NOTICE

THE PLAINTIFF HAS ELECTED FORECLOSURE WITH REDEMPTION.

You must serve a motion or answer on or before the 12th day of September, 2016, and within a reasonable time thereafter, file your motion or answer, in the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Iowa, at the County Courthouse in Muscatine, Iowa. If you do not, judgment by default may be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Petition.

If you need assistance to participate in court due to a disability, call the disability coordinator at 563-328-4145. Persons who are hearing or speech impaired may call Relay Iowa TTY (1-800-735-2942.) Disability coordinators cannot provide legal advice.

IMPORTANT

YOU ARE ADVISED TO SEEK LEGAL ADVICE AT ONCE TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS.

Date of Third Publication

23rd day of August, 2016
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Dr. Mark Odell is retiring from his position of County Medical Examiner after 33 years, effective Sept. 2.

We extend from the board our thanks for your many years of service and all the good work you've done for us, said Supervisor Jeff Sorensen.

Tom Summitt, a firefighter with the Muscatine Fire Department and the Chief Medical Examiner Investigator, works under the County Medical Examiner and is in charge of Investigations, which he said does the "leg work" for the County Medical Examiner.

Summitt presented Odell with a plaque in thanks at the Monday evening Muscatine County Board of Supervisors meeting, after the board voted to accept Odell's resignation.

"On behalf of myself and the board of supervisors, I'd like to present you with this plaque. In recognition of your dedication to the County Medical Examiner's office and the citizens of Muscatine, we are honored to present you with this award for your commitment to excellence and dedicated 33 years of service," Summit said.

The room applauded. Dr. Robert Weis will take over for Odell as County Medical Examiner.

"Dr. Weis will be an excellent successor to me," Odell said.

Over his 33 years in the office, Odell said his experiences have been interesting, but the good moments were when he could be present for families going through hard times.

"You get to try to make people's loss a little more tolerable," he said.

The board recounted actions taken at various committee meetings, and Supervisor Robert Howard said one of his committees, the Emergency Management Commission, was unable to take action at their meeting last Wednesday due to the lack of a quorum.

"I encourage all those who dont come to come, or have another qualified individual come for you," Howard said.

Four out of nine representatives on the commission were present, Howard said, and five were needed for a quorum.

Supervisor Matt Bonebrake provided an update on the county's new radio system, and said although there are several new dispatchers and a recently upgraded system, Emergency Management Director Matt Shook and others are handling the transition well.

"It sounds like we have a fantastic group down there," Bonebrake said.

In other business:

The final readings of both an ordinance amending the Muscatine County Zoning Ordinance relating to Commercial Wind Energy Conversion Systems and an ordinance amending the Muscatine County Floodplain Management Ordinance were approved.

A bid for the Community Services DHS I.T. Closet Project was tabled for further discussion. Supervisor Robert Howard asked for more information, as he said he would prefer to hire a local contractor for the work.

The board approved an Iowa Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program Contract in the amount of $33,362.00.

The board approved a Methamphetamine Drug Hot Spots Grant Program contract in the amount of $5,830.00.

A fireworks permit for Jacob Swift was approved.

The board also accepted Helen Thompsons resignation from the Muscatine County Historic Preservation Commission.
IOWA CITY, Iowa  Living Through Loss, an educational program for bereaved individuals, will meet from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Sept. 7, in the Kirkwood Room, 515 Kirkwood Avenue, Iowa City. The organization provides a supportive environment to receive education, support, and resources to help with loss. Topics vary by month. For more information call 319-338-9171.
AMES, Iowa  The Bratney Companies 4-H Robotics Challenge invited youth from across Iowa to show their robot designing and programming skills during the 2016 Iowa State Fair. The Muscatine Sci Tech 4-H Club received four awards in the senior division during the competition including 4-H Engineer Award, the Junk Drawer Challenge Award, the NXT Challenge Award, and the Innovative Programming Award.

Robotics clubs and teams composed of four to 10 youth participated in a real time event using LEGO Mindstorms NXT Robotics kits. The teams designed, created, built and programmed a robot that could accomplish a specific goal from a list of Iowa State Fair themed tasks outlined in the challenge.

The Bratney Companies Robotics Challenge is a fantastic example of what a youth-adult partnership can offer the youth. Bratney Companies supports the event and is active in the challenge at every stage. Our 4-H youth benefit from the experience of building robots to complete the challenge and from interacting with the Bratney Companies staff who judge and advise the youth-adult challenge, said Jay Staker, a 4-H youth program manager with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

The events this year were designed to offer a range of challenges that varied in difficulty and necessary skills. Youth teams then designed a robot capable of accomplishing the tasks that they strategically chose to demonstrate their engineering skills and maximize their point totals. The teams also were being evaluated during the challenge by technical advisers -- Bratney Companies employees who use the same skills in their work that the youth were employing in the challenge. Team work, creativity, design and other attributes identified as 21st Century Skills that are key to success were the focus of the evaluation.

Its our seventh year sponsoring this event and we look forward to it every year, said Peter Bratney with Bratney Companies. Were here in the 4-H building with some of the best and brightest minds in the state of Iowa. Its cool to see the kids sharing ideas and cooperating to see what they come up with.

I really like working together with people and hearing their ideas, said Vanessa, a 4-Her.
DAVENPORT, Iowa - The Center for Active Seniors, Inc. (CASI), Milestones Area Agency on Aging and St. Ambrose Universitys Physical Therapy Department along with Iowa Falls Prevention Coalition, is celebrating the Ninth Annual Falls Prevention Awareness Day on Sept. 22 by helping support ready, steady, and balanced lifestyles.

Older adults want to stay active, independent, and safe in their homes, but many worry about their risk of falling, said Laura Kopp, CASI President and CEO. In fact, one in three Americans over the age of 65 falls every year. However, falling is not a normal part of aging. Every older adult has the power to prevent a fall.

These community organizations will host Ready, Steady, Balance: Prevent Falls awareness event hosted from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Sept. 22, will provide seniors and caregivers with practical prevention tools at CASI, 1035 W Kimberly Road, Davenport, Iowa.

Keynote speaker Larry Readout, Senior Engineer from EMC Insurance Companies, will show and tell real life instances of trip and fall hazards. He will share effective and proven prevention strategies.

Additional sessions include:

self-assessment of your individual falls-risk

a panel discussion of community resources that can help you reduce your fear of falling

free hearing screenings

free medication reviews

exhibitors

The theme highlights three goals that all older adults have the power to achieve:

Be ready: Education is the most important step to being ready to prevent a fall. Quad City senior service organizations off a multitude of resources to help older adults understand their risk of falling. Information about fall prevention programs and services will be available at the event. Be steady: Older adults can be steady if they take simple steps to prevent falls. These include talking with a doctor about medications, getting hearing and vision checkups, and assessing living spaces for hazards. Be balanced: Falls prevention is a team effort that takes a balance of education, preparation, and community support, said Christa Merritt, CEO, Milestones Area Agency on Aging.

Falls Prevention Awareness Day is an opportunity to take a look at the world around us, be aware of falls hazards, and think about how we can make changes that will help our parents, grandparents, aging neighbors, and even ourselves be safe from falls, said Michael Puthoff, Director, St. Ambrose University Physical Therapy Department.

Ready, Steady, Balance: Prevent Falls is from 8:30 a.m. to noon on September 22 at CASI, 1035 W Kimberly Road, Davenport, Iowa. This is a free community event but registration is required. For more information or to register for this event call 563-386-7477. Registration deadline is Sept. 21.

About the Falls Free Initiative in Iowa

Led by the National Council on Aging, the Falls Free Initiative includes 43 states and 70 national organizations, professional associations, and federal agencies working collaboratively to bring education, awareness, and evidence-based solutions to local communities. The Iowa Falls Prevention Coalition provides local community resources and education to reduce the growing numbers of falls related injuries among older adults. For more information, please visit: www.iowaaging.gov/healthy-lifestyles/falls-prevention or www.ncoa.org/FallsFreeInitiative.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  The passenger in an accident on Saturday was transported to UnityPoint Health-Trinity Muscatine after suffering serious injuries.

Muscatine County Sheriffs Deputies responded to an accident in the 2600 Block of Stewart Road at 4:37 p.m., Monday.

According to the sheriff's report, Darell Pentzel, 62, of Winfield, was traveling southbound on Stewart Road in a Buick LeSabre when he turned left into a produce market entering the path of David Puckett, 29, of Grandview, who was driving a Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Stewart Road.

Puckett attempted to avoid the Pentzel vehicle when he crossed into the opposite lane, came back into the northbound lane, and then rolled the vehicle before coming to rest in the south ditch.

Johnna Hathaway, 31, of Grandview, was ejected from the vehicle driven by Puckett. She was not wearing a seatbelt according to the release from the Muscatine County Sheriff's Office.

Puckett and Pentzel were not injured.

Investigation of the crash is ongoing by the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office. The Muscatine Fire Department, Fruitland Fire Department and Fruitland First Responders were also on the scene.

Emily Wenger of the Muscatine Journal
MUSCATINE, Iowa  The Muscatine City Council will meet at 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 25, in the council chambers of City Hall, to discuss the donation of property to the city by HNI Corporation.

The council will vote on a Real Property Charitable Donation Agreement, which stipulates that the building to be built on the property to be donated will be named the HNI Community Center, and the library to be housed within the building the Musser Public Library.

A library presentation is also scheduled for the Thursday meeting, with a vote on the request to approve the donation to follow.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Two vehicles were involved in an accident Monday at the intersection of Highway 61 and Cedar Street.

The accident is the third reported at the intersection in the past two weeks involving similar circumstances according to the Muscatine County Sheriff's Office.

Muscatine County Sheriffs Deputies responded to an accident near Highway 61 and Cedar Street at 7:50 a.m., Monday.

According to the report, Christine Draves, 62, of Muscatine, was driving a Toyota Highlander southbound near the Highway 61 and Cedar Street intersection when she entered the turn lane on Highway 61 and attempted to turned east onto Cedar Street.

Draves allegedly crossed into the path of a northbound Chevrolet Silverado operated by Matthew Walter, 25, of Fruitland, when the two vehicles collided.

Neither driver suffered injuries. Both occupants were wearing lap and shoulder belts according to the press release.

Investigation into the crash is continuing by the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office.

The Muscatine Police Department, Fruitland Fire Departments and Fruitland First Responders were also on scene.

An accident on Monday, Aug. 15, at the Highway 61 and Cedar Street intersection, damaged three vehicles and caused minor injuries to two drivers and an accident on Sunday also occurred at the intersection.

On Sunday, Michael George, 28, of Muscatine, was traveling southbound near the Highway 61 and Cedar Street intersection in a Chrysler 200 when he entered the turn lane on Highway 61 and turned east onto Cedar Street, allegedly in the path of a vehicle traveling northbound.

A Honda Civic operated by Benito Martinez, Jr, 21, of Milwaukee, Wis., was traveling northbound near the Highway 61 and Cedar Street intersection when the two vehicles collided according the Muscatine County Sheriff's Office.

George suffered minor injuries. Both occupants wore lap and shoulder belts.

Investigation into the crash is continuing by the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office.

The Muscatine Police Department, Muscatine and Fruitland Fire Departments, and Fruitland First Responders were also on scene.

Muscatine County Sheriff C.J. Ryan said many of the accidents at the intersection occur when cars crossing Highway 61 on Cedar Street toward Muscatine attempt to turn left without yielding to cars driving straight, crossing Highway 61 to continue on Cedar Street.

"I think people have gotten used to having a green arrow...but there is no green arrow at that intersection," Ryan said.

Ryan said vehicles moving straight have the right-of-way on a solid green light, and those turning left need to yield.
Is it possible that Donald Trump would never live to be President if it looks like he will win? There are those who have written this is a possible scenario. I certainly would not put anything past the Clintons. We already have a trail of unexplained and suspiciously positioned dead Clinton associates in the wake of the Clinton political machine.

The Clintons would have made mob leaders like Capone quake in their boots if they had been contemporaries. Capone would have been working for them. The Clintons, Obamas, people like George Soros and even many self-proclaimed Republicans have a total disregard for the laws and people of this country.

The Democrats have shown the world what they think of our country and the law at their convention when they did not have an American flag on the floor of the convention and mothers of criminals were honored instead of the families of slain policemen. They hid behind the skirt of a Gold Star Muslim mother of one slain Muslim soldier while ignoring the multiple family members of the military personnel slain by a Muslim soldier at Fort Hood. I mean no disrespect to the brave Muslim soldier killed defending our country. His mother certainly has the right to support anyone she wants and speak any opinion she has (if she is allowed to speak) but this is a battle for the survival of this country and once a person chooses to stand on a national stage with the other side, he or she needs to be prepared to receive no quarter during the battle. It is time we stop letting people hide behind the skirts of political correctness.

Like the Japanese realized after December 7, 1941, Trump has awakened a sleeping giant and we will not go gently into that good night. There are still good people in Washington like Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, Rod Blum, Steve King, David Young, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and many others but they need us to speak up and support them. They need us to give them Donald Trump so they have a leader they can work with and support. I dont know if Trump is the rowboat God has provided us to weather the rising flood waters of liberalism drowning this country but at the very least, he is a life preserver until the boat comes along.

People do not get the seriousness of this election. This election is all about the Supreme Court. Issues such as borders, the economy, trade deals, abortion, gay marriage, prosecuting our dishonest government, stopping radical Islamic terrorism or even in which bathroom a person feels safe will all be lost if Hillary wins. In a matter of months, the Supreme Court will be a solidly left wing, radically liberal court that will not change for at least 30 if not 40 years. Hillary and her cronies already care little if any for the law. What will happen when the most powerful court in the country is in her back pocket?

Yes, I want to get all of our local, state and federal candidates elected or re-elected. That is always important. But if Hillary wins, I believe it will not matter who is in charge of our local and state governments. When the Supreme Court says Hillarys department of labor can enforce a $15 per hour national minimum wage, what will our local or state officials do? How much are you willing to pay for a Caseys pizza or a MacDonalds hamburger; that is, if they can stay in business? When the Supreme Court rules Hillarys immigration orders are legal, what will our local or state officials do? When Hillary issues executive orders restricting our 2nd amendment rights and the Supreme Court rules this is constitutional, what will our local or state officials do?

When the Supreme Court rules our priests and ministers are required to marry same sex couples in our churches, what will our local or state officials do? When the Supreme Court rules Hillary can re-institute and strengthen the fairness doctrine which will silence the only part of the media that is conservative, what will our local or state officials do? And when a priest or minister is charged with hate speech when delivering a sermon on homosexuality, abortion or same sex marriage, what will our local or state officials do?

There is only one way to stop the impending civil war and that is by supporting and electing Donald Trump as our next President. Whether he is a life preserver or the actual row boat does not matter. He is what stands between the survival of the United States as it was originally intended and the final destruction of our beloved country by Hillary and the people who would be our masters.

I do not believe Trump is our savior and in the early part of the process, did not feel that he was the most qualified of all the Republican candidates for the job. But the people spoke and Donald won. And he is certainly vastly more qualified (and honest) than Hillary Clinton. Now the rest of the people had better wake up and understand that no matter what side they are on right now, if Hillary wins, their lives will never be the same. In the end, no group will escape the tyranny of an oppressive Clinton regime.

There is one fact in this campaign and that is either Trump or Clinton is going to be President. No third party candidate, no matter how much noise he or she makes, has a chance. If we care at all about this country we need to put on our big boy pants and quit pouting about being called names or having our egos bruised. We need to stop worrying about Trump using nuclear weapons against our enemies and start worrying about Hillary nuking our Constitution with the help of a liberal Supreme Court. We need to understand this really is the most important election we will ever face. If we dont regain the White House and retain congress, we are looking at a checkmate, game over situation.

The Supreme Court will rule in favor of every bad gun law/executive order, homosexual rights legislation/executive order and any open borders legislation/executive order. Any laws protecting the unborn will be struck down and executive branch departments such as the EPA, BTAF, OSHA, Dept. of Education, etc., will be totally unchecked with the backing of the Supreme Court. The IRS will continue to be openly used as an enforcement tool for the executive branch much as Obama did only this time there will be no one to stop it. Does anyone really think a Clinton DOJ will investigate anything? If you are one of the many who thinks Obama has overreached his constitutional authority, wait until Hillary is President. You aint seen nothin yet.

Its time for the Republican elite to realize the people, their bosses, have spoken. The economic failures of our Republican elite Presidents George Bush Sr. and Jr., both of whom I supported, gave us Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Senator McCain could not have beaten Obama with the campaign he ran if John the Baptist had been his running mate. And the fact that Romney could not beat an incumbent Obama who was riddled with a failed economy, failed foreign policy and drenched in scandals, is a total travesty and indictment of the failure of our elite Republican leadership to at the very least listen to the people. I also supported both of these candidates.

Its time for these same elitists to put this country before their own personal gain and position of power. It is time for them to listen to us and support our candidate and stop the destruction of the greatest country to ever exist on this planet. Or is it just that these elite Republicans are as much a part of the problem as the left, the Clintons and Obama? Possibly even willing accomplices. For the sake of all Americans, I hope that is not the case.

So lets go out and get all of our local and state candidates elected. These are all important elections. But at the same time we do this, we need to stress the importance of the national races with Trump being the most important candidate on the ticket this year followed by Senator Grassley, Rep. Blum, Rep. King, Rep. Young, Iowas 2nd district candidate, Dr. Christopher Peters and all of our Senate and Congressional candidates throughout the United States.

WE SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD FOUR (much less eight) YEARS OF A CORRUPT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION AND 40 YEARS OF A LIBERAL SUPREME COURT THAT IGNORES THE CONSTITUTION.

Thank God we have people like Jeff Kaufmann as leaders of the Republican Party in Iowa. I can only hope our national leadership and the leadership of the other states use Jeff as a role model.
WILTON, Iowa - The price tag for a new fire protection vehicle has members of the Wilton City Council feeling sticker shock. The council Monday night referred a request from the fire department to purchase of a new brush truck to the council's Public Safety Committee.

Volunteer firefighter Jeff Derkson told the council Monday night the new brush truck, priced at $176,229 by the Alexis Fire Equipment Co. of Alexis, Ill., would replace an aging vehicle. He said the new brush truck would be operable by two firefighters to combat car and brush fires, eliminating the need to roll out the main fire engine for smaller fires and when the full complement of volunteer personnel may not be available.

But the council balked at the price. Mayor Bob Barrett noted the purchase of the new vehicle combined with the planned purchase of turnout gear would reduce the fire department's fund balance from $364,212 to $129,000. "This is very nice, but I think it's Cadillac," said Barrett. He suggested the possibility of charging fees for fire calls to build up the fund balance.

The council did approve the purchase of new turnout gear for $59,361.

Officials hope a clarification of residency requirements for city employees will help attract and retain quality personnel. The council unanimously approved requiring full time employees to live within a thirty mile radius of Wilton and department heads to live within the boundaries of the Wilton School District.

"I think you get more flexibility if it's within the school district," City Administrator Chris Ball commented.

In other business:

The council approved payment of bills totaling $252,417.

The council authorized entering into a zero percent, $385,000 State Revolving Fund loan for planning and designing the new wastewater treatment plant.

The council unanimously approved the third and final readings of ordinance amendments establishing new water and sewer rates.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
Broadband services in South Africa normally come as either a capped or uncapped product.

Many ADSL and fibre Internet service providers offer uncapped, unshaped accounts, promising unfettered connectivity any time of the day.

However, not all uncapped, unshaped accounts are equal.

What I find most amusing are the terms prioritised unshaped, or managed unshaped, said Cybersmart CEO Laurie Fialkov.

In either case it paradoxical.

MWEBs head of product Rihana Hoosain agreed with Fialkov, saying that unshaped means there is no prioritisation on any of the traffic on that account.

The Internet activity that is started first will be served first, said Hoosain.

Contention vs throttling vs shaping

While an unshaped connection offers flexibility, it does not have unlimited bandwidth, said Hoosain.

If your account is uncapped and unshaped, you wont always get the maximum speed your line and account allow.

There is a lot of confusion between shaping and contention, said Fialkov about the issue.

Contention is a measure of how many subscribers are using a service.

Giving each subscriber their own 4Mbps or 10Mbps, for example, of bandwidth would be prohibitively expensive.

If a few subscribers share that bandwidth, however, an ISP can make its ADSL and fibre accounts more affordable.

Fialkov added that throttling is not the same as shaping.

If I slow everything down without discriminating, I am throttling. If I slow some things down, I am shaping.

He said shaping lets ISPs increase contention without the majority of users noticing.

Generally, shaped services are more contended, which creates the impressions that unshaped services are faster.

In this case the unshaped services are faster because they have lower contention [and tend to be less congested] not because they are actually faster, said Fialkov.

The graphic below details the differences.

Uncapped, unshaped fair use policies

Cybersmart has certain fair usage thresholds, and if a subscriber reaches them, it shapes those accounts and will eventually throttle them.

To be truly correct, we should only throttle on unshaped, uncapped accounts if we want to consistently and correctly use the term unshaped, he said.

MWEB said it doesnt have usage thresholds on its uncapped, unshaped products.

But all products are subject to our wider acceptable use policy, said Hoosain.

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Telkom confirmed that talks between the company and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) held on 22 August failed to reach a resolution to the strike that has entered its fourth week.

Telkom approached these talks with the hope and intention to find a meaningful engagement with the CWU and made several proposals to the union  however, the parties could not find each other, the company said.

We call upon members of the CWU, should they opt to continue with the strike, to respect the picketing rules as stipulated in the court order and to desist from acts of intimidation.

Telkom said it is committed to finding a resolution to the matter, and continues to engage with all affected parties.

In June, SACU and Solidarity signed a Collaborative Partnership Agreement with Telkom following protracted negotiations  which included substantive wage negotiations.

While the CWU at the time indicated their intention to sign, that has unfortunately not yet happened, said Telkom.

The primary agreements are:

No forced retrenchments for the next two years.

Outsourcing to be limited to less than a 1,000 employees over the next two years.

The introduction of a new variable incentive scheme, known as Performance Pays, which will replace the previous Short Term Incentive scheme.

Performance Pays will focus on customer satisfaction and front-line productivity metrics.

An employee who is achieving their targets could earn up to 12% more, per month, through Performance Pays.

An increase of 6% on basic salary payable from 1 April 2017.

We are disappointed that the talks did not yield any positive results. We, however, remain hopeful that a resolution will be found.

More on Telkom

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As smartphone technology improves and the devices capabilities increase, you no longer have to spend over R10,000 to get a top-quality handset.

Vodafone, Huawei, Redmi, and Samsung all sell great devices for under R3,000  which means the phrase cheap smartphone is no longer a euphemism for rubbish.

These devices all run on Android, offer high-resolution displays, and support LTE connectivity.

Here are some of the best phones you can buy in South Africa for under R3,000.

Vodacom Smart Prime 7  R1,799

Vodacoms branded devices offer solid value for money.

Unfortunately, the Prime 7 features lower hardware specifications compared to similarly-priced rivals. It also comes with a lot of Vodacom shovelware.

However, it does run the latest available version of Android.

Specifications Smart Prime 7 Maker Vodafone Dimensions 144 x 72.1 x 8 mm Weight 128g Operating system Android 6.0 Marshmallow Display 5 720p (720 x 1,280) Rear camera 8MP Front camera 5MP Storage, internal 8GB Storage, expandable microSD RAM 1GB Processor 1.3GHz quad-core Battery 2,540mAh Cellular data LTE, HSPA+

Redmi 2 Pro  R1,999

This dual-SIM, LTE-capable smartphone is under R2,000. Even though it runs an older version of Android, better value than this is difficult to find.

Just ensure the model you buy supports LTE bands 1 (2,100MHz) and 3 (1,800MHz)  those are the ones Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C use. Telkom also recently started using LTE band 3.

Specifications Redmi 2 Pro Maker Xiaomi Dimensions 134 x 67.2 x 9.4 mm Weight 133g Operating system Android 4.4 KitKat with MIUI Display 4.7 720p (720 x 1,280) Rear camera 8MP Front camera 2MP Storage, internal 16GB Storage, expandable microSD RAM 2GB Processor 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) Graphics Adreno 306 Battery 2,200mAh (removable) Cellular data LTE SIM type Dual SIM

Huawei P8 Lite Dual SIM  R2,499

Huaweis LTE-capable dual-SIM smartphone from 2015 is selling at compelling prices currently. Cell C offers the dual-SIM version for just under R2,500.

A single-SIM variant is available through Vodacom for R3,199, and MTN for R3,299.

Specifications Huawei P8 Lite Dimensions 143 x 70.6 x 7.7 mm Weight 131g Operating system Android 5.0 with EMUI 3.1 Display 5 720p (720 x 1,280) Rear camera 13MP Front camera 5MP Storage, internal 16GB Storage, expandable microSD RAM 2GB Processor Hisilicon Kirin 620 (8x 1.2GHz) Battery 2,200mAh Cellular data LTE, HSPA+ SIM type Dual SIM

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)  R2,999

While Samsung offers a number of decent low-cost devices, the Galaxy J3 is one of the standouts.

Grey imports of the Galaxy J3 are also available from the Orange Store for under R2,500.

Specifications Samsung Galaxy J3 Dimensions 142.3 x 71.0 x 7.9 mm Weight 138g Operating system Android 5.1.1 Display 5 720p (720 x 1,280) Rear camera 8MP Front camera 5MP Storage, internal 8GB Storage, expandable microSD RAM 1.5GB Processor 1.5GHz quad-core Battery 2,600mAh Cellular data LTE, HSPA+

Redmi Note 2  R2,999

The Redmi Note 2 is priced at the same level as the Samsung Galaxy J3, but trounces it on the spec sheet.

Specifications Redmi Note 2 Maker Xiaomi Dimensions 152 x 76 x 8.25 mm Weight 149g Operating system Android 5.0 with MIUI 7 Display 5.5 1080p (1,080 x 1,920) Rear camera 13MP Front camera 5MP Storage, internal 16GB Storage, expandable microSD RAM 2GB Processor 2GHz MediaTek Helio X10 octa-core Graphics Power VR G6200 GPU Battery 3,060mAh Cellular data LTE, HSPA+ SIM type Dual SIM

Honourable mention: Vodacom Smart Ultra 7  R3,099

The Smart Ultra 7 just missed the R3,000 cut-off, but is included to show that powerful devices are available at around our price point.

Specifications Smart Ultra 7 Maker Vodafone Dimensions 152.2 x 78.12 x 8.68 mm Weight 150g Operating system Android 6.0 Marshmallow Display 5.5 1080p (1,080 x 1,920) Rear camera 13MP Front camera 5MP Storage, internal 16GB Storage, expandable microSD RAM 2GB Processor 1.8GHz Mediatek MTK6755M Battery 2,960mAh Cellular data LTE, HSPA+

More smartphone news

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LG X Cam and LG Stylus 2  Vodacom pricing

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 delayed in South Africa

Alcatel Pop Star smartphone launched in South Africa  pricing, details

8 great (and expensive) smartphones in South Africa
If you plan to upgrade your smartphone every two years, leaving your device to charge overnight will not do much damage to your battery.

According to a report by The New York Times, Android smartphones and Apple iPhones are equipped with chips that protect them from absorbing excess electrical current once they are fully charged.

Edo Campos, a spokesman for phone charger company Anker, said overnight charging  and any charging for that matter  is not an issue for smartphone owners who plan to regularly upgrade their devices.

However, frequent charges do damage the lithium-ion batteries in smartphones. The act of charging is itself bad for your phones battery, stated the report.

The report stated that most phones use technology that allows their batteries to charge faster, but this process leads to lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries corroding faster.

If a user wants to preserve the life of their lithium-ion battery beyond the typical lifetime of a smartphone  usually two years  they can try using a charger made for a less-powerful device, stated the report.

More on smartphones

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Wells Fargo & Co. announced it is donating $25,000 to the American Red Cross for relief efforts to support those impacted by the Clayton Fire in Lake County.

Additionally, customers will have the opportunity to donate to the American Red Cross at any one of Wells Fargos ATMs in California through Aug. 31. Those ATM donations will not be charged a fee, with 100 percent of the donation going to the nonprofit.
Solage Calistoga celebrated its annual Arts in August by exhibiting the work of six local and Bay Area artists last Sunday. The exhibit was open to the public with the artists on hand to talk about their work and their techniques.

Jonah Ward had a unique display of glass-burned wood. He uses molten glass and paints his designs onto panels of chosen hardwoods and softwoods to create compelling images resulting from the burn scars on the wood. He said he drips, ladles, presses, cools, and peels molten glass from the pieces, essentially creating a drawing made from the glass.

Douglas Davidovich said his painting involves the aesthetic, utilitarian and structural use of wood grain patterns in modern architecture, interiors, and urban industrial environments. Directly brushed to paper or panel, the faux bois forms interact with color and structure, he said. The results are organic, stylized images that he said are influenced by midcentury and modernist designs of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Italian-born Carlo Marchiori wrote on his website that he studied classic art and academic design in Padua and Venice. Since 1978 he has lived and worked in California. His work offers what he calls a close interpretation to Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-classic styles of painting.

Joel Kurtz said he works with a variety of media to develop eye-catching conversation pieces, some of which were on display at the Arts in August exhibit. His slipcast ceramic pieces were individually created by hand, and he said he manipulates the scale of the ordinary to become monumental and the monumental to become domestic.

Napa Valleys Tim Carl is well known in the valley for both his writing and his photographic pieces, some of which were on display at the exhibit. He said he uses a technique pioneered by Ansel Adams of stacking multiple exposures to create a depth of field and breathtaking detail.

Erin Dowling and Rhue Bruggeman displayed their ceramic Raku panels of images. Dowling said that they use a technique of transferring images onto clay, masking areas with wax, and then Raku firing the image.

Guests had the opportunity to purchase the artwork, and a portion of the proceeds were to be given to charities that have been selected by each artist.
AMERICAN CANYON  Its safe to assume Donald Trump wont be showing up at any Hillary Clinton events before the November election. Or vice versa.

Its even more unlikely that Trump would show up and say something nice about Clinton. Or, again, vice versa.

But in American Canyon the two incumbents for City Council  Joan Bennett and Kenneth Leary  have done these very things.

Leary appeared at Bennetts recent re-election kickoff event, and Bennett was at Learys official campaign launch last Sunday at the DoubleTree.

The two councilmembers didnt try to give the other a hard time, or heckle them during their speeches, or spread ugly rumors about their opponent.

If anything they had glowing things to say about each other.

Keep in mind Leary and Bennett are competing against each other for re-election.

Councilmembers in American Canyon are elected at-large, not by district.

Every vote for Leary is a vote Bennett wont get. And vice versa.

If this were 2014, when the only people running for City Council were incumbents, it wouldnt matter if Leary and Bennett were endorsing each other for a return ticket to City Hall.

Two years ago it was just Mark Joseph and Belia Ramos vying for the council. Not a challenger in sight.

But this election has challengers. Tony Heuschel and Mariam Aboudamous are trying to win seats on the council. Four candidates for two council chairs.

It is every man and every woman for him  or her  self.

But Leary and Bennett arent going about it this way.

Kenny, I love you, Bennett told Leary in front of the 60 people attending Sundays event. I hope were successful together, and well see you on the campaign trail.

The rest of the council was present as well. Ramos, Joseph and Mayor Leon Garcia showed up to endorse Leary and say nice things about him.

We have a council that works very well together, said Garcia from the microphone at the DoubleTrees Table 29 restaurant patio.

He called Leary his bike buddy, saying they sometimes ride around town together.

Joseph praised Leary for always being the one advocating for discussions about big picture issues.

Thats what is important to me, said Joseph.

Ramos, who is leaving the council at the end of the year to join the Napa County Board of Supervisors, said Leary is dedicated to public service and to making parks and recreation a top priority in American Canyon.

Parks and rec have long been a passion of Learys, going back to his days working for the cities of Yountville and Oakland in this capacity.

Bennett and Leary said it makes sense for them to support one another. They think the council is doing good work for American Canyon, so a vote for one of them is as good as a vote for both.

Whats important is keeping consistency on the council, said Leary in an interview as the event was winding down Sunday evening.

Leary also said he was fine with Heuschel and Aboudamous competing for his and Bennetts seats.

In a way Leary has only himself to blame for drawing challengers.

After he was first elected to the council in 2012, Leary became one of the more vocal advocates for more civic participation in local government.

City Council meetings in American Canyon are notorious for having a lot of empty seats in the audience. Few residents show up, and even fewer speak up about agenda items or issues affecting the town.

To help turn this situation around, Leary strongly supported the creation of a Citizens Academy, a city-funded program that began last year to educate residents on the many workings of City Hall.

Neither Heuschel nor Aboudamous attended one of the three academies held since 2015.

But their running could be seen as a byproduct of Learys call for more residents taking an interest in their government.

Its important for people to get engaged in the community, not just in politics, he said. Thats why I pushed the Citizens Academy.

Im not going to run forever, said Leary, 65, and its wonderful to see them to want to do this. This is fantastic. This is what we talk about regarding citizen participation.
A fundraiser is being held from 2 to 10 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the Native Sons Hall, 1313 Spring St., to raise money for the village of Navuloa, Fiji, which was wiped out by Cyclone Winston in February.

This fundraiser is specifically for the village of Navuloa, according to David Bush of Sebastopol. It has come about as a tribute to a caregiver named Jake Kuruleca who helped longtime St. Helena resident James Heinemann. Heinemann passed away in April.

Kuruleca originated from Navuloa in Fiji and returned to his village in the aftermath of the storm. According to Kuruleca, the government of Fiji is doing some rebuilding, but residents are left to rebuild their homes without assistance. In his village alone, 36 of 40 homes were destroyed.

Cyclone Winston had wind speeds up to 185 miles per hour with gusts estimated up to 225 miles per hour, according to the Fiji Meteorological Service.

On May 24, the prime minister of Fiji reported to the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul that Winston had killed 44 people, damaged or destroyed 40,000 homes and devastated the infrastructure of the island nation, including 229 schools.

Bush came to know Kuruleca during the final months of Heinemanns life. Jake was simply a miracle, he wrote to the Star. The things he did for James could not have been accomplished by a mere mortal. Everyone recognized what Jake was doing was beyond description. He made James comfortable when no one else could  so we decided to do this fundraiser to give back.

According to Bush, the fundraiser will feature live music, Fijian dancers, a roast pig, curries and silent auction. Money raised will be given directly to the village of Navuloa, though 10 percent will go to a local St. Helena charity.

Everything is included in the admission price except drinks. Tickets are $40 per person, $10 per child (under 6 years of age are free). They are available at brownpapertickets.com/event/2588597.
A long-ago girlfriend once told me an amusing story of her high school.

Traditionally, the next head of the student government was elected at the end of the previous school year by the freshmen, sophomores and juniors. In her senior year, however, the administration came up with a clever idea  why not let the eighth-graders vote, too, since they would be ninth-graders the following year?

Then they went a step further: Why not let the outgoing seniors vote, too, since they understood the needs of the school, even if they were not going to be around for the next year?

Things quickly went off the rails when some wags in the senior class used strategically placed younger siblings to forge an alliance with the eighth-graders.

The result? A resounding victory for a write-in candidate for president of the student council: Teddy the Wonder Lizard.

In a similar vein, the British Natural Environment Research Council recently asked the public for help in naming an expensive new research vessel that was under construction. They suggested a variety of august names, including Shackleton, Endeavour and Falcon.

Instead, the public strongly backed a different name, suggested by someone on the internet: Boaty McBoatface.

In both cases, the election results were quickly overturned. The high school administration quite reasonably ruled that the student government had to be headed by someone who was both human and non-imaginary (and a current student, for that matter). And the British government wisely opted to name its new vessel after renowned naturalist and TV personality David Attenborough, though they did agree to name one of the ships small research subs Boaty in honor of the deposed front-runner.

Sometimes, though, votes go awry and cant be overturned, with decidedly less amusing consequences. British voters, for example, seem to have astonished even themselves this summer by approving a measure to leave the European Union. It appears that a good portion of the voters who said they wanted to leave, a move dubbed Brexit, thought they were lodging a harmless protest vote and never expected it would win.

Certainly, former Prime Minister David Cameron, who called for the referendum in the first place, had assumed that the voters would opt to stay in, solidifying his own grip on power. Instead, it ended his political career in humiliation.

The British press quickly dubbed this voters remorse as Regrexit.

Winston Churchill is widely credited with the observation that Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. Its funny because its true  democracy does respect the popular will, and gives a government greater legitimacy than under any other system. At the same time, when you open up to popular voting, weird, unpredictable, and sometimes undesirable things can happen.

Voters dont always know, or care, whats good for them, and crowds can be capricious and arbitrary in their collective judgment.

Sometimes, too, they just forget that their votes do matter and throw them away on a lark  voting for a joke, or on a patently absurd candidate (Gov. Ventura thanks you, Minnesota), or to make some kind of point that has little directly to do with the candidate or issue on the ballot.

Our presidential election this year is so strange and dispiriting that I worry that some voters will be discouraged and fail to vote. That would be a pity  there are some serious choices at the local and state level that need our considered attention.

So get out and vote, and take it seriously, too. Theres too much at stake to throw your vote away in a fit of frustration or as an existential protest.

It is a pity, however, that Teddy the Wonder Lizard isnt on the ballot.
Relatively mild weather over the last week has growers excited about the prospects for the 2016 harvest.

All signs point to another early harvest, correspondents agree, and yields should be up from last year. Grapes for sparkling wine have been harvested, and a few correspondents report picking other early varietals like sauvignon blanc, semillon and some chardonnay, but most are just letting the cool temperatures continue the slow ripening process.

This is as ideal as it gets, said Matt Crafton of Chateau Montelena.

Heres the first installment of the 2016 harvest report, organized by American Viticultural Areas:

Calistoga  Matt Crafton, Chateau Montelena  Were definitely in hurry up and wait mode here in Calistoga. The brutally hot temperatures in early August pushed the few Upvalley acres of sauvignon blanc and semillon to ripeness but we havent seen many picking crews out over the last 10 days. The mild weather pattern that moved in last week should continue the recent trend of slow ripening. This is as ideal as it gets.

Howell Mountain  Pat Stotesbery, Ladera Vineyards  At this time last year folks were starting to pick sauv blanc; not this year. While still ahead of most years, they are a bit behind last year. SB should start late next week but probably in small amounts. As for reds, there are still people who have not finished a green drop, so things are still weeks away from excitement. Fewer but larger clusters for reds so quantity looks generally typical.

Diamond Mountain District  Dawnine Dyer, Dyer Vineyards  Its mostly quiet on Diamond Mountain where theres near unanimous agreement that it will be mid-September before we see any real action. Budbreak was early but a cooler May delayed bloom and put us pretty much back to normal by the time we had berry set. Cluster counts are a little down but the set was good and veraison finished rapidly. The current weather is near perfect and all is in place for a successful harvest. Stay tuned!

Chiles Valley District  Alexander Eisele, Volker Eisele Family Estate  Rainfall for the past season was average for our district: 28.5 inches since the end of last years harvest. Fortunately, the spring frost was minimal and not too much water was needed for frost protection. The past week saw the first fruit being harvested: sauvignon blanc, average Brix 23.5, as well as a little semillon at 22.5. Both varietals are showing average to above average yields with very nice clean fruit. Everything is pointing to another early year. This week we will see more sauvignon blanc and semillon being harvested and the first hillside zinfandel is getting close.

Spring Mountain District  Stuart Smith, Smith-Madrone Winery  Spring Mountain Winery is the first to start on the mountain. Theyve harvested some sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and chardonnay. Stony Hill and Smith-Madrone will likely start toward the end of this week, with Keenan, Schweiger and Pride Mountain still some ways off for chardonnay. Early trends seem to be a very good merlot crop, a below average crop for cabernet sauvignon and a longer than normal veraison for reds.

St. Helena  Elizabeth Tangney, Saint Helena Winery  We are enjoying the calm before the storm. This is the time to get the winery ready to receive the grapes we have worked hard to prepare all season. The steady temperature in the low 90s has been a relief from the 100-plus days we saw earlier this summer. We will start tasting the grapes for ripeness and hope to harvest without any curveballs from Mother Nature.

Rutherford  Kristin Belair, Honig Vineyard & Winery  Happy Harvest everyone! At Honig, our first sauvignon blanc crossed the crush pad on Aug. 9, five days later than last year. Over the past two weeks, we have had time to test out all of the equipment while bringing in roughly 10 percent of our sauvignon blanc fruit. With our first Rutherford sauvignon blanc being picked today (Aug. 22), the leisurely warm-up is quickly accelerating to a steady, rapid albeit measured pace! We could easily have the remaining 90 percent of our sauvignon blanc in before Labor Day! The forecasted mild weather has been optimum for flavor development and maintaining sugar and acid balance. Crop levels so far look to be average to just below average.

Yountville  Bill Nancarrow, Goosecross Cellars  Here in Yountville we have seen some fervent activity the past two weeks as grapes destined for sparkling wines have been picked. Some sauvignon blanc, pinot blanc, pinot gris, and flora have been harvested as well. By all accounts yields are good, and the wineries are ecstatic with the condition and character of the fruit. The current weather pattern looks ideal for balanced ripening, perhaps giving us all time to head to R&D for a Crispy Chicken Sandwich for lunch this week.

Atlas Peak  Melissa Apter, Antica Napa Valley-Antinori Family Wine Estate  Here in Atlas Peak we know that when the valley floor starts waking up, we have a few weeks to finish our preparations for the new vintage. It is time to finish cleaning picking bins, get our tractors in line and sanitize the cellar for the 2016 fruit. Most of us are finishing up with our green drop passes and overall the yield this year looks great. There is more uniformity overall compared to last year and even ripening in all varietals. We are anticipating a great 2016 harvest and are excited to get started!

Mount Veeder  Sander Scheer, Hess Collection  The 2016 Mount Veeder crop looks to be coming together nicely. Growing conditions have been favorable this vintage. Flavors are beginning to take shape in the chardonnay and yield is up this year. We should start picking in the next 10 to 14 days. We are excited to get going with harvest.

Oak Knoll District  John Ruel, Trefethen Vineyards & Winery  After the warm spring got the vines off to a very early start, the mild summer slowed them down a bit. The harvest for sparkling wines was early, but not as early as last year. Growers around our area have begun picking their earliest blocks of sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. How quickly the picking pace picks up will depend on the weather, which, for now, looks like more of the same  foggy mornings and sunny afternoons.

Carneros  Chris Hyde, Hyde Vineyards  After a winter with average rainfall, the Carneros AVA had a mild, almost completely frost-free spring. With cluster counts looking promising, we experienced two mild rain events during bloomtime in May. July and August, typically the hottest months of the year, have been mostly moderate temperature in Carneros, with foggy mornings and cool wind in the afternoon, leading into cooler nighttime temperature, ideal for slow ripening.

Wild Horse Valley  John Newmeyer, Heron Lake Vineyard  After a rather late budbreak, a decently warm and dry spring and early summer got the Wild Horse Valley grapegrowing season going nicely. By late July veraison was well underway, disclosing a crop that was lighter than usual but far better than the extremely low 2015 levels. As of this past weekend, the pinot noir was at 21 Brix and the chardonnay at 19. It appears that  once again!  harvest will be quite early.

For real-time harvest photos and updates, visit the Napa Valley Vintners Harvest 2016 website at napavintners.com/harvest.
The court trial of the case into the murder of Avetisyan family in Gyumri, Armenia, has come to an end (PHOTOS).

The court announced the respective verdict during the final session on Tuesday.

Accordingly, defendant Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, was found guilty on all the charges: Murder of the Avetisyan family members; armed attack; and attempt to illegally cross the border of Armenia.

The court sentenced Permyakov to life in prison.

The verdict was announced at the presence of the legal representatives of the relatives and legal successors of the murder victims.

Despite numerous complaints, the trial, which had started on December 18, 2015, was being held in the garrison court of the aforesaid Russian military base.

Valery Permyakov refused to testify during the entire trial, and he pleaded guilty to all charges.

The tragic incident took place on January 12, 2015. According to the indictment, the said Russian soldier entered the Avetisyan family home on that day, and he killed home residents Aida Avetisyan, Hasmik Avetisyan, Seryozha Avetisyan, Armen Avetisyan, Araksya Poghosyan, and little girl Hasmik Avetisyan. Subsequently, he stabbed 6-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan five times. The baby boy died in the hospital one week later.
Finland, Sweden promise to join NATO together

European Parliament calls on Armenia to consider diversifying its security partnerships

Visiting Armenia MPs brief Canada lawmaker on recent Azerbaijan military aggression

Armenia PM at ruling party congress: We declared repairing states foundation our primary task

Karabakh President: Russia leaders statement inspires certain hopes

Armenia ruling party congress kicks off

Man breaks into US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home, demands to speak with her, beats husband with hammer

EU-Armenia Joint Committee on Research and Innovation first meeting to be held in November

Provincial governor of Armenias Gegharkunik: EU monitoring mission already started

US accuses Russia of disinformation regarding Washington intentions towards Armenia, Azerbaijan

Mexico fully legalizes gay marriage

Newspaper: Azerbaijan not inclined to sign anything with Armenia in Russias Sochi

Armenia ruling party convening closed convention

Italian prime minister demands that she be addressed as prime minister in masculine form

Pentagon to send Ukraine new aid package worth $275 million

Europe will ban sale of one type of car

European Commission head announces new aid and investments for Serbia

Biden calls Putin's rhetoric on nuclear weapons 'dangerous'

Lukashenko on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: What are you fighting for in these mountains, where not even goats walk?

Swedish authorities offer to create united northern army

Lukashenko: Conflict issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be resolved now - with Ilham Aliyev

Lukashenko about situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border: Where are we racing horses, where are we rushing to?

Pashinyan: Armenia-Diaspora relations undergo profound substantive changes

Lukashenko to Pashinyan: Sit down with Aliyev and make a decision, if you don't make it today, it will be worse

Bulgarian interim government urges to speed up transition to euro zone

President of Karabakh: It is necessary to unite all national potential and efforts

IMF: China's sharp and uncharacteristic economic slowdown will stall growth in Asia by the end of 2023

Iran: Riots in country were planned by the intelligence services of the USA, England, Israel and the KSA

Steinmeier: Ukraine war caused 'epochal break' in Germany's relations with Russia

Gas prices in Europe remain high in coming years

Ararat Mirzoyan and Toivo Klaar stress importance of hosting EU civilian mission in Armenia

Armenia's ambassador-at-large: Daily false propaganda can't cover up Azerbaijani war crimes

Taiwan MFA outraged by Putin's speech on his status and Pelosi's visit

Armenia gives no response to peace treaty proposals, Bayramov says

Netanyahu expects return to power after 5th Israeli election in 4 years

Armenian gravestone found in Trabzon, Turkey neighborhood

Pashinyan: CSTO Secretary General's report mainly reflects existing realities

Azerbaijan talks possible deliveries of its gas to international Turkish hub

CSTO leaders to meet in late November: Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border will be discussed

Dollar, euro continue falling in Armenia

Pelosi's house attacked, her husband injured

Russias Putin to have private talks with Armenias Pashinyan, Azerbaijans Aliyev

Mher Grigoryan: CIS needs a new scientific and technical agreement

Pentagon strategy doesn't rule out use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear threats

French National Assembly plans to pass resolution proposing certain sanctions against Azerbaijan

Mher Grigoryan: There are no other corridors in the trilateral statement other than Lachin's

Konstantin Zatulin: Russia should have made maximum efforts so that there would be no war in Karabakh

The Hill: The American people deserve to know how the war in Ukraine will end

Sochi to host trilateral talks of Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders on October 31

Poland receives first Turkish drones

Hungarian government may extend price limits on fuel and some basic foodstuffs

Armenias Simonyan attends meeting of heads of EEU countries parliaments

Polish general appointed as head of EU mission to train Ukrainian troops

Russia MP: Karabakh status decision is in fact its Armenians safety guarantee

Zatulin: West seeks to push Russia out of negotiation process at any cost

Legislature head proposes to organize, under CIS auspices, return of Armenians detained in Azerbaijan

Iran prevents bomb explosion in Shiraz crowded street

Iraqi parliament expresses vote of confidence in new cabinet

France lawmakers visit Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan

Putin: Moscow is doing everything possible to normalize relations between Yerevan and Baku

Annual shopping festival kicks off in Dubai on December 15

Lazarevsky Club: Minute of silence held in memory of fallen Russian and Armenian soldiers

Bayramov and US Assistant Secretary of State discuss Yerevan-Baku relations

Expansion of cooperation with Interpol is important, Armenia PM says

Armenia defense minister briefs Austria envoy on situation due to recent Azerbaijan military aggression (PHOTOS)

Australia can't rule out energy price caps

Armenia parliament speaker: Use, threat of force undermine processes aimed at establishing peace

Garo Paylan is in Yerevan

Barack Obama tries to help Democrats win midterm elections

Azerbaijan president, Russia first deputy PM discuss North-South transport corridor project

PM Pashinyan receives France-Armenia friendship group delegation from French parliament

Taiwan urges China to start talking

Armen Grigoryan and Toivo Klaar discuss Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation process

Matviyenko: Russia will continue mediation for signing Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty

Politico: Scholz and Macron threaten U.S. trade retaliation

CIS premiers sign several agreements at Kazakhstan meeting

Konstantin Zatulin: Nagorno-Karabakh peoples right to self-determination must be respected

Armenia legislature head: Policy of threats, coercion is unacceptable to us

U.S. must strengthen its defense against growing threats from both China, Russia

Karabakh ex-President: Necessary to rule out mistakes, miscalculations which will have irreversible consequences

EU reaches agreement to ban new cars with internal combustion engine by 2035

Benny Gantz: Future of Israel and Turkey is promising

EU Special Representative for South Caucasus arrives in Armenia

Lazarevsky Club meeting underway in Yerevan, Moscow

Yellen sees no sign of recession in U.S. economy in near future

Cannes palm trees promenade named after Charles Aznavour

Pashinyan: Armenia agrees to work on basis of main principles proposed by Russia

CIS prime ministers meeting kicks off in Kazakhstan

Newspaper: Karabakh people to make appeal to Armenia authorities

Viking swords embedded in mound 1,200 years ago discovered in Sweden

Residents of Moldova asked not to go out into street in dark

Bloomberg reports fuel shortages in some parts of Europe

British schoolboy writes book that became bestseller

Lebanon, Israel sign deal on maritime border demarcation

Spanish prime minister twice mistakes Kenya for Senegal during his speech

Peskov: CSTO meeting to be held before Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia summit

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Interpol Secretary General visits Armenia
YEREVAN.  The court on Tuesday will announce the verdict of Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Federation (RF) Military Base in the Republic of Armenia (RA) City of Gyumri, who is charged with the murder of seven members of the Avetisyan family of Gyumri, on January 12, 2015, reported Zhoghovurd newspaper.

As expected, he will be sentenced to life in prison.

According to the Zhoghovurd dailys information, however, the Russian soldier will not serve his sentence in Armenia, but rather, he will be sent to the RF, to a facility designed for serving sentences.

[But] the RA and RF authorities, knowing full well that transferring Permyakov to Russia could raise a new wave of discontent in Armenia, are discussing the option of exchanging the soldier with RA citizen, bus driver Hrachya Harutyunyan, who is arrested [in Russia] for the ill-fated accident in the RF, on July 13, 2013.

That is, when Permyakov is transferred to Russia, it will be immediately announced also that Harutyunyan will be handed over to the RA law enforcement, wrote Zhoghovurd.
The majority of the American Armenian community has not yet decided whom to support in the upcoming US presidential elections.

Anthony Barsamian, co-chairman of the Armenian Assembly of America Board of Trustees, told about the above-said to the Voice of America Armenian service. He added that this time, however, American Armenians will not expect any promises.

In Barsamians words, even though American Armenians certainly hope that the presidential candidates will fulfill their promises should they win, the Armenian community will show another approach in supporting candidates in these elections.

As per Barsamian, this time American Armenians will focus not solely on the pledges to formally recognize Armenian Genocide, but on the development of Armenian-American relations, and the US assistance being allocated to Armenia.

In addition, according to Anthony Barsamian, American Armenians expect that Armenian professionals living in the US be included in the new US administration.
YEREVAN.  Nothing has changed in the Nagorno-Karabakh talks since 2007; the Madrid Principles are discussed in different variations, said Caucasus Institute Director, Armenian political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan, at a press conference on Tuesday.

As per the analyst, it was always said that the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblastwithin the borders of the ex-Azerbaijan SSRterritory and the undefined corridor between it and Armenia are removed from Azerbaijani jurisdiction.

Moreover, according to Iskandaryan, they are thinking of some way to save Azerbaijans face. And nothing new is proposed after that, aside from the variations of the Madrid Principles.

In his words, after the escalation of tension in April, the task of achieving progress in the talks has not even been set.

The OSCE [i.e. the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] Minsk Group co-chairs, as international mediators in the negotiations, have set their task quite clearly, added Alexander Iskandaryan. If not stopping, then at least reducing violence [at the Karabakh conflict zone].
In an interview to NEWS.am Richard Giragosian, Director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC) has talked about recent developments in South Caucasus in terms of Russian-Turkish renewed relations, Iran's reengagement in the region, as well as their possible impact on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process.

Russia and Armenia have announced about plans on signing a United Military Agreement. What, do you think, has led Armenia to sign such an agreement?

Well, in many ways its an aftermath or an outcome of deepening the Armenian-Russian security relations over decades. However I think its a mistake to put Armenian units under any foreign command, theoretically it's unacceptable. Moreover, this seems to be more potentially theoretical in times of crisis in times of military exercises even outside of Armenia. So its not that serious, nor is it a major achievement. Having said that in principal I dont think its wise. In other words, clearly aligning with the Russian military is not an equal relationship and it wouldnt be anything unless its under Russian command, which I think in practice and in principal wouldnt be good for the Armenian armed forces.

So, you think, the agreement is not that dangerous for Armenia?

Not necessarily. In other words although it is a mistake in principal, in practical terms its not a threat or a challenge. However, in this time of crisis in Armenian-Russian relations where the security guarantees from Russia are much less trustworthy and second in terms of Armenia needing to strengthen its own independence and sovereignty, I think it is a mistake.

How would you assess Russias recent activity in the region?

Well, since April, the most serious fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh since the ceasefire it has been largely a Russian led diplomatic initiative within the Minsk group to actually have the parties agree to cease firing but thats not a ceasefire. However, its important to note that Russia continues to work with and not against the West over Nagorno-Karabakh. But I think that in a broader picture there is a deep crisis in Armenian-Russian relations where the lack of balance, the asymmetry, the lack of respect, where Russia takes Armenia far too much for granted is a new development and a serious one. Having said that, we see that Russia is only deepening its military ties and cooperation with Azerbaijan which is obviously a direct threat to the security of both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

How about Russias recent initiatives towards wider partnership with other states of the region, in particular, Iran and Turkey? What challenges will these new developments pose for Armenia?

In the strategic sense the restoration or repair of relations between Russia and Turkey actually eases one challenge in crisis for Armenia which was in danger of being caught in between both parties. Secondly Russias now making a very significant use of Iran as a military base for operations in Syria, also makes Armenia less important, whereas before Russia was looking to Armenia as a potential platform or base. What this also means in the bigger picture, like history Armenia may become victim in terms of the competition in clash between much bigger powers, including Iran, Russia and Turkey. The other lesson from Armenian history is whenever Russia and Turkey are closely working together we always suffered. So there is a danger. In terms of trends we see the reopening of Iran, its reengagement offering opportunities for Armenia. The real challenge there is how much Russia allows Armenia to deepen its relationship with Iran. Secondly, whats interesting after the attempted coup in July in Turkey, Turkey is in a much weaker position and in general in the regional context Armenia is in a stronger position. Despite the negative trends Armenia has demonstrated that again it is much more stable and much more of a predictable regional state unlike Azerbaijan and even Georgia.

How can you explain USAs decreased regional involvement. Do you think it's the upcoming presidential elections that make USA limit its engagement?

Its a deeper trend where the United States has been long disengaging from this region and the broader region. Now it is natural in some ways but we shouldnt expect USA in terms of Western engagement. We should look more to the EU in terms of especially Armenias deepening relationship with the EU offering an important western element but not the US in particular. Having said that, it may be good not bad for Armenia in terms of preventing this region from becoming more of an arena of competition between the US and Russia and in this regard Armenia is smarter than say Georgia where Armenia is prudent in ruling out NATO membership or even EU membership at this time in terms of not provoking unnecessarily a reaction from Moscow, but at the end of the day the big challenge for Armenia is increasingly internal and domestic and much less foreign or external.

Do you observe any progress in Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process after recent high level meetings between the presidents of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia?

Clearly no, there is no progress. However the threat is diminished slightly. In other words whats different about the current new context, is Armenia has very belatedly learned the limits of its security relationship with Russia and has recognized the need for self-sufficiency and the fact that Armenia stands alone in guarantying its security, in the security of Nagorno-Karabakh. This is a good, important realization. What it also means, however, is Russian President Putin first met with the Iranian president and president Aliyev than president Erdogan and finally president Sargsyan. This also reinforces the new policy modification in Armenia not to surrender and submit to Russia automatically and actually to fight a little harder to defend Armenian national interest.

As Armenias strategic partner what's Russia's policy in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

Russias doing whats in Russias national interests. That should not be a surprise. It is a painful lesson in Armenia, however, that Russias national interest today is much less and much further away than Armenias national interest. In other words, Russias N 1 arms supplier to Azerbaijan. Its becoming much more pro Azerbaijani pressuring Armenia over the return of some occupied territories, for example in the Russian policy. So therefore the security relationship, the overdependence on Russia needs to be addressed with urgency.

Turkey's possible involvement in NKR settlement process was discussed at the meeting of Russian and Turkish Presidents. Dow you think this is an ever possible scenario?

Turkey is in even a weaker position now much less relevant to becoming more active or more of a player in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. This is actually probably helpful but its also related to the declined tensions in relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan and what we see after the coup attempt in Turkey, Turkey is in a much weaker position and overly distracted by its own internal domestic problems. Turkey may be interested in being involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process but it is in fundamentally weak position to reengage the region. First of all because the little brother of the relationship, Azerbaijan has much more power to limit Turkish activity and Turkish options. In fact, there is a great deal resentment in Turkey over that. Moreover, Turkey is no longer just biased in terms of its support for Azerbaijan but seen as a less trustworthy ally even for NATO and the West. So this doesnt give Turkey an opening. We should expect increased Russian engagement but less Turkish engagement.
The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, is expected to arrive Abuja, Nigeria today, to visit President Muhammadu Buhari.

It has been revealed that for the duration of the visit at the Presidential Villa, access granted to Journalists would be temporary restricted.

This is reportedly part of the security measures taken by the authorities to ensure a hitch free visit of the US chief diplomat.

According to the schedules, Kerry in the course of his official functions would be meeting behind closed doors with President Buhari for bilateral discussions geared towards cementing the bonds between Nigeria and USA.

Throughout the period of Kerry's stay in the Villa, no State House reporter would be allowed outside of the Press Gallery located beside the Council Chambers.

Only Videographers and Photojournalists would be granted access at the arrival of the Secretary at the fore-court of the Villa as well as the meeting at the grey room of the President's office.

It was also learnt that Kerry would not have any audience with Journalists, at the conclusion of his visit to Aso Rock.

The issue of the insurgency in North-East Nigeria is believed to be the key subject of discussions at the meeting.

Five Northern Governors would also meet with Secretary Kerry, after his talks with Buhari.




The Federal Government of Nigeria has been urged by the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government owned Companies, to descend on the Niger Delta Avengers and the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, with the same vigour as the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.

The association accused NDA and IPOB of almost crippling the nation's economy and bringing the country to its knee; thus, they believed it was time for the Government to take greater action.

A communiqu signed by the association's President and Secretary, Muhammad Yunusa and M.O. Abogonye, which was made available to journalists in Kaduna on Monday, said, "The NEC (National Executive Council) in session commends Government efforts in fighting insecurity in the country but urges Mr. President to combat the nefarious acts of herdsmen, Independent People of Biafra and the Niger Delta Avengers with the same vigour as Boko Haram insurgency."
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Calicut (Kerala), Aug.23 (ANI-Businesswire India): Malabar Gold and Diamonds, one of the top five jewelry chain across the world, has said that an orchestrated conspiracy is taking place to malign the brand which has a trusted customer base across the globe. A photograph in which a Pakistan national flag engraved cake is being cut has been deliberately spread across social media platforms alleging that the same was done by Malabar Gold and Diamonds. The company has already clarified that it has no connection with the photograph being spread and it is a celebration held at another money exchange company in the Middle East, and their logo is clearly visible in the background. This being the fact, some quarters with clear vested interests, are circulating this among unsuspecting people. Some of the local organisations were misguided with this fake image and they are organizing protest campaigns against the company in some markets. Malabar Gold and Diamonds wishes to inform every stake holder once again that the company has nothing to do with the cake cutting photograph being circulated and the campaigns against the company using this particular image is part of a conspiracy to damage the brand by its business rivals. Upon an enquiry performed on the company's complaint regarding this cybercrime against it, Dubai Police has already arrested one person on Monday and he is under custody now and the case will be referred to prosecution. Malabar Gold and Diamonds is very much an Indian company upholding the values of Indian democracy. With its humble beginning in 1993 at Kozhikode, Malabar Gold and Diamonds has grown into an international jewelry chain today with 156 branches across nine countries and over 8000 employees. Malabar Gold and Diamonds has 2,000 investors from varied regional, cultural and religious backgrounds of whom 400 are working within the company itself. Malabar Gold and Diamonds has significantly contributed to the country's, health, education, women empowerment and housing through elaborate social responsibility programs in association with various state governments. Malabar Gold maintains highest level of transparency and uprightness in all its operations. We request the general public not to be misguided with this kind of false propaganda. (ANI-Businesswire India)
Seven high-speed trains will operate between Mecca and Jeddah every hour while two trains per hour will operate between Mecca and Madinah, said the director general of the project, Bassam Ghalman.

The project, which began in 2009, is near completion after finalisation of work at the Jeddah and Madinah stations, Arab News reported.

The 480 km project will link the kingdom's holy sites to other cities to facilitate travel for pilgrims and visitors and is expected to have a life span of over 120 years.

The project is 90 per cent complete and the first phase of the Madinah to Jeddah portion is expected to be ready by the last quarter of 2016. The portion from Jeddah to Mecca is expected to be complete by the end of 2017.

--IANS sac/py/mr

( 168 Words)

2016-08-23-13:55:57 (IANS)
Wednesday's sitting of the legislature has been convened especially for considering the GST Bill with no other business scheduled, said the assembly secretariat.

The special session is in continuation of the monsoon session of the assembly which was not prorogued.

Already passed by parliament, the Bill will introduce a nationwide indirect tax on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services. It will create conditions for India to become a common market in terms of uniform tax treatment of trade and commerce across states.

The legislatures of Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar have already ratified the Bill.

--IANS sp/kb/bg

( 131 Words)

2016-08-23-14:43:57 (IANS)
To crack down further on black money, the government is considering the recommendation of Special Investigation Team (SIT) to ban cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh, a top finance ministry official said here on Tuesday. "The SIT recommendations are under consideration... Rs three lakh and above (limit on cash transactions) is under consideration," Rani Singh Nair, Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said at an international tax conference organised by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). "We have put a one per cent TCS (Tax Collected at Source) on cash transactions, we have made PAN (Permanent Account Number) quoting mandatory. All these aspects are also part of the SIT recommendations to stop the use of (illegal) cash in the economy," she said. Regarding the tax treaties with other countries, Nair said the government is holding discussions on the renegotiated India-Singapore tax treaty. India has renegotiated tax treaty with Mauritius while the one with Singapore is under discussion, she said. "We are discussing it, we hope we will soon have a discussion with them (Singapore) as this is a bilateral treaty. We have to take the concerns of both the countries and then we will sign, Nair said. On the issue of advancing the date of general budget presentation to January, she said that it will bring in more efficiency in the budget-making as two-three months of the financial year will not be lost in the process. --IANS mm/vd ( 257 Words) 2016-08-23-17:53:56 (IANS)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has assured the people of Balochistan of its support and castigated Pakistan for brewing unrest in its largest province. It also urged the international community to build pressure on Islamabad to take steps to address the grievances of the former. Asserting that Pakistan is a place fit for terrorists and not for normal people, BJP leader Ravinder Raina described Islamabad as a regular offender and as a country that has no respect for human rights. "There are no fundamental rights in Pakistan. Pakistan has always been violating human rights; Pakistan in many instances has murdered humanity. No one can get justice there. The way Balochistan leaders are being arrested and jailed, it is a very big example of a violation of human rights," claimed Raina. "The international community should look into the matter and build pressure on Pakistan. It has become difficult for people to live in Pakistan, it is a place for terrorists. India is with Balochistan. Pakistan has always been against pro-freedom leaders," he added. According to reports, five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supportive words on Balochistan in his August 15 Independence Day speech. As per reports, Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch were booked under Sections 120, 121, 123 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code at five police stations in the Khuzdar area in the restive province following complaints lodged against them, a senior police official said. On India's Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said that people from areas like Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan have thanked him for flagging the human rights abuses of their people by Pakistan's security forces. Modi's comments were criticised as "crossing a red line" by the Pakistan government, a charge New Delhi rejected. (ANI)
South Korea's finance minister urged parliament on Tuesday to swiftly approve the government's supplementary budget proposal -a day after lawmakers missed the deadline to ratify the budget because of conflict between political parties."The passing of the extra budget is of utmost importance at the moment for our economy as there is a chance downside risks may grow in the third quarter," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said at a meeting with officials.Yoo's comments were distributed by the ministry.REUTERS DS0821 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0177-899492.Xml
Members of the Opposition Congress,an ally of the DMK, today staged a walk out from the Tamil Nadu Assembly after Speaker P Dhanapal rejected their demand to reconsider the suspension of 79 DMK MLAs andboycotted the day's proceedings. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Congress Legislature Party Leader K R Ramasamy urged the Chair to reconsider hisAugust 17 decision suspending the DMK members for creating ruckus and stalling the proceedings. DMK's another ally, IUML also raised a similar demand. But the Speaker stuck to his decision and said there wasno questioning of reconsidering his decision. Following this the Congress and IUML members staged awalk out from the Assembly. Later, talking to reporters outside the Assembly premises,Mr Ramasamy said the Congress party was boycotting the debate on the demand for grants for Commercial taxes department in protest against the Speaker's decision and also to protest against the restrictions imposed on Opposition parties preventing them from talking to the media.UNI GV CS 1142 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-899630.Xml
Opposition has criticised the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh for seeking additional Rs 25,000 crore supplementary demands for grants, when it had failed to utilise the budgetary allocations made by the assembly for the current fiscal. As per the government records, till July end, most of the important departments could not spend even 10 per cent of the budgetary grants allocated them for the current financial year. The BJP has raised serious questions on the matter seeking an explanation from the Samajwadi Party led government.. "It is a total misuse of government funds and ignorance of the main departments like agriculture, health, education, power and housing. This SP government is only interested in its own dream projects like Metro and expressway and is neglecting the core departments," alleged state BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak here today. "It clearly seems that most of the funds would be siphoned off during the last stage of the financial year where the government will struggle to spend due to election curbs," he said. UP government is set to table the demand for supplementary budget in the state assembly this afternoon. Mr Pathak said this SP government had the habit of not utilising funds during the past four years and it was likely to continue this year too. "Despite being an election year, it is unfortunate that the SP government was not at all concerned about the well being of the people and making a fake claim about its image as development oriented government,'' the BJP leader said. The Congress state unit spokesperson Amarnath Agarwal too criticised the SP government for seeking more allocations through the supplementary demands without utilising the budgetary grants. "The act of the state government is condemnable and the government should answer as to why it was seeking supplementary demands when it was not able to spend the allotted budgetary funds," Mr Agarwal sought to know. The SP government is set to get the supplementary demands for grant approved tomorrow without any opposition hassle as there would be no debate on demands. According to the government website giving details of the budgetary expenditure, the agriculture department which has a total allocation of Rs 2,672 crore for 2016-17 had released just Rs 442 crore till July last of which only Rs 158 crore or 5.9 per were utilised. Similarly, the housing department has a budget of Rs 2,171 crore of which Rs 696 crore have been released till July but only Rs 324 crore or 14.96 per cent were utilised. In the main focused power department, against the budgetary grants of Rs 7,596 crore just Rs 1,285 crore were released till July which was just 17 per cent. The utilisation of health department was just 18.45 per cent , family welfare 10.5 per cent, tourism department 14 per cent and Revenue department 23.77 per cent. Cooperative department was one of the departments of the state where the allotment was 78 per cent of the total budget till July.UNI MB SB SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899513.Xml
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen India (AIMIM) will contest the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the small political parties. The Hyderabad-based Muslim dominated political outfit is in talks with several parties, including Mukhtar Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal. "AIMIM is open for an alliance for contesting the 2017 state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and talks are underway with several parties in the state. We are confident to fare much better then Bihar in UP elections as the Muslims, the core voters of the Samajwadi party, are disillusioned with the ruling party and are in search of a viable alternative'', said Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi while talking to UNI on phone yesterday. "Party's UP president Shaukat Ali is in touch with some organisations, some leaders and some parties. It would be too early to really comment on it. Definitely we are open for alliance but not with parties like Samajwadi, Congress or BJP," Mr Owaisi said. "I have met leaders of several parties in UP but I am not involved in those matters. Our state president is there. We will have to wait for some time," he said. Mr Owaisi, who had visited UP on August 13 and had addressed a convention of the party cadre in Lucknow, said his party is getting "very good response" from people which was "very heartening" and gave his party a "lot of confidence" "There is definitely lot of anger against the Samajwadi Party-led state government because they have not fulfilled the promises made in election manifesto. Governance has taken a beating. They have failed to control law and order and now within their own party, they have serious internal differences," he said. Key plank of his party's campaigning in Uttar Pradesh would be "failure" of the SP government.'' He alleged that the UP government has not fulfilled the promise of giving 18 per cent reservation to Muslims and opening of schools in minority-concentration districts. "There were eight promises related to Muslim minority in the election manifesto and they have not done at all. Even the allocations made to Ministry of Minority Welfare, not even 50 per cent is released. Out of Rs 3.5 lakh crore budget of UP, only 0.84 per cent is allocated to the department of minority Welfare ...that's for 20 per cent of population," he said. Mr Owaisi said the UP Assembly needs "some strong people" who can talk about development of education, improving of health indicators and on issues of security, adding that "huge" incidents of communal violence and riots have taken place but Muslim MLAs were not "brave enough or assertive enough" to ask pointed questions as to why they are happening. He said out of total 69 Muslims MLAs in UP assembly 40 were from the Samajwadi party yet there was no body to raise the voice for the Muslims in state assembly. "So, these are issues and atrocities on Dalits and Muslims are still continuing," he added. AIMIM state president Shaukat Ali said Asaduddin Owaisi has himself met Maulana Taukir Raza Khan of Itteheudal Millet council of Bareilly and Dr Ayub of the Peace Party and talks with the Congress are also underway. ''We have also conveyed our willingness to join hands with the Quami Ekta Dal and so far the response is positive and detailed talks are likely in September as Asaduddin Owaisi is likely to visit UP for six days in September'', said Shaukat Ali. He said a prominent Dalit leader Ram Lakhan Pasi has also joined the proposed front. Mr Pasi is chairman of the Uda Devi and Bijlee Pasi Trust. Mr Pasi said he was for a broad-based alliance of the SC, OBCs and Muslims for a long-term battle not confined to mere 2017 assembly polls but the next Lok Sabha election in 2019.UNI MB SV SB 1109 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899514.Xml
Face of Dalit agitation in Gujarat, Jignesh Mevani, who shot into prominence after the flogging of Dalits for skinning a cow in Una, has announced to lead a 'rail roko' campaign against the anti-Dalit atrocities in Gujarat soon. "We want justice and refuse to be treated as animals. You keep your cows, just give us our land. You handle the dead animals and we will do farming,'' he said here after touring Azamgarh, Ghazipur and Varanasi districts of eastern UP. Mevani told mediapersons here last night that 20,000 Dalits have stopped handling dead animals after the Una episode and more people were standing up. "In 2012, three Dalits were shot dead and a similar agitation took place but after the Una incident, it has spread far.'' He said that he aimed to bring all like-minded parties and organisations on a common platform to protest against the Gujarat model of development and expose its reality. The Vibrant Gujarat hype only infused high aspirations, whereas the reality was different. "This generated frustration among people, especially Dalits, and this,coupled with the Una incident, triggered anger across the nation," said Mevani, who is the convenor of the Una Dalit Atyachar Ladai Samiti. Mevani said that while Dalits in Gujarat live on the fringes of villages, Muslims reside in ghettos."We believe in struggle and would remain apolitical and our struggle is against the feudal mindset," said Mevani, who quit the Aam Admi Party recently. "I appeal to Dalits in UP to stop handling carcasses and join my campaign.'' Mevani, who was accompanied by activist Teesta Setalvad, said that his Dalit awareness campaign was drawing huge responses in US, Germany, the UK. He said that if police protection is withdrawn, Dalits in Gujarat would be lynched by feudal forces supported by the BJP. Sanitation workers were not getting even half of minimum wages in Gujarat. Farmers were not getting minimum support price, while agricultural land was being gifted to corporates. Mevani and Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith Vemula, would share a common platform at the precincts of Ambedkar Mahasabha to mark the Diversity Day, here in the state capital on August 27.UNI MB JW SB 1108 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899515.Xml
President Pranab Mukherjee will today launch Kolkata Akashvani Kendra's Moitree service in Bangla for listeners in Bangladesh. The President arrived in Kolkata yesterday on a three-day visit to West Bengal. He will also attend the 125th anniversary celebrations of Bangiya Sahitya Parisad and inaugurate a new building of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce. A Rashtrapati Bhawan release said President Mukherjee will also address the first foundation day of Bandhan Bank in Kolkata today. On Monday, the President addressed a function 'The Legacy to Humanity: Celebrating 150 years of Homeopathy' as chief guest. The event was organized by Dr. Prasanta Banerji of the Homoeopathic Research Foundation to commemorate 150 years of association of Dr. Banerji's family with homoeopathy. Addressing the gathering, the President said that the generational association of Dr. Prasanta Banerji's family with homeopathy dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. He said that Dr. Banerji's grandfather, Ishan Chandra, was Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's brother. Vidyasagar was once treated for migraine with homoeopathy. Pleased with the results, Vidyasagar convinced his brother Ishan Chandra to pursue this line of treatment. Ishan Chandra learned homoeopathy and took to treating the poor as a charitable cause. Ishan Chandra's son, Pareshnath Banerji, practiced homoeopathy in a village in Bihar named Mihijam. His fame attracted patients from far and wide. He became a pioneer in homoeopathic medicinal mixtures in India. Dr. Prasanta Banerji, the second son of Pareshnath Banerji, is the third generation practitioner of homoeopathy in this illustrious family line. His son, Dr. Pratip Banerji, has kept the family tradition alive. The Homoeopathic Research Foundation was established by Dr. Prasanta Banerji and his son, Dr. Pratip Banerji, in 1993. It was set up with the objective to make homeopathy a scientific and effective mode of alternative medicine. The foundation is rendering yeoman's service to the masses through provision of wide-ranging homoeopathic healthcare. The President said that focused attention on research is crucial to unearth greater scientific understanding of homoeopathy. Use of latest knowledge could pave the way for cutting edge research in this field. It could lead to the affirmation of homoeopathic medicines in fundamental and clinical conditions. "It is heartening to note that the Dr. Prasanta Banerji Homoeopathic Research Foundation is involved in active research. It accrues data about various life threatening diseases from the treatment it administers using The Banerji Protocols," he said. The President said that seized of the need to promote these alternative healing systems, the Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy was created by the Government of India. It was later re-named Department of AYUSH and became a full-fledged Ministry last year. (ANI)
Gujarat Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora today suspended all Congress MLAs, barring leader of opposition Shankersinh Vaghela and Balwantsinh Rajput, after they created a ruckus over atrocities committed on Dalits in Una on July 11. Today was the last of the two-day monsoon session of the State Assembly. Congress MLAs were demanding an inquiry by a sitting high court judge in the incident in which four Dalits were beaten by self-styled cow vigilantes in Mota Samadhiyala village of Una taluka in Gir-Somnath distric on July 11. They brandished banners in the house and wore them outside and shouted slogans later. They rushed to the well of the House and threw bangles at the treasury benches, where Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his colleagues were seated. All of them barring Vaghela and Rajput were suspended for the day and some of them were evicted from the House forcefully by the marshals. The Congress members marched out of the Assembly building shouting slogans and wearing banners to join what they called a 'Jan Akrosh' rally organised by the party at Satyagrah Chhavani on GH Road in Sector 6 of state capital. Scores of people joined the "public anger" rally ahead of a gherao of the State Assembly building planned by the party. Yesterday, the House was adjourned after unanimous election of new Speaker Ramanlal Vora, the BJP's Dalit face, and election of Deputy Speaker by voice vote. UNI ND JW SB 1225 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899662.Xml
A moderate intensity earthquake, measuring 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, rocked Assam early today. The quake, which was epicentered at Myanmar-India border region, occurred at 0711 hrs, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) release said. Hours earlier, a 3.1 magnitude temblor also struck Karbi Anglong district in the state at 0530 hrs. The tremors were also felt in Guwahati. There were no reports of loss of life or damage to property. UNI ABI JW SB 1341 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899734.Xml
As the land of the Thunder Dragon is all set to host the seventh edition of the Mountain Echoes Literary festival, global issues, including climate change and women's voices, will top the agenda. The three-day festival from Friday is an initiative of the India Bhutan Foundation, in association with Siyahi, powered by the Rajasthan government's Department of Tourism. One of the greenest countries on the planet, the mountain kingdom will be the apt venue to discuss climate change, the biggest worry encountering the world at present, according to the organisers. "Mountain Echoes in its seventh edition brings back an acute focus on issues relating to the environment and climate change whilst widening its ambit to include the visual arts and new media. These are ubjects at the forefront of the interests of the youth that are redefining our cultural experiences and fostering new dialogues," said Festival Director Pramod Kumar KG. As the festival also looks at the 400 years of the kingdom's history, the Chief Royal Patron, Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangchuck, feels that it serves as a catalyst for literature in the country. "To discuss and debate the key issues facing Bhutan today, education, climate change, rural-urban migration, and to consider our history through the medium of literature, art and culture is a wonderful prospect. The festival has been a great catalyst for the appreciation of literature in Bhutan," said Wangchuck. The power packed line-up includes renowned authors like Amitav Ghosh, Pico Iyer and Graeme Simsion, among others. Women's voices will be represented by Bangladeshi author and women's rights activist Sadaf Saaz; Kunzang Choden, the first Bhutanese woman to write an English novel; Indian actor Tabu; and authors Mridula Koshy and Anjum Hasan, among others. The opening session 'Great Derangement: Politics of the Carbon Economy' will see Ghosh exploring the challenges of climate changes with Indian Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar. Graeme Simsion fans are in for a treat as the author discusses his two books, New York Times bestseller 'The Rosie Project' and its sequel 'The Rosie Effect', and the quest for the perfect partner and the DNA that works behind it. Authors Anjum Hasan and Ira Trivedi will discuss an anthology 'Walking Towards Ourselves: Indian Women Tell Their Stories, looking at what it means to be a woman in India at a time of intense change. Another session 'In I for Identity, iler Ilhan, Anjum Hasan, Mridula Koshy and Sonam Wangmo Jhalani will debate the maxim "write what you know", discussing how they have drawn upon personal experiences in their writings. The audience can also look forward to a session by actor Tabu with Kelly Dorji on asserting her position in the cutthroat Bollywood industry. While the idyllic location provides a perfect backdrop for Pico Iyers talk, 'The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere', for the more intrepid adventurer, Dhamey T. Norgay, Odd Harald Hauge and Ravi Singh will share experiences of the fear and thrill of climbing in 'Of Men and Mountains'. Another attraction is the inaugural edition of Bonfire Tales, a cultural journey that travels by motorcycle to the Phobjikha valley in the mountains of Bhutan and then onto the warm climes of Punakha. Participants will be led by Kelly Dorji, on a tour designed to provide an authentic experience of Bhutanese culture, discovering religious sites, old monasteries and their art, while sampling delicious local cuisine throughout the journey. Apart from the brainstorming debates, the festival will also host an exhibition of artworks by the Jogi family, an exhibition of photographs capturing the essence of a vibrant living Rajasthan by renowned Indian photographer Sudhir Kasliwal and photographs by Dorji Dhradhul providing a glimpse into the history, culture and natural splendour of Bhutans Gasa region. Participants can sign up for workshops such as 'How to tell a Good Story: Creative Writing Workshop by Sonam Wangmo Jhalani, 'In Focus: The World of Fashion Photography by Maneesh Mandanna and 'Sculpting the Spirit: Yoga Workshop by Ira Trivedi, among other programmes. Last but not the least, an Open Mic night and a special concert by fusion rock band Indian Ocean will bring the curtain down on the festival. --IANS pn/vm ( 701 Words) 2016-08-23-15:32:19 (IANS)
His arrival here comes amid worsening flood situation in Bihar where more than five lakh people have been affected and over 2 lakh people rendered homeless in the state.

''Floods have damaged more than 20 districts. But complete information can be given after damage assessment,'' he told reporters here.

The CM two days ago demanded removal of the Farakka barrage on Ganga river and protectingthe state from the inundating flood waters after undertaking an aerial survey of the flood-hit six districts, including Patna, where public anger is mounting over the inadequate government aid provided so far. UNI SD RSA AE 1432

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The Puducherry government would allocate more funds for the maintenance of government school buildings, Education minister Kamalakannan said here today. Talking to newspersons after visiting a government school in Mudaliarpet along with legislator Bhaskaran and Director of School Education Mr.Kumar, Mr.Kamalakannan said that as per the directions of Chief Minister V NarayanAsamy, the government schools are being inspected. He said the government is committed to enhance the quality of education and to provide it to the students, it is proposed to improve the teaching skills of teachers. Mr Kamalakannan said the government would provide all facilities in government schools and added that in some schools there were facilities in excess while in some others there is lack of facilities.The administration would bring parity in providing facilities. Stating that the government is now providing priority for sports, Mr Kamalakannan said the schools with play grounds only will get recognition hereafter. He said the Centre is yet to provide the Rs.1200 crore additional fund sought by the Chief minister and expressed hope that Mr Narayanasamy would allocate adequate funds for the education department.UNI PAB CS 1530 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-899878.Xml
Former Congress MP Ramya has expressed dismay over the complaint against her on sedition charges for her 'Pakistan is not hell' statement and said she will not apologise as she has not done anything wrong. Her party, Congress, today came out in full support on her stand, saying that in democracy, everybody has the right to speak one's opinion.Senior Congress leader RPN Singh said, "It is extremely unfortunate that the Sedition Law in being used for political purpose in such a brazen way.""Ramya had visited Pakistan and had given her impression. This is a democracy and the Constitution has given everybody the right to speak one's opinion," he added.Ms Ramya said in democracy everybody was entitled to their views.A Karnataka lawyer had filed a complaint against the Congress leader in a court, saying a case of sedition be filed against her. Ms Ramya was part of the delegation for the SAARC Youth Summit that visited Pakistan.She said she had gone to Pakistan for a summit where she spoke about peace, harmony and unity in diversity. On her return, she was asked about how was Pakistan and she has replied that "people in Pakistan were just like us". She said in a democratic country, there was freedom of speech, it was everybody's duty to speak about inclusiveness and peace and nobody can force ideology on anyone.Last week, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar while reacting to security forces foiling an infiltration bid by terrorists had said five terrorists were sent back by the soldiers and their going to Pakistan was same as going to hell. UNI RBE RSA AE 1619 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0427-900032.Xml
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is going to Kashmir tomorrow to get first handassessment of the situation prevailing in the Valley where curfew continued on the 46th day today, though some improvement in the situation was reported. Mr Singh's visit comes close on the heels of the meeting of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and other Opposition leaders from Kashmir with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The delegation led by Mr Abullah had apprised the Prime Minister of the situation prevailing in the Valley hit by turmoil ever since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Bruhan Wani which led to widespread protest and action by security forces in which over 65 people have been killed and thousands of young people, including security forces suffered injuries. The Prime Minister had also expressed deep concern and pain over the prevailing situation in protest-hit Kashmir and told Opposition leaders that those who lost their lives during the unrest are "part of us, our nation". The PMO in a release, said Mr Modi ''emphasised that there has to be dialogue and we need to find a permanent and lasting solution to the problem within the framework of the Constitution. He emphasised on the need for all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. '' ''The Home Minister is leaving tomorrow and will come back day after tomorrow after taking stock of the situation,'' Ministry sources said here today. Mr Singh will be accompanied by the Home Secretary and senior security forces officials. He will hold talks with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and senior state officials and leaders besides meeting other representatives of the people. UNI NAZ RSA AE 1554 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-899999.Xml
Gujarat today became sixth state after Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, to ratify the Goods and Services Tax(GST) Constitution Amendment Bill which was passed by Parliament earlier this month.The Lok Sabha passed the bill and the Centre, which has set itself a tough deadline of April 1 next year for implementation of GST, had sent it to 29 states, at least 15, or half, of which must approve it. The Centre has said it expects 16 states to clear GST in the next 30 days. The BJP governs nine states on its own and four along with allies. The state assembly also passed the Gujarat Court Fee Amendment Bill 2016 unopposed. The bill proposes to abolish the process fee completely in lower courts and high court in civil and criminal cases.This will make the process of justice faster and lower down the number of pending cases, said Law Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja.With this the two-day monsoon session of Gujarat Assembly concluded today. UNI ND AKC AE 1638 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-900161.Xml
In a bid to encourage entrepreneurships in the country, leading public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB) has organised a loan distribution camp, wherein sanction letters amounting to Rs 51.30 crore have been distributed under various governmental schemes that include StandUp India and MUDRA. Commenting at the loan distribution camp, R K Gupta, General Manager and Zonal Head, Bank of Baroda (North Zone) said, "We are glad to inform you all that the Bank of Baroda is taking several initiatives to make banking more customer-friendly by introducing various technology-driven products such as Baroda mPassbook, Baroda mClip, Baroda M Connect, installation of Cash Recyclers and Multi-Functional Kiosks." Mr Gupta added that the bank will provide unmatched support and banking services to its customers. A total of 112 beneficiaries were given the loan certificates, the bank said in a statement today. A large number of senior bank officials were present on the occasion. UNI ASH RSA AE 1744 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-900295.Xml
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has claimed today that he will come to assembly to present the next budget through metro. Mr.Yadav said that government of Samajwadi Party has fulfilled all the promises made to public during past election. SP will regain the power again due to development works government has done. Addressing "Smart Infrastructure Summit 2016" here, the UP CM said, ''SP government will only provide Metro rail to the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Varanasi. He said development work done in UP during tenure of SP regime is incomparable to any other state.''After showing gratitude for the farmers who provided their land for 'Express way' Mr Yadav said highway project was appreciated across the country. He said SP government is always been humble for farmers.Mr Yadav said that expressway will be most beneficial for the farmers as this will extend their reach to all large markets. He said these projects will give wing to the developing economy.The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said the SP government has done much hard work in power sector and presently we have a little shortage of the electricity in the state.Talking about dial 100 service, Mr Yadav said police will reach within 10 minutes after dialing on 100 number. He said that dial 100 service will be precedent for country.Mr Yadav said our effort of planting five crore plants was not appreciated. Also, our attempt to distribute laptops was criticised by opposition leaders, but this is beneficial for the students and now they can design their future with that.He said many leaders are giving baseless speeches just for diverting attention of public frond development works.Mr Yadav promised that apart from Lucknow, Varanasi and Kanpur other cities will have facility of metro rail also.UNI JDM MB AKC AE 1730 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-900266.Xml
Reacting to the news report from New York, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju today said that India already knew it.

He, however, refused to say anything further on the issue.

The confirmation of India's most wanted terrorist's homes being in Pakistan comes in the face of consistent denial by Islamabad of the person's presence there.

Nine names had been provided by India in a dossier to the UN sanctions committee demanding action against Pakistan for harbouring the terrorists.

The dossier about Dawood was meant to be shared with Pakistan but after cancellation of talks between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz, India submitted the documents to the UN.

Dawood is wanted in India for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which over 250 people had been killed and at least a thousand injured.

He was first listed by the UN sanctions committee on November 3, 2003. UNI NAZ RSA AE 1754

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The incident occurred around 2 p.m. in Civil Lines area in north Delhi when Abhiran was dropped by the school van outside his house, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma told IANS.

"The driver then ran over Abhiran while reversing because he failed to notice that the child was standing behind the vehicle," Verma said.

"The boy was declared brought dead in hospital," he said.

The police has arrested the driver, identified as Rahul, 28, and also seized his vehicle.

--IANS aks/kb/dg

( 118 Words)

2016-08-23-19:56:01 (IANS)
''Singapore has lost a distinguished leader who was widely admired,'' the PM said in a condolence message today.

''We, in India join the people of Singapore in deeply mourning the passing away of former President Nathan. Condolences to his family," Mr Modi said.

Nathan, who rose to the topmost position, was of Indian origin.

UNI SD RSA AE 1930

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At a function, titled 'Azadi 70 Yaad Karo Qurbani', which is part of the celebrations of 70th year of India's independence, freedom fighters of Delhi were honoured in presence of their families.

Felicitating the fighters, the Lt Governor recalled the supreme sacrifice made by them in delivering their much cherished freedom to them.

"Our freedom is the fruit of supreme sacrifices made by our great martyrs,'' he said.

Mr Jung said while a generation that was born out of the freedom movement knows the value of the sacrifices and hardships faced by men and women during India's struggle for Independence, however, many belonging to the younger generation, may or may not know of India's glorious past.

"The freedom fighters amidst us are a repository of that history and can help enlighten the young about India's glorious struggle for Independence,'' the LG said.

''While there are many histories, chronicles, biographies, novels, films, songs etc which remind us of that history, there are still millions of untold stories which need to be unraveled and widely disseminated for all,'' the LG said.

Mr Jung highlighted the role of the lesser known freedom fighters, including women, who played a vital role in India's fight for Independence.

Also present at the function were officers and staff of Raj Niwas. On the occasion, the freedom fighters recalled their days during the freedom struggle and sang patriotic songs. UNI AR SHS SW 2151

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Beleaguered former Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji today moved the Madras High Court seeking a direction to quash the FIR registered against him by Sivaganga District Crime Branch on a forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy complaint. In a petition, Mr Balaji claimed that there was no connection between him and complainant U Subbaiah and hence the FIR should not have been registered against him. He appealed to the court to direct the police to quash the case registered against him. Police have registered FIR against the former Minister, Babu, former Managing Director (MD) of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), Kumbakonam division and L Rangarajan, the present MD of TNSTC under sections 406 (criminal misappropriation of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 420 (cheating) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, recently.The complainant's case was that he had collected about Rs 60 lakh from 38 Dalits at the behest of the Minister for appointing them as Technical Assistants in TNSTC, posts reserved for Dalits. The Dalit aspirants were issued appointment orders, when Mr Balaji was the Transport minister, but they turned out to be fake appointment orders. Subbaiah have also filed a petition before the Madurai bench of the High Court few weeks ago seeking a direction to the police to file a case against the former Minister and two other officials allegedly involved in the job scam. Meanwhile, when the petition came up for hearing today, the government advocate told the court that the police had already registered a case on the basis of the complaint. Mr Balaji's counsel argued that the plaintiff (Subbaiah) was not an employee of the TNSTC as he claimed in the petition. Stating that Subbaiah had lied before the court, the former Minister's side requested the court to quash the FIR. Justice S Vimala directed Subbaiah to produce necessary documents to substantiate his claim and adjourned the case to August 30. UNI GSM SHS SW 2149 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-900957.Xml
Flood situation further deteriorated in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh today as Ganga and Yamuna rivers and many of their tributaries continued to swell and flow above danger level in many cities in the two states. In Bihar, more than 20 lakh people are reeling under the fury of flood in 12 districts as Ganga and its tributary Sone continued to swell all along their course. The current spell of floods in Ganga basin was caused due to discharge of 11.57 lakh cusecs of water from Bansagar and Rihand dams following torrential rains in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.At least 15 people were feared drowned in Punpun river when a boat ferrying them capsized near Kalen village under Khudwa police station area of Aurangabad district today. Official sources said altogether 20 people, mostly women and girl students, were crossing the river when boat ferrying them capsized. At least 15 of them were swept away in strong current of the river while five swam to safety. Principal Secretary of State Disaster Management Department Vyasji told UNI that 19 people had perished in the fresh wave of floods so far with Bhojpur district reporting 11 deaths followed by six in Vaishali district. He said more than 1.50 lakh people had been evacuated mostly from riverine areas as Ganga and its tributaries - Sone and Punpun- continued to engulf fresh areas in 12 districts. According to Central Water Commission, Ganga crossed the highest ever mark of 34.50 metre recorded in 1993 by 6 cm in Bhagalpur early this morning. The river was flowing 88 cm above the danger mark today. The river was flowing 1.5 meter above the danger mark at Gandhi Ghat and 1.17 meter above the danger mark at Digha Ghat in the state capital. Five additional teams of NDRF from arrived in Patna today from Bhatinda to step up relief and rescue operations. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Surjeet Singh Guleria said with five NDRF teams arriving from Bhatinda, the number of NDRF teams engaged in relief and rescue operations had gone up to 21. He said the NDRF had also deployed 100 boats in the flood-hit areas and 10 additional boats would be pressed into service soon.Army and Air Force authorities have been asked to remain on standby as the flood situation remained critical. District authorities have been asked to keep a close vigil on the situation to deal with any eventuality. The state government has opened 162 relief centres where more than 1.10 lakh people are being provided food and shelter. However, reports from the flood-ravaged districts said that anger prevailed among people over the quality and quantity of government aid being provided to the victims. Hundreds of flood victims protested against the circle officer of Raghopur in Vaishali district, also the assembly constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav, demanding supply of adequate relief materials. BJP MP Nityanand Rai and LJP MP Ramchandra Paswan said the Nitish Kumar government had completely failed in carrying out rescue and relief operation in the flood-hit areas effectively. Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and apprised him of the unprecedented flood situation the state is facing. Talking to media after the meeting, Mr Kumar said, after the construction of Farakka barrage, siltation has increased in the Ganga. Mr Kumar said presence of high level of silts in the Ganga is causing the floods. He said he has requested the Prime Minister to send a team of experts to Bihar to assess the situation. Mr Kumar expressed hope that Mr Modi will soon take a decision in this regard. The Chief Minister said if corrective measures are not taken, the flow of the river may be affected.More UNI TEAM SHK 2050 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0430-900886.Xml
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said the PDP has been able to inspire confidence, among a majority of the people in all the regions of the state, about its ability to solve the multiple problems faced by Jammu and Kashmir on political, economic administrative and financial fronts. "The party will carry forward its agenda of political resolution, economic empowerment, good governance and employment generation and convert Jammu and Kashmir into a real welfare state," Ms Mufti, who is also the president of PDP, said while addressing a meeting of the prominent leaders, office bearers, and party cadres here. Ms Mufti said the political subversion and uncertainty that the state has faced in the last seven decades has already taken a heavy toll on the state, its economy and human resources and it can ill afford any further disruption and the attempts being made currently by some quarters to squeeze the space for its residents will have to be met with maturity, wisdom, collective action and democratic assertion of our rights. She asked PDP cadres to reach out to all sections of society to confront the emerging challenges posed by the different divisive and subversive forces in the state. "There are forces active on ground with dangerous agenda to divide the people in the name of religion and region and their every attempt has to be defeated with firmness," she said and sought people's cooperation in maintaining calm so that developmental initiatives can take shape. Reiterating resolve to establish a new system of justice and equality in the state, Ms Mufti said aim of her party is to script a new chapter in the political history of J&K by removing trust deficit among different regions. "PDP is a cementing force to unite all regions and sub-regions of the state," she said and added that PDP, unlike other political parties, has never indulged in doublespeak to hoodwink the people for petty political gains. "Earning faith and trust of the people of J&K is the biggest achievement of PDP," she said and asked the PDP cadres to take the party's message of peace, harmony and stability to the grassroots level. She said the agenda of the PDP could to a large extent respond to the complex problems of the state, faced as it is with decades long political uncertainty, development deficit, unfulfilled aspirations, mounting unemployment, corruption, nepotism and favoritism. She said it is because of the selfless efforts of the party cadres that PDP has now emerged as a respectable voice from the state that channelizes the aspirations of the people across regions, religions and communities representing the beautiful mosaic of the diversity of J&K.UNI VBH SHS SW 2223 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-900976.Xml
A massive leak of secret documents relating to India's sensitive Scorpene submarine capabilities has been reported in Australian media today. The leaked documents seen by The Australian run to 22,400 pages and detail the secret combat capability of six Scorpene-class submarines that French shipbuilder DCNS has designed for the Indian Navy. The Australian said the leak will spark grave concerns in Australia and in the US where senior navy officials have privately expressed fears about the security of top-secret data entrusted to France. The Australian says in a response to the leak, DCNS said "uncontrolled technical data is not possible in the Australian arrangements," and it implied but did not confirm the leak was on the Indian side. But The Australian says it has been told the Scorpene data is suspected of being removed from France in 2011 by a former French Navy officer who was at that time a DCNS subcontractor. India is in process of building six submarines with the help of French DCNS and the first boat was undergoing sea trials.UNI MK SHS SW 2346 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-901039.Xml
Pakistan's attempt to internationalise the recent Kashmir protests will most likely fail, as the unrest in the valley is "not registering significantly" in the West, and there is no reason for Kashmir to get back on the global map in any meaningful way, say analysts. "The Pakistanis have tried it for years, lobbying in the UN, Washington and elsewhere trying to get key western capitals to focus on Kashmir and they have largely failed," says Michael Kugelman, Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington DC. Analysts believe that Pakistani attempts to involve the United States will not work as the focus in Washington is on the presidential campaign and on other foreign policy issues that are seen as having a more direct bearing on U.S. interests such as ISIS, the Middle East, Russia and so forth. The United States is more likely to offer the usual platitudes for the two countries to talk very generally avoiding specific Kashmir references as there is a strong desire in Washington to de-hyphenate its relations with Pakistan and India, which includes maintaining a workable relationship with the Pakistanis while developing deeper relationship with India. "For now, at least, the U.S. government's muted remarks on Kashmir suggest a recognition of the tough circumstances under which India is trying to maintain law and order and constitutional democracy," says Sadanand Dhume, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. However Kugelman points out that the measures used by Indian security forces against protesters in Kashmir "seem to be out of proportion with reality on the ground" and, if the violence continues over the next few weeks, international media attention will intensify and may affect India's image. Protests in the valley that began after security forces gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani have left over 56 dead and 4000 injured. Both India and Pakistan have blamed each other for instigating the violence, resulting in a diplomatic war of words, and the Indian Prime Minister including references to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech. Some analysts are looking at the latest round of tension between the two nations as part of the cycle of a war of words that has so often dominated this relationship when it comes to Kashmir. However the present war of words is seen as a reflection of a very "inconsistent even incoherent policy" of the Modi government. "There has never been a clear cut policy in the Modi government towards Pakistan and, I think, Modi in some ways was trying to test the waters. He wanted to see what the results are when he tries to take some small conciliatory steps", says Kugelman. But after the Lahore visit was followed by the Pathankot attacks, analysts believe, Modi might have concluded that now is not the time for conciliatory gestures as the public messaging from Pakistan about the willingness to talk isn't backed by any significant level of support to getting closer to India in a big way. Analysts also believe that the Indian side may have concluded that the generals hold so much control behind the scenes in Pakistan that it's not worth trying to engage in conciliatory moves at this point, and therefore, now is the right time to up the ante and make some pretty bold proclamations. In this context, the mention of Baluchistan in the Independence Day speech of the Indian Prime Minister can be seen as a signal that the country is not going to be afraid to take measures that previously have been avoided by the Indians for fear of provoking the Pakistanis. "Modi's remarks appear to be a thinly veiled warning to Pakistan. He's effectively saying, 'be careful of stirring up trouble in Indian Kashmir lest India return the favor in Baluchistan'," says Dhume. While it is too soon to tell if the mention of Baluchistan in the Independence Day speech reflects a policy change in India, analysts feel that it certainly marks "a rhetorical shift" and undoubtedly gives the troubled Pakistani province "a prominence that it did not enjoy before in India." However there is also the view that by mentioning Baluchistan in his speech, the Indian Prime Minister was simply trying to deflect international attention from Kashmir. The views expressed in the above article are that of Mr. Anshul Rana. (ANI)
Artillery positions inside Turkey fired on the IS and Kurdish YPG militia targets in the towns of Jarablus and Manbij, BBC reported.

Some 1,500 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are thought to be in the Turkish town of Gaziantep waiting to attack.

The Turkish artillery fire followed a massive suicide bombing in Gaziantep. A bomber suspected of links with the IS killed 54 people, including 22 children, at a Kurdish wedding, in the deadliest attack in Turkey this year.

As many as 66 people are still in hospital, out of which 14 are in a serious condition.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14, adding that initial evidence pointed to the IS.

But Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Monday said it was too early to verify the organisation responsible or whether the attack was carried out by a child.

The wave of bombings in Turkey could intensify as the country becomes ever more embroiled in the Syrian war, the media reported.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the IS should be "completely cleansed" from northern Syria.

A coalition including Syrian Kurdish YPG forces has been pushing the IS out of Syrian towns, including Manbij.

However, the Turkish bombardment has also struck YPG positions north of Manbij.

Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy within Turkey since the 1980s.

--IANS ss/py/

( 281 Words)

2016-08-23-11:49:57 (IANS)
New Zealand police said today they had reached a deal with a Chinese-born businessman for him to pay a record 42 million NZ dollars (31.3 million dollars) fine to settle legal action following an investigation with China into money laundering.William Yan, a Chinese-born New Zealand citizen, is on China's most-wanted list of international fugitives, accused of embezzlement.His assets were seized by New Zealand courts two years ago while police investigated whether they were the proceeds of money laundering in China.The settlement announced today means that Yan avoids any criminal or civil responsibility, according to a New Zealand police statement.Detective Inspector Paul Hampton, manager of NZ Police's asset recovery and financial group crime, said the proceeds of the fine would be shared between the New Zealand and Chinese governments.The Foreign Ministry in Beijing did not respond immediately to a request for comment on whether China would seek his extradition.The cooperation between the two countries comes as China seeks to drum up Western help in a campaign dubbed "Operation Fox Hunt" to track down corruption suspects who have fled overseas.China has been pushing for extradition treaties with various countries but many Western nations have been reluctant to help, not wanting to send people to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of suspects is a concern.New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has said an extradition treaty is "possible". Key has also said up to 60 Chinese corruption suspects were in New Zealand.China's first extradition request to New Zealand last year was agreed to by the government. However, a New Zealand court told the justice minister in July to review the decision to extradite Kyung Yup Kim, a South Korean-born resident accused of murder, because of concerns he might not be treated fairly.REUTERS JW PM1009 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899530.Xml
US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged South Sudan's leaders to "get the job done" by fully implementing a peace deal or face a UN arms embargo and sanctions.His warning followed meetings in Nairobi on Monday with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and foreign ministers from Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan to discuss escalating violence in South Sudan and the deployment of a UN protection force."It's really up to the people, the leadership of South Sudan to lead and to do the things that they've promised to do," Kerry said in an interview with South Sudan's "Eye Radio" broadcast today morning."If they don't, then obviously it may be that the UN arms embargo and sanctions are going to be the tools of last resort. It's not what people wanted to have to do, but our hope is that the government, the transition government will seize the bull by the horns here and get the job done," he added.Fighting in the capital Juba last month has raised fears that the five-year-old nation could slide back into civil war.The violence prompted the United Nations to authorise the deployment of 4,000 extra UN troops to bolster a UN mission there, warning South Sudan it would face an arms embargo if it did not cooperate.South Sudan's government initially said it would not cooperate with the new UN troops which will be under the command of the 12,000-strong UNMISS mission. But since then it has said it was still considering its position.Kerry said the force was not an intervention force that would challenge the sovereignty of the country. Its main task would be to protect property and civilians in Juba.South Sudan secured its independence in 2011, but by December 2013 the longtime political rivalry between Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Machar, a Nuer, had led to civil conflict that often followed ethnic lines.The two men signed a peace deal in August 2015, but spent months wrangling over details while sporadic violence flared. Crucial elements of the deal, such as integrating the government and former rebel forces, have not been carried out.The fighting has killed thousands of people and driven more than 2 million people from their homes, with many of them fleeing to neighboring states.Ask whether the United States was willing to help South Sudan's economy recover, Kerry said it would only do so if the nation's leaders implemented a peace agreement and was doing whatever necessary to stabilise the country."If they choose not to do that, then we, who have been the largest donor in the world to the government of South Sudan, will have to rethink what we're doing," he added.REUTERS JW PM1043 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899547.Xml
There has been a 73 per cent decline in US security assistance to Pakistan since 2011, reveal statistics released by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The report, prepared for the US Congress, covers both military and economic assistance given between 2002 and 2015 as well as those earmarked for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, daily Dawn reported today. It also shows a 53pc decrease in economic assistance since 2011, when relations between the two countries began to deteriorate after the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad and a US air strike on a Pakistani border post in Salala that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, the newspaper report said. Earlier this month, the Pentagon decided not to pay $300 million in military reimbursements to Islamabad over its alleged reluctance to act against the Haqqani network, a charge Islamabad had immediately rejected. Security aid fell 73pc from nearly $1.3 billion in 2011 to $343million in 2015. Economic aid had declined from nearly $1.2 billion in 2011 to $561million in 2015, the newspaper said Commenting on the CRS data and some other findings, the newspaper report also added that the "apparent US-Pakistan estrangement could bring Islamabad closer to its all-weather friend China." It quoted another report published in the US that had noted that the suspension of $300million of military aid "was seen as the latest sign of strained relations between the once major allies, which is a matter of significance for India". The cancelled $300million payments were in the form of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) under which Pakistan has received over $14billion since 2002. The CSF accounted for "as much as one-fifth of Pakistan's total military expenditures" from 2002 to 2014, said the CRS, a US government news and analysis service for Congress. The CSF is meant to reimburse US-allied nations "for their operational and logistical support of US-led counter terrorism operations". Pakistan had received compensation from the CSF for allowing the US-led coalition to use its seaports and airfields during its Afghan intervention and also for deploying more than 100,000 troops along the Afghan border. The US media, while reporting this decline in US assistance, notes that Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism, which has killed 20,877 civilians and 6,370 security personnel during the period from 2003 to 2015. In addition, terrorism has cost Pakistan's economy $115bn between 2004-05 and 2014-15.UNI XC ADG SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899561.Xml
One person was killed and five others injured when activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM), a key political party in Pakistan, clashed with police and ransacked ARY news office in Karachi last evening, police said. "At least one person was brought dead [to JPMC] while several others were injured, Daily Dawn reported quoting Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC)'s Head of Emergency Dr Seemin Jamali. Dr Jamali later identified the deceased as Arif Saeed. All roads leading towards Governor House were sealed and traffic was disrupted due to the violent protests. Massive traffic jams caused a slowdown on connecting roads including I.I. Chundrigar Road and Club Road. According to reports, MQM supporters rushed to the office of ARY News shortly after their leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, had in a telephone address yesterday sharply criticised the Pakistani media for failing to report on his workers' recent hunger strikes. Senior ARY anchor Kashif Abbasi said, "They are Muttahida people. He (Altaf) ordered them to do it and within 10 minutes all this happened." A Samaa DSNG van was also attacked. Additionally, a police van and motorcycle of a traffic police official were reportedly set on fire. Police resorted to shelling to disperse the angry mob and fired rubber bullets, injuring the protestors, the newspaper report said. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack on the offices of private news channels in Karachi, and termed it "an attack on freedom of Press and expression". He also directed the concerned authorities at the federal and provincial levels to immediately bring the culprits to task and ensure the safety of the civilians in general and journalist fraternity in particular. Director General Sindh Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar,in a statement, guaranteed protection to the citizens. "The attackers will be made to pay for their wrong deeds," he said, adding, that no one is allowed to carry out violent protests.UNI XC SV SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-899621.Xml
Turkey's military returned fire at Islamic State targets in northern Syria today, after two mortar shells from Syria hit a Turkish border town, broadcaster NTV said, citing the military.The military fired 40 shells at four Islamic State targets in Syria, NTV said.REUTERS JW PM1211 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-899650.Xml
The figure is 137 more than the one he gave on Monday during the first day of an investigation in which he said 1,779 drug suspects were killed, Xinhua news agency reported.

Also on Monday, De la Rosa said that out of 1,779 deaths, 712 were killed in the ongoing operations while 1,067 died in "vigilante-type" killings.

The number of deaths were recorded since July 1, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte assumed presidency. The figure also means that more than 30 persons were killed every single day since.

About 300 police officers protect drug lords, de la Rosa said.

De la Rosa predicted that the number of casualties will continue to increase in the coming days as the administration continues its war against drugs.

"In the next six months I hope that we can stop the supply of drugs. If we would be able to cut the supply we would certainly reduce the demand," said De la Rosa.

--IANS sm/py/mr

( 199 Words)

2016-08-23-15:34:08 (IANS)
Nigeria's air force said it had killed a number of senior Boko Haram fighters and possibly their overall leader, as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks on tackling the militants.Government planes attacked the Islamist group inside the Sambisa forest in its northeast heartland on Friday night, the air force said today, saying it had only just confirmed details of the raid."Their leader, so called 'Abubakar Shekau', is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders," the statement by military spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman added, without going into details on the source of its information.The military has reported Shekau's death in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements. There was no immediate reaction from the group, which communicates with the media only by videos.Nigeria has been pushing the United States to sell it aircraft to take on Boko Haram - a group that emerged in northeast Borno region seven years ago and has killed an estimated 15,000 people in its fight to set up an Islamist state.Under Nigeria's last president, Goodluck Jonathan, the United States had blocked arms sales and ended training of Nigerian troops partly over human rights concerns such as treatment of captured insurgents.But the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has argued its human rights record has improved significantly enough to lift the blockade.There was no immedaite comment from Kerry's camp on the raids but he was due to speak in remote northwestern city of Sokoto later today before travelling to Abuja to meet Buhari, officials said.In May, US officials told Reuters Washington wanted to sell up to 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Nigeria in recognition of Buhari's reform of the country's army. Congress needs to approve the deal.A Nigerian judicial inquiry said this month the army killed 349 people from the minority Shi'ite Muslim sect last December in a series of clashes for which troops involved should be prosecuted.Two weeks ago Boko Haram published a video apparently showing recent footage of dozens of school girls from the northern city of Chibok kidnapped two years ago, saying some of them have been killed in air strikes.The air force had denied it had killed any of the girls in air strikes. Authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and Buhari vowed to rescue the others.REUTERS SDR NS1502 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-899928.Xml
President Barack Obama will visit Louisiana today to assess flood damage there, days after he was criticized for not cutting short his vacation on Martha's Vineyard to view the devastation in the Gulf Coast state.Obama, who returned on Sunday from his annual August vacation on the Massachusetts island, is expected to tour areas in the state capital, Baton Rouge, hit by record flooding and to meet with Louisiana officials to discuss recovery efforts.The White House yesterday defended the president's decision not to visit the state sooner, saying Obama was more focused on the federal response to the crisis than securing photo opportunities."There's an all too common temptation to focus on the politics and to focus on the optics," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a news briefing. "But the survivors of the flooding in Louisiana are not well served by a political discussion, they're well served by a competent, effective, strong, coordinated government response."The deluge that dumped more than 76 cm of rain on parts of Louisiana has been described as the worst US disaster since Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The floods have killed at least 13 people and damaged more than 60,000 homes.Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump toured the state on Friday. He said Obama should have taken time from his break to travel to Louisiana.On social media, some Louisiana residents and others urged Obama to visit, and Baton Rouge's newspaper, The Advocate, voiced a similar view.Obama received updates on the flooding during his vacation from US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, who have both visited Louisiana.The president's travel requires a huge retinue of Secret Service agents and assistance from local and state law enforcement officials, so the White House usually waits to visit disaster zones to avoid tying up police and emergency resources needed elsewhere.Despite the criticism about the timing of Obama's visit, Earnest said FEMA had received bipartisan praise for its work in the aftermath of the flooding, unlike the criticism the agency faced following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 under then-President George W. Bush."I think the effectiveness of the response thus far speaks for itself," Earnest said. "And I think frankly, it's the most effective way to answer any of the politically motivated criticism that the president has faced."REUTERS SDR AS1543 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-900006.Xml
A day after Iran's Foreign Ministry official spokesman Bahram Ghasemi announced in Tehran that Russia stopped using the Iran's Hamedan airbase, Iraninan Parliament speaker Ali Larijani denied today that Russian flights from the airbase have been suspended."The flights have not been suspended, as the two countries are allies in the fight against terrorism," Tass news agency reported from Tehran quoting Larijani as saying.Larijani added that Iran's Shahid Nojeh air base in Hamedan is only "used for refueling," not for permanent deployment. He was replying to reporters about last week's statement of MP Mahmud Sadeghi that 20 lawmakers had sent a letter to the Parliament's presidium demanding explanations about the use of the airbase. Last week for the first time ever, Russia's military used an airfield in Iran to attack terrorists in Syria. Long-range bombers - Tupolev-22M3 and Sukhoi-34 front-line bombers -participated in the raid. Earlier, these aircraft flew sorties from airdromes in Russia and front-line bombers, from the Hmeymim base in Syria.UNI XC RSA AE 1518 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-899923.Xml
Nigeria's air force said it had killed a number of senior Boko Haram fighters and possibly their overall leader, and US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks on tackling the militants.Government planes had attacked the Islamist group inside the Sambisa forest in its northeast heartland on Friday, the air force said, adding that it had only just confirmed details of the raid."Their leader, so called 'Abubakar Shekau', is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders," the statement by military spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman added, without going into details on the source of its information.The military has reported the death of Boko Haram's Shekau in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements. There was no immediate reaction from the group, which communicates with the media only by videos.Kerry did not make a direct reference to the reported air raid on his arrival today, but his administration has paid close attention to the fight against a militant group that has declared allegiance to Islamic State and attacked Nigeria's neighbours.On his first stop in the northern city of Sokoto, the top US diplomat said the struggle against Boko Haram would only succeed if it tackled the reasons why people join militant groups and gained the public's trust."It is understandable that, in the wake of terrorist activity, some are tempted to crack down on anyone and everyone who could theoretically pose some sort of threat. But extremism can't be defeated through repression or fear," he said.Nigeria has been pushing the United States to sell it aircraft to take on Boko Haram - a group that emerged in northeast Borno region seven years ago. The militants have killed an estimated 15,000 people in their fight to set up an Islamist state.Under Nigeria's last president, Goodluck Jonathan, the United States had blocked arms sales and ended training of Nigerian troops partly over human rights concerns such as treatment of captured insurgents.But the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has argued its human rights record has improved significantly enough to lift the blockade.In May, US officials told Reuters that Washington wanted to sell up to 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Nigeria in recognition of Buhari's reform of the country's army. Congress needs to approve the deal.Kerry was due to visit President Buhari later in the capital Abuja, officials said. REUTERS SDR AS1558 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-900053.Xml
US Vice President Joe Biden assured Baltic countries today the United States would respect NATO's pledge to protect them and said comments to the contrary by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump should not be taken seriously.Biden's visit comes amid heightened tensions with Russia in the region and Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has suggested that he might abandon NATO's pledge to automatically defend all alliance members if elected."I want to make it absolutely clear to all the people in Baltic states: we have pledged our sacred honour, the United States of America ... to the NATO treaty and Article Five," Biden said in the Latvian capital.Biden dismissed Trump's comments and said there was overwhelming US bipartisan commitment to NATO."The fact that you occasionally hear something from a presidential candidate in the other party, it's ... nothing that should be taken seriously," Biden said.The three Baltic states, which regained independence in the early 1990s a half century after being annexed by the Soviet Union, see themselves on the frontline of any potential conflict with Russia.In July, NATO leaders agreed to deploy military forces to the Baltic states and eastern Poland for the first time and increase air and sea patrols to reassure allies in the region worried about the threat from Russia.Russia often depicts NATO as an aggressor whose members are moving troops and military hardware further into former Soviet territory, which it regards as its sphere of influence.Tomorrow, Biden travels to Turkey where he will meet President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim before visiting Sweden to discuss Europe's asylum crisis the day after. REUTERS SDR AS1657 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-900209.Xml
A roadside bomb killed a US soldier and wounded another when their patrol went to the assistance of Afghan troops in the southern province of Helmand, the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said in a statement today.The province, a traditional stronghold of the Taliban and a major centre for the opium production, has seen fierce fighting in recent weeks.Taliban forces have made gains across Helmand in the past year, forcing government forces to abandon some bases and checkpoints in a bid to consolidate their defenses in and around key districts.The statement gave no further details. But, around 100 American troops have been deployed in Helmand to provide support for the hard-pressed government troops, according to the US military.REUTERS SDR VN1840 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-900498.Xml
Pakistani paramilitary forces raided the headquarters of a powerful political party in the port city of Karachi today after its London-based leader incited supporters to storm the office of a television channel the day before.The operation deepens a dispute between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has dominated Karachi politics for decades, and local security forces that regularly spills into violence.It also comes as members of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are set to elect an imprisoned MQM politician, Waseem Akhtar, as mayor of Pakistan's biggest and richest city tomorrow.Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar, who was detained yesterday after the attack on the TV channel, sought to distance himself from comments made by the party's influential, firebrand leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in self-imposed exile in London.Sattar said Monday's violence, during which MQM supporters fired shots at the office of a television channel, had been started by Hussain when he criticised Pakistani media in a telephone address to his supporters in Karachi.The supporters later clashed with police outside the television building, leaving one person dead and several wounded."Whatever happened yesterday should not have happened, we condemn it," Sattar told reporters, in a rare public rebuke of Hussain. "MQM will be run from here (Pakistan). This message is for there (London) and it is for here."Paramilitary Rangers forces sealed the MQM headquarters and media office today. Police also lodged a case of treason against Hussain after he said that "Pakistan is a cancer for the entire world" in his yesterday address.In a statement issued from London today, Hussain asked for forgiveness from the army and Rangers chiefs."From the depth of (my) heart, I beg pardon from the Pakistani establishment," he said. "I was under severe mental stress over extra-judicial arrests and (the) precarious condition of my workers sitting at (a) hunger striking camp."Hussain is known for fiery addresses to his followers in Karachi though a loudspeaker connected to a telephone in his London home.Many residents have grown increasingly intolerant of MQM's street protests, which can severely disrupt life for millions of Karachi residents.But the party remains a major electoral force and in December swept local elections.The MQM largely draws its support from the descendants of Urdu-speaking migrants from India who dominate Karachi and other urban centres of southern Sindh province.The army has long accused the MQM of racketeering, kidnappings for ransom and targeted killings in Karachi.MQM denies the charges and has accused the Rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown on crime in Karachi began in 2013. The Rangers deny any abuse.Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said he had called on British authorities to support Pakistan's efforts to bring Hussain "within the ambit of the law".Hussain was arrested in 2014 by British police on suspicion of money-laundering, which he denied. REUTERS SHS PR2053 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-900887.Xml
Syrian Kurdish forces took near complete control of Hasaka city today as a ceasefire ended a week of fighting with the government, consolidating the Kurds' grip on Syria's northeast as Turkey increased its efforts to check their influence.The Kurdish YPG militia, a critical part of the US-backed campaign against Islamic State, already controls swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish groups have established de facto autonomy since the start of the Syria war in 2011.Their growing sway has alarmed Turkey, which is fighting an insurgency among its own Kurdish minority.Syrian rebels backed by Turkey said they were in the final stages of preparing an assault from Turkish territory on the Islamic State-held Syrian border town of Jarablus, aiming to preempt any YPG attempt to take it.The battle over Hasaka marked the most violent confrontation between the YPG and Damascus in more than five years of civil war, with the Syrian air force used against the US-backed Kurdish forces for the first time last week.Today Hasaka's remaining government officials were confined to a few buildings known as the security quarter, while the rest of the city was under Kurdish control. The Kurds held around 70 per cent of Hasaka prior to the latest fighting."Even if they (pro-government militias) keep a symbolic presence, it is a big defeat for the regime in Hasaka," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on the war.The terms of the ceasefire that came into effect at 2 p.m. today included the withdrawal of the Syrian army and allied militia from Hasaka city, Kurdish officials said.The YPG would hand over all seized areas to an affiliated Kurdish police force, the Asayish. Government policemen would be left to secure the one remaining area under state control.Details reported by state TV included a prisoner swap, handing over the wounded and bodies of the dead, and opening the roads to Syrian army positions inside and outside the city.Reuters could not immediately obtain a full text of the agreement. One of the Kurdish officials said the deal was concluded on Monday evening "via international parties".REBELS READY ATTACKYPG-controlled areas of northern Syria include an uninterrupted 400 km stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border from the eastern frontier with Iraq to the Euphrates river, and a pocket of territory in northwestern Syria.Turkey is currently focused on preventing the YPG or its allies building on recent advances against Islamic State by capturing the town of Jarablus. The US-backed Syria Democratic Forces alliance (SDF), including the YPG, captured the city of Manbij, just south of Jarablus, from Islamic State earlier this month.Turkey has been shelling Islamic State positions in Jarablus as part of an effort to help allied Syrian rebels secure it. Rebel sources say they have been mobilising in Turkey, ready to cross into Jarablus.A Syrian rebel with one of the Turkey-backed groups said the fighters were waiting for the signal to enter Jarablus."The Turkish artillery has not stopped ... this is to create the right atmosphere to start the battle of liberating Jarablus," said the rebel, who declined to be identified.A second rebel familiar with the preparations said around 1,500 fighters were now gathered at a location in Turkey to take part. "The plan is to take Jarablus and expand south ... so as to abort any attempt by the Kurds to move north ... and so that Kurds don't take more villages," he said.The leader of the newly declared "Jarablus military council", set up with the aim of mounting its own campaign to seize Jarablus with SDF support, was assassinated yesterday, the Observatory said. A Kurdish official said two "agents of Turkey" had been detained over the killing.REUTERS SHS PR2101 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-900908.Xml
South Africa's ruling African National Congress is considering holding an early conference to replace its top leaders after its worst election performance since the end of apartheid 22 years ago, it said today.The elective conference is due to take place in December 2017 to pick a successor for the party's leader, President Jacob Zuma, but ANC officials said talks were underway to hold it earlier to have more time to repair the damage after big losses in local polls and prepare for national elections in 2019.The party still won the most votes overall during the August 3 local government elections. But, with its reputation bruised by charges of corruption against Zuma, and with unemployment high and the country teetering on the edge of recession, it lost a lot of support, particularly in major cities.However, analysts said it was not yet clear whether the conference would be called to replace Zuma or to remove other top party officials critical of the president.The Youth League, which initiated the idea of an early elective conference, is a bastion of support for Zuma within the party.Zuma has himself said he will not stand for a third term, but the party's constitution does not bar him from doing so."The idea of an early conference is not a bad idea, because it will give whatever leadership that comes out of the conference a longer period to prepare for 2019," ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told a news conference though he gave no indication when such a decision could be made.Such an early conference would a clear objective "not just go there and then fight it out there, smash each other, blood on the floor ... we come out of the conference more divided."Analysts cautioned that it would be too hasty to suggest that Zuma's removal would be on the agenda at such a conference."The Youth League are know for protecting Zuma. If they are behind the call for an early conference it is because they may be looking to support Zuma for a third term, or have him pick a successor," NKC African Economics analyst Gary van Staden said.BNP Paribus Securities South Africa political analyst Nic Borain concurred."I would be cautious to jump to conclusions on this without further information. The Youth League is a pillar of support for Zuma. Maybe his critics could be on the line," he said.Following the municipal elections, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party - which has been running the local government in Cape Town - now controls Johannesburg, the municipality that includes the capital, Pretoria, and Nelson Mandela Bay, reshaping the political landscape in South Africa. REUTERS SHS PR2238 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-901006.Xml
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon appointed a former Dutch major general today to lead a monthlong inquiry into the response by peacekeepers to some attacks on civilians, including at a hotel, during violence in South Sudan's capital last month.Patrick Cammaert "will review reports of incidents of attacks on civilians and cases of sexual violence that occurred within or in the vicinity of the UN House Protection of Civilians sites in Juba," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.The inquiry will determine whether the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan responded appropriately to those incidents and an attack on Juba's Hotel Terrain during several days of fighting between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing former Vice President Riek Machar last month.Dujarric said last week in a statement that Ban was "alarmed" by the initial findings of a UN fact-finding mission into the attack on the hotel on July 11 by uniformed men who killed a journalist and raped several civilians.The findings of Cammaert's inquiry will be made public, Dujarric said.Hundreds of people were killed, and the United Nations said government soldiers and security forces executed civilians and gang-raped women and girls during and after last month's fighting. South Sudan rejected the accusations.The UN Security Council earlier this month authorized the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force to ensure peace in Juba as part of the UN mission and threatened an arms embargo if the government did not cooperate.UN peacekeepers have been in the oil-producing country since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. South Sudan descended into civil war after Kiir dismissed Machar as his deputy in 2013. They signed a peace deal in August 2015, but implementation was slow and sporadic fighting continued.Machar has since fled South Sudan and is receiving medical treatment in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.Former Dutch Major General Cammaert most recently led a UN Board of Inquiry into deadly violence in a UN compound in South Sudan's Malakal in February. The inquiry found that confusion over command and control and rules of engagement marred a response by peacekeepers. REUTERS SHS VN2349 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-901040.Xml
ST. PETERSBURG, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday's meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan was very important for the future of bilateral ties.

"We've had a comprehensive and constructive (talks), I would like to emphasize, we discussed a broad range of issues including bilateral relations and global issues," Putin told a press conference after his meeting with Erdogan.

"I believe that we have all the necessary prerequisites and opportunities for fully restoring the relations between our two countries which would help strengthen both regional and global stability," Putin added.

He said the visit of Erdogan, despite the difficult political situation in Turkey caused by the failed coup attempt on July 15, showed that Ankara really wanted to restore bilateral cooperation.

To promote bilateral economic cooperation, the two presidents talked about the Turkish stream pipeline project and construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, as well as ways to revive tourism.

Putin also announced a mid-term cooperation program that spans the year 2016 to 2019, and also intergovernmental commissions of the two countries would resume contacts.

Talks in narrow and broad format outlined initial objectives for long-term restoration of relations, aiming to reach pre-crisis level of bilateral cooperation, said Putin.

Moreover, more meetings would be held for major companies of the two countries to discuss revival of mutual trade, investment and implementation of key projects.

"We intend to gradually cancel the special economic measures limiting Turkish companies' activities in Russian market," Putin said.

On the Syrian crisis, the Russian president reiterated that his country was determined to find a compromise on the issue with Ankara.

"As far as coordination of our views and methods is concerned, it is possible because we have a joint goal. The joint goal is the settlement of the Syrian crisis. I believe that we shall look for satisfactory joint decisions on this basis, based on this mutual approach," Putin said.

He added that more specific meetings would be held on issues related to the settlement of Syrian crisis.

Erdogan, on his part, expressed the hope for the resumption of charter flights between the two countries, as well as mutual trade and activities of Turkish construction contractors.

"Putin and I have found similar position on normalization of bilateral relations, while we agreed to use the capacities of the two countries to maintain regional stability," Erdogan concluded.

"We believe the Russian-Turkish relation is much more stable than it has ever been, which will help us to confront all kinds of crises," said Erdogan.

The meeting between the two leaders was their first since Ankara downed one of Moscow's warplanes last November, which sparked a diplomatic crisis as well as Russia's economic sanctions.
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korean and U.S. forces kicked off their joint annual war game on Monday despite strong backlashes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The annually-held Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) will be conducted from Aug. 22 to Sept. 2, Combined Forces Command said in a press release.

The computer-assisted simulation exercise will mobilize about 25,000 U.S. troops, including 2,500 reinforcements from the U.S. mainland and the U.S. Pacific Command. It was lower than last year's 30,000 U.S. forces.

From the South Korean side, some 50,000 forces will join the military exercise. It was almost the same as last year's.

The combined forces will reportedly apply Operation Plan 5015 to this year's UFG exercise. The OPLAN 5015 is a wartime joint defense scenario signed in June last year between Seoul and Washington to preemptively destroy the DPRK's nuclear and missile bases in times of military conflicts.

The United Nations Command's military armistice commission notified the DPRK at about 9:40 a.m. local time of the drill schedule and its defense nature verbally in Panmunjom, the truce village in the border dividing the two Koreas.

All of military communications lines between South Korea and the DPRK have been shut down after Pyongyang's nuclear detonation in January and its launch of long-range rocket in February that was seen as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology.

Tensions were heightened further as Seoul and Washington agreed in July to deploy one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korean soil by the end of next year.

The U.S. missile shield caused strong backlashes from the DPRK as well as China and Russia as the THAAD's X-band radar can snoop on Chinese and Russian territories.

This year's UFG exercise would not mobilize U.S. strategic weapons, according to local media reports, for fear of escalating the already-heightened tensions further in the region.

The DPRK slammed the UFG exercises, saying the drill is "an outrageous provocation for a nuclear war against the North aimed to encroach upon the dignity and sovereignty of the DPRK and infringe on the vital rights of its people."

The official news agency KCNA carried the statement on Sunday for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC) that said it is "the resolute stand of the DPRK to decisively foil all hostile acts and threat of aggression and provocation with the Korean-style nuclear deterrence."

Each year, South Korea and the United States conduct a number of joint military drills including "Key Resolve," "Foal Eagle" and "Ulchi Freedom Guardian" which they claim to be defensive in nature. But the DPRK says the annual war games are designed for northward invasion.

Seoul's unification ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told a press briefing that it was very regrettable for the DPRK to distort and denounce the "annually-held defensive" exercise, urging Pyongyang to make a right choice by stopping nuclear and missile developments and avoiding provocative acts.
RIGA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The office of the Latvian president on Monday relocated to Riga Castle, which reopened after four years of renovation and a devastating fire, the president's spokesperson informed.

The return of the president's office to the medieval castle on the banks of the River Daugava in Riga Old City was marked with a ceremony in which the president's standard was lowered at the House of Blackheads, which has been serving as the temporary office of incumbent President Raimonds Vejonis and his predecessor Andris Berzins, and raised on the Tower of the Holy Ghost at Riga Castle.

President Vejonis, his staff and Latvian ex-presidents Guntis Ulmanis, Valdis Zatlers and Andris Berzins took a tour of the renovated castle, which first became the Latvian president' s official residence back in 1922.

"I am truly glad that we can gradually return to the castle," Vejonis said, adding that the castle is coming to life again.

"Life is returning to the castle. Today, the president and his office are relocating to this part of the castle, but the renovation works, of course, will continue in hopes that they will be completed by 2018, the centenary of the Latvian state," said Vejonis.

Vejonis is scheduled to welcome his Baltic colleagues, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, as well as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in Riga Castle on Tuesday.

Latvia's previous president Andris Berzins left Riga Castle and relocated to the House of Blackheads as his temporary office four years ago as renovation got under way at the castle.

The renovation process, however, took considerably more time than initially expected after a major fire ripped through the building on June 20, 2013, seriously damaging the historical edifice. Enditem
VILNIUS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania on Monday signed a contract to purchase 88 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), called the Boxer, for 385.6 million euros (436.4 million U.S. dollars) from the German-Dutch manufacturer Artec.

The acquisition is the largest in the history of the country's armed forces. The Boxers, made according to Lithuanian army's requirements, will be equipped with Israeli-made turrets and armed with 30 mm cannons, announced the Lithuanian defense ministry.

According to the agreement, Lithuania's purchased Boxers will be renamed to Vilkas, or the Wolf in English. The first IFVs will be delivered to Lithuanian armed forces next year with the rest to arrive by 2021.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas, who signed the agreement with representatives of Artec and OCCAR, an international organization for defense equipment programs, told local media the acquired IFVs is to be operated for at least 30 years.

"It will be a long-term investment into ensuring Lithuania's security," Olekas told a press conference after signing the agreement.

The new IFVs will be delivered to two battalions of the country's mechanized infantry brigade Iron wolf. Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Zukas underlined that Lithuanian armed forces being equipped with the newly-acquired vehicles will meet NATO's standards.

"We will have two battalions equipped with the Boxer IFV's and two battalions armed with M113 armored personnel carriers, plus artillery battalion with howitzers PzH 2000," Zukas told journalists.

"So, our brigade Iron wolf will fully meet all operational NATO requirements," said the chief of defense.

The decision to acquire the Boxers was made at the end of 2015 after evaluating 10 offers from IFVs producers and two offers to provide turrets. According to defense officials, the most serious competition for the Boxers was Swiss-made Piranha V and the U.S.-produced Stryker.

Lithuania's largest military acquisition reflects the Baltic state's efforts to step up its defense capabilities.

Lithuania has ramped up its defense spending, strengthened military training and asked for an increased military presence from the allies since tensions in Eastern Europe erupted with conflicts in Eastern Ukraine in 2014. Enditem
AMMAN, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Jordan signed a grant agreement worth 97.5 million U.S. dollars on Monday to support the educational sector in the kingdom amid an influx of Syrian refugees, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

The agreement was signed with the U.S., UK and Switzerland, according to Jordanese Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Emad Fakhoury.

"The grants will enable the Jordanian public schools to absorb more Syrian students and will reduce pressure on the educational sector in the kingdom," he said.

There are now some 143,000 Syrian students in Jordan's public schools and the grants will allow the kingdom to enrol an additional 50,000.

More than 1.3 million Syrian refugees have fled their war-torn country to Jordan since 2011, according to the government.
RAMADI, Iraq, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- A British contractor working for a U.S. de-mining firm and an Iraqi policeman were both killed Monday in a bomb blast in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.

The incident took place when a team affiliated with the firm and Iraqi policemen attempted to defuse an explosive device in a booby-trapped house in the district of al-Mal'ab in southern Ramadi, 110 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blast wounded another contractor and two other policemen, the source said, without providing further details concerning the nationality of the other contractor.

The firm, Janus Global Operations Inc., started working in Ramadi in April after signing a contract to clear thousands of roadside bombs and booby-trapped buildings left behind by extremist militants from the Islamic State (IS) group.

Last December, Iraqi security forces supported by U.S.-led coalition aircrafts regained control of Ramadi after forcing IS militants out of the city.

However, bomb defusing and de-mining operations continued in subsequent months, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced people to safely return back to their homes. Enditem
SOFIA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The number of tourists in Bulgaria has increased by about 15 percent since the start of the year, compared with the same period last year, a Bulgarian expert on tourism said on Monday.

Rumen Draganov, Chairperson of the Institute for Analysis and Assessment on Tourism, said the year of 2016 has witnessed a significant increase in the number of both Bulgarian and foreign tourists.

More than 5.6 million Bulgarians went on a holiday at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and in other parts of the country this summer. About 4.1 million Bulgarians have spent holidays abroad this year, Draganov told local media.

According to Nikolina Angelkova, tourism minister of Bulgaria, the number of Polish tourists visiting Bulgaris have doubled in the fist six months compared with that of last year, registering the biggest increase in the first half of this year. The number of German tourists increased about 40 percent in the same period.

The revenues from tourism in June jumped 28 percent year-on-year, reaching a four year high in terms of month-on-month growth, according to Draganov.

Tourism is one of the pillar industries in Bulgaria, accounting for 10 percent of its gross national product (GDP).
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 militants were killed and 21 others injured in the ongoing military operation in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Khyber agency, over the last one week, an army statement said Monday.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the mouthpiece of Pakistani army said in the statement that 43 militants' hideouts were also destroyed in the armed offensive in the treacherous terrain of Rajgal area of Khyber Agency, a semi-autonomous tribal area along Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Forces have been carrying out aerial and ground operations in the Rajgal area since August 16 to reinforce troops' deployment and effectively check and guard against terrorists movement along high mountains and all weather passes in Khyber Agency.

Prior to that there was no check on the movement of the militants as Rajgal valley was out of the control of the forces and the militants used to move freely in the area.

The ISPR said that security forces have occupied passes and are now consolidating their positions up in high mountains in Rajgal.

During search in Damo Drub area, the forces also recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition including Improvised Explosive Devices were recovered today.
Smoke rises following a clash with activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party and police officials in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Aug. 22, 2016. At least one person was killed and many others were injured after activists of a political party clashed with police and ransacked a private television channel office in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. The violence erupted soon after the influential MQM party ended its week-long hunger strike against a government crackdown targeting them. (Xinhua/Masroor)

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and nine others were injured in the Pakistani port city of Karachi after activists attacked office of a TV channel, police said.

A police officer Qamar Asif said nearly 2000 activists of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement or MQM stormed the office of private ARY TV channel and nearby shops. The MQM complained that the TV channel is not giving proper coverage to its anti-gov't hunger strike.

TV footage showed the MQM angry workers entering the ARY office and destroying equipment and furniture in its office in central Karachi. The ARY Chief Executive Salman Iqbal said that the MQM workers fired inside its office located in Medina Shopping Mall.

Police said the MQM workers flared up after the party leader Altaf Hussain spoke to workers by the phone from London. Hussain lives in self-imposed exile in Britain.

The MQM is observing hunger strike against the arrest of its workers.

Another TV channels Samaa and Neo also said its office came under attack.

Firing was also reported in parts of the city and Semi Jamal, spokesperson of the city's Jinnah Hospital, confirmed that a bullet-riddled body of a man was brought to the hospital. Two policemen were among the injured.

Police said that several persons were arrested in connection with the firing that was widely condemned.

Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, visited office of the ARY. Head of the paramilitary forces also went to the ARY office and assured its workers that the culprits will not be spared.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the attack on ARY, SAMAA and NEO offices in Karachi.

It is an attack on freedom of Press and expression, the Prime Minister said in a statement.

The Prime Minister directed the concerned authorities at the Federal and Provincial levels to bring the culprits to task on immediate basis.

The Prime Minister while directing the relevant authorities to ensure the safety and security of the civilians in general and journalists fraternity in particular also sought report on the incident from concerned quarters.
DUBAI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) offered on Monday one billion U.S. dollars in deposit to Egypt's Central Bank for six years, Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

This support comes within the framework of "strategic co-operation and co-ordination" between the two countries, reported WAM.

The UAE aims to support Egypt to promote its development and as a recognition of Egypt's pivotal regional role.

The deal was signed by Mohammed Saif Al-Suwaidi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, in the presence of other dignitaries from both sides in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement took place 11 days following the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) deal with Egypt, stipulating a 12 billion dollars loan over three years in order to revive its ailing economy, pending approval by the IMF's executive board.

The World Bank forecasts Egypt's economic growth will decrease to 3.3 percent in 2016, down from 4.2 percent in 2015, owing to the tourism industry's challenges following recent bomb attacks and turmoil within the Sinai Peninsula.

The UAE has financially supported Egypt since current president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi toppled President Mohammed Morsi, in July 2013.

In March 2013, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait financially assisted Egypt with 12 billion dollars in aid. Enditem
Egypt's Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer speaks at a news conference in Cairo, Egypt August 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

DUBAI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) offered on Monday one billion U.S. dollars in deposit to Egypt's Central Bank for six years, Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

This support comes within the framework of "strategic co-operation and co-ordination" between the two countries, reported WAM.

The UAE aims to support Egypt to promote its development and as a recognition of Egypt's pivotal regional role.

The deal was signed by Mohammed Saif Al-Suwaidi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, in the presence of other dignitaries from both sides in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement took place 11 days following the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) deal with Egypt, stipulating a 12 billion dollars loan over three years in order to revive its ailing economy, pending approval by the IMF's executive board.

The World Bank forecasts Egypt's economic growth will decrease to 3.3 percent in 2016, down from 4.2 percent in 2015, owing to the tourism industry's challenges following recent bomb attacks and turmoil within the Sinai Peninsula.

The UAE has financially supported Egypt since current president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi toppled President Mohammed Morsi, in July 2013.

In March 2013, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait financially assisted Egypt with 12 billion dollars in aid.
LUSAKA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Over 250 people in southern Zambia's Namwala district have been displaced after they were attacked allegedly by supporters of the country's main opposition party, an official said on Monday.

Supporters of the main United Party for National Development (UPND) have allegedly embarked on a mission to rid the province of all people who hail from other provinces after the August 11 polls in which incumbent President Edgar Lungu was re-elected.

The supporters are not happy that their leader, Hakainde Hichilema, who hails from the same province, was beaten in the election.

Namwala District Commissioner Mary Sakala the attacks on people who hail from other provinces started immediately Lungu was declared winner.

She said the people were displaced after their houses were burnt and that 58 of the displaced people were being kept at a government school in the district while others have fled to neighboring towns.

Sakala told state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, that the attacks were horrific as some of the people have been injured by spears.

The Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has since provided blankets and mattresses for the displaced people.

Patrick Kangwa, national coordinator of the DMMU, said the organization has partnered with the Zambia Red Cross Society to provide all the required necessities to the displaced people.

On Sunday, the Zambian president expressed sadness over the brutal attacks being perpetrated by suspected members of the opposition party in the aftermath of the general elections.

The opposition supporters also burnt government offices in western Zambia's Lukulu district.

The opposition party has disputed the outcome of the elections, claiming the vote was stolen and have since petitioned the results in court. Enditem
NAIROBI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga have vowed to ensure that the general elections slated for August next year will be free from violence.

Kenyatta and Odinga made the promise when they attended an event in the capital Nairobi to mark the 38th anniversary of the death of the country's founding father Jomo Kenyatta on Monday.

President Kenyatta, son of Jomo Kenyatta, said Kenyans would at no time again shed blood because of political competition like what happened in the 2007 election. More than 1,200 people were killed in the violence following the election.

"We are all Kenyan; we are one people of one nation, political competition should not divide and create enmity among us," Kenyatta said.

Odinga echoed Kenyatta's calls, saying Kenyans should never again fight because of political competition.

"Political competition should not bring enmity between our people. As we get into campaigning, never again should we shed blood because of political competition," said Odinga, the son of Kenya's first Vice-President Jaramogi Odinga.

Odinga, who contested presidency in 1997, 2007 and 2013, narrated his interactions with Jomo Kenyatta since his childhood, saying the founding father of the country paid a heavy price to liberate Kenya.

Weekly demonstrations organized by Odinga-led opposition alliance against the country's electoral commission in May and June turned violent in some cities.

The opposition accused the electoral body of favoring the government of President Kenyatta.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- All 47 African member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a new framework on how to deal with malaria on the continent, which still accounts for more than 90 percent of global malaria deaths in 2015, a UN spokesman told reporters here Monday.

"They agreed on specific interventions and actions to reach the goal of a malaria-free Africa," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

Although previous programs have reduced malaria deaths in Africa by 66 percent since the year 2000, the continent still bears the biggest malaria burden, Dujarric said.

The disease struck 190 million people on the continent in 2015 alone, and caused 400,000 deaths, he added.

In addition, more than 800 million people in Africa are still at risk of malaria. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, WHO reassures a firm commitment to eliminate the epidemic from the African continent by 2030, a target that would require an estimated 66 billion U.S. dollars to achieve.

Some of the main challenges to tackle malaria include gaps in access to available prevention methods, the limited number of interventions available and increasing resistance to medicines and insecticides.

At the same time, weak health systems present a very high risk to malaria control and elimination. During the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, malaria control gains were lost in the severely affected countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
NEW YORK, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- In a recent move, Uber decided to end its lone fight in China, and merge its China unit with its bitter rival Didi Chuxing, a Beijing-based transportation network company, after investing about 2 billion U.S. dollars in the market in less than two years.

"Uber and Didi Chuxing are investing billions of dollars in China and both companies have yet to turn a profit there," said Travis Kalanick, CEO and Co-Founder of Uber on the company's official website.

Though hailed as one of the world's most valuable startups, Uber, the San Francisco-headquarted American multinational online transportation network company, had trouble developing business in China, the world's largest car-sharing market.

In less than two years, Uber won 17 percent of the Chinese market share, while Didi Chuxing controlled 70 percent of the local market.

By this merge, investors in UberChina unit will own 20 percent of Didi; while Didi will invest 1 billion dollars in Uber.

"This is a win-win situation," says Li Xiaoxi, Portfolio Manager at Principal Global Investors Funds. "Merger could be the best option for Uber to advance in and benefit from the Chinese market."

Uber is not the first western internet company not to succeed in China. Yahoo had attempted to enter China and it was unsuccessful, eBay did the same, and there's also WhatsApp. Popular as they are at home, when playing away game in China, most of these companies are dwarfed by their Chinese rivals.

Why foreign startups can't crack the Chinese market? The reasons behind this phenomenon are complex.

"China is a very difficult market for western companies to penetrate," says Robert Salomon, Associate Professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. "It is especially difficult for western technology companies."

Uber did a pretty good job in China actually. It had made headway into quite a few Chinese cities, including some third-tier ones. The localisation effort was easily seen. It had become partners with Baidu, and AliPay. Still, it couldn't avoid bloodshed in its competition with Chinese ride-hailing smartphone apps.

"The customers are very very different," says Salomon. "They have different cultural tastes and preferences, and the way to consume the products, the products they want are not the same with the products western consumers want."

For instance, Uber has always partnered with private cars, while when its rival Didi first came into market, it built a platform among taxi drivers. Although in first-tier cities, Uber represents cool and fashion, most Chinese people have more trust in cabs, which are under heavier scrutiny from the regulators.

Also, among the services Didi provides is "designated driving", which puts drivers on the network for those who have to take their car home after drinking. It has advertisement in a lot of restaurants and has got really popular. Local companies in China are familiar with these codes and can easily take advantage of that, making themselves handier than their western rivals, says Henry Huang, Associate Professor of Yeshiva University's business school, located in New York.

"They don't know China's market culture, consumer behaviour, regulations. Therefore, they cannot play the China market to their strength," says Huang.

Unlike Apple, the technology this ride-hailing company uses is pretty simple to copy. And Uber doesn't have the first-comer advantage, it entered China after Didi got popular among riders. That gives Uber more disadvantages in its battle against its Chinese rivals.

"So you have cultural differences, you have economic differences, regulatory differences, not to mention legal differences, all of these things make the Chinese market so difficult for western companies, especially those coming from the United States to succeed," says Salomon.

To a certain extent, it is a two-way street. When Chinese technology companies try to march on to the international market, they too are frustrated due to cultural and legal differences. But domestically, the improvements and modifications they have made to cater to the Chinese customers are indeed striking and eye-catching.

Didi is just one example. Among others there is WeChat, a messaging app used by almost everyone with a smartphone in China. It has now become an all-powerful app covering many aspects of Chinese people's daily life other than chitchatting, for example sharing moments of their lives, reading, paying phone or electricity bills, and money transfer, etc.

"Innovation is not necessarily making something from scratch," says Li Shanquan, Portfolio Manager of Oppenheimer Funds in New York. "We can also improve and innovate on a certain basis, making the product more suitable for the market."

"I think the Chinese competitors have reached a certain level now where they become competitive on a global stage," says Salomon. "Facing the most technologically advanced foreign competitors will allow local Chinese companies or force them in some way to improve by having to compete with those technologically advanced foreign competitors."
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Stephen O'Brien, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, on Monday reiterated his call for a 48-hour ceasefire in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, saying that the United Nations is ready to send humanitarian assistance to the people in the city.

O'Brien, in his briefing to the UN Security Council, stressed that anything shorter than 48 hours would not allow for a meaningful response.

"The UN is ready to move 70 trucks of assistance into eastern Aleppo as soon as we receive the necessary security assurances," said O'Brien, who is also the UN emergency relief coordinator. "Once we have the green light, we can move assistance within 48 to 72 hours."

While noting progress in reaching besieged and hard-to-reach areas since the beginning of the year, O'Brien deplored that we now appear to be in reverse gear.

In August, the United Nations was denied access to more than 50 percent of requested beneficiaries. Moreover, active conflict and insecurity, as well as delays in getting facilitation required to move convoys have been limiting factors. As a result, no inter-agency convoys have moved in August.

Calling Syria "the greatest crisis of our time," O'Brien stressed the Security Council cannot look the other way and called on the 15-nation council to ensure the full implementation of its resolutions.

He said that what is happening in Aleppo and throughout Syria is "an outrage against every moral fibre in our being as human beings" and called on council members to put differences aside and stop this "humanitarian shame."

At least 51 people were killed as a result of rebels' shelling and airstrikes in Aleppo, reports said early this month.

At least 45 civilians were killed in Aleppo and to the west of the city, and another 22 died in neighbouring Idlib province, reports said last week.

Aleppo, Syria's largest province and once a thriving economic metropolis, has witnessed intensified violent battles lately as both the Syrian government troops and the opposition fighters have stepped up their game in the hope of achieving more gains in that key province.

Related:

Political settlement is ultimate way out for Syria humanitarian crisis: Chinese envoy

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- A political settlement of the Syria crisis in the ultimate way to solve the country's humanitarian problem and other issues, said a Chinese envoy here on Monday.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a Security Council meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Syria's northern city of Aleppo. Full story

Russia says ready to support UN proposal for 48-hours ceasefire in Syria's Aleppo

GENEVA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations' Special Envoy for Syria de Mistura said Thursday night he was informed that Russia was ready to support his proposal of a 48-hour ceasefire in order to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian city of Aleppo.
NAIROBI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN children's agency (UNICEF) on Monday called for increased investment in the fight against malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.

UNICEF's Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala, said that despite some progress, nearly 55 million children under age five are stunted in the region.

"Malnutrition remains a serious threat for children in sub-Saharan Africa during the first 1,000 days of their lives," Gharagozloo-Pakkala said during the opening of an event on the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The four-day event attracted representatives from governments, civil society and development partners from 35 countries in Africa to analyze how to expand the reach and the impact of evidence-based programs as well as the financing for nutrition.

The event aims to set a course for mobilizing domestic and donor financial resources to tackle malnutrition and pave the way for more integrated, multi-sectorial investments.

"Ending malnutrition and giving children the best start in life requires more integration and sustainable investment from different sectors of our society," Gharagozloo-Pakkala said.

The event will examine the latest financial analysis on the cost of meeting the World Health Assembly's Global Nutrition Targets for 2025, and will feature a panel discussion between policy makers, particularly representing the ministries of finance and health, media commentators, parliamentarians, donors and economists, to assess the politics of investing in nutrition.
by Alessandra Cardone

ROME, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi met with German and French leaders near Naples on Monday, in a mini-summit aimed to revamp the European Union (EU) after the Brexit vote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande were hosted in Ventotene island off Naples.

A joint press conference was later held on board of Italian navy's aircraft carrier Garibaldi, which serves as a flagship in the EU's migrant rescue mission deployed in the Mediterranean.

"Many believed Europe was over after the Brexit. Yet, it is not so," Renzi said, "We respect the choice of the Britons, but we want to write our future."

Further European integration should rest on common defence, shared intelligence and strong measures to revamp economic growth, Renzi added.

"We have to address these top priorities, along with (a plan of) high quality investments combined with structural reforms," the Italian prime minister said.

The three leaders discussed other major challenges, including Europe's migration crisis and youth unemployment.

The leaders briefly met in Berlin on June 27, for a first show of unity of the EU's three founding members soon after the shocking results of the British referendum.

On Monday, their talks also focused on terror threats, and the ways to improve security at the bloc's internal and external borders.

"The idea of a European defense takes on an absolute crucial relevance now, since we are facing internal threats and wars in countries near us," Hollande told the press conference.

"We are not here to take decisions for others (EU members), but to prove we are ready to take on our responsibilities, as EU's three largest countries, in order to bring Europe towards a future of greater cohesion and unity," the French president added.

The talks in Ventotene island also aimed at preparing the ground for an informal EU summit scheduled in Bratislava for Sept. 16, in which all EU leaders but the British prime minister will discuss the effects of the Brexit vote on the economy.

"Further growth and development is another big issue (to tackle), since we know Europe is not a most competitive place in all of its contexts," Merkel stressed.

"We will have to address this in Bratislava, and also discuss the future of our youth, who must have the chance to play a role, and bring European values around the world," the German chancellor added.
LISBON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's public debt climbed to 131.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of this year, more than the 129 percent registered at the end of March, according to figures released by the Bank of Portugal on Monday.

The Portuguese central bank said in its June statistics bulletin that the public sector debt went up to 240.019 billion euros in June, 2.4 billion euros more than in March this year and 8.67 billion euros more than that in December last year.

Portugal underwent tough austerity under a 78 billion euro bailout it signed with international lenders in 2011 in an attempt to reduce its debt load.

The country exited the bailout program three years later and its economy is back on tack of slow recovery but its public debt remains around 130 percent of GDP in recent years. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S.dollars) Enditem
HAVANA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez met with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Havana on Monday with both nations vowing to strengthen economic cooperation and consolidate political ties after years of isolation from Western powers.

Rodriguez received Zarif at Cuba's Foreign Ministry for a discussion about bilateral cooperation and other international issues, particularly the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement summit which will be held in September in Venezuela.

"Iran and Cuba have always maintained unity and bilateral cooperation to reject pressure from Western powers and their intentions to break our relationship apart," said Zarif at the bilateral talks.

The Iranian diplomat is accompanied by a delegation of more than 60 state and private entrepreneurs seeking to boost economic ties between Tehran and Havana.

"Relations between our countries can consolidate and expand in various fields such as industry, nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy and other areas of common interest," said the Iranian minister.

Zarif also expressed Tehran's solidarity against Washington's economic blockade against the island, which remains in place despite a new scenario in Cuba-U.S. relations.

"Our political relations are solid and we always support each other against sanctions and atrocities taken by Western powers against our countries," added Zarif.

Zarif was also quoted as saying by Iran's state-owned Press TV that "the Iranian nation proved that sanctions imposed by big powers cannot drive it away from its policies and viewpoints."

Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, welcomed Zarif and agreed with his counterpart to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation.

"We can enhance our ties in areas like biotechnology, culture, education, industries, energy and other economic fields that are vital for our countries to develop and contribute to a closer relationship between us," said the Cuban minister.

Rodriguez said Havana is "content" with Iran's foreign policy achievements, particularly the nuclear deal reached with P5+1 last year that lifted unilateral economic sanctions against Tehran.

"Cuba supports Iran and its legitimate right to develop nuclear energy with peaceful means. We will continue to reject any sanctions against your country," added the Cuban diplomat.

Last month, both nations agreed to create a joint economic committee to deepen economic cooperation as well as exchanges between Cuban doctors and other advisors.

Havana is the first leg of a six-nation Latin American tour for the Iranian foreign minister who seeks to strengthen Tehran's economic cooperation with the region.
CHICAGO, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures closed mixed Monday, with soybean futures rebounding by ongoing optimism over export demand.

Meanwhile, corn and wheat prices fell. The most active corn contract for December delivery was down 1.25 cents, or 0.36 percent, to 3.425 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery fell 9.5 cents, or 2.14 percent, to 4.3525 dollars per bushel. November soybeans rose 11.25 cents, or 1.12 percent, to 10.1575 dollars per bushel.

With Monday's sale, in 14 out of 15 days, the U.S. has made fresh soybean sales. Private exporters reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture export sales of 120,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2016/2017 marketing year.

The marketing year for soybeans began September 1st.

Corn and wheat futures fell, weighed down by a stronger U.S. dollar and expectations that domestic growers will harvest big crops this year, piling onto already large grain inventories.

Prices for corn closed lower despite disappointing yield reports from scouts on an annual crop tour through the Midwest, who on Monday traversed fields in Ohio and South Dakota to size up crops in the area.

Grain traders are keeping a close eye on dispatches from the Pro Farmer crop tour to see whether yield and condition reports help confirm, or add to doubt, over the USDA's forecast for a 15.2 billion-bushel corn crop this year. Analysts said yield reports from the two states would likely be the worst of the tour as weather stress this year hit the far eastern and western parts of the Corn Belt. Enditem
(File Pic) John Chadwick (L) and his son Joshua of Triple J Firearms in Magnolia, Texas, look over Remington rifles and shotguns during the annual SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show in Las Vegas January 15, 2013. Gun dealers at the show are reporting booming sales resulting from worries about possible gun control legislation. (Xinhua/REUTERS/Steve Marcus)

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu on Monday asked the U.S. Congress to restrict the sale of assault weapons as "they cause harm on both sides of the border."

Ruiz Massieu made this call at the Second Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, Ruiz Massieu said Mexico "places the highest priority" on this matter, as the country has suffered from the illegal arms trade, with assault weapons often legally bought from gun shops across the border in the U.S. and transported illegally to Mexico.

During her speech, the minister said "our country prioritizes closing access to gun smugglers and those who irresponsibly bring in guns in search of an immediate economic benefit."

She added that Mexico is prey to some of the most delicate and urgent situations facing the international community, namely the illegal trafficking and sales of guns, and the violence linked to this.

The U.S. first passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, under the presidency of Bill Clinton. However, the ban expired in 2004 and has never been renewed, despite multiple attempts to do so.
by Edgardo Loguercio

BRASILIA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The impeachment process into Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff, will enter a decisive phase this week as her trial begins in the Senate.

The timeline for the event was announced last week by the president of the Supreme Court (STF), Ricardo Lewandowski, who will oversee the trial.

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.

If not, she will return to the presidency immediately and the process against her will end.

The first part of the process on Aug. 25-26 will be given over to the testimony of witnesses called by the prosecutors, Miguel Reale Junior, Janaina Paschoal and Helio Bicudo, and Rousseff's defense team, led by former Justice Minister, Jose Eduardo Cardozo.

The prosecution will call two witnesses, Julio Marcelo de Oliveira, a public official from the federal accountability office (TCU) who made the allegations against Rousseff, and Antonio Carlos Costa D'Avila, the chief auditor of the TCU.

The defense has presented six witnesses, the maximum permitted. These include Rousseff's former planning minister Nelson Barbosa, her former budget secretary Esther Dweck, a leading economist Luiz, Gonzaga Belluzzo, the former political investment secretary, Gilson Bettencourt, the former executive secretary of the ministry of education, Luiz Claudio Costa, and a law professor from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Geraldo Prado.

The declarations of each witness will be heard individually, followed by three minutes allotted for questions from each senator and three minutes for answers.

On Aug. 29, Rousseff will take the stand in her own defense. She will have 30 minutes to make her case, before being interrogated by the president of the Supreme Court, the senators, and the lawyers for the prosecution and defense.

Each senator will have five minutes to ask question while Rousseff will have no time limit to answer. She is also permitted to remain silent on any questions.

After Rousseff's participation, the prosecution and defense will have 90 minutes to make their closing statements and will be allowed a rebuttal.

On Aug. 30, each senator will have 10 minutes to speak on the entire process, after which Lewandowski will read a summary of the trial, with the main arguments from the prosecution and defense.

Two senators favorable to Rousseff's impeachment and two senators against it will then have five minutes each to give their recommendations for the final vote.

If time allows, the vote will take place on Aug. 30 and if not on Aug. 31.

The bloc in favor of impeachment is confident of gaining the 54 votes necessary, since a vote taken two weeks ago into whether there was enough evidence to try Rousseff saw 59 votes in favor.

In an address in Brasilia on Aug. 16, Rousseff repeated her claim that she had been formally accused of no crime and that her removal from office would be "a coup".

"My return to the presidency, upon decision of the Senate, would show a democratic, lawful state and would contribute decisively to a new and promising political reality," she read.

According to Rousseff, the country needs a new institutional form of politics which overcomes "the fragmentation of parties, makes campaign financing moral...and give more power to the voters."

She is expected to return to this message during the trial to seek to convince undecided senators to vote against her impeachment.
WELLINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese millionaire with New Zealand citizenship and three other people have been ordered to hand over 42.85 million NZ dollars (31.2 million U.S. dollars) to the New Zealand and Chinese governments to settle money laundering charges.

The New Zealand Police said Tuesday that a court order against controversial millionaire William Yan and Wei You, and two of Yan's acquaintances, was the single largest court-ordered forfeiture ever in New Zealand.

It was also the first that related to crimes alleged to have occurred in China, said a statement from the Police.

The activity underlying the forfeiture orders was alleged money laundering and the settlement was full and final without any admission of criminal or civil liability.

The proceedings against Yan and You began in August 2014, when police officers raided their luxury penthouse apartment in the largest city of Auckland.

Restraining orders were obtained over assets associated with the couple, including the apartment, several luxury vehicles and substantial shareholdings.

Related proceedings were initiated in December 2013 against Yingzi Zeng and Shui Yong Huang, who were associates of Yan, said the statement.

They were alleged to have assisted in money laundering and property associated with them was restrained, including three Auckland properties, a Porsche and Maserati, and more than 4.5 million NZ dollars (3.27 million U.S. dollars) in bank funds.

Once the settlement sum was paid, the restrained properties, vehicles, shareholdings and third party assets would be released, said the statement.

The settlement followed a complex three-year investigation focusing on money laundering of large sums of funds allegedly derived from a series of alleged frauds perpetrated in China from 1999 to 2001.

"This is a significant success for New Zealand Police," Detective Inspector Paul Hampton said in the statement.

"The outcome in this case reflects the effective working relationship between Chinese and New Zealand law enforcement agencies."

The next process would be determining how the recovered monies would be shared between the New Zealand and Chinese governments.

The court order was made under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act, which essentially forces someone to prove how an asset was paid for - even if they were acquitted or criminal charges are not laid.

Yan - also previously known as Bill Liu, Yang Liu and Yong Ming Yan - reportedly had a reputation for spending millions in Auckland's biggest casino.

Yan stood trial in the High Court at Auckland in May 2012 after pleading not guilty to five charges relating to false declarations on immigration and citizenship papers. Justice Timothy Brewer found him not guilty despite saying the evidence put before him "proves a situation that is highly suspicious."

Yan has been a permanent resident in New Zealand since 2002. In 2005, he applied for citizenship, but this was opposed by the Department of Internal Affairs because his true identity was not known.

He was then granted citizenship by then Internal Affairs Minister Shane Jones against the advice of officials.

In June 2005, Chinese authorities reportedly posted a "red notice" with Interpol, claiming Yan was born Yong Ming Yan and stole the identity of Yang Liu in 1999, obtaining two false passports. He was wanted for embezzlement.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China's (CPC) top anti-graft body said Monday that 4,417 officials had been punished for violating austerity rules in July.

They were involved in 3,044 cases, according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) website.

Awarding unauthorized bonuses was the most common misdemeanor, while sending or accepting gifts and misuse of public vehicles were the second- and third-most common, with these cases numbering 799, 562 and 463 respectively.

The CPC released its eight-point rules on austerity in late 2012 to reduce undesirable work practices.
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's economic slowdown is due to inefficient government spending which, despite one of the country's highest budgets in history, has seen record-low public investments, analysts said.

On Monday, experts from the Mexican economic observatory Como vamos held a press conference to share their view on why the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been stagnating.

While individual areas such as private consumption or foreign investment have been showing signs of dynamism, they are not enough to overcome "mediocre growth" overall, said Valeria Moy, director general of Como vamos.

"The government's spending is not generating value. We are not growing as we should due to inefficiency," she said.

According to Moy, the government's target growth rate of 2.7 percent for 2016 seems "very far from reality." The national statistics bureau, INEGI, recently announced that Mexico's GDP contracted 0.2 percent in the second quarter and may only grow by 0.5 percent in the third quarter.

Manuel Molano, deputy director general of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, said that Mexico would need to grow 4.9 percent in the second half of the year to reach the 2.7-percent target.

Seeing this as highly unlikely, he said:" If all goes well, the country will close with growth similar to that registered over the last 20 years, around 2 percent."

For Francisco Lelo de Larrea, director of economic studies at the Center for Economic Studies of the Private Sector, a total structural reform of public spending at all government levels is needed to bring added value to the country.

"The lack of value creation is due to the government having reduced spending on investment and has increased spending on current expenditure. We now have the highest public spending in our history: 27 percent of GDP," he stressed.

This stagnation has impacted many sectors severely, including job creation. For example, Moy said, at the beginning of 2016, Como vamos had predicted the creation of 700,000 jobs by the end of July. In reality, only 464,098 new jobs were reported in that time frame.

To fix this, Moy said public spending should be directed to have a multiplying effect, with every dollar spent creating more dollars of value across the value chain.

"It is crucial to establish clear and daring goals so we can follow and evaluate the public policies put in place by the government," she said.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday condemned "in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack" at a wedding ceremony in Turkey.

"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security," the 15-nation UN body said in a press statement.

They expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the government of Turkey and they wished speedy and full recovery to those who were injured, said the statement.

The suicide bomb attack last Saturday at the wedding ceremony in Turkey's southeastern city of Gaziantep killed at least 54 people, including 29 children, and injured 200 others.
HAVANA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Raul Castro and visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday agreed to deepen economic cooperation and consolidate political relations.

According to an official statement, the pair discussed bilateral relations as well as other topics related to Zarif's six-nation Latin American tour.

Earlier in the day, the Iranian official also met respectively with Cuba's Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas, Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca, as well as his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez.

During his meeting with Rodriguez, Zarif said Iran wants to tread a "new path" in its relations with Cuba by deepening economic ties in different areas.

Both ministers vowed that both countries would strengthen economic cooperation and consolidate political ties as they were both victims of Western isolation.

Zarif also praised Cuba's "resistance" against the United States, with which Iran has not had formal diplomatic relations since 1980.

They also talked about other international issues, particularly the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement summit to be held in September in Venezuela.

Rodriguez said Havana was "content" with Iran's foreign policy achievements, particularly the P5+1 nuclear deal reached last year that lifted unilateral economic sanctions against Tehran.

Havana was the first leg of the six-nation Latin American tour by the Iranian foreign minister, who brings a delegation of 60 leading entrepreneurs to strengthen Tehran's economic cooperation with the region.

Zarif left late Monday for Nicaragua, the second stop of his tour.
MOSCOW, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- With common positions on many international issues, Russia and China should work together within the G20 framework to secure a new international financial and economic order -- a priority among issues of common concern, a Russian expert has said.

Russia and China should join efforts to first upgrade the international financial and economic system, Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a Moscow-based foreign policy think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Xinhua.

He stressed the need for such a new global order, a topic top on the agenda of the 2016 G20 Summit to be held on Sept. 4-5 in Hangzhou, east China.

"The longer those reforms are postponed, the higher the risk of new crises and instability is in the world economy," he said.

In this context, Russia welcomes China's initiative to create new financial and economic institutions, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that is expected to help set up new investment mechanisms and financial management models.

Russia will be an active participant in such initiatives, he said.

The G20 came into being amid a global financial crisis that highlighted the inefficiency of the G8 format and the need for "a more representative and more democratic mechanism, including China, India and other non-Western states," the Russian expert noted.

Kortunov believes the partnership between Russia and China within the G20 will help tackle challenges where a political will is present.

"If today Beijing and Moscow offer their concept of stability to the international community, it is not just empty words, but proposals based on many successful experiences," he said.

The Russian expert said Moscow and Beijing have to work with Washington as with "a complex, and sometimes unpredictable partner," without which it would be impossible to address many international issues.

In his opinion, after unsuccessful attempts to build a unipolar world, the United States is now forced to revise its ambitions, though reluctant to abandon its claims to global leadership.

As a result, he said, the United States has displayed inconsistency and a gap between rhetoric and practice in foreign policies.

"Both China and Russia should consistently seek common ground with Washington, and avoid crises without making concessions on matters of principle," Kortunov suggested.
YANGON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon will probably address Myanmar's upcoming 21st Century Panglong Ethnic Conference, official sources quoted Secretary of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) Sai Kyaw Nyunt as reporting Tuesday.

According to the sources, all international organizations assisting Myanmar's peace process, UN agencies and foreign diplomats in Myanmar will be invited to the conference scheduled for Aug. 31, which is expected to attract over 1,800 attendees.

The review of the political dialogue framework is set to be held after the conference, said Khu Oo Reh from the Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN) of the United Nationalities Federal Council ((UNFC) Monday which represents the non-signatory armed groups to the Nationwide Cease fire Accord (NCA).

According to earlier reports, the DPN has raised an eight-point proposal to the government for finding ways to sign the NCA and join the 21st Century Panglong Conference during a meeting with the government's Panglong Conference Preparatory Committee at Yangon's National Reconciliation and Peace Center last weekend.

Meanwhile, a tripartite talks among the UPDJC, ethnic armed groups and the Preparatory Committee for Panglong Conference has also been underway in Yangon on the political framework.

The UPDJC has agreed to allow non-signatory armed groups to the NCA to join the 21st Century Panglong Conference.

Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also chairperson of the UPDJC made up of representatives of the government, ethnic armed groups and political parties, called for mutual trust and unity to successfully hold the upcoming 21st Century Panglong Conference.

The former Myanmar government and eight ethnic armed groups out of 15 signed the NCA in October last year, while seven other armed groups are yet to sign the accord.
MOSCOW, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Iraq have agreed to export Russian dairy and meat products to Iraq, the Russian news agency Sputnik reported Tuesday.

"The dairy and meat products, as well as beef and poultry can be exported to Iraq until Jan. 1, 2017," Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia's agricultural watchdog agency, said in a statement.

According to the statement, Iraq also plans to improve its scientific and technical cooperation with Russia, as it recognizes the scientific potential of Russia's Federal Center for Animal Health (ARRIAH) and the quality of its foot-and-mouth disease vaccines.

"Iraq intends to continue importing Russian biological products against foot-and-mouth disease, as well as setting up deliveries of preventive veterinary medicines against bird flu," Rosselkhoznadzor said.

The two sides have also agreed to sign a technical protocol governing the delivery of pathological material samples gathered from birds and animals in Iraq.
KIEV, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Kiev remains committed to a peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine despite a recent escalation of tensions, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Igor Dolgov said here Monday.

"The actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are aimed at a strict adherence to the Minsk agreement and at the fulfillment of Ukraine's commitments," Dolgov said during his meeting with Ertugrul Apakan, the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

Kiev attaches great importance to its cooperation with the OSCE in settling the situation in the eastern region, Dolgov said, stressing that a political solution is the only way out of the crisis.

The 28-month-old conflict between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents in eastern Ukraine escalated last week, with the conflicting parties reporting an increase in the number of attacks. The OSCE said its monitors observed a presence of heavy weapons, which are banned by the Minsk ceasefire deal, on both sides of the contact line.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he is ready to impose a martial law in the country and declare military mobilization if the crisis deepens further.

The Minsk agreement, signed in September 2014 and renewed in February 2015 in the Belarussian capital, is aimed at peacefully settling the conflict that has claimed more than 9,500 lives so far.
File photo taken on July 24, 2013 shows a view of the Colombo South Harbor funded by China ahead of the planned August opening of the facility, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

COLOMBO, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government was upbeat on Monday about the future of a proposed financial city which is to be constructed with Chinese assistance.

State Minister of National Policy and Economic Affairs Niroshan Perera said in a statement that the financial city is expected to offer over 15,000 jobs in the first stage.

He said the government had decided to convert an earlier proposed port city into a financial city in order to help boost the country's economy.

The agreement on the financial city was signed recently between the government and the Chinese company engaged in constructing the new city.

The financial city will initially operate as a hub between Dubai and Singapore and will have some of the top international banks operating from the new city.

Perera said the financial city will look to promote business between India, other Asian countries, the Middle East and Europe.

He said the parliament will be fully briefed on the progress of the project in order to ensure the transparency.

CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd, the Project Company for the Colombo Port City (CPC), signed a tripartite agreement with the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development and the Urban Development Authority recently.

The agreement formally replaces a previous deal signed in September 2014 between the Sri Lankan government and the Project Company.

The new tripartite pact has been signed following the announcement in March by the government to lift a temporary suspension of work on the project until the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development completed an environmental impact assessment.

The assessment was completed earlier this year, pursuant to a development permit issued by Sri Lanka's coast conservation department to recommence the project.
WELLINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government Tuesday said it had awarded a major air force upgrade contract to U.S. aviation giant Boeing.

The contract to upgrade the underwater, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities on the New Zealand air force's six Orion aircraft was worth 36 million NZ dollars (26.28 million U.S. dollars), said Defense Minister Gerry Brownlee.

An underwater surveillance capability deterred interference with the sea lines of communication that New Zealand and many of its friends relied on for trade purposes, Brownlee said in a statement.

"Knowing what is happening underwater is integral to monitoring submarine activity," Brownlee said.

"This is particularly important in the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to two-thirds of the world's submarines."

New Zealand businesses would also be involved in supporting the upgrade, taking around 25 percent of the value of the contract.

The 2016 Defense White Paper, released in June, had confirmed the importance of the New Zealand Defense Force having capabilities to cope with the realities of a complex and changing strategic environment, and to enable it to operate across a broad spectrum of geographic and operating environments, he said.

Work was already underway to select a replacement for the Orion aircraft, which was due to retire from service in the mid-2020s.
MINSK, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- New U.S. charge d'affaires to Belarus Bob Riley has arrived in Minsk, the U.S. embassy said on Monday.

His predecessor, former head of the U.S. mission in Minsk Scott Rauland, left Belarus on July 8, after discussing with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko the resumption of ambassador-level diplomatic ties.

Since 2008, Belarus has not had a U.S. ambassador. Relations between Minsk and Washington deteriorated after the United States imposed economic restrictions on companies in Belarus.

Belarus recalled its ambassador to the United States and reduced its diplomatic presence there. The U.S. embassy in Minsk was also downsized at the insistence of the Belarusian side in March 2008.

At a meeting with Rauland on the eve of his departure from Minsk, Lukashenko said he saw improvements in the bilateral relations.

The U.S. diplomat voiced hope that the two sides could resume discussions about the return of a U.S. ambassador to Belarus after the U.S. presidential election in November.
DHAKA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Scores of people were hospitalized with respiratory illness until the early hours of Tuesday as ammonia gas leaked from a container in Anwara on the outskirts of Bangladesh's southeastern seaport city Chittagong.

A local police official told Xinhua on Tuesday morning that many fell sick after inhaling the gas that spread from the leakage at Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer factory container in Chittagong, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka.

The leakage from the reserve container started at around 10:30 p.m. local time on Monday, said the official who did not like to be named.

He said the container had stored 500 tons of Ammonium Phosphate.

Panic gripped entire area adjacent to the factory as more and more people had then suffered heavily smelly air, severe irritation of the nose and throat, and respiratory discomfort.

According to the local police official, at least 57 people were admitted to a Chittagong hospital with breathing trouble.

Police and fire crew rushed to the area soon after receiving information and immediate actions were taken to repair the gas leakage which is yet to come under full control.
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The authorities sealed the headquarters of a powerful political party in the Pakistani commercial hub of Karachi early on Tuesday after violence gripped the city, officials said.

Police said hundreds of workers of the Mutahida Qaumi Party or MQM attacked the offices of three private TV channels after the party's leader in self-exile Altaf Hussain complained that the media is not giving proper coverage of its anti-gov't hunger strike.

The government has banned speeches of Hussain on a court's order that also annoyed the MQM's workers.

As Hussain concluded his address to his workers by the phone, the workers stormed the office of ARY television in central Karachi and also attacked offices of two other TV channels Samaa and Neo, management of the channels said.

Hospitals confirmed at least one person was killed and nine others injured in firing incidents.

Some vehicles and motorbikes were also burnt during the protest. TV footage showed MQM's workers entering the offices of TV channels and destroying equipment and furniture.

Paramilitary troops and police raided the MQM's headquarters known as "Nine-Zero" in Karachi and also detained some people.

Earlier the paramilitary troops detained MQM's parliamentarians Farooq Sattar and Khawaja Ezhar-ul-Hasan, when they arrived at the press club to speak to the media, officials said.

Brigadier Khurram Shehzad, a commander of paramilitary force, told the media that all legal requirements have been completed for the raid. He said the MQM media office and a hostel for the provincial lawmakers were also sealed.

He also claimed recovery of some arms and "anti-state" literature from the headquarters.

The authorities also raided other offices of the MQM in the city and interior Sindh province of which Karachi is the capital.

MQM is an influential party of the ethnic Urdu-speaking people who migrated from India after the birth of Pakistan in 1947. It had been part of the ruling coalition under the Pakistan Peoples Party.

The group has called for strike in Karachi for Tuesday. However, the authorities have asked the people to open business as normal. The transporters have also been asked to bring vehicles to the roads.

The authorities have announced that all educational institutions will remain open and no one will be allowed to disturb peace in the city. Police have declared a high alert in Karachi.

The Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah summoned an emergency meeting to review the security of the city.

Major General Bilal Akbar, head of the paramilitary force, said the army chief, General Raheel Sharif, had directed him not to spare anyone who have resorted to violence.

A police officer Qamar Asif said that nearly 2, 000 MQM's workers attacked the media offices and several markets. Two police officers and media persons were among the injured.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned attacks on the media house and described it as an attack on the freedom of the media.
SYDNEY, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Australia's New South Wales premier Mike Baird has fractured his vertebrae after he slipped down the stairs at his Sydney home in the middle of the night.

Local media reported on Tuesday that Baird went downstairs wearing socks with the lights out to get a glass of water when he slipped and injured his back.

Baird had posted about the incident on his Facebook account on Tuesday along with an X-ray which suggested that surgery wasn't needed.

The incident which took place during the weekend has also not deterred the premier from carrying out his duties.

A spokesman for Baird said even though the premier had suffered a sore back, he will be back at work on Tuesday to debate the state government's ban on greyhound racing at the Parliament's lower house.
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn will visit Thailand this week where he will meet his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai to discuss ways to enhance bilateral ties and cooperation, according to a Foreign Ministry statement Tuesday.

The two ministers will co-chair the 10th meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation between Cambodia and Thailand to be held on Aug. 25 and 26, the statement said.

"Both sides will discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest with a view to enhance and expedite the on-going bilateral cooperation as agreed by the leaders of the two countries," it said.

While in Thailand, Prak Sokhonn will pay a courtesy call on Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-Cha, said the statement.
NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese ride hailing and sharing company Didi Chuxing was selected on the Fortune list of "2016 Change the World", shortly after the acquisition of Uber China that cemented its leading position in Chinese transportation service market.

As the only Chinese mainland company on the annual list of the U.S.-based magazine, Didi Chuxing, estimated to be worth 35 billion U.S. dollars, ranked the 30th mainly because of its contribution to the environment.

British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline topped the list, followed by Israeli water desalination firm IDE Technologies and U.S. multinational conglomerate General Electric.

Published on Saturday, Fortune highlighted Didi's positive impact on cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.

Last year, car-pooling services from Didi helped reduce total car trips in China by 1 million a day, which saved 500 million liters of gas and cut 13.5 million tons of carbon emissions per day, it said.

"That's not the only way in which Didi is a pollution-buster," it said. "Its taxi service reduces the time drives aimlessly cruise around across 400 cities; its bus service coordinates long-haul private buses for commuters and car-pooling reduces congestion."

Founded in 2012, Didi Chuxing became China's largest transportation network firm after the merger of competitors Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache.

On Aug. 1, global ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. said it decided to sell the business of Uber China unit to Didi Chuxing. By this merge, investors in Uber China unit will own 20 percent of Didi; while Didi will invest 1 billion dollars in Uber.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese UN peacekeepers, who were seriously injured in South Sudan, were discharged from the Army hospital Tuesday.

Chen Ying and Huo Yahui were seriously injured on the evening of July 10 after a mortar shell hit their armored vehicle during fighting between two army factions in Juba, capital of South Sudan. In addition to the two seriously injured soldiers, two Chinese peacekeepers were killed and three others mildly injured.

Chen and Huo were admitted to the Army hospital in Beijing on July 17.

On Aug. 16 and 17, four Chinese soldiers, who were injured in another incident during a peacekeeping mission in Mali, were discharged from hospital.
by Yoo Seungki

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the United States need efforts to resume dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) instead of being engrossed in war games that escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) computer-simulated exercises kicked off on Monday, mobilizing tens of thousand of combined forces of the two allies. It is scheduled to run through next Friday, mounting the already-heightened tensions in the region further until the exercises end.

Seoul and Washington claim that their drills are defensive in nature, but this year's exercises allegedly adopts a so-called Operation Plan 5015, a wartime joint response scenario signed in June last year between the two countries.

The OPLAN 5015 involves a U.S.-South Korea preemptive strike against the DPRK, contradicting their claim to the defensiveness by themselves.

Rather, the drills are aggressive, only to raise possibility for military conflicts on the peninsula.

Strong backlashes came from Pyongyang, which said it would "foil all hostile acts and threat of aggression and provocation with the Korean-style nuclear deterrence."

The DPRK sees the U.S.-South Korea annual war games as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.

Ahead of the joint exercises, U.S. forces forward-deployed a B-1B supersonic-speed bomber on Aug. 6 and a B-2 strategic bomber on Aug. 11 to an air base in Guam. The two nuclear-capable bombers and a B-52 bomber made a sortie last week to the Pacific region, flexing its nuclear muscle in an aggressive manner.

Such muscle-flexing came just four months after U.S.-South Korea springtime war games, codenamed "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" ended in late April. This year's spring exercises were the largest-ever in scale.

In the past nine years, South Korea and the U. S. have maintained a so-called "strategic patience" toward the DPRK, refraining from talks with Pyongyang and demanding an unilateral action to abandon its nuclear program first.

Pyongyang made overtures in early 2015 that it would suspend nuclear tests in return for a halt of U.S.-South Korea war games ahead of last year's Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises. However, it was flatly denied by Seoul and Washington.

The flat denial was followed by the DPRK's nuclear detonation in January and the launch in February of its long-range rocket.

In retaliation, South Korea shut down Kaesong Industrial complex in the DPRK's border town, one of a few inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, and resumed propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers in frontline units, resulting in a cutoff in all of inter-Korean communication hotlines.

Seoul's super-hardline policy got to the apex in July by agreeing with Washington to deploy one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in southeastern South Korea by the end of next year.

Tensions are running the highest in the region as the deployment decision made Pyongyang more aggressive and drew strong backlashes from China and Russia.

THAAD's X-band radar in South Korea can snoop on Chinese and Russian territories, breaking a strategic balance and damaging security interests of Beijing and Moscow.

South Korea is faced with risks of failing to earn cooperation from China and Russia in dealing with the peninsula's nuclear issue.

As seen in the past experiences, Seoul's super-hardline policy will never resolve the peninsula's nuclear crisis, only resulting in a vicious cycle of violence for violence.

Seoul and Washington need to stop their joint annual war games to restore inter-Korean relations and bring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Efforts to resume the long-stalled six-party talks, which have been suspended since December 2008, and replace the Korean armistice with a peace treaty will be a desirable first step toward peace and stability in the region.

Related:

S.Korea, U.S. kick off joint annual war game despite DPRK's backlashes

SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korean and U.S. forces kicked off their joint annual war game on Monday despite strong backlashes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
CHENGDU, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and four others injured after a support collapsed at a construction site in the southwestern city of Langzhong in Sichuan, provincial authorities said Tuesday.

The collapse occurred at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at a gate between two buildings while workers were pouring concrete, according to the city's publicity department.

The injured have been admitted to hospitals, one sustained serious injuries and three others are stable.
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A top Pakistani official Tuesday started a five-day visit to Belarus and Kazakhstan to seek support for the country's move to seek membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), officials said Tuesday.

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Syed Tariq Fatemi, is undertaking the Aug. 23-27 visits as Special Envoy of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

"The objective of the visits is to seek the two friendly countries' support for Pakistan's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," the Foreign Ministry said.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear-related exports, the NSG website says.

The special assistant will be carrying letters from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed to President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.

In his letters, the prime minister has underscored the need for the NSG to adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of the membership for non-NPT states in order to promote strategic stability in South Asia and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

While in Belarus, the special assistant will call on President Lukashenko and will also hold meetings with Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov and Minister of Industry Vitali Vovk.

In Kazakhstan, the special assistant's programme would include meetings with Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan M. Ashikbayev.
SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean exports in terms of volume increased for three straight months, but the growing pace slowed in July, raising concerns about the economy's main growth engine, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

Export volume index stood at 139.61 in July, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK) data. It marked the third consecutive month of increase, but the rising pace slowed from 5.9 percent in May and 3.6 percent in June.

The country's exports, which account for about half of the economy, kept a 19th straight month of decline through July, the longest monthly fall in history.

In addition to the export value fall, the continued slowdown in export volume growth boosts concerns about the country's economic recovery amid the shrinking global trade.

The export value index tumbled 7.6 percent in July from a year earlier due to a slump in transport equipment, electronic devices and general machinery.

Import volume index retreated 4.9 percent last month, posting the first decline in three months as emissions-fabricating scandal surrounding German automaker Volkswagen reduced demand for imported luxury cars.

The import value index plunged 13.1 percent in July compared with the same month of last year.

The net terms-of-trade index for goods, which gauges how many goods can be imported with a unit export, came in at 100.09 in July, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier. It was the lowest increase in about two years.

The income terms-of-trade index, which measures how many goods can be imported with total export proceeds, stood at 139.74 in July, up 1.2 percent from a year ago.
TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada on Tuesday inspected some controversial Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) hardware and urged troops to continue to carry out their duties before boarding a U.S. aircraft carrier, in the new minister's first such visit to naval bases here.

Inada, who has been defense minister for less than a month, visited a U.S. naval base in the city of Yokosuka, in Kanagawa Prefecture, where she boarded the U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan. Prior to that she inspected the helicopter-carrier Izumo, the largest destroyer in the MSDF's fleet.

During her inspection of Izumo she urged MSDF personnel to continue to carry out their duties and pledged to bolster the Japan-U.S. alliance, stating that the relationship was important to peace and stability in the region.

The MSDF destroyer has been in the spotlight for being a de facto aircraft carrier, as the 248-meter vessel weighing 19,500 tons, while being able to accommodate 14 helicopters, is also believed to be able to launch the U.S. Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft as well as the U.S. military's F-35B fighter jets, from its lengthy flight deck.

The "offensive" weapon is in contravention of Japan's pacifist constitution, a key clause of which reads that "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained."

The mayor of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Yoshihiko Fukuda, on Monday, meanwhile, took aim at Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei and Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense Hiroyuki Miyazawa, for a lack of information pertaining to the first potential deployment by the U.S. of 16 F-35Bs, at a base in Iwakuni in the western Japanese prefecture.

The deployment brings concerns of safety and noise, Fukuda said, and asked to be given more operational information before making a final decision on the prefecture hosting the aircraft, which feature stealth technology and can take off and land vertically.

Inada, a security hawk and ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also known for her controversial views on Japan's wartime history, boarding the U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and holding meetings with senior U.S. naval forces' commanders, having inspected a controversial piece of MSDF hardware, could stoke concerns about both Japan's remilitarization, as well as the United States' pivot to the Asia Pacific region.
ANKARA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Turkish military hit Islamic States (IS) targets in response to mortar shell from northern Syria, Turkish media CNNturk reported on Tuesday.

Turkish army fired 40 shells at four IS targets in Syria after a mortal shell fired from the IS-controlled Jarablous in northern Syria landed in neighborhood of southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep early Tuesday morning.

Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey shelled IS targets in Syria's Jarablous and the Syrian wing of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), the Democratic Union Party, in northern Manbij late Monday.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said Monday that IS militants must be totally pushed from the Syrian border region, as reports suggest that Syrian rebels are preparing to launch an attack to seize a town from the jihadists on the border with Turkey.
TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia's fighter jets have not halted flights from an Iranian airbase into Syria to pound militants, Iran's Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani said on Tuesday.

However, Tehran has not put any military bases in the country at the disposal of Russia, Larijani's words came as a reaction to Monday remarks of Foreign Ministry spokesman who said that Russia had stopped using Iranian Hamedan airbase for carrying out operations against militants in Syria.

Iran is in alliance with Russia in its battle against terrorism in Syria, Larijani was quoted as saying.

The operations from Iran's airbase started on Tuesday as confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry and Iranian officials.

Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Deqhan said on Saturday that Tehran might allow Russian fighters to use more air bases of the country in the fight against terrorism in the region.
SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Tuesday urged Japan to stop distorting a historical fact on "comfort women," a euphemism for Korean women forced into sexual servitude for Japanese military brothels before and during World War II.

Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a press briefing that the forcible recruitment of "comfort women" is an undeniable historical fact that the international community has already confirmed definitely.

His comments came as Japan's foreign ministry posted the comments, made in February by then Japan's deputy foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama, on its website.

Sugiyama said during the February session in Geneva of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that no documents had been found to confirm that the "comfort women" were forcibly recruited by Japanese military or government.

His claim drew strong criticism from neighboring countries, including South Korea, as Korean people suffered from numerous atrocities, including forced labor for Japanese munitions factories and sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels, under the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule.

In December last year, Seoul and Tokyo reached a "final and irreversible" agreement on the protracted dispute over the "comfort women," but Japan has denied the forcible recruitment of Korean women into sexual slavery.

Cho urged the Japanese government to refrain from words and deeds that could impair the spirit of the December agreement, calling for concerted efforts to restore the honor of dignity of the "comfort women" victims and heal their scars.
HOUSTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal judge rejected on Monday the demand by three professors of the University of Texas at Austin (UT AUSTIN) in the southern U.S. state of Texas to keep guns out of classrooms, local TV station ABC13 reported.

The decision came just two days before the fall semester begins at the UT AUSTIN.

The three professors, Dr. Jennifer Lynn Glass, Dr. Lisa Moore and Dr. Mia Carter, were seeking the option of maintaining their academic classrooms as gun-free zones when classes start again on Aug. 24, 2016, but U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that neither lawmakers nor university regents should overstep their power in choosing where concealed firearms could be allowed on campus, the report said.

In response to the denied request, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that there was simply no legal justification to deny licensed, law-abiding citizens on campus the same measure of personal protection they were entitled to elsewhere in Texas.

"The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed for all Americans, including college students, and I will always stand ready to protect that right," Paxton said.

As the second largest state in the country, Texas has allowed licensed concealed handguns in public since 1995. On June 13, 2015, the Lone Star state's Republican governor Greg Abbott signed campus carry and open carry into law, allowing Texans aged above 21 years old at all public universities to carry handguns in classrooms, buildings and dorms.

Referring to the campus carry law as "overly solicitous" and "dangerously-experimental," the three professors pointed to more than 20 shootings on college campuses nationwide in 2015. They also cited the UT Tower shooting in 1966, which killed 16 people, as a reason to ban guns from campus.

The United States now has a population of more than 300 million, but there are some 370 million guns across the country, which has seen more than 200 massive shootings so far this year.

The loose gun control laws have been largely blamed for the persistently rampant gun violence across the country. Many Americans have grown tired of gun violence, calling for an end of gun violence and gun culture in the country.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The modernization of China's organ donation system was lauded by the People's Daily Tuesday, in a commentary following an international organ transplant conference that closed in Hong Kong on Monday.

The article, run by the Communist Party of China's flagship newspaper, said, "China's decade-long donation and transplant reform has gone through hardships and the increase in voluntary organ donations was achieved through perseverance and long-term efforts."

The central government began to overhaul the system in 2010, decreeing that organs may only come from the deceased and in 2015 the practice of harvesting of organs from prisoners was banned, making voluntary donation the only legal source of organs.

In 2011, the unauthorized trading of organ was criminalized after being included in an amendment to the Criminal Law, and a new system for organ management and distribution was launched in 2013 to better regulate donations.

Since 2007, China has apprehended 32 intermediaries involved in organ trade, arrested 158 criminal suspects, investigated 17 medical institutions and closed 13 underground operation theaters.

In August 2015, China also published its first national guideline on organ donation to raise public awareness and support for the cause, as traditional belief holds that organ removal after death desecrates a corpse.

"Effective measures taken by China have safeguarded the rights of organ donors and recipients and saved the lives of countless patients with terminal diseases," the newspaper said.

In the first half of 2016, China has completed 1,795 organ removals, up 45 percent compared to the same period last year. The figure was 2,766 last year, which exceeded the number in 2013 and 2014 combined. At present, China's annual average number of organ donation ranks first in Asia and third around the world.

However, the paper noted, "some organizations with ulterior motives disregard the progress made, and use the sacred cause as a tool to smear and demonize the image of China."

Speculation that 100,000 transplants were performed per year using organs from executed prisoners is an insult to the intelligence of transplant professionals and to the sacrifice of the donors and their families in China, said Huang Jiefu, director of China's National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and former vice minister with the Ministry of Health, at the 26th International Congress of the Transplantation Society held in Hong Kong.

China performed 10,057 organ transplants last year, around 8.38 percent of the global total, Huang explained at the conference.

The number matches China's use of immunosuppressive agents, given to patients after transplant surgery, he noted, adding China accounted for some 8 percent of the global immunosuppressant market.
Photo taken on Aug. 22, 2016 shows the West Lake Road in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. Hangzhou has been massively upgrading the city's infrastructure with such improvements as repaving roads, expanding its subway system and dredging waterway for the G20 summit over the last couple of years. (Xinhua/Wang Dingchang)

MOSCOW, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- With common positions on many international issues, Russia and China should work together within the G20framework to secure a new international financial and economic order -- a priority among issues of common concern, a Russian expert has said.

Russia and China should join efforts to first upgrade the international financial and economic system, Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a Moscow-based foreign policy think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Xinhua.

He stressed the need for such a new global order, a topic top on the agenda of the 2016 G20 Summit to be held on Sept. 4-5 in Hangzhou, east China.

"The longer those reforms are postponed, the higher the risk of new crises and instability is in the world economy," he said.

In this context, Russia welcomes China's initiative to create new financial and economic institutions, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that is expected to help set up new investment mechanisms and financial management models.

Russia will be an active participant in such initiatives, he said.

The G20 came into being amid a global financial crisis that highlighted the inefficiency of the G8 format and the need for "a more representative and more democratic mechanism, including China, India and other non-Western states," the Russian expert noted.

Kortunov believes the partnership between Russia and China within the G20 will help tackle challenges where a political will is present.

"If today Beijing and Moscow offer their concept of stability to the international community, it is not just empty words, but proposals based on many successful experiences," he said.

The Russian expert said Moscow and Beijing have to work with Washington as with "a complex, and sometimes unpredictable partner," without which it would be impossible to address many international issues.

In his opinion, after unsuccessful attempts to build a unipolar world, the United States is now forced to revise its ambitions, though reluctant to abandon its claims to global leadership.

As a result, he said, the United States has displayed inconsistency and a gap between rhetoric and practice in foreign policies.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The State Council has approved a plan that will see Pingtan, an island in southeastern Fujian Province, developed into an international tourist destination, a statement said Tuesday.

The plan was submitted by the the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, and the Fujian government, according to the State Council's website.

Pingtan should develop its tourism development model, foster an industrial system pillared by tourism, promote cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan, while playing an active role in the Belt and Road initiative, the cabinet said.

Pingtan is 126 kilometers from Taiwan, a bridgehead in cross-Strait cooperation and crucial to the Belt and Road initiative.

Launched in late 2013, the initiative is an umbrella term for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It will be a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Prior to Pingtan, in 2010 the central government approved the southern island of Hainan to be developed into a top international tourism destination.
Members of the "Golden Brigade", the special forces of the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces take part in a training under the command of international military instructors at Baghdad airport on March 20, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

MOSUL, Iraq, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Tuesday launched an operation to flush out Islamic State (IS) militants from the town of Qayyara in south of IS major stronghold in Mosul, a security source said.

The troops backed by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft began the advance at dawn from several direction toward Qayyara, some 50 km south of Mosul, amid heavy clashes with IS militants at the entrances of the town, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Last month, the security forces made a significant victory when they recaptured a strategic airbase near Qayyara.

Recapturing the town is vital for the security forces which will use the town and the nearby airbase as a staging ground to free Iraq's last major IS stronghold in Mosul, which itself located some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

The advance into Qayyara is part of a major offensive aiming to free areas in southern Mosul and surround Mosul from the south and east before pushing into the city and flushing the IS militants out of it.
U.S. Democratic Presidential CandidateHillary Clintongestures to spectators on the last day of the 2016 U.S. Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, theUnited States, on July 28, 2016. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has formally accepted the U.S. Democratic Party' s nomination for president and pledged more economic opportunities for Americans and "steady leadership". (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has uncovered nearly 15,000 new emails to or from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton when she served as secretary of state, and a federal judge has ordered a speedy release of the emails.

Lawyers for the State Department suggested to begin the release of the emails by Oct. 14. However, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington rejected the proposal, ordering the State Department to prioritize Clinton's emails and to return to court on Sept. 22 with a new plan.

As a result, thousands of emails that Clinton did not voluntarily turn over to the State Department last year could be released just weeks before the election in November.

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, which filed the lawsuit in May 2015 after disclosures that Clinton had exclusively used a personal email server based at her home when she worked with the State Department, welcomed the judge's decision.

"We're pleased the court accelerated the State Department's timing," said Fitton, accusing the State Department of having slow-walked and stonewalled the release of those records.

"They've had many of them since July 25 ... and not one record has yet been released, and we don't understand why that's the case," he said.

Judicial Watch has been seeking all emails sent or received by Clinton at the State Department in a request made under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The amount of the newly uncovered emails is almost half of the roughly 30,000 work-related documents that Clinton's lawyers turned over to the State Department in 2014.

The State Department previously agreed voluntarily to hand over emails to or from Clinton in her official capacity as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

After a yearlong probe, the Justice Department closed a criminal probe in July with no charges into the handling of classified material in Clinton's email setup, which FBI Director James B. Comey reproached "extremely careless."

Separately, Judicial Watch also released hundreds of pages of emails from one of Clinton's closest aides, Huma Abedin, including some purporting to show that various donors to the Clinton Foundation had lobbied Abedin for access to the former first lady.

The newly released email exchanges appeared to show that a rich donor, Casey Wasserman, asked Bill Clinton aide Doug Band to contact Abedin for help in setting up a meeting with diplomatic officials in London, which put a new focus on the sometimes awkward ties between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department.

The Abedin emails are likely to add to concerns raised by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about the conduct of the Clinton Foundation and the access of its donors to Clinton during her tenure at the State Department.

In a statement Monday, Trump called the foundation "the most corrupt enterprise in political history" and called for its immediate shutdown.

Trump accused the Clintons of turning the Clinton Foundation charity into a "pay-for-play" scheme in which wealthy donors, foreign and domestic, got favors from the State Department during Hillary Clinton's tenure as the country's top diplomat.

He also called for a special prosecutor to investigate his Democratic rival, accusing the FBI and the Justice Department of a "whitewash" during their probe of her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

"The amounts involved, the favors done and the significant number of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor immediately, immediately, immediately," Trump told a rally in Akron, Ohio.

The crowd responded with rowdy chants of "Lock her up! Lock her up!"

"The Justice Department is required to appoint a special prosecutor because it has proved to be, sadly, a political arm of the White House," Trump said. "Nobody has ever seen anything like it before."

Former President Bill Clinton defended the work of his charitable foundation on Monday, telling supporters that it had "improved millions of lives around the world" but needs to change if his wife wins the White House.
LAGOS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's military said scores of terrorists were killed in an operation in Sambisa forest of the northeastern state of Borno, where intensive efforts to rout the Islamic extremist group of Boko Haram are going on.

Some key leaders of the Boko Haram terrorists were killed while others were fatally wounded during the air raid on Friday, Sani Usman, a Nigerian Army spokesman, said in a statement reaching Xinhua on Tuesday.

"In what one could describe as the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid, we have just confirmed that as a result of the interdiction efforts of the Nigerian Air Force, some key leaders of the Boko Haram terrorists have been killed while others were fatally wounded," he said.

According to him, Boko Haram terrorists commanders confirmed killed in the raid include Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, while their leader, so called "Abubakar Shekau," is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders.

Several other terrorists were also wounded, he said.

Nigeria's Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, was reported to have said no fewer than 300 militants were killed during Friday night's airstrikes in Borno State.

He said the Air Force had carried out many successful airstrikes against Boko Haram in the last few weeks.

"We have intensified airstrikes in recent weeks and have had outstanding results," Abubakar said.

The air marshal urged the Boko Haram militants to surrender as there would be no safe haven for them.

Nigerian forces have recently carried out aggressive patrols and surveillance by land and air in Borno State and the entire northeast region where Boko Haram has been rampant since 2009.

Boko Haram, which aims to create an Islamic state, is most active in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa where a state of emergency has been declared.
VIENTIANE, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) --Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) Vientiane Branch has become the largest commercial bank in Laos with most local asset scale, an ICBC official told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The latest statistics from Lao central bank shows that till the end of June, 2016, ICBC Vientiane surpassed local commercial bank BCEL in overall asset scale, hence becoming the largest among the 42 banking institutions operating in the country. This is the first time in Lao banking history that a foreign bank tops the list in asset scale.

ICBC Vientiane Branch official told Xinhua on Tuesday, till the end of June, the Branch holds 4.16 billion U.S. dollars asset, while the runner-up BCEL holds 3.36 billion U.S. dollars, according to statistics.

ICBC Limited Vientiane Branch was officially established in November 2011. The Branch was approved by Lao government to become Laos' only clearing bank for Chinese yuan in June, 2012.

Since 2013, it becomes the second largest commercial bank in Laos.

ICBC Vientiane Branch has been devoted to promoting localization. The branch actively supported Asian-European Summit 2013 held in Vientiane with its project loans.

"As a Chinese bank, becoming the top commercial bank with largest asset scale in Laos is a honor, but also a responsibility," Lu Jian, General Manager of ICBC Vientiane Branch, told Xinhua.

"Our bank will continue to actively support local financing needs, to provide a series of comprehensive, excellent and express financial services to corporate and individual customers, strive to promote local development, to act as a bridge and a hub for economic and financial exchange between China and Laos, and play a necessary role in serving economic and trade exchanges between China and Laos."

Lu reaffirmed that ICBC Vientiane Branch will observe the local rule on supervision strictly, will continue to provide high quality credits and financial services.

"We will make our utmost efforts to gain trust from local customers, to win the recognition from local society by participating the economic and social development in Laos," said the general manager.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. and Costa Rica on Monday agreed to strengthen cooperation in protecting vulnerable migrants, stated the White House.

U.S. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis met at the White House to discuss new steps to protect migrants, as well as improve security and governance, the White House said in a statement.

They agreed the challenge of irregular migration in the Americas requires close cooperation among all relevant countries in strengthening border security and upholding the rule of law.

At the meeting, Obama and Biden commended Costa Rica for providing temporary safe haven for up to 200 migrants at a time from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

U.S. leaders also underscored its commitment to strong bilateral ties with Costa Rica, as well as robust cooperation and regional leadership in different areas.

When discussing the overall situation in Central America, the leaders agreed that a well-governed, prosperous, and stable Central America would contribute immeasurably to the future of the Western Hemisphere.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner announced on Tuesday that contracts for 619 public-private partnership (PPP) projects worth one trillion yuan (151 billion U.S. dollars) had been signed as of the end of July.

The projects include those in public infrastructure, railways and ports, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

PPPs are collaborative projects between governments and private companies that are mainly funded and operated by the latter.

Chinese authorities have explored funding infrastructure and public works through the PPP model since late 2013 amid growing concerns over rising local government debts incurred through local financing vehicles.

Since last May, the NDRC has announced two rounds of PPP projects worth 4.23 trillion yuan.

In September 2015, the Ministry of Finance started a fund with 180 billion yuan to support the financing of PPP projects.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang (Photo source: fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi may have bilateral contact with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida as the two will attend a trilateral meeting between China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK), a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The Eighth China-Japan-ROK foreign ministers' meeting will be held in in Tokyo on Wednesday and Wang will attend the meeting upon invitation, spokesperson Lu Kang said.

Lu said it is quite normal for parties to have some contact and exchanges during multilateral occasions.

Regardless of the opposition from regional neighbors and the international community, Japan has been known to hype up the South China Sea issue, Lu said.

Wang will state China's solemn position on the issue and urge Japan to bring bilateral ties back on a healthy, stable track, Lu said.
A woman places flowers and a written message beside other floral tributes near a crime scene in London's Russell Square on August 5, 2016, after a stabbing spree Wednesday that killed US national Darlene Horton and injured five others. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

MANAMA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain said Tuesday that one of its diplomats was among three women randomly assaulted by a female psychotic in the Belgian capital city of Brussels.

The attack occurred on Monday as passengers were getting off a bus in the Uccle city in the Belgian capital when the woman attempted to stab three people.

"The embassy got reassured about the diplomat's health which it says is in a stable condition and wished her speedy recovery," Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The embassy in is in close contact and coordinating with relevant authorities to ensure the protection of diplomats' rights and safety, it added.

Belgium is on high alert following a string of terrorist attacks over the past year.
PORT LOUIS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mauritius authorities have launched a vaccination campaign against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) to prevent cervical cancer.

The vaccine campaign aims to protect girls against the four strands of HPV most associated with cervical cancer, according to the country's Minister for Health and Quality of Life Anil Gayan.

The vaccine is now part of the expanded immunization program in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

The vaccine will be available for primary school girls. Some 9,000 girls in Mauritius and 500 in Rodrigues island will benefit from the free vaccination program.

The campaign is being conducted in collaboration with the ministry of education, human resources, tertiary education and scientific research.

According to WHO, HPV can cause cervical cancer, the fourth most common cancer among women, causing about 270,000 deaths each year.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China Telecom on Tuesday reported 6.3 percent growth in net profit for the first half (H1) of this year thanks to more 4G subscriptions.

Operating revenues increased by 7.2 percent over the same period last year to 176.83 billion yuan (26.8 U.S. dollars). Net profit amounted to 11.67 billion yuan, according to its semi-annual report.

The operator added 207 million mobile users in H1, an increase of 9.04 million from the end of 2015.

There were 90.10 million high-speed wireless 4G terminal users, with a net addition of 31.64 million from the end of last year.

Handset Internet data traffic increased by 135 percent over the same period last year.

The number of wired broadband subscribers reached 118 million, representing a net addition of 4.94 million from the end of last year.

4G services have become a major source of revenue for China's telecom operators in the wake of tepid voice call use.
Combined photo shows the Bai Causeway at the West Lake in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. The G20 Summit will be held on Sept. 4-5 in Hangzhou, dubbed "paradise on earth" with a history of over 2,200 years. (The file photo was provided by Wang Qiuhang while the lower photo was taken by Xu Yu on Aug. 18, 2016.) (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Growth as a focus of global efforts is on top of the agenda of the upcoming G20 summit to be held in east China's Hangzhou City, which is in a well-timed response to the economic difficulties or crises troubling both developed and developing countries.

This is what the Sept. 4-5 summit under China's presidency will be trying to commit a coordinated global effort to, with a difference to be made that is spelled in its theme "Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy."

China's ideas and initiatives highlight adjustment and cooperation in seeking a way to get out of the global economic sluggishness to benefit both developed and developing countries while calling for joint efforts from both.

This particularly makes it necessary to reform the existing international financial and economic system at a time when a long-time stagnation is predicted for developed economies, with the growth rate this or the next year revised down by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the United States, Germany, Japan and Britain -- all the vital parts of the global economy.

A possible collapse of the euro zone as reckoned by former U.S. Fed Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan may further portray the bleak prospect for developed economies, and is expected to cast a shadow over the economy worldwide.

Such a tragedy could come true as a result of the failure of developed economies to overcome the widening gap between the rich and the poor at home, reduce debt burdens and renew vigor and vitality for development after the 2008 global financial crisis, through huge fiscal deficits or large-scale quantitative easing, among other policies.

The situation has led to scepticism and criticism on the U.S.-advocated neo-liberalism, revealing a lack of both ideas and measures in them to drive forward the global economy.

Moreover, it spotlights a need for changes in line with the rising share of the global economy by emerging economies such as China and India in the West-led international economic and financial mechanisms.

A new economic order is expected to lead to the emergence of a new way for economic recovery for developed countries in coordinated efforts featuring a stronger say in the global economic governance for developing countries, which is also a major aim of the G20 that was founded in late 1999 as an important economic forum for fruitful consultations between the developed and developing countries in jointly coping with global challenges.

Such a change is also expected to offer more opportunities for developing countries as well as new ways to address their need in growth.

Experts expect it to lead to a fair sharing of benefits from the global development including the transfer of new technologies to developing countries, and to provide channels for production capacity and investment to flow where they are badly needed.

Some have cited e-commerce, a hot topic to be discussed by business figures on the sidelines of the G20 Hangzhou summit, as an option to bring down the cost of trade and provide more trade opportunities for developing countries and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

They have expressed the hope for a great help in global economic recovery, if not remedies, from the Hangzhou G20 summit, as G20 members, boasting nearly two thirds of the global population, account for 85 percent of the GDP total worldwide.




Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (2nd R, front) meets with a delegation of young Japanese politicians led by Kiyohiko Toyama, a member of the New Komeito Party, in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China hopes Japan will play a positive role in developing bilateral ties by properly dealing with sensitive issues, State Councilor Yang Jiechi said Tuesday.

Speaking in Beijing, Yang told a group of young Japanese politicians that Japan should honestly engage in a spirit whereby "China and Japan are partners that do not impose a threat to each other."

He called on Japan to deepen pragmatic cooperation with China and promote mutual understanding between the two peoples.

China has always stood for deepening bilateral relations on the basis of the "four political documents" and the "four-point principled agreement" reached by both sides, said Yang.

The Japanese delegation was led by Kiyohiko Toyama, a member of the New Komeito Party.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of visitors joined zoo keepers at Malaysia's national zoo on Tuesday to celebrate the tenth birthday of Xing Xing and Liang Liang, two giant pandas who arrived in Malaysia on loan in 2014 marking 40 years of diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia.

The event was also in celebration of their baby, a female panda called Nuan Nuan, which turned one year old on Aug. 18.

Visitors and journalists took pictures of the panda family at the Panda Conservation Center as the pandas enjoyed their special birthday "ice cakes," which were prepared by the zoo management office.

In conjunction with the special day, the zoo offered free passes to public visitors born on the same day.

Rosly Ahmat Lana, deputy president of the national zoo, said more than 2 million people have come to see the pandas since they arrived, especially after the birth of the panda cub.

"We have arranged six zoo keepers to look after the panda family, including one from China," said Rosly, adding that under the care of the zoo keepers, Nuan Nuan, which weighs about 37 kilograms now, "is very happy and very healthy."

Young Miu Kim, a retired teacher, said he drove from his home in Pahang this morning to take a look at the pandas, which also shared the same family name in Chinese, "Xiong," with him.

"The panda family in the zoo can act as a symbol of China-Malaysia relationship, and because of them, more people would come to the zoo to learn about pandas and about China," said Young.
A member of the Palestinian security forces displays weapons at a police station in the West Bank city of Nablus , that the police found on August 21, 2016, during an ongoing house to house search operation for gunmen who are on the police search list. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

JERUSALEM, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli security forces arrested two Palestinians for weapons trafficking, uncovered weapon factories and recovered firearms in the largest operation against weapon trafficking this year, the Israeli army said.

"Overnight the IDF conducted a large scale mission in the Judea and Samaria (Jewish biblical names for the West Bank) Division to locate and dismantle an illegal manufacturing and trafficking network in the region," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Israeli military, forces arrested two Palestinian suspected of trafficking weapons. They also uncovered seven weapon factories, in which they found 22 weapon manufacturing machines and dozens of firearms, in the areas of Bethlehem and Hebron in the West Bank.

Since the beginning of 2016, Israeli security forces have operated against weapons manufacturers and smugglers throughout the West Bank.

According to the Israeli army, forces uncovered over the past eight months 29 factories, seized 49 weapon manufacturing machines and over 300 firearms, and arrested 140 Palestinians suspected of trafficking and manufacturing weapons.

Israeli security forces have been operating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem territories extensively in the past year, amid a wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians which started in October 2015, and claimed the lives of 34 Israelis and 220 Palestinians.

Israel accuses the Palestinian Authority of incitement to violence amid the wave of unrest, whereas the Palestinians charge it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, where they wish to establish their own state.
PARIS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- French police have arrested, so far in August, seven people allegedly having links with terrorism and planning attacks inside the country, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Tuesday.

"During the month of August alone, the DGSI (General Directorate of Internal Security) has arrested seven individuals. All of them have been jailed. At least three had been plotting attacks," the minister said on Twitter.

The number of suspects arrested on terror charges in the first half of the year are equivalent to the number of arrests on the same allegations for the whole year of 2015, Cazeneuve added, without giving comparative figures.

In a joint press conference with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere on Tuesday, Cazeneuve said the two nations are working on "a new Franco-German initiative to (improve) European internal security."

"We will need to change EU rules to make more flexible controls in case of serious threat," he said.

Both ministers proposed tightening border controls and better exchange of "crucial information" between EU member states, in addition to better cooperation to thwart encrypted messaging services used by extremists.
KATHMANDU, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government is going to send a team of conservation officials and technical experts to China next week, prior to gifting two pairs of rhinoceros to the northern neighbor.

A cabinet meeting led by then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli decided to gift two pairs of rhinos to China on July 10, and the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation is now on the last stage of finalizing the names of team members for inspection of habitat in China.

As per the ministry, the officials are likely to leave next week to have a detailed study on possible rhino habitats and to provide necessary suggestions to the Chinese side for the arrangement of translocation of the mammals.

"Once the team returns from China with report on environment, ecology and management of habitat for gifted rhinos, the real process of gifting rhinoceros will begin. Within the next three days, we will finalize the names of officials," Yajna Nath Dahal, under secretary at the ministry, informed Xinhua on Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping receives warm welcome from villagers in Golmud City, northwest China's Qinghai Province during inspection visit, Aug. 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

GOLMUD, Qinghai, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- "Tashi delek (Good luck), President Xi!" said a Tibetan villager in Golmud City, northwest China's Qinghai Province, which had a festive atmosphere as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived on Monday.

Local villagers present President Xi Jinping with white hada scarf and barley wine during the greetings in Golmud City, Qinghai Province, Aug. 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

The villagers gave greetings to Xi and presented him with a pure white hada scarf and some highland barley wine.

President Xi Jinping talks with Sengye, one of the villagers at his Tibetan-style sitting-room in Changjiangyuan village in Golmud City, Qinghai Province, Aug. 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

"Life has become better and I feel my dream fulfilled," Sengye, one of the villagers, told Xi who was visiting his home and asking about living conditions.

Sengye was one of the herdsmen who moved out of the Sanjiangyuan region, where China's three major rivers - the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Lancang River - flow thousands of kilometers through most parts of the country, forming the world's highest plateau wetland, also known as the "Asian watertower." Hoping to protect the fragile ecological system, China established the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve in 2000. Since 2004, China has started moving people out of the region to rebuild the environment hurt by global warming, overgrazing and increasing human activities.

President Xi Jinping receives warm welcome from villagers in Changjiangyuan village in Golmud City, Qinghai Province, Aug. 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Sengye told Xi that before the move, they led a nomadic life -- living in tents, sleeping on the ground, and their lamp oil was made of sheep oil.

Ever since they moved to new houses the government built for them, they have lived more convenient and comfortable lives with all kinds of furniture and home appliances.

"An even happier life is yet to come. I wish you all health and longevity," said Xi.

Xi also visited a dock at Qinghai Salt Lake Potash Company Limited on Monday.

President Xi Jinping listens to staff intruducing the utilization of salt lake resources in Golmud City, Qinghai Province, Aug. 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Listening to a talk about the utilization of salt lake resources, Xi also learned about the company's business operation, the upgrading of industrial technology, and the development of the bio-industry.

After learning that the company had set the goal of becoming the biggest of its kind worldwide in the next five to 10 years, Xi commended their spirit and morale.

"The salt lake is the most important resource in Qinghai, and the province should make good use of it under the premise of protecting the ecosystem with correct strategies," said Xi.

President Xi Jinping greets workers from Qinghai Salt Lake Potash Company Limited during his visit in Golmud City, Qinghai Province, Aug. 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Xi called on Qinghai to set a good example by maintaing the balance of utilization and protection of natural resources.
GUIZHOU, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The State Council approved on August 15 the establishment of an inland open economy pilot zone in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

It is the second pilot zone of its kind, with the first in Ningxia.

Chen Shaobo, director of the Guizhou provincial development and reform commission, said the decision will help Guizhou to further spur growth, open up, and bolster local anti-poverty efforts.

"Guizhou has been on a sound and healthy track of development in recent years, especially in building express railways, the development of the big data industry, public tourism and environmental protection," he said.

Guizhou is not near any sea, river or border area, said Ma Lei, deputy director of the Commerce Department of Guizhou.

"Yet as a less-developed inland province, it is transforming itself from an agricultural economy to an export-oriented economy; it needs to create a healthy business environment, facilitate investment and develop the financial market," he said.

According to the official document, the pilot zone will participate in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and international industrial capacity cooperation.

It will also explore new methods, fulfill poverty targets and integrate the ecological environment with the economy, in what will be the "new normal" for China's inland areas.

BREAKING BARRIERS

You cannot find three miles of land that are flat in Guizhou, a problem that the province has struggled with in recent years.

By the end of 2015, each and every county in Guizhou was linked by highways, and the province is building express rail lines connecting Guiyang, the provincial capital, to Chongqing, Chengdu and Kunming.

"Rapid development of transport networks have broken geographical barriers and pushed Guizhou to the forefront of opening up," said Ma.

Yuqing County, in central Guizhou, has a population of 300,000 and until recently has always depended on the production of tea, rice and traditional Chinese medicine.

Newly-built highways reduced Yuqing to Guiyang travel times from six hours to two hours. A nearby airport, which opened in 2013, now offers flights to the cities of Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Jinan and Wenzhou.

Tourism has taken off in Yuqing, and local officials have become more confident after industrial infrastructure was improved," said Tan Zheng, party chief of Yuqing.

Now the county has been cooperating with Shanghai to canvass for business in IT companies, investment firms and pharmaceutical companies.

Weng'an county, in central Guizhou, has rich phosphorous mines, but few companies tap the resources, due to poor transport networks.

In the last two years, four highways were built leading to Weng'an, and two fertilizer manufacturers will soon set up plants here and create jobs for about 1,000 people.

"When there were no roads, we had reason to sit and wait, but now the roads run through, we can move on and improve people's lives," said Huang Guilin, head of Weng'an county.

OPENING UP

In the last three years, Gui'an New Area has become home to businesses with operations totaling 192.6 billion yuan. Companies including IBM, HP, Qualcomm, Alibaba and Huawei have establish operations in the area.

As the country's first big data pilot zone and a pioneer of China's big data economy, Guizhou aims for big achievements in the industry.

In the future, Guizhou aims to nurture a group of 500 companies in the industry, including 10 leading global enterprises focused on big data application, services and manufacturing.

A growing number of companies are moving into a bonded area in Guiyang.

"Companies are swarming in, and offices are in great demand," said Huang Wenhao, assistant director of the bonded area.

The greatest lure of Guizhou is the low cost of labor, land and other expenses.

When Foxconn, Apple's top supplier, decided to set up operation in Gui'an in 2013, the minimum monthly wage was only 1,030 yuan (about 158 U.S. dollars), the lowest in China.

"Six million people are still living below the poverty line, and costs are not expected to rise fast in the future," said Ma.

"I never thought Guizhou was fit for developing an export economy, but the truth is that more companies are moving in, putting us in a more advantageous position even than Sichuan and Chongqing."

MORE EFFORTS

Despite development, cargo transport costs in Guizhou are 20 to 30 percent higher than those in neighboring provinces.

"The labor costs and rents are lower in Guizhou, but logistics still lag behind," said Wei Youbing, a musical instrument manufacturer and exporter in Guizhou.

Guiye Technology makes dinnerware, toys and electronics for companies, including Disney. It has moved its business from Shenzhen to Tongzi, in Guizhou, but most of its exports still have to go through Shenzhen.

"We planned to transport our products through a road and rail, or a river and rail network from Guizhou, but the routes either take too long or are not smooth enough," said company owner Zhou Fang.

"Guizhou cannot copy the road of development of the coastal provinces. It needs to find new solutions in solving problems, and show other inland provinces a new path for economic development," Ma said.
TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday to take part in a trilateral meeting with his counterparts from Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) the following day, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

The three-way meeting, the eighth of its kind, will be chaired by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se will also be in attendance, the ministry said.

The meeting is hoped to maintain the momentum of cooperation among the three countries and promote the process of East Asia regional integration.

Wednesday's trilateral meeting will be the first of its kind hosted by Japan in more than five years.
GENEVA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned Tuesday that up to 1.2 million people could be affected in Mosul as military action turns towards Iraq's northern city which has been under Islamic State control for over two years.

"Mosul is Iraq's second largest city, and the humanitarian impact of a military offensive there is expected to be enormous," UNHCR said in a statement.

"Contingency plans have been drawn up to provide shelter assistance for up to 120,000 people fleeing conflict in Mosul and surrounding areas, as part of an inter-agency response to the crisis," it added.

According to the agency, 48,000 people have recently fled the Mosul area, adding to the 165,000 civilians who have been forced to flee their homes in other parts of the country in recent months.

The refugee agency said that it hoped to set up camps in six locations across northern Iraq, though the ability to do so depended on both the availability of land and funding.

As of Aug. 2, only 38 percent of UNHCR's 584 million U.S. dollars appeal for displaced people including Iraqi refugees in the region has been funded.

UNHCR numbers show that close to 3.4 million people have been displaced in Iraq since the beginning of 2014, with some families forced to flee multiple times.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Over 5,000 academics from nearly 100 countries and regions have convened in Beijing for the 33rd International Geographical Congress (IGC) which will end on Thursday.

The congress has convened every four years since was first held in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1871. This is the first time it has been held in China.

Lu Dadao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said China is a leader in geography research, in terms of the scope of research interests, theoretical achievements, and practical problems solved.

The 33rd IGC, with the theme of "Shaping our Harmonious Worlds", was designed to advocate harmony between mankind and nature, and respect for cultural differences.

Topics for panel discussions include geographic science, climate change, urbanization and sustainable development, environmental health, as well as diversity in cultures.
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China is pushing forward a raft of national projects to boost the economy and underpin growth for several years, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Tuesday.

"The current progress is satisfactory and we will intensify efforts in the next stage," said Hu Zucai, deputy director of the NDRC.

Hu promised reduced red tape and more policy support in land, capital and human resources.

China's top legislature approved 165 major projects early this year, covering technological innovation, industrial upgrades, infrastructure construction, environmental protection and improving people's living conditions.

The projects, which will be implemented over a five-year period starting in 2016, include a poverty relief program covering 55.75 million rural residents and the world's first quantum communication satellite.

Although no specific figures on total investment were unveiled, the program will likely attract trillions of U.S. dollars with private investment playing an important role.

"The government welcomes the participation of private investors," Hu said. New models such as public private partnerships will be encouraged for better operations, while policy barriers will be removed and easier market access will be granted.

He said the projects will bring opportunities for lackluster private investment to regain momentum.

Private sector investment climbed 2.1 percent in the first seven months, slowing further from an already weak 2.8-percent rise in the first half and in sharp contrast with double-digit annual growth in the past decade.

The government believes the ambitious program will provide a major boost to a flagging economy by stimulating investment, enhancing domestic demand and improving economic structure.

The country's economic growth stayed at 6.7 percent in the second quarter, the lowest level since the 2009 global financial crisis.
JERUSALEM, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday Israel would not allow Hamas to arm itself, two days after it carried nearly 50 attacks in the Gaza Strip.

"Hamas is not interested in solving the crisis - but to rebuild its power," Lieberman said during a visit to an Israeli military post in northern Israel on Tuesday, according to a statement from his office.

"Instead of building buildings from taxpayers' money, it builds undergrounds terror tunnels," the minister said, adding Israel will not let Hamas arm itself and will respond "harshly" to any future attacks from the Gaza Strip.

The minister said his formula for keeping the quiet between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is to demilitarize the enclave in exchange for its rehabilitation.

"Those who talk about removing the blockade on the strip and easing more restrictions, this should be carried out amid demilitarization," Lieberman said.

Lieberman, a known hawk, was appointed Defense Minister in May, replacing Moshe Ya'alon, a moderate right-wing politician, amid a political deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Four rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Sunday evening, with two of them hitting houses and causing damage.

A group affiliated with the Salafist and sharing the logo of the Islamic State movement in the enclave claimed responsibility for the rockets attack.

Israel retaliated with air strikes and shelling in the northern Gaza Strip, hitting nearly 50 targets, according to military sources. The Gaza Health Ministry said two civilians were injured in one of the strikes.

Israel and Gaza, ruled by the Islamist Hamas organization since 2007, have fought several rounds of fighting in recent years, wreaking havoc on the enclave, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, and evacuated in 2005.

The last round of fighting between Israel and Hamas took place in the summer of 2014, claiming the lives of more than 2,200 Palestinians and over 70 Israelis.

Israeli imposed a blockade on the strip in the wake of Hamas's takeover, allowing a restricted transfer of goods in and out of the enclave, and limiting most exits and entries of people alongside Egypt, which overlooks the Rafah crossing on its turf.
Syria's military said a truce deal has been reached with the Kurds in Hasakeh, but a Kurdish source said it has yet to be finalised. The northeastern city has been rocked by deadly clashes between US-backed Kurdish forces and fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since August 17, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

DAMASCUS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A new ceasefire has been reached between the Kurdish fighters and the Syrian army in the northeastern province of Hasakah, just days after a previous truce was shattered with intensified confrontation, Syria's national TV reported Tuesday.
KABUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. service member died as a result of wounds in the beleaguered Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, said a statement of NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission released here.

"One U.S. service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Lashkar Gar in Helmand Province today," the statement said.

Another U.S. member was wounded and is currently in stable condition, the statement added. It confirmed that additionally six Afghan soldiers were also wounded during the operations.

"We are deeply saddened by this loss, but remain committed to helping our Afghan partners provide a brighter future for themselves and their children," said General John W. Nicholson, commander of USFOR-A and Resolute Support mission in the statement.

Casualties of U.S. military has been reported amid ongoing fierce fighting between government forces and the Taliban militants for the control of the troubled Helmand province notorious for growing poppy and militancy.

Without giving more details, the statement added that "U.S. Department of Defense Policy is to withhold the identity of the service member pending next-of-kin notification."

More than 13,000 U.S. and allied forces, reportedly have been serving in Afghanistan within the framework of NATO-led Resolute Support mission to help, train and give advices to Afghan forces.

Taliban militants have intensified operations in several parts of the restive Helmand province over the past couple of months to capture provincial capital Lashkar Gah, a key town in the southern region.

A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan Gen. Charles Cleveland said on Monday that some 100 U.S. troops have been deployed to Helmand province to help Afghan forces in suppressing Taliban-led militancy there.
The groundbreaking ceremony of China Wu Yi's Building Industrialization Research, Development and Production Base and Supermarket in Nairobi, Kenya on Aug. 20. (Xinhua/Wang Shoubao)

NAIROBI, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese firm, China Wu Yi's Building Industrialization Research, Development and Production Base and Supermarket project will help Kenya achieve its industrial goals, a senior government official has said.

Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Adan Mohamed said on Saturday that when the 101 million U.S. dollar investment is completed, it will revolutionize the construction sector.

"It will reduce both the cost and time of construction of buildings by 50 percent and hence increase the number of low cost houses constructed annually," Mohamed said during the ground breaking ceremony in Athi River which approximately 30 kilometers south of Nairobi.

Mohamed said that China Wu Yi will help to industrialize the building industry by introducing a new method of production.

He noted that the project is aligned to Kenya's National Development blue print, Vision 2030 that aims at transforming the country into a middle income country.

The CS said that the plant will help to fill in key gaps in the construction sector, which is key driver of the country's economic growth.

Adan Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives of Kenya, at the groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 20. (Xinhua/Wang Shoubao)

According to the 2016 Economic Survey, Kenya's building and construction sector grew by 14 percent in 2015.

Mohamed added that the investment comes at an appropriate time when the construction sector is experiencing rapid growth.

China Wu Yi Chairman Qiu Liangxin said that his firm began conducting a feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment study for the facility in early 2015.

"After all this restless work, China Wu Yi is now generally prepared for the construction of the project," Qiu said.

The project, which is expected to go into operation in June, 2017, will use advanced construction industrialization technology and equipment for the manufacturing of the varied precast concrete panels.

According to China Wu Yi, the facility will also provide local people with 500 to 800 jobs annually.

Qiu noted the facility will produce 150,000 square meters of building material or 1,500 sets of buildings annually which will meet the Chinese, European and Kenyan standards.

The chairman said that construction industrialization is a new technology that has been used in Europe and America for the past 80 years and will have a positive impact on Kenya's construction sector.

"We will bring to Kenya high-quality, low-cost, and environment-friendly housing products that will bring revolutionary changes to housing construction in Kenya and even East Africa," he added.

Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Kenya Yao Ming said that it has been three years since Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta visited China.

"While in China, he signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with China that has been the blueprint for future direction of China-Kenya cooperation," Yao said.
G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (including from L in front row) Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, an unidentified member, Turkey Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, China's Governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan, Germany's Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schauble, International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde and Secretary-General of OECD Angel Gurria during a group photo in Chengdu in Southwestern China's Sichuan province, Sunday, July 24, 2016. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

ISTANBUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's efforts to bring the largest-ever presence of representatives from the developing world to the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) summit are helpful in creating "collective" solutions to the global problems, a Turkish analyst said.

"A large presence from the developing world is very important," Altay Atli, a research associate with the Asian Studies stream of Istanbul Policy Center, told Xinhua.

"The world's problems are collective, they impact all of us, and this is why they require collective solutions," he said.

A record number of developing countries are being invited to the G20 summit slated for Sept. 4-5 in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, as China is hoping for the meeting to push for a more inclusive world economy.

"Instead of being a 'rich men's club,' the G20 should act as a facilitator for creating solutions to global problems by bringing representatives from different parts of the world together," Atli said.

The expert holds "a positive view" of China's preparations in the run-up to the Hangzhou summit, as China is seeking "increased and effective participation" as Turkey did when it hosted last G20 summit in Antalya last year.

"This is precisely what we need for solving global problems," he stressed.

In his view, holding the G20 chair offers an opportunity for China to position itself as a "responsible and effective" stakeholder in global governance.

The analyst noted that as the second largest economy in the world, China "surely has the required capabilities" to play a leading role in global governance.

"The G20 provides the opportunity for China to show the world that it is willing to play this role," he said.

"This is why I expect that after the Hangzhou summit, China will have an elevated status and influence within the G20 and in global governance in general," he added.

According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Hangzhou summit is expected to produce nearly 30 deliverable outcomes, with special emphasis on promoting a strong, sustainable and balanced global growth through innovation, sorting out economic and financial problems by means of structural reforms, and implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through enhanced cooperation.

While lauding the objectives as "accurate and vital" for the well-being of the global economy, Atli urged the G20 to offer "concrete steps that will make it possible for the world to reach those objectives."

"There have to be concrete, feasible and doable roadmaps that will make it possible to reach the objectives that are set," he said.

In his view, global governance is a long-term and gradual process, and it will take years to achieve some of the goals set during the Antalya summit, as the world is being confronted with a growing threat of terrorism and continuing economic recession in the post-crisis period.

"What matters is that G20 members build a strong consensus around these goals and they work in close coordination in order to achieve them," he said.
RAMALLAH, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said Tuesday that a probe will be opened into the circumstances of the killing of a suspect by Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security forces in the West Bank.

Hamdallah said during the weekly cabinet meeting that the investigation will be led by the justice minister and its outcome will be published immediately after it is concluded, the Palestinian official news agency reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, PNA police spokesman Adnan Damiri said that the deceased man was the main instigator behind the killing of two security men in Nablus on Thursday.

Two Palestinian security members were killed on Thursday in a crossfire in the West Bank city of Nablus, after they killed two armed wanted men in the old city.

After the suspect was arrested, security men beat him severely, and he died, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) called on Israel to open a comprehensive investigation into the killing of a young Palestinian in the southern West Bank city of Hebron last week.

UNRWA voiced concern over the killing of Mohammad Abu Hashhash, 19, in Al-Fawwar refugee camp in an Israeli military operation last Tuesday.

"Israeli authorities, as occupying power, is obliged to protect civilians, including refugees," it said.
by Liu Fang, Zindziwe Janse

AMSTERDAM, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dutch historian Leonard Blusse has won this year's "Special Book Award of China", which honors foreign translators, writers and publishers for their significant achievements in making China better known to the outside world.

The professor emeritus at Leiden University is a prolific writer on the early modern history of Southeast and East Asia, history of overseas Chinese and global history.

Thanks to his digging into the archives of the Dutch East Indian Company (generally abbreviated as "VOC" in Dutch) for dozens of years, more information about the Asian societies and their interactions with other peoples in the 17th and 18th centuries has come to light.

"The history of the Chinese people has for a long time largely been imagined in terms of the gradual territorial expansion of the Han people from the bend of the Yellow River towards the subtropical plains of the South, the steppes in the West, and the high mountains of Tibet," said Blusse.

"Yet, in my point of view, the forgotten heroes of China's history are the sailors, fishermen, traders, miners and other entrepreneurs from China's southeastern coastal provinces who, over the past centuries, went overseas and have sought to build up new livelihoods outside the orbit of the former Chinese imperial government," he added.

In his 1986 work "Strange Company", Blusse focused on the mestizo wives of the Dutch and of the Chinese community in the Dutch colonial city of Batavia, the center of the VOC trading network in Asia.

"I like to dig out data that give us a fuller understanding of -- but also may challenge -- the accepted versions of history," he said.

"I saw one peculiar common feature in these two groups each in their own way made it possible for the personnel of the VOC to succeed in their occupation and life," Blusse said in an interview with Xinhua.

Another of his major publication, "Bitter Bonds" (2002), tells the story of a colonial divorce drama in the 17th century.

Cornelia van Nijenroode, daughter of a Dutch trade station manager in Japan and his Japanese concubine, had become a successful and wealthy merchant, but through an unhappy marriage she lost the right to manage her own property and business to her spouse, who wished to control her finances, which caused a severe conflict.

"What I like to do is dig up or construct enlightening narratives from archival data to throw new light on larger issues that have been misinterpreted or misunderstood by other historians. This life story of Cornelia van Nijenroode, for instance, was written to explain what the legal position of (mestizo) women really was in colonial society through describing a series of law suits and administrative decisions," explained Blusse.

On the overseas Chinese, the professor initiated grand scale projects leading to comprehensive works such as "A History of Sino-Dutch Relations" (1989), "The Chinese of Batavia and Sino-Dutch trade" (1997), "The Chinese Community of Batavia at the End of the Eighteenth Century" (2002) and "Visible Cities: Canton, Nagasaki and Batavia and the Coming of the Americans" (2008).

Together with scholars from Xiamen University, the Dutch scholar also produced 13 volumes of "Gong An Bu," which draw from the minutes of the board meetings of the Chinese Council in Java in the 17th and 18th centuries.

At the same time, he is particularly interested in micro-research projects based on the life stories of individuals. In 2000, he published the biography of Anny Tan, a Chinese woman who was born in Java, studied in the Netherlands, lived through the Japanese invasion in Indonesia and returned to China in the 1960s.

Blusse met Anny Tan and her family in Xiamen in 1980. Fascinated by her life, Blusse interviewed her and corresponded with her for years. When writing the biography, he told the story from the first-person perspective, presenting the 20th century through the eyes of a Chinese woman in the former Dutch East Indies.

"Even if these intrepid Chinese migrants overseas have become devoted and loyal subjects of the countries of their choice, they continue to serve as exemplary global citizens. In my opinion, they have laid the groundwork on which contemporary China seeks to reclaim its important position on a global scale. Much can be learned from their life stories," said Blusse.

Earlier this year, he wrote an article about the first Chinese who came to the Netherlands, a man called En Pu.

"En Pu came to Vlissingen and Middelburg and stayed in Zeeland (a province in the south of the Netherlands) for one year. Later on he became the advisor to the VOC on how they should approach China. When in Middelburg, he made a picture of himself and added a Chinese text to it. Until you start to read it aloud in Fujianese (a Chinese dialect of En Pu's home region), you will not see that he said things sounding like the Dutch words for January, Flushing and Friday," said the professor.

In the past two years, Blusse has been doing work related to the massacre of the Chinese population of Batavia in 1740.

"What can explain this sudden outrage? Certainly not the conventional story of suppressed masses that rise against oppressive colonial rulers. By bringing all the different factors (social, economic, personal, political) together, I hope to come up with a new explanation for this terrible massacre," he stated.

The 70-year-old scholar, also a devotee of maritime activities, currently suffers from an injury inflicted by sailing, which prevents him from going to Beijing to accept the prize himself.

Scholar as well as professor, Blusse said his "most useful contribution" lies in the training of young Asian scholars.

"Between 2001 and 2011, my colleagues at the Leiden University History department and I trained some 90 students from all over Asia towards an MA in History, and some 30 towards a PhD. Almost all of these young Asian historians have returned to teaching positions in Asia, and continue to collaborate with each other, creating new intra-Asian connections between Asian universities," said Blusse.

This teaching project came to his mind just before the VOC commemorated its 400th anniversary in 2002.

When asked to write booklets about Dutch relations with Asian countries, Blusse decided "those books should be written by people from those countries" and he made the necessary entrepreneurial arrangements with the Dutch authorities to get scholarships for young Asian scholars, and to enable them to use the VOC archives.

During its peak, the Dutch East India Company had more than 30 bases in Asia. Nowadays, about 1.5 km of VOC archives is preserved in National Archives in the Netherlands. A large part of the accountancy material was destroyed at the beginning of the 19th century, but the most important part, namely the reportage from Asia to Europe and the other way around, has been preserved.

There is even more material in Jakarta, but a large part consists of notarial archives and the archives have suffered a lot from the tropical climate. The complete archive of the VOC office at Deshima in Japan was transferred to The Hague at the end of the 19th century. Other smaller collections have been preserved in Sri Lanka and India.

"In his delightful book 'Europe and the people without history,' U.S. author Eric Wolfe showed how it is possible and necessary to call attention to the history of peoples who may not have recorded their own histories and/or ended up as losers in the 'generally accepted popular version' of the official historical narrative. I myself have been surprised by how nowadays almost forgotten individuals/tribes/peoples often have acted as important actors in the past," said Blusse.

"The VOC archive can be studied from the point of view of the history of the company or of Dutch overseas expansion, as most Dutch historians have done. But, when reading against the grain, one may learn an awful lot of interesting information about Asian societies themselves," said Blusse.

"Given the fact that Asian archives yield very little economic data, combining those VOC materials with Asian data yields very surprising results. There is still so much to do."

"I still want to write two or three books if possible. But I think it is also our task to teach the young people. You could decide to make yourself known to the world as a famous writer then you must have all the qualities to do so and you have to be egoistic. But you could also decide that you are a professor and you have to help the others -- this is what those professors in Asia were doing for me, and it is exactly what I am doing for my students now," said the professor.
People use mobile devices to connect to the Internet via WiFi in Havana July 2, 2015. Cuba's state-owned telecommunications company Etecsa has opened 35 public WiFi stops in the country. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)

HAVANA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cuba's state-owned telecommunications company, ETECSA, announced Monday that it had signed agreements with its U.S. counterpart AT&T on roaming and direct interconnection between the two countries.

In a press release published on its website, ETECSA said AT&T customers coming to Cuba will enjoy voice and text services, as well as data roaming on ETECSA's network after an implementation period and technical tests.

"These agreements will allow offering phone calls through direct interconnection between the two countries," it noted.

In its own press release on Monday, AT&T's Executive Vice President Bill Hague said "Cuba is a growing international calling destination for our customers. With this agreement, AT&T customers soon will be able to seamlessly connect with talk, text and data while visiting Cuba."

This is not the first such deal as ETECSA already has agreements with IDT from the U.S., marking the re-establishment of direct telecommunication interconnection after 54 years of political enmity.

In November, Sprint Communications signed up with ETECSA to offer the first roaming service for Americans in Cuba. Since then, Verizon and T-Mobile have also signed similar deals.

Washington has maintained a severe economic and trade blockade on Havana since 1962. However, the packages of measures approved by the administration of President Barack Obama allow for business agreements in various sectors, including telecommunications.
PARIS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- French President Francois Hollande voiced concern over escalating clashes in eastern Ukraine that would hamper diplomatic efforts to end peacefully the conflict, his office said on Tuesday.

During talks over phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hollande noted that the increasing number of acts that violates the peace deal would hamper moves to set on ground the agreement aimed to end hostilities.

The French leader called on rival camps to honor their commitment to implementing the Minsk accord.

He also expressed hope that the conditions would be quickly met to hold a new Normandy Format meeting to discuss ways to end the crisis, saying "there is no other alternative than a peaceful solution" to stop violence in eastern Ukraine.

In February 2015, Kiev and Moscow agreed a peace deal including a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline of fighting, release of captives, amnesty to detained insurgents and restoration of the Ukrainian government control over the state border.

However, continued clashes in the zone have dashed hopes to fully implement the accord brokered by French and German leaders.
Pablo Sanchez Velarde, Nation's Attorney and President of the High Level Anti-Corruption Commission (CAN, for its acronym in Spanish), attends a press conference on the development of the anti-corruption meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, in Lima City, Peru, on Feb. 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Luis Camacho)

LIMA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian Attorney General Pablo Sanchez Velarde said Monday the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) should step up efforts to crack down on corruption and illegal trading.

Speaking during an APEC policy meeting in Lima, Velarde noted that corruption affects many industries and spurs illegal mining, animal smuggling and human trafficking.

The chief prosecutor, who also chairs APEC's working group on anti-corruption and transparency, said that acts of corruption are not uncommon within the APEC members.

Velarde added that industries such as mining are particularly susceptible to corruption, due to the lack of up-to-date information concerning mining operations.

"Illegal mining is on the rise, which is a serious concern. The complex, cross-border dynamics and consequences of natural resource exploitation are prompting greater cooperation in APEC to stem corruption that underpins it," he added.

He also noted that the human trafficking is a very serious matter. "The victims have become commercial objects, lose their physical freedom and their free will."

The policy meeting was held to discuss corruption, illegal trading and their consequences on the environment.

Peru is to host this year's APEC summit, which is slated for Nov. 19-20. It previously hosted the APEC summit in 2008.
MOGADISHU, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Somali army, alongside the African Union troops, killed at least eight Al-Shabaab militants in the south-central Bay region on Tuesday.

Regional minister for militia rehabilitation in Southwest State, Hussein Hassan Mohamed, told reporters that a senior Al-Shabaab official was among those killed in the operation in Qansax-Dheere location, south of Baidoa town.

"They (the militants) attempted to make resistance, but we overpowered them and killed eight of the terrorists including a senior official whose name is Hassan Ganey," Hassan said, adding the joint forces suffered no casualties.

The operation came a day after Al-Shabaab militants killed three government soldiers in an ambush in an area close to Baidoa town, the administrative capital of Southwest State.

Based in southern Somalia, the Al-Shabaab Islamist group carries out periodic attacks in the country.
WINDHOEK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's Walvis Bay Corridor Group's (WBCG) Wellness Service is collaborating with Zambian health officials to establish the first Cross Border HIV/AIDS Initiative (CBI).

The project's objective is to have a series of Wellness Clinics serving truck drivers along the Walvis Bay corridors.

Wellness Project Manager, Edward Shivute, recently met with officials from the Ministry of Health of Zambia to discuss the set-up of the new clinic in Shesheke, Zambia, which is to be opened by Oct. 2016.

The clinic is set to offer HIV Counselling and Testing, CD4 Count Measurements/Tests, STI Screening and Treatment and Risk Reduction and Counselling.

It will also offer Social Behaviour Change and Communication Tools, Basic primary Health Care, Hypertension and Blood Pressure Testing, Glucose Testing, TB Screening and offer referral to appropriate treatment, care and support services.

The Clinic will, however, not remain in the Wellness Service's care. "We are merely lending our expertise in running Wellness Clinics," Shivute said.

The WBCG is tasked with providing the clinic and operating it for a year before the reigns are handed over to Zambia's Health Ministry. In turn, Zambia will ensure that the clinic receives competent personnel, provide the necessary medical consumables and ensure the clinic operates according their Government's policies and regulations.

This Wellness project, funded by SADC through the Global Fund, has three operational clinics located at the Port of Walvis Bay, at the border in Oshikango along the Trans-Cunene and at the border in Katima Mulilo along the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor.

WBCG is the prime driver of self-sustaining HIV and AIDS/Wellness Workplace Program in the Namibian transport sector and across the SADC region. Enditem
SOFIA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria will soon open a national stand of Bulgarian products at the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, an official said here on Tuesday.

Vasil Gelev, director of the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEE Countries (APACCCEEC), said the Bulgarian stand would be opened on Aug. 25.

The Shanghai free trade zone is a successful model of trade and entrance of foreign companies into the Chinese market, he said in a press briefing.

Gelev said on the day of the official opening there would be a tele-bridge between Shanghai and the Black Sea coastal city of Burgas of Bulgaria.

The contract for the Bulgarian stand was for five years, he added.

APACCCEEC was established in 2015 in Sofia to boost agricultural cooperation and trade between China and the countries in the Central and Eastern Europe.
ZAGREB, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's campaign for the early parliamentary elections in September is heating up with politicians promising populist measures, local media reported Tuesday.

The two biggest parties, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), share similar programs, promising economic growth, tax cuts and new jobs.

The HDZ, who has a new leader Andrej Plenkovic, said it would create 180,000 new jobs. They promise a lower VAT and increase in salaries. On the other hand, SDP and its leader Zoran Milanovic are talking about 140,000 new jobs, reducing the tax burden on labor and stimulating youth employment.

In the last parliamentary elections in November, a coalition gathered around the SDP won 56 of the 151 seats, while a coalition around HDZ won 59. The Bridge of Independent Lists (MOST), finished third with 19 seats and later teamed-up with the HDZ in a center-right government that collapsed after five months.

MOST, the third party, will likely again hold key to Croatia's next government. According to the most recent poll broadcasted by RTL television in one of Croatia's 12 constituencies, the results could be exactly the same as in November election. That means tough coalition talks, negotiations and weeks of horse-trading to form a government.

The SDP has formed a pre-election coalition with three smaller parties. They hope to build an alliance with the left leaning regional IDS party and national minorities. On the other hand, the HDZ is going to the polls without pre-election partners but expect to form the government with other smaller parties or MOST.

MOST is promising economic reforms and citizens debt refinancing that would lead to the rise of consumption and investments. Endtiem
Photo taken on Aug. 7, 2016 shows Dutch historian Leonard blusse at his home in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (Xinhua/Liu Fang)

by Liu Fang, Zindziwe Janse

AMSTERDAM, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dutch historian Leonard Blusse has won this year's "Special Book Award of China", which honors foreign translators, writers and publishers for their significant achievements in making China better known to the outside world.

The professor emeritus at Leiden University is a prolific writer on the early modern history of Southeast and East Asia, history of overseas Chinese and global history.

Thanks to his digging into the archives of the Dutch East Indian Company (generally abbreviated as "VOC" in Dutch) for dozens of years, more information about the Asian societies and their interactions with other peoples in the 17th and 18th centuries has come to light.

"The history of the Chinese people has for a long time largely been imagined in terms of the gradual territorial expansion of the Han people from the bend of the Yellow River towards the subtropical plains of the South, the steppes in the West, and the high mountains of Tibet," said Blusse.

"Yet, in my point of view, the forgotten heroes of China's history are the sailors, fishermen, traders, miners and other entrepreneurs from China's southeastern coastal provinces who, over the past centuries, went overseas and have sought to build up new livelihoods outside the orbit of the former Chinese imperial government," he added.

In his 1986 work "Strange Company", Blusse focused on the mestizo wives of the Dutch and of the Chinese community in the Dutch colonial city of Batavia, the center of the VOC trading network in Asia.

"I like to dig out data that give us a fuller understanding of -- but also may challenge -- the accepted versions of history," he said.

"I saw one peculiar common feature in these two groups each in their own way made it possible for the personnel of the VOC to succeed in their occupation and life," Blusse said in an interview with Xinhua.

Another of his major publication, "Bitter Bonds" (2002), tells the story of a colonial divorce drama in the 17th century.

Cornelia van Nijenroode, daughter of a Dutch trade station manager in Japan and his Japanese concubine, had become a successful and wealthy merchant, but through an unhappy marriage she lost the right to manage her own property and business to her spouse, who wished to control her finances, which caused a severe conflict.

"What I like to do is dig up or construct enlightening narratives from archival data to throw new light on larger issues that have been misinterpreted or misunderstood by other historians. This life story of Cornelia van Nijenroode, for instance, was written to explain what the legal position of (mestizo) women really was in colonial society through describing a series of law suits and administrative decisions," explained Blusse.

On the overseas Chinese, the professor initiated grand scale projects leading to comprehensive works such as "A History of Sino-Dutch Relations" (1989), "The Chinese of Batavia and Sino-Dutch trade" (1997), "The Chinese Community of Batavia at the End of the Eighteenth Century" (2002) and "Visible Cities: Canton, Nagasaki and Batavia and the Coming of the Americans" (2008).

Together with scholars from Xiamen University, the Dutch scholar also produced 13 volumes of "Gong An Bu," which draw from the minutes of the board meetings of the Chinese Council in Java in the 17th and 18th centuries.

At the same time, he is particularly interested in micro-research projects based on the life stories of individuals. In 2000, he published the biography of Anny Tan, a Chinese woman who was born in Java, studied in the Netherlands, lived through the Japanese invasion in Indonesia and returned to China in the 1960s.

Blusse met Anny Tan and her family in Xiamen in 1980. Fascinated by her life, Blusse interviewed her and corresponded with her for years. When writing the biography, he told the story from the first-person perspective, presenting the 20th century through the eyes of a Chinese woman in the former Dutch East Indies.

"Even if these intrepid Chinese migrants overseas have become devoted and loyal subjects of the countries of their choice, they continue to serve as exemplary global citizens. In my opinion, they have laid the groundwork on which contemporary China seeks to reclaim its important position on a global scale. Much can be learned from their life stories," said Blusse.

Earlier this year, he wrote an article about the first Chinese who came to the Netherlands, a man called En Pu.

"En Pu came to Vlissingen and Middelburg and stayed in Zeeland (a province in the south of the Netherlands) for one year. Later on he became the advisor to the VOC on how they should approach China. When in Middelburg, he made a picture of himself and added a Chinese text to it. Until you start to read it aloud in Fujianese (a Chinese dialect of En Pu's home region), you will not see that he said things sounding like the Dutch words for January, Flushing and Friday," said the professor.

In the past two years, Blusse has been doing work related to the massacre of the Chinese population of Batavia in 1740.

"What can explain this sudden outrage? Certainly not the conventional story of suppressed masses that rise against oppressive colonial rulers. By bringing all the different factors (social, economic, personal, political) together, I hope to come up with a new explanation for this terrible massacre," he stated.

The 70-year-old scholar, also a devotee of maritime activities, currently suffers from an injury inflicted by sailing, which prevents him from going to Beijing to accept the prize himself.

Scholar as well as professor, Blusse said his "most useful contribution" lies in the training of young Asian scholars.

"Between 2001 and 2011, my colleagues at the Leiden University History department and I trained some 90 students from all over Asia towards an MA in History, and some 30 towards a PhD. Almost all of these young Asian historians have returned to teaching positions in Asia, and continue to collaborate with each other, creating new intra-Asian connections between Asian universities," said Blusse.

This teaching project came to his mind just before the VOC commemorated its 400th anniversary in 2002.

When asked to write booklets about Dutch relations with Asian countries, Blusse decided "those books should be written by people from those countries" and he made the necessary entrepreneurial arrangements with the Dutch authorities to get scholarships for young Asian scholars, and to enable them to use the VOC archives.

During its peak, the Dutch East India Company had more than 30 bases in Asia. Nowadays, about 1.5 km of VOC archives is preserved in National Archives in the Netherlands. A large part of the accountancy material was destroyed at the beginning of the 19th century, but the most important part, namely the reportage from Asia to Europe and the other way around, has been preserved.

There is even more material in Jakarta, but a large part consists of notarial archives and the archives have suffered a lot from the tropical climate. The complete archive of the VOC office at Deshima in Japan was transferred to The Hague at the end of the 19th century. Other smaller collections have been preserved in Sri Lanka and India.

"In his delightful book 'Europe and the people without history,' U.S. author Eric Wolfe showed how it is possible and necessary to call attention to the history of peoples who may not have recorded their own histories and/or ended up as losers in the 'generally accepted popular version' of the official historical narrative. I myself have been surprised by how nowadays almost forgotten individuals/tribes/peoples often have acted as important actors in the past," said Blusse.

"The VOC archive can be studied from the point of view of the history of the company or of Dutch overseas expansion, as most Dutch historians have done. But, when reading against the grain, one may learn an awful lot of interesting information about Asian societies themselves," said Blusse.

"Given the fact that Asian archives yield very little economic data, combining those VOC materials with Asian data yields very surprising results. There is still so much to do."

"I still want to write two or three books if possible. But I think it is also our task to teach the young people. You could decide to make yourself known to the world as a famous writer then you must have all the qualities to do so and you have to be egoistic. But you could also decide that you are a professor and you have to help the others -- this is what those professors in Asia were doing for me, and it is exactly what I am doing for my students now," said the professor.
A file picture taken on June 8, 2016 shows an advertising board in the City of Warri in the Delta State. The Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group that has been attacking Nigeria's oil infrastructure since early this year, is anything but new, according to those familiar with the region. Despite their fresh name, it was only a matter of time before the militants returned to the swamps and creeks of the delta region, the sources said. (AFP/Stefan Heunis)

LAGOS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta region had destabilized Nigeria's oil industry, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu has said.

Speaking at the 2016 Annual Conference of National Association of Energy Correspondents in Lagos last week, the minister said Nigeria has recorded 1,600 cases of pipeline vandalism since January, noting that the country recorded over 3,000 pipeline vandalism cases from 2010 to 2015.

The impact of attacks on oil and gas pipelines was that there was no money to fund the 2016 budget, he added.

Over the last few months, members of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have bombed numerous oil facilities belonging to international oil companies in the Niger Delta region.

The militant group has demanded more crude oil revenues for the oil-producing states, the release of militants who are being detained or incarcerated, and continued funding of the amnesty program for former militants.

The group's bomb attacks on oil facilities have forced oil firms in the Delta region to be on high alert, to take significant security measures to protect their employees, and cut down on oil production.

The unrest in the region has forced many international firms to flee the area. The government mobilized the Nigerian army and coast guard in an anti-banditry operation

The minister also said that declining price of oil in the international market had negatively impacted the country's revenue leading to economic recession.

He said proactive steps were required to bring Nigeria's economy back on positive track.

According to him, while vandals wreak havoc on oil facilities and cripple local production, over-supply of product in the market is also affecting prices and creating shocks to the economy.

Kachikwu said time had come for the country to face the reality as there was no assurance that the price of oil would peak as being speculated.

He hinged his argument on the fact that OPEC merely controlled 30 percent of the market while 70 percent was in the hands of major producers, such the U.S., Russia and Mexico, which were not OPEC members.

He said the industry was challenged by six billion U.S. dollars cash call indebtedness accumulated over the last five years.

The minister said with inadequate financing of the industry, no investment had occurred in the sector in the last five years.

He said 643 million liters of petroleum products was lost in 2015, while between January and June a loss of 109 million liters of petroleum products and 560,000 barrels of crude had been recorded.

Kachikwu said about 850 million standard cubic feet of gas production had been lost from crises.

He said the government was stepping up efforts to make robust policies that would finalize and gazette a comprehensive gas policy, unlock gas potential and ensure effective development of Nigeria's gas market.

He said the policy would help to transit from gas flare penalty regime to gas commercialization and shift focus from government-built to investor-built infrastructure.
GUIYANG, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has demanded more to be done to improve the skills of people who have been relocated as part of poverty relief efforts.

China plans to end poverty by 2020, in part by relocating 10 million people over the next 5 years from barren or geographically disadvantaged areas to start new lives elsewhere.

"Alleviating poverty through relocation is a key aspect of our strategy," Li said in a message to a national meeting on the matter.

The two-day meeting ended on Tuesday in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province. Vice Premier Wang Yang attended the meeting.

There were still around 70 million Chinese last year living below the poverty line, many in harsh conditions without roads or water and power.

"Fighting poverty is an arduous, complicated and urgent task, which demands a strong sense of responsibility and mission," Li said.

The premier urged innovating mechanisms and mobilizing the initiative and creativity of the masses to tackle outstanding problems in the work of relieving poverty through relocation.

He called for efforts to enhance the capability of the relocated people to continue leading a better life and stay away from poverty.

Authorities in 22 provinces and autonomous regions have spent 58 billion yuan on relocation projects, with construction started on over 10,000 of them, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) revealed. With plans to relocate 2.49 million people this year alone, 718 projects have been completed and 226,000 people have moved so far.

Last December, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council released a key poverty alleviation instruction. Lifting the country's remaining 70 million poor out of poverty by 2020 will be "the most arduous task" on China's path toward the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the document said.

It reiterated that there should be more targeted and precise measures in poverty alleviation.
AMMAN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on Syrian Issue Xie Xiaoyan said here on Tuesday that China and Jordan share common views on addressing the Syrian crisis, highlighting political solution as the key to ending the violence in the country.

He made the remarks at a press conference following a meeting with Jordanian officials in Amman, adding that China is keen to continue coordination with Jordan on the issue, which is disturbing stability and security in the Middle East.

Xie, currently on a regional tour, said that resolving the crisis needs "patience and confidence" as "interests of many players are involved."

China is in continued communication with the Syrian government, opposition, the U.S., Russia and regional players in this regard, Xie said, expressing optimism about the resumption of peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition soon.

Xie said that parties involved should take to political solution, not military ones to solve the issue, adding that "pre-conditioning the ouster of Assad to start negotiations is not a solution as it will obstruct any peacemaking efforts."

He believes that no solution should be dictated on the Syrian people, saying "any external solution to the Syrian issue will reach a deadlock."

Stressing China's continued support for Jordan, the official added that China has provided Jordan with 130 million yuan (20 million U.S. dollars) this year to help with the issue of Syrian refugees.

Noting that China is ready and will continue to provide aid and humanitarian assistance, he also hailed Jordan's role in providing aid and services to the Syrian refugees.

Official figures show that some 1.3 million Syrian refugees have fled to Jordan since 2011.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City plans to build nine new automatic air quality monitoring stations, the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment said Tuesday.

The department wants to build the first four stations with estimated investment of some 78 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 3.5 million U.S. dollars) to cope with the increasingly worsening air pollution in the city.

In 2003, Ho Chi Minh City built nine automatic air quality monitoring stations with the Norwegian and Danish assistance. However, in 2012, they were out of order due to serious degrading. Enditem
BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The surprising rise of Chinese sci-fi writers at the global stage has opened a new window for the world to catch a glimpse of China's present and, possibly, future.

Science fiction is now more popular than ever. On Sunday, Hao Jingfang, a young and gifted Chinese writer, won the Hugo Award for her haunting novelette -- "Folding Beijing."

When China's new literary sensation Liu Cixin won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015, the first Asian sci-fi writer with such an achievement, few could have anticipated the next Hugo for Chinese science fiction could come so soon. Apart from Liu and Hao, no Asian author has ever won the award in its 63-year history.

And after two Hugo awards, sci-fi writers have earned unprecedented fame and influence in China. Indeed, science fiction has gotten more attention than ever as more people are buying sci-fi and movie-goers are thirsting for more sci-fi movies.

After the publication of Liu's "The Three-Body Problem," reading the long and mind-boggling trilogy has become an online carnival for all walks of life in China. Even IT tycoons, such as Baidu's CEO Robin Li and Xiaomi's co-founder Lei Jun, have heaped praise on the books.

In addition, Chinese science fiction is also making a global reputation for itself due to the astronomic success of Chinese sci-fi writers.

"Following the success of 'The Three-Body Problem,' we noticed an increase in Chinese material in sci-fi all round the world," said Yao Haijun, chief editor of "Science Fiction World (SFW)," China's only leading sci-fi magazine.

The rise of Chinese science fiction certainly should be attributed to the genius of its sci-fi authors, a small group of often marginalized but persistent literary aficionados. But if one considers the broader picture, one can find that the rise is actually concurrent with the development of the country in general.

China's science fiction, though mostly outside Chinese literature's mainstream, can be traced back to more than 100 years ago. Some of the 20th-century Chinese literary giants such as Lu Xun and Lao She wrote sci-fi stories, mostly to popularize the spirit of science.

But contemporary sci-fi writers in China, instead, are more concerned with some universal themes, such as humans' place in the universe or the dilemmas and complexities of modern life.

Time changes, and so does Chinese science fiction.

And Chinese science fiction, still largely enigmatic to many foreigners, can offer a new window for them to understand the fast-changing China as the genre evolves with the country that breeds it.

"It (Chinese sci-fi) has also set up a link between China and the West, through which foreign readers can attempt to hypothesize about the future of the country," SFW's Yao said.

In this sense, the success of younger sci-fi writers, such as Hao, carries even more significance than Liu's award, because it can, to an extent, showcase what young Chinese people care most about regarding their individual and collective future.
MADRID, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Spain's political stalemate has caused a major reduction in the number of contacts granted by state administrators, which is reverberating among the country's construction enterprises, it was reported Tuesday.

A report published in the El Pais newspaper on Tuesday shows that the lack of government led to a big fall in the number of public works contracts that were granted in the opening months of the year.

The total number of contracts tendered by the state administration during the first six months of 2016 was 3.59 billion euros (3.96 billion U.S. dollars), 24.5 percent down in comparison with 2015, despite the Spanish economy continuing to recover from the economic crisis.

Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's People's Party (PP) and Albert Rivera's Ciudadanos are currently locked in talks to end eight months of political stalemate which have left Spain without an effective government in 2016.

However, there is no guarantee the talks will succeed and Spain could yet hold a third general election at the end of the year.

Between January and June 2016, the Public Works Ministry granted contracts to public enterprises to the value of 657 million euros, 19.4 percent down on the same period in 2015.

The operating company of the Spanish railway infrastructure, ADIF, saw a 42.5 percent reduction in the value of contracts granted, while there was a 16 percent fall in contracts awarded at ports.

This drop in spending on public works projects to around just 25 percent of pre-crisis numbers has caused concern at SEOPAN, which represents Spain's construction companies and which highlights investment on infrastructure will fall between 15-18 percent in 2016.

Meanwhile, the cement industry, represented by OFICIMEN, says that when a new government is installed one of its first acts will be to design a new plan for public investment, which is at its lowest level for 25 years.
YEREVAN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Armenia desires further cooperation with China in mutually beneficial infrastructure projects, the press office of the Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communication said Tuesday.

Armenian Transport and Communication Minister Gagik Beglaryan expressed this desire here when meeting a visiting Chinese delegation headed by Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming, it said.

Qian said that the Chinese side would build its contracted portion of a major highway in Armenia "with quality and on time," while anticipating comprehensive support from the Armenian side.

Chinese Sinohydro Group Ltd. was contracted by Armenia's government in May to carry out the construction of a portion of a lengthy highway connecting Armenia's southern and northern borders.

The Chinese side has also shown interest in the prospects of the Armenia-Iran railway, the press office said.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the major presidential candidates for the 2016 cycle, are quite disliked by voters.

"It's been an exciting and unprecedented kind of campaign this year, and unfortunately, the way it's turned out, both choices in the major parties are quite unpopular," Carter said.

However, the 91-year-old, now a worldwide ambassador for Habitat for Humanity, said he will definitely vote for whom he thinks better qualified -- Democratic nominee Clinton.

He made the remarks with the Associated Press on the site of a Habitat for Humanity construction project in Memphis, Tennessee.

"Everybody knows that I'm a Democrat, and I'll be voting Democratic," he added, while refusing to comment on Republican nominee Trump.

Carter, who has battled cancer in the past year, also said he doesn't like to advocate for particular issues because he works equally with the two main parties and people of various backgrounds in his role with the home-building charity.

Multiple nationwide polls have shown that Clinton is unpopular with voters, Trump currently even more so.

Since there are some 80 days to go before the election scheduled for Nov. 8, it is suspected that time is running out on the New York billionaire amid high controversy and rising criticism.
Syrian Kurdish civilians board a truck as they flee reported shelling in the northeastern governorate of Hasakah, toward the city of Qameshli, on August 18, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Kurdish fighters and the Syrian army have reached a new ceasefire in the province of Hasakah, just days after a previous truce was shattered with intensified confrontation, Syria's national TV reported Tuesday.

The new ceasefire has supposedly gone into effect at 2 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) Tuesday, said the report, adding that several points have been agreed upon.

The Syrian forces and security apparatus as well as the Kurdish security force, called Assayish, will remain in their positions in Haskah, according to the deal.

The news agreement also includes opening all blocked routes in Hasakah city by the Kurdish fighters, who have mounted a wide-scale offensive recently to push the government out of Hasakah, a city that has largely become controlled by the Kurds.

The new truce also provides for exchanging prisoners and wounded people at 9 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).

Efforts will continue be made to resolve the Kurdish issue, said the report, adding that roads will be opened inside Hasakah and Qamishli city toward the military positions in and outside the city.

The ceasefire deal is the second to be reached in recent days, as the tension between the Kurds and the Syrian government has hit an unprecedented high.

A day earlier, state news agency SANA accused the Kurds of breaking a truce reached on Sunday, saying the Kurdish fighters attacked several government institutions.

A source in the city told Xinhua that the Kurds actually took control of several government positions, in their bid to shrink the government presence in that area to a small security zone.

The control in Hasakah has been divided between the government and the Kurds since 2012. The Kurds maintain a sort of autonomous rule in areas with heavy Kurdish presence.

The situation between both parties have been calm throughout the past years, but tension sparked when both the Assayish and a pro-government fighter group, called National Defense Forces (NDF) started arresting members of each other.

The incidents developed into intense battles recently.

The ceasefire deals have been mediated by Russia, reports said.

In previous bouts of tension between Syrian government forces and the Kurds, both parties had managed to contain the situation and avoid further confrontation.

At the time, there were reports about a tacit agreement between the Kurds and the Syrian government.

Buoyed by the support of the U.S.-led coalition, the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have made sweeping victories against the Islamic State (IS) group in key areas in northern Syria.

The Russians were said to have also backed the Kurdish fighters in their push against the IS, but no Kurdish group have admitted receiving such support from Russia.
This aerial photo taken on May 11, 2016 shows the Huxin Island at the West Lake scenic spot in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. China will host the 2016 Group of Twenty (G20) summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou, a tourism city best known for its West Lake scenic spot, on Sept. 4-5. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

by Xinhua writers Zhang Jianhua and Wu Congsi

LONDON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming G20 summit in China is "very valuable" in enabling major countries in the world to talk about current global issues, said Mark Boleat, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, one of the most powerful financial institutions in Europe.

In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, Boleat also said he expected the summit to give a further push to important international developments, promote international trade and develop green financing and infrastructure investment.

"The world economy is still very fragile, so we look to the governments of major countries to do whatever they can to promote economic growth and international trade, areas like green finance, infrastructure financing and fintech," he said.

ADDRESSING CONCERNS

Boleat, who has been Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee of the City of London Corporation since 2012, said he hoped G20 leaders would reemphasize the importance of international trade amid rising concerns over trade barriers being re-erected.

"There are concerns about the development of international trade, about trade barriers being erected in some cases rather than being removed; there is a move throughout the world on concerns about the impact of globalization," the policy chief warned.

There's a need to reemphasize the importance of trade and how it benefits people in all countries, he urged.

"It [the world] will be looking to the G20 to make a pretty firm statement that international trade benefits all countries," he added.

The summit, he noted, could only help to improve the economy with concrete actions being taken by national governments.

"So if there can be an agreement on any measures that will help economic growth in individual countries, that will benefit the whole of the world economy," he told Xinhua.

In the interview, he also highlighted the importance of "many informal discussions" that will take place between the world leaders at G20 summit.

CHINA AND G20

On China's role in G20, Boleat said China is the second biggest economy in the world, and as such "it plays a very vital role in the global economy."

"The weight and growth of the Chinese economy will have an impact on other countries in the world, so I think other countries are looking to China to do what it can to maintain its rapid growth, which is way above the western economies," he explained.

He added that the liberalization of the Chinese economy itself "gives more opportunities for institutions in other countries to invest in China and to do business with China."

Speaking of the potential legacy of the G20 Hangzhou summit, the policy chief expected the gathering to push the development which is happening already.

"It's simply about pushing in the same direction and helping initiatives that are already working, giving a further push to important international developments, helping to promote international trade, and developing things like green financing and infrastructure investment," he elaborated.

On international economic governance, Boleat said China "needs to play a very major role in the international agencies."

"The second biggest economy in the world has to play a major role in the international institutions; it can't be a second-tier player when it's such a large economy," he said.

A resident walks past ancient architectural complex at Sixinfang in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 22, 2016. Hangzhou has been massively upgrading the city's infrastructure with such improvements as repaving roads, expanding its subway system and dredging waterway for the G20 summit over the last couple of years. (Xinhua/Wang Dingchang)

UK-CHINA TIES

In late July, the British government announced it would delay the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant program until autumn to review the proposed project in southwest England.

In a recent article for The Financial Times, Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said the China-UK relationship is "at a crucial historical juncture" and Hinkley Point is "a test of mutual trust" between the two countries.

However, Boleat stressed that Hinkley Point is not a political issue and should not hurt the UK-China relationship.

"I don't think it is right to look at one development and say that's the only thing that matters," he said.

"This is innately an investment, and it's got to work as an investment, and quite properly the British government wants to ensure that it is the right sort of investment to make in today's circumstances," he added.

Noting that London is the western hub for offshore RMB trading, Boleat said he expected Britain's new ministers to continue the policies of the previous ministers.

"These are the policies of the government, not the individuals concerned, and the prime minister already emphasized the wish to continue very strong relationship between Britain and China," he said.

"We want to see more bond issues in the London market from Chinese institutions that are denominated in RMB; British institutions are very keen to increase their investment in China, so there is a lot more to be done," he continued.

BREXIT EFFECT

Looking at the ramifications of Brexit, Boleat said he hoped Britain's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) would not adversely affect the relationship between Britain and China.

"From what we've done so far and analyses and talks we've had, we don't see any reduced appetite for strengthening the links between Britain and China," he affirmed.

"Europe is very important market for Britain; there are very strong links already between Britain and Europe," he said. "We wish to maintain those and we'll constantly develop our links with China."

Bilateral relations between Britain and China, for the most part, are not dependent on the EU, he argued.

"I don't think Brexit is going to lead to Britain wanting to develop its relations with China more, because Britain wants to do that anyway, regardless of whether it's in the EU or not," said the City policy chairman.

"We don't see them as being alternatives. Britain needs very strong relations with both the EU and China," he added.
LUSAKA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Media bodies on Tuesday condemned the move by Zambia's broadcasting regulator to suspend licenses for three broadcasters, including the country's major private television.

On Monday, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) suspended licenses of Muvi Television, Komboni and Itezhi-tezhi radio stations for unprofessional conduct before, during and after the August 11 polls.

But the Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) has described the move null and void, and a breach of the broadcasting law.

Andrew Sakala, PAZA president, said the broadcasting law stipulates that it was mandatory for the regulator to give broadcasting stations an opportunity to defend themselves before canceling or suspending the licenses.

"The suspension of the broadcasting licenses of the three broadcasting stations is premature and illegal because the Independent Broadcasting Authority board breached the act by not giving the three stations an opportunity to defend themselves," he said in a statement.

He added that the regulator should rescind its decision and follow the law.

The Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf) also expressed deep concern over the suspension of the broadcasters, adding that clamping down on the media could not instill professionalism in the media sector.

"Instead of taking such drastic action, the IBA should have engaged the affected media house and helped them address the imbalances and whatever issues that were the basis of the suspension of these broadcast licenses," Lilian Kiefer, the organization's executive director said.

Kellys Kaunda, a media consultant and former chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia Chapter, has advised the three broadcasting stations to seek a negotiated settlement with the regulator.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holds a lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump by eight percentage points, according to a new NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Online Tracking Poll issued Tuesday.

The former secretary of state, who has been consistently polling ahead of Trump in national polls since the end of July, is now favored by 50 percent of registered voters, while Trump is backed by 42 percent, the poll finds.

In a four-way matchup, Clinton holds a 5-point lead over Trump, 43 percent to 38 percent. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has 11 percent support while Green Party leader Jill Stein has 5 percent.

Among black voters, Clinton holds a huge lead -- 87 percent of black voters said they will support her, while the New York billionaire only enjoys the support of 8 percent.

Clinton also leads over Trump among Hispanic voters, 73 percent to 22 percent and with Asian-American voters, 66 percent to 23 percent.

However, she trails Trump among white voters, 41 percent to 50 percent.

The poll found that 65 percent of registered voters polled said race relations are getting worse in the country, and only 10 percent hold the opposite opinion. Another 24 percent said they were staying the same. More than half of registered voters polled also said men and women still don't enjoy equal opportunities.

The survey was conducted on Aug. 15-21 among 17,459 adults who said they are registered to vote. The margin of error is 1.1 percent.
Picture released on Aug. 23, 2016 by lunar probe and space project center of Chinese State Adiministration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence shows the concept portraying what the Mars rover and lander would look like. Image of China's Mars probe was also released Tuesday. (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday released images of a Mars probe and rover which the country plans to send to the Red Planet within five years.

China plans to send a spacecraft to orbit Mars, make a landing, and deploy a rover in July or August 2020, said Zhang Rongqiao, chief architect of the Mars mission at a press conference in Beijing. "The challenges we face are unprecedented."

According to Ye Peijian, one of China's leading aerospace experts and a consultant to the program, the 2020 mission will be launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from the Wenchang space launch center in south China's Hainan province.

The lander will separate from the orbiter at the end of a journey of around seven months and touch down in a low latitude area in the northern hemisphere of Mars where the rover will explore the surface.

Images displayed at Tuesday's press conference showed a device with six wheels, powered by four solar panels, two more than the rover sent to the moon.

Weighing around 200 kilograms, it is designed to operate for three Martian months, according to Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the probe.

The probe, for its part, will carry 13 payloads including a remote sensing camera and a ground penetrating radar which could be used to study the soil, environment, and atmosphere of Mars, as well as the planet's physical fields, the distribution of water and ice, and its inner structure.

A public competition for the name and the logo of the 2020 mission was also launched Tuesday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) talks with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (L) during a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Ankara on August 23, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua)

ANKARA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday that Turkey is ready to provide all kinds of support for military operations against the Islamic State (IS) in the Syrian town of Jarablus, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Ankara, Cavusoglu said that Turkey does not want the IS to exist in Iraq and Syria, and Turkey will provide all contributions to cleanse the terrorist organization from neighboring countries.

"We provide all kinds of logistical support for coalition countries and we actively participate in the fight against the IS," the Turkish foreign minister said.

"We have killed more than 650 IS terrorists in (northern Iraq's) Bashiqa camp alone with artillery fire," he added.

Earlier on Monday, he said the IS militants must be totally pushed from the Syrian border region, amid reports suggesting that Syrian rebels were preparing to launch an attack to seize Jarablus, the last significant town held by the jihadist group on the border with Turkey.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the National Library of Latvia in Riga, capital of Latvia, on Aug. 23, 2016. Joe Biden arrived in Riga as part of his European tour on Tuesday to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the Baltic states' security and discuss closer cooperation with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. (Xinhua/Janis)

RIGA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Riga as part of his European tour on Tuesday to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the Baltic states' security and discuss closer cooperation with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The agenda of Biden's visit to the Latvian capital included a meeting with the presidents of the three Baltic states, bilateral talks with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, as well as an address to the Baltic nations.

Biden's meeting with Latvian President Vejonis, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite resulted in an agreement to step up defense cooperation.

The commitment to intensify defense ties was formulated in a joint declaration, released after the talks.

"The United States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania affirm that we must keep our Alliance strong ... the United States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania intend to reinforce and deepen our defense cooperation to promote regional security," the declaration says.

Biden also reassured the Baltic presidents that the U.S. commitment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, obliging all other members in case of an attack on one member state to come to its aid, is unwavering and that the U.S. considers it to be its "sacred obligation" to defend its allies.

The U.S. Vice President's meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis dealt not only with security matters but also with issues concerning Latvia's judiciary system, insolvency rules and the banking sector. Biden also inquired about the security of the Latvian energy sector, offering closer cooperation and expertise in this area. The officials agreed that perspectives for energy cooperation are indeed good, especially given the planned liberalization of the Latvian gas market.

In his address to the Baltic nations, which Biden made in the evening at the National Library of Latvia, he reiterated the U.S. promise to always stand by its allies and told to ignore the remarks made recently by Donald Trump, the U.S. presidential candidate from the Republican Party, that the U.S. might not honor its obligations to NATO under his presidency.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden addresses the 2016 U.S. Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the United States on July 27, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

RIGA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Riga as part of his European tour on Tuesday to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the Baltic states' security and discuss closer cooperation with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The agenda of Biden's visit to the Latvian capital included a meeting with the presidents of the three Baltic states, bilateral talks with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, as well as an address to the Baltic nations.

Biden's meeting with Latvian President Vejonis, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite resulted in an agreement to step up defense cooperation.

The commitment to intensify defense ties was formulated in a joint declaration, released after the talks.

"The United States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania affirm that we must keep our Alliance strong ... the United States, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania intend to reinforce and deepen our defense cooperation to promote regional security," the declaration says.

Biden also reassured the Baltic presidents that the U.S. commitment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, obliging all other members in case of an attack on one member state to come to its aid, is unwavering and that the U.S. considers it to be its "sacred obligation" to defend its allies.

The U.S. Vice President's meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis dealt not only with security matters but also with issues concerning Latvia's judiciary system, insolvency rules and the banking sector. Biden also inquired about the security of the Latvian energy sector, offering closer cooperation and expertise in this area. The officials agreed that perspectives for energy cooperation are indeed good, especially given the planned liberalization of the Latvian gas market.

In his address to the Baltic nations, which Biden made in the evening at the National Library of Latvia, he reiterated the U.S. promise to always stand by its allies and told to ignore the remarks made recently by Donald Trump, the U.S. presidential candidate from the Republican Party, that the U.S. might not honor its obligations to NATO under his presidency.
PARIS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Seventy-nine percent of French voters did not back former president Nicolas Sarkozy's bid for a new mandate at the Elysee Palace, a day after the conservative leader formally announced his candidacy for next year's presidential race, a poll showed on Tuesday.

An Elabe survey for BFMTV news channel showed 54 percent of supporters of right wing parties did not back Sarkozy candidacy.

On Monday, the former president, said he would run for 2017 presidential election in an extract of a book "Everything for France" to be released Wednesday.

"I have decided to be a candidate for the 2017 presidential election. I felt I had the strength to lead this battle at a troubled time in our history," he tweeted.

"The coming five years are those of risk but also of hope," he added.

After announcing his bid, Sarkozy, 61, handed over the leadership of the Republicans party to Laurent Wauquiez, the party's vice president.

He also joined a large pool of contenders for the two -round primaries scheduled for November 20, 27.

Pledging "Everything for France," the conservative leader, on the economic front, pledged to cut public spending by 100 billion euros (113.05 billion U.S. dollars) over the next five-year-mandate and reduce payroll charges.

On immigration, a sensitive issue in election campaigns, he proposed to suspend the right of family members to join a migrating relative in France.

In 2012, Sarkozy was defeated by the Socialist leader Francois Hollande. After a two-year break from politics, he came back as leader of the crisis-hit conservative party then known as Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

While Hollande's approval rating is at a record low, Sarkozy is betting on his political credentials and dynamism which earned him in 2007 the highest popularity ratings of any leader since Charles de Gaulle.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday announced the appointment of Major General (retired) Patrick Cammaert of the Netherlands to lead an independent Special Investigation into the violence in Juba, the capital South Sudan, in July 2016, and the response of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

"The investigation will review reports of incidents of attacks on civilians and cases of sexual violence that occurred within or in the vicinity of the UN House Protection of Civilians (POC) sites in Juba," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

"It will also determine the actions of UNMISS and whether the Mission responded appropriately to prevent these incidents and protect civilians within its resources and capabilities at the time."

In addition, the investigation will review the circumstances surrounding the attack on the Terrain Hotel and assess the Mission's response, he said.

The Special Investigation team will undertake a field visit to Juba to interview the relevant interlocutors, he said. "A final report will be presented to the secretary-general within one month, the findings of which will be made public."

Cammaert recently led a Headquarters-Board of Inquiry on the circumstances of the clashes that occurred in the UNMISS Protection of Civilians site in Malakal, South Sudan, on Feb. 17-18, 2016.

He previously had a distinguished military career in both the Netherlands with the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps and the United Nations, including as Force Commander in United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), as Military Advisor to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and as General Officer Commanding the Eastern Division in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).
Men wait in line to receive food aid in Aleppo, Syria August 10, 2016. (REUTERS/File Photo)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that an inter-agency humanitarian convoy is delivering humanitarian assistance on Tuesday for 35,000 people in Al Waer in the Homs area in western Syria, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

"It is comprised of food, health, nutrition and non-food items," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "This is the first such inter-agency convoy to deliver life-saving assistance this month to any besieged or hard-to reach area in Syria."

A second convoy is planned for later this week, he said.

In the northeastern city of Hasakeh, the United Nations is extremely concerned, as some 40,000 people are reported to have been displaced from the city toward suburban neighborhoods and nearby villages, the spokesman said.

In addition, more than 25,000 people have been displaced from Hasakeh to cities and villages north of the city since Aug. 18, following clashes between government and Kurdish forces, he noted.

"Given the scale and pace of displacement, not all needs can be met yet and the UN urges all parties, and those with influence over them, to facilitate permanent and unhindered access by all humanitarian actors to people in need," he added.
Photo taken on Aug. 23, 2016, shows the scene of an open debate of the UN Security Council on "non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction", held at the UN headquarters in New York. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday stressed the need to seriously refocus attention on nuclear disarmament, and called for the eradication of the weapons of mass destruction "once and for all." (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday stressed the need to seriously refocus attention on nuclear disarmament, and called for the eradication of the weapons of mass destruction "once and for all."

Addressing an open debate of the UN Security Council on "non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the secretary-general noted that eliminating weapons of mass destruction was one of the founding principles of the United Nations and it was in fact the subject of the first resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly.

"I call on all States to focus on one overriding truth: the only sure way to prevent the human, environmental and existential destruction these weapons can cause, is by eradicating (these weapons) once and for all," Ban said.

"We -- the international community -- must ensure the disarmament and non-proliferation framework is universally and completely implemented, and is resilient and versatile enough to grapple with the changing environment," he said.

The success in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction offers some comfort and that multilateral treaties, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, and instruments, including Security Council Resolution 1540, are "robust and tested," Ban said.

Adopted in 2004, Resolution 1540 affirms that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery constitutes a threat to international peace and security.

The challenges to the disarmament and non-proliferation architecture are growing, the secretary-general said, adding that technological advances have made means of production and methods of delivery of these weapons easier and more accessible.

"Vicious non-State actors that target civilians for carnage are actively seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," he said.

It is particularly disappointing that progress on eliminating nuclear weapons has descended into fractious deadlock, underscoring that arguments justifying nuclear weapons, such as those used during the Cold War, "were morally, politically and practically wrong thirty years ago, and they are wrong now," he said.

Talking about the threat of biological weapons, the secretary-general said that in the wake of serious outbreaks of Ebola and yellow fever, he is "very concerned" that the international community is not adequately prepared to prevent or respond to a biological attack.

"The impact and consequences of a biological attack on a civilian target could far exceed those of a chemical or radiological attack," the secretary-general said, adding that that the investment in the international architecture dealing with these different types of weapons of mass destruction is not commensurate with their possible effects.

Touching upon the new global threats emerging from the misuse of science and technology, and the power of globalization, the secretary-general said that the nexus between these emerging technologies and weapons of mass destruction needs close examination and action.

"Information and communication technologies, artificial intelligence, 3D printing and synthetic biology will bring profound changes to our everyday lives and benefits to millions of people," he said, adding that "their potential for misuse could also bring destruction."
LIMA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Peruvian government will distribute an oral contraceptive for free in all the country's hospitals to avoid unwanted pregnancies, Health Minister Patricia Garcia confirmed Tuesday.

This decision comes after a recent court ruling which orders the Health Ministry to distribute the pill to women living in Peru's poorest areas.

Speaking during a visit to a hospital in Lima, Garcia said the government would respect the decision and make the pill available for free to all within 30 days.

The ruling by the First Constitutional Court of Lima means that many poor women will have access to the emergency contraceptive, which is predicted to improve their health and their families' quality of life.

This measure will help to avoid unwanted pregnancies as well as the contagion of fetuses with the Zika virus or other infectious diseases, to which poorer families are particularly vulnerable.
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mexico has deployed police officers to patrol the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the center of the country to prevent illegal logging, the government announced Tuesday.

Alejandro del Mazo, the country's attorney general for natural protection, told a press conference that 60 police officers would patrol the habitat, where millions of butterflies fly down from the U.S. and Canada every year.

The police were deployed across the woods of the massive reserve, which stretches across the State of Mexico and Michoacan, marking the first time police have been deployed on environmental protection duty in a national park.

The butterflies arrive from September and November each year but have been facing pressure from illegal logging which has reduced the forest cover they nest in.

"One of our objectives is to reduce logging to zero, achieving a total protection of the biosphere reserve and the habitat," said del Mazo.

Omar Vidal, director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Mexico, also praised the actions already taken by environmental authorities and inhabitants of the reserve, which he said had reduced illegal logging by 40 percent in 2015-2016.
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) into its eastern waters, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.

The launch came after South Korea and the United States began their annual military drills on Monday.
COPENHAGEN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Aleqa Hammond, former Greenlandic prime minister and a member of the Danish parliament, was expelled on Tuesday from her social democratic Siumut party after the exposure of her misuse of the parliamentary credit card, local media reported.

Hammond has recently been accused of using a credit card issued by parliament for private purchase for over 12,983 Danish kroner (1,972 U.S. dollars), according to the Danish news agency Ritzau.

Hammond explained that she had used the parliamentary credit card because her own accounts had been blocked, Ritzau reported.

Parliamentary card is used when the politicians are in their official capacity, for example, to buy tickets or to pay for taxi.

Hammond's explanation however contradicted a bank statement showing that the card had been used in a construction market and in a supermarket in Nuuk for considerable sums, according to Ritzau.

"The executive committee (of Siumut) may announce that MP Aleqa Hammond's private consumption with the parliamentary credit card is unacceptable," Kim Kielsen, prime minister of Greenland and the current leader of Siumut party, was quoted by Ritzau as saying in a press release.

Formerly the leader of the Siumut party, Hammond became the Greenland's first female prime minister after winning the 2013 general elections.

She stepped down as prime minister and leader of Siumut in October 2014, following a case of misuse of public funds. Hammond was accused of spending around 106,000 kroner of public funds on private airline tickets and hotel stays for family members. She has admitted the irregularities, but insisted that it was out of "accounting errors".

Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, is the biggest island in the world with around 57,000 inhabitants.

Greenland is largely self-governed, and Denmark maintains control of its foreign affairs and defense policy.
This picture taken on February 4, 2016 shows a student trying to counter a cyber-attack at the National engineering elite school of Bretagne-Sud cybersecurity center in Vannes, western France. (AFP/File Photo)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. law enforcement agencies are currently investigating a series of cyber breaches targeting The New York Times and other U.S. media outlets, according to CNN.

Citing U.S. officials briefed on the probe, CNN reported that investigators so far believed that Russian intelligence was likely behind the attacks.

The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Citing U.S. officials, CNN said the Times had already hired private security investigators to work with U.S. federal officials in assessing the breach.

According to CNN, investigators believed the intrusions targeting U.S. media were part of a broader series of hacks that also had targeted U.S. Democratic Party organizations.

The news came about a month after a breach of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) revealed internal email communications within the committee that indicated DNC's bias against former Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders.
By Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is making an effort to revamp his image, but this will be a tall order for the bombastic billionaire so late in the race, experts said.

Trump is infamous for making over-the-top and insulting statements toward political opponents as well as whole demographics. He has compared Mexicans to rapists and in the past called for a blanket ban on Muslims entering the U.S., although he later walked the latter comments back a bit.

But it remains unknown whether he can soften his public persona, stay on message, and put forth a new, statesman-like image that will appeal to those in the middle - a sharp contrast to the firebrand who has galvanized Americans who are frustrated at being left behind in today's economy.

Trump last week made a speech on his plan to combat terrorism, avoiding the hot-headed, off-the-cuff remarks for which he is infamous. He even regretted for making insulting remarks before that hurt some people.

To appear presidential, he recently toured the flood-ravaged areas in the state of Louisiana, while President Barack Obama was criticized for continuing to have vacation despite the disaster.

But can Trump continue this? And if he does, will it help him in this late stage in the presidential race?

Some analysts note that there's still nearly three months to go before Americans cast their ballots in November. Moreover, there will be a series of one-on-one debates between Trump and Clinton that will be televised nationwide, and if he can stay on message now and during the debates, he may have a chance to clinch the White House in fall.

Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that while it's certainly not too late, Trump has now had plenty of time to make his impression on the minds of voters.

Indeed, Trump has in the past seemed to turn a corner by giving a cogent and well-argued speech, only to ruin those gains later by reverting to his over-the-top self.

Mahaffee said any image revamp requires Trump to stay entirely on message and to establish and consistently reiterate policy proposals that would result from a Trump presidency.

In doing so, he can continue to attack Clinton-which will satisfy his base-while also trying to be more presidential to please moderates, Mahaffee said.

But others contend that Trump has already caused the public to form strong opinions about him, and it will be hard for him to change this.

"First impressions matter a lot, so it is late to reset people's impressions. As seen in public opinion surveys, many Americans already have formed strong opinions about Trump. They see him as rude and not qualified for the presidency. It will be hard for him to turn things around," Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies of the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

"He pretty much is at the point where he can't totally revamp his image," West said.

If Trump seeks dramatic change, Democrats will accuse him of flip-flopping on his earlier positions, he said.

Trump's own supporters could even turn against him if he goes too far toward the middle and if he seems to trail away from those who got him to this point.

"Changing views on major issues generally upsets early supporters, who came to the candidate for the strong views that were expressed at that point," West said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, wrote over the weekend on CNN.com that Republicans must face the fact that Trump is the person who he is.

Although people have speculated for months that Trump would pivot to a mode more appealing to the wider audience of general election voters, as opposed to the conservative base of the Republican Party, he has continually failed to stay that course, Zelizer contended.

"Occasionally he gives carefully calibrated speeches using a teleprompter, but then immediately reverts to his more extreme messages," he argued.

Trump has shown no interest in backing away from the kind of provocative style and his advisers have not been able to push him in a different direction and as he slips in the polls, he added.

Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, told Xinhua: "I think it's probably too late - opinions of the candidates are pretty much set at this point."

"A reset for Trump would have to involve behaving like a typical candidate until the election and I think Trump lacks the discipline to do that," he said.
AmCham congratulates Government on signing FATCA

AmCham yesterday reminded that it has been very vocal on this issue, since the Act was passed in the US in 2010, and while there are still many questions on the general principles, breadth of scope and implications of FATCA, we believe that this is a step in the right direction. Government is now being urged by Am- Cham to ensure that the supporting legislation and regulatory policies are enacted and enforced, so that the Trinidad and Tobago Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) can easily share the relevant information with the US without administrative burden and untimely delays, while at the same ensuring that the legitimate expectations of privacy are respected. Having already established the principle of information sharing, reinforced through the signing of the IGA on tax information, AmCham said it would like to take this opportunity to suggest that Government look into two issues which it (Am- Cham) continues to advocate: namely the need for transfer pricing legislation and designation of the Piarco international Airport as a pre-clearance port of entry into the US. As we continue to look at international best practice, with a focus on international trade and attracting foreign investment, transfer pricing regulation becomes increasingly important.

These taxation rules will also affect BIR efficiency and efficacy, along with the implementation of a Revenue Authority. Consequently, we urge the government to engage stakeholders in meaningful consultation on this important issue with a view to having the legislation drafted and laid in the next session of Parliament, AmCham said.

Regarding pre-clearance, the business group noted that this would require collaboration with US authorities on immigration and security information.

Pre-clearance is a process through which travellers to the US clear immigration and customs at the port of departure.

Therefore, if TT were to successfully create a pre-clearance port  at Piarco, for example - we believe this would have a tremendous positive effect on TTs economy, giving further impetus for the growth of the logistics sector and solidification of our position as an economic hub within the Western Hemisphere, Am- Cham stated.
Illegal casino busted

During the exercise, officers received air support from officers of the National Operations Centre while Coast Guard officers were out at sea. According to reports, officers entered Production and Pioneer Drives as well as areas along the fish market.

Homes were searched and, while some residents protested the presence of the police, others were happy for the intervention of the lawmen, claiming that there were a lot of illegal activities taking place in the area.

During the searches, officers stumbled upon an illegal casino being operated on Production Drive.

When officers entered the building they found a quantity of arms, several slot machines and $26,000 in cash. There was evidence of illegal gambling taking place hours earlier. Officers of the Financial Investigations Bureau (FIB) seized the cash while Customs and Excise officers took possession of a large quantity of alcohol.

The owner of the establishment, a man in his 30s was arrested and taken into custody.

Police believe that the casino had been in operation for the past two years and customers were mainly from the Sea Lots and Beetham areas.

Officers detained a couple in their 20s after their home was searched and a .25 pistol along with six rounds of ammunition were found.

Officers also seized a quantity of ammunition from an empty lot while a small quantity of marijuana was also seized. Sniffer dogs from the police K-9 unit as well as dogs from the Customs and Excise Division were heavily utilised.

The exercise was conducted under the supervision of Acting Commissioner of Police Harold Phillip and included Deputy Commissioner of Police Wayne Dick, Assistant Commissioner Wayne Boyd, Assistant Superintendent (ASP), Ajith Persad, Inspector Birch and others.
Moms killing a senseless act

The service was held at the Revival Time Assembly in San Fernando.

Titus was chopped to death at her Gasparillo home on Thursday last.

An autopsy revealed that she died as a result of a chop wound to her neck.

Titus was last seen alive at her San Fabian Road, Springland, Gasparillo home by her 82 year-old stepfather in company with a man. Approximately three hours later her semi-nude body was found in a pool of blood in the laundry area near the kitchen. Later the womans cellular phone was recovered in the backyard of the family home with blood stains.

Yesterday relatives, friends and co-workers filled the church to bid farewell to Titus.

It is hard to understand why she was taken away from us, it does not make sense, Raghunanan told mourners. She said that her aunt respected everyone and it was a shame she was not treated in turn with the same respect. We should not be here today. Her life was heartlessly taken away,she wept. This is really hard to understand why she was not treated with the same respect and dignity with which she showed others. Raghunanan described Titus as compassionate, kind and caring. She said Titus was always there to help those in need. She told mourners that Titus loved her children dearly and instilled values in them from a young age. Titus, she said, displayed exemplary characteristics of a woman.

She was ambitious, self driven and she knew what she wanted and worked diligently. Titus worked as an administrative assistant employed with the Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL). She was cremated at the Guides Funeral Home And Crematorium San Fernando. To date no arrest has been made.
Caretaker was murdered

Police investigators told Newsday that an autopsy performed yesterday by forensic pathologist, Dr Valery Alexandrov, at the Forensic Sciences Centre, St James, revealed that Rudolpho suffered smoke and soot inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of the fire. Police added that because of the presence of wounds at the back of Rudolphos head, further tests are to be carried out.

Police reports are at about 10 pm on Friday, residents saw a house at La Brea Village, Guayaguayare, engulfed in flames. Both the Mayaro Police Station and Rio Claro Fire Station were contacted.

When fire officers contained the flames, they discovered the partially burnt body of Rudolpho.

Investigators said that the entrance doors to the house were blocked from the outside which suggested that it was a deliberate act. Additionally, there were visible marks of violence to the head.

Residents told Newsday that Rudolpho was the caretaker of another house located on the same property. He lived alone in the house which was destroyed.
EBC likely to discuss election verdict Thursday

Chief Election Officer Ramesh Nanan yesterday confirmed the EBC will hold its regular meeting on Thursday.

Matters that came up recently may be discussed, Nanan told Newsday.

On Friday, Justice Mira Dean-Armorer ruled the EBC acted unlawfully by extending the voting hours by one hour. The judge, however, found the breach did not materially affect the outcome of the election given the proportion of votes which took place between 6 pm and 7 pm. She dismissed the election petitions brought by the Opposition United National Congress. Further, she found the EBC officials acted in good faith and did not find evidence of corruption.

The judge also said there were no rules governing the situation involving torrential rainfall on an election day and opinied that one option at the time was getting Cabinet to pass legal measures.

At the time of the election last year, the EBC chairman was Dr Norbert Masson. He later retired and Mark Ramkerrysingh was this year appointed as the new chairman by President Anthony Carmona.

According to the judges ruling, on September 7, 2015, Masson asked the EBCs senior legal officer Fern Narcis-Scope to contact then commissioners Mark Ramkerrysingh and Dr Noel Kalicharan with a view to extending the voting hours from 6 pm to 7 pm.

According to the EBCs website, Ramkerrysingh is currently the chairman and Kalicharan is still a commissioner. Another commissioner, Danielle Chow, is listed.

Narcis-Scope is still listed as the legal officer.

Nanan was Chief Elections Officer last September.

There has been a call by Opposition Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal for the commissioners to resign in the wake of the ruling.

Both the Government and the Opposition have claimed victory in relation to the case. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar has signalled an intention to appeal. Nanan said legal matters were for the commission to deliberate on.
THA names award after Rose

The WOMEX Award is one of the globes major awards for world music, first introduced in 1999 to pay tribute to international artistes for musical excellence, success on the world stage, political impact and lifetime achievement.

In praising Rose on her achievement, THA Chief Secretary Orville London disclosed, I am proud to announce that this year, because of her contributions to our culture and the recognition that she has brought to Tobago, we will be introducing the annual Calypso Rose Award to an outstanding Tobagonian in the performing arts. London described Lewis as an icon and an inspiration to aspiring artistes. Calypso Rose is a consummate example of the rich talent Tobago has produced over the years, London said.

He added, She continues to put Tobago, and by extension Trinidad and Tobago, on the map with her many achievements, for which she continues to be recognised. London hopes that Roses contributions serve as an inspiration to our young artistes and show them that if you work hard, you can achieve success. Among the past winners of the WOMEX Awards are renowned South African musician and vocalist Hugh Masekela and late Pakistani legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who were Grammy nominees from 2013 and 1997, respectively.

In a statement, the THA said Rose, who hails from Bethel, is known as the Queen of Calypso, has written over 800 songs and recorded more than 20 albums, for which she has received numerous awards. At age 76, the calypso great continues to tour and perform, as shown in her recent collaboration, Leave Me Alone, with prominent Frenchborn musician and producer Manu Chao, who performs in various languages, including French, Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Chao has collaborated with some of the worlds biggest names in the music industry.
Toco grateful to home boy Keshorn

When Newsday drove through Walcotts home town yesterday afternoon, there were no visible signs of celebrations from the week-end for the athlete even though just two days prior (Saturday), he had won this countrys only medal (bronze) at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jayden Dillon, 13,was critical of Walcotts performance, echoing the sentiments of many who were expecting him to secure another gold in javelin following his success at the 2012 Olympics in London.

I think he should have done better and I am very disappointed that he did not win another gold medal, Dillon said.

However, everyone else Newsday spoke with expressed their joy in Walcotts success including Stewart.

His mother sacrificed a lot for her son to reach this far and for people to take this all over social media is such a shame. The weight of the country was on his shoulder and he did exceedingly well...

he did his best and we as a people should appreciate his effort, Stewart lamented. She said what the country needs to do is invest more in sporting activities for the athletes of Trinidad and Tobago. He is young and he will have another chance to try again for the gold but for now I am proud to be a part of his accomplishment just by being in the same community that he is from, I feel very proud, Stewart said. Another resident, Ornilla Lincoln told Newsday, I am very grateful to know he won a medal at the Rio Olympics. We have other athletes who tried and did not come through for us, he was the only one to bring home a medal, and the country should be proud of his effort. Meanwhile 14-year-old Nicholas Joseph said he was proud of Walcotts achievement.

I know he did his best at the Olympic games and he has some time now to practice harder before the next Olympics, I think once he trains harder we will get the gold medal next time, Joseph said. Walcott secured bronze with a throw of 85.38 metres.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation Terry Rondon, said the cooperation is planning to hold a victory parade through Toco upon Walcotts return to the country. Walcott is expected back in TT during the first week of September 2016.
Tight security for Defence Ministers talks

Dillon made the remarks at the 20th Floor Conference Room, Tower C, Wrightson Road, Portof- Spain where he and officials from the Defence Force outlined the objectives of the conference.

There will definitely be security arrangements during the conference, and even a day or two before the conference officially begins, Dillon said.

This is to treat with the level of delegates who will be visiting, since we are expecting, in addition to Defence Ministers, a few Prime Ministers, who happen to have National Security as their portfolio. He said while security arrangements would be akin to those experienced during the 2009 Fifth Summit of the Americas, he reassured citizens there would be minimal inconvenience as possible.

Asked the cost of the conference, the minister said that the overall cost was approximately $9 million, which was funded in part by private sponsors. He was optimistic the conference would yield tangible results for local security and added that networking among the various nations as well as closer partnerships at regional and international levels were key to success during times of crisis.

Given our national security capabilities, I think that we can contribute and make a significant impact not only on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago but on behalf of the wider Caribbean region. The commonality of the threats that we face requires co-operation at all levels. Porous land and maritime boundaries, natural disasters and the threat of global terrorism are just a few of the issues that continue to confront us in the national security environment, Dillon said.

Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier General Rodney Smart echoed the ministers sentiments, and said that a more resourceful criminal element and the added complexities of illegal drug and arms trafficking have changed the national security landscape, and that local and regional law enforcement agencies must become more flexible, as they continue to grapple with growing international threats.

The CDMA is an example of the new challenges that the protective agencies continue to face.

Improved relations with local, regional and international partners will go a long way in the fight against transnational organised crime, environmental protection, infrastructural protection, climate change and disaster response management, Smart said.

He added that TT would be better defended following Octobers conference and urged criminals to think twice before engaging in activities harmful to the country or its citizens. The conference is scheduled to take place at the Hyatt Regency from October 10 to 12 and attending will be Defence Ministers and officials from 33 countries in the Americas. This years theme is Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation in the Hemisphere in an increasingly Volatile Global Environment.

The conference is expected to deal with the issues of international terrorism, drug trafficking, natural disaster response and co-ordinating relief efforts.
Parliament resumes Sept 8

The sitting will mark the start of a hectic parliamentary calender.

Government officials have already earmarked several legislative matters for attention.

Among them is the expected tabling of legislation to abolish child marriage. The Ministry of the Attorney General has completed a series of consultation exercises in relation to the States proposal to raise the marriageable age to 18.

The last event was held in July at the Magdalena Grand Resort, Tobago.

A meeting with religious bodies and submissions from religious groups have also been entertained.

On July 22, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said the child marriage legislation was due to be tabled in September.

Other matters to be tabled include reforms in relation to: financial and tax cooperation with the US; criminal justice reforms relating to bail; and possibly anti-terrorism measures.

The month of September will see significant amount of work in the Parliament, the San Fernando West MP said.
Webster-Roy: Men must help at home

Webster-Roy gave this assurance in the face of current economic challenges during her address at the graduation ceremony of the Defining Masculine Excellence, Women in Harmony and Home Management and Food Preparation for Men and Boys Programmes at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), OMeara Campus. She said the need for training and developing of citizens is even more crucial in these challenging times, such that these programmes will remain on the Governments agenda.

Webster-Roy said the specific training and the life-skills learnt by all participants will help them to defend societys most vital institution, the family.

Do what is right for your family so that your family can survive in these challenging times, the Minister urged.

She touched on specifics of each programme.

She said the Defining Masculine Excellence programme had allowed men a safe space to discuss the impact on their own lives of societys definitions of masculinity, leading to deep reflection and even healing. Since inception in 2003, over 2,000 men have had their lives changed by this programme.

Webster-Roy said the Home Management and Food Preparation had refuted the idea that the kitchen is no place for a man, and will help men gets jobs in the food preparation sector to close their gap behind female employment there.

Nobody could make a sauce like my father, or make a stewdown like my baby brother, added the Tobago East MP sharing a personal aside.

She keenly anticipated a day when teams of men from each of Trinidad and Tobago would face off in a culinary contest.

Saying the Women in Harmony programme gives women marketable skills to become more employable, she urged, Take your certificate and let it work for you. Dream big. Create a vision for yourself and dont lose focus. Valedictory speeches came from Alicia Diaz, Paul Francis and Mervyn Herbert, and remarks from Gender Division head, Antoinette Jack-Martin
Yes, the Clintons really do think they can get away with anything

After years of claiming that the Clinton Foundation poses no ethical conflicts for Bill and Hillary or the U.S. government, Bill Clinton now admits the truthsort of.

If his wife becomes President, he says the Super PAC masquerading as a charity wont accept foreign or corporate contributions. Bill will also resign from the foundation board, and Chelsea will stop raising money for it.

(Article by Tyler Durden)

Now they tell us.

If such fund-raising poses a problem when shes President, why didnt it when she was Secretary of State or while she is running for President? The answer is that it did and does, and they know it, but the foundation was too important to their political futures to give it up until the dynastic couple were headed back to the Oval Office. Now that Hillary is running ahead ofDonald Trump, Bill can graciously accept new restrictions on their pay-to-play politics.

Bill must be having a good laugh over this one. The foundation served for years as a conduit for corporate and foreign cash to burnish the Clinton image, pay for their travel expenses for speeches and foreign trips, and employ their coterie in between campaigns or government gigs. Donors could give as much as they wanted because the foundation is a charity.

President Obama may have banished Sidney Blumenthal from the State Department, but Bill could stash his conspiratorial pal at the foundation, keeping him on the family payroll while Sid flooded Hillary with foreign-policy advice. Her private email server was supposed to hide their email trafficuntil that gambit was exposed last year. But FBI Director James Comey let Hillary off the hook on the emails, and he declined to investigate the foundation, so it looks like theyre home free.

By now the corporate and foreign cash has already been delivered, in anticipation that Hillary Clinton could become the next President. So now its the better part of political prudence to claim the ethical high ground.

If you choose to believe or have a short memory. Readers may recall that the foundation promised the White House when Mrs. Clinton became Secretary of State that the foundation would restrict foreign donations and get approval from the State Department.

It turned out the foundation violated that pledge , specifically when accepting $500,000 from Algeria. The foundation also agreed to disclose donor names but failed to do so for more than 1,000 foreign donors until the failure was exposed by press reports.

You also have to suspend disbelief that the foundation wont live on as a Clinton political vehicle. Even if Bill and Chelsea take eight years off, the Clinton entourage appears to be taking no such vow. That would let friends and retainers continue to solicit donors and keep the joint running until the First Couple can return in 2025.

As an ethical matter, is a donation solicited by long-time Clinton body woman Cheryl Mills different than one solicited by Bill? Even in a smaller, more restricted form under these new donation limits, the foundation will continue to operate as a campaign-in-waiting for a future Senator Chelsea Clinton.

If the Clintons were serious about their new ethical virtue, they wouldnt merely limit donations. Theyd shut the foundation down. The inherent conflict of interest in keeping it running has even some Democrats, such as former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, calling for exactly that. Mr. Rendell is old enough to recall the 1990s and that if theres an ethical temptation anywhere, the Clintons will find it and compromise Hillarys Presidency.

Far from offering some new clean ethical slate, this latest foundation gambit ought to be a warning about a third Clinton term.Protected by Democrats and a press corps desperate to beat Donald Trump, the Clintons really do think they can get away with anything.

Read more at: www.zerohedge.com

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Information Empowerment of People is Quintessential in the Age of Information Revolution: Shri Venkaiah Naidu

Hyderabad, Tue, 23 Aug 2016 NI Wire

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, stressed the need for upholding credibility in dissemination of information by public broadcasters. "Public service broadcasters have a great responsibility on their shoulders to ensure credibility in the era of competition.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu visited All India Radio and Doordarshan kendras in Hyderabad on Monday. Speaking at the review meeting held at Doordarshan Kendra, Shri Naidu infused confidence in the officials of different media units of the Ministry while interacting with them to understand their problems.

Shri Naidu stated that the information empowerment of the people is quintessential in the age of information revolution. He added that information is great ammunition in the hands of the people in fighting corruption, poverty and inequalities from the society for the overall development of India.

The Minister added that the public discourse should be guided by development rather than disruptive tactics and politics. Public Broadcasters must excel in factual information while communicating to the mass audience. He advised the Public Broadcaster not to jump into conclusions, but confirm the news before putting it on air.

A public broadcaster, while disseminating information must abstain from obscenity, vulgarity and violence, he said. People in the Media while producing programmes, plays, cultural programmes, must keep in mind Indias great heritage, culture, traditions and customs in mind, he added.

Mr Naidu said Spirituality is the greatest asset of India and it is not linked to any religion. Religion is personal but culture is national. He added that people in the Media must maintain high standards in informing the masses, keeping in mind the philosophy and guidelines established by the founding fathers in various spheres of Public life.

He further advised the Media not to get involved in either speculation or invention of news. He said, Let us not mix news with views and create a bad practice.

He urged the media to be biased towards rural people, agriculturists, down trodden sections, women and disabled people in giving more coverage to highlight their grievances.

Uplifting the poorest of the poor is the Philosophy of NDA Government, Mr Naidu said. India and its people do not need bills in Parliament but political will and administrative skill to run the government programmes successfully.

Mr. Naidu advocated that Media should work together in bringing social harmony and discourage policitisation of social issues. The Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr. Naidu stressed that there cannot be any compromise on the safety and security of the nation. He said, everyone must adopt that the Nation is above everything.

Terror, terrorism and violence are the biggest threats to humanity, he said and added that, Terrorism has no religion, no colour and everyone in one voice must denounce terrorism.

He advised the media not to play into the hands of terrorists and should avoid in making them as heroes. Shri Venkaiah Naidu added that the NDA Governments vision, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is SABKA SATH SABKA VIKAS to Reform, Perform and Transform India into a vibrant force.

Source: PIB
Focused attention on research is crucial to unearth greater scientific understanding of homoeopathy, says President

Kolkata, Tue, 23 Aug 2016 NI Wire

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee addressed a function 'The Legacy to Humanity: Celebrating 150 years of Homeopathy' as Chief Guest in Kolkata, West Bengal (August 22, 2016). This event has been organized by Dr. Prasanta Banerji Homoeopathic Research Foundation to commemorate 150 years of association of Dr. Banerjis family with homoeopathy.

Addressing the gathering, the President said that the generational association of Dr. Prasanta Banerjis family with Homeopathy dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. Dr. Banerjis grandfather, Ishan Chandra, was Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagars brother. Vidyasagar was once treated for migraine with homoeopathy. Pleased with the results, Vidyasagar convinced his brother Ishan Chandra to pursue this line of treatment. Ishan Chandra learned homoeopathy and took to treating the poor as a charitable cause. Ishan Chandras son, Pareshnath Banerji, practiced homoeopathy in a village in Bihar named Mihijam. His fame attracted patients from far and wide. He became a pioneer in homoeopathic medicinal mixtures in India. Dr. Prasanta Banerji, the second son of Pareshnath Banerji, is the third generation practitioner of homoeopathy in this illustrious family line. His son, Dr. Pratip Banerji, has kept the family tradition alive. The Homoeopathic Research Foundation was established by Dr. Prasanta Banerji and his son, Dr. Pratip Banerji, in 1993. It was set up with the objective to make homeopathy a scientific and effective mode of alternative medicine. The Foundation is rendering yeomans service to the masses through provision of wide-ranging homoeopathic healthcare.

The President said that focused attention on research is crucial to unearth greater scientific understanding of homoeopathy. Use of latest knowledge could pave the way for cutting edge research in this field. It could lead to the affirmation of homoeopathic medicines in fundamental and clinical conditions. It is heartening to note that the Dr. Prasanta Banerji Homoeopathic Research Foundation is involved in active research. It accrues data about various life threatening diseases from the treatment it administers using The Banerji Protocols.

The President said that seized of the need to promote these alternative healing systems, the Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy was created by the Government of India. It was later re-named Department of AYUSH and became a full-fledged Ministry last year.

Source: PIB
Disaster Risk Reduction is a high priority area for Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi: Shri Rijiju

Rajasthan, Tue, 23 Aug 2016 NI Wire

MoS (Home) Shri Kiren Rijiju inaugurates the BRICS meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Udaipur

Calling upon BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) countries to collaborate for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju said that it will, in turn, influence the global agenda for strengthening efforts on DRR and resilience.

Inaugurating the two-day BRICS meeting on Disaster Management in Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday, Shri Rijiju said India was willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with other BRICS nations and explore all possible areas of collaboration. He added that DRR is a high priority area for the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Shri Rijiju emphasized that it is time that we move away from "a static understanding of risk", and that we must realise that "Tomorrows risk is being built today." He said that there is a strong need to focus on Urban disasters keeping in mind that by 2050, nearly two-third of the world population is expected to live in urban spaces. He said that we need to move towards an all-society approach to tackle disasters. While governments have to pay a central role, they cannot do it by themselves. They have to take everybody along. The Government action must be geared towards empowering and supporting communities and individuals to be more and more self-reliant in their quest for resilience.

Earlier in his key address, Additional Principal Secretary to PM, Dr. P.K. Mishra, noted that all BRICS nations face common problems in terms of developing robust Early Warning Systems, involvement of communities and building their resilience and finding resources for rehabilitation and reconstruction. He added that it was essential to share success stories, case studies, innovations, low cost technology, joint exercises and mutual capacity building to reduce risk. He said that DRR is the back bone of Good Governance.

The event has been organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority.

All the five BRICS countries are parties to the adoption of the Sendai Framework for DRR in March, 2015 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. A number of SDGs have specific targets related to Disaster Risk Management (DRM).

Key government functionaries working in the area of Disaster Management, including senior officials and technical experts from member countries, are participating in the event. The meeting will focus on two distinct but inter-related themes of Flood Risk Management and Forecasting of Extreme Weather Events in the context of Changing Climate.

Two technical sessions  a) Challenges for Disaster Risk Management and b) Forecasting and Early Warning on floods and other extreme weather events were held today. The technical sessions were preceded by a presentation each to set the context for further discussions on possible areas of collaboration.

South African Minister, Mr. Des Van Royeen, suggested that it was important to introduce cost-effective and life-saving measures for reducing losses and effective recovery after a disaster. Mr. Oleg Manuilo, Director of Russia's Civil Defence, said reducing socio-economic losses is the purpose behind disaster management. He further said that effective forecasting is bringing about a change in disaster risk management. Mr. Pang Chenmin, Director-General of the Department of Disaster Relief of China, highlighted the importance of technology and research in key areas of Disaster Management. He also emphasized upon knowledge sharing among member countries. Brazil's National Secretary for Civil Defense, Mr. Wesley De Almeida Felinto said that he was hopeful that the meet will result in a solid outcome on collaboration among BRICS nations.

The first technical session discussed the mainstreaming of DRR in key development sectors, apart from capacity building at the local level and strengthening of response mechanisms.

Key challenges and recent developments in Early Warning Systems were discussed during the second session. Member countries shared their experiences and lessons learnt for ensuring last mile connectivity and community level action on early warning.

Issues concerning "Emerging Disaster Risks And Evolving DRM Practices" in a changing climate will be taken up for discussion tomorrow.

This is the second meeting of BRICS Ministers for Disaster Management. It is a follow up of the first such meeting convened by the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg earlier this year.

The focal points of the two-day meeting are:

 Flood Risk Management and Early Warning Systems major focus areas

 Collaborative efforts towards DRR the need of the hour

Source: PIB
Kejriwal Has no Concern for People of Delhi, he is Using State Facilities for his Political Expansion: Satish Upadhyay

New Delhi, Tue, 23 Aug 2016 NI Wire

New Delhi, 23rd August: Delhi BJP President Shri Satish Upadhyay has condemned CM Arvind Kejriwal for running away from crucial Assembly Session and use of derogatory words in Delhi Assembly by Dy. Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Shri Upadhyay has said nothing can be a bigger farce than Dy. CM Manish Sisodia claiming that Delhi Govt. is fighting for the rights of people of Delhi and working for the people of Delhi even as the Chief Minister Kejriwal has evaded the Assembly session.

Shri Upadhyay has said it is shameful reflection of his disrespect for constitutional provisions that CM Kejriwal despite prior knowledge of Assembly calendar choose to go for Political Activity outside Delhi instead of attending the Assembly.

Shri Upadhyay has said CM Kejriwal has no concern for people of Delhi, he just wants to use the state facilities his 67 MLAs mandate has given him for his political expansion all over the country.
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Morocco is preparing to launch a factory to manufacture various defense equipment in an attempt to reduce its dependency on foreign arms suppliers and bridge the gap with Algeria, which is planning to establish a factory for military helicopters.

This military project, dubbed MCR Technologies, will be carried out at a total cost of 300 million dirhams as a joint venture with Belgian manufacturer Mecar and British Cherming, Moroccan daily Akhbar Al Yaoum reported.

Morocco will own 10% of the capital of this factory, which will stretch over a surface area of 1000 hectares.

This outsourcing of the defense industry to Morocco will also help the Kingdom reduce ammunition imports

Moroccos decision to foster its domestic military industry capabilities comes at a moment marked by an arms race with Algeria that shows no signs of abatement.

Recently, Algeria and Italian defense industry giant, Leonardo-Finmeccanica, signed a joint venture to set up a military helicopters manufacturing plant near Setif in eastern Algeria. The factory will produce multipurpose light and medium Augusta West Helicopters that are used for transport, evacuation operations and surveillance.

Using its oil rent, Algeria shifted the regional balance of military equipment by spending approximately $10.5 billion a year on defense, more than three times as much as Morocco.
The shocking revelations of extra-marital affair of two leading members of the religious movement of Unification and Reform, close to the ruling Islamist party (PJD) in Morocco, are fueling a widespread public anger and mistrust towards sanctimonious people and lesson-givers.

The two leaders involved in the sex-scandal are Moulay Omar Benhamad (religious scholar, married with seven children) 1st Vice-President of the Unification Reform movement and Fatima Nejjar (widow & mother to six children) 2nd Vice-President of the same movement.

Head of this movement, Abderahim Cheikhi, member of the Office of PM Abdelilah Benkirane, has announced the suspension of the two members who fell in disgrace, dealing a hard blow to the moderate Islamic party.

The two busted culprits, Omar Benhamad and Fatima Nejjar, were caught by police Saturday for having sex in a car near the beach. They are facing charges of marital infidelity and adultery.

Benhamad, 53, a preacher and a university professor, told police the female is his wife and that their marriage is Urfi (customary or undocumented marriage.) This type of marriage without an official contract, which can be disastrous for the wife and her rights, is not recognized in Morocco.

Fatima Nejjar, 52, was elected in 2014 member of the executive board of the Islamist movement of unification and reform. Her election was considered as a major forward step paving the way for more women to seat in the top board of the organization.

She is a skilled orator who excels in engaging in open dialogue with young people. She supports her presentations with quotes from Hadiths and holy Quran in tackling social and religious subjects.

As to Benhamad, he is a member of the General Secretariat of the League of Ulema Ahl Assounna. He is also a leading figure of the association Dar Al Quran dedicated to teaching the Quran to children. The man also served as a Friday sermon preacher.

The fall from grace of the two leaders of the religious movement close to the PJD has shattered public trust and dealt a blow to this party as the next parliamentary elections are drawing closer.
Algerias foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra made a volte face saying his country is looking forward to fostering cooperation with Morocco at all levels.

This statement, relayed in Algerian media, came as a surprise to observers who see in Lamamra a staunch advocate of separatism as he spared no effort in lobbying against Moroccos supreme interests since he took office.

The remarks came as Morocco is celebrating the 63rd anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People which was marked by a Royal speech calling for sincere solidarity between Morocco and Algeria in line with the longstanding ties of fraternity between the two Maghreban peoples.

We hope that the commitment and sincere solidarity which have always bound the Algerian and Moroccan peoples will be rekindled so that we may continue to work together, honestly and in good faith, to serve Arab and Maghreb causes and rise to challenges in Africa, King Mohammed VI said in the speech he delivered on Saturday.

On the same occasion, Algerias President Bouteflika sent a message to king Mohammed VI voicing willingness to strengthen ties. Lamamra said this message shows Algerias readiness to cooperate with Morocco.

This represents a sign of an approaching appeasement in the Moroccan-Algerian diplomatic ties. Yet, on the ground, nothing confirms that. Algeria continues to feed Polisarios separatism militarily, financially and diplomatically, thus blocking efforts towards a negotiated solution to the conflict over the Sahara. The two countries continue to exhaust their respective budgets in an arms race that bodes ill for the region. Worse yet, Algeria persists in its obstinacy not to open borders with Morocco under different pretexts.
Gunmen Sunday killed an informant and two soldiers in the province of Menoufia, north of capital Cairo, in an attack at a security check-point, reports say.

Security authorities are combing the area -80 km north of the capital, in search of the attackers, who managed to flee, Reuters reports.

Egyptian security forces have been facing insurgency from Islamists in the Sinai province since 2013, year President Fattah al-Sisi toppled Islamist and first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi. Though most of militants attacks occurred in the Sinai Province, they have also spilled into capital Cairo.

No one claimed responsibility for the Sunday attack, but the fingers are directly pointed at the IS group in Sinai. The group came under the spotlight in October after it brought down a Russian passenger jet in the Sinai, killing all the 224 people on board.

Egyptian authorities earlier this month claimed they killed the militant groups leader Abu Doaa al-Ansari in an army-led operation in the provincial capital el-Arish.
Libyas internationally recognized parliament based in the eastern city of Tobruk Monday rejected the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in a vote of no confidence, putting the political process in jeopardy.

Monday vote by the House of Representatives (HoR) came after many previous sessions failed due to lack of quorum. Assembly President Aguila Saleh has been accused of preventing the vote, which attracted on him western sanctions.

Monday session was attended by 101 lawmakers and in the presence of Saleh, the assembly said on its website.

The majority of lawmakers present at the parliament session voted no confidence in the government, said parliament spokesman Adam Boussakhra.

Sixty one lawmakers rejected the GNA, 39 abstained and only one voted in favor of the GNA led by Faez Serraj.

The HoR however gave Serraj a last chance to appoint a new cabinet in 10 days. The assembly called on Serraj to appoint a 12-member cabinet.

Serraj, in February after his appointment, named an 18-member cabinet to tackle Libyas untold predicaments. Four members of the cabinet were fired last month for failing to take their positions.

Birthed in December out of the Libyan Political Accord, the GNA in February received support of 100 members from the 198 members of the assembly.

Monday vote is a setback to the GNA which has launched a campaign against the Islamic State (IS) group in Sirte; Muammar Gaddafis hometown. GNA forces thanks to the support of American airpower, which entered the campaign on August 1, have cruised through the city that is on the verge of being liberated.

The political process has stagnated over several issues mainly around the control of the future national army. The HoR rejects the Political Accord article, which leaves control of the army to the GNA.

The fate of General Khalifa Haftar, Head of Libyan National Army aligned with HoR has been a thorny issue. The HoR wants him head of the future army but the GNAs allied western and southern regions have brushed aside the proposal.
The United States has recently condemned in strong terms the imprisonment and the torture endured by anti-slavery activists in Mauritania.

The US condemnation came after a court in Mauritania handed 13 members of the slavery abolitionist movement (known by its acronym IRA) sentences ranging from three to 15 years.

The United States is gravely concerned about the harsh prison terms, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

We are also dismayed by specific accusations that some of these individuals were subjected to abuse and torture while in detention following their arrests, he added.

The United States urges an immediate and comprehensive investigation into all credible allegations of torture, public release of the findings of this investigation, and appropriate prosecution of any individuals whom the investigation finds were responsible for such acts, he said.

The United States strongly encourages Mauritania to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedoms of expression and association, for all Mauritanians, the spokesperson went on to say.

The activists, who were sued for rebellion and use of violence, were arrested in June after riots in a Nouakchott slum community that was being forcibly relocated as the West African country prepared for an Arab League summit.

The riots started when security forces stormed the slump dwellings occupied for decades by the Haratin ethnic group, many of them former slaves.

IRA is the largest anti-slavery organization in Mauritania, with members throughout the country who regularly mobilize to protest slavery and state endorsed discrimination based on race, caste and gender.

Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish slavery in 1981 and it was not until 2007 when it passed a law that criminalizes the act of owning another person. Yet, enslavement continues to be practiced with estimates of enslaved people ranging from 10% to 20% of Mauritanias 3.4 million strong population.
Nicolas Sarkozy, former French President has announced his candidacy for the 2017 presidential election in a book to be published on Wednesday, reports say.

Four years after quitting the countrys top position, Sarkozy now leader of the opposition party Les Republicains says France demands that we give her everything.

The French political figure chose the means of a book to announce his intentions. In the 231-page book titled Everything for France, Sarkozy argues that the decision was a difficult one but the evidence later downed on him to take up the battle.

He says he is ready for the task relying on his experience as a former President.

He has abandoned his position of leader of his party to run the primaries. His first meeting is scheduled for Thursday at Chateaurenard, in Bouches-du-Rhone where he will address party members, Le Monde reports.

Thirteen candidates from the right are jockeying for the partys presidential ticket.

Sarkozy won the 2007 presidential election and run France until May 2012 when he lost to Francois Hollande.
Several foreign officials and media outlets have highlighted the importance and timeliness of the speech delivered by Moroccos king Mohammed VI on the 63rd anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People, wherein he called on monotheists to pool efforts to fight the scourge of terrorism, which is sparing no community and no country.

In this vein, France Monday hailed the royal speech, which renewed Moroccos commitment to fight terrorism and fanaticism and which called for unity to win over extremism, as a message of peace and tolerance. The European country, one of Moroccos staunch allies, reiterated its resolve to work with the Kingdom to fight radicalization and terrorism.

France hails Moroccos strong commitment against fanaticism in all its forms and reiterates its commitment to work together within the framework of the special partnership binding the two countries, to prevent and fight radicalization and terrorism, Spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, Romain Nadal, said Monday at a press briefing.

The spokesman said, in his speech, the King of Morocco has sent a message of peace and tolerance and condemned the murder of Father Jacques Hamel on July 26.

In his speech, the Sovereign has strongly condemned the killing of the French priest and of innocent people.

I strongly condemn the killing of innocent people. Killing a priest is forbidden by religion; murdering him inside a church is unforgivable madness, for he is a human being and a religious man  even if he is not a Muslim. Islam commands us to take good care of the people of the Book, the sovereign said in his speech, adding, Those who engage in terrorism, in the name of Islam, are not Muslims. Their only link to Islam is the pretexts they use to justify their crimes and their folly. They have strayed from the right path, and their fate is to dwell forever in hell.

French President Francois Hollande on his part said he has been deeply moved by the solidarity expressed by the King following the Nice bombings and the assassination of the priest of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

This came in a message of congratulations he sent to King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the celebration by Morocco of the historical Revolution of the King and the people.

President Hollande added that to deal with the terrorist threat, which can strike at any time, his country knows that it can rely on the close and unfailing cooperation of Morocco, which is so resolutely committed to the fight against radicalization.

In his Saturday speech, the King also called on Muslims, Christians and Jews to close ranks in order to tackle all forms of extremism

As ignorance spreads in the name of religion, Muslims, Christians and Jews have to close ranks in order to tackle all forms of extremism, hatred and reclusiveness, he said, adding, it is impossible to achieve progress in a society which is plagued by radicalism and hatred, for the latter are the main ingredients of insecurity and instability.

Among other foreign media outlets, the BBC underlined the significance of the royal speech and the sovereigns calls on Moroccan expatriates to defend a tolerant form of Islam, to reject extremism and to be staunch advocates of peace, concord and co-existence in their country of residence.

The BBC also noted that the King condemned those who engaged in terrorism in the name of Islam, when he said, Those who engage in terrorism, in the name of Islam, are not Muslims. Their only link to Islam is the pretexts they use to justify their crimes and their folly.
Hillary Clinton does not need this foundation in her life right now. Photo: Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images

The Clinton Foundation is hardly a large or unique source of corruption in American politics. It is, however, a source of grubby, low-level access headaches. That is the takeaway from the latest batch of State Department emails. The emails do not show that Clinton Foundation donors received any policy favors from Hillary Clinton or other elected officials. What they show is that people who donated to the foundation believed they were owed favors by Clintons staffers, and at least one of those staffers  the odious Doug Band  shared this belief. Band, for instance, called the crown prince of Bahrain, who donated millions to the foundation, a good friend of ours.

That ours is the problematic assumption at the heart of the foundation  it implies an us that encompasses both Clintons philanthropic worth and her public role. As always, the Clintons are simultaneously the victims and the beneficiaries of a lunatic opposition that blows up their failings into an imaginary conspiracy, in this case manifested by Republicans chanting lock her up for misdeeds that are not remotely criminal. As Ben Wallace-Wells recently observed, the internal culture revealed by the Clinton emails is mostly one of earnest bureaucratic befuddlement, not corruption. The favors amounted to requests for meetings that may or may not have been granted. The foundations donors were a class of prospective sugar daddies to be fended off.

At the same time, criminality is not the correct standard to which a public official ought to be held. From the standpoint of both good government and Hillary Clintons political image, the correct course of action is to transfer the Clinton Foundations work to some other charitable entity with no connection to the prospective First Couple.
Obama may have founded ISIS, but he has deported a tremendous number of people. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

At various points in his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has argued that being tough on immigration means deporting 11 million undocumented people, barring all Muslims from entering the United States, and building an enormous border wall financed by Mexico. Unconstrained by mercy or logistical detail, Trump was able to claim the right flank of the GOPs immigration debate, and, in so doing, the Republican nomination. For 14 months, he has served as a synecdoche for American xenophobia.

Now, he is using the authority hes gained among nativist Americans to define ultranationalism down. On Monday night, the GOP nominee argued that, to really get tough on immigration, America needs to  do what Obama is already doing. Perhaps, with more energy. Definitely, with more wall.

What people dont know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country, Trump said on Monday nights OReilly Factor. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, Im going to do the same thing.

After Trump said that his first priority would be deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, the GOP nominee said, As far as the rest, were going to go through the process, like they are now, perhaps with a lot more energy, and were going to do it only through the system of laws.

This is less a pivot than it is a backflip. The essence of Trumps argument here  Establishment politicians actually have a pretty good handle on the immigration problem, so Id like to follow in their footsteps  is the antithesis of the moguls primary pitch. (Trump spent most of the GOP race lumping his opponents in with all the other weak, sad politicians who had forfeited control of our border.)



To keep his supporters from feeling whiplash, Trump has invited them to focus on that big, beautiful wall that he still wants to build. On Monday night in Akron, Trump told a crowd, Were going to build a wall, folks, dont worry, were going to build a wall. That wall will go up so fast your head will spin.

Trumps repositioning is significant, and not just for being a world-historical flip-flop: If the GOP nominee succeeds in convincing a portion of his base that they care more about building a wall than they do about deporting all the illegals, he will have improved the prospects of comprehensive immigration reform.

The heart of any bipartisan immigration deal is this trade: Democrats get a pathway to legalization for the undocumented in exchange for allowing Republicans to spend billions of dollars producing an epic piece of security theater all along the southern border. The Senates Gang of 8 bill from 2013 embodied this trade-off, outlining a (long and winding) road to legalization, while allocating $46 billion for hundreds of miles of border fencing, to be guarded by surveillance towers, camera systems, ground sensors, radiation detectors, mobile surveillance systems, drones, helicopters, airborne radar systems, planes and ships.

Its supposed to be a win-win-win: Conservative voters get tough immigration policy, security contractors get mountains of pork, and undocumented immigrants get to stop living lives suffused with quiet terror.

The problem has always been that conservative voters  at least those who call their Congress members and vote in primaries  seem to care more about terrifying the undocumented than they do about building surveillance towers along the desert frontier.

For whatever reason, Trump is now trying to change that. Perhaps, the GOP nominee still has some genuine ambition to win in November, and recognizes that this task will be impossible without winning over a greater share of Hispanic Americans. Or maybe he was just never personally invested in deporting law-abiding immigrant families. As the Washington Post notes, the written immigration plan Trump released last August contains no mention of mass deportation.

Regardless, if Trump succeeds in turning conservatives make-or-break demand on immigration reform into building some kind of wall  rather than denying all hope of security to the undocumented  then he will foster a healthier environment for reform. Democrats have already agreed to build a big, beautiful fence. To finally deliver a pathway to legalization, theyd happily go ahead and call that a wall.

Whether Trump is actually capable of shifting the priorities of the GOPs nativist wing is another matter. When news first broke that Trump was considering a humane approach to dealing with the undocumented, the right-wing backlash was swift. Plus, if current polls are to be believed, the actual reform package would need to be signed by president Clinton. And Trump has worked tirelessly to convince his supporters that Crooked Hillary desperately wants Syrian refugees to murder their daughters. So theres a decent chance that the conservative grassroots wouldnt want to be a part of any immigration reform bill that would have Hillary Clintons approval.

Still, Trump has had some success in shifting the ideological leanings of GOP voters, particularly on trade. Immigration is a much more salient issue to the Republican rank-and-file, but if Nixon could go to China, perhaps Trump can soften the hardliners resistance to amnesty  and then lose the Latino vote by enough to convince the rest of the party that it needs to make a deal.
The sheriffs in town. Photo: Angelo Merendino/Getty Images

At this years Republican National Convention, nothing seemed to bring the Grand Old Party together more than the thought of putting Hillary Clinton in prison. Now, Donald Trump has revealed a plan for how he intends to jail his political rival when he takes power.

The one challenge that any plan for imprisoning Clinton needs to overcome is that she doesnt seem to have committed a crime. The FBI has already exonerated the Democratic nominee for mishandling some classified information while serving as secretary of State. True, newly released emails have cast some light on the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and Clintons State Department. But if these new missives document illegal corruption, then president Trump will probably have to jail the entire Congress: The emails dont show Hillary Clinton diverting funding from security at the Benghazi embassy to a foundation donors beach home. Rather, they suggest that Clinton Foundation donors had an easier time getting their emails answered than other wealthy people seeking the State Departments help. This is not the kind of cronyism that American politicians go to jail for. At least, not yet.

On Monday night in Ohio, Trump unveiled his plan for clearing this hurdle. The GOP nominee decried the conspiracy between the FBI and Justice Department to whitewash Clintons use of a private email server, saying, They certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clintons crimes.

Thus, Trump demanded an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor into his rivals misdeeds. The Clintons made the State Department into the same kind of pay-to-play operation as the Arkansas government was, the mogul declared.

Granted, Trumps proposal doesnt actually make sense. Only the Justice Department has the power to appoint a special prosecutor. If Trump is elected, he could, presumably, appoint an attorney general willing to appoint such a prosecutor  but at that point, why wouldnt Trump just let Attorney General Chris Christie carry out the witch hunt himself?

Nonetheless, the special-prosecutor plan appears to be a central part of Trumps agenda going forward. After cancelling a series of campaign events on Monday  including a marquee speech on immigration policy  Trump released a revised schedule on Tuesday morning. On the docket: A speech in Austin that aims to draw national attention to his call for border security as well as the need for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clintons bought and paid for State Department.

First of its kind statement from Trump team on the nominee's schedule. Lot of changes / immigration speech delayed pic.twitter.com/6fTzsWHuG6  John Santucci (@Santucci) August 23, 2016

Trump appears to want to round out his law and order pitch by casting his opponent as one of the many criminals whom he plans to get tough on. The policy behind this idea is incoherent. And it seems unlikely that Trump can win over moderate voters by further degrading the norms of American politics.

But pushing for a special prosecutor to investigate President Clinton would be a fun activity for Republican back-benchers next January  and a decent story line for the opening weeks of the Trump News Network.
For someone with one foot in the grave, Clintons sense of humor is very healthy. Photo: Randy Holmes/ABC

For a good while Hillary Clinton ignored the increasing drumbeat of weird conservative rumormongering and outright fabrications suggesting her health was failing. Then, Donald Trump himself began pushing that particular story, most notably in a Wisconsin speech (the one to an all-white rally in a nearly all-white Milwaukee suburb billed as an appeal to black voters) when he came right out and said HRC lacked the physical and mental strength and stamina to fight ISIS or violent crime.

So Clinton responded with sarcasm, inviting late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel to take her pulse, and then accepting Kimmels challenge to open a pickle jar to show her strength.

It didnt rank up there with her husbands famous saxophone-playing moment on Arsenio Halls show in 1992, but Clintons response to the slurs on her health via the TV humor route made a lot of sense. You dont want to get into an extended back-and-forth with your political opponents on the details of your health, particularly when people with instant media access  like the increasingly irresponsible Rudy Giuliani  don the engineers hat on the crazy train.

As to what is behind the Hillary Health meme, opinions vary. David Graham suggests it is a successor to the birther hysteria about Obama: an accusation that goes to a politicians basic qualifications for office and which can never be 100 percent rebutted, particularly to the satisfaction of partisans who have a conspiracy-theory explanation for any contrary evidence. Id say there is an additional element of pure malice, the hope that the moral afflictions conservatives attribute to Hillary Clinton will be manifested in a physical or mental disability that exposes her corruption for the whole world to see. This is not a new thing. Way back in the early 1960s, a right-wing protester in Dallas greeted then U.N. ambassador (and former two-time presidential nominee) Adlai Stevenson with the chant: Stevensons going to die/His heart will stop stop stop/And he will burn burn burn. Nice, eh?

I am sure that way out there in the fever swamps there is some theory of shadowy forces behind Hillary that are propping her up and that will actually run the country if she is elected president. No, its not particularly credible to view Tim Kaine as central to a plot to supplant the top of the ticket. But then we are not talking about rational allegations. And so its probably best that Clinton just laughed it all off with a twist of the cap on a pickle jar.
No good communist regime is complete without a plan to nationalize the farms. Photo-Illustration: Daily Intelligencer; Photos: Rob Carr/Getty Images, fStop/Corbis

Barack Obama is nearing the finish line of a presidency filled with accomplishments ranging from death panels to FEMA camps to the importation of Sharia law. Year eight is a natural time for Obama to unveil the most deviously brilliant plot of them all: mass lesbian infiltration of the agriculture sector. The Department of Agriculture has cleverly designed this scheme as an innocuous outreach summit to LGBT Americans living in rural areas. But Rush Limbaugh has exposed the administrations true intentions, which are nothing less than a full-scale assault on the last bastion of red-state America.

Heres how it works. Rural America happens to be largely conservative. Rural America is made up of self-reliant, rugged individualist types, explains Limbaugh. (Farmers are self-reliant because, even though their sector is technically the recipient of heavy federal subsidies, they are overwhelmingly white.) Obama has a plan to attack them:

They are trying to bust up one of the last geographically conservative regions in the country; thats rural America  So here comes the Obama Regime with a bunch of federal money and theyre waving it around, and all you gotta do to get it is be a lesbian and want to be a farmer and theyll set you up  apparently enough money it make it happen, and the objective here is to attack rural states.

I mean, its pretty obvious that once Obama locks up the farmers in FEMA camps, hes going to need to repopulate the farms with political loyalists, or else the cities will have food shortages. Thats where the lesbians come in. By the time Hillary Clinton is running for her fourth term, red America will have been completely liquidated, and she wont even need Acorn to steal the election for her.
Trump and Putins long-distance bromance has some consequences among Eastern European voters. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images; Sergei Ilnitsky/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trumps white working-class support might have some unexpected holes in key battleground states  specifically, among Americans of Eastern European heritage who are likely to look askance at the moguls man-crush on Vladimir Putin and his expressed reluctance to defend potential victims of Russian aggression. Russias own apparent interest in seeing Trump take power in Washington is likely problematic too.

As the Washington Posts James Hohmann notes today, such voters  known once upon a time as an important element of the Reagan Democrats, who gave Ronald Reagan his demographic breakthrough  are very important to Donald Trumps path to victory:

John Weaver, who was John Kasichs chief strategist this year and advised both of McCains presidential bids, thinks the blowback is starting to show up in polls, specifically Trumps weakness among Catholics who regularly attend mass.

In and around Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Detroit and all throughout Wisconsin, youre talking about voters with family in Poland, the Baltics, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, said Weaver. These voters are key to any narrow path that Trump has left.

Hostility toward Russia had something to do with the defection from the Democratic Party of Eastern European Catholic and Orthodox voters, who were attracted to Reagans evil empire rhetoric toward Moscow. Now the shoe is on the other foot, at a potentially serious cost to Republicans accustomed to carrying these voters.

Angst over Trumps Russophilia is particularly intense among Ukrainian-Americans, as the New York Times Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports.

Ukrainian-Americans have felt at home in the Republican Party since Franklin D. Roosevelt and Stalin divided control of Europe at Yalta. But across the United States  and especially in swing state Ohio, where Mr. Trump became the partys nominee  they are watching the 2016 presidential race with a mix of confusion and fear.

That figures. Ukraine isnt just a contemporary object of Russian neo-imperialism. It was the subject of Stalins first great atrocity: the deliberate starvation of millions of people in the USSRs breadbasket in the early 1930s as part of a campaign for forced collectivization of farms and the confiscation of grain to feed favored (mostly Russian) cities. And Ukraine suffered nearly as much as neighboring Poland during and after World War II, caught between Nazi and Soviet killing machines. Strong and reasonable suspicions that Trump (until recently guided by Paul Manafort, someone actively involved in the ongoing Russian campaign to reabsorb Ukraine) would turn a blind eye to Russian aggression is bound to be a real and practical problem for the GOP in this particular demographic.

Trump would be well-advised to spend some time with old-school cold warriors who can get him into the habit of insulting Putin the way he insults so many others. Otherwise the legendary bars and bowling alleys of places like Parma, Ohio, with sizable Eastern European populations, could become an unlikely graveyard for his presidential campaign.
Disneys Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando. Photo: Courtesy WKMG

Two-year-old Lane Graves was building a sand castle at the edge of the lagoon at Disney Worlds Grand Floridian Resort when an alligator swam up to the shoreline and snatched the boy by the head, according to a new report on the toddlers death.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report, which details the June tragedy in Orlando, says that boys father reached his hand inside the the seven-foot alligators mouth to try and wrench his son free. The boy was killed by the reptiles bite and from drowning.

The findings describe the attack as predatory, and make clear neither the toddler nor his family did anything to provoke the animal  though its possible that the gator had enough exposure to people to embolden it to approach humans. Its still unclear if other tourists, or anyone at the resort, had been feeding the creature.

Gravess body was found 16 hours after the attack, but witness testimony describes the tragedy as it unfolded in real-time. A Disney lifeguard told police he saw an alligator slashing around about 20 feet from the shoreline, the boys shoes disappearing under the water. Others spotted the alligator lurking around the shallows earlier that day, including one woman visiting with her daughters who warned Disney employees about the gator approximately 45 minutes before the alligator grabbed the boy. Another tourist had taken a picture of the alligator from his hotel balcony nearly an hour and a half before the attack. He spotted the Graves family playing at the edge of the lagoon, and went out to warn the family. By the time he got down to the beach, the report says, he heard Lanes mother screaming.

Disney has since added additional safety improvements to the lagoon after the boys death, including putting up additional warning signs and building a stone wall at the shoreline.
Associated Mess. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

This week, a new batch of State Department emails revealed that Clinton Foundation donors frequently requested meetings and favors from Secretary Hillary Clinton. But it was difficult to discern the full extent of these requests  or how often they were honored.

Now, the Associated Press has produced an eye-popping data point that sheds some light on those questions: By checking Clintons State Department schedules against a list of her family foundations donors, the AP calculated that more than half of the private citizens Clinton met with during her tenure in the Obama administration had helped bankroll her charity.

Of the 154 people from private interests who met with Secretary Clinton, 85 had given money to the Clinton Foundation. At least 40 had given more than $100,000. Twenty kicked in more than $1 million.

None of these meetings appear to violate legal agreements Clinton signed before she joined the Obama administration. But the fact that Clinton Foundation donors were so heavily represented in the secretarys guest book encourages the suspicion that, in the APs phrasing, giving the foundation money was a price of admission.

Among the donors Clinton met with was Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus. Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on micro-credit, and runs the nonprofit Grameen Bank. That Bank has pledged millions of dollars to support the Clinton Global Initiatives microloans for the poor.

Yunus first met with Secretary Clinton in April 2009. Six months later, the State Departments foreign-aid arm announced that it was partnering with the Grameen Foundation to expand its micro-finance efforts. The Grameen Foundation received $2.2 million in loans and grants over the course of Clintons tenure.

When Yunus attracted the hostility of the Bangladeshi government, Clinton tried to intervene on his behalf. Per the AP:



By September 2009, Yunus began complaining to Clintons top aides about what he perceived as poor treatment by Bangladeshs government. His bank was accused of financial mismanagement of Norwegian government aid money  a charge that Norway later dismissed as baseless. But Yunus told Melanne Verveer, a long-time Clinton aide who was an ambassador-at-large for global womens issues, that Bangladesh officials refused to meet with him and asked the State Department for help in pressing his case.



Please see if the issues of Grameen Bank can be raised in a friendly way, he asked Verveer. Yunus sent regards to H and cited an upcoming Clinton Global Initiative event he planned to attend. Clinton ordered an aide: Give to EAP rep, referring the problem to the agencys top east Asia expert.



Yunus continued writing to Verveer as pressure mounted on his bank. In December 2010, responding to a news report that Bangladeshs prime minister was urging an investigation of Grameen Bank, Clinton told Verveer that she wanted to discuss the matter with her East Asia expert ASAP.

As with many of the recent revelations, theres nothing obviously inappropriate about Clintons dealings with Yunus. The man is a Nobel Peace Prize winner looking to promote micro-finance projects that are supported by both the Clinton Global Initiative and the Obama administration. It makes sense that he would have some involvement with both those entities.

Nonetheless, his relationship to the Clinton Foundation invites suspicion about whether he received special treatment from Clintons State Department. Whether or not such suspicions are warranted, a President Clinton will likely have to fend off similar ones on a regular basis. More than 6,000 people have donated to the Clinton Foundation.

Theres a lot of potential conflicts and a lot of potential problems, Douglas White, a former director of Columbia Universitys graduate fundraising management program, told the AP. The point is, she cant just walk away from these 6,000 donors.
Andrea Tantaros. Photo: Joe Kohen/WireImage

Earlier this month, Fox News host Andrea Tantaros told New York that she was demoted, then taken off the air, after filing formal complaints about sexual harassment by network CEO Roger Ailes. Now the New York Times reports that Tantaros has filed a lawsuit alleging that top executives at the network punished her for complaining about inappropriate advances from Ailes and others at the network, including Bill OReilly.

Tantaros says that during her six years at the network, Ailes repeatedly made sexual comments toward her, such as discussing how she would look in a bikini and speculating about the sexual habits of other Fox News employees. She says she was moved from The Five to the lower-rated program Outnumbered after refusing his request to turn around so I can get a good look at you.

Ailes didnt just make crude comments about Tantaros, but allegedly openly speculated about her co-workers sex lives, and derided other Fox News personalities in front of her. In the lawsuit, Tantaros said Ailes called Carlson  whose sexual-harassment suit set off the wave of allegations against the former Fox News chief  nuts and said Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo got so fat. Talking Points Memo rounded up other remarks that Tantaros claims Ailes made about her co-workers:

She [Tantaros] recounts how the then-Fox News CEO asked if her co-host on The Five, Greg Gutfeld, was gay; if contributor Dana Perino, who worked as George W. Bushs White House press secretary, was a lesbian; and whether Gutfeld and Perino were sleeping together.

Ailes also allegedly asked if Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, whom he called a Puerto Rican whore and easy, was sleeping with her colleague Eric Bolling. About commentator Monica Crowley, Ailes allegedly said, If I ever had to go on a date with her, Id jump out the window.

Tantaross attorney, Judd Burstein, says that during a recent contract dispute she was offered a sum in the seven figures if she would renounce her harassment allegations against Ailes and others at the network. BuzzFeed reported earlier that Tantaros had also accused four Fox News male personalities  two on-air contributors, a correspondent, and a host  of sexual harassment. Apparently one of those personalities was the OReilly Factor host. According to the lawsuit, OReilly invited Tantaros to his Long Island home, telling her it would be very private. OReilly, whom Tantaros had gone to for career advice, also allegedly told her that he thought she had a wild side.

Ailes resigned last month after another former anchor, Gretchen Carlson, filed a lawsuit alleging that she was fired for refusing his advances. While Fox claims that its top executives were not aware of the many sexual-harassment complaints about Ailes, Tantaross suit says she discussed the issue with Bill Shine, the executive who would replace Ailes, more than a year ago. Per the Times:

In April 2015, the lawsuit states, Ms. Tantaros met with Bill Shine, then a senior news executive and close aide to Mr. Ailes. She said that she told him about the meetings with Mr. Ailes and asked if he had told the head of publicity for Fox News, Irena Briganti, to go after her. The lawsuit claims that Mr. Shine told Tantaros that Briganti is like a rabid dog on a chain that we cant control. Sometimes that dog gets off the chain. Then, pointing to a picture of Mr. Ailes on a magazine cover, the lawsuit charges, Mr. Shine told her that this powerful man has faith in Irena Briganti and that Ms. Tantaros needs to let this one go.

Tantaross lawsuit alleges that the network masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansionlike cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny.



Ailes has denied all allegations of sexual harassment, and the network said it will not comment on pending litigation.



This post has been updated to include additional details from Tantaross lawsuit.
Thats the ticket. Photo: Angelo Merendino/Getty Images

Less than a week after his campaign reboot, the new and improved Donald Trump is attempting a very difficult maneuver: alienating Latino voters even further, while potentially enraging his base by softening his cartoonishly tough stance against illegal immigration.



Over the weekend, there were reports that in his first meeting with his Hispanic advisory council, Trump suggested that he would unveil a plan to make millions of undocumented immigrants legal residents. This sparked immediate accusations of flip-flopping, since an extreme stance against illegal immigration is the closest thing Trump has to a policy proposal. Yesterday afternoon, Trump canceled a major speech on immigration scheduled for later in the week, and said, cryptically, that hes trying to find a really fair, but firm way to address the immigration issue.



Trump insisted he was not reversing his position, but on The OReilly Factor he revealed that months of talk about a deportation force whisking 11 million people out of the country might have been a tantalizing illusion, not unlike Trump Steaks.

The first part of his plan sounded familiar. The first thing were going to do, if and when I win, is were going to get rid of all of the bad ones, Trump said. Weve got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country. Were going to get them out, and the police know who they are. Theyre known by law enforcement who they are. We dont do anything. They go around killing people and hurting people, and theyre going to be out of this country so fast your head will spin. We have existing laws that allow you to do that.

But what about everyone else? What people dont know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country, Trump said. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, Im going to do the same thing. Later in the interview he added, As far as the rest, were going to go through the process, like they are now, perhaps with a lot more energy, and were going to do it only through the system of laws.

So, as the Washington Post notes, Trumps big plan is to do what Obamas doing  targeting felons, not families for deportation  but hell give it a lot more energy. When Bill OReilly suggested setting up detention centers to hold people awaiting immigration hearings, Trump said repeatedly that he is not in favor of that. Im not talking about detention centers, he said. I have very, very good relationships with a lot of people, a lot of Hispanic people. Were talking about it.

Apparently Trump has his doubts, because later on Monday night, he tested his relationship with Hispanic voters. Initially, it looked like Trump was getting back to basics at his rally in Akron, Ohio. Were going to build a wall folks, dont worry, were going to build a wall, he said. That wall will go up so fast, your head will spin.

But then, Trump abandoned his prepared remarks, telling Hispanic voters that their lives are so bad right now that theres really no risk in giving Trump a shot at the presidency. Our government has totally failed our African American friends, our Hispanic friends, and the people of our country. Period, Trump told the mostly white crowd. The Democrats have failed completely in the inner cities. He elaborated:



Poverty. Rejection. Horrible education. No housing, no homes, no ownership. Crime at levels that nobody has seen. You can go to war zones in countries that we are fighting and its safer than living in some of our inner cities that are run by the Democrats. And I ask you this, I ask you this  crime, all of the problems  to the African Americans, who I employ so many, so many people, to the Hispanics, tremendous people: What the hell do you have to lose? Give me a chance. Ill straighten it out. Ill straighten it out. What do you have to lose?



 Look, it is a disaster the way African Americans are living, in many cases, and, in many cases, the way Hispanics are living, and I say it with such a deep-felt feeling: What do you have to lose? I will straighten it out. Ill bring jobs back. Well bring spirit back. Well get rid of the crime. Youll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Right now, you walk down the street, you get shot. Look at the statistics. Well straighten it out. If you keep voting for the same failed politicians, you will keep getting the same results. They dont care about you. They just like you once every four years  get your vote and then they say: Bye, bye!

If that sounds like something youve heard before, thats because Trump has faced criticism in recent days for trying to win over black voters by telling them that their lives are horrible. Presumably his many Latino friends will not take kindly to his suggestion that they too live in American war zones where theyre constantly shot just for walking down the street. Then again, the roughly 26 percent of Hispanic voters leaning toward Trump stuck with him after he called undocumented immigrants criminals, drug dealers, and rapists, so maybe they dont mind playing the victim in Trumps American dystopia for a change.


Go forth and vote. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

About 13,000 ex-felons will now have the opportunity to cast ballots in the presidential election after Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe restored their voting rights on Monday.

McAuliffes executive action is the latest in a back-and-forth between the governor, Republican legislators, and the state supreme court over the decision to re-enfranchise individuals with past felony convictions. Back in April, McAuliffe used an executive order to restore voting rights to all felons who had completed their sentences and any parole or probation requirements  about 206,000 people, many of them minorities. Virginia is one of four states whose constitutions permanently strip felons of the right to vote, though the law grants the governor power to individually restore those rights. McAuliffes sweeping proclamation granted nonviolent offenders  about 80 percent  the right to register immediately; violent offenders had to complete three years of supervised release without incident to be added back to the rolls.

Virginia Republicans sued to block McAuliffes executive order, arguing that it was a political play to bolster the Democratic rolls  and Hillary Clintons chances  ahead of the 2016 presidential election. In July, the state supreme court ruled against McAuliffe, 4-3, arguing that the executive power to restore voting rights was broad, but not absolute. The majority of the judges objected to the governors blanket order, which did not evaluate each felons situation on a case-by-case basis.

In the wake of that decision, McAuliffe tried again on Monday, restoring the voting rights of 13,000 convicts who had already registered after McAuliffes first effort. To meet the criteria of the court decision, the governors office claimed to have vetted each of the 13,000. The governor vowed to sign orders for all 200,000, though he did not provide a specific timeline.

Republican legislators have said theyll look into whether there are grounds to challenge McAuliffes latest action. Former Republican governor Bob McDonnell had also taken steps to ease the voting ban, but the outcry really has much more to do with Virginias electoral votes. Many of those who would become eligible to vote are African-American, a group that tends to vote Democrat in what was assumed to be a key swing state. But recent Virginia polls give Hillary Clinton a commanding lead over Trump in the state. GOP candidate Donald Trump still put in his two cents on Monday at a campaign stop in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He said McAuliffe was attempting to get thousands of violent felons to the voting booth in an effort to cancel out the votes of both law enforcement and crime victims.
Photo: Stephen Marks/Getty Images

A babys first words are a culmination as much as they are a beginning  long before theyre speaking, babies are watching, listening, processing, their little brains working furiously to make sense of the world. As Science of Us has previously reported, preverbal babies are in a constant state of dress rehearsal, putting in a ton of mental work before making their linguistic debut.

But new research shows that theyre not just taking it all in; theyre participating. From the moment theyre born, babies are, in their own way, communicating in the language of their families: Even before they have words, they have accents.

In a pair of studies led by Kathleen Wermke, who runs the Center for Pre-speech Development and Developmental Disorders at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, researchers ran acoustical analyses on more than 6,000 cries, collected from infants during their first week of life. In the first, published in the Journal of Voice, they focused on babies born to German and Mandarin-speaking Chinese families. In the second, published in Speech, Language and Hearing, they compared the cries of German babies to those of babies from Nso families in Cameroon, who speak Lamnso.

Unlike German (and English), both Mandarin and Lamnso are both tonal languages, in which a single combination of sounds can create multiple words; the meaning of a spoken word changes depending on the pitch the speaker uses. Accordingly, the Chinese and Nso babies both cried more melodically than their German counterparts: They had higher intra-utterance frequency variation, meaning their pitches reached higher highs and lower lows, and their cries also fluctuated in pitch more quickly.

Together, the two studies suggest that babies are learning the nuances of speech even before theyre born, absorbing information about pitch from their mothers while still in the womb. Unlike other voices, that of the mother is not dampened by the abdominal walls and is the most important acoustic speech source for a fetus, the researchers noted, adding that their results further underscore the assumption of an early shaping effect of maternal speech.

The sample sizes of both studies were small  in total, the authors examined just under 150 babies  and both acknowledged that further research is necessary to fully understand just how much they absorb about language at such a young age. But in the meantime, they wrote, We are intrigued by the possibility that a young infants vocal behavior may be shaped by the ambient language long before canonical syllables or vocabulary and grammar are established. Babies: always listening, always proving smarter than we give them credit for.
Photo: Tetra Images/Getty Images

The judge who infamously sentenced Brock Turner has now formally recused himself from the first sex-crimes case he was set to hear in the aftermath of his controversial remarks and handling of sexual-assault cases.

Judge Aaron Persky from Santa Clara County, California, was ready to make a key decision this week on a case involving a plumber who was convicted of possessing child pornography. Persky, who is currently facing a recall effort in the state, was set to decide whether to reduce Robert Chains felony conviction to a misdemeanor, according to the Mercury News.

Chain was convicted of possessing almost 200 images of child pornography, depicting children between the ages of 5 and 12 and at least one infant, the newspaper reported. Persky, however, was seemingly impressed by Chains efforts to rebuild his life, including his enrollment in therapy and completion of a sex-offender management program, according to the Mercury News.

Perksy further indicated he might be open to reducing Chains felony to a misdemeanor since he sentenced Chain to four days in jail last year. Had Persky proceeded with this case and granted a reduction from felony to misdemeanor, his decision would have still been a bit of an exception to the norm. Reductions in sentencing are not uncommon, but taking such an action in Chains case would have have arrived a year earlier than a probation officer recommended and would undoubtedly have added to the ire of critics whove latched on to Persky for what they say are lenient punishments in sexual-assault cases. We dont believe Persky was doing a good job in this case in the first place, or in other cases involving sex or violent crimes against women, Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor leading the efforts to recall Persky, told the Mercury News. Other judges sentence so differently that were pleased another judge will be deciding this.

Persky is well aware of the controversy surrounding him. In June, he was successfully removed from another sexual-assault case, though this is his first time recusing himself firsthand.

In his short ruling on the matter, Persky said hed realized the amount of publicity surrounding the case had reached his family and threatened perceptions of impartiality. While on vacation earlier this month, my family and I were exposed to publicity surrounding this case, he wrote in his ruling. This publicity has resulted in a personal family situation such that a person aware of the facts might reasonably entertain a doubt that the judge would be able to be impartial. 
I knew it. He seemed very facetious when he ~complained about the gig.



Now let's just hope Hugo Weaving comes back for Infinity War 

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Still wish it'd been Brian Blessed.

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Excuse me, BRIAN BLESSED

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omg slay me with this flawless casting

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lmfao

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LOL



I loved when he was on QI and anytime Stephen would mention that Brian calls Stephen ~spunk bubble~

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lmao yessss, hft!!

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I kinda hope Loki stripped him of his powers/memories and sent him to live as a beggar in NYC. That would be ironic.

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LMAO this is a good look

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i am excited for loki



it's been too long

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They should have went back to his shorter hair, honestly.



RIP:







Edited at 2016-08-23 11:31 am (UTC) I don't mean to be rude, but he has always looked like this.They should have went back to his shorter hair, honestly.RIP:

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it's kind of crazy how much he has aged since the first Thor

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This was his peak. His looks have gone downhill since then. :(

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In a text convo with a friend I pointed out that Rooney Mara resemble Thor 1 era Loki more than Tom does at this point

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Oh, he looks good here. I forgot I used to be semi-attracted to him.

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People said this when TDW set pictures came out too, and it ended up looking okayish in the film?



I agree that he's aged though and the make-up they put on him to make up look that pale doesn't help. Need to wash that hair, dude, it's been three movies... CGI the hairline and bring back the Thor 1 eyebrows too tbh

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MTE it better be just a cameo.

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They've been getting such huge crowds watching the filming. I'd go to try and give out my details to the production crew (for a job) but it would be hard to elbow past everyone else

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You should have got on tv like that nerd that was there for the god of mischief himself

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I saw that on the project. So embarassing!

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I'm interested to see how they tie in Strange if that rumor is true.

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lol that thor holding the business card pic is like csi levels of ridiculous



ENHANCE!!! ENHANCE!!!!!

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if butawhiteboy cantbekhan is in this then this film is dead to me



but lmfao i knew odin was alive, loki's too much of a wimp to actually kill him lbr. he thirsts for daddy's approval way too much.



Edited at 2016-08-23 12:09 pm (UTC)

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Hopefully if he is in it it's just a cameo, I'm so not here for his Doctor Strange.



Just because Anthony Hopkins is in the movie doesn't mean Odin is alive, sine Loki has to spend some time pretending to be him, which is where they left us last Thor movie. But I'm hoping Odin is alive and Loki didn't kill him, maybe they can do something halfway interesting with the family dynamics.

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Looking at the costume here, I definitely think it's Odin. It fits with some spoilers/rumors floating around awhile ago that Odin was alive and wandering Midgard for some reason or another.

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aw anthony hopkins was in town today? :( idgaf about the other 2 but i would have ducked out of work to see him

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Probably on set for a Loki scene where he shifts into shapes like Thor 2

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must be one hellofa contract

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Synopsis: Its back to the 1960s as Batman and Robin spring into action when Gotham City is threatened by a quartet of Batmans most fiendish foes  Penguin, The Joker, Riddler and Catwoman. The four Super-Villains have combined their wicked talents to hatch a plot so nefarious that the Dynamic Duo will need to go to outer space (and back) to foil their arch enemies and restore order in Gotham City. Its a truly fantastic adventure that will pit good against evil, good against good, evil against evil  and feature two words that exponentially raise the stakes for both sides: Replicator Ray. Holy Multiplication Tables!The film is directed by Rick Morales (Lego DC Comic Super Heroes  Justice League: Cosmic Clash) and written by Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) and James Tucker (Justice League vs Teen Titans).Here are the Blu-ray bonuses:Those Dastardly Desperados featurette  Joker, Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler are impossible not to watch! Those Dastardly Desperados explores how these fiends became more than just antagonists in a Batman story; they became icons in American pop culture.A Classic Cadre of Voices featurette  A new talented cast of actors join Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar in Batman: Return of The Caped Crusaders. Go behind the scenes and witness the vocal techniques and timing needed to deliver a classic Bat-Comedy!Sources 1
Oh good. It's only the second day of selling after the recent rampant rally, and yet we are already hearing renewed rhetoric from key producers. Iran is the subject of the latest rumors, said to have agreed to attend next month's producer meeting in Algeria. This has led to a bounce in oil prices, with WTI racing back towards $48 again ahead of a potentially bearish inventory report tomorrow. Hark, here are five things to consider in oil markets today:

1) Although Chinese oil imports have been slowing in recent months after its torrid import pace in spring, we are seeing key producers holding onto their market share. Saudi Arabia is still leading the charge in terms of waterborne imports, accounting for ~16 percent of volumes, while Angola is firmly in second place. Oman, Iraq and Iran are next, accounting for ~10 percent of flows each. Altogether, these five producers account for 60 percent of all waterborne imports:

(Click to enlarge)

2) The slowing in Chinese oil demand appears set to persist as we move into fall, driven by a variety of factors. Ahead of the G20 meeting in Hangzhou early next month, the Chinese authorities have ordered hundreds of factories to curb activity to clear up pollution.

It is estimated that the drop in industrial activity could reduce refinery runs by 400,000 bpd, while the combined impact of these environmental efforts with flooding earlier this summer mean petroleum demand could potentially drop by 250,000 bpd this quarter.

A second factor which is likely to pressure Chinese demand going forward is refinery margins. Record product exports from China are pressuring margins lower in the region. Also, as the chart below illustrates (via@ClydeCommods), refinery margins are in large part dictated by crude prices. The best hope that refinery margins have is a crude sell-off; that means they will likely rise:

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3) What the heck, let's stay on the topic of China. It appears that China's largest oil companies are copying a tactic of 'Big Oil': using dividends to appease investors. Cnooc is considering a special dividend, despite a forecasted 8 billion yuan ($1.2 bln) loss in the first half of this year - driven by an impairment on assets including its Canadian oil sands project. Related: Is ExxonMobil Actually Only Worth A Fraction Of What It Says?

PetroChina, in a similarly appeasing fashion, may pass on 20 billion yuan of proceeds from the sale of its share in Trans-Asia Pipeline Co. - also paid to investors via a special dividend.

Based on production data, the situation for domestic producers is only going to become more challenging amid cost cutting. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Chinese output fell to its lowest since October 2011 last month, slipping 5.1 percent in the first seven months of the year:

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4) Yesterday we discussed Malaysia, highlighting how Petronas (not Patronus, Harry Potter fans...) has seen its profits shrink by 96 percent last quarter amid a precipitous drop in net income. As we know all too well, all paths lead back to energy, hence the Malaysian economy and currency (hark, the ringgit) are inextricably linked to energy markets. Related: $50 Crude Wont Fuel Big Oils Comeback

As the chart below illustrates, the Malaysian ringgit and crude prices are like Tweedledum and Tweedledee; they strengthen and weaken in lockstep. Hence, the ringgit has weakened considerably since mid-2014, along with the descent in oil prices. As crude plumbed the depths of multi-year lows in early 2016, so did the ringgit.





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5) Energy accounts for ~20 percent of Malaysian GDP; it is not only a net oil-exporter, but it also is the world's second-largest exporter of LNG (behind Qatar). While natural gas production is expected to rise going forward (from 6.6 Bcf/d last year), this will help offset the 9 percent drop in oil production - falling to 635,000 bpd by 2024.

Yesterday we looked at how Asia was the leading recipient of Malaysian crude; our ClipperData below show that U.A.E is the leading supplier of crude to Malaysia, followed by Saudi, Curacao (think: Venezuela) and Nigeria.





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By Matt Smith

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The latest oil rally started to unwind on a flurry of bearish news, but the prospect of Iran joining the OPEC meeting has boosted oil prices once again.





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Chart of the Week

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 By 2040, the EIA projects in its latest forecast that tight oil production will rise to 7.08 million barrels per day, up from 4.89 mb/d in 2015.

 The energy agency expects the U.S. to lose 700,000 in shale oil production between 2015 and 2017, but will bounce back after that.

 Interestingly, the EIA believes that the Bakken will surpass the Eagle Ford by 2019 in terms of production, with output rising to 1.3 mb/d. By 2040, the Bakken could see output jump to 2.3 mb/d.

Market Movers



 Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL) saw its stock drop by more than 2 percent on Monday after Pemex announced that it had cancelled its West Pegasus rig contract. Seadrill had already discounted other rig rates to ensure that Pemex would not cancel the contract.

 Exxon (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Hess (NYSE: HES) have agreed to jointly bid on offshore oil tracts in an upcoming auction in Mexican waters. The December auction will be Mexicos first deepwater drilling offer, and the government hopes to raise $44 billion.

 The WSJ reports that Wilbur Ross, a notable distressed-debt investor, is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into distressed energy debt. Ross wants to take some ownership stakes in Breitburn Energy Partners and has bought debt in Permian Resources.

Tuesday August 23, 2016

The bull market for oil sputtered at the start of this week, putting an end to the longest run in four years on Monday. WTI and Brent closed in on $50 per barrel but fell back again, losing ground again during on Tuesday morning, but bounced back on Iranian rhetoric. At issue were the prospect of more oil exports from Iraq, and the possibility of the return of shuttered output in Nigeria (more on that below). Morgan Stanley said that it views the prospect of a meaningful OPEC agreement in Algeria in September as highly unlikely, and said that oil prices could slide back as a result.

Analysts doubt sustainability of oil price rally. A handful of oil analysts suggested that the sudden bull market for oil was a bit overblown. Having rallied from near $40 per barrel up to almost $50 in just a few weeks, the rally could already be out of steam. "Positioning data seems to confirm our view that the latest oil bounce is more technical and positioning-oriented than fundamental. In fact, new buyers have been mostly absent the past few months," Morgan Stanley said. The investment bank says that the rally was driven by oil traders taking the opportunity to close out short positions following OPECs announcement to hold a meeting in September. But with price gains of more than 20 percent, the opposite trend could now be unfolding as traders close out bullish bets and pocket profits.

Goldman Sachs added its weight to the debate on Tuesday, reiterating its forecast for oil to hover between a $45 to $50 range through the summer of 2017  not exactly a bullish call. In fact, the investment bank says that the return of Iraqi, Libyan and/or Nigerian oil could tip the global supply balance back into surplus this year.

Shale band restricts prices. The seesawing of oil prices adds credence to the theory that U.S. shale oil has created a band around prices. Below $40, for example, shale production drops off, but once prices rise to around $55 or $60 per barrel, shale drilling comes back, capping further gains. The upshot is that oil prices could continue to trade within this band for the foreseeable future. Further down the line, the large capex cuts seen in deepwater drilling, among other places, could mean a shortfall in supply, but for the rest of this year and next, some analysts see prices trading within this relatively narrow $40-$55 shale band.

Ceasefire in Nigeria? Nigeria has lost more than 700,000 barrels of oil production per day because of attacks on pipelines and platforms by the Niger Delta Avengers. But the Avengers said recently that they were willing to engage in dialogue with the government and enter into a ceasefire. That raises the prospect of a return of oil production if the attacks stop and companies can make repairs to damaged infrastructure. But that outcome is far from assured, not least because the militants in the Niger Delta are splintered, and the Avengers do not speak for everyone. The oil majors  Shell, Chevron, and Exxon  are not offering any clues into when they can lift the force majeure on several key streams of crude from the region. Related: Russia-Iran-Turkey Alliance Could Change Energy Dynamics For Good

Shale drillers return to the oil patch. Several high profile shale drillers, including Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) and Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) have indicated that they will step up drilling later this year as oil prices have firmed up. With shale companies continuing to achieve cost reductions, many can drill profitably at $50 per barrel, or even lower. But a return to drilling threatens to kill off the price recovery. The EIA has already revised up its weekly production figures, surprised by the resilience of U.S. shale production. If companies head back to drilling in a much more robust way than many anticipated, there could be little chance that oil prices rise much more significantly. Being at $50 or $52 was probably the worst thing ever for oil, Ben Ross, a commodities portfolio manager at Cohen & Steers Inc., told The Wall Street Journal.

Iraq set to boost oil exports. Iraq said that it will step up oil exports after a deal could pave the way for resumed shipments of oil from the fields around Kirkuk. Local officials said that shipments from three oil fields could restart, increasing exports by 150,000 barrels per day. The oil fields surrounding Kirkuk have been the victims of political jockeying  the state-run company from Baghdad ostensibly controls them, but the Kurds operate the pipeline that allows the oil to flow.

China steps up fuel exports. Yet another bearish factor for oil prices came from fresh data out of China that showed that diesel and gasoline exports jumped in July by 181 percent and 145 percent, respectively, according to Reuters. That adds to the global glut and puts pressure on refining margins. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the Chinese government is ordering factories and oil refineries to curtail production in September ahead of the G20 summit to ensure clean air and blue skies. The restrictions, which could affect 445 companies, could cut into Chinese consumption, dampening global crude oil demand.

Saudi Arabia boosts oil exports. Saudi Arabias oil exports reached a three-month high in June, and overall production hit all-time high. Exports jumped to 7.5 million barrels per day in June and output rose to 10.67 mb/d in July, the highest on record. Saudi Arabia tends to produce more oil in summer months to meet domestic demand, and production could be throttled back as temperatures cool heading into the latter half of the year.

By Evan Kelly of Oilprice.com

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Chinas oil companies may use dividends to calm the fears of investors on the heels of the drop in energy prices.

Noting the dip in the price of oil, Tian Miao, an analyst at North Square Blue Oak Ltd. in Beijing said: "At current oil prices, Chinas big oil companies have basically nothing but reasonable dividend payouts to keep current investors and attract new ones," adding that paying dividends will be an added strain to the companies, but will nevertheless be necessary if those companies want to remain attractive to investors.

Shares in the countrys three largest oil companies have managed to recover this year as prices have rebounded, but are still down 30 percent from 2014 when oil prices were at their peak. Analysts at Citigroup noted that PetroChina has the potential to break even this year, making money on one-off gains. The company may even see a gain from its sale of its 50 percent stake in the Trans Asia pipeline, which took place in November.

Gordon Kwan, who is the head of Nomuras Asia oil and gas research commented: The improved balance sheet means that PetroChina has the capacity potentially to pay a special divided to reward investors. We think PetroChina could become more generous in rewarding investors amid depressed oil prices and trigger out-performance for the stock."

China International Capital Corp. and Morgan Stanley expect that Cnooc Ltd, Chinas largest offshore oil producer, may consider a special dividend for investors, even though it is expected to report on Wednesday that lost $1.2 billion in the first half of this year. Last month, Cnooc said that it expected a loss for the first half of 2016 due to the drop in oil prices and asset impairment.

Bloomberg notes that it would be first time the company reported a half-year loss since it began trading in 2000.

Lincoln Brown for Oilprice.com

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Wiping out two-day losses, oil spiked on Tuesday on vague speculation emanating from a Reuters report headlining positive signals from Iran that it could back an output freeze to counter low oil prices, while contradictory reports that Iran has still not even decided whether it will attend the OPEC meeting in Algiers next month failed to counter the upward swing in prices.

At the time of writing, WTI Crude was up 1.31 percent at US$48.03 and Brent Crude was trading up 1.51 percent to US$49.90.

While it appears to have been largely headlines rather the finer details of todays mainstream media reports that are leading market speculation, beyond the headline, Reuters cited OPEC and oil industry sources as saying that Iran had not firmly decided anything, but appeared to be more willing to talk this time around.



Soon after the Reuters report, Irans ministry of petroleum said that Iran may not take part in the September meeting of OPEC and partners, according to ZeroHedge.

This, however, did not immediately affect oil prices which continued moving up.

Last week, Iran  which was relieved of several years of oil sanctions this January  pointed out that it had not yet decided whether it would attend the OPEC meeting on September 26-28 in Algiers. And at the previous OPEC meeting in April, Iran refused to consider an output freeze.



Related: Goldman: The Rally Will Stall Regardless Of OPEC Freeze

Six months after the oil sanctions were lifted, Iran pumped 3.63 million barrels of crude daily in June, the highest since 2011. The country has also said that it has regained most of its pre-sanction market share. Iranian oil exports have increased to 2.5m barrels per day, according to NIOC.

In the meantime, headlines continue to drive wild speculation ahead of the Algiers OPEC meeting scheduled for 26-28 September.

Similarly, comments last week from Saudi Arabias Oil Minister about the large number of short positions on crude leading to a slide in prices led to frantic covering, pushing prices higher.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:


:    9         

         2013 .         9          .    .
Iraqi Army troops have surrounded an oil refinery in the town of al-Qayyara, 40 miles out of ISIS-held Mosul, as they prepare for an assault on Iraqs once second-largest city to try to drive the Islamic State militants out of it.

The Jihadists, who regularly smuggled tankers out of the fields around al-Qayyara, are now setting oil tankers ablaze in order to hamper the visibility of the advancing Iraqi Army.

The Iraqi Army had retaken the al-Qayyara air base in July, which could be of enormous help in the attack on Mosul, which had fallen to ISIS in June 2014.

So far the Iraqi Army has pushed ISIS out of the major cities of Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah.

General Najim al-Jobouri, the commander of Iraq's operations in the Nineveh province, told CNN that it seems ISIS has weakened. Most of the ISIS fighters were foreign nationals before, and now the militants are a mix of foreigners and locals, al-Jobouri noted.

This may be a piece of positive news for the army troops in the looming battle, but as in every battle in a war, fears of civilian lives lost are also looming large. The U.N. Refugee Agency UNHCR warned on Tuesday that it was preparing for massive displacement from Mosul.

Just last week, ISIS was hit hard in the very same province of Nineveh, when U.S.-led coalition forces struck a convoy of ISIS tankers, dealing yet another blow on the terrorist groups oil infrastructure.

In July, ISIS set five oil wells in Mosul on fire in an attempt to stop the Iraqi Army, which had been steadily advancing towards the city.

Most recently, Iraq has reached an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to resume crude oil exports from three fields in the Kirkuk region, which will add some 150,000 barrels per day to the total exported by OPECs second-largest producer by the end of this week.

Iraq is also moving to increase its oil output ahead of the OPEC meeting slated for September 26-28 in Algiers.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Libyas oil is still in a state of flux, as Libyas UN-backed Government of National Accord got a vote of no-confidence from Libyas parliament on Monday. Now that the parliament has rejected PM Fayez al-Sarrajs government, the situation is again likely to deteriorate, putting off Libyas return to the international energy stage yet again.

This is the latest chapter in Libyas long and convoluted path to the restoration of orderand oilafter the civil war that followed the deposition of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Wide support for the GNA is seen as essential for the restoration of the peace, but those hopes were dashed on Monday when the internationally recognized official legislative body of the war-torn African nation, the House of Representatives (or Council of Representatives), refused to recognize the GNA.

The legislators then gave Sarraj ten days to come up with a new selection of ministers.

Clashes between the armed forces of each government have been frequentfocused of course on oil. Most recently, the Petroleum Facilities Guard, affiliated with the GNA, and the Libyan National Army, serving the eastern government, reached an agreement to open the Zueitina terminal and restart exports, but it seems that agreement may be a temporary one.

The Monday vote was the first in six months, since it was the first time a quorum was achieved. Of the 101 MPs present, 61 voted against the government, and 39 abstained. At the last vote in February, 100 of the 198 MPs voted in favor of the GNA, but said they were intimidated into doing it. The parliament also urged Sarraj to select no more than 8-12 potential ministers, after in February he presented 18 names.

Sarrajs government has been in operation since March, when Serraj arrived in Tripoli. Until recently, the government worked from a naval base in the city, succeeding in winning the support of the central bank and the National Oil Corporation, or rather, its western arm, because the state-owned oil company also split into two. The two arms have now agreed to unite for the common good, but it remains to be seen whether the country will have a legitimate government anytime soon.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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After the 2012 election, when the Republican party lost the popular vote for the fifth time in the previous six elections, GOP elders and intellectuals conducted an "autopsy." You can read the full report here; the recommendations range from expanding the GOP message beyond its talk-radio bubble base to doing significant outreach to minority communities and investing heavily in field staff.

As it happens, this blueprint for changing the party's electoral fortunes reads like a negative image of the Donald Trump campaign. Where the post-mortem suggests Republicans zig right, Trump has zagged left.

This makes sense: Trump and Trumpism emerged not from strong state parties or coalitions of established conservative interest groups, but rather from the fever-swamps of birtherism and white racial anxiety. In 2012, he funded an investigation into whether Barack Obama was a U.S. citizen. In the speech announcing his campaign, he slandered Hispanic immigrants. He has repeatedly echoed the sentiment white male Republican voters express that this country is "losing" because white men no longer have their hands on the levers of power.

This past week, though, brought a different Donald Trump. In a visit to Wisconsin, Trump actually seemed to borrow a page from that GOP report by reaching out to African-American voters. He spoke after the unrest in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood, protests which propelled Milwaukee's long-standing racial strife to the front pages of newspapers everywhere. If Trump were going to make a play for African-American votes, this was the time and almost the place to do it.

I say almost because Trump spoke from West Bend, a city with fewer than one percent black residents and in the heart of the WOW counties (Washington, Ozaukee and Waukesha) which are, collectively, some of the whitest and most reliably Republican areas in the entire country.

But worse than his choice of venue was the clumsy and tone-deaf way Trump made his appeal. In many ways, what Trump said in West Bend and in other speeches on race last week was exactly the same failed appeal that suburban white legislators and pundits have made about Milwaukee for as long as I've lived here, probably longer. You keep electing Democrats, they say, and you get nothing in return. "What have you got to lose?" Trump literally asked of black voters, by trying Republicans for a change?

Democrats have given African Americans "no health care, no education, no anything," according to Trump  and according to countless white Republicans around the country trying to make inroads with black voters.

I don't understand it, but there is a genuine belief across the Republican Party in the truth of Trump's argument here, that Democratic lawmakers are bad for African-American communities and everything would be great for them if they would just vote for the GOP. You hear it from talk radio, from the comments sections of any article at all about race, from suburban legislators who think they know what's best for city residents. Black voters, they think, are living with a "plantation mentality" that keeps them in the thrall of Democrats who do nothing for the black community.

Take Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke (please!). He argued exactly that in an opinion piece for Fox News just weeks before the Sherman Park uprising. "Democrats are continuing their 50-year assault on the black community," he wrote, arguing that African-Americans are raising "their children on the Democrat plantation of welfare, dependency and animosity toward their neighbor."

Though Clarke is only able to win election in Milwaukee County by running as a Democrat, he concludes, "Its time for Black America to divide itself from" the Democratic Party.

Clarke is a perfect example of everything the post-2012 autopsy diagnosed as being wrong with the Republican Party. As Eugene Kane points out in his own response to the protests in Sherman Park, Clarke "has built a career as a right-wing pundit (and) has shown no inclination to work with city police or residents to deal with the deteriorating relationship between law enforcement and those who feel intimidated by police shooting suspects before arresting them."

Besides the whole section about more authentic outreach to minorities, youth and women (a section that pointedly leaves out the "plantation" line), the GOP's self-diagnosis noted that the party has "become expert in how to provide ideological reinforcement to like-minded people." That's the role Clarke plays on Fox News and even at the Republican National Convention in July. That's the role of Fox News in general, and of talk radio, the Wall Street Journal opinion pages and right-wing web sites like Breitbart News, whose CEO Stephen Bannon has just taken over the Trump campaign.

Bannon's hiring completes the circle: Trump's rise was impossible without the kind of racism, slander and conspiracy theorizing for which Breitbart became famous. (Remember Shirley Sherrod? Tip of the iceberg!) Now his campaign is literally being run from that extreme end of the Republican Party.

But is Trump right? When he is telling the nearly all-white crowds at his speeches and rallies that Democrats are bad for African-Americans, that black voters have nothing to lose by voting Trump in November, does he have a case? Goodness, no. I mean, sure, if you go back in time to the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln  a Republican  freed the slaves. Republicans supported Reconstruction against southern Democrats who opposed lifting those freed slaves out of poverty and into positions of political power.

Since then, of course, there has been a complete political re-alignment. The last 60 years has shown that Republicans, now, are the ones about whom African American voters should be concerned. Look at the Trump campaign itself. His rallies often feature chants of "All Lives Matter," the ignorant, if not racist, rejoinder to the Black Lives Matter movement. At Trump's West Bend speech, someone was selling Confederate flags outside, also a regular occurrence. Dark-skinned people are also commonly escorted from Trump events even when they are, in fact, Trump supporters.

And though support from unapologetic white supremacists does not make Donald Trump one, it should really make him reconsider what he's doing and saying to attract them so openly.

Hang on there, Jay, you're saying, Trump is an outlier. When you've lost Charlie Sykes and Jennifer Rubin  yes, that Jennifer Rubin  you're not really a mainstream Republican anymore. Well, mainstream Republicans aren't much better.

We can start with voting rights. Though appeals courts have halted, at least temporarily, some of the most extreme restrictions on voting, the record is pretty clear that Republicans don't want black voters to vote. We've seen it here in Wisconsin, where lawmakers allegedly pushed voting restrictions specifically to disenfranchise African-Americans. Even more explicit were Republicans in North Carolina, who asked for data on voting patterns and then changed the law to eliminate as many black votes as possible.

We can also talk about health care. Republican governors, including our own, have generally refused the Obamacare expansion of Medicaid. That has left many poor African-Americans (and other poor adults, too) without access to health coverage and, undoubtedly, suffering unnecessary adverse health outcomes like illness or death.

We can move on to criminal justice reform. While the anti-Hillary Clinton left liked to blame her and her husband for the fact that a disproportionate share of African-American men are in jail, the real blame lies in state legislators who pushed hard for "three strikes" laws and "truth in sentencing." These were overwhelmingly Republican, though prior to Trump's ascent, there was a sense even among the GOP that they were wrong on that. Trump is, of course, "the law and order candidate."

We can probably skip education; unless this is your first time reading my column, you have undoubtedly seen me document repeatedly the way Republicans have destroyed Milwaukee's public schools.

But we can go directly to the core of Trump's new appeal: economics. Trump has flat-out lied in his recent speeches, telling African-American voters that Clinton supports "open borders" and "giving our jobs away to other countries" (that's one way he's lost Jennifer Rubin, by lying like that on issues like this).

In reality, some of the smartest commentary on the recent unrest in Milwaukee has focused on the way Republican policies over the last 50 years have left this city segregated and its black community economically distressed. For example, former Milwaukeean and current Boston Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson wrote about how Milwaukee is surrounded by "an invisible racial cage," a cage formed when Republican lawmakers at the state and suburban level refused to connect the city's black residents with suburban jobs through transit options. This is a painful irony, considering the way Milwaukee's black community was systematically dismantled to build the freeways that connect the city to those suburbs in the WOW counties.

Look, I don't know if Trump is serious or not about really appealing to minority voters. It's at least as likely that Trump is making this pitch to insulate himself from the kind of criticisms that followed Mitt Romney's loss in 2012. Trump is a horrible person and should not be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office, but he is not stupid. He knows he's losing, and he or someone in his organization may feel he ought to take at least a cursory swing at the list of strategies recommended in that autopsy after Romney's loss.

But whether or not the party's current standard-bearer is a true believer, it's still just flatly false that Republican leadership would be better for African-Americans. The GOP has had its chance to help black voters, and they have chosen not to do so. Indeed, the history of the last half-century is Republicans pushing one strategy after another to damage and destroy black communities.
After a kidney transplant this summer Judge Derek Mosley, who I have no hesitation describing as a beloved-by-all Milwaukeean, hopes to be back at work next week.

But when he talks about his usual first-day-of-school greeting of students at Milwaukee Public Schools' Siefert Elementary, 1547 N. 14th St., theres no maybe.

"We've been doing this for several years now, and it's sort of taken on a life of its own," says Mosley, of the group of Milwaukee men that line up at the entrance to the school on the first day of school to welcome kids back to the classroom.

"Several years ago, myself and Dannette Justus, who now works at Siefert, were having a discussion about how we could expose the students to more positive role models. Kids tend to emulate the people they see the most, so our idea was to completely inundate them with as many positive people as possible."

That led to a career day, with lawyers, doctors, veterinarians, news anchors, police officers, firefighters, plumbers, accountants, politicians and others, Mosley recalls.

"We had every occupation you could imagine. We split everyone up and sent them from classroom to classroom, talking about their professions, education needed to get there, perks, and fielding questions from the students. The students loved it. We then built on the idea by doing read-ins with the same occupations. Each person would bring a book and read to the students and talk about their profession.

"We then decided to start doing this on every first day of school. It's now become first day of school, several career days during the year and now the last day of school to stress reading over the summer.

Mosley wrote a Facebook post this week urging area men to join him and his fellow volunteers next Thursday at Siefert: "This has become a tradition. Your high fives, handshakes, cheers, pats on the back and words of encouragement are so welcoming for students, parents and staff. It really does take a village. Now, more than ever, our young people need you. They need to see positivity, encouragement and role models!"

Mosley says that since Siefert started doing this, the word has spread and other schools have welcomed volunteers to do the same thing at their front doors on the first day. Its becoming so popular that MPS even has a web page where you can (and should) sign up to welcome folks back to school on Thursday, Sept. 1.

On the web page, MPS also urges volunteers to sign on for the morning:

"Volunteers should bring their smiles and be ready to give dozens of high fives and warm wishes to students and families for the new school year. Service will be on playgrounds and hallways in the hour preceding the first bell and a few minutes after. This is a great opportunity to show your support for the hard work that goes on all year in Milwaukee Public Schools."

Mosley says that volunteers should arrive at Siefert by 7:20 a.m., because students begin lining up to enter the building at 7:30.

"Please wear whatever attire you wear to work," he urges, "so these young people can see the various professions represented in this city."

He says there are benefits for him and the other volunteers  and for the kids, of course.

"I've had parents come up to me and say that their son or daughter now wants to be a lawyer or a judge because they met me," he says. "That is why I do it. What do the kids get out of it? In court I ask every kid what is it they want to do for a living. Kids say doctor, lawyer, etc., but have no idea what it takes to do any of it. These events show them what it takes and shows them that there are people out there that look like them doing great things. If they can do it, I can do it."

You can join Mosley at Siefert, or you can help spread the love at other MPS schools. If youre looking to help out at another school, visit the link above, select the school and fill out the form.


Afghan scene- Quite true to life, sad to say

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China is seeking accommodation with the Afghan Taliban!

For near-term and long-term goals.

A four-member Taliban delegation led by Mohammed Abbas Stanekzai, head of the Taliban political office in Doha, went to Beijing in early July (2016) and held talks on the status of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) mechanism of which China is a member.

There is no official word on what was discussed. Officially, the Chinese refrain is that Beijing maintains contact with all parties related to the peace talks in Afghanistan. Pakistan daily, Express Tribune, reported on 31 July 2016 that apart from holding talks with Chinese officials, the Taliban delegation also met with officials from US and other countries in Beijing.

The Taliban made many such visits to China for meetings with the Chinese top brass. At the end of 2014, Taliban sent a secret delegation in Beijing to meet several senior officials. In May 2015, China organized a meeting between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Urumqi, the capital of restive Xinjiang province in Western China.

China has been supplying arms and weapons to the Taliban under an end-1998 agreement. In return, the Taliban promised not to "provide any training to Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang province and that it will assist the Chinese authorities maintain places of worship and madrassas in China".

Beijing works on the premise that radicalism in the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt is a threat to security in Xinjiang. It has, therefore, tried to block the access to weapons and training to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which could be provided by the Taliban or other radical forces operating in Pakistan.

In meetings in December 2000 in Kandahar, the then-Taliban's leader Mohammed Omar Lu Shulin assured China's ambassador to Pakistan that the Taliban would not "allow any group to use its territory to conduct any such operations against China". In exchange, Omar sought formal political recognition and protection from UN sanctions from China. This process, however, did not go very far as China had doubts about the Taliban, and Beijing eventually broke ties.

China-Taliban re-engagement began after the US invasion of Kabul in 2003. Since then, China increased its economic commitment in Afghanistan and sought to play the role of a mediator between Kabul and Taliban.

Essentially, the Chinese were acting on behalf of Pakistan. The all-weather friend bluntly told the Chinese that for peace in Xinjiang they would have to work towards getting the Taliban to the negotiating table in Kabul.

For years, Pakistan had permitted the ETIM to have a base and shelter in Mir Ali in North Waziristan. And so, while Beijing continued to put pressure on Islamabad to act against ETIM elements in Waziristan, Pakistan did a reverse goal by asking Beijing to get involved in the Taliban talks.

Chinese intervention in Afghanistan is a natural outcome of its predilections of being a world power. That apart Beijing was keen to work with its South Asian ally as a counter to the US in the Afghan theatre.

Pakistan actually introduced China to the Taliban with the objective of countering American moves in the region. Subsequently, it became a tool in their diplomatic maneuver to keep all sides balanced in Afghanistan.

Toward this end, China provided Afghanistan with aid and assistance totalling US $ 250 million and trained thousands of professionals. In 2014, it promised US $ 330 million over next three years.

For China, Afghanistan morphed into a route for bilateral diplomacy with Pakistan as well as multilateral diplomacy at forums like Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

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Have they gone too far this time? Yes, they have. They just don't know it yet. The 99% are now fully aware that they don't have a living wage because 600 guys stole all of the money on the planet; that they can't afford life-saving drugs because Big Pharma wants to rake in 3000% profits on every pill; that their kids are sick because their parents can't tell if they are feeding them spinach or weed killer; that their votes are thrown in the garbage unless they affirm the corrupt candidates chosen by sold-out political parties; that their jobs are never coming back and their kids can never afford a college degree. How long before these gross inequities reach the boiling point. Not long.

Bernie Sanders offered the country the peaceful revolution that JFK warned us was necessary - to prevent the violent revolution that would otherwise become inevitable. The people chose that peaceful revolution. The billionaires controlling the globe treat the governed with contempt and spit on our choices. This time it may be at their peril. The golden 600 imagine that they can hide out in the Swiss Alps or on Grand Cayman behind gated fences, protected by armed guards. One of two things will happen. They will become prisoners in their palaces, or the mobs will storm the gates. This time they won't burn their own streets, they will burn their streets. At least the huddled masses are figuring out where to target their anger.

Americans as a whole do not know how to effectively demand their rights from a corrupt and abusive government. Watch France. Italy. Norway. Iceland. Even England. Those are people who understand their power and know how to use it. Those are people who know that a government cannot function without the consent of its people. They band together and scream, "No Sale". Yes, they band together. They don't allow their political or cultural or religious differences to create fatal divisions and make adversaries of their neighbors. At least not when they see society bludgeoned wholesale. They band together as "the people". That is why Jeremy Corbyn got elected and Bernie Sanders did not. The Brits understood their power.

If you are not aware that Sanders won the Democratic nomination and that it was stolen from him by a diabolical coalition, the evidence is here. There are a number of lawsuits in process attempting to de-certify the Democratic primaries in affected states, but lawsuits take time. Thousands of Sanders delegates did in fact take to the streets, but the television cameras were not permitted to film the banners that read "election fraud" inside the hall or the protests outside. We expected that. There should have been more of us and we should have yelled louder. It will take more of us - a lot more of us.

Given the pathetic choice of Clinton or Trump, the only possible vote is "none of the above". With either candidate we risk annihilation from nuclear war. At this moment there are other choices - notably an eminently sane, wise, and sober woman with practical, well-reasoned, approaches to the morass of problems we face as a nation and as a world. She is Dr. Jill Stein, presidential candidate for the Green Party. She is currently at 1% in the polls and needs 15% to qualify for debate participation. We have a long way to go in a few weeks to introduce her to a public that gets its news from Fox and CNN. In 2016 she is the last and only hope for a dying republic. As Dr. Stein often says, "look where voting for the lesser evil got us". Exactly.

Three days after the convention I changed my registration from Democratic to Green. A lifelong D, I didn't vacillate even a little. They crossed a line. Any reader who would like to send a message to the party of war, greed, and corporate dictatorship is welcome to join me. If you care to notify the DNC of your defection to the Green Party, there is a website for that here. At the least we can make it harder for them to rig the electronic voting machines in November to install War Queen (it's-my-turn!!!) Hillary. Here are some resources:

Green Party - www.gp.org/

Libertarian Party - www.lp.org/

Socialist Party - socialistparty-usa.net/

** (If you want to register as an Independent, do not get confused and register with the "American Independent Party" - According to its platform, the AIP is "God-inspired, anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion and dedicated to "freedom from liberalism."). Just register as an "Independent".

- "Why We Must Dump the Democrats"

click here

- The Sanders Movement Goes Green click here

- After Bernie Sanders it's time to Ditch the Democrats - the West End News thewestendnews.com/bernie-sanders-time-ditch-democrats/

- Petition : Goodbye DNC www.ipetitions.com/petition/goodbye-dnc

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There's a discussion going on about opening the presidential debates to third party candidates. Currently, there are several efforts to open the presidential debates to third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. The Commission on Presidential Debates has set an arbitrary 15% polling level requirement for candidates to be included. This is a pathological symptom of the take-over of the democratic process by the corporate owned mainstream media. The truth is, the current presidential debate system is a fraud in many ways.

Here's some background:

Roots action has its, Roots Action petition calling for opening up the debates, which Jeff Cohen has written about in his article,

" In 1988, with the CPD taking control of the debates on behalf of the two major parties, the League of Women Voters announced its withdrawal from any debate sponsorship "because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public."

Cohen goes on to say,

"Public pressure and petitioning are needed to get the TV networks to recognize that they are at a crossroads regarding the upcoming debates: Will they act journalistically and independently in the interests of democracy -- or will they continue to be dictated to by a commission whose unabashed mission since 1987 has been to protect a two-party duopoly?"

And Cohen says,

"An obvious option presents itself to the networks: Tell the CPD and major-party campaigns that they no longer control the debate process and that the networks intend to present debates -- controlled by journalists -- that include all four candidates: Clinton, Trump, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. If Trump or Clinton balk, let them know you're happy to leave their podium empty."

Popular Resistance has a Campaign for Open Debates which bases debate inclusion on candidates being on the ballot in enough states to be able, theoretically, to win 270 electoral votes.

Patrick Walker, co-founder of Revolt Against Plutocracy says, "What I like about the Popular Resistance petition is that it makes being on the ballot in enough states to win the Electoral College the criterion for debate inclusion, thereby avoiding fickle (and manipulable) polling results. What I like about the Roots Action petition is that it rejects appealing to the Commission on Presidential Debates, a quixotic task for starters but one that grants legitimacy to a fraudulent institution that deserves none. Delegitimizing the CPD strikes me as a worthy revolutionary achievement in its own right, one well suited to this anti-establishment election and real political revolution."

Kevin Zeese, co-director, with Margaret Flowers, of Popular Resistance, differentiated their campaign from the Rootsaction and Change.org petitions, saying,

"The Popular Resistance Campaign for Open Debates is not relying on a petition but on street-action, protest and direct action targeted at the commission, its sponsors, media and venues."

There's also a Change.org petition, which calls for the Presidential Debate Commission to open up the debate to Johnson and Stein if they qualify on enough state ballots to theoretically win 270 electoral votes.

* * *

I love the idea of basing inclusion in debates on getting on enough ballots to potentially win 270 electoral votes. That bases the decision on candidates having the resources to build a successful campaign organization. That involves a mix of raising money and building a team of motivated supporters.

The sham model of basing inclusion in debates on polling is exposed as a fraud by the fact that the specified polling organizations the results are to be based upon are not even including the candidates in the polls.

But it's worse than that. In 2006 OpEdNews.com had a rare opportunity to work with a polling organization (Zogby) to create several polls, at a tiny fraction of the normal cost. Here's a link to the series of 18 articles that came out of those polls. It was an amazing learning experience. Polls are created, for pay, or based on funding (university polls) from media organizations. Those organizations have powerful influence on what goes into the polls-- who is polled, what the questions are, how the people polled are profiled. I've seen so many polls that are rigged by the way the questions are asked or how the targeted poll respondents are chosen.

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Reprinted from RT

The exoneration of a man accused of the worst of crimes, genocide, made no headlines. Neither the BBC nor CNN covered it. The Guardian allowed a brief commentary. Such a rare official admission was buried or suppressed, understandably. It would explain too much about how the rulers of the world rule.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague has quietly cleared the late Serbian president, Slobodan Milosevic, of war crimes committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the massacre at Srebrenica.

Far from conspiring with the convicted Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Milosevic actually "condemned ethnic cleansing," opposed Karadzic and tried to stop the war that dismembered Yugoslavia. Buried near the end of a 2,590-page judgement on Karadzic last February, this truth further demolishes the propaganda that justified Nato's illegal onslaught on Serbia in 1999.

Milosevic died of a heart attack in 2006, alone in his cell in The Hague, during what amounted to a bogus trial by an American-invented "international tribunal." Denied heart surgery that might have saved his life, his condition worsened and was monitored and kept secret by US officials, as WikiLeaks has since revealed.

Milosevic was the victim of war propaganda that today runs like a torrent across our screens and newspapers and beckons great danger for us all. He was the prototype demon, vilified by the western media as the "butcher of the Balkans" who was responsible for "genocide," especially in the secessionist Yugoslav province of Kosovo. Prime Minister Tony Blair said so, invoked the Holocaust and demanded action against "this new Hitler."

David Scheffer, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes [sic], declared that as many as "225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59" may have been murdered by Milocevic's forces.

This was the justification for Nato's bombing, led by Bill Clinton and Blair, that killed hundreds of civilians in hospitals, schools, churches, parks and television studios and destroyed Serbia's economic infrastructure. It was blatantly ideological; at a notorious "peace conference" in Rambouillet in France, Milosevic was confronted by Madeleine Albright, the US secretary of state, who was to achieve infamy with her remark that the deaths of half a million Iraqi children were "worth it."

Albright delivered an "offer" to Milosevic that no national leader could accept. Unless he agreed to the foreign military occupation of his country, with the occupying forces "outside the legal process," and to the imposition of a neo-liberal "free market," Serbia would be bombed. This was contained in an "Appendix B," which the media failed to read or suppressed. The aim was to crush Europe's last independent "socialist" state.

Once Nato began bombing, there was a stampede of Kosovar refugees "fleeing a holocaust." When it was over, international police teams descended on Kosovo to exhume the victims. The FBI failed to find a single mass grave and went home. The Spanish forensic team did the same, its leader angrily denouncing "a semantic pirouette by the war propaganda machines." The final count of the dead in Kosovo was 2,788. This included combatants on both sides and Serbs and Roma murdered by the pro-Nato Kosovo Liberation Front. There was no genocide. The Nato attack was both a fraud and a war crime.

All but a fraction of America's vaunted "precision guided" missiles hit not military but civilian targets, including the news studios of Radio Television Serbia in Belgrade. Sixteen people were killed, including cameramen, producers and a make-up artist. Blair described the dead, profanely, as part of Serbia's "command and control."

In 2008, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte, revealed that she had been pressured not to investigate Nato's crimes.

This was the model for Washington's subsequent invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and, by stealth, Syria. All qualify as "paramount crimes" under the Nuremberg standard; all depended on media propaganda. While tabloid journalism played its traditional part, it was serious, credible, often liberal journalism that was the most effective -- the evangelical promotion of Blair and his wars by the Guardian, the incessant lies about Saddam Hussein's non-existent weapons of mass destruction in the Observer and the New York Times, and the unerring drumbeat of government propaganda by the BBC in the silence of its omissions.

At the height of the bombing, the BBC's Kirsty Wark interviewed General Wesley Clark, the Nato commander. The Serbian city of Nis had just been sprayed with American cluster bombs, killing women, old people and children in an open market and a hospital. Wark asked not a single question about this, or about any other civilian deaths.

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The Clinton exploitation of Haiti will eventually go up in flames, and when the smoke settles an emotional and fiscal disaster of enormous proportions will finally be visible to the world. It will be difficult to sift through the ashes to find truth, but the truth is there. Follow the money, follow the pandering, follow the emails, and follow the favors traded for gold.

Another email linked to Hillary Clinton's pay-for play scandal involving State Department favors for the Clinton Foundation has surfaced, but it is not one of Clinton's famously deleted emails. A confidential email to possible capital investors for a $26.5M fully operational open-pit gold processing facility in Haiti says it all.

"Haiti is geographically located in a 'safe zone', within the sphere of U.S. influence. This sphere of influence included Anthony Rodham, brother of the then-Secretary of State. Anthony (Tony) Rodham served on VCS Mining's Advisory Committee, "providing the company with strategic insight and exposure to key high-level business and government relationships," according to a confidential document provided by a source.

VCS incorporated in 2010 in Delaware, a standard practice for companies looking for favorable tax breaks. and it "owns and operates gold, copper, silver, rare earth, nickel and platinum properties." This was the same year as the 7.0 Haiti earthquake.

The Washington Post began uncovering these connections in March of 2015, but did not have access to the leaked email and one document in particular that provide proof of Clinton influence peddling. A June 2014 confidential brochure for the mining company, "VCS Mining Information Memorandum," as well as a 2015 email from the Chairman/CEO of VCS to investors go a long way toward uncovering yet another scheme that benefits Hillary Clinton's family and the Clinton Foundation.

Hillary Clinton's brother, Anthony (Tony) Rodham was a prominent player in the mining scheme, according to corporate VCS documents. Rodham has no background in mining, no college degree, and his only qualification to be intimately involved in a mining venture in Haiti was as the brother of Hillary Clinton and the brother-in-law of the Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton. Rodham joined the advisory board of VCS Mining in October 2013 and the 2014 VCS memorandum touts his influential connections to the Clinton's "inner circles" and "power bases" within the beltway.



Leaked VCS Document

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As the brother of the former 1st (sic) Lady and Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the brother-in-law of President Bill Clinton, Anthony is a well-respected American public figure. For years a part of Bill & Hillary Clinton's "inner circle", Mr. Rodham has worked side by side in the highest levels of U.S. politics since 1974. His connections with big business, his access to international influencers, and his connection to the power- base inside Washington (DC) serves Mr. Rodham's clients well.



Screenshot

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The memorandum also explains where excess power generated by the internationally- funded Caracol Industrial plant could go, and it was not to Haitian homes as promised by USAID and the Clinton Foundation. On page 17, VCS Mining says "2.5MW of power will be supplied to VCS by the Power Plant at USAID's Caracol Industrial Park, which has upwards of 50% excess generating capacity."

This is a complicated story fraught with intricate detail and begins with the fraudulent installation of a crooked Haitian president, a Korean trade deal, an industrial park facilitated by the Clinton Foundation, donations from the owners of the clothing behemoth, Gap, Inc., and donations to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign from a Saipan clothing magnate with ties to the Abramoff lobbying click here scandal. The money trail and pay-for-play does not end with the transfer of the all-but-impossible-to obtain Morne Bossa gold mining permit to VCS.

The story ends in more pain, suffering, and abuse for the Haitian people as women are sexually harassed and verbally abused by Korean managers in the sweatshops of Caracol, while a former Gap Inc. executive is at the helm of USAID garment industry agreements with Haiti. If the Clinton connections to Wall Street leave Americans yawning, the systematic exploitation of Haitian workers with a wink and a nod from the Clinton Foundation should at the very least create outrage. But then again, this is Haiti, and Haitian lives do not seem to matter.

It would be scandal enough if Tony Rodham and VCS benefitted from a gold mine permit in Haiti, but the potential electrical power lines for that gold mine lead straight to one of the biggest lies to come out of Haitian "reconstruction." Think of the Clinton Foundation as covert commodities trader, whether it involves strategic minerals, access for the garment industry, special trade deals, or the guarantee that Haiti will always be held within the "sphere of influence" of the United States.

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He was born in the late 1800's, and he was raised in a little village just outside of Licata, Sicily.

By the time he was 18, the young man was accepted into the University of Tunis. Tunisia was a far more scholastically advanced place than the Sicily of the early 1900s. Upon graduating, he decided to do what many young Italians chose to do, and he immigrated to the United States.

He met and married a pretty young Neapolitan girl in New York City, and they settled down to raise a family. The couple could only bear one child, a son, in 1915.

Meanwhile, the husband could not get his Tunisian university degree to count for anything in the US, so he found whatever work he could. They even saved and opened a small neighborhood candy store on Avenue "S" in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.

The depression hit, and the business failed. Their son, a gifted student, had just been accepted at Brooklyn College, a very difficult school to get into at that time. By the end of his second semester, as the depression worsened, he had to drop out and seek employment to help the family. They all worked: mother in a factory, the son as a messenger and dad secured a skilled job as a machinist. Yet, the pay was low for all concerned, and many nights they would eat broccoli rabe sandwiches for dinner.

The 1930s were a rough time for all who labored... Or sought work. The ranks of the unemployed were so great that companies offered wages as low as possible to prospective employees. The smell of strife filled the factories and warehouses and offices throughout New York City.



Depression

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Strikes were as common as a rain shower. Many picket lines became battlegrounds as violent as the battle charges of WW1. The police and the company hired thugs took few prisoners... And the strikers gave back as good as they got. Tough times.

The Sicilian went out on strike with his co-workers, and he battled on those picket lines with his powerfully built body. One day, during a vicious exchange with the police and hired goons, the Sicilian was arrested for assault. He called home to his wife: "I need to make bail!"

She didn't have the money in their savings drawer to get him out. So, she and her son went throughout the neighborhood begging for any sort of handout to get her husband, the only man she ever loved, back home to her. Finally, after a day of humbling and humiliating pleas, she raised the money. Her husband was free... For now.

When he returned to his job at the machine shop, the foreman told him the bad news: You're fired, and you will never work in this trade again. You're blacklisted!

By the turn of the new decade, the Sicilian had spent three years doing odd jobs for lousy per diem pay. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to get on Home Relief (welfare) and the waiting list was very long. His wife and son were working full time to keep them in their apartment. He became more and more despondent each day.

On Dec. 1, 1940, bitter cold and cloudy, the wife had just returned home from a long shift of factory work. She was tired, and her legs were rubbery from standing for 10 hours. She needed a nice warm bath to take the chill out of her, and perhaps cheer up her tired face.

As she opened the bathroom door, she could sense something was not right. The shower curtains were pushed outside of the tub. When she walked closer, she saw what no human being should have to see.

The gun had fallen outside the tub. He had made sure that no blood would spill onto the bathroom floor. He was always so tidy that way. My grandfather, Pietro Farruggio, was dead!
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

These days, we're in what seems like an election campaign of one. It's Trump vs. Trump. Does Hillary even exist? There's conflicting evidence on that. If Trump loses, I suspect we'll all be able to say that never has a candidate trounced himself quite so efficiently. All his opponent evidently has to do is not give press conferences, stay out of the spotlight, and wait for Trump to tromp Trump.

At the moment, his polling figures are looking increasingly dismal and he's shaken up his campaign team (yet again!) -- the Ukrainians having lost out to Breitbart News and American "nationalism." Still, The Donald rumbles on. He's a figure the usual journalistic crew is essentially incapable of covering. For that, you need a coterie of cartoonists and, of course, New Yorker satirist Andy Borowitz.

Only recently, for instance, The Donald gave a speech in which he suggested that a new Cold-War-style "ideological screening test" for immigrants be developed to keep... well, you know whom out. He's referred to the process he imagines putting in place as "extreme vetting." The goal, he says, is to ban those "who support bigotry and hatred" (of whom he perhaps feels we already have our fill without the aid of immigrants) and, above all, those "who believe that Sharia law should supplant American law." He hasn't yet suggested just what that screening test might be like, but TomDispatch has a few obvious suggestions.

The first question for any prospective immigrant would surely have to be: "Do you belong to ISIS?" The answer to that one will obviously eliminate many of the most dangerous potential infiltrators. You'd then follow up with the surefire extreme-vetting question: "Do you believe that Sharia law should be imposed on the United States?" And if that doesn't eliminate the rest of the potential Islamic terrorists, you'd finish off the process with a trick question. Best suggestion at present: "Death to America: Yea or Nay?"

Those who pass will obviously be ready to receive their visas and, as The Donald so movingly puts it, "embrace a tolerant American society."

Let me just add that Trump supporters shouldn't feel complete despair if, in the course of this election campaign, The Donald goes down in electoral flames. As TomDispatch regular Todd Miller suggests in his latest report from the U.S.-Mexican border, when Hillary Clinton emerges from the shadows to take the oath of office, she will find herself presiding over far more Trumpian American borderlands than many of us might assume. And for that we'll have to offer thanks not only to the inspiration of Trump but to the actions of two other figures on the American political landscape: Bill and Hillary Clinton. Tom

No Need to Build The Donald's Wall, It's Built

Trump's America Already Exists on the Border

By Todd Miller At the federal courthouse, Ignacio Sarabia asks the magistrate judge, Jacqueline Rateau, if he can explain why he crossed the international boundary between the two countries without authorization. He has already pleaded guilty to the federal misdemeanor commonly known as "illegal entry" and is about to receive a prison sentence. On either side of him are eight men in the same predicament, all still sunburned, all in the same ripped, soiled clothes they were wearing when arrested in the Arizona desert by agents of the U.S. Border Patrol. Once again, the zero tolerance border enforcement program known as Operation Streamline has unfolded just as it always does here in Tucson, Arizona. Close to 60 people have already approached the judge in groups of seven or eight, their heads bowed submissively, their bodies weighed down by shackles and chains around wrists, waists, and ankles. The judge has handed out the requisite prison sentences in quick succession -- 180 days, 60 days, 90 days, 30 days. On and on it goes, day-in, day-out. Like so many meals served in fast-food restaurants, 750,000 prison sentences of this sort have been handed down since Operation Streamline was launched in 2005. This mass prosecution of undocumented border crossers has become so much the norm that one report concluded it is now a "driving force in mass incarceration" in the United States. Yet it is but a single program among many overseen by the massive U.S. border enforcement and incarceration regime that has developed during the last two decades, particularly in the post-9/11 era. Sarabia takes a half-step forward. "My infant is four months old," he tells the judge in Spanish. The baby was, he assures her, born with a heart condition and is a U.S. citizen. They have no option but to operate. This is the reason, he says, that "I'm here before you." He pauses. "I want to be with my child, who is in the United States." It's clear that Sarabia would like to gesture emphatically as he speaks, but that's difficult, thanks to the shackles that constrain him. Rateau fills her coffee cup as she waits for his comments to be translated into English. Earlier in April 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, still in the heat of his primary campaign, stated once again that he would build a massive concrete border wall towering 30 (or, depending on the moment, 55) feet high along the 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexican border. He would, he insisted, force Mexico to pay for the $8 billion to $10 billion barrier. Repeatedly throwing such red meat into the gaping jaws of nativism, he has over these last months also announced that he would create a major "deportation force," repeatedly sworn that he would ban Muslims from entering the country (a position that he regularly revises), and most recently, that he would institute an "extreme vetting" process for foreign nationals arriving in the United States. In June 2015, when he rode a Trump Tower escalator into the presidential campaign, among his initial promises was the building of a "great" and "beautiful" wall on the border. ("And no one builds walls better than me, believe me. I will do it very inexpensively. I will have Mexico pay for that wall.") As he pulled that promise out of a hat with a magician's flair, the actual history of the border disappeared. From then on in Election 2016, there was just empty desert and Donald Trump.

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Reprinted from Reader Supported News

Whose foreign policy would pose a greater threat -- Hillary Clinton's or Donald Trump's? Few questions carry more weight. None put into sharper focus Clinton's history as the have-gun, will-travel paladin of American empire. But Trump has his own urge for Washington to be the world's bully boy. If he became president -- may the gods forfend -- he has given fair warning that he intends to wage a vigorous nationalistic and race-based war on multiple fronts, an all-out clash of civilizations that could become even more dangerous than anything from Hillary and her mixed flock of liberal and neo-con hawks.

Failing a divine double-bolt of lightning, Trump or much more likely Clinton will be America's next president. Both candidates suck, but differently. An unexpectedly helpful way to see this is by considering the way they each shade the truth.

Clinton is a frequent fabricator, often fibbing gratuitously. One glaring example came on Fox News Sunday at the end of July, in an interview about her private email server. FBI Director James Comey called her answers "truthful," she said. He did not. He said he had no evidence she had lied to the FBI, a far cry from saying that she had told the truth either to the bureau or to the American people. For her verbal sleight of hand, the Washington Post awarded Clinton Four Pinocchios.

A different example of Clinton's truth-shading is her handling of the emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that WikiLeaks published in July. Did she ever deal with the substantive issue of how party chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her apparatchiks had worked to undermine the campaigns of both Bernie Sanders and Debbie's Congressional primary opponent Tim Canova? Don't be silly. Clinton never faced the substance of the scandal. She chose instead to blame the Russians for hacking the DNC and then leaking the emails.

So far, neither Clinton, nor the Obama administration, nor the mass media, nor the usual gaggle of conspiracy quacks left and right have provided any compelling evidence. None of them can even prove that the emails WikiLeaks published came from hackers. They could as easily have come from an inside whistleblower, possibly the 27-year-old Seth Rich, the DNC staffer who was shot and killed in Washington D.C. in the early morning hours of July 10.

The mystery remains. WikiLeaks's leader Julian Assange suggested on Dutch television, but would not confirm, that Rich might have been the source of the emails. Assange added to the speculation by offering a $20K reward for information leading to conviction for Rich's murder.

Why, then, does Clinton blame the Russians? In part, to tar Trump as at least an unwitting agent of Vladimir Putin, a refrain echoed by her amen corner in the mainstream media and think tanks. But this goes deeper than just an election ploy. Hillary Clinton's lack of candor on the emails and her all-too-easy Russia-baiting should alert us to look again at the underlying attitudes that have shaped her foreign policy thinking.

No matter how many George W. Bush-era neo-cons endorse Clinton against the rogue elephant Trump, she draws on her party's much older tradition of liberal imperialism, which reaches back to President Woodrow Wilson. Keep in mind that Wilson intervened militarily against the Russian revolution at a time when most Republicans were still hardcore isolationists. To this interventionist impulse, Clinton has added a longtime commitment to military solutions from China policy to Libya and Latin America.

As First Lady in the 1990s, she applauded as her husband turned NATO from a supposedly defensive alliance in the first Cold War into a force to extend Western power into Eastern Europe. She saw how Washington organized the overthrow of Serbian president Slobodan Milosevich, "the Butcher of the Balkans," and then created the color revolutions that provocatively extended Western power into the borderlands of the former Soviet Union.

As Secretary of State in Obama's first term, she laid the foundation for the second Orange Revolution in Ukraine, which led to the coup in Kiev that overthrew the legally elected but incredibly corrupt and Putin-dependent president Viktor Yanukovych. Even after she left State, Hillary and Bill travelled to Ukraine to support the buildup to the American-led coup.

Should Hillary Clinton beat Trump in November, as now seems likely, why would she not continue to pursue this kind of anti-Russian policy, both in Eastern Europe and Syria? This is a question her supporters need to ask themselves.

Trump's falsification, his "truthful hyperbole" as he called it in his bestselling Art of the Deal, is quite different from Clinton's. It goes to his deepest core. Lying is the way he presents himself, whether as high-dollar deal-maker or his country's would-be redeemer. An old-fashioned snake oil salesman, Trump does not give a damn whether or not he tells the truth. Neither do his nativist, Christian nationalist, and white supremacist supporters. Neither does his new campaign chief Stephen Bannon, a former Naval officer, investment banker, filmmaker, Tea Party enthusiast, and head of Breitbart News, an "Alternative Right" outlet for a new generation of Muslim-bashers, Jew-baiters, immigrant-haters, and fascists in waiting.

From early in his campaign, Trump has donned the mantle of foreign policy and counter-terrorist seer, making himself his own biggest lie. He claimed to know more about ISIS, or the Islamic State, than US generals do. "I alone can solve" the problem of Islamic radicalism, he twittered. He talked about using waterboarding and other torture against the jihadis. He talked of sending as many as 20-30 thousand ground troops to fight the Islamic State. He even toyed with the idea of using battlefield nuclear weapons to take them out.

"I was an opponent of the Iraq War from the beginning "' a major difference between me and my opponent," he repeated again in his big foreign policy speech last week. Trump cited an interview on Fox Business in which he claimed to have voiced his opposition in January 2003, two months before George W. Bush launched his invasion of Iraq. Fact-checkers at the Washington Post looked. What Trump had opposed was all the media babble in the lead-up to the invasion, which he feared would help the enemy. He did not oppose the war. "Either you attack or you don't attack," he told journalist Neil Cavuto. "So the point is either you do it or you don't do it."

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India has its task cut out. The country is among the biggest polluters of the environment globally and now has to cut its greenhouse gas emissions intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) sharply to meet its commitments to the UN climate body. Indeed, the country is the biggest emitter of harmful gases in the world after the US, China and European Union.

India has now made a commitment of cutting emission intensity by 33- 35 per cent by 2030, as compared with 2005. It is a big challenge and the country will have to go for major technological upgradation to meet the target. The judiciary and quasi-judicial bodies are also putting pressure on the Indian government to clean up its act.

Environmental degradation has become a major issue in the country. The Supreme Court had restricted the registration of high-capacity diesel accommodatevehicles, but later changed its stance. Environmental concerns have also prompted the government to clean rivers and other water bodies, haul polluters over the coals, and take other similar measures. In December 2015, at the 21st session of Conference of Parties, or COP21 in Paris, India unveiled its road map for Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The country promised to intensify efforts to reduce pollutants and look for more efficient and cleaner technologies.

An ambitious target of setting up 175 GW of renewable energy-based capacity by 2022, moving to the BS VI transport fuel standards, improving urban transport, making mining operations cleaner and more efficient, are among a slew of initiatives in that direction over the past three years. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its Emission Gap Report recognised India as one of the countries on course to achieve its voluntary goal. But the real test will be in executing these policies.

In this year's Cleantech special package, BT takes a closer look at some clean technologies that can help India arrest environmental degradation and become a trailblazer for the rest of the world.

In the past few years, India's urban transport policy has focused on weaning people away from private vehicles. There is a thrust on Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS). Currently, India has only 236 km of MRTS, or metro rail, in place but in the pipeline are about 1,150 km metro projects across different cities including Pune, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Government officials believe that this will reduce dependence on diesel vehicles. Citing the example of the Delhi Metro, which has become the country's first MRTS project to earn carbon credits, officials at the country's environment ministry say that the project has the potential to cut emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) by about 0.57 million tonnes annually. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently asked officials of the surface transport ministry to study the Chinese experiment with transit elevated bus or straddling bus. This can ease traffic on congested Indian roads and also combat pollution as it runs on electricity rather than a fossil fuel like diesel.

Meanwhile, key aides of Modi, Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have plans to implement more stringent emission standards, moving from Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) to Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) emission standards by April 2020. Both the ministers confirmed to Business Today that Indian automobile manufacturers and oil refineries are equipped to meet the target. Pradhan said that OMCs may need investments of roughly Rs 60,000 crore to upgrade by the new deadline. But the real challenge is for automobile manufacturers, who are under pressure to produce compliant vehicles. However, Gadkari believes that the technology is available with many of them, especially those who are already making BS VI compliant vehicles for exports, and the scale India provides would make the process affordable. He acknowledges that some manufacturers would require assistance in acquiring clean technologies to remain economically viable.

In the next 15 years, the country aims to make a bunch of Indian cities smarter, with superior urban infrastructure, smarter garbage and waste handling, electricity generation based on renewable sources such as rooftop and off-grid solar along with much smarter grid management. This requires huge investments but will reduce the dependence on coal-based generation and allow India to distribute electricity more efficiently. In the first week of August, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) have both pledged to spend $1.5 million annually for five years to study smart grid and energy storage technologies. Private players from these countries will contribute another $1.5 million.

This is in addition to Indian negotiations with the premier US academic institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for access to cleaner coal technologies and NTPC's pact with the Australia-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization to commission joint research activities for developing low emission energy technologies.

In the next six years, if 175 GW of renewable energy-based capacity comes up, India will be able to generate around 40 GW odd electricity and it means abatement of 326.22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. The cleaner technology interventions, such as improving the efficiency of solar panels, wind mills and storage capacity will obviously help combat pollution.

Nuclear technology is emerging as another focus area. India is making concerted efforts to enter the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group. The Indian target is to build 62 GW nuclear power capacity by 2032. If the plans work out, this will open up more opportunities to develop third-stage breeders and make way for thorium as a fuel. India has one of the largest reserves of thorium, and obviously it would like to develop this cleaner technology.

Indeed, there is a multi-pronged strategy to cut carbon emissions over the next one and a half decades. This includes a) sustainable living, b) cleaner economic development, c) reduced emission intensity of gross domestic product (GDP), d) increased contribution of non-fossil fuel based electricity, e) enhancing carbon sink (implies increasing the forest cover), f) adoption of new technology and methods, g) mobilising finance globally for technology upgradation and enhancing efficiency and h) technology transfer from global giants.

In many cases the technology is available off the shelf, and can help India and Indian companies catch up with the global standards. The Indian establishment also sees this as an opportunity for the country to seek investments for enhancing the skills to develop technologies at home. Many believe that the global pressure on India is unfair, as the country's carbon emission per capita, at 1.7 metric tonnes, is still among the lowest in the world. The corresponding figures for US and China are 17.6 and 6.2 metric tonnes. But the global focus on India helps the country access capital and cutting-edge technologies. And even gives the country a bargaining platform at multilateral fora, such as the NSG.

It will be challenging for India to balance the needs of its industry even as it continues to adopt cleaner technologies to cut pollution. In his monthly radio address to the nation, Mann Ki Baat, on July 31, PM Modi emphasised that India needs to embrace and develop innovative technologies. There may be a larger plan here. Recently, the government's in-house think-tank NITI Aayog along with technology major Intel agreed to set up 'Tinkering Laboratories' at the school level under the Atal Innovation Mission to focus on serving as a platform for promotion of world-class Innovation Hubs, start-ups and self-employment activities.

Modi is spot on. The future lies in new and cleaner technologies.


On July 26, the solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 2 returned to Abu Dhabi, from where it had taken off 16 months ago, after circumambulating the globe. It was the first time an aircraft had done so without using a drop of fossil fuel. The feat was made possible primarily by the technologically superior Maxeon photo voltaic (PV) cells - manufactured by US-based SunPower - the aircraft used, a big advance over the average PV cells most solar power generating projects employ. The Maxeon PV cells with their copper foundation - as against the zinc or aluminum used by most - had an efficiency of 22.7 per cent, while other solar cells hover at 15-20 per cent. In June this year, SunPower claimed to have developed a still better and more resilient Maxeon cell, able to convert 24.1 per cent of sunlight received into energy. Its press release claimed it had eliminated 85 per cent of the reasons - corrosion, breakage, etc - for the failure of PV cells.

SunPower's peers are not far behind. There are three kinds of technologies used to make PV cells - monocrystalline, polycrystalline and thin film. Monocrystalline cells were once believed to be superior - Maxeon cells are monocrystalline - while polycrystalline ones scored on lower cost. Most of the PV cells used globally are polycrystalline. But in November last year, China-based Trina Solar announced it had created polycrystalline PV cells with an efficiency of 21.25 per cent - higher than the average monocrystalline cell - which would enable it to make polycrystalline solar modules with efficiencies around 18-20 per cent. US-based SolarCity - recently acquired by Tesla Motors - too claims to have developed PV cells of 22 per cent efficiency.

These are only the latest in a host of innovations in solar manufacturing in the past few years. Some of them, like the Maxeon cells, have improved quality while raising costs; others have drastically reduced costs. Prices of solar cells and modules have fallen steeply worldwide since 2009, to the extent that solar tariffs are now close to competing with thermal. But the leaders in these technologies are some of the South-East Asian nations with China in the forefront, and the US. India trails way behind, adopting only those technologies it can afford after other countries have perfected them.

India has set itself an extremely ambitious goal of installing 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. Its emphasis on solar energy increased sharply after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014. India's current solar capacity is more than 8,000 MW, up from barely 160 MW in 2010 (and 2,632 MW in March 2014). To achieve the 100 GW goal, India is expected to install 10,500 MW in the current fiscal. Project tenders for 20,766 MW have been issued so far, of which power purchase agreements have been signed for 8,482 MW. Around 25 solar parks are being set up, ultra mega solar power projects are being built; special projects have been announced to build solar plants atop canals (obviating the need for land) and distribute 100,000 solar pumps to farmers.

Yet, India's manufacturing capacity remains woefully limited - only 2,800 MW panel manufacturing capacity and 650 MW cell manufacturing capacity is operational. Almost 95 per cent of the solar cells and modules currently being used by Indian solar developers are imported. Solar manufacturing has four main stages - manufacture of polysilicon, the basic material for solar cells, whether monocrystalline or polycrystalline; cutting it up into wafers; making solar cells using the wafers and finally making solar panels and modules using the cells. The first two stages are not carried out in India at all - even domestic solar manufacturers import solar wafers.

At present it makes little sense for Indian solar developers to buy local products, since imported ones are not only 8-10 per cent cheaper, but also technologically more advanced. Sheer economies of scale, alongside a 17 per cent export benefit the Chinese government provides its solar manufacturers, make it near-impossible for Indian ones to compete with them. The US and European Union have levied anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar products, but India has refrained from doing so, since that would promptly increase the cost of solar panels and in turn raise solar tariffs. Indeed, India removed anti-dumping duty on solar panels in September 2014, which, combined with the solar auction process that it initiated, has seen a steep drop in solar tariffs from Rs 6.93 per kilowatt hour (KWH) to less than Rs 5 per KWH by the end of 2015. Meanwhile, prices of solar panels have tumbled from 150 cents per watt in 2009 to 40 cents at present, largely because of improving efficiency. The lowest tariff so far has been Rs 4.34 per KWH - the price at which Finland-headquartered Fortum won the bid to build a 70-MW solar plant at Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan in January this year.

Indian manufacturers are unhappy with the auction process, maintaining that progressively falling prices are squeezing their margins and inhibiting them from investing in R&D. They would prefer a levelised tariff set by every state's electricity regulatory commission, as is done in the case of wind energy. The government has sought to help them by conducting special auctions that insist on use of locally manufactured products only (called domestic content requirement auctions) where the winning tariffs have been predictably much higher than in general auctions. But this in turn has drawn the ire of US manufacturers, which complained to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against India and which in turn the WTO upheld. Though India has appealed against the judgement, it is not clear how much longer DCR auctions can continue.

To boost manufacturing, the MNRE and Niti Aayog are in the process of formulating a new solar manufacturing policy. While its details are yet to be announced, it is known that the policy will harp on integrated manufacturing, where all the four processes are carried out by manufacturers in-house. But if domestic players are to compete with their Chinese counterparts, this will call for an investment of around Rs 10,000 crore, which most of the existing manufacturers cannot afford. A number of them are already making losses. For instance, leading manufacturer IndoSolar recorded a net loss of Rs 141.27 crore in 2015/16, and has gone in for debt restructuring. Another, Moser Baer, not only went in for debt restructuring, but is also close to selling off its manufacturing portfolio of around 270 MW to SBI Macquarie Infrastructure, a private equity joint venture of State Bank of India and the Australia-based Macquarie Group. Though the Adani Group, Reliance Industries and SB Cleantech (a joint venture of Japan's SoftBank, Taiwan's Foxconn and India's Bharti Airtel) have spoken of venturing into integrated solar manufacturing, they have made little tangible progress in this direction so far.

The only way out lies in greater emphasis on indigenous R&D, which few Indian solar manufacturers have invested in. "We need a multi-pronged approach to bridge the technology gap," says Gyanesh Chaudhury, CEO and MD, Vikram Solar, India's largest manufacturer of solar panels. "The thrust should be on innovation and new technology start-ups. Government and industry should come together to fund large solar R&D projects." Think tanks such as the Bharat Solar Power Development Forum (BSDF) and Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) feel similarly. "There also has to be more focus on training, as well as conducting awareness programmes about solar energy to increase the interest of students, researchers, government officials and new entrants into industry in this segment," says Subhash Sharma, Director, CEPR.

Clearly, access to cheap solar technology is in India's interests - it'll help in providing affordable power across the nook and cranny of the country.


One person killed as MQM protesters attacked ARY News office

KARACHI: Violent protesters attacked an ARY News office in the Saddar area of the metropolis on Monday evening, which resulted in clash between police and the angry mob  killing one person and injuring several others.



Police later confirmed that "MQM workers pelted stones at police officials and the ARY office", adding that they also resorted to aerial firing outside the office.



Head of Emergency at Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Dr Seemin Jamali said, "At least one person was brought dead [to JPMC] while several others were injured." Dr Jamali later identified the deceased as Arif Saeed.



The ARY office is located in a busy part of the metropolis above the popular Zainab Market. Traffic came to a standstill due to the violent protests and all roads leading towards Governor House were sealed.



Massive traffic jams caused a slowdown on connecting roads including I.I. Chundrigar Road and Club Road.



ARY News has alleged that the protesters were members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The TV channel further reported that the protesters entered the building and attacked the staff.



According to TV channels, MQM chief Altaf Hussain in his speech earlier today told protesters "to storm the offices of TV channels". Senior ARY anchor Kashif Abbasi said, "They are Muttahida people. He (Altaf) ordered them to do it and within 10 minutes all this happened."



A Samaa DSNG van was also attacked. Additionally, a police van and motorcycle of a traffic police official were reportedly set on fire.



Eyewitnesses at the Karachi Press Club said Rangers men with their faces covered ransacked the MQM camp in the area and arrested workers of the political party.



Alluding to a conspiracy against the MQM, MNA Syed Ali Raza Abidi tweeted, "MQM has been protesting since past 3 years non-violently. Regretfully masked men pre-present at Fawara Chawk created these deplorable scenes."



In a second tweet, Abidi said: "Disassociate yourself from violent mobs sent for a purpose!"



People were protesting peacefully at ARY office against biased media coverage when suddenly police started firing on peaceful protestors, claimed MQM leader Wasay Jalil.



Police resorted to shelling to disperse the angry mob and fired rubber bullets, injuring the protestors.



Meanwhile, Pak Sarzameen Partys chief Mustafa Kamal, while addressing a press conference, said "whatever we had been saying has been proven right". "The MQM chief has been creating a law and order situation in the metropolis by taking funding from Indian intelligence agency RAW," he claimed.



Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack on the offices of private news channels in Karachi, and termed it an attack on freedom of Press and expression.



Nawaz directed the concerned authorities at the federal and provincial levels to immediately bring the culprits to task and ensure the safety of the civilians in general and journalist fraternity in particular.



Director General Sindh Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar, while issuing statement following the incident, guaranteed protection to the citizens.



The attackers will be made to pay for their wrong deeds, he said, adding, that no one is allowed to carry out violent protests.



Meanwhile, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif telephoned DG Rangers Sindh and asked him to expedite action against the culprits behind todays incident, DawnNews reported.



A Sindh Police spokesman said that "Sindh IG has taken notice of violent attacks and firing at ARY News office". The IG also ordered that security at media offices across the city should be increased while sealing the red zone. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also took notice of the attack.
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The Management of the Swedru Municipal Government Hospital has expressed grave concern about the critical accommodation predicament facing medical officers, nurses and paramedical staffs of the hospital.



According to the management, over 267 staffs including causal workers totaling over 500 have no accommodation.



The three bungalows earmarked for the hospital have been allocated to the only three medical doctors.



Dr Apetogbor Dzedegbe, Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, made this known to the media at the Annual Peer Review conference held at Agona Swedru.



The peer review exercise was to assess performance and maintenance of healthcare standards.



It was attended by Central Regional Health Directorate, Apam hospital, Winneba Municipal Hospital, Winneba Trauma Specialist Hospital and Kasoa Poly Clinic.



Dr Dzedegbe said Management has made several appeals to the Agona West Municipal Assembly to least build one staff quarter in every year to reduce the problem but to no avail.



He said many medical officers have expressed their willingness to accept postings to Agona Swedru but they have all refused.



He said management has decided to enter Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Social Security and National Trust (SSNIT) and other private state developers to construct flats on rental basis.



According to the Medical Superintendent, the Hospital with only three medical doctors serves more than 83,000 patients from over 500 communities.



The Medical Superintendent called for massive infrastructural development with provision of modern equipment to enhance efficiency in health delivery system.



He said currently the Haemomatology Auto machine at the laboratory department of the hospital has been broken down and it will be difficult to mobilize funds to procure a new one.



Mr Samuel Oppong, Agona West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), praised the management of the hospital for their tireless efforts that has lifted the image of the health facility.



He said the Assembly has constructed about 10 CHIP compounds in the Municipality as part of governments effort to bring healthcare to the door steps of the people.



He assured the management of Agona Swedru Government hospital that government has completed plans to establish Nursing Training College and plans are also underway to construct a 40-bed hospital at Agona Swedru.

Source: GNA









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The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has disclosed that his government shall establish an Office of Special Prosecutor, within the first six months of his administration, when, God-willing, he wins this years elections.



According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the Special Prosecutor, to be established by Act of Parliament, will be independent of the Executive, and possess an exclusive remit to investigate and prosecute certain categories of cases and allegations of corruption, including those involving alleged violations of the Public Procurement Act and cases implicating political office holders and politicians.



Prosecutions of such persons, he stressed, will no longer be tainted by perceptions of witch-hunting and selective justice.

The NPP flagbearer made this known on Monday, August 22, 2016, whilst addressing the 16th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, at Abetifi, Kwahu, in the Eastern Region.



Announcing a raft of measures to deal with the toxic issue of corruption, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was the Special Guest at the General Assembly, explained that a successful Ghana can only be built on the basis of good governance, underpinned by efficient and honest public services. This requires that we succeed in eliminating corruption.



In order to restore Ghanas reputation, which, sadly, over recent years, has become a byword for corruption, the NPP flagbearer stated that, firstly, he, together with his team, will give the requisite leadership, which is lacking under President Mahama.



Public service is for me exactly that  public service. Anyone who joins my team to make money out of public office will not be welcome. Money is made in the private sector, not in public office. I will be strict in my supervision of this principle, he assured.



Secondly, Nana Akufo-Addo stressed that his government will be scrupulous in enforcing the teachings of the Public Procurement Act (Act 663), which confine sole sourcing of public contracts to exceptional circumstances, and not the norm, as is the case under the Mahama government.



Inflated contracts, which are currently the bane of our public finances, will be things of the past. Competitive bidding is the best protection of value for money in our public transactions, and will be the consistent mechanism for undertaking such transactions. The era of sole sourcing will come to an end, he said.



The NPP flagbearer further added that an efficient and honest reordering and prioritization of the countrys public expenditure will enable us to devote more resources to enhance the capacity of our anti-corruption agencies. It is essential that they have the means to lead the fight against corruption.



He continued, We will support all moves to give Parliament greater oversight capability over the activities of the Executive. This will give true meaning to the principles of separation of powers and accountable government.



Nana Akufo-Addo, therefore, appealed to the Presbyterian Church to give critical support to the next NPP government, God-willing, as it undertakes these crucial steps. Our very future depends on their success.



With barely a little over 3 months to the holding of this years elections, the NPP flagbearer asked for prayers for the peace of the nation, so that the country emerges from the elections as a more united country.



Add prayers for Gods guidance to members of the Electoral Commission, so they can make transparent and fair arrangements for the electoral contests to enhance the stability of our country. And please pray for the NPP and myself, that I will be given, by Almighty God, wisdom, strength, courage and compassion to enable me carry out my duties as a good leader.



And finally, I ask that you pray that, during this election campaign period, those who seek for votes from the people come with malice towards none and love towards all, he concluded.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



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Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!


A user of the Groklstyle phone app can take a picture of a room and select a particular furnishing, or just submit a picture of the item. The computer finds matching items and can return images of the item in use in other settings. Credit: Cornell University

If you think you have a knack for interior design, or just want to spruce up your own home, new technology developed by Cornell researchers may help you choose furnishings the way professionals do. And professionals may find it helpful, too.

Given a photo of a chair, lamp or some other item, a new service will tell you who makes it and where to buy it, and show you pictures of how it might look in various rooms.

"It seems a lot of people want to buy things they see in someone else's home or in a photo, but they don't know where to look," said Sean Bell, a doctoral candidate in computer science. Bell and Kavita Bala, professor of computer science, describe their method for "learning visual similarity for product design" in a paper presented at the 2015 SIGGRAPH conference and published in ACM Transactions on Graphics.

The system relies on "deep learning," a neural network that enables a computer to match a submitted photo with a vast database of "iconic images" from manufacturers' catalogs or specialized websites devoted to home furnishings.

A neural network is a computer program inspired by the working of neurons in the human brain. As data is passed through the network, locations in memory that are activated repeatedly are increased in value, just as a biological brain forms synapses. "Deep learning" combines several layers of neurons that represent different aspects of the data - earlier layers typically represent edges and lines, middle layers represent parts and shapes, and later layers represent entire objects and concepts.

The researchers used crowdsourcing to prepare a collection of images to train the neural network. On the Amazon Mechanical Turk service, where home workers can be paid a few cents at a time to perform simple microtasks, they showed workers scene photos and asked them to draw boxes around objects. The resulting collection of boxes, along with their matching iconic images, was used to train the computer.

People using the service won't want to wait for results. Rather than force the computer to go through the entire database looking for a match, the system begins by using the neural network to generate a "fingerprint" of a submitted image, based on very broad characteristics of how the pixels are arranged. Then the computer can search just a local area of the database, analogous to searching for a phone number in just one area code.

Bala and Bell have formed a startup company, GrokStyle, to offer the service on a subscription basis to retailers and design professionals, with support from the Small Business Innovation Research Program through which the National Science Foundation and other government agencies encourage the commercialization of new technology to advance the economy.

"I'm excited by the importance of this for the design industry," said Bala, who considers herself a hobbyist-level interior designer.

In the future, the researchers said, similar systems might be developed for other kinds of products, such as clothing and fashion.

Explore further Crowdsourcing creates a database of surfaces
Briefly Monday, it looked like the federal government was going to push all 50 states to ban the use of cellphones and other wireless devices while people are driving.

But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now says it was all a mistake.

The agency posted non-binding guidelines on distracted driving for states on a federal website Monday morning. The guidelines recommended that states prohibit use of hands-free as well as hand-held devices. State laws control use of phones by drivers.

But the agency says the guidelines were not fully reviewed before being posted and would be withdrawn. The agency says it has no plans to recommend a cellphone ban.

The documents were posted on a website that previews actions to be published in the Federal Register.

They appeared to signal a major policy change for NHTSA, which in the past has not sought bans on cellphone use by adult drivers. The agency has pushed states to ban texting by all drivers and cellphone use by young drivers.

Currently, 14 states and Washington, D.C., ban use of hand-held devices by all drivers, but no states have prohibited use of hands-free devices, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Forty-six states and Washington, D.C., ban texting by all drivers, while 38 states and Washington, D.C. ban all cellphone use by novice drivers.

In 2014, 3,179 people were killed and an estimated 431,000 injured in crashes involving distracted drivers, NHTSA said in the documents. That's about 10 percent of all fatal crashes and 18 percent of injury crashes.

Explore further US drivers talk and text as much as ever

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Perspective view of Aram Dorsum, an inverted channel on Mars and candidate landing site for the ExoMars rover. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

Extensive systems of fossilised riverbeds have been discovered on an ancient region of the Martian surface, supporting the idea that the now cold and dry Red Planet had a warm and wet climate about 4 billion years ago, according to UCL-led research.

The study, published in Geology and funded by the Science & Technology Facilities Council and the UK Space Agency, identified over 17,000km of former river channels on a northern plain called Arabia Terra, providing further evidence of water once flowing on Mars.

"Climate models of early Mars predict rain in Arabia Terra and until now there was little geological evidence on the surface to support this theory. This led some to believe that Mars was never warm and wet but was a largely frozen planet, covered in ice-sheets and glaciers. We've now found evidence of extensive river systems in the area which supports the idea that Mars was warm and wet, providing a more favourable environment for life than a cold, dry planet," explained lead author, Joel Davis (UCL Earth Sciences).

Since the 1970s, scientists have identified valleys and channels on Mars which they think were carved out and eroded by rain and surface runoff, just like on Earth. Similar structures had not been seen on Arabia Terra until the team analysed high resolution imagery from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft.

Topographic map of Mars. Arabia Terra is an ancient region that connects the southern highlands and the northern lowlands. Credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA Science Team

The new study examined images covering an area roughly the size of Brazil at a much higher resolution than was previously possible - 6 metres per pixel compared to 100 metres per pixel. While a few valleys were identified, the team revealed the existence of many systems of fossilised riverbeds which are visible as inverted channels spread across the Arabia Terra plain.

The inverted channels are similar to those found elsewhere on Mars and Earth. They are made of sand and gravel deposited by a river and when the river becomes dry, the channels are left upstanding as the surrounding material erodes. On Earth, inverted channels often occur in dry, desert environments like Oman, Egypt, or Utah, where erosion rates are low - in most other environments, the channels are worn away before they can become inverted.

"The networks of inverted channels in Arabia Terra are about 30m high and up to 1-2km wide, so we think they are probably the remains of giant rivers that flowed billions of years ago. Arabia Terra was essentially one massive flood plain bordering the highlands and lowlands of Mars. We think the rivers were active 3.9-3.7 billion years ago, but gradually dried up before being rapidly buried and protected for billions of years, potentially preserving any ancient biological material that might have been present," added Joel Davis.

Aerial view of inverted channels on the Earth, south-west of the Green River, Utah. Credit: Rebecca Williams

"These ancient Martian flood plains would be great places to explore to search for evidence of past life. In fact, one of these inverted channels called Aram Dorsum is a candidate landing site for the European Space Agency's ExoMars Rover mission, which will launch in 2020," said Dr Matthew Balme, Senior Lecturer at The Open University and co-author of the study.

The researchers now plan on studying the inverted channels in greater detail, using higher-resolution data from MRO's HiRISE camera.

Explore further Image: Mars Express spies a nameless and ancient impact crater

More information: J. M. Davis, M. Balme, P. M. Grindrod, R. M. E. Williams and S. Gupta, 'Extensive Noachian fluvial systems in Arabia Terra: Implications for early Martian climate' Geology, DOI: 10.1130/G38247.1 Journal information: Geology J. M. Davis, M. Balme, P. M. Grindrod, R. M. E. Williams and S. Gupta, 'Extensive Noachian fluvial systems in Arabia Terra: Implications for early Martian climate'
Guaranteed-tuition laws such as the one enacted in Illinois are driving significant increases in tuition and fees at public colleges and universities, ultimately making higher education less affordable for resident and nonresident students, according to a new study by education professor Jennifer Delaney and Tyler Kearney, the director of planning and analysis in the Office for Planning and Budgeting, both of the University of Illinois. Credit: L. Brian Stauffer

Guaranteed-tuition laws, touted by lawmakers as protecting college affordability and ensuring access to higher education for low-income students, have received failing grades from two experts in higher education finance.

While guaranteed-tuition laws such as the one in Illinois may provide predictability for incoming in-state students for their first four years, these mandates inadvertently trigger substantial tuition and fee increases, making higher education more costly and possibly unaffordable for some students, say University of Illinois researchers Jennifer A. Delaney and Tyler D. Kearney.

Illinois is one of three states, along with Oklahoma and Texas, to implement guaranteed-tuition laws. The Illinois law requires all 12 of the state's public colleges and universities to freeze tuition rates for incoming resident freshmen for their first four years. However, public institutions in Oklahoma and Texas are required only to offer undergraduate students the option of fixed tuition rates, according to the researchers.

In the current study, published in the September/October issue of the Journal of Higher Education, Delaney and Kearney examined guaranteed-tuition laws' impact on mandatory student fees and out-of-state student enrollments, two alternative revenue streams that are not subject to the laws.

Between 2000 and 2012, public colleges and universities in the states that were subject to state guaranteed-tuition laws increased their mandatory student fees by 40 percent and their tuition rates for out-of-state students by 28 percent, Delaney and Kearney found.

During that time, enrollments of out-of-state students at these institutions dropped 23 percent, the researchers found.

The impact of flat-rate tuition was even more significant at doctoral/research universities, triggering 50 percent increases in required fees and 29 percent reductions in out-of-state student enrollments, according to the study.

Since Illinois enacted its truth-in-tuition law with the fall 2004 semester, tuition rates for nonresident students at Illinois' 12 public institutions jumped an average of $3,645, or about 28 percent. Mandatory student fees also increased by $610, or about 40 percent, the study indicated.

Since the law's implementation, out-of-state student enrollments at Illinois' public colleges and universities have dropped 23 percent, the data indicated.

"These findings suggest that guaranteed-tuition programs are not beneficial for either in-state or out-of-state students," said Delaney, a professor of education. "Institutions that are required to freeze in-state students' tuition rates for four years may use alternative revenue streams such as required fees and nonresident tuition to offset the loss of flexibility inherent in guaranteed-tuition programs."

These findings add to a growing body of work by Delaney and Kearney that indicates guaranteed-tuition laws make college less - rather than more - affordable.

In a study published last year in the journal Economics of Education Review, Delaney and Kearney found that since the Illinois law's implementation, the 12 public colleges and universities that are subject to the law increased their annual tuition rates by 28 percent to 30 percent - and their aggregate four-year tuition rates by 6 percent to 7 percent - compared with other institutions in Illinois.

"The tuition and fee increases triggered by the truth-in-tuition legislation may be making Illinois' public colleges and universities less competitive with peer institutions and diminishing their abilities to attract and retain students," said Kearney, the director of planning and analysis in the Office for Planning and Budgeting.

"Lawmakers who are concerned about developing a highly skilled workforce in their state should balance this evidence against any perceived benefit of tuition guarantees," Delaney said. "This may be particularly important in states where public institutions comprise a large percentage of overall higher education enrollments."

More information: "Alternative Student-Based Revenue Streams for Higher Education Institutions: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis Using Guaranteed Tuition Policies," The Journal of Higher Education, muse.jhu.edu/article/628418 "Alternative Student-Based Revenue Streams for Higher Education Institutions: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis Using Guaranteed Tuition Policies,"
Credit: NASA

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN) orbiter will have a front-row seat to watch a marvelous dusty spectacle in late 2016. The spacecraft, nearing its second anniversary in Martian orbit, has already gathered a wealth of scientific data about the Red Planet's atmosphere and is expected to provide crucial insights on the nature of intense dust storms occurring periodically on Mars.

MAVEN's goal is to explore the planet's upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the sun and solar wind. It has observed Mars in different states, returning scientific data regarding various phenomena.

"We are continuing to observe Mars, and part of our goal is to observe the planet under a wide variety of different conditions and see what happens. We have seen cometary dust impact, solar storms, changing atmospheric conditions. One thing that we have not observed is the effects of a global dust storm. We are now entering 'dust storm season' on Mars, and waiting to see what Mars will throw at us," Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN's principal investigator from the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, told Astrowatch.net.

When solar heating warms the Martian atmosphere and causes the air to move, dust lifts off the ground, forming a dust storm. These storms could be very powerful when Mars reaches its perihelion, as the sunlight striking the planet will be 20 percent more intense than the annual average. While planet-wide dust storms on Mars are difficult to predict exactly, scientists forecast that we could hope for severe dusty events in late October 2016, when the Red Planet will be at its closest point to the sun.

Dust storms could help researchers better understand the processes taking place in the tenuous Martian atmosphere. This is MAVEN's main task, in particular investigating the loss of the planet's atmosphere to space.

MAVEN's data proved that the sun and solar wind are able to strip gas from the atmosphere and remove it to space. The spacecraft's measurements allowed the scientists to conclude that over the history of the planet, this was likely the dominant mechanism for driving the changes in climate.

"We have been able to observe the energy inputs from the sun and solar wind, the response of the upper atmospheric structure and composition, and the ability to drive loss of gas to space. This represents a major advance in our understanding of the behavior of the upper atmosphere," Jakosky said.

He added that it is becoming clear that one cannot consider any aspect of the history of Mars in isolation as the planet's environment is an intricately coupled system of complex processes spanning from the deep interior to the upper atmosphere and the interactions with the solar wind.

"MAVEN has begun to fill in the gap of the top of the atmosphere, and is showing how processes there can affect the planet's climate, geology, and habitability," Jakosky noted.

Currently, the MAVEN spacecraft and all of the science instruments are operating nominally and science observations are continuing. The orbiter has just been approved for a two-year extended mission that will carry it into late 2018.

"We have enough fuel that we can continue to operate for perhaps as long as another decade. Of course, nothing is guaranteed, and we are trying to take each week as it comes to get the most out of it," Jakosky said.

MAVEN began its primary science mission on Nov. 16, 2014, and is the first spacecraft dedicated to understanding Mars' upper atmosphere. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the MAVEN project for the principal investigator at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations.
Bored meeting. Credit: Shutterstock

The original "freelancers" were historic knights and mercenaries, selling their fighting skills to whoever paid the right price. Today's freelancers include a growing army of people who decide to leave highly paid and secure jobs in large organisations to strike out on their own and become independent consultants. An increasing proportion of them are mothers with young children, who have decided they simply don't want to choose between the demands of a company workplace and the needs of a family.

According to the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, there are around 1.6m freelancers in the UK and one in seven of these is a working mother, the fastest growing freelance demographic. Some command fees of up to 1,000 a day (others an eye-watering 450 an hour) to do their specialised corporate work for clients including accounting firm PwC, telecoms giant BT and the Ministry of Defence.

Becoming an independent consultant is relatively easy. Start-up costs are low, and there is no specific qualification requirement or exam to pass. You just need wifi, a professional profile online and, crucially, experience and an impressive CV. Accumulated skills and knowledge is what counts if your advice is going to be valued. This isn't a sector for fresh-faced graduates.

Many female consultants I spoke to in my research on employee commitment described "taking back control" as a major motivating factor in their decision to go freelance. It's also a way of maintaining a professional identity they feared they might lose by becoming a stay at home parent.

In practical terms, the flexibility of working as a freelance consultant can mean childcare costs are dramatically reduced (if the job can be done outside normal office hours, for example, or while children are at school). Work can be done from home or negotiated around the needs of clients. The high rates of pay earned by some also mean the cost of childcare doesn't swallow up a significant proportion of the money earned. As independent consultants, some mothers often feel they can earn more while working less.

Vanessa, a freelance management consultant who lives in the south-west of England, used to work for one of the top American consultancies before having children. Afterwards, she explained: "My brain was ready to go back to work but I didn't have a job to go back to. So I started up my own business." For Vanessa, the difficulties of juggling family and work were balanced by the freedom to choose the work she took on. Invoicing at up to 600 a day, what motivates her is the interesting work she does with her clients. If it's not interesting, she won't do it.

Lucy, an HR consultant with 25 years' experience, now works as an independent consultant with eight different clients within ten miles of her home. After having children she switched from being an HR director for a firm to a working as a freelance consultant offering advice and a troubleshooting service for three to four days a week. The consulting is a way for her to maintain a senior professional position. "Without it I would have had to take a job that was significantly lower-skilled and lower paid," she said.

Technology has also played a major role in the rise of these workers. Skype, WebEx and a host of other software and apps have made it easier to establish and run your own company. LinkedIn makes staying in touch with past clients and contacts easier.

But being an independent consultant isn't all plain sailing. These individuals still have to juggle family and work life which increasingly becomes blurred. It's also lonely. Escaping the controlled environment of an organisation and boss also means losing the professional and social support of co-workers and a structured workplace.

Independent consultants have to take on every office task necessary. There is no admin assistant to total your hours, no finance department to invoice and chase clients for payment, and no sales team to keep the pipeline of work going.

A risky business

Psychologically, it's also a precarious way of working. There is no guarantee of a stable income. Some clients don't pay and August can be a month when the phone rarely rings. There is no sick pay, no paid holiday, hours of work are not set, and employment rights are not as clearly defined.

But despite these downsides, the decision to go it alone is a common one, for men as well as women. Independent consultancy is also a handy way for those approaching retirement to gently parachute into it, reducing their hours but still using the accumulated skills and knowledge to offer senior and highly effective consultancy.

The rise of independent consultancy means that a huge source of knowledge and skills previously temporarily excluded from the economy is now there. And parents don't have to choose between family and career. They can do both, either continuing as a consultant or using it as a way of keeping their skills, knowledge and intellectual capital current  in case they ever want to go back to the office.

Explore further Motivation in their work reduces stress among IT consultants

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


This blog is primarily for me to blog my responses to books that I'm reading. Sometimes I blog about other stuff too, though.




New York State AFL-CIO is staying neutral in the 21st Congressional District race -- at least for now.

The federation of 3,000 labor unions did not endorse in the race at the convention in New York City on Tuesday.

The federation announced endorsements of 19 New York House candidates, all but one Democrat.

Rep. Daniel Donovan, R-Staten Island, is the only Republican congressional candidate endorsed.

Two large AFL-CIO member unions had previously endorsed separate rival candidates in the 21st District.

United Steelworkers endorsed Democrat Mike Derrick, a retired Army colonel from Peru, in Clinton County.

New York State United Teachers endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro.

Stefanik and Derrick are running in a three-way contest that includes Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello, a bread company owner and political activist from Hudson Falls.

The development could be perceived as good news and bad news for Derrick's campaign.

The good news is that Stefanik did not receive the AFL-CIO endorsement. The bad news is his campaign will not receive the ground support that typically comes with the AFL-CIO endorsement.

Click here to read a previous post about the United Steelworkers endorsement.

Click here to read a previous post about the NYSUT endorsement.
BOLTON  A New York City man was arrested Monday after Lake George Park Commission officers determined he had gone to an island campsite on Lake George and stolen nearly $900 worth of valuables.

Arafat H. Bhuiyan, 20, of Queens, was charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor, after an investigation that began when Park Commission marine patrol officers saw a boat that appeared to be grounded near Huckleberry Island, officials said.

An investigation found that Bhuiyan had rented a boat from Chic's Marina and had gone onto the island to steal electronics, food and camping equipment.

The owner of the items confronted Bhuiyan as he tried to leave, and he grounded the boat on rocks as he left the island, according to the Park Commission.

Bhuiyan was released on $500 cash bail.
LAKE GEORGE  The opening of the newest hotel in the village of Lake George is set for Monday.

The 119-room Courtyard Lake George by Marriott International will offer views of either the lake or the Adirondack Mountains from every guest room, according to a news release announcing the opening.

The six-story hotel will feature a lobby bar as well as The Bistro, a full-service restaurant with outdoor seating offering American cuisine and the option of grab-and-go fare.

The hotel will also feature an indoor pool and fitness center.

A rooftop terrace will debut later this year, and in 2017 the hotel will open two ballrooms, each designed to host up to 400 guests, with nearly 5,000 square feet of space per room. The hotel is marketing the ballrooms for events including weddings, social gatherings and business retreats.

Courtyard Lake George is managed by General Manager Taylor Hall. Hall has worked with Marriott-branded hotels for 10 years, most recently at Fort Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort & Spa in Florida, where she rose from director of food and beverage to assistant general manager. She is a certified sommelier from the International Wine Guild and holds a bachelor of arts degree from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Hall will be joined by Director of Sales and Marketing Melissa Carter, who joined Courtyard Lake George from Radisson Hotel Albany, where she served as sales manager. She holds a bachelor of science degree from the State University of New York College at Oneonta. In addition to her post at Courtyard Lake George, Carter is working toward her master of arts degree in integrated marketing communications at Marist College in Poughkeepsie.
The gun show that is being ousted from Saratoga Springs may find a new home at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Jeff Mead, executive director of the Civic Center, said he has been discussing the possibility of Northeast Arms Collectors Associates bringing a gun show to the Glens Falls arena.

Collectors Associates has held shows at Saratoga Springs City Center for more than 30 years, but in recent months has been informed that no open dates were available going forward. That scheduling quirk occurred shortly after Saratoga Springs Democrats passed a resolution asking that gun shows be banned from the city, and Mayor Joanne Yepsen indicated she didnt favor having them in town anymore, either.

Mead said he has talked to show organizer David Petronis on a number of occasions and is working to arrange a tour of the arena for him in the coming weeks.

I have offered him a bunch of dates in 2017. I think we have a pretty good chance of working something out, Mead said.

Mead said the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition, which operates the arena, is on board with it.

Glens Falls Mayor Jack Diamond, a Democrat, said he had no concerns about a gun show in the Civic Center. He said it would help the Civic Centers bottom line and bring visitors to Glens Falls.

The more people we can bring to our community, the better off we are, Diamond said.

Petronis said he has talked with Mead about using the Glens Falls arena, but he has concerns about ice being present in the building for much of the year and whether the building would be warm enough. He said a period in November when ice is removed for the annual Adirondack Stampede charity rodeo offered possible dates.

He said he has also heard from promoters who want to bring his show to Schenectady and Albany, and attendees of his show who have talked about boycotting Saratoga Springs because of the way he was treated.

All kinds of people are calling me, Petronis said.

Collectors Associates has held shows in Lake George, Manchester, Vermont and has one set for Newburgh next weekend.

State Sen. Kathy Marchione has started a petition drive through her website, advocating that the City Center allow the show to remain in Saratoga Springs.
Glens Falls Community Theatre will hold a general meeting for its 81st season at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 in the United Methodist Church of Queensbury, 460 Aviation Road.

Following a brief annual meeting, plans for the production of Monty Pythons Spamalot will be outlined by director Mickey Luce, music director Dennis Searles, choreographer Joann Searles and co-production managers Sue Ford and Sharon Reynolds.

Open auditions will be held at the church at 7 p.m. Sept. 8, with callbacks Sept. 9. The meeting and auditions are open to all interested parties. Everyone is welcome to sign up for administrative or backstage committees as well.

Performances of this Tony Award-winning musical will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 and 12, and 1:30 p.m. Nov. 12 and 13 at Charles Wood Theater in Glens Falls.

All performers will participate in a vocal and dance audition (wear appropriate clothing and footwear). There will also be a tap audition. Those selected at the general vocal and dance audition will be requested at the callback to continue the character parts audition.

A limited number of scripts and vocal scores are available for three-day sign-out at Crandall Public Library at the Resource Desk. All scripts must be returned by Sept. 6.

Cast descriptions and audition information are available at www.gfcommunitytheatre.org. More information is available from director Mickey Luce at 793-3521 or Sue Ford at 796-2803.
Efforts to ban the Lake George party known as Log Bay Day have picked up speed as both the Lake George Park Commission and Warren County Board of Supervisors have begun discussions about how to end the event.

The Park Commission met on Tuesday, and its director, Dave Wick, said the agency plans to work with law enforcement to end or curtail the annual July event starting next summer. The commission believes it has become a public health issue, he said.

The chairman and commissioners all agree that Log Bay Day has gotten out of hand, Wick said.

Wick would not comment Tuesday on what actions the commission will pursue.

The party has come under scrutiny because of a fatal boat crash July 25 that claimed the life of an 8-year-old girl and injured her mother near Cramer Point.

Two boats collided, one hitting the other broadside, and the driver of the boat that fled  Alexander M. West, 24, of Lake George  was believed to have been at the party for hours. He faces felony charges for fleeing the collision, and may face a homicide prosecution as well.

The death prompted numerous calls and at least one online petition demanding an end to the event, which is held annually on the last Monday in July on Log Bay in Bolton and adjacent state-owned shoreline in Fort Ann.

Even before this years crash, and a severe injury to a young man who was paralyzed by a dive into shallow water, the event had become known for trouble with underage drinking, violence and illegal drug use.

Sheriffs of both Warren and Washington counties have joined the call for an end to Log Bay Day, as Warren County Sheriff Bud York on Tuesday reiterated his desire for the event to be scuttled.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors plans to discuss the issue at a Legislative & Rules Committee meeting in the coming weeks.

Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said the lakes regulations and enforcement are clearly the jurisdiction of the Park Commission, but the county can take steps to show it would like the event changed or halted.

Warren County leaders plan to work with their counterparts in Washington County to discuss a joint resolution, since the event spans both counties.

We want to make sure we are all on the same page, Geraghty said.

Bob Henke, the Argyle supervisor who is chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, could not be reached on Tuesday.

The Lake George Village Board also considered a resolution earlier this month urging an end to the event. The resolution was largely ceremonial though, as the bay is in the town of Bolton.
CORINTH  The town of Corinth has turned down a request by Saratoga & North Creek Railway to use part of a rail line in town to store tanker cars that formerly hauled formaldehyde. The proposal had some residents concerned about the prospect of hazardous chemicals remaining in the tanks.

Few details of the plan were available Monday. A local representative of the railroad would not discuss it, and the president of the railroads parent company did not respond to inquiries Friday or Monday.

Corinth Supervisor Dick Lucia said late Monday afternoon that the Town Board had decided not to grant SNCRR permission to store the cars in town.

A representative of the railway came to a Town Board meeting on Thursday to discuss the issue with the board and sought an answer that night. When the board wasnt willing to make a decision on short notice, the company said it wanted a response by Monday afternoon, Lucia said.

Lucia said the Town Board was not ready to give an answer until after it had spoken with its counsel and had the railroad operations contract reviewed.

There were several safety concerns, he said.

The proposal was for the tankers to be put on a siding in town off Hamilton Avenue, although it was unclear for how long and from where they would come.

Louise Carney, whose property on county Route 10 abuts the rail line, said the indications from the presentation at the Town Board meeting Thursday were that the tankers would not be completely cleaned and free of formaldehyde before being parked.

We understand they are going to be hauling freight on the line because they have to make money, she said. But this is a residential section. This is behind peoples houses.

SNCRR General Manager Justin Gonyo would not discuss the matter Monday, saying he was waiting to hear from the Corinth Town Board. Ed Ellis, president of the Iowa Pacific Holdings LLC, the railroads parent company, did not respond to inquiries Friday or Monday.

SNCRR found itself in the middle of a controversy last summer when it sought to store out-of-service crude oil tank cars on the north end of its line in Essex County. A number of environmental groups objected and the company ultimately scrapped the plan.

Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, chairman of the Warren County Board of Supevrisors, said no one from the railroad has approached Warren County leaders about any new tanker storage proposals.

Formaldehyde is a natural substance, but it is highly toxic and a suspected carcinogen and is used for industrial purposes, such as resin production, embalming and manufacturing of textiles. It can be corrosive and flammable.
Blood test results show the man who has been blamed for a fatal boat collision last month on Lake George had used three different drugs, two of them illegal, Warren County Sheriff Bud York said Tuesday.

The lawyer for boat operator Alexander M. West, though, said the tests don't mean that he was under the influence of anything at the time of the crash.

York said "metabolites" of the three "classes" of drugs were found in West's system, but he would not say what they were, at what levels they were found or whether West would have been impaired.

Further tests were pending, but a source said one of the illegal drugs was marijuana.

York said he did not want to jeopardize any possible prosecution by divulging more specifics, but said because of the public interest in the test results the positive test should be released.

The sheriff said West and the driver of the boat he hit had no alcohol in their systems.

West's lawyer, Cheryl Coleman, criticized the release of the test results later Tuesday, saying she had not been shown them and that it was "prejudicial" to her client to release them before they were turned over to defense counsel.

She said the presence of "metabolites" isn't proof that West was under the influence of any drugs at the time of the collision. Authorities will have to show they were at levels considered "psychoactive."

Coleman said York's reference to "metabolites" and a need for further testing likely meant that levels were low and outside the "psychoactive period."

"There are a lot of drugs that can linger in the system but are not within the psychoactive period," she said. "Whether he was under the influence is not the same as whether he tests positive."

York defended his decision to meet with the news media. He said he was getting frequent inquiries about the blood tests and wanted to answer questions the public had.

York said the levels of the drugs and a determination as to when West may have used them were still to be determined. The blood sample was given the morning after the 9:25 p.m. crash.

"A quantitative analysis will be done at a later time," York said.

Two of the drugs are illegal while one is a prescription drug, the sheriff said. Drug use could be part of a prosecution on homicide charges, York acknowledged.

A grand jury will review the evidence in the coming months and determine whether additional charges are warranted.

"It could add to the charges, but that's up to the District Attorney's Office," the sheriff said. "I think it certainly makes the case a lot better for the prosecution."

Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Both West and Robert Knarr consented to blood tests after the July 25 crash near Cramer Point that killed 8-year-old Charlotte McCue. Knarr was Charlotte's grandfather.

West, 24, of Lake George, faces felony counts of leaving the scene of a boating accident for the crash that killed the Carlsbad, California, girl and hurt her mother.

Charlotte was on her grandfathers antique wooden speedboat with family members when it was hit broadside by a 21-foot powerboat. Police said West was piloting that powerboat, which left the scene after the collision.

West's boat hit Knarr's wooden boat at high speed and went over the top of it, police said.

Police said West had been at an all-day lake party known as Log Bay Day, and was believed to have been drinking alcohol, based on witness statements of his condition that day.

But his blood sample was not given until nearly 14 hours after the crash after he fled the scene and evaded police until the following morning, authorities said.

"We didn't expect to find any (alcohol) because of the length of time that had passed," York said.

The sheriff said whether West's parents should be charged for allegedly assisting him in staying away from police after the crash remained under investigation. Police have seen a text message sent from his mother to a friend of his informing him that police had just left the family's Lockhart Mountain Road and that he should return there.

York said the investigation was ongoing, and officers continue to interview potential witnesses. An accident reconstruction was planned based on photos and computer analysis of damage.

West is free pending prosecution in Warren County Court.
Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

Read more
Churches Split Over Black Lives Matters Criticism of Israel

African American churches are split over Black Lives Matters stand on Israel, with younger clergymen rallying to the activists defense after a group of more conservative pastors rejected the groups harsh criticism of the Jewish state.

(Article by Sam Kestenbaum)

The schism, which reflects broader divisions between emerging activists and more conservative leaders, was brought into sharper relief when a Black Lives Matter-affiliated platform came out on August 1, calling Israel an apartheid state.

Black church leaders, representing hundreds of congregations, jumped to condemnthe platforms criticism of Israel. And on August 22 a group of six African-American leaders and advisors to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which serves some 9 million people altogether, also condemned the platform.

It was a vitriolic attack against Israel laced with misinformation and anti-Semitism and an agenda that is not embraced by the broader African American community, the clergymen said in a joint statement. The anti-Semitism and misinformation found in this small segment is so misleading that it makes an experienced leader question the entire document and thus the intentions of the organization.

But religious figures affiliated with Black Lives Matter dismissed the church leaders as misguided.

Jesus was a Palestinian Jew, said Nyle Fort, a young African-American minister aligned with Black Lives Matter. Jesus lived under occupation and was ultimately lynched for speaking truth to power.

The church leaders were criticizing a section of the Black Lives Matter-alignedplatform that called Israel an apartheid state committing genocide against the Palestinians. The platform also called for free education for blacks and reparations for slavery.
The government is set to lease ECG to a private company for 25 years as part of the second compact of the Millennium Challenge Account signed by the Government in August 2014.

The concession has come under intense opposition from ECG workers and the Trades Union Congress.

The novelty of the demonstration is that workers across the regional and district offices of the ECG will embark on a three-hour sit-down from 8am to 11am starting Wednesday, August 24 to Friday, August 26.

READ MORE

Addressing a news conference Tuesday in Accra, Deputy General Secretary of PAWU Michael Nyantakyi said despite PAWU's opposition to the concession, government is pressing ahead to release the company to a private organisation.

According to him, the concession is not the best option to bring reforms to make ECG more efficient and profitable.

He said: "This policy is not the best option to bring reforms to make ECG more efficient and profitable. We have already articulated our views and suggestions in our position paper to MiDA and the ministry of power.

"Unfortunately, the government of Ghana with tacit pressure from the MCC of America is still pushing this agenda despite all the negative implications for our country and it citizens/

"To buttress our resolve and determination to resist this privatisation process, the leadership of the workers have decided that there will be a three-hour demonstration in the regional and district offices of the ECG every morning from tomorrow Wednesday 24 August from 8am to 11am until Friday 26 August.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association has been kicking against Chinese and Nigerian retailers in the country for contravening the Ghana Investment Promotion Centres directive that bars foreign participation in lower levels of the retail chain.

President of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations, Dr. Barimah Ofori Ameyaw II, in an interview with Pulse.com.gh said the need for foreigners to be driven away from the retail market is non-negotiable.

For many weeks we have been here lamenting about foreigners invading the retail sector and economy, while government looks aloof as though they have seen nothing. The GIPC and the Trades Ministry who are supposed to regulate and ensure that foreigners do not invade the retail sector are also doing nothing about the situation. 
The winner of the competition Ms. Mercy Abena Arthur of Nav-West Basic School at Old Seko in Western Region received a prize for an all-expense paid trip to Dubai. The purpose of the trip is for Mercy to experience first-hand how a clean city looks like to boost her morale to champion environmental cleanliness.

She would be travelling during the school vacation with her Club patron (i.e. volunteer teacher of the Zoomkids Club). They will visit special areas of environmental education interests.

The second prize of GH7,000 went to Ms. Mary Tee Magdalene Tepuabil from Bolgatanga, Upper East whilst Master Linus Tabari, of Presbyterian SSNIT model primary school from Nator in Upper West whilst took the third prize of GH5,000. Master Godfred Bediako of Kakumdo M/A Basic School in the Central Region received the fourth prize of GH4,000.

The Executive Chairman of Zoomlion/Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, said as the company celebrates its10 the anniversary it is important to engage the school children to be part of this memorable event and to appreciate their contributions towards sanitation improvement.

Touching on why Zoomlion funded the quiz competition, Mrs. Florence Larbi, Managing Director of Zoomlion Ghana Limited explained that the quiz competition will improve on the knowledge of young people on environmental issues.

She said Zoomlion has operated the Zoomkids club which is environmental sanitation and health clubs in schools across the country for the past eight years and there is the need to continuously improve on the knowledge of children and youth on environmental sanitation.

An elated Ms. Mercy Arthur who won the competition was grateful to God and the Foundation for organizing the event. I feel so excited; Zoomkids Club is the best club every student should join.

Not only does it increase your knowledge in personal hygiene, your confidence is boosted as you are not shy to speak to your peers about the need to observe environmental sanitation, she said.

Mercy hopes to become a doctor in future and said she would not only care for the sick but also take care of the environment.

The Director of SHEP, Mrs. Nana Esi Inkoom said there is the need for more collaboration between Zoomlion and SHEP to bring about improvement in school health and sanitation. She encouraged Zoomlion not to relent in its efforts in supporting the activities of the club.

The various stages of the quiz competition including Northern Sector Zonal competition, Southern Sector Zonal competition, and Semi-final and Final competitions were aired live on Ghana Television.
Mr. Terkper, however believes the impact of the taxes could have been reduced if governments state-owned enterprises had been ran better. He believes proceeds from the enterprises could have paid the countrys loans.

In a press briefing in Accra, Mr. Terkper said We have fallen into some bad habit of doing commercial projects and then asking the taxpayer to pay for it.

Mr. Terkper said government had revised its debt management strategies and had initiated a policy that would ensure that if we borrow for commercial developments, the projects should pay for the loan.

It shouldnt be the taxpayer and so today we have the developments at the airport on self-financing basis; weve put the expansion taking place at Takoradi on self-financing basis; the Tamale Airport is on self-financing basis, the Finance Minister noted.

The subsidies which we couldnt pay, we are paying now after years of accumulation in the form of taxes and levies, he admitted.

To take the burden of government, a major structuring of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) is underway.
Throughout the 48-hour competition, teams of 3-6 individuals will create, develop, and pitch innovative business models or products to a highly-esteemed local and international judging panel.

Health Hack Accra is designed to empower entrepreneurs and health professionals to use their first hand experience and talents to find and develop business opportunities in the health space. While Africa has seen a global focus on health improvement for decades, the pairing of medical needs with innovative energy will bring a unique shift to the field in Ghana, priming new health developments for both scale and sustainability.

This hackathon will spur a new network of visionary health leaders, coming from all backgrounds to improve health outcomes.

The event, supported by key partners such as Hack for Big Choices (San Francisco, CA, USA) and Facebook (Mountain View, CA, USA), helps channel the innovation and strength of Silicon Valley into a forum for locally-driven and developed solutions to some of the continents largest challenges. The three winning teams, selected by a local and international judging panel, will receive a business development prize pack  including six months of co-working in the Merck Entrepreneurial Development Space (MEDspace) located at Impact Hub Accra, a five-day Unreasonable Labs business acceleration course, and support from Facebook (including acceptance into the Bootstrap track of the FbStart program, support to create a Free Basics compatible website, and complimentary business software).

All throughout the continent, health challenges and potential solutions have been isolated by physicians, patients, and communities. Were excited to support people passionate about improving health outcomes  providing the tools necessary to take dreams and turn them into reality.

Through our partnership with Merck we will be able to provide the next generation of health leaders with the resources needed to change Africas health landscape.

-Emily Sheldon, Director of Health Innovation, Impact Hub Accra

Participating in the Healthcare Hackathon in Ghana will enable us to use our expertise in supporting entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into reality. The project offers us the opportunity to help develop solutions to problems that are faced not only by people in the region, but in countries all over the world.

-Michael Gamber, Merck Innovation Center

Multi-stakeholder collaborations are necessary to address complex challenges. Over the coming months we will be scouting organizations, institutions, Universities, NGOs and private companies that can bring funding, knowledge, expertise and technologies that can add value to and catalyze the improvement of health in Africa.

Contact:

Emily Sheldon, +233 (0) 555 466 165, info@healthackaccra.com

Website - www.healthhackaccra.com

Social Media - @HealthHackAccra, #HealthHackAccra

ABOUT IMPACT HUB ACCRA
The PRO for the Tema Regional Police Command, ASP Juliana Obeng who confirmed this to Pulse.com.gh said one other person whose name is immediately not known but is a close associate of the preacher has also been charged with abetment of crime.

She said the two have been taken to the national Criminal Investigations Department in Accra after they reported to the Domestic Victims and Violence Support Unit, (DOVVSU) in Tema on Tuesday morning.

READ ALSO: Gender Minister reports Obinim to DOVVSU

The controversial pastor who was angered by a couples amorous activity in his church which has led to a pregnancy took apparently 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 young man 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 attempted 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 ordered his junior pastors to remove their belts and subject the couple to more flogging.

Many have criticized Obinim for his actions, with Amnesty International calling for his arrest.

But the controversial pastor released a statement saying he flogged the two because they fornicated and tried aborting the pregnancy.

He said: "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."
The officers, Lance Corporal Kusi Abrokwah and Solomon Mensah along with one other have been charged with murder and robbery.

READ ALSO: Robbery

According to the prosecution, the two policemen who were on duty at the GN bank and Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) respectively had always harbored the bullion van belonging to the GCB carrying cash.

The prosecution further told the court that after plotting and discussing with the other two men, Hafisu Mohammed and the other accused person who is on the run, the two policemen each armed waylaid the bullion van at a spot between Tease and Mame Krobo.

READ ALSO: Bullion Van Attack

They then opened fire on the bullion van after a signal by Hafisu Mohomed who was closely monitoring the movement of the van in a taxi, killing the driver and injuring their colleague giving protection to the van.
The other suspects were Michael Adjei Donkor, 36, driver; Nana Ntim Gyakari, 28, social worker; George Eshun, 29, businessman; and Urey Harris Koufi, 32, also a businessman.

ACP Bonga said two other suspects managed to escape arrest.

Briefing the media on the arrest on Monday, August 22, 2016, ACP Bonga said investigations revealed that after the suspects snatched the vehicle, they quickly change the number plates and later re-spray and dispose of them.

Seven different vehicles including Nissan Versa, Nissan Almera, Mitsubishi Carisma, Hyundai Atos, Daewoo Carlos, Kia Picanto, and Mazda Demio  all bearing fake number plates  have so far been retrieved and investigations are ongoing. The suspects shall be arraigned before court. Meanwhile, the Police Regional Command wants to assure the public that we are very much alive and we will go after all the criminals and we shall arrest all of them, he said.

ACP Bonga cautioned drivers to Be attentive to suspicious phone calls and other conversations by passengers.
Describing the entire period in office of Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey as a most refreshing time, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that there has certainly not been one boring moment during his tenure as Moderator, as he has rendered service to the Church, to Ghana and to mankind.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, we, who are politicians, might not always have been comfortable with some of his pronouncements (and as the Moderator knows, I have firsthand experience of that!); but I suspect Professor Martey would not consider it his duty to put any politician in a comfort zone.

He continued, It is not his style, and it is fair to say he has kept his eyes firmly on his primary goal of protecting the vulnerable and disadvantaged, as he has spoken some very uncomfortable truths. His energy and ever challenging opinions have brought public discourse to a higher level in our country.

The NPP flagbearer made this known on Monday, August 22, 2016, whilst addressing the 16th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, at Abetifi, Kwahu, in the Eastern Region. The General Assembly, amongst others, is set to select a successor to the outgoing Moderator.

Nana Akufo-Addo further noted that Prof. Martey, whilst as Moderator, conducted himself with dignity and elegance even when faced with extreme provocation, stating that it has certainly been a joy and a good lesson for the rest of us to have had the privilege of watching him.
In a statement signed by the spokesperson for Afoko, Nana Yaw Osei, it indicated that the appeal was filed on Monday (August 22).

he revealed.

Afoko has been in court challenging a suspension handed down to him by the NPPs Disciplinary Committee for alleged misconduct.

The suspended Chair had earlier described his suspension as unconstitutional and a breach of natural justice.

But the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court on Monday, August 15, 2016, dismissed the suit.

According to the judgment of the presiding judge, Justice Anthony Yeboah, the suspension of Mr. Afoko was just, lawful and fair.
The opposition political parties including the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the National Democratic Party (NDP) hit the streets of Tamale on Monday [August 22] to press home their demand on government to pay attention to the worsening plight of residents in the Northern region.

READ ALSO: Utility Tariffs

A Deputy national Communications Director of the NPP, Anthony Karbo, announced at the Zogbeli Park to climax the Monday protest that a similar protest might be staged in the Upper West and Upper East regions.

According to him, small scale industries in the Northern, Upper West, and Upper East regions are collapsing because of the high electricity tariffs.

He urged the electorates in the three regions of the north to reject the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the December 7 polls.

He argued that only a Nana-Bawumia government can fix the countrys ailing economy.

The Di Miiya demo came at a time when President John Mahama was expected to begin campaign activities in the region.

Police in the region had officially written to them to suspend the demonstration due to the presidents visit.
A statement signed by the Communications Minister Dr Omane Boamah said the decision was taken on the advice of the Council of State and was on compassionate grounds.

READ ALSO: Montie 3 Pardon

The Council is required to consider and advise the President or any other authority in respect of any appointment which is required by the constitution or any other law to be made in accordance with the advice of, or in consultation with the Council.

The council, upon request or on its own initiative is to consider and make recommendations on any matter being considered or dealt with by the President, a Minister of State, or any other authority established by the Constitution.

Below are the current members of the Council of State:

Mrs. Cecilia Johnson, Presidential Appointee

Mr. Henry Martey Newman, Presidential Appointee

Okogyeman Kwaku Gyamprah, Presidential Appointee

Tutulewura Rashid Sulemana Mahama, Presidential Appointee

Awoamefia of Anlo, Togbe Sri III, Presidential Appointee

Nana Baffuor Osei Asibey II, Debuosehene, Presidential Appointee

Mr. David Adeenze Kanga, Presidential Appointee

Mrs. Ama Benyiwa-Doe, Presidential Appointee

Sir. Dr. Edward Nminyour Gyader, Presidential Appointee

Opanyin Pastor Abraham Kwaku Adusei, Presidential Appointee

Dr. Rabiatu Deinyo Ammah, Presidential Appointee

Mr. George Kofi Dadzie, Representing the Western Region

Dr. Percival Afred Kuranchie, Representing the Central Region

Mr. Emmanuel Adzei Anang, Representing the Greater Accra Region

Torgbui Binah Lawluvi VI, Representing the Volta Region

Nana Kodua Kesse II, Representing the Eastern Region

Vo-Naa Alhaji Baba Muhammed Bawah, Representing the Northern Region

Rt. Rev. Dr. Jacob Kofi Ayeebo, Representing the Upper East Region

Nana Saa Gyamfuaa II, Representing the Brong Ahafo Region

Nana Asiama Poku Afrifa II, Representing the Ashanti Region

Alhaji Seidu Bhat Braimah, Representing the Upper West Region

Wulugunana Naa Professor John S. Nabila, President of the National House Chiefs

Christopher Kobla Dewornu, Former Inspector General of Police

Lt. General Seth Kofi Obeng (Rtd.), Former Chief of Defence Staff

Background

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 lives of Supreme Court judges who sat on the Abu Ramadan and Gary Nimako versus the Electoral Commission case.

A petition book was subsequently opened by pro-government group Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP) to collect signatures of Ghanaians to implore the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers to free the three contemnors.
According to the PPP, the president has proven weak amidst pressure from party members whose intentions are based on sentiments and emotions without looking at the interest of the state.

READ ALSO: Montie 3 Pardon

The president, late on Monday, August 22, 2016, freed the three men.

A statement signed by the Communications Minister Dr Omane Boamah said the decision was taken on the advice of the Council of State and was on compassionate grounds.

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 lives of Supreme Court judges who sat on the Abu Ramadan and Gary Nimako versus the Electoral Commission case.

READ ALSO: Montie 3 Pardon

A petition book was subsequently opened by pro-government group Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP) to collect signatures of Ghanaians to implore the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers to free the three contemnors.

After spending 27 days in jail, the three can now heave a sigh of relief as they have been granted a pardon.

However, the PPP believes not all council members were on the same page with the President and his NDC appointees.

We therefore call upon members of the council of state to come out clearly on this matter in order to set records straight. May our conscience be the better judge, the statement added.

Below is the full statement:

The Presidents decision to pardon the Montie 3 is in bad faith and will remain a scar on our democratic credentials. The President has proven weak amidst pressure from party members whose intentions are based on sentiments and emotions without looking at the interest of the state. By exercising his powers per article 72 to pardon the three contemnors, the President has rendered the Judicial services toothless and ineffective.

The history and tradition of the NDC regarding alleged murder of judges, victimization of journalists and threats to judges (there are many ways to kill a cat) recently was enough deterrent for John Mahama to thread with caution not hasten to destroy the little credibility the NDC chalked under the watch of his predecessor, the late Professor J.E.A Mills.

1 Corrithians 10:23 of the Holy Bible says that All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. In fact, the President may have acted constitutionally but has tempered with the powers of the judiciary which will go a long way to affect the work of the judges in future. The prerogative right of mercy granted by the President was uncalled for and untimely.

The Progressive Peoples Party is also disappointed in the council of state regarding their role and advised to the President. The PPP is sure not all council members were on the same page with the President and his NDC appointees. We therefore call upon members of the council of state to come out clearly on this matter in order to set records straight. May our conscience be the better judge.

We reiterate our pledge of manning a just and disciplined society when elected into power; where laws are enforced without the consideration of party colourization and sympathy to cronies and political henchmen and women. The President has committed a political suicide and the people of Ghana must bury his political ambitions come December 7, 2016.
According to him, the presidents decision to grant pardon to the Montie 3 shows that he is only president for the NDC.

Hes only acted professionally. We have all said this is an NDC affair, the Montie 3, the Radio Gold, the Montie station, the personalities involved, the ministers who were signing petition books and all that; I think NDC affair. So I am not surprised, the council of state and all that, they are all NDC, Ayikoi Otoo said on Accra-based TV3.

READ ALSO:

The president, late on Monday, August 22, 2016, freed the three men.

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 lives of Supreme Court judges who sat on the Abu Ramadan and Gary Nimako versus the Electoral Commission case.

A petition book was subsequently opened by pro-government group Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP) to collect signatures of Ghanaians to implore the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers to free the three contemnors.

After spending 27 days in jail, the three can now heave a sigh of relief as they have been granted a pardon.
The president, late on Monday, August 22, 2016, freed the three men.

A statement signed by the Communications Minister Dr Omane Boamah said the decision was taken on the advice of the Council of State and was on compassionate grounds.

However, the NPP in a statement signed by Director of Communications, Nana Akomea said the decision by the president might put the lives of judges in danger.

We are indeed disappointed in the president of the Republic His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for this singular act which appears to be an endorsement of behaviours unacceptable in our society," the statement said.

We wish to also demand that the president takes steps to reverse the decision reached as it stands to open our judiciary to attacks that would not benefit this country, the statement added.

READ ALSO: Montie 3 Pardon

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 lives of Supreme Court judges who sat on the Abu Ramadan and Gary Nimako versus the Electoral Commission case.

A petition book was subsequently opened by pro-government group Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP) to collect signatures of Ghanaians to implore the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers to free the three contemnors.

After spending 27 days in jail, the three can now heave a sigh of relief as they have been granted a pardon.

Below is the full statement:
This means they spent 27 days in jail.

The infamous Montie trio have been pardoned by the President. The trio were initially supposed to serve a four-month jail term after they were sentenced by the Supreme Court on July 27, 2016.

READ ALSO: NDC gurus signs petition to free Montie 3

Subsequently, a petition was opened by pro-government group Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP) to collect signatures of Ghanaians to implore the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers to free the three contemnors. The petition was signed by government officials and people from various walks of life. Okudzeto Ablakwa was one of the persons who signed the petition.
The General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia said It has never been the practice that when that power is exercised, you wish to find out the justification.

The President has consulted with the Council of State and that is all that he needs to do. There is no requirement of the president explaining why he had mercy for one person or the other so the President doesnt owe anybody any explanation, Asiedu Nketia added.

READ ALSO: Montie 3 Pardon

Asiedu Nketia further indicated that the on-going debates on the Presidents decision were needless. Reactions have been coming from politicians and many Ghanaians both from the traditional media and social media.

However AsieduNketia said in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM said The President has acted within the remit of his powers. That is all. I dont think it deserves the level of debate that is going on at all.

He indicated that President Mahama under Article 72 has been given that power and all Presidents in Ghana have had occasion to exercise it. It is called a prerogative of mercy.

He was quick to add that the remittance does not absolve them of their crime. He said that the pardon was not based on justice or any argument. It doesnt mean that the beneficiaries are not guilty or anything. In fact, if they are not guilty, then they dont need mercy. Mercy is granted to somebody who is guilty.
One of the lawyers for the three George Loh said the President only exercised his constitutional powers.

Backing his colleague, Edudzi Tamakloe who spoke to Accra-based Citi FM said

READ ALSO: Mahama cracks under pressure to pardon Montie 3

He further argued that he does not believe President Mahama has erred by granting pardon to the three even though a Ghanaian citizen, Elikplim L. Agbemava, filed a suit seeking an interlocutory injunction to restrain the President from exercising his prerogative of mercy to free the three contemnors.

But Edudzi Tamakloe said he believes no legal advice has been given to the President on the matter. I personally believe the President hasnt been advised legally on this matter. I, for now, want to associate myself with my client in this excitement in the remission that they have gotten.
The president, late on Monday, August 22, 2016, freed the three men.

Some sections of the general public have criticised the president for his decision, saying it undermines the authority of the judiciary.

READ ALSO: Montie 3 Pardon

But in a statement, Franklin Cudjoe argues that the President is caught between a mutating and howling gang of party activists who are on the campaign trail, getting their hands dirty for the elections and on his behalf and they have bared their teeth at him; and then the very few perceived uppity in the party who urged caution and good counsel.

What will you do in the face of this conundrum? The President, through the press statement released seemed to have balanced the act, politically and legally well. Remission, legally allowed but forced on him by party and wise counsel to the released activists not to sin again. Let's hope they are of good behaviour, he said.

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 lives of Supreme Court judges who sat on the Abu Ramadan and Gary Nimako versus the Electoral Commission case.

A petition book was subsequently opened by pro-government group Research and Advocacy Platform (RAP) to collect signatures of Ghanaians to implore the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers to free the three contemnors.
The company gave weak economic growth and clashes with regulators as its key reasons for the decision to exit the market.

Sun International is yet another South African-based company to clash with authorities in Nigeria after telecoms group MTN was fined for not disconnecting users with unregistered SIMs.

Sun Internationals exit follows that of food and clothing retailer, Woolworths and Truworths, as well as Tiger Brands, who sold its loss-making Nigerian business to Dangote Industries.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The actor can now be called a single man after paying a visit to a New Jersey courthouse.

TMZ reports Chris and now ex-wife MalaakCompton both appeared on Monday August 22, 2016 before a judge, finalizing their divorce.

The couple who got married in 1996 and have 2 kids, ages 12 and 14, have not disclosed the terms of their settlement and the divorce case has been sealed.

Meanwhile, Rock has been dating Nigerian/American Arrow actress Megalyn Echikunwoke for a couple of months now.

The duo were spotted at the St. Bart's Witand again at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy bash on Sunday February 17, 2016 in LosAngeles.
The Dark Man X who was a ferocious, fierce and gravel-voiced in the late 90s to the aughts is a shadow of himself. Pardon the cliche but thats the best way to describe

The Ruff Ryders frontman speech is slurred, fast and for most parts inaudible. DMX is now a contrast of a man whose voice commanded attention and represented authority and power. The legendary rapper has a colourful history with drug use but beyond his addiction, there is more that has held DMX back.

Yesterday (August 22, 2016) it was announced that DMX had welcomed his fifteenth child. DMX who recently spent 6 months in jail over a $400k child support debt welcomed his baby boy, Exodus on Friday, August 19, 2016.

According to TMZ, the former 'Ruff Ryder' rapper missed the delivery of his fifteenth child because he was in Arizona when Exodus was born. He, however, flew to New York for the baby's first night in the world. DMX's baby mama is his longtime girlfriend Desiree, who welcomes her first child.

ALSO READ: DMX set to be ordained as a pastor

Fifteen kids for a man like DMX is nothing short of a disaster. Once the world's most famous rapper DMX has tumbled further and further into oblivion. To say DMX is talented is an understatement. In 1999 he became the first rapper to drop two number one rap albums in one year.

Unfortunately his relationship with drugs which started years before he became a rap star cut short his time at the top. Today DMX is not a relic but a sad symbol of what could have been. Always the Godly man DMX has been in a constant battle with his darker side and desires.

In February 2016, DMX collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital. The rapper's management reportedly revealed that he had suffered an asthma attack but gossip blog, TMZ, reports that the rapper was in far worse a condition than they let on. DMX had reportedly been found without breath or pulse, which are signs that point to a drug overdose.
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!
This was disclosed on Tuesday, August 23, 2016, by Navy Capt. Ibrahim Nurudeen, the commandant, Nigerian Navy School of Health Sciences in Offa, Kwara.

Olalekan was arrested with an accomplice for using an identity card registered with the Nigeria Army to extort money from an unsuspecting man.

According to Nurudeen, the chemistry between residents of the area and the naval command led to the arrest of the suspects, who were trying to cash money at the bank before their arrest.

They disguised as army personnel to deceive their victim and in the process, collected a cheque for N20, 000 from him."

They had also gone to the branch of the Union Bank in the community, in an attempt to cash the said amount."

But for the security synergy that existed between the Navy and the community, they were promptly arrested.
He has now been given a 24-hours ultimatum to reveal himself and return the amount he took from the travelers who have been affected by the incident.

Abdulrazaq Muhammed, the Public Relations Officer of the board confirmed the story. He also mentioned that Mohammed had been working as an ad-hoc staff with the establishment for a period of three years, prior to the incident.

Offering his comments on the matter, the Nassarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, advised the Hajj pilgrims to be good ambassadors of the state as they travel to the holy land.

ALSO READ: Fake Pilgrim Board member docked over N15m scam

He expressed anger over the incident, as well as his commitment to ensuring that that the offender faces the consequences of his crime if he does not return the money within the period stated.

This is the kind of act and perception we dont want in the holy land where we are supposed to go and seek Allahs mercy and the cleansing of our souls."

I am very disappointed and angry that such is happening."

The young man is one Sagir Mohammed from Azara in the Awe Local Government Area."

He collected money from about 20 innocent pilgrims and disappeared."

I am disappointed as this situation is worrisome and embarrassing."

Stealing is a crucial offence, hence the need to emphasize it."
This years campaign tagged Shape your City is aimed at transforming great cities while broadening the imagination of the new generation city dwellers, inspiring them to contribute their quota to improving their cities.

Heineken is taking this opportunity to call on everyone to visit http://www.heineken.com/ng to share ideas to shape the city of their dreams.

To achieve the #ShapeYourCity campaign, Heineken Nigeria partners with City Shapers, individuals known for using their skills in creating one-of-kind experiences to make their cities more enjoyable for dwellers.

They are urban visionaries who have by small actions of their own, contributed to shaping cities across Nigeria.

The selected City Shapers include: Bolanle Austen-Peters, Founder of Nigerias foremost cultural hub, Terra Kulture; Theo Lawson, Architect of the acclaimed Freedom Park and Kalakuta Museum; and Kenneth Gyang, Director of award winning films Confusion Na Wa and Blood & Henna.

Globally, Heineken is committed to making great cities even greater and we are glad to include Nigeria in this movement. said Ngozi Nkwoji, Senior Brand Manager, Heineken Nigeria.

This years theme of shaping cities is focused on encouraging people to contribute to their city as Heineken believes that the smallest of gestures have the potential to bring about unexpected transformation to our Nigerian cities.

As part of the campaign, Heineken has also launched a series of limited Heineken City Edition bottles and cans, each bearing the name of renowned cities across the globe including 10 Nigerian cities namely Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Enugu, Benin, Warri, Kaduna, Aba and Onitsha.

Heineken, is reaching out to city dwellers across Nigeria to share their ideas for improving great cities.

At the end of the campaign, the winning idea(s) will be executed by Heineken Nigeria while engaging City Shapers and other passionate urban explorers across the country to help make the project a reality.

To stand a chance to have your project executed in the Heineken #ShapeYourCity campaign, visit the website http://www.heineken.com/ng to submit city shaping ideas now!

You can also use the hashtag #ShapeYourCity across all social media platforms to contribute your ideas towards transforming cities in Nigeria.

About Heineken

In 2014, Heineken launched a brand new platform  CITIES. This a platform designed to foster the relationship between the brand and the cities it operates in, bringing it closer to consumers and their cities.

The Heineken brand is available across 192 countries across the globe and is the worlds most international premium beer brand.

To follow Heineken on Twitter visit www.twitter.com/heineken and to become a fan on Facebook go to www.facebook.com/heineken.

To view videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/heineken.

Enjoy Heineken Responsibly

Heineken continues to integrate its responsible consumption program into all activities. 'Enjoy Heineken Responsibly (EHR),' our global brand-led approach to promote responsible consumption, first launched in 2004.

Whilst the Enjoy Heineken responsibly is the flagship of our commitments, we are of course promoting responsible consumption throughout our brand portfolio.

As an industry leader, we believe we should lead by example, playing an active role in promoting responsible and moderate consumption of alcohol.
This was revealed by its director for Special Duties, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, August 23, 2016.

In the interview, Jimoh disclosed that the consumption of harmful alcoholic substances by the youths in the society has had an exponential effect on the increase on crime rates, as such drinks spur them to misbehave.

Drinking alcohol is bad enough and people are always advised to take it in moderation; so, the danger associated with taking a fake drink can only be imagined,

We have found that the youths rely on such drinks to gather enough courage to commit all manners of atrocities like armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, killing and the rest."

To combat this, Jimoh explained that NAFDAC has increased its efforts in stopping activities that promotes drunkenness through raids and bylaws.

Focus has been in areas such as Edo and Delta States, which produce drinks that are known to harm vital organs of the body.

ALSO READ: Fake pharmacist arraigned in court for selling counterfeit drugs

We have, therefore, continued to intensify our campaigns and that has resulted into some states coming up with bylaws that banned some alcoholic beverages."

We have also raided production and drinking points of some of these dangerous drinks, especially in Edo and Delta States, because the drinks have damaged many livers, kidneys and other vital organs of the body."

Speaking further on the menace of alcohol, the special duties director also commented that regular consumption has rendered many youths unproductive.

Agriculture is an area of economic growth that requires energy and youthfulness, but the circulation of harmful drinks have robbed the sector of the needed manpower.

They have also led to the gradual decline in the health status of many youths and totally destroyed their capacity to contribute to societal development,
Chinakwe, also known as Joachim Iroko, was arraigned in the court by the police on a one-count charge of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace, in a case with suit number MOT/617c/2016.

According to the police prosecutor, Inspector Itaita Ebibomini, the accused committed the offence on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at the Hausa section of Ketere Market in Sango-Ota in the Ota Magisterial District, where he allegedly paraded the dog with the offending inscription on its body around the area, in a bid to incite his neighbours.

The charge read:

That you, Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, and others still at large, on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at about 5.30pm at the Ketere area, Sango, in the Ota Magisterial District, did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause breach of the peace, by writing a name, Buhari, on a dog and parading same in the Hausa section of Ketere Market, Sango, thereby, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 249 (d) of the Criminal Law of Ogun State, Nigeria, 2016.

When the charge was read to him, Chinakwe, represented by his counsel, U. Michael, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Michael pleaded that the accused should be granted bail since the offence is a bailable one and the Chief Magistrate, B. J. Ojikutu, admitted him to bail in the sum of N50,000, with two sureties in like sum, adding that the sureties must be regular taxpayers in the state, before adjourning the case till September 19, 2016.
It was gathered that Galadima, said to be a serial rapist, had lured the pupil into the staff room after closing hours, and defiled her, before threatening to beat her up if she dared told her parents of what he did to her.

However, on getting home, the little told her father, Hashimu Mohammed, what her teacher did to her and her father reported the incident at the Faskari Police Division, leading to Galadimas arrest.

The serial rapist was subsequently arraigned before a Katsina Magistrates Court where the Magistrate ordered that he be remanded in prison custody the next adjourned date of September 26, 2016.

A police source revealed that the suspect was also being investigated on five other rape cases.
It was gathered that on August 8, 2016, the attackers who were dressed in white garments pretending to be mourners, attacked the military post, killing the soldiers before carting away ammunition and a gunboat belonging to the military.

But after a few weeks of intensive search for the perpetrators of the crime, the suspects were tracked down at Olugbobiri community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, following a tipoff and during a shootout that ensued as they resisted the arrest, two of them were killed while the other two were arrested.

During interrogation, they confessed to being the gang that attacked the military post and narrated how they carried out the attack. Those arrested were later handed over to the 'Operation Delta Safe Command of the Nigerian Army in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Nicholas Azinge, in a statement on Monday in Asaba, said that the state recorded one death from Lassa fever after a medical doctor in the state died from the disease.

"On Aug. 18, 2016, one case of Lassa fever was reported in Delta State. The confirmed case was a medical doctor resident in Asaba who hailed from Anambra State.

"He was first admitted in a private Hospital in the state and was later referred to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State.

"The patients condition deteriorated and he died after three hours on admission, Azinge said.

The commissioner said that blood sample earlier collected from the victim was confirmed to be positive for Lassa fever after laboratory analysis at the Institute of Lassa Fever, Irrua in Edo State.

He also disclosed that following the incident, the state government took immediate action to forestall the spread of the disease by shutting down the late doctors hospital in Umuaji quarters in Asaba.

"Following the discovery, we also ensured that the hospital where he was treated at Bonsaac area was also shut down and fumigated.

"His wifes blood sample was taken and tested at the Institute of Lassa fever; it, however, came back negative.

"So far, a total of 32 persons have been placed on surveillance; These include 11 persons from the immediate family of the deceased.

"Eighteen persons at the private Hospital where the patient was first admitted and 3 other persons who made contact with the deceased, Azinge said.

The commissioner also disclosed that two local government Disease Surveillance Officers in Oshimili South and Oshimili North were actively involved as part of the state response team.

"The Surveillance Officers have been monitoring the temperature of those under surveillance and this will be done for a period of 21 days.

"The State Lassa Fever Response Team has been reactivated while sensitisation of health workers in the state is ongoing.

Azinge said the health workers were being sensitised to the need for preventive measures when managing infectious cases.

According to him, the ministry has also embarked on awareness creation through the mass media, to enlighten the public on the mode of transmission of the disease and the preventive measures, to forestall its spread.

ALSO READ: More deaths, cases of Lassa fever recorded in Nigeria

The commissioner also said that prevention materials had been sent the various local governments prone to high-risk disease outbreak in the state.

"Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), non-contact thermometers and other items have been distributed to the Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers in all of the 25 local governments by the state Ministry of Health.

"The drug, Rivabirin has been procured for immediate case management while the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Medical Association in Delta have been contacted and are collaborating with us, he said.
Dr Okechukwu Ossai, the state Chief Surveillance Officer, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday.

Ossai said that since last week when the outbreak of the disease and deaths were confirmed in Anambra, the Ministry of Healths surveillance team had been put on alert.

NAN reports that the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, had on Friday confirmed the death of a doctor and two others from Lassa fever in Anambra.

"The ministry is not leaving anything to chance since there is high daily mobility of residents of our state to Anambra and vice versa and we share a near seamless boundary with Anambra.

"We have been working hard since last week on re-training, case definition and diagnosis of Lassa fever with the council and community health surveillance officers of the ministry.

"We have also deployed our health focal-point persons and communicators to the boundary communities.

"We have taken vital positions and preparation without being loud about it in order not to raise public panic or unnecessary alarm or rumour, Ossai said.

He said that the ministry would send its health communicators to communities within the state boundary with Anambra to educate people on the disease and channel of reporting any suspected case or person.

Ossai said that the ministry had also stocked protective gears to be distributed to the local government areas as well as surveillance and health focal-point officers to avoid repeat of incident at NAUTH.
Kibaku is the native language of Chibok local government, the community where over 200 secondary schoolgirls were abducted by the Boko Haram sect during the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan in April 2014.

"Let them (federal government) declare us not Nigerians so that the world would rally around us," he said.

"They sit at the gate of help and they did not help. Please give us a chance and allow people who are ready to help us. Give us a chance so that we go back to these girls. If we perish, we perish," he said.

Tsambido while speaking at the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) protest in Abuja on Monday, August 22, 2016 said the Chibok community regret voting the All Progressive Congress (APC) into power.

He added that the President Buhari had failed to fulfill his promise of securing the release of the girls after a year since he took over power on May 29, 2015.

"We voted the current president whole-heartedly under the promise that he would bring back these girls.

"Professor was campaigning that General Buhari would go to Sambisa they promised us that General would go to Sambisa if he comes to power.

"He promised that two weeks was enough to get back our girls. Now it is more than one year, and its just excuses and lies, it is not corruption?"

Addressing Buhari as "Mai Geskia" ( a Hausa phrase meaning'True One'), Maureen Kabir, a member of the BBOG group said the president was yet to fulfill the saying that "he was a man of integrity and unquestionable character."

"President Buhari on the day of his inauguration said the war against Boko Harm would not be said to have been won until the Chibok girls are released.

"Today, the Chief of Air Staff, Sadiq Abubakar is saying they do not know where the Chibok girls are.

"The same federal government has said time without number that Boko Haram has been defeated.

"Mai Geskia (President Buhari) said he would visit Borno during the campaign. Today, all we hear is excuses from the same president who the Chibok community voted for wholeheartedly," she said.

Speaking to the police officers who were ordered to prevent the protesters from entering the Villa, Miss Kabir said: "The same government has failed you. The barracks you live in is nothing to write home about. You cannot compare where you stay to the residence of the president and his ministers.

"We are our own government in Nigeria providing everything for ourselves; from light to food, and even security.

Someday, you all (security officers) will join us," she added.

Esther Yakubu, mother of Dorcas Yakubu (the girl who spoke in the newly released video of the girls) expressed dissatisfaction over the communication gap which between the federal government and parents of the Chibok girls.

"We are ready to receive our daughters in whichever form and shape they would be released. We are ready to reshape them back to what we all would be proud of," she said.

Mrs. Yakubu noted that the recent video released by the insurgents should provoke the government to rescue the remaining 218 girls.

Oby Ezekwesili, convener of the BBOG group assured parents of the abducted girls that the movement would continue in its advocacy.

She stated that the march to the presidential villa would continue every 72 hours until Buhari speaks to them on plans to rescue the 218 abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
The former minister and Bring Back Our Girls campaigner made the call via a statement released on August 22, 2016.

The statement reads:

I woke up yesterday to read a fictitious report credited to me by Sunday Tribune that I claimed President Muhammadu Buhari does not deserve to be president. And on the basis of the fiction weaved together by a reporter, he let loose one of those now-very-common indecorous and rumour- inspired verbal assault from presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu.

However, today, in one of those uncommon but very professional decisions, Tribune newspaper not only recanted on the story but also apologized to me. While I thank the newspaper for toeing the path of honour, I hope Mallam Garba Shehu will also be decent enough to admit his error of judgement and tender an unreserved apology for his falsehood and unwarranted attacks at me.

Notwithstanding, it is important not to lose sight of the real issue which is about the fate of 2000 young Nigerians who were employed into the Nigerian Immigration Service, after a rigorous and transparent process by the last administration, only for their services to be cynically dispensed with by the current administration. These are Nigerians from across the country.

Incidentally, I was drawn to their plight just because in driving past where they had congregated, I saw among them a friend and BBOG colleague, Hajia Aisha Yesufu, who, as it would turn out, had taken up their cause. I spoke with them briefly and I had pleaded with the president to look into their matter.

Fortunately, in correcting the earlier wrong publication, Tribune has helped to bring out what I said in its story of today as captured below:

FORMER Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, never said President Muhammadu Buhari did not deserve to be president. Our sister publication, Sunday Tribune, had attributed the statement to be part of what she said over the plight of 2,000 immigration service recruits who slept at the entrance of Aso Villa from Friday till Saturday morning.

Ezekwesili, while addressing the recruits, had said I am, therefore, appealing to the president to immediately ask the military as well as the Nigerian Immigration Service to do what is right, give justice to all these young men and women who, on the basis of merit, were appointed into positions in the NIS.

I want to say that if justice is not given to them immediately, I certainly will join them in sitting here every day until they get their justice. Justice is to be able to come to table with them.

Whatever the challenges are, let it be known, but dont let anything be done in secrecy, and let nothing be done with such opaqueness. These young people are the present of Nigeria, not just the future of Nigeria. If we dont treat our young right, we are laying ourselves up for what we already have troubling us in the country.

ALSO READ: Ezekwesili warns media over reports on rescued Chibok girl

So, I join my voice with them and I appeal to the President whom they have come to see to immediately do something about their cause.

Let me again state that the injustice that the #NigeriaImmigration2000 protesters allege needs immediate Presidential resolution considering that all other levels of authority have failed them.

If Garba Shehu was not deploying his time and talent to the wrong priorities, he should have brought the issue of 2000 disaffected young people to the President's attention when they occupied the gate of his office last Friday.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by the presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Fedmi Adesina.

According to the statement, Buhari joins the people and government of Sokoto State, the Muslim community and family members of the Sultan in celebrating the unique anniversary.

President Buhari believes that the wise counsels and support of the royal father on issues of good governance, girl-child education, infant and child mortality, and agriculture has greatly enriched his administrations efforts to improve the livelihood of Nigerians.

The President prayed that the almighty Allah will grant the Sultan good health and long life to continue in the service of humanity.
The President stated this on Tuesday, August 23, at a meeting with former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon at the Presidential villa, Abuja.

Gowon, who shared the details of his discussion with Buhari with State House Correspondents, said the President's commitment to rescuing the girls is unwavering.

He said: We discussed the general affairs of the country, the problems of the country, his fight against corruption, and all the efforts that he is making to deal with it and of course, the impatience of the public to see results of the fight which have yet to be found, since people have not been prosecuted yet, that would soon begin.

These are some of the issues we talked about. One appreciates his efforts and determination to rid the country of corruption, which is one of the problems that have held the country down and has created serious set backs to the country both nationally and internationally and then, of course, the current situation about the Chibok girls and the efforts the government is making to rescue them. He said the government needed to get credible information about the whereabout of the girls and also those that would assist the government achieve that.

I believe that the government is certainly determined to ensure that a number of these girls are brought back home safely as soon as possible. To achieve that, certain credibility must be established of our sources on information on their location, but as at now, no one knows where these girls are, and all this information that you have been getting, I dont know their sources, but all efforts at engaging the international media and sources are necessary so that this matter can be resolved once and for all".

On the economy crisis in the country, the elder statesman urged Nigerians to be patient with the Buhari administration as the government is doing everything possible to solve the hardship.

Gowon further said: Again we talked generally on the country and efforts the government is making to give the people what they want to see that then have money, but please remember we used to sell petroleum at $ 150 per barrel, but what is it today? Its merely around $ 30 per barrel and the amount of crude oil they we used to produce over 2 million now it has gone down to about one million because of the problem we have been having when people have been blowing pipelines in the Niger Delta area.

So we have problem and there isnt enough money to be able to go round. So very soon, with the efforts the government is making to get things back to normal, making contacts with the Avengers and other aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta who are creating havoc there, we hope that all will be well soon.
The group also said it is time for Mr. President to show commitment and order troops into Sambisa forest to rescue the girls.

Chairman of Chibok community in Abuja, Mr Tsambido Hosea, added that the President promised not to rest until the Chibok girls are brought back when he was campaigning.

Hosea also said Chibok people had often voted for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but in the last election, they voted wholeheartedly for the current President because of his promise to rescue our girls.

Prof. Osinbajo promised us during campaign that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari would lead and go to the Sambisa Forest and rescue our girls, but nearly two years later, they have not done anything. Is that not corruption? If this government is not willing to bring back our girls, let them tell us and declare us non-Nigerians so that the world can rally round us.

Let them declare Chibok people non-Nigerians so that the world can help them. People are ready to help us. We regret our votes for Buhari. If they cannot help us, let them tell us so that we would go for our girls. If we perish, we perish.

Also, Esther Yakubu, the mother of one of the Chibok girls in the video released by Boko Haram Sunday, August 14, 2016, said Buharis administration is more clueless than Goodluck Jonathans.

Members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group marched to the Presidential Villa on Monday, August 22, 2016.

A retired Captain, Sunday Adoba, has revealed that 40 Chibok girls were handed to Mala Yamari,adding that the military knows the location of the abducted students.
Agbese in a letter to President Buhari described the offer of the prisoner's swap as a "poisoned chalice."

He stated that the release of over 1000 Boko Haram detainees would pose a serious security threat to the country.

"These groups and individuals that have been canvassing a swap of Boko Haram prisoners for the abducted Chibok Girls do so without regards for the penchant for recidivism among terrorists like any other type of criminals," Agbese said.

"Military records would probably show that some of these people we are being asked to free are in incarceration because it was not their first time of being tied to terror.

"Mr. President, recidivism is difficult to measure, particularly so in a country like Nigeria where we are still working to bring our statistics and research capabilities up to date.

"If Nigeria frees 1000 Boko Haram detainees there is a fair chance that we are putting anything in the range of 300 terrorists back on the streets. It took fewer than that number to abduct the girls in the first place," he added.

READ ALSO: Bring Back Our Girls: Police stop protesters from entering Aso Rock

Agbese said not many of those released would return to being farmers, artisans or becoming informants to the security agencies.

Meanwhile, Hosea Tsambido, an internally displaced person (IDP) and chairman, Kibaku area development association in Abuja, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of preventing humanitarian assistance from international aid agencies to Chibok and other areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Tsambido who lamented the failure of the federal government to rescue the remaining 218 schoolgirls advised President Buhari to disown the Chibok community "if he cannot" help them.
Speaking to NAN on the telephone, leader of the missing girls parents who lives in Chibok, Yakubu Nkeki, said that the parents agreed at a meeting last week that they would not participate in the march.

All we want is our missing daughters and we are willing to work with anybody who will help us find our daughters, Nkeki said.

He added that they did not want to antagonise the government which is in the best position to help them find their missing daughters.

We do not want to do anything that the government will not be happy about, Yana Galang, the women leader said.

We are not after any organisation that is against any party or religion, and we are supporting the federal government to help us release our girls, she added.

Also speaking, the secretary of the parents association, Zannah Lawan, said: Our own is that we want our daughters.

"Anyone who has the ability to help us to find our daughters is the person we will work with."

ALSO READ: Buhari urged to reject Boko Haram swap
Members of the group marched to the Presidential Villa in protest on Monday, August 22, 2016, but were refused entry by police officers stationed at the gate.

The BBOG members had demanded an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari in order to register their anger at the governments continued failure to rescue the missing girls, who were abducted on April 14, 2014.

The refusal of police officers to allow them access the Presidential Villa caused an outburst of anger among the group and led some of them to say that they regret voting for Buhari.

They tell us that our girls seen in the latest video was merely an arrangement. No one has spoken to the family of any of the Chibok girls since the last video was released, by the terrorists. We regret our votes. We regret it, Chairman of the Chibok Community, Hosea Tsambido said.

Tsambido was speaking of the August 14 release of a video showing about 50 of the girls standing with a Boko Haram terrorist.

The Chibok community and the BBOG group have legitimate grievances, but, as author Jayce ONeal said, doing the right thing the wrong way is still the wrong thing.

One does not just march up to the presidential residence and demand to see the president after giving one weeks notice.

If every aggrieved group was allowed to march up to the president whenever and however they liked, then he would never be able to lead and the country would be thrown into chaos.

Some people might argue that were in a democracy, but even in the United States of America, protesters stay outside the White House, and attempting to do otherwise would be risking arrest.

The continued captivity of the Chibok girls is of great concern to the whole world, and the Buhari administration certainly could have handled things better, but we must call a spade a spade and do things the right way.
According to Punch, Ubangari was killed on his motorbike while coming back from his evangelism routine.

This is coming after the state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai visited Godogodo and Sanga in Jemaa and Sanga Local Governments Areas, to ascertain the extent of damage in an attack carried out earlier by the Fulani herdsmen.

A source who also spoke to Punch, said We were happy that Governor Nasir el-Rufai visited and assured us of improved security and that the killers would be found and punished.

To our shock, Pastor Luka Ubangari was ambushed, shot and killed as he was riding his motorcycle after an evangelical visit to Golkofa. He was killed by Fulani men who were out to remove us from our ancestral lands.

Also the Fulani herdsmen reportedly killed two people, Gambo Sule, 38, and Benjamin Auta, 35, during an attack on Ningon community.

Speaking further, the President of the Ningon Community Development Association, Nuhu Tukura, said the police did not respond quickly to their distress call.

Tukura At 8:45pm Sunday night, Mr. Gambo Sule, 38, Mr. Benjamin Auta, 35, were killed by unknown herdsmen.

We are seriously troubled by all these happenings. Now, we dont even know what we can do to have rest. Our farms, we cannot go, and our houses we cannot live in. What else shall we do?

We called the police immediately the incident occurred around 8:45pm on Sunday night, but they did not come until around 7:30, this morning, (Monday). We are pleading with the state government to help us with security and assist us in feeding. Most farmers are afraid to go to the farm and there will be food scarcity problem this year and the next.

The Kaduna state command Public Relations Officer, Aliyu Usman however disagreed with the villagers, saying only one person died.

Recently, the leader of the Fulani community in Enugu state, Ardo Basso revealed that it is compulsory for herdsmen to carry machetes and daggers
You inherited a big problem, and we will support you in any way we can. We will work with you very closely. We dont want to interfere, but will offer opportunities as you require, Kerry was quoted as saying.

Kerry stated this on Tuesday, August 23, during his meeting with Buhari at the State House in Abuja.

In a statement issued by the Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, the President assured Kerry that the anti-corruption crusade in the country will be institutionalised to outlive his administration.

Buhari was quoted as saying: We will insist on the standards were establishing. We are laying down administrative and financial instructions in the public service that must be obeyed. Any breach will no longer be acceptable.

We will retrain our staff so that they understand the new orientation. And those who run afoul of these rules will be prosecuted, no matter who is involved. But we will be fair, just and act according to the rule of law.

Anyone perceived corrupt is innocent till we can prove it. We will work very hard to establish documentation for successful prosecution, and those in positions of trust will sit up.

Speaking on the Boko Haram insurgency, Buhari thanked the US for both hard and soft military help.

The training and intelligence that we could not muster ourselves, we received. The training has made Boko Haram less of a threat to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region, while the military hardware has given our troops added confidence.

Although militancy in the Niger Delta has impacted negatively on the economy and affected the positive intentions of international and local investors, government is showing restraint not to use real force except when constrained to do so, the President said.

Kerry also commended Buhari's courage in the fighting against corruption, saying: We applaud what you are doing. Corruption creates a ready-made playing field for recruiting extremists.
The US Secretary of State said further that the battle against Boko Haram can only be won when the government tackles the reason why people join the group.

We also know that beating Boko Haram on the battlefield is only the beginning of what we must do, Kerry said while giving a speech in Sokoto.

Building public trust in government also requires cooperation from the military and law enforcement. Extremism cant be defeated through repression or fear, he added.

ALSO READ: US Secretary of State arrives in Sokoto

Kerry will also meet with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja to discuss counter-terrorism efforts, the Nigerian economy, the fight against corruption and human rights issues.
According to Punch, the US Secret Service advance party were seen at the Presidential Villa making sure everything was in place.

Buhari and other members of his cabinet will welcome Kerry at the Presidential Villa by 3pm, according to reports.

Kerry is expected to speak with Buhari on the existing bilateral agreements between the US and Nigeria, Boko-Haram and human rights, and other issues on the front burner.

After meeting with Buhari, the US Secretary of State will also meet with some Governors from the North.

The US Embassy information office, in a statement issued in Abuja, said Kerry will meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss counter-terrorism efforts, the Nigerian economy, the fight against corruption and human rights issues.

In Sokoto, he will deliver a speech on the importance of resilient communities and religious tolerance in countering violent extremism.

In Abuja, the secretary will meet with a group of adolescent girls working to change community perceptions that devalue the role of girls in society.

He will also meet with northern governors and religious leaders.

John Forbes Kerry is the 68th United States Secretary of State and former Senator.
According to Leadership newspaper, Kwankwaso's house was invaded by a combat-ready police officers on Tuesday, August 23, to stop an alleged plan by the former governor to conduct a mass wedding.

Kwankwasos Lodge Road residence was also said to have been sealed. The house serves as the headquarters of Kwankwasiyya Movement.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Magaji Majia, said police did not issue a permit for the mass wedding.

We have directed our men to seal the residence, following an intelligent report that there is plan to conduct mass wedding at the house, Majia said.

However, a source at the Kwankwasiyya Movement was quoted to have said the mass wedding had already taken place.

The mass wedding was conducted on Monday secretly, with only the bride and groom and next of kin in attendance, including some selected Islamic scholars, the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

Pulse recalls that Kwankwaso and his predecessor, Governor Abdulahi Ganduje have been 'sworn' enemies since the latter took office.
Ona Ogilegwu, NDLEA Commandant in Borno, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that the incident occurred during an operation in Gwange area of Maiduguri.

"In an effort to arrest a notorious baron, four men of the command were involved in a water mishap after diving into the Gwange River in pursuit of the suspect.

"The sad incident led to the death of one of our officers in the hospital after a failed attempt to revive him.

"The survivors were discharged from hospital today, Ogilegwu.
I was on my own when they invited me to work for them. But I told them that one person cannot hold dialogue with the government, that we should look for eminent Nigerians who have the pedigree to do a good job," he said.

The moment I mentioned Professor Wole Soyinka, they became interested because, according to them, he is somebody who is not from the Niger Delta, but has a credible and detribalised personality. Right now, we are constituting the dialogue team, we are putting logistics in place. Some of the members of the team are coming from outside the country.

When you see some of them, you will even be shocked. Some of them are people who have served this country in different capacities. We are in the process. You know, this thing is not one mans business. Most of those we have contacted do not want us to disclose their names yet.

I only mentioned Soyinka to you because you remember that recently he went to Aso Rock to meet with Mr President to brief him and he said that Mr. President was happy with our proposal for peace, he added.
The article, titled Nigeria cannot overcome its gathering humanitarian crisis alone, reads:

The situation facing internally displaced people in the north-east of Nigeria is fast becoming a full-scale humanitarian crisis and Nigerian authorities and the international community have been accused of not acting quickly enough to avert disaster.

The UN has estimated that 4.4 million people in the Lake Chad region are severely food insecure, but international donors have not funded UN relief efforts to the necessary extent.

Lone voices have warned of catastrophe for some time, but efforts to address the suffering of internally displaced people and prevent humanitarian disaster have been ineffectively coordinated. Nigeria is acting to alleviate the adversity facing its people.

Emergency workers are operating on the frontline of the crisis, and the senate is leading a much improved coordination effort to overcome institutional and logistical hindrances to getting aid to the neediest.

We are urgently seeking to pass a motion to secure an additional 215m in aid to tackle the emergency, and we are engaging with humanitarian organisations and the international community to ensure food reaches those who most need it as quickly as possible.

Yet while Nigeria must do far more to coordinate relief efforts, we cannot tackle the crisis alone, just as we cannot tackle its root causes  poverty, insecurity and instability  without a concerted effort from, and renewed partnership with, the international community.

We need far greater support from overseas to ensure that, first, people are able to leave the camps and live their lives safely and securely, and, second, those who have suffered so much are effectively rehabilitated.

This crisis will not simply go away, and neither will its instigators. The UN has rightly identified the Lake Chad region as the worlds most neglected humanitarian crisis.

It is not a coincidence that this situation has developed in Borno and north-east Nigeria. The north-east has the highest poverty rate in Nigeria, and in 2013 a state of emergency was declared in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states due to the deteriorating security situation.

An international conference should be convened focusing on the crisis in north-east Nigeria and the Boko Haram threat.

While progress has been made in improving security, this is at risk of being undermined by the humanitarian situation. Poverty, malnourishment and isolation form a perfect breeding ground for Boko Haram to recruit desperate individuals and turn them into their latest weapon against humanity.

Islamic State is reportedly recruiting members from European refugee camps. Kenya has announced plans to close Dadaab, the worlds largest refugee complex, due to fears that al-Shabaab is recruiting on an unprecedented scale.

This is more than just an immediate humanitarian challenge for Nigeria. A failure to act and mobilise the full resources of the international community in relieving the pain and suffering of internally displaced people will have implications that are likely to be felt across the globe.

The international community must come together and focus its collective attention and resources. An international conference focusing on the situation in north-east Nigeria and the lingering threat of Boko Haram should be convened, similar to those held recently in London to address the crises in Somalia and Syria.

The recovery effort is underway, and aid is beginning to reach some of the most vulnerable. But improving the living conditions for Nigerians is vital. That means tackling the countrys immediate economic challenges, stabilising the currency, and getting money flowing around Nigeria again.

But it also means diversifying the economy to attract greater foreign investment to develop Nigerias fledgling but hugely promising industries. Ultimately, it means sharing the proceeds of future growth more evenly throughout the country, not least in the north-east.

Nigeria will act to address the causes of the catastrophe. The senate has advanced plans for a development commission that will initially focus on the crisis, and it has made facilitating economic growth and attracting greater investment its chief priorities.

ALSO READ: Saraki denies leaving APC for PDP
Isong shared a poster with the caption, "A nation that does not respect its culture will not have wealth' - Kishori Amonkar. It's all about culture, it's all about history. AYAMMA , the next big thing. Coming soon to cinemas nationwide. Look out for at his best!"
The ruling party made the comments via a statement released by Segun Dipe, the Media Aide to Chairman, John Oyegun.

The statement reads in part:

Due to PDPs perfidy, our countrys resources were stolen and opportunities frittered away. But instead of being contrite, the PDP is arrogantly putting itself up as the alternative to a government that is barely one year in office and has inherited a totally ruined economy. This is brazenly irresponsible.

What the nation can now testify to is that the only thing that united the PDP was their singular commitment to milking the resources of this nation dry, as evident in all the corruption cases that have now been exposed.

The PDP cannot therefore expect to move on without first taking responsibility for their shameful conduct and ignominious behaviour. The starting point in their long journey to rehabilitation is to apologise to Nigerians.

It is immoral, insensitive, unconscionable and unacceptable for the PDP to hire spin doctors to reel out some figures of GDP growth in their time that never impacted positively on the Nigerian people.

Our advice to the party chieftains is that the time is now for them to look Nigerians in the eye and say, we are sorry.
The G.O called on citizens to have faith in President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that there is no gain, without pain.

Its too early and just too soon to begin to judge. If there is anything I know about Mr. President, it is that he has a good heart. He loves this country and he wants the country to run well. But it takes time. I know we are all impatient and in a hurry and I trust we will come out of the woods.

When you are driving on a wrong direction, for example, you are going to Ibadan and you face Badagry, and you get to Cotonou and you realise you have gone in the wrong direction for too long a time, then you make a U-turn, there will be some suffering you have to go through.

Pain is part of gain. No pain no gain. The years of wastage and all that we have done wrong has finally caught up with us. All we are praying for is wisdom for this government to do things right and to do the right things so that gradually, we can begin to come out of the woods, he added.
Using his Twitter handle, he wrote: "I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric & unacceptable. I assure that the law will take its course.

Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever."

"My prayers are with the families of the victims", he added.

The crisis started after a Christian student of Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata-Mafara, made some disrespectful comments about Islam, which led to a crowd of angry Muslims descending on him.
With the attention gotten by these New-Age rappers and the genre-fusion of Hip-hop with African pop music, its easy to forget that the real Hip-hop exists far from the spotlights on blogs, the charts that inundate the media. Generally regarded as non-commercial Hip-hop, with sullen dramatic sonics, and incisive subject matter  protest art, knowledge, and the vagaries of existence. This Hip-hop, once underground, then mainstream, now respected, is still buzzing amongst the Hip-hop heads, and Modenine is its king.

With over 15 years of pure genius in his belt, Modenine is an almanack of Nigerian Hip-hop, music and everything about the music business and how the industry was grown and shaped. The most decorated artiste of the Headies (7 Lyricist On The Roll awards) and the man is credited with taking underground Hip-hop to mainstream, via his penchant for wordplay, storytelling, social commentary, humour, wit.

41 years and still pushing, Modo dropped a string of albums and mixtapes from the turn of the new millennium down to 2010. A 3-year break was observed before the return with (2013) with XYZ, and 2014s 2016 has had the rapper continue his album culture with the release of this 21-tracker; .

The album finds Modenine in all shades of Modenine; squaring with life away from the pop road now travelled by many, and the dynamics of life. Hes the polimaf, the king of these rappers, the Zen master, an elder statesman, and the man whos bringing back Hip-hop on the opening title track Insulin. He speaks about the wrong perception of his craft by the media and social commentators.

Theres the superior classic storytelling on Open your eyes, as the song swells with grief for two brothers and the pressures of lifetime dreams. My country mirrors through music, the discontent that exists in the hearts of the citizens, a collaboration with Amuta and Rockstar.

Same girl wittily explores the consistency of female demands in a relationship, even as it hints that Modenine is fed up of the materialism that rules social conversations. He follows this with a personal example of this on Bye Felicia, lending a romantic tension to the project.

Wrestling with his role in the industry, he asserts his brilliance and industry relevance on No matter what (Legendary Mode, thats what Im blessed to be, but they trying to force me out like some refugee, aint nobody rescue me). Theres an entire track dedicated to the Police and their excesses in the streets.

Modenine maintains consistency, blending menace, wit, and sly comedy with punctuations, laughs, grunts and a cocktail of backup expressions, which make for a holistic experience of music and rap.

The occasional lumbering production job, and a monotony of topics remains the albums main stumbling block. But Modenine stays true to his message, as perhaps the last-standing Hip-hop purist that Nigeria possesses and ought to revere. 41 years and still grinding, Modenines story gets another chapter.

Rating: 4/5
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos, JAMB Head of Media and Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, explained that the meeting will hold between August 22 to 26.

According to Benjamin, We are expecting a full complement of representatives from all the tertiary institutions in the country to attend the meeting.

They are expected to submit the lists of first choice candidates shortlisted for admission into the respective tertiary institutions, comprising universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

The board and all other stakeholders will collectively go through the lists to see if they had met the admission criteria.

The board, if satisfied, will ratify the lists and admission printouts will be issued to the institutions.

Benjamin said the names of successful candidates would also be uploaded on the website of respective institutions for candidates to print.

According to him, the admission letters will contain details such as admission status, school and course of study as well as duration of chosen programme.

It was also disclosed that the board will set up more examination centres in the Diaspora to cater for candidates willing to study in Nigeria.

Benjamin said the board will ensure more candidates get an opportunity to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) within and outside the country.

He said this would also ensure that the examination was brought closer to candidates with the constraints of coming down to Nigeria to sit for the examination.

We have plans of conducting this examination in more foreign countries, such as the United States, and others.

We are working with the embassies of such countries, which are our contacts for the project."
Solo Krummah was arrested with 14 others on May 9 during rallies calling for electoral reform, and died on Saturday after an operation at the Edward Francis's Small Teaching Hospital in the capital Banjul, the UDP said.

His family had not authorised any operation and there were no details on what the treatment involved or how he died, the party added in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from the government or hospital authorities.

The U.S. State Department said the United States was "deeply concerned" by Krummah's death and was "troubled" by reports of government mistreatment of detained opposition figures, including allegations of torture.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner called for an "independent investigation of all credible allegations of torture and abuse" and urged Gambia to release all political prisoners and halt its crackdown on opposition politicians.

Activists and opposition members have been staging sporadic protests, demanding reforms before December elections - a rare display of defiance against President Yahya Jammeh.

Nearly 50 protesters were arrested in April and May, including UDP party leader Ousainu Darboe and at least 18 other senior members. Eleven opposition supporters were convicted in July, with sentences ranging from fines to three years in prison.

Krummah, the UDP's deputy chairman of the Sandu Constituency in eastern Gambia, was detained in Mile 2 prison in Banjul and admitted to hospital on August 8 under armed guard, the UDP said in its statement.

"The lawyers have been consulted and will act accordingly to get to the cause of the death of Solo and for the body to be given to the party and family for a fitting burial," the UPD added.

The UDP says Sandeng was tortured to death - a charge dismissed by the government.
In the commercial centre of the capital Kinshasa, home to 12 million people, rush hour seemed lighter than usual. In the city's surrounding districts, especially opposition strongholds such as Limete, many shops were shuttered.

Police fired teargas to disperse dozens of protesters from opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS party, who threw stones and erected barricades near the party headquarters in the Kinshasa district of Limete, a Reuters witness said.

The strike appeared to have significantly less uptake than one in February over the same issue. In the eastern city of Goma and southern mining hub of Lubumbashi, where foreign firms have big investments, residents said that activity largely carried on as usual.

"I really regret seeing our Congolese brothers and sisters open their stores," said Samuel Kazadi, a motorbike taxi driver on Kinshasa's Avenue de Commerce, where several shops had their metal doors locked.

But he added: "We are waiting for Dec. 19 ... Kabila won't stay in power. The population will be in the street every day."

Elections were due to be held in November, before Kabila's mandate runs out on Dec. 19, but will be delayed as authorities enroll millions of new voters.

Kabila's opponents accuse him of dragging his feet on holding the election in order to cling to power in Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that has not seen a peaceful change of government since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Western powers are leaning on him to honour the constitution, which limits a president to two terms, and step down. They fear political tensions could reignite a regional war in the country's mineral-rich east that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003.

A government spokesman on Radio France International, whose FM station was off air locally, as it often is on opposition protest days, dismissed the strike as the work of "some radicals ... having some old fashioned fun".

African Union-appointed facilitator, Togolese diplomat Edem Kodjo, opened talks on Tuesday on the timetable for the vote.

The main opposition alliance, led by Etienne Tshisekedi, is boycotting the talks, which it sees as a delaying tactic. The talks, expected to last until Saturday, are only meant to set a schedule for further talks whose aim will eventually be to set an election timetable.

Some opposition leaders did show up for the opening session, including Tshisekedi's former chief of staff Albert Moleka and president of the CDER party, Jean-Lucien Bussa.

"Our doors remain wide open. Today or tomorrow, they can join us at any time," Kodjo said in his opening remarks.
A figure either loved or loathed by conservative voters, Sarkozy says in a forthcoming book he will join more than a dozen contenders vying for the party ticket in primaries, where former prime minister Alain Juppe will be his strongest rival.

"I felt I had the strength to lead this battle at a troubled time in our history," Sarkozy wrote on his social media pages ahead of the publication on Wednesday of "Everything for France".

Sarkozy has done little to conceal his desire to return to the Elysee Palace since returning to high-level politics in late 2014 when he took the helm of France's main centre-right party, Les Republicains.

In July his poll rating overtook Juppe's among core Les Republicains supporters, though he was still less popular among centre-right voters as a whole.

With a string of deadly Islamist attacks shaping the political discourse, Sarkozy has been scathing of Hollande's security record, urging France to get tough on immigration, crack down on Islamist militancy and halt the erosion of France's secular identity.

Courting voters tempted by France's far-right National Front, Sarkozy has laced speeches with references to national identity and blamed "cowardly leaders" for a loss of French culture.

"It wasn't that long ago that when we talked about immigration, identity and removing citizenship we were called fascists," Sarkozy told supporters in June.

"But minds have changed, the masses are rising, the people are standing up and they are saying louder and louder: 'That's enough!'"

With France in a state of emergency, Sarkozy's emphasis on national identity and the credentials to present himself as a former interior minister and experienced Commander-in-Chief may help his chances.

But legal troubles surrounding party financing and over-spending by his 2012 presidential campaign, as well as his divisive personality could trip him up.

Sarkozy credits himself with steering Europe through the financial crisis during his 2007-2012 term. But his weak performance on free-market reforms to revive the economy disappointed business leaders.

The Nov. 20 primary is the first ever to be held by France's main right-wing party. If, as expected, no candidate, wins an absolute majority a run-off vote will be held a week later.

FRACTURED SOCIALISTS

Sarkozy's announcement comes as the list of candidates to replace Hollande grows and fractures between the Socialists are getting deeper just eight months before the presidential poll.

Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll urged leftist lawmakers on Monday not to place personal ambitions before the party after former industry minister Arnaud Montebourg threw his hat into the ring, saying it was "impossible to support the current president" who had betrayed socialist values.

Montebourg split with Hollande's government in 2014 over his shift in favour of market-friendly reforms. So did former education minister Benoit Hamon and former housing minister Cecile Duflot, a Green, both of whom are also running.

But the increasingly crowded field complicates his re-election prospects should he chose to run for a second term.

A large pool of candidates, ranging from the communists to centre-left, would further dilute Hollande's support base.

Most polls show that if Hollande does run as the left's candidate, he will come third to far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen and whoever heads the main centre-right campaign.

Splits in the main parties is a gift to the National Front which hopes to convince voters it alone can offer a new form of leadership.
Finding Peace of Mind: Discover These Five Places in Europe to Unwind
Alcoa's two immature eagles have made their first flights outside of the Quad-Cities and it's all been recorded thanks to tiny transmitters that researchers attached to the two birds earlier this summer.

Known as Sky and Star, the latest offspring of Alcoa's nesting eagles Liberty and Justice flew far from their home on Alcoa's Riverdale property beginning over the weekend and on Monday, Alcoa spokesman John Riches said Tuesday.

According to Riches, the male bird, Sky, covered 111 miles in western Illinois on Monday as it flew down past Galesburg and ended up close to Stockton in Jo Daviess County. The female bird was flew to Henry County between Geneseo and Joslin, covering about 43 miles.

He added that it was the first time the eaglets had left the Alcoa property except to go fly out over the Mississippi River.

"Normally without these monitors, once they leave they're gone,'' Riches said. "It's so interesting to see what they're doing."

The birds' movements are being captured as part of the research for the Midwest Bald Eagle Project. In late May, Dr. Trish Miller, a wildlife biologist at West Virginia University, and others retrieved the birds from the Alcoa nest to band them and attach the GPS transmitters on them.

They plan to study to as many as 50 eagles to document their migration patterns and then provide data to assist in decisions on where to put man-made structures, including wind farms.

The two birds have captured the attention of fans near and far through Alcoa's Eaglecam, which has a web camera over the adults' nest and shows a life feed at Alcoa Eaglecam.

"The purpose of putting the trackers on them was to see where they go and what they do," Riches said.

The research project, in conjunction with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is studying eagles across Iowa and Illinois.

To see the Alcoa Eaglecam and its blog, visit alcoa.com/eaglecam.
Davenport-based Lee Enterprises has announced plans to sell its Provo, Utah, newspaper and digital media operations to Ogden Newspapers of Utah, LLC.

Lee, the parent company of the Quad-City Times and 44 other daily newspapers, announced that it has entered into the sales agreement. The deal includes the Daily Herald and heraldextra.com.

Financial details were not disclosed. The sale is expected to close Aug. 29.

The Daily Herald has a print circulation of about 20,000 daily and almost 27,000 Sunday. Heraldextra.com reaches about 700,000 unique visitors monthly.

"Provo is a great market and a wonderful community," Kevin Mowbray, Lee president and CEO, said in a news release. "We're confident the Daily Herald will continue to serve its readers with strong local news and information under the new ownership."

Ogden Newspapers publishes 40 daily newspapers, along with several magazines, weekly newspapers and shoppers in 14 states.

Lee acquired the Provo newspaper in 2005 as part of its purchase of the Pulitzer Inc. newspapers, Lee spokesman Charles Arms said.

He added that Lee is "not actively marketing any other papers."

Lee, headquartered in downtown Davenport is the parent company of 45 daily newspapers with a joint interest in four others. It also owns digital products and almost 300 specialty publications in 22 states.

"We believe that newspapers like the Daily Herald in Provo and its related digital platforms provide tremendous value, both in print and online, with trustworthy news reporting and effective advertising," Ogden Newspapers CEO Robert Nutting said in the release.
The three women under this food tent each left Ethiopia at different times and for different reasons.

Tigist Anberber's husband got a better job in the United States in 2001.

Genet Moraetes would pass by dead bodies lying in the street on her way to work; she worried about her safety if she stayed there.

"You just didn't know what was going to happen the next day, so you had to get out," Moraetes said. "It was a risk."

For Saba Gebresilassie, who moved from her native country in 2011, "There was no peace ever."

But here they are, wearing traditional dresses and serving food they grew up with, on a Saturday in Davenport.

On this morning, they dont talk about the hard times. They put on Ethiopian music and continue filling plates for a steady stream of customers.

"And when we arent busy, we dance," Moraetes said, turning the volume up on a nearby stereo. This was our dream  and its here.

They met a few years ago at a mutual friends house in the Quad-Cities and started sharing recipes with each other. They took traditional dishes to work parties and went home with empty containers.

We all had the same dream to open a real Ethiopian restaurant here, and we didnt know that about each other, Moraetes said. And then we talked about it.

They contacted Quad-Cities SCORE, (previously known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives but now simply is SCORE), a nonprofit organization that provides free business mentoring services to entrepreneurs. Then they teamed up with the Quad-Cities Food Hubs small-business incubator program. The food hub, which also has worked with Cinnamon-N-Sage and Fridays Fresh Market, offers a community kitchen at an hourly rate and guidance for vendors just starting out.

"It teaches them what it takes to be a vendor at the farmers market and what it would take to be a small business with some support from us," said Liz Hogan, the food hubs operations manager. "The farmers market can be intimidating because its so big, so we help them figure it out. Were that stepping stone.

In May, the Taste of Ethiopia food tent opened on the food hubs outdoor deck. The tent is open from about 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday near the Freight House Farmers Market, but it's technically not a vendor there.

After a few months, Hogan said shes confident Taste of Ethiopia will do well on its own.

"They're very popular and already have a big customer base," she said. "A lot of people want to know why they aren't here more, and a lot of people are figuring out how much they like Ethiopian food for the first time."

One of those customers is Rana Rand, 38, of Rock Island. She brings a few containers to fill with food each Saturday.

"I can't get this anywhere else, so I buy in bulk to eat it at home whenever," she said. "This will last me a week."

Their best-seller is key wot, a sirloin beef stewed in sauce and spices served with injera, a flat and sponge-like bread, salad and sides such as spicy lentils, rice, split peas and greens.

"There are a lot of us here who like diversity in our food and like different flavors," Rand said. "I think there's a misconception about the Midwest having no diversity in the food, and it's not true. This is as good Ethiopian food as you could get anywhere else.

When she gets a break, Anberber walks down the deck and checks in with customers about their meals.

"What did you think of our food?" she asked Tim Faith, who moved to Chicago after he graduated from Augustana College, Rock Island, and was in town for the weekend.

"I think the Quad-Cities is ready for an Ethiopian restaurant, and this should be the place," Faith said. "This is comparable to anything you'd find in Chicago, and I wish it would've been here when I was here."

Anberber is a full-time nurse at Trinity Rock Island and wakes up around 4 a.m. Saturday to prepare food.

"I don't even get tired when Im here," she said. We get so much energy from the customers when they say they like our food."

The three women didn't know each other in Ethiopia, but they became fast friends in the Quad-Cities. They typically drive to Chicago every Sunday with their families for church and to pick up groceries at international stores.

"Ever since I came over, I bought my own food and cooked my own food," Anberber said. "I have to get my spicy food in once a day."

And, it seems now, so do their customers.

"We're introducing our culture to the Quad-Cities," she said. "We're home here, but we say that we also bring part of our culture to you."
ALEDO, Ill.  A court date has been scheduled for a former Aledo police officer charged in a sex abuse case.

Steven Bonynge, 34, returns to Mercer County Circuit Court on Aug. 31 for a pre-trial conference. His last court appearance was more than a year ago  July 28, 2015.

Bonynge was charged in December 2014 with two Class 2 felony counts accusing him of an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl.

Judge Richard Zimmer granted a defense motion to suppress in May 2015 as Bonynges attorney, Bill Gullberg, took issue with the action of Illinois State Police investigators.

Gullberg also filed a speedy trial demand on June 17. He said that means the state has 120 days from that date to try the case. The special prosecutor originally assigned to the case, Michael Vujovich, has retired and a new special prosecutor is now handling the matter.

Bonynge remains free on $40,000 bond.
ALEDO, Ill.  An Aledo woman has pleaded guilty in a federal case involving a heroin-related death in Aledo.

Courtney Davis, 38, of Aledo is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 15 in U.S. District Court in Rock Island and a pre-sentence investigation report was ordered last Friday.

She was one of two people charged with distribution of heroin that resulted in the death of Remy Moseley, 25, of Milan. He was found dead in Aledo on July 3, 2014.

The co-defendant in the case  Bradley DeVriese, 24, of Rock Island  will return to court on Sept. 1.

The Aledo Police Department and Mercer County Sheriffs Department were involved in the investigation. The penalty for distribution of heroin resulting in death is a mandatory minimum term of 20 years in prison. Both Davis and Devriese remain is the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

 J.C. Taylor
Moline police are investigating a shooting that left a 30-year-old man severely wounded late Monday.

According to a news release issued by Moline Police Detective Scott Williams, officers responded to the north alley in the 300 block of 5th Avenue at 11:45 p.m.

Officers patrolling the area heard the shots fired, and found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The victim was taken to Trinity Rock Island. His condition was not available Tuesday.

A person who lives near the scene said he heard five gunshots and called 911.

Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call Crime Stoppers of the Quad-Cities at 309-762-9500.

It is the second shooting incident in Moline's Floreciente Neighborhood within the past two weeks.

On Aug. 10, Moline police responded to the report of a person being shot shortly after 10 p.m.

Although police believe the shooting occurred in an alley in the 400 block of Railroad Avenue, the victim was found about three-quarters of a mile away in the 300 block of 16th Avenue, police said.

Police set up crime scenes at both locations.

Police confirmed that a 20-year-old man was injured in the incident while sitting in a vehicle. He then fled in an attempt to drive himself to the emergency room.

Multiple shots were fired at the victim's vehicle as it sat in an alley.

There were two passengers in the victim's vehicle who were questioned by police.

The victim was taken to Trinity Rock Island.

Kelvin Arnez Gathings, 26, was arrested in connection with the Aug. 10 shooting. He is charged with one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, and two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Aggravated battery with a firearm is a Class X felony under Illinois law that carries a prison sentence of six to 30 years. Aggravated discharge of a firearm is a Class 1 felony that carries a prison sentence of four to 15 years.

Gathings is being held in the Rock Island County Jail on $1 million bond. A preliminary hearing on his case is set for Aug. 30.
A Florida businessman has lost a lawsuit involving his claim that he was fraudulently induced into an investment by Larry C. Henson, former president of the failed Valley Bank.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court, Davenport, was dismissed earlier this month by District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger.

The suit grew out of Henson's desperate attempt in March 2013 to find money to shore up the failing Valley Bank, which had locations in the Quad-Cities as well as the Des Moines area and Florida.

All locations were operating under "cease and desist" orders by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that required the bank to increase its capital ratio, among other actions.

Tonn signed two notes promising to pay Valley Bank $750,000 total in exchange for stock, according to court documents. The stock was to be in a new, more profitable bank formed by the merger of Valley Bank Florida and a Florida bank, a deal Henson was working on that ultimately never happened.

On May 29, 2013, just days before Henson resigned as president of Valley Bank, he sold Tonn's notes to Midwest Bank of Illinois, Monmouth, for $754,942, according to court documents.

Banks can sell promissory notes, or loans, to other banks as a way of raising cash.

Tonn stated he did not know the notes had been sold until September 2013 when he received notice from Midwest that payment was due. Tonn refused to pay. He also initiated his lawsuit against Midwest, declaring the notes "unenforceable and mandating the return of monies already paid to Midwest Bank," according to the judge's order.

Tonn argued that Midwest did not take the notes in "good faith" and that Henson made false statements in inducing Tonn to execute the notes. Henson was not a party to the lawsuit.

As an expert witness for Tonn, Tony Knobbe, retired Wells Fargo Bank, Quad-Cities market president, testified that "Midwest Bank's actions did not violate any regulations," according to the court order.

Although Tonn "believed the notes would be held in escrow until the merged bank came into fruition and if that merged bank did not come into fruition, he would get his money back," the judge found that belief immaterial.

Ebinger concluded that the contract Tonn signed was "not ambiguous" and alleged oral promises are not part of the court's consideration, according to the order.

"There is no evidence of fraud on the face of the document," the judge's order states.

"Midwest Bank was, and continues to be, legally entitled to payment on the notes. ... Tonn has an obligation to continue making payments on the notes.""

Tonn's attorney declined comment.

Attorneys for Midwest Bank did not return a request for comment.
Chris Kennedy, a possible candidate for governor in Illinois, will be the special guest for the Rock Island County Democratic Party's Salute to Labor picnic on Labor Day, the party said this week.

Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, has been rumored to be a possible challenger to Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018.

The Salute to Labor picnic, at Illiniwek Park in Hampton, is a tradition in the Quad-Cities. This year will be the 49th year for the picnic, where United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International President Lonnie Stephension will be honored. Both are Quad-City natives.

Also at the picnic this year will be Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who is seeking to unseat Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., in this year's Senate race.

U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, will attend as well, along with Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs.

A host of other state, statewide and local political figures also will be there.

The speaking program begins at 1 p.m. The picnic goes from 11:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The cost is $12 for adults and $7 for children younger than 12.
The river was drowsy  slow on this gray summer day. It was a time to reminisce about Issy, likely the most unforgettable character that Gary Frommelt and I will ever know. Gary is a top officer aboard the American Queen, the biggest and most luxurious steamboat ever built. The Queen was through Quad-City waters last week, and Gary and I talked about Issy. It never stopped. We could still be talking about our mutual friend, Isadore Gorman, 68.

Issy was unique. He was adopted at age 11 by a captain and spent most of his life in a windowless closet-size cabin on the giant President excursion-casino steamboat. Many of those years were in Davenport, where I came to have a warm friendship with Issy.

ISSY WAS A FLOATING landmark, an icon to rivermen on the Mississippi. For a half-century he was an oiler in the engine room of the President when Frommelt was an officer on upper decks. Frommelt was such a devoted friend that he went to New Orleans for Issys funeral, dining on gumbo in a shotgun house in New Orleans. Memories like this flapped as a paddlewheel when Frommelt and I swapped Issy tales. I caught up with Issy when the President arrived in Davenport in 1991. It may have been Frommelt  I cant remember  who introduced me to this smiley, scrawny man in oily overalls. Frommelt and I agreed that Issy was a philosopher of the genre of Mark Twain. He was one of those treasured innocents to believe the Mississippi River was a holy thing. He believed that a man neednt go to church if he lived on the river.

Frommelt left the President when its times were numbered, and he became vice president of marine operations for American Queen Co. But his thoughts never released the friendship with Issy, who stayed with the President.

Remember how he came to the river? asked Frommelt. It was about 1939 when his dad, a widowed rouster, could no longer care for him and actually gave the 11-year-old to Capt. Roy Streckfus, the Presidents owner, to rear as one of his own. Issy never left the boat.

HE HAD FEW teeth, which made for a light whistle in his talk, but he loved to talk. Frommelt remembers his stateroom. It was by the pitman rods, about the size of a closet. I remember how Issy told me, I like it without windows. That way, no one can peek in when Im changing my pants  With all crews he served, he was an exuberant friend. When docked, Issy rarely  if ever went ashore, living alongside the massive hickory pitman-drive arms from the days of steam. But I have a picture, somewhere, of Issy sleeping in the sun on the bow, Frommelt says. Issy regularly told me, and Frommelt, This is my boat. Ive never left, never going to leave because God meant to put my life on this boat. When I leave this earth, I hope I die here on this here boat.

CAPT. LARRY WILLIAMS, who served with Issy on the old President, regularly got medical attention for Issy, but Issy had cancer and became a withered old man of 80 pounds. Issy regretfully went home to New Orleans to die in 1997. Capt. Williams remembers Issy telling him, on his deatbed, Ill be back, Captain. Capt. Wlliams and Gary Frommelt attended the funeral in prim maritime uniforms. About 150 mourners attended. After a 90-minute service, the two boat officers  the only white men at the funeral  were invited to a feast of gumbo and etouffee. Frommelt said Issys cremains were taken to the foot of Bienville Street and softly floated downstream to the gulf. Issy never left the river.
Jon Alexander Editorial Page Editor Editorial Page Editor, Quad-City Times Follow Jon Alexander Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

For the first time in months, there was a chill in the breeze this weekend. I could feel my neck swelling, at least in a figurative sense.

Buck fever was setting in. Big-game season is around the corner. Yet, the data says, I might be a dinosaur at 34.

Hunting licenses in Iowa have plunged 20 percent in the past decade. In 2015, 152,025 licenses were purchased, says data from Iowa Department of Natural Resources. That's down from 189,972 in 2005. The wane in interest has resulted in revenue from licenses and fees dropping from $8.9 million to $8.4 million, and that includes price increases and a full-scale overhaul of the state's licensing system. In 2013, the state combined such things as the resident hunting license and habitat fee for public land, which historically had been separate charges.

Meanwhile, non-resident hunters just aren't showing up. More than 45,000 out-of-state hunters came to Iowa in 2005. Fewer than 13,000 purchased licenses this past year, a trend that ramped up after the state boosted those fees by more than $100 in 2009 for big game. A white-tail tag, all told, costs a non-Iowan a cool $500 now. State officials have surmised that dipping pheasant populations are a major contributor. But, nationally, just 13.7 million licenses were sold last year, down from more than 40 million in the mid-1970s, the New York Times reported.

The increasing fees aren't the cause. Nor are local dips in popular prey species. No, hunting's free-fall is affixed to cultural forces, ones that could gut the very programs that created and funded the American conservation network.

Guns are highly political these days. I have close friends, life-long city dwellers, who, point blank, have told me "There's no such thing as a responsible gun owner." Every day, a new crop of young people leave rural America for city life, a century-long trend. Toppling gender barriers are probably also related. Just last year, my hunting association amended its Edwardian bylaws to allow female membership. Hunting camps have long been boys clubs. And jetting for a week or two isn't so easy in a world where men are expected to be just as involved with children as women. Just 11 percent of hunters are women, says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Three states -- Wisconsin, Colorado and New York -- now consider pink a viable alternative to blaze orange in a futile, some call "demeaning," attempt to lure women into the woods.

The decline of hunting is a result of a philosophical shift and no number of pink vests will fix it.

For centuries, Aristotle's "Great Chain of Being" dominated existential pursuits. Humanity was ruler of the planet. All other organisms fell somewhere on an arbitrary hierarchy. Aristotle, for example, really admired elephants. Major religions adopted Aristotle's thinking, many clinging to it to this day. Charles Darwin, however, smashed it in the mid-19th century. And, after 150 years, the Darwinian maxim that all life, from fungus to dog, has equal value is taking hold.

Just recently, a 12-year-old Utah girl, Aryanna Gourdin, was shouted down on social media after posing with a giraffe and zebra she had legally killed while on safari. She was "despicable," proclaimed angry commenters on sites such as the Washington Post. Ending a life, they said, was "disgusting."

Some of the furious horde, no doubt, then went out and grabbed a burger for lunch. It's rage reserved for a fat and happy society.

You can easily argue that hunting is the very essence of humanity. It propelled some of the earliest tools. It continued as a primary means of subsistence long after agriculture took hold. Just two generations ago, my ancestors were supplementing their crops with protein harvested from the land.

Yet, a tired longing for the "good ol' days" isn't the real issue. Hunters were the first conservationists. They created the national parks. They pushed back against an industrial lust for expansion at all costs. And, to this day, they fund conservation programs through license purchases.

Hunters aren't blood-thirsty killers. History shows, they are the group most interested in preserving nature. And that's what's at risk as hunting heads toward extinction.
A roundup of Iowa Capitol and state government news items for Monday:

STEM PROGRESS: Students participating in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects in their schools are scoring higher on tests and are showing more interest in staying and working in Iowa once they graduate, according to a new report issued Monday. A 2015-2016 independent STEM evaluation found that STEM students scored an average 7 percentage points higher in math, 6 percentage points higher in science and 4 percentage points higher in reading than their peers. Also, the percent of STEM students indicating future interest in working in Iowa was 45 percent compared to 39 percent of students statewide. Another finding was that nine in 10 Iowans thought STEM education should be a priority in their local school districts, but only 46 percent said it actually is a priority. Gov. Terry Branstad said it sometimes takes time for perception to catch up with reality, noting that only 26 percent of Iowans at the 2012 start of the STEM initiative knew what the acronym stood for and now the number is over half. It really is phenomenal the change weve seen in five years, but we still have a ways to go and we want to work on it, he said. The independent evaluation was conducted by an inter-university consortium of Iowa State University's Research Institute for Studies in Education (RISE), University of Iowa's Iowa Testing Program and the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Social and Behavioral Research (CSBR). The 306-page report is available at http://IowaSTEM.gov/iowa-stem-evaluation.

STATE FAIR AFTERMATH: Attendance at the 2016 Iowa State Fair was down from last years record high, but Gov. Terry Branstad still declared the fairs 11-day run that ended Sunday a winner. Fair officials posted the 2016 fairs overall attendance at 1,031,278 on Monday, which was down from the 1,117,398 fair-goers last summer. The turnout at the fair has been great. I think its been a great success, said Branstad, who spent considerable time at the fairgrounds at livestock shows, parades and other festivities that included a tour Saturday with GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence. In other fair-related developments, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said Donald Trump won an unscientific presidential straw poll his office conducted at the fair, while Republican Chuck Grassley was the preferred candidate for the U.S. Senate, according to the 6,419 votes cast by fair-goers. Trump out-polled Hillary Clinton in the presidential race 48 percent to 37 percent, with 15 percent voting other. Grassley garnered 58 percent compared to Democrat Patty Judges 37 percent.

FARM TALK: Gov. Terry Branstad, a member of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trumps agricultural advisory team, did not hold out much hope Monday for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement he backed when it was previously announced. Branstad said trade and its importance to agriculture was a topic of a private meeting last weekend with GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, but he noted neither Trump nor Democratic presidential Hillary Clinton support the partnership now. While Pence also backed the partnership, Branstad said Trump has indicated he would negotiate individual trade agreements if elected in November, and the Iowa governor was hopeful a better deal would ensue. Saturdays private meeting with Pence at the Iowa State Fair included Bruce Rastetter, who has been mentioned as a possible agriculture secretary in a Trump cabinet. But on Monday Branstad brushed speculation aside at his weekly news conference, saying Its premature to start talking about who would be in a Trump administration with the 2016 general election still months away.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa  Larry Riley was a Walter Mondale delegate to the Iowa Democratic Party state convention back in 1984. On Monday, he was cheering Donald Trump.

Im for him because hes an outsider and not controlled by big business and the Washington politicians, Riley, of Springville, said at a town-hall meeting with Trumps running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

Pence assured Riley that he and Trump understand that the American people are sick and tired of pay-to-play politics which, he said, characterizes the relationship between Hillary Clinton and donors to the Clinton Foundation.

When Donald Trump become president of the United States were going to bring pay-to-play politics to a crashing halt on Day 1, the vice presidential nominee said in a 25-minute speech.

Pence, who took questions later, described Trump as a man who never quits, who never backs down. He is a fighter and he is a winner  a doer in a game usually reserved for talkers.

And when he talks, Trump doesnt go tiptoeing around those thousands of rules of political correctness that people lay in the path of people who are trying to turn this country around.

But sometimes he says things that he shouldnt, said Ron Meyer, of Solon, Iowa. However, Meyer, who is retired from the Johnson County Sheriffs Department and Iowa Army National Guard, likes Trumps law-and-order positions.

His wife, Becky Meyer, likes Trumps border protection plans. During 34 years at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics she saw too many people who overstayed their visas.

This country welcomes anybody who comes, but we want them to come legally, Becky Meyer said.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire questioned whether Trump shares that spirit. She called it ironic that Pence, one half of the ticket that has repeatedly called for a ban to keep Muslims from entering our country, was in Cedar Rapids, home to the nations oldest Islamic mosque.

Immigrants from all over the world continue to make valuable contributions to Cedar Rapids and to our state," McGuire said. The Trump-Pence ticket of exclusion, not inclusion, is not in line with Iowa values.

Unlike Riley and the Meyers, Ross McCutchen wasnt a Trump supporter from the start. He originally backed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Now hes all in for Trump. He drove 4.5 hours from St. Louis to attend the Pence town hall and is the Missouri director of Trump Millennials.

Im looking for the best negotiator, McCutchen said. Hes proven he can work with everyone.

Trump will use his negotiating skills to make sure trade deals work for the American worker, for the American people, and not just the multi-national corporations, Pence said.

However, Donald Trumps promise to run the country like hes run his businesses should scare everyone  because his economic record has left a trail of victims as he has made millions of dollars on the backs of others, said Charlie Wishman, of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO.

Wishman, who spoke with reporters on a conference call organized by Hillary for Iowa, said that, in many cases,Trump didnt pay what was owed not because he couldnt pay them but because he could stiff them.

That didnt faze Riley, who is semi-retired from a career in construction and now manages rental property. To be successful in business you have to know how to play the business game," he said.

Not even the historic nature of Clintons candidacy found support among the audience estimated at 300 people.

"Clinton doesn't speak for us," said Kim Reem, of Marion, Iowa, president of the National Federation of Republican Women. Although Reem believes that in her lifetime America will elect a woman to the presidency, "Not that woman. Not this year. Not ever, she said.
The return of 4-H Achievement Days is creating create a new buzz for young exhibitors at the Central States Fair this week.

After an absence of six years because of scheduling conflicts with the South Dakota State Fair and the state 4-H rodeo finals, exhibitions for small pets and other animals along with a fashion show and a public speaking contest are bringing visitors back to the Walter Taylor Building on the northwest corner of the fairgrounds.

Before they used to walk on by, said Matthew Olson, South Dakota State University 4-H youth program advisor, who has perked up visitor interest for the static exhibits by adding more weekend and evening activities for the nine-day run of the fair, which started Saturday and concludes on Sunday.

Olson said last years 4-H rabbit show, held before fair week, was only attended by the parents of the exhibitors. Having the small animal exhibits taking place during fair week helps put all 4-H exhibitors under more of a spotlight.

Its good for the kids to see the public interested in what they are doing, and its also informational for the public, because they can see what the kids are doing, said Olson, who was active in 4-H growing up in Arizona

Static exhibits for photography and other arts and crafts, veterinary and small-engine displays have remained on display at the fair over the years, but bringing back some live animal exhibits and other demonstrations have boosted foot traffic so far this week.

Matt Olson just been fantastic to work with, bringing in new stuff and recreating fun for the 4-H exhibits, Central States Fair general manager Ron Jeffries said.

Having 4-H Achievement days back in the fair benefits both entities, Jeffries said.

It gets their kids involved in the fair and a lot of extra people involved in seeing what goes on in 4-H," Jeffries said.

Clubs for 4-H activities exist in every county in the nation, according to the website 4-h.org, Although many 4-H (standing for head, heart, hands and health) activities are built around an agricultural emphasis, clubs also exist in schools and in small towns and cities.

Marsha Simmons of the Viewfield Wranglers 4-H club of New Underwood said more than 900 people came through the doors of the Walter Taylor Building on Saturday.

They had a great day on Saturday, Simmons said.

Exhibitors hoping to compete at the South Dakota State Fair, this year in early September in Huron, must qualify by winning at the county fair level.

Olson hopes to bring local livestock exhibitors, who now must enter pigs, sheep, goats and steers in other fairs, such the Custer County Fair earlier this month in Hermosa, back to the Central States Fair next year.

Were hoping in the future as we can build momentum, we can build more events like bringing our 4-H livestock entries, Olson said.

When I grew up I always had the experience of 4-H and fair being tied in together, he said.

Alissa and Macy Stephens, daughters of Corrie and Angie Stephens of Rapid City, entered several projects in this years fair.

Alissa entered photography, string art and a clothes-pin wreath in this years fair and won a reserve champion award in photography. She likes seeing more people coming to see the exhibits, which club members have worked on through the year in preparation for the fair.

This is definitely the climax to the whole year. We really build up to this moment, said Stephens, 14, a rising freshman at St. Thomas More High School.

Macy, 11, entered her blueberry zucchini bread, Nutella no-bake cookies and pine-cone art.

I like how people look at some things they can try to do, things like crafts, Macy said.

Also new this year and proving to be popular on a warm Monday afternoon, was a pie and ice cream booth inside the Taylor building.

Leisa James, co-leader with Dani Hersrud of the Black Hills Home Educators 4-H club, and Olson brought 60 gallons of SDSU ice cream from Brookings to serve with fresh-baked pies for the week.

A second pie-eating contest, for youngsters from 8 to 18 years old, is set for this Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Taylor Building.

Kids will want to stick their faces into pies for some great prizes, James said.
The Hay Springs Chamber of Commerce is in partnership with the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War Commemorative Committee.

The organization, lead by chairperson Pat Skinner, will take place over the next three years, 2016-2018.

We are planning two events a year for the next three years. The main objective is to thank and honor these veterans, explained Skinner, who also served on the committees honoring the Korean and World War II Veterans.

There are 7.2 million living veterans with nine million families of those who served during the Vietnam War period, noted Skinner. The inaugural commemoration was held in May 2012 on Memorial Day and the program will continue through Veterans Day 2025. Vietnam vets serving from Nov. 1, 1955, through May 15, 1975, are being honored with no distinction between in-country, in-theater or stationed elsewhere.

The Hay Springs committee will kick off their Commemorative Celebration during Friendly Festival. The first event will be a reading of the proclamation by Hay Springs Mayor Richard McKay during the intermission of the P.E.O. Game Show Friday, Aug. 26th, beginning at 7 p.m.

Saturday afternoon, Vietnam Veterans will be honored in Sunset Park with registration beginning at 3 p.m. Lemon aid, iced tea and cookies will be served. A program is slated at 4 p.m. with featured speaker, Chris McDonald, a local veteran and Legion adjutant. McDonald served in the US Air Force, was a E6 Technical Sargent, in active duty from 2003-2014, and the Air Force Reserves 2014 to present.

Everyone is invited to attend. For more information, contact Skinner at 308-760-8250.

For a complete schedule for the Hay Springs Friendly Festival, see Page A-9 of Aug. 24 Chadron Record.
His next mission is the untruthful Battle Mtn. historical sign

HOT SPRINGS  Nearly two years ago  in September of 2014  Oglala Lakota elder and Korean War veteran Basil Braveheart, of Pine Ridge, woke up way too early one morning. To relax and maybe get back to sleep, he began reading a book, a history of the Black Hills.

This book detailed the events that occurred at the battle of Blue Water Creek (also known as Ash Creek) near Llewellin, Neb. in 1855.

There, Brigadier General William S. Harney and 600 of his soldiers, both cavalry and infantry, surrounded and attacked about 250 Oglala and Sicangu Lakota people, massacring more than 80 of the Lakota, including women and children.

Some histories attribute Harneys action as a retaliatory strike; for the rubbing out of Lt. John Grattan and his 29-soldier command by the Lakota near the Oregon Trail in Wyoming a year earlier: In August of 1854, Grattan, a hot-head, ripe for a fight, entered Sicangu Chief Conquering Bears camp to capture the man who had the audacity to kill, butcher and shared with the people a cow that had escaped from a Mormon wagon train and wandered into the camp. The Mormons wanted some payback, Grattan was bent on getting it. After one of his soldiers shot Conquering Bear during a gnarled parlay about cow restitution, the Sicangu returned fire and wiped out Grattans command. This event would become a pivotal moment, igniting the Plains Indian Wars, historians acknowledge.

Bravehearts Blue Water Creek history detailed how Harney sent peace emissaries into the encampment of Oglala Chief Little Thunder, to delay him as long as possible, so his cavalry could surround his village and a Sicangu encampment, spread both north and south along the creek bottom. When the cavalry was in place, the emissaries were signaled to get out; then Harney attacked, despite Little Thunders earnest offer to surrender to him. The Lakota were believed they were clearly operating within the rules of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851.

When Braveheart realized that Harney Peak in the Black Hills, a place that the Lakota regard as the heart of the universe, the center of their world, was named for this general, called Woman Killer by the Lakota after Blue Water Creek, he decided something had to be done about it.

So Braveheart sent a letter to then Secretary Leroy JR LaPlante, head of the states Department of Tribal Relations, asking if he was aware that one of South Dakotas mountains was named after Col. William S. Harney, who knowingly commanded the slaughter of Native American women and children.

In this letter, Braveheart cites a compelling amount of historical references that clearly show Harney earned his sobriquet: He cites J. P Dunn and Governeur Warren, two solider eyewitnesses of Blue Water Creek, who both recorded how Harney set up the Lakota and precipitated the massacre. Warren even says Harney allowed his men to mutilate corpses and commit other atrocities.

Braveheart, as an honored veteran, calls this a blatant War Crime, and asks the Department of Tribal Relations if the state should attach the name of a recognized war criminal to a place so sacred it is considered to the be the center of the universe for the Lakota people.

Braveheart also contacted Seth Tupper of the Rapid City Journal, and asked him to do a story about this. Tupper did and the national press picked up on it.

And so began a two-year campaign to remove Harneys name from the 7,200-foot tall Paha Sapa mountain.

Naming calls

Harney Peak was so named in 1855 by Lieutenant Gouverneur K. Warren  yep, the same guy who documented the phony peace offer and the atrocities of Harney and his fellow soldiers  in honor of his commander. Warren would go on to become one of the heroes of the Civil Wars Gettysburg, Pa., battle, best known for his defense of Little Round Top, which helped turn the tide of the battle towards the Union forces.

However, before it was Harney Peak, it was Hinhan Kaga (Making of the Owls) for the Lakota, and it was considered a very holy and sacred site.

One reason the site holds special significance for the Lakota has to do with the Oglala holy man, Hehaka Sapa (Black Elk).

Born in 1863, nearly a decade after Blue Water Creek, when he was 9 years old, Black Elk climbed Hinhan Kaga, fasted and prayed for a vision, and received one: He said he was visited by a number of Lakota spiritual entities, shown the world as it was for the Lakota at that time, still a land of plenty; then given a glimpse into the Lakota future.

This future was much, much darker, filled with struggle. In his vision, Black Elk wrestled ceaselessly with a blue man (what some scholars regard as a spiritual representation of the greedy, materialistic, self-serving world fast encroaching upon Earth-centered peoples like the Lakota).

At age 13, Black Elk was at the Little Bighorn when a combined force of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors rubbed out Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.

Black Elk didnt reveal the full extent of his vision until he was 17, after the Custer fight, and several medicine men, including Black Road, were astonished by its greatness, according to tribal historians.

However, as the future unfolded, and Black Elk saw most of the dark things his vision had revealed  including the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890  come true, it broke his heart. The sacred hoop of his nation, its vital life force, had been broken.

He appeared to have little hope during the early 1930s, when he shared his vision with author John G. Neihardt, whose transcription of what Black Elk told him, Black Elk Speaks, was published in 1932. Black Elks son, Nicholas Black Elk, painstakingly translated the old mans Lakota  he spoke no English  for Neihardt. The book received little notice until the 1970s, when a spiritual rebirth of the Lakota nation was taking place.

Its also fair to point out that before it was Hinhan Kaga, or Harney Peak, the mountain on which Black Elk prayed was other things by other native peoples, but it was always a holy site.

Mission accomplished

The U.S. government officially named the 7,242-foot-tall peak in Pennington County after Harney in 1906, a name which it carried for 110 years. The land surrounding it was called the Black Elk Wilderness, to honor Black Elk.

Earlier this month  August 11  after two years of angst and well-documented fighting over various proposed new names for the mountain among South Dakota residents, Harney Peak was formally renamed Black Elk Peak by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

This board has jurisdiction over the naming of federal lands, and since the peak is a part of the Black Hills National Forest, the federal name trumps any state naming effort.

Some people are not happy with this. Some claim you cant reject history, one way or another, and note that later in his life, after Harney was regarded by the Lakota as a keeper of promises. Others point to other incidents in Harneys life  he beat a female slave to death  as good enough reasons for his name not to be on the peak.

Two highly-publicized detractors of the renaming are U.S. Sen. John Thune, who earlier this month criticized the Board of Geographic Names for its unilateral decision that defies logic by going against the recommendation of the state, and Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

I am surprised by this decision, Daugaard said, as I have heard very little support in South Dakota for renaming Harney Peak. This federal decision will cause unnecessary expense and confusion. I suspect very few people know the history of either Harney or Black Elk.

Braveheart hopes Gov. Daugaard will change his mind about this, and he disputes Daugaards claim that there is little support for the effort.

There is a tremendous amount of support for this, he said, citing his attendance at three of the five state hearings on the name change. He believes that hearings in Martin showed 100 percent of those in the audience were for the name change, 80 percent for the change in Custer, and 95 percent for the change in Rapid City. He did not attend the Flandreau and Pierre hearings.

Perhaps more important, Braveheart said both Harney and Black Elk relatives support this: Paul Setterman Stover, a Harney relative voiced approval; also Myron Pourier, grandson of Black Elk.

Braveheart also has letters of support and endorsements from groups, tribal leaders and others in a five state area, and letters of support from 32 other states

He also wanted to remind the governor that by accepting the Korean War Ambassador of Peace Medals from South Korea, the governor committed himself to be a bringer of peace, unity, good relationships for all people.

The governor is frustrated with the name change, Braveheart said. But I have full confidence that you who have earned these medals and acceptance will embrace the name change for all people, for our grandchildren, for reconciliation. It is fitting and the time is right for change.

Braveheart also says the cost Daugaard mentioned is minimal. He knows of only one state sign, at Sylvan Lake, that would need to be changed, and said there are people who are willing to pay for the signage. State maps can continue as they are for a while, he said, but GPS information would need to be updated, a relatively simple thing.

Next mission

Bravehearts next correction of the historical record is to fix what he believes is an erroneous Battle Mountain State Historical Commission sign.

Braveheart has prepared a well-researched effort to show the Battle Mountain South Dakota State Historical Marker, located at the corner of Battle Mountain Ave. and Sherman Street in Hot Springs, is historically inaccurate and gives multiple misrepresentations of Lakota and Cheyenne traditions, beliefs, language meanings and ally agreements.

Braveheart has a list of issues that he contends are not so:

The Lakota and Cheyenne were allies and did not fight against each other in a battle over water, as the sign contends. Well known activities around 1869 prove the Lakota and Cheyenne were allies.

To fight over water, as the sign contends, and to claim or try to take possession of water, which is a gift from the Creator, violates the sacred principles both the Cheyenne and the Lakota live by.

Misrepresentations of inter-tribal behaviors at a sacred location where water was used for healing opposes the Mitakuye Oyasin (all my relatives) Lakota principle.

The sign is believed to be paraphrased from a bigoted, turn of the 20th century author, who lacks any consideration for native culture at that time.

There is no actual written data, other than tradition says, that the so-called battle the sign alleges took place ever occurred, same with a location for this battle.

Lakota words in the sign are inaccurately interpreted, and it is evident that no Lakota or Cheyenne people were consulted or referenced in creating the sign.
With blue skies and high cumulus clouds, Steve Rathbun knew he had the perfect weather conditions for his glider plane to soar all the way from Utah to South Dakota  without an engine.

I got one last climb, and I knew I was going to make it from about 70 to 80 miles out, Rathbun said of his history-making flight on July 9, that relied on natural wind currents to propel him through the air at an altitude of 15,000 to 17,500 feet above sea level.

Rathbun, 58, broke two Utah records in his 1978 Rolladen-Schneider LS3 fiberglass glider plane. One record was for a 494.3-mile Declared Goal flight from Cedar Valley Airport located outside of Salt Lake City to Hot Springs. A declared goal means the destination was predetermined and stated in a declaration prior to launching. The second record was for a Free Distance flight.

It takes a nice long day, Rathbun said of the journey.

It began around 11:30 a.m. with a single engine Cessna towing his glider into the air until he reached 7,000 feet above sea level. Once he reached his desired minimal height, he released the rope from the tow plane, soaring and ascending like an eagle over the mountains and beautiful scenery of the plains. He made it to Hot Springs eight hours and 18 minutes later, traveling at an average speed of 62 mph.

The best time of the year to do these kinds of flights, with thermos, is in the summertime right around the solstice when the days are the longest and before the summer monsoons set in when the moisture starts coming up from the South, from the Gulf. After that happens, its usually too stormy, Rathbun said.

Rathbun, a civil engineer and graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines, took up the sport of soaring in 1980 when he began hang gliding. He then decided he was ready to fly a non-motorized sailplane, so in 2008, he obtained his private pilots license, which is required to operate a glider.

Ed Jenson, manager of the Hot Springs Airport where Rathbun landed, said he sees glider planes but its not common for them to travel some 500 miles.

The reason its so unusual in a glider is it has no motor, Jenson said. From what he told me he started out and got up to 12,000-plus feet ... It took him a while to get out of the Salt Lake City area to gain altitude to get above the mountains coming this way.

Love for flying at a young age

Rathbuns mother, Janet Rathbun, of Rapid City, recalls how her sons love for flying developed at a young age.

This child would sit in our basement as a 4 year old and fly cardboard boxes, Janet Rathbun laughs. His dad was in the International Guard flying air defense missions, and so when he had a manual that was outdated, he would cut out the dials from the pictures and paste them inside the cardboard box cockpit. Steve has done that for a long time.

Though Janet said she is proud of her sons recent accomplishments and adds that his father Grove, who died in March, also would have been proud, shes thankful she didnt know beforehand that he was planning to attempt this journey.

Im glad that he didnt tell me he was doing this, Janet said. He called at about a quarter of nine and said, Im here.

I said, Youre where? He said, Well, I have made it to Hot Springs.

Diana Barwald, Steve Rathbuns wife, said shes proud of her husband.

I think this is the third year (hes tried to do it), and the conditions just havent been right ... , she said. When he first told me about it, I thought, Hes never going to be able to go this far. Sure enough he did.

Diana said she worries a little when Steve is gliding, but she knows hes doing what he likes. You know there have been accidents, but he was so jazzed and he loves flying so much that I was certainly very happy for him when he did finally did it.
Buckle is Wittenburgs third effort

HOT SPRINGS -- Retired veterinarian Paul Wittenburg has a hobby hes proud of  designing belt buckles for The South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association.

Wittenburg has designed three buckles for the state association so far.

It all began, he says, back in 1991 when the state Veterinary Medical Association was celebrating their 100th anniversary and the association  Wittenburg was president  decided to do a commemorative belt buckle to honor the occasion.

Someone came up with a design for the belt buckle, but Wittenburg wasnt impressed.

I didnt like what he had, so I decided to design one, he said.

With some help in rearranging the elements of the design from Greg beery at High Plains Graphics, in Hot Springs, Wittenburgs design was approved and became the official belt buckle for the 1991 centennial celebration.

The centennial belt buckle was cast in pewter by Colorado Silver Star, out of Denver. Ann and Monique Ziolkowski, daughters of Ruth and Korczak Ziolkowski, the late sculptor of the Crazy Horse Memorial, suggested this to Wittenburg, he said.

The finished belt buckle was made available in a limited edition of 250 buckles.

A year later, when the veterinarians up in North Dakota saw Wittenburgs South Dakota design, and they were celebrating their own centennial, they wanted him to design their own belt buckle.

So he did. The North Dakota buckle was made in a limited edition of 400 buckles in 1992, he said.

When the 125th anniversary of the South Dakota association came around, Wittenburg topped the list of people to consider for a new buckle.

Wittenburg started the Fall River Veterinary Clinic in 1966, and sold this practice in 2003. He spent some time working for the state of South Dakota as a veterinarian in disease control, he was also focused on bioterrorism when the anthrax scare was rampant, and worked with buffalo for the state for a time, he said.

Wittenburgs 125th anniversary buckle features wording that says Technology may change, compassion does not.

Im not doing the 150th buckle, he said, smiling.
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK - Cake, ice cream, and a visitor from the past highlight Wind Cave National Parks Centennial celebration on Thursday, August 25. The National Park Service is 100 years old on August 25. To mark the occasion, cake and ice cream will be served at 2 p.m. in the visitor center. The highlight of the day will be a free performance of Seth Bullock: Spirit of the West by Gordy Pratt at 7 p.m. in the Elk Mountain Campground Amphitheater. Additional cake and ice cream will follow his performance.

Bullock was the first federal custodian of the newly established park in 1903. Friends with President Roosevelt, he oversaw Wind Cave for several years, even after appointment as U.S. Marshal for South Dakota in 1906.

Wed like to invite people out to enjoy this momentous event, said park Superintendent Vidal Davila. The theme of our Centennial is Find Your Park. With free tours, this would be a wonderful time to stop in and enjoy the cool temperatures while touring the sixth-longest cave in the world.

The park, along with Jewel Cave National Monument, will also be offering free cave tours from Thursday, August 25, through Sunday, August 28. Wind Caves first tour is at 9 a.m. and the last at 5 p.m. The visitor center will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call the park at 605-745-4600.

The evening performance by Gordy Pratt is being sponsored by the South Dakota Arts Council, with funding from the South Dakota State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Friends of Wind Cave National Park.
A 49-year-old Rapid City man has been charged with animal cruelty in the stomping death of a kitten following a fight with his girlfriend last month.

Francis B. Blackfeather was arrested July 28 after police officers responded to a nighttime disturbance at a local residence, court records state. In the kitchen, police found a dead black kitten that appeared to have suffered trauma to the head, according to a report filed at the Pennington County Courthouse.

Animal cruelty is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.

In the living room, authorities found broken glass and empty alcohol containers, the police report said.

The kittens owner, who was renting the home in the 900 block of Halley Avenue, told police Blackfeather stomped the animal to death after a fight with his girlfriend.

While the couple was drinking and fighting earlier that evening, Blackfeather also unintentionally stepped on the kitten, said tenant Laverne Dubray.

Dubray said she picked up the kitten and began moving to another room, but Blackfeather took the animal from her. He brought it to the kitchen, lay it on the floor and began stomping on it, according to the report.

Dubray told police she did not know why Blackfeather killed the cat but recalled him saying, We dont like no black cats.

Blackfeather, described in court records as homeless in Rapid City, was released from the Pennington County Jail after posting bond on July 31.

Less than two weeks later, he was back behind bars on a municipal violation of carrying a concealed weapon. According to his second charging document, Blackfeather was found with a 3.5-inch knife in his right front pocket near the Alex Johnson Hotel on Aug. 1. The offense carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail.

Blackfeather appeared in court via video from jail Monday, where a magistrate judge informed him of penalties associated with his charges. He was granted bond on the weapon violation, and is due back in court Sept. 12 for the animal cruelty offense.
SALT LAKE CITY | Two members of a polygamous sect charged in a food-stamp fraud case will stay in jail after violating their supervised release at the direction of imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs.

U.S. District Court Judge Ted Stewart decided Tuesday that Seth Jeffs and John Wayman can't be trusted to put court orders ahead of instructions from a religious figure.

Prosecutors said the men, leaders within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, violated the conditions of their release by meeting with each other and another co-defendant. Jeffs, a brother of Warren Jeffs, heads an FLDS compound near Pringle, in rural Custer County.

Defense attorneys for Jeffs and Wayman argued the men met only to reassure rattled FLDS members, not discuss their case or plan an escape.

But Stewart seems skeptical after another defendant in the case escaped supervised release this summer. Prosecutors say they believe top-ranking leader Lyle Jeffs, another Jeffs sibling, is using a network of safe houses and loads of cash to remain a fugitive.
One of the suspects in the 2015 robbery and murder of Rapid City Journal employee Edward Lowry is facing a new charge after authorities say he assaulted a Pennington County Jail officer last Wednesday.

Ranon Bissonette, 19, has been charged with simple assault on a law enforcement/public officer, a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.

According to court documents, Bissonette hit Correctional Officer David Rubins in the face with a fist and attempted to put Rubins in a "choke hold" after the officer entered his cell block to change the TV channel at Bissonettes request. Rubins and another correctional officer eventually restrained Bissonette by the use of pressure points.

Bissonette is charged in Lowrys death along with Hunter High Pipe, 19. The men are accused of assaulting Lowry, a 56-year-old worker at the Journals printing plant, then stealing from him and stabbing him to death last September. They are detained at the county jail on bonds of $1 million each.
The response to my opinion piece about pain control and opioids was immediate and troubling. Our state legislature may be preparing a grim future where our loved ones in pain are denied medications because some people abuse them or overdose.

I used the analogy that denying opioids to pain patients is like taking guns away from gun owners because terrorists shot up a schoolyard in Texas. We don't outlaw guns.

Here are some of the responses I got, in their own words. From a chronic pain patient: Thank you so much for your piece on painkillers. As someone with fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, neuropathy (unrelenting nerve pain) and arthritis I applaud your take on this subject. Yes, we may be dependent on painkillers, but that doesn't make us addicts or the cause of someone else's addiction.

From a physician and her physician husband in Tennessee: Thank you for an excellent read about chronic pain treatment. My husband and I are physicians and chronic pain patients. In follow up discussions with this doctor and her husband, it was apparent they are afraid they are losing access to the medication they need personally and professionally to help themselves and others control pain.

From a local retired pharmacist: Thank you for an eloquent commentary on the 'other side' of opioid pain relief. It breaks my heart to see deserving patients with pain have such bureaucratic hoops to jump through for relief. Yes, there are creative addicts seeking opioids out there. But with partnerships between prescribing physicians and dispensing pharmacists, we can eliminate a lot of the seekers and help the deserving. Sweeping legislation is not the answer.

From a local pain patients husband: Thank you very much for writing the common sense article on opioids. My wife has lived with constant pain for over 20 years [with] virtually no relief. Finally, a compassionate doctor put her on [opioids]. Without that medication her quality of life was  zero. Even though she still has daily pain, it is [manageable]. Both of us are able to enjoy our days much more now: Her because of lower pain levels, and me because I don't have to watch her suffer constantly. Yes, we're sure that some people are abusing opioids, just likesome people are abusing alcohol. However, for those who do not abuse [opioids], but get their lives back because of them, [opioids] need to be available and doctors must not be intimidated in to not prescribing them.

From a local pain patient: I have been trying [for] years to get someone to hear me about this topic. I have chronic regional pain syndrome  the worst [possible] pain (McGill Pain Scale). [No] doctor is willing to give me [opioids]. I just recently had a spinal cord stimulator trial done and the doctor who did the procedure never gave me pain meds for [the procedure], even though the procedure was horrible. I wasn't even given valium to take before the procedureI was told [pain control] is about rehabilitation.

The Mayo Clinic says Living with a chronic, painful condition can be challenging, especially when  as is often the case with complex regional pain syndrome  your friends and family don't believe you could be feeling as much pain as you describe.

Mayo includes opioids as appropriate treatment for chronic regional pain. Why would a South Dakota doctor torture a patient by denying humane effective painkillers?

South Dakota legislators and insurance companies are entering dangerous territory in crafting legislation governing medical practice in pain management. The outcomes may be disastrous for many innocent patients. Were all going to need these medications sooner or later.
Embezzlement case against Trust Bank ex-managers reaches court

MOSCOW, August 23 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul)  Prosecutors have forwarded a criminal case against two former Trust Bank top managers Oleg Dikusar and Yevgeny Romakov, who stand charged with embezzling 14.6 billion rubles ($227 million), to Moscows Basmanny District Court, the Prosecutor Generals Offices website announced on Tuesday.

Investigators believe that from 2012 to 2014, Dikusar, ex-deputy chairman of the board at Trust Bank, and former banks CFO Romakov forged loan agreements with several Cyprus-based companies inflicting a 9.9 billion ruble ($154 million) loss on the bank.

Moreover, between 2013 and 2014, Dikusar alienated a total of 4.6 billion rubles ($71.6 million) Eurobonds which were on the banks balance sheet on behalf of Trust Bank owners.

Dikusar and Romakov are currently in detention.

A criminal case against former owners of Trust Bank has been singled out.

Russias Deposit Insurance Agency sustained large damages because it was required to compensate the embezzled funds to defrauded investors.

Midsized lender Trust Bank reported losses of 18.8 billion rubles ($293 million) in 2014 amid a financial crisis. As of December 1, 2014, its assets were estimated at over 290 billion rubles ($4.5 billion).

The Central Bank estimated that the banks debts exceeded the value of its assets by 67.8 billion rubles ($1 billion).
Lawsuit over links removal lodged against Google

MOSCOW, August 23 (RAPSI) - The RosKomSvoboda NGO has filed an application against Google demanding recovery of links removed from search results under the law on information protection, RAPSI learnt in the Moscow Commercial Court.

The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of SOVA Center for Information and Analysis.

According to SOVA, in March and April Google officially informed the Center that the search engine had to delete links to information from its website connected with news dated by 2006, 2008 and 2010.

The Moscow Commercial Court on August 22 returned SOVA an application filed against Google. The cause for such court decision and claims under the lawsuit were not disclosed.
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The Rev. Eda Lorello is among a tiny minority of Roman Catholic women who have been ordained as priests.

The 2013 ceremony was performed through Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an international movement of women who have been ordained in defiance of canon law, at the risk of excommunication.

On Thursday evening, she will host a screening of Pink Smoke over the Vatican, a 2011 documentary about Catholic women who have been ordained. And she will participate in a Q&A with her audience.

Lorello has never been one to shy away from living out her convictions. The lifelong Catholic partially credits that to her parents.

My mother taught me prayer, my father taught me justice, and both (attributes) have been extremely helpful in my life, Lorello said Wednesday in a telephone interview from her home in Long Island, N.Y.

Lorello, who has been a peace activist, has engaged in civil disobedience. But shes always seen that as a final option.

I didnt get up and say I think Ill be arrested today,' she said. Thats a last resort, otherwise it contributes to the violence youre trying to prevent.

Lorello, 83, has masters degrees in theology and pastoral counseling. Both aided her in her lay parish ministry over the years.

Much of her work was in adult formation, at one church teaching precepts of the faith, especially in the aftermath of Vatican II. Then she moved to another parish and took on other roles, but mostly in the teaching area.

She earned a certification in spiritual direction and another as a midlife/long-life directions consultant.

I did workshops on personal and spiritual growth in midlife and beyond not only locally but in other states, Lorello said. I even went to Ireland.

Lorello, the mother of seven, has nine grandchildren, one great-grandson and another great-grandchild on the way. She never felt pulled toward the more traditional path for women  becoming a nun.

Lorello has many friends in different religious orders who are dedicated to their work, for whom she has tremendous respect. But it wasnt for her.

My call centered on bread, wine, oil and water, Lorello said. And those are the sacramental elements.

The desire first arose in childhood. She struggled for a time not because of the call, but I had doubt if this what God wanted me to do.

Lorello put the thought aside during her teenage years. The turning point came while she was in college and she was given The Seven Storey Mountain, an autobiography by Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk.

The book focused on his journey through life in search of a faith, his conversion to Catholicism and his acceptance into the Trappist order. As Lorello read it, the book touched her soul on a very personal level.

And even though she never met Merton, who died in 1968, through his writings he became her mentor. It was after a visit to the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Merton lived, that Lorello finally knew the course she should take.

It convinced me that my call was indeed a call from God for the priesthood, she said.

Lorello called Roman Catholic Womenpriests and asked for an application, which she promptly put into a drawer. A year later, she submitted the paperwork, and she was ordained in 2013.

Lorello knew her ordination went against canon law, which states, A baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly.

Ecclesiastically, thats an unjust law, she said. According to Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, an unjust law is no law.

Lorello knew that her actions meant she would no longer be allowed to work in a Catholic parish. But she viewed the choice as a different kind of civil disobedience, a last option.

Ive waited through five popes and Im going to be ordained as a last resort, to do the sacramental work I was called to do, Lorello said.

She is among the more than 200 women who have been ordained since 2002.

"We're not a schismatic group," Lorello said. "We're about reforming the church, bringing inclusivity, bringing equality."

Lorello presides over a weekly house church. She also teaches spiritual direction, visits the sick, and conducts baptisms and wedding ceremonies.

She was pleased that Pope Francis recently called for the creation of a commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic Church. It is uncertain what that study will conclude, but Lorello views it as a positive step.

I wont see it in my lifetime, the church ordaining women, she said. But its going to come, and this is a step in that direction."


Don Feder

Forget the arrogance and corruption -- $153 million in Clinton family speaking fees from 2001, mainly bribes during her State Department years. Forget the lies, the lies about lies, and the perjury. Forget the security breaches. Forget enabling America's most prominent sexual predator. Forget the trail of bodies stretching from Little Rock to Benghazi. Forget every scandal from Whitewater to deleted e-mails. Forget all of it.

Instead, focus on coming attractions -- what a Clinton presidency would mean for America. It would be the political equivalent of an extinction level event. Obama began the process of transforming America. Hillary will finish it -- and us too.

On the Supreme Court, Scalia's replacement will be a judicial activist on steroids. This will give the left what it's dreamed of since the Warren Court -- a 5-4 majority to rubber-stamp statism and Cultural Marxism. Hillary will replace decrepit justices, like Ginsberg (83) and Breyer (78), with their young and vigorous clones who'll be there for decades.

The Second Amendment will be repealed, even the most modest restrictions on abortion ended, and a green light given to the assault on religious liberty. As early as 2014, Democrats had appointed a majority of federal appeals court judges. Hillary will expand the left's domination of the second most powerful courts in the land.

Clinton will, of course, push amnesty (designated a "pathway to citizenship"). There may be a 10-foot-high wall around the Clintons' Chappaqua estate, to keep out the great unwashed. But our Southern border will continue to be wide open to the influx of new Democratic voters.

Hillary will accelerate a trend that started the mid-1960s -- using immigration (legal and illegal) to change America's demographics and national identity. Think California, which went from reliably red to true blue in a generation. The goal is to make it impossible to elect another Republican president -- like ever -- and change the composition of Congress in a few elections. With all three branches of government firmly in the left's hands, voting will be irrelevant and they'll be nothing to stop the unmaking of America.

Clinton will maintain the pretense of fighting ISIS while importing the poison. She's called for increasing the number of Syrian refugees by 500% -- that's on top of the 100,000 immigrants from the Middle East (overwhelmingly Muslim) admitted each year. The FBI and Homeland Security will be told not to do or say anything that might offend the jihad community.

The signals aren't even subtle -- Huma Abedin with her family's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Sharia advocate Khizr Kahn baiting Trump at the Democratic National Convention, and (in a Rod Serling-esque moment) the father of Orlando mass murderer Omar Mateen seated behind the candidate at a Florida rally, telling an interviewer Hillary is "good for America" -- i.e., good for the coming Caliphate.

Think Obama is skilled at playing the race card? Hillary will put him to shame. Speaking at the NAACP convention on July 18, Clinton confessed the sins of her race and lectured those of us who didn't have adjusted gross incomes of $32 million last year to "recognize white privilege," "practice humility" (at which she's always been so good) and "do a better job of listening" to race hustlers. By the way, Chappaqua is less than 2% black.

This condemnation of her own race isn't just election-year bloviating. To maintain its minority base, Democrats must keep blacks and Hispanics in a constant state of agitation, by demonizing Republicans, coddling the racial terrorists of Black Lives Matters and castigating cops for doing their job. Race relations reached a new low under our first black president. Expect them to drop through the floor under Hillary.

Under Clinton 2.0, government will be the only thing that grows. Last month, 41,000 were added to the already bloated federal workforce. In eight years, Obama almost doubled the National Debt. It will be over $20 trillion by the time he leaves office. Interest on the debt is over $251 billion, scheduled to rise to $880 billion by 2024. Imagine what the economy will look like as the debt approaches $40 trillion under President Hillary.

Mrs. Clinton has promised to impose a job-annihilating $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, maintain the present devastating level of corporate taxes (the highest in the industrialized world) and kill domestic energy production by closing coals mines and preventing fracking of America's huge natural gas deposits. Anemic economic growth (an annualized rate of 0.7% in the first quarter of this year) will be the new normal.

The War on Christians and conservatives will continue full-throttle. Nobody does vicious like the former head of the Bimbo Eruption Squad.

The IRS will go back to targeting conservative foundations. Hillary will resurrect the old Janet Napolitano plan to use DHS to attack "right-wing extremists" (gun owners, right-to-lifers, veterans, and proponents of border security) as future terrorists. The Clinton administration will go even further in using the bureaucracy and judiciary to force Christians (including churches and Christian colleges) to comply with the left's social agenda -- gender-neutral bathrooms and all that stuff.

Donald Trump is all that stands between us and the apocalypse. Forget your gripes about the Republican candidate -- his verbal missteps and campaign shakeups. He's a decent guy who will make America if not great again, at least better. He knows how to create jobs. He'll defend our borders. He understands the overriding threat of radical Islam.

Still, there are always doubts. But while I may not be 100% sure of what Trump will do, I'm sure as hell sure of Clinton. You don't have to be Joe Friday to figure out her MO.
America must return to conservative principles of less government,reduced taxes, less spending and a balanced budget! Cut,cap and balance!


Thomas Lifson

You may recall the federal crime called "structuring." Former speaker of the House Denny Hastert is currently behind bars for violating it. Structuring consists of managing the amount of bank transactions so as to keep each below the ten-thousand-dollar level that would necessitate reporting the transaction to the feds, who are eager to capture drug dealers. Hastert was caught because he was trying to keep his blackmail payments secret.

So what is going on with the State Department, acting the same way, but with amounts ten thousand times higher? Claudia Rosett reports: in the New York Sun:

Congressional investigators trying to uncover the trail of $1.3 billion in payments to Iran might want to focus on 13 large, identical sums that Treasury paid to the State Department under the generic heading of settling "Foreign Claims."

The 13 payments when added to the $400 million that the administration now concedes it shipped to the Iranian regime in foreign cash would bring the payout to the $1.7 billion that President Obama and Secretary Kerry announced on January 17. That total was to settle a dispute pending for decades before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in at The Hague. (snip)

Could this have been drawn from a fund bankrolled by American taxpayers and housed at Treasury, called the Judgment Fund? And why were the 13 payments in amounts of one cent less than $100,000,000?

The Judgment Fund appears to be something of a slush fund, supposedly available to pay foreign claims against the United States, but also bypassing the need for congressional approval of a payment.

Unquestionably, the amounts were "structured"  deliberately kept beneath a landmark sum. The question is why. What, if any, regulations were circumvented?

Update:

Writing at the Weekly Standard, Lee Smith notices that the disclosures by Rosett seem to indicate that Obama was lying:

As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, the $400 million was paid in cash. And that's because President Obama explained, "we couldn't send them a check and we couldn't wire the money."

Rosett's detective work suggests that Obama was lying. It seems likely that the $1.3 billion was wired only a few days after the cash was delivered on January 17. Rosett's reporting suggests that the sum was paid through the Judgment Fund, which, according to a Treasury Department website, writes Rosett, is "a permanent, indefinite appropriation" used to pay monetary awards against U.S. government agencies in cases "where funds are not legally available to pay the award from the agency's own appropriations." (snip)

"State has refused to disclose even such basic information as the date on which Iran took receipt of the $1.3 billion. As recently as August 4, a State spokesman told the press: 'I don't have a date of when that took place.'"

However, last week Obama administration officials briefed reporters to explain that, according to Associated Press reporter Bradley Klapper's Twitter feed, the $1.3 billion has already been paid. And, they said, paid "through [the Department of] Treasury" in an "'above-board way.'"

It's not clear what the senior administration officials meant by "above-board" but as the Judgment Fund website explains, the "preferred method" for payments is "by electronic fund transfer."

If, as Rosett's story suggests, the 13 payments the Judgment Fund sent to the State Department represents the $1.3 billion in interest, the administration has some questions to answer. Was the interest paid in cash like the $400 million, or by wire? If the latter, why was the $400 million paid in cash?

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman
One man's odyssey through the world of books
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks onstage during a campaign rally in Akron, Ohio, US, on August 22, 2016. Photo: Reuters

AKRON: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged the Justice Department on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if donors to the Clinton Foundation got special treatment from the State Department when it was run by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Trump made the appeal at a rally before thousands of cheering supporters in Akron, Ohio, as he tries to rebound from a slide in national opinion polls with little more than two months to go until the November 8 election.

Trump accused former President Bill Clinton and his wife of turning the Clinton Foundation charity into a pay-for-play scheme in which wealthy donors, foreign and domestic, got favors from the State Department during Hillary Clintons 2009-2013 tenure as the countrys top diplomat.

Trump faulted both the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation for not indicting Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. FBI Director James Comey cited her careless handling of classified emails but opted not to prosecutor her.

The Justice Department is required to appoint a special prosecutor because it has proved to be, sadly, a political arm of the White House, Trump said. Nobody has ever seen anything like it before.

Trumps appeal came the same day a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, released 725 pages of State Department documents, including some it said were examples of preferential treatment provided to donors at the request of former Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band.

Trumps call for an independent investigation followed an announcement by the Clinton Foundation that it would no longer accept foreign donations should Clinton be elected president.

The Clinton campaign fired back at Trump, saying the foundation had already laid out the unprecedented steps the charity will take if Hillary Clinton becomes president.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement that Trump needs to come clean with voters about his complex network of businesses that are in debt to big banks, including the state-owned Bank of China, after a New York Times report on the subject.

Donald Trump should stop hiding behind fake excuses and release his tax returns and immediately disclose the full extent of his business interests, Podesta said.

SEEKING TO EXPAND BASE

While keeping up the attack on Clinton, Trump in his speech also outlined some agenda items, as Republicans have been urging him to do for months. The more disciplined Trump followed a campaign shake-up last week that brought in veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager.

But in a sign that organizational challenges remain, Trump canceled a rally planned for later this week in Las Vegas and postponed an immigration speech in Denver.

Earlier on Monday, Trump insisted he was not flip-flopping on immigration, despite a comment by Conway on Sunday that his plan to deport 11 million illegal immigrants was still under review.

In his Akron remarks, Trump, struggling to broaden his support beyond the white working-class voters who have been his base of support, again urged blacks and Hispanics to give him a chance, saying: What the hell do you have to lose? repeating a line he delivered on Friday that was criticized by Clinton as ignorant.

Trump said Democratic politicians had not been able to stem crime and poverty in inner cities despite pledges to do every election year.

I say it and Im going to keep saying it and some people say: Wow that makes sense and some people say: Thats not very nice,' Trump said. And I say it with such a deep-felt feeling, what do you have to lose? Well bring jobs back. Well bring spirit back. Well get rid of the crime.
Chitwan, Nepal: Two persons died when a bus and a motorcycle collided each other at Bharatpur of the district at morning on Tuesday.

The victims duo were heading to Birgunj riding the motorcycle with registration number Na 36 Pa 2264 collided with a passenger bus with registration number Na 4 3693 that was coming from the opposite direction.

According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Nirajan Neupane, 29 and Tilak Kandel, 34 of Gaindakot in Nawalparasi.

Though the accident had occurred at 12:30 am, seriously injured motorcyclist Neupane and pillion rider Kandel were declared dead at 9:35 am while undergoing treatment at the Bharatpur Hospital.

Police have arrested the bus driver for further investigation.
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PIPFPD stands with Ramyaas statement Pakistan is not hell. People are just like us."

Press Statement

Pakistan India Peoplesa Forum for Peace and Democracy

August 23, 2016

Indias Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar recently made an irresponsible statement on 16th of August, when he said that "Going to Pakistan is the same as going to hell." Kannada actor turned politician Ramya, who is also an ex-MP from Congress, referred to Parrikars statement when sharing her experience of recently having visited Pakistan to attend a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference in Islamabad. She said "Pakistan is not hell. People are just like us. They treated us very well". As a result of this statement, a sedition case has been filed against her under Section 124A of the IPC by K. Vittal Gowda, a Coorg-based advocate. The matter is posted for hearing on August 27th.

According to news reports, K.V. Gowda has accused the actress turned politician of insulting India by appreciating Pakistan and provoking the Indians. This controversy has already taken a political turn when BJP held a protest against the actors remark in Karnataka last Sunday, 21st August.

Pakistan India Peoplesa Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) condemns such jingoistic acts. It is shocking to see that a message promoting peace between Pakistan and India can result in sedition cases against a person. Charges being put against Ramya in this case are baseless and PIPFPD stands with her.

For further details contact: 09869077718 | pipfpd.india@gmail.com

o o o

SEE ALSO:

Accused of sedition, actress-politician says wonat apologise for Pak comment

by Aditya Iyer, Hindustan Times, Chennai | Aug 23, 2016

Ramyaas rights: Scrap sedition and criminal defamation laws being used to throttle democracy August 25, 2016, 2:00 am IST TOI Edit in TOI Editorial
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San Francisco is set to replace all of its Muni train cars by the far-off year of 2028, but the first of the shiny new Siemens light-rail vehicles will begin entering service as soon as 2017. That's right, you'll be able to hop on a brand new train starting next year. And, excitingly, SFMTA yesterday released new renderings and details about the trains to let you know exactly what to expect.

Assembled in Sacramento, the new fleet will completely replace the current Breda cars manufactured way back in the stone age of 1996. But the agency isn't just doing a one-to-one replacement: SFMTA last week was on the receiving end of $45 million in cap-and-trade funds from the California State Transportation Agency. This means that the agency can now purchase an additional ten cars and up the total fleet size by 64 from 151 to 215  but that's down from the 260 new cars that were promised in 2014.

As noted earlier, the new trains are expected to break down a lot less often  they're allegedly capable of traveling 59,000 miles before any sort of failure. By contrast, the current trains reportedly only travel 4,000-5,000 miles between each failure. This improved reliability is for a bunch of different reasons, one of which being that designers figured out a way to reduce wear on specific components that most frequently needing repair, i.e. the steps.

"One big reason these trains will be so much more reliable is that they will have far fewer mechanical issues with the doors and raising steps, which are the single biggest cause of delays on the Metro system," explains SFMTA officials. "The doors and steps on the Siemens trains have a modern design and assembly technique requiring fewer parts to perform the same functions."

In addition to this, Muni operators will be able to raise or lower steps independently instead of all or nothing. "To allow customers to access handicap-accessible platforms at street-level stops, Muni operators must [currently] raise all steps on the right side of the current trains," the SFMTA announcement reads. "With this new feature, operators will be able to raise only the front steps necessary for platform access, reducing wear on the other steps."

Even the insides are getting a makeover. A mock-up was shown off at the Ferry Building last summer, and officials toured the inside and took a real-life peek at what we'll all soon be sitting on.

Speaking while inside the mock-up, SFMTA Director of Transit John Haley (pictured below) explained that the train interiors had been designed with rider input in mind  right down to the seat colors (you'll likely notice that, unlike with another Bay Area transit agency, the new seat colors are not those of the Seattle Seahawks.)

So take a good look now at the photos below. You're going to be seeing a lot more of that in the near future  and for many years to come.





Previously: Muni Is Getting A New Fleet Of Train Cars, Starting This Year
A man stands accused of using the home-rental site Airbnb to scout and then burglarize a Mountain View home in a style of crime that police now say is a trend across the Bay Area  this just weeks after this guy did the same thing in Piedmont. The Chronicle reports that the new technique involves booking and then canceling a reservation  but only after valuable information has been learned about the home and its occupants.

According to the Mountain View Police, 35-year-old David Lefevre rented a Calderon Avenue home in early August. They allege he canceled the reservation at the last minute, and that shortly after the house was broken into and items were stolen.

Soon after that on August 11, the homeowner notified police that he received a call saying someone had opened a credit account in his name and was about to pick up a new iPhone at an AT&T store. Police arrested Lefevre at the store, and a bunch of items stolen from the Airbnb were found in his trunk. Mountain View police say he was "arrested on charges of residential burglary, possession of stolen property, identity theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and possession of anothers identity to commit identity theft."

Airbnb, apparently, has become a go-to way for would-be criminals to decide who they're going to rob. Police warn that when homeowners inform future renters that certain areas of the house will remain off-limits, they are essentially telegraphing to potential thieves where valuables are stored. In addition, if you let your renter know where a hidden key is located, and that person cancels at the last minute, that person then still knows how to get into the home.

Crimes like this have been the fear among the Airbnb-averse from the get-go  there is, after all, a fair level of trust one has to have in their fellow humans to use the service in the first place, and/or you should probably be wary of guests who don't come with a bunch of great reviews. Last August, one Airbnb guest in San Francisco broke into a locked room in one woman's home and made off with $35,000 worth of stuff. Airbnb's comment at the time, as it would be in most of these circumstances, was, "Over 45 million hosts and guests have had positive experiences on Airbnb and situations like this are incredibly rare. When they do happen, we work quickly to make things right."

MVPD calls this is "a new crime trend occurring in the Bay Area," before adding that "[we] are not trying to discourage residents from renting out their homes, but we want everyone to be safe while doing so."

Related: Menlo Park Woman Says Porn-Shooting Airbnb Guest Trashed Her Home
DanDan is named after not only for a Chinese noodle dish but the two extraordinary chefs, Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite, who have poured their heart and soul (along with an homage to food from childhood memories) into an exciting menu. DanDan was highly anticipated and does not disappoint on any level. Located in the building that once housed Tulip, it has a fun new vibe with a dragon on the wall, a pergola along the hallway and the illuminated DanDan sign (in Chinese) that makes the red walls glow like warm embers. Its all reminiscent of walking down a street in Chinatown.

Jordan Burich, DanDans bar director has created libations that are a cross between a haute craft cocktails and retro tiki drinks. The drink called Fire Comin Outta the Monkeys Head ($14) was not only on fire from lighting up a cinnamon stick, but filled the room with the cinnamon aroma. Its dangerously delicious as is the Forbidden City ($12) with its spicy finish. DanDan has a thoughtful selection of wine and some interesting beers on draught, like Crafted Artisan Meaderys Jinja Dragon.

The playfulness doesnt stop at the decor and bar, but shows in the food and a style of service that keeps you engaged throughout the meal. The menu is broken down into six categories: dim sum, dumplings, pancakes, noodles and rice, entrees and dessert. All the portions are large enough for two. Sharing is encouraged. The menu has symbols indicating spicy and on fire as well as items that can be made gluten free, vegan or contain peanuts. Under Dim Sum are items as simple as shrimp toast ($12) and smashed cucumbers ($8) with complex layers of flavor. The salt and pepper squid ($12), crisp yet tender, is a standout dish. Sichuan pork dumplings ($10) are labeled on fire and are coated with chili oil, DanDans signature bongo sauce and baby cilantro. The heat is just enough to make your tongue tingle and makes a nice complement to the pork filling.

There are four different pancakes. We opted for the seafood pancake ($15), a trio of well-cooked seafood, XO sauce and Kewpie mayo atop a delicate, thin pancake. All the noodle and rice dishes include many great elements, but the twice-cooked pork belly, with rice cake, mustards and leeks ($16) won us over. The pork belly is sliced thin and sauteed with the mustards and leek. The addition of the rice cake puts the dish over the top. The spicy cumin lamb with pea shoots and torn rice noodles ($17) has a good amount of heat and the happy chicken ($15) from the entree section consists of little morsels of chicken with a nice five spice seasoning.

There are plenty of vegetarian dishes in the entree selection, such as General Tsos cauliflower ($12) and eggplant and smoked tofu ($14), items that have limited availability each night. On our second visit we had to try the Peking duck ($65). It was incredible with beautiful slices of duck, duck egg, foie gras, duck dumpling and a roast duck bone broth. Also amazing are the chili lobster ($50) and whole fried red snapper ($40).

Dont leave without trying such creative desserts as the bubble waffle sundae for two ($14) or the Chinese takeout donuts ($8) warm and sugary fried dough with three dipping sauces.

DanDan

360 E. Erie St.

414-488-8036

$$

www.dandanmke.com

Handicapped access: Yes

CC, FB, OD, RS, GF
No one wants his hometown to become a national media cliche, the latest community televised with businesses in flames and bullets flying in the Sherman Park neighborhood as anger erupts after years of unaddressed racial inequality and tension between police and the policed.

But its not as if everyone living in Milwaukee hasnt been well aware of the vicious inequalities in employment, income, education, housing, incarceration, policing and every other issue affecting the lives of its black and brown citizens. The ugly statistics have been a regular staple of academic reports and journalism for years. Theres simply never been any concerted action by every level of government, civic leaders and the community itself to do anything about it.

Now the national media are spilling our dirty little non-secrets, identifying Milwaukee as possibly the nations most segregated city and quoting Ald. Khalif Rainey describing it as the worst place to live for African Americans in the entire country.

And outrageous political demagogues have rushed to capitalize on the black pain and suffering.

Those watching Republican Donald Trumps televised speech, when he pretended to be on the scene calling for more police right here in Milwaukee, probably were surprised the crowd looked exactly like the chanting, white crazies attending every other Trump rally. Thats because the speech actually took place 40 miles away in the overwhelmingly white community of West Bend. For that, Milwaukee should be thankful. The last thing the city needed was a bombastic racist throwing gasoline on its fires.

Trump now brazenly uses the violence in Milwaukee to appeal for black votes at his all-white rallies. African Americans have been duped into voting for Democrats who have failed them, Trump says. In a rare, truthful public statement, Trump reminds voters Republicans were once the party of Lincoln. That leaves out the part where Republicans abandoned Lincolns principles in the 1960s to appeal to white racists incensed by the civil rights movement. Trumps open courting of white supremacists is simply an ugly escalation of the racially coded language Republicans have employed for decades.

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What Democrats failed to do was stop state and congressional Republicans from shredding economic support for their devastated central cities. Damn those Democrats.

Schimel Withholds Body Camera Video

Instead of trying to score phony political points, everyone needs to work together to restore rationality to Milwaukee.

Because theres nothing rational about bloodthirsty cries for a young, black police officer involved in a fatal shooting of a black man to be murdered in the streets without any investigation, any evidence the officer acted improperly and knowing everything possible about why another black life was taken.

Its true weve had repeated incidents in this country of police officers carrying out such executions of black men in the streets. But everyone except the most virulent haters is realizing how wrong whites have been to accept deadly police tactics in black communities we would never accept in our own.

Were fortunate the Milwaukee Police Department is one of the departments concerned enough about reducing such deadly encounters that its officers wear body cameras. Video now exists to help determine the circumstances that led to the latest shooting.

Both Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Edward Flynn want that video to be publicly released. Republican state Attorney General Brad Schimel is feeding public distrust by withholding it while his department conducts a supposedly independent, outside investigation.

That points out another, even bigger, problem between the state and city that could wreck the kind of coordinated action needed to deal with the intractable racial inequalities inflaming the community. Thats the unrelenting hostility of Republicans in state government toward Milwaukee and its African American neighborhoods.

More than 16 years ago, Milwaukee Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore summed up exactly what has to happen to truly start eliminating the inequalities blacks face every day.

It was 2009 when a much friendlier Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle teamed up with Mayor Barrett to try to wrest control of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) from the democratically elected MPS Board.

Instead of fighting among ourselves over power and control, Moore said, we need all hands on deck. Every level of government had to work together to provide equal educational opportunities for every child, regardless of race or income. The same needs to happen right now. We need all hands on deck to eliminate a wide range of inequities devastating the lives of African Americans that have grown to a flashpoint.

That currently seems like an impossible dream. Republicans in Madison continue cutting hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars from the citys majority minority public schools and state shared revenue for basic urban services. And congressional Republicans remain ideologically opposed to funding job creation, a livable minimum wage and even food assistance for hungry families.

The reason why racial progress is so glacial in America is not because Democrats have failed. Its because Republicans refuse to lend a hand.
Suppose you develop an appetite for arts and an urge to step out this fallwhere do you go? Though Racine and Kenosha tend to get written off as stops en route to Chicago, a look at their fall arts season forces a reassessment of their status within your cultural world.

Since 2011 the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning (Sept. 15-17) has brought together cartoon lovers and celebrated professionals for three days of doodling and discussion. It began with a gallery exhibition of cartoons, recounts founder Anne Morse Hambrock, People liked it so much that they kept referring to it as the first annualwhich is very easy for non-organizers to do. This years event at the Kenosha Public Museum includes talks by Non Sequitur creator Wiley Miller, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes and Disney animator Eddie Pittman (Mulan, Tarzan, Phineas and Ferb) among others. Kids aged 8-18 will even have the opportunity to pick up some pro tips in a class from 10:30-noon on Saturday, Sept. 17. Tickets are $20 for non-members and space is limited, so register online ASAP.

The festival is preceded by an already-underway exhibition of cartoons at the Kenosha Public Museum. Bending the Lines: Women of Cartooning (through Oct. 2) features the unsung women of the history of cartooning; for instance, Ramona Fradon, an artist behind Aquaman, Plastic Man and the Super Friends. The frames of Fradons cartoons are packed with such information and dynamism that to read even one of her three-frame strips feels more like watching a short film than copping a cheap chuckle.

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Theres still another show at UW-Parkside, says Morse Hambrock, Theres been a lot of debate lately about the role of media in elections. Editorial Cartoonists: Taming the Tigers will focus on the current election as a whole and will privilege no one figure. The show also touches on issues of free speech. There are cartoonists around the world who are going to jail for what American cartoonists get paid to do, says Morse Hambrock. Editorial Cartoonists: Taming the Tigers runs Sept. 1-Oct. 14 in the UW-Parkside Galleries located in the Rita Tallent Picken Regional Center for Arts and Humanities.

Opening 22 days later and about 10 miles north of the university, the Racine Art Museum is producing two original shows on the artistic potential of clothing. Exhibitions of clothing speak to people because clothes are something that everybody thinks about, says Lena Vigna, RAMs curator of exhibitions. Obviously clothing has the function of covering the body, but it also has metaphorical and symbolic functions. What someone chooses to wear is a reflection of who they are as a person, even if they claim to not be interested in clothes. In that respect, clothing is as revealing as it is concealing.

RAM Collects: Contemporary Art to Wear (Sept. 23-Dec. 30) draws works from the museums permanent collection, which, while chic and occasionally eccentric, most people might wear on a day-to-day basis. In Vignas words, these clothes bridge the divide between on the wall and on the body. On the other hand, Sensory Overload: Clothing and the Body (Sept. 23-Dec. 30) collects works from around the country that push the conceptual envelope. These works are technically wearable, says Vigna, but most people wouldnt choose to wear wings of steel wire on an everyday basis.

If the fall arts season in Racine and Kenosha reveals a unifying thread, it is the discovery of art as always already infused in our everyday lives. Clothing as a manifestation of identity and cartoons as an embodiment of the First Amendment. Vigna sums up a guiding ethos: These communities have a history of blue-collar workers who created things with their hands. We want to encourage people to appreciate the process and products of that manufacturing.
Its not uncommon these days for defunct bands to decide theyre not so broken up after all, to be lured out of retirement either by unsatisfied creativity or a substantial paycheck, so it was perhaps not surprising when, in 2010, Robert Pollard first reunited Guided By Voices after six years away. More unusual though was not the fact that the lo-fi legends were back, but that they were downright busy, releasing six albums before disbanding yet again four years later. Now, just as fans were readjusting to a world without GBV, forced to make due with only Pollards prolific solo output and numerous side projects, the band is back together once more, even if, oddly enough, they dont actually appear on their own triumphant return.

On this one Bob recorded everything himself, even the drums and the bass and everything, but it truly is Guided By Voices; he wanted to call it that instead of Robert Pollard solo, says longtime guitarist Doug Gillard, explaining the unusual circumstances behind the new record, Please Be Honest. To Gillard, the solo nature of their initial comeback is more a result of Pollards personal vision and bottomless work ethic. When youre dealing with Robert, theres a lot of material, hes just constantly working, and I think he has the luxury of picking and choosing which project he wants to assign certain songs to, he says. Theres never a dearth, theres never a spell of, Hmm, I havent written in a while, not with Bob.

While hes conspicuously absent from the album, Gillard, along with returning drummer Kevin March, will be on board for the fall tour, which when we spoke had yet to begin. We have played one show where I filled in, he says about the prospect of hitting the road with GBV again, it was a festival so it was short and mostly older stuff, but for me it was like riding a bike. Live is also where Gillard has a chance to add his spin to the Please Be Honest songs. I have freedom to kind of add what I want to them or just play them the way they are, so well have to see, he says. Im having fun with them so they probably will evolve.

Its probably wise, by now, to expect the unexpected from Pollard and company, but according to Gillard, this new reunion will likely be similar to the first in terms of sheer musical volume, with a group outing due to be completed soon and more on the way. Well finish that at the end of September as a full band and Bob told us that he had another record written to be recorded after that, so well probably do that this winter, he says, noting a potential change in direction with the group dynamic. I think this next one will be a lot different than Please Be Honest. Exactly how Im not sure, but Im looking forward to seeing how it is going to take shape.

One thing you can certainly count on though is that there will be plenty of diehard Guided By Voices fans on hand to greet this incarnation of the group when they pull into Milwaukee Sept. 1, marking the first time theyve played the city in well over a decade. For his part, Gillard seems glad to be returning to town as well. I last played Turner Hall with Nada Surf a couple years ago, probably 2012 already, but it was a great place, I really loved it, he says. And Im not surprised; Milwaukees always been a great GBV town as far as enthusiasm. In any case, its just nice to have them back in action, no matter how long it lasts this time around.

Guided By Voices play Turner Hall Ballroom on Thursday, Sept. 1 at 8 p.m.
SIOUX CITY | If cooler weather and turning leaves reminds you of things other than pumpkin spice lattes and cozy sweaters, chances are, it's Halloween. Without further ado, here are five spooky spots to check out in Siouxland.

LOTTIE'S GRAVE | Technically, Lottie's Grave is in Taylor Cemetery in Homer, Nebraska, but it's close enough to be considered Sioux City legend. Stories surrounding the grave site differ, but they all revolve around a young woman taken too soon. Supposedly, a curse befalls those who visit her resting place. In a way, it does - Taylor Cemetery is private property, and visiting could result in a trespassing charge.

FIRST BRIDE'S GRAVE | The monument was built in 1938 by the Woodbury County Pioneer Club near the grave of Rosalie Menard Leonais. She was called the "first bride" due to the common belief that she was the first bride of a non-Native American in the Sioux City area. She died shortly after the birth of her son, William.

LEFLER/LEFLUR HOUSE | The Lefler/Leflur house is largely believed to be haunted by Sioux City residents due to the large number of strange events that have been reported by its inhabitants. They've reported a red glow, freezing temperatures, and a possessed washing machine. There are also supposed sightings of a lady ghost in a blue dress and the claim that several murders have taken place there.

NIGHTMARE ON 4TH STREET | Okay, so this spot isn't actually haunted. But it IS spooky, and it's also the place you're most likely to see something frightening without breaking and entering, or trespassing, or something equally illegal. The scare factory opens up September 23.

DIMMITT HALL | According to Morningside College legend, a female student committed suicide in her dorm room by hanging herself from the heating pipes. Students have supposedly reported hearing faint gagging noises, and sights of a young woman sniffling before traveling through the door to her old room.
PENDER, Neb. | A divided Thurston County Board of Supervisors on Monday decided to add the motto "In God We Trust" in a prominent place in the county courthouse.

Barb Otto, of Valentine, Nebraska, is traveling the state, encouraging county elected officials to add the religious-motivated phrase in public buildings.

After hearing Otto speak at their weekly meeting Monday, the supervisors voted, 4-2, to put the phrase in letters of a readable size in the board room of the courthouse at 106 Fifth St. in Pender.

The Pacific Justice Institute in Sacramento, Calif., a conservative legal defense organization, stands ready to defend any lawsuit that would be filed against the county taking that step.

"It is our national motto. I don't see anything wrong with it," said Supervisor Leonard Peters, a 10-year board member who lives in Pender.

Also voting in favor of the motto were Roger Nelson, of Rosalie, Dan Trimble, of Pender, and Mark English, of Walthill. Voting against the resolution were Darren Wolfe, of Macy, and Georgia Mayberry, of Winnebago.

Wolfe, a 12-year supervisor, said displaying the motto is not good public policy, since it violates the separation of church and state. He said religious symbols such as a Christian cross or Jewish Star of David should not be displayed in public buildings.

"It is just like having a cross on the wall. That will lead to the interpretation...that all our judgments are based on what our religious beliefs are. I don't have problems with people who have a religious belief. But it doesn't belong on a county building wall," Wolfe said.

Trimble had a different stance.

"It is on our currency," Trimble said of "In God We Trust." I don't feel there is anything wrong with displaying that. It is not putting any religion down...I am not trying to offend anybody."

Trimble, Wolfe and Peters said Otto plans to speak in other Northeast Nebraska counties on her quest to have "In God We Trust" in as many counties as possible.

Pacific Justice Institute President Brad Dacus said the group will defend any governments that get sued for displaying the phrase.

"We are seeing an explosion of municipalities choosing to do this," Dacus said.

Said Trimble, "We are far from the first county to do it."
SIOUX CITY | A proposed campground along the Big Sioux River could cost as much as $3 million to build, a consultant told the Sioux City Council Monday.

While supportive of acquiring the necessary land for the project, council members agreed the city needs to pare down costs or secure additional funding.

Justin Vogel, branch manager of the Ankeny-based JEO Consulting Group Inc., shared cost estimates and a preliminary site design with the council Monday during a non-voting agenda item. Vogel had presented the same information to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board earlier in the day.

JEO's preliminary design for the campground, located at 3400 Sioux River Road, includes 52 camping pads with full hookups for sewage, water and electricity. It also includes two bath houses, two picnic shelters and a playground. Total costs for the project were estimated at just over $3 million.

Parks and Recreation Director Matt Salvatore said the city's capital improvements plan includes $922,000 total designated for a campground over the next five years.

I think the price tag is a little bit unworkable at this point, Mayor Bob Scott said after the meeting. I think everybody is supportive of the campground. Well try to figure out how were going to fund it, number one, and well figure out what is necessary on the project.

Additional funding opportunities suggested by JEO could include general obligation bonds, local option sales tax, or a variety of grants from the Missouri River Historical Development, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Community Action and Tourism and the Gilchrist Foundation.

Council members discussed building the campground in phases or using gravel for the 52 pads, which could potentially save more than $250,000.

At a price of $25 per pad per night, JEO predicts the project will bring in $67,000 to $110,000 in profit per year.

City Manager Bob Padmore suggested the council direct staff to continue with acquiring the land at 3400 Sioux River Road, which the city has the funds for. Then, he said, funding could be worked into future capital improvement plans.

The council had approved a contract with JEO Consulting in October 2015 to determine a site for the project, which would be the first of its kind in Sioux City.

A park location at 3400 Sioux River Road had received strong support at a public meeting in February.

Ag expo center



In other action Monday, the council approved a consulting services agreement with Sioux City-based M Plus Architects Inc. for design of the Bomgaars Ag Expo and Learning Center. Payment will be based on 6 percent of the construction costs and will not exceed $860,000.

M Plus will partner with CMW, a Kentucky firm that specializes in planning and designing equestrian facilities, for the project.

Sioux City website



The council also approved an agreement with Vision, a web development firm out of California, for services related to an upgrade of the city's website. The project cost, which will be funded from available balances, is not to exceed $110,301.25.
STORM LAKE, Iowa | An Alta, Iowa, man was killed Sunday after his motorcycle collided with a sport utility vehicle at a rural intersection in Buena Vista County, authorities say.

The crash occurred shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of 70th Avenue and 620th Street in rural Buena Vista County.

According to a news release from the Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office, a motorcycle driven by 44-year-old Chad Falck collided with an SUV driven by 38-year-old Ryan Mohr, of Storm Lake, at the intersection. Mohr had been traveling north on 70th Avenue, and Falck had been driving east on 620th Street.

Following the impact, Mohr's vehicle entered the east ditch, and Falck's motorcycle came to rest in the roadway, the release said. Falck was pronounced deceased at the scene, the release said.

The Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate the crash.
SIOUX CITY | A former Woodbury County Jail inmate has sued the county and Mercy Medical Center, claiming that medical personnel failed to take immediate action after he suffered a stroke while in custody two years ago.

James Merchant said that after reporting weakness and numbness in his right side in the afternoon, he was left in the nurse's bay overnight before he was evaluated the next morning and taken to Mercy Medical Center, where he was diagnosed as having had a stroke.

Rather than provide adequate medical treatment, the county "decided to take the easier and less efficacious course of medical treatment and denied Merchant hospitalization," Merchant's attorney, John Carroll, of Omaha, said in the lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.

Merchant says the county's actions violated his constitutional rights to due process and to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by subjecting him to pretrial detention without appropriate medical care.

Also named in the suit were Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew, Lt. Lynette Phillips, Sgt. Al Shinkunas. Physician assistant Michael Bobier and nurses David Stultz and Perla Solis, all Mercy employees, were also named. The county contracts with Mercy to provide medical care for jail inmates.

Woodbury County Sheriff Maj. Greg Stallman, who oversees the jail, said he had not yet read the lawsuit and could not comment. Drew was out of the office Monday and unavailable for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Merchant was incarcerated July 10, 2014, to Aug. 20, 2014, after having been charged with failure to appear and escape. At about 2 p.m. on Aug. 19, inmates alerted jail personnel that Merchant was having medical problems. Merchant, 49 at the time, was found sitting on the floor in front of the shower entrance holding his head and having difficulty lifting his right foot. His condition progressed to his upper right extremities and he developed slurred speech.

He was taken to a nurse's station, and an unnamed provider was called. That provider, the suit said, ordered that Merchant's condition be monitored.

Later that afternoon, Stultz documented that Merchant was alert and oriented. In the evening, Merchant reported to Solis that he couldn't move his right side and that it was numb. She told him that a provider would evaluate him in the morning.

The lawsuit said that Merchant wasn't seen from 10:30 p.m. until 7:57 a.m. on Aug. 20, when he was evaluated by Bobier. Merchant was then transported by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center and diagnosed with he was diagnosed as having had a stroke. He spent two days in the hospital, then underwent physical, occupational and speech therapy.

He was committed to the Iowa Department of Corrections in September 2014 to serve a five-year prison sentence for theft and burglary. He was released from prison in August 2015 and is scheduled to be released from parole on Saturday.

Merchant, who is filing the suit in addition to his conservator, Randy Hisey, of Sioux City, is seeking an unspecified amount of damages to compensate for past and future medical expenses, loss of wages and future earning capacity, pain and suffering. He is also seeking punitive damages.
SIBLEY, Iowa | The Osceola County Sheriff's Department is investigating an incident that saw four arrested and charged with felonies Sunday.

Jose Manuel Maldonado Castillo, 35 of Sibley, was arrested for first degree robbery, two counts of assault while participating in a felony, going armed with intent, interference with official acts with a dangerous weapon and unauthorized possession of a dangerous weapon  all felonies.

Peter Nazario Alvira, 25 of Sibley; Pedro Juan Figueroa Rios, 55 of Sioux City; and Nicomedes Montanez Cruz, 38 of Sioux City were all arrested for first degree robbery as well.

Osceola County Sheriff Doug Weber said Tuesday morning that the charges stemmed from the men allegedly robbing a Sibley residence at gunpoint Sunday evening. Weber said no one was injured during the robbery.

The Osceola Sheriffs Department said the incident is under investigation and no additional details as to what happened during the incident are available at this time.
ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa | An Inwood, Iowa, man has pleaded not guilty to having sexual contact with an 11-year-old girl.

Perry Vandekieft, 41, entered his written plea Monday in Lyon County District Court to two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and single counts of indecent contact with a child and possession of a controlled substance.

According to court documents, Vandekieft had sexual contact with the girl in the spring of 2015 and again in February or March. Both incidents occurred at Vandekieft's home.

During their investigation, authorities searched Vandekieft's house on Aug. 7 and located marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
SIOUX CITY | An Omaha man who participated in a beating that left a Sioux City man unconscious was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison.

Quincy Louis Jr., 20, pleaded guilty in Woodbury County District Court to willful injury causing serious injury and fourth-degree criminal mischief.

Louis admitted to punching a man in the head several times on June 20 outside 502 W. Third St.

According to court documents, Louis, Keenan Aldrich, 22, of Winnebago, Nebraska, and Arlaina Zavala, 22, of South Sioux City, got into a verbal argument with the man and began to hit and kick him and stomp on his head, leading to a fracture in his orbital bone and causing him to lose consciousness. He later received stitches for his injuries and was released from a hospital.

The three took personal belongings and $200 from the man before they went to Walmart on 3101 Floyd Blvd., where they stole alcohol and damaged a door.

Aldrich and Zavala both are scheduled to stand trial on Sept. 13.
SIOUX CITY | A teenage girl released early from prison for a bogus bank robbery could face more time in custody after her arrest for marijuana possession.

Assistant Woodbury County Attorney James Loomis has filed an application for revocation of probation against Heaven Zevenbergen in the wake of Zevenbergen's Aug. 8 arrest on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in Ida County.

Zevenbergen, 19, of Holstein, Iowa, was sentenced in February to five years in prison on one count of second-degree theft for teaming with Angelica Perez to fake a robbery at the Security National Bank branch at the Hy-Vee store on Hamilton Boulevard. In May, District Judge Jeffrey Neary reconsidered her sentence and ordered her released from prison and placed her on probation for five years. Perez also was released from prison and placed on probation.

On Aug. 8, Zevenbergen's probation officer and an Ida County Sheriff's deputy visited her home and smelled a marijuana odor. According to court documents, Zevenbergen admitted she had smoked marijuana earlier that day and led the officers to her bedroom, where she turned over a plastic container of a green leafy substance and a pipe with burnt residue.

Court documents also show that a urine sample Zevenbergen provided to her probation officer on Aug. 3 tested positive for marijuana, and she admitted that she had smoked marijuana July 30 at the Creek Fest music festival near Cherokee, Iowa. She did not have permission from her probation officer to be at the rural Cherokee site, court documents said.

While arguing against a prison sentence in February, Zevenbergen's attorney said the teen had been addicted to drugs but had successfully completed a drug addiction treatment program.

Zevenbergen and Perez both pleaded guilty to an Aug. 15, 2015, plan in which Perez arrived at the bank in disguise and passed Zevenbergen, who was a bank employee, a note demanding cash and saying she was armed. Zevenbergen then gave Perez $10,000.
DES MOINES | Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday defended the states switch to privately managed care for Iowas Medicaid recipients, saying the new system is saving the state significant money by rooting out fraud and abuse that previously had gone undetected.

Meanwhile, two of the three insurance companies tasked with managing the Medicaid system saw losses in the tens of millions of dollars during the first six months of the year, according to financial statements filed with the Iowa Insurance Division.

AmeriHealth Caritas reported losses in Iowa of $42.6 million, while Amerigroup Iowa reported losses of $66.6 million, the filings reported.

UnitedHealthcare of the River Valley did not show its Iowa-specific figures, and reported a net income of $43.38 million companywide.

Department of Human Services Spokeswoman Amy McCoy said in a statement that Iowa Medicaid and the three managed care organizations (MCOs) are committed to the long-term contract.

AmeriHealth spokesman Joshua Brett said the losses, from Jan. 1 through June 30, include start-up costs, adding its common to discover opportunities to enhance how the program works in practice.

We remain strongly committed to the health and well-being of Iowans, he said.

These insurance filings capture only a very short time period ... where MCOs are making long-term investments in the Medicaid program. McCoy wrote in an email Monday.

Branstad, meanwhile, did not provide specific data documenting his claim of significant savings. He pointed to other states that have adopted similar models and noted state budget expectations that Iowa would save more than $100 million this fiscal year with MCOs overseeing Medicaid services for 560,000 Iowans.

The state handed over its $5 billion Medicaid program to the three out-of-state insurance companies on April 1.

Were getting good reports, the governor told reporters at his weekly news conference. The reports that were getting is that this new system of managed care, replacing the unmanaged care that we had before, is stopping significant fraud and abuse that had occurred previously in our state and across the country, and it is designed to try to improve health outcomes.

Under the state-run approach, it was more difficult to detect unnecessary or redundant medical services being delivered by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers who treated Medicaid patients, Branstad said. The new system makes payments on a capitated basis rather than procedures performed since the April 1 switch was made, he added.

The governor downplayed reports of Iowa providers not getting paid in a timely manner or paid at all as well as some recipients being denied services, saying complaints have been resolved by MCOs and DHS overseers. He said many instances involved people not following the program rules or meeting the verification requirements.

Branstad did acknowledge an Associated Press story that said late-payment fines were waived for the three for-profit MCOs in April and May while Iowas system transitioned to the private management  a decision that has drawn some legislative criticism. He said the leeway was granted as part of a collaborative effort to transition to a new approach.

We want to focus on things that are actually going to improve the health of Iowans, and were doing this in a collaborative way, he said. I know that there are those who would like to be involved in partisanship and confrontation. That is not our interest.

Branstad said the processing time in the new system is about 8.5 days, while previously it took about eight days for claims to clear the process and payments reimbursed.

Before, when you had unmanaged care, you submitted the bill and you got paid. You didnt know whether the service was ever provided, he told reporters. Now we are verifying to see that the service is provided, and obviously that may delay it a day or so.
DES MOINES | The state utilities board will hear oral arguments this week on a petition to halt a proposed oil pipeline, the board announced Tuesday.

The Iowa Utilities Board scheduled an oral argument proceeding regarding an emergency motion filed by landowners asking the board to stop enforcement of its approval of the pipeline, which when constructed will transport crude oil through Iowa.

The oral argument hearing is slated for 10 a.m. Thursday at the boards offices in Des Moines.

Landowners opposed to the pipeline asked a judge to stop the project, but a district judge ruled Monday that the courts cannot intervene because landowners had not yet exhausted administrative remedies before bringing legal action.

The landowners immediately filed the emergency action request with the board.

The landowners claim the state board acted unconstitutionally by using eminent domain to forcibly allow developers to access land so a private company, Texas-based Dakota Access, can construct the pipeline.

Plans call for a $3.8 billion, 1,168-mile underground pipeline from North Dakotas Bakken oil fields to a distribution hub in Illinois. The pipeline would transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily and will cross from northwest to southeast Iowa, spanning 346 miles and 18 counties.

From South Dakota, the pipeline will cross the Big Sioux River to enter Iowa in Lyon County. The route also will go through parts of Sioux, O'Brien, Cherokee, Buena Vista and Calhoun counties.
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?

Rapid City (S.D.) Journal


Snapchat is paying $110 million, with 75 percent in stock and 25 percent cash to acquire mobile contextual search engine Vurb. The deal also includes a $75 million retention bonus to keep Vurb founder and CEO Bobby Lo.

Vurb touts itself as tool for helping consumers decide what to do and who they want to do it with. So obviously, if you operate a small business that might be a local destination, learning more about this new tool can be key to your marketing efforts.

But how does Vurb work and how can the results users find really impact small businesses?

How Vurb Works

Well, those who download the app can create decks or collections of places they want to go and things they want to do and can share these decks with their friends from a list of contacts on other social media sites, such as Facebook. So you can imagine how valuable it could be to have your business mentioned by potential customers and their friends here.

Vurb is a game changer, because it overcomes the limitations of traditional search engines by making mobile decision-making a collaborative effort. It also brings together the most relevant information consumers are looking for when they are most interested in taking action  when they are looking for something to do with friends.

When you take into consideration the amount of time people spend on their mobile devices, it will really make you appreciate the marketing potential this tool represents. According to an infographic by Cloudinary, planning an average night out may involve using up to 9 apps, 22 app switches, 77 swipes, 13 minutes on the phone and 10 texts. These are tasks Vurb can eliminate or dramatically reduce, while at the same time bringing customers and their friends together in the collaborative process.

See the screen below:

Vurb has tremendous potential applications in the Snapchat ecosystem. With Vurb and Snapchat, users can now share their favorite finds, make plans, buy tickets, get a ride, stream movies, listen to music, make reservations and more. This will of course translate to longer times on Snapchat, giving brands large and small a chance to be part of the conversation users are having.

For small businesses, the coming together of Vurb and Snapchat represents a great opportunity to engage with users and make their businesses part of the conversation. Whether it is a restaurant, movie theater or a retail stores, this will provide these businesses a great marketing platform to increase digital presence.

Vurb is the seventh company Snapchat has acquired in the last two years. Other acquisitions include Obvious Engineering, Bitstrips, Looksery, Scan, Vergence Labs, and AddLive. While individually they may not have caught anyones attention, together and with Snapchats assets they are coming together to make the social media platform even stronger as it moves forward to better monetize the service it provides.

More On Vurb

Vurb was founded by Lo in 2011, and when it came out of stealth in 2014, TechCrunch called it a legitimate challenger to Google search. The company then won the grand prize in the TechCrunch Disrupt NY Startup Battlefield 2014, which helped raise an additional $8 million adding to the $2 million it had already secured in a previous round of funding.

What the investors saw in Vurb was the way in which it makes mobile search focus on browsing instead of countless result pages on Google. Essentially, it brings together the different apps in the ecosystem, such as Fandango, Foursquare, Google Maps, Yelp, Uber and others to help customers find directions, eateries, movie theaters, places of interest, trending videos, reviews, a ride and more all within the app. That means not having to jump in and out of different apps to find what you and your friends want to do.

If you want to try Vurb, it is currently available in the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon App Store.
Posted Monday, August 22, 2016 3:13:36 AM

Get ready to fall head over heels in love with at least one The Young and the Restless fall storyline, because it's going to include an appearance by none other than longtime Genoa City favorite Jerry Douglas (John Abbott).

The Massachusetts native, who retired from daytime in 2006 but drops back in to GC from time to time as a ghost, will be stepping back into the shoes of Jack (Peter Bergman) and Ashley's (Eileen Davidson) dad for an episode airing Monday, September 26, Soaps In Depth reports.

A recent episode had his two children reminiscing about their late father and hoping his ghost would return one more time. It looks like they'll be getting their wish, but will he dish out the spiritual guidance they need?
Canada  August 23, 2016  J. F. Conway

We all suffer from the absence of working class politics. We are smothered in the business-oriented, neoliberal consensus instructing us to reconcile ourselves to the new reality  rollbacks in social welfare and universal publicly funded programs; huge tax cuts to business and the rich, driving up public debt and enriching finance capitalism; an end to secure employment and guaranteed benefits; surrendering our dreams of home ownership unless we are prepared to accept a lifetime of debt enslavement; a future

of uncertainty and endless personal struggle to sustain ourselves and our children. Flippant commentators now tell us the proletariat has been replaced by the precariat, and this will define the future of this new capitalism.

Where is the alternative systemic vision: a world beyond capitalism with economic security and a guaranteed future, a world we can embrace and ask our children to embrace, a world we can realize through our democratic collective action? In the past working class politics, and the early mass agrarian movement, played key roles in painting such a vision in technicolour. But they did more. They organized and fought to transform the ugly present of exploitation and insecurity into a future of hope. And many of them endured savage repression as the price for defying capitalism and agitating for a better future, a socialist future. Some paid with their lives.

Victories in Struggle

We all benefit from their remarkable achievements, even in todays neoliberal world. We still enjoy the right to organize unions and to strike (thanks to Premier Brad Walls excesses, now a constitutionally protected right), universal publicly funded healthcare (under serious siege); universal public K to 12 education (we failed to extend it to university and childcare); for most, a standard of living and a sense of social and economic security that is still, despite neoliberalisms best efforts, the envy of much of the rest of the world. All these and more are deeply rooted in the victories achieved over a century of struggle. And the struggles were led by, and found their popular support in, the working class  and here in Saskatchewan, among progressive middle class farmers. We tend to take todays entitlements for granted, and too often shrug it off as neoliberalisms bought and paid for political parties, cheered

on by the tame capitalist mass media, systematically dismantle these gains piece by piece, program by program, in a slow relentless counter-attack which began in the 1970s.

Saskatchewans working class surrendered its independent political voice when its organized sector, small socialist parties and trade unions, joined the organized farmers to found the Farmer Labour Party/Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (FLP/CCF) in 1932. In exchange the working class, through its unions, obtained significant, often decisive, influence on the program of the party and then, after the 1944 victory, the policies of the CCF government. From 1944 to 1964 organized labour sent full slates of delegates to conventions to obtain pro-working class policies. The Minister of Labour was a prominent trade unionist (the Minister of Agriculture, a progressive farm leader).

Although the working class never got everything it asked for, it got a great deal, as did its political partners, the organized farmers, the other pillar of this unlikely socialist coalition. It was the working class and the progressive farmers who brought in public ownership on

a large scale, generous labour standards (farm labour excluded in deference to their farmer partners), progressive labour laws including quick and painless certification of unions, the beginnings of a system of universal social and health security, an aggressively progressive tax system  and finally, medicare. The Tommy Douglas government (1944-1961), having already abandoned public ownership of natural resources in 1948 to the consternation of the working class and progressive farmers, would never have campaigned on medicare in the 1960 election if the working class and the organized farmers, through their delegations at conventions, had not pushed the issue relentlessly, year after year. The truth is, Saskatchewans organized working class and organized farmers were the real Fathers of Medicare, not T. C. Douglas and Woodrow Lloyd.

The working class and its leaders had to re-learn independent political action during the years of defeat of the CCF/NDP under the harsh anti-labour regimes of W. Ross Thatcher (1964-71) and Grant Devine (1982-91). It was a difficult learning curve each time, since organized labour had gotten into the habit of relying on its political influence in the CCF/NDP to make new gains while protecting those already won. It was not until the second term of each hostile government that the trade unions, having worked to create coalitions with other activist groups, carried out aggressive extra-parliamentary campaigns, and tough strike actions, helping to lay the foundations for the NDPs re-election in 1971 and 1991.

Neoliberal Blitzkrieg

After 1971, Allan Blakeney, the first leader without activist roots in the movements which built the CCF, loyally delivered to the working class and its trade unions, repairing much of the damage done by Thatcher and pushing forward on a spirited social democratic program. Representatives of the working class were initially welcomed back into the cabinet and government. A serious breach with labour occurred in 1975 just months after the June re-election of the NDP when Blakeney supported Trudeaus October, 1975 wage control program, in retrospect the first salvo of the coming neoliberal blitzkrieg. On October 14, 1976 28,000 Saskatchewan workers participated in an illegal walkout to support the Canadian Labour Congress call for a one-day national general strike to protest wage controls. From then on relations between the Blakeney government and organized labour soured, as his government faced a series of bitter strikes in the public sector. Nevertheless, the working class and its unions continued to support the NDP based on its progressive direction in other policy areas.

A very different scenario emerged in 1991. When Roy Romanow won the election, he abandoned social democracy, embraced the business lobby and neoliberalism, and turned his back on the working class and organized labour. This was a game changer as the leaders of the organized working class confronted a new and uncomfortable political reality  the NDP could no longer be counted on to defend the working class and to enhance its entitlements. This became crystal clear when Romanow refused to amend labour laws in a pro-working class direction, and peremptorily legislated striking power workers back to work in 1998 and striking nurses in 1999. The nurses defied the law with broad public support and won their illegal strike, wounding the credibility of the Romanow government, setting the stage for his near defeat in 1999. The working class was no longer an active partner in an NDP government, though its votes were counted on as electoral captives of the party. The working class vote had nowhere else to go, though rates of working class abstention during elections began a sharp upward trajectory.

When Brad Walls Saskatchewan Party swept to power in 2007 the working class and its trade unions were already defeated, unwilling and unprepared to fight back. Wall commenced an assault on labour, rewriting all labour laws in a pro-capitalist direction and effectively banning strikes in the public sector. Wall essentially dared unions to go on strike. Walls two subsequent victories with massive majorities, against the ineffective and moribund NDP, confirmed the working class faced a powerful and popular class enemy committed to its repression. But for the Supreme Court victory declaring Walls effort to ban strikes in the public sector unconstitutional and the right to strike was protected under the Charter, organized labour won nothing. What good is a constitutionally protected right to strike when unions are so beaten into the ground they are unwilling to strike? The working class disappeared as an effective actor in the provinces politics and public life. Unions rolled over, agreeing to lengthy collective agreements peppered with concessions and low wage increases during boom times in the provincial economy. The organized working class remains in retreat, a trend worsening with the collapse of the economy.

As the recognized leader of Saskatchewans working class and its trade unions, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) faces formidable tasks: re-awakening the working class to begin resisting; building coalitions with progressive forces around a new vision of society; persuading progressive forces that a better future can be won through organization and struggle. It has been done before, and it can be done again. The SFL, with 100,000 members, is a sleeping giant. But it can only go as far as its 37 affiliates allow. If awakened, and mandated by its affiliates, it can begin a process leading to new progressive coalitions to organize and agitate around inspiring future possibilities. Perhaps we can start modestly: campaigns for creating green jobs in a green economy; for not just defending medicare from cuts, but expanding it into a truly universal, cradle-to-grave public healthcare system; for expanding our public education system to include university and daycare; for fighting inequality by proposing a fair and aggressively progressive tax system; for demanding more revenue from our natural resources. Such campaigns, as people are engaged, will inevitably lead to the contemplation of a new socialist society and economy  a new inspirational vision. Who knows where that discussion might lead, given the dreadful state of our politics?

Most importantly, forget the NDP. Its time has passed. It can perhaps serve as the least of evils parking lot for our votes until something better can be built. 
(CNN) A federal judge in Texas has issued a nationwide injunction barring federal government agencies from taking action against school districts that don't follow the Obama administration's guidance on transgender bathroom policies in schools.

The judge granted a preliminary injunction sought by Texas and several other states challenging the Obama administration's interpretation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in schools, colleges and universities. The administration interprets Title IX to include discrimination based on gender identity.

The ruling was issued by Judge Reed O'Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, late Sunday night before many students across Texas and other states commenced their school year. Supporters of LGBT rights say the administration's guidance was necessary to ensure that transgender students are able to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.

Related: Sarasota County School Adopts Trans-Inclusive Bathroom Policy

"This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students' rights and that of personal privacy when using school bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and other intimate facilities, while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school." O'Connor wrote.

He said he granted the preliminary injunction in part because Title IX's text "is not ambiguous."

O'Connor said the law "specifically permits educational institutions to provide separate toilets, locker rooms, and showers based on sex, provided that the separate facilities are comparable."

Last May the administration issued guidance instructing public schools that under its interpretation of Title IX, "schools receiving federal money may not discriminate based on a student's sex, including a student's transgender status."

Related: Director of Georgia ACLU Resigns Due to Trans Bathroom Litigation

The administration said that the Department of Education and the Department of Justice "treat a student's gender identity as the student's sex for purposes of the law."

"There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at the time.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led the charge against the administration, praised Sunday's ruling.

"We are pleased that the court ruled against the Obama administration's latest illegal federal overreach," Paxton said in a statement. "This President is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform. That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect States and School Districts, who are charged under state law to establish a safe and disciplined environment conducive to student learning."

Related: Elton John writes about North Carolina's bathroom law

Justice Department spokesperson Dena Iverson said the agency is looking at the ruling. "The department is disappointed in the court's decision, and we are reviewing our options," Iverson said.

Civil Rights groups including Lambda Legal, the ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights issued a joint statement calling the ruling "unfortunate."

"A ruling by a single judge in one circuit cannot and does not undo the years of clear legal precedent nationwide establishing that transgender students have the right to go to school without being singled out for discrimination," they said.

Paul Castillo of Lambda Legal said Sunday's order should not affect other ongoing cases or attorneys from bringing new cases under Title IX, but it prevents the federal agencies from utilizing the guidance to threaten to revoke federal financial assistance from schools who do not agree that Title IX protects transgender students.
(DV) Isaiah Smith is suing his former employer, Management & Training Corporation, for sex discrimination.

MTC is a Utah-based corporation that operates for-profit prisons, including one in Bridgeport, northwest of Fort Worth, where Smith was employed.

Smith said the bullying began from the day he started the job. Although he never told anyone he was gay, he said they assumed it from his mannerisms but he described the harassment as non-stop.

It was like hell, he said.

In June 2014, Smith began his on-the-job training where he was paired for training with Blake Wortman.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Wortman routinely and habitually inquired about Plaintiff Smiths homosexual lifestyle, inquired and speculated about his sexual activities aloud, and compared [and] contrasted their own sexual activities with those which they imagined Plaintiff Smith might engage in as a homosexual male.

Smith was 19 years old at the time.

Related: Feds: Fort Lauderdale Mortician Abused Female Employees

Smith complained about the harassment to Wortmans supervisor, Pamela Galloway. Her advice was to man up and act like a man.

A female nurse at the facility witnessed Wortmans behavior and reported that she was being subjected to a sexually hostile work environment as well. Her complaint was promptly investigated and action taken.

Both Smith and Wortman were called into the supervisors office. Wortman took full responsibility for it, admitting he had engaged in inappropriate behavior toward the nurse and that Smith hadnt used any inappropriate language. However, both Wortman and Smith were warned against such behavior.

Smiths attorney, Michael Hindman, described him as baffled that a complaint by a female employee of sexually hostile work environment was handled immediately while his repeated complaints were ignored. When he requested to be paired with someone other than Wortman, he was told further complaints would result in his termination.

Through the end of his training, Smith was tormented. Officers joked he walked in a feminine way, that he was flirting with inmates and was going to raped.

When he completed his training, he was assigned to D Card, where the harassment continued. Fellow employees said he was not man enough to do his job because he is gay.

His supervisor responded to complaints by preventing Smith from doing certain duties. Among them were strip searches, because that would make the inmates uncomfortable.

His attorney said that if he was unable to perform certain duties, theres no chance for advancement.

Hell be relegated to the bottom of the barrel, Hindman said.

Related: Calif. Priest Accused of Sending Sexually Explicit Pics to Male Parishioner

When he complained, the response was that being gay was the problem, not the sexual harassment.

Smith was threatened that he would be terminated if an inmate complained he witnessed Smith licking his lips. Smith assumed that meant his supervisor thought he couldnt do his job because he is gay and would automatically be attracted to every inmate in prison.

When his supervisor refused to put an end to the harassment, Smith requested a meeting with the warden, Robert Treon. Instead of taking any action, Treon dismissed the complaint as guy talk.

Smith decided at this point he could no longer work under these conditions. He told his supervisor he wouldnt return to work until he could be assured the verbal harassment and retaliation for making complaints stopped.

He requested a transfer and was denied. Instead, he was placed on unpaid leave.

After several weeks, MTC contacted Smith that they determined he had been subjected to a hostile work environment under Wortman, but that issue was resolved and they didnt believe the current complaints.

Since he couldnt agree with the conclusion, Smith was discharged.

The case is very similar to that of Derek Boyd, a Collin County prison guard whose story appeared in last weeks Dallas Voice. Smith was harassed to the point of his life being put in danger when other guards wouldnt respond to Boyds calls for backup help after months of harassment based on his sexual orientation.

One difference in the case is that Boyd worked for a public employer, while Smith worked for a private company. That shouldnt make a difference in eligibility for damages under Title VII.

In creating and/or allowing a sexually hostile work environment to go without remedy in spite of repeated complaints by Plaintiff, Defendant MTCs conduct constitutes discrimination because of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Hindman wrote in Smiths lawsuit.

Both suits quote the U.S. Supreme Court case Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, a unanimous opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia that concludes that sex discrimination consisting of same-sex sexual harassment, while not the original intent of legislators who wrote the law, is actionable under Title VII.

In the case Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, held that discriminatory employment practices that are based on gender-stereotyping is discrimination because of . . . sex, and covered by Title VII.

Smith is requesting reinstatement, back pay, compensation for lost benefits, emotional distress, pain and suffering, exemplary damages, attorneys fees, costs including expert witness fees and Such other and further relief to which Plaintiff may be entitled.
NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins (shown here) successfully installed a new international docking adapter Friday Aug 19, 2016 during a five hour and 58-minute spacewalk. Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi assisted the duo from inside the station, while all three cleaned up the Quest airlock afterward where they stowed their spacesuits and tools. Williams is scheduled to return to Earth on Sept. 6 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin ending Expedition 48. Credit: NASA. NASA

Three astronauts are relaxing today after a spacewalk on Friday and weekend cleanup work. Meanwhile, a pair of spacecraft will be departing the International Space Station over the next two weeks.

NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins successfully installed a new international docking adapter Friday morning during a five hour and 58-minute spacewalk. Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi assisted the duo from inside the station, while all three cleaned up the Quest airlock afterward where they stowed their spacesuits and tools.

Williams is scheduled to return to Earth on Sept. 6 with cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin ending Expedition 48. The two cosmonauts began their departure preparations today to get the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft ready for undocking and landing in Kazakhstan.

Before Expedition 48 returns home in two weeks the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will leave the station this Friday at 6:10 a.m. EDT. The crew is loading the space freighter with gear and science for analysis by NASA engineers on the ground. Dragon will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean a few hours after its release Friday and be retrieved by SpaceX personnel.

On-Orbit Status Report

Command and Control (C&C) Multiplexer Demultiplexer (MDM) Transition: The ground executed a planned C&C MDM transition today. C&C 2 MDM was transitioned to primary with C&C 3 MDM in backup and C&C 1 MDM in standby. The transition supports the desired configuration for OA-5, ensuring that the primary Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) MDM and the primary C&C MDM are not on the same power channels.

Columbus Power Distribution Unit 1 (PDU-1) Repower: Last Friday the Columbus Module experienced a power anomaly with Power Distribution Unit 1 (PDU-1), and a subset of the loads on PDU-1 lost power. Systems were automatically safed. All downstream loads have since been repowered with the exception of RapidScat. During an attempt to reactivate RapidScat, outlet 3 on PDU-1 tripped. The only two items downstream of this outlet are RapidScat and Solar Monitoring Observatory (SOLAR), which was deactivated at the time of the trip. RapidScat has active heater power and is able to stay deactivated indefinitely without hardware impact. Ground teams are investigating the cause of the outlet 3 trip.

Payload Activities Completed Over the Weekend:

 Mouse Epigenetics Habitat Cage Unit Maintenance: The crew completed standard maintenance activities by exchanging the food cartridges and refilling the water of Mouse Habitat Cage Units which is located in the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF).

 Heart Cells Media Change Operations: The crew changed the media in the Multiwell BioCell for Heart Cells and repaired one of the Multiwell BioCells within the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) work volume to provide nutrients to the Heart Cells.

 Biological Rhythms 48 Hours Actiwatch Preparation: In preparation for upcoming Biological Rhythms activities this week, the crew configured of the Actiwatch using the Actiware Software and Medical Laptop.

 NanoRack Module 9: Session 4 of 5 for the NanoRack Module 9 experiment was completed when the crew activated, deactivated, and shook the mixture tubes to facilitate the experiment.

 Fine Motor Skills: A series of interactive tasks on a touchscreen tablet were completed for the Fine Motor Skills investigation.

 Space Headaches: The crew completed the European Space Agency (ESA) Space Headaches questionnaire.

 Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) Hard Drive Change: The crew swapped the AMS hard drives in the UltraBay Adapter in the AMS laptop, which is completed every six months.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)The Nigerian army said Tuesday it had fatally wounded terrorist group Boko Haram's leader in an air attack, also killing several commanders.

"Nigerian Air Force raid kills Boko Haram terrorists commanders 'Abubakar Shekau' fatally wounded," the Nigerian Army wrote on its Twitter account.

Several media reported that Boko Haram commanders confirmed dead include Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, among others.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  At least 153 people were killed during Friday clashes between government troops and opposition forces in the South Sudanese province of Jonglei, an army spokesman said Tuesday.

"The SPLA-IO [Sudan People's Liberation Army-In-Opposition] forces and some anti-peace elements attacked our forces on Friday but the SPLA forces managed to repulse them. Some 153 people died and we recovered 161 light and heavy weapons from the attackers," Lul Ruai Koang was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

He added that the situation had already stabilized.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  US airstrikes against the Daesh positions in the Syrian city of Sirte have reduced the terror groups ability to attack Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) forces on the ground, Department of Defense spokesperson Michelle Baldanza told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"US airstrikes have significantly reduced ISILs [Islamic States] ability to utilize heavy weapons and enemy fighting positions, as well as have reduced the number of vehicle-born improvised explosive devices intended for attacks on GNA-aligned forces," Baldanza said.

Operation Odyssey Lightning was launched on August 1 at the request of Libyas Government of National Accord (GNA). It is intended to allow state forces to make a strategic advance against the Islamic States positions in Sirte, according to the US Department of Defense.
For Washington, London, and Paris, however, it has long been a case of "see no evil, hear no evil"  the reason being that democracy and human rights takes second place when it comes up against strategic and economic interests.

Since 2010, the Obama administration has authorized US$60 billion in arms sales to the Saudis, triple the US$16 billion in arms sales conducted under the Bush administration previously.

Read more about our legal challenge to make the UK #StopArmingSaudi: https://t.co/qCT7at2rEl #Yemen  CAAT (@CAATuk) August 23, 2016

Meanwhile, Riyadh is the world's biggest customer for UK arms sales, with orders amounting to 3.5 billion pounds (US$4.6 billion) since the start of 2015.

According to the UK-based Campaign Against the Arms Trade:

"The promotion of the sales over several decades, and the financial and practical support given to them by successive UK governments, has given succour to the undemocratic government of Saudi Arabia. This has a human rights record which makes it a 'country of concern' for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It treats women as second-class citizens and its immigrant workers appallingly. Selling arms to the Saudi government sends the message that the human rights of the Saudi people are of lesser concern than the commercial interests of BAE."

Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) are currently spearheading a campaign to have Saudi Arabia suspended from the UN Human Rights Council over the previously mentioned war crimes they allege the Saudis have been committing in Yemen.

According to HRW: "Saudi Arabia, as the leader of the nine-nation coalition that began military operations against the Houthis in Yemen on March 26, 2015, has been implicated in numerous violations of international humanitarian law.

"Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented 69 unlawful airstrikes by the coalition, some of which may amount to war crimes, killing at least 913 civilians and hitting homes, markets, hospitals, schools, civilian businesses, and mosques. The two organizations have also documented 19 attacks involving internationally banned cluster munitions, including in civilian areas.

"Saudi Arabia should be suspended from the Human Rights Council until it ends unlawful attacks in Yemen and conducts credible investigations that meet international standards or agrees to and cooperates with an independent international inquiry."

The burning question that has occupied many throughout the conflict in Syria is not whether groups such as al-Nusra or Daesh have received support from Saudi Arabia, but whether said support has emanated from private individuals or from the state  or perhaps even, from the state via private individuals.

As British journalist Patrick Cockburn writes in his book "The Rise of Islamic State":

"The importance of Saudi Arabia in the rise and return of al-Qaeda is often misunderstood and understated."

He goes on to identify its role in the "propagating of Wahhabism, the fundamentalist, eighteenth-century version of Islam that imposes sharia law, relegates women to the status of second-class citizens, and regards Shia and Sufi Muslims as non-Muslims to be persecuted along with Christians and Jews."
The school apparently had to resort to this malodorous measure because for some reason the administration ended up accepting more freshmen than the dormitory could possibly accommodate.

A student interviewed by Beijing Youth Daily explained that the restroom renovations began on August 17, and that so far none of his fellow students moved into these improvised living quarters. He also pointed out that while each room in the dormitory has its own bathroom, the communal restrooms are still heavily used and remain quite smelly even after the renovation.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  We often hear tales from travelers about how the beauty of the Taj Mahal captivates the human soul and lures it into a world from where it is extremely difficult to return.

However, Indian authorities are contemplating a new rule according to which visits to the Taj Mahal would be restricted to three to four hours per person.

According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which maintains the world heritage site, more than 400,000 tourists visit Taj Mahal every weekend. Most of them buy tickets in the morning and spend the entire day in the precincts.
"As signs of serious cracks emerge, the likelihood of unrest in the regime is increasing," South Korean Prime Minister Park Geun-hye said in regards to the defection.

A statement released by the Combined Forces Command stressed that the exercises are defensive in nature.

"UFG is designed to enhance alliance readiness, protect the region and maintain stability of the Korean Peninsula," the statement says.

In response to Pyongyangs threat, South Korea expressed regret and encouraged the DPRK to cease any nuclear ambitions.

"It is regrettable that North Korea threatens to conduct a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the South," Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman for the Ministry of Unification, said.

"North Korea should suspend its nuclear and missile programs and make the right choice."
The US got deeply involved there in 1979, he said, suggesting that The US wanted revenge on the USSR for Americas humiliation in Vietnam. And they thought, its a good opportunity to settle scores. But the price of course was paid by the Afghan people.

In 2001, Washington used a pretext of human rights abuse, particularly that against women, to invade, he suggested.

Why are Americans there? Are they there because of womens education or girls rights? It would make much more sense if Americans turned their attention to Saudi Arabia, where women are much more oppressed than in Afghanistan, he opined.

After having poured over $2 trillion into an arduous Afghanistan campaign for the last 15 years, Washington has not seen an improvement in the quality of life in the country, primarily because that was not the true objective of the US invasion.

The root of the problem is that Afghanistan is extremely rich in natural resources, Bangash said, adding, There are estimates that say that the country contains $4 trillion worth of natural resources. The country is also very rich in cadmium, a metal that is widely used in modern technology like cellphones. That is really driving American policy.

The constant military invasions and world policing by the US are driven by a military industrial complex that cannot leave any profitable stone unturned, he said, adding that corporate greed, whether in the hands of a weapons supplier or a commodities broker, will prevent any resolution of the crises.

I do not see any American leader willing to withdraw from Afghanistan, despite the loss of US lives, he said.


BALI (Sputnik)The Indonesian government plans to amend its domestic law so that it becomes the most powerful weapon in the fight against terrorism, the country's Chief Security Minister Wiranto said.

"We will release the revised law soon. It will be our main weapon to fight terrorism We have asked for support from the House of Representatives and from NGOs. This law will be our strongest weapon in fighting terrorism," Wiranto said after heading the Monday counterterrorism meeting, as quoted by the Jakarata Globe newspaper.

He did not specify to what extent and which parts of the current anti-terrorism law will be revised.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)According to the Khaama Press news agency, the incident took place late on Monday in the Bagram district.

Afghan security officials have reportedly claimed that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber detonating a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), and the NATO-led Resolute Support mission has said that an IED was the cause of the explosion.

The NATO mission also reportedly said it believed the attack targeted an Afghan army vehicle. The police officers were escorting the convoy at the time of the attack, the media reported.
BANGKOK (Sputnik)  Thai police arrested Interpol-wanted Russian national Vasily Smolnikov, the head of the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Bangkok, Vladimir Sosnov, said Tuesday.

"Vasily Smolnikov, born in 1974, was detained in the Thai province of Songkhla. He has been internationally wanted by Interpol since February 2016, after the decision by the Chernogorsk Municipal Court of the [Russian] Republic of Khakassia on his detention," Sosnov told RIA Novosti.

Smolnikov is accused by the Russian authorities of bribing an official with a large amount of money, according to the diplomat.
"As far as I know, the Chinese side repeatedly proposed an informal deal to Russia, asking it to support Beijing in the territorial dispute with Japan, and in exchange offering to support Russia in the Kuril Islands issue (right now China essentially maintains a pro-Japanese stance on that matter). However, Russia reacted negatively to that proposal, because its principle stance is neutrality," Streltsov said.

Recently, Japanese media outlets and government officials began discussing the possibility of forming closer ties with Russia in order to contain Chinas ascendance. However, it appears that Russia is unlikely to gain anything if it attempts to mediate the disputes between China and Japan.

"Both sides are firmly entrenched in their stances: Japan insists that theres no territorial dispute while China strives to ensure that this issue gets recognized as a territorial dispute. I believe that they wont budge, no matter who attempts to act as a mediator," he remarked.

Streltsov also pointed out that Russia does not oppose the defense cooperation between the United States and Japan, and that during the last few years Moscow has criticized only one initiative of theirs  the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea.

"Russia opposes the ballistic missile defense systems because theyre not subjected to international regulations and, established by one side, can potentially alter the balance of power in the region and create a new threat to international security," Streltsov said.

According to him, Russia is interested, first and foremost, in maintaining international regulation over the military-political situation and arms race in the region. What Russia needs is stability and mutual security guarantees in Asia.

"While such a name is not currently being used, what Russia stands for is some sort of a collective security system for the Asian-Pacific region. Therefore Russia is interested in maintaining dialogue on that issue with all countries involved, seeking to turn it into a multilateral process. In that respect, Russia possesses great potential, both as a mediator and as an author of such a security system. Unfortunately, the US-Chinese confrontation has resulted in a new bipolarity being formed in Eastern Asia, and this process cannot be reversed," Streltsov concluded.
Senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) Center for Japanese Studies, Victor Pavlyatenko, told Sputnik Japan that Sosei Nippon has played an important role in the development of Shinzo Abe's political ideology.

"This organization is an element of Japan's internal political culture, a kind of 'club for the like-minded,' whose members get together and discuss issues and new ideas including new alternatives for development," Pavlyatenko explained.

"They are active in attracting young people and new party members, and (the organization) contains some nationalist groups which seek to revise the outcome of the war, the constitution, the revival of the spirit of the past and so on. There are also some parliamentary groups which have been formed to achieve such aims. As far as I am aware, (Foreign Minister Fumio) Kishida has his own group, and he is one of the pretenders for the post of prime minister."

"At one time, Shinzo Abe was leader of Sosei Nippon, and now he is a member of Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference), which has almost 40,000 members. I know of at least six or seven such organizations, perhaps there are more. It is difficult to say how much they influence decision-making, but mostly they act as a discussion club, where they test out new ideas even if haven't become law yet. I think Sosei Nippon is one of these kinds of groups," Pavlyatenko said.

Japan's pacifist constitution was established during the US occupation of the country in 1947. Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allied powers in August 1945, following the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, which marked the end of the Second World War in the Far East. Japan was then occupied by the US until 1952, while US bases remain in the country to this day and currently house around 50,000 troops.


New Delhi (Sputnik)As the situation in the Kashmir valley remains out of control, India has decided to deploy its Border Security Force (BSF) within the city of Srinagar.

For the first time since 2004, BSF troops have been called upon in Srinagar to control the protest. Sources say that the government has decided to deploy 2,600 BSF men in the city of over a million people. The first time the BSF was deployed in Srinagar, in 1991, it sent a force of six battalions to curb militant activity. However, in 2004, the Indian government at the time decided to withdraw the BSF from counter-insurgency operations and directed the troops to look after the basic duties related to the management of the country's borders. In September 2005, BSF were withdrawn from Srinagar and other para-military forces, the CRPF, took charge of the anti-insurgency operation in Srinagar.

Apart from BSF, 3,000 personnel from other paramilitary forces have also been deployed in the valley. More than 100 people were injured in clashes between protestors and security personnel on Monday alone.
"He didn't know how much it was worth and kept it tucked away at home as a simple good luck charm, said Amurao.

The officer also added that if not for the fire that forced the man to flee with his precious treasure to local authorities, the pearl could have remained hidden for another decade or two in the fishermans hut.

"We were amazed when he brought it to us. We now need help from gemologists to fully certify it. We're waiting for authentication from Gemologist Institute and other international authorities, highlighted the tourist officer.

According to IBT, giant shells with pearls are extremely rare to find, making this one unusual and valuable.

The worlds largest pearl prior to the discovery, the Pearl of Lao Tzu (previously known as the Pearl of Allah), was sold to an American by a tribal chief from the island of Palawan in 1939 and is valued at 26.6 million dollars; it only weighs 6.4 kg.
New Delhi (Sputnik)  A day after the Joint Opposition delegation from India's legislature, led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, met PM Modi to discuss Kashmir, the government announced that the Union Home Minister, accompanied by the Home Secretary and Senior officials, will embark upon a two day visit to Kashmir to review the chaotic situation there.

Although a curfew affecting some parts of the capital, Srinagar, is being lifted, the city has yet to return to normal. Reports emerged in Srinagar of security personnel being pelted with rocks even despite restrictions on the movement of people being lifted in many areas. However, to maintain law and order, gatherings of four or more people have been prohibited until the situation improves.

The delegation, led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, is expected to reach out to a cross section of civil society to discuss various peace options to bring normalcy to Kashmir, which has suffered from violence and unrest since July 8, when a Hizbul Mujahdeen terrorist, Burhan Wani was killed by security forces.
Unsurprisingly, as a result of his outspoken public speeches, this week Duterte also delivered what is being described as "a foul-mouthed rant" about the global bodies such as UN and other senior world officials critical of his hard approach.

He even went on to threaten leaving the UN after the organization labeled his war on drugs as "criminal" under international law.

Speaking in response to the concerns as conveyed by the US government on the increase in drug-related killings in Philippines, Duterte described them as a "former colonial power," who he will not take any orders from.

Ronald dela Rosa when speaking to reporters at the court hearing this week also explained:

"Not all deaths under investigation are drug-related and around 40 killings were due to robbery or personal disputes."

The police Director-General also revealed during the hearing that up to 300 police officers were being suspected to be involved in the drugs trade, warning that they would be charged and removed from their positions if and when found guilty.

This has only increased the concerns of international human rights groups and Amnesty International have issued a "call to action" campaign.

Hundreds murdered in the Philippines since President Duterte's 'war on drugs' began. Call for an end to the killings https://t.co/D7GE2zLidD  Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) August 19, 2016

The Blunt-speaking 71-year-old leader Rodrigo Duterte, is getting quite the national reputation in his country and is being referred to in a colloquial sense as "Duterte Harry," in reference to US actor Clint Eastwood's classic Hollywood cinema role as "Dirty Harry."

The fictional character himself was also notorious for violating the rights of particular suspects. Duterte is also often referred to as "The Punisher" due to his hardline stance on combating crime in the Philippines and his call for promoting, what is in effect a "vigilante-style" culture on the ground.
"China is continuing its unilateral attempt to change the status quo through force, by rapidly spreading and intensifying its activities in the sea and air space around our country," she said. "I will also work on strengthening the Japan-US alliance."

As part of this cooperation, Tokyo is expecting to receive a fleet of F-35Bs. While these are likely to be stationed at a base in the Yamaguchi Prefecture, the aircraft could potentially be deployed from the Izumo. But the mayor of the prefecture, Yoshihiko Fukuda, has criticized the Japanese government for a lack of transparency in the deployment decision.

"The deployment brings concerns of safety and noise, Fukuda said, and asked to be given more operational information before making a final decision on the prefecture hosting the aircraft," Chinas Xinhua news agency reported.

The Japanese Defense Ministrys budget proposal for 2017 is a record-breaking $51.7 billion, a 2.3% increase over the previous year. Citing the Chinese threat, the budget includes funding for land- and sea-based missile interceptors and upgrades for F-15 fighter jets.
The test comes one day after the United States and South Korea launched joint military exercises on the peninsula. Pyongyang had warned against the drills, threatening to launch a preemptive nuclear strike.

The DPRK has test fired a number of ballistic missiles in recent months, and has also conducted nuclear tests. Condemned by the international community, these resulted in the implementation of harsh new sanctions by the United Nations.
Last week a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel declared the Russian import ban on live pigs, fresh pork and other pig products from the EU inconsistent with a number of WTO articles, as well as with the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement (SPS).

A week earlier, WTO arbitrators backed the EU in a dispute with Russia about the customs duties on the import of refrigerators, palm oil and paper products.

Commenting on the decisions, First Vice-president of the Russian Public Organization of small and medium enterprises Oppora Rossii (Support of Russia) Pavel Sigal noted that the WTO, as is any other international organization, subjected to heavy lobbying by its larger member countries.


WASHINGTON (Sputnik)The US Department of State has approved a $124-million sale of Mk-V special operations boats and related military equipment to the government of Qatar, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a press release on Tuesday.

"The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Qatar for Mk-V Fast Patrol Boats, equipment, training and support," the release stated. "The estimated cost is $124.02 million."

The sale includes eight M2HB.50 caliber machine guns and ammunition, MLG 27mm gun systems and related ammunition as well as training and support services, the agency noted.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)In May, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, said that all Russian specialists who provided consultancy on the NPP will leave "in the coming months" under the contract agreements.

The Russian-Iranian agreement on the civil use of nuclear energy, followed by a deal to construct Iran's first nuclear power plant, dates back to 1992. The Russian-built Bushehr-1 NPP started operating in Iran in 2011 and reached full capacity the following year. In April 2016, the unit was finally handed over to Iran, officially completing its construction stage.

An agreement to expand civilian nuclear energy cooperation and construct a total of eight additional nuclear reactors at Bushehr was signed between the sides on November 11, 2014.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)The French Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI) has arrested seven people with alleged terrorist links so far in August, the French Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

"During the month of August alone, the DGSI has arrested seven individuals [over links to terrorists]. All of them have been jailed, at least three had been plotting attacks," the ministry said on Twitter.

According to the ministry, the number of suspects arrested on terror charges in the first six months of 2016 are equivalent to the number of arrests on the same charges in the whole of 2015.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The creation of the European Union army is not discussed in EU circles and no steps have been taken in this respect, an EU official told Sputnik on Tuesday.

On Sunday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that the European Union needed its own armed forces to "fulfill" its mission in the world. He added that it was not absolutely necessary to be a NATO member state to participate in the proposed European army, which could be not of an offensive nature.

"No steps have been taken to create an EU army, it's not on the table. It's member states' competence, not EU competence," the official said.
Incidentally, the diplomat already has experience in Ukraine, having previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission to the country from August 2001 until June 2004, when she blew the whistle on a scandal involving the sale of four Ukrainian Kolchuga radar systems to Iraq, in violation of UN sanctions. According to experts, the scandal helped to bring down former President Leonid Kuchma, who was replaced with the Washington and Brussels-oriented Viktor Yushchenko following the events of the short-lived 'Orange Revolution' in late 2004, following Vovanovich's departure.

And now, Yovanovitch is back in Kiev. On Monday, in a video posted on the official YouTube channel of the US Embassy in Kiev, the ambassador appealed to Ukrainians, saying that she was happy to be back in Ukraine, and talking about her plans to travel the country with her dog and to eat some delicious Ukrainian pierogis.
However, Merkel told reporters on the Garibalidi:

"I think the Stability Pact has quite a lot of flexibility that we can use in a clever way. That is the responsibility of the (European) Commission  it's not one (EU) member state that decides vis-a-vis another."

Meanwhile, there are divisions within the EU over whether  in the wake of Brexit and rising nationalism throughout member states  there should be greater integration or a less centralized EU. The Visegrad countries  the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia  have vowed to draw up their own plans for a less centralized EU, following Brexit.

The #Ventotene Manifesto called for a fed. of states to counter nationalism. Much to learn & a lot still to do: https://t.co/nd7HRGjFvt  Guy Verhofstadt (@GuyVerhofstadt) August 22, 2016

Integration or Decentralization?

In a statement ahead of a crucial EU summit in Slovakia  which holds the rotating presidency until December  the group said:

"We consider the meeting of Heads of State and Government in September in Bratislava as an excellent opportunity to start the necessary political reflection on the EU and its future. It should take into account the need for the EU to increase democratic legitimacy and more effectively address citizen's needs and concerns in order to regain their trust in the common European project."

Renzi appeared to back greater integration, saying:

"We need to invest in a common defence policy, in digital innovation, in schools and culture. Europe is the affectionate mother of our values, it is not the icy guardian of bureaucratic rules that are difficult to accept."

Merkel, however, wants to form "a better Europe" rather than forge ahead with "more Europe."

Hollande  whose country has been the target of a series of terrorist attacks  many with links to Daesh  called for more integration on defense and security. "To have security we need frontiers that are controlled so that is why we are working to reinforce coastguards and border guards," he said. "We want more coordination in the fight against terrorism," he said.
These images had earlier appeared on a Facebook page that supports Hungary's border troops, with the caption:

"Instead of scarecrows, these are 'scarepeople' made from sugar beet. Seems to work, nobody cut through the fence here in four weeks."

Stroehlein objected to the images, writing:

"Refugees are fleeing war and torture, Hungary. Your root vegetable heads will not deter them."

Refugees are fleeing war & torture, Hungary. Your root vegetable heads will not deter them. https://t.co/QJfk1lJCnw pic.twitter.com/YpCR3nkgyb  Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) August 19, 2016

Then, on Saturday (20 August), Gyorgy Schopflin replied to Stroehlein:

"Might do so. Human images are haram," he said, referring to acts that are forbidden under Islam.

"But agree, pig's head would deter more effectively."

Last night, a member of European Parliament suggested putting pig heads on Hungary's border fence to scare refugees pic.twitter.com/QCKK11Xn1r  Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) August 21, 2016

The response has been swift on social media, with many decrying Schopflin as ignorant.

.@schopflinMEP An MEP spouting such xenophobic filth You are an embarrassment to Hungary, to Europe & to humanity.  Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) August 20, 2016

Schopflin has since back pedaled on his comments, telling Reuters that it was part of a "thought experiment."

Nonetheless, the episode highlights the ongoing deep divisions across Europe on how to best manage the huge influx of migrants, many fleeing death and destruction in the Middle East and Africa.

Under Prime Minister Orban's leadership, Hungary has already take one of the toughest stances on this year's crisis.

In July, Hungary declared a national border emergency and erected a razor wire fence along its southern frontier with Serbia, a non-EU nation. Some 10,000 police and soldiers have been deployed to seal the border. Many migrants have been forced to turn back.
Authorities are hoping that a new migrant center in Thebes, in central Greece will ease the congestion on the camps on the islands on the Aegean Sea which has been described as only "marginally under control."

"The situation on the islands is only marginally under control," an anonymous source from Greece's Public Order Ministry told Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini.

The plan is for migrants to be separated into different groups in camps on the islands: those to be deported; migrants deemed to be "troublemakers" and people who have passed their initial test in order to claim asylum.
Cavusoglu added that Turkey would "review its relations" with Austria.

It comes just weeks after Ankara summoned Austria's ambassador over over a news ticker headline in Vienna airport, which read: "Turkey allows sex with children under the age of 15."

The headline was from the Austrian tabloid Kronen, which reported on a July ruling by Turkey's constitutional court, which will cancel a law that designated all sexual activities with children under the age of 15 as abuse.

A local Turkish court had argued that children between the ages of 12 and 15 are capable of consent. The annulment will come into effect in January unless the Turkish parliament enacts a new law.

Turkish decision to allow sex with children under 15 must be reversed. Children need more protection, not less, against violence, sex abuse.  Margot Wallstrom (@margotwallstrom) August 14, 2016

The incident was highly embarrassing on a diplomatic level indeed, but, far more serious is the continuing fallout from last months failed Turkish coup attempt.

In response to nearly being ousted from power, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a wide-ranging crackdown on dissenters. Tens of thousands of troops, police, judges and civil servants have been detained or dismissed in an ongoing purge, with some Erdogan supporters now calling for the death penalty to be reinstated to punish the coup-plotters.

Many European countries have condemned Erdogan's response as undemocratic and authoritarian.

Turkey, meanwhile, has angrily disputed what it sees as unreasonable outside influence.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said:

"During the coup and afterward, instead of supporting Turkey they have done the exact opposite.

"Today Austria is the capital of radical racism."

Earlier this month, far-right Austrian Freedom Party presidential candidate, Norbert Hofer, called for a ban on naturalization of Turkish residents in Austria, until dual citizenship issues are resolved. He also called for an end to Turkey's European Union membership negotiations, adding that if Turkey does become an EU member, Austria could break away from the bloc.

Austria will hold another election in October after a court ordered re-run of this year's June's result, which Hofer narrowly lost.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)The Paris region experienced an extraordinary drop in tourism revenues after terror attacks, with losses amounting to 750 million euros ($849 million), the Regional Committee of Tourism said Tuesday.

"Since the beginning of 2016, the loss of 750 million of turnover for Parisian tourism professionals and residents of the Ile-de-France [has been registered]", the committee said in a report.

As stated in the report, Paris and Ile-de-France region saw one million fewer tourists in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. Other than terror attacks, the report names constant protests and floods as the main reasons for keeping tourists away.
The analytic report was published by the Scottish Government and draws on research by a range of external organizations. This paper is the first in a series the Scottish Government plans to publish to look at the potential impact on Scotland of the UK exit from the bloc.

"If the UK adopted an alternative trading relationship with the EU, it could potentially reduce Scottish GDP by up to 11.2 billion [$14.8 billion] per year by 2030, compared to what it could be if Brexit does not take place This would reduce tax revenue, an in turn public spending. Leaving the EU could reduce Scottish tax revenues by between 1.7 billion [2.2 billion] and 3.7 billion [$4.9 billion] a year by 2030. To put this into context, it is equivalent to a reduction in the Scottish Government budget of between 6% and 13%," the report said.
The entire collection of the Normandy Tank Museum is reportedly due to go under the hammer next month, in what will be followed by the closure on the museum.

The museum's co-founder Stephane Nerrant pointed to its lack of visitors in the wake of a string of Islamic militant attacks in France, which he said finally added to the decision to close down the museum.

"We thought the museum would attract more people. The terrorist attacks had a considerable impact on visitor attendance," he was quoted by the Bloomberg news agency as saying.
When asked about the possibility of a future split in the party with regard to the differing brands Owen and Corbyn bring to the upcoming leadership, McLeish said:

"The Labour party will continue to be a serious force in parliament in representing the concerns of the working people, but I feel that under a leadership of Jeremy Corbyn there are far too many aspects of support missing for him."

He went on to add:

"The consequences for any such split within the party would not only be tragic for the party but also dire for Britain as a whole. I believe as many do, that to win an election you must have both parliamentary people and party working in unison.

"Based on Corbyn's politics, in my opinion we would see Labour leading itself into the wilderness for a very long time!" McLeish told Sputnik.

Mr. Corbyn who is the odds-on favorite to win the leadership contest due to conclude in September is "not the answer to Labour's decline or long-term recovery," Mr McLeish insisted.

He has also been very outspoken about what he feels is a need for Scottish Labour to start thinking beyond the upcoming leadership battle.

Henry McLeish backing Owen Smith in #LabourLeadership https://t.co/jz6BEsfXbz  Jack Foster (@jackfostr) August 22, 2016

He told reporters last month that the party must even go as far as considering to sever ties with the UK, claiming: "Jeremy Corbyn wrecks its chances of winning the next General Election."

Mcleish has also described what he predicts as a future of home rule for Scotland and a form of federalism, independence or some other, as yet unknown, four-nation constitutional solution.
Ahead of the second Conference of State Parties to the treaty in Geneva, Oxfam has received a legal opinion that UK arms transfers to Saudi Arabia constitute a clear violation of its national, regional and international arms transfer obligations under the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, the EU Common Position on Arms Exports, and the Arms Trade Treaty.

UK government in denial and disarray over treaty it helped create to regulate the arms trade https://t.co/1GEImkbnw5 pic.twitter.com/JnLM92JDIZ  Oxfam (@oxfamgb) August 23, 2016

Ed Cairns, Senior Policy Adviser (Research), Humanitarian Policy and Campaign Team at Oxfam GB told Sputnik:

"It seems to me that the UK Government is in denial at the impact of the Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen. Bearing in mind that every side in the conflict is harming civilians and violating the laws of war  it's not just the Saudi coalition."


PARIS (Sputnik)French President Francois Hollande has expressed hope for holding another Normandy Four format meeting on settling the Ukrainian conflict to Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the French presidency said Tuesday.

The three leaders held talks over the phone earlier in the day. The discussion focused on the Ukrainian crisis and the peace process laid out in the Minsk accords.

"[Hollande] stressed that the risk of escalation would jeopardize the peace process The president also expressed hope that in the near future conditions will be right for holding a new meeting in the Normandy Four format (Germany, Russia, Ukraine, France) to discuss further steps in settling the crisis," the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
So as opposed to coming up with a random list of names ourselves, we approached one of PRIO's current Directors, Kristian Berg Harpviken, who has held his position since 2009 and this year being his eighth year for speculating who may be announced for the coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

"We conduct research on global conditions for peaceful relations throughout the year and so it has become a tradition now for us to be able to use our own research in order to make predictions for who could likely be included in the final nominations list," Harpviken told Sputnik.

When asked if he or his organization had any influence over who is included based on his speculative predictions he told Sputnik:

"Definitely not. We are completely independent of the process and the list is just as secretive as it is famously known to be. We simply work out who could be interesting from our own knowledge and make our predictions from this."

There is a much longer list of possible contenders mentioned on the PRIO website, which is probably so as not to miss anyone who could likely be a contender for winning based on the amount of people who are seen to acknowledge their work or contributions worldwide, and there are some quite surprising names on that list too.

But here are firstly the real strong top 5 speculated contenders as listed by Director of PRIO, Harpviken:

Edward Snowden

An unexpected, and quite controversial inclusion but named for his role in alerting citizens across the globe about the extent and the dangers of electronic surveillance.
A "male intruder" was caught climbing a wall of the embassy in Knightsbridge at 02:47 Monday (August 23) morning by security staff.

19 mins ago at 2:47am an unknown man scaled the side wall+window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security.  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 22, 2016

The wall is reportedly being checked for fingerprints.

WikiLeaks have since tweeted that the London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) took two hours to respond to reports of an intruder at the Embassy, "despite 24h covert op & police station 2 mins walk away."

UK police took 2h to respond to Assange Embassy intruder despite 24h covert op & police station 2 mins walk away. pic.twitter.com/omaGWDwwuW  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 23, 2016

Meanwhile, the Ecuadorian embassy has criticized Scotland Yard's response to the intruder, citing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) which stipulates that the host country, in this case, Britain, "has the special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of any diplomatic mission against any form of intrusion or harm."

"The Ecuadorian Government therefore expressed its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place."

Scotland Yard scaled back on its multi-million dollar 24-hour surveillance of the embassy in October 2015, saying the operation was "no longer proportionate."

The cost of maintaining 24-hour surveillance of the embassy near Harrods came to over US$14.5 million.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Ecuadorian Embassy in London criticized the UK government for failing to adequately respond to a recent security breach, in which an unidentified person tried to scale the side wall and window of its premises where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange resides, WikiLeaks said in a statement on Tuesday.

Early on Monday, an unknown man tried to climb a building within the compound of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where Assange has been living for four years, prompting media speculations of an assassination attempt. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations adopted in 1961, the host country is responsible for protecting the premises of any diplomatic mission against any form of intrusion or harm.

"The Ecuadorian Government therefore expresses its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place. The Government of Ecuador regrets that, despite the enormous resources that the British government has undertaken to prevent Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorian embassy, the authorities did not respond more quickly to this extremely serious attempt of an unauthorized entry," the statement reads.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A delegation bringing together lawmakers from northern Italian councils will visit Crimea in autumn in a bid to promote closer ties between the cities in Italy and the peninsula, a lawmaker from the Veneto Regional Council told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"We will visit different cities and hold talks with the Crimean authorities as we [are] keen on strengthening connections between some Italian and Crimean cities and improving ties with Crimea in the economic, cultural spheres and in the area of politics," Stefano Valdegamberi said.
"For fairness' sake," the journalist noted, "it's necessary to note that rural areas in central and southern Ukraine are dominated not by the Russian or Ukrainian, but by a mixture of the two known as 'Surzhyk'. Moreover, the Ukrainian used by the country's television presenters today is radically different from that which was taught at schools during the Soviet era. Furthermore, differences in regional dialects are quite serious. A resident of Poltava [closer to the country's east], will likely have a hard time understanding someone from a Carpathian hamlet [in the country's west]. The dialects are perhaps as different from each other as 'standard' Ukrainian is from Russian."

Last week, commenting on the language testing results for Lenta.ru, Ukrainian historian Viktor Pirozhenko explained the problem as he sees it.

"Russian language is dominant everywhere  in everyday life, in the media, on the internet, in personal communication. In written form it is at a very low level, due to systematic teaching," he said.

"At the same time," Pirozhenko noted," a majority of students are failing to master Ukrainian, with the language remaining unfamiliar to them. They know it at the everyday level, but are not eager to learn the written language." As for Western Ukraine, the area "is the most depressed part of the country, with the highest levels of unemployment. Accordingly, students are focusing on going abroad to work at construction sites, as unskilled workers, and as service personnel. More than Ukrainian, they need Polish, Czech, Slovak and maybe Italian."
There is still a huge debate within the EU over mass surveillance  an issue that came to the fore following the revelations by former CIA contractor Edward Snowden of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's GCHQ.

Although human rights groups have pushed for only selective, targeted collection of communications data, some countries  such as the UK  are introducing legislation allowing for security services to collect bulk communications data  including telephone records, social media usage and web browsing history  in the fight against terrorism.

However, many people  including terrorists  are switching to encrypted services for messaging each other, or even the dark web. Ahead of their meeting, Cazeneuve and de Maiziere said they would be looking at options to limit the use of encryption in the fight against terrorism.

The position is particularly sensitive for France and Germany, as both have been targeted by terrorists or lone wolf attackers, making the subject of security a sensitive matter, ahead of national elections in both countries next year.

#Encryption under heavy fire as Franco-German Ministerial duo presents new demands for EU's security https://t.co/6hPE9LdKuB  Access Now (@accessnow) August 23, 2016

Terror Attacks

France was rocked in January 2015 by the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, the related hostage-taking in a kosher supermarket at Porte de Vincennes in east Paris and the November 13 attacks in which 130 were killed and hundreds injured in a series of shootings and suicide bombs.
UK's Role in Rendition

The two men, al Saadi and Belhaj, were arrested in south-east Asia in 2004 as part of a CIA operation, where they were then flown back to Libya and tortured.

Documents discovered in 2011 following Gaddafi's overthrow as Libyan leader revealed how Britain had taken part in the operation by tipping off authorities as to Belhaj's whereabouts at the time.

UK Decision not to prosecute in Libyan rendition cases underscores need for an Independent Inquiry #MI6 #Belhaj https://t.co/yfkUioxK85  Reshad Sharif (@ReshadSharif) June 9, 2016

Despite the evidence, which consisted of a 28,000-page file provided by the Metropolitan Police, the CPS decided there were no grounds to charge any British personnel over the incident.

The information commissioner will now investigate Reprieve's complaint regarding the UK's secrecy and their failure to disclose information on potential cabinet or Downing Street interference.

#Libya UK CPS press release on the Belhaj and Al Saadi decision. Operation Lydd Victims' Right to Review decision https://t.co/vTiDSbjfus  city girl (@citygirlabroad) August 5, 2016

Cori Crider, an attorney at Reprieve who represents the families said:

"The CPS sat on a 28,000 page police file for almost two years before they said there was 'insufficient evidence' to charge anyone at MI6 over the kidnap and torture of the Belhaj and al Saadi families. Now, the Cabinet Office, which supports the Prime Minister and oversees intelligence, is refusing to say whether it met with the CPS about the case."

Abdel Hakim Belhaj & wife, Fatima Boudchar, sent from Thailand to Libya & detained under UK SIS MI6 "rendition assistance". To be no charges  Matthew Gordon Banks (@mwgbanks) June 9, 2016

"The trouble is, the FCO [Foreign Office] denied meeting prosecutors. When one government agency says no, neither confirming nor denying looks like a 'yes.' What was the nature of this potential contact between the Cabinet Office and the CPS? Was there subtle political pressure not to bring charges? This response undermines confidence in the whole process."
On Sunday, Die Welt reported, citing unnamed sources, that over 6,000 people inside Germany's three million-strong Turkish community are working as informants for Turkey's national intelligence service, the MIT. The story sparked outraged inside the country, with media and some politicians calling for an investigation. A Bundestag commission has already begun its own checks.

Speaking to Sputnik Germany, Hans-Christian Strobele, a lawmaker for the country's Green Party, emphasized that if the allegations turn out to be true, the offenders must be punished in accordance with German law.

"There must be consequences, because what we're talking about is a criminal offense in Germany. We are talking about the activity of secret agents, and perhaps even more than that; it's possible that specific persons of Turkish origin inside Germany may be threatened."
MEXICO CITY (Sputnik)  According to the presidential decree issued Monday, Correa merged the Public Television and Radio Company of Ecuador (RTV Ecuador), the state-run El Telegrafo newspaper, and the Andes news agency "in order to adapt them to the current functional requirements." The new state enterprise is named Medios Publicos de cominicacion del Ecuador, or the Public Media of Ecuador.

The document introduces the process of "evaluation, selection and rationalization" of human talent, and certain positions would be abolished if necessary.

Correa promised that the editorial teams of the abolished media would be able after the necessary certification to join in the new media holding.
Ives added that, despite the NY Times report, the US Appeals Court upheld the immunity of the UN from the claim that was brought [to court] by 5,000 cholera victims, suggesting that the organization will face no sanction or punishment for their actions.

The apparent organizational negligence outlined in multiple reports on the cholera outbreak has its roots in the role that the UN played in contemporary Haitian history, according to analysts.

The country has been subject to a string of US-orchestrated coups. In 1996, Democratic Nationalist Jean-Bertrand Aristide was legitimately elected president, but was toppled within eight months by a coup, Ives said, adding that Aristide came to power again in 2001, and was overthrown again three years later, in another US backed coup.

After the first coup they put in US forces to occupy the country, which then was passed off to the UN to act as a sort of a proxy, Ives said, adding that UN forces were pulled out of the state in 2000, and brought back when Aristide was re-elected in 2004.

They were supposed to come for just six months. But here we are  twelve years later, and the UN forces are still there. They are essentially there to keep down Haitian people and act in place of the Haitian army that used to govern the country.

Aside from the cholera outbreak, the UN is charged with other violations, Merope-Synge said, quoting reports from Doctors without Borders in which UN peacekeepers consistently violated human rights in poor neighborhoods, including anti-gang operations resulting in many deaths, and sexually abusing civilians, including minors.
Mahmud Shoori, Director of Eurasia Research Group at the Center for Strategic Research (CSR), a leading Iranian think tank, has commented to Sputnik on the issue.

Technologically, he said, it is quite hard to distinguish what the two systems, Russias S-300 and its Iranian analogue, the Bavar-373, have in common or how they differ from each other, and if they could be used simultaneously for similar purposes or not.

However what is more important here is that the domestic development of such a system underscores that the policy of Irans military defense industry is aimed at satisfying all of its military needs independently and on its own, to the extent it is possible. He said Tehran is particularly interested in independently ensuring the Islamic Republic's strategic goals, one of which is the defense of its borders.

Throughout its existence, the expert stressed, Iran has never relied on the support of other states but only on its own capabilities.
Tejel said that "we should see this tragedy in context of what is going on in the whole region, including Turkey and Syria."

"Because on the one hand, you have this attack, and on the other  we have the latest events in [the Syrian city of] Manbij where the Kurdish forces, who earlier seized the city, are now preparing to advance to other cities, such as al-Bab and Jarabulus," he said.

"According to some Kurdish sources, what could happen now is that there might be a kind of an agreement between Turkey and ISIS to give the Turkish troops an opportunity to occupy the city of Jarabulus if ISIS is defeated by the Kurdish forces," he said.

He added that it would be irrelevant to say that Turkey and Daesh are already working together, but that a sort of deal between the two may well be clinched.

"It seems that Turkey is facilitating things for ISIS," Tejel said, referring to reports that hundreds of jihadists could enter Syria via Turkish territory in the near future.

The bride and the groom survived in the explosion, but were seriously injured. Turkish authorities said that more than half of the victims of the blast (29) were under the age of 18 and 22 victims were under the age of 14.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)The United Nations expects a dramatic worsening of displacement in Iraq as military action may be turning towards the city of Mosul, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Tuesday.

"In Iraq, displacement may be about to dramatically worsen with the focus of military action turning towards Mosul. Already, in recent months, some 213,000 people have fled their homes in different parts of the country. This includes 48,000 people from the Mosul area, 87,000 from the Falluja region, and 78,000 from Shirqat, Qayyara and surrounds," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said at a briefing, as quoted by the agency.

According to Edwards, humanitarian impact of a military offensive is expected to be "enormous" in Iraqs second-largest city.
"The majority of lawmakers present at the parliament session voted no-confidence in the government."

Uncertainty Abounds in Libya

The decision by the Tobruk-based legislature to reject the GNA has extended the political uncertainty in Libya, which has consumed the country since former leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011.

Following the no-confidence vote, lawmakers have given the GNA's prime minister-designate, Fayez al-Sarraj, 10 days to come up with a new government, while it is now not known whether the GNA would continue to seek the support of the eastern parliament.

#Libya  Statement issued by pro-GNA HoR members claiming today's session was unconstitutional & parliament hijackedhttps://t.co/1fxTsR5WSo  Sergio Altuna (@wellesbien) August 22, 2016

The GNA, which was established off the back off UN-brokered peace talks in December last year, has been seen by many as the only way to unite Libya, which has been divided by the internationally-recognized parliament in the country's east and a rival movement located in the capital, Tripoli.

Tobruk-based parliamentarians have long protested against the conditions and make-up of the unity government, arguing that it gives disproportionate representation to armed elements that forced it to withdraw to Libya's east.

The Fight Against Daesh

The latest development also has complications for the fight against Daesh and other terrorist organizations in the country, with pro-GNA fighters, assisted by US airstrikes, reportedly wrestling back territory from jihadist groups.

Meanwhile, forces aligned to the Libya's Tobruk-based parliament, under the leadership of General Khalifa Haftar, have been engaged in longstanding conflict with Daesh in the Benghazi and parts of the country's east.

Casualties continue in Sirte #Libya: 11 killed and about 80 injured today in Bunyan Marsous/Misrata-led forces against #ISIS/Daesh  James Wheeler (@wheelertweets) August 21, 2016

They have raised concerns about the security of the GNA, alleging that the unity government is dependent on Islamist-leaning armed groups, including some that they been fighting against over the past five years.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Turkey's special services have obtained documents with new Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group targets for attacks in the country, local media reported Tuesday.

According to the Cumhuriyet newspaper, the documents were found in the house of Yunus Durmaz, an Daesh member who committed a suicide attack during a security operation in the southeastern province of Gaziantep in May 2015.

The list of targets includes the wedding venue where a recent suicide attack claimed the lives of over 50 people, the publication reported.
The Syrian government has been unable to repatriate the bodies of thousands of Daesh fighters who were killed in anti-terror operations, Hussein Nofal, chairman of Syria's Forensic Medicine Committee, told Sputnik.

Nofal explained that after the bodies were identified and the country of origin informed, even neighboring countries proved unwilling to receive the corpses.

"We managed to identify several thousand dead terrorists from France, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and other Arab countries. We have been unable to identify another 30,000 (terrorist) corpses," Nofal told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Iranian-Turkish relations are of strategic nature and can be described as strategic cooperation despite existing differences, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, top adviser of the Iranian parliament speaker, told Sputnik.

"I would like to stress that our relations with Turkey are of strategic nature. For the past five years we have been making joint diplomatic efforts with Turkey to prevent differences about the future of Syria from influencing our strategic relations with Ankara No party made steps that brought our differences on the Syrian issue on the fore and overshadowed our strategic cooperation," Amir-Abdollahian said.

He added that "sincere and friendly dialogue" with Turkey had never stopped.
The recent Turkish airstrikes targeted the Daesh-held northern Syrian border town of Jarablus, with a land offensive of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels expected to follow.

Some have suggested that the decision to strike the YPG, which Turkey says are linked to the banned militia group the PKK, is part of a plan to deter Kurdish forces from capitalizing on any attempt to destroy Daesh in northern Syria.

Given likely presence of US British French Special Forces one would assume #Turkey informed coalition before striking #YPG in Manbij.If not?  Amberin Zaman (@amberinzaman) August 22, 2016

While Kurdish forces currently hold large swathes of land in Syria's northeast, Turkish officials have reportedly said that the presence of Kurdish military and administrative divisions in northern Syria is a "red-line" issue, and that they would prefer Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel groups to take control of those areas once they are liberated from Daesh.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)When providing humanitarian aid in Syria, Russia does not separate local residents according to their religion or ethnicity, Russia does not politicize the issue, Russian Foreign Ministry Human Rights ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov said Tuesday.

"Russia takes colossal steps in providing humanitarian aid to the people of Syria, residents of Syria. And we absolutely do not separate the residents of Syria according to the religious, ethnic principal," Dolgov told journalists at the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency roundtable.

Russia has been providing food, medicines and construction materials to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria since the beginning of 2016.
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MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Tuesday the dismissal of 89 staff members and the suspension of 332 more in a large-scale purge following the July 15 failed coup affecting political, military, academic and other fields.

"After the attempted insurrection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed 89 employees, suspended or recalled 332 from abroad. Of those recalled 31 people did not return to Turkey," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Ankara broadcast by Turkish television.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish Supreme Military Council announced the forced retirement of 586 mid-ranking officers and the reduction of military service to 28 years.
Reports emerged earlier in the day that one of two shells launched from nearby Jarabulus hit the municipality building, not causing injuries but prompting retaliatory airstrikes from the Turkish air force.

Police call on residents of Karkamis to leave their residences aboard minibuses provided by the district governor's office, according to the CNN Turk broadcaster.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Iraqi armed forces said on Tuesday that they had fully liberated the northern city of Al Qayyarah from the Daesh terror group.

"Now Al Qayyarah is fully liberated Iraqi joint forces raised the countrys flag over buildings and a hospital after they had been fully liberated from terrorism," the armed forces said in a statement.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Mohammad Abdul-Salam, a spokesman for Yemens Shia Houthi rebel movement Ansar Allah, has praised Iran for approval of the establishment of the Arab country's Supreme Political Council, strictly opposed by the governmental forces, Iranian media reported Tuesday.

In early August, the UN-brokered talks in Kuwait on Yemens reconciliation ended with the government and Houthi rebels failing to come to an agreement and the rebels forming the Supreme Political Council with a prospect of ruling the country.

According to the Tasnim news agency, Abdul-Salam, a senior official from the Houthi movement at Kuwait talks, has recently held a meeting with Iran's ambassador to Yemen and thanked Tehran for endorsing the establishment of the Council, which had been agreed by Ansar Allah movement and former President Ali Abdullah Salehs General Peoples Congress party in late July.
On Saturday 54 people were killed and more than 100 injured after a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding party in Turkey's southeastern city of Gaziantep. The Turkish government has said that the attack was carried out by a Daesh terrorist

Local politicians told Sputnik Turkiye that several terror cells are operating in Gaziantep, where the local people now fear another attack.

Mahmut Togrul, a Turkish MP who represents Gaziantep on behalf of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, linked the attack to the recent liberation of Manbij in northern Syria from Daesh.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Hundreds of residents of the northern West Bank city of Nablus have taken part in violent protests on Tuesday accusing the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) of killing a detainee, Israeli media reported.

According to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, Nablus Governor Akram Rjoub confirmed that Ahmad Halawa, a city resident suspected of killing two security officers last week, died after he had been beaten by PASF members in the Junaid prison.
"It was very late when our neighbors told us the tragic news. It turned out that when the bomb exploded, Fatma was playing in the street next to the house where the wedding was taking place. After hearing this, I lost consciousness and was taken to hospital. Our neighbors helped us with the funeral for our daughter.

"Words cannot begin to describe the state we're in," Ahmet said. "I am tormented by a single thought: how can I live without my Fatma? Our family has been crushed by this event. My two other children are afraid to go outside; they are constantly crying, remembering their sister."

37-year-old Syrian refugee Hasan Cuma, who lost his son Usama, has a similar story to tell. "I have three children. When the war in Syria began, we moved first to Aleppo, and then to a village on the Turkish-Syrian border. Eventually, Islamist militants made it unsafe to be there, and we fled to Gaziantep. I have been working here for four years in a textile factory."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Moscow warns Washington against flirting with an outlawed terrorist group Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham as it could lead to the creation of another "terrorist monster", the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

"A question emerges (and not only for us maybe): what is this: powerlessness of the United States or someones conscience line for the prolongation of the conflict? An attempt to play games with the Nusra [Front] militants could lead to the creation of another terrorist monster," the statement read.

The ministry added that the United States was constantly looking for new ways to "give respite" for the terrorist organization.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The United States was not necessarily involved in Hasakah, Syria, an area where US military personnel were reportedly endangered by Syrian government airstrikes last week, US Department of State spokesman Mark Toner stated on Tuesday.

"Our forces have not really been involved in that area," Toner said of Syria's northeast Hasakah region.

Late last week, US aircraft scrambled above Hasakah in response to Syrian air strikes against US-allied Kurdish forces near the city.
The armored robot seems to be part of the Iraqi military arsenal in the offensive to liberate Mosul from ISIS, Elliot Zweig, deputy director the Middle East Media Research Institute, speaking to Defense One, commenting on the Alrobot.

Two Iraqi inventors are reportedly behind the development of the machine. Their names have not been made public.

Iraqi officials have remained silent on reports about Alrobot. It is also unknown when will it be deployed in battle.

If deployed, Alrobot will likely become the first battle robot to fire at enemies in Iraq. Previous attempts to engage armed remotely operated vehicles in warfare there have been made by the United States and have been deemed failures.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  Afghanistan wants India to transfer some of its most lethal weapons, including Russian-made Mi-25 and Mi-35 aircraft, to the fledgling Afghan National Army and also to assist in the restoration of its Soviet-era tank and ammunition factories.

Afghanistan's Army Chief General Qadam Shah Shamim expects to hand over the list to Indian authorities during his upcoming visit to New Delhi, which starts August 29. According to sources, the list was prepared after a consultation with the US Army. In addition to attack and utility helicopters, the list also includes artillery, ammunition, tanks and 'trainer' vehicles.

However, many within the Indian establishment are questioning whether it would be wise of India to fulfill Afghanistan's demands. Official sources told Sputnik that the Indian government is not very keen and that any announcement to this effect is most unlikely during the Afghan Army Chief's upcoming visit.
Ultimately, the international law expert suggested that naturally, Ukraine has the right "to go to court, to push for arbitration, to appeal to international courts, and do whatever else it desires. But I do not see the subject under dispute here. But that's for arbitration to decide. If the arbiter accepts the lawsuit, Russia will have many legal arguments with which to defend its interests."

For his part, Dr. Dmitri Labin, a professor of international law at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, emphasized that in his professional opinion, Kiev has failed to define the issue correctly, since the Convention of the Law of the Sea does not answer questions regarding state sovereignty or ownership of a territory by a particular country. "The Convention does not offer answer questions about the legitimacy of a territory's transfer from one country to another. Therefore, attempting to use this document to challenge the sovereignty of another country is simply absurd."

With regard to Crimea's legal status as part of Russia, Labin suggested that "no one in the international community has yet to present a complaint against Russia in a professional and competent matter regarding the peninsula's accession to Russia. In my view, Crimea's entry into the Russian Federation was carried out entirely within the framework of international law, and as far as I know, many experts share this view. Moreover, it is international law specifically which allowed the residents of the peninsula to formalize their will" and intention to rejoin Russia.

As for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it can be used to determine things like how many nautical miles from its coast Russia has sovereignty over, the zone of its exclusive economic interests, etc. "Ukraine does not have access to the sea in this particular stretch of the coast, and therefore cannot prove its rights to these waters. To claim otherwise is absurd, and no international lawyer will be able to find any grounds to think otherwise. If the sovereignty issue has been resolved, trying to challenge it using documents that are irrelevant to the matter at hand is nothing short of odd."
ANKARA (Sputnik)  Late on Monday, three US officials from the Justice Ministry and one official from the US State Department arrived in Ankara and launched the work on the case with their Turkish colleagues from the Justice Ministrys International Law and Foreign Affairs Directorate the following day, the Anadolu news agency reported.

On July 15, the Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup was taking place in the country. The Turkish government said that Gulen who, Ankara believes, is seeking to overthrow the current government was allegedly linked to the thwarted coup. Gulen is currently living in the US city of Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.

On August 4, a court in Turkey issued in absentia a formal warrant for Gulens arrest. Ankara has also officially asked the United States for his extradition, claiming it had collected the necessary evidence, and later processed and supplemented the needed materials.
Thus far, Ankara has signaled that it could contribute to the settlement of the Syrian crisis together with Russia, Iran, the US, Saudi Arabia and other parties concerned.

"But will that solution be with or without Bashar al-Assad?" Yetkin asks.

The journalist underscores that up to now the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has insisted that Bashar al-Assad should step down and claimed that his resignation is a "must" for the Syrian peace process.

However, while Yildirim says that "Assad cannot be part of Syria's future, as he is not a unifying element for the Syrian people," he also acknowledges that "for a transition [government], it is possible to sit and talk [with Assad]."

"It is obvious that, whether we like it or not, al-Assad is an actor," Yildirim admitted as quoted by Yetkin.
Earlier in the day, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) decision taken on August 7 to suspend Russian Paralympians from the September Paralympic Games in Rio, dismissing Russias August 15 appeal.

"These names will be go down in history, in a shameful history, of course. Because a crime was committed todayThat must be a lesson for us, that must be a personal challenge for us, that is a personal challenge for me," Zakharova told Vesti FM radio broadcaster.
Last week, Turkey's EU ambassador told German newspaper Die Welt that "the Turkish government wants to join the EU by 2023," adding that "it would be the pinnacle for my country to become a member by that time." Yenel added while "there are countries that want to leave the EUTurkey wants to join. In the long run," he noted, "it will be unacceptable for us if we don't belong to the EU."

Commenting on the official's ambitious deadline, Baydarol told Sputnik Turkey that he believes it to be completely unrealistic. "The current situation in the negotiations process on Turkey's accession to the EU, and the results which have been achieved in the 11 years that have passed since negotiations began, indicate that Turkey's path toward full membership in the EU will be very, very difficult."

"Everyone is aware of the difficulties in relations between Ankara and Brussels, and the harsh criticism which European parliamentarians have expressed regarding Turkey's leaders," the expert recalled. "All this suggests that Turkey's plans for accession into the EU are far too optimistic."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Tefft's remarks came ahead of his trip to Russia's Arkhangelsk later this month, where he plans to attend the ceremonial commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the first lend-lease convoy, code-named Dervish, who delivered military equipment to Russia which was in war with Nazi Germany.

"It is just and appropriate that we and our Russian hosts commemorate this Arctic convoy, because it reminds us that the United States and Russia were able to work together at a critical time in world history. I believe we are capable of doing so again, and we must," Tefft wrote in his Livejournal account.

In March 1941, the US Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act authorizing arms supplies to its allies who were in war with Nazi Germany. In November 1941, the first aid convoy arrived in northern sea ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. A total of 4.2 million tonnes of arms and armaments were delivered from the United States to the Soviet Union during World War II.
The Russian government has become the scapegoat for a series of cyberattacks in recent months, including hacks into the computer networks of both major US political parties. Most recently, Moscow has been blamed for hacking into the US National Security Agency and stealing cyberweapons.

The accusations are never backed by evidence, and are often contradicted by shreds of inference. In the recent NSA hack, US government hacking tools acquired through the breach were put up for auction, suggesting that the perpetrators were not sponsored by a foreign government.

"A more logical explanation could also be insider theft," James Bamford writes for Reuters, adding that it appeared the culprits were "more like hacktivists than Russian high command."

"Rather than the NSA hacking tools being snatched as a result of a sophisticated cyber operation by Russia or some other nation, it seems more likely that an employee stole them."

There is little evidence that Russia is responsible for the DNC hack that led to the release of internal emails by Wikileaks.

"Intelligence agencies have again pointed the finger at Russia for hacking into these emails," Bamford says.
By comparison, a look at the social media accounts of over three dozen staffers for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proved far less controversial.

"One staffer said Trumps style of speaking reminded him of a roommate who had taken too many hallucinogenic mushrooms," the report reads.

A look at the 19,000 leaked internal emails of the Democratic National Committee also found no examples of racist or xenophobic remarks.

Trump rose to the top in the Republican primary largely by appealing to the anxieties of the partys white male base. It should come as no surprise that many of his national staffers were admirers of their candidates divisive rhetoric.
Turkeys Prime Minister says the US is destroying ties between the two countries. Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Ankara tomorrow to attempt to smooth things over, but the Turkish government is still furious that the U.S. refuses to extradite the man they claim masterminded the failed coup.

Italy hosted the leaders of Germany and France as part of increasingly desperate efforts to relaunch the European project and chart a way forward after the stinging blow from the Brexit vote, but is the writing already on the wall for the EU? Becker is joined by filmmaker and journalist John Pilger to talk about if there's a path forward for Europe's 27-member bloc.

Peace talks have kicked off between the government of the Philippines and the communist rebels who have been at war for nearly five decades. As key rebel leaders have walked free in recent days and a ceasefire has taken effect, is peace more realistic than ever before? Bernadette Ellorin, chairperson of BAYAN-USA, joins Becker to discuss the talks.
Donald Trump's newly celebrated 'pivot' to becoming a 'maturity' as a Presidential candidate, as declared by some Republicans and some in the corporate media, may be far less of a 'pivot' than he and his surrogates are pretending, especially in his new attempts to woo African-American voters.

On today's BradCast, we take a look at some of the claims of Trump's surrogates, and how they stack up against reality. (Hint: Taking out a newspaper ad calling for the death penalty for five African-American kids found completely innocent of a horrible crime doesn't seem a particularly smart way to woo the African-American vote.)

Similarly, if the GOP wants to reach out to minority voters, they have a very peculiar way of showing it, as Republican Party officials, operatives and Governors  from CA to NC, from NJ to MI  re-double their efforts to keep 'certain' voters from being able to cast a vote at all this November.
Todays main stories: As the 2017 French Presidential election looms ever closer, Francois Hollande's embattled leadership continues to face setback after setback. Former members of his own government have announced their intention to stand against him, and now his old adversary Nicolas Sarkozy plans a comeback. We look at the future of French politics and the decline of a once popular president, with the help of Professor Alistair Cole, from the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon.

The opposition coalition in the Democratic Republic of Congo has called for a national strike today in protest of the sitting president, Joseph Kalibas continual postponing of the presidential elections. We talk to William Clowes, a journalist based in Kinshasa.

You can find previous editions of World in Focus here.
This is not the first time that a drone drug drop of this type has taken place, in a separate incident, a suspected attempt to deliver drones into Wandsworth prison, in southwest London, was foiled last week when police intercepted the delivery. The police were engaged in a fatal car crash, where both suspects who were thought to be flying the drone were killed.

Woman dies and man injured in police chase after they were suspected of flying drone into prison #TODAY https://t.co/fBnjCljrJl  Report UK (@ReportUK) 10 August 2016

Wandsworth prison is a Category B facility, for those who do not require maximum security, but who still pose a large risk to the public.

One of the first recorded attempts to deliver contraband into a British prison took place last October, when staff at Bedford prison spotted a package in the netting above the perimeter wall.

Drones are increasingly being used, whether to capture footage or used in warfare to kill. So the use of drones to deliver contraband is not surprising. However, some are asking how the police will combat this problem.

A report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons published last year identified smuggling "unauthorized items, including mobile telephones and illegal drugs," as a serious challenge facing prison staff.
In the past several years, we have increased the amount of experimental data three- or four-fold and, as a result, improved the precision of measurements. One of the tasks in the muon puzzle experimental research is to count not only the number of muons but to measure their energy characteristics. We began the experiment of measuring the energies of muons back in 2012 and it is still in progress. First, we used the coordinate-tracking detector DECOR to register a group of muons. Then we measured what energy they deposited in the NEVOD Cherenkov water detector, Rostislav Kokoulin, NEVOD Senior Research Associate said.

The scientists intend to find out whether the mean energy of muons has changed in addition to their excess number.

When the experiment proves the excess of energy exists, it will become clear what changes in the theoretical model are required. Now, NRNU MEPhI is building new setups that will operate alongside DECOR and NEVOD. This will allow the scientists to expand the set of characteristics under observation and make the measurements more precise, the report says.

Kokoulin added that the muon puzzle will take only two to five years to solve now.

Once the muon puzzle is solved, we will have a more accurate idea of the nuclear-cascade process initiated by interactions of ultra-high energy particles. This understanding is required for studying characteristics of the Universe and the processes within it, the scientist stressed.




WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should expand its election monitoring mission to US states that have historically discriminated against African-American voters, a US civil rights group said in a press release on Tuesday.

"A confluence of factors has made the right to vote more vulnerable to racial discrimination than at any time in recent history," the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said. "The need for additional election observers is paramount."
WASHINGTON(Sputnik)  US President Barack Obama will see if there is more the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can do to address the flood crisis in Louisiana, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a pool report on Tuesday.

Obama went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Tuesday to tour the flooded areas, a visit Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump characterized in a Twitter post as too little, too late.

"Earnest said He'll [Obama] also discuss with state and local officials on the ground if there's more FEMA can and should do," the report stated.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The Clinton Foundation needs to return every dollar it received in foreign donations, the Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said in a Twitter message on Tuesday.

"All of the Clinton Foundation foreign money should never have been accepted and needs to be returned today," Priebus stated.

All of the @Clintonfdn foreign money should never have been accepted and needs to be returned today  Reince Priebus (@Reince) August 23, 2016

The RNC chairman also said he supported Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps call for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate the Clinton Foundation.
From the University of Texas rulebook:

"Subchapter 13200. Prohibited Expression

Sec. 13201. Obscenity

No person or organization will distribute or display on the campus any writing or visual image, or engage in any public performance, that is obscene. A writing, image, or performance is obscene if it is obscene as defined in Texas Penal Code, Section 43.21 or successor provisions, and is within the constitutional definition of obscenity as set forth in decisions of the United States Supreme Court."

On Tuesday, the group held a rally at the school to hand out sex toys.

Hey chronic college procrastibators, we know you're gonna need a last minute dildo before classes start! Come to the west mall at 5pm on Tuesday for our pre-rally! Penis face paint, penis cupcakes, penis jugglers on unicycles, and speeches laced with pun-ises, a statement on the Cocks Not Glocks Facebook page read.

The group also held an event on Monday, handing out 500 large fake penises. Students were asked to bring their school identification cards to the Spider House Cafe and Ballroom to receive one. The event was dubbed, Pre Come and get your COCK not Glock.

The campaign has also made a line of t-shirts with slogans such as take it and come, a play on the pro-gun slogan come and take it.

The bill being protested, Senate Bill 11, took effect August 1. It not only allows students to carry weapons into classrooms, but also prevents schools in some areas from prohibiting it.

You're carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I'm carrying a HUGE DILDO, the Cocks Not Glocks Facebook states.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Mook did not name the purported Russian agent, but it turns out that he was referring to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who until two years ago served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama, the Clinton campaign told FactCheck.

"The gentleman he [Trump] brought with him to his security briefing just last week is someone whos on the payroll of the Russia Times, which is a basically a propaganda arm of the Kremlin," Mook said in an appearance on Sunday on ABC News This Week.

As it turns out, Flynn was paid for giving a speech at an anniversary gala by the Russia Times, a government-funded television station, the report explained.
At around 4:30 AM police were called to the home of a man who said that someone had held his wife at gunpoint and stolen her car keys as she arrived home from work. The call was disconnected after he explained what happened, and emergency dispatchers, attempting to call him back, were unsuccessful. He never notified police that he, along with the suspect, was armed.

The thief attempted to steal the vehicle, but fled on foot when it would not start.

When police arrived, the man opened his garage door and came out holding his weapon. An officer who has not been identified opened fire. The armed homeowner was shot at least once in the midsection and was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The location of the car is not known, but the exchange between Abedin and another State Department official apparently occurred in July 2009, when Clinton was visiting India as the US secretary of State.

"Im going to have ambassador ride on the next drive. Theres a bunch of burn stuff in the pocket in front of my seat. Can u put in trunk?" an email from Abedin to State Department official Lauren Jiloty dated July 20, 2009 said.

Jiloty replied, "Yep, doing now."
He also referred to an independent study conducted in the Netherlands two years ago, which showed that the country could benefit from a potential withdrawal from the EU. "I am convinced that it is quite possible to organize a Dutch referendum on the issue of Nexit," according to Van Grieken.

He was echoed by Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, a Member of the European Parliament from the National Front party, who told Sputnik that euroscepticism in on the rise in France and that many in France and beyond are opposed to the anti-Russian sanctions.

"Currently, many countries are up in arms against these anti-Russian sanctions. However, the current weak consensus leads to a situation where we do not want to talk out loud about our opposition to sanctions with a number of other countries," he said.

Earlier in an interview with Sputnik, Moscow-based political analyst Konstantin Voronov said that the Dutch Party for Freedom's drive to hold a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the EU is a sign that it is time to start rethinking the European integration project.

He said that it is still unclear whether a national referendum will be held in the Netherlands, but that the very fact that the party has put forward this initiative is very symptomatic of disillusionment with the Union.

Welp, with the upcoming possibility of nexit I shall only say to Netherlands people  stay strong and think deep. #notonexit  Viktorija (@viktori12544909) 19  2016 .

Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders, meanwhile, said that "Brussels should not dictate who we can have economic and political relations with" and that "restoring ties with Russia is a priority direction for the traditionally trade oriented country which the Netherlands has always been."

"For centuries, our countries have benefited from bilateral cooperation despite conflicts. And today lifting the anti-Russian sanctions is a mandatory condition for our positive future," Wilders told the Russian newspaper Izvestia earlier this month.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Oxfam said it had received a legal opinion the UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia were in violation of Britains national, regional and international arms transfer obligations under three different regulations including the Arms Trade Treaty, which the United Kingdom has strongly supported.

"UK arms and military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect. Schools, hospitals and homes have been bombed in contravention of the rules of war," Oxfam quoted its Deputy Chief Executive Penny Lawrence as saying in the statement.

According to the statement, the UK government is "in denial and disarray" over selling arms to Riyadh while the Saudi-led coalition carries out airstrikes in Yemen.


BRUSSELS (Sputnik)The European Union's Third Energy Package entered into force in late 2009, sparking disagreements between the European Union and Russia in 2014. The package, aimed at regulating the EU gas and electricity market, prohibits companies from both owning and operating a gas pipeline.

"The Panel expects to issue its final report to the parties in May 2017, in accordance with the timetable adopted after consultation with the parties," the organization said in a document issued Monday.

Russia initiated the dispute in 2014. The same year, Russia halted the implementation of the South Stream pipeline, which was intended to traverse the Black Sea to deliver Russian natural gas through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Italy and Austria to avoid exporting gas through the territory of Ukraine. Moscow gave up the project as the European Commission was against the implementation of it citing the Third Energy Package.
On Monday, Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy said that the next Russian airport safety delegation would pay a visit to Egypt on August 29 to inspect security measures in Cairo, Sham el-Sheikh and Hurghada airports.

"Our experts positively assess the situation and say that, if the situation develops with the same dynamics, then flights will be resumed in the second half of October," Osaulenko told the Russian Izvestia newspaper.
New Delhi (Sputnik)  After much dilly-dallying, India and the US are set to sign an agreement which would pave the way for sharing each other's military bases for logistic and humanitarian assistance. The draft of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) is ready and is likely to be signed during the forthcoming visit of India's Defense Minister to the United States. The three day visit of Manohar Parrikar, India's Minister of Defense, will begin from August 29. The agreement, however, will not give access to Indian bases for the deployment of US troops. India and the US had agreed in April this year to conclude the LEMOA soon.

After extensive discussions, both countries have agreed upon the draft of the LEMOA. The draft agreement says that the LEMOA will not grant the deployment of US troops on Indian soil' under any circumstances. Both nations will have to seek advance permission to use the facilities, which are mainly for training, exercises, port calls and humanitarian assistance.

Sources says that India has taken care that the agreement with the US will not adversely impact relations with other friendly nations, as every request will be considered on a case by case basis. The LEMOA is slightly different from the Logistic and Supply Agreement (LSA) which is signed between the US and its military allies.


GENEVA (Sputnik)The consultations are expected to address work between Moscow and Washington to organize humanitarian pauses in Aleppo and ensure the safety of humanitarian convoys traveling along Castello road.

The outcome of the ongoing talks would determine the likelihood of the previously reported August 26 meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva, sources told RIA Novosti earlier.
Cook however said that the US has not finalized plans with Russia on potential coordinated efforts.

Serious issues must first be resolved before we can implement the steps Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov discussed in Moscow last month. We are not there yet and the regime and Russia's recent actions only make it harder to consider any potential coordination.

The Pentagon also reiterated the US warnings to the Syrian and Russian jets to keep away from American positions in Syria in the wake of Syrian Air Force sortie to the Syrian city of Hasakah. Despite the warning that the US could open fire, Syrian jets risked confrontation by flying a bombing sortie over this area.

And that is an area in which we've been active. We've been clear about that. And so, we're going to continue to defend our forces in that area. We're going to tell the Syrians and anyone else who may threaten our forces in that area, we will defend them. And they have a right to defend themselves as well.

We've said repeatedly that we will protect coalition forces as needed in Syria, and I think we demonstrated that last week. And I'm not going to get into the specific of our air operations, but we will continue to do that. We will use our air power as needed to protect coalition forces in our partnered operations, he added.

When asked about the difference between the above warning and the introduction of a no-fly zone, the press secretary said that the distinction here is that we're going to defend our forces where they are.
According to him, "the media quickly alleged that Argentina plans to buy the Texan aircraft, but the real state of affairs is not that simple."

"Under the US procedures, if a foreign state is interested in the acquisition of military equipment, the relevant request should be first of all approved by Congress. The issue is just being negotiated, and Argentina only asked the Americans to give an estimated cost of the project," he said.

He added that with official statements on the matter yet to be made, many remain skeptical about Argentina's possible go-ahead regarding the deal.

"The US reacting to Argentina's request regarding the estimated cost documentation does not mean that the sale [of the Texan planes] will take place. It is even possible that Argentina is poised to start talks with a third country, and in this case, it can request such documentation from the US so as to put pressure on a potential supplier," Serbin said.
It is with great sadness that the family of lifelong horseman Leonard Hill announces his passing.

Hill was a lifelong horseman who was born in Manitoba, but had ties to racing from Ontario to British Columbia and as far south as Florida.

As a trainer and driver, Hill raced many horses that had life marks of 2:00 when that actually meant something, including Kentucky Rain, Irish Splendor, Winsday Express and Brents Delivery.

Hill was never afraid to offer advice, and often gave it whether you needed to hear it or not. He was a blacksmith for many years and always had a way of getting a horse off its knees or improve speed.

Hill was a true horseman at heart that will be sadly missed by friends and family. He helped stepson Clayton with numerous tips and encouragement. He also wrote a song about being a Standardbred horseman that is still being sung and enjoyed.

Leonard is survived by his son, Brent; grandchildren, Tyler and Jenna; his brothers, John and Jim; and the person who did her best to keep him on the right path for the past many years, Dreda Braybrook (Leonard's favourite campfire song was Good Hearted Woman).

Leonard never attended a funeral in his life, so there won't be one. He only asked for his ashes to be spread some place warm (he hated the cold!). If you knew him or knew of him, have a glass of orange brandy, or rye, and think of him. That's how he would have wanted it.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Leonard Hill.
Bishop E.W. Jackson in Dallas Today to Show Support for Police Officers

Contact: Chelsea Svendsen, 540-579-4779, media@ewjackson.com DALLAS, Aug. 23, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- Today, August 23, Bishop E.W. Jackson will be at the Dallas Police Headquarters at 12:00 pm (CST) to deliver Police Prayer Cards for the 3400 police officers of the Dallas Police Department. Funds for the Police Prayer Cards were raised by "Stand With Law Enforcement" a campaign designed to combat the threats and attacks against police officers. The cards contain a positive message, and express support for police officers. Last week, Bishop Jackson delivered cards to the Milwaukee Police Department. Groups and individuals around the country are requesting cards to deliver to their local police departments.STAND With Law Enforcement was born out of the events following the Dallas Shooting, when it became apparent that law enforcement officers were actually being targeted for violent attack. Some leaders in the black community have created what Jackson calls "the false narrative" that police are hunting down black men and engaged in massive police brutality. "We are reaping the harvest of that lie," says Bishop Jackson, "and police are being attacked while the spike in inner city violence and black on black murders is ignored by the media."Jackson says that the public - particularly the black community - should not rush to judgment, but wait for the facts whenever there is a police incident. "Most law enforcement officers are honorable people doing a very difficult job for low pay and little thanks." Says Jackson, "We should pray for law enforcement instead of persecuting them. We should honor them instead of harassing them. And yes, we should hold wrongdoers accountable, but let's heal our country instead of tearing it apart."Jackson also points to the deeper issue at hand with civil unrest against our law enforcement officers. "Stoking this hysteria against cops is reckless and destructive. Those living in poor neighborhoods are most in need of help from police. Turning cops into the enemy will only embolden criminals and make law abiding residents less safe. We must STAND With Law Enforcement."To find out more about STAND With Law Enforcement and the Police Prayer Cards visit the website at www.standwithlawenforcement.com
Wisdom of the Crowd: 55 % of respondents said that the Trust Bak set up by Fairprice will not be profitable as there are already too many d...
It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here.
tech2 News Staff

Yes, as previously reported, the next milestone update for Google's mobile operating system, Android 7.0 Nougat has finally begun to roll out today. The update that varies in size, is rolling out to supported Android devices as an over-the-air (OTA) update. As with all Google software, it is rolling out in batches, so your Nexus device may not get it right away.

Supported Devices

Talking about supported devices, the new update this time excludes two older devices from Google's Nexus line up, the Nexus 5 and the 2013 Nexus 7. Owners need not be disappointed though, as Google has plans to support those two devices by means of security patches, although it isn't clear as for how long the company will support the same.

As for the devices that are receiving the new update, Android 7.0 will be arriving on your Nexus 6, 9, 5X, 6P, the Pixel C tablet and the Nexus Player. Google said in a statement that the OTA update may take "several weeks" to roll out, so as we mentioned earlier, it will take some time till your Nexus smartphone receives the update notification. Post Android 7.0 update Google has also quarterly update roll-outs which would include maintenance releases, so yes, things are about to get pretty interesting.

What's New?

Coming to what has changed in the final release, there's good news, not much has. This is however in comparison to the developer beta that we played around with a few months ago. For those upgrading from Android 6.0 to 7.0, there are plenty of changes.

There's multi-windows display, a built-in files manager, you can even block numbers at the system level. Switching between two apps now also gets easier, all you have to do is double tap the recent app (square navigation icon) button.

No update yet? Fear not!

So what if you cannot see the update notification or simply are too impatient to wait? Well Google already has a few images of the official ROM up on its developer pages, so you can click on the links below to download the official firmware and manually install the update.

Nexus 5X

Nexus 6P

The official image for the older Nexus 6 and other devices are bound to appear soon.

As for updating the manual way, this for users who are familiar with custom ROMs. You will need to push the update via your computer after booting your device into recovery. To push the update from your computer you will need ADB, for those who have already rooted their devices, you probably know the drill.
Naina Khedekar

Lately, a report said how tech startups pose threat to Fortune 500 companies and their head honchos. While it seemed a bit out of proportion, the report did hit the right chords when talking about how the best startups have been acquired by biggies. Whether done to nip it in the bud or add to the company's muscle power, there is no denying this sort of trend.

Employees of many giant companies are known to have set out to build innovative products. Now, Google seems to be finding newer ways to keep at least ex-Googlers who have set on their own path under its fold.

It wasn't too long ago that we heard about Google's in-house startup incubator internally known as Area 120, the name borrowed by the famous 20 percent time philosophy that Google follows, wherein it asks employees to invest 20 percent of their time in something they like. But, spend that 20 percent time doing things you like, but 'for Google', should we say? The entrepreneurial space will let Google employees develop their ideas, which will be supported and funded by Google. With this move, it is possible that the company may be able to encourage employees to work on something new and retain it, rather than lose talent. And, there is absolutely, nothing wrong with that.

And, even if these ex-Googlers decide to set out independently, Google is trying to keep them within reach via investments. Re/code points out, citing internal sources, Google is trying to keep ex-Googlers close by investing in their startups. For instance, Google has invested in a new social media startup called Hello Network, that belong none other than Orkut Buyukkokten. Now, that's a familiar name, isn't it?

"Google is funding the companies using convertible notes. While Googles staff is acting as an adviser, the search giant does not have special rights in the terms, like first dibs on an acquisition," the report claims Interestingly, the fund are flowing directly from Google (via M&A boss Don Harrison and his team), and not via its investment arm Google Capital. Needless to say, executives Don Harrison is among the ones managing the Area 120.

By providing an in-house incubator and investing in startups of former Googlers, the company not only wants to try its luck at retaining talent and the subsequent innovation, but also maintain a cordial relationship with employees who have set out to build independent companies.
tech2 News Staff

Car manufacturer Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Tuesday launched its sixth generation Elantra model powered with petrol and diesel.

In a statement issued here, HMIL said the new Elantra comes with manual and automatic transmission and powered with petrol and diesel engines.

According to HMIL, the manual transmission petrol powered variant is priced between Rs 12.99 lakh and Rs 16.59 lakh while the two automatic transmission variants are priced Rs 15.89 lakh and Rs 17.99 lakh respectively.

The diesel engine manual transmission model is priced between Rs 14.79 lakh and Rs 17.69 lakh while automatic transmission model is priced at Rs.19.19 lakh.

"In the pursuit to achieve world's best technology, the all new Elantra is the culmination of 26 years of continuous and dedicated research by Hyundai Motor. Currently in its 6th generation, the all new Elantra builds upon the momentum and success of its award-winning history with strong value proposition," the statement quoted HMIL MD and CEO Y.K. Koo as saying.

Our sister site reports that the top end variant of the car will come bundled with a reverse parking camera, Vehicle Stability Management, Hill Start Assist, ABS, 6 airbags and all the other bells and whistles expected from such a car.

One can expect 152 PS of power and 192 nm of torque from the petrol engine. The diesel variant will deliver 128 PS of power and 260 nm of torque. Fuel efficiency is claimed to be 15 km/l for the petrol variant and 22 km/l for the diesel variant with manual transmission (18 km/l for AT).

With inputs from IANS
hidden

Chinese tech major Xiaomi on Monday said its smartphone sales in India have grown by 72 per cent in the last two years.

The company, which entered the Indian market in 2014, gets a lion's share of its sales from the online platform.

"We entered India in July 2014 and disrupted the smartphone industry with high-quality devices. We have since then seen an incredible growth rate of 72 per cent year-on-year (July 2014 to July 2016) in terms of smartphone sales," Xiaomi India head Manu Jain told PTI.

He, however, declined to comment on the total number of handsets sold by the company in India.

The company also sells other products and accessories like tablets, power banks and bluetooth speakers in India.

Jain said Xiaomi India sold 1.75 million units of the Redmi Note 3 in five months of the handset's launch in March.

"Redmi Note 3 is the single highest-shipped smartphone ever in the history of India's online market in any given quarter," Mr Jain said citing data by research firm IDC.

Also, Xiaomi shipped 880,000 units of the Redmi Note 3 in the online channel in the April-June quarter of 2016.

"This is almost twice the volume of the second highest-shipped smartphone in the online channel in India. We are among the top three players online with about 11-15 per cent share of the handsets bought online," Jain said.

About 28 per cent of handsets shipped in India are through the online channel. As per IDC data, 27.5 million units of smartphones were shipped in the second quarter of 2016.

PTI
For the second year in a row, Australia has seen one of its best athletes suffer from racist fan behavior. Eddie Betts of the Adelaide Crows had a banana thrown at him by a rival fan in a game Saturday night.

Betts and the Crows were playing against their rivals Port Adelaide in Round 22 of the AFL season. The Showdown in Adelaide is one of the sports biggest rivalries but this year it was marred by racist fan behavior.

The 29-year-old indigenous Betts is one of the AFLs best players. The forward was an All-Australian selection in 2015 and is on his way to being named to the AFLs All-Star team once again this year. In the current 2016 season, he sits tied for third with 65 goals this season, which is a remarkable feat for a smaller forward. On Saturday against Port Adelaide, Betts kicked five goals including this spectacular effort.

After Betts scored the goal, this ugly scene took place as a female Port Adelaide fan threw a banana at him. And it was caught on videotape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p8C1uuQw2s

A day after, the woman, Alexandra Pelosi, was banned from attending any more Port Adelaide games according to the Sydney Morning Herald:

On Sunday afternoon, Port Adelaide said it had completed an investigation into the incident and it was clear from talking to witnesses the womans behaviour was racially motivated. As a result, the member has been banned indefinitely from attending any Port Adelaide games in the future, the club said in a statement. Port Adelaide will meet with the offender in the coming days to offer her an opportunity to take part in the clubs industry-leading Aboriginal cultural awareness programs.

In his comments about the situation, Betts showed an incredible amount of grace and class in responding to the incident for which Pelosi later apologized for. Via AdelaideNow.com:

Betts, who didnt know what had happened until after Saturdays Showdown, said he was disappointed by Ms Pelosis actions. Its sad that racism still exists in our game and hopefully people can learn from it and all we have to do is educate, he told the Crows website. It was my 250th game and something that were meant to celebrate. Betts, part of an AFL campaign against racism, said it was fantastic Port had offered its indigenous players to speak to Ms Pelosi. Hopefully, people can talk to their kids about why the campaign is important and  educate family members on racism  its not too late to learn, Betts said. Betts said he believed he spoke for all AFL players when bluntly telling fans not to throw anything on the field. Its a little bit disappointing that someone is trying to aim at you while youre playing on the field, he said. We go out there and play footy, we go out there to entertain. We dont want to be fearing for (our safety) or dodging stuff that comes onto the field.

Its the second high-profile racial villification incident to hit the AFL in two years. As mentioned earlier, last season Sydney Swans legend Adam Goodes was booed and abused in Perth during a game against the West Coast Eagles after taking strong stands on racial issues over the years. Given how the entire country and international sport rallied around Goodes, its beyond disappointing to see this happen again with another high-profile athlete.

Its terrible that these things still happen, regardless of the sport or the country where it may take place. Hopefully Betts is right and there are people out there who learn from it and become more educated so we dont see it again.
Monday wasnt a great day if youre a Michigan Wolverines fan. Ohio State snagged a pair of five-star recruits, giving them a 10-star Monday.

But that wasnt the only thing that made the day go wrong. Defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon, a four-star recruit, decommited from Michigan after an apparent mail snafu in which he received a card for a barbecue that he did not attend, along with spelling his name wrong after he told them of the issue.

From 247Sports:

A day or two ago, they sent my mom a card thanking us for going to the Michigan bbq, but we never went, Solomon said. I do not know which recruit they were talking to, but it was not me. It was just a little heartbreaking, for me to supposedly be so high on their list, for them to confuse me with someone else. Plus they spelled both of my names wrong after I told them, but that was not the main issue. I guess they do not have tabs on me.

Somehow, Solomon says that Michigan is still high on his list. He was even pretty reassuring in a tweet he posted considering what had happened:
John Moore/Getty Images(NEW YORK)  Nearly 26,000 unaccompanied children arrived at the U.S. southwestern border in the first half of this year, in a continuing influx of migrants attempting to escape poverty and violence in their home countries.



The total amounts to more than 140 unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S. border every day.



UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Rights and Emergency Relief Organization, released a report on Tuesday highlighting the often desperate circumstances that drive so many children and families to risk the perilous journey north.



Most of the children come from three countries -- El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras -- that are wracked with widespread poverty, rampant gang violence and some of the highest crime rates in the world.



Honduras, for example, registered one of the highest murder rates in the world -- more than 90 per 100,000 inhabitants -- in a United Nations study published in 2014. This compares to a current murder rate of just 4.5 percent in the U.S., according to the most recent national crime statistics published by the FBI.



Missing in these figures, UNICEF says, are the estimated hundreds of children who die every year in the harsh environment along the U.S.-Mexico border, and many more who disappear and may have fallen prey to kidnapping, trafficking or murder.



"It is heart-rending to think of these children  most of them teenagers, but some even younger  making the grueling and extremely dangerous journey in search of safety and a better life," said UNICEFs Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth. "This flow of young refugees and migrants highlights the critical importance of tackling the violence and socio-economic conditions in their countries of origin."



Statistics from the Unites States Border Patrol show that while the overall number of people detained at the southwestern border has dropped in recent years, the number of unaccompanied children has roughly doubled.



In 2012, just over 24,000 unaccompanied children were detained. This number soared to more than 68,000 in 2014, before dropping last year. This year could see that number pick up again, as the data show that child detentions are on pace to top 50,000 by the end of the government's fiscal year.



The children who do make it to the U.S. border face a future that is anything but certain, UNICEF says. After they are picked up by Border Patrol agents, many are transferred to government-operated shelters or foster care homes, where they stay just over one month, on average.



Most go into deportation proceedings without access to court-appointed lawyers and face long odds. A study tracking deportation cases beginning in 2015 showed that by June 2016, 40 percent of unrepresented children has been ordered deported, compared to just 3 percent for those who had the help of an attorney, UNICEF said.



For those allowed to stay, a backlog in immigration courts can mean years of waiting, during which time the children have no legal status in the United States, making many ineligible for healthcare and other public services.



Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Turkey strikes IS as Syria border tensions flare

Turkey has shelled Islamic State positions in Syria for a second day, in response to mortar fire from across the border.

AFP, Istanbul :Turkey on Tuesday pounded Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes as expectations grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the jihadists after a deadly suicide bombing on its soil.With tensions flaring on the Turkey-Syria border following the bombing in the nearby city of Gaziantep that left 54 people dead, Turkish howitzers on Monday hit jihadist and Kurdish rebel targets across the frontier.Turkey has been shaken by one of the bloodiest years in its modern history, with a string of attacks by IS jihadists and Kurdish militants and the botched July 15 coup.In new fighting on Tuesday, two mortar rounds fired from an IS-controlled area in Syria hit the southeastern Turkish town of Karkamis, Turkish television reported.Turkish artillery responded by hitting four IS positions around the jihadist-controlled Syrian town of Jarablus with around 60 shells, it said.The shelling came after as activists said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group to seize control of Jarablus.But this could potentially put them on a collision course with the militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) which Ankara vehemently opposes and also has its eyes on Jarablus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from IS.Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the "Turkish shelling in Syria aimed to prevent the advance of troops backed by Kurds from Manbij towards Jarablus". Abdulkadir Selvi, a well-connected columnist for the Hurriyet daily, said the Turkey-backed offensive "could begin at any moment".The plan has not been confirmed by the Turkish authorities but Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday that the border area had to be "totally cleansed" of jihadists. The movements have come at a critical juncture for Turkey in Syria's five-and-a-half-year war, with signs growing it is on the verge of a landmark policy shift.Ankara has always called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad as the key to ending the conflict, putting Turkey at odds with his main supporters Iran and Russia.However Prime Minister Binali Yildirim at the weekend for the first time acknowledged that Assad was one of the "actors" in Syria and may need to stay on as part of a transition.On Monday, he urged world powers including Iran, Russia and the United States to join together to rapidly open a "new page" in the Syria crisis."It is essential that all the parties come together to stop the bloodshed in Syria," said Yildirim, whose naming as prime minister earlier this year was seen as heralding a less confrontational Turkish foreign policy.But he also warned it was "unacceptable" for Kurds to seek to establish any kind of separate entity in northern Syria.Turkey regards PYD as a terror group, although Washington, Ankara's ally in the fight against IS, sees its militias-the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) -- as having an important role in the fight.US Vice President Joe Biden is due to visit Ankara Wednesday for talks with Turkey's leadership, and Syria is set to be a crucial issue. 'The last song' -The attack in Gaziantep on a Kurdish wedding party for a young couple has horrified the country, with the majority of the 54 victims aged under 18 and including children as young as four.But there is confusion who was behind the attack, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially saying the suicide bomber was a child aged 12-14 acting on the orders of IS.However Yildirim on Monday said Turkey still had no clue who carried out the attack and said all "rumours" over the age and affiliation of the bomber should be taken with a pinch of salt.Hurriyet said the authorities still suspected IS was behind the attack as the main line of inquiry, with investigators taking DNA samples in Gaziantep from the families of possible IS suspects.Reports said the previous assertions by the authorities had been based on eyewitness statements rather than concrete scientific evidence.One guest at the wedding party, Emine Ayhan, lost four of her five children in the blast, Turkish media reported."To finish off the evening the young guys wanted one last song. It was in the middle of this song that the bomb went off," Hurriyet quoted her as saying.
BWDB gets new Director

Economic Reporter :

Md. Abdul A K M Momtaz recently joined in Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) as Additional Director General (Eastern Region).

Prior to this post, he was a Chief Engineer (North-Weastern Zone) Rajshahi in BWDB. He got his graduation in Civil Engineering from BUET in 1982 and got MSC Engineering (Water Resources) degree from the same institution in 1988. He joined as an Assistant Engineer (Civil) in the same board in 1983. He worked on Planning, Design & Teesta Barrage Project, G K Irrigation Project, Bank Revetment Project of Jamuna River, other BWDB projects successfully.

He also worked in various important projects of BWDB such as irrigation, drainage, flood control, & river protect works. In his 34 years long service he attended different training at Japan ,Netherlands, France Germany and Srilanka.

He took birth in a renowned muslim family at village- Sukipur, Upajila- Daudkandi, District- Comilla In 1959.
JnU students observe strike to press their demands

JnU Correspondent :The residents of Chakbazar area formed a human chain on Tuesday protesting the 'illogical' demand of the JnU students about the vacant land of the Central Jail. They demanded that the government should build museum, park and play-ground in that abandoned place to eliminate their recreation problems.Meanwhile, the Jagannath University (JnU) students observed all-out strike on the campus yesterday boycotting classes and examinations reiterating their demand for construction of residential halls and protesting Monday's police action on the students.In the morning, the agitating students padlocked the main entrance of the academic and administrative buildings paralysing the administrative and the academic activities of the university.Raisul Islam Nayan, a spokesman of the agitating students, said, "We observed strike boycotting classes and examinations and will do it today also. Thereafter, we shall announce our next programme. In fact, our demonstration for dormitory will continue until the Prime Minister gives us assurance."Raisul Islam urged the Vice-Chancellor to express his solidarity with the movement for halls and asked all the teachers and staff of the university to give their support. According to eyewitnesses, locking all the buildings, thousands of students thronged the university liberation sculpture premises around 7.30am and brought out a procession that paraded through the Old Dhaka.They staged demonstrations with a token dead body covered with a white piece of cloth at Rai Shaheb Bazar intersection in the old part of the city till 2.00pm blocking English Road. Thus, the traffic movement of that area stood still for over six hours. The demonstrators accused the university BCL leaders of hindering their movement.Rebuffing the allegation, JnU BCL General Secretary SM Sirajul Islam said, "We have already expressed our solidarity with the movement. Those who try to foil the rational agitation, we take stern step against them organizationally."In the meantime, pro-Awami League Teachers Association (Neel Dal) condemned police's action on the students. Lampooning police attack, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), JnU unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and Obhibhabok Oikkya Forum supported students' logical demand.Since August 1, the JnU students have been demonstrating for allotment of lands on the abandoned premises of Central Jail in Old Dhaka for construction of residential halls named after Bangabandhu and four National Leaders.
Home-goers suffer for online ticketing

Huge home-goers thronged in front of the bus counters to collect advance tickets for Eid-ul-Azha. This picture was taken from Gabtoli Bus Terminal on Tuesday.

Reza Mahmud :

Passengers intending of go home on the occasion of the Holy Eid-ul-Azha returned disappointed from the bus companies' ticket counters yesterday. The salesmen said, most of the tickets had been sold online. At this,the passengers' questioned: How were all the tickets sold so quickly in few hours?

"I stood there in the queue for two hours to buy a ticket for Dinajpur, but a salesman said that all the tickets for September 8 were sold. Hearing it, a passenger said, Tuesday was the first day of Eid ticket selling, but how did they sell all tickets in the morning?" Ahmed Sagir, a businessman of Mirpur supported him at Gabtoli bus terminal yesterday. He wanted to buy a ticket of Nabil Paribahan.

Passengers for Bogra, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Syedpur, Thakurgaon and Nilphamari created a huge gathering in front the Nabil Paribahan counter.

When contacted, one of the salesmen of the counter said preferring anonymity that most of their tickets were sold online.

"The online selling is easier for the transport owners, because it needs less manpower, counter and costs," he said.

Muhammad Amin Nabi, Manager of SR Travels, said, the online ticket selling is increasing day by day. He said, most of their Eid tickets were sold online.

Ahmed Asif, Manager of Desh Travels, said they have no pressure on their counters because the tickets were sold online.

Sources said, due to increasing of online and smart phone users, the online ticket selling rose. But passengers said, they were undone failing to manage the tickets standing for hours in queue.

The ticket seekers rushed to Gabtoli, Kalyanpur, Shyamoli and Motijheel counters of different bus services of various destinations in the country from 6:00 AM. Most of them were seeking bus tickets for September 8, 9 and 10.

When some passengers got the tickets, they expressed their happiness. But most of the passengers were angry due to lack of sufficient tickets.

"If they sell their tickets digitally, why did they open the counters to make us sufferers?" Said, Anwarul Karim an employee of a private company after he failed to collect ticket for Khulna for September 8 or 9.

"I wanted a ticket for September 9 but became unsuccessful. Then I managed one for September 10, I am not unhappy," said, Hashim Mahbub of Chittagong bound businessman.

On the other hand, some bus services have not yet started Eid ticket selling. At the Motijheel counter of the Soudia Paribahan there were few passengers.

Sohel Ahmed, one of the salesmen of the counter said, they have not yet started Eid ticket selling. At the same time, Sakura, Eagle, Purbasha and Golden Line, among others, will start Eid ticket selling next Friday.

The transport owners and staff claimed that they are charging normal fare. But some passengers accused the countermen of realising extra money from them.
SC hearing on Mir Quasem's review plea today

The Supreme Court is set to hear on Wednesday a petition filed by condemned war criminal Mir Quasem Ali seeking review of its earlier verdict upholding his death penalty for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice SK Sinha, is likely to hear the review petition which was kept at item number 5 on its cause list.A five-member bench of the Appellate Division was scheduled to hear the petition on July 25. However, it deferred the hearing until August 24 as the defence counsels filed a petition seeking adjournment of the hearing for two months. Earlier on June 20, Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique fixed July 25 for hearing the pleas following a petition filed by the state.On June 19, Barrister Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, son of Mir Quasem, filed a 68-page review petition with the Appellate Division seeking the acquittal of the war criminal. The Supreme Court released the full text of its verdict upholding the death penalty awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 to Mir Quasem Ali for the crimes he committed against humanity during the Liberation War on June 6. On March 8, the Appellate Division upheld the death penalty for Mir Quasem Ali for his war crimes. The International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Mir Quasem Ali, Al-Badr chief in the port city of Chittagong in 1971, to death on November 2, 2014. On November 30, 2014, he filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the death penalty. Top Jamaat-e-Islami financier Quasem, now 64, was president of the Chittagong town unit of the Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat, till November 6, 1971.He was then made general secretary of the East Pakistan Chhatra Sangha.
Affluent people prefer foreign varsities

M M Jasim :Most of the affluent students, who have passed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations this year, and their guardians prefer the foreign universities for higher education instead to the country's private universities. The guardians and the students are of the opinion that the private universities have failed to ensure quality education and to race the world standard education. The authorities also failed to protect the students from being plunged into the militancy activities. Rather they have also promoted it sometimes. The affluent guardians think that they have sufficient money to bear the cost of the higher education of their children in any foreign university. The certificates of the foreign universities are more valuable than the country's private universities' certificates and there is no risk to get involved in militancy. They have also alleged that the authorities of the private universities are doing business in the name of higher education. They just cheat with the students as they do not take any step to improve the quality of the students and refrain from the terror activities or drugs. They are busy to increase tuition fees and other expenditure. The country's several private universities also lost its reputations after finding militancy link while many teachers and students of different varsities became media headline for their involvement in the recent terror attacks especially in Gulshan and Sholakia. Mohiuddin Khan, a businessman of the Gulshan area, said, his son achieved GPA-5 this year's HSC examination. He first wanted to admit his son to North South University. But he has changed his decision and is sending his son to the USA for higher education. "It will be very difficult to send my only son abroad. But there is no second option as the students are being involved in militancy for the negligence of the university administration. So, I am trying to admit him to any American varsity for the higher education," Mohiuddin Khan said. Shaon Chowdhury, an admission seeker, told The New Nation that he wanted to take higher education at any reputed private university. But now he wants with all his friends to go abroad. So, he has managed his parents in favour of his decision. Shamim Alam, a guardian, said his daughter will take part in the public universities' admission tests. If she passes the tests, she will be admitted to public university. Otherwise she will be sent abroad for higher education. UGC Chairman Professor Abdul Mannan told The New Nation, "We have asked the private university authorities to improve their education system. The UGC also requested them to fulfil all the criteria to make the universities world standard. It is very natural that the students will search for the better universities for their higher education." "Obviously the reputation of the private universities has gone down after publishing reports about the militancy link of the teachers and the students. It is their duty to restore images of the universities," the UGC Chairman said. He also said that a bad impact has puzzled the guardians' mind about the private universities. The authorities have to probe that the academic atmosphere of the universities is good and there is no room for militancy here, he said.The UGC sources said that a good number of students go abroad for higher education every year. But the number this year will be almost double. Substandard education is one of the reasons behind the scenario, the sources said. According to the UGC Annual Report-2014, some 1,21,194 students against 2,35,002 seats were admitted to 75 private universities across the country in 2014. A total of 1,29,765 students against 2,14,369 seats were admitted in the private universities in 2013.As per the statistics of the UGC conducted for 2014 and 2013 academic session, many seats of the private university were vacant. A good number of students preferred National University and other colleges for their admission to the private universities. It may be mentioned that a total of 8,99,150 students passed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations-2016. But most of the students will try for public universities and government colleges.
DNA test confirms IDs of 5 militants, chef

Staff Reporter :

The DNA tests confirmed the identities of five militants, killed in a commando operation in the city's Gulshan cafe on July 2, police said on Tuesday.

Apart from the five militants, another suspected person, reported to be a chef of the cafe, was also killed in the operation.

The reports of DNA test were collected from Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday. It (CID) conducted the DNA tests at its Forensic Laboratory.

DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule that contains the instructions an organism needs to develop, live and reproduce. These instructions are found inside every cell, and are passed down from parents to their children.

"DNA samples were collected from the six during their postmortem. Later, CID also collected DNA samples from their family members. And their DNA samples have been matched with the samples of their respective family members," Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (Media and Publication) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told journalists yesterday.

The dead militants are Meer Samih Mobassher, Rohan Ibn Imtiaz, Nirbras Islam, Khairul Islam Payel and Shafiqul Islam Uzzal while their suspected associate is Saiful Islam Choukidar, a cook of the cafe.

Their bodies are still at the mortuary of Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka as no one came to receive those till Tuesday, the police official said.

Replying to a query, he said as the postmortem and DNT tests have been completed, the law enforcers would not have any need to preserve the bodies.

"If the family members want the bodies, they will have to apply to seek permission. After completion of all procedures, their bodies will be handed over to their respective family members," Masudur said.

Earlier on Monday, ex-North South University teacher Abul Hasnat Rezaul Karim was sent to jail on completion of his two weeks remand in a case filed over Gulshan terror attack.

Besides, Tahmid Hasib Khan, a Bangladeshi origin Canadian and Toronto University student was also sent to jail on completion of his remand period in connection with the Gulshan terror attack.

On August 3, a Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit team arrested Hasnat and Tahmid from the city's Gulshan and Bashundhara areas respectively for their suspected link to the attack.

They were rescued along with 11 others during a commando operation at the Holey Artisan Bakery at the city's Gulshan diplomatic zone on July 2 following a 12-hour hostage standoff.

Twenty hostages -- nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi-born American and two Bangladeshis -- were killed in the July 1 terror attack at the Gulshan restaurant. Two policemen and six of the militants were also killed during the hostage crisis incident.

Meanwhile, police identified Bangladesh-origin Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and sacked army official Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque alias Major Zia as the masterminds behind the most dreadful carnage.

Besides, Marzan, an associate of Islami Chhatra Shibir, Chittagong University unit, has also been identified as one of the masterminds involved in the attack.

Police have declared Taka 20,00,000 as bounty each for helping the law enforcers to arrest Tamim and Zia.

Apart from the three, police also claimed that more seven to eight suspected big guns had been involved in the July 1 attack.
New laws coming to gag media, says Fakhrul

Staff Reporter :

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday accused the government of enacting new laws to cracking down the media and people's voice.

"The government has formulated new laws with a provision for life sentence and a fine of Tk 1 crore as punishment. Their target is clear that no one will be able to speak up against the government," he said.

Mirza Fakhrul said it while speaking at a discussion at Dhaka Reporters Unity. Bangla daily Amar Desh Family arranged the programme protesting the shutting down of 30 web portals along with Amar Desh website and demanding the release of its acting editor Mahmudur Rahman.

The BNP leader said, "The last days of our (politicians) lives may be wasted in jail. We have to be there in jail for 250-260 years if we're given punishment 5-10 years on average in the cases filed against us. But, you have to turn around. Fakhrul said with frustration that journalists could not register any strong protest against the closure of so many media outlets and the arrest of newsmen.

He demanded that the government should reopen the media houses and release the arrested journalists.

The BNP leader urged the journalist community to play a bigger role in 'restoring' democracy, people's 'lost' rights and save them from the current 'suffocating' situation.

Fakhrul also expressed frustration over preconditions by different political parties on BNP's call on forging national unity. He said the BNP has denied permission by the authorities concerned for holding a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on August 31, saying no rally can be arranged in this month. Accusing the government of arresting BNP leaders and activists across the country in the name of drive against militants, he said a brisk business is going on by law enforcers over arrest.

He alleged that police arrested a BNP activist from Mirpur in connection with Kalyanpur incident where nine militants were killed and demanded Tk 15 lakh from him to get relieved of militant case. "He was later sent to jail in another case after realising Tk 5 lakh," he said. He also turned emotional while narrating the sufferings and plights of the party leaders and activists now undergoing across the country.

Journalist leaders Ruhul Amin Gazi, M Abdullah, Abdul Hye Sikdar and Jahangir Alam Prodhan, were present, among others, in the programme.


Vessel workers go for strike

Passengers stranded: Port activities collapsed: Govt sits with workers today

Staff Reporter :Business and other activities in the country's river ports were almost collpased on Tuesday when vessel operators remained abstain from their works demanding lowest wages Tk 10, 000 along with other facilities.Thousands of passengers were also trapped at different launch terminals and boat stations due to communication disruption following the strike. Most of the passengers alleged that they were not informed about the strike earlier. The strike kicked-off under the banner of Water Transport Workers' Movement Committee at 12:01am on Tuesday, said leaders of river vessel workers. As many as 17 waterways workers' organisations have extended their support to the strike.Shipments of cargoes were delayed and people's plans went haywire as no vessels left the ports. Not only that, the passenger vessels reportedly did not leave Sadarghat terminal as hundreds of passengers were waiting for launches. The problem was severe where rivers are the main access route, especially in the southern parts of the country.President of Bangladesh Water Transport Workers' Federation Shah Alam said: "The vessel workers called an indefinite strike to get their four-point demand accepted. Their demand includes fixing minimum salary of workers at Tk10,000, giving compensation to them for any accidental harm, cracking down robbery on the river routes and increasing navigability of the rivers.""We demand a fixing of the minimum wage at Tk 10,000, re-fixing of compensation rate for workers killed in accidents, steps to prevent theft, dacoity, terrorism and extortion and preservation of the rivers' navigability," he said.On Sunday night, the decision of strike was taken from a meeting of the Federation at its office at Sadarghat.Earlier on April 21, the vessel workers went on strike over the same demands. Following assurance from the government to meet their demands, they postponed their strike.As their demands were not fulfilled in the last three months, they workers have decided to go on a strike again, claimed workers' leaders. Apart from raising minimum basic wage to Tk 10,000 from the existing Tk 4,150, the demands also include giving them formal appointment, issuing identity cards and service book, and ensuring their social security.They decided not to run any river vessel on the waterways until their demands are met, said Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam, General Secretary of the Federation.Chittagong Bureau added: The loading and unloading of goods was halted yesterday at 16 jetties at Karnaphuli River outside the Chittagong Port due to strike.Sources in outer anchorage said the workers have refrained from their duties at the 16 jetties, including Sadarghat, Banglabazar, Anu Majhir Ghat and Majhir Ghat.The situation was deteriorated when the workers of cargo ships plying the inland water-ways across the country also called strike for an indefinite period in the port city demanding wage hike.With 15 points demand is including to fix minimum wage Tk15, 000, new salary structure, compensation for death workers and stopped robbery in water ways, the workers came up with the declaration of work abstention yesterday in a press briefing at port city.Bashir Ahmed, coordinator of Chittagong region of Nou-Sramik Sangram Parishad, "Our strike will be continued until our demand is met. From 2012 we are demanding to hike our salary. Our demands are yet to be realised though in different assurance was given to obey our demand."The owners on April 2016 took 30 days to realised our demand, then with their assurance we have postponed our movement, however, three months have passed they are yet to realise our demands."So now we have no other way but go on work abstention," added Bashir Ahmed.Over 100,000 workers are working at cargo ships across the country at 25,000 lighter ships. The lighter ships used to carry goods from mother vessels from outer anchorage of Chittagong Port. With the work abstention of the lighter ships the activities of loading and unload at mother vessels will be disrupted.On the other hand the strike called by Trailer from yesterdayhas been postponed at evening with the assurance of City Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin. After holding a meeting with the mayor the trailer workers postponed their strike for a month.Around 7,000 prime movers did not work since 8am till 6pm on Monday.The strike was called to press home their seven-point charter of demands which include setting up the port terminal and reduce taxes imposed by the Chittagong City Corporation [CCC] and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority [BRTA]. Other demands include putting an end to the practice of extortion in the name of monitoring loading and providing license to the operators.Meanwhile, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan yesterday said the government would hold talks with river vessel workers.He also urged the workers to call off their strike calling it "unlawful" as they enforced the stoppage suddenly without serving any previous notice."A large number of vessel workers defied the strike call as 28 launches from different parts of the country reached Dhaka this morning. Vessels are also running normally in different routes in Chittagong, Narsingdi, Bhairab, Mawa, Aricha, Bhola and Rangamati and they were partly operating in Patuakhali and Narayanganj, the Minister said.Shahjahan Khan said the issues related to their demands were under the purview of the Labour Ministry which, however, would look into the matter. "I talked to the State Minister for Labour regarding this issue. We will hold talks with the vessel workers tomorrow," he said.
Democrats and Republicans have own standing on global development

Lorenzo Piccio :

In just under 90 days, Americans will head to the polls to elect a new president. While the contest thus far has been one of the most unpredictable in recent memory, Democrat Hillary Clinton currently holds a sizable lead over Republican Donald Trump in the opinion polls.

The winner of November's election will succeed Barack Obama after his eight years in office and inherit what most analysts consider to be an impressive, if mixed, development legacy. Feed the Future, USAID Forward and Power Africa are widely viewed as game-changing development initiatives of the Obama administration, even as its efforts to streamline the U.S. global health regime and reform the way the U.S. delivers food aid seem to have fallen short.

How might either a Clinton or Trump administration take the ball forward on global development? Devex examined the official Democratic and Republican party platforms to find out. As might be expected, our analysis of the platforms reveals glaring differences in official party positions on the direction of the U.S. global development agenda (see graphic at the end of this article).

Foreign aid

In lockstep with Clinton's long-standing and well-known commitment to the U.S. foreign aid program, the 2016 Democratic platform makes the case that U.S. development assistance is both a strategic and humanitarian imperative for the United States. The document also hinted that a Clinton administration would readopt Obama's "extreme poverty agenda" and its lofty goal of eliminating extreme poverty across the globe within a generation.

"Development assistance is an essential instrument of American power," reads the 2016 Democratic platform. "We need to continue this work and make more progress on important global goals like ending extreme poverty and hunger."

The 2016 Democratic platform also stresses that U.S. foreign aid must support local development efforts by assisting countries to "direct their own futures" - an early indication that a Clinton administration would stay the course on the U.S. Agency for International Development aid localization drive called Local Solutions.

Sounding much like its Democratic counterpart, the 2016 Republican platform calls U.S. foreign aid a "critical tool for advancing America's security and economic interests." At the same time, however, the document adds that U.S. foreign aid must serve U.S. interests first, an apparent nod to Trump's "America First" agenda and his pledge to "stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us."

As was the case in the 2012 Republican platform, the 2016 version of the document calls for the next administration to embrace the Millennium Challenge Corp.'s performance-based aid model across the U.S. foreign aid program. Despite the agency's reputation as an aid effectiveness leader, MCC's annual budget has stagnated at $900 million since it was established over a decade ago, remaining far below USAID's roughly $20 billion annual budget.

Global health

Commanding an outsized share of the U.S. foreign aid budget, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief draws praise from both the 2016 Democratic and Republican platforms. Initially a Bush administration initiative like MCC, PEPFAR is widely credited with helping stem the tide of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Going further than the 2016 Republican platform which only indicated a recommitment to PEPFAR, the 2016 Democratic platform pledges an increase in U.S. funding for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment programming worldwide. By comparison, the 2012 Democratic platform had only committed to "robust funding" for PEPFAR.

Even as the 2016 Republican platform commended both PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - the latter being one of the few multilateral organizations to garner positive recognition from the GOP - the document is mum on the U.S. role in addressing broader health challenges. Only the 2016 Democratic platform commits to continued U.S. investments in the areas of maternal and child health, tuberculosis, malaria as well as pandemic preparedness.

In a shift from the 2012 Democratic platform, the 2016 version of the document now explicitly makes the case that "safe abortion," in addition to affordable family planning information and contraceptive supplies, must be included in the United States' maternal and child health assistance programming. As expected, the document reaffirms the party's long-standing opposition to the Mexico City Policy, otherwise known as the global gag rule, which restricts USAID funding for foreign nongovernmental organizations that either offer abortions or provide information about abortion. Obama rescinded that policy shortly after taking office in January 2009.

On the other hand, the 2016 Republican platform promises to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, as has been the practice of previous Republican administrations.

Climate change

Calling climate change "an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time," the 2016 Democratic platform pledges renewed U.S. leadership in the fight against climate change. The document stresses that the United States will continue to support developing countries' efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change - a key commitment of the historic Paris climate agreement signed late last year which aims to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius.

Under Obama, the United States has contributed the single largest amount ($3 billion) to the Green Climate Fund, the multilateral financing entity which is designed to channel a significant share of climate finance to developing countries.

Echoing Trump's skepticism toward climate change, the 2016 Republican platform, in stark contrast, asserts that "climate change is far from this nation's most pressing national security issue." A close reading of the platform reveals that its policy stances on climate change, if implemented, would represent some of the most concrete departures from the Obama administration's global development policy.

The 2016 Republican platform asserts that a future administration would not be bound by the Paris climate agreement because it has never been ratified by the U.S. Senate. Accordingly, the Republican platform promises to reverse course on Obama's restrictive posture towards coal, an early indication that a Trump administration could resume U.S. support for multilateral financing of coal-fired power plants.

At the same time, the document calls for an immediate halt to U.S. financing for the Green Climate Fund. The Republican platform alleges that U.S. contributions to the fund violate U.S. law which prohibits U.S. support for U.N. agencies which grant membership to the Palestinian territories and other territories which are not internationally recognized as sovereign states. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.N. agency which oversees the Green Climate Fund, admitted the Palestinian territories as its newest member in March of this year.

Refugee assistance

The 2016 Democratic platform pledges U.S. leadership in providing "greater" humanitarian assistance to refugees displaced by conflict in Syria and Iraq. Since the outbreak of civil war in Syria five years ago, the Obama administration has provided over $5.1 billion in humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees, making the United States, by far, the biggest donor to relief operations there.

Looking beyond Syria and Iraq, the Democratic platform backs collective action by the international community in response to the global refugee crisis and reiterated Obama's recent call for a high-level summit to address the plight of refugees worldwide. Such a summit is scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September.

The 2016 Republican platform meanwhile reaffirms Trump's signature policy stance that the United States must not admit refugees without proper and stricter vetting - a position which most independent fact-checkers have found to be questionable because the Obama administration already does have a stringent vetting system for refugees. It's worth noting that the Democratic platform commits to ensuring that this vetting system remains in place.

The Republican platform further argues that the United States should bolster its aid for religious and ethnic minorities displaced by the onslaught of the Islamic State group in Iraq, even while it is silent on the plight of refugees elsewhere on the globe.

"Defeating [the Islamic State group] means more than pushing back its fighters while abandoning its victims," reads the document. "It means supporting the long-term survival of indigenous religious and ethnic communities."

LGBT rights

Much like the 2012 Democratic platform, the 2016 version of the document praises Obama's December 2011 directive which instructed U.S. aid agencies to provide assistance in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and, at the same time, consider host countries' treatment of LGBT people in determining aid allocations to these countries. According to the New York Times, the U.S. government has spent more than $41 million to support LGBT rights globally since 2012.

While the 2016 Republican platform does pledge that a Republican administration would integrate human rights issues at "every appropriate level" of its bilateral engagement, the document gives no indication that the party considers LGBT rights as a human rights issue.

As was the case four years ago, this year's version of the Republican platform repudiates Obama's elevation of LGBT rights in U.S. development policy. The platform contends that, in doing so, Obama has undermined the prospects for the U.S. foreign aid program's continued engagement with faith-based groups.

"The integrity of our country's foreign assistance program has been compromised by the current administration's attempt to impose on foreign recipients, especially the peoples of Africa, its own radical social agenda," reads the 2016 Republican platform.

Obama had signed the December 2011 directive just as Uganda and several other African countries were considering highly controversial anti-gay laws. Despite strong objections from the United States, one of Uganda's major aid donors, the law entered into force in early 2014, but was struck down by Uganda's constitutional court later that year.

(Lorenzo is a contributing analyst for Devex. Previously Devex's senior analyst for development finance in Manila, he is currently an MA candidate in international economics and international development at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington).
Netanyahu can`t be allowed to undo peace process

NEWS report said Israeli Prime Minister, known as a brutal killer of Palestinians is bent upon destroying every chance of a peaceful solution of the Palestinian crisis. But a study report jointly conducted by some Israelis and Palestinians showed there is still a basis for a two state solution, Netanyahu has taken fresh move to build new settlement on occupied Arab land at Hebron. His move is treated as the most cruel attempt to destroy the peace process, now being shelved for the last two years in a situation when global attention is away from Palestinian cause. The cruelty of Syria war and ISIS brutality to set up an Islamic State in the Middle East and their attacks on European cities are now overshadowing the Palestinian fight for freedom. The world attention is now stolen to battlefield shelving the need for strenuous close door diplomacy to force Israel to agree to strike a peace deal. Many believe that ISIS is a proxy of Israel to push the Palestinian cause totally in the dark. So also the Syrian war is shielding Israel to negotiate with Palestinians. The survey result found that 51 percent of Palestinians and 59 percent of Israelis still support a two-state solution. On Israeli side, 53 percent of Jews support an independent Palestine. Among Israel's Arab minority, 87 percent favour it. On the other hand, 34 percent of Palestinians and 20 percent of Israelis support a single state where Palestinians and Israelis will share equal rights. The poll comes in a year of rather low-level violence since last September when Palestinians killed 34 Israelis as against 206 Palestinians were killed in Israeli fire. This is an unusual big number that demand making peace when Israeli torture of Palestinians in prisons without trial often makes global media headlines. We know that the key to Palestinian problem lies in the hands of US administration where the Israeli lobby is most powerful to keep away political parties from exerting pressure for a peaceful solution. Since the creation of Israel in 1948, there have been many peace plans. But US support to Israel and follow up action by European countries put them to failure. But public opinion in the USA and Europe has undergone significant change over the past years following Israel's repeated air war on Gaza and killing of unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank. Many countries now recognize Palestine. After taking office, US President Barack Obama was quick to try to restart the peace process and even succeeded to persuade Netanyahu in 2009 to agree to partial freeze on settlement construction. But Netanyahu always remained evasive to peace process. This is an election year in the USA and Netanyahu is exploiting the influence of Israeli lobby to influence the election. However many believe that a victory by Democratic nominee may help to revive the peace process again.
Fire in public places must have public accountability

The government needs to pause to know where it is succeeding in serving the people. The self-seekers around them can only think of their personal gains. The government has not known how it is being isolated from the people because of the self-seekers.

It is not enough to say arsons are accidental happenings. The fire incidents in the city's shopping malls and at some other markets over the past few days came as a fresh reminder about the safety of life and property of shop owners, their staff and visitors at big marketplaces. But no sooner had the dust of the devastating fire at Bashundhara City market settled, two more fires struck other city markets - one at Mouchak Shopping Mall and the other at a carpet shop at Mirpur that killed one young man as he suffered from heavy smoke.

Outside the city two more fires - one at a marketplace in Gaibandha town on Monday and another at a garment factory in Chandra in the outskirt of Dhaka city on Saturday night also left the business community at severe shock. Needless to say Fire Service personnel were able to douse those fires but its cost was heartbreaking to agonizing shop owners and loss to their business stands at around taka hundred crore. Many shop owners have lost their entire investment and they don't know who will compensate them and how they will keep their business running.

What is noticeable is that open door business of the past days now becomes closed door businesses in shopping malls where they are more vulnerable to electrical accidents that end up in devastating fire. We have also more high-rise buildings in the city  both residential and commercial with growing risk to fire and its human and material casualties. Only before the Eid-ul-Fitr seven persons were also killed at an Uttara Shopping Mall, when it caught fire and the lift did not work.

Experts have always pointed out that all such establishments should have high tech firefighting equipment and their own trained firefighting personnel. But we know many of them don't bother much about it. For instance Gowsia Super Market or Bongo Bazar retail market have not enough firefighting equipment and the risk of devastating fire in all such places remain on quite high side. But Bashundhara has its own fire fighting system and yet some failures at some places are causing frequent fire in the sprawling mall making shop owners helpless every time.

Two committees have been set up to investigate - one by Fire Service and another by Bashundhara City management. Such committees were also set up in the past. What is important is that responsibilities must be clearly identified and market authorities must be asked to pay for the damage and loss to business. Only such action may stop recurrence of such accident.

House Building Authorities and RAJUK should also strictly enforce compliance of standard building codes and periodic monitoring of big shopping complex and other buildings. They must see whether they have quality firefighting equipment in place and if they are properly maintained. Neglect and fake certification are often at the root cause of many big fire accidents and the reported electric short circuit at a shoe shop that originated fire at Bashundhara Shopping Mall amply suggests that use of quality electric appliance and proper monitoring could have helped to avoid the mishap. People believe that Bashundhara management can't disown the responsibility.

The fire has mainly hit the upper floors of the giant building where around 100 shops were burnt, some others totally gutted including shoe stores with new collection for Eid shoppers. The lower floors were relatively safe. But the accident came at a time when shop owners were preparing for brisk business during Eid festival. Now they see their stock destroyed and business ruined.

The fire that struck at early shopping hours when shoppers were just gathering made crowd management easier in rescue operations to vacate the floors and save human lives. Rescue staff of the Shopping Mall and Fire Service men worked hand in hand and they deserve appreciation.

Including garment industries fire in public places like Bashundhara Shopping Complex must have public accountability if spread of arson and loss of lives and wealth has to be contained. The question has to be asked about the responsibilities of Fire Brigade for maintaining of which so much public money is spent. These specialists in fire fighting must not be available only after fire has broken out at a place. In most cases especially in Dhaka where traffic congestions are awful the Fire Brigade people arrive after the fire has already spread too far.

It is no life to live in a country where public bodies, maintained with public money, have no responsibility to the people. To prevent accidents means society is efficiently organised.
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.
Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes.

What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection?

Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were.

Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property  there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection:

You get to see exactly what will happen to your money

When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor.

Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on.

A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with.

You find out about potential major repairs

Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing.

If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately.

You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on

One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home.

Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly.

You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for

While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best.

This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit.

Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home.

You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price

If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home.

You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price.

You can sell your home faster and for more money

If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are.

In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price.

Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for.

Your home will hold its value longer

As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property.

When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home.

You can make smart decisions about property investments

Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property.

If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal.

There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about.

If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage

If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing.

They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit.

You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors

If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for.

For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money.

You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition

Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building.

You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure.

Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so.

As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process.
The wonderful coastal town of Ohrid in landlocked Macedonia can on the surface appear a little touristsy, but in truth there is a reason Macedonias flock to this stunning town set on the shores of one of Europes deepest and oldest lakes. This UNESCO listed lake and town combine to create one of the most picturesque locations in the Balkans as well as one of the most historic. The resort might be busy at times, but take a short walk and you can have this wonderful place to yourself!

Wonder at the church of St John at Kaneo as it clings to a cliff overlooking the lake

An icon of Ohrid this 13th century church teeters wonderfully on the edge of a cliff overlooking the deep blue waters of the lake. Take a walk down through the woods from the fortress and before long the whole area opens up in front of you to revel this beautiful and picture perfect scene. The Macedonian orthodox church is one of the must see sights of the lake, after staring at its unique style and position make sure to head down to the beach and dock below!

Explore the maze like streets of the Old Town

Leave behind the tourist filled streets around the lake and climb the steep and hilly cobbled streets of the old town. Up here you will find everyday local life in this stunning town in full flow, houses and churches dating back centuries and of course, the famous old cars that line the beautiful streets up here! when exploring this maze like area of the town take the time to really look at the wonderful details of the unique architecture of the region. Oh, and dont forget the amazing views of the lake the steep walk will reward you with!

Go swimming!

Ohrid isnt just for looking at, this resort is so because the lake makes a wonderful place to swim in the fresh water. Lining the lake are several beaches where you can sunbath and take a refreshing dip! You can take a walk along the edges of the lake to find a more secluded spot or if you are really lazy then you can jump in right from the town itself! There are so many beaches, jetties and landings where you can enjoy the water surrounded by fellow revellers or in peace if you so desire!

Take in amazing views from Samuels fortress

Sitting on the hill above St. Johns church Samuels Fortress dates back to the 4th century and the first Bulgarian Empire of which Ohrid was part of. Not only can you step back in time and explore the fascinating history of this magnificent region, but from this vantage point you can take in an unforgettable panorama of the lake and surrounding town. Entry to the fortress costs only a few pence and is well worth the hike up to its wonderful location!

Gaze at the ancient St. Sophias cathedral

The church of St. Sophia is one of the most important monuments of Macedonia. Sitting deep within the maze of old town the church was built between 852 and 889. The church is not only a fine example of sheer beautiful and detailed artistry but it is also a timeline of the history of Macedonia. The church began life as a Bulgarian Orthodox Church and has been converted over the years into a Mosque and back into a Macedonian Orthodox Church, symbolising the different eras of occupation of this country. Today the church appears on the reverse of the Macedonia 1000 denar note!

Go back in time at the theatre of Ohrid

The history of Ohrid dates back to the ancient times, back before the Bulgarians and the Ottomans there was the Greek era. The theatre of Ohrid is unique in Macedonia as the only relic of its type made during the Hellenistic period of 200BC, all over examples in Macedonia are from the Roman era. The site was used over the years for several different purposes, from gladiator flights to the executions of Christians by the Romans. The site is so well preserved due to being buried by locals after the end of Roman rule, only to be discovered by accident in the 1980s. Today the theatre is again used for performances, plays, concerts and festivals.

T ake the ferry over to St. Naum from Ohrid

Over near the Albanian border lies the stunning and historic St. Naum Monastery roughly 18 miles from the town of Ohrid. From there you can take a wonderful day trip which includes a stunning 2.5hr ferry ride over the beautiful lake towards an icon of the country.

Taking this trip you get to travel the most stunning route over to the monastery, across the mirror like blue waters of Ohrid, past beaches, cliffs and mountains. The monastery itself is set in the most wonderful grounds where peacocks roam free and the views from the balcony over the lake are second to none. Inside the church dating back 905 you will find some of the most amazing examples of frescos in the region.

Have you ever been to this beautiful place?

See more from this county:

See more from our long term travels:
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.
MARION  Dave Severin is making a claim that his opponents  State Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion  latest political ad is illegal political activity based on Illinois statute.

In the commercial, Marion Mayor Bob Butler is endorsing Bradley. After about 15 seconds of showing Bradley talking with constituents, it flashes to Marion City Hall where Bradley and Butler are talking near the City Council chambers.

Severins camp says this is illegal political activity on government property and government time as defined by city ordinance and state statute.

The Illinois statute Severin is referring to says state employees shall not intentionally perform any prohibited political activity during any compensated time (other than vacation, personal, or compensatory time off). State employees shall not intentionally misappropriate any State property or resources by engaging in any prohibited political activity for the benefit of any campaign for elective office or any political organization.

After he endorsed Governor Pat Quinn in 2014, it's clear Mayor Butler goes with who is currently in power, regardless of principles or record. I don't begrudge him for that and look forward to working with him as our next state representative, Severin said in a statement regarding Butler. With that said, its unfortunate that city hall, a taxpayer funded public building, was used for campaign purposes. This is just another example of Madigan and Bradleys rigged system  where government is used for personal and political gain.

Bradley said Severin needs to apologize to Butler for such accusations.

Butler said Bradley didnt pay a fee to use the building, and he couldnt remember if it was done during public hours or not, saying it was shot a couple of weeks ago.

John, of course, asked if I would support him, and given all that he has done for the city of Marion, I felt obligated that I should, Butler said.

The Marion mayor said he was disturbed by the comments made my Severin, calling it a false and baseless claim against himself and Bradley.

As a school board member responsible for the education of our children, one might expect that Mr. Severin would be more familiar with the constitution and Illinois laws, he said. I am a Republican and John Bradley is a Democrat, but we agree on many issues important to Southern Illinois including the protection of our free speech rights that so many Americans gave their lives to defend.

I am deeply offended that anyone would call into question Mayor Butlers honor and integrity, he said. Dave Severin owes Mayor Butler an apology for getting his facts wrong and should be ashamed of himself for wanting to be a lawmaker, yet knowing nothing about the law.

Williamson County States Attorney Brandon Zanotti said there wasnt anything wrong with the commercial.

Based upon my review of the applicable Marion city ordinances and the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, I do not believe this action violated any law or rose to any level of wrongdoing, he said.

Jim Tenuto, assistant executive director with the Illinois State Board of Elections, said the area of concern with the commercial is whether or not using a municipal building amounts to using public funds.

He said it could depend on whether or not Bradley paid a fee for the building, or if it was done after public hours.

That is the area of concern, Tenuto said Monday. It is something usually people tend to shy away from.

Sarah Brune, executive director with the Campaign for Political Reform, said the situation does raise questions, and that it is sort of an ambiguous territory.

She said a lot of times candidates avoid filming shaking hands inside a public building  but rather outside of it instead  to avoid such issues. She couldnt comment on whether or not Bradleys commercial was illegal political activity, but said that it is appropriate to use an abundance of caution in such situations.

She added that candidates running for office should be held to similar standards as others, and that using governmental resources for political purposes could send the wrong message to voters.
DU QUOIN  When Lora Booker heard that cats would meet her husband's police vehicle whenever he went to public housing in Du Quoin, she was skeptical.

Then one day she went there with him, and she said it seemed like 30 cats seemed to emerge and started approaching his vehicle.

Her husband, Du Quoin's former police chief, James Booker, was like that, she said, a kind of Pied Piper to the city's stray and homeless animals, whom he was known to pick up and bring home for awhile. He was also known to travel with animal food in his vehicle, some said at the city council's meeting Monday night.

Sworn to protect the public, Booker also had a big, soft spot for animals, some at the meeting said. Booker, who served with the Du Quoin Police Department from 1977 to 2007, had long wanted the Du Quoin department to have a K-9. He died in November 2007.

In a given year, Lora Booker said he could easily bring home 30 cats and dogs he'd found, eventually finding homes for them in the city. The family had two dogs of its own.

For his love and fondness for pets, Booker was honored at the city council meeting by having the city's first K-9 dog named in his honor  Officer Jari Booker, a Belgian Malinois. Jari Booker's handler, Officer Clay McDonnough, said the pet came from Poland and had his own passport.

Mayor Guy Alongi said Jari Booker is the city's first K-9.

Jari Booker was paid for with money from the drug seizure funds and from more than $5,000 raised from the sale of Back the Blue bracelets, a law-enforcement support project and fundraiser organed by Carlie Daffron, Alongi said.

Jari Booker will live with McDonnough, who trains dogs for hunting. McDonnough has been with the department for a little more than a year, Alongi said.

Booker's wife and sons attended Monday's night meeting to hear the proclamation read naming the dog in honor of Lora's husband and Evan and Austin's dad.

"It is quite an honor," Evan Booker said.

In other matters, the city council focused on business involving cell phones.

In the first cell phone news, the city council voted to amend one of its ordinances, allowing the city to assess a fine for using a cell phone while driving  taking precedence over the state and its collection on that fine, Alongi said.

Council members also approved an agreement with Verizon, allowing it to mount cell masters in five locations in the city where reception is weakest. These areas are in the vicinity of the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, Alongi said. The city will receive $250 to $500 for each of the cell mounts each year, for a sum of bout $1,250 to $2,500, the mayor said.
COBDEN  Farmers and others interested in agriculture gathered Sunday evening at the Old Feed Store in Cobden to start a conversation on the future of farming. The event was the third and final installment of Seeding Change, a series of conversations on the future of farming.

Matt Meacham, program coordinator for Illinois Humanities, facilitated the event.

Speakers included: Simon King, who grew up on a farm in rural Michigan and is now the director of the Carnegie Mellon University Design Center; Michael Plumer of rural Creal Springs, a consultant on conservation agriculture and former University of Illinois Extension educator in agriculture and natural resources; and Wayne Sirles, president and co-owner of Rendleman Orchards near Alto Pass who serves on numerous agricultural boards and committees.

King talked about how farming has changed and role of technology in farming.

The principles of farming today would be very familiar to our ancestors, but the practices are very different, King said.

The increase in population in the last 100 years has increased the need for food and food production. As a result, yields have increased 800 percent in the last century. That need spurred great technological advances. Todays innovations include: data-driven agriculture, which uses sensors and computers to monitor field and crop conditions; self-driving tractors; and farm drones that can monitor crops or create maps for chemical use.

But are they actually good for the average farmer? King asked.

Plumer works mostly with farms between 15,000 and 40,000 acres. He said we have to increase our food production if we are going to feed the worlds population, adding that U.S. farmers are the most efficient in the world.

We also have to look at the economics. Is it economical and feasible? Plumer said.

Plumer also talked about the willingness of farmers to share knowledge and information with others, using blogs like Ag Talk as an example. That willingness to share extends to Ghana, where farmers have learned to employ no-till farming methods and other advances to increase their profits from $400 to $2,200.

Sirles is a fifth generation farmer. The operation at Rendleman Orchards handles everything from growing, packing, marketing and shipping to grocery stores. In addition to their well-known peaches and apples, they also grow vegetables to sell and operate a farm store.

Union County happens to be one of the most diverse agricultural counties in Illinois, Sirles said.

Sirles also explained how Rendleman Orchards uses cover crops to sustain their environment and maintain their soil on their hilly farm and how they use GPS to help guide soil sampling and create maps for chemical use.

Farmers are some of the most adaptable people I know because the weather rules our lives, Sirles said.

The talks were followed by a question and answer period. A meal was locally sourced by The Old Feed Store. Musicians Wil Maring and Robert Bowlin provided music before the event and during dinner.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Not long after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump released a statement calling the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation the most corrupt enterprise in political history and demanding it be shut down, former President Clinton said he will step down from the board should his wife be elected.



The former president also announced Monday that he will no longer raise money for the foundation should his wife in the event of a Clinton win in November. A spokesperson for Chelsea Clinton tells ABC News that she will remain on the board regardless of the election results.



In his letter, sent via email to supporters Monday, President Clinton admitted that it would be presumptive to assume a November win, but officials for his foundation say that talks about protocol changes have been occurring since February.



If Hillary is elected president, the Foundations work, funding, global reach, and my role in it will present questions that must be resolved in a way that keeps the good work going while eliminating legitimate concerns about potential conflicts of interest, wrote Clinton.



In a meeting with foundation staff last week, Clinton told staff that the organization would no longer accept foreign or corporate donations if Hillary Clinton is elected and that the final Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting will be next month.



But his letter Monday went a step further -- with the former president writing that his foundation will only accept contributions from U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and U.S.-based independent foundations.



He also noted that the official name of the charity will change from the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation to the Clinton Foundation. Clinton also said he will step down from the board of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the largest program of the Clinton Foundation, in addition to the general board of the foundation.



The former president listed a slew of initiatives pioneered by the foundation, including improved access to HIV/AIDS medication worldwide and sustainable farming, among many others.



At times, President Clinton appears emotional in his writing, reminiscing about intimate moments with the people hes met while traveling the world on behalf of his charity. He recalled holding a healthy baby who is alive because of greater access to AIDS medicine and planting seeds alongside farmers in Malawi.



The foundation has repeatedly denied any corruption and has painted themselves as much more transparent than other foundations. Most notably, they began making their donor names public when Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State. Despite Donald Trump and his running mate, Governor Mike Pence's call for a complete shut down of the foundation, President Clinton made it clear in his letter that he has no plans of doing so. On Monday, Hillary for America Chair John Podesta put out statement in direct response to Trump's corruption assertions.



"The Foundation has already laid out the unprecedented steps the charity will take if Hillary Clinton becomes president. Donald Trump needs to come clean with voters about his complex network of for-profit businesses that are hundreds of millions of dollars in debt to big banks, including the state-owned Bank of China, and other business groups with ties to the Kremlin. Donald Trump should stop hiding behind fake excuses and release his tax returns and immediately disclose the full extent of his business interests. He must commit to fully divesting himself from all of his business conflicts to ensure that he is not letting his own financial interests affect decisions made by his potential administration."

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center has received a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitative Services.

CARF is an international accrediting body which establishes standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.

It gives us the opportunity to look at our practices and helps us look at better outcomes and improved efficiency," OAMHC Executive Director Willie Priester said.

The OAMHC has received a three-year accreditation for outpatient treatment of adults, children and adolescents. A three-year accreditation is the highest level of accreditation a service provider can be awarded.

Priester said hiring more physicians and increasing housing and employment opportunities for clients are among his goals for the agency.

The OAHMC partners with the Regional Medical Center as part of its plan to alleviate an overload of mentally ill patients in hospital emergency rooms.

We partner with the RMC to place a mental health professional in the emergency room. This positive collaboration also helps us have someone that can help to expedite their movement from the ER," Priester said.

He said OAMHCs provision of community residential placement has also been a success.

We try to provide services that are commiserate with our clients needs. And once we stabilize them, theyre able to remain wherever they live without being interrupted, Priester said. "We have staff that does home visits and provides services in the home."

The OAMHC also works with the private sector to upgrade its crisis stabilization program.

The state has very few beds available. We work along with private hospitals that have psychiatric beds and contract with private organizations to help alleviate a backup, the executive director said.

He said state budget cuts have started to lose some of their sting.

Its starting to improve. We are not in dire straits like we were six or seven years ago. It may not be improving at the level where everybody would like it to be, but it certainly has improved to where we can provide reasonable services, Priester said.

The OAMHCs school-based mental health program provides the placement of mental health counselors in Orangeburg Consolidated School Districts 3, 4 and 5.

We are already working to add a few more this fiscal year, Priester said.

The OAMHC also sends clinicians to homes to provide intensive case management and counseling services to families, including children.

An ACT-Like program helps improve outcomes for mentally ill adults who are most vulnerable to homelessness and hospitalization. ACT is an acronym for Assertive Community Treatment.

We have a variety of clients under the program, but most of them are going to be chronically ill, Priester said.

The OAMHC is also home to a care coordinator who works out of a Care Coordination Unit that the S.C. Department of Mental Health operates. Clients are linked to medical, housing and other services within the community through the unit.

Continuing the extremely difficult task of hiring physicians for OAMHC and increasing housing and employment opportunities for clients are among the agencys goals, he said.

Over the last few years, we have added probably over 30 new housing units for our clients in the area," Priester said.

The agencys telepsychiatry program is also helping to connect clients to doctors in Charleston.

I have a doctor thats stationed in Charleston who sees Orangeburg clients five days a week. This doctor has been working for us for a couple of years now, so weve got some stability with doctors," Priester said.

The executive director is particularly proud of the Homeshare program. Individuals provide care in their homes for the mentally ill.

It allows clients who have had numerous hospitalizations and/or long-term hospitalization to be evaluated to determine whether they could live with a family trained to serve and take care of them. We've had some people living with the same family for many years," Priester said.

The agency has also worked to raise awareness and remove the stigmas surrounding mental health issues.

We have staff that go out and speak to churches, organizations and schools. We are doing more and more in the community when they have health fairs and other things and believe were making some inroads, Priester said.

The OAMHC houses a staff of approximately 70, including a full-time psychiatrist and two full-time nurses.

The rest are contract doctors that work multiple schedules. We only have one doctor that works for us, and thats the medical director, and we have a variety of clinical staff, Priester said.

The system has a consistent caseload of 1,900 people, although it serves more, he said.

The system operates four mental health clinics: the Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center, the Orangeburg County Clinic in Holly Hill, the Calhoun County Clinic in St. Matthews and the Bamberg County Clinic in Denmark.
Thirty-four years ago, a former Jesuit priest threw an incendiary device into the world of televised political talk shows. He was John McLaughlin, host of The McLaughlin Group, who has died at the age of 89.

Until McLaughlin exploded on the scene, it was all rather sedate. The dominant programs were PBSs Washington Week in Review and Agronsky & Company, hosted by veteran broadcaster Martin Agronsky.

In these programs, the host was magisterial and the guests were journalists who answered questions either about what they were covering or what they thought; and their answers were expected to conform to a level of decorum. Agronsky & Company  largely because of Agronskys own strong personality  had a little more flash than Washington Week in Review, but there was a level of earnestness about both programs.

Along came McLaughlin, who was not so much a seeker of wisdom and truth as a man in pursuit of fun and something watchable. With The McLaughlin Group, a window was opened and fresh air gushed in. The conventions were trounced. Shouting and loud dispute on television arrived, all skillfully goaded by McLaughlin.

The program became essential viewing not only for political junkies but also for much of the nation. At one time, it was carried on nearly 400 PBS stations, although it originated on commercial television in Washington. It was sponsored by the Edison Electric Institute.

It was also commercially successful, so it was able to pay its contributors and to have a large staff  a very large staff for a half-hour show. McLaughlin was not easy to work for, staffers who later worked with me said. Washington television circles are replete with stories of him sending staffers on personal errands and, in one case, ordering a woman to make toast for him.

All I can say is that in our very occasional meetings, he was very encouraging about my own television and radio talk show, White House Chronicle.

McLaughlin left nothing to chance: the effect had to be right. So shows were packaged, reworked and second and third takes were common. There was perfectionism in the riot.

He was the ringmaster, demanding terse answers, switching subjects and making declarative statements. After a lightning round of questions, he would opine, The answer is.

McLaughlin had the best opinion journalists of the time on his program, including Jack Germond, Robert Novak, Morton Kondracke, Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift and Michael Barone. There were falling outs with some of his stars: Novak is reported to have stormed off the set, and Germond also quit with harsh words.

But there were loyalists and people who loved McLaughlin. They include Clift and Buchanan, whose friendship with McLaughlin dated back to the Nixon White House.

In the past decade, the program fell victim to the new journalism it had created. As the cable networks grew, they adopted the aggressive approach to political discussion that McLaughlin had introduced, but often without the finesse or the self-deprecation, which was part of McLaughlin as a broadcaster and as a man.

He loved Dana Carveys skewering of the program on Saturday Night Live. He would openly joke about a very prudish article of advice to girls about sex that he had written when he was in the priesthood.

McLaughlin, an extraordinary man with an extraordinary legacy, was an ordained Jesuit who left the priesthood and married twice. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Senate from Rhode Island, became a speechwriter for President Nixon, and editor and columnist for National Review and then, without a background in television, reinvented political talk shows.

If you are tired of journalists shooting off their mouths and shouting at each other 24/7, blame John McLaughlin. He would have loved you for it.
A blog for students in my introductory classes in government, and any interested passersby. You'll find news items and random stories that illustrate any of the topics we cover in class. Special attention will be paid to the constitutional issues associated with contemporary issues and disputes. Feel free to send me stories you find important. Please note that due to spam, I'm limiting the ability of people to comment on these pages. My apologies.
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By Trend

Armenias armed forces have 17 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 23.

The Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns.

The Armenian armed forces stationed on nameless heights of Armenias Krasnoselsk district opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located on nameless heights of the Gadabay district.

Positions of the Azerbaijani army also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Bash Gervend, Yusifjanli villages of the Aghdam district, Gorgan and Ashagi Seyidahmadli villages of the Fizuli district, Mehdili village of the Jabrayil district, as well as from positions located on nameless heights in Goranboy and Khojavand districts.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Germany condemns any provocation that may lead to the escalation of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Egon Juttner, member of the Bundestag.

Germany and its partners must make every effort to continue the negotiation process on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the politician told Trend.

The resolutions of the UN Security Council are unambiguous and show clearly which steps have to be taken to end this conflict. Germany supports these resolutions and so do I personally, noted Juttner, emphasizing that for Germany the territorial integrity of a state is a non-negotiable imperative.

Such conflicts turn into severe and tragic consequences for the civilian population, politician said.

Germany, as a country that maintains close relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia, would like to broaden its commitment for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, said Juttner.

The MP also expressed doubt about a swift solution of the conflict, given the events of recent years.

The international community must be able to prevent the escalation of the situation in the future, as it can create a real threat to stability in the region, warned Juttner.

I condemn the Armenian offensive of April. It should be obvious to everyone, who acts and thinks politically rationally, that this conflict could not be solved with weapons, German MP noted.

Germany is chairing the OSCE for the current year.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
By Trend

During a special operation, employees of Kazakhstans National Security Committee (NSC) detained a radical groups four members, who planned to commit a series of terrorist attacks in the country, TASS reported Aug. 22 citing the committees press service.

The detainees were planning armed attacks on employees and bases of NSC and police units, as well as military units, according to the report. During the next stage, the extremists were preparing attacks in crowded places, according to special services.

Operational and investigative activities are continuing, added the press service of the NSC.
By Trend

Two PKK terrorists were killed Monday by security forces in the eastern province of Tunceli, a security source told Anadolu Agency.

Police special operations team shot and killed the terrorists in the Ovacik district, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The incident happened around 9:45 p.m. local time (1845GMT), Tunceli governor's office said in a statement.

A large group of terrorists who were trying to infiltrate into Ovacik district was noticed by security forces, the region was targeted with intense gunfire, two terrorists were shot dead and others escaped, the statement said.
By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

Delegation of the U.S. Department of Justice, which will consider the question of extradition of Fethullah Gulen, accused of organizing a military coup in Turkey, arrived in Ankara, wrote the newspaper Milliyet on August 22.

Technical delegation consisting of experts of U.S. Department of Justice will hold meetings with the Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs of Turkey to study the evidence regarding the involvement of Gulen in the failed coup attempt.

Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that this issue will be discussed during the visit of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Turkey on August 24.

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.

Moreover, it was reported that supporters of the Gulen movement, who is involved in the military coup attempt, got into a number of public structures in Turkey.

In turn, the Istanbul court ordered the arrest of Gulen.

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 Fethullah Gulen.

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.

Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.
This post is prompted by a number of things that have left me pondering how as Christians we are to bring about change in our churches. When we strongly b...

7 years ago
Key opportunities for diversifying and deepening the economic partnership between India and the UAE will come under the spotlight at the upcoming UAE India Economic Forum (UIEF) in Dubai.



Supported by the UAEs Ministry of Economy and hosted by the Consulate General of India, Dubai, the second edition of the forum will take place on October 19-20 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.



According to a recent report on economic and trade relations between the UAE and India, India is considered to be the UAEs primary trade partner, accounting for about 9.8 per cent of its total non-oil trade. Bilateral trade between the UAE and India has grown significantly from $180 million in the 1970s to around $60 billion per annum now, and is predicted to reach $100 billion by 2020.



Aimed at addressing the policy framework and guidelines needed to attract investors, sovereign wealth funds, large corporates and industries, the forum will include an investors roundtable, government panel on bilateral trade and a start-up zone, in addition to the Qadat Al Tagheer Awards 2016, which are aimed at recognizing the efforts of business leaders from various fields, who are helping boost the economic ties between the two countries.



Jamal Al Jarwan, secretary general of UAE International Investors Council (UAEIIC), said: Economic ties between the UAE and India go back hundreds of years and we are proud of the two countries sustained efforts to strengthen this relationship further. As an initiative founded on the success of the two countries continued commitment to boost mutual bilateral ties, the UAE India Economic Forum provides UAEIIC members with a constructive platform to discuss challenges and opportunities concerning their investments in India.



Ravi Raman, member of the organizing committee of UIEF, said: "We are enthused and encouraged by the tremendous support that the second edition of the forum is receiving. The UAE and India are stepping into the future with a renewed strategy for mutual business growth and we are looking forward to contributing to this partnership with an even bigger and impactful event with a range of speaker sessions, panel discussions and participation of government entities and well-entrenched business houses.



The past edition of the event saw tremendous support from both the countries, bringing major investors and government leaders from both the countries under one platform. The 2015 event witnessed the presence of more than three hundred delegates from the C suite as well as Ministry and Government Officials in addition to business owners from UAE and India.



The media partners for the 2016 forum include Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East, Motivate Publishing  Gulf Business and The Week, Gulf News and Entrepreneur Middle East.  TradeArabia News Service
Dubai-listed construction and engineering company Drake & Scull International has asked advisers for proposals to review its business and find strategic investors, its chief financial officer told Reuters on Monday.



The company, one of the biggest engineering companies in the Gulf with a workforce of about 31,000 people, reported this month that it had swung into the red in the second quarter.



Like many other Gulf construction companies, it has been hit hard by an economic slowdown in the region due to low oil prices. Governments have cut spending on new projects and in some countries, including Saudi Arabia, they have delayed payments to firms for work already completed.



Drake & Scull has held informal talks with advisers in recent weeks on a possible business review and on finding new equity for the company, Kailash Sadangi said in a telephone interview.



"The new leadership is strategically transforming the business to bring it back to a profitable growth trajectory," he said. Sadangi became CFO earlier this year as part of a management shake-up, which also saw the appointment of a new chief operating officer.



The company has appointed a legal adviser to hold discussions with the UAE stock market regulator, the Securities and Commodities Authority, on the possibility of bringing in strategic investors and regulatory approvals that would be needed, Sadangi said.



An issue of mandatory convertible bonds is among options being considered, he added. Such bonds must be converted into underlying shares by a specific date.



Sadangi said Drake & Scull had made a strategic decision to withdraw gradually from its civil engineering business in Saudi Arabia, but would continue civil engineering operations in the UAE through its subsidiary Gulf Technical Construction Company.



Drake & Scull's share price has dropped 10 per cent since it reported a second-quarter net loss of Dh207.6 million ($57 million) in mid-August, compared to a profit of Dh10.3 million a year earlier.



Sadangi said the company was not planning at present to restructure its finances. Its liabilities totalled Dh6.2 billion on June 30, according to its financial statements.  Reuters
Bahrain will today (August 23) sign contracts to carry out housing projects worth more than $395 million funded by the Gulf Development Programme.



The signing will take place under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister and head of the ministerial committee for construction and infrastructure Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, a BNA report said.



Seven contracts will be concluded by the Housing Ministry, represented by Housing Minister Bassim bin Yaqoob Al Hamar, and Bahraini, Kuwaiti, Emirati and international contracting companies.



The signing ceremony, at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, will be attended by representatives from Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development ((KFAED), ministers, senior officials and invitees.



Al Hamar said the $293 million Kuwait-funded projects will include 1,247 housing units in East Hidd and the construction of another 1,645 housing units and implementing infrastructure work in Hidd.



Meanwhile, three contracts will be signed to carry out housing and infrastructure projects worth more than $102 million funded by the UAE.



The Housing Minister praised the Gulf Development Programme and its role in fast-tracking projects and reducing the waiting period for housing, in line with the Royal order to provide 40,000 homes for citizens by implementing housing projects nationwide.
The World Future Energy Summit 2017 (WFES) in Abu Dhabi, UAE will showcase a range of financially profitable clean energy solutions, opening up opportunities for green tech companies as the region targets ambitious sustainability goals.



Figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) show the installed cost of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar generation in the UAE fell around 75 per cent between 2008  the year of WFES first edition  and mid-2014, dropping from $7 per watt to less than $1.5 per watt.



In late 2014, bids to build a 100 MW PV project in Dubai broke world records for cost-competitiveness, with the lowest bid at US 5.8 cents per KWh. By June 2016 a Masdar-led consortium won the bidding for phase three of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park with a levelised cost of electricity of just US 2.99 cents per KWh.



Masdar CEO, Mohamed Al Ramahi, said: The Mena regions appetite for investment in renewables has grown with the decline in cost and advancement in technological efficiency. This has further driven the growth of the market.



Renewable energy is now an efficient and commercially attractive means to address growing energy demand. Regional leaders such as Masdar, and platforms such as the World Future Energy Summit, which is held during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the largest sustainability gathering in the region, have been helping to drive the industry forward and reinforce the business case behind diversifying our regional energy-mix, he added.



Part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) from 16 to 19 January and hosted by Masdar, WFES 2017 will bring together ADSWs theme of Practical Steps Towards a Sustainable Future, with the WFES goal, Sustaining the Clean Energy Consensus, Empowering New Players.



Scheduled to follow the 2016 COP 22 meeting in Morocco and annual sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, WFES 2017 will bring together the worlds leading renewable energy professionals, policy makers, innovators and investors. The 2016 edition hosted 30,000 attendees from 150 countries, and 600 exhibiting companies. Previous editions have hosted respected international figures, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Nobel laureate and former Vice President of the USA, Al Gore, and Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister of China.



Along with WFES itself, the four-day exhibition and conference program now features five co-located events highlighting targeted aspects of sustainability. Each event makes a strong business case for innovation within its field.



Among these, International Water Summit (IWS) in partnership with ADWEA emphasizes water security issues, while EcoWaste, in partnership with Tadweer, offers solutions that turn environmental waste into a valued resource. For 2017, WFES Solar Expo and WFES Energy Efficiency Expo are being expanded as co-located events, showcasing the latest in solar technology and smart building solutions. The WFES Sustainable Transport Zone will also return, offering the latest solutions in energy-efficient vehicles.



WFES, the centerpiece exhibition, will be the largest-ever gathering of renewable energy and sustainability experts in Mena, hosting prominent global thought leaders from the public, private, and academic sectors.



Alongside the exhibitions, the WFES and IWS Conference Programs will offer high-level, practical discussion of sustainability trends and innovations across energy, water, and waste, hosting thousands of the worlds leading experts.



Attendees will also gain hands-on waste management experience at the EcoWaste Workshops and Seminars, and share solutions and build partnerships at the Middle East and North Africa Municipalities Roundtable.



Supporting home-grown entrepreneurs, the live competition [email protected] will return with a panel of distinguished judges awarding development funding for the regions most promising water technologies.



Driving networking and the regions sustainability market, Sustainability Business Connect will return to pre-arrange thousands of meetings between buyers and sellers. WFES 2016 hosted a record 1,735 executive buyers from 1,322 companies and 75 countries.



WFES 2017 runs from January 16 to 19 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.  TradeArabia News Service
Popular social media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and LinkedIn are becoming major business enablers for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Arab World.



This is among the major findings of a report titled Social Media as a Business Tool for SMEs in the Arab World recently released by Orient Planet Research, an Orient Planet Group venture.



The report comes as no surprise amidst the unprecedented growth in the number of Arab internet users who are accessing various social media channels to connect, communicate, and share information with their families and friends.



According to the Arab Knowledge Economy Report 2015-2016, the number of internet users in the Arab World is poised to climb to about 226 million by 2018. To capitalize on a myriad of opportunities presented by such growth, many businesses, especially SMEs, are transitioning their strategy to cover the digital world in their efforts to cost-efficiently reach out to their intended market.



In fact, a survey conducted by professional network LinkedIn on the social media habits of SMEs in the GCC showed that 92 per cent of more than 260 respondents are already on social media platforms. Five per cent of those surveyed are now in the process of establishing their presence. Social media enables them to effectively reach and engage customers, partners, and other stakeholders.



Looking further into their social media accounts, this report reveals that Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the most popular for enterprises to create and gather content as well as communicate with their existing and potential customers across various parts of the region. There is, however, the need to reinforce their presence by creating more unique, visually attractive and engaging posts in their respective accounts, the report added.



Nidal Abou Zaki, managing director, Orient Planet Group said: Social media presents itself as an invaluable tool for SMEs due to the wide range of benefits that it has to offer and at a reasonable cost. These online social channels offer connectivity and transparency for SMEs to gain a strong competitive advantage.



They are especially crucial given that many SMEs do not have the same level of resources as larger corporations, and are not able to compete in terms of financial or human capital resources.



According to recent studies, small businesses have a better chance to succeed through social media compared to their larger counterparts and our recently published report clearly highlights this, Abou Zaki added.



Ensuring the success of the SME sector is fundamental given that they are considered the backbone of the regions economic growth. A recent study on emerging markets done by global management consultancy A T Kearney shows that successful SMEs create jobs four times faster and drive revenues and gross domestic product(GDP) six times faster than large companies. In the GCC alone, the same report predicts that the sector will contribute an additional USD 100 billion to GDP and up to 2 million jobs in the coming years.



In Dubai, SMEs represent 95 per cent of all local establishments, accounting for 42 per cent of the workforce and contributing around 40 per cent to Dubais economy, while in Saudi Arabia, the sector contributes around 33 percent to GDP and comprises nearly 25 percent of the total labour force. The SME sector in Bahrain is more vibrant, accounting for 99 per cent of the total registered companies in the country and employing over 421,000people, of which over 52,000 are Bahrainis.



Arab governments are continuously working towards fostering a business-friendly environment for entrepreneurs and financiers by providing them the needed support to grow and prosper. In particular, governments are giving them access to financing, business development services and access to trade and capital markets to become more competitive and further widen their market influence.



The Social Media as a Business Tool for SMEs in the Arab World report was conducted to examine how popular social media sites can provide SMEs operating in the Arab World with cost-effective platforms to build brand awareness. It also looks into the future of the regions digital economy and how SME businesses can benefit from subsequent substantial opportunities.



The scope of the report includes countries in the GCC, Levant and North Africa regions and Egypt.  TradeArabia News Service
Samsung Electronics plans to launch a programme to sell refurbished used versions of its premium smartphones as early as next year, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.



The South Korean technology firm is looking for ways to sustain earnings momentum after reviving its mobile profits by restructuring its product line-up. As growth in the global smartphone market hits a plateau, Samsung wants to maximize its cost efficiency and keep operating margins above 10 per cent.



The world's top smartphone maker will refurbish high-end phones returned to the company by users who signed up for one-year upgrade programmes in markets such as South Korea and the United States.



Samsung would then re-sell these phones at a lower price, the person said, declining to be identified as the plan was not yet public.



The person declined to say how big a discount the refurbished phones would be sold at, which markets the phones would be sold in or how many refurbished devices Samsung could sell.



A Samsung spokeswoman said the company does not comment on speculation.



It was not clear to what extent the phones would be altered, but refurbished phones typically are fitted with parts such as a new casing or battery.



Rival Apple Inc's iPhone has a re-sale value of around 69 per cent of its original price after about one year from launch, while Samsung's flagship Galaxy sells for 51 per cent of the original price in the U.S. market, according to BNP Paribas.



Refurbished phones could help vendors such as Samsung boost their presence in emerging markets such as India, where high-end devices costing $800 or so are beyond most buyers.



Apple sells refurbished iPhones in a number of markets including the United States, but does not disclose sales figures. It is trying to sell such iPhones in India, where the average smartphone sells for less than $90.



Selling used phones could help Samsung fend off lower-cost Chinese rivals that have been eating into its market share, and free up some capital to invest elsewhere or boost marketing expenditure.



Deloitte says the used smartphone market will be worth more than $17 billion this year, with 120 million devices sold or traded in to manufacturers or carriers - around 8 per cent of total smartphone sales. Some market experts expect the used market to grow fast as there are fewer technology breakthroughs.



"Some consumers may prefer to buy refurbished, used premium models in lieu of new budget brands, possibly cannibalizing sales of new devices from those budget manufacturers," Deloitte said in a report.



CANNIBALIZATION RISK



Samsung's refurbishment programme, details of which the person said could be finalised as early as 2017, could help the firm generate revenue from dated high-end smartphones returned by users upgrading to newer versions.



The company's latest premium phones, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 7, have received favorable reviews, suggesting cheaper, refurbished versions could be popular. At U.S. carrier Verizon Communications, the Galaxy S7 edge with 32-gigabyte storage retails for $792 without subsidies, while the Note 7 costs $864.



The programme could help Samsung defend market share in emerging countries by bolstering mid-tier sales. Refurbished phones could also appeal to enterprise clients who want certain security or software products pre-installed on phones to give to their employees, the source said.



The risk of offering refurbished devices is that they could potentially cannibalize sales of Samsung's other mid-tier devices.



Expectations for solid smartphone sales helped Samsung shares to a record 1.675 million won each on Friday, taking two-day gains to 7 per cent and adding $15 billion in market value. The shares traded down 0.36 per cent in Seoul on Monday.- Reuters
UAE's Etihad Airways is showcasing its iconic penthouse in the sky, The Residence, inside luxury department store Bloomingdales  Dubai as the retailer launches its Fall 2016 seasonal campaign.



Etihad Airways will also offer Bloomingdales  Dubai customers who spend more than Dh1,500 ($408.2) in store the opportunity to enter an exclusive draw during the two-week showcase. Two winners will each receive Business Class return tickets for two from Abu Dhabi to New York and a three-night stay at the renowned Plaza Hotel. Additionally, everyone visiting the in-store pop-up will receive exclusive offers on flights and holiday packages, including up to 20 per cent off flights and up to 60 per cent off holiday packages using a promo code.



The collaboration with Bloomingdales  Dubai forms part of Etihad Airways strategy to explore innovative collaborations with premium brands as the airline continues to reimagine the flying experience. This latest partnership will enable the retailers chic and fashionable customers to experience the latest in high-end travel by touring The Residence  the airlines ultra-luxurious three-room suite  while Etihad Airways guests shop for the latest in-trend travel accessories ahead of their next trip.



Bloomingdales  Dubai customers will be able to experience The Residence, which boasts an area of 125-sq-ft until September 3, 2016. The revolutionary cabin features a large 32-inch LCD monitor in the living room and a 24-inch version in the bedroom. Guests who stay at The Residence will have their every need catered for by a dedicated Savoy Butler Academy trained butler.



The Residence is available on Etihad Airways Airbus A380 on five routes from its Abu Dhabi hub: London, New York, Mumbai, Sydney and Melbourne. Customers who book The Residence while in the store will earn enough air miles for a return Business Class ticket to selected destinations in the airlines network.



Mohammad Al Bulooki, Etihad Airways vice president - UAE Commercial, said: Etihad Airways collaboration with Bloomingdales-Dubai showcases the airlines dedication to providing its guests with innovative and superior products and services. Bloomingdales is the most iconic store in the world, so it is a perfect opportunity for Etihad Airways to collaborate with this retailer which has an outstanding reputation for quality and creativity.



A selection of Bloomingdales  Dubais premium travel accessories is on show inside The Residence. The store also offers a personalised shopping service to ensure customers have the latest and most desirable merchandise best suited to their travel needs.



Dee Sarai, vice president - commercial, Bloomingdales, Al Tayer Group, said: At Bloomingdales  Dubai we are always looking to offer our customers a world class experience like no other, and with this exclusive partnership with Etihad Airways, they will be able to take a tour of the most luxurious living space in the sky, while shopping their favourite brands.



The Residence is located in Bloomingdales  Dubai store at Dubai Mall until September 3, 2016. Etihad Airways cabin crew and other staff will be available in store to take bookings and to answer customers queries. - TradeArabia News Service




The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.



For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com



For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered.



This is separate from my speaking fee.



If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event.

Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol on Tuesday identified a 38-year-old Cheyenne man shot by troopers Sunday following a high-speed chase that ended near Casper.

Jimmie R. Files has been booked into the Natrona County Detention Center, the patrol reported. Officials did not say what charges Files is being held on. They also have not released the mans medical condition.

The patrol said a trooper shot Files after he drove toward officers.

Two troopers have been placed on administrative leave with pay pending a review by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, as is standard policy following shootings by troopers. The patrol is also doing an internal investigation.

Col. Kebin Haller said the patrol is not releasing the troopers names at this time. He said he wants to consult with the troopers and their families to ensure they are comfortable with their names being made public.

Theyre doing as good as can be expected, Haller said. Theyre not pleased they were put in that position. This is a difficult time for them and their families.

The shooting followed a pursuit that began around 3:30 p.m. on Interstate 25 near Douglas after authorities received a complaint that a pickup was driving recklessly, the highway patrol reported Sunday night. A trooper ran the trucks plates and learned it was stolen, the patrol reported.

The driver of the pickup refused to stop and led two troopers on a pursuit that spanned two counties and more than 40 miles. The truck reached a speed of 100 mph, authorities said.

A few miles east of Casper, a third trooper used a spike strip in an effort to damage the pickups tires. After the truck drove over the device, it crossed the median and began driving into oncoming traffic for about a mile.

The pickup eventually drove back into the median, where a trooper rammed it with his patrol car.

The suspect was shot by law enforcement as he drove at officers who were out of their patrol cars at the time, the highway patrol reported.

After being shot, the suspect rammed a troopers car before driving off the highway and onto the prairie. The man was arrested at 4:16 p.m. between I-25 and U.S. Highway 20/26 near Blackmore Road.

No officers sustained serious injuries during the chase.

A Casper man who said he witnessed the incident told a Star-Tribune reporter he saw troopers box in the suspect on I-25. Don Goodman said the suspects truck was missing a tire on its left front rim.

Goodman said he saw officers approach the truck and yell at the man to exit the vehicle and stop moving the truck. The truck was moving forward and back as if the suspect was trying to maneuver its way out, Goodman said. When the suspect didnt comply, a trooper smashed through the passenger side window of the truck and opened the door. Troopers were yelling at the man to exit his truck but the suspect was able to maneuver his way out and started to drive away, Goodman said.

Troopers then opened fire into the truck, he said.

Im surprised that the guys alive, Goodman said. They were right on top of him point blank and they unleashed.

The suspect then smashed his pickup into a patrol car and drove off the road, he said.

Goodman said he did not see a weapon in the suspects hands.
Wyomings Board of Education has agreed that the state schools chief should retain a vote, putting to rest an issue that first erupted during the controversial tenure of former Superintendent Cindy Hill.

The decision grants voting rights to all ex-officio members of the board, which currently applies to Hills successor, Jillian Balow, and Jim Rose, director of the Wyoming Community College Commission.

The board will request that another ex-officio member be added to the roster when it submits a report on governance and staffing to the Legislatures education committee on Sept. 1.

The decision Thursday was not listed on the meeting agenda, but the surprise vote is a significant move in the balancing act of Wyoming education. Two bodies guide policy, standards and testing in Wyoming K-12 education  the department and the board. The department handles the majority of education matters, with the board offering an additional layer of guidance to policy and standards in the state.

Just two years ago, the board voted unanimously to remove the superintendents voting rights. At the time, Hill was serving as the state superintendent of public instruction. During her tenure, the Wyoming Legislature stripped Hill of many of her responsibilities and rebuked her for what it characterized as misconduct in office. Hill dismissed the rebuke as a smear campaign.

For the current schools chief, the majority vote in her favor shows how far Wyoming education leadership has come since that turbulent time.

I think this is one symbol of many signaling that it is time to move on, she said. I strongly believe that there has been an appetite in our state to move on from the chaos of the past.

Balow was initially surprised by the boards discussion of voting rights. But it was a conversation that needed to happen, she said.

It is frustrating when (Hills tenure) continually comes up whenever theres a bump in the road in education, Balow said.

Nonetheless, there was a lot of damage done and it takes time to undo that and build relationships and certainly I knew that coming into the position and have worked hard to make sure we are building those relationships, are building those partnerships, she continued.

Chairman Pete Gosar, who voted against allowing the superintendent to vote, said the decision was not about individual personalities, but equal voting rights for all ex-officio members.

I think what I heard expressed was every ex-officio member had a role to play, Gosar said. If it made their position more impactful, then a vote should be extended to them.

During its most recent session, the Legislature requested two things from the Board of Education  recommendations on governance and the rationale behind a permanent board coordinator.

[The superintendent vote] was one of those topics that we thought was important in governance, he said.

However, Gosar also believes in the importance of an independent board, he said.

I think having those two separate entities (the board and the department), with two distinct voices (is important), he said. They might agree quite a bit of the time. When they dont, the ability to have a discussion is important to education in Wyoming.

Along that same line of reasoning, Gosar said the board needs to have its own staff.

I think irrespective of the personality of the superintendent in office at the time, you need a person whose sole responsibility is to the board, and that is not only in the same lane as the Department of Education, he said.

A board coordinator position was cut from the Department of Education budget in February, but later reinstated. Agency officials had earmarked the job as redundant, but board members like Gosar protested.

The Legislature extended the position for one year, asking that the board compile a justification for a permanent position.

Gosar said he is hopeful lawmakers will recognize the boards need for at least one employee answerable to the board alone, he said.

Two other positions that serve the board  an executive secretary and a liaison from the board to the department  are managed by the education department.
More firefighters are headed to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks where large, growing wildfires have closed or are threatening key roads and forced the evacuation of a large campground during one of the busiest times of the summer tourist season.

A fire in Grand Teton park made a five-mile run on Monday, forcing closure of a 10-mile stretch of road leading into Yellowstones South Entrance. More than 4,000 vehicles a day, on average, pass through the South Entrance this time of year, heading into and out of the park.

Its the main thoroughfare between Jackson and Yellowstone National Park, and this is the 100-year centennial of the National Park Service so theres a lot of celebrations going on, fire spokesman Brian Lawatch said Tuesday. So its definitely that tourist season where theres a lot of people who wont be able to go through for now.

The road was expected to remained closed Tuesday as firefighters cleared debris and any burned trees that might pose a hazard, he said.

Lawatch said the main fire had burned over and past the road and toward a wilderness area. It grew by about 7 square miles on Monday and has now burned about 10 square miles since it was started by lightning last month.

Were suppressing it where necessary, such as along the roads, to protect structures, things like that, but when it comes to burning toward the wilderness its mostly being allowed to just burn, he said.

A 60-space campground in Grand Teton also was evacuated, but the fire did not burn through the site. Lawatch said he had no information on the number of campers forced to leave.

In neighboring Yellowstone, a fire burning near the West Entrance Road grew Monday and a new team of fire managers was being brought in to help, although the fire was not being actively suppressed yet.

All roads and major tourist areas in Yellowstone remain open, but firefighters are thinning trees and underbrush near the road and the Madison Junction area as the fire grows. The fire was less than 3 miles from Madison Junction, an area that includes a campground, some visitor facilities and staff housing.

The fire has burned about 42 square miles since was ignited by lightning on Aug. 8.

The weather was expected to be conducive to more fire growth Tuesday, but cooler temperatures and lighter winds were expected Wednesday, fire spokeswoman Sarah Gracey said.
Jobertising.com and the states Arizona Veteran Workforce have teamed up to host the Greater Tucson Veteran Priority Job Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 2, 3455 S. Wilmot Road.

The fair is open to the general public and you do not have to be a veteran to participate, but the event will feature employers who make it a priority to hire veterans.

Job seekers are advised to bring plenty of resumes and dress ready to interview, and they can register for free at tucne.ws/c0g.
He was also booked on a misdemeanor DUI and an unrelated misdemeanor warrant.

Frias is currently in jail on a $5,000 bond.
What: Bens Bells promote kindness and community involvement. Each week a person who makes Tucson better is belled.

Last weeks recipient: John Shaheen.

Nominated by: Esther A. Tellez.

Why: Shaheen is the director of property and insurance for the Catholic Diocese of Tucson. He works closely with the bishop maintaining all of the dioceses parishes, schools and other properties. He spends many hours working to help people, Tellez wrote in her nomination letter.

He is very kind and respectful to everyone, she wrote.

More info and to nominate someone: Go to bensbells.org/BellingForm to submit a name. Go to bensbells.org or call 622-1379 for more information.
The Arizona Department of Education and the state board of education are seeking the publics input on proposed new academic standards for math and English  including adding cursive study to early grades levels.

In an effort to move away from Common Core, groups of Arizona educators have been working since November 2015 on reviewing all public comments on the 2010 standards for math and English in their effort to refine or revise the standards.

The focus of these draft standards were to really provide more clarity so that the teachers who are looking at them have a clear understanding of what the standards are, said Charles Tack, a spokesman for the education department.

The drafts also emphasize the standards  what students should know by what grade level  are not to be confused with curriculum. These standards are designed to set what the students need to know, Tack said. Actual teaching methods are decided at the district, school and classroom level.

Some of the key changes in math standards are as follows:

All examples that provided guidance on how a standard should be taught were removed.

Standards involving calculating money and time were added.

Standards for Algebra I and II, which used to be in category, were divided to provide additional clarity.

And for English language arts:

There is no longer a required percentage for students to read literary versus informational material.

Examples that dictated curriculum were removed.

A standard for K-3 cursive reading and writing was added that requires students to be proficient in cursive writing by the end of the third grade.

The Legislature previously had an unsuccessful effort to mandate schools teach cursive reading and writing. Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill in the last legislative session, saying that while he believes that cursive should be taught in schools, that decision should be made by the state board of education.

The public is invited to give feedback until Oct. 3. They can do so online or attend one of the 17 public hearings across 13 counties. In Tucson, the hearing will be held Sept. 12 at Catalina Magnet High School.
A lawsuit filed against Pima County in April over a multi-million-dollar deal it made with a balloon spaceflight company can proceed, a judge ruled Monday.

Pima County Superior Court Judge Catherine Woods denied the countys attempt to have three of four counts in a suit brought by the conservative Goldwater Institute dismissed. Woods said she would rule later on the remaining count, which alleges the county violated the Arizona Constitutions gift clause.

That clause bars state government entities from giving their credit in the aid of  any company or corporation, among other prohibitions.

Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors approved a $15 million deal in which the county would build a manufacturing center, headquarters and balloon launch pad for the for-profit firm World View, which makes helium-filled balloons for space tourism and research. Regina Nassen, a deputy county attorney, argued that the company would pay back that sum and more over the course of a 20-year lease, according to the terms of the deal.

The county gets back at least what it spends, she said. It is not giving anything away.

In addition to violating the gift clause, Goldwater claims the deal, paid for with bonds called certificates of participation, also violates county code and state law regarding county leasing and competitive bidding, resulting in below-market rents and unfair awarding of contracts. It was the counts regarding those allegations that Woods allowed to proceed.

Were happy the case will go forward and taxpayers can hopefully be protected from deals like this in the future, James Manley, one of Goldwaters attorneys on the case, said after the ruling.

In a written statement provided by a county spokesman, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry points out that Woods ruling was not on the merits of Goldwaters allegations and simply allows the three counts to move forward.

We remain confident that after all the evidence has been presented, it will be apparent that Pima County acted fully under the authority of state law and within the discretion of the Board of Supervisors, he said, before going on to criticize the suit as an ideologically motivated campaign to damage Pima Countys efforts to grow our economy.

During the proceeding, Nassen told Woods that the county pursued the deal as allowed by state law. Specifically, she argued that state statute that generally requires competitive bidding for leases does not apply when counties enter into such agreements to promote economic development.

Additionally, state procurement law also requires competitive bidding, unless it is impracticable or contrary to the public interest, according to a copy of the countys motion to dismiss.

Construction on the roughly 120,000-square-foot facility, located south of Tucson International Airport on Aerospace Parkway, began this summer and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

According to the terms of the lease, World View is required to employ 400 people by the 15th year of operation at an average salary of $60,000, according to an October letter written by Huckelberry.

Additionally, the facility is expected to generate $3.5 billion in economic activity over the leases 20-year life, according to a study commissioned by the county and Sun Corridor Inc.

Those economic benefits, in the view of the county, are sufficient to constitute a so-called public purpose, as required by previous Arizona Supreme Court rulings on the gift clause.

In contrast, Goldwater argued that even if the company is successful, which it raises doubts about, The benefits received by Pima County from the project  are grossly disproportionate to the payments Pima County has obligated itself to make and the risks it has undertaken in aid of World View, according to a copy of its April complaint.
If youve still got a ballot at home, remember to put it in the mail by Thursday, Aug. 25.

Primary Election Day is Tuesday, Aug. 30.

About 72 percent of Arizona voters are on the Permanent Early Voter list, and those voters received a ballot packet in the mail earlier this month.

Of the more than 261,000 Vote-by-Mail ballots sent out to Pima County voters, more than 70,000 ballots have been mailed back, according to the Pima County Recorders Office.

After Thursday, its better to drop off your ballot at a polling place instead of at a mailbox.

Find your polling place at www.recorder.pima.gov/VoterStats/PollingInfo

Registered independents may vote in the primary. Those who didnt get an early ballot may choose a party ballot at their polling place.

Find the Stars primary election guide at Tucson.com/vote.
ABC/ Ida Mae Astute(AKRON, Ohio) -- Speaking in front of an enthusiastic crowd, Donald Trump intensified his calls for an investigation into his Democratic rival's emails, saying that a special prosecutor must take over the case.



"After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewashed Hillary Clintons email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clintons new crimes," Trump said.



"The Justice Department is required to appoint an independent Special Prosecutor because it has proven itself to be really, sadly a political arm of the White House.



The comes in the wake of the State Department confirming that the FBI had uncovered nearly 15,000 emails and materials sent to or from Clinton as part of the agency's investigation into her use of private email at the State Department.



The documents were not among the 30,000 work-related emails turned over to the State Department by her attorneys in December 2014.



The FBI declined to recommend Hillary Clinton for criminal charges in the email case and the Justice Department agreed. However, that has not satisfied critics who says Clinton, who was admonished for her handling of classified information, was allowed to skate.



While Trump has long attacked Clinton for her honesty, tonight was the first time he went so far as calling for a special prosecutor.



Speaking at the University of Akron, Trump also invoked the Whitewater scandal as he sought to make the case that the Clintons could no longer be trusted in office; the lively crowd was clearly receptive to his attacks. At one point, the now-ubiquitous chants of "Lock Her Up" were so sustained that Trump paused to let them finish.



"Her actions corrupted and disgraced one of the most important Departments of government, Trump began.



"The Clintons made the State Department into the same kind of Pay-to-Play operation as the Arkansas Government was."

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Help India!

By Najiya O., TwoCircles.net,

Be it his first phase as the exciting orator who was political and religious leader, or his new phase of life as the calmed down political leader voicing for justice of the minorities and other backward sections of the society, Abdunnasir Maudany has always created news in Kerala. Now, again he is in news with the latest allegations of his involvement in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blast case. The man who has been in jail for about 10 years in connection with the Coimbatore blasts and was released after the court find him innocent has now been charged with conspiracy in the Bengaluru blast. The Karnataka police is now in Kerala and Maudany could be arrested any time.

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When Maudany is on the verge of another jail term only three years after his release from the Coimbatore jail, let us have a look at the life of this man of news. How did the religious preacher and political leader end up as a suspect in blast and terrorism cases?

Abdunnasir Maudany was born as the son of Abdussamad Master in 1965. After formal education, he obtained the Maudany degree from the Madinul Uloom Arabic College in Kollam. He continued his studies in the Jamia Nooriya Arabic College (run by EK Sunni faction) at Pattikkad in Malappuram. After the completion of his studies Maudany began to make religious speeches in different places especially in southern Kerala. He became a popular orator in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts. Maudany also worked with his father at the Anvarssery Orphanage which the latter founded in 1987. In the meantime, he married Soofiya and the couple has got two children  Salahudheen Ayyoubi and Omar Mukhthar.

Maudany came to limelight by his exciting, and often inflammatory, speeches which he made surrounded by his own team of guards to protect him. He was a religious preacher who had his own political views. The speech of this gifted orator attracted huge crowds. May be, this prompted him to the political field. Maudany first formed the Islamic Service Sangh in 1990, as an answer from the Muslim community to the RSS. It was a cadre organisation which gave high importance to martial arts and resistance. The ISS, combined with his speeches, gifted him several enemies and in 1992, Maudany lost his right leg in a bomb attack which was traced back to some RSS activists. It was known to be an attempt on his life. (After release from Coimbatore prison Maudany forgave his attackers.) The ISS was banned in the same year.





Abdunnasir Maudany [Photo by thejasnews.com]



Maudany formed the Peoples Democratic Party in 1993. The PDP was more like a political party of the minorities and other oppressed sections of the society. But, Maudanys speeches remained the same. If the earlier speeches had a communal tinge, the new ones had a more political tinge. The PDP helped the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in several elections. Maudany used to make strong and exciting speeches and people flocked to hear him. But the huge crowds did not always turn into votes. Headed by Muslims, the PDP mainly aimed at Muslim votes but the Muslim League had already made up their strong vote-bank which none could break lose, especially in Malappuram district. The PDP had some support in southern Kerala, especially in Kollam district which was Maudanys home district.

In Coimbatore jail

The Coimbatore serial blasts took place in November 1998. It was said to be an attempt to eliminate the then Home Minister and BJP leader LK Advani. The bomb exploded at an election campaign venue where Advani was to participate. Several people were arrested, mainly those associated with the Tamil group Al Umma. Maudany who already had a bad reputation for his inflammatory speeches was arrested by the Kerala police one night from his home. He was then handed over to the Tamil Nadu police. Maudany was accused to be one of the conspirators of the Coimbatore blast. But there was no evidence or proof other than the confessions of some of the accused. And there began Maudanys life of nearly 10 years in prison. He was imprisoned in Coimbatore and Salem jails. Being a handicapped with other illnesses like hypertension and diabetes, Maudany requested for medical treatment in jail but was not reportedly provided good treatment. His artificial leg needed proper maintenance which could not be given in jail. He asked for Ayurvedic treatment but the treatment he got was not very helpful. Maudanys wife and parents used to visit him in the beginning. Then he was in solitary confinement for nearly four years. Nobody could visit him at that time, not even his wife and children. When that phase ended and elections were on cards, political leaders also went to visit him. Though they tried to hide the visits from the media, the news was always leaked out. Letters were passed between Maudany and the leaders. At one time it would be leaders of the LDF and other times it was the United Democratic Front (UDF). Both sought his support during elections and forgot him after that. And thus he languished in the prison for nearly 10 years.

A jailed Maudany was a great comfort to many. The RSS and the Hindutva groups found an end to those inflammatory speeches which excited people against them. The Congress and Muslim League found a relief from the harsh attacks of Maudany, the strong speeches that attracted huge crowds. The LDF counted handing over Maudany to the Tamil Nadu police as one of the advantages of the government. Maudany was always a fundamentalist for the media. All celebrated the new plight of Maudany.

But there was a group of dedicated people including certain human rights activists who believed Maudany was framed in the Coimbatore case. They believed he was trapped in the case as he talked of Muslim-Dalit unity and the political uplift of the backward sections of the society. They knew he was a headache for all political parties and leaders. They provided legal help for Maudany. They collected funds to run the case from the common people in the state.

However, the people of Kerala did not forget the handicapped man languishing in jail for years as an under-trial without even a chargesheet against him. Some of the media brought the plight of Maudany into public attention and gradually, public opinion turned in his favour. The political parties which branded Maudany as communal had to bow down before the strong public demand for ensuring human rights to the Kerala leader suffering in Tamil Nadu jail. The Kerala Assembly passed a unilateral resolution demanding to ensure human rights to Maudany. Political leaders, of both the LDF in whose rule Maudany was arrested and handed over to Tamil Nadu and the UDF whose government stated in court that giving bail to Maudany would create law and order problems in the state, visited Maudany in jail. They approached the Tamil Nadu government with Maudanys issue. At last, Maudany was released after the court found him innocent of the charges. The court declared him innocent but long ten years of his youthful life was already gone. The 40-year old weighed just around 40 kilograms when he came out of jail in August 2007.

After release

Maudany was given a huge welcome in Thiruvananthapuram where state ministers were present. Leaders representing several organizations were present at the programme. Then there was a list of welcoming programmes in Kozhikode, Ponnani, etc. People again swarmed to hear the fire-brand leaders exciting speeches. However, the speech was still exciting but the tone and words were different. Maudany was a changed person after the jail term. He publicly apologized for the speeches he had made in the past which hurt the religious feelings of other communities. He promised to be a person of peace and calmness, though not compromising on the policy of Dalit-Muslim-backward classes unity through his political party. After some months of medical treatment, he started his political life at the Anvarssery Orphanage which now also serves as the main, though unofficial, centre of the PDP.





Maudany with CPI (M) general secretary Pinarayi Vijayan during 2009 general election campaign in Ponnani [Photo by dhanakridi.blogspot.com]



The PDP gave support to the LDF in all the 20 constituencies in the 2009 Parliament elections. The party was like an ally of the CPI (M) in its campaigns. CPI (M) state general secretary Pinarayi Vijayan shared stage with Maudany in the election campaign in Ponnani constituency which brought a big hue and cry about the CPI (M) leaving its secular face and supporting communal forces. Interestingly, no such cry was heard when the same CPI (M) sought and received the support and votes of Raman Pilla and Uma Unni, both former fire-brands of the BJP. However, to the bad luck of Maudany and the CPI (M), the LDF could win only four seats in the election. Muslim Leagues ET Muhammed Basheer won in a large margin in Ponnani where the CPI (M) had fielded Hussain Randathani (said to be Maudanys nominee) snatching the seat from its ally CPI. The defeat of the LDF gave a huge boost to those forces which had vehemently opposed the CPI (M) keeping the PDP together.

During the election campaign news arose linking Maudany with terrorism. There was also news that Maudanys wife Soofiya was associated with some terrorists. Soon, Soofiya was charged in the Kalamassery bus-burning case in which a bus of the Tamil Nadu Corporation was set fire at Kalamassery in Ernakulam. The police suspected it as the revenge of Maudanys supporters at the continuous denial of bail to him. (But, actually the incident took place at a time when a bail plea of Maudany was being considered in a Tamil Nadu court.) Things got a new light when Thadiyantavide Naseer, suspected to be the commander in chief of the Lashkar e Toiba in South India, was arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to India. Naseer was reportedly involved in the Kalamassery bus-burning incident as well as the Bengaluru blasts along with several other cases in Kerala including the Kashmir terrorism case. Naseer is the prime accused in the Bengaluru blasts. Maudany and Soofiya were accused of having telephone conversations with Naseer. (Soofiya explains that she might have talked to him as many people had phoned her to know about Maudanys conditions when he was in jail.)

Maudany was named 31st accused in the additional chargesheet filed in the Bengaluru blast case in early June. A Bengaluru court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Maudany who then submitted an anticipatory bail plea. The arrest warrant is being extended by the court as the police claim they had not been able to arrest him. The anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a Bengaluru court which prompted Maudany to approach the Karnataka High Court. The HC rejected Maudanys plea on August 3 and the man had decided to approach the Supreme Court. The arrest warrant has again been extended till August 17. Maudany has now decided not to approach the Supreme Court when the Karnataka police is already in the state to arrest him, with the support and cooperation of the Kerala police. However, Maudany maintains he is innocent of the charges, at the same time promising to abide by the law. He reiterates his faith in Indian judiciary and says that he is ready to abide by the law, whatever be the courts decision.

Naming Maudany in the chargesheet came nearly five months after Naseer was arrested. The police had reportedly said that evidence against Maudany was got from Naseer, but Naseer later denied it when he was taken out of the NIA court in Kochi. He blurted out to the media that he had not given any testimony against Maudany. The lawyers of Maudany claim that the case is framed up and the chargesheet has many contradictions. One of the witnesses who had lent his house to Maudany has reportedly filed a case against the Karnataka police of forcing him to sign a paper in which something was written in Kannada language which he didnt know. The paper was reportedly presented by the police as the mans testimony against Maudany. Another witness is Maudanys own brother who says he had not been even approached by the Karnataka police. The chargesheet reportedly accuses Maudany of taking part in the terrorism camp organized by Naseer at Kudag in Karnataka. Maudanys lawyers argue that it could not be possible as Maudany had state protection and was accompanied by police everywhere he went. Also, all travel details of Maudany were available with the state home department.

PDP leaders went on an indefinite fast satyagraha for ensuring justice to Maudany from June 16 to August 10. Certain human rights activists as well as leaders of Dalit and minority organizations also participated in the fast expressing solidarity. PDP activists and other supporters are flocking to Anvarsseri hearing the news of the arrival of the Karnataka police in the state. Even though Maudany has said that he was ready to court arrest, the PDP leaders and members are adamant that they wont leave their leader to another indefinite jail term. Maudany also has expressed his fear that he might not come out of jail this time, unlike in the Coimbatore case, as the case has been very well planned enough not even to let him get an anticipatory bail.

In the midst of all these controversies, the mainstream media in Kerala is busy portraying Maudany and wife as terrorists. Political parties that used Maudany for electoral gains now wait for the law to take its course (as said by Congress and Muslim League leaders). The government is ready to help the Karnataka police to arrest him. The mainstream cultural leaders too are keeping silent about the Maudany hunt. However, there are some human rights activists and other organizations that talk for Maudany  for ensuring justice to the man who has suffered the clutches of delayed justice. They say that whether Maudany has done wrong or not, human rights and justice should be ensured. And the law should take the right course.


Help India!

By TCN Staff Reporter,

Congress Govt. is expanding illegal temple to please Sanghparivar: Assaduddin Owaisi

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Hyderabad: Curfew like situation prevails in old Hyderabad after the news of arrest of Majlis-e-Itehadul-Muslimeen leaders, who were trying to inspect the Charminar, spread.

MIM leaders had gone on inspection over alleged expansion of Bhagya Lakshmi Mandir.







The controversial Bhagya Lakshmi Mandir, adjacent to the Charminar was allegedly expanded as part of decoration work before Deepavali.

MIM MLAs, along with party floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, when they tried to head towards Charminar for inspection was stopped at Mughalpura area and was taken into preventive detention along with four other MLAs.

Akbaruddin Owasi had a brief argument with police over their alleged bias approach and accused them of allowing fresh construction despite AP High court order.

TCN has learnt that so far seven MIM leaders, including Akbaruddin Owaisi, another MLC, and eight municipal councilors, besides some other leaders have been detained from different parts of the old city.

Police has imposed section 144 in the old city after the incident.

Police has rounded several streets of old city and forced the business to be close down. Barricades are put around the entrance of many localities at Charminar. Residents of old city are complaining about police excess in the name of section 144.

City Police is determined to not take any opportunity before Depavali and a Maha Aarti planned at controversial Mandir by right wing Hindu groups on Monday.

Clashes in old city:

Police has retorted to lathi-charge and firing tear gas shells at different parts of old city after the protesters were out on streets protesting against the arrest of MIM leaders and alleged illegal expansion of Bhagya Lakshmi temple.

In the wee hours of the morning controversial Bhagya Lakshmi temple was expanded even after the stay order from the High court disallowing any further construction of the illegal temple adjacent to Charminar.

When MIM MLAs along with Akbaruddin Owaisi was taken into custody, MIM activists were all round the city protesting against the arrests.

Stone pelting incidents are reported in several parts of old city, even as police has imposed section 144, the atmosphere is changed into a curfew like situation.

Nearly all the MIM elected representatives, except its president, are now taken into preventive custody at different police stations in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Congress government trying to please Sangh Parivar alleges MIM President:

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has shattered the High Court order of status quo on illegal Mandir structure in order to please Sanghparivar, charged Majlis-e-Itehadul-Muslimeen president Assaduddin Owaisi in a press conference at MIM headquarter at Darulsalam.

Owaisi, along with MLC Syed Jaffari are the only two elected representatives of the MIM, who have not been arrested so far.

In the press conference Hyderabad MP claimed that commissioner of police and Hyderabad district collector were contacting him since last night to make an out of court settlement as the expansion of mandir was eminent .

Owaisi also lambasted the ASI officials for aiding the temple authorities in expanding the illegal structure.

He also claimed that mobile network connections of arrested MIM elected representatives are censored down by the police. If we were to be involved in street protests, we would have done it earlier, but we went to the judiciary to settle the dispute. Now police and the Govt. are not respecting the orders of the High court, said MIM president.

Owaisi also made it clear that now MIM will rethink over supporting the Congress government in the state and at the center. For long we have been warning state Congress government of the repercussion of their anti-secular politics, they has taken us lightly now its time to decide whether to remain ally of congress both at state and the center, he said.

He also informed that partys council meeting has been called at Monday morning to take a final call.

Owaisi also said that todays events at Hyderabad, orchestrated by Congress Party have reminded him the days of December 1992 at Ayodhya.

MIM president at the end of his press conference appealed to the Muslims of Hyderabad to maintain peace and not to take law and order in their hands.

Meanwhile, according to latest reports, all the MIM leaders have been released from the Bolaram police station.

Related story:

Charminar, once an icon of Hyderabadi pride, now a combat ground of religious dominance


Help India!

By TCN News,

The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), in a recent report titled, The State of Female Foeticide in Uttarakhand has found that the child sex ratio i.e. number of girls per 100 boys in Uttarakhand is set to fall drastically to a little over 800 by the 2021 census.

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ACHR has also filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India to address findings in the report.

The report was based on figures from the Annual Health Survey (AHS), conducted by the registrar general and the census commissioner of India.

AHS reveals that the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Uttarakhand was 861 in 2011-2012 and 867 in 2012-2013. If the under-five mortality rate of 48 deaths per 100 births in Uttarakhand is taken into account, the child sex ratio reduces to 813 in 2011-2012, and 819 in 2012-2013.

The report says that Uttarakhand has the 7th lowest child sex ratio (CSR) in the age group of 0-6 years among 35 States/UTs of India as per the 2011 census with CSR of 890 girls per thousand boys.

As per the statement of Health Minister J P Nadda before the parliament on 3 March 2015 during 2009 to December 2014, not a single conviction was secured under the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act), 1994 in Uttarakhand.

On the implementation of the Nanda Devi Kanya Yojana (NDKY) launched in 2009 and renamed as Hamari Beti Hamara Abhiman (HBHA) in 2014, the report stated that Uttarakhand government failed to achieve its primary objectives to reduce gender imbalance in child sex ratio, prevent female foeticide and provide social and economic security to the girl child.

The NDKY is extended only to Below Poverty Line and hence this entirely fails to take into account the fact that those above the poverty line are the ones that can afford to have sex selective abortion and are therefore left outside the ambit of the scheme.

The figures shows that the scheme only benefitted about 4.97% BPL families, when there were over 6 lakh BPL families as per a survey conducted by the state government in 2011-2012.

In terms of those born, as per the 2011 census, a total of 2,50,803 females in the age group of 0-2 years or an average of 83,601 girls are born annually in Uttarakhand.

If only 30,830 beneficiaries were extended benefits under the NDKY from 2009 to 2015, it implies that 6,166 girls were given benefits annually against the birth of 83,601 girls i.e 7.37% of the girls born annually.

The report casts serious doubts whether actual beneficiaries are benefitting at all under the Nanda Devi Kanya Yojana.

It also suspects that the utilization certificates (UCs) of the NDKY provided to the Asian Centre for Human Rights by the authorities under the Right to Information (RTI) Act have been prepared only to be shared under the RTI Act. Except one UC submitted by District Program Officer (DPO) of Almora, all other UCs have no date, reference number and official stamp. In the absence of all these, authenticity of the UCs is highly doubtful, ACHR said in the report.
Help India!

Gandhinagar : Gujarat assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora on Tuesday suspended all Congress MLAs  barring Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela and Balwantsinh Rajput  for the day after they created a ruckus over the alleged atrocities committed on Dalits in Una town last month.

Congress lawmakers were demanding an inquiry by a sitting high court judge in the incident where four Dalits were beaten by self-styled cow vigilantes in Mota Samadhiyala village of Una in Gir-Somnath distric on July 11.

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Tuesday was the last of the two-day monsoon session that began on Monday and was called to clear the Goods and Services Tax Bill.

The opposition members displayed banners in the house and shouted slogans infront of the speaker. They threw bangles at the treasury benches in a sign of protest with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his colleagues present in the house.

The Congress members later marched out of the assembly building shouting slogans and wearing the banners to join what they called a Jan Akrosh, or public anger, rally organized by the party here.

Scores of people joined the rally after they surrounded the state assembly building.

On Monday, the house was adjourned after unanimous election of new Speaker Ramanlal Vora, the BJPs Dalit face, and election of Deputy Speaker by a voice vote.
Help India!

By Shafeeq Hudawi, Twocircles.net

Although Islamic banking in India has been discussed at length, the truth remains that despite a huge potential market, the concept has remained at a nascent stage. However, if any state seems poised to gain from the recent developments in this area, it will be Kerala. With almost one-fourth of the states population being Muslim, the state is a top destination for Islamic banking. This, along with induction of Dr Thomas Issac, who has been a strong advocate of the idea as Kerala Finance Minister coupled with RBIs recent moves in favour of the alternative banking are strong indicators that Islamic banking is likely to get a boost in the state.

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Issac, speaking at a seminar hosted by Markazu Ssaqafathi Ssunniyya in Kozhikode on August 19, said that his government would take up measures to implement Islamic banking in the state. Being interest less, this mode of banking is receiving accolades across the globe. Its high time we grab the potential of Islamic finance, the finance minister said.

More importantly, the Minister has also taken the first steps in this regard. In his first budget, Issac entrusted Kochi-based Cheraman Financial Service Limited (CFSL) with Rs. 250 crore modernisation of the Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (KSDP). CFSL, the only Non Banking Financial Corporation (NBFC) in India operating on Islamic finance principles, will modernise KSDP after collecting funds through Islamic finance mode.

Islamic finance is a financial system that operates according to Islamic law (Sharia) and features banks, capital markets, fund managers and investment firms. An Islamic bank is a financial institution whose status, rules and procedures show commitment to the principle of Shariah and to the banning of the receipt and payment of interest on any of its operations.

Though practical problems, mainly raising fund from investors, are there, this move will help bring a boost for Islamic banking in Kerala, said CFSL managing director APM Mohammed Hanish. CFSL is taking fund from investors, who do not want to put in their money in conventional banks.

The induction of Thomas Isaac has brought cheers to the advocates of Islamic financing. CFSL was conceived by Thomas Isaac in 2011 during the previous LDF government tenure, said Syed Ramadan, a lecturer of economics at the Kodancheri Government College.

As of now, no interest-free banks are allowed to function in India. In 2013, the Ministry of Finance had requested the RBI to give its opinion on the feasibility of introducing Islamic Banking in India. Accordingly, an Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) on Islamic Banking was constituted in the RBI, and the report prepared by the IDG was submitted before the government in February 2016.

An important international development has also brought cheer to the promoters of Islamic banking in india. During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Narendra held discussions with Saudi on business and investment through Islamic finance in India. The Islamic Co-operation for Development of Private Sector, a subsidiary of Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah has started discussions with RBI to start an NBFC with a capital of Rs. 200 crore in Gujarat to help small and medium sector enterprise in the country. This also gives hopes for CFSL, the lone Sharia-compliant NBFC in the country. Besides, the RBI is considering the prospects of introducing a few products similar to conventional banking products like lease finance and Murabaha (in which an intermediary buys property with free and clear title). Infrastructure development fund and venture capital are the products that would be floated under the Islamic arm of conventional banks, said Syed Ramadan. The countrys largest bank, the State Bank of India, has already introduced interest-free Sharia Mutual Fund.

through the Islamic window of conventional banks if necessary support is given by the government, Syed Ramadan said.

Meanwhile, the Kochi-based Alternative Investments and Credits Ltd (AICL), is fighting a legal battle in the Mumbai High Court after its license was cancelled by RBI in 2012. AICL can take advantage of RBIs move in favour of Islamic finance and bring boost to the alternative banking in the state, he said.

Experts point out that the Muslim organisations in the state will be in favour to the new culture of banking as conventional banking is perceived as non Islamic.

Some of the entrepreneurs and businessmen, belonging to the community, are reluctant to be part of the conventional banking while for some of them conventional banking is the least preference. The change will bring them cheers, said Jafar Hudawi Kolathur of Darul Huda Islamic University.

According to him, some of the Muslim organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami and Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation (SKSSF) have started efforts to start Sharia-compliant financial institutions. They have formed exclusive wings of experts and held discussions on starting financial enterprises.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net, Staff Reporter

Srinagar: In the wake of continuing Kashmir turmoil, two Jammu and Kashmir policemen publically announced their resignation while addressing a huge gathering.

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The two policemen were Special Police Officers (SPOs), part of the the infamous Special Operations Group which was formed to deal with militants.

One of the policemen, Waseem Ahmed, is a resident of Behrampora and announced his resignation in Sopore of North Kashmirs Baramullah district on Monday evening while addressing a huge gathering. The cops public resignation was received with huge applause by the gathering. The cop also shouted pro freedom slogans. According to report published in Kashmir life another cop Firdous Ahmed, a resident of Thakgund Sopore, didnt emerge in the village but sent a word that he too will follow suit.

The valley based news agency CNS have reported that the policemen resigned under public pressure.

Locals said that shortly after the killing of a local Hurriyat activist Fayaz Ahmed Rather on 29 July last month at the hands of unknown gunmen, people had asked local policemen to resign from the department.

The move comes a day after 22 former panchayat members, including two Sarpanch in south Kashmirs Pulwama district announced that they would quit pro-India parties and join the ongoing resistance movement.

These members, who were associated with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and opposition National Conference (NC) saw their five-year term end last month. Their announcement came hours after villagers put up posters at their houses asking them to abandon pro-India parties, reports Kashmir Reader.

Meanwhile People Democratic Party spokesperson Mehboob Beg said that the current uprising is against mainstream political system as a whole.
By Kamaluddin Khan,

Part IV (Article 36-51) of the Constitution contains the directive principles of state policy. The principles reflect a unique mixture of humanitarian, socialist percepts, Gandhian ideals and democratic socialism. Though non-justiciable, they constitute the fundamental principles of governance. These directives are in nature of directions to the legislative and executive wings of government to be observed while formulating laws and policies. Most of them aim at the establishment of economic and social democracy which is pledged for in the preamble.

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Our Constitution aims at bringing a synthesis between fundamental rights and directive principles between fundamental rights and directive principles of state by giving the former a pride of place and the later a place of permanence.together, not individually, they form the case and conscience of constitution

So, these principles may be classified under several groups:

(i)certain ideals, particularly economic which according to the farmers of the constitution, state should strive for; (ii) certain directions to to the legislature and the executive intended to show in what manner the state should exercise their legislative and executive powers and (iii) certain rights of the citizens which shall not be enforceable by the courts like the Fundamental Rights; but which the state shall nevertheless aim at securing, by regulation of its legislative and administrative policy.

By the 42nd amendments, certain changes have been introduced in part IV, adding new directives to accentuate the socialistic bias of the Constitution:

(a) Article 39 A has been inserted to enjoin the state to provide free legal aid to the poor and to take other suitable steps to ensure equal justice of all, which is offered by the Preamble.

(b) Article 43 A has been inserted in order to direct the state to ensure the participation of workers in the management of industry and other undertakings. This is a positive step in advancement of socialism in the sense of economic justice.

(c) Article 48 A has been inserted in order to direct the state to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.

The Janata Government sought to implement the promise of economic justice and equality of opportunity assured by the preamble, by inserting Section (2) in Article 38 (by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978) as follows:

The state shall, in particular, strive to minimize the inequalities in income, and endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not only amongst individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations.

This amendment is to be read along with the elimination of the Fundamental Right to Property. They have paved the way for confiscatory taxation and for equalizing salaries and wages for different vocations and different vocations and different categories of work, which would usher in a socialist society, even without resorting to nationalization of the mean of production.

Philosophical Bases of Directive Principles

The framers of the Constitution were in this respect influenced most by the Constitution of Irish Republic which embodies a chapter on Directive Principles of State Policy. The Irish themselves had, however, taken the idea from the Constitution of Republican Spain which was the first ever to incorporate such principles can be traced back to such noble declarations as French declaration regarding Rights of Men, American Declaration of Independence and the Charter of Liberal Philosophy of the 19th Century. The ideas of Jeremy Benthan, the political and social stand of the of the Liberal and Radical Parties of Western Europe, the major principles of Fabian Socialism, and to some extent those of Guild Socialism, are all akin to much of what is embodied in this part of the Constitution. The Directive Principles represent some what the pattern of instrument of instruction provided in the Government of India Act, 1935. At the same time, it will be wrong to say that the Directive Principles are all foreign borrowings. In fact, a number of these principles are entirely Indian and Gandhian in nature like setting up of village panchayat and cottage industries, prohibition, protection against cow-slaughter etc.

Classification of Directive Principles

In order to understand the comprehensiveness of the Directive Principles, it is convenient to classify them into related groups. Dr. M.P. Sharma has suggested that they can be grouped ideologically into three categories, viz., socialistic, Gandhian and liberal intellectualistic. We may classify them into following groups:

1. Social and Economic Justice

(a) Social order based on Justice: Article 38 (1) provides that the state shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting a social order based on social, economic and political justice.

Article 38 (2) further elaborated the states duty inserted by the 44th Amendment. It provides that the state shall strive to minimize inequalities in income and endeavour to eliminate other inequalities based on status, facilities and opportunities.

(b) Distributive Justice: Distrbutive justice is the common aim of Article 38 and 39. They propose to promote equality in wider import and create circumstances to avoid injustice at the social and economic levels.

Article 39 directs the states to secure the equal right of men and women to adequate means of livelihood; distribution of the ownership and control of the material resources of the community to the common good; that the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production; equal pay for equal work; protection of the health or workers and children and ensure that the citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to them; and that the children and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.

2. Ideals of Social Security

(a) Right to work, to education and public assistance in certain cases (article 41). Recently the Supreme Court declared, in Mohini Jains Case that the right to education be equated with a fundamental right and it should be read with Article 22. This is because the right to life means a dignified life, which has no meaning without education.

(b) Free and compulsory education for children upto 14 years. (Article 45)

(c) Promotion of educational and economic interests of the weaker sections. (Article 46)

(d) Raising the standard of living and improvement of health. (Article 47)

(e) Equal justice and free legal aid. (Article 39 A).

(f) Just and human conditions of work. (Article 42)

(g) Living wage, etc for workers in the management of industries. (Article 32(a).

(3) Community Welfare ideals.

(a) Uniform Civil Code. (Article 33)

INDIAN POLITY

(b) Organization of agriculture and animal husbandry. (Article 48)

(c) Protection and improvement of forests and animal life. (Article 48).

(d) Protection of monuments and places and objects of national importance. (Article 49).

(e) Separation of judiciary from executive. (Article 50)

(f) Promotion of international peace and security. (Article 51)

(g) Organisation of village Panchayats. (Article 40)

Directives contained in other parts

Besides the directives contained in Part IV, there are certain other directives addressed to the state in other part of the Constitution. Those directives are also non-judicial. There are:

1. Article 350 A enjoins every state and every local authority within the state to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the belonging to linguistic minority groups.

2. Article 351 enjoins the union to promote the spread of the Hindi language and to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression of all the elements of the composite culture of India.

3. Article 335 enjoins that the claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the union or a state.

Though the Directives contained in Article 335, 305A and 351 are not included in Part IV, courts have given similar attention to them on the application of the principle, that all part of the Constitution should be read together.

Fundamental Rights Vs Directive Principles

The preamble, the Directive Principles and the Fundamental Rights constitute the more important features of our Constitution. The Directive Principals of the State Policy enshrined in Part IV and the Fundamental Rights, guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution.

Although Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles appear in the Constitution as district entities, it was the Assembly that separate them; the leaders of the freedom struggle had drawn no distinction between the positive and negative obligations of the states. Both types of rights had developed as a common demand, products of national and social revolutions, of their almost inseparable intertwining and of the character of Indian polity itself.

The directive principles, though fundamental in the governance of the country, are not enforceable by any court in terms of the express provisions of Article 37 of the Constitution, while fundamental rights are enforceable by the Supreme Court and the High Court in terms of the express provisions of Article 32 and 226 of the Constitution. This doest not, however, mean or imply any dichotomy between the two. It social aspect can, however, be amended only by legislation to carry out the objectives of the directive principles of state policy.

The directives differ from the fundamental rights in Part III of the Constitution or the ordinary laws of the land, the following ways:

1. While the fundamental rights constitute limitations upon state action, the directive principles are in the nature of instruments of instruction to the government of the day to do certain tings and to achieve certain ends by their actions.

2. Fundamental rights are justiciable, but the directive principles are non-justiciable.

3. The directives, however, require to be implanted by legislation, and so long as there is no law carrying out the policy laid down in a Directives, neither the state nor individual can violate any existing law or legal right under colour of following a Directives.

4. The fundamental rights lay down the negative obligation of the state. They are prohibitive in character and are, in fact, in the nature of injunctions requiring the state not to do certain things. Directive principles are, on the contrary, affirmative directions dealing with the positive obligations of the state towards the citizens, they declare the duty of the state to promote certain social and economic objectives.

5. The main objective of fundamental rights is to establish political democracy, by guaranteeing equality, liberty, religious freedom and cultural rights but the aim of directive principles of state policy is to establish just social, economic and political order. MV, Pylee has rightly observed:

6. The fundamental rights are negative in negative in character, the government, the directive principles are positive as they ask the stale to endeavour to achieve certain goals.

7. Directives are implemented by the legislation sought from the legislative list contained in 7th Schedule of the Constitution. Fundamental rights are incorporated in the Constitution and are within jurisdiction of an individual.

8. The court cannot compel the state to implement the directives. They can issue writs to enforce the fundamental rights.

9. The court cannot declare any law as void on the ground that it contravenes the directives.

In the state of Madras vs Chnmpakan (1951), the Supreme Court highlighted the non-enforceable nature of the Directive Principles. It declared that no law could void on the ground of cont ravening the directive principles. However, the 25th Amendment Act (1971) introduced Article 3IC. Which was to protect a law seeking to implement a directive under 39 (b)-(c) (ownership and control on material resources for common good; to avoid common fraction of wealth) from being declare ultra vires on the ground of contravening. The Keshvananda Bharti Case (1973) upheld the validity of the 25th Amendment Act.

The 42nd Amendment Act (1976) (Section 4) tried to further expand the scope of the directive principles through change in Article 31 As operation. It sought to protect any laws implanting any of the directive principles from judicial review on ground of violating Article 14 and 19. However, the Minarva Mills Case (1930) foiled the attempt to accord primacy to the directives over fundamental rights. It declared the expansion of 31C as ultra vires as it tried to change the basic structure of the Constitution. The scope of Article 31C was pushed back to the pre-1976 position. The Court added 197, position. The Court added the reasonableness clause to enable any Act under 31C to implement Directive Principles 39 (b)-(c), (c f. Slate of Tamit Nadu Vs Abu Kavur (198.1), Sec, 515).

Relative Importance

During the first sixteen years of the operation of the Constitution, the directive principles were considered subordinate to the fundamental rights: the courts track down a number of laws enacted to implement directive principles on the ground that they violated the fundamental rights. The conflict has its root in the fact that fundamental rights are enforceable b1 the courts, while the directive principles are not so. However, the government tried to overcome the problem by amending the Constitution. When the Supreme Court laid down in the Golaknath Case that the fundamental rights cannot be abridged to implement the directive principles, the Government tried to overcome the limitation in 1971 through the 24th Amendment which gave Parliament the right to amend fundaments I rights. In the same year, the 25th Amendment Act inserted Article 31c ensuring that certain laws meant to implement Directives in clauses 39 (b) and 39 (c) will prevail even if these laws violate the rights granted in Article 14 and 19. An attempt to enhance the scope of Article SIC was made by the 42nd Amendment Act which gave primacy to any or all the directive principles and deprived the courts of the right to look into such cases. This attempt was foiled by the Supreme Court majority judgement in Minrna Mills Case which asserted that such total exclusion of judicial review would offend the basic structure of the Constitution. The widening of Article 3k is restored to its pre-1976 position in that a law would be protected by this Article only if i1 has been made to implement any directive in Article 39 (b)-(c) and not any of the other directive principles in Part IV. In all other matters no fundamental rights can he violated by a law purporting to implement a directive principle.

On the whole, however, the conflict between these two features of the Constitution is meaningless as they are, in reality complementary to each other. The courts have increasingly based their judgment on a harmonious reading of Part III and IV of the Constitution.

Implementation of the Directive Principles

The Constitution has been amended, successively (e.g., first, fourth, seventeenth, twenty-:fifth, twenty- foruth 42nd and 44th Amendements), to modify those fundamental rights by reason of whose existence the state was experiencing difficulty in effecting agrarian, economic and social reforms which are envisaged by the directive principles. The unspectacular implementation of the directive principles is mainly on account of the resource crunch and lack of political will or foresight. Poverty eradication, education, betterment of the backward classes condition are a few areas where the directives have practically failed to show results.

Though implementation has been far from satisfactory, the state is showing genuine will to implement the directive principles. In electoral politics, no government may, with impunity, ignore welfare-oriented policies with regard tee public health, education, economic equality, position of women, children and backward classes. In totality the directive principles operate well in the planning process, but still have not been fully translated into action. It cannot be denied that various governments have put in some efforts in this direction. The directive in Article 39 (b) has influenced legislation to fix land ceilings, remove intermediaries such as Zarnindar, abolish hereditary proprietors, etc, and made the tiller of the soil real owners of the land. The enactment of the Hindu Marriage Act (1955) and the Hindu Succession Act (1950) have been important steps to implement the directives of Uniform Civil Code.

Gandhian Principles

Article 40: State shall organize village panchayat as unit of self-government.

Article 43: State shall try to promote cottage industries.

Article 46: State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests at the weaker sections of the peoples: SC and ST.

Article 45: State shall provide compulsory primary education for the children upto 14 years.

Article 47: State shall try to secure the improvement of public health and the prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs.

Article 48: State shall preserve and improve the breeds and prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves and other cows and drought cattle.



Directives Inspired by Western Liberal Ideas

Article 44 : to secure a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

Article 45: Free compulsory and primary education for the children upto 14 years.

Article 50 : to work towards separating the judiciary from the executive.

Article 51: to promote international peace and amity, maintain honourable relations between nations, foster respect for international law and treaty obligation.

Article 49 : to-protect and maintain places of  historic or a rustic interests.

Directives Inspired by Socialistic Ideas

Article 38: To promote the welfare of the people and to secure a just social order.

Article 39: Adequate livelihood for all citizens; 1 distribution of ownership and control of material resources of the community to sub serve common good; an economic system which does not lead to concentration of wealth; equal pay for equal work for both men and women; health and strength of worker; opportunity and facilities for children to develop in a healthy manner and be protected from exploitation.

Article 41: To make effective provision for securing the right to work, right to education, right to public assistance in case of unemployment, old age,, sickness, and disability.

Article 42: Asks for provision for just and human condition of work, and for maternity relief.

Article 43: To secure all workers-agricultural, industrial or otherwise- living wages; in particular promote cottage industries.

Article 45: Free and compulsory education for children upto 14 years.

Article 40 has led to several laws for organising Village Panchayat; the 72nd Amendment Act seeks to organise the pmrchavati Faj system with seats ,Served for women; Article 43 is seen working in the formation of several boards to develop cottage industries legislation for compulsory education at primary level exists as directed by Article 45; various programmes to educate the tribal youth and promote the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes have hen up Various measures have been taken up to protect historical monuments, forests and wild life. The Mandal Commission has been declared Constitutional. The state is all set to provide reservation in government jobs to the socially and educationally backwards (SEB).

Non-enforceable Rights of Citizens

Article 39: Requires the state to direct its policy towards securing (a) adequate means of livelihood for all citizens (b) distribution of ownership of ownership and control of material resources of the community to usbserve common good (c) an economic system which does not lead to concentration of wealth (d) equal pay for equal work for both men and women (e) health and strength of workers (f) opportunities and facilities for children to develop in a healthy manner and be protected from exploitation.

Article 41: To make effective provision for securing the right to work, right to education, right to public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disability.

Article 42: For just and human conditions of work and for maternity relief.

Article 43: To secure all workers  agricultural, industrial or otherwise lying wages; in particular promote cottage industries.

Article 45: To provide free and compulsory education (or children opts 14 years within a period of ten years from the commencement of the. Constitution

In 1971 fourteen major banks were nationalished and privy purses abolished. The Supreme Courts challenge to the legality of this slop prompted the government to include 31C by the 25th Amendment the directive principles 39 (b) (e) from being thrown out by the courts. Efforts have been made to organize agriculture along modern and scientific lines. Cow slaughter is banned in many states. A legal aid system has been established. Some states have legislated for public assistance in case of unemployment, old age and disability. However, on the whole, implementation of the legislations giving importance to directive principles has been slow and has not shown the do sued effect of removing economic, social and political injustices, nor h as the tendency or wealth being concentrated in a few, hands been retarded. Prohibition has proved a sad experience as states find themselves caught in the dilemma of practical difficulties and loss of revenue. Political parties are reluctant to agar to structural changes in the existing property relations because they do not want to hurl their vote banks.

* Part IV of the Constitution (Article 36-51) provides the Directive Principles of Stale Policy.

* The Philosophy of Directive Principles has been taken from the Constitution of Ireland.

* Dr. Ambedkar described the Directive Principles as the instrument of instructions.

* Articles 38, 39, 41, 42, 43 and 45 are based on the socialistic ideas.

* Articles 39 (a), 43 (a), 48 (a) have been inserted by the 42nd Amendment to accentuate the socialistic bias of the Constitution.

* The Janata Government sought to implement the promise of economic justice and equality of opportunity assured by the Preamble by inserting section 2 in Article 38 by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978.

* Fundamental Right to property was eliminated by the 44th Amendment Act, which pared the way for confiscatory taxation, and for equalizing salaries and wages for different vocations and different categories of work.

* Directives are non-jusliceable.

* Directive Principles cannot override Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Rights air superior.

* Various Acts like Employers State Insurance Act. Minimum wages Act, Wealth Tax Act, Estate Duty Act etc. were passed to give effect to the Directive Principles.

* The attempt to confer a primacy upon the Directives as against the Fundamental Rights has been foiled by the majority of the Supreme Court, in the Minann Mills Case.

* For the promotion of cottage industries (Article 43) the central government has established several boards to help the state government.

* Legislation for compulsory primary education (Article 45) has been enacted in most of the states and in the Union Territories.

Kamaluddin Khan

Leccturer,

Patna Law College,

Patna University Patna.
China vows to hold carbon-neutral G20 Updated: 2016-08-23 08:23 (Xinhua)

HANGZHOU - A carbon offset project was launched Monday in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou to reduce carbon produced at the upcoming 2016 G20 summit.

China Green Carbon Foundation estimated that 6,674 tons of greenhouse gases will be emitted at the summit to be held September 4 and 5 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

The project, jointly organized by China Green Carbon Foundation, the Zhejiang provincial forestry department and Hangzhou municipal government, aims to plant more than 22 hectares of trees in the Hangzhou suburbs next spring. Over the next 20 years, the trees are expected to absorb all greenhouse gases discharged during the summit.

The project will be funded by two Chinese companies, Wanma Group and Lao Niu Foundation.

Carbon offsetting refers to a program in which a company or organization reduces or offsets its carbon emissions by funding activities and projects that improve the environment.

China attaches great importance to green development. From 2011 to 2015, the country planted 30 million hectares of trees and maintained another 40 million hectares of forest, up by 18 and 29 percent from the previous five years respectively.
China to establish national eco-experimental zones Updated: 2016-08-23 08:03 (Xinhua)

BEIJING - China will establish several national ecological experimental zones to explore reforms ranging from natural resource balance sheets to ecological performance evaluation of officials, according to an official guideline published on Monday.

The guideline, released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, aimed at carrying out reforms on "ecological civilization system."

According to targets set in the guideline, major progress shall be achieved by 2017 and fully-fledged ecological civilization systems shall be established by 2020, with best practices replicable across the country.

Main experiments will include establishing a natural resource property right system, compiling natural resource balance sheet, optimizing land and space planning, and incorporating ecological performance into officials' evaluation.

Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces, which have "relatively optimal ecological foundation, and relatively strong environmental and resource capacity," were selected as the first batch of experimental zones.

An implementation plan for Fujian province was released together with the guideline on Monday.

According to the implementation plan, Fujian will strive to become a leader in national land and space planning by explicitly reserving land and space for ecological protection, and never overstepping the "red line."

Fujian will also strive to establish a property rights system of natural resource assets as well as systems that reflect market values of ecological products, thereby introducing economic incentives into ecological protection.

The province will also try to improve officials' performance evaluation to reflect their "ecological performance" such as resource depletion or environmental degradation on their watch.

Specific measures will include compiling natural resource balance sheets, and natural resource asset auditing at times when the official in charge concludes his or her term.

Targets were set in the plan, including that water quality of over 90 percent of water systems in the province will reach optimal level, 23 cities will enjoy good air quality on over 90 percent of days, and forest coverage will pass 66 percent by 2020.
Four NE Chinese cities unveil plan to build city cluster Updated: 2016-08-23 11:39 (Ecns.cn)

(ECNS) -- Four major cities in Northeast China announced in a joint statement that they will work together to build a world-class city cluster in a bid to boost the region's economy.

Harbin of Heilongjiang province, Shenyang and Dalian of Liaoning province and Changchun of Jilin province will consolidate their leading roles in Northeast China and build a large urban cluster of major cities in the region, according to the statement.

The cities aim to break a new path in revitalizing the old northeastern industrial bases and collaborate in accelerating regional economic integration.

According to the plans, they will carry out structural reforms and foster emerging industries and new engines for economic growth, enhance cooperation and exchange, and further promote opening up and innovation as well as coordinated development of industries.

They will also create innovative cooperation models, build an interconnected urban system, and improve the annual mayors meeting mechanism, as well as communication and coordination mechanisms, for revitalizing old industrial bases.

Moreover, efforts will be made to facilitate cross-region industrial and technological innovation alliances and applications of research findings. Regional public services and market integration are also on the agenda.

The four cities will deepen cooperation in major fields, including infrastructure interconnectivity and the establishment and sharing of public services, especially collaboration in finance, tourism, conventions, exhibitions, and customs, in order to boost the attractiveness of the region.

The northeastern cities will also take notes from the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions as well as Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, which are pushing ahead with plans of regional coordinated development.
'Born in China' in Chinese paintings

Updated: 2016-08-23 11:16

(Chinaculture.org)

Pandas by Wu Guanzhong sold for 5,043,792 yuan ($785,408) at the Poly Hong Kong 2015 autumn auction. [Photo/artron.net]

Born in China is a recently released wildlife documentary that follows the families of endangered animals in China. Chinese films and paintings usually depict leading actors, including panda, snow leopard, golden monkey and red-crowned crane, in visually stunning manner. Let's check out some expensive animal paintings, and go on a grand journey into the wilds of China.
In two weeks, Colin Wong, in his late 70s, will fly from San Francisco to China again. It will be the 42nd trip to China for Wong, who is "still excited and anticipating good things will happen," said the veteran dentist, a 1965 alumnus of the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry at the University of the Pacific.

As usual, Wong will help coordinate his team of experts from the Alliance for Smiles, a San Francisco-based non-profit that provides free cleft lip and palate surgeries to impoverished children around the world to conduct operations with local hospitals in Guizhou province in Southwest China.

Bilingual and well versed in Chinese culture and social customs, Wong is in charge of the team's activities during its China stay.

On Aug 19, Luo Linquan, Chinese consul general in San Francisco, hosted a banquet to recognize what the alliance has done over the years for Chinese children and expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Chinese government for the American people's goodwill.

"I want to thank all of you who have volunteered on medical missions to China or have been generous with time and money to support these missions," Luo said. "To all of you here, you can take enormous pride in the changes you helped achieve: building confident smiles for children with cleft lip and palate, making a difference for their life and even their family, and helping Chinese doctors and nurses to improve their skills."

In 2004, six members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco - Jim Deitz, Anita Stangl, James Patrick, John Goings, John Uth and Burt Berry - established the Alliance for Smiles, hopeful that the program would not only send medical teams to sites to perform corrective surgery but also create treatment centers where the American protocol of cleft surgery could be replicated.

The team also hired Karin Vargervik, director of the cleft lip and palate treatment center at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, to head the treatment center program.

China is always on the alliance program's radar due to the grave reality there - approximately one in 350 children born in China each year has a cleft lip or palate abnormality; however, medical solutions are often out of reach for children from families in underdeveloped regions.

Anita Stangl, outgoing president and CEO since the inauguration, approached China as the first country chosen to implement its dual concept. In addition to the vast number of child patients in China, the alliance already had relationships with the China Population Welfare Foundation and the State Family Planning Commission - organizations that could help set up treatment centers.

There was also an intense interest from China's health workers in how to get treatment centers up and running.

The cross-border collaboration and communication have borne fruit. In 2007, AfS dedicated its first treatment center in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, followed by a second in Wenzhou in 2009, and a third in Harbin in 2011. A fourth treatment center is to be established in Zunyi, Guizhou province this fall.

For the past nine years, the alliance has sent its doctors and nurses from San Francisco to China regularly to provide free surgeries and therapies to young patients.

The work helps build understanding and friendship between our two peoples, said Luo, adding that the tree of Sino-US friendship takes its roots in people-to-people exchanges.

"With the nourishment of kindness and goodwill, it will grow and bear sweet fruits for all the generations to come," said the top diplomat in San Francisco.

Karl Wustrack, chairman of the board of directors at the alliance for three years, received a certificate of recognition from the consulate. He said many of the treatment centers the alliance has established in China are "self-sufficient", and Chinese physicians and medical staff are capable of handling daily operations.

"We are very positive about the friendship and coordination with our Chinese partners," Wustrack said.

Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com
FBI uncovers more undisclosed documents in Hillary Clinton email probe Updated: 2016-08-23 09:19 (Xinhua)

File photo taken on July 28, 2016 shows Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on stage with husband former US president Bill Clinton on the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [Photo/VCG]

WASHINGTON - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has uncovered nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed documents to or from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton when she served as secretary of state, a federal judge was told at a hearing on Monday.

Lawyers for the State Department suggested to begin the release of the emails weekly on Oct 14 in a civil public records lawsuit before US District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington.

However, Boasberg rejected the proposal, ordering the State Department to prioritize Clinton's emails and to return to court on Sept 22 with a new plan.

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, which filed the lawsuit in May 2015 after disclosures that Clinton had exclusively used a personal email server based at her home when she worked with the State Department, welcomed the judge's decision.

"We're pleased the court accelerated the State Department's timing," said Fitton, accusing the State Department of having slow-walked and stonewalled the release of these records.

"They've had many of them since July 25 ... and not one record has yet been released, and we don't understand why thats the case." he said.

The Judicial Watch has been seeking all emails sent or received by Clinton at the State Department in a request made under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner argued that tens of thousands of emails to or from Clinton would have to be "carefully appraised at State" to separate official records from personal ones before handing over.

"State has not yet had the opportunity to complete a review of the documents to determine whether they are agency records or if they are duplicative of documents State has already produced through the Freedom of Information Act," Toner said in a written statement.

The amount of the newly uncovered documents is almost half of the roughly 30,000 work-related documents that Clinton's lawyers turned over to the State Department in 2014.

The State Department previously agreed voluntarily to hand over emails to or from Clinton in her official capacity as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

After a yearlong probe, the Justice Department closed a criminal probe in July with no charges into the handling of classified material in Clinton's email setup, which FBI Director James B. Comey reproached "extremely careless."
Presidential flag flies at half mast to mourn late president in Singapore Updated: 2016-08-23 13:26 (Xinhua)

The presidential flag of Singapore flies at half mast to mourn the passing of former President S. R. Nathan at Singapore's Istana, Aug 23, 2016. S. R. Nathan died at the age of 92 Monday night. [Photo/Xinhua]

SINGAPORE - Singapore's former President S R Nathan died at age of 92, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

"The Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues are sad to learn of the passing of Mr. S R Nathan and would like to convey their condolences to his family. The late Mr. Nathan passed away peacefully at Singapore General Hospital on Monday at 9:48 pm," PMO said, adding that arrangements for the public to pay respects and for the funeral will be announced later.

Nathan suffered a stroke on July 31. He has been "in critical condition" in the Intensive Care Unit at Singapore General Hospital since then.

The State flag of Singapore on all government buildings will be flown at half-mast from Tuesday to Friday, and a state funeral service will be held as a mark of respect to Mr Nathan, who died at hospital at age of 92 Monday night, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The body of the late Mr Nathan will lie in state at Parliament House from 10:00 am on Thursday, Aug. 25 to 12:00 pm on Friday, Aug 26. The public may pay their last respects at Parliament House from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm on Thursday, PMO said.

A state funeral service will take place from 4:00 pm on Friday at the University Cultural Center (NUS). It will be attended by Mr Nathan's family, friends and former colleagues, the President, Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliaments, civil servants as well as Singaporeans from all walks of life.

The State Funeral Service will be followed by a private cremation at Mandai Crematorium.

Nathan, 92, was the sixth and longest-serving president in Singapore, and was in office for two terms from 1999 to 2011.
The opinions expressed by "Don Quixote" are strictly his own and do not represent the opinions of Vernon Council!

Because I value your thoughtful opinions, I encourage you to add a comment to this discussion. Don't be offended if I edit your comments for clarity or to keep out questionable matters, however, and I may even delete off-topic comments.

Bob Spiers Vernon City Councillor
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Con ao National Park forest managers in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on June 17 caught Pham Van Tan, 28, illegally transporting 116 vich, a kind of sea turtle, eggs.

Tan allegedly admitted to the forest managers that he had stolen the eggs from Bay Canh Island.

Con ao Island District Investigation Police on July 27 decided to begin legal proceedings against Pham Van Tan for violating regulations on rare and endangered animals.

But the decision was not approved by the district Peoples Procuracy.

In a meeting on the case, Tran Thanh Tam, director of the Con ao District Peoples Procuracy, said that Tan could not be prosecuted, because the Article 190 in the Criminal Code did not have any regulations related to eggs. It only had regulations about animals.

Tam claimed that turtles eggs were not products of turtles, because the eggs were not processed from some parts of the turtles.

Director Tam told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he asked for guidance from the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Peoples Procuracy, and was told that the procuracy could not begin legal proceedings. The law states that evidence must be a product of the animal, for instance a rhinos horn. People must harm the rhino to take the horn, so the horn was a product of the rhino, he added.

However, representatives from the Forest Management Unit of Con ao National Park and the district police, a lawyer and a marine ressearcher shared the view that turtles eggs were turtles products, because the eggs were laid by the turtles.

Vich is listed as rare and endangered animal. They lay many eggs, but only about one in 10,000 hatch and reach maturity.

Universities send congratulation messages to candidates

In the past, students in Viet Nam competed with each other to gain places at universities, with a higher-education considered valuable.

But this year, many universities have had to send congratulation messages to candidates, or call them to ask them to come to the universities, because so few candidates enrolled after exam results were announced.

Pham Tan Ha, head of the Training Division of the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanity, said that the university was short of 350 students.

On Saturday, only 21 students handed in documents to enter the school.

We called candidates who passed the entrance exam, but most said they would study at another school, he said.

The HCM City Economy and Law University sent congratulation letters from the principal to every candidate, but still lack 500 students.

The same thing happened to Hai Phong Medicine and Pharmacy University.

More than 1,000 candidates passed the entrance exam, but only 500 enrolled.

Even the Academy of Finance, one of the most famous universities in Viet Nam, had to order 15 officials to call 1,300 candidates to invite them to enroll.

200 of them said they would, whereas 18 others said that they were thinking carefully. The remainder said that they would study elsewhere.

Maybe it is the time for big change in the countrys education.  VNS
HA NOI  Eggs, both fresh and processed, such as salted eggs and balut, are no longer required to undergo quarantine as of mid-August if they are sold in the domestic market.

Quarantine is still required for eggs being exported.

This was announced in a circular issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on animal quarantines, aiming to reduce administrative procedures.

Egg suppliers will take responsibility for the quality of their products, and government agencies will perform inspections and issue penalties if violations are detected.

People, however, are concerned about unqualified eggs being sold in the market, particularly those carrying diseases that threaten human safety and wellbeing.

Head of HCM Citys Animal Health Department Phan Xuan Thao warned of the high risk of avian influenza when the circular takes effect, as local authorities would lose control over eggs and egg products.

The Tien phong ( Vanguard) newspaper reported that egg firms were not happy with the quarantine removal because in order to supply qualified eggs to the market, they had invested billions of Vietnamese ong in equipment and technology.

An owner of an egg firm in HCM City told the newspaper that he had bought egg-processing equipment worth VN2 billion (US$90,000).

Eggs that are processed, packed and labelled before entering the market are usually VN200300 more expensive than unprocessed or unpacked eggs, he said.

Without a quarantine certificate, consumers are likely to take for granted that all eggs are the same and safe for human consumption, he said, adding that consumers would pay more attention to price.

An egg seller on Phu Huu Street, District 5, assumed that there is now no difference between quarantined and non-quarantined eggs, allowing her to reach out to farms to buy eggs and retail them.

Another retailer in Ba Chieu Market, Binh Thanh District, said that previously, she had to buy eggs from wholesalers or agents at Levels 1 or 2 to ensure that the eggs were quarantined.

She said she had paid a wholesaler VN2,200 for an egg that was originally priced at VN1,700.

Moreover, she previously had to pay a small amount of money for each egg to be quarantined and granted a certificate.

She said she also felt annoyed when animal health officials arrived at her stall every morning to collect the quarantine fee.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, a farm owner in southern ong Nai Province, said that without the quarantine, she could bring her eggs to HCM City for direct sale instead of going through wholesalers and brokers.

Previously, the government had intervened in controlling egg quality as farms usually operated on a small scale without any quality management programmes. But for the last decade, farms have been able to meet the requirements for quality, so the governments intervention is unnecessary anymore, according to Hoa.

She said egg quarantine removal would help lower egg prices and that consumers could now buy cheaper eggs.  VNS
Panama has permitted 17 seafood processing facilities in Viet Nam to export seafood products to the country, according to the Panama Food Safety Authority (AUPSA).  Photo diendandoanhnghiep.com.vn

HA NOI  Panama has permitted 17 seafood processing facilities in Viet Nam to export seafood products to the country, according to the Panama Food Safety Authority (AUPSA).

The announcement came in an official letter sent by AUPSA to Viet Nams National Agro, Forestry, and Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD).

NAFIQAD Director Nguyen Nhu Tiep said the department had proposed the 17 eligible enterprises should actively interact with their customers and importers in Panama. Meanwhile, they must also be registered with the NAFIQAD under existing regulations for seafood product exports to Panama, reported vietnamplus.vn.

Tiep said the department would require its regional agro, forestry and fisheries quality centres to inspect export batches and issue export licences for them based on AUPSAs standards.

In addition, he said the department had also asked AUPSA to quickly announce the problems associated with seafood processing and export facilities in Viet Nam that Panama had inspected in June, which were not granted permission to export seafood to Panama.

The announcement of those problems would help Viet Nams enterprises find solutions to reach Panamas food standards and achieve permission to export to Panama, he said.

According to NAFIQADs official letter to AUPSA, the department has also asked for clarifications of some regulations that were not suitable for seafood products, he said.

MARD stops licensing seafood shipments to EU
Local fishermen catch tilapia fish in the southern province of Hau Giang. Viet Nam's tilapia exports to the US reached more than $2 million in the first six months of 2016.  VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong

HA NOI  Vietnamese tilapia export was anticipated to increase rapidly this year, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (Vasep).

Vasep said that tilapia export might record revenues of US$45 million for the full year, rising by 32 per cent over 2015, and added that the trend would continue in the coming years.

Import markets of Vietnamese tilapia expanded significantly during the past decade, from just five in 2005 to 68, including the United States (US), Colombia and the European Union (EU) being the three largest importers.

Around 23 per cent of exported Vietnamese tilapia was shipped to the US, its largest importer. Viet Nam was currently the third largest exporter of tilapia to the US with a share of 10 per cent, coming after mainland China and Taiwan.

Vietnamese tilapia export to the US reached more than $2 million in the first half of this year, tripling in the same period last year.

The EU, Africa and South America were potential markets for tilapia export. Although tilapia accounted for a modest percentage in the countrys fishery exports, its room for growth and becoming a major fishery export product was large and forecasts were positive.

Nguyen Ba Son, from the Directorate of Fisheries, said that Viet Nam was planning to develop tilapia into a major fishery product, given the countrys advantages in raising this type of fish and anticipated high consumption demand at home and global markets.

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a decision on the planning of raising tilapia by 2020 with a vision to 2030, which aimed to achieve tilapia output of around 300,000 tonnes by 2020, 50 per cent to 60 per cent of which met the criteria for exports.

In addition, instructions of applying VietGap standards in raising tilapia were also issued in order to ensure quality.

As of the end of 2015, tilapia raising areas totalled more than 25,700 hectares in Viet Nam with an output of 187,000 tonnes.  VNS
Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG) and its chairman, Doan Nguyen Duc. The company one of the largest private enterprises in Viet Nam, reported a record loss of almost VND1.1 trillion (US$49 million) in the first half of 2016.  Photo baogiaothong.vn

HA NOI  Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Co (HAG), one of the largest private enterprises in Viet Nam, reported a record loss of almost VN1.1 trillion (US$49 million) in the first half of 2016. This is a result of the companys restructuring scheme which it has been carrying out since the beginning of the year.

In a resolution of its board of directors disclosed on August 20, the agribusiness posted total sales of VN3.7 trillion in the first six months, a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent, but it incurred a pre-tax loss of VN1.1 trillion.

After reporting the first-time loss in the last quarter of 2015, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co started to restructure the companys debts by selling real estate projects in Viet Nam, transferring some mineral projects, as well as liquidating uneconomic undertakings.

These activities saw the companys extraordinary expenses jump to VN944 billion during the period, of which losses arising on selling properties in HCM City reached VN413 billion.

The company has yet to disclose the detailed financial statement for the period.

Local media reported the Government has approved of the companys debt restructuring plan only for agribusiness while it must fully comply with debt obligations involving real estate projects.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai saw its debt obligations total $1.25 billion as at the end of March 2016, or equivalent to 0.6 per cent of Viet Nams GDP in 2015, a Moodys report in May showed.

In April, the company said it was working with its creditors to restructure its debt obligations, which has the potential to be the largest in Viet Nam since Vinalines in 2013.

Among the top 30 biggest stocks in Viet Nam, the companys shares slumped 122 per cent in 2015. Its prices continued to decline over 39 per cent this year.

Switching to agriculture three years ago, Hoang Anh Gia Lai has yet to reap the desirable results in sugarcane and rubber production or husbandry.

Its cow herd has 7,500 heads while the number of cows for meat reached 130,000 heads. Cows for meat are contributing largely to the companys revenues and profits.

Sugar production has brought low yields with 47,000 tonnes of sugar in March 2016 season. Palm oil and rubber have yet to generate profits.

However, the company reported other businesses including hospitals and hotels as still profitable. For a building complex in Yangon, Myanmar, it said office space was 60 per cent leased while a business center was 95 per cent leased. A five-star hotel was officially put into operation in August 2016.  VNS
HA NOI  The worlds second largest population of the critically endangered Delacours langur was recently discovered by Fauna & Flora International (FFI), giving fresh hope for one of the planets rarest species.

Following reports of sightings in a once largely unexplored forest in north Viet Nam, scientists from conservation NGO FFI Vietnam conducted field assessments to ascertain whether this species does indeed live in the area.

FFI Vietnams Biodiversity Technical Advisor Trinh inh Hoang said, "Our surveys and assessment revealed that there was a population of significant size. We detected seven groups of Delacours langur, with the total number of primates in the population being as high as 40. Only one other area in Viet Nam has a larger population of Delacours langur."

Delacours langur is indigenous to Viet Nam, but because of human activities such as hunting, stone mining and charcoal production, it faces a severe threat of extinction with fewer than 250 left, a press release issued yesterday said.

Although they remain under grave danger of being wiped out within a decade, scientists now have renewed hope that they can be saved.

"This discovery is good news  both for the species and for the people of Viet Nam, particularly because we have also identified a number of infants and juveniles among the groups, Hoang said.

This means that they are breeding and, if we can protect them, they should be able to thrive in this habitat once again."

However, Dr Benjamin Rawson, country director of FFI Vietnam, warned that urgent interventions to curb human activity such as hunting and mining were needed to safeguard these prized primates and their habitat.

Speaking at the Congress of the International Primatological Society in Chicago, he said, "Weve notified the Vietnamese authorities of our findings and recommendations, and we continue to work alongside officials and local communities to ensure the Delacours langur doesnt become this centurys first primate extinction."

Delacours langur (Trachypithecus delacouri) is a primate endemic to Viet Nam, first discovered by Jean Theodore Delacour in 1930 and described by Wilfred Hudson Osgood in 1932.

In the early 1990s, a comprehensive survey recorded 19 isolated subpopulations comprising 50 to 57 groups and 281 to 317 individuals in an area of about 5,000sq.km in north Viet Nam. More recent surveys indicated that there has been a significant decrease in both the number of groups and the number of individuals.  VNS
LAO CAI  Flooding caused by prolonged rains resulted in a landslide which crushed three houses early Tuesday morning in Sa Pa District, Lao Cai northern mountainous province, officials said.

Among the three houses, one, a newly-built four-storey structure, was completely destroyed.

No fatalities, however, have been reported. One injured person, Nguyen Cong Ha, 33, the owner of the four-storey house, was treated at Sa Pa general hospital.

Five people were reportedly inside the four-storey house at the time of its collapsing, however rescuers quickly helped them to escape.

Meanwhile, the number of persons inside the other two houses has not been confirmed by local authorities.

Additionally, Lao Cai Provinces Transport Department deputy chairman Ho Cao Khai said up to 15.000 cu.m. of rock had fallen onto the 4D Highway and was blocking traffic. The highway is expected to be cleared by 6pm today.

Also, local military and police forces were mobilized to bring families to safety and later remove the debris.

Tran Xuan Hien, head of the Infrastructure Management Office at the department, said landslides collapsed a hill, causing traffic jams for many hours today.

According to Hien, the province is still suffering from heavy rains. A large amount of soil and rock buried some 100 meters of 4D Highway. The area is being monitored due to the large rocks which could fall from the mountains overhead, causing greater risks to those carrying out rescue efforts, as well as clearing the roads.

Immediately after the incident, the Department mobilized human forces and machinery, in collaboration with the Sa Pa Peoples Committee, to carry out the rescue, while taking immediate measures to ensure traffic continues moving, Hien said.

We are breaking rocks and paving the road using small stones to prevent slipping. However, the rain is continuing, making the work difficult, added Hien.

Lao Cai Provinces Department of Transport regulated the flow of traffic to keep the roads heading in and out of the province open.

Local police, authorities of Lao Cai province and Sa Pa District, along with transport inspectors, were asked to closely co-ordinate their work.  VNS
HA NOI  Two young filmmakers Nguyen Xuan Hoang Minh and Pham Thu Thuy won the Golden Lotus Bud Awards for the best documentary film and the best feature film on Sunday.

Minhs film Khi Song Vo Bo (When the waves kiss the shore) tells the story of a man who returns his home after working for a long time abroad. The man feels lonely and cannot reintegrate into his family and society. He decides to leave.

This is the second documentary by Minh under a project launched by the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD).

The best documentary award is a huge surprise for me, Minh said. I made it when I participated in the 2nd Doc project at TPD. I love experiences in filmmaking.

Minh shot the documentary in three weeks with a hand-held camera. The man in the documentary is a close friend of Minhs parents.

From her personal observation, Minh felt she had to make a documentary about this man.

I saw that he had come to a standstill in his life. He was stuck between two societies, one in the Czech Republic and the other in Viet Nam."

Minh, 21, is a fourth-year student at Labour and Social Affair College. She is keen on art, but dared not follow her dream to become a filmmaker.

She attended the We Are Filmmakers Project at TPD in 2014. Her first documentary was nominated for the Golden Lotus Bud Awards.

The award-winning feature film XX2061 by Thuy tells a story set in the future, when every family has robots and depends on them, leading to trouble.

The awards were presented on Sunday at Workers Theatre in Ha Noi. Two movies entitled Chanh ao and Rito Rito, made by Nguyen Thi Thanh ao and Nguyen Ngoc Thao Ly, respectively, won the best feature and the best documentary awards, decided by audience vote. They also received the best first documentary and the best first feature awards.

The best movie by high-school students was also honoured at the ceremony.

Launched in 2009, the Golden Lotus Bud Awards is an annual prize launched by TPD to encourage young people to become involved in filmmaking.

About 110 documentaries and feature films competed for the awards this year. The jury comprised independent filmmakers such as Phan ang Di, Nguyen Thi Tham and Nguyen Hoang iep.  VNS
LONDON  A 1 million mural by British street artist Banksy which mocked government surveillance has been destroyed during building works on the house on which it appeared in 2014, the local council said Monday.

The piece, titled Spy Booth, depicted three men in trench coats using listening devices to tap into conversations at an actual public telephone box in Cheltenham, southwest England.

It was located just three miles (five kilometres) from the UK government listening post GCHQ, which was the subject of a series of revelations by fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The local council said the owner had confirmed the mural was damaged during urgent works on the end-of-terrace home, which was given protected status after the mural appeared overnight in April 2014.

"He was carrying out works to his property following an urgent works notice issued by the council to stop further deterioration of the listed building," said council official Mark Nelson.

"We were aware of loose render on that part of the building where this was situated but the extent and how far it would affect the mural was unknown until work progressed."

A picture on Twitter appeared to show the wall stripped back to the brickwork.

The property owner has made available pieces of the rendering on which the artwork was painted for the council to use in its investigation, said Nelson.

The mural, valued at 1 million (US$1.3 million), had become a tourist attraction but was damaged when fellow graffiti artists spray-painted silver and red on to the elusive artists design.

Alex Chalk, the Conservative MP for the town, described the destruction as "shocking news," calling the work an "admired piece of Cheltenhams artistic heritage".

"We need an urgent inquiry to get to the bottom of what happened. Whoever is responsible needs to be held to account," he said, according to the Press Association.

Banksy is renowned for his street artworks, which often use subversive or satirical imagery to tackle subjects such as war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed.

He also left an artwork on Israels controversial West Bank separation barrier.

The artists identity remains shrouded in secrecy but he is believed to have started out as a graffiti artist in the southwestern city of Bristol.  AFP
NICE, France  A French administrative tribunal on Monday upheld a burkini ban decided by a Riviera resort which was one of a growing number of towns to outlaw the body-concealing Islamic swimsuit.

The Nice tribunal rejected an appeal by two human rights groups, ruling that the ban in Villeneuve-Loubet was "necessary, appropriate and proportionate" to prevent public disorder after a succession of jihadists attacks in France, including one in Nice on July 14.

The burkini was "liable to offend the religious convictions or (religious) non-convictions of other users of the beach," and "be felt as a defiance or a provocation exacerbating tensions felt by" the community, it added.

Villeneuve-Loubet, just west of Nice, was among the first French towns to ban the burkini, triggering a fierce debate in France and elsewhere about the highly-contentious issue.

So far 15 towns in the southeast, including Nice itself, have already banned the burkini including nearby film festival host city Cannes, where three women were each fined 38 euros (US$43) under the ban at the weekend.

The Human Rights League (LDH), which brought the appeal with the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), announced it would appeal the decision to the Conseil dEtat, Frances highest administrative jurisdiction.

The Council "should give its ruling within (a couple of weeks) and definitively fix the matter, legally," LDH lawyer Patrice Spinosi said.

"The administrative tribunal rejected our request. Its a decision along the way and its not really a surprise," he added, noting that the same tribunal earlier this month upheld a burkini ban by Cannes, the first French town to impose one.  AFP
A working delegation led by head of the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission Tran Quoc Vuong yesterday worked with authorities of northern Thai Nguyen Province to inspect the investigation and prosecution of corruption and economic cases of public concern.  Photo baothainguyen.vn

THAI NGUYEN  A working delegation led by head of the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission Tran Quoc Vuong yesterday worked with authorities of northern Thai Nguyen Province to inspect the investigation and prosecution of corruption and economic cases of public concern.

Between now and October 20, the delegation will inspect 18 local units in terms of the discovery, investigation and trial of corruption and economic corruption cases, as well as the implementation of the Politburos Direction on strengthening the Partys leadership over the settlement of corruption cases.

The team will also inspect the co-ordination of agencies in discovering and dealing with corruption cases.

Speaking with provincial authorities at a meeting yesterday, Vuong said the inspection aims to affirm the Partys strong determination in the fight against corruption in line with the Resolution adopted by the 12th National Party Congress, thereby spreading effective models and seeking measures to improve the efficiency of uncovering and dealing with corruption.

Difficulties and measures to improve efficiency on detecting and dealing with corruption cases will be improved through the inspection, Vuong said.

The inspection is carried out under the instruction of the Politburo on strengthening the leadership of the Party on detection and handling corruption.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said at the 10th meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption in Ha Noi in April that the settlement of serious and complicated corruption cases of public concern should focus on quality more than quantity.

The Party Chief, who is also head of the Central Steering Committee, called on the committees members to set good examples, show their high sense of responsibility before the Party and the people, and stay away from corruption.

In spite of improvements over the past years, corruption is still widespread, hindering the national socio-economic development of the country.

Corruption affects different sectors such as health, education, construction, land management as well as natural resources and the extractive industries. The private sector is also affected by cumbersome legislation, which provides both incentives and opportunities for corruption.  VNS
HA NOI  Health insurance funds for medical check-ups and treatment have been misused, becoming a nightmare with spending that exceeds State limits, a health official has told local media.

In the first half of this year, more than VN30 trillion (US$1.3 billion) was spent, a 40 per cent increase over the same period last year and greatly exceeding this years budget of about VN2.1 trillion ($93.3million). This amount has climbed to nearly VN3trillion ($133.3million) as of July 18, Pham Luong Son, deputy general director of Viet Nams Social Insurance said.

Son attributed the overspending to the number of health insurance cardholders increasing 12 per cent in the period. However, the main problem was health insurance cardholders and health facilities trying to make money from the fund, he said.

The abuse of health insurance funds is happening in many places, at different levels and becoming more sophisticated, Son said.

Some medical facilities take advantage of loopholes in policies or shortages of human resources, supervising measures to abuse the fund, he added.

New regulations state that patients can freely choose medical facilities at district level to have medical examinations while enjoying similar benefits at any facility. This change has led to the fact that many cardholders go to different facilities for health check-ups several times in one day.

Statistics from Viet Nams Social Insurance showed that in July, some cardholders had medical check-ups 27 times per month.

These fraudsters can get prescriptions worth VN200,000 ($9) at each facility they have the check-ups and then sell them to pharmacies for profit.

Commercialised health services

Son also pointed out that the unnecessary use of CT Scanners, MRIs or expensive medicine prescribed by doctors contributed to the problem.

The total spending on testing, ultrasound, and endoscopic exams can reach VN4 billion ($178,000) each month on average, Viet Nams Social Insurance revealed.

Viet Nams Social Insurance will figure out the tests were for diagnosis or only for regular health-check-ups, Son said.

Representatives from private hospitals also contact local womens associations and veterans associations to get residents to go for health-check-ups or offer discount programmes for second time check-ups as promotional measures to increase health check-ups demand and multiple spending from the fund.

Another surprising figure is the surge of expense of distilled water test-tubes in 2014-2015. Many hospitals have switched from using glass distilled water test-tubes to plastic ones, increasing the spending on the tubes by VN15 billion ($667,000).

This money could be used for health insurance for the poor, patients with cancer, cardiac diseases, tuberculosis or HIV and save thousands of sick people, Son said.

If the spending exceeds 30 per cent of allocated funds, health insurance funds are unable to fill the deficiency, Son said.

He said that tightening the fund in the final months of the year is the key task of Viet Nams Social Insurance. Social insurance agencies of localities must analyse fee increases in health check-ups and treatment and co-operate with local departments and sectors to take better control of the fund.

Son said that consistent denial of payment must be applied for medical facilities misusing health insurance funds. For example, this year, Phuong Nam Clinic in southern Ca Mau Province was denied health insurance check-ups and treatment payment of VN71 billion ($3.1million) due to alleged abuse of spending.  VNS
BAC GIANG  Students at some high schools and junior high schools in the northern province of Bac Giang will study mathematics this year in both Vietnamese and English.

The bilingual pilot programme is being operated by the provinces education department.

The programme seeks to build a high-quality English studying environment in schools, while helping teachers and students apply their knowledge of English, taking it from their lessons and using it in practice.

Participants of the programme are the provinces major and high-quality schools in Bac Giang City and the districts of Lang Giang, Viet Yen, and Yen Dung. The provincial Department of Education also encouraged other schools, though not designated by the department, to teach mathematics in English.

Schools participating in the programme will use bilingual mathematics textbooks published by the Viet Nam Education Publishing House. Suggested teaching methods include using both Vietnamese and English during lessons, or only using English.

Tran Tuan Nam, deputy director of the Department of Education, said the department had carried out training sessions for mathematics teachers and would continue to do so. Selected teachers are those who possess high level English certificates and able to communicate in English. Additionally, the department has asked English teachers and mathematics teachers to co-operate, in order to improve the English capabilities of mathematics teachers.

Schools were also asked to set up English speaking clubs for both teachers and students, he said.

The department is to evaluate the results from the pilot programme and volunteer registration of schools to consider whether to expand the programmes scale in the 2018-19 school year.  VNS
HA NOI  The two foreign Vietjet pilots suspected of trafficking narcotics have been cleared of any suspicion, the carrier said in its latest press release.

Earlier on August 18, customs officers at Ha Nois Noi Bai International Airport suspected that the baggage of Elmer Ederadan Sorrea, a Filipino, contained some banned substances. His companion was Francis Dennis Abellera Yutangco from the US.

The two, who were about to board flight 5J745 of Cebu Pacific Air to Manila from Ha Noi, are Vietjets pilots and were on vacation.

Viet Nams customs officers conducted a normal check on their luggage and then transferred them to the local public security officers for further checks after suspicions were raised. The American pilot was confirmed to have had no involvement with the suspicious luggage while the Filippinos luggage was also confirmed later to have no problems by local authorities, Vietjet said.

The two pilots later continued their trip on a Cebu Pacific Air flight to Manila, it said.VNS
ANKARA  Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Austria to review relations after a series of disputes with the European Union member state, the Turkish foreign minister said on Monday.

"We have recalled to Ankara our ambassador to Vienna for consultations and reviewing our relations," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, in quotes carried by the state-run news agency Anadolu.

The move came after Turkish media reported that Austrian authorities allowed the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) supporters to stage a demonstration in Vienna.

Cavusoglu, speaking at a news conference alongside his Moldovan counterpart, accused Austria of "supporting terror".

"Unfortunately, the reasons to keep our bilateral ties and co-operation with Austria as before have been removed," he said.

Turkey also summoned on Monday the Austrian charge daffaires to the foreign ministry. It was the second time the diplomat has been ordered to the ministry in a spat over the age of consent in Turkey.

The row was sparked by a news ticker headline that was broadcast on screens at Viennas airport which said Turkey allowed sex with children under the age of 15.

Cavusoglu said Turkey would take "other measures" about bilateral relations with Austria in the coming period.

Austria has also enraged Turkey by saying membership talks with Ankara should be halted due to the relentless purge launched in the wake of the July 15 failed coup in Turkey.

"We have to face reality: the membership negotiations are currently no more than fiction," Chancellor Christian Kern told Austrian media earlier this month.

Austrias Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz then said Vienna opposes any steps that would bring Turkey closer to joining the European Union.  AFP
Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, former promoters of Laboratories Ltd, submitted their objections before the Delhi High Court on Monday with regard to the enforcement of Rs 2,562-crore penalty that the Singapore tribunal had awarded in favour of Daiichi Sankyo.
Shailesh Ayyangar, managing director of and president, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), tells Veena Mani that India needs to have set criteria to define essentiality of medicines, for bringing these under the price control regime. Edited excerpts:



What policy intervention does India specifically need to address the issue of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)?



Prima facie, we need a well-defined financial system that will give different strata of society access to medical services. There are lacunae in health care financing. Ministries of finance and health must work in tandem to provide insurance for outpatients. The government also needs to allocate resources, develop infrastructure and ensure affordable medical services. When it comes to treating and addressing NCDs, India fares poorly among even emerging economies.
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WATERLOO  The local casino has donated a truckload of monkeys to keep children company on ambulance rides.

After the Year of the Monkey on the Chinese calendar was ushered in in February, the Isle Casino Hotel was left with 376 surplus stuffed monkeys.

They are excess inventory from a promotional giveaway that we had done earlier this year. We didnt have a better way to used them, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to give back to our community and contribute in a way to do something good, said Jill Mejia, director of marketing operations for the Isle.

She said Isle officials had heard fire and departments sometimes keep stuffed animals in their vehicles to give to children who may be involved in emergency calls they are dispatched to.

We thought it would be a great way to donate those, Mejia said.

Isle employees dropped off the stuffed monkeys at Waterloo Fire Rescue on Monday, and fire officials said they plan to equip ambulances with the monkeys.
OSAGE  Opening statements and testimony are scheduled to begin today in the trial of a Hampton man accused of killing his girlfriend.

Ronald Rand, 61, is charged with first-degree murder. He is accused of fatally shooting Michelle Key, 51, of Waterloo, with a shotgun on Dec. 15, 2015, after an argument in his home on First Street Northeast in Hampton.

Jury selection began Monday at the Mitchell County Courthouse in Osage. The trial was moved from Franklin County to Mitchell County due to pretrial publicity.

Court documents state Keys body was found after Rand, who was allegedly contemplating suicide, called a friend.

Police say Rand admitted to an officer at the scene that he had killed Key.

If convicted, Rand faces a mandatory lifetime prison sentence without possibility of parole.
CEDAR FALLS -- A second Minnesota resident has been arrested in connection with a May 19 grab-and-go theft at a Cedar Falls beauty supply store.

Yahshanna Shonzaka Brazelton, 23, of Minneapolis, was arrested Aug. 18 on a warrant for second-degree theft. Her bond was set at $50,000 and she remained in the Black Hawk County Jail in Waterloo as of Tuesday.

In July, Keenan Davante Harris, 24, of Minneapolis, was arrested on two counts of second-degree theft in the May 19 crime and an earlier theft at the same business on Aug. 10, 2015, when he was accompanied by a different woman. He is also at the Black Hawk County Jail with bond set at $100,000.

Court records allege Harris has been involved in a stealing from Ulta stores across the Midwest.

Harris is accused of entering the Ulta store at 416 Viking Road in August 2015 with a woman shortly before noon. They began grabbing products off the shelves, loading them into bags and fleeing. They allegedly took $7,126 worth of merchandise.

Authorities said Harris returned to the Cedar Falls store at 1:05 p.m. on May 19 with Brazelton. Harris pulled an orange sack from a pocket and began loading it with items, and Brazelton stood next to him, doing the same with her own bag, court records state. They left the store, setting off alarms, ran to their vehicle and left.

Store officials totaled the loss at $2,306.

Later that day, Harris and Brazelton arrived at an Ulta shop in Des Moines and again stole merchandise, court records state.
OSAGE  Hampton Police Officer Alan Brandt only needed one word to describe to jurors Ronald Rands demeanor the night police say the 51-year-old shot his girlfriend.

Talkative.

Brandt and another police officer told jurors Rand, accused of killing his girlfriend, Michelle Key, repeatedly and without prompting told them hed accidentally shot her to death that night, Dec. 13, at his home in Hampton.

The first officer on the scene, Dave Kelley, said Rand started speaking while he was being handcuffed in the living room while Key lay on her back nearby, slumped over the side of an orange couch in a magenta nightgown.

As I approached him, he stated, I killed her. I killed my baby. He said I didnt mean to do it., said Kelley, of the Hampton Police Department. And as I placed my handcuffs on him, stood him up, patted him down, he stated It was an accident. I didnt mean for it to go off. I shot her and shes dead.

Key, 51, of Waterloo, was later shown in crime scene photos resting with her right arm on the couch armrest. Her left arm lay beside her on the couch, cigarette lighter clenched in her hand.

Rand is charged with first-degree murder.

His trial began Tuesday morning at the Mitchell County Courthouse in Osage. It was moved from Hampton at his request due to pre-trial publicity.

Police were summoned to Rands home the night of the shooting by a friend, who was concerned Rand was suicidal. The friend met Kelley at the door, visibly shaken.

Inside the house, Rand was hunched over on the same couch as Key, forearms on his legs, sitting on the edge of a cushion at the opposite end, Kelley said.

Dried blood was spattered on his eyeglasses, face, beard and clothes.

A loaded 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun police believe was used to kill Key was found on a pillow on a table in garage, put there by the friend for safety reasons, police said.

Rand, who said hed taken a number of prescription pills, was taken to a police car for transport to the hospital for evaluation.

Before they left, officers testified Rand knocked on the window and asked Kelley if he could go in and console Key and give her a kiss.

After being informed Key was dead, Rand explained the couple had been drinking and having fun that day. Rand told the officer things changed when Key revealed shed cheated on him four times over the course of their 11-year relationship, Kelley said.

Rand told Kelley he lost it because Key was laughing as she confessed.

He said he brought the shotgun back, he pointed it at Michelle, said If you ever did this again, this is whats gonna happen. He stated that Michelle got up off the couch and grabbed the shotgun barrel and pulled it like a tug-of-war, twice.

He said the gun went off and he killed her.

Hampton police were joined on the witness stand by a Franklin County sheriffs deputy and agent from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

In her cross-examination, defense attorney Susan Flander asked questions that seemed to hint what Rand told officers wasnt exactly what he meant.

When an officer testified Rand told him Im a murderer, Flander then asked Have you ever heard anyone say, Im a manslaughter-er?

The officer had not.

First-degree murder, which Rand is accused of, is a charge described in Iowa Code as killing someone willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation.

Manslaughter is a lesser charge in which a person causes someones death unintentionally or in a sudden fit of passion or emotion.

All the officers who Rand allegedly confessed to testified Tuesday he told them it was an accident.

Rand cried at times during Tuesdays testimony, taking off his glasses and wiping away tears.

He looked down and held his hand across his forehead, shielding his eyes, when crime scene photos were shown on a big screen to his left.

Flander will call her own witnesses after Assistant Iowa Attorney General Coleman McAllister finishes calling witnesses for the prosecution. McAllister expected the state to wrap up its case by Thursday morning.

Rand may testify in his own defense.

After the jury was dismissed for the day, Flander made arrangements with District Court Judge DeDra Schroeder, who is presiding over the case, and court security officers to spend time with Rand in the courtroom after Wednesdays testimony has concluded.

She told Schroeder the purpose was to allow Rand to sit in the witness chair.

So, if he decides to testify, hes comfortable there, Flander explained.
WATERLOO  In honor of Hawkeye Community Colleges 50th anniversary, Scratch Cupcakery in Waterloo is offering a limited-edition Hawkeye RedTail Delight cupcake.

For every one sold in the coming week, $1 will be donated to the Hawkeye Foundation for student scholarships.

The Hawkeye RedTail Delight is a white cupcake with Oreo and Butterfinger crumbs mixed in, topped with buttercream frosting and extra Oreo and Butterfinger crumbs. The cupcakes are available at the Waterloo location, 1517 Flammang Drive.
CEDAR FALLS  Cedar Valley educators returned to school Monday, kicking off the new year with celebratory opening day assemblies and lots of positivity.

Your impact, for everyone in this room, and the interactions you have with every student allows for their success, Andy Pattee, superintendent of Cedar Falls Community Schools, said during an address at the high school auditorium. Cedar Falls Schools has more than 800 staff, including about 400 teachers.

Pattee peppered his remarks with inspirational quotes projected on a screen and showed several encouraging videos. He emphasized the educators role in helping students to grow and achieve excellence.

We want to continuously highlight those great things that are happening every single day in every classroom, he added.

Classes start Thursday for most students in Cedar Falls and the Waterloo Community Schools.

Waterloo Superintendent Jane Lindaman highlighted seven points of pride for the district during an address at West High Schools auditorium. Among the litany of accomplishments were hitting its highest ever graduation rate in 2015, growth in the average composite ACT score for last years seniors and open enrollment out at an all-time low. Lindaman also noted that Irving Elementary School showed the greatest growth in reading and math on last springs Iowa Assessments than any other district school, earning it the Swartzendruber Award for Academic Excellence.

In addition, she issued a challenge to the districts nearly 1,600 staff, including more than 900 teachers. My charge to you is to choose positive and look at things through a positive lens, said Lindaman, noting attitude is a choice.

She emphasized unity among the staff, noting that Waterloo Schools includes everyone who was in the auditorium, and urged them to invest in the district.

Sometimes investing in Waterloo Schools is as easy as holding your tongue, said Lindaman, referencing the choose positive theme. Even I can invest better by guarding my tongue and guarding my heart.

Six others were invited to speak on the theme, as well. They included Paul Stinson Jr., a fourth-grader at Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence; real estate agent Amy Wienands; Jerry Chase, a George Washington Carver Academy teacher; East High School senior Eric Gleiter; Amy Schmidt, Irving Elementary School principal; and parent Heather Solomon.

We open-enrolled her from a small outlying district, which is apparently unheard of, Solomon said of her daughter, a West High School sophomore. Before arriving at West, school was not a happy place for my daughter.

She reminded the audience about the importance of their interactions with students. You have an impact every single day when you smile at them, when you speak to them, said Solomon.
Good morning, Cedar Valley! It's Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016.

Today's forecast: Increasing clouds, with a high near 83. South wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms. Low around 69. South southeast wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Today in the Cedar Valley:

--- IowaWorks Cedar Valley, the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber, Waverly Economic Development and Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. will sponsor a hiring fair 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at The Centre at Village Square Shopping Center in Waverly. The hiring event will feature more than 55 employers wanting to hire for immediate openings. Employers are looking for workers to fill a wide variety of positions in manufacturing, welding, production and assembly and more.

--- A forum aimed at raising awareness about hate crimes and bias incidents is scheduled today. The hate crimes/bias incident forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the University of Northern Iowa Center for Urban Education, 800 Sycamore St. It is free and open to the public. The purpose of the forum is to strengthen hate crime responses by communities, local law enforcement and support agencies and let them raise questions or concerns.

--- A fall show, Ballroom Bash: Iowas Rock n Roll Legacy, will open at the University of Northern Iowas Museum. To kick-start the exhibit, the museum will host Rock the Stacks!, a concert featuring local legends Twins, Peas and Carrot and Kitsch at 7 p.m. today at the Rod Library. People can experience the feeling of dancing in a classic Iowa ballroom, visiting a recording studio or stepping back in time to see original memorabilia and instruments, all while listening to music created in Iowa.

--- August Ensembles will be 7 p.m. at Overman Park, Cedar Falls. Bring a lawn chair to sit on. The California Street Sax Quartet, led by Denise Lawrence, will perform.
DES MOINES  Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday defended the states switch to privately managed care for Iowas Medicaid recipients, saying the new system is saving significant money by rooting out fraud and abuse that previously was going undetected.

Branstad did not provide specific data documenting his claim but pointed to experiences in other states that have adopted similar managed care models and noted state budget expectations Iowa would save more than $100 million this fiscal year with three private managed care organizations overseeing Medicaid services for 560,000 Iowans.

Were getting good reports, the governor told reporters at his weekly news conference. The reports that were getting is that this new system of managed care, replacing the unmanaged care that we had before, is stopping significant fraud and abuse that had occurred previously in our state and across the country, and it is designed to try to improve health outcomes.

Under the old state-run approach, Branstad said it was more difficult to detect unnecessary or redundant medical services being delivered by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers who were treated Medicaid patients. The new verification system employed by state-contracted MCOs is making payments on a capitated basis rather than procedures performed since the April 1 switch was made, he added.

The governor downplayed reports of Iowa providers not getting paid in a timely fashion or paid at all and recipients being denied services, saying complaints have been resolved by MCOs and state Department of Human Services overseers with many instances involving people not following the program rules or meeting the verification requirements.

Branstad did acknowledge an Associated Press report that state sanctions and late-payment fines were waived for the three MCOs in April and May while Iowas system transitioned to the private management  a decision that has drawn some legislative criticism. He said the leeway was granted as part of a collaborative effort to transition to a new approach.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Larry Riley was a Walter Mondale delegate to the Iowa Democratic Party state convention back in 1984. Monday he was cheering Donald Trump.

Im for him because hes an outsider and not controlled by big business and the Washington politicians, Riley of Springville said at a town-hall meeting with Trumps running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

Pence assured Riley that he and Trump understand that the American people are sick and tired of pay-to-play politics that he said characterize the relationship between Hillary Clinton and donors to the Clinton family foundation.

When Donald Trump become president of the United States were going to bring pay-to-play politics to a crashing halt on Day 1, the vice presidential nominee said in a 25-minute speech before taking questions.

Pence described Trump as a man who never quits, who never backs down. He is a fighter and he is a winner  a doer in a game usually reserved for talkers.

And when he talks, Trump doesnt go tiptoeing around those thousands of rules of political correctness that people lay in the path of people who are trying to turn this country around.

But sometimes he says things that he shouldnt, Ron Meyer of Solon said. However, who is retired from the Johnson County Sheriffs Department and Iowa Army National Guard, likes Trumps law and order positions.

His wife, Becky, likes Trumps border protection plans. During 34 years at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics she saw too many people who overstayed their visas.

This country welcomes anybody who comes, but we want them to come legally, Becky Meyer said.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire questioned whether Trump shares that spirit. She called it ironic that Pence, one half of the ticket that has repeatedly called for a ban to keep Muslims from entering our country, was in Cedar Rapids, home to the nations oldest Islamic mosque.

Immigrants from all over the world continue to make valuable contributions to Cedar Rapids and to our state, McGuire said. The Trump-Pence ticket of exclusion, not inclusion is not in line with Iowa values.

Unlike Riley and the Meyers, Ross McCutchen wasnt a Trump supporter from the start. He originally backed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Now hes all in for Trump. He drove 4.5 hours from St. Louis to attend the Pence town hall and is the Missouri director of Trump Millennials.

Im looking for the best negotiator, McCutchen said. Hes proven he can work with everyone.

Trump will use his negotiating skills to make sure trade deals work for the American worker, for the American people, and not just the multi-national corporations, Pence said.

However, Donald Trumps promise to run the country like hes run his businesses should scare everyone  because his economic record has left a trail of victims as he has made millions of dollars on the backs of others, Charlie Wishman, of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO told reporters on a conference call organized by Hillary for Iowa.

In many cases, Wishman said, Trump didnt pay what was owed not because he couldnt pay them but because he could stiff them.

That didnt faze Riley, who is semi-retired from a career in construction and now manages rental property. To be successful in business you have to know how to play the business game.

Not even the historic nature of Clintons candidacy found support among the audience estimated at 300 people.

Although she believes that in her lifetime American will elect a woman to the presidency Kim Reem of Marion, president of the National Federation of Republican Women, Clinton doesnt speak for us.

Not that woman. Not this year. Not ever, she said.
Court documents show how a record amount of lethal opioid and meth traveled from Mexico and ended up packed into the walls of a Waterloo home, where police found the drugs in 2021.
WATERLOO -- Jenna Feeney has won first place in the Favorite Frosted Sugar Cookies competition at the Iowa State Fair.

Cindy McCardle of Independence earned second place

Feeney also won a New Entrant Award in the Gold Medal Flour Cookie Contest and third in the Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Frosting competition.

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CEDAR FALLS -- Adam Andor has placed first in the "Best Tan Lines" category in the Mr. Legs contest at the Iowa State Fair.

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CEDAR FALLS -- Maribeth Woolsey has taken second place in the reed or split basketry category of the Creative Arts contest at the Iowa State Fair.

Third place went to Lisa Nelson, Janesville.

Woolsey also won third place in the natural category, and first place in the coiled slot.

Third in twill went to Diane Davison, Cedar Falls.

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NASHUA -- Chelsi Bailey, a member of the Nashua-Plainfield FFA, was named champion in the Sweepstakes Trophy event in the Farm Crops contest at the Iowa State Fair.

She was also named champion in the soybeans category, and Nashua-Plainfield came in second for the FFA chapter award.

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INDEPENDENCE -- Tanner Erickson received an award for restored farm equipment in the FFA Ag Mechanics competition at the Iowa State Fair.

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Winners at the 4-H Horse and Pony competition at the Iowa State Fair include:

Reserve Champion Halter Mare: Jaycie Rauch, Tama

Reserve Champion Pole Bending: Halle Evans, Union

Champion Barrel Racing: Morgan Buxton, Union

Champion Senior Hunt Under Saddle: Jalyn Brownell, Fayette

Reserve Champion Pony Pleasure: Julia Deppe, Bremer

Champion English Walk/Trot (Grades 9-12): Jalyn Brownell, Fayette

Results of the Farm Crops contests at the Iowa State Fair include:

FIELD CORN

Hybrid Commercial, Single Ear

3) Kevin Glanz, Manchester

Hybrid Commercial, Ten Ears, Yellow Corn

1) Kevin Glanz, Manchester

Hybrid Commercial, Ten Ears, White Corn

3) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

Hybrid Commercial, Thirty Ears

2) Kevin Glanz, Manchester

3) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

Hybrid Commercial, Full Gallon Shelled Corn

3) Kevin Glanz, Manchester

Hybrid Commercial, Standard Bushel Basket Ear Field Corn

3) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

Open-Pollinated, Single Ear

1) Deb Turnball, Waverly

2) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

Open-Pollinated, Ten Ears

1) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

FORAGES, GRASSES & LEGUMES

Alfalfa

2) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

3) Thomas Huck, Waverly

Birdsfoot Trefoil

1) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

2) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

3) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Smooth Bromegrass

1) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

3) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Medium Red Clover

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

3) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Millet

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Orchard Grass

1) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

2) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

3) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

Reed Canarygrass

1) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

3) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Sudan

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Sweetclover

1) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

2) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

3) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

Timothy

1) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

2) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

3) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

POPCORN

Commercial, White Hybrid Popcorn

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

2) Becky Poduska, Chelsea

3) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Commercial, Yellow Hybrid Popcorn

1) Hans Bilden, Elgin

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

3) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Commercial, Mushroom Hybrid Popcorn

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Ornamental, Japanese Hulless/White Rice Popcorn

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Ornamental, Strawberry Popcorn

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Becky Poduska, Chelsea

3) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Ornamental, Lady Finger Type Popcorn

1) Becky Poduska, Chelsea

3) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Ornamental, Any Other Popcorn

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Ornamental, Shelled Popcorn

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

3) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

4) Hans Bilden, Elgin

Popcorn - Sweepstakes

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

SHEAF GRAINS

Barley in the Straw

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Brome Grass for Seed

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Millet for Seed

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Early Oats

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Mid Season Oats

1) Thomas Huck, Waverly

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Late Season Oats

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Oats, any other

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

2) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

3) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

Orchard Grass

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

3) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

Rye in Straw

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

2) Deb Turnball, Waverly

3) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

Grain Sorghum

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Timothy for Seed

1) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

2) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

3) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Spring Wheat in Straw

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

3) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

Winter Wheat in Straw

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

3) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

Sheaf Grains - Sweepstakes

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

SMALL GRAINS & LEGUMES

Early Oats

1) David Klindt, Bettendorf

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

Mid Season Oats

1) Lynne Pfantz, State Center

2) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

3) David Klindt, Bettendorf

4) Thomas Huck, Waverly

Late Season Oats

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Oats - Any Other Officially Recognized Variety

1) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

3) Deb Turnball, Waverly

Red Clover Seed

1) Ginger Werner, Chelsea

2) Chuck Werner, Chelsea

Spring Wheat

1) Mary B Zelle, Waverly

2) Ronald Zelle, Waverly

3) Jay Van Wert, Hampton

4) Deb Turnball, Waverly

Winter Wheat

3) Layne Murty, Gladbrook

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Cattle farms from across the Midwest were recognized in the Beef Feeder Calf show at the Iowa State Fair. Results include:

Simmental Heifers

1) Schweer Show Cattle, Cedar Falls

Commercial Heifers

2) Nadine Klaffke, Alden

3) Mason Johnson, Allison

Market Heifers

1) Schweer Show Cattle, Cedar Falls

3) Schweer Show Cattle, Cedar Falls

Shorthorn Plus Steers

1) Mitchell Family Show Cattle, Charles City

3) Nadine Klaffke, Alden

Champion & Reserve Simmental Heifer

Reserve, Schweer Show Cattle, Cedar Falls

Champion & Reserve Market Heifer

Reserve, Schweer Show Cattle, Cedar Falls

Champion & Reserve Shorthorn Plus Steer

Champion, Mitchell Family Show Cattle, Charles City
The Clintons

SANDRA DOYLE

CEDAR FALLS -- If you are a liberal Democrat, you have to lie to get elected and the Clintons have perfected it. We are not used to a businessman (not a politician) telling us the truth. We have the Clinton Foundation (pay to play), email scandal, Benghazi, Rose Law Firm; on and on. The truly most shocking is the numerous people who have died mysteriously surrounding the Clintons' lifelong tenure in politics.

The mainstream media is willing to overlook what the Clintons have done to enhance their ascension to power. It looks as though the FBI and Department of Justice have become a part of the political establishment (also protected by the media), and that is a very sad day for the people of the United States of America.

Column responses

BOB KAISER

CEDAR FALLS -- I totally agree with guest columnist Bonnie Pitz (Aug. 7). You do the crime, you lose your right to vote. You get it back only by action of the governor, not automatically.

Next she will be asking that sex offenders no longer have to register after X number of years. I really don't care how big an organization she has or its name. She said the process is arduous, and to that I say good.

It should not be taken lightly. She suggested children are learning by watching, and I agree. Do you want to teach them crime pays, or there are consequences for your actions? I think she believes one does not have to pay for their crimes. That is not the way life works. You do the crime, you better be able to do the time.

There are winners and losers always. Directly below in the paper that day was a column by Sandra Reicks, who suggested most thinking people are fed up with people "gaming the system" -- able-bodied people not working and living off those who work. Drug testing to get their welfare checks is one way to make sure the payment is not going for their vices.

Baby food donations

TERESA PFIFFNER

WATERLOO -- At a recent food drive, I was surprised to find donations of baby food. Being well beyond child bearing age, it never occurred to me such a need existed. Upon reflection, I concluded this made total sense.

Indigent folks facing the challenge of feeding a baby likely have no access to the equipment (blender, food mill or processor) to convert what food stuffs available into pablum consistency.

Programs do exist for feeding school-age children, even in the summer. I've even heard of similar set ups for pre-schoolers. WIC and SNAP probably cover some of needs of babies and toddlers in crisis. Emergencies don't depend upon the income of those affected. All nets consist of holes -- even safety nets.

Myriad opportunities to help exist. The past couple of weeks, admission to events were offset in part with food donations. The post office has a wildly successful food drive. I've never heard the food bank turning down contributions.

The next time someone asks for donations (in addition to the soup/pasta and tuna that commonly come to mind), please contemplate adding something for the smallest of our brethren.
Church will host community meal

WATERLOO  The Apostolic Pentecostal Church will host a free community meal from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday.

The church is at 1645 Downing Ave.

Artist to discuss opening exhibit

FAYETTE  A Cedar Falls artist will open the 2016-2017 Bing-Davis Memorial Gallery season at Upper Iowa Universitys Fayette campus.

Angela Waseskuk will discuss her exhibit, Knocking the Dust Off: A Collection of Desperate Acts to Find a Way Home, at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, with a reception to follow from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The artwork will remain on display at the gallery through Sept. 30.

Waseskuk received her BFA in painting in 2003 from the University of Northern Iowa and her MFA in Sculpture and Dimensional Studies in 2007 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She is currently the UNI Foundations coordinator and an adjunct instructor of art.

Imaginarium set to host Lego club

WATERLOO  The Bluedorn Science Imaginarium, 322 Washington St., will host a Lego Discovery Club from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. the first Saturday of every month.

The first meeting is set for Sept. 3.

Kindergartners through second-graders will solve engineering problems, build robots and design animal habitats.

Lego Discovery Club is $8 for Grout Museum District members and $10 for nonmembers. For more information, call 234-6357 or go to www.GMDistrict.org.

LifeServe blood drive in Denver

DENVER  There will be a LifeServe blood drive 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Denver Community Center, 100 Washington St.

People can schedule a donation appointment at lifeservebloodcenter.org or by calling (800) 287-4903.
Grand opening for auto center

HUDSON  A grand opening of the Cedar Valley Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center, located at Bill Colwell Ford, will be Thursday through Saturday during business hours.

The public is invited to tour the new center. Those who attend can enter a drawing for prizes.

New program to aid area addicts

WATERLOO  Reformers Unanimous, a national faith-based addictions program headquartered in Rockford, Ill., will start a chapter in Waterloo.

Calvary Baptist Church, 900 Burton Ave., will host the program from 7 to 9 p.m. every Friday. The program is open to all adults who struggle with an addiction.

For more information, call the church, 833-0938, or the addiction program director, Ben Wilson, 939-1043.

Cupcakes mark HCC anniversary

WATERLOO  In honor of Hawkeye Community Colleges 50th anniversary, Scratch Cupcakery in Waterloo is offering a limited-edition Hawkeye RedTail Delight cupcake.

For every one sold in the coming week, $1 will be donated to the Hawkeye Foundation for student scholarships.

The Hawkeye RedTail Delight is a white cupcake with Oreo and Butterfinger crumbs mixed in, topped with buttercream frosting and extra Oreo and Butterfinger crumbs. The cupcakes are available at the Waterloo location, 1517 Flammang Drive.

Waterloo man wins $100,000

WATERLOO  John Cole of Waterloo claimed the fifth of eight top prizes of $100,000 available in the Iowa Lotterys Easy Money scratch game.

He bought the winning ticket at Caseys, 3260 University Ave.

Farmers market Onion Day is set

CEDAR FALLS  College Hill Farmers Market, corner of College and West 22nd streets, will feature Onion Day from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday.

The market has various vendors and a large amount of seasonal produce along with crafts, baked goods, jelly and home decor items.
Q. For many reasons, I think oil and gas is going to move up later this year and in 2017. We have $60,000 in our joint account to speculate with. We want to buy a portfolio of seven or eight oil and gas stocks that will yield at least a 9 percent dividend. We know this is speculative, but we think theres a better chance of success if you pick the stocks versus our picking them. We can afford the risks, and we wont hold you responsible if they dont do well.

 TR, Buffalo, N.Y.

A. These are rank speculations I only recommend to investors who arent afraid of big risks.

BP PLC (BP-$34), a $211 billion-revenue integrated oil and gas company across the pond, provides its gas stations with fuel, gives businesses and homes energy for heat and light, and makes lubricants and petrochemicals used to make thousands of everyday plastic items. BP should earn $1.23 a share this year, and in 2017, with revenues of $255 billion, earnings could come in at $2.70 a share. The $2.40 dividend yields 7.3 percent and is sustainable, considering BPs impressive cash flow.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-B-$53), a $250 billion integrated oil and gas company, has a mailing address in the Netherlands. It operates much the same as BP. Its $3.76 dividend, yielding 9.1 percent, is sustainable, considering expected 2017 revenues of $335 billion and a strong free cash flow.

EnLink Midstream Partners (ENLK-$17.50), a $4.5 billion master limited partnership, provides midstream energy services  gathering, transmission, processing, fractionation and marketing to natural gas producers. The $1.56 distribution yields 9.2 percent. ENLKs high-quality customer base augurs well for better revenues of $4.6 billion in 2017, and the distribution is stable.

Oneok Partners (OKS-$41.50) has raised its distribution yearly since 2005. OKS is a $9 billion-revenue MLP that gathers, processes, stores and transports natural gas, and it should earn $2.35 a share this year. OKS expects revenues of $10.2 billion next year and earnings of $2.50 a share. This years $3.22 distribution yields 7.9 percent, and management expects to raise the distribution in 2017 to $3.34.

DCP Midstream Partners (DPM-$35) is a $1.8 billion-revenue MLP that owns a portfolio of midstream energy assets and has increased its distribution each year since 2006. This years distribution of $3.12 yields 9.1 percent. With expected 2017 revenues of $2.2 billion, the distribution should be increased to $3.20.

Martin Midstream Partners (MMLP-$21) is an $896 million-revenue MLP that transports, stores and markets petroleum products and byproducts via 30 shore-based terminal facilities. From 16 specialty terminals, MMLP refines, blends and packages products for producers and suppliers of petroleum byproducts. Revenues for 2017 are expected to exceed $1 billion, and the current $3.25 distribution, yielding 15.6 percent, should be maintained.

Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP-$25) will report $4.3 billion in 2016 revenues, and its $2.33 distribution yields 9.48 percent. EEP owns and operates a diversified portfolio of crude oil and natural gas transportation systems. Next year, with projected revenues of $4.6 billion, EEP may increase the distribution to $2.41.

Finally, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP-$41.38) is a midstream and interstate transportation and storage company with more than 60,000 miles of pipeline. Impressive earnings are expected in 2017, and the $4.22 dividend yields 9.9 percent.

This eight-issue portfolio requires that you invest $7,000 in each and yields 8.9 percent. Each issue has significant free cash flow, and some will increase their dividends this year and next. If the above companies continue to improve efficiencies and if oil remains in todays narrow range, each of the above companies could also see a higher stock price.
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Many years before I met sense and maturity and still dazzle-tranced by excitement, I accepted an invitation to leave my solid, serious, sensible teaching job in London and fly-whisk my life away and move on a whim to Rio de Janeiro to join a boyfriend. He had hypnotized my every bit of common sense, caution and propriety into the gusting winds of passion, all my self-recognition and self-worth!

It was the first real thrust I made out of the life nest in my mid 20s. But, I counted what? Hopes, dreams, stupids and fears  and compromised. Sense and safety prevailed and I side-stepped the ultimate disastrous, feral option and decided on a visit  not a life.

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British schools, like American schools have long summer holidays, so I tamped down the effluvient passion

and planned a six-week trip to join Gerry de Lothario in Rio de Janeiro! This years Rio Olympics has unlocked that old trunk in the attic. And while rummaging around the skimming of tattooed-mind moments and tattered remains of memory embers, I stopped to smile at my first discovery of Brazilian food. I loved the mixture of European, Amerindian, Middle Eastern and African influences that, then, were recently infiltrated by Japanese cuisine.

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Abundant are the tropical fruits, roots, beans, seafood from the long scythe-curved coastline, beef from the southern grasslands and of course typical farmyard animals like chickens, goats and pigs. Street food is in abundance; cachaca-based drinks from sugar cane are ubiquitous.

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After travelling all day on a bumpy road in a local bus from Rio up the coast to the edge of Bahia in the north, the bowl of the national dish, feijoada  black bean-meat stew was a delirious revelation to my narrow-palate hunger.

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All these years later, quibes from Lebanese kibbeh  lozenge-shaped meatballs  covered in bulghur wheat appear frequently in my cocktail menus. Cakes made of corn, passion fruit, cassava and more, sweeten any time of day. I could go on . . .

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But perhaps my favorite ingredient was the seafood. Ive selected Moqueca to honor the Olympics in Rio.

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Moqueca, originally a Bahian seafood and fish stew now found all over Brazil, is made with palm oil, peppers, tomato and coconut milk. Hopefully the athletes experienced this delightful dish too!

Brazilian Shrimp Moqueca

Yield: Six portions as an entree

Equipment: Cutting board, chefs knife, measuring cups and spoons, small metal bowl, large casserole, wooden spoon

Ingredients

 cup dende (palm) oil

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cups minced onion

1 cup chopped green pepper

2 red chili peppers, minced, deseeded

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 lbs cleaned, peeled 16/20 shrimp

2  cups shrimp stock, fish stock, clam juice or chicken broth

1  cups coconut milk

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1  tablespoons lime juice

3 plum tomatoes, peeled and diced

6 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves and stems

1 teaspoon sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Heat a large casserole pan. Add palm oil, chopped onion, peppers and cook till softened. Add garlic stirring to combine. Cook for two minutes.

Add tomato paste tempered with stock to loosen it, stock and coconut milk and stirring to combine well, bring to a brief boil. Simmer.

Add shrimp, season with salt and pepper. Add lime juice, sugar, tomatoes and a quarter cup of cilantro.

Cook over moderate heat till shrimp loses transparency.

Sprinkle with remaining cilantro.

Serve with white rice.

RELATED: Ro Howes Recipes: Spice-Roasted Golden and Red Beet Salad, Watercress, Candied Pecans
DUBLIN, GA, August 23, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dublin Downtown Development Authority and Visit Dublin GA announced today that Corey Barksdale, a nationally recognized Georgia artist, has been selected as the muralist for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument under development in Dublin, Georgia. The result of a $5,000 award by the Georgia Department of Economic Development's (GDEcD) Tourism division to fund a mural and gateway signage at the site of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. monument, the mural will be located at the intersection of Church and Telfair Streets. It will set the tone in creating an artistic and interactive public space for tourists to experience the first step in Dr. King's rise to greatness as a leader of the Civil Rights movement.



The project will install a 54' 7" wide by 10' high mural on the wall of a neighboring building highlighting First African Baptist Church and Dublin, Georgia as the location of Dr. King's first public speech in 1944. This mural by a Georgia artist will serve as an additional interactive component of the monument site, provide an artistically colorful backdrop for the monument site, and create a vivid gateway for downtown Dublin. "This project presents the unique opportunity to not only commemorate a very important moment in our history, but also transform a downtown gateway and add to the collection of unique public art we have in downtown Dublin. It is a win for everyone involved, and we are so proud of the support and man power that has been poured into the MLK Monument project," said Tara Bradshaw, Director, Main Street Dublin.



Barksdale

Atlanta artist Corey Barksdale uses art to capture African American history, and intends to capture Dr. King's speech in Dublin through color and emotion, saying, "A lot of my images are representative of the experiences that I have had and how I identify myself. These subjects reflect my community. The bold colors that I use have been with me since the beginning. Initially I focused on a few primary colors. Now I am blending them in different ways to create my secondary colors. I give the colors a different value or tone. Examples: blue is a darker tone, then red a mid-tone, orange is light, yellow even lighter, and white I use for highlights. So there is actually a system, and I use certain colors over and over. Using bright colors is part of my makeup. Much art from Africa utilizes some of the same color combinations that I use. So, it's part of my DNA that I use these colors; it's what seems natural."



Barksdale's resume includes a current project for Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC, as well as murals on the Atlanta Beltway, in Athens and Decatur, GA, and numerous projects for television. The National Museum of African American History and Culture will feature eleven inaugural exhibitions focusing on a wide arc of history: Slavery, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Migrations to the North and West, the Civil Rights Movement, and beyond. It will be a place where everyone can explore the story of America through the lens of the African American experience. Opening September 24, 2016, Barksdale's image will be part of a 360-theater exhibit film that celebrates African American creativity and cultural expressions through art, music, dance, theater and literature.



"Dublin is lucky to have an artist of Corey's caliber creating the mural for the Dr. King Monument. His passion and skill in capturing the African American experience through color, imagery, and motion will translate into a vibrant experience of interpretation that will inspire visitors of today and tomorrow," said Rebecca McWilliam, Director of Tourism, Visit Dublin GA. "We're grateful to Georgia Tourism for the opportunity to have an artist of Barksdale's experience and talent creating this work of art for what will become the primary gateway to downtown."



# # #
Aug 23, 2016 | By Tess

The prayers of one Katelyn Vincik, a five-year old from Victoria, Texas, have been answered. The young girl, who was born with an underdeveloped left hand and who has been on a waiting list for a functional prosthetic for some time, has been gifted with a 3D printed prosthetic thanks to the hard work and dedication from the Harris County Public Library.

Katelyns parents reached out to the library after learning that it was equipped with a maker space and 3D printing lab. The lab, called the Jocelyn H. Lee Innovation Lab, was funded by the late Jocelyn H. Lee and is run and operated by a number of volunteers, all of whom jumped at the chance to help make the little girl a prosthetic hand.

The process to make the hand began when Katelyn and her parents drove nearly three hours to the Harris County Public Library where a team of volunteersled by innovation lab trainer Patrick Ferreltook the young girls arm and hand measurements. As Ferrel explains in an interview, the whole team had worked with 3D printing equipment before but had never made a prosthetic. He says: We were pretty upfront with the family. None of us had any experience with prosthetics. We know how to make 3-D prints, and we know how to build things. But none of us have specific experience with prosthetics. And the family was willing to go along with it, even though none of us really knew exactly what we were doing. We were confident that we could make one. Wed just never done it before.

And make one they didwith some help, of course. The prosthetic hand itself was based on open-source designs made available through e-NABLE and Team UnLimbited, which the volunteers resized and tweaked using digital modeling software so that the hand would fit Katelyn. Once the 3D model was satisfactory, the volunteers set about 3D printing each component of the hand (there were about three dozen of them) and subsequently assembled them using fasteners, bands, and other bits. The hand itself was printed from Katelyn favorite colorspink and purpleand is designed to clench the fingers when the arm is bent, allowing the five-year-old some added mobility.

Once the 3D printed prosthetic was complete, Ferrel delivered it to the young girl, whose excitement was palpable. To make the event even more exciting, Ferrel delivered the hand on a Saturday afternoon when Katelyns whole family and friends were over for a family gathering so all of them got to experience the happiness that the 3D printed hand brought Katelyn, who can now hold a cell phone more easily and ride a bike.

Ferrel said of the experience: I will tell you that this kid, shes just a bubbly, happy smiling kid that lights up a room. But when she put the arm up, and she lit up even brighter  that was impressive.

Of course, there were some structurally weak points with the initial 3D printed prosthetic for Katelyn, which with the help of her father and the library volunteers have since been fixed (such as the installation of stronger hinge pins, for instance). With the success of their first 3D printed prosthetic, the Harris County Public Library is hoping to expand the uses of its 3D printing lab to help others like Katelyn.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Aug 23, 2016 | By Alec

Clay has never been hotter within the 3D printing community, both as a 3D printable material and as a hands-on modelling tool (just check out this BYU 3D modelling innovation). As a result, more and more people are looking into clay and ceramic 3D printing opportunities. Just earlier this week, a team of Chinese students even launched a crowdfunding campaign for a budget clay 3D printer. But the undisputed benchmark in clay 3D printing is the LUTUM 3D printer series by Dutch pioneers VormVrij 3D, and they have just revealed upgrades to their very successful hardware. Through numerous innovations that improve 3D printing resolution and even open the machine up to edible materials, they have made the LUTUM series future-proof.

Its just the latest chapter in the success story of VormVrij 3D, who first appeared on the scene back in 2014 with a remarkable ceramic 3D printer and began selling 3D printed ceramic bottles on Etsy. It was founded by designer duo Yao and Marlieke, who are both graduates from the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. By combining their 3D printing and ceramic expertise, they created a 3D printer capable of efficiently and reliably printing ceramics and with stunning results.

In early 2015, that machine was finally brought to the public in the shape of the LUTUM 3D printer, which became a huge international hit and was followed by numerous iterations of all shapes and sizes  including Mini and XL versions. Since then, the LUTUM has found its way into workshops in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and the far east, and VormVrij was even forced to move to a larger facility to cope with growing demand.

But the Dutch developers have not been resting on their technological laurels since then, and have been working hard to incorporate client feedback into a new generation of LUTUM 3D printers. Most remarkably, they have discontinued the XL version, saying that the learning curve for that large build surface was simply too steep and too uneconomical. But to compensate, they have upgraded the flagship model and even released two new printer models. In fact, one of the replacement models (the MXL) has the same height range as the discontinued XL, but is much easier to handle. The other new model, the LUTUM dual, has been designed to allow for dual color ceramic 3D printing.

But most importantly, VormVrij has updated their extrusion system. While very similar in appearance, the upgrades make the extruder far more reliable and versatile. Coupled with the new high pressure micro cartridges and the recently upgraded medium cartridges it is now possible to use harder clay than before. A more robust coupler between the barrel and the motor also delivers better torque transfer, while the off-the-shelf nozzle kits guarantee print precision, its designers explain. It is now also far easier to disconnect and clean the extruders, while four models are made available for different printer setups  even for a custom robotic arm build.

The resolution levels achieved with this new setup is clearly visible above, where two different models are visible. On the left is the part 3D printed using a 2014 model LUTUM, while the right version has only just been 3D printed (0.5 mm layer height). The quality difference is clearly visible, even though the newest print was still wet and unfired.

But the possibilities of the new and improved LUTUM 3D printer dont end there, as this new setup also allows for more functional and complex prints. This is clearly illustrated by the 64 interconnected ceramic chains visible above, a model which was hitherto impossible to 3D print in clay. To build it, the VormVrij team actually had to dilute normal stonewear material to make it 3D printable, but still hard enough to form bridges. It just illustrates what clay and some material ingenuity can bring to the table. The same can be said for the Makerbot Sabretooth skull visible below, which was taken directly from Thingiverse and underlines the LUTUMs ability to 3D print difficult overhangs and bridges. Even then, it took just four hours to print, with the teeth being made by hand.

As the team explains, compressed air is still vital for good 3D printing results with the new LUTUM system, and its something they are often asked about. In the LUTUM system it proved a simple and reliable way of delivering precise amounts of different clay types to the advanced extruder attached to the printer. An optional silent (50dB) 2 or 4 stroke compressor can be provided with the Printer if necessary. Another handy fact of this system is the ability to fill the cartridges by hand if no pug mill is available, they say. But at the end of the day, the quality of the clay still determines the quality of the prints.

However, clay wont be the only thing on the LUTUM menu for much longer. Food pastes, including mash potato, tomato, butter, cheese and even insect pastes, chocolate, marzipan and cookie dough will all become 3D printable as well with the addition of a high grade bronze or gold plated extrusion system. This new manufacturing option was first pioneered for a Twix promotion event, during which the build plate was replaced with a BBQ table. As that was a huge hit, VormVrij is currently looking into a commercialized version of food 3D printing, which should become available in the near future.

All in all, it seems as though the LUTUM ceramic 3D printer range is only becoming more professional and more potent with every new generation. Despite those changes, it is still built on open source electronics, and clay is still delivered using a 600cc direct screw-on cartridge system or with a larger vessel system that creates an 8 liter capacity. Its a build that ensures that the LUTUM is an excellent addition to any (potters) workshop.

The following models are currently available:

LUTUM mini 43x43x45 cm build volume (4,495)

LUTUM dual 40x40x45 cm build volume for dual color 3D printing (still experimental, 6,284)

LUTUM MXL 43x43x78 cm build volume (the replacement for the LUTUM XL, 5,395)

For more info, check out the VormVrij 3D website.

Posted in 3D Printer

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When clients of the Institute on Aging turn 100, the San Francisco-based non-profit grants their ultimate birthday wish. But what exactly does someone who just turned 100 want for their birthday?

Earlier this year, Georgy Sobolev and Sybilla Mazon each made ambitious requests for their ultimate b-day bash, resulting in two elaborate parties to celebrate the 100-years-young Centenarians.

Sybilla Mazon: Rattlesnakes and a Red Convertible

Born in Texas on January 31, 1916, Mazon was the fourth of six children. She lived in Alaska for several years with one of her husbands, who owned a cleaning and pressing business there. Mazon raised two children: a son, the late Leon Dewberry, who received a Purple Heart; and a friend's daughter, Rita Hampton, whose mother passed away when she was an infant.





When she was a young girl in Texas, Mazon met Bonnie and Clyde, who were hiding out in her family's neck of the woods and stopped by for some food and water. When asked if she was scared, she laughed out loud and said, in her charming drawl, "Hell, no. They were real nice."





For her 100th birthday, Mazon said she wanted to ride in a red convertible and shoot rattlesnakes, but not necessarily at the same time. So the Institute on Aging sent a red convertible to pick her up at home and bring her to a birthday celebration complete with a welcome parade, live music, 100 cupcakes,and a rattlesnake shooting gallery.







Georgy Sobolev: Russian Politics on a Hornblower Cruise

Born in Russia on December 28, 1914, Georgy Sobolev is a WWII veteran of the Russian Navy who survived grave wounds in 1941 during the battle of Sebastopol. After the war, he served as Chief Operating Officer of numerous naval ports throughout the country, including St. Petersburg.





Fleeing anti-Jewish pogroms in 1994, Georgy Sobolev escaped the Soviet Union with his family, arriving in San Francisco at the age of 80. As refugees, they arrived almost entirely empty-handed, and were shocked to be welcomed with open arms by immigration officials and the Jewish community of San Francisco. With the support of family, friends and the Institute on Aging, he continues to live independently in his Ocean Beach apartment. Most days, he walks alongside the beach for exercise and conversation, which is often prompted by the "I Am 101 Years Young" badge he wears around his neck.





As his 100th birthday approached, he requested a Hornblower cruise on the bay and an in-depth political discussion, in Russian, about the future of democracy in his home country. Hornblower Cruises donated a brunch cruise, and Dr. Andrei Tsygankov, Professor of International Relations and Political Science at San Francisco State University and author of two books on Russian politics and foreign policy, graciously agreed to join Sobolev's birthday entourage. The two men spent much of the cruise in deep discussion, often with their foreheads touching, over vodka. Sobolev explained, "When I have vodka, I can have only one shot. But then I become another man, and he needs his own shot."
Waxman's, the newest restaurant from James Beard award-winning chef Jonathan Waxman, opened this spring in Ghirardelli Square, bringing a vibrant new taste to the San Francisco waterfront. Inspired by his upbringing in Berkeley, Waxman's is serving farm-to-table Cal-Italian cuisine with a highlight on fresh pastas, wood oven pizzas and his famous J.W. chicken.





With multiple rooms and dining opportunities in the beautiful and historic Mustard Building in Ghirardelli Square, Waxman's can accommodate many types of dining experiences. Planning a small celebration for 15 of your closest friends or a large scale cocktail reception for 750 business associates? Waxman's is the perfect location for all your party needs. In addition to multiple dining rooms decorated to suit the occasion, the restaurant also has an outdoor patio overlooking Ghirardelli Square, Alcatraz, and the San Francisco Bay.





For dinner with friends, the chef's table (10-20 people) is right in the middle of the action, while a private dining room (15-40 people) can be separated from the main dining room with a floor-length curtain for small parties. The main dining room (140 people), with its calming lights, dark brick walls, and full bar, is perfect for weddings or other formal events; and the Pizzeria (90 people) is a separate space with its own functioning bar and kitchen.





Have a lot of friends to consider? The entire restaurant (750 people) can even be reserved for your private event. Waxman's can customize menus and create specific floor layouts to ensure that everything is just the way you want it. Perfect for the corporate cocktail setting, large-scale wedding receptions, and company parties. Email events@waxmanssfo.com to make your reservation.







// Waxman's, 900 North Point St., Ste. B-201 A (Ghirardelli Square), waxmanssfo.com
IndexBox Marketing has just published a new report EU: Carboys, Bottles And Similar Articles Of Plastics  Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020.

In the recent years, growth in exports of plastic bottles has slowed both within the EU and outside of it. This trend reflects the relatively modest increase in production of plastic bottles in the EU. At the same time, the industry is almost entirely focused on the internal European demand, which will remain the main driver of growth in the medium term.

Total exports of plastic bottles by the EU Member States amounted to 3,167 million EUR in 2015, growing at slow pace over the last three years, compared with intensive post-crisis growth. Data on the EU trade with non-EU countries shows that the EU remains a net exporter of plastic bottles.

Germany was the main supplier of plastic bottles among the EU members, accounting for 18% of total exports in 2015. It was followed by France (10%), Netherlands (9%), Austria (9%), and Belgium (9%). From 2007 to 2015, Germany (-1.6% per year) showed negative dynamics in relative values, same as most of the other leaders, except for Netherlands, which grew with a CAGR of +2.1% per year.

The EU Member States engaged in the majority of plastic bottle trade. Meanwhile, extra-EU exports reached 578 million EUR in 2015, which accounted for about 18% of the total exports. Extra-EU exports showed an upward trend over the period under review.

Despite the growth of extra-EU exports in recent years, they cannot provide a significant stimulus to the restoration of EU plastic bottle manufacturing. EU plastic bottle industry is not sensitive to the environment of the foreign markets because extra-EU exports have remained at a low 6% of the total EU plastic bottle output from 2007 to 2015.

As a result, domestic demand remains the main growth driver for the EU plastic bottle industry. The manufacture of food and drink products is the key downstream industry for the plastic bottle manufacturing. At the moment, the food and beverage industry in the EU is enjoying a growth period, supporting the demand for plastic bottles. Progress and advances in plastic technology are also likely to promote the use of plastic packaging for foods and drinks. In addition, plastic packaging tends to become more environmental-friendly, with a gradually increasing proportion of biodegradable plastics.

Follow the link below to review a free sample or to buy the report:

http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/eu-carboys-bottles-and-similar-articles-of-plastics-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

EU: Carboys, Bottles And Similar Articles Of Plastics  Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020 focuses on the EU plastic article 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:

Carboys, bottles, flasks and similar articles, for the conveyance or packing of goods, of plastics.

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:

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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
Asian Activities Report for October 14, 2011 includes: Ironbark Zinc Limited (ASX:IBG) has entered into a US$50 million funding facility with Glencore International AG (LON:GLEN); Altura Mining Limited (ASX:AJM) has received Operation Production Mining approval for the Tabalong Coal Project in South Kalimantan, Indonesia; Republic Gold Limited (ASX:RAU) has entered into a Tenement Sale Agreement to sell its Far North Queensland assets to Territory Minerals Pty Ltd; Leighton Holdings Limited (ASX:LEI) today announced that its subsidiary Leighton Offshore had been awarded a major contract by Iraq's South Oil Company.
Asian Activities Report for September 16, 2011 includes: Carbon Energy Limited (ASX:CNX) has successfully achieved an Underground Coal Gasification process innovation at the Company's project site in Queensland; Ivanhoe Australia Limited (ASX:IVA) has launched an equity issuance to raise up to A$150 million net proceeds to boost project development; Iron Ore Holdings Limited (ASX:IOH) announced a maiden JORC Mineral Resource at the Dragon Project of 21.5Mt at 55.4% Fe; Interra Resources Limited (ASX:ITR) has completed infill development well YNG 3240 at the Yenangyaung oil field in Myanmar; Tata Consultancy Services Limited (BOM:532540) has signed a multi-year contract with Nets, one of the largest payment cards, payment solutions and payment exchange information companies in Northern Europe.


Rangeland Engineering Selects Aconex for Burstall Ethane Storage Facility

Alberta, Aug 23, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Aconex Limited ( ASX:ACX ), a global leader of digital innovation in construction, today announced that Rangeland Engineering Company Ltd., a leading full-service engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) firm, has chosen Aconex for the design phase of a $140-million ethane storage facility project.



The project is located in an underground salt cavern below the town of Burstall, Saskatchewan, near the Alberta border. The facility will have the capacity to store approximately one million barrels of ethane sourced from the North Dakota Bakken deposit. It will be connected by pipeline to an ethane gathering system in Alberta. Subject to final regulatory approvals, the facility is expected to be commissioned for service in the second half of 2018.



With a design team in Calgary, a construction team in Saskatchewan and global procurement, the Burstall project is inherently complex, with both physical design and process management challenges. Rangeland Engineering, an innovator in engineering design services for the oil and gas industry, implemented the Aconex cloud-based platform to provide project collaboration capabilities beyond its existing electronic document management system (EDMS). In addition to sophisticated document control, Rangeland required access to the project for all team members from anywhere at any time, automated workflows with dashboard notifications for greater transparency and accountability, an audit trail for compliance and conflict resolution, and integration with other systems for data exchange.



"Aconex Operates the Way Projects Need to Operate"



"Compared to other platforms we considered, Aconex most fully met our requirements," said Ryan Beamin, director of operations and design drafting at Rangeland. "We've already recognized a 25% time savings in our squad check processes by utilizing Aconex workflows. Communication is more fluid, and project information is always up to date. Aconex operates the way projects need to operate."



Rangeland wanted to provide the project team with easy access to current documents and drawings as well as prior versions on a single platform, while using its existing document naming conventions. The Aconex document register incorporated Rangeland's current document numbering system and accommodated the document numbering schema of its vendors. According to Mr. Beamin, the project team adapted quickly to the platform's intuitive data management capabilities, which make searching for, finding and accessing documents and drawings extremely efficient.



Rangeland's workflows for the creation, distribution and tracking of requests for information (RFIs) involve multiple issuers, responders and deadlines. With Aconex, the firm reduced its five-step RFI process to a single-step create-and-send workflow, which includes built-in reminders and a dashboard to track ongoing status. As Mr. Beamin characterized it, "Now we hit send, and the RFI is out there for everyone to see and respond to, and Aconex provides timely alerts and prompts to everyone involved."



Multidimensional Modeling and Data Integration



As part of its review process, Rangeland has deployed Aconex Connected BIM to share multidimensional models with project team members in a neutral Common Data Environment. Rangeland is enriching its plant design models with external data to provide more value to clients. Aconex Connected BIM provides a workflow for the model review and coordination process, which includes a complete audit trail of model correspondence with a fully connected dataset for handover and operation. On the Aconex platform, there are no file size limits or other constraints to prevent transmission of very large models for collaboration between the design and construction teams.



"It's a massive advantage to be able to load our engineering work packages in Aconex and give the owner and contractors a master file of all drawings at their fingertips," said Mr. Beamin. "Having all documents, RFIs and change notices managed on a single platform and logged in a permanent audit trail makes it easy to communicate with each other and to report on progress."



Aconex enabled Rangeland to integrate the platform with both internal and vendor information systems through application programming interfaces (APIs) for secure, reliable exchange of data. The Aconex APIs accommodate the use of enterprise document management systems by different organizations on the project team, which can easily transfer data to Aconex in the appropriate format without time-consuming, error-prone re-entry.



Positive User Experience



Mr. Beamin also cited the ease of learning and using the platform, as well as the high quality of Aconex service and support, as key factors in its rapid adoption across the team. The Burstall project had been managed initially on a spreadsheet-based system and then been transitioned to Aconex, with online training for all participants.



"The customer service has been exceptional," said Mr. Beamin. "For projects requiring process configuration and systems integration, the service is as important as the platform."



He added that Rangeland plans to deploy Aconex on future oil and gas projects.



"Rangeland is an impressive organization which has demonstrated to its clients the impact of engineering design services on cost management and speed to market for large-scale projects," said Frank Kopas, general manager of the Americas region at Aconex. "We look forward to helping successfully deliver the Burstall Ethane Storage Facility, and to earning future business from Rangeland based on our performance."



About Aconex Ltd





Aconex Limited (ASX:ACX) project collaboration solution digitally connects owners, builders and other teams, providing complete visibility and management of data, documents and costs across all stages of a construction project lifecycle. The Aconex cloud-based solution has been used to manage over $1 trillion in projects across 70,000 user organisations in over 70 countries. The companys ordinary shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker code ACX and are included in the S&P/ASX 200 Index.

Supporting Resources

For more information on Aconex, please visit:


Aconex FY16 Annual Report

Melbourne, Aug 23, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Aconex Ltd ( ASX:ACX ) principal activities during the year were the provision of cloud collaboration software services for the global construction industry.



The Company's flexible and fully integrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform provides customers with a centralised approach to managing documents and data, communicating with project participants and streamlining business processes.



Aconex enables clients to improve project efficiency, productivity and accountability, while lowering cost and risk in delivering projects of all sizes. Building Information Modelling (BIM) and mobile collaboration solutions available with the existing Aconex platform have extended the Company's offering, providing project teams with complementary tools to manage increasingly complex projects.



Aconex Limited currently has more than 60,000 user organisations working on projects valued at more than $1 trillion. The Company has 47 offices in 23 countries around the world, with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia.



The Company's ordinary shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker code (ACX) and are included in the S&P / ASX 200 Index.



Operating and Financial Review



A summary of financial results from core operations for the year ended 30 June 2016 is set out below. For the purposes of this report, core operations are defined as the reported results per the audited financial statements adjusted for listing expenses associated with the Company's Initial Public Offering in December 2014, business acquisition and integration costs associated with three acquisitions in 2016, and foreign currency gains and losses.



For the year ended 30 June 2016, the Company reported revenue of $123.4m, an increase of 50% on the previous year's revenue of $82.4m. Revenues in ANZ grew 35% and international revenues increased 61%. The 50% increase in Group revenue was driven by strong sales momentum, new enterprise agreements and enhanced product offerings. The acquisitions of the CIMIC Group's INCITE Keystone collaboration platform and Conject contributed $14.6 million to revenue growth. New enterprise agreements were signed with the CIMIC Group, Burns & McDonnell, ExxonMobil and Fluor, and existing enterprise agreements were renewed with several customers.



Total operating expenses from core operations, excluding depreciation and amortisation expenses, increased 29% to $78.9m when compared with the previous year. The increase reflected investments in:



- Engineering and product development (including capitalised development costs), which increased from 14% to 18% as a percentage of revenue.



- Sales and marketing, which led to an increase in commissions paid as a result of increased sales.



- All employees and operations of Conject following the close of the acquisition.



The Company recorded positive EBITDA from core operations of $13.6m for the year ended 30 June 2016, a $10.6m improvement on the prior year's EBITDA from core operations of $3.0m. The improvement in EBITDA reflected the benefits of global scale and the operating leverage gained from the Company's business model which is focused on the following key objectives:



- Leverage industry and collaboration network effects to drive new business from both new and existing customers.



- Replicate the highly profitable Australian business model across international regions to increase global market leadership and drive scale.



- Continuously expand the breadth of the Aconex platform to drive increasing value for customers and users as well as competitive advantage.



- Balance revenue growth and profitability by investing in product and sales to drive new opportunities for market penetration.



Net operating cash flows from core operations were $9.4m for the year ended 30 June 2016, a $3.4m increase from the prior year, reflecting improved EBITDA, offset by working capital movements.



Business Acquisitions During The Year



Aconex made three acquisitions during the year. The Company expanded its technology and product capabilities through the acquisitions of Worksite and the CIMIC Group's INCITE Keystone platform, and further consolidated its global leadership position with the acquisition of Conject.



Acquisition of Worksite



On 24 July 2015, Aconex Limited acquired Worksite, provider of a SaaS-based project cost management solution, from ARES Project Management LLC. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Aconex purchased the intellectual property and assets of Worksite for a total price of $6.4m, with $3.2m paid up front and a further $3.2m paid on 24 July 2016.



The Worksite software solution complements the Aconex collaboration platform through the build-out of collaborative cost management on the Aconex platform.



Strategic Partnership with the CIMIC Group



On 4 August 2015, Aconex Limited entered into a multi-year strategic partnership with CIMIC Group Limited ( ASX:CIM ) and certain of its related entities. CIMIC, formerly Leighton Holdings Limited, is the parent company of one of the world's largest international contractors.



The strategic partnership is expected to build long-term commercial value for both companies. Aconex anticipates that the partnership will generate a minimum of $16.5m of committed revenue for the management of existing and new projects over four years from the date of the partnership agreement.



Acquisition of Conject



On 31 March 2016, Aconex Limited acquired Conject, a leading cloud and mobile collaboration service provider in Europe and other regions, for a total cash consideration of $99.5m.



The acquisition of Conject is expected to significantly expand Aconex's market penetration and user network throughout Europe and further consolidate Aconex's market position as the global market leader in cloud-based construction collaboration solutions.



To finance the Conject transaction and provide additional working capital, Aconex raised $120 million through a fully underwritten institutional placement of more than 23 million shares at an issue price of $5.20. Following the capital raising, the Company offered a share purchase plan (SPP) for eligible existing shareholders to purchase additional Aconex shares.



The SPP raised another $12.0 million also at an issue price of $5.20.



Product Development Overview



Aconex research and development in financial year 2016 focused on critical processes that help customers deliver successful projects, on time and on budget, while increasing the Company's competitive advantage. Key new capabilities added to the Aconex platform included project controls for cost and schedule management, as a result of the Worksite acquisition. FY16 product development priorities included the following:



- Insights and enhanced reporting to help detect and resolve project issues early.



- Field processes and increased mobility to improve efficiency and productivity on site.



- Management of building information modeling (BIM) data and processes across project teams.



- Connecting the Aconex platform with a broader range of internal systems for data exchange.



- Continued layering of security measures to meet emerging market and customer requirements.



- Deeper design processes, including mail routing, packages, linking, configuration management and construction lots.



Aconex accelerated the pace of product development over the last twelve months, increasing its total research and development spend by 85% from $11.9m in financial year 2015 to $22.0m in FY16. The increased spend is largely a result of:



- The acquisition of Worksite and the integration and continued development of its SaaS-based project cost management solution (Aconex Connected Cost). Aconex Connected Cost helps owners and contractors manage budgets, contracts, month-end processes, and payments in a collaborative environment. The new module on the Aconex platform has been rolled out to selected customers in preparation for full commercial availability in FY17.



- The acquisition of the INCITE Keystone collaboration platform from the CIMIC Group, as well as its integration with the Aconex platform and the development of further product enhancements.



- The acquisition of Conject, its products and its product development teams, which are being integrated with Aconex.



Significant Changes in the State of Affairs



In March and April 2016, respectively, Aconex completed a fully underwritten institutional placement and a share purchase plan, through which the Company raised $132m in cash to finance the purchase of Conject and provide additional working capital. The capital raising, coupled with positive cash flows from operating activities, strengthened the Group's cash balance, including restricted cash, from $29.1m to $52.5m at 30 June 2016.



In the Directors' opinion, there have been no other significant changes in the state of affairs of the Group during the year.



Significant Events After Reporting Period



On 24 July 2016, in accordance with the terms of the Worksite acquisition, a payment of $3.2m (US$2.4m) was made to ARES Management LLC.



In the Directors' opinion, there have been no other significant events since the end of financial year 2016.



Business Strategies and Future Developments



Aconex is focused on a set of key initiatives to increase shareholder value which include:



- Driving sales and marketing into underpenetrated industry segments and regions such as Asia, the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).



- Leveraging existing customer relationships and communities via the "network effect" to further entrench the existing user base and attract new users.



- Continued improvement and enlargement of the Aconex product offering through innovative research and development.



- Opportunistic assessment of strategic acquisition targets that may accelerate growth.



- Balancing investments in growth with increasing profitability.



Aconex is a leader in the construction collaboration market in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and has built a profitable business. Over a number of years, Aconex has been investing and replicating its ANZ success globally as it penetrates international markets, all of which are significantly larger than the ANZ market.



While revenue in the ANZ region grew 35% from FY15 to FY16, the revenue growth rate for the international business was 61%. The international revenue growth trajectory is underpinned by Aconex's historical investment in its scalable SaaS platform, an established global sales, marketing and customer support network.



The Company believes that Aconex stands to benefit from the increasing adoption of cloud collaboration in the construction industry worldwide. Future revenue growth is expected to benefit from:



- The rising complexity, cost and risk of construction projects.



- The increasing digitisation of project documents and workflows.



- The adoption of increasingly advanced processes such as BIM; which provides a digital, multidimensional representation of the physical and functional characteristics of an asset.



- The growing Aconex user community, which provides positive "network effects" in spreading the adoption of the Aconex platform through project collaboration worldwide.



Aconex's future growth plans include continuing to invest in growth markets both domestically and internationally, as evidenced by continued revenue and earnings growth in each key market. In the course of executing the Group's growth plans, the Group is subject to market and operational risks outlined below.



To the full Annual Report, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/8K85W6GQ





About Aconex Ltd





Aconex Limited (ASX:ACX) project collaboration solution digitally connects owners, builders and other teams, providing complete visibility and management of data, documents and costs across all stages of a construction project lifecycle. The Aconex cloud-based solution has been used to manage over $1 trillion in projects across 70,000 user organisations in over 70 countries. The companys ordinary shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker code ACX and are included in the S&P/ASX 200 Index.

Supporting Resources

For more information on Aconex, please visit:


SDA 1H FY16 Results Presentation - conference call details

London, Aug 23, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - SpeedCast International Limited ("SpeedCast") ( ASX:SDA ), a leading global satellite communications service provider, will announce its financial results for the half year ended 30 June 2016 on Wednesday 24th August 2016 at 10am Sydney time.



Investors and analysts are invited to join a teleconference call hosted by CEO, PJ Beylier & CFO, Ian Baldwin. The call will be a presentation of the 2016 Half Year results followed by Q&A.



Dial in details are as follows:



- Time: 10.00am (Sydney time), Wednesday 24th August 2016



- Hosts: CEO, PJ Beylier & CFO, Ian Baldwin



Dial-In Details:



Australia: 1-800-195-453 / 02 9253 5884

HK: 800 908 575

UK: 0800-376-2927

Singapore: 800-120-6406

India: 1-800-200-1142

France: 080-598-0104

Malaysia: 1-800-817-060

USA: 187-7-679-2987

Greece: 211-211-1524

New Zealand: 0800-452-581



Participant passcode: 157465#



About Speedcast International Ltd





Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA) is the world's most trusted communications and IT services provider, delivering critical communications solutions to the Maritime, Energy, Mining, Media, Telecom, Cruise, NGO, Government, and Enterprise sectors. With more satellite capacity than any other provider, Speedcast enables faster, seamless pole-to-pole coverage from a global hybrid satellite, fiber, cellular, microwave, MPLS, and IP transport network with direct access to public cloud platforms. The company also integrates differentiated technology offerings that provide smarter ways to communicate and distribute content, manage network and remote operations, protect and secure investments, and improve the crew and guest experience. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 3,200 customers in over 140 countries. Learn more at www.speedcast.com.
SANTA FE  A former Santa Fe Prep student has filed a lawsuit against the school and a teacher alleging that a bone near his eye was fractured when the teacher used a slingshot-type device to launch a water balloon at him three years ago.

Jackson Levy filed the complaint against Santa Fe Prep and teacher Nick Wirth in Santa Fe District Court Friday. The incident happened on Senior Fun Day on Aug. 25, 2013, a Sunday.

The suit alleges that the slingshot was made by an unnamed teacher, apparently not Wirth, to shoot water balloons at students more accurately and at higher velocity and was being kept in the physics department.

The slingshot had been used in 2012, and a balloon shot from a similar device gave a student minor injuries when the student was hit in the stomach. The lawsuit maintains that the school had prohibited the use of the large slingshot device on the campus.

They should have known it was dangerous, David Martinez, Levys lawyer, said in an interview Monday.

On Senior Fun Day, Levy, who attended Prep from seventh grade through senior year, was resting against a giant inflatable ball when Wirth used a slingshot made with two surgical tubes and a funnel to launch the balloon at high speed, directly at (Levys) face, according to the complaint. The balloon hit Levy in the right eye and caused him to fall to the ground.

The suit says Levy, then 17, suffered injuries that have resulted in medical expenses, pain and suffering and temporary and probable permanent physical impairment. Levy seeks punitive as well as compensatory damages to punish the school and deter it from similar conduct in the future.

Although the injuries arent detailed in the complaint, Levys lawyer Martinez told the Journal Monday that Levy sustained a fractured right orbital and hyphema  a pooling of blood between the cornea and the iris  among other injuries which have now increased Levys risk of going blind in that eye.

School headmaster Jim Leonard, who is named in the suit, could not be reached for comment Monday. The schools website says Wirth, who also couldnt be reached, is the history department chair.
WASHINGTON  Donald Trump  he who likes to fly home at night in the comfort of his own plane to sleep in the comfort of his own bed  is at it again on the question of Hillary Clintons stamina, or alleged lack thereof.

To defeat crime and radical Islamic terrorism in our country, to win trade in our country, you need tremendous physical and mental strength and stamina, he said in Wisconsin. Hillary Clinton doesnt have that strength and stamina.

And a day earlier, in case you missed it, Importantly, she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all the many adversaries we face.

Its obvious whats going on here. The strength and stamina combo is a gender-age two-fer, a double whack at Clinton for the price of one. Strength, what men have, and women lack; stamina, with its intimations of go-all-night virility. Clinton, in this depiction, is both a weak girl and a dried-up old crone.

No matter that Trump is a year and four months older  and, for that matter, endures a far less rigorous schedule. In Trump World, what counts is the attack, not the truth.

Trump first began hitting Clinton on strength and stamina during the primaries, a fascinating detour from his usual precision-bombing of opponents. Ordinarily, Trump homes in on an opponents actual deficit and proceeds to magnify it: low-energy Jeb Bush, Liddle Marco or, more pertinent at present, Crooked Hillary.

But sometimes, under attack, Trump shifts to that trusty playground tactic  I know you are, but what am I?  a move intended to jiu-jitsu the conversation away from his own perceived vulnerabilities. Thus, Trump has trotted out unstable Hillary Clinton, a totally unhinged person and like an unbalanced person. Im rubber, youre glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.

Increasingly, though, the rap on Clinton combines gender, age and health in a smarmy package of unsupported insinuation. Shes a mess, a total mess, Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt. Shell do an event, shell make a short speech off a teleprompter, and then she goes home and goes to sleep.

When Trump uses the teleprompter, it is a supposed token of maturity and professionalism; when Clinton does, she is failing  indeed, possibly brain-damaged. She took a short-circuit in the brain, Trump said in New Hampshire this month, seizing on Clintons explanation of how she flubbed an answer on her emails. Honestly, I dont think shes all there.

Trump is subtle only by comparison to his unhinged allies. Say-anything, know-nothing spokeswoman Katrina Pierson was on the job on MSNBC Thursday.

Whats new are the other reports of the observations of Hillary Clintons behavior and mannerisms  as well as her dysphasia, the fact that shes fallen, she has had a concussion, Pierson told Kristen Welker.

It is extremely important to note that Hillary Clinton has taken a lot of time off the campaign trail, Pierson added. It is something that needs to be addressed.

What needs to be addressed, actually, is Piersons own behavior and mannerisms, including her time-travelling assertions that President Obama and Clinton were responsible for the 2004 death of Army Capt. Humayun Khan (It was under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that changed the rules of engagement that probably cost his life) and alleging that Obama launched the 2001 war in Afghanistan (Barack Obama went into Afghanistan, creating another problem).

On the topic of Clintons health, Pierson is back-stopped by a cabal of conservative websites and commentators who have peddled out-of-context photos and video snippets to paint Clinton as a weakened, stumbling victim of brain damage.

Fox News Sean Hannity has been in the repulsive lead, citing video of Clintons shaking her head in pretend surprise at being accosted by reporters to suggest neurological injury. It almost seems seizure-esque to me  violent, out-of-control movements on her part, Hannity said.

Presidential candidates fitness for office, including their medical fitness, matters enormously, especially when Trump would be the oldest president ever elected, Clinton second only to Ronald Reagan. Both could reasonably be called on to disclose more health information; the Trumpian claim by the candidates physician that he would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency is particularly risible.

But the Trump & Co. attack on Clintons health, with its undertones of ageism and sexism, has no basis in reality and no place in a presidential campaign. It would be tempting to say this is beneath even Trump, except that it isnt.
Hatch officer Jose Chavez.

Albuquerque officer Daniel Webster.

Rio Rancho officer Gregg Benner.

Navajo Nation member Ashlynne Mike, just 11.

At this time, all of their accused killers are safe from facing the death penalty in New Mexico.

That could change. And it should.

Gov. Susana Martinez is calling for lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty in New Mexico for murderers of police officers and children.

A society that fails to adequately protect and defend those who protect all of us is a society that will be undone and unsafe, she said in a statement last Wednesday.

Capital punishment had been on the books for a number of years in New Mexico and applied to the most serious crimes, such as killing a police or corrections officer on duty, as well as murder committed during attempted kidnapping or rape or criminal sexual contact of a child.

But New Mexico repealed capital punishment in 2009 when former Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation replacing it with a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

After taking office in 2011, Martinez supported legislation to reimpose the death penalty, but it didnt make it through the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Since then, it has not been part of her legislative agenda  until now.

And that could send a deadly serious message to violent criminals who think nothing of taking the life of law enforcement officers dedicated to protecting the rest of us. People like members of the prison gang Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico who allegedly conspired to kill state Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel and his Security Threat Intelligence Unit chief Dwayne Santiestevan.

For officers Jose Chavez  who was laid to rest this weekend  Daniel Webster and Gregg Benner, and innocent Ashlynne Mike, their lives matter. Lawmakers should set this right when they convene in January.

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.
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

A civilian oversight board wants help evaluating whether the Bernalillo County jail meets national standards for the prevention of rape, the use of force on inmates and other operations.

The board  a nine-member body appointed by the County Commission  agreed without opposition late Monday to seek proposals from private investigation firms and other companies with similar expertise.

The goal is to get to the bottom of what is truly going on at the jail, said Deanna Archuleta, a member of the jail oversight board and former county commissioner.

She and other board members didnt single out any particular incident for investigation, but they said they need an independent company that can provide information to help them fulfill their role as an oversight body.

Much of Mondays discussion centered on whether the county Metropolitan Detention Center is meeting its obligations under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law that aims to prevent sexual violence behind bars.

A 2015 study by the Institute for Social Research at the University of New Mexico said the jail had no reliable way of documenting and reporting behavior covered by the law. Researchers also found a general misunderstanding at the jail about what constitutes a (Prison Rape Elimination Act) incident, the report said.

We are so far behind the curve, its shameful, said K.C. Quirk, a board member and executive director of Crossroads for Women, a group that helps women struggling with homelessness and frequent incarceration.

Jail officials said they are taking action to address the findings of the UNM study.

Rocky Valdez, another board member, said he hopes the consultant can also help determine whether officers are violating the jails use-of-force policy and whether the jail meets American Correctional Association standards.

Without opposition, the board agreed to work with the county manager to seek proposals from companies interested in the work. The county administration said a firm could be in place within a month.

The Detention Facility Management Oversight Board, created just last year, is charged with recommending policies to the County Commission to improve jail operations. Its also empowered to hire firms to conduct independent investigations.

More scrutiny inside jail

The move to hire a consultant comes as Bernalillo County faces increased scrutiny over the use of force inside the jail.

One jail sergeant, Eric Allen, has been on paid leave since January in connection with two incidents that have been investigated by law enforcement, county and union officials say.

In one incident, jail officers repeatedly used force on an inmate because she wouldnt stop crying. A video released by the county shows the inmate  a petite woman  lying on the floor and sobbing as Allen tells another officer to twist her wrist until she shuts up and stops crying.

The union that represents jail employees says Allen did nothing wrong and that the county is retaliating against him for union activity. Allen is vice president of the jail union.

Training began last week on a new use-of-force policy developed as part of litigation over conditions inside the jail, county officials say.

Terrible breakdown

Michael Brasher, a member of the oversight board and a former county commissioner, raised concerns Monday about how forthcoming county jail officials have been with the jail board and its predecessor, a public safety advisory board.

We need  to make sure were getting the appropriate information, he said.

Marie Miranda, a former police captain, expressed frustration that jail administrators couldnt immediately say how many criminal investigations are underway at the jail. The county needs to know if its employees are suspected of a crime, she said, so that it can launch an administrative investigation that could result in discipline or termination.

Thats a terrible breakdown in communication in the system, she said.
LOS ANGELES  A judge has ruled in favor of a Southern California museum in its 10-year legal battle over the ownership of two German Renaissance masterpieces that were seized by the Nazis in World War II.

U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter ruled last week that Pasadenas Norton Simon Museum, where the paintings Adam and Eve have been for more than 30 years, is the rightful owner of the two life-size oil-on-panel paintings.

The museum called the decision mindful of the facts and law at the heart of the dispute, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/2byipAv ) Monday.

Marei von Saher alleged that the paintings were seized from her father-in-law, Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, after his family fled Holland during the Holocaust.

The Norton Simon countered that it legally acquired the works in the 1970s from the descendant of Russian aristocrats who had them wrongly taken by the Soviet Union in the 1920s.

Lucas Cranach the Elder painted the works in around 1530. In 1971, they were acquired by the museum for $800,000, the equivalent of about $4.8 million today. They were appraised at $24 million in 2006.

Depicting mankind in the ominous moment before the biblical Fall, the paintings ownership battle, too, points to a period in human history fraught with uncertainty: a 20th-century Europe ravaged by war.

The dispute is one of many to emerge in recent years involving precious art looted by the Nazis.

The judge said that because Goudstikkers art dealership decided not to seek restitution for the works after the war, his family thereby abandoned their claim to the art.

Obviously, Ms. von Saher is disappointed with the courts decision, representatives from her legal firm, who plan to appeal the decision, said in a statement to the Times.

They also criticized a legal motion exchanged with them by the museums legal team, presenting evidence that von Sahers father was a member of the Nazi Party.

Using this information in an attempt to discredit Ms. von Saher is nothing more than a distasteful device to evade responsibility for refusing to restitute artworks that were indisputably stolen from her husbands family, the attorneys said.
FARMINGTON  Thirteen former Navajo Nation Council delegates will be sentenced this week for their involvement in abusing a financial assistance program designed to help tribal members facing financial hardship.

Former delegates Ernest D. Yazzie Jr., David L. Tom, Leonard Teller, Raymond Joe, Harry J. Willeto, Jack Colorado, Harry Williams Sr., Harry H. Clark, Orlanda Smith-Hodge, Lena Manheimer, George Arthur, Johnny Naize and Lawrence T. Morgan will each have a sentencing hearing on Wednesday in Window Rock District Court in Window Rock, Ariz. The hearings are set to start at 8:30 a.m.

Naize became the first elected speaker under the 24-member council in January 2011 but resigned in September 2014 after he was charged with 11 counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection to misusing the discretionary fund.

Morgan, who served four consecutive terms as speaker from January 2003 to January 2011, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery in September 2014. He was charged in December 2013 with six counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

Also scheduled for sentencing are former legislative branch employees Victoria Cecil and Laura Calvin.

Each one either pleaded guilty or no contest to charges of conspiracy, making or permitting a false tribal voucher, conflict of interest or adversely affecting confidence of the people in the government.

The sentencing hearings are arranged to each last 30 minutes, but the judge has the authority to adjust the schedule, according to information released by the Navajo Nation special prosecutor.

The council created the discretionary fund to provide financial assistance to tribal members facing emergency situations or financial hardship.

In October 2010, the special prosecutor filed the first set of criminal charges against 77 delegates. At that time, the council consisted of 88 members.

Nearly all of the criminal complaints were dismissed and replaced by civil charges filed in July 2011 against 81 lawmakers and other high-ranking tribal officials.

Since then, the special prosecutor has continued filing criminal charges against former delegates and employees.

Throughout the case, the special prosecutors investigation revealed arrangements between lawmakers to circumvent tribal ethics and laws.

One such arrangement had Delegate A authorizing money to a family member of Delegate B. In return, Delegate B would authorize funding to Delegate As family member, according to court documents.
Inmates are not animals to be tormented by their keepers

LT. STEPHEN PERKINS of the MDC Detention Officers Union sees nothing amiss in the sickening video of the incident involving inmate Susie Chavez (Twist her wrist until she shuts up, Aug. 11) and is disdainful of citizens who judge the force to be excessive.

This implies an attitude that is part of a recurring American problem: we are to be policed, and it is not ours to question the use of violence by our zookeepers. The problem is that we view ourselves as citizens with a self-evident right to address power.

Perkins (should) edify us (and) describe a hypothetical context that might justify the punitive torture of an inmate who is on the ground, crying because she is in physical pain; intentionally pulling a woman by her hair; twisting her wrists to punish her for crying  not, evidently, so she can hear instructions  and threatening further extra-judicial punishment after she suggests they are using excessive force on her, when Sgt. Eric Allen warns, Now youre getting into stuff where were going to hurt you.

In pain and frustration, she bangs her head on the floor and, at this point, the care she received from her captors was to spray her in the face with Mace, after which Allen mocks her about life choices. The citizens of New Mexico would be most interested in an example of a context where this behavior looks professional and measured rather than sadistic.

Inmates lose some rights, but not all. They are not animals to be tormented at the whim of their keepers. When evidence emerges of questionable use of violence by detention workers, citizens questions require answers, not deflections and contempt.

ALGERNON DAMMASSA

Deming

Jail time is punishment and inmates sacrifice some rights

RE: DAN MCKAY article: (Twist her wrist until she shuts up, Aug. 11).

Whose side is (McKay) on? As an Albuquerque citizen, the peacekeepers get my benefit of the doubt over rule-breakers. Stating in (the) article that the inmate was sobbing and crying out in pain leads the reader to agree that the inmate was mistreated and implies that the correctional officers didnt have enough compassion for Susie Chavez.

What I see from the video as an objective outsider is that this inmate was being disruptive, unnecessarily making noise and not following commands. It looks like all the officers were doing an exceptional job of remaining calm and remaining professional while trying to get the inmate to cooperate.

In this environment  especially in current times when every action an officer does is scrutinized  if a display of emotion by an inmate justifies special treatment, that could create a dangerous environment in which inmates are incentivized to manipulate the officers by behaving emotionally. If I break a law and go to jail or prison, should I be treated differently than policy dictates if I start crying?

Being incarcerated is a punishment. Convicts are disenfranchised and sacrifice some rights as a result of their choices to break our laws, so if they feel like the guards are too mean and not sensitive enough to their tears, well, I dont have any sympathy. Choosing to be a criminal has consequences. One of those consequences is that you might not be where you want to be, surrounded by compassionate, sensitive people when you are grieving.

Our police officers, correctional officers and other law enforcement officials deserve a break. Yes, there are probably a few bad apples in the bunch who let the power go to their heads but, in America, we are innocent until proven guilty. Susie Chavez was proven guilty and the wages of her crimes are incarceration. Our peacekeepers need to be given the benefit of the doubt unless and until it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have done wrong.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

DEE ROBINSON

Albuquerque

Inmates should really take responsibility for being jailed

I AM NOT condoning the treatment of Susie Chavez, but why was she there? Does anyone take responsibility for why they are placed in that position in the first place?

She should be scared of going to jail (Inmate from jail video: Im doing well, Aug. 15). Who isnt, and most of us dont want to be in a position of putting ourselves in jail. Chavez is in a tax-funded supportive housing program, where she receives counseling and goes to therapy! Really! She is given front page of the Albuquerque Journal! Really!

She was placed in the county Metropolitan Detention (Center) in September last year on a drug charge and a warrant for a probation violation. Yes, we should be helping her through counseling for losing her son in the violent way she did, but she is old enough  35  to seek help and not end up in jail.

Maybe I was raised on too much common sense, but something is wrong with this picture.

MAUREEN JOHNSON

Cochiti Lake
WANT A PREVIEW

of Central under Albuquerque Rapid Transit? Zuni (Road) was just reduced from four lanes to two. It took me three light changes each to get through San Mateo, San Pedro and Louisiana!  O.K.

GREAT TO SEE  and try out  the newly restriped Zuni Road. As someone who drives it regularly, the lower speed limit, added bike lanes and decreased automobile lanes make it more pleasant and less stressful. As someone who used to bike it regularly, ditto!  A.J.B.

I SERIOUSLY DOUBT the reason for no In-N-Out Burger here in Albuquerque is due to population. Fresno, Calif., has four; Clovis  next door to Fresno  has one; Lodi has one; Stockton has one; and Davis has one. All are smaller than Albuquerque and not in population hubs. Lobbyists keeping em out?  E.D.R.

RE: FIREARM/DRUG crackdown targets 104 suspects. Good job by law enforcement. Too bad the perps will go to lawyers now wholl just let em back out onto the streets.  S.A.G.

ANYONE WHO THINKS that sadistic mistreatment of prisoners at the Metropolitan Detention Center is rare is sadly mistaken.  K.C.

I HOPE THEY keep the pressure on UNM to make its campus safe from sexual assault of students and staff!  G.M.

THE PUBLIC Regulation Commission should follow (PRC hearing officer Carolyn) Glicks recommendation! She hit the nail on the head. Perhaps this will make PNM realize it cannot charge us for bad management decisions.  S.B.

IF YOU ARE against abortion, dont have one.  B.F.

ANYONE INTERESTED in World War II history owes it to themselves to read Ernie Pyle.  J.T.

IF DEMOCRATS AND Republicans can shut out independents during primary voting, then property owners should be the only ones allowed to vote on mill levy bonds!  R.D.

ITS ENCOURAGING to see the effort of people living in Questa to make such efforts to revitalize it. With its history, I expect most folks there are Catholic and the church will be a very important anchor. They have put lots of work into its restoration and brought back a beautiful building.  T.B.

ONCE AGAIN, the opinion section is full of letters from educators and the union head complaining about testing and evaluating educational success. It begs the question, what do the states that lead in educational excellence do with these questions? Do they complain or do they exceed expectations?  S.S.

LEGISLATORS SHOULD design a mechanism that increases gasoline taxes as oil prices fall to make up the lost revenue. Such an arrangement wouldnt have to cost consumers more because they will still save on the cost of gasoline from falling prices.  A.S.

THE U.S.-MEXICAN border is 1,989 miles long. There are (roughly) 255 working days in each year. If a 20-foot-high wall could be built at an unrealistic rate of one quarter mile per day, it would take 31 years to complete the construction of the 1,989-mile wall.  P.K.

COYOTES ARE AN important part of the balance of nature. We live in an area where coyotes have existed for many years. I love to see them when they go by our fenced property. I have never experienced any coyote predation because I have a 6-foot chain link fence around the entire property.  G.M.

IM SO TIRED of hearing about people and families being killed from drunken drivers. We need to step up as a community, and stop letting friends and family members leave a party or concert and drive home knowing theyre intoxicated.  H.E.

CHANGE EDUCATION by limiting the amount of social media our youth have access to. This is where the greatest amount of distractions are happening. Why cant you talk to people without texting; why cant you call or meet up?  C.V.

WHY DO LEFT-WING Democrats always put on an act against the rich when in fact most of the richest members of Congress and most of the billionaires in the U.S. are themselves left-wing Democrats?  J.C.

Speak Up Rules

If you want to gripe, grouse, whine or bellyache about a generic topic, submit your message at www.abqjournal.com/letters/speakup . The same goes if you want to dish out praise or thanks. Either way, you have to do it in 50 words or less. You cant identify anyone you criticize. Keep it clean. No cursing, please. We dont need your name, just initials. And its cheaper than therapy.
DENVER  Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams is joining an effort aimed at encouraging homeless people to register to vote.

Williams is scheduled to reach out to the homeless on Colfax Avenue in Denver on Tuesday. Joining him will be staffers who are certified to run voter registration, as well as interpreters fluent in Spanish, Vietnamese and Cambodian.

Because the homeless often lack a permanent address where county clerks can send them election information and a ballot, they are allowed to the use the addresses of homeless shelters or another home base.

For example, 1,499 active voters are registered at the St. Francis Center in Denver, 72 at the Denver Rescue Mission and 71 at the Samaritan House, also in Denver.
HALTOM CITY, Texas  A North Texas high school student is facing a felony charge after being accused of threatening another student with a replica gun.

Police say the student brought an air gun that is a realistic replica of a Beretta 92 handgun to Haltom City High School during the first day of class on Monday.

Authorities say the teenager showed the replica gun to another 15-year-old boy and threatened him with it.

Police arrested the student who brought the gun on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was taken to the Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center.

Authorities say the replica gun was treated the same as if it was a real firearm.

Haltom City is located just northeast of Fort Worth.
The Washington Post.

The suicide bomb that ripped through a Kurdish wedding in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep over the weekend killed 51 people, roughly half of whom were children, and wounded dozens more. Turkish officials say the assailant acted in the service of the Islamic State. If theyre right, that would make the blast the worst jihadist strike on Turkey since the extremists brazen assault on Istanbuls main airport in June.

Yet, as funerals for dozens of victims were held the next day, angry relatives and onlookers hurled water bottles at police and chanted invective at Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom they called a murderer.

Some accuse Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party, known by the Turkish abbreviation AKP, of tacitly enabling the spread of jihadist militancy in the years since the Syrian civil war flared while focusing instead on quashing Kurdish separatism. (Its a charge rejected by ruling party officials.)

The disquiet among Kurds in Gaziantep reflects the chaos and crisis of the moment. Turkey is still in the grips of a nationwide purge after a coup attempt to oust Erdogan and his allies was thwarted on July 15. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested, jailed or suspended from their jobs in state bureaucracy, the military, universities and other institutions on grounds that they are connected to the movement of Fethullah Gulen, the self-exiled Muslim cleric accused of being the shadowy ringleader of the coup plot.

Meanwhile, in recent weeks, armed Kurdish separatists linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, have launched a string of attacks and car bombings against security forces in the countrys restive southeast that have claimed dozens of lives. For the past year, a low-running civil war between state forces and Kurdish separatist militias has seen curfews installed in a number of towns and led to hundreds of deaths and the wholesale destruction of neighborhoods.

Moreover, in the wake of the coup attempt, pro-government media and AKP officials have attempted to link the PKK to Gulens movement  a connection that seems highly dubious, in part because the Gulenists are also accused of attempting to sabotage Turkeys fledgling peace process with the Kurds. If nothing else, the suggestion is an illustration of how confusing the state of play may seem.

In the middle of a messy region, Erdogans government is fighting multiple battles: against the PKK and other armed Kurdish groups operating within Turkey; against the clandestine remnants of the Gulenist network supposedly still operating in the country; against the jihadist Islamic State, which has built up cells in various Turkish cities; against Syrian Kurdish militias linked to the PKK but which receive support from Washington as part of the American strategy to defeat the Islamic State.

On Monday, Turkish forces shelled Islamic State positions in Syria as well as those belonging to the YPG, the most prominent Syrian Kurdish militia. The Sunni extremist group and the secular Kurds are at war with each other, as well as both at war with Turkey.

Gaziantep sits near the border with Syria and has become one of the main points of arrival for Syrian refugees and departure for foreign jihadists, smugglers and others seeking to enter the ruinous conflict. The wedding party that was hit over the weekend was attended by members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party, or HDP, a leftist faction which commands seats in parliament and is a thorn in the side of the AKP.

Its also not the first time a suspected Islamic State bomber has targeted the HDP and those connected to its brand of pluralist politics. Horrific bombings last year, first in the heavily Kurdish border town of Suruc, and then at a leftist rally in Ankara, killed scores and fanned anti-government sentiment in certain corners. The Suruc attack, in particular, signaled a collapse of the fragile process between the Turkish state and separatist Kurds.

Erdogan and the AKP accuse the HDP of being proxies of the PKK, designated a terrorist group by the United States and Turkey. This is a claim rebuffed by HDP leaders, who constantly call for peace. But in the wake of the coup attempt  even as other opposition parties joined in unity with the elected government  the HDP has been kept at arms length by Erdogan and his allies.

They are performing strong opposition in the parliament as well, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said of the HDP on Monday, urging it to repudiate the PKK. In order for us to work with them, the first thing that they have to say is: We defy this heinous organization, we condemn it and do not accept what it has been doing. If they say this, they would be more than welcomed.

The HDP countered with a statement posted on its website, pinning the smoldering tensions and Turkeys vulnerability to terrorism on Erdogan.

The ruling partys hate speech, discriminating and dividing attitude in democratic political arenas furnishes the conditions for such attacks, the statement said. Those sparking and encouraging hate and hostility against the Kurds have committed a great sin.

turkey-kurds-analysis

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Keywords: turkey, kurds, pkk akp hdp
SIRTE, Libya  When the Islamic States religious police arrived at his door, Ahmood Abu Amood feared he would never see his family again.

The two militants drove up in a beige sport-utility vehicle, Amood said, the kind used to transport anyone who broke the rules to an office to pay a fine, to get a whipping  or to jail.

But the men didnt come to arrest him that cool February evening. They offered him a job.

They told Amood, who had been a traffic police officer in the city before the group seized it last year, that they were launching a new traffic police department, and they wanted him to be its head. It would evolve, they said, into a Department of Motor Vehicles.

They wanted to eventually issue drivers licenses to all the people who live inside the Islamic State, Amood said.

Even as they ruled through fear and brutality, as their counterparts have in Syria and Iraq, Islamic State officials in Libya aspired to create a government with a functioning bureaucracy, public services and a credible judicial system.

Residents in the fractured coastal city of Sirte described the militants ambitions in interviews last week, offering a portrait of the groups efforts to extend its self-proclaimed caliphate into Libya. With its defenses crumbling in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State increasingly saw Sirte as a possible substitute capital, especially if its Syrian haven of Raqqa fell.

That goal now appears distant as pro-government militias, backed by the United States and other allies, have captured key positions that were held by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and are pursuing hundreds of militants remaining in Sirte.

But what unfolded in Sirte opens a window into the groups still-bubbling aspirations in North Africa. It also illuminates its vision of a nation run by a harsh interpretation of ancient Islamic codes and a carrot-and-stick approach to ruling the populations under its control.

If you accepted living under their way of life, you were not touched, said Mohamed Ziyani, 27, who runs his familys furniture shop. They were definitely trying to create a state.

Sirte held symbolic and strategic value for the Islamic State. It is Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafis birthplace. And it was where he was killed during the revolutions that swept through Libya and the Arab world five years ago. The city is in the nations lucrative petroleum crescent, the center of much of Libyas oil and gas reserves.

The Islamic State affiliate emerged after the uprising, exploiting Libyas instability and tribal rivalries to become the groups strongest branch outside the Middle East. In early 2015, Islamic State fighters entered Sirte, gaining support from jihadist networks and tribal leaders who had been loyal to Gadhafi but felt disenfranchised after his death.

By the summer, the Islamic State was in control of the city.

Men were forced to grow beards. They had to roll up their pants legs a few inches above the ankles, especially when praying, in accordance with sayings of the prophet Muhammad. Women were told to wear black niqabs or veils that covered their faces and eyes, forcing them to see through a filmy gauze. And their abayas, the head-to-toe garments worn by conservative Muslim women, had to be made from nontransparent material. Religious police, prevalent in every neighborhood of the city, enforced the new rules.

Residents were ordered to attend mosques five times a day, and stores and businesses were required to close during prayers. Satellite TV dishes were taken down to prevent residents from watching Western and other immoral programming. Cigarettes and alcohol were confiscated and destroyed.

At first, the militants made examples out of people who violated the decrees.

They killed anyone caught drinking or taking drugs right away, said Rawad bin Sawood, 27, a tire shop owner. They stopped terrorizing people only after they set up the court system and judges. Proper procedures were then established.

The limbs of thieves were amputated, and adulterers were stoned to death in the main square. Fortunetellers and sellers of charms to ward off evil spirits were branded sorcerers and beheaded publicly. So were Sufi Muslims, considered heretics by the Islamic State.

Many of the executions took place at a roundabout in the Zafran enclave. Pedestrians were stopped and drivers ordered to pull over to witness the brutality.

The first person executed there was a man named Ahmed Abu Zumita, who was accused of spying on the Islamic State. His arms and legs were strapped to a black metal frame about 20 feet tall. His executioner placed a cardboard tag around his neck with the phrase Fajr 166 on it, a reference to a Misuratan militia that tried and failed to retake the city last year.

Then, they shot bullets into his head, recalled Amood, who said he witnessed the killing with 200 others.

Zumitas body was displayed for the next three days as a warning to residents.

Others were killed silently.

At a makeshift prison inside a large house painted lavender, Long Live the Islamic State is scrawled on a wall about You infidels. In one corner of the compound, near a brick wall, pro-government fighters unearthed a grave last month that contained nine bodies. Many had been shot in the head.

Tariq Zarga would have been the 10th victim there.

He was jailed for sending text messages praising the pro-government militias. They beat me with a whip and then gave me electric shocks, recalled Tariq, the scars still visible on his body. They kept telling me, You are not a true Muslim. 

He was sentenced to death without a trial.

His brothers, Mustafa and Mosbah, were accused of the same crime and were handed over to a court. But because they had erased their messages, the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence.

When they found nothing against us, they told us to leave, Mustafa Zarga said.

The day Tariq Zarga was scheduled to be executed, pro-government fighters entered the enclave and liberated him.

The militants, however, carefully picked whom they would target. They sensed that they needed experienced local help to create a state.

Rather than executing local officials, bureaucrats and police officers, as they publicly have in Syria and Iraq, commanders demanded that they repent in the main mosque for working for the government  and embrace the Islamic States teachings.

And while the militants have reportedly sexually assaulted foreign women in Libya, they didnt force girls and single or widowed women in Sirte to marry their fighters, nor did they hold them as sex slaves as they have in other countries, residents said.

It never happened here, said Mosbah Zarga, 23, a hairdresser. If they had forced people to give their daughters to their fighters, we would have resisted.

The militants made it clear they ran the city. Their trademark black flags flew over government buildings, hospitals and schools. Billboards proselytized their brand of Islam.

They operated a radio station that played Koranic verses and broadcast news about the organizations attacks around the world.

They employed workers to clean the streets, and assisted the poor and orphaned children, especially at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, residents said. People were allowed to travel out of the city, to Misurata, Tripoli and other areas.

And the militants treated shopkeepers with respect.

One day, an Islamic State fighter and his wife entered Ziyanis furniture shop and bought about $400 worth of goods.

They always pay, Ziyani said. They have a lot of money.

By the end of the summer of 2015, the state-building had grown more sophisticated.

The Islamic State started referring to its self-declared territory in northwestern Libya  which includes the capital, Tripoli  as Wilayat Tarabulus.

In propaganda and social-media forums, the group began portraying Libya as its next frontier as hundreds of foreign fighters arrived to support the cause. Female militants from other countries were encouraged to join them, and doctors, engineers and lawyers who practiced sharia law were recruited to help run the state. Most of the foreigners came from North Africa, Syria, Saudi Arabia and sub-Saharan Africa.

In Sirte, black stamps with the words Office of General Services  in English and Arabic  were on the walls of every shop, every business. They meant that the owner was registered with the Islamic States revenue-collection department and was paying taxes.

While there were some foreign doctors working in the hospitals, there werent enough. So the militants tried to recruit from the local population.

They told me to join the hospital or else my head would roll, recalled Salim Shafglouf, 23, a nurse and pharmacist.

The next day, he fled to Misurata.

In a neighborhood near the prison, the militants set up a department that oversaw punishments for anything they deemed un-Islamic, including smoking or dressing inappropriately. It was called Al Hisba, which in Arabic means accountability. Each transgression came with a specific fine, flogging or jail time.

The system was 100 percent organized, said Amood, the traffic police officer.

The militants also had a department that collected vehicle transfer fees for anyone wanting to sell a car. After the sale, the cars logbook was marked with an Islamic State stamp.

They then wanted to expand into issuing drivers licenses and other official documents. Outside Amoods house on that February evening, the two religious police officers asked him to persuade 17 colleagues to join the new traffic police department as well.

Amood, who had repented and pledged allegiance months earlier to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, had no choice but to agree. I was frightened, he said.

The militants ordered him to attend meetings to enact their plan. Then, they left in their SUV, emblazoned with the Islamic State flag.

They were still working out their plans when the pro-government offensive began in May.

Until this moment, we are waiting for our new uniforms, Amood said, smiling.

isis-libya
PITTSBURGH  The four-physician family practice of Sauer & Leibensperger has served families in the McKees Rocks area outside Pittsburgh since 1993.

One of the key things that remains unchanged in that near-quarter century: A reliable cohort of patients, some now well into their Medicare eligibility, has sought the caring treatment offered by physicians Gary Sauer and Stephen Leibensperger and their colleagues.

What has changed is the health care finance world they and everyone else must now navigate.

A joint survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The New York Times published in January found that about one-quarter of adults ages 18-64 said someone in their household had trouble paying medical bills in the previous 12 months, and that a persons insurance status has a strong association with medical bill difficulties.

With the emergence of low-premium, high-deductible health plans, Patty Kessler, practice manager for Sauer & Leibensperger, said she is seeing more patients caught off guard when the bill arrives.

I think they chose a plan based on a monthly premium they can afford, not realizing they have a $6,500 deductible.

Its not just deductibles, either. Because the practice is not affiliated with any of the hospitals in the Allegheny Health Network, one of the regions major health care providers, Kessler said the physicians have seen patients with tiered plans who have a $140 co-payment for a doctor visit.

Our (accounts receivable) is higher, absolutely, but were managing, she said.

The more immediate worry is that patients may be forgoing treatment rather than bear the cost of a visit. We have patients asking, Do I need to come in for this? which puts the physician in a difficult situation.

Few, if any, physicians went to medical school to learn about billing and collections, but the matter of getting paid is requiring more and more of their attention, particularly for small, independent practices like Sauer & Leibensperger.

As the patients responsibility (for the costs) has increased, the front desk staff have had to become more vigilant about seeing if the patient has met their deductible, to see if theres going to be any cost, said Mary Ellen Corum, director of practice support for the Pennsylvania Medical Society, a professional association of physicians.

Patients may notice small changes, such as being asked for a co-payment before seeing the doctor rather that afterward. More practices accept credit or debit cards as payment. The receptionist may ask, How would you like to pay for todays visit?

These days, theres almost always a sign near the registration window that says, Payment is expected at the time of service, although Corum offered, Im not sure Ive ever heard anyone say, Im sorry, youre going to have to leave.'

And theres the rub: As a rule, physicians want to treat ill or injured patients, regardless of their ability to pay, but they still need to keep the office on stable financial footing.

They also dont want to lose patients in a dispute over the insurance coverage the patient chose. So Corum said more offices are checking online to let patients know ahead of time if they still have an unmet deductible in addition to their co-payment.

Practices may refer a patient to a collection agency for nonpayment, but I dont think it happens very often, she said. It behooves a practice to try to work with a patient, to preserve the relationship. And the rates for collection agencies are pretty high.

Kessler said about half of the practices patients are Medicare eligible and, for now, only about 20 percent of them pay with a credit card, where a processing fee cuts into practice revenue.

Our doctors have always been very generous with the payment policies. If the patient at least makes an effort, they will take what they can afford, she said. Most people are not trying to get away with anything.

She doesnt keep credit card information on file  I wouldnt want that responsibility, she said  and they still dont ask for payment until after a patient has seen the doctor. The doctors would never abandon a patient they started treatment on because of nonpayment, Kessler said.

As for tightening the payment policy, though, she said, It might be a discussion were going to have to have with the physicians in the next six months. Right now, it still seems to be working.



2016 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
SEOUL, South Korea  As the United States has looked for various ways to punish North Korea for its nuclear intransigence, one factor has remained constant: China.

Financial transactions, mineral exports, luxury imports  all of them come through China, making the nations enforcement of international sanctions critical to their success.

A once-reluctant Beijing had shown more willingness to inflict pain on Pyongyang this year. But that could be changing, the unintended result of the United States and South Koreas decision to move an antimissile battery onto the peninsula to protect against North Korea.

China has been complaining about this at the highest levels, said Scott Snyder, a Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. Will this be a factor that diminishes their implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions?

President Park Geun-hyes administration in Seoul had been equivocating on whether to host a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile unit for the U.S. military, fearful of angering Beijing. China is South Koreas biggest trading partner, with its bilateral trade worth twice as much as that with the United States.

But North Koreas recent actions  its nuclear test and long-range missile launch at the beginning of this year  prompted Seoul to agree in July to host the battery.

Beijing, which views the THAAD deployment as a way to keep China in check, has taken a range of actions recently to express its displeasure. The United States has a strategic plot to destabilize regional security, the state-run Peoples Daily said in an editorial shortly after the decision.

So far this month, Beijing has suspended operations of the travel agency that helped South Koreans get multiple entry visas for China  a visa used especially by those doing business, with 300,000 issued a year  and tourism has been hit.

One tour bus company told South Koreas CNBC channel that 30 to 40 percent of reservations had been canceled, while the Dong-a newspaper quoted travel firms as saying that Chinese tour package reservations for September and October were one-fifth lower than the same months last year.

Some South Korean actors who star in dramas that are popular in China have had their public appearances canceled, and some here even saw THAAD behind the Chinese city of Qingdaos last-minute decision to cancel its appearance at a chicken-and-beer festival in its South Korean sister city of Daegu.

Throughout North Koreas decades of malfeasance, Chinas overarching concern has been to ensure that its irascible neighbor remains intact and does not spill hungry refugees  or nuclear material  over its border.

But in the past few years, Beijing has shown signs of cracking down on the Kim Jong Un regime, most recently in March, when it supported the U.N. Security Council resolution to impose tough new sanctions  mining exports in particular  on Pyongyang.

Hopes that China would follow through with implementation appear, however, to have been short-lived.

Chinese customs data showed that bilateral trade with North Korea was valued at $504 million in June, three months after the sanctions were imposed and the month before the THAAD announcement. That is almost 10 percent higher than the year before.

Trade continued at a brisk pace in the past two months, said Lim Eul-chul of Kyungnam Universitys Graduate School of North Korean Studies.

Chinese companies that had held back on trading with the North have started to ship more goods after hearing the news that Seoul-Beijing relations have taken a turn for the worse over the THAAD issue, Lim told the Yonhap News Agency.

The effort to squeeze the North has probably been neutralized by THAAD and the Chinese response, Snyder said.

The THAAD decision had coincided with other U.S. moves: to sanction Kim by name, to designate North Korea as a primary money laundering concern and to endorse an international ruling rejecting Chinas claim to the South China Sea.

Even if each decision may have been correct on its own, Snyder said, the four things together project an image of U.S. policy that is clearly not well received in Beijing.

Kim Sook, a former South Korean ambassador to the United Nations, agreed.

THAAD happened at the same time as the South China Sea decision, so China might have been doubly disappointed, he said, adding that the South Korean decision to host the missile battery anyway was the right one even if the timing was off.

Strategically, our government has mishandled the case, Kim Sook said. They hesitated for three years when they should have moved swiftly.

nkorea
DALLAS  A former chief financial officer of a Dallas-area school district has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 from a vault, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Carolyn Foster, 61, of Lewisville was arrested Monday after being indicted for federal program theft from the Grand Prairie Independent School District. The time frame was October 2014 to July 2015, according to a statement Tuesday from U.S. Attorney John Parker.

Two finance workers, both accountants, questioned the way cash funds were handled and uncovered the alleged theft the day after Foster left the district last year, according to a statement from the school district.

She allegedly ordered this money be withdrawn from the bank ostensibly to use for cash settlements on nonexistent lawsuits and for special cash awards for teachers for school supplies, according to Superintendent Susan Hull.

The district has since developed new operating procedures for handling any cash in the district, Hull said, to make sure that never again can a single person, even a high-ranking executive, on his or her own authority, gain access to money that belongs to our schools.

Foster allegedly ordered the money be withdrawn from district bank accounts and delivered by armored truck to school administration offices, where she had access to the cash kept in a vault. She apparently was able to make a change in district financial procedures without notifying anyone, giving her the ability to access the money, the districts statement said.

The new procedures now require at least two school district officials be involved in any order for cash, with a maximum $10,000 allowed to be withdrawn from the bank at any time.

Foster was employed as an independent contractor for International Leadership of Texas, in Richardson, where she was arrested. A statement Tuesday from International Leadership said Foster, who was working with software, was fired following her arrest.

No attorney could immediately be located to speak for Foster, who pleaded not guilty Monday and was freed on bond. She faces a maximum 10-year prison term if convicted.
One of the most startling figures in GOP presidential nominee Donald Trumps most recent campaign finance report was 82.

Thats the number of staffers who were on the Trump campaign payroll in July. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, by comparison, had 705 paid staffers last month.

But now the Trump campaign says it is prepping for major growth, expanding his headquarters onto two additional floors of Trump Tower in Manhattan. The campaign reported spending nearly $170,000 in rent at the 58-story skyscraper in July, up from $111,000 in June and $73,000 in May.

The expansion is due to the anticipation of new staff, officials said. The campaign expanded from part of a single floor by adding the entirety of two separate floors, the campaign said in a statement.

Trump has made frequent use of his properties in his presidential bid. In July, the campaign doled out $773,000 to reimburse various Trump-owned companies for expenses. The bulk of that went to TAG Air, the company that owns Trumps private planes.

In all, nearly $7.7 million has been paid out to Trump companies or Trump family members to cover campaign expenditures, filings show.

Trump aides rejected the idea that the billionaire real estate developer was personally benefiting from the increase in rent at Trump Tower, noting that he personally contributed $2 million last month to his presidential bid. In all, Trump has donated $52 million of his money to finance his White House race.

  

The Washington Posts Anu Narayanswamy contributed to this report.

trump-staff
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  New Mexico jurors and court interpreters are the latest group to feel the pinch of a budget crunch that has all of state government tightening its belt.

A fund that pays jurors and interpreters has been struggling for several years and the shortfall is now approaching $1 million, according to court and legislative officials.

Analysts with the Legislative Finance Committee, which is instrumental in crafting the state budget each year, suggested this week that the gap could be lessened if the courts slash juror pay rates to $4.25 an hour.

State statute calls for jurors to be paid at least minimum wage, but the state Supreme Court has been authorized by the Legislature over the last few years to adjust the payments due to consistent underfunding.

Court officials have set the rate for the current fiscal year at $6.25 an hour. Thats 50 cents lower than the rate during the past two years.

Court spokesman Barry Massey said the new rate for jurors went into effect Aug. 1 and that the reduction was necessary because the current budget is projected to fall $963,000 short of covering jury and interpreter costs this year.

The lower payment rate wont fully offset the shortfall, and the judiciary expects to ask the Legislature in January for funding to cover the shortage, he said.

The requests for New Mexico lawmakers are piling up as the state faces a possible $200 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year that ended in June and a projected deficit of as much as $500 million for the current fiscal year.

Gov. Susana Martinez already has asked state agencies under her control to trim spending, and shes expected to call a special legislative session in the coming weeks so lawmakers can address dwindling tax revenues and weak oil and gas prices as they look for ways to balance the books.

Juror pay in New Mexico remains among the highest in the nation even with the reduction, according to court officials.

Only New Mexico pays an hourly rate to jurors, while many states pay jurors nothing or a daily rate at or below $40.

Its unclear whether the lower rate in New Mexico will have any effect on the ability of prosecutors and defense attorneys to seat juries.

Jurors already have the opportunity to claim numerous exemptions to get out of serving, from physical and financial hardship to costs that would keep them paying necessary daily living expenses for themselves or their dependents.

Missing work and the payment rate arent valid reasons for being excused, officials said.

If a person summoned for jury duty willfully fails to appear as ordered, they could face a petty misdemeanor.
The Justice Departments investigation of Baltimore police this month rebuked the agency for an entrenched culture of discriminatory policing. Deep within their findings, Justice investigators singled out a core failure: Baltimores system for identifying troubled officers was broken and existed in name only.

In Baltimore, Justice found that critical disciplinary records were excluded from its early intervention system, that police supervisors often intervened only after an officers behavior became egregious and that when they did, the steps they took were inadequate.

Justice highlighted the case of an unnamed officer who was criminally charged after he shot at a car as it drove toward him. When investigators looked into the officers background, they found that he had been involved in two prior shootings, had a history of complaints for harassment and excessive force, and had been flagged repeatedly in the early intervention system.

The Department failed to respond to those alerts in a way that could have uncovered the officers condition or otherwise allowed for an intervention, Justice reported.

The problems with Baltimores early intervention system are not isolated to police in that city. In numerous departments nationwide, police have failed to use early intervention systems effectively, Justice has found. Since 1994, 36 civil rights investigations by Justice discovered that local agencies had deeply flawed early intervention systems or no system in place at all, according to a review of those investigations by The Washington Post.

The Newark (New Jersey) Police Department abandoned its early intervention system after just one year and lost track of more than 100 officers who had been flagged for monitoring, Justice found in 2014.

Justice told the Harvey (Illinois) Police Department in suburban Chicago to adopt a system in 2012 after its officers were accused of excessive force. The departments system logged tardiness and grooming violations, but it failed to track lawsuits alleging misconduct or abuse, The Post found.

The New Orleans Police Departments system was found in 2011 to be outdated and essentially exists in name only, Justice said. Rank-and-file officers mocked the system and considered inclusion a badge of honor.

Early intervention systems are supposed to collect a wide range of public and private information and use predictive modeling to determine whether officers are prone to misconduct. Once an officer is flagged, a supervisor is supposed to intervene, heading off potential problems.

Justice, which has investigated dozens of police departments nationwide for civil rights violations, considers early intervention systems critical to reforming embattled agencies. Some of the troubled police departments had early intervention systems and collected information about officers behavior but did nothing with the data, investigators found.

There was nobody actually reading it, or looking at it and evaluating it, and then taking action thereafter, said Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Departments civil rights division. You can have a system and technology, but you actually need human beings to use the information, to act on it and to analyze it over time.

Police accountability was thrust into the spotlight just over two years agowhen a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, in Ferguson, Missouri. That shooting and others led to calls for reforms nationwide. Recent fatal shootings by police in Minnesota, Louisiana and Wisconsin have reignited the debate. (In 2015, The Post began tracking all fatal shootings by on-duty police officers, an effort that continues this year.)

Many of the Justice Departments civil rights probes into local police agencies have been prompted by allegations that police have a pattern of using excessive force against civilians. One of the areas that Justice scrutinizes is whether departments have functioning early intervention systems.

In Ferguson, for example, one of Justices key findings was that police records were so incomplete and scattered that the department was unable to implement an early intervention system. In February, Justice settled the case, ordering a broad range of reforms, including the creation of such a system.

The Justice Department began investigating Baltimore police for civil rights violations after Freddie Gray, 25, suffered a fatal spine injury in the back of a police van in April 2015. Officers who arrested Gray failed to secure him in the van, and he died several days later from his injuries. Prosecutors charged six officers in Grays death, but the cases ended in a mistrial, acquittals or dismissed charges.

Earlier this month, Justice said that its 14-month investigation revealed that officers in Baltimore discriminated against black residents, violated peoples civil rights with unconstitutional arrests, used excessive force and retaliated against police critics. On Aug. 10, city leaders promised sweeping reforms in the 2,600-officer force and said that they would work with Justice officials to hammer out the details.

As part of those reforms, Baltimore police will likely be told to fix the early intervention system or create a new one, as has happened in many of the cities where Justice has intervened.

Geoffrey Alpert, a criminologist who has extensively studied the systems, said police departments could prevent officer misconduct if they adopted intervention systems and actively used them.

I think a lot of them [police leaders] give lip service to it because its important to have one, but they dont really use it, Alpert said.



Nationwide, the first early intervention systems are thought to have been adopted by police agencies in Florida in the late 1970s. Miami police implemented a system after complaints about officer misconduct, and Miami-Dade police did so after four white officers were acquitted of beating to death a black insurance salesman.

Other police departments followed their lead after the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1981 issued a report called Who is Guarding the Guardians? that looked at police misconduct. It called for police departments to devise systems to assist officials in early identification of violence-prone officers. About 10 percent of any departments officers cause 90 percent of its problems, according to estimates.

Early systems varied. In some departments, supervisors tracked officers by writing their questionable actions on index cards, which were then placed in an officers personnel file. Other departments implemented electronic databases that tracked one or two categories of information, such as citizen complaints and the use of force, Alpert said.

In recent years, the databases have become more sophisticated, recording dozens of variables, analyzing patterns and sending emails to supervisors on their cellphones. Some departments even track reports of domestic violence or work-related traffic accidents.

Experts say departments are increasingly adopting the systems, but its unclear how many have done so.

When an officer is flagged too many times, a supervisor is supposed to sit down with the officer to discuss the incident, and if warranted, the officer should be retrained or receive counseling.

In 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department implemented one of the nations most elaborate systems following the Rampart scandal in the late 1990s, a wide-ranging corruption probe that began when an officer shot and paralyzed a suspected gang member and then planted a gun to cover it up.

The Justice Department investigated Los Angeles police and forced them to adopt an intervention system for its 10,000 officers. To help do so, police studied the behavior of officers involved in the Rampart scandal and others who had been sued for major misconduct, said David Doan, the now-retired deputy chief who oversaw the study.

The findings helped develop the criteria by which officers are flagged in the system, which pulls information from a dozen databases. Too many sick days may be an indicator of alcoholism, Doan said. Too many traffic accidents may point to aggressive behavior.

But even the Los Angeles system, which cost $4.2 million, has had challenges. In 2014, the inspector general for the police department found that of the 40 police officers fired within a two-year period, three-fourths had never been flagged or were flagged only once in five years.

No system is perfect, Doan said. And if you think it is, youve got a problem.

Funded by a Justice Department grant, Alpert studied whether early intervention systems were effective, taking a deeper look at how they worked for police in Miami-Dade, Minneapolis and New Orleans.

In all three sites, complaints or use of force reports declined by about two-thirds for those officers subject to intervention, his 2000 report concluded. The study, however, said it is unclear whether an officers behavior changes in the long run.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police, said that early intervention systems are double-edged. When used effectively, he said, they can correct officers who are developing bad habits. But, he said, the systems also can be used as a weapon for retaliation by management for dealing with personality conflicts.



Justice Department investigators found that of the 18 departments that already had intervention systems, more than half were excluding important information.

In 2008, Justice told the Austin (Texas) Police Department that its criteria were so open-ended that officers were not being flagged. [T]here was no specific threshold that the APD was using that would trigger a review of an officers conduct, the report said. Only three officers on the department had been flagged, Justice said.

Austin police Lt. Richard Guajardo called the report accurate and said the system had been operating only a year at that point. It was brand-new; we were still working the kinks out, Guajardo said.

Outside Chicago, the Harvey Police department had no early intervention system in place before Justice investigated the 71-officer department in 2012. Justice told Harvey to create an early-warning system that included lawsuits against officers.

Harveys system was implemented in March 2014. At the time, Officer Richard Jones, 47, and the city were facing a federal lawsuit, which was settled three months later for $500,000.

The case was not included in the system, police said.

In the lawsuit, Kwamesha Sharp said that in 2011 she was 17 years old and pregnant and coming home from an ultrasound appointment. When she arrived at the house, police were investigating a domestic dispute. She alleged that Jones wrestled her to the ground, rolled her onto her back and kneed her in the abdomen, causing her to miscarry. Jones arrested Sharp, and she was charged with battery and resisting arrest, although she was later acquitted in court.

Joness attorney in the case, Cliff Kosoff, told The Post that there was no way to prove that the incident caused Sharps miscarriage. The evidence was that she was interfering with a lawful arrest and the force used by this officer was reasonable, Kosoff said.

In January of this year, another federal lawsuit was filed against Jones and the city of Harvey, alleging sexual assault. In the complaint, a 20-year-old woman said that she met Jones in June 2015 and that he began calling her. She said that two months later, he pulled her over for driving without a license, then led her to a weedy gravel lot. There, she alleges in the lawsuit, he forced her to have sex with him. She said she went to the hospital for an examination and filed a complaint with the Cook County Sheriffs Department, which told The Post that it is investigating.

In response to the lawsuit, Jones said in a court filing that he had previously spoken to the woman and once issued a warning to her for parking on a sidewalk. But he denied stopping her for driving without a license and said that he never assaulted her. His attorney in the case, Ken Hurst, said Jones declined to comment. Hurst also declined to comment because the case is pending.

That case also was not included in the early intervention system, police said.

Police officials said they were aware of both lawsuits, which received media coverage, but did not include them because the department policy was to track a lawsuit only if it was part of a complaint accompanied by a notarized affidavit.

When pressed for a copy of this policy, Harvey officials said they consulted with city attorneys and determined that they would track all lawsuits going forward.

Harvey Police Chief Denard Eaves said the change will allow supervisors to at the push of a button see how many times an officer has been sued and determine whether we need to talk to this individual and/or talk to our legal representation.

Since Harvey began using its system, officials said Jones had been flagged four times and had four interventions: three for calling in sick and once for grooming standards because he grew a beard, which is against department policy.

Jones resigned from the department in July, records show.



The Justice Department found that some troubled police departments had abandoned their early intervention systems.

In 2010, the Newark Police Department implemented a system for its nearly 1,000 officers. While investigating the department in 2014 for complaints about racial profiling and excessive force, Justice investigators found that 100 officers had been identified in the system for monitoring, but the department couldnt provide documents detailing what, if anything, happened to them.

One year after the system was put in place, it was defunct, investigators found.

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said he cant address what happened because he wasnt with the department at the time, but he said the system is functioning now.

You can have all the early-warning signs, but if no ones looking at it or following up on it, then you have failure, Ambrose said.

When the New Orleans Police Department was investigated in 2011 for racial profiling and other issues, federal investigators found that data was haphazardly entered, and there was only one type of intervention  a class for officers. Officers were sent so often that it was nicknamed the bad boy school and was viewed by some as a badge of honor, according to Justices investigation.

New Orleans police officials, now under federal supervision, have set aside $4 million to install a new system, which is expected to launch in the fall.

Its the difference between a Model T and a Maserati, Jonathan Wisbey, deputy chief of staff for police, said of the old system and the new system.

The Metropolitan Police Department in the District has struggled to improve its early intervention system after Justice investigated in 2001 because of a spate of fatal officer-involved shootings.

Since then, the department, which has 3,900 officers, has cycled through three systems, Chief Cathy Lanier said.

The first $2 million system was custom-designed and didnt work, Lanier said. The department sued the vendor, recouping $1 million, Lanier said. The second system didnt go far enough to identify misconduct-prone officers, she said. The current system is a hybrid of the second system and a police review board that was instituted three years ago.

Officers are flagged by amassing points. Lanier said she meets monthly with supervisors to discuss flagged officers, along with others who may be of concern.

Lanier said that having worked with three early intervention systems taught her a valuable lesson: You cant put everything into a computer and expect it to do the job for you.



FATAL SHOOTINGS DATABASE:

In 2015, The Washington Post began tracking cases nationwide and compiled a database of all fatal shootings by officers in the line of duty. The project has expanded this year to include details about the officers involved. View the 2016 database here.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2016/?tid=a_inl

police-data
If you search for Hillary Clinton and health on Google, youre likely to come up with some pretty terrifying stuff  and much of it is false. Photos of the 68-year-old Democratic presidential nominee apparently so weak that she has to be helped up a short flight of stairs by aides. Speculation that the head injury she suffered in 2012 is still affecting her. Documents purportedly summarizing visits to a medical provider for an unspecified illness.

Regardless of whether you think its fair, Clintons health is becoming an issue in the campaign, and its almost impossible for the average person to sort through the misinformation and fake information online to get to the facts.

For the record, Clinton has released a letter from her personal physicians attesting to her good health and fitness to serve as president of the United States, should she be elected. (Clintons Republican rival, Donald Trump, who appears to be healthy, has done the same, although the letter is highly unusual.)

Also for the record, the photos of her being helped up the stairs arent recent but from months ago; her doctor has specifically addressed the issue of lingering effects of the old accident on her brain (there are none); and those papers  which appeared, then disappeared  were apparently forgeries.

That hasnt stopped some critics of Clinton from seizing on the rumors to portray her as being in poor health. Rudy Giuliani urged people to Go online and put down, Hillary Clinton illness, and take a look at the videos yourself. Fox News host Sean Hannity has described Clinton shaking her head as almost seems seizure-esque to me. And who can forget Trumps allegations that she took a short-circuit in the brain?

For more specifics, check out The Washington Posts Fact Checker, where reporter Glen Kessler has posted a detailed analysis of what has been said about her health and how those comments hold up.

From the days of Woodrow Wilson (whose failing health was concealed by his inner circle of advisers) and Franklin Roosevelt (who despite his weight loss and weakness ran for his fourth and final term), the health of presidential candidates and presidents has long been a source of public interest and debate. In 1999, when John McCain first ran for the highest office, he made public 1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records. Then in 2008, after he had been diagnosed and treated for cancer, McCain allowed reporters to review even more records to confirm that he was cancer-free. During the 2004 campaign, George W. Bush released records that showed, among other things, extensive dental work.

As with every other presidential candidate in the past  including the youthful Barack Obama  questions about Clintons health are legitimate. In December 2012, she contracted a stomach virus while in Europe as secretary of state, became dehydrated, fainted at her home and suffered a concussion. Doctors monitoring her found a blood clot, and she was treated with anti-coagulants and soon returned to her regular routine representing the country.

Since then, her health and age have periodically been an issue. In 2014, when her name began to be mentioned more frequently as a presidential contender, the New York Post ran this headline Karl Rove: Hillary may have brain damage. Rove told The Washington Post that he had not gone that far but only said that she should provide more information about the head injury.

Of course she doesnt have brain damage, Rove said, according to my colleague Karen Tumulty. However, he said, it was a serious health episode and she is going to have to be forthcoming.

But in todays era of social media, sometimes the most important (that is, true) information doesnt always rise to the top.

That leads us to todays news and the fact that Farhad Manjoo, the influential New York Times tech columnist, has called on Google to figure out a way to solve this issue of bogus information.

Google should fix this. It shouldnt give quarter to conspiracy theorists, he tweeted.

The search engine did recently revamp its medical symptoms searches. But Google typically doesnt like to fiddle around with search results, and the controversy is another reminder that health information can be among the most tricky things to research online.

health-clinton
Amid the rage aimed at Ohio hunting enthusiast Josh Bowmar, who in June posted a video of himself gleefully spearing a black bear in northern Canada, one detail has been largely overlooked: His hunt appears to have been completely legal.

Not only that, but according to a survey of U.S. laws by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), spear hunting is specifically allowed in at least four states: Alabama, Hawaii, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

These four laws, though, vary wildly. Oklahoma permits it in a variety of situations, including gigging, or frog hunting. Nebraska permits it for antelope, deer, elk, mountain sheep or turkey, although a spear cannot contain poison or stupefying chemical or have an explosive tip. Hawaii allows spear hunting for wild pigs and wild goats and wild sheep.

Alabama? Lets just say you can hunt a lot with a spear in Alabama.

Other than those four, most states are silent on it, according to Matthew Liebman, ALDFs chief legal counsel.

That doesnt mean the practice is legal in the remaining 46 states. Liebman said hunting laws usually are written to specify what sort of weapon hunters can deploy, not what they cant. When not listed, its assumed that any other method is illegal, he said.

So a state like Idaho, where hunting remains popular with locals and visitors alike, makes clear that it is unlawful for hunters to use any weapon other than a muzzleloader, archery equipment, crossbow, a shotgun . . . or a handgun using straight-walled cartridges. A spear  or a mace, poison dart, flamethrower or any previously unimaginable way to hunt  falls into the illegal category.

There were still repercussions for Bowmar. His wife, Sarah, who shot the video and who, like her husband, is a fitness and hunting enthusiast based in Columbus, lost a sponsorship from clothing giant Under Armour last week.

The company, which has heavily courted hunters, posted on Facebook : The method used to harvest this animal was reckless and we do not condone it. We . . . support hunting that is conducted in compliance with all regulatory laws.

Reckless seems fair. But Bowmar didnt clearly violate any Alberta, Canada, hunting law when he lured the bear to his site with food and then speared it from about 40 feet away. The video featured a close-up coverage of the actual impaling  a GoPro camera was attached to the spear  and a triumphant, almost giddy Bowmar. I drilled him perfect . . . I smoked him, he says on the video, bragging that he got mad penetration.

Government officials in Alberta almost immediately announced that they would introduce legislation to ban spear hunting this fall. But while they also said they would investigate possible charges against Bowmar, they didnt identify which laws he might have violated. (They did not respond to questions from The Washington Post.)

For his part, Bowmar maintains hes done nothing wrong.

We thought that [Under Armour] would have our back, Bowmar told the hunting site Wide Open Spaces. We thought that we could trust them, and we were going to be with them forever. It just blows my mind and actually just hurts my soul.

Legal or not, Bowmars conduct violates other less official rules that hunters normally follow, like the rule of fair chase. Popularized by President Teddy Roosevelt, it holds that hunters should not take an improper advantage over their targets and make the kill as certain and quick as possible.

Liebman compares Bowmar to Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who drew international rage when he killed one of Africas most beloved lions. Critics said Cecil was lured off a Zimbabwean game preserve so Palmer could take aim with a bow. After his first shot, Palmer tracked the injured lion for a day before finally killing it.

This case is similar in the amount of time left for the animal suffer, Liebman said.

Bowmar said he didnt track the injured bear until the next day because it had begun to rain and get dark  despite what appears to be daylight in the video. He said his party found the dead bear about 50 meters away and claims he is sure it must have died within seconds. And that night, his wife tweeted, they ate bear fajitas.

spear-hunting
In 1665, a bundle of cloth from London arrived at the door of the tailor for the village of Eyam, a tiny community in the midlands of England. Within a week, the tailors assistant was dead.

The cloth contained fleas that carried the bubonic plague, and it didnt take long for the disease to spread throughout the village. But the destructiveness of the disease is less impressive than the valor of its victims: the villagers voluntarily quarantined themselves to prevent the plague from spreading into the surrounding countryside. In little over a year, all but 83 of Eyams 350 or so residents were dead. But the infection had been contained.

The Eyam case has been heralded as a rare example of astonishing self-sacrifice. But some scientists believe that each of us does something similar, however unintentionally, when we are ill. According to the Eyam hypothesis, sickness behaviors  the set of coordinated behavioral changes, such as depression, lethargy and loss of appetite, that help the body cope with illness and injury  might have evolved in part because they make us more reclusive, thereby preventing us from spreading our disease. By refusing food, sleeping all the time and avoiding others, we could be saving our friends and family from our fate.

This hypothesis hasnt been proven experimentally. But it just got a boost thanks to some rather selfless mice.

In a study published Monday in the journal Scientific Reports, biologist Patricia Lopes describes how wild mice living in an abandoned barn in Switzerland began to avoid their social groups when they felt ill. When she and her colleagues modeled the effects of this behavior change, they found that it dramatically slowed down the spread of disease.

We dont know why the mice are doing this, Lopes said, But as a consequence of the sick mouse changing its behavior and moving away from the nest, its relatives would have a better chance of not getting the disease and surviving, and they would pass on genes that are common to the sick mouse.  That could make the behavior evolutionarily advantageous.

The individual advantages of sickness behavior are well known. Lack of hunger means that animals dont need to waste energy and expose themselves to attack by foraging for food. A lower threshold for pain ensures that they are extra gentle with the injured body part. Overall lethargy means the bodys energy can be directed entirely toward maintaining a fever  the most metabolically taxing part of the immune response.

But the benefits of some aspects of response are less clear. Why, for example, do animals become anxious and depressed when sick? Why do they stop grooming, which makes their fur and feathers better insulators? Keren and Guy Shakhar, the immunologists who named the Eyam hypothesis, point out that anorexia deprives sick animals of calories needed to fuel a fever. They also argue that the presence of sickness behavior even in illnesses that arent accompanied by fever indicates that there might be another reason for the adaptation: altruism.

If gains to direct fitness cannot fully explain [sickness behavior], perhaps inclusive fitness could come into play, they wrote in the journal PLOS Biology. We propose that reduced transmission of infectious disease among related individuals contributed to the evolution of [sickness behavior].

Mice, which live in close-knit social groups, offer a good test for this theory. Lopes, a researcher at the University of Zurich, looked at 257 wild mice living in about a dozen groups in a huge abandoned barn. Each mouse was outfitted with a radio identification tag, and their nests bore antennae that pinged whenever a mouse entered. This allowed Lopes and her colleagues to monitor where the mice were and who they were with.

To test for sickness behavior in her mice, Lopes injected a few hosts with a bit of bacterial cell wall  which, much like a vaccine, elicited an immune response from the mice without actually making them sick. Immediately, she noticed that the host mice were spending much less time with the rest of their social groups. This wasnt because their peers were avoiding them; the healthy rodents were no less likely to enter a nest containing a sick mouse than a healthy one. But the sick mice spent less time visiting other animals and were more likely to linger inside nests that were uninhabited. Overall, the hosts interacted far less with their social groups than they normally would. And 40 percent of the mice avoided any social contact at all.

Theres no obvious individual advantage to this. Though its common for animals to hide when sick to avoid predation, the mice would have been just as well protected in a nest full of their buddies as in one where they were alone. In addition, the study was conducted during winter, when mice usually huddle together for warmth. Voluntarily quarantining themselves would have made the sick mice more vulnerable, not less.

But Lopess models suggest another possibility. The social isolation she observed in her mice would lead to a drastic reduction in disease spread, according to computer models. In her simulation, when 40 percent of sick mice quarantined themselves from their social groups, only about a quarter of the group got sick. Without quarantine, it was likely that the entire social group would be infected. This suggests that behavioral changes like depression, lethargy and a lack of interest in grooming could promote inclusive fitness  the likelihood that an animals genes will be passed to the next generation via the organism itself or its close kin, who share many of the same genes.

Its important to note that the mice arent quarantining themselves consciously as the people in Eyam did. And the idea that an evolutionary mechanism might be behind this behavior still needs to be proven experimentally. Lopes and her colleagues have plans for a follow-up study that would examine whether isolation decreases when the mice in a social group are less closely related.

Wed expect that groups with less-related animals might do this less, Lopes said.

Perhaps thats not so noble as the self-sacrifice of Eyam. But its still pretty good for a mouse.

mice
The idea of creating a tiny village of tiny homes for the homeless is gaining traction.

Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie OMalley and Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson said during a joint news conference Tuesday on Civic Plaza that they have worked with a group studying the concept and believe it should be funded and developed, at least as a pilot project initially.

County commissioners later Tuesday agreed to propose funding for the idea. The question of funding a tiny homes village will appear as a general obligation bond question on the November election ballot.

OMalley said she is looking for up to $2 million for the planning and development of a tiny village with 35 to 40 homes. It would be the first project of its kind in New Mexico.

Its important to have neighborhood and community input, she said. You have to be able to sell this to the community because its a safety issue for a lot of folks.

Whether the village is located in an industrial, commercial or residential neighborhood, how the homes look and how the village is managed are questions that will need to be addressed. When money becomes available, those conversations become more serious, she said.

As a starting point, OMalley and Gibson said they were looking at tiny homes and villages already established in other states. The insulated wood-frame homes would be roughly 120 square feet, have a secure and locking front door and be wired for electricity. They would not, however, have running water, kitchens or bathrooms. Residents would cook meals and use toilets and shower facilities in communal village buildings.

In some tiny villages, residents pay minimal rent based on their income sources, such as Social Security or pensions. The tiny homes villages are generally gated and residents often participate in security monitoring.

Albuquerque resident Ken Balizer, who helped spearhead the local effort, said the idea evolved from a tent camp to tiny homes, which are more durable and safer.

By giving homeless people a safe and secure place to live and sleep, he said, its easier to surround them with support services and get them help for physical and mental health problems, addictions and other issues that led to their becoming homeless.

In tiny villages in other states, many homeless people eventually were able to get back on their feet, find employment and leave their tiny home villages for mainstream apartments and other accommodations.

The size of the homeless population in the metro area is not entirely clear.

The most recent point-in-time count puts the number at no fewer than 1,287 on any given night. Emergency shelters and agencies serving this population agree that the number is an undercount, because only those individuals who can be located can be counted.
Florida state officials have reported five new cases of Zika, four more in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami where the first locally transmitted cases in the country were reported and the fifth on the other side of the state in Pinellas County.

Its that last case thats the most worrisome because it might signal that mosquitoes infected with the virus are spreading. But its too soon to know, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott, R, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have yet to issue a travel advisory for that area indicating there is active local transmission.

Officials said the person with Zika in Pinellas, which includes the city of St. Petersburg, had not traveled internationally but that investigators are looking into the possibility that the virus may have been acquired in a neighboring county.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday that he believes Texas and Louisiana could be hit with local transmissions of Zika next and that the virus could be in U.S. for one to two years.

The CDC has urged pregnant women to consider avoiding Miamis Wynwood and South Beach areas but this week the areas still remain crowded with tourists. In interviews with The Washington Post and other news media, some visitors shrugged at the travel advisories.

We really havent taken any precautions whatsoever, one man said. I guess we should, shouldnt we?

zika-florida
For the past five years, the act of wearing an Islamic full-face veil in Frances public spaces has been illegal. This means that if you were a Muslim woman and you wore a niqab or a burqa and walked down the street, you ran the risk of a 150 euros ($167) fine.

This summer, some French cities have added their own local bans on the burqini  a swimming garment that covers the entire body except the hands, feet and face. If you wear the burqini on the beach in Cannes, for example, you could receive a fine of 38 euros ($43).

For the French Muslims who felt they must wear such outfits, such fines would seem like a considerable financial burden. However, it appears that thousands of these fines have been paid off by one individual  a wealthy businessman who says that Frances laws targeting Muslim attire are profoundly liberty-threatening.

I am not defending these women per se  but defending the principle of individual civil liberties that their actions currently embody, Rachid Nekkaz explains.

Yet some critics wonder if Nekkas is really as altruistic as he might seem  or whether hes more interested in publicity.

Nekkaz was born in the suburbs of Paris to Algerian immigrants. He is a self-made success story, having made a small fortune with Internet startups before expanding into real estate. In the mid-2000s, he began to seek similar success in politics, making a failed attempt to run as the candidate of the suburbs in the 2007 presidential election and following up with another push in the municipal elections the next year.

As these efforts stalled, Nekkas moved in a different direction.

In 2009, the French government under Nicolas Sarkozy moved to ban full-face veils; Sarkozy himself called the burqa (which was not widely worn in France) a symbol of debasement that was not welcome in the country. Nekkas quickly became one of the most vocal opponents of the proposed law. In 2010, he announced that he was setting up a fund of 1 million euros that he would use to pay any fines given to women who wore the veil.

As Nekkas puts it, the funds aim was to neutralize this profoundly liberty-threatening laws application on the streets and he soon moved its scope beyond Frances borders. He says hes now paid for 1,165 fines in France, 268 in Belgium, two in Holland and one Switzerland.

This comes to a total of 245,000 euros ($278,000) with attorneys fees, Nekkas says.

He recently began paying the fines for women wearing burqinis, too. The businessman says hes paid five fines so far, all in France. I await more of them. I expect maybe a hundred or so, Nekkas says, adding that he expects there to be perhaps two thousand fines in total as more mayors pass anti-burqini laws ahead of next years French presidential and legislative elections.

To hear Nekkas describe it, his act is born of a selfless belief that what he describes as Frances anti-Muslim madness should be stopped. The 44-year-old is quick to point out that he is himself against the wearing of the niqab or even the burqini. They dont represent the best approach for integrating into European society in general  and France in particular, as its becoming increasingly Islamophobic, he says.

His wife, a Stanford-educated American, doesnt wear either and Nekkas says that during a trip to Khartoum in Sudan in 2013, the couple had to both intervene to prevent a woman not wearing a hijab from being flogged in public.

Meanwhile, his own personal sartorial choices seem to owe something to the famed French public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy, as some in the French media have noted. Nekkas himself studied history and philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and he clearly sees himself as a thinker. He admits to being fascinated by the Catholic philosopher Voltaire and in particular his sympathetic view in the case of the Protestant Jean Calas.

In 2016, intolerance towards Muslims is comparable to the intolerance towards the Protestants of 1763, he says. I must regretfully announce that today, there are no Voltaires in France.

Nekkas says hes been targeted for his actions: Hes undergone four international tax audits since 2010 and his tenants have been threatened with legal action, he says. French deputies have tried to target him for his fine-paying with jail time, Nekkas says, and it was only vetoed by the government because of fears it would make him a martyr.

In the end, Nekkas says he felt he had to give up his French citizenship in 2013 because I no longer wanted to associate my identity with a country that violates the principles of individual freedoms on a daily basis.

Not everyones views of Nekkass story are quite so sympathetic, however.

His decision to give up his French passport coincided with a failed bid to run for the presidents office in Algeria, where his dual citizenship would have been a problem. In 2013, he was convicted of attempting to buy a sponsorship needed to become a French presidential candidate and given a suspended prison sentence (he has since said he was attempting to show how weak the system was).

Agnes De Feo, a researcher and documentary maker who has interviewed hundreds of French women who wear the burqa since 2009, says that while she believe Nekkas paid the fines in the beginning, among the women she knows he has a reputation as someone who doesnt keep his promises.

De Feo forwarded on messages from two women who said that they had reached out to Nekkas but they never received a response. A third women told DeFeo that a friend had her fine paid by Nekkas, but that the friend was faced harassment after he publicized the fact.

Its just a businessman who seeks notoriety, in my opinion, She says.

Nekkas pushes back on criticisms like these. He says that some in the Muslim community, such as the Collectif contre lIslamophobie en France, have tried to discredit him because he did not give them money. He also says that he does not pay the fines of those in enclosed public spaces, like offices and shopping centers, and that he requests that each woman he helps issues a written commitment to nonviolence and anti-radicalism.

I am defending the principle of civil liberties in the street and not these particular womens ancillary issues if they have any, he says.

There is somewhere that these critics and Nekkas would likely agree, however: The French laws have not succeeded in stopping women wearing the niqab and the burqa. Statistics released by the French Interior Ministry in mid-2015 showed that even though the law was not always enforced, 1,546 fines have been given out. Often, they went to repeat offenders  one woman had been fined 33 times.

Nekkas says he is in contact with 583 women who wear the niqab. Two-thirds are of French descent and converted to Islam, he claims. 241 are repeat offenders, Nekkas says. From the point of view of having the courage to stick with ones beliefs, I feel very proud about that, he says.

Thanks to the fund allocated to the defense of these womens freedom to dress as they please in the street, women are no longer afraid of wearing the Niqab, he says. There are indeed more women who wear it in 2016 than in 2011. The Sarkozy law is a failure.

burqa-fines
WASHINGTON  Wanda Witter smiled this morning  a big, $100,000 smile.

After battling Social Security for years, the 80-year-old woman who was homeless until a week ago got one of the biggest I-told-you-sos that a person can hope for.

Ready? asked the SunTrust bank teller, before spinning his monitor around to show Witter the new amount in her account on Tuesday morning.

Shed been checking with him almost daily (she wont use an ATM machine), to see if shed finally received the money owed to her.

On Tuesday  a day after Id written about the former machinist from Corning, N.Y., in a story shared all over the world  the Social Security check for $99,999 showed up on that screen.

And Witter and the bank teller high-fived, smiled and laughed.

Because for 16 years, no one believed her. She called Social Securitys toll-free number, sent letters and tried to get someone to listen to her predicament. But most folks dismissed Witter as crazy as she roamed the nations capital with a hand-truck loaded down with three suitcases packed full of Social Security paperwork.

Those papers, she would tell people, prove they owe me more than $100,000.

They called her a hoarder and said that all those papers were a fire hazard. She slept in shelters and on the street. She didnt trust anybody. And most counselors believed that mental illness, rather than messed up Social Security payments, were her problem.

Social worker Julie Turner believed her, though. Turner went through the neatly organized paperwork when they met in November and realized that it did, indeed, prove that Witters Social Security payments werent accurate. Then they stopped coming altogether when she had no fixed address and was homeless.

Witter then met attorney Daniela de la Piedra, who handles many Social Security disputes for the Legal Counsel for the Elderly, which is affiliated with the AARP.

And de la Piedra came to the same conclusion: Witter was owed a lot of money.

On Tuesday, Witter walked out of the bank, squinted at the sunlight and had to sit down on a bench.

Im overwhelmed. Ive never had this much money before, she said.

How do you act when you have $100,00? she wondered.

She decided to go buy some groceries, and take them to the apartment she moved into last week.

You know, some sandwich meat, or something, she said.

And she would take the bus home. Not a taxi.

Ive got to figure out what to do next and how to make the money last, she said.

Shed like to go visit her four daughters, who all live in different states.

Ive got grandchildren Ive never met, she said.

The $99,999 payment was the most that Social Security could make as a lump sum, without an extended approval process. More is coming, her lawyer said.

And Witter is going to stay in D.C. until she gets all of it, she said.

In the meantime, she does have one big expense shed like to get out of the way.

My teeth, she explained. My top teeth. I want to smile without looking like an old hag. And I want implants. So dental work is what I want to figure out next.

And no one doubts that she will.



Dvorak is a Washington Post columnist.

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RIGA, Latvia  Vice President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday that Donald Trump doesnt know what hes talking about on foreign policy and told U.S. NATO allies to ignore him.

Dont listen to that other fellow. He knows not of what he speaks, Biden said in a speech to Baltic leaders here. He paused for emphasis, then said, And he doesntknow of what he speaks.

Biden never mentioned Trump by name. But his audience, smiling with approval, clearly understood the reference to the Republican presidential nominees frequent description of the U.S. commitment to NATOs mutual defense pact as depending on whether the allies pay their bills for American protection.

Bidens remarks echoed President Barack Obamas description this month of Trump as woefully unprepared for the presidency.

Earlier in the day, Biden said the United States had pledged its sacred honor to Article 5 of NATOs founding charter and would never renege. The fact that you occasionally hear something from a presidential candidate . . . its nothing that should be taken seriously, because I dont think he understands what Article 5 is.

Bidens trip here, designed to reinforce U.S. and NATO determination to stand against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, fell on two anniversaries of major importance to the region. On Aug. 23, 1939, the foreign ministers of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a nonaggression treaty that divided parts of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence and was quickly followed by Hitlers invasion of Poland and the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.

On the same date in 1989, more than 2 million people joined hands in a line across Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia  all then part of the Soviet Union  to demonstrate their desire for independence. All three formally joined NATO in 2004.

Dainis Ivans, a Latvian journalist and founder of the anti-Soviet Popular Front, introduced Biden by referring to Trumps stated admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the darkest nightmare of many Baltic people . . . of a potential Putin-RibbenTrump pact.

Biden held bilateral talks here with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, followed by a working lunch with the leaders of all three Baltic nations. The warm welcome he received was something of a respite before he heads Wednesday to what is likely to be a far more difficult visit to Turkey, another NATO ally.

The vice president will be the first high-level U.S. official to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since a coup attempt there last month. Some Turkish officials have alleged that the United States was involved in the unsuccessful uprising and has been insufficiently sympathetic to the subsequent arrest of tens of thousands of alleged coup backers in the military and across a wide spectrum of society.

The upheaval has shaken already difficult U.S.-Turkey relations and led to indications that Turkey is looking elsewhere for support. In the past two weeks, Erdogan has visited Putin, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has exchanged visits with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, amid reports that the three countries are working toward joint action in Syria.

I dont think were concerned that were at some tipping point bilaterally or with Turkey in NATO, a senior administration official said of the relationship. Theres a whole host of reasons why our partnership with Turkey remains as important as ever. It is a view the administration believes Turkey shares, said the official, who briefed reporters on the trip under White House-imposed conditions of anonymity.

But officials traveling with Biden indicated they are unsure what kind of reception they will receive and how serious Ankara is about strengthening ties with Moscow and Tehran at the perceived expense of the United States. Biden is not bringing with him what the Turks say they most want  assurance that the United States will extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a U.S. resident they charge instigated the coup attempt.

A Justice Department team arrived in Turkey this week seeking clarification of Turkish charges against Gulen, the administration official said.

Russia and Iran, which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have been on opposite sides of the Syrian civil war from Turkey, which has shared the U.S. view that Assad should step down. But Erdogan now says his government will work with Moscow and Tehran, at a level of coordination he has yet to specify.

Turkey, which shares a 500-mile border with Syria, is a key component of the U.S. strategy against the Islamic State. But the partnership has been fraught with difficulties and mutual mistrust, beginning with U.S. and coalition concerns that Turkeys porous border has allowed free passage for the groups fighters and supplies.

More recently, as it has been unable to build a strong enough Syrian Arab force to fight the militants, the United States has increasingly relied on Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are allied with Turkish Kurds engaged in a separatist war against the government in Ankara.

A year ago, the United States began using Turkeys Incirlik air base for strikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Turkey agreed to the deal in exchange for pledges to limit the expansion of territory held by the Syrian Kurds along the border.

But the Kurds, aided by U.S. airstrikes, have now expanded westward in northern Syria beyond the limits the United States and Turkey agreed upon. Turkish media reported this week that the Turkish military has begun cross-border shelling of Kurdish forces that this month helped retake the Syrian city of Manbij, considered a crucial step in U.S. efforts to eventually oust the Islamic State from its headquarters in Raqqa.

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About 20,000 people in New Mexico who work more than 40 hours a week will be eligible for overtime pay once new federal regulations take effect on Dec. 1.

The rule raises the annual salary threshold at which white-collar workers are exempt from overtime pay, from $23,660 to $47,476. That doubles the threshold, meaning an estimated 4.2 million workers nationwide earning less than the higher figure will be entitled to time-and-a-half pay, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Those affected in New Mexico comprise 0.5 percent of the nationwide total. States that will be most affected include California, Florida, New York and Texas, according to department figures.

Under the previous rules, a worker whose annual salary exceeded $23,660 and who performed certain duties could be required to work more than 40 hours a week without being paid overtime.

The change is a big deal, Patricia Davidson, a deputy administrator in the departments Wage and Hour Division, said during an interview in Albuquerque on Tuesday.

She said the rules had not been changed since 2004 and that overtime protections have eroded since then.

However, some business say the rule will backfire. They say many salaried workers will be converted to hourly workers and will lose certain benefits and prestige. Also, they say, workers, including store managers, may have less flexibility to put in extra hours to do their jobs if their employer is limiting their overtime.

In New Mexico, small businesses are having to consider job cuts and employee reclassification, said Jason Espinoza, president and CEO of the Association of Commerce and Industry, which describes itself as a statewide chamber of commerce.

New Mexico businesses have told us this rule change will be financially disastrous and could drastically reduce the quality of customer service they provide, especially for small businesses, Espinoza said in a statement.

This rule change is forcing employers to make hard decisions that have real financial and emotional impacts on their employees, and for some, quite frankly, it is a tough decision that many employers are still contemplating, he said.
A U.S. service member was killed in Afghanistans restive Helmand province Tuesday after his patrol triggered a roadside bomb. The blast also wounded another American and six Afghan soldiers.

According to a statement released by the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, U.S. troops were accompanying their Afghan counterparts near the provinces capital, Lashkar Gah, when their unit came under attack.

On behalf of all of U.S. Forces  Afghanistan, as well as Resolute Support  our deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of those involved, Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

The incident is under investigation, and the identity of the deceased service member will be released following notification of next of kin.

Helmand province has been the site of heavy fighting in recent weeks as Taliban forces have used the summer months to launch multiple offensives across the country. The group is estimated to control well over 50 percent of Helmand, and its pressure on the provincial capital has forced U.S. and NATO troops to shuttle resources to help prop up the embattled Afghan security forces. Despite its gains around the periphery of Lashkar Gah, the Taliban has been unable to enter the city limits in the face of near-constant U.S. and coalition airstrikes.

On Monday, the NATO-led mission announced that 100 U.S. troops had been moved to Lashkar Gah, primarily to advise Afghan police in the area.

Col. Mike Lawhorn, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the U.S. service member who was killed Tuesday was not part of the 100-troop detachment. While it is unclear what unit the wounded and killed American troops belong to, U.S. Special Operations forces have been operating in and around the city since the Taliban began its offensive in the province earlier this summer.

Tuesdays death marks the second U.S. combat death in Afghanistan this year. In January, Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock, who was a native of Albuquerque, was killed in a pitched firefight alongside Afghan commandos in Marja, a city in a fertile area just west of Lashkar Gah.

Helmand province, known as the birthplace of the Taliban and nicknamed Marine-istan after President Obamas 2009 surge into the country, is an opium-rich area that has been the scene of some of the most intense fighting of the nearly 15-year-old war.

While conflict continues unabated in Helmand province, Taliban forces have also recently made gains in the northern part of the country. In the past few days, Kunduz  a city that briefly fell to the Taliban in October 2015  has been the site of combat between Afghan security forces and the insurgents.

U.S. helicopter gunships and the small prop-driven aircraft of the fledgling Afghan air force have helped repulse attacks on the city, and officials from the NATO-led mission are optimistic that the Afghan forces will be able to hold their ground.
DENVER  A government watchdog agency says a Denver-based VA executive misused official time over a four-year period because she couldnt show she had worked for all or part of up to 14 days.

In a report released Tuesday, the inspector general of the Veterans Affairs Department said the executive was also frequently late, sometimes reporting more than hour after she was due.

The executive was identified as Melanie Murphy, a regional director for the Veterans Benefits Administration. In an email to The Associated Press, Murphy said she disagrees with the findings and will contest them.

The report said VA officials would take appropriate action after speaking with agency attorneys and human resources officials.

The report also alleged Murphy sometimes worked remotely without taking the required training.
IMGCAP(1)] For finance professionals, having a website is becoming increasingly crucial. Members of your target audience in need of financial advice and services use search engines to find experts and partners, and they will only find you if you have a website that's built the right way.

Of course, once they see and visit your website, your job is not done. Now is the time to give them clear options on what steps to take next, and convince them that working with you is the right choice. To help you accomplish that goal, here are five key website elements that any finance professional needs.

1. A straightforward homepage

For any finance professional, a simple rule of web design applies: keep it simple. Your audience will not be wowed by extravagant design or in-depth information; instead, they need to find out right away whether the expertise and services offered are right for them.

That does not, of course, mean that your website cannot include visuals; in fact, including a video or image that sums up your value proposition could be the perfect type of content to convince potential clients that partnering with you is the right choice.

But your visuals should simplify, not clutter up your homepage. A minimalistic design is especially effective, so be sure to only include the basics and link to other pages with more in-depth information as needed.

2. An extensive about page with credentials

For many businesses, the about page is of secondary importance after the contact page. Some potential customers may want to learn more about your origins, but most will simply be interested in the products or services offered. For finance professionals, however, the two are inextricably linked.

The quality of your services necessarily depends on your expertise. Your about page is a crucial part of your website to showcase your credentials and experience, which will convince potential clients that working with you instead of competitors is the right move.

To build that sense of trust for your prospective clients, here are a few elements your about page should include:

A narrative with your professional history, how you became a finance professional and what education you've completed to support your expertise.

An outline of any professional credentials, such as Certified Financial Planner or Chartered Financial Analyst, that support your claim to being an expert in your field.

Links to any content you have written online that covers financial topics to convey your thought leadership.

3. An outline of services offered

Even the best about page will not be successful if you don't link it to a page that outlines exactly how you can help potential clients. An outline of your services is crucial to help interested visitors understand whether working with you is the best possible choice.

Are you offering accounting services or retirement planning? How about investment advice? The financial service industry ranges far and wide, so clarifying exactly where you specialize is crucial.

When focusing on your core expertise, you risk excluding services that you offer but do not prioritize. So the choice of where to stop is up to you. For example, you can open the services page with your most important (and profitable) services offered, while devoting less important web space to secondary financial services.

4. Case studies and testimonials of past clients

Social proof is becoming an increasingly important element of web design in any industry. If you get others to talk about the quality of your service, your audience will be more likely to believe your claims and work with you. In fact, 88% of consumers trust online product reviews from strangers as much as personal recommendations from their friends.

Testimonials and case studies particularly help convey your credibility by adding independent voices to your claims of being an expert in your field. Working with a financial professional takes a significant level of trust. Having others talk about the quality of your services can be immensely beneficial to gain that trust.

Client testimonials should be present on most, if not all, pages of your website. But you can also devote extra pages to in-depth case studies, in which you detail how you helped specific clients achieve their financial goals, what measures were implemented, how long the process took and so on. The more potential clients can see themselves in the same situation, the more likely they will be to engage you for a partnership.

5. An interactive contact page

Finally, your website should include a contact page that goes beyond what most businesses have to offer. In most industries, simply including a link to your phone and email is often enough to get contact. Regular sign up pages help interested visitors turn into leads.

But financial professionals need more. Because of the in-depth nature of the transaction, you need to have as many ways as possible for potential clients to get in touch with you. The easier you make it for them, the more likely they will be to get in touch with you and engage your services.

A phone number and email address is obvious. But in addition, consider an interactive contact form that lets your visitors choose the time that they want you to contact them. The easier you make contacting you for potential clients, the more likely you will be to get business out of your website. Hosting sites offer different options. Wordpress, for instance, allows you to choose from a variety of plugins designed specifically for lead generation and contact forms.

In the end, that's what a website for any financial professional comes down to. You need an online presence that not only helps you raise awareness of your services and expertise, but also turn it into a tool that helps you grow your client base.

Henry Green is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas who helps small businesses and entrepreneurs improve their online presence through marketing, social media, and website optimization.
Southern Illinois firmScheffel Boyleannounced on Monday that they'll be adding a new "Agribusiness Service Niche" to their list of client focus groups.

The Agribusiness Niche will look to provide tax, accounting, audit, succession and estate planning, as well as general consulting services, to the agricultural industry. Clients will include farmers, cooperatives, grain elevators, and seed and fertilizer dealerships, amongst others.

The new Agribusiness team will be overseen by Michael Ulrich, Steve Pembrook, Dennis Ulrich, Danny Phipps, John Russell, and Justin Goode. Notably, many members have personal experience owning and operating their own farms and assisting farming clients in financial services.

Being a farmer isnt something you do; its who you are, said Michael Ulrich, per a statement. Being farmers ourselves, we can help our clients focus on what is important to them while bringing our own personal knowledge of agribusiness to their doorsteps.

Scheffel Boyle is recognized as the largest locally-owned CPA firm in Southwestern Illinois. In business since 1924, their services include both corporate and individual accounting, tax, consulting, and assurance services.

For more on Scheffel Boyle, head to theirsite here.
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Top 100 firmWeaverannounced on Tuesday that their Weaver Private Foundation have chosen Habitat for Humanityas their Charity of Choice for the 2015-16 fiscal year. The Foundation contributed $60,000 to Habitat for Humanity Texas to distribute to the organization's affiliates in locations where Weaver holds offices.

Weaver decided on Habitat following this year's theme of "Neighborhood and Community Development, with a focus on housing and shelter. Nearly 100 Weaver professionals volunteered at six locations throughout Texas to help build new homes.

A goal of the Weaver Private Foundation is to promote community involvement by providing enriching opportunities for our employees, said Andy Freundlich, assurance partner and a Foundation board member, in a statement. As a firm, we came together to serve each of our communities, and we enjoyed working on these important projects together.

Weaver has a history of making a difference in the communities it serves, just like Habitat, stated Amy Ledbetter Parham, executive director at Habitat for Humanity Texas. They are vital partners with us in making a difference in Texas. It was a privilege to see how each Weaver team across six cities could bring the same dedication to service.

Volunteers participated in projects coordinated by Habitat for Humanity groups in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Midland, and San Antonio. Participants spent a day helping each Habitat with specific projects associated with building homes for families in need.

For more on Weaver and the Weaver Private Foundation, head to theirsite here.
A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of two Ernst & Young employees who wanted to participate in a class-action lawsuit against the firm about overtime pay rather than submit to mandatory arbitration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit handed down an opinion Monday in favor of EY employees Stephen Morris and Kelly McDaniel, vacating a district courts order that would have compelled them to submit to individual arbitration of their claims. The class-action lawsuit they wished to participate in alleged that EY misclassified employees in order to deny them overtime wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and California labor laws. An EY spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As a condition of their employment at EY, Morris and McDaniel were required to sign a mandatory arbitration clause agreeing not to join with other employees in bringing suit against the firm. According to the agreement, they were required to pursue any legal claims against EY exclusively through arbitration and only as individuals in separate proceedings.

Morris nevertheless sued EY in a class-action suit in New York, and McDaniel later joined the suit. They claimed EY had misclassified them and other employees to deny them overtime wages. The case was later transferred to the Northern District of California, where EY moved to compel individual arbitration according to the agreements signed by Morris and McDaniel. The district court sided with the firm, and the employees appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit.

Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas and another judge on the three-judge panel, Andrew D. Hurwitz, agreed with the employees, although the other judge, Sandra S. Ikuta, dissented. The majority held that EY interfered with the employees right to engage in concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act by requiring employees to resolve all of their legal claims in separate proceedings. The panel concluded that separate proceedings terms in the Ernst & Young contracts could not be enforced.

The appeals court panel vacated the lower courts order and remanded the case to the district court to determine whether the separate proceedings clause was severable from the employment contract. Judge Ikuta dissented, saying the majoritys opinion violated the Federal Arbitration Acts command to enforce arbitration agreements according to their terms and contradicted a Supreme Court precedent. This decision is breathtaking in its scope and error; it is directly contrary to Supreme Court precedent and joins the wrong side of a circuit split, she wrote.

The majority of the panel, however, held that the Federal Arbitration Act did not dictate a contrary result.
(Bloomberg) Hillary Clintons Democratic presidential campaign said Monday that Republican Donald Trumps proposals to overhaul the federal tax system would benefit high-debt investors like himself, opening a new line of attack.

Earlier this month, Trump said he supports letting big businesses immediately write off their investments in equipment and buildings. Soon after, a Trump adviser suggested that the billionaire wants to maintain existing tax rules that let businesses deduct their interest payments.

Combining the two tax breaks would mean a major benefit for businesses that borrow to invest in buildingsgiving them an immediate write-off followed by years of deductions on the interest they pay. While Trump announced a package of tax overhauls last year, he subjected it to review and revisions this summer, and his full plan has yet to emerge in final form. Trumps campaign didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

With both immediate expensing and interest deductibility, large corporations could achieve sharply negative effective tax rates on their income from debt-financed investments, according to a 2014 report from the Congressional Budget Office: as low as -61 percent. Partnerships and other types of real-estate companies could see an effective rate of -34 percent, the report said.

Trumps Debt

Trumps plan means taxpayers pay him to run up debt, not the other way around, said a memo from Clintons policy team that the campaign released Monday.

Bloomberg News reported in July that Trumps companies have an estimated $630 million in debt. The New York Times this month reported an estimate of $650 million. The real-estate mogul and reality television star has called himself the King of Debt.

Negative effective tax rates would amount to government subsidies for going into debt, Clintons campaign memo said.

Trump could reduce the tax benefit of adopting immediate expensing by limiting businesses ability to deduct their interest payments. But Lawrence Kudlow, an economist who is advising Trumps campaign, told the Washington Post this month that Trump opposes ending that particular benefit. Economist Stephen Moore, another Trump adviser, told The Wall Street Journal last week that the candidate was wary of eliminating interest deductions, but he said the plan is still negotiable.

House Republicans

In embracing immediate expensing, Trump moved closer to House Republicans, who published their own plan for overhauling the tax system in June. But that plan, authored by Representative Kevin Brady, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, would change the rules for deducting interest.

Under this blueprint, job creators would be allowed to deduct interest expense against any interest income, but no current deduction will be allowed for net interest expense, according to the House plan.

Allowing both immediate expensing and the interest deductions in current law would be distortive as it would result in a tax subsidy for debt-financed investment, the House plan says.

Estate Tax

Trumps advisers have said his tax plan will ultimately cost about $2 trillion in revenue over 10 years. But its unclear whether that includes the cost of maintaining interest deductibility, which was estimated at about $1.2 trillion earlier this year by the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation.

Clinton previously criticized Trump over his proposal to abolish the estate tax, which currently applies a 40 percent rate to any estate worth more than $5.45 million, or $10.9 million for couples. Clinton wants to raise the tax rate to 45 percent and apply it to estates worth more than $3.5 million, or $7 million for couples.

In general, Trumps tax plan would offer tax rate cuts for individuals across-the-boardthough high-income individuals, corporations and people who make money via partnerships would see the largest tax cuts. Clinton proposes to raise taxes on high earners, by implementing an effective tax rate of at least 30 percent for people who make more than $1 million a year and adding a 4 percent surtax for those who make more than $5 million.

With assistance from Lynnley Browning
Republican leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee are asking the Treasury Department to go back to the drawing board on proposed regulations for changing the tax treatment of corporate debt and equity to curb corporate earnings stripping.

The Treasury Department issued the proposed regulations in April as part of its battle to stem the tide of corporate tax inversions, in which U.S. companies move their tax addresses overseas by merging with another company to lower their tax bills (see Treasury Takes Further Action to Limit Tax Inversions).

However, the proposed rules go well beyond inversion by targeting transactions that generate large interest deductions by simply increasing related-party debt without financing new investment in the United States. The new rules would amend Section 385 of the Tax Code to curb the practice of earnings stripping, allowing the IRS during an audit to divide debt instruments into part debt and part equity, rather than the current system that generally treats them as wholly one or the other.

Some lawmakers in Congress have expressed opposition to the proposed rules, and the Big Four accounting firms have also asked Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to withdraw them (see Big Four Protest Proposed IRS Regulations on Tax Treatment of Corporate Debt and Equity).

On Monday, Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sent a letter to Lew calling on the Treasury to rethink the proposed rules.

I ask you to re-propose the regulations not because I wish for there to not be any section 385 regulations, he wrote. Rather, I am seeking to ensure that, should the Treasury Department issue regulations under IRC section 385, the Department does so in a thoughtful, prudent, and legal manner.

Hatch warned against unintended consequences for U.S. businesses if the Obama administration moves too quickly. He also questioned the regulatory transparency of the proposed rules and whether the requirements for executive orders and statutes were being properly followed.

On the other side of the Capitol, GOP members of the House Ways and Means Committee, including chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Tax Policy Subcommittee chairman Charles Boustany, R-La., sent their second letter to Lew reiterating their continuing concerns about how the proposed regulations could affect U.S. businesses, jobs and the economy. They too called on the Obama administration to completely overhaul the proposed regulations. They had earlier met with Lew to convey their concerns but felt the Treasury was moving too quickly to finalize the proposals.

We appreciate the Treasury Departments expressed commitment to making modifications to address some of the identified adverse effects of the proposed regulations, they wrote. However, based on the information provided by Treasury to date, we are not confident that any such modifications would be sufficient to eliminate the harm that the proposed regulations would inflict on businesses and American workers if they were to be finalized in their current form.
(Bloomberg) Venture capitalists are now the ones making a pitch. As both major presidential candidates promote U.S. tax policies aimed at ending special tax treatment for investment managers' income, Silicon Valley is girding itself for potential reforms. Venture investors, facing the possibility of bigger tax bills, are trying to convince Washington that theyre special and should be exempt.

At issue is a decades-old tax rule on carried interest, which is the share of profit awarded to fund managers when selling their stakes, or when companies are acquired or go public. Investment managers say that paying them in carried interest ties their compensation to the performance of long-term, often riskier, investments. Under current law, their carried-interest income qualifies for being taxed as capital gains at a rate as low as 23.8 percent, compared with the top individual income-tax rate of 43.4 percent on ordinary income.

During their campaigns, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have each singled out carried interest, calling it a tax loophole benefiting the rich. Its likely to be a topic of conversation on Wednesday among attendees at a Clinton fundraiser in Silicon Valley hosted by Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.

Outside of this being a populist topic, it doesnt make any sense, said Peter Barris, a managing general partner at New Enterprise Associates who has been at the VC firm for more than two decades. We are playing around with the golden egg.

VCs will spend the next few months making their case to Washington for why they shouldnt be lumped together with hedge funds, private equity, and real estate investors. They will argue that higher taxes would lead to a VC brain drain, deter new funds from forming, and discourage risk taking. In other words, the tax proposals threaten American innovation.

Carried interest has periodically been a target of scrutiny for at least a decade. It was a flash point during the Occupy Wall Street movement and dogged Mitt Romney, co-founder of private-equity firm Bain Capital, during his failed 2012 presidential run. Over the past decade, some members of Congress have proposed treating carried interest as regular income for tax purposes, but those measures have failed.

In this election cycle, carried interest has become calcified in a larger economic debate. Its become the poster child for inequality, said Matt Gardner, executive director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a think tank in Washington. When you see these tax breaks that arent available to the general population of wage earners, it erodes the public's faith in the tax system and in Congress.

Gardner said eliminating carried interest tax benefits could generate an estimated $25 billion over 10 years. He said the amount is small, but it would be a huge symbolic gesture. And wealthy VCs will have a difficult time convincing the public that they should get a pass: They all argue they are special.

The VCs can mount a pretty convincing defense. Theyve helped transform novel business ideas into some of the worlds most valuable companies, including Apple, Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., and Microsoft Corp. According to a 2015 study by Stanford University, 43 percent of public U.S. companies founded since 1979 had raised venture cash. Venture capitalists argue that tax incentives encourage them to prioritize a startups long-term success over quick gains. They typically work with their companies for seven to 10 years before seeing a return. Because 4 of every 5 startups fails, investors said they bank on meteoric hitsand the accompanying tax benefitsto make up for losses.

As much as 60 percent of a venture investors compensation can come from carried interest, according to the National Venture Capital Association, a U.S. lobbying and trade group. Its basically doubling our tax rate, said Venky Ganesan, the organizations chairman. Hiking taxes could make investing a less attractive career for those with high-paying jobs at tech companies, where many VCs come from, he said. The elimination of the carried interest provision would reduce the number of new funds and push the industry to make safer investments in more mature companies instead of gambling on areas such as medicine and clean technology, he said.

Not all VCs are panicking. Fred Wilson, co-founder of Union Square Ventures, has expressed support for taxing carried interest as ordinary income. Sam Altman, the president of business incubator Y Combinator, said in December that its ridiculous for VCs to pay a lower rate on their returns than Americans do on their salaries. (Y Combinator startups receive backing from Willett Advisors, the investment arm for the personal and philanthropic assets of Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg LP.)

But there is precedent for VCs to be classified differently from other types of investors, said Ted Schlein, a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The industry was excluded from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, partly because Americans have a greater understanding of the unique value VC funding provides to the economy, he said. Eliminating carried interest deductions for VCs either shows an ignorance of the issues, or it means you are truly anti-entrepreneur, Schlein said. Its a much more nuanced topic than politicians give it credit for.

Fighting to keep the carried interest provision risks creating a bigger problem. Appealing for special treatment could make Silicon Valley financiers appear greedy and out of touch, putting their reputations at risk. Tom Perkins, the late co-founder of Kleiner Perkins, wrote a 2014 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal comparing the treatment of rich Americans with the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. The article was thoroughly ridiculed and quickly disavowed by other VCs, including those at his own firm. Perkins later defended his comments on Bloomberg TV: Its absurd to demonize the rich for being rich and doing what the rich do, which is get richer by creating opportunity for others.
I make silver jewelry as a hobby. In crafting wires for earrings, Ive learned that the more you work with the wire  by tapping it with a small hammer or rubbing it with a piece of steel  the stronger and more springy it gets. Getting the ear wire into the desired shape actually changes the alignment of molecules in the metal. This process is called work hardening.

I was tapping on a piece of wire the other day, and it came to me that work hardening could be useful for teaching resilience to children with ADHD and LD. Many rehabilitation hospitals and physical therapy clinics use the term to describe the method they use to help injured workers achieve an acceptable level of productivity that allows them to return to their former occupation. Despite the positive benefits of this approach in the medical/vocational world, Ive never heard the term used in a school setting.

Exposing kids to the right amount of challenge or stress, and increasing the difficulty level bit by bit, while teaching them to identify their strengths, makes perfect sense to me. Kids will get stronger and more flexible, and will be better able to hold up under pressure. Just like the ear wires!

I also learned (the hard way) that if you work metal too much by tapping or bending it, it becomes brittle. The same thing happens with kids. If we make them do the same thing over and over, especially if they are not being successful, they become resistant or argumentative. If kids have hours of homework to do that they dont understand, they get frustrated and tired. They may tell you they dont have any homework, or they conveniently forget it at school or lose it in the black hole called their backpack.

If kids spend 60 or 70 percent of every day feeling stressed and incompetent, they lose their flexibility. Like a frightened turtle, they pull into their shell and stay within that rigid armor until they sense that the danger has passed. Its difficult to engage or re-engage kids who dont feel confident or competent. Kids who are working hard to avoid the embarrassment of failure or ridicule dont bounce back from bad experiences, and its unlikely that theyll seek a new challenge. They are more likely looking for the Exit sign.

[Free Download: Your 13-Step Guide to Raising a Child with ADHD]

Toughen Up Your Kids at Home

The good news is that there are some concrete things that parents and teachers can do to help their kids take on new tasks with an I can do this attitude. The formula is simple: Expose kids to tasks that are just a step below what you are certain they can do. This is what I call putting kids on the cusp of their competence, that sweet spot where enjoyable and satisfying learning takes place.

When kids work in their zone of competence, their brain chemistry works in their favor. Fear is reduced and the executive functions are at their peak. This is a great time to ask them to identify the skills and talents they called on to get the task done. If your timing is good, you might be able to introduce the suggestion that they take on a more challenging task. Heres how work hardening might be done at home. If you know that your son or daughter can make a simple breakfast on his or her own, add one thing to the task (You know, today Id love to have a little cheese in my scrambled egg). As youre enjoying the meal they prepared with pride, talk with them about the skills they used to make it. Ask them what they did to make this taste so good or look so attractive on the plate. If they have a hard time coming up with an answer, point out the strategies you observed them using: I like how you put that little sprig of parsley on the top  where did you learn that? Take the opportunity, when all systems are go, to ask your child if he or she is willing to take on something a little more challenging in the future: I love eggs benedict! Do you think you can make those? And add, I can help you if youre not sure how to make that.

This scenario has all the ingredients needed to reinforce skills, build confidence, and get the child to take on more challenging work:

1. Initial confidence in his ability do the basic task

2. Finding the task enjoyable (and, in this case, pleasing to others)

3. Introducing a small challenge that makes the task just a bit more difficult, but does not overwhelm the child

4. Completing the more difficult task

5. Taking time to process the skills needed to do the task

6. Suggesting/requesting to do a more challenging task in the future

7. Offering help, if needed.

[Free Download: Tricks to Boost Your Childs Writing Skills]

Bounce Back at School

Here are several practical things that parents and teachers can do to help kids handle challenges and bounce back after they experience failure. Teach kids the value of persistence, patience, and practice. Give them repeated opportunities to demonstrate these traits and behaviors, so they can see the relationship between these and success.

Kids need to be able to fail well to be successful. Some teachers begin homework review by saying, Who got #7 wrong? In the past, many of my students have missed this one. Then the teacher puts kids together in pairs and challenges them to find where they went wrong. The student duo has to work together to repair the error and share their solution with the rest of the class. This activity sends the message that all kids make mistakes, and puts the focus on fixing errors, not running away from failure or feeling shame.

Parents and teachers should expose kids to tasks that are just challenging enough. Making the work too easy or reducing the amount of work is insulting to a childs intelligence. Why should I only do half of my homework? You must think Im stupid! or This is baby work! On the other hand, work that is too hard, or thats introduced before a child is ready for it, creates a negative reaction, causing the child to retreat or withdraw.

Talented teachers encourage kids to start with something they can do pretty well and then, when students are confident (and not before), they are encouraged to move to something a little harder. In schools, this is called scaffolding, climbing the ladder of success one rung at a time.

To get kids to accept work with less resistance, teachers and parents can say: Here are three tasks. Some kids your age think task A is too easy, some say task B is not too hard and not too easy, and some say that task C is very hard. Take a look at these and tell me which one youd like to do. The secret here is to make sure that all three tasks are within the childs ability. So, no matter which one she picks, shes likely to be successful.

If she picks the easy one, you can say, Next time would you like to try task B? If she picks C and completes it well, say, Next time we do (math, reading, science, whatever), do you think we should aim for level A, B, or C? She is likely to pick C. So you keep her at level C for a while, while she enjoys repeated successes.

After she spends some time working confidently and feeling competent, you say, For this activity Ive got some level C items and a level D (more difficult item). Would you like to try that one? (If she doesnt say yes, let her stay at level C and add: In the next few days, I think youll be ready for level D!) This creates the expectation that she will be asked to do more difficult tasks, and that she will be able to do them successfully.

This strategy takes a little time, but it builds a foundation of success, reduces the fear factor, and makes it likely that your child will seek out a more challenging task. If you say too quickly to your son or daughter, You can handle something more difficult, he or she is likely to retreat and not want to move ahead. Too many kids spend a lot of time in school doing things that, either in reality or in their own mind, are too difficult for them. If they dont believe that they will be successful, why would they (why would anyone?) want to continue?

Look for a Happy Ending

I started off talking about how to make metals bend without breaking, how to make sure that an earring wire springs back and does its job after being stressed by the wearer. Kids are more precious than any metal, and the idea of work hardening has much more of a payoff when its applied to your daughter or son. The goal is to create learning environments that will help them become a little tougher and more resilient, one careful step at a time. Under these conditions, its likely that kids will achieve at a level that is closer to their potential and that they will be more satisfied with themselves.

They might just become the kind of kids who stop saying, I cant, so I wont, and face new challenges with: Bring it on! I think I can handle this.

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Dentsu Impact has bagged the creative mandate for Ikea, which is all set to launch in India sometime in 2017. Ikea had set out looking for the right creative agency that would do justice to the brand communication that it has always been known for across the globe.

Post an exhaustive process of meeting various agencies to an elaborate pitch process that included multiple agencies across India, they finally have selected Dentsu Impact as their creative agency partner. This process lasted around three months before team Ikea finally arrived at their decision.

Ikea is one of the most effective and awarded advertisers across the globe, which is widely appreciated for its focused approach of connecting with its consumers. The brands launch in India is immensely anticipated and with this new development, it poses a great opportunity for Dentsu to carry forward Ikeas legacy and showcase its creative and network strength.

Commenting on the association, Ulf Smedberg, Country Marketing Manager, Ikea, said, We are happy to sign up Dentsu as our creative partner in India after a long pitch process involving the best agencies in the country. We have high expectations on ourselves and Dentsu to build a strong partnership in India and use our collective knowledge, creativity and experience to launch Ikea in the most successful way.

Having bagged the mandate for the brand, Amit Wadhwa, President, Dentsu Impact, said, Putting the feeling of getting an opportunity to work on this brand is even more difficult than winning the business. We at Dentsu Impact are delighted to work on brand Ikea and cant wait to get started on this. It was one of the most structured pitch processes that we have ever gone through and the entire team at Ikea has been a delight to interact with. Time to get down to producing some amazing work.

Soumitra Karnik, National Creative Director, Dentsu Impact, added here, OMG! Look, look, I will be creating for Ikea! What could be more rewarding than having been chosen by one of the most creative brands in the world to create their creative communication? We certainly must have done something right. And we did. We were not only very proud of the work we presented, but also extremely sure of its potency.
SVG Media, Indias largest Digital Media Network today announced a new advertising media solutions offering for direct advertisers under its brand nNext. nNext, launched six months ago as a performance marketing platform, now offers end-mile results as the sole campaign goal.

nNexts media solutions take advantage of technology to deliver transparent and more efficient campaigns for advertisers. The platform is able to offer live dashboards on media spends, automated hourly reporting and other significant enhancements. The technology stack at nNext is also developed in-house and is customizable to clients needs.

nNext solutions are tailor made for branding, performance, programmatic media buying, remarketing campaigns on desktop, mobile and many other innovative digital platforms.

Nitin Sabharwal, Founder of nNext business said, The biggest problem advertisers face is the lack of transparency when it comes to media spends. It is only when the invoice is raised that the clear picture emerges. nNext bridges this gap by giving a real-time access to advertisers. They know where and how their campaign is performing.

Yashasvi Vats, Business Head, nNext said, I have been an advertiser for the past few years and understand the pain problem to integrate end to end. At nNext, we educate our clients about various technology solutions available to bring down costs to increase customer engagement. We integrate the marketing campaigns into the clients CRM or Dialers to offer real time analytics and lead generation when it comes to performance.

nNext currently has mandates on a variety of product lines and channels from clients like Max Bupa Health Care, IndusInd Bank, Iffco-Tokio Life Insurance, Aegon Life and others.

Surinder Pal Singh Deol, Sr. Manager (ERP), Chandigarh University states, nNext is the largest contributor to the digital channel for admissions for Chandigarh University. Through their efficient and optimized search and social strategy, nNext has managed to bring down the costs of leads while increasing the quantity steadily.

Joshua Fredric, Director, Fundraising & Supporter Engagement at Action Aid said, nNext has been a great partner in helping drive our business. nNext has been instrumental in increasing our online visibility and lead generation from ad campaigns and e-mail marketing. They are at the forefront of thought leadership in the performance-based model. Action Aid has learnt a lot through their expertise.
-- Students return to online public school August 29--

Students at Nevada Virtual Academy (NVVA), an accredited, full-time, online public charter school, will begin their 2016-2017 school year on August 29 as the program marks its 8th year of operation in the state. According to a spring 2016 survey conducted by Edge Research, 91% of the families with students enrolled in the school during the 2015-2016 school year felt that their child had benefitted academically from the curriculum.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823006325/en/

(Graphic: Business Wire)

NVVA is open to all students in grades K through 12 who reside in Nevada. The school provides each student with an individualized learning plan, incorporating the use of rigorous and engaging curriculum. In addition to core courses in language arts/English, math, science, history, world language, art and music, students also have access to an extensive catalog of elective courses and Advanced Placement courses for high school students. State-certified teachers provide instruction, guidance and support, and interact with students and parents via email, web-based classrooms, online discussions, phone and face-to-face meetings. As a public school option, there is no tuition.

NVVA staff and teachers work tirelessly to provide each student with a high-quality educational experience, said Orlando Dos Santos, Head of School of Nevada Virtual Academy, NVVA is an excellent choice for students and families seeking a school setting that allows advanced learners to progress faster in subjects at which they excel, and personalized supports to those who need more time to grasp a concept.

NVVA students can also take advantage of the blended learning center located in Las Vegas, and the face-to-face tutoring available in Reno. These provide additional support for students who are interested in working on small-group projects or seek to meet with a teacher face-to-face.

NVVA is still accepting enrollments for this fall. To learn more about enrollment requirements visit http://nvva.k12.com/ or find an in-person or online informational session at http://nvva.k12.com/events-calendar.html.

About Nevada Virtual Academy

Nevada Virtual Academy is a tuition-free, statewide, online public school serving students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Nevada-credentialed teachers deliver lessons in K's virtual classroom platform with a combination of engaging online and offline courseworkincluding a wide array of textbooks, CDs, videos, and hands-on materials that make learning come alive. Learn more at nvva.k12.com

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NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Which companies have the best and worst customer service? 24/7 Wall St. collaborated with research survey group Zogby Analytics and polled 1,500 adults about the quality of customer service at 151 of America's best-known companies. 24/7 identified companies that truly stand out for their positive, and sometimes negative, customer experiences. Click HERE for the full article.

E-commerce company Amazon tops the list yet again  for the seventh year in a row. Phone and electronic device manufacturers Apple, Samsung, and Sony; restaurants Chick-fil-A and Starbucks; and mail carriers FedEx and UPS also made the Hall of Fame this year. Hospitality companies Hilton and Marriott as well as Internet companies YouTube, Netflix, and Google also made the list.

The 15 companies with the highest share of poor ratings make up the Customer Service Hall of Shame; those with the most excellent ratings make up 24/7's Customer Service Hall Fame.

Click HERE for 24/7 Wall St.'s Customer Service Hall of Shame

Comcast Sprint Nextel Time Warner Cable Bank of America Dish Network DirectTV AT&T U-verse T-mobile Wells Fargo Facebook Verizon Communications Kmart Progressive Allstate Wal-Mart (Department and Discount Stores)

Click HERE for 24/7 Wall St.'s Customer Service Hall of Fame

Amazon Chic-fil-A Apple Marriott Samsung Electronics Sony Google Netflix FedEx UPS YouTube American Express Hilton Starbucks Victoria's Secret

METHODOLOGY

24/7 Wall St. commissioned Zogby Analytics to conduct an online national survey of more than 1,500 randomly chosen respondents to rate customer service at 151 of the best-known companies in the country. Seventeen industries are represented in the study.

Respondents were asked to evaluate customer service quality as "excellent," "good," "fair," or "poor." Of the 151 companies, 112 had at least 500 valid responses. We did not consider companies with fewer valid responses.

When a company with multiple divisions scored as one of the best or worst for customer satisfaction, we listed the company only once in our rank.

The 15 companies with the highest percentage of "poor" responses represent our Customer Service Hall of Shame. Using the same methodology, the 15 companies with the highest percentage of "excellent" responses became our Customer Service Hall of Fame. This is the third year 24/7 Wall St. has conducted this study.

About Us

24/7 Wall St., LLC is a Delaware corporation which runs a financial news and opinion company with content delivered over the Internet. The company's articles are republished by many of the largest news sites and portals, including MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, Time.com, USAToday, and The Huffington Post.

The company publishes over 30 articles per day and has readers throughout North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Contact: Tom Gibson

GIBSON Communications, LLC

Office: +1.201.476.0322

Mobile: +1.201.264.3646

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/corporate-americas-customer-service-hall-of-shamefame-revealed-300316993.html

SOURCE 24/7 Wall St., LLC
Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform Frames Need for Healthcare Policy to Grapple with Pervasive Impact of Social Determinants

The Physicians Foundation today announced the release of Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform, a thought-provoking and data-rich book documenting the impact of social determinants on healthcare costs. Authored by the late Richard (Buz) Cooper, M.D., the book draws on decades of health research and economic data to demonstrate the pervasive, debilitating effects of poverty on healthcare costs, resource utilization and overall patient outcomes. The book, now available, is published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005886/en/

New book documents link between poverty and high healthcare costs. (Photo: Business Wire)

The essential truths uncovered in Buzs work are very clear from my own medical practice, said Joseph Valenti, M.D., FACOG, and Physicians Foundation Board Member. Poverty has become one of the most challenging issues we face here in the U.S., particularly with the financial burden it places on our healthcare system in comparison to other developed nations. Insights from this book should help all healthcare stakeholders, including legislators, acknowledge the tangible impact of poverty on costs, outcomes and society as a whole.

Dr. Coopers book was commissioned by The Physicians Foundation, a nonprofit organization seeking to empower physicians to lead in the delivery of high-quality, cost-efficient healthcare. To hear more insights from Dr. Valenti as well as other colleagues, friends and family about Dr. Coopers findings and life, view their video commentary here.

Healthcare Through the Lens of Poverty

Throughout the book, Dr. Cooper builds an engaging and impassioned exploration of healthcare through the lens of poverty, utilizing an array of relevant research. This includes data sets drawn from city, state and federal levels, domestic and global economic assessments, and healthcare utilization statistics and reports.

His work takes both a macro and micro view, zooming in on specific cities or regions to uproot conventional policy assumptions  including those framed by the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.

One example is his use of New York Citys subway system in the first chapter. He follows the A train to map healthcare utilization and costs to changes in wealth among the populations along its route. Dr. Cooper examines other cities such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Grand Junction, Colorado, New Haven, Connecticut, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to reveal additional dimensions of his argument.

Based on the distribution of household incomes throughout the U.S., Dr. Cooper estimates that if the poorest areas utilized healthcare at the rate of the most affluent, overall utilization and spending could be as much as 30 percent less. Even more striking, he reminds readers that life expectancy in poor neighborhoods is a full 10 years shorter than in the richest.

Dr. Cooper also observes that despite Americas overall wealth, the U.S. spends less on social services than is the norm among other developed countries of the Organization on Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), particularly on services for children and younger adults.

According to Dr. Cooper:

care is inefficiently and redundantly used by low-income populations, whose costs are subsidized within states and cross-subsidized among states. By failing the 50 percent of children who are born into poverty, and by tolerating the poverty into which they are born, our nation bears a burden of healthcare spending that is higher than in any other developed country.

The Myths of Healthcare Reform

The dominant emphasis of healthcare reform over recent decades has been on eliminating perceived waste and inefficiency. Dr. Cooper challenges this paradigm, documenting how ignoring the impact of low income on healthcare utilization has led policy makers to miss the bigger and more relevant picture  and to reshape clinical practice in ways that impede providers who care for the poor. By illuminating the geographic patterns of poverty, wealth and healthcare spending, he analyzes the impact that regulatory interventions have had on clinical practice, physician wellness and on our nations collective health.

The message that I hope the readers will take to heart is the need to take action now, said Michael Johns, M.D., and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Emeritus at Emory University. If we dont address the healthcare needs of those living in poverty now, were leaving a burden for future generations. This is America. We have to take care of all of our people.

About the Author

A prominent physician and academic, Richard (Buz) Cooper, M.D. (19362016), spent his professional life dedicated to investigating the increasingly prominent role poverty plays in accessing affordable, quality-oriented care. He was a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvanias Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, the dean and executive vice president of the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he founded the Institute for Health and Society, and the cofounder and director of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center.

About Johns Hopkins University Press

Founded in 1878, The Johns Hopkins University Press, recognized as one of the worlds finest and most accomplished scholarly publishers, publishes over 80 scholarly periodicals and more than 200 new books each year.

About The Physicians Foundation

The Physicians Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to empower physicians to lead in the delivery of high-quality, cost-efficient healthcare. As the U.S. healthcare system continues to evolve, the Physicians Foundation is steadfast in its determination to strengthen the physician-patient relationship, support physicians in sustaining their medical practices and help practicing physicians navigate the changing healthcare system.

For more information, please visit www.physiciansfoundation.org.

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Former Morgan Stanley Executive to lead TPG Capital Asias Investment Strategy in South Korea

TPG, a leading global alternative asset firm, announced today that it has named Sanghoon Lee as a Partner at the firm. Lee will be responsible for leading TPG Capital Asias investment activities in South Korea, further expanding the firms presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Many years of investing in Asia have reinforced my conviction in the investment opportunity in the region, said Jon Winkelried, Co-CEO of TPG. Continuing to build our business across Asia is an important priority for TPG and I believe South Korea offers an exciting and dynamic opportunity for our firm. Sanghoons experience, local knowledge, and leadership make him an ideal partner to help us capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.

In 1994, TPG made its first investment in Asia and opened its first office to lead private equity investments in the region. Since that time, TPG has invested $8.1 billion in 69 investments across 12 countries through varied local and regional economic cycles. The firms investments in South Korea include Korea First Bank and Hanaro Telecom. At the firm, Lee will assist in sourcing and managing new private equity investments for TPG Capital Asia in South Korea.

As active investors in Asia for more than 20 years, we are fortunate to have built strong relationships and industry expertise that have been integral to building businesses across the region, said Tim Dattels, Managing Partner of TPG Capital Asia. We see Korea, in particular, as a country poised for growth with untapped opportunities across multiple industries. TPGs deep knowledge across sectors, together with Sanghoons track record as a leading investor in the country, makes for an exciting combination as we look to source and identify investment opportunities in this dynamic and economically impactful market.

The addition of Lee builds on a series of key leadership appointments made in 2016 by TPG as the firm continues to strengthen its presence and position itself for the next era of investment in Asia. These include Jin-Yong Cai, Jia Dong, Daniel Hu, JinPing Sun, and Joel Thickins, who will formally join TPG in October as Country Head of Australia.

Lee brings to TPG more than 15 years of investment and banking experience in the Korea market, having most recently served as Managing Director and Head of Korea for Morgan Stanley Private Equity. Lee joined Morgan Stanley in 2010 and oversaw the group's private equity transactions in South Korea. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Lee was with Merrill Lynch, where he led the companys M&A and Capital Market transactions in South Korea. Lee is a native of South Korea and received a BA and an MS from Korea University and a MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

About TPG

TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992 with over $70 billion of assets under management and offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, Houston, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Singapore, and Tokyo. TPG's investment platforms are across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, growth venture, real estate, credit, and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across the investment strategy and performance of its portfolio. For more information, visit www.tpg.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160822006123/en/

Media:

U.S.

TPG

Luke Barrett, 212-601-4752

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or

Asia:

Brunswick Group

Siobhan Zheng, +852 9131 5202

Elizabeth Liang, +852 9015 6858

tpgcoreasia@brunswickgroup.com
Yellow Ribbon program helps build resilient Reserve deployers

Approximately 450 Air Force Reserve Airmen and family members attended a Yellow Ribbon event here Aug. 20, to gain information on available resources before, during and after deployments.



Since 2008, the Air Force Yellow Ribbon Program has assisted reservists and Air National Guard members in maintaining resiliency as they transition between their military and civilian roles.



As part of the event, several guest speakers presented information to participants, including Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Dondi E. Costin, the Air Force chief of chaplains.



I want you to think for a moment about what resiliency really is, because its simple, said Costin, the senior pastor for more than half a million active-duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian forces. I like to think of it as the old Timex (wristwatch) commercial, A Timex can take a lickin and keep on tickin. Thats what resiliency is.



Costin, a member of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfeins special staff, is responsible for establishing guidance and providing advice on all matters pertaining to the religious and moral welfare of Air Force personnel. He is also responsible for establishing effective programs to meet the religious needs of Airmen and their loved ones.



One such person is Sarah Thorpe, a former North Carolina National Guard member who attended the event with her husband, Staff Sgt. Steve Thorpe, a civil engineer with the 567th Rapid Engineer Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, Engineer Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, who is preparing for his deployment. Sarah recalled her frustration with the lack of support programs and resources following her 2005 deployment to Iraq.



It was the first deployment for my unit, so everything was new to everyone, she said. We struggled. It was difficult, I didnt know the resources, and I didnt know how to contact the resources because Im suddenly back to my regular life.



The program promotes the well-being of reservists and their loved ones by connecting them with resources before and after deployments. Each year, the Air Force Reserve program trains 7,000 reservists and those closest to them in education benefits, health care, retirement information and more.



Now that they finally have the Yellow Ribbon Program, I am getting the information as a spouse and my husband is getting the information so we can work together as a team, Thorpe said. Im hopeful because now I know what to expect, because I have the resources and because I can be in control of the situation at home when his mission is overseas."



The event was the first one of its kind attended by Costin, who has been the services top chaplain for a year.



Youve got other people around you who can help you. You dont have to go through whatever this is by yourself, Costin said. Thats what your squadron is there for. Thats what your flight is there for. Thats what your base community and your family and your neighborhood is there for  to help you.
With the Brihan-mumbai Municipal Corporation election around the corner political parties are trying every trick in the book to lure voters. The recent Supre-me Court verdict capping the height of human pyramids to 20 feet for Dahi Handi festival has not gone well with Shiv Sena and MNS. Both these parties had expressed their strong displeasure over the court verdict and they are planning to celebrate the festival as usual. Thus Sena and MNS are defying the apex court order to please their vote banks. Dahi Handi is a festival in which youth participates in large numbers and it becomes an opportunity for both these parties to interact with them. Politicians, cutting across party lines, promise crores of rupees as prize money for breaking curd-containing pots which are hung out of reach.



Shiv Sena which is the alliance partner of the BJP is keen to retain control over the BMC this time too. Sena president Uddhav Thackeray wants to ensure that Shiv Sena remains number one party in the state before the 2019 assembly election. Therefore it is necessary for the outfit to maintain its control of Mumbai.

Shiv Sena MP Rajan Vichare said, I dont understand why so many restrictions have been imposed on Dahi Handi festival. One should look the festival as an occasion to celebrate and it is not a dangerous event which claims peoples lives.

Shiv Sena MLA from Thane, Pratap Sarnaik will be spending more than Rs 50 lakhs as prize money for the Govindas. He said, Every mandal taking part will be awarded a prize. We want Govindas to come up with unique concepts like traditional dresses or new stunts to bag additional gifts.

Responding to the apex courts order Sena mouthpiece Saamna said it was too close to a Lakshman Rekha. Ganeshotsav, Dahi Handi and Navratra festival are all parts of our beliefs. Courts which are now governing us should not cross the Lakshman Rekha at least on these issues, an editorial in Saamna said.

Today youth belonging to the age group of 20 to 35 comprise around 40 per cent of the electorate and they play decisive role in turning around the fortunes of a political party. Janmashtami is a mega outreach programme for political parties. Both Sena and MNS will attempt to form tall human pyramids for breaking the pot of curd. Earlier MNS Chief Raj Thackeray had said that court should not interfere in festivals which have been happening for years.

The judiciary should have arrived at a consensus with stakeholders before delivering its verdict. It has been harsh on Hindu festivals and why nobody speaks about loudspeakers being played in loud volume at mosques. Why no action was taken on the issue of children participating in Muharram, asked Raj Thackeray.

On the other hand, Dahi handi organisers will challenge the Supreme Court directive restricting the age limit of participants to 18 years and height of human pyramids to 20 feet. Jai Jawan Govinda Pathak team from Jogeshwari will file fresh petition to challenge the court order on Wednesday.
A lawyer from Karnataka has filed a case of sedition against actress-turned-politician Ramya for her recent comment praising Pakistan and its people.



I respectfully disagree, but Pakistan is not hell, reiterated Kannada actress and Congress member Ramya, after news broke, asking a case of sedition be filed against her.

A petition has been filed against Ramya at the office of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class Court at Somavarapete in Karnatakas Madikeri, demanding that she should be booked under the sedition law for her comments on Pakistanis.

Everybody is entitled to express their views and that is what democracy is all about, you cant force your ideology on anyone, the former Congress MP said.

Politicians want to polarise and spread hatred. Just because borders separate us we shouldnt hate others, Ramya aka Divya Spandana said.

Referring to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikars statement that going to Pakistan is like going to hell, Ramya had said that Pakistan is not hell. People are just like us. They treated us very well. Ramya was recently in Islamabad to attend a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference.

The former Congress MP also reiterated her stand and said, I dont think Im wrong. I also love Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Of course, I wont leave India. Its my home and I am not going to leave my dogs.

On whether she would apologise for her statements, Ramya said, I dont have ego at all and in any given incident I would have apologised, but if I do it in this case, the larger cause were fighting for would go.

The case comes exactly a week after sedition case was filed against Amnesty International for organising the event Broken families. The ABVP which was protesting against the organisation and has been demanding a NIA probe, will now stage a protest against Divya for her remarks.
Top Indian carriers including government-run Air India have sought the Civil and Defence ministries nod to avoid flying over Pakistani airspace.



Airlines such as SpiceJet, Indigo, Jet Airways and Air India that operate flight to Gulf countries have requested the government to allow them take off the flight to Gulf from western India (mainly Ahmedabad) over the Arabian Sea.

It said that several airlines, operating their aircrafts in the Pakistans airspace, fear security threat due to the worsening India-Pakistan ties.

SpiceJet in a presentation has requested the Government to give direct access for its flights from Ahmedabad to the Gulf under the flexi-use of airspace. It refers to the airspace reserved for air force and the navy.

However, the defense ministry is yet to take any call on this.

SpiceJets request is also backed by two reasons it will help save the company Rs. 1 lakh on such trips while it will also help cut down carbon emissions.

With this not only airlines save fuel and route navigation flight charges (RNFC), our country can generate more RNFC. This will also enable reduction in carbon emissions which is part of global environmental saving, SpiceJet said in the presentation. The budget airline would save rupees one lakh if it is allowed direct oceanic route instead of flying over Pakistan for its Ahmedabad-Dubai flight.
[dropcap]I[/dropcap] was on Change.org and saw many petitions against Vijay Mallya. The anger and rage people carry against him is unfathomable. From words like Bring Mallya Back to Initiate Criminal Proceedings were seen in the petitions by various people. If you will go through the twitter, then you will easily notice that how people are speaking against him.

I was with one of my friend on Sunday, and we were discussing about the usual scenario in the country. As soon as I spoke about Enforcement Directorate (ED) extending their scope and working with CBI against Mallya, to my shock, the said friend sprung in action with rage filled eyes. He said, Mallya should be brought back to India and should be punished for looting Rs. 9000 crores. I politely asked him, if Mallya took his money too, he denied. I asked him, what brand of beer he likes when he goes to Goa, his response was Kingfisher draught. Ironic as it sounds, it is not just him but many people across the nation are in anguish due to this.

Recently, the opportunist chief minister spoke against Mallya and appealed to the Prime Minister of India to look into this matter. People gladly joined his cause and supported him as he demanded the return of Mallya to the nation.

Mallya did not take money from the Indian treasure. He may or may not have been a part of money laundering, we cant say. He has sponsored IPL team called Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) which we happily cheered for during matches. He availed loan from the banks and was willing to repay. Not everyone have courage to pay back the loan amount. Besides Mallya, there are many who are absconding with money. Its banks responsibility to give loan based on the security they can receive. Its bank failed decision which has caused the uproar. Mallya did not make the banks sign at the gunpoint, it was his business.

Company sign with a bank for money and that is it. Sometimes companies repay the loan, but sometimes having hit by a crisis, it does not. It is a business deal between bank and a company, and has nothing to do with the nation. He has not stolen money from the citizens. Actually, it is the banks that are draining the nation; they should have paid the full tax irrespective of the defaulters. Banks exist not for charity but to do business. Banks like to earn money by giving money, loan is one of their products. People are repaying the loan or not is called business risk and they study about the company or individual before assigning the loans.

Why, we Indians are worrying about it? Why is a chief minister giving time from his busy schedule and planning, when the business issue is between two companies? Besides, he is asking the Prime Minister to work on behalf of the banks. Banks should have known about the consequences. Officials should be punished, the one who signed the document and approved loan to him, first. Banks pushed credit cards to individuals with repeated phone calls by the sales executives and people become defaulters when they cannot pay. At an individual level, they managed to declare a deficit from the government. Indian banks are not distributing loans as an individual demands. When you go to the bank, do you get loan instantly? Who is responsible if you choose not to repay the loan; bank or the government? Chief Minister is a respectable and responsible designation, and if someone wastes their time by curbing on the salary which is paid by our hard earned money as a tax then they should spend their time in the office more than casual activities. A business man will never let his employee waste his time.

When some people open their mouth or express their understanding based on the wave created by the politicians, with no bases, it actually brings down the average IQ of an entire nation. Please step out of the crowd and work towards what is in the best interest of the nation. Being a part of political wave, should be a thing of the past now. Lets grow up.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2016 - An environmental group is seeking to force the Fish and Wildlife Service to act on petitions to protect 417 animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act.

These 417 species and hundreds of others are being dangerously neglected for no other reasons than bureaucratic inefficiency and lack of political will, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which has filed notice to sue the agency.

According to the notice, the petitions have been filed over the last eight years. The agency has issued initial findings determining that ESA listings may be warranted for all of the species, but subsequent actions required of the agency are now as much as seven years late, the notice says.

The agency has 90 days to decide whether the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted and 12 additional months to determine whether listing is warranted, not warranted, or warranted but precluded. The agency hasnt issued timely 12-month findings for any of the 417 species, according to the notice.

Accordingly, you are in violation of the law and have abrogated your duty to ensure that protection of endangered species occurs in a timely manner thereby avoiding further decline and increased risk of extinction, the notice says.

Watching for stories about threatened species? Sign up for an Agri-Pulse four-week free trial subscription to stay on top of this and other ag, rural policy and energy issues.





The notice names species from across the country, including Florida sandhill cranes, the Oklahoma salamander, golden-winged warbler, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and the San Joaquin Valley giant flowerloving fly.

Ethan Lane, executive director of the Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemens Beef Associations federal lands program, said such legal action forces arbitrary deadlines on the Fish and Wildlife Service without helping species recover.

Groups like the Center for Biological Diversity are attempting to force their agenda on FWS through litigation abuse. Substantive ESA reform is needed now to allow FWS the autonomy necessary to prioritize species conservation according to need, rather than political agenda, Lane said.

The focus should be on creating real recovery goals and delisting species that are no longer endangered rather than overwhelming the agency with paperwork, said Lane.

#30
August 23, 2016

In a step aimed at promoting the role of women in Egyptian society, a parallel womens government, the first of its kind, was announced in mid-July, dubbed the Egyptian Womens Government.

A statement issued just before the official launch said that the new Cabinet includes only female independent ministers and will work as a research center to serve Egyptian society and support womens intellectual paths of all stripes.

Forming a government with only female ministers is unprecedented historically and geographically, Ghad al-Wakil, the head of the newly formed women's government, told Al-Monitor.

Wakil said that she has been mulling over the idea for years now and started two months ago to form the parallel government under the umbrella of the Heritage and Traditional Arts Association. The women's government includes 25 ministerial posts, including some that do not exist in the traditional Egyptian government, while some traditional ministries were merged into a single post.

She added that the women's government operates under the umbrella of the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Egypt's government; this ministry supervises nongovernmental organizations and civil society organizations. The womens government includes symbols of civil society as they are working on the ground and have a firsthand experience in the citizens daily problems, she said, adding that the parallel government was formed in an unconventional way  using outside-the-box thinking  as new approaches were set forth.

Wakil, who serves as the chairperson of the Womens Committee in the Heritage and Traditional Arts Association, criticized present and past Egyptian governments for the low representation of women in the Cabinet. In the Egyptian Cabinet formed in September 2015, only three of 33 ministerial posts went to women.

Women number more than 47 million in Egypt, according to the United Nations, and the executive government continues to limit us to certain ministries, she said.

Wakil, who served as minister of immigration in the shadow government of the Wafd Party before she was suspended, said, The womens government came in peace to extend a helping hand to the executive government and we have seen a great welcome.

We do not seek any position. Our work is voluntary first and foremost and we have our own funding. We are an independent entity and we do not espouse or endorse any political or partisan ideology, she added.

Wakil rejects the term parallel government. We are a typical government that was formed to promote womens participation in Egypt and to find solutions to community problems, she said.

The women's government includes 19 women, plus one man in charge of the men and housing portfolio. This ministerial post seeks to improve the image of Egyptian men abroad, after having been badly portrayed, especially for sexual harassment, she said, adding that a 23-year-old woman was appointed as head of the Youth Ministry.

Two new ministries were created in the women's government. The first is the Francophone minister, who will focus on a portfolio concerning Africa, given the issues that are of great concern to Egypt strategically and geopolitically. The second ministry will handle Nile Basin Affairs.

Wakil said, We ought to address this issue that is of paramount importance for Egypt and we hope that will not face any problem in this regard, referring to the Renaissance Dam project that is of great concern to Egypt; the Ethiopian dam might cause Egypt to lose part of its water share.

Asked whether or not the women's government will play a role in some foreign issues of concern to Egypt, Wakil said it has been customary for Egypt to deal with the United States and some European countries. She said the women's government will also address the African and Asian axes, in addition to Latin America. She believes that soft power engendered by the women's government could be of help to Egypt in certain issues, but by way of dialogue, not pressure.

Wakil further said that education is a top priority for the womens government. The ministries of Education and Higher Education were merged into one ministry in the women's government and started its first project in Port Said. The project, called Sun, aims to turn two technical schools (for boys and girls) from consumers of energy into producers of it. The women's government's Environment Ministry and Youth Ministry, in cooperation with the executive government's Ministry of Education and Higher Education, will contribute to the project.

Wakil said she considered vocational education to be the future of Egypt in the coming years. The women's government is also concerned with health issues. We separated the Health Ministry from the pharmaceutical domain, along the lines of the American model, Wakil said.

Commenting on Egypts current economic crisis, Wakil said, It is a thorny issue. Therefore, we merged the ministries of economy, finance and investment into one ministry supervised by an integrated economic advisory board. We are working on formulating a vision out of the current crisis to be submitted to the executive government. Wakil criticized the state for removing subsidies on some basic services such as electricity and energy.

Wakil also heads the Defense Ministry in the women's government. Among other issues that have been placed on the table for consideration: the military recruitment of young women, which comes upon the request of many of them. We are preparing now to discuss this proposal in public and we seek to hold an international conference with the theme of defending Egyptian identity, Wakil said.

Mustafa Kamel Sayyed, a political science professor at the American University in Cairo, said of the women's government, I highly doubt that this Cabinet will have any impact on the executive government's policies.

He told Al-Monitor, In terms of political sciences, a shadow government could be formed that would include some figures assuming responsibility for certain ministries but in the context of a parliament, whose members would usually be from an opposition party. This government would be used as a means to train its members for the government work in addition to providing alternative proposals that would be implemented when their party comes to power following elections. These members could also try to convince the public that their shadow government could be a better option in running the state affairs.

Sayyed said forming shadow governments is important, but should be done within the framework of the current parliament, a condition the womens government has failed to meet. He added that the decisions of shadow governments are not binding for the executive authority. However, shadow governments could criticize the governments current program and lobby public opinion and parliament, while trying to show its effectiveness by gaining an overwhelming majority of votes on some issue in parliament.

The communication channels that the womens government will be employing to convey their ideas to the executive power are unknown, nor do we know to what extent the latter will be interested in them, he added.

Sayyed, however, noted that this new Cabinet is an important step in promoting womens participation in the political life and public sphere. He said that it all boils down to how the members of the women's government present themselves and their ideas; a good presentation could provide an incentive for many other women to follow suit.

He also said, I believe there are indications suggesting that there have been higher rates of women's participation in the public sphere, but this was limited to supporting [Abdel Fattah al-] Sisi in the last presidential elections.

He added, We must wait some time to see what happens. These rates increase following major political changes  such as the January 25 Revolution in 2011  and after a while people may become disappointed because their hopes for revolutionary change were not realized. But change is a long, difficult process and we need to wait to see more women in the public sphere.
August 23, 2016

Speak, so that I may see you. Socrates is often attributed as having said that as a way to encourage people to speak up about their problems so others could sympathize with and maybe help them. But what about those who are unable to voice their concerns?

In Egypt, there are more than 5 million people who, but for their efforts and the efforts of others, otherwise might be invisible to society. Much of society remains oblivious to their trials simply because they cannot hear and speak in the typical manner. They are often labeled deaf and dumb. The sign language they use is largely understood only by others who also have hearing and speech impairments.

Although art is called a mirror of society, it seems the mirror of cinema and theater is indifferent to these people. If they are ever mentioned in art, it is almost always in scenes of derision and mockery that turn a blind eye to their daily hardships.

However, Perfume is a play that came as a game changer in Egyptian society. Instead of the usual cynical mockery, the play turns daily problems into a work of art. The play addresses the suffering of the deaf. Its performers include a group of eight young people who have hearing and speaking impairments, in addition to six other professional actors.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Mohammed Allam, the director of the play, said it is the first theatrical performance that gathers professional actors with hearing-impaired actors. He said the idea of the play came to him when he learned there are 5 million such people in Egypt. Despite their numbers, they were being largely ignored in theater and cinema.

I decided then to start working on a play that would touch on their problems in life through a dramatic work. One of the main dilemmas discussed in the play is the fact that people with hearing and speaking impairments often do not pursue higher education, given the lack of colleges that use sign language in their curricula, Allam said.

Another aspect of their life showcased in the play is the fact that they seek to integrate into society instead of feeling as outcasts. They have the right to have movies in their own language  and a way to adjust societys view of them. The deaf and dumb actors who are part of the play are very talented and professional, and I did not feel [frustrated] or face any difficulties while working with them.

Allam said that when he introduced the idea to the former president of the Theater House, Fattouh Ahmed, Ahmed immediately agreed and encouraged Allam to move forward with the idea.

The play opened in July and continues today. It is such a success it has won public admiration from both impaired and nonimpaired audiences. The play was performed in sign language so as to convey its message to the different audiences.

About his future projects, Allam said he is mulling over the idea of establishing a state-affiliated theater for the deaf and dumb to touch on their problems and tap into their talents and integrate them in the works of art.

He noted that Perfume is intended as a message to society and the state that the hearing-impaired are human beings and have the right to live full lives.

The play tells the story of two acting groups, one with nonimpaired actors and one with impaired actors, agreeing to work together in a joint theatrical performance to showcase the hardships of people with hearing and speaking impairments. It is about a young man rejected by the family of his beloved because he cannot hear, among other problems he faces in the community.

Amar Adel, who leads the nonhearing actors and directs the sign language in the play, told Al-Monitor she rejects the phrase deaf and dumb, which she considers derogatory. She prefers the description deaf and hearing-impaired, as these people are not completely silent as they try to utter words.

Adel, who does not suffer an impairment, said she is proud of being part of the deaf community and being part of the first work of art dedicated to them.

I nominated a number of deaf people for the roles in the play and some of them were chosen by the director, who met with them to get to know them closely and be acquainted with their daily problems, she said.

Adel attended all rehearsals to ensure the play accurately portrays members of the deaf community and their problems. She criticized previous works of art that depicted the deaf as short-tempered, morose and sulky.

I was afraid that the play that is performed in sign language would not be satisfactory to the actors or the audience, but I was really surprised that people with hearing impairment as well as [other people] were equally impressed and satisfied, she said.

Adel and Ahmed called upon all officials in Egypt to see the play so they might get a glimpse of the conditions of the many people who are deprived of education, work opportunities and the basic rights of any citizen.

In March, when the play was still in the planning stage, Ahmed told the press he had agreed to the production of Perfume as a means of reaching the 5 million deaf people in Egypt and calling attention to their hardships, while tapping into their energy and talents so they can express their feelings.

He said the hearing-impaired often miss out on the chance of going to college, given the lack of universities that use sign language in their curricula. The students usually drop education after high school or technical school, he said.
August 22, 2016

CAIRO  In a narrow alleyway in the Abdin neighborhood in central Cairo, the band Asyad el-Zar (Zar Masters) performs a traditional show the first week of every month in a small theater located in the midst of old houses. The sounds of tambourines and traditional musical instruments are central in these performances to remind Egyptians of the Zar art, which has been disappearing gradually from Egyptian folklore in the past two decades.

Zar shows aim at reviving folk music, searching for it in its source and presenting it to the audience, Zakaria Ibrahim, the founder of El Mastaba Center for Egyptian Folk Music, told Al-Monitor. Zar is disappearing in Egypt. Those who know it and practice it are having trouble keeping it alive.

Zar is the oldest form of Egyptian folk music, and historians have disagreed over its origin. Some believe that it originated in Ethiopia and Sudan and from there it moved to Egypt then to some other Middle Eastern countries. Egyptian Zar intertwined with the Sudanese version, with the influx of Sudanese migrants to Egypt during Mohammad Alis era in 1820. The Sudanese tanbura (a six-string lyre) and rango instruments became integrated in the Zar music. As a result, several types of Zar music could be distinguished: Egyptian Zar, which involves tambourines and drums; Sudanese Zar, which involves the traditional tanbura; and Abul Gheit Zar, which brings in Sufi songs and tawshihat (spiritual hymns). Egyptians, especially women in popular neighborhoods and villages, have always linked this last type to superstitions and exorcising demons and jinn, genies from Islamic mythology.

A typical Zar performance opens with calm rhythms of tanbura and rango, coupled with songs including words in Sudanese and local Egyptian accents from Upper Egypt and Port Said. Then, the drums and tambourines come in to include fast and successive beats that change the ambiance to make it more exciting and luring to engage the audience and encourage them to interact with the music. A dancer strapping a belt with goat hooves around his waist (known as the mangor belt) adds to the sound of traditional instruments made of animal leather and derivatives.

Hassan Bergamon, a member of the band, is one of the last remaining people who play the Sudanese rango in Egypt. He told Al-Monitor, I was born in Cairo after my parents came here in the 1930s to work. I learned to play the rango from my father, but when this form of art started disappearing, we would sing and play in Zar ceremonies.

He added, The rango and tanbura are Sudanese instruments that our ancestors brought along when they emigrated to Egypt, and their rhythms are in harmony with Zar music.

Zainab, a woman in her 60s, has performed in Zar ceremonies since her childhood, as her parents would hold these parties at their house in the Port Said neighborhoods. But the ceremonies stopped for lack of demand from the locals.

Surrounded by a bunch of women attending her show, she told Al-Monitor, Most of the people who come to these ceremonies are women. They leave with high spirits, and they feel they released bad energy and psychological repression. Some are touched by sad songs or roundelays, while others get excited when hearing the fast-paced music beats.

Although Zar culture is disappearing in Egypt, Zainab said, There are a few demands for holding Zar ceremonies in certain houses. But with the rise of the Sunni groups in Egypt, the art of Zar is under attack, as it is linked to jinn and superstitions. But it is initially an innocent spiritual rite that has nothing to do with the criticism it gets.

Ibrahim said, Zar started out as a ritual rather than a celebration, because it is believed to be a traditional remedy for spiritual problems. Far from disputes about its ideological background, the fast rhythm and singing and dancing in Zar ceremonies aim at releasing negative vibes and repression.

Many theatrical works in Egypt have linked Zar to the world of jinn, sorcery and blasphemy. This gave it a stereotypical image and socially stigmatized it.

Mazaher al-Zar is another band formed by Ahmed el-Maghribi, the head of the Egyptian Center for Culture and Arts. The center has been welcoming Zar artists in Egypt since 2002, as they meet up to hold weekly ceremonies on a stage that was inspired by traditional heritage in Cairo.

Maghribi told Al-Monitor, These ceremonies revive the enthusiasm to participate in collective singing and hadra (collective supererogatory ritual), and they include musical performances that reflect a positive image of Egyptian culture, at a time when Egyptians themselves undermine their heritage sometimes.

He noted, Zar reveals the African aspect of Egyptian art. The historical contact between Egypt and the African countries started in Nubia in Upper Egypt. The musical analysis of Zar shows a richness that goes years back. But there are no real studies about the Zar music because interest in it focuses on its humanitarian and psychological aspects only.

In an attempt to revive interest in Egyptian folklore, Zar has been elevated from being practiced in popular neighborhoods to being performed on the stages of cultural centers. These attempts also aim at banishing the stereotypes that have stigmatized Zar performance sometimes and classified it under blasphemy and ignorance. This form of art is now being added to the ancient Egyptian heritage whose scope was expanded to include the African musical heritage also.
August 23, 2016

When Russia announced last week that it had launched airstrikes against Syrian opposition forces from western Iran, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), was the first Iranian official to indirectly confirm the news. Shortly thereafter, a number of other officials both confirmed the news and defended it, arguing that it was part of a strategic pact between the two countries to fight terrorism in the region.

Iranian parliamentarians raised concerns about the possibility of a foreign country establishing a military base in the country, which would violate the Iranian Constitution. High-ranking officials responded that the use of Hamedan air base was strictly for refueling purposes, while other officials assured the media that Russian planes would remain in Iran temporarily. The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced Aug. 22 that the planes had left Iran "for the time being."

The media controversy and the seemingly uncoordinated statements by Iranian officials suggest that Tehran was not ready to announce the presence of the Russian planes. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said that Russia and Iran had planned to make the announcement simultaneously. When asked why instead the Russian Foreign Ministry made the announcement first, Ghasemi said, "Maybe because of the time difference of geographic regions."

No response has received more media traction than that of Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan. When asked during a television interview why the Iranians did not announce the presence of the Russian planes first, Dehghan replied, "You have to ask the Russians." He continued, "First of all, the Russians would like to show that they are a superpower and they have an effect on the security process in the region and the world. Also, on the Syria scene, they want to show themselves to be a determinative actor, that they are able to negotiate with the Americans and secure their portion on the political future of Syria." The television interviewer followed up the question by asking Dehghan if the Russians had the intention to "show off" by announcing it first. Rather than confirm the question, Dehghan responded that it was "a little ungentlemanly."

When news transcripts of the interview were first published, they had made Dehghan's comments appear more critical than the video showed. The transcripts did not include the prompting by the reporter about "showing off," nor did they reflect how Dehghan's "ungentlemanly" response was followed by a laugh from both the interviewer and the subject.

Dehghan also caused a stir when he responded to complaints by parliamentarians that "it was none of their business." After parliament Speaker Ali Larijani criticized him for the comment, Dehghan wrote an open letter clarifying that he did not intend to diminish the place of parliament within the Islamic Republic. Dehghan added that he only meant that the decision regarding the Russian planes did not need to be approved by parliament.

Dehghan, of course, is right. The decision regarding the Russians planes in Iran was approved by the SNSC and its secretary, Shamkhani, has been a steady and consistent voice over the matter. After speculation that the departure of the Russian planes was due to outside pressure or internal disagreements, Shamkhani told Iranian media, "The planes were never meant to stay at this base but it was agreed that from day 'X' until Thursday [Aug. 18] they would be there and then leave. The planes did not leave yesterday but based on the plans of the ground operations, they left last Thursday and this was not a result of pressure from other countries."

On the possibility of internal disagreements within the country, Shamkhani said, "Within the structure of the Islamic Republic, it has been some time that the slowness and deadlock with respect to decision-making has been resolved." He added that Iran brought Russia into the Syrian civil war due to its need of an air power to coordinate the ground operations, which Iran had planned and is advising. Shamkhani said that this is "a sign of strength."
August 23, 2016

The Palestinian leadership is looking with much anxiety toward 2017. The year is perceived as a time when the patience of its people regarding statehood will run out. It will be 50 years of the occupation, with no end in sight. Internationally, it will be a year dominated by a transition toward a new US administration headed by Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Palestinian US experts are giving thought as to how to interact with Washington in the two possible scenarios.

An official in the entourage of PLO Executive Secretary Saeb Erekat told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the Palestinian leadership will not agree to restart process talks for a two-state solution, even informally, from any new baseline. Washington knows our position on all issues, as conveyed to US Secretary of State John Kerry. The PLO will engage in negotiations after a new administration is in place only on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, with a settlement freeze and with a prisoner release, as it was related to John Kerry. Whenever a new administration takes over, or whenever there is a new government in Israel, we are asked to start the process anew. That will not be the case this time around.

In Israel, the opposite is true. A confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the government is looking forward to a new administration, whatever the outcome of the elections, given the poor relationship between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu. The confidant said there is not only a fierce disagreement on policy, but a real ideological divide between the two leaders, given, for instance, Obamas preference for collective diplomacy and his reluctance to have US troops on the ground in Iraq or directly attack in Syria.

As for the issue of the outcome of the US presidential election, the confidant said Netanyahu is neutral. He respects Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, though he has had sharp disagreements with her regarding settlement policy. The confidant implied that while Republican nominee Donald Trump is an unknown, Netanyahu is closer ideologically to Trump's party.

On the Palestinian side, there is no hope when it comes to either candidate. Hillary Clinton was not a popular secretary of state in Ramallah, and she was perceived as adopting pro-Israel positions on all permanent status issues. Yet she is well-known by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his team and so is her potential Middle East team, which will probably include diplomats and experts who worked in the past with President Bill Clinton. Trump is seen in Ramallah as hostile to Palestinians and Muslims. Trump has spoken out against a Palestinian state and in favor of the settlements.

The Palestinian official told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian Authority is envisaging for 2017 two alternative diplomatic strategies.

In case of a Clinton presidency, the PLO negotiation team headed by Erekat will focus on advancing new terms of reference for a two-state solution based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. In the case of Clinton, they believe the EU will have influence on US policymakers.

In case of a Trump administration, the plan is to rely on Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Arab League to impress on the new administration the critical importance, in terms of US-Arab relations, of Palestinian statehood  especially in the context of the fight against the Islamic State.

The official claimed that 2017 will be devoted to the launching of an aggressive campaign on 50 years of the occupation. All Palestinian diplomatic delegations around the world have been instructed to launch campaigns vis-a-vis governments and public opinion, encouraging the world to act in order to bring an end to the occupation.

All this should lead in the second half of 2017 to the convening of special UN General Assembly and Security Council meetings dedicated to Palestinian statehood. The official said that especially given the transition in the US, our aim is to create a global consensus on a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital. He added with despair that 2017 may very well become a year of an armed intifada.

Asked about all this, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Israel will reject any internationally monitored peace process and all Palestinian preconditions. He expects Israeli policies in 2017 not to change. Both Clinton and Trump have expressed interest in inviting Netanyahu to Washington immediately after taking office. Israel will continue to propose bilateral and unconditional negotiations, and the official believes that 2017 will be another year of missed Palestinian opportunities.

Both officials may be right.
August 22, 2016

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Israel established a unit in early August to communicate with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank through social media and traditional media, away from the Palestinian leadership. The unit aims to talk with Palestinians about everyday life issues and to clarify the Israeli attitude toward the Palestinians. Millions of shekels were allocated to the work of this unit, which is headed by Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories Yoav Mordechai. The Defense Ministry is behind the unit in coordination with the Israeli civil administration.

Israeli news website Walla noted Aug. 5 that the unit was introduced following a recommendation by the Israeli security authorities. It will include many professional experts and specialized technical personnel. Israel is not looking for a new political dialogue with head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas; it wants to communicate directly with the Palestinians.

The units work was translated into a Facebook page titled The Coordinator, which publishes Mordechai's statements in Arabic, targeting Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

On Aug. 18, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced that the unit will be launching a website in Arabic soon, which is expected to be visited by 400,000 people daily.

Wassel Abu Youssef, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Front and member of the PLO's Executive Committee, told Al-Monitor that Israel created this unit to set things straight in dealing with the Palestinians, while circumventing the PA.

He said that Israel's aim through this unit is to destabilize the internal Palestinian situation and try to take advantage of the Palestinians urgent needs to travel, get medical treatment and obtain work permits. In addition, the Israeli government wants to show the Palestinian leadership that it can operate in the Palestinian territories without it.

On Aug. 9, Israel issued 8,000 work permits to Palestinians allowing them to work in Israel; Israel distributed these permits to the workers in the West Bank directly, without referring to the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs, which is in charge of coordinating with the Israelis in this regard.

Jamal Dajani, the director of strategic communications and media for the Palestinian government, believes there is a different side to the Israeli unit other than the one Israel is showing, which is to fight the global boycott organizations that are unveiling oppressive Israeli practices against the Palestinians, specifically the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel founded in 2005. However, despite allocating millions of dollars to fight the BDS movement, Israel has failed to reduce the movements activities on television and radio and in the newspapers.

Dajani told Al-Monitor, This Israeli unit is part of the Israeli propaganda broadcasting news all around the world and in the Palestinian territories to try to beautify the image of Israel after every crime or war carried out in the Palestinian territories. Yet the Israelis are well aware that such steps in addressing the Palestinians will not do any good in light of the suffering that 60% of the Palestinian people have been enduring due to Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories.

Speaking about the steps that can be carried out by the Palestinian governments media institutions after the launch of this unit, Dajani explained that the Palestinian potential remains limited compared to Israels, pointing out that the Palestinian government media center issues statements and reports in several languages. Also, it has created various social media accounts such as the official Facebook page of the prime ministers office and his official Twitter account, to clarify the Palestinian stance regarding several issues and refute the false Israeli propaganda.

Israel decided to address the Palestinians after Avichay Adraee, the spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, attracted hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Palestinians who follow his Arabic Facebook page, which now has almost 1 million followers. He managed to do so by using Palestinian and Middle Eastern photos and expressions and verses of the Quran, and by greeting Palestinians on the occasion of their holidays. Yet during the Israeli war on Gaza in 2014, some Palestinians called on the Arabs to unfollow Adraee.

Farid Abu Dahir, a journalism professor at An-Najah University in Nablus, told Al-Monitor that Israel created this unit after the success of some accounts run by official Israeli spokespersons on social media, whose propaganda was not only followed by people living in the Palestinian territories, but in several Arab countries as well.

He said, Fifteen years ago, todays media openness first emerged. It has exceeded spatial limitations and restrictions imposed by any monitoring authority in the world. The Israeli move to address Palestinians through this unit and show some kind of Israeli sympathy with the Palestinians will not bring the desired result, because every Palestinian in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is suffering from Israel, noting that Israel is trying to send political messages to the PA after the latter threatened to halt the agreements with Israel.

For his part, Akram Atallah, a political analyst and columnist with Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam, believes that the Israeli attempt was absurd and can never succeed because Israel is trying to exonerate itself from the sufferings endured by the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

He said in an article published on Npaa Press Aug. 8, The youngest Palestinian knows what occupation stands for and what it means for another countrys army to control the water, the medical treatment and the air of another people. All those embellishment attempts will fail because the occupation is ugly and nothing can ever make those who are occupying another people look better. This is all an illusion.

In regard to the Palestinians following The Coordinator page, Palestinian journalist Motaz Abdel Ati from Gaza told Al-Monitor that he strongly opposes Palestinians following any Israeli official pages, "especially those addressing Palestinians, such as The Coordinator and the page of the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, Ofir Gendelman. This is because they work on embellishing the image of Israel, which is killing, besieging and violating the most basic rights of Palestinians.

Palestinian merchant Ziad Labad told Al-Monitor, "Two weeks ago, I started following The Coordinator on Facebook through my sons personal account, since I need to learn about the movement of goods entering the crossings  specifically electrical appliances. I do not have a Facebook account and I do not like to use the internet.

Israel has begun to bypass the PA in terms of Palestinians daily lives and punish the authority for refusing to resume negotiations and for joining international institutions, but it is finding it difficult to promote its narrative among Palestinians.
August 23, 2016

BAGHDAD  The crisis over the participation of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in the battle for the liberation of Mosul, which will begin soon, has resurfaced. But this time the National Security Council officially agreed July 31 on the PMU participation in this battle. Iran and the United States also support the Iraqi government's decision to include the PMU in the Mosul battle. US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart E. Jones said Aug. 22 that the participation of the PMU in the Mosul battle is solely an Iraqi decision. Iran's secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, also supported the participation of the PMU in his meeting with the Iraqi parliament speaker, Salim al-Jabouri, on Aug. 21.

Sunni politicians objected to this approval because they do not want the units to take part. On Aug. 8, the press office of the head of the Mutahidoun bloc, Osama al-Nujaifi, issued a press statement talking about a meeting in Nujaifis office between the Sunni coalition and Jones on the same day and discussing several issues, mainly the Sunni stance regarding the PMU participation in the Mosul liberation battle.

The convening leaders of the Sunni blocs asserted that they disapprove of the PMU participation in the battle, claiming that the citizens of Mosul refuse this participation due to the violations committed by factions from the PMU during the liberation of other regions, such as Salahuddin and Fallujah.

The leaders believe that this participation will send out bad messages to the citizens of Ninevah province and might be considered propaganda for the Islamic State [IS]. Nujaifi repeated his objection to the PMU participation in the Mosul battle in his meeting Aug. 21 with the Kuwait ambassador to Iraq.

Despite the objections to the PMU participation and the accusations against them, the leaders of these forces still insist on participating and could care less about the objectors.

In a quick response to the stance of the Mutahidoun bloc in this regard, member of the PMU Opinion Committee Karim al-Nuri described the meeting between the Sunni politicians and Jones as shameful, and said, The PMU are essential forces that will certainly participate in the Mosul battle.

In a press statement published Aug. 8 on the official website of the PMU, Nuri said, The commander in chief of the armed forces, Haider al-Abadi, has decided on the PMU participation in the Mosul liberation battle as it is a military formation affiliated with the Iraqi security institution, and no foreign parties should intervene in the countrys internal affairs. The United States and any other parties cannot forbid the PMU from participating in the battle.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) had called on the Iraqi army commanders July 31 to forbid militias, i.e., the PMU, that have a dangerous record of violations from participating in military battles in Mosul. HRW wrote, In order for the government to abide by all possible measures to protect civilians and ensure the respect of the rules of war, it must stop these militias from participating in the Mosul battle.

In this framework, Joe Stork, the deputy head of the Middle East Department at HRW, said in the same report, Militias which constitute part of the PMU have committed heinous violations several times on a large scale sometimes, most recently in Fallujah. There were no consequences to their actions despite the governments promises to launch an investigation. Iraqi leaders must spare civilians in Mosul the huge danger of militias that have a record of violations.

The PMU participation in the Mosul liberation battle is not the only thing angering Sunnis, who were even more distressed to find out that leader of the Iranian Quds Force Qasem Soleimani might also participate in the battle. Mosul citizens are increasingly concerned about possible violations against them.

PMU spokesman Ahmad al-Asadi said in a statement July 30 that he hopes Soleimani would be present in the Mosul liberation battle because he has largely contributed to the battles against IS. He added that the PMU is so eager to have Soleimani participate that their desire might outweigh the will of the Iraqi government and the citizens of Mosul in regard to the presence of an Iranian official in the battles.

Apparently, Sadrist movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr also refused the participation of the PMU and said Aug. 8, in response to a question by one of his followers, The Mosul liberation battle must be fully in the hands of the Iraqi security forces. We will not accept for the occupiers [United States] or any other party [PMU] to interfere.

Sunni politicians and civilians in regions under IS control will not rest as long as there are forces that they think are out there to get them rather than free them, and as long as some armed factions are taking action without the knowledge of the Iraqi government. The latter will not be able to control all activities or forbid all human rights violations.

In case the PMU do participate in the Mosul liberation battle, it is very likely to result in human rights violations and clashes between the Shiite units and the Sunni National Forces that are led by Ninevah provinces former governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi. These factors are enough to obstruct the course of the battle.
August 23, 2016

If a political leader fails repeatedly, it is expected that he will eventually lose power. Throughout his reign as prime minister and president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has admitted many times to being deceived by his allies and best friends. His failures have had a high cost for the country. Syrias President Bashar al-Assad, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party and the Fethullah Gulen movement, just to name a few, have all managed to mislead Erdogan. Indeed, Gulenists have fooled Erdogan multiple times since the December 2013 corruption scandal. In his frequent public speeches, Erdogan is notorious for uttering a comment and then vehemently retracting or denying it at another appearance.

In any other time and place, a political leader who flip-flops this frequently would pay for it in the next election. This is not the case in Turkey. On the contrary, in every election Erdogan has come out stronger, and in every public gathering he has managed to attract a bigger audience than any other leader in the country. This has been a major embarrassment for the pundits who repeatedly claim Erdogans power has diminished.

So what is Erdogans secret? How could there be growing support for a political leader who has repeatedly been conned in domestic and international politics?

Between July 16 and Aug. 8, Al-Monitor asked several participants at pro-democracy rallies in Ankara and Istanbul these questions. Here is a brief explanation of Erdogans exceptionalism in their eyes.

The most commonly expressed reason: He is one of us. Even though Erdogan lives in a palace and travels with hundreds of security personnel, people still view him as approachable and friendly. The way that Erdogan expresses himself  simple, one dimensional, easy to follow  resonates with many who attend these rallies. It is palpable that Erdogan lulls them into a sense of comfort, security, predictability and long-lost sense of national pride. Even though almost every other week the country is rocked by a brutal terror attack costing dozens of lives and millions of dollars, people believe the security issue is not caused by Erdogan, but persists despite his best efforts.

Next is the determination that everyone against Erdogan is against Islam, and therefore must be punished. The way that Erdogan utilizes language and symbolism is vague but potent. Even if at the end of the speech the listener is not quite sure what the point was, he is filled with emotion. Erdogans words are much like the jingles of his campaign. They manage to whip submission and fear into a highly emotional crowd that is ready to cheer for whatever he says.

This unconditional love and acceptance ties into the second reason they do not demand accountability or question if he is fit to be the leader of a democratic country while repeatedly failing to deliver on his promises. One Istanbul street vendor who is also from Erdogans hometown of Rize told Al-Monitor, Erdogan has been fooled because he is good-hearted. Why punish him for the crimes of the others? The ones who deceived Erdogan are the guilty ones, and hence they are ones we should punish.

An American scholar who has resided in Turkey for the last decade concurred with these statements, saying, Erdogans magic lies in the fact that he can consistently renew and reinforce symbols. His hand gestures, his slogans, his songs, they appeal to the people and instill a sense of belonging in them. When he says he was cheated, people do not think of it as he failed, but rather he comes out clean and the failed policy is indeed now a betrayal. He is seen as a good Muslim because his heart is in the right place.

Indeed, accountability is not a word that is heard much in the news or in daily conversations in Turkey. As on Aug. 3, one bureaucrat waving a Turkish flag in front of the National Intelligence Agency told Al-Monitor, Erdogan only bows before God. The way that accountability is viewed in Turkey nowadays is not based on facts but rather on emotions, and Erdogan is exceptional in his ability to detach meaning from fact.

Erdogans magic is potent but it still requires a few tools handled with finesse. One of the most important is the media. Erdogan acknowledges the importance of journalists, whether they are complimentary or critical of him, and rewards and punishes accordingly. The best way to grab peoples attention and hold it in Turkey is through television.

Erdogan has a near monopoly over what appears in the news day in and day out. After the coup attempt and the state of emergency declaration, media restrictions and the purge of critical journalists (even those unrelated to the Gulen movement) have skyrocketed. The education system is under strict surveillance, and regulations require strict obedience from both teachers and college professors. Anyone who steps out of line risks losing a job and being scolded over social media as a spy, traitor or even a terrorist. To make matters worse, all branches of art from caricature to theater, ballet and sculpture are suffocating with disappearing state funds, arbitrary government regulations and increasing purges.

Yet the crowds attending the massive orchestrated rallies believe this is all for the good of the country. One participant at an Aug. 6 rally in Taksim, Istanbul told Al-Monitor, He is the man! He does not need deliberation that will only slow him down. If he made all the decisions on his own, without all these obstacles like the Constitutional Court or opposition parties, we will be much better and richer. All these institutions slow him down.

Another reason for this blind support is the security deficiency. Since the elections of June 7, 2015, Turkeys vulnerability has increased. When times are rough, the nation is constantly called to stand united, stay alert and snitch on their neighbors, and the easiest way to safety means standing up for the leader, Erdogan.

To Erdogans rescue in blaming all that is gone wrong on those who betrayed him are his beloved conspiracy theories. The United States, for example, is the usual suspect for everything wrong in Turkey, an easy enemy du jour. On the news, Turks have been watching nightly confessions of Gulenists who tell the country about several terror incidents that have happened due to their own deliberate ignorance of intelligence and deliberate failure to comply with standard security procedures. Israel-bashing, which used to be a favorite activity for the AKP elites, is no longer popular. Now that Erdogan has agreed to normalization of relations and scolded the Islamists who dared to speak against him, no one dares to include the Mossad as a potential culprit.

Overall, we see that common sense and logical discussions are disappearing from the Turkish social space, signaling a troubling intellectual decay. Erdogan has managed to control almost all artistic expression that could affect the Turkish mindset and tarnished the reputation and credibility of anyone who dares to speak up against him. Hence, when he says he is betrayed, the masses keep clapping and feeling proud of him.

As one scholar told Al-Monitor, "Erdogans politics is anesthetic to the masses, hence the real pain is not yet acknowledged." Perhaps that is Erdogans magic.
August 22, 2016

One month after the failed coup, Turkeys east and southeast are being rocked by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) violence. A provincial center in the east, Elazig, witnessed a dramatic car bombing Aug. 18 that took the lives of three police officers and wounded 217 people. The PKK claimed responsibility.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar rushed to the scene. That attack came just hours after a car bomb that targeted the police headquarters shook the eastern city of Van. While Yildirim was expressing the government's determination to fight terror and violence, the PKK ambushed a military convoy near the provincial center of Bitlis, which lies between Elazig and Van.

The escalated PKK attacks starkly illustrate the security vacuum left by Turkey's extreme post-coup purges of the military, police and intelligence forces.

There had been an apparent lull in the PKKs activity in the immediate aftermath of the July 15 failed coup. That lull apparently prompted the government to make a premature, misguided and somewhat optimistic assessment of the situation.

The main focus of the Kurds  above all, the PKK  had been the ongoing battle in Manbij, and the PKK apparently was emboldened by its military success following a 2-month campaign to remove the Islamic State (IS) from that strategically important town in northern Syria. Now it seems the Kurdish insurgent organization is exploiting the Turkish government's weakened state.

The Turkish air force and its second army have been key in dealing with the PKK insurgency, but they are the military segments most affected by the purges.

The commander of the second army, four-star Gen. Adem Huduti, is the highest-ranking officer in jail for allegedly taking part in the coup attempt. Seven air force base commanders and 213 pilots  including 150 combat pilots who fly F-16s or F-4s  were expelled from service. More than 7,000 police and intelligence officials were purged.

Chatham House associate fellow Fadi Hakura predicted soon after the coup, In all probability, the governments replacement of key staff with less-qualified loyalists will rupture the institutional integrity and professionalism of the military establishment and the state institutions.

There were already assessments by Turkeys NATO partners that the purges could damage its ability to thwart the threat from IS and other militant groups. It seems the PKK was just the first to take advantage of Turkey's post-coup security vacuum.

Only hours after this column was originally written, Gaziantep was struck Aug. 20 by a suicide bomber. Gaziantep is the most-populated city in the southeast and a hub for Syrian refugees and the opposition. The target was an outdoor wedding in the streets of a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood attended by pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party supporters. The casualty count stood Aug. 23 at 54 dead and some 90 wounded. Authorities said many of those killed were children. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially blamed IS, but officials later said they had not determined the perpetrators.

Since the coup attempt, Erdogan has been trying to convince everybody inside and outside of Turkey that the headquarters of evil is in Pennsylvania, home to self-exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Erdogan says was the mastermind of the failed coup. Erdogan links the escalation of PKK violence to Gulen.

That reasoning even extends all the way to the Syrian Kurdish nationalist Democratic Union Party (PYD)  a de facto ally of Washington on the ground in Syria against IS. This thinking alleges a tripartite alignment among the Gulen movement, the PKK and the PYD.

Speaking to the daily Hurriyet, Yildirim claimed that the trio had been in contact before the coup and afterward met somewhere in northern Iraq, implying in the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Everything is clear. All the connections relating to the treachery are being deciphered, he said.

Yildirim attributes his conviction to intelligence reports. However, the accuracy of such reports is far from being ascertained. Yildirim earlier had accused the PKK of conspiring to finish the job the Gulenists failed to accomplish July 15.

Employing a favorite notion entertained by certain Islamist and pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) pseudo-intellectuals  and also used by Erdogan himself  Yildirim has said the Gulenists and the PKK are guided by the Supreme Mind. That Supreme Mind connotes the United States and is used when one doesn't want to emphasize the word America openly.

For Yildirim, that Supreme Mind is a puppeteer, playing the Gulenists with its right hand and the PKK with its left. Thus, both can be considered the instruments of an external force.

The prime minister elaborated on the conspiracy theory to a Hurriyet reporter:

What has happened recently and what is happening at the moment are premeditated actions. There was a plan concocted outside of Turkey with regional dimensions. The first step was to execute a plot to remove the national elements within the Turkish Armed Forces and replace them with Gulenists.

Simultaneously, the Supreme Mind worked on Turkeys Kurds, encouraging them to dream of unity with Iraqi and Syrian Kurds by establishing cantons in Kurdish-populated northern Syria.

The PYD was mobilized to control the region and open a corridor extending to the Mediterranean.

To get rid of Turkish air force pressure on the PYD, an allegedly Gulenist pilot downed a Russian fighter jet on Nov. 25. The development led to the deterioration of Turkish-Russian relations and to Russian air activity that blocked Turkeys role in Syria.

The PKK, thanks to its connections to the Gulenists, and with the expectation of a successful coup in Turkey, temporarily ceased its armed activities and resumed them when the coup failed.

The Hurriyet reporter deduces from what he heard from the prime minister that Turkey is preparing for a very serious diplomatic offensive that would affect the regional balance of power.

It is no secret that Turkey, to check the Kurds from gaining ground in Syria and as a result of its discontent with the American position in Syria, is trying to coordinate its regional policy with Russia and Iran.

It is indeed a very dramatic policy shift with very important geopolitical implications. One indicator of the shift came Saturday in Yildirim's remarks during a meeting with the international press where he said that, while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has no place in Syrias future, he can remain in office during the period of transition.

Such a statement is a radical departure from Turkeys Syria policy of the past five years, as Assad's immediate removal had been non-negotiable. The change can be considered a necessary step toward accommodating Russia's Syrian policy.

Let's go back to the issue of the PKKs escalation during the failed coup's subsequent security vacuum and ask:

Is Turkey's official assessment  linking the PKK to the Gulenists  and reading of the regional developments correct, especially considering Washington's vagaries?

Can Turkeys gradual drifting away from the West and  even if tactical  rapprochement with Moscow and Tehran provide Turkey with much-needed security and stability in the post-coup era?

The official assessment is quite popular among AKP loyalists. The pro-government media supports it in general. It is consistent with the prevailing mood of subscribing to conspiracy theories. Yet it has not provided, at least until now, any credible evidence to demonstrate links between the PKK and its former archenemy the Gulenists.

On the second question, almost no one  perhaps including Turkish policymakers themselves  believes confronting the West and replacing it with close relations with Moscow and Tehran could provide the security and stability Turkey needs in the aftermath of the botched coup.
August 22, 2016

Syria's multisided conflict  pitting rebels against government forces and the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS)  took a further twist Aug. 17 when Syrian air force jets began pounding the Kurdish-controlled city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, targeting the US-backed Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units (YPG). At least 43 people, including 27 civilians, were reported to have died in the strikes that prompted thousands of Kurds to flee the city as Kurdish fighters and pro-government forces clashed on the ground. The clashes were continuing as of Aug. 22.

A YPG official contacted by Al-Monitor said the fighting was continuing and that it would not stop until the regime is gone from Hasakah.

While the government and the Kurds have had minor turf battles in the past, the airstrikes mark the first time that Syrian forces have ever targeted the Kurds from the skies.

The move may presage a dramatic shift in the course of the war that could severely test the US-Kurdish alliance, trigger violence between Arabs and Kurds, provoke direct Turkish intervention and eventually undermine the Kurds' giddying gains.

The Kurds and the government had largely left each other alone since the start of Syria's civil war. The arrangement suited both sides. The Kurds set about realizing their long-denied dreams for self-rule for the first time, and government forces were freed up to fight opposition rebels elsewhere in the country. Allowing the Kurds to set up their own autonomous region along Turkey's border was also Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's way of getting back at Ankara for backing opposition rebels seeking his removal.

The apparent collapse in the nonaggression pact between the YPG and the government is tied to several factors. Foremost among them is Turkey's attempts to recalibrate its Syria policy, an outcome that Assad's backing of the Kurds was in part calculated to achieve.

Turkey's policy has clearly been a disaster. It triggered a costly row with Russia, strained ties with Iran, pushed Washington into the arms of the YPG, and allowed IS and other jihadi groups to organize inside Turkey. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus admitted last week that "everything [bad] that befell us is because of the Syria policy."

The deadly Aug. 20 suicide bombing of a Kurdish wedding party in the Turkish border town of Gaziantep was the latest in a string of IS attacks against Turkey.

Turkey has been hinting for some time that it's ready to change tack amid thinly veiled suggestions that Ahmet Davutoglu, the freshly ditched prime minister and architect of Turkey's neo-Ottomanist foreign policy, was to blame for it all.

Speculation about a possible thaw between Ankara and Damascus intensified over the weekend when Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim dropped fresh hints that Turkey would no longer be pushing for Assad's ouster. Yildirim told reporters that the Syrian president could remain in power for the "interim," though "not for the long term." Yildirim added, "It is clear that the [Assad] regime has understood the structure the Kurds are trying to form in the north [of Syria] has started to become a threat for Syria too."

This is nothing new. Much like Turkey, Iran and Iraq, which also have large and restive Kurdish populations, Syria has brutally suppressed its 2.5 million-plus Kurds for fear they would seek to break away. The solution of Assad's predecessor and father, Hafez al-Assad, was to export the threat of Kurdish separatism to Turkey, allowing the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to run their 29-year-old insurgency in Turkey from Syrian soil.

That was until Turkey threatened in 1998 to go to war against Syria if it didn't end its support for the PKK. Ocalan was duly kicked out and captured by Turkish special forces in Kenya the following year. Turkey and Syria swiftly carried their budding friendship to a "strategic partnership" while the PKK set about planting the seeds of the YPG.

Though they are on opposite sides again, Ankara and Damascus now see a common Kurdish threat. Kurdish separatism is one area where the government and the opposition agree as well. Both denounced as illegal the so-called Northern Syrian Federation that was declared by the Syrian Kurdish administration in March. As one high-profile Twitter account going by the user name of @EHSAN12 put it in an Aug. 22 tweet, "The entire spectrum of [Syrian] opposition from its most secular to its most ardent Islamists share goal of a United Syria. Kurds face this fact."

Backed by US air power, the YPG presently controls an area stretching from the Iraqi border all the way to the IS-held town of Manbij, which the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured earlier this month. This may have been a tipping point  and not just in the battle against IS.

Turkey has long railed against US cooperation with the YPG, asserting that helping the YPG is the same as helping the PKK. Calls for Washington to shelve the alliance are growing louder as the PKK escalates its violent campaign inside Turkey, killing hundreds of security personnel. Many civilians have died in the PKK attacks.

Washington refuses to bow to Turkish pressure on the grounds that unlike the PKK, the YPG is not on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. US officials maintain the fiction that the two groups are separate simply because the YPG remains the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria. Turkeys rebel proteges, including assorted Free Syrian Army affiliates and the jihadi Ahrar al-Sham, have repeatedly failed to eject IS from the stretch of territory it controls along the Turkish border despite massive air support from the coalition.

Still mindful of Turkey's anger, Washington promised Ankara that once Manbij was taken, the YPG would withdraw east of the Euphrates River. Let alone leave Manbij, the YPG is advancing father west toward the IS-held town of al-Bab.

The YPG's overarching goal is to punch its way through to the Kurdish-administered enclave of Afrin, thus creating an uninterrupted stretch of Kurdish-controlled territory. Turkey has declared this a "red line," but it's fading fast. A YPG commander told Al-Monitor in an email message there remained roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) between the YPG's forward positions west of Manbij and the town of Tel Rifaat near Afrin. "We are on the verge of linking the [Kurdish-run] cantons," he wrote.

Anti-US feelings in Turkey are growing and spiked in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt, which most Turks believe was orchestrated by unnamed "circles" in Washington and carried out by officers loyal to Fethullah Gulen, the Sunni Muslim cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.

Washington's reluctance to extradite Gulen without firm evidence of his complicity in the coup has deepened Turkey's suspicions. It may have also accelerated Turkey's efforts to mend ties with Moscow and Tehran and possibly even Damascus.

Western diplomats speaking on condition of strict anonymity told Al-Monitor that it remains unclear whether Turkey is ready to resume relations with Damascus, but that they do not rule out the possibility. The contours of any deal would need to see Ankara curbing its support for the opposition rebels and especially for jihadi groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra. In exchange, Assad's forces would clamp down on the Syrian Kurds.

With Syria's future as yet unresolved, why would Turkey pull the plug on the rebels? They remain Turkey's biggest lever over Syria and against the YPG. It is more likely that Ankara will wait for the outcome of the US presidential elections and gauge the new administration's Syria policy before making any drastic changes to its own. Besides, why risk alienating its top ally, Qatar, and regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which support the rebels as well?

Many would say it is because Turkey would rather live with Assad than allow the establishment of an autonomous Kurdistan on its borders that would effectively be run by the PKK.

Washingtons muted response to the governments assault must have unnerved the Kurds. Coalition aircraft were scrambled over Hasakah, but it was to protect US special forces on the ground, not the Kurds, Western security sources said. If US forces were hurt, Washington would likely either have to increase its military presence and declare a no-fly zone or reduce its presence on the ground to a minimum, dealing a further blow to the Syrian Kurds.

All of this is playing straight into Russias hands. Driving a wedge between the Kurds and the United States and between the United States and Turkey gives Moscow greater latitude to shape events in Syria. But ultimately the Russians  who are paying an increasingly heavy price for their involvement  are eager to see the conflict end. A deal between Damascus and Ankara would accelerate this.
August 23, 2016

Months of speculation about Turkey inching toward a radical change in its Syrian policy have finally ended. On Aug. 20, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim officially announced Ankaras new policy, which aims to settle the crisis with the involvement of all the key players, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This about-face had been in the making since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted a year ago that a transition period in Syria could include Assad. Prior to that, Ankara had taken the hard-line position that there was no room for Assad in any shape or form in Syria's future.

Erdogan made his remarks last September, a day after holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. That was two months before Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet that had strayed into Turkish airspace  a charge denied by Moscow  while on a bombing mission against anti-regime forces supported by Ankara in Syria. The incident further reduced what little remaining influence Turkey had over Syria following a series of policy mistakes.

Turkeys resetting of its Syria policy comes on the heels of its reconciliation with Russia earlier this month. The radical change in Ankaras approach also follows a decision to improve ties with Iran and to initiate a new dialogue on Syria with Moscow and Tehran.

The Yildirim government is also acknowledging that Ankaras former policy was out of touch with the reality in Syria. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus was quoted extensively after telling a group of reporters and academics that all of Turkeys present troubles were rooted in Syria. Much of what has befallen us is the result of the situation in Syria and our Syria policy, Kurtulmus said during the Aug. 17 meeting. This applies to others too, but we were also unable to put forward a valid policy [on Syria].

The Islamist supporters of Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are unlikely to be happy with this turn of events given the extent to which Assad was systematically demonized in Turkey. They have already had to swallow a bitter pill with Turkeys decision to reconcile with Israel. There is also, however, a new sense of realism among these supporters.

Akif Emre, a well-known Islamist columnist from the pro-government daily Yeni Safak, for example, argued that the bloody situation in Syria, and the major headache this poses for Turkey, has to be addressed above all other considerations. Stopping the bloodshed and the tragedy in Syria has taken precedence over whose position will be politically vindicated by any settlement, especially when the urgent need for a settlement is no longer just Syrias internal affair, but also concerns Turkey directly, Emre wrote. Overlooking that it was Russia and Iran that ultimately undermined Ankaras initial Syria policy, Emre added that cooperating with Russia and Iran on Syria would also give Turkey leverage over the West.

It is also interesting to note that Yildirim spelled out Turkeys new Syria policy on the very day that the Turkish parliament endorsed the reconciliation deal with Israel. Yildirim told a group of foreign reporters Aug. 20, No one should be surprised if new and noteworthy developments are seen with regard to Syria over the next six months.

He added that Turkey would be much more active over this period, to ensure that the threat from Syria does not increase, and went on to list the key elements of Ankaras new policy as follows:

Preventing Syria from being divided along ethnic lines.

Preventing Syria from being governed by a single ethnic entity.

Securing fair representation for Arabs, Kurds, Alevis and other minorities in any settlement.

Working with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Russia for a settlement to the crisis.

Yildirims most striking remarks, however, concerned Assad. The United States and Russia also know that in the long run it does not seem possible for Assad to be a unifying factor, he said, adding, however, Whether we like it or not, Assad is one of the actors. Yildirims words spelled the definitive end of Erdogan and the AKPs initial dream of elections in Syria that would propel the majority Sunnis to power under a government led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Fehmi Koru, a seasoned conservative commentator, believes that the cadres that crafted Ankaras failed Syria policy seriously underestimated Assad. They got bogged down in one aspect of the Baathist regime of 40 years standing [namely, the fact that it was a Nusairi/Alawite structure that excluded Sunnis] and overlooked the fact that [Assad] had over the years gained a status over and above ethnic and sectarian divisions, Koru wrote in his widely read blog. Influenced by this outlook, our foreign policy was based on the assumption that the Assad regime would not survive long and a regime close to Turkey could come to power in Damascus.

Washingtons subsequent alliance with the Syrian Kurds against the Islamic State (IS) and the advances by the Kurds in northern Syria also set off alarm bells in Ankara, where the notion of an autonomous Kurdish entity along the Turkish border is anathema. The news that regime forces have started fighting the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD)  previously accused by Turkey of being allied with Assad  in the city of Hasakah also makes the about-face on Assad a little more palatable for Ankara.

Yildirim appeared to hint at this during his meeting with foreign journalists when he said, It is apparent that the regime has also understood that the Kurdish entity trying to be established in the north is a threat to Syria.

Turkey says the PYD is a terrorist organization because of its links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Washington considers the PKK a terrorist group but refuses to designate the PYD as such, which is a major sticking point between Turkey and the United States. Russia has also allied itself with the PYD, but Ankaras reconciliation with Moscow and decision to cooperate more closely with Russia on Syria, as well as the evolving conflict between the PYD and the Assad regime, make this a lesser concern for Turkey than Washingtons ties with the Syrian Kurds.

The emergence of IS as a major threat to Turkey is also seen as one of the driving forces behind Ankaras new Syria policy. Turkish officials are aware that the struggle with IS will require closer cooperation with global and regional powers.

Soli Ozel, from Kadir Has University in Istanbul and a foreign affairs commentator for daily Haberturk, believes that the change in policy should have been made three years ago, but was delayed due to the approach of Ahmet Davutoglu, first as foreign minister and later as prime minister.

The downing of the Russian plane and the manner in which this left Turkey even more isolated was a wake-up call for Ankara, Ozel told Al-Monitor. Once Davutoglu was replaced [as prime minister] and Turkey decided to reconcile with Russia and improve ties with Iran, it was clear that its approach to Syria would also change.

Ankara is clearly trying to regain lost influence in Syria with its new policy. Huseyin Bagci, from the International Relations Department at Ankaras Middle East Technical University, believes it is too late, however.

The steps being taken now regarding Syria do not alter the situation on the ground, he told Al-Monitor. Serious policy mistakes in the past have ensured that Turkey is merely a wagon attached to someone elses locomotive, and not even a first-class wagon at that.
August 23, 2016

All the hours that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spent with newspaper editorial boards over the past two weeks add up to a far greater number than the number of hours that Foreign Minister Netanyahu has dedicated to the State of Israels foreign affairs. In meetings with journalists, Netanyahu explained the prolonged lack of a full-time foreign minister as a result of his desire to save the vacancy for Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog. Although both denied an Aug. 19 Channel 2 television report about a secret meeting they held in Caesarea, Herzog still has his eye on the empty foreign ministers office in Jerusalems Givat Ram neighborhood.

Netanyahu finds it convenient to keep the head of the opposition in the wings as a potential foreign minister. How can Herzog attack the governments settlement policy, for example, if tomorrow he may be tasked with explaining to the world that Israel is entitled to build on Palestinian land? How can he join critics of Israels West Bank occupation when his main rival in the opposition, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, is constantly breathing down his neck and running around the world to face off against anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions activists? This is why the crumbling Palestinian leadership is left with no Israeli partner except for the small Meretz party and the sidelined Joint List.

With the main opposition mum, it's a small wonder that even cries of despair by the worlds largest power fall on deaf ears. In a little over one month, the US State Department has issued no fewer than four reactions against the Israeli government, each harsher than the one before. Not a sound was heard from the ranks of the Zionist Camp.

After plans for construction of hundreds of housing units in the settlement of Maale Adumim and across the Green line in Jerusalem were advanced, State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed concern July 5 over what seems to be a systematic takeover of Palestinian land, expansion of Jewish settlements and legalization of illegal settlement outposts. According to Kirby, President Barack Obamas administration has been holding tough discussions with the Israeli leadership on this issue and discussing with international allies ways to confront these moves, which raise serious questions about Israels long-term intentions. This, too, was met with total silence from the opposition, except for Meretz and the Joint List.

On July 27, Kirby reacted to an additional series of construction approvals in the occupied territories, saying the administration strongly opposes them as leading to a one-state reality, with perpetual occupation and confrontation. He also condemned Israels demolition of Palestinian homes that have left dozens of people, including children, without a roof over their heads. Two weeks later, on Aug. 10, the State Department came out against the Israeli governments plan to demolish Palestinian buildings in the West Bank town of Susya. The following day it issued a protest in response to reports that the Israeli government planned to expropriate Palestinian lands to rebuild the outpost of Amona, which had been built on private Palestinian land. The statement noted that over the past year, the Israeli government retroactively legalized 32 illegal settlement outposts in violation of its commitment to a two-state solution. And did anyone hear a peep out of Herzog attacking the government?

In a report published Aug. 21 by the Institute of National Security Studies, researcher Zaki Shalom assessed these reactions as designed to convey a clear and unambiguous message to Israel that the settlements are a burning issue for the administration and that it will continue to focus on it until the end of its term. Shalom notes that the series of US protests could indicate that the administration is preparing the backdrop and diplomatic-ideological justification for an American decision to abstain from vetoing a UN Security Council initiative to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the period between the November presidential elections and the Jan. 20 swearing-in of the new president.

Shalom called on the government to recognize the serious and far-reaching implications for Israel of such an inconvenient UN Security Council decision. He recommended that the government make a concerted effort to reach understandings with the Obama administration regarding the peace process and the settlements in order to avoid retaliatory moves such as annexation of lands in Judea and Samaria and abrogation of Netanyahus 2009 commitment to a two-state solution as set out in his landmark Bar-Ilan University speech.

The warnings about Obamas endgame do not seem to impress Netanyahu and his government. Mazal Mualem reported in Al-Monitor that the prime minister's words at one of his recent press briefings  which more closely resembled a presentation  hinted that the Bar-Ilan speech was no longer valid. If so, it would mean Netanyahu is going back on his public commitment to the world, and especially to Obama, to promote the two-state solution. The recent strenuous Israeli settlement activity indicates that Netanyahu practices what he preaches. Yet it seems that the Zionist Camp didnt read about it, didnt hear about it and certainly didnt speak out. The leaders of the centrist Yesh Atid and of the center-right Kulanu  two parties that promised their constituencies to support the two-state solution  also opted to bury their heads in the sand.

Haaretz reported Aug. 22 that for the first time in over a decade, Israel plans to build housing units in the Jewish settlement at the heart of the Palestinian town of Hebron. The report that Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman had decided to push forward construction in the city that competes with Jerusalem for the most explosive hot spot in the Middle East did not disrupt the summer recess of the main opposition party, either. After all, how many votes will they pick up from opposing the expansion of the Jewish neighborhood adjacent to the Tomb of the Patriarchs?

If Netanyahus rule faces any danger, it doesn't lie within the leftist camp, but in the ranks of his internal right-wing opposition. It lies in wait within the leadership of his own Likud, in the ever-widening court of former Education Minister Gideon Saar or the offices of HaBayit HaYehudi. And even if the attorney general decides to pursue criminal charges against Netanyahu over a series of alleged wrongdoings, the 1977 electoral upset that brought the Likud to power will probably not reverse itself in 2017. The former defense minister, legendary Gen. Moshe Dayan, deserted the left-leaning Labor to serve as foreign minister in the right-wing government. He stood at the side of Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the Camp David negotiations with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and was instrumental in the peace agreement reached with Egypt. In contrast, Israel does not need a foreign minister to build settlements and destroy peace. It would be interesting to learn whether Herzog understands that.
A new contract from the United States Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal means more work for GE Aviation in Alabama.

GE 3000 engine. (Courtesy of GE Aviation)

The company said it has won a $102 million, 24-month contract that will lead to a preliminary design review of its GE3000 engine, which will power future military helicopters through the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP).

GE Aviation's Huntsville and Auburn facilities will make parts for the contract.

"The GE3000 integrates technologies demonstrated in two Army Science & Technology programs, the Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine (AATE) and the Future Affordable Turbine Engine (FATE) and includes additional technologies developed across GE's military and commercial engine portfolio," said Harry Nahatis, general manager of GE Aviation's Advanced Turboshaft/Turboprop projects, in a statement. "The GE3000 builds upon our extensive experience powering the Black Hawk and Apache helicopters with the T700 engine, one of the most reliable and maintainable engines in service today. Combining that experience with proven technologies enables dramatic, yet affordable capability improvements."

GE Aviation broke ground in mid-June on two Huntsville materials factories to service jet engines and land-based gas turbines. The $200 million operation, which will employ up to 300 workers, will mass produce silicon carbide materials for ceramic matrix composite components in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County.

GE Aviation's Auburn facility will be the site of a new 3-D printing initiative that will manufacture jet engine parts. (File)

In 2013, GE Aviation opened a 300,000-square-foot plant in Auburn that makes machine parts for jet engines. The company later announced it would spend an additional $50 million in Auburn on a new 3D printing initiative to mass produce fuel nozzles.

The aircraft engine supplier said the Huntsville expansion will ensure there is sufficient CMC production capability, while the Auburn facility's additive manufacturing expertise will benefit future engines like the GE3000, a 3,000-shaft horsepower engine designed for the Army's Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, the chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, said he is happy the work will benefit Lee County. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, echoed Rogers' remarks about the potential impact on the Tennessee Valley.

"The Army Contracting Command's announcement to bolster the Improved Turbine Engine Program is a testament to GE Aviation's industry-leading vision, and underscores Huntsville's commitment to the most technologically advanced and capable national defense possible," he said in a statement.
The Perimeter Park Hilton has been sold to an Atlanta hotel group in a $13.25 million deal.

Peachtree Hotel Group, an owner, operator and developer, plans to spend $10.5 million on renovations.

The eight-story hotel has 205 rooms and is located near the U.S. 280 and Interstate 459 interchange.

Hunter Hotel Advisors are the exclusive agents in the sale.

"The buyer can realize tremendous upside in the hotel post-renovation," Teague Hunter, president of Hunter Hotel Advisors, said in a statement. "Peachtree's investment in the asset will increase occupancy and [average daily rate], and make it a leader in the market."
Chris Beaman is Chief Product Officer at The Foundry, a software startup studio, and founder of New Leaf Digital, an Entrepreneurial Education non-profit. Chris co-organizes Coworking Night, which happens weekly at AL.com's Huntsville Hub.

Last week in Huntsville saw a number of innovations come to light, starting with that of Huntsville-based software startup Arrivio (http://wwww.arriv.io), who presented their hardware/software parking solution to an engaged audience at Coworking Night. Arrivio, which allows drivers to check into and pay for parking using their smartphones, is currently in the midsts of meetings with City of Huntsville officials to outfit area parking garages with their app-based solution.

In addition to Arrivio, Tom O'Connell, a local software entrepreneur, presented a continuation of his startup book club group. The group is reading and discussing "Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth." Tom, who is CTO and cofounder of Huntsville-based startup Rock Paper Sold, facilitates weekly startup business discussions at Coworking Night. Anyone is welcome to attend and participate in the discussions.

Among other tech/startup events this week, Crisy Meschieri, a local graphic designer, led a conversation about the use of Pantone Swatchbooks in graphic design; Tomas Gallucci, a local software developer, gave a presentation about using software repository Github for managing software app version control; Shama Patel, a local artist, led a conversation for entrepreneurs about promoting their business using social media; Alan Derrick, a local entrepreneur, facilitated this month's business break-out sessions via his community, the Entrepreneur Brain Trust; and Vicki Morris, a local marketing specialist, hosted FlyQuest executive director, Mary Kate Gygax, at bi-weekly entrepreneurs networking meeting, HOT Coffee.

Coming up on August 30th, Huntsville-raised entrepreneur Andy Smith will be speaking at the Randolph School's Thurber Arts Center on account of entrepreneur group, 3210. Andy, who is cofounder/CEO of fitness technology startup, Daily Burn, will be sharing his founding story in front of an audience of 500 at the school. Daily Burn was a member of Huntsville's technology incubator, BizTech, before leaving for Boulder, Colorado, to join global technology incubator, TechStars. In 2010, Daily Burn was acquired by IAC for an undisclosed sum. Today, Daily Burn has over 2 million users of their fitness/personal training video app.

Also on August 30th, the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County will host their annual Small Business Awards event, which recognizes local-area small businesses and individuals across a broad range of categories. The event is a black-tie event and will be held at the Davidson Center.
Cage Free Chickens

Cage-free chickens stand in a fenced pasture on the Francis Blake organic farm, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, near Waukon, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

(Charlie Neibergall)

The Southern Poverty Law Center is weighing in on a federal lawsuit claiming Wayne Farms illegally discriminated against two Alabama workers for their disabilities.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Wayne Farms last week, saying the poultry processor's inflexible attendance policy violates the rights of certain workers and infringes on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The lawsuit names former Decatur employee Latonya Hodges, who was fired after reaching her maximum number of absences despite providing medical excuses related to her asthma. Salvadora Roman, another worker with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, was told she would be terminated if she continued to miss work after accumulating eight occurrences under the company's attendance policy.

SPLC Deputy Legal Director Naomi Tsu said the lawsuit "sends a clear message that poultry workers have rights that must be respected by employers throughout the industry."

"The poultry industry is notorious for firing employees after working them to the point of injury and permanent disability," she said in a statement. "For far too long, this industry has flouted the law by shamelessly treating its workers as a disposable commodity that can be used up and thrown away once they can no longer endure the grueling work conditions."

The SPLC, which is based in Montgomery, filed a petition in 2013 requesting the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture take steps to implement better health and safety standards to protect poultry and meatpacking workers in the U.S.

The EEOC is seeking lost wages and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages, and other relief for victims and the public in relation to the lawsuit. The agency also wants Wayne Farms to comply with the ADA and stop applying its attendance policy to disabled employees who require additional medical leave as a reasonable accommodation.

Wayne Farms is disputing the case, which Vice President and General Counsel Jeremy Kilburn said stems from 2011 allegations.

"While we have not seen the EEOC's reported disability discrimination suit, it appears it was based on the extensive investigations conducted five years ago," he said. "Wayne Farms is completely confident that management met all legal and contract obligations to the two Decatur, Alabama employees who filed the underlying EEOC charges, neither of whom raised any issue through the agreed union contract processes. Given the facts we presented in response to the investigation, and given the EEOC's inexplicable delay in pursuing this matter, we will vigorously defend the action when received."

Wayne Farms by Anonymous bDIQS59dsr on Scribd
Noah Galloway book 082316

Noah Galloway's book, "Living With No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier," covers his time in the Army, his injuries from a bomb blast in Iraq, his road to recovery, his stint on "Dancing With the Stars," his relationship with Jamie Boyd and more. (Left photo, courtesy of Center Street; right top photo, courtesy of Noah Galloway; right center and right bottom photos, courtesy of ABC.)

If you discovered Noah Galloway in 2015 on "Dancing With the Stars," you probably remember him in a glowing tableau, lifting partner Sharna Burgess high into the air -- like a brilliant, flame-haired angel -- and holding her there with his muscular strength.

It's an enduring image for many of Galloway's fans, and one that reflects and encapsulates his life right now.

At age 34, the Alabama Army vet is regarded as brave and inspiring -- a triumphant military hero who overcame a bomb blast in Iraq that ripped away part of his two left limbs. Galloway survived that 2005 tragedy and forged his own path to healing, transforming himself into an elite athlete, a motivational speaker, a Men's Health cover guy and a popular reality star.

He's earned fame, respect and a measure of fortune in recent years. He's a devoted father to his three young children -- the kids, Galloway says, are his top priority -- and his celebrity career appears to be thriving.

But there's more to Galloway than this shorthand success story, and many parts of his tale aren't pleasant or pretty. There's a dark side, an angry past, a history of alcohol abuse and a long period of depression.

Galloway, far from hiding such issues, tells the world all about them in a bluntly honest new book.

His memoir, "Living With No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier" (Center Street, $27 hardcover, $25.37 audiobook, out today), offers a warts-and-all portrait that may surprise folks who consider him an unflappable Superman.

That's fine with Galloway, who says his primary goal is to help others who might be struggling with the same issues he's faced and slowly conquered.

"I've always wanted to do a book, but I didn't want it to be about a guy who lost an arm and a leg, and then suddenly he's on the cover of Men's Health," Galloway says during a phone interview. "I wanted to make sure I covered my depression. There are several attempts of me trying and falling flat on my face. But it needed to be told. I felt like, if another veteran with an injury or someone who suffered from depression could read the book and connect to it, it'll all be worth it."

"Living With No Excuses," written with Rebecca Baer, also offered Galloway a chance to retrace his steps in a coherent and meaningful way, delving deeper into the motives and mistakes that helped to shape the man he is today.

"It really took me back to all the emotions and those feelings," Galloway says. "Rebecca would get me started, and you know me, I start talking and I can't stop. In a way, doing the book was like therapy. You learn a lot when you have to go through it again."

For example, Galloway describes himself as a cocky and impulsive young soldier, placing himself in harm's way and not always behaving according to a professional code. He relives the tripwire explosion that changed his life, and details his painful recovery.

Galloway talks about drunken episodes fueled by depression, including one that nearly spoiled Christmas for his family. He mentions brushes with the police and unflinchingly relates a 10-day stint in jail for a DUI. He admits to money problems, eviction from his house and a panic attack that left him feeling unmanly and breathless.

Galloway also discusses the breakups of his two marriages, and details his split with fiancee Jamie Boyd, explaining his role and owning his contributions in each case.

The most difficult part for Galloway? Exploring his failed relationship with Boyd. Their romance had thrived for years out of the spotlight, but wilted a few months after Galloway proposed to her on national television, during the semi-finals of "Dancing."

"Talking about me and Jamie's breakup was harder than talking about being blown up," Galloway says. "I couldn't just say, 'It didn't work out.' But whatever happened in any of my relationships, I talk about my end, and I don't point any fingers. If anybody was going to look bad, I wanted it to be me."

For the record, Galloway says he and Boyd parted after he changed his mind about their plans for a blended family. Boyd wanted kids of their own; Galloway felt it wouldn't be fair to Colston, Jack and Rian Elizabeth, his children from previous marriages.

"As painful as it was to walk away from her, I know it was for the best for her and for me," Galloway says in his book. "And I will forever be thankful for the time I had with her. She made me a better person."

And, in the end, becoming a better person is the most important theme of Galloway's memoir. By revealing his transgressions, he illuminates his progress and bolsters his primary message: I made positive change and you can, too.

"There's always been anger in this world, and there's always been happiness in this world," Galloway says. "I wanted you to see my world, my story, in my book. ... I was very open and vulnerable, and I don't know what's going to come from that. There are days when I'm terrified, scared of what people are going to think. But this book had to be written, for somebody to relate to. And I'm hoping that when the book comes out, it will be healing thing for me, too."

Noah Galloway book signings for "Living With No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier"; Aug. 26 at 7 p.m., Books-A-Million, 300 Colonial Promenade Pkwy #2200, Alabaster; Aug. 27, 2 p.m.-4 p.m., Rick & Bubba Expo, Southern Off Road Booth, BJCC Exhibition Halls, 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. North, $9 admission to expo; Sept. 1 at 7 p.m., Books-A-Million, 1001-7 North Memorial Parkway, Suite 1A, Huntsville.
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The weekend massacre in South Alabama that left five people dead - one of them five months pregnant - was one of at least nearly a dozen mass murders in Alabama dating back to 1941.

Derrick Dearman, 27, is charged with six counts of capital murder in the Saturday-morning deaths in Citronelle. The victims are Robert Lee Brown, 26; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Shannon Melissa Randall, 35. Chelsea Reed was five months pregnant when she was killed.

Police said Dearman was in a relationship with Laneta Lester. Lester, who said the relationship was abusive, went to a relative's house on Jim Platt Road to escape Dearman on Friday afternoon. Dearman went to the home around 1 a.m. Saturday, but disappeared when police arrived on a trespassing call. Police say he then went back to the Citronelle home sometime before daylight and killed the five victims while they were sleeping.

On Monday, Dearman was booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail and made this statement to the news media: "Don't do drugs."

Lawmen who responded to the Saturday scene described what they saw that as horrific. Authorities in decades-past, however, have encountered similar horrors that left a combined 56 people dead in just a few cases of mass homicide.

A jilted ex-boyfriend set a Fairfield apartment ablaze, killing six. A drug cartel ordered the hits of five men, who were found shocked, beaten, bound and their throats slit. A father dropped four children to their deaths off a bridge, and the list goes on.

Law enforcement in Alabama have investigated many triple and quadruple homicides. Here is a look at some of the more notorious cases:

Jan. 29, 2012: Five people were found shot to death in Birmingham's Ensley Highlands neighborhood. Those killed were: Charles "C.J." Render, 21; Ronnie Render, 42; Jonathan Sanchez, 23; Jeffrey Davis Jr. 23; and Demetrius Sanford, 19. At least four of the five were shot execution-style in the head, and were found in one bedroom stripped of their clothes.

Birmingham police responded to the home early that Sunday morning - located at 3113 Avenue S - on a report of a robbery in progress. Once inside the home, however, they found the five bodies. Three of the victims were related, and all were life-long friends. Family members said the group had gathered there that night to play cards, something they did often.

Two rooms in the house appeared to have been ransacked, detectives testified. Sanford, who was found in the front room, was fully clothed, and had been shot in the back of the head. The other four victims either were nude or only had socks on. Each had been shot at least once, but one of the victims was shot up to 12 times. Ballistics tests of bullets recovered from the scene and the bodies showed each of the three weapons was used to shoot multiple victims - two 9mms and a .38-caliber pistol.

Artavius Underwood, 16; Rashad Stoves, 17; and Reginald Mims, 16, were all charged in slayings. Authorities say they also committed an armed robbery that same night about five blocks from the homicide. Stoves in 2015 was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Underwood pleaded guilty, also in 2015, and was sentenced to life. Mims, also convicted, was sentenced to 25 years.

Feb. 12, 2010: While there have been many incidents in which three people or four people were killed, one of the highest-profile triple killings happened when University of Alabama in Huntsville professor Amy Bishop killed three people and wounded three others in a shooting on February 12, 2010. During a routine meeting of the biology department attended by about 12 people, Bishop stood up and began shooting those closest to her with a 9-millimeter handgun. Killed were: Killed were professors Adriel Johnson, Maria Ragland Davis and Gopi Podila. Three others were injured in the shootings.

Bishop, a 47-year-old mother of four and a Harvard-trained biologist, was formally convicted of capital murder in 2012. Bishop received a life sentence without parole on the capital murder charge for the murder of three professors and three consecutive life sentences for her guilty plea to attempted murder in the shooting and wounding of three more colleagues.

In March 2009, Bishop had been denied tenure at the university, making spring 2010 her last semester there, per university policy.

March 10, 2009: Ten people were killed and six wounded in the worst mass shooting in Alabama history by a lone gunman who had a list of employers "who had done him wrong," including the nearby sausage plan he quit days before spree and a metal factory where he shot himself. Authorities said it was 4 p.m. when Michael Kenneth McLendon, 28, was armed with a rifle and killed five family members at various locations as he traveled through Coffee and Geneva Counties in southeast Alabama. The shooting continued, and five more people died. During an exchange of gunfire with police, one officer was wounded and the shooter committed suicide.

The Geneva County massacre happened in three small communities in two counties: Kinston in Coffee County, and Samson and Geneva in Geneva County. Those killed were: Lisa White McLendon, 52, McClendon's mother; Corrine Gracy Myers, 18 months, the daughter of Geneva County Deputy Josh Myers; Andrea D. Myers, 31, mother of the 18-month old and wife of Geneva County Deputy Josh Myers; James Alford White, 55, McLendon's uncle; Tracy Michelle Wise, 34, McLendon's cousin; Dead James Wise, 15, McLendon's second cousin; Virginia E. White, 75; James Irvin Starling, 24; Sonja Smith, 43 and Bruce Wilson Malloy.

A 4-month-old, Ella Myers, was among the wounded. Police said McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, an SKS and a Bushmaster, using high-capacity magazines taped together; a shotgun, and a .38-caliber handgun.

McLendon had told a confidant in the days before the shootings that he was depressed and unfulfilled. He'd been a Marine briefly but was discharged for falsifying information. He also tried and failed to become a police officer. Authorities also say he left a letter saying he had killed his mother and planned to kill himself. He also mentioned a family dispute over a legal issue but authorities say he didn't reveal plans to kill anyone else. He first killed his mother and burned down her house in the town of Kinston; at Samson he killed his maternal grandmother, uncle, two cousins and others, and wounded six.

Jan. 7, 2008: The deaths of Ryan Phan, 3; Hannah Luon, 2; Lindsey Luong, 1; and Danny Luong, 4 months; on Jan. 7, 2008, shocked southwest Alabama like few crimes in recent history. According to testimony, Lam Luong drove to the bridge and threw the children one by one into the Mississippi Sound 100 feet below. Luong was the father of three of the children; the oldest was his common-law wife's from a previous relationship.

All four died as a result of the fall. They were found one-by-one along the Gulf Coast during a massive two-week search in January 2008. Luong was convicted 2009, but appealed that conviction claiming that a judge erred when he didn't allow the trial be moved out of Mobile County because of pre-trial publicity of the case.

The Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals in 2013 overturned Luong's conviction citing the judge's refusal to move the trial. However, the Alabama Supreme Court in 2014 overruled the Court of Criminal Appeals decision and reinstated Luong's conviction. Luong was sentenced to death. In March of 2016, The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request by Luong to review his capital murder conviction in the deaths of the four children. The court did not comment on the merits of Luong's appeal, just that it wouldn't review the case. He is currently on Alabama Death Row.

Aug. 20, 2008: The bodies of five men were found inside a north Shelby County apartment complex. The victims had been bound and their throats had been cut. They had been shocked and beat. Shelby County authorities said the slayings were murders for hire that were tied to as much as $450,000 in drug money missing from an organization that transported methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. Those killed were: Angel Horacio Vega-Gonzalez, 23; his brother, Gustavo Vega-Gonzalez, 24, also known as Armando Lopez; Ezequiel Rebollar-Terevan, 23; Jaime Echeverra, 30; and Armando Ibarra Mendoza, 31.

Authorities believe the men were killed Aug. 17, 2008 and said at the time that the killings were not just a crime, but also a message: disloyalty and betrayal of the family - the organized crime family - will be cut out quickly and savagely. Authorities also said the crime signaled a broader message to the people of Birmingham and its metropolitan area: Mexican and Central American drug gangs operate here, and more incidents of such violence could follow. The Shelby County slayings are linked to a feud over money between Birmingham and Atlanta factions of Mexican drug cartels.

Investigators said that the Castaneda brothers were dealers who had taken delivery of the nearly half million dollars in cash, drugs or both from the Texas faction and transferred it to a pickup truck to be taken to another location. They were hijacked at their destination by unknown bandits, and remained responsible to the Texas gang for recovering the full amount. When the truck was recovered by authorities in Jackson County, Georgia, the Castanedas surmised that members of the Atlanta cartel had been behind the robbery. They targeted Echeverra and Rebollar-Terevan, relatives of the man leading the Atlanta group. They captured them along with the Vega-Gonzalez brothers, small-time drug runners, and commenced interrogation and torture in the Cahaba Lakes Apartment. The interrogations ended in their deaths. Mendoza, the fifth victim, is believed to have been at the complex trying to sell a car and may have been killed because he saw or heard something.

Six men were charged in slayings: Alejandros Castaneda, 31, and his brother, Juan Francisco Castaneda, 25; Jaime Duenas-Rodriguez, 22; Torre Jovan Gholston; Christopher Scott Jones, 40; and Derreck Renone Greene, 32.

All of the men pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of murder. In 2011, Jones, believed to be the ring leader, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Also that year, the Castanedas pleaded guilty in exchange for two life sentences. Gholston in 2012 pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in exchange for 15 years in prison. Greene pleaded guilty and received a 20-year sentence. Rodriguez also pleaded guilty and was given a 20-year split sentence with 1,481 days to serve. Because he had already served that while waiting for trial, he was released on a five-year' probation.

Aug. 26, 2002: Six members of a south Alabama family were found dead on their rural farm in Crenshaw County. Westley Devon Harris methodically killed the victims - all family members of his 16-year-old girlfriend Janice Ball - over a period of hours. Prosecutors said Harris, under the influence of drugs, first killed 62-year-old Mila Ruth Ball, the grandmother who had tried to run him off, binding her with electrical tape in the kitchen and firing a shotgun into her face.

The bodies of Janice Ball's mother, JoAnn Ball, 35, and brother Tony, 17, were found in a nearby trailer; brother John, 14, in the kitchen of the main house where the grandmother died; brother Jerry, 19, stuffed in a car trunk; and father Willie Hasley, 40, who also went by the name Willie Haslip, in a hog pen.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Harris killed the victims because he was angry they tried to keep him away from Janice Ball and their 18-month-old daughter. Defense attorneys argued that she had motives to want her family dead - including claims of being sexually abused by her father and brothers. The defense also argued that the prosecution's forensic evidence and statements from Harris were either unreliable or did nothing to prove he pulled the trigger.

Harris' first trial ended in a mistrial. He was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to life without parole. However, the Alabama Attorney General's Office successful sought to the have the sentence overturned and ultimately Harris was sentenced to death.

Sept. 22, 2001: A man, a woman and four children were killed when their Fairfield apartment was set on fire. Those killed were: Patricia Ward Mason, 31; James Elmore, 29; Robert L. Mason V, 15; Shamika Barrett, 9; James Emore III, 6 and Carlos Tate, 2.

Charged with capital murder in the slayings were 37-year-old Johnny Earl Gibson- an ex-boyfriend of Patricia Ward Mason - and Zeta Labbous Sheppard of Georgia. At the time of their deaths, Patricia Mason and Elmore were dating. The murders happened shortly after 4 a.m. at 3232 66th Street in Fairfield when fire was set to two cars parked in front of the building. Investigators believe the car fires were set to lure those inside the apartment outside, so they could be shot. When no one came out of the apartment, however, gasoline was poured into a dryer vent and set afire.

In 2006, Gibson was sentenced to six life terms after he pleaded guilty to six counts of felony murder. Sheppard pleaded guilty to making false statements after authorities said they didn't have sufficient evidence to pursue the capital murder charge.

Oct. 16, 1994: Five people were found dead inside the Changing Times Lounge in north Birmingham's Druid Hills neighborhood. All five were found face-down, shot execution-style in the back of the head. The bodies of a woman and two men were lying next to each other near the lounge bar. The bodies of the other two victims were lying close to a pool table.

Those killed were Lester Eddie Dodd, 28, and his wife, Pam Dodd, 27; Florence Adell Elliot, 45, of Trussville; William Nelson, 52, of Birmingham and James O. Watkins, 52, who lived in Northgate Mobile Home Park.

The bodies were found early that Sunday morning. Several family members showed up at the loung about 11:25 a.m. after they became worried when their loved ones never returned home. Authorities responding to the lounge called the scene "gruesome."

Birmingham police launched a special task force comprised of about 20 members of the department's various detective units to identify and track down suspects. A jukebox inside the lounge was overturned and a cash register had been broken open, patrons said. A purse belonging to one of the victims, Pam Dodd, had been rifled and some items were missing, said Johnny Robertson, a former owner of the bar. David Odom, who was at the Changing Times until about 11 p.m. Saturday, said that inside the lounge there were two people nobody knew.

Within a week, Birmingham police announced the arrests of Andrew Anthony Apicella, 37, of 51 Shady Brook Estates in Lipscomb and Stephen P. Pilley, 39, of 601-J Crumpton Drive in Bessemer. Both had criminal records, and Pilley's rap sheet was extensive.

Apicella and Stephen Pilley both were convicted. Apicella died in 2013 of liver disease at the age of 55 after serving more than 15 years on Alabama's Death Row. A jury had recommended life without parole for Apicella, but then-Circuit Judge James Garrett overruled the recommendation and sentenced him to death. Apicella was 39 years old when he was sentenced to death.

Pilley died from end-stage liver disease at the North Baldwin Infirmary in Bay Minette in February 2009. He had been on Death Row at Homan Correctional Facility near Atmore since 1997.

April 24, 1941: Esker Washington Gibson set fire to his house, killing his wife and five children, ranging in age from 7-months-old to 7-years-old. The unemployed carpenter's helper confessed to the slayings and said he became enraged when he saw a man leave the couple's Mobile County home. He beat his wife unconscious with a chair, splashed kerosene throughout the room where she was lying, and their five children were sleeping, and then set fire to the home.

Killed were: Mary Oletha Pittman Gibson, 31, wife; Robert Esker Gibson, 7, son; Huey P. Long Gibson, 6, son; Frank O'Neal Gibson, 3 son; Mary Margaret Gibson, 3, daughter and Marie Eloise Gibson, 7 months, daughter.

Gibson was executed by electric chair on March 13, 1942. Moments before he was put to death, Gibson said, "I have five babies already gone on, the dearest thing on earth to me, and I expect to meet them. I have already made my restitution."

March 7, 2009: Scott Lamar Abbott in 2010 was sentenced to life in prison for brutally stabbing to death Nika Sandlin, Jeri Lynn Cole, Josh Gilleo and Chad Gilbert in Hueytown.

"I didn't mean to do this. It was truly an act of rage," said Abbott, wearing his red jail-issued jumpsuit and shackles. "I cry every night. I'm so sorry. Since I've become a Christian, I pray for you every night. I lose sleep, ... and I'm truly sorry."

Abbott said he truly loved Cole, a former girlfriend who had broken up with him, and said he had been in the process of becoming friends with Chad Gilbert at the time of the stabbings.

Assistant District Attorney Lane Tolbert said the death penalty was in order, saying that each of Abbott's victims suffered immensely.

Defense attorney Yusuf Olufemi reiterated how Abbott was abused as a child and had repeated stays in mental institutions.

September 16, 1963: Addie Mae Collins, 14, Cynthia Wesley, 14, Carole Robertson, 14, and Denise McNair, 11, all died in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing.

Earlier this month, The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles took about 80 seconds to deliberate and deny parole for Thomas E. Blanton, the last surviving KKK member convicted in the 1963 bombing.

Dianne Braddock, Robertson's older sister, was among those who spoke out against the possibility of parole.

"It floored me," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Laurel, Maryland. "I was shocked. Very saddened. Very sorrowful. Only fifteen years in jail? He'd been out thirty-nine years walking free before the trial was even held. I just can't understand it. It's a very sad state of commentary on the state of criminal justice system."
Birmingham police Chief A.C. Roper met with 20-year-old Chancey Harper in the months before his homicide, talking with him about turning his life around.

Police feared for the fate of 20-year-old Chancey Harper.

The young Birmingham man had already been shot, and he'd served time in prison for armed robbery. But police, city leaders and his family saw something in him and they worked, hard, to save him. Police Chief A.C. Roper, as part of the city's Violence Reduction Initiative, had even been to Harper's house at least twice in an effort to get him to turn his life around.

"Every homicide is tragic but this one hurt even more because Chancey and I talked face to face,'' said Roper, who met with Harper, his mother and his stepfather. "After visiting in the house, Chancey and I walked outside for a private conversation where he looked me in the eye and said, 'Chief, I'm going to change my life for you.' While standing in the yard, we hugged and took a picture together."

Despite his promise to the chief, and despite the interest Harper showed in the lifeline being tossed his way, in the end the streets won. He was gunned down Monday afternoon outside of the AutoZone, shot multiple times and left for dead on the pavement.

"It's unfortunate that no matter what we do to save young lives, we still have these situations,'' Birmingham Mayor William Bell said today. "We had gone to his house on several occasions. The police chief went and spoke with his grandmother to try to get him to come in. He refused to come in. We didn't give up on him. Last week, we tried. Unfortunately, we were not successful but we're not going to give up."

Harper was shot just before 4 p.m. Monday outside of the Huffman Road store. Police said an officer working an extra job nearby heard the gunfire and notified the dispatcher over the police radio at 3:52 p.m. The officer were heard on the radio yelling, 'Shots fired. Shots fired."

One witness said she was driving along Huffman Road when she heard the gunfire. She pulled her truck into the parking lot, and saw multiple young men running from the scene. Harper collapsed face down in the parking lot. "I hollered for someone to call an ambulance,'' she said. "I tried."

When police arrived on the scene, they found Harper dead from a gunshot wound to the mid-torso area. The shooting happened shortly after school let out for the day at nearby Huffman High School, and Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards there were kids, and people, everywhere. "It just shows the recklessness of the shooter, no care for life,'' Edwards said Monday. "Obviously whatever took place, whatever led that person to discharge a firearm recklessly like he did with a lot of students, a lot of people walking around, it just points to what type of individual we're dealing with, the individual we're looking for."

Harper is Birmingham's 65th homicide victim this year. Multiple witnesses have been interviewed, but no arrests have been announced.

Harper attended Huffman High School, last registered in the 2012-2013 school year but didn't appear to graduate. In June 2014, he pleaded guilty to two armed robberies from the previous year and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with three to serve, according to court records. Alabama Department of Corrections officials today said Harper was released from prison six months ago - on Feb. 23, 2016 - after serving two years, 11 months and 28 days of his three-year sentence.

Just two months after being released from prison, Harper was shot in the 2900 block of Gallant Drive. He told police he was standing outside at Valley Brook Apartments - the scene of multiple shootings in years' past - when a man approached him and shot him in the upper leg. That shooting happened at 12:04 a.m.

It was that shooting, in part, which alerted police to the need for intervention in Harper's life and they began to try to recruit him for the Violence Reduction Initiative. The effort was announced in Birmingham in June of 2015, a joint effort by the Birmingham police, the Mayor's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office and other community leaders.

The National Network for Safe Communities initiative works on the premise that readily identifiable groups of people commit the majority of homicides, shootings and other violent crimes. They don't call them gangs, because traditionally the term gang refers to organized groups of criminals with a specific money-making purpose. The loosely-organized street groups, experts say, often become the victims of the same violent crimes they carry out.

The program holds quarterly "call-ins," which are meetings with the young men identified as high-risk for homicide. Influential community members and social service workers talk directly with the young men about the need for the violence to stop in hopes they will take that message back to the rest of their group members. The message is simple: If you mess up, you are going to jail and so are your friends and associates. But if you don't, if you try to do better, all those law enforcement agencies will lend their power and authority to help you succeed and lead a better life.

In addition to the "call-ins," authorities offer a variety of services, and make home visits as they did in the case of Harper. "We went to meet with him because we were concerned about him being at risk for a homicide,'' said Jarralynee Agee, a VRI leader who is now the director of the mayor's Office of Violence Reduction. "We met with him and his mother and talked at length. We told him, 'We don't want you to be shot, we don't want your friends shot. If you feel in danger, call us. He was very impressed that the chief came to his house and he got to meet him."

They gave Harper a number to call, and Agee said he did use it, at least once, to speak with a counselor. She said he was receptive to the help being offered, but ultimately never fully got on board. "We lost contact with him a little bit ago,'' she said. "I talked to the mother as recently as a few weeks ago."

Agee, a mother of sons, said getting the news of Harper's death was hard. "When I got the call and they said his name, I said a prayer that it wasn't true,'' she said. "It's always bad, but when it's somebody you've seen and talked to their family, it's especially hard."

"I met him, I met his family and I cared about them,'' she said. "There's a sense of urgency in our city to save our sons."

Roper said they reached out to Harper because they were concerned about him and his lifestyle. "We offered him the full gamut of resources because the message and essence of the initiative is we want these young men alive, safe and out of prison,'' he said.

The unfortunate reality, Roper said, is this is the most at-risk population in our city. "Although the vast majority of these young men have not been involved in violence, it is inevitable that some will fall victim because research has repeatedly shown that victimization rates are impacted by social networks,'' he said. "In other words, friends and associates have major influence in homicide victimization rates."

"We do understand the effects of poverty, unemployment and other socioeconomic issues so we provide them a phone number which was set up especially for them where they can access social service resources 24 hours a day,'' he said. "We need young men like Chancey to see that we care about them and we're offering them a way out of the social conditions that have plagued their lives and decision making."
Nathaniel Scroggins was 16 years old when he killed 19-year-old Richard Fields while the two sat in a car parked in a Birmingham neighborhood in December 1995.

Scroggins, who was convicted of capital murder because the shooting happened inside a car, faced serving the rest of his life in prison without a chance of ever being released on parole.

On Monday, however, Scroggins was given a chance at one day - possibly 11 years from now - of getting parole when he was re-sentenced by Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Teresa Pulliam. The resentencing came after a prosecutor agreed to the change - a move allowed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.

"After consulting with the victim's family, which consisted of several uncles, it was decided to consent to a Life sentence in this case," Deputy Jefferson County District Attorney Joe Roberts stated in an email to AL.com.

The two capital murder charges that Scroggins was convicted of are: an intentional murder made capital because the victim was in a vehicle at the time of the murder and an intentional murder committed when the deadly weapon was fired within a vehicle, Roberts explained.

During one of his two trials Scroggins admitted firing the fatal shot from the back seat of Fields' car. He said he shot Fields, who was sitting in the front seat, because he thought Fields was going for a gun. The two were arguing over $5 in change from a marijuana buy.

At Monday's hearing Scroggins was represented by his attorney Alicia D'Addario, who is with the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative. Scroggins could not be at the hearing because of medical concerns, according to court records.

Scroggins is among dozens of juvenile killers from Alabama who got life without parole sentences decades ago and who are asking judges around the state to re-sentence them under a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court nearly four years ago.

In that 2012 ruling in Miller v. Alabama the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory automatic life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional. Under that decision judges can still impose life without parole sentences, but they must consider the defendant's age and other factors before imposing them.

The Alabama Supreme Court and courts in some other states, however, ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court decision couldn't be retroactively applied to cases before 2012.

But in January the U.S. Supreme Court ruled their decision in Miller v. Alabama is retroactive. That made an estimated 70 state inmates - including 19 from Jefferson County - who were juveniles when they killed and are now serving life without parole sentences for capital murder eligible to be re-sentenced to life with parole sentences.

Several inmates in recent months have won new life, with the possibility of parole, sentences. But others, including Evan Miller whose case in Lawrence County originally opened up the possibility of parole for juvenile killers nationwide, have yet to have their resentencing hearings.

Under a state's parole board administrative rule says the first chance on parole in life sentence cases is 15 years.

But earlier this year the Alabama Legislature enacted a law to make sure juvenile killers convicted of capital murder don't get out that soon.

That amendment to the state's capital murder sentencing law states, in part, that a judge now has the option of sentencing juveniles convicted of capital murder to life with the possibility of parole. But if the defendant is given a life sentence, they must at least serve 30 years before they can first be considered for parole.

Under the new law a judge also still has the ability to impose life without the possibility of parole.

The Alabama Supreme Court set out fourteen factors that the sentencing court must consider when conducting a sentencing hearing for a juvenile convicted of capital murder, Roberts stated. After considering the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and the Alabama Supreme Court factors prosecutors did not feel like it had a reasonable argument that the defendant should be resentenced to life without parole, he stated.

"Because the defendant (Scroggins) was resentenced to Life for Capital Murder under the recently passed law that amended our sentencing provisions for juveniles convicted of Capital Murder the defendant still must serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole and in this case that should be around 2027," he stated.
The poster child for the CIA torture programme, the man for whom the most grotesque interrogation techniques were created is scheduled to appear Tuesday before a parole-like board that is hearing the cases of Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

The CIA once claimed Abu Zubaydah, also known as Zayn al-lbidin Muhammed Husayn, was al-Qaedas No 3 and assuming he survived the agencys torture, they wanted him to remain incommunicado for the remainder of his life according to the Senate Intelligence Committees report on the CIAs use of torture.

The US government now alleges in its latest assessment that among other things Zubaydah trained and later supervised the training of militant recruits in Afghanistan starting in 1989, that he later built a mujahideen facilitation network and that he played a key role in al-Qaedas communications with supporters and operatives abroad. [PDF]

His lawyers will argue that Zubaydah has no desire or intent to harm the United States or any other country. [PDF]

The torture

Zubaydah is one of the most important US war on terror prisoners, not because of who he is or isnt, but because he was at the crossroads of the decision to institutionalise torture  he was the original experiment.

All torture techniques were applied to him.

Additionally, the false claims of the effectiveness of the torture techniques inflicted on Zubaydah were cited as justification for their continued use.

Zubaydahs name surfaces 1,001 times in the Senate Torture report  and that only includes the un-redacted portions, as one of his lawyers has noted. He survived being waterboarded 83 times just in the month of August 2002 alone  a technique that made Zubaydah completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth. [PDF]

One of his lawyers said he believes that the Period Review Board (PRB) does not intend to give his client a fair hearing and therefore he does not expect him to be cleared for transfer from the prison.

The [PRB] detainee profile is written as though the [Senate] report didnt even exist and as if the entire fiasco with the CIA and the misrepresentations made by the CIA and the torture that our client endured never took place, Joe Margulies told Al Jazeera. It is a remarkable document.

READ MORE: Life after Guantanamo

Psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the two men who designed and implemented the novel interrogation methods, are being sued in US federal court by other CIA torture victims. The CIA destroyed the videotapes showing Zubaydahs interrogations.

The parole-like board is clearly going to interpret evidence, developments and facts in a way designed to justify their predetermined result, Margulies said.

For example, the PRB points out that Zubaydah has been extremely cooperative the whole time he has been at Guantanamo which ordinarily you would take as an indication of precisely an absence of animosity toward the United States, Margulies told Al Jazeera.

Yet they interpret Zubaydahs cooperation and his willingness to try and be a peacemaker [in] Camp 7 [where he is held] as evidence of him trying to refine and improve his organisational capacity for future terrorists acts or future leadership positions in terrorists organisations. [PDF]

Zubaydahs hearing comes as the idea of torture  or treatment that is a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding, as proposed by the Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump  is making a comeback. Furthermore, reportedly many of the 54 governments that assisted the CIA in rendition and torture of suspects now emulate similar practices.

Abu Zubaydah

In the late 1980s Zubaydah, 45, a Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia, went to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet-backed regime. In 1992 he suffered a serious injury when he was hit in the head by shrapnel and he lost his memory.

Eventually, following his recovering, Zubaydah became a coordinator at two guest houses in Pakistan and was in charge of some logistical matters for the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan, according to what Zubaydah said at an earlier Guantanamo hearing. He maintains he was not the Emir of the camp.

READ MORE: Guantanamo remembered

The mission of this training camp was for the purpose of training Muslim brothers for defensive jihad  like fighting against the Russians in Afghanistan or Israelis in Palestine, Zubaydah said, according to a statement read in a March 27, 2007, Guantanamo hearing. This was not the same as the doctrine of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, which was and is a doctrine of offensive jihad, Zubaydah added. [PDF]

My moral position is not against the American people or America, but against the government which I see a partner in oppression  I feel good when operations by others are conducted against America but only against military targets such as the USS Cole. But I get angry if they target civilians, such as those in the World Trade Center. [PDF]

Zubaydah was captured after being critically injured in Pakistan in March 2002 and was held by the CIA. The agency shuttled him to various black sites until he was transferred in 2006, along with 13 other high value detainees, or HVDs, to Guantanamo, where he has been held without charge since.

The high value detainees

In total, the US has described 17 men in Guantanamo as high value detainees. Two of those were transferred from the prison; Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani is serving a life sentence in US and Ibn Shaykh al Libi died in a prison in Libya.

Eight of the HVDs are in various states of military commission hearings, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The other seven HVDs, including Zubaydah, who are not facing charges, had their hearings in front of the PRB in August. These tortured men, who are held in Guantanamos clandestine Camp 7, are perhaps the biggest challenge to Barack Obamas years-long stated intention that he wants to close the prison.

In addition to Zubaydah, the prisons only Somali, Guleed Hassan Ahmed, 42, alleged by the US to be a key member of al-Qaeda in East Africas network in Somalia presented his case on August 2. [PDF]

Somalis working with the CIA captured Hassan in Djibouti in 2004. According to his lawyers Ahmed, whose wife and four children live in Kenya, has said he wants nothing further to do with extremism and he does not consider himself a threat. [PDF]

Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, also recently appeared before the parole-like board. The US alleges Hambali was an operational mastermind of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asia-based terror group that has been blamed for the deadly 2002 Bali bombings. [PDF]

Hambali said he has no ill will towards the US and he wants nothing more than to move on with his life and be peaceful, according to a statement by his lawyers. [PDF]

The Indonesians dont want Hambali back, hed be a media celebrity and hero to extremist groups, Sidney Jones, the director of Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, told Al Jazeera via email. Further they would have a tough time proving his involvement in funding the 2002 Bali bombs under Indonesian law. They would much rather he [was] someone elses headache.

Zubaydahs other avenues

With this latest parole-like hearing, the public will learn more about the man who was the CIAs guinea pig. Zubaydah suffers cognitive and physical decline, a result of this head injury, the trauma of his capture, the torture and the conditions of confinement in Guantanamo, Margulies said.

And while the US government no longer maintains that an individuals account of his torture is still classified, they have yet to release hundreds of pages of documents about Zubaydah, including statements Zubaydah or his lawyers have written describing his torture and the prisoners drawings.

READ MORE: Behind the scenes at Guantanamo

Much of what is classified has more to do with controlling the narrative of Zubaydahs story, than for reasons of national security purposes, Margulies said.

The parole-like hearing is not Zubaydahs only avenue for potential release.

His habeas corpus petition, which was filed in 2008, languished for years. But it has been recently re-assigned to Judge Emmet G Sullivan, who Zubaydahs lawyer described as being more aggressive about moving the case forward.

Separately Zubaydah might consider a plea deal depending on the offer.

Securing a prisoners release from Guantanamo has never really been about the law but rather about navigating the political shoals in a way that make it in the US governments interest for your client to be released, Margulies added.

But that has been difficult in Zubaydahs case because they just want to make him disappear.
The history of the canal offers a cautionary legacy to those hoping to win Egypt a good place in international economy.

Earlier this month, Egypt celebrated the 60th anniversary of Gamal Abdel Nassers nationalisation of the Suez Canal.

Nassers decision to expropriate the canals lucrative operator, the Suez Canal Company, in July 1956 was an entirely unexpected response to Washingtons surprise decision to withhold funding for Nassers grand scheme to build a dam across the Nile at Aswan.

Nationalisation was a historic moment in the history of Egypt and in the political fortunes of Nasser himself, whose storied place in history can be traced to this momentous decision.

Egypts mega-projects

The Aswan Dam was Nassers signature mega-project on the scale of the construction of the canal itself a century earlier. Taming the Nile was a grand demonstration of the young regimes commitment to modernisation and reform.

What better image for Nassers beleaguered heir, former General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to cultivate? Two years after the revolutionary ouster of Mohammad Morsi, Sisi faces a host of intractable economic woes  youth unemployment approaching 50 percent, a falling currency and remittances, a crisis in tourism and foreign investment, and a controversial $12bn agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foremost among them.

The anniversary offered the Egyptian president a ready-made opportunity to bask in the reflected light of Nassers  and Egypts  historic achievements, and to make his own claim to leadership of Egypts 21st century economic and political renaissance.

The centrepiece of the celebration was a nationally televised speech by Sisi from the canals port city of Ismailia, built to memorialise Khedive Ismail Pasha, who had ruled during the canals construction more than a century and a half ago.

The canal has long been part Egypt's sovereign control, but Sisi's, like Nasser before him, appears determined to leverage the canal's value in order create a multifaceted infrastructure to assure Egypt's profitable integration into today's global economy. by

Sisi, like his royal predecessor, has enlisted the canal in his battle to establish both economic and political stability as Egypt makes a place for itself in the global economy.

The Egyptian president tied the canals July 26, 1956, nationalisation to the first anniversary of his grand opening of the New Suez Canal in August 2015, celebrating the canals modernisation.

This is the first phase of Sisis signature mega-project to establish along the revitalised waterway an integrated maritime, industrial and agricultural infrastructure capable of placing Egypt at the centre of international maritime trade, manufacturing and commerce  goals not unlike those motivating construction of the canal itself 150 years ago.

A cautionary legacy

Sisis speech focused on a rebuttal of those who cast doubt on the value of the project.

What is being done to you, Egyptians, is an attempt to defeat your will, Sisi said. The objective of all the doubting is to undermine every achievement and strike at the will of the people. But it is an impossible task.

In defensive and often angry remarks, Sisi acknowledged the Egyptian pounds declining value and rising prices for basic goods, but repeated the refrain that his achievements of the last two years would normally have taken 10-15 years to accomplish.

OPINION: Suez Canal II  The sequel that impresses no one

He stressed the identity of the canal with economic progress and a tolerant Islam against those who would question it.

Despite his problems, Sisi  according to a recent latest Baseera poll  enjoys popularity ratings that would be the envy of Western leaders. The canal project, despite its shortcomings, remains a key positive factor among his supporters.

Under Sisis leadership, the effort to emulate Nassers masterful use of the canal for political as well as economic advantage has, however, fallen far short  as a scathing leader in the Economist points out.

Not only that: The checkered history of the canal itself offers a cautionary legacy to those hoping to win Egypt a favoured place in the international economy.

Bloodshed in the canals history

The canal was a French creation, built by the modern-day equivalent of a Pharaonic army of corvee (slave) labour numbering in the tens of thousands.

The construction marked Egypts uneasy entry into an international economy dominated by imperial interests centred in Paris and London. Egypt fared poorly in such a contest, then as now.

Paying foreign bondholders became a fatal albatross around the neck of the country. The canal, conceived as a force of national liberation, instead opened the door to foreign occupation.

OPINION: Egypts pharaoh illusion

The canals costly construction was a key element in Egypts growing indebtedness to Western creditors during Ismails reign.

His inability to confront the challenges of Egypts new international role soured relations with London and Paris and led to his ouster at their insistence and instigation.

OPINION: Egypt  Rebranding Sisi

A military insurrection against the Khedive by a new class of native Egyptian officers led by Ahmad Urabi in 1882 and a nascent Nationalist party of traditional notables was crushed only when British forces intervened, short-circuiting a revolution against the palace led by the army that was only consummated by Nasser seven decades later.

British rule and military occupation was centred upon control of the canal and its environs, a policy that was only decisively discredited by an American diktat in the aftermath of the ignominious tripartite aggression, also known as the Suez crisis of 1956.

The symbol of sovereign control

The canal has long been part Egypts sovereign control, but Sisis, like Nasser before him, appears determined to leverage the canals value in order create a multifaceted infrastructure to assure Egypts profitable integration into todays global economy.

He wants to rejoin Sinai, long separated from the Egyptian heartland by the canal, to the Egyptian mainland by tunnels and a massive programme of economic development that aims at sucking the energy out of a costly, bloody armed insurrection led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in central and northern Sinai that shows no sign of abating.

At the Ismailia ceremony, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail declared that the new canal is the first fruit of the national project for the complete development of the Suez Canal Zone.

It seeks to transform the Suez Canal from being a mere waterway to being an integrated development zone that includes commercial, industrial, logistic and residential areas that contributes to supporting the Egyptian economy and creates job opportunities for young people, and that creates development spheres in the Sinai and links them with the rest of the governorates of Egypt.

Khedive Ismail could not have said it better.

Geoffrey Aronson writes about Middle Eastern affairs. He consults with a variety of public and private institutions dealing with regional political, security, and development issues.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Two members of Chinas Uighur minority appear in military court over last years blast that killed 20 people in Bangkok.

Two Chinese nationals have gone on trial for their alleged roles in a deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine one year ago, but more than a dozen suspects allegedly involved in the incident remain at large.

The trial, which started on Tuesday at a military court in Bangkok, has been adjourned to September 15 and is expected to last more than a year.

It is taking place just days after a wave of unexplained explosions hit Thailands resort areas, killing at least four people and wounding 35 others, including tourists.

The August 2015 bombing  the worst assault of its kind in Thailands recent history  killed 20 people and wounded more than 100 others. The motive of the attack remains unclear.

READ MORE: Analysis  Thailand shields tourist trade after wave of bombings

The attack, which was carried out with a small but powerful bomb packed with ball bearings, targeted the Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkoks shopping district. The Hindu shrine is popular among ethnic Chinese visitors, who made up a majority of the dead with five from Malaysia, five from China and two from Hong Kong. Members of Chinas Muslim minority Uighur population, Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed, have been charged with involvement. The suspects appearing at the court are alleged to have acted as footsoldiers in the attack, said Al Jazeeras Scott Heidler, reporting from just outside the court in Bangkok. However, more than a dozen suspects officials are trying to get hold of are still at large.

He said analysts and officials believe the Erawan shrine blast and the recent bombings around the country were not related on the basis of available evidence, including the differences in the type of ammunition used.

Uighur connection

Analysts have largely coalesced around the theory that the shrine bombing was in revenge for the Thai military governments forcible return of 109 Uighurs to China weeks earlier.

Thai authorities insist the bombing was carried out by a people-smuggling gang angered by policing successes against human trafficking.

The Uighur minority say they face cultural and religious repression in their homeland of Xinjiang in northwest China, and many are believed to have fled the region in recent years.

The military governments deportations led to international condemnation and violent protests outside Thailands diplomatic missions in Turkey, which has given refuge to many of the Turkic-speaking group.
A delegation with the US Department of Justice has arrived in Ankara to hold talks over Turkeys request for extradition of a Muslim leader accused of masterminding a coup attempt last month, according to two senior Turkish officials.

The development marks the first concrete and public sign of progress in Turkeys efforts to get self-exiled Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Turkish-born religious leader and businessman, returned to the country.

Turkey says that Gulens supporters within the army carried out the failed coup of July 15, claiming that they have been running a parallel state within the civilian and military bureaucracy, and following their own agenda. Gulen denies the claims.

READ MORE: Turkish coup plotters acted early in fear of arrests

Both officials told Al Jazeera that the US delegation would hold technical meetings with their counterparts in the Turkish Ministry of Justice and discuss the evidence presented to the US on Gulens involvement in the attempted coup and other illegal activities.

The delegation arrived in Ankara on August 22 and meetings are scheduled for August 23 and 24.





Gulen has had court cases pending against him for several years and Turkey has been demanding his extradition well before the failed coup.

Following the July 15 incident, more court cases have been opened targeting him.

We would like Gulen to be returned to Turkish justice, considering all the legal proceedings against him and the extradition treaty between Turkey and the US. We see any step towards this goal positively, a senior Turkish official told Al Jazeera.

Yasin Aktay, the deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party, told Al Jazeera that during the meetings, the US delegation was expected to seek clarifications on the evidence presented by Turkey to the US concerning Gulens network.

It is bizarre for us that they [the US] have not been convinced, considering the scope of evidence we presented to them. Even this meeting should not have been necessary, Aktay said.

The testimony of the suspects who were arrested red-handed and documents we gave them are clear. If you add the statements of Gulen regarding the goal of his organisational movement, we believe there is nothing to question. Strong American intelligence should be well aware of who he really is.

The reluctance of Washington to return Gulen is perceived in Turkey as an effort to protect him, supporting the view that there are no terrorists, but only allies for the US.

Angry tone

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other high level officials have appealed to the US for the return of Gulen numerous times.

Erdogan adopted an angry tone towards Turkeys ally various times, saying that the US had to choose between Turkey and Gulen.

Rebel soldiers bombed state buildings, including the parliament and the presidential palace, during the coup attempt, killing civilians and security forces.

READ MORE: How will the military shake-up affect Turkeys future?

At least 290 people, including the plotters, were killed during the events of July 15..

Tens of thousands of civilian and military state employees were sacked or detained following the incident in efforts to get rid of the followers of Gulen, seen as a terrorist organisation in Turkey.

Police have also raided allegedly Gulen-linked businesses and media networks across the country and arrested various suspects allegedly linked to these organisations.
Operation results in 207 criminal cases against suspected web distributors of child sexual abuse images in 28 countries.

A major operation against distributors of child sexual abuse images online has resulted in the arrests of 75 suspects across 28 European countries.

Code-named Operation Daylight, the investigation has resulted in 207 criminal cases, Europes policing agency Europol said on Tuesday.

We know that individuals are abusing online platforms and networks to distribute child sexual abuse material and we are determined to target them and bring them to justice, Steven Wilson, head of Europols European Cybercrime Centre, said in a statement.

Operation Daylight was launched last year after Swiss police notified Europol after uncovering a vast network of criminals involved in the sexual exploitation of minors online.

Europol received the information in June 2015 from the Swiss authorities and disseminated intelligence packages in July 2015. Based on that intelligence, separate investigations were initiated in the concerned countries, Tine Hollevoet, a spokesman for Europol, told Al Jazeera.

So far, some of the 75 arrested suspects have been prosecuted, and the investigation is still ongoing, Europol said.

READ MORE: US nabs hundreds in global child porn probe

Separately, an Italian police statement on Tuesday said that five people were arrested as part of the operation and 16 were reported to magistrates for producing and sharing child sex abuse images.

All the suspects had previously been above suspicion, with no previous criminal activity, the police statement said, according to the DPA news agency. All of the suspects were aged 50 or above.

The operation has uncovered a vast paedophile network, the Italian police statement said, adding that access to the online network where images were shared was rigidly regulated and required patient work to be infiltrated by police.

Those networks continue to be a primary source for persons with a sexual interest in children who are seeking child sexual abuse and exploitation material online, Europol said in the statement.
Former leader may step down from helm of Republicans to focus on 2017 re-election bid at turbulent moment in history.

Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a bid to win back the French presidency, announcing he will seek his partys nomination to run in next years election.

The 61-year-old conservatives plan became apparent on Monday.

I have decided to be a candidate in the 2017 presidential election, Sarkozy wrote in a new book, Tout pour la France (All for France), due out this week.

France demands that you give her your all. I feel I have the strength to lead the fight at such a turbulent moment in our history, he wrote in an extract seen by AFP news agency, alluding to the attacks that have rocked the country since January 2015

The next five years will be filled with danger but also with hope.

In 2012, Sarkozy ended a five-year term mired in unpopularity, had made no secret of his ambition to reconquer the top office.

Major challenges

Sarkozys aides told AFP he was expected to step down as the leader of the centre-right Republicans to focus on his bid.

Party primaries take place on November 20 and 27.

Sarkozys first campaign stop will be on Thursday at Chateaurenard, near the southern French city of Avignon.

Sarkozy itemised major challenges in the years ahead, including strengthening respect for French identity, restoring lost competitiveness and enforcing state authority.

On the economic front, he pledged to reduce payroll charges, scale back unemployment payments for those who have been jobless for more than one year and slash income tax by 10 percent.

On immigration, he proposed suspending the right of family members to join a migrating relative in France.

The big problem with our immigration policy is firstly that of numbers, he said.

Minority blackmail

Sarkozys announcement coincides with a resurgent debate on the place of Islam in French society, encapsulated in the row over the Islamic burkini swimsuit.

He said Frances principal battle was over how to defend our lifestyle without being tempted to cut ourselves off from the rest of the world.

The opposition leader, who has repeatedly dismissed Socialist President Francois Hollande as weak, said he would also restore authority in neighbourhoods where he said minorities are successfully blackmailing the current authorities.

Sarkozy was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2012 after conducting a campaign seen by many in his own camp as too right-wing.

Sarkozy becomes the 13th person to put their name forward for the French presidency, a job that has sweeping powers.

He faces several challengers within conservative ranks.

His chief rival, Alain Juppe, the former premier and Bordeaux mayor, is seen as a moderate and is the favourite to win the partys nod.

But Juppes lead in opinion polls has shrunk in recent weeks as Sarkozy steps up his rhetoric on conservative Muslims and immigration following the July 14 lorry attack in Nice.

Best candidate

Sarkozy has already won the support of a Republican heavyweight, Christian Estrosi, who is president of the southern region that includes Marseille.

He is the best candidate, Estrosi told the Journal de Dimanche.

If Sarkozy wins, he could face a rematch against Hollande, who has said he too has the desire for a second term.

But opinion polls overwhelmingly show the French wanting neither man as their leader.

Hollande has even surpassed Sarkozy to become the most unpopular president in post-war France.

READ MORE: France probes Sarkozy over 2012 campaign funding

Sarkozy would also face far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is tipped to make it to a second round of voting.

His reputation remains tainted by two major inquiries, into alleged influence-peddling and into suspected illegal funding of his 2012 election campaign.

But true to his famous self-belief, these scandals have failed to dent his ambition of returning to the Elysee Palace.

Hollande, on a trip to southern Italy for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, declined to comment on Sarkozys bid, or on another challenge for the presidency launched by left-wing Socialist Arnaud Montebourg.
Occupied East Jerusalem  At the entrance to the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, an old floor plan maps out the rooms that make up its collection.

Artefacts from various historical periods were brought here during the British Mandate, with the museum founded in 1930. The majority were unearthed during British excavations at the turn of the century in historic Palestine.

The museum was established with the philanthropic contributions of American oil magnate John D Rockefeller, whose name it later acquired. But the print on the museums floor plan features its original name: Palestine Archaeological Museum.

Parts of the museums collection, particularly the rare books stored in its archaeological library, are set to be moved next year from the museums premises in East Jerusalem to a new location in West Jerusalem, a decision sanctioned last month by an Israeli court.

RELATED: Israel removes key sites from Jerusalems Old City map

Activists and archaeologists are worried that this could create a dangerous precedent and allow for more artefacts to be removed from the occupied territories and brought to Israel, in contravention of international law.

The museum features an important archaeological library, including thousands of volumes. Some of the oldest books date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, including accounts from pilgrims and scholars who travelled to the region, while others from the 19th and early 20th centuries cover antiquities sites in the region.

The collection has been expanded since 1967, when Israel illegally occupied East Jerusalem and took over the museum. Since then, the museum itself, located just outside the Old City walls, has been part of the Israel Museum and administered by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which is the governmental body in charge of regulating excavations and promoting archaeological research.

The authoritys headquarters, now located at the Rockefeller Museum, are about to be moved to a new building that will be part of the Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, for which construction is estimated to be completed next year.

The 35,000sq-metre campus will contain the largest archaeological library in the Middle East. The IAA plans to move the library currently housed at the Rockefeller Museum to the new location in West Jerusalem.

But Emek Shaveh, an NGO composed of a group of archaeologists and community activists advocating against the politicisation of archaeology in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, objected to the move and filed a petition against it last May, arguing that it is against international law to remove cultural property from an occupied territory.

The Israeli Supreme Court, however, rejected the petition and said the IAA is responsible for the artefacts and books stored at the museum, and therefore has the right to transfer them.

When Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem, it imposed Israeli law onto its territory  a move that has never been recognised by the international community. The court effectively ruled that Israeli law overrides international law in East Jerusalem.

Until the political [question] is solved, nobody knows for sure what the status of the artefacts is, Yonathan Mizrachi, executive director of Emek Shaveh, told Al Jazeera.

Because we are not excavating, we depend on Israeli publications from Jerusalem. And while we may be able to rely on the data, we can't rely on the interpretation, which is always political, focused on biblical archaeology. by Hani Nur el-Din, archaeology professor at Al Quds University

Mizrachi said the decision effectively sanctions Israels rights over the museums contents and creates a dangerous legal precedent.

In practice, he said, other artefacts have been removed from the museum, particularly over the past 10 years, including a collection of coins.

The petition was about the library because we knew for sure that the library was about to be transferred. But we also knew that many artefacts were removed from the collection of the museum to the rest of Jerusalem, he told Al Jazeera, adding that they were likely brought to storage spaces belonging to the Israel Museum.

The Rockefeller Museum itself has a number of empty cases, but it remains unclear whether the objects have been removed temporarily for exhibitions or otherwise.

The IAA did not respond to Al Jazeeras repeated requests for comment, and has previously denied that it intends to move anything other than books to the new location, adding that the latter will be able to be stored in better climatic conditions at the new location.

Hani Nur el-Din, a professor of archaeology at Al Quds University and director of its Jerusalem archaeological research unit, said that the move has a symbolic significance.

This is the base for the IAA and the base for archaeological excavations within East and West Jerusalem, the West Bank and every part of Palestine and Israel, Nur el-Din told Al Jazeera. Its one of the main symbols that Israel has political power in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, he said, his institute at Al Quds University, the only Palestinian university in Jerusalem  located in its periphery and divided from the city by the separation wall  is not able to conduct excavations in the city due to lack of access.

We can only do analysis [and] lectures, Nur el-Din said, adding that this makes it difficult for Palestinian archaeologists to provide a counter-narrative.

Because we are not excavating, we depend on Israeli publications from Jerusalem. And while we may be able to rely on the data, we cant rely on the interpretation, which is always political, focused on biblical archaeology, he added.

Maryvelma Smith ONeil, director of ARCH, the Alliance to Restore Cultural Heritage in Jerusalem, said the courts decision constitutes an ominous subordination of international law, but also represents yet another example of the vulnerability of Palestinian heritage in Jerusalem.

ARCH works with local partners to identify and protect vulnerable aspects of Palestinian cultural heritage  both physical and non-physical  in Jerusalem.

It is another act of memoricide against the multicultural history of the region, Smith ONeil told Al Jazeera. We know what is going on, but this is a dangerous legal precedent. If youre going to start moving objects, what stops you from going into a monastery and taking manuscripts?

Mizrachi of Emek Shaveh said the act of transferring and moving the objects must be seen within a wider context.

Emek Shaveh has denounced the way sites such as the City of David archaeological park in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan have been used to further political goals and dispossess Palestinians. According to the NGOs most recent report, the recognition of more than 160 Jewish holy sites helped to cement state control over them, while sites of significance to Muslims or Christians have suffered neglect.

The way archaeological sites have been presented, the way the national park is being used as a political tool  Its all part of the big picture about how important it is that this land cannot be recognised as exclusively belonging to one culture or one nation, Mizrachi said.
The leader of the Boko Haram group is believed to be fatally wounded in an air strike carried out by the Nigerian military in the countrys northeast, according to official sources.

Government planes attacked the group inside the Sambisa forest on Friday, the Nigerian air force said on Tuesday, adding that it had only just confirmed details of the impact of the raid.

Their leader, so-called Abubakar Shekau, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders, said the statement released by military spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman.

Usman also said three Boko Haram commanders  Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman  were confirmed dead and several others wounded.

There was no immediate reaction from Boko Haram to the governments claims.

Shekaus camp

Al Jazeeras Ahmed Idris, reporting from Nigerias capital Abuja, said the air strike was launched when fighters had gathered for some sort of a ceremony.

The attack happened on Friday on Shekaus camp. We know that the Chibok girls are held at the Shekau camp. Nigerias army says it is doing everything possible to rescue them.

The group kidnapped 270 schoolgirls in April 2014 and security sources believe it is holding some of them in Sambisa forest.

The Nigerian claim comes as John Kerry, the US secretary of state, visits the country for talks expected to focus on the fight against Boko Haram, which launched an armed campaign in 2009.

In recent months, Nigerian forces, with the support of regional troops, have recaptured large expanses of territory lost to the fighters.

Shekaus fate has been the subject of speculation recently amid claims he had been replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the groups former spokesman.

Barnawis appointment was announced in a magazine issued by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year.

But only a week later, Shekau surfaced in a video posted on social media, ridiculing suggestions of his death and looking more composed and energetic than in previous appearances.

The Nigerian military has reported Shekaus death in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him surface later, apparently unharmed, in video statements.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose a strict Islamic law in Nigerias mainly Muslim north, has killed about 20,000 people and forced at least 2.6 million others to flee their homes since 2009.
Group accuses UK government of being in disarray over selling of arms to Saudi Arabia for potential use in Yemen war.

An international aid organisation has accused British politicians of being in denial and disarray over the selling of arms to Saudi Arabia for potential use in the war in Yemen.

Oxfam said on Tuesday that the UK was violating the International Arms Trade Treaty, which regulates the transfer of conventional arms to ensure there are no violations of international humanitarian law.

UK arms and military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect, Penny Lawrence, Oxfam UK deputy chief executive, told a conference in Geneva.

It has misled its own parliament about its oversight of arms sales and its international credibility is in jeopardy as it commits to action on paper but does the opposite in reality.

READ MORE: All sides flouting humanitarian law in Yemen, says UN

Governments who sign the arms treaty are obliged to review their weapon sales and ensure that they are not being used for human rights violations.

Anna Macdonald, the director of the Control Arms Secretariat campaign group, said the wars effect on the civilian population in Yemen means no arms sales should be going ahead to any warring party in the conflict.

We are very concerned that the UK government continues to authorise arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners at a time when this war is raging on and there is a very high risk that the weapons will be used against civilians, Macdonald told Al Jazeera.

According to the campaign group, the UK authorised an arms licence to Saudi Arabia worth $4bn in 2015.

Earlier this year, the British government said it was confident that Saudi Arabias actions in Yemen did not violate standards set by the treaty. However, it later withdrew that statement, saying it could not verify such a claim, but that it had not been a deliberate attempt to mislead parliamentarians.

Countless well-respected lawyers have now provided evidence that shows that the risk [of violating humanitarian law] is extremely high and that the UK has flouted its own national laws and international law, Macdonald said.

A non-governmental organisation, according to Macdonald, has now taken out a judicial review to attempt to force the UK to reverse its decision on arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

READ MORE: Air strikes on Yemen resume, civilians killed

Yemen descended into chaos after the 2012 removal of long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose forces are now fighting alongside Shia Houthi rebels.

Security deteriorated further after the Houthis swept into Sanaa and pushed south, forcing the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee into exile in March last year.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia formed a coalition of Arab states to fight the Houthis.

As of January 2016, 2,800 civilians had been killed by the fighting, with 8,100 casualties overall, according to the UN.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has estimated that coalition air strikes caused almost two-thirds of reported civilian deaths, while the Houthis have been accused of causing mass civilian casualties due to a siege of Taiz, Yemens third-largest city.
The UN and the US have both expressed concern over the extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers.

The Philippines has recorded about 1,900 drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven weeks ago and launched a war on narcotics, far higher than previously believed, according to police figures.

National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told a Senate committee on Tuesday that about 750 suspected drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1.

Police were also investigating around 1,100 other drug-related killings, Dela Rosa said, adding that there was no declared policy to kill drug users and pushers.

We are not butchers, he declared at Tuesdays congregation.

On Sunday, Duterte railed against the United Nations for criticising the wave of deaths.



Can Duterte win the war on illegal drugs?

The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said it was deeply concerned by the reports, and US State Department spokesman Mark Toner urged Dutertes government to ensure that law-enforcement authorities abided by human rights norms.

When naming and shaming several public officials in a televised address earlier this month, accusing them of having connections to the drugs trade, Duterte vowed to maintain his shoot-to-kill orders for suspected drug dealers and said, I dont care about human rights, believe me.

He also warned legislators not to interfere with his campaign, saying they could be killed if they blocked efforts aimed at improving the country.

The drug trafficking crackdown and some strongly worded criticisms Duterte has made of the US since coming to power present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.

Toner made the dilemma clear in responses to questions at a regular State Department briefing in Washington, in which he referred to Duterte as a plain-speaking politician.

We continue to make clear to the Philippines government  our concern about human rights, extrajudicial killings, but we are also committed to our bilateral relationship and strengthening that bilateral relationship, he said.

As recently as Sunday, the number of suspected drug traffickers killed in Dutertes war on drugs had been put at about 900 by Philippine officials. But this number included people who died since Duterte won the May 9 presidential election.

Duterte said in a strongly worded late-night news conference on Sunday that the Philippines might leave the United Nations and invite China and others to form a new global forum, accusing the UN of failing to fulfill its mandate.

His foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, said on Monday the Philippines would remain a UN member and described the presidents comments as expressions of profound disappointment and frustration.

We are committed to the UN despite our numerous frustrations and disappointments with the international agency, Yasay told a news conference. US officials declined to comment on Dutertes UN remarks.
A court in Bangladesh has postponed the case of some 18 people facing trial for alleged construction code violations related to the Rana Plaza tragedy, when nearly 1,130 people lost their lives in a building collapse.

The April 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building housing garment factories in Dhaka ranks among the worlds worst industrial accidents. It prompted a global outcry for improved safety standards in the countrys massive garment industry.

Bangladesh is the worlds second-largest exporter of ready-made garments.





Tuesdays scheduled court case was expected to give some of the 130 witnesses a chance to take the stand in a case where it is alleged that three extra storeys were added to the structure.

Justice delayed again, said Al Jazeeras Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from outside the court in Dhaka.

The case was postponed after the defendants appealed to the judge for a delay on the grounds that they had filed a petition challenging their charges with the high court.

The judge complied with their request and postponed the hearing until October 26, Chowdhury said.

The owner of the building, Mohammad Sohel Rana, and former chief engineer are in custody, but at least five of the accused are on the run.

Victims are demanding justice and they want the court to speed up the process. But whether that happens remains to be seen, Chowdhury said.

Bangladesh does not have a good track record of bringing people to justice in any major industrial accident, he said.

Hundreds of witnesses are scheduled to give evidence when 41 people appear on murder charges in a second trial in September.

Not enough

The Rana Plaza disaster put pressure on global brands such as Gap, JC Penney and Walmart to improve conditions in Bangladesh where they have garments made.

But rights groups say not nearly enough has been done.

In 2015, the workers get some money from the Trust fund but still the manufacturers and the government couldnt pay them any compensation, Nazma Akther, the president of the combined Garment Workers Federation, told Al Jazeera.

And now most of the injured workers are severely injured and they need proper treatment and healthcare. It is very absent and nobody takes care of them.

READ MORE: When workers die, no company can walk away

Almost three in four survivors of Rana Plaza have been unable to work owing to physical ailments and trauma.

Low labour costs and shortcuts on safety standards make Bangladesh the cheapest place to make large quantities of clothing, critics says.

Companies are split over how to improve conditions.

Big European firms signed an accord that would make them legally responsible for safety while US groups such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc have broken ties with non-compliant factories.

In 2013, the Bangladesh government raised the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 77 percent to $68, and amended its labour law to boost workers rights, including the freedom to form trade unions.
South Sudan opposition leader will remain in Sudans capital for medical treatment, the Sudanese government says.

South Sudan opposition leader Riek Machar has arrived in Khartoum for medical treatment, according to Sudanese officials, days after fleeing to the Democratic Republic of Congo following deadly clashes last month.

Sudan has received, lately, Dr Riek Machar, for pure humanitarian reasons, especially his need for treatment and medical care, Sudans Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said on Tuesday.

Dr Riek Machars health is stable currently and he will remain in the country under comprehensive healthcare until he leaves for a destination of his choice, Osman told state media.

Hundreds died last month  and tens of thousands were displaced  when forces loyal to Machar clashed with President Salva Kiirs government troops in South Sudans capital, Juba.





Following the fierce fighting, Machar withdrew to the bush with his forces and was later replaced as vice president by party rival Taban Deng Gai.

Sudans announcement of Machars presence in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday comes just a day after Deng wrapped up his first official visit to Khartoum.

Aides of Marchar confirmed last week that he had left South Sudan and was in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. It was also reported that Machar had a leg injury, though it was not believed to be serious.

South Sudan was founded with optimistic celebrations in the capital on July 9, 2011, after it gained independence from Sudan in a referendum that passed with nearly 100 percent of the vote.

Two years later, a brutal civil war broke out between supporters of newly-formed South Sudans President Kiir and Machar. The two sides reached a peace deal in 2015, under which Machar returned to Juba to resume his role as vice president, but last months fighting threatened to send the country back to all-out civil war.

The UN Security Council voted on Friday to authorise sending an extra 4,000 troops to the country to bolster the existing UN mission.

South Sudan officials said they were considering the UN proposal.
Residents and activists in Syrian city say supplies are scarce and aerial bombardment of civilian areas is unrelenting.

The humanitarian situation has gravely deteriorated in Syrias northern city of Aleppo where Syrian government forces and Russian warplanes continue to attack civilian neighbourhoods, according to activists and residents.

In the last four days, food supplies have close to disappeared from the markets, and prices have skyrocketed, Salem al-Atrash, a resident in the city, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

You can only rarely find anyone on the streets, because of the intensity of the indiscriminate and barbaric shelling of the Russian and Syrian armies, he said.

Once Syrias largest city, Aleppo has been divided between opposition control in the eastern half and government control in the west since mid-2012.

READ MORE: Civilian deaths mount after Syrian regime loses ground

Government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive to retake the rebel-held half of the city, imposing a month-long siege that was eventually broken by opposition forces in early August.

Since the end of the siege, unprecedented numbers of civilians have been killed daily by aerial bombardment on the city.

According to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a grassroots network of activists across Syria, at least 90 have been killed since Sunday, and more than 200 were recorded dead last week.

There are always six planes in the sky  four helicopters and two warplanes  for 24 hours a day. There has been no pause in the shelling at all, said Atrash, who lives in Aleppo with his wife and three children.

Apex of horror

Addressing the UN Security Council on Monday, Stephen OBrien, the UN secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said: Aleppo has become the apex of horror at its most horrific extent for the people suffering in the city.

I have underscored that up to 275,000 people in eastern Aleppo have been almost entirely cut off from vital supplies, including food, water, medicine, and electricity, for over a month, he added.

Aleppos residents are living in constant fear of total besiegement, OBrien said, while access also remains extremely difficult to the estimated 1.5 million people in western parts of the city.

Activists on the ground say the the escalation in aerial bombardment has followed the Assad regimes loss of significant strategic territory in the city.

A coalition of rebels, calling themselves the Army of Conquest, claimed to have captured a military base as well as an armament school and an artillery school in the Ramosa quarter of Aleppo earlier this month. The rebels reportedly then used the captured base to launch their offensive to break the regimes siege of Aleppo.

READ MORE: Syrian opposition says rebels break siege of Aleppo

Ibrahim al-Hajj, media centre director in Aleppo for the Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group also known as the White Helmets, said civilian infrastructure was increasingly under attack.





Field hospitals, ambulance and civil defence personnel have been targeted the most in the last few days, especially with cluster bombs, Hajj told Al Jazeera.

Theres very little movement in the streets. Its as though Aleppo is besieged again, Hajj said.

Despite the breaking of the siege, activists say the regime has advanced towards Ramosa, which is one of the main routes that residents in the eastern half of the city are using to flee.

Although some have managed to get out of the city, others understand the risk associated with trying to leave, and decided to stay, Atrash said.

There are also families like ours who believe that we do not want to lose our land. We are attached to our country, he added.
The truce, reported by Syrian state media, comes after assault by Kurdish fighters to seize all of northeastern city.

Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters have agreed to halt fighting in the northeastern city of Hasaka, according to state media.

The reported ceasefire came into effect at 2pm (11am GMT) on Tuesday, and follows a major assault by the Kurdish YPG group to capture the last government-controlled areas of the city.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organisation that tracks daily developments in Syria, the YPG has gained control of nearly all of Hasaka.

Under the truce, the Syrian government troops will be be allowed to leave Hasaka but they will still remain a presence on the outskirts of the city.

READ MORE: YPG launches assault to take all of Hasaka

Al Jazeeras Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkish side of the border with Syria, described the ceasefire as fragile, citing the collapse of a similar reported truce in recent days.

The terms of the truce state that the Syrian army will pull out of the city, but they can easily re-deploy to military bases around Hasaka, said Ahelbarra.

Kurdish fighters are also expected to pull out as part of the truce, our correspondent said, adding that the security of the city was going to be handed over to the Asayish, a YPG-affiliated police force.

The ceasefire looks like a quick fix, an attempt to defuse tension, rather than trying to find a long-term solution to the crisis in Hasaka, said Ahelbarra.

The same truce, with similar terms, was agreed two days ago, but hours later, the deal collapsed, said Ahelbarra, who added that there was no mention of the latest reported ceasefire on Kurdish media.

The fighting in Hasaka, which was divided into zones of Kurdish and Syrian government control, marks the most violent confrontation between the Kurdish YPG and the Syrian army in more than five years of civil war.

Goverment fighter jets last week bombed YPG positions in Hasaka for the first time during the war, prompting a US-led coalition to scramble aircraft to protect American special operations forces on the ground in the area.

The YPG, or the Peoples Protection Units, had earlier captured Ghwairan, the only major Arab neighbourhood in Hasaka still in government hands.

The YPG is at the heart of a US-led campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria.

It controls swaths of territory along the northeastern border with Turkey  from Hasaka to Afrin  which its political wing has claimed as an autonomous region now called Rojava.
Hundreds of patriotic pilots are ready to replace army staff sacked after coup attempt, Turkish Airlines chair says.

Hundreds of Turkish Airlines (THY) pilots are willing to give up their civilian careers to work for the Turkish armed forces following a failed coup attempt last month, according to the airlines chairman.

In the wake of the coup bid, Turkey fired a total of 265 pilots from its armed forces for their alleged involvement in the July 15 events, or for having links to Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric blamed by Ankara for masterminding the attempt to topple the government.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, THY chief Ilker Ayci said pilots in the company with military experience were ready to help address the personnel deficit created in recent weeks.

There are a total of 800 pilots in the Turkish Airlines who previously worked for the military and 500 of these pilots started working for our company in the past five years, Ayci said.

All our pilots are patriots, and most of them are willing to go back to the Turkish armed forces, he added. I have sent the list of eligible candidates to the defence ministry, he said.

READ MORE: How will the military shake-up affect Turkeys future?

THY, which is 49-percent state-owned, is Europes fourth biggest carrier.

Overall, there are more than 2,000 ex-military pilots working today in the Turkish civil aviation industry.

A recently issued state of emergency decree paved the way for the return of pilots who previously left or were dismissed from the countrys armed forces.

Air forces around the world normally have a crew-seat ratio of 1.5 pilot per seat, said Murat Herdem, news coordinator and columnist for the Turkish aviation website Airporthaber.

After the purge, this ratio went down to 0.8 in the Turkish air force, he told Al Jazeera.

As a result of this, he said, the military decided to rely on civilian pilots to continue their operations without disruption.

No economic sense

Commenting on Aycis remarks, however, Herdem raised doubts about whether many pilots would be willing to give up their civilian careers to serve in the air force.

They may say they are willing to do this now, he said, citing a rise in patriotic feeling following the failed coup attempt, but when it comes down to actually making the move, most of them will back down.

Going back to the military does not make any economic sense. They are accustomed to a certain way of life now.

INTERACTIVE: Timeline of attacks in Turkey

A THY captain can earn more than $10,000 a month according to their experience level, while a starting salary for a pilot in the company is estimated to be around $5,000.

In the Turkish armed forces, on the other hand, pilot salaries range between $1,000 to $1,700 dollars.

In an effort to attract more ex-employees currently working for private airlines, the government recently increased the overtime paid to armed forces pilots.

Pilot-reserve system

Ayci, the THY chairman, said they were working on a model that would allow pilots to work for a private company and the military simultaneously.

There are models in the US in which pilots can work both in the army and the private sector. We are examining and working on those models, he told the Turkish daily Hurriyet on Tuesday.

Completely new models can also be formed.

But even if the government created a pilot-reserve system similar to the US, it would be extremely hard for these pilots to adapt themselves back in to a military mindset and conduct successful operations, Herdem argued.

This can only be a short-term solution, he said. And long-term solutions that are on offer are not looking promising.

OPINION: From sporadic to systematic ISIL attacks in Turkey

Earlier this month, the Turkish government shut down all of Turkeys military schools in another state of emergency decree.

The move, which made it impossible for future military pilots to be trained in specialised academies from an early age, has given rise to concerns about the long-term prospects of the Turkish air force.

Following the shutting down of the military schools, Ankara announced changes in the requirements for becoming an armed forces pilot.

Graduates of four-year civilian aviation schools who are under the age of 27 could now apply to become an active officer, the government said in a decree.

But Airporthabers Herdem said there was no proper, functioning civil aviation university in Turkey.

How can we expect universities that are failing to train civilian pilots to train military officers? he said.

The University of Turkish Aeronautical Association, the flagship civilian aviation school in the country, offers only a theoretical education, Herdem added.

Those students do not get in a plane for most of their education.

Civilian pilots or students cannot solve the problems that the Turkish military is facing after the coup attempt, he said.

Turkey, which is currently under a state of emergency, is facing multiple security threats.

As part of a US-led coalition, it is fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

It is also battling Kurdish separatist rebels in its southeast, where a ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s.
Sisters and brother interrogated on London airport runway after fellow passengers claimed seeing Arabic text on phone.

Three British Muslim siblings were left traumatised after being escorted off a plane in London and interrogated on the tarmac as armed police kept watch, after fellow passengers accused them of being members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

Sakina Dharas, 24, her sister Maryam, 19, and their brother Ali, 21, were on board EasyJet flight EZY3249 from Londons Stansted Airport to the Italian city of Naples on August 17.

Sakina told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that as the plane was about to take off, a crew member ordered the siblings off the aircraft and escorted them down the staircase to the tarmac, where they were met by armed police and an MI5 agent who questioned them for one hour.

Earlier, two passengers  also travelling to Naples  had told authorities that the siblings had been looking at a mobile phone screen that showed either Arabic text or the words praise be to Allah, Sakina said.

A passenger on your flight has claimed that you three are members of ISIS, the MI5 agent said to the siblings, according to Sakina, a clinical pharmacist.

The minute that I saw police standing there, I was extremely emotional, she said.

We had nothing at all [on our phones]. We dont even speak Arabic, were [of] Indian [origin].

Sakina added that her brother had not looked at his phone during their time at Stansted.

The only Arabic in her smartphone is within an app featuring verses from the Quran, she said, which wasnt open throughout their time in the airport.

During their one-hour interrogation on the tarmac, Sakina said she was asked to explain  page by page  the details of various entry stamps on her passport. She also showed the MI5 agent recent WhatsApp messages. The siblings provided answers relating to their personal lives and were questioned on their home addresses, workplaces, social media history and parents professions.

Sakina said the agent told them that he had already performed checks on the family and was simply verifying the information, before warning her that he would be doing more research on you, and if anything comes back, Ill be here waiting on your return.

The siblings, who are from northwest London. were then allowed back on the plane, which had been delayed.

Nervous and embarrassed

I was extremely nervous and embarrassed, said Sakina, who also wrote an account of the event on her Facebook page.

I thought, shouldnt they [the agent and police officers] be coming up [on the plane] with us, to show the other passengers that we hadnt done anything wrong, to say, Dont worry, it was a misunderstanding?

Our holiday in Italy was ruined. It played on our minds the whole time.

EasyJet confirmed the incident to Al Jazeera.

Following concerns raised by a passenger during the boarding of flight  a member of ground staff requested the assistance of the police who took the decision to talk to three passengers at the bottom of the aircraft steps, before departure, the company said.

The safety and security of  passengers and crew is our highest priority which means that if a security concern is raised we will always investigate it as a precautionary measure.

We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the passengers.

Sakina said she and her siblings were victims of racial profiling.

Im still very annoyed that someone [the accusing passengers] can get away with a blatant lie, she said, adding that she would take legal action if I knew a way to do so.

READ MORE: US Muslim forced off plane cites Islamophobia

The incident comes at a time of rising Islamophobia in the UK.

Sakina said before the plane experience, that she had received the odd racist remark about my headscarf.

With the way things are spun in the media and the climate were in, were growing accustomed to it, and desensitised  More education is the best way to battle ignorance, she added.

Muslims around the world are increasingly subject to discrimination as Islam is conflated with terrorism.

Humiliating public interrogations

Rights groups said that while security was important, efforts should be made to protect innocent people.





Its absolutely right that security is a foremost priority for airlines, and that genuine causes for concern are properly investigated to guarantee the safety of passengers, Rosie Brighouse, a legal officer at the UK-based rights group Liberty, told Al Jazeera.

However, it is also important that innocent people arent subjected to humiliating public interrogations, and it is therefore incumbent on the authorities to use their common sense, and subject reported concerns to basic credibility checks, before deciding how to respond.

Yasmine Ahmed, director of Rights Watch UK, said the Dharas case raised serious human rights concerns.

It is completely unacceptable that young, British Muslims are subject to this treatment, she told Al Jazeera.

The government must immediately explain under what powers they acted, and how it is necessary and proportionate, on the basis of a spurious claim by a fellow passenger, to demand that three young British Muslims disembark an aircraft and be subject to questioning by an MI5 officer and told that the officer may be waiting for them on their return.

Such action carried a risk [of] having a counterproductive effect by alienating and isolating young, British Muslims, she said.

Incidents such as these, which unfortunately are all too familiar, raise very serious questions about whether the government is genuinely committed to upholding the very British values that it espouses in its counter terrorism strategy and whether the governments counter terrorism strategy is driven by efficacy or popularism.

Follow Anealla Safdar on Twitter: @anealla
New UNICEF report indicates most of the unaccompanied minors apprehended do not have access to legal representation.

Almost 26,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended at the US border in the first six months of 2016, according to a new report by the UN childrens agency, UNICEF.

The report, released on Tuesday, said that minors, and an additional 29,700 people  mostly mothers and their children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras  were also apprehended by US Customs and Border Protection.

There was no detailed data on the average age of an unaccompanied minor apprehended at the US border, however.

Citing Pew research from October 2013  May 2014, Christophe Boulierac, UNICEF spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that 785 under the age of five were among the unaccompanied children detained by US border authorities.



Child migrants face uncertain future in US

By the end of July, an additional 5,068 unaccompanied minors had been apprehended, a pattern that authorities indicated in an online report for the period was generally in line with what they had observed in previous years.

While some of those detained are deported via expedited procedures, some women and children have spent weeks, even months, in detention.

The unaccompanied minors, says the report, are especially vulnerable as they could take years before their cases are called before the over-burdened immigration courts.

We have to look at two levels  the policy level, the global commitment of the US, and the reality on the ground.

First, we urge the US authorities to join with the world community in ratifying the Convention of the Rights of the Child  the US has signed but it has not ratified this convention, said Boulierac.

Furthermore, he says the US should prevent the detention of children on the basis of their migration status.

We appreciate that the US has a well-established set of institutions and policies to protect migrant children, but  we are disturbed by reports of children facing exploitation or abuse or being denied their rights.

Deportation = death sentence

Most of the apprehended minors, the UNICEF report says, do not have access to court-appointed lawyers, and that about 40 percent of those children receive deportation orders.

This fate can be a death sentence as many of the children flee their countries to avoid being recruited or otherwise targeted by gangs.

Children and families are leaving countries with high poverty and crime rates.

In Honduras and Guatemala, roughly 60 percent of the population live below the poverty line, while El Salvador has the worlds highest murder rate.

The journey itself has high risks. According to Amnesty International, six out of ten girls and women attempting to reach the US by land experience sexual violence at some point, and, according to the rights group, killings are frequent. Nobody knows how man migrants die on the journey.

Kidnappings are also common, as are arrests in Mexico, where 16,000 migrant children have been arrested in the first six months of 2016.

Boulierac said UNICEF is optimistic about a recently approved law to establish a comprehensive and integral child-protection system across the country.

The question is how to put that into reality.

Follow D. Parvaz on Twitter @dparvaz
Facing threats from the war across its border, Turkey steps up its intervention, striking ISIL and Kurdish positions.

Turkey is stepping up its military involvement in Syria, striking both the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group and Kurdish fighters.

The war in Syria is becoming increasingly complicated. Several factions and international alliances are fighting it out, both on the ground and in the air.

Now Kurdish areas in the north are being heavily targeted.

The United States is warning that it will not hesitate to open fire on the Syrian army if it continues to attack fighters from the US-backed Kurdish Syrian National Democratic Council in Hasaka.

To the west of the city in Manbij, Turkish forces are attacking Kurdish YPG positions.

The Turkish government accuses the YPG of being an extension of the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK.

Turkeys armed forces have been at war with the PKK separatists for more than 20 years.

But is intervention the answer to Turkish security concerns? And how can Turkeys changing policy affect the long-running civil war?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Bilal Sambur  Professor of Social Sciences, Yildirim Beyazit University.

Renad Mansour  Carnegie Middle East Center scholar.

Dlawer Alaaldeen  President, Middle East Research Institute.
The case against Assange is as political as it is legal; where does it go from here? Plus, Kenyas election influencers.
A lead voice actor from the Disney movie Big Hero 6 will speak at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Friday night.

The Asian American Student Union is hosting Ryan Potter, who voiced main character Hiro Hamada in the animated movie, as the keynote speaker at their 23rd Annual Asian American Student Assembly at 6:30 p.m., said Kaitlyn Rewis, a co-executive director for AASA.

Having someone that is able to play their own culture and represent it well is a big thing for us, the 21-year-old UF biochemistry and architecture senior said, adding that Potter resonated with the events theme, Fuel the Flame.

The free event was funded by Student Government and cost $17,500, she said. Potter is being paid $7,000 to speak.

Rewis said she expects more than 1,000 students to attend.

Were one of the only assemblies that can fill up the Phillips Center, she said.

Howie Johnson, 21, said he attends AASUs assembly event every year.

The UF applied physiology and kinesiology senior said the event is a way to introduce freshmen to campus involvement.

Its an integral part in really setting the tone for these freshmen, showing them that this is a fun organization to be a part of, he said.

Johnson said he was looking forward to seeing the freshmen at the assembly.

Im excited for the new year to start and having new faces come in to the organization, he said.

Correction:

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Tuesdays paper incorrectly stated the total cost of the upcoming Asian American Student Assembly event.

The Asian American Student Union was granted $122,485 for this academic school year. The total cost of its upcoming event is $17,500.
Suspected in a January shooting that left one man dead, a Gainesville man surrendered to police Monday morning at the Alachua County Jail.

Richard Demetric Mays, 31, was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of 26-year-old Isadore Lee, of Gainesville, according to a statement issued Monday morning by the Alachua County Sheriffs Office. Mays is currently being held in lieu of a $1 million bond.

On Jan. 11, deputies with the ACSO found two people who had been shot in the Holly Heights area of East Gainesville, according to Alligator archives.

The deputy who arrived at the scene gave both victims first-aid care until an ambulance took them to the hospital, according to archives.

Lee died at the hospital that night. The woman, Lakeya Steward, 28, was treated for a gunshot wound that was not believed to be life-threatening, according to archives. Authorities didnt find the firearm used at the time or the shooter.

The incident began with an argument among a few people, and it ended when someone pulled out a gun and started to shoot, according to archives.

Detectives are still investigating, and additional arrests may still be made, according to the ACSO statement.
When Paula Rotscher came to UF from Germany in 2012, she was greeted with open arms. But she noticed not all international students had as easy a time.

Some needed help with English, and others struggled to get involved in the community, she said.

Now the executive director of the nonprofit Welcoming Gainesville, Rotscher said she is hoping to help new international residents adjust by partnering with more than a dozen community organizations to promote their services and offer her own.

In the coming months, she said she aims to start offering an English-language class for residents in conjunction with the Latina Womens League and UFs English Language Institute.

One of the best ways for someone to become part of the community is to interact with different residents, and you cant really do that if you cant speak English, she said.

Rotscher also said she hopes to teach city residents about others stories by having international residents act out their immigration stories in a play she is trying to organize with local theaters.

We hope immigrants who come to our community will come forward and share their stories, Rotscher said.

Richard MacMaster, 81, met Rotscher when she interned for him in 2015 at Gainesvilles Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice. At the time, he wanted Gainesville to join almost 100 cities as part of Welcoming America, an organization that encourages tolerance in communities.

He knew Rotscher would be perfect to head Welcoming Gainesville after a resolution to create it passed the city commission in February. Gainesville was the first city to join in Florida. Alachua County joined in June.

We all need each other, MacMaster said. I hope the city and the county become a city and a model for the rest of Florida.

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After complaints over unprepared rooms and dirty conditions, a Pavilion on 62nd Apartments senior vice president personally apologized Monday to at least two disgruntled tenants and offered to let them cancel their leases, the tenants said.

Along with about 10 others, Enrique Kopetman stood in a line Monday at the apartment complex as he waited to meet with Maureen Lannon, the senior vice president of marketing at Pierce Education Properties, L.P., which purchased Pavilion in late May.

On Saturday, when Kopetman walked into what would soon become his daughters new unit, he said there were bed bugs and stains on her bed  and the whole place smelled of feces and urine. Other tenants had similar complaints.

Once Kopetman and Lannon met, after a more-than-two-hour wait, he told her he wanted her to cancel his lease, and she obliged and even offered to return the security deposit, he said.

When I met with [her], she was very apologetic, Kopetman said. She said, This is not the way we do things.

Kopetman said his daughter Sara is staying with friends until they can find another apartment for her to move into.

After previously stating he planned to hire a lawyer, Kopetman said Monday he has decided not to take legal action despite his struggle over the weekend.

I got what I wanted, Kopetman said.

In a written statement issued Sunday, Bob Hetherington, a representative of the apartment complex, said the problem stemmed from the premature departure of one of two professional cleaning firms hired to help prepare the apartments.

On Monday, in a second statement, Hetherington said Lannons conversations with tenants provided residents with reassurance and the open communication fostered confidence among most participants about the year ahead.

However, at least one tenant said she was dissatisfied with Lannons peace offering.

When Elizabeth Provans daughter Carly walked into what she thought would be her new apartment unit Saturday, someone was already living there, Provan said.

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The management did call me today to tell me that they were trying to figure things out, but our apartment we were given was occupied by someone else when we walked in, Provan said. It was also absolutely disgusting  I wouldnt even take my dog there.

Lannon offered to cancel Provans lease, but thats just not enough, Provan said.

The company put us through an absolute nightmare, she said. My daughter has had three or four anxiety attacks at this point and has nowhere to live.

She said she plans to seek legal action as soon as possible.

Jon Adcock, the director of the office of UF Student Legal Services, said any UF student who wishes to explore legal options should visit the office. The offices website offers a link to a summary of Floridas Landlord and Tenant law.

Whether the company is breaking any law would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis, Adcock said, but students who want to explore their options should come see us this week.
           2005     ..        
If I was your stockbroker and I told you to invest in a business with the following characteristics, what would you think?

The company I'm pitching to you has revenues that rise and fall as much as 50% or more on a quarter-to-quarter basis. Its quarterly earnings and losses are equally volatile. Almost all its revenue comes from new product sales  it has very little continuing revenue. Operating expenses generally increase a little more slowly than revenue when sales are rising, but when sales fall, expenses keep increasing anyway because of accounting charges for layoffs and office closures when management downsizes.

Management can't plan ahead because the company sells most of its products to a few large customers. Those customers dictate sales volume and product pricing and their purchases determine whether the company makes or loses money in any given period. Management's only lever for controlling the company's earnings volatility is to try to guess how much and at what price those customers may buy in the future. The company increases or decreases personnel and marketing expenses based on that guess.

The company also has a large ongoing technology investment program that it can't afford to cut much if it wants to compete. Oh, and the company isn't growing  sales in the most recent quarter were flat compared to the same quarter two years earlier  and it is only marginally profitable even when things are going well.

The company I just described is Prosper Marketplace, a fintech "unicorn" with a billion-plus private market valuation and the granddaddy of the marketplace lenders. Prosper reported second quarter 2016 results in a 10-Q filing last week that included a $35 million net loss and a $37 million cash burn on a 56% quarter-to quarter reduction in loan originations. The Prosper announcement followed fellow marketplace lender Lending Club's equally dismal quarterly earnings report earlier this month.

MPLs like Prosper transfer loan revenue and credit risk to loan investors at origination, so they earn nothing from loans held on balance sheet. Almost all MPL revenue is generated from "gain on sale" fees earned from new loan sales. This dependence on origination volume and gain-on-sale margins makes MPL results exquisitely sensitive to macro and micro trends in investor demand and risk appetite. Small market disruptions and credit performance changes can have an outsize impact.

This past quarter, Prosper's management got a firsthand look at just how unsustainable the MPL gain-on-sale business model really is, when investor demand dried up, loan pricing became uncertain and bad publicity hit the sector. The experience should lead the Prosper board to reconsider the company's core strategy if the lender is to rebound and the MPL sector as a whole faces continued headwinds.

Companies like Prosper and Lending Club have done a fantastic job revolutionizing the front end of the consumer lending experience  and in doing so have created real value for some borrowers  but their vision of a "disintermediated" loan marketplace is proving itself unable to handle even minor financial market bumps without running off the road. It's time to face facts  the pure "marketplace lending" model just isn't working. MPLs need to shift to a more sustainable mode  either as banks or as nonbank balance-sheet lenders  before the end of the current credit cycle brings on a real shakeout and the MPL experiment becomes a financial failure.

There was some good news coming out of the second-quarter report. Prosper's management, unlike Lending Club's, didn't try to prop up originations too much with costly loan buyer "incentives," and it acted quickly to cut personnel and other expenses to reflect its current reality of slow growth and limited funding. But with sharply lower originations and no continuing earnings from a balance sheet, Prosper's revenue fell through the floor.

Unfortunately there is no reward in this world for good behavior. Prosper's expenses also rose by 12% due in part to restructuring charges. The accounting for aggressive downsizing is a bear that bites hard (and repeatedly) so the expense hits will keep coming for the next quarter at least before the world can see the run-rate impact.

The company is also using up its cash at a fast clip (only $28 million in cash at quarter end) and although it has $55 million in unpledged available-for-sale securities in reserve, it may need to find some new sources of capital pretty soon, especially if it ties up more liquid assets to satisfy lenders. That will likely be a very expensive proposition given recent results.

Prosper management is trying to shore up its origination volume with commitments from institutional buyers and warehouse lenders. But these funders are not really legally committed to buy loans or advance more money to Prosper if markets or credit goes sideways. The likely short-term outcome of these efforts is more predictable funding, but at a higher cost. The longer-term impact is more worrisome  Prosper's funders will have a significant level of control over the company's origination volume, revenue and gain-on-sale margin.

There is another view on the viability of MPLs. Lending Club's $2 billion-plus market capitalization shows that many people still believe that the sector's recent problems are temporary and that the MPL model can work to create shareholder value. But history shows that when a high stock price is coupled with consistently poor fundamentals, as is the case there, there is a lot to lose. A core requirement for a lender is to be able to make money consistently. MPLs haven't shown the ability to do that, and they can't ignore this weakness forever by putting on a fintech label. Lending Club has lost a cumulative $115 million over the last four and a half years (Prosper has lost a cumulative $125 million over the same period) and nothing suggests that will change anytime soon.

The path ahead is clear if boards, venture investors and management want to salvage something before the string runs out. Stable funding is everything for a lender, and the best place to find that is to fund lending directly with bank deposits. If buying, becoming or selling to a bank is not an option (so far banks seem content to let the MPLs implode), then creating a moderately leveraged finance company with a real balance sheet should help stabilize results, at least until the next credit downturn. While this won't result in the type of equity valuation dreamed of by the MPLs' tech boosters, it will provide something real for the venture and institutional investors who put up the equity to fund companies like Prosper.

Todd Baker is a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is managing principal of Broadmoor Consulting LLC.
WASHINGTON  Regulatory relief is arguably one of the most popular ideas in Congress  embraced by most Republicans and plenty of Democrats  but it has also proven to be frustratingly difficult for lawmakers to enact.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton again pledged Tuesday to grant relief to small banks and credit unions if elected president, making her most high-profile commitment to the idea yet.

Yet analysts and industry representatives were skeptical of her ability to help get it over the finish line. Trapped between Republican lawmakers who are likely to push further than Clinton wants to go and progressive Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who appear skeptical of the need for relief, a Clinton administration doesn't have much leeway.

"They don't have a lot of wiggle room," said Ed Mills, a financial policy analyst and managing director at FBR. "We've gone eight years without really differentiating between the size of banks. In D.C., they think banks are bad. We have a liberal wing of the party that views [Clinton] with skepticism in reference to banks.  I don't see anything legislatively happening."

Roger Beverage, the head of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, agreed it was tricky.

"It depends entirely on how Sen. Warren and other progressives react to [Clinton's] plan," said Beverage. "I want to believe that Secretary Clinton is serious about streamlining regulations and cutting red tape for community banks. The cynic in me says this pledge is meaningless, even though it's in writing, because she will not spend a lot of political capital with Democrat leaders on the Hill to make it happen."

Others were less pessimistic but questioned Clinton's commitment to regulatory relief. In her op-ed, the Democratic nominee said regulatory relief was critical to helping small businesses gain access to credit.

"My plan will reduce unnecessary regulations on local community banks and credit unions, while defending the tough new rules on big Wall Street banks," she said.

But Brian Gardner, a managing director with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, suggested that was little more than a "campaign slogan."

"It's not legislation; it's very skimpy on detail," he said. "People are looking in the wrong place. This is one area that the Hill is going to have a lot of input."

And the shape of Capitol Hill has yet to be determined. It's unclear, for example, if Democrats will regain control of the Senate. If they did, Sen. Sherrod Brown, the progressive Democrat from Ohio, likely would be in position to take leadership of the Senate Banking Committee. Brown has been a vocal supporter of regulatory relief for smaller banks  but his definition of it differs significantly from that of Republican colleagues.

If Republicans maintain control, meanwhile, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, likely would assume leadership of the banking panel. It's unclear if Crapo would take up the recently debated regulatory relief bill authored by current Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., or start over on his own. (Shelby is limited under Republican rules from becoming chairman of the Senate Banking Committee next year.)

On the House side, it's almost certain that the GOP will keep control of that chamber. That would leave a Clinton administration  if she wins  to negotiate with the House Republican caucus. The House GOP favors Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling's regulatory relief bill, which includes several provisions Democrats have rejected.

It remains to be seen whether Clinton could find common ground between the various players in Congress. Industry representatives said it would come down to how high a priority Clinton would make it.

"Since most true community bank regulatory relief issues are largely bipartisan, if the White House makes community bank regulatory relief a priority, then I think the prospects for seeing meaningful community bank regulatory relief are very good," said Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, who was supportive of Clinton's remarks in favor of regulatory relief.

But Fine acknowledged that Clinton's plan  which included other elements, such as granting relief to student loan borrowers and expanding tax credits to help community development financial institutions  "would be a heavy lift for any White House."

Still, "anything is possible if the White House pushes hard enough," Fine said. "If the White House has the will, there will be a way."

Beverage said that if Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., becomes Majority Leader, there may be enough room to make a deal.

"The optimist in me says that because Senator Schumer seems to favor some sort of bifurcated regulatory system, based on business operating model and risk profile, we just might get something simple across the finish line this time, with his help," he said.

Dan Berger, the head of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, also praised Clinton's call for relief.

"We applaud Secretary Clinton's recognition of the importance of credit unions as a resource for capital for small businesses," he said in a statement, adding that "nearly a credit union a day is disappearing due in large part to the overwhelming regulatory burden."

But any bank legislation  no matter how targeted toward small banks  is likely to stir up the debate over restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial and investment banking and was repealed under Clinton's husband, President Bill Clinton.

Notably, Clinton's plan released Tuesday made no mention of Glass-Steagall, even though restoring the Depression-era law was part of the Democratic National Committee's platform. That issue will inevitably come up, however.

"If you assume that the Senate can pass a regulatory relief bill for community banks, then the Warren wing of the party is going to be waiting," Gardner said. "That's their opportunity to pass a new Glass-Steagall. Then the question will be for the rank-and-file Republicans," most of whom oppose a resurrection of Glass-Steagall, "Is that worth the price?"

Analysts also noted that Clinton released a fact sheet with her op-ed that specifically mentioned the opportunities for credit expansion presented by fintech firms.

The Clinton campaign wants to "harness the potential of online lending platforms and work to safeguard against unfair and deceptive lending practices," the fact sheet said.

Some fintech players saw her recognition of online lending  the first apparent mention by either presidential candidate of the new sector  as important.

"I applaud Secretary Clinton for understanding the impact that online lenders have had on our small-business economy, and it's significant that a major party presidential candidate is including innovative lenders as part of a holistic plan to boost the economy," said Glenn Goldman, CEO of the small-business lender Credibly and former chief executive of the online lender CAN Capital.

Gardner saw the Clinton reference as a nod to Silicon Valley, which has been the primary driver behind fintech. But it's not clear what  if anything  will come of it if she's elected president, he said.

"It's very much in line with what the banking regulators have been talking about," Gardner said. "It's more rhetoric, but the rubber hasn't hit the road yet."


WASHINGTON  Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton renewed her pledge Tuesday to cut regulations for community banks and credit unions while also signaling plans to embrace the burgeoning fintech sector.

In an op-ed on LinkedIn, Clinton specifically cited the need to cut red tape for smaller institutions, emphasizing that doing so will expand access to credit for small businesses.

"We also need to make it easier for small businesses to get financing," Clinton wrote. "My plan will reduce unnecessary regulations on local community banks and credit unions, while defending tough the new rules on big Wall Street banks. And we'll make it a priority to expand access to credit and capital for underserved communities, from inner cities to Coal Country to Indian Country."

She provided further details in a fact sheet released alongside the op-ed, calling community banks and credit unions the "backbone of small-business lending in America."

The fact sheet highlighted the fintech industry, saying Clinton wants to "harness the potential of online lending platforms and work to safeguard against unfair and deceptive lending practices."

While Clinton has previously pledged to cut regulations for small banks, the op-ed is her most high-profile statement on the issue to date  and comes after the Democratic National Convention pushed her agenda in other areas further to the left. Privately, some bankers have wondered how committed Clinton is to regulatory relief. By making it a core piece of her plan to help small businesses, she appears wedded to the proposal.

Her mention of online lending is also significant. The fintech sector has been expanding by leaps and bounds during the past few years  but neither Clinton nor Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has appeared to pay any attention to it. The fact sheet's brief mention of it signals that Clinton's campaign sees its potential to expand credit, but refers to fears by some consumer groups that some fintech firms engage in dubious practices.

Moreover, the Clinton plan touches on other areas important to banks, including fostering the development of community development financial institutions and expanding the authority of the Small Business Administration.

It calls for expanding and making permanent the new market tax credit and "doubling support for" CDFIs and the State Small Business Credit Initiative.

Additionally, Clinton wants to give the SBA administrator the authority to continue providing 7(a) loan guarantees to small businesses "if demand is higher than the yearly cap," according to the fact sheet. It also calls for expanding the SBA's working capital guarantee programs and lowering capital fees for businesses in underserved communities.


Forget the arrogance and corruption -- $153 million in Clinton family speaking fees from 2001, mainly bribes during her State Department years. Forget the lies, the lies about lies, and the perjury. Forget the security breaches. Forget enabling Americas most prominent sexual predator. Forget the trail of bodies stretching from Little Rock to Benghazi. Forget every scandal from Whitewater to deleted e-mails. Forget all of it.

Instead, focus on coming attractions -- what a Clinton presidency would mean for America. It would be the political equivalent of an extinction level event. Obama began the process of transforming America. Hillary will finish it -- and us too.

On the Supreme Court, Scalias replacement will be a judicial activist on steroids. This will give the left what its dreamed of since the Warren Court -- a 5-4 majority to rubber-stamp statism and Cultural Marxism. Hillary will replace decrepit justices, like Ginsberg (83) and Breyer (78), with their young and vigorous clones wholl be there for decades.

The Second Amendment will be repealed, even the most modest restrictions on abortion ended, and a green light given to the assault on religious liberty. As early as 2014, Democrats had appointed a majority of federal appeals court judges. Hillary will expand the lefts domination of the second most powerful courts in the land.

Clinton will, of course, push amnesty (designated a pathway to citizenship). There may be a 10-foot-high wall around the Clintons Chappaqua estate, to keep out the great unwashed. But our Southern border will continue to be wide open to the influx of new Democratic voters.

Hillary will accelerate a trend that started the mid-1960s -- using immigration (legal and illegal) to change Americas demographics and national identity. Think California, which went from reliably red to true blue in a generation. The goal is to make it impossible to elect another Republican president -- like ever -- and change the composition of Congress in a few elections. With all three branches of government firmly in the lefts hands, voting will be irrelevant and theyll be nothing to stop the unmaking of America.

Clinton will maintain the pretense of fighting ISIS while importing the poison. Shes called for increasing the number of Syrian refugees by 500% -- thats on top of the 100,000 immigrants from the Middle East (overwhelmingly Muslim) admitted each year. The FBI and Homeland Security will be told not to do or say anything that might offend the jihad community.

The signals arent even subtle -- Huma Abedin with her familys ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Sharia advocate Khizr Kahn baiting Trump at the Democratic National Convention, and (in a Rod Serling-esque moment) the father of Orlando mass murderer Omar Mateen seated behind the candidate at a Florida rally, telling an interviewer Hillary is good for America -- i.e., good for the coming Caliphate.

Think Obama is skilled at playing the race card? Hillary will put him to shame. Speaking at the NAACP convention on July 18, Clinton confessed the sins of her race and lectured those of us who didnt have adjusted gross incomes of $32 million last year to recognize white privilege, practice humility (at which shes always been so good) and do a better job of listening to race hustlers. By the way, Chappaqua is less than 2% black.

This condemnation of her own race isnt just election-year bloviating. To maintain its minority base, Democrats must keep blacks and Hispanics in a constant state of agitation, by demonizing Republicans, coddling the racial terrorists of Black Lives Matters and castigating cops for doing their job. Race relations reached a new low under our first black president. Expect them to drop through the floor under Hillary.

Under Clinton 2.0, government will be the only thing that grows. Last month, 41,000 were added to the already bloated federal workforce. In eight years, Obama almost doubled the National Debt. It will be over $20 trillion by the time he leaves office. Interest on the debt is over $251 billion, scheduled to rise to $880 billion by 2024. Imagine what the economy will look like as the debt approaches $40 trillion under President Hillary.

Mrs. Clinton has promised to impose a job-annihilating $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, maintain the present devastating level of corporate taxes (the highest in the industrialized world) and kill domestic energy production by closing coals mines and preventing fracking of Americas huge natural gas deposits. Anemic economic growth (an annualized rate of 0.7% in the first quarter of this year) will be the new normal.

The War on Christians and conservatives will continue full-throttle. Nobody does vicious like the former head of the Bimbo Eruption Squad.

The IRS will go back to targeting conservative foundations. Hillary will resurrect the old Janet Napolitano plan to use DHS to attack right-wing extremists (gun owners, right-to-lifers, veterans, and proponents of border security) as future terrorists. The Clinton administration will go even further in using the bureaucracy and judiciary to force Christians (including churches and Christian colleges) to comply with the lefts social agenda -- gender-neutral bathrooms and all that stuff.

Donald Trump is all that stands between us and the apocalypse. Forget your gripes about the Republican candidate -- his verbal missteps and campaign shakeups. Hes a decent guy who will make America if not great again, at least better. He knows how to create jobs. Hell defend our borders. He understands the overriding threat of radical Islam.

Still, there are always doubts. But while I may not be 100% sure of what Trump will do, Im sure as hell sure of Clinton. You dont have to be Joe Friday to figure out her MO.
Fairy tales can come true, it could happen to those who are lucky and politically naive at heart. Unfortunately, the Obama administration in its relations with Iran has gone to extremes with impossible schemes and tales that fly in the face of objective reality, and even disregard the law. With the eagerness of short-sighted detectives, President Barack Obama and his team have doggedly proclaimed they have found the benefits to the United States and to the world of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed on July 13, 2015 with Iran, a nuclear deal that had been opposed by 58 U.S. senators.

A year later, on July 14, 2016, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of JCPOA that had succeeded in restraining Irans nuclear program in a way that guaranteed that it would not be pursuing a nuclear weapons program. He said that the agreement, the result of a multilateral, complicated negotiation, had made the world safer and less volatile. He explained it opened the door to give the U.S. an opportunity to discuss with Iran continuing issues including Syria, Yemen, and terrorism.

Like the corrupt police chief in the film Casablanca, Kerry and his spokesman John Kirby must have been shocked to learn of the continuation by Iran of its nuclear weapons program, as well as its enhancement of other issues. Both Kerry and Kirby had explained that the deal was about a nuclear track and nuclear weapons and that Iran was meeting their commitments, and we are meeting ours. Certainly the U.S., believing as Obama said, that Iran was in compliance with its nuclear obligations, was meeting its own obligations. Among other matters, sanctions on Iran were removed on January 16, 2016.

One can legitimately differ on the existing extent of development of centrifuges and uranium stockpiles presently in Iran and on its capacity to develop enriched uranium, if on a reduced scale.

However, this fairy tale of Iranian commitment to the deal has been dispelled by two informed sources: German officials, and the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Intelligence reports from half of the 16 state governments in Federal Germany report that Iranian agents are attempting to obtain nuclear-related material. The Iranians seek to obtain technology for atomic, biological, or chemical weapons. The German Federal domestic intelligence agency reported that Irans illegal proliferation-sensitive procurement activities in Germany had reached a quantitatively high level.

Unfortunately for the fairy tale of conciliation, Khamenei had only a few days before the speech of Secretary Kerry attacked the U.S. asserting that its policy was the work of intelligence services, particularly the dangerous hands of American, Zionist, and English, that created terrorism in the world of Islam.

Perhaps President Obama was sincere if misguided in his belief that the nuclear deal would lead to better relations. Yet the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming. First, Iran is continuing its support for terrorist groups, especially for Hizballah.

The Hizb'allah Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, has proudly announced that his entire budget came directly from Iran and not through Lebanese banks. This includes salaries, funds, food, drink, and weapons. As long as Iran has money, he said, Hizballah has money.

Iran has interfered in Iraq, funding Shia terrorist groups such as Kataib Hexballah, a group that killed five U.S. soldiers in Baghdad in 2011, the Houti rebels in Yemen, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and al-Qaeda in South Asia. It has supported the Syrian Assad regime, proving arms, finance, and training. It has formed a Liberation Army to be deployed in Arab countries, especially in Syria, headed by Qassem Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Secondly, Iran can and is developing and also buying heavy long-distance missiles delivery systems that, among other things, can carry nuclear weapons. German Chancellor Angela Merkel herself, on July 7, 2016, declared that Irans missile program continued unabated, and that Iran was developing its rocket program.

Thirdly, the nuclear deal has made Iran more politically powerful and self-assured, if not yet the dominating power of the Middle East. It has restored its oil production and exports. It has bank accounts with foreign banks, and foreign direct investment in Iran has increased. It has defied the U.S. In January 2016, when it detained U.S. sailors in international waters. It kidnapped U.S. citizens and dual citizens.

Two events revealed in August 2016 cause concern. One was the acknowledgment of the U.S. ransom deal with Iran, the other was the Russian use of Iranian installations.

The ransom issue goes back to 1979 when the Shah of Iran paid for planes and military equipment, but he was deposed from power before the plane were delivered. Connected with the nuclear deal in July 2015, a financial agreement was reached in The Hague by which U.S. agreed to refund $1.7 billion, consisting of $400 million for the promised planes in 1979 plus $1.3 billion in interest. On January 16, 2016, Obama announced the intended delivery of the $1.7 billion. The same day Iran released the U.S. hostages it held and the US released seven Iranians detained in the U.S. on financial charges.

However, Obama did not mention that $400 million was being shipped to Iran.

The members of the administration all denied this was a ransom payment. On August 4, 2016 Obama asserted, We do not pay ransom. We didnt here, and we wont in the future. But finally on August 18, 2016 Obama admitted that the deal was ransom. Obama delivered cash, giving an implausible reason that we are so strict in maintaining sanctions, and we do not have a banking relation with Iran.

The excuse was that the money was paid in foreign currency, not U.S. dollars, because the law on sanctions dating back to 1995 prevents the government from dealing with Iran in dollars. Yet Obamas action was defiance of law. The Code of Federal Regulations, Section 560.204 is explicit. It is worth quoting: notwithstanding any contract entered into prior to May 7, 1995, the exportation, sale or supply from the U.S. of any goods, technology or services to Iran or the government of Iran is prohibited. The U.S. law forbids the supply of goods, services, or technology to terrorist countries: Iran was declared such in 1995.

In a surprising action on August 16, 2016, four long-range Russian Tu 22 M3 bombers accompanied by Su-34 tactical bombers from a base near Hameda in Iran. They struck targets in north and east Syria, and returned to Russia. This event was not only surprising in itself, but also because the Iranian constitution bans any foreign bases on its soil, though it can allow foreign countries to use one of its airfields. For the Obama administration, dreams must be put away for another day. Both the growing strength of Iran has been shown and also the signs of greater Russian involvement in the Syrian war and in the Middle East. The next president must deal with this.
In each horrifying operation executed by ISIS, the radical terrorist group uses every possible way to convey its Islamic identity. They make sure the world sees and hears what they believe and seek, emphasizing plainly their religious motivation.

However, in each of these instances, we immediately, and almost automatically, hear some Western scholars insist that everything about ISIS is un-Islamic: ISIS reflects societal ills, not Islamic doctrine, as it hijacks religion in order to legitimate, mobilize and recruit. We also hear that ISISs version of Islam is not in accordance with the Quran, the traditions of the Prophet or even with Islamic Law, and that No religion, including Islam, preaches indiscriminate violence against innocents.

This is puzzling. But, no, it should not be.

When some Western scholars deny that ISIS is in any way driven by rigorous Islamic ideology, this could hardly be attested, especially if you consider the insistence of prestigious Islamic institutes, like Egypts al-Azhar, on identifying the members of ISIS as true Muslims who are committing wrong deeds. For al-Azhar, ISISs members cannot be identified as unbelievers as long as they do not reject Allahs strict monotheism and the apostleship of Muhammad.

Contrary to arguments set forth by these Western scholars, ISIS reflects a specific interpretation of Islam that is both legitimate and consistent with Muslim sacred texts and classical exegesis. Claiming that ISISs members are lunatics driven by lust or social evil is hardly plausible, and at best fanciful. Its members can establish rigorous convincing arguments based on the Quran and Islamic tradition to justify each action they take, as they affirm: This is a fight against Muslims and Islam. They rely on what Muslims consider divinely inspired and authoritative texts. Ideology establishes convictions and drives behavior.

While there are, of course, various political, sociological, and economic dimensions of the ISIS identity that make its radical image appealing, the religious appeal is exceptionally powerful and unmatched.

For ISIS, the centrality of the Quran and the veneration of the Prophet Muhammad are of utmost importance, and they believe they are destined by Allah to win because of their noble cause. This is clearly reflected in ISISs black flag that contains the presumed sign of Muhammads seal and the Islamic Shahada (there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger).

ISIS portrays itself as not only Islamic, but more precisely, Quranic. They perceive their actions as truly sanctioned and legitimately supported by Islams scripture.

A Canadian member of ISIS, Farah Mohamed Shirdon (aka Abu Usama), appeared on a VICE News interview. When asked who recruited him to ISIS, Shirdon stated: no one recruited me, actually no one spoke or said a word to me, all I did I opened the newspaper, I read the Quran -- very easy. Shirdon joined the Islamic caliphate over a year ago and in a different video, he ripped up his Canadian passport, throwing it into a burning fire as he shouted: This is a message to Canada and all the American tyrants: We are coming and we will destroy you, with permission from Allah the almighty.

To encourage Muslim enthusiasts to participate in militant operations and thus get admitted to paradise, ISIS recites Quran 47:15, according to their official electronic magazine, Dabiq. To justify beheading, mutilating, and crucifying their enemies, ISIS uses a literal reading of verses such as Quran 5:33, 8:12, and 47:3-6. They believe that, according to Quran 8:12, Allah himself will cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, so the believers would strike their necks, and strike each of their fingertips. In ISISs view, the Quran is what constitutes their actions and that makes their message successful in reaching the hearts of many.

Not only the Quran, but also Islamic history and its significant precedents back their supposed legitimate cause.

Muslims view the early years of Islam not only as history, but specifically as a sacred narrative of the greatest prophet and his pious companions. The precedent is very important in Islam, as the early figures are often viewed as role models to follow. ISIS knows Islamic history very well, believes it wholeheartedly, and precisely emphasizes specific historical incidents to justify their deeds and ideology.

To support their treatment of prisoners of war or expelling the non-Muslims from their lands, ISIS would quote well-known stories in the Biography of Muhammad of expelling the Jews from the land or beheading several hundred of them after they were accused of being traitors. To justify burning people alive, they refer to authenticated historical reports from his life and those Caliphs after him. While these stories could be interpreted in many different ways, ISIS follows and imitates what the prophet said and did by the letter. This is precisely the way the radical group wants to depict itself. In an interview with an ISIS recruit, Khadija, a female who changed her name for security reasons, was asked why she joined ISIS. We are going to properly implement Islam, she was promised by her recruiter.

So, what is really un-Islamic about ISIS?

It appears that one un-Islamic matter about ISIS is the fanciful Western discourse that represents the Islamic terrorist group as completely un-Islamic. With the increased public profile of Islam, some Western scholars simply avoid assessing precise elements of Islamic ideology that drive and support the deeds of religious enthusiasts. However, this is unneeded obfuscation, and it should end, so that we better explain to policy makers, diplomats, and the public the significance of ancient sacred texts and acclaimed precedents on contemporary actions.

As Muslims look back and yearn for the golden days of Islam, ISIS provides a dream fulfilment for some. For the first time in centuries, Muslims from many ethnicities and cultural backgrounds are called to be united, apply literally what the Quran teaches, and imitate the deeds reported in Muslim history about pious religious figures.

Ayman S. Ibrahim is Bill and Connie Jenkins Chair and Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, Senior Fellow of the Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a post-doctoral candidate (2nd PhD) of Middle Eastern History, Haifa University. This essay was sponsored by Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.
On the first Wednesday of November, we will say President Elect Clinton or President Elect Trump. I hope that it's Mr. Trump for the sake of the U.S. Supreme Court. Let's admit he has to finish strong for that to happen.

Elections are always very different, but sometimes they remind you of the ones that came before. Twenty-sixteen is starting to look a lot like 1964 and 1980.

Let's recall 1964:

In 1964, President Johnson was not necessarily popular but he was riding the tragedy of President Kennedy's death and the country was peaceful and relatively prosperous. However, President Johnson did not sit on his lead and blew Senator Goldwater with a very effective campaign of scaring voters:

President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, and Johnson had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's popularity. Johnson also successfully painted his opponent, Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, as a right-wing legislator who wanted to abolish the social welfare programs created in the 1930s (such as Social Security). LBJ advocated more such programs, and after 1965, instituted three: Medicare, Medicaid, and the War on Poverty. With these factors working for him, Johnson easily won the Presidency, carrying 44 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. As of 2009, Johnson's 22.6 percentage point-margin of victory in the popular vote is the fifth-largest such margin in Presidential election history (after the margins of the 1920 election, 1924 election, 1936 election, and 1972 election). Johnson won 61.1% of the national popular vote, which remains the highest popular-vote percentage won by a U.S.presidential candidate since 1820. The election is also remembered due to Goldwater's status as a pioneer in the modern conservative movement.

Take note of the last point about pioneering the modern conservative movement. The GOP won seven of the next ten presidential elections after this humiliating defeat.

In 1980, President Carter was highly unpopular. He fought off a serious challenge from Senator Kennedy.

I remember that election cycle quite well, and I can't recall meeting anyone who was crazy about re-electing President Carter. Even Democrats were not privately sold on re-election.

At the same time, Governor Reagan couldn't break through, and everything came down to the last week of the election and a very famous debate:

Reagan, aided by the Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy at home, won the election in a landslide. Carter, after defeating Ted Kennedy for the Democratic nomination, attacked Reagan as a dangerous right-wing radical. For his part, Reagan, the former Governor of California, repeatedly ridiculed Carter, and won a decisive victory; in the simultaneous Congressional elections, Republicans won control of the United States Senate for the first time in 28 years. This election marked the beginning of what is popularly called the "Reagan Revolution."

As I said, I was there in 1980, making phone calls from a Reagan phone bank. I recall the Friday night before the election, and it was a dead heat. However, something happened that weekend, and the dead heat turned into a 10-point victory for Mr Reagan. At the last minute, millions decided that four more years of Carter was not good for the country!

So what about 2016?

The Clinton campaign has indeed tried to paint Trump as reckless and unfit for the presidency, or exactly what President Johnson did in 1964. They have not run an ad with a nuclear bomb going off behind a cute little girl yet, but the election is not over.

To be fair, Trump continues to give the other side lots to talk about, such as the latest controversy over immigration. In the interest of full disclosure, I always thought massive deportation was unworkable even if it sounded good to many primary voters.

Once again, Trump is often talking about everything but Mrs. Clinton or the Obama record.

Like Mr. Reagan in 1980, Mr. Trump has the economy and a horrible foreign policy going for him. And Clinton is not very popular at all. He has debates ahead where he can destroy her record and other weaknesses.

What will it be? I can't say today, although I continue to believe that the fundamentals are with Trump.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Many Trump supporters continue to insist that polls showing their candidate behind Hillary Clinton are skewed. No doubt, Trump himself might have harbored his own suspicions about the polls. That's why the candidate was scheduling rallies in deep blue states like New Jersey, Oregon, and Connecticut.

The arrival of Stephen Bannon on the scene may have been the dash of cold water to the face that the Trump campaign needed. It appears that Mr. Bannon does not believe in skewed polls. The candidate has canceled rallies in Nevada, Oregon, and Colorado this month, although he will still attend fundraisers in those states.

USA Today:

Trump was originally scheduled to make a speech on immigration in Denver on Thursday, but according to The Denver Post the speech has been postponed. The campaign said that his speech was "still being modified." Trump will, however, attend a fundraiser in Aspen, according to the Post. Nevadas KTNV also reported Monday that Trumps Friday rally in Las Vegas was canceled, but his fundraiser in Lake Tahoe the same day is still on. According to KTNV, the campaign did not give a reason for the rally cancellation. He is expected to participate in a roundtable in Las Vegas, possibly on immigration. Both Colorado and Nevada are battleground states where Hillary Clinton leads in recent polling. However, a Suffolk University poll last week had her lead within the margin of errorin Nevada. Both a rally and fundraiser in Portland, Ore., scheduled for Aug. 31 were canceled, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. The Trump campaign cited the Republican nominees trip to Louisiana last Friday as the reason his calendar has been changed, according to OPB. Oregon is a reliably blue state, and critics questioned why Trump was even spending time there in the first place when he needs to make up ground in battleground states.

Oregon hasn't gone red since the Reagan years, and Trump is far behind at this point in Colorado. He is competitive in Nevada, but the state's 6 electoral votes aren't as important as big-state targets like Pennsylvania and Michigan, where resources are better spent.

Trump has limited resources, and he's running out of time. He must do two things to regain his advantage:

1. Shore up his base of support in states like Georgia and Utah, where Clinton is running neck and neck with him.

2. Put himself in a position to win both Ohio and Florida. For him to have a chance, those two states are critical.

The bottom line is that Trump is behind in every single target state except Iowa, which is a dead heat. I disagree with the notion that he has no chance to win. But by any metric you want to use, the candidate is behind and needs a rally to get back in the race.
Back in 2009, Hillary Clinton was complaining about her health sufficiently to ask for an Air Force jet to ferry her back home to Westchester County from Washington, D.C. so as to avoid the harrowing and taxing experience of taking the Air Shuttle, the way thousands of less pampered people do on a daily basis.

Aaron Klein reports for Breitbart:

On May 4, 2009, Hillary Clinton wrote to her top aide Huma Abedin, I still dont feel great, and Clinton requested an Air Force plane instead of taking a shuttle from Westchester, New York, apparently to get to Washington, D.C., according to an email released Monday by Judicial Watch. (snip) Do you think we could get a plane for Westchester flight back tonight? Its going to rain all day and I still dont feel great so the idea of playing a guessing game w the shuttle is pretty burdensome to me. What do you think? Could be anytime that works for the Air Force.

Further correspondence indicates that the Air Force did assign a c-21 aircraft to the mission. You and I would call it a Lear Jet, and if we were seriously familiar with bizjets, wed name it the Model 35A.

Last night on Jimmy Kimmels late night comedy show, Hillary ridiculed concerns over her health:

KIMMEL: Are you in good health? HILLARY CLINTON: This has become one of their themes. Take my pulse while I'm talking to you. Make sure I'm alive. KIMMEL: Oh, my God. There's nothing there. [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] CLINTON: Back in October the National Enquirer said I would be dead in 6 months. So, with every breath I take I feel like I have a new lease on life. I don't know why they are saying this. I think on the one hand I think it's part of the 'wacky strategy.' Just say all these crazy things and maybe you can get some people to believe you. On the other hand it just makes absolutely no sense. I don't go around questioning Donald Trump's health. As far as I can tell he's healthy as a horse. KIMMEL: Well his doctor said he had the best examination he has ever seen in a human being. CLINTON: Yeah, I saw that. KIMMEL: Can you open this jar of pickles? [PRESENTS PICKLE JAR] KIMMEL: This has not been tampered with. [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] [CLINTON OPENS JAR]

Yeah, thats hilarious. So is a senior official trying out for the most demanding job in the world but unable to handle standing in line for a commercial airplane flight.
At the Trump rally in West Bend, Wisconsin, last Tuesday, one of the Republicans who went to the mic to endorse Donald Trump was State Assemblyman Bob Gannon. Slamming his shoe on the podium, he said, "There's only one thing that's going to get Donald Trump elected in Washington County. That's shoes on the ground. My friends, the best way to win an election...is pounding on doors. We need door-beaters, and we need them now."

So when a friend asked me to join a group canvassing for Trump/Pence here in northern Ohio on Saturday, I said yes. This turned out to be part of a statewide effort organized by the Trump campaign. A staffer came from Columbus to meet with us in our small town and gave us lists of houses, survey questions, and door hangers. She promised us an app soon to replace the paper lists and assured us that our county GOP office would have yard signs and bumper stickers to give away this week.

I was nervous. Confrontation is not my thing, and I value my privacy. But pretty soon, every time a resident opened the door for us, it felt like winning a prize. The Trump supporters were happy to see us, and the Hillary people were personally courteous, though we did get to hear some colorful descriptions of our candidate.

It would not be fair for me to divulge the results of our survey (even if I could exactly remember them). I can say that they were not unexpected: we encountered undecided voters, Trump people, Hillary people, and a few who said they never vote. On a beautiful Saturday, many on our list were not home, but leaving a Trump/Pence door hanger made the effort worthwhile. The door hangers, by the way, are attractive and seem well targeted for our part of Ohio, focusing on jobs, safety, ending corruption, America first, and increasing household incomes.

Lessons learned? Well, in August in Ohio, it isn't just shoes on the ground; it's sweat. Next time I'll trade my Carhartt cap in for one of those big, puffy Trump trucker hats, and I'll carry extra water. But I'm not quitting. With luck, I might lose a few pounds, and we might keep from losing our country.
It's taken 37 years for the State Department to realize that Iran is a gangster state that regularly seizes American citizens on trumped up espionage charges only to release them for some material gain  including, as we've seen recently, ransom.

Now the diplomats are warning Americans not to travel to Iran because the regime has made it a top priority to capture U.S. citizens.

I'm sure the ransom payment to Iran early this year to get our people back and this latest warning are a total coincidence, right?

Washington Free Beacon:

The travel warning is meant to highlight the risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, particularly dual national Iranian-Americans, according to a State Department announcement on Monday. Foreigners, in particular dual nationals of Iran and Western countries including the United States, continue to be detained or prevented from leaving Iran. U.S. citizens traveling to Iran should very carefully weigh the risks of travel and consider postponing their travel, the warning adds. U.S. citizens residing in Iran should closely follow media reports, monitor local conditions, and evaluate the risks of remaining in the country. Iran continues to imprison Americans, particularly those holding dual Iranian citizenship, according to the State Department. Iranian authorities have detained and harassed U.S. citizens, particularly those of Iranian origin, the travel warning states. Former Muslims who have converted to other religions, religious activists, and persons who encourage Muslims to convert are subject to arrest and prosecution. The Obama administration expressed particular concern about commercial airlines doing business with Iran. This warning comes as American companies such as Boeing continue to pursue million-dollar business deals with the Islamic Republic. The U.S. government is concerned about the risks to civil aircraft operating into, out of, within, or over Iran due to hazards from military activity associated with the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, the warning states. The FAA has advised U.S. civil aviation to exercise caution when flying into, out of, within, or over the airspace over Iran. The warning emphasizes that the U.S. governments ability to assist U.S. citizens in Iran in the event of an emergency is extremely limited.

The coming influx of American businessmen looking to initiate commercial ties with Iran now that the sanctions are lifted must have dollar signs dancing in front of the eyes of Iranian authorities. This will be Obama's major foreign policy legacy: an opening to Iran so one-sided and so dangerous that the government has been forced to advise Americans not to travel to that country.

The administration continues to insist that the ransom wasn't a ransom. Allow them their delusions. Everyone on the planet who has two working brain cells knows differently. The precedent set by this bumbling fool of a president will have reprecussions everywhere that Americans are at risk of being kidnapped and held for ransom.
Its not news that the left has been taking control of language for quite some time. And when you control language, you control an awful lot. Which they do, and they do.

Yesterday, Rick Moran wrote a blog post about a recent slice of verbal lunacy, reporting on a university that disallows the use of such incredibly offensive, politically incorrect, outdated, insensitive, triggering words as (sit down and take a breath, because this language may shock you): he and she.

In order to fill the void, he and she have been replaced with ve, ver, or vis.

(Primal scream!)

In a similar vein, Breitbart reports that teachers at an elementary school in New Mexico are no longer allowed to refer to their students as boy and girls.

Teachers at Carlos Rey Elementary School in Albuquerque, NM are now being told they can no longer address their students as boys and girls, local NBC affiliate KOB reports. This comes after the new transgender bathroom policy for Albuquerque Public Schools, but it is now leaking into the classroom. A letter was sent to teachers at Carlos Rey this month titled Gender Identity Procedural Directive. It tells teachers they can no longer refer to their students as boys and girls, and they are to eliminate gender in their classrooms. Albuquerque Public Schools say it was a complete mistake by the assistant principal because nowhere in their transgender policy does it say to not call students boys and girls. Sources at Carlos Rey Elementary told KOB to continue with that policy.

To call this madness would be an understatement. And when you listen to the local news report (here), theres so much focus on whether or not teachers were, in fact, told to avoid using boys and girls that lost in the shuffle was the fact that we have something called transgender bathrooms in our schools! Transgender is about as real as a Palestinian. Its a fabricated term intended to give credence to that which is not factually credible. You cannot become the opposite sex, hard as one deeply disturbed person may try.

When I read about insanity like this (which is unfolding across America every minute of every day, taking shape in all manner of ways), I often recall KGB defector Yuri Besmenovs warning to America. If youve never listened to him, I highly recommend it. A relatively short clip can be found here, and you will find many more on YouTube.

This nation is being taken down, covertly and overtly, in big ways and small, across the full spectrum of our society. We are in a fight for our lives, for our nation. There isnt one magic thing any of us can do on any given day. But, without a doubt, our voices must be heard on Election Day, and preferably before, by working for the Trump campaign and helping to get out the vote. If we win, it will be a critical step in the right direction. And we're quickly running out of steps as the fascist future looms on the horizon.
You may recall the federal crime called structuring. Former speaker of the House Denny Hastert is currently behind bars for violating it. Structuring consists of managing the amount of bank transactions so as to keep each below the ten-thousand-dollar level that would necessitate reporting the transaction to the feds, who are eager to capture drug dealers. Hastert was caught because he was trying to keep his blackmail payments secret.

So what is going on with the State Department, acting the same way, but with amounts ten thousand times higher? Claudia Rosett reports: in the New York Sun:

Congressional investigators trying to uncover the trail of $1.3 billion in payments to Iran might want to focus on 13 large, identical sums that Treasury paid to the State Department under the generic heading of settling Foreign Claims. The 13 payments when added to the $400 million that the administration now concedes it shipped to the Iranian regime in foreign cash would bring the payout to the $1.7 billion that President Obama and Secretary Kerry announced on January 17. That total was to settle a dispute pending for decades before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in at The Hague. (snip) Could this have been drawn from a fund bankrolled by American taxpayers and housed at Treasury, called the Judgment Fund? And why were the 13 payments in amounts of one cent less than $100,000,000?

The Judgment Fund appears to be something of a slush fund, supposedly available to pay foreign claims against the United States, but also bypassing the need for congressional approval of a payment.

Unquestionably, the amounts were structured  deliberately kept beneath a landmark sum. The question is why. What, if any, regulations were circumvented?

Update:

Writing at the Weekly Standard, Lee Smith notices that the disclosures by Rosett seem to indicate that Obama was lying:

As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, the $400 million was paid in cash. And that's because President Obama explained, "we couldn't send them a check and we couldn't wire the money." Rosett's detective work suggests that Obama was lying. It seems likely that the $1.3 billion was wired only a few days after the cash was delivered on January 17. Rosett's reporting suggests that the sum was paid through the Judgment Fund, which, according to a Treasury Department website, writes Rosett, is "a permanent, indefinite appropriation" used to pay monetary awards against U.S. government agencies in cases "where funds are not legally available to pay the award from the agency's own appropriations." (snip) "State has refused to disclose even such basic information as the date on which Iran took receipt of the $1.3 billion. As recently as August 4, a State spokesman told the press: 'I don't have a date of when that took place.'" However, last week Obama administration officials briefed reporters to explain that, according to Associated Press reporter Bradley Klapper's Twitter feed, the $1.3 billion has already been paid. And, they said, paid "through [the Department of] Treasury" in an "'above-board way.'" It's not clear what the senior administration officials meant by "above-board" but as the Judgment Fund website explains, the "preferred method" for payments is "by electronic fund transfer." If, as Rosett's story suggests, the 13 payments the Judgment Fund sent to the State Department represents the $1.3 billion in interest, the administration has some questions to answer. Was the interest paid in cash like the $400 million, or by wire? If the latter, why was the $400 million paid in cash?

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman
Those of us who favor strict limits on immigration are called every name in the book by the open borders crowd. "Xenophobes" is their favorite because they think it makes them sound intelligence.

But what if most of the rest of the world agrees with us?

AFP:

People throughout the world are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with immigration levels which are higher than any time since the Second World War, according to a new survey published Monday.

At least six out of 10 people in France and Belgium, which have recently suffered deadly jihadist attacks, believe immigration has had a "negative impact", said the Ipsos polling institute.

Similar figures were found in Russia, Hungary and also Italy, which has had to deal with large numbers of migrants fleeing the Middle East or Africa and seeking to forge new lives in Europe.

In all, 49 percent of those surveyed in 22 countries said there were "too many immigrants" and 46 percent felt "immigration is causing their country to change in ways they don't like," Ipsos said in a statement.

The Japanese were least likely to say there are too many immigrants in their country (only 12 percent), and the Brazilians least likely to voice discomfort at how immigration is changing their country (23 percent), according to the study.

The surveyors also pointed to a rise in the number of British people who think that immigration has been good for the country, standing at 35 percent, sharply up on the 19 percent recorded in 2011.

And while almost half of the British surveyed felt there were too many immigrants in the country, this level was down from 71 percent five years ago.

"Britain has in fact become more positive about many aspects of immigration. This might seem surprising given that the desire to reduce immigration was undoubtedly a key reason for the Brexit vote," Ipsos spokesman Bobby Duffy said.

Duffy added however that the referendum decision to leave the EU "has polarised opinion".

Yves Bardon, an Ipsos director in France, said that the media bombardment of images of migrants and refugees arriving on Europe's shores "have heightened the fear of uncontrollable migration throughout most of Europe, with the key issue being their ability to integrate".

Six out of 10 people questioned for the survey said they were concerned about terrorists pretending to be refugees, and four in 10 want to close their nation's borders entirely.
About 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, a huge chunk of space rock fell in Argentina, but it didnt fell in one piece. It broke up as it entered the earths atmosphere creating a meteorite shower with pieces ranging from a few grams to several tons. Most of the larger fragments fell over a narrow belt of land several square kilometers of area now known as the Campo del Cielo meteorite field. The site is located on the border between the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, 1,000 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires.

The impact left at least twenty-six craters inside Campo del Cielo an area about 3 km wide and some 18.5 km long. The largest measures about 115 meters across. Some meteorite fragments punched deep holes into the earth, as in the case of a 14-ton meteorite that created a tunnel 25 meters long and 8 meters deep. These rocks are estimated to have struck the surface at 14,400 kilometers an hour.

Photo credit: Valmice Vieira/Panoramio

Before entering the atmosphere the asteroid probably weighed 600 tons. Half that mass likely burned up on entry, and the remaining 300 tons impacted the earth on multiple sites. Nearly 100 tons of meteorite has been recovered from Campo del Cielo till now, with the largest piece, called El Chaco, weighs 37 tons. It is the second heaviest single-piece meteorite recovered on Earth, after the Hoba meteorite.

Much of the meteorites mass remain buried and dispersed in small fragments across a vast area outside of Campo del Cielo. There are thousands of tiny pieces of meteorites all over the region. Its illegal to remove them, but thefts continue to occur all the same. You can buy pieces of Campo Del Cielo meteorites from various sellers on the internet for as cheap as $10. Some even tried to steal El Chaco in 1990, but the plan was foiled.

Campo Del Cielo was first discovered in 1576 by members of a Spanish exploration team, but the site was already well known among the natives, who claimed with surprising accuracy that the rocks had fallen from the sky. They called the place Piguem Nonralta which the Spanish translated as Campo del Cielo ("Field of Heaven"). The Spanish thought they had found an iron mine. They brought samples and made a report, but it was quickly forgotten, until 1774 when samples of the iron and documents describing the discovery were re-discovered. A series of expedition followed. The exploratory teams did not believe the stone had fallen from the sky, and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. It was only when samples were sent for analysis to the Royal Society of London, that the irons true origin was known.

Today the site is better protected than it was a few decades ago. The only area open to visitors is the Provincial Park of the Meteorites, which hold El Chaco and a few other objects.

El Chaco. Photo credit: Valmice Vieira/Panoramio

Photo credit: Valmice Vieira/Panoramio

Photo credit: Valmice Vieira/Panoramio

Photo credit: Mario Prada/Panoramio

Part of Campo Del Cielo meteorite. Photo credit: quattroman76/Flickr

Sources: Wikipedia / Scientific American
As many of you probably know, IFA is upon us. This is one of the largest tradeshows of the year, and Berlin is hosting it every year. IFA is officially kicking off on September 2nd, but a couple of companies will announce their products before that date, and it seems like Huawei will be one of them. Huawei is the worlds third-largest smartphone manufacturer, and the number one such company in China. Weve been talking about Huaweis possible IFA releases for a while now, and the company has now confirmed that theyll host an event on September 1st, read on.

If you take a look at the gallery down below, youll be able to see the companys official teaser, both in Chinese and international variants. The companys event will take place at 10:30AM CEST (Central European Summer Time), which translates to 4:30AM EST and 1:30AM PST. Huawei has opted to use the Defy Expectations slogan for this product launch, which sounds promising. Now, the companys executive (President of Handset Product Line), Kevin Ho, did confirm that the company will launch a new sub-brand at IFA. He said this during a recent interview, which means that the Nova brand that leaked recently might actually be coming to iFA, mainly considering thats the only new Huawei line that has been mentioned recently.

Now, aside from Nova, we might see something else launched at IFA. Huawei is actually expected to introduce both the Huawei Mate S2 and the Huawei Watch during iFA, and the Mate 9 will probably roll out in November. IFA seems like a perfect event for both the Mate S2 and the Huawei Watch to launch, mainly because both of those devices were released during last years IFA. We did not see that many Mate S2 and Huawei Watch (2nd-gen) rumors though, so it is possible Huawei is planning to host separate events for those devices, but chances are both of them will be introduced at this years IFA. That is more or less it as far as Huawei-related IFA expectations go, stay tuned to the site, well let you know if any new leaks pop up before IFA comes around.
Lenovo first announced the Moto Z and Moto Z Force at Lenovo Tech World back in June of this year and Moto Mods was announced alongside Lenovos latest flagship devices. Moto Mods are basically modular snap-on accessories that magnetically attach to the back of Lenovos new Moto Z and Moto Z Force phones, and a few of them were leaked prior to the actual announcement. However, only a few Moto Mods were released including a projector, a battery pack, a JBL speaker and style cases. One which got most Moto fans excited was the Hasselblad Moto Mod camera module which was not released alongside the rest of the Moto Mods. A new image of the Hasselblad branded camera module has been leaked, although a picture of the camera module was leaked at the start of the month.

This time around, the leaked image was posted on Weibo, a hugely popular social media platform in China. The leaked image also appears to be clearer than the previous one and the Hasselblad logo can be clearly seen on the front of the camera module. As for now, it is not known whether Hasselblad was directly involved in the making of this Moto Mod or did the company simply provide its branding consultation towards the development of the camera module. Based on the leaked image, it seems that the camera module will have all the functions a typical camera has, from a dedicated shutter button, a flash module and zoom control buttons. If the previous leak was true, the camera module will have up to 10x optical zoom, a xenon flash, a RAW format option for pictures, and the ability to share image easily as well as have the pictures that are taken through the Moto Mod backed up automatically.

It is not known whether Lenovo will announce the Hasselblad Moto Mod anytime soon, but if the company does so, it might be during IFA 2016 which is due to take place in early September. As for now, this leaked image should be taken with a pinch of salt until further clarification is given by Lenovo itself. For those who do not know, Motorola was sold off by Google and bought by Lenovo a couple of years back.
NVIDIA have unveiled a new System-on-Chip designed for autonomous or self driving vehicles, codenamed Parker. Parker is the chipset thats behind NVIDIAs Drive PX 2 platform, which the company has described as a mini supercomputer for cars. The companys Andi Skende, an engineer, talked about Parker at the Hot Chips conference, California.

In the technical detail, the Parker chipset is based around a six core system that belongs to the NVIDIA Tegra chipset family but uses NVIDIAs Project Denver technology. Project Denver is a five year plan designed to put desktop class performance into mobile devices and each Parker chipset has a dual core 64-bit Denver 2.0 core, related to the application processor cores found in the HTC Nexus 9. Under testing, the Nexus 9s chipset has exceptionally high single thread performance but in synthetic multi-core benchmarking, it usually does not outperform its competitors, which use higher numbers of less powerful cores. For the Parker chipset, NVIDIA have supplemented this core Denver arrangement with a quad-core, 64-bit, ARM Cortex-A57 tier. All six processor cores work together in what NVIDIA call a fully coherent heterogeneous multi-processor configuration. Interestingly enough, the Tegra X1 chipset, which has made it into a small number of Android devices (a modified variant is used in the Google Pixel C, which has the less powerful processors disabled) does not use the Denver architecture. NVIDIA have also said that each Parker unit delivers between 50% to 100% higher multi-core CPU performance than other mobile chipsets. According to NVIDIA, Parker delivers up to 1.5 teraflops of performance, which is used for deep learning technologies. One more thing: the Drive PX 2 platform uses two Parker units, plus two Pascal graphics processor units.

This performance is necessary as the deep learning required in order to control a vehicle, recognizing and avoiding hazards, and understanding the appropriate and necessary avoiding action requires considerable computing resources. NVIDIA explains that the Drive PX 2 delivers 24 trillion deep learning operations a second, which is used for deep learning technologies. The Drive PX 2 unit has already been successful and over eighty car manufacturers, universities and suppliers have started using the technology. Volvo is planning to road test cars containing the Drive PX 2 system in 2017. Meanwhile, we are unlikely to see the Parker chipset in our mobile devices: although the Drive PX 2 is significantly more than a single Parker chipset, the cost of this high performance is both heat output and power consumption. The Drive PX 2 unit is liquid cooled and consumes 250W of power. Much of the power consumption and heat output is from the discrete Pascal GPU boards rather than the CPU cores, but these will still generate a lot of heat.
Good flip phones or also known as clamshell phones are pretty hard to find nowadays especially one with flagship specs. Well Samsung has been trying to make it easier for you when the company first announced its Samsung Galaxy Golden 3 or better known as the Samsung W2016 in China back in November of last year. It was basically a flip phone which came with high end specs of 2015 such as an Exynos 7420 processor which was backed by 3 GB of RAM mated with 64 GB of internal storage. However, it seems like a successor to the Samsung W2016 is on its way as a flip phone codenamed Samsung Veyron has been spotted on benchmark website, GeekBench.

This is not the first time Veyron has been spotted online, as specs of the upcoming flip phone have been rumored before, including for the device to sport a 3.9-inch display and a Exynos 8890 processor. However, according to the latest benchmark, the device will sport a larger 4.2-inch display. The Veyron is also expected to come with a Snapdragon 820 processor backed by 4 GB of RAM. The US version of Samsungs latest flagship device, the Galaxy Note 7 also happens to sport the same specs as Veyron. The benchmark also lists the software which the device will be running on and it happens to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, which means that there will be no Android 7.0 Nougat installed on this device out of the box. The device is listed as the Samsung SM-W2017 on the benchmark which likely means it is the successor to the Samsung SM-W2016.

In the previous rumor, the upcoming flip phone is expected to sport a 12-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel camera on the front. The rumor also stated that Samsung will be using the same design as seen on the Galaxy S7, with a glass-and-metal build. There has been no word on whether the device will be water resistant or not. As for the release date and price, neither can be said as no leaks or rumors surrounding them have surfaced so far. The clamshell phone is expected to be announced in China later this year, just like its predecessor.
The ZTE Axon 7 is the companys latest smartphone. This device was introduced back in May, and it is currently available for purchase for $399, unlocked. Now, the Axon 7 is a great device for the price, and ZTE included quite a powerful audio internals in this phone. The device not only comes with a set of front-facing speakers, but it is also boosted by the Dolby Atmos audio, not to mention it packs really solid audio processing chips on the inside as well. All of that results not only in a compelling sound out of the phones speakers, but also a great sound when you plug in a decent set of headphones.

The Axon 7 is just an example of ZTEs dedication to audio experience in the smartphone world, their offerings last year also sported really compelling audio, which is why audiophiles tend to at least consider ZTEs Axon smartphones when purchasing a new device. That being said, IFA 2016 is right around the corner, and ZTE is back again with a new teaser image and a new Right Hear Right Now slogan. Now, this, on its own, suggests some sort of an audio announcement, but the company went even further and flat out said that they plan to bring a Breath-taking audio to IFA 2016. If you take a look at the provided image, youll notice that ZTE plans to host an event on September 1st in Berlin, the same day as its competitor, Huawei. The company has also confirmed that they plan to launch a new device during this event, even though the teaser kind of points in that direction already.

Were delighted to be debuting our latest products to the world in Berlin. Our fan community played a huge role in the development of our new smartphones, delivering valuable input that helped inspire and motivate our team. The result is a suite of devices that pack cutting-edge, innovative features and the latest technology, said Adam Zeng, the CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices. So, what will ZTE announce during IFA in Berlin? Well, we still dont know, but if we had to guess, then wed say theyll bring a new smartphone to the table. On top of all this, ZTE said that they plan to sell 60 million smartphones by the end of the year, and the company says they might even aim for 70 million in order to challenge themselves.
India is set to deliver more arms to Afghanistan to help it fight Islamist militants, Kabul's envoy to New Delhi said, even if Pakistan is wary of closer military cooperation between countries lying to its east and west.





India has provided a little over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan in the last 15 years, but has been more measured in providing weapons in order to avoid a backlash from Pakistan, which sees Afghanistan as its area of influence.





Last December, after years of dragging its feet, New Delhi announced the supply of four attack helicopters in India's first transfer of lethal equipment to the government in Kabul since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was toppled.





Kabul immediately deployed three of the Russian Mi-25 attack helicopters to go after insurgents, and the fourth will be inducted in the next few weeks.





Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the Afghan ambassador to India, said regional security was deteriorating and Afghan national forces were in dire need of military supplies to tackle the Taliban, Islamic State and other militant groups. - Read More




The Muslim bully man who wasnt and the Muslim teens who were

Is the media biased when it comes to reporting on Muslims? The BBC looks at the case of Michael Coe, accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery. He denies all charges.

The BBC: Man assaulted teens over cuddle in east London street

The story begins thus:

A bully grabbed a schoolboy by the throat and called a teenage girl a whore after spotting them cuddling in east London, a court has heard. Michael Coe, 35, stopped driving and allegedly confronted the 16-year-olds, demanding to know if they were Muslims. When they lied and told him they were not, he grabbed the boy around the neck before throwing him to the floor.

Deep into the story, Mr Coe is identified as Muslim. But Islam is not given as key factor in the alleged crime.

The Sun: ATTACKED FOR CUDDLING HIS GIRLFRIEND Muslim convert, 35, grabbed teen by throat in London street over cuddle with girlfriend.

The tabloid makes the Islamic element key to the story. Mr Coe is a Muslim convert. Why he is billed as a Muslim convert and not simply a Muslim is, perhaps, worthy of attention. The Sun begins:

A MUSLIM convert grabbed a schoolboy by the throat and called a teenage girl a whore after spotting them cuddling in east London, a court heard.

Later on, readers are told:

Coe allegedly asked if the couple were Muslims  which they are  but they denied it because they were worried what this defendant would do if they said yes. At which point the defendant reportedly said: Why am I wasting my time with you if you are not Muslim?

The BBC does not include that exchange in its report.

The Evening Standard:

A Muslim bully attacked a 16-year-old schoolboy and branded his girlfriend a whore after spotting them cuddling in the street, a court heard today.

The Mirror:

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay described the attack as completely unjustifiable. He told the jury: This case is about what started as unpleasant bullying with religious overtones in the street, followed by an attack by this 35-year-old man on a 16-year-old schoolboy. This was followed by a further assault on a schoolteacher, a nearby bystander, who came to his aid when he saw what was going on. The victim was, and is, a schoolboy and, in the early evening, he was there with his girlfriend standing on the pavement in the street, cuddling each other in the street. They had the misfortune that, of all the people to drive by, it was this defendant who was driving by in a car.

The Newham Recorder:

It is foremost the story of an alleged Muslim bully.

The Express:

The Muslim convert is in the dock.

The Asian Age:

The accused is simply a man.

Nowhere in the Asian Ages report is Mr Coe identified as a Muslim. you could read this version and come way thinking it was an alleged attack by a man driven by anti-Muslim sentiment.

A bully grabbed a schoolboy by the throat and threw him to the ground because he saw him hugging a girl in the street, a court was told. Michael Coe, 35, was driving through east London when he spotted the two 16-year-olds cuddling on the pavement. He allegedly confronted the pair, demanding to know if they were Muslims, before calling the girl a whore. Coe was said to have grabbed the boy by the throat, causing him to black out, before he woke up bleeding on the floor. When passing schoolteacher Boutho Siwela tried to come to the couples aid, Coe then allegedly attacked him. Coe is on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery. Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay described the attack as completely unjustifiable. He told the jury: This case is about what started as unpleasant bullying with religious overtones in the street, followed by an attack by this 35-year-old man on a 16-year-old schoolboy. This was followed by a further assault on a schoolteacher, a nearby bystander, who came to his aid when he saw what was going on. The victim was, and is, a schoolboy and, in the early evening, he was there with his girlfriend standing on the pavement in the street, cuddling each other in the street. They had the misfortune that, of all the people to drive by, it was this defendant who was driving by in a car. Coe demanded to know if the teenagers were Muslim and when they lied and said that they were not, he replied: Why am I wasting my time with you if youre not Muslim? He then called the girl a whore before attacking her boyfriend, Mr Polnay said. He (Coe) grabbed him around the neck, thats the last thing the victim remembered, he added. The next thing the boy woke up on the floor and he was bleeding. This was completely unpleasant and utterly unwarranted  this is a grown man on a child. Mr Siwela heard the girl screaming and took a photo of Coes number plate as he was getting back into his car. Mr Polnay continued: The defendant wasnt having that and he comes over to Mr Siwela and said give me that phone. Mr Siwela didnt want to hand over his phone so the defendant grabbed him and threw him to the floor. He then got in the car and drove away. Coe denies the two charges against him. He admits assaulting the 16-year-old boy in Wilson Road, Newham, on April 15 but claims he was acting in self-defence. The victim, who cannot be named because he is under 18, said he was hugging his girlfriend goodbye when Coe shouted let that little schoolgirl go. He later demanded: Why are you acting like a punk in front of your whore girlfriend? before attacking the boy. Within seconds of saying that I felt a hand on my neck and after that I dont remember anything else, the teenager said. I woke up  there was blood on my hands and I could feel blood on my face, my head was throbbing and I was very dizzy and also felt sick. The trial continues.

Such are the facts.

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, August 2016 | In: Reviews, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
New from Indias Mumbai Mirror. The language is as lovely as the story. The duplicitous talents of these guys who made false passports and government documents makes the news.

Two men, who worked in tandem faking government documents and scamming people, used their duplicitous talent to secure bail from a court in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region of Thane, India, last month. The duo, Bashir Mulla, 62, and Mohammed Lukman Shaikh, 48, managed to fool the court by securing bail through fake documents signed by non-existent police officers and guarantors. It is suspected that the lawyer who represented them in the court too was an impostor.

Thane police says there are no traces of the two.

Vijay Sanap, a constable attached to Srinagar police station in Thane, explains:

I have to maintain a record of the accused granted bail by the court, do verification of witnesses by the police station and keep track of the dates of the cases. I knew the court had issued a bail order for the two accused last month but they could not be released as the verification of the guarantors was pending. There is a procedure where the witnesses record is checked and only then can the accused be released. This (the bail hearing) was on July 20, said Sanap. He said, After that, there was no mention of the case. Three days back, when I was going through the case diary.

I saw a paper which said that both the accused had been released. The document was signed by senior inspector Kaarkar of Srinagar police station and submitted by one constable RS Patil. As I myself am attached to the same police station I know that there is no one called Patil there and also the name of the senior inspector was different. I enquired with the Srinagar police station and found out that the verification order had not yet reached them, and hence they had not yet approved the release order. They had no idea of the accused having been released. Sanap then asked the police station to check the papers and then it dawned on all that the two guarantors who had signed the document were fake. The guarantors, Santosh Dongre and Sakharam Khude, were as non-existent as were the constable and the senior inspector who signed their release documents. Also the rubber stamps of the police station were fake.
Brendan ONeill asks Corinne Grant a question:

The story is:

Cindy Prior, an indigenous administration officer in QUTs Oodgeroo Unit, is using section 18C of the racial discrimination act  the controversial section that former Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed to repeal  to sue three staff at QUT and five students.

Ms Prior claims she suffered offence, embarrassment, humiliation and psychiatric injury as well as ongoing fear for her safety, because of their actions and comments.

As The Australian has reported, the problems started when three students, who wandered into the Oodgeroo Unit in May 2013 looking for a place to use a computer, were asked by Ms Prior whether they were indigenous.

They said they were not, and she said there were other computers they could use.

She asked the students to leave the unit and they went away.
ROME - Libya remains divided after the House of Representatives (HoR) based in the northeastern city of Tobruk voted no-confidence in the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj.



The HoR, which took office in 2014 and is a rival government to Tripoli, rejected the national unity government established in a December accord in Morocco.



The vote was 61 against the GNA, 39 abstentions and one vote in favor, said HoR spokesman Abdullah Ablahig, adding that quorum was reached with 101 members present.



HoR member Abdel-Salam Nassiya said the government has to be changed "to include more representatives from eastern Libya".



However, Deputy House Speaker Ihmid Houmah said the vote was illegal because the agenda was changed without notice.



Tobruk hadn't voted until now due to obstacles by Libyan National Army (LNC) leader General Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern coastal region of Libya and refuses to cede power to the Sarraj government.



Many pro-Sarraj members of the HoR have reported verbal and physical threats and intimidation.



Haftar and the Tobruk parliament are supported by Egyptian president Fattah al-Sisi, who reaffirmed his support in an interview published in the major Egyptian dailies on Sunday.



Meanwhile in Sirte, pro-Farraj forces are continuing their advances against ISIS.
Turkish minister to unveil record-setting bridge Friday 3rd over Bosporus, Astaldi and Cividale involved

(ANSAmed) - ROME, AUGUST 23 - Turkish transport minister Ahmet Arslan told ANSA in an interview Tuesday about the third bridge over the Bosporus, due to be inaugurated on Friday in Istanbul by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge is the largest suspended bridge in the world, connects Europe and Asia and is the ''longest with a railway'' with ''the highest towers'', he said. ''Another record is that it was built in 27 months,'' Arslan said, underscoring that public funds were not used for the project. Two Italian companies were involved alongside Turkish ones in the construction of the bridge: the Astaldi group and the steelmaker and foundry Acciaieria Fonderia Cividale.



Within the IC Ictus-Astaldi consortium, he said, ''both had an important role, with good cooperation and a great result that shows confidence in our country's stability.'' (ANSAmed).




SOFIA - Bulgarian police have stopped 219 illegal migrants from entering Serbia in the past three days, according to BTA news agency. They have also stopped 419 migrants at the Turkish border in the same period of time, BTA said.



On Monday Serbia announced that joint Serbian army and police forces have stopped nearly 3,000 migrants from entering Serbia since mid-July when they began operating at the Macedonian border.



Over 600 migrants have been settled in reception centres near the border.

Migrant trafficking suspects detained. ID'd by other rescued asylyum seekers

RAGUSA - State police on Tuesday detained five suspected migrant traffickers who arrived along with several hundred rescued asylum seekers in Sicily yesterday. The suspects were named as George Olanayo from Nigeria, Babou and Djibril Diouf from Senegal, Boubakri Hosni from Tunisia and Mobarak Boshra Azhari from Sudan. Other migrants identified them as being the skippers who manned the vessels that left from Libya. They face charges of abetting illegal immigration.
PARIS - French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said France arrested seven people in August "with ties to terrorist networks", three of whom "had projects" for organising attacks.

Cazeneuve said the number of individuals arrested in the first six months of 2016 equals that of the entire year of 2015.

French security forces in 2016 have arrested 165 people in the fight against terrorism, of whom 91 were placed under investigation and 63 jailed, according to Interior Ministry figures released at the beginning of August.
Moroccan Muslim preachers caught having sex, arrested Scandal comes during election season, couple accused of adultery

(ANSAmed) - RABAT, AUGUST 23 - Two vice presidents of Morocco's Islamic Movement for Unity and Reform (MUR), a group closely tied to Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane's Justice and Development Party, have set off a scandal in the midst of election season after they were arrested for adultery when police found them having sex in a car near a beach not far from Casablanca, Al Ahdath Al Maghribia reported.



Moulay Omar Benhammad, 63, is a married father of seven children and a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Rabat; Fatima Nejjar, 62, is a widow with six children and a well-known Muslim preacher who posts educational videos on Youtube.



Police detained the couple for 24 hours and released them after Benhammad's wife decided not to press charges against her husband for adultery.



Both had been vocal in their teachings of strict practices: Benhammad had issued a "fatwa" against "exchanging words of love on Facebook", and Nejjar had told her female students not to sit in the male students' places and not to laugh in front of them, because these were "the start of fornication".



It then emerged in the media that Benhammad had justified his behavior with an explanation that is looked upon unfavorably in the Muslim world, by referring to his relationship with Nejjar as a "customary marriage", meaning one that is neither religious nor civil - a widespread practice in Africa linked to ancestral rituals, but outside of all laws regulating unions between men and women.



The "MUR lovers", as the media are calling them, are scheduled to go to trial on September 1.



Meanwhile, MUR has suspended both of them and issued a statement "completely refusing customary marriage" while at the same time recognising "their contributions in education and preaching". (ANSAmed).




Over 103,000 migrants transited Serbia since January Closing Balkan route does not halt flow, says minister

(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, AUGUST 23 - Despite the closing of the Balkan route in recent months, the flow of migrants from the Middle East to Serbia continues, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Aleksandar Vulin said Tuesday.



Vulin is in charge of dealing with the migrant emergency in the country. Speaking in Presevo along the country's southern border with Macedonia, where the head of UNHCR in Serbia Hans-Friedrich Schodder inaugurated a new wing extension for the local reception center, Vulin said that most of the migrants enter Serbia illegally from Bulgaria and Macedonia. He noted that over 103,500 migrants had crossed through the country since January 1, over 5,000 had been pushed back and 356 traffickers have been reported to the authorities for trying to aid an abet illegal border crossing. Vulin added that over 7,300 migrants had filed asylum requests in Serbia, though most of them did so only to regularize their temporary stay in the country before heading to Western Europe. The new pavilion unveiled on Tuesday can accommodate another 650 migrants in the Presevo reception center, which will thus be able to house an overall 1,500 people. Some 520 migrants and refugees are currently staying in the center. (ANSAmed).




BEIRUT - Turkey bombed ISIS and Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) targets in northern Syria on Monday, according to the BBC, which said about 1,500 Syrian rebels supported by the Ankara government are planning an imminent attack on ISIS in Jarablus and in Manbij, recently retaken from ISIS by Kurdish militants of the Syrian Democratic Forces.



The Syrian rebels are amassed in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, site of a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding party on Sunday whose death toll rose to 54 on Monday.



Turkish army forces also bombed the Kurdish militants in Syria - who are allied with the US - on Sunday, as well as ISIS targets near the Syrian border, mainly in the area north of Manbij.



Syrian Kurdish YPG militants launched a counter-offensive in the northeastern areas of the city of Hasakah, controlled by the Syrian army and pro-government militants, according to YPG sources and local residents cited by various international media outlets.



Reports were that the attack began after midnight following failed negotiations between the two parties mediated by the Russians.



Pro-government media sources said a ceasefire took place prior to the attack in order to evacuate the wounded from the city, which has been divided for months into areas controlled by pro-Assad forces and others controlled by the Kurds, who denied that a ceasefire took place.



In recent days pro-Syrian forces have taken up airstrikes against Kurdish YPG sites.



Meanwhile, Iran said Russian airstrikes using its base in Hamadan "have stopped for now".



Iran was reportedly displeased with the way Moscow publicised its use of the airbase.


Chaos in Libya as Tobruk rejects national unity government In no-confidence vote, says government must be reformed

(ANSAmed) - ROME, AUGUST 23 - Libya remains divided after the House of Representatives (HoR) based in the northeastern city of Tobruk voted no-confidence in the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj.



The HoR, which took office in 2014 and is a rival government to Tripoli, rejected the national unity government established in a December accord in Morocco.



The vote was 61 against the GNA, 39 abstentions and one vote in favor, said HoR spokesman Abdullah Ablahig, adding that quorum was reached with 101 members present.



HoR member Abdel-Salam Nassiya said the government has to be changed "to include more representatives from eastern Libya".



However, Deputy House Speaker Ihmid Houmah said the vote was illegal because the agenda was changed without notice.



Tobruk hadn't voted until now due to obstacles by Libyan National Army (LNC) leader General Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern coastal region of Libya and refuses to cede power to the Sarraj government.



Many pro-Sarraj members of the HoR have reported verbal and physical threats and intimidation.



Haftar and the Tobruk parliament are supported by Egyptian president Fattah al-Sisi, who reaffirmed his support in an interview published in the major Egyptian dailies on Sunday.



Meanwhile in Sirte, pro-Farraj forces are continuing their advances against ISIS. (ANSAmed).




Deal to train Libyans for EU anti-smuggler op Signed in Rome Tuesday to train Navy, Coast Guard

(ANSAmed) - ROME, AUGUST 23 - An accord between the EU EunavforMed force, currently working on the Sophia anti-migrant-smuggling mission in the Mediterranean, to train the Libyan Navy and Coast Guard, was signed with Libyan military authorities in Rome Tuesday. This is an extra task entrusted by the EU Council to the Sophia mission on June 20, when the mission's mandate was also extended. Hopes are high that the recently increased activities of migrant smugglers on the Libyan coats can be stemmed via the new accord. (ANSAmed).




PARIS - French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere announced joint anti-terrorism priorities at a press conference Tuesday, to include increased border checks at external EU borders, better sharing of "crucial" information between member states, and "truly arming our democracies on the topic of cryptography".

Both ministers said they favor the creation of an electronic system authorising entrance into Europe for non-EU citizens who don't require a visa, similar to the ESTA system in the US and similar systems in Canada and Australia.

Cazeneuve said encrypted messages such as those exchanged on texting apps like Telegram should be allowed to be identified and used in judicial proceedings, and he announced the proposal of EU legislation to that end.
Etihad Airways will also offer Bloomingdales  Dubai customers who spend more than AED 1,500 in store the opportunity to enter an exclusive draw during the two-week showcase. Two winners will each receive Business Class return tickets for two from Abu Dhabi to New York and a three-night stay at the renowned Plaza Hotel. Additionally, everyone visiting the in-store pop-up will receive exclusive offers on flights and holiday packages, including up to 20 per cent off flights and up to 60 per cent off holiday packages using a promo code.



The collaboration with Bloomingdales  Dubai forms part of Etihad Airways strategy to explore innovative collaborations with premium brands as the airline continues to reimagine the flying experience. This latest partnership will enable the retailers chic and fashionable customers to experience the latest in high-end travel by touring The Residence  the airlines ultra-luxurious three-room suite  while Etihad Airways guests shop for the latest in-trend travel accessories ahead of their next trip.



Bloomingdales  Dubai customers will be able to experience The Residence, which boasts an area of 125 sq feet until 3 September 2016. The revolutionary cabin features a large 32-inch LCD monitor in the living room and a 24-inch version in the bedroom. Guests who stay at The Residence will have their every need catered for by a dedicated Savoy Butler Academy trained butler.



The Residence is available on Etihad Airways Airbus A380 on five routes from its Abu Dhabi hub: London, New York, Mumbai, Sydney and Melbourne. Customers who book The Residence while in the store will earn enough air miles for a return Business Class ticket to selected destinations in the airlines network.



Mohammad Al Bulooki, Etihad Airways vice president - UAE Commercial, said: Etihad Airways collaboration with Bloomingdales-Dubai showcases the airlines dedication to providing its guests with innovative and superior products and services. Bloomingdales is the most iconic store in the world, so it is a perfect opportunity for Etihad Airways to collaborate with this retailer which has an outstanding reputation for quality and creativity."
The month of July recorded 2,267,572 passengers travelling through the airport, exceeding last Julys figure of 2,100,929.

Total arrivals at the airport were up by 10.4% at a figure of 1,074,022 in July, with departure numbers also increasing by 6.1% at a total figure of 1,180,504. As for the local arrivals specifically- arrivals to Abu Dhabi excluding transfer and transit- July witnessed numbers rise by 15.9% whilst local departures grew by 1.8%.



Arrival and departure transfers have both shown an increase of 8.0% and 8.6% respectively compared to July 2015. Eid and summer holidays were important factors in the increase in these figures.



The top city destinations from Abu Dhabi were London, Bangkok, Doha, Bombay and Manila respectively, representing 16% of the total traffic registered at the airport in July.



Traffic to India has recorded a significant increase of 15.6% in July, whilst traffic to the UK grew by 7.7%. The traffic to Australia has risen by 28.1%, while traffic to the USA has also gone up by 17.2%. The US pre-clearance facility available at AUH has been a significant contributor to that growth.
The Middle East was the fastest growing region in terms of defence spending between 2012 and 2014. Spending for the Middle East and North Africa peaked at $160 billion in 2014 and then modestly dipped in 2015 due to the dramatic drop in oil prices. However, even at the low point, defence spending in 2015 and 2016 in the region will still be higher than 2013 figures.

An unstable strategic environment has seen defence spending in the Middle East rise as a share of GDP since 2008, said Craig Caffrey, principal analyst at IHS Janes Defence Budgets. As the U.S. pivots towards Asia and as sanctions lift on Iran, we are seeing a more proactive stance from states in the Middle East, and defence budgets are likely to rise in the five-year outlook.

Defence spending returned to growth in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2016, and is expected to rise to almost $180 billion by 2020. Defence spending trends are heavily influenced by oil prices moves, but defence budgets have actually risen as a share of government spending in the short term, as other spending has been cut, Caffrey said.

Winners and losers

Conditions and prospects differ significantly between major energy producing states in the region. According to IHS Janes Defence Budgets, defence spending is expected to fall in Bahrain, Iraq and Oman during the next five years. UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar appear to be in the strongest position, aided by non-oil growth and substantial reserve funds.

Algeria

Algerias defence budget has grown 17 percent annually in the last decade. In terms of defence spending in proportion of GDP, it has grown from 2.7 percent of GDP in 2005 to 5.9 percent of GDP in 2016.

Algerian defence spending continues to grow steadily despite the fiscal difficulties presented by the drop in the oil price, said Fenella McGerty, principal analyst at IHS Janes Defence Budgets. While wider state spending was cut by 9 per cent in 2016, the defence budget actually increased by 2 percent as the majority of the state budget cuts affected healthcare, social security and infrastructure spending.



Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest spenders on defence in the region and one of the most exposed to the low oil price. But, there are signs defence and security spending is being protected.

The government announced a 30.5 percent cut to defence and security spending in 2016, Caffrey said. That sounds like a huge cut, but around 25 percent of all Saudi spending has be re-defined as budget support provision and that can be used to support any element of the budget. Given that the overall budget is down about 2 percent, defence will be heavily supported from that funding.

The Kingdoms defence budget jumped from $32 billion in 2010, to $48 billion in 2015, and is forecast to break the $50 billion mark in 2019, with a total defence spend of $52 billion. Saudi Arabias defence budget is still one of the biggest in the world, Caffrey said. Saudi Arabia is expected to be spending more on defence than France and Russia by the end of the decade.

Qatar

Qatar is pursuing wholesale modernisation and expansion of its military capabilities and is leading the way in terms of defence procurement, according to IHS Janes Defence Budgets.

Qatar ostensibly became the fastest-growing defence budget and the largest single export market in the world in 2014, Caffrey said. Since 2014, Qatar has finalised $25 billion in deals, which is staggering considering their total defence budget is around $4.5 billion a year.

IHS Janes Defence Budgets expects Qatars defence budget to reach $5.5 billion by 2020 and expects to see significant further investment over the next 24 months.

UAE

Growth in the UAEs defence budget has been relatively conservative since 2012, but it is likely to increase to over $20 billion by 2020.

Between the UAEs increasingly active role in operations in the region and the implementation of national service and reserve structures from 2015, upward pressure on defence spending seems inevitable, Caffrey said.il Price, IHS Markit Says
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. 26 years ago on this day the Declaration of Independence of Armenia was adopted by the Supreme Council of Armenia, which was the beginning of Armenias independent statehood.

According to the Armenian SSR Supreme Councils decision, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed to Republic of Armenia, and the acting Supreme Council of the 12th convocation was considered as Armenias first convocation Supreme Council.

The declaration includes 12 statements. The document was read at the Supreme Council session by lawmaker Aram Manukyan, and Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Vazgen I blessed the peoples decision.

Roughly after a year since the declaration was adopted, an independence referendum was held in Armenia on September 21, 1991. As a result, 94, 99 percent of Armenian citizens voted Yes for independence.

The referendum results were announced by Babken Ararktsyan in the Parliament.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Militants of the armed Syrian opposition on Monday delivered fire from salvo systems at the peaceful districts of Aleppo protected by units of the Syrian Armed Forces, SANA news agency said quoting a spokesman for the police department, TASS reported.

The shells fell mostly on Hamdaniya and Salah al-Din districts, as well as on the western suburban area of Al-Zahraa.

The shelling took the lives of four civilians and left another twenty-four wounded.

As of July 31 when the militants combat activity surged anew in Aleppo, as many as 198 civilians have been killed and 834 have been wounded.

The militants are seeking to disrupt the humanitarian operation the Russian center for reconciliation of the warring sides launched in Aleppo on July 28 in cooperation with the Syrian governmental agencies.

On Monday, the Syrian army took two strategic heights on the southern and southwestern outskirts of the city and blocked the passage through Al-Ramousa suburban neighborhood, which the militants used to get to the eastern districts of the city.

The army artillery delivered strikes at the rear bases of the jihadis from Jaish al-Fatah coalition.

Al-Manar news channel said dozens of militants were killed in the townships of Al-Qurasi and al-Is on the southern approaches to the city.

Warehouses, vehicles and several armored vehicles operated by the grouping were destroyed.

Photo by AFP/Getty Images




YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. The Tbilisi City Court has remanded the terror plot suspects, Georgian media reported.

The Judge approved the Prosecutors mediation and issues arrest warrants for pre-trial detention of all seven suspects.

Earlier on August 22, the Georgian State Security Service reported it had thwarted a terrorist attack in the country.

The SSS said at a briefing five Georgian citizens plotted to carry out a terror attack on the Russia-Armenia gas pipeline, which runs in the vicinity of Saguramo village.

In addition to the five citizens, a police officer has been arrested for misconduct and another Georgian citizen was arrested for failing to notify law enforcement agencies about the bomb threat.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Speaking in front of an enthusiastic crowd, Donald Trump intensified his calls for an investigation into his Democratic rival's emails, saying that a special prosecutor must take over the case, ABC News reports.

"After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewashed Hillary Clintons email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clintons new crimes," Trump said.

"The Justice Department is required to appoint an independent Special Prosecutor because it has proven itself to be really, sadly a political arm of the White House.

The comes in the wake of the State Department confirming that the FBI had uncovered nearly 15,000 emails and materials sent to or from Clinton as part of the agency's investigation into her use of private email at the State Department.

The documents were not among the 30,000 work-related emails turned over to the State Department by her attorneys in December 2014.

The FBI declined to recommend Hillary Clinton for criminal charges in the email case and the Justice Department agreed. However, that has not satisfied critics who says Clinton, who was admonished for her handling of classified information, was allowed to skate.

While Trump has long attacked Clinton for her honesty, tonight was the first time he went so far as calling for a special prosecutor.

Speaking at the University of Akron, Trump also invoked the Whitewater scandal as he sought to make the case that the Clintons could no longer be trusted in office; the lively crowd was clearly receptive to his attacks. At one point, the now-ubiquitous chants of "Lock Her Up" were so sustained that Trump paused to let them finish.

"Her actions corrupted and disgraced one of the most important Departments of government, Trump began.

"The Clintons made the State Department into the same kind of Pay-to-Play operation as the Arkansas Government was."

Photo by Reuters
GYUMRI, AUGUST 19, ARMENPRESS. The Gyumri Court will issue the verdict for Valery Permyakov  Russian soldier who murdered 7 members of the Avetisyan family  on August 23 at 12:00.

Attorney Eduard Aghajanyan published the defense speech during the previous trial, and Permyakov refused the chance of his last speech.

State prosecutor Gevorg Gevorgyan has demanded life imprisonment for Valery Permyakov.

ARMENPRESS correspondent reported from the courtroom the prosecutor demanded life imprisonment citing Article 104, paragraph 2, point 1,5,8  murder of two or more persons with particular cruelty combined with extortion and banditry and Article 175, paragraph 2, point 3,4  criminal assault by illegal entry to an apartment with the use of firearms and Article 34-329 point 1  attempted illegal crossing of state border.

The attorney did not object two of the prosecutors charges (murder of two or more persons under especially violent circumstances, accompanied by extortion, banditry, and criminal assault with the use of firearms), noting that his defendant hasnt denied committing the crime, however the attorney delivered a pretty long speech regarding the prosecutors charge on attempted illegal crossing of the border. The attorney presented several evidences, which suggest the criminal case hasnt proved this action.

The attorney noted as mediating circumstance Permyakovs young age, not having prior charges, as well as the fact that even though he has no mental illness, Permyakov is an infantile person.

On January 12, 2015, Russian soldier Valery Permyakov murdered 7 members of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri.

The youngest victim was a 6 months old baby.

Permyakov was apprehended while trying to cross the Armenian-Turkish border.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Turkey's Foreign Minister has recalled its Austrian ambassador for "consultations" in the wake of a rally held in Vienna in support of the PKK, Sputnik News reported.

"In response to recent events, we have withdrawn our ambassador from Vienna for consultations and to review our relations with Austria," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters.

The rally took place in the Austrian capital on Saturday, with roughly 500 protesters demonstrating against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Tarik Mete, state deputy of Turkey's Social Democratic Party, released a statement calling on the Austrian government to condemn the rally.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Iran and Cuba strengthened their commercial ties by signing a memorandum of understanding during the first business forum between the two nations, Prensa Latina reported.

Chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of Cuba, Rodrigo Malmierca, the meeting also reviewed the common possibilities.

The Iranian team includes 60 entrepreneurs from various fields such as industry, mining, pharmacy, medicine, food, trade and other areas. The delegation received detailed reports of possible agreements in the island.

Javad Zarif welcomed the opportunity and expressed his country's interest in increasing ties with the Latin American region; hence this visit is included on a tour of other nations such as Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia.

The head of the Iranian delegation also mentioned that his nation can be both for Cuba and Latin Americans nations a commercial bridge in the Middle East, while this island will facilitate the connection between Tehran and this part of the world.






YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. The organizations real owners participating in the state procurement must be revealed, Justice Minister of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan said in an interview with Armenpress.

She said if there is data on the organizations only corporate real owners, only these are not sufficient to say that the requirement to reveal the real owners has been implemented.

The individual, who is associated with the organization, must be clearly revealed. Moreover, legally binding documents must be submitted which will prove that they are the real owners, the Justice Minister said adding that the Ministry of Justice proposes a regulation which will make the entire procurement process more transparent.

She said the data on the organizations real owner or owners, who will win in the procurement process, will be placed in the database which will be open for the public. In case of the creation of the database, those persons will avoid to submit false data being sure that the public will be immediately informed about it. Concrete mechanisms will be defined as well which will make the persons accountable for submitting false data, as well as the signed contracts will be cancelled, Arpine Hovhannisyan said.

During the Governments August 18 session Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan presented details on the implementation of numerous issues and given instructions which were discussed during the Anti-Corruption Council sessions.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Nigerias air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants and possibly fatally wounded their overall leader in a raid on the Islamists' northeast heartland, Reuters reported.

Government planes attacked the fighters in the village of Taye inside the Sambisa forest in Borno State on Friday night, the air force said, adding it had only just confirmed details of the raid.

"Their leader, so called 'Abubakar Shekau', is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders," the statement by army spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman added.

The military has reported Shekau's death in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements. There was no immediate reaction from the group.

Boko Haram has waged a seven-year-old insurgency to set up an Islamic state that has killed about 15,000 people, displaced more than two million and spread fighting to neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The group kidnapped 270 schoolgirls in April 2014 and security sources believe it is holding some of them in Sambisa forest.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Parliament Speaker of Armenia Galust Sahakyan, Deputy Speaker Hermine Naghdalyan and MPs attended the ceremony dedicated to the 26th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Armenia on August 23, press service of the Parliament informed Armenpress.

Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan delivered a speech.

He once again stressed the importance of the independent statehood, the achievements of independent Armenia over the past decades and said it is all Armenians duty to contribute to the countrys progress and development as much as possible.

Every year state-political, as well as public figures gather across the memorial located in Melik Adamyan street.

The memorial is an evidence that the Declaration of Independence of Armenia has been adopted by the Armenian SSR Supreme Council in 1990.
GYUMRI, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Valery Permyakovs attorney Eduard Aghajanyan says it is not clear yet where Permyakov will serve his sentence.

Speaking to reporters the attorney said neither the judge nor the prosecutor have clarified the location of Permyakovs imprisonment.

This issue wasnt touched upon by the prosecutor as well, the defense in its turn didnt touch upon it  thinking that the Court will clarify this. But as we saw, the Court also bypassed this issue, and as of this moment, it is unclear where Permyakov will serve his sentence. I was expecting the judge to clarify this in the verdict, but the Court left it unclear, the attorney said.

Speaking on the possible appeal of the verdict, the attorney said to answer this question he has to receive the verdict, study it, and will be able to give an answer after meeting with Permyakov.

Valery Permyakov  serviceman of the Russian military base of Gyumri - has been sentenced to life imprisonment on August 23 for the murders of seven members of the Avetisyan family.

Judge Harutyun Movsisyan delivered the verdict, noting the Court has proven the guilt of Permyakov, and sentenced him to life in prison.

The prosecutor demanded life imprisonment citing Article 104, paragraph 2, point 1,5,8  murder of two or more persons with particular cruelty combined with extortion and banditry and Article 175, paragraph 2, point 3,4  criminal assault by illegal entry to an apartment with the use of firearms and Article 34-329 point 1  attempted illegal crossing of state border.

Permyakovs attorney delivered the defense statement on August 19, noting Permyakov hasnt denied committing the crime.

The attorney noted as mediating circumstance Permyakovs young age, not having prior charges, as well as the fact that even though he has no mental illness, Permyakov is an infantile person.

Valery Permyakov murdered 7 members of the Avetisyan family in Gyumri on January 12, 2015.

The youngest victim was a 6 months old baby. Six of the victims were gunned down, and the baby was stabbed.

Permyakov was apprehended while trying to illegally cross the Armenian-Turkish border.

A criminal case was filed from the Russian side, which sentenced Permyakov to 10 years imprisonment for illegal possession of firearms and absence without official leave.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. After the Madrid principles appeared in 2007, nothing new occurred in the negotiation process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan said on August 23, Armenpress reported.

Starting from 2007 when the Madrid principles appeared, did anything new change in the Nagorno Karabakh negotiation process, of course, not. The proposals have not been changed, all of these are variations of the Madrid principles. There has never been a talk that Azerbaijan will recognize Nagorno Karabakh, and we will not give any centimeter of land, there has never been such a document or agreement in the negotiation table, he said.

He said currently the negotiations are proceeding towards the maintenance of peace and exclusion of tension in the border.

The political scientist said different numbers are being mentioned on the concessions of the territories, and it is difficult and unrealistic to think about it after the April events.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are not ready to go to mutual concessions. It can be publicly spoken about it in Armenia, whereas it is even forbidden to talk about it in Azerbaijan. They are talking behind the closed doors. And they are unable to openly say they are ready for concessions, he said.

The political scientist could not answer whether the tendency of the reduction of ceasefire violation cases will continue or not after April.

He said Azerbaijan is not event inclined to maintain the agreements reached during the recent meetings, especially over the installation of control mechanisms in the border zone. Problems will arise in this regard, he said.

Iskandaryan said Azerbaijans further steps and actions are directly linked with oil prices.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian families living in Syrias Hasakah region try to remain in safe places and overcome the hardships rising from armed clashes, Editor-in- Chief of Aleppo-based Gandzasar weekly Zarmik Poghikian told Armenpress.

She informed that the city faces serious humanitarian catastrophe.

Particularly at night hours fierce clashes occur between the Syrian army and the militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party but the day hours are relatively calm. The population has also to overcome the social conditions as well. The electricity was off for over 4 days, Zarmik Poghosyan said, adding there are also difficulties for acquiring food, including bread.

She also mentioned that according to a source of Gandzasar, 64 Armenian families currently live in Hasakah, the majority of who are elderly people since the younger ones have left the city for job opportunities in other places.

Armenians have suffered no material or human losses up till now. The Armenian community tries to demonstrate respectful attitude to all the parties of the confrontation and not to be involved in it. The Church is shut down, Zarmik Poghikian said, mentioning that Armenians have no intention to leave thje city yet, hoping the situation will normalize in the near future.

Syrian forces and Kurdish fighters have agreed upon a Russia-brokered ceasefire in the north-eastern city of Hasakah, according to PressTV.

The truce includes a "halt to all hostilities and the return to government forces of any positions seized by Kurdish fighters," said a Syrian military source on Sunday.

Despite both parties battling the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, clashes erupted on Wednesday between the US-backed Kurds and troops loyal to the Syrian government.

According to the terms of the ceasefire, the injured from the fighting will be transferred to the close-by town of Qamishli.

Seven army checkpoints, which were seized by Kurdish forces during the clashes, have been returned to the control of government forces, but three still remain in Kurdish control.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the delegation of the "HALO Trust" organization on August 23 headed by its chief executive officer James Cowan.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of Artsakh Republic Presidents Office, issues related to the mine clearance process in Artsakh were on the agenda of the meeting. President Sahakyan highlighted the HALO Trust organization's activity in Artsakh expressing gratitude for the rendered humanitarian and professional aid.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. The priority goal of the Armenian side in connection with Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process is that the people of Artsakh are given an opportunity to self-determinate in their own cradle. Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan told the participants of Baze-2016 annual youth camp, answering a question over a conflict settlement option based on mutual concessions. Many nations on the globe, such as the people of Kosovo, have self-determinated not in their cradle. Thus, people of Artsakh have the right to self-determination in Armenian highlands, in their cradle. If we rule out the self-determination of unification with Armenia, speaking of any other mutual concessions is senseless, Armenpress reports Ohanyan saying.

In his words, under the situation when Azerbaijan declines the confidence-building mechanisms, tries to speak in the language of power, makes Armenaphobic announcements, speaking about mutual concessions makes no sense. I have always said and now reiterate, if something happens to Artsakh, we will defend every single inch of it, the Minister concluded.
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Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi is the first Islamist militant to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Hes also the first person to ever plead guilty at the court. And the charges against him at the ICC are also a first: cultural destruction tied to his actions, and those of his rebels, at the historic city of Timbuktu.
For six years, Dr Joseph Ong Yew Jin, a Singaporean physician, has spent his summer holidays in Poipet with his students, helping locals. With local nuns, he provides free medical check-ups and funds for Cambodian students. He does it because this is in part of my faith and the relations I developed over the years. Many are willing to give if given a chance."

Rome (AsiaNews)  Dr Joseph Ong Yew Jin, a Singaporean doctor specialising in palliative care, in the past few years has spent his holidays in rural Cambodia bringing drugs, performing check-ups, and teaching basic hygiene.

"I started in 2010, he told AsiaNews, with a group of medical students from the National University of Singapore. Every summer we go to Poipet, near the north-western border with Thailand, where we work with the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus."

The sisters run a kindergarten and take care of the parish. "When we go there, the doctor explained, we make the rounds of the villages accompanied by three locals. We stay for two days in each place.

First, we check residents health with equipment that we bring from Singapore or rent from Cambodian clinics. If we find someone ill, we bring the patient to the nearest hospital for further checks."

Over the years, cooperation with Cambodian institutions has grown stronger and stronger. "A bond has developed between my students and the University of Phnom Penh, whose students volunteer to work with us."

The second thing doctors do is provide scholarships to local kids, from high school to university, and not only for medical school.

"The first group of students whom we helped graduated this year and two of them studied nursing, Dr Ong said.

Now they might come back to Poipet to work with the sisters. Our hope is that, once they graduate, the kids will offer their skills to the community."

The idea behind the initiative is not the doctors. "In 2009, I joined ACTS, A Call to Share, a group founded by Dr John Lee and his wife.

Both are Singaporeans and have collaborated with the Salesians of Phnom Penh and had contacts with Fr Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzalez, prefect of Battambang. Going with them I met the priest, and through him I met the Sisters of Poipet."

When he is asked why he is doing this, he answers, "I think the reason I continue to do this is in part my faith, which taught me the importance of helping others, and in part due to relations I developed over the years.

Even many of the students who come with me  only one of whom is Catholic  continue to come thanks to the friendships they formed with Cambodians. Coming with me, they find something meaningful to do. "

Joseph became a Catholic during his university years. "My faith spurs me to continue this work, encourages me to understand what the people we serve need, and how much they are willing to give if given a chance."

Since he has been coming to Cambodia, the doctor noticed its great "educational emergency. Many young people want to change things but they do not have the opportunity.

In Singapore missionary schools have made a difference in the development of the country, whilst in Cambodia the Khmer Rouge created a great vacuum in knowledge. I see it in the medical field, where they lack the basics. If we look at the long term, the domain in which the Church can do the most is education."
The curfew has been in place for almost two months. The protests between separatists and security forces killed at least 60 people. Volunteers working in private homes, in mosques and reception rooms, after several couples have decided to postpone their wedding.

Srinagar (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Because of the curfew imposed by the Delhi authorities in the region, schools have been closed for almost two months in many parts of Kashmir. But to prevent children from losing the school year, several volunteers have set up makeshift centers in their private homes or in mosques, in order to ensure the continuity of teaching.

The population of Indian Kashmir is living under tight security following the protests that reupted after the killing of a popular separatist leader who fought for the independence of the state from the Indian Federation. The death of Burhan Wani, a militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen group who became famous for his exploits posted on social networks, has unleashed a wave of resentment in the whole territory.

Kashmir has been a disputed territory between India and Pakistan since the separation of 1947. Repeated attempts to establish independence and a latent conflict have caused tens of thousands of deaths, mostly among civilians.

According to experts, the recent protests were the bloodiest since 2010 and killed at least 60 people in clashes with Indian security forces. Hundreds were injured and are still suffering from severe eye damage, hit by pellet bullets (banned for at least ten years).

Life under curfew is destabilizing not only for adults, but especially for children. At least 200 of these have now returned to the high school in Rainawari mosque in Srinagar, the summer capital, thanks to the work of 20 volunteers. They offer their expertise for free, and study books, tables and chairs were provided by anonymous donors.

Other students instead were welcomed in reception halls, which have remained empty after couples decided to postpone their marriage. Among these students there is Tabi, 7 years old, who before the curfew was unable to attend classes regularly. Now she is close to her new teachers and friends."
by Melani Manel Perera

The refugees live in precarious conditions in 43 refugee camps. Military leaders justify the decision on national security. IDPs claim the army built Buddhist temples on their land, when most of them are Hindu or Catholic. Government IDP figures do not coincide with those of activists.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Sri Lanka military leaders have announced they will not return hundreds of acres of land in 07 DS divisions they seized during the civil war to their rightful owners.

Since the fighting ended in 2009, about 9,000 of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been living in 43 refugee camps in the Jaffna peninsula in the northwest of the country, and are waiting for a home.

Since the announcement, the IDPs are living in anguish and fear for their life after it was turned upside down by the horrors of the war, and the hardships of the camps.

Tamils were forced to abandon their lands because of the civil war that caused bloodshed for nearly 30 years.

On 18 August, the military announced that they would not return the lands in the northern peninsula for reasons of national security. Only those who can show "acceptable" title deeds will be moved to alternative sites.

"Where can we go? asked some evacuees speaking to AsiaNews. Instead of creating new settlements as promised, President Maithripala Sirisena has not solved our problems. The authorities speak of national security, but where is our security?"

"It is very unfair to seize land to create military bases, said Anthony Jesudasan, coordinator of the North South Peace Desk of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO). The government could build bases without depriving people of the land".

The activist added that the "top priority is to finish the settlement process [of IDPs], as promised earlier."

Some refugees also slammed the fact that the soldiers occupying their properties are building Buddhist temples. "But most of us are Hindu or Catholic, they say. We do not worship Buddhist idols; we do not want temples."

Commenting the statement of Ministry of the Resettlement, Anthony Jesudasan noted that the official figure does not add up with the number activists have.

Whilst the government talks about 936 people waiting for settlement in Jaffna, NAFSO reports the presence of 9,000 families in refugee camps. "Their calculation is wrong," said the groups coordinator.
by Sebastian Vazhakala, MC

"Will you refuse to do this for me?" Is the question that Jesus put to Mother Teresa of Calcutta in one of her mystical experiences. The life of the future saint was her response to this question. Fr. Sebastian Vazhakala continues his narrative about the Mother of Calcutta. The strength of her experience, and that of all the Missionaries and the Missionaries of Charity, is assimilation to Jesus. Love to the very end, even in times of trial.

Rome (AsiaNews) - In my first meeting with Mother Teresa, I was struck by her simple faith and conviction. From the way she spoke it was clear that what she said were not empty words: her life and work went hand in hand; she practised as she preached. When I met her in 1962 I was not that impressed by her presence, especially since she was not as famous then as now. Instead, it was something about her that attracted me: the way in which she lived the Gospel. My father taught me to live the gospel for the poor, for the needy, for others. And she did the same. Yet there was something special about her, that I realized many years later. When you do God's work, your heart becomes different: It is filled with a joy that radiates outward and the person is more certain, without the temptation to look at others.

For example, we spend time judging what other people do. If, in a situation, we see people in need, we ask who is to blame, we say someone should do something. And it is easy to criticize: The mayor, the bishop, the priest, this, that one should do something.

When she saw the situation in Calcutta, Mother Teresa did not ask: Why is the mayor, the minister, the bishop of Calcutta not doing something? No, she only asked one question: What can I do? Only after her death did people begin to understand that it was this gift of self that was her vocation as a Missionary of Charity, which Jesus himself had asked her to adhere to.

Following her death there were some documents written by her that I cherish in which the Mother speaks of the visions and missions to which she has been called by Jesus and Mary.

The first vision  she describes it herself in those documents - was a large crowd made up of children, the poor, the sick. She was in the midst of them and they all held their hands up to her and said to her: Come, come and save us, bring us Jesus.

In the second vision is the same crowd immense, but full of sadness. Then Mother Teresa saw the Virgin kneeling behind her telling her: These are mine. Bring them to Jesus and bring Jesus to them. Do not be afraid, and teach them to pray the Rosary. And Mary added: Jesus and I will be here with you and with your children.

The third vision is similar to the vision of the crucifix of St. Francis in the Church of San Damian when he hears, 'Go and repair my Church.

In the vision there is Jesus on the Cross, Our Lady somewhat distant and Mother Teresa in front of Mary. Our Lady has her left hand on her shoulder and together they looked upon Jesus on the Cross. And Jesus says: I have asked this of you; they [the crowd] have asked; My Mother has asked you. Do you refuse to do this for me?

This visions took place on September 10, 1946, which from that day forth has been known as "the Day of Inspiration" or "Call within a Call".

Until then, Mother Teresa, who had entered Sisters of Loreto years before, was living as a teacher and was happy and did not understand why she had to leave the convent. But from that day forth, she decided to follow Jesus and to serve the poor.

Jesus had said: My little one, come, come, take me into the wounds of the poor. Come be my light. I can not go alone. They do not know me and therefore do not want me. You go and bring me among them. Bring me to them and them to me... In your love for me they will see me, know me, want me".

This is the work of Mother Teresa, which is the work of Jesus. Every time the mother went out to find the poor, any work that she did, she was with Jesus, she was operating with Jesus.

She would give the example of Mary who goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, to her sisters. Mary runs joyfully and quickly, bringing Jesus that was forming in her womb to her cousin. Similarly, Mother Teresa and all the sisters today, every morning attend Mass, receive communion, adore the Blessed, and then they go out onto the streets. Every sister, every missionary goes with Jesus. It is what the Missionaries of Charity do, it is not their work, but the work of Jesus; we are his instruments. This was always very clear for Mother Teresa. She always said, I am God's pencil, a pure instrument.

She thought herself nothing. In a dialogue with Jesus, the Mother says to him: Jesus, I am unworthy sinful and weak. And Jesus answers: That's why I want you. This will make known my glory. This is how all that you do becomes God's work and not your own and the Father is glorified by these good works.

In my first meeting in Calcutta with Mother, she insisted on this: what she did was not his work, but of Christ.

To strengthen this unity between her and Jesus, there was a mystical marriage. In one of the dialogues Jesus calls her "My little one, you are my bride." When a piece of iron sticks to a magnet, the iron acquires the same power of the magnet and has the power to attract. Similarly, the mother has become one with Jesus, able to attract. That's why even the world today is so impressed by this woman, this little nun with a great heart of love: her heart was transformed by her union with Jesus.

After all, this is the secret of the life of Mother Teresa, also of her period in the desert, which began in her 50s and continued for the rest of life. At that time she felt abandoned by Jesus, arid in prayer, but she remained faithful to her spousal love for Christ, to the last breath. And this is marriage is it not? It is not loyalty and love to the end?
The government plans of the prison "longer" for anyone who sets himself on fire, manifested for independence or autonomy for Tibet, sends abroad about the situation of the province. Chinese repression threatens to exacerbate even more the situation.

Lhasa (AsiaNews) - The communist authorities of the Tibet province have distributed an "instruction manual" that contains new and tougher laws against protests and self-immolations to local Buddhist monasteries. The text is written in Chinese and Tibetan, and announces: demonstrations, even lone demonstrations, and political suicide will be punished with heaftier prison sentences. Subject to a custodial sentence for any "co-conspirators".

The text specifies that the protests "include spreading news abroad about what is happening in Tibet". The use of social networks is banned for monks and their access to internet restricted access.

Lobsang Yeshi, religious from Kirti monastery forced to flee to India, told Phayul newspaper: "The authorities use the law as a means to justify the repression of Tibetans . These new laws demonstrate what the real situation in Tibet is".

Another source, anonymous for security reasons, adds ironically: "What do you mean 'solitary demonstrations'? If I walk down the street reciting my prayers and I use a word about the Dalai Lama or about Buddhism, will I be incarcerated? It seems absurd. "

The phenomenon of self-immolations was born from the 2008 protests that took place in Lhasa, Tibetan province. On that occasion, the fighting raged on the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Beijing - in March 1959, and violently repressed - which has cost the lives of nearly 220 people. The immolation victims now count almost 200.

The Chinese authorities have increased control over Tibetan areas to prevent the self-immolations and arrest Tibetans who promote this type of protest. Those who sacrifice themselves demand the free return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for the region. For his part, the exiled Buddhist leader has repeatedly called on his followers "not to take their own life, but to use it instead to protest in another way".
Ankara launched a series of cross border attacks against the jihadists in Jarablus and Manbij. The bombing also hit Kurdish positions. The Turkish army ready to launch an offensive against Daesh. August 20 attack jihadist response to military threat. Doubts about the identity and age of the suicide bombers.

Istanbul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Turkey has launched a series of attacks against the Islamic State objectives (IS) in northern Syria. Meanwhile there are rumors that rebel groups operating in the area are preparing to launch a major offensive against the jihadists.

The Ankara army offensive is a response to the bloody attack of August 20, when a suicide bomber blew himself up during a wedding party, killing dozens of people. Even Pope Francis recalled the massacre Sunday last in his Angelus reflection, launching an appeal for peace "dear Turkey."

In the last few hours army units have launched rockets and artillery shells across the border from the Turkish territory against IS positions as well as those of the Kurdish YGP (People's Protection Units). The missiles hit several targets in the Syrian city of Jarablus and Manbij.

Local sources said that in the Turkish town of Gaziantep there are at least 1,500 Syrian rebels, backed by Turkey, ready to attack. There would also be dormant IS cells ready to strike.

The military offensive is the Ankara government response to a kamikaze attack that hit a wedding party, killing more than 50 people most of them children. Even today there are at least 66 people hospitalized, 14 of them in serious condition.

Witnesses in the area say that the attack of August 20 by the Islamic State was the jihadists' response to the "imminent" Turkish military operation.

At first the authorities in Ankara and the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that the author of the massacre would be a child was between 12 and 14 years. In fact there is no confirmation of this. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has calmed polemics pointing out that there are currently no certainties about the age of the executioner.

Analysts and experts believe that the wave of attacks is bound to intensify in conjunction with the increased commitment of Turkey in the war in Syria and the military campaign against Daesh [Arabic acronym for the Islamic state]. The Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that IS must be "completely cleared" from northern Syria.

However, under the pretext of attacking the jihadists Turkey is also attacking Kurdish YGP deployed north of Manbij.

The Turkish leadership believe the Kurdish fighters are an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group that for decades has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey and considered illegal by Ankara.
Oxfam leads the charge against the UK, guilty of violating the treaty it signed. Its weapons are used against Schools, hospitals and homes. For a British government spokesperson, sales meet export criteria. Last year, the UK sold US$ 4 billion in weapons.

Sana'a (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Oxfam has accused the British government of "denial and disarray" over an agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia that could be used in Yemen.

The aid agency noted that British weapons sold to Saudi Arabia contribute to a "brutal war in Yemen, harming people" that targets Schools, hospitals and homes.

Activists and NGOs have appealed to the British government to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, which has been accused of violating humanitarian and international law in the conflict in Yemen.

Since January 2015, Yemen has been the scene of a bloody internal conflict pitting the countrys Sunni leaders, backed by Riyadh, against Shia Houthi rebels, close to Iran.

In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes against the rebels in an attempt to free the capital Sana'a and bring back then exiled President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. So far the air campaign has killed at least 6,400 people, mostly civilians.

For Saudi Arabia, the Houthis, allied to forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, are supported militarily by Iran, a charge that Tehran rejects.

Extremist groups linked to al Qaeda and jihadist militias linked to Islamic State are active in the country, a fact that has helped escalate violence and terror.

A British government spokeswoman said that the deal with the Saudis meets UKs export licensing "criteria.

She added that the government takes its responsibilities "very seriously" and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world, and that the use of these weapons does not violate international laws.

According to Oxfam, the UK has switched from being an "enthusiastic backer" of the Arms Trade Treaty to "one of the most significant violators".

The treaty sets international standards for the trade in conventional arms and seeks to prevent illegal arms trading.

Governments who sign up to it  such as the UK  are expected to review arms export contracts to ensure the weapons do not violate existing arms embargoes, that they will not be used for war crimes, human rights abuses or organised crime, and that they will not be diverted for illegal use.

However, for Penny Lawrence, deputy chief executive of Oxfam GB, the British government has misled its own parliament about its oversight of arms sales and its international credibility is in jeopardy as it commits to action on paper but does the opposite in reality.

In view of this, how can the government insist that other nations abide by a treaty it helped set up "if it flagrantly ignores it?"

Last year the British government approved more than  3 billion worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The United States approved  4 billion worth and France almost  14 billion. Worldwide, the weapons trade is believed to be worth 1.3tn annually.

On several occasions, Pope Francis has spoken out against the arms trade  which has spread death and destruction in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and all areas of the world where there is an ongoing conflict.

As one of the few critical voices, the Argentine pontiff strongly denounced weapons trade in his message for the peace campaign in Syria promoted by Caritas Internationalis. In it, he also pointed out that some of the countries supplying these arms are also among those that talk of peace.
by Kamel Abderrahmani

For centuries Islam has been closed in on itself creating a "holy ignorance" that blocks all introspection and development. Islamic "clergy" and the Arab states contributing to this stagnation, in their push to make Islam the state religion. Many intellectuals, thinkers, religious trying to reform Islam are hunted, persecuted, expelled, their works banned.

Paris (AsiaNews) - The author, a 28 year old Muslim, is a native of Algeria. He studied linguistics in France and is very involved in the contemporary debate on Islam.

For some time now, after the many tragic events the fault of Islamist terrorism, some of the Muslim elite have begun to relaize that there is a very real danger threatening not only the Muslim world, but the entire planet. This elite has realized that the new mode of thinking about religion (in the Wahhabi manner) seems unstoppable. Combined with the terrorism which develops from this practice, it will eventually wipe out any hope of freedom and democracy and hold the future of Muslims hostage for a very long time indeed.

Mohamed Arkoun had already warned that Muslim thought had not evolved for at least six centuries and this delay constituted a danger. He had also insisted on re-reading the Koran to make it more dynamic, but unfortunately he has not been heard.

After recent massacres perpetrated by Daesh [the Islamic State] a number of thinkers and imams have publically protested demanding a reform of theology to adapt Islam to our age. Unfortunately, there is no competent religious authority to appeal to. In fact, the Wahhabi authorities never tolerate any reform.

This situation highlights two legitimate questions: Is there need for a clergy - as for our Christian friends - to regulate this kind of problems? The answer is yes. Is it possible to immagine and find such a clergy? The answer is no. In my opinion, the problem of Muslims is summed up in these two questions and answers.

Unfortunately, the problem is not only religious. The establishment of all the Arab states claim in their first article that Islam is the state religion. This article is the beginning of the problem because it not only makes one religion official at the expense of others, but also imposes an archaic worldview, based on the most obsolete case-law.

Through this law, Muslim clerics have created a "holy ignorance"; politicians have rendered it official; institutions have sacralized and taught it in schools, and the poor children must submit to it from their early years of primary school.

With "holy ignorance" I mean the taboo surrounding the dogma based largely on case law. No one can pose the question as to why it refuses the other [the other religion], nor about a hadith [the sayings of Muhammad] in flagrant contradiction with the same logic of the Koran. It is an all to be believed without batting an eye-lid.

Therefore, the reform is not only an issue of purely religious concern. It also affects the politicians and the people as a whole. But there is a great paradox: if, for example, a politician dares to talk about reform, the religious clerics react and flip the alarm switch to denounce that Islam is in danger. If an intellectual does so, it is the same thing: he is accused of apostasy and is excommunicated. And if it is a religious to propose a reform, they are immediately denounced, rejected and accused by their colleagues of working for the West.

In my opinion, any reform should be the result of an intellectual process, if not a current of thought. Unfortunately, the intellectual, separated from the base [of the people] from the dominant theology, suffers from a lack of listeners. Not only is the scholar not hif it is to have any chance to succeed, the reform must be carried out not by one or more individuals, no matter how high his or their rank, but an institution. But it is the institutions (religious and state) that have produced this "official"islam that is a source of terrorism and rejection of other religious confessions.

All this leads us to think that Muslim societies are anesthetized by a mentality among the most archaic and a "holy ignorance" that grows with the passing of time, a result of centuries of jurisprudence devoid of all logic and scientific spirit.

I quote here to outline some "victims" of this mentality:

Mohamed Arkoun, philosopher and scholar of Islam, famous around the world, driven from his country, from a conference on Islamic thought by two Egyptian Islamist preachers, El Ghazali and El Qaradawi. Both are the godfathers of radical Islamism and terrorism. Muhammed Shahrour, civil engineer, thinker and interpreter of the Qur'an according to the modern linguistic tools, rejected by the Syrian political system, rejected by Muslims seriously affected by holy ignorance. His books offer an alternative to traditional Islamic thought, but are forbidden in Saudi Arabia. Ferhan El Maliki, dynamic specialist on Islam, imprisoned and expelled from his university by the Saudi authorities for his boldness in criticizing the Sunni and Wahhabi sect.

As you see, the problem is more serious than imagined. It is serious and deep. Every day the reformists are faced with insurmountable obstacles, on the political side, by that of "clerical" authorities, by the people.



What will we do in front of this impasse? The question remains open.
Stanford Bans Liquor From Parties After Sexual Assault Case

Trending News: Stanford Bans Liquor From Undergrad Parties

Why Is This Important?

Because Stanford is trying to change the way its students party.

Long Story Short

Stanford University has made a controversial new policy banning liquor from undergrad parties in response to former student Brock Turner sexually assaulting an unconscious women outside a frat house.

Long Story

Stanford University has announced that hard alcohol and shots of liquor are now banned from all on-campus parties attended by undergraduates - a decision that has met with a lukewarm reception from many. That's especially true given that most undergrads are under 21, meaning liquor (and all other alcohol) is effectively "banned" for them by law in the first place.

The north California universitys reputation was badly damaged when swimmer Brock Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman outside a frat house and blamed the incident on Stanfords "party culture," "binge drinking and sexual promiscuity."

Stanford has stated that it believes the measures will "meaningfully change the campus culture around alcohol" and "reduce the availability and accessibility of hard alcohol."

However, critics have hit out at the announcement, calling it a PR effort to undo the damage of Turners case and suggesting that the new rules will actually make students binge drink more in their dorm rooms where theres a greater risk of sexual assault.

The Odyssey

The most likely result is that students will engage in some serious pre-drinking before heading out to parties.

I actually think this is putting students in danger. Its going to drive it underground and encourage this super quick consumption not in a public area, Stanford law professor, Michele Landis Dauber told the Guardian.

And many commentators feel that Stanford isnt addressing the problem of sexual assault at all and should be educating students on consent and putting suitable penalties in place for those who commit assaults rather than taking on drinking, which will always happen when there are groups of students.

It is certainly hard to see this latest announcement making any real impact on the level of drunkenness at Stanford - itll probably just change the way students get drunk.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Will this have any meaningful effects?

Disrupt Your Feed

Stanfords not exactly taking on the root of the sexual assault problem here.

Drop This Fact

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, almost 60% of college students aged 18-22 drank alcohol in the past month and almost 2 out of 3 engaged in binge drinking.
XINING - Developers launched China's first Tibetan-language search engine on Monday in Northwest China's Qinghai Province.

The search engine (yongzin.com) will serve as a unified portal for all major Tibetan-language websites in China, said Tselo, director of the Tibetan Language Work Committee of the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai.

Yongzin means "master" or "teacher" in the Tibetan language.

It will also be a major global source for information in Tibetan online, he said.

The search engine has eight sections for news, websites, images, videos, music, encyclopedia, literature and forums.

"The search engine will meet the growing needs of the Tibetan-speaking population and facilitate the building of Tibetan digital archives and the expansion of databases in the Tibetan language," he said.

The project, which costs 57 million yuan (about $8.7 million), is supported by the government. Work began on the project in April 2013.

More than 150 people were hired for the project, said Dora, technical director of the search engine and a professor with the Digitization Institute of Tibetan Literature of Northwest University for Nationalities.

People of Tibetan ethnicity make up 80 percent of the team, said Dora.

"Popular search engines such as Yahoo and Google enable searches in Tibetan, but they mainly support searching with single characters," he said.

Yongzin.com enables searches using words and phrases to yield more accurate results, he said.

Yongzin also leads to more web resources than its competitors, said Dora. "For example, the news function leads to more than 200 domestic Tibetan-language websites in China," he said.

It is expected to gain around 1.2 million users in its initial stage, Dora said.

Contents are also categorized according to different local dialects such as Amdo, Kamba and U-Tsang, he added.
The Alaska Supreme Court has issued a public censure against a judge who they said harmed witnesses, victims and the court systems image of integrity.



According to the Alaska Dispatch News, Nome Superior Court Judge Timothy Dooley was given the censure or a public statement of wrongdoing after the Supreme Court concluded hearing an ethics complaint over five controversial comments the judge made in five separate occasions.



The Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct made the recommendation in December which Dooley appears to have accepted after initially denying any wrongdoing. He has since apologised.



In a report in December, the Alaska Dispatch News detailed the judges comments.



On 29 May 2013, Dooley asked a defendant during sentencing, Has anything good ever come out of drinking, except for sex with a pretty girl?



On 29 October 2013, the judge said during sentencing, What you've done with this young girl, it's a strange thing, routinely done in Afghanistan, where they marry 6-year-old girls. In our society, and in the society of the local tribal communities, supposed to be totally forbidden.



On 5 November 2013, in a sexual abuse trial in which a 14-year-old girl was the victim, Dooley said, This was not someone who was, and I hate to use the phrase, 'asking for it.' There are girls out there that seem to be temptresses. And this does not seem to be anything like that.



On 12 August 2014, the judge said in a civil trial, I'm gonna enforce these oaths and they're enforceable with a 2-year sentence for perjury. And I'd be the sentencing judge. I also have a medieval Christianity that says if you violate an oath, you're going to Hell. You all may not share that, but I'm planning to populate Hell.



On 20 August 2014, Dooley said off the record to a jury about a soft-spoken witness, I'm sorry, folks, but I can't slap her around to make her talk louder.



The judge, who retires February 2017, said in December that he has quit going off script and will screen what I say far more.


Law tech will empower good lawyers

New Law does not mean the end of lawyers but it will enable the best in the profession to be better.



Thats the view of Aron Solomon from the LegalX team of technology consultants MaRS who says that technology does not mean decimation of the profession but its progression.



While the kind of change laid out in Richard Susskinds book The End of Lawyers may be seen to some degree, even the end of billable hours is unlikely says Solomon. He believes that larger law firms and the specialists will continue to use traditional fee structures.



Consumers more likely to use law firm thats active on social media

Law firms that are active on social media are more likely to be chosen by consumers according to a survey by Thomson Reuters FindLaw.



Using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn would be seen as a factor in hiring a lawyer by 54 per cent of respondents, rising to 69 per cent among 18-44 year olds.



Lawyers should be upfront about prices says watchdog

The legal profession is not moving quickly enough to address the concerns of consumers over transparency in pricing and quality.



Thats the view of a consumer watchdog which says that the professions reluctance to provide consumers with the information they need in order to choose the appropriate provider for their needs is hampering its competitiveness.



In a letter responding to the UKs Competition and Markets Authoritys report into the legal services market, the Legal Services Consumer Panels chair Elisabeth Davies urges regulators to ensure that both price and quality information is made available.



Davies says that higher prices must not be assumed to equate to higher quality but that law firms should, where fixed prices is not feasible, provide details of the average cost of services they provide in each area of practice.



Meanwhile, the Law Societys chief executive Catherine Dixon does not believe that further intervention from regulators is the right approach: Where possible, solutions driven by the market are preferable to those driven by regulation and we believe that our legal services market is competitive and will continue to evolve and innovate to meet the needs of clients ever more effectively.


The defamation lawsuits filed by five police officers against a Baltimore prosecutor, who filed cases against them in connection to Freddie Grays case are baseless, her attorneys have argued.



Marilyn J. Mosby filed cases against six officers involved in Grays arrest in 2015. While being transported in a police vehicle, Gray fell into a coma and died a week later.



According to The Baltimore Sun, Mosbys lawyers argued against the lawsuits for the first time in filings late Friday. The lawyers stressed that she cant be sued for her actions as a prosecutor.



A prosecutor's decision to move forward with criminal charges ... is exactly the kind of conduct that is absolutely immune from a civil claim for damages in state or federal court, the lawyers argued.



Mosbys lawyers also argued that her actions were validated by several parties, including judges and a grand jury.



It is undisputed that other persons and entities within the criminal justice system repeatedly found probable cause after the filing of the lawsuits.



The lawsuits against the prosecutor were filed while the criminal cases against the police officers were ongoing.



Officers Garrett Miller, Edward Nero and William Porter, Sgt. Alicia White and Lt. Brian Rice filed the lawsuits while Officer Caesar Goodson, the driver of the police vehicle at the time Gray was being transported, has not joined the suit.



Of the cases filed against the six police officers, one ended in a mistrial while three ended in a judge acquitting the defendants. All charges had been dropped since then.



The officers say they are the victims of lawsuits for the personal and political interest of others. They also claim to be victims of defamation.



Mosbys lawyers are requesting U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis to dismiss the lawsuits filed against their client.
By Rod Lamberts, Deputy Director, Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University

Shutterstock

Here we go again. On Monday, we were interested to see The Daily Telegraphs Natasha Bita and 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley making a strong fist of implying they would make good directors of Australias research funding system, supported by a college of experts in suburban pubs.

In this piece in the Telegraph, Bita provides us with some examples of what are headlined absurd studies that do nothing to advance Australian research.

Studies lined up for ridicule included a project to investigate warfare in the ancient Tongan state through a study of earthwork fortifications; another on whether colleagues chatting in open-plan offices creates annoyance and affects productivity; and an investigation of the post World War II evolution of the Australian university campus".

Hadley joined in the ruck, suggesting that the Australian Research Council (ARC) should be forced to justify its grants in the front bar of a pub in western Sydney or northside Brisbane.

Get a new hobby horse folks, this ones dead

Its all so sadly familiar: lazy swipes by lazy blowhards at lazy academics lazing their way through granting procedures (notwithstanding the fact that these procedures are hyper-competitive). It seems like this has happened nearly every year since taxpayer dollars started being spent on science and research.

In 2014, Fox News joined with Texas Republican Representative Lamar Smith in lambasting wasted US National Science Foundation money. In 2013, while in opposition, Australian Liberal MP Jamie Briggs condemned completely over-the-top and ridiculous grants.

As is now standard, these attackers often stress that theyre not against science and research per se; theyre just upset that research they dont value is taking money away from the research they reckon really matters.

It seems all such commentators really know what valuable research looks like and what it does not. And in Australia they apparently also know exactly whom to call on to back them up.

All roads lead to a western Sydney pub

If youre Ray Hadley, for example, the only way to collect genuine, representative views on things we should value  and therefore fund  is to go to a pub in western Sydney. Its as if these pubs are populated by the most genuine Australians: people united in a single dream of how the perfect Australia should look, and moreover that its the right, perhaps only, dream.

In Rays view, discourse in these Utopian drinking establishments represents the true north of Australian public opinion, which naturally includes how best to prioritise research funding.

But why on earth would this be our yardstick for measuring value?

If were going to talk about what people do and dont value, ask us what we think about motor sport, AFL, or hipster poetry slams. Were not huge fans. But saying that doesnt mean we think they are without some intrinsic value, or arent incredibly important to others, or shouldnt be supported by the government or community at large.

You see, people differ. Sometimes we are interested in things that others arent, and thats OK. Thats part of living in societies and agreeing to hand over a proportion of our income in order to maintain, and nurture, these societies. And its not as if the government doesnt fund things like sport.

Being different is damned useful

Over the last ten thousand years or so, humans have come up with this great thing called specialisation. Instead of everyone being a food-collecting, house-building, animal-husbanding generalist, weve discovered that having some people excel at spouting confected rage on the radio, and other people being good at assessing the quality of research, is a good thing for us as a society.

So for Australian society, how could an idealised, homogeneous subset of working-class (and typically white male) pub-goers be the ultimate litmus test for deciding if something is of value to the whole country?

In what possible world would they be the sole, and best, representatives of all Australian people  all taxpayers, all parents, all community groups, everyone? In what possible world is any single demographic group going to be?

There are innumerable potential problems out there, so many that we cant be sure we even know what all of them are, better yet which are most important to invest money and research effort in.

And its impossible to tell which individual idea or piece of research might trigger the next revolutionary breakthrough. Few people anticipated that optimising radio telescopes would yield Wi-Fi, or that bird watching would lead to an understanding of evolution, or that the musings of a few philosophers would transform our economy.

We dont know precisely what research should be funded today, and neither do Hadley, or Bita, or the individual researchers submitting their research grants, absurd or otherwise. Were sure we would all agree that investing in anything is risky, so like any sensible investor, society diversifies when allocating its collective research dollars.

And to the degree that anyone decides where the money should be spent, it should be people who have the knowledge and expertise to understand and judge the relative merits of research proposals.

Of course, we prioritise a sizeable chunk of the total research kitty to certain areas, pursuits, problems and interests. But to arbitrarily decide that a research area is literally of no value because five guys in a pub in a particular part of the country might laugh at the grant proposal title? Whos being absurd now?

Is this really just about exchanging cathartic rants?

Its fair to say that some of our colleagues in academia are unquestionably as dismissive of the priorities of Ray Hadleys mythical, homogeneous, working class pub-goer as those pub-goers allegedly are of them.

Its also fair to say that we from the research side of town could do more to be available, relevant and intelligible to people who would like to ask questions of us, to know more about what we do, and perhaps to make suggestions about what we should do. This is, at least in part, a failure of the research class to reach out beyond its own borders.

But we also have to ask: how much do people want to be reached out to? We ourselves wouldnt want people constantly cluttering our Facebook timelines, inboxes, Twitter feeds and pub chats with attempts to make us like motor sports, AFL, hipster poetry slams or Donald Trump.

Honestly, were happy for other people to prioritise spending money (yes, even sacred taxpayer money) on things even if we dont personally value them. We also hope that in turn perhaps they might be able to be accept us wanting to know more about the post World War II evolution of the Australian university campus.

In the end, perhaps the solution to this constantly rehashed problem of conflicting priorities is simply to acknowledge that people will always have conflicting priorities, and think about how best to live alongside each other: mythical, homogeneous pub-goer and irrelevant, out-of-touch academic alike?

Not all differences of opinion are problems that need to, or even can, be solved.

Perhaps instead of periodically lobbing abusive word-bombs at each other via our media outlet of choice, we could all occasionally go to a pub halfway between Western Sydney and the University of Sydney, ask each other a few questions, and raise a glass to the wonder that is the diversity of Australian culture. Surely wed agree weve all benefited from that.

Will Grant will be online for an Author Q&A between 10 and 11am AEST on Wednesday, 24 August, 2016. Post any questions you have in the comments below.

Rod Lamberts has in the past received funding from the ARC. He is also an avid pub-talker about research as co-host of The Wholesome Show

Will J Grant receives funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. He also communicates possibly obscure research in a pub via The Wholesome Show.

Originally published in The Conversation.
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Hi



Are there any restrictions as to how many 457 visas you can get? I am currently on a 457 but having to leave Aus imminently for personal reasons but intending to be back in a year. Will I be able to apply for another 457?



Thanks
EV

Of course, since we're talking about the Flying B company, don't expect the idea of revolution to turn things upside down. Nevertheless, Gregory is the man that deserves the most credit for the EXP10 Speed 6 Concept (you can check it out in the gallery to your right), which marks a key styling change for Crewe And let's not forget that the Speed 6 is expected to follow the new Conti down the production path, possibly becoming the company's first. And with Wolfgang Durheimer, the CEO who has returned to the company after an Audi stint, being willing to expand the mode line-up as much as possible, we seem to have all the premises for the said revolution.Gregory has been penning Bentleys for the past eight years, having also contributed to the upcoming 2018 Continental GT . Previously, he spent four years as an exterior designer for Volkswagen.When it comes to education, his studies saw him gaining an Honours Degree in Transportation Design at the University of Northumbria, England, followed by a Masters Degree in Automotive Design at Hochschule Pforzheim University in Germany.Bentley's design department has been through rough times over the past year or so and we're not talking about the opinion-splitting Bentayga. Instead, we're referring to Hyundai-Kia having lured not one, but two designers who used to occupy Gregory's new positions - Luc Donckerwolke (Lamborghini Murcielago, Gallardo) joined the South Korean automaker back in June, 2015, while Sang Yup Lee (fifth-gen Camaro) came in May, 2016."I look forward to helping shape the next chapter and maintaining Bentleys iconic status as a creator of luxurious, desirable, high performance cars," Gregory stated. And we can't wait to see the results of his work.
Banning motorcycles to ease the traffic inside a city sounds pretty stupid, but in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, almost every person relies on a two-wheeled vehicle to go around. There are so many of them that the cars are the minority there and at rush hour you only see a large river of motorized Vietnamese slowly crawly down the streets.Add the fact that most of the bikes are very old and lack any emission reducing systems and you get the point why the city officials have announced a plan to completely ban motorcycles by 2025. The proposal looks similar to the recent decision in Paris where they want to ban motorcycles made before 2000.Currently, the city of Hanoi has an estimated 4.9 million motorcycles and scooters running down its streets. They are like blood running through the veins, and everyone relies on such a vehicle to do their job and keep the city alive. Officials estimate that the next four years would see a growth of up to 7 million two-wheeled motorized vehicles.By comparison, the current public transportation offers some 1,000 buses, with a plan to increase that in the future. In the big picture, the idea is to include six more metro lines, three Bus Rapid Transit Lines and 18 new bridges within the next 14 years to encourage people to use the public transport more.Sounds a bit crazy to ban all the motorcycles in a city where everyone relies on one to do their job if you ask us. Our bet would be on creating an infrastructure to support electric bikes and scooters instead of simply banning them.
Photo courtesy of Nissan.

Nissan Group has appointed Tiago Castro as director of light commercial vehicle sales and marketing in North America in a move that's effective on Sept. 1, the company announced.

Castro is replacing Ted Mengiste, who departs the role to become regional vice president of the East Region for Infiniti USA.

Castro will be responsible for "major marketing and sales functions" for commercial vehicles including sales operations, dealer network development, and marketing. He will report to Fred Diaz, division vice president and general manager for trucks and light commercial vehicles for Nissan North America.

Castro will be based in Franklin, Tenn.
McClain

Marvin McClain, CAFM, was promoted to director, enterprise fleet for the American Red Cross in May.

McClain is responsible for the development, implementation, coordination, and oversight of fleet management policies and initiatives for the enterprise-wide fleet management program. This includes responsibility for specifications, policy, oversight, cost control, risk mitigation, and compliance.

The American Red Cross operates 8,000 vehicles in the U.S. and its territories.

McClain joined the American Red Cross in 2012 as the national fleet operations manager. Prior to joining the American Red Cross, McClain worked as senior manager of fleet procurement for Coca-Cola Enterprises and as fleet services manager for the state of Georgia.
Photo courtesy of The Hertz Corp.

Hertz New Zealand has taken top honors in the Readers Digest Trusted Brands Car Rental Company category for 2016.

This is the second year that Hertz has been recognized in this annual survey.

Voted for by Kiwis, the Readers Digest Trusted Brands survey has been running in New Zealand for 16 years. Partnering with research agency Catalyst Research, this years survey was conducted in over 30 countries.

It is a great honor to be recognized as the most trusted car rental company in the country by Readers Digest readers, said Mark Righton, country manager of Hertz New Zealand. At Hertz New Zealand, we are driven by the desire to put our customers at the heart of everything we do. This award is a real measure of success for us.

The award is also a reflection of the integrity of our team in New Zealand. We pride ourselves on our ability to always follow through and to deliver on our promises, added Righton.

To celebrate the win and give thanks to those who voted, Hertz New Zealand will be taking part in a prize giveaway on the Readers Digest Trusted Brands website in September, according to the company. Consumers will have the chance to win a three-day car rental in a Hertz premium vehicle.
Photo courtesy of Rentalcars.com.

Rentalcars Connect, a division of Rentalcars.com, has formed a partnership agreement with Destinia, an online travel agency.

In the last four months of the partnership, Destinia has increased its bookings by 18% compared to the last year, according to the company.

"Customers seek availability, an assortment of vehicle models, value for money, and the convenience of achieving all of this in just a click; these are the values we prioritized when we were selecting our provider, said Victor Oliva, head of transports for Destinia. In addition to that, Rentalcars Connect is a company with international presence, which is needed in order to cover our customer's requirements."

"We are pleased to be partnering with Destinia once again, said Patrick Dowling, regional director of Rentalcars Connect. With this new agreement, our top priorities are to ensure their business needs are being met, and to provide a platform that creates the best experience for their customers while also maintaining strong conversion and revenue rates. So far we are very pleased with the initial growth we have seen."

Customers that book the most car rental products with Destinia include users from Spain, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, North America, and Italy. The websites main destinations are Spain, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and France, according to the company.
PPzuche.com, a Singapore-based peer-to-peer car rental company, has launched its long-term rental service in Shanghai, according to a report by Shanghai Daily.

The rental service allows users to rent vehicles from private car owners for up to six months, according to the report. In the past, PPzuches rental service was only for a couple of days or even hours.

Eddy Zhang, chief executive and founder of PPzuche, told the Shanghai Daily that the new service will target business executives and companies  customers with proven records of good credit.

Click here for the full Shanghai Daily report.
AOPA photo

AOPA has been organizing its regional fly-ins for a few years now, and its latest event, held at the Bremerton National Airport near Seattle, Washington, drew more than 4,000 people and nearly 700 aircraft. The event offered on-airport camping, VIP tours of an aircraft carrier and the Boeing plant in nearby Everett, a Friday night barbecue with a live band, and educational talks and seminars all day Saturday. It was the most popular AOPA fly-in ever, by a wide margin, according to AOPA outreach director Chris Eads. AOPA President Mark Baker said local pilots, volunteers, and support from the Civil Air Patrol, EAA and the Washington Pilots Association made it possible to bring together thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest who share a common interest in aviation.

AOPA will host two more fly-ins this year. On Sept. 16-17, the show will be in Battle Creek, Michigan, and on Sept. 30  Oct. 1, in Prescott, Arizona. The events are free and open to everyone, with activities scheduled Friday night through Sunday. AOPA will publish important arrival and departure procedures and a NOTAM three weeks prior to each event. All shows include a Q&A session with Baker, a rusty pilots seminar, on-site camping, static displays and more.
23 August 2016 10:43 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Armenias armed forces have 17 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 23.

The Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns.

The Armenian armed forces stationed on nameless heights of Armenias Krasnoselsk district opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located on nameless heights of the Gadabay district.

Positions of the Azerbaijani army also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Bash Gervend, Yusifjanli villages of the Aghdam district, Gorgan and Ashagi Seyidahmadli villages of the Fizuli district, Mehdili village of the Jabrayil district, as well as from positions located on nameless heights in Goranboy and Khojavand districts.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 August 2016 15:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Armenias economic activity index decreased in July 2016, beating the record low of 4.7 percent, the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak stated.

The newspaper noted that a decline in the countrys economic activity has not been observed in 2016 so far.

Just two weeks ago, Armenias Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan summed up the figures for the first six months of 2016 at a cabinet meeting and expressed satisfaction with 4-percent economic growth during that period, said the report. He ordered the ministers to present these figures to the public.

However, the Armenian ministers have not implemented the order yet. So, the second half of 2016 starts with negative figures for Armenia, as almost all the economic sectors of the country face a decline.

Meanwhile, Armenians continue to complain about their current government and deplorable situation in the country. Armenia is stuck in unemployment, corruption, poverty problems, while the public debt of the country has already exceeded $5 billion.

That is why more and more Armenians go on the streets to hold protests, and news about seizure of police stations, attacks on game rooms, and other come from this poor South Caucasian country.

The situation is aggravated to such an extent that Armenians recall days of the Soviet Armenia, when they had no problems with such basic things as food, gas and electricity supply.

The Soviet Union was a kind of program of social equality. But events happening in present Armenia look like some kind of disease. Poverty reigning in the society and exacerbation of power is one of the forms and manifestations of feudalism, he confessed.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 August 2016 18:16 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

First auctions within the framework of the new privatization program are scheduled for September 14 and 20, the State Committee on Property Issues reported. The Center for Information Technology and Management will be a venue of the auction.

For the first time, potential investors as well as press members will be eligible to watch the event.

Privatization of the state-owned property is considered to be a part of an action plan aimed at revitalizing of the countrys economy amid low energy revenues.

The process is expected to attract both foreign and local investors, as well as improve the business environment of the country and accelerate business revival. Major objective of the privatization is enhancing entrepreneurship, as well as setting up competitive environment, increasing the effectiveness of the economy through attraction of investment to the economy, structural adjustment, and increasing the living standards.

The country has put up some 138 facilities of the state property for privatization, with 50 of them being a 30 percent share of the stock portfolio of enterprises, operating in different spheres of economy, 62 non-residential areas, other state properties and facilities, and 26 means of transport.

A complete list of state facilities put up for sale is available at http://privatization.az/index.php/az/sas-s-hif/mue-ssis-l-r# portal, which was issued this July to significantly simplify the process of privatization and to increase transparency in this field.

More than 1,000 different public facilities were privatized in Azerbaijan in 2015.

---

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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23 August 2016 09:02 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

August 23 marks the 23rd occupation anniversary of Azerbaijan's ancient and beautiful Fuzuli and Jabrayil regions by the Armenian invasion troops.

The enemy forces occupied the whole Jabrayil and over 90 percent (1,256 sq. km. or 50 villages) of Fuzuli region, leaving more than 116,000 inhabitants displaced.

Starting 1988, when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan, Fuzuli was subjected to constant attacks by Armenian militaries. As a result of the occupation, more than 1,100 inhabitants of Fuzuli were martyred, 113 people were taken hostage and 1,450 people were left disabled.

The Fuzuli region had a population of approximately 105,000 people. The region covers a territory from the south eastern slopes of the Karabakh Mountain range to the Araz River. It borders the Azerbaijani regions of Khojavand, Jabrayil, Agjabadi, Beylagan and Iran along the Araz River.

After invading Azerbaijan's territories, Armenia has been pursuing the campaign of ruining cultural and historical monuments of Azerbaijani people. The ancient historical monuments of world importance were left under occupation in Fuzuli and many of them were destructed.

The most famous of these monuments is the Azykh Cave, known as a living site of stone-age man. A Neanderthal-style jaw bone found in 1968 is thought to be over 300,000 years old and thus one of the oldest proto-human remains found in this part of the world. Archaeological samples found in Azykh Paleolithic camp, were shown at the Paris Museums exhibition "The first inhabitants of Europe."

Now Azikh cave and Taghlar caves are under Armenian occupation. The fate of both caves, as well as other ancient monuments is unknown.

Fuzuli also had unusual flora and fauna, mineral springs and was also famous for its forests, which accommodated precious woods. After the occupation of the region, Armenians ruthlessly cut down trees, destroying the nature and plundering the natural wealth.

The Jabrayil region, located in the south and the south-eastern part, had a population of over 60,000. Before the occupation, viticulture, livestock sector and cereals cultivation played a main role in the economy of the region.

As a result of the seizure of the Jabrayil region, whose territory spans 1,050 sq.km, 72 secondary school buildings, eight hospitals, five mosques, two museums, 129 historical monuments and 149 cultural centers were left under occupation.

More than 350 people were killed, 177 people became disabled and 91 were captured and went missing during the war against Armenian aggressors.

Today, only one - Jojuglu Marjanli village of Jabrayil's 90 villages is under control of Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

Prior to the occupation, many historical and archaeological monuments as well as masterpieces of architecture (such as ancient living mansions; burial mounds; mosques; hammams; round and octahedral turbehs, the Khudaferin bridge etc) existed in the territory of the region.

Jabrayil has suffered $ 14 million damage. Some 61,100 IDPs from the Jabrayil region settled in more than 2,000 settlements in 58 regions of the country.

Occupation of these two regions produced the next largest refugee crisis after exodus of Lachin, Kelbajar and Agdam.

Today, with a population of over 9.6 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.

Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons hit more than 1.2 million.

Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory. Despite the official ceasefire back in 1994, each year the conflict becomes a cause of the deaths of dozens of civilians and military.

The latest outbreak of violence on the contact proved that it is impossible to resolve the conflict by keeping a status quo.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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23 August 2016 16:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Germany condemns any provocation that may lead to the escalation of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Egon Juttner, member of the Bundestag.

Germany and its partners must make every effort to continue the negotiation process on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the politician told Trend.

The resolutions of the UN Security Council are unambiguous and show clearly which steps have to be taken to end this conflict. Germany supports these resolutions and so do I personally, noted Juttner, emphasizing that for Germany the territorial integrity of a state is a non-negotiable imperative.

Such conflicts turn into severe and tragic consequences for the civilian population, politician said.

Germany, as a country that maintains close relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia, would like to broaden its commitment for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, said Juttner.

The MP also expressed doubt about a swift solution of the conflict, given the events of recent years.

The international community must be able to prevent the escalation of the situation in the future, as it can create a real threat to stability in the region, warned Juttner.

I condemn the Armenian offensive of April. It should be obvious to everyone, who acts and thinks politically rationally, that this conflict could not be solved with weapons, German MP noted.

Germany is chairing the OSCE for the current year.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 August 2016 11:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has met the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, Ramil Hasanov, Azertac reported.

The sides expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation between the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States and Azerbaijan, exchanged views on a number of questions.

Noting that Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, will host the 6th Summit of the Organization in November, Hasanov said that questions of cooperation in political, economic, social, humanitarian and other spheres would become primary subjects of discussions of the member states.

The Secretary General emphasized that Turkey highly appreciates the resolute political line backed by the countries of Turkic Council against attempt of military revolution in Turkey and solidarity of the Turkic people.

The sides further discussed the question of carrying out informal meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of member states within the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Hasanov informed on the organization of youth festival jointly by the Turkic Council together with the Azerbaijani Youth and Sport Ministry on September 27 in Ganja in connection with election of Ganja as the European Youth Capital-2016, carrying out by Azerbaijan in November meetings of the ministers of information and communication technologies as a new sphere of cooperation.

Noting the persistent support rendered by Azerbaijan to the activities of Turkic Council, Mammadyarov emphasized that Azerbaijan within the organization will continue to contribute development of practical and field cooperation.

At the meeting, in the focus were also the questions of obtaining by Turkic Council of the observer status at the UN, expansion of contacts with other international organizations and fight against terrorism.

The Turkic Council was established in 2009 as an international intergovernmental organization, with the overarching aim of promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking countries. Its four founding member is Azerbaijan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
NATO has launched courses on Allied Deployment and Movement System (ADAMS) for officers of its member and partner countries.

Representatives of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are also attending the courses which are held in the Italian city of Latina, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan reported.

ADAMS is a decision support system for the assessment planning and coordination of NATO multinational force deployments.

The North alliance and the South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan enjoy strong partnership ties.

Azerbaijan actively participates in the programs such as Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), Planning and Review Process (PARP) and Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) of NATO. The country also provides transit opportunities for NATO forces, as well as contributes for the International Security Assistance Force and Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan in order to support the international peace and security.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 August 2016 13:47 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Azerbaijani start-up company Online Group has launched a social project in the field of healthcare, Project Leader Farid Farkhadov told Trend on August 23.

The company has created a mobile app Doctormap, which is currently available both in Play Market and App Store. The app features an interactive map showing the locations of hospitals and doctors.

Users can also get free e-cards, which may later be used for getting discounts on the treatment or examination in more than 20 hospitals of Baku and Sumgayit.

The application also informs the user about what medical institution currently carries out a campaign for free diagnostics.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the State Fund for Development of Information Technology under the Communications and High Technologies Ministry of Azerbaijan.

The number of medical agencies featured on the app is limited as one of the main criteria of the project is selection of only highly qualified professionals.

Farhadov said that by October the app will be updated with the module Online pharmacy, which will provide a mechanism for convenient search of medicines in an extensive database of pharmacies. Users will be able to compare the prices of necessary medicines.

In general, the Azerbaijani government conducts a national strategy to turn the country into an information and communication technology (ICT) hub of the Caucasus region. The country also actively seeks to attract foreign companies to help to boost the ICT sector.

The State Fund for Development of Information Technology constantly supports start-ups in the country.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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23 August 2016 14:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and the European Union are resuming negotiations within the framework of the existing mechanism of cooperation.

Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev announced about this in an interview with Trend on August 22.

Subcommittees will start work in September, said Mammad-Guliyev adding that during the autumn, it is planned to hold sessions of four subcommittees, operating in the spheres of trade, energy and transportation, ecology, security and human rights, education and other social issues.

He noted that these consultations will be held regardless of the terms of mandate of the EU Council to start negotiations on a new agreement on strategic partnership.

It is expected that the mandate will be given to Azerbaijan closer to October, but it is still preliminary date, said the deputy minister.

Azerbaijan put forward the initiative to conclude an agreement with the EU on strategic

modernization partnership instead of the Association Agreement (AA). This document is not legal; this is a program, an action plan, aimed at expanding cooperation with the EU beyond energy. The agreement will define new directions of partnership, such as education and other spheres.

Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of an agreement on partnership and cooperation that was signed in 1996 and entered into force in 1999.

The new agreement envisages the approach of Azerbaijans legislation and procedures to the most important international trade norms and EU standards, which should lead to an improvement in the access of Azerbaijani goods to EU markets.

The EU is Azerbaijans main trade partner. The share of European countries in Azerbaijans foreign trade was 46.96 percent in 2015, according to the countrys State Customs Committee. Currently, the EU countries account for 31.92 and 59.1 percent of Azerbaijans import and export, respectively.



WTO-Azerbaijan

Mammad-Guliyev further added that the next round of discussions on Azerbaijans joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be held no earlier than the end of the first half of 2017.



By late August, we expect to receive the questions of WTO member states voiced during the talks in the third decade of July 2016 in Geneva from the WTO working party, while some countries, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Ecuador have already submitted their proposals, said Mammad-Guliyev.



He noted that the proposals are mainly related to the reduction in tariffs, the liberalization in the service sector and others.



Azerbaijan started negotiations with Russia and Saudi Arabia within the WTO in summer. They expressed interest in receiving the initial negotiating rights, if Azerbaijan changes tariffs on some commodity positions, in order to be the first to negotiate on this issue.



We need time for the next negotiation process preparation, thus, I think that the meeting with the WTO working party will be held no earlier than the first half of 2017, explained the deputy foreign minister.



During the latest meeting, the chair of working party on Azerbaijans access to the WTO Walter Werner urged Azerbaijan and WTO members to accelerate the pace of negotiations. He also called on the WTO members to intensify bilateral negotiations with Azerbaijan.



This was the first meeting in 2016. The previous meeting was held in March 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.



Azerbaijan has had an observer status at the WTO since 1997. The country began negotiations with WTO member states in 2004. Currently, the country negotiates with 19 countries.



As of today, Azerbaijan has completed the negotiations and has signed protocols with Turkey, Oman, the UAE, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. The country is at the stage of signing protocols with China and Moldova.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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23 August 2016 14:24 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Preparations for the forthcoming constitutional referendum, which is scheduled for September 26, are currently underway in Azerbaijan.

Spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend that polling stations will be created in diplomatic representations, located in some 40 countries to ensure participation of the countrys citizens (residing abroad or sent on an assignment trip) in the referendum.

Under the Article 35.6 of Azerbaijans Electoral Code, polling stations are created 30 days before the voting day in countries, where the number of voters who are on the consular register, exceeds 50.

Such polling stations may only be created during referendums and presidential elections.

The Foreign Ministry has already submitted all necessary information including the list of diplomatic representations and consulates as well as the number of citizens in each polling district to the Central Election Committee (CEC).

Hajiyev added that all necessary measures are currently being taken to provide glass boxes, bulletin, ink and other materials required for voting.

Meanwhile, the venues of meetings, which will be held in the lead-up to the nationwide vote, have been defined in accordance with the law On Freedom of Meeting.

Some 128 open and 128 closed venues will be created in 117 election stations. The list of venues is available on http://azertag.az/store/files/REFERENDUM-SERBEST%20TOPLASHMAQ-ACIQ%20VE%20QAPALI%20YERLER.pdf.

The CEC has already approved planned schedule of its activities and events connected with the referendum. Expert panel as well as working group under the CEC will be established to investigate complaints connected with the violation of electoral rights.

Agitation campaign will be launched 23 days prior to the voting day (September 3) and will be completed 24 hours before the start of the referendum (September 25).

In a bill recently sent to the Constitutional Court, President Ilham Aliyev proposed amendments to 29 Articles of Azerbaijans current 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.

The Constitutional Court gave the go ahead for the proposed changes on July 27.

The last time changes to the Constitution were made seven years ago, following Constitutional referendum held in 2009.

---

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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23 August 2016 10:06 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The program of the US Vice President Joe Bidens visit to Turkey has been made public, Haberturk newspaper reported August 23.

Biden is expected to visit Turkey on August 24.

The vice president will have his first meeting with the Speaker of the Turkish parliament Ismail Kahraman and then he will meet with the countrys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

It was also reported that after the meeting with the prime minister, Biden is expected to have a meeting with Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The extradition of Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of organizing the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey, will be the main topic of discussions during the meetings, according to the newspaper.

Previously, Turkish authorities sent two requests to the US for extradition of Fethullah Gulen.

An Istanbul court ordered on August 4 to arrest Fethullah Gulen.

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 had 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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23 August 2016 11:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

Turkey's Former President Abdullah Gul's ex- adviser, Ahmet Takan announced that Turkey can pay Russia compensation worth $5 billion for the downed plane, the newspaper Cumhuriyet reported.

The crisis in relations between the two countries began after the incident with the downed Russian plane in Late 2015. After the incident, the Russian president signed a decree on measures to ensure national security and launch special economic measures against Turkey.

The relations began to recover after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to his Russian counterpart, where he expressed condolences to the family of the deceased pilot of SU-24 and regret over the incident with the Russian aircraft.

Later, after months of enmity between the two countries the Presidents of Turkey and Russia met in St. Petersburg on August 9.

The meeting between Erdogan and Putin moved the relations between Turkey and Russia to a new positive direction and served as the beginning of restoration of axis of friendship and clean slate between Ankara and Moscow.

---

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23 August 2016 13:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

Iran's deputy foreign minister for African and Arab affairs, Hossein Jaber Ansari, arrived in Turkey on August 23 to discuss regional issues.

Jaberi Ansari is scheduled to meet with Turkish officials to exchange viewpoints regarding the latest regional issues, in particular the Syrian crisis, Tasnim news agency reported.

Turkey recently announced its intention to work with Iran and Russia to fight terrorism in Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu traveled to Tehran on August 18 and held talks on regional affairs with Iranian officials in the few hours he was in Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Turkey on August 12.

Moreover, Tehran will welcome Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on August 24.

Moscow and Tehran have joint positions in the Syria conflict, with Turkey deeply opposed to Bashar al-Assads regime, of which Russia is a major backer.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The "Islamic State" (aka IS, ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups are the most active ones in Syria.

Turkish-Iranian bilateral relations are evolving on the basis of the principles of non-interference in domestic affairs, mutual respect and good neighborliness. Efforts are made to further enhance the political dialogue both on bilateral and regional issues, through reciprocal visits and mechanisms such as High Level Cooperation Council and joint commissions in different sectors.

Trade turnover between Turkey and Iran amounted to $2.9 billion in 1Q 2016. The figure was $9.76 billion in 2015.

---

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23 August 2016 20:09 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

Belarus and Georgia have been successfully working on reaching $200 million in mutual trade, Georgian Ambassador to Belarus David Kotaria told a press conference.

The diplomat noted that concrete tasks on increasing bilateral trade were outlined after Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvilis recent visit to Belarus, BelTA reported.

Active steps have been taken to achieve the goal to reach $200 million in mutual trade. In 2016 there is confidence that these figures are attainable. Concrete results have already been produced, Kotaria said.

He added that Georgia is interested in developing exports and imports. We are interested in setting up joint companies both in Georgia and Belarus, using all the opportunities and cooperation areas. Tourism is one of the most active areas of cooperation. The number of Belarusian tourists to Georgia has soared by 60-70% in the past year, the Georgian diplomat said.

Kotaria further said that Georgia is interested in developing its national brands on the Belarusian market. Thus, one of the most recognizable brands of Georgia in Belarus is Borjomi. He expressed confidence that the Belarusian embassy in Georgia would add a powerful impetus to further development of relations between the two countries.

Previously, Belarus' Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said that the trade turnover between Belarus and Georgia totaled almost $45 million last year, adding that these figures are not big, but the positive fact is that the countries were able to balance their trade: exports and imports correspond to each other, which proves that both sides need each other's partnership.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established two decades ago. Nevertheless, the bilateral potential has not been fully used.

Last year the two countries considerably intensified the bilateral political and economic relations. A serious impetus to this process was given by the visit of the President of Belarus to Tbilisi and Batumi in April 2015.

---

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23 August 2016 16:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The U.S. Central Command has financed the construction of a new border post at the Uzbek-Tajik border area, the U.S. embassy in Uzbekistan reported.

The United States Central Command provided the funding for the project, while an Uzbek company was responsible for completing all the construction, the message reads.

The joint project of the United States and Uzbekistan is expected to serve the interests of the two countries in their struggle against the influx of illegal persons and smuggling through national borders.

Lesslie Viguerie, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Uzbekistan attended the opening ceremony of a new border post. The event, which was hosted by commander of the Uzbekistan Border Guards, Rustam Eminjanov showcased new facilities and capabilities of the outpost.

The new frontier post, located in the Sariosiyo district in Surxondaryo region of Uzbekistan is equipped with all necessary infrastructures.

The U.S. government has completed the supply of 328 units of armored vehicles , including 308 large armored vehicles with enhanced mine protection (MRAPs) and 20 armored recovery vehicles for the ministry of defense of Uzbekistan in August 2015.

The United States recognized the independence of Uzbekistan on December 25, 1991. Since then, the United States and Uzbekistan have developed a broad-based relationship, cooperating in such areas as border and regional security programs, economic relations, political and civil society issues

---

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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23 August 2016 15:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkmenistans Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting with Indonesias Iran-based Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador Octaviano Alimuddin, the Turkmen ministry reported on August 23.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on opportunities to intensify mutually beneficial trade and economic relations between enterprises, companies and entrepreneurs of the two countries.

The parties also discussed prospects of bilateral cooperation in political, trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, in particular, the possibilities are explored to boost cooperation in the areas of tourism, sports, education, culture and art.

Indonesia has long been interested in the Turkmen market.

In mid-1990s, Indonesia Petroleum Ltd (INPEX) acquired shares in gas pipeline consortium in the construction project of the pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan. However, the project has been suspended due to the instability in the transit territory  Afghanistan.

Over the recent years, Ashgabat and interested countries revived this project.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) financed the projects feasibility analysis and India joined it as an interested consumer of Turkmen gas that provided additional chances for the transnational projects implementation.

Currently, Bangladesh is also interested in participation in the project.

---

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23 August 2016 22:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Hasanova

The Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office in accordance with the European Convention sent a petition to the Turkish Prosecutor Generals Office, reads a joint statement of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor Generals Office,the Interior Ministry and the State Security Service.

The petition was sent to conduct investigative actions on the Turkish territory to reveal the relations among the representatives of "Hizmet Movement" (Gulen Movement) in Azerbaijan and their supporters in Turkey and other foreign countries, sources of funding and other details.

Earlier, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor Generals Office, the Interior Ministry and State Security Service created a joint operational-investigative group.

The group was created as part of the criminal case filed August 12 in connection with the investigation and prevention of illegal acts to propagandize the Gulen Movement in Azerbaijan, the incitement of social, religious hatred and hostility, restriction of the rights of citizens.

An Istanbul court ordered on August 4 to arrest Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of organizing the military coup attempt in Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations announced that it does not allow the import of religious materials containing ideas of Fethullah Gulen

"We have carried out discussion regarding the activities of the Gulen supporters years ago. Even before the recent developments in Turkey, we predicted the possibility of intervention of this organization in the activities of the state by involving the numbers of intelligent and educated people. Recent events in Turkey showed that for the implementation of its plan this group may appeal to such measures as a coup and rebellion," said Head of theological expertise department of the State Committee Nahid Mammadov.

He said that in Azerbaijan the struggle with this group began earlier than in Turkey.

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.

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.

Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
23 August 2016 17:58 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkey has dismissed 586 colonels, TRT Haber news channel reported on August 23.

This decision was made at the Turkish Supreme Military Councils meeting, which was held on August 23 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, according to the report.

This is the second meeting of the Supreme Military Council after the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey.

It was also reported that the service term of 434 colonels has been extended for additional two years.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has approved the decision of the Supreme Military Council, according to the report.

---

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Jacob Mendiola was the heart of his family  the life of the party, a friend to anyone he came across.
Greater Manchester has seen a 27% rise in specialist bakeries since The Great British Bake Off series first aired in 2010, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In 2010, there were 315 shops in Greater Manchester that specialised in selling baked goods. However, the figures revealed that there has been a rise to 400 shops.

Although the number of bakery manufacturers has fallen slightly in this time, from 165 to 145, it seems as though Greater Manchester is relishing the baking industry.

The UK as a whole has seen both the number of businesses manufacturing and selling baked goods rise significantly since The Great British Bake Off started.

Back in 2010 there were 2,810 baked goods manufacturers and 6,810 specialised retailers, but this rose to 3,030 manufacturers and 7,755 retailers last year.

The seventh series of The Great British Bake Off will be broadcast on BBC One from 8pm on Wednesday 24 August.
Recent warmer weather has spurred the grocery trade with the market growing at 0.3% for the 12 weeks to 14 August 2016, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel.

However, grocery price deflation stood at -1.3% for the period, with shoppers now paying less for a representative basket of groceries than they did in 2015. This marks the 25th consecutive period of grocery price deflation.

At the same time, promotional sales dropped to their lowest level since September 2010, at 37.7% of overall grocery sales, as the major retailers continued to adapt their pricing models. This was a significant decrease from the highs of over 40% seen in 2015, according to Kantar.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel said; The suns eventual appearance was a welcome boost to the market after a delayed start to the summer. Fewer promotions doesnt mean consumers are paying more for their shopping, but does reflect the renewed focus on own-label lines, which is visible across the market. Shoppers are clearly responding to the better value offered through own-label rather than money off, with own-brand goods growing at both ends of the price spectrum: premium retailer brands are up by 9% and value lines up by 2%.

Lidl was once again the fastest-growing supermarket, with sales up 12.2%, increasing its share of the market by 0.4 percentage points on last year to 4.5%. Meanwhile, sales at Aldi rose 10.4%, with share up by 0.6% to 6.2%. Both discounters benefited from rising premium own-label sales.

Tescos sales fell 0.4%, the slowest rate of decline for the retailer in six months. Kantar suggested that the retailers decline, stretching back to March 2015 could soon come to an end. Tescos recent product launches have been making a positive impact on its performance with its somewhat controversial Farm brands finding their way into over a quarter of the Tesco baskets during this period.

Sales at The Co-operative rose 2.8% compared to last year, taking its market share to 6.6%, the highest level since 2012. Waitrose sales rose by 1.4%, with market share static at 5.1%. However, sales for the remaining big four fell, with Sainsburys down 0.6% with 16.1% share of the market, Morrisons -1.8% with a 10.6% share and Asda down 5.5% with its market share falling 0.9 percentage points to 15.7%.

In June Kantar predicted that discounters would benefit from most from Brexit.
The first non-travel related case of the Zika virus in Pinellas County has been confirmed, but the patient may not have contracted the illness in the county.

Local leaders announced the finding on Tuesday. The Pinellas case was one of five new cases in the state.



As of now, officials don't believe local mosquitoes are infecting people in Pinellas -- or anywhere else in the Bay area.



"The new case that we are announcing in Pinellas will take our epidemiologists some time to get a good history, to understand potential exposures at home, at the workplace, at other recreational events that may have been outdoors," explained Florida's Surgeon General, Dr. Celeste Philip.

According to the State Department of Health, a travel-related case means the person acquired Zika virus outside of Florida. A non-travel related case means the person acquired the virus locally in Florida.



Gov. Rick Scott met with the Florida Department of Health, Pinellas Department of Health, Pinellas Mosquito Control and other officials.



In Pinellas County, the Department of Health and Pinellas County Mosquito Control are already working together and have begun aggressive spraying and mosquito abatement efforts," said Scott. "Any pregnant woman who would like to receive a free Zika test or a Zika prevention kit should contact the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County.



The DOH has begun door-to-door outreach and mosquito sampling in Pinellas County. Also, health departments in counties with active cases, which include Miami-Dade and now Pinellas, are offering free Zika tests to pregnant women as well as prevention kits that include repellent.

Investigators at the DOH still believes ongoing active transmission is only taking place within the small identified areas in Wynwood and Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County. More details will be announced when the Pinellas County investigation concludes.

"As of yesterday," explained Scott, "the Commissioner of Agriculture said we've tested 32,000 mosquitoes and we have not found an active case of Zika yet or a mosquito with Zika yet."

Scott also announced following further testing and no evidence of continued active transmission, the health department is able to clear nearly the entire perimeter of the area in Wynwood.

Dr. Randy Shuck said one of the challenges is that Zika can feel like the flu so it can be hard to identify.

"The easiest thought is that if you have the flu in the summer months, may not be the flu, he said. If you look at symptom-wise, it has a lot of similarities, a lot of them are fever is low-grade, I don't feel right, have some achy bones but it's a viral illness so the majority of the people will get mild symptoms, goes away without any problems."

However, he says when people don't know they're carriers, they could infect other people through activities like sex.

So health officials are urging people with flu-like symptoms who think they might have been exposed to the virus to get tested, just to be on the safe side.
A Southwest Florida Christian Ministry is making its inaugural trip to Cuba on Tuesday.

Christian ministry making trip to Cuba

Water purification units delivered



The Agape plane will be carrying 26 water purification units and enough food to feed more than 10,000 people.

"To see that plane take off and know its going to Cuba and going to feed over 10,000 meals, and provide endless water, thats just amazing," said Agape Flights communication director Abby Duncan.

For 35 years the nonprofit Christian aviation ministry Agape Flights has been supplying food and water to more than 19 million people living in the Caribbean. That number is growing as the organization expands their services to Cuba.

"For Agape to be able to fly into Cuba for the first time with supplies, that is a whole new endeavor and a whole new beacon of hope, said Agape Flights pilot Jeff Yannucciello.

Yannucciello is one of two pilots making the hour and half journey to Cuba.

"Thats what we do, we provide tools. Tools for them to make ends meet, tools for them to provide hope for the hopeless, said Yannucciello.

The flight from Cuba will return on Tuesday night.

The next day the plane will fly to Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Haiti on a separate mission trip.
A Palm Harbor daycare abruptly closed on Monday leaving dozens of angry parents scrambling at the last second to find new child care.

Learning and Play Palace closes without notice

Parents left in jam to find alternative childcare



I showed up to drop my son off at daycare to find out that the daycare just closed with no notification whatsoever, said parent Ashley Norris. I had to cancel my own job today and take the chance of losing my job.

Norris said she had been taking her son to the Learning and Play Palace located at 3350 U.S. Alt 19 in Palm Harbor for more than a year. The single mom said she depends on the daycare.

Im livid. Im so mad I could almost cry to be honest with you, she said. Im just trying to correct it and go from there.

Another parent, Stephanie Riccelli, said the daycare closing has left her in a jam.

A huge bind. I have to go and get shot records, physicals, she said. I have to find another provider that has availability for a 1-year-old. Which in this area is very limited.

The teachers who were packing up their belongings Monday morning said 47 students attended the daycare but declined to comment further because they had not yet received their last paycheck. Bay News 9 obtained a voicemail message that some parents and staff said they received over the weekend.

Parents, I apologize for the inconvenience but as of Saturday, we just learned that our center will not be re-opening on Monday due to landlord tenant issues, the voice said. Our landlord has decided to sell the property and wants us out of the property immediately.

According to the Florida Division of Corporations, the corporate officers for the Learning and Play Palace are listed as Latrice and Kreig Lake. Bay News 9 got the following statement emailed from the daycare that did not have a name attached to it.

Our contract which he (landlord) breached several dozen times is no longer valid and due to expiration and he wanted us out of the building immediately. As soon as we got notice we made of immediate arrangements to notify all parents and employees. We can't speak much of this matter because I fully intend on taking my landlord to court about this.

When asked for the name and contact number for the daycares landlord Bay News 9 did not get a response. The Pinellas County Health Department said the daycare notified the agency it was going to close at 10:41 p.m. on Sunday.

The Learning and Play Palace voicemail message stated that parents who paid in advance would receive refunds and employees will get their last paycheck in the mail.
The Tampa man who reunites old family bibles with their original owners has been getting requests for help after we aired his story.

RELATED: Tampa man connects families with their history

Andy Smith's unique hobby caught the attention of at least one of our views

Together, Smith and Chachere connected a North Florida family with their history



Andy Smith, the man with that unique hobby, uses his investigative skills and family tree websites to return family bibles back to descendants of the family. Smith uses clues from the inscription pages of the Bible.

Tampa resident Vickie Chachere saw the story and asked Andy for help with a family Bible shes had that dates back to 1879.

Chachere and her father picked up the Bible at a garage sale in Oregon in the 1980s.

We were hunting for old antique books, and we found this one for 25 cents, said Chachere.

It was one of the many antique book purchases Chachere and her father would make over the years. They shared a special bond over collecting old books. Her father, born in 1911, was a first generation college graduate.

Anything that was printed material to him really represented an opportunity to learn, Chachere said.

But Chachere never learned about the family who owned the Bible originally. When her father passed away, she inherited his book collection. She desperately wanted to find the Bible's owners after seeing handwriting on the front page.

The inscription reads, 'R.P. Bell in Washington County, Pennsylvania.'

Thats all she knew, until Smith stepped in to help.

Smith spent three weeks looking through U.S. Census Bureau records, family trees and obituaries. He learned the Bible traveled from Pennsylvania, to California. It was then sold in Oregon to Chachere, who then moved to Florida.

And as luck would have it, descendants of the Bibles original owner now live in Apalachicola - a small fishing community in the Florida panhandle.

The Bible has been from one end of the United States to the other," said Smith. "And back again. Its had its own little journey.

Smith says the family is excited to see the Bible they didnt even know existed.

Its really special because things disappear," said Chachere. "But stories dont."

Smith has reunited more than a hundred bibles to their original families, but this was a first for him. Usually Smith finds the bibles online.

As long as Ive been doing this, this is the first time Ive been able to touch the Bible Ive been reuniting with the family, Smith said. You know what, its not my family, but it doesnt make a difference. It feels like my family because Ive spent so much time investigating.

Thanks to Smith, another family will get to carry on their story for generations to come.
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 []
When foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korea meet in Tokyo on Wednesday to discuss trilateral cooperation, the missile and nuclear tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the planned deployment of a missile defense system in South Korea should be at the top of the agenda, according to experts.

In announcing the meeting on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that the three countries have held a range of key meetings and events promoting trilateral cooperation in all fields.

Cooperation initiated 17 years ago has "played a constructive role" in boosting regional peace and stability, Lu said.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will host a dinner for his Chinese and South Korean counterparts, Wang Yi and Yun Byung-se, on Tuesday, with an official trilateral meeting set for Wednesday.

Ted Carpenter, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, said the DPRK issue will likely dominate the talks, although China will certainly bring up the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) deployment issue.

"The US will especially be looking for progress on the North Korea issue," he said, adding that territorial disputes could be a source of disruption in the talks. Japan has maritime territorial disputes with both China and South Korea.

DPRK has conducted several nuclear and missile tests and firings this year, raising concerns in the region and the world.

Meanwhile, the decision in early July by South Korea and the US to deploy the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea has angered China and Russia. Both see it as a threat to their national security and a scheme masterminded by the US.

Zhiqun Zhu, professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University, believes the most important issues for the trilateral talks will be security and the economy.

"For all three countries, North Korea's nuclear program is a common challenge," he said. "They should narrow their differences and find some common ground on how to best approach the North Korea challenge."

Zhu also said that the three countries need to ensure that political differences will not hinder economic cooperation. "They need to push forward the idea of a trilateral free trade agreement," he said.

The Korea Times earlier quoted South Korea Deputy Trade Minister Kim Hak-do as saying that the three countries must cooperate to overcome the negative impact from the Brexit.

The three countries have held 10 rounds of FTA talks since negotiations started in 2012. During the trilateral summit between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, South Korean President Park and Japanese Prime Minister Abe last November, they agreed to speed up the talks and aim for a "comprehensive, high-level and mutually beneficial" agreement.

"It is a very difficult time when China-Japan and China-ROK relations are both tense," Zhu said. "The ministerial talks are important to help ease tensions and pave the way for summit meetings during the G20."

There has been no announcement so far of any bilateral meetings at the upcoming G20 summit in Hangzhou between Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korea President Park Geun-hye or Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Zhu noted that while a trilateral summit by the end of the year is probably not realistic, bilateral summits  especially on the sidelines of an international conference  should be promoted as a way to move the relationship forward.

Guo Yanjun, deputy director of the Institute of Asian Studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said the timing of the annual ministers' meeting was "ideal" in light of the recent difficulties.

"Their plan to sit at the same table again shows there's a political will to improve ties," Guo said.

The three sides "have tried their best to keep bilateral issues away from the trilateral agenda," Guo added. "They are taking a positive attitude. And further trilateral cooperation, in return, will be helpful for resolving two-way issues."

"The trilateral foreign ministers' meeting itself is already a victory," Guo said.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula flared up this week when the US and South Korea on Monday began a 12-day annual military exercise known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian, involving 25,000 US troops and 50,000 South Koreans.

On Monday, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook described the drills, in existence since 1976, as defensive in nature. "Of course, the reason we are doing those kinds of things is because we see the kind of provocative action the North Koreans have taken recently," he told the daily press briefing.

DPRK has responded strongly to the drills. The DPRK will "turn the stronghold of provocation into a heap of ashes through Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike" if the US and South Korea "show the slightest sign of aggression" during the drills, a spokesman for North Korea's military was quoted as saying by the country's state media, according to a CNN report.
The global logistics and transportation services provider commenced operations at Pier 80 at the Port of San Francisco yesterday where it was awarded a 15-year lease to operate the terminal.



Why did several buses in San Francisco have Honolulu flashing on their destination signs yesterday?

They were part of the cargo being loaded onboard the first ship to call Pier 80 at the port since Pasha Automotive Services was awarded a 15-year lease to operate the 69-acre terminal by the Port of San Francisco in May.

The contract will bring maritime activity back to this port as originally intended, said Elaine Forbes, the interim director of the Port of San Francisco. The Pier had been used by the city as a homeless shelter.

John Pasha, senior vice president of Pasha Automotive Services, said the company hopes to eventually attract as many as 96 ships a year and handle as many as 150,000 automobiles annually.

Pasha noted that U.S. auto sales hit a record high of 17.5 million in 2015 and are expected to increase. While automobiles are also handled at other ports around San Francisco Bay, such as Richmond and Benecia, Pasha said the terminal will provide yet another way for automobile manufacturers to import cars to customers in the northern part of California without having to truck them north from ports in the southern part of the state such as San Diego and Port Hueneme.

Pasha also believes there will be opportunities to handle automobiles being exported from Mexico, where automobile manufacturing is booming.

While Pasha is still negotiating deals with manufacturers to bring cargo to Pier 80, sister company Pasha Hawaii had Jean Anne, a roll-on/roll-off ship that normally operates between San Diego and Hawaii, call the terminal yesterday.

Pashas roll-on,/roll-off ship Jean Anne docked at Pier 80 in San Francisco

Source: Chris Dupin



Some of the decks in the Jean Anne are able to accommodate high and heavy cargo including this yacht

Source: Chris Dupin

John Pasha explained that the opportunity arose, in part, because it has been carrying several yachts back to the San Francisco Bay area that have recently competed in the Pacific Cup race between San Francisco and Oahu.

The opening of the facility is a return to the San Francisco waterfront for the Pasha Group. In the 1960s, it had handled Toyota imports at Fort Mason in the city.

Not only are we returning to our roots in San Francisco, but we are transforming this underutilized pier to a facility requiring a maritime use to serve customers and create local jobs, he said. As a company, we are committed to ensuring that maritime uses are supported, and that our countrys valuable waterfront assets receive the investment they need to serve commercial, not just recreational uses.

The terminal is expected to employ about 50 longshoremen who will load and unload the ships calling at the terminal and another 150 workers who will process, upgrade and accessorize cars.

Pasha has entered into an agreement with CityBuild, an employment program under the San Franciscos Office of Economic and Workforce Development, that will train residents for processing work at Pier 80. Priority will be given to hiring residents who live near the terminal.
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Texas has its fair share of glorified horror stories.

From the Texas Chainsaw massacre to The Donkey Lady to La Llorona, there are not many urban legends that Texans havent heard.

But perhaps the real terror lies within the hundreds of small towns that are scattered throughout the Lone Star State.

RELATED: 12 eerie Texas ghost towns to visit this summer

Social website OnlyInYourState.com listed 12 scary houses in Texas that could be haunted earlier this month, and we decided to build on that by introducing other nightmare-inducing abandoned homes across the state.

While it is unknown if evil spirits actually haunt these houses, the abandonments are located on or near some pretty creepy properties.

For example, Ranger, a small town in North Texas  which has numerous abandoned homes that are photographed by Flickr users  was once seen as a hub for members of the Ku Klux Klan.

RELATED: Drone footage shows the creepiness of an abandoned West Texas water park

On the other hand, a school in Indian Gap that has been abandoned for over 50 years stands near a historic cemetery.

No matter the case, these fear-provoking homes are as eerie as they come and the perfect gateway to the upcoming Halloween season.

Click through the slideshow to view photos of abandoned homes across Texas.

rsalinas@mysa.com

Twitter: @RebeccaLSalinas
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Joseph "Joey" Norman Spears, 17, ran away from a Mississippi youth detention center on July 31, 1973.

Three weeks later he had somehow made his way to Galveston County, where his life ended. He was hit by a car Aug. 23, 1973, along the Gulf Freeway in Texas City.

Officials at the time had no idea who he was, and efforts to identify him were fruitless.

Sometime this spring, Spears' mother, Mary Raskin of California, made the official identification, using photos taken at the time of his death, said Kristi Johnson, a crime scene investigator with the Harrison County (Miss.) Sheriff's Department.

Reaching the conclusion that Spears was the teenager who lay unidentified in a Hitchcock cemetery for 43 years took a combination of persistence, compassion and use of online databases.

STILL MISSING: Man who disappeared from stage coach in 1920 is oldest active missing-person case

A notice that ran in the Galveston Daily News in August 1973 included an artist's sketch, based upon autopsy photos, and this description: "He is between 17 and 19 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 150 pounds, with dark blue eyes, a deep suntan, shoulder-length dark brown hair and virtually perfect teeth with no dental work."

That clipping and a few others went into the unidentified teen's file at Hayes Grace Memorial Park in Hitchcock, where it caught the attention of Chelsea Davidson, a family counselor at the cemetery, who started working there in 2011.

"It sort of played on my mind," said Davidson, who lives in Hitchcock.

She said she began searching the Doe Network: The International Center for Unidentified & Missing Persons, which in turn led her to NamUs: National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2007. NamUs (pronounced "Name Us") is managed by the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.

"I started looking at the description and sketch we had, comparing the height, weight, race, tattoos - no tattoos, hair color, weeding out the ones that didn't fit," Davidson said in a telephone interview.

READ MORE: Question baffles: Why do so many people go missing from Montgomery and Liberty Counties?

Davidson said she was struck by similarities between the unidentified Hitchcock teen and a missing 17-year-old from Mississippi, who was listed in the NamUs database.

Johnson, the Mississippi crime scene investigator who had provided the information to the website and listed herself as the contact, said she got a call from Davidson in December.

Davidson told her she had been somewhat hesitant to make the call, given the remote chance of having a match, but then she noticed that both the NamUs entry and the Hitchcock file mentioned a scar from a cigarette burn on the wrist.

"That made her go, 'Wow, I've got to get this information to her," Johnson said of Davidson. "I stopped everything I was doing and said, 'Send me everything you have.' "

Johnson said she contacted the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office, which was able to retrieve the original autopsy report. The investigation quickly proceeded from there, leading to an order to exhume the body in February.

TEXAS CONNECTION: University of North Texas DNA lab helps solve 42-year-old mystery

The hope, Johnson said, was to obtain a DNA sample that would allow conclusive identification. The age of the remains, however, and the effect of embalming fluid made DNA analysis impossible, she said.

Before learning that the DNA was unusable, authorities decided to go ahead and ask Spears' mother to look at autopsy photos, and she had agreed to do so, Johnson said.

The mother's positive identification, added to the extensive investigation of the Harrison County Sheriff's Department and the work of the Galveston medical examiner, allowed authorities to close the case, she said.

Johnson had submitted Spears' information to NamUs in July 2013, when his sister, one of several siblings, contacted the sheriff's office to inquire about the case. "Joey's sister always wanted the answers found for her mom," Johnson said.

In 2013, the sheriff's department was working on other cold cases but was unaware of Spears, since personnel had changed over time.

"When she called us, we ended up finding a lot of records from our youth court system, so we said, 'OK, let's get him into NamUs,' " Johnson said.

If Johnson had not submitted Spears' information to the database, and if Davidson had not spent hours poring over missing-persons websites, the match might never have happened.

READ MORE: Remains confirmed to be those of Jessica Cain, who vanished in 1997

"I want to emphasize how incredibly important it is for (cemetery) personnel to take information that we have and to put it on the internet," Davidson said.

As for being part of solving this case, Davidson said it was bittersweet.

"It is gratifying to know his mother will have him back, but I know it's not the outcome she wanted," Davidson said.

Johnson said the family had expressed appreciation to everyone involved, both at the time of Spears' death and as efforts to identify him stretched on for years.

"I find it amazing that the people in Galveston County showed such compassion for this child," Johnson said.

"The local grandmothers' club raised money for a headstone, there was a group from the high school who served as pall bearers, and flowers were donated," she said. "They took great care of him. After they were not able to identify him, they gave him a proper burial."

Spears' remains were cremated Aug. 12 in Hitchcock and were to be sent to California, Johnson said.
The Texas General Land Office is seeking volunteers for its Fall Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup in September, with three cleanup sites in the Beaumont area.

Volunteers can help from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 24 at Sea Rim State Park, McFaddin Beach or in Chambers County, spokesperson Brittany Eck said in a release.
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As if Southeast Texas needed a reminder that the Atlantic storm season is under way and that mid-August is the start of the diciest six weeks of the year, three systems are loose in the warm ocean, including two named storms.

Fiona is expected to be somewhere southeast of Bermuda by Friday. It was a tropical storm but is now a depression.

A second disorganized system has a 50-percent chance of developing into a threat within the next four days. On Monday it was 850 miles east of the Lesser Antilles chain of islands, which extends from east of Puerto Rico toward Venezuela.

A third system is expected to develop by Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. It now lies 300 miles south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, the nursery of most Atlantic hurricanes, fed by west wind blowing from Africa.

So far in 2016, tropical storms haven't been a requisite for local weather disasters.

In March, a super-soaked atmosphere collided with low-pressure air from the surface to the top of the atmosphere to dump at least 18 inches of rain on Toledo Bend reservoir, causing the Sabine River Authority to lift its spillways and inundating downstream towns like Deweyville.

Last week, another low pressure system, blocked from moving anywhere by a cold front to its north, moved into a vapor-saturated air mass and dropped 30 or more inches of rain on central Louisiana.

The air mass had three to six times the normal amount of moisture in it, said Roger Erickson, warning coordinator meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In March, the moisture level was similar, he said.

"If a tropical system does come in, the odds are it will be a high rain event," Erickson said.

Southeast Texas has had almost a year's worth of rain so far in 2016, he said.

Through Sunday, the area had received 54.4 inches of rain, as measured by a rain gauge at the Jack Brooks Regional Airport. Normal rainfall through this date is 37.38 inches, said Todd Mogged, a meteorologist at the weather service's Lake Charles office.

The 30-year normal for a year's worth of rainfall is 60.47 inches, Mogged said.

"Six more inches and we'll have our yearly rainfall," he said. "I'm sure we'll get it."

Heavy bouts of rain and the threat of hurricanes is never far from folks' minds on the Upper Texas Gulf Coast.

"If there is anyplace along the Gulf Coast that isn't complacent about hurricanes, it's Southeast Texas," said Mark Hanna, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. "It's because Rita and Ike were so severe."

By contrast, Corpus Christi has not had a direct hit since Hurricane Celia in 1970, he said. "That's 46 years ago - two generations," Hanna said.

The most recent Category 3 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, was Rita in 2005. Ike, which made landfall in 2008, was a Category 2 storm.

Rita was a high-wind event, knocking down more than a million trees in Southeast Texas and East Texas. Ike was a storm-surge event, pushing an uncharacteristically high tide inland as far as the city of Orange, swamping Bridge City along the way and lapping at the top end of the Port Arthur sea wall. The storm was devastating for the residents on the Bolivar Peninsula.

"The highest priority is life and limb," Hanna said, noting that the recent flood in Louisiana claimed at least 13 lives.

"Never let your guard down," he said.

As September nears, it's white-knuckle time for the Gulf Coast.

"Three storms are lined up in the Atlantic," Erickson said. "It doesn't look like any of them will affect us. But things can change in a week."

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/dwallach
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.
A Fort Worth federal judge temporarily has blocked the implementation of President Obama's directive ordering public schools across the country to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify, earning the satisfaction of Southeast Texas school districts.

In a 38-page ruling issued late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor said he was blocking the directive because it contradicted other regulations and because the federal government had not complied with rules regarding public comment and notice.

"This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students' rights and that of personal privacy when using school bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and other intimate facilities, while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school...," O'Connor wrote. "The resolution of this difficult policy issue is not, however, the subject of this Order."

The Obama administration issued the directive in May, in the middle of a still-ongoing fight over a North Carolina law that requires people to use public bathrooms of the gender of which they were born. The directive implied that public schools could lose federal funding for not accommodating transgender students.

Port Neches-Groves Superintendent Rodney Cavness, who said in May that the letter was "going straight to the paper shredder," said on Monday that the injunction will change nothing at the PN-G school district.

"Boys are going to go to boys' bathrooms and girls are going to go to girls' bathrooms," he said. "If a student believes they've got some transgender thoughts or issues, they can come to us. We will accommodate them in a practical and common sense way."

Cavness added that "some kids just simply come to us and want to be referred to by a certain pronoun and that's it."

Vidor ISD plans to "stick with the same policies" as before, according to Sally Andrews, who heads up the district's community relations department. The district doesn't have a written policy for restrooms, she said. "It's just what we do."

Beaumont ISD issued a statement Monday that was identical to the district's response to the Obama administrations letter in May: "We will await clarification from the federal government, the state government, the Texas Education Agency and the Region 5 ESC before taking any action or developing any policies."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led a coalition of 13 states that sued over the directive in May, said he was "pleased" with Sunday's injunction.

"This President is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform," Paxton said in a statement. "That cannot be allowed to continue."

Civil rights advocates expressed disappointment with the ruling. The Human Rights Campaign said it would put "thousands at risk as they return to school."

"Judge O'Connor's decision to bar the Department of Justice from enforcing this important guidance puts thousands of transgender students at even greater risk of marginalization, harassment, and discrimination as they return to school this fall," said Sarah Warbelow, the organization's legal director, in a statement. "All students, regardless of their gender identity, deserve to be able to learn in an environment free from discrimination."

NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/lizteitzLTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/natalie_krebs
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WASHINGTON - Bei Bei did it again.

The National Zoo's giant panda cub, who slept through his media debut in December and then snoozed through his public debut in January, demonstrated again on Saturday that he might benefit from an alarm clock.

When the time came for the 70-pound cub's first birthday bash, he was a no-show - sprawled out on the cool concrete floor of his indoor pen, while thousands baked in the heat outside for a chance to wish him well.

"Oh, no," said Heiko Ramsey, who had planned a trip from Florida around the panda party, jokingly referring to Bei Bei as his "other baby" he came to see in the District of Columbia - not just his son attending George Washington University.

After a while, however, Bei Bei's mother, Mei Xiang, decided to devour her son's frozen birthday "cake," a 100-pound block of flavored ice packed with chunks of apples and sweet potatoes.

Only a handful of American and Chinese VIPs got to see Bei Bei frolic early Saturday, tasting his new favorite treat, honey, during the official celebration of his Aug. 22, 2015, birth.

And in the wacky political year of 2016, it also might have been the world's first panda birthday party with geopolitical implications.

In an election year in which both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have forecast tougher times ahead for U.S.-China relations, the early morning event for Bei Bei took on an especially bilateral feel.

Standing in the zoo's panda pen, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai addressed more than 50 TV cameras from news outlets around the world. He called Bei Bei's birth and healthy first year "fruit of collaboration between China and the United States and a strong symbol of our friendship."

As if on cue, Mei Xiang, soon sauntered up and began licking a bamboo stick holding a banner that read "Luck and Friendship." The invited crowd of Chinese officials and zoo executives gushed as the elder panda's move initiated a Chinese tradition of choosing a life symbol for the panda cub.

Leslie Wilkes nearly cried. The zoo volunteer said she saw truth behind the Chinese ambassador's statement and hoped the message of cooperation wouldn't be overlooked in the current political climate.

"I don't think people know how much we work together with the breeding center in China and how much collaboration there is behind the scenes to make this a success," Wilkes said. "It's really exciting."

Dennis Kelly, director of the National Zoo, added a heaping dose of that sentiment later to a crush of reporters. He compared the United States and China to family, noting how Bei Bei seemed to need the support of his mother Saturday to feel comfortable joining in the ceremony.

Just after 8 a.m., it wasn't clear that even the first wave of guests would get to see Bei Bei. After cautiously stepping into his outdoor area, the cub turned around and tried to climb a metal door, as if to return to where his mother was inside.

Bei Bei then waddled over to a pine tree and hid in the underbrush. After about 10 minutes, zookeepers let out Mei Xiang, who quickly followed her nose to where trainers had lathered honey onto three bamboo stems holding up banners with Chinese symbols.

First the 18-year-old mama bear approached the one with a Chinese knot, symbolizing friendship. It soon tumbled and the mother and cub licked the honey. The mama bear soon sent the other two, emblazoned with symbols for fertility and health, crashing to the ground and Bei Bei feasted on the honey.

At a news conference after the ceremony, Kelly was asked about the upcoming renegotiation with China in 2020 to keep pandas at the zoo. Kelly sought to tie it all together.

"I think Bei Bei told us one thing: Family is very important," he said. "Americans, Chinese realize family is important and friendships are important, and it's our friendship that will cause us to be successful for future generations."

The first few hundred in line then got to see Bei Bei awake. But soon, the cub returned indoors and thousands who had waited to see him saw only the sleeping cub's backside through a glass observation window.

Sai Tam said she wasn't disappointed. She and her adult daughter awoke at 5 a.m. in New York. They drove a relative who uses a wheelchair and who had followed the cub's development online to get a glimpse in person.

By the time the three made it to the front of the line, near noon, Bei Bei was long asleep.

"It is really meaningful to be here for the birthday, we feel like we know them. We watch them on the webcam - eat, sleep, eat" Tam said.

Edith Morris also said it was worth it. She had driven her four children, ages 3 to 10, from Columbia, Maryland. It was Bei Bei's birth a year ago that prompted the family to become members of the zoo to get early access to the baby's public events.

Morris said she makes the effort for the kids to celebrate the panda's milestones at the zoo, knowing the animals' time in the District is ultimately short. "We're so sad about Bao Bao," said her 10-year-old daughter, speaking of the first cub that grew up in the lens of a webcam and that is expected to be returned to China next year when it turns 4.

The public celebration was supposed to culminate Saturday afternoon with the elaborate cake-eating display. Bao Bao awoke from a nap and had a cake with a big "3" on top.

But zookeepers couldn't wake Bei Bei - despite even a practice run with the cub a day before.

"We did a dress rehearsal today and he did quite well," Nicole MacCorkle, one of the zoo's giant-panda keepers, said Friday. "I can't imagine he'll be a complete no-show."

But on Saturday, that was the case. Volunteers yelled, "Bei Bei's sleeping . . . keep moving," as they tried to explain it was the wrong panda eating the cake.

Heiko Ramsey and his family didn't budge for an hour, each wearing furry panda hats despite the afternoon sun.

After a while, Ramsey acknowledged that he probably wouldn't see the cub: "Even if he doesn't come back out, it was pretty cool to be here."
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After six straight premium hikes of 5 percent, homeowners insured through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association won't see a rate increase in 2017.

The consecutive increases from 2011 through 2016 represented a cumulative increase of 34 percent across the six years. A 5-percent increase equals about $75 a year, the windstorm association states on its web page.

The average premium for a windstorm policy is $1,500.

The reprieve is a possible result of a legislative reorganization in 2015 of TWIA's board to add more coastal members. Those additions likely reduced the influence of members from inland areas who don't have exposure to tropical storms.

The association was created after Hurricane Celia struck in 1970 because private insurers did not want to absorb the risk of hurricane damage, said Mark Hanna, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, an insurance industry group.

Hanna said TWIA would have to raise its rates by 26 percent to entice private carriers to re-enter the windstorm market.

"Other insurance companies can't compete with its rates," he said.

Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, a public insurance advocacy group, said if private carriers hadn't fled coastal coverage, particularly after Hurricane Rita in 2005, the TWIA would not be needed.

Hurricane Ike in 2008 cost $12 billion, according to Hanna.

He said the TWIA catastrophic reserve trust fund has built up just $700 million since then, likely inadequate if a hurricane of Ike's or Rita's force struck now.

Winslow said the key is affordable coverage that is also adequate.

"Residents have to be able to buy something that is meaningful, not just a piece of paper," he said.

Hanna said state law requires TWIA's rates to be adequate and based on sound actuarial principles.

"Hurricanes do not happen every year, but it is imperative that a reasonable rate be charged to allow TWIA to pay claims after catastrophic events."

Windstorms and the controversies about wind-driven rain infiltrating a structure rather than flooding will remain a bone of contention between adjusters and residents making claims.

Flood insurance, however, is not part of a typical homeowner casualty policy or the separate windstorm policy.

Only the National Flood Insurance program provides coverage against the rising water that destroys homes, as the March flood did in Deweyville.

A local insurance agent can provide information about flood insurance, Hanna said.

In Jefferson County, there are almost 24,000 flood insurance policies for homes and businesses covering a value of about $6.3 billion. That represents about 20 percent of the potential coverage, he said.

Hanna said 14 percent of the country has flood insurance. In Texas, it's about 20 percent, making it No. 3 after Florida and Louisiana.

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/dwallach
Physicians Endoscopy appointed Greg Roth to its board of directors on the heels of Kelso's acquisition of the company.

Here are four highlights:

1. Mr. Roth is the founder and partner of Guidon Partners, a company dedicated to helping organizations strengthen their bottom line.

2. He is the former CEO of TeamHealth, a staffing firm based in Knoxville, Tenn.

3. Earlier this week, Charlotte, N.C.-based Pamlico Capital sold Physicians Endoscopy to Kelso & Company in a recapitalization transaction with management.

4. Guidon Partners made a minority investment in Physicians Endoscopy.

"I am pleased that Greg has joined our board. He understands our business and has significant experience developing and managing surgery centers with physician partners," said Barry Tanner, Physicians Endoscopy CEO.

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The private companies managing Iowa's medicaid program are losing millions of dollars, according to reports they filed with the state, The Des Moines Register reports.

Here's what you should know.

1. AmeriHealth Caritas reported a $42.6 million deficit in the first six months of 2016. Amerigroup reported it lost $66.7 million. UnitedHealthcare did not breakout Iowa numbers in its report.

2. The companies took over the Iowa's Medicaid program on April 1. The move was predicted it would save the state millions of dollars over time, but some were hesitant of the move at the time, citing a fear that the companies would demand higher payments from the state after they incur losses.

3. A representative of Amerigroup said said the company lost more than it had anticipated. A representative of Amerihealth would not disclose if the losses were higher than expected. Although both company knew that initial losses would be part of the implementation.

4. Sen. Joe Bolkcom (Iowa City-D) is predicting that the management companies will want to "renegotiate the contracts if they're losing too much money." Until that happens, he fears the companies will clamp down on the service they cover.

5. Amy McCoy, a spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services, said the reports were right in line with what was expected.

6. In addition to the early losses, each company spent more than $83 million in Iowa last year. Brad Wright, a health policy professor with the University of Iowa, said the new filings echo problems in other areas of healthcare, although the results are still early.

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Here are five hot spots where tourists can save thousands on healthcare, according to International Living.

1. Costa Rica. The country's healthcare system ranks slightly above the U.S. in the World Health Organization's rankings of the world's health systems. About 15 percent of tourists traveling to Costa Rica go to receive medical services like cosmetic surgery and dental care, and the country is one of the top five places Americans visit for healthcare. A coronary artery bypass in the country has a $31,500 price tag compared to $88,000 in the U.S.

2. Colombia. From 2012 to 2013, medical tourism in the country rose over 60 percent. Fifty thousand medical tourists accounted for an estimated $216 million boost in Colombia's healthcare system in 2013. Americans can save at least 40 percent on healthcare in the country in most cases. For example, a hip replacement that could cost $40,000 in the U.S. may cost a little over $8,000 in Colombia.

3. Mexico. The country's mixture of well-trained physicians, up-to-date hospitals, low costs and proximity to the U.S. make it a popular destination for American medical tourists. In addition, many private U.S. hospital chains operate facilities in Mexico. The International Hospital Corporation of Dallas and Irving, Texas-based Christus Health Systems operate a combined 11 hospitals in Mexico, according to the report.

4. Malaysia. In 2012, more than 80 percent of all medical tourists worldwide traveled to Malaysia and its neighboring countries, Thailand and Singapore. Malaysian cities Penang and Kuala Lumpur were most frequently visited among the three countries. In addition, the country's large metropolitan areas are serviced worldwide by airlines, have many hotels and good public transportation.

5. Thailand. The country is ranked among the world's 50 best healthcare systems by WHO. Many physicians in the country study abroad in the U.S. and Europe, and larger, private hospitals are staffed with translators. In Thailand, medical services can cost 50 percent to 80 percent less than in the U.S.

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Brownfield (Texas) Regional Medical Center CEO Mike Click has announced his retirement, according to a Brownfield News report.

Mr. Click joined BRMC in 1975 as a charge nurse. He was named CEO of the hospital in 1990. After 41 years with the hospital, Mr. Click is ready to retire.

"I truly love this facility and all of the people in it and this has been a very difficult decision, but I feel like it's time," Mr. Click told the Brownfield News.

The date of his departure has not yet been announced. The search committee will soon convene at the hospital to begin the search for Mr. Click's replacement.
Hospital executives may come from many walks of life, with many leaders also having experience in nursing.

Here are 33 nurses who are CEOs of hospitals and health systems.

Nancy Agee, RN, MN, has served as the president and CEO of Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., since July 2011. From 2001 to 2011, Ms. Agee was Carilion Clinic's executive vice president and COO, and played an integral role in transforming Carilion into a patient-centered, physician-led clinic. The American Hospital Association appointed Ms. Agee to its board of trustees, a role she assumed on Jan. 1, 2016.

Jean Anthony, RN, is CEO of Cass City, Mich.-based Hills and Dales General Hospital, and has been with the hospital for more than 40 years. During her time at Hills and Dales General Hospital, Ms. Anthony served as COO for 14 years until her appointment as CEO in 2014. She began her career at the hospital as a licensed practical nurse before becoming a registered nurse and receiving a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's in organizational management.

Linda Bradley, RN, JD, is the CEO and chair of the governing board for Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles. She has served as the hospital's CEO since May 2010. She completed her nursing degree in San Bernardino, Calif., and earned her juris doctor degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego.

Ruth Brinkley, RN, MSN, is the president and CEO of Louisville-based KentuckyOne Health. Ms. Brinkley has held these positions since KentuckyOne's inception in January 2012. She holds a master's of nursing degree from DePaulUniversity in Chicago.

Katherine Bunting, PhD, RN, MSN, is CEO of Fairfield (Ill.) Memorial Hospital and has been with the hospital since 1998. Prior to joining Memorial Hospital, she worked at Richland Memorial Hospital in Olney, Ill., for nearly 20 years. She is a past president of the Illinois Hospital Association Region 5.

Christine Candio, RN, FACHE, is the president and CEO of St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo. She has held these roles since January 2015. Ms. Candio is a past chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She was the CEO of Inova Alexandria Hospital in Alexandria, Va., for nearly six years.

Mary Ellen Clyne, PhD, RN, is the CEO and president of Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, N.J. Dr. Clyne has held these roles since 2010. Dr. Clyne earned her master's of science in nursing administration and doctor of philosophy from Seton Hall University in Orange, N.J.

Karen Collins, RN, serves as CEO of Lady of the Sea General Hospital in Cut Off, La. At the hospital, Ms. Collins has had numerous roles including nurse manager. As CEO, she played a crucial role in helping Lady of the Sea General Hospital open a rural health medical clinic and two community pharmacies.

Vickie Diamond, RN, is the president and CEO of Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, a role she has held since February 2008. Ms. Diamond was the hospital's interim CEO, COO, CNO and senior vice president of patient care services. Until 2015, Ms. Diamond was on the American Hospital Association's board of trustees.

Amy Freeman, RN, is vice president of St. Louis-based Ascension Health and is president and CEO of Community Health. She was the president and CEO of Ascension's Providence Health System in Washington, D.C., from 2010 to 2015. Ms. Freeman started her nursing career at Ascension's Providence Health System nearly three decades ago.

Marian Furlong, RN, is the president and CEO of Hudson (Wis.) Hospital & Clinics. With more than 30 years of healthcare management experience, Ms. Furlong joined Hudson Hospital in 1999 as president and CEO. Ms. Furlong played a key role in the planning and construction of a new Hudson Hospital health campus and transitioned Hudson Hospital to become owned by Bloomington, Minn.-based HealthPartners. Before joining the hospital, she worked in health systems in Iowa, Minnesota and California.

Rachel Gonzales, RN, serves as CEO of Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho. She became the hospital's CEO in April 2012. She earned her master's in nursing and doctorate of management from University of Phoenix.

Audrey Gregory, PhD, RN, MSN, serves as market CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare in Memphis, Tenn. Dr. Gregory earned her master's degrees in nursing and healthcare administration from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga.

Nancy G. Hesse, MSN, RN, is the CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Eastern Regional Medical Center in Philadelphia. She also serves as the hospital's interim president. She earned her master's in nursing leadership degree from University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a bachelor of science in nursing from Widener University in Chester, Pa.

Fred Hunter, RN, is the CEO of Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville, Calif. Mr. Hunter was the administrator and chief nursing officer for Centinela Freeman Health System - Marina Campus from June 2006 to May 2007. He earned his nursing degree from California State University-Dominguez Hills.

In an interview with Becker's Hospital Review, Mr. Hunter said his nursing background largely shaped his leadership style, adding, "I think the most important thing is that it actually helped me be more process-oriented and outcomes driven, as well as understand that nothing can be achieved without a team. [This perspective] works well for the vision for a hospital as a whole."

Sally Hurt-Deitch, RN, has been the Market CEO of The Hospitals of Providence in El Paso, Texas, since April 2015. Ms. Hurt-Deitch earned her master's of science and nursing administration from The University of Texas at El Paso.

Jani L. Johnson, RN, was named the CEO of Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City in July 2015. In 1985, Ms. Johnson began her nursing career at Saint Luke's Health System as a staff nurse. Saint Luke's then promoted Ms. Johnson to leadership positions including vice president of the cardiovascular service line for Saint Luke's Health System and the Heart Institute in 2002. She earned her nursing degree from Omaha-based Methodist School of Nursing and a master's in nursing from University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Maureen Kahn, RN, MSN, is the CEO and president of Quincy, Ill.-based Blessing Hospital, a position she had held for nearly 11 years. In 2007, she earned her master's of nursing degree from University of Phoenix. As CEO, Ms. Kahn has helped the hospital become a Magnet Hospital for nursing excellence, as well as a national chest pain center, a primary stroke center and an Institute for Healthcare Improvement Mentor Hospital.

Kathleen Kinslow, CRNA, EdD, MBA, is the CEO and president of Philadelphia-based Aria Health. Equipped with more than 35 years of healthcare experience, she joined Aria Health in 2010 as president and CEO. She earned her master's in education and master's in business from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, a master's degree in nursing from Temple University in Philadelphia and a doctorate in education from Widener University in Chester, Pa.

Catherine Landis, RN, is currently Brevard, N.C.-based Transylvania Regional Hospital's president and CEO. The hospital named Ms. Landis president and CNO in August 2014. She has 25 years of experience in heading patient services and cardiac programs at healthcare organizations across the southeastern United States. Ms. Landis previously was Mt. Pleasant, S.C.-based East Cooper Medical Center's CNO.

Helen Lidholm, RN, BSN, MBA, is the CEO and chairwoman of the board for Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev. Ms. Lidholm has served as CEO for nearly four years and was the center's COO from August 2007 to July 2012. Ms. Lidholm earned her bachelor of science in nursing at Malmo Municipal University in Sweden.

Mary Lou Mastro, MS, RN, has served as Elmhurst (Ill.) Memorial Healthcare's president and CEO for the last three years. Equipped with more than 35 years of healthcare leadership experience, she served as CEO of Linden Oaks at Edward a behavioral health hospital on Edward Hospital's Naperville campus.

Leslie Marsh, RN, MSN, is CEO of Lexington (Neb.) Regional Health Center, a position she has held for more than six years. She has served on councils and boards, including the board of the Nebraska Rural Health Association. Ms. Marsh holds a master's degree in nursing from Yale University's Nursing Management, Policy and Leadership program.

Anne Meisner, RN, is the president and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Newnan, Ga. Ms. Meisner has been with CTCA for more than 20 years. She has served as an intensive care unit nurse and attended University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Sam Miller, RN, MSN, REMT-P, NHA, is the CEO of North Sunflower Medical Center in Ruleville, Miss. As CEO, Mr. Miller leads a staff of nearly 500 employees, physicians and family nurse practitioners. The hospital opened its Beacon Wellness Center in 2011, a 33,000-square-foot facility which features a surgical wing, administration offices, a sleep center and a workout facility.

Trish O'Keefe, PhD, RN, is the president of Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center. For four years, she was Morristown Medical Center's CEO and has held numerous roles at the hospital. Dr. O'Keefe started her career as a bedside nurse nearly 35 years ago and was named Morristown Medical Center's chief nursing officer in 1996. She is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, New Jersey Organization of Nurse Executives and Sigma Theta Tau International.

Maureen Pode, RN, BSN, MA, is the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx in New York City, which went into effect Aug. 15, 2016. Ms. Pode has worked at NYC Health + Hospitals for the last 14 years. She has more than 30 years of experience in acute and ambulatory care.

Karen Price-Gharzeddine, RN, has been the CEO of San Gabriel (Calif.) Valley Medical Center and AHMC Health System for nearly a year. At SVMC, she has held numerous roles including COO and CNO. Ms. Price-Gharzeddine preciously was the vice president and chief nurse executive of ancillary services at St. John Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, Calif. She is a member of Hospital Association Southern California, American College of Healthcare Executives, CEO Hospital Association Southern California Board and Association California Nurse Leaders.

Steven Rose, RN, MN, is the president and CEO of Nanticoke Health Services in Seaford, Del. As president and CEO, he led the hospital through a new health IT initiative, which included investing in a new electronic medical record and obtaining meaningful use level 2. American Hospital Association named Mr. Rose to its board of trustees in 2013 for a three-year term beginning in 2014. Mr. Rose is the first Delawarean ever named to AHA's board of trustees.

Maria Ryan, PhD, APRN, is the CEO of Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, N.H. A board certified family nurse practitioner, Dr. Ryan specializes in emergency medicine. In November 2006, Dr. Ryan joined the hospital as CNO and COO and became CEO nearly four years later in February 2010. While she was CEO, Cottage Hospital became the first critical access hospital in New Hampshire to achieve CMS Stage 1 meaningful use certification for its electronic health records in July 2011.

Cherie Sibley, BSN, FACHE, is the CEO of Clark Regional Medical Center in Winchester, Ky., a role she has held for nearly three years. Prior to joining Clark Regional, Ms. Sibley was the COO of Danville (Va.) Regional Medical Center. She earned her bachelor's of science in nursing from University of North Alabama in Florence.

Cheryl Wolfe, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, serves as the president and CEO of Salem (Ore.) Health. She joined Salem Health in 2007 as their senior vice president of operations/chief nursing officer. She became COO in 2010 and assumed her role as CEO in 2015.

Debra Wright, MS, RN, serves as CEO of Howard Memorial Hospital in Nashville, Ark. Ms. Wright became CEO of Howard Memorial Hospital, a 20-bed critical access hospital, in November 2009. Under her leadership, iVantage Health Analytic name the hospital as one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States in 2013.

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Researchers from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine are extending the decision-making process to the public regarding who providers should prioritize saving in the event of a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or national disaster, according to a report in The New York Times.

The debate makes Maryland one of the first states to ask its citizens who they think should be prioritized when medical resources are scarce, according to the report. Eighteen states and the hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs have already established procedures for when there aren't enough resources such as during the Ebola epidemic, Hurricane Katrina or the H1N1 pandemic. However, according to The New York Times, few members of the public were consulted in crafting these plans.

Maryland's research has found people generally prioritize saving the greatest number of lives or years of life, meaning the youngest or healthiest should be treated first. After that, they preferred a lottery system to decide who should be next or decide between people with equal circumstances.

The project hopes to take these ideas and many other details  such as what to do with prisoners, undocumented immigrants or drug addicts  all into account in developing guidelines for the state of Maryland, according to the report. The organizers said guidelines could be ready as early as mid-2017.

Read the full story here.

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The industry-wide transformation from volume- to value-based care delivery systems has spurred an increasing emphasis on patient satisfaction and catalyzed the drive for healthcare to mirror the retail consumer experience. While much of these efforts tend to center on quality and health outcomes, the revenue cycle is an important, often overlooked area with the potential to make or break the patient experience.

The healthcare environment today is forcing hospitals and health systems to rapidly change their approach to customer service across the board  making appointments, the inpatient stay itself, the discharge process and billing process  all with the hope to further bolster brand reputation and increase patient loyalty.

No longer can hospitals rely exclusively on their history and clinical prestige to maintain favorable reputations among patients. Patients' interactions with both clinical and administrative staff substantially influence patient perceptions of their experience in the hospital, their loyalty to the organization and the likelihood they will recommend the hospital to family and friends. All of these factors either add to or detract from a hospital's brand. Moreover, since the first and last experience most patients have in an episode of care is with the revenue cycle process, revenue cycle performance may disproportionately influence patient perceptions.

"In most of my conversations with healthcare CEOs, they don't want to talk about revenue cycle management," Le Anne Trachok, chief strategy officer of revenue cycle solutions company Optum360 said during an executive roundtable at Becker's Hospital Review's 2nd Annual CIO/HIT + Revenue Cycle Conference in Chicago. "They say, 'Our biggest issue is our brand.' Brand is what's important for growth." However, Ms. Trachok contends the revenue cycle and the organization's brand are closely linked. A terrible billing experience can ruin an otherwise positive patient experience, thereby contributing to a negative brand image.

Human interactions  not technology  have the most influence on the patient experience

Technological tools that help streamline and automate RCM processes and increase efficiency for RCM staff are integral for effective eligibility verification, coverage discovery and denial minimization. However, when it comes to the patient experience and its impact on the hospital brand, the human interactions between patients and RCM staff are most important.

"If you want to get into branding and you have the tech in place, the thing you need to work on is human interactions," said the CFO of a 25-bed critical access hospital in the South. "All of the complaint letters that come in are not about the tech, but about the human beings with whom patients eventually have to speak. That will make or break the experience  the voice-to-voice communication."

For example, a woman whose father died in the hospital called the billing office regarding his medical bills five times over a period of three months, according to the CFO. Each time, the woman spoke to different billing staff members and had to re-explain her relationship to the deceased patient and her concerns with the bill. Being forced to endure these conversations repeatedly while grieving made this woman's experience with the hospital painful.

Anecdotes like this illustrate the need to improve behavioral training for billing staff who communicate with patients. It is no longer enough to only be polite and professional when interacting with patients, according to Ms. Trachok. Instead, these staff members "must be empathetic and really hear what [the patient] is saying."

In addition to active listening and making the patient feel understood, such conversations between patients or family members and billing staff could provide information that is valuable to a patient's long-term care plan.

"In a world where we are increasingly managing health and taking on risk, it is important to share all kinds of information about patients' health," said Ms. Trachok. "The training for people who are interacting with patients in the revenue cycle must expand to include really listening and showing compassion, and then following through in care. For example, if a patient is depressed, it would be important for the care coordinator to be aware."

Retail billing principles can remedy RCM woes in healthcare

In any given retail service, the customer leaves with a statement and knows what they owe. Patients, on the other hand, receive an explanation of benefits in the mail some time after receiving medical care. EOBs are difficult for most people to interpret, especially given the technical language of each itemized charge. The entire process could be less painful if hospitals borrowed the retail industry's billing practice.

"Right now, hospital discharge comes and goes and doesn't mean anything," said Ms. Trachok. However, with better planning, the time of discharge serves as a meaningful pivot point for the revenue cycle. "How can we apply [retail billing principles] to inpatient care, surgeries and diagnostic procedures at the time of service?"

Prospective planning can also make the billing process more manageable for both RCM staff and patients, according to Ms. Trachok. Systems that enable the automatic aggregation of information  the patient's risk level, comorbidities, age, gender, medical history and other factors combined with presumptive diagnosis at the time of admission  can build a claim earlier on. Armed with this information, RCM staff can work with payers on appropriate reimbursement, making changes along the way to reflect the patient's current clinical situation.

Technology and human behavior must complement one another

Patients today are more discerning when it comes to choosing where they seek healthcare services. Various factors are at play in guiding their decisions. Quality outcomes will always be top of mind, but at the end of the day, human behavior and memory will be the greatest determinant of the patient experience. RCM leaders must prioritize technology systems that improve efficiency, but above all, they must emphasize the importance of behavior, compassion and empathy, and their impact on the organization's brand.

To learn more about Optum360, click here.

This content is sponsored by Optum360
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the title "hospitalist," or physicians whose work centers around a location of care  the hospital  rather than a disease, patient type or organ. Here are 10 things to know about the role and how it has evolved over the past two decades.

1. The term "hospitalist" was coined in 1996 by Robert Wachter, MD, and Lee Goldman, MD, in an article for The New England Journal of Medicine, as the specialty was just beginning to emerge. The American Hospital Association did not begin tracking the field until 2003, however.

2. Today there are more than 50,000 hospitalists in the U.S., according to AHA data cited by Drs. Wachter and Goldman in a recent article published for NEJM. This means the specialty is now comparable in size to pediatrics, which has 55,000 physicians. Now about three in four hospitals have hospitalists on staff.

3. Drs. Wachter and Goldman attribute this marked growth to a combination of factors: "a viable financial framework, a pool of qualified physicians and enough force to overcome resistance to change." They also credit an increase in emergency admissions, low remuneration for nonprocedural inpatient care and the quality, patient-safety and value trends. These factors helped general internists find a place in salaried hospital positions and as staff for nonteaching services in academic medical centers.

4. The growing scope and impact of the profession paved the way for CMS to approve a billing code for hospitalists in May. Before this dedicated specialty billing code was created, hospitalists had to benchmark improvement efforts based on performance of internal medicine physicians or other related specialties.

5. Most of the profession is concentrated in internal medicine, but hospitalists also practice across a host of other specialties. According to Medscape, 39 percent of hospitalists specialize in internal medicine. Following that, hospitalists are predominant in pediatrics (11 percent), psychiatry (11 percent), family medicine (8 percent), obstetrics and gynecology (4 percent) and anesthesiology (4 percent). Smaller numbers practice in neurology, critical care and emergency medicine.

6. Hospitalists on average make about $4,400 less than their non-hospitalist physician counterparts, according to Medscape data. However, this differential is largely due to disparities in pay amongst hospitalist and non-hospitalist providers in emergency medicine, anesthesiology and critical care. The most common type of hospitalist  internal medicine  makes an average of $243,000 annually, which is $32,000 more than their non-hospitalist physician counterparts.

7. Some studies show hospitalists can reduce costs and shorten lengths of stay while preserving or improving quality of care and patient satisfaction. In their August 10 perspective for NEJM, Drs. Wachter and Goldman point to two studies in particular that they helped author. The first, published by JAMA, showed "a reorganized academic medical service, led by faculty members who attended more often and became involved earlier and more intensively," helped AMCs cut costs without sacrificing clinical outcomes or patient, faculty and staff satisfaction. The second study, published by Annals of Internal Medicine, found that hospitalists reduced length of stay and costs after just two years at a community-based teaching hospital.

8. Despite these benefits, hospitalist medicine presents inherent challenges to the patient, according to a dissenting opinion also published by NEJM on August 10. In particular, adding another physician into the mix can complicate communication and coordination, and may not provide extra care where patients need it most  in preventive health, Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD, wrote. Hospitalists may also have difficulty connecting to patients because they work exclusively in the hospital. "From the patient's point of view, it can be highly disconcerting to discover that the physician who knows you best will not even see you at your moment of greatest need  when you are in the hospital, facing serious illness or injury," Dr. Gunderman wrote.

9. The architecture of the specialty also stunts physicians, according to Dr. Gunderman. It is a young profession, so many who choose to focus solely on inpatient medicine will not have the opportunity to understand patients' lives in their communities, he contends. This siloed approach also creates a communication barrier between physicians inside and outside of the hospital, and between the hospital and the community.

10. Good or bad, the growing field will continue to adjust to the changing needs of the healthcare system. Drs. Wachter and Goldman suggest this transformation is already happening. For example, some hospitalists are beginning to follow patients to post-acute care facilities, while others are creating subgroups called "comprehensivists" who attend to only the highest-risk patients both inside and outside of the hospital.

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A Kanawha County Circuit Court judge denied Cabell Huntington (W. Va.) Hospital's motion to dismiss Steel of West Virginia's appeal of the hospital's agreement to acquire Huntington, W. Va.-based St. Mary's Medical Center, according to The Herald-Dispatch.

In its motion to dismiss the petition for appeal, Cabell Huntington argued the county in which Steel of West Virginia filed the appeal has no jurisdiction over the case.

In his order, Circuit Court Judge James Stucky dismissed the motion due to a recent provision passed by the West Virginia legislature which provides for judicial review of final orders relating specifically to cooperative agreements.

Cabell Huntington began its $165 million acquisition of St. Mary's in 2014. The West Virginia Health Care Authority approved the acquisition in June 2015.

The FTC filed a complaint against the merger in November 2015, citing that the proposed merger would affect market competition in the area. The FTC dropped its complaint last month in light of the cooperative agreement law passed in March.

The court has yet to issue a ruling on Steel of West Virginia's motion to stay the acquisition until after the appeal hearing, according to the article.

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Due to an incorrect calibration model, more than 4,000 blood alcohol content tests across Michigan returned faulty results, according to a Detroit Free Press report.

Affected tests were administered between December 2015 and April 2016, according to a statement from the Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division. Michigan's legal BAC is 0.08 grams per deciliter. The tests may have been off by as much as .002 g/dl under or 0.04 g/dl above the legal limit.

State police maintain that about 2,000 tests that occurred during the five-month period don't require any correction, but Luther Glenn, president pro tem of the Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association told Detroit Free Press he wants their conclusion to be confirmed by a neutral third party following the faulty tests.

Of 402 cases affected by the faulty calibration, 89 either have been prosecuted or are in the process of being prosecuted, an official with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office told Detroit Free Press.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wants answers specifically, to why the price of EpiPens has jumped 400 percent since 2007, reported The Hill.

Senator Grassley wrote a letter to EpiPen maker Mylan, asking the company to explain why patients must pay up to $700  compared to $57 in 2007 to fill their prescriptions for the life-saving injection device.

"I am concerned that the substantial price increase could limit access to a much-needed medication," wrote Senator Grassley. "In addition, it could create an unsafe situation for patients as people, untrained in medical procedures, [to be] incentivized to make their own kits from raw materials."

He also warned that high EpiPen prices could deplete taxpayer money through coverage in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

In a statement responding to Senator Grassley's letter, Amsterdam-based Mylan mentioned its discount programs and said 700,000 EpiPens have been donated to schools since 2013.

Mylan also attributed EpiPen's steep cost to higher deductibles in insurance plans. "This shift has presented new challenges for consumers, and they are bearing more of the cost," the company said in its statement. "This change to the industry is not an easy challenge to address, but we recognize the need and are committed to working with customers and payers to find solutions to meet the needs of the patients and families we serve.

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The Denver-based spine device company TranS1 was recently celebrated as Colorado's "Most Innovative Workplace," according to the Denver Post.

Here are four takeaways:

1. They were one of four companies honored at the 80/95 Awards, which gathered 200 of Colorado's accomplished young professionals and the companies that support them.

2. Awards were considered based on a public nomination process, and ultimately decided by three millennial judges.

3. The "Most Innovative Workplace" award celebrates "a place that creates an environment where people can do incredible work," according to the Denver Post.

4. TranS1 develops products that improve minimally invasive approaches to treat spinal pathologies.
Actress turned politician Ramya, also known as Divya Spandana, has been in the news for quite some time now for her statement about Pakistan.

Ramya who had visited Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers, made a statement saying Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well. This has not gone too well with a section of people and they have asked her to apologize.

I will not apologise for what I said, have said nothing wrong. Everybody is entitled to their views and that is what democracy is about, you can't force your ideology on anyone, said Ramya in a media statement.

She is now being attacked in the social media and also has been taken to the court by Katnamane Vittal Gowda, a lawyer, who has filed a sedition case against her. It is told that the hearing will happen on Sunday, 28th of August.
Jenna Mairs, investment manager at WhiteRock Capital Partners, with Michael Burke, MD at SALIIS, and Craig Holmes, MD of the HNH Group

The Co Down company behind the biggest rooftop solar installation in Ireland has said it's creating up to 15 new jobs.

SALIIS in Carryduff said it will be taking on new staff after winning contracts worth up to 19m in Great Britain.

It will be installing solar panels in around 8,000 homes across the Midlands and south east of England - work worth a total of 15m. And the firm said it plans to bring over project management teams from Northern Ireland for the work.

It has previously carried out similar work for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, as well as on council housing in Northampton.

And SALIIS will also be setting up a new 20-acre solar farm in England. It will be fitting around 18,000 panels on the 5MW site, which will provide enough electricity for around 1,000 homes.

Last year the company installed 14,000 solar panels on the roof of aerospace giant Bombardier's main premises in east Belfast.

The latest work is supported by a 500,000 loan from the Growth Loan Fund that will be used as working capital for the projects.

The fund controls a 50m budget used to provide funding to established Northern Ireland SMEs seeking to access growth finance. It's supported by Invest NI.

Jenna Mairs, investment manager at WhiteRock Capital Partners, said: "SALIIS has achieved a remarkable turnover in a very short period of time. They identified a gap in the renewable energy market and have positioned themselves as a leading provider.

"The company's rapid growth was an attractive proposition for the Growth Loan Fund."

SALIIS currently employs 51 people, including 45 who are based in Northern Ireland.

While the business is based in Carryduff, it operates throughout the UK.

The company started out in 2012 as a satellite and cable television sales and installation firm.

But following a move to the renewables sector, it has rapidly expanded. After just four years of business the firm employs 51 people and has an annual turnover of 8.8m.

And SALIIS managing director Michael Burke said he is optimistic about further growth in the sector. He added he expects the company could double turnover within the next two years.

"We have worked extensively across Great Britain and Ireland, providing renewable and energy efficient services to public and private sector clients," Mr Burke said.

"One of the biggest projects we've worked on to date was installing 14,000 solar panels on the roof of Bombardier last year."

The 4m project was the largest rooftop solar installation in Ireland.

"The backing from the Growth Loan Fund is a major confidence boost for the business," Mr Burke added.

"We have a significant pipeline of work for the coming 12 months and would hope to be recruiting for a number of new positions over the coming year. The new jobs will be a mix of technical, sales and operation positions.

"We'd like to expand into other markets and we've had discussions with companies in Dubai and France.

"We're also going to place a real emphasis on research and design, developing our services and SMART products."
The most distressful country that ever yet was seen. Even a brief acquaintance with 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 laughter but, let's face it - since the start of the 20th century, Ireland has rivalled Australia as the lucky country.

There was both luck and judgment in the success of the opening of the economy to foreign investment from 1960.

The judgment 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 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.

Most economists would still argue free trade brings overall benefits. There is no doubt reducing poverty among developing countries, thanks to globalisation, is one of the greatest boons in the history of humanity but there is growing concern about specific losers among 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 30% of the total in 1960 to less than 10% 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 clean-out 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 observations in newspaper offices themselves. They are 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 20.
One of Belfast's most successful restaurant entrepreneurs has said the city is starting to "price itself out" with soaring rents and high rates.

John Blisard, who masterminded the success of the Mexican fast-food Boojum chain, is in negotiations with landlords over plans to expand his new venture, Bubbacue, which specialises in slow-cooked, barbecued meats like pulled pork and beef brisket.

"We have identified a unit in the city centre and we hope to be open this side of Christmas, depending on how long it takes to agree the lease," said John (45), who sold the Boojum chain last year.

"It's become difficult to find the right unit at the right price. Belfast is quite saturated with restaurants and people are competing for space.

"The population of the city centre has not really increased that much so I'm really encouraged when I hear about more apartments and student housing being built in central Belfast. That will really help to drive business and create a vibrant city centre."

John is also keen to open up branches of Bubbacue in regional towns but has been rethinking his plans to expand into the Republic.

"The Brexit vote has certainly made us take a step back to think about this," he said. "But the bigger barrier to opening in Dublin city centre, which I'm keen to do, is that Dublin is extortionate right now in terms of rents.

"Even restaurant owners with failing businesses are asking for up to 120,000 (104,000) as a premium to hand over premises because they have extraction systems and planning permission already in place. It's happening in Belfast, too, although the sums are smaller. But restaurant owners in the city centre are demanding up to 30,000. It's just a symptom of the market because of high demand, but it adds to the costs of opening a new place."

The original Bubbacue, in Callender Street near City Hall, employs 21 people and has recently been extensively refurbished.

John said: "Instead of traditional restaurant service, it's now more like the Boojum style where customers queue up, choose what they want and watch it being made up, before eating their meal here or taking it away. We've had a very positive response and a significant uplift in trade."

And the restaurant now has its own beer, Bubbabrew, developed by Belfast's Boundary Brewery.

"It's great to build these relationships with local suppliers," said John. "Our meat comes from Crosskeys butchers in Randalstown and is all local. We're able to explain how we want our meat butchered and the cuts that we want."

John, who moved here from Philadelphia with his Co Down-born wife, Karen, in 2007, enjoyed huge success with his Boojum chain.

He added: "I'm working on an idea for a new food business based on a different type of American food. I think it's a good possibility but I'm keeping it under wraps for now. Bubbacue opened in 2012 but I had been working on the recipes and experimenting with meat smoking techniques for years before that.

"Whatever comes next, it has to be right and it has to make financial sense."
Debbie Craig, with son Nicholas, hopes to crowdfund her new app

A Belfast woman who created software to help in the care of her autistic son is hoping to raise 50,000 to launch the product.

Mother-of-four Debbie Craig created platform Boop through her company Limejar to help carers and educators engage with autistic children.

It will provide data which carers can use to support the child's development and provide autistic children with opportunities to develop self-awareness, self-management and independent learning skills.

Her son Nicholas, now 10-years-old was diagnosed with autism during her first year of a university degree in computer science.

She developed a basic version of Boop after graduating and is now fine-turning the software.

Ms Craig has raised 70,000 in grant funding and completed the Propel Programme, an incubator for start-ups with high growth potential. Now she is hoping to raise 50,000 through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to help the product to market.

"Children with autism need a connected support system of carers, teachers and parents," she said. "Boop provides a link between all of the important people in a child's life, as well as children themselves."
The Brexit vote does not spell the end for the European Union, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has pledged, as he held talks with his German and French counterparts on the future of the European project.

Smaller EU countries, such as Ireland, weren't involved in the gathering of the Eurozone's three big economies, although all remaining 27 member states will gather for an informal summit next month in Slovakia.

Mr Renzi hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mr Hollande on an island off Naples, where two Italian intellectuals wrote a manifesto in the wake of the Second World War calling for European political integration.

The political fallout from the Brexit vote enjoyed a brief lull over August after the frenzied activity that saw the unveiling of a new British Prime Minister, a new Cabinet and a shake-up in Whitehall.

The symbolic meeting yesterday of the three leaders on the island of Ventotene begins the groundwork for an informal summit of all European nations, bar the UK, in Bratislava next month, where the future of the European Union post-Brexit will be discussed.

Following their meeting, the three leaders addressed the press on an Italian aircraft carrier, where French President Hollande acknowledged that the vote in the UK on June 23 had led to uncertainty.

He said Europe can have a future of "unity and cohesion", but warned EU leaders and citizens against retreating into nationalism.

Mr Renzi said Brexit was not the end of the European Union.

"A lot of people thought that after Brexit, it would be over for Europe. That's not the case," Mr Renzi said.

The Italian prime minister said European leaders wanted to write a new chapter for the EU.

European Council President Donald Tusk will visit Dublin next month for Brexit-related talks with Mr Kenny, ahead of the informal summit in Bratislava.

Mr Tusk will meet Mr Kenny before flying to London for talks with Ms May, as part of a tour of European capitals.

The Bratislava summit is due to take place on September 16 to discuss European reform in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The UK will not be represented at the summit, as it will only be for the remaining 27 member states.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Renzi said Europe needs to invest in defence, education and culture, while breaking free of bureaucratic rules.
Harry Corry has said sales at its Boucher Road store have plummeted by a third after the closure of the neighbouring B&Q store left restricted access to the business.

Boss Willie Corry said footfall is down 40% after access to the main entrance at the retail site was blocked off close to B&Q, following its closure last year.

And reducing the access into the site has led to a huge fall in sales, according to Mr Corry.

He now wants improved access to the area to ensure his business, and others, see a return to previous shopper numbers.

Last year, Harry Corry had to enter into an agreement to pay part of its debts to creditors.

Our footfall is down 40% and sales are down about a third, Mr Corry said. He said the area must be opened up to allow a return to footfall levels or a business should take over the site.

I think what happened was, when they had the entrance, there may have been joyriders. Some security firm was put in after that, he said.

The next thing is there are big boulders. No one told us anything.

People arent bothering as much. But when people do (visit the store), they are more likely to buy.

Harry Corry operates 50 stores across the UK and Ireland, with 17 in Northern Ireland, 22 in the Republic and a further 11 in Scotland.

There are now plans to alter the road structure to allow greater traffic to Harry Corry and Benson for Beds. In a design statement by Braniff Associates, it says: B&Q have cited insurance reasons as the grounds upon which to close its main access off Balmoral Road.

The applicant is led to understand that B&Q is tied in to another four years lease on this site unless it manages to sublet the property.

Because the unit is so large and only appeals to particular operators there is a high likelihood that the site will remain vacant for several years at least.

In December, Mr Corry said he was hopeful his company would stem growing losses and return to profit in 2016.

While turnover remained roughly the same during its last set of accounts  sitting at 38m  the businesss losses increased to 630,000.

Speaking about the turnaround in the business, Mr Corry said the CVA  which is an agreement with creditors which includes a reduction in rent  had helped the business.

Its been a big help in the south where rents were way of out of line. But generally there has been a small increase everywhere  we will be in profit, he said.
While Northern Ireland is one of the poorest performers of the UK nations when it comes to levels of female entrepreneurship, innovative businesswomen on the Invest NI Propel Programme are determined to buck the trend.

The Total Entrepreneurial Index (TEA) measures the proportion of women in the female adult population who are either in the process of starting a business or are the owner-manager of a new business. Most recent statistics from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2015) show that the TEA rate among the female population in Northern Ireland is 3.4% - compared to 5.8% in Scotland and 4.6% in both England and Wales.

Despite this gap, the spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and growing among the female population here, with Propel now celebrating its highest ever level of female participation, at 45%.

Leeann Monk, Ana McColgan and Cheryl McWilliams are more than halfway through the latest intensive start-up programme, which is designed to fast-track high potential new businesses towards export growth.

Last year, Leeann and business partner Jennifer Neff gave up their full-time jobs to focus on developing a digital solution to the Social Prescription model of health care delivery. After an intensive period of research and development, Elemental Software is ready for market and the final results will be revealed at NHS Expo Manchester on September 7.

Leeann said: "'Elemental Software is a digital platform which facilitates social prescribing - a 'more than medicine' healthcare model which sees health professionals direct patients towards community interventions in exercise, nutrition and mental health. Our software generates these social prescriptions, which enable patients with chronic health risks to take control of their own healthcare, signposting them towards community based activities which can reduce their level of risk.

"The potential cost savings for health trusts are enormous, as the use of social prescriptions not only reduces the risk of patients developing chronic health problems; our software has also been designed to measure outcomes on commissioned services to prove value for money.

"We have already recently secured contacts in the UK and Ireland which will be worth in excess of 250,000. We are also in advanced talks about bringing our technology to Dubai, where Elemental Software has the potential to intervene and dramatically reduce a chronic obesity and diabetes risk there."

Cheryl McWilliams is founder of Mother Bee Skincare - handmade, natural skincare products for animals and their owners.

Cheryl and her team produce the range, based on an old beeswax recipe passed down from her mother.

It's a technique the family had used for four generations, before a local vet encouraged Cheryl to bring it to market. Since then, Mother Bee has gone on to become a trusted supplier to some of the largest thoroughbred studs in the world and its products are exported to countries including New Zealand, France and Sweden.

Cheryl said: "Our range has been doing amazing things, helping just about every animal you can think of - from cats and dogs, to horses and even lizards.

"The products have been embraced by some of the largest stud farms in the world, where Mother Bee is improving a long list of skin problems which studs were previously struggling to control.

"We've sent repeat shipments to royal palaces, world leaders and animal lovers across the globe. Our customer base is continuing to grow and with new products due to launch next year, it's a very exciting time for the business."

Ana McColgan, founder of EV-U Solutions, is also primed for increasing export wins. Her Vault Proof software provides a method for businesses and the public sector to collect and verify information on professional qualifications.

"Collecting and validating professional information for tenders, submissions and record keeping is an expensive and time intensive task," she said.

"Our software dramatically reduces the work time involved, helping organisations to save money and reduce risks by having easy access to secure, pre-validated and complaint information."

The system was launched in June and now has contracts worth over 120,000. Ana said: "Without the guidance of the Propel Programme Mentors, I doubt we would have made some of the bold decisions we have. Propel gave us confidence to acquire high spec digital encryption software from Ulster University, a decision which will be central in helping us to target international markets and we're already making significant inroads in the USA."

Niall Casey, Invest NI's director of skills and strategy, said: "Increasing the level of entrepreneurial activity among women will make a huge contribution to the future success of the Northern Ireland economy.

"Over the past three years, over 50 female entrepreneurs have benefited from participation on the Propel Programme, which overall, has so far helped attract over 18m of investment.

"It is clear from these tremendous success stories that the Propel Programme helps break down many of the barriers to entrepreneurship, which are experienced by both females and males.

"As these start-up businesses continue to grow, we look forward to celebrating their continued success and contribution to the local economy."
A trailer for season three of BBC drama The Fall, starring Northern Ireland actor Jamie Dornan, has been released.

The show's third and apparently final series, also starring X-Files FBI agent Gillian Anderson as tough-talking detective Stella Gibson, will be returning this autumn.

But Fifty Shades star Jamie is keen to keep the show filmed in his native Northern Ireland going.

He told AP: "You know, that job changed my life. They're like family to me and I'm forever grateful for it to be a part of my life."

The 34-year-old Holywood born actor a recently discussed his exit from social media during a round of interviews for two of his upcoming films, Anthropoid and The 9th Life of Louis Drax

"To be honest, I was very inactive on it in the last year.

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"To delete my Instagram - I had to email my publicist to get the password. Twitter I used to have a bit of fun with back in the day but I think I've tweeted twice in the last year."

On the reality of living life out loud on social media, he said: "The more public interest in you, the more horrible people become. People start to say disgusting things about your family, about your children. What's the point?"

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Whatsapp Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan star in detective drama The Fall

Dornan was tight-lipped about season three of hit BBC series The Fall, which is set in Belfast and has him playing Paul Spector, a bereavement counsellor, married man and unassuming father of two by day and stalker and killer of women by night.

But he said: "You can expect the unexpected. There's quite remarkable turns in the third season that I really genuinely think people won't see coming that are hugely exciting."

Dornan added: "I would play that character to my dying days if I had the opportunity." Does that include a fourth season?

"I don't know anything about that," he smiled.
Action movie star Jason Statham has revealed his failure to compete at the Olympic Games remains a "sore point".

The British actor represented England in diving at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, but finished outside the medal positions in three competitions.

Statham, 49, praised the increase in funding for diving after Team GB's success at Rio 2016, but he believed he may have chosen the wrong sport to compete in.

Speaking at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Mechanic: Resurrection, he told the Press Association: "It's a bit of a sore point I never got to the Olympics.

"I just heard they got seven million or something for the diving per year. They deserve it. The divers we've got now are just terrific.

"I started too late. It probably wasn't my thing. I should have done a different sport."

Statham, who was joined on the red carpet by his supermodel fiancee Rosie Huntington-Whitely, said he got "fulfilment" from his leading roles in action films.

Starring opposite actress Jessica Alba, he plays assassin Arthur Bishop in Mechanic; Resurrection - a sequel to the 2011 remake of the Michael Winner film The Mechanic.

Statham said: "I think I'm more suited to action movies than courtroom dramas so I tend to stick to those.

"It's something I get a lot of fulfilment out of. I feel I'm better at those than I am at other stuff. I play to my strength I suppose."

Mechanic: Resurrection director Dennis Gansel said he believed Statham was "the best" action movie star working in Hollywood.

"I've been a fan of him since day one in Guy Ritchie movies," he said.

"He turned himself into this action star. I think he's the most diverse and interesting guy working in the industry today.

"If he wouldn't be an A-list star, he would be one of the best stuntman working out there."

Mechanic: Resurrection is released in UK cinemas on Friday.
Kerry Howard is to play a young Hyacinth Bucket in a prequel to Keeping Up Appearances

Kerry Howard, the actress who plays a young Hyacinth Bucket in the Keeping Up Appearances prequel, has described Patricia Routledge's response to the new drama as "sad".

Young Hyacinth is one of the comedies announced for the BBC's landmark sitcom season, with the corporation revisiting much-loved classics such as Are You Being Served? and Porridge.

The one-off episode is set before Hyacinth married long-suffering Richard and becomes a suburban snob. It sees her as a young woman living in poverty in a gloomy house in the 1950s with her drunken father and three sisters.

Earlier this year, Routledge suggested that she was unimpressed with the idea of the corporation revisiting some of Britain's best-loved TV series.

"Why are they doing this sort of thing?" the actress, 87, was quoted as saying. "They must be desperate.

"Nothing to do with me. Let them get on with it.... Remind me to switch off, please."

Howard, who plays the young Hyacinth, told Radio Times magazine that she had grown up watching Routledge and was disappointed by her reaction.

"Oh, it's so sad, isn't it?," she said.

"She was scathing about the whole project. Not just specifically our show. I think she should be incredibly flattered that the BBC are paying homage to all these great shows.

"They were all massive hits and the BBC is celebrating its history. And I think that's kind of cool."

Howard, who is the sister of the comedian Russell Howard, added: "We are not recreating her show.

"We're going backwards and explaining her character. She doesn't know that. I think that's why she responded like that - because she was thinking some other actress is going to come along and play her part.

"But it's not that at all. There's no way she could come back and play young Hyacinth!"

The Him & Her actress, 34, added: "I grew up watching Hyacinth. Every Sunday night, we'd watch Keeping Up Appearances and then I'd spend the next week doing impressions of her to my mum in the kitchen. So when this came up, I thought: I have to play this role. I am her."
Diazepam is a Class C controlled drug which may only be lawfully possessed on prescription.

The PSNI have been conducting an investigation into the unlawful supply and distribution of diazepam tablets into and throughout Northern Ireland.

The PSNI have seized 65,000 diazepam tablets across Northern Ireland and England as part of a three month investigation.

Diazepam is a Class C controlled drug which may only be lawfully possessed on prescription.

Over the past three months detectives have carried out 29 searches within Northern Ireland and in England.

Officers have warned that the public may not be aware of the legal status of the drug.

Detective Inspector Andy Dunlop said: Over the past three months, we have seized approximately 65,000 such tablets with help from partner agencies and carried out 29 searches within Northern Ireland and in England. We have also seized 10,000 cash and are conducting a linked money laundering investigation.

"Other drugs seized include small quantities of herbal cannabis, cannabis resin, amphetamine and mephedrone as well as pregabalin which is also a prescription only medicine. 17 people have been arrested, eight were charged and nine are subject to reports being sent to the Public Prosecution Service.

"From our enquiries, it appears some people may be unaware of the legal status of this drug. Diazepam is classed as both a controlled drug and a prescription only medicine. As such, someone may only be in possession of it by virtue of a lawfully issued prescription from their GP or other medical professional.

"Much of the illegally supplied diazepam has not been produced under laboratory conditions nor subjected to any form of quality control. You simply cannot be sure what you are taking. We are continually working with colleagues in other statutory agencies about this issue. I would encourage anyone with an addiction to these tablets to seek help."

The PSNI have warned that people should take prescription only medicines in consultation with their GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professionals.

Medicines obtained through unregulated internet sites may not have been prescribed by a healthcare practitioner, may not have been subject to the normal controls on manufacture and may not be of a suitable quality or be of the nature described.

DI Dunlop said: "I would urge the public not to be tempted by reduced prices or fooled by attractive websites offering medicines without prescription.

"Taking short cuts and using these medicines could expose you to a dangerous counterfeit or substandard medicine. In addition, you could also be the victim of identity theft or credit card fraud. Illegal possession or supply of diazepam can lead to a criminal conviction."
A Co Antrim man has told of his horror after he claimed a do not resuscitate notice (DNR) was placed on his medical file without his knowledge.

Neill Birnie suffers from secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and is paralysed from the neck down.

It was in 2014 when the 48-year-old was admitted to Antrim Area Hospital a total of three times, he discovered a Do Not Resuscitate order had been put on his medical file.

He said this was without his nor his sister's consent - however the Northern Trust has strongly refuted this and said there was a conversation before the DNR notice was implemented.

Mr Birnie is unable to talk and communicates through a computer.

He told the BBC: "My reaction to the life-threatening imposition of the do not resuscitation notice on my admission file has been profound.

"I've had my mortality held in front of me and then casually tossed to one side

"Let me assure you the lights are on and I am definitely at home."

"We all need to be treated with understanding. Those as us classified as vulnerable adults maybe more than most."

The DNR order means that medical staff will not attempt to bring a patient back to life if they stop breathing or their heart stops.

Guidelines issued by the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing say the DNR orders should only be implemented after a discussion with patients or their family.

Mr Birnie said at no time did he or his sister grant permission for the notice to be placed on his file.

He made an official complaint to the Trust saying they do not accept that the DNR was placed on his file in advance of him being admitted.

However the Trust said they explained in a letter to Mr Birnie that they had spoken to his next of kin.

In a statement to the BBC, a spokeswoman for the Northern Health Trust confirmed the notice was placed on Mr Birnie's file in January 2014.

However they said it followed a conversation with the patient.

The Trust said: "The decision to implement a DNR is a medical one, which is taken in cases where medical professionals feel that if a person's medical condition at that time causes their heart to stop, resuscitation attempts would be futile and therefore not in their best interests in providing a dignified death.

"This was discussed with Mr Birnie initially and was put in place following a conversation with his next of kin who indicated that they had talked it over with Mr Birnie and agreed with the decision taken.

"A DNR notice is reviewed and, if felt appropriate, renewed on a daily basis. There is currently no DNR on Mr Birnie's file and his treatment remains unaffected."

In a further statement to the Belfast Telegraph the Northern Trust explained the decision making process.

What is a DNR?

The decision to implement a DNR is a medical one which is taken in cases where medical professionals feel that if a persons medical condition at that time causes their heart to stop, resuscitation attempts would be futile and therefore not in their best interests in providing a dignified death.

Good practice dictates that medical professionals should discuss with the individual or their next of kin in order to gain their assent.

A DNR notice is reviewed and, if felt appropriate, renewed on a daily basis. "
Specialists carry out painstaking work to ensure that loose rocks are removed along the route of the Gobbins walkway

Specialists carry out painstaking work to ensure that loose rocks are removed along the route of the Gobbins walkway

Specialists carry out painstaking work to ensure that loose rocks are removed along the route of the Gobbins walkway

It's certainly not a job for the faint-hearted - and you'd need a good head for heights. These specialist climbers have been using crowbars to force loose rocks from the cliffs overlooking the landmark Gobbins pathway near Larne.

Mid and East Antrim Council sanctioned a full 'scaling' of the cliff-face walk, which has been closed more often than open during its first year of operation.

The scaling operation - as our exclusive pictures show - involves forcing any loose rocks and debris to fall, rather than waiting for it to dislodge naturally.

The after-effects of storms and rock falls have led to the picturesque tourist attraction having to be shut down for two peak periods - Easter and its first full summer.

And now it has been confirmed that the new cliff face walkway will not be open for its first anniversary early next month.

Tourism NI chiefs, however, have made clear they believe everything possible is being done to get the Gobbins back on track as soon as possible. Chief executive John McGrillen said: "We fully respect and support Mid and East Antrim Borough Council's position in relation to The Gobbins and will do all that we can to assist the council.

"This significant and strategically important natural tourism attraction has been well received since its initial opening and has demonstrated that it is a definite draw for the international visitor.

"While we appreciate the current challenges are frustrating to those keen to visit The Gobbins, I would assure those coming to Northern Ireland that all are working as diligently as possible towards a re-opening date."

The painstaking operation, which has kept the Gobbins closed since June, came after it was revealed recent weather has had a worse impact on rock movement in the area than expected.

Specialists have had to be brought in to carry out the complex and time-consuming work.

"Essential maintenance continues, with the cliff face having to be scaled in many places." mayor Audrey Wales told the Belfast Telegraph.

"We need to protect the natural environment, the scenery and the habitat of wildlife.

"Safety and biodiversity of the area remain the council's reasons for closure and we look forward to moving ahead in the coming weeks".

Initially it was estimated the 7.5m Gobbins project would draw in more than 70,000 visitors in its first year, but a series of setbacks has meant that just 23,914 paying customers have enjoyed the unique attraction.

Business was first disrupted between January and April due to storm damage. Its reopening was short-lived when it was shut again on June 20 because of increased levels of rockfall. It has not been open again since.
A north Belfast community has rallied to support a 16-year-old boy after his mother died of a brain aneurysm.

Donna O'Halloran (34) from Oldpark in Belfast was rushed to hospital on August 3 after suffering an aneurysm which led to a stroke. She passed away nine days later in hospital, surrounded by her family.

Now a Just Giving page for her 16-year-old son Caolan, set up by his mother's former school mates at St Gemma's High School, has raised more than 2,500.

Sinead Brown, a school friend of Donna's, was inspired to set up the page after her own sister Claire died last year leaving behind two children.

"Caolan was very much the apple of his mummy's eye, her one and only," she said.

"My niece and my nephew are still, over a year on, finding it hard to cope with losing their mum. So I can just imagine how Caolan's feeling right now. And Donna's brothers too.

Everybody is there for Caolan and that's all we can do."

Sinead said she was amazed by the fundraising response.

"My phone has been going haywire for a week, with money still coming through. We've had donations from New York, Cork, Scotland and people who don't even know Caolan but are heartbroken for him and his family." Remembering her friend, she said: "Donna was funny, smiling always, I remember her giggle when we were teenagers. She was full of life and so loving. She helped out with others and was always there for them, especially her younger cousins who were in school with us."

Fr Martin McGill from Sacred Heart Church conducted Donna's funeral service.

"From the time of the wake, and when Donna was in hospital in intensive care it would have been very clear that there was huge community support for the family, who were very well regarded," he said.

"At the funeral itself it was standing room only. So to hear so much money has been raised doesn't come as a major surprise."

As a regular at the church he remembers her as "full of life, very generous and very helpful."

Fr McGill said that what's been done for Caolan is testimony to his mum Donna.

"That whole thing of generosity would have been very much a part of her life."

Fr McGill added: "It's a difficult thing for any of us when we lose a parent, especially a mother - it can be really difficult. But for Caolan, when his GCSE results are coming through and he's going to school and he has to come to terms with that, that's not easy at all. But I would say there's very strong family support."

Following her death, Donna's organs were donated to help others.

"It's a hugely difficult thing whenever we lose a loved one in those sad, sudden circumstances," said Fr McGill. "But through the organ donations there can be such a benefit to others as well."

SDLP councillor for Oldpark, Paul McCusker, commended the fundraising.

"I was really saddened to hear of the death of Donna and it sent a shockwave across north Belfast. The way the community and her old school friends have rallied together has been totally amazing and it just shows you that although in north Belfast we often hear negative stories, this tragic story shows the real meaning of community."

"Young Caolan of course is going through a tough time and having support from the community is very important, to show people do care and will be there to help him."

A sympathy notice from Donna's son Caolan on August 17 read: "My heart feels only sadness when someone speaks your name, because I'll never hear your voice or see your face again. But dearly I still love you for headaches have no end, in losing you dear mummy, I lost my dearest friend Donna. Love you loads."
Mairtin O Muilleoir has so far resisted pressure to temporarily step down

A Stormont scrutiny committee has called on Northern Ireland's Finance Minister to stand aside pending the outcome of a probe into a party colleague's backchannel contact with an inquiry witness.

Mairtin O Muilleoir has so far resisted pressure to temporarily step down in the wake of the controversy that forced the resignation of Daithi McKay, a former Sinn Fein chairman of the Assembly's Finance Committee.

That committee broke from summer recess to hold an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss the furore around Mr McKay's handling of its inquiry into allegations of impropriety around Northern Ireland's largest ever property deal.

Mr McKay apologised and quit as an Assembly member last week after admitting "inappropriate" communication with loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson ahead of his appearance before the committee.

Private messages were exchanged between Mr Bryson and the Twitter accounts of Mr McKay and Sinn Fein party worker Thomas O'Hara. Both republicans have been suspended by Sinn Fein.

The contacts were made before the loyalist made explosive claims to the finance committee about the efforts of Ireland's bank for bad loans - the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) - to sell its huge Northern Ireland portfolio to US investors.

Mr Bryson went before the committee to allege that former Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson was set to benefit from the 1.2 billion transaction - a claim the then Democratic Unionist first minister vehemently denied.

The Twitter messages published in the press last week made reference to Mr O Muilleoir - then a member of the finance committee - indicating how he might intervene during the evidence session involving Mr Bryson.

While Mr O Muilleoir has insisted he had no knowledge of the backchannel, and Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has given him his full backing, during Tuesday's hastily convened committee hearing a number of members questioned the Finance Minister's denials.

A majority of members voted to send a letter to the minister asking him to stand down from his ministerial role while an investigation by the Assembly's Commissioner for Standards takes place.

The sole Sinn Fein member present at the hearing - Caitriona Ruane - voted against the move.

DUP committee chair Emma Pengelly said the minister should temporarily leave office to ensure public confidence.

"Any request for the Finance Minister to step aside is not a judgement as to whether he is guilty of any allegation," she said.

Mrs Pengelly added: "Ultimately this is a request for him to step aside from the committee - it will be a decision for him. I think there is much for him to reflect on."

The committee also agreed to call Mr O Muilleoir to come before members to answer questions.

The 2014 deal between Nama and US investment giant Cerberus has been dogged by controversy after 7 million linked to it was found in an Isle of Man bank account.

Critics have claimed the arrangement included multimillion-pound fixer fees.

Nama was established in the Republic of Ireland at the height of the financial crisis to take property-linked loans off the books of bailed-out banks.

It sold 800 Northern Ireland-based property loans to Cerberus, a multibillion-pound fund.

All parties involved in the transaction have denied wrongdoing.

Mrs Ruane said Mr O Muilleoir had done nothing wrong.

She claimed the committee had no remit to investigate the conduct of Assembly members and accused fellow members of treading on the territory of Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain.

"I won't be supporting writing to the Finance Minister asking him to resign - he has done nothing wrong," she said.

"He has been very open and accountable in relation to what he has said."

The Sinn Fein MLA was the minister's lone defender at the committee table, as other members took it in turn to question his position.

DUP member Jim Wells said there was a "cloud of doubt" hanging over his denials.

He said Mr O Muilleoir had been Sinn Fein's "star performer" when it came to questioning witnesses before the Nama inquiry.

"It is absolutely unbelievable and inconceivable that the lead person who was questioning the Nama witnesses was unaware of what the previous chair was up to," he said.

Referencing Watergate, the MLA added: "The question is what did he know and when did he know it?"

Ulster Unionist member Philip Smith said a wider inquiry was required which went beyond Mr Bain's investigation of Mr McKay.

"There's an awful lot more that needs to be investigated and discussed here rather than just who saw what tweet or who was involved in particular Twitter conversations," he said.

The SDLP's Gerry Mullan said the public did not believe Sinn Fein's insistence that Mr McKay was acting as a lone wolf.

"The actions of Sinn Fein during a committee investigation has impacted in a major negative way in public perception and public confidence in the whole political process and I think there does need to be serious clarity and there are a number of serious questions that do need to be answered," he said.

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister described the revelations as "appalling", but said the controversy could not be used by the DUP to "bury" the committee's inquiry report on the Nama sale.

"I believe you would not be justified in burying it or putting it in the bin," he said.

"These are atrocious things that happened and should not have happened but some are very anxious to throw the baby out with the bathwater on this issue."

After the hearing, Mr McGuinness again made clear he had total confidence in Mr O Muilleoir.

"Mairtin O Muilleoir enjoys my full support as Finance Minister and he will not be stepping aside on the basis of calls from opposition parties, much less calls from the DUP," he said.

Mr O Muilleoir also issued an emphatic statement making clear he would not be leaving his post.

"There is no basis for me to step aside as Finance Minister and I have no absolutely intention of doing so," he said.
Mitchell Bertram, who was killed by the IRA

Mitchell Bertrams mother Catherine unveils a memorial bench in her home village of Cramlington in Northumberland

A mother has unveiled a moving tribute to her beloved son - fulfilling a wish to preserve his memory 30 years after he was murdered by the IRA.

Mitchell Bertram was just 20 when he was killed by a roadside bomb near Crossmaglen.

A soldier with the Royal Anglian Regiment, he had been in the Army for two years and was on his second posting to Northern Ireland.

It was a loss which his heartbroken mother Catherine never got over.

Now almost 70, she wanted a permanent memorial to her son and Carl Davies, a second soldier killed in the attack.

Unable to pay for it herself, Catherine launched an online campaign, and was stunned by the public's response.

After donations piled in, quickly meeting her 1,400 target, she was able to unveil a memorial bench at the weekend in her home village of Cramlington, near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

"It will be nice, when I'm not here, for people to remember him," she said.

Mitchell and his friend Carl died in the IRA attack on July 9, 1986.

The bomb had been placed in a vehicle abandoned close to an Army observation post at Ballsmill, about 400 metres from the border.

The 700lb device was detonated by remote control as four members of an Army patrol were examining it.

Mitchell and Carl were killed and two others were injured.

In a cruel twist of fate, Mitchell died on the day he was due to return home on leave.

His family had been preparing a party to celebrate his 21st birthday.

But at the last minute he had been asked to stay and help with the task of maintaining security around the observation posts.

Catherine added: "It devastated the family. I miss him every day."

With this year marking the 30th anniversary, Catherine wanted to do something to ensure the memory of her son and his comrade would live on.

She settled on erecting a bench similar to one she had seen dedicated to another soldier from her son's regiment who had died.

But, unable to pay for the 1,400 cost herself, she had to try and raise the money.

She was stunned when donations came flooding in after her heartbreaking story featured in the pages of the local newspaper, the Newcastle Chronicle.

The bench, decorated with poppies and the figures of soldiers, was unveiled on Sunday.

It includes the words "both gone too soon" and acknowledges that the bench was funded through generous donations from the public.

Family, friends and Mitchell's former comrades from the Royal Anglian Regiment travelled up to the Northumberland village to pay their respects.

They included Kevin Clark and Danny Feve, who were caught up in the bomb.

Catherine added: "It really chokes me up when I think of all these people coming all this way and that they hold him in such high regard."

She added: "I just want to thank everybody."

Catherine visits her son's grave regularly. She will be there next Monday to mark what would have been his 51st birthday.

Carl Davies, the second victim, was 24 and was on his third tour of duty in Northern Ireland.

He was married to a woman from Londonderry and, at the time, it was reported that the couple were expecting their second child a week after he was killed.
Gates commemorating two IRA men at the entrance of a GAA club at the centre of a bitter funding row are to be moved, it has been claimed.

But members at the Oisin's Glenariff GAA have quit in protest, a councillor said on Facebook.

Causeway Coast and Glens Council voted in May to allocate 180,000 to the Friends of Glenariff group to build what was described as a shared community space in the grounds of the GAA club.

The names of IRA men Charlie McAllister and Pat McVeigh - who were killed in 1922, seven months before the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty - are displayed on the gates that lead into the grounds, where the community centre is planned.

Within days, the DUP group on the council called the decision in - a mechanism similar to a veto that forces a legal review - after objecting to the plan.

The decision and funding were frozen while a barrister considers the matter. Tonight the council is set to examine the legal opinion.

Former Sinn Fein councillor Noreen McAllister has claimed the DUP opposed the funding due to the names of the IRA men on the gates, accusing the party of a "vile abuse of power" and "sectarianism".

Last week the club met to vote on a proposal by Friends of Glenariff to remove the gates "in order to advance their funding application".

Writing on her Facebook page, Ms McAllister wrote: "Now the community are told that there was a secret vote taken about relocating these gates and the majority of the votes were in agreement to remove the gates and relocate them to a place where they aren't going to be seen, as I said this is my opinion.

"Unfortunately this has now caused some members resigning from the club and has left a very bitter taste in a lot of the people here in Glenariffe, me included."

DUP councillor Trevor Clarke said that in May the Leisure and Development Committee had considered a plan for a fund to develop leisure and recreation facilities. "On the same agenda there came through an application to that fund by Friends of Glenariff for 180,000," he said.

He added that one reason for opposing the proposal was the lack of robust guidelines for handing the funding out.

"We also felt the process was unfair because by bringing the application from Friends of Glenariff forward ahead of any other call for expression of interest in the funding was placing that applicant at an unfair advantage.

"The third count was on the fact that the centre on which the facility was to be redeveloped is on the grounds of a gated entrance bearing the names of two IRA terrorists from the 1920s.

"On those three grounds we objected - it was not just about the names, although the names obviously are a problem."

No-one from the club could be contacted for comment.
A father-of-two who beat a man so badly that six metal plates had to be inserted into the victim's face has been jailed for the "unprovoked" drunken attack

A father-of-two who beat a man so badly that six metal plates had to be inserted into the victim's face has been jailed for the "unprovoked" drunken attack.

James Arthur Jelley was one of two men who attacked the victim in the High Street area of Belfast on April 17, 2014.

The 46-year old, from Bloomfield Road in Belfast, received a six year sentence and Judge Gordon Kerr QC said he will serve half the sentence in prison, with the remaining three years on supervised licence upon his release.

Belfast Crown Court heard that despite being found guilty by a jury of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to the injured man, Jelley continues to deny involvement and maintains he is innocent.

During the trial, which was held in June, the jury heard the attack took place outside Office shoe shop at around tea-time.

Prior to the assault, the injured man and his two attackers had been drinking in the same bar, but did not know each other.

As the victim stood with two women on the street, he was attacked by Jelley and a co-accused, who has since died.

Several onlookers witnessed the assault, during which the victim was repeatedly punched in the face and kicked in the head.

One woman who saw the incident told the jury how Jelley and the co-attacker punched and kicked the victim up to 10 times, then proceeded to stamp on his head while he lay bleeding on the ground.

Another witness said that prior to the man falling to the ground, he was punched so hard in the face that when his head banged off one of Office's windows, he thought the force was going to shatter the glass.

As a result of the attack, the injured man underwent a four-hour operation during which six metal plates were inserted into his cheeks and face. He also had teeth broken in the incident, and needed his jaw wired.

During yesterday's sentencing, Crown barrister Rosemary Walsh said the victim remains "at a complete loss as to why he was attacked so viciously."

Ms Walsh also revealed that Jelley appeared before the court with more than 150 previous criminal convictions.

Following the attack Jelley and his co-attacker boarded a bus. A passenger recalled seeing Jelley wiping blood from his hands, and from his trainers.

When he was arrested, Jelley denied involvement - and over two years later, still does.

Defence barrister Denis Boyd, who represented Jelley during the trial, said his client suffered from depression and stress. He also spoke of an unsettled childhood, a poor education and dependency issues.

Branding the incident an "unprovoked attack on someone because of drink", Judge Kerr spoke of the use of both fists and feet on the victim.
Terminally-ill man Kevin Carey, who was given just three months to live, has started his pioneering brain cancer therapy.

More than 235,000 has been raised to help Kevin Carey in his brave battle against an aggressive brain tumour.

The 35-year-old Portglenone man's last hope is pioneering immunotherapy treatment, which costs 205,000 and is only available privately.

The therapy teaches the immune system to find and attack the brain cancer cells.

An update on the GoFundMe website on Tuesday read: "Kevin was able to start the first part of his treatment today! This is such wonderful news, and afterwards we are allowed to head back home! Kevin is so relieved, and so grateful to start treatment!

"We also sincerely appreciate how kind London has been to us, but we are really looking forward to getting back home at some point this week! Kevin is feeling well, he's getting stronger each day, but still tires very quickly.

"Kevin is very determined but knows he has a long road ahead of him. Thank you to everyone for all your help, support, kindness, generosity and love - we feel every bit of it."

Kevin's family said they were "overwhelmed and truly grateful" by the incredible response to their appeal.

"This campaign has helped raise awareness of brain tumours and the devastating effect it has on the entire community. All funds will be used to help Kevin in his fight and the ongoing fight against brain tumours," they wrote on Facebook.

Kevin was on a trip to Portstewart in July last year with his wife Natasha when he became unwell and suddenly took a number of seizures. He was rushed to hospital where he was misdiagnosed with sudden onset epilepsy.

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But after the couple arranged their own MRI scan, Kevin, a former GAA player, was given the devastating diagnosis of glioblastoma - an aggressive grade four terminal brain tumour.

He underwent gruelling treatment involving major brain surgery in September last year. This was followed by six weeks of radio-chemotherapy, then six months of full strength chemotherapy to blast the last remaining cancer cells.

In June this year, medics told the couple the treatment had worked and to book a holiday. However, days before they were to jet off Kevin fell ill again, and a year to the day he was first diagnosed, Kevin was given the heartbreaking news that the treatment hadn't worked.

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Last month Kevin was given three months to live.

Describing that moment, Natasha said it felt "like someone had put a pin on our world so it stopped spinning".

However, the couple refused to give up without a fight.

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Appealing for help, Natasha said: "I want Kevin to know he is not alone in this fight for his life. Please help Kevin fight this brain tumour in anyway you can."

Within the space of four days more than 6,600 people donated money to the Kevin Carey Fight Against Brain Tumour fundraising page.

Fundraising events have also been held across Northern Ireland.
Ricky Devine-McGinley (2) died after a freak accident at the home of a close relative in Donegal on Saturday at around 1pm, gardai confirmed

An Irish toddler who died after choking on a piece of toast will be buried tomorrow.

Ricky Devine-McGinley (2) died after a freak accident at the home of a close relative in Donegal on Saturday at around 1pm, gardai confirmed.

He was rushed to Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) where he passed away a short time later.

Ricky, of Moyle Hill in Milford, was the only son of Gerard McGinley and Ceara Devine.

It is believed a post-mortem was carried out yesterday at LUH and his remains will be removed from there later today.

The Garda said it is aware of the incident, but the death is not being investigated.

Ricky will be laid to rest tomorrow at 11am in Milford.

Local priest Fr Adrian Gavigan told the Donegal Democrat that Ricky's parents have been left devastated.

"A terrible tragedy has fallen on the parish and the whole community," he told the newspaper.
Prominent north Belfast dissident republican Dee Fennell - who is currently awaiting trial on terrorist charges - has had his bail conditions changed to allow him to holiday in Donegal.

The 34-year old, from Torrens Avenue, made an application to Belfast Crown Court to amend his bail conditions this week.

He is due to stand trial later this year on three charges arising from a speech he gave last Easter at a graveyard in Lurgan during a 1916 Commemoration event.

Fennell has been accused of encouraging acts of terrorism, inviting support for the IRA and addressing a meeting to encourage support for the IRA.

All three offences are dated April 5, 2015 and all fall under the Terrorism Act 2000. He has denied all three charges.

During yesterday's application, Judge Gordon Kerr QC was told the Crown was opposed to the variation by a prosecution barrister who said that whilst awaiting trial on terrorist offences, Fennell "has been arrested, questioned and reported" on suspicion of murder and membership of a proscribed organisation.

Although no details of Fennell's arrest were mentioned during the bail application, it is understood to relate to the murder of Ardoyne taxi driver Michael McGibbon. The 34-year old father of four died from gunshots he sustained in a shooting in an alleyway in north Belfast in April.

Telling the court that his client "has not been charged with the murder", Fennell's solicitor Peter Corrigan asked for the bail variation to allow him to go to Donegal on holiday for a week. Mr Corrigan said: "He has been on bail for a significant period without breaching his conditions."

Mr Corrigan said that if bail was granted, his client would adhere to any requirements, such as reporting to gardai, adding: "He is not going to abscond."

Opposing the variation, the prosecution barrister said that two of Fennell's current bail conditions are that he lives in Belfast, and reports to the PSNI three times a week.

Saying the accused was currently facing trial for terrorist offences, the barrister said that "in the interim period" between bail being granted and Fennell awaiting trial, he had been arrested and questioned for murder.

Judge Kerr said that whilst he understand the Crown's concerns, he would grant the variation after a cash surety of 2,000 was lodged.

The judge ordered that Fennell report to the Garda in Donegal twice this week, and also asked that both the house number and phone number of the cottage where Fennell is staying be provided to police.
Sharon Shoesmith, the social worker from Newtownabbey at the centre of the Baby P scandal, has said that being blamed for the child's death pushed her close to suicide.

Ms Shoesmith was head of Haringey Council Children's Services in north London in 2007 when 17-month-old Peter Connelly was beaten to death.

Baby P suffered more than 50 injuries from Steven Barker, his mother's partner and his paedophile brother Jason Owen.

A highly public sacking of Ms Shoesmith followed, after a report exposed serious failings in her department.

In her new book - Learning from Baby P - she said the public backlash, which included relentless tabloid criticism and thousands of abusive messages from strangers, led her to consider taking her own life.

"I remain anxious someone is going to come at me," she explained in an interview with the Guardian.

Despite the public outrage, she refused to quit her post at the time, insisting that it would have confirmed her direct responsibility.

But she was unprepared to handle her sacking live on television by the former Labour secretary Ed Balls.

"I was frozen to the spot for a long time.

"That was the point of absolute shock, mental and physical horror that took years to overcome," she said.

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A colleague advised her there was "no way back from this", telling her to change her name and start all over again.

But she insisted: "Having spent a lifetime working for children, I was unable to countenance being held responsible for the murder of a child.

"My resignation would most certainly have signified personal responsibility, and the many distortions of what had been reported in the media would remain unchallenged.

"I was being invited to take the blame, or be the scapegoat for the killing of Peter Connelly, presented as my 'public accountability'."

There is an acceptance now that she will forever be associated with Peter Connolly's death in the public eye.

"I do not have a choice really. It's what I have to live with," she said.

After being sacked without compensation, she launched a judicial review for unfair dismissal in March 2009, winning two years later.

The ruling said she was "entitled to be treated lawfully and fairly, and not summarily scapegoated" and that Ed Balls denied her "elementary fairness".

Despite the victory, she said the strain of the case meant: "I was starting to lose my grip on reality."

She speaks of crossing the street to see familiar faces, only to realise they were strangers.

"When you lose it all at once, your brain is searching out familiarity," she explained.

Her book is based on her PhD at Birkbeck University, an endeavour she started after becoming virtually unemployable.

She criticises the so-called 'Baby P effect' that followed the media storm, with a claim that 20,000 extra children a year have been taken into care by social workers since 2008, something she calls a huge over reaction.

Tabloids say the new book is a cash-in on the scandal. But she says she received no advance and any royalties will be spent raising awareness of child homicides.

She admits some satisfaction at the fall from grace of one of her accusers, former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks, but is more understanding of Ed Balls.

"He had the whole of Labour's social policy for a decade on his shoulders. I can see where he was coming from," she said.
Penny Lawrence, deputy chief executive of Oxfam GB, said the UK Government 'is in denial and disarray over its arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen' (Oxfam/PA)

Oxfam will today accuse ministers of being in "denial and disarray" over the selling of arms to Saudi Arabia for potential use in Yemen's bloody civil war.

Fighting in the country pits the Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, against Shiite Yemeni rebels.

The UK Government has faced repeated calls to impose a ban on the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia amid concerns that international humanitarian law (IHL) could be being broken in the conflict.

Its apparent reluctance to do so has prompted Oxfam to claim the Government has switched from being an "enthusiastic backer" of the Arms Trade Treaty to "one of the most significant violators".

The treaty, of which the UK is a signatory, seeks to regulate the international weapons trade.

The charity will use the second conference of states party to the treaty in Geneva on Tuesday to attack the Government's stance.

Penny Lawrence, deputy chief executive of Oxfam GB, will say: "UK arms and military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect.

"Schools, hospitals and homes have been bombed in contravention of the rules of war.

"The UK government is in denial and disarray over its arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen.

"It has misled its own parliament about its oversight of arms sales and its international credibility is in jeopardy as it commits to action on paper but does the opposite in reality.

"How can the Government insist that others abide by a treaty it helped set up if it flagrantly ignores it?"

Earlier this year the Government said it was confident that Saudi Arabia's intervention in the country did meet the terms of IHL.

However, it later corrected those statements and said assessments to verify such a claim had not been undertaken but insisted the original statements resulted from error and were not a deliberate attempt to mislead MPs.

Oxfam estimates that there are more than 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen - more people than any other country in the world.

The UN has estimated that more than 6,000 people have lost their lives in the war while millions have had to leave their homes.

Concerns have been expressed about the way in which the conflict is being fought on both sides, but the UN has estimated that the Saudi-led coalition is responsible for twice as many civilian casualties as the other forces combined.

A Government spokeswoman said: "The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world.

"The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK's export licensing criteria.

"The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to international humanitarian law (IHL) is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of IHL. The situation is kept under careful and continual review."

Colonel Bob Stewart, a Tory MP and member of the Defence Committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that mistakes may have been made by the Saudis in the past but operations have improved.

He said: "All I can say is what I have seen with my own eyes. I have been in Riyadh, three or four months ago, and I went to the air operations centre.

"I reckon they have made some mistakes and have breached in the past but I can tell you this: Having been to the air operations centre in Riyadh and talked to the pilots and the commanders and talked to the British personnel that are actually in that operations centre, things have been really tightened up."

He added: "The Saudis are extremely conscious that they shouldn't breach such treaties and they are doing their level best to sort it out."

But Sally Copley, director of policy and campaigns for Oxfam, told the same programme that there is "so much evidence" of IHL being breached that "I don't know where to start".

She said: "If the Saudis really are extremely aware and concerned about it as Colonel Stewart says I think they need to stop doing it."
The Duke of Cambridge has claimed that the "depth" of Britain's friendship with Germany will not change after Brexit.

William, who was speaking at a gala in Dusseldorf alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that the relationship with the region and country would not weaken.

"In short, what began 70 years ago as a relationship of necessity between an occupying power and a region in ruin, is today a partnership of genuine friendship and of massive mutual benefit.

"This partnership will continue despite Britain's recent decision to leave the European Union. The depth of our friendship with Germany and with North Rhine-Westphalia will not change."

The Duke, who was speaking at the Tonhalle, added: "Bilaterally and internationally we will continue together to lead efforts to promote prosperity, security and stability in the world."

William was visiting the German city to mark the anniversary of the making of the state which was created by the British military government in 1946 after the Second World War.

"Operation Marriage" merged the regions of North Rhine, part of the largely Catholic Rhineland, and the predominantly Protestant Westphalia.

A close link between Britain and the North Rhine-Westphalia state has endured since, partially thanks to the continued military presence.

It was the first time that the Duke had met Mrs Merkel.

They shook hands on a red carpet to a band playing Let It Go from the film Frozen at the Tonhalle.

Earlier in the day, William met members of the British Forces Germany (BFG) who are stationed in the region.

He watched a BFG military parade with the region's minister, President Hannelore Kraft, who presented the federal state's highest honour - the Fahnenband - to the Brigade.

William revealed that he wished he had served in Germany to a member of the 20th Armoured Brigade.

He told Andy Thorne, deputy chief of staff at the HQ of the BFG who has been stationed in Germany for 10 years, that he "wished" he had been given the opportunity to be based in the country.

Thorne said the Duke commented "I never had the opportunity to serve in Germany" but was sorry not to have done so.

The Duke also posed for a photograph with a young boy who was trying to sneakily take a picture without his father seeing.

Ethan Wicks, 12, had been instructed by his father Captain Ian Wicks, who is based in Germany and was the parade commander, to keep his phone away.

But when the Duke spotted Ethan trying to be subtle, he asked "would you like a proper one?" and posed for a photo.

"It was weird that I didn't ask for the photo and that he asked me," the 12-year-old said.
Scott Richards has been bailed (Detained in Dubai photo via AP)

A British-Australian man held in Dubai over a charge related to his promotion of a charity has been freed on bail, his supporters have said.

Scott Richards is back in his Dubai home with his family, according to Radha Stirling, of the advocacy group Detained in Dubai.

Stirling said no trial date has been set in Richards' case, which involves his advocacy for a charity buying tarps for those living in Charahi Qambar, a community of mud homes near Kabul, Afghanistan.

Richards' case appears to be the first prosecuted under a new Dubai law that regulates charities amid regional concerns about cash donations reaching extremists.

However, his supporters say the regulations can be applied to anyone wanting to do good by donating to international causes or even talking about them online.

AP
Police in Cyprus have asked authorities in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north to hand over two suspects in the killing of a British man and the serious wounding of another Briton in the island's coastal resort of Ayia Napa.

Turkish Cypriot official Hakki Celal Onen told The Associated Press the request would be considered after the two suspects, Mehmet Akpinar, 22, and Sali Ahmet, 42, have been tried in a Turkish Cypriot military court on charges of trespassing into a military area.

The trespassing charges stem from the two men allegedly crossing into the north at least twice from areas other than the seven checkpoints that regulate pedestrian and vehicular traffic through the 120-mile United Nations-controlled buffer zone that cuts across the island.

Cyprus police said the two suspects are believed to have fled to the north and out of their reach shortly after the August 14 fatal stabbing of George Low, a 22-year-old from Dartford and the serious wounding of another 22-year-old Briton Ben Barker. Police said the stabbings happened after the Britons got into a scuffle with one of their attackers.

Akpinar's 48-year-old Greek Cypriot girlfriend told police during questioning that Akpinar admitted to her that he and Ahmet committed the stabbings after scolding the two Britons for urinating in public.

Cyprus police are treating the stabbings as premeditated and attempted murder.

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since a 1974 Turkish invasion in the wake of a coup aiming at union with Greece. Authorities in the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south do not recognise and have no control over the north and cannot make arrests there.

Mr Onen, who heads the Turkish Cypriot half of a committee tasked with facilitating cooperation on criminal matters between the two sides, said Cyprus police misidentified the suspects as Turkish Cypriots.

He said Akpinar is a Turkish national and Ahmet is believed to be a Bulgarian national.

AP
A Hungarian member of the European Parliament has stirred controversy by suggesting that displaying pig heads on a border fence would be an efficient way to deter Muslim migrants from entering the country.

Gyorgy Schopflin, a member of ruling Hungarian Fidesz party, made the suggestion in response to criticism of local people who have placed carved root vegetable masks in the shape of human faces along the border, believing they would repel migrants from entering the EU-member country.

He said: "Human images are haram (religiously prohibited). But agree, pig's head would deter more effectively."

Muslims are barred from eating pork because pigs are considered unclean.

Over the weekend, Human Rights Watch director Andrew Stroehlein had written: "Refugees are fleeing war & torture, Hungary. Your root vegetable heads will not deter them."

In a follow-up tweet, Mr Stroehlein said: "Pig heads an ugly idea. Worse is reality of Hungary border abuses with violence against kids."

In comments to the Hungarian website mandiner.hu, Mr Schopflin said that the issue was a storm in a teacup.

"I did not humiliate anyone. I don't think it humiliates anyone if I say that the pig's head is haram, meaning that it is forbidden. This is certainly a statement of fact."

The vegetable heads along the border with Serbia were first reported by Hungarian media last week. There has reportedly been no effort by Hungarian police to remove them.

Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that migrants and refugees at Hungary's border with Serbia were being summarily forced back, in some cases violently.

Refugees, including many children, had been beaten with batons, attacked by guard dogs and sprayed by tear gas.

Hungarian officials said their attempts to stop the migrant wave, which reached more than one million people last year, is intended to defend Europe from mostly Muslims fleeing the war-torn Middle Eastern states.

AP
A painting of a landscape that was once valued at more than 10 million dollars (Bartlow Gallery Ltd via AP)

A federal judge in Chicago is set to issue a verdict in a peculiar civil trial over a celebrated Scottish-born artist's insistence that he did not paint a landscape work which was once valued at more than 10 million US dollars (7.6 million).

Some of Peter Doig's paintings have sold for more than 20 million dollars (15.3 million), and the owner of the disputed picture, a prison official from Canada, sued in the US court for millions in damages after its projected sales price nosedived after 57-year-old Doig denied it was his work.

The owner, Robert Fletcher, of Ontario, Canada, maintains that the painting of a desert landscape with giant red rocks and a receding pond, which he paid 100 dollars for in the 1970s, is by Doig. If it is not, according to one filing by Mr Fletcher's lawyers, "it is essentially worthless".

Authenticity disputes typically arise long after an artist dies; not, as in this case, when the artist is still alive and flatly denies a work is his. The oddity of such a dispute making it all the way to trial has drawn the interest of the wider art world.

After a week of hearing evidence, US District Judge Gary Feinerman said he would announce his verdict on Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed in Chicago because one auctioneer who had expressed interest in selling the painting is based in the city.

Mr Fletcher contends he bought the painting from Doig around 1976 - when he says the Scottish artist was serving a jail sentence for possessing LSD in Canada's Thunder Bay Correctional Centre, where Mr Fletcher was employed. It was long after he bought it that a friend saw it at his home and said it appeared to be by an internationally acclaimed artist.

Doig, who now lives in Trinidad, said he did not begin using the type of linen canvas the work in question is painted on until late 1979. He also told the court that he had never been imprisoned in Ontario or anywhere else in Canada.

Such a dispute would seem easily resolved with documentation, though Canadian prison and school records from that era were sometimes imprecise, lawyers in the case have said.

A key witness for Doig was a Canadian woman who told the court the painting is actually by her now-deceased brother, whose name was Peter Doige, with an "e", like the signature on the disputed work.

Meanwhile, Mr Fletcher's lawyers suggest Doig is denying the painting is his work because, if Mr Fletcher is right, it would link him to prison in his youth.

AP
At best, the nature and tone of the wider DUP-Sinn Fein relationship can be likened to a decidedly uncivil partnership, notwithstanding the apparent cordiality between Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness which, in retrospect, looks ever more like an aberration from the norm of mistrust and suspicion between the two parties. In the wake of the McKay-Bryson-O'Hara revelations, the dial is now firmly reset to the default position of mutual antipathy.

Is this merely another hiccup in the perennially fraught association between them? Or does the current controversy contain within it the potential to destabilise their relationship and with it the robustness of our devolved institutions?

To pose the latter question is to answer it: the DUP/Sinn Fein diarchy will survive, because both need our regime of self-government to be sustained - albeit for differing motives. So, it looks much more like a hiccup, a glitch in an imperfect set of working arrangements.

To date, two heads have rolled: those of Daithi McKay and Thomas O'Hara, while Jamie Bryson appears to have emerged largely unscathed - even invigorated - as he pursues his quest for a public inquiry into the simmering Nama affair.

However, the chorus from other parties for the Finance Minister, Sinn Fein's Mairtin O Muilleoir - a former member of the finance committee during the ongoing scrutiny of the Nama allegations - to step aside while the Assembly's commissioner for standards conducts his investigation into an alleged breach of standards by McKay, indicates that this episode has legs and may yet claim a further casualty.

We'll see. But, for one, I very much doubt it - not least in the light of O Mueilloir's blunt rejection that he had any knowledge of the exchanges between McKay, O'Hara and Bryson.

The standards commissioner, Douglas Bain, will - quite properly - take some time over his investigation; there will be no rush to judgment on his part.

While that gets under way, there are other avenues that will be explored by politicians and officials, including a review of the principles governing the relationship between the Assembly's committees and those witnesses they invite to supply both written and oral information and evidence to them.

That exercise is likely to embrace a number of committees, including that on standards and privileges, and, perhaps, the Assembly and Executive reform committee.

In addition, the chairpersons' liaison group, comprising the chairs of all of the Assembly's committees, is likely to be drawn into the process to add its weight to the widespread requirement that committee chairs, like Caesar's wife, are above reproach in their dealings with those who appear before them.

We can, then, expect a flurry of Assembly activity that focuses upon the integrity of its procedures and the conduct of committees, in particular.

MLAs are painfully aware of the low regard in which the general public views politicians and will strive to ensure that the damage caused by 'Brysongate' is managed in ways that minimise a further decline in public confidence in our political class.

The stakes, then, are high and this will have a pronounced effect on the finance committee as it reflects on the McKay affair and continues its probe into Nama. It, too, will be the subject of intense scrutiny as that investigation proceeds.

There is, then, a variety of levels at which the current imbroglio will play out. First, inter-party relations within the finance committee. These now are at a premium. Apart from anything else, the tone and temper of DUP-Sinn Fein exchanges between their respective members of the committee will be pored over as a barometer of the wider condition of their relationship.

Additionally, the committee will provide an opportunity for the official Opposition parties, the UUP and SDLP, to subject the two major parties to intense scrutiny and seek to exploit any apparent strain between them - aided, no doubt, by the committee's minor parties.

Secondly, the committee will be a microcosm of the wider state of relations between the governing duo on the one hand and, especially, the UUP and SDLP on the other.

Though in my view inadequately resourced, the formal Opposition needs to consider carefully whether they combine to develop a strategic approach in prosecuting their roles, or, rather, adopt a more modest posture by agreeing a series of shifting tactical coalitions issue by issue, policy by policy, as a means of embarrassing the joint Executive.

The McKay/Bryson revelations offer an early test of the resolve of the UUP and SDLP to co-operate in order to begin to develop an effective and efficient Opposition.

With the new Assembly term just a fortnight or so away, we won't have to wait long to assess whether they opt primarily for a tactical, or strategic, approach to their new-found formal status.

Of course, the tactical and strategic options are not mutually exclusive, but, rather, complement one another. Nevertheless, a detectable bias towards the latter would provide an important signal of the willingness of both Opposition parties to offer a cohesive and collective stance vis-a-vis Sinn Fein and the DUP, which could be to their mutual electoral advantage and, in the shorter run, re-animate the character and quality of Assembly proceedings.

Thirdly, the apparent incentive towards UUP-SDLP co-operation does, at the same time, lend some urgency to the need for the DUP and Sinn Fein to cleave more closely together in an albeit loveless political co-habitation.

It seems highly unlikely, indeed utterly remote, that the current controversy will lead to the demise of the diarchy: McKay's swift resignation as an MLA, coupled with the suspension of O'Hara and the, to date, measured response of the DUP leadership - Sammy Wilson aside - to the matter, indicates that it will be business more or less as usual for Arlene Foster and Martin McGuiness.

If anything, the First and deputy First Ministers may be even more strongly motivated to unveil a new agreed policy on one or more of the neuralgic issues that bedevil Northern Ireland, not least the past.

The final level that will play out is the wider condition of popular opinion towards our institutions in general and politicians in particular.

A mix of scepticism and cynicism is the dominant public mood and the ongoing controversy will do little - if anything - to temper it.

Yet, the manner in which it is managed and resolved does have relevance for the level of political confidence in our MLAs and the structures they inhabit.

They can ill-afford to mishandle this matter, else another brick will be added to the existing and high wall of public disaffection.

Dr Rick Wilford is professor of politics at the school of politics, international studies and philosophy at Queen's University, Belfast
Members of a bomb squad inspect the site of a car-bombing by suspected insurgents in Sungai Kolok, a district in the Thai Deep South province of Narathiwat, June 26, 2016.

Delegations representing Thailand and southern rebel groups will likely meet in Kuala Lumpur in early September to resume informal peace talks, well-placed sources on both sides told BenarNews.

The talks, aimed ultimately at ending a long-running separatist insurgency in the Thai Deep South, stalled nearly four months ago when the Thai side declined to sign off on ground rules or Terms of Reference (TOR) for future negotiations, according to the rebel side.

Sub-committees from both sides met in mid-August to discuss new terms, said the sources who declined to share more details.

Both technical teams made significant progress in the TOR discussion on 16/8/16 through a compromise approach, Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim, a spokesman for MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and factions, told BenarNews.

We are set to kick start the process formally soon, he said, adding that neighboring Malaysia, which has been brokering peace efforts in the Deep South, was to confirm the date of the next meeting in the Malaysian capital.

The meeting has tentatively been set for Sept. 1 or 2, Hafiz said.

A source within the Internal Security Operations Command, which oversees military operations across the Deep South, gave similar information.

After the sub-committees agreed on the TOR, next, there will be a full delegate talk, tentatively on Sept. 2. Malaysia will be the facilitator, the source told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.

They must stop inciting violence

In Bangkok on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who heads Thailands military government, told reporters that he had ordered officials to consider a date for talks with the rebels.

There is a tentative date and the security section is considering it... If [the dissidents] are sincere they must stop inciting violence and not use it to force Thailand to speed up talks, he said after a cabinet meeting at Government House.

When the talks faltered in late April, Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, the head of the Thai delegation, said a limited ceasefire had to be in place before Thailand could agree to the terms of reference.

The setback came days after a top Thai negotiator, Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, who had been involved in the peace process since it began in 2013 under a civilian-led government, was removed from his role in current informal talks.

Meanwhile, lethal bombings and roadside shootings blamed on insurgents have continued. Deadly bombings rocked areas frequented by tourists in Thailands upper south on Aug. 11-12, and officials have linked those attacks to at least 20 people from the Deep South.

The last round of official peace talks, which started before the junta seized power two years ago, petered out after Hassan Bin Toyib, the lead negotiator of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most heavily armed of the southern rebel groups, appeared in an online video in December 2013. In it, he listed a set of rebel demands, including that the Thai government recognize the sovereignty of the Patani Malay Nation  a reference to

Thailands predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region, otherwise known as the Deep South.

Thailands Deep South encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces, and four districts of Songkhla. A separatist insurgency has simmered in the Deep South since the 1960s. Since it reignited in 2004, more than 6,500 people have been killed.

Pessimistic

The bombings that killed four at tourist hotspots earlier this month occurred days after a majority of Thais voted in favor of a new constitution that would cement military control over Thailands political institutions and usher in general election sometime next year.

At least 60 percent of people who cast ballots across the Deep South voted against the charter.

Even if the two sides meet, I am really pessimistic, Zachary Abuza, an expert on the Deep South and professor at the National War College in Washington, told BenarNews on Tuesday.

The charter that was just approved in that shambolic referendum, completely precludes any devolution of power or regional autonomy. The enshrinement of Buddhist nationalism is, furthermore, an anathema to the interests of the Malay community, he said, adding, The Thai military's position has always been to degrade the insurgency to the point that they could ascribe the violence to mere criminality without having to make any significant concessions in a peace process.

Rapee Mama in Narathiwat, Thailand and Imran Vittachi in Washington contributed to this report.
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Von: Antje Schippmann

In Azerbaijan, critical voices, including that of journalist Gunel Movlud, are silenced by particularly perfidious means.

Gunel Movlud writes about what is not openly discussed in her country: domestic violence, sexual harassment, abortion, self-determination. These issues are taboo and considered harmful in Azerbaijans conservative society. And for this reason Movlud is being blackmailed and threatened and had to leave her home country in fear. Freedom House ranks the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan as not free. There is no free broadcaster or newspaper, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. In Reporters without Borders ranking, the country occupies place 163 of 180.

However, Azerbaijan is an oil-rich and lucrative trade partner for Germany and strategically well-located. There is hardly any official criticism of President Ilham Aliyevs methods of ruling.

Brave women such as Gunel Movlud pay the price for the Wests cronyism with despots like the President of Azerbaijan. BILD talked to the journalist about her work and the methods employed to silence her.

Movlud has a degree in theatre arts and began writing in 2002. She remembers that the repression started when she was hired by the broadcasting station Meydan TV in 2013.

Psychological terror with fake nude pictures

Letters with fake nude pictures were sent to her and her relatives. Azerbaijan is a very traditional, Islamic country. There are no sexual freedoms here, said Gunel Movlud. For women, this form of blackmailing is therefore dangerous and psychologically extremely stressful.

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When she received death threats soon afterwards, she left the country. She could not say whether these came from the authorities or from individual persons.

When she was in exile and out of reach, the regime focused on her family instead, the journalist tells BILD. About a year ago, a round of dismissals began.

Almost all of her relatives who worked in public service have lost their jobs since then, even the members of her husbands family.

Her father  once employed by a research laboratory  signed his discharge papers on 10 November after his supervisor had received a call from officials in the capital telling him that Movluds father had to go.

Both brothers arrested, renounced by her mother

The next blow came in October last year. Both of her brothers  family fathers and simple workers who have nothing to do with politics  were arrested. The official reason was the possession of drugs, but it was clear to the family that the arrests were politically motivated. It was collective punishment for Gunels work. Six months later, the brothers were committed to house arrest.

After her sons arrest, Gunel Movluds mother publicly renounced her daughter  probably hoping that the government would finally leave her family alone.

Pressure was also put on the families of other journalists working for exile broadcaster Meydan TV. The families subsequently distanced themselves from those journalists. After the brother-in-law of Meydan TV founder, Emin Milli, was arrested in June (also due to the alleged possession of drugs), 23 family members declared that they had nothing to do with Milli. The parents of Rasul Mursalov  who was once a political prisoner  renounced him in September.

Just one day after her mothers renouncement, Gunel Movlud published a charge: why do you condemn me, someone who writes about human rights, when the regime is imprisoning your sons?

She wrote that none of her relatives understood that she and her colleagues were not to blame for the arrests or repressions.

The blame lies not only with the police officers who planted the drugs on her brothers, or the judges who convicted them, but also with the people who accused honest persons instead of the regime.

I see two guilty sides: the regime that brutally cracks down on innocent people and those who remain silent when their rights are violated.

Systematic collective punishment

The charge of possessing drugs consists of false, fabricated accusations, said Giorgi Gogia, Director of Human Rights Watch in the South Caucasus region, to BILD.

Considering that Azerbaijan has a history of using drug-related charges to imprison and silence the government critics, these arrests fit squarely in this practice.

Gogia said that there are certain patterns of harassment and pressure exertion by the Azerbaijani authorities against human rights activists  both in the country and in exile.

Besides direct punishments, families are also targeted, threatened and intimidated, dismissed from their jobs, or arrested.

As for using private life to intimidate the activists, this has been a persistent problem in Azerbaijan, said Gogia, both against male and female journalists.

The first time a blackmailing became known was in March 2012, when the investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova went public about photos and a threat that she had received.

She was filmed with hidden cameras while having sex. Three stills were sent to her. The attached note said: Behave yourself, you slut. Or you will be disgraced.

However, Khadija refused to be intimidated and wrote about the incident.

This did not deter the perpetrators to publish her intimate photos and a video taken in her own bedroom, said Gogia.

Government-friendly media spread libelous articles about her private life. An entire smear campaign was launched against the journalist.

Exile broadcaster is persecuted harshly

The journalists of Meydan TV, in particular, are at the heart of this intimidation campaign. According to HRW, at least 15 proceedings are currently being conducted by Baku authorities. At least seven journalists are banned from travelling.

Reporters without Borders has supported Meydan TV from the start, as Christian Mihr, German Director of the organization supporting the freedom of the press, told BILD.

The broadcasters development is one of the most impressive I have ever seen in an exile medium. Three years ago, Emin Milli came into our office, one day after he had been released from prison, and said: I want to do television. He created out of nothing one of Azerbaijans most influential web TV broadcasters, explains Mihr.

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According to him, the reporters do intelligent, journalistic work. Meydan TV is not an activist broadcaster. Its staff report objectively and inform about things going wrong. This gained them pragmatic success in the country, but they are also suffering from severe repression by the regime  even in exile.

In the end, it is proof of their quality that the government reacts so extremely to their work. But the methods of repression are sometimes really sinister.

This is sexualized violence

According to Mihr, the Azerbaijani regime is rather unique in its methods.

There is no widespread traditional censorship of contents, but a more subtle form of control: The journalists are denounced, exposed to social and domestic pressure. In the end, this is more effective than traditional censorship.

He also knows about some cases of intimate photographs. These gender-specific means against female journalists are nothing but sexualized violence.

Lesen Sie auch

No hope for her country

Even now, in exile, Gunel Movlud is concerned about her and her childs safety every day. Every day she thinks about quitting, she told BILD. But she continues to write. My biggest fear is to be silenced. For me, that would be like professional suicide.

She has no hope for Azerbaijan. In particular, the attitude of large parts of society and the increasing religiousness scare her.

The authoritarian regime could fall at any time, but the dictatorship of the mentality and the rule of uncertainty will remain. And you can feel them every day: society and its rigid ideas deeply penetrate peoples lives.




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.

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For Immediate Release, August 23, 2016 Contact: Steve Jones, (415) 305-3866, sjones@biologicaldiversity.org Analysis: Burning Unleased Fossil Fuels in Gulf of Mexico

Would Release 33 Billion Tons of Greenhouse Gas Pollution Burning Oil, Gas From U.S. Offshore Leasing Could Push Global

Temperatures Past Caps Set by Scientists, Nations NEW ORLEANS Burning the fossil fuels under unleased federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico would release the equivalent of up to 32.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere  the pollution equivalent of running 9,500 coal-fired power plants for a year, according to a new analysis by EcoShift Consulting and a coalition of conservation and community-based groups. Todays report recommends ending new fossil fuel leasing in the Gulf to help limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the global goal set by nearly 200 nations in Paris last year. Instead the Obama administration has proposed to significantly expand offshore oil and gas leasing in the Gulf, with a final decision on its nationwide plan for 2017-2022 expected by the end of the year. The report, Critical Gulf: The Vital Importance of Ending Fossil Fuel Leasing in the Gulf of Mexico, comes as Gulf groups and national environmental organizations are in the middle of Another Gulf Is Possible, a series of events highlighting the oil industrys devastating impacts on Gulf communities and other systems of oppression and exploitation. The events unite racial, social and environmental-justice movements to voice opposition to the next federal offshore lease sale on Aug. 24, which follows devastating flooding from an extreme storm that is likely to become more common in Louisiana as the climate changes. The gathering began with a march Saturday in New Orleans and will include more events in the coming days. We cant address climate change while expanding drilling the Gulf. This report shows that new oil and gas leasing in the Gulf would be a carbon bomb that will deepen our climate crisis, said Kristen Monsell, oceans attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. President Obama needs to align his energy and climate policies before leaving office, starting in the Gulf. The Gulf already accounts for about 96 percent of all offshore oil and gas production in federal waters in the United States, the report documents, and the region is suffering from increasingly severe storms, rising seas displacing people, saltwater intrusion, and a wide range of environmental-justice impacts, from health problems in communities of color near refineries to a fishing industry hurt by frequent oil spills. Ending new leasing in the Gulf would be an important step toward keeping a vast majority of fossil fuel reserves in the ground, as climate scientists have called for, and creating a just transition to renewable energy for Gulf communities. South Louisiana flooded last week because our atmosphere is warm and holds moisture. We are getting repeated wake up calls and yet we stay asleep, said Anne Rolfes, founding director of Louisiana Bucket Brigade. The time is now  this moment  to end this leasing once and for all and keep this oil where it belongs: in the Gulf of Mexico, beneath the ground." Developing the entire Gulf of Mexicos fossil fuel resources would nearly double the greenhouse gas pollution of all fossil fuels already under federal leases, according to the report. Upcoming events will focus on keeping fossil fuels in the ground and calls to support frontline communities in the Gulf that have suffered disproportionate impacts from the countrys overreliance on fossil fuels. Offshore drilling in the Gulf violates our nations commitments to combat climate disruption and protect communities on the front lines of fossil fuel destruction, said Marissa Knodel, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth. President Obama can solidify his climate legacy and jumpstart a just transition for Gulf Coast communities by putting an end to new oil and gas leasing in the Gulf. Most climate models predict the Gulf Coast will increasingly be hit by more intense storms, like the 1,000-year storm that recently flooded Baton Rouge and much of southern Louisiana, including the home of Cherri Foytlin, a longtime climate activist with Bold Louisiana. Climate change is happening now, sending flood waters through my home and those of thousands of my neighbors, Foytlin said. We cant wait any longer to begin a just transition to clean energy. That starts this week by stopping this offshore lease. Then we keep pushing for no new leases in the Gulf of Mexico. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
The Kenyan Film Classification Board (KFCB) has concluded a two week reciprocal study tour, hosted by the Film and Publication Board (FPB) of South Africa, to identify mutually beneficial activities for both countries, develop mechanisms and programs for content classification and regulation, and promote best practice.

Image by 123RF

"The necessity exists for close co-operation between the FBP and the KFCB on matters of mutual interest in the areas of content classification and to further the FPB's Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) Conference resolutions of October 2015," said Themba P. Wakashe, chief executive officer of the FPB.

The FPB Council resolved that there was a need to carry forward the conference resolutions to ensure progress follow-up and full implementation thereof. The conference discussed and resolved, amongst others, the importance of a uniform regional and continental approach and strategy on content classification and online child protection.

The FPBs strategic focus into the SADC region is in support of Ministerial undertakings to coordinate matters of mutual interest at a regional level pursuant to international treaty undertakings. Wakashe reiterated that, "The FPB is seeking to use the success of the conference, themed African Media Content Classification and Online Child Protection, as a stepping stone towards the implementation of its SADC and continental engagement strategy."

In terms of the Joint Communique presented in March 2016, the following points were outlined as the key objectives of the MoA and the need for regional cooperation between KFCB and the FPB, namely:

To identify and define activities to be carried out jointly to the benefit of the film industry in Kenya, South Africa and the continent in general.

Establish areas of mutual interest and cooperation at the regional and continental level.

Establish mechanisms to enhance and align programs aimed at improving film content regulation, especially in the wake of new technologies.

Promote compliance to film content regulations at the regional and continental levels, within the legislative frameworks applicable in the respective jurisdictions.

Promote outreach activities among the staff of the two organisations.

While in South Africa, the Kenyan delegation will also conduct meetings with several South African organisations and government institutions.
Augmented and virtual realities are ready to make their mark in South Africa and could be a game changer in visual marketing for the retail and tourism sectors in particular.

Johan Walters

While much has been written about augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and the more futuristic artificial intelligence (AI), for the mass market in South Africa, these technologies are still the stuff of stories.

And this is no surprise. Some of the recent advances in visual search and visual marketing using AR and VR have taken even the global markets by surprise.

Blippar, best known for its AR marketing prowess, has launched an upgrade to its app which allows users access to a visual search engine through the camera on their mobile device.

If you arent entirely sure what youre looking at, it may be difficult to find the right words to describe, and ultimately search for, that object using traditional search engines. Blippars visual search tool can recognise hundreds of millions of items. While some may remain general and only at a category level to begin with, items like flora and animals can be deeply specific.

So for instance, if you focus your phone on an orange, the Blippar app will not only tell you what fruit you are looking at, it will give you locations of nearby stores which sell them, nutritional information and even suggest some top-rated recipes.

With more than 65 million users in over 170 countries, the machine learning technology used by the company will constantly add to the library of images and information, allowing for exponential growth in the apps usefulness.

Another significant leap forward in the commercial use of mixed realities has come from online auction site, e-Bay.

In May the Australian division released its first VR department store. It allows users to virtually explore products using free iOS and Android apps along with head mounted device (HMD) hardware. By holding your gaze on a product, it will supply you with a 3D rendering of the product, allowing you to explore the item and move ahead to purchase.

Where does SA fit in?

A few well thought out campaigns have made it to the local market, but one of the biggest challenges is to ensure that agencies are not simply using the tech for the sake of it.

We believe the retail and travel sectors could be the early adopters in South Africa and could have the most to gain in the short-term.

Experiential marketing using AR and VR is the perfect way to allow potential tourists to experience destinations ahead of time and convert customers who may be hesitant to take the plunge. This is fairly common internationally and some local companies are already taking the first steps in using the tech. Retail is also a no-brainer. While the e-Bay VR store may be some way off locally, smart use of AR could be the real game changer.

Using AR, online-only retailers can create virtual stores in the traditional bricks and mortar environment, as done by Net-A-Porter.com. By renting a vacant storefront in a high-traffic area and using wallpaper or posters with AR tech, they can bring their offering to life in the environment where potential customers are already in the shopping mode.

Not only does this allow the e-tailers to breach the digital divide, but it can also be used by traditional stores looking to extend their reach into other regions, without the initial outlay of finding physical stores. These virtual pop-up stores could both transform how retail brands are perceived and drive new traffic to their e-commerce offering.

Integrating AR and VR into campaigns

Technology should be a means to an end. Spending money for the sake of technology coolness, rather than focusing on delivering real experiential marketing value helps no-one.

The three Cs - Call to action, Context and Content  of a campaign making use of VR and AR cannot be ignored. Brands need to ensure they deliver the right message, at the right time, over the right medium  exactly as it was in traditional marketing.

Awareness should still be done through your normal tactics and media platforms. AR and VR generally form part of the engagement and consideration phase  leading to soft conversions. However, they should always be linked to e-commerce platform if there is one available.

You dont need to break the bank to deliver

Possibly because of the futuristic nature of AR and VR technology, many organisations feel that their budgets may not stretch to include this in their campaigns. This misconception should be put to rest immediately.

AR doesnt need to be expensive, the tech is now within reach and platform costs have dropped considerably over the last two years. To deliver a great retail pop up shop doesnt require wearables or even a VR enabled phone. The 360 picture and video technology currently available is more than adequate to allow customers to experience your product and to proceed to checkout.

However, where the budget should not be sacrificed, is when it comes to creating content. Creating a fantastic visual experience for your customer results in a far better chance of them taking the next step in the conversion process and brands would do well to place emphasis and forethought into this step in production.

But even this wont break the bank, since the content can easily be re-purposed for other marketing campaigns and mediums. Great video content will always pay for itself and can be aggregated across the marketing budget.

The fundamentals should not be sacrificed for sake of tech. Rather, focus on creating engaging, high-value content that delivers something meaningful to the customer in a context which is valuable, and with a call to action which results in opportunities to further engage.

The rapid advances in technology can be daunting, but with a solid strategy, experiential marketing is a valuable addition to the traditional mix. More particularly, AR and VR allow for high-impact additions to your brand narrative.
Y&R South Africa and NATIVE VML are partnering to form the VML and Y&R Africa Group, a digitally integrated offering that will be positioned to deliver on the needs of an increasingly connected world.

The new group builds on the rich heritage of the iconic Y&R Advertising with its deep roots in Africa, the innovative shopper marketing credentials of Labstore, and the rapidly rising presence of NATIVE VML. This newly formed entity, which is already successfully working together on client business will bring this combined strength to bear on the South African market, where truly integrated communications is now becoming a necessity for local businesses.

NATIVE VML, Y&R, and Labstore will maintain their independence, but aligning them under one senior leadership team will bring a new and enhanced offering to market  one that will be perfectly positioned to partner with clients in building truly connected brands.

NATIVE VML co-founder and CEO Jason Xenopoulos will assume the role of group CEO and will be tasked with driving vision and strategy, with operational support from his current leadership team. The VML and Y&R Africa Group will have offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, as well as a network of 16 agencies in 12 African countries.

This exciting development will secure our position as one of Africas top agency groups, both in terms of size and creative reputation, fasttracking our vision to become the continents leading agency for the digital age, said Jason Xenopoulos, NATIVE VML CEO.

Y&R South Africas current CEO Andrew Welch will be returning to London to run Landor, a Y&R Group company. Over the past five years, Andrew successfully launched Labstore in South Africa and worked hand-inhand with Graham Lang, Y&Rs chief creative officer, to revitalise the agencys creative profile and elevate it into the top three in the Creative Circle rankings for 2015.

VML, which was recently named on Ad Ages 2016 Agency AList, provides the group with a depth of digital knowledge and experience that is unparalleled in the local market. Combined with the brand building expertise of Y&R this will position the group at the forefront of integrated marketing and customer experience transformation.

Bringing one of the worlds most famous advertising agency brands together with a cutting- edge digital marketing agency is explosive. No client can hope for better, explains Yossi Schwartz, chairman Y&R Africa.

David Sable, Global CEO of Y&R, stated: We believe Africa is increasingly a critical part of our clients business strategy. We have long invested in the market, most recently with the establishment of NATIVE VML. The creation of a single management team to oversee all our companies in the region assures our clients that they will have the full power of our entire offering.
SEOUL - South Korea on Tuesday urged Japan to stop distorting a historical fact on "comfort women," a euphemism for Korean women forced into sexual servitude for Japanese military brothels before and during World War II.

Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a press briefing that the forcible recruitment of "comfort women" is an undeniable historical fact that the international community has already confirmed definitely.

His comments came as Japan's foreign ministry posted the comments, made in February by then Japan's deputy foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama, on its website.

Sugiyama said during the February session in Geneva of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that no documents had been found to confirm that the "comfort women" were forcibly recruited by Japanese military or government.

His claim drew strong criticism from neighboring countries, including South Korea, as Korean people suffered from numerous atrocities, including forced labor for Japanese munitions factories and sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels, under the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule.

In December last year, Seoul and Tokyo reached a "final and irreversible" agreement on the protracted dispute over the "comfort women," but Japan has denied the forcible recruitment of Korean women into sexual slavery.

Cho urged the Japanese government to refrain from words and deeds that could impair the spirit of the December agreement, calling for concerted efforts to restore the honor of dignity of the "comfort women" victims and heal their scars.
A few decades ago, packaging companies needed many more tons of machinery to produce the output that they do today. Back then, the more heavy machinery they had, the more value was produced. Now, things are done differently; with less material. The difference is information.

Businesses in South Africa, especially those in the packaging industry, stand the risk of losing their competitive advantage, or worse, becoming irrelevant, if they fail to mature their business strategy and systems, says Heinrich van der Vyver, CEO and founder of QuickEasy Software, a business process management software company that allows businesses to simplify how they operate in order to improve efficiency across all business cycles.

Business owners carry the continued burden of their businesses on their shoulders. They have to think about everything - did they remember to invoice for that job? Do the machines need to be serviced again? Is there enough stock for that big order? Did someone call that client back? Insomnia is a common by-product of owning a business. They need help, as it is a near-impossible expectation for them to strategise about growth when they are neck deep in the daily grind of running the business. Something has to change.

Three ways to work smarter

1. Panic less, post start-up: Theres a special brand of adrenaline that comes with the chaotic frenzy synonymous with a start up. This creative energy is necessary for a business to be birthed out of nothing but a good idea, and to take its first gasping breaths. However, 10 years down the line if youre still relying on grit, spit and adrenaline to run your business instead of sound processes and systems, your creative energy has turned toxic. Instead of hoping for growth, you can bank on burnout, high staff turnover, panicked clients and a quarterly ulcer flare-up. You need to take a breath, and consider the possibility that there might be a better way to do this.

Meet with a mentor or business coach

Network with other business owners and see how they approach challenges. Try your local BNI or join an IPSA event

Get the team together and brainstorm better ways to operate - they are at the coalface and have probably noticed things that need improvement that you are not aware of

2. People and processes:

Process thinking : To set the team up for success they need to know what is expected of them and have the tools and training to do it efficiently. Processes are the guidelines that take the team through the steps needed to produce a desired outcome - be it systems-, product- or admin-related. Take the time to think through the steps of your business cycles, and map out your processes. We like Visio or SmartDraw for this.

: To set the team up for success they need to know what is expected of them and have the tools and training to do it efficiently. Processes are the guidelines that take the team through the steps needed to produce a desired outcome - be it systems-, product- or admin-related. Take the time to think through the steps of your business cycles, and map out your processes. We like Visio or SmartDraw for this. Consistency : The repetitive nature of packaging products means your clients expect consistency in the product you produce. If you are not consistent, you stand the risk of lower profits, or ultimately losing the contract. In order to have consistency of outcome you need to manage the input and the control of the processes. Manage the input and you have a consistent product and a predictable outcome. Do this through regular staff one-on-ones, performance appraisals, process training and spot checks. More importantly, incorporate innovate ways to reward your team to affirm correct behaviour.

: The repetitive nature of packaging products means your clients expect consistency in the product you produce. If you are not consistent, you stand the risk of lower profits, or ultimately losing the contract. In order to have consistency of outcome you need to manage the input and the control of the processes. Manage the input and you have a consistent product and a predictable outcome. Do this through regular staff one-on-ones, performance appraisals, process training and spot checks. More importantly, incorporate innovate ways to reward your team to affirm correct behaviour. Standardise : Reduce human error and confusion by standardising processes. If everything is standardised, it is easily repeatable.

: Reduce human error and confusion by standardising processes. If everything is standardised, it is easily repeatable. Measure: In order to know if your team is, in fact, following procedure and producing consistent products, you need systems in place to measure efficiency. How efficient are your machines? How productive are your teams? Use QuickEasy BOS for this as, not only does it produce powerful insight into every aspect of the business, but its online planning board also tracks time, stock and queued jobs with ease. It also produces monthly reports showing business growth and overall productivity.

3. Pick what works: Business strategy always wins. The temptation with implementing MIS and ERP systems is to install them out of the box without customising it to meet your specific business needs. To get more output from your business you need to improve the speed of material and information and this is dramatically improved by MIS/ERP software. The trick is to know what information you need.

Customisable : Make sure the MIS/ERP you purchase can be customised to meet your business needs. Identify what information you need in order to run your business processes optimally, and then request that from your supplier. Make sure your software covers every aspect of your business cycles: leads, estimates, orders, operations, inventory management, staff management, time tracking, invoicing and reporting.

: Make sure the MIS/ERP you purchase can be customised to meet your business needs. Identify what information you need in order to run your business processes optimally, and then request that from your supplier. Make sure your software covers every aspect of your business cycles: leads, estimates, orders, operations, inventory management, staff management, time tracking, invoicing and reporting. Affordability and integration: There are many ERP and MIS packages available for manufacturing, print and packaging, however most come with a hefty price tag, are somewhat limited, and after-sales support can be a challenge especially with international products.

Working smarter will keep your head above water so that you can see the bigger picture and budget for growth. Get your business ready for growth.
LUCKNOW - Coca-Cola has temporarily halted operations at a bottling plant in northern India over alleged environmental violations, an ongoing controversy which has dogged its factories in the country.

The beverages giant said it had voluntarily suspended manufacturing at its Dasna plant near New Delhi while the local environmental authority investigates.

Activists say the factory in Uttar Pradesh state contaminates groundwater meant for farmers and pollutes the soil, and that sewage is not properly treated.

"We received a communication from Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and submitted a detailed response," Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, which bottles drinks in India for the US giant, said in a statement on Thursday.

"To show our commitment to compliance with regulatory norms, we decided to temporarily suspend manufacturing at Dasna plant," it said.

Some 54 plants produce fizzy drinks in India for Coca-Cola, which has eyed expansion in the world's second-most populous country where income levels are rising.

But the Atlanta-based company has met stiff opposition from activists who have waged a more than decade-long battle against it in India over alleged environmental offences.

"We conducted an inspection and based on the findings, the UPPCB has withheld the consent to operate this Coca-Cola Plant in Dasna for some valid reasons," S.R. Sachan, chief environmental officer at the Uttar Pradesh environmental board said, without giving further details.

Amit Srivastava, who leads the India Resource Center, an activist group that has targeted Coca-Cola for years, said the company's action did not go far enough.

"This is not really a victory because of all the pending issues such as the polluted groundwater and soil, as well as the loss of livelihood for the contract workers and farmers in the area," Srivastava said.

"There is a lot more that needs to be done to remediate the problems caused by Coca-Cola in Dasna.

"Coca-Cola, which has said it plans to invest $5 billion in India by 2020, has faced a string of objections over the years from local communities over water use.

In 2004, it shut one of its plants in southern Kerala state over similar allegations. The company denies any wrongdoing.

Last year it dropped plans to open a new bottling plant in southern Tamil Nadu state over protests by locals who also claimed it would rob them of groundwater.
RCL Foods' share price endured a plucking on Thursday after its profit warning sent SA's second-largest chicken producer falling as much as 6% on the JSE.

The stock staged a comeback at the close, finishing only 1.67% lower at R14.75.

The hammering came shortly after midday, after the company said its full-year headline earnings per share were expected to drop to between 95c-105c from 113.1c in 2015.

The outlook was short of market expectations, which had pencilled in headline earnings per share of 104c, said Standard Bank analyst Sumil Seeraj.

RCLs brands include Rainbow Chicken, Yum Yum peanut butter, Oumas rusks, Nola mayonnaise, Selati sugar, and the flavoured maize meal drink Mageu.

RCL blamed the fall in profit on a R642.8m impairment charge to its milling business, which it acquired from FoodCorp in 2013. The writedown was due mainly to lower forecasted cash flows as a result of a competitive trading environment, the company said.

The effect of SAs drought had put pressure on its sugar and chicken operations, RCL said, though its other divisions had "performed well".

The sugar division, TSB, which contributed a quarter of the groups revenue in 2015, was hit by similar pressures faced by rivals Illovo and Tongaat.

The recent rally in the sugar price  39% up, to $20.11 a pound, since January  was expected to bode well for producers, an analyst said.

Meanwhile, chicken producers such as RCL and Astral, SAs biggest, may find relief from lower feed costs as yellow-maize prices come down.

RCL is due to publish its results on August 30.
Ipsos in South Africa again delivered a very close forecast on the final local election results. At its latest release of its poll findings (released Monday, 1 August), Ipsos suggested that the ANC would garner 54% of the votes, the DA 26% and the EFF 8%.

Summary of possible party support countrywide:

PARTY Monday 1 August forecast Possible % Margin of error Actual Election Result % ANC 54 1.0% - 2.3% 53.91 DA 26 1.8% - 4.1% 26.9 EFF 8 3.1% - 7.0% 8.19 Other parties 12 11

With regards to the metros, Ipsos forecast that the results would be too close to call: The survey results in the City of Johannesburg and the City of Tshwane are indicating that the possible result in these cities are definitely too close to call. However, it seems as if the DA is doing very well and is ahead in the race to win the control in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Metro areas real outcome:

PARTY City of Johannesburg % City of Tshwane % Nelson Mandela Bay Metro %

Forecast Margin of Error: 1.3% - 5.2%



Actual



Forecast Margin of Error: 1.6% - 5.6%



Actual



Forecast Margin of Error: 2.1% - 8.3%



Actual



ANC



46

44.55

47



41.25

37

40.92



DA



41



38.37

43 43.15 44 46.71

EFF



8



11.09



9



11.63

6

5.12



OTHER PARTIES



5



5.99



1



3.97



4



7.25



*The margin of error given here is for the Metro area as a whole, for an individual political party this will be different

With the increase in voter support for the DA, the results of the Ipsos polling in partnership with the eNCA came under heavy scrutiny and criticism in the South African media and even amongst some of the prominent political leaders.

Mari Harris, Director of Public Affairs and a Political Analyst at Ipsos South Africa said she trusted their process.

I think it's important that every step of the way you need to say with your hand on your heart, this is the best we can do, said Harris in an interview with eNCA.com.

By the weekend after the voting, major results were well within the margin of error, predicting no outright winners in three of the major metropolitan areas.

"As a research company with one of our specialisations being public affairs and social opinion, we could not be more pleased that our results have aligned so closely with the actual election results" states Country Manager of Ipsos South Africa, Nick Coates. "It speaks to the thoroughness and accuracy of our research and fieldwork operations

Ipsoss forecasting was based on two studies conducted ahead of the elections:

Findings are from two series of studies: the series of pre-election polls conducted for the eNCA and the findings of Pulse of the People studies.

eNCA studies:

This project has been undertaken in the eight weeks before the Local Government Elections in 2016. A panel of about 3,000 voters were recruited using RDD (Random Digit Dialling), representative of eligible voters in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay. Each week at least 1500 of them were phoned back for a 5-minute interview. All interviews were conducted using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews) with a representative sample of residents of the three metropolitan areas who have access to a mobile phone.

Interviews were conducted on the Monday and Tuesday of each week, data processing happened on the Wednesday and results were published on the Thursday. The purpose of these studies was to measure the "political climate" in the country during the pre-election period, measure the influence of campaigning and things that happened during this period (like the unrest and violence in Tshwane) and contribute to the political discourse in the country.

Pulse of the people:

This study is undertaken annually by Ipsos every six months, however, in election years a third round is often added (this happened this year). A total of 3,861 interviews were conducted from 17 June to 18 July with a representative sample of South Africans. The margin of error for this sample size is between 0.7% - 1.6%.

Results are then filtered by those 18 years and older and the question on whether the respondent is registered to vote. This resulted in a total of 3,142 respondents, with the margin of error confirmed at 0.8% - 1.7% (for this sample as a whole).

Some of the questions in the Pulse of the People study were asked since 1976 and questions about the opinions on political leaders and parties were included since 1990.

This study is done by face-to-face interviews using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviews) in the homes and the home languages of respondents. A process of stratified random sampling is used to determine the choice of respondent and interviewers do not have any influence on this process.

Some of the other forecasting, along with the actual results after counting, is included in the table below.

Statement made True or False

As far as the smaller parties are concerned, the IFP will be the biggest of the small parties in the City of Johannesburg



True



and the ACDP and FF+ will deliver their best metropolitan performance in the City of Tshwane.



True



The UDM will be the fourth biggest party in Nelson Mandela Bay.



True



the ANC will take strong victories in Buffalo City and in Mangaung.



True



The race in Ekurhuleni is much closer and it makes this metro also too close to call, although the ANC seems to be in the lead.



True



The ANC should also win in eThekwini



True



The DA will take an outright victory in the City of Cape Town



True



and also in the Western Cape (if one looks at provincial results).



True



In all the other provinces the ANC will be on top



True



the EFF will be delivering a strong performance in Limpopo



True



 the party could win about a quarter of the votes in this province.



False



it seems evident that a large number of local councils will be in need of coalition forming after this election.



True



About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 86 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specialisations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of 1,712,4 million (2 274 M$) in 2013.

Visit www.ipsos.co.za to learn more about Ipsos offerings and capabilities and to access our latest press releases.




What is driving the global financial services industry towards a rapid embrace of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and what are the implications both for the industry and financial markets as a whole?

These are the issues that global law firm, Baker & McKenzie, set out to answer in a newly released survey entitled Ghosts in the machine: artificial intelligence, risks and regulation in financial markets.

The survey asked 424 senior executives from financial institutions and fintech companies around the world, as well as leading experts in the field, for their view on how AI will affect the financial sector. It set out to unpack such issues as the risks and benefits AI would bring to the sector as well as the associated regulatory and legal challenges.

Chris Hogan, banking and finance partner at Baker & McKenzie South Africa, says this digital research report is designed to uncover associated risks and analyse the potential for disruption, or large-scale change, within the financial services industry. The report shows that the financial services industry is rapidly seeing the potential benefits of artificial intelligence, while being increasingly concerned about risk and the ability of regulators to keep pace.

Key findings

The most dramatic changes brought about by AI and machine learning within three years are expected to be in the areas of credit provision, asset management, trading and hedge funds. Within trading and investment management, some companies are pioneering AI trading programmes. They employ a combination of machine learning techniques and evolutionary algorithms to crunch huge amounts of data, in order to recognise obscure patterns that others have not identified. Many of these AI software programs learn and update their models automatically and independently of human interference.

On the positive side, AI is expected to improve financial institutions' risk management, through more in-depth assessment of risk in portfolios and more incisive, comprehensive and informed credit-risk assessment. Machine learning is also predicted to make financial markets more competitive by as soon as 2018. Conversely, the use of AI in the financial sector brings about significant uncertainties and risks, such as the risk of malfunctioning algorithms, humans' misuse of technology and concerns surrounding the security, privacy and quality of data.

Hogan says banking is already one of the key areas where technology is having an impact throughout Africa. The banks are arguably under siege, being more and more subjected to regulatory and capital requirements and finding it increasingly difficult to keep their costs down. Their technology challenge involves how to embrace new technology and how to incorporate it into what they already have in place. This is particularly important when faced with the threat of certain banking services being provided by non-banks - such as mobile money transfer services - where such entities are not subject to the banking capital requirements and can service the rural unbanked.

Darryl Bernstein, intellectual property and disputes partner at Baker & McKenzie clarifies that todays financial technology advances have brought tremendous advances in crunching through huge data. The vastly increased algorithmic powers we are seeing can help to build economies where there are gaps, and create opportunities. However, much of the financial technology is still at experimental stages in many applications, including trading, portfolio management and credit assessment. Therefore, the possible risk of malfunctioning algorithms, together with concerns surrounding the security, privacy and quality of data, has led to calls for new regulation.

Regulatory inadequacy

Survey respondents expressed unease about the future regulatory response to AI. Over three-quarters are not confident that regulators have the adequate knowledge and skills to stay abreast of new financial technologies and understand the potential implications of AI for financial markets. Survey participants suspect that regulators are only just beginning to understand the potential implications of AI for financial markets and companies. Attention is only now beginning to turn to the integrity of algorithms, and the report notes that any rule-writing on machine learning in the next few years is expected to focus here.

Bernstein comments, There is no doubt that AI in the financial services sector will require a different kind of regulation. However, too much regulation will tend to dissuade investors, while too little regulation will not be good either. In the UK, we are seeing the financial conduct authority looking at banking types of services offered through alternative mediums and whether there is a need for further regulation or not. Its important to get the balance right to support economic growth.

At the same time, the delayed enactment of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI), which is now expected to be enforced in the second half of 2016, shows how delayed South Africa has been in bringing in the kind of data privacy legislation that the European Union has already had for some 20 years. So, based on the POPI scenario, we dont expect a particularly fast result with regards to widespread financial technology regulation in South Africa.

Changing business models

Bernstein believes that the rise of AI in the financial services sector will bring job losses in certain ways. We are already seeing local banks cutting down on employees as they become more digitally orientated. Computing technology enhances data processing significantly.

I suspect we will see the introduction of different business models, with some jobs ceasing and others developing. In turn, I foresee the need to develop education systems to embrace this, as in the Asian markets, for example, where we see the government in Singapore acting as a bridge between academia and business in the fintech space. It would be great to see the South African authorities playing a role as an enabler of technological development in the local market as well as a regulator. 

Bernstein says that the ongoing rise of the digital age is arguably a continuation of the industrial revolution. Many today believe that we are now in the fourth industrial revolution, as it has been dubbed by Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. He is convinced that the period of change we are living through is more significant, and the ramifications of the latest technological revolution more profound, than for any prior period of human history, he concludes.
The Competition Commission has fined steel monopoly ArcelorMittal SA R1.5bn - the biggest fine imposed on a single company for anti-compettitive behaviour in SA's history.

The commission said Arcelor had admitted to its involvement in long steel and scrap metals cartels. However, SA's largest steel maker had denied allegations of collusion in the flat steel and wire rod markets.

The R1.5bn fine brought to an end to all proceedings against the company, the commission said.

Investigations into the local steel industry began in SA began in 2008 following concerns about high and increasing steel prices, despite SA being a next exporter of steel.

Other stakeholders who had been implicated during investigations include Cisco (Cape Town Iron and Steel Works), Scaw Metals, Cape Gate and Highveld Steel and Vanadium.

Arcelorhad agreed to pay the administrative penalty of R1.5bn, the commission said, in five annual instalments of at least R300m

The steel maker had also agreed to various other remedies, including limiting price increases of flat steel products and committing R4.64bn to capital expenditure for the next five years, while not admitting its pricing conduct contravened the Competition Act.

Competition Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said the penalty sent a strong message of deterrence and was an important milestone in the watchdog's enforcement against cartels.

"In addition, the pricing remedy reflects our desire to protect SA consumers against dominant firms, particularly on key industrial products," he said.

Source: Business Day
South African steel production fell 11% year-on-year in July to an estimated 545,000 tonnes, after rising 6.9% year on year in June to 545,000 tonnes, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

The June result was the first year-on-year increase this year and followed a 16.3% rise in South African steel production to 7.6-million tonnes in 2015, compared with a 2.8% decline in global steel production to 1.6228-billion tonnes. In 2015, steel production decreased in all regions except Oceania, which registered a 4.6% gain.

In the first seven months of 2016, South African steel production was down 9.1% year-on-year compared with a 15.6% year on year decline for Africa and a 1.2% year on year reduction for global steel production.

The poor demand was in part due to the governments multi-billion rand infrastructure investment plans failing to gain traction, as investment in steel-intensive railway corridors such as links to Swaziland and the Waterberg coalfields, remain plans, not projects.

In the February 24, 2016 budget, the Treasury outlined plans for R865.4bn in public sector infrastructure spending over the next three fiscal years. The largest portion  R291.6bn  will be invested in the steel-intensive transport and logistics sector.

By contrast, the private sector has invested heavily in the steel-intensive non-residential construction sector, with reports of shortages of steel reinforcing bars.

The real value of nonresidential buildings completed soared 57% year on year in the first five months of 2016 as there were large increases in completions of retail, office and banking space in KwaZulu-Natal, while the centre of Sandton currently resembles one large construction site with several large buildings in the process of being built.

Source: BDpro
According to research from JLL, the demand for new purpose-built student accommodation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is set to exceed 500,000 beds over the next five years. With continuing public sector budget constraints, private investors will have an important role to play in meeting this demand.

SSAs economic prospects are improving, with a number of macro trends creating an urgent need for better real estate infrastructure. Within this environment, a vital component is student housing and in certain parts of the continent it is set to emerge as an attractive new asset class (similar to the UK and the US).

Increase in student enrolments

Philip Hillman, head of Student Housing for JLL EMEA comments, There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of student enrolments across SSA. In the 2000 to 2014 period, the SSA tertiary gross enrolment ratio rose from 4.3% to 8.2%. This trend, when coupled with a growing tertiary-aged population, suggests that demand for purpose-built student housing should grow rapidly over the medium term.

The analysis of the impact on demand for purpose-built student accommodation should the SSA tertiary gross enrolment ratio rise from 8.2% to 10.8% over the next five years (a conservative estimate) indicates that:

The number of tertiary aged young adults (aged 18-25) in SSA will increase to just under 100-million by 2020.



Around 15% would prefer and afford purpose-built student housing (a cautious percentage considering some 41% of the UK market stay in student accommodation).



Only 19% of the tertiary-enrolled student population that applied for student accommodation could be accommodated in 2011, highlighting the growing demand.



Based on these assumptions, well over 500,000 beds would be required.



It will cost around $US3.6bn to fund the construction of this deficit.



Given constrained government education budgets, there is minimal room within which to increase public expenditure in SSA, creating a substantial student housing funding gap.



It is within this setting that the private sector could play a pivotal role in addressing the increasing needs of the market.

Hillman says that while there are a number of challenges in the purpose-built student accommodation market, the opportunities are strong:

Buoyant demand which is expected to continue, exacerbating the chronic shortage.



Many on-campus development opportunities, due to the limited funding capacity of universities to start new student projects.



A need for operational expertise in this niche sector.



Under-served markets present valuable first-mover advantages.

Hillman adds: The global market has evolved and investors now have a greater variety of vehicles and structures at their disposal, with many now available in SSA. The direct ownership method is currently the most popular, with private developers providing the vast majority of student housing in SSA. Private developers that directly own their developments carry the largest risk but pocket the greatest rewards, as they are in a position to earn the highest yields and rentals that the market can afford.

PPPs and joint ventures

Public-private partnerships (PPP) and joint ventures also allow for direct ownership in developments and mitigate the risk exposure of owners. The PPP vehicle enables universities to access private funding in a transparent and low-risk manner while keeping their focus on education, preserving debt capacity, and benefiting from the third partys experience in building facilities in an operationally cheaper and faster manner than universities are capable of doing. Universities in Kenya and Ghana have recently concluded large PPP agreements for the provision of student housing. South Africa has to date only implemented one.

In more mature markets, like Southern Africa, private players with property management experience and the balance sheet to invest could focus proportionally more on converting, upgrading and maintaining existing building stock, provided there is existing infrastructure close to universities in these markets. While in East and West Africa, outside densely populated urban areas, a greater focus needs to be placed on new developments. There is also a significant need for PPPs across the continent due to the large amount of on-campus development opportunities that are still available.

There is substantial evidence within the current landscape that the private sector will become progressively more involved, because student housing projects in SSA are not only viable, but are among the most attractive investments one can make on the continent, Hillman concludes.
Comments on the third draft of ministerial regulations to the Financial Markets Act (FMA) Regulations (Regulations) must be submitted by 31 August 2016. Comments on the draft criteria for authorisation as an Over-the-Counter (OTC) derivative provider (Criteria) and a draft code of conduct for authorized OTC derivative providers (Code) are due at the same time.

The requirements and duties for trade repositories (TR Requirements), setting out the criteria for authorisation as a trade repository as well as the ongoing obligations proposed to be imposed on licensed trade repositories, were also published alongside the Regulations, the Criteria and the Code.

According to Kirsten Kern, partner in Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group's Banking & Financial Services Regulatory practice, "The Regulations, the Criteria and the Code are aimed at supporting the objectives of the FMA and at ensuring that South Africa meets its international commitments to making regulatory and legislative reforms to the OTC derivatives market in alignment with international standards. In its explanatory memorandum, Treasury explains that the implementation of the reforms to the OTC derivatives market is likely to continue beyond 2018."

Langelihle Mnyandu, associate in the Banking & Financial Services Regulatory practice, explains that the Regulations have been compiled following the latest comments from the public and stakeholders, and are aimed at extending the scope of regulatory oversight to the OTC derivatives market and its participants, among other things.

Mnyandu notes that the Regulations confirm that a person who, as a regular feature of business and transacting as principal, originates, issues, sells or makes a market in an OTC derivative is to be designated as an OTC derivative provider (ODP), and so as a regulated person for the purposes of the FMA.

"In order to be authorised as an ODP, comprehensive requirements will need to be met, as outlined in the Criteria. The applicant will need to be financially sound in terms of prescribed fit and proper requirements, and the competency of the applicants directors and senior managers to discharge the applicants duties and functions will need to be demonstrated. Operational ability will also need to be proven.

Kern explains, "For these reasons and others, the regulation of OTC derivatives under the FMA heralds a new era in South African financial services regulation. Once finalised, the Regulations will impact parties, including foreign parties, seeking to enter into principal-to-principal OTC derivatives trades with South African counterparties (noting, in the case of foreign parties, that deference to foreign regulators may take place in certain instances).

"Apart from the initial authorization requirement, ODPs, once authorised, will also be faced with a host of ongoing compliance obligations imposed under the Code. The current draft of the Code intends to impose on ODPs the duty to (amongst others) ensure that adequate levels of financial and operational resources are maintained in order to minimise potential losses to clients and other financial market participants. The ODPs will also have to enter into written agreements governing trading relationships with clients or counterparties; and ensure the timely confirmation of non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives transactions after execution," Kern adds.

It is anticipated that ODP authorisation will begin six months after the coming into force of the Regulations.

To access the abovementioned documents, click here.
Private education conglomerate Advtech has capped a strong interim performance from its tertiary division by making two specialist acquisitions. On Monday the company announced it had acquired Capsicum Culinary School and a stake in distance-learning specialist Oxbridge Academy with effect from 1 July.

Capsicum is one of the country's largest culinary schools with about 600 full-time students across six campuses. Advtech CEO Roy Douglas said the Capsicum acquisition was part of the company's tertiary thrust into niches where employment opportunities were good.

"We think the tourism/hospitality sector should offer great career opportunities. We had this in mind when buying Capsicum."

Advtech also snapped up a 51% stake in Oxbridge Academy.

Douglas said Advtech had not yet meaningfully tackled the distance-learning sector, saying that 40% of tertiary students were engaged in this form of studying.

He said the Oxbridge partnership offered a wide variety of qualifications and introduced 20,000 distance-education students to the group.

"The deal provides a platform on which to expand our distance-education offering," he said.

Alpha Wealth portfolio manager Keith McLachlan said Advtech had long been building its digital and distance-learning capabilities. "Oxbridge will be able to leverage Advtech's core educational capabilities to roll out scale in distance learning.

"This is one way to push into Africa without having to put too much capital expenditure in the ground."

Advtech's six months to end-June numbers showed its tertiary division, with brands such as Rosebank College, Vega, The Design School Southern Africa, Varsity College, and Forbes Lever Baker, was the star performer.

The tertiary division contributed 36% of total revenue, growing 20% to R593m, mainly through organic student growth. Operating profit rocketed 57% to R100m, with the operating margin fattening markedly to 17%.

Douglas said all tertiary brands performed well, but he singled out Rosebank College and Varsity College as showing particularly pleasing results. He said the turnaround phase at the tertiary operations was now complete, and the division could embark on the second phase of its growth strategy to introduce new niche qualifications and secure growth in the distance-education sector.

McLachlan said Advtech's tertiary offering was somewhat overlooked, as the market tended to focus on the private school brands.

"But it's a big part of Advtech's overall business, and (rival private education business) Curro recently cited tertiary education as a massive growth sector for the future."

Advtech's core private school offering - mainly the Crawford, Trinity House, and Abbotts brands - also put in a commendable interim performance.

The schools division accounted for half of total revenue, increasing its top line contribution 20% to R822m with operating profit jumping 25% to R164m.

Douglas said the schools division continued to reap the benefits of recent acquisitions, with contributions from Maravest being included for the first half of the year (compared to only two months in the same period in 2015).

Advtech's schools division, which initially focused on the premium independent schools sector, has recently pushed aggressively into mid-fee segments.

The school division comprises 81 schools across 43 campuses, with Douglas predicting that overall growth for the division, including new schools and acquisitions, would continue steadily.

Overall Advtech pushed up profit after tax 53% to R233m, with normalised earnings coming in 24% higher at 31.9c per share, due to additional shares in issue following a recent rights offer.

The company's cash-flow prowess was again a highlight.

Cash generated by operating activities, including a litigation settlement, topped R610m - although there was an element of caution in the interim dividend being hiked only 8% to 13.5c per share.

Free operating cash flow grew by 39% to R505m, equivalent to 97c per share.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
Marking the start of a week-long affair which will see 14 celebrity chefs collaborating with seven leading sommeliers to create gastronomic feasts for ticket holders, the fourth annual Chefs who Share charity fundraiser for youth development will begin at the Maslow Hotel in Johannesburg on 19 September 2016.

Among the international culinary wizards are the Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia, who is the talent behind LUX* Belle Mares famous Indian Cuisine restaurant Amari by Vineet, and executive chef Vincent Rodier who reigns supreme at the resorts Beach Rouge beach club and restaurant in Mauritius.

Both are flown into South Africa especially for Chefs who Share and will add their individual talents to the greater cause.

Guests at the gala evening on Saturday, 24 September will be wined and dined by the seven teams of chefs and sommeliers. This time, Bathia will be joined by Margot Janse from Le Quartier Francais, Franschhoek, and Rodier will team up with executive chef Christo Pretorius from Cape Towns Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa.

Each team creates its own four-course menu for the evening where money is raised for youth development via an auction of contemporary art and exceptional experiences.
SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft on Monday announced it bought a startup to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities, and rival Apple confirmed it has boosted its health focus with an acquisition of its own.

Denys Kuvaiev via 123RF

Microsoft did not disclose financial terms of its deal to buy Genee, which specialises in using machine smarts to handle the time-sucking task of scheduling meetings.

"Genee uses natural language processing and optimised decision-making algorithms so that interacting with a virtual assistant is just like interacting with a human one," Outlook and Office 365 corporate vice president Rajesh Jha said in a blog post. For example, Genee can be copied into an email exchange to act as a virtual assistant of sorts to pin down a time for a business or social meeting.

Jha touted Genee as having designed "an intelligent virtual assistant specialised in the appointment decision." The technology was expected to be put to work in Office 365 software that Microsoft offers as a service in the internet cloud. The team that started Silicon Valley-based Genee in 2014 will join the Microsoft and the existing service will be discontinued next month, according to the companies.

A magical machine

Apple confirmed press reports that it has bought startup Gliimpse, which uses machine learning as part of its formula for in letting people securing manage and share personal medical information. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," Apple said.

Gliimpse offers a unique platform allowing users to compile medical and health data from different sources, and share as needed with third parties, including doctors. "We've built a magical machine," Gliimpse said on its website.

"It takes incomprehensible electronic medical records and turns them into understandable, standardised, coded elements and terminology that both humans and machines can easily understand and use."

Apple has introduced features and software platforms for its mobile devices to be tools for people to manage and improve fitness and health.

Source: AFP
Two more international speakers, Singapore-based Stanley Lim, Chairman of the Singapore Logistics Association, and Ghanaian serial entrepreneur Fred Swaniker, have joined the line-up of 16 top speakers for the SA Association of Freight Forwarders ( SAAFF ) annual Congress.

They will be sharing the speaker's podium with industry stalwarts like freight forwarding industry icon and honourary FIATA board Issa Baluch and Stephen Morris, Chairman of FIATA's Customs Affairs Institute. The two-day SAAFF Congress takes place on 6 and 7 September at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand.

Stanley Lim

Logistics 4.0 Challenges

Lim is the group chief operating officer of Addicon Logistics Management headquartered in Singapore, past president of FIATA and currently the chair of the FIATA Congress Committee. Lim will address congress delegates on Logistics 4.0 Challenges for Supply Chain Planning.

Logistics 4.0 is the supply chain equivalent of Industry 4.0, the Fourth Wave of industrial evolution that seeks to digitally merge information technology, engineering, production, and logistics into a fully networked operation, says Lim. Logistics 4.0 is the blueprint for digitising the value chain from factory to customer. It must support a highly developed division of labour with a key focus on collaboration.

African leadership development

Swaniker is deeply passionate about Africa and believes the continents greatest need is good leadership. He will be addressing delegates on Innovative solutions to developing world-class African talent for the logistics industry in Africa.

Fred Swaniker

Swaniker was recognised by Echoing Green as one of the best emerging social entrepreneurs in the world in 2006 and is a Fellow of the Aspen Institutes Global Leadership Network.

In recognition of his work in developing Africas future leaders, Swaniker was one of 115 people selected to attend US President Obamas first-ever Forum for Young African Leaders held at the White House in 2010. He was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and one of the top ten young Power Men in Africa listed by Forbes Magazine in 2011.

We are extremely honoured to have these two giants sharing their wisdom and experience with our industry in two vitally important areas - new integrated technologies and business leadership, concludes SAAFFs CEO, Dave Logan.
The 2016 Top 40 Women in MICE event held on 18 August at the breathtaking Pretoria-based venue, Monte De Dios, was a spectacular day celebrating nothing but women.

Top 40 Women in MICE is an initiative that honours outstanding women who have made a difference in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition industry hosted by Meetings magazine.

Now in its third year, the event is a prestigious one where you will find yourself rubbing shoulders with the best of the best. After a fun day of great food, fabulous company and beautiful awards, we were treated to a sunset entertained by some of SAs best bands; The Motherland, Lonehill Estate and Rubber Duc.

Accolades to Hestelle Robinson, Expo Manager of HOMEMAKERS Expo Johannesburg, nominated and awarded one of the few Best Planner awards on the day.

Last but not least, Martin Hiller, Editor of Meetings magazine rose to the challenge to partner with the Jes Foord Foundations Handbag project on the day - a handbag filled with caring items given to a rape victim. The HOMEMAKERS team packed an amazing 50 handbags for the day.




With over 265,000 loyalty members to date, Sorbet Group's CEO Ian Fuhr recently shared insights on the subject of developing brand loyalty at Business of Design in Johannesburg, where he explained why Sorbet's service culture is its competitive advantage in an industry that is first and foremost about the customer.

Ian Fuhr

I often get asked, How do you motivate thousands of people? The answer is servant leadership. Servant leaders create a working environment thats conducive to people motivating themselves.

"You have a big boss, a subservient staff member and a customer." The subservient staff member puts the customer first and is rewarded as a result, and he refers to the opposite as an I specialist  someone who is more concerned about what they will get out of the client. He told Entrepreneur Magazine earlier this year, They dont care about guest needs and wants, and see only walking commissions.

"Serve the people that are serving the people", he says, going as far to say that the purpose of work is to serve. Most people would probably say that its to make money, but Fuhr believes that if you serve the needs and wants of people well, that will take care of itself.

A no-policy return policy

The cost of losing a guest, in Sorbets case, isnt worth going into business for the wrong reasons. The average guest spends R5,000 per annum and over five years that amounts to R25,000, so make sure you never lose even one single customer. Always look at the long term, never argue, and never use company policy as an excuse.

His daughter, Jade Kirkel, who heads up the marketing team, had a hard time at an international clothing retailer when all she wanted to do was return a pair of pants, after which she wrote Sorbets return policy or better put, its no-policy return policy:

'Youve changed your mind, thats ok, we still love you.

Bring it back, no fuss, no slip, no ID, no passport, no unabridged birth certificate or mothers marriage documents, even if its empty, damaged, half used, not your vibe anymore, need the money for movies, the packaging clashes with your bathroom, or you just made a terrible mistake.

Bring back anything especially your business!'

Although this might not make business sense to some, they've worked it out: If you give your customers that R500 refund, theyre likely to spend R25,000 with you over the next five years.

The stats just go to show that they must be doing something right. Sorbet currently has 165 stores on which 158 are franchised (they open about three stores a month); they employ nearly 2,000 staff and perform over 200,000 treatments per month. Group sales amounted to R525 million for the year ended February 2016, with estimated sales to February 2017 at R660 million (by 2019 they expect this to be over a billion rand); and they get an average of 10 franchise enquires per day. Sorbet is the first South African beauty chain to expand internationally, with two stores in London and another two to open by the end of the year, and no store closures thus far. So its a successful business alright.

However, for Fuhr, true success has come to mean making a difference in peoples lives (even if that means fixing someone's broken nail at close of business), and customer loyalty is just the top coat.
The decline in the global oil price has led to a reduced level of activity across Africa and has impacted on countries that traditionally depend on oil and gas revenue.

Despite the bleak landscape, the continent still offers significant opportunities in the oil and gas sector. It is an opportune time for local governments that want to attract oil and gas investors to reform their regulatory, fiscal and licensing systems, says Chris Bredenhann, PwC Africa oil & gas advisory leader

He says it is also important for the industry to look beyond the challenges caused by depressed prices and consider other forces that are shaping the industry. PwCs Africa Oil & Gas Review, 2016 suggests that with the ongoing focus on cost reduction in the industry, the demand for innovation in technology will grow.

Furthermore, this can be the ideal time for the industry to consider introducing training programmes to upskill levels and company standards in order to give local players a chance to enter the sector when activity picks up again.

As at the end of 2015, Africa has a proven natural gas base of 496,7trn cubic feet (Tcf), down marginally from 2014, with 90% of the continents natural gas production still coming from Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt.

Dealing with the decline

The top challenges identified by organisations in the oil and gas industry have remained unchanged to those in previous years  uncertainty in regulatory frameworks, corruption/ethics, poor physical infrastructure and a lack of skill resources. This year, there was also a significant rise in the challenge of meeting taxation requirements, as well as government relations. Regulatory uncertainty has remained the top challenge facing oil and gas businesses in Africa for the third year in a row, with 70% of organisations citing it as one of the five biggest issues they experience.

For the first time since PwCs series of annual reviews began in 2010, government relations has hit the top six challenges. Around the continent, many organisations have experienced difficulty obtaining government sanction for new projects. This is proving to be extremely difficult in new hydrocarbon provinces, such as Mozambique, because governments do not fully comprehend the intricacies and scale of oil and gas projects. As a result, organisations are beginning to ally themselves with government in order to ensure that they are a strategic and supportive partner.

Organisations identified the price of oil and natural gas as the most significant factor that would affect their companies businesses over the next three years, with respondents expecting the price to reach US$52 by the end of 2016, US$60 by the end of 2017, and US$69 by the end of 2018. With little control over the price, businesses have focused on improving efficiency and driving down costs.

Regulatory compliance, at number two, remains a significant challenge for organisations this year. Foreign currency volatility is also rated a likely factor (number three) to impact business over the next three years. This year there have been large currency fluctuations  with the fallout from the Brexit vote precipitating some of the largest so far.

Asset management and optimisation remains a key strategic focus area for companies. Fortunately, the industry remains optimistic, and many upstream players are focusing on exploration and finding new resources over the next three years, most likely in anticipation for an upturn in the oil price, adds Bredenhann.

Financing and investing

Although there has been some recovery in the pricing environment, investor confidence remains low as a significant recovery does not seem to be on the horizon, and oil market fundamentals are still down. The low oil price has led operators to defer FIDs (final investment decisions) on over US$300bn of projects. Globally, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity has also dipped and it is expected that this trend will continue.

Sustainability

Under the current economic climate, oil and gas companies are looking to invest in a number of key areas in order to boost growth over the next three to five years. Improved efficiencies ranked highest, followed by local content and skills development, and infrastructure improvements. The oil and gas industry is faced with a higher entry barrier because technology and jobs tend to be more complex, highly specialised and costly, explains Bredenhann.

The sustainability of the industry will also be affected by a number of drivers. These include the price of oil, impact of renewable and alternative energy sources, emergence of new competitors, environmental consequences of the industry, legislative frameworks and government takes.

Basic as well as technological infrastructure is essential for the oil and gas industry to thrive. Some 20% of organisations think that inadequacy of basic infrastructure will have a significant impact on their business over the next three years  with 73% expecting it to have an unchanged impact or no impact. Similarly, 20% of respondents expect technology to have a significant impact on their business over the next three years, but only 3,43% rated technology infrastructure as a top strategic focus area over the same period.

It is positive to note that over half of respondents expect acreage and license costs to either decrease or decrease substantially. Adds Bredenhann: This is likely due to the decreased oil price, ultimately devaluing acreage/licences.

Regulatory framework

An uncertain regulatory framework is one of the main issues with which organisations in the oil and gas industry are grappling. In South Africa, there have been commitments to address concerns since 2015, and the intention of government to separate regulations for oil and gas from the mining industry was communicated. However, the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) has not yet been changed and approved to reflect such modifications. In Tanzania, the regulatory environment remains uncertain despite the promulgation of the Petroleum Act in 2015. Furthermore, in Nigeria, the Government has failed to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law.

The digital oilfield

The digital revolution and technological breakthroughs are disrupting businesses. PwCs global research shows that oil and gas companies are slower than other industries to respond to using new technologies, particularly digital. We believe that there are a number of trends that will ultimately transform th industry. These include: the internet of things, building alliances, simplification and standardisation, solution-based buying, and knowledge transfer from international oil companies to oilfield services companies.

The complexities and challenges facing Africas oil and gas industry have become daunting. As uncertain regulatory frameworks, taxation requirements and corruption continue to rank at the top of industrys challenges in Africa, it also high time that governments make significant changes.

Furthermore, players must look at the current state of the industry as an opportunity to reinvent themselves. Given the state of the industry, we think that stakeholders must also consider making changes to their business models. Change is the way to survive in the new energy future. We need to see new business models, new products, new energy sources and new strategies to meet the new reality, concludes Bredenhann.
Consumers are getting wise to brand activities - but it's not as simple as they may assume. After several unsolicited calls in the course of a couple of days, people start to wonder which of the brands they have dealt with has sold their details on as a list to contact centres.

Source: IT News Africa

While those databases do exist, its more likely that the very activities of those people, are what drives the marketing activity that surrounds them.

Calls, online searches, emails, social media activity: all of these may contribute to that vast pool of information termed big data. This data is used to generate customer profiles based on their habits. When using technology and supporting systems or processes to correctly apply sophisticated variables to big data, it can lead to a seamless, improved customer service. When done poorly, it may alienate existing and potential customers.

A customer profile may contain information about online shopping preferences (what kinds of products, what days of the month the purchases are made and for how much, or even what kinds of products are browsed). This, in turn, can cause data-driven technology on websites to make content it selects as more relevant to you more prominent.

You may even notice that products you previously viewed online appear as adverts alongside a news article you are reading  a classic retargeting online advertising strategy used by online retailers. But its important to remember that customer behavioural data plays a significant role in helping a company improve the products, and services on offer to the market  all of which are more closely aligned to an individual consumers needs and interests.

Customer data can also be used in a contact centre environment to improve service levels. If the companys systems support it, complaints on other channels (such as social media) could be automatically added to a customer profile, ensuring that the customers entire interaction history with the company (across multiple channels) is documented and available to the contact centre agent who handles the call.

This serves to enhance the customer experience, since reducing time spent on having to gather information and then repeating it while on calls can create frustration for customers. All the information will also be available to the agent in a single place, which means a higher probability of a speedier resolution to the query.

So its not so much that customers details are being sold on a long list of paper, but that their lives are being documented  a process which has become easier in a digital age. Naturally, companies want to protect the private information that belongs to their customers, and its also information theyd prefer to keep from their competitors, so security and respecting a customers privacy is essential in the world of big data.

The goal is improved customer experience, through a process of optimised efficiency and productivity. This leads to customer loyalty as well as profitability, so having poor processes working badly off big data doesnt make sense for any company with a strategy for growth. Big data shouldnt be used for its own sake, but only if it is contributing to an improved business model for the company and the customer alike.
The Graca Machel Trust has announced that it will launch a pan-African initiative to 'Multiply the Faces and Amplify the Voices' of African women as a force for economic and social transformation. The Trust will convene the first-ever Women Advancing Africa (WAA) Forum in 2017 to highlight the critical role that women play in shaping Africa's development.

Image by 123RF

Over the past decade, Africa has experienced unprecedented economic growth but women and children have shared least in its prosperity. Today, African women constitute 70% of the informal economy, while one third of Africas formal small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are owned by women but only 47% of these are financially served.

Africas women are a powerful untapped force and creating more opportunities for women to participate in the economy will improve their earning potential, assist families to move out of poverty and drive inclusive and sustainable growth, stated the Women Advancing Africa press release.

Women Advancing Africa plans to build an inter-generational movement of women whose experience and wisdom will lead to collective action to address these economic imbalances. To identify priorities and help shape the agenda for the inaugural Women Advancing Africa Forum, the Trust convened a roundtable meeting of African women leaders across sectors in Magaliesburg, South Africa from August 11-13, 2016.

The intimate gathering was hosted by Machel, who shared her vision for Women Advancing Africa and invited participants to share their stories and develop targeted goals for the initiative moving forward.

Africas continued journey towards full economic and social prosperity will only be achieved when women take the lead in setting the continents development agenda and have equal opportunities to participate at all levels in society. Now is the time to shape a collective agenda for the economic advancement of African women.

Priorities

At the meeting, more than 40 African women leaders worked together to identify priorities and outline key focus areas for the 2017 Forum. Under the overarching theme of driving social and economic transformation, WAA will focus on three core pillars in 2017: promoting financial inclusion, increasing market access and driving social change.

It is rare to experience a completely safe space in which we can tell our truth, own our stories and challenge each other, reflected Renee Ngamau, participant and member of the Graca Machel Trust Women in Media Network. The WAA roundtable created that space and challenged me to powerfully take on next steps in my journey; not just for myself, but for other women younger, or less privileged than I am.

The Trust has selected APCO Worldwide, the largest women-owned communications firm in the world, to be the convening partner for the Women Advancing Africa initiative. Working closely with the Graca Machel Trust, APCO will leverage its global network and communications expertise to bring the initiative to life at the inaugural meeting.

The Forum will take place next year in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and will be attended by at least 250 of Africas most influential women leaders, the continents rising stars and committed global champions.

Initial support for the WAA initiative has also been provided by founding sponsor, The Intel Foundation. Through the She Will Connect Program, Intel will also establish a dedicated online platform to connect a pan-African community of women leaders.

Additional support has been provided by the UPS Foundation, Discovery, The United Nations Foundation, The Skoll Foundation and the Bridgeway Foundation. These partners share the Trusts belief that advancing women economically is crucial to the health and prosperity of African families, communities and nations.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Preparations are underway for the 10th African Development Forum (ADF) to be convened by the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Union and the African Development Bank.

The forum brings together a large number of participants, including Heads of State and Government, policy makers of African member States, development partners, UN agencies, academics, civil society organisations, the private sector, eminent policy and opinion leaders, among others.

It will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 15-17 November 2016, with the theme: Migration and Africas transformation. Parallel events will take place from 13-14 November.

"The theme stems from the recognition of the central role of migration as an important enabler for inclusive and sustainable development as we seek to raise awareness and deepen understanding of the role of international migration in promoting inclusive growth and transformation in Africa, says ECAs Chief Economist and deputy executive secretary, Abdalla Hamdok.

Migration, he adds, continues to shape dynamics across countries with the youth, mostly migrating for jobs and education

Hamdok says the forum will provide an opportunity for African policy makers to analyse issues, review progress, discuss policy options, strengthen partnerships and explore consensus on devising suitable strategies for making migration work for Africas transformation.

The central premise guiding the discussions at the forum is that international migration plays a critical role in the continents endeavour to develop and improve welfare, peace and stability and provide jobs for our growing population, he adds.

Leverage youth bulge

Hamdok underscores that the 10th African Development Forum will help African policy makers and other stakeholders to look at how, among other things, the continent can leverage its youth bulge or demographic dividend for future growth and prosperity in the spirit of the 2030 Agenda, so that no-one is left behind in Africas transformation.

Migration, he adds, continues to shape dynamics across countries with the youth, mostly migrating for jobs and education.

The issue of migration has become a major subject of debate internationally, with sensational reporting by some sections of the media whipping emotions and feeding into existing stereotypes, especially on the numbers of Africans leaving the continent, criminality, global asylum and related issues.

The ADF, Hamdok says, will discuss all the issues linked to migration, in particular fostering regional mobility on the continent, demographic dividend and migration, skills, employment creation, leveraging human and financial resources of Africas diaspora for development and new directions and trends in African migration.

The ADF is a flagship biennial event of the Economic Commission for Africa that offers a multi-stakeholder platform to debate, discuss and propose concrete strategies for Africas development.

The Forum is convened in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other key partners to establish an African-driven development agenda that reflects consensus on African development matters.
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Panic among foreign tourists when Czech islamophobes staged a mock ISIS invasion in Prague

23. 8. 2016

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When Czech islamophobes staged a mock "Islamic state invasion" on the Old Town Square in Prague to mark the 48th anniversary of the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion on Sunday 21st August, this provoked panic amongst many foreign tourists in the square. Many of them ran away from the Square in horror to hide in the nearby restaurants. Some people were injured in the stampede. Here is a video from Restaurace Kotleta, some 300 metres from the incident:





There are stories like this in the Czech Republic every day that never make it to the outside world because of a lack of translation. You can support us and help reveal what's happening in Central Europe today. Please make a contribution today on www.paypal.com and send your donation to redakce@blisty.cz. We fully rely on crowdfunding in our work. Thank you.

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Leading Czech islamophobe calls for "action" against a New York University professor

23. 8. 2016

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Leading Czech islamophobe Martin Konvicka, who staged a mock ISIS invasion in Prague on Sunday, during which some people were hurt (see video here), has called on his followers to act against Professor Jiri Pehe, the Director of the Prague outpost of New York University, for standing up against anti-refugee hysteria. Mr. Konvicka has appealed on Facebook to "do something to him i.e. Jiri Pehe] about which we are now even banned to write about":

Pan Konvicka vyzyva k moji likvidaci pic.twitter.com/iJ09BXvHND  Jiri Pehe (@JiriPehe) August 23, 2016

Previously, Mr. Konvicka, a professor of entomology from the University of South Bohemia, has become famous for demanding that muslims should be placed in concentration camps and/or ground down into bone meal . He is being prosecuted for these statements.

Mr. Konvicka's call has produced a number of quite incredible reactions on facebook HERE. Some people are demanding that Professor Pehe be shot, others that he should be hanged, others that he should be "castrated and I would gladly take part in the procedure, it would take quite a long time". Facebook has not reacted, nor has the Czech Police acted against these threats to Professor Pehe.

There are stories like this in the Czech Republic every day that never make it to the outside world because of a lack of translation. You can support us and help reveal what's happening in Central Europe today. Please make a contribution today on www.paypal.com and send your donation to redakce@blisty.cz. We fully rely on crowdfunding in our work. Thank you.

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Czech PM: "We do not want a strong muslim community in the Czech Republic"

23. 8. 2016

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"We will not accept EU refugee quotas, but the German chancellor knows this," said the Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka in an interview given to the Pravo daily prior to Angela Merkel's visit to the Czech Republic on Thursday. "I am convinced that each individual EU member state must have the right to decide how many refugees it wishes to accept. It is the duty of the national governments to guarantee their people's security."

"While it is wrong to equate all refugees with terrorists, it is also impossible to accept an open door policy for refugees like when Germany received large numbers of people without any security checks last year. Due to the existence of the open Schengen borders in Central Europe, this has greatly increased security risks."

"Acts of terrorism are usually committed by the descendants of immigrants who came to Europe some 15-20 years ago. So we have to deal with the question of whether we are able to integrate successfully people who come from and environment which is culturally and religiously different from ours. We also need to deal with the question why they become radicalised."

"These are, however, mostly issues for Germany. The Czech Republic does not have a strong muslim community and we do not want a strong muslim community here, since we see all the problems [associated muslim communities]. Nevertheless it is wrong to equate all muslims with terrorists."

"During the EU summit in Bratislava in September, apart from measures to stimulate the economy in Europe, the Czech Republic will demand the strengthening of EU security measures in order to protect our citizens. It will also demand that we should fight terrorism and illegal migration."

Source in Czech HERE

There are stories like this in the Czech Republic every day that never make it to the outside world because of a lack of translation. You can support us and help reveal what's happening in Central Europe today. Please make a contribution today on www.paypal.com and send your donation to redakce@blisty.cz. We fully rely on crowdfunding in our work. Thank you.

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The leader of illegal settlers from Bualpi, U Hau Za Nang is in custody and other people are also asking some questions. It is better to leave the place and back to their own place before the state government take action to them, said Salai Isaac Khin, Minister of Municipal, Power and Electricity.

In fact there are 361 houses in Bualpi in Chehkan village western Kalaymyo, but the exact dwellers are 180 only. Most of the lands were purchased by the locals in Kalaymyo and Falam townships.

We cannot accept the system of purchasing land as most of the locals wanted to have more profit from their own land or houses and to get another new locations in governments reserved area. However, our new government will not accept such kind of matters, he added.

Meanwhile, one of the residents said, We would like to shift to Yangon, Mandalay or Kalamyo if we are not refugees from natural disaster. In fact, we had faced landslide, flood and other difficulties and there is no building, no cultivation land under the government here, thats why we are here.
The Salween River is one of the largest free flowing rivers in the world with many largely isolated groups living alongside it.

A Save the Salween Network statement said: IFC has outlined a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for future hydropower projects in the country, and while touching on the potential environmental and socioeconomic costs such projects could entail, the document fails to present a thorough assessment and consultation plan that will guarantee respect and protection of local communities.

The HDWG was established in Laos in 2013 where dams along the Mekong River are being financed by many of the same investors. Its website states that its an innovative platform for companies to influence policy, network, and identify solutions to improve sustainability and business operations.

The river networks statement said: A legacy of mass distrust among ethnic groups from a track record of human and indigenous rights abuses, lack of compensation, and the destruction of livelihoods (have been) seen in the wake of previous hydropower development projects. A string of broken promises from the government and external investors has left a bitter taste in the mouths of ethnic people nationwide.

Regarding energy projects, special consideration needs to be taken in Burma, said the statement, where many unresolved conflicts are currently happening along the Salween River where dams are being planned.

In an open letter sent to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last week, the network urged the government to cancel plans to build the five main dams along the Salween River financed by Chinese, Thai and Burmese investors.

The letter said: We wish to remind you that the Salween River basin has been a conflict area for decades, where the Burma Army has been relentlessly expanding and committing systematic atrocities against villagers in its attempts to control ethnic lands and resources. Pushing ahead with these unpopular dams will inevitably lead to more Burma Army militarization, increased conflict, and on-going atrocities.

The letter also said that government claims that the dams will help the countrys energy problems are false as much of the power will go to neighbouring countries.

Earlier in the month, the network held a press conference in Mawlamyaing where heavy rain has caused severe flooding in both Mon and neighbouring Karen State, and also where the Salween River passes through.

Saw Tha Phoe, a spokesperson for the Save the Salween Network and resident of Hpa-an said in a issued statement: Thousands of people in Hpa-an are currently suffering from the floods. We fear much greater flooding if the Salween dams are built.

Sai Khur Hseng, a Shan spokesperson of the Save the Salween Network said: People mistakenly believe that dams help prevent flooding, but they dont. Look at Thailand. The large dams on the Chaophraya River could not stop the massive 2011 flood disaster.

Reporting by KIC News

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by BNI staff
The Alliance for Gender Inclusion in the Peace Process (AGIPP) recently met with Dr Tin Myo Win, chairperson of the Peace Commission, asking him for permission for its representatives to make recommendations at various function during the conference and to include women in the Peace Commission technical advisory team.

They also requested that 30 percent of the attendees invited to the peace conference be female.

Daw May Sabe Phyu, a member of AGIPP, said: No exact response has been given for these [requests]. We were asked to give a list of women who should be invited. We are preparing to give this list.

She said that it was the first meeting with Tin Myo Win, who also serves as the personal physician for State Counselor Daw Aung Suu Kyi, when he seemed to acknowledge the importance of their requests.

In an open letter that was left for review, the AGIPP asked that political dialogue at the conference be gender balanced and include female participation. The letter also asked for the government to do more to protect women from violence in conflict and post-conflict zones and that sex offenders are adequately punished.

Established in 2014 with eight organisations/networks, the AGIPP was formed to increase womens participation in the peace process.

Founding member groups are: Gender and Development Institute (GDI); Gender Equality Network (GEN); Kachin State Womens Network (KSWN); Mon Womens Network (MWN); Nyein (Shalom) Foundation; Womens League of Burma (WLB), Womens Organisation Network (WON); and Women and Peace Action Network (Shan State).

Reporting by Aik Sai for MNA

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by BNI staff
One common understanding coming out of this is the Chinese and as well Suu Kyi are of the same opinion, that absence of armed conflict and peaceful atmosphere are needed, if economic development benefiting both countries is to be achieved.

And thus, no wonder, Suu Kyis visit although a first courtesy call as a State Counsellor  in fact the de facto leader of the National League for Democracy government  is more focused or inclined to find ways on how to iron out out a more acceptable workable condition, where bilateral economic projects are concerned and how the Chinese could be helpful in ending the armed ethnic conflict along the two countries common border.

Let us take a close look on if Suu Kyi and the Chinese were able to advance their mutual benefit on all the scores mentioned.

Joint Statement

State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, paid an official visit to China from 17th to 21st August. During the visit, she met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to promote bilateral relations and friendship. She also met with Zhang Dejiang of Chairman of Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress. During her visit to China, the Joint Press Release between Myanmar and China was issued as follows:

The two sides would carry forward their traditional friendship and advancing their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era;

Affirmed that they would continue to uphold good neighbourly policy toward each other, the interests of the two peoples, adopt a strategic and long-term perspective, and work to achieve new progress in their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership;

Agreed to promote rule of law in the border areas, and to enhance trade, economic cooperation and various forms of friendly exchanges that would contribute to the well-being of the peoples, agreed to maintain close coordination on global issues such as climate change, natural disasters and communicable diseases;

Myanmar welcomed Chinas Belt and Road initiative and the initiative of Bangladesh-China-India- Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor and thanked China for its active and constructive support to Myanmars efforts for national reconciliation and peace process; and

State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi conveyed the cordial invitation of President U Htin Kyaw to Chinese President Xi Jinping to pay a state visit to Myanmar. (Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar  20 August 2016)

Myitsone and Salween Dams

While the controversial Myitsone Dam issue was not mentioned and touched, at least in the joint-statement between China and Burmas State Counsellor, the intense lobbying piece started to appear in Chinas newspaper Global Times, considered to be the mouthpiece of the government.

The piece titled Suu Kyi visit raises dam project hopes, written by Yu Ning, arguing, The Myitsone project will boost local economic and social development and contribute to addressing the power shortage that has plagued 70 percent of Myanmars cities, towns and villages.

She added, Based on the current agreement, Myanmar will get 10 percent of the electricity produced for free and the dam will become the sole property of Myanmar decades later. As about 60.7 percent of the return on investment will go to Myanmar, its estimated that Myanmar would receive roughly $17 billion from the project over the contracted 50-year period. This revenue, if properly used, will inject new impetus to vitalize the backward economy of northern Myanmar.

Meanwhile, connected to this controversial Myitsone Dam, back at home, the anti-Salween Dam movement is also gaining momentum. People have been correctly asking as to, while the controversial Myitsone Dam has been taken seriously, forming commission to study the project, due to the outcry of public anti-dam stance, why has the NLD regime given a go ahead construction, where the damming of Salween river is concerned?

Last Wednesday, on 17 August, twenty-six Shan-based organizations sent an open letter to State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, calling on her government to put an immediate halt to hydroelectric dam projects on the Salween River.

The blueprints for a hydropower project on the Salween include a series of dams in Shan State: the 7,100 megawatt Mong Ton Dam; the 1,400 MW Kunlong Dam; the 1,200 MW Nong Pha Dam; and the 200 MW Manntaung Dam. The project would also include plans for a 4,000 MW Ywathit Dam in Karenni State, and the 1,360 MW Hat Gyi Dam in Karen State. Investors in the projects include the China Three Gorges Corporation, a Chinese state-owned firm which operates the worlds largest dam on the Yangtze River. The other foreign firms involved in the Salween project are: Sinohydro; China Southern Grid; and a subsidiary of the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

On August 12, the Burmese government, which is led by Suu Kyis National League for Democracy, announced that the hydropower projects on the Salween River will be continued as the country is in need of energy.

The letter pointed out: The unilateral decision to go ahead with the Salween dams before political dialogue about federalism has even begun, is depriving ethnic communities of their right to decide about natural resources in their areas, and indicates a lack of sincerity towards the peace process. Coming only weeks before the planned 21st Century Panglong Conference, this green light to the Salween dams is highly worrying.

It stressed:  That the Salween river basin has been a conflict area for decades, where the Burma Army has been relentlessly expanding and committing systematic atrocities against villagers in its attempts to control ethnic lands and resources. Pushing ahead with these unpopular dams will inevitably lead to more Burma Army militarization, increased conflict, and ongoing atrocities.

According to the related contracts, when the projects are completed, 90 percent of the electricity generated is to be exported to China and Thailand.

Environmentalist Sai Khur Hseng said that the planned dam projects are in active earthquake areas.

Yesterday, there was an earthquake on the Nam Ting river [near the site of Kun Long Dam], he said. If this dam is built, the people who live along the river in Tanyan Township will be heavily impacted, according to the recent report of SHAN.

Perspective

Chinese involvement in Burmas peace process has been there since the beginning of the previous President Thein Seins initiatives to end the ethnic conflict in 2011. But it is a welcome, additional move to have a formal endorsement with the promise to help peace prevail along the two countries border and beyond.

According to Poe Than Gyaung, spokesman for the Communist Party of Burma, in his Radio Free Asia interview on 20 August, when asked about how much China could do to help with the peace process, replied that the solution would depend on the stakeholders within the country and whether the military wanted to stop fighting and have a desire to achieve peace. The Chinese could only do so much to persuade the parties involved to opt for peace, he stressed.

Closely connected to this is the all-inclusiveness problematic which the military is not reasonably cooperating by side-lining the three Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) that it dislike for several reasons, even though Suu Kyi is keen to have it as all-inclusive as possible, regardless of whether the EAOs have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement or not.

Thus it could be said even if the Chinese could nudge the EAOs that it has influence to join the peace process, the militarys stubbornness to exclude some of the EAOs could derail or create problems for the whole peace process and China wont be able to do much on this score.

Regarding the Myitsone Dam, it seems that Suu Kyi has been able to buy time until the Dam Commission files its finding on 11 November and presumes that the Chinese would be acceptable to the suggestion made by the it.

All in all, the result of Suu Kyis China visit could be said as having mixed results, as one billion Chinese Yuan (about 151 million dollars) to support Burmas growth and development has been given; an agreement to survey the feasibility study to construct Kunlong bridge; and promises to constructively cooperate in Burmas quest to achieve peace; while other economic bilateral projects that China is keen to undertake are still left unaddressed, at least publicly.

For now, optimism aside, China seems to be happy with its comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership approach and Suu Kyi is satisfied with her more balanced relationship undertaking vis a vis China, and what is going to come out of this in concrete terms is anybodys guess.
Here's How Bigg Boss Star Mandana Karimi Looked Like When She Wore An Indian Outfit Bollywood Wardrobe Kaustubha

Mandana Karimi shot to fame in India with the latest Bigg Boss season. The Iranian actress has taken over the Bollywood like it's no big deal. She was even the lead actress in the movie Kya Kool Hai Hum 3.

She is no taking over the fashion world, one outfit at a time. Recently, we caught this Iranian beauty looking absolutely enchanting in a Kalki outfit.

Mandana was attending an event in Mumbai. She wore a pastel green Indianised maxi dress. The dress comes in two pieces. One is a simple solid shade dress and the other piece in an overlay of the dress. The accents have been added with the use of sleek pleats and intricate thread work.

Mandana looked quite stellar, sporting this simple and feminine outfit. Well, this is how Iranians look when they wear Indian labels. Anyway, Mandana finished the look with a jhoomar from Shilpa Puri.

She wore heavy makeup on the dress which went well since the simplicity or dress was in sync with the makeup. She chose to wear glossy lips for this look.

We love how the entire look has been put together. What do you think? Care to wear something like this on a cocktail party?

Wear your regular scarf in 10 different ways. Simple and doable tricks.
Editor's Note: The Pension Crisis  Part 4 of 4

Part 1: Why the Municipal Pension Crisis Will Worsen

Part 2: How Legal Precedent Has Shaped Pension Policy

Part 3: How Pension Gridlock Trapped New Jersey, Illinois Politicians

Detroit left a bitter aftertaste for bondholders.

Under the city's plan to shed $7 billion in debt, Detroit reached settlements with its pensioners that left intact public safety monthly checks and cut 4.5% for general employees. Their cost-of-living increases were reduced or eliminated. They did see a big cut in the form of retiree health-care benefits, which were trimmed by nearly 90%, allowing the city to shed a $4 billion obligation.

Unlimited-tax general obligation bondholders, meanwhile, agreed to a 26% cut - with the money going to pensioners - and limited-tax GO holders took a 66% cut. Holders of $1.5 billion of certificates of participation saw a 14% cash recovery as well as a groundbreaking package of vacant land, asset leases, and development deals.

Former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes who oversaw Detroit's historic Chapter 9 called the city's plan of adjustment reasonable, fair and equitable, key benchmarks under federal bankruptcy law. The decision to treat its pensioners more favorably than other creditors was fair and justified in part because of state constitutional protections of the retirement obligation, Rhodes said.

The treatment Detroit's bondholders relative to pensioners was typical, as pension funds have flexed political muscle in bankruptcy cases across the nation. As bankruptcy specialist David Dubrow of Arent Fox LLP put it in a published piece:

"While bondholders, pensioners and workers can all be impaired in a bankruptcy as a general matter, public policy and politics determine outcome more than any other factor given the limited legal precedents in Chapter 9."

In California, the Vallejo, Stockton and San Bernardino bankruptcies all pitted the bond investors  whether they held pension bonds or other bonds  against the nation's largest pension fund, the mammoth California Public Employees' Retirement System.

While California's pension funds received a 100% recovery in the trio of bankruptcies, bondholders did not fare as well. In California, bondholders received anywhere from a 40% to 60% recovery, though San Bernardino's bankruptcy plan has yet to be approved.

In Detroit, the pension funds received an 82% recovery, according to a 2015 Moody's Investors Service report, while bondholders received only 25% on a "weighted-average basis" that factored in the impact on LTGO, ULTGO, and COP holders.

Behind the protections built into Detroit's exit plan for pensioners was the city's so-called "grand bargain." A philanthropic consortium collectively pledged $366 million to offset the city's massive pension burden and avert any move to sell off the assets of the city-owned Detroit Art Institute museum.

The funds leveraged support from corporations and the state to bring the package to more than $800 million and in turn brought the city's public unions to the table to agree to concessions. The funds are to be set aside over a 20-year period and handled by special entity that will direct them to pay benefits.

Under the plan, the state also agreed to provide $195 million to Detroit pensioners in exchange for pensioners dropping the right to sue the state to recover the unfunded pension debt that the city cannot pay. That debt could have been as high as $3 billion. The pension restructuring is central to the city's recovery plan, as it was freed of the need to make pension payments for 10 years as well as the liability for other post-employment benefits, or OPEB.

"The most emphatic message of the Detroit and Stockton plans of adjustment is their intent to protect work force sustainability at the expense of bondholder repayment," Fitch wrote in a special report on those bankruptcy outcomes.

"In each case, the bankruptcy judge agreed that this goal was more important than repaying investors. The issue then becomes one of public policy rather than legal constraint, and it appears likely that many governments would similarly favor retaining pensions over the good faith of bondholders."

Detroit's bankruptcy contributed to the burgeoning debate over the potential cracks in general obligation pledges and the use of statutory liens for GO bonds to strengthen bondholders' positions in a municipal workout.

But the politics behind cutting a public employee's benefits remain a strong deterrent for elected officials and courts. At the same time, there's also been a growing discussion of the use of a bankruptcy threat to get labor unions to the table as a distressed municipality looks to cut.

"The standing of bondholders versus pensioners in a municipal bankruptcy can be ambiguous because pensioners may have additional legal and political protections that are superior to bondholders. A municipal government wrestling with politically difficult pension funding or reform may therefore have an incentive to accelerate bankruptcy primarily to reduce its debt," Moody's Investors Service said in the municipal bankruptcy report last year.

Steps taken by California in the wake of its trio of Chapter 9 bankruptcies over the past several years have given bondholders some reassurance when it comes to general obligation bonds issued by cities, but left investors wary about pension obligation bonds.

Pension liabilities  and pension obligation bonds issued to deal with that liability  were issues in the trio of California bankruptcies and in Detroit as well.

In Stockton, Franklin Templeton continued to fight the city for a better recovery even after the bankruptcy judge approved the city's exit from bankruptcy. The company said in its court filings that the bankruptcy court that confirmed Stockton's plan erred in approving a plan that was "discriminatory and punitive" to Franklin, paying it roughly 1% on $35 million of bonds while leaving pensions untouched and paying other creditors who had settled with the city earlier between 52% and 100%.

Stockton's attorneys said in their own filing that Franklin's total recovery rate on secured and unsecured claims is roughly 17.5%. The city countered that any further relief awarded to Franklin would fall squarely on the city's residents in the form of "reduced services, infrastructure investment, and essential reserves."

Franklin finally announced in December 2015 that it would not pursue further appeals in Stockton's bankruptcy.

In San Bernardino, City Attorney Gary Saenz said in April of the agreement with pension obligation bondholders that the city was able to give the bondholders 40% of what is owed, rather than the more severe 1% originally proposed, because the agreement allowed them to stretch out payments 20 years.

The city has drafted a 20-year business plan that found it would be able to feasibly make those payments without the city ending up in bankruptcy again down the road, he said.

"One thing Judge Meredith Jury will look at is the feasibility of the confirmation plan," he said. "We believe we found a model that is dependable."

The pension obligation bond agreement continues a trend of bonds faring worse than pensions in Chapter 9 cases.

Under the settlement, COMMERZBANK Finance & Covered Bond S.A., formerly Erste Europaische Pfandbrief-Und Kommunalkreditbank AG, and municipal bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corporation, agreed to drop their opposition to the city's bankruptcy plan.

The holders of $50 million in pension obligation bonds will receive payments equal to 40% of their debt on a present value basis, discounted using the existing coupon rate, according to city officials.

Though San Bernardino reached an agreement with bondholders earlier this year in its bankruptcy, its bankruptcy exit plan is slated to be voted on in September by creditors. The current hope is that the city could exit bankruptcy by October  if creditors approve the plan and the bankruptcy judge deems the plan good enough to prevent the city from returning to bankruptcy court down the road.
WASHINGTON  The Internal Revenue Service on Monday released a revenue procedure containing safe harbors for management contracts that allows them to more easily be used in bond-financed infrastructure and other projects involving public-private partnerships.

Rev. Proc. 2016-44 extends terms of long-term management to up to 30 years from the previous 15 years that market participants had complained was too restrictive. It also removes the formulaic fixed fee requirements for manager compensation, allowing for more incentive compensation.

"These safe harbors aim to give municipalities tools to allow more flexible and efficient incentives for longer-term private management of tax-exempt bond financed projects to facilitate infrastructure initiatives," said John Cross, the Treasury Department's associate tax legislative counsel.

The revenue procedure will be published in an Internal Revenue Bulletin on Sept. 6.

The safe harbors apply to any management contract that is entered into on or after Aug. 22, but issuers can also apply the safe harbors to any management contract that was entered into before that date.

Issuers also have the option of applying the more restrictive safe harbors in Rev. Proc. 97-13, issued in 2013, to a management contract that is entered into before Feb. 18, 2017 and not materially modified or extended after that date.

Rev. Proc. 97-13 established safe harbors for long-term management contracts, providing safe harbors under which a contract of up to 10 years would require at least 80% of the manager's annual compensation to be based on a fixed fee. Fifteen-year contracts would require at least 95% of the annual compensation be based on a fixed fee.

But bond lawyers and other market participants complained that the safe harbors were too restrictive and had not kept pace with recent market practices, such as attempts to use bonds to help finance projects with P3s, where private parties join together with state or local governments to develop, build, and operate infrastructure projects. P3s involve long-term management contracts.

Historically, the IRS has found that bond-financed projects have private business use that may jeopardize the tax-exempt status of bonds if there is private ownership or a private lease of a building or other facility.

This new Rev. Proc. 2016-44 contains three provisions containing limits that ensure there is no private ownership or leases.

The first is that a state or local government "must exercise a significant degree of control of the use of the managed property." Second, the state or local government "must bear the risk loss upon damage or destruction of the managed property."

Third, the private party "must agree that it is not entitled to, and will not take any tax position that is consistent with the state or local government with respect to the managed property. The private party must not take any depreciation or amortization, investment tax credit, or deduction for any rent payment for the property.

The revenue procedure also carries over some restrictions from the previous one such as that there must be no net profit-sharing arrangements.

The procedure is receiving praise from many bond and tax lawyers, some of whom had submitted suggestions to Treasury and IRS on how to how to liberalize management contract safe harbors and clear up points of confusion.

Stefano Taverna, an attorney with McCall, Parkhurst & Horton in Dallas, and the chair of the American Bar Association's tax-exempt financing committee, called the new safe harbors "very significant," adding that they may help facilitate P3s. "I think Treasury did a terrific job at understanding the industry and what it will require in the future and tried to address these concerns," Taverna said. "All in all, I think the industry will welcome what Treasury put forward. It seems to be a lot more flexible and very reasonable."

Carol Lew, a shareholder at Stradling at Newport Beach, Calif., said the prior time limits and compensation structure for management contracts were "too rigid" and called the new rules "much more practical and pragmatic." The new revenue procedure is more representative of how the municipal bond industry has evolved, she said.

"It looks like Treasury and the IRS listened to comments from the industry on how to make the rules achieve IRS objectives and meet the needs of state and local governments," Lew said.

"I think this a helpful rule that can facilitate more public-private partnerships," she said. "It should be a good thing for issuers."

A management contract is defined by the IRS as a "management, service or incentive payment contract between a qualified user and a service provider under which the service provider provides services for a managed property." The contract term limit does not include the portion of a contract for services before a managed property is placed in service, such as construction design or management.

In Jan. 2015, the IRS released Notice 2014-67, which expanded the type of productivity rewards that could be used in management contracts. The notice also said that a management contract would not result in private business use if it is five years or less and compensation for services is based on a stated amount, periodic fixed fee, capitation fee, per-unit fee or any combination.

David Caprera, an attorney with Kutak Rock in Denver, said that this most recent update to management contracts acknowledges that a property manager is not supposed to be the economic equivalent of an owner of the bond-financed property, which he called a "fundamental principle."

"An owner is one who shares in the profits and losses of the business," Caprera said. "If the manager's compensation is reasonable and not tied to profits or losses, the Rev. Proc. recognizes that the manager is not an owner."

"The new rules allow long-term contracts for long-lived projects, and short-term contracts for short-lived assets so long as the compensation is reasonable and not tied to profits or losses," he added. "In particular, the '4 H's' of housing, healthcare, highways and hotels are going to be the beneficiaries, in that long-term assets can now be managed properly on a long-term basis."

Monday's revised Rev. Proc. comes one week after Treasury and IRS released their 2016-17 priority guidance plan, which included six projects for tax-exempt bonds the agencies plan to allocate resources toward through June. Asked about the plan, Cross had said that the most immediate short-term projects were to update management contract safe harbors and issue final regulations on issue price.
In the spirit of a new school year, let's all remember that despite our frantic pursuits, college won't prepare anyone for The Real World. (But in all honesty, nothing will.)

Hey web designers, I have a project for you.

Peer inside the life of two Syrian refugees striving to become part of German society. In the small town, they spend the majority of their days studying the German language in hopes of getting jobs and contributing to the community.

Scientists speculate timing in the big scheme of things and conclude that life seems to be more likely in the future than now. Apparently we overeager Earthlings arrived at the cosmic mashup a bit early.

I think we should all move to Cormorant, Minnesota. They just reelected a dog as their Mayor.

In more local news, commissioners in Albuquerque plan to discuss a resolution to put the ABQ Rapid Transit project on the November ballot. This will give voters the chance to state whether they support or oppose ART.

A new study surveying 111 women with breast cancer found that those who held negative expectations regarding their treatment experienced twice as many side effects.




NEW DELHI (PTI): India and the US are likely to sign a key logistics agreement later this month which will enable both the countries to use each other's assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.



The agreement called the 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA) is likely to be signed during Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's visit to the US, starting August 29.



The agreement was announced during the visit of US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter in April this year.



The move will allow both the countries to use each other's bases as well as assets for replenishment of supplies and refuelling.



However, it will not allow stationing of troops in each other's bases.



Other issues that are likely to be discussed include project under the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) and the aircraft carrier project.



The US is also likely to push its case for manufacture of American fighter jet plane in India under the 'Make in India'.






NEW DELHI (PTI): The Air Force will build a sprawling new Aerospace Museum in the national capital, focusing on the nation's rich aviation history.



The new Aerospace Museum will be close to the international airport. Spread over 43 acres, it would have extensive indoor and outdoor displays including huge aircraft parked and hanging in flying attitude with mural depicting the golden era of the Indian Air Force.



A proposal for new Air Force Aerospace Museum was cleared by Ministry of Defence and final financial sanction on the Detailed Project Report is awaited. After the approval, the new museum would be ready for the tourists within 3-5 years.



The museum is not only meant to preserve the glorious tradition of the IAF, but also to create awareness in general public about India's rich Aerospace heritage.



The IAF believes that the museum would be a popular tourist attraction and a landmark in country's capital city.



A dedicated children's area would be part of the museum where children could enter cockpits of displayed aircraft and get the feel of flying controls.



A video arcade would also be created. As per the plan, the internal displays would have a history section in which all IAF Squadrons' history would be displayed along with aviation legends, major campaigns and wars fought by the IAF.



Along with this history, major humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations undertaken by the IAF would also be highlighted.



The IAF presently has a museum near the technical area of Air Force Station Palam, which was established in 1967. The museum has an average footfall of 500 tourists daily and exhibits details about combat operations undertaken by the IAF depicting IAF's rich history since its formation in 1932 to present date, along with the display of various aircraft and equipment on the IAF's inventory, since its inception.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/08/2016 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspectors union is asking the federal government for an audit of the staffing situation across the country before making changes to the inspection system that he calls scary as hell.

Bob Kingston, head of the Agriculture Union, said internal surveys put the countrywide shortage of inspectors at 25 to 35 per cent.

Kingston said a similar survey conducted several months ago showed that the Brandon Maple Leaf foods plant was about 30 per cent short on the CFIA staff  although staffing levels fluctuate greatly, depending on which staff are on leave, vacation or at training.

In late March, the union commissioned an Abacus Data poll that found 71 per cent of inspectors in process meat plants report staffing levels in their immediate work team that are inadequate to ensure safety compliance.

However, in an email, CFIA spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau disputed Kingstons claim, saying that CFIA inspectors are present on a daily basis in federally registered meat slaughter and processing establishments to verify that regulatory and trade requirements are being met.

The number of inspection staff is relative to the number of federally registered establishments and this number has not changed significantly in meat plants.

Kingston said the perceived shortage means those doing the inspections easily burn out because of the pressure they face on the job.

Its one of those jobs that has serious consequences if you think you may not have done it right. They dont have any control over staffing levels, they have to suffer the consequences, he said.

They are the ones going home at night worrying if someone is going to get sick because of the fact they didnt have enough people to do the work.

Kingston said there are mandatory positions along a production line in a plant that are required to be filled at all times.

But, he said, theres a whole bunch of other stuff that goes on that isnt pinned to a particular place  basically youve got stuff like humane transport and care of animals that has to be ensured by CFIA. Thats the first thing that will get pulled because nobody watches that and nobody cares.

The federal budget, presented in the spring, included an extra $38.5 million for the CFIA over two years, starting in 2016-17.

That money will better target our work within Canada to inspect the domestic and imported foods that pose the highest food safety risk and better target our work outside of Canada to inspect and respond to food safety risks before they reach Canadian consumers, Jarbeau said.

The union head is calling for an audit to define exactly what the current state of staffing is at the CFIA, and to understand what may be needed from Ottawa.

Kingston said such an audit hasnt been completed in decades.

However, Jarbeau wrote that the agency is adopting more modern and efficient approaches to inspection, which will ensure that resources are focused where they are needed in order to verify that industry is producing safe food for consumers.

Her email added that the CFIA has the resources it needs to keep food safe.

But those changes have caused a lot of concern internally, Kingston said.

When you go through a massive change, you want to beef up your resources, you dont let them dwindle to a skeleton crew, he said.

Weve been talking to them and every time we do, they tell us about this wonderful risk-based model they are introducing and we politely tell them weve been working with that model for 40 years now. They are putting some twists on it that are scary as hell.

Kingston said hes aware the CFIA doesnt want to scare the public, but he doesnt think the countrys politicians are hearing the truth from CFIA management.

People at the vice-president level of the agency, they go in front of Parliament and they say this stuff  everythings fine, dont worry about us. How do they expect to get help? Kingston said.

To me, thats ludicrous. To me, thats contempt of Parliament, he said.

Requests for further clarification from the CFIA and inquiries of Maple Leaf werent returned by press time on Monday.

 tbateman@brandonsun.com, with files from Alex Antonesyhn

 Twitter: @tombatemann
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/08/2016 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Any system we have in our society is only as good as the people running that system, and the information that it is based upon. This is as true today in our justice system, as it ever was.

Apparently even when that system is heavily electronic.

On Saturday, the Sun brought you the story of Danny Joseph Bunn, who was arrested earlier this month by Brandon police under the mistaken belief that he was breaching a bail order by possessing or drinking alcohol.

In fact, that bail order  which was related to an assault charge out of Winnipeg  had previously been dropped in that city. In fact, the order should have expired in 2015, when the charge on which it was based was dropped back in July 2015.

Just imagine being arrested and locked up for something that you didnt actually do, all based on a court file that was never updated with the most recent court decision.

This was more than merely an oversight. Bunns situation is part of a recurring problem with the Canadian Police Information Centre, a national database that allows police organizations like our own in Brandon to quickly access information that includes criminal records and any court orders that citizens are bound by. For some reason, it seems that CPIC wrongly recorded that Bunns bail order was still in place, and the police were acting upon bad information.

Bunns arrest was actually the fourth time in three weeks that a record-keeping oversight led to a mistaken arrest. Back in late July, a 14-year-old boy pleaded guilty to charges that should have erased his bail order. But later that same evening he was mistakenly arrested for breach of recognizance. He was released the next morning and the Crown dropped his new charges, but he was arrested again two days later and held in jail for the rest of the weekend.

Also in late July, a 14-year-old girl was arrested based on a bail order that had expired the day before, and she too was held in jail for the weekend.

In these two recent cases, a CPIC clerk employed by the Brandon Police Service was backed up and didnt get to update the youths files in time. In Bunns case, its not the fault of the Brandon police  the Winnipeg Police Service took ownership of the updating anomaly that led to Bunns arrest.

Human error certainly will be a factor in many such cases, if not all of them. As such, a few isolated instances can  perhaps  be understood, though not tolerated. In order to mitigate further occurrences, a new policy has been introduced to prevent them.

And in Winnipeg, WPS Const. Jason Michalyshen told the Sun that police currently work with paper records as they update the system, but the force is working with Manitoba Justice to make the system more efficient so mistakes like this dont happen again.

But problems surrounding the fallibility of the CPIC system go beyond simply local instances of overburdened staff. The RCMP, as the national police force, administer CPIC and have been doing so since it was launched in 1972. Over the last several years, the RCMP has been overhauling CPIC as it moves away from paper records to electronic ones. But the resulting backlog is huge. It was estimated in March 2015 that the backlog wont be cleared until 2018.

At the same time, the CPIC faced a large budget cut last April in the federal budget, with funding dropping from $6.5 million to $5.9 million, a nearly 10 per cent drop, according to a Global News report. Then-public safety minister Steven Blaney said he had been assured the national police force had sufficient resources to meet the needs of Canadas law enforcement officials, and that there was no threat to the safety of Canadians.

Nevertheless, out-of-date records have been noted during bail hearings and sentencings in Brandon provincial court, where Crown attorneys provide a CPIC record supplemented with handwritten updates because the system is out of date.

Any time people are wrongly jailed, or when police have the wrong information in a national file, that is a threat to the safety of Canadians. We suggest the federal government move to properly fund the CPIC system, and help the RCMP cut down this nagging backlog. Its only a matter of time before a few of these wrongly jailed Canadians find lawyers and file complaints.
Brexit is projected to cost the Scottish economy up to 11.2bn each year, according to the Scottish Government.

Leaving the European Union will also hit tax revenues by up to 3.7bn annually, its analysis found.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the figures are further evidence of the need to protect Scotland's relationship with the EU.

The Government analysis paper suggests that by 2030, Scottish GDP is projected to be between 1.7bn and 11.2bn per year lower than it would have been if Brexit did not occur.

Tax revenue is projected to be between 1.7bn and 3.7bn lower.

The paper is the first in a series that the Government plans to publish looking at the potential impact on Scotland of the UK leaving the EU.

Ms Sturgeon said: "This paper shows, in the starkest possible terms, the potentially huge cost to Scotland of being taken out of the European Union and the single market.

"This analysis - based on a wide range of sources - demonstrates that leaving the EU, under any potential alternative arrangement, will have a profound and long-lasting impact on the public finances and the wider economic and societal well-being of both Scotland and the UK as a whole.

"That stark picture outlined today means that, whatever the model of relationship with the EU which is chosen by the UK Government in their negotiations before and after Article 50 is triggered, it will not be as economically beneficial as full EU membership.

"The only way to protect Scotland's economy - and the clear benefits which come from being part of the world's biggest single market - is to work to ensure we protect our relationship with the EU.

"My Government is absolutely committed to pursuing every possible avenue and option to do that."

The First Minister, who has warned the result of June's EU referendum makes another vote on Scottish independence ''highly likely'', has already held talks with the Prime Minister, EU institutions and individual member states.

She has also set up her own expert group to advise on protecting Scotland's relationship with Europe, and has set out five key interests she will try to protect during any negotiations.

These include ''the need to make sure Scotland's voice is heard and our wishes respected'', free movement of labour, access to the single market and a say in its rules.

Leaving the EU could potentially increase the cost of exporting to European markets, reduce the UK's attractiveness to overseas investors and impose new restrictions on labour, increasing skills shortages and reducing productivity, the Scottish Government states.

The scale of such impacts on Scotland will depend on the UK's Brexit deal with the EU, and whether Scotland succeeds in securing its own distinct relationship with the bloc.

Options for the UK include securing European Economic Area (EEA) membership in which it would retain access to the single market, negotiating its own Free Trade Agreement with the EU such as Switzerland has done, or reverting to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

The UK Government and the EU member states have yet to set out their preferred models.

The Scottish Government's paper draws on analysis of the different options by the Treasury and a range of organisations such as the Centre for Economic Performance and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research to calculate the potential long-term impact on Scotland.

It found EEA membership was likely to have the smallest impact on the economy and public finances, while WTO trading rules would likely have the largest impact.

Alastair Cameron, director of pro-union organisation Scotland in Union, said the Scottish Government is using the figures to deflect from its own economic data due to be published this week.

He said the economic hit caused by Brexit would be outweighed by the damage caused if Scotland were to leave the UK.

"By rushing out these speculative and selective Brexit figures in a cynical attempt to muddy the waters ahead of the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report, Nicola Sturgeon has all but admitted she has no answers to the economic questions about independence," he said.

"While there is evidence that Brexit could harm the Scottish economy, she has failed to recognise this would be vastly outweighed by the damage caused by turning our back on our biggest trading partner - the rest of the UK, a market nearly four times as big."

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson also accused Ms Sturgeon of using Brexit to deflect from the "underlying fragility" of Scotland's economy.

Speaking at a press conference in Edinburgh, she suggested GERS has been brought forward "to avoid pre-election or parliamentary scrutiny in March".

GERS has been released in March for the last five years and March 2017 would fall during the parliamentary session and two months before the council elections.

Ms Davidson pointed to "worrying signals on the state of the Scottish economy" with no growth in the first quarter of 2016.

She said: "Before the keyboard warriors in the SNP get to work - this was before any vote on the EU.

"Meanwhile, leading economists are warning that the prospects for growth in Scotland are now back to levels not seen since 2008.

"Big construction projects like the new Forth Crossing are coming to an end, and with the oil and gas sector in such tough times our underlying fragility is being exposed."

She continued: "A constitutional war with Westminster is a far easier story to tell than trying to defend the indefensible named-person scheme, or the record number of Scottish students denied a university space, or the failure to recruit enough GPs.

"People didn't vote for a Government so it could spend its days dreaming up green ink letters to send to Whitehall, nor to work up ways to reheat an independence referendum whose result it promised to respect.

"Nor to suddenly declare a political union in Brussels as sacrosanct in order to trash a union here."
Business group IBEC claims Dublin should embrace high-rise living.

It says building higher density and taller developments will help to tackle the housing crisis.

The employers' group says it is concerned about proposed reductions in the building height limits which feature in the draft Development Plan for Dublin.

IBEC's Aidan Sweeney, said easing height restrictions could also attract investment.

"The new Dublin city development plan must recognise that we are in a time of acute housing shortages.

"We have a growing population, but also we are a global competitive city, and we need to take advantage of opportunities that say, for instance, Brexit and uncertainty in the UK have thrown up for other cities around Europe."
A man dressed in a priest outfit has gatecrashed the stage at the Rose of Tralee.

Viewers were shocked as the man ran on stage holding a poster saying "In the name of the father".
Health Minister Simon Harris is facing calls to criminalise the use of bleach as a controversial cure for autism under child abuse laws, writes Joe Leogue.

While the Health Products Regulatory Authority has warned that any manufacture, supply, or sale of the Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) for the purposes of treating a medical condition is illegal, campaigners want Mr Harris to introduce further deterrents by way of legislation.

Autistic Rights Together has called on the Government to make the administering of MMS  also known as CD Protocol  to children illegal under child abuse laws, but said Mr Harris has declined its approaches to discuss the issue.

The organisation claims that South African authorities are to strengthen their legislation following reports that children with autism there were fed the product.

MMS is a mixture of water and sodium chlorite  a chemical that cannot be sold for human consumption and is used in waste-water treatment and textile bleaching.

Autistic Rights Together and many other advocates have been campaigning worldwide for over two years now, trying to put an end to this abuse of autistic children, the group said in a statement.

We welcome this very important development in South Africa but we are very disappointed by the lack of action taken by the authorities in Ireland, UK, and other countries.

There is no grey area around this issue. MMS/CD Protocol is child abuse.

However, our Government is not viewing this barbaric practice as child abuse.

The promotion of MMS as a cure for autism was first reported in the Irish Examiner in July 2014, and the product was subsequently the subject of a Prime Time investigation in April 2015.

Websites selling the product claim it can cure ailments such as arthritis, cancer, kidney disease, and liver disease.

Last year, the Irish Examiner revealed how a group held a meeting at which it demonstrated how to administer MMS.

The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing held a weekend seminar in Moone, Co Kildare, last December, at which attendees were charged a donation of 350.

The Church is headed by self-appointed archbishop Jim Humble, a former Scientologist who claims to have discovered MMS as a cure for malaria in 1996.

Despite the regulatory authoritys warnings, local self-proclaimed bishop Joseph Grenon said the HPRA holds no authority over the Genesis II Church.

Religious freedom gives us the right to believe, and use, what we deem necessary for our health, he told this newspaper last year.

Kerri Rivera, a prominent US proponent of MMS, has dismissed criticisms of the product and claims on her website that the mainstream news media has become nothing more than a mouthpiece for the medical establishment which repeatedly says there is no cure or treatment for autism.

It should also be noted that just because the FDA [Food and Drug Administration], NIH [National Institutes of Health], or even a highly respected medical journal says something is (or is not) safe and effective, doesnt make it so, her website states.

Mr Harris office had not responded to the Irish Examiner at the time of going to press last night.

This story first appeared in the Read More: Irish Examiner.
The Health Minister Simon Harris says it was important for him to thank the women who live tweeted their journey to England for an abortion.

The Two Women Travel Twitter account gathered 26,000 followers in a day, and made headlines around the world.

Minister Harris also says it would not be appropriate for Independent Alliance TDs to vote for a referendum abortion this autumn.

Two women, one procedure, 48 hours away from home was how the Two Women Travel twitter account described their journey to terminate a pregnancy in the UK - during which they tweeted the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, gaining huge support online - as well as receiving negative comments.

The Health Minister tweeted his thanks - saying its a reality which faces many, and that the matter would be discussed in a matter of weeks by a Citizens' Assembly.

Thanks to @TwoWomenTravel for telling story of reality which faces many. Citizens Assembly - a forum to discuss 8th & make recommendations  Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) August 21, 2016

Mr Harris said: "I felt that in my role as Minister for Health that I should acknowledge the fact that they shared their experience and their story which is also the experience and story of many, many other Irish women.

"I wasn't trying to get into the specifics of the matter, just to acknowledge the fact that this had happened and that people had told their story and their experience.

"And I think that was important in terms of informing debate."

Last night, a contestant in the Rose of Tralee

Read More:

Minister Harris was asked if the Government is behind Irish society and trying to dodge the matter by letting a Citizens' Assembly consider if a referendum is needed.

Mr Harris said: "I feel that my generation, and indeed a bit older than my generation, never had a say on this matter.

"But I do feel that you have to be conscious of the fact that referenda in this country are extraordinarily difficult. You can't have a referendum based on three or four words, you have to have an informed discussion about what would people require the situation to be like in ireland."

The Irish Times reports that the Independent Alliance will seek a free vote on an abortion referendum in the Dail in October.

Minister Harris says that would not be appropriate.

He said: "The Programme for Government very clearly sets out the process by which the 8th Amendment will be considered and that is the process of a Citizens' Assembly. Now that will get on and meet within the coming weeks, that is the process.

"I don't think therefore as a government, it is appropriate to be supporting any parallel process or any alternative process."
The founder of Fathers4Justice says his decision to run on the stage during the Rose of Tralee TV selection was justified.

Matt O'Connor, interrupted the live show during the Cavan Rose Lisa O'Reilly's interview with Daithi O Se, dressed as a priest before being escorted off stage.

He says the group has a responsibility to raise the issue of rights of fathers in Ireland, which he says affects 100,000 children.

Mr O'Connor says this is the first of many high-profile protests planned by the group.

He said: "The contest itself - the Rose of Tralee - has widely been panned as being a sexist and outdated beauty pageant; but it's an issue that we thought needed to be aired and it's the first of many protests we're going to be staging across Ireland."

Speaking to Radio Kerry, Mr O'Connor also rejected the comparison to fears created by recent terrorist incidents.

Founder Matt O'Connor. Pic: @F4JIreland on Twitter.

He said: "I hope you're not suggesting that we're going to give up our lawful right to peaceful protest.

"That right to protest is actually enshrined in law. We have a right to peaceful protest, this was a peaceful protest."

When asked if he was sorry for interrupting Lisa O'Reilly's interview, Matt O'Connor said: "Lets put it in context - it's a beauty pageant, not somebody's holy communion.

"But I was told - and I hope it's the case - that she carried on, the show carried on...and fair play to her. It's disconcerting, but let's remember this was a peaceful protest, it was nothing more dramatic than that, a couple of seconds on television, let's put it in that context."

Meanwhile, the Rose at the centre of the stage, Lisa Reilly, says she was close to tears when the incident occurred.

However, she says she did not want to let her supporters down.

She said: "I was very, very close to bursting out crying, I'm not going to lie, and Daithi gave me a bit of a squeeze. Then everyone started to stand up for an ovation, especially the escorts and the Roses.

"That gave me a push and I said 'Lisa you need to do this, people are watching'. It was the first time in eight years a Cavan Rose was in the Rose of Tralee so I wasn't going to let people down."
Ecuador has expressed concern about the "inadequate" response from the British authorities to an incident involving a man scaling a wall at its embassy in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living for more than four years.

The intruder was spotted in the early hours of yesterday at the side of the building, which includes a window, and fled after being caught by the embassy's security staff.

It was two hours before anyone from the British authorities arrived, said the embassy.

19 mins ago at 2:47am an unknown man scaled the side wall+window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security.  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 22, 2016

An official statement said: "The embassy has made available to the UK diplomatic police the evidence in its possession to help clarify this serious incident.

"According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), the host country has the special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of any diplomatic mission against any form of intrusion or harm.

"In this case, the security of the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK is the responsibility of the British authorities.

"The Ecuadorian government therefore expresses its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place.

"The government of Ecuador regrets that, despite the enormous resources that the British Government has undertaken to prevent Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorian embassy, the authorities did not respond more quickly to this extremely serious attempt an unauthorised entry.

"The government of Ecuador expresses its willingness to cooperate with the security forces in the UK to prevent future incidents and renews its commitment to protect Julian Assange."

Scotland Yard called off its multimillion-pound 24-hour surveillance of the embassy last October, saying the operation was "no longer proportionate", but said it would deploy a number of "overt and covert tactics" to arrest Mr Assange.

Cameras have been installed around the building.

Metropolitan Police officers had maintained a constant watch of the embassy in Knightsbridge, at a cost of more than 11m.

Mr Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over a sex allegation, which he has always denied.

He points out that the UK government has refused to guarantee that he will not be extradited to the United States to be quizzed over the activities of WikiLeaks if he leaves the embassy.

Mr Assange, who has been granted political asylum by Ecuador, has offered to be questioned inside the embassy but the Swedish prosecutors only recently agreed.

The Ecuadorian attorney general said earlier this month that a date would be set in the coming weeks for the proceedings to be held.
President Barack Obama has arrived in Baton Rouge for a first-hand view of the damage caused by flooding that killed 13 people and forced thousands from their homes.

President Obama was greeted at Baton Rouge's airport by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, Lt Gov Billy Nungesser and the state's US Senators Bill Cassidy and David Vitter.

The White House has released few details about the president's brief trip.

He is expected to tour one of the many neighbourhoods in southern Louisiana devastated by the flooding caused by more than 20 inches of rain in some communities over a three-day period.

The flooding damaged more than 60,000 homes and forced thousands to seek temporary housing, according to estimates.

More than 115,000 people across south Louisiana have signed up for federal disaster assistance.

President Obama took some criticism by opting to complete his family's two-week holiday in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, before inspecting the flood damage personally and meeting with local residents.

An editorial headline in the Baton Rouge Advocate last week read: "Our Views: Vacation or not, a hurting Louisiana needs you now, President Obama."

The White House said President Obama is willing to assume criticism about "optics" as long as the federal response is up to par.

"The survivors of the flooding in Louisiana are not well served by a political discussion; they're well served by a competent, effective, strong, coordinated government response," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday.

"And the federal government has certainly done our part in the first eight to 10 days after this disaster, but there's a long road ahead."

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump visited Baton Rouge on Friday, hugging victims and driving through some of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods, where the entire contents of homes were piled on the curb.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton issued a statement on Monday saying she would visit the communities affected by the flooding "at a time when the presence of a political campaign will not disrupt the response, to discuss how we can and will rebuild together".

The storm and its flooding have damaged an estimated 60,000 homes and forced thousands to seek temporary housing. More than 115,000 people have registered for federal disaster aid, with the state saying $20 million has been distributed to individuals so far. At least 40 state highways remained closed.

Nearly 11 years ago, Hurricane Katrina's crippling of New Orleans and the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama demonstrated how political leaders cannot afford to underestimate the gravity of responding to natural disasters with force and immediacy.

In 2005, then-President George W Bush was faulted by critics for flying over but not touching down in Louisiana in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a decision he years later described as a mistake.

In 2012, President Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney wasted no time in heading to Louisiana to see the damage from Hurricane Isaac.

The White House on Monday pointed to praise for the federal government from the state's Democratic governor and Republican lieutenant governor as evidence of an effective response.

And it dismissed criticism of President Obama's decision to stay away during the first week-and-a-half after the flooding as politically motivated.

Bel Edwards, who took office this year, said he suggested to President Obama and presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett that they delay a trip to Louisiana until the initial disaster response was over and recovery efforts had started.

President Obama signed a disaster declaration on August 14 that makes federal funding available for assistance such as grants for temporary housing and home repairs, and low-cost loans to cover losses for uninsured property.

He subsequently dispatched Fema Administrator Craig Fugate and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to the region.

"I think the effectiveness of the response thus far speaks for itself," Mr Earnest said. "And I think frankly, it's the most effective way to answer any of the politically motivated criticism that the president has faced."
Pupils could be denied a place at Catholic secondary schools unless they can prove they were baptised, under plans being considered by a Scottish local authority.

Children starting high school in East Renfrewshire could be asked to provide a Catholic baptismal certificate if they are moving to a Catholic secondary school in their catchment area which is oversubscribed.

Officials at East Renfrewshire Council put forward the plan prioritising places in St Ninian's High School - one of the top state schools in Scotland - and St Luke's High School for pupils who can prove they are baptised Catholics, to deal with the rising number of pupils at denominational schools in the east of the region.

Fiona Morrison, the council's head of education services, said in a report set to go before councillors on Thursday that families of any faith or none would be able to apply for enrolment at a Catholic school, but where they are oversubscribed by catchment pupils, "priority be given to baptised Catholic children" and non-Catholics would be sent to their local non-denominational school.

She added the proposal would allow the council to "plan more effectively school provision, provide sufficient places for its resident population and prioritise places for baptised Roman Catholic children in Roman Catholic schools".

If councillors agree, a public consultation will be launched on the proposals, which are not subject to ministerial call-in and will be brought in next January.

But Jim Swift, a Scottish Conservative councillor in East Renfrewshire, said the "worrying" state of affairs could have been avoided.

He said: "We have repeatedly warned the council that because of an increasing Catholic population, more denominational school places will be required.

"It has had several opportunities to get this right, and each time it has messed up.

"Labour and the SNP haven't listened, and now children in East Renfrewshire risk missing out on being educated at one of Scotland's best state schools unless they can produce a baptismal certificate.

"Across Scotland, many non-denominational pupils are happily taught in denominational schools, but now that's in jeopardy because both Labour and the SNP failed to heed the warnings."

The council's education director, Mhairi Shaw, said the education department carries out annual reviews to ensure capacity and due to increased demand, has increased teacher numbers, created additional accommodation and is investing 77.6m (89.8m) over the next three years in extra facilities.

But she said that despite these steps, the council may not meet demand for Catholic school places in future.

She said: "We also know that we have space in our very high performing non-denominational schools in the east of the council area and as such we must seek to use all available capacity across our full school estate to achieve a fair and equitable solution.

"As more families want a place at Roman Catholic school for their children, it is essential that we either create more capacity for Roman Catholic education or change admissions arrangements for our existing schools."

Council leader Jim Fletcher said: "The Education Committee will consider the proposal to consult on these proposed new arrangements later this week.

"It must be stressed that the council is always in listening mode and takes on board all views to ensure that we arrive at decisions which provide the best possible services and standards for our residents."
Sudan is hosting South Sudan's former rebel leader and vice president, whose whereabouts had been unknown after he fled his country into neighbouring Congo last week.

Riek Machar needed "urgent medical attention", government spokesman Ahmed Bilal Osman said in a statement carried by the SUNA news agency.

He said Machar's condition was now stable and that he would stay "until he leaves the country for a destination of his choice to complete his medical treatment".

Machar fled South Sudan's capital last month amid renewed fighting, just months after he returned to the country to resume being vice president under a peace deal signed last year under international pressure.

Many of his bodyguards were shot dead in the July fighting that erupted outside the presidential compound where Machar and former rival President Salva Kiir were meeting on recent tensions.

His absence has further weakened the already fragile peace deal, with Kiir quickly replacing Machar as vice president in a contested move.

Osman, the Sudan government spokesman, said Machar had been received "recently" in Sudan but did not give details on when or how he entered the country. He said Sudan accepted Machar for "purely humanitarian reasons" and promptly notified neighbouring South Sudan's government.

Sudan's foreign ministry spokesman had told The Associated Press on Saturday that Machar was not there.

Last week, a spokesman for Machar announced that he had fled across the border into Congo after weeks of walking through the bush. The United Nations said it had arranged for its peacekeeping mission in Congo to fly Machar to a safe place away from the Congo-South Sudan border and that Machar was in the hands of Congolese authorities.

But Congo's government last week said it had no knowledge of Machar being there.

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 between armed supporters of rivals Kiir and Machar. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 900,000 have fled the world's youngest country, which was founded in 2011 after years of fighting for independence from Sudan.
Turkey's foreign minister said the country has withdrawn its ambassador to Austria following a growing diplomatic spat.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said the ambassador was called back to Ankara for "consultations".

Ties between Turkey and Austria have been tense for several weeks, with a top Austrian official saying Turkey was heading toward a dictatorship and other leaders calling for an end to Turkey's European Union membership talks.

Turkey, in turn, has described Austria as the "capital of radical racism".

Mr Cavusoglu said Ambassador Hasan Gogus was withdrawn after Austrian authorities decided to allow alleged supporters of Turkey's Kurdish rebels to hold a demonstration in Vienna over the weekend.

He also cited rising anti-Turkish rhetoric in Austria.

Mr Cavusoglu said: "We saw that... the PKK and its supporters were given permission to stage a demonstration in Vienna.

"This does not comply with honesty or sincerity. We couldn't stay inactive against this attitude which supports terrorism."

He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Turkey and its allies consider a terror organisation.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkey's security forces resumed last year after a fragile peace process collapsed.

The group has stepped up attacks targeting police and military in Turkey and at least a dozen people were killed in a string of bombings last week.

Mr Cavusoglu said Austria's top diplomat in Ankara was also called to the ministry over the demonstration in Vienna.

There was no immediate response from Austrian officials.

"Unfortunately, the ground for our bilateral relations and co-operation to continue as normal has disappeared," Mr Cavusoglu said.
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The government says its position on greyhound racing "remains unchanged", despite members of the Canberra Greyhound Racing Club suggesting Racing Minister Mick Gentleman had softened his stance during a meeting on Tuesday.

The future of the greyhound industry in the ACT was cast into serious doubt following NSW's decision to ban racing last month.

The Canberra Greyhound Racing Club took a series of options to the government to keep the industry alive. Credit:Melissa Adams

NSW made the shock decision after an inquiry found "overwhelming evidence of systemic animal cruelty, including mass greyhound killings and live baiting".

Soon after, Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced greyhound racing also had "no future in the ACT".
More than 100 approved self-managed superannuation fund auditors have had their registration cancelled with the corporate watchdog after failing to file accounts in another blow to Australia's 'selfie' economy.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said in a statement on Tuesday it had struck off 133 SMSF auditors following a series of warnings.

ASIC has kicked 133 self-manage super fund auditors off its registry. Credit:Louie Douvis

As a result there are only 6,547 registered auditors to assess the financial integrity of the more than 500,000 SMSFs that manage $595 billion in life savings.

A staggering 811 auditors  or one in eight SMSF auditors  were threatened with deregistration for failing to follow the basic requirement of filing accounts or paying registration fees to ASIC.
But for decades, these public spaces have also been put to less glamorous use  as makeshift bedrooms for Melburnians who lack a roof over their heads.

"We are homeless, not terrorists": Stuart Poden (pictured in blue) says of those who live in Hosier Lane. Credit:Daniella Miletic

For some business owners, our laneways also help generate significant profits. If you're after street cred, a gritty setting will deliver.

Melbourne's famous laneways boost our city's cultural capital. Tourists hunt down street art, city workers flock to favourite cafes, and late-night revellers stagger around in search of "hidden" bars.

"I think the homeless problem in the city is getting out of hand completely  It's just become a joke," he told 3AW, saying he's witnessed spitting, drug use and abusive language. The upshot of his complaint? In a tourist spot like Hosier Lane, homeless people are bad for business. Bad for the city's image.

For Melbourne's 250-plus rough sleepers, the real joke is that they reside in "the world's most liveable city". In June, a council tally found the number of people sleeping rough in Melbourne has increased by 74 per cent in two years. More than 22,000 Victorians are homeless, and more than 30,000 are waiting for public housing. Crisis accommodation is packed full.

The paths into homelessness involve a mix of structural and personal factors: a dire lack of affordable housing, financial stress, family violence, addiction, mental health issues, sexual abuse, unemployment, discrimination. We're talking genuine hardship, not a lifestyle choice.

Mr Camorra is not alone in his frustration. But recent complaints about drunkenness, drug-taking and public urination cannot be pinned solely on rough sleepers. Many well-heeled folk enjoy a spot of drug and alcohol abuse  sometimes in laneway bars  and public urination is hugely popular with the boozy after-work and post-footy crowds.

What's more, the trouble is not all one-way: when you're visibly homeless, getting spat on, taunted or abused by passers-by is not unusual. You're also at risk of violence or harassment. Rough sleepers cluster together because it's safer.
Corbyn's video was first published by The Guardian who reported the Labour leader saying the seat shortage vindicated his policy of the government nationalising rail services. [ Read] Following Virgin's statement, his office said the empty seats were reserved when he boarded the train, or that others had bags on them. But he confirmed seats later became available during the trip. [ The Mirror ]

Jeremy Corbyn's viral stunt - a video of himself sitting on the floor of a Virgin train which he claimed was too "ram-packed" to get a seat - has blown out into a national story and a stoush with Virgin founder Richard Branson, who released CCTV footage showing Corbyn had walked past empty seats before filming his video. [ Ben Riley-Smith/Telegraph ]

Corbyn is incredibly hostile to the media and regularly accuses outlets, including left-leaning ones of bias against him. Corbyn is hardly the first to dodge journalists and scrutiny be relying on self-broadcasting through social media but this is nothing short of a embarrassing unravelling of that strategy and its viability in the future.

The question is will it make a difference in the Labour leadership battle between Corbyn and Owen Smith? Hard to tell. The hard left so-called "Corbynistas" who comprise Corbyn's activist support base already sport pretty heavy persecution complexes and will be inclined to see this as just another mainstream media attack against their leader.

2. French submarine maker hit by huge leak

French President Francois Hollande shows off a model of a submarine. Credit:Christophe Petit Tesson/AP

DCNS, the French company which won the $50 billion bid to build Australia's next fleet of submarines has been hit by a huge leak of 22,400 documents relating to the subs built for the Indian navy. [Cameron Stewart/The Australian]
To arrive at their finding, researchers screened a bunch of undergraduate students and recruited two groups to participate in the study: students who had a high "need for cognition" (NFC), and students with a low need for cognition.

But that's not quite what this study says. Rather, it finds that people who like to use their brains aren't necessarily smarter than those who don't. But they are a lot more comfortable being still with their thoughts.

It all comes down to a high or low "need for cognition" (NFC), which the paper's authors describe as "a tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavours." Credit:Stocksy

Now, you may think this isn't terribly surprising. Smarter people are probably more likely to go to college and take jobs that require more brainpower - engineers, lawyers, (ahem) reporters - than strength and physical skill - construction workers, carpenters, pipe fitters. People in brainier jobs are more likely to sit at a desk all day than people who build houses or fix things for a living, so of course smarter people will be less physically active. Right?

People who like to use their brains are a lot less physically active than people who don't, according to research published this month in the Journal of Health Psychology.

NFC is a long-standing metric in psychological research. The paper's authors describe it as "a tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavours." It's measured via an 18-question survey that asks people things like whether they "like to have the responsibility of handling a situation that requires a lot of thinking" or whether they "like tasks that require little thought once I've learned them" or if thinking is "their idea of fun."

In this study, the researchers took 30 students whose responses indicated they had a high need for thinking in their daily lives, as well as 30 who had a low NFC. For a week, they had each student wear an actigraphy device - kind of like a precursor to the Fitbit for measuring daily physical activity. The devices recorded activity levels every 30 seconds. The researchers excluded periods when the students were sleeping, or when they removed the devices, which was rare.

They then looked at the daily differences in physical activity between the high-NFC and low-NFC groups, measured in terms of instances of gross motor activity - activity that involves moving arms and legs, like walking, dancing, exercising, etc.

Students with a lower need for cognition showed a higher frequency of physical activity on every day of the week during the study period. According to the researchers' statistical analysis, this difference in activity was highly significant during the weekdays, but the differences in the weekend readings weren't as meaningful (despite the seemingly big difference on Saturday, the authors indicated that that was likely due to statistical noise).

The first thing to note here is that this isn't simply a function of smarter people self-sorting into more sedentary jobs. All of the subjects were undergraduate university students who had not yet started their careers. It's possible that there's an even greater difference in physical activity between undergrad high-NFC individuals, and low-NFC individuals of the same age who aren't enrolled in college.
Sexual harassment and assault are fundamentally an issue of student safety and welfare, and the University has a duty to its students to provide a safe environment that is conducive to learning. The University has failed to live up to this duty and instigate genuine cultural change. Our demands are as follows: Research 1. That the University conduct a student-wide survey into the current culture at the University, particularly student attitudes and beliefs around sexual assault, gender and consent. Data about sexual assault prevalence does not tell the whole story and cannot be meaningfully analysed without information about the culture in which these data arise. 2. That the University commission an independent review, by 'End Rape on Campus Australia', of sexual harassment and assault reporting procedures in operation at other universities and educational institutions. That this review be used to develop a best-practice reporting model that the University will then adopt.

3. That the University fully participate with the Australian Universities' Sexual Assault and Harassment Survey currently being developed by The Hunting Ground Australia Project in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission. Education and training 4. That the University consult with the Full Stop Foundation to provide 'Sex and Ethics/ Bystander' training to student groups. 5. That the University consult with the Full Stop Foundation to provide 'Responding with Compassion' training to all staff employed by the University as well as all relevant student representatives. That the University also provide optional training to anyone else who is in a position where they are likely to receive disclosures of sexual harassment or assault, for example, tutors, editors of student publications, university health workers, college staff etc. 6. That the University consult with the Full Stop Foundation to provide 'Vicarious Trauma' training to all staff employed by the University as well as all relevant student representatives, or anyone who is in a position where they are likely to receive disclosures.

7. That the University create an online module to educate students about sexual assault and harassment that must be completed by all students once per semester. Student representatives, including the Wom*n's Officers, Sexual Harassment Officers and Queer Officers, must have genuine involvement in the creation of content for this module. 8. That the University license The Hunting Ground for screening each year for the next three years, with screenings to be organised by the SRC Wom*n's Department. Policy and procedures 9. That the current task-force led by Elizabeth Broderick investigating college culture, and any future task-force, committee or advisory group that addresses sexual harassment or assault (including in a college context) automatically include at least two student representatives, one of whom must be a SRC Wom*ns officer. The other position to be filled by a Queer Officer, Sexual Harassment Officer, or other suitable student representative, to be selected in consultation with the Wom*ns Officer. 10. That all counselling and casework staff employed by Counselling and Psychological Services (CaPS) undergo specialised trauma training to better support survivors of sexual assault. Until this training is implemented, it should be made clear on all advertising for USyd Counselling and Psychological Services that the counsellors are not specially trained for responding to sexual assault.

11. That the University create a clear policy statement regarding its response to complaints about sexual harassment and assault, detailing how information in the complaint will be stored and who will have access to it; the timeline and method by which the University will communicate with the complainant; the University's powers to discipline perpetrators; and the supports that the University is able to offer to survivors (for example, granting extensions and special considerations and providing counselling and counselling referral). 12. That a one-page resource, approved by the current Wom*n's Officers, informing students about key policies and organisations relating to sexual harassment and assault is created for inclusion within all Unit of Study Outlines from Semester 2, 2016 onwards. This resource should include: a. A clear and accessible definition of consent b. An outline of the Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Policy 2015 and a link to the full policy c. An outline of the procedure for making a formal complaint to the University and a link to the Student Complaints Portal

d. A link to the SRC Casework page e. A link to the Safer Community website f. Contact information for the police, the 1800RESPECT hotline and the NSW Rape Crisis Centre Signed: Anna Hush, 2016 Wom*n's Officer

Vanessa Song, 2016 Wom*n's Officer Xiaoran Shi, 2015 Wom*n's Officer Julia Readett, 2014 Wom*n's Officer Phoebe Maloney, 2014 Wom*n's Officer Hannah Smith, 2013 Women's Officer

Emily Rayers, 2013 Women's Officer Kate O'Brien, 2012 Women's Officer Jaya Keaney, 2011 Women's Officer Rosie Ryan 2010 Women's Officer Tamsin Thomas (nee Dingley), 2009 Women's Officer
A group of current and former student councillors from the University of Sydney have penned an open letter to Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence, arguing that campus sexual assaults have for too long been ignored by a management that prioritises reputation over safety.

12 Women's Officers from the past decade signed Monday's letter, which lays out damning failures of student safety mechanisms and recommends a raft of policy changes to guarantee that instances of sexual harassment and assault are taken seriously by the university.

Sydney University Women's Officer Anna Hush Credit:Christopher Pearce

"For an entire decade we have been raising the issue of sexual assault and harassment on campus with the administration. For an entire decade we have been met with resistance to change", reads the letter.

"It seems to us that the University has deliberately stalled action on sexual assault, assuming that once Women's Officers and other activists finish their term, or graduate from university, the institutional knowledge required for a sustained campaign on this issue is lost.
If you're not a fan of investing in our banks  or even if you are, but your portfolio already has more than enough of them  where do you put your money? You're likely looking for something safe, reliable, and, well, ''defensive", as they say in the trade.

And if you're like most people, your gaze will pretty quickly fall on the healthcare sector. We're all getting older, we all get sick, and the continuous improvements in technology mean medicos are finding more  and more expensive  ways to patch us up and keep us going. And, given our system of public and private healthcare here in Australia, the sector is about as immune from economic cycles as it gets (short of funeral homes and tax collection).

Dr Colin Goldschmidt, the chief executive of Sonic Healthcare, which bumped its top line by 20 per cent and its bottom line profit by a healthy 30 per cent for the year. Credit:Kirk Gilmour

The broad recognition of those factors, though, means that shares in the healthcare sector are rarely cheap and quite often pretty expensive. Which is OK if you're after sub-par returns, but if not, you need to separate the expensive-for-a-reason wheat from the just-plain-pricey chaff.

Which brings us to reporting season. And it's been something of a mixed bag.
Mr McHugh claimed he was coerced into signing away his labour hire company to the pair following a meeting on the Gold Coast in 2011 involving Mick Gatto.

Mr McHugh alleged Mr Gatto announced at the meeting; "From what I've heard, the businesses are owned by George Alex. I don't give a f*** what you say, I've listened to everyone's story, and I've made a decision".

Justice Murphy said the only evidence the meeting took place was from Mr McHugh himself, finding the claim he handed over his interest in the business under duress "implausible", though Justice Murphy had "no difficulty" in accepting Mr McHugh thought Mr Gatto and Mr Alex had a propensity for violence.

"I accept that men with reputations like those ascribed to Gatto, the Bankrupt (Mr Alex) and/or Antoun might not need to say much to get across an intimidating message and might intimidate through their presence," he said.

The bankruptcy eventually led to the Federal Court case where trustees, whom Mr Alex did not cooperate with, launched proceedings to attempt to recover more than $12 million and shares in Queensland labour hire business, Global Business, involving Mr McHugh, Mr Byrnes and accountant Angelo Russo.
More than 20 students have been suspended from a Gold Coast school after naked photos, believed to be of other students, were shared.

The string of punishments came in the wake of outrage over a website sharing nude photos of hundreds of women and targeting schools around the country but the suspensions weren't believed to be linked.

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School.

A Department of Education spokeswoman confirmed 22 Palm Beach Currumbin State High School students were suspended last week for sharing "inappropriate images".

"Unsafe online behaviour and inappropriate use of technology is a community-wide issue," she said.
"The driver builds a relationship with the business just as much as the business does with the driver," Timbs says. "Drivers get rated for their work, and the driver also rates the store. The cream rises to the top; if you're a really good business and you do a great job, you look after your staff, then you get rewarded for that because people want to work with you, and vice versa." Timbs says the business is currently looking to scale up, having recently raised $1.7 million. "We've just opened an office and hired a general manager in Melbourne. We're hiring here in Sydney. We've got big brands on the platform like Mad Pizza and Miss Chu. McDonald's is on board and Menulog has signed up as a partner. We expect a number of other major brands in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will sign up between now and Christmas." There is currently more than 2000 drivers registered on the platform, with about 50 new drivers signing up and undertaking training every week on things such as food health and safety and safe driving. There's a fantastic mentor and start-up scene in Australia. Everyone's willing to help and give their opinions. David Truong started working as a driver for Drive Yello in March this year. "When I started I was doing one or two shifts a week, now it's three or four and I drive for a couple of restaurants."

He is able to work for multiple restaurants in the same shift, and makes about $400 a week, which he uses to supplement his income teaching music production. "There's massive growth opportunities for us here in Australia. We've also been approached by a couple of brands to go to New Zealand and Singapore and even to the States and to Europe," Timbs adds. "There's a lot of opportunity within this marketplace, and I think it's purely based on the fact that we are looking at it from the business rather than the consumer perspective." He says rather than being competitive threats, businesses like UberEATS, foodora, and Deliveroo, which also provide drivers for restaurants, validate his model. "The big brands we work with have the brand power to facilitate their own deliveries. They have their own channels, their own applications. We power the delivery on behalf of them. Whereas, Deliveroo, UberEATS and foodora own the consumer. They have all the payment details, all the consumer details. People are loyal to their brand, so they're loyal to UberEATS, they're loyal to Deliveroo. They're not loyal to McDonald's. "If you're doing a couple of hundred deliveries a week, we can help you manage your existing teams and that process more efficiently. If you're a store that's doing 20 deliveries a week, you're probably better off going with those guys. Once the delivery market has been validated for your business, and you really see it as a great opportunity to bring in a new revenue stream, then Yello empowers you to do that."

Vietnamese food delivery outfit Mister Minh is one business that relies on the UberEATS platform as its delivery partner. Minh Chu, who previously owned Vietnamese restaurant Binh Minh, has opened a commercial kitchen, Mister Minh, for the sole purpose of serving meals via the UberEATS platform. "I had a restaurant for 17 years and it was very successful but it was pretty full on. I sold my business two years ago so I could spend more time with my family," says Chu. "Now I've decided to open a commercial kitchen for catering and delivery. I'm addicted to Uber from a customer point of view. I thought it would be great if I could build an app that would allow customers to order my food from anywhere. Now I can concentrate on the quality of the food. I'm pretty excited I can reach customers anywhere." It's still early days for Drive Yello. Timbs says it has generated $200,000 in revenue in the last eight months for its drivers, of which the business takes a cut. He says the company expects to make more than $1 million in revenue within its first 12 months. Technology is the business's major hurdle in achieving that figure. "There's complexity around building a digital product, and building it fast. With technology, nothing's ever going to be perfect all the time. It's just a matter of coming up with solutions to allow our marketplace to be happy," he says. The business will also look to raise between $3 million and $5 million in additional funding in the near future, to help it service the big fast food brands.
Australia is set to be flooded with new strains of deadly synthetic designer drugs with new versions entering the market on an almost daily basis, according to international toxicology experts.

Professor Marilyn Huestis, a long-term member of the US National Institute of Drug Abuse and the National Commission on Forensic Science, says synthetic cannabis can be up to 100 times more powerful than marijuana and can produce instant seizures, kidney failure, coma and death.

Professor Huestis, who is in Melbourne to deliver the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine's Graeme Schofield Oration, says one small vial of the synthetic drug can provide thousands of doses and "blows away" the types of profits made from other illicit drugs.

Her warnings are supported by the VIFM chief toxicologist, Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos, who says there are 640 known "super" synthetic drugs now available. "There is a flood of them; we can't keep up. This is a huge problem." He said the raw product was often produced in China, refined in Europe and then sold on the internet.
The millions of sheep born in Victoria each year must be fitted with electronic ear tags, under a major overhaul of livestock traceability systems to be introduced from 1 January 2017.

The change, to be unveiled on Wednesday and which also applies to goats, means that Victoria would be the only state in the nation to adopt mandatory electronic ear tags for sheep and goats.

Victoria will be the only state to adopt mandatory electronic ear tags for sheep and goats. Credit:Peter Rae

The state government believes that mandatory electronic ear tags would make it easier for livestock to be traced in the event of a devastating animal disease outbreak or food safety emergency. The electronic tags would supersede visual ear tags now used by farmers on sheep.

While some farmers support the change the move is expected to generate controversy, given that some farmers have expressed concern about the costs of the electronic ear tag system, or have argued that electronic tags were unnecessary.
A Melbourne high school teacher who had sex with a student has cried in the dock after being sentenced to three years and nine months in jail.

Wesley Ellis, 37, had pleaded guilty to sexual penetration of a 16-year-old child under his care after having sex with the teenage girl on 12 occasions in 2015.

Driver jailed for killing a grandmother in Sunshine. Credit:Penny Stephens

County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd on Tuesday jailed Ellis for a minimum one year and 10 months, saying the sentence needed to be significant enough to deter others, particularly teachers, from engaging in such crimes.

"As the victim's teacher you occupied a significant position of authority and trust in the community with respect to your students," Chief Judge Kidd said. "The community is entitled to have confidence in the very significant trust placed in our teachers with our children."
A Melbourne commuter says she was threatened with a fine and abused by ticket inspectors for offering to pay a homeless man's tram fare.

Emily Day was riding a Route 11 tram from West Preston on Monday morning when four ticket inspectors approached a homeless man in a seat nearby.

"He [the homeless man] was not in a great place and was struggling," Ms Day said. "He did not need that and they had zero sensitivity."

"He was sitting quietly on the tram, shrinking into himself and they were just standing over him. It was really rough.
A Mandurah man will face court on Tuesday after being charged with indecently filming a child and owning and distributing child porn, among a string of other charges.

Police from the Joint Child Exploitation Team raided the 63-year-old man's North Yunderup home on August 4, after a six-month investigation that stemmed from images posted on the internet.

New move: Real-time payments between bank accounts may increase the risk of fraud.

Police subsequently seized a computer and electronic storage devices.
Men sporting detachable beards, wielding fake sub-machine guns and shouting "Allahu akbar", drove a Hummer onto Old Town Square in Prague on Sunday in a misguided stunt.

The faux occupation stirred panic among tourists, including a group of visitors from Israel. Dozens of onlookers, including some with children, ran for cover, knocking over chairs at restaurants. Several tourists suffered bruises.

"We are bringing you the light of true faith," the leader of the men, Martin Konvicka, who was dressed as an imam, told the crowd.

Konvicka is an anti-immigration activist, and his stunt - which had been preapproved by City Hall - was intended to sound the alarm about the possible threat posed by Islam encroaching on the Czech way of life. But he evidently did not anticipate how it would be received.
Rome. The EU must sharply increase co-operation on defence and intelligence to combat Islamist terrorism and other threats, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy said yesterday, as they insisted that they were not disheartened by Britain's Brexit vote.

Standing on the deck of the Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian aircraft carrier, Francois Hollande, Angela Merkel and Matteo Renzi acknowledged that Europe faced the forces of "disintegration" and grave threats, including terrorist attacks, the war in Syria and the migration crisis.

It was a highly symbolic venue  the Garibaldi is co-ordinating the EU's migrant rescue operation in the Mediterranean  amid fears that Islamist terrorists could enter Europe by passing themselves off as refugees.

Dr Merkel, the German chancellor, who is known to back stronger EU defence plans, called for better sharing of information between European intelligence services to thwart the kind of attacks that have hit her country along with France and Belgium.
Latest News Lendi Group settles $33.6 billion in FY22 Ambitious target of a deal a day for brokers

APRA announces new appointments The prudential regulator has a new chair, deputy chair, and members

New-to-industry aggregator My Local Broker has appointed another New South Wales business development manager as it wraps up its national roadshow.Based in Sydney, Michelle Ewens will work with existing NSW BDM, David Vizza, as well as MLBs broker support team and Chief Software trainers.Joining My Local Broker from NextGen .net, Ewens has over 30 years banking and finance experience.I want to help brokers take advantage of this technology and grow their business further, Ewens said of her appointment.Technology is key for brokers to continue their success and I am looking forward to showing them how valuable Chief will be as part of their future business model.Ewens appointment has been announced just after the My Local Broker team headed to Sydney last week for the third leg of the Chief Roadshow. The series, which has been running throughout August, has seen the team travel to all the major cities, and conduct an in-depth demonstration of the purpose-built software.
Latest News Lendi Group settles $33.6 billion in FY22 Ambitious target of a deal a day for brokers

APRA announces new appointments The prudential regulator has a new chair, deputy chair, and members

An appeal by a banned Victorian mortgage broker has been thrown out by the Federal Court of Australia.Former Victorian finance broker Rudy Noel Frugtniet's appeal against his permanent banning handed down by ASIC has been dismissed by the Federal Court of Australia.ASIC permanently banned Frugtniet, a former director of Unique Mortgage Services Pty Ltd, in July 2014 after it was found he provided misleading information and a lack of full disclosure on a credit licence application.Frugtniet appealed ASIC's decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) in July 2014. On 6 March 2015, the AAT upheld ASIC's decision to permanently ban him from engaging in credit activities, owing to his dishonest conduct over a prolonged period; his failure to show any real awareness of the nature, extent and significance of that conduct; and a demonstrated disregard for compliance with regulatory requirements.Frugtniet filed an application in the Federal Court for a review of the AAT's decision on 8 April 2015. A hearing was held on 3 December 2015, where Frugtniet represented himself.This decision highlights the duty of full disclosure of those wanting to engage in credit activities. ASIC will take all necessary steps to ensure those who engage in credit activities do so efficiently, honestly and fairly, ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said.
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Watch Washington run away!

Kings County will echo with musket fire next weekend for the 240th anniversary of the Revolutionary Wars Battle of Brooklyn  a devastating fight on Aug. 27, 1776, when the British forces gained control of the city, and General George Washington took his army and slipped away to fight another day.

This years festivities will include a recreation of that famous flight on Aug. 27 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, along with a re-enactment of the battle itself on Aug. 28 in Green-Wood Cemetery. The chief organizer of Battle Week, a widely-flung series of anniversary events, says they are designed to draw in audiences in and teach them about history.

Its really about offering a number of different avenues to enter into the story of the battle, said Kim Maier, director of Old Stone House, which stands near the culmination point of the fight.

Old Stone House will co-host The Great Escape in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Aug. 27, near the spot where Washingtons army retreated across the river to Manhattan. Battle buffs can join the re-enactors of Glovers Marblehead Regiment, paddling in a rowboat to recreate the escape, or learning how to fire a musket, said Maier. The activities will give a glimpse into life during the Revolutionary War, she said.

You can get conscripted into the American Army and see what it was like, said Maier.

There is more shoreline activity on the other side of the Brooklyn. In Bay Ridge on Aug. 17, re-enactors dressed as British redcoats will touch down on the shores of Gravesend Bay at Denyse Wharf, the original landing site for the Empires forces.

A milestone: This painting depicts Washingtons retreat after the Battle of Brooklyn. Costumed history buffs will recreate the 240-year-old retreat at events around Brooklyn.

History buffs can also catch a re-enactment of the clash between British and Revolutionary forces at Green-wood Cemetery on Aug. 28. More than 3,000 people turned out last year to watch the big fight, which includes cannons, horses, and swords, according to Maier, and this years crowd is in for an equally thrilling battle  despite the disappointing outcome.

Its a real sense of bringing history to life, she said. Its quite an exciting look at battle during the Revolutionary War.

The day will begin with a trolley tour of the cemetery by a Green-Wood historian and then boast cannon fire, games, and food from re-enactors.

The Great Escape at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pebble Beach (Plymouth Street at Main Street in Dumbo). Aug. 27, 10 am2 pm. Free.

Rediscover Denyse Wharf at Denyse Wharf (access via Belt Parkway and Fourth Avenue Overpass in Bay Ridge). Aug. 27, 11 am4 pm. Free.

Battle of Brooklyn Commemoration at Green-wood Cemetery (500 25th St. at Fifth Avenue in Greenwood Heights, www.green -wood.com ). Aug. 28, 10 am2 pm. Free.

Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill @cngl ocal.com or by calling (718) 2602511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill
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Hundreds of people turned out for a controversial festival commemorating the Crown Heights riot on Aug. 21, despite some slamming it as a distasteful way to mark such a dark period in the neighborhoods history.

Organizers say they understand why the family of Yankel Rosenbaum  the Australian Jewish man killed during of the 1991 turmoil  described a fete promising fun for all ages as an insult to his memory, but the large turnout from both black and Jewish residents shows it really did bring the communities together.

I definitely understand  he felt it was inappropriate, said organizer Rabbi Eli Cohen director of Jewish group the Crown Heights Community Council. We did it because we feel its important and to focus on what we can achieve when we work together  because look at what can happen.

The One Crown Heights festival marked 25 years since a motorcade carrying a prominent Jewish leader ran over 7-year old black boy Gavin Cato, igniting racial tensions in the predominantly black and Hasidic Jewish community. Hours later, rioters fatally stabbed Rosenbaum, and three days of chaos followed.

Local leaders including Borough President Adams, Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo (DCrown Heights), and Councilwoman Mathieu Eugene (DCrown Heights) started the day at the Jewish Childrens Museum with a ceremony remembering both Cato and Rosenbaum, followed by a march down Kingston Avenue to Brower Park for the festivities, which included rides, games, and performances from Caribbean steel pan bands.

Yankel Rosenbaums brother Norman  who was in town for the anniversary  and some local Orthodox leaders denounced the upbeat fiesta ahead of the event, though Gavin Catos father Carmel attended. Both men, who have been friends for 15 years, nevertheless broke rye bread at a Midwood deli before mourning in their own ways.

Festival attendees say their families enjoyed the fair, and defended the neighborhood get-together as a way of showing how far the community has come since its ugliest days.

The festival wasnt wrong  it was more like a celebration toward the community coming together, said Looly Cohen, whose two daughters got their faces painted and bounced on the jumping castle. It was very nice and there were lots of things to do.

Rabbi Eli Cohen, a lifelong Crown Heights resident, says he has seen the changes in the community first-hand, and hopes another festival happens for the 50th anniversary.

A lot has changed  its a different community, he said. Crime has gone down, which has helped a lot of groups working together. We hope to be there for the next festival.
Two UB medical students are NIH Medical Research Scholars

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Two students from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo have been selected by the National Institutes of Health to participate in the prestigious Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP). The year-long residential program at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland introduces medical, dental and veterinary students to innovative research in their fields.

Gregory Roloff and Daniel Kuhr are among 52 medical and dental students comprising the fifth class of the MRSP, which serves as a fellowship between the third and fourth years of medical school.

Four UB medical students have been selected to the program since its launch in 2012. Elizabeth Heller, Class of 2015, and Alex Dinh, Class of 2016, were accepted to the MRSPs second and third classes, respectively.

We are thrilled to have outstanding UB medical students continuously accepted to the MRSP, says David Milling, MD, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Participation in this highly-selective program presents our students with a unique opportunity to gain invaluable knowledge and understanding of academic medicine, leading to successful careers as physicians and researchers.

Originally from Elwood, New York, Kuhr will focus his research on the effects of adiposity (the state of being overweight or obese) and inflammation on reproduction. He will assist in a pilot study that stems from the completed Effects of Aspirin on Gestation and Reproduction (EAGeR) trial.

The EAGeR trial investigated the effects of low-dose aspirin and folic acid supplementation on fertility, pregnancy and gestation. Inflammatory factors can impair conception and the ability to carry a pregnancy to term for some women. Researchers theorized that preconception low-dose aspirin, an anti-inflammatory agent, could improve outcomes for women with a history of pregnancy loss.

Results from the EAGeR trial show that sub-fertile women at a healthy weight with high inflammation benefited from low-dose aspirin, but overweight or obese women did not. The pilot study Kuhr will assist on aims to evaluate if higher levels of inflammation in adipose women can be overcome with low-dose aspirin and cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.

I've always been attracted to the academic side of medicine and also have been interested in the intersection of nutrition, supplementation and infertility for quite some time, says Kuhr. Im excited that I'll be spending a year to take a deep dive into the field while exploring the life of an academic physician.

Kuhr will work under Enrique Schisterman, chief of the Epidemiology Branch at the Division of Intramural Population Health Research in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Schisterman received a masters degree in statistics and a PhD in epidemiology from UBs School of Public Health and Health Professions.

A native of Buffalo, Roloff will concentrate his research on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive form of blood cancer with a high mortality rate. Close to 75 percent of newly diagnosed patients achieve remission after a chemotherapy regimen, but many experience relapse.

The lab Roloff will work in strives to identify AML-specific antigens that could serve as the target for immunotherapy, which reprograms the immune system so the tumor is the subject of an immune response.

Its a lot like the way your immune system fights off a bacteria or virus, he says. The difference is that bacteria and viruses are easily recognized as foreign and defeated. But cancer cells are actually not foreign  they are our own self tissues, behaving like renegades due to uncontrolled genetic activity.

Roloff will assist in patient care on clinical trials, and his laboratory-based project incorporates immunotherapy research in more detail. He will focus on developing a screening test to find the disease hiding below the level of detection in patients who achieve an initial remission but later experience relapse. The test will ultimately predict which patients will relapse, leading to more successful treatment decisions.

On top of their demanding research agendas, MRSP scholars experience the full spectrum of medical research by attending lectures, seminars, clinical teaching rounds and other courses. Participants formally present their research to the NIH community and at professional conferences, according to a release on the NIH website.

Scholars select a program mentor and create a career-development plan under the guidance of an assigned adviser. Mentors are NIH investigators who work full time on an established research program.

NIH is truly an electrifying place, says Roloff, who previously worked at NIH in the National Cancer Institute. It is a critical mass of the brightest and most innovative minds in the world. Having the opportunity not just to learn from these individuals, but partner with them to forward human health is deeply humbling and inspiring.
Campus News

Dental professor treats more than 1,000 children in 12th trip to Syrian refugee camps

The volunteers treated hundreds of children per day, performing temporary fillings, sealants, fluoride varnishes and more.

By MARCENE ROBINSON

Families are immigrating because they dont see a future for their children in Syria. Education is the most effective way to help them rebuild their home. 

Every few months, Othman Shibly performs what some consider to be a miracle.

The Lebanese-born UB dental professor travels regularly to refugee camps in the countries neighboring Syria to establish dental clinics, open schools and deliver needed medical supplies.

His most recent endeavor: Providing dental care to more than 1,000 children living in Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon in five days.

The week-long undertaking in May was a part of Shiblys Miles for Smiles mission to bring oral health care to the student refugees who lack access to treatment due to the ongoing Syrian war.

The effort received support from nearly 100 volunteers from the Saint Joseph University School of Dental Medicine in Lebanon, a handful of dentists from the U.S. and a donation of $20,000 worth of materials from health care products provider Henry Schein.

The group treated hundreds of children per day, performing temporary fillings, sealants, fluoride varnishes and more. Each child also received oral health education, a toothbrush, toothpaste and other dental supplies.

We brought together people of different cultures, backgrounds and religions, and they all worked together for this noble cause, says Shibly, clinical professor in the School of Dental Medicine.

The effort recently earned Shibly the Ibn Al-Nafees Outstanding Achievement Award from the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). He was presented the award on July 24 at the SAMS 16th International Conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Dr. Shiblys outstanding work to help those affected by ongoing conflict has been an inspiration to our faculty, students and staff, says Joseph Zambon, dean of the School of Dental Medicine. We are all proud to see another example of how the school is achieving its vision of defining excellence in global health.

Miles for Smiles began in December when Shibly traveled with his daughter to Lebanon to donate more than 500 books to schools within the camps to establish an English language curriculum.

The director of the Education Program in Lebanon (EPL), the administration that oversees schools in Lebanons refugee camps, asked Shibly if he could donate toothbrushes and toothpaste as well, as many students didnt have the basic tools for oral hygiene.

Knowing a toothbrush wouldnt solve the schools oral health needs, Shibly went a step further by arranging to treat every child in each camp, a daunting task as some children required extractions or other emergency treatments, nearly half had gingivitis and close to 10 percent had an infection, Shibly says.

To prepare for the journey, he worked with the EPL to pre-screen the oral health needs of students in five schools spread throughout camps in Saadnayel, Bekaa Valley and Bar Elias  all areas in eastern Lebanon. SAMS arranged travel and food for the group.

We were happy to do it, says Shibly. When examining the children, some who have been in the camp for five years said that they have never brushed their teeth. When we told them to be careful about eating candy, some kids raised their hands and asked us what is chocolate.

Seven weeks to another mission of support

Shibly will return to Lebanon in October and work with Saint Joseph University and other local universities to treat more children in other camps and expand dental care to include adults.

He also plans to establish a mobile dental clinic that can be driven between camps to provide care in the area. The mobile clinic would allow dentists to treat infections and perform extractions and other extensive treatments on site, rather than having to transport children to dental offices in nearby towns that have the necessary equipment.

During future visits, Shibly hopes to offer access to maxillofacial surgery  a specialization treating diseases and injuries to the mouth, jaws and face  through a partnership with Doctors Without Borders and local universities.

In addition to dental care, Shiblys efforts in the region also focus on education, as millions of children, who make up half of the displaced Syrian population, were forced to quit school.

He has helped establish 15 schools in Damascus, the capital of Syria. These schools, which provide elementary through secondary studies, have taught more than 5,000 children.

Education brings hope to the children and their families, says Shibly. Families are immigrating because they dont see a future for their children in Syria. Education is the most effective way to help them rebuild their home.

It ensures the children have a better future, it saves them from disintegration intellectually and spiritually, and it keeps them from becoming the future seed of extremism.

He is building support through partnerships to offer more English-education curriculums and catch-up programs for students who have missed time in school due to the war. Many of his students are also in need of backpacks, uniforms and school supplies.

To learn how to assist Shiblys humanitarian efforts in Syria and the surrounding regions affected by ongoing conflict, contact Shibly at shibly@buffalo.edu or 716-829-3845.
As the sanctions are easing out against Iran, has said that it started receiving payments from the country.

S Srinivasan, senior vice-president, Ltd said that the last whole year of 2015-2016, the company received about $51 million from Iran whereas in the first quarter itself the company has received around $51 million.
Indian generics pharmaceutical company Limited has reported a 24% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 584.6 crore for the quarter ended June, 2016 driven by double-digit sales growth across major markets led by the US formulations business. The net profit for the year ago period was Rs 471.3 crore.



The income from operations stood at Rs 3,725.9 crore, an increase of 12.9% to over Rs 3,298.9 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year.



However, the formulations business that has contributed 80.5% to the total revenue, grew by 15.9%. The company was able to improve the EBITDA margin by 188 basis points at 23.9% in this quarter as compared to an EBITDA margin of 22% in the year ago period.



Among major geographies US sales registered the highest growth of 20.5% at Rs 1,703.9 crore, contributing 45% to the gross sales, on the back of new launches in oral and injectables segments.



"The quarter started with a double digit growth y-o-y on the back of overall business performance. With focus on execution and capability enhancements we continue to progress on specialty generics for a sustained long term growth," Aurobindo Pharma, managing director, N Govindarajan said.



Europe, Aurobindo's second biggest market, saw a sales growth of 12.1% at Rs 831.2 crore as compared with Rs 741.8 crore in the corresponding previous quarter. European formulations business contributed 22% to the gross sales, according to the company.
Japanese auto major is expecting a flat sales performance in the Indian market in the current calendar year even after the removal of the ban on diesel vehicles in the National Capital Region (NCR). The firm will launch a refreshed variant of Etios next month.
New Delhi Television (NDTV) has got partial relief from Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in a case related to payment of income tax. The ITAT has disallowed a tax claim by the Income Tax department in excess of Rs 22 crore from the Delhi-based media company for the assessment years 2007-08 and 2008-09.
India's No 3 mobile phone carrier, Idea Cellular, strongly denied a report on Tuesday that it was in exploratory talks about a merger with larger rival Vodafone India.

A spokeswoman for Idea's parent, conglomerate Aditya Birla, called the CNBC TV18 report of talks between Idea and Vodafone "baseless and absolutely false".

"This is absolutely untrue and preposterous," she said in an email. "There is no such intent."

Shares in Idea closed 6.9 per cent higher on Tuesday after the TV channel said the two sides were in talks, citing unnamed sources.

A spokesman for Vodafone India, India's No 2 operator by market share and the local arm of Britain's Vodafone Group Plc, declined to comment on the report.

India is the world's second-biggest mobile phone market by subscriptions, behind China, but high competition in the crowded market has kept profits under pressure.

Adding to the competition, Reliance Jio - a telecom venture backed by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani - is set to launch commercial operations in the coming months.

"Both of them are struggling with their data revenue market share and ahead of a big competitive change in the industry they might want to get bigger," IDFC securities analyst Abhishek Gupta said of Idea and Vodafone India.

Any such deal would also face tough regulatory scrutiny and analysts say approvals would be unlikely, as the would breach the 50 per cent revenue market share limit in many regions of the country if they did try to merge.

"It's very unlikely," PhillipCapital (India) analyst Naveen Kulkarni said, citing the regulatory hurdles.

"I'm doubtful whether this can go through but there could be some other form of merger, such as spectrum-sharing deals," he added.
(This article has been modified from its original. Please see the clarification at the end.)



Reliance Industries (RIL) employees, enrolled in the corporate mobile services plan, have been asked to terminate their connections with other mobile operators and use mobile number portability services to shift to Reliance Jio.
Vodafone Group Plc's Indian arm is in exploratory talks around a possible merger with its smaller domestic rival Idea Cellular , according to a CNBC TV18 report on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

A spokesman for Vodafone India, India's No 2 mobile carrier by market share, declined to comment on the report.

A spokeswoman for Idea also declined to comment on the matter.

Shares of Idea, the country's No 3 operator, rose 5.7 per cent in afternoon trading following the .
The director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), M C Misra has withdrawn statements before the Delhi High Court calling the Parliamentary Standing Committee findings on corruption in the institute as baseless and without legal standing. The move comes after Parliament sent a notice on the matter to the Union health ministry.
Union Home Minister on Tuesday said the whole world has to come together in the fight against terrorism as there is need for combined effort.

Speaking at a function after inaugurating a composite building for the Security Guard (NSG) in Samalkha near Delhi, Singh said the whole world has experienced terrorism and there is need for combined efforts.

Lauding the effort of NSG in counterterrorism operations, he said the commandos laid their lives and saved the strategic installations at Pathankot Airbase.

"NSG has created a special place in people's hearts ever since its establishment, you have instilled a sense of faith among people since its formation 1984," said Singh.

The minister said pride gave the country its Independence, inspires the youth to join the force.

Singh also stressed on infrastructure development, capacity building, skill development and training assessment.

He said NSG personnel should visit the village of the martyrs on his birthday or martyrdom day and organise special programmes to inspire the youth.

He also asked NSG to publish a booklet on martyred commandos, adding that the country should not forget its Martyrs.
The government would suggest states to formulate their own intellectual property rights (IPR) policies to promote innovation and give a boost to state economies, an official said on Tuesday.
Having carved a niche for itself through its academic excellence, the Indian Institutes of Technology should now focus on Research and Development that impacts society, similar to what institutions such as MIT in the US is doing, says IIT Hyderabad Director Prof U B Desai.

"Now we (IITs) have to make our name in R&D," he said in an interview to PTI.



The world today recognises and people talk about institutions such as the MIT, Stanford and Berkeley because of their technological contributions which have impacted society, and not because of their academic programmes, he said.

"The thrust in the should be technological innovations and scientific research which can impact society. We have become very good at education. We have done a great job. (Now) that (focus on R&D) has to be the primary goal," Desai said.

To achieve that goal, some innovation in academics would be required, he said, adding different universities in the US are doing so realising "pedagogy and paradigm that was there 40-50 years ago needs an overhaul because of aspirations of the youth entering these institutions and universities".

"They (students) are coming with lot of technology at their fingertips. They have grown up with all kinds of technology gadgets, not just laptops and tablets. When these kids enter (institutes like MIT and IITs), they come with different aspirations. We need to innovate pedagogy to make sure that the students' aspirations and the challenges that they want to tackle are made available to him," Desai said.

Six more becoming operational would not "dilute" the brand of IITs, he said.

Pointing to the demand, Desai said about 14 lakh students try to get into engineering graduation in India each year, with an overwhelming section dreaming to join which have only around 10,000 seats.

Noting that old IITs took 20 to 25 years to get major recognition mainly through their alumni, he said the new ones need a similar time-frame to earn a name. He emphasised that the new IITs should benchmark themselves against the old ones and focus relentlessly on quality.
India has figured among the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world with a total of $5,600 billion while the United States topped the chart.

According to a report by New World Wealth, India was ranked seventh, ahead of Canada ($4,700 billion), Australia ($4,500 billion) and Italy ($4,400 billion), which came in at eighth, ninth and 10th slots, respectively.

The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total held ($48,900 billion), while China stood second and Japan third, with total of $17,400 billion and $15,100 billion, respectively.

Others in the top 10 club include the United Kingdom (fourth) with a total individual wealth of $9,200 billion, followed by Germany (fifth, $9,100 billion) and France (sixth, $6,600 billion).

Wealth refers to net assets of a person. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities, the report said, adding that it excludes government funds from its figures.

The ranking of India as one of the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world is largely because of its large population. "Australia's ranking is impressive, considering it only has 22 million people living there," the report explained.

Over the past five years, China was the fastest growing wealthiest country in terms of dollar wealth growth.

On India, the report stated, "Australia and India also grew strongly and India, Australia and Canada have just overtaken Italy over the past 12 months."

The study ranked the wealthiest countries in the world as of June 2016 in terms of total individual wealth held.
At least 11 protesters were injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Tuesday as security forces opened fire at a stone-pelting mob, police said.

The incident occurred in Nowgam village of Shopian after a mob, which defied restrictions imposed in the area, attacked security forces with stones, leading to the security personnel retaliating.

"Eleven people were injured in Nowgam," a senior police officer said here, adding three of the injured were brought to Srinagar for treatment.

Authorities continued restrictions in many parts of Kashmir Valley on Tuesday as life remained paralysed for the 46th consecutive day.
The Maharashtra government's Department of Animal Husbandry has asked people to volunteer to track and check animal slaughter, and will be provide ID cards to chosen volunteers, the Indian Express reported on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court of India will on Tuesday hear an appeal by Congress vice president to quash the defamation case filed by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
The government is examining a recommendation by the special investigation team (SIT) to ban cash transactions of over ~3 lakh to clamp down on black money, the top Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official said on Tuesday.
India is renegotiating over a two-decade old tax treaty with and the revised protocol will take into account the concerns of both.

"Negotiations are under way with ... It is a bilateral treaty. We have to take concerns of both the countries and then we will have to sign," Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson Rani Singh Nair told reporters.

India is keen to rework the treaty because it wants to extend to the capital gains tax provisions of a revised tax pact with Mauritius.

"They are under the same protocol as Mauritius. So, now that we have renegotiated Mauritius, Singapore is under discussion," Nair said even as she did not divulge a timeline for conclusion of the revision.

India and Singapore had entered a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) on May 27, 1994. The bilateral tax treaty helps in avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

India on May 10 amended the 34-year-old tax treaty with Mauritius. After toiling for almost a decade to redraw the contours, India will start imposing capital gains tax on investments in shares through Mauritius from April next onwards.

Following the revised agreement, short-term capital gains tax will be levied at half the rate prevailing during the first two-year transition from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. The gains are taxed at 15 per cent at present. The full rate will kick in from April 1, 2019.

The redrawn Mauritius treaty has prompted the government to go for a similar amendment in India's tax treaty with Singapore.

Mauritius and Singapore accounted for $17 billion of the total $29.4 billion India received in FDI during April-December 2015.
have sought the government's nod to fly from western India (mainly Ahmedabad) and over the Arabian Sea to reach destinations in the Gulf, in order to avoid flying through Pakistani airspace, reported the Times of India on Tuesday.
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has become the first state to sign up for the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) which seeks to revive unused airstrips and connect tier II and III towns with flights.
Even in the wake of a clamour for increased protection for the steel industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President, Naushad Forbes, said that the protective measures should be temporary.

"The long-term objective has to be full integration with free trade around the world. The steel sector has a particular problem at present. China has a massive overcapacity, which is double the total Indian consumption. So, the situation is very skewed. So, you have a temporary problem that needs to be addressed to sustain the local industry. That's what's being done, so you have protective tariffs, but the important thing is that the protection indeed be temporary and not permanent to help the industry sort out problems in the short run and make the industry competitive not only locally but even in China," Forbes said.
The newly constructed building of Central Board for Workers Education (CBWE) was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Smt.Sumitra Mahajan here today in Rohini.Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Union Minister of State(IC) for Labour and Employment renamed the Central Board for Workers Education as Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development" .

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Speaking on the occasion Smt Sumitra Mahajan said Shri Dattopant Thengadi ji contributed very immensely for the economic growth of the county and was a wellknown trade unionist of national repute Smt Mahajan urged the officers and staff of the institute to imbibe the work culture of Dattopant Thengadi. She said abbrevaration of the name of the institute be avoided as it kills the spirit behind naming. .

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Shri Bandaru Dattatreya said that Board has been responsive and useful towards the needs of workers in the country. .

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Smt. K. Sathiyavathy, OSD, Ministry of Labour and Employment made suggestions to make organization more effective and relevant. .

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Earlier Shri K. Lakshma Reddy Chairman, Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development, welcomed the guests and underlined the importance of role being played by the institution. .

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The Governing Body of Central Board for Workers Education (CBWE) in its 166th meeting held on 10/11/2014 and 18/11/2014 took the decision to change the name of the CBWE as Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development". The Government of India, Ministry of Labour & Employment also approved it. .

.

The Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development) having national network is a Central Autonomous Body, under Government of India, Ministry of Labour & Employment, engaged in generating awareness about various subjects relating to labour, industry, nation and other socio-economic issues, besides Governments schemes amongst both organized and unorganized/ rural sector workers for the last 59 years in the country. .

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It has been working since 1958 with its network of 50 Regional Directorates, 9 Sub Regional Directorates, 6 Zonal Directorates. The Headquarter is situated at Nagpur. It also has an Apex National Training Institute i.e. Indian Institute of Workers education at Mumbai. .

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Born on 10th November, 1920 Shri Dattopant Thengadi devoted entire his life for the upliftment of the poor people and promotion of social harmony in the country. He was a great thinker, intellectual and efficient organizer, a towering personality in the Labour Movement in India and founder of many national level social organizations. .

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The Workers education is very relevant and necessary for the empowerment of workers in organized sector, unorganized sector and rural sector of our country. .

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The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a new office building of Bharat Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, West Bengal today (August 23, 2016). .

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Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the Bharat Chamber of Commerce is one of Indias oldest chambers with a history going back to the year 1900 when it was formed as an Association of Merchants belonging to a particular community. .

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The President stated that the land of Eastern India comprising Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and the other states of North East have since centuries been the land of Indias renaissance and reformation. Apart from being the breeding ground of various cultures and religions, it is this land that witnessed excellence in indigenous handlooms, setting up of nascent industries around jute and tea, iron ore, coal and petroleum. The President said that the Bharat Chamber of Commerce comprising Captains of Industries from this region have a special challenge and responsibility on their shoulders. He stated that while he exhorted them to avail of opportunities and drive the engines of growth, he would also like to impress upon them that the growth models and techniques that they use should essentially take into account ways and means that ensure equitable growth. .

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Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the leader of terrorist network, has called on supporters to reject the ISIS terrorist group and support the Taliban group in Afghanistan.

Al-Zawahiri made the call in a video titled 'Be Not Divided Among Yourselves', reportedly published on Sunday.

In the video, he said that world's Muslims should "rally around the emirate" in what is a reference to the Afghan Taliban, reports the Khaama Press.

Both Taliban group and the loyalists of ISIS terrorist group have been fighting for more than a year in Afghanistan in a bid to increase its area of dominance and gain prominence by enforcing their respective strict interpretation of Islam.

According to reports, in recent weeks the Taliban group and the loyalists of the Islamic State have reached to an agreement for a truce.

The truce has been called as the Afghan forces as well as the US forces in the country have stepped up raids during the recent months.

The US President Barack Obama also granted broader role to its forces in the country to conduct raids against the ISIS and Taliban militants.
Officials in the say a large group of migrants from Haiti has been detained at sea near the island of Exuma.

The Royal Defence Force says a patrol plane spotted the migrant boat about 5 miles west of the island in the central yesterday. A military vessel was sent to intercept them. A defence force statement said 112 migrants were detained and taken to Exuma.

Officials said the 95 men and 17 women appear to be in good health. They are expected to be moved to a holding facility on New Providence and later sent back to Haiti.
Negotiations between Bayer and Monsanto are advancing toward a deal after the companies made progress on issues including the purchase price and termination fee, people familiar with the matter said. Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann and his US counterpart Hugh Grant have had a series of constructive meetings in recent weeks, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The companies, in talks to create the world's largest producer of seeds and pesticides, could reach an agreement in the next two weeks, said the people, who cautioned ...
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has demanded appointment of independent special prosecutors to investigate into the alleged wrongdoings of his Democratic rival during her tenure as the US secretary of state.

"The Justice Department is required to appoint an independent special prosecutor because it has proven itself to be a political arm of the White House," Trump, 70, said at an election rally in Ohio yesterday as he ramped up his attack on Clinton, 68, who is currently leading almost all major polls.

Trump alleged that Clinton's actions corrupted and disgraced one of the most important Departments of the government, indeed one of only four established by the US Constitution.

"The Clintons' made the State Department into the same kind of Pay-to-Play operations as the Arkansas Government was: pay the Clinton Foundation huge sums of money and throw in some big speaking fees for Bill Clinton and you got to play with the State Department.

"The amounts involved, the favors done and the significant numbers of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a Special Prosecutor. After the FBI and Department of Justice whitewash of the Clinton email crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton's crimes," he said.

Some former prosecutors have even suggested that the coordination between the pay-for-play State Department and the corrupt Clinton Foundation constitute a clear example of a RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organisation) enterprise, Trump claimed.

He alleged that as the secretary of state, Clinton signed off on a deal allowing Russians to take an increased stake in a company called Uranium One, giving up control of about 20 per cent of America's uranium supply to the Russians.

"Clinton's approval of the deal netted the owners of the uranium company millions of dollars. In exchange for signing off on the deal, some of the former owners of Uranium One gave the Clinton Foundation millions of dollars in donations. In addition, Bill Clinton received $500,000 for a speech to a Kremlin-backed investment firm that was a beneficiary of the deal," Trump said.



Citing several other alleged examples of corruption, Trump said no one will be above the law.

"We will have one set of rules for everyone. In Hillary Clinton's world, we have one set of rules for her - and another set of rules for everyone else. I am fighting for everyone who doesn't have a voice. The forgotten men and women of America. I am your voice.

"Hillary Clinton's campaign is funded by Wall Street and hedge fund managers. My campaign is powered by my own money, but also by small dollar donations from working people across this country who want their country back," he said.

Trump alleged that Clinton has forgotten the first rule of public service.

"The job of an elected official is to serve the citizens of the US. If you don't understand that, then you cannot run for President. If you are not prepared to put American workers first, then you should not hold or seek public office. It's just that simple.

"No issue better illustrates how corrupt my opponent is than her pay-for-play scandals as Secretary of State. As the evidence has become public over the last several months, have become increasingly shocked by the vast scope of Hillary Clinton's criminality," Trump said.

" said she turned over all of her work related emails. She testified that to Congress under penalty of perjury. Now we learn about another 15,000 emails she failed to turn over have just been discovered.

"Colin Powell just proved again how dishonest is after he busted her for trying to pin her email scandal on him - one more Hillary Clinton lie," he said.

Trump alleged that Clinton's foundation took in large payments from major corporations and wealthy individuals, foreign and domestic, all while she was secretary of state.

"The Clinton Foundation accepted as much as $60 million dollars from Middle Eastern countries that oppress women, gays and people of different faiths. The Foundation donors included corporations and individuals with significant matters before the State Department. And then either Hillary Clinton herself or one of her closest aides took action favourable to the donor," Trump added.
Lithuania says it has signed a contract to purchase dozens of German military vehicles worth 386 million euros ($437 million), in the Baltic country's largest weaponry purchase to date.

The Lithuanian Defense Ministry says the deal was signed today with Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles for 88 armoured Boxer cars.

The agreement comes amid growing tensions over neighboring Russia's increased military presence in the Baltic Sea region.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Juzas Olekas said at the signing ceremony that the contract "is a signal that Lithuania takes care of its security, and investments into it seriously."

Russia's actions in Ukraine and military activity in the Baltic region caused the former Soviet republic to reintroduce compulsory military service last year and sharply increase defense spending.
has launched a fresh drive to gather support for its NSG membership bid with a top official on Tuesday embarking on a visit to Belarus and Kazakhstan to gain their backing.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi is undertaking visits to Belarus and Kazakhstan from August 23 to 27 as a special envoy of Premier Nawaz Sharif, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"The objective of the visits is to seek the two friendly countries' support for Pakistan's membership of the (48-nation) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," it said.

The Special Assistant is carrying letters from Sharif addressed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"In his letters, the Prime Minister has underscored the need for the NSG to adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of the membership for non-NPT states in order to promote strategic stability in South Asia and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime," the Foreign Office said.

While in Belarus, Fatemi will call on President Lukashenko and will hold meetings with Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov and Minister of Industry Vitali Vovk, it said.

In Kazakhstan, the Special Assistant's programme would include meetings with Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan M Ashikbayev.

faces a tough challenge in gaining entry into the nuclear trading club as it has failed to get the support of the US which is pushing for India's membership.
The American epidemiologist whose unwavering leadership resulted in the eradication nearly 40 years ago of smallpox, one of the world's most feared contagious diseases, has died.

Dr. Donald "DA" Henderson was 87 when he died on Friday at a hospice care facility in Towson, Maryland, from complications following a hip fracture, Johns Hopkins University said in a statement. Henderson was a former dean of the school's Bloomberg School of Public Health.

He was most recently employed as a distinguished scholar at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Centre for Health Security in Baltimore.

"D.A. Henderson truly changed the world for the better," the centre's director, Tom Inglesby, said in a statement. Henderson was working on eradication at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in 1966 when the World Health Organisation chose him to lead the global eradication effort.

In a 1988 interview with the WHO Bulletin, Henderson said he accepted the challenge reluctantly, knowing that he and the United States would be blamed if the project failed. The battle was essentially won during a 10-year period, 1967-77, by medical workers using a surveillance-and-containment strategy rather than the mass-vaccination approach used in the past.

Much like the Ebola containment strategy recently employed in West Africa, the project focused on cases and outbreaks, progressively eliminating the disease from where it still existed in South America, West and Central Africa, Asia and finally East Africa.

The last naturally occurring case of was diagnosed in Somalia in 1977. The World Health Assembly declared the deadly disease eradicated in 1980.

Former CDC director Dr. William Foege, 80, who was among the first to apply the surveillance-containment strategy, remembered Henderson as having the vision to plan a campaign he knew would take a decade.

"One of his characteristics was absolute certainty about things, and people like to follow someone that is certain about what they're doing," Foege said in a telephone interview.
A Thai military court has started the trial of two foreigners charged with the bombing of a popular shrine in Bangkok's centre, a year ago that killed 20 people and injured more than 120.

The defendants, two ethnic Uighurs of Chinese nationality, were driven straight into the military court building Tuesday.

The bombing on August 17, 2015, was one of the deadliest acts of violence in Thailand in decades. It went off at the Erawan shrine, popular among Chinese and other tourists, in the centre of Bangkok.

The two men have pleaded not guilty, and at a recent pre-trial appearance they broke down in tears alleging mistreatment by Thai authorities.

They are the only two men in custody out of the 17 people that authorities say were responsible.
After staying high for two months, prices of broiler chicken and eggs declined sharply due to falling consumer demand in the auspicious month of Shrawan, during which most people prefer to consume only vegetarian food.
The shares of the countrys top lender State Bank of India (SBI) are once again back on the radar of equity fund managers. The counter has been ignored by money managers for several quarters in a row. The latest buying in the stock has coincided with the merger announcement and its associates banks.
Opening new vistas to bring together youngsters and renowned researchers of the world to a common platform, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India on Monday convened the tenth Asian Science Camp.

The Seven day Asian Science Camp organized by IISc Bangalore during 21st -27th August 2016 aims to fuel the scientific inquisitiveness of young students and promote international cooperation among young students in Asia Australia and Oceania.

The event got a head start at the J. N Tata Auditorium with an orientation program on Monday.

The camp was formally initiated by welcome address by Prof. J Modak, inaugural lecture by Dr. R Chidambaram and welcome remarks by Bharat Ratna Prof C N R Rao on August 22, who motivated the students to pursue the spirit of science for global good.

The major attractions of the first day of the camp included plenary sessions by Field Medalist- Prof Cedric Villani and Nobel Laureate Prof. Georz Bednorz.

The camp witnessed overwhelming participation by enthusiastic students and research scholars throughout the globe along with well-known names in various scientific disciplines. The participants include 220 students from 22 countries along with 46 selected students from India and 40 internationally renowned mentors.

In the coming few days, IISc is all set to witness a heightened intellectual activity with plenary sessions and parallel discussions by Nobel Laureates and globally distinguished scientists as speakers.

The speakers include Nobel Laureate Prof. Takaaki Kajita, Padma Bhushan Prof. P Balaram, Fellow of Royal Society Prof. Ajay Sood and President of the Indian Science Academy, Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar.

The activities are also designed to be vibrant with poster presentations by students, laboratory visits, cultural activities and excursions.

The idea of Asian Science Camp was co-proposed in September 2005 after the Lindau Science Meeting by Professor Yuan-Tseh Lee from Taiwan, the 1986 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, and Professor Masatoshi Koshiba from Japan, the 2002 Nobel Laureate in Physics.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Afghan National Army (ANA) chief of staff General Qadam Shah Shaheem is scheduled to visit New Delhi next week and is expected to ask for the delivery of more Mi-25 gunship helicopters from India.

Reports suggest that General Shaheem will hand over a wish list of Afghanistan that will include more Mi-25 gunship helicopters, small choppers and medical emergencies as well as spares for the existing Russian-origin aircraft.

New Delhi in December 2015 had started the delivery of lethal military equipment to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.

The Afghan Air Force received 3 of the 4 Mi-25 gunship helicopters then which coincided with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Harvard School (HBS) will host their upcoming executive education program, Aligning and Executing Strategy-India from 14 - 17 November, 2016 at the HBS style classroom, Taj Land's End, Mumbai. The program will focus on how companies can develop a strategy to achieve their goals; put appropriate processes, systems, and metrics in place to align the organization with that strategy; and monitor its progress.

Participants will learn how to:

Evaluate the External Environment

Understand Competition

Position the Company to Compete

Align Strategy with Execution

Program Dates:

14 - 17 November, 2016

Application Deadline:

14th October 2016

Program Details:

Aligning and Executing Strategy - India

The program is intended for senior executives doing in India across a wide range of industries. Participants may represent private or state-owned companies that are looking to expand internationally, multinational companies with operations in India, or global companies from any region seeking to enhance their business strategy for India and beyond. Participants may be either general or functional managers, but bearing significant responsibility for strategy development and strategic decision-making.

"The current environment of economic growth and intense competition among businesses is creating exciting new opportunities. Companies and multinational firms must be able to design innovative strategies and execute them effectively in order to achieve a distinctive identity. This program will improve the ability to capitalize on emerging industry trends, develop bold strategies and lead their implementation to drive organizational performance," said Professor Stephen P. Bradley - William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus and Faculty chair of Aligning and Executing Strategy-India."

"This highly interactive four-day curriculum will include faculty presentations, group exercises, and case studies drawn from India and around the world so that participants may gain practical understanding of the obstacles that companies face as they launch strategies for expanding market share within a country or internationally. Lessons drawn from the experience of leaders across a wide range of companies and industries will provide insight into why some strategies succeed while others fail. Exchanging ideas with faculty and other senior leaders will help in learning how to create a strong strategic foundation for success," said David J. Collis, Professor, Harvard Business School.

As with all HBS Executive Education programs, the India portfolio is taught by distinguished HBS faculty using the renowned HBS case-study method. Faculty lectures, interactive exercises and diagnostic assessment tools create a dynamic learning environment. The program aims to build long-lasting relationships via the professional network that is created through close interaction with an elite group of Indian and global peers.

Program Details: A list of upcoming programs scheduled for the 2016 India portfolio can be found here. For further information on the HBS programs and to apply, please visit the Executive Education website.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the flood situation in Bihar continues to be grim, Chief Minister of Nitish Kumar on Tuesday called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the unprecedented flood situation the state is facing.

Talking to media after the meeting, Kumar said after the construction of the Farakka barrage, siltation has increased in the Ganga and the presence of high level of silts in the Ganga is causing the floods.

He said he has requested the Prime Minister to send a team of experts to Bihar to assess the situation.

Kumar expressed hope that Prime Minister Modi will be soon take a decision in this regard. The Chief Minister said if corrective measures are not taken, the flow of the river may be affected.

Meanwhile, the Centre last night rushed 10 NDRF teams to flood-hit areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in order to launch massive relief and rescue operations to help those marooned in these states.

NDRF Director General OP Singh said that while five teams are being airlifted for immediate deployment from its base in Odisha to Uttar Pradesh, the rest five are being picked by choppers from Bathinda in Punjab and will be sent to Bihar.

He said these teams will be equipped with boats and essential items like medicines. Mr Singh said, the teams will be in addition to the 56 such contingents already undertaking flood combat operations in these two states, besides Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and

Uttarakhand.

The NDRF DG also briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the flood situation in these states late last night.

In order to launch massive operations in the two worst-affected states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the NDRF has created on-ground control rooms in these two states and deputed two senior Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) S S Guleria (Patna) and R K Rana (Varanasi) to take control of the situation.

Earlier yesterday, NDRF said it has rescued more than 26,000 people from the flood-ravaged areas of these states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Reacting to cases registered against separatist Baloch leaders in Pakistan for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday urged the world community that it was high time to get together and stand against human rights abuses in by the Pakistani Army.

Former home secretary and BJP MP from Bihar R K Singh told ANI, "This is the extent to which the Pakistan Army can go. Just because some ministers thanked the Indian Prime Minister, they are being prosecuted."

"In Balochistan, one thing that we have noticed is that right since (19)48, there has been untold miseries heaped on Baloch people by the Pakistani Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)," said Singh, adding, "Thousands and thousands of people have just disappeared and hundreds of people have been hanged."

Backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks for supporting Baloch people, Singh said, "Human rights abuses have been happening right in our neighbourhood and it's good that our Prime Minister took notice of this; in fact, the whole world should take notice of this."

He further appealed to the world community, "It's high time that the whole world should take notice of the human rights abuses by the Pakistani Army in ."

Meanwhile, Singh criticised the Congress Party's response to Prime Minister Modi's remarks on the Kashmir unrest, saying only the grand old party can speak like this.

"We being Indians, what do we expect from the Congress and other parties is that they don't do politics on such matters. The steps the government is taking and the Prime Minister's statement are completely right. Can a statement be better that this? No, there cannot be a better statement than this," Singh stated.

According to reports, five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Modi's remarks on in his Independence Day speech.

According to reports, Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch were booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code at five police stations in the Khuzdar area in the restive province following complaints lodged against them.

On India's Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said people from areas like Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan have thanked him for flagging the human rights abuses of their people by Pakistan's security forces. Prime Minister Modi's comments were criticised as "crossing a red line" by the Pakistan government, which New Delhi rejected.
Reacting to cases registered against separatist Baloch leaders in Pakistan for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday urged the world community that it was high time to get together and stand against human rights abuses in Balochistan by the Pakistani Army.

Former home secretary and BJP MP from Bihar R.K. Singh told ANI, "This is the extent to which the Pakistan Army can go. Just because some ministers thanked the Indian Prime Minister, they are being prosecuted."

"In Balochistan, one thing that we have noticed is that right since (19)48, there has been untold miseries heaped on Baloch people by the Pakistani Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)," said Singh, adding, "Thousands and thousands of people have just disappeared and hundreds of people have been hanged."

Backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks for supporting Baloch people, Singh said, "Human rights abuses have been happening right in our neighbourhood and it's good that our Prime Minister took notice of this; in fact, the whole world should take notice of this."

He further appealed to the world community, "It's high time that the whole world should take notice of the human rights abuses by the Pakistani Army in Balochistan."

Meanwhile, Singh criticised the Congress Party's response to Prime Minister Modi's remarks on the Kashmir unrest, saying only the grand old party can speak like this.

"We being Indians, what do we expect from the Congress and other parties is that they don't do politics on such matters. The steps the government is taking and the Prime Minister's statement are completely right. Can a statement be better that this? No, there cannot be a better statement than this," Singh stated.

According to reports, five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Modi's remarks on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.

As per reports, Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch were booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code at five police stations in the Khuzdar area in the restive province following complaints lodged against them.

On India's Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi said people from areas like Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan have thanked him for flagging the human rights abuses of their people by Pakistan's security forces. Prime Minister Modi's comments were criticised as "crossing a red line" by the Pakistan government, which New Delhi rejected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bling Events, the marketing and event management arm of International Real estate advisory, Square Yards is coming with its new edition of Global Property Road Show (GPRS) to be held in the national capital, New Delhi.

The two-day mega event will take place at the Taj Mahal Hotel on the Mansingh Road, New Delhi, starting from September 3rd. With properties coming from USA, UK along with UAE, it will offer structured real estate deals for Indian Investor Community, who have been increasingly expanding their global foot print.

"The projects showcased in GPRS are carefully structured deals to cater to the need of Indian Investors looking out for high yielding and profitable international assets. The high return exclusive deals have been chosen carefully from a large number of high return yielding alternatives," said Head Bling Marketing and COO Squareyards, Kanika Gupta Shori.

GPRS will include projects such as Bar Works, a co-working space in San Francisco with 16 percent guaranteed returns; InvestUS, Off-market properties in Chicago with 20 percent expected returns in just three months and a Parking space in Gatwick Airport with assured rentals up to 85 percent in six years.

The event will also feature our space another co-working project located on Bay, Dubai with buy-back option and fixed investment returns starting at 10.25 percent. Indians are the biggest International Investor community in Dubai and similar sentiments are expected to prevail in the upcoming GPRS.

Pioneered by Bling Events, GPRS is counted amongst some of the popular international property road shows, finding large number of takers across both, International and Indian Communities.

Success of events such as GPRS could also be attributed to the changing dynamics of international investment landscape, where amidst bearish bond and plummeting oil prices; Real Estate is becoming a safe haven for investors to park their monies. The fervor is further augmented with the rise new structured deals that have plausible returns marked by innovative schemes such as assured rentals and buy back schemes.

Square Yards is aggressively repositioning itself across the changing dynamics of real estate investment. The real estate advisory that holds the number one position in the Primary Real estate transaction in India is upping its ante in the Internal arena under the flagship of International Property Management (IPM) and international events such as GPRS.

The company is also planning to double its international workforce that is located in nine countries across the globe.

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The Congress on Tuesday hailed Union Minister Rajnath Singh's plan to visit violence-hit Kashmir and expressed hope that peace returns in the valley at the earliest.

Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said, "It's good that the Home Minister is going there. I think that this is the fall out of the opposition delegation which has recently met the Prime Minister."

"The delegation had informed the Prime Minister and the President and the Congress vice-president of the ground zero situation. These are the circumstances under which I think Home Minister is reaching Srinagar. Be what it we may expect the healing twitch and immediate steps to ensure that the peace returns to the valley," he added.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Modi emphasized on dialogue to find a "permanent and lasting solution" to the problems of Kashmir within the framework of the Constitution.

Addressing the concerns of the opposition delegation led by Omar, Prime Minister Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" at the prevailing situation in the state and appealed for the restoration of normality.

The Conference president welcomed the Prime Minister's statement and extended his support for bringing normalcy in the state.

Omar said that he was not politicising the ongoing unrest but wanted a solution to the crisis.

The Prime Minister's latest remarks came at a meeting with opposition leaders from Kashmir, where street protests against last month's killing of militant commander Burhan Wani by the security forces left 67 people dead.

Speaking in Jammu on Sunday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had described stone-throwers as "aggressors" and blamed Pakistan for the current unrest in the Valley.

The Centre yesterday rushed 2,600 additional paramilitary forces to Jammu and Kashmir, in the wake of continuous unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

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Hitting out at Islamabad for booking Baloch leaders in-exile for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on the atrocities in Pakistan's Balochistan province, exiled Baloch leader Munir Mengal asserted that Pakistan government was continuing to suppress their voices.

Stating that the people of Balochistan have been suffering from last 50 years, Mengal told ANI that that Prime Minister Modi had spoken for the humanity and freedom of Balochistan but the Nawaz Sharif-led government continued to suppress the voices supporting him by putting them behind bars.

"Prime Minister Modi made his statement on a humanitarian perspective. This move by Pakistan, however, does not come as a shock. Sometimes it lures by money, then threatens with sticks. People of Baloch are familiar with the tricks of Pakistan," he said.

Earlier in Pakistan, the local police said that five cases have been registered against Baloch leaders-in-exile in Balochistan's Khuzdar area for allegedly backing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on the atrocities in Balochistan province.

The cases were registered against Baloch Republican Party's (BRP) Brahamdagh Bugti, Baloch liberation leader Harbiyar Marri and Baloch Students Organisation chairperson Karima Baloch.

The complaints were filed by Munir Ahmed, Maulana Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Hussain, Ghulam Yaseen Jatak and Muhammad Rahim at five police stations in Balochistan's Khuzdar area.

Acting District Police Officer Khuzdar Muhammad Ashraf Jatak said the petitioners claimed that Bugti, Marri and Karima Baloch had 'supported' Indian Prime Minister Modi's August 15 speech.

The Baloch leaders-in-exile were booked under Sections 120, 121, 123 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code which refer to "concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment", "waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan", "concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war", and "assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty".

Prime Minister Modi, in his Independence Day address, had thanked the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for the goodwill they have shown towards him.

He had in an all-party meeting on Kashmir said the "time has come that Pakistan shall have to answer to the for the atrocities committed by it against the people in Balochistan and PoK".

His statement about atrocities in Balochistan has hit a nerve with Pakistan, which has now voiced that it would raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Last week, Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri slammed the Indian Premier's remarks days after Baloch leader Bugti appreciated 'support' given to the Baloch people.

He also accused Bugti of "getting funds from Indians".

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Junagadh-based journalist Kishore Dave, the bureau chief of 'Jai Hind', a local daily, was found murdered at his workplace on Monday night.

Unidentified assailants stabbed him to death around 9:30 pm. His family allegedly accused Bhavesh Suraj, the son of BJP senior leader Ratilal Suraj, of committing the crime.

Junagad B-division police inspector M K Parmar said, "One more journalist has been murdered in Gujarat. He was the bureau chief of 'Jai Hind' a newspaper published from Rajkot. He was working at his Junagad office complex near Vanjari Chowk when unknown people attacked him. Dave died on the spot. His assistant informed the police about the incident."

Kishore's brother, Prakash Dave said, "My brother has been murdered on the orders of Ratilal Suraj and Bhavesh Suraj because there was some major issue going on between the BJP and Kishore Dave since last year. Bhavesh Suraj was facing allegations of women harassment during a conference and Kishore Dave published the story in his newspaper, for which he had to face a defamation case as well. Since this incident, Suraj and Dave have been clashing."

"Due to the same reason, they conspired to murder my brother. We had even reported it to the police that Kishore faced a threat to his life from these leaders," he added.
Ambassador Jonathan Addleton, Mission Director to India, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Dr. Nutan Mundeja, Project Director of the AAMC 100, today inaugurated an automated Medicine Vending Machine (MVM) at the Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic in Rajender Nagar here.

A first of its kind in the country, the vending machine is a mini-medicine shop that can store and dispense up to 50 different types of prescribed medicines, including tablets and bottles.

Sunil Wadhwani, founder donor, Wadhwani Initiative for Sustainable Healthcare (WISH), was also present at the inauguration.

USAID and WISH, under the project SCALE, have together funded the medicine vending machine and will help setup similar machines in nine other Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics across Delhi.

The Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic (AAMC) is the Government of Delhi's flagship program that aims to improve access to care for the people of Delhi, reduce the out-of-pocket expenditure, and bring down crowding at government hospitals. A total of 100 such clinics are currently in operation.

The medicine vending machine, designed and developed by WISH and Telechikitsa, uses sensor technology to automatically dispense medicines based on doctor's prescription.

Stressing on the need for technological innovations in health care, Dr. Nutan Mundeja, Project Director, AAMC 100, said, "We are proud to present the use of innovative technology to ensure access to better healthcare for all, especially the most vulnerable in society. The real answer to healthcare challenges can be found in empowering individuals and via this initiative we are hopeful of ushering in this change."

Expanding on USAID's support, USAID/India Mission Director Ambassador Addleton said: "Working closely with the Government of India over the last several years, USAID has supported innovations for improving health care systems.

This IT-enabled medicine vending machine offers important possibilities in terms of potentially scaling up in clinics and other facilities, providing solution for improved pharmacy management in both public and private healthcare facilities.

USAID will also carry out a cost-benefit assessment to present to the Delhi government to help make a determination if such machines could usefully be installed in other Mohalla clinics."

Highlighting the benefits of the machine, Wadhwani, founder donor, WISH, said: "The MVM is an innovative technological solution for improving efficiency in health care services by freeing the doctor from non-clinical activities and allowing more time for patient interaction. It streamlines the medicine dispensing protocol."

The technology-enabled vending machine cuts the need for a full-time pharmacist, and helps the doctor better manage the medicine stock and keep a check on whether the right drugs are issued over the counter.

On the occasion, Dr. Richpal, doctor in-charge of AAMC Todapur, Rajender Place, said: "This is a great initiative and I ?am very excited at the potential this machine has in Mohalla clinics. I am finding it so convenient to dispense medicines now. My support staff is also happy as they don't have to do manual medicine counting every day."

The Aam Admi Mohalla Clinic (AAMC) is an ambitious program launched by the Delhi government to deliver quality primary healthcare to the people at their doorstep, using technology and innovations with wide range of diagnostics, medicines, community mobilization and referral linkages, free of cost.

In March 2016, a pilot phase of the AAMC program, termed as AAMC 100 was launched at 100 locations across Delhi, which will be scaled up to 1,000 AAMCs by 2017, as announced by the government recently.

WISH is the Knowledge and Management Partner to the AAMC, working towards introducing innovations which can improve the healthcare service delivery.

In partnership with the government WISH has developed an android based application for the clinic management which transforms the work process of a public health facilities by online registration of patients; inventory management; lab management; invoicing and reporting and data analytics.

In addition, WISH has introduced and demonstrated other IT enabled low cost portable point of care diagnostics relevant for the AAMC model, the MVM is the latest in the series of innovations adopted in the AAMC 100.

These innovations have led to efficiency in delivery of services, process transparency as well as paperless management of the clinics.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, on Tuesday said dialogue is the only alternative to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking effective steps in this regard.

Urging the government to initiate dialogue with Pakistan, Azad said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir will not improve unless the government takes a step forward.

"They have not started the talks. He must have at least made an announcement and started the dialogue. It has been 46 days of curfew now. The Prime Minister should initiate talks. Unless they take a step forward, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir won't improve," he added.

The former chief minister also demanded that the use of pellet guns must be stopped at the earliest.

Azad also welcomed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow to take stock of the situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the UN committee accepting six of nine addresses listed by India for underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam today said it is high time for New Delhi to act against Islamabad, which has always been in a denial mode.

"When our sources have clearly disclosed that he is residing in Pakistan, UN panel has confirmed through their channel. Now, if Pakistan is not ready to extract him or deport him then we should raise our voice in the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) on how Pakistan is deliberately promoting the terrorist sector in India and the US Government should also stop all the aid to Pakistan," Nikam told ANI here.

"Now, the UN panel has confirmed his address which was provided by India. Now, let me tell you very frankly the name of Dawood Ibrahim was first time revealed in the terrorist activities in the 1993 Bombay bomb blast," he added.

Three of nine addresses provided by India to the United Nations Sanctions Committee as addresses of Dawood in Pakistan have been found to be incorrect. A UN Committee has struck off three addresses from the list provided by India, while confirming the remaining six addresses in the dossier.

One of the addresses, which have been dropped by the UN Security Council's Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, was found similar to that of a residence of Pakistan's envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi.

The addresses were included in a dossier prepared by India in August last year that had listed nine residences of the underworld don in Pakistan as evidence to show that he is indeed holed up in the country.

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Defence Expert Commodore (Retd.) C. Uday Bhaskar on Tuesday cornered Pakistan for booking Baloch leaders-in-exile for siding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said Islamabad is now on the back foot as the global community is becoming aware of the atrocities that have been committed in Balochistan.

Commodore (Retd.) Bhaskar told ANI that Pakistan's next step would be to use the offices of organisation of Islamic countries to try and draw attention towards Kashmir.

"Clearly, Pakistan I think is trying to draw attention to what they thought would be a trump card namely to draw international attention to developments in Kashmir particularly the kind of protest and turbulence that we have seen after the killing of Burhan Wani by the Indian security forces," Commodore (Retd.) Bhaskar said.

"Now, this is a political reality that the Indian Government is addressing in its own way and as in the past Pakistan has tried to derive maximum benefit in the International arena based on this development. And I think in the manner in which India has now drawn attention to Balochistan and to Pakistan occupied Kashmir has put Pakistan on the back foot because for the first time we are seeing that the global community is becoming aware of the atrocities that have been committed in Balochistan," he added.

Commodore (Retd.) Bhaskar said Pakistan has now compelled India, which was aware of it in the past but had chosen not to use this particular option, to take this particular path.

"I think the reaction of the Pakistani Government and strategy that they will adopt is in a way predictable. And the next step we will see is that they will try and use offices of the organisation of Islamic countries to try and draw attention towards Kashmir," he added.

The defence expert further said the police case registered against the Baloch leaders by the Pakistani Government is at one level predictable.

"The fact that these leaders in exile had welcomed and supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi's observations about the denial of basic political rights and the deplorable human rights condition of the citizen of Balochistan is something that has clearly irked the Pakistani Government and hence they have filed this particular non-bailable warrant against these Baloch leaders," Commodore (Retd.) Bhaskar said.

"And in many ways what this will do is only to reiterate the point being made by India namely the Baloch are being treated as less than second class citizens in their own country and that this is something that has to be addressed and redressed by the Pakistani Government," he added.

Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supportive words on Balochistan in his August 15 Independence Day address.

As per reports, Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch were booked under Sections 120, 121, 123 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code at five police stations in the Khuzdar area in the restive province following complaints lodged against them.

On India's Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi had said that the people from areas like Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan have thanked him for flagging the human rights abuses of their people by Pakistan's security forces.

The Prime Minister's comments were criticised as "crossing a red line" by the Pakistan Government, a charge New Delhi rejected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After expelling fellow party leader Anmol Ratan, who was facing charges of rape by a student, the All India Students' Association (AISA) president, Sucheta De, said they have also demanded that he be suspended by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration.

De told ANI here that the incident was extremely humiliating for the university and to AISA, adding that AISA is adamant and resolute on taking severe action against accused, who is a leading activist from their party.

"This is very humiliating. We are not going to spare any effort to ensure the accused is taken action upon. It does not matter that he is from our party. We have also offered every help possible to the victim," De said.

Hitting out at the protests, mostly by the ABVP, against the incident, De said they did not care about what happened and were solely fighting from a political slant.

The AISA had released a statement earlier announcing their decision to expel Ratan from the party and that they will reflect on and deal with it with the firmness it deserves.

"AISA takes serious note of the fact that Anmol Ratan, a leading activist of AISA, is facing a criminal complaint of sexual assault. He is henceforth expelled from the primary membership of AISA. The fact that a leading activist of ours is accused of sexual violence, calls for serious introspection and re-invigorating the process of sensitisation against sexual violence within and outside the organisation," the statement said.

Asserting that the fight against sexual violence does not rest only on battles, the party further said that AISA will be unflinching for its principles of gender justice, even if it involves a leading member of the organisation.

"We stand by the complainant and will extend all possible support in her fight for justice. The university must take disciplinary action against the accused," the party said.

JNU was rocked with fresh controversy when a PhD scholar was allegedly raped by a fellow student on Saturday.

The police said that an FIR had been lodged and her statement under CrPC Section 164 would be recorded on Monday.

An FIR under sections of rape and criminal intimidation has been registered against Ratan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stressing that Kashmir needs a "political" solution, former defence minister A.K. Antony on Tuesday said always blaming the Pakistani military and not taking proper action is not good, and thus, the government must start a political dialogue to find a political solution to the Kashmir crisis.

"Kashmir needs a political solution. As a first step, the government must send an all-party delegation, and then start a political dialogue to find a political solution. We can't delay it anymore. The government must start acting on war footing. At any cost we must win hearts of the people, especially the youth, of the Kashmir Valley," Antony told reporters.

The former defence minister said, "I know there are problems. Pakistani military is creating more and more problems. They will continue to do so, nobody can stop that. But, always blaming the Pakistani military and not taking proper action is not good."

He appealed to everybody not issue provocative statements in this regard.

Pressure is mounting on the Centre to send an all-party delegation to the restive Kashmir Valley to mitigate the present crisis situation triggered after security forces neutralised Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

As many as 65 people have been killed in protest-violence and thousands, including security forces, left injured. Besides, curfew continued unabated in several districts of the Valley, bringing life to standstill virtually.

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In today's world, we are heavily dependent on artificial intelligence in our day-to-day living.

Featuring, "Watson correctly diagnoses women after doctors were stumped", Curofy ran a poll within its community to find out if doctors in medicine could be replaced by artificial intelligence majorly if not completely.

Although, not a very thin line, the difference in opinions was not more than 15 percent whereby out of 5725 poll participants 43 percent doctors opined that AI will indeed replace human doctors and 57 percent doctors disagreed with that notion.

"From the most basic street and traffic signals to robots performing surgeries - artificial intelligence has penetrated almost every aspect of our daily lives. But, AI technology is not designed to replace doctors but to amplify their proficiency, intuition and the knowledge, said Pawan Gupta, co-founder of Curofy.

"Artifical Intelligence/Automation has made things extremely easy compared to prior times," he added

For example, using artificial intelligence while performing a Root Canal Treatment guides the doctor with regard to how far the instrument is from reaching the top of the root, i.e. it helps with determining the position of where exactly the instrument is within the tooth.

This was not possible previously where an X-ray determined a vague approximation to the instrument positioning while performing the procedure, thus leaving a great deal of estimation on the doctor.

This has also reduced exposure to radiation due to overcoming the need of multiple X-rays during the procedure, along with saving the time and energy of the doctors" said Dr. Amit Bhatt.

"Agreed that artificial intelligence has made everyone's lives, including doctors', quite easy; I believe there will always be finer aspects in medicine where only a human doctors' intelligence, expertise and knowledge of previous cases will be called into to diagnose and treat certain conditions. There will always be the need of a human doctor to validate the diagnoses and treatment plans proposed by artificial intelligence" said Dr. Rohan Khandelwal from W Pratiksha Hospital.

"I do not think that AI will overpower medical minds. However it is more of a social concern as a lot of people will be losing on their jobs, on account of artificial intelligence. Nowadays with excellent artificial intelligence voice recognition technology will take away medical transcription jobs as well. So, although we are headed towards an age of artificial intelligence domination it is not a good idea for our society." said Dr. Jayant Arora from Columbia Asia Hospital.

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A day after he referred to Pakistan as "a cancer for the entire world", Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Tuesday apologised to Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Director General (DG) Rangers Major General Bilal Akber for his vitriolic speech.

MQM spokesperson Wasay Jalil, shared the apology statement by Hussain on Twitter.

"From the depth of heart, I beg pardon from my remarks against Pakistan, the establishment, including General Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers," the Dawn quoted Hussain's statement as saying.

"I was under severe mental stress over extra-judicial arrests and precarious condition of my workers sitting at the hunger strike camp," he said.

Parts of Hussain's speech that went viral on social media showed that while addressing MQM workers protesting outside the Karachi Press Club against "enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings", he raised anti- Pakistan slogans and also called the country "a cancer for [the] entire world".

"Being a Pakistani, I assure the Pakistani people, establishment, army, ISI, all higher authorities and leaders that I will never use such words again," said Hussain .

He also urged authorities to "end all steps taken against MQM".

"For God's sake, don't cut MQM from the national mainstream," he added.

Regretting the violence against media houses by the party workers aftermath his speech, he asked the authorities to release of MQM leaders who were arrested.

Media houses were ransacked by the MQM party workers on Monday evening after listening to his provocative speech before clashing with police, leaving at least one person dead and over half a dozen injured.

The MQM headquarters 'Nine Zero' were sealed and senior party leaders were taken into custody by Sindh Rangers for allegedly inciting violence in the metropolis.

The party's official website has also been shut down

At least nine MQM leaders, including Dr Farooq Sattar, the party's most senior parliamentarian were subsequently detained.

MQM, a political party has dominated Karachi's politics for decades even though its leader, Hussain, lives in self-exile in north London.

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The Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to Tamil Nadu government over report of illegal detention and torture of a juvenile of Kurava community by the state police.

Taking suo motu cognizance of media reports, the commission sought reports from state Chief Secretary and the DGP within four weeks as well as the action, if any, taken against the erring police personnel.

According to media reports, the police illegally detained a 17 year old boy and his two family members in connection with a burglary and tortured them brutally last month in Chennai.

They were tortured allegedly on the ground that they belonged to a tribe dubbed by the British as criminals under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.

Expressing concern over the report, the NHRC observed that no human being should be subjected to discrimination merely on the fact that he belongs to a particular caste, creed or community.

Even as, reportedly, the debate over the tweet continued, a boy was learning what it meant to be born a Kurava by giving an account of the torture, pain and discrimination his father suffered into the hands of police in the name of investigations without any case being registered three years back, and how he also became a victim of the same fate along with one of his cousins and uncles.

On the July 31, some police personnel from the Ambattur Police Station, in Chennai, picked them up from his hut in Cholavandipuram, Villupuram district for questioning about an incident of burglary about which he had no idea.

They were subjected to unbearable torture and inhuman treatment by the police during their detention at the police station for three days. The victims were made partially naked, beaten up with wooden log and were being forced to name someone from their community for his involvement in the theft. Badly injured, they had to drink the water, fetched from the lock-up toilet, as the drinking water was not available to them.

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With Pakistan registering five cases, including sedition, against three top Baloch nationalist leaders for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, defence expert Sushnat Sareen on Tuesday said they refused to be sold at the hands of Pakistan and continued with their freedom struggle from foreign asylums.

"The leaders who were booked are those whom Pakistan tried to buy (bribed); some of them sold themselves to Pakistan and returned home. Taking their names would not be appropriate, but everybody knows who they are. They have been a part of government and wanted to be there. However, there are some committed leaders, who have waged a war against Pakistan for their freedom. As Pakistan could not buy them, it has registered fake cases against them, and would now seek their extradition," Sareen told ANI, adding "expect this from Pakistan".

Talking about the nationalist leaders' support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on Balochistan, he said, "The image of Balochistan - the prevailing situation over there and human rights violations - was very clear to the world, and thus, when Prime Minister Modi talked about human rights' violation there, it was hailed by pro-freedom Baloch leaders."

Sareen said the sections under which the trio was booked exposed Pakistan's nervousness.

"It also exposes the ground realities; how Pakistanis, who pats on the backs of the Kashmiri separatist leaders even as they are openly supporting terrorism and are free to move and speak to Pakistani leaders. How can one compare Kashmiri separatists with Baloch nationalist leaders, who were forced to leave their houses and to live in exile due to atrocities on them by the Pakistani establishment??

"In the past 10-12 years, hundreds of thousands of Baloch people went missing; they were kept in torture cells and were killed by the Pakistani military. These are realities, and nothing could be better than exposing these realities to the world," he added.

The Pakistan Police have booked three leaders Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch for supporting the Prime Minister's statements on Balochistan.

Acting District Police Officer, Muhammad Ashraf Jatak said the cases were registered on the complaints at five police stations in Balochistan's Khuzdar area. Baloch leaders were booked under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address thanked the people of Balochistan, the people of Gilgit, and the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for the goodwill that they had shown towards him. Baloch leaders thanked the Prime Minister for his statement on Baluchistan and requested India to raise the issue of human rights violations and systematic genocide by the Pakistani army.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has expressed concern over human rights situation in Gilgit-Baltistan and asked all parties in Pakistan to resolve the issues through a valid political process.

When asked about the allegations of large scale human rights violation in Gilgit-Baltistan, a State Department Spokesperson said that they do have concerns about the human rights situation there and have reported that for several years in their Human Rights Report.

The spokesperson said, the US has consistently urged all parties in Pakistan to work out their differences peaceably and through a valid political process.

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Expressing concern over delay in the investigation of Samjhauta Express train bomb blasts that killed 68 people on the intervening night of February 18 -19, 2007, Pakistan has asked the Indian Government to share information about the investigation proceedings.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Tuesday said that forty innocent Pakistani nationals lost their lives, adding Indian attempts to exonerate some of the individuals involved in the attacks.

"Pakistan has conveyed its grave concern to India over unnecessary delay in the free and fair investigation of Samjhauta Express Terrorist attacks in which more than 42 innocent Pakistani nationals lost their lives," the statement said.

"The Indian attempts to exonerate some of the individuals involved in the attacks have raised serious questions over the due process of law and dispensation of Justice," the statement added.

On the intervening night of February 18 and 19, 2007, the blasts occurred near Dewana station in Panipat.

Pakistan called upon the Indian Government to share information about the investigation proceedings of the blasts.

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The government is considering the recommendation of Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money to ban cash transactions above Rs. three lakh, a top Finance Ministry official said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi today.

"The SIT recommendations are under consideration. As far as the Income Tax Department is concerned, we have put a one per cent TCS (Tax Collected at Source) on cash transactions, we have made PAN quoting mandatory, all these aspects are also part of the SIT recommendation to stop the use of cash in the economy, Rs. three lakh and above is under consideration," said Chairperson Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Rani Singh Nair.

She also informed that the government is holding discussions for the renegotiated India-Singapore tax treaty.

"So now that we have renegotiated Mauritius, Singapore is under discussion. We are discussing it, we hope we will soon have a discussion with them as this is a bilateral treaty, so we have to take the concerns of both the countries and then we will sign," added Nair.

She said that during the course of past two years, endeavor of the government and the CBDT has been to facilitate investments into India to ensure that the taxpayer pays his taxes with the ease of doing because ultimately the tax coffers will never be full if there is no in India.

"For the last two years we have believed that participating in rule-making, law-making will help in making more robust tax laws and with this idea we have every time put all our major initiatives in the public domain and after seeing what people have said, we have even proposed amendments to facilitate the . This change of thinking, this proactive approach has gone down very well both internally in the country and I can say that this is the way to move forward," said Nair.

She also said that role of the tax administration is not only limited to tax and it is also to listen and to guide the taxpayer and see that the advice given is correct.

"I have also felt that for international business, for foreigners who are coming to invest in India, we should have a kind of a guide available on the internet, in the market which tells step-by-step what are the tax laws, tax procedures and the way to go forward in doing business in India," said the CBDT chairperson.

"I have had a lot of interactions with foreign business, with associations who have come to meet me in my stint in the CBDT and they all feel that they are adrift in India because there is not one place that they can go to and get advice and then they can digest that advice and take their own decisions," she added.

"If we have to make India a place to do business, we have to have this kind of facility not only in the government but in the private space also, where any business which is coming to India comes with a lot of confidence, that the advise they get is complete and comprehensive. I think when we talk of international taxation, this is the one aspect that we need to focus on and we need to see that India becomes a favored place of doing business," she said further.

On the issue of advancing the date of general budget presentation to January, she said that it will bring in more efficiency in the budget making as two-three months of the financial year will not be lost in the budget process.

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Karachi police on Tuesday said two clerics associated with the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) were gunned down at a seminary in the city's Gulshan-i-Iqbal area. They described it as a case of target killing.

Superintendent Police (SP) Gulshan Farhad Ahmad said that Iqra Darul Atfal seminary administrator Mufti Ghulam Akbar and his guest Mufti Kamran were shot by two unidentified men on a motorcycle at the seminary in Gulshan block 6, reports the Dawn.

While Mufti Kamran died on the spot, Mufti Akbar succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.

Ahmad added that any sectarian motive could not be ruled out.

Initial reports suggest that the attackers used 9mm pistols.

An investigation has been ordered into the crime.

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Cornering the Centre over the prevailing unrest in Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the entire nation knows how weak Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is on the border areas.

"You want to talk about the law and order situation.look into your states.see what is happening. I don't want to raise the matter about how weak you are being seen in the border areas. I have attended army schools and many of my schoolmates are serving on the borders. The entire country knows what the situation on the borders is," Akhilesh said.

He said some officers have allegiance to other political parties in the state, adding they were creating hurdles in implementation of government schemes.

"As far as dial 100 scheme is concerned, we want to bring it. We have got some good and some bad officers. I know that some of our officers have allegiance to other parties and they do not want this scheme to get functional. These officers are creating a hurdle in this but we have found out a way. We have a very good Chief Secretary. He will see who is sitting on the file. If the Chief Minister is standing behind him, he will clear the file," he added.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Miniter also mocked the BJP's ongoing 'tiranga' yatra ahead of the assembly polls.

"The election in Uttar Pradesh is approaching. The entire nation unfurled the flag on August 15. I don't know till when will the people in the BJP unfurl their party flag. We are not against it but in which direction they want to take the country?" he said.

On the Congress Party projecting Sheila Dikshit as the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly polls, he said it was unfortunate on part of the grand old party to project a person from an upper caste to the coveted post.

Attacking the media, Akhilesh said they highlight the Bulandshahr and Mathura incidents underlining the law and order problem in the state but never give prominence to what is happening in Delhi and Haryana.

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At meeting held on 23 August 2016

McNally Bharat Engineering Company announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at a meeting held on 23 August 2016 has appointed Arundhuti Datta as an Additional Director as well as Woman Director of the Company with immediate effect.

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Under ESOS

Dabur India announced that the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of Dabur India in its meeting held on 23 August 2016 has allotted equity shares of the Company under the Dabur Employees Stock Option Scheme 2000.

The Nomination & Remuneration Committee has also forfeited 63,000 number of stock options granted earlier under the scheme.

With this allotment, the paid up share capital of the Company increased to Rs. 1,76,15,20,510/- divided into 1,76,15,20,510 equity shares of face value of Rs. 1/- each.

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Delhi will soon have a sprawling new Aerospace Museum close to the international airport focused mainly on Nation's rich aviation history. New Aerospace Museum is not only meant to preserve the glorious tradition of the IAF but also to create awareness in general public about India's rich Aerospace heritage.

The IAF believes that the Museum would be a popular tourist attraction and a landmark in India's capital city. A proposal for new Air Force Aerospace Museum was cleared by Ministry of Defence and final financial sanction on the Detailed Project Report is awaited. After the approval, the new museum would be ready for the tourists within 3-5 years.

Spread over 43 acres, the new Aerospace Museum would have extensive indoor and outdoor displays including huge aircraft parked and hanging in flying attitude with mural depicting the golden era.

A dedicated children's area would be part of the museum where children could enter cockpits of displayed aircraft and get the feel of flying controls. A video arcade would also be created. As per the plan, the internal displays would have a history section in which all IAF Squadrons' history would be displayed along with aviation legends, major campaigns and wars fought by the IAF. Along with this history, major Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations undertaken by the IAF would also be highlighted.

The IAF presently has a museum near the technical area of Air Force Station Palam, which was established in 1967. The museum has an average footfall of 500 tourists daily and exhibits details about combat operations undertaken by the IAF depicting IAF's rich history since its formation in 1932 to present date, along with the display of various aircraft and equipment on the IAF's inventory, since its inception.

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Shri Ananth Kumar stresses on providing last mile timely availability of quality fertilizers at affordable rates to the farmers.

The Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Ananth Kumar has advocated a 3 A approach towards fertilizers in the country, these being authenticity (Quality), availability and affordability. Inaugurating a Conference of Officers of State Agriculture Departments handling fertilizers in New Delhi today, Sh. Ananth Kumar said that the ultimate aim of the Government should be to provide last mile timely availability of quality fertilizers at affordable rates to the farmers. This, he said, would ensure the fertilizers security of the country which is essential for the food security.

Sh. Ananth Kumar said that till two years back, there used to be shortage of urea, leading to its hoarding, black-marketing and smuggling. He congratulated the Indian Fertilizer manufacturers for running the plants at over 100 per cent capacity and achieving an all time record of 245 lakh MT urea production last year. The Minister said that the timely imports, pre-positioning of the fertilizers, contribution of the States in timely distribution, and cooperation of the Railways through Good Rake Movement also helped in making the fertilizer position comfortable in the country.

Sh. Ananth Kumar asked the State Government officials to enforce quality checks on the fertilizers, undertake district level planning for supply of fertilizers, ensure early turnaround of rakes, provide adequate storage facilities, and take benefit of pre-positioning. He called upon the States to initiate a drive against those who indulge in hoarding, black-marketing, diversion and smuggling of fertilizers. He also said that the unethical practices of the retailers/companies to tag certain items for selling to farmers along with the required fertilizers, should be discouraged. The Minister also emphasized on the issue of soil security and ways to compost initiative. He said the Government is reviving the sick fertilizer PSU and the basic principle of producing where it is being consumed.

Sh. Ananth Kumar said that the Government is soon planning to set up Indian Council for Fertilizers Research, on the lines of ICMR and ICAR. He said research is very much required to discover and develop various means and ways of producing quality fertilizers, fortified fertilizers, hybrid fertilizers, nutrients and various combinations which are good for the soil. He said research has a role to play in the all aspects of the fertilizer chain which includes production, transportation, storage, availability, application, etc.

The Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, and Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Sh. Mansukh L Mandaviya said that Prime Minister has given a call to double the income of farmers and the Department is working on this direction by reducing their input costs. He said that poor farmers are often misguided by certain vested interest and it is essential to launch a campaign to inform them about the best practices, balanced and optimum use of fertilizers. He said that recently the Government announced reduction in non-urea fertilizers and the farmers should be made aware about this. He called upon the States to work in tandem with the Central Government for the welfare of the farmers.

The Conference of Principal Secretaries/Secretaries/Directors dealing with the Agriculture Departments in the State/UTs is the first such initiative of the Department of Fertilizers. The Central and the State Government officials dealing with the various aspects of fertilizers discussed various issues concerning the sector including availability and supply of fertilizers, implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, fertilization and neem-coating of urea, quality control of fertilizers, issues in Fertilizer Monitoring System and promotion of city compost.

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HPCL lost 2.16% to Rs 1,188.44 at 09:21 IST on BSE after the company declared its Q1 result after market hours yesterday, 22 August 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 36.21 points, or 0.13%, to 27,949.33

On BSE, so far 87,000 shares were traded in the counter, compared with average daily volume of 1.72 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,218 and a low of Rs 1,183 so far during the day. The stock hit record high of Rs 1,328.95 on 9 August 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 636 on 25 February 2016.

The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 338.63 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL)'s net profit rose 30% to Rs 2098.38 crore on 5.67% decline in total income to Rs 51936.30 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. Average gross refining margin in Q1 June 2016 was $6.83 per barrel as against $8.56 per barrel in Q1 June 2015.

Based on the approval received from Government of India, HPCL accounted for budgetary support amounting to Rs 328.41 crore in Q1 June 2016 towards under recovery on sale of PDS kerosene (SKO), compared with Rs 450.61 crore in Q1 June 2015. State-run oil marketing companies bear under-recoveries on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

In Q1 June 2016, discount from upstream oil company viz., ONGC amounted to Nil in respect of crude oil purchased from ONGC, compared with Rs 218.25 crore accounted in Q1 June 2015.

HPCL is a public sector oil marketing company. The Government of India held 51.11% stake in HPCL as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 June 2016.

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Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL)'s net profit rose 30% to Rs 2098.38 crore on 5.67% decline in total income to Rs 51936.30 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. Average gross refining margin in Q1 June 2016 was $6.83 per barrel as against $8.56 per barrel in Q1 June 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 22 August 2016.

Based on the approval received from Government of India, HPCL accounted for budgetary support amounting to Rs 328.41 crore in Q1 June 2016 towards under recovery on sale of PDS kerosene (SKO), compared with Rs 450.61 crore in Q1 June 2015. State-run oil marketing companies bear under-recoveries on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.

In Q1 June 2016, discount from upstream oil company viz., ONGC amounted to Nil in respect of crude oil purchased from ONGC, compared with Rs 218.25 crore accounted in Q1 June 2015.

GAIL (India) and Silicon Valley-based Bloom Energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deploy revolutionary natural gas-based fuel cell technology to generate electricity. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 August 2016.

The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology of Bloom Energy Servers convert fuel into electricity using natural gas as the base fuel to generate reliable and resilient electricity in a highly efficient non-combustible process that reduces emissions of greenhouse gas and harmful air pollutants, with minimal use of water vis-vis the conventional power producing technologies. The Bloom Energy Servers could be installed onsite at any operating premises or building and can be plugged into natural gas pipeline to generate uninterrupted, efficient, noise-less base load power round-the-clock.

GAIL's subsidiary at Bengaluru is already supplying natural gas for energizing a multi-MW Bloom Energy project for a large global technology company at the Technology Park in Bangalore.

The unique tie-up seeks to leverage the strengths of both the organizations. Whilst GAIL brings a portfolio of natural gas to ensure reliable and competitively available Natural Gas for Bloom Energy projects along its integrated gas supply networks, Bloom Energy's power systems run on advanced solid oxide fuel cell technology that are not just acknowledged as the most efficient producers of electricity based on Natural Gas but also combines the advantage of requiring a tenth of the space required for generating equivalent power through other modes. The MoU provides an alignment of a shared vision between GAIL and Bloom Energy and opens up an opportunity for Indian consumers to experience bundled and reliable service by the two leading brands for expanding the distributed power generation systems in India.

Aurobindo Pharma and Tata Power Company are scheduled to announce Q1 June 2016 earnings today, 23 August 2016.

Shriram Transport Finance Company announced that the allotment committee - non-convertible debentures (NCDs) allotted 250 secured redeemable NCDs of face value of Rs 10 lakh each, aggregating to Rs 25 crore on private placement basis. The zero coupon NCDs mature 1065 from the date of allotment. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 August 2016.

MEP Infrastructure Developers said that the company has received the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) dated 22 August 2016 from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) informing that the company has been engaged as the contractor for the project of collection of user fee through fee collection agency on the basis of competitive bidding through (e-tender) for Ghangari of National Highway No. 2 in Jharkhand.

Indo Count Industries said that a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held today 23 August 2016, to consider sub-division of equity shares. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 August 2016.

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India and Germany are deepening their collaboration in the area of skill development. An implementation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and (German International Cooperation (GIZ), to initiate a new project focused on adapting elements of the German dual system in select industrial clusters in India.

This new project will run for three years starting August 2016 with a budget of EUR 3,000,000 (22.6 Crores INR) - made available by the German Government and aims to foster conditions which will help create and improve cooperative workplace-based vocational training in India's industrial clusters. The project will be implemented in three selected clusters, which include the Automobile cluster in Maharashtra and Electronics cluster in Bangalore.

German technical assistance will be used to enhance industry institute partnerships between Indian and German organizations, build capacity of local training institutions and foster industry linkages which will help adapt elements of the German dual system, into the Indian context. This new project will also play an important role in supporting MSDE's existing programmes to scale up apprenticeship training.

The project will be implemented under the umbrella of the 'Joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Skill Development and Vocational Education and Training (VET)', signed during the Indo- German intergovernmental consultations on 5th October 2015 in New Delhi.

The Joint Working Group, under the MoU held its first meeting on 26 July 2016, in New Delhi. At the meeting, the two countries agreed to deepen their collaboration in a number of specific areas including: curriculum development, research and sharing of best practices, training of trainers, and establishing cooperative workplace based skill training programmes in three industrial clusters.

Commenting on the Indo-German partnership in the area of skill development, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, We in India recognize the fact that Germany's dual system is widely acclaimed as one of the best in the world, noted for its close linkages between industry and training institutions. This provides a competitive edge to German industry and businesses.

We need to adapt elements of the German VET system to the Indian context to ensure that skill training in India is closely aligned with the requirements of industry.

Germany has been one of countries which is on top of the manufacturing and innovation pyramid and continues to develop most high end products. It has some of the best working models in sustainable workforce development which is the reason for the country's economic progress. This partnership with Germany will help strengthen our skill development initiatives. The recent budget allocations that have been made for promoting apprenticeship programs in the country will help our plans see daylight said Shri Rohit Nandan, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Germany is known for its excellent vocational education system that relies on the strong participation and engagement of the private sector. Having a very long standing partnership with India, Germany is pleased to support the Skill India and Make in India initiatives with a new bilateral programme on vocational education and training. Herein, the engagement of private enterprises, including German firms, as carriers for skill development will be crucial for the success, said German Ambassador to India, Dr Martin Ney, during an official signing ceremony for the launch of a new bilateral partner programme at the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

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The Shipping Ministry has mooted a proposal to utilize part of the fuel cess collected for building national highways for expansion of National Waterways as well. Speaking at the Infrastructure Session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce's Annual Convention in Mumbai today, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari said his Ministry has sent a proposal seeking allocation of 5% of the Central Road Fund for development of Inland Waterways. My Ministry has prepared the proposal, but the final decision will be taken by the Ministry of Finance. I am pursuing the matter Mr. Gadkari added.

Central Road Fund is a non-lapsable fund created under the Central Road Fund Act 2000 out of a cess imposed on petrol and high-speed diesel. The funds are meant to be used to develop and maintain national highways, state roads and railway over and under bridges. The move to seek a pie in the CRF follows government's ambitious plan to tap India's vast network of rivers and canals stretching 14,500 kms for moving goods.

Mr.

Gadkari said It is far more cheaper to transport goods by water as compared to road or rail. Currently cargo movement along the five existing national waterways is paltry 3% of all cargo movement in India. We want to raise the share of waterways in overall cargo movements to 15% he said.

Earlier last week, the Shipping Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari flagged off a cargo vessel carrying 200 Maruti cars from Varanasi to Kolkata as part of a pilot run. The Government has commissioned the Jal Marg Vikas project with the technical and financial support of the World Bank to augment capacity of River Ganga from Varanasi to Haldia. The Rs 4,200 crore project, when completed in six years, will facilitate movement of up to 2000 tonne vessels.

Under the National Waterways Act 2016, 111 inland waterways have been declared as National Waterways. Out of these, Allahabad-Haldia Ganga Waterway (NW1), Brahmaputra (NW2), West Coast Canal in Kerala (NW3), Mandovi river in Goa (NW 68), Sundarbans Waterway in West Bengal (NW97) and Zurari River (NW 111) are presently operational. Six more waterways are likely to be commissioned during this financial year.

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Shriram EPC surged 14.51% to Rs 25.25 at 11:15 IST on BSE after the company's wholly owned subsidiary was awarded an order worth $230 million from Moon Iron & Steel Co, Oman.

The announcement was made during market hours today, 23 August 2016.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 26.35 points, or 0.09%, to 27,959.19

On BSE, so far 7.11 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 22,300 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 26.45 and a low of Rs 23.50 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 38.55 on 6 January 2016. The stock hit a record low of Rs 19 on 8 June 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past 30 days till 22 August 2016, falling 5.16% compared with 0.66% rise in the Sensex. The scrip also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 6.37% as against Sensex's 10.59% rise.

The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 330.63 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Shriram EPC said that the company through its 100% subsidiary, Shriram EPC FZE, Sharjah has been awarded an overseas contract for an amount of $230 million (around Rs 1530 crore). The order entails constructing the Balance of Plant (BoP) for a 1.2 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) mini mill project in Sohar, Sultanate of Oman and the project execution period will be 32 months, Shriram EPC said. Moon Iron and Steel is an Oman based company with investments from Gulf Investment Corporation, Oman Development fund and Sultan's Special Forces Pension fund, the company said. The project debt is funded by a consortium of Omani banks, it added.

Shriram EPC reported net loss of Rs 41.84 crore in Q1 June 2016, higher than net loss of Rs 2.79 crore in Q1 June 2015. Net sales declined 37.59% to Rs 94.45 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015.

Shriram EPC offers design, engineering, procurement, construction and project management services for infrastructure projects.

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On 2 September 2016

Tara Jewels will hold a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company on 2 September 2016, to consider and approve the Un-audited Financial Results of the Company for the Quarter ended 30 June 2016.

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Tata Power Company lost 3.3% to Rs 74.70 at 14:45 IST on BSE after consolidated net profit fell 76.09% to Rs 72.49 crore on 6.42% decline in total income to Rs 6790.58 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015.

The result was announced during trading hours today, 23 August 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 65.94 points, or 0.24%, to 27,919.60

On BSE, so far 16.86 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with average daily volume of 4.67 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 78.30 and a low of Rs 73.80 so far during the day. The stock had hit 52-week high of Rs 79.20 yesterday, 22 August 2016. The stock had hit 52-week low of Rs 55 on 12 February 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past 30 days till 22 August 2016, gaining 7.22% compared with 0.66% rise in the Sensex. The scrip also outperformed the market in past one quarter, advancing 7.74% as against Sensex's 10.59% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 270.46 crore. Face value per share is Re 1.

Tata Power Company said that Q1 bottom line was impacted due to one off items as well as first time impact on account of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS). During Q1 June 2016, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary Coastal Gujarat Power (CGPL) had Rs 286 crore adverse profit after tax (PAT) impact due to overhauls had a lower than 80% availability factor which has led to Rs 90 crore PAT impact. CGPL had one time cost on account of dredging of Rs 33 crore. CGPL had extra depreciation of Rs 30 crore due to impairment reversals. Tata Power also had an impact of Rs 133 crore due to mark-to-mark forex movement in the profit & loss (P&L).

Tata Power Company's CEO & Managing Director Anil Sardana said that the company's focus on operational improvements have continued to show good results. All the company's subsidiaries and plants have shown strong performance despite very challenging circumstances, Sardana said. The company has grown its footprint and commissioned projects at South Africa & Zambia, he said. This quarter reflects changes in treatment of forex mark-to-mark, interest on equity to CGPL and several items that have impacted PAT due to change to Ind AS, Sardana said. He said that the company aims to pursue a well charted growth strategy by demonstrating a high level of commitment towards cleaner sources of generation thus increasing the share of non-fossil fuel based energy output to 30-40% by 2025.

Tata Power Company is India's largest integrated power company with a growing international presence. The company has presence in all the segments of the power sector viz. fuel security and logistics, generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), transmission, distribution and trading.

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Fifty Taliban militants were killed in the central Afghanistan Ghor province in air strikes by government forces, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

"A total of 50 rebels, including Mullah Ahmad Shah Ghori, the shadow governor of Taliban group for the western Ghor province, were killed after government forces conducted series of air strikes in Pashtunkot district of the neighbouring Faryab province on Monday," Xinhua news agency cited the ministry as saying in a statement.

A huge quantity of arms and ammunitions of the militants was also destroyed in the air raids, the statement said.

Taliban militants, who are active in parts of Faryab and the neighbouring Ghor province, were yet to make any comment.

--IANS

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Frosinone (Italy), Aug 23 (IANS/AKI) Police in southern Italy on Tuesday rescued a young Afghan refugee who had travelled for 400 km strapped to the undercarriage of an articulated truck.

Police stopped the truck in heavy traffic on the A1 highway near the city of Frosinone after receiving calls from alarmed motorists who had spotted the man beneath the truck and feared he would be killed.

The man, believed to be around 20, was taken to hospital in Frosinone and was said to be suffering from exhaustion.

Police believe he strapped himself beneath the truck at the southern port of Brindisi while its Bulgarian driver went for a coffee break.

"The driver went to have coffee with other Bulgarians and in all probability was unaware the youth had meanwhile managed to stow away beneath his parked vehicle," police said.

The Afghan had not been detected by scanners at the port of Brindisi when the truck came off a ferry there, police said.

--IANS/AKI

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Former head of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) Ashok Chawla will take over as the non-executive part-time chairman of YES Bank -- the country's fifth-largest private sector bank -- in October as the RBI has given approval for the appointment, the bank said on Monday.

Chawla, who is chairman of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), will take charge with effect from October 30 for a period of three years upon the expiry of the term of the current chairperson Radha Singh, the bank said in a statement.

Chawla, currently an independent director in the bank, was appointed on the Board on March 5 this year.

A civil servant, Chawla has been posted as Secretary in ministries such as Finance, Economic Affairs and Civil Aviation.

He has been on the Boards of the RBI, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, State Bank of India and Life Insurance Corporation of India. He was also at different points in time India's Executive Director on the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Alternate Governor for India at the World Bank and at the Asian Development Bank.

After his retirement from the civil service, he was appointed as the Chairman of the CCI for the period 2011-2016.

--IANS

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Bandhan Bank, which marks its first anniversary on Tuesday, plans to expand its branch network to 1,000 by August 2017 from the existing 701, said its chief.

"Next year when we meet to celebrate our second anniversary we will surely have at least 1,000 branches and more products," MD and CEO C.S. Ghosh said at the bank's first anniversary celebration.

Pan India, 33 percent of its branches are in unbanked rural area, as against RBI's stipulation of 25 percent, he said.

He said that 45 percent of branches are in West Bengal and 68 percent of them are in rural and semi-urban areas.

Ghosh also said the private lender would start United Payment Interface or UPI application.

"This mobile application will ensure seamless fund transfer and merchant payments, among other things. Apart from convenience for our customers, this will also add to the government's push for a cashless economy," he said.

In one year's of operation as bank, it managed to collect deposits worth Rs 16,000 crore. "Out of which retail deposit was more than Rs 6,000 crore, CASA stands at 15 percent, advances Rs 16,500 crore, NPA 0.16 percent, our CD ratio is 143 percent and capital Rs 4,000 crore," he said.

--IANS

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Reach of rural people to banks is not very encouraging even 47 years after nationalisation of a majority of the banks, President Pranab Mukherjee said here on Tuesday.

While the RBI and the ministry concerned are busy addressing the problem areas of non-performing assets and injudicious advancing, the reach of rural people to banks is not very encouraging even after nationalisation of almost 60 percent of banks done in July 1969, Mukherjee said at a programme here.

Addressing the first anniversary celebrations of the Bandhan Bank, the president said a lot more remains to be done to meet the requirements of the unorganised sector in the country, even as the banks remain ever vigilant as far as loan dispersal and recovery are concerned.

Mukherjee lauded the role of micro-financing institutions and said they have a special challenge and responsibility to ensure equitable growth by addressing the financial needs of the vast unorganised sector.

--IANS

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Virtually snubbing the recent attempt by the Union Government to take the control of union territory of Chandigarh out of the Punjab Governor's purview, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said on Tuesday that Chandigarh will always be integral part of his state.

"Chandigarh was, is and will ever remain an integral part of the state. Any deviation from existing practice of appointing Punjab Governor as administrator of Chandigarh was not at all acceptable," Badal told media during a function in Lambi assembly seat in Muktsar district, 250 km from here.

"As per States Reorganization Act, every parent state has sole right over its capital city but grave injustice had been meted out to state by denying Chandigarh to the state. Punjab has the sole right over its capital and it must be given to the state at every cost.

"Till Chandigarh is not given to the state, the around four decades old practice of appointing Punjab Governor as the administrator of Chandigarh should be continued," said Badal, who was quite upset as the move came just as Punjab is six months away from assembly polls.

Badal's comments came in response to a move by the Narendra Modi government last week in which it was decided to appoint Kerala BJP leader and former firebrand bureaucrat K.J. Alphons as the new Administrator of the union territory.

The move would have ended a 32-year-old system of the Punjab Governor also controlling the union territory of Chandigarh as Administrator.

However, following objections raised by Badal, the ruling Akali Dal and the opposition Congress in Punjab, the centre did not issue the orders of appointment of Alphons.

The Union government on Thursday appointed Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore as the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Under the earlier orders of appointment of the new Punjab Governor, Badnore was not given the charge of UT Administrator.

Speaking to IANS earlier, 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."

Chandigarh, a union territory, is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.

--IANS

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A British national, arrested in connection with the July 1 Gulshan cafe attack here, was on Tuesday sent to 16-day judicial remand.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ahsan Habib gave the order after Hasnat Karim was presented in the court on completion of his eight-day police remand on Monday, reported Dhaka Tribune.

The court fixed August 24 for hearing a bail petition filed by Hasnat, former North South University teacher.

In Monday's report, Humayun Kabir, an inspector of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit and the Investigating Officer, stated that Hasnat had given important information about the terror attack, which investigators were verifying, adding that he should be kept in jail until the investigation is completed.

Earlier on Tuesday, Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told reporters at his office that police would not seek fresh remand for Hasnat for some time.

"The information we got from Hasnat during his two-term remand is being scrutinised," he said.

The law enforcers will seek remand for him in future, if necessary, Masudur added.

Hasnat was shown arrested on August 13 in the case linked with the killing of 22 hostages, including 18 foreigners and two policemen, in the terror attack at an upscale cafe in Dhaka.

Earlier on August 4, Hasnat and Canadian university student Tahmid Hasib among the survivors of the Gulshan attack were taken on remand for eight days.

Hasnat was again remanded for another eight days and Tahmid was sent to jail on Saturday after completion of his remand for 14 days in two phases.

--IANS

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A British national, arrested in connection with the July 1 Gulshan cafe attack here, has been sent to 16-day judicial remand, media here reported on Tuesday.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ahsan Habib gave the order after Hasnat Karim was presented in the court on Monday on completion of his eight-day police remand, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The court fixed August 24 for hearing a bail petition filed by Hasnat, a former North South University teacher.

Humayun Kabir, an inspector of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit and the Investigating Officer, told the court that Hasnat had given important information about the terror attack, which investigators were verifying, and that he should be kept in jail until the investigation is completed.

Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told reporters at his office that police would not seek fresh remand for Hasnat for some time.

"The information we got from Hasnat during his two-term remand is being scrutinised," he said.

The law enforcers will seek remand for him in future, if necessary, Masudur added.

Hasnat was arrested on August 3 in the case linked with the killing of 22 hostages, including 18 foreigners and two policemen, in the terror attack at an upscale cafe in Dhaka.

He was subsequently remanded to eight days' police custody twice.

Police detained another suspect, University of Toronto student Tahmid Hasib Khan, on August 3. Tahmid has not so far been shown as arrested for the attack.

--IANS

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To deal with annual flooding and erosion problem in Assam, the state government has decided to start dredging of the Brahmaputra river, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Tuesday.

"The state government will start dredging of Brahmaputra with the help of Dredging Corporation of India (DCI)," said Sonowal after a meeting between the officials of the state government and DCI.

A DCI team is likely to visit Assam in the next eight to 10 days to carry out a survey based on which an action plan will be drawn up for dredging the river on an annual basis, he said.

"Dredging will primarily emphasise on erosion control, sediment management and flood control and the whole process will be carried out in line with the hydrological character of Brahmaputra," Sonowal said.

He said the area of dredging will be from Sadiya to Dhubri and a broad roadmap will be put in place for the works.

The water carrying capacity of Brahmaputra has significantly declined due to silt, which means Assam has become vulnerable to floods in any season that witnesses good rains.

--IANS

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Justice Ministers from European Union (EU) member states cautioned against growing radicalisation in Europe here on Tuesday.

"The problems that present-day Europe has are not only economic or security ones. The inclination of a portion of the population towards anti-system and extremist groups, as a result of many processes where each and every one plays a certain role, is also a problem," Xinhua news agency quoted Slovak Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska, who chaired the panel discussion of EU Justice Ministers, as saying.

The delegations from 27 EU member states participating in the conference adopted a joint statement in which they stressed their determination to protect democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

Aware of the reasons leading to growing radicalisation, they agreed that society should stay alert to the intrusion of extremist tendencies and attitudes into politics, which may threaten Europe's democracies and the rule of law.

"It is very important to talk about these issues and try to find a solution so that the situation of the past century, when external and internal factors led to the creation of totalitarian regimes with the more or less tacit consent of the democratic majority, will not be repeated," stressed Zitnanska.

--IANS

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Two senior functionaries of a Moroccan Islamic movement that promotes, among other things, a puritanical world view in which adultery is punishable with death, were caught by police in a sexual act in a car near a beach north of Casablanca, the north Africa country's commercial capital, officials confirmed.

Moulay Omar Ben Hamad, married with seven children and a professor of Islamic studies at the Faculty of Arts in Rabat, and Fatima Nejjar, widow and mother of six children, were caught in a compromising position on August 20 by the police near the beach of El Mansouria, Mohammedia region, in a Mercedes.

The two, who police and Moroccan officials said were important members (first and second vice-presidents) of the Movement for Unification and Reform (MUR), were presented the day after their arrest to the prosecutor, who ordered their conditional release, fixing trial for September 1.

Ben Hamad is a member of the World Union of Muslim Ulema and the General Secretariat of The League of Ulema Ahl Assounna which sends him as a special emissary of the MUR on preaching missions abroad, particularly during the month of Ramadan.

Hamad is also known as the main advocate of an association called Dar Al Quran created on February 14, 1996, in Mohammedia which is dedicated to teaching the Quran to children. He also served as 'khatib' of Friday prayers.

Hamad has a wide reputation in the MUR as a person responsible for preaching to the youth members of the Islamist political party Justice and Development, and in the four regions of the kingdom.

The woman, Fatima Nejjar, has a reputation as a well-known preacher and has conducted countless religious talks and lectures posted on YouTube on the virtues of faithfulness, purity and shunning of all kinds of permissive behaviour as it was against the tenets of Islam.

A senior Moroccan official said the scandal exposed the hypocrisy of the Islamists who were giving a bad name to the and taking advantage of the gullibility common people with their distorted preachings.

Morocco, a predominantly Muslim country, practices a secular form of Islam and frowns on all kinds of extremism.

Under King Mohammed VI, it has had a lot of religious reform, introducing the concept of women imams, promoting gender parity with women not stopped from wearing modern clothes or working alongside men, and being vigilant in keeping extremism at bay.

--IANS

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday assured the National Security Guard (NSG) of upgrading their infrastructure and training.

Inaugurating the Composite Building complex of 52 Special Action Group here, he also stressed that the NSG should conduct regular exercises with counterparts from friendly countries.

"Today no developed country can claim immunity from terrorist strikes. All progressive societies have to stand up against terrorism," he said.

Noting that 19 NSG personnel have laid down their lives in the service of the nation since the force was set up in 1984, Rajnath Singh laid stress on bringing out illustrated booklets containing their biographies as an inspiration for the youth.

He added that NSG must commemorate their martyrdom day with at least one officer visiting their families and organising programmes at their homes by involving the community.

--IANS

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Rome, Aug 23 (IANS/AKI) Hundreds of a migrants will be relocated to Germany from Italy every month starting in September, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano announced on Tuesday. The resettlements are part of a controversial plan agreed at a European Union summit last year.

"Today we received news that from September onwards, hundreds of migrants will be able to go to Germany per month, " Alfano told Italy's web-based Repubblica TV after a meeting with his German counterpart Thomas De Maiziere.

Alfano attacked the voluntary scheme agreed at a Brussels summit last June to resettle across the EU a total 40,000 migrants who arrived in Italy and Greece, calling the scheme "the true flop of the European agenda".

"We should remember that Germany opened its doors to a million refugees last year. So, if on top of these people, Germany can take some from us, this means that other countries can as well," Alfano said.

A total of 95,000 migrants arrived in Italy in the first seven months of July, the same number as over the same period of 2015, according to data issued by the EU borders agency Frontex on 12 August.

Together with Greece, Italy is the main entry-point for migrants and refugees heading for Europe and has sought more help from its EU partners to handle the hundreds of thousands of people arriving by sea, many of whom are fleeing war and poverty in countries such as Syria, Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan.

At the EU's summit last June leaders also agreed to resettle another 20,000 refugees who are currently outside the EU.

More than three million people who fled the Syrian civil war are being housed in neighbouring countries - far more than the EU has taken in.

--IANS/AKI

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A court here on Tuesday recorded the statement of a 28-year-old PhD student who has filed a complaint of rape against a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student.

During in-camera proceedings, Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria recorded the victim's statement. The recording of the statement remained inconclusive and it will be continued on Wednesday.

According to sources, the victim stands with her allegation she levelled against accused Anmol Ratan, a JNU student and former All India Student Association (AISA) activist.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ratan moved an anticipatory bail application before Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal who posted the matter for further hearing on August 27.

In his bail plea, Ratan told the court that case against him is politically motivated.

Ratan's defence counsel Rajiv Mohan said there were some political rivalries and ideological difference between the accused and victim.

Ratan was representing AISA while the woman belongs to some other political organisation, Mohan said.

The woman lodged a complaint at Vasant Kunj police station in south Delhi on Sunday alleging that she was raped by Ratan on Saturday after he had spiked her drink with a sedative.

The complainant, a first year PhD student, alleged that she had put a statement on Facebook on June this year showing interest to watch a film called 'Sairat' and asked if anyone had a copy of it.

Sairat is a 2016 Indian Marathi-language romance film.

She alleged that Anmol messaged her that he has a copy of the film.

She added that on August 20, Anmol picked her up from her hostel and took her to his hostel named Brahmputra to give her the film. Here he offered her some drink which was spiked with a sedative and then sexually assaulted her.

She also alleged that Ratan did not allow her to go back to her hostel room and threatened her.

Ratan has been booked under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code.

--IANS

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Libyan parliament on Monday voted against the UN-backed unity government, with 66 votes to reject it, 12 abstained from voting and one voted for approval.

Quorum was formed for a voting session for the first time since January in the eastern Tobruk-based parliament, Xinhua news agency quoted a parliament official as saying.

The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) was appointed based on an UN-sponsored peace deal signed by the country's political rivals in order to end the state of political division.

GNA, however, faced opposition from several members of the parliament.

Monday's voting was considered to be another obstacle to the government that has been trying to get the approval of the parliament.

Meanwhile, GNA's forces fighting the Islamic State Terrorist Group in Sirte were gaining more control of the city in a fight which started in May and has claimed the lives of at least 350 government fighters and has injured 1,000 others.
The Civil Aviation Ministry and Airports Authority of India will collaborate with Maharashtra government to develop 10 small airports in the state as part of the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme, it was announced here on Tuesday.

An agreement to the effect was signed here making the state the first in the country under the Civil Aviation Ministry's ambitious National Civil Aviation Policy announced earlier this year to boost RCS.

"The MoU aims to facilitate regional air connectivity by making it affordable by enacting different concessions offered by the centre, state and operators. I am confident that with this, aviation in Maharashtra will move to the next level," said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister A. Gajapathi Raju and Fadnavis by which the state will contribute 20 percent cost of VGF and the central government will bear the rest.

The 10 selected airports are at Shirdi, Jalgaon, Nashik, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nanded, Amravati and Gondia.

Of these, Shirdi Airport will begin operations from November, while an AAI team will come in early September to conduct a preliminary study of the proposed Greenfield international airport at New Chakan, Pune, Fadnavis said.

All the upcoming airports shall be provided with infrastructure like roads, railways, Metro and waterways and the state government would provide various amenities at concessional rates, as per the MoU.

--IANS

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Malaysian Police announced on Tuesday that it will seek help from Interpol to track down three Taiwanese artistes who appeared in a video of Malaysian rapper Namewee, who has been detained for allegedly insulting Islam.

The three Taiwanese had left for their home country after taking part in the recording of video Oh My God which Malaysian authorities claim was insulting to Islam, according to Penang Police Chief Datuk Abdul Ghafar Rajab, Efe news reported citing local news agency Bernama.

Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, was arrested on Sunday and the authorities on Monday extended his detention for at least another four days.

The rapper may face a two-year imprisonment if he is found guilty.

In the video, Namewee appears to be rapping outside several places of worship and he claims that it was composed to encourage inter-religious understanding.

Malaysia and Indonesia are the two main countries in southeast Asia where Islam is the dominant .

--IANS

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A Manipur activist group will observe "Tribal Unity Day" on August 31 to remember nine people who were killed in early September last year -- and have not been buried as yet -- in violent protests against three controversial lawws that allegedly deprived tribals of the right to their land.

The Manipur assembly passed the bills on August 31 last year. But the legislations have not been converted into law because "the president has withheld one bill and sent back two others", according to Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei.

The bills created an uproar, sparking violent protests in the Churachandpur area and the nine were killed in the days of agitation that lasted till September 10.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) that spearheaded the protests said the "Tribal Unity Day" will be observed in memory of the dead.

"The function (beginning August 31) will continue for one week. People from all walks of life are expected to take part," a JAC spokesman said.

The activist group has refused to bury the bodies lying in a hospital morgue in protest against the bills. It wants the government to withdraw the bills.

"All anti-migrant bills are anti-tribals and as such we shall object," the JAC spokesperson said.

But the deputy chief minister said since there was no bill now, "there is no justification for carrying on the agitation".

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh had urged the JAC and other tribal activists to point out any clause in the bills which they feel are against the interest of the tribals.

Khaidem Mani a senior advocate who is closely associated with the campaign said: "Nobody has pointed out any such clause."

--IANS

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Actor Ian McKellen turned down one and a half million dollar deal to officiate a wedding dressed as Gandalf - his famous character from "The Lord of the Rings".

The 77-year-old was asked to appear at the wedding of Napster founder Sean Parker, but he refused, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"I was offered one-and-a-half million dollars to marry a very famous couple in California, which I would perhaps have considered doing, but I had to go dressed as Gandalf. So I said, 'I am sorry, Gandalf doesn't do weddings'," he said.

However, the actor said he had no idea who was behind the offer.

"He was a very rich man, that's all I know. I don't go dressing up - except in plays and things at places like this," he said.

--IANS

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Tech giant has acquired artificial intelligence (AI)-based scheduling service Genee that simplifies the scheduling and rescheduling of large group meetings for .

will integrate the AI technology into Office 365 before shutting down Genee.

" has signed an agreement to acquire Genee, an artificial-intelligence-powered scheduling service," said Rajesh Jha, Corporate Vice President, Outlook and Office 365, in a Facebook post.

Co-founders Ben Cheung and Charles Lee, who plan to join Microsoft, started Genee in 2014 to simplify the time-consuming task of scheduling (and rescheduling) meetings.

"It's especially useful for large groups and for when you don't have access to someone's calendar," Jha added.

Genee uses natural language processing and optimised decision-making algorithms so that interacting with a virtual assistant is just like interacting with a human one.

Let us see how Genee works, he said.

"Say you want to meet a potential customer, Diana, for coffee. Simply send an email to Diana and copy Genee, like you would a personal assistant," Jha noted.

Genee understands that you want to "find a time to meet with Diana for coffee next week" and will streamline the process by emailing her directly with appropriate options that work with your calendar and preferences.

Genee will even send out the meeting invite on your behalf, freeing up your time.

"As we continue to build new Office 365 productivity capabilities and services our customers value, I'm confident the Genee team will help us further our ambition to bring intelligence into every digital experience," Jha added.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mafia don-turned-legislator Mukhtar Ansari on Tuesday ruled out the merger of his Quami Ekta Dal (QED) with the Samajwadi Party (SP) which is currently in power in Uttar Pradesh.

However, the doors are open for an alliance with the SP for the next Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, he said.

All decisions with respect to such an electoral alliance would be taken by his brother and QED President Afzal Ansari, he said.

Mukhtar Ansari, who represents Mau in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, faces several murder charges and has been lodged in Agra jail.

Having been allowed to attend the assembly session, he was in Lucknow on Tuesday and met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav who had opposed the SP-QED merger when it was first suggested in June.

Mukhtar Ansari was later also closeted for about 45 minutes with Akhilesh's uncle and PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav who is widely believed to have favoured the merger.

He told reporters that he met the chief minister to apprise him of the flood situation in his area, and that there was no political significance to his meeting.

Uttar Pradesh will vote for a new government early next year.

A possible merger of QED with SP was first announced on June 21, but was shelved after Akhilesh Yadav put his foot down.

The issue has since caused much bad blood in the SP as well as within the Yadav family that controls the ruling party.

Akhilesh sacked his minister Balram Yadav apparently for facilitating the possible merger while Shivpal Singh Yadav made known his displeasure over the cancellation of the merger.

Akhilesh has, on more than two occasions, openly spelt out his opposition to any alliance with QED and told his party leadership that SP stands to gain if it goes alone in the polls.

Sources, however, say that despite resistance from Akhilesh, the two parties might come together in "some kind of electoral understanding" for the purpose of preventing the division of Muslim votes.

--IANS

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Prime Minister said on Tuesday that the "nationalism" was core identity of the BJP and called upon party workers to defeat elements who were trying to divert people's attention from the development-oriented work of the party-led central government.

In his remarks at the day-long workshop of state core committee members here, Modi said that BJP's aim should be to become a social force apart from being a political force.

Making a special mention of the recently-concluded Tiranaga Yatra, he said: "It worked to unite the country against the socially divisive forces."

"Nationalism has been our core identity and our strength. We don't need to prove it. It is already associated with us. But when we talk about poor, Dalits and downtrodden, some elements do not like it and they try to divert people's attention," sources quoted Modi as saying.

Modi also cautioned party leaders, saying that they would need to alert the common people about this.

"Despite challenges, positive works of the government will continue. We are determined to bring massive changes in the life of common man," a BJP statement later quoted him as saying.

Modi also asked party leaders to work tirelessly to fulfill Mahatma Gandhi and Deen Dayal Upadhyay's dream of "Antyodaya", which is the goal and resolve of his government.

BJP President Amit Shah, who earlier inaugurated the day-long workshop at the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) convention centre, asked the party leaders to focus on implementation of the central government's pro-poor initiatives.

According to sources, Shah also spoke on issues of incidents of Dalit atrocities, Gau Rakshaks and Kashmir and asked party workers to counter aggressively the propaganda of opposition parties.

Sources said that Shah informed the party leaders that the BJP ruled government at the centre was the first ever government which did not compromise on issues of nationalism.

Shah will also meet the chief ministers of BJP ruled states on August 27.

These two important meetings will be followed by that of the BJP-RSS coordination committee here on August 29 here.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat will also attend the meet.
Indian ambassador Ranjit Rae said on Tuesday that New Delhi didn't have a hand in building or bringing down the government in Nepal.

The diplomat expressed his reluctance on commenting on political matters in Nepal, The Himalayan Times reported.

He said India was willing to working with Nepal in development projects and improving bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit to Nepal after Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda's" visit to India, he said.

Rae said India was working on direct air connection between major Indian and Nepali cities.

--IANS

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The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to Tamil Nadu over the illegal detention and torture of a juvenile belonging to Kuravar community by the state police, a statement said on Tuesday.

Taking cognizance of the issue, the commission has said that the 17-year-old boy and two of his family members were detained in connection with a burglary and were tortured in the most inhumane way, purportedly on the ground that they belonged to a tribe dubbed by the British as criminals under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.

The law is extinct now but presumably the mind sets remain unchanged as the boy is learning what it meant to be born a Kuravar, it said.

According to the commission, it was observed that no human being should be subjected to discrimination merely on the fact that he belongs to a particular caste, creed or community.

The juvenile was reportedly, released when his family intervened to convenience the police that he was just 17 years of age.

"The incident, alleging illegal detention of a young boy, physical torture of the family members and atrocities committed by the police personnel, indicates towards violation of human right to life, liberty and dignity of the victims," said the Commission, adding it has accordingly issued a notice to the Government of Tamil Nadu through its Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, calling for a detailed report, including the action if any, taken against the erring police personnel, within four weeks.

--IANS

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Carpi (Italy), Aug 22 (IANS/AKI) An 83-year-old man on Monday allegedly shot his wife dead in northern Italy on Monday, telling police he killed her because he could no longer cope with her Alzheimer's disease.

"I killed her. I couldn't manage any more," Pierino Corradini told police called to the murder scene at the couple's home in Carpi, near Modena.

The couple's daughter called emergency services after Corradini allegedly phoned her to say he had killed 83-year old Maddalena Pavesi, his wife of 65 years.

The couple had three children but their long marriage had come under strain since Pavesi developed Alzheimer's disease, according to investigators.

The murder weapon was a licenced 7.65 calibre pistol which Corradini kept in a drawer at the couple's apartment.

Corradini was taken to prison in Modena and faces a murder charge.

--IANS/AKI

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A Thai military court on Tuesday began the trial of two suspects arrested for planting a bomb in the Erawan shrine in the Bangkok that killed 20 persons and injured over a hundred.

The suspects identified as Mohamad Bilal and Yusufu Mieraili from China's Xinjiang region, were charged with 10 crimes, including conspiracy, premeditated murder and possession of explosives, in November 2015, Efe news reported.

The two Uighur-Muslims denied any involvement in the attack, Thailand's worst attack in years that took place on 17 August 2015, and also claimed that their confessions were forced.

Bilal, also known as Adem Karadag and from whose home the police had recovered fake passports and explosive material, has been accused of planting the bomb under a bench in Erawan temple, popular with Chinese tourists, at the centre of the shopping area.

Police believe that Mieraili, minutes later, had detonated the bomb.

Bilal said, in a statement released by his lawyer, that he was an illegal immigrant trying to reach Malaysia in search of work when the police raided the apartment where he was hiding.

The Thai police had said the attack was perpetrated by criminal groups in retaliation to a police campaign against human trafficking.

The investigation, full of irregularities and contradictory statements by the police and the military junta, had also fuelled various speculations about the motives, including the deportation of a 100 Uighurs to China a month before the attack, which is yet to be claimed.

--IANS

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Morocco's King Mohammed VI has strongly condemned terrorism and said the killing of innocent people and suicide bombings were not permissible in Islam. He also said terrorists were "distorting Islam" and taking advantage of young Muslims -- some of those implicated in Europe have been of Moroccan descent -- who did not know the real tenets of the .

In his address to the nation, in which he pointedly addressed the Moroccan diaspora that numbers about five milion globally, on the occasion of 63rd anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People over the weekend, the monarch urged the people to show forbearance in these times when terrorism is giving Islam a bad name.

Referring to the killing of a priest in France at the hands of Islamic State terrorists, the King said that such an act is forbidden in Islam.

"I strongly condemn the killing of innocent people. Killing a priest is forbidden by religion; murdering him inside a church is unforgivable madness, for he is a human being and a religious man -- even if he is not a Muslim," he said.

He said those who engage in terrorism have strayed from the right path of Islam and are not Muslims.

"Those who engage in terrorism, in the name of Islam, are not Muslims. Their only link to Islam is the pretexts they use to justify their crimes and their folly. They have strayed from the right path, and their fate is to dwell forever in hell," the monarch, who has undertaken many political and religious reforms in the North African kingdom with one of the most progressive Islamic societies in the world, said in an address that has got global attention.

King Mohammed VI said the terrorists are misleading Muslim youth by distorting the peaceful values of the .

"Terrorists take advantage of some young Muslims -- particularly in Europe -- and of their ignorance of the Arabic language and of true Islam, to spread their distorted messages and misleading promises."

"They think -- out of ignorance -- that they are engaging in jihad. Since when has jihad been synonymous with killing innocent people? The Almighty says: 'Do not transgress limits, for Allah loves not transgressors'," he said.

"It is forbidden to kill people under the pretext of jihad."

Taking a swipe at convoluted ideas on the reward for jihad, the King wondered: "How could anyone of sound mind believe that the reward for jihad is a number of virgins? How could one possibly accept that anyone who listens to music will be swallowed by the depths of the earth, and other such lies?"

The King called upon people across the religious spectrum to unite against the scourge of terrorism and counter hatred.

"As ignorance spreads in the name of religion, Muslims, Christians and Jews have to close ranks in order to tackle all forms of extremism, hatred and reclusiveness," he said.

Hailing his country's policy on migrants, the King said that Morocco believes in humanitarian values and safeguarded the rights of migrants to live in dignity. Morocco's policy ensured migrants "do not suffer the same hardships endured in many parts of the world", he said.

The Times of Israel, taking note of the speech, said the Moroccan king always preached a form of tolerant and moderate Islam and has positioned Morocco in Africa and the Muslim world as a key voice in the fight against jihadism. The king regularly calls on his citizens to practice an Islam "of peace" but Saturday was the first time he directly addressed the Moroccan diaspora and said "terrorists who kill in the name of Islam ? are condemned to eternal hell," the paper said.

--IANS

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British furniture and interiors company Timothy Oulton has opened the doors to its first gallery in India, in partnership with Tarun Vadehra Interiors here.

The gallery showcases the brand's signature relaxed yet sophisticated aesthetic in a space packed with drama, intrigue and quirky vintage curios, in a leafy lane off the Defence Colony flyover here.

According to Oulton, New Delhi has an "incredible blend of rich heritage with modern vibrancy" and it's that contrast of tradition with innovation that is also reflected in the brand's designs.

"New Delhi has been evolving over recent years, people today live a much more global lifestyle and want to come home to somewhere that inspires them, where they can relax and connect with family and friends. It's those ideas that are really at the heart of our collections," Oulton said in a statement.

Amit Vadehra of Tarun Vadehra Interiors, said of the partnership: "Timothy Oulton shares our commitment to outstanding quality and fine handcraftsmanship, comparable to the very best in the world."

Driven by a passion for traditional handcraftsmanship and a deep affection for British heritage, Timothy Oulton is known for its fresh interpretation of classic designs, infusing pieces with a daring, modern twist for a distinctive collection that is inspired by the past but relevant for today.

The company's global yet niche appeal will resonate with New Delhi's well-travelled crowd who are seeking quality, world-class furnishings.

--IANS

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Spelling out at least 14 latest aliases used by wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the UN Security Council has listed three addresses under his name -- all of them in Karachi in Pakistan, with one even in a defence colony.

Three of these addresses are a part of the dossier which India had furnished to both the UN and Islamabad. Three others, also purportedly provided by India, find a mention in the amended list, but have been struck down.

Islamabad has all along denied Dawood's presence in Pakistan.

Under other information, the powerful UN organ said his father's name is Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Kaskar, mother's name is Amina Bi and wife's name is Mehjabeen Shaikh.

"International arrest warrant issued by the Government of India," it said.

The aliases and the addresses are part of what the UN says is one single amendment that has been carried out in its sanctions list, pertaining to the Islamic State (IS) and Al Qaeda.

The Committee's IS and Al Qaeda Sanctions List is updated regularly on the basis of relevant information provided by member states and international and regional organisations, according to the Security Council press release.

The three Karachi addresses of Dawood listed are: White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton; House No 37 - 30th Street - defence, Housing Authority; and Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad.

Among the aliases used by Dawood that are listed are Abdul Hamid Abdul Aziz, Anis Ibrahim, Aziz Dilip and Shaikh Mohd Ismail Abdul Rehman.

The Indian dossier was listed by the UN Security Council on November 3, 2003.

It has been amended six times since then, the latest being on Monday.

--IANS

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United States' star swimmer Ryan Lochte has lost all four of his major sponsors, including Speedo and Ralph Lauren Corp, following his "exaggerated" story about being robbed at gunpoint at the Rio Games.

Speedo and Ralph Lauren were followed by announcements from skin care firm Syneron-Candela and Japanese mattress maker Airweave that they were terminating their contracts with him.

The cancellation of sponsorships came after the 12-time Olympic medallist lied about being robbed at gunpoint by a policeman after a night out during the Rio Olympics, BBC reported on Tuesday.

Speedo, the biggest sponsor of the four, said: "We cannot condone behaviour that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for."

Lochte, aged 32, said he respected Speedo's decision, and thanked the company.

"I am grateful for the opportunities that our partnership has afforded me over the years," he said.

Speaking on US talk show Today, the six-time Olympic gold medallist added: "I made a mistake and I definitely learned from this. They put on great Games... and my immature, intoxicated behaviour tarnished that a little."

Ralph Lauren, which has removed some of Lochte's images from its website, said its sponsorship of the swimmer had been only for the Rio Olympics and would not be renewed.

Ralph Lauren and Airweave both stressed that they would continue their support of the US Olympic and Paralympic teams.

Syneron-Candela said: "We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners."

Speedo said it would donate a $50,000 portion of Lochte's sponsorship fee to the Brazilian operation of the charity Save The Children.

The value of Lochte's Speedo sponsorship has not been disclosed. The contract reportedly expires this year after 10 years.

The US business magazine Forbes calculated that in the year of the 2012 London Olympics, Lochte earned about $2 million in sponsorships from companies such as Gillette, Nissan, AT&T and Gatorade.

Lochte's performance at Rio did not reach the heights of his London triumph, but Forbes estimated his endorsements would still have been between $1 million-$2 million.

Lochte's behaviour has been met with disdain in the US and he has been widely pilloried in the US media.

On August 19, the New York Post carried a front-page headline describing him as the "Ugly American", along with the slogan "Liar, Liar, Speedo on fire".

Lochte is one of the most successful swimmers in history, with 12 Olympic medals, and he once had his own reality television show in the US.

In Rio, he swam in two events, winning a gold medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

"We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience," Speedo said of Lochte.

--IANS

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The appointment of Urjit Patel as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor is an inspired choice. Patel has the strongest monetary economics pedigree, with an MPhil in economics from Oxford and a PhD from Yale. As a PhD student he jointly authored academic papers with his advisor, the respected macroeconomist Prof Willem Buiter, then at Yale. For India, his long stint at IDFC, gives him a deep understanding of the infrastructure sector that is currently causing stress to bank credit portfolios. He has been deputy governor, looking after the crucial monetary policy department for almost four years and so, is well equipped to take over as governor. However, I find all the commentary surrounding his appointment blithely stating that his appointment suggests a choice by the government for a continuity in RBI policies, to be simplistic.
The Kannada actor and member Ramya, who is accused of sedition over her remarks of praising the people of Pakistan after a recent visit, said on Tuesday that there is no question of apologising.

She said, "BJP will not do anything to repeal the law, because they are using it to their advantage", leader Ramya on Tuesday refused to apologise for her statement that "Pakistan is a good country, not hell."

The 33-year-old Divya Spandana visited Islamabad to attend Saarc Young Parliamentarians Conference, responded to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikars statement, Going to Pakistan is like going to hell, with Pakistan is not hell, people there are just like us. They treated us very well.

She made the remarks during a rally in her former constituency Mandya, saying how the people of Pakistan went out of their way on making her stay and comfortable after they got to know that she is from India.

Her comments outraged K Vittal Gowda, an advocate from Karnataka, who lodged a sedition case in Kodagu in southern Karnataka, around 250 km from state capital Bengaluru.

It also sparked protests across the state BJP cadres and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who wants her to move to Pakistan, if she refuses to apologise.



In a series of tweets, she said:



I dont ve ego at all& in any given incident, I wd've apologised, bt if I do in this case, the larger cause we're fighting fr would go:Ramya  ANI (@ANI_news) August 23, 2016

Politicians want to polarise and spread hatred. Just because borders separate us we shouldn't hate others: Ramya  ANI (@ANI_news) August 23, 2016

#EXCLUSIVE It's important that sedition law gets repealed. Didn't do anything wrong. Pakistanis are good people,just like us: @divyaspandana  News18 (@CNNnews18) August 23, 2016

1. Pakistan is definitely hell.

2. Ramya is free to say it isn't.

3. Moronic that this is even an issue.  Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) August 23, 2016

I request Cong to expel Ramya from the party, such statements shouldnt be made: KV Gowda (complainant against Ramya) pic.twitter.com/k1RAVghjsn  ANI (@ANI_news) August 23, 2016

Here's how twitteratis and local media channel reacted to it:China has warned that such a move would have 'a negative influence' on stability along the border"The BJP is right now would not do anything to repeal the law, because they are using it to their advantage. I don't have any ego at all, and in any given situation I would have apologised, but in this particular incident "me apologising", the larger cause that we are fighting for would go. I think that I don't want to lose that opportunity," Ramya said.

When asked about the sedition charge, she said, "I think it's really sad, but this is the state of affairs in this country today. Sedition is being slapped against anyone and anybody who is entitled to an opinion, which shouldn't be the case actually. I am feeling really sorry for the people for misusing this law as well."

"As an individual, I should be allowed to express my thoughts, my feelings or my opinions and, I think, the BJP government is trying to curb that and that should not be the case," she added.

"If you look at other political parties that are there, if we have to file sedition cases, like "misuse of the sedition law", and file cases against the BJP, we could also do that, because the kind of bizarre statements their members have made, some of the things is seditious, but we are of kind to take them on in discussion and conversation and put forth our views, but we never stoop to that kind of politics," said the leader refusing to buckle down under pressure or criticism.

"Not as a former Member of Parliament, but as a common man, everyone is entitled to their views. This is an opportunity for the people to speak of their mind, and not allowing people to speak of their mind will suppress the freedom of speech and, I think, if I apologise then I will be bowing down to pressure," she said.

At Saarc summit, Ramya emphasised on the need for India and Pakistan to dissolve their differences and find a way to work together in harmony.

The court will hear the case on 27 August of complaints filed under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 124-A (sedition).
Bharatita Janata Party (BJP) leader S Prakash on Tuesday said that he was not at all surprised by Congress leader Ramya's description of Pakistan being a "good country and not a hell".

Prakash said the Congress is habituated in its praise of Pakistan.

"Lauding on Pakistan by several Congress leaders is not new to our nation. However, I think, a statement from an ex-MP should be ignored, and in what context she spoke, should be analysed? It should not be blown up out of proposition. Needlessly, we are giving an undue publicity to her," Prakash told ANI.

Earlier on Sunday, Ramya had said that "Pak is a good country, not hell. Manohar Parrikar's comment not true."

Ramya had made the comment after returning from Islamabad where she had gone to attend the SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference - 2016.

Responding to her remark, actor-cum-politician Jaggesh said, "People who have not studied and don't have any experience are praising Pakistan. They should be given a peace prize, maybe a Nobel. They should also be allowed to stand next to Bill Clinton and take photos."

Jaggesh didn't refrain from describing those supporting anti- sentiments as 'mosquitoes and bedbugs'.

Ramya's remarks were in reference to the Defence Minister Manohar Parikar's statement wherein he said, "Our soldiers sent back five terrorists on Monday. Going to Pakistan is the same as going to hell. Pakistan has encouraged terrorism, and now they are facing consequences of that policy."

Complaint has been filed against Ramya in Kodagu (Karnataka) against her statement, on which hearing is pending on August 27.
The Chhattisgarh Assembly on Monday witnessed uproar over statements of some BJP MLAs who blamed Jawaharlal Nehru for the Kashmir problem.

The special day-long session had been called to ratify the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST.

While senior BJP MLA Devjibhai Patel was speaking on the uniformity in taxation system from "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" which GST would bring, a Congress member mentioned the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir.

Patel said the country's first Prime Minister was responsible for the problems in Kashmir, to which the Congress MLAs objected.

Another ruling party MLA, Shivratan Sharma, said the country is still suffering consequences of Nehru's decisions on Kashmir and he was solely responsible for Kashmir problem.

State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said such comments were highly objectionable. Echoing him, the leader of opposition T S Singhdeo referred to a book by a former IAS officer to state that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had argued that Kashmir, being a Muslim-majority area, should go to Pakistan.

It was Nehru who sent troops when the Pakistani tribesmen advanced in the valley, he pointed out.

Singhdeo also said his party was ready for discussion on the issue, to which Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Chandrakar said BJP too was ready for the same. But the Speaker pacified both of them.

Later, during his reply to the discussion on GST, Chief Minister Raman Singh stressed that Sardar Patel had never said that Kashmir should have been a part of Pakistan.

Patel merged the princely states with Union of India, and credit for the present shape of India goes to him, he said.

Singh also made a comment about rulers of the princely states, to which Singhdeo took objection.

Raman Singh said he was ready to hold a discussion on Kashmir issue in the Assembly. However, the issue was not further discussed and the GST bill was ratified unanimously.
Union Minister on Tuesday exuded confidence and said the people of Kashmir will stand up for peace and defeat the unruly powers trying to disturb tranquillity in the region hence dragging the valley out of abyss.

Naqvi said it is saddening to see that this region has fallen victim to the hands of fistful miscreants.

"The people of Kashmir have always vouched for peace. And I believe this urge for peace will defeat terrorism. The people of Kashmir have always backed peace and have taken over the separatists and terrorists. And this time once again the people of Kashmir will stand up for peace and defeat unruly powers trying to disturb tranquillity in the region," said Naqvi.

"It is saddening that the people of Kashmir had to undergo trouble because of a few miscreants from across the border who instigated violence in the valley for their vested interests," he added.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on dialogue to find a "permanent and lasting solution" to the problems of Kashmir within the framework of the Constitution.

Addressing the concerns of the opposition delegation led by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, Prime Minister Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" at the prevailing situation in the state and appealed for the restoration of normality.

The National Conference president welcomed the Prime Minister's statement and extended his support for bringing normalcy in the state.

Omar said that he was not politicising the ongoing unrest but wanted a solution to the crisis.

The Prime Minister's latest remarks came at a meeting with opposition leaders from Kashmir, where street protests against last month's killing of militant commander Burhan Wani by the security forces left 67 people dead.

Speaking in Jammu on Sunday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had described stone-throwers as "aggressors" and blamed Pakistan for the current unrest in the Valley.

The Centre on Monday rushed 2,600 additional paramilitary forces to Jammu and Kashmir, in the wake of continuous unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
Nearly 400 Congress supporters, along with its senior leaders and MLAs, were detained while they were marching towards the state Assembly as part of the party's 'Janakrosh rally' organised here on Tuesday said police.

They were stopped when they reached the main gate of the Assembly.

Among those detained included Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela, state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki, senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil, Siddharth Patel, Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry, Manish Doshi, and nearly 20 MLAs.

"We detained around 400-odd people as they tried to enter the state Assembly. Those detained included senior party leaders," Gandhinagar SP Virendra Yadav said.

Thousands of Congress party supporters gathered in Gandhinagar to hold a rally against the "oppressive" BJP government, and atrocities on the Dalits, even as monsoon session of the Assembly was in progress on the second - and last day.

As the protesters reached the Assembly entrance, police put up a barricade to stop them from entering the premises. When they tried to force their way, police used force and water canons to prevent them, and then detained them.

All those detained were later let off.

Emerging from the police detention, Bharatsinh Solanki attacked the BJP government in the state for being "irresponsible and oppressive".

"The BJP government has become irresponsible and oppressive towards the public. Corruption has grown and every section of people is fed up with the government. Even when the Dalits were being attacked, beaten up, the Prime Minister remained silent on the issue and instead expressed his solidarity for the people of Balochistan," Solanki said.

He said the government did little to prevent attacks on the Dalits, the adivasis and the OBC community members.

Earlier, addressing the gathering at the rally, LoP Vaghela asked the public to uproot the BJP government.

"Unlike the BJP government, the Congress government worked in the interest of the public. When our PM (Narendra Modi) was chief minister here, in 2013, he criticised Congress-led UPA government over rising petrol, diesel price. The price continues to rise," he said.

"The BJP stalled passage of GST Bill for four years. Now, it had trouble when Congress raised objection to it. BJP continues to chant that the PM is from . They wanted to congratulate Urjit Patel for being appointed as RBI governor, for his being a Gujarati. I objected to it. All this is being done to mislead the public," Vaghela told the gathering.

Earlier, around 50 Congress MLAs were evicted and suspended for a day from the Assembly when they protested in the House over the Una Dalit flogging incident.
Padma Shri award winner and Indian classical music exponent Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty will perform at a 10-day cultural festival here that will share cultural bonds with India.

Pandit Ajoy will be part of the "Shared History Festival" by Teamwork Arts in collaboration with the High Commission of India in South Africa.

"Shared History is a festival that perfectly blends with the festivity and spirit of the rainbow country and its uniqueness lies in the success it has enjoyed in highlighting the shared bonds between the two countries through the performing arts," said Teamwork Arts Founder Sanjoy Roy, who initiated the festival a decade ago.

The festival this year has been considerably shortened from its previous month-long programme of repeated performances by artists from India.

"Single performances will have the traction to draw an audience that was previously spread out over two or more performances," said Brenda Sakellarides, Teamwork's representative in South Africa.

"To optimise the venues and leverage the audience it was decided to present a high impact compact programme over a ten-day period," she said.

The festival will start on August 31 with a music programme by Sonam Kalra and her 'Sufi Gospel Project' that blends traditional western gospel with Indian classical sounds and Indian spiritual texts.

South African group Aafrind will perform in 'Confluence', in which diverse African, Western and Indian music will be presented in a fusion format.

The title of the show comes from the collaboration between Indian and African artists. Each year the cuisine of a region in India is highlighted as part of the Festival.

This year the 'Classic India Restaurant' will showcase 'Awadhi cuisine', which uses cooking patterns similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East and Northern India.

For theatre lovers, there will be well-known playwright Mahesh Dattani's 'Dance like a Man', relating the story of Jairaj and Ratna, two Bharatnatyam dancers past their prime, contrasted with that of their daughter Lata, who is on the brink of establishing herself as a brilliant dancer.

Chakrabarty's performance will bring the curtain down of the festival with a grand finale at the prestigious Nelson Mandela Theatre on September 9.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two children were injured today when a hand grenade exploded in a school in Pakistan's northwestern city here, officials said.

The incident occurred at Government Primary School for Boys Salam Baikay in Doogdara Upper District of Khyber Pakthunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan. Taliban has been active in the region.

The grenade exploded in the school ground shortly before the assembly. The school has no security or the boundary wall, officials said, adding that the grenade was planted in the school.

"We have told them many a time to construct the boundary wall and improve security measures but in vain," the district top administrators said.

One of the students sustained serious injuries, officials said.

Militants have destroyed hundreds of schools in the northwestern part of the country.

Pakistan suffered the deadliest extremist attack on a school here in 2014 that left more than 150 people, mostly children, dead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Telangana CID, which is probing the EAMCET-II question paper leak case, today arrested two more brokers and recovered over Rs 7 lakh from them.

With this, the total number of arrests in connection with the case so far has gone up to 19.

"In the TS EAMCET-II-2016 (Medical) question paper leakage case, today two brokers -- Kolli Rajesh Kumar alias Rajesh, a native of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh and Chintapalli Janaiah alias Johnson, a native of Nalgonda district in Telangana -- were arrested and Rs 7.10 lakh was recovered from them," CID Inspector General of Police Soumya Mishra said in a release.

Rajesh Kumar and Janaiah run consultancy office 'Sreshta Experts' at Dilsukhnagar here and they had secured nine students from various places in Telangana and AP states.

Rajesh handed over five students to one Rupesh of Delhi for Cuttack camp and Janaiah took the remaining four to Bengaluru camp for preparation of EAMCET-II leaked question paper, the CID officer said.

Efforts are on to apprehend the other brokers and kingpins of the case, she said.

On July 25, the CID had registered a case under relevant sections of IPC and other provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices and Unfair means) Act, 1997, after it found in its preliminary inquiry there was prima facie a case for registering an FIR.

Probe also revealed that students appearing for TS EAMCET-II-2016 (Medical) examination from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were taken to camps set up in at least five cities about two to three days prior to the exam and were given practice with the leaked copies of two question papers consisting of 320 questions with correct answers, the CID had earlier said.

At a review meeting held here on August 2, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was informed by CID officials that Delhi turned out to be the centre for leak and there were 34 brokers, who conspired to sell the paper and as many as 200 parents were in touch with the brokers to buy the question papers.

The Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET-II) was conducted on July 9 and the results were declared on July 14. The examination was conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 22 persons have been killed while 23.71 lakh people affected in the Bihar floods with many areas, specially the riverine belt of 12 districts badly reeling under water in the state.

The floods caused by a spate in rivers Ganga, Sone, Punpun, Burhi Gandak, Ghaghra and Kosi have affected 23.71 lakh people in 1115 villages under 362 panchayats in 12 districts of the state, a Disaster Management Department statement said.

Bhojpur district, which accounted for the maximum number of deaths, reported 12 deaths followed by Vaishali (6), Bhagalpur (2) and one each in Buxar and Lakhisarai district.

Ganga was flowing above danger mark at seven places in various parts of four districts - Digha ghat, Gandhi ghat, Hathidah in Patna, Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, Munger district and Buxar district.

River Sone was flowing above danger level by 129 cm near Maner in Patna.

The 12 flood-affected districts of the state are Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar, the statement said.

The authorities concerned were making an estimation of the total affected areas due to floods and areas under cultivation. Besides, the assessment for crop damage was being made by the authorities, it said.

A total of 1.55 lakh people have been evacuated so far, the release said adding, 179 relief camps were being run in the flood-hit areas, giving shelter to 1,07,000 people even as 160 medical teams were providing services. Besides, 49 camps were being run only for animals.

Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal today



visited various relief camps in the district and inspected food preparations and other arrangements.

"As per the Chief Minster's directive, we are serving them (the flood affected victims) food in stainless steel utensils. The administration is taking every possible step to ensure that people at the camps are being served proper food," Agarwal said.

Altogether 1,507 boats were being plied by the government to evacuate the affected people to safer places. The National and State Disaster Response Forces have been deployed in various parts of the flood affected districts, the statement said.

Arrangements have been made for food and other items with 1,315 quintal of flattened rice, 298 quintal jaggery, polythene sheets and dry food packets among others, the release said.

Meanwhile, one person died while nine others were missing in a boat capsize incident in Bihar's Aurangabad district.

The incident occurred near Klen village within the limits of Khudwa police station of the district when a boat carrying 20 persons was crossing River Punpun, but capsized due to heavy current, Daudnagar Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar said.

Out of 20, ten persons swam to safety while one person was killed in the incident and nine others were missing, he said, adding local divers have been pressed into service for the rescue operation and NDRF teams were on its way.
A three-and-a-half-year old boy was killed today when he was crushed by his school van while the driver was allegedly reversing the vehicle without realising that the boy was standing behind it in Civil Lines area of north Delhi.

The victim, identified as Aviral was a student of John Wesley School and he was dropped off by his school van around 2 pm outside his house in Shri Ram Railway Colony today.

"The driver didn't check whether the boy was standing behind and reversed the vehicle. The boy was crushed under the wheels and was rushed to Parmanand Hospital where he was declared brought dead," deputy commissioner of police (North) Madhur Verma, said.

There were other children in the van when the incident happened.

The accused driver, Rahul, 28, ran away leaving the van but was caught later by the police.

A case under sections 279 and 304(A) IPC has been registered at the Civil Lines police station and the accused has been arrested, added the officer.

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Four pilgrims were killed and 20 others injured, some of the seriously, when a tree fell on a vehicle carrying them near village Kohli on the Agroha-Adampur road, the police said here today.

Police said a canter carrying 50 pilgrims was on its way from Sangrur in Punjab to Gogameri, a place of religious importance, in Rajasthan. When it reached near Kohli village, a tree fell on the vehicle, killing four pilgrims on the spot yesterday.

Out of the four deceased, three were identified as Naresh (28) of village Israna (Panipat), Sheela (15) and Ankit (16) of Faral village in Jind district.

All the injured were admitted to Adampur Civil Hospital and Agroha Medical College. The condition of some of them was stated to be critical.

A case has been registered by the police in connection with the mishap.

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Commerce and Industry Ministry's green manufacturing advisory committee (GMAC) has cleared seven proposals for acquisition of clean technology and solid waste management.

These proposals were considered under the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) Scheme.

"A total of seven proposals, under the categories of acquisition technology, clean technology in manufacturing and solid waste management, were considered and approved by the GMAC under the scheme. These efforts will foster innovation in green technology," the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said.

TADF was set up for acquisition of appropriate technologies including environment friendly technologies; creation of a patent pool and development of domestic manufacturing of equipment used for controlling pollution and reducing energy consumption.

Listing out its major achievements during April-July 2016, it also said said ICT consultants for Dholera Special Investment region have been appointed in May, who will design the systems and define service level agreements.

This region is being developed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.

"Mass Rapid Transit System project between Ahmedabad to Dholera is being implemented so as to provide last mile connectivity to the region. The Detailed Project Report has been finalised and approved by Gujarat," it said.

Further, a Logistics Data Services Project is implemented by DMIC Development Corporation that will integrate information with various agencies across supply chain to provide detailed real time information in a single window.

It said during this period, the ministry has given approval to establishment of Mega Leather Cluster in Andhra Pradesh with a central government assistance of Rs 125 crore.

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Actress-turned-politician Ramya is facing a sedition charge filed against her by a lawyer in Karnataka for praising people in Pakistan, kicking up a controversy today with questions being raised over invoking a colonial-era law to curb free speech.

As 33-year-old Ramya's remarks triggered a bitter backlash on social media and BJP and ABVP workers staged protests terming her remarks "anti-national", the actress stood her ground and ruled out tendering any apology, saying she has not said anything wrong.

The private complaint in a court in Somwarpet in Kodagu district sought action on sedition and other charges against her for "insulting" Indian patriots by her remark that "Pakistan is not hell".

The complaint has sought a direction to police to book Ramya, an ex-Congress MP, under IPC sections 124(a) (sedition), 344 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).

Advocate K Vittala Gowda filed the complaint before Somwarpet Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, which yesterday admitted it and posted it for hearing on August 27.

In the complaint, Gowda accused the multi-lingual actress of "insulting" India and "provoking" people by appreciating Pakistan which is a "traditional enemy of India."



After a recent visit to Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers, Ramya had reportedly said at a meeting in Mandya, which she represented from 2013 to 2014 in Lok Sabha, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."



Her remarks came as a veiled counter to comments of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, "going to Pakistan is same as going to hell."



Ramya replied in the negative when asked whether she would apologise.

"I don't think I am wrong. It's freedom of speech, also our duty to speak on inclusiveness and peace. Curbing freedoms is wrong in democracy.

"This is the state of affairs in this country today. Sedition is being slapped against anyone and anybody who is entitled to an opinion which should not be the case," she said.

She accused BJP of trying to curb freedom of expression. "I think that as an individual I should be allowed to air or express my thoughts, views and opinions. I think BJP government is trying to curb that."



She said other parties could also misuse sedition law and file cases against BJP leaders because of the "bizarre" statements some of them were making which were "seditious" but they do not do it and instead engage them in discussions.

Ramya also said the BJP "right now" would not do anything to repeal the sedition law as it using it to its advantage.

The sedition issue has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India by police, after anti-national and anti-Army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by it in Bangalore recently.

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Billionaire Anil Ambani's elder son Jai Anmol today joined the board of Reliance Capital as an additional director after two years of training.

Anmol, 24, has been working in various financial services businesses within Reliance Capital since 2014.

Besides, chairman Anil Ambani, Anmol is the only other family member to have joined the board of the financial services arm of Reliance Group. He will become the full-time executive director at the forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM) next month.

He has been actively involved in internal business reviews across companies and has also been part of interactions with Nippon Life for increasing stake in Reliance Life Insurance and Reliance Capital Asset Management in the last two years.

Anmol's cousin Akash is employed with father Mukesh Ambani's company, Reliance Industries.

The board of directors of Reliance Capital today approved the induction of Anmol on its board as an Additional Director, the company said in a statement.

The induction follows the recommendation by the nomination and compensation committee of the Board of Reliance Capital, comprising largely of Independent Directors.

"We would like to welcome Anmol on the board of Reliance Capital. Anmol has been a fast learner, active participant in all reviews and displayed sharp business acumen in various decision making processes," Reliance Capital Group CEO and ED Sam Ghosh said.

Anmol, who has a degree from Warwick Business School in the UK, has also been visiting branches and meeting employees across businesses in different regions to get exposure and detailed understanding of businesses at grass-root level in last two years.

"The last two years have given me great learnings about the financial services business. I look forward to using this experience for scaling up our businesses and contributing towards their growth and progress," Anmol said.

With a revenue of over Rs 4,000 crore, Reliance Capital has various verticals dealing with life insurance, commercial finance, securities, general finance and mutual funds.

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Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad has successfully performed spine surgeries on eight patients using the 'Mazor Robotics' technology, which enables precise placement of instrumentation in spine.

In conventional spine surgery, the key challenge has always been placement of instrumentation in spine. Especially placing of screws more so in a deformed spine without damaging the nerves and getting the utmost stability has been a huge task for spine surgeons, senior consultant neurosurgeon Dr Alok Ranjan said.

Currently there are navigation systems which can guide to some extent, but 'Mazor Robotics' is generation ahead in precision as well as dynamic planning which cannot be matched by the existing ones, he said.

"Mazor Robotics is highly beneficial to patients, as it tremendously reduces surgery related complications, expedite surgery and enables early discharge. It is a highly safe procedure, the complications are almost nil and the success rate is as high as 99 per cent. Patients can go home the same evening or the next day morning," Ranjan said.

Apart from precision, 'Mazor Robotics' helps in faster surgery, quicker recovery and is a great boon in minimally invasive spine surgery, Apollo Hospitals Group president Dr Hari Prasad said.

Dr Ranjan said Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad has successfully performed spine surgeries on eight patients, including the wife of a former foreign minister of Mozambique using 'Mazor Robotics' technology, and added that "given a choice, all spine surgeries requiring instrumentation should be done with 'Mazor Robotics' technology".

This technology will be adopted for brain also once necessary licensing is done, Dr Ranjan added.

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ArcelorMittal's South African unit today agreed to pay a USD 110 million fine for illegal price fixing, the "largest single" penalty imposed against an individual firm for anti-competitive behaviour in the country.

ArcelorMittal SA (AMSA), the South African subsidiary of Lakshmi Mittal's steel empire, will pay 1.5 billion rand (USD 110-million) fine for colluding to fix steel prices, the country's Competition Commission (CC) said as it sent out a firm message about its opposition to cartels.

In terms of an agreement reached with the Commission, AMSA admitted having been involved in the long steel and scrap metal cartels, agreeing to pay the administrative penalty in instalments over the next five years.

AMSA also agreed to remedies relating to complaints against its pricing conduct without admitting that its pricing conduct constituted a contravention of the Competition Act.

"In this regard, AMSA has undertaken that for a period of five years it will limit its EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin to a cap of 10 per cent for flat steel products sold in South Africa," the Commission said in a statement after the agreement was finalised.

AMSA has also committed to a R 4.6 billion capital expenditure over the next five years.

"In turn, the Commission agreed that the settlement will cover all pending cases against AMSA, including those that are still under investigation," the statement added.

The agreement ended a six-year investigation, during which AMSA underwent several threats of closure amidst declining global steel demand as well as opposition from the South African government about its pricing parity policies.

The Commission's investigation found that AMSA, CISCO, Scaw and Cape Gate (Pty) Ltd, being competitors in the manufacturing of long steel products, engaged in collusion by fixing prices and discounts, allocating customers and sharing commercially sensitive information through the South African Iron and Steel Institute and the South African Reinforced Concrete Engineers' Association.

Mittal was reported to have intervened directly earlier this year to get the South African government to come to its rescue by imposing higher tariffs on cheap Chinese steel imports, leading to a turnaround at its Vanderbijlpark operations, which was last year facing the prospect of turning an entire town's population into unemployed workers.

AMSA was born out of the state steel manufacturer Iscor after Mittal first successfully turned around its ailing operations and then bought it out as he expanded his global steel empire over a decade ago.

The South African government said it welcomed the punishment of the country's largest steel maker in what it ranked the "largest single" fine imposed so far against an individual firm by the competition authorities.

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Armenia today jailed a Russian soldier for life for killing a family of seven near his base in Armenia in a case that sparked outrage in the ex-Soviet republic.

Conscript soldier Valery Permyakov was convicted of murdering a couple and their adult son and daughter, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in their home in Gyumri, some 90 kilometres from the capital Yerevan in January 2015.

Locals took to the streets to demand justice after the soldier went on a rampage, shooting six people including the couple's two-year-old granddaughter and stabbing their six-month-old grandson.

Permyakov, who has undergone several psychiatric tests and has been ruled sane, has pleaded guilty but the reasons behind the murders remain unclear.

It remains unclear whether he will serve his sentence in Russia or Armenia.

The soldier, who was 18 at the time of the murders according to local media reports, was arrested after trying to flee to Turkey. His boots and Kalashnikov rifle were found at the murder scene.

Since then, he has been held at Russia's military base at Gyumri.

Armenia's general prosecutor last year ruled he could not be handed over to the Armenian authorities because he is a Russian citizen being held in Russian jurisdiction.

That decision sparked outrage and a wave of rare anti-Moscow protests in the tiny Caucasus country of 2.9 million with thousands rallying to demand he be put on trial over the killings.

In a bid to calm the situation, Russia agreed to try Permyakov on desertion charges while allowing him to be tried for murder by an Armenian judge -- but with the trial held at the base.

A Russian military court last year sentenced Permyakov to 10 years in a high-security prison for deserting his base.

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In its fight against flood and erosion, the Assam Government today said it will start dredging of river Brahmaputra to give people relief from the perennial problem.

According to an official release, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal held a meeting with officials of the Dredging Corporation of India Limited.

"In order to give succour to the people ravaged by perennial floods and erosion, state government with the help of Dredging Corporation of India, will start dredging of river Brahmaputra," Sonowal said.

A survey team was likely to visit Assam in 8-10 days to carry out survey work and based on the findings, an action plan would be prepared for dredging on an annual basis, he said.

Dredging would primarily emphasise on erosion control, sediment management and flood control and the whole process would be carried out in line with the hydrological character of the Brahmaputra, the statement said.

Considering the annual silt load of Brahmaputra, water carrying capacity of the river has been reduced to an extent causing floods in the state when there was incessant rains.

"Since the Brahmaputra serves as the life line of the people of Assam, the river has to be harnessed to serve our people," Sonowal said.

The area of dredging would be from Sadiya to Dhubri and a broad road map would be put in place for dredging, he added.

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US Vice President Joe Biden promised unwavering commitment to NATO's collective defence today as he sought to reassure Baltic allies spooked by a resurgent Russia and White House hopeful Donald Trump.

"Let there be no doubt  America's Article 5 commitment is rock solid and unwavering," Biden said, referring to a cornerstone of NATO that an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all.

Trump, a real estate mogul now the Republican presidential nominee, sparked ire last month among Baltic and eastern NATO members ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era when he questioned the alliance's key Article 5 collective security guarantee.

"Don't listen to that other fellow  he knows not of what he speaks. America will never fail to defend our allies. We will respond," Biden said, after talks with the presidents of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

"And we want you to know, we want Moscow to know, that we mean what we say."

Tensions between the 28-member NATO and Russia have reached their worst level since the Cold War following Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

Asked in July by the New York Times about the Russian activities that have alarmed Baltic NATO members, Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations "have fulfilled their obligations to us."

"If they fulfil their obligations to us, the answer is yes," he said.

Biden said today he doubted whether Trump "even understands" what NATO's Article 5 commitment to collective defence means, while insisting it was America's "sacred honour" to fulfil it.

A majority of NATO's eastern European leaders have fired back at Trump, with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka going so far as to say that Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is better than Trump on security for NATO allies.

"Considering the pre-election statements made by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, from the point of view of guarantees for the allies, I see more security if Clinton is elected," Sobotka told the today edition of Czech financial daily Hospodarskie Noviny (HN).
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today recalled its earlier order of issuing bailable warrants against the resident commissioners of five states and one UT for not appearing before it during proceedings on protection of biodiversity.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson granted the relief to the officials after their counsel assured that in future, there will be no absence and they will carry out the directions of the tribunal without default.

The bench said bailable warrants issued against the Resident Commissioners of Karnataka, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab and Andaman & Nicobar would not be executed.

The tribunal had earlier issued bailable warrant against the Resident Commissioners of Gujarat, Karnataka, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab and Tripura for not appearing before it despite issuance of notice.

It had also issued warrants against the officers of Chandigarh, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

When the matter was taken up during the day, the bench said "let all of them come here and go to Tihar jail and be guests of the state".

The green panel was hearing a plea filed by Pune resident Chandra Bhal Singh alleging that various states and union territories have "failed" to pay attention to the unique biodiversity of the country and sought implementation of provisions of Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and Biological Diversity Rules, 2004.

It had earlier issued notices to Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), National Biodiversity Authority and State Biodiversity Boards in the matter.

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, aims at preserving biological diversity in India and provides mechanism for equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge.

Singh had alleged that various states have not only "failed" to pay proper attention to the unique biodiversity prevalent in India, but also not undertaken their statutory obligations with "seriousness and have remained oblivious in discharging the statutory provision in last couple of years."



Seeking setting up of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the local level in every state under Section 41 of Biological Biodiversity Act 2002, the plea claimed that several State Biodiversity Boards have not constituted the BMCs for "promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity".

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BJP appealed to the youths of to come under the tricolour and hold it aloft to defeat the designs of separatist forces who are "disturbing peace" in Jammu and .

"The youth should not fall prey into the trap of these separatist leaders and rather come under the tricolour and hold it aloft to make it clear that Kashmiri youths are as nationalists as those from Jammu, Ladakh or any other state of the country," BJP state Vice President Yudhvir Sethi told reporters.

"BJP will not allow disturbing of the social fabric and give a befitting replay to all such forces which are posing threat to the unity and integrity of the country," he said.

Sethi said that the recent 'Tiranga Yatra', initiated on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, has not only received overwhelming response but also succeeded in bringing enthusiasm and inducing the feelings of patriotism among the people.

Sethi said peace and development of Jammu and was not possible without the participation of Kashmiri youths.
A three-and-a-half-year old boy was crushed under the wheels of his school van in front of his parents as he was dropped outside his house in Civil Lines area of north Delhi today.

The victim, identified as Aviral, was a student of John Wesley School and he was dropped off by his school van around 2 PM outside his house in Shri Ram Railway Colony when the tragic incident took place.

"The driver in a hurry could not see the kid standing in front of the van and mowed him down. He was rushed to Parmanand Hospital where he was declared brought dead," said Madhur Verma, DCP (north).

Parents of the boy were waiting to pick him up when the incident took place. The boy was dragged for several metres as the van driver failed to realise that Aviral had come under the wheels, police said.

As his parents raised an alarms along with the neighbours, the van stopped and the boy was taken from under the vehicle and rushed to the hospital in the same vehicle.

There were other children in the van when the incident happened.

The accused driver, Rahul, 28, was later arrested by the police.

A case under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304(A) (causing death by negligence) of IPC has been registered at the Civil Lines police station, said the officer.

The parents of the child were in utter pain and shock over the tragedy, he said.

Aviral had recently started going to school. His father Hitendra, a railway employee, used to drop and pick him up from the school, but had hired the van a month back.

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Accusing the central government of trying to disrupt smooth functioning of the state government, the TMC today alleged that the BSF was providing "training" to 'Narayani Sena', a private army of the erstwhile Maharaja of Coochbehar.

The BSF, however, denied the allegation and termed it as "baseless".

"It is a deep-rooted conspiracy against the state government. How come BSF is giving training to Narayani Sena and other elements who are involved in smuggling?" senior TMC leader and state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters.

He said, "We have officially expressed our grievances and lodged a complaint with the highest quarters of the central government."



Chatterjee said this was being done by keeping the state government in the "dark".

His remark followed a recent probe report submitted by the DIG, Jalpaiguri Range at the state secretariat which said BSF officials in Mathabhanga area of Cooch Behar in north Bengal "imparted training to volunteers of the Narayani Sena".

Narayani Sena is an alleged militia which is being raised by the Greater Cooch Behar People's Association or GCPA in support of their demand for a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar on "ethnic grounds".

A senior BSF official on condition of anonymity denied the allegation, saying, "We have not imparted any such training as is being projected. It is a baseless allegation. A few days ago during an Independence day function we had taught youths living on the border on the art of attention, to stand at ease as is done in the Army."



"It is not a new thing. We always encourage youths to join armed forces, BSF or the police and serve the nation. We don't know who is Narayani sena. If the police had reports of their anti-national activity, why didn't they take action?" he said.

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State-run BSNL is gearing up to offer 4G services in Kerala by March next, a company official said today.

The 4G plan would be introduced as part of the company's expansion at the Phase-8 pan-India level and a tender for it has already been called for, the official said.

A set of 190 new Wi-fi access points would also be implemented in the state circle during the current financial year, he said.

"4G will be introduced in select cities in Kerala circle by next March. As part of this, 663 4G towers will be installed," BSNL Chief General Manager, Kerala Circle, R Mani told reporters here today.

Besides introduction of 4G, initiatives to expand the existing 2G and 3G services are also in the offing, he said.

Detailing the Phase-8 expansion plans in the circle, he said, "Another 1,083 new 3G sites will be launched in the state. All old technology 2G sites will be replaced with new technology 2G sites."



The official claimed that BSNL's 3G speed is much faster than the 4G services offered by many private players.

On Wi-fi service expansion, Mani said that BSNL's Kerala circle has implemented 160 Wi-fi Access Points at 93 locations and another 190 points will be implemented during the current financial year. All these sites are MDO (mobile date offloading) enabled which gives Wi-fi access to mobile customers.

He said that for BSNL, Kerala is the highest profit making circle in the country with a profit of Rs 658 crore in 2015-16, against Rs 486 crore during 2014-15, a growth of over 35 per cent.

To stimulate growth in landlines, BSNL announced new plans and offers like unlimited Night Free calls and unlimited calls on Sundays.

"In order to encourage new subscribers and bring back our old customers who switched to other players, we have introduced the LL49 Experience plan with a fixed monthly charge of just Rs 49 for the first six months," he said adding BSNL SIM card is also offered free to customers subscribing to this plan.

BSNL Kerala circle has a mobile customer base of 80.5 lakh including 78.2 lakh pre-paid and 2.3 lakh post-paid ones. Its landline customer base is 20.72 lakh and total broadband connection is 6.60 lakh.

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Union Minister P P Chaudhary today urged people to follow the path of martyrs and help in building a nation of their dreams.

Chaudhary was here to pay floral tributes to freedom fighters Kartar Singh Sarabha and Sukhdev at their native places here as part of the '70 Saal Azadi-Zara Yaad Karo Kurbani' programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Interacting with residents of Sarabha village, the native place of Kartar, he said people should always remember the sacrifices made by martyrs of freedom struggle against the British.

Chaudhary said Kartar, a member of the Gadar Party, was one of the first to sacrifice his life for India's freedom and was just 19 years old when he attained martyrdom.

Later, Chaudhary visited the ancestral house of Sukhdev in Mohalla Naughara here.

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The Cabinet is likely to approve tomorrow the revised India Cyprus Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) which provide for source based taxation of capital gains on transfer of shares.

Sources said the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take up the agreement between the two countries regarding avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

The Cabinet meeting is scheduled tomorrow morning, a government spokesperson said in a Tweet.

An official level meeting between India and Cyprus was held here in June to finalise the new India Cyprus DTAA, wherein all pending issues, including taxation of capital gains, were discussed, and in-principle agreement was reached on all pending issues.

"It was agreed to provide for source based taxation of capital gains on transfer of shares. However, a grandfathering clause would be provided for investments made prior to April 1, 2017, in respect of which capital gains would be taxed in the country of which taxpayer is a resident," the Finance Ministry had said in a statement.

India and Cyprus have a DTAA since 1994.

Cyprus is a major source of foreign fund flows into the country. From April 2000 till March 2016, India received Foreign Direct Investment worth Rs 42,680.76 crore from Cyprus.

The completion of the negotiation on avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion has also paved the way for the removal of Cyprus from the list of 'Notified Jurisdictional Areas' retrospectively from November 2013.

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A rash of gun-toting Americans visiting prompted its border agency to launch a public awareness campaign, reminding Americans about their northern neighbours' relatively strict firearms laws.

"Canadian laws are different than US ones," the Border Services Agency said in a statement yesterday.

"Non-restricted firearms can be used for hunting purposes and protection against wildlife in remote areas."

But, it added, the "use of firearms for personal protection, or protection of property is not deemed a valid purpose to import firearms into ."

Switchblades, nunchucks, crossbows, blowguns and brass knuckles are also banned in Canada, it noted.

The announcement comes on the heels of two separate incidents in which Texas retirees denied carrying weapons at a border checkpoint in Saint Stephen, New Brunswick.

A search of their vehicles uncovered several handguns, a shotgun and loose ammunition, which were seized.

The two tourists were also fined more than 1,000 Canadian dollar ($775) and kicked out of Canada, along with their wives.

In the first six months of this year, 413 guns were seized at the border - both from smugglers and gun lovers. The figure is up from 386 guns seized during the same period in 2015, according to government figures.

Authorities have linked recent spikes in violent crimes to the smuggling of handguns and other prohibited weapons from the United States.

US gun culture is also a source of derision in Canada.

Canada only began arming its border guards in 2006.

South of the border, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump provoked fresh debate this month over gun rights when he appeared to suggest that "Second Amendment people," who view gun ownership as a constitutional right, could take dislike for his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton into their own hands.
The Centre is keen to implement direct benefit transfer of fertiliser subsidy to farmers and today asked the states to extend cooperation in rolling out the new initiative.

The states were also told to complete necessary paperwork to enable the Centre to clear pending subsidy to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore to fertiliser manufacturers.

Addressing a conference of state agriculture secretaries and commissioners, Union Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar said the state governments should take steps against hoarding and black-marketing for ensuring adequate supply of fertilisers.

The minister said the states are equally responsible for ensuring adequate supply of quality fertiliser at affordable rates to farmers till last mile.

"If anybody is hoarding or black-marketing, who is responsible? The government of India is responsible to some extent, but you (states) have powers under the Essential Commodities Act to act against them. Do something," he said.

Speaking at the event, Fertiliser Secretary Vijay Shankar Pandey said, "The government of India is very keen to implement DBT in fertiliser. We need your inputs and co-operation for implementing DBT."



The Centre has identified 16 districts for implementation of DBT on a pilot basis, he added.

The government has budgeted about Rs 70,000 crore for fertiliser subsidy for this fiscal. The subsidy arrears are likely to be around Rs 30,000 crore at the end of this fiscal.

Earlier, the fertiliser minister announced plans to set up an Indian Council of Fertiliser Research (ICFR).

He asked the states to take action against dealers for forcing farmers to buy fertilisers which are not required. "Tag-along of fertilisers is criminal. Farmers have liberty to buy their own choice of fertilisers, but dealers are forcing...," he added.

Besides, the minister asked the states to set up godown facilities for prepositioning fertilisers for ensuring timely supply of soil nutrients to farmers.

Minister of State for Fertilisers Mansukh Lal Mandaviya stressed on the need to reduce cost of agri-inputs, including fertilisers, for doubling the income of farmers in the next five years and bringing down farmers' suicides.

He also noted that new rates of non-urea fertilisers have not been implemented in many states.

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CBI today sought the Delhi High Court's permission to submit a charge sheet in a disproportionate assets case against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and others, saying it was ready to do so.

However, Justice A K Pathak said he will not hear the matter and transferred it to another bench. He did not give any reason for doing so.

The court said the matter would be listed before the other bench on August 30.

The lawyer for Singh sought two weeks time before the matter was heard, but CBI lawyer Sanjeev Bhandari wanted an earlier date as the agency was ready with its charge sheet.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court in an interim order of October 1, 2015, had restrained the agency from arresting, interrogating or filing a charge sheet against Singh in the case without the court's permission.

The matter was later transferred by Supreme Court to the Delhi High Court, but the interim order has not yet been vacated or stayed.

The Delhi High Court on April 6 this year had directed CBI not to arrest Singh while asking him to join the probe.

The direction had come when the court was disposing of CBI's application seeking vacation of the Himachal Pradesh High Court's order which, the agency claimed, had "seriously held up" its investigation in the case.

On November 5 last year, the apex court had transferred Singh's plea from Himachal Pradesh HC to Delhi HC, saying it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case but "simply" transferring the petition "in interest of justice and to save the institution(judiciary) from any embarrassment".

CBI had moved the apex court seeking transfer of the case from the Himachal Pradesh HC to Delhi High Court and setting aside of the interim order granting protection from arrest and other relief to Singh.

Singh had filed a petition in Himachal Pradesh HC pleading that searches on his private residence and other premises were conducted with "malafide intentions and political vendetta" by the central investigating agency.

Singh had sought directions from the high court to quash CBI's FIR registered in Delhi against him and others under Sections 13 (2) and 13(1)(e) of Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 109 (punishment for abetment)of IPC and court had dismissed their plea.

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Chimpanzees prefer cooperation over competition when given a choice between the two, proving that the trait is not exclusive to humans, a new study has found.

The finding challenges the perceptions humans are unique in our ability to cooperate and chimpanzees are overly competitive and suggests the roots of human cooperation are shared with other primates, the researchers said.

To determine if chimpanzees possess the same ability humans have to overcome competition researchers, including those from Emory University in the US, set up a cooperative task that closely mimicked chimpanzee natural conditions.

They provided 11 great apes that participated in the study with an open choice to select cooperation partners, giving them plenty of ways to compete.

Working beside the chimpanzees' grassy outdoor enclosure, the researchers gave the great apes thousands of opportunities to pull cooperatively at an apparatus filled with rewards.

In half of the test sessions, two chimpanzees needed to participate to succeed, and in the other half, three chimpanzees were needed.

While the set up provided ample opportunities for competition, aggression and freeloading, the chimpanzees overwhelmingly performed cooperative acts - 3,565 times across 94 hour-long test sessions.

The chimpanzees used a variety of enforcement strategies to overcome competition, displacement and freeloading, which the researchers measured by attempted thefts of rewards.

These strategies included the chimpanzees directly protesting against others, refusing to work in the presence of a freeloader, which supports avoidance as an important component in managing competitive tendencies, and more dominant chimpanzees intervening to help others against freeloaders.

Such third-party punishment occurred 14 times, primarily in response to aggression between the freeloader and the chimpanzee that was cooperatively working with others for the rewards.

"When we considered chimpanzees' natural behaviours, we thought surely they must be able to manage competition on their own, so we gave them the freedom to employ their own enforcement strategies," said lead author of the study Malini Suchak, graduate student at the Yerkes Research Centre at the time of the study.

"It turns out, they are really quite good at preventing competition and favouring cooperation. In fact, given the ratio of conflict to cooperation is quite similar in humans and chimpanzees, our study shows striking similarities across species and gives another insight into human evolution," said Suchak, now an Assistant Professor at Canisius College in New York.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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China will set up several national ecological experimental zones to carry out reforms in the "ecological civilisation" in a bid to improve the environment damaged by fast-paced development in the past three decades.

The guideline, issued by ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Cabinet aimed at carrying out reforms on "ecological civilisation system," state-run Xinhua agency reported today.

According to targets set in the guideline, major progress shall be achieved by 2017 and fully-fledged ecological civilisation systems shall be established by 2020, with best practices replicable across the country.

Main experiments will include establishing a natural resource property right system, compiling natural resource balance sheet, optimising land and space planning, and incorporating ecological performance into officials' evaluation.

Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces, which have "relatively optimal ecological foundation, and relatively strong environmental and resource capacity," were selected as the first batch of experimental zones, it said.

An implementation plan for Fujian province was released together with the guidelines yesterday.

According to the implementation plan, Fujian will strive to become a leader in national land and space planning by explicitly reserving land and space for ecological protection, and never overstepping the "red line."



Fujian will also strive to establish a property rights system of natural resource assets as well as systems that reflect market values of ecological products, thereby introducing economic incentives into ecological protection.

The province will also try to improve officials' performance evaluation to reflect their "ecological performance" such as resource depletion or environmental degradation on their watch.

Specific measures will include compiling natural resource balance sheets, and natural resource asset auditing at times when the official-in-charge concludes his or her term.

Targets were set in the plan, including the water quality of over 90 per cent of water systems in the province will reach optimal level, 23 cities will enjoy good air quality on over 90 per cent of days, and forest coverage will pass 66 per cent by 2020.

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China has stepped up preparations for the deployment of its first aircraft carrier forceafter the country's new batch of carrier-based fighter pilots graduated this month.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has built up its largest carrier-based pilot team after more than three years of intensive training.

After an effective ground-based training, a new batch of pilots has just received aircraft carrier flight certification, state-run People's Daily Online reported.

In order to earn the certification, these pilots successfully handled the carrier based J-15 se fighter planes to carry out interrupted carrier landings, and also managed ski-jump take-offs using the Liaoning aircraft carrier.

The updated training system has shifted away from army-civilian cooperation toward autonomous training conducted by the navy.

One of the pilots, Zhang Chao, was killed while practicing the carrier landing during training this April.

The comes on the back of a report in Jane's Defence Weekly last week that China's first home-built Type 001A aircraft carrier was now largely complete, Hong-Kong based 'South China Morning Post' reported.

Only the aircraft elevator, superstructure and some deck sections left to be finished, the report had said.

Speculation is rife that it may be deployed in the disputed South China Sea.

Liaoning was former Soviet ship brought from Ukraine and later refurbished locally and mainly used for training.

China is reportedly building two more carriers.

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The claims that rehabilitated LTTE cadres in Sri Lanka had been made to receive poisonous injections under government care are yet to be verified, Northern chief minister CV Wigneswaran has said.

"We have only received complaints and nothing has been verified. We will subject them for examination to verify the claims," Wigneswaran told reporters yesterday.

"We have asked for a report to be sent to us then we will decide on the next course of action," he added.

Wigneswaran's northern provincial council had resolved to ask for an investigation into the claims that over 40 former LTTE cadres had been injected poison during the process of rehabilitation.

The government had dismissed claims as rubbish.

The Tamil groups claimed that the LTTE cadres had suffered physical disabilities while at least six of them had died of cancer due to poisonous injections given while under rehabilitation.

Those rehabilitated had surrendered to the military at end of the LTTEs defeat in 2009.

The government said over 8,000 of them had been rehabilitated and re-integrated in to the society. They underwent livelihood skills and language training under rehabilitation.

Earlier, Sri Lanka's Tamil politicians have alleged that over 100 LTTE cadres at rehabilitation centres were injected with poison leading to their deaths.

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As Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley tomorrow, Congress today made a strong pitch for initiating talks to calm down the situation in the state which is on the boil for the past 45 days.

"PM should initiate talks. Unless they take a step forward, situation in J&K won't improve," the party tweeted quoting Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, today.

The remarks came close on the heels of former Union minister P Chidambaram batting for sending an all-party delegation to the Valley.

Chidambaram said earlier today the meeting between a delegation of J-K opposition parties and Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday must be welcomed if it is the first sign of "fresh thinking".

"Yesterday's meeting between PM & J&K opposition parties: if it is the first sign of fresh thinking, we must welcome it.

"Next step should be sending All Parties Delegation to J&K," the senior Congress leader said on the micro-blogging site.

Only yesterday, Congress had dismissed as "shooting from the hip" the Prime Minister's call for a dialogue to find a lasting solution to the unrest in Kashmir Valley.

"It looks that the Prime Minister's words keep changing. What he said at the all-party meeting, his remarks in the Independence Day address and today he is talking of dialogue, but dialogue with whom? There is a suspicion that these are mere words, mere empty rhetoric for the Prime Minister. He is unfortunately shooting from his hip and merely shooting the breeze," party spokesman Manish Tewari had said.

Modi had a 75-minute-long meeting with a joint opposition delegation led by former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday.

The Prime Minister emphasised on the need for dialogue to find a "permanent and lasting solution" within the framework of the Constitution and also asked all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rajnath Singh today said he will review the situation in Jammu and Kashmir during his two-day visit there beginning tomorrow, and may hold talks with cross sections of people.

This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the Valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.

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Congress on Tuesday attacked over his visits to the poll-bound Goa, saying the Delhi Chief Minister is professing "an artificial love" for the coastal state for making "political gains" at the cost of "Goan identity."



"All his artificial love which he (Kejriwal) is professing for Goans, is buried in his ambitious plan of looting and eradicating the identity of Goans," said Congress unit spokesman Trojano D'Mello.

He also alleged the AAP leader was eying the land resources of Goa as an "agent of the Delhiites."



Notably, Kejriwal during his Goa visit on Sunday had predicted that Congress would not be able to win even a single seat in the 40-member House in the elections next year.
Police have circulated sketches of two suspects in the case of killing of constable Anand Singh by three unidentified snatchers in Shahabad area of outer Delhi last week.

"Copies of the suspects' sketches have been circulated among a sizable number of policemen who are working overtime to catch the perpetrators. We have also been working on fresh leads and there are certain developments which could lead to arrest of the trio," said a senior police officer.

Forty-nine-year-old Singh was shot dead by the snatchers while he was chasing them after they had robbed money from a woman vendor in Bawana Industrial Area on August 19. He was posted at Sector V police chowki under Shahabad police station.

A number of teams of Delhi Police's specialised units, including Special Cell and Crime Branch, have been formed to arrest the trio.

Singh had sustained bullet injury in the chest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, they said.

The woman vendor who was robbed by the three snatchers and another shopkeeper helped in sketching the details of the culprits.

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The suspension of government employees accused of corruption cannot continue beyond 90 days, the Centre said today.

It has asked secretaries of all departments to ensure that chargesheets against such employees are issued within three months time.

It should also be ensured that disciplinary proceedings are initiated as far as practicable in cases where an investigating agency is seized of the matter or criminal proceedings have been launched against such employees, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an order.

Citing a Supreme Court verdict, the DoPT said it has been decided that where a government servant is placed under suspension, "the order of suspension should not extend beyond three months, if within this period the chargesheet is not served to the charged officer".

As such, it should be ensured that the charge sheet is issued before expiry of 90 days from the date of suspension, it said.

"As the suspension will lapse in case this time line is not adhered to, a close watch needs to be kept at all levels to ensure that charge sheets are issued in time," the DoPT said in the order to all the secretaries.

The apex court while hearing a case has held that the currency of a suspension order should not extend beyond three months if within this period the Memorandum of Charges or chargesheet is not served on the delinquent officer or employee.

If the Memorandum of Charges or chargesheet is served a reasoned order must be passed for the extension of the suspension, it has said.

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Three south Delhi residents have been sentenced to imprisonment ranging between three and six months and asked to pay a heavy fine for stealing electricity by a special court here.

In a separate case, two persons were convicted and sent to a two-month judicial custody by another special court in Karkardooma for stealing a BSES transformer in the Mandoli industrial area. A fine of Rs 2,000 each were also imposed on them.

The south Delhi cases were handled by a special court in Saket, BSES said.

"In the first case, a resident of Sangam Vihar in South Delhi has been awarded rigorous imprisonement (RI) of six months and a penalty of Rs 2.54 lakh. The accused was also illegally selling the stolen electricity to other residents.

"In the second case, a resident of Madanpur Khadar has also been awarded a RI of six months and a penalty of Rs 2.65 lakh. The accused was using the electricity for running a junkyard.

"A resident of Dakshinpuri Extension, who owns a meat shop, has been awarded a RI of 3 months and a penalty of Rs 2.2 lakh," an official statement said.

Welcoming the decision of the courts, power discom BSES observed that electricity theft has taken the shape of an "organised crime". This sentiment is reflected in the recent judgments, it said.

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BJP MLA O P Sharma, who has been suspended from Delhi assembly for two sessions for allegedly making derogatory remarks against AAP legislator Alka Lamba, today claimed in Delhi High Court that democratic functioning had been "stonewalled" in the assembly.

Sharma's counsel told Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva that due to the majority enjoyed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), there was "bias and illegality" in the way he was suspended from the assembly and prescribed procedures were not followed.

"The facts smack of clear malafide of the respondent (Legislative Assembly)," his counsel said, adding, "I am showing the manner in which democratic functioning has been stonewalled in the Assembly".

The counsel claimed that pertinent questions asked by the three BJP MLA's were "sidelined" in the assembly.

The court however asked the counsel, "First you have to show what is the extent of judicial intervention in the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly?"



The counsel, who read out part of proceedings of the assembly, said she would refer to the facts of the matter first and then address this issue.

When his lawyer said that all members of Ethics Committee which dealt with this matter were members of AAP, the court asked, "does the rules prescribe that Ethics Committee should have at least a member of the opposition party?"



Responding to the query, the counsel said "No. The rules does not prescribe so, but propriety demands this so that there are no allegations of bias."



During the arguments which would continue tomorrow, Delhi government's counsel told the court that the assembly had instructed the government to defend them in the matter on their behalf.

Earlier, the lawyer representing Sharma, who was



suspended from the assembly on March 31 for two sessions, had said that the assembly cannot be represented by Delhi government. The government has in turn contended that assembly cannot be made a party.

The court is hearing his plea challenging his suspension.

The Delhi government had earlier alleged that the BJP MLA in the past too had engaged in "immoral, violent and appalling behaviour", while opposing the maintainability of Sharma's plea challenging his suspension.

Referring to a report of an Ethics Committee of the Delhi assembly, the government had said that Sharma was given chances to express regret on his remarks but had refused.

The Ethics Committee had earlier "unanimously" recommended stripping Sharma of his assembly membership for his remarks against Lamba and being "unrepentant" about it.

Sharma had earlier said "my intention was not to hurt Lamba as she is like my sister, but if she felt offended I express regret over it".
The Commerce and Industry Ministry will suggest states to formulate their own intellectual property rights (IPR) policy with a view to promoting innovation and giving a boost to the economy, an official said today.

The ministry today convened an interactive session with industry associations on the National IPR Policy.

A Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) official said that a "good suggestion" on state IPR policy was made during the session.

"We will suggest state governments to consider this and prepare their own IPR policy kind of document," the official said. The DIPP, under the commerce and industry ministry, regulates IPR related matters, among others.

Explaining the benefit, the official said a policy documents helps incentivise IPR filing, fund R&D activities, boost state economy and promote creativity and innovation at local level.

The ministry has already sought states' help in enhancing the awareness of the new IPR policy. It has also asked them to translate the policy in regional languages.

While addressing industry associations, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that a nation-wide awareness campaign on IPR will be launched by the DIPP. It will be taken forward by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) in collaboration with Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) and industry associations.

On pilot basis, the department has carried out roadshows in 18 states. The target is to carry out 3,500 roadshows by the end of 2020.

Abhishek said in the recent decades, the pace of innovation in the country was not impressive, and as India is looking to be USD 10-20 trillion economy in the future, it is important to promote innovation and creativity.

"This is really a high time as our country is now



growing. We are a USD 2 trillion economy and we are looking at USD 10 or USD 20 trillion economy in two or three decades. So we have to create an ecosystem where innovation not only becomes a way of life but also nurtured and starts from schools," Abhishek said.

He also asked industry associations to suggest ways for smooth implementation of the IPR policy.

During the meeting, industry associations said they would extend their support to the awareness campaign.

Discussions were held on the mode of dissemination of information and promotional content at various levels - schools, college and industry.

The associations that participated included CII, Ficci, PHDCCI.
Amid reports that China's "logistic facilities centre" in Djibouti includes weapons stores and small contingents of marines, the state-run media here today asserted that Beijing has no intention of following the US pattern of establishing military bases around the world.

China has no intention of following the US pattern of establishing military bases around the world to project its power over other countries, and Chinese facilities in Djibouti are meant to support Chinese peace-keeping and anti-piracy missions near Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, a report in the state-run Global Times said.

"Due for completion next year, the naval outpost is expected to feature weapons stores, ship and helicopter maintenance facilities and possibly a small contingent of Chinese marines or special forces," the Wall Street Journal, (WSJ)on Friday cited experts monitoring the base's development as saying.

TheWSJ report said the outpost is a historic step that marks a bold new phase in China's evolution as a world power.

It went on to say that it is a sign of "China's strategy to extend its military reach across the Indian Ocean and beyond".

"They are misinterpreting China's foreign policy, believing that China intends to follow the US pattern of building military bases globally or to meddle in other countries' domestic affairs," Li Weijian, a professor of West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies said.

China has a very limited overseas military deployment and the country largely lacks the capacity to protect its citizens and interests in Africa, the report aid.

"The facilities in Djibouti serve to protect China's economic interests in Africa and to help safeguard regional peace, as China is only beginning to learn to behave like a responsible global power," Li said.

Djibouti provides a major foothold in the Indian Ocean for China in the Indian Ocean.

The Chinese Ministry of Defence early this year said under a deal reached between China and Djibouti, the facilities will also help Chinese troops carry out international peacekeeping operations and perform humanitarian rescues.

Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier said the centre, which the American defence officials termed as a military base is aimed to provide better facilities to the personnel on Chinese vessels can get better rest and replenishments.

Djibouti is strategically located near the world's busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. It serves as a key refuelling and transshipment centre, and is the principal maritime port for imports to and exports from neighbouring Ethiopia.

China uses Indian Ocean Island nation of Seychelles where Chinese escort ships halt for supply and rest facilities and invested in two major ports, Hambathota and Colombo in Sri Lanka. In the Arabian Sea China has taken over the Pakistan port of Gwadar as part of its development of the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

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Egyptian authorities said today they are asking foreign countries to unfreeze the assets of a close associate of former president Hosni Mubarak after he paid back three quarters of his wealth.

Egypt asked Spain, Switzerland and Hong Kong to unblock tycoon Hussein Salem's foreign-held assets after he handed over 75 percent of his and his family's wealth in exchange for dropping corruption cases against him.

Salem, once a close associate of Mubarak, fled to Spain after the January 2011 uprising that overthrew Mubarak. He has already been sentenced to 15 years in prison in another corruption trial.

The decision by a committee tasked with retrieving illicit funds and assets followed Egypt's retrieval of Salem's assets and funds totalling 5.3 billion pounds (USD 600 million, 530 million euros), the Egyptian prosecutor general said in a statement today.

The decision also called on Interpol to remove Salem's name from its "Red Notice" list and to lift travel bans on him and his family.

Salem is one of the founders of a company that exported Egyptian natural gas to Israel under Mubarak. Corruption charges against Salem alleged that the company sold gas to Israel below market prices.

Spanish authorities arrested Salem in June 2011 after a request from Egypt though he was released on bail a few days later. He has been banned from leaving Spain since then.

Several other Mubarak-era officials have sought to cut a deal with the state in corruption cases including Mubarak's longtime chief-of-staff Zakaria Azmi and former trade minister Rasheed Mohammed Rasheed.

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The final hearing on the Party's plea challenging a Delhi High Court verdict holding it and BJP prima facie guilty of violating the law on foreign funding, would start in the Supreme Court from September 14.

While fixing the date for final hearing, an apex court bench, comprising Justices J S Khehar and Arun Mishra, on Tuesday made it clear that no adjournment would be granted in the case.

The High Court had said that by receiving donations from UK-based Vedanta Resources' subsidiaries, the two mainstream political parties had violated the law concerned.

The had sought an immediate stay on the March 28, 2014 High Court verdict which had directed the Centre and Election Commission (EC) to take appropriate action against them within six months.

Challenging the order, the party had contended that the High Court had erred in interpreting the law and "there is no concealment or suppression of such contribution which were duly reflected in the returns submitted to the Election Commission".

It had contended that Vedanta was owned by an Indian citizen, Anil Aggarwal, and its subsidiaries were incorporated here. Hence, they were not foreign sources.

"The prohibition to make any contribution to a candidate or a political party or office-bearers thereof relates to foreign citizens and Indian entities, if more than one half of the nominal value of share capital of such entities are held either singly or in the aggregate by citizens of a foreign country," the petition had said.

The High Court had held that Vedanta was a foreign company according to the Companies Act and therefore, the Anil Aggarwal-owned firm and its subsidiaries, Sterlite and Sesa, were foreign sources according to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

The verdict was delivered on a PIL by a NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms and E A S Sarma, a former Secretary in the Government, who had alleged that the two parties had violated the Representation of the People Act and FCRA by taking donations from government companies and foreign sources.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said the government is ready to open negotiations with the Gulf nations in general and Dubai in particular to enhance the bilateral air traffic rights between the two markets.

"Since the past two years there has been a tremendous improvement in the utilisation levels of the bilaterals by our airlines with the Gulf nations. While it is around 80 per cent for the region as a whole, with Dubai it is over 90 per cent now.

"And with the limits being reached, we are ready to open negotiations with them again. I think we should begin with Dubai shortly," he told a select group of reporters here.

But Raju was quick to add that the negotiations will not be one-sided, as it has been in the past, but will clearly be mutually beneficial.

"As the aviation minister, my job is to secure our national interests and not someone else's. Though a lot of bad things have happened in the past, I cannot set the clock back. But going forward, I will secure our interests first," he said when asked why not let the market and capacity determine it as the ultimate beneficiaries will be the consumers.

In the previous negotiations, none of the Gulf nations gave India any benefit at the bilateral talks, but that will not happen again, he said when pointed out that higher seats per week will bring down the prices of tickets and benefit the passengers.

However, the minister did not elaborate on what are "our losses".

Between India and the Gulf, around 4.2 lakh seats are available every week with Dubai leading the chart with 66,504 seats each per week followed by Abu Dhabi with 50,000 seats each plus 2 per cent additional.

Under the bilaterals, the quota for seats and services



are equal for the airlines of the two countries concerned.

With Qatar it is 24,292 seats, Oman 21,147 seats, Sharjah has 17,841 seats, Baharain (11,500), Kuwait (12,000) plus 2 per cent of additional seats each for all. With Saudi Arabia it is 20,000 seats plus 2 per cent additional and an open skies with Dammam, according to official data.

While Gulf airlines have been clamouring for more seats, the government has been reluctant to do so as domestic airlines have been big losers compared to their Gulf counterparts.

For Etihad and Emirates, India is their largest market, while for Jet with its tie-up with Etihad the region should be the largest.

Domestic airlines like the national carrier Air India, private players like Jet Airways, Indigo and SpiceJet operate to the Gulf markets now.
A senior government official today sought to refute reports claiming poor use of toilets constructed under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM-Gramin), saying their usage is on "higher side".

"So far 2.2 crore toilets have been constructed after the Mission was announced (nearly two years ago). The good is the usage is on higher side.

"Surveys by NSSO and Quality Council of India have shown the usage is high, it is above 90 percent. Of course, there may be some aberrations," Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water And Sanitation, said in a press briefing here.

He also said the Centre is giving impetus to making villages open defecation free (ODF).

To a question on maintenance of the toilets constructed, he said given majority of them are household ones, "assumption is the households will continue to maintain those".

He, however, admitted cleanliness of toilets built in schools/institutions "is an issue" and added the government is focusing on how to maintain those.

"We are now focusing more on becoming open defecation free, because it (the Mission) is not a construction (of toilet) programme, but usage programme. You will have to ensure behavioural changes in becoming ODF," he added.

The NDA government has set a deadline of year 2019 to become ODF. The official informed 17 districts and 77,000 villages across the country have become ODF till now and noted the pace is "increasing".

Sikkim has already announced itself as an ODF state. Out of the total 1,651 gram panchayats located along the Ganga river, 300 have already become ODF, he added.

"Now the challenge is bigger as there are 6,50,000 villages. But we are confident, we are on track," he said.

Amita Prasad, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest and Director General National Cadet Corps Major General JS Sandhu briefed media about activities undertaken by their respective departments under Swachh Pakhwada (Cleanliness Fortnight) between August 1 and 15.

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Greece has at least 41,000 refugees and migrants who are seeking asylum, mostly Syrians eligible to relocate within the EU, the migration minister said today.

Yiannis Mouzalas told a conference that Greek and UN services had recorded 54,000 refugees and migrants on Greek territory between June and the end of July.

Over 41,000 of them on the mainland have expressed interest in asylum, or have made formal requests.

Another 2,000 have agreed to be returned home.

At the same time, there are another 11,000 people currently being processed on Greek islands after landing there from neighbouring Turkey.

Mouzalas said the operation was designed to "begin to rein in the chaos", which overwhelmed Greek authorities after a succession of Eastern European and Balkan countries shut their borders to migrants starting in February.

Before the closures, and an EU-Turkey deal designed to stem the flow came into effect in March, over a million people had passed through Greece in 2015, primarily Syrians fleeing their country's brutal civil war.

The migration minister admitted that there are additionally "around 4,000" people who are avoiding follow-up registration as they hope to cross the border with the help of smugglers.

But Mouzalas denied reports that hundreds of people were being allowed to sneak across the border to Macedonia and Bulgaria.

"This is a lie," he said. "If 700 were leaving every day (as is claimed) we'd have no refugees left (in Greece).

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The wholesale (gur) jaggery market depicted a steady trend for the second straigtht day today in the national capital as prices continued to move in a tight range in the absence of any worthwhile activity and settled at previous levels.

On the other hand, Muzzafarnagar and Muradnagar gur witnessed a weak trend owing to sluggish demand and fresh arrivals.

Marketmen said besides slackened demand, fresh arrivals from manufacturing areas mainly pulled down gur prices in Muzaffarnagar and Muradnagar.

In Muzaffarnagar, gur Chakku prices moved down from Rs 3,500-3,600 to settle at Rs 3,425-3,500, showing a fall up to Rs 100 per quintal.

At Muradnagar, gur pedi prices traded lower by Rs 50 to end at Rs 3,750-3,850 per quintal.

Following are today's rates (in Rs per quintal):



Gur chakku Rs 3,900-4,000, pedi Rs 4,000-4,100, dhayya Rs 4,100-4,200 and shakkar Rs 4,300-4,400.

Muzaffarnagar: Rasket Rs 3,400-3,450, chakku Rs 3,425-3,500, khurpa Rs 2,925-2,950 and Ladoo Rs 3,000-3,050.

Muradnagar: Pedi Rs 3,750-3,850 and dhayya Rs 3,150-3,175.

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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said he has sought a report from the Revenue Department on the alleged land grab involving Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav.

"After the matter was reported in the media, I have asked Revenue Department to give a report," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

Amid the controversy, Jadhav met the Chief Minister today.

Jadhav has not reacted to the allegations publicly.

Media reports alleged that Jadhav had manipulated land records to get 8.30 acres of government land registered in his mother's name at Ramanayakanahalli village in Sarjapur hobli of Anekal Taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Jadhav, a 1978-batch IAS officer, was appointed as Chief Secretary on December 31, 2015. He was to retire on June 30, but was given an extension of three months.

An RTI activist has filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau against Jadhav and others seeking criminal proceedings against them.

Jadhav had also served as Chairman and Managing Director of state-run carrier Air India.

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The Madras High Court today directed CB-CID to file a status report in a sealed cover in the case relating to the protest by some advocates outside the official residence of the court's Chief Justice here in 2015.

Passing an interim order on a petition by one Elephant Rajendran, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan issued notice to the government pleader M K Subramanian who appeared on behalf of Inspector of Police, Pattinapakkam Police Station and the ADGP of Crime Branch CID, which is investigating the case now.

The bench then posted the matter for hearing on October 24.

The petitioner claimed that the police during the incident, had not acted against the advocates who allegedly laid a siege and trespassed on the official residence of the Chief Justice on April 2, 2015.

He also questioned whether the police would remain mute spectators if such an incident happened at the residence of the DGP or the chief minister.

The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, which had suspended several practising lawyers for misconduct, unethical conduct and indiscipline, did not initiate any disciplinary proceedings against them, he said.

Rajendran submitted that the bar council had not taken action despite his representation in May this year.

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A 28-year-old Sri Lankan refugee, who was lodged at the Mandapam refugee camp near here for illegally staying in India, was released following the Madras High Court orders.

"Ahamed Iqmal is free to leave for his country with his father, Mohammed Bowser, after the latter paid Rs 32000 today, as per the Court orders, for his son's illegal stay in India," customs officials said.

Last week, the High Court had ordered his release from the camp, on payment of the fine for staying in the country without valid documents.

Iqmal was nabbed by the customs officials when he tried to flee India in June, from Dhanushkodi near here with the help of one Selvaraj.

Subsequently, he was imprisoned before being shifted to the Mandapam refugee camp.

His father had then approached the Madras High Court's Madurai Bench seeking his release from the camp for returning to Sri Lanka.

Bowser had contended that his son had lost his documents when he was receiving treatment at Nagore and that he had come to India with proper documents.

The officials were not releasing him though he wanted to go back, he had alleged.

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The Calcutta High Court today questioned the justification of handing over cases to CBI, given the agency'a success in achieving conviction.

Hearing a petition by Debojyoti Roy, independent councillor of Kandi Municipality in Murshidabad district seeking a CBI probe into his alleged abduction, Justice Joymalyo Bagchi wanted to know how many cases investigated by CBI had led to conviction.

If a petitioner drew satisfaction from the fact that CBI was investigating the case, it is different, but otherwise what would be the justification of handing over the probe to the central agency, Justice Bagchi said.

The petitioner's counsel Pratik Chatterjee submitted that the state police had not yet even questioned the accused persons named in the FIR in connection with the alleged abduction of Roy.

He submitted that if CBI was handed over the probe, then he would at least have the satisfaction that there would be a probe into the matter.

Roy was allegedly abducted in February this year before a no-confidence vote against chairman Apurba Sarkar of Congress. The no-confidence motion had been brought by Trinamool Congress.

Justice Bagchi directed the investigating officer and the officer in-charge of Kandi police station to appear before the court in person along with the case diary on August 30.

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The Allahabad High Court today sought to know from the Benares Hindu University (BHU) as to whether it has obtained necessary permission from statutory bodies concerned for running the various courses offered at its South Campus in Mirzapur district.

A division bench comprising Justices Dilip Gupta and M K Gupta also directed the BHU authorities to file an affidavit containing details like remuneration given to teachers at the South Campus, the strength of students there from 2007 onward and the fees paid by them.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by Anand Deo and 30 others who had been teaching at the BHU's "Rajiv Gandhi South Campus" on contractual basis and whose services had been terminated on July 4 this year.

The petitioners, who have challenged their termination orders, alleged that they had been "appointed by a duly formed selection committee but the university ended their contracts in an arbitrary manner by a general order".

Later, walk-in interviews were held for filling up the vacant posts in violation of reservation norms, they said.

The petitioners also alleged that their official residence has been locked by the varsity authorities, to which the court responded by directing that the same "be unlocked within 24 hours".

Asking BHU, as well as the University Grants Commission, to file counter affidavits, the court fixed September one as the next date of hearing in the matter.

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The communally sensitive Kandhamal district was today put under high security blanket as the members of the VHP assembled there to observe the death anniversary of Swami Laxamananda Saraswati, whose killing had sparked a large scale riot in the area in 2008.

In the memorial meeting presided over by the VHP district unit president Kamadab Pradhan and attended by many others including Saraswati's successor Swami Sachidananda Maharaj criticised the Odisha govenrment for not arresting all those involved in the killing.

At least 44 persons were killed, about 4,800 houses burnt or damaged leaving about 20,000 people homeless during the riot that broke out immediately after Saraswati's killing on the night of Janmastami (August 23, 2008). The riot continued for about a fortnight.

The district administration made elborate security arrangement by deploying 21 platoons (1 plattoon comprises 30 personnel) of armed forces in addition to two companies of CRPF and other security forces.

Besides the district headquarters of Phulbani, forces have been mobilised at Chakapad, Jalespeta and other vulnerable places, Arjun Barik DSP said.

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French President Francois Hollande voiced his "concern" over a spike in tensions in Ukraine, in a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, his office said today.

"The president ... Expressed his concern over a rise in tensions these past weeks and a growing number of ceasefire violations," it said in a statement after the call, which also included German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"He underlined the risk an escalation of violence posed to the (peace) process."



Ukraine has been in the grip of a conflict between its army and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country for two years.

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine and deploying troops across the border - claims Moscow denies.

More than 9,500 people have been killed since the conflict started in April 2014, and deadly clashes continue to occur despite several truces.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine soared last week after Putin accused Kiev of attempting an armed incursion into Crimea - the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Meanwhile as fighting increased in the east, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion.

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Motor India on Tuesday launched all new sixth generation sedan Elantra at an introductory price range of Rs 12.99 lakh to Rs 19.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The petrol variants, which come with a new 2 litre engine, are priced between Rs 12.99 lakh and Rs 17.99 lakh.

Diesel trims with 1.6 litre engine are priced between Rs 14.79 lakh and Rs 19.19 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

Commenting on the launch, Motor India MD & CEO YK Koo said the new Elantra would help the company further consolidate its position in the country.

"We already have attained significant market share in the SUV segment. With Elantra we will further strengthen our market share in the country," he added.

Outlining future roadmap, Koo said: "In order to achieve market leadership in the country we will introduce two advanced products every year."



currently has a market share of 17.1 per cent of the Indian passenger vehicle segment.

Hyundai Motor India contributes 13 per cent of the total global sales of the South Korean auto maker, Koo said.

The company has so far sold 11.5 million units of Elantra globally since its launch in 1990.

"The all new Elantra is the global bestseller and has set forth new standards in its every generation," Koo said.

The model comes with various features like high intensity discharge headlamps, projector fog lamps, glass antenna, voice recognition, among others.

The manual petrol version would give fuel efficiency of 14.59 km/l while the diesel versions would give average of 22.54 km/l, the company claimed.

The petrol automatic version would return fuel efficiency of 14.63 km/l while the six-speed diesel automatic version comes with a fuel efficiency of 18.23 km/l, it added.
While Perumal Murugan has emerged from a self-imposed literary exile with a new book of poems, the Tamil author who was forced to publicly renounce writing after protests against his novel 'Madhorubagan', says he now censors his own characteristic realistic style.

"A censor is seated inside me now. He is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, or it may be interpreted thus, is a real bother. But I'm unable to shake him off. If this is wrong let the Indian intellectual world forgive me," Murugan said after his new anthology was released here late last evening.

In December 2014,a dismayed Murugan had declared in a Facebook post that the writer in him was dead. He described the subsequent period as "nightmarish".

"Between December 2014 and June 2016 I couldn't so much as scratch a line in the first three months. As though the fingers of my heart had become numb. I couldn't read a thing," the author said adding that it was then he realised the full meaning of the Tamil phrase 'nadaipinam', 'a walking corpse'.

The dark period, he said, ended in 2015 when he spent a few days at a friend's house in a room stacked with books.

"With nothing to do I lay dazed night and day. I wallowed in a dark hole without the urge to see or talk to anybody. But as I ruminated over my existence, there came a certain instant when the sluice gates were breached. I began to write. I chronicled the moment when I felt like a rat, dazzled by the light, burrowing itself into its hole," Murugan said.

The poems that emerged after that stay finds place in his just released anthology 'Kozhayin Paadalkal,' (Songs of a Coward.) "As I started to write, I began to revive little by little, from my finger nails to my hair. It was poetry that saved me," he said.

In July this year, the Madras High Court dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of the author and ban of his "offensive" book in Tamil, besides forfeiting all the copies of its English translation "One Part Woman" saying there was nothing obscene in the book.

Commenting on the judgment, Murugan said, "The learned judges have also said that 'Perumal Murugan should be able to write and advance the canvas of his writings'. The last word of the verdict -'Write' - sounds to me both as a command and as a benediction."



Murugan also expressed his gratitude to writers from Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country and the world who extended their support to him.

"Across the country voices were raised in support of freedom of expression and against intolerance. It is those voices which have brought me here today. I accepted this invitation to speak here only to express my gratitude to those voices," he said in a statement that he read out in Tamil followed by a translated version that was also read out.

The author, who considers poetry to be a private act says



he used to write poetry for himself and has so far published four volumes of poems containing some 150 poems.

Murugan, 50, also said he is mulling the reissue of his earlier works.

"I will soon begin the weary task of reviewing my books. If required I shall revise the text. I'm not sure if this is right. However, when so many things that are not quite right are happening all over, why not this? What am I to do?," he said.

Murugan, who has previously written six novels and four collections of short stories said he had at one point in time listed out the books he planned to write and the number, the author said, came to 50 with over 10 novels.

"I'm not now sure that I will write every one of those 50-odd books. Even if I do I doubt if they will take the same shape as conceived earlier. It's however certain that my writing will not be the same," he said.

Stating that he needed time to gather his creative energies he said, "I'm not a motor pump to draw water from the depths the moment it is switched on. I'm more a pupa in a cocoon. It will require time to develop colourful wings. Please allow me the time to do so."



Murugan also said he doubted whether he could continue to write in future in the realist mode. "I might have to resort to other techniques. Only time will tell on that," he said.

In a discussion following the book launch Murugan, whose first novel 'Eru Veyyil' was published when he was 25 years old, and whose writings have touched on the caste equations in Tamil Nadu said, "No writer can write a single word in defence of caste."



In my perception caste is ubiquitous but is subtly present everywhere. Why does caste exist and why caste is so divisive this is a question that has plagued me all my life," he said to applause.

Incidentally, the author who is a professor of Tamil literature said he had edited a volume where 32 of his students had considered the caste issue.

The author was introduced by poet Ashok Vajpeyi, who said it was "encouraging for poets like us that he is alive and that he chose to write poetry instead of prose".
In a faux pas, NSG Chief R C Tayal today claimed his men defused an Improvised Explosive Device recovered from high-security DRDO Bhawan after "no other agency" could handle the situation, but it later turned out to be a bomb of World War II vintage.

Speaking to journalists at an event to inaugurate the newly constructed building of the Anti-Hijack unit of the elite National Security Guards in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Tayal created a flutter when he said a team of NSG's bomb disposal squad recently defused the IED found at the sensitive DRDO Bhawan.

However, according to the daily report of the Union Home Ministry, three 120 mm shells of World War II vintage were found on April 14 when labourers were engaged in excavation work in the compound where construction activity was going on.

NSG's bomb disposal squad later took them to the banks of river Yamuna where the only live shell of the three recovered was defused.

With a touch of bravado, Tayal hailed the NSG bomb disposal squad as the "number one", saying when "no other" agency could handle the situation, it was his men who defused the IED.

NSG later issued a statement claiming that one of the shells was taken to Manesar where it was destroyed under controlled conditions.

The NSG has a special bomb disposal squad which not only assists its counter-terror and counter-hijack commando units during operations, but also helps neutralise high-level bomb threats involving IEDs and cleverly concealed explosives.

The squad had lost its Commanding Officer Lt Col Niranjan EK while he was sanitising a terrorist's booby-trapped body at the Pathankot airbase which was attacked early this year.

The elite force had come under criticism over its handling of the Pathankot IAF air base attack after its operation to neutralise the terrorists stretched to 82 hours. Its claim of six terrorists being involved in the assault had also come under question as the bodies of only four perpetrators could be found.

Tayal today said his commandos had eliminated the Pathankot terrorists "within half-an-hour" after they "established contact" with them. Whatever time was taken to conclude the operation, was spent in locating the terrorists who had sneaked into the air base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, he said.

Tayal said challenges and engagements for the force are going to rise in the future and the NSG was prepared to meet any challenge.

(REOPENS DEL 27)



The stunning claim by the NSG chief about IED having been recovered from the high-security DRDO Bhawan sent alarm bells ringing in the Defence Ministry.

The reporters on the defence beat were also surprised as recovery of an IED at DRDO headquarters was a serious breach of security and had a possible terror angle.

The DRDO and the Defence Ministry immediately got back, saying it was not an IED but a vintage Unexploded Ordnance which was found by construction workers engaged in excavation for the foundation of a new building at the Metcalfe House in North Delhi.

The DRDO in a statement said the incident happened in April and the Delhi Police, NSG, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were immediately informed for necessary action.

"On advice of MHA, NSG lifted the ordnance from the site for safe disposal at their ranges. The area is now safe and construction of the building is in progess," the statement said.
India and the US are looking at ways to cooperate at the consular level in events of crisis like natural disasters where the two countries can help each other in providing information about their citizens.

Michele Bond, US Assistant Secretary of state for Consular Affairs, also welcomed India's efforts to bring in a legislation in line with the Hague Abduction Convention.

She is in India for an annual Consular Dialouge. The issue of H-1B visa also discussed between the two countries.

"Our thought is our governments might look at how we can cooperate on planning for the kinds of regional events that we want to be prepared to respond in a well coordinated and well planned way.

"Because there are things that happen, say if we take the big tsunami some years ago where every country in the region is going to involved in responding, everyone is going to have citizens, ... We have citizens who are involved.

"Any kind of crisis where multiple governments need to be informed about...We see lot of example of natural and other kind of disasters where people who are involved need good information and their family members are frantically trying to find out where are they...Are they ok?," she said.

Regarding a legislation on H-1B and L Visa Reform Act of 2016 pending in the US Congress, Bond said over 70 per cent of the H1-B visas go to Indians.

Recently the visa fees for H-1B were also raised. The Indian IT sector had raised concerns about the legislation, which hurt its revenue model. She also said that there is no drop in visa applications.

"We did talk about those visas and it is very important to recognise what success story the H-1B and L visas are. Indians citizens receive almost 70 per cent of the all H-1B visas worldwide. So it is over-whelming Indian applicants are one the ones successful in qualifying for these visas," Bond said.

She said increasing business to business ties, providing efficient and prompt assistance to business travellers on B-1 and H-I visas is a "big priority" for the US.

She added that as for the L visas, Indian citizens receive approximately 30 per cent of all L issued worldwide.

Noting that India stands second after Mexico in terms of



cases related to parental abduction in the US, the senior US official said it hoped India joins the Hague Convention on Parental Abduction soon.

The 1980 Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction facilities the prompt return of abducted children to their country of habitual residence and helps deter international parental child abduction. India is not a party to it, but has come up with a draft legislation on International Child Removal and Retention Bill 2016 and has sought responses on it.

Bond said in September senior US official Susan Jacob will be in India and will be discussing the issue.

"We encourage India to continue its progress toward accession because we genuinely believe its a significant issue to this country," Bond said, adding that US currently has 80 such cases of child abduction and is related to India.

The issue also figured in the joint statement between India and the US during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit in last June.
An Indian-origin web manager charged with siphoning off over 100,000 pounds from his boss' UK-based firm was today jailed for 39 months by a court here.

GauravSachan, who worked as digital head for home improvement firm Alison At Home, had pleaded guilty to fraudby abuse of positionand was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London.

"You have let down everyone around you. You committed that offence through the most flagrant abuse of your position," the judgetold Sachan.

The 31-year-old was accused ofstealing 104,581 pounds from celebrity interior designer Alison Cork.

According to 'Evening Standard', the fraud occurred between March and December 2014 by moving cash via PayPal accounts.

Sachanhelped divert the funds into someone else's accountby altering the account details held in the firm's name.

He allegedly bought Tommy Hilfiger clothes, a ring for his wife and stayed at luxury hotels with the funds.

"It was discovered that somebody had been using the administrator privileges for the company to change the recipient details for monies supposed to be received by Alison At Home," prosecutor James Benson told the court.

"The defendant used the monies to fund a lavish lifestyle - his bank accounts show him shopping at expensive designer outlets such as Tommy Hilfiger and Russell and Bromley," he added.

Sachan was caught only when he went on a long trip to India to visit his sick father and Cork was forced to appoint a new head of digital.

Another accounts manager at the business was jailed in February last year for stealing 23,000 pounds from the company.

Abeyomi Ogunagbadaro, 45, was given a 16-month sentence for embezzling the cash and then laundering it via two of his friends' bank accounts.

Ogunagbadaro had been sacked after only two months back in 2014 for poor performance but his fraud only came to light once he had left the firm.

Alison Cork, who launched the home improvement business in 2012, is a well-known interior designer and also appears on television makeover shows in the UK.

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Iran's parliament today pushed back against the military over it dismissing civilian oversight following Russia's use of an Iranian air base to launch airstrikes on Syria.

The rare parliamentary response is part of the larger give-and-take between civilians and the country's powerful security services since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. It also highlights the public unpopularity of allowing Russia to use the air base - which marked the first time since the revolution that a foreign military has used Iran as a staging ground.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani brought up the topic Tuesday as lawmakers gathered in Tehran for the body's opening session, a day after Iranian officials announced Russia's use of the Shahid Nojeh Air Base has stopped for the time being. The state-run IRNA agency quoted Larijani as criticizing Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Hossein Dehghan for not "speaking properly" to lawmakers' concerns.

Dehghan over the weekend said Russia's use of the air base was not their concern, though parliament has oversight of all government ministries.

Dehghan "should have observed the ethics of governing," Larijani said.

Larijani added that the mission wouldn't have needed prior parliamentary permission as it was "temporary and only for refueling."



Three other semi-official agencies quoted Larijani as saying the Russian flights from the air base, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the city of Hamedan, "have not stopped." IRNA did not report the remark.

Comments by Iranian officials since Russia announced using the base last week suggest Moscow and Tehran initially agreed to keep Russian use of the air base quiet. Both Iran and Russia support embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's long war.

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Iran has "arrested or summoned" around 450 social media users over their online activities, a website linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guards said today.

Gherdab, the cyber arm of the Guards, said the people targeted administered pages on social networks including smartphone applications such as Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp.

"These people were carrying out immoral activities, insulted religious beliefs or had illegal activities in the field of fashion," said Gherdab.

It said the suspects would be put on trial without specifying how many exactly have been placed under arrest.

Isna agency carried a similar report.

Iranian authorities have for years tried to impose curbs on its citizens using social media.

Facebook and Twitter are officially banned in the Islamic republic, although users can gain access with easily available and cheap software.

But applications such as Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp are available to Iranians and very popular.

More than half of Iran's population of 80 million is online, with Telegram, an instant messaging app alone having more than 20 million users.

President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, has repeatedly pointed to the ineffectiveness of measures to limit access to social media.

In May, state agency IRNA reported that a committee headed by Rouhani had set a one-year deadline for foreign social media to hand over data on their Iranian users.

That same month, the head of Tehran's cybercrimes court said on state television that authorities had arrested eight people for working in "un-Islamic" online modelling networks, particularly on Instagram.

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Russian warplanes bombed Aleppo at Iran's request to assist its military advisors on the ground in the flashpoint Syrian city, a senior Iranian official said today.

Ali Shamkhani, the top official coordinating security and political affairs between Tehran and its allies, Moscow and Damascus, was quoted by state television saying Iran called in Russian strikes "next to the land operation" in Aleppo.

"Iran has brought the powerful Russia along... Due to its need to cooperate with Syria" in the fight against jihadists, added Shamkhani.

Iran and Russia are key backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but Tehran has remained relatively guarded about its precise involvement in the conflict.

Russia surprised the international community last week when it announced that its warplanes had flown out of Iran's Hamedan base to conduct strikes against targets in Syria.

That announcement prompted Iranian defence minister General Hossein Dehghan to criticise Russia's "showing off and inconsiderate attitude".

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman yesterday denied any differences with Russia over the use of Hamedan, adding that Russian raids from Iranian territory had ended for now.

"These planes did not leave (yesterday) but on Thursday, in accordance with the land operations and not under pressure from any other country," Shamkhani said on state television.

It is illegal under Iran's constitution to give military bases to foreign armies.

"The coalition among Iran, Syria and Russia to fight terrorism exists," Shamkhani added.

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Union Minister Smriti Irani today reminisced about the bravery of freedom fighters who laid down their lives to free the country from the shackles of British rule, as she took part in the "Tiranga Yatra" here, known as the Jallianwalla Bagh of the South.

Addressing the event, she paid her tributes to a pregnant martyr who had faced the bullets of the British at Vidhurashwatha in Chikkaballapur district during the freedom struggle.

Vidhurashwatha is known as Jallianwalla Bagh of the South as some 35 people were killed in indiscriminate firing by British police on a congregation of villagers for "satyagraha" in 1938.

"When I was paying my respects to the martyrs here, I came to know about the woman who did not care much about her pregnancy and faced the bullets of the British to free the motherland from the shackles of British rule and shouted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'."



"I am very fortunate to have come here where 32 to 35 people were gunned down by the British when they tried to hoist the national flag," she said.

Lauding Narendra Modi, Irani said this was probably the first time that a Prime Minister belonging to a poor family has introduced a scheme where banks are playing a "stellar role" to empower the disadvantaged.

"It will not be wrong to say even in independent India whenever the poorest of the poor wanted to better his economic status, the doors of the banks didn't open for them," she said.

"Probably this is the first time when a child of a poor mother became PM, he introduced Jan Dhan Yojana for the poor... Banks to go to the doorsteps of the poor which in turn will strengthen them economically," Irani said.

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Iraq's ambassador to Portugal has been summoned to Baghdad after the envoy's twin sons were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a 15-year-old boy, the foreign ministry has said.

The incident happened last week in Ponte de Sor, central Portugal, following a brawl between locals and pupils at a nearby flight school where one of the twins is enrolled, according to Portuguese media yesterday.

A source close to the investigation said the 17-year-old sons of the Iraqi ambassador in Lisbon, Saad Mohamed Ridha, were arrested but then released because they had diplomatic immunity.

Portugal's Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said his country may request that Iraq remove the diplomatic immunity so that the pair can be prosecuted.

The 15-year-old boy suffered a fractured skull and other extensive injuries and has been placed in a medically-induced coma, local media said.

The Iraqi twin brothers, Haider and Ridha Ali, were interviewed on the Portuguese television channel SIC, with the former expressing remorse while the latter claimed to have been defending himself from attack.

"I am ready to fully accept the responsibility of my actions, I don't know what is the Iraqi government's reaction. I am not hiding under the umbrella of the diplomatic immunity," Haider Ali said, offering his "deepest apologies" and insisting he wouldn't leave Portugal.

His brother Ridha said the pair had been "attacked by five or six persons".

"They passed me around like a ball. I was trying to fight but I couldn't do much, they were too many people," he said.

Ridha Ali added that "Ruben" saw them a little later and spoke in "a very aggressive tone... He hit me again in the face and on my shoulder".

"I felt insulted and couldn't take it anymore... So I ran after him, I punched him and a minute later, he was down on the ground. I kicked him a few times when he was down on the ground."



The Iraqi foreign ministry said it was following the case "with close concern" and had launched a probe to gather "details concerning this incident and gather information from mass media".

"The ministry of foreign affairs has summoned the Iraqi ambassador to Portugal to discuss the incident his sons are accused of," spokesman Ahmad Jamal said.

The foreign ministry added it was keen to maintain "its good reputation" and the solid relations it enjoys with Portugal.

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A suspected ISI agent was today arrested here by a joint team of Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Rajasthan CID.

"Jamaluddin,a resident of Ghazipur, has been arrested from Trans-Gomti area here. He used to distribute money to other agents on directives of ISI after receiving it from the UAE," Additional Director General, Law and Order, Daljeet Singh Chowdhury said.

The accused had transferred money to Gordhan Singh, who was arrested on December 27, 2015 from Pokhran in Rajasthan, he said.

Singh had allegedly leaked military information to Pakistani spy agency ISI.

"The probe is on and besides ATS, Rajasthan CID and intelligence agencies are interrogating him," he said.

The officer, however, did not divulge more details about the arrested agent.

ATS is likely to hold a press conference tomorrow to brief about the arrest.

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Two directors of an IT firm here were booked by the police for allegedly duping a large number of its employees of nearly Rs 1.50 crore, police said today.

Police have launched a manhunt for the two directors, Chayya Singh and Yeshraj Singh, of Dehradun-headquartered PC Technology Pvt Ltd after a complaint was lodged against them yesterday with Wagle Estate Police Station, Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar said in a press release.

According to the complaint, as many as 600 employees of the firm's Thane office at Ashar IT Park were cheated. The office is shut since August 13 and its official website is also blocked.

"Most of them were employed in January and February, this year. The employees were recruited by taking a 'refundable deposit' of Rs 25,000 from each of them and they were assured that their money will be refunded along with monthly stipend," the official said.

The complaint alleged that the aspirants were deceitfully given jobs and were not paid salaries since joining. Some of them had even raised the issue on the company's website.

The company has also shut operations of its Begaluru, Kolkata, Visakhapatam, Dehradun, Chennai and Pune offices since the Independence Day weekend, rendering scores of its employees jobless, the PRO said.

A case under IPC section 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) against the two accused.

According to a senior police officer of Wagle Estate police station, there may be some more people involved in the fraud and that so far no arrests have been made.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Japan today strongly urged North Korea to refrain from provocations following a string of missile launches and threats from Pyongyang of nuclear retaliation in response to US-South Korean military drills.

Japanese senior official Kiyoshi Odawara told a UN Security Council debate on non-proliferation that North Korea's missiles launches, the most recent of which reached Japanese-controlled waters, were "blatant violations" of UN resolutions.

"Japan strongly urges North Korea to refrain from further provocations and to comply faithfully and fully with the relevant Security Council resolutions," said Odawara, Japan's parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs.

North Korea yesterday threatened a pre-emptive military strike as South Korea and the United States kicked off large-scale annual military exercises.

Japan this month joined the United States in calling an emergency session of the council after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile that landed off Japan's northern coast and within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

But the council failed to condemn that August 2 launch after China sought to include language in a statement opposing the THAAD missile defense system that the United States plans to deploy in South Korea.

Odawara said North Korea's missile launches "cannot be condoned for any reason."



The Japanese official called on all UN member-states to "redouble their efforts" to fully implement all resolutions including a measure adopted in March that imposed the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea.

"These efforts are crucial and their significance and impact cannot be under-estimated," said Odawara.

North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today announced initiatives worth over Rs 500 crore for higher education and school education in the state.

Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, she announced setting up of a centre to link all the universities and affiliated colleges in cloud computing which will offer the students and teachers a range of services.

The proposed centre will come up on the Anna University campus here at an estimated cost of Rs 160 crore, she said, adding that a motor vehicle technical centre will also be established there to focus on research related to emission mitigation and fuel consumption of automobiles.

An auditorium, at a cost of Rs 50 crore, with a capacity to accommodate 5,000 people, will also come up in the technical university, she said.

Jayalalithaa also announced a research uplift and training centre on the Anna University campus which will coordinate all the aspects related to obtaining a patent.

Other announcements made by her for the higher education sector include establishing training centres at Chennai and Dharmapuri to help the Indian Engineering Services examination aspirants and a scheme to send 100 government engineering students on 15-day annual foreign study visits.

Proposing new initiatives for the school education sector, Jayalalithaa announced construction of schools, upgradation of the existing ones, providing raincoats and boots to the students of hill areas, computerisation efforts, creation of virtual classrooms etc.

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The anticipatory bail plea of Anmol Ratan, accused of raping a 28-year-old JNU student in a university hostel room, today came up before a Delhi court which decided to hear it on Saturday.

The petition was filed before Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal who put up the matter for arguments on the next date of hearing on August 27.

Police claimed a first-year Ph.D student had alleged that Ratan, also a JNU student, raped her on August 20.

According to her complaint filed at Vasant Kunj (North) police station, she had posted on her Facebook account that she wanted to watch a movie and asked if anyone had its CD.

It said Ratan apparently messaged her saying he had a copy. Thereafter, he picked her up yesterday on the pretext of giving her a CD of the film and took her to Brahamputra Hostel, where he stays.

She alleged that he offered her a spiked drink and raped her. He also threatened her and asked her not to report the matter, she said.

However, the woman approached the police on August 21 and a case of rape was registered and further probe is underway.

Students body AISA has claimed that it has taken strong note of the allegations and has expelled Ratan from its membership.

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A senior journalist of a Hindi daily today lodged a complaint case with the town police station in connection with his son going missing in Bihar's Nawada district.

Saket Bihari, Bureau Chief of a Hindi daily in Nawada, lodged the complaint stating that his 12 year-old-son Shyam Saket has been missing for the last 24 hours.

Bihari said his son went out of his residence yesterday around 1.30 PM and has not returned home.

"We have inquired with all our relatives, but my son did not go to any of them," he said.

An investigation has been started in this connection, Deputy Superintdent of Police Sanjay Kumar Pandey said.

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DMK chief Karunanidhi today expressed grief over the death of former Singapore President S R Nathan.

Lauding the departed leader's services to his nation, Karunanidhi, in a statement, said Nathan served Singapore in various capacities.

"He greatly strove for the growth of Singapore. He worked for the welfare of working classes by involving himself in trade union," the nonagenarian leader said adding the departed leader was of Indian origin.

"I convey my deep condolences to the people of Singapore and his family members on behalf of DMK," he added.

After being ill for sometime, Nathan died yesterday in Singapore at the age of 92. He has the distinction of serving his country for the longest tenure as president between 1999 and 2011.

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The US today expressed the view that issues concerning Kashmir or Balochistan should be decided by the "two parties involved".

US Ambassador Richard Verma was quoted by website Quint as having said in an interview that," When it comes to Balochistan, or even increased tensions in Kashmir in particular, it is our long-standing policy to leave the matter to be decided by the two parties."



Asked about why the US does not raise concern over terrorism originating in Pakistan directed at India, Verma said he would like to "disagree" with the suggestion.

"In the last 15 years in particular, the US under different administrations has gone after terrorists, wherever they are, including LeT. I don't think there should be any mistaking our commitment," the US envoy added.

Terming counter-terrorism as a "huge issue", he said the US has also been a victim of terrorism just like India. Since 9/11, the US has been unrelenting vis-a-vis terrorism, he said.

On how can America deal with China's Bid to Block India's NSG membership, Verma said it was a hard-work diplomacy and the US can "get it done".

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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao today met Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan here, a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said.

KCR was here to sign an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of three inter-state irrigation projects with the Maharashtra government.

The pact was inked between the two governments at the Sahyadri guest house here.

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today congratulated veteran actor Kamal Haasan for being chosen for the French honour, Chevalier Award.

On Sunday, 61-year-old Haasan was chosen for the prestigious award, the second Tamil star after thespian Sivaji Ganesan to be nominated for the French honour.

In a letter sent to the "Dasavatharam" actor, Vijayan said Haasan had succeeded in elevating the glory of Indian cinema to new horizons through this honour.

"You have been chosen for the prestigious Chevalier Award for placing the Indian cinema on the top of world films through your multi-faceted personality," he said.

The Chief Minister also said the actor's humility had been revealed through his act of dedicating the recognition to his fans and well-wishers.

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Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today urged the people of the state to resolve to make the "biggest possible contribution and sacrifice" in maintaining unity and harmony in the country.

Speaking at a function on the concluding day of BJP's 'Tiranga Yatra' here, he said 2016 marked 70 years of Independence and the 75th anniversary of the 'Quit India Movement'.

Khattar said 'Tiranga Yatra' was organised at various places in the country from August 9 as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a view to make the people, especially the youth, aware of the heroics and sacrifices of the brave martyrs during the country's freedom struggle.

The initiative was aimed at instilling a sense of patriotism, goodwill, unity and integrity among the youth, he added.

Khattar said the people of the state, cutting across boundaries of religion, class and field, had taken part in large numbers in the freedom struggle, "starting from the first revolt of 1857 to the last battle".

While Haryana accounts for only two per cent of the country's population, 10 per cent of the freedom fighters came from this region, he added.

Khattar urged the youth to contribute to the country's progress by developing their skills.

The Chief Minister participated in 'Tiranga Yatra' after flagging it off and paid floral tributes to martyrs at various memorials.

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Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian has expressed her fears about Lamar Odom returning to his old ways after she heard he is "hanging out with bad guys again".

The 32-year-old "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star is scared her estranged husband will slip back into his old ways and admits she finds it hard to "trust" him, reported Female First.

"Ever since coming back from Cuba, I've been so worried about Lamar. I just want to keep him around positive people ... I am so conflicted. I want the best for Lamar, but with everything going on lately there's not a lot of trust there...," she said.

"Everyone wants to see Lamar do well and succeed at life. Everyone was routing for Lamar, except him ... Nothing is going to wake him up, that's just the way it is. This is Lamar.

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Sri Lanka's Speaker Karu Jayasuriya today signed the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) Bill at the Parliamentary Complex here, making it a legal act, his office said.

On 11 August, Sri Lanka's Parliament unanimously approved a bill to set up an office to help find some 65,000 people reported missing during the country's civil war with the LTTE, and clarify the circumstances under which they disappeared.

The draft bill of OMP was passed with amendments in Parliament without a vote. It was adopted despite objections raised by the joint opposition which alleged that the bill will betray the military.

The joint opposition backing the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa created a rumpus in parliament when the bill was introduced on August 11.

The joint opposition MPs said that the legislation was passed violating both the Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament. They urged Jayasuriya not to place his signature to the Bill giving it the legal effect.

They had called it a betrayal of the security forces who had fought the LTTEs over three decade of separatist campaign.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) yesterday recommended an effective communication strategy in all three languages to reach out to thousands of families of the disappeared to the OMP.

Among the other recommendations were to make available the financial resources needed to build a strong institution and hire competent staff, establishment of regional offices of the IOMP, the OMP membership must reflect the pluralistic nature of the island.

To ensure integrity of the staff that are to be recruited and to provide gender sensitivity training to the staff.

Over 20,000 people are said to be missing in the island some of them since the late 1980s.

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The sudden spike in chikungunya cases in several parts of north India, including Delhi, has come nearly ten years after a big outbreak of the mosquito- borne disease across the country.

In 2006, over 13 lakh suspected chikangunya fever cases were reported across the country, according to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP).

This year till July 28, 9,990 suspected cases of the disease have been recorded, with Karnataka reporting 7,591 cases.

At the AIIMS laboratories, which get blood samples from Delhi and other parts of the country, 362 samples have tested positive during July to August 20.

"Out of 133 samples sent to our labs, 83 were tested positive in July and this month till August 20, out of 502 samples, 279 tested positive for chikungunya," said Lalit Dar of Department of Microbiology at AIIMS.

Health experts have attributed the rise to a possible "evolution" in the virus that carries this disease and change in weather factors like humidity.

"What we have found out is that suddenly number of chikungunya cases have increased in Delhi as also in several other parts of the country.

"The disease is caused by the same aedes aegypti mosquito which causes dengue but the difference is that dengue virus has four strains while chikungunya has only one," NVBDCP Director, A C Dhariwal said.

Dhariwal and other health experts have acknowledged the sudden spike in chikangunya cases but have appealed to people not to panic.

Chikangunya is a debilitating, though not life- threatening, disease with patients showing symptoms similar to dengue. Typical symptoms include high-grade fever, severe joint pain, muscle pain and headache, joint swelling, or rashes. But it is not as dangerous as dengue in which there is a risk of bleeding due to abrupt fall in platelet count.

"The joint pains last longer compared to dengue cases and especially elderly people find it extremely difficult. Though, people should not worry as it not a life-threatening disease like dengue," Dar said.

Safdarjung Hospital Medical Superintendent A K Rai said over 600 patients came to its fever clinic on Sunday.

"We are getting both dengue and chikungunya cases. And, though we have recorded about 42 chikungunya cases, it is actually a lot more," he said.

There is no specific treatment for chikungunya. Supportive therapy that helps ease symptoms such as administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and getting plenty of rest, may be beneficial, according to experts.

In Delhi, however, municipal corporations have only



reported 20 cases of chikungunya till August 20.

The states generally affected by chikungunya are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharasthra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala, according to NVBDCP.

Another reason behind the spike in cases in Delhi and other regions could be "reduction in extrinsic incubation period", NVBDCP Director Dhariwal said.

Extrinsic incubation period refers to the time required for the development of a disease agent in a vector, from the time of uptake of the agent to the time when the vector is infective.

"So, it is possible this period has got reduced and so more cases have suddenly come up," he said.

Regional Adviser, World Health Organisation South East Regional Office (WHO-SEARO) Jamsheed Mohammed says, "Spike in chikungunya cases have occurred not just in Delhi but other parts of the country."



"But, we are doing the needful to combat vector-borne diseases, so we prepare guidelines and also build national capacity to lead a programme," he said.

As per NVBDCP, chikungunya occurs in Africa, India and south east Asia and is primarily found in urban or peri-urban areas.

In India, a major epidemic of chikungunya fever was reported in 1963 (Calcutta), 1965 (Pondicherry and Madras in Tamil Nadu, Rajahmundry, Vishakapatnam and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh; Sagar in Madhya Pradesh; and Nagpur in Maharashtra) and in 1973 in Barsi in Maharashtra. Thereafter, sporadic cases also continued to be recorded, especially in Maharashtra during 1983 and 2000, it said.

According to NVBDCP, 27,553 clinically-suspected cases of chikunguna were reported last year and 16,049 suspected cases in 2014.
The Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) farmers today staged a protest here seeking release of water for irrigation of wet crop like paddy in the LBP canal, and to facilitate cultivation of over 1.05 lakh acres of land.

Pressing their demand, the farmers of the Confederation of Lower Bhavani Project Farmers Association and various other farmers' associations held a demonstration near here.

After the demonstration, the confederation resolved to request the Tamil Nadu government to release water from Lower Bhavani reservoir into the LBP canal, which was scheduled to be released from 15th August, for paddy crop.

The release will also help meet the drinking water needs of various villages.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On a three-day visit to to step up bilateral engagement, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar on Tuesday visited the holy Shiite city of Karbala, known as a centre of religious instruction, in the war-ravaged country.

Akbar visited the mausoleum of Imam Hussein, Prophet Muhammad's grandson who was killed during the Battle of Karbala in the seventh century. The golden-domed mausoleum of Imam Hussein is considered the holiest shrine of Shia Islam, after Mecca and Medina.

Akbar also visited the shrine of Imam Hussein's brother Imam al-Abbas who too was killed in the battle of Karbala.

"Privileged to have visited the holy shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas at Karbala. It was a moving experience," Akbar tweeted.

Karbala is about 100 kms away from Baghdad and the holy city is visited by millions of Shiite Muslims every year.

Akbar's visit to Baghdad and Karbala is part of his three-nation West Asia tour. He has already visited Syria and Lebanon. Yesterday, he had held extensive talks with President Fuad Masum and other top Iraqi leaders in Baghdad on a range of issues including threat from Islamic State. In his talks, Akbar had requested for assistance of Iraqi leaders to rescue 39 Indians taken hostage in war-ravaged Mosul two years back.

Besides President Masum, Akbar held talks with President of the Council of Representatives Salim al-Jabouri, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Eshaiqer Al-Jaafari and Security Advisor Faleh al-Fayyadh.

The MEA said Akbar conveyed India's support for the unity and territorial integrity of and conveyed New Delhi's abiding commitment to the emergence of a stable, peaceful, united and democratic .

Iraq has been hit hard by the Islamic State (IS), which has captured vast swathes of the oil-rich country and the talks focused largely on ways to combat terrorism.
Maharashtra today became the first state to sign an agreement with the civil aviation ministry to develop 10 almost non-functional regional airports/airstrips helping move closer to reality the Centre's ambitious regional connectivity plan.

The fully subsidised regional connectivity scheme (RCS) seeks to cap ticket prices so as to make flying more affordable and accessible to the common man and is part of the ambitious National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 cleared by the Cabinet on June 15.

The agreement was inked in the presence of Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and top Airport Authority officials.

The 10 airports to be developed under the plan are Kolhapur, Shirdi, Amravati, Gondia, Nashik, Jalgaon, Nanded, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, wherein the state will contribute 20 per cent cost of viability gap funding, and the rest will be borne by the Centre.

Out of these airstrips at Shirdi and Nanded are state government-owned and Fadnavis said the Nanded airport will be functional from November.

As per the agreement, the state will reduce the local tax on aviation fuel from existing 10 per cent to 1 per cent for 10 years, apart from providing essential land free of cost, Fadnavis said.

These airports will be provided with roads, rail, metro and waterway connectivity, he added. The state will also provide electricity, water and necessary facilities at concessional rates.

On the proposed new Pune airport at Rajgurunagar near New Chakan, Fadnavis said the Airport Authority will send a team to conduct preliminary study in first week of September.

On the issue of building heights in Bandra Kurla Complex and Wadala notified areas, he said the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) survey will be completed soon and final report is expected by December.

Earlier addressing the media, Raju had said almost all other states are ready to sign the RCS.

"When we announced the RCS, we were speaking about a wish list. This agreement is the first step to convert that wish-list into a work-list and then a reality," Raju said.

Exuding confidence that the plan will take wings sooner, he said, "a magazine has referred to me as a flightless bird. But I don't want to be flightless bird forever.

Earlier in the day, Raju had also taken an aerial survey



of the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport for which the Centre has already cleared the RFQ.

Stating that the country has become the fastest growing aviation market in the world with over 20 per cent domestic traffic growth each month for the past several months, Raju said the RCS will help sustain the high growth trajectory.

Under the RCS, the Centre will subsidise 80 per cent of the cost under a viability gap fund (VGF) scheme, while the states will meet the rest of the cost. In the case of the northeastern states, the central subsidy will be 90 per cent, the minister said.

The RCS stipulates that air tickets for under a one-hour flight will be capped at Rs 2,500, and the VGF will take care of the rest of the operational cost.

Raju said the ministry hopes to meet its funding need from the Rs 500-crore estimated to be mopped up from the aircraft levy that will be passed onto other players.

"States will have to take some haircuts in the form of free land, security, fire services, water etc, while the Centre will have to forego excise duty on ATF and service tax on tickets," Raju said, adding that VGF and handholding cannot be for eternity but is capped for the first three years.

"We want to ensure that the airlines operating on regional routes are economically viable and therefor is the VGF, the haircuts on our side," the minister said.

Whether any airline has signed on for RCS, he said everybody is interested but nobody has come forward.
The governments of Maharashtra and Telangana today signed a Memorandum of Understanding for construction of three inter-state irrigation projects.

The MoU was signed between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao in the presence of chief secretaries and irrigation ministers of both the states at the Sahyadri Guest House here.

"Govt of Maharashtra & Govt of Telangana sign MoU for starting work of barrages, Chanaka-Korata, TumdiHetti & Medigadda," the CMO Maharashtra tweeted.

"Approval was given for these 3 projects of Painganga, Pranhita & Godavari respectively at InterState Board of 2 states for joint irrigation proj," it further tweeted.

Rights of fisherman will be with our state and Telangana will also support the government of Maharashtra's case in the Krishna river dispute, Fadnavis said.

Expenses for all these projects will be borne by the Telangana govt and not a single village of Maharashtra will be submerged, he added.

He said 30,000 hectares of land in Chandrapur,Gadchiroli and Yavatmal will come under irrigation with these three projects.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Centre's regional connectivity scheme (RCS) moved closer to reality with the aviation ministry set to sign an agreement with Maharashtra government today under which almost eight airports in the state will be connected.

"I will be meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis later in the day today and sign the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) agreement. Almost all other states are also interested in the RCS," Civil Aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju told a select group of reporters here in his first media interaction with the Mumbai press.

Under RCS, the Centre and the state will develop the Airports Authority-owned existing air strips in Solapur, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Gondia, Akhola and Juhu and also the state government-owned ones in Nanded and Shirdi, Raju said.

However, the minister parried a question on the deadline for operationalising these airports, saying "I don't set deadlines nor do I work under deadlines. But let's assume at the earliest."



"When we announced the RCS, we were speaking about a wish-list. This agreement is the first step to convert that wish-list into a work-list and then a reality," he said.

Exuding confidence that the plan will take wings sooner, he said, "A magazine has referred to me as a flightless bird. But I don't want to be flightless bird forever."



Stating that the country has become the fastest growing aviation market in the world with over 20 per cent domestic traffic growth each month for the past several months, he said the RCS will help sustain the high growth trajectory, adding, "the new civil aviation policy cleared by the Cabinet on June 15 aims to take flying to the masses."



Under the RCS, the Centre will subsidise 80 per cent of the cost, while the states will meet the rest under the viability gap fund (VGF) envisaged. In the case of the Northeastern states, the central subsidy will be 90 per cent, the minister said.

The RCS stipulates that the air tickets under a one-hour flight will be capped at Rs 2,500, and the VGF will take care of the rest of the operational cost.

Raju said the ministry hopes to meet its funding need from the Rs 500-crore estimated to be mopped up from the aircraft levy that will be passed onto other flayers.

"States will have to take some haircuts in the form of free land, security, fire services, water etc, while the Centre will have to forego excise duty on ATF and service tax on tickets," Raju said, adding that VGF and handholding cannot be for eternity but is capped for the first three years.

"We want to ensure that the airlines operating on regional



routes are economically viable and therefor is the VGF, the haircuts on our side," the minister said.

Whether any airline has signed on for RCS, he said everybody is interested but nobody has come forward.

On whether he will push the already troubled Air India or its subsidiary Alliance Air to operate on these routes, he said, "I want everyone on board, including Air India.
Maharashtra government today inked a pact with the Civil Aviation Ministry and AAI for regional connectivity scheme, becoming the first state to formally agree to be part of the Centre's ambitious plan.

Under the RCS, around eight airports are expected to be connected in the state.

With the signing of the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), "Maharashtra has formally agreed to provide the concessions required from the state governments in the RCS, thereby becoming the first state in the country to do so," Civil Aviation Ministry said in a release today.

The MoU was signed in presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here.

Earlier in the day, Raju said as part of the RCS, the Centre and the state would develop Airports Authority of India (AAI)-owned existing air strips in Solapur, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Gondia, Akhola and Juhu. Besides, state government-owned ones in Nanded and Shirdi would be developed, he added.

When asked about the deadline for operationalising them, Raju said, "I don't set deadlines nor do I work under deadlines. But let's assume at the earliest."



"When we announced the RCS, we were speaking about a wish-list. This agreement is the first step to convert that wish-list into a work-list and then a reality," he said.

Under the RCS, the Centre would provide 80 per cent of the funds and remaining would be extended by the states concerned.

It stipulates that air tickets under a one-hour flight would be capped at Rs 2,500 while Viability Gap Funding (VGF) would take care of the rest of the operational cost.

Raju said the ministry hopes to meet its funding need from the Rs 500-crore estimated to be mopped up from the aircraft levy that would be passed on to other flyers.

"States will have to take some haircuts in the form of free land, security, fire services, water etc, while the Centre will have to forego excise duty on ATF and service tax on tickets," Raju said, adding that VGF and handholding cannot be for eternity but for the first three years.

Meanwhile, Raju and Fadnavis discussed various aviation related issues in Maharashtra.

"The subject of rehabilitation of slums (that have come up right next to the Mumbai International Airport) was deliberated upon in detail.

"Early operationlisation of several available airports and airstrips in the State (like Shirdi, Kolhapur, Nasik, Sholapur etc) also figured prominently in the discussions," the release said.

Raju also undertook an aerial survey of the proposed airport site for Navi Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Maharashtra government today signed an agreement with Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India for developing 10 airports in the state under the centre's regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

RCS, which is part of ambitious National Civil Aviation Policy 2016, is aimed at developing regional connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development from the centre.

"The MoU, signed in presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, aims to facilitate regional air connectivity by making it affordable by enacting different concessions offered by Centre, the state government and the operators," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

The 10 airports - Kolhapur, Shirdi, Amravati, Gondia, Nashik, Jalgaon, Nanded, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg will be developed, wherein state will contribute 20 per cent cost of Viability Gap Funding, whereas the centre will bear the remaining 80 per cent cost.

"I thank the Government of India for the dynamic policies of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and I am confident that with this MoU, aviation in Maharashtra will definitely move to the next level," Fadnavis said, adding that some other issues and their solutions were also discussed in the meeting and some important decisions taken.

"For development of greenfield international airport at Rajgurunagar (New Chakan), the Airport Authority will send a team for preliminary study in first week of September 2016," the CM said.

He said that for building heights in BKC and Wadala notified areas, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) survey will be completed soon and final report is expected by December 2016.

The CM said the operations at Shirdi airport will begin from November 2016 and AAI will provide all help needed for this project.

As per the MoU, the state government will reduce the Local Body Tax (LBT) on air fuel from existing 10 per cent to 1 per cent for a period of 10 years.

The MoU states that government will provide essential land free of cost.

These airports will be provided with roads, rail, Metro and waterway connectivity. The state government will also provide electricity, water and necessary facilities at concessional rates, the MoU says.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In more trouble for businessman Vijay Mallya, the ED has registered a fresh money laundering case against him and his associates to investigate the alleged loan default of Rs 6,027 crore availed from a consortium of nationalised banks, a case taken over by CBI recently.

Officials said the agency has filed the second criminal case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after it recently obtained details of the case from CBI which has filed its FIR after getting a complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI).

The CBI had early this month filed a fresh case under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating against Mallya on the basis of a complaint received from SBI on behalf of the consortium of lenders for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 6,027 crore to them by not keeping repayment commitments of loan taken during 2005-10.

By registering the fresh case, ED wants to strengthen its probe against the beleagured liquor baron and expedite a slew of actions it has initiated against him, including getting issued a global arrest warrant by Interpol and attaching more of his assets under the stringent PMLA.

Besides these steps, it also wants to invoke the India-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to force the businessman to return and join the investigation.

Besides Mallya, his companies Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and United Breweries Holdings Limited have also been named as accused in the CBI FIR which is now part of the ED case.

Both the central probe agencies had earlier filed cases of alleged default by the now-defunct KFA in repayment of loans obtained from IDBI Bank.

ED is also preparing to soon start the second round of assets attachments under PMLA after the embattled businessman early this month skipped appearance before a special PMLA court in Mumbai.

The agency, sources said, has identified some pledged shares, associated immovable and movable assets of Mallya and his family members that would be seized and frozen as part of its action plan.

It is also in the process of getting a 'proclaimed person' order issued by the special court which will be sent to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in order to execute the India-UK MLAT to bring Mallya back here to join the probe.

ED has already attached his properties worth about Rs 1,411 crore under PMLA in this case a few months ago.

The agency wants Mallya to join the investigation in the PMLA case "in person" in the Rs 900 crore alleged loan fraud case relating to IDBI Bank and has virtually exhausted all legal remedies like seeking an Interpol arrest warrant and getting his passport revoked.

Mallya and others are alleged to have diverted a part of the loan to some of their offshore businesses.
A 37-year-old man allegedly tried to commit suicide within the premises of Uttarakhand High Court here today by taking an overdose of a prescription drug.

Ashish Arya, who had arrived at the high court to settle an alimony dispute with his estranged wife, suddenly popped in 10 tablets of Alprazolam, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety disorders, in the Registrar's room, Sub-inspector Nainital police, Rajendra Singh, said.

He was rushed to a hospital as he became unconscious thereafter. His condition is said to be out of danger now, Singh said.

Arya, who hails from Lucknow, had come to settle an alimony dispute with his estranged wife, who was a resident of Kusumkhera area in Haldwani here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
City-based fruit juice maker Manpasand Beverages has set up a Rs 160-crore manufacturing facility in Ambala, Haryana which will significantly scale up its production capacity, a top official said today.

"The company has invested Rs 160 crore for setting up this plant which will result in the production going up by 45,000-50,000 cases per day," Manpasand Beverages Chairman and Managing Director Dhirendra Singh told PTI.

The facility will cater to the growing demand for the company's brands Mango Sip and Fruits Up, he said.

Singh said the company funded the unit from its Rs 400-crore IPO launched last year.

Manpasand's existing capacity stands at 1,20,000-1,25,000 cases per day.

"The demand for our fruit juices under the Mango Sip and Fruits Up brands is so large that we need to continuously add new capacities.

"The facility will produce the entire range of Fruits Up drinks, carbonated and non-carbonated, along with our flagship brand Mango Sip. From a strategic point of view, this facility will give us an upper hand in reaching out to markets in North and North-Eastern India," he said.

With this, Manpasand now has five manufacturing plants. The other four are located in Vadodara (two) and one each in Varanasi and Dehradun.

The company is planning to set up a new plant in South India, Singh said, without identifying the location.

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More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money either personally or through companies or groups to the Clinton Foundation. It's an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president.

At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released so far to The Associated Press.

Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as USD 156 million. At least 40 donated more than USD 100,000 each, and 20 gave more than USD 1 million.

Donors who were granted time with Clinton included an internationally known economist who asked for her help as the Bangladesh government pressured him to resign from a nonprofit bank he ran; a Wall Street executive who sought Clinton's help with a visa problem and Estee Lauder executives who were listed as meeting with Clinton while her department worked with the firm's corporate charity to counter gender-based violence in South Africa.

The meetings between the Democratic presidential nominee and foundation donors do not appear to violate legal agreements Clinton and former president Bill Clinton signed before she joined the State Department in 2009. But the frequency of the overlaps shows the intermingling of access and donations, and fuels perceptions that giving the foundation money was a price of admission for face time with Clinton.

Her calendars and emails released as recently as this week describe scores of contacts she and her top aides had with foundation donors.

The AP's findings represent the first systematic effort to calculate the scope of the intersecting interests of Clinton foundation donors and people who met personally with Clinton or spoke to her by phone about their needs.

The 154 did not include US federal employees or foreign government representatives. Clinton met with representatives of at least 16 foreign governments that donated as much as $170 million to the Clinton charity, but they were not included in AP's calculations because such meetings would presumably have been part of her diplomatic duties.

Last week, the Clinton Foundation moved to head off ethics concerns about future donations by announcing changes planned if Clinton is elected.

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Nearly 300 junior doctors today went on an indefinite strike, crippling health services at Madhya Pradesh's biggest government-run Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) Hospital here to protest the alleged beating of a colleague by family members of a patient.

The family members of a patient allegedly thrashed Dr Kumar Rahul following an altercation on August 21, Local Junior Doctors Association Anil Solanki said.

"We demand that those who had beaten Rahul should be booked and junior doctors be provided security," he said.

Rahul and family members of the patient have filed complaints against each other with police over the incident.

Meanwhile, the emergency health services at the hospital were affected due to the junior doctors' protest.

Arrangements have been made to provide health services to the patients amid the strike, MY hospital superintendent Dr V S Pal said.

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Officials in Myanmar say United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend a peace conference next week that seeks to end decades of armed conflict with ethnic minority groups.

The UN is expected to soon confirm Ban's attendance at the conference, which begins August 31 in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The deputy director of the President's Office, Zaw Htay, said today the government invited Ban to what is being called the 21st Century Panglong Conference after he expressed an interest in attending. Another official involved in the peace talks confirmed Ban's plan to attend.

It will be Ban's first visit to Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party replaced an army-backed government in March this year. His last visit was in November 2014.

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Terming his India visit as "successful", Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Bimlendra Nidhi today said all "obstacles" in the bilateral relationship have been cleared ahead of Premier Prachanda's trip to the country next month.

Nidhi had paid a four-day visit to India from August 17 to 22 as the special envoy of Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal "Prachanda".

Nidhi said his visit was "successful" in improving Nepal-India ties that were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

"All the obstacles in the bilateral relationship have been cleared after the visit," he said.

Nidhi's visit was mainly centred to prepare ground for Prachanda's upcoming official visit to India on September 15, the first foreign entourage of the Prime Minister after assuming office last month.

Nidhi who is also Nepal's Home Minister discussed the proposed visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and Nepal President Bidya Bhandari to India.

The visit of special envoy Nidhi is the first high-level visit from Nepal to India after the formation of the new government in Nepal under Prachanda.

Nidhi held high-level meetings with Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and as well as Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh among others during his stay in New Delhi.

Nidhi said he briefed Indian leaders and officials about Nepal's top priorities that included implementation of the Constitution, which was promulgated in September last year.

Nidhi said he discussed matters relating to the anti-constitution movement that was launched by Madhesi parties and amendment to the new constitution for resolving political crisis among other issues.

Prachanda had 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.

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Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today commissioned a new railway line between Nandyala and Yerraguntla, which Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu described as the "dream of (late Prime Minister) PV Narasimha Rao."



The Union Ministers and Chandrababu also flagged off a new passenger train between Nandyala and Kadapa on the occasion.

They inaugurated the facilities through a remote video link from Vijayawada in the presence of state ministers, MPs and senior railway officials.

Noting that poor connectivity caused disparities in growth of different regions within a particular state, Prabhu said, "we want to make sure connectivity will be the keystone."



The 29 states make a "big family of India", the Railway Minister pointed out, adding the country grows if the states grow.

"For this, infrastructure is needed and the railways has to provide most of it as it is the important backbone of industry and socio-economic development," Prabhu added.

Venkaiah Naidu said the Nandyala-Yerraguntla railway line was a dream of the late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.

"He represented Nandyala in Lok Sabha. His dream has now come true. You can calculate how many years it took for that to happen," Venkaiah observed.

"As it would take 40 years to complete all railway projects promised so far, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Suresh Prabhu not to take up any new projects," he said.

"It's a gigantic task Prabhu is facing," he remarked.

The 123-km railway line was built at a cost of Rs 967 crore and connects Kurnool and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh.

This will also directly connect the Rayalaseema region with the state's new capital Amaravati. The new line will gave a fillip to industrial activity in Kurnool and Kadapa districts that have a large mineral base, particularly the cement industry.

There will be eight stations between Nandyala and Yerraguntla with no unmanned level crossing for a length of 75 kms out of the entire stretch.

The passenger train will provide access to large parts



of Kurnool and Kadapa districts and cater mostly to traders, students and employees commenting between Nandyala and Kadapa.

It will also connect holy places like Yaganti Venkateswara Swamy temple, Hussain Shah Vali dargah and Jain temple at Danavulapadu.
Newly appointed Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore today paid obeisance at Golden temple, Durgiana Mandir and visited Wagah border along with his family.

Badnore, who is also the Administrator of Chandigarh, offered floral tributes at the historic Jallianwala Bagh on his maiden visit to the city after taking oath as Governor yesterday in Chandigarh.

He took the full round of 'parikarma' around the Golden temple.

After paying obeisance inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden temple, he was honoured in the Information Office of the temple.

The SGPC secretary presented him a shawl, a model of Golden Temple and a set of religious books.

Talking to media, Badnore said that it was a thanks giving visit to the holy place and to obtain the blessings of Almighty so that he could discharge his responsibilities according to the rules assigned by the Constitution of India for the Governor.

Sharing his experience of visit, Badnore said that the place (Golden temple) transcends man to a higher pedestal, makes him more spiritual and less mundane and he comes out with purified heart and soul.

Replying to a query regarding his future plans for Punjab, the Governor said that Punjab is one of the most important states of the country as it produces a large share of food grains and farmers of the state have the grit, determination and capacity to produce enough food grains for the entire Asia.

So, he would take stock of the conditions prevalent in the state and as the Governor and in his personal capacity will put in his utmost for the betterment of Punjab and Punjabis.

The Governor along with his wife visited the historic Jallianwala Bagh and placed floral wreaths at the Flame of Liberty.

Later, Badnore paid obeisance at Durgiana Temple and was honoured by the members of the Durgiana Trust.

Later, the Governor along with his family visited Wagah border.

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Animal rights body PETA has sought an immediate nationwide ban on the use of glass-coated 'manja' (strings) for flying kites for causing death and damage, leading the National Green Tribunal (NGT) today to seek the government's response on the matter.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar issued notice to Ministries of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Home Affairs, Commerce & Industry and Power and the Animal Welfare Board of India who were made parties in the case by the petitioner, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The matter has been put up for further hearing on September 6.

In its petition, PETA contended that 'manja', sharp string coated with glass and metals, posed a grave threat to humans and animals as every year a number of deaths were caused due to the deadly string.

"To increase the chances of being able to cut as many kites as possible, kite-strings are made deliberately sharp with churned glass, metals and other materials in order to make them razor sharp to cut through other persons' kite strings.

"These strings not only cut through other kite strings when in the air, but are also quite capable of cutting through the skin of animals and human beings, thereby severely injuring and even killing them," PETA alleged.

The petition, filed through advocate Shadan Farasat, said 'manja' posed a huge threat when it comes into contact with live overhead electric wires, leading to grid failure.

"Due to 'manja' being coated with glass, metals and other sharp material, these strings act as good conductors of electricity, increasing the probability of detached manja strings stuck in power lines, electrocuting kite flyers and passers-by coming into contact with these strings," it said.

PETA also said minor children were engaged by the cottage industry for the manufacture of 'manja' which caused respiratory problems among them as they inhaled harmful substances which were extremely detrimental to their health.

The plea has also referred to various orders, including the November 2015 order of the Allahabad High Court which banned the use of Chinese manja in the entire State of Uttar Pradesh and sought ban on "manufacture, import, sale and use" of these strings.

The plea came in the backdrop of the tragic death of two children and a youth on the Independence Day after they were entangled by these killer strings.

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A Panama-based shipping company and its two Qatar-based sister concerns were today directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to pay up Rs 100 crore as damages for causing an oil spill when a cargo vessel sank off Mumbai coast in 2011, damaging marine ecology.

While asking the three companies to pay Rs 100 crore as environmental compensation (EC) to the Ministry of Shipping, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar also ordered Gujarat-based Adani Enterprises Ltd to pay Rs five crore as EC for dumping in the seabed 60054 MT coal, being carried by the ship M V RAK, and polluting the marine environment.

The tribunal asked Republic of Panama's Delta Shipping Marine Services SA, Qatar-based Delta Navigation WLL and Delta Group International to pay Rs 100 crore to the Ministry, observing that reports showed that the documents in favour of the ship were issued in a biased manner and the vessel was "not seaworthy", right from the inception of its voyage.

It also held the respondents to be defaulting entities which had adopted the "most careless and reckless attitude" in protecting the marine environment.

"We are of the considered view that determined damages of Rs 100 crore should be paid by and recovered from respondents number 5, 7 and 11, jointly and severally while respondent number 6 is held liable to pay Rs 5 crore as environmental compensation for dumping of the cargo in the sea and then failing to take any precautionary or preventive measures.

"The consignment of 60054 MT of coal has caused marine pollution and continues to be a cause and concern for environmental pollution. The respondents are defaulting entities which have not complied with law and have adopted a most careless and reckless attitude in relation to protecting the marine environment," the bench, also comprising Judicial Member U D Salvi, Expert Members A R Yousuf and Ranjan Chatterjee, said in its 223-page judgement.

The tribunal constituted a committee to look into various aspects, including to study and report to it within a month on whether removal of the ship wreck and cargo from its present location should be directed as per global conventions and in the interest of marine environment.

NGT passed the verdict on a petition filed by Samir Mehta, a Mumbai-based environmentalist, who had sought compensation for damages caused to the marine ecology due to the oil spill.

The ship, which was sailing from Indonesia to Dahej in Gujarat, sank 20 nautical miles off the South Mumbai coast in the Arabian Sea on August 4, 2011.

The vessel was owned by Delta Shipping Marine Services SA



while Delta Navigation WLL and Delta Group International were responsible for its voyage.

The ship was also carrying more than 60,000 metric tonnes of coal for Adani Enterprises Ltd thermal power plant in Gujarat besides containing 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel.

The bench said it was "a clear case where negligence is attributable to the four firms" and added that it was not a case of sinking of a ship by "accident simpliciter".

"But it is a case where element of mens rea can be traced from the unfolding of the events that finally led to the sinking of the ship on August 4, 2011. Non-rendering of requisite help by the ship owner and other persons interested and responsible, to the Master of the ship, despite the fact that they had complete knowledge about the status of the ship prior to the occurrence of the incident on August 4, 2011...

"The ship had developed mechanical and technical snags at Colombo and Singapore and the Master of the ship had asked for help there during its onward journey. There is nothing on record to show that ship owner and other respondents provided timely assistance to the Master of the ship," it said.

The bench said "on the true and purposive construction of the International Conventions and the statutory provisions afore-referred, no party from any country in the world has the right/privilege to sail an unseaworthy ship to the Contiguous and Exclusive Economic Zone of India and in any event to dump the same in such waters, causing marine pollution, damage or degradation thereof."



It said the ship and its cargo should be removed by the four companies or they shall get it removed within six months from the date of submission of report of the committee, consituted by it, before the tribunal.

"The liabilities to pay environmental compensation as aforedirected are on account of and subject to adjustments, after the submission of the final report by the Committee," it added.

A year before this oil spill off the Mumbai coast, another such accident had occured in the Gulf of Mexico when an oil rig 'Deepwater Horizon' had exploded, leading to sea- floor oil gushing out for 87 days till it was capped. Eleven people had gone missing in what is considered to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.

In July 2015, after a long legal battle, BP, formerly known as British Petroleum which owned the rig, agreed to pay USD 18.7 billion in fines, the largest corporate settlement in US history so far.
The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to Tamil Nadu government for alleged physical torture meted out to a juvenile boy and his two family members, belonging to a tribal community, during their illegal detention by police in connection with a burglary case.

The Commission has issued the notice to state's Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, calling for a detailed report, including the action if any, taken against the erring police personnel, within four weeks.

The NHRC in a statement today said "They were subjected to unbearable torture and inhuman treatment by the police during their detention at the police station for three days."



"The victims were made partially naked, beaten up with a wooden log and were being forced to name someone from their community for his involvement in the theft," it claimed.

"Badly injured, they had to drink the water, fetched from the lock-up toilet, as the drinking water was not available to them," it said.

The 17-year-old boy and his family belonged to Kurava ethnic community and action against them was taken by the police purportedly on the ground that they belonged to the tribe dubbed by the British as criminals under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, the NHRC said.

The Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report carried on the August 7. The story makes reference to Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's tweet that "Ex-Criminal Tribes are known to be very cruel. They are hardcore professionals in committing crimes. Rarely caught and/or convicted."



"The contents of the report are a matter of concern. The incident, alleging illegal detention of a young boy, physical torture of the family members and atrocities committed by the police personnel, indicates towards violation of human right to life, liberty and dignity of the victims," it said.

The NHRC has observed that no human being should be subjected to discrimination merely on the fact that he belongs to a particular caste, creed or community.

On July 31, some police personnel from the Ambattur Police Station, in Chennai, picked them up from his hut in Cholavandipuram, Villupuram district for questioning about an incident of burglary about which he had no idea, the statement said.

Reportedly, the family has filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras High Court for the two relatives of the boy who were detained by police along with him.

The Joint Commissioner of Police (West), Chennai, reportedly stated that they were arrested for burglary and 18 sovereigns of jewellery had been recovered from one of them. He, however, also said that he was not aware of detention of any juvenile by the police.

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With Bihar battling floods despite receiving less than normal rains, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the Centre's intervention as he insisted that desilting the river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods.

Modi offered assurance to him, saying immediate and positive action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a silt management policy, Kumar told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister.

He also linked the Modi government's ambitious Namami Gange project with better silt management in Bihar, saying if attention is not paid to the situation, then it will also put a question mark on the programme's success as he feels like "crying" at the condition of Ganga in the state.

"The very serious condition that we see today never occurred earlier. The only way to get rid of this is desiltation. There is a need for silt management policy," he said.

He urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the "unprecedented" situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.

"The Prime Minister assured me that experts will be sent and a decision on this subject should be taken soon. Immediate and positive action will have to be taken," he said.

The Chief Minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years.

Though Bihar has received 14 per cent less rains than normal during the monsoons, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rain fall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it.

Kumar also appeared to blame Farakka barrage for the situation. He has earlier held it responsible for increasing siltage in the Ganga river basin.

Due to silt, Ganga could not store the amount of water it used to earlier, leading to flood-like condition despite not receiving proportionate amount of rain fall, he said.
Indiana's attorney general has opted not to appeal a recent ruling that overturned a woman's feticide conviction for a self-induced abortion that killed her premature infant.

Yesterday's deadline passed without Indiana's attorney general or Purvi Patel's attorneys asking the Indiana Supreme Court to take up the state Court of Appeals' July ruling.

Patel's attorney, Stanford University law professor Larry Marshall, says he's pleased Indiana "didn't drag things out" by appealing.

Marshall says Patel could be resentenced and released from prison next month.

The northern Indiana woman appealed the 2015 convictions that netted her a 20-year sentence.

July's ruling overturned Patel's feticide conviction and vacated her child neglect conviction. The court found she should be resentenced on a lower-level child neglect charge.

The attorney general's office did not have immediate comment.

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump today said there will not be any detention centres for illegal immigrants in the US as he asserted that he would get "bad people" out of the country and the deportation process will be done in a humane manner.

"We are going to obey the existing laws. The first thing we are going to do if and when I win, is we are going to get rid of all of the bad ones. We have got gang members, we have killers. We have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country," Trump told Fox in an interview.

"We are going to get them out. And the police know who they are. They are known by law enforcement who they are. We don't do anything. They go around killing people and hurting people. They are going to be out of this country so fast your head will spin," Trump said.

He said the outgoing President Barack Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country using the existing laws and same was done by his predecessor George Bush.

"Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm going to do the same thing and I just said that," he said.

Deportation, he said would be done in a humane manner.

"We want to do it in a very humane manner. You don't have to put them in a detention centre," he said.

"I am not going to put them in a detention centre. I said that it's something that has been done at a very strong manner. I don't agree with that. I'm not talking about detention centers," he added.

"I have very, very good relationships with a lot of people, a lot of Hispanic people. We are talking about it. We are going to get rid of the bad ones. The bad ones are going to be out of here fast. And you know there are a plenty of bad ones, gang members, gang leaders," Trump said.

Thought he has been trailing in all major national polls, the billionaire from New York said he is doing quite well against his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

"We just had a poll come out, the "Los Angeles Times" that has us two points ahead. We are very close in Ohio. We are right about even in Florida. I think we are doing very well. And don't forget she is spending a fortune of money," he said.

When asked about changes in the leadership of his campaign, Trump said he wanted to run it his way.

"I ultimately decided I want to run the campaign the way I want to run the campaign," he said.

"I just wanted to make this change. I felt very comfortable with the people that I had. I'd like them for a long time. I wanted to make this change for a while and I made it," he said.

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India did not have a hand in building or bringing down the Nepali government, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said today.

Rae said India wants to work with Nepal in development projects by improving bilateral ties between the two countries.

India did not have a hand in bringing down the government in Nepal, Rae was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Nepal after Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's visit to India.

Pointing out the need for promotion of religious tourism in Nepal, Rae informed that "homework" is being done for direct air connection between major Indian and Nepali cities.

Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda was elected Prime Minister on August 4 for the second time after his brief stint with premiership came to an end in 2009. The Prime Minister's post had been left vacant since last month after CPN-UML chairman K P Sharma Oli tendered his resignation.

Nepal had plunged into a political turmoil after Oli's resignation.

Ties between India and Nepal were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

Madhesis, mostly Indian-origin, had launched a six-month-long agitation from September to February in which more than 50 people were killed. The agitation had also crippled the landlocked country's economy as supplies from India were blocked.

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Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today said the Delhi government has no plan to ban liquor in the city even as he maintained that the AAP dispensation does not want to run the city administration with money collected from sale of alcohol in the national.

The Deputy Chief Minister, who was responding to a question of AAP MLA Pankaj Pushkar from Timarpur in the Assembly, accused the Opposition of spreading "misleading" figures on the number of liquor shops in the city to "deceive" the public.

Sisodia's statement comes at a time when there is a controversy over rise in liquor shops in Delhi. The Deputy CM said in many areas, liquor vends have been closed after complaint from public and soon Mohalla Sabhas will take a call on existence of liquor shops.

"There is an attempt to create an environment that we are the liquor mafia. We ended corruption in distribution of licence for liquor vends and that is why we are being targeted. We have shifted liquor shops to mall as they have arrangement to deal with anti-social elements," he said.

Sisodia claimed only six retail vends have come up in the city and the number of other licenced establishments serving alcohol has actually gone down since the AAP assumed office.

"I fail to understand how six new retail shops have contributed towards doubling the revenue collection? A section is deliberately misleading and trying to create a wrong perception. It is almost like we have turned into liquor mafia but no one is noticing how many Ponty Chadhas we have put out of business," he said.

"Delhi will become the first place where locals will decide the location of liquor vends. We have ended the inspector raj and corruption in excise department. Now, an officer's job is to stop corruption and don't think about liquor vends.

"Earlier, politicians or their relatives used to own liquor shops, now in our government no MLA supports opening of vend in his or her area," Sisodia said.

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. There are over 460 liquor shops in residential neighbourhoods.

The development comes amid a campaign by the Swaraj Abhiyan, led by former AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, against "proliferation" of liquor vends in the city.

Quoting an RTI reply from Delhi government's excise department, the group has claimed that 58 liquor vends had come up in the city since last February.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly and BJP member Vijender Gupta, who staged a walkout with his party MLA Jagdish Pradhan before Sisodia's speech, read out reports to drive home the point that the government was encouraging "microbreweries and nightlife".

Under the new excise policy announced by the AAP dispensation, no new liquor store, except in malls, will be allowed in Delhi in the current financial year. It has also empowered the mohalla sabhas to decide on whether to shut down the existing ones.

"The mohalla sabhas have not yet been notified and the government says that these bodies have been empowered to take decisions in this regard. The government is misleading the people," Gupta said.

Sisodia said the policy on microbreweries was not new. "Microbreweries exist in abundance in Gurgaon where you have the government of 'gaurakshaks'," he said.

Following Gupta's walkout, Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra took a dig at him. "I don't know why he (Gupta) left. I did not see any liquor vend open nearby."



Without naming Yadav or Bhushan, Mishra urged them to stop the "politics of imitation". He also pledged to hold a 'mohalla sabha' in his constituency on Sunday and implement its decision the very next day.

Referring to the prohibition models in states like Bihar, Sisodia said the AAP government was not against bans but underlined the need for a thorough study before resorting to any such move.

"We don't want to run Delhi using the revenue earned from liquor. We are not against any ban either but it has to be across the country. Right now our focus is on ensuring that the revenue earned is not syphoned like before," he said.

Taking a stand against prohibition, AAP MLA Madanlal claimed that hundreds have lost lives in Bihar and Gujarat, which are dry states. "Moreover we don't have the police under our control so we should not go for ban in such a situation.
Startup Data Xgen Technologies has started a paid email address service in Hindi characters or Devanagari script, and plans to roll out free registration of such IDs on the lines of Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo soon.

"A few hundred IDs have been created till now on .Bharat domain, which is available in Devanagari script. Anyone interested in Hindi script ID can visit our website and buy email package as per their need," Data Xgen Technologies Founder Ajay Data told PTI.

Email sent from these addresses is supported by leading service providers like Gmail and Microsoft.

"Besides communicating in Hindi, people can send emails from addresses created in Hindi script to Gmail, Outlook and some of the other addresses. We wish to start a free email id on .Bharat domain soon just like Gmail of India for Hindi domains and soon we will work with government to do that," Data said.

To bring more people on Internet, government is pushing website and email addresses in Hindi or Devanagari scripts. The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has asked domain or website name sellers to provide free .Bharat (in Devanagari script) to everyone who buys a ".In" domain name.

In a meeting held at the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Google and Microsoft said that their email services accept and can send messages to email addresses created in Hindi or Devanagari script but they do not have immediate plans to provide such email addresses.

When contacted, Google shared a blog post in which it said, "Language should never be a barrier when it comes to connecting with others and with this step forward, truly global email is now even closer to becoming a reality."



The blog mentioned that it has added 13 languages for Gmail services which includes Afrikaans, Chinese (Hong Kong), Georgian, Khmer, Lao, Mongolian, Nepali, Sinhala, and Zulu.

Microsoft said that it continues to enhance capabilities and make it easy for users to use and adopt local languages using its technology and this includes domain names in local languages.

"The current versions of Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge and MS Outlook 2016 all support Indian languages including Hindi and internationalised email addresses," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Moving closer to list its shares, leading stock exchange NSE today said it has roped in four merchant bankers, including Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, to manage its upcoming initial public offering.

The other joint global co-ordinators are JM Financial Institutional Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.

Besides, the exchange has engaged Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the legal advisor.

With these steps, NSE expects the listing process to gain further momentum. It may consider appointment of more banks for additional roles.

"The board of NSE at its meeting held on August 22, 2016, decided to engage the four Joint Global Co-ordinators -- Citigroup Global Markets India Private Ltd, JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd and Morgan Stanley India Company Private Ltd," NSE said.

NSE, which plans to get listed in India as well as abroad, said it is committed to do so at the earliest. It will file draft IPO papers with markets regulator Sebi for the domestic public issue by January 2017 while it will file for overseas listing by April next year.

The exchange has been facing intense pressure from its shareholders to go public and had formed a listing committee to expedite the process and seek support for self-listing. The exchange has reportedly approached the government and Sebi to bring in norms for self-listing.

Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) do not provide for self-listing of a stock exchange and the market watchdog has so far said no to considering the matter.

Meanwhile, NSE is also looking at restructuring its business by which it plans to create a separate entity for non-regulated portfolio.

The international listing is expected to give NSE visibility on the global platform and bring in transparency to the exchange's valuation.

The exchange's closest competitor, BSE, has already begun its IPO process after receiving in-principle approval from Sebi earlier this year and is likely to file papers soon.

"The board also approved appointment of Price Waterhouse & Co, Chartered Accountants LLP as joint statutory auditors for 2016-17 along with the current statutory auditors and as sole statutory auditors for the financial years 2017-21, subject to the approval and ratification of shareholders," NSE said today.

The exchange has been pitching hard for either self-listing or direct supervision by Sebi and not by a rival exchange.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Odisha government today approved a new policy with a target of making the state home to at least 1,000 startups over the next five years.

The Odisha Startup Policy (OSP), 2016, will be unveiled by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at an investors meet in Bengaluru next month.

OSP envisages Odisha being among the top three startup hubs in the country by 2020 through strategic partnerships, conducive ecosystem, investments and policy intervention.

"The policy will be implemented within five years and comprises of three Is - Institutions, Industry and Incubation," Chief Secretary A P Padhi told reporters here.

The implementation of the policy would be monitored by a Startup Council headed by the Chief Secretary and a Review Committee headed by Principal Secretary MSME, he said.

The policy envisages usher in an innovative startup ecosystem through creation of world class incubation centres, funding and supporting incentives structure at par with other states.

He said a Startup Capital Infrastructure Fund (up to Rs 25 crore) would be provided by the state government to the Department of MSME through budgetary provision.

He added that the state government would participate in



private state specific funds for startups to set up operations in the state, such as seed/VC funds, limited to 1/4th of the total size.

Institutions like universities and colleges would be eligible for one time capital grant of 50 per cent of capital cost, excluding the cost of building, up to a maximum of Rs 1 crore to set up an incubation facility.

"Rs 10,000 per month will be provided to a startup for a period of one year only if the startup has got the seed round funding approval," he said.

Reimbursement of up to Rs 1 lakh per year for three years would be provided to institutions/incubators/industry for providing free internet, electricity and mentoring services as per the policy.

The approved incubators would be eligible for a performance capital grant of Rs 5 lakh for each successful startup they incubate.

Marketing/publicity assistance up to Rs 5 lakh shall be reimbursed for introduction of a product in the market after Series A funding, the policy said.

Need-based assistance would be considered on case-to-case basis to certified startups for reimbursement of the cost of raw material/ components and other related equipment, based on recommendation of the Startup Council, Padhi said.
To make the most of the upcoming cold storage facilities at Biju Patnaik International Airport here, the Odisha government has set an ambitious target to export seafood worth Rs 3,000 crore during the current fiscal.

"Odisha has witnessed increase in exports from 14,161 tonnes in 2007-08 to 35,630 tonnes in 2015-16. It generated foreign exchange earnings worth Rs 347.9 crore in 2007-08, while the amount was Rs 1,787.84 crore in 2015-16. This year, the target has been fixed at Rs 3,000 crore," Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Secretary, Bishnupada Sethi, said.

Sethi added that the state had exported seafood worth Rs 4,794.72 crore in the last three years and the products have a great demand in South-East Asia, the US, Europe and Japan.

He said fishery products from Chilika lake are very popular in foreign countries. "We have produced 13,137 tonnes of fish, crab, prawn and squid from Chilika alone."



Noting that the state has a great potential to increase seafood exports, Sethi said the state government has decided to create necessary infrastructure like air cargo handling at Biju Patnaik International Airport to facilitate seafood export to other countries.

The state government is partnering Airports Authority of India for the cold storage which is likely to be completed this year itself.

Sethi said the state government will hold discussion with Paradip Port for more containers with modern facilities for export of seafood via sea route.

Meanwhile, Sethi said 4,333 new employment opportunities



have been generated under the Department of Fisheries and Animal Resource Development (DoF&ARD) while implementing the new agriculture policy of the state government.

Sethi said this during a review meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary AP Padhi last evening.

A total of 137 dairy farms were established by inducting 3,419 cross-bred cows in the dairy sector in the state with a project cost of Rs 1,816.16 lakh in between 2008-09 and 2015-16 through the DoF&ARD, he said.

During the same period, at least 614 commercial broiler units were established with a total bird capacity of 35,38,150 and a project cost of Rs 11,241.66 lakh, he pointed out.

This apart, 16 commercial layer units were established with induction of 4,95,709 birds involving a total project cost of Rs 2,249.30 lakh.

As many as 51 small ruminant units involving sheep and goats were established with induction of 8,457 animals involving a project cost of Rs 492.05 lakh, Sethi added.
A special session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly will be held on September 1 for ratification of the 122th Constitutional Amendment Bill (GST).

A proposal in this effect was approved at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.

The cabinet also approved another proposal to defer the beginning of the Monsoon session of the Assembly from September 7 to September 21, Chief Secretary A P Padhi told reporters here.

"The state cabinet has decided today to place the Constitution Amendment Bill (GST) before the state legislature on September 1 for ratification. A one-day special session of the Assembly will be convened for the purpose," Padhi said.

Stating that the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill needs to be ratified by at least 50 per cent of the state legislatures, Padhi said it was an important milestone in the reforms of indirect taxes in the country. The Government of Odisha is in favour of the GST, he pointed out.

"It will bring uniform tax rate throughout the country and help in seamless movement of goods and services across the states," he said.

On the deferment of the Assembly Monsoon session, Padhi said the decision was taken keeping in view of the ensuing Nuakhai festival in Western Odisha.

"The cabinet decided to defer the beginning of the Monsoon session of the state Assembly from September 7 to September 21 and will have ten working days as decided earlier," he said.

Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, in a letter to the Assembly Speaker, had also requested to defer the Monsoon session in view of the Nuakhai festival.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced the state will establish a characterisation laboratory where entrepreneurs can test their semiconductor designs.

"You will be happy to know that it has been decided to establish a characterisation laboratory in the state jointly with STPI (Software Technology Park of India) in the IIIT campus here," Patnaik said.

He was addressing the first convocation of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Convocation at Gothapatana here.

Stating that it will be the first such laboratory in eastern India, Patnaik said it will help entrepreneurs test their semiconductor designs at an affordable cost.

"Establishment of an electronic systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) incubation centre to promote the start-ups in ESDM sectors has also been approved by the government," he informed the students passing out from the IIIT, Bhubaneswar.

Patnaik reminded the students it is their duty to strive for the welfare of the society and work for empowering the disadvantaged.

Quoting former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the Chief Minister said, "All technological advancements we have today are the outcome of scientific exploration of scientists of earlier centuries. At no time, man was beaten by problems. He strives continuously to subjugate impossibility and then succeeds."



Therefore, the students must strive hard to achieve goal and control their destiny, Patnaik said while quoting former Chairman of General Electric Jack Welch, "Control Your Destiny, or Someone Else Will".

Patnaik pointed out that India is now the world's largest sourcing destination for the IT industry, accounting for approximately 67 per cent of the 124 to 130 billion US dollar market.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 500 cases have been lodged against "rioters and anti-national elements" in the four districts of south Kashmir in the last 44 days, with 381 "miscreants" arrested, officials said today.

"All the police stations and posts in south Kashmir (comprising Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian districts) are fully functional and are working round-the-clock, along with the other security agencies, to bring the situation under control.

"In the last 44 days, the police have registered 537 cases against rioters and anti-national elements. As many as 381 miscreants have been arrested and several rioters injured in police and security forces action while controlling the law-and-order situation," a government spokesman said here.

He said the state police has remained at the forefront while dealing with the situation.

"Police have risen to the occasion and faced the challenges with tremendous restraint, despite grave provocations in the form of mobs attacking their establishments, vehicles and personnel," the spokesman said.

Refuting reports of militant training camps being run in the Valley, he said, "There is a very high concentration of security forces at Tral due to the ongoing problems and there is no input regarding any terrorist training camp being run."



Kashmir is on the boil since July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, a resident of Tral, was killed along with two of his associates, in an encounter with the security forces at Kokernag area of south Kashmir.

The ensuing widespread clashes between protesters and law enforcing agencies have left 65 persons dead so far and over 8,000 injured, mostly in the districts of south Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Continuing with its efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, Pakistan has briefed China about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir during their bilateral strategic dialogue.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who is on a two-day visit to China, attended the bilateral strategic dialogue meeting and also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing during his trip, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China was held yesterday in Beijing where Chaudhry led the Pakistani delegation while the Chinese side was headed by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asian and Consular Affairs Kong Xuanyou.

Chaudhry apprised his counterpart of the "grave humanitarian situation" in Kashmir and the ongoing "human rights violations", the statement said.

"He (Chaudhry) expressed the hope that the international community would play its role in calling on India to put an end to blatant human rights violations in the Valley," the Foreign Office said.

Both sides held detailed discussions on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and China, including the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), economic cooperation, defence, counter-terrorism, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, culture, education and people to people contact.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in all areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

The Foreign Secretary and his Chinese counterpart also exchanged views on regional situation including India, Afghanistan and South China Sea.

Cooperation in multilateral forums including at the UN was also discussed, the statement said.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They agreed to continue to share their respective perspective, it said.

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Pakistan today charged MQM chief Altaf Hussain with treason for his inflammatory speech that incited party workers to attack media outlets here.

Hussain, leader of Mutthaida-E-Qaumi Movement - the single largest party in Karachi, was accused of raising anti-Pakistan slogans at a protest rally that turned violent.

Several journalists of various media organisation were attacked by the activists of the MQM. The protesters pelted stones and resorted to heavy aerial firing that killed one person and wounded others.

Two cases have been filed against Hussain: one for treason for his anti-Pakistan speech to participants in the hunger strike organised by MQM and the other for inciting party workers to violent protests, Inspector General of Sindh AD Khawaja was quoted as saying by the Geo .

The case pertains to the attack on 'ARY' News' office, vandalising of property, arson and pelting of stones at police.

MQM party workers took to streets yesterday after Hussain, in an address from London, incited them to storm media outlets and chant anti-Pakistan slogans during the hunger strike. The hunger strike was launched to protest the disappearance and arrest of their workers by the paramilitary rangers.

Responding to the protests, paramilitary rangers launched a major offensive here and sealed offices of the party.

The senior membership of MQM confirmed that they are no longer under the directive of Hussain.

Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar and other leaders said that in future the party would operate from Pakistan alone and that all decisions would be taken by the leadership in Pakistan and not from London from where Hussain has controlled the MQM for years now.

"The MQM should operate from Pakistan alone," Sattar said.

"We totally disassociate ourselves from the violence that took place in Karachi yesterday. It is totally against our policy to use violence to achieve our ends," he added.

"Altaf Hussain and the entire party are being ridiculed due to these statements," Sattar added.

"Enough is enough we cannot side with anti-Pakistan statements or ideology," said another MQM leader Aamir Liaquat Hussain.

The MQM remains the single largest party in Karachi for decades now and have dominated the political landscape for years sweeping provincial and national elections but since the clean-up operation began on the orders of the centre, the party has come under intense pressure.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan today expressed its "grave concern" over what it called "unnecessary delay" in the investigation of the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing case.

"Pakistan has conveyed its grave concern to India over (the) unnecessary delay in the free and fair investigation of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"We also call upon the Indian government to share information about the investigation proceedings of the terrorist attack," it said.

More than 42 Pakistani nationals lost their lives in the bombings, the statement said.

It said that the "Indian attempts to exonerate some of the individuals" involved in the attacks have raised serious questions over the due process of law and dispensation of justice.

Powerful bombs ripped through two compartments of the Samjhauta train, the rail link between India and Pakistan, during the intervening night of February 18 and 19, killing 68 people.

NIA has filed charge sheet against eight people including Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Asimanand, Sunil Joshi (deceased), Ram Chandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and Amit (absconding), Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajender Choudhary in the case which is under trial.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said today he expects talks with China on a long-simmering territorial dispute to start possibly this year, and urged Beijing to allow Filipinos to fish at a disputed shoal.

Duterte told reporters he preferred to engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than take a more aggressive stance that could anger Chinese officials into calling off possible talks.

Former President Fidel Ramos, a key political backer of Duterte, met Chinese intermediaries recently to pave the way for the talks, to be held in Beijing.

An international arbitration tribunal ruled last month that China's massive territorial claims in the South China Sea based on historical grounds were invalid under a 1982 UN treaty, in a major setback for Beijing, which has ignored the decision.

Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, initiated the arbitration case against China. Duterte, however, has not pressed for Chinese compliance and does not plan to raise the decision at an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders with their Chinese counterpart in Laos next month.

"It's better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger whoever the officials there and they cut completely," Duterte said, adding that possible talks on maritime and security issues would be undermined if ties are strained.

"China should be hearing us out now, about time that you lift the bans on tourists and allow the Filipinos to fish there," Duterte said, referring to past Chinese restrictions on tourism and on access for Filipino fishermen to Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing seized in 2012.

Aside from China and the Philippines, four other governments are contesting ownership of parts of the South China Sea, a busy passageway for shipping. The region is also believed to sit atop sizable deposits of gas and oil.

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Musicians who play wind instruments may be at the risk of developing a potentially fatal condition called 'bagpipe lung', doctors in the UK have warned.

The warning comes after a 61-year-old man in the UK died of the chronic inflammatory lung condition hypersensitivity pneumonitis - thought to have been caused by regularly breathing in mould and fungi lurking inside the moist interior of a set of bagpipes.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is triggered by the immune system's response to an inhaled environmental antigen and can progress to disabling or fatal lung disease.

It is often associated with occupational exposure to birds, particularly pigeons. However, in a significant proportion of cases, it is not always clear what triggered it.

The researchers from Queen's University Belfast in the UK described the case of the man who in 2014 had a dry cough and progressive breathlessness, despite treatment with immunosuppressant drugs, for seven years.

His condition had worsened to the point that he could not walk more than 20 metres, and was finding it hard to breathe, prompting admission to hospital.

He had been diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in 2009, although the cause had not been identified: he was not a pigeon fancier, nor did his house harbour mould or show signs of water damage. He had never smoked, doctors said.

However, he played the bagpipes daily as a hobby, and did not take them with him on a three month trip to Australia in 2011, during which time his symptoms rapidly improved.

This prompted samples to be taken for testing from several areas inside the bagpipes, including the bag, the neck, and the chanter reed protector.

The samples grew various different fungi, including Paecilomyces variotti, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium species, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Trichosporon mucoides and Exophiala dermatitidis.

Despite treatment, the man died. A post mortem examination unveiled extensive lung damage consistent with acute respiratory distress syndrome and tissue fibrosis (scarring).

This is an isolated case, and the cause of the man's condition was not definitively proved. However, there have been other reported cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, arising in trombone and saxophone players, doctors said.

"This is the first case report identifying fungal exposure, from a bagpipe player, as a potential trigger for the development of (hypersensitivity pneumonitis)," they said.

"The clinical history of daily bagpipe playing, coupled with marked symptomatic improvement when this exposure was removed, and the identification of multiple potential precipitating antigens isolated from the bagpipes, make this the likely cause," they said.

Researchers warned that any type of wind instrument could be contaminated with yeasts and moulds, making players susceptible to the risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

The research was published in the journal Thorax.

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Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today joined students of various government and private schools here, in singing the National Anthem.

Education Minister R Kamalakannan, the DMK legislator R Siva and officials of the Directorate of School Education were among those who joined the students in reciting the National Anthem at the Tiruvalluvar Government Girls HSS here.

This followed a directive from the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development to educational institutions across the country to organise mass singing of the National Anthem as part of the Independence day celebrations.

Later, Narayanasamy told reporters government would provide Rs 20 crores for renovation of various government school buildings in the Union Territory.

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To mark Mother Teresa's sainthood ceremony in Vatican on September 4, a postal cover, coin and statue will be dedicated to the late Roman Catholic nun.

Made of pure silk, India Post will release a special postal and numismatic cover of Mother Teresa, the first of its kind, on September 2.

"A five-rupee commemorative coin issued by the Indian government in 2010 to mark the centenary birth celebrations of the legend will be engraved on the cover. This is a special feature as it combines the two collectible items of coins and stamps," eminent philatelist Alok K Goyal, who designed the stamps, said.

The collectors' item will be released in a limited edition of 1,000 pieces.

Besides this, the Republic of Macedonia, where Teresa was born in 1910, has also announced to release a special gold-plated silver coin on the Nobel laureate.

The coin will have a face value of 100 Macedonian Denars and will be released next month.

Up to 5,000 pieces of the coin will be minted for the global market out of which 50 will be made available for the Indian market, said Goyal, an international dealer in unusual stamps and coins.

At the centre of the coin is a statue of Mother Teresa dressed in her trademark plain white sari with three blue stripes along its border.

The coin also has the image of a clematis flower known as "Matka Teresa" (Mother Teresa) bred by Stefan Franczak, Polish Jesuit monk.

It also carries the Latin inscription "Sancta Teresia de Calcutta" (Saint Teresa of Calcutta).

"We are hoping that this coin will be a hit not only



in the Indian market but all over the world as she has her fans in every corner," Goyal, who represents the International Coin House in India, said.

In Kolkata, where Mother Teresa had worked all her life and established the Missionaries of Charity, a life-size bronze statue of her will be installed at the Bishop House next to the statue of Pope John Paul II this Thursday, on the eve of her birth anniversary.

Built by Church Art, a Kolkata-based firm engaged in making various works of art, the 5.5 feet long statue is made of bronze imported from Italy.

The statue has been donated by Namit Bajoria, Designate Honorary Consul of the Republic of Macedonia in Kolkata.

Teresa was born in Skopje, the capital city of Republic of Macedonia, before she left her parental home as an 18-year-old to join the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish Community of nuns with missions in India.

For over 40 years, she served the poorest of the poor and disabled on the streets of Kolkata. For her services, she received 124 awards and distinctions, including the Nobel Peace Prize and the Bharat Ratna.

At a gala ceremony on September 4, she will be declared a saint by the Church which has recognised two miracles she was said to have carried out after her death in 1997.

The government of Macedonia has also announced that they will mark the declaration of Mother Teresa as a saint with several events.
Around 50 Congress MLAs were today suspended from the state Assembly and nearly 400 of its workers detained even as the party stepped up its offensive against the BJP government in Gujarat over "atrocities on Dalits", including the Una flogging incident.

While the Assembly witnessed ruckus over the issue, thousands of party workers took out a 'Janakrosh rally' against the "oppressive" government.

Nearly 400 of them, including senior leaders Shankersinh Vaghela, Bharatsinh Solanki, Shaktisinh Gohil, and Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry were detained.

They were and later let off.

Around 50 Congress MLAs were evicted and suspended for a day from the Assembly after they staged a demonstration and disrupted the proceedings over the Una Dalit thrashing incident of July 11.

During a discussion on the issue, Congress members rushed to the well of the House displaying placards dubbing the government as "anti-Dalit" and threw bangles towards ministers.

At least 20 of the Opposition members wore body suit banners and kept up their protest, despite repeated warnings by Speaker Ramanlal Vora on the second and last day of the Monsoon session of the Assembly.

As the din continued, the Speaker ordered marshals to evict the Congress MLAs from the House and named and suspended them for a day. Subsequently, the Congress MLAs were forcibly taken out of the House.

The Speaker said the Opposition had come to the House with a pre-planned strategy as more than their concern for Dalits they were trying to garner political mileage out of the issue.

Speaker did not suspend Opposition leader Shankersinh Vaghela and senior legislator Mohansinh Rathwa as they remained seated during the ruckus, but later they too walked out protesting the action against their party colleagues.

Later, nearly 400 Congress supporters, along with senior leaders and MLAs, were detained as they took out a march towards the Assembly as part of the party's 'Janakrosh rally'.

They were stopped when they reached the main gate of the Assembly, police said.

"We detained around 400-odd people as they tried to enter



the state Assembly. Those detained included senior party leaders," Gandhinagar SP Virendra Yadav said.

Thousands of Congress supporters had gathered in Gandhinagar to join the rally against the "oppressive" BJP government, and "atrocities" on the Dalits, as the monsoon session of the Assembly was in progress.

As protesters reached the entrance of the assembly, police put up a barricade to stop them from entering the premises. When they tried to force their way, police prevented them from moving ahead using water canons, and then detained them.

All those detained were later let-off later.

Emerging from the police detention, Bharatsinh Solanki attacked the state government charging it with being "irresponsible and oppressive".

"The BJP government has become irresponsible and oppressive towards the public. Corruption has grown and every section of people is fed up with the government. Even when the Dalits were being attacked, beaten up, the Prime Minister remained silent on the issue and instead expressed his solidarity for the people of Balochistan," Solanki said.

He said the government had done little to prevent attacks on the Dalits, the adivasis and the OBC community members.

Earlier, addressing the rally, Vaghela asked the public to uproot the BJP government.

"Unlike the BJP government, the Congress government worked in the interest of the public. When our PM (Narendra Modi) was chief minister here, in 2013, he criticised Congress-led UPA government over rising petrol, diesel price. The price continues to rise," he said.

"The BJP stalled passage of GST Bill for four years. Now, it had trouble when Congress raised objection to it. BJP continues to chant that the PM is from Gujarat. They wanted to congratulate Urjit Patel for being appointed as RBI governor, for his being a Gujarati. I objected to it. All this is being done to mislead the public," Vaghela told the gathering.
Taking up the cause of people living close to India-China border in Uttarakhand with the Centre, Chief Minister Harish Rawat today demanded formulation of a policy which paves the way for a member each from every family dependent on agriculture in para-military forces.

In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Rawat said a policy appointing one member each from all families living by farming in Uttarakhand villages bordering China in the para-military forces should soon be laid down besides giving a boost to communication and transportation systems in border areas of the state.

Rawat also demanded a bonus of 40 per cent on local products from border areas saying measures like these will help stop migration from there in search of livelihood.

Noting that residents of remote villages bordering China play an important role in alerting the Indian Army and ITBP outposts in case of a dubious movement of troops across the border, Rawat said their continued migration in the absence of basic facilities must be stopped.

Welfare measures like these can have a far reaching impact on the current scenario, Rawat said and submitted an economic development agenda for stopping migration from border villages which include boosting of communication systems, mobile services, construction of helipads, 40 per cent bonus on the sale of locally produced handicrafts and appointment of one member each from every family doing farming in the strategic areas in the para-military forces.

He said the state government is exploring whether it can provide quota to members of such families in the homeguards and police.

Rawat also proposed inclusion of Ghansali area of Tehri district, Lohaghat and Champawat areas of Champawat district and Khatima in Udhamsingh Nagar under the ambit of border areas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Justice (retd.) A K Roopanwal Commission, which was constituted by the HRD Ministry to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad Central University, is learnt to have submitted its report.

Sources said the one-member Commission has submitted its report to UGC officials, though there was no official confirmation.

Top officials in the HRD Ministry, when contacted, remained mum on the development.

Higher Education Secretary V S Oberoi refused to either confirm or deny that the report has been submitted. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, when contacted, said that the report has not reached him yet.

The Roopanwal Commission had been formed by the HRD Ministry to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Vemula.

He had committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of a hostel room in the university.

The suicide by Vemula had triggered a huge political storm with opposition parties launching a massive attack on the Union Government over the issue.

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Embattled Sahara group today said there is a "devious attempt" to lower the price for its marquee hotels and disturb the sentiment of potential bidders, amid reports that a bidder has reduced the offer price for the properties.

UK-based family office 3 Associates, whose USD 1.3 billion offer for Sahara's three prized overseas hotels was rejected by the group last month, has reportedly reduced the offer amount.

"We have no information of any such bid or offer," a Sahara spokesperson said in a statement and termed them as baseless cases.

The earlier offer was made by a consortium of family office investors, comprising Jesdev Saggar-led 3 Associates and others from the Middle East, for acquiring Sahara's majority stake in three marquee hotel properties -- the famed Grosvenor House in London, as well as the Park Plaza and Dream Downtown in New York.

Queries sent to Saggar remained unanswered.

Noting that it is amusing to know from a item that a due diligence was done without the group's knowledge and consultation, the spokesperson said, "these are baseless and speculative act of some wrong people".

"The interest of such people lies somewhere else rather than in the deal," he added.

On comments that New York Plaza Hotel might need more capital expenditure, the spokesperson said it "validates that it is a devious attempt to benchmark the price much lower than the actual market value of the properties in order to ruin the market and disturb the sentiment of the potential bidders".

Sahara group, whose chief Subrata Roy was in jail for over two years in connection with a long-running dispute with markets regulator Sebi and is now out on parole, has been trying hard to raise funds, including through refinancing of loans on its overseas hotels.

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Market watchdog Sebi will focus on co-operating with other domestic and global regulators for strengthening and promoting a conducive environment for the securities market in the current fiscal.

Besides, Sebi's priority will be achieving its mandated statutory objectives through various policy initiatives targeted towards investor protection, market development and effective regulation.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) cooperates and facilitates exchange of information with its counterparts in other jurisdictions for the purpose of regulatory enforcement.

It is a signatory to multilateral MoU of International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The pact has proved to be an effective tool in cross-border cooperation in combating financial fraud and misconduct.

During 2015-16, the regulator received 89 requests for information from overseas regulators seeking Sebi's assistance. Similarly, 44 such requests were made by the capital market watchdog to its regulatory counterparts in other jurisdictions.

"During 2016-17... It will be Sebi's endeavour to cooperate with other regulators, not only in India, but across the globe for strengthening and promoting a conducive environment for the securities market to flourish within the caveats of regulation," the regulator said in its latest annual report.

The regulator hosted a number of international organisations, including regulatory bodies, business and ministerial delegations, last fiscal. These meetings foster deeper levels of co-operation, facilitate a better understanding of the Indian securities market and further collaboration with visiting institutions.

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Protests broke out in the city today after the body a four-year-old child, kidnapped two years ago, was found with the protesters alleging police inaction against the accused.

Markets remained closed as traders joined the protestors including the victim's family members who alleged the police did not make any serious efforts to trace the child.

Yug kidnapped on June 14, 2014 and his skeleton was recovered by CID from the water tank of municipal corporation at Celestine near Bharari last evening.

The body was recovered following the information given by the main accused -- Vikrant Bakshi during interrogation, police said.

Two other accused -- Chander Sharma and Tajender Singh, who runs a shop at Ram Bazaar and were out on bail earlier but arrested again and a case of murder under IPC section 302 against them and Bakshi.

Satish Sharma, uncle of the boy, said the child was killed after eight days of abduction and the accused kept on demanding ransom even after killing him.

He alleged that Bakshi killed his nephew.

The protest started after it was revealed that the arrested persons were the same suspects who the family members had named in the case.

The traders said had the police taken a timely action when the accused were reportedly demanding ransom, the boy could have been saved.

The protesters staged a dharna outside the Vidhan Sabha demanding death penalty for the accused and social boycott of their families. They later marched towards the High Court and Raj Bhawan here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A shop owner was arrested for allegedly selling fake spare parts of cars under brand name of various well-known companies, police said today.

The police and officials from Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights (EIPR) yesterday jointly raided the shop 'Champaklal and Sons' in Swargate area here and seized the fake spare parts, Assistant Police Inspector, Swargate Police Station, Vikram Goud said.

The parts, which included pressure plates, clutch and clutch plates, outer box, were being sold under the brand name of Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra, he said.

Gaud said EIPR had received complaint about such parts being sold in the shop.

The owner Kirti Maniar (58) has been apprehended and a case under relevant sections of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 has been registered, police said.

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The liquor issue dominated the proceedings on the second day of Delhi Assembly today with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accusing the Opposition of peddling "misleading" figures on the number of liquor shops in the city to "deceive" the public.

In his reply, he also indirectly hit out at the Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan-led Swaraj Abhiyan which has attacked the AAP government's liquor policy in its first major intervention in the Delhi politics.

Sisodia claimed only six retail vends (L6) have come up in the city and number of other licensed establishments serving alcohol has actually gone down since the AAP assumed office.

"I fail to understand how six new retail shops have contributed towards doubling the revenue collection? A section is deliberately misleading and trying to create a wrong perception. It is almost like we have turned into Ponty Chadha but no one is noticing how many Ponty Chadhas we have put out of business," he said.

Leader of Opposition and BJP member Vijender Gupta, who staged a walkout with his party MLA Jagdish Pradhan before Sisodia's speech, read out reports to drive home the point that the government was encouraging "microbreweries and nightlife".

Under the new excise policy announced by the AAP dispensation, no new liquor store, except in malls, will be allowed in Delhi in the current financial year. It has also empowered the mohalla sabhas to decide on whether to shut down the existing ones.

"The mohalla sabhas have not yet been notified and the government says that these bodies have been empowered to take decisions in this regard. The government is misleading the people," Gupta said.

Sisodia said the policy on microbreweries was not new.

"Microbreweries exist in abundance in Gurgaon where you have the government of 'gaurakshaks'," he said.

Following Gupta's walkout, Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra took a dig at him. "I don't know why he (Gupta) left. I did not see any liquor vend open nearby."



Without naming Yadav or Bhushan, Mishra urged them to stop the "politics of imitation". He also pledged to hold a 'mohalla sabha' in his constituency on Sunday and implement its decision the very next day.

Referring to the prohibition models in states like Bihar, Sisodia said the AAP government was not against bans but underlined the need for a thorough study before resorting to any such move.

"We don't want to run Delhi using the revenue earned from liquor. We are not against any ban either but it has to be across the country. Right now our focus is on ensuring that the revenue earned is not syphoned like before," he said.

Taking a stand against prohibition, AAP MLA Madanlal claimed that hundreds have lost lives in Bihar and Gujarat, which are dry states. "Moreover we don't have the police under our control so we should not go for ban in such a situation.

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Tension prevailed in Parijat Chowk and Nagori Gate area here this morning after a statue of martyr Chandra Shekhar Azad was found vandalised.

This is the second time that the statue, which was set up by shopkeepers in 2012, had been found vandalised.

It is suspected that the statue was damaged by some anti-social elements, police said.

A case has been registered by city police under section 295 (destroying, damaging or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult religious sentiments of any class of persons) of IPC on a complaint of shopkeeper Shelender Chowdhary.

CCTV footage of the area showed three persons coming on a bike last night and damaging the statue.

Chandra Shekhar Azad was a firebrand revolutionary leader He was instrumental in carrying out the Kakori train robbery in 1926 and assassination of John Poyantz Saunders in 1928 at Lahore to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.

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The Centre plans to come up with a stringent new law that will go beyond merely imposing financial penalties on industries found polluting Ganga and other major rivers.

Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave also asserted that his ministry would pursue on a case by case basis the controversial issue of interlinking of rivers depending on whether the project benefits, saying merely discussions on it is a "waste of time".

Elaborating on the 24/7 monitoring devices majorly on industries polluting Ganga, he said his ministry plans to take the system forward for other rivers, cities and projects as well.

"If any unit, local body or industry, pollute a river or its tributary, we will see to it that it does not happen. We are thinking of making stringent law for this. We are going ahead with it.

"Just monetary punishment is not enough. You are damaging a living body (river). So just giving some money or fine will not do," Dave told PTI in an interview.

He had recently said a "zero tolerance" policy would be adopted towards the waste being discharged into Ganga from tanneries and asserted that some issues needed to be dealt "strictly".

Noting the discourse should not be about saving the Ganga but serving it, he stressed the need for creating a "social involvement" in the issue and said the government is holding consultations and working in the right direction.

"All rivers of the country, they must have their right on their conservation. We will list all major rivers of the country. We will see that a proper observation, monitoring and conservation activities are taken," he said.

Dave said his Ministry is continuing with the dialouge



with water resources ministry on the issue of interlinking of rivers.

"My thought is very simple. Once you connect two rivers, make a profit (P) and loss (L) account. If one feels after 5-7 years, we have a profit, go ahead for other one (river), but if you find it is not suitable and is damaging, do not go ahead with it. Put it in cold storage.

"Instead of talking for 40 years, it is better to construct one for four years and go ahead. We are wasting time otherwise (on this discussion whether it is good or bad).

"You join the two (rivers), have a P and L account. Put it in public. If you find its okay, go ahead, if the next generation finds, they do not feel like going ahead, dont go. scarp it. That is the right way," he said.

Dave had recently said in Parliament that the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project is presently under the consideration of Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) and its report is awaited.

Government had recently said that there are 21 river-linking projects in the pipeline.
Supporters of Julian Assange fear an assassination attempt was made on the Wikileaks founder after an intruder scaled the walls of his Ecuadorian Embassy hideout here.

Ecuador today expressed concern over the "inadequate" response from the British authorities to the incident at the embassy, which has been Assange's home for over four years.

An official statement from Ecuador said: "The Ecuadorian government expresses its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place.

"The government of Ecuador regrets that, despite the enormous resources that the British government has undertaken to prevent Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorian embassy, the authorities did not respond more quickly to this extremely serious attempt an unauthorised entry," the statement said.

The statement said it has made available all evidence in its possession to help clarify this "serious incident" to the UK diplomatic police.

"The government of Ecuador expresses its willingness to cooperate with the security forces in the UK to prevent future incidents and renews its commitment to protect Julian Assange," it added.

A number of social media users suggested it was an assassination attempt "ordered" by Hillary Clinton, while others thought US President Barack Obama was involved.

Wikileaks wrote on Twitter earlier today: "At 2:47am an unknown man scaled the side wall (and the) window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security. However, Scotland Yard seems to be treating the incident as an "attempted burglary".

"Police are investigating an alleged attempted burglary at diplomatic premises in Kensington and Chelsea. Detectives from Kensington and Chelsea's CID are leading the investigation alongside colleagues from the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue," a Metropolitan Police statement said.

Assangeis wanted in Sweden in relation to a 2010 rape allegation, which theAustralian national denies. He has fought against being extradited to Sweden, saying he fears he would then be transferred to the US to face charges on Wikileaks' activities.

In 2012, while on bail, he claimed asylum inside the Ecuadorean embassy in central London after the UK Supreme Court had ruled the extradition against him could go ahead.

A UN working group had ruled in February thatAssangewas being arbitrarily detained. However, the UK Foreign Office has called for the UN decision to be reviewed, sayingAssangewas staying in the embassy voluntarily and that the UK had a legal duty to extradite himto Sweden.

Met Police had scaled back its multi-million-pound security presence from the Ecuadorean embassy last year, saying the operation was "no longer proportionate".

The round-the-clock vigil onAssangehad reportedly cost the force around 11.1 million pounds.

Earlier this month it emerged that Swedish prosecutors investigating the rape allegation against Assangehave agreed to question him at his embassy hideout.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government today said it has come up with a concept of 'Swachh Bharat Fellow' to facilitate corporate sector and NGOs collaborate with district administrations so that they can contribute in making the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a success,



"We often get queries from private parties asking us in what way they can contribute to the programme. So, we have come up with this concept of Swachh Bharat Fellow," Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation said here.

He added, "The corporate players or NGOs can sponsor a Fellow whom we will attach to a district administration. The Fellow can then help in implementing the programme."



He said the Fellow will be paid by their parent organisation for the period they will work with the district administration.

This period could be of three or six months or a year, he added.

"The companies can send their existing employee or they can recruit and name the person as a Fellow," he said, adding added the ministry plans to appoint a fellow in each district.

Asked about the duties, Iyer said a Fellow can work on various aspects of the programme, besides spreading awareness about cleanliness.

He said candidates aged between 25-35 years and with work experience in sanitation sector will be preferred.

"He/she should have basic educational qualifications (graduate or under graduate)," the official said.

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The apex consumer commission has directed a foreign airline to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 to a customer and upgrade his economy class ticket to business class if he travelled in future, as a penalty for serving him non-vegetarian food instead of a Jain meal he had opted for.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) upheld the district forum's order also directing Swiss International Airlines, to pay Rs 10,000 towards litigation cost and dismissed the revision petition filed by Mumbai resident Amit Jay Kumar Jain to enhance the compensation.

"The opposite party (airlines) shall be bound by its commitment to upgrade economy class to business class in one flight booked by the complainant from India to Europe or Europe to India with a rider that the complainant must undertake that flight within one year," the bench presided by Justice Ajit Bharihoke said.

The bench, which also comprised member S M Kantikar, noted that the complainant was alerted by a co-passenger before he could eat the non-vegetarian food served to him.

"It cannot be said with certainty that the complainant consumed a morsel of non-vegetarian food. Thus, under the circumstances, the compensation awarded to the complainant seem to be reasonable and there is no cause for interfering with it," the bench added.

According to the complaint, on May 6, 2011, while flying from Zurich to Mumbai, Jain was served with a non-vegetarian meal whereas he had opted for a special vegetarian Jain meal.

When he approached the district forum in Mumbai, the airline said the mistake was human error and offered that in future any one economy class ticket booked by the complainant from India to Europe or from Europe to India would be upgraded to business class and an apology was also tendered in writing.

The forum had also granted a compensation of Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 as cost towards the litigation to Jain.

Jain's appeal for enhancing the compensation was rejected by the state commission after which he approached NCDRC.

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Regime forces and Kurdish fighters agreed today to a truce in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh after a week of clashes, a Kurdish official and Syrian state media said.

The agreement included "a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all armed forces from the city," according to a statement distributed to journalists by a Kurdish official.

It said the Kurds and regime would also exchange any detainees or wounded, and reopen roads blocked off during fighting.

The official told AFP that the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian forces would withdraw from Hasakeh, while the police forces of both the Kurds and the government would remain.

He added that the deal was brokered "under the auspices of Russian military officials."



Syrian state television confirmed the truce agreement.

A journalist working for AFP in Hasakeh said the city was quiet today afternoon, with several stores reopening in the centre.

Kurdish, regime, and Russian officials met yesterday in the coastal Hmeimim air base to thrash out an agreement to put an end to the violence in Hasakeh.

Steadfast regime ally Russia has strengthened its relationship with Syria's Kurds, and a Kurdish representative office recently opened in Moscow.

Clashes erupted on Wednesday between the Kurdish police force known as the Asayesh and the pro-government National Defence Forces militia (NDF).

Fighting escalated the next day when regime warplanes bombarded Kurdish-held positions in the city for the first time.

That prompted the US-led coalition to scramble aircraft, with Washington warning the Syrian government against strikes that might endanger its military advisers with the Kurds on the ground.

Hasakeh, capital of the northeastern province of the same name, was already mostly controlled by Kurdish forces although the majority of its residents are Arabs.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday that Kurdish fighters controlled 90 percent of the city after seizing the central prison.

"It (the truce) is a defeat for the regime and a victory for the Kurds because technically now they control the province of Hasakeh with a symbolic regime presence," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tech Mahindra has received approval from UK's Financial Conduct Authority for its 120 million pound acquisition of Target Group.

Target Group, which provides financial services outsourcing and software, welcomes the FCA's confirmation that it has formally approved Target's acquisition by Tech Mahindra, the Mumbai-based company said in a BSE filing.

The transaction, announced on May 27, will see the current management team remain in the business, ensuring continuity and acceleration of the group's growth strategy.

* * * * * *



Accenture to acquire Australian security company, Redcore * Technology consulting company Accenture today said it will acquire Redcore, a privately held Australia-based consulting company, for an undisclosed amount.

Redcore specialises in providing identity and access management services (IAM), security services for cloud, network management, public key infrastructure, cyber defense, applications and Internet of Things.

"The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms are not being disclosed," Accenture said in a statement.

* * * * * *



Bank of Baroda organises mega loan distribution camp in Noida * Bank of Baroda organised a "mega loan distribution camp" in Noida where sanction letters amounting to Rs 51.30 crore were distributed to 112 borrowers on the spot.

The sanctions were given under various facilities including seven loans under StandUp India and 38 under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna, Bank of Baroda said in a statement.

The sanction letters were distributed at the hands of R K Gupta, General Manager and Zonal Head, Northern Zone, Bank of Baroda. He also deliberated over the new technology driven initiatives of the Bank.

Indraprastha Region, the host of the event, has a business volume of over Rs 10,500 crore of deposit and Rs 3,200 crore of advances.

Tata Elxsi grows manpower by over 20% from July 2016



* Global design and technology services company Tata Elxsi today said it has hired over 800 engineering graduates and post-graduates in the last four months, an addition of over 20 per cent to its design and technology workforce.

The addition, the highest in Tata Elxsi's history, was done with the long-term goal of growing globally-integrated executives with the right skills and capabilities, it said in a statement.

"We went to over 50 of the best colleges and institutes to identify the right talent. We also assigned a vice president from the technology side to develop a specially crafted L&D programme to accelerate induction and advanced technology training and facilitate early availability and deployment into projects," Tata Elxsi VP HR Philip Mammen said.

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Simplilearn partners Microsoft for training 1 lakh on cloud * Simplilearn today said it has partnered Microsoft to train over one lakh people by 2020 on the latter's cloud platform.

"In today's digitally driven economy, there is a need for talent to own relevant and most updated skill-sets to be relevant in the work space. By partnering with Simplilearn, we are assured of talent in India that is skilled and up to date on cloud capabilities," Microsoft India Director Business Development Manohar Hotchandani said.

Through this partnership, going forward, Microsoft will also implement similar upskilling programs for other technology products in India, he added.

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BetterPlace gets funding from Venture Highway * Venture Highway today said it has invested an undisclosed amount in BetterPlace Safety Solutions, a Bangalore-based digital trust solution provider.

Venture Highway is founded by former Google executive Samir Sood and is advised by Neeraj Arora, Business Head at WhatsApp.

Founded in 2015, BetterPlace is building digital trust profile of individuals to help them access services such as credit, health and insurance.

* * * * * *



Bikano plans a foray into packaged food products * Leading processed food manufacturer Bikano is planning to foray into the catering of packaged food products in the domestic food market early next year with its 'ready to eat' product range.

The company is planning to come up with 'ready to eat product ranges such as Shahi Paneer, Rajma, Saag etc. It has already started exporting ready to eat products in overseas market including USA, Dubai, UK, Canada, New Zealand.

* * * *



* Tata group firm Voltas, a today announced the inauguration of the Voltas Center of Excellence at its Thane facility, in collaboration with Tata Strive a Group initiative, to organise vocational training programmes for the youth in India.
Expressing concern over the poor quality of mobile services in the financial capital, especially on its lifeline rail network, Telecom Secretary J S Deepak today said telcos will soon be asked to prepare an action plan on lines of one being uundertaken in Delhi to improve the services.

"In the commercial capital, we need to have the best connectvity...Mumbai cannot be lower in priority than Delhi..." Deepak told reporters on the sidelines of a Department of Telecom event here.

He said a meeting of telcos and the civic body has been convened later in the day to discuss the specifics and improve the service quality, especially in the "dark spots".

Speaking on the "dark spots," Deepak specified the rail network which carries upwards of 65 lakh passengers everyday and South Mumbai which has seen some protests by civil society as among the problem areas in the megapolis.

Deepak said the department will also be discussing the possibility of erecting telecom infrastructure on the railway network, for the benefit of passengers.

It can be noted that the railway commuters frequently face issues of call drops and lack of data connectivity while travelling.

In June, the department had announced a 100-day plan to upgrade the quality of services in the national capital region, under which telcos had committed to invest Rs 12,000 crore and install over 60,000 towers to check the issue of call drops.

After its earlier direction asking telecom firms to pay consumer for each dropped call was quashed by the Supreme Court, sector watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority has asked the government to amend laws to give it powers for imposing fine of up to Rs 10 crore on operators and jail term of up to two years for their executives.

Deepak today said there is a similarity of issues in both the mega cities, which are the top two telecom markets.

"The problems are similar in many ways. It is a requirement of investment, requirement of infrastructure, requirement not to seal towers and using technology for better optimisation," he said, adding there are some city-specific problems like the rail network in the financial capital.

Speaking on the Delhi plan, Deepak said even as one more month is left for the plan to be implemented, the department is getting positive feedback on improvement in the quality.

"Our feedback says there has been an improvement in



connectivity in many areas, quality of service is also better," he said, adding in the next phase, towers will be erected on government buildings like post offices and also airports.

Asserting that low level electromagnetic frequency emitted by telecom towers is fully safe, Deepak urged the civil society not to create any difficulties for the operators



In erecting the telecom masts.

Speaking at a special outreach programme on the issue, he also asked local bodies to facilitate expansion of the telecom infrastructure without causing hindrances through moves like "usurious rates" for undertaking the jobs.

He said all the studies conducted support his point and accused activists of spreading unfounded fears which are "myths and misconceptions".
Top US newspapers have slammed Hillary Clinton after release of latest set of her emails alleging that she as Secretary of State used a private server to prevent the public from seeing how she mixed public power with personal financial and political ambition.

"These latest emails are further evidence that Mrs Clinton set up her private server to prevent the public from seeing how Hillary and Bill mixed public power with their personal financial and political ambitions via the family foundation," The Wall Street Journal said in a lead editorial.

"When she got caught, Mrs Clinton cherry-picked the emails she'd turn over to State and tried to destroy the rest. Meanwhile, everyone important in the world understood that a gift to the Clinton Foundation was a way to influence the US government," the influential American financial daily reported.

In an editorial titled "Donations by Access" Boston Herald said the latest bunch of Clinton-era State Department emails released on Monday provide a host of instances in which donations to the Clinton Foundation netted the donors access to the secretary herself on an expedited basis.

Sacramento Bee in its editorial 'Hillary Clinton Must Steer Clear Of Foundation', write that it was necessary, and overdue, for former President Bill Clinton to make clear that if Hillary Clinton is elected president, his global foundation will no longer take money from corporations or foreign governments.

"There were too many troubling questions and awkward appearances regarding Clinton Foundation donors receiving special access while she was secretary of state," it said.

"The potential conflicts would become untenable with her in the Oval Office...But emails - yes, it's another aspect of the email scandal - have shown donors seeking, and in some cases, getting meetings with Clinton and other top officials. Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit group, sued for Clinton's emails and released another batch Monday," the Bee said.

"The exchanges include ones between top Clinton aide Huma Abedin and foundation executive Douglas Band about face time for Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain, whose scholarship program gave USD 32 million to the Clinton Global Initiative," the daily wrote.

"Corruption: Now that the FBI has found nearly 15,000 more emails and documents missing from Hillary Clinton's server, the strategy is clear: Clinton will admit to nothing even as more emails dribble out, then when the pattern of criminality becomes clear in October or early November, her campaign will sing that it's 'old news'' or blame others," wrote Investor's Business Daily in its editorial.

The New York Post said that it'll be weeks before the



public learns anything about what's in that dump.

"But Monday brought plenty of dirt from yet another stash of e-mails, ones that top Hillary aide Huma Abedin sent or received on her Clinton email and other non-State accounts. Brought to light by the good folks at Judicial Watch, these show new cases of special attention for big Clinton Foundation donors," it said.

However, according to The Washington Post, the emails show that, in these and similar cases, the donors did not always get what they wanted, particularly when they sought anything more than a meeting.

"But the exchanges, among 725 pages of correspondence... illustrate the way the Clintons' international network of friends and donors was able to get access to Hillary Clinton and her inner circle during her tenure running the State Department," The Washington Post reported.

The disclosures also cast new doubts on Clinton's past claim that she turned over all her work-related email from her private server to the State Department for eventual release to the public, it said.
About 250 people, including children, have fallen sick and hundreds of residents have been evacuated from their homes after a toxic gas leak from a fertiliser unit in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong, officials said today.

Di-ammonium phosphate (DPA) leaked from the DAP Fertiliser Company Limited on the bank of Karnaphuli river last night and firefighters battled until late morning to plug the leakage.

DPA is one of a series of water-soluble ammonium phosphate salts that can be produced when ammonia reacts with phosphoric acid.

Reports quoting officials said one of the gas tanks with 500 tonne capacity leaked at around 11:30 PM last night.

The gas quickly spread across large parts of the city. Strong winds blew the gas across a 10-kilometre radius and reports suggested that people felt breathing problems at the southern city's international airport.

"The gas spread from the unit causing breathing problems to the people across several kilometres," officer-in-charge of the nearby police station said.

Of the nearly 250 taken ill, 56 people, including more than 10 children, were admitted to hospitals in the port city. All the people being treated were stated be out of danger.

Hundreds of residents were evacuated from their homes near the plant, police and fire officials said.

"Several people reported to doctors just because of panic," the city's civil surgeon Azizur Rahman Siddique said.

Chittagong's Deputy Commissioner Mesbahuddin Ahmed said the situation was under control as leakage has been plugged.

The reason behind the leak could not be known immediately.

Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), which runs the unit, formed a 10-member committee to investigate the incident, while the district administration has formed a three-member panel to probe the leak.

At the time of the incident, the amount of ammonia in the air was recorded at 600ppm (parts per million) whilst workers at the factory can tolerate conditions with ammonia gas up to 25ppm, the environment department said.

Experts said exposure to ammonia could cause slackening, vomiting and breathing problems.

"I have been informed that the fire service men nearly brought under control the situation," Chittagong's deputy commissioner Mesbahuddin Ahmed said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Turkey today pounded Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes as expectations grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the jihadists after a deadly suicide bombing on its soil.

With tensions flaring on the Turkey-Syria border following the bombing in the nearby city of Gaziantep that left 54 people dead, Turkish howitzers on Monday hit jihadist and Kurdish rebel targets across the frontier.

Turkey has been shaken by one of the bloodiest years in its modern history, with a string of attacks by IS jihadists and Kurdish militants and the botched July 15 coup.

In new fighting, two mortar rounds fired from an IS-controlled area in Syria hit the southeastern Turkish town of Karkamis, Turkish television reported.

Turkish artillery responded by hitting four IS positions around the jihadist-controlled Syrian town of Jarablus with around 60 shells, it said.

The shelling came after as activists said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group to seize control of Jarablus.

But this could potentially put them on a collision course with the militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) which Ankara vehemently opposes and also has its eyes on Jarablus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from IS.

Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the "Turkish shelling in Syria aimed to prevent the advance of troops backed by Kurds from Manbij towards Jarablus".

Abdulkadir Selvi, a well-connected columnist for the Hurriyet daily, said the Turkey-backed offensive "could begin at any moment".

The plan has not been confirmed by the Turkish authorities but Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday that the border area had to be "totally cleansed" of jihadists.

The movements have come at a critical juncture for Turkey in Syria's five-and-a-half-year war, with signs growing it is on the verge of a landmark policy shift.

Ankara has always called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad as the key to ending the conflict, putting Turkey at odds with his main supporters Iran and Russia.

However Prime Minister Binali Yildirim at the weekend for the first time acknowledged that Assad was one of the "actors" in Syria and may need to stay on as part of a transition.

Yesterday, he urged world powers including Iran, Russia and the United States to join together to rapidly open a "new page" in the Syria crisis.

"It is essential that all the parties come together to stop the bloodshed in Syria," said Yildirim, whose naming as prime minister earlier this year was seen as heralding a less confrontational Turkish foreign policy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two people were killed in a machete attack in an eastern region of Democratic Republic of Congo where rebels have been blamed for a series of civilian massacres, the army said.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a partly Islamist armed group of Ugandan origin, is accused of carrying out the brutal slayings, the latest of which took place overnight August 13-14 and left 51 people dead.

Lieutenant Mak Hazukay, an army spokesman in North Kivu province, told AFP that late yesterday the ADF had entered the town of Kiteya - about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the city of Beni.

The rebels "killed two people with a machete, wounded six others, burned down seven houses and torched four motorcycles," he said.

The region around Beni has been the target of a series of massacres that have claimed more than 700 lives since 2014.

The Congolese government has blamed the mass murders on the ADF, but a report published in March by the Congo Research Group at New York University, which probed these massacres, claimed that soldiers from the regular army had also participated in the killings.

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the international community to renew its commitment to eliminate weapons of mass destruction as technological advances make it cheaper and easier for terrorist groups to produce and deliver materials for making the weapons.

Ban, speaking at a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council, said much good work has been done to curb the production of WMDs, including the landmark Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Security Council Resolution 1540 in 2004, which legally obligates UN member states to enforce measures against the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

But he said technological advances have made it easier for terrorist groups to gain access to the materials needed for making such weapons.

"Vicious non-state actors that target civilians for carnage are actively seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," he said.

In fact, the possibility of the use of such weapons by terrorist groups, criminals and other non-state actors has become one of the most significant challenges to nations around the world, said Emmanuel Roux, INTERPOL's special representative to the UN INTERPOL works to facilitate police cooperation around the world.

"Organizations such as al-Qaeda, (Japanese doomsday cult) Aum Shinrikyo, and other extremist groups have, in the past, expressly announced their intention backed by real attempts to develop, acquire, and deploy weapons of mass destruction against civilian populations," he told the Council.

Roux said the threat of WMDs is more imminent than ever because terrorist organizations have become more complex, with more movement of fighters across borders in recent years, giving them more access to recruits who have expertise in WMDs.

For example, he said that in 2014 INTERPOL seized an Islamic State group laptop owned by a Tunisian chemistry and physics student that contained a 19-page document on how to develop biological weapons. The document also included instructions on how to test the weapons on mice.

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The American-led UN Command in South Korea on Tuesday accused of planting land mines near a truce village inside the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.

Much of the border, one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints, is strewn with land mines and laced with barbed wire.

But South Korean media said no land mines had been planted in the area of the truce village of Panmunjom until placed an unspecified number there last week.

The UN Command said in a statement that it "strongly condemns" any North Korean action that jeopardizes the safety of personnel in the DMZ.

It said it wouldn't speculate on why placed the mines there. Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified South Korean government official, said the North apparently planted the mines to prevent front-line North Korean soldiers from defecting to South Korea via Panmunjom.

North Korea's state media didn't immediately respond to the UN Command statement.

Panmunjom, jointly overseen by North Korea and the U.N. Command, is where an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War was signed and is now a popular tourist spot for visitors from both sides.

Under the Korean War armistice, the two sides are barred from carrying out any hostile acts within or across the 4-kilometre -wide DMZ. Still, they have accused each other of deploying machine guns and other heavy weapons and combat troops inside the zone.

More than a million mines are also believed to be buried inside the DMZ. North Korean mines occasionally have washed down a swollen river into South Korea, killing or injuring civilians. In August 2015, land mine blasts maimed two South Korean soldiers and caused tensions between the two Koreas to flare.

The UN Command statement came a day after US and South Korean troops began annual drills despite North Korean threats to retaliate against the exercises, which it says are a rehearsal for an invasion. This year's drills come at a time of intensified animosity between the rivals over the defection of a senior North Korean diplomat in London and a US plan to install a sophisticated missile defense system in South Korea.

Today, South Korean officials said three North Koreans who were found on a boat off South Korea's western coast earlier this month have expressed a desire to resettle in the South. More than 1,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea each year between 2012 and 2015.
Union Minister Ananth Kumar has criticised Congress General Secretary for "supporting" a human rights organisation.

Kumar did not name the organisation, however it was a veiled reference to Amnesty International, whose Indian chapter is facing sedition charges over alleged raising of anti-India slogans by its members during an event on Kashmir held in Bengaluru last week, a charge denied by the Nobel Peace Prize winning human rights body.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is enhancing spirit of patriotism through Tiranga Yatra. On the other hand, was supporting an organisation which was a Pakistani supporter," Kumar said.

He was addressing a gathering yesterday at Barbai near here, the native village of freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil, as part of the Tiranga Yatra.

"This organisation was involved in sloganeering against Indian jawans...Raised slogans for the country's destruction," the Chemical and Fertiliser Minister added.

He said Singh had tweeted to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, asking him not to take any action against this organisation.

"This can't be tolerated at any cost," he said.

Kumar said, "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir will be retaken.
The US Postal Service today said it will issue a Diwali postage stamp, meeting one of the long pending demands of Indian-American community here.

The Diwali stamp is being issued as a "Forever" stamp, the US Postal Service said in a statement.

The stamp design, unveiled by the US Postal Service (USPS), is a photograph featuring a traditional diya oil lamp lit in a sparkling gold background.

Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, Connecticut, photographed the diya.

Greg Breeding of Charlottesville, Virginia, designed the stamp and William J Gicker from Washington postal service was the project's art director, a statement said.

The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony will take place at the Indian Consulate in New York City on October 5, the USPS said.

Hinduism was the only major world religion, for which the USPS had not issued a postage stamp.

"This is a dream come true," said New York-based Ranju Batra chair, Diwali Stamp Project, who had led campaign to send thousands of letters to the US Postal Service in the past and had campaigned before the US Congress.

"It has taken seven years for me, thanks to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney," she said.

Over the past several decades, a large number of individuals, organisations and Congressmen had campaigned for the issuing of a postage stamp commemorating the festival of lights.

Several resolutions were introduced in the Congress too.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vigilance sleuths today arrested an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Police on graft charges from the state capital, a Vigilance department release said.

The sleuths caught Amarjeet Kumar, an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) with Jakkanpur police station of the state capital, red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 for writing favourably in a case diary for the complainant.

One Ravi Shanker Singh, a resident of Bihta Kothi in Mithapur area under Jakkanpur police station of Patna town, had lodged a complaint with the Vigilance department that ASI Kumar was demanding a bribe of Rs 10,000 from him for helping him in a case diary.

The allegations were found to be correct during the verification carried out by the Bureau, the release said.

A flying squad team was constituted under Deputy Superintendent of Police Maharaj Kanishk Kumar who raided and caught the ASI while accepting the bribe from opposite of Jakkanpur police station.

The accused would be produced before Special Vigilance Court (I) at Patna after interrogation, the release said.

Altogether 75 persons have been arrested in 67 trap cases laid by the Bureau so far in 2016, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The son of a top Bangladeshi war crimes convict was blindfolded and picked up by security officials from his residence here, his family claimed today, amid an intensified vigil ahead of a Supreme Court verdict on the fate of another war crimes accused.

Abdullahil Aman Azmi, son of war criminal and ex-Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Ghulam Azam, was blindfolded and picked up by some plainclothes men without an arrest warrant from his Boro Moghbazar residence in the capital last night, his family members were quoted as saying by local media.

Police, however, said they had no idea whether any other security agency had picked him up.

"We know nothing about the incident," officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station Mashiure Rahman told reporters.

Azmi is the elder son of Ghulam Azam, the former head of Jamaat-e-Islami, who died two years ago in prison. He was handed "imprisonment until death" for committing crimes against humanity siding with the Pakistani troops in 1971.

Jamaat was opposed to Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan while most of its top leaders were tried for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.

A former brigadier general of army, Azmi was sent on forced retirement as the incumbent government assumed office after the landmark 2008 general elections and initiated the trial of major perpetrators of 1971 war crimes.

The development came as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is expected to dispose a review petition of death-row convict and Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali, whose death penalty was upheld earlier by the apex court itself.

Unidentified plainclothes men had earlier this month picked Ahmed Bin Quasem, son of top Jamaat leader and convicted war criminal Mir Quasem Ali.

Police also arrested executed war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's son Hummam Quader Chowdhury from a court compound in the city on August 4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A soldier of the Indian Army and a war veteran Saila Bahadur Gurum died at his residence here last night.

He was 85 and is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

Though Gurum was born in a village Lapark in the Gorkha district of Nepal, he stayed at a house close to Kendrapara Municipality office here and served the civic body after retirement.

Gurum had participated in the Indo-China war in 1962. Later in 1965, he fought against Pakistan in the bordering areas of Punjab during the Indo-Pak war. He also fought against Pakistanis in the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971.

Gurum had suffered bullet injuries on his right leg during the Bangladesh war.

After retirement, he joined the Kendrapara Municipality in 1974.

The body was cremated in Swargadwar at Puri today.

Mahesh Kar the president of the district unit of the ex-servicemen's association, former minister Bhagabat Prasad Mohanty, chairman of the Kendrapara Municipality, Dhiren Kumar Sahoo and others condoled the death of the war veteran.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DMK treasurer and Leader of Opposition M K Stalin today said if needed, his party would approach Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah over the issue of suspension of 79 of his party MLAs from the Assembly.

"If needed, we will meet him," Stalin told reporters when asked if his party was planning to approach Rosaiah over the issue of suspension of DMK MLAs.

He said as of now his party did not have any idea of calling on the Governor over the issue.

To another question, he said that 79 members, including himself, have been suspended for only a week and that they would participate in House proceedings after the end of the suspension period.

He reiterated that public meetings will be held across Tamil Nadu, including Madurai and Tiruchirappalli, on the suspension issue.

Stalin and 78 other DMK MLAs were suspended on August 17 for allegedly stalling the proceedings of the House. On August 18, they held a mock Assembly in the precincts of Fort St George and a case was registered against DMK members.

DMK has also approached the Madras High Court over the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Upholding a lower court order, the Madras High Court today confirmed life imprisonment for three accused in the murder of a 24-year-old woman IT employee near her office on the city outskirts more than two years ago.

A division bench of justices S Nagamuthu and V Bharathidasan, said there was no reason to interfere with a trial court order or to reduce the quantum of sentence in the case and confirmed life term for the three migrant workers from West Bengal -- Ram Mandal, Uttam Mandal and Ujjal Mandal.

The bench directed authorities to pay Rs two lakh to the family of the deceased from out of the Victim Compensation Fund within four months.

A Mahila Court had pronounced all the three guilty and sentenced them to life for murdering the woman, employed with Tata Consultancy Services, who went missing on February 13, 2014. The woman's decomposed body was found at the SPICOT IT Park in Siruseri, nine days later.

The investigation into the case was transferred to Crime Branch CID on the orders of the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the three were arrested when they tried to use her ATM card.

At the time of the arrests, police had said the woman was waylaid, dragged to a nearby bush and assaulted by the accused when she was walking on a footpath on the main road, which was about one km from the IT park campus.

The murder brought to sharp focus safety issues concerning women IT employees, especially those leaving office in late hours, and prompted software companies to clamp preventive measures, including mandatory use of office vehicle for those working beyond 8 PM.

(REOPENS LGM1)



Dismissing the appeals filed by the accused challenging the lower court judgement, the bench said, "Prosecution has proved beyond any doubt by means of cogent and convincing circumstantial evidence that these three accused alone were the perpetrators of the crime."



It said the trial court acquitted the three from charge of rape for want of sufficient evidence but so far as the other charges were concerned, it has considered the evidence meticulously and found they had wrongfully restrained the deceased, took her to nearby secluded place, killed and robbed her.

"Thus we do not find any infirmity in the judgment of conviction recorded by the trail court," the bench said.

The bench, while ordering payment of compensation to the parents, said, "...Though the loss cannot be compensated we feel that monetary compensation may to some extent wipe out their tears. We feel that this is a fit case where we have to order for the payment of a compensation of Rs 2,00,000 under the Tamil Nadu Victim Compensation Scheme, 2013.
A 22-year-old youth from Nashik was allegedly duped of over Rs 4 lakh by three persons who lured him with a job offer abroad and then sent the victim to Iran where he was tortured, police said today.

The accused--Shashi Bhushan Sharayu Singh (36), Dhirajkumar alias Manojkumar Singh (23) and Abhilash Korde (23)--have been arrested in this connection, they said.

The victim, Bhushan Rajendra Yadav, from Panchavati in Nashik, was looking for a job when he landed at the office an overseas recruitment agency at Kopri in Thane.

Shashi Bhushan, the company director, allegedly promised him a job with a petroleum ship at Dubai for a salary of USD 600 per month, and asked him to pay Rs 3.50 lakh for it and to bear his travel expenses.

The victim's father sold his land in Nashik and also collected funds from relatives and friends.

The youth allegedly deposited Rs 2 lakh in the Bengaluru bank account of one Arvind Gupta on July 7, 2015, based on instructions from Shashi Bhushan, police said.

Later, Korde provided Yadav some documents, including visa to Iran, and asked him to pay an equivalent USD amount of Rs 80,000 to the agent in Iran when he lands there.

He was told that the petroleum ship was berthed at Iran and he would get the job once he lands there, police said quoting the complaint.

On landing at Bushehr airport at Iran, the victim met two agents and handed them USD 1,200 for further process.

However, instead of giving him a job in the petroleum ship, they allegedly took Yadav to a dingy room in Bushehr and dumped him along with 25 others who had been brought there from various parts of India, a release issued by Thane police crime branch said.

Yadav was allegedly given sub-standard food for one month and after being tortured, he was put to work in a fishing boat for which he was not paid for six months, police said.

Later, Yadav managed to escape from there. He came to India in February this year and lodged a complaint with Thane police on July 30.

The crime branch of Thane police took up probe in the case and subsequently arrested Shashi Bhushan from Ulhasnagar on July 31, the main accused Dhirajkumar from his native place at Begusarai in Bihar on August 8, and Korde from Pune on August 16.

The accused have been booked under IPC sections 370 (buying or disposing of any person as slave), 344 (wrongful confinement), 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy).

Apart from probe in the case, police are also trying to find out if the accused had cheated others also and if more persons were involved in the racket.

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A 23-year-old youth who cheated people while impersonating as a police officer has been arrested from northwest Delhi, police said today.

The accused, Haider Ali, was arrested from the main road of Priyadarshini Vihar Colony, while he was trying to cheat a man, said Vijay Singh, DCP (northwest).

He was caught as he tried to cheat one Ram Avtar Gupta who was returning to his house when two men dressed in police uniforms approached him and advised him to keep his gold chain and 'Kada' in their custody since there has been a rise in the number of robbery incidents in the area.

Ram Avtar sensed foul play and raised an alarm when the duo insisted and tried to force him to hand over his gold items.

Alerted by his cries of help policemen patrolling in the area arrived and arrested Haider while his accomplice managed to flee.

Artificial jewellery which he handed over to the victims after taking their gold jewellery were found on him, added the officer.

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The deal with the SEC, detailed in papers filed in Manhattan federal court, resolves a 2011 lawsuit accusing Mudd of misleading investors about Fannie's exposure to risky mortgages before the crisis.

Mudd had denied wrongdoing and he did not admit any in the Monday agreement. The deal concludes one of the SEC's few remaining cases tied to the housing downturn.

Mudd was one of six executives at mortgage funding giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sued by the SEC. The prosecutions were announced at a press conference in December 2011 but they ended in modest settlements over the following years.

Under terms of the latest deal, Fannie Mae will contribute $100,000 on Mudd's behalf to a Treasury Department account that receives financial gifts to the United States, according to documents.

Fannie's former chief risk officer, Enrico Dallavecchia, and former Executive Vice President, Thomas Lund, agreed to similar terms when they settled for $25,000 and $10,000 respectively in September 2015.

A Fannie Mae spokesman declined to comment on the Mudd case. The SEC did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Mudd had continued to litigate alone after Lund and Dallavecchia settled last year and he was due to face trial in November.

"I appreciate Fannie Mae and the current leadership of the SEC stepping in to end a case that should have never been brought," Mudd told .

CRISIS TENURE

Mudd led Fannie Mae as a national housing bubble grew to bursting point from December 2004 to September 2008, when the Treasury Department effectively took control of the company.

That same month, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy as Wall Street was rattled by a wave of mortgage defaults.

Officials injected taxpayer money to stabilize Fannie and it's sibling Freddie which were conceived by Washington to promote home ownership and had helped underwrite a share of the easy-to-get subprime loans.

The SEC had accused Mudd and the five other Fannie and Freddie executives of downplaying the companies' exposure to risky loans.

The SEC said Fannie Mae concealed exposure to more than $100 billion of subprime and $341 billion of Alt-A loans - another class of mortgage offered to risky borrowers.

Former Freddie Mac chief Richard Syron as well as former executives Patricia Cook and Donald Bisenius previously settled their cases for $250,000, $50,000 and $10,000, respectively.

The case is U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Mudd, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-9202.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Andrew Hay)

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Ajay Piramal-led Piramal Enterprises and Bain Capital Credit on Tuesday said they will set up a platform to invest in restructuring opportunities in the country.
Financial Software and Systems (FSS), a payments and transaction processing company, has launched Access Control Server, a secure authentication platform that supports 3-D Secure Protocol and enables Card issuers and acquiring banks to offer security to customers during online transactions.

The server is a Visa and MasterCard certified authentication platform, providing two-factor authentication, an additional layer of security for eCommerce and mCommerce transactions.
has launched a new 4G handset 'Z2', priced at Rs 4,590, to woo feature phone users to switch to smartphones.

The device, which is also aimed at first time smartphone buyers, is powered by Samsung's own Tizen operating system.

"About 55 crore people in the country are still using feature phones and about 10 million feature phones get sold each month. With Z2, we want to help people transition to smartphones," India Vice President Mobile Business Manu Sharma told PTI.

He added that the Z2 is the most affordable 4G-VoLTE device in Samsung's current portfolio.

The handset, which will go on sale offline and through Paytm (online) from August 29, will come bundled with Reliance Jio's free voice and data service for 90 days.

This is the third handset powered by Tizen OS. The first smartphone, Z1 in January last year, followed by Z3 in October.

Sharma declined to comment on the sales numbers of Tizen devices but said the one million Z1 devices were sold within six months of launch.

Most of Samsung's mobile phones are Android-based.

As per IDC data, 27.5 million units of smartphones were shipped in the April-June quarter of 2016. led with 25.1 per cent market share followed by Micromax (12.9 per cent), Lenovo (7.7 per cent), Intex (7.1 per cent) and Reliance Jio (6.8 per cent).

The Z2 comes with 4-inch display, 1.5 GHz quadcore processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory (expandable up to 128GB), 5MP rear and 0.3MP front camera and 1500 mAh battery.
From around 2005, solar PV (photovoltaic) installations on rooftops were booming in Germany. The trend was driven by high feed-in tariffs, providing households an attractive and stable business opportunity. The extra cost of solar power was spread over the electricity bills of all. Banks, trusting in the government's commitment to the industry, were willing to give consumers highly-leveraged credit lines, in some cases even offering a loan for 100 per cent of the system cost. The solar power was not consumed by the household but fed into the grid. Matching solar generation and household's load profile was, therefore, not necessary. Thus, if a household had rooftop space and did not mind the aesthetics of PV panels, going solar was a no-brainer.

Banks, keen on providing the loans, as well as companies (EPCs), keen on selling the systems, lost no time marketing the opportunity. It helped that many Germans saw solar power as part of a larger political agenda to save the climate and reduce pollution. For some, rooftop solar even became a statement of democratic autonomy in the face of big, monopolistic utilities.

The market grew rapidly. By the end of 2015, Germany had almost 40 GW of installed solar capacity, half of which was on rooftops. If you fly over southern Germany today, you will see solar systems gleaming on almost every roof.

Over the years, as rooftop solar power grew, it became cheaper (and feed-in tariffs were lowered accordingly). There were two drivers for this. The first was the reduction in the cost of equipment, mainly solar PV panels. This was triggered by aggressive Chinese manufacturing expansion, creating economies of scale. The second driver was the steep learning curve. The more installations German EPCs were building, the lower their soft, non-equipment costs became. As a result, the cost of electricity from rooftop solar there became one of the most competitive - despite the comparatively low levels of irradiation.

Over the past few years, as the German solar market has slowed to a more steady, unsubsidised level, India has emerged as one of the most dynamic new markets. It wants to build as much as 40 GW rooftop solar by 2022 (out of its total target of 100 GW).

Is the German solar rooftop story a success that India can learn from? That depends on whether it can be called a success and on whether the Indian situation today is comparable to the German situation 10 years ago.

Let's address the first question. Solar power has been a success in Germany in certain ways. The political tools (the feed-in tariff and the comprehensive renewable energy law) worked - arguably even better than the government anticipated. They created a secure, predictable and attractive market environment, enabling the growth of an entirely new industry with skills, knowhow and innovation. That was one goal. A second goal was to decarbonise the German electricity sector (while at the same time retiring nuclear power plants). In that respect, the success has been limited. Today, renewables contribute around 30 per cent to the German electricity mix. The largest share comes from wind (13 per cent). Solar contributes only 6 per cent. Overall, decarbonisation is not on track for achieving the target of 40 per cent reduction by 2020 compared to 1990. This is mostly due to the heavy use of dirty lignite instead of far less carbon intensive natural gas, which in turn is an unintended consequence of the dynamics of the electricity market following the growth of renewables.

I would, however, argue that the German solar story is a success overall. Despite great fears that infirm wind and solar power will destabilise supply, the country still has one of the most reliable electricity grids in the world. Operators have learned to work with higher volatility and more market complexity. This experience is central to the development of future 'smart' grids and constitutes a competitive advantage for German companies. Secondly, German solar power growth has been a catalyst for cost reduction globally. Without German power consumers paying for solar power (and without Chinese tax payers subsidising solar panel manufacturers), the spectacular 80 per cent cost reduction in the past 15 years would not have been possible.

Can India learn from Germany? Not much. Conditions here are fundamentally different. Germany clearly had a climate and an ecological motive for its 'Energiewende'. It was ready to pay extra for clean power. Also, it made changes on a plateau of slightly falling power demand. India's priorities are elsewhere: how to ramp up overall power generation fast enough to fuel industrial growth, how to increase energy security, how to reduce local pollution, and how to provide power to the millions still without reliable grid power supply. India has formulated its ambitious 100-GW target (and signed on the Paris Agreement in 2015) because its politicians recognise that solar is a cost competitive and quick-to-implement option. Germany's solar feed-in tariff adds around Rs 4 to each kWh consumed. This would be unacceptable in India, where solar might soon reduce the average cost of power.

While the utility-scale solar market in India is well established, the rooftop market is lagging behind. There is still less than one GW of installations in the country (roughly equally divided between industrial, commercial and residential segments). The Indian government is used to auctioning and monitoring large infrastructure projects, an approach that has so far worked reasonably well for utility-scale solar. The rooftop segment, however, with potentially millions of small systems, requires a different governance skill, namely that of creating a market. That is far more complex than auctions.

Creating a functioning solar rooftop market requires three things. First, there has to be a business case for the consumer to go solar. That already exists for many Indian industrial and commercial consumers. It does not exist in the residential market. Second, consumers have to understand that this is a good business case and a trustworthy technology. This takes time. In India, low-quality providers have in the past undone some of the better work. In Germany, banks played a key role in communicating the case and financing the systems. Indian banks have so far failed to grasp this new opportunity. Third, there has to be a transparent, understandable and predictable overall market environment to reduce the market risk. In Germany, the renewable energy law (the 'EEG') has provided that. In India, pieces of a new framework (such as net-metering laws) are emerging, but there is no overarching architecture yet. One thing India could learn from the German solar rooftop experience is this: The government is not the primary actor in a market. It needs to create a good framework - and then step aside. ~
Nitin Gadkari is dreaming big. He is looking at ways to run 150,000 state corporation buses on lithium ion batteries instead of diesel. The idea is to prune imports of crude oil. It'll also be environment friendly, cutting CO2 emission by 48, 000 kg annually.

It appears to be a good idea. Indeed, the lithium ion battery is transforming storage technology globally. Not only is it smaller than conventional nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydroxide batteries but it also has much higher energy density, three times higher than other clean technologies. Unlike petroleum, coal and many other conventional energy sources and minerals, lithium can be endlessly recycled.

But there are roadblocks ahead for Gadkari. It is related to capacity and economics of storage. The lithium ion is still 40 per cent costlier than conventional batteries. Also, petrol and diesel are about a hundred times superior to lithium in terms of energy density. Globally, American automotive and energy storage company Tesla Motors is working on bigger size lithium ion batteries to run automobiles at its Gigafactory plant outside Sparks, Nevada since June 2014. By 2020, the Gigafactory is expected to reach full capacity and produce more lithium-ion batteries annually than were produced worldwide in 2013.

Gadkari has lost no time in approaching Tesla. In July, he visited its headquarters in California and invited it to set up their manufacturing hub in India. Tesla might not be interested in introducing lithium ion powered buses, but officials say it can focus on trucks, bikes and cars.

Meanwhile, in the US, research is being encouraged to discover ways of making storage systems cheaper. The US Department of Energy has funded the research departments at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, the Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge laboratories. The research is not limited to lithium ion based principles but range from hybrid fuel-cell to zinc-air batteries, along with next generation flywheels, a system that stores energy as heat in molten glass. Indeed, in the US there is a lot of interest in the renewable energy market and developing storage facilities. India certainly can take advantage of this development and move ahead. In addition to lithium ion systems, research is also underway on batteries based on magnesium, aluminum or even sodium - salt. These technologies are still to be tested beyond the laboratories.

In Japan, another energy hungry nation, technology major Toshiba is working on using hydrogen for energy storage. The prototype storage fuel cell is called H2One. It outputs 'clean' electricity and hot water. The energy is CO2 free and hydrogen is derived from water, making it a clean technology, says Toshiba India MD, Tomohiko Okada. India, too, is doing research on how to use hydrogen as a fuel, but till now very little has been achieved. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has commissioned several studies to IITs, R&D wings of universities and other prestigious engineering colleges to explore mechanical technologies to use hydrogen in internal combustion engines.

Hydrogen-based storage cells are seen as a good alternative for telecommunication towers. Internal studies of the Ministry of Power show that about 70 per cent of India's 425,000 odd telecom towers experience power outages of approximately eight hours every day impacting nearly half of the country's mobile phone users. Diesel generators are used as a back-up which emit harmful gases.

But hydrogen fuel cell technology is at very nascent stage and a drawback is the requirement of water. Okada of Toshiba is very confident that "this is the future of storage".

Meanwhile, globally, the industry is hoping for quick breakthroughs in both lithium ion and hydrogen based technologies. If the cost of storage comes down, it can actually revolutionise the renewable energy and power sector as a whole. India is estimated to require 250-400 GW of additional power over the next two decades and most of this will come from renewable resources. Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) report on Green Corridors estimates that 30 GW of new generation will require at least 5 GW of energy storage. The batteries can also ensure reliability of renewable resources and empower them to reduce the dependence on coal, oil and nuclear based energy.

India is building a policy and regulatory framework to encourage the development of storage technology. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan will devote $4.2 billion to putting six million electric and hybrid vehicles on the streets by 2020. India's Smart City programme is ensuring an enabling environment for storage devices. This includes infrastructure for electric and hybrid automobiles, reliability on renewable resources, and net zero energy buildings. An investment of Rs 50,802 crore has been planned for modernising 20 cities.

Indeed, lithium ion technology appears promising in the current scenario. India is not banking on Tesla alone. Gadkari roped in scientists at the country's premier space institute ISRO, to work on a lithium ion battery. There is some hope - in April, officials from the Automative Research Association of India informed him that ISRO has provided them with a prototype of automotive duty cycles and they are testing them at their facility in Pune. The idea is to use indigenous materials and reduce the cost. Gadkari is expecting that these batteries will be available for Rs 5-6 lakh, instead of the current price of Rs 55 lakh. Tesla expects to cut the price of its batteries by 30 per cent.

"ISRO has already worked out the lithium ion technology, which they use for spacecrafts. They have already developed a cell level Prototype. The issue globally is how to reduce the cost and scale up the economics. If we can bring in some indigenous elements, the battle is won," says a senior official from Gadkari's ministry.

India has made a big commitment to drastically cut down on carbon emissions. And the development of storage technology will help in meeting that target.


The Maharashtra government on Tuesday signed an agreement with Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India for developing 10 airports in the state under the centre's regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

RCS, which is part of ambitious National Civil Aviation Policy 2016, is aimed at developing regional connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development from the centre.

"The MoU, signed in presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, aims to facilitate regional air connectivity by making it affordable by enacting different concessions offered by Centre, the state government and the operators," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

The 10 airports - Kolhapur, Shirdi, Amravati, Gondia, Nashik, Jalgaon, Nanded, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg will be developed, wherein state will contribute 20 per cent cost of Viability Gap Funding, whereas the centre will bear the remaining 80 per cent cost.

"I thank the Government of India for the dynamic policies of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and I am confident that with this MoU, aviation in Maharashtra will definitely move to the next level," Fadnavis said, adding that some other issues and their solutions were also discussed in the meeting and some important decisions taken.

"For development of greenfield international airport at Rajgurunagar (New Chakan), the Airport Authority will send a team for preliminary study in first week of September 2016," the CM said.

He said that for building heights in BKC and Wadala notified areas, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) survey will be completed soon and final report is expected by December 2016.

The CM said the operations at Shirdi airport will begin from November 2016 and AAI will provide all help needed for this project.

As per the MoU, the state government will reduce the Local Body Tax (LBT) on air fuel from existing 10 per cent to 1 per cent for a period of 10 years.

The MoU states that government will provide essential land free of cost.

These airports will be provided with roads, rail, Metro and waterway connectivity. The state government will also provide electricity, water and necessary facilities at concessional rates, the MoU says.
Bank of Ireland (BOI) entered a partnership with the AA in the UK last year, starting off with credit cards and an ISA, though moving into personal loans in the final quarter of last year as well.

It is now being reported that that the AA is set to push into the UK mortgage market, offering 2-5 year fixed rate mortgages with LTVs up to 60% and rates between 2.06-2.87%.

The AA will be including its home and central heating emergency and repair cover for 12 months and members will receive a 15% discount on AA home insurance, though they will have to buy breakdown cover if they dont already have it.

The mortgages will have no fees attached so are likely to appeal to switchers, though according to the press reports only the 4-year deal at 2.48% could be termed a best buy.

According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "Offering mortgages was always going to be the main objective of this partnership for BOI. However, we continue to believe that the financial contribution to BOI remains small in the short term."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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It was announced today that two Competitive Start Fund (CSF) competitions  the International Entrepreneurship CSF and the Graduate Entrepreneurship CSF, combining a total of 1million in funding from Enterprise Ireland will open for applications on Wednesday 24th August 2016.

The funds are open to companies active in manufacturing and internationally traded services targeting Internet, Games, Apps, Mobile, SaaS, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Software, Lifesciences, Food, Cleantech and Industrial Products.

Twenty successful applicants will receive high-level business development support and an investment of up to 50,000 each. The CSF is designed to accelerate the growth of start-ups and enable companies to reach key commercial and technical milestones.

Applications are invited from ambitious graduates and international entrepreneurs with early stage companies capable of succeeding in global markets, creating jobs and growth.

The International Entrepreneurship CSF is a competition specifically for start-ups that are currently based overseas but are willing to relocate to Ireland. Successful applicants from outside the EU will be eligible for a Startup Entrepreneur Visa. Applicants for the Graduate Entrepreneurship CSF must be a graduate with a third level qualification within the last three years.

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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Lamborghini Chief Executive Officer Stefano Domenicali said on Tuesday the luxury automaker expects to at least double production to 7,000 vehicles a year by 2019 once it rolls out a new SUV.

Domenicali told Reuters that the automaker plans to cap yearly production of its supercars at 3,500. He also expects SUV production will be at least as high but could be higher depending on demand. The Italian automaker is part of Volkswagen Group.

Domenicali, who was named CEO of the automaker in February, said Lamborghini also plans to boost its worldwide dealer network by about 20 percent to 160, from the current 132.

About 30 percent of its dealers and sales are in the United States, its largest market. Lamborghini sold a record 3,245 vehicles worldwide in 2015, including just over 1,000 in the United States.

Lamborghini is adding 500 employees and doubling the size of its Sant'Agata Bolognese plant in Italy as part of an investment worth hundreds of millions of euros announced in 2015. The new SUV will go on sale in 2018 starting at around $200,000.

Lamborghini is joining a number of luxury carmakers that have entered the profitable SUV market, including VW's Porsche unit.

Domenicali said he wants to keep brand volume limited. The company unveiled its Centenario Roadster in California, and said the company had already sold out of the 20 roadsters it was building at a starting price of 2 million euros before taxes.

Lamborghini plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid electric version of the SUV by 2020, and could eventually add a zero emission vehicle.

Lamborghini is owned by Volkswagen through its Audi brand. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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This photo provided by Centerville Police shows Dereck James Harrison, 22. Utah police are searching for two suspects, Flint Wayne Harrison and Dereck James Harrison, after a woman and her four teenage daughters were lured to a house and tied in a basement before they managed to escape, authorities said Wednesday, May 11, 2016. (Centerville Police via AP)

FARMINGTON, Utah (AP)  A plea deal is possible in the Utah case against a man accused of tying up five people in a basement and then killing a train worker in Wyoming while on the run from police, attorneys said Monday.

During his first court appearance since his father and co-defendant killed himself in jail, Dereck James DJ Harrison agreed to a delay in the case as lawyers work on a potential plea bargain. His lawyer Michael Edwards said theres no deal on the table yet but that Harrison is willing to wait.

Prosecutor Jeff Thomson said any plea offer would be made before a new hearing set for Sept. 12.

Harrison, 23, has pleaded not guilty to Utah drug and kidnapping charges alleging he and his father tied up a woman and her four daughters in a basement.

Hes also charged with murder and kidnapping in the death of Salt Lake City train worker Kay Ricks in Wyoming, but wont face those allegations until the Utah case is complete. The Ricks family has called on Utah authorities to release Harrison to Wyoming so he can be tried faster.

Wyoming prosecutor Spencer Allred attended the Utah court hearing Monday. He said Harrison could face the death penalty in the Wyoming case, but prosecutors wont decide whether to pursue it until after hes sent there.

We are standing and have been waiting for Utah to be completed, he said.

The death of Flint Harrison, 52, could make their job more complicated.

The elder Harrison told police his son was a killer who kept bloody knives as trophies, but statements like that may not be admissible in court after the fathers death because they may be considered hearsay and Flint Harrison cant be cross-examined, said Utah lawyer Clayton Simms, a defense attorney whos not assigned to the Harrison case.

Prosecutors will tackle those questions as the case goes forward, Allred said. Flint Harrison had been facing the same charges as his son in both Utah and Wyoming.

Authorities say the two Harrison men invited the women over for a barbecue at Dereck Harrisons house outside Salt Lake City in May. When they arrived, the men tied them up and beat them until they managed to escape. The father and son had been using drugs heavily and wrongly believed the mother had reported them to authorities, police have said.

The Harrisons got away and dodged a police manhunt until they encountered Ricks during his shift, police have said.

They forced the 63-year-old worker inside his work truck and drove it to Wyoming. Ricks was beaten to death and dumped in the southwestern Wyoming countryside along the way to a remote hideout that was the Harrisons last stop before their arrest, prosecutors said in charging documents.
SHARE Caller-Times file Selena Quintanilla Perez performs during the recording of her LP "Selena Live" on Feb. 7, 1993 at a free concert at Memorial Coliseum. Caller-Times file Selena Quintanilla Perez performs during the recording of her LP "Selena Live" on Feb. 7, 1993 at a free concert at Memorial Coliseum.

By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

If you were one of many to watch Selena perform Feb. 7, 1993, at the Memorial Coliseum, then you have an idea how a wax figure crafted in her likeness will look.

Madame Tussauds Hollywood museum in Los Angeles announced Monday in a news release, the wax figure will be dressed in a recreated stage look from Selena's concert to celebrate the performance, which earned a Grammy Award the following year.

The museum on Hollywood Boulevard will unveil the Tejano's superstar wax figure Aug. 30.

Selena's figure was immortalized because of an outpouring of fan appreciation, according to the release. Nearly 10,000 people digitally signed a Change.org petition encouraging Madame Tussauds to create the figure in 2015.

Sculptors and artists traveled to the Selena museum in Corpus Christi to work in partnership with the Quintanilla family to create an authentic figure with her iconic poses and signature look. Her figure is valued at about $350,000.

Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Selena as among five women to be inducted to the Texas Women's Walk of Fame. In April, the Tejano superstar received recognition as the Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year from the Billboard Latin Music Awards. In June, Selena joined the Hollywood Walk of Fame Class of 2017.

Corpus Christi fans also will have a sneak peek at the highly anticipated M.A.C. line at an event on Sept. 30 at the American Bank Center, a day before the makeup is released in stores.

Twitter: @CallerNatalia
By Matt Woolbright of the Caller-Times

The Federal Aviation Administration won't revisit its initial ruling on the proposed Chapman Ranch wind farm, so the agency's green light on the project remains unchanged despite requests by South Texas officials to reconsider.

In a letter mailed last week, the administration reiterated a previous determination that the proposed 86-turbine wind farm would "not have an adverse effect on the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace" primarily used by the Navy for training pilots out of Kingsville and Corpus Christi. The agency's letter is signed by Gary Norek, the acting director of airspace services.

"We're glad the FAA clarified the situation," said John Kelley, who represents part of the Chapman family supporting the project.

City and regional leaders have been hesitant to embrace the proposed Apex Clean Energy development out of concerns the wind turbines could make the area less attractive as a training space for the Navy and lead to base reductions or closures in Corpus Christi or Kingsville.

The FAA's final verdict on the issue doesn't alleviate that concern, Mayor Nelda Martinez said Monday.

"It doesn't take into account the concerns our Chief of Naval Air Training has brought to our attention," Martinez said of the decision. "That is ... the cumulative effect of other wind farms that have come into play since that original permit (for the Chapman Ranch wind farm)."

Those questions are expected to be answered by the Navy, which is conducting a study to model and understand that effect. Results of that study are expected in October, and any council action will likely not precede those findings, Martinez said.

"We're waiting on information from the Navy's research and development arm," she said. "(The FAA officials) do not have all the information."

Still, Kelley doesn't believe the additional information the Navy's study will provide affects the Chapman Ranch project.

"That study is unrelated," he said. "The Navy and Apex already have an agreement in place, which allows the Navy to shut down the wind farm's operation any time it interferes with the Navy's operations."

That agreement was approved because technology employed by wind turbines near Travis Air Force Base in California has shown the turbines can safely operate near military-used airspace, Kelley added.

The news comes on the heels of City Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn mentioning the possibility of the council de-annexing the area  a move from two years ago that gave the city the ability to regulate or prevent the project. Vaughn's comments came during a discussion about future capital project demands, which include at least $14 million in necessary infrastructure into the annexed Chapman Ranch area.

The FAA's ruling on the issue will remain in effect until Feb. 12, 2018.

Twitter: @reportermatt
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By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times

Nueces County voters won't need to stick to voting at their precinct's polling location on Election Day.

The Texas Secretary of State approved the county's application to be included in the Countywide Polling Place Program, according to a news release from Nueces County Clerk Kara Sands.

Voters can now cast a ballot at any of the 91 polling locations in the county, according to the release.

"Our goal is to make the voting process more convenient and less confusing for voters," Sands said in a statement. "Vote Centers will help to accomplish both."

The move was backed by the county's Democratic and Republican parties, as well as the League of Women Voters.

Many residents also spoke in favor of the move in a public hearing June 27, but one election worker thought it should have implemented for a future election.

"Any amount of training will not be enough to get the election workers competent in four months," Carolyn Moon said.

To become eligible, Nueces County needed to establish at least 83 polling locations, or 65 percent of its precinct polling places.

The policy is also seen as a solution to the number of polling locations that were incompatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The last day to register to vote is Oct. 11. Election Day is on Nov. 8.

Staff writer Julie Garcia contributed to this report.

Twitter: @Caller_Fares
When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas
The implementation of the restructuring plan is awaiting the new management team.

ADS







The stakes are high for the new management team of the Cameroon national air carrier, Camair-Co. The new Board Chairman, Mefiro Oumarou and Director General, Ernest Dikoum appointed by President Paul Biya yesterday August 22, 2016 and commissioned in Yaounde by Transport Minister have the tasked of overseeing the strict implementation of the restructuring plan, proposed by the American consulting firm, Boeing, after a forensic audit.



The skies may appear clearer for the company with the proposed plan to restructure the company after months of uncertainty caused by the recurrent breakdown of the Boeing 767-300 ER christened the Dja and the Boeing 737-700 coupled with the recent ban by the Civil Aviation Authority prohibiting the company from flying to Europe. The sigh of relief will however be heaved when the new management team takes the restructuring plan to the end.



Nine Additional Aircraft



The team is expected as proposed by the American firm, Boeing, to purchase nine additional aircraft to step up its fleet to 14 aircraft. Camair-Cos inability to fly higher has always been blamed on its limited fleet, with Boeing insisting in its strategic audit report that the companys flight expansion and business plan programme that brings out reliability was only achievable with more aircraft. The task is therefore huge for the new management team that is expected to purchase new aircraft according to its to-be-new destinations.



New Flight Destinations



Camair-Cos inability to make ends meet has partly been attributed to its limited flight destinations which is understandable. The company planes, apart from flying across Africa, only go to Europe. The new restructuring plan endorsed by the Head of State makes provision for 27 destinations. Five intercontinental lines like Paris, Bruxelles, Washington and Wangzhou alongside 13 regional and nine domestic lines have been recommended by the consultant as government seeks to redress the countrys lone airline company. Ernest Dikoum and his team will therefore have the daunting task of making the company profitable through the multiplication of its flight destinations.



FCFA 35 Billion Debts



Camair-Co is in the bad books of its service providers like fuel providers, aircraft lenders and navigation service experts. Boeing consultant is proposing that government pays the company debts worth FCFA 35 billion. The new management team is therefore expected to work out a payment plan to relief the company of this nightmare.



FCFA 60 Billion Funding



In June 2015, government secured a FCFA 25 billion loan within a plan to re-launch the company. Priority was the purchase of new aircraft to add to the three the company owns. However, the funds are expected to be disbursed now given that the report of the forensic audit of the company required has been endorsed. This notwithstanding, the consultant tasked government to finance the company to the tune of FCFA 60 billion so as to save the dying horse.

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| BY Ricki Green |

When entering awards, production companies, post-production houses, editing facilities and music and sound companies are under the belief that if an agency enters their work, there is no reason for them to enter the work as well.

It may make some practical sense in theory  no need to duplicate an entry into LIA, right?

The world of advertising awards was built around celebrating the idea, not the execution. But today the way in which ads are made is so advanced, and the ideas so reliant upon creating the impossible, it takes many individual skills and expertise to make each campaign a reality.

Says Barbara Levy, president, London International Awards: When agencies enter LIA, they dont necessarily enter work into the categories from which production companies, post-production houses, editing facilities and music and sound companies would most benefit, instead choosing product and service categories that arent judged at all for the craft or specific technique.

What these companies might not even be aware of is that LIA has two completely separate Juries, one for Production, Post-Production and Music Videos and a separate jury for Music and Sound. These juries are made up of the worlds best production and post-production executives, from top executive producers and directors to agency heads of TV, chief production officers and music and sound designers and composers.

So, why should production and post-production companies bother to enter their own work into LIA?

Says Laura Gregory (pictured above), founder of Great Guns and past LIA juror: The quality of LIAs world-class juries who give their time and passion to this work is staggering. It would be smart to enter so those judges are aware of the work. A craft entry is exactly what it says on the tin  craft, judged by craft.

Says Neil Davies, ECD, The Mill: LIA recognises creativity in all forms, celebrating skill and artistry across all disciplines. To be acknowledged by peers is an award in itself, but its about the teams who work so hard on projects being recognised for their achievements. For us at The Mill, an award is testament to the teams restless pursuit of brilliance, and keeps us pushing to make every job better than the last.

Says Levy: So much work goes into making these great ideas a reality, we have a duty to honour the craft. We wish to make sure those involved in the craft are acknowledged. Agencies are not mandated to input creative credits and most only input credits that pertain to the agency.

If production and post-production companies want to bring home, in the words of Ogilvy Germanys Stephan Vogel, one of the most spectacular and most prestigious statues you can ever have on your shelf, its up to them to enter the work they created.

The LIA 2016 Entry System is still open for new entrants and for additional entries from those who have already entered. Judging will take place in Las Vegas from 6th October to 14th October. The shortlists will be announced as each judging session concludes, with winners being announced 2nd November.
| BY Ricki Green |

Cutting Edge Sydney has produced a series of bespoke motion graphics that energetically capture the personality of telecommunications company Macquarie Telecoms new brand relaunch.

The post house delivered a host of animated content displayed at Macquarie Telecoms recent relaunch event. The motion graphics were played across an LED screen backdrop and also work as standalone animation sequences that reflect the characteristics of the brand.

Working alongside production company The Spark, Cutting Edge creative director Finnegan Spencer and senior producer Lara Allen were tasked with providing animated graphics that would also work across all of the clients sub brands.

Created for ongoing internal and external events, the creative represents Macquarie Telecoms new brand mark, which consists of a selection of colourful dots, with each of the sub brands owning its own distinct colour.

Says Spencer: The hero piece of animation began with a pretty open brief. The client wanted something artistic and compelling, without being overly literal  a piece of content that would also reward the viewer across multiple viewings.

We created abstract metaphors for the brand, using generative dot particles that compliment it without being just the one specific story. Its an artistic expression of the brand that can be deployed at events and across online and on social media.

Production Company: The Spark

Creative Director: Tony Assness

Producer: Stephen Davey

Motion Graphics and Content: Cutting Edge

Creative Director: Finnegan Spencer

Executive Producer: Samantha Daley

Senior Producer: Lara Allen

Lead Motion Designers: Jeremy Mansford & Gary Nicholson

Offline Editor: Kelly Searancke

Offline Editor: Simon Buckton-Collins

Colourist: Dwaine Hyde
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 12:09PM

An update is rolling out ot existing Microsoft Office for Mac users which transitions the suite of applications from 32-bit to 64-bit. This is expected to boost performance and allow the implementation of new features.

This means that Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote get upgraded to 64-bit for anyone running Retail, Office 365 Consumer, Office 365 Commercial, and Volume License installations of the software. What's more, the August release (version 15.25) will arrive just like any other update to the apps.

Source: Engadget
The conference comes after revelations of abuses committed against Indigenous youths in juvenile justice facilities in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and as the Royal Commission into the Detention of Children in the Northern Territory prepares to hold its first hearings next month.
GT&T renewed its license agreement for international voice and calls in 2010 for another 15 years, but minister of public telecommunications Lance Hinds virtually ruled out any compensation being paid back to the carrier for the remaining nine years on its licence, according to Demerara Waves. GT&T-parent company Atlantic Tele-Network has held the licence since 1990.

Speaking at a public forum, Hinds said: That is not a discussion that is really going to happen because it is difficult to put a value on an exclusive licence for nine years down the road because you (are) doing future projections on earnings and that gets into a science that will only get us into a dispute.

Talks are expected to last until at least the end of October, according to Hinds, who said the government aimed to put systems dictating the liberalisation process in place by the end of November.

To support opening the process up to rival carriers, Hinds identified a number of areas in which regulations will need to be developed in association with the Telecommunications Act 2016. The Act, which was introduced in May, aims to open up the Guyanese market to more operators.

Hinds identified licence and frequency authorisation, interconnection and access, pricing related to competition, competition, and customer protection as key areas where regulations will need to be developed. But he added that the timeframe will be dependent on new submarine fibre-optic cables being landed in Guyana by companies including Digicel.

He also warned that some of the telecommunications companies within the South American country may not be enthusiastic about the proposals.

How we manage those kinds of things, as we move forward, is going to be tricky in terms of who is going to hold the infrastructure, who is going to rent from who, so all those conversations are going to come up because we simply cant have a situation where every man jack is running fibre all over the town, he added.
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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.

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A new research scholar scheme will be proposed in the IIT Council meeting next week, the scheme proposes to identify 1,000 bright B.Tech students from the Indian Institutes of Technologies and other premier engineering institutions. These students will be admitted straight into Ph.D programmes.

Under this programme, B.Tech students in the IITs will register for Ph.D immediately on completion of the undergraduate course.

The quality of research depends on people who undertake it and that is why it is important the best minds are encouraged to take it, the India Today quoted a top HRD official as saying.

"A committee headed by former director of IIT Mumbai Anil Kakodkar recommended that third year students of IITs and NITs should be initiated into PhD programmes," an official said.

Sources said that "IITs will be asked if it is possible to get exceptional students into PhD immediately after BTech". It would also be proposed that "BTech passouts from IITs who have job experience and are interested in research should be enrolled in PhD," they added.

"The idea is to make research attractive to the fresh IIT passouts so that they can focus their energies on path breaking research which can throw up solutions and strengthen the academic environment in the long run," the report quoted an unnamed official as saying.

According to TOI, the larger idea of this scheme is to solve the problem of faculty crunch in IITs. Though there are around 2,000 Ph.Ds coming out of IITs every year, the number faulty vacancies is high. The IITs are very selective when hiring teachers. The scheme can prove to attractive to bright students and improve quality of faculty at the IITs.
Few cars managed to turn as many heads as the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo presented on the Concept Lawn at the weekends Pebble Beach Concours dElegance and rightfully so.



Only a single example of the Chiron-previewing model has been produced (and since sold) and the cars radical design ensures it looks like no other Bugatti before it as it ditches flowing and sophisticated styling in favor of absurd aerodynamic aids and protruding lines.

The Vision Gran Turismo is thought to be powered by the same quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine as the Chiron, but the powerplant probably isnt as refined as the production-spec Chirons. Nevertheless, the Vision GT runs and sounds incredibly mean on the move.

The models North American debut in Monterey could prove to be its final public outing before it heads off to its new home within the massive car collection of its Saudi owner.

PHOTO GALLERY
On August 7, Mark Molthan crashed his Model S on Highway 175 in Kaufman, Texas after failing to navigate a bend when Autopilot was enabled and, in doing so, might have steered autonomous driving tech in totally murky waters.



While Molthan admitted in an interview with Automotive News that he wasnt paying full attention at the time of the crash, he says Autopilot lulls you into a false sense of security.

I used Autopilot all the time on that stretch of the highway. But now I feel like this is extremely dangerous. It gives you a false sense of security. Im not ready to be a test pilot. It missed the curve and drove straight into the guardrail. The car didnt stop  it actually continued to accelerate after the first impact into the guardrail.

At the time, hi insurance company did ncrashed due to the cars Autopilot system.

The owner says he has no intention of suing Tesla for the crash but Cozen OConner, the law firm representing his insurance company, has sent a notice letter to the automaker that it wants to inspect the damaged vehicle. If the insurance company is to file a case against Tesla, it will be the first of its kind and could open the floodgates to similar lawsuits.

PHOTO GALLERY
There are so many studios that treat artists as disposable commodities and not with the respect befitting their talents, and we cover such poor workplace situations more than any other news resource. Today, however, we want to recognize someone who did it right: Jeffrey Katzenberg.

In the following guest essay by DreamWorks Animation technical director Nigel Tierney, we hear a personal perspective on the house that Jeffrey built and the one-of-a-kind company culture that he created.

Thank You, Jeffrey Katzenberg

by Nigel W. Tierney

Today, I watched from a distance as Jeffrey Katzenberg left the DreamWorks Animation campus for the last time as our intrepid and beloved CEO. There was no pomp and circumstance; just a lonely JK, who slowly meandered over to his Tesla with a backpack hanging loosely over his shoulder. Please excuse the emotional stream of consciousness to follow.

Tomorrow will kickoff our first Town Hall Meeting with our new NBCUniversal leadership. This new replacement for our old JK D-briefs makes it difficult to not feel uncertain of the changes ahead. The only thing that I know for certain is that the NBCUniversal leadership has some very large, white sneakers to fill.

I initially started writing this wanting to say something brief to thank Jeffrey for all he has done for the movie industry, but I couldnt talk about his accomplishments without selfishly personalizing it. For the past eight years that I have worked at DreamWorks, I have always known that Jeffrey fostered the most compelling environment that a corporation could offer.

Jeffrey was always accessible and it is his accessibility that I will miss the most. I appreciated it and tried to never take it for grantedwhether it was from his daily JK Blog emails to more impressively just being able to stop and talk to him in the cafeteria about anything that this silly Irishman could conjure. I still cant believe that I would easily and often send one of the most influential men in Hollywood emails that would immediately be met with a personal response. Emails such as a poorly Photoshopped flyer with Jeffrey as a leprechaun for a St. Patricks Day party I was throwing, gleefully asking if he found the flyer too cheeky and if he wanted to come? Even now on his last day, he happily obliged me by doing another Snapchat with me using the puppy filter. (I know I should have used the face swap filter instead, but that puppy filter is a classic.)

DreamWorks has both directly and indirectly been responsible for some of my biggest life moments. Moments like marrying the woman of my dreams, becoming the father of the coolest son, and creating some of the strongest friendships I have ever had. I have been at my heaviest weight from eating so much free food and have been at my healthiest weight from the on-campus bootcamp and the on-campus nutritionist (Im currently somewhere in the middle). I helped organize the engagement of one of my best friends as Jeffrey let him fly a helicopter on campus. The fact that I could stay late after work with fellow DreamWorkers and subversively build a comedy club is not only a ridiculously exclusive perk, but is a true example of a fun place to work, hence why it is called the J/K Comedy Club.

DreamWorks has allowed me to learn and sculpt new passions, from taking my first improv class provided by the artistic development program to filming my first comedy sketch on campus with the film group. All of which sent me down a rabbit hole pursuing a life of comedy. I dressed as Burning Man Jeffrey while hosting a Halloween costume contest. I have tasted some of the finest whiskeys in the world thanks to the on-campus Whiskey Society. I have worked alongside artists who shaped my childhood. I witnessed President Obama address us and the nation. I have met a plethora of heroes/icons through Jeffreys hosted DreamTalks, movie premieres, artistic development talks, and just directly working with them. I rocked out to Hans Zimmer on a parking lot roof. I walked the red carpet with Dustin Hoffman and Jack Black, and even stole one of Justin Timberlakes cookies. All thanks to Katz. Speaking of cookies, I will miss looking at Jeffreys signature on the card that will accompany my future birthday cookies.

Now as a husband and a dad, the DreamWorks family spirit is what matters to me the most. Dreamworks provides me with far more than the fundamental finances I need to support my family. The fact that I can take my wife and son on campus for a movie screening, to walk around exploring the koi pond, or just to grab a coffee and a cake-pop, has been so important to me and growing my relationship with my family. Even the most recent moment of joy I experienced with my three-year-old son this past weekend where he didnt want to turn off the Kung Fu Panda 3 credits until he saw his Daddys name appear.

This post couldnt possibly contain all the moments that I cherish, nor would you want to read them, but if you made it this far; I would like to finish by saying that all of this is not only because Jeffrey allowed it to happen at DreamWorks, but because he pursued it to happen. JK cultivated this type of engagement and culture, for which I am sincerely grateful.

Thank you very much, Jeffrey Katzenberg. You truly are admirable and I will greatly miss having you around.


Photo: Google Maps

Residents living near the Westside Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant may notice an ugly odour for the next couple of days.

The regional district is installing new materials in the biofilter at the facility off Gellatly Road, just west of Gellatly Nut Farm.

The open-bed biofilter is commonly used at wastewater treatment plants to biologically treat gases that are collected throughout the wastewater treatment process and reduce emissions of foul air.

Following the installation, there may be periods of additional odour ,as it takes a few days to get the biofilter up to 100 per cent performance. The odour may appear for the next two or three days.

To ensure optimum efficiency, the filter material must be periodically replaced. This was last done in the spring of 2014.

Residents and other stakeholders in the area have been advised of the work.

The regional district apologizes for any short-term inconvenience.

The facility receives and treats more than 10,000 cubic metres of wastewater each day from businesses and households in West Kelowna, Peachland and the Westbank First Nation Reserves 9 and 10.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A group of mayors from Canada and the U.S. is trying to challenge a recent decision allowing an American city to draw water from the Great Lakes, arguing that it sets a dangerous precedent.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative asked Monday for a hearing with the group of eight states that make up what's known as the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council.

In June, the council gave the Wisconsin city of Waukesha the green light to divert water from Lake Michigan, making it the first exception to an agreement banning diversions of water away from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which represents more than 100 local governments on both sides of the border, is now looking to fight that decision.

"This is just the beginning of something that could potentially grow and just be catastrophic," Sandra Cooper, the mayor of Collingwood, Ont., and the group's secretary-treasurer, said of Waukesha's diversion. "There was no opportunity for public input with our Great Lakes community and I think that's a downfall of the whole process."

The group argues that the area to be serviced by Waukesha's diversion is too large, the return flow of treated water to Lake Michigan hasn't been analysed enough and there wasn't enough public participation in the process dealing with the city's request.

It has also written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama asking for "appropriate action" to stop Waukesha's diversion of water from Lake Michigan.

Waukesha, a city of about 70,000 people, asked for permission to take water from the Great Lakes because its own aquifer is running low and the water is contaminated with high levels of naturally occurring cancer-causing radium.

Waukesha argued that although it's located outside the boundary of the Great Lakes basin, it is part of a county straddling that geographical line and should be allowed access to the lake's water.

The request created significant concern on both sides of the border, but after making a series of amendments to Waukesha's original application, the eight states adjoining the Great Lakes  who had final say on the matter after input from Ontario and Quebec gave the city's proposal unanimous approval.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative said it's now fighting to ensure the long-term integrity of the agreement meant to protect the Great Lakes.

"There was already a region that was established that could draw from the Great Lakes basin. That region is now being expanded. What says down the road that those southern States who are having difficulty with water aren't going to start drawing more water from our Great Lakes basin," said Randy Hope, the mayor of Chatham-Kent municipality in southwestern Ontario, who is on the group's board of directors.

"It'll lower our waterways, it'll have eco and social and economic effects that people cannot determine at this time."

The Great Lakes support 33 million people, including nine million Canadians and eight of Canada's 20 largest cities, according to the federal government.
Jennifer Tannhauser couldnt wait to relax after completing the Apple Triathlon in Kelowna, but the Calgary resident got anything but rest Sunday night.

Tannhauser and her family were among campers evacuated from Bear Creek Provincial Park after a wildfire sparked nearby.

She said before the blaze began she had been helping the campers next to her after a tree fell on their tent.

My family went to help them, and their kids came to stay in our trailer for a little bit while they figured out what was going on, Tannhauser explained. They ended up packing up to leave because they were so afraid of falling branches.

The triathlete said several people were trying to sleep in their cars due to the intense wind when all of the sudden the park officers were shouting "fire!"

People were running by, telling us to get out because there was a fire. So it was our immediate reaction to load up what we can and run out, she said, adding her family left a tent and trailer behind.

Stephane Meloche was also rushed from the campsite Sunday night, but said he is going to make the best of the situation.

Visiting from Ottawa, he said he left his belongings behind and will be staying in a motel for a few days.

It was crazy. It happened in a blink of an eye  we could see the smoke in the trees. People were just running, saying fire, get out,' Meloche said. We went back out to the road, and it was huge, so we got as much stuff as possible and got in the car and left.

As of Monday afternoon 160 evacuees had registered with Emergency Social Services at the Westbank Lions Community Hall. Linda Keil with ESS says she expects at least 50 more.

We can offer them just registration if they have accommodation and what not, but if not, we can offer them two nights hotel plus food and clothing.

Four skimmer aircraft, one helicopter and 46 personnel are fighting the blaze today.

West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund says crews are working to get residents of the 156 evacuated properties back home in a timely manner; however there is still a lot of work to do on the ground.

The public evacuated in an orderly manner, everyone was calm, the evacuation was successful and we are doing what we can today, Brolund said.

Another 14 properties in the Pine Point subdivision off Westside Road, north of Traders Cove, remain on Evacuation Alert. Those residents should be prepared to leave on short notice should conditions change.
Photo: Getty Images

The recent arrests of two men accused of failing to disclose their HIV status to their sexual partners have renewed calls for changes to the current legislation that advocates say contributes to the fear and stigma surrounding the disease.

Canadians with HIV are legally required to disclose their status to their partner before engaging in sexual activity. Those who fail to do so can be charged with aggravated sexual assault, whether the virus is transmitted or not.

If convicted, they are automatically added to the sex offenders registry and face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

But advocates say Canada's HIV disclosure law has never been shown to deter unsafe sexual practices. Rather, they argue, it has made patients feel more isolated and fearful.

"People living with HIV tend to come from many marginalized groups already," said Sandra Chu of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. "(The law is) adding a further layer of marginalization and fear."

Chu said she would like Canada to adopt HIV legislation proposed by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which would prosecute only people who knowingly and intentionally transmit the HIV virus to their partner.

There is a lack of definite evidence on whether criminalization deters HIV patients from exposing others, UNAIDS said in a report released in 2012. It also said that studies from Canada and the US show few people with HIV are aware of the legal requirements pertaining to their illness, and those who are, likely already disclose their status to partners.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has said people with HIV/AIDS report increased feelings of fear and stigma as a result of high-profile non-disclosure criminal cases.

"Stigma has a negative impact on prevention efforts by contributing to secrecy and HIV non-disclosure, reinforcing HIV risk and discouraging condom use in some communities," the agency said in a 2015 report.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the Canadian government is "aware of some of the criticisms of non-disclosure laws and appreciates the difficult circumstances individuals face" with regards to HIV disclosure.

In 2012, UNAIDS reported that Canada had convicted more people in connection with HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission than any country in the world, except the United States.

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network says there have been at least 180 people charged with HIV non-disclosure-related offences in Canada  with five new cases in 2015.

Earlier this month, Toronto police charged a man with sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault for allegedly having unprotected sex with a woman multiple times over the course of 18 months without telling her he had HIV.

A few days later, Canadian Forces investigators charged a civilian cadet instructor with four counts of aggravated sexual assault for allegedly failing to disclose his HIV status before engaging in a relationship with a member of the military.

In a 1998 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada said a legal requirement to disclose HIV will, "through deterrence ... protect and serve to encourage honesty, frankness and safer sexual practices."

The court clarified its stance in 2012, ruling that a person with HIV does not have to disclose their status to a partner as long as they use a condom and have a "low viral load." A viral load measures the number of copies of the HIV virus per millilitre of blood  the lower a viral load, the lower the chance of transmitting HIV.

However, a group of over 50 Canadian doctors and researchers released a statement in 2014 saying that "a poor appreciation of the science related to HIV contributes to an overly broad use of the criminal law against" individuals living with the virus.

Using a condom during sexual intercourse is enough to render the risk of transmission negligible, the group said, regardless of viral load.

The fact that people can be charged with mere exposure when there's "a negligible risk" of transmission is unjust, said Chu.

"To equate not disclosing one's HIV status with the traditional understanding of aggravated sexual assault, we don't think is fair."
Photo: Google Street View

Charges could be pending against a driver who plowed his vehicle into a home at Glenwood Avenue and Pandosy Street shortly after 11 p.m. last night.

Police say the driver of the Mazda fled the scene on foot, but was chased down and apprehended by a witness.

The police officer who took custody of the suspect noted the man displayed signs of possible intoxication.

He refused a demand to provide a breath sample, and was held overnight.

The 23-year-old Kelowna man faces possible charges of impaired driving, failure to provide a breath sample, failing to remain at the scene and obstructing a police officer.

The man is expected to appear in court in November.

No one was injured in the crash, and it's believed there was no structural damage to the house.
Photo: CORD EOC Map of evacuated area

Campers evacuated from Bear Creek Provincial Park will be temporarily allowed back in to the campsite to remove possessions, vehicles and trailers until 8 p.m. tonight.



Access will also be available for a limited time Tuesday morning, beginning at 8 a.m., according to Central Okanagan Emergency Operations.



Campers must access the campground from West Kelowna.

Registered campers will be escorted into the park by RCMP and campground staff. All campers must quickly retrieve their possessions and re-exit the area.



The park remains under an evacuation order, and campers are advised that the area is still an active fire zone and contains hazards.

Meanwhile, Westside Road remains closed between Bear Creek Provincial Park and Traders Cove.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The parents of a man shot dead by Calgary police while he was holding a syringe in a hotel room says they are devastated the officer won't be charged.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team initially recommended the officer be charged in the March 2015 death of Anthony Heffernan.

But the police watchdog unit says the Crown determined there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction and no charges will be laid.

Pat Heffernan says his son's needless death shows people are at risk when they come into contact with police.

Heffernan, who was 27 and a recovering drug addict, was shot four times  twice in the head  in his room at a Super 8 hotel near the city's airport.

His mother, Irene Heffernan, says she had hoped "clear and just thinking would prevail, but it didn't."

"It's a sad day for all Albertans and Canadians alike," Pat Heffernan said Monday.

"There is no justice in this case. Anthony is dead and anyone else who comes into contact with police is at tremendous risk ... because they are going to be supporting each other in whatever needs to be said."

Anthony Heffernan wasn't posing a threat to anyone and officers didn't need to go into his room, his family said.

ASIRT said hotel staff had called police when Heffernan failed to check out of his room and, when officers arrived, they found him holding a syringe in one hand and flicking a lighter with the other.

He was unresponsive and appeared to be in a drug-induced state.

"All of the witness officers stated concerns about the possibility that the syringe might be contaminated and that they might get stabbed or stuck by it," ASIRT said in the release.

"Although the officers commanded him to drop the syringe, he remained unresponsive, non-communicative, and seemingly unaware."

One police officer fired a Taser at Heffernan but it didn't work. As a second officer was preparing to hit Heffernan again with a Taser, another officer fired his gun six times.

"The subject officer made a quick decision in a volatile and rapidly unfolding situation to use his service firearm in order to defend against Mr. Heffernan," said a statement from the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.

"The evidence would be that he did so as a defensive action against an individual who was armed with a syringe, and who had been either unwilling or unable to comply with police directions.

"In all of these circumstances, it could not be disproven that the subject officer acted upon a reasonable belief that he and the other officers were at risk of serious or grievous bodily harm, and that his use of force was necessary."
Dozens of boat owners rushed to the Kelowna Yacht Club on Monday to find out if their boat had survived Sunday's damaging wind storm.

Heavy winds ripped through the area in the evening causing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to yacht club property alone.

I estimate 150-200 boats have been significantly damaged, to the point they will need some repair, said yacht club GM Sally Howard.

From the docks side, we are easily into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is significant.

Howard said one boat was beached and several items have ended up at the bottom of the lake. The club may enlist the help of divers to figure out what did sink.

We know for sure one boat has gone down, and we suspect there are one or two more.

Howard was called just before 10 p.m. that wind was picking up in the area. By the time she arrived at 10:15 p.m., the docks were being evacuated for safety reasons.

She said the heavy winds lasted for about an hour before the waters calmed and staff could access the damage.

It was dangerous, there were docks that were not safe to walk on, they were truly moving too much. It was a little scary, we worked in buddies, said Howard.

We did have one member, who in an attempt to get off his boat and to safety, fell into the water. He was able to get out and did have some minor injuries. He is fine, but it gives you an idea  in our basin which is usually like glass, it was very, very tumultuous.

Several staff members worked with boat owners and volunteers to tie up and secure boats, heading home at about 3 a.m.

One wonderful thing about being a club is that we had a lot of volunteers come out of the woodwork, said Howard. A small army of volunteers were pulling boats back in.

Howard said a storm like this has not been seen since the 90s and she does not believe the club could have done anything to prevent the damage.

We have a very robust breakwater and strong docking system, said Howard. I think this was the angle of the wind, the strength of the wind, the power of the wind and the power of the water. I don't think it would have been possible to mitigate any of it. We truly have a very safe harbour here.

Insurance adjusters for both the boat owners and the yacht club itself are on site Monday as clean up and the rebuild begins, while the boat owners themselves are left lost for words.

Incredulous, said Howard. They just can't believe how much damage they are seeing. The one thing I see with the members is how much they are all pulling together.

In the meantime, a temporary breakwater was put in on Monday and a lot of the exterior boats are being pulled for assessment and repair.

A lot of those docks on the outside are significantly damaged and will need quite a bit of repair, added Howard.

Club members can check the status of their boat by checking out the club website here.
Photo: Omer Vautour

UPDATE 7:10 P.M.

While some residents have been allowed to return home, most will remain away from their home or campsite for a second night.

An evacuation order will remain in effect for 105 properties in Traders Cove and Bear Creek Provincial Park.

Westside Road, between Bear Creek Provincial Park and Traders Cove also remains closed.



While those people remain on evacuation order, the order has been rescinded, replaced with an evacuation alert for 51 properties.

Those properties along Bear Creek Road north of the Parkinson Road intersection including Dougmac, Rose Valley and Petterson Roads, as well as 14 properties in the Pine Point subdivision off Westside Road, north of Traders Cove are now on evacuation alert.

Residents on evacuation alert should be prepared to leave their home at a moments notice.



RCMP members will continue security patrols in the evacuation area overnight. The BC Wildfire Service will also remain at the fire site.



The Emergency Support Services Reception Centre in the Lions Hall at 2466 Main Street in West Kelowna will be closed for the night at 8 p.m. and will open again tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.



Campers evacuated from Bear Creek Provincial Park will be temporarily allowed into the campsite to remove their possessions, vehicles and trailers for a limited time again tomorrow morning beginning at 8 a.m.



The Bear Creek Fire is estimated at 52.5 hectares in size and is 60 per cent contained.



Information for residents returning home:

Hazardous conditions may still exist on private properties. Watch for hazards such as fallen or wind-damaged trees.

Watch for hazards such as fallen or wind-damaged trees. Food safety . If the power has been out in your home the food in your fridge or freezer may no longer be safe to eat. Interior Health provides useful information for residents returning to their homes. Visit their emergency preparedness webpages which deal with exposure to smoke from forest fires, food safety, water quality and septic tanks and disposal fields.

. If the power has been out in your home the food in your fridge or freezer may no longer be safe to eat. Interior Health provides useful information for residents returning to their homes. Visit their emergency preparedness webpages which deal with exposure to smoke from forest fires, food safety, water quality and septic tanks and disposal fields. Power. Check BC Hydro for updates on power outages.

Some residents evacuated by the Bear Creek wildfire can go home.

Effective immediately, the evacuation order for 51 properties along Bear Creek Road north of the Parkinson road intersection including Dougmac, Rose Valley and Petterson Roads has been downgraded to an evacuation alert.



Fourteen properties in the Pine Point subdivision off Westside Road, north of Traders Cove, remain on evacuation alert. Those on alert should be prepared to leave at a moments notice.



However, 105 properties in Traders Cove and Bear Creek Provincial Park remain under an evacuation order as crews continue to work on the active fire. Westside Road remains closed between the park and Traders Cove.



Residents returning home are reminded hazardous conditions may still exist on private properties. Watch for hazards such as fallen or wind-damaged trees.

If the power has been out in your home, food in your fridge or freezer may no longer be safe to eat.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A man has been sentenced to four months house arrest followed by a year's probation for assault.

The man was convicted of two assault charges and one other charge, following a pair of incidents in 2014.

In the first incident, the man, with his dog, approached two children at a beach and offered to let the children hold the dog in their laps. The children were nine and 11 years old at the time.

In an effort to not let the dog go, the man kept a hold of the dog while it sat in their laps, touching the children's genitals as a result.

After some time, the first child passed the dog to the second.

As the dog squirmed, so did the man's hand, while the children displayed discomfort with the situation.

Eventually, one child's mother approached the man and pulled the dog off of the second child.

As the mother walked away with the children, what happened was explained to her.

When she returned to the area, people told her the man drove off in a BMW. She got into her own car and followed well enough to get a description and licence plate.

The second incident occurred at a Penticton store, where police responded to a disturbance.

Officers were told the man dropped his keys and while bending down to pick them up, took an upskirt photo of the clerk.

His defence lawyer told court the man was in the middle of a nervous breakdown at the time, and left his job soon thereafter. He had been self-medicating depression with drugs and alcohol and wasn't thinking straight.

He had been admitted to a mental health centre in July 2014. He also spent 30 days in a psych ward in Vancouver near the end of that year, and has since begun attending drug and alcohol counselling.

The man returned to work and has been sober since his discharge, according to his lawyer.
Photo: CTV

Deliberations at Richard Henry Bain's first-degree murder trial are now among the longest in Canadian history, his attorney said Monday as Day 10 came and went without a verdict.

The lawyer for Quebec's alleged election-night shooter added he is "surprised" by the time being taken.

"I've been doing this 37 years and this is the longest I've ever had," Alan Guttman said outside the courtroom.

He said the lengthy deliberations have already surpassed the time taken to reach verdicts in other notable Canadian murder trials, including those of Luka Rocco Magnotta and Guy Turcotte.

Bain, 65, faces four charges, including first-degree murder in the shooting death of stagehand Denis Blanchette outside the Metropolis nightclub in September 2012 as then-premier designate Pauline Marois was inside celebrating the Parti Quebecois' election win.

Bain also faces three charges of attempted murder.

During the trial, Guttman argued Bain was mentally ill at the time of the shooting and should be found not criminally responsible on all charges.

The Crown, on the other hand, said Bain was of sound mind and that his actions were premeditated and motivated by anger over the PQ victory.

On Friday, Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer pointed out that deliberations can be lengthy when non criminal responsibility is used as a defence, because it requires the jury to assess the accused's mental state.

In the high-profile Magnotta trial in 2014, jurors took eight days before finding him guilty of first-degree murder and rejecting the defence of not criminally responsible.

As the Bain deliberations stretch on, Guttman said there is a possibility some of the jurors are in disagreement.

If ever the jury fails to reach a unanimous verdict, Guttman said he believes Cournoyer would likely first ask them to try again instead of immediately declaring a mistrial.

"In September it's going to be four years, this case," he said. "I don't think anybody wants to do this again," he added, referring to the possiblity of another trial.

The jury of seven women and five men will return for Day 11 of deliberations Tuesday.

They were last heard from on Friday, when discussions were held over how to prevent a court-issued laptop from erasing their notes.

Although the deliberations appear slow, the length isn't unheard of.

It took a jury almost 10 days to convict Robert Pickton in 2007 in the killing and dismembering of six women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

And in 2002, a jury in Quebec took 11 days to convict former Hells Angels kingpin Maurice (Mom) Boucher of ordering the murder of two Quebec prison guards.
Photo: CTV

A former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador has a new job in the province.

An official with a service organization in St. John's says it has hired Kathy Dunderdale as its volunteer co-ordinator.

Sister Elizabeth Davis of The Gathering Place says Dunderdale will take on the role later this week.

Davis would not reveal Dunderdale's salary, but says it is part of $60,000 in funding announced under the province's supportive living program.

The former Progressive Conservative premier left public office in 2014.

The Gathering Place offers nutrition programs to hundreds of clients every day, including the homeless and people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and addictions.
Photo: YouTube

Many mosques and Islamic schools in Canada are placing young people at risk by espousing  or at least not condemning  extremist teachings, a new study says.

Co-authors Thomas Quiggin, a former intelligence analyst with the Privy Council Office and the RCMP, and Saied Shoaaib, a journalist originally from Egypt, base their findings on research conducted quietly in mosque libraries and Islamic schools.

The study, titled "Lovers of the Death"?  Islamist Extremism in Mosques and Schools, says what worried them was not the presence of extremist literature, but that they found nothing but such writings in several libraries.

"Further research is required to determine the depth and breadth of this problem."

The authors say openly available material and analysis of social media postings helped confirm their views that many Canadians, including leading politicians, are turning a blind eye to the dangers.

They argue the issue is too important to ignore, given that a number of young Canadians have become radicalized to violence.

Canadian Muslims with humanist and modernist outlooks are being drowned out by those with extreme views, the study says. "The struggle for the soul of Islam between Islamists and humanists goes on in Canada and the U.S.A., not just in the Middle East, Europe and South Asia."

The Canadian Council of Imams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Liberal government plans to soon announce details of its plans for a national office of counter-radicalization to carry out research and co-ordinate activities across Canada.

One year ago, the Senate defence and security committee issued a report saying some foreign-trained imams had been spreading extremist religious ideology and messages that are not in keeping with Canadian values, contributing to radicalization.

It called on the government to work with the provinces and Muslim communities to "investigate the options that are available for the training and certification of imams in Canada."

The report was not supported by Liberal senators on the committee. It was denounced by the National Council of Canadian Muslims as stigmatizing and failing to offer effective solutions to the challenge of violent extremism.
Photo: Dennis Semeniuk Bear Creek wildfire, as of 7:30 a.m. Aug. 23.

Fire crews now have the Bear Creek wildfire 75 per cent contained after spending the night working to secure the perimeter of the blaze.

The BC Wildfire Service has 50 firefighters battling the blaze along with one helicopter bucketing hot spots today.

Favourable weather conditions helped fire crews get a handle on the fire Monday, and Rachel Witt, with the BC Wildfire Service, says those conditions will remain in place today.

Temperatures are still lower than they were last week and, as well, the wind isn't quite as high as when the fire first broke out, Witt said.

Forestry crews will work on falling dangerous trees in the area today, along with putting out hot spots and increasing containment around the perimeter.

Witt says the 52.5-hectare blaze is mainly a smouldering ground fire.

Despite the fire crews' progress, 105 properties remain evacuated in Traders Cove and Bear Creek Provincial Park, and 65 properties in the area are on evacuation alert.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A man has been convicted of attempting to steal a car at a Penticton gas station.

Aaron Vaughan-Evans approached a woman who was filling up her car and told her he was going to take it.

He offered her the passenger seat if she liked.

The woman pushed him away and was able to drive off, leaving Vaughan-Evans at the premises.

The incident was reported to police, and surveillance footage at the station confirmed the incident and identified Vaughan-Evans. He was later arrested on another matter.

The Crown attorney on the case pointed to a few mischief charges on Vaughan-Evans's record, and sought a suspended sentence of one year.

Vaughan-Evans defended himself in court, telling the judge he had no explanation for his actions.

The 31-year-old said he was going through a tough time and was not in his right mind.

He was served one year of probation.
Photo: Robert Hayes

The Jackpine Lake wildfire is in mop-up stage today as firefighters worked overnight to put out the blaze.

Fire information officer Rachel Witt says the fire is 100 per cent contained and is considered a Rank 1 smouldering ground fire.

It is still estimated at 14 hectares in size, says Witt. We had five firefighting personnel on site throughout the night. We are in mop-up, but not yet patrol.

While the fire is believed to be human caused, Witt says fire investigators are on scene today to determine the exact cause.
UPDATE: 3:25 p.m.

Most of those who were evacuated from Bear Creek Provincial Park have been able to return to retrieve their belongings following the wildfire that sparked on Sunday.

Bonnie Ley, a park operator with Kaloya Contracting, says there is no fire damage to the campsite; however six trees plus several large branches did come down due to the windstorm.

A post-storm hazard tree assessment has been completed and removal of fallen and dangerous trees has been authorized and will begin today.

No structures were damaged by the fallen trees.

The park still remains under an evacuation order.

ORIGINAL

Evacuated campers were allowed back in to Bear Creek Provincial Park Monday evening to gather their belongings.

Campers were able to enter the park for a limited time to retrieve possessions and vehicles left behind from Sunday nights evacuation.

Another opportunity was available this morning to return to the campground.

One evacuee sent Castanet a video of what they saw. Large trees and branches scattered the area, knocked down from heavy winds, Sunday.

An evacuee at the emergency services centre said large trees crashed to the ground on tents and cars during the storm, forcing campers out before the fire started.

Despite progress that's been made on the blaze, 105 properties remain evacuated in Traders Cove and Bear Creek Provincial Park.

The campground will need to be cleared of debris before it is safe to be used again after the evacuation order is lifted.
Photo: Dustin Godfrey

The Okanagan Falls wildfire continues to burn, with crews working on containing the fire.

The fire is still 75 per cent contained, with crews establishing containment on the north side, working toward the south.

The BC Wildfire Service said it can be difficult to advance containment in rocky or steep terrain, but crews are pushing on with work to get the fire surrounded.

The fire is still burning at 16.3 hectares, and is classified as a Rank 1 or smouldering ground fire.

It ignited Sunday night, when heavy winds helped it spread quickly.

Residents were warned of a potential evacuation overnight, but some residents left their homes as a precaution.

A nearby campground voluntarily evacuated prior to a notice, and remains closed until given the go-ahead from fire officials.

However, over the course of Monday, the fire was downgraded in size.

The BC Wildfire Service has 24 crews working the fire today, with hopes of wrapping up containment soon.
Photo: Jennifer Zielinski

While the Bear Creek wildfire is now 75 per cent contained, emergency personnel say the area is not yet safe enough to allow the remaining evacuated residents to return home.

Central Okanagan Emergency Operations states that people may still notice a lot of smoke and some visible flames coming from the active fire area as crews continue working to fully extinguish the blaze.

With that in mind, the evacuation order remains in effect for 105 properties in the Traders Cove subdivision and Bear Creek Provincial Park.

The fire is still active throughout the almost 53-hectare area. Structural fire crews from Wilsons Landing and North Westside Fire Rescue are working on the ground, along with approximately 45 BC Wildfire Service firefighters and various pieces of firefighting equipment.

There is currently no electricity throughout the evacuation area, and infrastructure such as power poles and power/telecommunications lines will need to be replaced.

An Evacuation Alert remains in place for 65 properties including 51 along Bear Creek Road north of the Parkinson Road intersection including Dougmac, Rose Valley and Petterson Roads. As well as 14 properties in the Pine Point subdivision off Westside Road, north of Traders Cove.

Westside Road remains closed between Bear Creek Provincial Park and Traders Cove through the fire area.

The Emergency Support Services Reception Centre at Westbank Lions Hall on Main Street is open to assist evacuees. More than 350 people have registered for assistance with ESS volunteers.
Photo: CTV

Police in Surrey are investigating after a body was found in a clothing donation bin.

RCMP say a passerby called 911 at about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday after seeing the victim caught in the bin in Surrey's Guildford neighbourhood.

The coroner's service says a man was pulled from the bin and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man's identity has not been confirmed.

The cause of his death is still under investigation.

Last September, a 45-year-old woman could not be revived after becoming wedged in the narrow, raised opening of a clothing donation bin in Maple Ridge.
Photo: Contributed

A 22-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder following a fight between cellmates at a jail in Surrey.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says Jordan Burt has appeared in provincial court in Surrey and remains in custody.

He was charged after 25-year-old John Murphy died in a fight on Aug. 3.

Police say Murphy and Burt were sharing a cell at the time.

Police say the men were not acquainted and were awaiting court appearance on unrelated matters.

Investigators have not said how Murphy died or what might have led to the alleged dispute.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A Chicago judge is set to issue a verdict today in a peculiar civil trial over a celebrated Scottish-born artist's insistence that he did not paint a landscape work owned by a Canadian that was once valued at more than $10 million.

Some of Peter Doig's paintings have sold for over $20 million, and the owner of the disputed painting, a retired Canadian correctional officer, sued in U.S. court for millions in damages after the artwork's projected sale price tanked following the 57-year-old Doig's disavowal of it.

The painting's owner, 62-year-old Robert Fletcher, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., maintains that the painting of a desert landscape with giant red rocks and a receding pond, which he paid $100 for in the '70s, is by Doig.

If it's not, one filing by Fletcher's lawyers says, "it is essentially worthless."

Authenticity disputes typically arise long after an artist dies, not, as in this case, when the artist is still living and flatly denies a work is his. The oddity of such a dispute making it all the way to trial has drawn the interest of the wider art world.

After a week of testimony at the trial, U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman said he would announce his verdict Tuesday. The suit was filed in Chicago because one auctioneer who had expressed interest in selling the painting is based in the city.

Fletcher contends he bought the painting from Doig around 1976  when he says Doig was serving time on an LSD possession charge at a correctional facility in Thunder Bay, Ont., where Fletcher was employed.

Doig, who now lives in Trinidad, said he didn't start using the linen canvas the work in question is painted on until late 1979. He also said he has never been imprisoned in Ontario or anywhere else in Canada.

And while he lived in Canada at the time, he says he was attending school over 800 kilometres away in Toronto.
Photo: YouTube

Police say a hip-hop video shoot shut down parts of Route 66 in New Mexico last weekend because lowriders were driving around in circles as a crowd twerked in the street.

KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reports the unauthorized filming in downtown Albuquerque Sunday triggered a long block party, snarling traffic and confusing motorists.

Albuquerque police say hip-hop artist Jandro did not receive proper permits to shoot his music video.

Police say officers decided to close off parts of the Mother Road because of the lowriders and the street dancing.

Albuquerque police spokesman Tanner Tixier says about 300 people took part.

Videographer Editz Macias says his crew filming Jandro took advantage of the unexpected, spontaneous party scene by shooting footage of the festivities.

Officers issued no arrests or citations.
Photo: Contributed

An international arbitration tribunal has ordered Venezuela to pay a Vancouver-based mining company more than US$1.2 billion for expropriating its gold mines.

Venezuela took over Rusoro Mining's investments in the country as part of a nationalization of the gold industry in 2011.

Rusoro Mining Ltd. said Tuesday the money is due immediately and it expects that Venezuela will comply with its international obligations.

Company director Gordon Keep said Rusoro Mining was pleased with the decision and looked forward to talking with the Venezuelan government.

"I'm quite certain there will be a conversation," he said. "Whether or not it will be a short or a long one, I have no idea."

Rusoro Mining will face challenges in getting paid as Venezuela withdrew from the World Bank-affiliated arbitration body in 2012. It also isn't the only Canadian mining company looking to collect a large award by the arbitration panel from Venezuela.

Crystallex International Corp., which has been operating under the federal Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act since December 2011, was awarded US$1.2 billion in damages plus interest earlier this year in connection with unfair treatment and expropriation of its Las Cristinas mining project in Venezuela.

However, Keep noted that Gold Reserve Inc., a mining firm headquartered in Spokane, Wash., was able to reach a settlement with Venezuela regarding the seizure of its Brisas gold and copper project in 2008.

Gold Reserve announced a deal earlier this month that will see Venezuela pay nearly US$770 million in two instalments plus acquire the company's technical mining data for US$240 million, payable in four instalments. The first payments under that agreement are due Oct. 31.

Rusoro Mining had two gold mines as well as other development projects in the country, then under the leadership of Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013.

The company attempted for several months to negotiate compensation without success before it filed a US$3.03-billion claim against Venezuela at the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in 2012.

The arbitration tribunal ordered Venezuela to pay US$967.77 million as of the September 2011 expropriation, plus interest as well as US$3.3 million for Rusoro's costs in the arbitration.
Photo: The Canadian Press A fire truck moves along Hwy 125 past a blazing stack of hay bales north of Walla Walla, Wash.

Washington state governor Jay Inslee visited an incident command centre in Spokane on Tuesday as several destructive fires burned across eastern Washington.

Inslee blamed dry conditions and climate change for the increased fire danger in the state.

He encouraged people to remove brush and other accelerants from areas around their homes to aid fire suppression efforts.

Wildfires in the Spokane area have burned more than a dozen homes and forced evacuations.

Meanwhile, a wildfire on California's central coast grew to nearly 58 square miles Tuesday.

At least 2,400 people remained under evacuation orders in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, where the stubborn blaze had destroyed at least 36 residences.

Hearst Castle, the palatial ocean-view estate popular among tourists, remained closed because of its proximity to the flames.

Meanwhile, a fire in mountain areas east of Los Angeles that burned more than 100 homes was 100 per cent contained after charring nearly 57 square miles of drought-stricken brush. Investigators were seeking the cause of the blaze that broke out a week ago.

Just north of Big Sur, California's largest fire grew held steady at 135 square miles in rugged wilderness coast along Highway 1.

More than 400 homes remained threatened by the fire.

In Idaho, a wildfire expanded to 150 square miles and residents of about 125 homes in the area remained under low-level evacuation notices.

The fire burning timber in remote, mountainous backcountry was 50 per cent contained and was expected to burn at least until the end of September.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Apparent laziness caused by the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana persists even when the same amount of pot's medicinal component is added, a new study suggests.

Lead author Mason Silveira, a PhD candidate in the University of British Columbia's psychology department, said one part of the research done on rats involved giving them THC, the intoxicating part of cannabis, and having them choose between an easy or hard task to earn sugary treats.

Silveira said that under normal circumstances, most rats preferred the more difficult task to get more rewards but they switched to the easier option when given THC.

He said that while the laziness finding was not surprising, adding the same ratio of a pain-relieving ingredient called cannabidiol, a combination present in some medical marijuana used for pain relief, did not block the so-called slacker effect.

Silveira said the rats' ability to do a difficult challenge was not affected by THC, but they chose not to do it.

"There is also research pointing out that sometimes THC doesn't affect all your cognitive abilities across the board. What's interesting in our study is that it seems to primarily affect your ability to decide or choose whether you want to exert that cognitive ability," he said.

"This study suggests that you can still do the harder things, it's just that you don't want to."

He said the study, published Tuesday in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, suggests that while some people consider marijuana as a panacea for various ailments, the findings highlight a need for more research that could allow people to enjoy the benefits of cannabis while considering its less desirable effects.

Cannabidiol is one of about 70 cannabinoids in cannabis, and the study used an equal part of it along with THC, Silveira said, adding that's the same ratio of the two components in the Health Canada approved pain reliever Sativex, often prescribed for multiple sclerosis.

He said that as Canada is set to introduce marijuana laws next year, people are becoming more savvy consumers of pot products and it's important for them to be aware that THC diminishes effort.

"That decision to do well in school or to work hard to get that corner office, they require more effort," he said.

Jennifer Collett, who owns a medical marijuana clinic in Peterborough, Ont., where she works as a complimentary health-care provider, challenged the study's assertion that pot use causes laziness.

"I don't see any laziness in any of my patients, that's the one thing I can say. That really is a myth."

Collett said she refers patients to licensed cannabis producers who grow marijuana but those who can't afford the cost typically go to dispensaries instead, adding she suffered from chronic pain despite years of taking traditional pharmaceutical drugs before discovering medical marijuana.

As of Wednesday, Canadians who want to grow their own medical marijuana for personal use instead of buying it from commercially licensed producers will be able to do so under new rules. People who have been authorized by their doctor to use medicinal cannabis can also designate someone else to cultivate it for them.
Photo: file photo

Conservation officers in Nelson say they had to shoot a black bear hanging around a city school, Monday, just blocks from a busy tourist area.

Jason Hawkes of the B.C. Conservation Service says theyd been receiving calls about a problem bear in the citys Rosemont area for a few weeks. Monday morning, the bear was spotted at Central School, in the citys downtown.

Our fear was the bear would move down the hill and be in the middle of Tourist Central, says Hawkes.

Conservation officers discussed the situation with police on the scene.

We decided that euthanization was the best, safest route for dealing with this animal.

Its really unfortunate the bear had to be destroyed, especially when the reason is because of human attractants like garbage and fruit trees."

Hawkes says his office has been receiving a high volume of calls from the West Kootenays about problem bears in the last few weeks, as the animals natural food sources dwindle and hibernation approaches.

The battle now is to encourage people to pick the fruit from their trees and secure their garbage, he says. If people did that, most of these conflicts would go away.

Its been a hard week for conservation officers in the southeast of the province. In Revelstoke, conservation officers had to shoot nine bears in three days. The bears were all described as problem bears that had become accustomed to foraging for garbage. One came within a few metres of a toddler in a garage.

The shootings in Revelstoke prompted a demonstration by a few dozen residents on Monday, upset about the incident. They called on fellow residents to do more not to attract bears, and for officials to increase enforcement of garbage storage rules to deter bears.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The Olympics in their final week were still golden for NBC. Once again, NBC's nightly prime-time averages took the week's top seven Nielsen slots. And NBC again left rival networks far behind in overall viewership.

But a drop in Olympics viewers compared to the previous week was notable.

So was the drop in TV viewership between the final seven nights of the Rio Olympics compared to four years ago at the London Games.

Consider the erosion from 29.1 million for the London Olympics' 12th night, compared to 20.7 million for the same night (last Wednesday) in Rio. Or Rio's 17 million viewers for Sunday's closing ceremony, compared to 31 million for London.

Since 2012, viewers have gained new options and new screens for enjoying the Rio Olympics. The result: As a TV event, it clearly wasn't the same as it's been in past years.

Nor, for whatever reasons, was it even the same sort of TV event it had been the week before. Week-to-week audiences dropped every night, most precipitously Tuesday (down 9.3 million from the previous Tuesday), Thursday (down by 9.5 million), Saturday (down by 10.1 million) and Sunday's closing ceremony (down 9.8 million from the previous Sunday's competition).

Even so, NBC retained the weekly ratings crown, sweeping the Top 10 with seven Olympics slots (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and Saturday), an Olympics-themed special, "Rio Gold," which ranked eighth, and "The Voice" and "Superstore."

Though down from last week's average of 28.2 million viewers, NBC led again with an average of 19.9 million, while CBS was a distant runner-up with 3.8 million and ABC with 2.9 million. Spanish-language Univision (with 1.6 million) again topped Fox, which (with 1.39 million) was barely ahead of Telemundo (1.36 million). ION Television drew 1.1 million, followed by CW with 800,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, the Olympics-coverage setting again gave NBC a bump in the evening-news contest, which typically finds NBC and ABC neck-and-neck. NBC's "Nightly News" was decisively on top with 9.8 million viewers, followed by ABC's "World News Tonight" with 7.8 million. The "CBS Evening News" had 6.3 million.

Among cable networks in prime time last week, Fox News Channel retained its lead with 2.1 million viewers, followed by USA with 1.4 million.

For the week of Aug. 15-21, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: Summer Olympic Games (Monday), NBC, 24.2 million; Summer Olympic Games (Tuesday), NBC, 24.1 million; Summer Olympic Games (Thursday), NBC, 21.70 million; Summer Olympic Games (Wednesday), NBC, 20.68 million; Summer Olympic Games (Friday), NBC, 20.1 million; Summer Olympic Games (Sunday Closing Ceremony), NBC, 17.0 million; Summer Olympic Games (Saturday), NBC, 15.4 million; "Rio Gold," NBC, 11.5 million; "The Voice" (Sunday), NBC, 10.3 million; "Superstore" (Friday), NBC, 9.7 million.
CDC adds The Bahamas to interim travel guidance related to Zika virus

Media Statement For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Contact: Media Relations,

(404) 639-3286

CDC is working with other public health officials to monitor for ongoing Zika virus transmission. Today, CDC posted a Zika virus travel notice for The Bahamas. Local transmission of Zika has been reported on the island of New Providence, which includes the capital city of Nassau. CDC has issued travel notices (level 2, practice enhanced precautions) for people traveling to destinations with Zika. For a full list of affected countries/regions, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information.

As more information becomes available, CDCs travel notices will be updated. Travelers to areas with cases of Zika virus infection are at risk of being infected with the Zika virus. Mosquitoes that spread Zika are aggressive daytime biters. They also bite at night. There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus. The best way to avoid Zika virus infection is to prevent mosquito bites.

Some travelers to areas with Zika will become infected while traveling but will not become sick until they return home and they might not have any symptoms. To help stop the spread of Zika, travelers should use insect repellent for three weeks after travel to prevent mosquito bites.

Some people who are infected do not have any symptoms. People who do have symptoms have reported fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. The sickness is usually mild with symptoms that last from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon and the number of deaths is low. Travelers to areas with Zika should monitor for symptoms or sickness upon return. If they become sick, they should tell their healthcare professional when and where they have traveled.

CDC has received reports of Zika virus being spread by sexual contact with sick returning travelers. Until more is known, CDC continues to recommend that pregnant women and women trying to become pregnant take the following precautions.

Pregnant women

Should not travel to any area with Zika.

If you must travel to or live in one of these areas, talk to your healthcare provider first and strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites.

If you or your partner live in or travel to an area with Zika, use condoms or other barriers*, the right way, every time you have sex or do not have sex throughout the pregnancy. Sex includes vaginal, anal, and oral sex.

*Barriers that prevent passing Zika through sex include male and female condoms and dental dams. Dental dams are latex or polyurethane sheets used between the mouth and vagina or anus during oral sex.

Women trying to get pregnant

Before you or your partner travel, talk to your healthcare provider about your plans to become pregnant and the risk of Zika virus infection.

You and your partner should strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites.

For additional information on preventing the sexual transmission of Zika, visit www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/sexual-transmission.html. Current CDC research suggests that Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is strongly associated with Zika; however, only a small proportion of people with recent Zika virus infection get GBS. CDC is continuing to investigate the link between GBS and Zika to learn more.

For more information on Zika, visit www.cdc.gov/zika .

###

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESexternal icon
China: CNBM Group can begin acquisition of Sinoma

23 August 2016

China National Building Materials Group Corp (CNBM) has begun preparations to acquire China National Materials Corp (Sinoma), after an agreement between the two companies was approved by the government, the country's state assets regulator said.



President Xi Jinping is determined to restructure the state sector to creating globally-competitive multinationals in a process of mergers, asset swaps and management reforms.



The CNBM deal was given the go-ahead by the State Council, China's cabinet, on Monday. The new group will have total assets of more than CNY500bn (US$75bn), reports China's Securities Times newspaper.



CNBM, already the country's biggest construction materials producer, will be renamed the China Construction Materials Group. Sinoma's listed vehicle, China National Materials Co Ltd, will become a subsidiary of the new merged entity, Sinoma said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.







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(TNS)  RICHMOND, Ky.  Officials with Eastern Kentucky University's Department of Paramedicine on Thursday announced the launch of a hybrid paramedic program, the only one in Kentucky, in January 2017."This program will combine the best of technology and the expertise of the nationally known EKU faculty to make it possible for EMTs who might not be able to gain the advanced education that they need," said program director Bill Young.Students who complete the program will be fully eligible for financial aid in the form of federal and state grants as well as low-cost subsidized federal loans to help cover the cost of tuition.In addition, depending upon where they work, graduates of the program may be able to apply for loan forgiveness through a federally operated program."All students who complete the program will graduate with either an associate or bachelor's degree, depending upon the point at which they wish to finish," Young said. It has been shown college graduates can expect to make more money over the course of their lifetime.Students who are accepted will receive all recorded lectures via the Internet. That will enable them to watch the videos at a time convenient for them.For the first year, all students will be required to attend on campus for one-half day per month. That will increase to two full days each month during the second year. This will enable the accepted students to work in the lab learning lifesaving skills.Additional regional information meetings to answer questions are planned for the fall.
(TNS)  PROVIDENCE, R.I.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a $1.7-million grant to Highlander Institute to expand Fuse RI and the EdTechRI Testbed.Fuse RI was launched in 2014 to to help educators blend technology and traditional classroom teaching.The two-year project recruits teachers from across the state and pairs them with Fuse Fellows, who are technology experts, to develop those blended classrooms, set policy for school districts using the blended-learning system and for professional teacher training.Fuse RI is the brainchild of Shawn Rubin, Highlander Institute's chief education officer. Over the past two years, Fuse RI has trained 34 fellows to work in 18 districts.A separate program called EdTechRI Testbed will train approximately 40 teachers across 12 Providence schools, studying the effects of math and reading software and individualized learning programs.
This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions
The Administrator of the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Steve Hawkins, urges employers and workers pay special attention to workplace safety and health after 22 Tennessee workers suffered fatal job-related injuries since January.

"In the month of July alone, 10 Tennessee workers lost their lives in workplace accidents, devastating families, friends, co-workers and businesses," said Mr. Hawkins. "Most all of these could have been prevented."

With 22 work-related deaths during the first seven months of 2016, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Developments TOSHA program encourages Tennessee employers to take immediate steps to ensure a safe workplace.

"If this trend in workplace deaths continues, Tennessee will see an increase of 36 percent in fatal accidents investigated by TOSHA in comparison to 2014, said Mr. Hawkins. Employers need to carefully review their injury and illness prevention programs and their work place safety and health procedures with their employees.

In 2015, more than half all workplace fatalities were the result of being struck by an object or falls. The majority of workplace fatalities occurred in the manufacturing segment with only eight percent occurring in the construction industry. In 2016, almost half of the 22 workplace fatalities occurred on construction sites.

Immediate steps that can be taken by employers and workers to avoid workplace injuries and illnesses include:

Conducting a safety and health "stand down" meeting and encourage discussion on recognizing and correcting hazards in the workplace.

Pledging to work together with front line employees as a team to make the workplace a safer, healthier and happier place to work.

Establishing and implementing a safety and health program for the work site with full employee involvement.

Encouraging accident prevention and the reporting of hazards and injuries in the workplace. Many times minor injuries go unreported and more severe injuries result later on as a result of an uncorrected hazard in the workplace.

Increasing attention toward the safety of vulnerable workers such as temporary workers or those who are not fluent in English.

TOSHA offers free On-Site Consultation Services to help small businesses better understand and voluntarily comply with TOSHA standards. Priority is given to high hazard workplaces with 250 or fewer employees. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the TOSHA office closest to you or by contacting the Consultative Services at (800) 325-9901.

More information on injury and illness prevent programs can be found at:

http://www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/safetyhealth/index.html

More information on training for employees and employers can be found at:

http://www.osha.gov/dte/index.html

More information on hazard identification can be found at:

http://www.osha.gov/hazfinder/

More information on assistance available to small businesses can be found at:

http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/index.html

More information on reporting workplace fatalities (within eight hours) and severe work-related injuries - defined as a hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye (within 24 hours) - can be found at: http://www.osha.gov/report.html (fatalities and severe injuries can also be reported through OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742), or a local TOSHA office.
A microscopic sample of barium ions, shown in teal, immersed in a cloud of calcium atoms whose temperature is 1/1,000th of a degree above absolute zero.

According to the basic laws of thermodynamics, if you leave a warm apple pie in a winter window eventually the pie would cool down to the same temperature as the surrounding air.

For chemists and physicists, cooling samples of charged particles, also called ions, makes them easier to control and study. So they use a similar approach  called buffer gas cooling  to lower the temperature of ions by trapping them and then immersing them in clouds of cold atoms. Collisions with the atoms cool the originally hot ions by transferring energy from the ions to the atoms  much the same way a warm pie is cooled next to the cold window, said Eric Hudson, associate professor of physics at UCLA.

But new research by Hudson and his team, published in the journal Nature Communications , demonstrates that ions never truly cool to the temperature of the surrounding gas. Also, very surprisingly, they discovered that under certain conditions, two final temperatures exist, and the temperature that the ions choose depends on their starting temperature.

This apparent departure from the familiar laws of thermodynamics is akin to our warm apple pie either cooling as expected or spontaneously bursting into flames, depending on the pies exact temperature when it is placed in the window, said Hudson, the senior author of the study.

The UCLA researchers have, for the first time, placed fundamental limits on the use of buffer gas cooling in ion traps. To perform their experiment, the researchers prepared a microscopic sample of laser cooled ions of the chemical element barium and immersed them in clouds of roughly 3 million laser-cooled calcium atoms. The researchers make molecules extremely cold under highly controlled conditions to reveal the quantum mechanical properties that are normally hidden.

The ions were trapped in an apparatus that levitates charged particles by using electric fields that oscillate millions of times per second, confining the ions to a region smaller than the width of a human hair. Both the atomic and ionic samples were brought to ultra-cold temperatures just one-thousandth of a degree above absolute zero  via a technique in which the momentum of light in a laser is used to slow particle motion.

After allowing collisions between the atoms and ions to occur and the system to reach its final temperature, the physicists removed the calcium atoms and measured the temperature of the barium ions. The results, which show the existence of multiple final temperatures based on ion number and initial temperature, suggest that subtle non-equilibrium physics is at play.

The researchers trace these strange features to the heating and cooling rates which exist in the system  the peculiar temperature dependence of the interaction among multiple ions in an ion trap. Both simulation and theory support their experimental findings, and paint the buffer-gas cooling process as a fundamentally nuanced, non-equilibrium process rather than the straightforward equilibrium process it was originally understood to be.

Lead author Steven Schowalter, a graduate student researcher in Hudsons laboratory and now a staff scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, Our results demonstrate that you cant just throw any buffer gas into your device  no matter how cold it is  and expect it to work as an effective coolant.

Buffer gas cooling is crucial in fields ranging from forensics to the production of antimatter. Hudsons research group has discovered important nuances that revise the current understanding of the cooling process, explain the difficulties encountered in previous cooling experiments and show a new path forward for creating ultra-cold ion samples. With this framework the researchers showed how troublesome effects can be overcome and even exploited to study the mechanisms at play in molecular motors and single-atom heat engines in a precisely controlled manner.

Of course, this work does not violate the laws of thermodynamics, but it does demonstrate there are still some interesting, potentially useful things to learn about buffer gas cooling, said John Gillaspy, a physics division program director at the National Science Foundation, which funds the research. This is the sort of fundamental research that can really guide a wide range of more applied research efforts, helping other scientists and engineers to avoid going down dead-end paths and illuminating more fruitful directions they might take instead.
Customer support representative Kai Adams said seeing predominantly white staffs at some startups made it hard to want to try to get in there. (Keri Wiginton / Blue Sky)

What does it take to build a diverse venture-backed startup in Chicago? For Aaron Dallek, CEO and co-founder of four-year-old Opternative, the answer is commitment.

"Ethnicity and diversity is not the primary decision factor of how we go about hiring," Dallek said. "However, it's an important aspect of our culture, and it's an important aspect of a productive workforce and a productive culture and company."

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Just nine of Opternative's 27 full-time employees are white men, including Dallek. Five are white women, including two developers. Another 10 are minority men and three are minority women.

Dallek said the company draws on its employees' variety of backgrounds and experiences to make decisions and solve problems. Plus, it helps them remember to think of the diversity of their users, he said.

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With tech giants such as Pinterest, Google and Facebook releasing annual staff diversity reports revealing low numbers of women and minorities  particularly blacks and Hispanics  the issue has taken on new prominence in recent years. Some have blamed a lack of minority or female talent for their majority-white, majority-male staffs.

Dallek, a serial entrepreneur, doesn't agree that such a shortage necessarily exists  and made it a point with co-founder Steven Lee, who is Asian, to pursue a more diverse staff from the start.

Opternative provides an online vision test that costs $40 and is available in 38 states, including Illinois. The company, whose office is in the West Loop, has faced pushback from the American Optometric Association and other groups. In May, the company's test was banned in South Carolina, and pulled out of Indiana and Georgia following new legislation in those states. Still, Opternative recently entered a partnership with 1-800 Contacts to provide online eye exams to eligible customers.

The company raised $6 million from investors including Jump Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital earlier this year, bringing its total funding to $9.5 million, Dallek said.

Aaron Dallek, CEO, Opternative (Keri Wiginton / Blue Sky)

The company finds job candidates through referrals and direct outreach, Dallek said. Company leaders tell employees that staff diversity is important, hoping to encourage them to find potential new workers that might not otherwise be part of the startup scene.

"I think you get a wider variety, a diverse group of people that are coming into your workforce when you start utilizing the people you have in your company to help you find good people," Dallek said.

One result: Some staff members said the diversity that is evident at Opternative made them feel more confident that they would fit in at the small company.

Hajra Sattar, a recent biomedical engineering graduate from the Illinois Institute of Technology, said she used to worry that she might not get a job based on her appearance. She is a third-generation American of Pakistani descent who wears hijab, the Islamic headscarf.

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"If there was a company that had no diversity at all, and you could see it very clearly  I might say to myself, 'Maybe I might not get that job. I'll still do my best in the interview, but maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up,'" said Sattar, who now does research and development user testing at Opternative.

She said she met people from a variety of backgrounds during her interview process, which made her feel like she might be accepted as part of the team.

Kai Adams, a patient support representative who is black, said she sees more diversity in Opternative's leadership than she witnessed at another Chicago startup where she worked in the call center. She said that makes her feel like she has more opportunities to grow.

"When you see (diverse) young professionals  as CEOs and directors at a small startup, you realize that sometimes some of the stereotypes, they all fall away," Adams said.

Gerald Palmer, Opternative's director of patient support and physician network, said that he used to work at a company where he was the only black person. He described that environment as "awkward" and said he felt like he had to be careful with how he spoke for fear of fulfilling the "angry black guy" stereotype.

"So (I had) that pressure 40 hours a week to represent my entire race, because I'm the only one," Palmer said. "I don't feel that pressure here."

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Meredith Morales, diversity director at the Chicago chapter of the Society for Human Resources Management, said she liked Opternative's approach and its early commitment to mixing up its staff.

Referrals can be a good way to find candidates who may not already be in the industry, Morales said. But she cautioned against relying too much on referrals, which could lead to many candidates from the same networks.

"At some point, you start to recruit for the same type of person, which is a different spin on diversity," she said. "You may have multicultural diversity, you may have gender diversity. But if your referral networks are just recruiting more people that think like them, (it could decrease) diversity within thought leadership, which can impact this company's success, because they're not able to think outside the box."

More than 30 people now work at Opternative, including part-time workers and interns. The hiring process has already evolved in the past few years.

"In terms of how the recruitment process has changed  it definitely has been something we've put way more structure around," said Venu Raghavan, who is Indian. He joined the company two years ago and leads its finance and analytics team. He said more people now meet with each candidate, not just those who will be directly working with that person. That helps screen for cultural fit.

As the company grows and speeds up hiring, maintaining the same levels of diversity could become more challenging, said Ayo Jimoh, Opternative's chief technology officer.

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Jimoh said there isn't a dedicated program for hiring diverse candidates. Aside from referrals, there are other things that attract people from various minority groups, like having a black CTO and a conference room called Boystown in honor of the company's gay employees.

Opternative's leadership hasn't formally discussed how to manage diversity as the company scales, but Jimoh suggested they should.

"As we continue to shape our culture, we might want to explicitly put something in our cultural playbook that calls out diversity and why we think it's beneficial," he said. "Because it absolutely is."

aelahi@tribpub.com

Twitter @aminamania
Backpack makers like to consider their products "enablers," company executives say, especially of active lifestyles. No matter where you go or what you do, a reliable backpack can keep your stuff safe and sound right there with you.

Now, backpacks are enabling your smartphone addiction.

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Traditionally, backpacks are toted along on activities where you need to store your phone while you disconnect. That could be an afternoon spent hiking or a day at the beach or an after-work gym session. But consumers simply love their phones and tablets so much that pack-makers are changing their products so devices can be used continuously.

"There's not a single one of us that probably hasn't had our phone die or come close to dying at least once a week," said Jeff Popp, co-founder and product director of CO.Alition backpacks. "People do need this."

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And what would "this" be? A battery-equipped backpack, of course.

"In the past, bags filled the purpose of carrying physical objects around, but now we need a way to carry more than physical objects, like power and data," Popp said.

His bags, which were featured on ABC's "Shark Tank," include both charging and data-storing features. They sell for $149, a price not quite fit for back-to-school shopping.

But the adult backpack is catching on, according to industry data. Backpacks are a $522 million business in the United States and sales are up almost 5 percent this year over last, according to market research firm NPD Group.

To vie for their share of the market, both entrenched market players like Osprey and entrepreneurs with Kickstarter pages have taken to claiming their bags are smarter or chicer or sportier than everyone else's.

STM bags, which cost $239, have a built-in battery that is good for 15 to 20 hours of power.

"Technology is such an integral part of what we do, so we thought the merging of tech and a backpack would really complete the loop of our day," said Adina Jacobs, co-founder and product director of Australia-based STM bags.

California-based BirkSun designs its backpacks around a 7-by-5 inch solar panel that charges, you guessed it, a built-in battery. You could also plug your backpack into the wall to recharge. They cost $249.

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"With us moving to such a connected device society, I feel like we really have a differentiating factor in solar," said Carson Finkle, BirkSun's head of marketing and partnerships.

If these high-tech backpacks sound a bit nerdy, executives counter that it's certainly more trendy than carrying a briefcase.

But can you really take that thing into a business meeting? Yes, backpack makers unsurprisingly argue, and they're on a mission to spruce up their merchandise and offer them to business people young and old.

"We battle this idea of professionals thinking it's not okay to carry a backpack because they think of a fifth grader," Popp said. "We're trying to change that perception to make it professional. You can wear street clothes and it would look good. You can wear it with a suit it would look good."

Part of that charge involves muted tones -- no Power Rangers, here -- and the kind of gizmos innovators will want to brag about to clients and Janice in accounting. The backpack look says, "I went hiking this weekend and the power of the sun charged my laptop," designers say. "Look at me. I'm cool."

And with a fully charged phone, wearers will be able to tweet that message, as well.
Chicago Beyond, the philanthropic venture launched this spring by former Fenger High School principal Liz Dozier, announced Tuesday that it will invest $2.7 million in three local programs to study their impact on youth employment and educational attainment. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Beyond, a philanthropic venture launched this spring by former Fenger High School principal Liz Dozier, announced Tuesday that it will invest $2.7 million to enhance and study the impact of three local programs that work with young fathers, formerly incarcerated youth and high school seniors at risk of falling off the college track.

The three programs  The Dovetail Project, Storycatchers Theatre and Genesys Works  were selected from 202 applicants to Chicago Beyond's inaugural Go Innovate challenge, which sought early stage ideas in two areas: re-engaging "disconnected" youth in work or school and supporting college enrollment and graduation.

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A key part of the investments is a research partnership with the University of Chicago Urban Labs, which will evaluate the impact of the programs on participants' labor market or educational outcomes in order to understand what actually works.

"We believe this has the potential for national impact," Dozier said. "These learnings are applicable across the board."

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Chicago Beyond launched in the midst of a violent year in the city with the twin goals of improving youth education and safety. It is targeting its investments at the 45,000 16- to 24-year-olds in Chicago who are neither in school nor working, plus the vast contingent of public school students who don't graduate from a four-year college.

Dozier makes it a point to call the funding "investments," not grants, because "we really see ourselves walking alongside these organizations" to uncover what makes a measurable difference in young people's futures so that public and philanthropic dollars can be directed at the most effective programs.

Liz Dozier of Chicago Beyond talks with Kewanis Tynes, 21, after an Aug. 22, 2016, rehearsal of Storycatchers Theatre's Changing Voices program in Chicago. Participants, recently released from juvenile detention centers and prisons, are paid to write and perform shows based on their own life stories, usually in front of students. Chicago Beyond will give $900,000 to the Storycatchers program. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Beyond, which Dozier describes as a philanthropic venture capital fund rather than a traditional foundation, pulled together selection committees comprised of varied stakeholders  including police officers, teachers, business leaders and students  to choose the winners.

"It truly is a partnership," said Meade Palidofsky, founder of Storycatchers Theatre.

Storycatchers, founded 32 years ago, puts on musicals written, produced and performed by incarcerated youth, with the mission of getting them and their audiences to examine their life choices.

Chicago Beyond is investing $900,000 in Storycatchers' post-release Changing Voices program, launched in 2014, which is an employment program for 16- to 24-year-olds who have been recently released from juvenile detention centers and prisons.

Participants are paid $10.50 an hour to work 30 hours a week performing musicals in front of small audiences, usually middle and high school students, plus they receive life and jobs skills training. Each participant writes his or her own play, which are combined into one musical drawing on elements from each.

While the organization has seen kids change over time, from angry and explosive to becoming community leaders, "we have never had the opportunity to do research before," said Palidofsky, who hopes to expand it to a statewide program.

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Chicago Beyond's investment will allow Storycatchers to add two more touring performance troupes while Urban Labs tests the impact of the program on long-term employment and recidivism, comparing the participants with a control group that expressed interest in the program but did not get enrolled.

"When you think about violence and crime in our city, Storycatchers serves an incredibly vulnerable population," said Dozier, who has been on the front lines of the violence. She became principal at Fenger shortly before the mob beating death of 16-year-old student Derrion Albert and later featured prominently in the CNN series "Chicagoland." This year she lost another one of her former students, Lee McCullum III, who also was featured in the CNN program, to gang violence.

A notable factor of Chicago Beyond's investments are that the programs target niche audiences, highlighting that at-risk young people have varied needs.

The Dovetail Project, founded in 2009, serves young dads. It puts African-American fathers aged 17 to 24 through a 12-week program that includes training in financial literacy, job skills and "felony street law," which includes how to avoid getting incarcerated by interacting smartly with police and complying with child support laws.

The program ends with parenting skills, which includes discussions about "manhood and fatherhood," which aren't always modeled properly.

"It's about being a man first and foremost and taking care of your responsibilities," said founder Sheldon Smith.

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Ninety percent of the 230 young men Dovetail has served since its launch grew up with fathers who were in and out of their lives, and 80 percent were not employed, said Smith, whose own father was intermittently in his own life; same with his dad's dad.

Chicago Beyond is investing $990,000 in Dovetail to serve 220 men over two years while Urban Labs studies the program's effect on long-term unemployment, wages and GED completion.

"If you can impact these fathers economically you don't just change the trajectory of their lives, but you're also changing the trajectory of their children's lives," Dozier said.

The third innovation investment is going to Genesys Works, which gets high school students into corporate internships as a way to lift their sights and drive them into college. The program, which has been in Chicago since 2011, is part of a national organization, headquartered in Houston, that operates in five cities.

The local program puts Chicago Public Schools students through an intensive workforce training program the summer before their senior year of high school, in which they learn technical skills in accounting or information technology as well as basic job skills such as how to send a professional email.

The students then do a yearlong paid internship, for which they are paid minimum wage, in the IT or accounting departments at Chicago companies.

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The program targets "the quiet middle"  students who are neither overachievers nor low performers, who are on track to graduate from high school but at risk of not enrolling in college, said Laura Lukens, local director of development and communications at Genesys Works. The greatest challenge, she said, are the low expectations that these students have for themselves because they don't often have professional role models.

Ninety-six percent of its students enroll in college and 81 percent remain enrolled, though it is too early to know how many graduate, Lukens said. The program sticks with the students once they have entered college to help them adjust to dorm life, get internships or transfer from two-year to four-year schools.

Chicago Beyond is putting $790,000 toward Genesys Works to serve 205 students, while Urban Lab tests the effect of the program on college matriculation, graduation rates and future workforce participation. Lukens said the plan is to look at salary data to see if the students secure jobs in the economic mainstream.

"If the results show that we're making an impact, it creates an incredible opportunity for us to expand not only in Chicago but nationally," Lukens said.

Chicago Beyond plans to announce another innovation challenge early next year. It won't disclose how much money is in its fund or identify the private investors providing it, but it already has moved $12 million to four large programs as part of another initiative called Go Together.

Dozier's efforts come as others also are fixing attention on the city's long-standing problems of youth violence, unemployment and educational shortfalls.

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While many nonprofits and foundations exist to tackle the problems, "there is a lot of siloing happening" that often keeps them from finding solutions together, Dozier said.

"When we think about how massive this problem is, we have to look at breaking down those silos," she said. "How are we partnering with people and valuing the voice of people who are really doing the work."

aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @alexiaer
McDonald's announced Aug. 23, 2016, that the company was recalling fitness bands that it had put in Happy Meals because they might cause skin irritation or blistering on children. (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)

McDonald's is recalling 29 million fitness wristbands distributed in Happy Meals after dozens of children reportedly developed skin irritations.

The Oak Brook fast-food giant stopped including the "Step-iT" activity wristbands in meals last week after receiving "limited reports" of skin irritations associated with the wearable step counters. On Tuesday, McDonald's stepped up the count and issued the recall after finding more than 70 incidents, including seven reports of blisters from the wristbands, the company said.

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"This is a large recall," said Patty Davis, a spokeswoman with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is working with McDonald's on the recall. "Most recalls that we do don't have any incidents involved at all."

The wristbands, which were made in China, came in translucent plastic orange, blue or green, featured a digital screen that tracked a child's movement and included motion-activated lights.

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An effort to promote healthy activity in an unlikely package  Happy Meals  the bands were distributed at McDonald's restaurants nationwide from Aug. 9 through 17. Another 3.6 million of the recalled bands were distributed in Canada.

Customers who bring back their fitness bands can receive a free replacement toy and either a yogurt tube or a bag of apple slices, the company said.

"McDonald's is doing the right thing here," Davis said. "They're recalling a product that has been shown to cause skin irritation and burns when worn by kids."

It is not the first major recall for McDonald's. In 2010, the chain recalled 12 million "Shrek Forever After 3D" collectible drinking glasses after it was found the designs on the glasses contained cadmium, a highly toxic metal and known carcinogen.

In 2002, McDonald's recalled about 100,000 Chicago Bears bobblehead collectibles sold at 400 Chicago-area restaurants because of excessive levels of lead in the paint.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertChannick
Matilda Stubbs, a Northwestern University doctoral candidate, walks Aug. 16, 2016, with her son Comsos Marquez, 4, in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. Stubbs, who said she was not granted any time off when she gave birth to her son, is in favor of allowing graduate students to unionize. The matter is now before the National Labor Relations Board. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

The National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday that grad students who work as teaching and research assistants at private universities are employees covered by federal labor laws, a major decision that opens the door for graduate students across the country to unionize,

The 3-1 decision  which stems from a petition filed by a group of graduate students at Columbia University in New York who wished to join the United Auto Workers union  reverses a 2004 decision involving Rhode Island's Brown University that had held that grad students are not employees because they are primarily students.

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Matilda Stubbs, who is pursuing her doctorate in anthropology at Northwestern University, said she was "thrilled and encouraged" by the ruling after years of organizing efforts at the school have faltered. The option to form a union has been important to her so that student teachers can bargain for better health coverage, more assistance for students with dependents and to generally have a voice in decisions about their working lives.

"Having our multiple statuses  as students and as employees  established and clarified better enables everyone (students, employees, faculty, administration) to prevent and address workplace-related issues," Stubbs wrote in an email. "This is a positive move for all parties involved."

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Many university administrators don't think so, warning that viewing graduate students as employees  and allowing collective bargaining  could hurt the academic nature of their relationship with the school and faculty advisers.

"Northwestern believes that unionization and collective bargaining are not the appropriate methods to address concerns raised by graduate student assistants," university spokesman Alan Cubbage said in a statement following Tuesday's decision.

He noted that Northwestern, which provides guaranteed funding for doctoral students for five years, invested $6 million to increase grad students' annual stipends to $29,000 last year, up 26 percent, and raised them again to $29,880 this year. It is among several schools that have raised graduate student stipends in recent years, which some skeptics say is an attempt to dampen the desire to unionize.

In addition, Cubbage wrote, "Teaching experience, which is extremely valuable in the academic job market, enhances learning for those students while improving communication and other skills."

The Service Employees International Union, which has been behind a recent surge in unionization efforts of adjunct instructors at private schools across the country, released a news release stating that grad students at a number of schools  including Northwestern  "are launching a massive drive to build unions with SEIU."

There are also grad student unionization efforts at the American Federation of Teachers, which is affiliated with Graduate Students United at the University of Chicago.

"The truth is graduate workers are the glue that holds higher education institutions together  without their labor, classes wouldn't get taught, exams wouldn't get graded and office hours wouldn't be held," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. "The evidence considered by the board clearly showed that far from being detrimental, collective representation enhances the professor-graduate employee relationship so important to academic success."

Graduate students made up about 19 percent of instructional staff in 2011, according to the American Association of University Professors. They are part of the contingent faculty, which includes part-time adjuncts and full-time nontenured professors, that has taken on a larger responsibility for teaching over the past few decades, a trend that has driven discontent over low wages and unstable schedules.

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"This favorable verdict is a big shot in the arm for the union we have built over these last nine years at U. of C., giving graduate students another powerful tool for improving our working lives," said Abhishek Bhattacharyya, a University of Chicago doctoral student in South Asian languages and civilizations as well as anthropology. "We remain committed to building a robust, inclusive and democratic union, working alongside teachers in the city, activists in South Side Chicago, and others looking to change the way things work."

The University of Chicago did not respond to a request for comment.

The NLRB has gone back and forth over the years on whether grad students are employees. The 2004 Brown decision that Tuesday's ruling overturned reversed a 2000 decision in a New York University case in which the NLRB determined that just because grad students are "primarily students" doesn't mean they can't also be employees, which in turn had reversed nearly 30 years of precedent.

Joseph Ambash, an attorney with employment law firm Fisher Phillips who represented Brown in that ruling, said Tuesday's "sweeping decision ... has basically transformed our private higher education systems from educational institutions into workplaces" and could create conditions that are "extremely disruptive and contentious."

Graduate students at many top-tier private universities are expected to serve as teaching assistants or research assistants as part of the requirements to get their doctorates. Their package of financial support includes an annual stipend, free tuition and free health insurance.

In his dissent, NLRB member Philip Miscimarra, the board's sole Republican, said collective bargaining, as well as the threat of "economic weapons" such as strikes or lockouts, could also detract from "the far more important goal of completing degree requirements in the allotted time."

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"... For most students including student assistants, attending college is the most important investment they will ever make," Miscimarra wrote. "I do not believe our statute contemplates that it should be governed by bargaining leverage, the potential resort to economic weapons, and the threat or infliction of economic injury by or against students, on the one hand, and colleges and universities, on the other."

The majority wrote that the Brown decision "deprived an entire category of workers of the protections of the (National Labor Relations) Act without a convincing justification."

Their decision states: "The Board has the statutory authority to treat student assistants as statutory employees, where they perform work, at the direction of the university, for which they are compensated. Statutory coverage is permitted by virtue of an employment relationship; it is not foreclosed by the existence of some other, additional relationship that the Act does not reach."

There are 34 collective bargaining units of graduate students in the U.S., the vast majority at public universities, which are governed by state labor laws and not the National Labor Relations Act, according to Bill Herbert, executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, which is based at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York system.

Some research suggests commonly cited concerns about the impact of unions on academia don't bear out.

A 2013 study that compared surveys from unionized grad students at public universities with nonunionized grad students at private universities found that perceptions about academic freedom and relationships with professors were as good or better at the public schools, said Paula Voos, professor at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations and co-author of the study.

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Bob Bruno, a professor in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois, said Tuesday's ruling is "an appropriate decision that corrects an injustice."

"Grad students are doing work and nothing about being a student subtracts from that employment reality," he said. "The board's ruling is part of a larger recognition that the workplace is changing and who performs that work has evolved, and it's necessary that the protections of the nation's labor law be extended."

aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @alexiaer
In the past several weeks, the picture that we've gotten of the restaurant industry hasn't exactly been a promising one. Dunkin' Donuts saw traffic slip at its U.S. locations in the latest quarter. Potbelly Sandwich Works said it expects to be challenged by a "more cautious consumer" in the near future. And McDonald's said its sales were hampered by a broad-based retreat from dining out.



Talk of a "restaurant recession" has been percolating on the Internet after an investment bank analyst used the provocative phrase in a research note to describe where the dining industry -- and the overall economy -- might be headed. So what's going on here? Here, we break down a few popular theories.



Theory 1: This is an early, foreboding sign that consumers are starting pull back on their spending. This is the most frightening of the possibilities, because if it's right, it suggests the broader economy could be poised for slowdown. But it's also the explanation that seems toughest to prove.



Let's start with the factors that are causing the hand wringing. For one, restaurants have been one of the bright spots of the broader retail industry for years now, but recent data suggests business is getting gloomier. NPD Group, a market research firm, found that visits to fast-casual eateries fell in the most recent quarter for the first time since it began tracking them in 2004. Trade publication Nation's Restaurant News found that sales at publicly traded restaurants saw a median decline of 1.7 percent in the second quarter.



There's some anecdotal evidence, too, that seems discouraging. Michael O'Donnell, the chief executive of the parent company of Ruth's Chris Steak House, told investors in late July that its a la carte dining business is struggling. Unlike its happy hour or private events business, that area is usually fueled by what he called "aspirational" diners, the ones who might go to the steakhouse for a birthday or anniversary dinner.



Mark Kalinowski, a restaurant industry analyst for Nomura, said he believes restaurant sales can offer the earliest hints of an economic downshift.



"How you eat and what you're spending money on to eat tends to be a very real-time decision by literally hundreds of millions of people," Kalinowski said.



But before you start fretting that economic storm clouds are forming, consider that there are plenty of other indications these fears are overblown. Healthy consumer spending is what powered GDP growth in the second quarter. The National Retail Federation recently bumped up its forecast for industry-wide growth for the year, saying factors such as high consumer confidence drove the decision. And then there's the fact that some retailers have seen shoppers coming out in full force. Home Depot recorded a 6 percent increase in revenue this quarter, and sales were up 8.1 percent of items that cost more than $900. TJX Cos., the parent of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, saw total sales soar 7 percent. Within the restaurant industry, Domino's Pizza and Papa John's had a solid quarter.



Theory 2: Grocery shopping is looking like a good deal right now. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for "food at home" -- a proxy for grocery store prices -- fell 0.2 percent in July and have declined 1.6 percent over the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the "food away from home" category has seen prices move in the opposite direction: They notched up 0.2 percent last month and 2.8 percent over the previous year.



Executives from McDonald's, Wendy's, and Jack In the Box each mentioned this pattern on their most recent earnings calls because they believe the wide gap in prices was a challenge to their sales in the most recent quarter. And it indeed seems plausible that some shoppers saw such good comparative value at the grocery store, they might have backed off from eating out. Plus, big chains such as Whole Foods Market are making a push around prepared foods, which offer more direct competition to quick-service and fast-casual restaurant players.

Theory 3: These earnings reports aren't capturing the full picture. Of the 25 largest restaurant brands in the United States this quarter, Kalinowski said only one likely posted an increase of 5 percent or better in sales at restaurants open more than a year. That would be lowest number of restaurants hitting that threshold in any quarter so far this decade, Kalinowski said.



But that doesn't necessarily mean things are looking rough out there. It just means business is tough for those particular mega-brands. It doesn't tell us much about how regional players or independent outposts are faring.



"Ultimately, consumers are spreading their purchasing across a broader range of brands," said Darren Tristano, president of restaurant research firm Technomic.



And then there's the customers who are lining up at local restaurants. The earnings of the big restaurant companies do little to illuminate what is going on with these experience-oriented consumers, who are dining out almost as a hobby.
Debbie and Brian Barkowski left the city and moved to Long Beach, Ind., for a life that is more centered around friends and family. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune) (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

When Beth Doherty found her future home in Indiana, it was by mistake.

Visiting property her sister-in-law purchased in 2002, she discovered Beverly Shores, Ind., where she and her husband moved in 2010 after living in Bucktown for two decades.

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"You can see the skyline from the shore, and there's all these really cool houses," she said.

Doherty, a real estate broker, said many clients have no idea that such lakeside gems are available.

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That might change soon.

Puzzled by why Indiana isn't drawing more people who work in Chicago, local officials are touting newly revitalized downtowns and pitching a new train track to slim commutes.

"This area is the best-kept secret," said Michael Noland, CEO of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District.

Debbie Barkowski agrees. For her, the draws in leaving Chicago for Long Beach, Ind., were many  the lakeshore, where she and husband Brian see sunsets, and a leafy neighborhood where quaint houses sit back from winding, quiet streets.

They're grateful, too, for a network of young peers to meet for dune hikes or coffee at Beach Glass Cafe. Within eight months of moving in, they were invited to a wedding.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 9 Debbie and Brian Barkowski moved to Long Beach, Ind., after living for years in Chicago. (Nuccio DiNuzzo)

But some Chicago friends and family remain perplexed.

"We do still get that question about, 'What brought you to Indiana?'" she said.

With some millennials attracted to the area's beach access and low-key lifestyle, officials hope a new generation of residents will flow into town.

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The linchpin in their plan to draw more people? Adding another track to a segment of the South Shore Line, which officials hope will slash the commute from Michigan City to Chicago to just one hour.

"The double tracking, I think, is going to be a huge game changer," said Leah Konrady, president of One Region, a group that promotes growth and quality of life in Northwest Indiana. She is 30, and says many friends in their 20s and 30s have moved to the area. She's monitoring the way other cities reach out to millennials, like Atlanta's New Voices campaign, with an advisory panel of millennials.

But making Chicago workplaces accessible is key. Right now, just one track runs between Gary and Michigan City. "We've got two-way traffic on a one-way street," Noland said.

Two tracks, Noland said, will allow trains to run more quickly  and with more options. He would love to see more rush-hour trains, for example.

Officials are in the process of finalizing details for the double tracking and received federal approval in May to hire engineers for preliminary planning. They plan to hold public meetings in October, and if all goes well, to see improved service by 2020.

Officials say Indiana is an obvious choice. Locals laud the lower cost of living. Billboards near Gary beckon Illinois residents with the boast, "Balanced State Budget."

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Northwest Indiana's serene lakefront is one of its selling points for officials pitching it to young working professionals as a place they should live. Aug. 23, 2016. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

But they acknowledge challenges  for many, the state brings to mind an industrial landscape, Konrady said, not lakeshore sunsets and a shops-lined downtown. And in a recent One Region survey, residents expressed concern about jobs and education.

Bringing in more young people would help boost population  according to a upcoming One Region report, the area's 4 percent rate of population growth between 2000 and 2014 was slower than both the state's and the nation's.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage broker Nick Landers often reminds clients that Illinois suburban sale prices can double or triple Indiana's. According to Zillow, the median home value in Porter County, which includes Chesterton, is $166,200. In Lake County, it's $121,600.

But just 15 percent of the workforce in Northwest Indiana commutes to Chicago, compared with 35 percent in Illinois counties near the city.

When Noland asks Chicago friends what it would take to make them move, "Frankly, it's simple. It's the commute."

Right now, it's a hefty one. The train from Michigan City to Millennium Station is about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

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Narrowing that, Noland said, "We unlock the region, and we become the newest suburb of Chicago."

(Chicago Tribune Graphics)

Of course, Indiana residents have long commuted to Chicago. Valparaiso's express commuter bus, ChicaGo DASH, carries about 130 riders to downtown and back daily. In Michigan City, commuters hop on the 5:52 a.m. train, returning on the 3:57 p.m. from Millennium Station.

Swifter trains, officials are confident, would advance both Michigan City and nearby communities like Portage.

"We think it's the new area to look at," said Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority President Bill Hanna. "This is the ground floor for a lot of these neighborhoods that will be anchored by these transit areas."

Revamped downtowns are elevating the region's appeal.

In Michigan City late Saturday night, a young couple strolled past lit storefronts like restaurant Mucho Mas, serving guacamole and enchiladas, and home decor shop Nest Number 4.

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New shops in buildings that previously hosted empty storefronts softened Jenn Moser-Summers, initially reluctant to move here from Chicago to join her husband. Although still considering a move to the West Coast, she's encouraged by all the openings.

"I'm just now starting to appreciate Michigan City," said Moser-Summers, 34, who bar tends at Fire & Water, where people watch the sunset on the rooftop while sipping drinks half as expensive as they would be on Michigan Avenue.

The shore, also, is on locals' list of selling points. They point to places like Whiting Lakefront Park, where millions of dollars were invested in a winding, green area that attracted bikers and dog walkers on a recent weekend morning. The Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk, which opened in 2008, has a 3,500-square-foot public pavilion, used as a backdrop for wedding photos Saturday. Trails thread through dunes that nestle a beach filled with families.

"If you haven't seen our shoreline in the last three or four years, it would look completely different to you," Hanna said.

But first, Noland added, is convincing Chicagoans to come. He understands. Years ago, living in Lincoln Park, he and his wife decided on Glen Ellyn when they had children.

"I've told people around here, Northwest Indiana was not on my radar screen," he said.

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Part of the pitch is promising people the area looks different than 20 years ago. After MSNBC political commentator Chris Matthews in 2015 called Michigan City "hollowed-out," local officials invited him to come back and see what's changed.

Recently, Konrady was shopping with her mother in Michigan City. Strolling by shops like Hoity Toity, where lamps and dressers fill the windows, her mom, 65, noted she hadn't ventured onto that stretch since she was 16.

"It was an unwalkable city," Konrady said. "When people see Michigan City now, they feel so different about it."

She, too, understands the challenges. After all, although her primary residence is Michigan City, she often stays at an apartment in River North, near city friends.

"I think the single people are scared to move back," she said.

Still, she points out that her brother met his fiancee in Michigan City, where both live.

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And so many millennials have settled there that the Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce last year launched the Lakefront Career Network, connecting young professionals for happy hours.

That's how Brian and Debbie Barkowski found new friends. They lived in the South Loop and then Clarendon Hills before moving to Long Beach last September.

Knowing a move far from friends might be tough, they sought a destination. Pals now love to visit for days outdoors, walking the four blocks to the lake.

"I can't tell you how many people I've had come up and say, 'How are you liking it? We're really considering it,'" Brian Barkowski said.

Four days a week, he drives the hour to his job as vice president at Brother Rice High School in Mount Greenwood, decompressing during the return trip on tree-lined U.S. Highway 12.

State officials and brokers  and young people eager for more peers  hope the train transports people ready to hear their pitch. "People really want that small-town atmosphere," Landers said. "You're an hour from a world-class city. And from our house, we're a block away from the lake. We can walk down to the beach, and we can see Chicago."

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Twitter @byalisonbowen
Amy Schumer and Chicago furniture designer Ben Hanisch take a selfie at the Critics' Choice Awards Jan. 17. (Charley Gallay / Getty Images for FIJI Water)

Amy Schumer has already declared love for her boyfriend, Chicago furniture designer Ben Hanisch. Now she's declaring love for his parents, who live in Palatine.

"His parents are the sweetest people. They are from the Midwest. Like, they're just the happiest," Schumer told Howard Stern on his show Tuesday. "His mom always seems like she was just called down as a contestant on 'Price is Right' ... She, like, sends me nice notes. And, like, they're just the loveliest people."

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Schumer, 35, said she is living with Hanisch, whose workshop is based on the North Side. The couple has talked about having kids, but tabled that discussion for two years, Schumer said. Their parents have not met, she added.

super interested in hearing my new material A photo posted by @amyschumer on Aug 21, 2016 at 4:07pm PDT

Schumer describes meeting Hanisch, 30, through a dating app in her book "The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo," which was released last week. They went public with their relationship about eight months ago.

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Schumer appears to be feeling better from her illness, which her rep cited as the reason she nixed a book signing scheduled for last week in Naperville. The cancellation came as Schumer sought to distance herself from misogynistic posts by Kurt Metzger, who has written for her Comedy Central show "Inside Amy Schumer."

Schumer is scheduled to perform Nov. 25 at Allstate Arena and Nov. 26 at UIC Pavilion.

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Watch the latest movie trailers.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Trix, the name Dutch voters gave to the top-quality predator skeleton, was excavated by Naturlis and the Black Hills Institute in 2013 in Montana. (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) (Chicago Tribune)

There was a new big T. rex in town, but it is not as complete as Sue and it was only here long enough to get on a plane, like countless other travelers passing through O'Hare.

Trix, the name Dutch museumgoers gave to a top-quality top predator skeleton discovered three years ago in Montana, got on board KLM Flight 612 on Tuesday afternoon en route to Leiden's Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Netherlands' national natural history museum.

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Partially mounted T. rex skeleton at Black Hills Institute, South Dakota. (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

There, she  the animal is likely, though not certainly, a female  will become the "first and only T. rex that will be permanently exhibited in mainland Europe," Dutch Consul General in Chicago Louis Piet said at a reception for the carnivore he hosted at his Gold Coast residence Monday night.

At the airport Tuesday passengers on that Chicago-to-Amsterdam flight learned that their rollaways were being joined by more precious cargo. Unlike other fliers, Trix travels inside her own luggage, foam-stuffed wooden crates designed for easy assembly and disassembly.

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Passengers were treated to cake and could see the specimen being loaded, three palettes bearing nine crates, 11,000 pounds total. At the gate, Piet and dinosaur scientists from the U.S. and the Netherlands lauded the animal's move to the continent with praise and an oversized Dutch passport.

Artist impression of T. rex Trix according to the latest scientific theories and showing her actual wounds. (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

And when Trix goes on display Sept. 10, Naturalis will no longer be "pretty much Vegan Park," as Anne Schulp, the museum's chief paleontologist, said at the Monday reception. "We were missing a big carnivore."

There are different ways of measuring, but Trix is safely "one of the best three rexes that have been found," 75 percent to 80 percent intact, said Pete Larson, president of South Dakota's Black Hills Geological Research Institute, which has hustled to prepare and mount the animal in time for its Sept. 16 unveiling in the Netherlands.

"It's a fantastic specimen," said Larson, who connected Naturalis with the landowners for a transaction that was conducted privately. All told, Naturalis invested about 5 million euros (about $5.7 million) in the project, including acquisition, excavation and exhibition, museum officials said Monday.

At a 1997 auction, the Field paid $8.36 million for Sue, more than 90 percent intact, which has become its flagship attraction. The other T. rex in the top three is a specimen at Black Hills known as Stan, said Larson, who was with Sue Hendrickson when she discovered the Sue specimen.

Trix lacked some of the smaller bones; "we sent them digital files of Sue's feet so they could complete the mount," said Peter Makovicky, the Field's curator of dinosaurs.

More exciting from a scientific standpoint, said Makovicky, is that Naturalis was part of the excavation almost from the outset, allowing their scientists to study the sediment, dig out the bones and so on. "They're trying to get the whole story from this T. rex, which we were never really able to do with Sue," Makovicky said.

Said Schulp, "We wanted the skeleton, the science, the whole story behind this dinosaur."

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And in its display pose Trix will be the most complete such animal. "We are doing something completely ridiculous," said Schulp, who even before telling why they suspect Trix is female explained that Anne, his first name, is sometimes a man's name in the Netherlands. "We are going to put an original skull on an original skeleton."

The Dutch, working with Larson's team at Black Hills, devised a unique, low-to-the-ground pose that allows the weight of the head to be supported; other T. rexes, like Sue, use a replica skull because the real one is too heavy to be supported in the more traditional head-up pose.

"You can really look the beast in the eye," Schulp said.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
The number of hospitalists has increased from the few hundred doctors practicing in 1996 to more than 50,000 working today in the United States. (Hero Images / Getty Images)

A hospitalist is a doctor who focuses on work in the hospital, caring for patients and navigating an increasingly complex medical institution. Rather than focusing on an organ or a disease, the work revolves around the physical setting of care. Although hospitalists have been around in one form or another for years, the term "hospitalist" was coined in 1996 by Dr. Robert Wachter, chairman of the department of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, who has taken a lead in developing and promoting this evolving and growing specialty.

The number of hospitalists has increased from the few hundred doctors practicing in 1996 to more than 50,000 working today in the United States, according to the Society of Hospital Medicine. Nine out of 10 hospitals with more than 200 beds are staffed with hospitalists. While no board certification exists for those in this field of medicine, most hospitalists are trained and board certified in internal medicine.

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Traditionally, medicine in the hospital has been supervised and practiced by residents who report back to and work with primary care physicians. As the trend to increase quality of care while cutting costs has gained momentum, the role of the doctor practicing medicine in the hospital has expanded. Just as the practices of emergency and critical care medicine have evolved to require specialized skills, so has the practice of hospital medicine.

Dr. John Nelson is co-founder of the Society of Hospital Medicine, the medical society for the nation's hospitalists, and a long practicing hospitalist who has worked on-site with more than 300 health care organizations around the country on hospitalist programs. The idea that hospital medicine's emergence is entirely the consequence of the demands of managed-care companies, hospital executives and insurance companies to save on costs is not accurate, he said.

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"Hospital medicine began to appear because the traditional model of medicine was becoming distressed," Nelson said.

Nelson said large numbers of hospitalists exist because primary care doctors who historically cared for patients in the hospital and outpatient settings have found it difficult to "stay on top of their game" in both settings and to be reliably available in both settings simultaneously. Before the arrival of hospitalists, he said, doctors would see patients during the day and hospitalized patients during rounds in the early mornings or in the evenings.

"The frantic, intense schedules for these doctors was not only stressful, but patients didn't have reliable access to the doctor for scheduled appointments or hospital emergencies," he said.

Only when executives began to see the cost-saving benefits emerge from the increasing numbers of internists working exclusively in the hospital, did they too begin to support the trend. Nelson said the concept of the hospitalist as a new model germinated with physicians in the trenches who chose to narrow their practice to only outpatient settings. As these doctors began to move out of the hospital, they left a void that was filled by hospitalists.

The idea that doctors have been pushed to leave the hospital is also somewhat of a distortion, said Nelson. This happened in rare cases that got a lot of attention. Medicine has become too complex for individual doctors to be juggling multiple medical roles across different settings (outpatient and hospital) all at once. It is doctors themselves who have brought about the rapid adoption of the hospitalist model across the country. And hospital and insurance executives have been ardent supporters of its growth.

Patients who don't yet understand the benefits of having physicians who practice exclusively and intensively in a hospital setting and who would like to be cared for by their private physicians, tend to unfairly blame hospital administrators, government medical overseers and insurance executives for the inability to be treated by doctors with whom they may have bonded, Nelson said.

Hospitals, meanwhile, have become complex settings with individualized protocols. They are now the sites of new, innovative technology and complicated systems that require a full-time focus. Most patients are now treated in an office or outpatient facility and only in hospitals when they are very ill. As the average hospital stay becomes shorter, the efficiency and continuity of care that only full-time physicians and staff working as a team can provide has become vital. As hospitals develop new services and protocols, hospitalists, who understand how the hospital works better than other doctors, have become participants in hospital-driven changes.

An area of hospital medicine that can still be problematic and requires work and improvement is the potential lack of communication between a hospitalist and an individual's primary physician.

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Dr. Sajeev Handa, the director of hospital medicine at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, said he understands that patients like the notion of being treated by physicians with whom they feel they have built a relationship. An advantage, though, he added, is that a hospitalist is a full-time hospital doctor leading a team with whom patients often develop relationships while being treated.

"It's more efficient, productive and healing to have an experienced navigator (the hospitalist) working with a known team," said Handa, "and when it works as it should to encourage continuity of health treatment and planning, the best intended results of the model have been realized."

Barbara Sadick is a freelancer.

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Members of the Pro-Life Action League and an employee of Planned Parenthood talk with members of the media outside the Planned Parenthood clinic at Division and LaSalle streets on Aug. 23, 2016. Anti-abortion activists are suing the city of Chicago over its 2009 abortion-clinic "bubble zone." (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Members of the Pro-Life Action League and an employee of Planned Parenthood talk with members of the media outside the Planned Parenthood clinic at Division and LaSalle streets on Aug. 23, 2016. Anti-abortion activists are suing the city of Chicago over its 2009 abortion-clinic "bubble zone." (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Anti-abortion activists filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Chicago's 2009 abortion-clinic "bubble zone" ordinance violates their constitutional rights.

The law is designed to protect patients seeking reproductive health care. Visitors to an abortion clinic are surrounded by an 8-foot "bubble zone" once they are within 50 feet of the entrance, meaning activists can't get closer than that unless they receive permission to approach.

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The complaint was filed against the city of Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld for "partnering with abortion vendors to violate the rights of those who wish to reach out to women seeking abortions."

Members of the Pro-Life Action League, the Live Pro Life Group, which is a ministry of the Church of Christian Liberty, and four "sidewalk counselors" are challenging the law on the grounds that it violates their First and 14th Amendment rights.

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"The precious right of free speech  so central to our democracy  is being denied to these individuals on the basis of their pro-life beliefs," said Thomas Olp, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, which represents the plaintiffs. "Pro-life advocates are being singled out, and their constitutional protections are being trampled."

Attorney Stephen Crampton, special counsel to the Thomas More Society, talks with members of the media outside the Planned Parenthood clinic at Division and LaSalle streets Aug. 23, 2016, in Chicago. Anti-abortion activists are suing the city of Chicago over its 2009 abortion-clinic "bubble zone." (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

The suit also accuses the Chicago Police Department of prejudice against anti-abortion counselors, which the plaintiffs claim has caused false arrests and harassment.

"You're a policeman: How do you identify exactly when someone is 8 feet as opposed to 8 1/2? Only when you cross that magic 8-foot bubble," said Stephen Crampton, special counsel with the Thomas More Society.

To avoid legal challenges, Chicago based its ordinance on a Colorado law that creates an 8-foot no-approach zone within a 100-foot radius of all health care facilities. That law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hill v. Colorado in 2000.

In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down a "buffer zone" law in Massachusetts designed to keep abortion opponents away from patients, sparking a debate over whether the Chicago ordinance would stand. In a concurring opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia suggested revisiting the Colorado law, inviting challenges to similar limits across the country.

Planned Parenthood clinic escort volunteers look at Thomas More Society supporters outside the clinic at Division and LaSalle streets Aug. 23, 2016. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Bill McCaffrey, Chicago's Law Department spokesman, said the city will vigorously defend itself against the suit.

"We cannot comment on the pending litigation, however the City's ordinance protects the First Amendment rights of protesters and is almost identical to a statute the Supreme Court has already upheld (in Hill vs. Colorado), except that our buffer zone is much smaller," he said in a statement.

Nearly 30 anti-abortion activists gathered Tuesday afternoon in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic at Division and LaSalle streets to discuss the lawsuit, holding signs that read "No Bubble Zone" and "Protect Free Speech." One woman held a sign that read "Planned Parenthood Promotes Black Genocide."

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Ann Scheidler, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said she has been a sidewalk counselor in Chicago for about 40 years.

"We were always able to talk to women on the sidewalk or in the alley, and they would frequently take the information from us, whether they left the clinic or not," she said. "But once the bubble zone passed, the clinic recruited a bunch of escorts who blocked our way."

Scheidler said the language in the ordinance is vague, causing police officers and clinic staff to misinterpret it.

"Instead of being able to try to give information to women coming in, we're dealing with telling the police what we did or didn't do," she said. "No one could ever quite figure out what the law did or didn't say."

Julie Lynn, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said escorts are employed to protect patients.

"We are here to make sure patients are able to access the center safely and (get) the health care services they need without feeling harassed or shamed," she said.

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Lynn said patients receive counseling inside the clinic on all aspects of reproductive health care, not just abortion.

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"People come to us for different kinds of things  (sexually transmitted infection) screenings, cancer screenings, birth control, counseling  we want people to have options and have a child when and how they want to," she said.

The 8-foot bubble zone is enough space for anti-abortion activists to exercise free speech and receive consent from a patient for counseling, she said.

"They're standing right next to the door and bombarding patients who are coming and going out of the health center," Lynn said. "They don't know what the patient is doing here, they could be coming here for any service. And they have the right to get those services, whatever they may be."

Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, said buffer and bubble zones protect women from "very real threats and intimidation" they face while trying to access abortion care.

"And they do so while continuing to respect the free-speech rights of anti-abortion protesters to distribute literature or engage in conversations," she said.

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Twitter @nereidamorenos
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has had tens of thousands of people, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists, arrested as part of the investigation of the July coup. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP)

Mustafa has never met his sister's neighbor, but two weeks ago, he received a WhatsApp message from her.

"Your dad passed away," it read in Turkish.

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He frantically messaged back: How did he die? What happened? But his questions were met with silence. Mustafa believes his father is dead and he has mourned him, but he has no way to confirm his father's fate.

Like other Chicago-area Turks, Mustafa's contact with his family and understanding of the situation in his home country have been limited. A text message here. A tweet there. A Facebook video shot by a journalist. A photo shared on a news site before it went dark.

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Since a failed military coup in July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrested tens of thousands of people, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists, as part of the investigation of the coup, during which at least 270 people died, according to The Associated Press. Erdogan blames the coup on U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose teachings and writings have inspired the Hizmet movement.

"This was our 9-11," said Umut Acar, consul general of Turkey in Chicago. "You felt a big amount of fear and anger. Thanks to the bravery of our people, we thwarted and foiled this attempt."

Zeynep Uysal, 31, of Buffalo Grove, said she believes the information being put out is biased in favor of Erdogan, and on Twitter she sees human rights violations happening every day.

"It's really hard to find real information at the moment. It's hard to communicate," Uysal said.

Uysal, who has read Gulen's writings, said she is fortunate that her family was visiting the United States to help her sister with her newborn baby when the coup happened. She said she's concerned for her family and friends, as well as other people, who are still in Turkey.

"It looks like to me if you're not a hardcore supporter (of Erdogan), you're in danger," Uysal said. "It doesn't matter what you think. If you're against Erdogan or if you are criticizing and asking for more democracy and more freedom, you're in danger."

Mustafa, who is affiliated with the Turkish American Society of Chicago in Mount Prospect, asked to be identified only by his first name because of fears of repercussions to him and his family. He said he heard from a distant family member via WhatsApp that his brother, an emergency room doctor in Turkey, has been put on probation and is awaiting an investigation. Mustafa said his brother's medical license and his sister-in-law's teaching license have been taken away.

"Safety is the No. 1 concern in Turkey," Mustafa said. "If you are detained, you don't know what is going to happen to you. I've seen pictures of the detainees. They torture them. We don't have a lot of safety."

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When his father died, Mustafa could not call his siblings for fear it would put their lives in jeopardy because Mustafa publicly supports the Gulen movement and democratic concepts like freedom of speech.

"It's so horrible," Mustafa said. "It was the death of my loved one, and I couldn't call my sisters, I couldn't call my brothers. It's really truly sad, it's getting worse every day."

Acar called Hizmet a terrorist group that has a "cultlike network" with followers embedded in military, police, business, education and charity organizations, to name a few. Many of the media organizations that have been shut down have actually been propaganda tools of the group, Acar said.

"We're not talking about an independent newspaper that is criticizing the government," Acar said. "We have a lot of pieces every day that is critical of the government that is OK and it's no problem, but no media has a right to glorify and support and disseminate terrorist organizations."

But Mustafa said Gulen is not behind the military coup because he consistently teaches equality and education. The Turkish American Society of Chicago is hosting a few people from Turkey who have fled because of their opposition to Erdogan. One of them left without saying goodbye to his wife and three children.

"I worry about the people of Turkey, I worry about my family," Mustafa said. "If I had the power, I would give them visas so they could come here and live here in this beautiful country."

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Uysal said the crackdown on the media began before the coup and believes that the coup only strengthened Erdogan's position. Uysal said she has read Gulen's books and agrees with his ideas about education, humility, love for humanity and love for God, and she, like many others, does not believe he is behind the coup.

"Whoever is claiming something needs to present the evidence, it needs to be disclosed and understood by all these people, but instead they have no idea," Uysal said. "(Erdogan) needs to provide the evidence, but the problem is that in Turkey, there is no law, no justice and all these judges, attorneys and even teachers are detained or arrested."

Gulen has denied any connection with the coup, but Turkey is demanding that the United States extradite him. The crackdown has raised concerns among European nations and human rights organizations, which have urged the Turkish government to show restraint and allow independent monitoring amid allegations of torture, beatings and rape, according to an Amnesty International news release.

Acar denies there have been human rights violations and said that many people have been consuming "misinformation" and "lies" and that the country is going through "an extraordinary time that requires extraordinary measures." He said the government is casting a wide net in terms of arrests because Gulen's followers have infiltrated all ranks of society, and that the country is undergoing an "extraordinary time that requires extraordinary measures."

"Life is back to normal, our economy is solid and strong, our institutions are working and the government is working and most importantly, Turkey is enjoying a historical and iconic political unity," Acar said.

Ibrahim Parlak, a Michigan restaurant owner and Kurdish immigrant from Turkey who has fought deportation for more than a decade, said the Turkish government has become more brazen with its tactics, even committing crimes in front of the cameras.

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"You see the pictures, ears cut off, eyes are bruised and noses are broken; they're putting those pictures out," Parlak said. "(Erdogan is) saying to the whole world, 'I have the power and I'm going to do anything in my power and nobody can stop me,' and that's the part that is scary."

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 61 Workers in Istanbul demolish the Halit Pasa Residence hotel on July 20, 2016. According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, the hotel was allegedly the meeting point of the plotters who planned the failed July 15 coup. (Lefteris Pitarakis / AP)

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Parlak also said he does not support the Gulen movement and is critical of its motives.

A motion to reopen Parlak's case was recently granted, and he is safe from deportation until his case goes before an immigration judge. In the meantime, Parlak said the U.S. government needs to take a harder line in condemning Erdogan's actions.

"How can we let someone we call an ally get away with this?" Parlak said.

But Mustafa said few people know what is happening in Turkey, and for those who do know, Mustafa has no answers on how they can help.

"People have lives and my American friends who know about what's happening in Turkey ask how they can help, but even I cannot help," Mustafa said. "I can't even help my own brothers and sisters. Wouldn't it be nice to call my brother? Chitchat and ask how he's doing? I don't even know how my father died. People are scared to tell me."

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Twitter @GraceWong630
Jamie Ellis talks about her daughter Jamia Barnes, 8, who was shot in the arm on Sunday, outside a Chicago home on Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. Jamia was attending a vigil near the corner of North and Major avenues for Malik Causey, 14, who was killed a couple blocks away. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

Eight-year-old Jamia Barnes was playing Sunday evening on a front lawn near a vigil for a teenage boy killed hours earlier when she saw a man in a car arguing with a woman outside.

"Somebody had the gun in their lap ... and he got it out and started shooting," recounted the soft-spoken third-grader, fiddling with the bandage on her right wrist and pulling at her hair.

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She saw a flash and smoke in that instant.

"That's when I felt my arm stinging," she said Monday. "And I was hollering for my mommy. And that's it. And I went to the hospital."

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Jamia's family has been marked by violence almost her entire life growing up in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. Seven years ago, her aunt, then 28, was shot dead in an apparent drive-by shooting in the 1600 block of North Mason Avenue. Then last summer, her 11- and 19-year-old brothers were shot not far away while working on a dirt bike on a sunny afternoon in the 1800 block of North Monitor Avenue.

On Sunday evening, Jamia was attending a vigil near the corner of North and Major avenues for Malik Causey, 14, a friend of her brother's who was killed about 4 a.m. Sunday a couple of blocks away.

When Jamia screamed for her mother after being shot, she was scooped up and driven to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park by Ashake Banks, a family friend whose own 7-year-old daughter was shot to death a few blocks away four summers ago.

Banks had heard the gunfire as she pulled up to the 1600 block of North Major around 7:50 p.m.

"She was crying, asking for her mother," said Banks, standing outside the hospital. "We're telling her, 'Just hold on. We got you, we got you.'"

Banks said she couldn't stop thinking of her own daughter, Heaven Sutton, who was shot to death in the same neighborhood in the summer of 2012. Heaven had been selling candy with her mother near their home when someone shot her in the back.

"I just couldn't see another baby losing their life," she said. "And I'm so sick of it. I'm sick of the community not saying nothing, not standing up. I'm sick of the shooters. I'm sick of it."

Banks said she attends vigils for gun victims to deal with her own grief. She buys balloons, makes posters and takes photos. She said she has been to hundreds of vigils since her daughter died.

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"I'm just trying to give back," Banks said. "That's how I grieve. I go to help other mothers."

Chicago police provided few details about Jamia's shooting and reported that no one was in custody. While Jamia was being treated, a 40-year-old woman wounded in the same shooting showed up at the hospital with a gunshot to her left hand, police said.

Jamia marks the 29th child aged 13 or younger shot in Chicago so far this year. She was among 56 people shot in Chicago over the weekend as the city closes in on last year's gun violence totals with more than four months still left.

So far this year, at least 2,702 people have been shot in Chicago, according to data kept by the Tribune. All of last year, there were 2,988 shooting victims.

As of 5 a.m. Monday, homicides totaled 441, a 49 percent increase from 296 a year earlier, according to official Police Department figures. Chicago recorded 473 homicides for all of 2015.

Banks said she moved to west suburban Bellwood after her daughter's killing in order to protect her three sons.

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Jamia's mother, Jamie Ellis, also moved her family from the Austin neighborhood for similar reasons.

"Every time I'm in the area, it seems gunfire goes off," she said.

But just this past weekend, two people were shot within hours down the street from her home in the Lawndale neighborhood.

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Jamia giggled Monday afternoon on the steps of the home as a bee chased a family friend. Her toes were painted a bright pink, matching her sleeveless blouse, and she wore earrings with the peace sign.

Ellis said she felt sick after changing the gauze bandage covering her daughter's gunshot wound. She shook her head as she and a friend thought of what could have happened if the bullet had struck Jamia somewhere else.

"I'm glad," she said. "I'm grateful."

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Chicago Tribune's Marwa Eltagouri contributed.

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A Far South Side man charged with shooting at a Chicago police officer Monday protested that the cop shot at him first and yelled "I should've smoked his a--" during a tumultuous bail hearing Tuesday.

"Write it down," Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. told a court reporter after the shouted confession from Kentrell Pledger, 29, a reputed Black Discipline gang member.

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Despite Pledger's defiance in court Tuesday, the father of two allegedly said "thank you for not shooting me" to the officers who found him hiding under porch stairs on the Far South Side, according to the arrest report.

Prosecutors said photos of Pledger, of the 400 block of West 103rd Street, posing with the .40-caliber handgun used in the shooting were posted earlier the day of the shooting on social media.

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Pledger grew agitated after Bourgeois ordered him held without bail for shooting at the officer. "He shot at me first," Pledger said. "Chicago police officer shot at me first."

"Get your story straight dogI should've smoked his a--,'' Pledger said.

Prosecutors said that at around 2:15 p.m. Monday officers on patrol in an unmarked car saw Pledger walking in the 300 block of West 105th Place while fidgeting with the front of his belt.

An officer in the car asked Pledger a few questions, prosecutors said, and Pledger ran off, pulling a handgun from his pants as he ran.

Pledger ran up a driveway into an alley pursued on foot by the officer who had asked him questions, prosecutors said. He then turned and fired twice at the pursing cop.

That officer then returned fire, prosecutors said. No one was hit.

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Responding officers found Pledger hiding under some porch stairs in the 200 block of West 106th Place, according to an arrest report.

Pledger, who was then shirtless, crawled out with his hands up and told the officers the gun was under the stairs wrapped in his red T-shirt, according to the arrest report. Seven small baggies of heroin were found in his wallet, the report says.

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Police found two fired shell casings near the spot where Pledger fired on the officer. He later confessed in a videotaped interview with detectives to opening fire at the cop, knowing he was a Chicago police officer.

"You ain't black, you're white b----," Pledger shouted at Bourgeois, who is African-American, as he was led from the courtroom.

"What they fail to understand is the law is above us all," Bourgeois replied.

The prior defendant, Rico Walker, had called him a "motherf------racist" and yelled "f--- you b---- a--" after the judge ordered him held on $5 million bail on an attempted sexual assault charge.

The judge then ordered Walker held without bail.
This photo provided by Bartlow Gallery, Ltd. shows a painting of a landscape at the center of a peculiar civil trial over a celebrated Scottish-born artist's insistence that he did not paint it. (Bartlow Gallery / AP)

This much is not in dispute: the painting, Exhibit A in courtroom parlance, is an untitled work depicting a desert scene of red rocks and dusty mesas dotted with cactus.

The question is whether the famous artist Peter Doig painted it.

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Doig says he didn't. The man who owns it says he did. And after a seven-day trial in federal court, a judge on Tuesday will issue a ruling in the long-simmering case, with millions of dollars hanging in the balance.

Even the lawyer for the painting's owner, a Canadian man who claims Doig created the work at an Ontario correctional center in 1976 long before the artist became an international name, says the truth may never be clear.

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"I don't know whether Peter Doig painted this painting. I wouldn't want to be the judge in this case," said lawyer William Zieske, who represents owner Robert Fletcher and the Chicago art gallery run by Peter Bartlow, who tried to sell the work. "There are many, many coincidences in this case. Many uncanny convergences. It's a fascinating case."

Doig, known for what the Art Institute of Chicago calls "dreamlike paintings, influenced by the likes of Edvard Munch ... that combine a hallucinatory palette with expressive brushwork," is adamant he did not create the work. Doig's paintings have been showcased in top art galleries across the world, including the Art Institute, which has two of his paintings in its permanent collection. In the last decade, two of his works sold for more than $10 million.

Fletcher filed suit in 2013 after Bartlow tried to market and sell the disputed work, only to have Doig, his agents and lawyers argue he did not paint it. Fletcher and Bartlow are seeking $7.9 million in damages, saying Doig blocked the sale and undercut the painting's value. They are also asking the judge to rule Doig painted the work.

But Doig, who took the stand during the trial, insists he did not. While he spent part of his youth in Canada, Doig says he was not an inmate in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where Fletcher worked as a correctional officer. Fletcher claims the artist made the disputed painting there while in a fine arts educational program at the correctional center, then sold it to him for $100.

Instead, his lawyers claim the painting is the work of another man with a similar name, Peter Edward Doige, a now-deceased Canadian carpenter who dabbled in painting and may have been incarcerated at the facility where Fletcher worked at the time it was created. The work, after all, is signed "1976 Pete Doige."

Bartlow, the Chicago art gallery owner, contends the desert landscape painting has many similarities with Doig's acknowledged works, including the type of paint used, the use of lines and shapes and general composition. Doig's team argued Bartlow's analysis was flawed, and he invented a method of comparison, which can be found in a video posted on YouTube, in which he superimposes one of Doig's authenticated works onto the painting in question in an attempt to link the two pieces.

Doig's attorneys called Richard Shiff, an art history professor at the University of Texas, who said the disputed painting was not Doig's work.

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Victor Wiener, an art historian and appraiser, did not issue an opinion on whether the painting is Doig's work, instead determining only its worth. Wiener reported the painting's current worth "with doubts about its authenticity" is in the $50,000 to $100,000 range. If accepted as Doig's work, he determined, it would be worth between $6 million and $8 million.

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Doig's local attorney declined to comment Monday. His New York attorneys could not be reached for comment.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman will decide Tuesday whether the plaintiffs proved there is more likelihood than not that Doig painted the work, if Fletcher and Bartlow deserve damages, and if so, how much.

The judge's ruling may end the court case but do little to settle the debate over how much the painting is worth in the art market or who really created it.

"I think no one will ever know who painted this painting in any degree of certainty," Zieske said.

poconnell@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @pmocwriter
The owner of Bow Truss Coffee Roasters, an upscale coffee shop chain, has been charged with domestic battery after attacking a woman, police said.

Phil I. Tadros, 37, bit a 29-year-old woman's right thumb while the two were arguing Thursday, according to Officer Thomas Sweeney, a spokesman for Chicago police.

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Tadros then knocked her to the ground, causing her to suffer abrasions to her arm, Sweeney said. Paramedics were called and she was treated on the scene, Sweeney said.

Tadros, of the 3600 block of North Wayne Avenue, was arrested the same day, at 5:15 p.m., and charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic battery, bodily harm, Sweeney said. He appeared Friday before Judge Caroline Kate Moreland, who set bail at $2,000 during a hearing in Domestic Violence Court. His next court date is Sept. 2.

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Tadros declined to comment when reached Monday evening.

Tadros is the founder and CEO of Bow Truss Coffee Roasters, a Lakeview-based chain with several Chicago locations.

Bow Truss is among a number of independent coffee shops, including Big Shoulders Coffee, Metropolis and Intelligentsia, that process their own beans.

Tadros got into the coffee business in 2000 after dropping out of Columbia College and persuading his family to lend him $13,000 to buy a coffee shop known as Don's Coffee Club. He made enough money and then some to pay his family back and sold the operation in less than a year.

He opened the first Bow Truss in Lakeview in 2012.
Mark L. Conner, left, and Jahmal A. Jackson are accused of retail theft and aggravated battery to a merchant following the theft of several Luis Vuitton handbags from a Nordstrom on Aug. 22, 2016. (Cook County sheriff's office)

As two men allegedly made off with more about $25,000 worth of Louis Vuitton purses they clobbered a security guard over the head with one of them Monday morning at Nordstrom department store, prosecutors said.

Mark L. Conner, 21, and Jahmal A. Jackson, 22, of Chicago, were charged with retail theft and aggravated battery to a merchant after allegedly clobbering a security guard in the head with one of the purses, according to prosecutors.

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Conner, of the 5600 block of South Emerald Avenue and Jackson, of the 5700 block of South Carpenter Street, appeared in court Tuesday afternoon at the Leighton Criminal Court Building where Jackson's bail was set at $100,000 and Conner's at $50,000, records show.

The incident happened about 10:40 a.m. Monday at Nordstrom, 55 E. Grand Ave., on the Near North Side, police said.

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Conner and Jackson allegedly took about nine Louis Vuitton purses and one additional department store purse, a total value of more than $25,000 prosecutors said.

A staffer called 911 after seeing four suspects holding several purses and sprinting down an escalator towards the Wabash and Grand avenue exit, authorities said.

Just minutes after the robbers fled, a car that at least one of the suspects fled in crashed about two blocks away. Two ambulances responded and took one person to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not life threating, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Police officers were nearby and placed the two into custody shortly after the incident.

Two additional suspects were not in custody.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media outside his home in Chicago as his wife, Patti, wipes away tears a day before he was to report to a prison after his conviction on corruption charges. (M. Spencer Green / AP)

A lawyer for Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday filed a notice that the former governor intends to appeal the 14-year prison term a federal judge imposed again earlier this month.

The lawyer, Leonard Goodman, said in the filing that he will appeal to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago, the same court that last year threw out five of 18 counts of conviction on technical grounds. But at the time the three-judge panel tempered the small victory for Blagojevich by calling the evidence against him "overwhelming" and making it clear that the original sentence was not out of bounds.

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If the 7th Circuit declines to order yet another sentencing, Goodman could still ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, but that move would be a long shot at best, especially considering the high court already declined to hear Blagojevich's case in March.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel's decision earlier this month to stick to his original sentence was a bitter disappointment for Blagojevich and his family. His wife, Patti, and daughters Amy, 20, and Annie, 13, had made emotional appeals for mercy.

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After the judge re-imposed the 14-year prison term Aug. 9, Patti Blagojevich shook with anger as she told reporters, "Quite frankly, I'm dumbfounded and flabbergasted. This was unusually cruel and heartless and unfair."

Speaking by closed-circuit television from a federal prison near Denver at the sentencing, Blagojevich apologized for his "mistakes," claiming to be a changed man and model prisoner.

But prosecutors said Blagojevich had not changed. In asking the judge to reimpose the 14 years, Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Bonamici emphasized that he has never taken responsibility for the tarnish he brought to his office or shown true remorse.

The judge agreed, saying Blagojevich's corruption diminished the public's "already taxed faith" in its elected leaders.

"I do not doubt that he is a loving father and that his children miss him deeply in his absence," Zagel said. "But as I said four years ago, the fault lies in the governor."

The decision likely means Blagojevich, 59, will remain in prison until May 2024.

Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 of misusing his powers as governor in an array of wrongdoing, including most notably his attempts to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after his 2008 election as president. The conviction came less than a year after an initial trial ended with a jury deadlocked on all but one count of lying to the FBI, forcing the retrial.
In this July 7, 2014 file photo, Chicago police display some of the thousands of illegal firearms they confiscated during the year in their battle against gun violence in Chicago. (M. Spencer Green / AP)

Traffickers who take advantage of looser laws in neighboring states to illegally import guns to Illinois will face tougher penalties if caught under a measure Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law Tuesday.

The new law, which passed both chambers of the General Assembly without opposition, makes it a felony for a person who has not been issued a state firearm owner's identification card to bring guns into Illinois with the intent to sell or deliver them. Penalties will be stricter for those who've previously been convicted on gun trafficking-related charges.

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On hand to celebrate Rauner's approval of the bill were Republican legislative leaders and representatives from the Illinois State Police. Notably, no Democratic lawmakers or Chicago Police Department officials attended the signing ceremony  an indication of the touchy political situation between Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The mayor has been pushing for legislation that would toughen penalties for illegal use of a weapon  an idea he raises regularly when discussing Chicago's persistent violent crime problem. But the idea has gone nowhere in the General Assembly, stalled in part by Illinois' different geographic views on guns, and Rauner on Tuesday said the mayor hadn't called him on it.

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"I've not discussed that issue with the mayor myself," Rauner said as he signed the bill at an Illinois State Police facility on the West Side. "Frankly, I'm talking with legislators all the time. They have not brought that issue up with me."

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, a former assistant state's attorney who sponsored the gun trafficking bill, said it was aimed at solving a problem faced by prosecutors, who complained that the penalties weren't stiff enough to seriously punish and deter gun traffickers.

"The laws of Illinois for many years have been more focused toward holding the shooter accountable but not the person who armed the shooter," Durkin said. "And that changes today with the governor's signature."

The new law makes gun trafficking punishable by as much as 15 to 30 years in prison, Durkin said. Previously, the offense was categorized as a lower type of felony that carries a sentence of as little as year.

Illinois requires anyone who sells a gun either privately or commercially to perform a background check on the buyer. The state also requires that all gun holders obtain a FOID card to buy guns and ammunition. But the laws in neighboring states are more relaxed, making it easier for black-market traffickers to get around the Illinois laws by importing guns from the more lenient states.

Politically, the bill was a winner because it wasn't opposed by the powerful gun-rights lobby. But the two Republican legislative leaders said more should be done on the federal level to tighten restrictions on gun sales  an idea that has been fiercely opposed by gun-rights advocates and their largely Republican allies in Congress.

"I think the federal government needs to do something; I hope they do something," Durkin said.

Specifically, "this issue of background checks at gun shows needs to be handled federally, in my opinion," said Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno.

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Rauner, however, was cagey.

"I'll be very candid," Rauner said. "I believe very strongly in this bill. I have not discussed federal policy and I really don't want to get into federal policy. There are a lot of things there that, you know, I'm 100 percent focused on Illinois. This bill is very good policy for Illinois."

kgeiger@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimgeiger
Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield.

Topspin

Asked Monday to weigh in on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's recent characterization of President Barack Obama as the nation's "drug dealer in chief," Gov. Bruce Rauner literally threw up his hands.



"I heard something about that," Rauner said. "I don't want to comment on that."



Kirk made the statement last week while speaking to the editorial board of the State Journal-Register of Springfield. Kirk was referring to a $400 million cash payment that was made by the U.S. to Iran and linked to the release of American prisoners.



"I will say that the senator has been a strong advocate, I think a good advocate, for trying to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power," Rauner said of Kirk, a Republican ally who helped him win election in 2014. "And I applaud him for that work. And also, I'll make one other general statement and that is I am strongly, strongly opposed to ransom payments of any type for hostages."



Pressed to address Kirk's comment about President Obama more specifically, Rauner repeatedly raised his hands in air as he tried to shrug off the questions.



"I won't comment on word selection," he said at one point.

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On Sunday evening, Kirk, an ardent foe of the multi-nation agreement aimed at reducing Iran's capability for building nuclear weapons, said he intended to hold hearings next month on the payment as chairman of the Senate subcommittee on national security and international trade and finance.



"The American people have a right to know if any U.S. taxpayer money sent to Iran is going to finance the new 'Shi'ite Liberation Army,' Hezbollah or Hamas terrorists targeting our allies in Israel, or any other Iranian terrorist activities," Kirk said in a statement.



The money, paid in foreign currency, was part of a previously announced settlement in a case stemming from money owed since 1979. The Obama administration described the payment as "leverage" for the release of U.S. prisoners that did not violate long-standing policy of not paying ransom for hostages.

Kirk faces a tough re-election bid Nov. 8 against challenger Tammy Duckworth, a two-term congresswoman from Hoffman Estates. (Kim Geiger, Rick Pearson)

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What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will talk about TSA wait times at O'Hare and Midway.

*Gov. Bruce Rauner will sign a gun trafficking bill in Chicago.

*Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth speaks to a City Club of Chicago luncheon.

*An anti-abortion rights group plans to file a federal lawsuit against the city over its abortion clinic "bubble zone" ordinance.



What we're writing

*Emanuel bends on senior water tax break as aldermen press for details.

*Rauner signs series of juvenile justice bills.

*CPS looking at $1.5 billion short-term loan to ease cash flow.

*Mayor backs top cop's move to fire Laquan McDonald officers.

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*Emanuel takes another bite at the apple on CPS air conditioning, defends borrowing.

What we're reading

*The latest on efforts to halt march of dreaded Asian carp.

*How Illinois Olympians fared in Rio.

*A look at rapper Kanye West's pop-up store on the mean streets of Northbrook.



From the notebook

*Kirk nabs Giffords endorsement: Republican U.S. Sen. Kirk's re-election bid has won the backing of the political arm of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords and the gun-control group she started with her husband, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly.



Americans for Responsible Solutions was founded by the couple and is aimed at pushing elected officials to find solutions to prevent gun violence while protecting responsible gun ownership. It was created in the wake of the December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn.



In January 2011, Giffords and 18 others were shot in a suburban Tucson, Ariz., supermarket parking lot where she was holding a constituent services event. Six people died.



"This fall, we're undertaking a campaign to ignite the vocal majority of gun-sense supporters from coast to coast. And we're standing by our friends who have championed smart gun laws in Congress. Some of those friends are Democrats; some are Republicans," Giffords and Kelly wrote in an op-ed on CNN.com.



"All of them know how urgently we need to do more to keep guns out of dangerous hands. Saving lives should be an American priority, not a partisan litmus test," the wrote.



The two noted Kirk's Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Duckworth, "has been a champion for commonsense gun laws in the House. We have no doubt she would continue to be a leader on gun safety in the Senate."



But they also said, "In the wake of tragedy at Sandy Hook, Republicans Sens. Pat Toomey and Mark Kirk broke from the gun lobby and supported a bill to help prevent felons, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill from obtaining firearms at gun shows and online."



Like Kirk, Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, is locked in a tight re-election contest.



Peter Ambler, executive director of the group's political action committee, called Kirk "a steady voice for bipartisan, responsible change that helps keep guns out of the wrong hands, saves lives, and makes Illinois a safer place to live."



"He has stood up to the gun lobby and worked across the aisle for plans that reduce gun violence and protect the rights of law-abiding Americans," Ambler said in a statement.



Kirk said in a statement he was "honored to have former Rep. Giffords' group's support, not only for our campaign but for our effort to make streets, neighborhoods and schools safer."

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Technically, it's the group's PAC that's making the endorsement. (Rick Pearson)

*Pence postpones Chicago funder: Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, the Indiana governor, canceled a fundraising dinner Tuesday in Chicago that had been scheduled for the Republican presidential ticket and the Republican National Committee.



No reason was given for the cancellation, according to one source close to the event who was not authorized to speak publicly about it. The source said the event, with ticket prices ranging from $1,000 to $250,000, will be rescheduled in the near future. (Rick Pearson)



*Dems pick presidential electors: Illinois Democratic leaders gathered Monday to name 20 presidential electors who will cast electoral votes for president and vice president, using the opportunity to talk up party unity while bashing the Republican ticket.



The electors are not bound, but by tradition they vote for the party's nominees. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Illinois primary on her way to securing the Democratic presidential nomination.



House Speaker Michael Madigan noted the number of Hispanic and African-American electors, as well as two who had supported Sanders in the primary, saying their inclusion is proof Democrats in Illinois are focusing on "bringing people together."



Madigan said that's contrary to the campaign run by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who he said "appears to want to pit one person against another, one group against another."



Madigan again compared Trump to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, saying both hold "extreme" views. Rauner has repeatedly refused to say if he backs Trump, saying only that he would support the eventual GOP nominee.



"Rauner tried to run away from Trump, but I don't think the people of Illinois are about to let that happen," Madigan said. (Monique Garcia)

Beyond Chicago

*The late summer Hillary Clinton scandal wave as FBI finds new emails not turned over.

*"Fair" on immigration could signal Trump tone shift (part 3,467).

*Why many veterans are sticking with Trump.

*Islamist extremist pleads guilty to Timbuktu rampage.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth labeled U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk "unhinged" for calling President Barack Obama "drug dealer in chief" related to a $400 million cash payment to Iran. Aug. 23, 2016. (WGN-TV) (Chicago Tribune)

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth labeled U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk "unhinged" over the Republican's comparison of President Barack Obama to "drug dealer in chief" for a $400 million payment made to Iran as U.S. hostages were released.

While Kirk has been under fire for a series of verbal gaffes, it was Duckworth's harsh choice of words that came under question Tuesday. The two-term congresswoman assigned to Kirk a term defined as "mentally deranged." The first-term senator suffered a major stroke in 2012 and spent a year in rehabilitation.

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Asked by reporters if voters should take into consideration any possible aftereffects of her opponent's stroke, Duckworth backed off.

"That is the furthest thing that people should look at. People should look at the fact that he's been ineffective as a senator," she said after a speech to a largely supportive audience of about 300 at the City Club of Chicago.

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Kirk's campaign called Duckworth's remarks "desperate."

Duckworth's characterization of Kirk is the latest attack in a Senate campaign that's turned increasingly nasty. Kirk and his allies have been on TV for weeks with ads blasting Duckworth on Syrian refugees and for her ties to imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. She's responded with ads touting her military background as an Iraq war hero. Illinois' Senate seat is viewed nationally as one of the top targets for Democrats to pick up as they try to retake the chamber in November.

The Duckworth campaign had billed her Tuesday remarks as an economic speech. But the congresswoman focused on Kirk's Obama comment, made in relation to his opposition to the multinational deal to curb Iran's nuclear weapon-making ability, calling it "beyond the pale," "inflammatory" and "totally unhelpful for the cause of a more stable and secure world."

"And if it was just the first time, I would chalk it up to momentary lapse of judgment. But with him it's a pattern both of irresponsible, offensive rhetoric as well as of personal insults directed at this president," she said.

"Sen. Kirk has just joined the rogues gallery with the president's fiercest and most unhinged critics and for that he should be ashamed. What he said is beneath the dignity of the office he now holds and Sen. Kirk should apologize immediately to the president of the United States as well as the people of Illinois."

After the speech, Duckworth defended her characterization of Kirk.

"If you look at all of the things he's said, I think he lacks the ability to control what he's saying, and you can look at the numerous gaffes that he's had over the years," the Democrat told reporters.

"I do think he's unhinged. To call the commander in chief, basically compare him to a drug dealer, I think that is a significant thing for a United States senator to say," she said.

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Kirk has made national security issues, including opposition to the Iran nuclear agreement, a major theme of his re-election campaign. Last week, Kirk spoke to the editorial board of the State Journal-Register of Springfield, where he echoed GOP criticism of a $400 million payment to Iran as ransom for the release of U.S. hostages.

"We can't have the president of the United States acting like the drug dealer in chief," Kirk said, "giving clean packs of money to a ... state sponsor of terror. Those 500-euro notes will pop up across the Middle East. ... We're going to see problems in multiple (countries) because of that money given to them."

The money was part of a previously announced settlement in a case stemming from money owed since 1979. The Obama administration described the payment as "leverage" for the release of U.S. prisoners that did not counter the nation's long-standing policy of not paying ransom for hostages.

Kirk's characterization of Obama was the latest in a series of controversial statements. Last year, Kirk said the nuclear agreement was the result of a president who wants "to get nukes to Iran." The senator later apologized and said his anger over the Iran deal got him "too carried away."

But the Republican also called the agreement "the greatest appeasement" since British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain "gave Czechoslovakia" to Germany's Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler prior to World War II.

Also last year, Kirk also referred to fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina as "a bro with no ho," adding "that's what we'd say on the South Side," an allusion to Graham being single. Kirk also suggested to the Peoria Journal Star that people drive faster through African-American neighborhoods out of fear of crime.

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Duckworth also criticized Kirk for a comment made this month to reporters after he met with his law enforcement advisory board. Asked if he had addressed the issue of police-community relations, Kirk said it was "probably beyond my Senate office capability."

"To do what Mark Kirk says and throw up his hands and go 'I can't do anything on police community relationship' is malpractice as a senator and you have to do better," Duckworth said.

During her speech, Duckworth labeled Kirk a "fiscal phony" as she touted her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement pushed by the Obama administration. Kirk's campaign has criticized Duckworth as being a reliable Democratic rubber stamp in Congress.

She also said Kirk supported tax cuts pushed under the George W. Bush administration and led the nation into deficit. But as an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 2006, Duckworth supported making some of the tax cuts permanent, particularly those affecting the middle class.

Kirk's campaign contended the Republican "has fought to protect taxpayers against the job-crushing tax-and-spend policies of Duckworth," including Kirk taking a leadership role in the reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import bank.

But Duckworth went after Kirk's national security theme, saying "every time this man has made a decision on national security policy, he's been wrong," such as backing the Iraq War and supporting arming Syrian rebels.

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"For him it's a pattern over years of all of these bad decisions, time and time and time again," she said, calling it a reason to question Kirk's "competence as a senator."

But Kirk's campaign contended Duckworth has been "ignoring the advice of our top national security experts and calling for 20-times more Syrian refugees than the president." Duckworth's campaign has said she was calling for accepting 200,000 total refugees, not just those from war-torn Syria.

rap30@aol.com

Twitter @rap30
STUART, Fla.  The college student caught biting a victim's face after stabbing and beating the man and his wife to death in a random attack may have ingested "caustic" chemicals from the couple's garage, Martin County Sheriff Snyder said.



Snyder told news outlets that Austin Harrouff, 19, remains in critical but stable condition at a West Palm Beach hospital a week after the attack that killed John Stevens, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53, outside their home near Jupiter. Harrouff was taken into custody Aug 15.



Snyder has said he will be arrested on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder as soon as he's released from the hospital.



"It's a typical garage, so there were solvents," he told the Palm Beach Post. "There were things he could have consumed and that first night at the hospital, the hospital speculated based on what they were seeing in his body fluids, that perhaps he had ingested something caustic from the garage."

Austin Harrouff is charged with fatally stabbing a couple outside their Florida home and then biting the dead man's face. Harrouff, 19, is hospitalized, officials said. Aug. 17, 2016. (CBS Miami) (CBS Miami)



The FBI is running tests to determine whether Harrouff, who had finished his first year at Florida State University and was home for the summer, was under the influence of either bath salts or a drug called flakka, both of which have been linked to violent outbursts. But Snyder said there were no traces of street drugs  including cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine  in Harrouff's system immediately after the attacks.



The toxicology reports will provide "a big piece of the unknown," Snyder said.



What investigators do know is that Harrouff was having dinner with his parents about 4 miles from the couple's house. Video surveillance from the restaurant shows him calmly walking out about 45 minutes before the attacks. Investigators said he apparently had words with his parents. His mother later reported him missing, telling police he had been acting strangely for about a week before the attack.



The couple, who lived a short distance from Harrouff's father, were known to sit in their garage with the door open, watching television. Their bodies were found in the garage and driveway. Investigators say Harrouff also stabbed neighbor Jeff Fisher, who heard a commotion and tried to help.

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Fisher has since been released from the hospital and is recovering from his wounds.



Harrouff's parents, Wade and Mina Harrouff, issued a statement last week expressing their condolences to the Stevens family and their apologies to Fischer.



Attorney Robert Watson, who is representing Harrouff, said last week that the student's parents saw "indications of odd and unusual behavior" in him recently, but he declined to elaborate on possible mental health issues.

Associated Press
RIGA, Latvia  Vice President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday that Donald Trump doesn't know what he's talking about on foreign policy and told U.S. NATO allies to ignore him.

"Don't listen to that other fellow. He knows not of what he speaks," Biden said in a speech to Baltic leaders here. He paused for emphasis, then said, "And he doesn't know of what he speaks."

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Biden never mentioned Trump by name. But his audience, smiling with approval, clearly understood the reference to the Republican presidential nominee's frequent description of the U.S. commitment to NATO's mutual defense pact as depending on whether the allies "pay their bills" for American protection.

Biden's remarks echoed President Barack Obama's description this month of Trump as "woefully unprepared" for the presidency.

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Earlier in the day, Biden said the United States had pledged its "sacred honor" to Article 5 of NATO's founding charter and would never renege. "The fact that you occasionally hear something from a presidential candidate . . . it's nothing that should be taken seriously, because I don't think he understands what Article 5 is."

Biden's trip here, designed to reinforce U.S. and NATO determination to stand against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, fell on two anniversaries of major importance to the region. On Aug. 23, 1939, the foreign ministers of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a nonaggression treaty that divided parts of Eastern Europe into "spheres of influence" and was quickly followed by Hitler's invasion of Poland and the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.

On the same date in 1989, more than 2 million people joined hands in a line across Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - all then part of the Soviet Union - to demonstrate their desire for independence. All three formally joined NATO in 2004.

Dainis Ivans, a Latvian journalist and founder of the anti-Soviet Popular Front, introduced Biden by referring to Trump's stated admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and "the darkest nightmare of many Baltic people . . . of a potential Putin-RibbenTrump pact."

Biden held bilateral talks here with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis, followed by a working lunch with the leaders of all three Baltic nations. The warm welcome he received was something of a respite before he heads Wednesday to what is likely to be a far more difficult visit to Turkey, another NATO ally.

The vice president will be the first high-level U.S. official to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since a coup attempt there last month. Some Turkish officials have alleged that the United States was involved in the unsuccessful uprising and has been insufficiently sympathetic to the subsequent arrest of tens of thousands of alleged coup backers in the military and across a wide spectrum of society.

The upheaval has shaken already difficult U.S.-Turkey relations and led to indications that Turkey is looking elsewhere for support. In the past two weeks, Erdogan has visited Putin, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has exchanged visits with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, amid reports that the three countries are working toward joint action in Syria.

"I don't think we're concerned that we're at some tipping point bilaterally or with Turkey in NATO," a senior administration official said of the relationship. "There's a whole host of reasons why our partnership with Turkey remains as important as ever." It is a view the administration believes Turkey shares, said the official, who briefed reporters on the trip under White House-imposed conditions of anonymity.

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But officials traveling with Biden indicated they are unsure what kind of reception they will receive and how serious Ankara is about strengthening ties with Moscow and Tehran at the perceived expense of the United States. Biden is not bringing with him what the Turks say they most want - assurance that the United States will extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a U.S. resident they charge instigated the coup attempt.

A Justice Department team arrived in Turkey this week seeking clarification of Turkish charges against Gulen, the administration official said.

Russia and Iran, which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have been on opposite sides of the Syrian civil war from Turkey, which has shared the U.S. view that Assad should step down. But Erdogan now says his government will work with Moscow and Tehran, at a level of coordination he has yet to specify.

Turkey, which shares a 500-mile border with Syria, is a key component of the U.S. strategy against the Islamic State. But the partnership has been fraught with difficulties and mutual mistrust, beginning with U.S. and coalition concerns that Turkey's porous border has allowed free passage for the group's fighters and supplies.

More recently, as it has been unable to build a strong enough Syrian Arab force to fight the militants, the United States has increasingly relied on Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are allied with Turkish Kurds engaged in a separatist war against the government in Ankara.

A year ago, the United States began using Turkey's Incirlik air base for strikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Turkey agreed to the deal in exchange for pledges to limit the expansion of territory held by the Syrian Kurds along the border.

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But the Kurds, aided by U.S. airstrikes, have now expanded westward in northern Syria beyond the limits the United States and Turkey agreed upon. Turkish media reported this week that the Turkish military has begun cross-border shelling of Kurdish forces that this month helped retake the Syrian city of Manbij, considered a crucial step in U.S. efforts to eventually oust the Islamic State from its headquarters in Raqqa.
James P. McHugh put vision and team-building ability together to lead the James McHugh Construction Co., founded by his grandfather, in tackling ever larger and more ambitious projects, including Chicago's iconic twin-tower Marina City.

McHugh Construction, part of a joint venture to build the structures, had never built anything taller than seven stories, according to Mike Meagher, senior vice president with McHugh.

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"Jim had tremendous vision," Meagher said. "At the time it was built, it was the tallest reinforced concrete structure in the United States."

It also was the first time an externally mounted self-climbing construction crane was used in Chicago. Meagher said McHugh didn't develop the equipment, "but he saw it could be used at Marina City."

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McHugh, 90, died of cancer Thursday at his family's Long Grove farm, according to his daughter Patty McHugh, who is chairman of the company. He had lived on the 230-acre horse farm until moving to Naples, Fla., about six years ago. In years past, he sometimes commuted to work by flying his helicopter from Long Grove to the old Meigs Field on Chicago's lakefront.

He was born and raised in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood. Without finishing high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1945, after atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He missed combat but was a radio operator, helping to fly supplies as part of the cleanup effort in Hiroshima.

Back in Chicago, he passed up college to start as a carpenter in the family business and quickly moved up to project supervisor. When he and his brother Jack took over the company from his father, it was a small-scale construction company.

McHugh accepted the challenge of building Marina City. Innovations included fiberglass concrete forms and the climbing tower crane, which could rise as the building did, adding supporting base sections as the project grew. Such cranes are now staples of the construction industry.

From there, McHugh Construction took off and played a role in some of the biggest projects in Chicago and beyond, including rebuilding the Arlington International Racecourse's grandstand after it was destroyed in a 1985 fire. McHugh was tapped for the rebuild in September 1987. In an astonishing 19 months, Arlington reopened.

The company went on to build other structures that became the country's tallest reinforced concrete structures at the time they were built, including Water Tower Place, Prudential Plaza and Trump Tower, according to Meagher.

Just as his projects were built on a solid foundation, so was his company.

Bob Mortimer, who retired last year as senior vice president after 21 years with the company, said McHugh was a man of integrity.

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"Integrity with a capital 'I' followed by a couple of exclamation points," Mortimer said.

He recalled an example from his early days with the company.

Mortimer had called a favored vendor to tell him that he had been underbid and wasn't getting the job.

"He was pretty upset," Mortimer said, adding that a couple of hours later the losing bidder faxed in a revised bid that was about $300,000 lower than the accepted bid. Mortimer, who had already notified the successful bidder he had the job, turned for advice to company President Bruce Lake, who consulted with Jim McHugh. "Jim (confirmed) I'd given my word to the guy who got the job, then said, 'Our reputation is worth a hell of a lot more than $300,000.' "

"I knew then that was the company I wanted to stay with," Mortimer said.

In addition to his construction work, McHugh also was a real estate developer. With Daniel Levin, McHugh was a co-founder of The Habitat Co.. Levin is CEO of the East Bank Club, a project he and McHugh developed together.

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"We were partners for more than 50 years," Levin said. "He did construction and I did everything else."

Their largest project was Presidential Towers, a four-tower, 2,300-unit Chicago development between Madison and Monroe streets west of Jefferson Street.

On his own, McHugh developed the Fields of Long Grove, an 87-home project that Meagher says has won wide recognition for incorporating sustainability and nature into the development.

Away from the office, McHugh was a serious sailor who won two trophies in the 1962 Chicago-Mackinac race with his boat Inferno. He also raced in the Caribbean in the 1960s and 1970s.

Levin saw parallels between McHugh's work and his sailing. "The idea of putting a team together and winning was important to him," Levin said. McHugh was a dreamer, but "a practical down-to-earth dreamer. He always wanted to do things well."

Patty McHugh said her father created an amazing company and developed fantastic projects, thanks to what she called, "his belief in people and his ability to identify people who had what it takes to be successful."

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McHugh, who was married and divorced three times, also is survived by his son, James; his brother, Jack; and two grandchildren.

A celebration of his life is being planned.

Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter.
Donald Trump's spokeswoman thinks she can diagnose a mental illness, dysphasia, in Hillary Clinton. This when we all know Clinton's real problem is that she can have a maniacal aversion to speaking truths. Although, to be consistent with our theme today, editorial writers without medical degrees shouldn't associate people with manias. But we're not alone in violating professional boundaries.

This presidential campaign has been odd in many ways, but among its wretched excesses is the penchant of experts and nonexperts to issue categorical judgments about the mental and physical health of the two major party candidates. This year, it's not enough to say, in the standard colloquial manner of expressing distaste, that "Donald Trump is nutty" or "Hillary Clinton is sick." This year, more literal claims are being made. And we find the trend unhealthy, in a strictly nonmedical sense.

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One egregious example comes from Trump aide Katrina Pierson, who said it's apparent from "observations of Hillary Clinton's behavior or mannerisms" that she suffers from dysphasia, a brain ailment that impairs speech and comprehension of language. Dr. Drew Pinsky, of TV's "Celebrity Rehab," says the eyeglasses she used after her 2012 concussion indicate "brain damage." Some right-wing websites are pushing notions  rife with "Gotcha! enthusiasm if not with medical evidence  that Clinton is enfeebled.

Pinsky, as it happens, is not a neurologist, and more important, he's never examined the patient he diagnosed so confidently. Pierson's medical credentials are even thinner  a bachelor's degree in biology. Neither one has any sound basis for the conclusions he and she has reached. The clinical term for what they offer is "idle speculation."

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Trump's people should know better, if only because he, too, has been the object of uninformed theorizing by people with too much time on their hands. Clinical psychologist Ben Michaelis told Vanity Fair he represents "textbook narcissistic personality disorder." The liberal website Daily Kos argued, "His immature outbursts, his brazen narcissism, and his faulty cognition, are all indications of senility."

Or they could be indications he's a vain jerk with a short fuse and a careless approach to the truth. The American Psychiatric Association's ethics code says, "It is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement."

That policy, significantly, was adopted after hundreds of psychiatrists, asked by Fact magazine if 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater was "psychologically fit to be president," said he wasn't  despite their vast ignorance of his mental state. Goldwater won a libel suit against the magazine, and the psychiatric profession was sorely embarrassed.

The APA has the right idea. "'Diagnosing' someone at a distance who you haven't examined is closer to trying to be a psychic than a doctor," Arthur Caplan, a medical ethicist at New York University, told The Huffington Post.

For the record, each of the 2016 nominees has gotten a clean bill of health. Clinton's personal physician, Lisa Bardack, attested, "She is in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as president of the United States." Trump's doctor, Harold Bornstein, was unusually expansive, asserting that Trump would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."

Maybe these claims are not to be taken at face value. But any lingering suspicions about whether to believe them are more the result of distrust of the candidates than tangible evidence about their health.

Which brings us to the simple reality: There is plenty of information to reach conclusions about Clinton's judgment and Trump's self-control without doing diagnostic tests from afar. If Clinton made bad decisions about Benghazi or her email, the absence of brain damage is cold comfort. If Trump has a soft spot for Vladimir Putin or a distorted impression of Mexican immigrants, it's not a great relief to know he doesn't have dementia.

What's disturbing about the two is not what we don't know from medical exams but what we do know from their public records and conduct. For those conditions, alas, medicine has no cure.

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Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
WASHINGTON  As Donald Trump expressed "regret" for sometimes saying "the wrong thing" in his campaign, I thought he was going to break into song:

"Regrets, I've had a few/ But then again, too few to mention ."

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Yes, that line from Frank Sinatra's "My Way" (actually Paul Anka's rewrite of a French song) reflects the wealthy real estate developer-turned-Republican presidential candidate's attitude recently in Charlotte, N.C., in his first speech since rebooting his failing campaign's leadership.

Regrets? He's had a few, Trump tells us. But apparently they are too few to mention, since he didn't bother to mention any.

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Or more likely, listing his offenses against various groups and individuals  from a Gold Star family to Fox News' Megyn Kelly  would take too much time.

Instead of apologies, Trump prefers to blame a whipping boy  media workers  for allegedly distorting what he has said. And after all the billions of dollars worth of free publicity that we have given him, this is the thanks we get?

"They will take words of mine out of context and spend a week obsessing over every single syllable," he said. Sure. It takes about a week to find our way through his word salad.

In this case, he offered us a nonapology apology, an apology that does not include having to say you're sorry or what you should be sorry about.

"Sometimes in the heat of the debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing," Trump said in his Charlotte speech, prudently reading from a teleprompter so he would not say the wrong thing. "I have done that, and believe it or not I regret it. And I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain."

He was not specific about what he regrets, but he lamented with a line that you don't often hear from politicians: "(S)ometimes I can be too honest." That's a signal to those who hear Trump as a truth-teller, even when he screws up the facts.

For example, after his nonapology apology Trump embarked on a series of campaign stops across the industrial Midwest in which he made a direct appeal to African-Americans  even though his audiences were very obviously white.

Trump turned the traditional art of political promise-making on its head: He asked black Americans, "What do you have to lose?"

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"Look at how much African-American communities are suffering from Democratic control," he preached in Dimondale, Mich., a mostly white town near Lansing.

"To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?"

It was the sort of speech that one might expect from a candidate who is advising black people without knowing much about black people.

For example, the fact-checkers at PolitiFact found that the jobless rate for African-Americans ages 16 to 24 is just under 19 percent, not 58 percent.

But to Trump no problem is too serious to be exaggerated in pursuit of votes, especially when the problem can be blamed on Democrats.

Trump's new pitch to blacks in front of white audiences isn't really aimed at African-Americans. It is aimed at reassuring skeptical white voters that he's not a total racist, even though his vision of black urban life seems to have come from watching HBO's "The Wire."

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Trump should get out more. If he visited some black communities, he would find that most of us are not poor, unemployed, breaking the law or itching to kill cops.

As black GOP strategist Ron Christie, who worked in the George W. Bush White House, told NPR, Republican leaders have "made the mistake of putting the largely African-American messaging in terms of crime, poverty and welfare rather than talking about empowerment, self-sufficiency and achieving the American Dream."

Trump knows how to preach that message. It shouldn't be for whites only.

Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.

cpage@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @cptime
An 87-year-old Arlington Heights man has been charged with two counts of battery of a police officer after spraying two local officers in the face with pepper spray while they were conducting a well-being check at the man's home.

The incident occurred about 4 p.m. Friday, after the police department received a call from someone who identified themselves as the elderly man's attorney, and who requested police conduct a well-being check at the man's apartment in the 2300 block of South Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights Deputy Chief Andrew Whowell said.

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"The officers knocked on the man's door, and they were greeted with pepper spray," said Whowell, adding that the officers immediately called for back-up patrols, who arrived on the scene and proceeded to arrest the man and charge him with two counts of aggravated battery against a police officer.

The two officers who sustained the pepper spray attack were treated and released, Whowell said.

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According to Whowell, the man allegedly told police he was a retired Chicago police officer, and that he lives alone.

"We don't have an official diagnosis, but we believe he's suffering from mental health issues and paranoia," Whowell said.

The police department has asked for a court-mandated evaluation of the man's mental health, Whowell said.

"Obviously it's not like an 87-year-old man is going to go to jail," Whowell said. "But we also don't want something like this to happen again."

kcullotta@tribpub.com

Twitter @kcullotta
A group of kids attacked a Canada goose near a pond behind Batavia High School Friday evening, inflicting injuries that have confined the bird to a nearby animal treatment facility.

A Fox Valley Wildlife Center intern saw a "couple of kids" between the ages of 7 and 12 years old kicking the goose on the school grounds around 5 or 6 p.m. Friday, said Laura Kirk, the center's director of animal care. It appeared that some other children were trying to stop the attack, Kirk said.

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An intern tried to capture what was happening on video, then intervened and rescued the goose, Kirk said. The intern brought it home for the night because the wildlife center was closed.

"When she brought it to us, it was laying in a box, its neck was kind of bent over, it wasn't able to stand or get up," Kirk said.

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The wildlife center doesn't have a veterinarian on staff, so they called Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn and transferred the goose for further treatment, she said.

The goose has a localized neck injury, but nothing is obviously broken and it doesn't have any open wounds or external bleeding, said Sandy Fejt, Willowbrook's education site manager. Officials do not know whether the goose is male or female because that would require an internal check, said Fejt.

It's still not able to stand or lift its head up, and veterinary staff are giving the creature supportive care to build up strength before they perform more exams, Fejt said.

"We're trying to pinpoint exactly what that's from," Fejt said. "(The goose) is eating and resting, and we're hoping in a day or so to get detailed blood work."

It's possible the goose was already in a weakened physical condition, making it difficult for the bird to escape attack and more prone to injury, Fejt said. Not only is it morally wrong to intentionally harm an animal, Canada geese are migratory and protected by federal law, Kirk said.

The incident took place as the Batavia Bulldog Boosters corn boil fundraiser was going on nearby.

Batavia School District 101 spokeswoman Sue Gillerlain found out about the attack from a Facebook post Sunday, and has since been talking with the animal hospital and wildlife center about the incident, she said. It's unknown if the kids who attacked the goose go to schools in the district, and officials said they do not even know whether they were boys or girls.

"It's just not an acceptable thing to do no matter what," Kirk said. "Whether you're a kid or an adult doing that is a crime, and also obviously it's inhumane."

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The center originally posted a note about what happened on Facebook, but removed it when the comments became too much to monitor, "some of which didn't align with our intention," Kirk said.

"We sincerely appreciate everyone's attention to the goose and that you all take this as seriously as we do," reads a post published by the wildlife center later on Sunday. "We hope this sheds light on things that include not letting these situations escalate, having productive conversations with kids about how to handle similar situations and having respect and empathy for all life."

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Community Unit School District 308 has reached a settlement agreement allowing a former principal to become an administrator after she filed a race and sex discrimination charge against the district, according to the settlement agreement.

As part of the settlement, the former principal, Sharon Alexander, has become the Oswego-based district's assistant director of assessment, data and accountability, a new position for the district.

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According to a copy of the agreement, signed at the beginning of August, Alexander filed the charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights on May 23.

Alexander had been a principal at Bednarcik Junior High School since July 2013, according to the district. The settlement stipulates that she will be assistant director from August 2 through June 30, 2017, and will voluntarily withdraw her charge. The job description for the new position was created in April, district spokesman Brian Graves said, before the complaint was filed.

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Graves declined to elaborate on the settlement agreement or provide information about the charge, saying he cannot comment on personnel matters. He also declined to comment on how the agreement was reached.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission declined to make a copy of the charges public, and Alexander could not be reached for comment.

Alexander's prorated base salary in her new position is $92,045.98, which includes a stipend for completing a doctorate in education. The board will also pay into the Teachers Retirement System based on that salary, bringing her prorated compensation package to $110,000, according to the agreement.

As a principal, Alexander's base salary was $108,000, according to Graves.

She has an undergraduate degree in English education from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in educational administration from Governors State University, according to a statement from the district announcing employment changes. She recently completed a doctorate in education from Northern Illinois University.

Bednarcik's former assistant principal, John Francis, is now the interim principal.

"John made wonderful connections with the students and community last year and will be a wonderful leader for Bednarcik," Alexander said in a statement. "I am excited to work with student data and finding instructional information that truly impacts growth for all students."

sfreishtat@tribpub.com

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Tinley Park police are investigating a string of recent nighttime house burglaries that occurred while residents were home.

In one instance, a burglar managed to take keys from a purse inside one home and steal an unlocked car, all while the homeowner was inside the house, police said.

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No one was injured and no one saw a suspect in all three cases, which happened this month, according to Tinley Park police.

On Aug. 12, someone entered an unlocked car in the 6800 block of Zurich Lane and used the garage door opener to gain access to the home while the homeowner was inside, according to police. The burglar then used the keys from the purse to drive off with the car, which was recovered in Chicago.

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A suspected entered two homes on Aug. 22 in the 16100 block of Eagle Ridge Drive, according to police. One house was unlocked, while the burglar broke into the second home. A purse was taken in one of the burglaries.

Police are reminding residents to lock their cars and houses and to report any suspicious activity to 911.

Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Chicago punk pioneers the Bollweevils (pictured) will perform with the Menzingers, Hot Stove Jimmy and co-headliners Bayside and MxPx on Saturday at 350 Brewing Companys second annual 350 Fest at the Tinley Park Convention Center. (Photo courtesy of the Bollweevils)

Pondering how to spend the final weekend of August?

Check out a German fest in Frankfort or carnival rides and fireworks in Worth.

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If craft beer combined with punk rock or live animals is your thing, there's a huge craft beer festival with five bands in Tinley Park or the Zoo Brew at Brookfield Zoo.

Artsy? A Joliet gallery is calling for artists to depict the prairie state.

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Worth Days, on 115th Street west of Harlem, Worth; 708-448-7080; www.worthparkdistrict.org

The annual festival featuring carnival rides, music, a beer tent, parade and fireworks will run from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday, 1 p.m. to midnight Saturday and 2 to 11 p.m. Sunday. The carnival closes at 10 p.m. nightly.

Alpine Summer Music Fest, German American Heritage Center, 25249 Center Road, Frankfort; 815-464-1514 or 708-636-3074; www.dankchicagosouth.org

German food, drinks and vendors and a performance by the Johnny Wagner Band will be presented at 4 p.m. Saturday by the Deutsch Amerikanischer National Kongress (DANK) Chapter Chicago South & Suburban. Admission is a $10 donation, free for those under 19. Parking is free.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

350 Fest, Tinley Park Convention Center, 18451 Convention Center Drive; 708-825-7339; www.350brewing.com

350 Brewing Company's second annual fest of Illinois-only craft beer, punk rock and food will be held from 3:50 to 9 p.m. Saturday. On stage will be the Menzingers, the Bollweevils, Hot Stove Jimmy, Bayside and MxPx. Tickets are $45 and include 15 beer tickets and a commemorative glass. Tickets are $40 for designated drivers age 18 and older. Tickets are available online or at the tap room, 7144 W. 183rd St. in Tinley Park. VIP tickets are long sold out.

Zoo Brew, Brookfield Zoo, 31st Street and First Avenue, Brookfield; 708-688-8000; www.czs.org

More than 80 beers will be offered for sampling at the 21-and-older event from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $45 ($35 for zoo members) and include admission to the zoo starting at 9:30 a.m. and a commemorative glass. Designated driver tickets are $25. VIP tickets are $75 for Friday, sold out Saturday. Parking is included.

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"The Art of Illinois," Gallery Seven, 116 N. Chicago St., Suite 102, Joliet; 815-483-4310; www.galleryseven.net

All Illinois artists age 18 and up are invited to submit works portraying their vision of Illinois through Sept. 15 for the juried fine art show to run in November. All media except film and video is welcome. Gallery Seven is managed by a group of local artists and open weekdays and the first Saturday of each month.

Vickie Jurkowski is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
Orbert Davis, a musician from Beverly, is the featured performer of the opening evening of the 2016 Chicago Jazz Festival. (Photo by Ken Richmond) (Ken Richmond)

Orbert Davis is a storyteller.

He has written works illuminating the life of Nelson Mandela, New Orleans after Katrina, the reversal of the Chicago River, even the history of "DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis."

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Soon, his latest effort will debut. "Soul Migration" draws on the stories of some of the 6 million African Americans who took part in what is known as the Great Migration, moving from the rural south to the industrial north beginning a century ago.

Do not reach for your Kindle. Davis' stories aren't read, but heard  and "Soul Migration" will premiere at 8 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, as the featured performance of the opening evening of the 2016 Chicago Jazz Festival.

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The Beverly resident was commissioned to do the work by the Jazz Institute of Chicago's executive director, Lauren Deutsch, a cherished colleague who put Davis' then-fledgling Chicago Jazz Philharmonic  a 55-piece fusion of jazz and classical styles  on the Jazz Festival stage in 2004.

"When she called, it wasn't like getting an assignment," Davis said. "It was a friend calling and saying, 'What do you think about doing this?'"

Davis thought quite a lot of doing, and in doing, the piece. He distilled the effort simply, saying, "We want to hit people in the soul."

Indeed, he said, the titular "Soul" refers not to the style of music.

"It's a consciousness of a people," he said. "I didn't want the piece to report history, but to sort of be an epic that starts in the present tense and flashes back to the past and forward to the future."

He accomplishes that musically apart from the Jazz Philharmonic, which has breathed life into many of his previous creations with him as conductor.

"My goal has been to get back to my roots as a trumpet player," he said.

The 56-year-old has already gotten back to his roots, in a manner of speaking, by moving to Beverly 11 years ago. A native of Momence, he was drawn to Beverly's quiet streets.

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"My wife and I both grew up in neighborhoods," he said. "Living in the city, that's what I missed about growing up in Momence.

"We're able to walk around in the neighborhood, walk to restaurants, walk places where strangers actually speak to each other  and yes, it's quiet. The rest of my life is so loud."

Perhaps that's because Davis hears so many sounds. Even while downsizing to a "modern jazz format" and its handful of players, Davis is fusing styles as he has for more than a decade with the Jazz Philharmonic.

"The band itself will be an acoustic band and an electric band at the same time," he said. "The audience will be able to tell that we've moved to a different time.

"But it's not going to be play acoustic, then play electric. I'll have an acoustic upright bass player playing jazz, an electric bass player playing funk. The vibraphonist, a 23-year-old named Joel Ross, also plays electric piano. The pianist plays an acoustic piano and an electric synthesizer."

The electric bassist, Ron Hall, is reuniting on the stage with Davis for the first time since 1988, when their band "Grand Staff"  Davis said they were huge in Kankakee  broke up.

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"It was a good band," Davis said. "I learned how to compose through those years."

"Soul Migration" will feature vocal passages, both sung and spoken word. The latter will feature journalist John Fountain.

"He's going to write a narrative on, 'Alright, we've celebrated. But what do we do now?'" Davis said.

Davis will keep composing and playing.

"Music has the power of grabbing us long enough to pay attention, before we can turn away," he said. "Stop. Listen. Feel before the scene changes."

Davis is a founder of Discover Music: Discover Life, a program of arts education that currently works with children in 15 Chicago-area schools, teaching reading and math through music concepts. In that work, he frequently meets with politicians of every stripe.

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In early August, he said, he was at a conference of state legislators. He and a legislator from a southern state chatted at length, amiably and with passion about music, before discovering their political views were more than a little different, giving him hope that "for once the country can maybe not be so polarized."

"We all have so much more to talk about in the ways that we're alike," he said. "I get excited by that."

Phil Arvia is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

When/Where: Sept. 1-4, Millennium Park; music beginning at noon daily.

Admission: Free

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Headliners:

Thursday: 8 p.m. -- Orbert Davis presents Soul Migration

Friday: 7:10 p.m. -- Benny Goldson; 8:30 p.m. -- Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra directed by Carla Bley

Saturday: 7:10 p.m. -- Anat Cohen Quartet; 8:30 p.m. -- The Bad Plus play Ornette Coleman's "Science Fiction"

Sunday: 7:10 p.m. -- John Scofield/Joe Lovano Quartet; 8:30 p.m. -- Candido's 95th Birthday Celebration, featuring M.F. Productions Latin Jazz All Stars
Jay Collins (left) and Woodrow Grover play two of the main characters in Queer As You Want Me to Be from Aug. 27-28 at SPAA Theatre & Performing Arts Center in Park Forest. (Photo courtesy of Speakers Publishers & Authors Association Theatre)

People complaining about relationships sparked Michael V. Wilkins Sr. to pen "Queer As You Want Me to Be."

Speakers Publishers & Authors Association Theatre stages the play Saturday and Sunday at SPAA Theatre & Performing Arts Center in Park Forest.

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Wilkins said he wanted to present the work "because of all the stereotypes associated with a lot of stuff.

"That became my tag line for this. Basically, your stereotypes or prejudices cause you to lose your man, lose your woman or lose your mind," said Wilkins, founder and chief executive officer of SPAA Theatre.

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Wilkins, of Park Forest, is no stranger to the stage.

"I've been doing this for 17 years. I've written well over 30-some plays. Because we've only been here about three years we've developed the SPAA Theatre Actors Troupe. We get together on first Fridays and we actually write productions together.

"We have a group of writers that write for some of our productions as well."

Set in a beauty shop, "Queer As You Want Me to Be" fits SPAA Theatre's motto of "invoking imagination, provoking senses and stimulating emotions."

"We show how in their relationships that both men and women manipulate one another. We take a comical look at stuff that may be uncomfortable for some. We look at it in ways that at least they'll be more accepting of what's going on in these situations where they can actually see themselves," he said.

"Then we have music. A couple of characters do a few songs. The whole premise is to bring it to their attention how often they take one another for granted."

Featuring a cast of approximately 12, "Queer As You Want Me to Be" includes Chicago Heights, Lansing and University Park residents.

Wilkins said he is proud of the growth of SPAA Theatre, which is affiliated with Speakers Publishers & Authors Association, a national organization for people interested in becoming professional speakers or published authors.

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"Many of the people here now have been with me for years. We used to go around to Bloom Trail High School, Freedom Hall and Governors State University, renting theater to do our productions," he said.

"As a result of the struggles associated with that, I was very much interested in having a theater we could call home to help other struggling producers, writers and directors who were looking for places specifically in the south suburbs to be able to do something with their craft.

"I know about all the things they've had to go through. When we were able to get this place, we opened it up to everyone interested in doing something in the south suburbs."

Wilkins said he hopes people do not get turned off by the title "Queer As You Want Me to Be."

"Don't let the name fool you. We're actually talking about how some people say mean or derogatory names and things like that while we discuss what's acceptable," he said.

"We just want people to know that it's a wonderful opportunity to come out and not only enjoy a play but also have an opportunity to laugh at some of the mistakes we make in dealing with different situations and a wonderful opportunity for us to improve our relationships."

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Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

'Queer As You Want Me to Be'

When: 2 and 7 p.m. Aug. 27; 4 p.m. Aug. 28

Where: SPAA Theatre & Performing Arts Center, 371 Artists Walk, Park Forest

Tickets: $25 in advance; $30 at the door

Information: 708-748-9470 or www.spaatheater.org

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Etc.: presented by Speakers Publishers & Authors Association Theatre; dinner available for $12
Illinois colleges and universities must comply with a new standard for addressing the growing problems of sexual assault on campuses, officials said Tuesday.

The Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act, which went into effect Aug. 1, requires state higher education institutions to establish and administer procedures to respond to sexual violence complaints and prevent instances of sexual crimes.

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Starting Nov. 1, 2017, schools will be required to submit data annually to the Illinois Attorney General's Office on their prevention programs, incidents of assaults and the outcomes of complaints and reports. The names of the schools that fail to submit a report will be published on the office's website.

Politicians backing the measure and rape prevention advocates highlighted the measure during a news conference Tuesday at the University of Illinois-Chicago, which university Chancellor Michael Amiridis said has fully implemented the various aspects required by the measure for its students.

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The act, supported by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, mandates that schools create a comprehensive policy for establishing how the university responds to reports of sexual violence, as well as stalking, domestic and dating violence. It also requires the school to have trained confidential advisers be made available to rape survivors who can inform them their rights and options for assistance.

Chicago Alderman Matt O'Shea (19th) speaks at a news conference Tuesday at the University of Illinois-Chicago campus highlighting the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act. (Nick Swedberg / Daily Southtown)

The legislation for Act was sponsored in the Illinois House by Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, and in the Senate by Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed it into law in August 2015.

Twenty percent of undergraduate women and 6 percent of undergraduate men will be the victim of sexual assault, Madigan said. The rates can be even worse for LGBTQ students, she said.

"Yet, very few students who are ever assaulted report these crimes to campus or local police," Madigan said. Many students who don't report instances of sexual violence fail to do so because believe their school won't help them, she said.

"Obviously, our students deserve better than this and our laws require better than this. All students deserved to be believed," Madigan said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Backers of the measure warned that the number of reported sexual crimes on campus might go up as more victims feel comfortable coming forward.

The act creates minimum standards universities must comply with regarding the definition of consent, which a person cannot give if they are unconscious, asleep or incapacitated due to alcohol or drugs.

Madigan said the act sets forth a "fair and balanced" process for resolving complaints of sexual violence. Specifically, the law says all students will be held to a preponderance of the evidence standard during the complaint procedure, choose their adviser of choice for aid and be able to present evidence and witnesses on their behalf.

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Advocates and supporters warned that sexual violence prevention cannot wait until students enter college. Chicago Ald. Matt O'Shea, 19th Ward, who spoke at Tuesday's news conference, has worked since last year to bring awareness to a culture of sexual violence by promoting viewings of the film "The Hunting Ground." A showing of the documentary is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Beverly Arts Center.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan speaks at a news conference Tuesday at the University of Illinois-Chicago campus highlighting the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act. (Nick Swedberg / Daily Southtown)

"The Hunting Ground" focuses on incidents of sexual assault on college campuses and what the film's creators say is a failure on the part of college campuses to address the issue.

"I think it's important for parents at the kitchen table to talk to sons and daughters about this topic," O'Shea said, adding that while it can be an uncomfortable subject for discussion, students, "need to be educated before they are away at school."

Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Hey, Blue Island. You're welcome.

You too, South Holland, and Calumet City, and Chicago south of 87th Street, and all points in between.

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Or maybe we of the Village of Thornton should be thanking you. After all, we took on your storm water  deposited over the weekend via the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Deep Tunnel into the Thornton Reservoir  and you responded by sending us a lovely bouquet.

As in aroma. As in Eau de OMG.

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There I was Sunday, mowing the lawn in the town I've lived in all my life, enjoying an otherwise splendid day, only to detect a certain scent, waxing and waning on the breeze.

Not overwhelming. But noticeable, and unmistakable. Sewage. Sort of like a basement that has been cleaned after a sewer backup, but not yet fully aired out.

"You weren't the only one," said MWRD civil engineer Kevin Fitzpatrick, one of two engineers to call in response to my odor complaint. "We're getting odor complaints from Thornton residents  first around last Thanksgiving, shortly after (Deep Tunnel) went online, and again when we had a big fill event just before New Year's. But we got quite a few more Saturday and Sunday.

"It's mainly Thornton residents. We get the occasional person that drives by on the expressway (Interstate 80) and smells it."

The reservoir is the north lobe of the Thornton Quarry, one of the largest limestone quarries in the world. Last fall, the nearly 8-billion-gallon reservoir was officially connected to the Deep Tunnel system, 109 miles of tunnels designed to alleviate flooding throughout Chicago and the south suburbs.

"A week and a half ago, it was empty," Fitzpatrick said Monday.

By Aug. 15, 200 million gallons had flowed into the reservoir. That number rose to 900 million before more rain hit Friday and Saturday, dumping an additional 600 million gallons into the pit.

Then came the smell.

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Dave Tang was the first MWRD employee to contact me after I called to register my complaint.

"We're taking this seriously," he said. "We have programs in place that are going to be done in the very near future to address the odor issue."

The three-pronged attack: 1. Add chemicals to the flow into the reservoir that will break down some of the materials that contribute to the odor (those chemicals would be filtered out when the reservoir water goes through the sewage treatment process before being returned to area waterways). 2. Pine trees are being planted around the perimeter of the reservoir ("Hopefully," Tang said, "the pine tree scent will mix with the odor and mask it"). 3. An additional 13 aerators will be added to the seven already in place, decreasing the likelihood of stagnant water.

Color me skeptical. The reservoir caused a stink at less than 25 percent capacity, so I'm thinking it may take more than an industrial jug of Febreze, a couple of pine air fresheners and some bubbles to solve this problem.

Fitzpatrick, however, expressed confidence.

"We think it's going to be fixed," he said. "It's a giant area we're trying to contain odors from, but we think it can be fixed."

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Honestly, Fitzpatrick sounded like a nice guy. Nice enough for me to give him a little grief, Thornton style.

I noted that flooding has never really been a problem in the village, but we've long lived with the dust, truck traffic and occasionally dynamite blasts from the quarry. It never smelled before, though, and it smells now because we're fixing somebody else's problem.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Turns out that's because Thornton has a separated sewer system  channels for household water separate from storm water  while most communities in the south suburbs and much of the South Side have combined systems where household and storm water flow together.

"Thornton, you're right, doesn't have a flooding problem as much as some of your neighbors like South Holland and other towns  it really provides a big benefit to the communities who have combined sewer systems," he said. "But you've got to remember that the storm water that's going into the reservoir would have been going into area waterways  the Little Calumet (River), Thorn Creek, the Cal-Sag Channel  bringing pollution with it. So Thornton benefits, too."

Beyond that, he noted, Thornton's sewage gets treated some place, too. That happens to be the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant, off 130th Street and the Bishop Ford.

"People there complain about the smell sometimes," he said. "Believe me, I've been in the sewage treatment business a long time. It all kind of ends up somewhere."

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And, for what it's worth, the MWRD makes a good show of addressing community concerns. Neither Tang nor Fitzpatrick knew I was a member of the media before calling (though both did before they hung up), and the district website has a link and a number at which to report odor, water pollution and waterway blockages near the top of its home page.

So maybe the folks in Thornton should trust the MWRD to do its level best to solve our funky little issue. And just the same, keep that number handy: (800) 332-3867.

Phil Arvia is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
Lawmakers should ignore workers' comp column

Most of your readers probably believe it's a good thing that Illinoisans earn more than people who work in Indiana or Missouri. That's not the case for Austin Berg or his employer, the Illinois Policy Institute.

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Berg's recent op-ed ("It's time to get special interests our of workers' comp," Aug. 11), conveniently ignores a primary reason that workers' compensation expenses for Illinois employers are greater than in those two neighboring states  Illinoisans have higher wages.

Our workers' compensation insurance system, to which employers and employees contribute, helps injured workers pay their medical expenses and makes up for a portion of their income while they recuperate. So, of course if Illinoisans have higher incomes than Hoosiers or Show-Me Staters, it will cost a little more to cover a part of their lost wages. That's logical and, more importantly, fair.

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Like any program, it's wise to evaluate whether there are ways it can be improved or made more efficient. Berg, however, offers a more radical proposal  allow employers to opt out of the workers' compensation system altogether, and instead let employer and employee work it out on their own.

Of course, he fails to acknowledge why we have workers' comp in the first place. It used to be that people hurt on the job were just discarded by their employers and left to suffer. The injured didn't have the sophistication or financial means to seek justice in the courts. The burden of their care fell to meager charities or family.

Opt-out plans enacted in states like Texas and Oklahoma have been a failure, leaving injured workers with lower or no benefits, more restrictions and denying them their fundamental constitutional right to due process. Opt-out also unfairly shifts costs from employers, who in many instances bear responsibility for permitting unsafe working conditions, onto all taxpayers who pay for those individuals' care through public programs.

The Illinois Policy Institute's $3.5 million annual budget is used to promote race-to-the-bottom policies that hurt working families and benefit only its wealthy funders. Lawmakers should reject its terrible advice on workers' comp.

Christopher T. Hurley, president, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

What's on your mind?

The Daily Southtown welcomes letters to the editor. Email them to letters@southtownstar.com and include your name, address and phone number. Only your name and the town you reside in will appear with the letter. Please keep a letter to no more than about 200 words. The Southtown is not responsible for the accuracy of the opinions expressed in letters to the editor.
Biking and apple picking may seem like an odd combination, but it has been a natural for the Chicago Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Kuipers Family Farm in Maple Park.

"We wanted a place for our annual Cycle for Life race that was safe for our riders, and this also gives something for families that come along to support the riders to do while they wait," said Michelle Minardi, senior director of the foundation's endurance program.

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"When we were approached by them last year, we were a little surprised, but the more we thought about it, the more we wanted to be a part of it," said owner Kim Kuiper. "We love partnering with them, and they're a great organization to work with."

This year's event on Saturday was affected by rain, with the 65-mile course canceled and the 30- and 10-mile rides delayed. Cyclists raise money to fight cystic fibrosis, which the foundation says afflicts about 30,000 Americans.

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Minardi said over the past five years, the race has collected $600,000 and that moving it to the Kuiper Farm a year ago "has helped provide a safer ride as well as offer a great post-race atmosphere. There is a live band here and a catered lunch, and the Kuiper Farm also provides us with their cider."

Kim Kuiper worked with the Chicago Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on fundraising bike rides on the first day of apple-picking season. (David Sharos / The Courier-News)

Coincidentally, Saturday was the opening of the apple picking season. While traffic in the orchards is slow until the weather cools off, "our crop this year looks really good," Kuiper said.

"We had to do a lot of thinning because if you don't, there are too many apples on the tree and they will be small," she said. "We have over 25 varieties this year, and we've already picked some to put in our coolers."

This year's event featured 11 participants with cystic fibrosis in the 10-mile ride.

Jenna Baier, 31, of Bloomington, said she has had the disease since birth and its complexity is often misunderstood.

"The disease can affect other parts of the body, including your lungs, pancreas and digestive track and, of course, they all need to work together," she said. "The foundation does a terrific job, and it's awesome how events like this come together and they're able to raise money."

Joan Dillon of Batavia said this was the second year she had ridden, but she decided to scale things back a bit after completing the 65-mile race a year ago on a tandem bike.

Jenna Baier of Bloomington, who has cystic fibrosis, is helped by her husband Jeremy. (David Sharos / The Courier-News)

"That was something I did to share a little couple's time, but I wouldn't recommend it," Dillon said, adding that she wanted to be able to enjoy the post-ride festivities.

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"I rode 25 miles last weekend and I'm a little tired, and besides, I wanted to get in early this year. Last year after the race, they ran out of chicken," she said.

Some just wanted to get a head start on apple picking.

"Last year, we were absolutely the first ones in line when the farm opened for apple picking," said Terri Albright of South Elgin. "When I was a kid, there were always places like this and for me, it really brings back fond memories. It's one of those simple things."

Her friend Carol Gehrke, also of South Elgin, agreed.

"For me, the fall is my favorite time of the year because nature is giving back," she said. "The leaves fall and give back to the Earth, and you have things like apples to pick."
Teacher Martha Silva gets her dual language program 7th grade social studies class involved in its lesson at Larsen Middle School in Elgin. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

Friday morning at Larsen Middle School in Elgin, teacher Martha Silva was busy reviewing the eight keys of success and excellence with her class before heading into a social studies lesson in geography and place  in Spanish.

What made Silva's 7th-grade class unique: With the start of a new school year Elgin-area School District U46 has expanded its dual language program to the middle school level. Such classes are being offered at five U46 middle schools to a combined 755 students, according to Mary Fergus, the district's school and community relations director.

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"Abbott, Ellis, Kimball, Larsen, and Tefft middle schools will implement an extension of the 80/20 Dual Language Program during the 2016-17 school year. Students who continue in the program will take Spanish Language Arts and Social Studies in Spanish as 7th graders," Fergus said.

"In the first year (pre-kindergarten or kindergarten) of the 80/20 dual language program model, students are in classes led in Spanish 80 percent of the time," Fergus said. "By the time they are in third grade, half of the instruction is in Spanish and half is in English."

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The district began its dual language program in the 2011-12 school year, starting with pre-kindergarten through second grade students at 29 elementary schools. Past that, the program has gradually expanded each year, grade-by-grade, as students progress through it, so that last school year the program included pre-K through sixth grade classes.

"We now have more than 9,000 dual language students," Fergus said.

Dr. Annette Acevedo, director of the U46 English Language Learners Program, noted that U46 students who come from homes where English is the primary or only language spoken are invited to participate in the "two-way" dual language program as an opportunity to become proficient in both languages at sites where two-way classrooms have been established due to parent interest. The two-way program is comprised of both English language learners/emerging bilinguals and English dominant students at elementary schools.

Both the one-way and two-way offerings are available through 6th grade this school year, with one-way now in 7th grade. The two-way dual language program will be expanding to schools in the 2017-18 school year, Acevedo said.

Acevedo said the philosophy behind the dual language program is to develop students' bilingual skills and biliteracy, which will come in handy not only on an application for college but for meeting the requirements for many jobs in the modern, worldwide economy.

"These are skills to have in a global society. This is the teaching and learning program for the 21st Century," Acevedo said.

Silva showed some of the techniques she uses in her class such as boards covered in blue construction paper for English words and adjacent ones in green for Spanish words that are cognates  words that may look similar, but have different meanings such as exit, which means leave in English, and exito, which means success in Spanish. Boards covered in purple paper are for bridges between the two languages, Silva explained.

Silva is from San Luis Potosi in Mexico and came to the U.S. decades ago with her husband for job he had in Illinois, she said. While this is her first year at Larsen, Silva has been teaching for 20 years, and her own children went through prior sorts of programming for English language learners offered at U46 schools. So her own background helps her as an educator, she said.

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"Not until you are in a culture can you really learn the language," she said.

What's different about the dual language program compared to other efforts, Silva said, is it stresses the need to know and use both languages equally.

"I believe in the program and have passion for it," Silva said. "I have empathy for the students as my own kids are like them."

Emmanuel Perez, who is teaching the first group of 7th graders in a dual language program at Tefft Middle School in Streamwood, also noted his own background as a plus for his teaching. This is Perez's second year with the dual language program, having worked at Creekside Elementary School in Elgin last year.

Perez comes from a bilingual home. A native of Puerto Rico, he came to Illinois after teaching six years in his homeland.

"My mother was from New York, and she was raised in a bilingual home," Perez said. "My father grew up in Puerto Rico in the '60s and '70s, when bilingual education wasn't the best. He joined the (U.S. military) which pushed him to learn English."

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Of what brought him to Illinois, "If you've been following the news, you know things are tough right now on the island," Perez said. So, at the suggestion of relatives living in the Belvidere area he came here. He said he found himself in the right place at the right time to become an educator with U46.

Perez explained that the program is set up so that for the 7th grade he is teaching the first two periods in Spanish, with one period devoted to the Spanish language arts and the other a social studies class taught in Spanish.

Those students take the rest of their classes where the instructors teach in English. The middle school day for U46 students begins at 9 a.m., ends at 3:20 p.m. and holds eight periods, including lunch and PE/Health.

"It gives me great satisfaction to get students ready for the globalized world," Perez said. "I never thought I would wind up in the States or visit Great Britain." Those opportunities were made possible in large part because of his own bilingualism, he said.

Students are enthusiastic about being in the dual language program, he said. Some students have argued with their parents to stay in it Perez said, and they see the struggles their own parents have had with not knowing or trying to learn another language.

Larsen 7th grader Cassey Ramirez said she enjoyed learning both Spanish and English and looked forward to using both languages when she is grown up.

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"At home my mom mostly speaks Spanish, and I am helping her get better at English," Ramirez said.

mdanahey@tribpub.com
Fox River Valley Public Library District officials said they have been fielding calls from patrons who are confused about what the tax impact will mean for them if the November referendum question passes.

Last week, board members gave the OK to place the referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot asking voters to almost double the district's tax rate to pay for construction of a new library on the district's west side and renovations to the current East Dundee building.

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District officials said that if approved, the library's tax rate would increase by 21 cents per $100 of assessed valuation and that a homeowner with an assessed value of $200,000 would pay about $140 more in property taxes annually.

But Director Roxane Bennett said usage of the term "assessed value" was incorrect, and that "fair market value" should have been used instead.

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District officials sent out a news release Monday to clarify.

"We've already received phone calls from patrons who have been using this information and miscalculating the tax impact on their own homes," said Christine Cigler, the district's public relations and outreach manager.

Library officials plan to put a summary on the district's website to help voters determine the tax impact on their own taxes.

According to a news release from the library district, the Township Assessor first determines the fair market value (or fair cash value) of a home based on sales of similar homes averaged over the previous three years. The County Assessor's office then divides the fair market value by approximately one-third to arrive at the equalized assessed value. Any exemptions, such as homestead or senior, are deducted from the equalized assessed value, resulting in the net taxable value. The library tax rate is applied to the net taxable value.

Voters can refer to their personal property tax bill to find these figures, Cigler said.

For instance, according to the release, the tax impact of the referendum on a property with a fair market value of $100,000 and no exemptions would have an equalized assessed value of $33,333, and a net taxable value of $33,333. That rate is divided by 100 which is $333. Multiply the increase by 21 cents and $69.99 is how much the tax bill would increase, Cigler said.

Half of the additional funds would be used to construct a full-service library near the current Randall Oaks Library, 500 N. Randall Road in West Dundee, and make functional improvements to the Dundee Library, at 555 Barrington Ave. in East Dundee, ensuring its long-term viability, library officials said in a news release. The remainder of the additional funds will be used to operate, staff, and maintain both facilities.

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
After more than an hour of discussion by Village Board members and downtown West Dundee property owners, trustees approved the creation of a special service area to support the implementation of the downtown plan.

However, board members said they will continue to look for alternative funding mechanisms to diminish the burden of the businesses impacted by the special taxing district.

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A special service area allows a municipality to levy additional property taxes in a specific geographic area for the purpose of providing special services not otherwise available to the entire municipality.

Last year, the village issued $4 million in bonds, with $2 million earmarked for the downtown plan and $2 million for the village's cost for Huntley Road. Village officials have been discussing ways to fund the annual $137,000 debt repayments for the downtown improvement bond.

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In March, board members approved an additional 1 percent sales tax as part of a business development district designed to help redevelop the village's downtown.

Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said that is expected to generate about $65,000 annually. The village has also committed financial resources including $40,000 of municipal funding toward the increased debt repayment.

Board members approved a phased approach of a 0.4 percent special service area tax for the first year that will generate about $34,000 annually, and a rate not to exceed 0.8 percent thereafter.

"The majority of this funding is coming out of the general fund," Trustee Michelle Kembitzky said. "Only 25 percent goes back to the special service area."

Trustee Dan Wilbrandt cast the lone vote against the initiative. His initial motion to table the motion for more discussion failed.

"The entire board knows my position," he said. "I believe we have borrowed $2 million for the downtown project before we had the details worked out for how we're going to pay for it."

Mayor Chris Nelson suggested that the Village Board approve the creation of the special service area but table establishing the actual rate to another meeting.

Trustee Billy Pflanz said the status of the downtown was the most common question he heard while collecting signatures to run for the Village Board.

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"Something needs to be done with the downtown. The status quo isn't working. Ultimately the funding has to come from somewhere," he said.

However, Pflanz said listening to the business owners is also important.

"Our goal needs to be to continue to try and reduce the burden on the business owners by looking into other funding mechanisms," he said.

Nelson said discussion on the levy amount would continue.

Before the vote was taken, several downtown property owners asked trustees not to approve the special taxing district.

West Dundee resident Trish Glees said village officials "have pie in the sky dreams."

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"You believe the downtown area can become the next St. Charles or Geneva. We are not a destination spot," she said.

As a business owner, Glees said she believes in paying taxes.

But I do not believe an SSA is in the best interest of the residents or shop owners," she said.

She, along with several others who spoke during Monday's meeting, questioned why the tax wasn't being levied on all village business owners.

"Why just the downtown area? Why not include all the businesses on Route 72 or even all the businesses located in West Dundee?" Glees asked. "Village officials need to be realistic and understand the economic abilities we have."

"I encourage you to be a part of this discussion," Nelson said to the property owners in attendance. "We're going to continue looking at alternatives to lessen the burden of those whose businesses are in the special service area."

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Lisa Dombrowski, co-owner of the property at 130 Washington St., has been a vocal opponent of the special taxing district.

She praised Wilbrandt "for standing up for the taxpayers and voting no on this SSA."

"I also appreciate Village President Christopher Nelson's efforts to table the issue and pursue other alternatives," she said.

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
Maintain the tax freeze: I'm calling about Kane County wanting to stop the elderly and the disabled from getting the freeze on their property tax. It's not that they don't pay taxes. They just don't pay quite as much. Yet the Kane County employees are getting raises every six months to a year. Why don't they cut back on those raises? And when are we going to stop giving illegal immigrants food stamps, free housing and other things? Why are we as taxpayers paying for that?

Politicians are not the best presidents: I'm undecided on who I will vote for in November. What I don't like is the Democrats and some Republicans saying Donald Trump is not qualified to be the president because he is not a politician. George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and others were not politicians. Look what has happened to our country over the last 50 years under the control of politicians.

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Riled about motorcycles: After seeing the video and reading the story about the motorcycle incident in Aurora, I have comments. I ride a cruiser, which is a bigger road bike. This looks like what is called a crotch rocket. From my experience, these guys do not respect the laws. They should have had the police close the roads for this activity in order to keep everyone safe. I personally don't like to be around this type of bike or rider because they give all motorcyclists a bad name.

Motorcycle ride debacle: I'm going to make a comment on the article about the motorcycle riders in Aurora. Why wasn't that policeman backed up? Why weren't more officers there right away on the scene? Nobody was arrested? Nobody knows who were doing it? What if somebody had been killed? Thank God that nobody was killed. But now, the police aren't allowed to do their job? Why weren't they there? Why wasn't somebody given citations? There's something fishy. Why weren't the motorcyclists ticketed and the man in the truck? Nobody is innocent in that situation. Why didn't the police get to do their duty? And you wonder why some people are turning away from the police. Certain people get one thing, while other people get nothing. Another motorcycle ride shouldn't be allowed in Aurora. When are we going to wake up and follow the law?

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Audience response to question: At the town hall meeting, a lady asked Mike Pence if he had spoken to Donald Trump pertaining to the dead Muslim soldier who sacrificed his life. Guess what? She got booed for asking the question. It just shows you what kind of people we have who are voting for Trump. They are racist. And if you're racist, you are not American.

Black and white: I see that Miss USA was making derogatory statements on social media. Now she said she's a better person and will still wear the crown. I want to remind you that Vanessa Williams was the first black Miss USA, and she was stripped of the crown because she had once posed nude for a magazine in the years before she won the crown. That's the way the United States is today. It is still biased when it comes to black and white issues. That's a bad thing. We have to treat everyone the same.

Miffed about mail: We have lived in Elgin at the same address since 1950. We never had any problem with our mail until a few months ago. Now we're getting everyone else's mail, and no doubt they are getting our mail. Our daughter lives in Indiana. It took three weeks to get mail from her because it first went somewhere else. What's going on? If we're having this problem, other people must also be having the same problem.

Carne Asada ride causes chaos: When I read The Beacon-News today, I could not believe what I was reading. I cannot believe that these people were not issued a ticket. I cannot believe that they were allowed to accost a person without any charges. I cannot believe that they would be allowed to ride when the article said that they have not been without problems before. This is about the Carne Asada ride in Aurora. Apparently the motorcyclists blocked a police car in the middle of an intersection and accosted a truck driver who was trying to get from point A to point B. They showed blatant disregard for the law and blatant disregard for the safety of normal people. They are going to give bikers a bad name. I would like to see them arrested. I have no problem with immigrants, but if these people are illegal immigrants, they should be deported immediately. They are totally disregarding our laws. It's not right. We need law-abiding citizens.

Save our libraries: This is to protest the cuts in our Aurora public libraries. So many of us use the west branch library. That is the one being jeopardized the most. Why should we have to be the one closed on Wednesday and have shortened hours when we have the most people coming to it? If I were a marcher, I would make a big sign that said: Save Aurora libraries. I love our libraries.

Hesitant about Hillary: People, do you not realize this thing about this soldier? He was a very brave soldier, but he was killed in Iraq four years ago. This is Hillary Clinton's plan so that Donald Trump won't get in. She's using this. She lied about the emails. She stepped down as secretary of state after Benghazi. If you vote for Hillary, there's trouble. She was one of the orchestrators of Obamacare. Trump may not be a politician, but he went from nothing to a billionaire.

Editor's note

Speak Out is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, please tell us. Call us at 312-222-2460 or email couriernews@tribpub.com. Please include "speak out" in the subject line.
A Redflex camera is pictured in Chicago in 2013. Highland Park agreed to extend its contract with the company on a short-term basis. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Three months after dumping Redflex Traffic Systems as the city's red light camera operator, the Highland Park City Council has agreed to extend the firm's contract by up to a year to allow the police department time to work out terms with a new provider.

Citing the widespread bribery scandal that has plagued Redflex since 2013, the city council in May voted not to renew its contract despite a favorable recommendation from the police department. The firm has held the Highland Park contract since cameras were first approved for the intersection of Route 41 and Park Avenue West in 2010.

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Last year, the Highland Park Police Department issued 7,028 citations stemming from violations caught on camera, and rejected 108 of the violations identified by Redflex.

The cameras monitor vehicles traveling westbound on Park Avenue West at Route 41, including those making right or left turns onto the highway. They also monitor vehicles traveling southbound on Route 41.

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The council's Monday vote effectively extends the agreement with Redflex for six months at the current rate of $9,000 per month, with the possibility of three additional two-month extensions. The city keeps all revenue from the $100 violations.

"If we end up using all of those extensions, we are looking at a full year," said Councilman Paul Frank. "I don't think that was the council's intention in making this change."

Once the program has been transferred to Gatso USA, the new provider, the agreement allows the city continued access to violations that occurred during Redflex's contract period for processing citations and adjudication. The city would be charged $2,500 a month during that period.

Before casting the sole vote against the extension, Councilman Anthony Blumberg reiterated his opposition to red light camera enforcement in general.

"I am opposed to using traffic enforcement as an income generator," he said. "I'm uncomfortable using mechanical jurisprudence in the absence of human judgment."

Blumberg said at the intersection in question, enforcement by police officers may be a more effective deterrent for truckers.

"Pulling them over for an extended period of time may have a larger impact than receiving a ticket at a later time, which may be paid by mail or by the employer," Blumberg said.

Rotering took "extreme exception" to Blumberg's comment suggesting the cameras were used as a revenue generator, saying the cameras are intended to enforce violations at an extremely dangerous intersection.

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"We saw what happened at Clavey Road decades ago as the first stoplight coming north on this highway," Rotering said, alluding to a history of fatal collisions before the Clavey Road overpass was built.

Rotering stressed that in no way is the program viewed as a revenue generator.

"It is simply intended to be a punitive approach to people speeding through at an incredibly dangerous intersection," she said.

Blumberg said his remark was based on comments about red light camera revenue during city budget meetings.

The Chicago Tribune conducted an investigation into RedFlex's red light camera and speed camera operations in Chicago and found problems with unfair tickets, failed oversight and untrue safety claims.

A former Chicago city official was convicted in January after a jury determined he took up to $2 million in bribes and gifts while directing camera contracts to RedFlex.

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kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com

@KarenABerkowitz
Shannon Vincel was attacked outside Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion on Aug. 15, 2016. (Vincel family / Handout)

Funeral services were held this week for a 46-year-old Cancer Treatment Centers of America patient who was beaten to death last week in Zion.

The funeral Mass for Shannon Vincel was Tuesday at St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church in Des Peres, Mo. She was buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Springfield, Mo.

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Vincel lived in Springfield, Mo., and worked as a hairstylist specializing in braids and updos, according to a family statement. She was interested in all things related to beauty and fashion.

"Shannon was an outgoing, bubbly, kind-hearted free spirit," the statement read. "Always up, always smiling. Just wanted to laugh and have fun.

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"She made friends wherever she went. This certainly was the case in the last few months of her life undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She faced cancer head on with a smile and positive attitude. It was her mission to uplift and inspire fellow patients."

According to Zion police, Vincel was attacked about 9:30 p.m. Aug. 15 outside the Cancer Treatment Centers of America's Guest Quarters West, a hotel accommodation for patients at 1911 27th St. Police said she had been sitting with another person in front of the building.

Police reported a man in dark clothing approached her and hit her in the head with a blunt object. She died the next day at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. Relatives said Vincel was scheduled to undergo cancer treatment the night she was attacked.

Nobody has been charged for the attack.

Cancer Treatment Center officials have offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction. Zion police called in the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force to assist in the investigation.

Zion police Deputy Chief Kirk Henderson said this week via email: "There is no new information on the case, and detectives with the Lake County Major Crime Task Force continue to follow up on leads."

Henderson would not discuss potential surveillance video from the facility.

Vincel had come to Zion for treatment of breast cancer, according to her family. She considered St. Louis her hometown, and she attended Drury University in Springfield, Mo. While she was getting treatment, some patients threw her a birthday party, relatives said.

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"While going through radiation treatments Shannon made it her mission to uplift and support her fellow patients. She was very touched by a birthday party patients threw for her on Aug. 1," said the family statement.

When her cancer treatments were completed, Vincel planned on starting a micro-baking business featuring her own baklava and cheesecake recipes, the family said. She was looking forward to a celebratory Bahamas cruise in October.

She loved her pets  a cat named Tookie and a bearded dragon named Vinnie, who preferred to sit on Shannon's shoulder, the family said.

"(Vinnie) often accompanied her on walks and to the pool. A comical sight," according to the family statement.

She also loved a wide range of music, and Lennie Kravitz was her favorite.

"She will be greatly missed by her family and many friends," said the statement. The family has also started a GoFundMe campaign called the Shannon Vincel Fund.

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According to her obituary, Vincel is survived by her mother, Anita Vincel Adams, and stepfather Eugene Adam, three sisters and a step-family of brothers and sisters.

fabderholden@tribpub.com

Twitter @abderholden
Support for coroner

Coroner Thomas Rudd has a lot of experience. He wants to run for coroner. The coroner coming in doesn't have the experience that Rudd has.

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Stand up for police

Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson saying an officer should be fired is telling the criminals in Chicago they've won. Think about that before you fire police officers who thought they were doing their job. The police department is not standing behind its officers. The criminals have basically won the war.

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Criminal catch and release

Instead of condemning police officers, why not go after the judges who repeatedly let criminals back on the street with probation? Some criminals get in trouble, spend 30 days in county jail, get a slap on the wrist and they are back on the street with a gun in their hand. Fire all the police you want, but it's not doing any good. Until these judges decide to put these criminals in jail, you cannot blame the police for the frustration they are facing on a daily basis. The Chicago Police Department is playing catch and release for the politicians and judges. It's ridiculous.

Twitter @NewsSun

Talk of the County is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, please tell us. Call us at 312-222-4554 or email talkofthecounty@tribpub.com. For a continuously updating blog of Talk of the County comments, go to newssunonline.com/talk.
Employees and contractors sort through the rubble Tuesday morning after a pickup truck drove through the front window of Just Target Guns in Libertyville. (Rick Kambic / Pioneer Press)

Would-be burglars drove a pickup truck through the front window of Just Target Guns in Libertyville at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to store managers.

Video footage shows two individuals wearing masks exiting the truck and quickly walking around the sales floor before returning to the vehicle and attempting to drive back into the parking lot, according to Connie Shanahan, one of the store managers.

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"Clearly they thought we would have weapons sitting out in the open," Shanahan said. "They were wrong, and they didn't get anything. Police arrived within 10 minutes, but the truck had broken free and driven away by then."

Sgt. Chad Roszkowiak, a spokesman for the Libertyville police department, confirmed the attempted burglary. .

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The store's layout includes a showroom built inside a steel vault located in the middle of the deep retail storefront, which is part of the Brookside Shopping Center at 332 Peterson Road.

"They didn't even get close to the vault," Shanahan said. "They just damaged our store and some of our other merchandise."

Employees of Just Target Guns in Libertyville sort through rubble Tuesday morning after a pickup truck drove through the store's front window earlier in a failed burglary attempt. (Rick Kambic / Pioneer Press)

Broken display cases next to the front window include knives with price tags showing $600. Shanahan said he found all of the knives within the rubble.

Shanahan said the store sells shotguns valued as high as $7,000, as well as various rifles and handguns for target practice. He said the store's clients are typically collectors and competitive shooters.

"Security in here is pretty tight. Between the steel, all the cameras and the alarms, you'd have to be an idiot to try this," Shanahan said.

The store windows and damaged brick were boarded over by noon. Tire marks can be seen on the sidewalk leading into the store. Shanahan said repairs would take a few days and cost at least $5,000.

Shorty after leaving the scene, the truck returned and an individual was seen taking cases of ammunition, according to a news release.

Managers at Just Target Guns in Libertyville said a pickup truck drove through the store's front window earlier Tuesday morning in a failed burglary attempt. (Rick Kambic / Pioneer Press)

Operating under a different name, the store has been in the shopping center for over 20 years, according to Shanahan. He said there have been no other attempted burglaries in the six years under this ownership.

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Libertyville police are looking for a dark-colored truck with fresh damage to the rear and driver's side of the vehicle, according to a news release.

Police say the camera footage shows a man between 18 and 25 years old wearing a dark sweatshirt with black shorts and black high-top gym shoes.

Police are encouraging anyone with information to call (847) 362-8310.

rkambic@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @Rick_Kambic
A crowd gathers June 12, 2015, on a rainy day for Lincolnshire's "Food Truck Fridays." Village officials decided to add two fall dates this year because of demand. (Ronnie Wachter / Pioneer Press)

Lincolnshire officials have seen that its business crowd is hungry for more food trucks this summer.

The food trucks that populate one of the large parking lots in the Lincolnshire Corporate Center, 300 Knightsbridge Parkway, for "Food Truck Fridays," organized by the village, will make two more stops later in the fall on Oct. 7 and Oct. 21. The hours of service will remain from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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Tonya Zozulya, the village's economic development director, said the reason for the extra helping was simple.

"It is in direct response to the demand that we are seeing," she said. "Corporate people are asking, 'Chicago goes until November. Why can't you run yours longer?'"

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Food Truck Fridays is one of Zozulya's initiatives, approved by the Lincolnshire Village Board years ago but moved to its present location last summer.

Vendors come every other Friday to the parking lots of the corporate center. The next event is scheduled for Friday.

Zozulya said officials were not interested in bringing them every Friday because keeping them spaced out gives each appearance the feel of a special event.

"We don't want to oversaturate," she said. "We want them to feel this is a special, non-mundane activity. If we were to do it every Friday, the feeling would wear off."

But for this year, the feeling should last almost to Halloween.

Zozulya said she was proud of how her idea is growing.

"Absolutely rewarding," she said. "This is a huge amenity that we're able to bring to our corporate center."

rwachter@pioneerlocal.com

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Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer
Morton Grove is pulling the plug on its electricity aggregation program next month.

The move means the village, which started an electricity aggregation program after voters approved a referendum in 2012, now will switch back to ComEd for certain electricity service after cutting ties with the company and switching to an aggregate supplier for its program.

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Illinois law allows municipalities to negotiate for the purchase of electricity for its residents and small businesses via an aggregation program.

Before the local referendum that established the program was approved, ComED electricity rates were significantly higher than what the village could get for residents via aggregation, said village administrator Ralph Czerwinski.

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After the village instituted its aggregation program, residents and other eligible subscribers saw a combined savings of over $1.8 million a year, which translates to nearly $250 a household in Morton Grove, he said

Now, however, the rates offered by ComEd "are the same or less than what we can buy from aggregation companies," Czerwinski said.

"There is no reason to continue this," he said. "We are opting to make a smart move for our residents to not use aggregation because the rate was found to be higher."

The most recent ComEd rates are cheaper per kilowatt hour than what the village can get on the aggregate market, Czerwinski said.

Residents affected by the switch should receive a notice this month from ComEd informing them that their service will be switched to the state's largest electricity supplier in September. No action is required on the part of the residents, Czerwinski said.

The Village of Lincolnwood made a similar switch two years ago, according to a press release from the municipality. According to the release, Lincolnwood was one of the first Chicago area suburbs to institute an aggregation program in 2010 and were able to achieve a savings of 30 percent over the rates offered by ComEd.

In September 2014, Lincolnwood officials also switched back to ComEd because the company provided the lowest rate offered, according to the release.

It's likely Niles also could follow suit and switch back to ComEd, once the village's contract with IDT Energy runs out at the end of May 2017, said village manager Steve Vinezeano.

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Niles voters approved a referendum allowing the village to solicit bids from electricity suppliers on behalf of residents and small business in April 2013.

The village inked a two-year contract with IDT Energy in April 2015. The company offered a fixed-rate lower than what ComEd was charging at the time, according to village documents.

"We don't plan on renewing it because there's no more value left in it," Vinezeano said of the village's aggregation program.

He said the village will switch back to ComEd next June "unless something happens between then and now" that would make the aggregate alternative a more financially appealing choice. He said the village will embark on a campaign to make residents aware of the change when it happens.

Residents can opt of the program any time and switch back to ComEd or another supplier with no penalties, Vinezeano said.

Residents always have the option to select a supplier of their choice, but Vinezeano said they should be aware of "shady" companies who may encourage them to sign on to long-term contracts for their electricity supply. He said some of these solicitors will offer contracts containing baked in fees, variable rates and penalties.

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A Morton Grove press release also warns residents to "beware of door-to-door solicitors, or direct calls or direct mail pieces regarding electric supply."

Morton Grove residents with questions about the suspension of the aggregate program are encouraged to call the municipality's electric aggregate consultant, Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative, at 1-800-727-3820.

Lee Gaines is a freelancer reporter for Pioneer Press.
Mundelein expanded its portfolio of village-owned properties when it bought a vacant lumberyard along Morris Avenue for $200,000 earlier this month, but officials say they're already in serious talks to sell.

The 2.8-acre property and 14,700-square-foot building at 538 N. Morris Ave. were previously part of Bradco Supply Corp., a roofing supplies wholesaler, according to the sales agreement.

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Village Trustees on Aug. 8 voted to buy the vacant warehouse and lumberyard located near the Park Street railroad crossing. The agreement says the $200,000 sales price is below the appraised value, and the amount between the agreed price and appraised value will be considered a tax-deductible charitable gift.

The purchase now gives Mundelein a total of 42.28 acres in the area zoned for downtown, according to a report from the community development department.

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"We don't want to be the largest land owner in the city," Village Administrator John Lobaito said. "The overriding reason Mundelein is purchasing key parcels in the downtown is because we're trying to accelerate the redevelopment or rebirth. We think the properties we've purchased were in some way holding back our progress."

Appearance was the main problem with the warehouse, Lobaito said.

"That thing is plain ugly. Aside from any struggle to sell that land, who in their right mind would build next to that thing?" Lobaito said. "It's not pleasing to look at out the window. Neighboring companies wont want their customers driving past that. Some of what we're doing is getting rid of the eye sores."

But Lobaito said the warehouse won't be around much longer and Mundelein is already in talks with a developer that wants to construct a building for commercial uses on the property. Lobaito declined to elaborate, but said Mundelein will likely demolish the warehouse if talks with the developer are unsuccessful.

Mundelein's property dealings put them in an unusual position, as government typically plays a regulatory role but Lobaito said the village has "more freedom" to affect change as a landowner.

"As the governing body, we're bound by the rules and regulations that have been adopted," Lobaito said. "As the owner, we can entertain different ideas and we can reject ideas we don't think match our vision. We can reject for any reason we choose; we're not bound by the same rules and regulations."

Others have looked at the former lumberyard in the five years it's been vacant, according to Amanda Orenchuk, director of community development. She said one company a few years ago wanted to demolish the warehouse and build a body shop, but the plan and zoning commission rejected the proposal because it didn't fit the downtown zoning.

A few others looked at buying the property and continuing its grandfathered warehouse use. Orenchuk said those companies looked at Mundelein's downtown efforts and decided against making a risky short-term investment.

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Instead of urging the property owner and waiting to see what happens, Lobaito said Mundelein now controls the long-term future.

Similarly, the 10-acre plaza near the Metra station is part of the downtown zoning area that allows an assortment of residential and commercial uses, but Lobaito said Mundelein can choose to not sell the land until someone proposes a high rise with first floor retail.

Breaking up the 10 acres makes it easier to redevelop, Lobaito said.

"It was a five-acre building sitting on 10 acres smack dab in the center of downtown. It had silos 40-feet in the air. That just had to go," Lobaito explained. "Nobody wanted to build next to it and not many people could take it over."

Just south of the plaza, Mundelein also owns over seven acres of Metra parking, more than six acres known as the Archer Business Center  which is leased to a law firm and Tighthead Brewing Company  and over six acres of land that houses part of the public works department.

Lobaito said everything from Courtland Street north to the Archer Business should be downtown-type housing that tiers in size, growing taller closer to the plaza. He said property north of that should be a condensed commercial area or commercial mixed with residential.

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Officials in February announced that the 112,000-square-foot vacant U.S. Music building at 444 E. Courtland St. had been sold to a residential developer who's familiar with Mundelein's goal. Mundelein at one point was interested in buying that building, too.

The neighboring public works facility already has a future home. Mundelein spent $527,500 buying 17 acres of land along Allanson Road in 2013, property that will one day become a $15 million public works facility.

"We don't have timelines on this stuff. There are so many variables involved in this type of work," Lobaito said. "We're showcasing our stuff along with the private property and if someone makes an offer on one of our pieces then we consider it."

Village-owned property north of Hawley Street includes the lumber yard, Mundelein's former village hall, a field along Seymour Avenue south of Route 176, a field at Seymour and Park Street, another public works building along Chicago Avenue and a recently acquired parking lot at Seymour and Park Street.

"We got 60 parking spaces at a below market rate," Lobaito said. "We couldn't build a parking lot for the price we paid."

Buying the parking lot was debated in the community, but Lobaito said he encouraged trustees to acquire the land in hopes of avoiding future parking problems, such as those in downtown Libertyville.

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"We may have been criticized or laughed at, but these aren't plans for next year or two," Lobaito said. "These are plans for 20 years from now."

rkambic@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @Rick_Kambic
Polling places are allowed to set up in schools, but Indian Prairie School District 204 officials are questioning the safety of letting strangers into their buildings and may pursue legislation to stop it. (Heather Charles / Chicago Tribune file photo)

Moving some elections to weekends to protect students in schools that serve as polling places isn't likely to happen, but Indian Prairie School District 204 will pursue a legislative remedy to give schools the right to refuse to house voting booths, officials said.

The district wanted the Illinois Association of School Boards to push changing the date of consolidated elections, but that didn't sit well with the group's resolution committee comprising representatives of 21 state geographic areas. School board member Cathy Piehl had asked that elections be shifted to weekends when students are not in school.

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Ben Schwarm, IASB deputy executive director, said that was unrealistic."That's a huge move," he said.

Besides, he said, changing the date of consolidated elections, which have the smallest voter turnouts, would od little to protect students during elections when voter turnout is much higher. Instead, he suggested trying to solve the safety issue by getting behind the idea that schools should have the right to refuse to serve as polling places.

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IASB already has a position statement calling on the legislature to do just that and a new resolution puts more meat into the proposal, he said.

"Right now, if an election commission decides to use a school, the school board has no say," Schwarm said.

At a recent district meeting, school board member Mark Rising had doubts that would pass either.

"Here's the sad part about it: The legislators who I've talked to will never agree that elections shouldn't be in schools because the legislators believe it's a public building," Rising said. "It's humorous to me that we're holding onto the day of a Tuesday more so than we are to student safety."

Like school districts across the state, Indian Prairie beefed up security to prevent the public from entering any portion of a school building when children are present until a person's identification is vetted through a criminal database.

It has tried but failed to get the City of Aurora, DuPage County or Will County election commissions to stop using schools as polling places, forcing the hiring of police officers to prevent incursions.

The district expects to spend $10,000 to cover the cost of hiring police from the Aurora, Bolingbrook, Naperville and DuPage sheriffs' departments for 20 of the 33 schools that will house voting for the April 4 consolidated election.

Other districts also debate whether to close schools or hire security details. Election commissions frequently tap schools in Naperville District 203, East Aurora District 131, Oswego District 308, Batavia District 101, Geneva District 304, Elgin U46 and District 300 in Algonquin.

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The revised IASB resolution will be forwarded to the full delegation for a vote at the November IASB conference.

Piehl said she envisions it will take a lot to convince districts not in the same boat of 204's plight. Smaller rural districts tend to see the polling issue as more of local problem than a statewide one, she said, yet they understand the safety aspect.

If approved at the conference, the measure wouldl be included in IASB's position statement and pursued in the spring legislative session.

Piehl said the resolution committee's broad approach is a way to tell legislators what the problem is, instead of giving them a solution..

"We're at a starting point with our conversation," Piehl said. "We'll still have to have one-on-one conversations with our legislators."

Board member Maria Curry liked the approach.

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"Maybe they might decide to make Tuesday a holiday and then all schools are closed, all government offices are closed, etc. And then, hopefully, voters will come out on that holiday in large numbers," Curry said. "We can hope; we can always hope. Keep hope alive."

subaker@tribpub.com

Twitter @SBakerSun1
When Jane Kaboff closed the door of the Northbrook beauty salon she manages Friday morning, a car opened it again.

Kaboff's phone had rung, and she walked through the door and turned left, trailed by her daughter Dana Hurley, 17. She turned her back, and a car driven by a Lincolnshire customer jumped the sidewalk curb and hit the door they had just walked through, smashing it.

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"I was on the phone for about 10 seconds before the car came through," she said. "Myself, or my daughter, we could have been maimed. My hands were shaking when I called 911."

Everything ended well, as no one was hurt, according to Kaboff and Northbrook police. Carmela's Hair Studio had a plywood door bolted onto the frame to replace the smashed one, and was back in business in about 45 minutes, said owner Carmela Defrenza, who had rushed over from her nearby house within minutes.

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The only other damage to the structure were a few brick segments smashed off a corner, when the car otherwise neatly inserted itself between a protruding wall of the building and a tree.

"Poor thing, she was all shaken up," said Defrenza.

The driver, 83, was taken to a hospital for a checkup, but she was back at the store for her weekly blow-dry Saturday afternoon, Defrenza said.

Defrenza said she was not surprised that, despite her noisy entrance of the day before, the customer would have made sure her hair was taken care of promptly.

"Are you kidding? That's the first thing they think about," she said.

She said the lady told her that she "stopped, and that all of a sudden, it just accelerated."

The driver was not ticketed, police spokesman Dan Petka said, because the entire incident took place on private property. He said that responding officers have the option of contacting the Illinois Secretary of State's Office for a retest after an accident involving an elderly driver, but he didn't know if such a request has been made.

One beauty operator had been in the shop when the car hit the door, and she remained there until a tow truck hauled the car away, Kaboff said.

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Northbrook beauty salon owner Carmela Defrenza, left, and manager Jane Kaboff are all smiles in the new "barn door" of Carmela's Hair Studio. (Irv Leavitt / Pioneer Press)

"I don't understand why the stores in this building don't have a separate exit," Defrenza said.

She said all six storefronts in the outlot building have no back doors.

"If the car had caught fire, I don't know how she would have gotten out," Kaboff said. "Well, the Fire Department did get here very quickly."

Tom Poupard, head of the village of Northbrook's Building Department, said that if the car had caught fire, firefighters would certainly have broken out the store's rear windows, though that situation is not ideal.

"I actually asked a similar question after I got back (from inspecting the scene) because the poor lady was stuck in there," Poupard, said.

But he said he quickly refreshed himself on International Building Code basics not everyone is aware of: In a hair salon or a restaurant, if there are 49 or fewer occupants, you only need one way in or one way out.

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"We always recommend more than that" for new buildings," he said.

It's not easy to raise local entry standards and force retrofitting, he said, because some buildings, especially offices in multistory structures, are hard to alter. And if local laws were changed, the outlot building would be "grandfathered" as compliant on code that existed when it was built.

He said years ago, a fire inspector had explained the situation to him bluntly.

"Unfortunately, to put it in macabre terms, if you have 49 or less  the International Building Code deems that to be an acceptable level of loss," Poupard said.

ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @IrvLeavitt
Kindergartner Ariana Sheedy was also celebrating her birthday during the first day of classes at Westmoor School Tuesday morning. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press)

Kindergarten went full time in Northbrook this week.

Elementary School District 28 began extended-day kindergarten Tuesday, becoming the last, and biggest, of the five school districts serving Northbrook to start teaching its younger children all day.

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The district is going big in its move. It's spending more money to get the job done than districts 27 and 30 did, a Northbrook Star analysis showed earlier this year, largely by employing aides in all 1kindergarten rooms, something the district does in its higher grades, too.

The last week before school started, the district had two visits by Colorado consultant Sue Kempton, author of two books on kindergarten, to help the district use the extra time to teach "purposeful play" in the less-rigorous afternoon time, assistant superintendent Kathy Horvath said. Her input also helped drive curriculum choices, Horvath said.

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The district has to walk the same tightrope as other Illinois public school districts offering full-day kindergarten, because parents have to be allowed to opt their kindergarten children out of a full-day at school, and still provide significant educational opportunities to kids who only come in the mornings. About four of every five districts have full-day kindergarten, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of about 175 kindergarten students enrolled for the new term, District 28 spokeswoman Terry Ryan said four students signed up for half day at Greenbriar School, two for half day at Westmoor School, and none at Meadowbrook School. At least some of those parents holding back were doing so because they felt their kids weren't ready to be in school from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Horvath said.

So play becomes learning in afternoons. Children will have the uniforms and gear, for instance, to play at being "community helpers" like medical staffers, down to cardboard X-ray machines, "and be able to learn about what really happens in a doctor's day," Horvath said. "So much learning, not so much sitting."

Last year, kindergarten classes piloted such play-school concepts, including fairy tales, kindergarten teacher Alissa Baque said. The kids assigned themselves a wide variety of roles, and even fashioned scripts for their own tales, she said. Now, there's extra equipment, such as hollow wooden blocks to build castles, thrones and signs, to show the way in other youthful fantasies. They can be used to build barns on the farm and rooms in the hospital.

Reading is part of afternoon play, Horvath said. Regularly, kids will be able to get books of their own choosing to share with others in supervised reading times.

Local school leaders have repeatedly said that socialization skills gained by students in extended-day kindergartens seem long-lasting, but dedicational gains are not significantly different, over the long term, from those who only went to half-day programs. But differences can be apparent, spokeswoman Ryan said, as kids leave kindergarten.

She previously worked at Bensenville Elementary District 2 and Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89, and said both districts had to "adjust up" at the first-grade level to accommodate more skillful kindergartners.

ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com

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Following the Illinois State Board of Educations dropping of the PARCC test, students at Oak Park and River Forest High School will now take SAT tests on April 5, 2017. (Steve Schering / Pioneer Press)

With Illinois dropping the much-debated PARCC test for high schools, officials at Oak Park and River Forest High School intend to prepare their students to take the SAT next year.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test was administered only twice in the state, in the spring of 2015 and 2016. The Illinois State Board of Education dropped the test for high school students on July 11 following dismal test scores and thousands of students skipping the exams.

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According to a memo from OPRF Director of Assessment and Research Amy Hill, the state's move "aligns well" with the direction of the school, and the hours previously devoted to administering the PARCC test will be given back to classroom instruction.

The school's new assessment program will include the PSAT 8/9 test for freshmen, the PSAT 10 for sophomores and the state-mandated SAT for juniors. For the upcoming school year, the tests will be administered on April 5. Makeup testing will be scheduled for April 25.

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Though the school does have two years of PARCC results to review, Hill said she will not be digging through them as thoroughly as she previously might have, as providing a comparative context for the PARCC scores was difficult.

"I have to say the fact that PARCC has been eliminated from the high school agenda does help us to build a more aligned ladder of assessments that will not only help our kids to be better prepared with their college assessments, but also help us redevelop a means of monitoring growth from one year to the next," Hill said.

With the change in testing, board members asked what can be done to prepare students for the new exams, as well as how staff could reach out to those students who may need assistance.

"I've never turned down students who ask for test-prep assistance," Hill said.

For students wishing to explore test preparation opportunities, OPRF will administer the Preliminary SAT, a college board assessment that mirrors the SAT, to all interested sophomores and juniors on Oct. 15. There will be a $20 fee for the optional test, but students receiving free or reduced-priced lunch can take the test at no cost.

Students are encouraged to speak to their counselors if they wish to pursue other pre-testing opportunities.

While the SAT will be required for all juniors, students wishing to also take the ACT can do so on any of the six national test dates that it is offered. OPRF will continue to be an ACT site on those national test dates.

Chicago Tribune reporter Diane Rado contributed to this story.

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sschering@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @steveschering
With students back in school, Park Ridge police and community service officers are returning there as well.

Deputy Police Chief Duane Mellema said officers have increased traffic enforcement around the city's elementary and high schools, looking for parents and other drivers who aren't following basic traffic laws.

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"The thrust of it for the first couple of weeks is to educate people so they are acting appropriately," Mellema said.

The biggest issues at Park Ridge schools involve parking and traffic congestion during morning drop-offs and afternoon pickups, Mellema said. Parking problems include parents leaving their cars in "no parking" areas and double-parking on streets, he said.

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"People need to be patient and allow for a little extra time for drop-offs," Mellema added.

In a Facebook post earlier this month, the Park Ridge Police Department asked drivers to "slow down and drive extra carefully" in areas near schools. Parents were also advised to "follow your school's pickup and drop-off procedures and locations."

jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
Pete Dragojevic Jr. believes in the power of the people, particularly the people on the backs of powerful motorcycles. He recently led a gathering of more than 300 motorcyclists on a 105-mile trek up and down Lake County in an effort to channel that power into a funding boost for police, firefighters and rescue crews in Crown Point, where he is president of Safe House Bar & Grill.

As the participants arrived in Crown Point, they were accompanied by a slew of police vehicles as well as the Lake County sheriff's department helicopter, Eagle 1. They were welcomed also by Boy Scouts groups that lined the street waiving American flags

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Crown Point's non-profit first responder organizations will all benefit from the nearly $12,000 raised recently through Hometown Heroes, the second annual event which recognizes the significant contributions of the city's police, fire, and rescue departments.

Dragojevic credits his older sister, Becky, for giving him the initial idea for the fundraising ride. She lives in Afghanistan and works for the military overseas.

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"Hometown Heroes was dreamed up when Becky called me while in Afghanistan back in June 2015 giving me ideas on fundraisers," he said, adding that he hosts many events for different first responder organizations. That first Hometown Heroes event raised close to $15,000.

"Becky's been overseas for 18 years in the military, living on military bases, so her love for the military is great. And my heart follows the 'thin blue line' in law enforcement, as I grew up around policemen all my life."

"We felt that all first responders needed to come together and work as a huge family, raising money for all of our brothers and sisters," he said. "We had the honor of many police, Marine Corps, firefighters, National Guard, Army, and US Air Force (personnel) help us in this event  for the community to see all the uniforms and to have people unite into one powerful voice. I am very proud to say that Hometown Heroes No. 2 has ensured this event will definitely grow in volume each year."

"When I'm on stage at these events looking at the crowds, or look in my motorcycle's rearview mirror during the bike run and see hundreds of people following behind me, the power of the people is a feeling that is indescribable. It fuels me to work harder for them and give back more," Dragojevic said.

Johnny Milch of Whiting, who is better known as DJ Johnny, helped make the soundtrack of the event more than just roaring engines. He is the owner of Jambulance Productions and provides mobile music and movies at various events. He donated the use of his sound system and provided music before and after this year's motorcycle ride.

"This is my second year helping with this event," he said, "and considering the challenging climate our first responders are facing on a daily basis  especially our police officers  it's more important than ever to show our support and appreciation. I hope that our first responders, active service members, and veterans are reminded that the community is behind what they do  and have done  every day, 100 percent."

Patrolman Darrell Josleyn of the Crown Point Police Department said Hometown Heroes helped him feel that all the sacrifices of his job are worth it.

"Having to do shift work, missing important holidays, birthdays, and other special times, is really rough but we took this job knowing what was in store for us," he said. "Personally, even if I wasn't an officer, I would be at this event supporting our police, fire, and military. That's just the way I was raised. The men and women who do these jobs do so because others aren't willing or necessarily capable, and they deserve our respect for that."

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Josleyn had another important reason to attend the event. His 9-year old-son, Trent, sang "Amazing Grace" during the program, and the words to the song took on a deeper meaning for the family. Patrolman Josleyn is recovering from cancer that was causing pain in his back and hip, and which he originally attributed to the amount of equipment that is carried on his belt.

"Telling Trent was one of the hardest things I ever did," Josleyn said. "His reaction was what we expected but he has wanted to be involved with every part. After all the pain and sickness from treatments, I just want life to be normal and am fighting to reach my goal of that."

Donna Rowland is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
The Environmental Protection Agency has installed signs in the West Calumet Housing Development in East Chicago warning people to not play in the dirt or mulch due to elevated levels of lead in the ground. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune)

A resident of the city's West Calumet Housing Project is suing Mayor Anthony Copeland and the City of East Chicago over exposure to toxic chemicals found in and around her home.

Lashawnda Walker contends she and her four children have been exposed to "extremely high levels of lead and arsenic," according to the lawsuit. Also named in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond this week, are BP, DuPont, and Atlantic Richfield Co.

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Walker, who is seeking unspecified monetary damages, claims she and her children "have suffered past, present and future personal injuries, including (but not necessarily limited to): various health problems, weight loss, shortened life expectancy, miscarriage, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses, medical monitoring expenses, wage loss, brain and developmental injuries, cognitive deficits, lost earning capacity, aggravation and exacerbation of pre-existing conditions and contract damages."

East Chicago Corporation Counsel Carla Morgan said she was not aware of the lawsuit, but that the city was concerned right now with moving people out of West Calumet project.

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"We'll take the litigation as it comes," she said, adding the city has received tort claim on behalf of 12 residents.

In addition, the lawsuit states the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency failed to provide notice to Walker or the general public regarding the agreement or the underlying circumstances that detrimentally affected the property, health and lives of the plaintiffs.

Walker alleges the city and Copeland, acting in his role as mayor, failed to notify her of the contamination and deliberately concealed such facts, including the EPA's proposed a cleanup in July 2012 of the residential area that includes the West Calumet Housing Complex. The suit claims residents were never told about the extremely high levels of lead and arsenic until July 2016.

Efforts to reach Walker were unsuccessful Tuesday. Her attorney, Daniel Zamudio, said he was unable to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon.

During a public hearing in August, East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland said the city received notification of the high lead levels at the complex earlier in the summer. Copeland wrote HUD asking that the agency expedite issuing relocation vouchers to move residents out of the complex.

"Now that we know the levels of lead in the ground in the West Calumet Housing Complex, we feel it is in your best interests to temporarily relocate your household to safer conditions," Copeland wrote in a letter to the complex's residents. "Even though this may be of great inconvenience to you, it's necessary to protect you and your children from possible harm."

As lead levels in the residents' homes have shown to be at least 10 times higher than the acceptable level, Copeland recently ordered the residents to evacuate the property. The U.S. Agency of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agreed to emergency assistance that will enable residents to move.

During testing, the EPA found some parcels where the lead levels were above 5,000 parts per million, the Post-Tribune reported in July, and the standard level is 400 parts per million.

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At the time, the EPA started covering spots of exposed contaminated soil and put up signs advising residents to stay off the grass and take steps to minimize bringing any contaminated material into their homes.

EPA teams at the West Calumet Housing Complex are now in the process of cleaning individual residential units. The teams are washing walls, floors, furniture and some of the residents' belongings, according to the EPA, and cleaning ventilation and air conditioning systems.

The U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana, in 2014, approved a consent decree between the EPA, Department of Justice, state of Indiana, the Atlantic Richfield Co. and E.I. du Pont De Nemours regarding the cleanup of the U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery site. The agreement covered only zones 1 and 3 of the site.

Zone 1, which includes the West Calumet Housing Complex and Carrie Gosch Elementary, runs from McCook Avenue to the Indiana Harbor Canal, with 151st Street on the south and 148th Street on the north. Zone 3 includes the land between East Huish Drive and Parrish Avenue, with Chicago Avenue on the north and 149th Place to the south.

Based on the agreement, the two companies would cover roughly $26 million in cleanup costs, according to the EPA.

The EPA may consider revising the cleanup plan included in that agreement, according to sources close to the situation in East Chicago.

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Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Transpoint Intermodal LLC of Indianapolis plans to build an intermodal site to transfer food and dry goods between trucks and trains at 54 North County Road 400 East, the southeast side of Valparaiso. (James D. Wolf Jr. / Post-Tribune)

Valparaiso may be getting a train and trucking intermodal transfer on the city's southeast side.

Representatives from Transpoint Intermodal LLC, of Indianapolis, brought in plans the Valparaiso Site Review Committee meeting Tuesday to revamp the old BBC Electric, a contractor building at 54 North County Road 400 East.

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Plans showed a two-phase operation that would eventually run 24 hours a day, officials said.

The site is at the C, F & E Railroad tracks that run parallel to U.S. 30, and Transpoint would create two spurs in the first phase so trains could leave the main tracks and unload and load items.

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The second phase would only see two more spurs off the main tracks.

Designer Randy Smith of GAI Consultants said shipments transferred between truck and train mostly will be food from the Midwest for shipping overseas and other dry goods, such as electronics, being shipped here.

After arriving here, much of the shipments would go west by truck, officials said,

There'll be no chemicals or liquids, he told the city officials.

The trains will travel between Porter County and Fort Wayne, where on June 28, Transpoint Intermodal broke ground on a $13.5 million project that'll bring up to 64 new jobs by the end of 2019, according to the City of Fort Wayne website.

The company's representatives Tuesday didn't know how many jobs this would bring to Valparaiso or the pay range.

However, Smith said there'd be three shifts of six workers in Valparaiso when it gets up to 24-hour operations.

He said the site should be operational next year, but it won't be 24 hours at first.

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Smith couldn't say how many trucks would be there, but he said the Indiana Department of Transportation didn't see a need for a traffic signal at County Road 400 East and U.S. 30 based on company projections, just a deceleration lane for turns onto County Road 400.

Attorney Todd Leeth said that the company will need to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals this fall to get variances from ordinances that will allow the intermodal to "store" containers outside for short periods, have higher than allowed light poles and allow fence variations that'd interfere with shipping processes.

The only building work will be revamping the existing building and adding asphalt for trucks and goods.

James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Fox News host Sean Hannity, left, and former New York Ciity Mayor Rudy Giuliani give a thumbs up during the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. (Andrew Gombert / EPA)

"I'm a journalist who interviews people who I disagree with all the time."

-- Sean Hannity, 2008

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"I never claimed to be a journalist."

-- Sean Hannity, 2016

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Not since lawmakers diagnosed Terri Schiavo's condition from the Senate floor has there been such medical quackery in the political realm.

Last week, Newsweek's Kurt Eichenwald reported that a letter attesting to Donald Trump's magnificent health (he "will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency") was not from an internist but from a gastroenterologist. This belly doctor boasted that "Mr. Trump has had a recent complete medical examination that showed only positive results." Like for giardia?

That followed a segment on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News Channel in which the host elicited speculation about Hillary Clinton's neurological health from ... a urologist. The urinary-tract specialist, part of a "Fox News Medical A-Team," speculated for Hannity that a photo of the Democratic presidential nominee being assisted by her Secret Service detail while climbing stairs could indicate dehydration, arthritis, back pain or a fall. (The original photo caption said she merely stumbled and was caught by her agents.)

I'm not a doctor, but my brother is a urologist, and I went to night school for bartending. By current standards, therefore, I am qualified to diagnose Hannity as having professional dissociative identity disorder: He can't decide whether he's a journalist or a Trump operative.

In Monday's New York Times, the prime-time TV news host admitted to media columnist Jim Rutenberg that he has been privately advising Trump. Hannity, who, according to CNN, paid for a private jet last month to fly Newt Gingrich to meet with Trump, told Rutenberg that his unabashed promotion of Trump isn't a problem because he "never claimed to be a journalist." Except that he had. And he plays a journalist on television for an hour each weeknight.

The affliction is common, apparently. Stephen Bannon, the head of Breitbart News, has become the chief executive of Trump's campaign. Fox News founder Roger Ailes, just ousted, is advising the campaign, too.

The overt campaigning for Trump by the likes of Hannity, Ailes and Bannon does no favors for conservatism. And Hannity's collusion with the candidate and his peddling of conspiracy theories in support of Trump undermine the many serious journalists at Fox News.

But the network has been here before. Remember Glenn Beck? "I tell you all the time: I'm not a journalist," the self-proclaimed "rodeo clown" liked to tell his Fox News audience.

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Instead of journalism, Beck gave viewers paranoia  helping to create the fear and loathing in the electorate that gave rise to Trump. Before Fox finally showed him the door in 2011, Beck urged viewers to hoard food in their homes, spun endless conspiracy theories, and played with anti-Semitic stereotypes and violent imagery.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Now Trump has run with Beck's apocalyptic themes  alarming even Beck, who has become a fierce critic of Trump. When Beck said recently that the Trump campaign's then-chairman, Paul Manafort, had been illegally soliciting foreign money, Hannity's Fox News colleague Bill O'Reilly, another Trump booster, cautioned Beck that he could "end up in jail" for disparaging Manafort.

"That's my point," Beck replied, adding: "Donald Trump has people chanting, 'Put them in jail, put them in jail,' about the press. When is someone's opinion on a public figure something that is jail-worthy and not First Amendment protected?"

Such a question might have troubled Hannity during those occasions when he fancied himself a journalist over the years. Instead, he has gone full Grassy Knoll, in a manner reminiscent of Beck. In recent days, he has floated the theories that Clinton's Secret Service agents carried a syringe to administer anti-seizure medicine to her (the "syringe" turned out to be a flashlight) and that a video showing what Hannity claimed were "violent, out-of-control movements" of Clinton's head was evidence of a seizure (she had been joking with reporters).

While we're doing conspiracy theories, here's another: Could the highly unpopular Trump have won the GOP nomination if he hadn't had so much help from Fox News  and, in particular, from Hannity?

A tally in April by the liberal ThinkProgress blog found that Trump appeared on Hannity's show 41 times in the first 10 months of his campaign. Hannity talked up Trump's poll numbers, defended Trump against accusations and asked him questions such as "Is it time for all American politicians to get rid of political correctness?"

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Now that Hannity acknowledges advising Trump, he needs only a title to make his role official. Maybe he could be Trump's personal physician?

Dana Milbank is a columnist for the Washington Post.
As part of its proposed tax increment financing district on Madison Street, the village of River Forest will hold two public meetings Sept. 13 and Oct. 24 for residents to provide comment. (Steve Schering / Pioneer Press)

With the proposed Madison Street tax increment financing district moving ahead, River Forest officials revealed two local school districts have engaged the village in hopes of reaching an intergovernmental agreement prior to the TIF district being established.

Village Administrator Eric Palm said Aug. 22 that the village and River Forest District 90 and Oak Park and River Forest High School began discussing an intergovernmental agreement earlier this month related to the proposed Madison Street TIF district, as well as the proposed North Avenue TIF district.

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If approved, the equalized assessed value of all properties within the proposed TIF district would be "frozen" for the life of the TIF district. Any taxes collected with incremental increases in those property values would be placed into the TIF fund, while all taxing bodies would continue to receive the base EAV of those properties.

Both school districts have asked the village for the agreement to provide surplus declarations to the taxing bodies in later years of both proposed TIF districts. Both the village and school districts would agree that any "payments" made shall be done as surplus declarations back to the Cook County Treasurer beginning in year 12 of the TIF districts. That means all taxing bodies, including the village, would receive their proportionate share of any surplus funds.

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As part of the proposed agreement, the school districts would waive any objections to the establishment of the TIF districts, the TIF districts would be limited to 23 years each and the village would take no action that would allow the transfer of funds between the two TIF districts.

According to Palm, the schools objected to a parts 5b and 5c of the proposal. The portion being questioned states the village would make the surplus payments after operational expenditures attributed to the TIF districts were met and would make the payments after any expenses related to any commitment to a redevelopment agreement, project agreement, acquisition of property, remediation project or public infrastructure project were also met.

"I think [that portion of the agreement] is very important, and if we're moving forward with this TIF and have a successful TIF, we need to have a little more control over our destiny and financial resources," Palm said.

River Forest District 90 Superintendent Ed Condon said the schools did not currently agree with how the agreement was structured, hence the opposition.

"The school district requests that surplus payments be subordinated only to debt service obligations and reserves," Condon said.

After board members gave consensus to keep 5b and 5c in the proposed agreement, Palm said he would bring their stance back to the school districts ahead of next month's joint review board meeting.

"Our cards are on the table," Palm said. "It's important you're aware of this because the school district may or may not vote at the joint review board meeting for the TIF. Part of the give and take here is if [the school districts] don't vote for it, then there wouldn't be an agreement, and we wouldn't make surplus payments."

The joint review board includes representatives from all village taxing bodies, including the village, District 90, OPRF High School, the park district, the township, Triton College and Cook County, Palm said. If a majority of the joint review board does not recommend the establishment of a TIF district, then a super majority of the village board would be needed to establish and adopt the TIF district.

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According to Palm, the village previously entered into an intergovernmental agreement with both school districts when the Lake Street TIF district was created.

Those wishing to speak out on the amended Madison Street TIF district proposal will get their chance at two upcoming public meetings.

River Forest trustees approved the meetings, which includes a 6 p.m. Sept. 13 meeting of the Joint Review Board and a public hearing at 7 p.m. Oct. 24, which is part of the regularly scheduled village board meeting. Both meetings will take place at Village Hall, 400 Park Ave.

Trustees approved both meeting dates by a 5-0 vote Aug. 22. Trustee Roma Colwell-Steinke was absent.

"This is really the vote that will put this in motion in terms of public meetings and public dates," Village President Cathy Adduci said.

sschering@pioneerlocal.com

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Most of Skokie's top administrators are expected to receive raises of about 2.5 percent, which are scheduled for a Skokie Village Board vote in September.

The proposed raises, which already are included in the 2016-17 budget, officials say, reflect a slightly higher increase than last year, when most administrators received 2 percent hikes.

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The raises were introduced on first reading Aug. 15 at the Village Board meeting and are scheduled for a vote Sept. 6, officials said.

Raises in the 2 percent range for Skokie administrators have been typical since the recession began more than seven years ago. Before that, administrators more typically received raises in the 3.75 percent range. The village has viewed these more modest raises as "cost-of-living increases," and in this case, they would be retroactive from May 1 through April 2017, they said.

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Under the new adjustments, Village Manager John Lockerby would receive an annual salary of $193,420, up from $188,700.

Corporation Counsel Michael Lorge's salary would bump up to $192,905 from $188,200. The village would also pay $30,010 to a retirement compensation plan for Lorge.

Deputy Village Clerk Sylvia Luke's salary would be set at $68,644, up from $66,970.

Assistant Corporation Counsels James McCarthy would be paid $123,000, up from $120,000; Barbara Mangler, $104,550, up from $102,000; and Abraham Funk, $63,550, up from $62,000.

Part-time Assistant Corporation Counsel salaries include the following: Melanie Pettway, $35,875, up from $35,000; and Tyler Kobylski, $12,300, up from $12,000.

The Village Board on Sept. 6 will also consider a similarly slight increase in compensation for the mayor, trustees and the village. Lorge said the state constitution stipulates that any change in compensation for elected officers cannot take effect during the same term. That means the new compensation would kick in after next year's election on April 4, Lorge said.

Under the proposed compensation, the mayor would make $35,000 from fiscal year 2018 to 2021. Compensation for the mayor was last adjusted in 2012, Lorge said.

Compensation for the six trustees would be set at $9,500 from fiscal year 2018 to 2021. The last time compensation was adjusted was 2013, Lorge said.

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Compensation for the village clerk would be set at $87,000 over the same time span. The last time an adjustment was wade for the clerk's pay was 2013, Lorge said.

Like the administrator raises, the proposed compensation for elected leaders was introduced on first reading Aug. 15 at a Village Board meeting and is scheduled for a final vote Sept. 6.

The proposed ordinance states that the compensation amounts for elected officials would become effective the first day after they take their oath of office "however in no event shall it be before May 1, 2017."

misaacs@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @SKReview_Mike
September will mark Lisa Hanley's fifth year walking in the Les Turner ALS Foundation Walk for Life fundraiser and the third since her husband, Pat Hanley, passed away from the disease.

The annual event is a reminder of what Hanley has lost because of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. On the other hand, she said "it is also a reminder of how people can come together for a really good cause."

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This year's walk will take place Sept. 18 at Soldier Field and will follow a 2-mile route along Chicago's lakefront. More than 7,000 people are expected to participate, and the fundraiser is considered one of the largest ALS gatherings nationwide, according to a press release from the Skokie-based Les Turner ALS Foundation  an organization that funds research, clinical care and support services for people with ALS in the Chicago region.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a neuromuscular disease of the nervous system that weakens muscles and, over time, prevents a person form walking, speaking, eating and eventually breathing, though their cognitive abilities generally remain intact.

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The ALS Walk For Life has generated $11 million toward research, patient care and education about the disease over the course of 14 years.

Hanley is the captain of the fundraising team dubbed "Pat's Warriors," named after her late husband. She said the team has raised more than $50,000 since she began participating in the event in 2012.

Pat Hanley, who worked for a decade as corporation counsel for the village of Skokie, was diagnosed with ALS in March 2012 and died in November 2013 at age 58. Hanley said she and her husband were introduced to the Les Turner Foundation following his diagnosis. It was a scary and uncertain time for the couple, but Hanley said the foundation provided them with a thorough understanding of the disease, support and a community familiar with what they were going through.

Like the ALS ice bucket challenge  a viral internet campaign that raised millions for the ALS Association  the Walk For Life event is both a means to generate funds with the hope of eradicating the disease and also a tool to bring awareness to the plight of those affected, Hanley said.

"I do think awareness is a huge part of being able to find a cure," she said.

The Pat's Warriors team numbered roughly 70 people during their first year participating in the event, Hanley said. In recent years, that number has dropped to about 35, but friends and family who may not make it out to the event have still generously donated to the cause, she said.

Andrea Pauls Backman, executive director for the Les Turner Foundation, described Hanley as a "true friend" to the organization, in an emailed statement.

"She knows the joy of paying it forward to others who are diagnosed with ALS every day, and, for that, we are truly grateful," Backman wrote.

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Years after her husband's passing, Hanley said the organization is something she will be a part of and advocate on behalf of for the rest of her life. She said she will continue to fundraise and build awareness for the disease until a cure is found.

To learn more about the ALS Walk for Life event and to register to participate, visit: www.ALSwalkforlife.org.

Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.
Christina Berdela stands Aug. 19 in the Carlton Washburne School classroom she wants to make welcoming for her seventh and eighth grade special education students. Berdela is among many teachers new to Wilmette and Winnetka schools this year, all of whom are welcomed by their respective school districts with special academic and social programs. (Kathy Routliffe / Pioneer Press)

In Wilmette and Winnetka schools this month, some teachers were, like many students who would walk into class by August's end, preparing for their first year in Wilmette Public Schools District 39 and Winnetka Public Schools District 36.

At Carlton Washburne School in Winnetka last week, Christina Berdela planned how to make her classroom cheerful for her seventh and eighth grade special education students. At nearby Crow Island School, Karyn Keenan did the same in her third grade classroom; soon, she said, she would sit down and reread the book she takes out before every school year, "The First Six Weeks of School," by Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete. Their District 36 colleague Kate Rosinski also was acclimating to the district and almost living, she said, in her new third grade Hubbard Woods School classroom as she made it comfortable with lamps and little paper lanterns.

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Just down the road in Wilmette, Val Moroz and Katie Neumann were getting to know each other on Monday; they were to be seventh grade team instructors at Wilmette Junior High School, teaching science, mathematics and social studies, and both were learning their way around the school.

Across a field at Highcrest Middle School, science teacher Anne Bishop remembered her own days as a Highcrest student and pondered how best to make her sixth grade science and social studies room feel like a classroom and a laboratory. Her fifth grade math and science colleague Kim Albrecht, another one-time District 39 graduate, had finished a seating chart for her students, using information from their previous teachers.

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The Winnetka teachers were among about 15 freshman educators in the roughly 214-strong District 36 teaching ranks, district officials said. The Wilmette foursome were part of District 39's 37 new certified employees  teachers and coordinators, education specialists, psychologists and social workers  who this year joined a certified staff of 337, according to District 39 communications director Holly Goldin.

Welcoming new teachers is as much an annual event as welcoming new kindergartners or transfer students, Wilmette and Winnetka administrators say. It involves making them comfortable in the district professionally and socially, and familiarizing them with the academic and community cultures in which they will work.

"Winnetka has a long history of supporting teachers," said Daniel Ryan, assistant superintendent for professional learning and human resources at District 36. "We give all of our new teachers a chance to get to know the community. From our perspective, you're not just teaching children in a classroom, you're part of that community."

Giving all that information to teaching freshman  whether they are newly minted like Moroz, who just graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, or experienced ones that are simply new to the district, like Berdela, who came to Winnetka after several years teaching middle school in Maryland  requires intense information dumps in only a few days before school officially opens.

"We jokingly say that at some point (new teachers) might say, 'Oh my goodness, there are too many people trying to help me,'" said Katie Lee, District 39's interim curriculum and instruction administrator.

Both districts annually set aside several days for their introductory efforts. Those took place the week of Aug. 15 in Wilmette and this week in Winnetka.

In Winnetka, that includes everything from a trolley tour of the village and a parent panel that talks to teachers about parental needs and expectations, to the beginnings of what Ryan called a robust two-year mentoring program for the newcomers.

"We spend a half day in each of the five different schools to acclimate them to the schools," he said. "We have play-based activities we use as ways of letting teachers get to know each other, then targeted workshops for things like learning the mission of the district and technology training."

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District 39 freshman teachers also get a grounding in what Lee called the collaborative and supportive district personality, as they take part in three days of activities. Lee said the first is a welcome at their home schools and introductions to administrators, the second a curriculum overview and presentations tailored as much as possible to their grade levels or subject matters.

"Our goal that day is to give them a kind of broad picture of what we expect of them as a teacher, or in their specialist roles," Lee said.

On the final day, new teachers learn about district safety policies and meet with a representative of the village police department. In general, they meet curriculum and grade level advisers that they'll work with in the coming year, and also have the option of taking part in a more personalized mentoring program, Lee said.

By next June, all seven of the Winnetka and Wilmette teachers getting to know their respective schools and districts would have a year's experience under the belt. Until then, however, they had hopes, wishes, and gratitude for the welcome programs they'd gone through.

"I went into (the district orientation program) very nervous, because I thought I'd come out of it with more questions than when I went in," Moroz said. "Sometimes these things are like that. But I actually came out with most of my questions answered."

"I'm new to Washburne, and my students are primarily going to be new to Washburne," Berdela said, "so we'll be making traditions together."

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China has become the second largest investor to Kyrgyzstan after Russia based on figures from 2015, Kyrgyz Deputy Minister of Economy Almaz Sazbakov told a press conference on Monday.

Kyrgyzstan, a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), continues to expand its cooperation with China, Sazbakov said.

"In future, we expect investment from China tops 500 million U.S. dollars," he said.

Kyrgyzstan held talks with China on trade and economic cooperation, gained access to the market and drew investment from China, according to Sazbakov.

"It is very important for us because China has traditionally been one of our major investment partners," Sazbakov said.

Kyrgyzstan joined the EEU in 2015, which consists five countries -- Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
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Tourists stretch to walk on a 69-meter-long glass pathway built along the face of a cliff in Shaohuashan national forest park in Weinan city, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, July 28, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Despite a slowing economy, more Chinese tourists traveled last year, according to a report released by the China Tourism Academy on Monday .

Urban residents made 2.48 billion trips in the country in 2015, while those living in rural areas made 1.13 billion trips.

The largest numbers of tourists came from the five provincial-level regions of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Tourist incomes were highest in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Sichuan, with combined per capita income exceeded 400 billion yuan (around US$60 billion).

Eastern provinces raked in the biggest tourism revenue last year, accounting for 46.35 percent of the country's total. The northeastern region performed worst, receiving just 6.83 percent of total tourist revenue.
Wild speculation that 100,000 transplants were performed per year using organs from executed prisoners is an insult to the intelligence of transplant professionals and to the sacrifice of the donors and their families in China, a Chinese expert said on Monday.

Speaking at a plenary session of the 26th International Congress of the Transplantation Society, Huang Jiefu, director of China's National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and former vice minister in the Chinese Ministry of Health, said the country performed 10,057 organ transplants last year, around 8.38 percent of the global total.

The number matches China's use of immunosuppressive agents, a must-have drug for patients after their transplant surgeries. China accounted for some 8 percent of the global immunosuppressant market, he said.

Introducing China's decade-long organ donation reform to the audience, Huang said the transition of organ source from death-row inmates to the voluntary community-based organ donation has been realized and an ethical preliminary national organ donation and transplantation system established, adding the country's progress has been recognized by the international society.

In 2015, 2,766 cases of organ donation after the death of citizens were recorded, more than the total number in year 2013 and 2014 combined. In the first seven months of 2016, 2,152 cases were recorded, 49.2 percent up from the same period last year, with predictions for the whole year at about 4,000.

Huang reiterated that starting from Jan. 1, 2015, death penalty prisoner's organs are not allowed to be used under any circumstances, and community-based Chinese citizen organ donation has become the only legitimate source of transplantable organs in China.

Since 2007, China has cracked down on 32 unlawful intermediaries, arrested 158 criminal suspects, investigated 17 medical institutions with 44 medical staff involved and their medical licenses revoked, and 13 black-market dens have been eradicated, he said, calling on the international audience to report any illegal activity, in a show of resolve from the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, he admitted that the achievement of China's transplant reform is only preliminary, and is only the first step of a long journey, with formidable tasks ahead.

However, political commitment of China's leadership, public support and dedication of the medical staff, as well as traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, are sources of confidence for promoters of the reform, he said.

Statistics show that China now has the most organ donations per year in Asia and the third highest number globally. In addition, it is performing the second highest number of organ transplants in the world per year after the United States.

The Transplantation Society is a non-governmental organization which serves as an international forum for the world-wide advancement of organ transplantation, with over 6,700 members composed of professionals with an active interest in basic science, clinical research and/or improving clinical practice in the field of transplantation.

A biennial congress of the TTS is held every two years grouping together over 5,000 participants. This year's congress is held in Hong Kong from Aug. 18 to 23, the first time the congress is held in China.
Premier Li Keqiang vowed on Monday to further improve infrastructure such as highways and internet connections in impoverished regions of southern Jiangxi province, where the Long March started nearly 82 years ago.

Premier Li Keqiang goes to a villager's house during a visit to Ruijin city in East China's Jiangxi province, Aug 22, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The premier said the government will invest more in highways, power grids and irrigation facilities for the region, during a visit to the Aobeigang Production Base for navel oranges in the city of Ruijin in Ganzhou, Jiangxi.

The Communist Party of China established its first national government in Ruijin in 1931 and started the Long March in 1934 to establish new revolutionary bases in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Li's visit to the city follows the State Council's development plan for the region, released in 2012, which aimed to cultivate industries suitable for local conditions and improve rural infrastructure and farmers' living conditions by 2015.

Ganzhou produces 1.28 million metric tons of navel oranges each year, China's largest yield of the crop and accounting for 13.4 percent of the global production. Local official Chen Baofu said the production base was opened in 1994 and now covers over 1,000 hectares that have helped lift about 3,300 locals from poverty.

Li was pleased to hear that each hectare of these oranges can produce 120,000 yuan in income ($18,000) per year. Farmer Deng Zhuping earns more than 120,000 yuan net income annually with oranges from 1.2 hectares of rented land.

"The price of navel oranges has increased by more than 10 percent over the past few years," Deng said.

Some farmers said they have started to sell the fruit online, and the premier said more investments will be made to install faster internet connections in villages to support the farmers' commerce.

"I hope the internet will help you (farmers) sell oranges, and you should adopt delicacy management processes to produce high-quality goods that lead market demand and in turn create more profits," Li said.

The plan also encompasses providing safe drinking water, new houses, new schools and upgraded power grids in rural areas.

Li visited the village of Huawu, where 102 families moved into new homes built next to their shabby old houses with subsidies from the central government in 2014. Now farmers rent rooms to visiting tourists in their new homes.

"The area's economy lags behind that of the neighboring provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, due to disadvantages in transportation, talent and way of thinking. But it has great growth potential if the infrastructure improves," said Li Minghui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
For many military veterans in China, one of the difficult things about retiring from the service is bidding farewell to their uniform. But personnel serving in Jiangsu province are being welcomed to another job that requires a uniform - the police.

Starting this month, officers at the rank of colonel or lower who serve in units of the People's Liberation Army in Jiangsu can directly contact the public security bureau in Nanjing, the provincial capital, for a job, rather than submitting an application and taking tests as their predecessors did, according to China National Defense, a PLA newspaper.

More than 300 officers took part in a meeting organized by the Nanjing police earlier this month, and 100 of them decided to take advantage of the offer, the newspaper said, noting that the officers should thank the provincial military command and city government for the easy transition.

The report quoted military authorities in charge of retirement affairs as saying that police departments prefer military retirees when they select workers because veterans are usually capable and reliable.

Currently, PLA officers have two options when they retire: receive a one-time retirement payment and then find a job on their own, or take up whatever job the government assigns.

"In the past, most retirees would choose to take up jobs offered by the government, usually in government departments, publicly funded organizations or State-owned enterprises. But now, more officers prefer to select their own job," a personnel management expert of the PLA, who asked not to be named, told China Daily.

"Law enforcement is a major receiver of PLA retirees because it believes a veteran's expertise and capability can make a good police officer," he said.

As a major part of the ongoing military reform, which was launched in November and is overseen by President Xi Jinping, the PLA aims to cut the number of troops by 300,000, with noncombatant agencies and personnel the primary target. The cuts started this year and will be completed around 2020, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

Jiangsu's public security department expects 62 percent more PLA retirees this year than it received last year, officials said.

In addition, Shaanxi and Guangdong provinces will also see a sharp increase in the number veterans hired, according to earlier reports.

In June, Xi asked the government and the PLA to make sure that retirees are taken good care of when they seek new jobs.
A college which fired a teacher after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer has reversed its decision ... but the change of heart came too late for Liu Lingli. The 32-year-old died on August 14.

Liu Lingli.

Liu asked for sick leave in July 2014, according to China Youth Daily, but she was subsequently sacked due to absenteeism. The English teacher at Lanzhou Jiaotong Universitys Bowen College in Lanzhou, capital of northwest Chinas Gansu Province, took the matter to court and the decision to fire her was declared invalid. However, the newspaper reported, the ruling wasnt implemented.

Lius mother said the college stopped paying Liu and her medical insurance in September 2014. Due to the high cost of treatment, Liu only went to hospital when extremely ill, which to some extent worsened her condition, she said.

Her death put the college at the center of a media storm and pushed it to respond, the newspaper said.

On Saturday, the college suspended Jiang Xueyun, its personnel director, for errors when dealing with Lius case.

Yesterday, it revoked the decision to fire her, thepaper.cn reported.

The news website said the college had agreed to pay 57,600 yuan (US$8,660) for lost salary plus 14,400 yuan as compensation for her unfair dismissal.
China's first lady Peng Liyuan sent a message to giant panda cub Bei Bei in Washington National Zoo to wish him a healthy and happy childhood on his first birthday.

She added: "I would also like to say a big thank you to the staff of the National Zoo for taking good care of Bei Bei and to all American friends who love and cherish pandas.""As Bei Bei's first birthday draws near, I am sending greetings from China, the home country of pandas half a world away," Peng said in a statement. "The giant panda is China's national treasure. Bei Bei's birth is the fruit of collaboration between China and the United States and a strong symbol of our friendship."

Peng recalled her visit to the zoo last September with US first lady Michelle Obama where they jointly named Bei Bei, which means "precious treasure" in Chinese.

Peng was in town accompanying her husband, President Xi Jinping, who was making his first state visit to the US.

"Time flies! Now, Bei Bei is 1 year old. From the other side of the Pacific, together with all Chinese who love Bei Bei, I wish him a healthy and happy childhood," she said in her message.

Michelle Obama also celebrated Bei Bei's birthday.

"Today we celebrate the

@NationalZoo's 'precious treasure' as he turns 1 year old. Happy birthday, Bei Bei!" Michelle tweeted.

For the cub's first birthday, officials from the zoo and the Chinese Embassy in the US threw a big Zhuazhou party on Saturday.

Zhuazhou is a traditional ceremony in China for families and relatives to observe a 1-year-old baby's choice from a number of symbolic objects so as to foretell something about the baby's future.

On Saturday, three posters with painted symbols  peaches for long life, bamboo for a green habitat and a Chinese red knot for good luck and friendship  were hung on bamboo branches in Bei Bei's yard. With the help of mother Mei Xiang and amid hearty laughter from hundreds of visitors, Bei Bei picked "good luck and friendship" as his first choice.

"He is so cute and funny. Everybody loves pandas. They are the best animals in the zoo," said Courtney Smith, a zoo volunteer for the past 10 years.
In 2005, Li Tiejun, a father in the southwestern city of Luzhou, made headlines across China when he challenged the public education system. He had his daughter, Li Jingci, then 9 years old, drop out of primary school since, according to Li Tiejun, "the kid can't learn anything there," Chengdu Business News reported on Aug. 22.

In the past 11 years, Li Tiejun has taught his daughter Li Jingci everything from painting, music and literature to astronomy and medicine. [Photo: Chengdu Business News]

Later the same year, Li Jingci's mother sued Li Tiejun for depriving their daughter of her right to receive nine years of compulsory education, as demanded by Chinese law. The high-profile case ruled against Li, and ordered him to send his daughter back to school within five days.

I'd rather be sent to jail than hand my daughter back to that school," Li Tiejun was quoted as saying after the ruling was delivered. He never obeyed the court's demand, continuing instead to teach his daughter himself. In 2007, he claimed that by 2014, when his daughter turned 18, she would be an expert in the field of biomagnetism.

On Aug. 17, a reporter from Chengdu Business News visited Li and his daughter in their home. Li Tiejun, now 74, never married the girl's mother. After retiring from his construction job, Li has stayed single, living with his daughter.

According to Li, in the past 11 years, he has taught Li Jingci everything from painting, music and literature to astronomy and medicine. To demonstrate the efficacy of his education, Li instructed his daughter to make a pencil sketch of Alexander the Great. With Li pointing out various faults as she worked, the girl kept erasing and correcting lines. One hour later, she still wasn't done with the outline.

The two later played a traditional Chinese piece of music, "Moon Reflected on the Er-quan Spring" (Er Quan Ying Yue), with Li Tiejun playing the erhu, a stringed instrument, and Li Jingci playing the electronic keyboard. Their cooperation was generally smooth, excepting two sections for which they forget the sheet music. Li said they have practiced dozens of traditional Chinese melodies.

Eager to show off his daughter's knowledge of Chinese classic literature, Li Tiejun demanded that Li Jingci tell the reporter the names of the four ugliest woman in Chinese history. As she recited the answer, Lis face registered great satisfaction.

Li Jingci nevertheless admitted that, although she has never tried, she believes she would definitely fail a number of basic high school tests. She says she is terrible at math, physics, chemistry and English, all essential courses in public school. Her father, Li Jingci explained, believes such courses to be "useless."

"The school teaches nothing but flattery," Li Tiejun told the reporter. And his daughter does indeed have some faith in his doctrine.

"I'm fine. Many college graduates also can't find jobs, she pointed out.

Neighbors said that as the girl's peers entered university and started to get married, she just stayed at home with her dad. Her mother came back once, several years ago, and made an attempt to take Li Jingci away from her father. But she refused.

"I learned the most important principle of living in this world from my dad," she said. Here, her father cut in: That is, to have no principle at all," said Li Tiejun.

The two now live on Li's retirement pension, 3,000 yuan each month. Li doesn't worry about his daughter's future after he is gone.

"It's easy to make a living--just do anything. She can clean people's shoes," he offers. For his part, Li Tiejun said he will continue teaching and researching with his daughter.

"But I wanted to get married before I turn 25," his daughter interjected.

"Well, scientists usually stay single for a long time," Li mused.
The main entrance of the Desert Cave Hotel (People's Daily Online/ Chuyi Sheng)

Due to the extreme weather in the town of Coober Pedy, located in southern Australia, most locals choose to live underground. Construction on Desert Cave Hotel began in 1984. The hotel finally opened in 1988, delayed by various factors including high temperatures and dust storms.

Visitors have their choice of whether to stay underground or above ground. Underground rooms, which feature high ceilings, offer guests an especially cool, quiet, dry and dark environment, which ensures that guests sleep very well.

The hotel won the South Australian and National Tourism Award for Tourism Development in 1989, and the South Australian Tourism Award in the category of national standard accommodations in 1990 and 1991.

Robert Coro, the managing director of the hotel, says many tourists are attracted by the idea of living underground. They like to visit the underground rooms, and the majority choose to try staying underground themselves. Peak season, which is April to October, is winter in Australia. However, Coro said that most Chinese tourists come during the Australian summer. (People's Daily Online / Qian Guo)
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Russia has withdrawn its military aircraft from Iran's Hamadan air base for strikes in Syria, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed on Monday.

"Currently, all aircraft of the Airspace Force involved in the operation are on the territory of the Russian Federation," Konashenkov said in a statement.

Further use of the base by Russian warplanes will be done in accordance with bilateral agreements with Iran and depend on the situation in Syria, he added.

Earlier in the day, the Iranian government said Russia has stopped using the base for military operation in Syria.

Beginning on Aug. 16, Russian bombers took off from the Hamadan base in western Iran for three consecutive days to strike terrorist targets in Syria.
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Ghana President John Dramani Mahama has remitted the remaining prison sentence imposed on three media men by the Supreme Court last month.

A statement attributed to the Minister for Communications, Edward Omane Boamah, said here on Monday said that the decision was taken in consultation with the Council of State (Highest constitutional advisory body to the president) and in exercise of his constitutional powers.

The three, Salifu Maase, Alistair Nelson and Ako Gunn who were sentenced to four-month imprisonment by the Supreme Court, and a fined 10,000 Ghana Cedis (2,527 U.S Dollars) each for contempt of court.

The three had on their radio program threatened Supreme Court Justices sitting on the petition seeking an order to expunge names of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Card voter registrants from the voters'roll with death.

The Supreme Court had ruled earlier that it was unconstitutional to register people using the NHIS cards as proof of their citizenship.

The jailing of the three resulted in heated debates across the country. Leading members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) signed a petition urging the president to grant the three a pardon.

The statement said the remission takes effect from Friday after serving one month out of the four months imposed by the court.

"The decision of the President to remit their sentences on compassionate grounds follows a petition submitted to him by the contemnors appealing to the President to exercise his prerogative of mercy," said the statement.

"President Mahama takes this opportunity to remind all Ghanaians of the need to respect the institutions of State and exercise freedom of speech responsibly mindful of the need to preserve peace and national unity,"it added.
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The Israeli Air Force struck a Syrian army post following errant mortar fire from Syria into the Israeli-held Golan Heights, the Israeli army said on Monday.

"Earlier today fire from Syria hit an open area near the security fence in the central Golan Heights," a statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) read on Monday. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli army said that the Israeli Air Force in response "targeted a launcher of the Syrian Army" in the central Syrian Golan Heights, stating that Israel holds the Syrian regime responsible for such incidents.

An Israeli military source told Xinhua that the IDF believes the mortar that hit the Israeli-held Golan Heights was a result of the fighting between Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces and the rebels in southern Syria.

Israel had occupied the southern Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.

On July 25, the Israeli Air Force struck Syria after a Syrian mortar landed in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, also blaming the Syrian government for "all fire from Syria."

Errant fire from the fighting in Syria has occasionally spilled over to Israel in the past five years of the Syrian Civil War, usually not causing any damages or injuries.

Israeli officials had repeatedly stated in recent years the country would not intervene with the internal fighting in Syria. It did, however, deliver medical treatment to thousands of wounded Syrians who reached the Israeli-Syrian border.

Israel has also been responsible for several airstrikes in Syria in the past several years, allegedly targeting convoys carrying weapons from Iran and Syria to the Lebanese Hezbollah militant organization, a staunch enemy of Israel.

The country remained silent on these attacks, reported by international media outlets, until three months ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel carried out "dozens" of strikes across the Israeli-Syrian border.
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The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has uncovered nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed documents to or from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton when she served as secretary of state, a federal judge was told at a hearing on Monday.

U.S. Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton (L) and her husband former U.S. President Bill Clinton take the stage at the end of the 2016 U.S. Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the United States on July 28, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Lawyers for the State Department suggested to begin the release of the emails weekly on Oct. 14 in a civil public records lawsuit before U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington.

However, Boasberg rejected the proposal, ordering the State Department to prioritize Clinton's emails and to return to court on Sept. 22 with a new plan.

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, which filed the lawsuit in May 2015 after disclosures that Clinton had exclusively used a personal email server based at her home when she worked with the State Department, welcomed the judge's decision.

"We're pleased the court accelerated the State Department's timing," said Fitton, accusing the State Department of having slow-walked and stonewalled the release of these records.

"They've had many of them since July 25 ... and not one record has yet been released, and we don't understand why that's the case," he said.

The Judicial Watch has been seeking all emails sent or received by Clinton at the State Department in a request made under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner argued that tens of thousands of emails to or from Clinton would have to be "carefully appraised at State" to separate official records from personal ones before handing over.

"State has not yet had the opportunity to complete a review of the documents to determine whether they are agency records or if they are duplicative of documents State has already produced through the Freedom of Information Act," Toner said in a written statement.

The amount of the newly uncovered documents is almost half of the roughly 30,000 work-related documents that Clinton's lawyers turned over to the State Department in 2014.

The State Department previously agreed voluntarily to hand over emails to or from Clinton in her official capacity as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.

After a yearlong probe, the Justice Department closed a criminal probe in July with no charges into the handling of classified material in Clinton's email setup, which FBI Director James B. Comey reproached "extremely careless."
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Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez met with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Havana on Monday with both nations vowing to strengthen economic cooperation and consolidate political ties after years of isolation from Western powers.

Rodriguez received Zarif at Cuba's Foreign Ministry for a discussion about bilateral cooperation and other international issues, particularly the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement summit which will be held in September in Venezuela.

"Iran and Cuba have always maintained unity and bilateral cooperation to reject pressure from Western powers and their intentions to break our relationship apart," said Zarif at the bilateral talks.

The Iranian diplomat is accompanied by a delegation of more than 60 state and private entrepreneurs seeking to boost economic ties between Tehran and Havana.

"Relations between our countries can consolidate and expand in various fields such as industry, nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy and other areas of common interest," said the Iranian minister.

Zarif also expressed Tehran's solidarity against Washington's economic blockade against the island, which remains in place despite a new scenario in Cuba-U.S. relations.

"Our political relations are solid and we always support each other against sanctions and atrocities taken by Western powers against our countries," added Zarif.

Zarif was also quoted as saying by Iran's state-owned Press TV that "the Iranian nation proved that sanctions imposed by big powers cannot drive it away from its policies and viewpoints."

Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, welcomed Zarif and agreed with his counterpart to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation.

"We can enhance our ties in areas like biotechnology, culture, education, industries, energy and other economic fields that are vital for our countries to develop and contribute to a closer relationship between us," said the Cuban minister.

Rodriguez said Havana is "content" with Iran's foreign policy achievements, particularly the nuclear deal reached with P5+1 last year that lifted unilateral economic sanctions against Tehran.

"Cuba supports Iran and its legitimate right to develop nuclear energy with peaceful means. We will continue to reject any sanctions against your country," added the Cuban diplomat.

Last month, both nations agreed to create a joint economic committee to deepen economic cooperation as well as exchanges between Cuban doctors and other advisors.

Havana is the first leg of a six-nation Latin American tour for the Iranian foreign minister who seeks to strengthen Tehran's economic cooperation with the region.
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Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey shelled Islamic States (IS) targets in Syria's Jarablous and the PKK's Syrian wing in northern Manbij late Monday, a Turkish official told Turkish Daily Sabah.

An official said that Turkey is taking military precautions regarding the developments in Jarablous and that the prime target was IS itself, not PYD, adding said that the presence of IS or the Syrian wing of the PKK in the Syrian town on the Turkish border was "unacceptable."

The official also said that the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition forces were informed about the Turkish strike on PYD targets in Manbij.

The Turkish military launched artillery strikes on IS and PYD positions in north Syria, hitting the targets about 20 times "to open a corridor for an operation".

Ankara has frequently voiced its concern over People's Protection Units(YPG) activity, the armed wing of the PYD, along the Turkish border and has been rigid in its stance to not allow the PYD militant group to found any de facto Kurdish state in northern Syria.

Turkey claims the PYD enjoys close connections with the PKK, including militant and ammunition support through underground tunnels.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Cavusoglu has said in a press conference in Ankara with the earlier on Monday IS militants must be totally pushed from the Syrian border region, as reports suggest that Syrian rebels are preparing to launch an attack to seize a town from the jihadists on the border with Turkey.

"Our border must be completely cleansed of IS," Cavusoglu said on Aug. 22, speaking within hours of suicide bomb attack killed at least 54 people and wounded nearly 70 others at a Kurdish wedding party in the southeastern border province of Gaziantep.

Turkish PM Binali Yildirim stated on Monday that Ankara clearly focused on the unity of Syria and protection of its territorial integrity while not allowing a new structuring that would provide advantage for any ethnic group.

The PM Also said turning a new page in Syria was vital as well as the formation of a government representing all Syrians.
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U.S. former Secretary of State Colin Powell over the weekend pushed back on reports indicating that he advised Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to use a private email account while serving as the top diplomat of the country.

"Her people have been trying to pin it on me," said Powell in an interview with People magazine on Saturday. "The truth is, she was using (the private email server) for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did."

In the article published Sunday night, the People magazine reported that when asked why he thought Clinton had cited him in her defense of using the private email account, Powell, who served as the top U.S. diplomat under Republican President George W. Bush, responded, "Why do you think?"

Powell's remark came days after the New York Times reported that Clinton told federal investigators that Powell told her to use personal email at a dinner gathering during her three-and-half hour interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents last month.

However, according to NBC News, Powell's office responded to Clinton's claim by remarking that "General Powell has no recollection of the dinner conversation."

However, Powell did write Clinton an email memo "describing his use of his personal AOL email account for unclassified messages and how it vastly improved communications within the State Department," according to a statement by Powell's office.
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The first study of its kind reveals the temperature of the earth dropped during last year's eclipse of the sun, Britain's official weather agency, the Met Office, revealed Monday.

The Met Office said it was the first time that satellites had been used to monitor surface "skin" temperatures during a total solar eclipse.

The research showed the eclipse on March 20, 2015 resulted in a drop in land surface temperatures in parts of Britain and Europe. The satellite results were combined with a study of one-minute observations of near-surface air temperature from meteorological stations across Britain, allowing scientists to build a picture of the factors that influence how the surface temperature changes during a solar eclipse.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "The results from the satellite analysis show that the amount of sun obscured by the moon, the eclipse duration and the timing, all influence the temperature drop during the event."

"The largest temperature drops occurred where the sun was most obscured, the eclipse was longer, or the timing was earlier in the day," he added.

Two scientific papers, written by Met Office scientists Dr. Elizabeth Good and Matt Clark, are to be published in a special solar eclipse edition of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions.

Good, from the Climate Monitoring and Attribution Team, said; "Local factors, such as vegetation cover, land use and cloud cover has resulted in previous studies struggling to find links between temperature and the obscuration of the sun. However the use of satellite data from across a large area has allowed for this to be investigated using observed data for the first time."

The March 2015 eclipse was total across the North Atlantic, the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, and partial in Europe, Iceland, parts of North Africa and northern Asia. For most of Europe, the eclipse was a morning event.
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At least one person was killed and nine others were injured in the Pakistani port city of Karachi after activists attacked office of a TV channel, police said.

A police officer Qamar Asif said nearly 2000 activists of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement or MQM stormed the office of private ARY TV channel and nearby shops. The MQM complained that the TV channel is not giving proper coverage to its anti-gov't hunger strike.

TV footage showed the MQM angry workers entering the ARY office and destroying equipment and furniture in its office in central Karachi. The ARY Chief Executive Salman Iqbal said that the MQM workers fired inside its office located in Medina Shopping Mall.

Police said the MQM workers flared up after the party leader Altaf Hussain spoke to workers by the phone from London. Hussain lives in self-imposed exile in Britain.

The MQM is observing hunger strike against the arrest of its workers.

Another TV channels Samaa and Neo also said its office came under attack.

Firing was also reported in parts of the city and Semi Jamal, spokesperson of the city's Jinnah Hospital, confirmed that a bullet-riddled body of a man was brought to the hospital. Two policemen were among the injured.

Police said that several persons were arrested in connection with the firing that was widely condemned.

Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, visited office of the ARY. Head of the paramilitary forces also went to the ARY office and assured its workers that the culprits will not be spared.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the attack on ARY, SAMAA and NEO offices in Karachi.

It is an attack on freedom of Press and expression, the Prime Minister said in a statement.

The Prime Minister directed the concerned authorities at the Federal and Provincial levels to bring the culprits to task on immediate basis.

The Prime Minister while directing the relevant authorities to ensure the safety and security of the civilians in general and journalists fraternity in particular also sought report on the incident from concerned quarters.
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Somalia's security forces on Monday arrested seven suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Beledweyne town in central Somalia's Hiiraan region.

"The police conducted an operation throughout the town of Beledweyne this morning, and arrested seven suspects during the operation. We will do more investigation towards these men," Beledweyne Police Commissioner Ali Dhuh Abdi told reporters.

The Somali army, together with AU forces, is battling the Al-Shabaab Islamist group, which stages periodic attacks in the country.
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At least 40 militants were killed and 21 others injured in the ongoing military operation in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Khyber agency, over the last one week, an army statement said Monday.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the mouthpiece of Pakistani army said in the statement that 43 militants' hideouts were also destroyed in the armed offensive in the treacherous terrain of Rajgal area of Khyber Agency, a semi-autonomous tribal area along Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Forces have been carrying out aerial and ground operations in the Rajgal area since August 16 to reinforce troops' deployment and effectively check and guard against terrorists movement along high mountains and all weather passes in Khyber Agency.

Prior to that there was no check on the movement of the militants as Rajgal valley was out of the control of the forces and the militants used to move freely in the area.

The ISPR said that security forces have occupied passes and are now consolidating their positions up in high mountains in Rajgal.

During search in Damo Drub area, the forces also recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition including Improvised Explosive Devices were recovered today.
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A delegation of U.S. officials from the Justice and State Department arrived in Ankara on Monday to discuss developments following the failed coup, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The four U.S. officials are expected to discuss with their Turkish counterparts on Tuesday and Wednesday the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, who is believed to have masterminded the failed July 15 coup attempt.

Turkish Justice Ministry officials stated they will share with their U.S. counterparts the extradition demand documents in addition to evidence indicating Gulen's direct involvement in the attempted coup.

Turkey sent a second request to the U.S. for the arrest of Fethullah Gulen earlier this month.

Tensions brewed after Ankara expressed its discontent over lack of support from Washington in the wake of the failed coup.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag warned that the relationship between both countries could be negatively affected if Gulen is not extradited.

However, the U.S. insists that the cleric will only be extradited following legal procedures according to relevant legislature and treaties.
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Libyan parliament on Monday voted against the UN-backed unity government, with 66 votes to reject it, 12 abstained from voting and one voted for approval.

Quorum has been formed for a voting session for the first time since January in the eastern Tobruk-based parliament, said a parliament spokesman.

The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) was appointed based on an UN-sponsored peace deal signed by the country's political rivals in order to end the state of political division.

However, GNA has faced opposition from several members of the parliament.

Many western officials paid visits to Tripoli over the past few months and met with the government's officials.

Monday's voting is considered to be another obstacle to the government that has been trying to get the approval of the parliament.

Meanwhile, GNA's forces fighting IS in Sirte, some 450 km east of Tripoli, are gaining more control of the city in a fight that started in May and has claimed the lived of more than 350 government fighters and injured more than 1000 others.
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A Russian aircraft has delivered 21 tons of UN humanitarian aid to Syria's eastern city of Deir ez-Zor besieged by IS militants, said the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria Tuesday.

"Low-income families of the Ash-Shakrakhia, Daraa province, and Adabez, Hama province, have received over four tons of rice, sugar and canned food. The bakery plant of the Mesherfa, Homs province, has received about three tons of flour," the center said.

Posts with hot meal and life necessities are deployed for the civilians leaving Aleppo city, northwest Syria, which is under the control of "terrorist armed groupings," according to the center.

Syria has been entangled with a civil war since 2011, and a cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia came into force in Syria at the end of last February. It was supported by the Syrian government as well as dozens of opposing groups except for some terrorist factions including IS.
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South Sudan's newly-appointed First Vice-President Taban Deng Gai reiterated on Monday that his country will not be a "base" for any armed forces against Sudan.

"South Sudan separated from Sudan with the aim to achieve stability in both countries. After today, South Sudan will not be a base for any armed groups that want war in Sudan," said Deng at a press conference after meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum on Monday.

"We, in the South Sudanese government, are ready to contact the Sudanese armed groups and encourage them to reach a peace deal, but if they want the war to continue, South Sudan will not be their starting point," the vice-president said.

"Also, if the South Sudanese rebel groups want continuation of war, Sudan will not be their starting point because the two peoples have suffered from war and they want peace," he added.

The South Sudanese first vice-president also declared his country and Sudan have agreed to settle all the outstanding security issues within 21 days.

"We have agreed that, within only 21 days, the border will be opened and demarcated and all issued be resolved," he said.

Meanwhile, Deng described the current security situations in South Sudan as stable.

"It is true that unfortunate events took place in Juba last July which led to the killing of many people, but now the situations are stable in all areas of the South," the vice-president said.

He said the South Sudanese want peace and his party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition, will continue to support the peace deal between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the opposition leader Riek Machar.

Deng arrived in Khartoum on Sunday in his first visit to Sudan following his appointment as South Sudan's first vice-president.

He held talks with Sudan's First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh on Sunday and met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Monday.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir appointed Deng as the country's first vice-president two weeks ago to replace Machar.

Machar disappeared after the recent violent clashes in the South Sudanese capital Juba which left hundreds of people dead.

But the recent summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development in Africa (IGAD) in the Rwandan capital Kigali decided to only recognize the Government of National Unity formed according to the peace deal, which stipulates that Machar be the First Vice-President of South Sudan.

The IGAD rejected Kiir's decision to sack Machar and appoint Deng, saying the move is both unconstitutional and a violation of the deal.
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Chairman of Myanmar's former ruling party - the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) U Thein Sein has resigned from the party leadership, sources with the USDP Central Executive Committee said Tuesday.

U Thein Sein, also ex-president of the country, made the resignation at the party's second day meeting of the Second Nationwide Party Conference in Nay Pyi Taw.

U Thein Sein's post was replaced by U Than Htay, who served as a brigadier- general in the military and was minister for energy and minister for rail transportation during the tenure of U Thein Sein's government.

The party's vice chairman, U Htay Oo, also resigned, the sources said, adding that the resignation of both the chairman and the vice chairman aims at paving way for new generation leaders to take up the posts, while the two former leaders retain as patrons of the party.

The party central- level reform includes naming U Myat Hein as vice chairman, U Thet Naing Win as general secretary and five others as secretaries.

On the first day of the USDP's Second Nationwide Party Conference, U Thein Sein vowed to adopt a new strategy in accordance with the desire of the people without altering its original objective.

He called for re-assessment of the 2015 general election and reformation of the party at each level from bottom up to the central level, stressing party consolidation, revival of democracy within the party and working hand-in-hand with new generation party members.

He recalled that during the tenure of the USDP-led government, it was able to implement the national reconciliation and domestic peace process, calling for all stakeholders including the government, the armed forces, ethnic parties and political parties to participate in the process and coordinate for laying down a national objective in the interests of the country and people.

Meanwhile, the USDP revealed at a recent workshop that it is preparing to submit its peace policy to the new government-led 21st Century Panglong Ethnic Conference slated for the end of this month in the capital.

The USDP once made a major reshuffle of its leadership in August 2015 ahead of the year's Nov. 8 general election, reforming its 47-member central executive committee (CEC) and retaining then President U Thein Sein as the party's chairman.

The USDP lost to then opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, in the 2015 general election, holding only 10 percent of the total of the parliamentary seats.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's new election commission said on Monday that a by-election will be held at the beginning of 2017 to fill the vacant parliamentary seats left by those who became government leaders or officials after the 2015 general election.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday to take part in a trilateral meeting with his counterparts from Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) the following day, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

The three-way meeting, the eighth of its kind, will be chaired by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se will also be in attendance, the ministry said.

The meeting is hoped to maintain the momentum of cooperation among the three countries and promote the process of East Asia regional integration.

Wednesday's trilateral meeting will be the first of its kind hosted by Japan in more than five years.
Christians gather at Proclaiming Christ Church

in Henan province. (Photo: China Aid)

China Aid

Reported in Chinese by Qiao Nong. Translated by Carolyn Song. Written in English by Brynne Lawrence.

Updated on Aug. 23, 2016, at 11:01 a.m.





(Shangqiu, HenanAug. 22, 2015) Amid escalating pressure to join state-run churches, a house church in Chinas central Henan province rejected a government order to stop its religious activities by July 20.

On July 15, the Zhecheng County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau issued a notice to Proclaiming Christ Church, citing provincial religious affairs regulations and indicating that the church met without government approval. They ordered the church stop its religious activities by July 20.

Fang Guojian, a church attendee, said that the government also unsuccessfully pressured the church members to remove Proclaiming Christ Churchs signs.

We are still gathering, Fang said. We wrote a petition. After [the officials] saw it, they were afraid. In the letter, we wrote that we would go to Beijing; go to Beijing and appeal. Now, they are afraid, and they do not dare to provoke us.

Several anonymous sources reported that attempts to compel church leaders to register their church with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), Chinas state-run church, comprise the greatest challenge house churches face. Once churches join the TSPM, they must accept government supervision and obtain approval from the religious departments before holding any activities.

According to Fang, officials attempted to persuade the church to join the TSPM, but the Christians rejected the demands.

Fang said that they plan to continue to defy the authorities orders, and if officials harass church members, representatives of the church will travel to Beijing to legally defend their rights.

China Aid exposes abuses, such as those suffered by the members of Proclaiming Christ Church, in order to bring awareness to religious freedom violations and support persecuted Christians in China.







China Aid Media Team

Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985

Email: [email protected]

For more information, click here
China Aviation Daily | Aug. 23, 2016

In line with its growth strategy, Finnair is adding four new short haul routes to its summer 2017 traffic program.

Between April 11 and October 28, Finnair will fly four weekly flights to Reykjavik. Iceland's lively and modern capital offers an interesting contrast in the land of desolate moonscapes, roiling seas and snow-capped mountains. Reykjavik is within a short daytrip to many of Iceland's spectacular sights; including the well-known Golden Circle route, which comprises highlights such as the roaring Gullfoss falls, the geothermally-active Haukadalur valley and the world-famous Geysir geyser.

Finnair's new route to Reykjavik will complement the airline's pre-existing codeshare on services operated by partner Icelandair, offering customers an even greater range of travel options. Once opened, Finnair's route will offer one of the fastest connections between Asia and Iceland.

In addition to the new route to Reykjavik for the summer 2017 season, Finnair will also fly weekly to Corfu, Greece and Menorca, Spain on Sundays. Between June 17 and August 12, Finnair will also operate a new weekly flight to Ibiza, Spain on Saturdays.

Finnair is also increasing its capacity in the UK market for the summer 2017 season as it will continue its Edinburgh route with up to 5 weekly flights. Additionally, Finnair's morning flights to and from London will fly with the state-of-the-art A350 aircraft during the summer 2017 season.

Finnair will also increase its flight capacity to Dublin, Ireland. As of March 27, Finnair will fly up to nine weekly flights between Helsinki and Dublin, operating a mix of A319 and E90 aircraft during the 2017 summer season. Compact and easy to explore on foot, Dublin is filled with historical monuments, museums and theatres while street views range from classic Georgian architecture to hypermodern landmarks.

"Reykjavik is a fantastic tourist destination and we are very pleased to be able to offer this exciting route to our customers as well as the additional weekly frequencies to other great summer destinations," says Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Finnair. "All in all, these announcements fit in very nicely with our growth strategy and we are confident our customers will be very happy with these new additions."
China Daily | Aug. 23, 2016

Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, joined forces with the China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co Ltd (CAIGA) to assist in the development of its aviation industry, Xinhua News reported on Aug. 20.

The people's government of Baotou, allied with the Inner Mongolia Communications Investment Co Ltd and CAIGA, for the purposes of the construction of civilian airports and airport security. The alliance is expected to boost the development of the aviation industry, and build Baotou into an aviation hub for Inner Mongolia.

The People's Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, one of China's leaders in the aviation field. The agreement is to strengthen collaboration in the establishment of a general aviation industry demonstration zone.

CAIGA was founded in 2009 through restructuring and consolidation, and is a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and is now China's leading general-purpose airplane and unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer.
Canada may consider relaxing its foreign investment rules, including steps to open up to State-owned enterprises in China, in a bid to attract more capital and spur economic growth, Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said.

Morneau spoke to reporters on Sunday at a cabinet meeting ahead of the G20 leaders' summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in early September.

He and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend along with other senior Canadian officials.

Asked about reviewing restrictions on the ability of State-owned enterprises such as those in China to acquire Canadian oil assets, Morneau did not rule out such changes. He said his government expects to discuss with Chinese counterparts how to spur more investment in Canada.

"We will express a continued interest in having a renewed relationship with China. In that regard, we'll be talking about how we can work together," Morneau said. "Those questions will be things that we'll talk about, and our view will be that we'll try and find ways that we can continue to encourage investment in our country."

Then prime minister Stephen Harper approved the $15.1 billion sale of oil and gas company Nexen Inc to China's Cnooc Ltd in 2012.

At the same time he introduced a measure that the government in the future would only allow a State-owned enterprise to acquire an oil sands company under "exceptional circumstances".

Chen Fengying, a researcher on the global economy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Canada is reviewing its relations with China amid the sluggish growth.

"On one side, China is a main customer of Canada's oil products. On the other side, Canada is in urgent need of Chinese investment in its painful process of economic restructuring," Chen said, adding the energy ministers' meeting during the G20 summit will be a good opportunity to talk about future plans.
Editor's Note: Beyond the glamour world of digital unicorns, star startups and publicly listed e-commerce and internet giants, there is a little known parallel universe of unsung corporate heroes that drive China's new-age entrepreneurial ventures. These are the low-key (and sometimes segment-leading) privately owned companies that are redefining innovation, the mantra that China swears by, as it seeks to transform itself from a mass-scale manufacturer of cheap goods for the world to a manufacturing giant of top-end products. These are the firms that have made fresh thinking and a bold approach to business their trademark - be it making customized garments for men or incorporating digital payment systems into wearable technologies. In a new series, China Daily celebrates the birth and growth of these awe-inspiring, attention-deserving enterprises. In this first part, we profile DunAn Group, a Hangzhou-based high-tech industrial equipment manufacturer that has supplied equipment to projects in 23 nuclear power plants in countries including China, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Egypt.

Hangzhou-based DunAn Group, a private high-tech industrial equipment manufacturer, will supply high-grade air valves and cooling units to China General Nuclear Power Corporation's phase II project at the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant by the end of this month, Chairman Yao Xinyi told China Daily in an interview.

The total supply contract value is 130 million yuan ($19.6 million), said Yao, and the equipment would assist the operation of the new-generation Hualong One nuclear reactor in the power plant, in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The Hualong One, or HPR 1000, is a third-generation nuclear reactor design that its manufacturer says is one of the most advanced in terms of safety technology innovation and operating standards.

DunAn has to date supplied equipment to projects in 23 nuclear power plants in countries including China, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Egypt.

DunAn's chairman said his company's goal was to own between eight and 10 listed companies through stock market flotations and mergers and acquisitions in both China and overseas during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20). The group currently has three listed companies in China.

With more than 20,000 employees and 35 subsidiaries in both China and internationally, DunAn's core business areas include making equipment used in nuclear power stations, producing chemicals used in industrial explosives, manufacturing wind power turbines, financial investments and manufacturing agricultural machinery.

Founded in 1987 in Zhuji in eastern China's Zhejiang province, the company has established offices in the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Group revenues last year totaled 51.6 billion yuan.

"Having more listed companies means that we will be able to raise more capital from stock markets in both China and abroad to deploy more resources in expanding overseas sales channels, building new country branches, as well as enhancing our research and development abilities," Yao said.

Eager to enhance its earning ability in China's fast-growing intelligent manufacturing sector, in the first half of the current year DunAn partnered with the University of Tennessee to build a research institute to develop sensors and industrial robots.

Yao said China's fast-growing 4G network would provide a solid foundation for its manufacturers going forward. This in turn would benefit greener, more efficient and sustainable industrial development.

He said DunAn planned to build another research and development facility to develop environment-related products in Memphis to catch the consumer trend in the US.

"In the long-run, countries such as Turkey, Poland, Brazil and South Africa are fairly interested in China's latest nuclear technology and there is a chance for both State-owned enterprises and private companies such as DunAn to form alliances to develop foreign markets together," said Zhao Ying, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Industrial Economics.
The urban investment environment, or all the support the city can provide to investors, may help the city attract more investment.

The China Institute of City Competitiveness, a Hong Kong-based research organization, has released a ranking of Chinese cities based on their investment environment.

The ranking uses four first-class indicators, namely an economic development index, a resource index, a city image index and a government behavior index, together with 16 second-class indicators and 51 third-class indicators.

Here are the top 10 Chinese cities with the best investment environment.

No 10 Zhangzhou in Fujian province scores 79.13
Firm shifts its focus from sales to maintaining internal stability for first time in its history

The battle for control of China Vanke Co Ltd is taking such a toll on the troubled real estate giant that the property developer has had to shift its top priority from acquiring land and increasing sales to keeping its management team stable for the first time in its 32-year history, the firm's top executives said on Monday.

The frank admission came at the announcement of the firm's 2016 interim results at a briefing in Shenzhen, where Vanke Chairman Wang Shi and President Yu Liang were notable by their absence, as they were busy "dealing with ownership issues".

Sun Jia, Vanke's executive vice-president, told the briefing that the firm, whose biggest shareholder Baoneng Group's massive buying of its shares triggered a heated war over control for Vanke, had lost "many" employees in the first half of this year.

Board Secretary Zhu Xu said that it also faced difficulties such as acquiring new land, falling project sales and weakening cooperation with partners.

She said that from the end of June to August, 31 projects have been forced to modify clauses, postpone or even terminate due to partners' concern over Vanke's branding, management and funding situation in the future.

Though its rating has yet to be changed, Wang Wenjin, executive vice-president of Vanke, warned that it may face challenges such as a negative outlook and downgrades from domestic and international rating institutes.

In fact, China Merchants Securities Co later on Monday downgraded Vanke's rating to -A, saying its long-term outlook is still positive, but the ownership dispute has had a negative influence on its management.

Although seeing a 10 percent increase in its net profit to 5.35 billion yuan ($802 milion) and 49 percent revenue growth in the first half of 2016, according to its interim report published on Sunday, Vanke in July lost above 30 percent in both sales area and value.

The battle for control escalated last month when Vanke announced an asset restructuring plan worth 45.6 billion yuan with Shenzhen Metro Group that would make the subway operator its biggest shareholder.

Zhu Xu noted no agreement has yet reached over the asset restructuring plan with Shenzhen Metro so far and Vanke hopes to communicate with involved parties in a bid to solve the dispute soon.

grace@chinadailyhk.com

(China Daily 08/23/2016 page13)
Tourists stretch to walk on a 69-meter-long glass pathway built along the face of a cliff in Shaohuashan national forest park in Weinan city, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, July 28, 2016.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Despite a slowing economy, more Chinese tourists traveled last year, according to a report released by the China Tourism Academy on Monday .

Urban residents made 2.48 billion trips in the country in 2015, while those living in rural areas made 1.13 billion trips.

The largest numbers of tourists came from the five provincial-level regions of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Tourist incomes were highest in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Sichuan, with combined per capita income exceeded 400 billion yuan (around $60 billion).

Eastern provinces raked in the biggest tourism revenue last year, accounting for 46.35 percent of the country's total. The northeastern region performed worst, receiving just 6.83 percent of total tourist revenue.
BEIJING - The Ministry of Commerce said Monday that it would scrap anti-dumping duties on high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes imported from Japan and the European Union, effective on Monday.

The ministry levied anti-dumping duties on imports of high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes from Japan and EU from November 9, 2012, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The duties ranged from 9.2 percent to 14.4 percent according to the level of dumping.

On June 20, the ministry notified the domestic steel industry that it would review the anti-dumping measures. During the review period, the domestic industry withdrew its applications for continuing levying anti-dumping duties on Japan and EU imports.

Therefore, the ministry decided to cease the anti-dumping duties, according to the statement.
Transactions during a five-day animation copyright fair in Dongguan, Guangdong province, reached 3.46 billion yuan ($520 million), according to the organizers.

A total of 503 domestic and overseas companies displayed innovative animation products and copyrights during the annual China International Animation Copyright Fair, which concluded on Monday in Dongguan, a major manufacturing hub in the Pearl River Delta.

"Protection of copyrights is of great importance to a healthy development of the animation industry," said Zhang Tongying, director of the copyright administration of the Guangdong Provincial Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

More than 500 copyright certificates were awarded to animation companies during the fair, according to the organizers.
Premier Li Keqiang visits Lattice Power Co, a leading Chinese manufacturer of LED chips in Nanchang, Jiangxi, on Tuesday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Premier Li Keqiang called on high-tech manufacturers to establish their own branding and find new models of production, while transforming technologies into productivity, during a visit to East Chinas Jiangxi province on Tuesday.

High-tech companies should transform science and technology into products that are highly competitive in the market. You must establish your own branding in our country and, more important, win a reputation around the world, the premier told employees of Lattice Power Co, a leading Chinese manufacturer of LED chips in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi.

Jiang Fengyi, founder of Lattice Power and a professor of semiconductor research at Nanchang University, said the company has patented technologies that imprint illumination materials upon silicon chips to save on energy and costs.

The technology broke the monopoly in the field by Japan and the United States, Jiang said.

The company is one of more than 30 LED-related production enterprises in the Nanchang National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, a national semiconductor illumination base. The target revenue for these enterprises is 100 billion yuan ($15.1 billion) by 2020.

However, Lattice Power has yet to gain recognition among domestic and overseas customers. Though Chinas market is open to foreign manufacturers, domestic producers should strive to be recognized for their own brands in the global market, the premier said.

The new economy, including equipment manufacturing and new energy, has been a key subject for Li, who has called for nurturing these new growth drivers on many occasions, including in the Government Work Report he delivered in March.

Premier Li Keqiang visits Funeng Inc in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, a leading producer of lithium batteries for electric vehicles, on Monday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

On Monday, Li visited Funeng Inc in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, a leading producer of lithium batteries for electric vehicles. Funeng, jointly founded by the local government and the US company Farasis Energy Inc, provides batteries for a number of Chinese and international brands, including BAIC Motor Corp in Beijing.

Funengs equipment has been tailor-made from upstream Chinese manufacturers and cost just one-sixth of equipment made in the US, said Wang Yu, chairman of Funeng.

The premier said this model should be promoted to unleash the potential for industrial equipment manufacturing and to upgrade the sector.

Lis trip to Nanchang came after a visit to southern Jiangxi, where the Long March started nearly 82 years ago.

Jiangxi is an important point along the Yangtze River Economic Belt that extends from Yunnan province to Shanghai. But the province, which faces transportation and skill disadvantages, is less developed than its neighbors Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.

The premiers trip could encourage local governments and enterprises to set a long-term direction toward stronger market competiveness by developing new brands and models of business, said Xia Xueluan, a professor of sociology at Peking University.
LONDON - The upcoming G20 summit in China is "very valuable" in enabling major countries in the world to talk about current global issues, said Mark Boleat, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, one of the most powerful financial institutions in Europe.

In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, Boleat also said he expected the summit to give a further push to important international developments, promote international trade and develop green financing and infrastructure investment.

"The world economy is still very fragile, so we look to the governments of major countries to do whatever they can to promote economic growth and international trade, areas like green finance, infrastructure financing and fintech," he said.

Addressing concerns

Boleat, who has been Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee of the City of London Corporation since 2012, said he hoped G20 leaders would reemphasize the importance of international trade amid rising concerns over trade barriers being re-erected.

"There are concerns about the development of international trade, about trade barriers being erected in some cases rather than being removed; there is a move throughout the world on concerns about the impact of globalization," the policy chief warned.

There's a need to reemphasize the importance of trade and how it benefits people in all countries, he urged.

"It [the world] will be looking to the G20 to make a pretty firm statement that international trade benefits all countries," he added.

The summit, he noted, could only help to improve the economy with concrete actions being taken by national governments.

"So if there can be an agreement on any measures that will help economic growth in individual countries, that will benefit the whole of the world economy," he told Xinhua.

In the interview, he also highlighted the importance of "many informal discussions" that will take place between the world leaders at G20 summit.

China and G20

On China's role in G20, Boleat said China is the second biggest economy in the world, and as such "it plays a very vital role in the global economy."

"The weight and growth of the Chinese economy will have an impact on other countries in the world, so I think other countries are looking to China to do what it can to maintain its rapid growth, which is way above the western economies," he explained.

He added that the liberalization of the Chinese economy itself "gives more opportunities for institutions in other countries to invest in China and to do business with China."

Speaking of the potential legacy of the G20 Hangzhou summit, the policy chief expected the gathering to push the development which is happening already.

"It's simply about pushing in the same direction and helping initiatives that are already working, giving a further push to important international developments, helping to promote international trade, and developing things like green financing and infrastructure investment," he elaborated.

On international economic governance, Boleat said China "needs to play a very major role in the international agencies."

"The second biggest economy in the world has to play a major role in the international institutions; it can't be a second-tier player when it's such a large economy," he said.

UK-China ties

In late July, the British government announced it would delay the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant program until autumn to review the proposed project in southwest England.

In a recent article for The Financial Times, Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said the China-UK relationship is "at a crucial historical juncture" and Hinkley Point is "a test of mutual trust" between the two countries.

However, Boleat stressed that Hinkley Point is not a political issue and should not hurt the UK-China relationship.

"I don't think it is right to look at one development and say that's the only thing that matters," he said.

"This is innately an investment, and it's got to work as an investment, and quite properly the British government wants to ensure that it is the right sort of investment to make in today's circumstances," he added.

Noting that London is the western hub for offshore renminbi (RMB) trading, Boleat said he expected Britain's new ministers to continue the policies of the previous ministers.

"These are the policies of the government, not the individuals concerned, and the prime minister already emphasized the wish to continue very strong relationship between Britain and China," he said.

"We want to see more bond issues in the London market from Chinese institutions that are denominated in RMB; British institutions are very keen to increase their investment in China, so there is a lot more to be done," he continued.

Brexit effect

Looking at the ramifications of Brexit, Boleat said he hoped Britain's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) would not adversely affect the relationship between Britain and China.

"From what we've done so far and analyses and talks we've had, we don't see any reduced appetite for strengthening the links between Britain and China," he affirmed.

"Europe is very important market for Britain; there are very strong links already between Britain and Europe," he said. "We wish to maintain those and we'll constantly develop our links with China."

Bilateral relations between Britain and China, for the most part, are not dependent on the EU, he argued.

"I don't think Brexit is going to lead to Britain wanting to develop its relations with China more, because Britain wants to do that anyway, regardless of whether it's in the EU or not," said the City policy chairman.

"We don't see them as being alternatives. Britain needs very strong relations with both the EU and China," he added.
video video video

Indian national Raj Uppada has enjoyed the best time of his life in Hangzhou. As a food and beverage manager at the Hilton Hangzhou Qiandao Lake, he said, "My work makes me very happy, but what makes me even happier is the beauty of Qiandao Lake. I love staying here because of the natural setting, lush green mountains, the lake and the air."

"Sooner or later we all need to travel and move somewhere else. When I do go somewhere else, when I talk with people, I will tell them that I had the most memorable moments in my life at Qiandao Lake."
A view of the booth of Aliyun at an exhibition in Shenzhen, South Chian's Guangdong province, July 16, 2016. [Photo/IC]

Aliyun, the cloud computing brand of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, announced further moves within two years to help startups in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin with cloud computing services.

It will provide cloud services for 600 technological innovation-based enterprises and help them access the internet. This will help them reduce entrepreneurial costs and enhance efficiency, according to the agreements signed by Aliyun and the management committee of Tianjin Binhai New Area's central business district.

Technical and financial support will be given to these startups. Moreover, Aliyun will cooperate with leading universities in Tianjin to set up courses related to cloud computing and data science and to train skilled workers.

"Obviously, the government has offered a solid foundation for startups, but what's more important are soft skills, which Aliyun will focus on," said Liu Song, general manager of Alibaba Group's Ecosystem.

"Startups have a worldwide problem, that is, their three to five percent survival rate," he said, "what we will do is to give each incubator a professional entrepreneurial environment."

"Entrepreneurs will benefit from Alibaba's global scale and have access to Alibaba's online retail platform Tmall.com," he further explained.

UrWork, a co-working office space owned by Mao Daqing, Vanke Group's former vice-president, will cooperate with Aliyun to provide places for these startups, which are expected to start trial operation in early September.

This is not Aliyun's first move to expand its cloud services in Tianjin. The firm signed a contract with the government to open one of its own incubators in Tianjin in July of last year, according to local media.

Aliyun has established strategic cooperative partnerships with tech giants. It has worked with smartphone maker HTC Corp, IT service provider Digital China Holdings Ltd and global audit and advisory firm Deloitte to promote the development of its cloud business.

According to the consultancy Gartner Inc, the worldwide cloud services market is projected to grow 16.5 percent in 2016 to total $204 billion, up from $175 billion in 2015.

Charlie Dai, principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc, told China Daily: "Startups and small and medium-sized companies are key areas for adopting public cloud services. Although their sizes are relatively small, some of them have significant growth potential."

Liu Jing contributed to this story.
A visitor uses his mobile phone in front of a logo of Xiaomi during the Appliance & Electronics World Expo 2016 (AWE 2016) in Shanghai, March 11, 2016. [Photo/IC]

Xiaomi Corp is preparing to enter the US smartphone market "in the near future", employing the same online sales and social media marketing tactics that helped the six-year-old startup become China's largest privately funded technology startup.

Xiaomi can no longer afford to ignore the world's largest smartphone arena by revenue, company Vice-President Hugo Barra said in an interview. Its international expansion is taking on newfound urgency as growth at home slows and rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co erode its market share.

"The US is a market that we definitely have in our sights," Barra said on Bloomberg Television.

"We will lead with social media, with the channels that allow us to get in touch with the young generation that are enthusiastic about new technology. We are definitely going there."

Barra, who oversees the Chinese company's international expansion, has signaled Xiaomi's US debut before. But the smartphone vendor is now in a better position to launch an incursion onto Apple Inc's turf.

In June, the Beijing-based company announced the acquisition of nearly 1,500 technology patents from Microsoft Corp - a deal that may smooth potential legal tangles over intellectual property as it pushes abroad.

Xiaomi, whose plethora of products include smart bikes and rice-cookers, has no timetable for a US launch, Barra said. It already sells products such as earbuds and fitness bands to Americans online, its preferred sales method.

"The US is a very important market for any consumer electronics and lifestyle brand, certainly for us as well. Obviously we've got to time things carefully."

But Xiaomi may have trouble breaking into a market dominated by Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. Smartphone sales are also largely controlled by telecommunications carriers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc, a channel with which Xiaomi has limited experience.

Rivals such as Huawei and ZTE Corp are also increasingly targeting American consumers.

"The technology bar in the US is much higher than in Xiaomi's current major markets, which means it takes a lot more to get into that market," said Nicole Peng, China research director of Canalys, a consultancy. It will also have to consider the economics of such a move.

Bloomberg
Advertising technology startup Media.net, founded by tech entrepreneur Divyank Turakhia, said on Monday it had been acquired for about $900 million by a group of Chinese investors.

The deal would represent the third-largest in the ad tech industry, after Alphabet Inc GOOGL unit Google's acquisition of DoubleClick and Microsoft Corp's deal for aQuantive.

"We got an incredible amount of interest just because ad tech is a large and growing space and, at the same time, the number of companies that have been successful in it have been limited," Turakhia said in an interview.

The company's products, which are licensed by various publishers and ad networks, auto-learn and display the most relevant ads to users.

Media.net, a Yahoo Inc ad partner, attracted seven bidders, including a publicly listed company based in the United States.

However, the bid fell through following a substantial decrease in the company's stock value, Turakhia said.

The deal gives Media.net access to the Chinese online advertising market, which is currently the second largest in the world, Turakhia said.

Digital ad spend in China is expected to reach $40.42 billion in 2016, a 30 percent jump from a year earlier, according to research firm eMarketer.

Media.net, which is based in Dubai and New York, gets 90 percent of its revenue from the United States.

The company posted revenue of $232 million in 2015, with more than half of that coming from mobile users.

The Chinese consortium will buy Media.net from Turakhia's Starbuster TMT Investments and has already made a payment of $426 million.

The group is led by Zhang Zhiyong, the chairman of telecom firm Beijing Miteno Communication Technology Co.

Miteno's shares have been halted since December.
Foreign ministers from China, Japan, ROK to gather despite recent dark clouds over relations

The last-minute settlement of the schedule for the annual China-Japan-ROK Foreign Ministers' Meeting has been called "a victory" in light of new frictions that have arisen since the previous meeting in March 2015.

All three foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday in Tokyo to chart a course of cooperation and discuss major regional and global issues, it was announced on Monday.

On Sunday, a deputy-minister-level meeting was held in preparation for the annual gathering, but the dates were not finalized until Monday.

Guo Yanjun, deputy director of the Institute of Asian Studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said the timing of the annual ministers' meeting was "ideal" in light of the recent difficulties.

"Their plan to sit at the same table again shows there's a political will to improve ties," Guo said.

The three sides "have tried their best to keep bilateral issues away from the trilateral agenda," Guo added. "They are taking a positive attitude. And further trilateral cooperation, in return, will be helpful for resolving two-way issues."

"The trilateral foreign ministers' meeting itself is already a victory," Guo said.

The Republic of Korea's plan to deploy the US-made THAAD anti-missile system has angered Beijing, as the system's radar could cover part of China. And Japan's recent intervention in the South China Sea made an official meeting between the foreign ministers appear unlikely.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday that the three countries have held a range of key meetings and events promoting trilateral cooperation in all fields. Cooperation initiated 17 years ago has "played a constructive role" in boosting regional peace and stability, Lu said.

When asked about Beijing's hopes regarding Foreign Minister Wang Yi's trip to Tokyo, Lu said the annual trilateral meeting "has nothing to do with a bilateral official visit".

Li Xiushi, a researcher in Japanese studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said there are still many issues lingering between Beijing and Tokyo.

"Tokyo has failed to match its words with actions," Li said. "It created a flare-up of tensions in China's neighborhood."

"So far, we have observed little sincerity from Tokyo," Li said. "So when Japanese media is hyping Wang's so-called official visit to Japan, we would like to ask: What can be discussed at the table?"
Under the central government's new guidelines for social organizations that were released on Sunday, China will lower the threshold and simplify registration procedures for such groups, with the goal of promoting their "healthy and orderly" development.

The guideline was issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

Under the guideline, social organizations will file registration applications with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which will review applications in light of opinions of knowledgeable government officials and experts.

"The guideline lowers the threshold for social organizations and simplifies registration procedures for qualified ones," said Liao Hong, deputy director of the ministry's Bureau for Management of Nongovernmental Organizations.

Under previous regulations, social organizations file their registrations with various administrative organizations. For example, local social organizations were registered with the local government; national ones were registered with the State Council; and scientific social organizations were registered with science and technology authorities.

Zheng Gongcheng, an economics professor at Renmin University of China, applauded the changes.

"I support the simplified registration procedure and the standardized development of social organizations, which have been longed for by many social organizations and individuals," he said.

The guideline says that China's social organizations have contributed to economic and social development in the past, but problems remain - such as an unclear management system and a lack of governance.

In June, the ministry released the names of 137 unqualified social organizations.

"It is very important for the ministry to publicize the blacklist. If groups cheat or lie to make a profit, it will jeopardize the healthy development of social organizations. Thus, standardizing social organization is a precondition for social organizations' proper development," Zheng said.

China has 664,800 registered social organizations, according to the ministry.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
View of the Wuyi Mountains, in Wuyishan city, East Chinas Fujian province, March 15, 2015. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - China will establish several national ecological experimental zones to explore reforms ranging from natural resource balance sheets to ecological performance evaluation of officials, according to an official guideline published on Monday.

The guideline, released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, aimed at carrying out reforms on "ecological civilization system."

According to targets set in the guideline, major progress shall be achieved by 2017 and fully-fledged ecological civilization systems shall be established by 2020, with best practices replicable across the country.

Main experiments will include establishing a natural resource property right system, compiling natural resource balance sheet, optimizing land and space planning, and incorporating ecological performance into officials' evaluation.

Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces, which have "relatively optimal ecological foundation, and relatively strong environmental and resource capacity," were selected as the first batch of experimental zones.

An implementation plan for Fujian province was released together with the guideline on Monday.

According to the implementation plan, Fujian will strive to become a leader in national land and space planning by explicitly reserving land and space for ecological protection, and never overstepping the "red line."

Fujian will also strive to establish a property rights system of natural resource assets as well as systems that reflect market values of ecological products, thereby introducing economic incentives into ecological protection.

The province will also try to improve officials' performance evaluation to reflect their "ecological performance" such as resource depletion or environmental degradation on their watch.

Specific measures will include compiling natural resource balance sheets, and natural resource asset auditing at times when the official in charge concludes his or her term.

Targets were set in the plan, including that water quality of over 90 percent of water systems in the province will reach optimal level, 23 cities will enjoy good air quality on over 90 percent of days, and forest coverage will pass 66 percent by 2020.
Shanghai will continue to transform itself into a center of science and technological innovation and creative culture, according to the city's new master plan, which looks outward to the year 2040.

The city plans to speed up construction of a new industrial system led by technological innovation and strategic emerging industries based in modern services and supported by an advanced manufacturing sector.

"We're keen to build a global hub with large impact and higher-standard services, introduce innovative service facilities and attract more creative entrepreneurs from around the globe to keep it active," said Zhuang Shaoqin, director of Shanghai's City Planning Bureau.

Construction of the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone is key to developing the world's leading scientific research base and major scientific infrastructure cluster.

Other high-technology industrial parks, such as the Shanghai Zizhu Science Park and Shanghai Caohejing Hi-Tech Park, will form a high-level innovative base for businesses.

"It is essential to form a more innovative business environment for both local and international companies to stay permanently," said Yu Lei, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

In addition, the city plans to be a global fashion design hub, as well as a creative design and professional education center. By the year of 2040, there will be eight to 10 art galleries, more than two museums and more than five medium-size and large libraries for every 100,000 people.
Li Tiejun, a father in Luzhou, Sichuan province, teaches his daughter Li Jingci, 20, how to paint on Aug 17, 2016. [Photo/IC]

In 2005, Li Tiejun, a father in the southwestern city of Luzhou, made headlines across China when he challenged the public education system. He had his daughter, Li Jingci, then 9 years old, drop out of primary school since, according to Li Tiejun, "the kid can't learn anything there," Chengdu Business News reported on Aug 22.

Later the same year, Li Jingci's mother sued Li Tiejun for depriving their daughter of her right to receive nine years of compulsory education, as demanded by Chinese law. The high-profile case ruled against Li, and ordered him to send his daughter back to school within five days.

"I'd rather be sent to jail than hand my daughter back to that school," Li Tiejun was quoted as saying after the ruling was delivered. He never obeyed the court's demand, continuing instead to teach his daughter himself. In 2007, he claimed that by 2014, when his daughter turned 18, she would be an expert in the field of biomagnetism.

On Aug 17, a reporter from Chengdu Business News visited Li and his daughter in their home. Li Tiejun, now 74, never married the girl's mother. After retiring from his construction job, Li has stayed single, living with his daughter.

According to Li, in the past 11 years, he has taught Li Jingci everything from painting, music and literature to astronomy and medicine. To demonstrate the efficacy of his education, Li instructed his daughter to make a pencil sketch of Alexander the Great. With Li pointing out various faults as she worked, the girl kept erasing and correcting lines. One hour later, she still wasn't done with the outline.

The two later played a traditional Chinese piece of music, "Moon Reflected on the Er-quan Spring" (Er Quan Ying Yue), with Li Tiejun playing the erhu, a stringed instrument, and Li Jingci playing the electronic keyboard. Their cooperation was generally smooth, excepting two sections for which they forget the sheet music. Li said they have practiced dozens of traditional Chinese melodies.

Eager to show off his daughter's knowledge of Chinese classic literature, Li Tiejun demanded that Li Jingci tell the reporter the names of the "four ugliest woman" in Chinese history. As she recited the answer, Li's face registered great satisfaction.

Li Jingci nevertheless admitted that, although she has never tried, she believes she would definitely fail a number of basic high school tests. She says she is terrible at math, physics, chemistry and English, all essential courses in public school. Her father, Li Jingci explained, believes such courses to be "useless."

"The school teaches nothing but flattery," Li Tiejun told the reporter. And his daughter does indeed have some faith in his doctrine.

"I'm fine. Many college graduates also can't find jobs," she pointed out.

Neighbors said that as the girl's peers entered university and started to get married, she just stayed at home with her dad. Her mother came back once, several years ago, and made an attempt to take Li Jingci away from her father. But she refused.

"I learned the most important principle of living in this world from my dad," she said. Here, her father cut in: "That is, to have no principle at all," said Li Tiejun.

The two now live on Li's retirement pension, 3,000 yuan each month. Li doesn't worry about his daughter's future after he is gone.

"It's easy to make a living--just do anything. She can clean people's shoes," he offers. For his part, Li Tiejun said he will continue teaching and researching with his daughter.

"But I wanted to get married before I turn 25," his daughter interjected.

"Well, scientists usually stay single for a long time," Li mused.




Lanzhou Jiaotong University Bowen College apologized to Liu Lingli's family for its dismissal of Liu in an open letter posted on its official website on Monday.

The letter said it's wrong to dismiss the teacher who was suffering from cancer before the college has had all the information.

"While we were discussing the matter, Liu sadly passed away. We are sorry for what we've done to you, for hurting you and for setting a wrong precedent in the society. Again, we are sincerely sorry," said the letter.

In the letter, the college also expressed its desire to make it up for its mistake by cooperating to solve all the resulting problems.

It added that it will review its mistakes and strengthen regulations.

The apology comes after courts ruled the dismissal unjustified and the college came under a wave of public anger.

The school, after Liu's death sparked fury, suspended the head of its human resources department, Jiang Xueyun, according to a report by thepaper.cn.

The college earlier said it would pay 57,600 yuan ($8,600) for the period from September 2014 to August when Liu was on sick leave and 14,400 yuan in compensation the her family.

The case caught public attention when the college fired a teacher who was suffering from ovarian cancer and who subsequently died.

Reportedly there have been three other cases of teachers being sacked by the college after they went on sick leave due to serious illnesses.
Premier Li Keqiang visits Yeping Revolution Heritage Site and presents flower basket to Red Army martyrs on Tuesday in Ruijin, Jiangxi.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Premier Li Keqiang presented a flower basket on Tuesday in memory of Red Army martyrs on a visit to Yeping Revolution Heritage Site in the county-level city of Ruijin in East Chinas Jiangxi province.

The premier said Ruijin is the cradle of new China and also an indispensible new starting point for the Communist Party of China and the Chinese revolution. "I hope Ruijin can continue its revolutionary tradition to make new achievements in the course of reform and opening-up," he said.

The premier is on an inspection tour to southern Jiangxi, for which the State Council has granted favorable policies for poverty relief and improving peoples livelihood in the less-developed region compared to its neighbors Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

The CPC established its first national government in Ruijin in 1931 and held the first Soviet congress in Yeping. Chairman Mao Zedong had worked and resided in buildings inside the heritage site between 1931 and 1934.
A photo of Sun Yat-sen and Soong Qing-ling taken in Tokyo with Sun's signature. [Photo provided by Shanghai Sun Yat-sen historical residence museum]

The Shanghai Sun Yat-sen historical residence museum collected creative cultural products from across the Taiwan Straits, the first time in its history, as part of a series of activities to mark the 150th anniversary of Sun's birthday, according to thepaper.cn.

The 2016 Shanghai-Taiwan Youth Creativity Cultural Design Competition was unveiled on Monday in Shanghai. The competition, held from August to December, encourages "Sun Yat-sen themed designs of different ideologies and styles to attract people of different ages" by offering pictures of nearly 30 cultural relics as inspiration.

"In the past, our priority was protecting cultural relics instead of utilizing them to promote interaction with the public," said Huang Yaping, an official at Shanghai Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching-ling (Sun's wife) cultural relics management committee.

He said the collection was inspired by Beijing's Palace Museum after its products attracted lots of online attention last year.

"The Palace Museum achieved a great breakthrough in turning relics into creative products," said Huang, adding that Sun Yat-sen residence museum and Soong Qing-ling residence museum had introduced souvenirs but they were dwarfed by those of the Palace Museum in every aspect.

Sun Yat-sen residence museum, the only cohabited residence of Sun and Soong, witnessed their life in the war time and houses many of their belongings. It is also where Sun's most important book The International Development of China was produced.

"We hope Sun Yat-sen not only to be a political banner but also a culture symbol," said a competition organizer at the news conference.

Pictures of about 30 cultural relics stored in the museum were displayed, including medical appliances Sun used when he acted as a doctor, the photo of him appointed as grand marshal of the navy and army of the Republic of China, photo of Sun and Soong taken in Tokyo with Sun's signature and the seal of then China Railway General Company among others.

A fan with characters written by Emperor Yongzheng (which translates to "I miss you much, too"), is sold by the Palace Museum. [Photo/Agencies]

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When Palace Museum meets creativity

Palace Museum sees souvenir sales boom
Chen Yixiu, 93, a veteran of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in WWII, received a special letter sent to him 68 years ago from a fellow soldier.

The letter was sent to him from Wang Yutian in 1948, telling Chen about Wang's marriage as well as the war situation in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province.

Officials with the Jilin Archives Bureau took a trip from Changchun to Shenyang, Liaoning province to personally hand the letter to Chen.

The move is part of a campaign launched by the bureau last year to retrieve letters for veterans.
President Xi Jinping hugs 5-year-old Tseyang Lhamo while visiting Tibetan ethnic villagers in Qinghai province onMonday. PANG XINGLEI / XINHUA

Restricting the exploitation of natural resources in the ecology-fragile Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is good for economic development, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday during an inspection tour.

Protecting the ecological environment of the Sanjiangyuan area, known as "China's water tower", is vital for the nation's development, Xi said.

The ecological system is fragile in Qinghai, especially in the Sanjiangyuan area, where the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang (known as the Mekong outside China) rivers are located.

The area is home to more than 2,200 types of wild plants, 85 animal species and more than 230 kinds of birds. Since the late 20th century, the lakes there have shrunk as a result of human activities and overgrazing.

During a tour of the plateau on Monday, Xi said ecological protection must be made a top priority in exploiting natural resources.

At the Qarhan Salt Lake in Qinghai province, he told the local government to draw up a proper strategy for natural resources and set an example for the nation in correctly exploiting them.

Xi visited a potash fertilizer company's yard near the lake, where he was briefed on the firm's production, sales and technological upgrading.

On Monday afternoon, Xi visited a Tibetan ethnic family in Tanggula, a township in Sanjiangyuan. The villagers presented whitehada(silk scarves) to the president to show their respect.

Hearing that local people's livelihoods had been improved with better housing and home appliances, Xi told them they would continue to have happy lives and wished them good health.

Poverty relief work has been a prominent feature of Xi's domestic tours.

On Tuesday morning, he visited a newly built village in Haidong, Qinghai, where the residents have just been relocated from their shanty huts in the remote mountainous region. The huts had no running water.

In late 2012, during his first inspection tour after becoming general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, he visited a poor village in Hebei province and presented the villagers with relief materials such as cooking oil, quilts and winter coats.

During a tour last month of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, an underdeveloped area with a high concentration of ethnic groups, Xi said: "There are still some 50 million Chinese struggling with poverty, and by 2020 they must all be lifted out of poverty. This is my top concern now."

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

Zhang Yaozhong contributed to this story.
Zheng Dongni smiles as Liu Xuewen(right) photographs her in Hefei, Anhui province, Aug 16, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

"You just need to capture the moment for it's hard to communicate under the ever-changing water," Liu Xuewen, an underwater photographer in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, said.

Liu's underwater photography experience started with the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games. "I became fascinated with the TV shots of the swimming and diving events," Liu said. "Those angles, quite different from those shot on the ground, were beautiful and romantic."

From then on, Liu started to learn underwater photography after purchasing some basic waterproof equipment.

It's not easy to shoot underwater though. Liu explained that both photographer and model have to stay still in same pose for a long time; the lighting further complicates the underwater shoot.

What's amazing is that Liu cannot even swim. "But after practice I am now able to hold my breath for one minute."

The sweltering heat in South China this summer has brought more opportunities for Liu to practice his skill.



Zheng Dongni, a graduate from Anhui University, said the underwater photos shot by Liu for her are "an unforgettable and valuable present" before she leaves for the United States to pursue further studies.
Wang Chengdeng, a Red Army veteran, talks to the media in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province. [Photo by Xing Xudong/chinadaily.com.cn]

Wanna a free Kindle? Take this Long March quiz.

Flanked by his ever-watchful nurse and carer, 101-year-old Red Army veteran Wang Chengdeng slowly but surely made his way towards an applauding Chinese media pack.

His stride has slowed with old age  but it remains rich with purpose.

"You all have to cherish this happy life, which is a hard one," he told the young band of reporters. But few, if any, will experience a life quite as hard as his.

Wang is one of the relatively few soldiers - around 4,000 - who survived the Red Army's iconic, and brutal, Long March.

Eighty years on, he has welcomed visitors to anniversary celebrations in his home province of Jiangxi - the starting point for the year-long retreat from Kuomintang forces, which prevented the demise of the now-ruling Communist party.

He told them never to forget the hardship faced by the Red Army during that retreat to northwest Shaanxi, which claimed the lives of around 80,000 of his fellow soldiers.

"Chinese people must love their country and cherish happy life," Wang said.

He bared the scars to prove that point.

Recruited to the Red Army as a messenger in the year the Long March began, Wang would have been no more than 19 years old when he had his first - and closest - brush with death.

During the retreat, he was shot in his right ear, leaving the eventual battalion commander partially deaf for the rest of his life.

But that made Wang one of the lucky ones. Others weren't just killed during bombardments and gun-fights, they died of starvation and exposure to China's unforgiving weather.

Wang - proudly donning the Red Army uniform and medals earned during his military career - recalled hungry soldiers eating wild vegetables as they scavenged for food, climbing freezing snowy mountains and sleeping back to back whenever they could.

It was a devastating and exhausting campaign  but the 101-year-old still has plenty of fight left in him.

Speaking to reporters in Ganzhou, Wang revealed he recently wrote to President Xi Jinping, asking him to boost poverty-relief efforts in the region.

And it seems his plea hasn't fallen on deaf ears.

As part of celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's retreat, local officials are taking media on a tour of towns and communities along the Long March route, which they said are being pulled out of poverty.

That has included the construction of affordable housing in villages, aiding farming communities, creating local jobs and even building an amusement park.

Wanna a free Kindle? Take this Long March quiz.
A British copy editor has come all the way from Leeds to Beijing, with a stint in Pyongyang. Liu Xiangrui reports.

Unlike many Westerners who arrive in Beijing or Shanghai on their first visits, Michael Harrold's first stop in China was the small northeastern city of Dandong.

The 54-year-old British media professional reached the Chinese city bordering the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from Pyongyang in 1992.

Harrold had gone to the DPRK in 1987 as an "English-language adviser" after studying at Leeds University.

As the first Briton to work and live there, his job was to polish English translations of the collected works and speeches by the country's then-president, Kim Il-sung, and his successor, Kim Jong-il.

Harrold made another trip to China in 1994. The Briton, who's originally from Solihull near Birmingham, has since been in Beijing working for Chinese media.

"It's made my life interesting, although obviously it wasn't my plan," he says, talking about spending years in Asia.

"When I left North Korea, I thought China was sort of on the way home. And I believed China was a sort of good place to acclimatize to the new world again."

He was hired as a copy editor on the international desk of Xinhua News Agency.

"I adapted myself quite rapidly," he says.

He could watch foreign TV channels in Beijing. In the DPRK, his only contact with the outside world was through BBC radio.

His experience of living and working in that country was a frequent topic of discussion between him and his curious Chinese colleagues back then.

In 1995, he moved to China Central Television, his current employer, where he mostly edits features and documentary stories.

Harrold has witnessed the expansion of CCTV over the past years. When he moved there, he was among the very few foreigners working there, and the channel's English news output was mainly recorded bulletins. Now, CCTV provides a 24-hour service, with bureaus across the world.

Having spent many years in China, Harrold says he has been impressed by the fast changes around him.

When he first arrived in China, the Friendship Hotel in northwestern Beijing, where he stayedand still liveswas pretty much an isolated building without any proper road connectivity.

Today, it is surrounded by big malls and skyscrapers. The place is also connected by the city's underground train system, which he uses for his daily commute.

"Things are changing all the time in China. That's the way your life is here," Harrold says.

After several trips to different cities in China, Harrold has become a big fan of the high-speed train here. It makes "China much smaller".
The ongoing exhibition Attachment to the Hometown presents around 150 baby carriers of different ethnic groups. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A handicraft show at the National Art Museum of China is displaying pieces of fabric lovingly embroidered by women from the country's south. Lin Qi reports.

Between the soaring, lush mountains in Southwest China are the villages of ethnic groups where women pass down exquisite embroidery traditions through generations. Among the many items they produce is the bei shan or baby carrier.

Women use colored threads to create a variety of patterns on a piece of indigo-dyed fabric to make it.

They use the carrier, which has two straps, to swaddle their babies and carry them on their backs when farming, doing housework or going to the fairs and socializing.

The carrier, which protects the new lives, has significant meaning for those living a difficult life in the remote mountainous areas where they face natural disasters, threats from wild animals and diseases. Also, it showcases different ethnic cultures through the stitching techniques that girls from the different communities learn.

The creativity of these women is being celebrated at a handicraft exhibition called Attachment to the Hometown at Beijing's National Art Museum of China.

The exhibition has around 150 baby carriers from eight ethnic groups, including the Miao, Dong, Shui and Yi, from Guizhou, Hunan and Yunnan provinces as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The earliest carriers on show were made in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) while the latest are from the 1980s.
Scientists are developing an edible form of packaging which they hope will preserve food more effectively and more sustainably than plastic film, helping to cut both food and plastic waste.

The packaging film is made of a milk protein called casein, scientists from the US Department of Agriculture said at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The milk-based packaging does not currently have much taste, but flavors could be added to it, as could vitamins, probiotics and other nutrients to make it nutritious, they said.

The film looks similar to plastic wrapping, but is up to 500 times better at protecting food from oxygen, as well as being biodegradable and sustainable, the researchers said at the meeting in Pennsylvania, which runs until Thursday.

"The protein-based films are powerful oxygen blockers that help prevent food spoilage. When used in packaging, they could prevent food waste during distribution along the food chain," research leader Peggy Tomasula said in a statement on Sunday.

Between 30 and 40 percent of food produced around the world is never eaten because it spoils at some time after harvest or during transport, or gets thrown away by shops and consumers.

Yet almost 800 million people worldwide go to bed hungry every night, according to UN figures.

Halving food waste by 2030 was included as a target in global development goals adopted by world leaders in 2015.

The US scientists also want to reduce the amount of plastic that is thrown away.

"We are currently testing applications such as single-serve, edible food wrappers. For instance, individually wrapped cheese sticks use a large proportion of plastic - we would like to fix that," said Laetitia Bonnaillie, co-leader of the study.

Single-serve pouches of cheese would still have to be encased in a larger plastic or cardboard container for sale on store shelves to prevent them from getting wet or dirty.

Edible packaging made of starch is already on the market, but it is relatively porous and does not block oxygen from reaching the food as effectively.

Bonnaillie said she hopes the milk protein packaging will be on store shelves within three years.

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[Photo by Chen Jingyu/Asianewsphoto]

In March 2006, the "Falun Gong" cult began fabricating and disseminating rumors about the Chinese government "harvesting" organs from its practitioners. Ever since, the US Congress and some other official and unofficial Western organizations have repeatedly claimed that organs are removed from "prisoners of conscience" in China without their consent.

In 2006, David Kilgour, then Canada's secretary of state for Asia-Pacific affairs, co-authored a report, accusing China of extracting body organs from "prisoners of conscience" and "political prisoners", which damaged China's image in the West.

However, in March of the same year, the US embassy in China sent personnel to the so-called Sujiatun concentration camp in Shenyang, Liaoning province in Northeast China, to investigate allegations of organ harvesting from "Falun Gong" members, and found no evidence of it.

If there was such a high number of live organ transplants from Falun Gong practitioners in China every year, it would indeed be a terrible scenario, one that would inevitably cause outrage across Chinese society and be widely discussed by its internet users. However, there has never been such a discussion.

Therefore, it is really unbelievable the Chinese government would choose to use such brutality to punish the practitioners of the banned "Falun Gong" cult. And the argument that it harvests organs in this way to sell for profit, as claimed by some, also lacks persuasiveness.

In early 2015, China officially banned organs being removed from the bodies of executed prisoners and confirmed voluntary organ donations were the only legitimate source of organs. Any medical organizations and individuals involved in the illegal trading of organs will be severely punished.

As a populous country, it is impossible to claim that China has an absolutely clean environment for organs to be used in transplants, but the forced extraction of body parts is a crime no matter who the organ provider is.--Global Times Chinese Edition
Peter Knights (Left), executive director of WildAid, Li Junfeng (Second Right), Director General of China's National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, Yang Yuexin (Second Left), President of Chinese Nutrition Society, at the release of "5 To Do Today" report in Beijing on June 20, 2016. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Feng Yongjun, a resident in Mianyang, Southwest China's Sichuan province, had the habit of sending banderoles to local government departments praising them for their good performance, which were all accepted. Recently, however, he tried to send one to the local environmental protection bureau criticizing it for not tackling the pollution in his village. He was detained and charged with a criminal offense. Beijing Times commented:

It seems the local officials in Mianyang can only be praised, not criticized. By asking the police to detain Feng just because he sent a complaint, they have actually tried to hinder him from exercising his legal right to criticize public power.

More importantly, the local police detained him and charged him with staging an illegal public demonstration. According to the country's Criminal Law, it is illegal for people to hold a public demonstration without police approval, and if they refuse to end the demonstration when ordered to do so, the police can detain them. But this does not apply in Feng's case, as he did not hold a public demonstration, he only sent a complaint to the local bureau of environmental protection.

Every citizen has the right to complain to, even criticize, the government. Sending a complaint, even in this way, is exercising this right. If the local police detain a person for this they are denying people this right.

There have been many similar reports about citizens being detained for sending complaint banderoles to government departments, although without being charged. This shows that people are increasingly aware of their right to complain about governments, while government officials remain ignorant of people's rights and often prevent them from exercising their rights.

Also, the local environmental protection bureau should be investigated. Has it failed in its duty to protect the local environment? Feng said they stood idle when his village suffered from pollution and simply issued a notice after villagers repeatedly reported the pollution to them, without taking any real measures. If that's true, the local environmental bureau officials should pay for their inaction or misdeeds.
A worker feeds forage to Zika deer at a farm in Yanbian, Northeast China's Jilin province, on February 6, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

A man in Shiling town in Sichuan province, Southwest China, who was allegedly making money by videoing his abuse of dogs, was "captured" by local animal protection volunteers and paraded naked through the streets. Beijing Times commented on Monday:

Cruelty toward animals is beneath contempt; but experience has proved that people taking matters into their own hands and violently punishing animal abusers only make matters worse by making the opposing sides more irrational.

In this case, making the man parade through the streets naked was an abuse of an individual's rights. According to the volunteers, it was the only thing they could think of.

It is impossible to solve all problems overnight. In this case, the animal protectors must face the consequences of their actions and accept that the rule of law is the bottom line.

But it is also worth reflecting on the role of the internet and social media in the incident. The man was profiting by posting videos of his cruelty toward animals, while social media discussion has only amplified the divide between those who support the animal rights activists and those who criticize their actions with both displaying a sense of moral superiority.

China lacks an animal protection law. Though a draft is currently under discussion, the process of introducing one needs to be accelerated.
CAI MENG/CHINA DAILY

For more than a year, headlines worldwide have been pointing to a Chinese economic slowdown. But a closer look at regional dynamics within China tells a different storyone that is less about deceleration than changing gears.

According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the resource-rich province of Shanxi in North China has suffered an economic slowdown, but Southwest China's Chongqing municipality and Guizhou province have experienced vibrant growth. North China's Hebei province and three other northeastern provinces are feeling the effects of recession, but the heavy-industry economies of Tianjin municipality, and North China's Shandong province and East China's Jiangsu province are booming.

After the 2008 financial crisis, when slower growth became the "new normal" for many countries, China began accelerating its economic rebalancing by shifting the drivers of growth from manufacturing and exports toward goods and services for domestic consumption.

This transition has had far-reaching implications for the future dynamics of China's economy. Previously, the economic activities that are now flourishing weren't categorized as manufacturing industries at all, but as "services". But services do not exist in a vacuum. All businesses need manufactured products, transportation, information and communications technology (ICT), logistics, real estate, finance, insurance and more.

Thus, new demand for new services has virtuous-cycle effects in terms of capital investment in infrastructure and equipment. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the growth of services in China to meet domestic demand does not mean the end of manufacturing and capital investment, much less of economic growth.

Service sectors stand to make up for much, if not all, of the growth lost to lower output in export-oriented manufacturing sectors. China's transportation, ICT, finance, insurance, real estate, education and healthcare sectors have long had inappropriately low labor productivity, which means they have significant room to grow faster.

According to a paper by economists Jong-Wha Lee and Warwick J. McKibbin, service-sector productivity growth in Asia "benefits all sectors eventually, and contributes to the sustained and balanced growth of Asian economies". Examining economic development trends in the Republic of Korea, the authors find that the average value added per worker in transportation, real estate and ICT is now higher than the average in manufacturing, and they point to similar dynamics in the United States, Japan and China.

This finding suggests that rapid development in China's service economy could reverse the externally triggered dampening of growth since 2008. But, as the Japanese and ROK transitions from export to domestic demand-driven growth demonstrate, structural transformation is a slow and painful process.

China is in the midst of that process, and it must be careful not to undermine existing sources of growth lest it fall into a structural trap where the cost of transition itself derails new gains. It is not a good sign that the high costs in many Chinese provinces have been weighing down overall growth.

This points to fundamental challenges ahead, notwithstanding the significant economic potential of Chinese consumers. For starters, economic development based on diversified domestic demand is more complicated than export-driven development, because these new sectors rely more heavily on sophisticated financial services, free and equitable market access, better educated workers, and higher investment in research and development.

As a result, the new businesses emerging from the shift to a new growth model are demanding far more from China's current economic-governance system than it can bear. Further structural reforms would go a long way toward fixing this problem, but they will also require China's leaders to make tough political decisions that won't please everyone.

Another fundamental challenge is China's slow rate of urbanization, which is still lagging, even after 25 years of export-led growth. Each of a thriving service economy's major componentsICT, finance, insurance, transportation and real estateneeds the others to prosper, and cities are what bring them all togethera phenomenon of network externalities.

China's cities will be a key ingredient of its long-term economic success. Urbanization should start accelerating today, and over the next 10-15 years, with the expansion of metropolitan areas geared toward the needs of services-led economic growth. If China can rise to that challenge, it will be well positioned to clear the remaining hurdles in its path toward high-income status.

The author is a professor of economics and director of the China Center for Economic Studies at Fudan University.

Project Syndicate
One common mistake U.S. companies make is failing to understand that patents and trademarks are territorial.* That is, these forms of intellectual property only provide protection in the country in which they were registered. This means that trademarks and patents registered in the United States offer no protection in China. If a U.S. company has not registered its patents and trademarks in China, a Chinese company is free to make use of that intellectual property in manufacturing or selling the product in China. The U.S. owner of the intellectual property will call these products knock-offs or infringements, but the manufacture and sale of those items in China and from China is perfectly legal. Though selling those products in the United States will be prohibited, selling them in a jurisdiction where there has been no registration is also perfectly legal. To put this a bit differently, if you register your patents and trademarks in just the United States, a Chinese company will be free to make your products in China and sell them in China and elsewhere around the world.

This then leads to the following situation we often encounter in China. A U.S. manufacturer has its patented and trademarked product made in China under a contract manufacturing arrangement. The U.S. manufacturer does not register its trademark in China. The U.S. manufacturer does not register patents in China. And the U.S. manufacturer does not enter into a formal contract manufacturing agreement with the Chinese factory concerning ownership and use of the intellectual property in the manufactured items. When asked, the U.S. buyer explains that registration/contracts in China are not necessary because the U.S. trademark and patent mean no knock offs can be sold in the U.S. The manufacturer feels perfectly safe.

Then consider what happens. Say the product being manufactured in China is after market auto parts for U.S. automobiles. The Chinese manufacturer is aware that it is not possible to sell knock off parts in the United States. However, the Chinese factory also knows there is a huge market for used U.S. autos and small trucks in S.E. Asia, India, the middle East and Africa. Since the autos are used, the market for after market auto parts at cheap prices is also huge.

So the Chinese factory does the following in China:

Registers the trademark and logo of the U.S. entity.

Registers the design patents on each of the parts.

Registers the trademarks and design patents with Chinese customs.

Then the factory makes the parts using the exact molds and know-how transferred to the factory by the U.S. entity. Though the parts are technically knock offs, they are in reality virtually identical to the genuine parts being sold in the U.S. For this reason, the parts sell extremely well in non-U.S. markets. The Chinese factory then builds a major market selling these parts outside the U.S. Since no trademarks or patents are registered in these third-world markets, the sales do not violate any laws.

And because these parts are so good, they also just happen to find their way into the U.S. as well, sometimes using the trademarks, but more often under a different name.

Eventually, the U.S. company finds out about its Chinese factorys side door sales program and instructs the Chinese factory to cease manufacturing its auto parts. The Chinese factory refuses, so the U.S. company threatens to move its manufacturing to a different factory in China. The Chinese factory then calmly tells the U.S. company the following: You cannot switch your manufacturing to another factory in China because we own the trademarks and patents in China (in those situations where the U.S. company has not registered its patents in the U.S. or in China) in China, making manufacturing by anyone else of your products here in China illegal. In addition, if you attempt to export, we will have China customs block those exports from leaving China because they violate our China trademark and patent registrations. If you want to manufacture at all in China, you must continue to use us for that manufacturing.

U.S. companies and their domestic legal counsel tend to think the only law in the world that counts is U.S. law and that the only market in the world that counts is the U.S. market. That kind of narrow thinking leads to disasters like the one I just described, which our China lawyers see constantly. This kind of result can be avoided by taking seriously Chinese laws and regulations and the reality of world markets.

* This post is focused on U.S. companies not because we believe U.S. companies are the only companies in the world, but because the above sorts of problems are more prevalent among U.S. companies that come to us, as opposed to European or Australian or even Canadian companies. And, perhaps more importantly, these problems are far more prevalent among U.S. lawyers than among lawyers from any other country of which we are aware.
(Photo : YouTube Screenshot) Huawei has promised to continue to provide updates for its devices under the Honor brand.

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Huawei has said that it would make sure that all of the smartphones under its Honor brand receive at least two years of updates. This statement was made in response calls for more updates and support from major smartphone manufacturers.



While Chinese smartphone brands are lauded for their unique blend of affordable price and impressive set of specs, some are questioning the commitment of these companies to their users. While smaller smartphone manufacturers like Ulefone and UMi are releasing updates on a regular basis, the same cannot be said for large companies like Huawei and ZTE, according to Giz China.



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The lack of updates has led consumers to worry, especially since hacking and identity theft are proliferating. Huawei is addressing these concerns by making a promise that its latest flagship, the Honor 8, will receive at least two years worth of updates. Huawei's latest move will also make the Honor 8 a better long-term investment for smartphone consumers.



Huawei said that the Honor brand would continue to release important updates and bug fixes even after the two year period has lapsed.



Huawei did not provide a roadmap of how it would put out the updates. The company did not explain whether it plans to release an update every month or every time a major bug is fixed. Nonetheless, the two-year commitment for updates is a big step towards assuring customers.



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TagsHuawei, Huawei News, huawei update, Huawei Honor 8, Huawei Honor 8 specs, Huawei Honor 8 update, Huawei Honor 8 news
(Photo : Getty Images) ZTE's deal with Telenet indicates that the company is turning to the European market.

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The United States Commerce Department has confirmed that it is giving Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer ZTE Corporation an extension of it's temporary general license. Temporary licenses are granted by the U.S. Commerce Department to allow international companies to operate on U.S. soil.



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Based on the notice published by the US Commerce Department, which was posted on the Federal Register, ZTE will receive a new three-month temporary general license, which will allow the company to operate until Nov. 28. Aside from ZTE, one of the company's affiliates, ZTE Kangxun, was also included in the new license.



In a statement, ZTE said, "This further extension of interim relief will let ZTE continue serving customers, partners and suppliers in the US as we address any remaining compliance issues with the US authorities."



On March 7, the US Commerce Department announced that it is imposing export restrictions on ZTE, and three affiliated firms. The department said that the restrictions were imposed due to ZTE's alleged violation of US export controls on Iran. The decision was strongly opposed by the Chinese government.



On March 22, the US Commerce Department gave ZTE and ZTE Kangxun a three-month license to allow the companies to operate and lift export restrictions. The license was later extended to Aug. 30. Moreover, the US Commerce Department said that the temporary license granted to ZTE and ZTE Kangxun would be renewed as long as the companies cooperate with the federal government to resolve export issues.



ZTE has 14 offices and six research centers in the United States. In these offices, 350 of its staffs (or 80 percent) are Americans. ZTE is the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer in the US, and it currently holds around seven percent of the country's smartphone market.



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TagsZTE, zte news, US Commerce Department, Commerce Department, ZTE general license, ZTE temporary general license
(Photo : Getty Images ) An Indian minister has accused China and Pakistan of having 'sinful' intentions towards New Delhi.

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An Indian minister has attacked China and Pakistan over their "sinful" intentions towards India claiming that both countries are against peace and stability in the region.



Hansraj Ahir, India's junior home affairs minister and a senior leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), said that China and Pakistan do not want peace with India because they have sin in their hearts towards New Delhi.



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"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has managed to establish good relations with all our neighbors," Ahir told reporters in Goa on Monday, according to Herald Goa newspaper. "The relations are still strained with Pakistan and China. This is because they have sin in their heart towards India."



"Indian government cannot be blamed for strained relationships with China and Pakistan when these countries have ill-feelings towards India," he added. Ahir said that Prime Minister Modi's efforts to improve relations with Pakistan have failed due to the "stubborn" approach of Islamabad.



He further argued that the Indian government beefed up military infrastructure in its border region due to the "bad intentions" of China and Pakistan towards the largest South Asian country. "That is why we have to deploy the army, paramilitary forces on the border and we will push for modernization of forces," he said.





Ahir's remarks came a few days after Chinese state media warned India against the deployment of BraMos cruise missile to Arunachal Pradesh. An editorial, published in PLA Daily last week, issued a stern warning to India saying that the Brahmos deployment could invite countermeasures from China.



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TagsIndia, china, Pakistan, border dispute, South Asia
(Photo : Getty Images ) Russian and Chinese naval forces will hold joint drills in the disputed South China Sea from September 12 to 19.

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Russia on Monday announced that its naval forces would take part in a joint military drills with China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA) in the disputed South China Sea. The joint naval exercise named the 'Joint Sea-2016' is scheduled to take place from September 12 to 19.



"During the exercise the forces of the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Navy of the People's Liberation Army of China will drill organizing defense of ships at sea and joint assault force landing in the South China Sea," Russian Navy spokesperson Vladimir Matveyev told TASS.



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China's defense ministry said that the joint military exercise is aimed at strengthening the developing China-Russia strategic partnership and is not directed against third party.



The announcement came a day after the People's Liberation Army (PLA) began a three-day 'live-fire' exercise in the Gulf of Tonkin, the northern part of disputed South China Sea. The drills come at a time when tensions between China and other claimants of in the South China Sea, particularly Philippines and Vietnam, have been heightened. China's maritime safety administration, however, said the drills are part of the PLA Navy's routine combat exercises.



The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) last week conducted similar combat drills in the international waters near the Sea of Japan.



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TagsSouth China Sea, South China Sea Dispute, South China Sea Update, Russia, china, drills
(Photo : Twitter) Xiaomi is planning to head to the U.S.

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Xiaomi has announced that it is preparing to enter the American smartphone market in the near future.



Currently, Xiaomis primary markets are limited to China, India, and Indonesia. Its international expansion to the United States is necessary because growth in China has slowed and Xiaomi's rivals like Huawei Technologies Co. cut into its market share, according to Bloomberg.



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Xiaomi, in theory, can get a good slice of the American market from Apple and Samsung. Its main advantage is the affordability of its products and their decent specs. The upcoming iPhone 7 and the new Galaxy Note 7 offers features and specs that clearly outclasses Xiaomi's Redmi 3S. Budget conscious US consumers will find the Chinese smartphone as the cheaper alternative to Apple and Samsung's pricey smartphones.



The U.S. is a market that we definitely have in our sights. We will lead with social media, with the channels that allow us to get in touch with the young generation that are enthusiastic about new technology. We are definitely going there, said Xiaomis Vice President Hugo Barra.



In June, the Beijing-based company announced the acquisition of nearly 1500 technology patents from Microsoft Corp. This deal is expected to smoothen potential legal tangles over intellectual property as Xiaomi pushes abroad, Android Authority reported.



Barra said that there is no definite date yet when it would launch its devices in the U.S. launch. However, the company has been selling lots of products including smart bikes, rice-cookers, ear-buds and fitness bands to people in the US via its online portal.



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TagsXiaomi, U.S., china, Xiaomi U.S., Huawei, apple, Samsung, Xiaomi expansion
(Photo : Getty Images) President Xi has called for more focus on improving healthcare in China.

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President Xi Jinping has called on all official authorities to consider public health while drafting policies. Xi's remark came as he spoke for the very first time about the proposed Healthy China Strategy at a top level meeting of the Communist Party, China Daily reported.



The goal of "an all-around moderately prosperous society cannot be achieved without the people's all-around health," President Xi said at the meeting. The meeting was also attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.



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Both leaders expressed several of their personal concerns about healthcare in the country, and also offered constructive steps that need to be taken to overcome them.



President Xi urged authorities to make a collective effort to encourage healthy lifestyles, consolidate medical services and disease prevention, and strengthen health-related industries. "If these issues are not addressed effectively, the people's health may be seriously undermined," he said.



President Xi and other officials at the meeting reached a consensus that the government authorities cannot ensure a healthy populace alone, as many complex socio-economic factors determine the country's health.



Premier Li suggested that abundant healthcare resources must be allocated to rural and economically-backward regions, with a greater focus on providing insurance to offset the effect of increasing medical expense on patients.



President Xi also called for framing innovative strategies to promote a healthy lifestyle at the grassroots level, adding that health policies must be drafted that are suitable to local conditions.



Over the years, China has been on overdrive to improve public health. One of the government's recent initiatives is focused on increasing the number of doctors across the country. The aim is to give every Chinese citizen access to a doctor by 2020.



Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that lower penetration of doctors had lead to overcrowded hospitals across China.



Despite its impressive economic development over the past two decades, China is still faced with major healthcare issues. The most critical issue being the absence of robust healthcare infrastructure in rural parts of China.



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TagsXi Jinping, china, Healthcare System in China, Health China
(Photo : Getty Images) China has denounced the ongoing US-South Korean military drills saying the exercises could jeopardize the peace and security in the Korean peninsula

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China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, on Monday condemned the ongoing US-South Korea joint military drills saying the exercises could endanger the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and trigger a war.



The two-week military drills named 'Operation Ulchi Freedom Exercise' involves 25,000 US forces and 50,000 South Korean troops.



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The position of the US military in the peninsula and Seoul's resolve to counter North Korea's nuclear threats will leave a "vicious cycle of violence for violence" and could lead to war if the military drills are mishandled, Xinhua said.



Military confrontation



China is currently conducting military drills in the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea to equip its troops to effectively respond to threats in the disputed sea.



Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis, in a press briefing, said the US military drills with Seoul is part of its preparation for a possible military confrontation with Pyongyang.



"The drills are designed to make sure the United States can honor obligations to defend South Korea against any potential aggression from the North," he said.



Davis added that the military exercise is a yearly event between the two nations and that the drills are 100 percent defensive in nature.



Non-provocative



US military officials said they had earlier notified North Korea that the military exercises were "non-provocative" in nature, but Pyongyang accused the US that the drills were being held as a prelude to an invasion.



Pyongyang had threatened to launch a preemptive nuclear strike if the two nations continue their military drills in the peninsula.



"The nuclear warmongers should bear in mind that if they show the slightest sign of aggression, it would turn the stronghold of provocation into a heap of ashes," a North Korean army spokesman said in a statement.



THAAD



The US-South Korean military drills have raised tensions anew between Beijing and Seoul following China's denunciation of the US and South Korea's plans to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to Korea.



Beijing said deploying the anti-missile system to Korea would jeopardize the security situation in the peninsula and that the missile system may be used against China later on.



US and South Korean officials have repeatedly sought to allay Beijing's fears saying the missile system will solely be used as a defense against North Korea's nuclear strikes.



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TagsUS-South Korean military exercise, THAAD, North Korea, nuclear strikes, china
(Photo : Getty Images) Cheetah Mobile plans to boost the user base of News Republic.

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Cheetah Mobile Inc, a leading Beijing-based internet company, is turning its focus to content-driven business, following the acquisition of media app operator News Republic in the second quarter. Cheetah Mobile is known for making security-based value added apps such as Battery Doctor, Clean Master, Duba Anti-virus.



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The South China Morning Post reported that acquisition of News Republic comes amid the company's recent struggle to boost its advertising revenue. Kingsoft Corp, a majority stake holder in Cheetah Mobile, said last week that its subsidiary company is looking to grow its content portfolio to offset the drop in advertising revenue from third-party advertisement platforms.



Experts have described latest acquisition as Cheetah Mobile's biggest bet till date. Cheetah Mobile's last the acquisition was QuickPic Gallery in 2015



"This is a huge step for us," Chief Technology Officer Charles Fan Chenggong told the South China Morning Post. "We can potentially reshape the news industry by introducing a strong, artificial intelligence-driven, personal news delivery service."



Cheetah Mobile's big data analytics chief said that the company aims to further boost the user base of News Republic and make it the number one news app globally.



News Republic is a leading news app that can be downloaded from Google's Play Store and Apple's I Tunes. It offers news in 37 different languages and provides access to articles from top news sites including CNN, Sina Corp, Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Financial Times.



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Tagscheetah mobile, china, Mobile Tech Companies in China, News Republic
(Photo : NASA) NASA PubSpace homepage

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NASA has placed online hundreds of scholarly, peer-reviewed articles on research projects it's funded since the late 1950s the public can access for free.



NASA's treasure trove of scientific articles can be accessed through NASA PubSpace, NASA's publication repository. NASA PubSpace is part of PubMed Central (PMC), a full-text, online archive of journal literature operated by the National Library of Medicine under the National Institutes of Health.



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NASA is using PMC to permanently preserve and provide easy public access to the peer-reviewed papers resulting from NASA-funded research.



NASA PubSpace can be accessed here. People can now search NASA related articles archived in PMC at NASA PubSpace.



Beginning with research funded in 2016, all NASA-funded authors and co-authors (both civil servant and non-civil servant) will be required to deposit copies of their peer-reviewed scientific publications and associated data into NASA PubSpace.



This excludes patents, publications that contain material governed by personal privacy, export control, proprietary restrictions or national security law or regulations.



This is the latest in several NASA initiatives to increase public access to the agency. NASA's website has an "Open Government" section that outlines initiatives to make the agency more available to the public through programs that promote machine-readability of NASA documents, open-source software development, and financial data transparency.



NASA's more transparent policy stems from a 2013 request from the Obama administration to increase public access to the results of all federally funded research. The request applied to all science-funding agencies funded by the US government.



"Making our research data easier to access will greatly magnify the impact of our research," said NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan. "As scientists and engineers, we work by building upon a foundation laid by others."



By releasing the data, scientists outside NASA can access all sorts of knowledge upon which to base their own work. In turn, their discoveries might provide new discoveries others can build on. NASA PubSpace is part of a greater trend of openness and accessibility in the scientific community.



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TagsNASA, NASA PubSpace, PubMed Central, PMC
(Photo : Getty Images ) China, Japan and South Korea will hold tri-lateral talks in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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China is likely to raise its concerns over the planned deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to Korea during trilateral talks with Japan and South Korea.



The foreign minister trilateral talks will be held in Tokyo on Wednesday. Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will host his Chinese and South Korea counterparts in a dinner on Tuesday night.



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China's foreign ministry said on Monday that foreign ministers from three countries would discuss a host of issues including the planned deployment of the THAAD defense system to Korea as well as North Korea nuclear and missile tests.



"Cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea are significant to the region. We hope the trilateral meeting could help maintain this cooperation and work towards the goal of setting up an economic community by 2020," ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.



Last month, the United States and South Korea announced their decision to deploy the THAAD anti-missile system to Seoul. Washington has been trying to placate Beijing over the deployment. US military chief Mark Milley recently met with senior Chinese military commanders to address their concerns. Besides China, Russia also voiced strong objection to the move.



The talks also come at a time when tensions in East Asia Sea have intensified. China's naval forces last week conducted combat drills in the international waters near the Sea of Japan.



Intrusion of Chinese government vessels into Japans territorial waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands https://t.co/q6CVFTxaEn

 MOFA of Japan (@MofaJapan_en) August 23, 2016







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Tagschina, Japan, South Korea, Tokyo, THAAD, East China Sea
(Photo : NASA) A Russian Progress spacecraft.

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Russia seems to have gone ahead with developing a modified "Parom" (ferry) spacecraft intended to replace the Progress cargo ships that first ventured into space in 1978. Progress spacecraft are the only vehicles that travel to the International Space Station carrying with them space travelers, scientific equipment and supplies.



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Media reports claim RSC Energia (OAO S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia), the prime developer and contractor of the Russian manned spaceflight program, has gone ahead with engineering studies for the new spacecraft. If actually built, Parom might fly into space starting 2020.



Parom might be a ton heavier than Progress and will feature a new design. Its larger size means it will be able to ferry more people and cargo, reducing the number of annual cargo shipments to the ISS from four to three.



A pressurized cargo bay with an internal volume of some 18 cubic meters can take 2.4 tons of supplies, including 400 kilograms of water and more than 50 kg of air. A new feature will be a six-tank cluster with 1.8 tons of propellant.



The original concept for Parom drawn up in 2005, however, saw this vehicle as a reusable inter-orbit space tug. It also envisioned Parom not as a cargo spacecraft.



Instead, cargo in payload containers destined for a space station will be taken into an orbit 200 km high by launch vehicles. Parom will then dock with the payload containers and deliver them to the space station.



Because of this, Parom was to have been built around a pressurized transfer passage with docking ports at each end. Each of these two docking ports can be used to dock with the payload containers, a space station or any other spacecraft.



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TagsParom, Russia, International Space Statio, Progress spacecraft, rsc energia
Bavar-373 battery on its transporter launcher.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Aug. 21 revealed the "Bavar-373," Iran's first indigenous long-range, high-altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) based on and intended to surpass the Russian S-300P long-range SAM on which it's based.



Bavar-373 is a truck-mounted mobile air defense system still under development, however. Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said Iran will begin mass production of the Bavar-373 air defense system by March 2017 after component tests. The SAM was successfully test fired in 2014, four years after development began.



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Bavar is the Farsi word for "belief" while the number "373" is the Abjad number of Prophet Muhammad's name.



Bavar-373 is in some ways similar to the Russian S-300P and, like the Russian missile, was built to destroy high-flying aircraft such as U.S. strategic bombers. On the other hand, the Russian S-300 can also track down and shoot down cruise missiles and theater ballistic missiles.



While Iran hasn't revealed performance data for the Bavar 373, the Russian S-300P it's claimed to have surpassed can hurl its 100 kilogram high explosive fragmentation warhead out to an engagement range exceeding 90,000 meters.



Russia has delivered the first battalion of S-300PMU-1/SA-20 Gargoyle SAM batteries to Iran. The 300PMU, the export version of the S-300, is an upgraded version of the weapons system initially ordered by Iran in 2010.



The Bavar-373 project was launched after Russia in 2010 suspended the S-300 sale to Iran due to UN sanctions over Iran's controversial nuclear program. Putin lifted the ban this year and the first shipment of the S-300 system originally ordered in 2010 has been delivered.



In 2010, former Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Iran will develop a domestic system similar to the S-300 by itself.



"We have planned to build a long-range air defense missile system similar to S-300. By God's grace and by the Iranian engineers' efforts, we will reach self-sufficiency in this regard," he said.



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TagsBavar-373, surface-to-air missile, Iran, President Hassan Rouhani, Russian S-300P
SMACK DOWN: Judge issues injunction against Obama admin's transgender 'guidance' for schools 23 August, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (Christian Examiner)  A U.S. district judge in Texas has issued a preliminary nationwide injunction on the implementation of federal guidelines that squeeze transgender rights into the Civil Rights Act and mandate transgenders' access to the bathroom and locker room of their choice in public schools.

On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor issued a 38-page ruling claiming the federal government's interpretation of Title IX is wrong and the expansion of the definition of "sex" to include anything other than the two anatomical or biological categories of male and female is abuse of the statute.

In May, the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice issued a joint statement from Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Secretary of Education John King Jr. which said that schools  in order to receive federal funding  must avoid "discrimination" of any students based on sex, "including a student's transgender status."

The president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform. That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts, who are charged under state law to establish a safe and disciplined environment conducive to student learning.

For example, the federal "guidance" claims schools may not require students to have a medical diagnosis before allowing them access to an opposite-sex facility, require them to undergo medical treatment or even require them to produce a birth certificate before allowing them access "consistent with their gender identity."

Thirteen states, represented by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, rejected the federal guidelines and sued the government in the Northern District of Texas.

Following the ruling, Paxton said in a statement the court had "ruled against the Obama administration's latest illegal federal overreach."

"The president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform. That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts, who are charged under state law to establish a safe and disciplined environment conducive to student learning," Paxton said.

O'Connor's ruling is an example of what scholars call "originalism"  or the belief that the language of laws should be interpreted according to what the words and concepts meant at the time the people's representatives passed the law.

In this case, the 1972 Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 said female athletes and students should be given comparable locker room and restroom facilities to their male peers. Male and female were defined biologically.

O'Connor said permitting the definition of sex to be redefined would create new regulations that carried the weight of law and were "compulsory in nature." Non-compliance with the new interpretation would mean the states risk the loss of federal funding, but at the same time they would suffer "irreparable harm" by not enforcing the law as original written by Congress.

Gay rights organizations reacted angrily to the judge's injunction.

Five of the groups  the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and ACLU of Texas, Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Transgender Law Center and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)  issued a joint statement saying a "ruling by a single judge cannot and does not undo the years of clear legal precedent nationwide establishing that transgender students have the right to go to school without being singled out for discrimination."

The groups also called the injunction "unfortunate and premature," even telling school districts that "your obligations under the law have not changed, and you are still not only allowed but required to treat transgender students fairly."

The Department of Justice also said it was disappointed in the court's decision and reviewing its options. That means the case will likely be headed further up the legal chain and possibly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The high court has already temporarily blocked a Virginia student who was born a girl from using the boy's restroom at school.

Last year, the ACLU argued that "Gavin" Grimm, 17, should be allowed to use the boy's restroom even though "he" was born female. The Gloucester County School Board disagreed, and the student and the leftist advocacy group sued shortly thereafter.

In a brief order Aug. 3, the Supreme Court said the district could, in fact, refuse to allow the female student access to the male restroom while the case was on appeal.
A group of U.S. Christians are joining together in support for Israel and to combat a U.S. pro-Palestinian movement.

CharismaNews.com reports that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) became the latest American church to join the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

To counter this movement, about 100 Christian leaders, along with Israeli Knesset members, are working together to support Israel.

"Israel's safety and well-being are the responsibility of every Jew and every Christian who loves Israel in every place at every moment of life," Joseph Sabag of the Israel Allies Foundation told those gathered for a meeting of the coalition.

Sabag is working to push legislation through in the U.S. which would fight against the BDS movement.

"In May of 2015, South Carolina became the first state in America to adopt modern legislation regulating against the problem of commercial discrimination and boycotts against Israel," Sabag said.

Other states have followed South Carolinas lead, but there is still work to be done.

Barry Shaw, author of BDS for Idiots, warned of the movements dangers:

"What is going on with BDS is a global name for all the Israel haters. (It's) really the misinformation campaign that they're feeding to the general public and the miseducation that's happening at these campuses," he said.

Knesset member Michael Oren said the only way to combat false information is with the truth, and that is what the coalition of Christians and Israelis is seeking to do.

Publication date: August 23, 2016
Nearly 20 percent of the worlds population could lose access to the ministry efforts of Western Christians next year.

In April, China passed new regulations that will affect its more than 7,000 foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) by requiring that they register with the local police and find an in-country partner.

China also banned foreign NGOs from engaging in or funding religious activities. The measure could expel Christian groups that are doing medical, developmental, or educational work in the worlds largest country by population, with 1.4 billion people.

Chinas move is significant because of the number of people affected. But other countries have been moving in this direction for years.

While the laws vary, they often regulate overseas funding and the number of working visas an NGO can offer. Some require regularand occasionally onerousregistration with the government.

For example, India now requires NGOs to report foreign donations within 15 days and to confirm that the money is not used for activities likely to prejudicially affect the . . . interests of the state. Since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, India has cut off foreign funding from more than 13,000 NGOs.

Chinas crackdown happened despite the fact that many countries benefit greatly from welcoming foreign groups, said Arch Puddington, senior vice president for research at Freedom House. Thats because outside of the United States, few nations have cultures where citizens are accustomed to financially supporting civil society through private funds.

In some cases, local NGOs lack the expertise or capacity to address health problems or education issues, said Puddington. ...

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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.
A fracturing Boko Haram isnt good news for the 218 mostly Christian schoolgirls who have been held captive since 2014.

In fact, militants killed 10 and kidnapped 13 more women and children from the primarily Christian village of Chibok on Saturdaythe same place the girls are from. And a new video of the girls seems to signal new pressure on the Nigerian-based radical Islamist group.

Outside pressure comes from Nigerias military, which cracked down on Boko Harams territory in the northeast after the country elected Muhammadu Buhari as president in 2015. Buhari promised to dismantle Boko Haram within a year; although he hasnt done so, military pressure on the terrorist group has increased and its territory has shrunk.

Buhari has also been working on his relationship with the United States, which stepped up military help to the area. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Buhari in Nigeria this week; security concerns are on the agenda.

Boko Haram also faces ...

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Outspoken Cardinal Burke to Participate in 'Hope for the World' Tele-press Conference

Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276



MEDIA ADVISORY, Aug. 23, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- WHAT  An international tele-press conference that will feature Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who will discuss his latest book, HOPE FOR THE WORLD, which addresses his thoughts on controversial topics, such as:

The indissolubility of marriage

Islam

Abortion

Homosexuality

Radical feminism

The role of the Catholic Church in the modern world

The necessity for lay Catholics to be politically active

The liturgy

Spiritual renewal

Poverty

Burke fearlessly provides a therapeutic analysis of the crisis affecting the Catholic Church since Vatican II, and he radiates the perennial hope that is the wellspring of evangelization in HOPE FOR THE WORLD, a thorough and hard-hitting Q-and-A with French journalist Guillaume d'Alancon. His lucid and straightforward answers help with understanding the essential moral and spiritual challenges of today, and the foundational truths of the natural law, which is written on our hearts.



Burke will take questions from media participants.



WHO  Cardinal Raymond Burke is the patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the former archbishop of St. Louis. He was made a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1994, and a cardinal in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. He was called to Rome in the same year to become Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, before Pope Francis named him chaplain to the Order of Malta in 2014.



Burke has long been one of the most outspoken leaders of the Catholic Church, boldly defending its teachings on controversial topics, such as abortion, same-sex marriage and whether divorced and civilly remarried Catholics should be allowed to receive Communion, among many others.



WHEN  10 a.m. ET Monday, August 29, 2016. (You must pre-register to participate.)



WHERE  Tele-press conference line. Register here: bit.ly/2bCPpJa. You will be pre-certified and receive dial-in instructions. For more information, or to request a review copy of HOPE FOR THE WORLD, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications.
The Top 5 Reasons Religious Organizations Went to Court in 2015



CAROL STREAM, Ill., Aug. 23, 2016 /



This analysis is instructive to churches. Most notably, it demonstrates the recurring problems that church leaders must remain vigilant about addressing. For instance, child sexual abuse once again ranked number one on the listas it has for many years. Church leaders should take the threat seriously, and children's ministry directors must maintain high screening and selection standards. The other categories on the list, including insurance disputes and personal injuries, are also perennial problems.



Before fall arrivesand with it, the traditional kickoff to the ministry yearchurch leaders should take time with their board and leaders to assess how well their church is handling these challenges.



An



Stay current on legal and tax developments relevant to churches and pastors by subscribing to



is a nonprofit, global media ministry centered on Beautiful Orthodoxystrengthening the church by richly communicating the breadth of the true, good, and beautiful gospel. Reaching over four million people monthly with various digital and print resources, the ministry equips Christians to renew their minds, serve the church, and create culture to the glory of God.

Share Tweet Contact: Louise Ferrebee, Christianity Today , 630-260-6200CAROL STREAM, Ill., Aug. 23, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- Richard Hammar, an attorney specializing in legal issues for churches and clergy, recently released his report on the top five reasons faith-based organizations, including churches, went to court in 2015. Hammar categorized state appellate court and federal court rulingsaround 12,000 decisions totalto identify which types of litigation most threaten religious organizations.This analysis is instructive to churches. Most notably, it demonstrates the recurring problems that church leaders must remain vigilant about addressing. For instance, child sexual abuse once again ranked number one on the listas it has for many years. Church leaders should take the threat seriously, and children's ministry directors must maintain high screening and selection standards. The other categories on the list, including insurance disputes and personal injuries, are also perennial problems.Before fall arrivesand with it, the traditional kickoff to the ministry yearchurch leaders should take time with their board and leaders to assess how well their church is handling these challenges.An infographic and an article show these top five reasons religious organization went to court in 2015.Stay current on legal and tax developments relevant to churches and pastors by subscribing to ChurchLawAndTax.com Christianity Today is a nonprofit, global media ministry centered on Beautiful Orthodoxystrengthening the church by richly communicating the breadth of the true, good, and beautiful gospel. Reaching over four million people monthly with various digital and print resources, the ministry equips Christians to renew their minds, serve the church, and create culture to the glory of God.
Famed Attorney and Television Judge Glenda Hatchett to Headline Destiny Empowerment 2016 Two-Day Conference Designed to Help Professionals Decode Their Destiny Returns to The Lighthouse Church October 21-22



Contact: Velma Trayham, 888-509-1145



HUMBLE, Texas, Aug. 23, 2016 /



The two-day conference designed to help professionals step into their purpose will be headlined by famed attorney and television judge Glenda Hatchett. She is the founder of The Hatchett firm, and currently represents the family of Philando Castile, the African-American man who recently died in the highly publicized police shooting in Minnesota. Hatchett was the first African-American chief presiding judge in the state of Georgia and is best known nationally for her Emmy nominated television show, "Judge Hatchett." This fall, she returns to television in "The Verdict."



"Our goal is to bring successful men and women into our community and into our church to share how they unlocked the doors to success," said Pastor Henderson. "Our speakers are sharing real-world advice, invaluable resources and personal testimonies, and helping conference attendees to reimagine what's possible, step out on faith and manifest their vision."



Pastor Henderson, also the CEO of Tax Solutions, will lead a session entitled "Mind Your Business." Other sessions will include "CEO of Destiny," "Destiny TRAP: Talents, Resources, Abilities and Passion," "Breakup to Breakthrough," "Setback to Setup" and "Control Your Destiny."



Also joining Hatchett and Pastor Henderson is Alfred Edmond Jr., senior vice president and chief content officer of Black Enterprise. In addition to his editorial roles, Edmond is one of the masterminds behind the Black Enterprise Entrepreneur's Conference + Expo and the Women of Power Summit. Holton Buggs, a multi-million dollar networker and one of the highest producers in Organo Gold will also serve as one of this year's speakers.



The Destiny Empowerment conference was first launched in 2015, and featured Bishop T.D. Jakes. Due to the success of the event, the conference now enters its second year, and aims to be bigger and better than before.



"Destiny Empowerment 2016 takes place in the last quarter of the year when many are reevaluating their purpose and seeking guidance on how to position themselves to enter into the New Year rejuvenated and ready to revamp their approach to their professional and personal lives," said Velma Trayham, CEO of ThinkZILLA Consulting, the public relations and event management firm for The Lighthouse Church. "This event is a game changer for ordinary people ready for extraordinary possibilities and prosperity."



For more information about tickets, sponsorship, speaking opportunities and vendor opportunities, visit

Share Tweet Contact: Velma Trayham, 888-509-1145HUMBLE, Texas, Aug. 23, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The Lighthouse Church, under the leadership of Pastor Keion Henderson, announced today that the highly anticipated Destiny Empowerment conference will return this year on October 21-22. This year's theme is "Destiny DECODED: Redefining How You Think."The two-day conference designed to help professionals step into their purpose will be headlined by famed attorney and television judge Glenda Hatchett. She is the founder of The Hatchett firm, and currently represents the family of Philando Castile, the African-American man who recently died in the highly publicized police shooting in Minnesota. Hatchett was the first African-American chief presiding judge in the state of Georgia and is best known nationally for her Emmy nominated television show, "Judge Hatchett." This fall, she returns to television in "The Verdict.""Our goal is to bring successful men and women into our community and into our church to share how they unlocked the doors to success," said Pastor Henderson. "Our speakers are sharing real-world advice, invaluable resources and personal testimonies, and helping conference attendees to reimagine what's possible, step out on faith and manifest their vision."Pastor Henderson, also the CEO of Tax Solutions, will lead a session entitled "Mind Your Business." Other sessions will include "CEO of Destiny," "Destiny TRAP: Talents, Resources, Abilities and Passion," "Breakup to Breakthrough," "Setback to Setup" and "Control Your Destiny."Also joining Hatchett and Pastor Henderson is Alfred Edmond Jr., senior vice president and chief content officer of Black Enterprise. In addition to his editorial roles, Edmond is one of the masterminds behind the Black Enterprise Entrepreneur's Conference + Expo and the Women of Power Summit. Holton Buggs, a multi-million dollar networker and one of the highest producers in Organo Gold will also serve as one of this year's speakers.The Destiny Empowerment conference was first launched in 2015, and featured Bishop T.D. Jakes. Due to the success of the event, the conference now enters its second year, and aims to be bigger and better than before."Destiny Empowerment 2016 takes place in the last quarter of the year when many are reevaluating their purpose and seeking guidance on how to position themselves to enter into the New Year rejuvenated and ready to revamp their approach to their professional and personal lives," said Velma Trayham, CEO of ThinkZILLA Consulting, the public relations and event management firm for The Lighthouse Church. "This event is a game changer for ordinary people ready for extraordinary possibilities and prosperity."For more information about tickets, sponsorship, speaking opportunities and vendor opportunities, visit www.pastorkeion.com/destiny2016 or call 888-509-1145.
Head-Bobbing Hillary would Short-Circuit American Civil Rights on Firearms and Religion, Says Catholic Gun Dean Contact: John Snyder, 202-239-8005;

www.GunRightsPolicies.org



TITUSVILLE, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- "Head-bobbing Hillary will short-circuit American civil rights if she is elected president," John M. Snyder of Telum Associates stated here today.



"Clinton opposes the civil right to freedom of religion and the civil right to keep and bear arms," he added.



A practicing Catholic, Snyder has been named the dean of Washington gun lobbyists by the Washington Post and New York Times.



"Clinton is a proponent of Australian-style gun confiscation, abortion on demand, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage," Snyder continued. "Clinton Supreme Court nominees would upend the right to keep and bear arms in defense of life and force churches to oppose the right to life itself."



Snyder noted Life News indicated Hillary would "make Christians change their religious views to support abortion."



He said an American Values Action video showed Clinton stating: "deep seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed," "the unborn person doesn't have constitutional rights," and "the only people that I would ever appoint to the Supreme Court are people who believe that Roe v. Wade is settled law."



Snyder said, "Catholic bishops should stop acting like weasels and accept their moral responsibility to tell parishioners they may not vote in good conscience for abortion promoter Clinton."



Snyder said, "Hillary supports semiautomatic gun registration, universal background checks on all firearms transfers, and subjection of firearms manufacturers and dealers to frivolous third party lawsuits."



Clinton has cited Australia's anti-gun policy as "a good example" of gun control. She said, "The Australian government, as part of trying to clamp down on the availability of semiautomatic weapons, offered a good price for buying hundreds of guns. Then, they basically clamped down, going forward."



Snyder noted, "As NRA indicated, Hillary Clinton does not believe in the Second Amendment. She does not believe in the U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized a fundamental, constitutional right to have a firearm in one's own home for self-defense."



Snyder said, "A Clinton presidency would be lethal for civil rights. Voters should reject her candidacy in November and elect the right to life Trump-Pence gun rights ticket."



(A high resolution version of the photo is available on request.)



Contact: John Snyder, gundean@gmail.com. (202) 239-8005, www.GunRightsPolicies.org

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home World Christian persecution in India intensifies over first half of 2016

An independent report revealed that India already documented 134 cases of Christian persecutions for the first half of 2016, doubling down on cases reported in previous years.

According to Morning Star News, the Evangelical Fellowship of India's Religious Liberty Commission (EFIRLC) documented the incidences from Jan. 1 to June 30 and supported by independent fact-finding surveys. Last year, the cases recorded amounted to 177 while the cases totaled 147 in 2014.

The European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance (FoRB&RT) also released June 30 its "Annual Report on the State of Freedom of Religion or Belief in the World 2015-2016" that cited a 150 percent increase of religious persecution in India.

EFIRLC placed Uttar Pradesh as the Indian state with the most cases of sectarian violence with 25, followed by states Madhya Pradesh with 17 and Chhattisgarh with 15. EFIRLC named the groups behind the attacks, including Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Hindu extremist groups affiliated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The report described the crimes perpetrated against Christians as physical violence, attacks on churches, prohibiting church services, threats, and even murder. Hindu extremists also use the South Asian country's Freedom of Religion Acts by falsely charging Christian leaders of conversion by force.

William Stark, an ICC member and expert in South Asia on radical Hindu ideology, explained why Hindu radicals refuse to tolerate any other religions.

"If you see someone Muslim or Christian, they're following a foreign faith, and they're defiling India because they're following a foreign faith," Stark told Vice News.

He also added that Christianity is on the rise in this predominantly Hindu country despite ongoing persecution because many of those in the lowest caste find the Christian faith appealing.

"You're in a religion that for thousands of years said you're something below human, and then a faith comes that says everybody is created equal, that's a very attractive message," explained Stark.

The report also indicated "a startling rise" of such violence in Uttar Pradesh due to the upcoming elections.

Humanitarian groups blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party, Indian People's Party, for tolerating the violence.

"The central government has refused to speak out against the atrocities a thus further encouraging radical Hindus to step up their discrimination against Christians," David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, told FoxNews.com.
home US Kim Davis marriage license lawsuits dismissed; court rules for Rowan County clerk

All three marriage license lawsuits against Rowan County clerk Kim Davis have been dismissed by U.S. Judge David Bunning on Thursday, Aug. 18. The cases against Davis were brought to court in 2015 when she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in all states.

The Liberty Counsel, the non-profit group that represented Davis, celebrated the victory in a press release issued on Friday, Aug. 19. "Kim Davis has won! We celebrate this victory for her and for every American," declared Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.

"County clerks are now able to perform their public service without being forced to compromise their religious liberty. The case is now closed and the door has been shut on the ACLU's attempt to assess damages against Kim Davis," Staver added.

Davis spent six days in jail in September 2015 when she was cited for contempt because she refused to issue marriage licenses. She was eventually released on the condition that she would not interfere in the issuance of marriage licenses of same-sex couples, according to a report by the Washington Post.

Last April, Reuters reported that Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin passed a legislation that would not require the signature of the county clerk in marriage licenses. "There is no additional cost or work required by our county clerks. They are now able to fully follow the law without being forced to compromise their religious liberty," Bevin said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The bill also made changes to the licenses to accommodate both heterosexual and same-sex couples. The license would allow applicants to choose whether they wished to be addressed as a bride, groom or spouse.

Michael Aldridge, executive director of The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky, expressed his approval of the bill to create a uniform marriage license. The ACLU represented the three couples who sued Davis in court.
home World Chapel built for Christians in Pakistan jail

Christian social activists together with jail officials, opened a chapel for Christian inmates at the Landhi Jail in Karachi on Aug. 5. The chapel now provides a separate place of worship to some 100 Christians who are serving their sentences and awaiting their trials in the city jail.

According to UCANews, the construction of the chapel was funded by a non-government organization known as Angel Patient Care Services. Chairperson Samina Nawab told UCANews that Christian inmates had been asking for their help to build a chapel. "Our teams frequently visit jails and provide healthcare services to inmates irrespective of their faith," she explained.

"We are grateful to Inspector-General of Sindh Prison Nadeem Hussain Mangan for his continuous support and cooperation during the construction work and our other initiatives," Nawab added. She acknowledged the contributions of family members and pastors to fund the construction of the chapel. She said her new goal is to gather funds for the medical needs of the prisoners.

Churches, chapels, prayer halls and community centers for non-Islamic religions are normally not allowed on government property, according to the report.

Muhammad Hassan, a senior official of the jail, stated that all inmates are free to practice their religion. "There is no bar whatsoever on non-Muslim inmates worshiping," he said to UCANews.

Ishtiaq Awan, the Police Assistant Superintendent, stated in the report that Christians are normally kept with Muslim inmates but they are given separate barracks to celebrate their respective holidays.

Although freedom of religion is guaranteed in the constitution of Pakistan, speaking against Islam is forbidden. Violating Pakistan's blasphemy laws may be punishable by life imprisonment or death penalty. According to a 2014 article by the BBC, the majority of those accused of blasphemy were Muslims. The article also cited that the National Commission for Justice and Peace documented 187 blasphemy cases against Christians since 1987.
home World Jewish and Christian partnership results in $500,000 clinical care prize

A Jewish entrepreneur and a Christian missionary's shared passion to help the poorest of the poor in dire need of healthcare led to a historic $500,000 award for outstanding Christian medical missionary service.

According to the African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), the $500,000 Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson L'Chaim ("To Life") Prize is the largest-ever annual award in clinical patient care.

Award precursor Mark Gerson, the Jewish businessman chairman and co-founder of AMHF, worked in tandem with college roommate and Christian missionary Dr. Jon Fielder for many years. Fielder, who worked with the late Mother Teresa in Calcutta, was instrumental in the implementation of the various HIV programs in Kenya and Malawi. As the co-founder and president of AMHF, Fielder played an important role in the foundation's groundwork in Africa. The foundation supports faith-based healthcare workers who provide one-third of Africa's medical services.

The award was inspired by the generous response to Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof's New York Times column featuring missionary doctor Tom Catena. Catena is the only permanent doctor based in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, populated with half a million people.

In an essay on the current healthcare situation, Gerson revealed that in the 10 years that he has worked for the foundation, he witnessed that limited resources available to the community produce results that saved lives and alleviated suffering. He also said, "The Jewish and Christian faiths share sanctity of life as the highest value. My wife and I are gratified to honor the physicians most effectively employing resources to heal the world's poorest and most vulnerable."

Catena, a doctor supported by AHMF and a recipient of donations generated by Kristof's column, commended the effort behind the award. "The hospitals and doctors are deeply invested in the community. They stretch a dollar to incredible lengths in service of the poor. This award will transform healthcare for the winner's institution and inspire others to join as AMHF serves those who need it most," Catena said.

Explaining the reason behind the award, Gerson said that the Christian medical workers are humanity's unsung heroes. The idea to create the Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson L'Chaim Prize stems from this fact. L'Chaim means "to life." Life is the gift that Christian medical missionaries provide to so many people in Africa. "To learn about the work of Christian medical missionaries is to enlarge the understanding of what a single human being can accomplish," Gerson added.
home US Obama's transgender bathroom mandate blocked by federal judge

A federal judge in Texas ruled Sunday to block the use of transgender bathroom policy mandated by no less than the U.S. President Barack Obama.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor signed a temporary injunction on Obama's extension of Title IX law on public schools that it "is not ambiguous" about sex as "the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth."

The judge also determined that the administration "failed to comply" when it issued the policy without providing "notice and comment requirements."

"This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students' rights and that of personal privacy ... while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school," wrote O'Connor.

Obama issued the directive in May that all American public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathroom and changing facilities according to the students' gender identification and not their biological sex.

At least 13 states and agencies filed a lawsuit to challenge the policy as unconstitutional. The 13 states included Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

"This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people and is threating to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform," the Associated Press quoted Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as saying.

O'Connor also said that the ruling would apply to all states.

While the Justice Department expressed disappointment with the ruling, Josh Block, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, rejected the order as applicable nationwide.

"It's Wichita Falls. It doesn't have jurisdiction over the entire country," said Block.

The U.S. Supreme Court also temporarily blocked earlier this month a previous court order on Virginia's Gloucester High School that sided in favor of the school's transgender female student, 17-year-old Gavin Grimm.

Obama extended the transgender directive on federal buildings as announced by the General Services Administration's (GSA) Thursday on the Federal Register website.
home World Muslims attend church service to show unity with Christians in London

A show of unity was the ultimate goal for the interfaith service held in St. John's Parish in London. Leaders of the city's Muslim community and its members congregated with the Christian Church for a Eucharistic service last Sunday.

According to a Christian Today report, the Muslim leaders who attended the church service included an imam and board member of the Muslim Law Council, Dr. Mamadou Bocoum; the first Muslim partner of Price Waterhouse in the United Kingdom, Mohammed Amin; and Rabina Khan, a former Tower Hamlets councilor.

An integration campaign group called Faith Matters organized the service together with the Rector of St. John's Parish, Rev. Alan Green. It was a move to demonstrate community and friendship after last month's brutal killing of a well-known priest, Father Jacques Hamel. The joint service was said to "confirm the importance of life within both faiths and to come together in the spirit of solidarity, empathy and care for the dignity and lives of each other."

Reports said Father Green, who is currently chair of Tower Hamlets Interfaith Forum stated: "Joining together today with respect for both Christianity and Islam, we encourage all a with or without a religious faith a to respond to violent provocation by actively proclaiming our values of hospitality, openness and freedom by our words and actions. We must not allow terrorists and criminals to undermine those values nor our commitment to them."

Mohammed Amin, one of the Muslim community leaders present at the event said that he was in the U.S. visiting his son when the attack on Father Hamel happened. "I believe that when faced by such barbarism, all people of goodwill need to stand together. Today was my first chance to show my solidarity by attending a church service. As a Muslim, I am outraged by the way bloodthirsty savages like the people in ISIS have hijacked my religion, and used it to justify hate and murder. All Muslims have a duty to resist them," he shared.

According to a report by Independent Catholic News, a similar interfaith service was held in France last July. Muslims from all over Europe attended Christian services in their area to express solidarity with the Church after Father Hamel's death.
home World Norway Evangelical Lutheran Church loses thousands of members after introducing online option to leave

Around 15,000 Norwegians made the choice to leave the Norwegian evangelical Lutheran Church after a site was launched allowing members to cancel their membership. The church website reported 10,854 resignations and only 240 new enrollments on the launch of the new system.

According to RT, the Norwegian Church set up the website to respond to the government's plea for the Church to keep track of its membership.

Archbishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien did not seem surprised by the mass membership cancellations. "We were prepared that there would [be] a considerable number of people cancelling their membership, and we have great respect for each individual's personal choice," Byfuglien told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).

Jens Petter Johnsen, the director of the State Church Council, believed that many members had already decided to leave the Church but never actually took the time to go through the paperwork. "Although it has never been difficult to opt out of the Church, many have failed to submit [a] withdrawal form or correct errors in the registry. This self-service solution makes it easier to withdraw," Johnsen told NRK.

Linda Hofstad Helleland, Norway's minister for culture, shared with NRK that it was about time the church put a new system in place. "I have been very concerned that the Norwegian Church should get an electronic system in place. When someone tried several times to quit without success, it was clear that withdrawal system had to be changed," Helleland said to NRK.

According to a report released by Statistics Norway in May, church attendance has been declining steadily. The report noted a 2.3 percent reduction of attendance in Church activities from 2011 to 2015. The activities included baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals. The statistics for 2015 indicated that there were 3.8 million reported members of the Church, about 73 percent of Norway's population.

Views and News from Norway reported that the Norwegian Church has been trying to break away from the Norwegian government although it is still mostly state-funded.
home World Pastor arrested for forcing children to beg on streets in India

An Indian pastor identified as Mallipeddi James was arrested on Thursday, Aug. 18, for forcing to beg on the streets of Hyderabad, India. James ran the Brahmaputra Orphanage in Ameenpur village in Telangana, promising to provide better education for children.

According to a report from The Indian Express, James deployed at least four children to different locations within the limits of the Gachibowli Police Station to ask for donations for the orphanage. A police team raided the orphanage and found 20 children, all below 14 years old.

"Some of them were orphans, while others had parents who could not afford to send their wards to school," Gachibowli Police Station Sub-Inspector Ch Venkatesh said to The Indian Express. James has been charged for violating the Juvenile Justice Act.

The children were transferred temporarily to the orphanage of Mahima Ministries then were moved to the Rangareddy District Welfare Homes, according to The New Indian Express.

A parent identified as Sharada stated in the same report that James did not mention to her that his facility was an orphanage. "He said to us this was a hostel. He gave us written assurance on paper that they will provide my children with good school and facilities. They didn't take any money from us either," said Sharada.

Sharada's children were reportedly beaten by James and were instructed not to tell anyone that they had parents. Sharada's niece was also one of the children that was rescued at the orphanage.

A report from Reuters India revealed that James' orphanage was unregistered. "The orphanage was illegal and had no licence to run," said S.B. Balaraju of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR). The SCPCR issued a notice to the Medak district collector and magistrate demanding an explanation for how the orphanage was allowed to run without a license.
home World Priest ordinations in Germany at their lowest, says German Bishops' Conference

The number of priests in Germany is at its lowest with only 58 newly ordained men in 2015 for the whole country. This was announced during the German Bishops' Conference that was held in Bonn this August.

According to ChurchMilitant, the number of ordained priests falls short of replacing the 329 priests who died or left the priesthood that same year. The report also noted that the figure has dropped more than 50 percent in just 10 years.

The official website of the German Bishops' Conference reported that the number of Catholics in Germany, currently at 23.8 million, has plummeted from 42.7 percent in 1990 down to 29 percent last year. The report also stated that 181,925 people left Catholicism in 2015 alone.

A statement from the same report attributed the reduction in numbers to "demographic developments in society."

"More Catholics are buried per year than are received through baptism, and secondly, the share is reduced by renunciations of membership," the report said.

Pope Francis noted the drop in numbers for the Sunday Mass as early as Nov. 2015. In his address to the Bishops of Episcopal Conference, he observed that almost all Catholics attended mass on Sundays in the 1960s. "Ever fewer people are receiving the sacraments. The sacrament of penance has almost disappeared. Fewer and fewer Catholics receive Confirmation or contract a Catholic marriage," the Pope said in his address.

In June 2015, Catholic Online reported that European churches are importing priests from Africa and Asia to compensate for the lack of priests in Europe. While priests and church attendance decline in Europe, the Catholic population in Asia, Africa and America are still experiencing growth.

Catholicism in Africa has seen the most growth with a 238 percent increase between 1980 and 2012. In the same period, Catholic population has grown 57 percent in America and 115 percent in Asia. However, in Europe, the figure increased by only 6 percent, according to the Center for Applied Research in Apostolate.
home Faith Russell Moore denounces prosperity preachers: Christians should not normalize Christianity

Evangelical leader Russell Moore said he's horrified of prosperity preachers as he asserted that Christianity should never be shaped to conform to the general acceptance of the world.

The 44-year-old theologian, ethicist, and president of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission talked about prosperity gospel preachers on his Signposts podcast on Friday.

Moore shared that watching these prosperity pastors speaking on television gives him the same experience as if he's watching a horror movie. He recounted one such female pastor who sat on a golden throne and declared that she'd still choose to be a Christian even if the Gospels were proved to be unreal.

"That's easy to say from a golden throne on television," said Moore. "That is not easy to say in first century Ephesus when identifying yourself with a crucified and resurrected Messiah means that you are going to lose your standing in the marketplace."

Moore also mentioned the plight of the persecuted Christians in Sudan as well as the unregistered house church members in China.

"And, in fact, that is never what Christianity has proposed itself to be," said Moore, who rejected the idea that one should turn to Christianity in order to attain material success.

New York Times best-selling author megachurch pastor Rick Warren also wrote on his blog Aug. 8 to warn Christians of the "fatal mistake" of assuming that faithfulness could bring material and worldly success. He mentioned the tragedies suffered by Paul, John the Baptist and millions of faithful Christians, who came to the end of their lives jailed, beheaded or with losing everything they once had.

"One of the most dangerous things we could do, I think, as the Church is to normalize Christianity, and normalize the Gospel," continued Moore.

The South Baptist leader urged Christians to accept the fact that they remain minorities.

"Christianity isn't normal anymore, and that's good news," he wrote on his website.
home US Donald Trump must convince evangelicals he will appoint conservative Supreme Court justices, says Texas pastor

In order to win over the evangelical community, a pastor suggested that Trump must emphasize his commitment to appoint conservative Supreme Court justices.

"Many of the issues we evangelicals care about - the sanctity of life, religious liberty - are going to be decided by the Supreme Court," Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, told Fox News. Jeffress also pointed out that Trump had already released his top conservative picks for Supreme Court justices, something which Jeffress observed has never been done before by any presidential candidate.

According to a survey by Pew Poll last July, evangelicals preferred Trump over Clinton three-to-one. Despite these figures, Jeffress noted that Trump may still lose to Clinton if evangelical voters decide to stay at home and not vote.

"The danger is not that evangelicals are going to vote for Clinton," Jeffress said in the interview. "The danger is that they won't turn out and vote at all, like they did in 2012 by the millions," he added.

According to Jeffress, McCain and Romney made the mistake of overlooking the importance of the evangelical vote and thinking that evangelicals have no choice but to vote for the Republican candidates.

"Donald Trump isn't making that mistake. For the last year, he has made a concerted effort to reach out to evangelical voters," Jeffress told Fox.

The report by Fox News noted that Trump has been campaigning hard to appeal to religious voters and convince them to be more active in the election process.

Jeffress is one of the members of Trump's evangelical advisory board. Other prominent members of the board include James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Kenneth, Gloria Copeland, David Jeremiah, former congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Paula White.

The board members advise Trump on issues that are important to evangelicals but they were not asked to endorse the candidate as a prerequisite for board participation, according to a press release by the Trump campaign.
2017 Porsche Panamera release date: Interior examined; Vehicle breezes through Berlin

The 2017 Porsche Panamera recently breezed through the streets of Berlin, showing off its sleek new design months before its official unveiling to the auto world.

In its recent appearance in Germany's capital, the new Panamera flaunts its sporty look. Autogespot gushed about how dynamic the vehicle looks than its predecessor.

Porsche takes pride in the design overhaul made on the 2017 Porsche Panamera. Speaking to Kelly Blue Book or KBB, brand executive Detlev von Platen said that "some liked [the first iteration of the sedan], some didn't like it."

This won't be the case in the 2017 Porsche Panamera. The company did a lot of work on the rear, which contributed to the overall aesthetic improvement of the flagship sedan,

With the rear roofline lower and the rear end a tad higher with a rear window screaming Porsche all over, the 2017 Porsche Panamera is the portrait of a dreamy car.

The interior of the new Panamera was not left untouched. Keeping up the mobile technology, two 7-inch LCDs now sandwiches the analog tachometer, which KBB notes serves as the sole reminder of how its predecessor looked.

The dash comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen where much of the control panel of the 2017 Porsche Panamera will now be accessed.

The buttons beneath the main screen are now a mix of physical and capacitive ones, the finishing touch for the ultra-modern interior look of the new Panamera.

While the controls have changed, the interior featured 40:20:40 split folding rear seatbacks, making for enough in the backseat and cargo, much like its generous predecessor.

The 2017 Porsche Panamera comes in two versions. With a starting price of $99,900, the first one is the Panamera 4S, which features a twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6.

It boasts a horsepower of 440, which should make for an impressive 0-60 miles per hour run in 4.0 seconds with the top speed reaching 180 mph.

Next year's version of the Panamera Turbo, priced at $146,900, comes with a new twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 flaunting an impressive 550 horsepower running 0-60 (top speed at 190 mph) within 3.4 seconds.

The 2017 Porsche Panamera will be released in the United States this January.
Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan set to retire in January

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, is to retire next year after nearly 14 years at the helm of the Church in Wales and 24 years as a bishop.

Dr Morgan, who is the longest-serving archbishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion and also one of the longest serving bishops, will retire on his 70th birthday at the end of January. He will also retire as Bishop of Llandaff after more than 17 years service, having previously been Bishop of Bangor for nearly seven years. He will continue his work and engagements in both roles as normal until then.

The Archbishop of Canterbury described Dr Morgan as an "extraordinary servant" who would be "deeply missed" while the First Minister of Wales praised his "vast contribution" to Welsh life. Wales' senior bishop, the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, praised his "courageous leadership" of the Church in Wales.

Announcing his retirement, Dr Morgan, who lost his wife Hilary to cancer early this year, said: "It has been an enormous privilege to serve as Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Llandaff and to do so during such a momentous era in Welsh life. It's been a rollercoaster ride but all along I have been sustained and inspired by the people I meet, day in day out, who live out God's love in every part of Wales through their commitment and devotion to their churches and communities.

"I would like to thank all those who have supported, shared and upheld me in my ministry over the years, particularly since Hilary's death  the loss of her love, encouragement and friendship has been enormously hard to bear.

"Over the years I have seen Wales grow in self-confidence as a nation and I now have every hope that this will be nurtured and enriched with the continued support of the Church in Wales."

During his tenure as Archbishop, Dr Morgan has championed many changes in the Church in Wales, including a change in its law to enable women to be ordained as bishops and the implementation of a radical strategy, 2020 Vision, to help the church grow and prosper in the approach to its centenary year. He has also played a prominent role in public life, campaigning most notably for a fair devolution settlement for the Welsh Government and speaking out on matters of moral concern.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: "Barry was one of those on the interviewing panel for my appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury, and was notable for the quality and courtesy of the questions he asked. More than that his follow up and every contact since has been gracious, encouraging and full of the presence of Christ. Caroline and I stayed with him and Hilary about two years ago and we realised the depth of their partnership, the contribution she made to his ministry and the deep loss he has felt since her death. Barry has been an extraordinary servant of those places where he has ministered, of the Church in Wales and of the whole Anglican Communion. We will miss him very deeply indeed."

The First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones, said: "I greatly value the vast contribution Dr Barry Morgan has made during the past 14 years as Archbishop of Wales. He has had such a positive impact on the lives of so many people from Wales' religious communities, and has encouraged the establishment of good community relations across the country.

"It has been an honour to have worked closely with the Archbishop through the work of the Faith Communities Forum, which he has served since its inception. I am grateful for his advice and wisdom on matters affecting the economic, social and cultural life in Wales and for his unwavering commitment to promote interfaith work across Wales."
Asia Bibi's last appeal against death sentence for blasphemy to be heard in October

Asia Bibi, the Christian on death row for blasphemy in Pakistan, will have her final appeal heard by the Supreme Court in the second week of October.

The hearing will be Bibi's last chance to overturn the decision which sentenced her to death in 2010 under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws. The date for Bibi's return to court was confirmed to International Christian Concern (ICC) and is the final legal avenue available to avoid execution.

Advocate Said-ul-Malook, Bibi's lawyer, told the persecution charity ICC: "I will appear before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and argue her case while she will remain in prison.

"I hope the result will be an acquittal."

The case stems from a dispute that took place between Bibi and a group of Muslim women in June 2009. An argument allegedly erupted after Bibi, who says the Islamic women considered her unclean because of her Christian faith, drank from the same water bowl as them.

Later the women told a local cleric that Bibi had blasphemed against Islam by saying: "My Christ died for me. What did Muhammad do for you?"

She was sentenced to death in 2010 by a local court in Punjab before her High Court appeal was delayed and rescheduled seven times. It was finally held on October 16, 2014 at the Lahore High Court but Justice Anwar-ul-Haq, one of the two judges hearing the appeal, confirmed her death sentence.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan accepted her petition for the case to be reviewed on July 22, 2015 and her death sentence was suspended. At the time, her lawyer Malook said he was "optimistic" the court would acquit Bibi. "The standard of evidence which is required to prove [this] offence is not available in this case," he said.

If Bibi's appeal is overruled, her only chance of avoiding execution would be through a presidential pardon.

A number of human rights groups and religious freedom charities, including ICC, consider Bibi's case indicative of how Pakistan's blasphemy laws are used against minority groups.

ICC's regional manager William Stark said the case was "one of the best examples" of Christians being targeted "by radicals wielding Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws". He added the laws were "widely abused and often used as a tool to settle personal scores or spread religious hatred".

Stark went on: "Threats from Islamic radical groups and general discrimination against Christians in Pakistan have transformed courts into little more than rubber stamps for blasphemy accusations brought against Christians regardless of the evidence brought to bear in the case.

"It is ICC's hope that the Supreme Court will resist these pressures and decide Bibi's case on the merits.

"If decided on the merits, we believe the court's only conclusion will be to acquit. That decision will lay a foundation for practical steps toward religious harmony in Pakistan and will be a signal that justice will prevail over extremism in Pakistan's courts even when a religious minority is accused of blasphemy."
China: Christians pledge to defy authorities as crackdown on churches continues

China's crackdown on house churches not registered with the official state church is growing and now represents the "greatest challenge" faced by Christians in the region, according to latest reports.

Some unregistered churches are resisting the pressure to comply with government regulations, in spite of the risks of retribution.

China Aid, which works to support persecuted Christians in China, is reporting that one house church, Proclaiming Christ, in central Henan province has rejected a government order to cease its religious activities and remove its signs and worshippers intend to continue to defy the authorities.

Fang Guojian, a church attendee, told China Aid: "We are still gathering. We wrote a petition. After they saw it, they were afraid. In the letter, we wrote that we would go to Beijing; go to Beijing and appeal. Now, they are afraid, and they do not dare to provoke us."

Once churches are registed with the official church, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, they become subject to government supervision. All services and other activities then have to be approved by the state.

China is number 33 on the Open Doors persecution watch list, which ranks countries where it is most difficult to practice the Chistian faith.

Open Doors says: "While the campaign of breaking down crosses in the province Zhejiang seems to have come to an end, church meetings continue to be disrupted and stopped. Authorities see the meetings as threats when foreigners, media or large groups of people are involved, one example being in the province Guangdong.

"The curbing of reporting and social media after explosions in Tianjin in August 2015 also serve to limit Christian freedoms. The government's goal of maintaining power and social harmony includes the control of all religions, including the quickly growing Christian minority."
Christians now afraid to go to church in Philippines due to threats from Islamist radicals, priest says

An Italian missionary living in southern Philippines has warned that people are now afraid to go to Mass due to perceived threats from Islamist radicals.

"Before, the Philippines was a dream place for inter religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims ... but now people are frightened even to go to Mass", said Fr. Sebastiano D'Ambra, an Italian missionary in Mindanao, according to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

D'Ambra has been living in the Philippines for 40 years and works for dialogue and peace between Christians and Muslims. He is the founder of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement in Zamboanga City in Mindanao. Silsilah is an Arabic word which means "chain" or "link."

He said the past years have changed the landscape in Mindanao.

"Before, the Philippines was a dream place for interreligious dialogue; there was complete harmony. But now the situation has changed completely," he said.

He added, "The threats from the Islamists are constant in the south of the country, above all on the island of Jolo. Kidnappings, violence, persecutions... only recently they murdered a Christian."

The priest explained that behind the situation are "geopolitical and military interests," that result in "a very complex scenario."

D'Ambra said for decades they have lived in a spirit of true brotherhood between the religions. But now a different form of Islam has emerged.

"Previously, we were dealing with a traditional form of Islam, but now everything has changed; the violent tendencies have grown, and every time they get stronger," he revealed.

He has been calling on Islamic leaders in the Philippines not to act "as if nothing were happening" but to denounce the dangerous situation.

Instead, the leaders "remain with arms folded; they are afraid of reprisals and choose to remain silent."

He said Islam has grown in the Philippines.

"In Mindanao, once 80 percent of the population were Christian. Today it could be that only 60 percent are Christians, and the other 40 percent are Muslims. The Christians are not happy. They are living in fear, terrified to speak out or to go to Mass, despite the presence of the army," he said.

As result, many Christians have abandoned Mindanao, he said.
Church of England court rules against comfy padded chairs in medieval church

A Church of England court has rejected a plea by parishioners in a medieval rural church to replace wooden pews with more comfortable padded chairs. They can have the chairs, but without the padding, a consistory court has ruled.

The judgment comes as churches throughout the country are busy working out how to get more "bottoms on seats". In many medieval and Victorian churches, the abiding challenge is to make the seats in question a bit more comfortable.

One rural church in Warwickshire decided its woodworm-infested unforgiving Victorian wooden pews should be replaced by more comfy padded chairs.

Holy Trinity in Long Itchington, a Grade II-listed church in the Coventry diocese, dates from the late 12th and early 14th centuries and has undergone many changes over the centuries. The congregation particularly wanted more flexible seating for the popular Messy Church services, one of the "new" forms of church that are turning round decades of declining church attendance and bringing in new Christians.

Messy Church services involve games, worship and a meal. For them to take place at Long Itchington, parishioners first have to lug the heavy pews to one side.

Church members argued that padded chairs would be more "warm and welcoming" as well as easier to move.

Conservationists agreed reluctantly that the pews could go, but said that the replacement chairs could not be padded.

Far more ancient and venerable church institutions, including the Archbishop of Canterbury's own Lambeth Palace, are among those that use padded chairs.

Coventry diocesan chancellor Stephen Eyre QC said in his judgment that the new chairs would "clearly alter the appearance of the interior of the church."

Eyre said: "I accept that the interior appearance of a church should if at all possible not be off-putting to those new to it. However, it is to be remembered that an overly casual appearance can be incompatible with a house of God and can be as unattractive to newcomers as an appearance of excessive rigour.

"An emphasis on quality and seemliness is not only appropriate in buildings dedicated to the Glory of God but is also part of what attracts those new to the Church."

He argued that "properly designed unupholstered" chairs can be as comfortable as those which are upholstered. They also look equally welcoming, he said.

The consistory court judgment is among those reported by David Pocklington of Law and Religion UK. He says in his analysis of the chairs-versus-pews debate that this "is one of the most frequent changes made to churches" and is also a very emotive issue.

He compares it to Brexit, with strongly held views from both the "remain" and the "leave" sides.

He says: "Upholstered seats are not considered to be appropriate for a number of reasons: their potentially significant impact in terms of colour, texture and character which is not consonant with the quality of a highly-listed church; the need for more regular refurbishment, due to wear and tear, staining, especially in multi-use churches where it will be normal to eat and drink regularly on the chairs; difficulties in arranging and stacking; alteration of acoustics from soft furnishings."

Will Jones, operations team Supervisor and acting DAC secretary at the diocese of Coventry, told Christian Today: "The Diocese of Coventry is steward to some of Warwickshire and Coventry's finest historic buildings. It operates within national guidance, which includes a preference for unpadded seating. The aim of this is to enhance the appearance of the interior of the church and to extend the longevity of the seats.

"A well-designed unpadded seat, suitably shaped, does not need to be any less comfortable than a padded seat. Modern, stylish, unpadded seating has been introduced in, among others, St Paul's Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral, as well as many parish churches across the country."
Former headmaster accused of 'having sex with boy he met at Christian group'

A 75-year-old former headmaster is on trial over allegations he had sex with a boy he met through a Christian youth group.

John Coatman, now retired, is in the dock at the Old Bailey charged with buggery and two counts of gross indecency with a 14-year-old boy over a 12-month period in the 1970s.

The allegations cover the time when Coatman was headteacher of St Andrew's Church of England secondary school in Croyden and involved in the Christian group for boys. Prosecutor Corrine Bramwell told the court how "rough and tumble" turned sexual.

She said: "[The complainant] recalls John Coatman asked him whether he's ever ejaculated before, and he spoke to him about sexually transmitted diseases.

"He describes that during the contact both of them were naked and accepts that he was excited by the attention given to him."

Sexual contact took place on four or five occasions, said Bramwell, and escalated to anal sex once.

Coatman, who was given an MBE in 2012, denies the charges.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, did not report the incident to police until 2014 despite not being "entirely comfortable" with what happened.

He said he had been bullied before joining the Christian group which gave him a "sense of a home" away from family. But he wept as he told an officer in a taped police interview played to the court: "It was my first sexual experience. I think it probably has coloured a lot of my sense of selfworth since then."

The trial continues.
Here's what Christians look for when searching for a new church

Preaching, welcome, style of worship and location are the four most important factors when Christians are searching for a new church.

And of these, the most important is the quality of the sermon.

Nearly half of the American adults who attend religious services regularly have found themselves needing to look for a new congregation at some point in their lives, the latest Pew Research study shows.

The most common reason for changing church is moving house.

More than eight in ten of those surveyed cited the quality of preaching as influencing their choice. Nearly as many said it was important to feel welcomed.

Three-quarters say the style of worship helped them choose.

Seven in ten said location was an important factor.

Currently, half of American adults attend religious services regularly once or twice a month.

About a quarter of these attend religious services more often than they did at some other time in their adult lives

Nearly a quarter of all American adults also say they now go to religious services less often than they used to.

While those who go more often say this is because they have become more devout, those who go less often cite practical reasons such as being too busy or struggling to get to church, mosque or synagogyue.

When checking out a potential new place of worship, people preferred to visit or talk to existing members rather than rely on online reserch.

The findings emerged in Pew's Religious Landscape Study, where more than 35,000 adults were surveyed by telephone. There was also further study of more than 3,000 adults.
ISIS has a price list for Christian, Yazidi sex slaves, including children as young as 1

Now it's clear: The Islamic State (ISIS) is selling captive Christian and Yazidi girls and women  even young children  as sex slaves "in the name of Allah" with the proceeds going to its war chest.

United Nations officials have authenticated a report submitted to the U.S. State Department earlier this year stating that ISIS maintains a detailed store-like price list resembling a la carte food menu for selling captive females as sex slaves to Turkish, Syrian and Gulf Arab men, Breitbart reports. The 278-page investigative report came from the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal organisation, and the nonprofit In Defense of Christians.

The report noted that the terrorist organisation has admitted a "significant decrease" in the demand for sex slaves, who ISIS terms as "spoils of war," which adversely affects the financing of its war and terror campaign.

Because of this, the ISIS "Committee of Treasury" has set regulations on the selling women, with the penalty of death imposed on those found guilty of violating the rules.

According to the report, the prices of sex slaves depend on their age, with younger ones fetching higher prices. Christian or Yazidi girls aged 1 to 9 years have the highest price tag of $169.21 each, followed by girls aged 10 to 20, $126.91; women aged 20 to 30, $84.60; women aged 30 to 40, $63.45; and women aged 40 to 50, $42.30.

In its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015, the U.S. State Department noted that ISIS has developed a detailed bureaucracy for sex slavery, including sales contracts notarised by ISIS-run courts.

Since August 2014, ISIS has captured and enslaved more than 5,800 Yazidis, including more than 3,000 women, the report says, citing the Yazidi Affairs Directory as its source.

The report says ISIS executes captives who refuse to marry jihadis in Iraq and Syria who bought them.

In December 2014, the ISIS even released guidelines on how to capture, forcibly hold, and sexually abuse female slaves, according to the U.S. State Department.

The report says ISIS routinely forces Iraqi and Syrian girls to undergo virginity tests before trading them in "slave bazaars" and sending them to various Syrian provinces and other countries for sexual slavery.

The abducted sex slaves are subjected to various forms of sexual violence including gang rape, forced marriages, and coerced abortions, according to the report.
Kim Davis: Campaigners hail victory after same-sex marriage lawsuits dismissed

US religious liberty campaigners are claiming victory in the case of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who spent time in prison after refusing to register same-sex marriages.

The case became a flashpoint for conservative resistance to the federal recognition of same-sex marriages and drew opposition from gay activists. Davis was facing three lawsuits from couples backed by the Kentucky ACLU. However, the suits were dismissed by Judge David Bunning, who said that because a new state law had removed the names of clerks from licences  a major issue for Davis and her backers  "there no longer remains a case or controversy before the court".

The judge's ruling was celebrated by religious rights organisation Liberty Counsel, which had backed Davis. Its founder and chairman Mat Staver said: "County clerks are now able to perform their public service without being forced to compromise their religious liberty. The case is now closed and the door has been shut on the ACLU's attempt to assess damages against Kim Davis. This victory is not just for Kim Davis. It is a victory for everyone who wants to remain true to their deeply-held religious beliefs regarding marriage while faithfully serving the public."

Franklin Graham, who had expressed strong support for Davis' fight, said on Facebook: "I thank God for men and women willing to take a bold stand for biblical truth  no matter the cost."
Man charged with murder over shooting of New York Muslim cleric

A man has been charged with murder after a Muslim cleric and his assistant were fatally shot outside a mosque in New York earlier this month.

Oscar Morel, 35, from Brooklyn, was indicted with one count of first degree murder, two counts of second degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He has denied committing the killings.

District attorney Richard Brown said the killings "strike at the very heart of our country's Muslim community".

Imam Maulana Akonjee, 55, and his assistant Thara Uddin, 64, were gunned down as they left their mosque on Saturday 13 August in the Ozone Park neighbourhood of Queens.

"Both victims were gentlemen of peace and their deaths are a devastating loss to their families and the community that they served," said Brown.

Authorities have said the gunman's motive remains unclear and the possibility it was a hate crime is being investigated.

Morel, who has been held without bail since his initial court appearance last week, will be arraigned on the grand jury's indictment at a later date.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Akonjee, a father of seven, emigrated to the United States from Bangladesh several years ago. Community members who knew him well described the slain imam as a humble man who lived and breathed his religious faith.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
Nigeria: Eight killed as mob turns on Muslim after he saved a Christian accused of blasphemy

Eight people have been killed in Nigeria after a mob burnt down the house of a Muslim man who intervened when a Christian was beaten over allegations he had blasphemed.

The incident occured on Monday after a Christian was accused of blasphemy against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in the northern state of Zamfara. According to witnesses quoted by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a large group of Muslim students started to beat their Christian classmate.

But a Muslim passerby intervened and drove the victim to hospital, according to local media reports.

The mob then turned on the Muslim passerby and burnt down his house with eight people trapped inside. The rescuer himself was not among the dead, a police spokesman confirmed.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attacks as "barbaric and unacceptable". In a series of tweets he said his prayers were with the families of those affected and promised: "Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever."

I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric & unacceptable. I assure that the law will take its course  Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016

My prayers are with the families of the victims.  Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016

Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever.  Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016

The incident prompted fears of further violence as state governor Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari joined hundreds mourning the deaths.

Yari called an emergency security council and local police have imposed a nightly curfew in an attempt to prevent any escalation.

Nigeria is divided between a Muslim-majority north and a Christian-majority south.

The religious persecution charity Open Doors has ranked Nigeria as one of the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. Its annual World Watch Monitor found both Boko Haram and Hausa-Fulani tribesmen "are carrying out religious cleansing, aiming to eradicate Christianity".
'Pokemon GO' latest news update: European Pokemon tours available for $200

With the undeniable popularity of "Pokemon GO," its scale is so huge that it has boosted the economy in the most unexpected ways, like the surge of battery pack demands and the like. Now, one company has jumped at this opportunity and has offered tours in both the United States and Europe for "Pokemon" enthusiasts.

According to Game Rant, Viator is a subset of the well-known travel company Travelocity that currently has an offering of thirteen different tours available for cities around Europe or the U.S. which can either be by car or by foot. These tours can be as short as a 90-minute ride or as long as three hours, depending on the route. Furthermore, some of the driving tours provide onboard Internet to prevent players from having to spend lots of money on mobile data. However, the tours are more likely lacking in electrical outlets, so those participating the tours should still have battery packs with them if they want to finish the tour in its entirety.

These tour routes are aimed to cover a majority of Pokestops as well as some of the best landmarks in the location, and it starts for as low as $18 for a bus tour in Memphis, Tennesse. It can be as high as $246 though, if the players want to go for a private car tour in Vienna, Austria. Additionally, European tours also include highly scenic countries like Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Spain. It is expected for it to expand should business prove to be good.

Meanwhile, Game N Guide reports that Niantic "shuffled" the Pokemon nests of certain locations. A nest refers to a place where the same Pokemon types respawn regularly. As such, with these changes, it could be possible for the tours to get adjustments, but with the scope of these "Pokemon GO" tours, it is expected for it to be unaffected in major ways.
Repealing the Human Rights Act: Why the government should just leave it alone

It's back: after hints that the Conservative government was rowing back on its manifesto promise to scrap the Human Rights Act (too difficult, not enough time) the new justice secretary Liz Truss has said it's definitely going to happen. There is too much pressure from grass-roots Conservatives for the party to quietly ditch it, and the Human Rights Act will, in due course, be replaced by a British Bill of Rights.

I'm a bit unhappy about this. Christians believe in human rights, should the Tories be scrapping them?

Many Christians, and others, would share your reservations. Among the guarantees of the act as it stands are the right to life, freedom from torture, freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom of thought, belief and religion and the right to a fair trial.

So if the act is repealed the government will be able to torture us, imprison us and stop us going to church?

No, because it has promised to replace it with another act which guarantees exactly the same things as the old one.

I'm really confused now. What's the point of it, then?

A good question. There are two main problems in Conservative eyes. First, the act  passed under a Labour government but with all-party support  requires our own courts to "take account of" the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. The ECHR  based in Strasbourg  cannot overrule UK courts, but many Conservatives believe it can, a view partly fed by UK judges being over-deferential to ECHR rulings. Second, it's Europe, and Europe is always an issue.

This is all a bit abstract, though. Why are they so worked up about it?

There have been several cases where British politicians  of both main parties  would have liked to do things but have been prevented by human rights law. For instance, Britain didn't want prisoners to get voting rights but Strasbourg said they should. Foreign nationals who've committed crimes in the UK can't be deported if they will face torture on their return. There have also been cases where they've acquired families here and used their right to a family life to avoid deportation.

But I thought these rulings weren't actually binding anyway?

Quite. And one way of looking at this whole thing is to say that the Conservatives have got themselves into a bit of a tangle about it. They know what their grass-roots supporters feel and they have to do something, but it's proving to be much more difficult than they thought and what they end up with may not be very different from what we already have.

So we don't need to worry about being forbidden from going to church?

Not really. But there's another question that's much more important, and that's whether Britain withdraws from the European Convention on Human Rights. We were one of the founders of this after the war, and the legal systems we are talking about were built on it. Withdrawing from it would send a signal to the rest of Europe  including Russia, for instance  that we just didn't care about human rights any more, and that would be terrible.

So that would be the time to man the barricades, rather than this Bill of Rights thing that still may not happen?

That would be the time to man the barricades.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
Russell Moore launches attack on prosperity preachers

Russell Moore has launched a devastating attack on prosperity preachers, criticising those who sit on a "golden throne".

In a message posted on his website, the president of the Southern Baptist Church's ethics and religious liberty commission said it was "good news" that the Christian faith "isn't normal anymore".

Moore said: "One of the most dangerous things we could do, I think, as the Church is to normalise Christianity, and normalise the Gospel."

He said he got the same "jolt" of adrenaline from watching prosperity preachers as others got from watching horror movies.

In the Signposts podcast, Moore described a prosperity preacher who said that even if the gospel was untrue, she would still be a Christian because it is "the best way to live".

He criticised the message and said the preacher had failed to understand the gospel and the state of the global persecuted church. He insisted "Christianity comes with a scandal and with a cross".

In response to the televangelist, he said: "That's easy to say from a golden throne on television.

"That is not easy to say in first century Ephesus when identifying yourself with a crucified and resurrected Messiah means that you are going to lose your standing in the marketplace.

"That is not easy to say in an unregistered house church in China right now. That is not easy to say in Sudan.

"And, in fact, that is never what Christianity has proposed itself to be."

The Bible, said Moore, shows that "Christianity thrives when it is, as Kierkegaard put it, a sign of contradiction".
Saved by their mother from abortion, twin brothers now 'defend the God of life' as priests

Had their mother heeded her doctors' advice, these twin brothers would not be alive today.

But thanks to the unswerving faith of their mother, the two brothersPaulo and Felipe Lizamaare now both serving God and the people of Chile as priests, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports.

The two brothers were born on Sept. 10, 1984 after their mother, Rosa Silva, rejected her doctors' advice for her to undergo abortion.

Before discovering her pregnancy, Rosa had exposed herself to x-rays while performing her duties as a paramedic. Allegedly because of the X-ray exposure, her doctors found "something strange" in the ultrasound image of her womb.

"The baby has three arms and its feet are sort of entangled. It also has two heads," the doctor reportedly told her.

Abortion for "therapeutic" reasons was legal in Chile at the time. Moreover, her doctors told her that her life was in danger.

But Rosa rejected the idea, saying she would accept whatever God would send her.

It turned out she was carrying twins. "The Lord worked and produced a twin pregnancy," Fr. Felipe told CNA.

He said he learned that he was born first. Later, the doctors were confronted with a big problem when his mother's placenta would not detach.

The doctors suggested scraping her womb. Again, Rosa rejected her doctors' recommendation, saying she felt another baby was coming out. Paulo was born 17 minutes later.

"The doctors inserted instruments to remove the placenta because it wouldn't come out. My mother knew that I was there. I was late, but I came out," Fr. Paulo said.

Had the doctors scraped his mother's womb, he would have likely been "gravely injured."

Fr. Paulo said he realised that God was working in his life right from the start, thanks to his mother who said "yes" to life and "no" to abortion.

Considering how his mother defended the life inside her, Fr. Paulo asked, "How can I not defend the God of life?"

"This event strengthened my vocation and gave it a specific vitality, and therefore, I was able to give myself existentially to what I believe."

"I am convinced of what I believe, of what I am and of what I speak, clearly by the grace of God," he told CNA.
Seduction and beheading: What a dark Bible story tells us about goodness

Mark 6:14-29 tells the story of the death of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod. Most people know the story. Apart from the Bible, it's told in paintings and grand opera. There's a whiff of evil decadence about it  Salome's seductive dance before her stepfather, his rash promise to give her whatever she wants, and her mother's deadly instruction: "The head of John the Baptist." It has all the ingredients of a certain type of Hollywood film. It's full of colour  particularly the colour of blood. It explores the darkest of human instincts and motivations.

But this is not really a story about evil. It is a story about goodness  the goodness of John the Baptist.

First, it speaks of the demands of goodness.

Herod Antipas had married Herodias, who had married and divorced his brother Philip (also, confusingly, called Herod). As the Jewish historian Josephus described it in shocked tones: "Herodias took upon her to confound the laws of our country, and divorced herself from her husband while he was alive, and was married to Herod Antipas." John could not stay silent in the face of what he believed was wickedness; he had to speak. Religion is not just about bring nice to people. It makes us do things we don't want to do and stand up for unpopular causes.

Second, it speaks of the cost of goodness.

Verse 17 says Herod had John bound and put in prison. Josephus says this was the terrible desert fortress of Machaerus. He would pay with his life for offending Herod's family. We cannot expect standing up for the truth to come without a price. In the story of Nebuchadnezzar and the fiery furnace in Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego tell the king they will not bow before the image he has set up and that God is able to rescue them from the flames. The point of the whole story, however, is in the next line: "But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that will will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" (verse 18). Even if there are consequences to standing fast, it's still what we are called to do.

Third, it speaks of the attractiveness of goodness.

Herod could not lock John up and forget him; neither would he willingly have executed him. He was drawn to his conversation and his teaching even while he rejected it.

The world cannot be indifferent to goodness. It may hate and despise it, but it recognises the spiritual power of a good man or woman. It is unsettling. It makes people question how they are living and what they should be doing with their lives. Sometimes it makes them angry.

John the Baptist  Jesus' cousin  was a good man who paid the price. All the qualities he showed, Jesus showed too. He spoke truth to power and paid with his life  but during the last 2,000 years billions of people have been attracted to him.

Goodness is challenging and costly. But it is part of our discipleship and it is what Christians are called to.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
Setback for US transgender campaigners as judge blocks Obama policy

Conservative campaigners have welcomed a US judge's decision to block an Obama administration policy that public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice.

The decision by Judge Reed O'Connor granted a nationwide injunction sought by 13 dissenting states just in time for the new school year.

While a setback for transgender advocates, the ruling is only the latest salvo in a larger legal and cultural battle over transgender rights that could be headed toward the US Supreme Court.

Following milestone achievements in gay rights including same-sex marriage becoming legal nationwide in 2015, transgender rights have become an increasingly contentious issue in the United States, with advocates saying the law should afford them the same rights extended to racial and religious minorities.

District Court Judge Reed O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction siding with the 13 states and blocking the Obama administration's bathroom guidelines on Sunday, the evening before students in much of Texas and some of the other affected states were due back in school.

O'Connor found the federal government failed to provide states with sufficient notice and opportunity for comment before issuing the guidelines. He also said the guidelines had the effect of law and contradicted existing legislative and regulatory texts.

The Family Research Council, which has campaigned vigorously against the administration's policy, said in a statement: "This is a win for parental rights and the privacy of schoolchildren nationwide! Parents in every school district in America must demand that their local school boards not sacrifice the privacy and safety of their children because of this administration's pursuit of political correctness."

Another campaign group, Alliance Defending Freedom, said on Facebook: "Schools have a duty to protect the privacy, safety, and dignity of all students, and this order from a federal district court certainly helps them in fulfilling that duty."

The US Department of Justice said it was disappointed by the decision and was reviewing its options. Legal experts expected it to appeal.

In May, the Justice and Education departments issued guidance that public schools must allow transgender students to use bathrooms, locker rooms and other intimate facilities of their choice rather than those matching their gender assigned at birth. The Justice Department has called the guidelines non-binding, saying they had no legal consequences.

But they were also backed up by a threat to withhold federal education money from states that refused to comply, drawing objections from 13 states, led by Texas, that sued.

Some conservatives have fought an expansion of transgender rights which thy see as an attack on privacy and an example of federal government overreach.

In test cases around the country, various lower courts have differed in their interpretation on whether anti-discrimination laws apply to transgender people, potentially sending the matter to the US Supreme Court for a definitive resolution.

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who frequently sues the Democratic Obama administration, said he was pleased with a decision against "illegal federal overreach."

But a group of five civil rights organisations supporting the Obama policy said legal precedent protects transgender students from discrimination, which a single judge cannot overturn.

"The court's misguided decision targets a small, vulnerable group of young people  transgender elementary and high school students  for potential continued harassment, stigma and abuse," said the five groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
Tom Daley and Christian Voice: What the Twitter row really has to teach us

Team GB has just flown back in a specially-chartered plane with a gold nose-cone. Jolly well done, too; it's all been splendid. We might not be very good at politics at home, but abroad we've been given something to be proud of.

Among those getting off the plane to a hero's welcome was diver Tom Daley. Daley took bronze with Dan Goodfellow in the synchronised 10m event but flopped in the individual final. He was one of several who didn't achieve their dreams. You have to wonder what the journey home was really like, with rejoicing and heartbreak sitting side by side.

However, there was no sympathy from Stephen Green, the founder of the hyper-conservative Christian Voice organisation. In an astonishingly crass tweet, Green said: "Turning gay doesn't seem to have done Tom Daley any favours at #Rio2016."

Turning gay doesn't seem to have done Tom Daley any favours at #Rio2016 https://t.co/tdbT0Y5acx  Christian Voice (@UKCV) August 20, 2016

Green  whose ex-wife, incidentally, has accused him of being physically and emotionally abusive to her and their children  was roundly abused on Twitter, quite rightly. JK Rowling nailed it, as so often: "Can't decide which is more offensive in this tweet, the stupidity or the spite." It's a tough call but I'd probably go for the spite.

There are good reasons for simply refusing to report anything Green says on oxygen-of-publicity grounds. After all, Christian Voice is just him. It's not very Christian and the "voice" bit is only because he is adept at winding people up. The trouble is that he really is good at that, and social media being what it is, everyone has picked up on it. And it's right and proper that Christians should be saying, "Not in my name" and joining the chorus of outrage.

But maybe we can take things a little further. What does Green teach us about how to talk about other people  especially people with whom we might disagree, whether it's because they're gay or because they voted for Brexit? Here are three ideas. And they are not hard to grasp.

1. Be respectful.

Every human being is made in the image of God. Every one of us is a child of God: "Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?" (Malachi 2:10). Those are extraordinary statements, and they mean every person deserves the fullest, unconditional respect. It doesn't depend on whether they are Christians or not, or whether they are virtuous or not. It just depends on them being human. If you loathe someone's stance on politics or sexuality or religion, set your feelings gently to one side. God made them.

2. Be kind.

Heaven knows there were enough Olympic failures as well as successes. Poor Lutalo Muhammad lost gold in the last second when he was kicked in the head. A sprinter made two false starts and was disqualified. Louis Smith was devastated when he lost to Max Whitlock on the pommel horse. On the other hand, when Germany lost to Brazil in a penalty shoot-out, German players clustered round Nils Petersen, whose penalty was saved, assuring him it wasn't his fault. Kindness is an under-rated virtue. It means we overlook someone's faults and treat them lovingly. We don't assume they'll get over a disappointment, we make it happen.

3. Be humble.

Like Tom Daley, I too have been up on a 10 metre board. Or rather, like Mr Bean; only the greater terror of looking ridiculous made me take the quick way down rather than using the stairs. Daley has achieved more than almost anyone else in the world in a sport that is frankly terrifying; a little humility, please. And there's a lesson here, too: when we look at what people have achieved, when we look at their strengths as well as their weaknesses, we are far less likely to judge them. We see them as rounded human beings, whose lives and opinions need to be understood rather than just condemned.

On the face of it, there isn't much to be said for Stephen Green  and there certainly isn't for his tweets. But of course, the real test comes when we have to be respectful, kind and humble even to people like him.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
Top Muslim cleric praises Pope Francis for saying it is wrong to identify Islam with violence

A top Iranian religious leader has praised Pope Francis for saying it is wrong to identify Islam with violence.

Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi of Qom wrote in a letter to the Pope: "I am really delighted to have heard your comments during your last trip to Poland in which you stated 'Islam is not equal to terrorism' and further dismissed the association of violence and harshness with any and all divinely-sent religions.

"Your wise and logical stance regarding Islam in disassociating the religion from the inhumane actions and atrocities of the Takfiri groups such as Daesh is truly admirable."

Pope Francis told reporters on his plane back from Poland last month: "I think it is not right to identity Islam with violence. This is not right and this is not true."

He was speaking following the murder of Father Jacques Hamel, an 85-year-old Catholic priest in Rouen, France, in an attack that was claimed by Islamic State.

"I think that in nearly all religions there is a always a small fundamentalist group," the Pope said. "I don't like to talk about Islamic violence because every day when I look at the papers I see violence here in Italy  someone killing his girlfriend, someone killing his mother-in-law. These are baptised Catholics.

"If I speak of Islamic violence, I have to speak of Catholic violence. Not all Muslims are violent."

In his letter, Shirazi said that "such barbaric acts have nothing to do with divinely-sent religions and their various schools of thought. Rather, they originate from the inferior materialistic objectives of some corrupt superpowers who seek nothing but to obtain more illegitimate wealth."

He condemned the death of Father Hamel, and said it was the duty of religious leaders to take "clear and strong positions... against the inhumane violations, especially those carried out under the name of religion in any part of the world".

He ended with a note that he would "pray to God almighty" for the Pope's "success in spreading kindness, peace and spirituality in the world".
Charismatic vlogger Casey Neistat dropped into Houston for the weekend, meeting up with his wife, jewelry designer Candice Pool, and their toddler daughter, Francine. Candice, creative director of Finn Jewelry grew up in Houston, and Neistat's video of the visit shows lots of footage of Brays Bayou and a trip to the Galleria.

Neistat is a YouTube star, filmmaker and co-founder of social media company Beme. He and Van Neistat are the creators of the HBO series The Neistat Brothers.
See how much the highest paid actresses made in according to Forbes 2016 list. Jennifer Lawrence ($46 million) Photo: Bravo/Getty Images Photo: Bravo/Getty Images

Jennifer Lawrence pulled in $46 million this year, making her once again the world's highest-paid actress.

That's according to Forbes, which on Tuesday released its annual list of actress' earnings. But Lawrence's pretax income pales in comparison to what her male counterparts earn. Yes, even the super rich and famous experience a wage gap.

Although Forbes will release its list of highest-paid actors on Thursday, it already has a list of the highest-paid celebrities this year. And the highest-paid actor on that list is Dwayne Johnson, who earned $64.5 million.

Lawrence made less than the top five highest-paid actors, as listed in the Forbes Highest-Paid Celebrities list. In addition to Johnson, there's Jackie Chan ($61 million); Matt Damon ($55 million); Tom Cruise ($53 million) and Johnny Depp ($48 million). If Lawrence were a man, she would have come in just ahead of Ben Affleck, who earned $43 million.

Lawrence's earnings have been part of the conversation about the Hollywood pay gap before. The 2014 Sony email hack revealed that the actress, along with Amy Adams, were paid less than their male co-stars for the movie "American Hustle."

Ninety percent of the women on the 2016 Forbes list supplemented their pay from acting gigs with major endorsement deals, according to Forbes. For instance, Jennifer Aniston, who came in fourth at $21 million, made most of her money through endorsements from companies such as Emirates airlines, Smartwater, Aveeno and Living Proof, according to Forbes.

Melissa McCarthy earned $33 million and the No. 2 spot on the Forbes list. She received an estimated eight-figure fee for "Ghostbusters" and designs her own clothing line. She was followed by Scarlett Johansson at $25 million (who was reportedly paid $17.5 million for next year's "Ghost in the Shell").

Forbes, which counts earnings before fees and taxes between June 1, 2015, and June 1, 2016, also included China's Fan Bingbing (No. 5 at $17 million) and India's Deepika Padukone (No. 10 at $10 million).

The Hollywood pay gap became a hot topic last year when Patricia Arquette turned her Oscar acceptance speech into a call for wage equity for women.

"To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights," she said. "It is our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America!"

After the Sony hack, Lawrence wrote publicly about negotiating for deals and being "over trying to find the 'adorable' way to state my opinion and still be likable." And Bradley Cooper, who also starred in "American Hustle," said he was shocked to find out what Adams was paid for the film.

"She worked every day on that movie and got paid nothing," Cooper told Reuters. "It's really horrible actually, it's almost embarrassing."

Forbes has pointed to how other actresses, such as Meryl Streep and Gwyneth Paltrow, have been paid less than the men in their movies.

But there's another factor that may be causing the gap: fewer acting roles for women than for men, which means fewer opportunities for women to earn more.

For instance, 21 of the top 100 films in 2014 had a female lead or co-lead, according to a University of Southern California study. Just 28.1 percent of all speaking roles were women.

Here's the full Forbes 2016 list of highest paid actresses:
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Mortgage site HSH released its list of how much money would-be home buyers need to earn to be able to afford a home in 27 U.S. metro areas.

Dallas, Houston and San Antonio were among the cities evaluated.

The site found that, to buy a median-priced home at $217,400, Houstonians have to earn at least $52,275 per year. That's up from 2015, when a previous report put the salary figure at $49,983 and the median house price at $199,300. That's a mortgage payment of $1,219 per month. These findings come on the heels of a 2016 second-quarter home price decline in Houston. (Story continues below.)

SEE ALSO: Austin mansion with 650-pound chandelier set for auction

"The Houston metro moved down one spot on our list, swapping places with the Philadelphia metro. Home prices in the Houston area did not increase nearly as much as many other metros on our list, allowing the required salary to increase by only $883 in the second quarter," HSH reported. "If buyers in the Houston metro put 10 percent down instead of 20 percent, the required salary increases to $59,664."

In San Antonio, prospective home owners need to make at least $48,752 annually to buy a median-priced home at $210,500. With a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 3.71 percent, that would amount to $1,137 per month.

FOR RENT: 'Fixer Upper' homes are being rented out, Chip and Joanna Gaines are not happy about it

"Given that the salary increase in the first quarter was only $18 in the San Antonio metro, the second-quarter increase of $1,760 may seem rather significant," the report states. "If buyers put 10 percent down instead of 20 percent, the required salary figure increases by another $7,135 to $55,888."

In Dallas, $54,764 is the minimum salary to buy a median-priced $232,200 home.

When calculating required salaries, HSH took into account the principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments for the needed mortgage.
One year after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, only 11 percent of Protestant clergy have been asked to officiate at gay or lesbian weddings, a new survey by Southern Baptist-associated LifeWay Research indicates.

Pastors associated with mainline denominations were three times more likely to have been approached to perform such weddings than evangelical pastors; pastors 55 and older, twice as likely as their younger counterparts.

"Most couples, if they want a church wedding, will ask a pastor they know or who they think will support them," said LifeWay Executive Director Scott McConnell. "For same-sex couples, this appears to be an older Presbyterian pastor."

While churches associated with the largest Presbyterian denomination, Presbyterian Church USA, are permitted by church law to perform same-sex weddings, the policy has generated dissent in a number of congregations. In Houston, Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, one of the denomination's largest, recently seceded, in part, because of church policy on homosexual issues.

Among other major mainstream denominations, Episcopal pastors are free to perform same-sex weddings; Methodists are not.

A 2015 LifeWay survey found that 80 percent of pastors queried felt same-sex marriage was morally wrong. You can read that survey here.

In a May survey, Pew Research Center examined the change in public attitudes toward same-sex marriage measured through the prism of age, gender and political party alliance:

In the new LifeWay survey of 1,000 senior pastors, researchers found slightly more than one-third believed there was no place in their churches for LGBT individuals to serve. Thirty-percent said such individuals could serve in any position; an additional 15 percent said they could fill one service position but not anywhere.

Forty-two percent of evangelical pastors -- a group that includes Southern Baptists -- said there was no role homosexual individuals could fill in their churches; 22 percent of mainline pastors agreed.

Well over half of mainline pastors said LGBT individuals can teach, lead worship or hold leadership positions in their churches.

You can read the new survey here.
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Two brothers accused of selling Kush and other illegal drugs out of three Houston smoke shops have been freed on $400,000 bail each.

The surprise move came two days after a court hearing in which they called witnesses to testify they could only afford a maximum bond of $75,000 each.

During a day-long hearing on Friday, family members and a bondsman testified that all of the money and assets controlled by Minh Dang, 42, and Tuan Dang, 46, had been seized or frozen.

READ MORE: Brothers accused in Kush case ask judge for lower bail

During the hearing, prosecutors said they had seized more than $450,000 in cash and gold bars and were working on the contents of several safe deposit boxes.

In court, prosecutor Lance Long said he believed investigators had found more than a million dollars in one of those secured boxes while the hearing was happening, but did not call any witnesses to testify.

Between myriad bank accounts and several houses and cars in the brothers' names, Long worked to paint a picture of a vast empire of alleged criminal wrongdoing built on the backs of street addicts.

READ MORE: Sweeping Kush crackdown leads to arrest of two store owners, court order

On Friday, State District Judge Jan Krocker refused to lower the bail for each, worrying aloud that the two could have the means to retire to a remote tropical island.

On Monday, the two defendants were back in court to sign conditions of their bail, including GPS ankle monitors and surrender of their passports. Both are American citizens.

The pair were arrested along with four store clerks earlier this month after a investigation that included GPS trackers on their vehicles and investigators digging through the brothers' trash. The clerks were arrested on minor charges, with the brothers' alleged criminal enterprise as the main target.

READ MORE: Couple said to leave 2 kids in hot car while getting high

Both men have been charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, accused of selling synthetic drugs, including synthetic cannabinoids and increasing amounts of synthetic Viagra, at their smoke shops. The "packets" go for $25 to $50 each.

Authorities have said the smoke shops reportedly supplied some of the drugs responsible for the June overdoses in an area of Hermann Park known as Kush Corner, but attorneys for the men have denied the connection.

Last month, a Chronicle investigation found growing use of the illegal synthetic drug - and at least five deaths - in the Houston area. You can read the full report on HoustonChronicle.com.

READ MORE: Synthetic drug use at Hermann Park sends 16 to hospital, authorities say

The drugs are a potpourri of leaves covered with chemicals. They are sold under the names Spice and K2.

Norm Silverman, a defense lawyer for Minh Dang, has argued in court that the sales were not a crime before a new law went into effect in September.
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A Friendswood area real estate agent is accused of trespassing inside a home she had just sold and having sex inside the vacant residence, according to reports.

According to a Friendswood police report, both Kayla Marisa Seloff, 22, and Joshua Gene Leal, 27, were charged with criminal trespass just before 5 a.m. Saturday in the 200 block of E. Castle Harbour.

RELATED: North Houston housing market is holding steady

Neighbors who live next to the home, which was just sold and closed on the day before, called police after seeing a man and a woman enter in the early morning hours. The neighbor saw a flashlight moving around the home and became suspicious.

When police arrived they discovered the pair on the floor of one of the rooms. It appears that the couple hid when police arrived but later Seloff told police that she and Leal were married and that they had just bought the home. The police, though, wanted proof that it was theirs.

RELATED: Woodlands white-hot market for homes cools

When Seloff went to retrieve her identification and confirm the story, police smelled marijuana and a glass pipe in her vehicle. They later found a small amount of marijuana as well.

Seloff, according to police, then admitted that she had just sold the home and that the marijuana was hers. She also said that she did not have permission to be inside the home.

According to the Houston Association of Realtors website Seloff works for Simien Properties in the Clear Lake area.

RELATED: Friendswood home boasts 'Star Trek'-inspired theater

According to police the new owners of the home are pressing criminal charges against the pair, apparently none too happy that Seloff was celebrating a home sale in a very eventful way.

The two were arrested and charged with criminal trespass, with bond set at $1,000 apiece.
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On Wednesday, 4,500 dildos will be distributed on the University of Texas at Austin campus in protest of the controversial campus carry law.

The campus carry law took effect on Aug. 1, 2016 and allows students and staff with concealed carry licenses to bring firearms to campus.

"CocksNotGlocks" reads the twitter handle of Ana Lopez, a UT sophomore organizing the rally. She and Jessica Jin, a UT alumna, say they are hoping to fight "absurdity with absurdity."

"I want this movement to be taken seriously," Lopez told the Austin American-Statesman. "It's hard for the props not to overshadow the message. The Texas Legislature is trying to normalize gun culture. We're trying to normalize sex culture. This is something that is completely harmless and represents part of the male anatomy."

READ MORE: Sex toys to replace guns at UT-Austin campus carry protest

According to Jin, the sex toys violate the school's obscenity clause, but UT officials don't seem worried.

"We are viewing this as a free speech issue," a UT spokesperson told the Statesman. "Students have a right to express themselves. This appears to be protected political speech."

Political speech and shock value are staples to First Amendment law.

"The Supreme Court has held that protesters have a constitutional right to make their point by displaying many upsetting things, including swastikas, burning American flags, and even flaming crosses of the type used by the KKK," a law school professor from George Washington University wrote on HoustonChronicle.com in November. "Other courts have upheld the right of women to bare their breasts as part of a protest."

READ MORE: Sex industry support means 'it'll be raining dildos' at anti-gun protest

On the protesters' Facebook page, many seem to agree. 10,000 students have signed up to attend the rally.

But this is not the first time sex toys and political speech have mingled. In recent years, sex toys have claimed the spotlight as one of the most interesting political motivators.

In January, the militia leaders in Oregon who occupied a national wildlife refuge received copious amounts of sex toys as hate mail.

In 2015, a rubber dildo hit the face of New Zealand Prime Minister Steven Joyce, to which he responded in a tweet with: "Someone send the gif over to John Oliver so we can get it over with."

In 2014, a political sculptor created a sex toy in the likeness of Russia's President, Vladimir Putin.

READ MORE: Ted Cruz defended Texas ban on the sale of sex toys in state

The organizers of the dildo protest say there is a good reason behind combining firearms and adult toys.

"The narratives surrounding sexuality (or just dildos, in this case) and guns are more intertwined than one would expect, and more similarities seem to unfold every minute," Jessica Jin told the Houston Chronicle. "They each have the power to instantly masculate or emasculate at a moment's notice. Some shootings in this past year can even be traced straight back to sexual repression. Dildos and guns are in it together for the long haul."
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Early Sunday morning, thieves hit a Tyler-area car dealership and stole the wheels and tires off 48 vehicles and Tyler police would like to find the suspects.

On Sunday afternoon police were called to Peltier Chevrolet where workers discovered the dismaying sight of vehicles on cinder blocks sans wheels and tires.

RELATED: Crime ring steals tires, wheels from 40 vehicles at Cavender Cadillac dealership in San Antonio

Surveillance footage puts the suspects inside the dealerships outdoor lot just after 1 a.m. on Sunday morning, according to KYTX-TV in Tyler.

Police said Tuesday they were readying that footage for release.

With 48 vehicles left on blocks, the thieves apparently got away with 192 wheels and 192 tires, at a total cost to the dealership of about $250,000..

RELATED: Armed citizen fires shot at fleeing thieves in The Woodlands, deputies say

Yes, wheels and tires arent cheap, especially brand new ones. Most times the stolen goods get turned over on Craigslist.

Dealerships in Hutto, San Antonio and Rockwall were hit earlier this year. Its believed that the suspects are well organized and can work quickly in the cover of darkness. This is why some dealerships have around-the-clock security.

RELATED: Snopes deflates (or verifies) 15 Texas urban legends

Most times the suspects in the other incidents were able to shut off power to light poles for better concealment.

As if mass removal of wheels and tires isn't bad enough, sometimes the thieves dont leave the vehicles on bricks which can in turn damage the rims left behind.
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Ivan Guzman is definitely his father's son.

The child of the infamous drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman knows how to live it up, as his Twitter account shows.

READ MORE: Report: Son of Sinaloa Cartel kingpin 'Chapo' Guzman released after abduction in Puerto Vallarta

Ivan Guzman Archibaldo, 33, lives a life full of guns, expensive cars, partying in the ocean and being surrounded by women, according to the pictures he's posted online.

The Spanish website Blog del Narco shows El Chapo's son in even more extravagant photos, with lion cubs in a Mercedes-Benz and stacks of money with guns on top of them. It appears he's since taken the photos down from his Twitter page and other social media accounts.

According to Bolg del Narco, Guzman and his siblings received everything from "helicopters to submachine (guns) bathed in gold" growing up, after seeing people tortured in his home and having nightmares.

READ MORE: The world's most powerful drug lord may be headed back to a prison he's already broken out of

Since his father's arrest, Guzman vows to continue the family business. On Jan. 10, he tweeted in Spanish, "Nothing changes here, we will continue to work."

Guzman was believed to be abducted with his younger brother, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 30, in Puerto Vallarta, but it turned out only El Chapo's youngest son had been taken. He was eventually freed and is reportedly well.

Both of El Chapo's sons have been implicated in their father's drug-trafficking organization and are assumed to take on larger roles in the cartel since their father's arrest.

Whether they meet the same fate as their father remains to be seen. For now, El Chapo's sons are partying like there's no tomorrow.
Six scientists have spent close to a year on a Hawaiian volcano simulating the life of potential NASA astronauts on Mars. On Sunday, their journey will come to an end.

The pretend Martians are currently inside a small dome more than 8,000 feet above sea level on top of the world's largest active volcano, Mauna Loa. The volcano covers half of the island of Hawaii and areas of its landscape have been used to mimic Martian soil three different times by the University of Hawaii.
From U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte's "robbery" story, to the Brazilian diver who kicked her roommate out of their Olympic Village room so she could have sex all night, the 2016 Rio games have seen all kinds of scandals.

At the center of the latest gossip is track star Usain Bolt.
-- Texans for Trump emails this morning: First, we have to lock down the vote in our state, ensuring we win every region. Second, we need every Trump supporter to pass information daily to their social media contacts. Thats the only way well overcome the bias mainstream media. Third, we need to support the effort in targeted battleground states. That includes phoning from home and, for those who can participate, joining a strike team that travels to target states.

-- Trump hoping to raise $3M on Texas swing, by the Houston Chronicles Mike Ward . Indeed, as Trump jets in from a noon Fort Worth fundraiser for a two-hour show with conservative Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, an invitation-only Headliner's Club fundraiser followed by a 7:30 speech at the Travis County Expo Center, protesters on Monday promised they will be out in force. Among them will be local and state Democratic Party luminaries, who plan a news conference to bash the New York business tycoon's positions on immigration, the economy, foreign policy and everything else.

Most political consultants and political science experts agreed Monday that Trump's visit could be a publicity masterstroke, even if it such campaign visits by a Republican nominee may seem more at home in conservative GOP conclaves like Plano or The Woodlands. Even more important than the publicity value, they agree that it is all about fundraising, a race in which Trump is running behind Hillary Clinton.

>> Expect more on this while hes in Texas: Donald Trump is visiting this red border state amid questions about whether he might ease his proposal for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, but he maintained Monday that hes not flip-flopping on the issue, per the San Antonio Express-News Peggy Fikac .

-- Trumps red-state tour: With the clock ticking down, Trump goes to solidly Republican ground, POLITICO

-- TODAYS HISTORY LESSON: But whatever specific policies are being fought over now, immigration experts say the problem took root at least 30 years ago, when President Ronald Reagan signed a 1986 immigration law that has become known as the "Reagan Amnesty" and allowed roughly 3 million people in the country illegally to gain legal status. Immigration laws were overhauled again in 1990 under Republican President George H.W. Bush and again in 1996 under Democratic President Bill Clinton. (Associated Press)

-- Judge blocks Obama directive on bathrooms, trans students, by the Chrons Bobby Cervantes . The order represents a major legal win for Republican politicians in Texas and a dozen other states who challenged the Obama administration on the grounds that the advisory amounted to a unilateral revision and flawed reading of Title IX, the far-reaching 1972 federal statute that banned sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds. The judge, a George W. Bush appointee, did not resolve, however, the central challenge in the lawsuit, which is whether decades-old federal statutes outlawing sex discrimination in public life apply to transgender students in schools.

-- Railroad Commission gliding along a kinder sunset path? The states powerful oil and gas industry and its obscurely named regulators might be in for a kinder, gentler sunset bill next spring, based on industry-friendly questions posed by members of the Sunset Advisory Commission on Monday. The Texas Railroad Commission underwent two failed sunset reviews in a row (2011 and 2013) to reform and reauthorize the agency for 12 more years. But, if first-blush impressions are a reliable guide, it could find the third time in five years the charm, per the Quorum Reports Polly Ross Hughes. ($)

>> Texas owes Medicaid program $57.8 million, report says, The Dallas Morning News

CAPITOL DAYBOOK

HOUSE

10 a.m.  Licensing & Administrative Procedure (E2.010)

11 a.m.  Special Purpose Districts (E2.012)

SENATE

9 a.m.  Higher Education (E1.012)

1:30 p.m.  Criminal Justice (E1.016)

SPEED READ

Tilove: Donald Trump is holding a rally in Austin! Says who? Austin American-Statesman

Exit Interview: Rep. Randy Neugebauer, Roll Call

Unclear if Lege will toughen oil spill regs, El Paso Times

HHSC passes milestone in consolidation efforts, Quorum Report ($)

Texas prepares to deny vehicle registrations to child support scofflaws, Houston Chronicle

Students spending more time on STAAR than law allows, group says, Austin American-Statesman

What is good moral character? Texas lawmakers ask, Austin American-Statesman

Feds cracking down on unsafe hot air balloons following crash, The Hill

Judge rules against three UT professors in campus carry case, Austin American-Statesman

Should state prop up prices for generators at the expense of consumers? Houston Chronicle

Report: Black women in Texas face the greatest risk from pregnancy related death, Houston Chronicle

Inside the conservative push for states to amend the Constitution, The New York Times

White House says feds doing their part in flood response, AP

Sentencing set for man accused of helping plot Texas attack, AP

RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE

-- Clinton on Trump health allegations, per the AP: The Democratic presidential candidate said the accusations are part of a wacky strategy by GOP rival Donald Trump and an alternative reality that's not focused on the kinds of issues that are most important to voters. I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe, she said in an appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live taped Monday afternoon. I have to step into the alternative reality and, you know, answer questions about, am I alive, how much longer will I be alive, and the like.

>> Trumps stamina attack on Clinton stirs talk of gender bias, AP

-- The Narrative: Donald Trump is delaying his major address on immigration originally scheduled for Thursday in Colorado because the Republican nominee is trying to get a better handle on such a complex issue, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway explained Tuesday, blasting reports that Trump is softening or changing his approach on immigration enforcement.

-- Emails reveal how foundation donors got access to Clinton and her close aides at State, by The Washington Post.In each case, according to emails released Monday from Hillary Clintons time as secretary of state, the requests were directed to Clintons deputy chief of staff and confidante, Huma Abedin, who engaged with other top aides and sometimes Clinton herself about how to respond. The emails show that, in these and similar cases, the donors did not always get what they wanted, particularly when they sought anything more than a meeting.

-- TODAY, per POLITICO: Campaigning in Reno, Nevada, on Thursday, Hillary Clinton will address Donald Trump's recent campaign hires and what her campaign termed in an announcement as his advisors' embrace of the disturbing 'alt-right' political philosophy.
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.
The intractability of poverty has been recognized since at least the time the Deuteronomist wrote, The poor will never cease to be in the land. Explanations vary: ill favor of the gods, deficient natural endowments, personal defects, the culture of the poor, external circumstances such as a lack of economic opportunity, some type of oppressionall have been popular options.

In his bestselling new memoir Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance takes a blended view, recognizing the role of economic and personal circumstances in poverty and life dysfunction but also stressing the way that the culture of his own working-class Appalachian tribe has crippled its response to lifes challenges. He comes down firmly on the side of individual agency and the ability of people to overcome obstacles through hard work and adopting the cultural habits of successful groups. He writes, This book is about something else: what goes on in the lives of real people when the industrial economy goes south. Its about reacting to bad circumstances in the worst way possible. Its about a culture that encourages social decay instead of counteracting it. And: The truth is hard, and the hardest truths for hill people are the ones they must tell about themselves.

Vances book has hit a nerve by providing a compelling lens through which those appalled by the popularity of Donald Trump in working-class circles can understand his improbable rise. Who are these Trump voters? Hillbilly Elegy offers an answer.

Vance is a 31-year-old graduate from Yale Law School. Happily married to his wife Usha, whom he met there, he appears to be the perfect embodiment of upper-middle-class success. As it happens, though, he started out in the world of the deeply troubled working class. Vance was raised in Middletown, Ohio, today part of suburban Cincinnati, but his heritage is Appalachian Scots-Irish, and his family originated in Breathitt County, Kentuckyso-called Bloody Breathitt for its history of violent feuds and its military traditionand is related to the Hatfields of Hatfield-McCoy feud fame. So he really is a legitimate hillbilly, not a pretender.

Its ordinarily presumptuous for a 31-year-old to write a memoir, but Hillbilly Elegy justifies the exception. Vance provides an honest and powerful account of his toxic upbringing and the long history of Appalachian dysfunction that produced it. His book also positions Vance, a conservative who has contributed to National Review and describes former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels as his political hero, as a potential post-Trumpian political figure. In that respect, Hillbilly Elegy is perhaps an aspirational analogue of Dreams From My Father. Vances story forms a bridge between the upper middle class, whose values he fully embraces, and the alienated white working class, with which he still claims tribal identity.

Papaw and Mamaw, Vances maternal grandparents, moved to Ohio as teenagers after a pregnancy and shotgun wedding. Papaw got a good union job at Armco Steel, and the family was in theory financially prosperous and upwardly mobile. But the problems of Appalachia followed them to Ohio. They were poor money managers, with Papaw buying new cars on impulse. He was also a violent drunkard. Mamaw, with her own reputation for violence, once threatened to kill him if he ever came home drunk again, and, after he promptly transgressed, doused him with gasoline and set him on fire (he survived with only minor burns). At times she was a hoarder. Papaw and Mamaw ultimately separated but remained close.

Their behavior came in part from the values they brought with them and in part from the many Appalachians who followed them along the Hillbilly Highway north, looking for work in booming Midwest factories. Though this migration has since radically slowed, cities like Indianapolis retain Appalachian immigrant neighborhoods today, some still being restocked with new arrivals.

Vances mother Bev fared much worse than her parents, unable to maintain even the semblance of a steady romantic relationship. Vance barely knew his biological father until he was 12. He was adopted by one of his mothers many husbands, but that fatherly bond proved no more durable than the biological one. He told conservative writer Rod Dreher that his mother had 15 husbands and boyfriends. None of his many brothers and sisters was full-blooded. Indeed, Vances family relationships boggle the mind:

One of the questions I loathed, and that adults always asked, was whether I had any brothers or sisters. When youre a kid, you cant wave your hand, say, Its complicated, and move on. And unless youre a particularly capable sociopath, dishonesty can only take you so far. So, for a time, I dutifully answered, walking people through the tangled web of familial relationships that Id grown accustomed to. I had a biological half brother and half sister whom I never saw because my biological father had given me up for adoption. I had many stepbrothers and stepsisters by one measure, but only two if you limited the tally to the offspring of Moms husband of the moment. Then there was my biological dads wife, and she had at least one kid, so maybe I should count him, too. Sometimes Id wax philosophical about the meaning of the word sibling: Are the children of your moms previous husbands still related to you? If so, what about the future children of your moms previous husbands? By some metrics, I probably had about a dozen stepsiblings.

Only his older half-sister Lindsay was a consistent presence. He cried when he learned that she was not his full sister.

Bev continued to spiral downward, attempting suicide at least once, becoming abusive toward Vance, and ultimately falling into severe drug addiction. Vance shuttled between homes, sometimes with his mother, sometimes with his Mamaw, whom he credits as a positive influence. In an underexplored episode of his life, Vance meets and for a time lives with his biological father, who has embraced Pentecostal Christianity and turned his life around. Dad had built a home with an almost jarring serenity, Vance writes. In some ways, I loved living with Dad. His life was normal in precisely the way Id always wanted mine to be. He prefers his Mamaws folk theology to his fathers intense religion, but recognizes the role that the latter, extreme though he perceives it to be, played in improving his fathers life.

Yet he never feels fully comfortable living with his father. When Mamaw calls and asks him to move back, he abandons this healthy home to return to his previous life of chaos. Throughout the book, Vance displays an obvious and strong matriarchal orientation. Hes emotionally bonded to his deeply flawed Mamaw, whose family name he and his wife adopt when they marry. He idealizes his sister Lindsay and his wife Usha. But he seems unwilling to reflect on this female dependency or understand how it shaped decisions like leaving his father.

Things get better for Vance later in high school, in part because he lives full-time with his Mamaw instead of shuttling back and forth between her and his drug-addicted mothers various abodes. After graduation, he thinks seriously about going to college. Lacking the funds and recognizing he wasnt ready, he wisely enlists in the Marines, which proves a transformative experience. Newly fashioned into a stable, functioning adult courtesy of the Corps, Vance enrolls in Ohio State, where he excels while working two or three jobs simultaneously to avoid taking on debt.

He then applies to and is accepted at Yale Law School, where the cultural gulf between his hillbilly upbringing and the American elite first comes into full relief. He discovers the role that social capital, mentors, and connections play in success. One of his professors at Yale, Amy Chua, of Tiger Mom fame, becomes a key advisor and advocate for him. He struggles in settings upper middle-class students would navigate with ease. He spits out sparkling water in disgust and surprise the first time he drinks it. When a law firm takes him to an upscale restaurant for dinner, he has to call Usha, then his girlfriend, to ask how to use the silverware. At Yale, he discovers that he must not just reject the toxic elements of his old culture but also embrace this new one to get anywhere.

The social deficiencies of the working class are under-appreciated by those who never suffered them. I also came from a working-class background. After flying to a job interview in Chicago in college, I didnt know how to take a taxi and was too ashamed to ask. I tried getting in a cab dropping off passengers; the driver was kind enough to tell me where the cabstand was without humiliating me. I didnt know how to use chopsticks. I didnt know the way much of the professional world functioned. And a lot of those things I didnt know that I didnt know. I estimate that I started out five to ten years behind those who came from upper middle-class homes in important ways. Ive heard the same from others of similar origins.

E.D. Hirsch talks about the core knowledge every kid must learn. For those with above-average intelligence, knowledge is relatively easy to acquire if you dont have it. But theres also a set of core social knowledge and experiences needed to function effectively in educated society. This can be more challenging to obtain, especially without a mentor. Vance illuminates this oft-overlooked aspect of upward mobility.

Hillbilly Elegy has received nearly universal praise on both the left and right, much of it well-deserved. Though Vance may be a conservative, his book has something for everyone.

For the Right, Vance questions the efficacy of war-on-poverty solutions, which he sees as enabling the worst aspects of Appalachian culture. Upscale liberals find it difficult to comprehend why the white working class often despises the welfare programs from which their own communities would purportedly benefit. Vance helps them understand this rejection by describing the challenges of working-class life and how working-class communities can be easily undermined by government benefits. He worked for a time in a tile warehouse, earning $13 an hour for physically demanding labor. Thats a viable if modest living in a low-cost town, but its hard to motivate oneself to take such a backbreaking but low-wage job if benefits, even if less in cash value, can be had without working at all.

Another aspect of the book that appeals to non-Trumpian conservatives is also what powerfully attracts it to the Left: its placing of the locus of responsibility for white working-class malaise in its own culture. Intellectuals on the left and right have been aghast at support for Trump from the white working class. Vance tells them what they want to hear: that the travails of this class stem in large part from their dysfunctional and self-destructive culture. Vance acknowledges that the white working class faces legitimate hurdles, such as the decline of union manufacturing jobs, an analysis that resonates with the Left. But ultimately he sees this demographics failure to overcome obstaclesas he did, and as President Obama, one of his examples, also didas stemming from personal and cultural flaws, notably a lack of a sense of agency:

Too many young men immune to hard work. Good jobs impossible to fill for any length of time. And a young man with every reason to worka wife-to-be to support and a baby on the waycarelessly tossing aside a good job with excellent health insurance. More troublingly, when it was all over, he thought something had been done to him. There is a lack of agency herea feeling that you have little control over your life and a willingness to blame everyone but yourself.

Rather than seeing the working class as victims of, say, current economic policies, which would require addressing underlying structural inequities, Vance says that these people are in large part the authors of their own demise. Their predicament thus requires no fundamental change of course economicallya great relief to those prospering under the current regime. This flattering of audience sensibilities, combined with Vances immensely compelling life story, helps explain why Hillbilly Elegy has received so much praise and so little substantive criticism, despite some limitations.

As someone who came of age 15 years before Vance, in a very different white working-class milieu, I see problems in the book that deserve more attention. The most significant is Vances conflating of his Appalachian Scots-Irish hillbilly world with the white working class generally. Appalachia has been a byword for poverty and dysfunction for generations. Vances culture has no living memory of anything else, so its natural for him to see the culture of his people as overwhelmingly influential in their fate. But this is not the case for the majority of the white working class. For example, sociologist Robert Putnam had a different experience in his hometown of Port Clinton, Ohio. The Port Clinton of his 1950s upbringing, as related in his book Our Kids, certainly had its share of working class poverty, but it was socially intact and functionala world away from that experienced by Vances family.

I grew up in white, working-class, rural Southern Indiana during the 1970s and 1980s. While it had some Appalachian cultural influence, its demographic and social conditions were different. German was the dominant ethnic background of the area. My family is of mostly German Catholic stock, with one Sicilian grandfather added to the mix. My recently divorced mother, brother, and I moved to Harrison County in 1976, when I was seven. We lived in a trailer on a gravel road. We soon built a house, but our water came from a cistern, we had a party-line telephone, and we burned our trash in a 55-gallon drum. I was a classic case of poor but didnt know it. There was certainly a lot of poverty around. Yet I, too, recall a functional and socially intact, if hardly idyllic, community.

Today, however, both Putnams Port Clinton and my Southern Indiana are a lot more like Vances Appalachian world than Putnam or I would have believed possible, even after allowing for nostalgia. We face a different question from the ones that confront Vance. We must ask what changed in only a generation or two to damage communities that once did broadly sustain healthy working-class marriages, families, and community life. Its harder to blame culture entirely here when that same culture was producing respectable if unglamorous success as recently as 30 years ago.

Some answers are easy. Hard drugs are available now in a way they werent before. Working-class communities were almost always hard-drinking ones. But the potential for destruction has been greatly magnified by meth, heroin, and prescription opioidsdangers that Putnam and I never had to face growing up. These drugs are devastating many working-class communities today.

Other answers require facing up to unpleasant truths. For the Right, that means acknowledging that the economy has changed in ways that have badly disadvantaged the working class, offering lower pay and less job security than the solid base of union manufacturing jobs that previously anchored these communities. Creative destruction is not so great when youre on the receiving end of the destruction, and when its human lives rather than widgets or corporate profits at stake. The scope of this displacement has been far larger than originally anticipated, with the prospect of more to come, thanks to rapidly advancing technology. Trade deals and tax cuts wont fix the problem.

For the Left, the unpleasant truth is what Vance makes clear if not explicit: the sexual revolution has been a disaster for the working class. No-fault divorce and the diminishment of the stigmas attached to casual sex and single or divorced motherhood have been a liberating dreamor at least a manageable realityfor educated urbanites. But these changes have been a nightmare for the children growing up in a white working-class world, where broken homes and a string of romantic and sexual partners for Mom is the new normal. Of all the things that I hated about my childhood, Vance writes, nothing compared to the revolving door of father figures.

My own childhood was an early harbinger of bad things to come. I was a child of the first generation of no-fault divorce. But both sets of my grandparents were in lifelong marriages, and my community was mostly shaped by a culture of intact homes. My mothers Pentecostal faithsimilar to that of Vances fathershaped her conservative behavior with men after her divorce; I was spared the revolving door of boyfriends that Vance had to endure. Without these advantages, who knows where I would have wound up?

Today, after 40 more years of broken marriages and out-of-wedlock births, far fewer people in my hometown come from intact families. I now see grandmothers, even great-grandmothers, sometimes single and, like Vances Mamaw, belatedly trying to make up for major life problems they themselves only recently emerged from, raising children of drug-addicted mothers. There remain some successful, intact families back home, but this new reality exerts a powerful influence on the local culture.

Vance overcame his domestic instability. Many others dont. Harvard economist Raj Chetty found that when it comes to explaining the variance in upward social mobility across so-called commuting zones, the strongest and most robust predictor is the fraction of children with single parents. That observation is likely to prove about as popular among liberals as the Moynihan Report.

By Vances own account, the confidence, discipline, and work ethic he acquired in the Marine Corps enabled him to overcome a difficult background. But the Marines dont instill order into the disordered lives of recruits by inspiration or encouragement; they impose it by force. Historically, de facto legal and social controls limited personally and socially destructive choices in many working-class communities (if not Appalachian ones). These norms were undoubtedly repressive and often cruel, but so are drill sergeants. The elimination of these normsat the behest of the educated, not working, classeshas corrosively undermined the supports that once sustained functional working class communities, particularly when combined with the rise in college attendance that has sucked out the most talented, like Vance, and routed them to metro or neighborhood enclaves of the similarly successful. (Vance currently lives in San Francisco.)

The major form of social control that we have retained with full vigor is the criminal justice system. So today, problems previously handled through other means now fall into the lap of police and judges, with predictable challenges. We have continued to use traditional social-control mechanisms for some purposes: promulgating gay rights, reducing the use of the Confederate flag, and so on. Until were willing to re-embrace similar means to restore a semblance of family stability in poor and working-class communitieswhite or otherwisetoo many children will never stand a chance.

Vance also lacks self-awareness in some areas, especially in his rejection of the idea that talentthat is to say, good fortuneplayed a major role in his success. He instead attributes it to the character and work ethic he developed in the Marines, and explicitly rejects innate talent as a factor. Today people look at me, at my job and my Ivy League credentials, and assume that Im some sort of genius, that only a truly extraordinary person could have made it to where I am today, he writes. With all due respect to those people, I think that theory is a load of bullshit.

But undoubtedly Vance won the genetic lottery for IQ. He got into Yale Law School. Based on the LSAT scores needed for admission there, his IQ is likely north of 140probably genius-level. No wonder he didnt think that the people there were any smarter than he was. No amount of hard work can substitute for this. Untold numbers of people have worked extraordinarily hard and yet failed to gain admission to the Ivy League.

Vance even concedes his good intelligence genes. His mother was also the salutatorian of her high school. Mom was, everyone told me, the smartest person they knew, he writes. And I believed it. She was definitely the smartest person I knew. He describes his cousin Amber as an academic star and tells legends of his Uncle Jimmys precociousness. But he doesnt connect the dots.

Thats not to say that his hard work was irrelevant or unimportant. I, too, went to a Big Ten state school, in my case Indiana University. Yet unlike Vance, who emerged from the Marine Corps driven and focused, I initially drifted through life, taking what success offered without much effort, though I was valedictorian of my high school and had a successful corporate consulting career. But while its purely speculative as to whether I could have gotten into Yale Law, its indisputable that I underperformed my potential, because I was lazy. Vances hard work was important, then, but the idea that he could have gone to Yale Law without unearned, innate intellectual talents is highly dubious.

Thus, Vance falls into the trap of too many of todays winners in a meritocratic (his term) system: he believes, in effect, that he morally merits his outsize success because he earned it through hard work. This is the flip side of his cultural condemnation. He understands that he benefitted from encouragement from Mamaw and others, which many kids in his milieu dont receive: Whatever talents I have, I almost squandered until a handful of loving people rescued me. But he fails to recognize the role that unearned merit, in the form of those talent endowments, played in his success. This position is deeply unfair to the half of the population with below-average intelligencetens of millions of them with significantly below-average intelligencein a knowledge economy that greatly privileges brainpower over brawn. Someone born into a poor, chaotic community with an IQ below 100 cant just solve his problems by bootstrapping himself into Yale, not even after a tour in the Marines.

Hillbilly Elegy nevertheless remains remarkable for its first-person portrayal of Appalachian culture from someone who has affection for its peopleindeed, still sees them as his peoplebut also the courage to admit its flaws. The larger problems come less from the book itself than from the way in which educated readers have seized on it to confirm their own negative impressions of the white working classand, by extension, to flatter the superiority of their own cultural values and their sense of moral entitlement to the success they enjoy.

At the heart of the matter, Vance is right. Its not a question of either circumstances or culture, but both-and. The poor and working class do face challenging, sometimes horrific circumstances. They also have agency in choosing how to respond. Too often, their culture produces bad responses, even when the opportunity exists to choose otherwise. This culture itself may be an inheritance that individuals did not choose. But people can have disabilities for which they are not to blame. That doesnt change their real-world effect. Unless both the external circumstances and the culture of the working class, of all races, are ameliorated, broad-based change is unlikely.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
For me, this has been the summer of Alexander Hamiltonnot because of Broadways hit musical, but because of Federalist 78, one of Hamiltons greatest essays (and thats grading on a steep curve), written in defense of the then-proposed Constitutions framework for an independent judicial branch.

I had reason to return to the essay several times in recent months, in classes that I was fortunate to teach for the Hertog Foundation and the Hudson Institute, and in conversations that Ive had recently with thoughtful Washington policymakers reflecting on the Supreme Courts role in American government and society today. Written in 1788, Federalist 78 is famous (among lawyers, at least) for its description of the federal judiciary as the least dangerous branch, and for its defense of judicial independence and the constitutional power of judicial review, by which courts declare statutes unconstitutional. But teaching Hamiltons essay and other Federalist Papers to students, and discussing it with friends and colleagues, Im struck by how Hamiltons most luminous lines overshadow some of the less well-remembered passages, as well as the broader context in which they were written. Today, more than ever, we should focus on these overshadowed aspects of Federalist 78. Americans are once again debating the Supreme Courts role in American government and society, in light of Justice Antonin Scalias passing, the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to replace him, and years of controversial decisions from the Court on questions of free speech, religious liberty, same-sex marriage, executive power, regulatory overreach, and more. In these debates, we would do well to understand Federalist 78and not just its famous lines.

The place to begin is a letter by Brutus, a pseudonymous critic of the then-proposed Constitution, in March 1788. (Historian Herbert Storing later included it as Brutus No. 15 in his landmark collection of anti-Federalist papers.) Reacting to the Constitutions proposal to give federal judges life tenure (that is, during good behaviour), removable by Congress only through impeachment, Brutus blasted the proposed federal judiciary in terms that seem familiar to modern debates:

The framers of this constitution appear to have followed that of the British, in rendering the judges independent, by granting them their offices during good behaviour, without following the constitution of England, in instituting a tribunal in which their errors may be corrected; and without adverting to this, that the judicial under this system have a power which is above the legislative, and which indeed transcends any power before given to a judicial by any free government under heaven. . . . [T]hey have made the judges independent, in the fullest sense of the word. There is no power above them, to controul any of their decisions. There is no authority that can remove them, and they cannot be controuled by the laws of the legislature. In short, they are independent of the people, of the legislature, and of every power under heaven. Men placed in this situation will generally soon feel themselves independent of heaven itself.

This is the line of argument to which Hamilton responded two months later, with Federalist 78. And it was to this argument that Hamilton famously rejoined that, among the three branches of federal government, the judiciary will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution. But it is crucial that we consider precisely why Hamilton believed this to be so.

First, Hamilton was making a relative judgment: the federal judiciary would be the least dangerous branch because Congress and the president would be so much more powerful. Especially Congress, which not only writes the laws but also more importantly commands the purse, the main power for bending the rest of government to its will. The executive, meanwhile, not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community.

In other words, Hamilton was presuming that Congress and the president would both assert their own powers unflinchingly, consistent with the Federalists observation that constitutional government depending not on each branch voluntarily restraining itself but on all of the branches asserting their powers, thus checking and balancing the others. In that context, it would make sense for Hamilton to write that the judiciary would be the weakest branch, because [i]t may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments. (The close reader notes that this seems in tension with Madisons famous assertion in Federalist 51 that each of the branches, including the judiciary, would and should have a will of its own.) Hamilton was assuming that Congress and the president would push the Court even more strongly than the Court could push back. Moreover, he assumed that the Court would have no discretion in picking the cases that come to it, and he recognized that judges would have to rely on the executive branch to carry out their decisions.

Today, each of these assumptions has fallen away. The president is much more deferential to the Supreme Courts constitutional pronouncements than Hamilton might have suggestedand Congress all the more so. Moreover, the Supreme Court now has largely unbounded discretion to pick and choose its casesnot to create cases, of course, but to select what cases to hear. These changes cast judicial independence in a different light. Hamilton defends it not as an end in itself but as a means to the end of preventing the Court from being dominated by the other branches. When Hamilton describes the judicial branchs nature as one of natural feebleness, in continual jeopardy of being overpowered, awed, or influenced by its co-ordinate branches, then it follows that nothing can contribute so much to its firmness and independence as permanency in office. By contrast, the federal judiciary today is not naturally feeble, not in danger of being overpowered by Congress or the president. If anything, the Court might from time to time be capable of overpowering the other branches, not vice versa. We thus must ask ourselves what other grounds exist to justify the strongest forms of judicial independence.

Other of Hamiltons forgotten premises are worth noting. When he defends the courts power of judicial review, he rejects Brutuss notion that the courts will become an uncontrolled and uncontrollable sovereign: It can be of no weight to say that the courts, on the pretense of a repugnancy, may substitute their own pleasure to the constitutional intentions of the legislature. . . . The courts must declare the sense of the law; and if they should be disposed to exercise will instead of judgment, the consequence would equally be the substitution of their pleasure to that of the legislative body.

In other words, Hamilton argued that we can trust federal judges to stay within their limits. But why? Because of the power of the other branches and, ultimately, the people, of coursebut also, Hamilton argued, because of a judicial ethic of self-restraint, reflecting each judges lifes work of studying the voluminous code of laws and the body of judicial precedents by which each judge would be bound.

To avoid an arbitrary discretion in the courts, Hamilton writes, it is indispensable that they should be bound down by strict rules and precedents, which serve to define and point out their duty in every particular case that comes before them; and it will readily be conceived from the variety of controversies which grow out of the folly and wickedness of mankind, that the records of those precedents must unavoidably swell to a very considerable bulk, and must demand long and laborious study to acquire a competent knowledge of them. Hamilton stresses that the judiciary would give a benefit of the doubt to republican self-governance, striking down only laws that bear true repugnancy to the Constitutionor, as Hamilton put it elsewhere in the essay, striking down laws that suffer an irreconcilable variance to the Constitution. In these lines, Hamilton implies that laws with a merely reconcilable variance should be reconciled to the Constitution, by construing the statute in a way that avoids the constitutional problem.

Throughout Hamiltons argument on these points, the key word is faithful. Judicial independence would be essential to the faithful performance of so arduous a duty. Where the Constitution expressly imposes upon the president a duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed and an oath to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, Hamilton suggests that judges would themselves bear an implicit duty of constitutional faithfulness.

But that, again, raises questions for us today. If the people cease to believe that judges faithfully administer both the written laws and the relevant precedents, then to what extent is judicial independence still a constitutional virtue, and not a constitutional vice? And if the people today believe that the modern judiciary looks less and less like Hamiltons, and that judicial independence and life tenure are less desirable than they had been, what reforms are warranted?

The Constitution could be amended to replace judicial life tenure with, say, a fixed term of years, as some scholars have advocated. That would be perhaps the most radical reform; but there are others. Supreme Court justices could be required to ride circuitto take turns sitting on lower courts, forcing them to step outside of the high courts power to write broad precedents and experience, instead, the lower courts challenge of applying those precedents. Perhaps the Senate or House Judiciary Committees could invite Justice David Souter to testify on his experience, in semi-retirement, hearing cases on the lower court. Or, to the extent that the Supreme Courts ever-dwindling docket gives the justices too much discretion in picking their caseload (and too much free time to write broad, overwrought opinions), Congress could revise the statutes that give the Court such discretion. Ironically, being forced to hear many more cases, the justices might have less time to get creative, making them less dangerous.

All of these reforms would present significant problems of their ownincluding the inevitable unintended consequences. But these are questions worth considering, in the spirit of James Madisons pursuit of republican remed[ies] for the diseases most incident to republican government. To that end, we should all take time to read and reread Federalist 78not just the highlights, but the whole thing.

Photo by  Yegor Korzh/iStock
On Election Day, voters in Colorado will have a big decision to make: whether to approve an initiative that would allow terminally ill patients to obtain a prescription for drugs to end their lives.

But before then, news outlets in the state have a decision of their own to make: what language to use when describing the proposal. Like abortion, immigration, or even the estate tax before it, the movement for what is sometimes called death with dignity has sparked a debate over political terminology. Newsrooms around the state are discussing the issue right nowbut so far, there is little consensus.

The crux of the argument is whether to use the S wordsuicide. Opponents of the Colorado initiative have paid for billboards along the states highways that read, Assisted suicide: You cant live with it. The phrase has also often been used in national coverage thats sympathetic to the movement, sometimes interchangeably with alternatives. But in Colorado, supporters of the measure pointedly use other terms. The statute that would be enacted if voters approve the initiative is called the End-of-Life Options Act, and it refers more than 50 times to medical aid-in-dying. Like similar laws in a handful of other states, the measure even declares, Actions taken in accordance with this article do not, for any purpose, constitute suicide [or] assisted suicide

One local news outlet, Denver TV station KUSA 9News, waded into the debate last week, and in the process prompted conversations in newsrooms around the state. Despite requests from advocates, the station has decided to refer to the measure as an assisted suicide law, wrote Brandon Rittiman, the stations political reporter. His explanation:

Supporters of the measure argue the word suicide is too friendly to the opposition because it may make you think of someone who ends their life for no good reason. In contrast, the proposed law does require a reason: youd need to be diagnosed with a terminal illness to get a life-ending prescription. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project But in plain English, thats still suicide.

In making its word choice, KUSA isnt taking a position on the policy, Rittiman wrotejust sticking with the dictionary definition. [I]ts not our job in the news business to change the dictionary, he wrote. Its our job to use plain language thats current and accurate.

Thats an approach that frustrates advocates like Holly Armstrong of the group Yes on Colorado End-of-Life Options. Under the proposal, a patient could obtain a prescription for self-administered medication to end his or her life when two doctors have confirmed a prognosis of death by terminal illness within six months, when the patient has made multiple requests at least 15 days apart, and when the patient has received information about treatment alternatives, among other guidelines.

People in that position want to live, advocates say, and to describe them as suicidal is hurtful. When a person uses prescribed drugs to end his or her life, says Armstrong, the death certificate does not say the cause is suicide. It says the cause is the underlying, terminal illness.

That argument appears to have prevailed, for the most part, at The Denver Post. The Post has published both aid-in-dying and (in an AP story and headline out of California) assisted suicide over the past two weeks. But in the future, editor Lee Ann Colacioppo told her staff Monday, when a short phrase is needed, they should use the words in the actual measure: Aid-in-dying.

Assisted suicide isnt strictly banned from the Post, Colacioppo wrote in her staff memo, and those words are accurate based on the dictionary. But we know words carry meaning beyond what the dictionary says. In this case, I am convinced that there is, fairly or not, so much stigma attached to the word suicide that it has taken on a pejorative meaning.

A phrase that should be avoided except in quotes, Colacioppo added, is right to diewhich, like death with dignity, is associated with advocacy groups.

On that front, the Post differs with The Coloradoan in Fort Collins, which has regularly used right to die, including in the headline and body of a story earlier this month. The paper, whose coverage area is home to a state lawmaker who has sponsored similar proposals in the past, has also referred to aid in dying. Editor Lauren Gustus told me that to her knowledge, the paper has avoided using assisted suicide. (She even wrote a column Monday about how The Coloradoans decision differs from 9News, which is the papers news partner.)

One point where the Post and Coloradoan agree: When space allows, simply describe what the proposal would allow. Weve got the space in story text to use the precise description, Gustus says. Thats what weve chosen to do for the last two years. Well continue to do so throughout this election cycle.

The Associated Press Stylebook, which steers writers away from death with dignity, offers similar guidance, to a point. When referring to legislation whose name includes death with dignity or similar terms, just say the law allows the terminally ill to end their own lives unless the name itself of the legislation is at issue, it reads.

When shorthand is needed, though, the AP is more accepting of medically assisted suicide. Joe Danborn, the regions news editor for the wire service, says readers from California to Washington state have written to the Ask the Editor section of the online version of the Stylebookyou need an account to log inwith queries about AP usage.

Colorados ballot measure would seem to fit the definition of medically assisted suicide, in that it would allow the terminally ill to receive prescriptions for drugs meant to end their lives, Danborn told me. Well likely avoid physician-assisted suicide, which has a different connotation.

Other outlets in Colorado, meanwhile, are still hashing out their policy. Journalists at Colorado Public Radio are discussing the issue, but we havent settled on the right language, says news director Sadie Babits. A brief CPR story from last week uses aid in dying in the URL and headline, has an assisted suicide tag, and refers to medical assistance in dying in the text.

And at The Gazette in Colorado Springs, editor Vince Bzdek says the paper is assigning a small task force to make a recommendation. The group will field opinions on whether assisted suicide and right to die are acceptable or amount to too much editorializing, Bzdek says. We will also consider doctor-assisted death and doctor-assisted dying in our discussion.

As for Rittiman back at KUSA, he followed up his online item with a broadcast segment Friday afternoon. He told me it took multiple days to work out as the station spoke with supporters of the measure who wanted them to drop the word suicide.

He wasnt persuaded. The dictionary definitions, he says, are consistently agnostic about the motive for ending ones own life. Circumstances dont matter.

Hell probably continue to face criticism from supporters of the measure, but hes glad he put his explanation out there. We want to be transparent about editorial decisions, Rittiman says. And this one brings out passion.

Photo by: Alex Proimos, via Wikimedia Commons

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Corey Hutchins is CJRs correspondent based in Colorado, where he teaches journalism at Colorado College. A former alt-weekly reporter in South Carolina, he was twice named journalist of the year in the weekly division by the SC Press Association. Hutchins writes about politics and media for the Colorado Independent and worked on the State Integrity Investigation at the Center for Public Integrity; he has contributed to Slate, The Nation, the Washington Post, and others. Follow him on Twitter @coreyhutchins or email him at coreyhutchins@gmail.com.
BSI Acquires Atrium

British Standards Institution (BSI), the business standards company, has acquired Reston, Virginia-based Atrium Environmental Health and Safety Services LLC to expand its environmental health and safety (EHS) Services and Solutions footprint to the US East Coast. The 25 employee Atrium team will become an operating subsidiary of BSIs Professional Services business and will function under the name, Atrium Environmental, Health and Safety Services  a BSI Professional Services company.

Atrium provides a full range of on-site and project-based occupational safety, industrial hygiene and environmental compliance services to clients in the pharmaceutical, facilities management, government and shipbuilding sectors in the National Capital region (Virginia, Maryland and Wash., D.C.).

The acquisition will provide a first East Coast location to complement BSIs January 2015 acquisitions of EORM on the West Coast, and Hill Country Environmental in Texas, now called BSI EHS Services and Solutions.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

American Integrity Insurance Launches Umbrella Coverage for Florida Homeowners

Tampa-based American Integrity Insurance Company, a Florida property insurer, announced a new umbrella policy, providing up to $5 million in protection.

Umbrella coverage is designed to help protect policyholders from major claims and lawsuits, with its primary aim at protecting policyholders assets and future. Umbrella policies provide liability coverage over and above a homeowners insurance policy. A typical policy offers personal liability amounts that range anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000. American Integritys product will provide policyholders with at least $1 million in coverage on top of their underlying policy limits, with possible available limits up to $5 million.

American Integritys umbrella policy is available to customers who have a primary residence insured with American Integrity, with some restrictions. Customers must use the same agent for their home, auto and umbrella policies. The insurers agents will begin quoting and binding this coverage for new and existing policyholders immediately.

The Hanover Launches Streamlined Payment Solution for Workers Comp Policies

Mass.-based The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. announced the launch of Hanover EZPay, a pay-as-you-go solution for workers compensation policies that allows insureds to pay their premiums in real-time, based on payroll, helping independent insurance agents provide better service to their clients.

This new payment solution offers businesses the option to pay their premiums as part of their payroll processes, either by self-reporting payroll at the end of each pay period or by linking Hanover EZPay with their payroll company.

Business owners can now pay their workers compensation insurance premiums as each payroll cycle is processed, helping to improve their businesses cash flow and reduce audit exposures with real-time premium calculations. This option also offers businesses automatic premium withdrawals and does not require down payments or monthly billing fees.

This new payment option is available exclusively for The Hanovers elite agent partners across the country and cannot be obtained directly through the company.
Fewer drivers are receiving the tough penalties Iowa lawmakers approved in 2012 for illegally passing school buses when they are stopped.

The Des Moines Register reports that the number of people charged with violating the school bus law has declined, and the laws tough penalties may make prosecutors more willing to accept lesser charges.

The law calls for a 30-day license suspension for a first offense, costly fines and expensive high-risk insurance. The measure was prompted by the 2011 death of 7-year-old Kadyn Halverson, who was hit by a vehicle as she crossed a rural road to board a school bus.

The number of drivers charged with illegally passing a bus fell to 895 in 2015 from 1,030 in 2012. And the number of drivers who had their license suspended fell to 582 last year from 977 in 2012.

Bus drivers say distracted driving appears to be part of the problem.

Ive seen a lot of people on their cellphones, texting, putting makeup on. Ive seen one guy brushing his teeth, another shaving. Theyre not paying attention, said bus driver Marilyn Hawkins of Des Moines Schools. I think its gotten worse.

Authorities say part of the challenge in getting convictions is that bus drivers are often the only witness, and since they are not trained observers it can be difficult to prove. Plus, not every bus is equipped with a video camera that could provide additional evidence.

Its certainly not anything that a law enforcement officer or prosecutor takes lightly, said Peter Grady, assistant attorney general with the Iowa Department of Justice. But we cant convict unless we have evidence.

For instance, Dubuque County convicts only about 23 percent of the drivers charged with stop-arm violations  thats one of the lowest rates in the state.

Assistant County Attorney Ry Meyer said the office regularly reaches plea agreements that allow motorists to complete a distracted driving course and community service. Meyer defended the deals.

Were not going soft on them, he said, adding that in some cases he has pursued convictions. Sometimes violations are very dangerous, and you cant let them go.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our Select specialists are often called in to assist in the valuation of some of the most esoteric items one can imagine. In this case, we were called in to appraise an item out of legend  the tusk of a Sea Unicorn, better known as a narwhal.

In actuality, though they are endangered, narwhals are not creatures of fantasy like their storybook peer the unicorn. The narwhal, or narwhale, is a medium sized whale and close relative of the beluga whale. They are found primarily in the arctic waters of Canada, Greenland and Russia. Male narwhals (and a few females) have a spiral tusk that can grow over eight feet long. Unlike the fabled unicorns horn, the tusk is actually an extension of a tooth protruding from the left side of a narwhals mouth. This tusk of natural ivory is highly praised both as a carving material and a trophy.

Our team was called in to establish value of a six-foot long tusk that was stolen from the policyholder, with an insured stated value of $40,000.

Unfortunately the policyholder had no pricing documentation, and the only photo of the item was that of a similar tusk to his, but not of the stolen tusk. The policyholder did share with us that the tusk was procured approximately 20 years ago at the purchase price of $10,000.

Armed with scant information, our specialists began to research the rare item. Typically, the value of authentic narwhal tusks is established by a number of key factors, including the length of the tusk, whether it is straight or curved, if the tip is damaged or broken off, as well as how pronounced the helical nature, or spiral is.

Communicating with the policyholder as well as analyzing the photograph, we were able to establish the above value factors, and our research then took us to the marketplace, including auction houses and dealers to determine values of like, kind and quality items. With extensive research, we were able to establish the value of a vintage replacement at $17,000.

Unfortunately, the complexity doesnt end here.

Once the key details were confirmed, an age was attributed, and a value established, our team had one further, and extremely important fact, to research  the determination of the legality of the tusk.

CITES, short for the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is an international agreement with the stated goal of protecting animals and plants from endangerment by limiting their trade.

In addition to CITES, as an ivory producing marine animal, narwhals are also protected under the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) and the International Whaling Commission (IWC), as well as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

It was necessary for our team to research all of these agencies in order to determine if the tusk was contraband. The CITES convention bans the sale of parts of animals such as hides, furs, antlers, tusks, and much more. The illegal smuggling of banned items is big business. This past March, a New Brunswick, Canada man, an ex-Mountie, was extradited to the US for smuggling more than 250 narwhal tusks into the US with a value of over two million dollars. Indeed, big business!

Without any formal documentation, we had to presume the legality of the tusk based on the assumption that its origination to the US was prior to the 1972 CITES ban on ivory tusks. The policyholder claimed that the tusk was brought to the states prior to 1940, and therefore free of any sanctions.

In this case, we established the value of the legally owned tusk to be $17,000.

Scott Lacourse is a director at Enservio, www.enservio.com, a provider of contents claim software, payments solutions, inventory and valuation services for property insurers. You can contact him at slacourse@enservio.com.

Read other articles by Scott Lacourse:

Using Key Value Factors to Evaluate Vinyl Records

Key Factors for Determining Cigar Value

Using Key Value Factors to Evaluate First Edition and Rare Books
In the aftermath of a wildfire, somebody has to figure out exactly what burned. Its painstaking and important work that helps evacuated residents know if they lost everything or have something waiting for them when they return home.

Officials estimate that at least 105 residences and 213 outbuildings have been destroyed in the massive fire that burned ferociously through Southern California mountain communities this week and was still smoldering Saturday.

Those numbers could rise as damage assessment teams pore through the aftermath of the blaze about 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, said Fire Marshal Mike Horton of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Drought conditions in California have left plenty of fuel for wildfires.

The fire sparked Tuesday was 73 percent contained and firefighters who were on the offensive for days were finally transitioning to mop-up phase, officials said.

Operating from a mobile command center just south of the 58-square-mile blaze, Horton leads a team of 15 investigators, technicians, hazardous materials experts and others responsible for determining the extent and nature of the damages.

We come in right on the heels of the fire, Horton said. Once its cool enough, we go parcel-by-parcel.

Often properties are so decimated that its difficult to know if a smoking ash heap was a home, a trailer or a water tank, he said. Technicians consult mobile computer applications that can download geographic data and county assessors information to learn what might have been there before flames swept through. Numerous photos are taken and each gets its own narrative of what the team saw, Horton said.

Some evacuations remained in place but the majority of those ordered out were allowed to return Friday, when crews made huge gains against the blaze, fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said.

Things are extremely positive, said Pitassi, adding that officials expect more progress and more residents returning home throughout the weekend. At the height of the fire, some 82,000 people were under evacuation orders.

Even before they go back, anxious residents can sometimes get a sense of what awaits them thanks to reports filed swiftly by the damage assessment team. The goal is to compile the data even before the fire is fully extinguished and make them available online, via phone recordings and on postings at evacuation centers.

Maps are color-coded with red areas signifying complete damage, orange describing damage between 40 and 75 percent, yellow showing damage of less than 40 percent and green meaning no damage.

Green, youre in good shape, Horton said Friday. Any other color and you should be concerned.

Johanna Santore was among those left homeless. She was running an errand Tuesday when the fire charged through her neighborhood. She tried to rush home to rescue the familys four dogs, six cats and hamster but was blocked by closed roads.

A group of animal rescue volunteers found the house in smoldering ruins = with no signs of the pets.

Im actually feeling numb, said Santore, who fled with her husband and granddaughter to an evacuation center. Its like a nightmare.

A prolonged drought has transformed swaths of California into tinderboxes, ready to ignite. Six other wildfires were burning in the state, including one in San Luis Obispo County that forced the closure of the historic Hearst Castle on Saturday.

Fire officials say the wind-driven fire, which destroyed 48 structures and burned 31 square miles since it began August 13, is about 3 miles from the hilltop estate overlooking the Central Coast. The castle, a popular tourist attraction that houses a large art collection belonging to media magnate William Randolph Hearst, canceled tours and closed the grounds to visitors, said California State Parks spokeswoman Gloria Sandoval.

In rural Santa Barbara County, a 15-square-mile wildfire forced the evacuation of two campgrounds.

In the southern Sierra Nevada, another blaze feeding on dense timber in Sequoia National Forest forced the evacuation of several tiny hamlets.

In mountains north of San Francisco, a 6-square-mile blaze was 80 percent contained after destroying 300 structures, including 189 homes and eight businesses, in the working-class community of Lower Lake. All evacuation orders have been canceled.

(Associated Press writer Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.)
AKRON, Ohio -- A Summit County grand jury has indicted an Akron man on attempted murder and other charges in a crash that left a Cuyahoga Falls police officer severely injured.

Donald Watson Jr., 46, of Cutler Parkway is charged with attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, failure to comply with the order of a police officer, aggravated arson, vandalism, and criminal damaging or endangering.

He will be arraigned Wednesday in Summit County Common Pleas Court.

Davis was trapped inside his cruiser after Watson drove a pickup truck into his patrol car during a July 23 pursuit, prosecutors said. The 11-year veteran spent about a week in the hospital.

Watson also is accused of setting fire to his own home.

Officers chased Watson's vehicle after Watson drove into three patrol cars parked in the police department parking lot in the 2300 block of Second Street, police said.

Watson drove at high speeds east on Broad Boulevard and crossed over into the westbound lanes, police said. Watson aimed his 2000 Dodge Ram pickup at Davis' cruiser and hit him head on, according to police.

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AKRON, Ohio -- The Summit County Sheriff's Office is searching for an inmate who escaped from the Glenwood Jail Friday.

Jason Shockley, 26, and Daniel Perkins, 24, both of Akron, posed as trustees and helped carry trays out to a van in the jail's parking lo about 3:45 p.m. When they got to the van, the inmates dropped the trays and ran toward Howard Street, a sheriff's office said.

Deputies secured the other inmates. Law enforcement agencies in surrounding communities assisted in the search for the escaped inmates.

Perkins was located and arrested sometime later. He was charged with escape.

A Summit County grand jury on Aug. 10 indicted Shockley on charges of breaking and entering, safecracking and grand theft, court records show.

Shockley was booked into the Summit County Jail on July 26 and transferred to the Glenwood Jail Aug. 19, Summit County Sheriff's Inspector William Holland said.

Investigators believe he is still in the Akron area.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Shockley is asked to contact the Summit County Sheriff's Office at 330-643-2181.

If you wish to discuss or comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments section.

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dan-moore-stand-down.jpg

Dan Moore, chairman of Summit County Stand Down, is seeking donations for Summit County's homeless and displaced veterans, to replace nearly $700,000 worth of supplies lost in a DOD warehouse fire in March.

AKRON, Ohio - Summit County leaders gathered Tuesday to challenge area businesses and residents to donate money, clothing and supplies to help local veterans.

In March, a fire in New Jersey incinerated a U.S. Department of Defense warehouse packed with about $700,000 worth of new winter clothing, sleeping bags, backpacks and supplies, all earmarked for Summit County veterans.

The supplies were to be distributed this fall at the annual Summit County Stand Down event, which has served more than 400 vets each year since 2005.

"Taking care of those who took care of us is important in life," said Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro at a press conference. "These veterans have earned benefits many of them don't even know that they have. We want to make sure those folks are taken care of to the best of our ability."

Partnership formed to help local vets

The county and FirstEnergy Foundation each donated $10,000 to replace the lost supplies under newly formed partnership Step Up for Stand Down.

Summit County Councilwoman Elizabeth Walters, County Executive Ilene Shapiro, Summit County Stand Down Chairman Dan Moore and local veteran Elva Pounders at Step Up for Stand Down kick off.

Summit County Veterans Service Commission, the Greater Akron Chamber and the Laura Williams Dunlop Memorial Stand Down for Homeless and Displaced Veterans of Summit County are also partners.

Project Summit, a nonprofit bringing venues such as the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball team to Summit County to support veterans, their families and amputee children, is managing donations for the effort.

"This is such an honor for Project Summit," said Michael Livingston, Project Summit president. "Stand Down is one of the best things that's available for a veteran. Not only for veterans but for the families of veterans."

The Step Up for Stand Down challenge

Step Up for Stand Down is looking for more Summit County organizations and individuals to join in the effort.

County Councilwoman Elizabeth Walters issued a challenge, asking residents to donate $1 or more, to raise an additional $5,000 through a Step Up for Stand Down GoFundMe account.

Walters said within Summit County's veteran population, two-thirds of vets served for three years or more, and another third spent time in war zones.

"It's important to remember that they are our most vulnerable and our most in need, and they're often struggling with things most of us can't begin to imagine," Walters said. "I'm hopeful $5,000 is a modest goal and we'll blow through that."

FirstEnergy employs more than 300 vets in Ohio and 1,100 company-wide.

"I can think of few causes that we're more proud to support," said FirstEnergy Foundation president Dee Lowery. "We encourage others to Step Up for Stand Down."

Annual Stand Down serves hundreds of vets

During the annual Summit County Stand Down Event, veterans have access to medical services, legal aid and counseling. New winter bedding and clothing is distributed and a used clothing room is available. Vets also have access to a meal and are given sack lunches to go.

"It's not about passing out food or a new sleeping bag," said Dan Moore, chairman and event coordinator of Summit County Stand Down. "This is really about giving something to someone that earned it. It's not free. And it's our job to see that they get what they've earned."

New or gently used clothing and supplies can be donated at 140 E. South Street, Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and noon.

Summit County Stand Down is September 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Firestone Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3383 at 690 W. Waterloo Road in Akron.
Brecksville Police Station 1.JPG

Brecksville's new police station, when constructed, will include a regional dispatch center.

(Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com)

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - Brecksville and Independence will share a regional emergency dispatch center inside the proposed new Brecksville police station on Ohio 21, across from City Hall.

The two cities will also share jails. Brecksville's new police station will include a jail that can hold prisoners up to 12 hours. Prisoners needing longer stays will head to Independence's existing five-day jail.

Brecksville had invited four villages - Brooklyn Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Newburgh Heights and Valley View - to join the dispatch-jail agreement. The six municipalities negotiated with each other for about a year.

Ultimately, the four villages - which have shared a dispatch center for decades - decided to continue their current arrangement. However, other communities are expressing interest in joining Brecksville's dispatch center, and the city may share jails with Cuyahoga Heights in the future, if the Independence jail becomes overburdened.

This is what Mayor Jerry Hruby told City Council's Building and Grounds Committee Monday night during a special meeting.

"For years, our cities (Brecksville and Independence) have worked well together, not only in police and fire but also in human services and service departments," Hruby said in a Monday email to cleveland.com. "We look forward to a lasting relationship while we become more cost-efficient and continue to better our services to the public."

Municipalities all over Cuyahoga County, and Ohio, are merging emergency dispatch centers. The state has mandated that counties significantly reduce the number of dispatch center by 2018 or face reductions in their 911 funding, which pays for upgrades to dispatch systems.

As of June, seven regional dispatch centers had been established in Cuyahoga County. They include Southwest Regional Dispatch Center, which serves Berea, Olmsted Falls, North Royalton and Strongsville; Parma Regional Dispatch Center, which serves Parma, Parma Heights, Brooklyn, and Brook Park; and Chagrin Valley Dispatch, which serves more than a dozen east-side communities.

Determining costs

The costs to build the dispatch center and the police station have not been determined, although Hruby expects the overall station to cost roughly $7 million or $8 million.

Startup and operating costs for the dispatch center are also unknowns.

Hruby hopes to seek bids for construction of the police station by the end of this fall. He said construction will take about nine or 10 months. Final architectural designs are still being tweaked.

The tentative name for the new Brecksville dispatch center is Cuyahoga Valley Regional Dispatch Center or Cuyahoga Valley Emergency Radio Dispatch Center. The name will not include either city's name.

"We wanted our residents to know that there is a combined ownership in this radio dispatch center rather than it being operated by one city or the other," Hruby said.

Earlier this year, Brecksville and Independence shared the costs of new high-frequency radio equipment for the regional dispatch center, in anticipation of the partnership. Hruby said high-frequency radios receive clearer reception and will soon be required.

Hruby said neither Brecksville nor Independence plan to lay off dispatchers. The two cities employ about 15 dispatchers between them and pay dispatchers similar wages. Instead, the number of dispatchers will be reduced over time through attrition. Until then, some dispatchers will be assigned additional clerk duties.

Due to the attrition approach, the cities may not initially realize significant cost savings by sharing a dispatch center. Estimated cost savings in future years have not yet been calculated, Hruby said. Additional savings would occur if more communities join the dispatch center.
Frank Staton

Frank Staton, 56, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in the deaths of two women, whom he shot while working at a Chardon retirement community in March. He was sentenced Tuesday Aug. 23, 2016 to life in prison with possibility for parole after 66 years.

(John Harper, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 56-year-old Chardon man who shot dead two women at a Chagrin Falls retirement home in March was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday.

Frank Staton won't be eligible for parole until 2082, when he would be 122 years old.

Staton pleaded guilty to eight charges that included two counts of aggravated murder and felonious assault, in the March 24 shooting of Terri Treadway, of Chardon and Catherine Sutter, of Burton, at Hamlet Village Retirement Community.

He had no criminal record until he fatally shot the two women at Hamlet Village retirement community, where he worked as a cook.

Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick demanded an answer Tuesday to why Staton opened fire that day.

"Why, why did this happen," McCormick asked. "Some of these people want an explanation as to how this came about."

"I have no explanation," Staton replied. "It happened, just happened in the blink of an eye."

Staton wounded himself that day and killed two women who were both mothers and grandparents.

Treadway had been living with Staton; the two had been in a relationship and both worked at the retirement home.

Her sister, Sandy Sable, said she spent 40 years working at Hamlet Village, earning low wages while helping care for its elderly residents.

"She was the most sharing, most caring person I know," Sable said. "He was a failure as a father, a companion and a man. Frankie killed two people and I hope his sentence will reflect that."

Sutter's children, husband and sister all spoke on her behalf.

She would often arrive to work at Hamlet Village early, and was more than willing to leave late.

On Sunday morning's she arrived at 7 a.m. to drive one resident to church, sister Laura Hudson said, and wold stay with her through the afternoon so she could go grocery shopping.

Sutter's son, Jason, fought back tears as he told the judge about the day he had to tell his two children that their grandmother died.

"Today is a day I will remember as well, as the day I lost faith in the justice system," Jason Sutter said. "An animal like you should be destroyed. Maybe since the government won't kill you, you'll do it yourself and stop wasting everyones time."

Sutter's widower, Joe Sutter, turned to Staton as he spoke Tuesday afternoon.

"I wish with all my heart that Catherine and Terri's path would never have crossed yours," he said. "I want you to rot in your cell. Good riddance to you."

Five members of the Chagrin Falls police department, who responded to the shooting, were also present to witness Staton's plea.

Staton's family did not speak at the sentencing hearing, but defense attorneys asked the judge to consider shortening his sentence by allowing him to serve time for the two counts of aggravated murder separately.

McCormick sentenced Staton consecutively on two counts of aggravated murder, each with a 30 year to life sentence, plus a three year specification for firearm possession.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The off-duty Cleveland Metro Security guard who shot his sister's boyfriend last summer was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison.

Samuel Williams, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to voluntary manslaughter in the death Carlos Hall, his sister's live-in boyfriend.

Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo sentenced him to 12 years in prison on the voluntary manslaughter charge and three years for an aggravated burglary charge. He was initially charged with murder.

Williams, a security guard, was at work June 4 when he received a phone call from his wife, who told him that Hall -- who lived upstairs -- was harassing her.

He came home and found Hall sitting on his sister's couch with a knife, police say. A struggle ended when Williams shot Hall multiple times.

Hall died in the hospital after about two weeks.

Williams initially told police that he was defending himself against an angry man with a knife. While Williams told the police that Hall was holding a knife when he opened fire, later court filings do not mention the knife.

Hall's 6-year-old son also told police that "daddy had a knife," but Williams' sister disputed his version of the story. She told officers that her brother opened fire almost immediately after entering the apartment.

If you'd like to comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comment section.
Tokyo stole the show at the Olympic closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro this week as the event's next host city prepares for a cultural charm offensive ahead of the 2020 Games.

In a surprise move, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dressed up as Super Mario at the ceremony, emerging from the iconic green warp pipe that fans of the video game are so familiar with, earning the 61-year old the nickname of 'Super Abe.' Social media went abuzz following the stunt, which was to commemorate the official Olympic handover to Tokyo.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, dressed as Super Mario, holds a red ball during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 21, 2016. Kevin Winter | Getty Images

Created by Japanese electronics firm Nintendo in the 1990s, the Mario games are perhaps Japan's best-known cultural export. Hello Kitty, manga cartoons Capitan Tsubasa and Doraemon as well as video game Pac Manhighly popular Japanese productsalso made appearances at the closing ceremony. "I think there's no question that the Abe-as-Mario stunt was designed to leverage 'Cool Japan' ahead of 2020. Undoubtedly, we'll see a lot more of that over the next four years," said Tobias Harris, vice president of political analysis firm Teneo Intelligence. As the Abe administration tries to inject new life into an economy weighed down by two decades of deflation, it's also eager to build Japan's cultural brand overseas in a nod to the years when Nintendo, Sony, and Panasonic were cutting-edge brands in consumer electronics. Under the Abenomics umbrella, the government created a public-private platform to propel Japanese culture abroad dubbed 'Cool Japan.' The campaign is centered on the tenets of political scientist Joseph Nye's 'soft power' ideology: using a country's cultural appeal instead of economic or military might to increase global influence. When Tokyo won the bid to host the 2020 Games, it was deemed the best opportunity to leverage 'Cool Japan.' "Abe's appearance in Rio shows that Japan does have cultural capital it can leverage at strategic moments to boost its image," added Harris. While 'Cool Japan' isn't deemed essential to Abenomics' goals of raising productivity and boosting the workforce, it's hoped to boost entrepreneurship and usher in a wave of innovation to transform the country's creative industries into a new source of growth.

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You, retire? No way. Only a quarter of employees say they do not plan to work in retirement, according to a new Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies survey of 4,161 workers. Half say they expect to work at least part time. The rest weren't sure. "Working in retirement is becoming the new reality," said Catherine Collinson, the center's president.

The driving reason for many: financial concerns of some kind.

A little more than a third of workers in the survey said they were not confident in their ability to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle, while 20 percent said they have not yet begun to recover or may never recover from the Great Recession. Asked about their retirement fears (respondents could pick multiple answers), 51 percent cited outliving their savings and 47 percent, reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits. Despite those concerns, not all workers are despairing about their retirement prospects  only 22 percent expect to work until they can't, according to the survey. Forty-two percent say they plan to transition into retirement by working less or working in a less-demanding role, and 23 percent have a "planned stop" based on a particular age or financial goal.

Plus, for at least a few people, a working retirement is part of their bucket list. Asked how they "dream" of spending retirement (respondents could pick multiple answers), 13 percent told Transamerica pursuing an encore career, 12 percent said continuing to work in the same field and 11 percent said starting a business. (To compare, 65 percent said traveling, 56 percent said spending time with family and friends and 49 percent said pursuing hobbies.) "It's no longer the one-size-fits-all retirement where you're going full blast one day and doing nothing the next," Collinson said.
Gold mining stocks have skyrocketed this year, and at this point investors might want to wait before hopping into the hot trade.

"Gold stocks are still in a primary uptrend, but have been pulling back recently with the other defensive areas of the market," MKM technical analyst Jonathan Krinsky said Monday on CNBC's "Trading Nation."

Yet even with a recent dip, the popular GDX ETF tracking the miners has surged 115 percent in 2016.

At this point, "if you're looking to buy it, maybe wait for a test to the 50-day moving average, which is rising," said Krinsky. "It's around $29, and we haven't tested that since May. So if we get a test there, that probably would be a good entry point."

Krinsky believes that investors need to also pay attention to the ratio of gold miners to gold.

"Typically in bull markets and precious metals, you will see the equities outperform the commodity, and that's what we've seen for the most part of this year," he said. "So if you look at the ratio of GDX versus [gold-tracking ETF] GLD , as long as that ratio is moving higher and the primary trend is higher, it's probably [fine]."

Stifel Nicolaus portfolio manager Chad Morganlander encourages investors interested in gold to buy the GLD rather than the GDX.

"There is individual equity risk when buying the miners," while in GLD, "you could get the thematic right by buying GLD and actually hedge your bet on your portfolio overall," Morganlander said on "Trading Nation."

GDX on Tuesday recovered slightly from an almost 2 percent drop on Monday as gold hit a two-week low.

Disclosure: Stifel Nicolaus has a position in GLD.
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The leaders of the euro zone's biggest economies held talks on Monday in the aftermath of Britain's shock decision to leave the European Union and said Europe had to turn its back on populists who blamed Brussels for all its problems. Speaking on an aircraft carrier off the Italian island of Ventotene, Germany's Angela Merkel, France's Francois Hollande and Italy's Matteo Renzi issued calls for closer security cooperation and better opportunities for young people. In a meeting heavy on symbolism, the three leaders visited Ventotene to lay a wreath on the tomb of Altiero Spinelli, an Italian intellectual seen as a founding father of European unity. They then boarded the Garibaldi, which is in the front line of an EU mission to combat people traffickers who have carried hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe across the Mediterranean.

Justin Tallis | AFP | Getty Images

"For many populists, Europe is to blame for everything that goes wrong," Renzi said at the joint news conference before the leaders sat down for talks aboard the ship.

"Immigration, it's Europe's fault, the economy is bad, it's Europe's fault. But that is not the case." The meeting was designed to lay the groundwork for an EU summit in Bratislava next month. Monday's talks marked the beginning of a week of meetings for Merkel with other European governments that will see her travel to four countries and receive leaders from another eight. "We respect Great Britain's decision but we also want to make clear that the other 27 (member states) are banking on a safe and prospering Europe," the German chancellor said.

Divisions
Hello is not part of Google  but it's got some Google cash.

Social site Orkut had a sizable presence in those two countries but not elsewhere, leading Google to shut its doors in 2014. The founder, Orkut Buyukkokten, is trying again with Hello Network , a new network based on interests.

Not long ago, Google had one of the biggest social networks  at least in Brazil and India.

According to multiple sources, Google has recently backed several early startups from former employees, including Hello, adding to Google's already complex weave of corporate financing.

It's unlikely Google is deploying these funds to dig back into social media or generate massive returns. Instead, these deals seem mostly about Google's ongoing attempt to keep familiar engineers close to the company fold.

A rep for Google declined to comment. Buyukkokten and two other founders backed this way  Keith Coleman and Noam Lovinsky, former Google product managers  did not return requests for comment.

Google is funding the companies using convertible notes, according to a source familiar with the deals. While Google's staff is acting as an adviser, the search giant does not have special rights in the terms, like first dibs on an acquisition, according to the source.

These funds are coming directly from Google, the internet company, generated by M&A boss Don Harrison and his team. They're not from Google Capital or GV, the investment arms of Google parent Alphabet, which back bigger startups.

I don't know how large these investments are, but sources indicate that they're less than $10 million. And Google has quietly been making these sorts of investments over the past couple years.

This arrangement is different from bigger strategic investments Harrison et al. have made off Google's balance sheet  like those in Elon Musk's SpaceX and augmented reality whatsit Magic Leap.

It's also different from Area 120, the startup incubator that Harrison is helping to oversee, which hopes to keep Googlers with an entrepreneurial itch inside the company.

In essence, Google has long fixated on keeping its fingers in every cranny of Silicon Valley. Here are some more tentacles.

By Mark Bergen, Recode.net.

CNBC's parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Recode's parent Vox, and the companies have a content-sharing arrangement.


Even LeBron James would be impressed with this comeback story: The two best-performing stocks in the Dow this year  Caterpillar and Wal-Mart  held the title of the two worst-performing stocks in 2015.

Now, "dogs of the Dow" investors are being handsomely rewarded for rolling the dice on these two downtrodden picks.

"Dogs of the Dow has been a great strategy over the years, and this really is a classic dogs of the Dow," Eddy Elfenbein said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" when discussing Wal-Mart and Caterpillar.

"Both stocks had terrible years last year, and both have done quite well this year," he said Friday.

Caterpillar and Wal-Mart have soared 23 and 19 percent, respectively, this year.

Elfenbein, editor of the "Crossing Wall Street" blog, explained that "dogs of the Dow" calls for investing in 10 Dow stocks with the highest dividend yield at the end of the year and then holding onto those stocks for one year.

As it stands, the "dogs of the Dow" strategy has outperformed the market in recent years.

With Wal-Mart in mind, Elfenbein noted that the retailer raised guidance following a strong second quarter and, leading up, had been "investing in themselves."

Additionally, Wal-Mart opted to give employees a wage increase, and Elfenbein said the company is "cleaning up their stores and going after Target 's audience. I think going forward, Wal-Mart is the better buy, and Caterpillar still has a lot of work to do."

However, Piper Jaffray senior technical strategist Craig Johnson said investors should remove sentiment from the equation when evaluating which former "dog" is a better buy right now.

"We like both of the charts, but if I had to take a choice between one or the other, I would actually choose Caterpillar. I think you've got more upside here when you just unemotionally look at the charts," said Johnson, referring the five-year performance of both companies.
Jeremy Shuler has been ahead of the curve since day one. "Early on we realized Jeremy wasn't really ordinary," parents Harrey and Andy Shuler, both aerospace engineers, told Texas Tech Today. While the two have impressive academic backgrounds themselves, they're quick to admit that their son is "much smarter than either of us, for sure." At age 2 Jeremy was reading books  in English and Korean. By 5, he was studying pre-calculus, and when he took the SAT at age 10, he placed in the 99.6 percentile for all college-bound seniors that year. He also tested as "profoundly gifted" on the WISC-IV  an IQ test for children  with a score of 156, his parents told CNBC. The latest addition to Jeremy's resume is Cornell University, where the 12-year-old joins the Class of 2020 this fall. According to the school historian, he's could become the youngest graduate ever from the Ivy League institution.



Jeremy in 2006. Source: Shuler family

Jeremy received his high school diploma from Texas Tech University Independent School District  an online program that lets students work at their own pace  and applied to several colleges through regular admissions. The application process wasn't tedious or intimidating  it was exciting, he told CNBC. "It meant the start of a big adventure." He was accepted to other schools, but not every one he applied to. "In the end, Cornell was really our top choice for a few reasons," Andy Shuler, Cornell Class of 1997, told CNBC. "It is academically very strong and perhaps the best in applied and engineering physics. Cornell also is good at a wide range of subjects, so Jeremy can dive into other topics that interest him, like linguistics."

Jeremy fishing in 2011. Source: Shuler family
It seems that Starbucks can put as much ice as it wants in your beverage.

A judge in California dismissed a case that accused the coffee chain of under-filling its iced drinks, saying the plaintiff had "not alleged any viable claims" against the company.

"If children have figured out that including ice in a cold beverage decreases the amount of liquid they will receive, the Court has no difficulty concluding that a reasonable consumer would not be deceived into thinking that when they order an iced tea, that the drink they receive will include both ice and tea and that for a given size cup, some portion of the drink will be ice rather than whatever liquid beverage the consumer ordered," wrote Percy Anderson, the U.S. District Judge presiding over the case in his dismissal of the lawsuit last Friday.



In addition, Anderson noted that the company's signage just lists the size of the cups in ounces, but does not say how much liquid will be in the cup.

"The cups Starbucks uses for its cold drinks... are clear, and therefore make it easy to see that the drink consists of a combination of liquid and ice," Anderson wrote.

A Starbucks spokeswoman told CNBC, "We are pleased with the court's decision and the judge's comments on the matter."



This isn't the only ice-related lawsuit that Starbucks is facing. A woman in Illinois also accused the company of over-icing its cold beverages. That case has yet to be settled.

In both ice cases, Starbucks responded by saying that consumers who are not satisfied with how their drink was prepared can ask for it to be remade.



Another class-action lawsuit was filed against the coffee chain in March, which stated that Starbucks had been under-filling its hot lattes.
"You're not alone on this even after the TV cameras leave. The whole country is going to support you," Obama said from the flood-ravaged state.

Obama said federal assistance to Louisiana flood recovery has already reached $127 million and more than 100,000 people have already applied for federal disaster aid. The flooding, which the American Red Cross said is the worst U.S. natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy in 2012, has killed 13 people and displaced tens of thousands .

President Barack Obama deflected recent political criticism in flood-ravaged Louisiana on Tuesday, instead praising officials for their response to the disaster and calling on private citizens to help.

The Obama administration declared a federal disaster more than a week ago, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson have visited the state. Obama praised FEMA and state and local officials for their response, and said his priority is long-term help for people whose families or businesses were displaced by the flooding.



The $127 million distributed by the government includes "temporary rental assistance, essential home repairs and flood insurance payments," Obama added. For comparison, FEMA had given more than $11 billion to state, local and tribal governments for Sandy aid as of last fall.

The Red Cross said Monday that donations have come nowhere close to covering its costs in Louisiana. It has received about $7.8 million in donations and pledges, but estimates costs of about $30 million, it said in a statement.

Obama drew some criticism for not appearing in Louisiana until now, as he was on vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who went to the state last week, has repeatedly bashed Obama for his delay in traveling there.

Trump said "President Obama should have gone to Louisiana days ago, instead of golfing. Too little, too late!"

"One of the benefits of being five months short of leaving here is I don't worry too much about politics," Obama said about his dwindling time in office.

Obama said nobody affected by the floods "gives a hoot if you're a Democrat or a Republican."
Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed he plans to run again to be French President, but he may not be The Republicans party's best bet for success. Instead, Alain Juppe, a rival candidate from The Republicans, may stand a stronger chance of winning over voters from the incumbent Socialist Party, a political risk analyst told CNBC on Tuesday.

Alain Juppe Nicolas Kovarik | IP3 | Getty Images

"I think Juppe is really the player to watch here, because Juppe has the ability to reach far into the political center and I think that is what is going to be required," Carsten Nickel, senior vice president at Teneo Intelligence, told CNBC. Sarkozy, who was president between 2007 and 2012, announced his intention to run again via Facebook on Monday. He said he had "the strength to lead the fight at such a tormented moment in our history," in a post in French. However, the former leader faces several competitors to be the presidential candidate for his center-right party. Some are not viewed as serious candidates, but others, such as Juppe and Francois Fillon, who was prime minister under Sarkozy, are.

France uses a two-round election system, which means that if no candidate received an absolute majority in the first round, all but the two leading candidates are eliminated and a second round of voting is held. Juppe was prime minister under President Jacques Chirac between 1995 and 1997 and is currently mayor of Bordeaux. He is viewed as a unifying figure, unlike Sarkozy, who presided during the global financial crisis of 2007-08 and was charged with corruption in 2014. He is under investigation for suspected funding irregularities during his 2012 presidential campaign but denies wrongdoing.

Nicolas Sarkozy Lionel Bonaventure | AFP | Getty Images

"Most likely the center-right candidate is going to face a run-off against Marine Le Pen from the far-right and what you need in that second-round run-off is that ability to win over the disappointed voters of the Socialists whose candidate is probably going to drop out in the first round," Nickel told CNBC.

"So with a view to the second round it really would make sense to choose Alain Juppe. So the question here really is for voters within The Republicans Party: Do they go with their heart  that would probably mean choosing Sarkozy  or do they go with their mind, with a view to the chance of success in the second round." Incumbent Francois Hollande is entitled to run again for president, but is yet to announce his intentions. The leader of the center-left party is little liked, with a substantial fall to unemployment yet to be seen since he pushed through unpopular labor reforms. The country has also suffered terror attacks during his term, leading to criticism of Hollande's handling of insurgent Islamist extremism and the influx of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.



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Well, selfie stick, it was nice knowin' ya.

As back-to-school searches pick up on the web, Google has noticed fewer hunts for selfie sticks, jogger pants and one-piece swimsuits compared with last summer. Meanwhile, searches for shoes and backpacks are on the rise.

Victoria's Secret Pink was the most sought-after backpack brand between June and July 20, with Pokemon also cracking the top five. Birkenstock, Nike 's Jordan and Under Armour 's Curry were among the most sought-after footwear items, joined by Kanye West's Adidas Yeezy Boost.

Regardless of what shoppers are looking for, Google noted that back-to-school search queries rose sharply the week of July 11  a week earlier than last year. Separate research has found that families are also waiting longer to complete their purchases, so their kids can see what what their classmates are wearing.

The National Retail Federation expects shoppers to spend $75.8 billion on back-to-school goods this summer, which would represent an 11 percent gain over last year's prediction.

Google noted that back-to-school searches undergo a second wave in January, a trend that's intensified every year since 2013.


An employee assembles a Hublot wristwatch case at the company's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland,

Is time being called on the watch industry as a reliable source of income for Switzerland?

July marked another weak month with exports of timepieces falling 14.2 percent compared to July 2015, netting a total of 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.56 bn) in sales.

The figures, provided by the Federation of Swiss Watches, also revealed exports have also declined - for 13 months in a row.

Antoine Lesne, Head of SPDR ETF Strategy at State Street Global Advisors told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Tuesday the data doesn't bode well for Switzerland as the watch market is "pretty impressive as an overall contribution to the Swiss economy."

In 2015, the value of watch industry exports stood at 21.5 billion Swiss francs, the first fall since 2009.

Lesne said the drop in exports can be traced in part to decisions made by the Swiss National Bank.

"The Swiss franc has appreciated quite markedly against the euro in the last 18 months since they de-pegged, so this is an example of a monetary policy decision translating on to the real economy."

Lesne also argued the prolonged dip in Swiss watch sales could be considered something of a signal that many economies are slowing down.
Is that a price curve, or a dangerous ski slope in the Alps?

This chart gives a good picture about why consumers are howling, and why several U.S. senators are fuming over the ever-rising price the EpiPen, the auto-injection device made by Mylan that many people with allergies tote around to potentially save their lives in the event of a severe allergic reaction.

The EpiPen sold for $100 in 2008. In the eight years since, the price has more than quintupled, as this chart shows. About 43 million people are at risk from anaphylaxis, or the severe, life-threatening allergic reaction that EpiPen's injection of epinephrine is designed to counteract.

"This outrageous increase in the price of EpiPens is occurring at the same time that Mylan ... is exploiting a monopoly market advantage that has fallen into its lap," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said last weekend.

Klobuchar, whose own daughter uses an EpiPen, noted that Mylan has seen one competitor, Sanofi's Auvi-Q, exit the market last year due to a recall, and Teva's generic version failed to receive regulatory approval.



The senator has called for the Federal Trade Commission to probe the price hikes. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has written Mylan asking how EpiPen's prices were determined.
While a lot of this differential is down to mothers working fewer hours, the report argued that these women also missed out on wage growth upon returning to work. Working fewer hours also led to a lack of wage progression despite still gaining labor market experience.

The study, from the U.K.'s Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that while the average pay gap between male and female workers in the U.K. has shrunk from 28 percent in 1993 to 18 percent today, the gap would nonetheless increase after a woman decides to have children.

The gap between what a man and woman earns widens for the 12 years after childbirth, reaching the point where a woman is paid 33 percent less per hour than a man, according to a study into the gender wage gap published Tuesday.

Employment rates for women in the year before and after childbirth also fell significantly: by 16 percent for university graduates and 33 percent for those with basic state education. Male employment rates were barely affected by child birth, according to the study.



"The gap between the hourly pay of higher-educated men and women has not closed at all in the last 20 years. The reduction in the overall gender wage gap has been the result of more women becoming highly educated and a decline in the wage gap among the lowest-educated," said Robert Joyce, associate director at IFS and one of the report's authors, in a press release.



"Women in jobs involving fewer hours of work have particularly low hourly wages, and this is because of poor pay progression, not because they take an immediate pay cut when switching away from full-time work."



Mark Littlewood, director general at the Institute of Economic Affairs, criticized the IFS report, arguing that it showed the wage gap had nothing to do with gender discrimination.



"As the study itself notes, women who take time off work and return doing fewer hours are not getting paid less per hour," he said in a press statement.



"To compare the salary of a part-time worker to their potential salary had they remained full-time skews the numbers. It is common sense that if you reduce the number of hours worked your potential future earnings would also drop.



"And it's hard to cry 'employer discrimination' when, according to the Office for National Statistics, women in part time work last year earned on average 6.5 percent more than their male counterparts."



Another report out this week from the Chartered Management Institute found male managers were 40 percent more likely to be promoted to senior roles than their female counterparts. The report argued that the discrepancy in promotion rates was one of the main causes of the wage gap issue.



"Promoting men ahead of women is keeping us all back. Diversity delivers better financial results, better culture and better decision making," Ann Francke, chief executive of CMI, said in a press release. "Transparency and targets are what we need to deal with stubborn problems like the gender pay gap."



The gender pay gap issue isn't isolated to the U.K. ABC News reported on Monday that figures from the Australian Council of Trade Unions showed the gender pay gap in Australia had grown steadily over the last ten years, with men being paid on average 20 percent more than women.

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During a very muted period for tech IPOs, Trade Desk has just filed its papers to go public. Anyone familiar with the company knows it's been anything but quiet for them of late.

Trade Desk is in the crowded advertising technology market and is one of the main tools being used by the Republican Party as it tries to maintain its majority in the U.S. Senate. Candidates in tight races are employing Trade Desk's targeting tools to reach the precise voters who can potentially put them over the top.

Clients include U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, a Republican from New Hampshire, who's in a close re-election battle against the state's Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan. Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri is using Trade Desk in his quest to fend off Secretary of State Jason Kander.

Richard Burr of North Carolina and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin are in the same boat. In fact, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is itself a client.

CNBC.com used Ghostery, a browser plug-in that shows which ad programs are running on a website, to see who's using Trade Desk. Campaigns often hand their digital ad buying over to an agency rather than managing it themselves.

Trade Desk, which filed its prospectus on Monday, didn't disclose how much of its revenue comes from political campaigns. But investors certainly have to consider what happens to the growth rate next year and the years that follow.

Digital spending on political ads will quadruple in 2016 over the mid-term season of 2014, reaching $1 billion, according to eMarketer. Online ads will account for 9.8 percent of total ad spending this year, up from 3.6 percent in 2014 and 1.8 percent in 2012, the researcher said.

At Trade Desk, revenue in the first half of 2016 climbed 83 percent from the same period a year earlier to $77.6 million.
He blasted the policy of President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Republican rivals as a weak-willed "disaster" tantamount to "open borders." He vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border and deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants now believed to be in the country.

Remember that immigration was the signature issue of Trump's successful Republican primary campaign. He repeatedly portrayed illegal immigrants from Mexico as a criminal scourge on immigrant American communities.

But now, on immigration, Donald Trump is attempting an adjustment that can only be described as huge on a Trumpian scale.

Now Trump trails Clinton in the polls, both nationally and in battleground states. In this week's NBC/Survey Monkey tracking poll, the bombastic billionaire is behind by 8 percentage points as he draws just 22 percent among Latinos to Clinton's 73 percent.



Facing the need to build his support, he adopted a strikingly different new tone in this interview with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly: "The existing laws are very strong," Trump declined. "We're going to get rid of all of the bad ones. We've got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country.

"As far as everybody else, we're going to go through the process. What people don't know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country, Bush the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws.



"Well, I'm going to do the same thing," he concluded. "We're going to go through the process like they are now, perhaps with a lot more energy."



Doing "the same thing" as Obama with "more energy" may not be what some of Trump's supporters have in mind. With just this issue in mind, I asked Trump in CNBC's Speakeasy interview last year how he would address disappointment among his backers if he makes it to the Oval Office.



"I will not disappoint those people," he insisted.
The negotiations are part of the government's larger agenda of taking back control of the country's banking sector, which is 58 percent owned by foreign investors.

Two sources said on Monday that PZU's chief executive, Michal Krupinski, would go to Milan this week to discuss a possible deal.

The chief executive of Poland's biggest insurer, PZU, is flying to Milan for talks on buying Poland's second-largest bank, Bank Pekao, from its owner, the Italian bank UniCredit.

"You can say that he's going," one source close to the matter said. Another source confirmed the trip.

Another source close to the transaction said that UniCredit has already decided that a 40.1 percent stake in Pekao is up for sale. But its advisors are telling Italy's largest bank it ought to sell part of its stake on the open market, the source said, before making a deal with a strategic investor.

A different source familiar with the deal said that PZU, a state-run insurer, would be the main buyer of Pekao, as it has up to 7 billion zlotys ($1.84 billion) of cash on hand. But that is not enough to buy 40.1 percent of Pekao, a stake worth $3.5 billion.

Selling part of the stake on the market would make a deal less expensive for Poland. And a Polish buyer would still get effective control of Pekao with, say, 30 percent ownership.

"The PZU-Pekao transaction is possible, but it has to be sorted out. Such a deal could be done along with secondary public offering of some of Pekao shares. Also, the state fund PFR may be involved," the same source said.

UniCredit said last month it had raised 749 million euros by selling a 10 percent stake in Pekao. It had previously owned a controlling 50.1 percent.

UniCredit is looking for fresh capital, because it faces a capital shortfall estimated at 7 billion to 8 billion euros ($7.92-9.05 billion).

Poland's ruling party, the Law and Justice (PiS), pledged that it would increase state's control over economy in its successful election campaign last year.

"One buys banks to gain more control over the economy, not for profits," a Warsaw-based analyst said. "The deputy prime minister prepared a development plan and wanted to encourage banks to take part in infrastructure projects, but they hesitate. If banks are state-run again, they will not hesitate."

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said the government would look with interest at a potential sale of Pekao, and PZU's Krupinski said the group would consider taking over both Pekao and Polbank, the Polish unit of Austria's Raiffeisen.

Buying back Raiffeisen Polbank and Pekao would give PiS control of 54 percent of the banking sector, according to Kamil Stolarski, an analyst with Haitong.

PZU, PFR and UniCredit declined to comment.

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Bankers big and small concede that 2016 won't top 2015's record highs for mergers and acquisitions, in part thanks to a slow start to the year attributable to choppy markets.

But that doesn't mean 2016 won't go out with a bang.

"It's going to be chunky," one health care M&A banker said, asking to not be attributed. But make no mistake, he said, "no way [deal] volume will match 2015."

As evidenced by Monday's megadeal between Pfizer and Medivation , "chunky" M&A deals are popular with shareholders and bankers alike. In fact, last year, deals worth $5 billion and greater hit an all-time high.

Wall Street bankers are not expecting M&A tallies to top 2015's numbers, when dealmaking eclipsed the $5 trillion mark. It could mean more difficulties for big banks, which already cut compensation amid a disappointing deal scene. And boutique banks have been rising up to take more M&A from Wall Street's institutional firms, leaving an even smaller piece of the revenue pie to go around for big banks.
GEDDES, N.Y.  The contractor responsible for construction of the Lakeview Amphitheater has won two awards for the project from an engineering publication.

ENR New York is recognizing Gilbane Building Company in two categories as part of its Best Projects 2016 awards, Onondaga County said in a news release issued Monday.

ENR New York is short for Engineering News-Record New York.

The categories include Government / Public projects and Excellence in Safety.

Our enjoyment of the Lakeview Amphitheater this summer is due to the incredible job Gilbane did building it last summer, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney said in the release. They met an aggressive timetable to complete the project while placing a strong emphasis on safety. We appreciate their effort and congratulate them on the well-deserved recognition.

Judges nationwide evaluated projects based on the ability of the project team to overcome challenges, contribution to the industry and community, safety, and construction and design quality, according to the ENR New York website.

Providence, Rhode Islandbased Gilbane Building Company employs more than 350 construction workers across offices in Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, and New York City, Onondaga County said.

Supported by the New York City office, the firms upstate New York region includes its Albany, Buffalo, Corning, Rochester, and Syracuse locations, according to the firms website.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
How Battle finally put it all together: district takeaways

The Spartans were one of four winners Friday. However, beyond those winners were the teams that had their seasons end.
Columbus Arts Festival 2022 Patron Party

Arts backers and community leaders gathered June 10, 2022, for the Columbus Arts Festivals Patron Party, which raised more than $34,000.
Jerry Collins (from left), Frank Sanders, Gary Shorb and Phil Trenary

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By The Commercial Appeal

Memphis business executives will appear on a panel Thursday to discuss minority procurement during the Economic Development Forum hosted in Memphis by the Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum.

Officials scheduled to appear on the panel are Jerry Collins, chief executive of Memphis Light Gas and Water Division; Frank Sanders, Intel Corp. vice president of manufacturing and technology; Gary Shorb, chief executive of Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare; and Phil Trenary, chief executive of the Greater Memphis Chamber.

The discussion is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Memphis Cook Convention Center.

The forum opened with a reception scheduled 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Forum schedules and information are available at http://edf.mmbc-memphis.org/
Better connecting the Memphis riverfront to Memphis neighborhoods is one way the Kresge Foundation can help Memphis, Kresge's Rap Rapson says. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Thomas Bailey Jr. of The Commercial Appeal

(Editor's note: A reception Tuesday afternoon at the University of Memphis law school and a forum Wednesday at the National Civil Rights Museum are not open to the public. An earlier version of this story was incorrect.)

The leader of the wealthy Kresge Foundation starts a two-day listening and speaking tour in Memphis Tuesday to learn how philanthropy can continue helping the city transform itself and to exchange ideas.

Since the Detroit-based foundation with a $3.6 billion endowment started taking a keen interest in Memphis nearly three years ago, it has made more than $2.5 million in grants to about 10 Memphis nonprofits and another $3.9 million in indirect investments to Memphis.

"In many ways we are very new to Memphis,'' Kresge chief executive Rip Rapson told The Commercial Appeal on Monday. "We don't have deep connections into the community. One of the reasons I'm looking forward to the trip is there are folks on the ground who know the realities of Memphis far better than we can.''

The former city administration under AC Wharton embraced Kresge Foundation's involvement in Memphis. Part of Rapson's mission during his trip is to hear from new Mayor Jim Strickland on what his administration's focus is.

Rapson will speak to a group of about 150 people including representatives of the Urban Land Institute and Livable Memphis at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Memphis law school Downtown.

Another event will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the National Civil Rights Museum where Rapson will speak with 30 to 40 people representing Memphis-based philanthropic organizations.

He will also have dinner with some corporate leaders Tuesday night, will meet with Strickland early Wednesday.

Over the past 2.5 years, Kresge has given $282,500 to Leadership Memphis, $1.15 million to Community LIFT, $30,000 to United Way of the Mid-South, $90,000 to Riverfront Development Corporation, $600,000 to Innovate Memphis, $75,000 to Binghampton Development Corporation, and $350,000 to Seeding Success.

Kresge also has made indirect investments of $900,000 to Family Independence Initiative and up to $3 million to Hope Credit Union.

Across the nation, Kresge Foundation contributed $145 million to cities in 2015. The foundation was started in 1924 by national retailer S.S. Kresge of Detroit, which in 1962 launched the Kmart discount chain.

Rapson said that the Kresge Foundation has learned a great deal about programs that can be effective during the years of work it has done in Detroit.

And because cities like Memphis and New Orleans are similar to Detroit in that they struggle with poverty and educational challenges and benefit from major riverfronts and medical centers, Kresge decided to share what it learned in Detroit with those cities.

"Memphis immediately popped up on the radar,'' Rapson said.

"So we began making visits, talking with folks in Mayor Wharton's office, folks in the neighborhoods, folks doing new development to see if there's some way we could in a preliminary way begin investing in building blocks that Memphis felt were important to its future.''

Of particular interest to Kresge is helping Memphis redevelop its Mississippi riverfront in a way that better connects the river to Memphis neighborhoods.

"Really make it the front porch of the community,'' Rapson said.

Better connections and access could possibly occur with the development of more infrastructure like greenways and bike paths between the river and neighborhoods that are several blocks or a few miles east of the river, he said.
The new First Tennessee branch in Arlington (Thomas Bailey Jr./The Commercial Appeal)

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By Thomas Bailey Jr. of The Commercial Appeal

First Tennessee did something rare on Monday; it hosted a grand opening ceremony for a branch bank.

In this day of banking online and deposting checks via cellphones, the Memphis-based bank does not build as much brick-and-mortar banking anymore.

The "Financial Center'' at 11610 U.S. 70 in Arlington is composed of brick, stone and lots of glass. Sunlight fills the colorful, open interior.

It's the first branch that First Tennessee has erected in Shelby County since 2008, and is just the third of its type that First Tennessee has built in Tennessee.

A lot has happened in banking over the past eight years. Accordingly, there's no other branch bank like Arlington's in Shelby County, at least within the stable of First Tennessee branches.

Even the labels are new: The attract zone (branch exterior), the receive zone (vestibule), the solve zone (the teller area), the connect zone (the circular checking stand) and the understand zone (where customers can sit with a universal banker).

The design hinges on that new title of the branch bank employee, "universal banker.'' Instead of the traditional way  in which customers route themselves to tellers behind the counter or bankers behind the desks  universal bankers greet customers at the door, ask how they can help, and then escort the customer to the appropriate zone.

As the name suggests, universal bankers not only help with transactions, they can handle sales, set up accounts and make referrals to financial advisers or mortgage loan officers.

Customers inside the Arlington branch can even hear a difference.

The custom-curated background music playing over the speakers is a 1,200-song loop of upbeat songs tailored specifically for Arlington. A new branch in East Tennessee might feature more bluegrass. A branch in Nashville might play more country. A branch near a university might play songs that younger customers relate to.

While First Tennessee's Benjamin Hopper talked to a reporter, the music changed from Frank Sinatra to The Allman Brothers Band's "Ramblin' Man.''

"So the staff will never hear the same song (for) maybe once a year,'' said the vice president for retail strategy.

The music not only sets the mood, it creates some privacy in the open room for customers having a financial discussion with a universal banker, said Tammy LoCascio, senior vice president and retail delivery manager.

Trends toward online banking may discourage new branch buildings, but population trends in Memphis create the need for at least a few in fast-growing places like Arlington.

"For several years we have received calls from our own customers who were relocating and migrating and moving out to Arlington,'' LoCascio said. "So for years the community and residents of the town of Arlington have asked us to be out here.''

"We've done a lot of research on the community, on the growth aspects of what's moving this way," she said.

Regions is acting a bit outside the box by having installed five video teller machines so far in Memphis, with more on the way.

The Birmingham-headquartered bank is the only one of Memphis big three  Regions, First Tennessee and SunTrust  to offer video teller machines (VTMs) in Memphis.

Atlanta-based SunTrust has 26 VTMs at 24 sites, plans to expand what it calls "Teller Connect,'' and is studying whether to include Memphis.

First Tennessee is the only one of the three banks with no plans for video teller machines, a decision that reflects some debate within the banking industry.

We have intentionally not gone down the video teller route, said LoCascio.

We just have a fundamental belief that when a customer pulls into a parking lot and walks inside a branch, they want a personal experience, she said.  Were spending our money and our branch configuration changes in the customer-experience piece.

Last summer, the American Bankers Association surveyed 1,000 adults, asking which method they used most often to manage their bank accounts. The results showed: Using Internet banking on a laptop or personal computer (32 percent); going to a branch (17 percent); using an ATM (13 percent); using a mobile device (12 percent); banking by mail (7 percent); banking over the telephone (5 percent); and unsure (13 percent).

The American Bankers Association expects mobile banking's popularity to rise.

Theres a lot of anticipation and a little waiting game for mobile to expand tremendously above the percentage of use now, said Doug Johnson, the associations senior vice president of payments and cyber security policy. I think its a matter of time.

Video teller machines generally fall under the ATM category, but are a hybrid of bank branches and call centers. The VTMs will not be the wave of the future, Johnson said.

I think they are able to be leveraged to decrease branch costs, he said. "Branch traffic is declining and banks have to position themselves to address that decline but also serve those customers who have expectations to come to the branch.

First Tennessee does put some of its tellers on video, but the teller is in the bank branch and the customer is only a few yards away in a drive-through lane.

First Tennessees LoCascio acknowledged that video tellers like Regions' are a way to expand hours and have customers talk to a live person.

But to be honest when we looked at it, its still an ATM machine, she said. "And it doesnt really provide a whole lot more bells and whistles than an ATM that customers have used for 30 years.

Since customers are migrating to mobile and digital banking, she said, were investing in mobile where customers can take a picture and deposit checks at their house instead of driving to an ATM.

In January, only 10 percent of First Tennessees customers used an ATM machine to deposit money, LoCascio said, adding, That trend has stayed steady.

She echoed the ABAs Johnson, saying, Were seeing mobile adoption across the board picking up at a much more rapid pace than were seeing people drive to an ATM.

Its just the convenience of it. If you can do the exact same thing on your mobile, why would you get in your car and go? LoCascio said.

In response, First Tennessee is upgrading its digital and mobile banking platforms this year, she said.
August 22, 2016: Rosalynn Carter passes nails to her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, as the couple joins hundreds of volunteers in the Bearwater neighborhood north of Uptown to build 19 new homes for a Habitat for Humanity project that bears their name. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

If theres ever a Mount Rushmore for the work of ex-presidents, Jimmy Carter should get the George Washington spot.

Has any president even come close to matching Carters post-presidential service?

I was going to call it public service, and it is. But Carters service has always been to a higher authority.

Habitat for Humanity is the best way I know to take whatever talents I have and invest them in the name of Christ for the benefit of others, Carter said Monday morning.

Carter was talking about Jesus Parable of the Talents and how everyone has something to give to serve others on behalf of God.

He was leading a devotion for hundreds of volunteers who are here this week for the 33rd annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. Theyre building 19 homes for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis.

The Carters and their fellow volunteers were gathered under a big tent in a budding and unlikely new subdivision in Bearwater Park, just north of Uptown.

In effect, it was a mini-tent revival to launch what Christian-based Habitat hopes will be the revival of one of the citys more distressed old neighborhoods.

We have a perfect example of how to live so we can be considered a complete success by our Creator and our partner, God, Carter said. And that is to emulate or to copy the perfect life of Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine any other former president leading a Bible study?

Carter has led more than 700 Sunday school lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. Hes been teaching Bible lessons since FDR was president.

Im a farmer at heart, Carter said Monday afternoon after working with Mrs. Carter for about six hours on a house for Deven Rucker, a day care teacher, her husband and their two children.

The Carters live and work on land that has been in Mrs. Carters family since Andrew Jackson was president.

Theyve been married since Harry S. Truman was president.

Theyve lived in the same house in Plains (except when he was governor and president) since John F. Kennedy was president.

We always come home, Rosalynn Carter said Monday. In Plains, were just Jimmy and Rosalynn. People pay no more attention to us than anyone else.

Thats hard to imagine.

A year ago, Carter announced he had been diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma. After eight months of treatment, and surgery to remove part of his liver, Carter said hes now in remission.

A year ago, I didnt think Id live longer than two or three more weeks, Carter said. I was hoping I would. God has blessed me in so many ways.

Not to mention the rest of us.

The ex-president and first lady have helped Habitat build nearly 4,000 homes around the world, and no doubt inspired the funding and construction of thousands more.

Through the post-presidential Carter Center, theyve also worked to raise awareness, funding and treatment for mental and physical illness.

That includes addressing neglected tropical diseases such as river blindness, polio and Guinea worm  which is about to become the second human disease after smallpox to be eradicated worldwide.

Ex-President Carter also won the Nobel Peace Prize when George W. Bush was president. He won for his work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.

Can you imagine any former president and first lady spending so much of their time helping the poor, sick and oppressed around the world?

To be fair, theyve had more time.

Carter, who will be 92 in October, has spent nearly 88 years of his life not being the nations commander-in-chief.

The Carters have spent 66 years of their married life not being president and first lady.

And theyve spent the past 40 years being the worlds volunteers-in-chief.

After Mondays devotion, they took some of their talents and went right back to work.

Carter started by spreading dry straw on the muddy ground around home site No. 9s foundation.

I prefer the more meticulous interior finishing work we do toward the end of the week, but youve got to do the heavy lifting first, he said.

Mrs. Carter, 89, likes to use a hammer, but she couldnt quite hit the masonry nails hard enough Monday to drive them into the foundation.

So she scraped mud off the concrete foundation and swept it up.

It made me feel like I was doing some good, she said.

If theres ever a Mount Rushmore for former presidents and first ladies ...

Contact columnist David Waters at waters@commercialappeal.com.
Jim Dickinson photographed in Coldwater, Mississippi on January 22, 2009.

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By Bob Mehr of The Commercial Appeal

Last week marked seven years since the death of iconic Memphis producer/musician Jim Dickinson. Posthumously, Dickinson's career is as vibrant as it's ever been, and the next few months promise a slew of new projects and releases. "His legacy is really thriving," says his widow, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, "and there's lots of exciting things on the way."

Mary Lindsay confirms that her late husband's long-anticipated memoir has been given a firm publication date. The book  completed before his death in 2009  had been operating under the working title "Searching for Blind Lemon." It's now officially been changed to "I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone"  reflecting Dickinson now famous epitaph for himself. The book is set for an April 2017 release from the University Press of Mississippi.

Mary Lindsay and her son Luther Dickinson, of the North Mississippi Allstars, have done several public presentations based on the book, and will likely do more following its release next spring. The book is expected to be available for pre-order starting in January.

Meantime, in the coming weeks, Dickinson's first (and, for 20 years, only) solo album, "Dixie Fried," will get the expanded reissue treatment. West Coast label Light in the Attic is set to release a "definitive edition" of the 1972 LP. The label notes the project has been remastered from the original tapes in the Atlantic Records vaults and features seven previously unreleased tracks. The newly unearthed material includes Dickinson's versions of Tim Hardin's "The Lady Came from Baltimore" and "Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried," among others.

The package also includes liner notes by Grammy-nominated reissue producer Alec Palao, plus unpublished portions of the Dickinson memoir and various bits of ephemera from the Dickinson family archive.

The deluxe "Dixie Fried" will be out digitally Sept. 2. A double LP vinyl version  housed in a deluxe gatefold Stoughton "tip-on" jacket  comes out Oct. 28; it's limited to 1,000 copies. Both are available for pre-order now at lightintheattic.net.

Also, this fall, what many consider to be Dickinson's production masterpiece, Big Star's "Third" album, will get the box-set treatment. Los Angles label Omnivore Recordings, will release the "Complete Third," due out Oct. 14.

The Memphis cult band's dark epic has been expanded to a three-disc set, with "69 total tracks, 29 of which are previously unheard session recordings, demos and alternate mixes" made by Dickinson and engineer John Fry.

In addition to the demos and alternate versions and mixes (which are collected in one place for the first time), the package will include an essay by veteran journalist/A&R executive Bud Scoppa and notes from those in the Big Star camp as well as famous fans and followers. Those contributing include Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, Mary Lindsay Dickinson, plus members of R.E.M., Wilco, The Bangles, The Jayhawks, The dB's, The Posies, and Dream Syndicate.

The project will be released first as a CD and digital box set, then as three separate double-LP vinyl packages. "Complete Third" is available for pre-order now at omnivorerecordings.com.

And finally, Dickinson will figure prominently in a new photo book on Big Star. The project, from European publisher First Third Books, is called "Big Star  Isolated in the Light." The limited-edition volume chronicles the band through 200 color and black-and-white images by noted photographers such William Eggleston, Michael O'Brien, Maude Schuyler Clay and Stephanie Chernikowski.

Full disclosure, I wrote a short intro for the monograph, and will be moderating a panel during the book's release party. The just-announced event takes place Oct. 20 at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The program will feature Big Star's Jody Stephens, and several of the photographers (guests are still being finalized), who will take part in a discussion and book signing.

The event is free to attend. Copies of "Big Star Isolated in the Light" will be available for sale onsite. The hardback edition is available for $53, and a special edition, including a previously unpublished signed and numbered print from Michael O'Brien and two posters, is available for $99. For more information, go to firsthirdbooks.com.

River Royalty

After a summer spent in the studio and on the front lines of the local Black Lives Matter movement, Memphis rapper/activist Marco Pave will be back on local stages over the next couple of weeks.

Pave has been busy working on a video for the song "Cake" (expected to hit the Internet in late September) and on what he describes as a "collaborative" album with a host of Memphis rappers, which he plans on putting out in November.

In early September, Pave will return to the road, playing throughout the South paired with New Orleans rapper Alfred Banks. The joint jaunt, which is billed at the "River Kings Tour," will make a local stop Sept. 3 at The Den (656 Marshall).

This Friday, Pave plays at 1034 Audubon the pre-Graceland residence of Elvis Presley, now owned by Rhodes College's Mike Curb Institute for Music. The performance will be filmed and shown as part of the school's "An Evening at Elvis'" web series. The Pave episode likely will air in early 2017.

The Audubon show is a private event, but tickets for the Sept. 3 gig at The Den are available now, at a special early-bird price of $5, at kingofmarco.com.

Prince Proteges Pair Up

A couple of associates of the late, lamented Prince are coming to Memphis. Morris Day and The Time and Sheila E. will share a double bill at 8 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets for the show are available for $38 to $135 at all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com or (800) 745-3000.
August 23, 2016 - Roger Reed waits for his trial to start in Judge James Lammey's court. Reed is charged with killing a pastor to steal his car and taking selfies in the victim's car. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal

A man and his girlfriend killed a Memphis pastor to get his Buick and then took photographs of themselves in the car, Assistant District Attorney Sam Winnig said Tuesday.

Early Nov. 1, 2014, pastor Don Smith approached Roger Reed and Lashonda Williams and they made an arrangement "for Ms. Williams' services as a prostitute," Winnig said.

The 57-year-old married preacher was in his 2010 Buick LaCrosse, when he was fatally shot.

"(Reed) shot Pastor Smith in the head," Winnig said.

The trial of Reed, 25, who is charged with killing Smith with premeditation and with the intent to commit robbery, opened Tuesday. He pleads not guilty to the charges, said attorney Laurie Hall.

Williams, 25, is also charged in Smith's death, and her case is pending.

According to the prosecution, Williams is expected to testify that she and Reed had been in Memphis for about a month, had no car and wanted to go back to Greenville, Mississippi where they are from. Reed did not want to take the bus because he believed he had a warrant for his arrest and it would be discovered, Winnig said.

After the shooting, Reed and Williams took Smith's car and shot "selfie" pictures while in it, Winnig said.

A man walking his dog found the body of the Prospect Park Baptist Church pastor off Lichterman Road in the area of Winchester and Hickory Hill.

Reed and Williams were located Nov. 5 with Smith's car at a convenience store in Greenville. They fled, leading police on a high-speed pursuit, according to the prosecution.

Reed's attorney, Juni Ganguli, argued that Williams approached the pastor on Halloween night 2014, killed him and took the car.

"The gun that was used to kill Mr. Smith was found in Lashonda's purse," Ganguli said. "Whatever inflammatory photos that were posted on Facebook were actually captured on Lashonda Williams' cell phone. And finally when you hear Lashonda Williams' testimony, when you hear from the officers who took her statement, we expect that you will find that Ms. Williams laughed, that she was cavalier and that she joked with officers when she described her role in this offense."

"Together, (Reed) and Ms. Williams set out to rob Pastor Smith, set out to kill Pastor Smith, so they could take his car and they could get back to Greenville," Winnig said.

The trial is set to continue this week in the court of Judge James Lammey.
Shelby County Sheriff's Deputy Warren Jones (left), Memphis Police officer Torrance Taylor

By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal

Three people, including two local law enforcement officers, have been indicted, accused of buying liquor, electronics and shoes they believed were stolen, the U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Tennessee announced Monday.

Those indicted are Warren Jones, 63, a sergeant with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office; Torrance Taylor, 41, a Memphis police officer; and Roy Hughes, 57, the owner of the Gentlemen's Club on Thomas Street. All three defendants had their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Diane Vescovo on Monday.

According to the indictment, Hughes received cases of liquor as well as electronic devices, including Apple iPhones, a Samsung Galaxy Tablet and a Samsung Gear watch, from a person working for federal agents. Hughes allegedly knew the items, worth more than $1,000, were stolen. He also transported cases of liquor from Mississippi to Memphis for resale at the Gentlemen's Club, officials alleged. This took place between October 2015 and May 2016, officials said.

Taylor and Jones also bought property they believed was stolen from a person working with federal agents, officials added.

Hughes is charged with one count of knowingly receiving more than $1,000 worth of property while believing the property to be stolen. He is also charged with one count of unlawfully transporting more than $5,000 worth of property from Mississippi to Tennessee while believing the material to be stolen.

Jones and Taylor are each charged with one count of knowingly receiving property worth more than $1,000 while believing the material was stolen.

Each of those charges carry individual penalties of up to 10 years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000.

The employment status of the law enforcement officers was uncertain Monday afternoon.
SHARE Berlin Boyd

By Ryan Poe of The Commercial Appeal

Memphis City Council member Berlin Boyd said Tuesday he wants the city to withhold $150,000 from the Overton Park Conservancy until a transparency lawsuit against the council is dismissed permanently.

Boyd claimed that OPC was behind a lawsuit filed by citizens Susan Lacy and Stephen Humbert against the council in March, even though OPC board member and The Daily News publisher Eric Barnes said OPC wasn't involved.

The lawsuit claimed council members violated the state's open meetings law as they rushed through an ordinance that gave control of much of the greensward to the Memphis Zoo. A judge recently dismissed the lawsuit "without prejudice," which Boyd said means Lacy and Humbert could reintroduce the lawsuit within a year.

He made the motion in committee to withhold OPC's annual funding, but agreed to delay it until Sept. 6 at council chairman Kemp Conrad's request.

The council has to vote to allocate the money to OPC  along with all other organizations that receive money from the city  before the funds are released.
Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings shows city council members what half an ounce of marijuana looks like. "That's a lot of dope," he says.

(Photo by Ryan Poe)

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By Ryan Poe of The Commercial Appeal

In a rare split vote Tuesday, a Memphis City Council committee voted to recommend approval of an ordinance that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession in some cases.

The Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee voted 5-2 to recommend the ordinance, which would give police officers the option to write citations for $50 fines for possession of half an ounce or less of marijuana, as opposed to charging them under the states criminal laws. People who are fined may also be required to provide community service.

The ordinance is scheduled to receive the first of three readings Sept. 6, putting it on track for a final vote Oct. 4.

Voting for the ordinance in committee were council members Berlin Boyd, Edmund Ford Jr., Martavius Jones, Philip Spinosa Jr. and Jamita Swearengen. Voting against were members Joe Brown and Janis Fullilove. Committee chairman Worth Morgan abstained.

Before the vote, the committee voted against a motion by Morgan to delay the item to allow time for more research, as requested by Police Director Michael Rallings.

Rallings said hes worried the city could encourage marijuana use with the ordinance. He said marijuana use makes getting and keeping jobs difficult, and also said the ordinance might create a loophole that could be exploited by drug dealers.

On the streets, marijuana is a problem in Memphis, he said.

Memphis Fire Department officials said they respond to marijuana-related calls an average of 13 times a month and expect more calls if the ordinance is approved.

Council member Brown summed up his view: Drugs is a demon. He also said the next thing you go to after marijuana is crack cocaine.

Boyd, the ordinances sponsor, said marijuana isnt a gateway drug.

Ive never known anyone in my years to say, Im smoking a joint, let me go get a needle, he said.

Boyd said marijuana arrests disproportionately affect African-Americans, giving them criminal records that can impact their lives for years afterward.

But Fullilove said people should know better than to get caught smoking marijuana.

I think responsible weed smokers smoke their joints at home, she said.

The ordinance was backed over the past week by the local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and criminal justice reform group Just City.
Map showing Memphis annexation areas since 1998. (Source: City of Memphis)

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By Joel Ebert, USA TODAY NETWORK  Tennessee

NASHVILLE  State lawmakers on Monday heard from seven people who spoke on both sides of the debate over de-annexation, the process that would allow residents in areas taken over by cities to hold referendums on whether to leave.

The issue has been particularly thorny in Memphis and Knoxville, cities that have grown by annexing new territory.

Several speakers, including Doug McGowen, chief operations officer for the city of Memphis, said while they have pushed back against the de-annexation legislation before, they aren't necessarily opposed to it.

"We are, however, all in on the notion that we should work together to ensure that everyone who has a stake in the de-annexation game has a voice in the process," he said. McGowen asked lawmakers to use a "locally controlled, data-driven" process that includes all stakeholders.

The latest discussion comes nearly five months after the mayors of Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga made a last-ditch effort to curb a bill that would have allowed residents of areas annexed into cities and towns to hold referendums on whether they wanted to separate from their cities.

Before lawmakers sent the measure to Monday's summer study committee, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the legislation would be "potentially devastating" and could result in the city losing 111,000 residents and anywhere from $28 million to $79 million a year in tax revenue.

But the tone of Monday's meeting was markedly different, with speakers saying they are open to having a dialogue on the issue.

McGowen plugged the city's bipartisan Strategic Footprint Review Task Force, which is continually studying the issue, to show the city is taking the issue seriously.

"I certainly acknowledge there are those individuals who believe they would be better off if they were de-annexed, but we know that there are equally a cohort of citizens who are choosing to live in annexed areas by the city," he said.

McGowan said in the two areas of Memphis where the call to de-annex is the strongest, the population has grown 43 percent since the annexations were approved. But, he said, shrinking the city's footprint is possible.

"It's a new day in Memphis," he said. "We've got energy, and we've got the right trajectory."

Elisha Hodge, legal counsel for the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, provided lawmakers with information on how 28 other states have handled de-annexation.

She said the bill, if passed, would make Tennessee one of only two states in the country to allow annexed areas a vote to de-annex.

The day's topic piqued the interest of not only the stakeholders who attended the meeting but several lawmakers representing areas throughout the state, including Sen. Sara Kyle and Reginald Tate, both Memphis Democrats, and Bo Watson, R-Hixson, who sponsored last year's de-annexation legislation.

The Senate study panel was made up of five Republicans, one representing Jackson and the rest from Middle and East Tennessee districts.

Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, who chaired the special committee, said the panel had completed its task.

But Watson disagreed. "I don't think I heard anything I haven't heard in the previous roughly 11 hours of testimony while we were in session," Watson said. "Most of this is ground that's already been plowed before."

When asked if he plans to file another de-annexation bill during the upcoming legislation session, Watson said he would take information provided in Monday's hearing and from the Memphis task force and work on another bill.

"We're trying to work towards a win-win situation where it's difficult to create win-wins," he said. "At the end of the day, we're trying to represent citizens who were put under city government with no voice in whether that occurred or not."

Staff writer Ryan Poe contributed to this report.
Sen. Bob Corker stopped at Rhino Construction Group office Monday morning during his four-week, 32-county tour across Tennessee, for a luncheon hosted by the Milan Chamber of Commerce. (KENNETH CUMMINGS/The Jackson Sun)

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By Tyler Whetstone, USA TODAY NETWORK  Tennessee

MILAN, Tenn.  U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said he felt like a college professor Monday as he stopped at Rhino Construction in Milan as part of his 32-county speaking tour while the Senate is in recess.

However, instead of getting lost in a lecture, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee spoke a few minutes on a handful of prepared topics, then spent most of the meeting answering questions from the crowded conference room.

Afterward, Corker answered questions about the 2016 presidential cycle and where he stands in the mix. Corker was on Republican nominee Donald Trump's short list for vice presidential candidates before Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was selected.

He stood by previous comments in which he said he would support the party's nominee, and while he said he's not actively campaigning for Trump, that's who he is behind.

Overall, the election cycle has brought about good discourse, he said, especially on foreign policy issues  his specialty. He said foreign policy will be a deciding factor for many voters.

"One reason why foreign policy is being discussed so much is because we have a lot of problems. That's not good," he said. "On the other hand, the fact that the American people are more tuned into it, and Tennesseans in particular, I think is a good thing."

It has been rumored that Corker would be considered as Trump's secretary of state if elected. When asked about the possibility, Corker gave his "standard Howard Baker answer" in reference to Ronald Reagan's chief of staff.

"If a president asks you to serve then you should always sit down and strongly consider it and try to understand what the relationship will be," Corker said. "Since I have no say in the matter, presidents decide those things, to even talk about it beyond that would be just pure conjecture and not beneficial."

During his opening remarks, Corker spent several minutes speaking about the nation's rising debt, a $19 trillion problem he called the greatest threat Americans face. He called it "generational theft" when generations of Americans pass along a debt burden to their children.

"All our military leaders that are thoughtful will tell you that, 'Yeah, Russia is a threat. Yeah, if Iran or North Korea get a nuclear weapon that's a threat. China and the South China Sea is no doubt a threat. ISIS is a threat,'" Corker said. "But the greatest threat in our nation right now is our own inability to get our fiscal house in order."

Corker said America's role in the world should be re-examined. He said the U.S. shouldn't be the world's policeman and the U.S. doesn't need boots on the ground in every conflict, but he said the country should be a strong voice of leadership for the rest of the world.

Corker also made stops in Bolivar and Alamo on Monday.
The National Park Service turns 100 on Thursday, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is joining in the celebrations. (Knoxville News Sentinel photos)

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By Michael Collins of The Commercial Appeal

WASHINGTON  Four East Tennessee cities are calling on Congress to fund more than $232 million in repairs to roads, campgrounds and other facilities at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as the sprawling tourist magnet celebrates the 100th anniversary of the nation's park system.

City governments in Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Maryville have passed resolutions asking Congress to create a "reliable, predictable stream of resources" to address the backlog of needed maintenance at the park.

"We know the park has a lot of needs," Sevierville Mayor Brian Atchley said. But, "funding out of Congress for our national parks has not been a priority."

Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner said that while millions of people visit the park every year, many don't realize that its upkeep comes at a hefty cost.

"We need to make sure we care for what I call America's heirloom," Werner said. "It takes money to maintain these resources."

The park, which spans 522,247 acres in Tennessee and North Carolina, is the most popular park in the National Park Service, with almost 11 million visitors in 2015.

The heavy crowds cause lots of wear and tear on the park's roads and other facilities, which makes maintaining them a constant challenge, said Dana Soehn, the park's spokeswoman.

More than half of the $232 million in needed maintenance involves road repairs. Some 384 miles of roads run through the park  238 miles of those paved. The park needs roughly $175 million to repave and make other repairs to those roads, Soehn said.

The park also needs $17.4 million for repairs to its 848 miles of trails; $16.7 million to upgrade its restrooms, visitor centers and other facilities; $7.2 million to improve its water treatment system; $5.7 million to upgrade its wastewater treatment system; $2.1 million to repair its campground facilities; and $1.1 million to improve park housing.

Most of the park's infrastructure was built during the 1930s and '40s, Soehn said. Since then, the park has been able to get special funding for some road repaving and to build some newer facilities, such as campgrounds and buildings.

"But it's very difficult to find the funds to just take care of all of the infrastructure we have in place," she said.

The lack of funding means routine maintenance is often put off, leading to the backlog. "If we can't get sustainable funds to help us, we're always in a backlog situation," Soehn said.

Werner said the park is East Tennessee's most important resource and that Congress can't keep turning a blind eye to the need for funding its upkeep.

"Something has got to be done," he said, "or people won't be able to continue to enjoy this beautiful park."

The maintenance backlog is not unique to the Smokies. The bill for deferred maintenance at national parks is nearly $12 billion nationwide. Congressional Republicans have been reluctant to put up the additional money because they believe the government already owns too much land yet continues to buy new sites instead of spending money to maintain those it already has.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., one of the Smokies' biggest proponents in Congress, said lawmakers have worked to address the maintenance backlog, most of which is roads.

"In the last several years," Alexander said, "we have funded at least $50 million for the Foothills Parkway and another $10 million just last month. In my view, park roads should receive a larger share of the federal gas tax, which was a recommendation of the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, which I chaired for President Reagan."

U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, said that while more can be done to address the backlog, National Park Service funding has jumped from $2.3 billion in 2007 to $2.8 billion in 2016, a 24 percent increase.

"If we would stop getting involved in so many other foreign countries' conflicts, we would have more funds to spend on things in this country like our national parks," Duncan said.

"In addition," he said, "the federal government owns almost one-third of all the land in this country. Much of it has no national significance and could be sold to the private sector. We could use the financial resources generated by such a sale of this surplus land to address the maintenance backlog in our national treasures."
This rendering from Renaissance Group shows the new headquarters for Orgill Inc.

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By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

Collierville's Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously approved a development agreement and final site plan on Monday night for Orgill's new red brick corporate headquarters in the town.

Orgill, a hardware distributor, plans to move from its current 75,000-square-foot headquarters in Germantown to a new 121,600-square-foot headquarters at 4100 S. Houston Levee Road.

The plan approved Monday is for a four-story building, though only the first three stories of the building would be occupied initially, according to planning documents.

Eric Divelbiss, Orgill's chief financial officer, explained the concept in a recent interview.

"The concept of leaving the fourth floor empty allows us to essentially prebuild our expansion. ... We know as business grows, our team will grow. This allows us to do that at that site. And we intend to be at that site a very long time."

Orgill's move from Germantown to Collierville fits into local leaders' general plan to attract corporate office jobs, and the board approved the site plan without opposition.

Collierville authorities had previously approved tax breaks for the project.

The Orgill vote was one of several board votes Monday evening that focused on building plans.

The board also voted to approve the next phases of the Stables Subdivision, a group of new houses at Bray Station Road and Shelton Road.

The new phases account for 104 lots and are just some of the developments underway in the fast-growing suburb.

Mayor Stan Joyner was recused and Alderman John Worley abstained.

Another discussion focused on the visual impact of a development. Board members reviewed a conditional site plan for a U-Haul facility on the east side of Byhalia Road and north of East Winchester Boulevard.

Some members raised questions about the possibility of the moving van rental company parking its vehicles in front of the facility and using them as advertisements.

"We don't want this to look like a parking lot for U-Haul," Alderman Tom Allen said.

David Pollock, manager of developments for U-Haul International, said he was redesigning the plan into a campus-style facility with all the trucks in the back.

He said the new design would address all the board members' concerns. "I promise you that."

The board approved the conditional use permit 5-1, with Alderman Billy Patton casting the lone "no" vote. "I've got a lot of misgivings about putting U-Haul right here," he said during the discussion.

The conditional use permit lets the project move forward. More detailed plans for the U-Haul business will come back to town authorities for further approvals.
SHARE Bishop Martin D. Holley was named leader of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis

By Clay Bailey of The Commercial Appeal

BREAKING NEWS: From the happening now, gonna announce it now, no sense waiting, trying to tell you before someone else does Outside the Loop news desk (cue clicking teletype machine)

DATELINE: Vatican City (OTL News Service) -- The Catholic Diocese of Memphis held a press conference this morning announcing the new bishop for the western side of Tennessee.

But columnist and former religion editor David Waters already told you Auxiliary Bishop Martin Holley from Washington will replace Bishop Terry Steib.

Ill direct you to Waters story on the appointment and invite you to stick around commercialappeal.com for updates from the press conference.

I get to mention the appointment here because technically the diocesan offices are on Shelby Oaks, which, of course, is Outside the Loop.

And Vatican City is surely Outside the Loop.

CLEAR A PATH

FIGHTING MY WAY ACROSS THE FARM: What the heck happened to the traffic volumes on Walnut Grove from the eastern neighborhoods?

In the last few weeks, the normal backup across Shelby Farms has extended all the way to the Germantown Parkway overpass and beyond. That is adding at least 20 minutes to my commute to 495 Union.

Yeah, yeah, I get it. Schools opened in the last few weeks. And Ive seen the school buses stopping in South Cordova.

But unlike the old Sears Crosstown building, I dont think there is a charter school in the new Shelby Farms Visitors Center. So, nothing has changed recently across the four miles of farm.

Sure, there is the normal congestion that builds around the junction of Christian Brothers High, Baptist Memorial Hospital and the Interstate 240 interchange. But things are supposed to get a bit better heading west.

And, there dont seem to be the same traffic problems around St. Agnes, St. Dominic or St. Marys.

Yet, there we all sit through a couple of signal changes at any number of intersections.

Im at least thankful for one thing -- the paving crews seem to have finished their work at White Station and Walnut Grove so they arent blocking that intersection.

SUBURBAN VOTING BOOTHS

HOOVER STEPS ASIDE: Certainly, last weeks qualifying deadline for the November suburban elections provided its share of interesting showdowns.

The most interesting revelation to emerge, however, may be the person not running.

Germantown school board member Ken Hoover, a key part of the municipal schools effort in the suburb, decided he needed a break after almost a decade of involvement in education efforts. Hoovers decision, coupled with the resignation of fellow board member Mark Dely, means two of the suburban bodys five members wont return.

Dely stepped down earlier this month because he was moving to Indiana for another job.

The other two incumbents on the November ballot -- Linda Fisher and Natalie Williams -- have drawn opposition. Laura Meanwell faces Fisher and Suzanne Jones challenges Williams.

Amy Eoff and Mindy Fischer will vie for Hoovers seat.

Asked if he was done serving in elected office, Hoover quickly said he wasnt and would look for other opportunities to serve. He didnt endorse either candidate seeking his position.

I encourage everybody in Germantown to get to know the candidates and cast a thoughtful (vote), Hoover said.

In addition to Germantown, there are municipal elections in Bartlett, Collierville and Millington. In Collierville and Millington, incumbent mayors Stan Joyner and Terry Jones face challengers.

GERMANTOWN

DACHSHUND WRANGLER

Last week, the Germantown Festival announced city historian Andy Pouncey will serve as the ambassador for the 45th annual Germantown Festival Running of the Weenies.

The dachshund race -- slated for Sept. 10 on the grounds of the Germantown Charity Horse Show -- is clearly one of the highlights of the late summer festival on the eastern edge of Old Germantown.

We will write other stories on the festival, and probably mention the weenie race again. But the real purpose of including it now is to get the picture of ringmaster Pouncey (above) on display.

BARTLETT

HINES VERDICT: A jury found former Bartlett police officer Lucas Hines guilty on two counts reckless driving last Friday in connection with the October, 2014 accident that led to the deaths of two people.

The verdict was much less severe than the offenses with which Hines was charged -- two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Michelle Sloyan and Danny Floyd. The jury spent about seven hours reaching its decision after the weeklong trial.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 23.

Hines, who no longer is with the suburban department, previously rejected a plea bargain similar to the one given to Memphis police officer Alex Beard in association with an August, 2012 wreck at Walnut and Crump. Beard was going 94 mph without sirens or lights when he collided with a car killing Mackala Ross, 13, and her mother, Delores Epps, 53. He was given six months in jail in exchange for his guilty plea.

A Tennessee Highway Patrol investigation estimated Hines, trying to find a driver who fled from a traffic stop, was traveling between 75 and 80 mph going east on Stage as he collided with the other car as Floyd turned left in front of the officer to go southbound on Bartlett Boulevard.

By sseveral accounts, Hines rejected the plea bargain to avoid serving any jail time.

And its doubtful two counts of reckless driving will earn any time in custody.

But, weve covered this tragedy since the fatal accident and wanted to make sure we duly noted the jurys verdict.
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Immigrants are not the enemy.

In fact, they are adding to the prosperity of Middle Tennessee, the state and the nation.

A new report released this month quantifies the contributions, benefits and purchasing power of immigrant workers, students and entrepreneurs.

As state legislators and members of Congress debate proposals related to immigration, they should not conflate multiple aspects of the issue.

The issues of border control, refugees and citizenship or residency for immigrants are separate issues that deserve separate solutions.

On Aug. 3, the Partnership for a New American Economy released individual reports for all 50 states specifically identifying how immigrants are contributing to the workforce, tax rolls and the overall economy, based primarily upon data from the Census American Community Survey.

These reports can help elected officials make good policy decisions on using and building on the talents of an immigrant workforce that is highly entrepreneurial, overrepresented in various career fields and willing to do jobs that many Americans will not take.

About 300,000 residents of Tennessee are foreign-born, or nearly 5 percent of the state's population, but they make up 6 percent of the state's workforce. In 1990, immigrants made up 1.2 percent of the state's population.

There is a shortage of workers in various areas, and immigrants make up a significant percentage of several fields compared with their population, such as construction workers (18 percent), maids (15 percent), agricultural workers (19 percent), physicians and surgeons (15 percent) and software developers (16 percent).

Across Tennessee, cities are demanding visas for workers in various fields. The top demand is not just coming from the biggest cities, but also from cities such as Collierville, Adams and Unicoi, from West Tennessee to East Tennessee.

International students make up 3 percent of all students in the state, but they pay full tuition at state institutions, their economic contributions make up $280.5 million and they support 3,437 jobs.

Undocumented immigrants in Tennessee are estimated to number 128,620, or 2 percent of the state's population.

They are demonized for their legal status, but overall they are giving more to society than they are getting back.

They do not directly benefit from federal and state aid, but undocumented immigrants annually earn $2.1 billion, pay $250 million in state and federal taxes and have $1.8 billion in spending power. The report estimates that there are more than 10,000 undocumented immigrant entrepreneurs.

The New American Economy report shows that immigrants contribute vastly to Tennessee, and their contributions will be essential for the state's future prosperity.
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By Cal Thomas

Every election cycle we must endure challenges and allegations about fraud (conservatives) and discrimination (liberals) when it comes to voter ID laws. This year is no different.

A federal court ruled that the Texas Voter ID law passed in 2011, requiring voters to present official photo identification, discriminated again poor, minority and disabled voters and ordered a judge to approve new interim rules for the Nov. 8 election.

The new rules will broaden the list of acceptable forms of ID. Voters will now be able to present, among other things, an expired ID, a government check or a current utility bill. "Supporting documents don't have to have a photo, reports The Austin Chronicle, "but if they happen to, then voters will need to present the original. Otherwise, they can present a copy."

Similar battles over voter identification laws are being waged in other states, notably Wisconsin and North Carolina.

It's worth reviewing the list of the seven forms of identification currently accepted by Texas law  a Texas driver's license issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS); a Texas election identification card issued by DPS; a personal identification card issued by DPS; a license to carry a handgun issued by DPS; U.S. military identification card containing the person's photo; U.S. citizenship certificate containing the person's photograph; a U.S. passport.

Granted, most poor people are unlikely to have a passport, but the state will issue any legal resident an identification card. Are civil rights groups who sued the state contending that poor and minority people are so inept that they can't apply for an identification card? If that is their position, how are they able to apply for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program) benefits, which require a photo ID? Why is voting the one category in which you don't have to prove your citizenship and legal residence?

I will answer that question in a moment.

Three years ago during a similar controversy, Ashe Schow of The Washington Examiner compiled a list of 24 things that require a photo ID.

You must have a photo ID if you are 25 or under and wish to purchase alcohol or cigarettes. Store signs say so. Want to open a bank account? Photo ID required. Here are the rest of the categories: applying for welfare, Medicaid and Social Security (presumably poor people take advantage of one or more of these programs); unemployment benefits (ditto); rent/buy a house, or apply for a mortgage; drive/buy/rent a car; get on an airplane; get married; buy a gun; adopt a pet; rent a hotel room; apply for a hunting or fishing license; buy a cellphone; visit a casino; pick up a prescription (or buy restricted over-the-counter medications); donate blood; apply for a license to hold a demonstration; buy an "M''-rated video game; purchase nail polish at CVS.

Again, why is voting placed in a separate category? Why are liberal groups determined to repeal laws requiring proof of citizenship and residence? The answer is found in a definition of the word fraud: "deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage."

Since many poor people are receiving government benefits, they are responsive to Democrats' claims that Republicans want to cut them off, so they had better vote early and vote often, as the saying goes, or else. Notice the left never focuses on emancipating people from poverty. That might make the poor independent of government, which would be intolerable to the left. They need a reliable voting bloc and keeping the poor dependent on government is a modern form of slavery that is cynical in the extreme.

Unless discrimination against an individual can be proved, these voter ID laws should be upheld. Otherwise, expect more votes from dead people, illegal immigrants, people with false addresses and even Mickey Mouse. All of these scenarios have occurred in previous elections and are likely to be repeated in this and future ones without proper identification.

Cal Thomas is a columnist for the Tribune Content Agency. Contact him at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
What if robots could be powered by light instead of bulky battery packs or movement-limiting power cables?

That's the scenario that scientists at the University of Warsaw are envisioning.

Researchers have developed a half-inch-long so-called soft robot that mimics the movements of a caterpillar. It's powered by light and controlled by a laser beam, according to the university.

"Designing soft robots calls for a completely new paradigm in their mechanics, power supply and control," said Piotr Wasylczyk, head of the Photonic Nanostructure Facility at the University of Warsaw, in a statement. "We are only beginning to learn from nature and shift our design approaches towards these that emerged in natural evolution."

This micro-robot is designed to move along flat surfaces, climb inclines, carry loads and squeeze through narrow openings.

One of the big challenges of building useful robots is figuring out movement. How do you create a robot that can move easily, balance itself and not use a tremendous amount of energy to do it?

For years now, scientists have been looking to nature for inspiration.

A little over two years ago, for instance, researchers at MIT built an autonomous robot that mimics a fish, moving a robotic tail that enables it to change direction in a fraction of a second.

Other scientists have built a small, flying robot that moves like a jellyfish , while yet others designed small bat-like flying robots .

Researchers at the University of Warsaw went with a soft robot because many creatures, like worms, snails and caterpillars, use their soft bodies to move well in complex environments.

Then they added liquid crystalline elastomers, a hybrid material with elastic properties, to the equation.

This material actually can change shape when illuminated with visible light. Scientists applied the illumination with a laser beam.

By forcing the changes in a particular pattern and at a particular speed, researchers can create what mimics the gait of natural creatures, enabling the robot to walk, climb and even push objects that are 10 times its own mass, according to the university. What if robots could be powered by light instead of bulky battery packs or movement-limiting power cables?

That's the scenario that scientists at the University of Warsaw are envisioning.

Researchers have developed a half-inch-long so-called soft robot that mimics the movements of a caterpillar. It's powered by light and controlled by a laser beam, according to the university.

"Designing soft robots calls for a completely new paradigm in their mechanics, power supply and control," said Piotr Wasylczyk, head of the Photonic Nanostructure Facility at the University of Warsaw, in a statement. "We are only beginning to learn from nature and shift our design approaches towards these that emerged in natural evolution."

This micro-robot is designed to move along flat surfaces, climb inclines, carry loads and squeeze through narrow openings.

One of the big challenges of building useful robots is figuring out movement. How do you create a robot that can move easily, balance itself and not use a tremendous amount of energy to do it?

For years now, scientists have been looking to nature for inspiration.

A little over two years ago, for instance, researchers at MIT built an autonomous robot that mimics a fish, moving a robotic tail that enables it to change direction in a fraction of a second.

Other scientists have built a small, flying robot that moves like a jellyfish , while yet others designed small bat-like flying robots .

Researchers at the University of Warsaw went with a soft robot because many creatures, like worms, snails and caterpillars, use their soft bodies to move well in complex environments.

Then they added liquid crystalline elastomers, a hybrid material with elastic properties, to the equation.

This material actually can change shape when illuminated with visible light. Scientists applied the illumination with a laser beam.

By forcing the changes in a particular pattern and at a particular speed, researchers can create what mimics the gait of natural creatures, enabling the robot to walk, climb and even push objects that are 10 times its own mass, according to the university.
Congratulations are in order for one of Britains most eminent military residents: Sir Nils Olav III, Colonel in Chief of the Norwegian Royal Guard, has received a much-deserved promotion to the rank of Brigadier. As is befitting his rank, he then waddled through a formal inspection of some of his men, arrayed on parade in all their finery.

It may seem odd that such a senior Norwegian soldier is resident in the UK, and even more odd that his default mode of walking is a waddle, but there is a good reason: Sir Nils is a long-term occupant of Edinburgh Zoo, and his waddle is an inescapable consequence of the fact that he is a penguin.

It is, you might think, quite bonkers for soldiers from Norway to travel across the North Sea to carry out a formal parade in honour of an aquatic bird, which holds a military rank. Youd be right. But its also rather endearing  one of those silly traditions which demonstrate that we as peoples and as nations are more than just efficient machines, putting in working hours and generating charts of GDP on an endless treadmill.

Whats striking about the tradition of honouring Sir Nils Olav III is that this is a nation, a whole country, with all its serious responsibilities and dull official functions, indulging in an in-joke which is reminiscent of those enjoyed by every family. Each of us, Im sure, shares with our parents and siblings at least one nonsensical tradition which brings us endless glee but would baffle an outsider. Its a product of closeness, of time spent together.

I suspect that this is why it appears that no organisation larger than a nation state enjoys such familial traditions. From Norways warrior penguin to High Wycombes ritual weighing of its MP (to ensure he or she has not become fat at public expense), it takes a genuine community to forge and sustain traditions which are silly  because self-mockery requires genuine self-confidence.

This is the magic ingredient which is always missing when people try to invent institutions without the genuine fellow-feeling on which to base them. Lacking it, they overcompensate with an emphasis on how serious and important they are, splurging on pomp and circumstance in a doomed effort to buy in a credibility which cannot be bought.

Observe the magnificently silly sight of Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III inspecting his troops and consider if the EU, for example, would ever organically develop a tradition which is anything like it.
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Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Health (NIH) has recently warned that Texas and Louisiana could be the next states affected with Zika virus outspread.

In the few weeks since the Zika virus carrying mosquitoes were discovered in US, the virus has spread from a small community in South Florida to South Beach, Miami's most popular tourist spots, reported the Washington Post.

The development caused Centers of Disease Control and Prevention authorities to announce that pregnant mothers should avoid the area.

Notably, Fauci, who is the director of Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases mentioned that the situation will very likely turn worse soon.

He also went on to say that he would not be surprised if he sees cases of Zika virus infection in Texas and Louisiana, especially where the flood has occurred in Louisiana. He said that getting rid of the standing water can be a serious problem for everyone.

Unfortunately, the infection of the Zika virus has reached epidemic proportions in certain parts of the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Zika virus might be responsible for birth defects in thousands of babies and for some adults suffering from acute neurological conditions.

Although the United States have been spared from this outbreak previously, yet now, even US residents suffer the risk of being infected with the Zika virus.

This month, federal researchers announced that they had begun their first clinical trial of a vaccine in humans. It will involve at least 80 healthy volunteers. However, even in the best-case scenario, it could be a long time before an effective vaccine is available to the public.

Considering the timeline, it is anticipated that the Zika virus vaccines will be available in early 2017. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Rick Scott and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine has undertaken a massive mosquito - eradication campaign since the beginning of 2016.

Thus, it seems that Florida and Miami might be able to get rid of at least a part of the virus causing mosquitoes if not all.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Editorial

Long Tan  misdirected indignation

The media worked the news story into a lather. The Vietnamese government had withdrawn permission for Australian vets to conduct a ceremony at the memorial featuring the familiar white cross at Long Tan, east of Ho Chi Minh City. Kick in the guts as Vietnam bans service, as the Sydney Morning Herald expressed it. It appeared the Vietnamese government, for no clear reason at all, had decided to disrupt the plans of Australian veterans and their families to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. Bastardry on the part of the Communist government was suspected.

Prime Minister Turnbull was reported to have phoned his Vietnamese counterpart to secure a reversal of the decision or some sort of compromise. In the end, the planned major commemorative event was scaled back to a more modest gathering. As the days went by, however, the governments and the medias line that this was a last minute development and completely unreasonable started to come under pressure. Unease on the part of the Vietnamese government had been expressed for weeks and the servicemen, themselves, started to challenge the whole kick in the guts line.

Battle of Long Tan commander Harry Smith understood Vietnamese sensitivity on the issue and said Australia would be up in arms if Japanese veterans wanted to come to the Northern Territory capital to pay respects to fallen comrades. Some in the media, who lived through the controversy generated by the Vietnam War, took up the analogy. It is worth thinking about. Imagine the Japanese came here and placed wreaths on the graves of their fallen comrades, fellow conscripts and cannon fodder for Japanese imperialism. Few would be offended. But what if the delegation were to carry their banners, wear military uniform and dwell heavily on the damage their comrades inflicted on Darwin before their aircraft were shot down? There would be outrage.

Any mention of the Vietnam War in Australia and the role of its service men and women sparks a strangely misdirected anger in some quarters. The Moratorium Movement and other opponents of Australian involvement in Vietnam are portrayed somehow as the enemy. They supposedly created an atmosphere in which returning soldiers felt unwelcome and unappreciated. The major question about how this force of mostly conscript soldiers was used and abused in a US-led invasion and occupation of Vietnam is ignored. Thanks to the expiry of the secrecy restriction surrounding some government documents of the time, we now know the Australian government asked the puppet regime in the south of Vietnam for an invitation to join in the carnage directed against the national liberation struggle of the Vietnamese people.

Conscription and the Vietnam War were desperately unpopular with the Australian people. Everybodys family lived with the fear a sons birth date would come out of the dreaded barrel; that he would be forced to go and fight in an unjust war. The unpopularity of the war was a major reason for the election of the Whitlam government. Its first act in government was to abolish conscription and withdraw Australian forces from the conflict. This was an immensely popular act.

The truly offensive discrimination against Vietnam vets came from conservative forces within the government, the bureaucracy and even the Returned Servicemens League. Vets from Vietnam did not get the same reception as their counterparts from WW2, Korea, the Malayan Emergency and other victorious campaigns. Their claims of disability from contact with the defoliant Agent Orange were disbelieved as were their symptoms of severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

The anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan is an appropriate time to reflect on what a heavy price Australia and the people of the region have paid for the US alliance. It led the Australian government to sacrifice the lives of young men, some as young as 19  old enough to die in a war against a whole people engaged in struggle for independence but not old enough to vote. The anger the media sought to direct at the government of a now united Vietnam should be directed at the US alliance and all it represents  the waste of so many lives and the squandering of resources that should have gone to meet the needs of the people of Australia and the region.
NT Juvenile Justice Royal Commission

Protests nationwide

Thousands of people took to the streets late last month to protest against the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in detention.

Rallies, marches and protests were held in cities across the nation, with protestors hoping to put an end to the abuse of Indigenous children in detention and deaths in custody.

An ABC Four Corners program last month, showing footage of children being tear-gassed, having spit hoods placed over their heads and being stripped naked at the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre in Darwin, sparked the movement across the country, despite the abuses having been widely reported previously by many media organisations including the Koori Mail.

Perth rally organiser Clinton Pryor said there was a sense of solidarity with people marching not just in one city, but all over the country on the same day.

I was amazed that so many people marched across the country, he told the Koori Mail. I think the message got across with the whole country joining together like that, but there is a lot more work to be done.

In Sydney hundreds gathered to protest. Wiradjuri Elder Jenny Munro spoke powerfully about how fearful she was for the safety of the young children shown to be abused in the footage, and how she holds out no hope of change following a royal commission.

She spoke of systemic racism and the need to fight every battle and not just come out in support of the highly publicised battles being fought by Aboriginal people.

Allies need to stand beside us always, not just when the cameras are rolling, she said.

Murri poet and activist Ken Canning spoke at the rally and said he was shocked, along with all of Australia, at the abuse, but reminded the crowd that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been saying this abuse has existed for a long time.

If you want to see real change and want this abuse to stop, demand change right now, he said. All institutions need to be investigated immediately because the abuse is not confined to the Northern Territory.

Canning called for the release of the abused children and for government to be accountable for undoing the damage to the abused children and called for the Northern Territory government to be sacked immediately.

The peaceful march continued to the law courts in Sydney where the crowd shouted for justice for the Don Dale boys and sacking of the NT government.

The Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance organised the rally in Melbourne, which lasted long into the night. About 100 protesters, including three women who locked themselves in a cage, stayed at the Flinders Street intersection until police removed them.

The Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance Facebook Page read: Cops have gone home! We are staying here until Don Dale is shut. We need numbers, support and food. Come down. We are still here.

Koori Mail
Close the justice gap

Second Anniversary of Death in Custody of Ms Dhu in WA

On August 4, at lunchtime outside the Central Law Courts in Perth, more than 50 protesters gathered to remember Ms Dhu, who died in custody at the police lockup exactly two years ago in South Hedland in the states north west.

The 22 year old Ms Dhu, who was being held in custody to serve time for unpaid fines, became unwell while being detained and though briefly taken (twice) to hospital, she was returned to custody where her health deteriorated further and later died.

A coronial inquest was held by the State Coroner, situated at the Central Law Courts in March of this year but to date the findings of the State Coroner have yet to be released.

In light of the barbaric proceedings which occurred in the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre in the Northern Territory, where operational video of what occurred was screened on the ABC program Four Corners on July 25, there is growing pressure on authorities by Ms Dhus family for the State Coroner to release CCTV footage of police treatment at the South Hedland lockup.

Other rallies in Perth in support of justice for Ms Dhu and the recent Black Lives Matter rally, where the family of Ms Dhu addressed the rally, have called for release of the CCTV footage of Ms Dhu from the lockup.

Speakers at the Anniversary rally included Deaths in Custody Watch spokesman Paul Kaplan  whose organisation called the rally  and Noongar elder Ben Taylor, both speakers who said there should be no more deaths in custody and no more Royal Commissions, as the State had all the information it needed to take action and initiate change to prevent further deaths and reduce rates of Aboriginal incarceration.

Kaplan said that despite the damning findings and numerous recommendations from the 1991 WA Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody recommendations, Aboriginal deaths continued to occur in custody, while rates of incarceration continue to increase, especially amongst young and female Aboriginal people  the latter by 300%.

Federal ALP Senator Sue Lines and Greens Senator Rachel Siewart, who have both been tireless advocates on the issue of Black deaths in custody, addressed the rally with the latter calling for a bi-partisan motion in Parliament with the ALP on the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody made 25 years ago.

One of the final speakers to address the rally was Noongar Elder Ted Wilkes who said that not enough was being done to address the poor health outcomes of Aboriginal people  the Gap on Aboriginal health was not closing but was widening.

The Communist Party of Australia calls for action by federal and state governments on the basis of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody and for a thorough investigation of matters before the Royal Commission into the abuse of youths in detention at the Don Dale Centre in the Northern Territory. Closely connected to the issue of deaths in custody is the lack of action on closing the gap on Aboriginal health and the CPA also calls for increased efforts to improve health and life expectancy of Indigenous Australians.
Hiroshima

A crime against humanity

When Paul Tibbets was 13 years old he flew a bi-plane over Floridas Miami Beach dropping a promotional cargo of Babe Ruth Candy Bars directly on to the promotional target area, in an advertising stunt. It was his first solo flight and: From that moment he became hooked on flying.

He became a test pilot and: one of the first Americans to fly in world War Two. Seventeen years later he had graduated from dropping Candy Bars to dropping the worlds first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Thirty years later, the now retired Brigadier-General Paul Warfield Tibbets Junior told authors Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, for their minutely detailed and definitive book on one of the worlds greatest crimes, of the background to the venture. Most would surely conclude it was a criminal project from the start, on every level.

Tibbets told the authors:

I got called on this bomb job  I was told I was going to destroy one city with one bomb. That was quite a thought  We had, working in my organisation, a murderer, three men guilty of manslaughter and several felons; all of them had escaped from prison.

The murderer was serving life; the manslaughter guys were doing 10 to 15 years; the felons three to five. After escaping they had enlisted under false names. They were all skilled technicians  They were all good, real good at their jobs and we needed em. We told them that if they gave us no trouble, they would have no trouble from us.

After it was over, we called each of them in and handed them their dossiers and a box of matches and said Go burn em. You see, I was not running a police department, I was running an outfit that was unique.

The crime which the outfit committed was also unique, making the odd murder, manslaughter or felony on home soil pale into insignificance in comparison.

In Hiroshima, a millisecond after 8.16am, on August 6, 1945, the temperature at the core of the hundreds of feet wide fireball reached 50,000,000 degrees. Flesh burned two miles distant from its outer parameters: 80,000 people were killed or mortally injured instantly. The main area targeted was the citys principal residential, commercial and military quarters.

The entrance to the Shima Clinic was flanked by great stone columns  They were rammed straight down in to the ground. The building was destroyed: The occupants were vaporised.

Just three of the citys 55 hospitals remained usable, 180 of Hiroshimas 200 doctors were dead or injured and 1,654 of 1,780 nurses.

Sixty-two thousand buildings were destroyed as were all utilities and transportation systems. Just 16 fire-fighting vehicles remained workable.

People standing, walking, the schoolgirls manning the communications centre in Hiroshima Castle and 90 percent of the castles occupants, including American prisoners of war, were also vaporised. Gives a whole new meaning to the US militarys much vaunted No soldier left behind.

The radiant heat set alight Radio Hiroshima, burnt out the tramcars, trucks, railway rolling stock.

Stone walls, steel doors and asphalt pavement glowed red hot. Clothing fused to skin. More than a mile from the epicentre mens caps fused to their scalps, womens kimonos to their bodies and childrens socks to their legs. All the above decimations happened in the time a crew member of the US bomber, Enola Gay, took to blink from the flash behind his goggles. What he saw when he opened them and looked down was, he said a peep into hell.

At home base, as Hiroshima was incinerated, a party was being prepared to welcome the arsonists. The biggest blow out with free beer, all star soft ball game, a jitter bug dance contest, prizes, star attractions, a movie and the cooks working overtime to prepare a sumptuous fare.

Hiroshimas destruction had a uranium-based detonation. Three days later on August 9, Nagasaki was destroyed by a plutonium-based detonation to ascertain which would be the most effective in the new nuclear age warfare.

Not even a nod or thought had been given to the Hague Convention which had very specific legal guidelines to protect civilians in war. One might speculate that Hiroshima also vaporised any pretension of such considerations for all time, in spite the subsequent Geneva Convention and its additional protocols.

Death from the sky

In May this year, President Obama visited Hiroshima, he said: Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.

Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in a not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead, including over 100,000 Japanese men, women and children, thousands of Koreans, a dozen Americans held prisoner.

Their souls speak to us. They ask us to look inward, to take stock of who we are and what we might become.

Obama ended his Hiroshima address with: Those who died, they are like us. Ordinary people understand this, I think. They do not want more war. They would rather that the wonders of science be focused on improving life and not eliminating it. When the choices made by nations, when the choices made by leaders, reflect this simple wisdom, then the lesson of Hiroshima is done.

For a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and a constitutional law expert, his words are especially cheap. The man who began his Presidency with a public commitment to build a nuclear weapons-free world (speech in Czech Republic, April 5, 2009) has, mind bendingly, committed to a 30-year, one trillion dollar nuclear arsenal upgrade.

The epitaph at Hiroshima was written by Tadayoshi Saika, Professor of English Literature at Hiroshima University. He also provided the English translation, Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil.

On November 3, 1983, an explanation plaque in English was added in order to convey Professor Saikas intent that we refers to all humanity, not specifically the Japanese or Americans, and that the error is the evil of war:

The inscription on the front panel offers a prayer for the peaceful repose of the victims and a pledge on behalf of all humanity never to repeat the evil of war. It expresses the spirit of Hiroshima  enduring grief, transcending hatred, pursuing harmony  and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace.

Did President Obama have a twinge of conscience as he read it? Or did he even bother? He is surely amongst the most unworthy of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. And will the rest of the world heed the words, the pledge and the spirit, before it is too late?

globalresearch.ca
The shame of Milwaukee

Now it is Milwaukee. On Saturday, a car with two African-American men was stopped for suspicion. The men fled, the policeman pursued, and the driver, reportedly armed, was shot and killed.

Milwaukee is the most segregated city in the United States.

And Milwaukee exploded. Angry crowds confronted police, set fires, threw rocks. At least a half-dozen businesses  including a grocery store, a gas station, and an auto parts shop  were robbed or destroyed.

The Saturday shooting was part of a weekend filled with violence in Milwaukee. Five people were shot and killed overnight Friday.

Milwaukee law mandates an investigation of any police shooting. Immediately, focus goes to the harsh relations between police and the community. But to understand the reaction to the shooting, it is necessary to go much deeper.

This city is a powder keg, Alderman Khalif Rainey told The Washington Post. This entire community has sat back and witnessed how Milwaukee has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country. Now this is a warning cry ... Do we continue  continue with the inequities, the injustice, the unemployment, the under-education? The black people of Milwaukee are tired. Theyre tired of living under this oppression. This is their existence. This is their life. This is the life of their children.

An exaggeration? An excuse for rioters? Inflated rhetoric? Consider Milwaukees stark realities.

Milwaukee [in the mid-west state of Wisconsin] is the most segregated city in the United States. Black household income is the third lowest in the US. Its black poverty rate is the highest in the US.

These are figures presented in a haunting and damning 2015 report, The Shame of Milwaukee: Race, Segregation and Inequality, by Marc V Levine of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The data show a black population segregated into neighbourhoods of concentrated poverty with declining prospects. Real black household income in 1979 was $39,105; in 2013 it was $27,438, a foul decline of nearly 30 percent. Household income for all races in Milwaukee has declined over the course of this century, but far worse for blacks and Hispanics than whites.

Nearly 40 percent of African-Americans are in poverty, up from 27 percent in 1969. Nearly 40 percent of African-Americans in the core working age (25-54) are unemployed. This is in stunning contrast to the 15.2 percent black unemployment rate in 1970. For males aged 20-24, the beginning of a work life, over two-thirds of blacks are unemployed  68.4 percent  a staggering increase from 25.3 percent in 1970.

Schools are doubly segregated by race and by poverty. Seventy-one percent of black students attend hyper-segregated schools  those in which at least 9 of 10 students are minority. Nearly half of all black students go to schools with 90 percent poverty rates.

In 1963, Dr Martin Luther King launched the modern civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, saying, Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.

Well, the injustice is worse in modern Milwaukee than it was in segregated Birmingham. Black poverty, unemployment, and impoverished neighbourhoods are all worse. The percentage of blacks attending hyper-segregated schools in todays Milwaukee is far worse than the Jim Crow schools of Birmingham (71 percent to 56 percent).

This is, as Alderman Rainey stated, a powder keg. Police are tasked with keeping order. That is like trying to stop a seething volcano from exploding by suppressing the gases coming out of the top. Even doing that skilfully wont work.

Milwaukee is not the worst. Black income has plummeted more in Cleveland and Detroit. School segregation is worse in New York and Chicago.

Violence stalks the mean streets of impoverished urban neighbourhoods across the country.

And this obscene injustice gets worse with no action and little notice. The poor are barely mentioned by either presidential candidate, the New York Times reports. And they are largely ignored by the media.

On Saturday and Sunday, riots occurred in Milwaukee, a major American city.

That didnt make front page of the Monday New York Times, which led with stories above the fold about a Trump adviser, liberal worries about Hillary Clinton, and malaria in Venezuela.

In Birmingham, Dr Kings cry against the injustice of segregation touched the conscience of concerned citizens across the country. Will anyone hear the cry of the north side of Milwaukee, or the south side of Chicago? Or will our cities have to explode before action replaces neglect?

* Reverend Jesse Jackson is the founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. He was a leader in the civil rights movement alongside Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and was twice a candidate for President of the United States.

Peoples World
Fidel Castro, an inspiration for all!

Last Friday August 19, the photographic exhibition Fidel is Fidel was officially opened by Cuban Consul to Australia, HE Jorge Trujillo. The photographs by Cuban photographer Roberto Chile, taken over the 25 years he followed Fidel, have been exhibited in several cities around the world in celebration of Fidels 90th birthday. Proudly the Fidel is Fidel exhibition was presented in Perth WA by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society (ACFS).

Photo: Vinnie Molina

Over 120 people gathered at Gallery Central in Northbridge to view the works. Passionate speeches about Fidels contribution to Cuba and the world were given by the line-up of speakers. While the images could speak for themselves the speakers commented on the strong sense of humanity they felt from every photograph captured by Roberto Chiles camera.

The curator of the exhibition, Dr Christopher Crouch, paid tribute to the artist and to Fidel Castros legacy for the world.

Mick Buchan, state secretary of the CFMEU WA branch shared his thoughts on solidarity and the strong links between the CFMEU and the Cuban construction union.

Vinnie Molina, president of the ACFS Perth branch opened the proceedings acknowledging the traditional owners of the land and paid his respects to the elders past and present.

He recalled Cubas solidarity with Central American and other Latin Americans countries who have benefited from Cuban doctors and educators or with medical scholarships at the Latin American School of Medicine. Cuban solidarity has been given with no other interest than sharing the little they have.

Guests were told that East Timor has one of the best health systems in the region thanks to Cuban solidarity but it could even be better if Australia didnt grab the oil from the Timor Gap. Other acts of solidarity such as the one close to the hearts of the organisers, the Cuban literacy program Yes I Can which is currently being implemented in Aboriginal communities in NSW at Bourke, Wilcannia, Enngonia and Brewarrina was also highlighted.

Fidel has mobilised his people behind him in the battle of ideas for peace and a better world. For anyone, reaching 90 years of age is a milestone but for Fidel, who has survived more than 600 attempts on his life, it is remarkable.

Despite the US blockade Cuba has overcome what was known as the Special Period and has been able to implement measures for a sustainable and efficient Socialist future.

Ideas are stronger than guns and the struggle for peace should be the task for all for the survival of the planet and humankind.

It is planned that other friendship societies will host Fidel is Fidel taking it to other Australian capital cities. Once the exhibition has toured the photographs will be handed over to the Cuban embassy in Canberra.
Culture & Life

Lies, damned lies and propaganda

I know it will probably shock you, gentle reader, but the sorry truth is that capitalist governments lie. They lie to the public and when they find it advisable they lie to the legislature. Im truly sorry if I have shattered your illusions, but I think you have a right to know the truth.

The US aim is, as usual, regime change: the White House wants to force out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: he is too friendly with the Russians, and not friendly enough with the Israelis or the Saudis.

They lie with particular intensity if they are engaged  or wanting to be engaged  in a war. Tony Blair lied outrageously to the British people and parliament when he wanted Britain to join the US in the invasion of Iraq. He told whoppers about the government of Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction that were in fact non-existent. In Australia, Johnny Howard  who now likes to play the role of revered elder statesman  used the same mythical weapons to justify catapulting Australia into that invasion.

Going back a bit further, remember when the American U2 spy plane was brought down in the Soviet Union? The US authorities blandly lied that there had ever been such a plane, denied that they had any program of aerial spying on the USSR, and pretended that the whole thing was a Russian fabrication. Until the Russians produced the planes pilot, who had decided not to kill himself as expected, and had instead been captured. But lying about such things is the norm: the mantra is, if caught out, deny, deny, deny.

In fact, capitalist politicians lie so routinely that the populace are no longer shocked by it. Being caught out lying no longer necessitates immediate resignation from office. A press release, some PR spin, and a thick skin and you may not get away with murder but you will almost certainly be able to pass off the most devious statements with impunity!

If youre looking for examples of lying on a wholesale scale, look no further than the US-backed conflict in Syria. The US aim is, as usual, regime change: the White House wants to force out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: he is too friendly with the Russians, and not friendly enough with the Israelis or the Saudis. Not content with funding and arming a rebel opposition in the country, the US is also waging a propaganda war against the Assad government. Assad is regularly reported to have committed dreadful atrocities, such as barrel-bombing innocent Syrian civilians. Of course, thats how you retain popular support, isnt it: by killing your own people in droves?

However, indiscriminate barrel-bombing is not by any means the worst atrocity laid at Assads door. Remember the poison gas attack in a suburb of Damascus in 2013? The gas was sarin and once again a lot of people were killed. The US government and its attendant media had no qualms about blaming the attack squarely (and solely) on Bashar al-Assad, claiming that they had discovered that the Syrian army had a secret sarin program. The bulk of the capitalist media, always faithful to their class interest, endlessly reiterate this assertion, on the principle apparently, that if you say a thing often enough it becomes a fact! It was, however, yep, you guessed it, yet another lie.

In an interview with Truthout, US journalist Seymour Hersh  a prize-winning veteran of the Washington bureau of The New York Times  pointed out that the Syrian gas arsenal was not a secret, as many in the US insisted, but widely known for decades to exist. ... The CW [chemical warfare] system had been generated by Bashars father, Hafez al-Assad, who ran the nation for 20 years, as a deterrent to the known  if undeclared  Israeli nuclear arsenal. ... The Syrian system was seen after Hafezs death in 2000, with young Bashar al-Assad now in charge, to be useless, expensive, and hard to maintain  and publicly complained about as such.

Of more significance than that, however, is the fact that, in Hershs words, Israel and the US had joined forces, initially in secret, to monitor all of the suspected CW storage depots scattered through Syria; there were more than 20 of them. Any effort to begin preparing for a CW warfare attack would immediately trigger alarms in the US and Israel, and the government in Tel Aviv would begin preparing for a pre-emptive air force attack. But, as Hersh points out, the joint US-Israeli system did not signal an alarm in the hours before or after the CW attack near Damascus  clear evidence that the attack could not have come from a Syrian CW facility.

An aspect of this incident that the capitalist media resolutely refuses to report, because it exposes the lie, is that (again in Hershs words) the US and its allies knew from highly classified CIA and allied intelligence reporting throughout the spring and summer of 2013, that the jihadist opposition to Assad (primarily al-Nusra) had the ability to manufacture a crude form of sarin and other gas warfare items. To this date, despite constant references by the media to the Syrian attack, there has been no specific evidence linking the Syrian version of sarin, whose sophisticated additives and chemical make-up is known to the West, to the far cruder sarin found at the site.

That jihadist opposition that Hersh refers to is armed, funded and even assisted with covert operatives by the USA. It is inconceivable that the opposition could develop, plan and carry out a classic black operation like a poison gas attack to discredit the Assad regime without US knowledge and approval. And yet, in the days after the August 2013 gas attack, the Obama administration focused its attention solely on blaming the Syrian army.

Now why would they do that, I wonder?
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The Reality:

Now, we're not saying that shit never happened -- the battle you see above certainly did. We're saying that (for instance) famed conqueror Richard the Lionheart fought a whopping three battles in his entire Lionhearting career. Henry II, one of France's most famous leaders, fought one. Even the most famous medieval battles, like the historic English victories at Crecy and Agincourt, only served as prologues to a whole lot of sieging -- the much more common warfare tactic in which armies simply camped out around a castle or town for months or years until the people inside ran out of food and (usually) surrendered. The truth is that large, pitched battles went down in the history books specifically because they were so unusual.

Gustave Toudouz Otherwise, history books would be full of "pooped himself" and "cried."

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Why? Well, despite all of the speeches by Mr. Braveheart about the glories of combat, in reality, you always prefer the path to victory that doesn't get half your men hacked to pieces -- armies, after all, are expensive. So rather than agree to have your 20,000 men meet their 20,000 in a scenic open field, armies would only look to engage if victory was all but assured, in which case the weaker side would try to hole up in a castle and turn the affair into a (usually boring) siege. Otherwise, open combat was to be avoided if at all possible, with leaders much preferring to pick away at the enemy with raids, weakening them one razed village or captured stronghold at a time.
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To put things right, Harry and Draco travel back in time themselves. How? Draco reveals that the Time-Turner Albus and Scorpius have been using is merely a prototype for one that his douchebag Edgar-Winter-haired dad commissioned to be built.

DRACO: The Time-Turner the Ministry seized was a prototype. Made of inexpensive metal. It does the job -- sure. But only being able to go back in time for five minutes -- that's a serious flaw -- it isn't something you'd sell to true collectors of Dark Magic.

HARRY realizes what DRACO is saying.

HARRY: He was working for you?

DRACO: No. My father. He liked owning things that no one else had. The Ministry's Time-Turners -- thanks to Croaker -- were always a little vanilla for him. He wanted the ability to go back further than an hour, he wanted the ability to travel back years. He'd never have used it. Secretly I think he preferred a world without Voldemort. But yes, the Time-Turner was built for him.

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Yup, apparently wizards can just commission pocket-sized time machines. So the real question is: Why weren't these things being used all of the goddamn time? Sure, maybe the good guys consider it immoral and dangerous, but why the hell wouldn't the villains constantly screw with the past? Maybe, say, by going back to rectify one of the many times their ghoulish minions were embarrassingly bested by a group of schoolchildren?

And why would Voldemort need to go to the trouble of making Horcruxes if he could simply pop back in time whenever things didn't go his way? Doesn't tearing your soul apart and cramming it into a bunch of random objects seem like a colossal waste of time?

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Time travel is such a potential narrative clusterfuck that Rowling wrote a post on her website about how messy and story-ruining it can be.
MotoGP title leader Marc Marquez spent much of Monday's post-race Brno test trying to improve corner exit wheelies on his RC213V.

Unfortunately, what the Repsol Honda rider gained was overcome by loses in other areas, leading him to conclude "the best compromise is what I had yesterday."

The Spaniard, who set the third fastest test lap behind Yamaha title rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, said:

"We tried to improve on [corner exit] but basically we didn't improve! But okay we try and we got some information.

"We concentrated especially to understand how we can manage the wheelie. How we can improve with the weight balance. We improved with some modification, but then we lose a lot in another part of the circuit.

"So in the end the best compromise is what I had yesterday.

"Then we tried a new swingarm and was some positives. It is for the exit of the corner also to try to get a little bit more grip and gain acceleration. We focussed all the test on that area."

Development 2017 Michelin front tyres were also available at the test. Like the Yamaha riders, Marquez was impressed with the revised design.

"We tested some new front tyres from Michelin, more for next year, and one was very positive. The other one more similar to this year," he said.

"Honestly with the tyre that we have now I feel really good and feel that I can push and everything. With the new one we improve the stability in the middle of the corner, but is something that I feel good with the one we have now.

"With Honda we are pushing [the front tyre] more than the other bikes. I'm happy with the tyre we have now, but looks like Michelin always look forward to improve and this is good."

Marquez, third in Sunday's wet race, holds a massive 53-point lead over Rossi heading into the British Grand Prix on September 4.

CLICK HERE for full test results.
Sussex News

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Cloud News

Microsoft To Buy Genee, An Artificially Intelligent Calendaring App

Joseph Tsidulko

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Microsoft Office 365 customers might soon find it easier to schedule their busy days, thanks to the acquisition of an artificially intelligent personal assistant that helps users manage hectic professional calendars.

Microsoft Monday announced a deal, at an undisclosed price, to buy Genee, a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup founded in 2014 that employs advanced technologies like natural language processing and self-learning optimization algorithms.

Those artificial intelligence capabilities achieve an experience in which "interacting with a virtual assistant is just like interacting with a human one," wrote Rajesh Jha, corporate vice president of Outlook and Office 365, on Microsoft's blog.

[Related: Microsoft's Nadella On The Blockbuster LinkedIn Deal: Integrating Office365 And Dynamics CRM, Machine Learning And Security Implications]

Genee's address can be included just like any other recipient on an email, with instructions to the service dictated in plain language directly in the text. Genee can then decide on the best time for a meeting, confirm those appointments and sync calendars accordingly, and even reschedule meetings when conflicts appear.

Microsoft partners told CRN the smart scheduler could be a boon for Office 365 resellers.

Matt Scherocman, president of Interlink Cloud Advisors, a Microsoft partner based in Cincinnati, told CRN he hopes to see a tight integration with Cortana as Microsoft's virtual assistant faces increasingly stiff competition from Google Now and Apple's Siri.

The acquisition makes a lot of sense, he said, when considered in light of Microsoft's recent focus on beefing up its identity management capabilities.

"They know that if the logins are coming from their servers, it becomes much more likely that the user will look to their services first," Scherocman said, adding, "calendaring is the same way. "

Under Microsoft's umbrella, Genee will enable greater functionality around a critical Office 365 workload.

"The place where the user has their primary calendar is where their day evolves from," Scherocman told CRN.

Reed Wiedower, chief technology officer at New Signature, a Microsoft partner based in Washington, D.C., said he looks forward to seeing the new capabilities Genee adds to Microsoft's virtual personal assistant.

One concern New Signature sees among customers adapting to new technologies  especially digital personal assistants  involves their desire to continue working with existing tools and services rather than switching modalities, Wiedower said.

Cortana, by offering capabilities such as tracking packages being delivered by UPS or FedEx, helps users avoid some of those struggles. In a similar fashion, Genee, once integrated into the Microsoft product suite, will allow customers to take advantage of smart scheduling while using the email service they're already comfortable with, he said.

Services that require customers to run different apps tend to see lower usage because they involve "switching ones context," Wiedower told CRN.

But Wiedower said "the really cool part of this acquisition" comes out of the potential to integrate with Office 365 Graph, a gateway to various APIs that access Microsoft features.

"Essentially every email and document being opened could be used with Genee to provide real-time interactions with other employees and customers," Wiedower said. "I cant wait to cc Genee on an email and say in the body 'Genee, be sure to send Joseph a copy of the latest New Signature information deck' and have that deck be procured, encrypted with Azure RMS, and sent out automatically."

Once that capability exists, it will provide the sort of "magical moment around which Microsoft has been "increasingly building their brand," Wiedower told CRN.

Charles Lee and Ben Cheung, Genee's co-founders, said on the company's website the service in its current form will be ended on Sept. 1, but existing calendar entries will be preserved.

The company raised $1.45 million in an earlier financing round.
Managed services News

ConnectWise To Rename All Products As It Unifies Recent Acquisitions

Michael Novinson

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ConnectWise's remote monitoring and management, quote and propose, and remote desktop tools will all adopt the ConnectWise name as capabilities in these areas become more tightly aligned.

"We have acquired multiple companies," said Scott Marshall, senior vice president of marketing. "We've now aggregated them under one roof, and we're moving forward with ConnectWise as our master brand across all of our products."

Marshall told attendees of XChange 2016 in San Antonio Monday, a conference hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company, that the company's flagship PSA product  previously known as ConnectWise  will now be called ConnectWise Manage, or Manage for short, Marshall said.

[RELATED: LabTech Bolsters Interface, Stages Patching As It Tightens Bond With ConnectWise Suite]

ConnectWise's remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool -- which retained the LabTech moniker since ConnectWise's early 2010 investment -- will be renamed ConnectWise Automate, or Automate, Marshall said. The company's automatic sales proposal generation capabilities  which retained the Quosal name since ConnectWise's 2011 investment  will now be called ConnectWise Sell, or Sell.

And ConnectWise's remote desktop control capabilities  which retained the ScreenConnect name since ConnectWise's February 2015 acquisition  will be renamed ConnectWise Control, or Control, Marshall said.

ConnectWise's PSA tool dates back roughly two decades, but the company realized over the past decade that it would need to make acquisitions in the IT service management software space to remain relevant to its customers, according to Adam Slutskin, the company's chief revenue officer.

"It was quickly becoming apparent that that [the PSA tool] wasn't going to be enough to satisfy the community," Slutskin said Monday during XChange 2016.

ConnectWise is working to create a unified framework and interface for all four of its products so that they all look the same from a design perspective, akin to the appearances of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint in the Microsoft Office suite, LabTech General Manager Brett Cheloff told CRN in June.

LabTech also plans to integrate more ConnectWise capabilities into its RMM tool so that technicians can do common PSA actions without ever having to leave the program, Cheloff said in June.

ConnectWise's business suite can address the three biggest business issues vexing solution providers, Marshall said: insufficient productivity, insufficient processes and excessive operational costs. The products can work together to help solution providers ramp up recurring revenue-focused cloud and managed services practices, and address the most cumbersome business issues for end users.

Marshall encouraged MSPs to break down their customer relationships into phases, be a little more analytical and ensure they're delivering the right service against the right need at the right time.

From evaluations and purchasing to purchasing and delivery to billing and support, Marshall said ConnectWise's four products can support and improve operational excellence in every phase. ConnectWise can also support MSPs with practice services such as break-fix, help desk, application development and cloud services, Marshall said.

ConnectWise's investment in acquiring best-in-class professional modules and integrating them into a master suite impressed Tony Zaragoza, operations manager for Lockport, Ill.-based Andromeda Technology Solutions. Zaragoza also liked the names  particularly ConnectWise Sell and ConnectWise Manage  saying they make what each individual piece of technology does clearer.

"They're not just rebranding," Zaragoza said.
Mobility News

HP Inc. Touts Elite X3 As A 'Device That's Every Device,' Enabling Partners To Drive Mobile Device Management

Lindsey O'Donnell

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Todays enterprise companies are facing security and device management challenges in an increasingly mobile world, and HP Inc. said it is prepared to help partners tap into the opportunities these trends open up for the channel.

Karl Paetzel, director of mobility software and services product management at HP Inc., said the mobilization of enterprises creates a bevy of revenue opportunities for solution providers.

Solution providers can identify the gaps for mobile customers and then help them implement device management solutions, he told a roomful of partners at XChange 2016, a conference being held in San Antonio this week and hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company. There are big opportunities here for channel partners as big organizations wake up and realize the importance of managing mobile end devices.

[Related: Lenovo Exec: At The End Of The Day, It's All About Expansion And Better Devices]

While talking about partner enablement for mobility solutions, Paetzel discussed HP Inc.s future vision of mobility as one where customers can can have one device with all the apps, and one operating system, issued by an IT organization  as opposed to several devices.

This product, the HP Elite x3, is a device thats every device, according to Paetzel  the phablet has the power of a PC, versatility of a tablet, and premium smartphone features.

The 5.96-inch Windows 10 device, which launched at Mobile World Congress in February, gives commercial customers access to Windows legacy applications as well as the ability to pair with HP Mobile Extender and Desk Dock, delivering a next-generation mobile experience. Desk Dock enables customers to use Continuum for phones on their Elite x3 by connecting to a monitor and some other accessories.

For example, Paetzel said, after companies deploy the Elite x3, employees can start a task on the go and finish at their desk using this device with Desk Dock  instead of having to juggle multiple devices. The phablet is compatible with customers existing mobile device management solutions and Windows environment, making it easier for teams to secure and manage.

But on the channel level, partners can leverage HP Inc.s Elite x3 to have a discussion with commercial customers about their mobile workforce  and ultimately drive mobile device management and mobile security services, said Paetzel.

Mobile device management is a best practice, said Paetzel, and as more companies are recognizing this, particularly midsize companies, more opportunities are arising.

For example, according to an HP survey of customers, more than 40 percent of midsize companies are interested in mobile security and hosted data backup services, while 47 percent of midsize firms plan to increase their budgets for mobile security and other functions.

Meanwhile, 51 percent of midsize firms said that they have experienced security breaches  showing that the dangers of not implementing the best mobile security and device management practices is very real for clients, said Paetzel.

Many customers who never felt the pains of a breach dont see security as an immediate need  but security threats multiply with bring-your-own-device policies, he said. A lot of customers have felt the pains of undergoing a security breach, and [partners] can go in and talk to those customers about security.

Solution providers, for their part, can tap into this changing workforce by offering device management solutions  including working with customer cross-functional teams to coordinate best practices around device selection, data storage, platform selection and employee support.

Device management, which HP Inc. covers through services like HP Touchpoint Manager, has key benefits for customers, including device optimization, life-cycle management and security enforcement, said Paetzel.

Mobile security is also an opportunity for the channel as solution providers can assess the security threats of a multiplatform environment, and outline the benefits of device and platform consolidation for mobile-first employees to drive future IT investments.

Solution providers can help identify mobility expertise gaps  from end-user support to engineering  and make recommendations to customers based on these issues.

Jimmy Kuo, chief technology officer at Washington, D.C.-based InfoStrat, an HP partner, said that the Elite x3 looks like a good product, and he is seeing different approaches to mobility across the board.

Some companies allow employees to use their own devices and others, especially nonprofit companies, will give their employees a certain amount of money and tell them to go buy a device, he said. Were not seeing one set approach at this point.
Mobility News

Partners: Microsoft Deal To Preload Apps On Lenovo Android Devices Is A Savvy Move

Kyle Alspach

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Solution providers applauded the alliance between Microsoft and Lenovo via a deal that will see Microsoft productivity apps pre-installed on some Android devices from Lenovo.

Microsoft called the deal -- which will preload apps including Office, OneDrive and Skype on the devices from Lenovo -- "a deepening of their strategic relationship."

The companies didn't name specific devices, although a news release said Lenovo is expecting to ship "millions" of Android devices in coming years.

[Related: A Closer Look At Lenovo's New Smartphones: Phab2 Pro And Moto Z]

Solution providers told CRN that along with welcoming the strengthened alliance between Microsoft and Lenovo, they're also glad to see Microsoft getting more active in the Android universe.

"I think it bodes well for Microsoft to have acceptance of their cloud offerings and deeper ties with the Android ecosystem through Lenovo," said Robby Hill, CEO of HillSouth, a Microsoft partner based in Florence, S.C.

The deal "should be a win for partners, customers and the two companies all around," Hill said.

Ric Opal, vice president of Peters & Associates, a Microsoft partner based in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., said Microsoft may be looking to "go take back the hearts and minds from the next set of buyers" by doing more to link its software with Android devices. "It makes complete sense, and it's a long time coming," Opal said.

He added, "I think that if we can extend Microsoft solutions broadly to the market, that's going to create some pretty significant partner opportunities."

Microsoft and Lenovo also disclosed that the two companies have entered a patent cross-licensing agreement, covering Lenovo and Motorola devices.

In the news release, Nick Parker, corporate vice president of Microsoft's OEM Division, said the Microsoft productivity apps will be preloaded onto "premium" devices from Lenovo.

Android devices that Lenovo has launched recently include the large-screen smartphones Phab2 Pro and the Moto Z.

Opal said he believes Microsoft is smart to deepen its collaboration with Lenovo, in particular.

"I do think that Lenovo has really built some tremendous products, and has a very good reputation in the market for quality," he said. "I think this is a pretty good horse to bet on."
Internet of things News

Spotlight On IoT: XChange Panel Talks Up Recurring Revenue, The 'Velocity' Of Opportunities Coming Their Way

Lindsey O'Donnell

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Some in the industry may look at the Internet of Things as mere hype, but a growing number of solution providers are recognizing that recurring revenue opportunities make IoT a channel gold mine.

The Channel Company CEO Robert Faletra said IoT is "the next big wave" in technology for the channel during a keynote at XChange 2016, hosted by The Channel Company and being held this week in San Antonio.

"IoT is really something special, and it will increase the available market to all [solution providers] for what you can sell and how you can make money," he said in his keynote Tuesday. "Less than 10 percent of revenue that the channel is getting today is coming from IoT -- but it's growing."

[Related: Intel Developer Forum: 10 Internet of Things Applications Bringing In The Money]

Solution providers say the Internet of Things market is lucrative: According to a CRN survey, 49 percent of channel leaders see IoT as a meaningful opportunity, and 44 percent of solution providers say their customers have a high interest in IoT.

The XChange session included a panel of solution providers whose companies have invested in IoT and are seeing success in different verticals.

Luis Alvarez, president and CEO of Alvarez Technology Group, a Salinas, Calif.-based solution provider, stressed that IoT is "happening today," and it is opening a big opportunity for traditional VARs to jump in.

Alvarez Technology Group is profiting from the Internet of Things by working with customers in the agriculture vertical to implement connected sensors, helping them monitor crops and water utilization.

"The IoT market is lucrative in the agricultural space farmers are looking for solutions to increase yields and we bring the technology to enable that," he said. "We have conversations about the technology clients are using and integrating that into one IoT platform."

On the channel front, the Internet of Things is a "big business opportunity" not just because of the implementation process, but also because of the recurring revenue, said Lawrence Van Deusen, director of network integration at Dimension Data, a Raleigh, N.C.-based systems integrator.

"We've been surprised by the velocity of the opportunities coming to us now," said Van Deusen. "There is a significant amount of recurring revenue for IoT -- systems need to be monitored, data needs to be harvested, applications need to be continuously updated, new features need to be introduced. With IoT, we started by solving one problem, and it has led to bigger opportunities to go in and solve other issues."

Dimension Data, like many other solution providers, focuses on verticals for IoT, such as in education for implementing IoT-connected security systems in school districts and in health care for connecting hospitals and improving the patient experience.

Solution providers need to focus less on an IT discussion with clients and more on a line-of-business conversation that highlights how technology can improve business operations, said Dimension Data's Van Deusen.

"As a reseller you talk about getting into the line of business, and the reality is that there's no better opportunity than today to do that," he said. "The majority of the people we talk to are not IT professionals at all. They are health-care specialists, manufacturers  this market is growing exponentially."

Solution providers need to focus on this line-of-business conversation  which means they would be talking with CSOs as opposed to CIOs -- while they build out their IoT practice, Van Deusen said.

"There's a tremendous skills gap  we need to make sure we're bringing in new people with new ideas," he said. "This means making new partnerships to keep up with the rapid pace of change in IoT."

Michael Lomonaco, director of marketing and communications at Open Systems Technologies, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based solution provider, said that one part of IoT the channel is still trying to figure out is whether it is "sales-led or principal-led."

"The conversations are different because who you are talking to is different," he said. "Do you have thought leadership and domain experts versus traditional sales folks out in the field?"

Looking forward, the Internet of Things opportunities will deepen for solution providers. Jason Waldrop, CEO of CWPS, a Chantilly, Va.-based managed service provider, said he anticipates his company will have new lines of business built around IoT.

"A few years ago  the channel was wondering how you would make money off IoT.  Now we're seeing new market opportunities, and it feels like we'd better race toward IoT," he said.
Security News

Accenture Bolsters New Security Practice With Acquisition of 130-Person Security Solution Provider

Jimmy Sheridan

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Accenture struck a deal today to acquire Melbourne, Australia-based security services company Redcore, continuing to build up its new security practice by expanding its capabilities around government defense and internet of things (IoT) technology.

We are buying Redcore, which is a very good boutique [security solutions provider] in the marketplace," Kelly Bissell, global managing director for Accenture Security, told CRN. "What we are after is a really important capability that they have around their (Government) defense area in Australia, as well as an IoT technology that I want to be able to leverage throughout the entire globe."

He said the acquisition is being made, in large part, for Accenture to increase the work it does with the Australian Federal government. It will also help Accenture continue to build out its security capabilities in manufacturing, medical and automotive IoT as it continues to create an end-to-end IoT solution for clients in those industries.

[Related: Accenture Bulks Up New Security Unit By Scooping Up Israeli Firm]

According to Bissell, Redcores experience deploying large-scale cybersecurity solutions  which the company has done for major Australian banks and government agencies  will help Accenture expand its work with the Australian government.

After this acquisition, I think we will have the largest security practice in Australia by a pretty big margin, he said.

That size, he said, will not only help Accenture win more business with the Australian government, but also allow the company to focus on developing end-to-end security solutions for manufacturing, medical and automotive companies that work with IoT.

Currently, companies focus on securing their headquarters IT, he said. But with a client like a medical building or an oil rig, security threats exist across all aspects of the business.

For that reason, he said, Accenture is taking the competencies and technologies that Redcore has built and using them to implement new solutions that can secure a client from the ground up.

With Accentures extensive global security resources, its methodologies and its interdisciplinary security ecosystem of innovators from across the world, we will be able to rapidly advance Redcores capabilities and innovate leading-edge solutions for clients, as well as provide excellent opportunities and career paths for our employees, Joseph Failla, co-founder of Redcore, said in a prepared statement.

Following the acquisition, Bissell said Redcore will be incorporated into Accenture Security, with Redcores offices in India, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore merged into Accentures own operations in those countries, bolstering Accentures security ranks with an additional 130 professionals.

We are going to take each of our special sauces and make an even better special sauce, he said.

The deal is scheduled to close in mid-November according to Accenture. Financial details were not disclosed.

The acquisition is Accentures second following the launch of its cybersecurity unit, Accenture Security, in mid-June and its sixth investment in the cybersecurity space in the past 12 months. Accenture announced that it had hired Bisselll to lead the new security business at the same time it announced the new cybersecurity unit.

In August 2015, Accenture acquired Arlington, Va.-based FusionX, a provider of threat modeling and risk advisory services. Four months later, it acquired Cimation, a Houston-based specialist in secure industrial control systems and the industrial Internet of Things.

Then, in February, the company bought a minority stake in Israeli cybersecurity company Team8, quickly following that investment with the purchase of a minority share in cybersecurity software solutions provider Endgame Inc., of Arlington, Va.

Finally, on June 20, the system integrator acquired Israeli cybersecurity company, Maglan, adding improved security breach simulations, vulnerability countermeasures, cyber forensics and defenses against malware to its toolbox. That announcement came the same day it announced the formation of Accenture Security.

Accenture expects the cybersecurity unit to bring in well over $1 billion in annual revenue. The company expects to do that by addressing industry-specific security vulnerabilities and growing Accenture's presence in such areas as mobile security, and in traditional governance, and risk and compliance (GRC) consulting.
Storage News

IBM Unveils Software-Defined Version Of Its Storwize All-Flash Storage, Targets Dell And EMC With Migration Tools

Joseph F. Kovar

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IBM on Tuesday introduced a software-defined version of its all-flash storage array the company said will eventually work on most major server brands.

Big Blue also extended the capabilities of one of its higher-end flash arrays, and made it easier for partners to order its existing flash storage arrays. The company also introduced a new migration program aimed at making it easier for partners to move clients off competitive storage systems, especially from Dell and EMC, onto to IBM systems.

The IBM Spectrum Virtualize software-defined storage system, which until now has been available only as part of an integrated all-flash storage appliance, will be available next month to run on customers' own bare metal servers, said Eric Stouffer, director of offering management for IBM's Spectrum Virtualized family.

[Related: IDC: All-Flash Storage Array Sales Soar In First Quarter, Enterprise Storage Sales Stumble Badly]

IBM Spectrum Virtualize software will over the next few months be qualified to run on bare metal Lenovo, Cisco, HPE, and Supermicro servers, Stouffer told CRN. Future versions will be encapsulated in a virtual machine for increased flexibility, he said.

"By running our IBM Spectrum Virtualize software on other companies' hardware, we provide more flexibility and a lower cost of deployment," he said. "Enterprise data centers or MSPs want to match their servers. They want flexibility."

By bringing IBM Spectrum Virtualize to market as a software-defined offering, IBM is showing forward thinking, said Mark Wyllie, CEO of Flagship Solutions Group, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based solution provider and IBM channel partner.

"IBM storage is going into mixed environments," Wyllie told CRN. "To maximize old storage investments and leverage new ones, software-defined is the key. Being forward-thinking is important. The more you manage what customers bought, the more they want to hear about it."

IBM Spectrum Virtualize is at the core of IBM's entire Storwize flash storage line, parts of which were also updated on Tuesday.

These include the IBM Storwize V7000F and IBM Storwize V5030F, which are new all-flash versions of IBM's existing V7000 and V5030.

Eric Herzog, vice president of product marketing and management for IBM storage systems, told CRN that the V7000 and V5030 could previously be ordered in all-flash versions, but required ordering multiple parts. The "F" in the model numbers V7000F and V5030F signify all-flash storage to simplify the order process, he said.

IBM also expanded the flash capacity of its flagship Storwize V9000 with the addition of new, larger-capacity 7-TB and 15-TB flash drives expected to be available in the fourth quarter, Stouffer said.

Also new to IBM is "Flash In," a program aimed at helping Dell and EMC customers easily migrate to IBM all-flash storage systems.

With Flash In, IBM will provide up to 40 hours of free migration services to move customers from EMC or Dell storage gear, whether it is hard drive-based, flash-based, or hybrid, Herzog said.

"Migration is a pain," he said. "Everybody hates it. But we're the second-largest storage vendor, and we've done tons of migrations. Our storage hardware and software have built-in migration tools."

The IBM Storwize platform is ideal for migration because it already has software virtualization as a core feature, Herzog said. Storwize can improve storage efficiency by adding such services as real-time compression, thin provisioning, and snapshotting across nearly 400 different storage arrays from various vendors, he said.

When asked why a customer would consider moving data from Dell or EMC storage to IBM, Herzog cited uncertainty over Dell's planned EMC acquisition and the fast growth of the flash storage market..

"Customers have EMC VNX solutions they bought in 2011," he said. "They were great solutions at the time. But they're now slow. When customers migrate to Storwize, it's free migration. They get a faster, brand new box. And they can re-purpose their old storage array so they save on capex [capital expenses]."

Herzog said that IBM has a fast-growing flash storage business, with a product line that has already gone through all the necessary revisions to make it work with future flash technologies. IBM is also the largest software-defined storage vendor by IDC's count, he said.

IBM storage has a great future, especially in how it is able to manage multi-vendor storage capacity, Wyllie said.

"When we run our managed services, sometimes we run our customers' physical servers, but we use our own control module connected to IBM storage so we don't use any more WAN bandwidth than needed," he said. "We can connect multiple platforms, including IBM storage, to interface with customers' equipment."
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BRIDGEPORT - A former Stratford elementary school teacher is facing up to four years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to having a 2-year sexual affair with a 13-year-old boy.

Dressed in a maroon dress, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, 29-year-old Michelle Sulzicki showed no emotion as she stood before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin and pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child.

Yes, basically, Sulzicki answered when asked by the judge if she agreed with the allegations against her.

Sulzickis husband, a music teacher in the Danbury school system, sat quietly in the back of the courtroom staring straight ahead during the brief hearing.

Devlin told Sulzicki he will impose a sentence of no more than four years and no less than six months when he sentences her Oct. 28.

I havent decided what the sentence will be, the judge added.

Sulzicki could have faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

Senior Assistant States Attorney Ann Lawlor told the judge she had talked to the mother of the victim, who is now 16, and they, understand the proposed disposition.

Sulzicki and her lawyer, William Westcott, declined comment as they left the Main Street courtroom.

Sulzicki, who taught special education at the Chapel Street School in Stratford the past four years, was fired following her arrest.

Police said the boy told them he had sex with Sulzicki 20 times beginning when he was 12.

Police said Sulzicki began having sex with the boy when he was 12 and she was tutoring him at his Stratford home.

They said the boy told them that the first time he did not wear a condom Sulzicki forced him to have sex with her, the arrest warrant affidavit states.

Over the next two years the boy said he had sex with Sulzicki up to 20 times, the affidavit states. When confronted, police said Sulzicki admitted she had sex with the boy once when he was 12.

She said she did not charge the family for tutoring him, the affidavit adds.
Beaches at five state parks, including Silver Sands in Milford and Indian Well in Shelton, remain closed Wednesday due to the elevated presence of bacteria in the water.

The presence of indicator bacteria is reason for caution. Indicator bacteria are not disease causing pathogens, but are one of the tools used by public health and environmental protection authorities to evaluate the potential for contamination of waterbodies, said Lori Hawksley of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
BRIDGEPORT  Two city men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to the sex traffcking of a minor.

Darryl Morris, also known as King Sincere, 32, and Neshaya Dozier, 26, allegedly conspired to recruit, harbor and transport a minor to engage in commercial acts, and that Morris did so with force, threats of force, fraud and coercion.
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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.
Unbeaten Berlin Brothersvalley, Penns Manor clash in Appalachian Bowl

Berlin Brothersvalley and Penns Manor square off in the Appalachian Bowl on Saturday. See how the teams stack up and what coach Doug Paul had to say.
Check it out: Fun things to do this weekend in Lake County
A 23-year-old tattoo fan who has body inkings covering his face and body said he doesn't regret any of his tattoos - except one of a supermarket logo.

Liam, from Cheltenham, was inspired by a floating plastic bag to get the word Tesco in their trademark red and blue colours emblazoned on his groin.

He also had the company's slogan 'every little helps' inked underneath, with an arrow pointing to his private parts.

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Liam, 23, from Cheltenham, told the Tattoo Fixers on their latest series on E4 how he got a tattoo across his stomach when he was drunk, which he lived to regret

Liam visited the pop-up shop of E4's Tattoo Fixers On Holiday in Malia, Crete, to see if they could rid him of the embarrassing mistake.

He told professional tattoo artists Jay Hutton, Sketch and Alice Perrin, how he came to get the colourful supermarket sign permanently etched onto his abdomen seven years ago when he was still a teenager.

'I thought it would be a good idea to get a stupid tattoo in a stupid place after three litres of cider,' he said. 'It was the worst mistake I have ever made.'

Liam said he was so drunk at the time he can't remember having the tattoo drawn.

Inspired by a floating plastic bag, Liam got the Tesco slogan tattooed on to his groin with their slogan 'every little helps' underneath and an arrow pointing down

'That day was a blur. I have strung a story together from what people have told me,' he admitted.

'I saw a shopping bag floating in the wind and thought "let's get that stupid phrase". I thought it was funny.'

Liam has numerous other tattoos which he loves, including daggers, crosses, flowers, feathers and elaborate patterns 'that blend into one' across his body and his face.

He said he doesn't regret any of them and is proud to show them off but as soon as he got the Tesco one, he 'hated it immediately'.

The Tattoo Fixers, Sketch, left, and Alice, right, and receptionist Paisley, back row, were shocked when Liam revealed his tattoo - and when he admitted he can't use it to get a discount in the supermarket

Liam pictured as Sketch gives him a cover-up tattoo to hide the Tesco logo and slogan. The 23-year-old said he couldn't wait to be rid of the drunken mistake

He joked the only place he could proudly display it was in the supermarket itself - but when he did that in one store he didn't get a good reaction.

'I did pull it out in Tesco but I got kicked out,' he admitted.

'You didn't get a discount?' asked the shocked Tattoo Fixers' reception, Paisley.

The tattoo regretter decided to go for a cover-up design drawn by Sketch showing a 'gentleman' shark over a vibrant sunset to conceal the Tesco sign.

Sketch said he enjoyed doing the cover-up.

Liam is delighted no trace of his old tattoo can be seen now he has a 'gentleman' shark design over the Tesco sign

'I have recycled his shopping bag shocker into a shark. I hope he likes it as much as me as I had a blast doing this one,' he said.

Liam was amazed with the result. 'That's insane,' he said when he saw it for the first time. 'It is brilliant. You can't even see where the Tesco one was.

'It was painful but it was also a pleasure. I am happy with that.'
How many times have you bought something on impulse only to realise it was a total waste of money and something you really don't need?

According to one expert, this is an all too common scenario but there's an incredibly simple way of stopping yourself splurging.

Writing for the New York Times, Carl Richards shares the very simple 72-hour money saving hack.

Expert Carl Richards says the best way of stopping yourself from spending money is to wait a full 72 hours before buying it and if you still find yourself wanting it, then snap it up

Citing Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's advice, Richards explains that between a stimulus (wanting something) and our response (buying it), there is a space. 'In that space is our power to choose our response,' he acknowledges.

So, Richards says the best way of creating that space - and stopping yourself from buying something - is with the 72-hour rule.

Quite simply put, the rule involves waiting a full 72 hours before buying something that you want.

He himself employs the tip and has created a list in his Amazon account called 'The 72-Hour List'; if he still wants the book when he returns 72 hours later, he buys it

He employs the rule himself, explaining: 'Before I started following the rule, I had stacks of unread books all over my office.

'Now if I hear of or see a book that sounds interesting, it goes on a list I created in my Amazon account called The 72-Hour List. If I still want the book when I return 72 hours later, I buy it.

'Theres now a really long list of books Ive never bought and fewer piles in my office.'

Richards' straightforward tip came after Career Girl Daily claimed that the 50-20-30 rule is one that can be applied to every budget and will help you gain control of your money.

HOW TO STOP SPENDING TOO MUCH MONEY Only spend money after considering whether you really want something for a full 72 hours Spend 50 per cent on essentials Put 20 per cent in savings Spend 30 per cent on things you want Advertisement

As Hannah Lutterbach explains, 50 per cent of everything you earn each month should be spent on essentials.

These 'needs' include your rent, bills, food shop and travel cards (plus car insurance and petrol if you drive).

The 20 part of the rule calls for you to put 20 per cent of every single month's pay check into your savings pot.

'The money you save will be beneficial for your retirement contributions or to pay off debts you might have like college or car loans,' explains Hannah, who recommends having a separate bank account for this segment of your money.
The foamy flower sits on your fingers before

A Japanese beauty line has taken flower power to a whole new level with the release of a new anti-ageing facial cleanse.

Kanebo Evita has released a facial wash with a difference - it is dispensed from the bottle in the shape of a rose, and holds its shape until used.

A video shows the Evita 'Beauty Whip' cleanser in action.

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Flower power: Japanese cosmetics company Kanebo Evita released a rose-shaped facial cleanse

Full bloom: The cleanse dispenses from the bottle in the shape of a rose (right) by gently pushing down on the lid (left)

A rose-shaped stencil seemingly cuts through the foam cleanser which rises from the bottle in a perfect flower shape.

The cleanser can then be taken off the top, and the perfect white rose holds its shape until use.

Smelling sweet: A rose-shaped stencil seemingly cuts through the foam cleanser which rises from the bottle in a perfect flower shape.

Staying power: The foam keeps its shape on your hand until you gently massage it into your skin

A video of the cleanser taken by Instagram user @santsugaru was shared on Facebook, where it received a staggering 66,000 likes.

Many likened the face wash to toys they had a child.

'I had a flower making basket by Play-Doh that had scented attachments like this. It was one of my favorite toys as a kid,' one person wrote.

Beauty secrets: The anti-ageing 'Beauty Whip' comes in a 150g bottle and is available online

In action: The face wash is massaged into the skin for between 30 and 60 seconds and is washed off with warm water

The 'Beauty Whip' cleanse comes in a 150 gram bottle.

Directions for use suggest it is massaged in to the skin for between 30 and 60 seconds, before being washed off with warm water.

But many said they were simply happy to use the product to make roses.
In the wake of a number of towns in France banning the 'burkini', the women who first designed the modest swimsuit has spoken out.

Aheda Zanetti, the creator of the burkini and label Ahiida, says that's she's mostly confused by the controversy surrounding the swimsuit.

Speaking to Daily Mail, Ms Zanetti, from Bankstown in Sydney, asked: 'Are they judging a swimsuit or are they judging a race or a religion?

'I think its misunderstood.'

Choice: Lebanese-Australian Aheda Zanetti (centre) first created the burkini in 2004 to give women an option for modest swimwear

Going global: When Ms Zanetti designed uniforms for Muslim lifeguards in 2005 (pictured in 2007 with Mecca Laa Laa on Cronulla beach), the burkini made headlines worldwide

Stylish and practical: The burkini covers the legs, arms and hair of the wearer and is available in a range of colours

WHAT IS THE BURKINI? The burkini is a two-peice swimsuit that fully covers the legs and arms. It consists of pants and a long sleeved top, with a hood that women can choose to wear to cover their head and hair. The burkini was first created by Lebanese-Australian Aheda Zanetti eight years ago. She has since sold more than 700,000 of the swimsuits worldwide. Advertisement

Ms Zanetti immigrated from Lebanon with her family when she was only two years old and has been in Australia more than 40 years.

She first created the burkini in November 2004 after watching her nieces play netball, and lamenting at some of the things she missed out on growing up.

'I missed out on a lot of opportunities to swim and play sports,' she explained.

'I wanted to create something that would blend in with the Australian lifestyle and allow for modesty.'

Following the 2005 riots, Cronulla council invited Muslim women to become lifesavers in an effort to make the beach more inclusive.

Ms Zanetti was commissioned to design a modest version of the iconic red and yellow swimsuit for the new volunteers to wear.

Pictures of 20-year-old lifesaver Mecca Laa Laa monitoring the beach in her burkini made global headlines - and catapulted Zanetti's designs onto the world stage, with orders flooding in from all over the world.

'Are they judging a swimsuit or are they judging a race or a religion?' Recently a number of French towns have banned the burkini from beaches

But it's not just Muslim women who are buying the burkini, with the designer estimating that around 40 per cent of the women who buy the swimsuit are non-Muslim.

'One of the biggest reasons women buy the burkini is for skin protection, to protect against skin cancer,' Ms Zanetti explained.

'Or they might not be comfortable wearing a bikini, or might just want something to wear when swimming with their kids.'

For everyone: However it's not just Muslim women who buy the burkini, with around 40 per cent of Ms Zanetti's customers non-Muslim

Crossing cultural lines: Non-Muslim women often chose to wear a burkini for sun protection, or if they don't feel comfortable in a bikini

The burkini has proven to be very popular, with Ahiida selling more than 700,000 of them worldwide in the eight years since the swimsuit was created.

Ms Zanetti firmly believes that she has the 'best of both worlds' being able to grow up in Australia with Lebanese heritage, and just wanted all women to be able to participate in the Australian culture of swimming and sports.

'I did this for integration, I did it to make sure that nobody was missing if they chose to cover up,' she explained.

Struggles: Ms Zanetti said that she missed out on swimming and playing sports when younger because there wasn't modest options for her to wear

'Have they misunderstood?': The designer said she is confused by the opposition to the burkini and thinks people are opposed to the religion, not the swimsuit

In the end, her message for the towns who are banning the swimsuit is simple: that they don't understand the purpose of it.

'Have they misunderstood?' she asked. 'I introduced the burkini for intergration, for freedom, and theyve used it in a negative way.'

'I had a woman the other day who came in from Cronulla beach and shes bikini girl usually but sometimes she wants to cover up.'
She has asked strangers for money, even though she knows it's a big ask

Ms Kershaw is therefore crowd-sourcing the third cycle via GoFundMe

But she did not freeze enough eggs, meaning she needs another cycle

The 24-year-old has already gone through two $10,000 IVF cycles

Emma Kershaw, from the Gold Coast, will get the menopause before 30

At just 24 years old, Emma Kershaw was told by her gynaecologist that she could expect to go through the menopause by the time she hits 30.

Because the young woman, from Mermaid Waters on the Gold Coast, has low AMH levels, she is set to experience 'the Change' a decade or two before most women.

Faced with the impossible decision of what to do with her highly unusual ticking biological clock, Miss Kershaw was recommended by doctors to freeze her eggs.

However, having completed two AUD $10,000 IVF cycles and only managing to freeze nine mature eggs (one normal IVF cycle will produce about 15 eggs), Ms Kershaw has decided to ask strangers to help her to afford a third cycle.

She is doing this via a GoFundMe page designed to raise funds from friends, family and strangers.

The Change: Emma Kershaw, 24, from the Gold Coast (pictured) has been told by doctors that she will go through the menopause before she hits age 30

Heart ache: She has already gone through two AUD $10,000 IVF cycles, but still doesn't have quite enough eggs so has launched a GoFundMe page to help to raise funds for a third

'To this day, I have completed 2 IVF cycles in order to freeze my eggs,' the 24-year-old writes on her GoFundMe page.

'I would really love the chance to have at least 1 baby therefore I have decided to do another cycle, in hope that I can freeze a few more eggs

'The first cycle was completed last year where my doctor was able to freeze 7 eggs & the second cycle was completed this month where my doctor was only able to freeze 2 eggs.'

In general, it is recommended that a healthy woman freezes 10 eggs to give her a chance of having just one baby.

'I would really love the chance to have at least 1 baby therefore I have decided to do another cycle, in hope that I can freeze a few more eggs,' Ms Kershaw says.

Plans for the future: Ms Kershaw (pictured left) says that one day she would love to have a family and so she is trying to go through a third IVF cycle via help from people online

The reason why Ms Kershaw is having to crowd-fund the third cycle is because each cycle costs an eye-watering AUD $10,000, and so far she has had to pay for the previous two cycles on a credit card.

The young Queenslander admits that she realises that what she is asking of people is a huge request, but she also says that she needs to make plans for the future:

I know I'm asking for a lot but it's my dream to have a family of my own

'I know I'm asking for a lot but it's my dream to have a family of my own,' she writes.

'I am aware that there is no guarantee of this all working out but it least I know I tried my best to prepare for a family & that I gave myself a chance.'

She also told Daily Mail Australia that she does feel a little pressured into finding her Mr Right, but she prefers not to think about it and hope for the best: 'I definitely feel the pressure to meet someone,' she said.

'But it's something I try not to think too much about because it can get very overwhelming.'

GoFundMe account: Ms Kershaw's crowd-funding of the third cycle is growing steadily, as friends, family and strangers help her on her quest to freeze her eggs

Donations on Emma Kershaw's GoFundMe page are steadily climbing.

She has at present raised AUD $1,650 of her AUD $10,000 goal, but the page has only been in existence for four days.

'I'm overwhelmed with the response, as I was a bit nervous about putting my story out there,' Ms Kershaw told Daily Mail Australia.

'But everyone has been so supportive, which is great.'
A paralympian has become the first Australian woman with a disability to model for a lingerie company after becoming the face of underwear brand ModiBodi.

Rae Anderson, who is heading to the 2016 Rio Paralympics to compete in discus and javelin, was announced as the brand's first official ambassador in early August.

The 19-year-old, who is from Terrigal, NSW, has cerebral palsy and is making her paralympic debut this year.

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Breaking barriers: Rae Anderson (above) has become the first Australian woman with a disability to be an underwear model

Debut: The 19-year-old is also a paralympian who is heading to the Rio 2016 games to compete in discus and javelin

Founder of ModiBodi, Kristy Chong, said Ms Anderson was chosen because she is the type of woman people look up to.

'She embodies our core pillars of confidence, empowerment and strength and she is the type of ambassador we believe young girls should be seeing on billboards and their Instagram feeds, instead of surgically enhanced Iggy Azalea,' Ms Chong said.

ModiBodi's underwear has absorbent fabric designed to combat 'annoying but very common unmentionables' like bladder leaks, period onset, discharge, and breast milk leaks.

The underwear is advertised with strong female models and no photoshopping.

'She embodies our core pillars': Founder of ModiBodi Kristy Chong said that Ms Anderson is the perfect fit as the face of the brand

'We choose to use role models who represent empowerment and to use a diverse range of models in our marketing practices,' Ms Chong explained.

'Ultimately we want to empower our customers to be their best and we want them to feel good about themselves, instead of comparing themselves to an unrealistic image.'

The athlete herself agreed with the brand's statements, saying that she supported their ethos.

'Modibodi aims to give women everywhere confidence in their own body while also liberating and empowering women to reach their full potential,' Ms Anderson explained.

'Empowering': Ms Anderson said that she believed in ModiBodi's ethos of giving women confidence

No limits: 'Rae has never allowed the barriers of her cerebral palsy to hold her back,' Mrs Chong said

Ms Anderson is certainly breaking boundaries, especially when it comes to how people perceive women with disabilities and sexuality.

'Rae has never allowed the barriers of her cerebral palsy to hold her back and has viewed her disability as providing her with more opportunities, this should be applauded and supported,' Ms Chong said.
There were big shoes to fill when James Martin stepped down from BBC's Saturday Kitchen earlier this year, and many viewers have been left unimpressed with the show's new guest presenter format.

But popular TV chef Lorraine Pascale refused to take the criticism of her slot hosting the cooking programme lying down, and went on an epic Twitter rant to hit back at trolls slamming her presenting skills.

The 43-year-old chef appeared on the Saturday morning show at the weekend for the second time and viewers lambasted her 'dull', 'embarrassing', 'awkward' tactics, with some claiming they changed channels as a result.

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Lorraine Pascale, 43, refused to take the critical comments lying down and hit back at the trolls after keeping a dignified silence over the weekend

Viewers slammed her for being 'dull', ' embarrassing ' and 'awkward' on the popular show

Lorraine, who is known for shooting down Twitter trolls, was also accused by angry viewers of constantly interrupting celebrity guest Martin Kemp.

And while she kept a dignified silence on Twitter over the weekend, she retaliated on Monday morning - replying directly to many of her critics.

Jon Hackett tweeted: 'Who's [sic] brilliant decision was it to let @lorrainepascale back on SK? Did nobody learn the last time?'

To which Lorraine responded: 'I'm sure you are not a rude person in real life...so why on here?'

But Lorraine tried to put each and every one of them in their place, replying directly to their tweets - often with sarcastic comments

After Jamie Dickinson said 'give me strength' and 'inevitably another car crash episode' when seeing Lorraine presenting, the chef mocked: 'Such an epic tweet. You must be ridiculously proud of yourself. If you are going to slag me off... don't @ me in it.'

Twitter user SK wrote that Lorraine was 'quite possibly the worst presenter' they had ever seen and branded her hosting skills 'painful and awkward.'

In another sarcastic response, Lorraine said: 'Thanks SK from Bristol. Your tweet is inspirational. I hope you feel good about writing it.'

Lorraine Pascale has said before now that she gets vile abuse online - once calling in police

After one viewer called her 'useless', Lorraine said that her tweet was 'pretty useless' too

She had equally witty responses to other viewers who criticised her 'multi-tasking skills', branded her 'useless' and accused her of 'sucking the life out of Saturday Kitchen'.

But she had at least one apology to make after she accidentally went in on a man who spoke up for her after radio presenter Katie Hopkins suggested that viewers switched off the TV and tuned into her Saturday morning radio show instead.

Twitter user Kevin T tweeted:'I was tempted but it's @lorrainepascale today... so no.'

But, misinterpreting his support, Lorraine told him not to include her in tweets 'slagging her off'.

Kevin T replied: ' Actually, you misread this. My tweet was to rather watch you on Saturday Kitchen than listen to her show.'

Apologising, Lorraine said: 'Super sorry! I usually let it go, but nine years of saying nothing was enough. I misread it. Hope you doing okay!'

Many other viewers also came out in support of the celebrity chef, and Lorraine thanked as many as she could for their kind messages.

Despite the criticisms, many viewers showed support for the celebrity chef and posted complimentary messages on Twitter

Lorraine Pascale, who grew up in Oxfordshire, was a model before she made a name for herself as a TV chef

Twitter user Apple Dave said she had 'cupfuls of personality with a big splash of wit and wisdom', while Ross Campbell said she was 'so much more pleasing on the eye than James Martin.'

Machaela O'Brien told Lorraine to 'keep doing' what she was doing as someone will 'always have something negative to say'.

Peter Andrew Henson had a similar view, telling her: 'Food always looks great and you haven't sold your soul to get there like others!'

In June it was reported that Saturday Kitchen ratings have plummeted since James Martin's departure in March

Lorraine replied: 'What a lovely thing to say, thanks very much. Good or bad, if you're on TV, the Twitter trolls love to have a go! Standard.'

Its not the first time Lorraine has gone on a Twitter frenzy and attempted to put trolls in their place.

Earlier this week after an appearance on the BBC, shed received similar tweets criticising her presenting skills and replied with similar sass.

The Hairy Bikers have hosted Saturday Kitchen a couple of times, but viewing figures are thought to have failed to reach the level they were under James Martin's tenure

Irish cook Donal Skehan is among the other famous chefs called in to host the popular show

Back in 2012, Lorraine hit headlines when she called in the police after receiving vile taunts from a US Twitter user.

In June it was reported that Saturday Kitchen ratings have plummeted since James Martin's departure in March - and Pascale is certainly not the first host to step in since to receive flack from the audience at home.
her savings to visit Bryan and is planning another trip

A love-struck woman who was so desperate to meet a man she was paired with on Tinder has revealed how she flew 5,000 miles round the world to meet him - and paid for the trip out of her own savings.

Veronika Dolezelova, 24, matched American Bryan Davis, 42, while he was on holiday near her home in Prague, Czech Republic in March.

But Bryan had just a few hours before he caught the transatlantic 12-hour flight back to his home in Denver, Colorado, and didn't have time to see Veronika.

Veronika Dolezelova, 24, flew 5,000 miles round the world - to meet her Tinder crush Bryan Davis, 42, pictured together where she stayed for three weeks in the Rocky Mountains

The pair 'cyber-separated' and thought they would never meet again - but they carried on chatting when Bryan reached home.

Three months later Veronika used her savings to make the trip to the US where the smitten couple finally met in person for the first time.

Veronika said: 'With eight hours time difference and entire ocean between us, at first it seemed like there was really little chance that both of us could ever meet.

'But we chatted every day and soon we started to plan my trip.

'But my dad was furious. He thought the worst - that Bryan wasn't real, that he was a bad guy trying to take advantage of some poor naive girl .

Veronika Dolezelova, 24, pictured on her trip to the US, matched American Bryan Davis, 42, while he was on holiday near her home in Prague - however Bryan had to catch a flight shortly and could not meet her

The pair thought they wouldn't meet again - but carried on chatting when Bryan got home

'There are some horror stories about people who fly round the world to see people who they have met online.

'He thought it would be like a scene from the Taken movie with Liam Neeson. My family thought I could be raped, or just disappear.

'Bryan's family were nervous, too. For them I was just some strange girl from eastern Europe that wanted to make advantage of their son - marry him, get a green card, stay in the US, and after that get rid of him.'

Three months later Veronika used savings to make the trip to the US to meet Bryan, above

Veronika's father tried to stop her from talking with Bryan - and was so worried even made her store pictures of her tattoos in case he needed to identify her dead body. Pictured - the couple during her trip to the US

Veronika first began chatting with Bryan in March after they both swiped right on the casual dating app. It links people who are located near each other.

But within a few minutes of talking, Bryan, a patient recruitment manager, told her that he was about to catch a plane for the 12-hour flight back to Denver.

Despite only having a brief Tinder conversation, they continued chatting once Bryan had returned home - falling in love with online video calls.

But within days of landing in America for her three-week trip, Bryan's fears were allayed as the couple struck up a 'match made in heaven'. Pictured Veronika in the US

Veronika's father tried to stop her from talking with Bryan - and was so worried even made her store pictures of her tattoos in case he needed to identify her dead body.

But within days of landing in America for her three-week trip, his fears were allayed as the couple struck up a 'match made in heaven'.

They visited the Rocky Mountains and dated for the first time at local bars and restaurants.

Veronika added: 'I still can't describe in words how happy I am to have made the trip to meet Bryan after talking online for so long.
A new mother has seen nearly 10,000 people sharing photographs of her C-Section scar after she posted them on Facebook - just four days after giving birth.

Raye Lee, from Springfield, Missouri, posted the images to raise awareness about how harrowing it can be to go through a Cesarean Section, and how it is often dismissed as the easy way out.

The young mother shared the images alongside a passionate post revealing just how difficult she found the emergency surgery while giving birth to her son.

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Raye Lee, a new mother from Springfield, Missouri has seen her passionate post about C-Sections not being the easy way out shared 10,000 times

The post-surgery scar, taken just a few days after Lee's son Roxon Orion was born has struck a chord with other mothers who've had Cesarean Sections

Part of the emotive Facebook post written by Raye Lee about her C-Section scars

The post starts with sarcasm, as she poked fun at those who suggest having a C-Section is preferable to having a baby via the birth canal.

Mother-of-one Lee, who gave birth to son Roxas Orion on August 15th, rages: 'My emergency C-section was absolutely a matter of convenience. It was really convenient to be in labor for 38 hours before my baby went into distress and then every contraction was literally STOPPING his HEART.'

She goes on to reveal that it was actually the 'most painful thing I have experienced in my life' and doesn't shirk on the detail.

The three C-Section images show a long, raised scar across her lower abdomen.

She explains: 'Having a shrieking infant pulled out of an incision that is only 5 inches long, but is cut and shredded and pulled until it rips apart through all of your layers of fat, muscle, and organs (which they lay on the table next to your body, in order to continue to cut until they reach your child) is a completely different experience than I had imagined my son's birth to be.

Lee adds: 'This was not pleasant. It still isn't.'

The graphic images show a five inch-long raised scar on Lee's lower abdomen following the 'surprise' surgery

Thousands of women responded to the piece, saying they were sick of C-Sections being dismissed as the 'easy way out'

She concludes that the C-Section was worth it and she's 'the strongest woman' and that she would go through it 'every single day' for him.

The emotionally charged post has since gone viral with thousands of people commenting on the images.

Kylie Rizma wrote: 'This is my birth story too' while Destiny Nelms said: 'You're so strong and amazing. Good luck to you and your son!'

HOW DOES A C-SECTION PROCEDURE WORK? 1. A screen is put up over your chest so that you can't see the operation - in most hospitals it will lowered as your baby is born - and your anaesthetist will check that your painkiller is working properly. 2. Once you're numb, your doctor will make a straight cut, called a bikini cut, into the skin of your belly. It's usually two to three fingers width above your pubic bone, at the top of your pubic hair 3. Layers of tissue and muscle are opened so the surgeon can reach your uterus. Your tummy muscles are parted, rather than cut. Your bladder will be moved down to expose the lower part of your uterus. 4. You may hear and sense fluid whooshing out through the opening, and feel the surgeons assistant pressing on your belly to help your baby be born. 5. Your obstetrician will lift out your baby. If your baby is breech he/she will be born bottom first. 6. If you're having twins the lower twin is born first, just as if you'd given birth vaginally. Source: Baby Center Advertisement

Lisa A. Bower agreed surgery is never an easy thing to go through: 'I've had 4 c- sections. Recovery is not pleasant by no means!'

Another user added: I FEEL YOU! Easy way out my ass. Mine was an emergency and they said I wouldnt have physically been able to push him out, anyway. C sections saved our childrens lives and Im sick of being told that Im lesser because of it.'

'I am not weak. I am a warrior' Lee has been delighted that she's been able to raise awareness about how scary going through a C-Section can be

Briget Huys agreed a C-Section could be terrifying: '100% facts. Add on the fun of your incision getting infected if you're diabetic... because that just makes it sooo much better.'

Thrilled by the reception that her very personal images has had, Lee said: 'My C-section story and how it isn't to be shamed is going viral and I'm so happy that people are spreading the awareness that not all mommies can deliver the "natural way"'.
A black British woman who is guest-editing a Twitter account that represents the people of Ireland has been targeted by racists on Twitter - for not being Irish enough.

Michelle Marie, a model and mother-of-one who lives in County Mayo, took over the @Ireland account yesterday but was quickly targeted by trolls with cruel comments about her appearance and her ethnicity.

Clearly shocked, Marie, who identifies as gay, addressed the negative tweets with a series of inspirational tweets of her own.

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Michelle Marie, a mother-of-one from County Mayo, said the tweets that had targeted her skin colour and her weight on Twitter had 'hurt'

Marie posted a series of tweets in response to the negative comments she received while tweeting under the @Ireland handle

@Ireland is curated by a new person each week and has some 40,000 followers. Within hours of Marie posting a bio image of herself on the account, trolls had struck.

One, @TsarWojak, suggested: 'Progress is driving the last white person from Europe and replacing him with an African' while another wrote: 'You're an African with an IQ in the 80's [SIC] representing a Northern European Island nation that has nothing to do with you.'

Marie quickly responded to the abuse, saying: 'A few people are finding issue with me being black and running the Ireland account, so let me just address that for a minute...'

'We've got your back Michelle!' Lots of people tweeted their support for the plus-sized model

She followed up with: 'I am not an Irish citizen or of Irish descent. Correct. But I do live in Ireland and this account is to represent all residents here.'

Later she adopted a more sarcastic tone, saying: 'Black people can live in any country they like. We can read and write. We are educated. We can work. We can even tweet. I know, shocking.'

Support for Marie as the account's guest editor swiftly grew with many voicing their shock at the trolls.

James Hendicott, who's also had a stint at running the account, said: 'Interesting that almost nobody took issue with me (a Brit+I said so) running the account. Clearly racism. What scumbags. I'm sorry :('

@cdasilva added: '@ireland welcome to the account :) most of us don't care where you're from. Ignore those fools.'

While @CelticChuck wrote: '@ireland You are very welcome here, 99.9% of Irish people are glad to have new citizens here, ignore the trolls.'

The plus-sized model posted a statement at the end of her first day formally addressing the negativity.

She wrote: 'I understood the @Ireland account to be a platform for all people who have an Irish connection or a gra [love] for the country/culture'

'I am no way claiming to be Irish or to reflect the native Irish in any way. I moved from England to Ireland three years ago. My other half is Irish. My daughter is an Irish citizen. It is my adopted home and I love living here.
A young woman has spoken of her horror after a trip to a cosmetic surgeon caused her lips to bruise and swell.

Rachel Redpath, 21, went to the Beautox Clinic in Glasgow to get lip fillers because she hoped it would boost her confidence.

But when she left the clinic, she said her lips were bruised and swollen, leaving her crying all the way home in a taxi.

Rachel Redpath, 21, went to the Beautox Clinic in Glasgow to get lip fillers because she hoped it would boost her confidence. But when she left the clinic her lips were bruised and swollen, leaving her crying all the way home in a taxi (pictured before the treatment)

Rachel, from Bathgate, West Lothian, has since posted a message on Facebook warning others about her experience at the clinic, which is run by surgeon Imran Inam.

Sales consultant Rachel said: 'The thing I want to make sure of is that other girls don't have the experience I had.

'Most people go there to boost their confidence but it's not nice at all. I've always been self conscious of my face.

'I saw the pictures on Dr Imran's Facebook page and it looked good so I thought I would like it. I thought it would be a confidence boost.'

When Rachel, pictured after, saw the results in a mirror she says she was shocked at how much her lips had swollen - especially the top one, giving her what she described as an 'uneven look'

Rachel burst into tears and was given an ice pack and taken to another room, where she was joined by an assistant with a card reader machine so she could pay up

Rachel booked her appointment , which costs between 165 and 245, through Facebook and then turned up at 2pm on the day, but claims she was left waiting for an hour and a half to be seen.

She told Mr Inam she wanted just 0.5ml of fillers put in as this was her first time and she wanted them to look 'natural'.

But she said the plastic surgeon did 'everything he could to convince me to get the 1ml instead, telling me how beautiful I would look with even fuller lips'.

She added: 'It was almost like a sales pitch. There were all these sly compliments telling me I would see a big difference.

'Immediately afterwards my face just swelled up and he wanted to get me out of the room.'

When Rachel saw the results in a mirror she says she was shocked at how much her lips had swollen - especially the top one, giving her what she described as an 'uneven look.'

Rachel burst into tears and was given an ice pack and taken to another room, where she was joined by an assistant with a card reader machine so she could pay up.

When she asked to speak to the doctor again, she says Mr Inam told her that if her lips got any worse he would 'jab' her with an EpiPen.

Rachel said: 'There was no aftercare. One of the assistants just followed me with a card reader. My lips just kept getting bigger and bigger.'

And while she was leaving, Rachel says she overheard Mr Inam telling his next patient to have 1ml of fillers instead of 0.5ml - in a similar conversation to the one she had.

Rachel shared her feedback on the Facebook page and was messaged by Mr Inam himself, who told her he is sorry about her experience but adding that reactions like hers were not 'uncommon' and are not 'concerning'

Imran replied to Rachel via Facebook explaining that the measure of filler was done with her 'full consent' on the basis that a 0.55ml treatment would only be sufficient to define the border of her lips

Rachel said: 'I couldn't face anyone seeing me. I was crying the whole way home in a taxi.

'The next day I had bruises and was deep purple. I had to take time off work. I couldn't eat or drink and couldn't leave the house for three days.'

Since sharing her review, Rachel said other women have contacted her with similar stories about lip fillers gone wrong.

Rachel said: 'I've had so many girls messaging me. Their lips looked very similar to mine. It prompted me to say something. It may have been I had a bad reaction.

'But after finding out other people had the same I thought I didn't want someone else having that experience because it was horrible.'

Following her post on Facebook, Mr Inam has contacted her himself telling her he is sorry about her experience but adding that reactions like hers were not 'uncommon' and are not 'concerning'.

He went on to say he hoped she would have gotten in touch directly before taking to Facebook and he would have 'acted upon it immediately'

Imran replied to Rachel via Facebook explaining that the measure of filler was done with her 'full consent' on the basis that a 0.55ml treatment would only be sufficient to define the border of her lips.

He went on to say he hoped she would have gotten in touch directly before taking to Facebook and he would have 'acted upon it immediately'. He continued: 'Since you attended our clinic, we have appointed two new managers who oversee the running of our clinics and deal with all enquiries directly, including follow up, and there should be no further experiences like this in future.'

He concluded: 'As is sometimes the case with any service, in particular medical treatments, things don't always turn out perfectly. We still aim to ensure that all our patients are ultimately happy. Would you consider meeting with one of our managers at your convenience to discuss this further?'

Other women have taken to the Facebook page to defend the Dr with one woman writing: 'It's been brought to my attention that a girl has left a really negative review regarding her experience.

'It's very very common for the lips to blow up and swell upon receipt of treatment therefore meaning it can be hard to see exactly how they look in terms of unevenness until the swelling has come down. It's no big issue when this happens and can be fixed very very easily. It happens constantly! I've only ever had an amazing experience with Imran, if ever I had an issue he'd want to see me instantly to help me. I've never once had any issue with the outcome of any of my treatments, I've recommended hundreds of girls to him, I would never do this if I felt they would have a bad experience trust me.

'None us this is to take away from the fact this girl has had a poor experience but I feel she hasn't taken fair steps in seeking rectification and has been unfair in putting her point across.'

The Beautox Clinic website says Mr Inam is an NHS surgeon with over eight years experience at hospitals across the country.

It says Mr Inam has also undertaken research into treatments for cancer of the oesophagus, funded by Cancer Research UK.

The description adds: 'Mr Inam has significant expertise in managing acute surgical conditions as well as independently carrying out elective surgical procedures.

'He is trained to react instinctively when patients need it the most, holding provider status in Advanced Trauma and Life Support, so you can be reassured that you are in good hands.'

He concluded: 'As is sometimes the case with any service, in particular medical treatments, things don't always turn out perfectly. We still aim to ensure that all our patients are ultimately happy. Would you consider meeting with one of our managers at your convenience to discuss this further?'

Mr Inam, who is registered as a medical practitioner with the GMC, received praise from a reality TV star last year after giving her lip fillers.

Chloe Ferry from Geordie Shore thanked him for his work in an Instagram post showing off her plumped up lips following a trip to his clinic.

Industry expert Frances Turner Traill, who runs a clinic in Hamilton, near Glasgow, is a board member of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN).

Mrs Turner Traill said: 'I was really sorry to hear and read of Rachel's experience.

'Starting from April next year, every cosmetic clinic will need to be registered with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and meet a set of safety criteria to be allowed to operate.

'As an industry, we very much hope that more robust and effective regulation in Scotland will improve patient safety and patient care and will make experiences such as Rachel's a thing of the past.'

When contacted by MailOnline, a spokesperson for Beautox Clinic in Glasgow said: 'This case dates back to February and we were unaware of any concerns until the Facebook post six months later. Everyone at Beautox deeply regrets we were not given the chance to follow-up with the client and address any problems.

'Safety and health of all patients is of the utmost importance. Every client we see goes through an extensive pre-treatment consultation to discuss the procedure and what to expect during and after treatment. We also provide clear aftercare instructions.

'While the procedures are extremely safe, it is not uncommon for clients to experience swelling, redness and discomfort for around three days after an injection. In some cases, it may persist for up to two weeks

'Every procedure at Beautox is administered by an experienced medical practitioner, supported by at least one clinical assistant. While some aesthetic treatments may be completed within ten minutes, the reality is that these treatments still involve some discomfort.

'We advise all patients to contact us immediately if they are concerned in any way or feel their symptoms are worsening and strongly recommend a follow up appointment to evaluate progress.
When we saw ruby red glitter lips on the likes of Bella Hadid, 19, and Taylor Hill, 20, at the Atelier Versace couture show back in July, we were mesmerized but considered it another 'works on the runway but not in real life' look.

Fast forward to this week: Everyone from Shay Mitchell, 29, to Chrissy Teigen, 30, has been seen with similar sparkly pouts, and they have us reconsidering our editorial-only opinion in a big way.

The glitter lips all come courtesy of make-up genius Pat McGrath. Everything you need to copy them comes in her fourth (and latest) Pat McGrath Labs launch, Lust 004, which will be released to the public August 30.

Scroll down for video.

Ombre glitter: Model Taylor Hill, 20, showed off her two-tone Bloodwine lips, courtesy of make-up guru Pat McGrath, backstage at the Versace Fall Couture show in July

She's in the glitterati: Bella Hadid, 19, kept her crimson pout even after she left the Versace runway show

FEMAIL had the chance to chat with Pat and try Lust OO4 at a recent editor event in New York City and became even more enchanted with its effect.

'In 2009, I did this [metallic red and gold] lip for British Elle for a celebration of London Underground that we shot in my bedroom at the Ritz Hotel in between the shows, and that's what the whole kit is based off of,' Pat told us.

Kit is a bit of a misnomer. Lust 004 is actually three separate versions of a five-piece set. Each one contains two matte lipsticks, a clear vinyl gloss, a metallic gold pigment and a microfine glitter.

Her work is never done: After a secret photo shoot, Shay Mitchell (center), 29, got glitter-bombed by Pat McGrath (left) with an assist from fellow make-up artist Patrick Ta (right)

Before-and-after: At a party for the launch of Lust 004 in L.A., Chrissy Teigen (right) liked Jaime King's lip look so much (left) she copied it in darker color after posing for this photo

'We go all the way from nudes to blood red to burgundy,' said Pat, referencing the Flesh, Vermillion Venom and Bloodwine offerings.

Pat mixed the two lipstick shades in the Bloodwine kit and layered them with the coordinating microfine glitter to create the Versace lip. But, she said, the options are endless.

'You can start simple with one tone,' she explained, 'Or mix two colors - with your paler color in the center for the most incredible ombre, or you can do one lip darker on the top, one lip lighter on the bottom.

Product porn: The microfine glitters, glosses and lipsticks that make up Lust 004

Swatching Lust 004 colors (from top to bottom): clear gloss, gold pigment covered in clear gloss, Bloodwine glitter, Bloodwine lipstick 1, Bloodwine lipstick 2, Vermillion Venom glitter, Vermillion Venom lipstick 1, Vermillion Venom lipstick 2, Flesh glitter, Flesh lipstick 1 and Flesh lipstick 2

'Then you can make the lips and the colors dance with the fantastic glitters.

'You can do just the lipstick and the glitter just for fun when you go out at night. Or you can take it further with a huge glob of gorgeous lip gloss.

'It's really for bringing out the inner artist in all of us. It's all about having fun and experimenting.'

In the spirit of fun, after a long day of shooting, Shay Mitchell and her make-up artist Patrick Ta met up with Pat (McGrath) on what looked to be the side of the road. The Pats gave Shay a glitter lip, which she Instagrammed with the cheeky caption, '"Roadside lip pit-stop" with the duo @patrickta x @patmcgrathreal #thisisnormalright?!'

The lip that inspired it all: Pat created this look in 2009 for British Elle and says it was the basis for Lust 004

True artistry: Pat used Lust 004 on Rihanna for the September cover of W magazine

Then last night at Lust 004 launch party in L.A., celebrities like Chrissy Teigen, 30, and Jaime King, 37, got the Pat lip treatment too. Jaime opted to paint her pout in the Wizard of Oz-like Vermillion Venom color. When she topped her lips with the matching glitter, they looked just like Dorothy's ruby slippers.

Chrissy, who attended the party with husband John Legend, went with the moodier Bloodwine shade.

For our glittery lip debut, we chose Lust 004 in Flesh, thinking it would be a bit more subtle.

Once the nude matte lipstick was topped with the metallic gold pigment and microfine glitter and then covered it with a thick layer of gloss, however, it was anything but understated.

Rose gold pout-fection: Beauty Director Lindsey Unterberger, 33, models Lust 004 in Flesh

The end result was hypnotizing when it hit the light, and it stayed on remarkably well - even after we devoured a massive bowl of cacio e pepe at lunch.

Is this something we'll wear everyday? Probably not, but that's not the point.

'In the end we really do live on the [photos] on our iPhone,' said Pat. 'When people go, "How do you wear that in the real world?" I go, "You mean in a selfie?"'
A survivor of the Orlando Pulse night club shooting has told of his joy after taking his first steps unassisted since the tragic attack.

Angel Colon's legs were severely damaged during the mass shooting just over two months ago when he was shot at multiple times and shattered his left leg trying to escape.

The 26-year-old, who lives in Florida and is a brand ambassador and promoter for Zumba Fitness, said he was 'so happy' as he shared an emotional video of himself taking his first tentative steps watched by family and friends.

Success: Orlando shooting survivor Angel Colon, 26, was captured on camera taking his first steps since the attack

Healing process: The Pulse night club shooting survivor, pictured left after the attack and right recently, told of his joy after managing to walk a few paces

The video, which has been liked by more than 7,400 people and attracted hundreds of comments, shows Angel taking his first eight unaided steps across a kitchen as family and friends cheered.

He walked into the arms of a woman smiling broadly as he said 'yay'.

In the caption he said he was 'feeling excited', adding: 'Ahhhh took my first steps all by myself! So happy! #OrlandoStrong #AngelStrong #LoveIsLove [sic]'.

During the attack by lone gunman Omar Siddiqui Mateen, who pledged allegiance to ISIS and killed 49 people and left 53 people hospitalized on June 12, Angel sustained multiple gunshot wounds in his hip, legs and back.

Angel, who was hugging a friend and preparing to leave when the first shots were fired, was convinced he was going to die after the woman next to him was shot.

'I don't know how, but by the glory of God, he shoots towards my head but it hits my hand. And then he shoots me again and he hits the side of my hip,' he said soon after in a press conference.

Pure joy: After walking across the kitchen, Angel can be seen walking into the open arms of a woman, who is thought to be a relative

Injured: Angel, pictured in a wheelchair two days after the attack, was shot multiple times during the tragic June 12 shooting that killed 49 and left 53 people hospitalized

He did not have medical insurance but a GoFundMe page raising money for his treatment has so far raised $17,287 of its $20,000 goal.

Angel regularly shares updates of his progress on Facebook to his thousands of followers.

In recent posts he said he was 'feeling optimistic' at Orlando Health Orthapedic Institute and later said he had been for X-rays and a check-up.

On the two-month anniversary earlier this month he said it was 'the worst night of my life' that he will 'never forget'.

Paying tribute to his supporters and friends and family, he wrote: 'The past two months has been a roller coaster but I appreciate all the love and support I have received from each and every one of you.

'To my family and friends, thank you so much for being there for me every single day.'

He vowed to be 'strong and positive' and thanked God for saving him from death.

Angel's latest video has received more than 260 messages of support.

Nael Ramos wrote: 'So awesome bro, glad to see that you're taking those steps again...Glory be to God for everything he is doing in you! [sic]'
Mouthwash may be able stop gonorrhoea from spreading, researchers believe.

Gonorrhoea is a bacteria that is spread sexually - but studies show people can carry the infection in their throats for months on end without suffering any symptoms.

Those infected could pass it to others through oral sex - and health officials say cases of the STI are rising and fast becoming untreatable.

Now, Australian researchers are exploring whether a mouthwash can kill the bacteria and stop the infection from being spread.

Mouthwash may be able stop gonorrhoea from spreading, researchers have found (file pic)

Professor Christopher Fairley, from Monash University, Melbourne, has been testing whether treating patients with mouthwash can kill the bacteria in their throats, the BBC reports.

He recruited 58 male volunteers who all had detectable levels of gonorrhoea in their mouths at the beginning of the study.

Half were asked to gargle with saltwater for a minute.

The other half were given an antiseptic mouthwash from a supermarket instead.

Five minutes later, he swabbed their throats to see if the mouthwash had killed the gonorrhoea bacteria.

He found the levels of detectable bacteria fell among those using the mouthwash.

Professor Fairley said more research is needed to check how long this effect might last - and whether it could really halt the spread of gonorrhoea.

Gonorrohoea bacteria can live in people's throats for months without them suffering any symptoms. The study found gargling with mouthwash can lower the levels of infection

Next, he will recruit volunteers to take part in a three-month trial to see what impact gargling with mouthwash might have on the infection.

His study comes after the number of new cases of gonorrhoea, which is also known as the clap, have soared in recent years.

Between 2012 and 2015 gonorrhoea infections rose by 53 per cent, from 26,880 to 41,193, figure from Public Health England show.

And health officials have also warned of a new breed of super-gonorrhoea  which is resistant to the usual antibiotics prescribed to treat it.

It was first spotted in Leeds in November 2014, and then spread to the West Midlands and London.

By April 2016, 34 people had been diagnosed with this 'super-gonorrhoea'.
A teenager who is battling breast cancer at just 19 years old has warned other girls not to ignore changes in their bodies.

Jessica Duffield, 19, dismissed a lump on her breast as 'hormones' before she eventually built up the courage to book an appointment with her GP last year.

Even after a doctor examined the student's swollen chest, they told her there was a 'tiny chance' of it being anything serious.

Miss Duffield was given the devastating diagnosis that it was cancer a few weeks later in May last year.

Jessica Duffield, 19 (right) dismissed a lump on her breast as 'hormones' - but tests eventually revealed she had breast cancer at just 19 years old. She is pictured with friend Cath Dean, who shaved her head in order to raise money for her medical treatment

Miss Duffield, pictured with Miss Dean and her aunt Gemma Boardman, has had three rounds of chemotherapy and will have surgery to remove the tumour in five months time

The teenager already had three rounds of chemotherapy and has another five months to go before doctors can operate to remove the tumour.

She will then face reconstructive surgery and a course of radiotherapy.

Miss Duffield, who lives in Chesterton, Staffordshire, said she wanted to warn other young people to get themselves checked.

The student, who is studying patisserie and bakery technology at Chester University, added: 'When I went to the doctors they told me there was a very slim chance of me having cancer because of my age.

'I only went to get checked out as a precaution, I thought it was just going to be my hormones. I never really thought it would be breast cancer.

SYMPTOMS OF BREAST CANCER The first symptom of breast cancer most women notice is a lump or an area of thickened tissue in their breast. Most lumps (90 per cent) are not cancerous, but it is always best to have them checked by a doctor. See your GP if you notice any of the following:  a lump or area of thickened tissue in either breast  a change in the size or shape of one or both breasts  discharge from either of your nipples (which may be streaked with blood)  a lump or swelling in either of your armpits  dimpling on the skin of your breasts  a rash on or around your nipple  a change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast  pain in either of your breasts or armpits not related to your period Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

'I was in total shock but now I'm having treatment and the tumour is already showing signs of getting smaller.

She continued: 'Now I want to tell young girls like me that you're never too young to get cancer and that any concerns that they have, they shouldn't hesitate to go to the doctors.

'I'm feeling quite positive at the moment but I know it's going to hard.'

She said her shock diagnosis has made her even more determined to achieve her dream of working in food manufacturing.

Women under 40 make up just seven per cent of all breast cancer cases, with just a handful of teenagers being diagnosed each year.

Miss Duffield's mother Sam, 44, said she was proud of her daughter coping so well.

She said: 'It was such a shock for all of us but it gives us strength knowing how well she's doing. She's very strong.

'The support for her is so important, it makes her feel like she isn't on her own.

'We all know people who have had breast cancer but they seem to be much older.

'I've never heard of a 19-year-old getting it.'

As Miss Duffield face gruelling chemotherapy, her family friend Cath Dean, 36, decided to shave off her head in order to raise money for her friend.

She was able to amass 1,070 in donations, in a move Mrs Duffield's family said was 'amazing'.

Now, Miss Duffield is telling her story in the hope other women won't ignore changes in their bodies. She said: 'I want to tell young girls like me that you're never too young to get cancer'

Miss Dean, who works with Miss Duffield's aunt Gemma Boardman, said: 'When Gemma told me Jess was going to the doctors, I told her I'd shave my head to raise some money for her if she had cancer.

'At first we weren't really being serious about it because none of us actually believed that would be the outcome.

'But then when she was diagnosed I said I'd keep my promise and raise some money for Gemma.

'The cash is for Gemma to do whatever she wants with, whether that's to treat herself or to pay for medical treatment.

'We want her to know she has all our support.'




A 'potent' new fertility treatment said to be cheaper and less invasive than IVF has been developed, scientists claim.

IVF is the long established method to try for a baby for people with fertility problems.

But now Australian and Belgian scientists have discovered how to improve a woman's chances of becoming pregnant using a less invasive and cheaper alternative.

Australian and Belgian scientists have discovered how to improve a woman's chances of becoming pregnant using a 'less invasive and cheaper' alternative than IVF (file photo)

The new method, which has already undergone pre-clinical testing, uses growth factors to enhance an existing fertility treatment known as in-vitro maturation (IVM).

The results show improved egg quality and a 50 per cent increase in embryos, with minimal use of drugs.

Researchers said the advance has 'significant implications' for fertility treatment worldwide.

Standard in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) requires women to take follicle stimulating hormones (FSH) to stimulate egg cell growth before they are removed from the ovary.

WHAT IS VITRO MATURATION ? In the IVM process, eggs are removed from the ovaries when they are still immature. They are then matured in the laboratory before being fertilised. The difference between IVM and conventional in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is that the eggs are immature when they are collected. This means the woman does not need to take as many drugs before the eggs can be collected as she might if using conventional IVF, when mature eggs are collected. Clinics might recommend IVM rather than IVF for women susceptible to developing OHSS (ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome - a potentially dangerous over-reaction to fertility drugs) It might also be recommended if the cause of the infertility has been has been identified as being male factor only. Source: Human Fertilisation &Embryo Authority Advertisement

IVM retrieves eggs while they are still in the 'immature' stage, and brings them to maturity in cell culture in the lab.

Researchers say this is achieved with 'minimal' hormone stimulation.

Previously, most doctors have recommended IVF because pregnancy rates after IVM have been lower.

While the use of hormone drugs for conventional IVF is a proven fertility treatment, doctors say it use comes with 'significant discomfort' for the patient, some medical complications and is expensive.

Researchers led by Associate Professor Robert Gilchrist, of the University of New South Wales in Australia, have improved the IVM process.

They added a combination of a growth factor (cumulin) and cAMP-modulators - small signalling molecules - to the egg cells in order to boost egg quality.

Doctor Gilchrist's team recently discovered cumulin and his lab is one of only two worldwide that make it.

He said: 'The aim of our research has been to restore as far as possible, the natural processes that occur during egg maturation.

'We have demonstrated that it is possible to improve egg quality and embryo yield with next to no drugs, using potent growth factors produced by the egg.'

He said the new technique, which is awaiting US Food and Drug Administration approval, has been 15 years in the making.

Initial experiments using the technique in pigs showed an improvement in egg quality and a doubling of the embryo yield, compared to the existing IVM method.

Scientists used growth factors to improve the in-vitro maturation technique, which collects eggs from women's ovaries before they have matured and fertilizes them in a lab

And, in a pre-clinical trial on human eggs, the research team also found an improvement in egg quality and a 50 per cent increase in embryo yield.

Associate Professor Jeremy Thompson, from the University of Adelaide', said the new technique is a 'significant advance' in fertility research.

The new technique improved egg quality and a 50 per cent increase in embryos, with minimal use of drugs (file photo)

He added: 'While the enhanced IVM treatment is not currently available as a fertility treatment option, if it is accepted into clinical practice it will remove the need for a woman to inject herself with high doses of hormones for up to 12 days.

'Most importantly, it could give a woman almost the same chance of becoming pregnant as with hormone-stimulated IVF.

Professor Michel De Vos, of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Belgium, said using IVM also cuts the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) to zero.

Prof De Vos added: 'Young women facing cancer treatment, who wish to preserve their fertility but often don't have time to freeze their eggs, will also benefit from this breakthrough.'
It is hoped a test could be available on the NHS within five years

A major breakthrough by scientists could pave the way for the first rapid test for sepsis and meningitis in children.

Experts have worked out how to identify deadly bacterial infection with a tiny drop of blood pricked from the end of a finger.

Within five years a test could be available on the NHS, the Imperial College London team hopes, potentially saving hundreds of childrens lives.

Such a test would help doctors rapidly diagnose whether a child is suffering from a serious bacterial infection, or whether a simple cold or flu virus is to blame.

Deadly bacterial infections such as sepsis and meningitis could be identified with a tiny drop of blood pricked from the end of a finger, experts have discovered (stock)

At the moment the only way to definitively diagnose an infection is by trying to grow bacteria in a sample of blood - a 48-hour process that has barely changed in 100 years.

But the Imperial team think within a few years a finger prick test could reveal a result in minutes, flashing up a coloured light in a similar way to a pregnancy test, or even delivering a result to a mobile phone.

The lack of a quick test means doctors usually have to rely on symptoms and medical history to make a diagnosis.

But an estimated 20 per cent of all children visiting A&E hospital units has a fever.

And telling the cause of the fever - whether it is a life-threatening infection or merely a virus - is very difficult tell, even when the illness is fairly advanced.

If the doctor diagnoses a bacterial infection, the child is immediately admitted to hospital and put onto antibiotics, which if done in time can clear up the problem.

But countless children each year are mistakenly diagnosed with a virus and sent home, their parents told to give them paracetamol and plenty of water.

By the time they are rushed back to hospital with advanced sepsis or meningitis, it is often too late to save them.

An estimated 20 per cent of all children visiting A&E hospital units has a fever. But ascertaining whether it is a life-threatening infection or merely a virus(picured in an artwork) - is very difficult tell, even when the illness is fairly advanced

A rapid test would also reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics for people who do have a virus - a vital step in the war on superbugs.

Study leader Professor Michael Levin, a paediatrician at Imperial: Fever is one of the most common reasons children are brought to medical care.

However every year many children are sent away from emergency departments or doctors surgeries because the medical team thinks they have a viral infection, when in fact they are suffering from life-threatening bacterial infections - which are often only diagnosed too late.

Conversely, many other children are admitted to hospital and receive antibiotics because the medical team are unable to immediately exclude the possibility of a bacterial infection - but in fact they are suffering from a virus.

Faye Burdett (left) battled meningitis B for 11 days before her body succumbed to blood poisoning (right) - a common complication associated with the condition. The new test hopes to save the lives of hundreds of children who are misdiagnosed with a virus

His team found the bodys immune system responds differently to bacterial infections and viruses.

Working with doctors across Britain, Spain, Holland and the US, they gathered blood samples from 240 babies and young children, aged from two months and six years, who arrived at hospital with a fever.

The scientists analysed the difference in their immune systems, scanning 48,000 genes to spot any minute variation.

MENINGITIS KILLED TODDLER IN JUST 11 DAYS Faye Burdett, 2, battled meningitis B for 11 days after her family noticed a rash on her forehead. When it failed to go away her worried parents, Jenny and Neil, from Maidstone, took her to A&E. She was immediately transferred to the Evelina Children's Hospital in London and as the days went by it appeared Faye's health was improving. But tragically, she succumbed to a common complication associated with the vicious condition - blood poisoning, or sepsis. The infection rapidly took over her fragile body, leaving her heartbroken parents with the most agonising decision they will ever have to make in choosing to let their 'little girl slip away' peacefully. Her parents released the horrific photographs of her suffering in hospital to warn others of the dangers of meningitis and campaign to make the meningitis B vaccine available for all children. An online petition on the Government website received the largest number of signatures in the NHS' history. Advertisement

To their delight, the researchers identified two genes in white blood cells which switch on when there is an infection in the body, but do not when the problem is a virus.

Technology already exists which can spot these genes and flag it up in a simple, useable test, but as yet the two have not been combined.

Professor Levin, whose results are published in the JAMA medical journal, stressed much more work needs to be done before such a test is created.

But he has already started recruiting for a much larger study, and said that, with luck, a test could be available within five years.

Although this research is at an early stage, the results show bacterial infection can be distinguished from other causes of fever, such as a viral infection, using the pattern of genes that are switched on or off in response to the infection, Professor Levin said.

The challenge is now to transform our findings into a diagnostic test that can be used in hospital emergency departments or GP surgeries, to identify those children who need antibiotics.

It is perfectly feasible that within a five-year period we could have a test based on our signal available to NHS hospitals.

But for that to happen, we need input from biotech companies.

Within time, a test could also be developed for adults - but initially the team are focusing on children because their immune systems are weaker, meaning they are much more susceptible to infections.

Co-author Dr Jethro Herberg said developing a useful test will also help reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics.

The more that antibiotics are used, the more resistant bacteria become to them, with some strains of superbugs now completely untreatable.

These superbugs are breeding at a rapid rate and doctors are worried the global antibiotic resistance crisis will kill more people than cancer by 2050.

Experts said the test will also help reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics. Doctors fear the antibiotic resistance crisis will kill more people than cancer by 2050 (file photo)

Dr Herberg said: We are facing a growing threat from antibiotic resistant bacteria.

A large proportion of antibiotic use is driven by our inability to reliably identify the small number of children with bacterial infection from the much larger number with viral infection, who do not need antibiotics.

Fear of missing life-threatening infections like meningitis and septicaemia result in doctors often prescribing antibiotics and undertaking investigations such as lumber punctures just to be safe.

This latest development is very exciting Vinny Smith, chief executive of Meningitis Research Foundation

A rapid test based on the two genes we have identified could transform paediatric practice, and allow us to use antibiotics only on those children who actually have a bacterial infection.

Vinny Smith, chief executive of Meningitis Research Foundation, which helped recruit patients for the study, said: This latest development is very exciting.

Bacterial meningitis and septicaemia can kill in hours, and can leave survivors with life-changing after effects. Giving health professionals the tools to rapidly determine whether an infection is bacterial or viral will enable faster detection and treatment of meningitis and septicaemia.

We are proud to have supported the research underpinning this study over a number of years, and we are grateful to our family members who took part.

Public Health Minister Nicola Blackwood, said: Life threatening Infections like meningitis and septicaemia are every parents worst nightmare so any research that aims to provide a reliable, point of care diagnostic test is to be welcomed.
This is the 16-year-old boy who survived a brain-eating amoeba.

Sebastian DeLeon is one of just four people in the last 50 years known to have survived a naegleria fowleri infection, which kills 97 per cent of patients.

He was swimming on a private beach in Orlando, Florida, during a vacation with his family on August 7 when he contracted the infection through his nose.

But today, to his doctors amazement, the South Florida-based teen is walking, talking, and ready to go home.

Recounting his treatment at a news conference on Tuesday morning, Sebastian's doctor was in tears.

And though Sebastian remains in his ward, preparing to go home, his parents appeared at the news conference to describe their joy and their fears of losing their 'energetic, adventurous' son.

Survivor: Sebastian DeLeon (pictured) is one of just four people in the last 50 years known to have survived a naegleria fowleri infection, which kills 97 per cent of patients

Sebastian's parents (pictured) appeared at the news conference to describe their joy and their fears of losing their 'energetic, adventurous' son

The hospital did not say where the family is from except for South Florida.

'I've treated amoeba cases in the past and they are all fatal. So this is a story we need to tell about Sebastian DeLeon,' Dr Humberto Liriano, a critical care intensivist physician at the hospital, said.

Minutes after inhaling the bacteria, Sebastian developed a headache so severe he couldn't tolerate anyone touching him, and symptoms of meningitis, the doctors explained.

His parents, from out of state, rushed him to Florida Hospital for Children where he was diagnosed with the infection.

The only drug known to treat the infection - an experimental medication called miltefosine - is made by an Orlando company.

The drug arrived at the hospital within 12 minutes of Sebastian's diagnosis.

Doctors cooled him, gave him a breathing tube, and put him into a chemically-induced coma for days.

During that time they habitually took fluid samples to test for the amoeba and sent daily samples to the CDC who corroborated their diagnoses.

Eventually, the samples came back negative for naegleria fowleri.

WHAT IS NAEGLERIA FOWLERI? Naegleria fowleri (pictured) is ingested through the nose Naegleria fowleri is commonly referred to as the 'brain-eating amoeba' as it can cause a rare and devastating infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). But the infection is very rare, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been about 35 cases reported in the U.S. in the last decade. The single-celled organism is commonly found in warm freshwater, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs, as well as in soil. It usually infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. Once the amoeba enters the nose, it travels to the brain where it causes PAM, which is usually fatal. Infection typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places, like lakes and rivers. In very rare instances, Naegleria infections may also occur when contaminated water from other sources (such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated and contaminated tap water) enters the nose. You cannot get infected from swallowing water contaminated with Naegleria. Source: CDC Advertisement

In tears, the doctor explained the next step.

'We decided to take the breathing tube out and within hours he spoke,' he said.

'Since then he has done tremendously well. He is walking, he is speaking, he is ready to go home.

'He went out for the first time to get some fresh air.

'We believe, optimistically, he will recover and get rehab.'

His parents, who were not named, appeared emotional as they listened to the account.
Pakistan is fully responsible for the rising heat in India-Pakistan ties.

It has brazenly sought to stoke the current unrest in Kashmir, disregarding the repercussions for its relations with India.

Nawaz Sharif, supposedly committed to the betterment of bilateral ties, has led in attacking India for using excessive force in the Valley.

Nawaz Sharif, supposedly committed to the betterment of bilateral ties, has led in attacking India for using excessive force in the Valley. (Pictured: Pakistani protesters during an anti-India demonstration)

He declared the slain terrorist Burhan Wani a martyr, calling for July 19 to be observed as martyrdom day in his honour and for Pakistans Independence Day to be celebrated as Kashmir Freedom Day.

Campaign

Pakistan asked the International Human Rights Commission to investigate Indias "atrocities" in Kashmir, and Pakistani ambassadors were instructed to launch an international campaign against India on this count.

Hafiz Saeed, a UN-designated international terrorist, was allowed to lead a protest march in Islamabad on August 4, against the visiting Indian home minister.

Sharif has been provocative on Kashmir on several earlier occasions. He has harshly attacked India at the UN General Assembly, has repeatedly called Kashmir Pakistans jugular vein, has advocated self-determination for Kashmir in accordance with UN resolutions, and so on.

Nawaz Sharif has been provocative on Kashmir on several earlier occasions. (File Picture)

However, this has not deterred Modi from spending his political capital in engaging him and keeping the dialogue channels open.

He has overlooked terrorist attacks in Punjab and Jammu abetted by Pakistan.

New Delhi has shown some understanding of Sharifs political compulsions in being strident on Kashmir periodically in order to cover his flanks vis-a-vis the armed forces and religious groups.

His verbal onslaughts have been tolerated in the belief that strengthening the civilian democratically-elected leadership against the armed forces serves Indias longer-term interest.

This time, however, Sharif has gone beyond managing domestic political pressures.

At one time he seemed ready to give greater priority to the terrorism issue in order to facilitate a dialogue. But even as India awaits a satisfactory answer on the Mumbai attacks and Pakistans about-face on the Pathankot attacks, Sharif has openly lionised terrorism in Kashmir, worsening the differences on this sensitive issue.

Pakistan has continued its diplomatic belligerency by plying our ambassador in Islamabad with provocative and propagandist notes calling for self-determination for Kashmiris

Modi had reached out to him personally in an effort to build some equation that could facilitate the management of a fundamentally antagonistic relationship. But with Sharif wilfully adding fuel to the fire in Kashmir, Modi will have to play his diplomatic cards differently now, with less room for personal gestures.

Pakistan has continued its diplomatic belligerency by plying our ambassador in Islamabad with provocative and propagandist notes calling for self-determination for Kashmiris. It has also demanded an end to human rights violations there, sought authorisation to send humanitarian assistance to the Valley including medicines and a team of doctors to treat eye injuries, and so on.

To needle us further, it has invited the Indian Foreign Secretary to visit Islamabad to discuss the Kashmir issue.

India has retorted by declaring that Pakistan has no locus standi on Kashmir, that it must cease interference in Indias internal affairs, that Kashmir is an integral part of India, and that the only issue to be discussed is Pakistan vacating the J&K territory under its illegal occupation.

Terrorism

We have asked Pakistan to stop exporting terrorism, end infiltration, arrest UN-declared international terrorists like Hafiz Saeed, and give a status report on the investigation of the Mumbai and Pathankot terror attacks.

In our view, terrorism alone has to be the focus of any Foreign-Secretary level talks.

With these hardened positions the prospect of any resumption of dialogue, already dim, has receded further.

Modi has expressed his frustration with Pakistan by turning the tables on it on humanitarian issues. He has drawn attention to human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir - a better term as it automatically includes Gilgit/Baltistan - and in Balochistan.

Pakistans accusation that India is interfering in Pakistans internal affairs by speaking of Balochistan is altogether phoney, as it has interfered in Indias internal affairs, even outside J&K, for decades.

Critical

It has interfered in Punjab during a critical period and has flayed India internationally on the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat riots issues.

It has abetted terrorism in various Indian states, with the 2008 Mumbai attack being particularly heinous.

These are the many other red lines that Pakistan has crossed in its relations with India, such as its attempted territorial grab in Kargil in 1999, and official threats to use nuclear weapons against India.

For Pakistan to characterise Modis mention of the human rights situation in Balochistan as a crossing of red lines is truly ridiculous.

That Modis remarks on Balochistan should be criticised domestically by some opposition and media circles is unfortunate.

It is incomprehensible why India should be reproached for discarding the Panchsheel doctrine in its relations with Pakistan, when - besides the fact that this doctrine pertains to India-China relations - Pakistan has not observed its principles for the last 70 years.

How India loses its moral high ground if it raises human rights issues in Balochistan is hard to fathom.

According to this reasoning, the US should be at the bottom of the moral ladder as it pronounces on human rights violations everywhere.

Those in India (echoing Pakistan) who are criticising Modi for diverting attention from the situation in the Valley by raising Balochistan, obviously do not believe that Pakistan has been diverting attention from its grave domestic problems by incessantly agitating the Kashmir issue and offering internal jihadi groups an external target for paradise-seeking quests.
Anmol Ratan, a PhD student and AISA activist, is facing rape allegations

An alleged rape on campus has emerged as a flashpoint between ideologically divergent student groups at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which has been at the centre of a swirling debate over nationalism and free speech this year.

Anmol Ratan, a PhD student and activist from the far-left All India Students Association (AISA), has been accused of sexually assaulting a comrade.

The allegation has given the rival ABVP ammunition to attack AISA, and the right-wing group has launched a sweeping campaign at the university by raising the issue of womens safety.

The accused is a student at the Centre for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion (CSDE) under the prestigious School of Social Sciences (SSS), while the alleged victim is a PhD student.

The matter has come as another test for AISA after three of its members were charged with sedition following an event on campus in February commemorating Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

While the association has expelled Anmol from its primary membership, sources say he was previously the secretary and then president of the groups Delhi state unit.

The ABVP conducted several rounds of protests, going room to room in hostels, to messes during lunch and dinner, and to the office of the vice-chancellor

Case filed

The woman approached Delhi Police on Sunday and filed a case against Anmol, accusing him of raping her in his room in the Brahmaputra hostel.

She claims the accused offered her a copy of a movie she had been looking for and took her to his room, where he gave her a drink spiked with sedatives.

She told the police that he raped her when she was unconscious and later threatened her to stop her reporting it.

The victim was sent for recording her statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC, but she cited illness, due to which it has been postponed now, said RP Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police, south-eastern range.

He said the statement was expected to be recorded on Tuesday.

Police have put up a notice on Anmols sealed room at JNU saying Vasant Kunj Police must be contacted to open it

The accused student has not joined the probe and is unavailable for questioning.

The university administration has denounced the alleged incident.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University always stands for dignity of the individual, respect for women, and democratic values, it said in a statement.

It also appealed to students, staff and teachers to remain vigilant.

The ABVP conducted several rounds of protests on Monday, going room to room in hostels, to messes during lunch and dinner, to the office of the vice-chancellor (V-C) outside the administrative block, and to various schools including languages, social sciences and sciences.

The days protest agenda culminated in a demonstration at the ground in front of the Sabarmati Hostel, the same place where the Afzal Guru row had been ignited.

The right-wing also initiated an aggressive social media campaign against Anmols alleged crime under the title of Bekhauf Azadi (Unbridled Freedom).

The sole representative of ABVP in an otherwise Left-dominated JNUSU, Saurabh Sharma, told Mail Today that he had already written to the V-C demanding stern action against the accused, including his immediate rustication from the varsity.

The AISA and other Left student organisations distanced themselves from the allegations and appealed to the administration to act immediately and strictly against the accused.
The average cost of full-time childcare across the UK for a child under the age of two is 217.57 a week. Part-time care (25 hours, as opposed to the full 50) costs 116.77 a week.

Assuming both parents work full-time and get 25 days holiday a year, the average annual bill for 47 weeks of full-time childcare is just over 10,200 and for part-time is close to 5,500.

Its hardly surprising then that working mums in lower-paid jobs are being forced to substantially cut their hours or give up work altogether after having a second child, according to a new study from the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.

Family finances: Would you be better off with tax-free childcare or childcare vouchers?

However, help with soaring childcare costs may be at hand for the vast majority of working parents - including the self-employed for the first time.

National Savings & Investments has confirmed plans to finally roll out the governments delayed tax-free childcare scheme. It will arrive early next year but what does it mean for your family?

In a nutshell, it's a way to cut your childcare costs by opening a government savings account that will see you earn a 20 per cent top-up on any contributions you make.

It will see the government top-up your savings towards childcare costs by 20 per cent, up to a maximum government contribution of 2,000 and it is understood NS&I will provide the scheme's helplines and the 'Childcare Accounts' parents will have to open through the government website GOV.UK.

You can open one account per child (up to the age of 12 - or 17 if disabled) and deposits up to 8,000 in each will be rewarded with the maximum government contribution of 2,000 (if the child is disabled, the government will contribute a maximum of 4,000). You can save more than 8,000 in each account but any extra will not earn a top-up.

Once you've applied to open an account through GOV.UK, HMRC will check you are eligible for the scheme and, if you are, NS&I will open it for you.

Working parents - including the self employed, which is a key component of the new scheme as these parents are excluded from existing employer run childcare schemes - will be able to use the money to pay a childcare provider of their choice, as long as it is registered with the scheme.

It is assumed you will pay the provider directly from your account electronically because while you will be able to withdraw funds from your account at any time, in so doing you will lose the government contribution. However, the government is yet to confirm this is the case.

Both parents are able to contribute to the account for the same child as long as they are working and earning between a minimum of 115 a week each and a maximum annual salary of 100,000 individually [households where one parent earns more than 100,000 cannot take part in the scheme - see box below]. While both parents must be working to participate in the scheme, parents temporarily absent from the workplace such as those on paid or unpaid maternity, paternity or adoption leave will still be eligible.

Help with costs: The government will top-up your money you save towards childcare by 20%

The scheme will be gradually rolled out to all eligible families throughout 2017, starting with the parents of the youngest children first.

Here tax expert Steve Bicknell of Bicknell Business Advisers answers some frequently asked questions about the new scheme.

How does tax-free childcare compare to employer childcare schemes?

Currently there are three types of childcare support that your employer can engage in that qualify for income tax and National Insurance contribution exemptions for both the employer and the worker. These are Childcare Vouchers, directly contracted childcare and workplace nurseries.

Vouchers are by far the most common support offered by employers and currently they can provide up to 55 each week (243 per month) free of tax and NI, provided your employment earnings are not more than the higher rate 40 per cent income tax threshold (43,000 in the current 2016/17 tax year).

If you are a higher-rate taxpayer, the weekly amount reduces to 28 (124 per month) and it reduces further for additional-rate taxpayers to 25 per week (110 per month).

If you and your partner both work you are each entitled to vouchers. The exempt amount is per person not per employer.

You dont have to use the vouchers in the week or month that they are provided; you can save them for use later.

The childcare voucher scheme will remain open to new entrants until April 2018, and parents already registered by this date will be able to continue using it for as long as their employer offers it. First-time parents can only start to buy vouchers after they return to work after having their first child, but working parents who already have children can start to buy vouchers for subsequent children while pregnant.

With childcare vouchers, the scheme provides maximum tax-free childcare of 55 for 52 weeks = 2,860 x2 (partners) = 5,720.

Paying for childcare: You can choose a provider of your choice as long as they are registered

The tax-free childcare scheme will provide up to 10,000 of childcare per year (though parents of disabled children will get more help). But there's no saving in NI, which is 12 per cent for workers who are basic-rate taxpayers (or 13.8 per cent for employers).

Will anyone be worse off?

'Yes, employees will lose the NI saving they enjoy under the childcare voucher scheme and employers who will not be able save on employers' NI by operating salary sacrifice schemes,' says Bicknell.

However, which scheme you will be better off with depends on the amount of income tax you pay.

Were basic-rate taxpayers, which scheme is best for us?

The maximum value of childcare vouchers two parents can purchase via salary sacrifice is 5,720 (they can both buy 55 weekly vouchers all year round - which works out at 2,860 each). This is based on their both being basic-rate taxpayers.

The total amount of tax and NI they save equates to 1,830.40, or 915.20 each. This means they enjoy a 32 per cent reduction on the cost of childcare as they are effectively able to buy 5,720 worth of vouchers for just 3,889.60. If they had contributed 3,889.60 from their post-tax income to a new tax-free childcare account, they would only be able to purchase 4,862 of childcare after the 20 per cent government top-up.

Or to look at it the other way, if they had deposited the 5,720 in a tax-free childcare account, yes they would earn a 20 per cent government top-up taking the amount of childcare they could purchase to 7,150, but as the money they originally paid in would have been made from income they had already paid a total of 32 per cent tax and NI on, they would be 12 per cent worse off than had they bought childcare vouchers from their employer via salary sacrifice.

In fact, two basic-rate taxpayers will only be better off with the new tax-free childcare scheme if they want to contribute more than the maximum voucher allowance of 5,720 to their account.

But its not until they can earn a government top-up that exceeds the maximum tax and NI savings they can enjoy (a total of 1,830.4) under the childcare voucher scheme that they would do as well under the new scheme as opposed to buying vouchers. This point is reached when they contribute at least 7,321.60 (some 1,600 more than they are able to purchase in childcare vouchers) to the tax-free childcare account, which will be boosted to a total childcare fund of 9,152 by the government.

Childcare savings: you could get more childcare for less money with the new scheme

Were higher-rate taxpayers, which scheme is best for us?

A couple where both parents are higher-rate taxpayers can purchase a maximum of 2,912 worth of vouchers a year, as they can each only buy 28 of vouchers per week. However, through buying vouchers via salary sacrifice they both save 611.52 each in tax and NI so their real cost of purchasing 2,912 of childcare vouchers is 1,688.96, which represents a saving of 42 per cent.

By contrast, if they were to contribute 1,688.96 from their post-tax income to a new tax-free childcare account, they would only be able to purchase 2,111 of childcare after the 20 per cent government top-up  so they would miss out on around 800 worth of childcare than had they bought childcare vouchers.

Will you be better off? It all depends on your tax rate and personal financial circumstances

Or, if they were to contribute the equivalent of the maximum value of childcare vouchers they are able to buy via salary sacrifice of 2,912 to the tax-free childcare account, they would get the 20 per cent top-up, boosting their total childcare fund to 3,640, but they would already have paid the higher rate of income tax and NI on the money they contributed in the first place.

EXCLUSIONS ONE OR THE OTHER The new tax-free childcare scheme is due to launch in early 2017 and the existing childcare voucher scheme will close to new entrants in 2018. However, during the overlap, if you already claim childcare vouchers from your employer, while you will be able to switch to the new tax-free childcare scheme, you won't be able to take advantage of both. Checks on your circumstances will be carried out by HM Treasury to prevent you claiming both types of childcare help. HIGHER EARNERS FARE BETTER Households where one partner's earnings exceed, or are expected to exceed, 100k will be prevented from joining the tax-free childcare scheme. This means the lower earner would be prevented from opening an account. In a perverse consequence, a household with two incomes of up to 99K (joint income of 198K) can benefit from the scheme, while a household earning, say, 120k (where one earns 100K and the other 20K) would miss out.

In fact, two higher-rate taxpayers will only be better off with the new tax-free childcare scheme if they want to contribute more than the maximum voucher allowance of 2,912 to their account. But its not until they can earn a government top-up that exceeds the maximum tax and NI savings they can enjoy (a total of 1,223.04) under the childcare voucher scheme that they would do as well under the new scheme as opposed to buying vouchers. This point is reached when they contribute at least 6,115 (some 3,203 more than they are able to purchase in childcare vouchers) to the tax-free childcare account, which will be boosted to a total childcare fund of 7,338.04 by the government.

One of us pays basic-rate tax, the other pays the higher rate. How are we affected?

A couple where one partner is a basic-rate taxpayer and the other a higher-rate taxpayer are able to buy a maximum of 4,316 of childcare vouchers a year through salary sacrifice, which would save them a total of 1,526.72 in tax and NI, meaning the real cost of 4,316 of childcare falls to 2,789.28 - a reduction of around 35 per cent. If they put the same 2,789.28 into the tax-free childcare account, the government top-up they would earn would take their total childcare fund to just 3,347.14, meaning they would be almost 969 worse off than had they bought childcare vouchers.

To get a 1,526.72 government top-up under the new tax-free childcare scheme they would have to contribute 7,634 of post-tax earnings to the account - which is 3,318 more than they are able to purchase in childcare vouchers through salary sacrifice. Once they can contribute any more than this sum to their tax-free childcare account, they will be better off under the new scheme.

Can tax-free childcare be used with free childcare hours?

All three- to four-year-olds in England can get 570 hours of free early education or childcare per year. Its usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year.

Some two-year-olds are also eligible depending on a family's financial circumstances and if they're entitled to certain benefits.
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It is known as the fashion capital of the world, but away from the celebrated boutiques of Armani, Versace and Prada the mood has turned ugly in Milan as it becomes the latest flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis.

Residents and politicians are in a state of near-panic after roughly 400 turned up at the city's famous central railway station, swelling overall numbers in the city to a record 3,300.

With Switzerland, Austria and France clamping down on migrants, Milan is being seen as the new 'bottleneck' where people desperate to move into central Europe are 'trapped' for weeks.

MailOnline found young men still determined to get to Britain, but held in a series of makeshift shelters, while residents are increasingly losing patience with politicians' ability to control numbers.

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Bottleneck: Groups of young men hang around outside Milan's Central Station as the city becomes the new flashpoint for Europe's migrant crisis with hundreds converging on the railway square

Trapped: The numbers of migrants arriving in Milan in recent weeks has risen as Switzerland, France and Austria clamp down on immigration, meaning those who get off a boat in Italy cannot travel through into central Europe

Anger: As migrant numbers rise, residents in Milan have expressed worry that politicians do not have control of the issue, but police are visibly patrolling the square at the Milano Centrale station

Concern: Many young men from north Africa have arrived in central Milan in recent weeks, determined to get through Italy and into Britain or Germany, but have discovered they are effectively trapped

Bottleneck: With Switzerland, Austria and France clamping down on migrants, Milan is being seen as the new 'bottleneck' where people desperate to move into central Europe are 'trapped' for weeks

Resident Andrea Toniuto, 38, said he was worried that with so many on the streets there could be trouble.

'When they are desperate they will do desperate things. I do not know what the answer is other than to try and stop them from coming to Italy,' he said.

The sense of panic was heightened when the city's mayor Giuseppe Sala seemed to suggest he would open a tent city to cope house the new arrivals. From January 1 to July 1, 2016 around 70,930 migrants arrived in Italy, according to the Ministry of Interior

He admitted the city needed an 'intervention' as it struggled to handle the influx and was later assured by the country's defence minister that a disused barracks could be used for temporary accommodation. The Italian press talked grimly of an 'invasion' with dire warnings of thousands of more migrants to come, mostly from Africa and Egypt.

Makeshift: Migrants staying at the Oratorio San Luigi, in Bruzzano, are hanging their washing on the goalposts as the centre is forced to accommodate many more migrants than usual

Delayed: The church youth centre of Oratorio San Luigi, in Bruzzano, has been turned into a makeshift dormitory where more than 90 people, mostly from Eritrea, are based as Italy's migrant crisis escalates

Full: The Oratorio San Luigi youth centre, in Bruzzano is now packed with migrants and extra beds have been brought in to accommodate extra people

Packed: The Oratorio San Luigi, in Bruzzano, was a church youth club but has been turned into a migrant centre as routes out of Italy are effectively closed due to tightened border controls from neighbouring countries

The prediction has yet to come true, but with all routes out of Italy effectively closed due to tightened border controls from neighbouring countries, it seems likely that more migrants will end up in major cities such as Milan.

Resident Gianluigi Bonsaglio, 27, said: 'It does concern me that so many are here. When I drive around Milan and in the centre you see lots of [migrants] sitting around. It does not present a very good image of city.

'They are not doing anything wrong, but they cannot sit on the streets all day.'

Other residents, who declined to named and photographed, said they feared that groups of migrants projected the wrong image for the city.

'We know this problem of the migrants is not going to go away and so we have to face it and do something about it,' said one woman in her 40s.

Police patrol: Authorities patrol the square outside Milano Centrale amid increasing concern at the number of migrants caught in a 'bottleneck' in Italy, as neighbouring countries clamp down on immigration

Landmark: Milan's stunning central station has become the focal point for migrants arriving in Italy, who discover that they are effectively trapped as border controls in neighbouring countries are tightened

Volunteers: As Italy's migrant crisis intensifies, ordinary people have helped to care for those who arrive in Milan. People from the Church Beata Vergine Assunta at the Bruzzano area are working in a nearby church youth centre that has been turned into a migrant centre

'They cannot stay sat outside the station all the time. It looks bad and who knows what could happen.'

Some of the 3,500 migrants in the Milan have returned from lakeside town of Como, home to George Clooney and other wealthy residents.

More than 500 were previously camped at the town's train station having failed in their attempts to cross the border into Switzerland.

Others have made their way to Milan after landing on Lampedusa, a small island off the coast of Sicily having made the boat trip from Libya with the aid of people smugglers.

Most made their way to the city in the hope its excellent rail links would speed their journey to other parts of Europe.

Desparate: The streets in the outskirts of Milan have also become accustomed to accommodating migrants with volunteers from the Church Beata Vergine Assunta at the Bruzzano area, pictured, working to turn their youth centre into a migrant camp

Complaint: Police park up outside the Milano Centrale station amid concerns from residents that the historic building is becoming the focal point for migrants

But their progress has come to a shuddering halt as Switzerland, Austria and France slam the door shut on migrants.

More than 200 hundred people who recently attempted to swim to France from Italy were sent back.

It means many have little choice but to make Milan their home.

Camped in front of the 85-year-old railway station are dozens of African migrants, chatting and doing their best to keep in the shade from the blistering summer heat.

They only move when teams of cleaners in mechanized vehicles swoop on the area in front of the station to hose it town and clear up rubbish.

Two police officers stand guard as the groups of migrants reluctantly move from their position to allow the cleaning take place.

While many sleep rough outside the station others finds local parks and doorways.

Among them is 21-year-old Lamin Saho who left his home in Gambia in the hope of reaching England and a new life.

He worries that with the cooler autumn months approaching he will not survive on the streets.

'I want to go to England but they have made it so hard to get there,' he told Mail Online.

Crowded: Residents say that dozens of migrants camp out in front of the Milano Centrale station, chatting and doing their best to keep in the shade from the blistering summer heat

Fears: While many migrants sleep rough outside the Milano Centrale station, others finds local parks and doorways. Among them is 21-year-old Lamin Saho who left his home in Gambia in the hope of reaching England and a new life

'That is where I want to go, or to Germany. There is nothing for us here in Italy. They do not give us documents so that we can leave.

'This is not the place where we want to stay.'

Like all the migrants arriving in Italy he was fingerprinted and had his photograph taken but sees Milan as a stopping off point only.

He has no desire to stay or learn Italian.

Others in the city like 20-year-old Ethiopian Elias are new arrivals.

His family paid $2,500 to people smugglers to get him from Libya to Italy.

Elias claims he is fleeing war in his country but admits he wanted to leave to find a job or even study medicine abroad.

Resident Andrea Toniuto, 38, pictured left, said he was worried that with so many on the streets there could be trouble. 'When they are desperate they will do desperate things. I do not know what the answer is other than to try and stop them from coming to Italy,' he said. Resident Gianluigi Bonsaglio, 27, said: 'It does concern me that so many are here. When I drive around Milan and in the centre you see lots of [migrants] sitting around. It does not present a very good image of city. 'They are not doing anything wrong, but they cannot sit on the streets all day.'

'If I can I want to get to Holland as they give good benefits for people who want to study,' he told Mail Online.

'England was my first choice, but everyone says it is impossible to get into the country now. '

Speaking in near perfect English he added: 'Why do you make it so hard for people like me,' he asked.

Around him sat dozens of other migrants, mostly all young men aged from 18-30.

They were sat in the shade outside Milan's main reception centre for new arrivals called The Hub and based in arches under the railway tracks.

Usually it can sleep up to 150 people but it was forced to accommodate several hundred more when a large group arrived.

Run by a charity called the Arca Project it provides food, shelter, clothing and Internet access for the migrants.

Nowhere to go: Groups of migrants stay outside the Central Station as fears intensify that Milan is becoming the bottleneck of Europe's migrant crisis

'It is not an emergency situation but we do have a problem now here in Milan' said Alice Stefanizzi, the charity's fund raising manger.

'More accommodation is needed and we hope the city will provide it. The people who come here stay for a few days, but with nowhere to go many are staying longer.

'Charities like ours can only provide so much and it will be down to the city and the Government to step in.'

In an effort to keep migrants off the streets, and provide secure accommodation, many have been taken to the suburbs.

One such centre is in the town of Brazzano where a church youth centre has been turned into a makeshift dormitory.

More than 90 people, mostly from Eritrea, are based there and looked after by volunteers from the nearby church and the House of Charity, a local organization that usually helps the homeless.

Other similar centres have been set up around the city, including one in Quarto Oggiaro.

We have a solution that allows the refugees not to go around the streets of the city, but that will be placed in a safe place'

Milan's Mayor Giuseppe Sala has admitted the city has a problem telling the La Stampa newspaper that he has not ruled out calling a state of emergency.

He also said it was the duty of the Government to come to the aid of the city.

'I leave it to the government decision' he said of the state of emergency.

'The Milanese have the right to live in peace. they need the help of the government. '

He said opening up the former Montello army barracks would help solve the problem.

'We have a solution that allows the refugees not to go around the streets of the city, but that will be placed in a safe place. '

But while the Mayor finds himself at odds with other politicians in the region who are opposed to helping migrants.

Lombardy regional president Roberto Maroni has been outspoken in his opposition to sheltering migrants.

He has said previously said refugees are 'illegal immigrants who should be sent home.'

And Riccardo De Corato, regional advisor for the Fratelli d'Italia party, said with the latest influx of immigrants, 'Milan is already a tent city.'

More than 94,000 migrants have arrived at southern Italian ports this, according to figures from the International Organisation for Migrant.

A similar number made the trip from Libya last year but in 2016 access to other European countries from Italy has been shut down.
The drinks could keep on coming for MPs while parliament is renovated after officials insisted an Islamic bond on their temporary home will not prevent a bar being installed.

Politicians are due to move into nearby Richmond House for around six years while the Palace of Westminster is overhauled.

It had been thought the decision would prevent the array of subsidised bars on the parliamentary estate being relocated, as the Whitehall property was used to finance an Islamic bond scheme - known as a 'sukuk' - in 2014.

MPs were previously thought to be facing a six-year drinking ban if the temporary move from parliament to Richmond House took place

The terms of the lease were said to have barred alcohol from being consumed on the premises.

But it is now understood that the complicated ownership arrangements would not prevent an application for an alcohol licence.

A spokesman for the Treasury, which oversaw the bond deal, said: 'Reports that the buildings are governed by Sharia law or that consuming alcohol is banned in these buildings are simply incorrect.

'The buildings remain the property of the government, and the lease and associated documents explicitly state they are governed by English law.

'While the investors naturally have an interest in the buildings, they do not have a say over how the properties are used.

'There is no legal prohibition on consuming alcohol, but the residing departments do not have alcohol licences and can therefore not sell alcohol on the premises.'

The news will not be universally welcomed by MPs. Some - including health select committee chair Sarah Wollaston - have voiced concern about the drinking culture on the estate.

Richmond House in Whitehall, currently the offices of the Department of Health, has a complicated ownership structure involving a Sharia bond

The proposal to move to the Department of Health is among the most popular because it is housed just 100 yards from the Commons entrance and many MPs' offices are in the adjacent building at 1 Parliament Street

A brawl involving former Labour MP Eric Joyce is among the most notorious booze-fueled incidents. Pints of beer in the bars cost as little as 2.90, far less than in nearby pubs.

Richmond House, currently the offices of the Department of Health, is expected to house MPs when the multi-billion-pound refurbishment of Parliament begins in 2020.

WHAT PARLIAMENT DRINKS IN ONE YEAR House Sauvignon: 50,000 bottles House Merlot: 26,000 Guest ale: 33,000 Champagne: 8,500 bottles Guiness: 11,000 pints Stella Artois: 5,500 points Corona lager: 12,000 Peroni: 11,000 Baileys: 10.5 liters Gordons Gin: 463 litres Jack Daniels: 13.3 liters Famous Grouse whiskey: 52 litres Malibu: 4.5 litres Advertisement

The parliamentary committee created to decide on options for renovating the Palace of Westminster opted against MPs remaining in the building while work takes place.

A plan to nationalise the nearby Red Lion pub so it could be kept private for MPs was shelved after owners Fuller's Inns spoke out against the idea.

Peers will go to the QEII Centre at the other end of Parliament Square.

Renovating the Palace of Westminster while it is vacant is expected to cost between 3.5billion and 3.9billion and take six years.

The committee rejected two other plans, which would have been more expensive.

One was to move MPs and peers out of the Palace of Westminster at different times as the building was repaired, costing 4.4billion and lasting 11 years, while the other would have seen them stay put as repairs were carried on around them.

This third choice would have taken 32 years at a cost of 5.7billion.

MPs will vote on whether to accept the committee's recommendations after they return from the summer recess.

The subsidy for the bars and restaurants in parliament was around 3.7million last year.
Ryan, 27, a cocky former Army Reservist is hoping the experience will help him

posing as criminals into jail for two months

60 Days In is back for a second series sending eight

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Eight brave civilians have agreed to pose as inmates to spend two months behind bars alongside murderers and drugs dealers at an Indiana jail for the second series of a documentary.

Each of the volunteers had their own reason for going undercover at the tough Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville.

From the optimistic young, black criminologist who hopes to use the experience to help teens in disadvantaged neighborhoods, to the cocky wannabe cop who believes the experience will toughen him up for his job.

Others had more personal reasons for taking part, such as Monalisa Johnson, who joined the program to be able to connect with her own daughter who is serving a ten year sentence for armed robbery.

Another participant, Chris, hopes to be able to better understand his ex-con brother who he says was a 'stranger' after he left jail.

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Meet the inmates who are willingly going to jail for two months, L-R, Top: Monalisa, Dion, Sheri, Ryan. Bottom: Quintin, Brian, Chris and Ashleigh

The volunteers are sent in with fake identities and treated like prisoners with none of the inmates and hardly any of the jail's staff knowing the truth.

Hundreds of cameras will follow them giving viewers a first-hand look at the terrifying scenario faced by many first-time offenders entering the jail which has 500 prisoners convicted of charges from drug dealing, to violent offences and even capital murder.

It is a dangerous job. Participants received training in advance and were given a safe word to indicate to the producers that they were at risk and needed to be pulled out of the situation.

But that did not stop the seven volunteers in the first series of the documentary, which aired this year, from being targeted by inmates.

They avoided physical harm but one of the civilians had her shoes literally stolen from her feet, while many of them were told by longtime inmates that they would not be permitted to use the bathroom safely unless they paid some sort of bribe.

'We learned stuff that the most experienced corrections officer we had never knew was going on,' said Sheriff Jamey Noel of the Clark County Jail - the man behind the unprecedented program.

The Sheriff hoped that the filming could learn where the prison is going wrong, and the first series helped unearth a major drug problem inside the jail with inmates stashing contraband underneath food trays and making homemade highs, including one called 'crack stick'.

Now he has sent in eight more willing volunteers to continue the covert operation designed to root out contraband and corruption.

The first four participants, Monalisa, Sheri, Quitin and Ryan will be joined by Ashleigh, Brian, Dion and Chris in the second episode of 60 Days In on Thursday.

Now meet the participants who are not only giving up their freedom, but risking their lives to help clean up America's jails.

60 Days In season two airs on Thursdays on A&E.

Recovering addict Ashleigh Baker hopes to use her experience to help drug addicts in jail

THE FORMER ADDICT WHOSE HUSBAND WAS JAILED FOR THE FIRST SERIES

Ashleigh Baker isn't the first innocent person in her family to go jail. Her husband Zac was incarcerated at Clark County Jail earlier this year during the first series of 60 Days In.

Now the 27-year-old has left her marine veteran husband and four-month-old baby Reiker back home in Tennessee to follow in his footsteps to become an inmate.

'When they first described it to my husband, my thought was, "Hell, no." We had a really young baby and it sounded crazy,' she told People.

'(But) I knew that there was a lot of good that could come out of it, so I decided to do it.

'My biggest worry was leaving my four-month-old baby without his mother. Zac had been gone, and now I was going to be gone.'

Ashleigh says she was inspired by Zac's experience but has her own reasons for participating in the program.

Introduced to alcohol at the tender age of ten, by the time she was a teenager she has spiraled into alcoholism and drug addiction.

Her own mother, who gave her up when she was just six months old, drank herself to death aged 38.

She finally got clean after an overdose landed her in the hospital over four years ago and is now a happy sober, new mom.

But she says she realizes her life could so easily have taken a darker path.

Now she wants to go to jail to face the harsh reality that could have been her life if she was caught during her addiction years.

But she admitted she was scared that the prevalence of drugs and alcohol in jail could tempt her back to addiction.

'I had been sober for four and a half years at that point. So I was worried that there might be things available in jail that I didn't want to see. I've been really careful to stay away from drugs and alcohol and didn't want to ruin it in jail.'

The 27-year-old has left her marine veteran husband and four-month-old baby Reiker (pictured all together) back home in Tennessee to become an inmate

After turning her own life around, Ashleigh (pictured with her son) is hoping to be able to help other women in jail who are struggling with addiction

After turning her own life around, Ashleigh is hoping to be able to help other women in jail who are struggling with addiction.

She believes the experience will also help her as she pursues her dreams of a career in social work or drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

Sheriff Noel believes her past will help her relate to many women in the unit who are struggling with addiction.

He is also hoping to discover exactly how drugs are getting into the prison. But he had a few concerns about the pretty young mom who he said did not look like a typical inmate.

Ashleigh enters the jail next week but a preview of next week shows her struggling with the experience.

It's kind of like a hopeless feeling, she described of having handcuff put on ready to go to jail. You're not free anymore.

Ashleigh, pictured with her husband, says she was inspired by Zac's experience but has her own reasons for participating in the program

Brian, a married attorney, is more used to being on the right side of the law

THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS LAWYER WHO WANTS TO INVESTIGATE HOW THE CO'S HE RECOMMENDS WORK WHEN THEY THINK NO ONE IS WATCHING

Brian, a married attorney, is more used to being on the right side of the law.

As a lawyer with the California Department of Corrections Legal Affairs' prosecution team, it is his job to investigate alleged misconduct by corrections officers.

But he has decided to become a prisoner so he can get a first hand experience of dealing with the same COs he often has to recommend sentences for.

My job is to go after the corrections officers in my department who commit job-related misconduct so I don't have a good feel for how well corrections officers generally do their job, he explained.

Going into this I want to test correction officers because I want to see how well they hold up when they think nobody's looking.

I want to see if the inmates we go to for information are just always liars or are sometimes telling the truth.

He may be ready to temporarily sacrifice his freedom for the sake of his job, but Brian admitted he was very anxious goin in.

I don't think anyone could sensibly look at this and not think there's some craziness to it, he said. I had no idea about what I am getting into in terms of what it's like to be an inmate.

The attorney, who worked for private practice before entering Internal Affairs at the Department of Corrections, has even grown a beard to try and disguise his clean-cut, professional persona.

Within seconds of entering the jail, his fellow prisoners had pegged Brian (pictured) as a white collar criminal

The idea of not seeing his wife Janie, and two sons Joseph, seven, and toddler Micah for two months 'scared' Brian

I have this grown beard out in a pathetic attempt to look rougher round the edges. I don't know if I'm going to be able to pull it off.

Inmates werent fooled. Within seconds of entering the jail, his fellow prisoners had pegged him as a white collar criminal.

They also immediately began to play an intimidating game where they made advances towards the terrified new inmate, touching his hair and stroking his shoulder while another convict came out completely naked.

Yet it was the idea of not seeing his wife Janie, and two sons Joseph, seven, and toddler Micah for two months that really scared Brian.

I love them all so dearly, I'm so lucky to have them in my life, he said.

Sheriff Noel admitted he was concerned for Brian, who did not fit the typical prisoner profile going in, but felt that the participants experience put him in a unique position to examine the relationship between the correctional officers and inmates in his facility.

Chris, from Georgia, says his whole family's life was changed the day his younger brother Ryan was jailed for four months at a young age

THE OLDER BROTHER WHO WANTS TO UNDERSTAND HIS BROTHER WHO CHANGED WHILE IN JAIL

Chris, from Georgia, says his whole family's life was changed the day his younger brother Ryan was jailed for four months at a young age.

He says that when his little brother was finally released, he was like a complete stranger.

Chris is hopeful that by going to jail himself, he will finally be able to understand and reconnect with his brother.

'I want to get into his shoes and figure out a way to talk to him about it, he said.

The 25 year old admitted he was terrified to go to jail alongside killers, drug dealers and other criminals.

'I grew up on a farm, it is very quiet where I come from, very peaceful. I never had any trouble with the law besides like speeding tickets and a parking ticket,' he said.

'There's a reason I've never been in jail - because I'm terrified of it. You hear all these horrible stories growing up.

'And that were criminals and low lives belong. But my brother ended up spending about four months in jail.'

He now wants to go in to learn and help change what he calls the abuse of power within law enforcement.

After his brothers experience, he was wants to show that incarceration for petty crimes is simply like caging animals and doesnt help anyone as there is no focus on rehabilitation.

Chris says it took his sibling the best part of two years to get his life back on track after jail.

Chris, pictured with his ex-con brother, says that when his little brother was finally released, he was like a complete stranger

Ryan had slipped into drug abuse and even became homeless following his release, before eventually turning his life around.

Now Chris hopes that by going into Clark County Jail, he will be able to understand what changed his brother.

'Me and my brother have seen a lot together but after Ryan got out of jail, we did not communicate like we did before.

'He was a complete stranger, everything fell apart for him. Every bad decision I feel that I could sit here and think of, he did.

'The biggest thing I will get out of this program is seeing things from Ryan's perspective and kind of understanding why not only we fell apart but why he can't seen to move on from it.

Chris, who lives with his girlfriend Stormy, does not enter the jail until the next episode. But a trailer for next week shows him breaking down in tears as he struggles to come to terms with the reality of prison.

Dion Shepherd, who grew up in Detroit, insists he was not nervous to go to jail

THE OPTIMISTIC CRIMINOLOGY STUDENT WHO WANTS TO USE HIS EXPERIENCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Dion Shepherd, who grew up in on the tough streets of Detroit isn't scared of going to jail.

Unlike many of his friends and family, he avoided ending up behind bars and left home without a criminal record to study Criminology, Law and Society.

Now the 24-year-old, who is about to receive his masters, is hoping to use the experience to boost his career as an aspiring criminologist and help inspire deprived kids in his neighborhood to avoid jail and stay in school.

The Romulus Senior High School graduate was also inspired by the experience of his father Dion Shepherd Snr who was wrongly jailed.

My dad was incarcerated. He was falsely accused of possession, but they come to find out that he didn't do it and he was let free.

That was one of the reasons I wanted to get my masters in criminology.

Dion says that growing up in a tough neighborhood helped prepare him for going to prison.

I hear a lot of bad things about jail. About don't drop the soap or anything, he joked.

I'm not too worried about it. It's probably the same people I grew up with over the years. Growing up in Detroit is pretty tough.

We have gangs. If you see a group of guys, of three or four people, it's pretty likely you're going to get jumped. Period. I lost a few family members to getting killed. I had a cousin who was killed right on the corner of my block.

When somebody comes at me, you know, I definitely don't have a problem defending myself. 

Dion Shepherd, pictured with his fiance Ashlee, said he hoped to use the experience to help his career as an aspiring criminologist and also to address the bias of the criminal justice system

Dion Shepherd was raised by his grandmother Trania after his parents had him aged just 17-years-old

The fresh-faced criminology student thinks time behind bars would teach him more than all his classes combined.

I'm doing this program because I've been studying criminology justice for the last six years he said.

So I can get an unbiased opinion of the corrections system. I can see everything first hand, that I see in my textbooks.

Dion, who is one of nine siblings, was raised by his grandmother Trania after his parents had him when they were just teenagers.

My mom and dad, when they had me they were 17 years old and it was kind of tough for them so we actually stayed with my grandma, he said.

It is fair to say Dion Snr. is confused that his son would voluntarily go to jail.

What the hell is wrong with you? Ain't no black people volunteer to go to jail, he told him.

I've been there so I want you to be safe.

But the 24-year-old criminology student says he wants to make a difference, both in the biased criminal system, and on the crime-ridden Detroit streets where he hopes to become an example for at risk-youths.

The fresh-faced criminology student thinks time behind bars would teach him more than all his classes combined

His proud mother Kendra Grierhad (pictured with him) also had concerns her son could be hurt, but appeared to have got over those worries by the time the show came to air

My point of view of the criminal justice system; a lot of laws are biased, he said. And it's not towards the race thing, it's more towards the lower income people.

He wants to show that jail is not the answer and that the disadvantaged youths in his neighborhood can rise above crime to secure a respected career.

His fiance Ashlee, who lives with Dion, had a few words of advice before he went in, telling him: I just hope youre safe in there and temper, watch your temper.

His proud mother Kendra Grierhad also had concerns her son could be hurt, but appeared to have got over those worries by the time the show came to air.

That's my baby!!! Just one more day!!!! I can't wait!! I'm so excited!! she wrote on Facebook the day before the first episode was aired.

That's my baby!!! Just one more day!!!! I can't wait!! I'm so excited!! his mom wrote on Facebook the day before the first episode was aired

The 24-year-old criminology student says he wants to make a difference, both in the biased criminal system, and on the crime-ridden Detroit streets where he hopes to become an example for at risk-youths

Monalisa's daughter is serving a ten-year mandatory prison sentence

THE MOM WHO WANTS TO RECONNECT WITH HER INCARCERATED DAUGHTER

Monalisa Johnson's daughter is serving a ten-year mandatory prison sentence.

Not a day goes by where she doesn't pray to switch places with her child.

So when the 48-year-old New Yorker got the chance to go to jail as a participant in the show, she jumped at the opportunity to better understand her incarcerated daughter.

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, married to Lorenzo, 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.'

She admitted she even thought of her as a caged animal locked up behind bars. I kind of don't even think of her as being human.

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.

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

Distanced: Johnson hoped that experiencing prison life would help decrease the distance between her and her daughter, whose prison stories had seemed 'far-fetched'

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

And so Johnson found herself seeing some of the worst sights prison had to offer.

'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.

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

Closer: Johnson says she and her daughter are closer now, and share their 'war stories' from prison. 'Now Sierra tells me all the time how much she loves me,' the mom said

Closer: Johnson says she and her daughter are closer now, and share their 'war stories' from prison. 'Now Sierra tells me all the time how much she loves me,' the mom said

On arriving in jail, Johnson - who admitted she was scared as s**t, says she was stunned at the horrible conditions.

I felt disgusted. It was so nasty. I have never seen anything like that, she said.

But she says she also learned that many of those in prison had 'a good heart' but were brought low by circumstances or addiction.

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.

She had also started a national support and advocacy group for parents of jailed children before going in

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

Former cop Quintin did not even flinch when he strolled into the jails holding cell on day one of 60 Days In

RETIRED COP AND BOUNTY HUNTER WHO WANTS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HUNDREDS HE PUT INSIDE

Former cop Quintin did not even flinch when he strolled into the jails holding cell on day one of 60 Days In.

That cool, calm exterior has been perfected during his 35 years in law enforcement, working as a State Police Captain before retiring to become a licensed private investigator and bounty hunter.

The father-of-three, who is currently going through a divorce, said he was not scared, worried or nervous at all, about going to jail.

But after putting hundreds of criminals behind bars during his career, the 53-year-old is curious of what happens to inmates once their sentence begins.

'I've arrested probably about 1,000 people in my career, he told the show producers, who remarked Thats a lot.

Its a long career, he deadpanned.

I have no idea whats it's going to be like for me coming as someone formerly in law enforcement, he added.

It's extremely important for me to do this because I'm curious to learn what it is like for all the people I brought into the system.

I think everybody ages that incarceration itself has a value. What they don't agree with is the how, the who and are we doing it fairly. 

The father-of-three, who is currently going through a divorce, said he was not scared, worried or nervous at all', about going to jail

The only thing Quintin admitted would affect him was that he'd miss the routine of taking his dogs for a walk every day.

The keen keyboard player, remains a strong believer in the criminal justice system, and feels it is his duty to protect his community.

While he hopes to understand the experience of the suspects he puts in jail, he also wants to see what they get up to when the authorities arent looking.

He entered the jail with Monalisa under the guise of being picked up on the highway for out of state crimes.

Unlike the other participants, Quintin strode confidently into the holding area as his fellow inmates immediately seized up their new, well built cell mate.

It's like walking into a zoo, he said. It's just a learning process, you just sit back and see how this works.

But he admits that he is very competitive and will have to 'pump the brakes' on his strong personailty once in jail.

Quintin, a keen keyboard player, remains a strong believer in the criminal justice system, and feels it is his duty to protect his community

Ryan, a former Army Reservist and aspiring cop, is the participant that gave the most concern to Sheriff Noel

THE COCKY WANNABE COP WHO HOPES TO PROVE HIMSELF

Ryan, a former Army Reservist and aspiring cop, is the participant that gave the most concern to Sheriff Noel.

Intelligent but cocky, there were fears his condescending attitude could upset the other inmates.

But as far as Ryan was concerned, he had no apprehension about going to jail.

'I have no problem actually pulling through any of this in terms of just being in jail,' he said before the show.

'There are people weaker than me, mentally and physically, less intelligent than me, who have made it and I will prevail as well.'

His only concern was his personal freedom as an American.

'A lot of people don't realize when you're in jail, it's not just that you can't leave, they really take away a lot of the rights you have.

'Freedom is very important to me. I like rights, I like freedom.'

After high school, Ryan joined the Army Reserves and went through training at Fort Benning, Kentucky.

He then worked as a code team medic within the ICU Kings Daughter's Medical Center for three years and is about to finish a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy.

He hopes to join the police with aspirations to become a homicide detective - and believes his experience in jail will ready him for the tough job.

'I feel that this project definitely gives me the insight that I need to be more comfortable doing what I have to do for those jobs.

Intelligent but cocky, there were fears Ryan's condescending attitude could upset the other inmates (pictured entering jail)

'I want to bring to light all the problems with the criminal justice system and actually fix them.

'Potentially, I could make those people's lives better to expediate the process of them getting out sooner or whatever.

'A lot of people say of criminals, "lock the away and throw away the key."

'I can't just sit aside and baselessly judge and assume things of an entire population of people that I have never met.'

The 27 year old equates it to basic training in the military: you must experience it first before you understand how to use the force and power of the weapon. This experience would give him the knowledge to use his authority as a police officer with empathy.

His martial arts friends described his as 'scrappy as s**t' on Facebook.

Despite Ryan's confidence, of perhaps because of it, Sheriff Noel has his doubts about the wannabe cop.

Ryan, pictured with mom Angela and another young relative, hopes to join the police with aspirations to become a homicide detective - and believes his experience in jail will ready him for the tough job

Ryan did makes attempts to fit in: 'Day one, I'm obviously going to be fresh faced but I'm trying to scruff up and blend in a little bit,' he said.

'Apparently, everyone there is scruffy. I guess it's a lack of willpower and hygiene. '

But he was instantly labelled a 'plant' by fellow inmates who joked 'he's got wires' after they noticed that he didn't fit in.

They also instantly picked holes in his cover story - that he was washing checks - after he claimed he was in the army and in college.

'He's intelligent but he's awful, awful arrogant,' one inmate said. 'He's lying about something,' added another.

'I'm worried for Ryan,' Sheriff Noel said. 'He's obviously highly intelligent but I'm worried he could come off as condescending.'

Viewers after the first episode even labelled him the new Robert, a reference to an unpopular participant from the first series who people found arrogant.

Meanwhile Ryan, his swagger gone, sat beneath the stairs at the holding cell, not interacting with fellow inmates.

'It's like an odd summer camp for people who don't fit into society,' he remarked. 'In here they are somebody, out there they are not.'

Ryan's old martial arts buddies, refer to him as 'scrappy as s**t' (he is pictured in an undated photograph at a Kentucky martial arts club)

Former corrections officer Sheri is no stranger to American jails

THE FORMER CO WHO WANTS TO UNDERSTAND HER PRISONERS

Sheri is no stranger to American jails.

She spent two years as a corrections officer at a maximum-security state prison before giving up her job to become a stay-at-home mom when her husband Dustin was deployed in Afghanistan.

I've seen everything, said the mother-of-three from the northwest. I've seen the shanks, I've seen the hooch being made.

I'm a CO, I've been in more fights than I can count.

After her husband returned from the conflict, Sheri felt ready to return to the career she loved and hopes this experience could be the stepping stone she needs.

I'm trying to go back into my career. It was the most amazing job I ever had, she said.

Being a corrections officer was a perfect fit for me and I had to step away from it when Dustin got deployed to Afghanistan for 13 months.

Now my husband is back from Afghanistan and I'm ready to go back to work.

Really no corrections officer is going to get to do this. Of course, no-one is ever really ready.

No-one wants to go to jail, but at the same aspect, this opportunity is amazing.

She says she was also curious to see what prison was like from an inmates point of view.

But when she became one of the first four to enter the jail during the first episode, it was Sheri who seemed to struggle the most.

When she became one of the first four to enter the jail during the first episode, it was Sheri who seemed to struggle the most

The 39 year old said entering jail was like going into a horror movie and admitted that she was in shock at how things are.

It got very sad, very quick, she added, saying that she had struggled with giving up control during the experiement.

I'm the CO, Im the mom, she explained adding that she literally became just an inmate.

My training went out of the window. It hit me - I don't think I can handle this.'

Sheri entered jail the same time as Ryan under the cover story that they were being transferred from another center.

Almost immediately, she got into trouble with her cellmates after they noticed her rooting around in her bra for her pin number to access the phone.

Convinced that she was hiding heroin, the girls began to make threats and talked about jumping her.

The first episode ends with the former CO being called behind the curtain in the cell - the notorious area where inmates are most likely to fight - and the sounds of a scuffle ensued.
You could soon own a piece of a history as hundreds of items from the private collection of Ronald and Nancy Reagan will be auctioned off next month.

Christie's auction house in New York said Monday the auction will include a chunk of the Berlin Wall that the late president signed, a pair of cowboy boots he owned, furniture, books, gifts and thousands of dollars worth of jewelry that the former first lady owned.

One of those gifts included in the auction is a chronometer that Frank Sinatra gave the president for his inauguration in 1981.

Many items included in the 700 lots that will be sold in the auction on September 21-22 in New York were used by the Reagan's during their eight years in the White House.

History: Hundreds of items from the private collection of Ronald and Nancy Reagan (pictured together) will be auctioned off next month by Christie's auction house

Christie's auction house in New York said Monday the auction will include a wide range of items, including a chronometer (above) that Frank Sinatra gave the president for his inauguration in 1981.

The auction that will be held from September 21-22 in New York will include a chunk of the Berlin Wall that the late president signed (above)

The exclusive items are expected to fetch more than $2million.

Nancy Reagan died in March of congestive heart failure at the age of 94, 12 years after her husband Ronald Reagan, one of the most popular U.S. presidents, succumbed to Alzheimer's disease.

Their personal items are being sold by the family trust to benefit the Ronald Reagan Presidential foundation and library in California.

The 25 inch long, graffiti-covered fragment of the Berlin Wall, signed by Reagan, is expected to fetch $10,000 - $20,000.

It is seen as having particular significance because of Reagan's 1987 speech in West Berlin in which he famously urged then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to 'tear down this wall.'

The 25 inch long, graffiti-covered fragment of the Berlin Wall (above), is expected to fetch anywhere between $10,000 - $20,000

Reagan's cowboy boots (pictured), a gift from Western movie actor Rex Allen, are also expected to fetch up to $20,000, Christie's said.

Two years later, the wall that had divided East and West Germany since 1961 and had been a symbol of the Cold War was opened, paving the way for German reunification.

A full-sized panel from the wall stands at the Reagan library.

Reagan's cowboy boots, a gift from Western movie actor Rex Allen, are also expected to fetch up to $20,000, Christie's said.

The Nancy Reagan jewelry on offer includes a pair of diamond and gold ear clips made by jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels are expected to fetch between $15,000 - $20,000.

Plus, a Bulgari diamond, sapphire and ruby ring that inspired by the Stars and Stripes national flag is expected to fetch between $5,000 -$8,000.

The former first lady wore the ring on July 4, 1986.

Personal items from Nancy's desk that are monogrammed with her initials are also up for grabs in the auction.
surveillance footage in hopes someone will know suspect

A bartender had his finger amputated after an angry patron severed it by biting the finger after he was kicked out of a San Francisco bar.

Now police have released security footage of the moments leading up to the brutal attack in hopes someone will recognize the suspect.

Both the bar and the bartender have yet to be identified.

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Police are looking for this man after they say he bit off the finger of a bartender after they got into a fight

Officials released security footage on Monday in hopes someone will recognize this man from the July attack

Officer Carlos Manfredi said Monday that the suspect had been drinking at the bar in the Marina District on July 17 and tried to go back inside after it closed.

When he wasn't let in, the man tried to get in through a small window, and the bartender stopped him again.

The two got into a fight after the man began kicking the door to the bar, Manfredi said.

The bartender went outside to tell the suspect to stop, which is when the patron began allegedly climbing on the bartender, hitting him in the face, police said.

He then bit the man's ring finger, eventually severing it.

The man, seen talking to his friend after removing his shirt, began kicking a door when the bartender told him to stop. The suspect then began hitting the bartender

Eventually he bit the bartender's ring finger off before leaving with a group of friends

The suspect left the bar with some friends and the bartender was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for an amputated finger, swollen eyes and bruises to his head.

Police released the surveillance footage one month after the attack in a bid to receive help from the public.

The footage shows approximately one hour before the assault as the man outside on the sidewalk, eating something.

The bartender and the bar have not been identified but police say the bartender has returned to work

He wears a pink button-down shirt. Later he is seen wrestling with a friend who is wearing a leather jacket.

The suspect is facing felony charges of assault and mayhem.

The bartender has returned to work.
Hillary Clinton's chief of staff Cheryl Mills's received nearly 150 phone messages from Clinton Foundation's operations director Laura Graham during a two year span at the State Department, according to phone logs - a significantly higher number of calls than from any other individual during that time frame.

The phone logs, which were obtained by Fox News and cited by reporter James Rosen during the State Department press briefing on Monday, raise fresh questions about the close contact between the Clinton Foundation and Clinton's State Department office during her tenure.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed during the briefing that he had seen the phone logs, which showed Mills had received nearly 150 calls from Clinton Foundation COO Laura Graham.

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Hillary Clinton's chief of staff Cheryl Mills's received nearly 150 phone messages from Clinton Foundation over two years (pictured, Hillary Clinton this week)

Mills was working as Clinton's chief of staff at the State Department at the time. Clinton had signed an ethics agreement with the Obama administration before taking office that was intended to create a firewall between her office and her family's foundation, which received millions in donations from foreign and corporate donors.

The incoming phone messages to Mills were logged into spreadsheets by Mills's assistant. Rosen said Fox News obtained 180 pages of these logs through a public records request, and found that Graham 'left the greatest number of messages for Mills by an exponential order.'

Toner said the documents did not show any evidence of inappropriate contact between the foundation and Clinton's State Department, adding that the messages from Graham to Mills would not have violated Clinton's ethics agreement. He also said he did not know how many of the calls Mills returned.

'Secretary Clinton's ethics agreement at the time did not preclude other State Department officials from engaging with, or having contact with, the Clinton Foundation,' said Toner.

Mills (left) was working as Clinton's chief of staff at the State Department at the time

The number of calls Mills (pictured) received raise fresh questions about the close contact between the Clinton Foundation and Clinton's State Department

He also said it was 'no surprise' that there was a high level of contact between Mills and the Clinton Foundation, due to the fact that both were involved in the 2011 Haiti earthquake relief efforts.

'State Department officials were in contact with a range of outside individuals and organizations, including non-profits, NGOs, and of course think tanks and others,' said Toner.

State Department officials were in contact with a range of outside individuals and organizations, including non-profits, NGOs, and of course think tanks and others State Department spokesman Mark Toner

'I can't give you a readout of every one of those messages or every one of those calls rather and in fact how many of those calls were returned or connected,' he added.

'I would note that the State Department at the time, and certainly Cheryl Mills, individually, was a coordinating hub for U.S. and international relief efforts in the wake of the 2011 Haiti earthquake.'

Toner noted that Bill Clinton 'also played a role as a coordinator for relief efforts' while serving as the United Nations special envoy for Haiti, which may have been the explanation for the large volume of calls from the Clinton Foundation.

'I don't want to speculate, but that could well be the reason why there were these calls,' said Toner. 'Simply coordinating on what was one of the premier, or most significant, foreign relations issues of the time.'

The incoming phone messages to Mills were logged into spreadsheets by Mills's assistant (pictured, Clinton on Sunday)

When pressed on whether the calls indicated an inappropriately close relationship between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, Toner said he has 'seen no evidence of any behaviour, any relations with the Clinton Foundation that weren't completely above board.'

In one phone message to Mills, Graham used the term 'our boss'  a possible reference to both women working for the same person  according to Rosen.

'Did Ms. Graham and Ms. Mills have the same boss?' Rosen asked during the press briefing.

'They did not have the same boss,' said Toner.

Mills held several outside positions while at the State Department, including a brief stint working for New York University's Abu Dhabi campus. She also stayed on the board of the Clinton Foundation for a brief period after joining State.

After Clinton stepped down in 2013, Mills stayed at the department under a special employment agreement that allowed her to take outside consulting jobs.

Clinton's presidential rival Donald Trump (pictured) is calling for the Clinton Foundation to be 'shut down immediately'

Toner also responded to questions on a New York Post report on Clinton aide Huma Abedin's prior job editing a Muslim journal that published harsh critiques of women's rights and tied the Sept. 11 attacks to U.S. foreign policy. The Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, which is run by Abedin's mother, listed Abedin as an assistant editor for a decade.

Toner said he did not know whether State Department officials were aware of Abedin's work for the publication, or whether this information came up while Abedin was being vetted for a security clearance at the State Department.
An eight-year-old boy has saved his mother's life, after hitting her attacker over the head with a tyre lever and helping her escape to a neighbour's house.

Becky Mulcahy was at home in Bendigo, Victoria on September 11, 2015 when she answered the door to Brent Gilbert, said to be friends with her partner, reported Yahoo 7.

Mr Gilbert reportedly demanded prescription drugs and cash from Ms Mulcahy.

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Becky Mulcahy (pictured) spent four days in The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne after being attacked and stabbed repeatedly, before her eight-year-old son saved her life

When Ms Mulcahy told him she didn't have any, Mr Gilbert became angry and attacked her.

Ms Mulcahy was stabbed between the eyes and received multiple times stab wounds to her face and the top of her head.

The attack happened in front of her children, eight-year-old Lachie and six-year-old Shelbie.

Ms Mulcahy said both her children were covered in blood from the attack.

She also received stab wounds to her back (pictured). Her son Lachie hit Mr Gilbert over the head with a tyre lever and helped Ms Mulcahy and his younger sister escape to a neighbour's house

She was stabbed more than 20 times before her son, who has autism, picked up a tyre lever and hit Mr Gilbert over the head with it.

He then helped her and his younger sister escape to a neighbour's house to get help.

Ms Mulcahy was airlifted to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne where she spent four days in a coma.

Ms Mulcahy (pictured) said she still dreams about the attack every night

'I still dream about the attack every night. I still fight for my life every night in my dreams,' she said.

Brent Gilbert, 35, from Flora Hill has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious harm.

He will be sentenced in November.

Ms Mulcahy was airlifted from Bendigo to The Alfred Hopsital in Melbourne (pictured) where she spent four days in a coma

Her attacker Brent Gilbert (pictured) has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious harm. He will be sentenced in court in November




Police allege the DNA of the Chinese national is left at some of the scenes

He pleaded not guilty as he faced 58 charges in court on Monday

Mr Miao is accused of stealing thousands worth of luxury items

A high roller at crown casino is accused of targeting wealthy Asians

A cat burglar responsible for a series of high end thefts targeted wealthy Asians across Melbourne, a court has heard.

Di Miao, a high roller at Crown Casino, is accused of stealing rare designer handbags, jewellery, cash, electronics and alcohol from homes in affluent suburbs including, Clayton, Burwood, Kew and Balwyn.

Police reportedly found a large collection of more than 200 stolen items after they entered the 52-year-old Chinese nationals home, reported The Age.

An alleged 'cat burglar' targeted wealthy Asians in a number of thefts across affluent suburbs in Melbourne, a court heard

Mr Miao faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday faced with 58 charges after his arrest in February 2015.

But 14 were dismissed after Magistrate Suzie Cameron said there wasnt enough evidence.

Mr Miaos stolen collection included luxury items such as Prada and Hermes bags, pearls and watches from Vacheron Constantin, police allege.

Mr Miao, who has pleaded innocent, is accused of stealing a Cartier platinum engagement ring, a Gucci handbag and wallet, a Burberry wallet and a bottle of Moet champagne to the value of $60,000 from a Burwood home.

Another victim had jewellery and mens clothing to the value of $100,000 stolen.

The Chinese national was arrested in February last year after police discovered a wealth of luxury items at his home

Police followed Mr Miao on November 27, when they say they saw him park in a back street in Balwyn before donning a wig to search nearby streets.

A few hours later a home was robbed during which the victims noted a $40,000 watch and $6,000 in cash missing.

Police allege Mr Miaos DNA was discovered at the scene of four of the burglaries.

In one house his DNA was found on the nozzle of a water bottle.

Mr Miao is arguing that the items found by police could not be associated with the alleged burglaries due to the length of time between the time they were reportedly stolen and their discovery.

Mr Miao has pleaded not guilty and says the items found in his home can't be linked to the robberies due to the length of time between the alleged robberies and their discovery

Mr Miao faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday faced with 58 charges - 14 were dismissed after Magistrate Suzie Cameron said there wasnt enough evidence




Mother-of-two Sabrina Bremer was last seen alive at a police station and driving a white Toyota Camry.

Four days later, the burnt body of the Queensland mother, 34, was found on the side of the road.

A passing driver on Pollards Road in Dulguigan, on the Queensland-New South Wales border, first mistook Ms Bremer's smoking body as a burning log.

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Just hours earlier her daughter (pictured left) had taken to Facebook to ask for information about her missing mum

Police finally located the 2002 model with the Queensland registration of 282VGN in Woodridge, a suburb of Logan, on Tuesday

The car was more than 100 kilometres away from where Ms Bremer's body was found

After launching an appeal to find the car the 34-year-old was last seen driving, police finally located the 2002 model with the Queensland registration of 282VGN in Woodridge, a suburb of Logan, on Tuesday.

The car was more than 100 kilometres away from where Ms Bremer's body was found.

In their search for answers, investigators also released CCTV images of Ms Bremer in the Logan area on last Monday afternoon - the last time she was seen alive.

She was wearing a black jumper with a red T-shirt underneath, black tracksuit pants with white stripes down the side and bright pink sneakers.

The discovery of the car on Tuesday will help detectives piece together the final hours of Ms Bremer, who lived in Logan.

Her teenage daughter reported her mother missing to police after she had not seen her since last Monday.

She also took to Facebook to issue an emotional plea for help.

The body of Sabrina Bremer (pictured), 34, was discovered dumped and on fire in bushland in far north New South Wales on Thursday morning

CCTV images show Ms Bremer in the Logan area last Monday afternoon - more than a week ago

'Has anyone seen my mum?' the girl wrote.

'Nobody's seen her since Monday it's f***ing serious.'

The teenager reported her mother missing to police on Wednesday afternoon, telling friends on social media that she had 'called the cops'.

Less than 24 hours later the burning body was discovered by the passing motorist.

Police identified Ms Bremer as the victim on Friday afternoon, saying they believed she may have been dead before she was set alight.

'We're talking about a murder, we're talking about the loss of a mother,' Detective Superintendent Wayne Starling said on Tuesday before the discovery of Ms Bremer's car.

'She had two children that have been left behind.

Ms Bremer's teenage daughter made the desperate plea for information about her mum on Facebook. Hours later she reported her mum missing to police

Ms Bremer (pictured left) was arrested for missing a court appearance last week. Her daughter (pictured right) spoke to Ms Bremer for the last time via telephone last Tuesday

'The NSW police and the Queensland police will do anything in their power to finalise this matter for the family.'

CCTV images showed Ms Bremer visiting Logan Police Station on the last afternoon she was seen.

As part of their homicide investigation, police are now trying to determine how her body ended up so far from her home.

Ms Bremer's daughter again took to Facebook on Friday, sharing her anguish at the loss of her mother.

'I honestly can't believe it that you're gone,' she wrote.

'I wish I could of done something to stop this from happening.

Ms Bremer's body was discovered by a motorist on Pollards Road (pictured), south-west of the Gold Coast, after they stopped to extinguish what they thought was a burning log

Police believe Ms Bremer may have been dead before her body was dumped and set on fire

'You were the first person I'd call in any emergency or even just to talk, we had the best mother and daughter bond.

'I just wish it was all a dream and I can just call you and you'd come over but its not, I love you so much mum. RIP.'

Ms Bremer had been arrested for failing to appear at a magistrates court hearing last week.

Despite telling a friend that she was planning to go home after being released, she never arrived.

The last contact between Ms Bremer and her daughter was via phone on Tuesday, one day before she was reported missing.

The young girl took to Facebook on Friday, expressing her grief and sharing a picture collage of her and her mother
A former Brisbane private school teacher labelled 'a creep' by former students is facing trial accused of massaging young boys' genitalia.

Kevin Jaey Robert Crisp, 50, is defending a total of five counts, including charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child, in the Brisbane District Court.

A boy who was allegedly molested by the ex-teacher told a friend the man was a 'creep' and he was going to ask him to stop, the court heard. Another said he 'just got too touchy'.

It's alleged Kevin Jaey Robert Crisp massaged a boy between his penis and his hip for about 20 seconds and, in a separate incident, brushed his testicles.

Crown prosecutor Mark Whitbread told jurors Crisp was accused of mistreating three former students, including one aged about 12 at the time who told friends the man was 'molestering (sic)' him.

It's alleged Crisp massaged the boy between his penis and his hip for about 20 seconds and, in a separate incident, brushed his testicles.

Mr Whitbread said the Crown alleged this touching was an intentional act and, therefore, indecent.

The court heard accusations Crisp offered a different boy a 'massage' in the classroom and would sometimes touch 'around (his) privates, a bit too close'.

The jury viewed recorded interviews with other boys, who are not alleged to have been mistreated by Crisp, in which one described a complainant telling them the then-teacher was 'a creep' when he asked about what had happened.

'He's just a creep, I'm going to tell him to stop,' he said the boy told him.

But defence barrister Craig Eberhardt urged jurors to pay particular attention to how the actual behaviour was described, rather than relying on their assumption of what a 'massage' may mean.

He said the accounts given by Crisp's alleged victims were 'far from consistent' and suggested there was a 'gradual backing away' from their initial allegations by some.
Paedophile teacher Jeremy Forrest is dating a new girlfriend following his release from prison and is reinventing himself as a tattooed rocker.

The 33-year-old served two years in jail for abduction and having sex with a child after running away to France with a 15-year-old pupil in 2012.

Now it has emerged that he has been dating 29-year-old Cassie McGeough for the last three months.

Jeremy Forrest (pictured left as he was jailed) is dating a new girlfriend Cassie McGeough (right) after reinventing himself as a rocker following his release from prison

The couple were photographed buying alcohol from a local shop with Forrest wearing a t-shirt showing his tattoo-covered arms.

Forrest is said to have told Ms McGeough all about his past. They met in a pub and bonded over their love of rock music, with Cassie a fan of similar bands.

Close: Forrest is said to have told Miss McGeough (pictured) all about his past

They are said to have been dating for three months, but her friends are said to be concerned he has 'sugar coated' his background.

He apparently claimed he had only accompanied his underage lover to France because she was 'going to go anyway'.

Their disappearance sparked an international manhunt and they were found days later walking hand-in-hand through Bordeaux.

Forrest is said to have met Miss McGeough (pictured) in a pub and bonded over their love of rock music, with Cassie a fan of similar bands

The former teacher who has a passion for music recently played a gig in a pub near his east coast home.

His Facebook page shows posters of music festivals and guitars and other instruments on his bed.

Forrest is believed to have met his new girlfriend in a pub.

A source told The Sun's Dan Sales: 'He told her he only ran away with the girl because she was going to go anyway and he wanted to make sure she was safe. I think he told her quite soon after they met about his past.'

Forrest was jailed for abduction and having sex with a minor after he became involved with a pupil following a school trip to the U.S.

The 33-year-old served two years in jail for abduction and having sex with a minor after running away to France with a 15-year-old pupil in 2012

When she turned 15, they started arranging secret stays in hotels. His trial at Lewes Crown Court in 2013 heard that he even took the girl for an overnight stay at the house he shared with his then wife Emily.

After their affair was discovered, the pair fled to France, sparking an international manhunt. They were only caught when they ran out of money in Bordeaux.

Forrest was eventually jailed for five-and-a-half-years.

Despite vowing to wait for him, it is believed the schoolgirl  who cannot be named - did move on with a new boyfriend, although the couple are now said to have broken up.

Forrest will spend the remaining half of his sentence on licence, a Ministry of Justice spokesman has said.

The spokesman previously added that Forrest, like other sex offenders on licence, would be subject to 'a strict set of conditions, which may include exclusion zones, non-contact orders and sex offender treatment programmes, as well as being subject to the sex offenders' register'.

'If they breach their licence conditions they can be recalled to prison,' the spokesman said.
A media commentator says Salim Mehajer's ethnic background is no excuse for the 'crazy and illegal' threats he made against his estranged wife Aysha.

Mamamia writer Jo Abi, who was part of a chat segment on Nine's Today show, revealed that some ethnic men may believe Mehajer's vicious threats against his wife were driven by passion.

'I'm someone of ethnic background and I know a lot of ethnic men who would say this is passion, this is heartbreak, this is love,' she said on Tuesday.

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Mamamia writer Jo Abi, who featured on Nine's Today show, revealed that some ethnic men may believe Salim Mehajer's vicious threats against his wife were driven by passion

'I had a conversation with my 12-year-old son saying this is not passion, this is not heartbreak, this is not love. This is crazy, this is illegal, this is abuse.'

Abi said she had to speak her son about domestic violence after he accidentally saw the expletive-ridden video message Mehajer sent Aysha.

'I appreciated I had the chance to have that conversation,' she said.

'We all know what this guy is about now, we all know that he is a massive tosser. I don't know what else to do except be thankful for the fact his wife has left him.'

It comes after shocking video obtained by Channel Nine's A Current Affair showed the former deputy Auburn mayor screaming into the camera threatening to rape his estranged wife's parents.

'Aysha you've got five minutes to give me a call,' Mr Mehajer says. 'I'm going to rape your mum. Your mum and your f****** dad'.

Shocking video obtained by Channel Nine's A Current Affair showed the former deputy Auburn mayor screaming into the camera threatening to rape his estranged wife's parents

Salim and Aysha pictured on their wedding day in August last year, when their self-proclaimed 'wedding of the century' shut down a Lidcombe street in western Sydney

NSW Police are now looking into the videos after they were handed over to investigators.

2GB's Ben Fordham, who was part of Today's chat segment, said he had friends who would pass Mehajer's anger off as passion.

'I don't think it's just people from ethnic communities, but I know what you're saying,' he said.

'I have plenty of ethnic mates who would fall into that category and say no, no, it's part of the passion, it's where I'm from.

'That's not passion, dude that's scary, you are frightening the life out of people and you are off the Richter Scale, you don't belong here in the community when you threaten to kill and rape.'

In one video, Mr Mehajer screams: 'you've got five minutes to give me a call'

Mamamia's Jo Abi and Ben Fordham of 2GB spoke with Today's Lisa Wilkinson about Salim Mehajer's shocking threats against his estranged wife

The videos were reportedly sent after the former beauty therapist moved out of the estranged couple's marital home earlier this year and refused to talk to him.

The video of the vile abuse was provided to A Current Affair by 'a concerned friend' who had been worried about Mr Mehajer's behaviour.

But the former deputy mayor claims his wife had been betrayed.

'Aysha is a beautiful, warm, amazing individual, whom I believe was betrayed, or set-up by someone who supplied A Current Affair with these out of context videos to make a sensationalised story,' he said in a statement after the report aired.




Embattled Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osorio and wife Ana arrived hand-in-hand at the Lisbon funeral of Margarida Sousa Uva, the wife of Portugals former Prime Minister and ex-president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso.

It is the first time the couple have been seen in public since revelations of his alleged affair with Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group of universities. The pair reportedly met in a Singapore hotel room on business trips.

Lloyds has insisted no rules were broken but questions remain over what was paid for on expenses when he was joined by Piatt while at a conference in June.

Embattled Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osorio and wife Ana arrived hand-in-hand at the Lisbon funeral of Margarida Sousa Uva

The bank chief, 52, racked up a 3,276 bill at the five-star Mandarin Oriental, with 550 spent in its spa.

Horta Osorio, who earned 8.8 million last year, was on holiday with wife Ana in the Portuguese resort of Comporta when the story broke.

In 2012, he pledged to lead by example and warned reputations take years to build and can be destroyed overnight.

Has Jamie called his new baby boy River Rocket?

Jamie enjoys a cuddle with his two-week-old son, as rumours circulate that he's named him River

While TV chef Jamie Oliver often posts pictures of his two-week-old son, he has so far kept the childs name under wraps. But is the cat out of the bag?

After Jamie, 41, took a boat trip with his family, his father shared a picture of the day out, writing: Mucking about on the river, to which Jamies sister replied, Its all about the River today! alongside an image of a rocket, suggesting the boy may be named River Rocket.

Last night Jamies wife, Jools, seemingly confirmed the rumour, posting an image on Instagram reading Dream big River with a rocket next to it in a caption.

River Rockets unorthodox moniker will fit right in with those of his siblings Poppy Honey Rose, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow and Buddy Bear Maurice.

The plot thickens re Jeremy Clarkson and his holiday snap with BBC news chief James Harding. It was TV food critic and Times journalist Giles Coren who acted as matchmaker.

Coren called Clarkson, who is holidaying on a superyacht in the Med, and invited him to meet up with him and Harding, who were staying on shore.

It was very unfair of Clarkson to act like a paparazzo and take a sneaky picture of James, one of Corens friends tells me.

Harding should count himself lucky he wasnt punched by the pugnacious presenter.

So much for open government. Downing Street yesterday sent political reporters a notice saying that the Cabinet Office will later this week publish its quarterly transparency data.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after police discovered a body at a house and a woman was found found 'staggering in the street' covered in blood.

Officers were called to Atkinson Road, in Urmston, Manchester, after receiving reports of a woman in distress with a head injury.

Staff at a garage nearby kept the woman in their office until the police arrived.

Detectives stormed into a property on the street at 12.30pm yesterday and found the body of a man.

Officers were called to Atkinson Road, in Urmston, Manchester, after receiving reports of a woman in distress with a head injury

They Tasered the man they arrested due to his 'aggressive behaviour', before taking him into custody.

The woman was taken to Royal Salford Hospital with a neck injury.

Ashley Jackson, who works at Higher Road Auto Services, told the Manchester Evening News: 'A woman came in, she was screaming and her head was pouring with blood from her cut.

'We brought her into the garage and tried to clean her up. We locked the woman in our office to protect her until the police got here.'

Forensic detectives were called to the scene to examine the property and part of the street which had been cordoned off.

Detective Inspector Carl Gilbert of GMP's Trafford borough said: 'We are in the very early stages of our inquiries but I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family of this man.

Police Tasered the man they arrested due to his 'aggressive behaviour', before taking him into custody

Forensic detectives were called to the scene to examine the property and part of the street which had been cordoned off

'Local residents may notice an increase in police presence as we conduct our inquiries and should they have any concerns about this incident then I would say feel free to approach these officers and raise them.'
The average British household wastes more than three weeks worth of food every year, research has revealed.

Almost six per cent (2.56) of our groceries each week are chucked away, meaning on average 133.12 a year goes straight in the bin.

The survey, by kitchen specialists GlotechRepairs.co.uk, revealed the most commonly thrown away items were fruit, vegetables and bread.

The average British household wastes more than three weeks worth of food every year, research has revealed

Each year the average household wastes 18 potatoes, 16 carrots, 15 apples, 13 bananas and four loaves of bread.

Surprisingly the statistics also show how nearly half of Brits (46 per cent) keep their bread in the fridge, despite this speeding up the growth of mould.

The survey of 1,000 people showed how people in the North East spend the least on their week shop at 36.45.

However they also admitted to throwing away the most - an average of 8 per cent of their total shop gets chucked, equating to 151.63 a year.

East Midlanders were found to purchase the most food with a whopping 112 items each week, compared to the national average of 94 products.

East Anglians purchased the least with only 87 items each week, yet the research shows they buy more milk and sausages than any other county.

Families were asked by GlotechRepairs.co.uk what was in their fridge and the respondents revealed that the average household buys 365 eggs a year, 231 pints of milk, 157 rashers of bacon and 55 loaves of bread.

In April The Trussell Trust revealed that they had provided 1,109,309 emergency food supplies in the 2015/16 financial year, with over 400,000 of these going to children.

Almost six per cent (2.56) of our groceries each week are chucked away, meaning on average 133.12 a year goes straight in the bin

CEO of The Trussel Trust David McAuley said: One million three-day food supplies given out by our food banks every year is one million too many.

This must not become the new normal. We need to listen to the experiences of people facing hunger and poverty, and work to find solutions to this problem together.

Charity FoodCycle, which runs community projects across the UK working to help reduce food poverty, said food waste not only has an impact on your pocket but on the environment too.

A spokesman for FoodCycle said: There are some quite shocking facts which show the negative impact food waste can have on the environment.

We find it so hard to believe that in a country, in 21st century Britain, the level of food waste is so high at the same time food poverty is so high.

We know that there is good food that can be put to good use which can be saved and that is a challenge which we want to overcome.
The NAACP's headquarters were surrounded by armed 'White Lives Matter' protesters holding Confederate flags and a white supremacist sign Sunday.

Around 20 people gathered outside the building for the protest, holding signs saying 'White Lives Matter' and '14 Words' - the latter a reference to a white supremacist motto.

'We came here because the NAACP headquarters is here and that's one of the most racist supposedly civil rights groups in America,' Scott Lacy told Click2Houston.

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Protest: Around 20 people protested outside NAACP headquarters in Houston's historically black Third Ward on Sunday. They held Confederate flags and many were armed

'White supremacist': One woman's sign read '14 Words,' referring to the white supremacist motto: 'We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children'

The NAACP is located in the Third Ward, a historically black neighborhood in Houston, and the arrival of the protesters at around noon troubled some locals.

One protester held a sign saying '14 Words' - a reference to the white supremacist motto 'We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.'

But member Ken Reed told The Houston Chronicle the group wasn't motivated by racism.

Instead, he said, they objected to the NAACP's 'failure in speaking out against the atrocities that organizations like Black Lives Matter and other pro-black organizations have caused the attack and killing of white police officers, the burning down of cities and things of that nature.'

He added: 'If they're going to be a civil rights organization and defend their people, they also need to hold their people accountable.'

'Atrocities': One protester said the group objected because the NAACP had not denounced black-on-cop killings. But the group has denounced the Dallas and Baton Rouge shootings

Reed was apparently referring to the recent shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge carried out by lone gunmen and targeting police officers.

Both the NAACP and Black Lives Matter have denounced those shootings.

He also told the site that the protesters were 'exercising our Second Amendment rights' because 'we have to defend ourselves.'

The protest, which was being watched by police - several on horseback - drew objections and counter-protests from black locals, but no violence.

One Instagram video shows a group of black people chanting 'We love you' to the protesters.

Counter-protest: Police watched on as counter-protesters also gathered. At one point the Black Lives Matter group chanted 'We Love You' to the White Lives Matter group

'Wrongto be white': This White Lives Matter protester said that 'It seems like in the country today that it's almost wrong to be white'

Local Quintina Richardson said she was perturbed by the Confederate flags that some protesters were carrying.

'You're saying Black Lives Matter is a racist organization but when you're throwing the Confederate flag up and saying White Lives Matter, are you saying you're racist?' she asked.

Reed said that the flags were just there to represent their 'Southern pride.'

Broken up: Police ultimately broke up the protest at around 3:30pm, around three-and-a-half hours after it first began

Police broke up the protest at around 3:30pm.

NAACP president James Douglas later rebuked the protesters, calling their positions 'racist.'

'While they criticize the NAACP for not denouncing a movement that has been productive in bringing awareness to the racial disparity in this country, they themselves espouse totally racist positions,' he said.
Two men who used the dating app Tinder to groom underage girls have been jailed after they were exposed by a group of university students.

The creators of the 'Tinder Experiment' set up a fake profile of a 15-year-old girl in a bid to expose paedophiles grooming girls online.

The Melbourne students then secretly filmed conversations and face-to-face meetings with the men before shaming them online.

Those videos were removed and their website shut down by police, but a specialised task force focused on internet-based child exploitation offences was able to use the information from the 'experiment'.

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The fake profile made by university students as part of their experiment on Tinder

Detective Senior Constable Emma O'Rourke, from the Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team, says the university students were able to give police half a dozen names of people who had made contact with their 'fake teenager'.

'Not all of these people came to meet them, some did and as a result of that we approached them covertly to engage with us,' Det Sen Const O'Rourke told AAP on Monday.

'And as a result two of the males have been charged and convicted.'

Nicolaos Katsamas was one of those men and was sentenced last month to two-and-a-half years' jail.

He will be released on a $5000 good behaviour bond after he serves six months.

He came to police attention in December 2014 after making contact with the 'teenager' created by the uni students.

The university students met with some of the men with the help of an actress, 21, then posted videos online

The County Court of Victoria heard that Katsamas sent a series of sexual messages to a covert officer acting as a 13-year-old and tried to arrange rendezvous at hotels before he was arrested by police.

Another man Tobias Kilsby was also jailed for two years after sending sexually explicit messages and arranging to meet a 13-year-old girl - who was actually a police officer.

Prosecutors tendered video from the Tinder Experiment in court in support of their case and Kilsby pleaded guilty.

Exchanges featured in the video posted online by the students during their experiment

'The Tinder Experiment did what police were already doing - just on a different platform,' Det Sen Const Tas Gagatsakis told AAP.

'We operate on all platforms, Tinder is usually for users 18 and over, but when these things come to light we are very interested in trying to find out what is going on.'

The JACET team, comprised of both Victorian and Australian Federal Police, probably see the worst, darkest and seediest side of the online world - but they do it so that Victorian children don't have to.

They portray themselves as children and are engaged in sexualised conversations by creeps wanting to take advantage.

Officers also work to identify children depicted in pornographic images and other child exploitation material - often working with agencies across the world to find them.

The Tinder Experiment and charges relating to it may be over, but for JACET officers there is always another platform creeps are using to take advantage of children.

Two men have been jailed after being found guilty of child grooming

The actors involved in making the videos told Daily Mail Australia they were 'sickened' by what they saw.

A 21-year-old actress posed as 15-year-old Imogen when meeting the men. Some were shocked when she said she was just 15, but some were unfazed according to the actors.

'I felt vulnerable and disgusted that they thought it was okay to basically throw themselves at a 15-year-old girl,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'They thought it was completely normal and it just makes me worried for other young girls.'

Actors, 'Blake' and 'Jack' who are both 25, says they originally orchestrated the experiment to raise awareness on 'how easy it is for illegal behavior to take place on mobile dating apps'.

But instead, they were sickened by what unfolded.

'We couldn't believe some of the things that the men said,' Blake told Daily Mail Australia.

The university students were 'sickened' by the reaction to the profile and 'Imogen's age'

Even after being confronted and caught by 'Blake' who pretended to be Imogen's older brother in the video before any serious harm could be done, some allegedly kept coming back for more.

'There's a lot we couldn't include in the videos because it was too graphic such as nude pictures,' Blake said.

'We also couldn't believe that some men came back a second time after being confronted we've had three so far but not all will be shown in the series.
If most of us had a large knife protruding out of our back, we would be screaming in agony.

But this patient at a hospital in Barranquilla, Colombia, appeared completely unfazed as he was attended to by a crowd of medics.

A nurse cuts away his clothes as a crowd looks on, some filming on their smartphones.

This patient at a hospital in Barranquilla, Colombia, appeared completely unfazed as he had a knife sticking out of his back

It is not known how the man ended up with the blade in his body or what condition he is in now.

Barranquilla, in the north of Colombia, is a major city popular with business travellers and tourists, according to the U.S. Department of State.

However, the country as a whole is known to have a problem with violent crime, fueled by its rampant drugs trade.

It has been home to some of the most violent, sophisticated and powerful drug trafficking organisations in the world since the 1970s.

Despite intensive government efforts, it has consistently been ranked as the worlds largest producer of cocaine.

It is not known how the man ended up with the knife in his body or what condition he is in now

Colombia has three cities within the top 50 most dangerous in the world, according to UN data from 2015.

At number eight in the world was Palmira, in the southwest, which had 70.88 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
This distressing footage shows a Syrian girl singing happily to the camera before a bomb explodes outside her home.

As the building is rocked by the blast, the child is picked up and moved to another room.

The explosion appears to die down by the end of the 44-second video, but it is not known if anyone was hurt.

This distressing footage shows a Syrian girl singing happily to the camera before a bomb explodes outside her home

The 40-second video is the latest evidence of the suffering of children during the conflict in Syria.

Last Wednesday, activists released footage showing Omran Daqneesh, five, being rescued from a partially-destroyed building after an airstrike.

The video shows him wiping his dusty forehead with his hand, before realising he is bleeding, and he rests his hands back in his lap.

Omran waits quietly as his rescuers leave the ambulance to save the lives of four other children, before taking them all to the hospital.

He was wearing a T-shirt with the popular cartoon character CatDog on it, barely visible through the blood and dust.

The northern city of Aleppo has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks.

The 40-second video is the latest evidence of the suffering of children during the conflict in Syria

Last week, activists released video of Omran Daqneesh, five, being rescued from a partially-destroyed building after an airstrike. This still shows shoes left behind during the escape

Omran was treated and later discharged but his 10-year-old brother, Ali, died.

Last year, international sympathy for victims of Syria's war was heightened by a photo of a drowned 3-year-old refugee from Syria, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish tourist beach.
Reckoned to have once been the richest British banker in Britain, Roger Jenkins was the multi-millionaire financier credited with saving Barclays during the crash by persuading Middle East investors to bail it out.

He didnt quite manage to save either of his marriages or his later glamorous relationship with Elle The Body Macpherson.

When he and his second wife, Diana, a glamorous Bosnian refugee, divorced in 2011, Jenkins famously agreed to split his 300 million fortune in half.

Roger Jenkins, pictured with then girlfriend Elle Macpherson, is backing a fund behind a Californian land purchase set to house a marijuana-growing business

But now he may be heading to recoup that loss and more in his latest venture as he sets out to become Americas new cannabis king.

The muscular, bald Scot  who looks more like a Glasgow bouncer than the man nicknamed Roger the Dodger in the City for his expertise in tax avoidance  is backing a fund that has bought land in California to set up a huge marijuana-growing business.

Has the dour-looking money man taken leave of his senses? In fact, while hes taking a risk  marijuana hasnt been legalised yet in California  the oil refinery managers son could be on to the most lucrative little earner of his career.

Marijuana is such a hotly tipped investment that experts are talking of a Green Rush, echoing the California Gold Rush of the 19th century, as investors cash in on the fact that, increasingly, it is being legalised in the U.S.

A trickle of states have voted to allow so-called recreational use of the drug (as opposed to medical use, which is allowed across half the U.S.) amid estimates that the industry could be worth $50 billion a year  and four times that worldwide.

A drug once associated with drop-outs and police raids is today synonymous in the U.S. with aggressive venture capitalists and corporate raids.

In November, Californians will be asked to vote on Proposition 64, also known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. The state has twice voted  first in 1972 and then in 2010  against legalisation, but resistance is slackening. Polls show 55 per cent of voters support legalising the drug, and among those who actually plan to vote, the figure rises to 60 per cent.

Close up of cannabis plant in California, the state where Roger Jenkins is backing a fund that has bought land to set up a huge marijuana-growing business

As with so much in the U.S., the debate has boiled down to money, with the drugs powerful and well-funded advocates arguing taxation of legally consumed cannabis will hugely boost state revenues.

Though four states and Washington DC have voted to legalise marijuana, California is the countrys biggest producer of the drug, thanks to its year-round sunshine.

Its cannabis tax revenue would be vast if legalisation was given the go-ahead. (Colorado, which became the first state to take the plunge in 2012, collects more taxes from the drug than alcohol).

A nd if a state as big and rich as California votes Yes, other states are expected to follow suit. This will in turn increase pressure on Congress to take cannabis off the federal list of illegal drugs.

In addition, the U.S. experience will naturally be keenly watched by pro-legalisation campaigners in the UK, where Lib-Dem MPs including Nick Clegg are leading a cross-party campaign to introduce a legalised cannabis market in Britain which they say could raise up to 1 billion a year in tax.

Yet many mainstream investors have so far given cannabis a wide berth because of continuing health and social concerns as well as the fact that, despite a trend towards legalisation, it still remains illegal in most of the U.S.

The tobacco industry is keen to muscle in on the marijuana business to make up for the decline in cigarette smoking, especially as many cannabis users smoke the drug with tobacco.

But tobacco companies are wisely keeping a low profile for now because of their chequered reputation. This means a disparate band of venture capital firms and deep-pocketed individual investors  wealthy Roger Jenkins is just the latest  have been left to usher in the pot revolution.

Foremost among them is Peter Thiel, an eccentric Silicon Valley billionaire and vociferous supporter of Donald Trump.

Thiel, who made a fortune creating the internet payment system PayPal, has some alarming political views  he has said women should never have been given the vote.

The tobacco industry is keen to muscle in on the marijuana business to make up for the decline in cigarette smoking, especially as many cannabis users smoke it with tobacco

Another prominent pro-legaliser is fellow Silicon Valley tycoon Sean Parker, who is championing attempts to legalise the drug in California.

He spent 7.5 million on his lavish Lord Of The Rings-themed wedding, though his offer to pay Sir Ian McKellen 1 million to dress as his character, the wizard Gandalf, and officiate at the ceremony was turned down by the actor.

Oddballs such as Parker and Thiel may be a natural fit to champion a drug associated with switching off from reality, but Roger Jenkins has always been seen as having his feet firmly on the ground.

But  like his fellow cannabis investors  the hard-headed, but softly spoken 60-year-old is used to being accused of making money without much in the way of moral scruples.

Before he left Barclays in 2009, he ran the banks legal but much-criticised tax avoidance division.

He was so talented at helping clients avoid tax that he was estimated to earn 75 million a year  more than his boss, the controversial Bob Diamond.

Jenkins, a talented athlete who once sprinted for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games, has been described as a big presence with a big ego.

At Barclays, he presided over macho team-building away days in which he and a senior colleague played poker, gambling hundreds of thousand of pounds, with staff divided into big boys and babies tables. His formidable and glamorous Bosnian former wife, Sanela Dijana Catic, who changed her name to Diana, met Jenkins in a gym and reinvented herself as a socialite and philanthropist after they were married in 1999.

Roger Jenkins pictured in his former life as an executive at Barclays Bank

Counting George Clooney and Guy Ritchie among her friends, it was her social connections with the Qatari royal family that were reportedly instrumental in Jenkins being able to persuade Middle Eastern investors to inject 12 billion into Barclays during the 2008 financial crisis so the bank didnt need a public bail-out.

The Middle East fundraising prompted an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office which is still looking into Jenkins  who went on to work in private equity investments  and other Barclays executives over the banks financial dealings with the Qataris.

Mrs Jenkins once complained of effectively being an Eastern European mail order bride on the London social scene, but both of them insist their divorce five years ago was amicable.

Jenkins  whose portfolio included a 25 million house in Malibu, where he lives  insisted it was quite right she had half his fortune.

A private man who rarely gives interviews, Jenkins is unlikely to become the new public champion of weed as a result of his investment.

That said, it could do with a more thoughtful cheerleader than Peter Thiel. Last year, Thiel joked that Twitters executives might be smoking too much pot to run an effective company  an embarrassing own goal for cannabis campaigners, who insist it stimulates your mental faculties.

Though public attitudes are softening, many Americans clearly share that negative view of stoners.

Its effect on the brain development of young people remains hotly debated by medical experts while  according to the NHS  regular use is associated with increased risk of developing a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia.

The NHS also supports new scientific evidence contradicting claims that dope isnt addictive  10 per cent of regular users become addicted, it says.

In Colorado, Factcheck.org, a highly respected independent research group, last week insisted marijuana-related traffic deaths, hospital visits and school suspensions had increased since the drug was legalised. Statistics from various official sources show substantial increases, said the organisation.

In June, the children of Richard Kirk of Denver, Colorado, filed Americas first wrongful death lawsuit against a recreational marijuana company. They claim he ate a cannabis-laced sweet that triggered a terrifying violent turn at the family home in April 2014.

While hes taking a risk  marijuana hasnt been legalised yet in California  Jenkins, the oil refinery managers son, could be on to the most lucrative little earner of his career

He took his gun out of the safe and shot dead his wife, Kristine. The lawsuit claims the sweets maker and distributor failed to warn customers edible marijuana can cause psychosis, paranoia and hallucinations.

Prosecutors say Kirk, who has yet to be tried, killed his wife because of marital stress.

The case has highlighted the risks surrounding edible marijuana, a huge growth area that accounts for nearly half of pot sales in Colorado.

Eaten marijuana is much slower acting than the smoked alternative, increasing the risk that users will overdose because they cant initially feel any effects.

In 2014, a Wyoming student ate a marijuana biscuit containing six times the recommended dosage of THC, the active ingredient, and jumped to his death from a Denver hotel balcony.

But what do a few niggles about health and safety matter when there are billions to be made?

Roger Jenkins  whose former running champion brother, David, was once jailed for smuggling $70 million of anabolic steroids into the U.S.  is sprinting towards his next pot of gold.
Choudary, 49, was convicted of terror offences last week and faces up to 10 years in prison. It is understood he will be held in the first special isolation wing for extremists at HMP Frankland in Durham

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary is to be questioned by French and Belgian security services over his links to Islamic State-affiliated terrorists.

Choudary, 49, was convicted of terror offences last week and faces up to 10 years in prison. It is understood he will be held in the first special isolation wing for Muslim extremists at top-security HMP Frankland in Durham.

He will be one of up to ten Islamists held in a pilot scheme to stop them radicalising other inmates.

The firebrand cleric, who was found guilty of supporting Islamic State, will be sentenced next month.

He is believed to have inspired at least 110 Britons into committing terrorist acts.

Police also think he helped encourage up to 850 fanatics to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS.

His now-banned radical group has links to 15 terror plots, including the murder of Lee Rigby and the 7/7 attacks.

Now, it has emerged he could be quizzed by French and Belgian security services over his support for ISIS.

The Mirror's Russell Myers reports that in an unprecedented move French intelligence service DGSE has been given permission from Britain's MI5 to grill Choudary.

Officials in France and Belgium - which have suffered a number of terror attacks in the last two years - believe Choudary is linked to 46 alleged extremists accused of brainwashing people into travelling to Syria to fight for ISIS.

A source told the paper: 'Choudary's vile views have no doubt radicalised dozens of his followers.

'He's been on the radar of intelligence agencies throughout Europe. Now he's been prosecuted, numerous agencies are lining up to quiz him.'

Choudary, who previously called for adulterers to be stoned to death and branded UK troops 'cowards', has always hidden behind free speech rules whenever challenged by the authorities.

Choudary, who previously called for adulterers to be stoned to death and branded UK troops 'cowards', has always hidden behind free speech rules whenever challenged by the authorities

Many radicals tried for serious terror offences were influenced by his lectures and speeches.

Until now, Choudary  who had called for Muslims to attack the UK and adulterers to be stoned to death and branded UK troops cowards  has always hidden behind free speech rules whenever challenged by the authorities.

But while he ran rings around the police, security services and the Government, he brainwashed hundreds of young men who subscribed to his warped vision of Islam.

His best-known acolytes were Muslim converts Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who attacked Fusilier Rigby with a meat cleaver outside a barracks in Woolwich, south-east London.
A California judge under fire for a light sentence he handed to a Stanford University swimmer for sexual assaulting an unconscious woman has recused himself from making his first key decision in another sex crimes case.

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky filed a statement with the court saying that some people might doubt his impartiality, The Mercury News reported on Monday.

Persky is the target of a recall campaign that started in June after he sentenced Brock Turner, 20, to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an intoxicated 23-year-old woman who passed out behind a dumpster after a fraternity party in January last year.

The judge was scheduled this week to consider a request from Robert Chain to reduce his conviction for possessing child pornography from a felony to a misdemeanor.

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Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky (above) has recused himself from making his first key decision in another sex crimes case after sentencing Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to just six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman

The judge said last year he would be receptive to the idea if the plumber stayed sober.

But now, he says that he had been exposed to publicity about the case while on a family vacation which may have compromised his impartiality as a judge.

'While on vacation earlier this month, my family and I were exposed to publicity surrounding this case,' the judge wrote in his brief ruling.

'This publicity has resulted in a personal family situation such that 'a person aware of the facts might reasonably entertain a doubt that the judge would be able to be impartial.''

Persky sparked a national furor after he sentenced Brock Turner (pictured, after his sentencing on June 2) to six months in jail for sexual assault

The newspaper reports that Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor who is leading the recall, said she is pleased by Persky's decision.

Turner (above in a 2015 booking photo) was found guilty of sexually assaulting an intoxicated 23-year-old woman who passed out behind a dumpster after a fraternity party in January last year

Gary Goodman, a deputy public defender who opposes a recall, said the recusal is a prime example of Persky's integrity.

Persky followed a recommendation by the county probation department to sentence Turner, the former Stanford swimmer, to just six months in prison despite prosecutors seeking six years. Turner could have faced up to 14 years behind bars.

He did it despite the victim reading an impassioned statement at the sentencing hearing.

She described the assault in graphic detail and said her 'independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle I had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition'.

But Persky cited Turner's age and lack of a previous criminal record for the lenient sentence  provoking a national furor.
Sam Barnett, the son of Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett, is accused of backing out of a deal to buy two parcels of oceanfront land for development.

The Perth-based property developer is going to open a luxury camping retreat  which can cost up to $3,300 a night  at Yallabatharra beach 500km north of Perth.

Mr Barnett, 26, agreed to pay $600,000 for two lots of land totalling about 80 hectares for his new business plan, seller Sandra Simpkin told ABC.

Sam Barnett, the son of Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett (pictured), is accused of backing out of a deal to buy two parcels of oceanfront land

The land at Yallabatharra beach, 500km north of Perth, sits in between the famous Pink Lake and the ocean (pictured)

Ms Simpkin claims Mr Barnett told her he wanted to purchase the first block for a cheaper rate so he could pay in cash and would pay more for the second lot, which he would finance.

Mr Barnett handed her $140,000 for the first lot but backed out of paying the additional $460,000 because he didn't receive finance, Ms Simpkin said.

'I wouldn't have sold Lot 51 for that price without the combination of the value of both those pieces of land,' Ms Simpkin said.

Mr Barnett declined to comment to Daily Mail Australia.

Anne-Marie Bevis and her family were interested in buying the lots for $400,000 but were turned down because they wanted to pay in instalments.

'To find out that it has gone for that amount, it's definitely worth a lot more than that ... and we were obviously prepared to pay $400,000 for it,' she told ABC.

Mr Barnett told Daily Mail Australia in July he had purchased the beachfront property, which sits between the famous Pink Lake and the ocean and was hoping to be open for bookings by September 1.

'It is a really beautiful spot,' he said.

'There is another luxury camping site not too far away which has a very high occupancy rate, so it is really taking off here which is why I decided to open one.'

Mr Barnett, 26, (left) agreed to pay $600,000 for the land totalling about 230 hectares for his new yoga and glamping retreat business, seller Sandra Simpkin claims

The tents will cost a minimum of $648 per night for a couple  the most expensive is the five-person family tent which will cost $3,300 per night.

'The larger tents are 48 square metres in size and take about four hours to erect.

'They are all made from a thick canvas like sails which makes them very sturdy structures.'

The property developer said the domestic market isn't a focus in the venture which is mostly directed at wealthy Chinese tourists seeking 'authentic experiences'.

The meals and activities are included in the cost of the stay but alcohol is not.

Mr Barnett (pictured) handed her $140,000 for the first lot but backed out of paying the additional $460,000 because he didn't receive finance, Ms Simpkin said

Activities will include horse riding, fishing, yoga and snorkelling.

But as the resort is located on the popular coral coast there are a lot of tourist attractions on the doorstep.

While the menu will feature seafood found in the region.

The property is zoned as rural but does not need to be changed as the tents are not fixed structures, according to Barnett.

There will be a total of 12 luxury tents on the site.
Senators are taking part in an induction course before starting next week

One of 14 new senators she stood out in her bold yellow and black jacket

Ms Hanson said 'I'm back' after launching her One Nation party in 1997

Pauline Hanson made a fashion statement as she turned up for work as a Senator for the first time in a jungle-themed jacket and noted happily: 'I'm back'.

The One Nation leader stood out among her colleagues as she wore a bold yellow and black jacket during a gathering in Canberra for 'Senate school'.

The 14 new senators will take part in an induction course aimed at helping them learn the ropes before Parliament sits next week for the first time since the July federal election.

One Nation leader joined a group of new senators at Parliament House in Canberra. Pictured, One Nation Senators (L-R) Brian Burston, Malcolm Roberts, Pauline Hanson and Rod Culleton

It has been 18 years since Pauline Hanson launched the One Nation Party

Hanson's return to Parliament comes two decades after she made her debut, as an independent in the lower house.

She was joined on Tuesday by Labor's Pat Dodson and Liberal senator James Paterson, who filled casual vacancies in the previous parliament and missed out on a proper induction.

Labor's Louise Pratt, returning to parliament after losing her seat at the 2013 election, said she was excited to return and get a refresher course.

Asked about her tense relationship with fellow newbie senator Derryn Hinch, Senator Hanson said she wasn't happy about some comments he'd made about her.

Pauline Hanson stood out in her bold yellow and black jacket as the senators took photos before entering 'Senate school'

The 14 new senators gathered for an induction course aimed at helping them learn the ropes

Ms Hanson noted 'she was back' after making her first appearance in Parliament 18 years ago

Pictured in Canberra on October 4, 2000 after announcing the sacking of David Oldfield from One Nation

NEW SENATORS IN THE 45TH PARLIAMENT LIBERAL JONATHON DUNIAM (TAS): The deputy chief-of-staff to Premier Will Hodgman finished ahead of Turnbull government minister Richard Colbeck to grab the last Liberal seat. JANE HUME (VIC): The former National Australia Bank manager was advising on strategic policy at AustralianSuper before she was the last senator elected in Victoria. LABOR ANTHONY CHISHOLM (QLD): The former Labor state secretary replaces ex-minister Joe Ludwig who decided to retire at the July 2 election. DON FARRELL (SA): The former senator and powerbroker returns to Canberra after losing his upper house seat in the 2013 election. MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY (NT): The former SBS and NITV journalist fills the void left by Nova Peris who abruptly resigned early in the election campaign. LOUISE PRATT (WA): The former senator returns to Canberra after being preselected below union boss Joe Bullock at the 2013 election and not being chosen to replace him when he quit before the election. MURRAY WATT (QLD): The lawyer at Maurice Blackburn and former state MP has made the switch to federal politics. ONE NATION PAULINE HANSON (QLD): Party leader, whose party was once de-registered and who was forced to serve time behind bars, returns to Canberra following her lower houses stint in the 1990s. BRIAN BURSTON (NSW): The former deputy mayor on Cessnock City Council also lectured in engineering drawing in Sydney and Newcastle. He has been a member of One Nation since the party was formed and was its lead Senate candidate in NSW. RODNEY CULLETON (WA): The farmer and businessman was the party's lead candidate in Western Australia but his election faces several legal obstacles. He has had a larceny conviction annulled but is still awaiting trial in Perth over another matter. MALCOLM ROBERTS (QLD): The former miner and climate change denier joins the One Nation fold in the Senate. NICK XENOPHON TEAM STIRLING GRIFF (SA): The banker turned media manager and marketer met Nick Xenophon while acting as the Retail Traders Association CEO. SKYE KAKOSCHKE-MOORE (SA): The policy adviser to leader Nick Xenophon snatched the party's third Senate spot, having sought preselection without first telling her boss. DERRYN HINCH JUSTICE PARTY DERRYN HINCH (VIC): The controversial broadcaster - who has been jailed twice for breaching court orders - is stepping into the political spotlight. Advertisement

The 'Senate school' is scheduled a week before the senators start work next Tuesday

One Nation Senators Brian Burston (L) and Pauline Hanson pose for a photo as they eagerly await to enter parliament
The twin brother of a high school cleaner who raped and killed teacher Stephanie Scott just a week before her wedding day sold her rings for $705, a court has heard.

Marcus Stanford, 25, was charged with and pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact of Ms Scott's murder.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph a pawn shop in South Australia was sold two pieces of jewellery, one an engagement ring and the other given to her by her mother.

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Marcus Stanford (pictured in handcuffs) is led into Leeton Court in New South Wales ahead of a hearing on Tuesday

Leeton teacher Stephanie Scott (pictured) was murdered on April 5, 2015 just days before she was due to be married

Marcus Stanford is walked into Leeton Court in the NSW Riverina by corrections officers - he is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday

Vincent Stanford's twin brother Marcus (pictured) had previously pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact

Her burnt body was found in the Cocoparra National Park, about 70 kilometres north of Leeton, five days later - the day before she was supposed to get married.

Vincent Stanford pleaded guilty to raping and murdering Ms Scott in the NSW Supreme Court and will be sentenced in October.

His twin brother Marcus Stanford had previously pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact - he is expected to be sentenced in Leeton tomorrow.

Ms Scott's childhood sweetheart and fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley (pictured)

Ms Scott was last seen at the high school where she taught after she went into her classroom on April 5 to do some last minute preparations ahead of her wedding.

The popular teacher planned to be away for a couple of weeks on her Tahiti honeymoon and wanted to make sure drama and English lesson plans were in place for her substitute.

At midday, she sent an email to a bus company confirming transport for the guests to her country wedding the following weekend.

It was her last known contact.

Ms Scott's body was discovered in scrub in the Cocoparra National Park on April 10 last year - the day before she was due to marry with her childhood sweetheart Aaron Leeson-Woolley

Ms Scott did not return home to her fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley that evening and he reported her missing the following day.

Her family pleaded with the public for days in the hope someone would come forward with information on her sudden disappearance.

Five days later, Vincent Stanford was arrested and charged with murder aggravated sexual assault and inflicting actual bodily harm.

Police had discovered that Stanford, who worked at the school as a cleaner, was on the grounds of the same day Ms Scott disappeared - even though he was not scheduled to work.

They also found he had taken photos of her burnt body and her blood was found in his car.

Police said Stanford dumped Ms Scott's red Mazda in a field before disposing of her body in the Cocoparra National Park where he had previously gone camping.

The discovery of her body came the day before she was due to marry Aaron, her partner of five years.
A father of two has been jailed for four months for running a meth lab in his children's play room.

James Richard Shearman, 44, was sentenced on Monday and admitted to setting up the lab on the third floor of the families Sunshine Coast home, according to The Courier Mail.

Shearman lived in the Queensland house with his partner and two children aged under seven.

The lab was discovered after police heard the sound of smashing glass when they entered the property and upon further inspection discovered the lab in pieces and Shearman with bleeding hands in July 2014 .

Queensland man James Richard Shearman has been jailed for four months for running a meth lab in his children's play room (stock image of a meth house)

Shearman tried to claim the lab was an alcohol still but when further pressed said he produced the meth for personal use and that he never 'cooked' the drug while his children were home.

Crown prosecutor Alex Stark told Maroochydore District Court that even though the children may not of been present when the production took place, the equipment was in an area of the home that was designed for them.

'But the chemicals and equipment were in the rumpus room,' Mr Stark told the court.

Shearman pleaded guilty to one count of producing a dangerous drug and was was sentenced to 12 months' jail, suspended after four months by Judge John Robertson.

Maroochydore District Court where Shearman was sentenced to four months jail

Shearman said he produced he meth for personal use and never cooked the substance while his children were present (stock image of someone smoking meth)

The lab was discovered after police heard the sound of smashing glass and found Shearman with bleeding hands and the lab smashed up (stock image of crystal meth)
Uber and taxi customers will be hit with an extra $2 per trip as Victoria moves to legalise the ride sharing service.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced radical new changes to the commercial passenger industry, which would see 'more flexible fares to drive competition and reduce the cost of travel for passengers'.

As part of the changes, the $2 levy per trip will be used to help fund the transition to a single industry, including compensation to taxi licence holders.

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Uber customers will be hit with an extra $2 levy as Victoria moves to legalise the ride sharing service

This extra fee will be charged for at least eight years, the ABC reported.

All drivers will also have to be accredited by the Taxi Services Commission, which includes passing police, medical and driving history checks.

Changes to the industry will happen over the next two years and is meant to 'ensure high standards for all commercial passenger vehicles'.

'This is a comprehensive and fair transformation of taxi and hire car services, which responds to new technology that is changing the way people travel,' Mr Andrews said.

'We're levelling the playing field for the whole industry while ensuring consumers have safe and reliable access to transport services.'

Ride Share Drivers' Association of Australia's Dan Manchester has welcomed the decision by the Victorian Government to move towards a single industry.

'In the big picture, ride sharing is never ever going to go away. It's going to be around for a next few years until automatic vehicles take over and put everyone out of the job,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's good the government is recognising it is happening. How they go about that, the devil will be in the details.'

Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) announced radical new changes to the commercial passenger industry, which would see 'more flexible fares to drive competition'

But Mr Manchester did not agree with the government compensating taxi licence holders for the value of their licences.

'Lots of people have lost business when new technology comes along,' he said.

'Few have been compensated by the government.'

RSDAA policy and regulation's David Dunstan also urged drivers and riders to find a ride sharing service that suited them.

'We certainly encourage current Uber drivers, now the industry is becoming deregulated, to shop around for different service providers and riders to do the same,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'Uber is not the be all and end all. '

Uber Victoria general manager Matt Denman said the government's recognition ridesharing was a positive move for the state.

'We welcome the government's... decision to formally recognise ridesharing as part of the states point to point transport industry, with sensible, safety based ridesharing regulations,' Mr Denman said.

'This is the direct result of the incredible way more than half a million Victorians have embraced ridesharing as a safe, affordable and reliable way to get around, and the support from thousands of local residents who are sharing rides to earn extra income on their own terms every week.
She is believed to have entered the water alone for a night swim

A young Australian woman who died in flash flooding while travelling in Cambodia sent a message to her best friend telling her she was having a great time.

Kiara Mcnally revealed the last message her best friend, 24-year-old Kristy Blackney, sent while travelling said 'I'm having a ball,' reported WAtoday.

The young woman whose body was found in a river in the Kampot a province in southwest Cambodia on Sunday reportedly entered the water alone and at night.

Kiara Mcnally (right) revealed the last message her best friend, Kristy Blackney (left), sent her before she drowned in Cambodia said 'I'm having a ball'

She left for Thailand in late July before heading to Cambodia, and planned to travel south-east Asia for months until her money ran dry.

Ms Mcnally was told her best friend had entered the water for a night swim unaware there was flash flooding.

'She loves to travel and she saved up all her money to go over there,' Ms Mcnally said.

'She was having the time of her life, so that's one thing we can take away, that she was happy.'

The 24-year-old worked in beauty therapy, as well as hospitality. She was based in Perth after moving from Inverloch in South Gippsland in Victoria, according to her Facebook.

Local media reported her body was found floating in the river at Arcadia Backpackers, where she was staying, after flash flooding.

Family and friends have taken to social media to farewell Ms Blackney.

Kristy Blackney, 24, drowned in flash flooding in southern Cambodia while travelling in south-east Asia

Kristy Blackney (pictured with her mother right) is being remembered as a 'gorgeous soul'

'Being woken up this morning to the news that one of your best friends has died whilst travelling has been obviously devastating and still doesn't feel real,' one friend wrote on Facebook.

'Whether or not you knew this free spirited girl, no one was prepared to lose such a beautiful person.

'I'm so blessed to have had a best friend like you for over a decade, missing you is an understatement.'

Another friend described her as a 'beautiful girl with an infectious smile that touched so many people's lives'.

'Absolutely devastated,' another wrote on Facebook. 'You put smiles on faces in every room you entered. You definitely deserved more time on this earth to enjoy the sunlight.'

One friend said she brought 'nothing but love and laughter'.

Loved ones are remembering the 'gorgeous soul' with an 'infectious smile' on social media after her body was discovered on Sunday

Local media reported her body was found floating in the river at Arcadia Backpackers (pictured), where she was staying, after flash flooding

'The hardest part of any friendship is when it's time to say goodbye. Thank you for the endless memories and for bringing nothing but love and laughter everywhere you went. Rest in peace to the most kind hearted, free-spirited, beautiful girl,' the friend wrote.

'You've taken a part of each of our hearts with you. I'll miss and love you forever.'

A crowdfunding appeal to help bring her home and to pay for the funeral costs has raised about $20,000 in just 12 hours online.

Ms Blackney's friend Kiara Mcnally launched the GoFundMe page on Monday morning, shortly after the tragic news reached Australia.

A crowdfunding appeal to help bring her home and to pay for the funeral costs has raised about $20,000 in just 12 hours online

'As you may have heard our beautiful girl Kristy Blackney has passed away while travelling in Cambodia,' the website reads. 'Her family and friends are devastated and completely heartbroken.

'As you can imagine the cost to bring Kristy here are great as well as the costs of a funeral. So if you are able to help her family with these expenses in any way please do.

'We love you Kristy and will miss you so much.'

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson confirmed the department 'is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian woman who died in Cambodia, in accordance with the Consular Services Charter'.
The man accused of killing an 'active and cheeky' two-year-old girl told police that her horrific injuries were the result of falling off a couch.

The toddler died on May 13, 2005, from 'catastrophic internal injuries' caused by blunt force trauma that doctors suggested could not have been accidental.

Mussie Debresay, 37, who was dating the child's mother in the months leading up to her death, has pleaded not guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to murdering the two-year-old.

Mussie Debresay, 37, is facing trial over the death of a two-year-old girl

He told police the girl suffered injuries after she 'fell off the couch' at his house

Prosecutor Sally Flynn on Monday told the jury Debresay was seen kicking, head-butting and stomping on the two-year-old and using a plastic bag to cover her mouth when she was crying.

'(The witness) stated that (the victim) had been naughty and indicated Mr Debresay stomped or stood on her, indicating an area on her lower back,' Ms Flynn said.

The mother and her three children had been staying with him at his home Footscray in Melbourne's west when a baby-sitter came over and noticed the toddler was slumped across the coffee table with her feet on the ground.

Later that day the toddler became unresponsive so her mother rushed her to a medical centre where she was pronounced dead a short time later.

The girl's older brother told relatives she had been naughty and Debresay - who the children called 'MJ' or 'Daddy MJ' - had stomped on or stood on her lower back, Ms Flynn said.

During a series of interviews with police, the boy repeated his sister had been naughty and Debresay stomped on her.

The child and her brother call Depresay the children called 'MJ' or 'Daddy MJ'

'He said "MJ hurt her .... MJ is a bad guy",' Ms Flynn said

'MJ used a plastic bag to don't let her cry (sic),' the witness told police.

Debresay says he heard 'a bump' during the night and saw his girlfriend's daughter had fallen off his couch, where she'd been sleeping.

The Crown says he told police: 'She just slipped down.' He said he heard between two and four 'bumps' during the night.

Doctors said it was not the sort of injury that could be caused by falling, the prosecution told the court.

Defence barrister Dermott Dann said the crown case relied on the evidence of the victim's brother which had issues of reliability, credibility, accuracy and consistency.

Debresay has pleaded not guilty to murder or the alternate charge of manslaughter

'There are things he has said that are demonstrably wrong,' Mr Dann said.

He said Debresay was not guilty of murder or the alternate charge of manslaughter.

'The accused man did not assault her at any time in any way,' Mr Dann said.

'He did not cause the death, he had no intention of causing death.'

On Tuesday witness Erin King, who used to babysit the children, said the mother 'couldn't handle' her three young children and would push them away when she didn't want to be around them.
Hillary Clinton had Jimmy Kimmel give her a hand in putting rumors about her health to rest during an appearance on his show.

In order 'to make sure I'm alive' Clinton asked the late night talk show host to take her pulse.

Kimmel then exclaimed: 'Oh my God, there's nothing there!'

Clinton is in California for a series of fundraisers in Los Angeles and Orange County, but stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live for her third appearance of the cycle.

Clinton stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday to prove she's in good health by opening a jar of pickles

She also had Kimmel check her pulse, hoping to put rumors to bed that she is fatigued or in poor health

'Back in October, the National Enquirer said I'd be dead in six months,' Clinton told Kimmel laughing

She and Kimmel continued to laugh off the notion that she is in poor health, saying the speculation makes no sense and that she 'doesn't go around questioning Donald Trump's health'.

Clinton told Kimmel: 'Back in October, the National Enquirer said I'd be dead in six months.

'So with every breath I take I feel like it's a new lease on life. I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe.'

'I have to step into the alternative reality and, you know, answer questions about, am I alive, how much longer will I be alive, and the like.

'I don't know why they are saying this. I think on the one hand it's part of the wacky strategy. On the other hand, it absolutely makes no sense.'

Kimmel also addressed the fact Clinton is fast-approaching her first debate with Donald Trump and asked how she's preparing

Clinton told Kimmel she stopped by his show to ask for advice on how to prepare for the debates

Later, Kimmel asked Clinton about another 'elephant in the room' - her emails - and suggested she use FaceTime from now on

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani urged voters to 'go online and put down "Hillary Clinton illness",' in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, saying the next morning that she 'looks sick'.

Trump has questioned her stamina at campaign rallies and speeches, saying in a foreign policy address earlier this month that she 'lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS'.

But Clinton let Kimmel put her to the test by asking her to open a jar of pickles, which she did pretending to be exacerbated

Kimmel also addressed the fact Clinton is fast-approaching her first debate with Donald Trump and asked how she's preparing.

'You've got to be prepared for wacky stuff. I'm planning on drawing off my experiences from elementary school. You know, the guy who pulled your pony tail,' she said.

Kimmel replied: 'Maybe Donald trump has a secret crush on you.'

Then, Kimmel asked Clinton about another 'elephant in the room' - her emails.

Clinton expressed little concern Monday about the planned release of 15,000 additional State Department emails that went previously undisclosed during an FBI investigation

'My emails are so boring,' she told Kimmel. 'We've already released 30,000 plus, so what's a few more?'

While talking about how Clinton FaceTimes with her granddaughter Charlotte, Kimmel suggested that Clinton use it for all correspondence.

'I think that's actually really good advice,' she said

Clinton expressed little concern Monday about the planned release of 15,000 additional State Department emails that went previously undisclosed during an FBI investigation into her use of a private server as secretary of state.

The messages could become public in mid-October, just weeks before Election Day.

'My emails are so boring,' she told Kimmel. 'We've already released 30,000 plus, so what's a few more?'

The conversation then moved to photos showing her husband, former President Bill Clinton, smiling and looking overjoyed to be surrounded by the balloons that fell at the end of the Democratic National Convention.

Clinton will hold eight-fundraisers over three days this coming week, one that was originally meant to be hosted by Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio

However, DiCaprio had to drop out last minute due to a schedule conflict and asked Justin Timberlake and wife Jessica Biel picked up the slack

'It seemed like he had seen balloons for the first time in his life. I feel like maybe he hasnt gotten enough balloons in his life,' Kimmel said.

Clinton agreed she and her husband enjoyed the moment: 'We were all pretty excited about the balloons. That's one of the things I enjoy about my husband is that he enjoys so many things and balloons is one of them.'

During the second segment of the show Kimmel had Clinton play a game reading Donald Trump quotes with a straight face.

Presenting her with a fishbowl with a Trump wig on top, Clinton pulled out several quotes but seemed upset when she read one of Trump's quotes about Rosie O'Donnell, saying the quote 'wasn't funny'.

During the final segment, Clinton said she hasn't spoken to senator Bernie Sanders since the convention in Philadelphia, but said he's doing fantastic things for the campaign.

Before the interview ended Kimmel made a case that Clinton should reconsider her vice presidential choice of Tim Kaine and instead pick him as her running mate.

She suggested he could be her vice vice president, which he accepted before dropping balloons.

'Take one of these home to Bill,' Kimmel said.

After Kimmel, Clinton will hold eight-fundraisers over three days in California this coming week, one that was originally meant to be hosted by Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio.

However, DiCaprio had to drop out last minute due to a schedule conflict and asked Justin Timberlake and wife Jessica Biel picked up the slack.
Since July 1, 712 people have been killed by police and 1,067 more were

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Filipino residents have been pictured pressing themselves on the windows of a morgue van to take photos and get a closer look at the alleged drug dealers killed during a police operation against illegal drugs in Manila.

As the authorities strap the bodies onto stretchers, young locals line the streets and cover their mouths from the smell as the bodies are removed from the crime scene.

After loading the bodies onto vehicles the victims are left covered in sheets or zipped in body bags.

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Filipino residents view dead bodies of alleged drug dealers killed during a police operation against illegal drugs in Manila, Philippines

The Senate has started its investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals under the current administration

The Philippines' police chief on Monday hailed the 'momentum' in a war on crime that has claimed more than 1,700 lives despite a Senate inquiry hearing allegations that security forces have committed murder and torture.

President Rodrigo Duterte won presidential elections by a landslide after promising that tens of thousands of people would be killed in an unprecedented law-and-order crackdown.

Security forces have relentlessly followed his orders since he took office on June 30.

'I admit many are dying but our campaign, now, we have the momentum,' national police chief Ronald dela Rosa told the opening on Monday of a Senate inquiry into the killings.

According to Police data which was submitted to by Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa on 22 August, at least 712 people were slain during anti-drug police operations

A further 1,067 more deaths were committed by still unidentified killers, based on a tally from 01 July to 21 August

Dela Rosa said police had killed 712 people in anti-drug operations since Duterte came to power, and there were another 1,067 deaths at the hands of unknown attackers.

Human rights groups, the Catholic Church and the United Nations have expressed alarm at the bloodshed, warning of mass extrajudicial killings.

Duterte and Dela Rosa have insisted the security forces are only acting in self-defence, while claiming that the unsolved deaths are due to drug gangs killing people who could implicate them.

However two officers have been charged with murder over the death in custody of a father and son in Manila on July 7, the local district police chief told the inquiry.

Dela Rosa described such abuses as 'very rare'.

'Any policeman found violating the law against self-defence will be punished,' Dela Rosa said.

The authorities carried the dead bodies on stretches through the streets as young locals looked on

Wanting to get a better view of the bodies being zipped up in body bags the locals pressed themselves onto the vehicle
62% of men and 66% of women reported they were bullied in last 5 years

in AFP are almost double the national average

Degrading comments are exposed within the Australian Federal Police

From a woman accused of giving 'good blow jobs' for her promotion to a lesbian being told she would be converted, these are some of the shocking comments of women working for the Australian Federal Police.

The degrading sexist culture inside the AFP has been exposed after nearly half of female staff and 20 per cent of men reported being sexually harassed at work in the past five years.

In a major review, workers at the centre of workplace discrimination have come forward with demeaning comments they've endured from fellow colleagues.

A female employee claimed she 'had my a**e' groped' at a Christmas party while another worker said she was moved from her role because she wouldn't sleep with the coordinator.

The degrading sexist culture inside the Australian Federal Police has been uncovered after nearly half of female staff and 20 per cent of men reported being sexually harassed at work

Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick (pictured) conducted the review over a six-month period and found bullying and sexual harassment was 'pervasive' in the Australia Federal Police

When a woman was promoted to a senior position, she was told by a male colleague: 'You must give good blow jobs'.

Women sergeants were referred to by male colleagues as 'just a vagina' - while a lesbian employee was told by her male colleagues they wanted to 'convert her'.

When a staff announced her pregnancy, her supervisor said to her: 'I thought we agreed you would keep your legs together'.

Another employee claimed she was forced to hide her second pregnancy from her colleagues after her first announcement, she was told: 'Oh great, we've got a useless person here now'.

The review of the AFP found sexual harassment and bullying has been rife and dozens of members may have been victims of rape or attempted rape while two-thirds of all members claimed they had been bullied.

Former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, who undertook six months of examination, said there is an urgent need for action inside the AFP.

Police commissioner Mark Colvin (pictured) has vowed to stamp out the AFP's 'boys club' after the review findings

WHAT WERE THE FINDINGS?  46 per cent of women and 20 per cent of men reported being sexually harassed in the workplace in the last five years - more than double the national average  62 per cent of men and 66 per cent of women reported they were bullied in the workplace in the past five years  Members don't trust the reporting system, with many believing a complaint can have a negative impact on their career or leave them being ostracised Advertisement

Federal police commissioner Andrew Colvin has vowed to stamp out his organisation's 'boys' club' after the review.

He has also flagged the potential of criminal investigations into serious allegations of assault if people come forward.

Releasing the report publicly on Monday, Mr Colvin also highlighted the finding that two per cent of those surveyed said they had been subjected to actual or attempted sexual assault in the past five years.

'All of this ends today,' he told reporters in Canberra, unreservedly apologising for past behaviour.

He urged members who told their stories to Ms Broderick anonymously to consider coming forward.

'The processes that we have put in place from today will be different,' he said, vowing to take action.

In a major review, workers at the centre of workplace discrimination have come forward with demeaning comments they've endured from fellow colleagues

A disappointed Mr Colvin admitted the report makes it clear there is a 'boys' club' and conceded on reflection he's seen evidence of bullying first-hand.

He agreed to all 24 'challenging and uncomfortable' recommendations from the report.

CHALLENGES REPORTED BY WOMEN IN THE AFP  Difficulties of having to 'fit in' in a male-dominated culture  Having to 'prove themselves'  In some cases, work in a sexualised environment  Others spoke of the struggle to choose between a career and family and a stigma attached to maternity leave Advertisement

Assistant commissioner Ray Johnson will head up a new division to lead the reform process.

Many women reported to Ms Broderick's team they had rewarding and worthwhile careers in the AFP, but a large proportion of others said they experience a range of challenges.

Despite the challenges female members of the force reported, Ms Broderick commended the AFP for trying to create a more flexible workplace, through trials of split shifts and other rostering initiatives.

She proposed a 'flex by default' policy, under which senior staff would review refusal for flexible hours.

The report also found women are under-represented across the AFP.

Mr Colvin also highlighted the report finding that two per cent of those surveyed said they had been subjected to actual or attempted sexual assault in the past five years

As of April 2016, women made up 35 per cent of all personnel - including 22 per cent of police.

Despite the findings, Ms Broderick says they are not a reason for the community to in any way have reduced confidence in the AFP.

'Quite the contrary,' she said.
What a sad and terrible document to have to write. It is with difficulty that I begin, as a second statement will be necessary in the future, and repeating myself will be unavoidable. Knowing that the person who has caused us so much added grief has the right to read this is also very confronting.

As with everything we have had to face in the past 16 months, we do this for the love of our precious Stephanie.

I write on behalf of our shattered family, and of Aaron, who is, and probably always will be, too deeply affected to put into words the depth of his grief and sorrow.

We had an amazing girl, and she is gone. Losing Stephanie is a tragedy that has impacted us all very deeply. We all had a close relationship with Stephanie, as she was the communicator in our family.

We are destined to a life unfulfilled  how can we be fulfilled when part of us is missing.

When Stephanie completed her degree we bought her a ring of her choosing, as we had done with her sisters. Her engagement ring was of Aarons choosing, presented to Stephanie as a symbol of their love and commitment to each other. It held the promise of a lifetime together, and all that that would entail.

Two little rings. How significant they were in life, and now in death.

Even as we searched, Stephanies fate was known by a second person. Both were part of something so monstrous, so cruel and heartless, devoid of any of the qualities that make us moral human beings. Opportunities to assist the police were squandered, and now we must all suffer the consequences.

The police went to great lengths to try and recover Stephanies rings. They could see that having them returned to us would be a great help, when so much had been taken away. We were driven to the desolate place where Stephanie had been left, betrayed, violated and burnt beyond recognition. It was confronting to see the ground, charred and disturbed where the police had used a metal detector to try and locate her precious rings amongst the ashes.

It seemed implausible that rings that could be described in such detail could not be accounted for and later our suspicions were confirmed. The rings had been sent to South Australia with instructions to keep them safe.

These treasured little rings that had meant so much had become trophies. The vision of them being removed from Stephanies gentle, loving hands sickens us and fills us with despair.

Now they can never be returned. As instructed they were sold to the lowest bidder, an act so mercenary, so full of greed and so damning. Even more callous and contemptible, the proceeds were used for a flight to visit Silverwater prison.

Our hearts sank when we learnt that Stephanies drivers licence had also been sent as a trophy. It was removed from her purse, an act I find infuriating and disgusting. It was distressing to learn that it was photographed, and even after seeing this most important and personal photograph of our daughter, there was no sign of conscience, no thought to assist the police. With a sinister, frightening and dangerous bond, they conspired to conceal the truth, brought undone by their greed and arrogance. Stephanies licence has still not been located.

Stephanie represented all that is good about human-kind. She possessed all the qualities we value, and was a source of pride, joy and inspiration to our family, her many friends, and all who knew her.

Losing Stephanie has turned our lives upside-down. What a tragedy! What a waste! It has affected every hour of every day. There have been many wakeful nights, haunted by visions no family should have to know. A day has not passed that we have not shed a tear for our beautiful girl, and for all that has been taken from her.

It is still hard to imagine a future without Stephanie in it. She was so full of life and fun. She was truly one of the special ones.

Our children have all had difficulty returning to their work. We are all angry. We have no tolerance for triviality. There is no peace. Grief is exhausting, and sadness follows us like a cloud.

I find listening to music too difficult, I am impatient and want to lash out. I am tearful, have difficulty concentrating and am constantly distracted. I no longer look forward to solitude. I have missed appointments, suffered ill health and weight loss. I no longer enjoy past-times, I find going to the shop alone too hard, and I have little interest in the future. These are supposed to be the golden years, but for us they are not. I just want to spend my time with family and friends.

Through all these difficult and heart breaking months our children have handled themselves with courage and grace. We have had to grieve in the public eye, and it has been a test for all of us.

I also acknowledge and thank my husband for his courage, his strength and his love and patience.
A high school athlete accused of sexually assaulting two 18-year-old girls while they were unconscious has avoided jail and been told he will not have to register as a sex offender - so he can go enjoy a 'college experience'.

David Becker, who one of the victims claimed was known as 'David the Rapist', was sentenced to two years of probation by Judge Thomas Estes in Palmer, Massachusetts, last week.

The case s is drawing parallels to that of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, who got just six months in jail for a sexual assault conviction, as they are both 'privileged white athletes' who could afford strong legal representation.

'These cases are both examples of rape culture at work,' said Karin Roland, chief campaigns officer at the women's advocacy group UltraViolet.

Becker was accused of sexually assaulting two classmates at East Longmeadow High in April while they were asleep in the same bed. They claim they woke up to him attacking them.

He was given the sentence, seen by some as a slap on the wrist, as his defense attorney, Thomas Rooke, said it was a 'mistake... clouded with alcohol'.

The lawyer then added that men Becker's age 'make mistakes', and said: 'He can now look forward to a productive life without being burdened with the stigma of having to register as a sex offender.'

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Accused: David Becker is accused of sexually assaulting two classmates at East Longmeadow High in April

David Becker, 18, who was accused of sexually assaulting two 18-year-old girls while they were unconscious, has avoided jail and been told he will not have to register as a sex offender - so he can go enjoy a 'college experience'

He will not have the attack on his criminal record and will only have to undergo sexual offender treatment if he doesn't get into trouble before August 2018.

Becker will also be allowed to serve his probation in Ohio while he starts college.

But his hopes were quickly dashed when the University of Dayton later said he would not be attending as a student for this year.

It is not known if he is enrolled in another school.

The goal of this sentence was not to impede this individual from graduating high school and to go onto the next step of his life, which is a college experience Becker's defense attorney, Thomas Rooke

A police report seen by WWLP claimed that Becker denied any sexual contact with one of the alleged victims.

He said that he thought his actions toward the other young woman were okay because she did not stop him.

However other records have shown that he apologized to one of the victims in a text message just hours after the attack.

The victim responded with a text telling Becker 'don't even worry about it,' but later told police that she said this because 'she did not know what else to say.

Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Eileen M. Sears recommended Becker be found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and battery and serve two years in prison, court records show.

But a judge decided against handing down the custodial sentence.

He was given the sentence, seen by some as a slap on the wrist, as his defense attorney, Thomas Rooke, said it was a 'mistake... clouded with alcohol'. The lawyer then added that men Becker's age 'make mistakes', and said: 'He can now look forward to a productive life without being burdened with the stigma of having to register as a sex offender

During the hearing, his lawyer Rooke added: 'We all made mistakes when we were 17, 18, 19 years old, and we shouldn't be branded for life with a felony offense and branded a sex offender.

'Putting this kid in jail for two years would have destroyed this kid's life.'

'He can now look forward to a productive life without being burdened with the stigma of having to register as a sex offender.

'The goal of this sentence was not to impede this individual from graduating high school and to go onto the next step of his life, which is a college experience.'

Becker was a three-sport athlete at East Longmeadow High School who also did community service in his class.

Becker will also be allowed to serve his probation in Ohio while he starts college. But his hopes were quickly dashed when the University of Dayton later said he would not be attending as a student for this year

East Longmeadow police investigated the allegation, and found nobody who alleged that Becker had sexually assaulted anyone else, Rooke said, according to MassLive.

There were also reports one of the victims wrote a letter to prosecutors saying jail time was not necessary.
Shocking footage and photos have emerged of a flight attendant spitting water out of her mouth as she mocked travellers on board while a pilot posed with a blow-up doll in the cockpit of an aircraft.

Air New Zealand has launched an investigation into the incidents after a series of inappropriate content was leaked on social media, NZ Stuff reported.

In the Snapchat video, the air hostess filmed herself walking through the cabin with water spraying from her mouth before breaking into laughter.

'Wish I could spit on passengers like this,' the caption read.

A flight attendant (pictured) filmed herself spitting water out of her mouth as she mocked travellers in a Snapchat video, believed to have been taken four years ago

In one of the images, the pilot dressed in his uniform was pictured kissing a blow-up doll in the cockpit of the aircraft.

In another photo, the doll was pictured sitting alone in the cockpit, presumably with the pilot and co-pilot taking the image.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the airline was 'shocked and appalled' after the material was believed to have surfaced on Facebook and Instagram in the past 48 hours, prompting an investigation.

Despite the content being recently uncovered this week, the spokeswoman claimed the video was created about four years ago while the photos were taken more than a year ago.

A pilot wearing his uniform was pictured kissing a blow-up doll in the cockpit of the plane

The inappropriate photographs were believed to have been taken more than a year ago

'One of the staff members concerned no longer works for Air New Zealand and the other two have been removed from duties pending the outcome of our investigation,' the spokeswoman told NZ Stuff.

'It goes without saying that this is a situation we are treating with extreme seriousness - and our obvious concern is that the behaviour displayed is a clear breach of not just our code of conduct but basic decency.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Air New Zealand for comment.
A transgender teenager claims he was refused a haircut at a men's barber's shop because they were unsure of his gender.

Sam Vella, 16, went with his mother Joanna Smith to get the sides of his short hair cut at Village Barbers in Clayton, Manchester.

The humiliated youngster claimed staff said they 'didn't cut girls' hair' when he asked for a shaved haircut, and 'slammed the door in his face' on Saturday afternoon.

Sam Vella (pictured with his mother Joanne), 16, claimed a barber's shop refused to give him a haircut because they were unsure of his gender

He said: 'They just kept telling me that because I wore nail polish I was a girl and then they didnt know what I was.

'I felt humiliated and really embarrassed.'

Ms Smith, 42, said: 'We were told they don't cut girl's hair. He kept saying "we don't cut girls' hair".

'We explained Sam is a boy but they said they weren't sure "what Sam was".

The pair claim they were asked to leave, but Sam returned to try to explain that he just wanted a haircut.

The youngster claimed staff told him they 'didn't cut girls' hair' at Village Barbers in Clayton, Manchester,

Ms Smith claimed she waited outside the barber, but heard what sounded like the staff shouting at her son.

Ms Smith added that they then allegedly yelled at him to leave and 'slammed the door' in their face.

Sam, who is currently having gender treatment, claimed the staff told him he was a girl because he wore nail polish and asked his name.

The teenager, who is hoping to head to college after getting his GCSE results this week, said he was worried about having his hair cut in case of another incident.
Stephanie Scott's killer prepared a 'rape kit' before he dragged her into a school store room to sexually assault and stab her to death.

The details have emerged along with footage of a police interview with her murderer's brother, after he burned Ms Scott's driver's licence and sold her rings for scraps.

On Easter Sunday last year, cleaner Vincent Stanford went home from Leeton High School in south-west NSW to collect his 'rape kit' when he saw Ms Scott, according to court documents.

Documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court revealed Stanford's kit included an Am-Tech knife with a 35cm-40cm blade.

The court has previously heard that evidence against Stanford included the erectile disfunction medication Viagra, plastic handcuffs and cleaning products.

When he returned, the teacher and bride-to-be wished him a 'happy Easter' when she went to leave.

But before she had the chance, Stanford grabbed her and dragged her into a store room.

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Stephanie Scott was raped and murdered when she was 24-years-old at Leeton High School in south-west NSW, just days before the teacher was due to be married

After murdering the 26-year-old teacher, Stanford placed her body in the boot of her car and early the next morning drove it to Cocoparra National Park, about 70km from the school.

He removed her naked body, placed tree branches over her lower torso, poured petrol onto them and set her alight.

Stanford later told police that after punching her unconscious, he 'struck her in the carotid artery' with an Am-Tech USA knife, with a blade 35cm to 40cm long, to 'make sure she was dead'.

Before he left the scene, he took pictures of the burnt remains and told police they were 'from a horror movie' when the images were found on his camera, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He then dumped her car in a field.

After the murder, he exchanged numerous SMS messages with his identical twin brother Marcus Stanford who lived in South Australia and sent him an envelope that he wanted him 'to keep safe' for him.

A court sketch of Vincent Stanford, who has pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Scott on Easter Sunday last year

After the murder, Vincent Stanford sent his identical twin brother Marcus Stanford (pictured) an envelope he wanted him 'to keep safe'

Newly released footage of a police interview with Marcus Stanford shows him confess to destroying her driver's licence and engagement ring, as well as another ring given to her by her mother as a graduation present.

But he denied knowing his brother had murdered Ms Scott.

On May 9, Marcus Stanford went to the Adelaide Exchange Jewellery store where he sold Ms Scott's engagement ring and another ring given to her by her mother as a graduation present.

He was paid $705 in cash and the rings were later 'scrapped'.

'(He) told police that he used some of the money he received from the sale of the rings to pay for his return flight from Sydney to Adelaide after visiting his brother on 20 May 2015,' the facts said.

Also included in the envelope was Ms Scott's driver's licence which has not been recovered.

But two images of the licence were recovered from a camera seized by police from Marcus Stanford's bedroom.

He admitted taking them before burning the licence, saying he wasn't too sure why he had done so, denying they were a trophy or a memento.

He repeatedly told police his excuse for his conduct was due to a 'misplaced loyalty to his brother'.

Newly released footage of a police interview with Marcus Stanford shows him confess to destroying her driver's licence and engagement ring, as well as another ring given to her by her mother as a graduation present

In the police interview, Marcus Stanford denied knowing his brother had murdered Ms Scott

In her victim impact statement, Ms Scott's mother Merrilyn said the rings were invaluable.

Before learning the rings had been sold and turned to scrap, police had scoured the national park with metal detectors in the hope of returning them to the family.

Police questioned Vincent Stanford three days after the murder.

He initially denied he was involved in her disappearance and claimed he had been shopping on Easter Sunday.

But his alibi fell apart when a police officer called the store Stanford said he had been, and was told it was closed on the public holiday.

Stanford was arrested that night, and police then found Ms Scott's keys, her red bra, and the boot liner of her car when they conducted another search of his home.

He made a full confession a few days later, the same day she was to marry her boyfriend of five years, Aaron Leeson-Woolley.

She was 24-years-old at the time of her murder, and would now be 27.

Marcus Stanford faced a sentence hearing in Leeton on Tuesday for being an accessory after the fact to murder, when the crown facts were tendered to Justice Robert Allan Hulme.

Vincent Stanford is expected to be sentenced in October.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Scott's mother Merrilyn said the rings which were sold for scrap were invaluable (Stephanie and Merrilyn Scott pictured together celebrating her engagement)

Aaron Leeson-Woolley, the fiance of Ms Scott. The couple were set to be married just days after she was murdered
A 58-year-old woman who has been going through the menopause for three years has given birth to a healthy baby girl.

The Vietnamese woman, who has not been named, gave birth to the 7lb 1oz girl after being given IVF.

Mother and baby were both said to be in good shape after the birth at the Andrology and Fertility Hospital of Hanoi.

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A 58-year-old woman who has been going through the menopause for three years has given birth to a healthy baby girl at the Andrology and Infertility Hospital of Hanoi (pictured)

Le Thi Thu Hien, deputy director of the hospital, told Tuoi Tre News that the mother came to the hospital last year with the hope of having a child.

She was warned that IVF would likely fail at her age - especially as she started the menopause three years ago - but she decided to persevere.

The woman is the second mother in her 50s to give birth to a child in Vietnam this year, following 53-year-old Tran Thi Phuc earlier this year.

She and her 54-year-old husband Nguyen Van Manh decided to try IVF at the same hospital and are now raising their first daughter, Tuong Vy.

The oldest woman to give birth is believed to be Daljinder Kaur, who have birth to her first child at the age of 70 earlier this year in India.

She and her 79-year-old husband celebrated the birth of their first child in April after having IVF treatment at a fertility clinic in the northern state of Haryana.

The oldest woman to give birth is believed to be Daljinder Kaur (left, with her baby and 79-year-old husband), who have birth to her first child at the age of 70 earlier this year in India

Mrs Kaur took the mantle of oldest woman in the world to give birth from Rajo Devi Lohan - who was also 70 when she gave birth to daughter Naveen following treatment at the same clinic.

The oldest woman to become a mother in the UK is believed to be Patti Farrant, who gave birth to son JJ at the age of 62.

Mrs Farrant and her husband John, 60, travelled to the former Soviet Union for treatment because the NHS does not usually offer the therapy to women over the age of 43.
A suspect accused of murdering five people in their beds and kidnapping his ex-girlfriend has blamed his deadly rampage on meth.

Derrick Dearman, 27, of Leakesville, Mississippi, has been charged with six counts of capital murder - and after his arrest he told reporters, 'Don't do drugs.'

On Saturday afternoon inside a house in Citronelle, Alabama, officers discovered the bodies of Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; and Robert Lee Brown, 26 and five-months-pregnant Chelsea Marie Reed, 22.

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Derrick Dearman (pictured), 27, of Leakesville, Mississippi, has been charged with six counts of capital murder

Speaking with reporters as he was escorted to jail, Dearman said Monday he was on methamphetamine when he went to the house

Speaking with reporters as he was escorted to jail, Dearman said Monday he was on methamphetamine when he went to the house.

'Drugs [were] making me think things that's not really there,' said Dearman.

After the killings, authorities said, Dearman abducted estranged girlfriend Laneta Lester, who had sought refuge at the house, and a child of two of the victims.

Dearman said he spared their lives because, 'I came down and realized what was really going on.'

'[I] turned myself in because I was sober and knew what was the right thing to do,' Dearman said.

In videotaped comments broadcast on television, Dearman expressed his love for Lester and apologized 'to all the family members.'

Among the victims were Shannon Randall, 35, Robert Lee Brown, 26, and Joseph Adam Turner, 26 (left to right)

Chelsea Reed, 22, and Justin Reed, 23, (left to right) were also killed in the violent rampage

The suspect added: 'Don't do drugs.'

A man who said his family provided a home for Dearman and Lester earlier this year near Leakesville, Mississippi, said Dearman was often on methamphetamine and physically abused Lester during walks in the woods in rural southeast Mississippi.

'He was taking her out there and beating the c**p out of her,' said Charlie Passarelli Jr., who said he had known Dearman for years.

Dearman will be charged with six counts of capital murder, including one charge for the unborn child, Mobile County sheriff's spokesman Lori Myles said.

At about 1am on Saturday, someone inside the home called 911 and reported that Dearman was on the property, authorities said in a statement.

Citronelle police came to the house, but Dearman had left before officers arrived, sheriff's officials said.

On Saturday afternoon inside a house (pictured) in Citronelle, Alabama, officers discovered the bodies of the victims

Dearman (pictured) will be charged with six counts of capital murder, including one charge for the unborn child, Mobile County sheriff's spokeswoman Lori Myles said

Authorities said at least one gun and other, unspecified weapons were used in the killings

Before daylight Saturday, Dearman returned to the home and attacked the victims while they were sleeping.

Authorities said at least one gun and other, unspecified weapons were used.

After the killings, Dearman forced Lester and a three-month-old baby identified by relatives as the child of Randall and Turner into a vehicle, and they drove to Dearman's father's house in Mississippi.
A report by former prison governor Ian Acheson (pictured) said extremists have been able to spread their poison behind bars for too long

Calls for communal Friday prayers to be carried out in cells due to fears that some prisoners are being radicalised by extremists have been rejected by ministers.

Former prison governor, Ian Acheson, wrote a report which said terrorists have been able to spread their poison behind bars for far too long without intervention.

And Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, backed the report and also called for Friday prayers to be carried out in cells instead of communally.

He said: 'Friday prayers are putting immense pressure on the already pressed prison service.

'In France and Germany they do Friday prayers from their cells.

'This report says we should do the same and there is no reason for the Government not to accept this recommendation.'

But the recommendation has been rejected by officials who fear the new rules would disrupt the wider jail population.

Officials were also worried the ban might even result in extremism and discontent within inmates, reports The Times.

The Ministry of Justice has also rejected two other recommendations which relate to Islamist extremism within UK jails.

The other suggestions included the appointment of an adviser on counter-terrorism in prisons and a review of the correspondence between prisoners and their lawyers.

And the justice rejected the new plan for Friday prayers and added they do not believe it is the 'right course of action'.

The Ministry of Justice told the newspaper: 'We will ensure that governors use their existing powers to remove prisoners from corporate worship where they are behaving subversively or promoting beliefs that run counter to fundamental British values.

'We do not, however, believe it is the right course of action at present to alter the provision of worship more generally or to pursue in-cell alternatives.'

One prison source told the newspaper: 'There would be enormous political fallout as well as risks to the stability of prisons if Friday prayers were banned.

'It would become an issue of us attacking religion, whatever faith was involved.'

Liz Truss, the justice secretary, said that preventing the 'most dangerous extremists from radicalising other prisoners is essential to the safe running of prisons'.

Mr Acheson told the newspaper that he was 'very pleased' that the secretary of state has 'accepted the majority' of the review recommendations.

Meanwhile, one prison expert called the movement of troublesome Islamic extremist inmates between jails a 'ghost train' approach.

Anjem Choudary (pictured) will be held in the first special isolation wing for Muslim extremists at top-security HMP Frankland in Durham

It also comes as ministers warned that locking up extremist prisoners in special 'jihadi wings' will be akin to opening up a British Guantanamo Bay.

Isolating hate preachers and Islamist terror offenders in jails would also give them 'credibility', according to Mr Gillan.

It is understood that hate preacher Anjem Choudary will be held in the first special isolation wing for Muslim extremists at top-security HMP Frankland in Durham.

Choudary, 49, was convicted of terror offences last week.

The firebrand cleric, who was found guilty of supporting Islamic State, will be sentenced next month.
A group of men impersonating ISIS fighters have caused terror and anger after wielding fake guns while shouting 'Allahu akbar' in the centre of Prague.

The fake jihadis rode into Old Town Square in the Czech capital on Sunday in a Humvee vehicle, alongside a camel.

Terrified tourists, including children, ran for safety as the men let off fake gunfire and riled up crowds.

Around 40 fake jihadis rode into Old Town Square in the Czech capital on Sunday wielding imitation machine guns

'I was entering Old Town Square from a far corner and heard gunshots,' Prague resident Andrea Steinova told the New York Times.

'Then I saw a group of about 40 people, some of them yelling in Hebrew, running toward me. A couple of them tripped and fell, and others ran over them.'

The sick act was an anti-immigration protest called 'The Occupation of Prague', which City Hall and police were reportedly aware of.

The leader of the protest, Martin Konvicka, was dressed as an imam spouting ISIS propaganda

A man in a large fake beard and suicide bomber vest waved a black ISIS flag on board the vehicle

The group had reportedly informed City Hall about the planned protest and were not stopped from carrying it out until protesters began to clash on Sunday

Anti-Islam activist Konvicka organised THE performance showing the invasion of ISIS in Prague

Konvicka (pictured in white) pretended to preach to the crowds as he stood on the Humvee

The activists donned fake beards, suicide bomber vests and even had a 'hostage' in an orange jumpsuit on board their Humvee.

The leader of the group called 'We dont want Islam in the Czech Republic', Martin Konvicka, was dressed as an imam as he told the crowd: 'We are bringing you the light of true faith'.

At one point his mock beard fell off while he was speaking.

'Xenophobe, xenophobe,' a woman in a red top in the crowd shouted back at him.

Police officers eventually came over and stopped the sick demonstration which was staged at a time of heightened fear of terrorism across Europe.

The sick act was carried out by a group called 'We dont want Islam in the Czech Republic'

Some tourists stopped to film the bizarre spectacle as men in fake orange beards held up mock machine guns
An 87-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after his wife was found dead at a care home.

Jean Constant, 86, was declared dead at Poppyfields care home - which the couple had moved into just months ago - in Eynesbury, Cambridgeshire, on Monday.

Her husband Brendan, from Eynesbury, is being held at Parkside police station in Cambridge for questioning.

Jean Constant, 86, was declared dead at Poppyfields care home (pictured) - which the couple moved into just months ago - in Eynesbury, Cambridgeshire, on Monday

Mrs Constant died at the block of flats where the couple lived, having moved in just months earlier.

Neighbours described seeing a heavy police activity just after 5pm on Monday, and said staff are 'keeping tight lipped about what happened'.

Officers were called to reports of 'serious concern' for a man and a woman inside the property in the residential street of Chapman Way, where houses cost up to 340,000.

A man was rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where he is in a stable condition.

A post-mortem is likely to take place later on Tuesday. A police scientific support unit van was parked outside the care home on Tuesday morning.

Officers were called to reports of 'serious concern' for a man and a woman inside the property in the residential street of Chapman Way

A woman who lives close by and used to work as a cleaner at the block, said: 'All I saw was seven police cars and five ambulances outside the block.

'I went over there and they were all talking about CPR. I heard one person say everything was fine when the nurse saw them last.'

One resident living in the building said: 'Everyone in the flats is saying how awful it is.

'We can't believe what happened to her and Brendan. I didn't know them well, they've only been here about four months.

'Jean was in hospital for a fortnight, I don't know what with. After that she went to a nursing home and came back here last Friday.'

A woman who lives in the flat said: 'I don't know the couple personally, only that they moved in recently and lived on the third floor.

'The staff won't tell us anything. I live on the first floor and looked out of the window last night and saw police and ambulances.

'The staff are very closed and are keeping tight lipped about what happened.'

Her husband Brendan, 87, from Eynesbury, is being held at Parkside police station in Cambridge for questioning

Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident

A man visiting his mother who lives at the home said on Tuesday: 'I walked past the flat and there was a policewoman sitting outside standing guard.'

A woman whose privately-owned home looks on to the flats told how she had to call police last week after a confused resident from the flats knocked on her door.

She added: 'We don't see much of the people who live there, they keep themselves to themselves.'

The care home is comprised of 34 one-bedroom flats, a listing on the website of operator Hanover Housing Association said.

Its services include caring for adults with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments.

The care home's services include caring for adults with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments (pictured, an officer at the scene)

Ms Constant was declared dead at the scene while the man was rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital (pictured) in Cambridge, where he is in a stable condition

It added that an on-site manager looked after the upkeep of the buildings and gardens, as well as helping residents access further help and support if needed.

A spokesman for Hanover, which manages Poppyfields, said: 'Obviously, the incident on Monday is deeply shocking.

'We don't know all the circumstances and are working with the authorities while they carry out their investigations. Our sympathies are very much with the family and friends of those involved.'

A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: 'Police were called to reports of serious concern for a man and a woman inside property in Chapman Way, Eynesbury, just after 5pm.

'An ambulance was called and a man was taken to Addenbrookes where he is now in a stable condition. A woman was declared dead at the scene.
An enthusiastic new teacher has recorded a song to welcome his fourth grade students back to school after their summer holidays.

Dwayne Reed, a first year teacher at Jane Stenson Elementary School in Chicago, made a video for his catchy tune and posted it on YouTube so his students could watch.

The video shows Mr Reed singing and dancing in his classroom and the school hall as he sings and raps his Welcome To The 4th Grade.

Passionate: Dwayne Reed sang his catchy song into the microphone as he recorded the video for his students

It shows him sporting various outfits from gym clothes to an Albert Einstein outfit as he dances in front of a whiteboard filled with equations.

Mr Reed said that he intended the heavily synthesized song to be a friendly introduction so the pupils can get an idea for the kind of teacher he is.

It begins: 'Hello, Im your teacher. My names Mr. Reed, and its very nice to meet ya.

'Im from Chicago, I love eatin' pizza. And I dress to impress, but Ill still wear sneakers.'

Catchy: Mr Reed dressed up in various outfits as he aimed to make the simple song stick in the minds of his students

Fun: He even donned an Albert Einstein costume as he sang and danced infront of his classroom whiteboard

The song also espouses the values of respect, with one catchy verse sounding: 'So we gotta keep it positiiiiiive, thats the is key. Have respect for each other, and dont forget me.'

It is available to download from Mr Reed's website where he wrote: 'I'm a 4th grade teacher, but instead of sending the boring old "Welcome to Class" letter, I figured I'd spice it up and send my new 4th graders a song they could jam to.

'Of course, I'll go old school and write a letter, but I hope this song helps the parents and kids get a better idea of the kind of teacher I'm going to be!'
Nigeria's air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants and believes it has fatally wounded the group's leader in a raid on the Islamists' northeast heartland.

Government planes attacked the fighters in the village of Taye inside the Sambisa forest in Borno State on Friday, the air force said, adding it had only just confirmed details of the raid.

'Their leader, so called "Abubakar Shekau", is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders,' the statement released on Tuesday from army spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman added.

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Nigeria's air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants and believes it has fatally wounded the group's leader - Abubakar Shekau (pictured in a video released in August) - in a raid on the Islamists' northeast heartland

The military has reported Shekau's death in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements

A poster advertising a reward for information leading to the capture of Abubakar Shekau

The military has reported Shekau's death in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements.

There was no immediate reaction from the group.

Boko Haram's list of victims - dead, displaced or abducted - meanwhile grows longer by the day.

The jihadist group has claimed more than 20,000 deaths, displaced 2.6 million people from their homes, and kidnapped thousands of children since it started fighting in 2009 for an independent Islamist state in Nigeria.

But the kidnapped Chibok girls continue to define the Boko Haram insurgency.

More than two years after their capture in April 2014, the girls remain the symbol of the insurgency - and a political embarrassment to the two Nigerian administrations that have failed to secure their return.

On Sunday August 14, the Chibok girls were back in the spotlight after a Boko Haram video purportedly showing some of them was released, following months of silence and speculation about their fates.

Although it is unclear when the video was shot and if the girls are all from Chibok, experts say its release date is not a coincidence.

Boko Haram has claimed more than 20,000 deaths, displaced 2.6 million people from their homes, and kidnapped thousands of children since it started fighting in 2009 for an independent Islamist state in Nigeria. But the kidnapped Chibok girls (pictured) continue to define the Boko Haram insurgency

Of the 276 girls kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School in the northeastern town of Chibok, 218 are still missing.

Dozens managed to escape in the early hours of the abduction, and one of them was found in May.

The audacity of the mass kidnapping - and the failure of the Nigerian government to find the girls - shocked the world.

Boko Haram catapulted from an obscure regional threat to a high-profile terror group, as politicians and celebrities around the globe posted the #bringbackourgirls hashtag on social media.

The response was 'unique', said Yan St-Pierre, head of the Modern Security Consulting Group in Berlin.

'While other hostages held by terrorists have also caused some media interest - the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in Palestine or the Iran hostage crisis in 1980, for example - it was rather localised,' he said.

'But in the case of the Chibok girls, the media reaction was international.'

The interest in the Chibok girls transformed them into a valuable asset for Boko Haram.

'It is both a blessing, because they were protected a little, and a curse, because they have become Boko Haram's bargaining chip,' St-Pierre said.

In the new video, Boko Haram demands a prisoner swap of its fighters in exchange for the Chibok girls.

However, the seizure of the Chibok girls is not unique in Nigeria.

On April 14 this year, the two-year anniversary of the kidnapping, UNICEF said that 'up to 7000 women and girls might be living in abduction and sex slavery', often forcibly married or used as suicide bombers.

'These are only estimates, the number is probably much higher,' Toby Fricker of UNICEF Nigeria told AFP.

'Chibok is only part of the tragedy.'

Human Rights Watch revealed in early August that over the past three years 10,000 young boys had been kidnapped, with some of them being trained as soldiers.

The Chibok girls were not even the largest group of children who were kidnapped.

The largest abduction took place in November 2014, when 300 children were taken from the town of Damasak in Borno State, according to Human Rights Watch.

'The girls of Chibok are a symbol,' said Munir Safieldin, a UN humanitarian coordinator.

He said they represent tens of thousands of victims and that in many ways their saga encapsulates the entire conflict.

While the Nigerian army has won many military victories, the northeast of the country is ravaged after years of fighting Boko Haram.
The parents of a five-year-old girl with a spinal tumour say the NHS is 'playing with her life' by blocking her from having 80,000 cancer treatment which they claim could save her.

Nell Connick was diagnosed with a fast-growing tumour in her spine and faces being paralysed if it is not removed.

But she has been refused NHS funding for proton beam therapy - a highly-targeted type of radiotherapy - because she is 'unsuitable'.

Her parents Emma and David, from Swansea, South Wales, are now trying to take their little girl to the US for treatment amid claims the NHS is 'playing with their daughter's life'.

Nell Connick, five, from Swansea, South Wales, is trying to get proton beam therapy to treat her spinal tumour. The little girl has been refused treatment on the NHS

Her parents Emma and David (with whom she is pictured) are now trying to take their little girl to the US for treatment amid claims the NHS is 'playing with their daughter's life'

'We want to know why they won't give her the treatment. They said she just doesn't fit the category,' Mrs Connick told The Sun.

'We were just so angry because they couldn't give a reason why. We shouldn't have to be fighting to get life-saving treatment for my daughter.'

Desperate for help, Nell's parents contacted the charity Kids 'n' Cancer, who are now trying to raise money to fund private treatment for the little girl in the US.

But the charity founder Mike Hyman claims the NHS has ordered the clinic not to accept Nell's case in a deliberate attempt to block the little girl having treatment abroad.

Mr Hyman said the charity has so far funded proton beam therapy for 13 children, all of whom were initially deemed 'hopeless' by the NHS but are all alive and well today.

He told MailOnline: 'These so-called medical experts are playing God with a five-year-old child's life.

Kids 'n' Cancer charity founder Mike Hyman claims the NHS has ordered the US clinic not to accept Nell's case in a deliberate attempt to block the little girl having treatment abroad

Nell fist saw medics in June this year after waking up with excruciating pain in her neck. She was diagnosed with the tumour a few weeks later

'All the children who the charity has funded for treatment are alive and well today.

'It frustrates me beyond belief. At the end of the day, every mother and father, even if there's only a one per cent chance of something working, will want to give it a go. That parent is going to exhaust their one per cent.

'Sometimes miracles do happen and the doctors are stopping that possibility. At least if they try for this treatment, the parents can sit back and say "I did everything possible". It is a parent's right is to do their best and try to help their children.'

Her mother said: 'We shouldn't have to be fighting to get life-saving treatment for my daughter'

The case has echoes of the Ashya King, whose desperate parents took the little boy from a NHS hospital so he could get proton beam therapy in Europe.

Ashya was diagnosed with a brain cancer called medulloblastoma and doctors wanted to treat little boy with conventional radiotherapy.

But his parents did not agree and fled from Southampton General Hospital before being arrested - and subsequently freed - in Spain.

Ashya received proton beam therapy in Prague and went on to start school last year.

Mr and Mrs Connick, together with Mr Hyman, are due to fly to Prague on Thursday to see whether treatment will be possible there.

A JustGiving page, which has already raised 3,500, has been set up to raise funds for the little girl.

Mr Hyman said the treatment costs around $110,000 - the equivalent to around 80,000 - but that they are trying to raise 150,000 to cover the cost of flights, accommodation and running the charity.

Nell fist saw medics in June this year after waking up with excruciating pain in her neck.

Weeks later, while she was having routine blood tests, she collapsed in front of nurses. Tests later revealed a tumour inside her spinal cord.

The case has echoes of the Ashya King (pictured), whose desperate parents took the little boy from a NHS hospital so he could get proton beam therapy in Europe

During the diagnosis, she had to have an operation to remove tissue so she could have a biopsy, a procedure which has left her unable to walk and without use in one of her arms.

Nell was then told she could receive radiotherapy and chemotherapy but that she did not qualify for proton beam therapy.

Proton beam therapy is a highly-targeted type of radiotherapy that can treat hard-to-reach cancers, such as spinal tumours, with a lower risk of damaging the surrounding tissue and causing side effects.

The Government has announced that it is to create two NHS proton beam therapy units which will open in 2018.

A source at NHS England said there had been a 'difficult' relationship with Kids 'n' Cancer and that it would not seek to block children receiving treatment they need.

They added: 'Unfortunately, proton beam therapy is being seen as a silver bullet miracle cure, which it is not. In many cases there are better options available. Every case is assessed individually.'

A Welsh Government spokesman said: 'We can not comment on individual cases.

'Proton beam therapy for Welsh residents is currently commissioned by the Welsh Health and Specialised Services Committee on behalf of the NHS in Wales, on a limited basis, from a small number of providers outside the UK.'
China has become the biggest oil operator in the North Sea, with a state-owned company said to be in line for 2billion of tax breaks.

China National Offshore Corporation (CNOOC) runs two of the biggest oilfields in the area.

One of its subsidiaries, Nexen, is responsible for extracting around 200,000 barrels a day - more than 10 per cent of the total.

The state-owned Chinese company is now the biggest operator in the North Sea

The scale of China's involvement - highlighted by The Times - will intensify fears over the state's role in the controversial Hinkley Point nuclear power plant project.

Theresa May put the the crucial infrastructure scheme on hold pending a review last month after becoming Prime Minister.

One of Mrs May's top aides previously criticised the extent to which David Cameron and George Osborne courted Chinese investment since 2010.

CNOOC was blocked from buying a US oil company over national security concerns a decade ago.

But no concerns appear to have been raised in Britain when the company bought Nexen, a Canadian oil operator with a large stake in North Sea oil, in 2012.

Cnooc's annual report for last year says UK government tax cuts for oil production were 'mainly' responsible for the difference between a tax charge of 2.5 billion in 2014 and a tax credit of 361 million a year later, according to The Times.

As Chancellor, Mr Osborne cut the overall tax bill for oil operations from 50 to 40 per cent.

'Our income tax credit changed 114 per cent', the report states, 'mainly because the UK government decreased the combined income tax rate on North Sea oil and gas activities from 62 per cent to 50 per cent (which) resulted in a one-time reversal of Continued on page 6, col 5 North Sea deal gives Beijing 2bn tax break Continued from page 1 deferred tax liability.'

Two of the North Sea's biggest oilfields are run by the state-backed Chinese company

Alongside its interests in key North Sea infrastructure, China is poised to play a central role in a new nuclear plant

Lower oil prices also helped to drive down CNOOC's income tax bill to minus 18.2 per cent.

Other North Sea oil companies can access the tax cuts.

The accounts apparently reflect the total value of the tax cuts in the future, and CNOOC will not receive the full benefit this year.

Jeffrey Henderson, professor of international development at Bristol University, told the newspaper: 'North Sea oilfields are running down and becoming increasingly expensive for oil producers.

'In narrow terms, the state overseas oil company will be pouring money into the region for no particularly obvious gain.'

He suggested CNOOC's involvement in the North Sea may be an attempt by China to increase its corporate 'soft power'.

He added: 'It may be part of a general strategy to boost the credibility and legitimacy of Chinese companies operating within Europe.'
The FBI has launched a terrorism investigation after an alleged extremist attempted to behead a man and stabbed a woman outside in Virginia in a possible ISIS-inspired attack.

The incident happened outside an apartment complex on Saturday night in what police in Roanoke are describing as a 'random attack'.

Witnesses said the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Wasil Rafat Farooqui, shouted 'Allah Akbar', meaning 'God is the greatest', while attempting to decapitate the male victim, who was able to fight off the armed assailant.

The suspect had previously tried to sneak into Syria for terrorist training.

Wasil Rafat Farooqui, pictured above in booking photos, was arrested on Saturday evening after a man and a women were attacked in Roanoke, Virginia

Police arrested Farooqui, a US-born citizen, when he walked into the same hospital as the two victims to seek medical treatment for his own injuries.

The suspect has been charged with two counts of malicious wounding causing permanent impairment according to jail records. He is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail.

According to jail records, the man and woman suffered 'permanent impairment'.

According to ABC News, Farooqui had previously traveled to Turkey with the aim of sneaking over the border into Syria and joining ISIS.

A US intelligence source tells CBS News that Farooqui, who is believed to be self-radicalized, only got as far as Europe in his travels and returned home earlier this year.

It was that aborted trip to Syria that made the FBI take notice of Farooqui in the first place, according to the source.

Saturday's attack happened around 8pm at The Pines apartments in the 4300 block of Banbury Lane.

The FBI has launched a terrorism investigation following Saturday's incident at The Pines apartment complex in Roanoke, Virginia, pictured, which left two people seriously injured

Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBI's Richmond Division, said: 'The FBI is working with the police department following the incident that occurred on Saturday evening.

'While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident.'

Police responded to emergency calls on Saturday saying that a male and a female were attacked as they attempted to enter The Pines apartment complex.

According to a statement released by police: 'While officers were at the hospital with the victims, a male, subsequently identified as 20-year-old Wasil Farooqui of Roanoke County, came into the emergency room suffering from injuries of his own. He met the description of the suspect in the stabbing.'
Seven terror suspects have been arrested this month in France - and almost half of those had concrete plans to carry out attacks, France's interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve has revealed.

All seven of the terrorists detained in August have now been jailed.

'The number of individuals linked to terrorist networks arrested in the first six months of the year in France is equivalent to that of the full year 2015,' Mr Cazeneuve said on Tuesday.

France has been under a state of emergency since attacks claimed by Islamic State in Paris in November killed 130, extended after a radical truck driver killed 85 in Nice.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (left) is welcomed by French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (right) in Paris on Tuesday

Mr Cazeneuve was speaking alongside German Minister Thomas de Maiziere as they announced a new Franco-German initiative for the security of inner Europe.

It's three aims will be to beef up controls at the external borders, better share critical information among Member States and arm 'our democracies on the issue of encryption'.

France and Germany want messaging apps such as Telegram to limit encryption to help governments monitor communications among suspected terrorists.

Privacy advocates argue that encryption is essential to online security, notably for banking transactions. Mr Cazeneuve said authorities are not pushing to ban encryption, but to work with companies that offer encrypted services so that they cannot be abused by violent extremists.

He and his German counterpart said they're pushing for a Europe-wide policy limiting encryption to be discussed at an EU summit next month.

The minsters also stressed the need for a unified European system for sharing police information, after deadly extremist attacks in both countries this summer.

The French minister also said the European border guard and Coast Guard Agency, which was approved by European Parliament in July, must be operational as soon as possible.

He announced plans for a simulation of a 'crisis' at the external borders of the EU by the end of the year.

Anti-terrorist police raid an apartment in Saint Denis, Paris, France, in November last year (file photo)

Mr Cazeneuve and Mr de Maiziere announced a new Franco-German initiative for the security of inner Europe

The European border guard and Coast Guard Agency will boast a force of 1,500 guards with the aim to help countries cope with unusually high levels of migration.

Last week the French government held a special security meeting to discuss increasing protection measures at schools after a series of deadly extremist attacks in the country.

The meeting, led by President Francois Hollande, was designed to adapt security measures to the new school year starting in September. The extremist threat is still at a 'very high level,' Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

As summer winds down, the number of military troops protecting sensitive sites will be decreased in the French regions and increased in Paris, Le Drian said.

Mr Cazeneuve said he will announce specific measures to protect schools this week in coordination with Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.

The pair announced plans for a simulation of a 'crisis' at the external borders of the EU by the end of the year

Cazeneuve also confirmed the goal to form a national guard of 84,000 people in the coming months, based on the existing reserve forces, to help ensure security.

French intelligence services 'are conducting investigations every day' and are making arrests of 'individuals we think could pose a threat,' Cazeneuve said.

On Wednesday last week, Hollande visited the Vatican to meet Pope Francis and discuss an attack on a Catholic Church last month in northwest France, in which extremists slit a priest's throat.
With its spectacular scenery and glorious climate, New Zealand has always been a popular destination for Britons wanting to start a new life.

But apparently it has been a great deal more in demand since the historic Brexit vote on June 23.

Some 10,647 people have enquired about emigrating to the country over the past 49 days - sparking jibes that the 'British invasion' has been sparked by Boris Johnson becoming Foreign Secretary.

The stunning scenery in New Zealand is one of the main thing that appeals to Britons considering a move

The figure is more than double the 4,599 who registered with Immigration New Zealand in the same period last year.

The phenomenon may well have been mentioned to Boris Johnson, who held talks with his counterpart Murray McCully in London yesterday.

The effect of the Brexit result seems to have been felt within hours.

On June 24 the website received 998 enquiries from the UK, nearly 10 times as many as the day before, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Registering with the site allows would-be emigrants to check the rules and what skills are in demand.

New Zealand currently is said to have urgent vacancies for poultry farmers, bakers, ski instructors, dentists and upholsterers, among others.

The newspaper joked that the fact the country is '18,000km from Boris Johnson' - around 11,000 miles - could be the reason for its recent popularity.

It also cited 'affordable houses and no traffic' as reasons Britons might wish to move.

Boris Johnson, seen meeting New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully in London yesterday, has been cited as another reason why people are thinking about leaving

The enquiries to Immigration New Zealand are said to have doubled after the Brexit vote

But Auckland academic Prof Paul Spoonley of Massey University told the Herald: 'We'd be getting people from the UK who are tired of a narrow-minded Britain and who want to experience something quite different.

'New Zealand is very different, it is multicultural, very tolerant and it's got a good lifestyle and a more temperate climate.'

Prof John Morgan, a British expat and academic at the University of Auckland, said: 'There is this pervading idea that New Zealand is some sort of relic of 1950s Britain, a place to escape, a place to go back in time.

The New Zealand Herald branded the rise in emigration enquiries a 'British invasion', and suggested one attraction was the country being '18,000km from Boris Johnson'

'That is not true, but it is generally true that New Zealand does avoid the worst trappings of modern, consumerist culture. There is a rush hour - but it is just an hour.'

The UK and Ireland have traditionally supplied the largest proportion of immigrants to NewZealand, although the 2013 census found that British- and Irish-born arrivals had been overtaken for the first time by those born in Asian nations. One in four of the country's population of 4.5 million was born overseas, it found.

According to Immigration New Zealand, in the year to June, 4,934 Britons were granted residency, 22,633 Britons received work visas and 1,176 Britons obtained student visas. NewZealand experienced its largest population growth in the 12 months to June this year as a result of international migration.
Following the Australian release of the critically acclaimed Xbox One S, Xbox Australia have today unveiled the Xbox Onesie  Microsofts limited edition all-in-one garment designed to be the perfect loungewear attire.

Scroll down for video

Microsoft have unveiled the 'Xbox Onesie' - designed to be the 'perfect loungewear attire'

The Xbox Onesie features:

 Enlarged pockets to fit your Xbox Controller and Media Remotes

 Arm pouch for quick access to a mobile phone

 Roll-able leg and arm sleeves

 Forearm grips to prevent slipping

 Extra-large hood to accommodate headsets

 Customised Gamertag embroidery

The Xbox Onesie will be available in both black and white variations

The onesie features enlarged pockets perfect for any Xbox controller or media remote

The onesie will be available in both black and white variations.

Microsoft have confirmed that the Xbox Onesie will be available publicly, but have yet to confirm specifics stating that there will be more details on availability soon.

The Xbox One S is available in Australia from today starting at $399 AUD with 500GB, 1TB or 2TB storage options and is arguably one of the best games consoles ever made.

You can read our full review of the Xbox One S here.

THE XBOX ONE S The Xbox One S will come in a colour known as 'robot white'. It will feature an internal power supply, unlike previous generations of Xbox that have had external power packs. Despite this, the Xbox One S will also be 40 per cent smaller than the previous model. Microsoft said the console will support 4K Ultra HD video and will come with up to 2TB of internal hard disk space. The new model will also have High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wireless controller with extended range. Owners will be able to customise their controller with Microsoft's Xbox design lab. 500GB Xbox One S will cost - $399 AUD 1TB Xbox One S will cost $499 AUD Advertisement
Young girls at German swimming pools are being given temporary tattoos with the word 'NO!' on them in an attempt to put off rapists.

The stick-on messages say 'no' in German and English and officials hope they will lead to a fall in sexual assaults at public baths.

The new move comes after increased fears of sex attacks by migrants in the country, however authorities say the problem has long-existed in Germany's pools.

Young girls at German swimming pools are being given temporary tattoos (pictured) with the word 'NO!' on them in an attempt to put off rapists

Posters put up at pools warn of people taking photos of swimmers getting changed and people forcing other bathers up against walls

The temporary tattoos have the word 'NO!' or 'NEIN!' emblazoned in red, alongside white angel's wings.

Posters put up at pools warn of people taking photos of swimmers getting changed and people forcing other bathers up against walls.

The campaign was launched in the Bodensee district of Baden-Wurttemberg state in the south west of Germany.

Veronika Wascher-Goggerle, the women's and family representative of the district, said: 'I think many girls are insecure. What is normal in daily interactions and what should not be allowed and needs to be reported?

'Illustrations have been made available at swimming pools and should make this clear.

'The temporary tattoos are an incentive for young swimmers to think about the issue,' she added.

The stick-on messages say 'no' in German and English and officials hope they will lead to a fall in sexual assaults at public baths. Pool in Baden-Wurttemberg state pictured

New posters tell girls a to look out for 'if someone watches you in the changing room, films or takes photos of you with a mobile phone'.

They are also warned to report anyone who 'pushes you deliberately against the pool edge' or 'tries to tear down your swimwear'.

Tensions have been heightened in Germany since a vast number of women were sexually assaulted in Cologne and other cities at New Year.

A significant proportion of the perpetrators were believed to be migrants who had recently arrived in the country.
Warren Mitchell played the controversial character Alf Garnett (pictured) in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part

The BBC has discovered a 49-year-old script from Till Death Us Do Part that it will use in the remake of the controversial show - because it contains no racist remarks.

Producers have trawled through the archives and found a script from 1967 which remarkably did not include the usual content used in the popular sitcom.

The show, made famous because of the racist main character, Alf Garnett, will return to the screens this year.

But it will not feature any of the racist remarks typically used by the bigoted cockney Garnett - played by the late Warren Mitchell, who died last year aged 89.

The show - which first aired on BBC One in 1965 - focused on Garnett's views women, gays and ethnic minorities.

But the programme's writer, Johnny Speight - who also penned material for Morecambe and Wise - always claimed he created Garnett as a satirical character.

He insisted Garnett's views on the sitcom - which lasted for seven series - were written to show how old-fashioned and outdated his beliefs were.

And Mitchell defended the racism when he recalled a conversation he had with a fellow Tottenham supporter who congratulated him on 'having a go' at immigrants.

Garnett (pictured) was known for his racist, sexist and controversial views on ethnic minorities

The actor famously replied: 'Actually, we're having a go at idiots like you.'

His character will be played by the Fast Show's Simon Day, 54, who will star in the one-off episode called A Woman's Place is in the Home.

But despite the Beeb axing the racist remarks used in the old show, the sitcom is expected to still include Garnett's sexist beliefs, reports The Times.

Day, who like Mitchell was born in London, was quoted in the newspaper saying that there were no changes made to the 49-year-old script.

He said: 'As far as I know, there have been no changes at all.'

The premise of the programme - part of a BBC series called Lost Sitcoms - will remain unchanged and will include Garnett's outbursts at long-suffering wife Else.

And it seems Day was aware the remake had to be a softer version of the original classic.

He told the Radio Times: 'I knew the BBC wouldn't do that now. I knew the BBC would never, ever have a script with racism in it.

'You can't be racist on the BBC, can you?'

In the new episodem Garnett will continue his outbursts at his wife Else, who goes to the cinema and accidentally burns the dinner.

The premise of the show - part of a BBC series called Lost Sitcoms - will remain unchanged and will include Garnett's outbursts at long-suffering wife Else (right)

Fast Show comedian Simon Day (left) takes on the role of Alf Garnett, with Call the Midwife star Lizzie Roper (second left) as Else. Sydney Rae White (second right) is his daughter Rita and soap star Carl Au (right) plays Mike Read

Garnett will declare 'her place is here looking after my dinner' and will also refer to a woman as a 'saucy little b****'.

The BBC's comedy season remakes include Steptoe and Son and Hancock's Half Hour and new one-off specials of Porridge, Up Pompeii!, Are you Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances.

But bosses ruled out remaking the famous World War II sitcom 'Allo 'Allo! because they were nervous the Nazis in the show would offend viewers.

Producers were reportedly worried that some of the characters, such as Gestapo officer Herr Flick, would cause animosity.

A source told The Sun that they blamed political correctness and said that it was 'so sad' because the show was 'really funny'.
Ofsted chief David Hoare said the island's school results  among the worst in the country  may be linked to its social problems.

The chairman of the schools watchdog has finally quit today after he described the Isle of Wight as an inbred, poor, white, crime-filled ghetto.

Ofsted chief David Hoare said the island's school results  among the worst in the country  may be linked to its social problems.

While many go there for 'champagne' holidays, the way ordinary islanders lived was 'shocking', he said, with ghettos 'within inches' of sailing clubs for the rich.

Three weeks after the comments he finally resigned and informed Education Secretary Justine Greening he would quit with immediate effect.

He said: 'It has been a great privilege to chair the Ofsted board for the past two years.'

The former banker apologised three weeks ago after his views were branded ill-judged and insulting, saying he was merely highlighting the problem of low educational standards in coastal towns.

But it appears that this was not enough and he has fallen on his sword.

Mr Hoare made the controversial comments during a speech to teachers at the Teach First conference in Leeds, the Times Educational Supplement reported.

The management consultant, who has a home just across the Solent, said his dinner party guests think of the Isle of Wight as a 'holiday land'. He added: 'But it is shocking. It's a ghetto; there has been inbreeding. There is a mass of crime, drug problems, huge unemployment.'

Mr Hoare said that while many see the Isle of Wight (pictured) as an affluent area known for its sailing - in fact there are communities suffering from impoverished conditions

The Isle of Wight lies just off the Hampshire coast and is known for its sailing as well as its plush restaurants and bars

The Isle of Wight was the second worst local authority when it comes to secondary education and the third worst when it comes to primary education, he said.

But Isle of Wight Council leader Jonathan Bacon said Mr Hoare's comments were an 'insult to the proud and hardworking community'.

'They are ridiculous and disclose a complete lack of knowledge of the Isle of Wight and its education system,' he said.

Mr Bacon said he would complain to Education Secretary Justine Greening.

ISLE OF WIGHT: HOLIDAY HAVEN OR 'WHITE GHETTO'? The Isle of Wight has a predominantly English population with 92 per cent of its residents having been born in England. The next largest group are immigrants from the European Union, which make up 3 per cent. Out of the 69, 972 households on the Isle of Wight - 4,000 of these are home to single-parent families. Almost two in five of these parents are not in full-time employment. The island has one area, the ward of Ryde North East, that is listed in the top 10 per cent of the most deprived areas of Britain for a number of concerning factors. It is listed in the most deprived 10 per cent for its crime, income, education and living environment. Advertisement

Official statistics show that the island's wealth is broadly in line with the UK average  although four small areas are considered especially deprived  and the crime rate is below average.

Only 3.3 per cent of the population is non-white.

Public school-educated Mr Hoare, who is paid about 50,000, said: 'I have today informed the Secretary of State that I will be resigning from my position as chair with immediate effect.

'It has been a great privilege to chair the Ofsted board for the past two years. I am pleased that the organisation now has an excellent board in place with expertise across all of our remit areas, including early years and further education.'

He added: 'I will miss working with an excellent team, making a real difference.'

Senior non-executive board member James Kempton has agreed to take on the role of chairman on an interim basis, Ofsted said.

His comments upset many people.

Green party education spokesman Vix Lowthion said: 'I am absolutely appalled that the chairman of Ofsted thinks it helpful, truthful or professional to describe our families and young people in that way. He should resign.' Ofsted said: 'The chairman was expressing his personal views. They do not reflect the views of Ofsted or the chief inspector.'

The island has faced previous Ofsted criticism. In 2013 primary school progress was found to be the lowest in the country and GCSE attainment well below average.

Experts blame a lack of aspiration among poor white communities for low achievement in schools in coastal areas.

The Government is parachuting the best teachers into underperforming schools, while Theresa May has vowed to help 'white, working-class boys' who are 'less likely than others to go to university'.
A man who played Father Christmas on a historic train line for nearly 20 years has been jailed for sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl.

Jeffrey Moffat, 57, pleaded guilty to statutory sodomy in the first degree in a courtroom in New Madrid County, Missouri, on August 22.

It was alleged that between August 2014 and June 2015 Moffat sexually abused a six-year-old girl when her parents were not with her.

Jeffrey Moffat (pictured), 57, pleaded guilty to statutory sodomy in the first degree in a courtroom in New Madrid County, Missouri, on August 22

During the plea hearing, the Santa Claus impersonator acknowledged how damning the evidence against him was, according to KFVS.

Moffat was famous in the Missouri community for his time spent on the Iron Mountain Railway on the Polar Express train dressed as Santa Claus.

He took part in the Christmas tradition for nearly two decades.

Documents from the court show he touched a girl aged six years old inappropriately on more than one occasion.

According to the court documents, the incidents occurred at Moffat's home in Cape Girardeau County.

He entered the plea on a charge of statutory sodomy where the victim was younger than 14.

The Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (pictured) is a historic train line that operated in Missouri and Arkansas from 1874 to 1917

Moffat must now serve at least 85 per cent of his 12-year sentence before the possibility of parole.

He was interviewed by detectives from the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office on July 24, 2015.

The Iron Mountain and Southern Railway is a historic train line that operated in Missouri and Arkansas from 1874 to 1917.

Images on the organisation's social media page show people taking part in Christmas activities on the train.
Authorities are hunting for a person after the mysterious discovery of a mutilated horse.

Angie, a 21-year-old mare, was found by her owners in a shallow dam off Courtney Road in Queensland's Upper Coomera on August 12. All four of the horse's legs were severed around the knee and hock joints.

A lack of blood at the scene has led the RSPCA to believe the perpetrator has butchery or abattoir experience, reports Gold Coast Bulletin.

Authorities are hunting for a person after a mutilated horse was found in a shallow dam

RSPCA Inspector Sommer Heath-Crilley said the absence of blood at the scene was bizarre and urged anyone with information to come forward.

'We were hoping the tests would give us a clueBut now we've hit a brick wall and we desperately need help from the public.'

Dr Tim Hawthorne of Gold Coast and Nerang Equine said the person responsible has experience as a butcher or in an abattoir.

He said the lack of blood suggested the horse's legs had been cut after she was killed.

Angie was semi-retired and only exercised when her owner Carolyn Jeffrey's grandchildren visited to ride her.

Ms Jeffrey last saw Angie alive on Thursday, August 11, before finding her mutilated the following day.
A mother-of-four was rescued from a savage assault by her boyfriend after she dialled 999 and hid the phone under her pillow so the operator could hear her screams.

Donna Speirs, 32, was able to keep the phone hidden long enough for an emergency call handler to pinpoint her address in Inverclyde and send police to the door.

The call recorded Myles Leyden, 27, shouting 'I'm going to murder you, you b*****' while punching her, before throwing a knife across their sleeping baby daughter's cot.

Donna Speirs (left), 32, was rescued from a savage assault by her boyfriend Myles Leyden (right), 27, after she dialled 999 and hid the phone under her pillow so the operator could hear her screams

Unaware he was being monitored, Leyden carried on with the brutal attack.

When police arrived at Ms Speirs's home, jobless Leyden rushed into bed and pretended he had just woken up - before headbutting an officer who tried to approach him.

The attack was all the more shocking because he had previously been an exemplary step-father to her three sons.

The pair were even engaged to get married.

But Leyden turned nasty after a day out drinking at a christening and arrived home convinced that Ms Speirs was seeing another man.

Ms Speirs, who suffered two black eyes, multiple bruising and swelling, said: 'I want everyone to know what a beast he is.

'He was steaming drunk and was demanding to see my phone. When he eventually got hold of my mobile he snapped it in half.

'I went to bed to try and avoid him but he came in and punched me right across my face. I put my hands up to protect myself but he just kept going.

Ms Speirs was able to keep the phone receiver hidden long enough for an emergency call handler to pinpoint her address in Inverclyde and send police to the door (pictured with Leyden)

Unaware he was being monitored, Leyden carried on with the brutal attack. And when police arrived at Ms Speirs' home, Leyden tried to hide and pretended nothing had happened

'He held me down and kept yelling 'tell me the f****** truth' but I was telling him the truth. I wasn't seeing anyone else.

'He was punching me and kicking me with his knees.

'Then he got up to turn the light on and have a look at my face and said 'for f*** sake, there is nothing wrong with you.'

'Then he went to get a knife and said "I'm going to murder you, you b*****"'

Ms Speirs's three sons, twins aged six and a boy of four, were squealing with terror in the next room.

The quick-thinking mum managed to grab a cordless phone before dialling 999 and hid it under her pillow as Leyden returned with a knife.

She said: 'I was so scared. When he went to get the knife, that's when I dialled 999 from the housephone which is by my bed.

'I hid the phone under the pillow.

'He threw the knife over the top of our cot. It missed the baby and missed me, thankfully.

Leyden turned nasty after a day out drinking at a christening and arrived home convinced that Ms Speirs was seeing another man. Ms Speirs suffered two black eyes, multiple bruising and swelling

'Then he went to get a second knife and the operator could hear me yelling, 'Please, don't get another knife'.

'I just hoped that the police would turn up, I hoped that they could hear what was happening.

'I actually could hear the operator talking to me when the phone receiver was under the pillow.

'So I managed to wriggle it further into the pillow in case he heard.

'It was a woman call operator and I really think she saved my life. I'm so thankful to her.'

The horrific attack happened in the early hours of Saturday June 27 this year.

Leyden has now been sentenced to 11 months in prison and a three year non-harassment order to stay away from Ms Speirs.

The attack was all the more shocking because he had previously been an exemplary step-father to her three sons

But Sheriff Derek Hamilton lambasted the Crown Office for prosecuting the offence as a minor summary case rather than an indictment case.

This meant the maximum sentence that could be imposed was a year - and the sheriff was obliged to reduce even that paltry sentence because shamed Leyden plead guilty.

Sheriff Hamilton said: 'This is an appalling assault - an appalling catalogue of behaviour.

'You can consider yourself fortunate that this matter was prosecuted on a summary complaint rather than on indictment.

'If this case had been indicted given your history - which includes assault and robbery, an assault on indictment for a knife offence - you would be looking at a sentence of years and not months.

'Unfortunately, parliament limits my powers and the maximum I can give you is 12 months.'

Ms Speirs said she wanted to speak out to warn other women of Leyden whose prison sentence she has blasted as a joke.

Leyden has now been sentenced to 11 months in prison and a three year non-harassment order to stay away from Ms Speirs

She said: 'The sentence is a joke. The sheriff wanted to lock him up for longer. But he wasn't allowed to.'

Fiscal depute David Glancy explained the horrifying chain of events to the court and said: 'The complainer could be heard during the 999 call to be screaming hysterically for the accused to 'stop it'.

'The call handler also picked up the sounds of the punches.

'The operator acted commendably quickly and police officers were instructed to go to the address. The door was opened by the complainer whom the police noted as being extremely upset.

'She [Ms Speirs] had a large amount of swelling around her eyes and nose.'

The court heard that after police rang the doorbell at Ms Speirs's semi-detached home, Leyden rushed into her bed and tried to act like he'd just woken up.

When an officer approached him, Leyden head-butted him - then fell backwards into the baby's cot. A green knife was found where he had been lying down.

Ms Speirs, now determined to rebuild her life for the sake of her children, added: 'For him to do what he did to me in front of the kids is the behaviour of a beast.

'There's no other word for it.

'Since it's happened he's shown no remorse at all and I hope he has a terrible time in prison. I hope he rots in hell.'
A groom-to-be was left paralysed after breaking his back in a freak accident on his stag do.

James Thorpe, 28, from Boston, Lincolnshire, tripped in the sea while on holiday in Majorca on June 3, just three weeks before he was due to marry fiancee Michaela Watson, 33.

He broke seven vertebrae and was paralysed from the chest down, leaving him with movement only in his head and arms.

Devastated: James Thorpe broke his back weeks before he was due to wed Michaela Watson

Recovery: The firefighter has made 'amazing' progress in the months since his accident

Staying positive: Mr Thorpe, pictured, has now rebuilt his upper body strength

The firefighter has since made 'amazing' progress and is hopeful he will walk again - and has rearranged his dream Disney-themed wedding for a date next July.

Mr Thorpe said: 'I have progressed a lot. I couldn't get out of bed when it first happened and I can now. I lost a lot of muscle laying in bed for weeks.

'I am slowly getting some independence back, although it does take me a lot longer. I also have some sensitivity in my legs.

'The consultants and physiotherapists say its amazing the progress I have made in a short time.'

Mr Thorpe has developed some movement in his upper legs during his rehabilitation at Sheffield Northern General Hospital.

Support: Michaela Watson visits her fiancee in hospital after his freak accident

Hopeful: Mr Thorpe, right and left in hospital, has had some movement in his upper legs

Next step: The firefighter, pictured in hospital, is set to be discharged on September 13

He has also rebuilt enough upper body strength to use a wheelchair and get himself in and out of bed.

Mr Thorpe is now undergoing specialist tests to establish whether the paralysis of his legs is permanent. Doctors expect to discharge him on September 13.

The Fire Fighters Charity will fund further rehabilitation and intense physiotherapy once he leaves hospital. A crowdfunding campaign has also been launched.

Mr Thorpe is hoping to try a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, where the air pressure is increased to three times higher than normal air pressure.

This increases the oxygen in the body which can speed up the healing process.

New plans: The couple, pictured together, have postponed their wedding until next July

Upbeat: Mr Thorpe, pictured drinking a beer on his own, has regained some independence
The French ban on the burkini is threatening to turn into a farce as police officers armed with pepper spray and batons marched onto a beach today and ordered a woman to strip off.

Four burly cops stood over the middle-aged woman, who had been quietly sunbathing on the Promenade des Anglais beach in Nice - yards from the scene of the Bastille Day lorry attack - and watched her take off a Muslim-style garment which protected her modesty.

It is thought the woman was given a warning about the dress code on the beach and was handed an on-the-spot fine.

Four French police officers close in on the woman, who appears to be sleeping, on the Promenade des Anglais beach in Nice, southern France

The woman, who was wearing a traditional headscarf and matching top, was spoken to by the officers, who have been tasked with implementing the ban. France prides itself on its secular society and the burka is banned. That has now spread to the burkini

A police officer appears to write out an on-the-spot ticket and fine for the woman. Nice and Cannes are among several French towns to have introduced a 38 euro (32) fine

The woman is then ordered to remove the blue garment. Most of the other people on the beach on a sweltering summer's day were wearing trunks or bikinis

Another young Muslim mother was ordered off the beach at Cannes and fined for simply wearing a headscarf.

Three armed officers pointed a pepper spray canister in the 34-year-old's face and told her she was in breach of a new rule outlawing swimming costumes that cover the entire body.

She said the 'racist' officers simply wanted to humiliate her in front of her children and other family members, even though she was not even wearing a burkini.

It was the latest in a series of incidents in the south of France and comes after video emerged of armed police waiting for Muslim women to come out of the sea at nearby Nice, and then warning them about their choice of headscarves.

And just days ago, four women were fined 38 euros for wearing their burkinis on the beach in Cannes.

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Video has emerged of armed police waiting for Muslim women to come out of the sea at nearby Nice, and then warning them about their choice of headscarves

Four women were fined 38 euros for wearing their burkinis on the beach in Cannes

The women were told to pay a fine for wearing the swimwear on a beach in Cannes

Pictures show the women standing in the water before they were fined

Identified only as Siam, the mother is a former air-hostess from Toulouse whose family members have been French citizens for at least three generations. 'I wasn't even planning to swim, just to dip my feet,' said Siam, who was wearing leggings, a top, and a headscarf.

All of the items of clothing made Siam feel comfortable, and meant she was not exposed to the afternoon sun last Tuesday.

What she was not fully aware of, however, was that Cannes was one of a small number of towns that have banned the burkini for its alleged links to terrorism.

The beachwear does not cover the face either, and is worn by non-Muslims who want protection from the sun, but critics claim it is provocative.

On Monday, in a separate incident, a woman was also fined for wearing a headscarf on a Nice beach

A Twitter user filmed the moment police asked the woman in a purple top and grey headscarf to get out of the water and fined her on the spot

When asked why she was dressed 'inappropriately', Sian replied: 'I didn't know exactly what was going on, I hadn't really followed the controversy'.

Sian at first refused to undress or to leave the beach, saying: 'My children were crying as they witnessed by humiliation'.

Mathilde Cusin, a journalist with the France 4 TV channel who witnessed the entire incident, said: 'I saw three police officers watching the beach. One of them had his finger on the trigger of his tear gas device, no doubt containing pepper.'

A young mother was ordered off Cannes beach and fined on Tuesday for wearing a headscarf (file photo). She was not wearing a burkini, which has recently been banned in Cannes

Then Ms Cusin said the officers went for Siam, was wearing 'a simple hijab [a headscarf that does not cover the face] around her hair'.

People then started shouting insults at Siam, telling her she was not welcome in France, and that she should 'go home'.

Ms Cusin said: 'It was pretty violent. I had the impression of a pack going after a woman sitting on the ground, crying with her daughter.'

Siam accepted an on-the-spot fine of around nine pounds, and her details were recorded on what will amount to a criminal record. She said: 'Today we are not allowed on the beach. Tomorrow, the street? Tomorrow, we'll be forbidden from practicing our religion at all?

A burkini full-body swimsuit (left) designed for Muslim women is seen at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur

A Muslim businessman has pledged to pay fines imposed on women for wearing burkinis

'I'm in the country of human rights. I see no trace of the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. I am outraged that this could happen in France.'

David Lisnard, the right wing Republican Party mayor of Cannes who introduced the burkini ban in the first place, defended the police officers' behaviour.

Mr Lisnard said all 'beach dress that ostentatiously shows a religious affiliation' was unwelcome at a time when France was a target for Islamic State. He said any dress that might be linked with the terrorist group was offensive and risked provoking people, so risking public order.

On the same day, video also emerged of armed police waiting for Muslim women to come out of the sea at nearby Nice, and then warning them about their choice of headscarves.

A photo taken in June 2015 shows two Muslim women wearing Chador as they enjoy their time with other people on a beach of Narbonne, southern France

Feiza Ben Mohamed, secretary general of the Federation of Muslims of the South of France, said two young women were made to leave the water by the police even though they were not wearing the burkini.

The video, which was posted on Twitter, shows children crying and shouting as the women are spoken to by the officers. Ms Ben Mohamed has accused the French authorities of shamefully mixing up terrorists with the wider Muslim community. She said this type of row is totally counterproductive and plays into Isis's hands.

It's exactly what Isis want - the mayor is doing their work for them. Isis seeks to make our young people believe that they are excluded, stigmatised, and they will use such examples in their recruitment drive.'

The incidents come after a Muslim businessman pledged to pay fines imposed on women for wearing burkinis.

A French court has upheld the 'burkini ban'  ruling that the female swimwear was liable to cause offence and to provoke people to violence.

But wealthy Rachid Nekkaz, born in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges from Algerian immigrants, has said that he will pay any penalties that Muslim women incur for wearing the outfits.

Rachid Nekkaz (pictured), born in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges from Algerian immigrants, said that the burkini ban is 'unfair'. He's pictured here in Algeria demonstrating against the exploration of shale gas

He believes that the ban is 'unfair'.

He told CNN: 'I decided to pay for all the fines of women who wear the burkini in order to guarantee their freedom of wearing these clothes, and most of all, to neutralize the application on the ground of this oppressive and unfair law.'

The banning of the burkini in France, by the Administrative Tribunal in Nice, has been challenged by two human rights groups.

They argued that the ban on a garment that does not cover the face was petty, and designed to spread hatred against a small group of mainly Muslim mothers and grandmothers.

But judges said the ban in the resort of Villeneuve-Loubet was 'necessary, appropriate and proportionate'.

They said the burkini was 'liable to offend the religious convictions or non-convictions of other users of the beach.'

People sunbath and swim at a beach in Leucate, where the burkini is prohibited by an order of the mayor

BURKINI BANS ARE GOOD FOR SALES, SAYS THE DESIGNER BEHIND THEM Burkini bans in France have boosted sales and interest in the full-bodied Islamic swimsuit, particularly from non-Muslim women, the Australian credited with creating the design said Tuesday. The burkini has sparked huge controversy in France, with bans in 15 towns in the country's southeast amid high tensions following a string of deadly jihadist attacks. But Australian-Lebanese Aheda Zanetti, who claims the trademark on the name burkini and burqini and created her first swimwear for Muslim women more than a decade ago, said the furore in France has attracted more publicity for her products. 'It's just been so hectic,' she told AFP. 'I can tell you that online on Sunday, we received 60 orders - all of them non-Muslim,' the 48-year-old Sydneysider said, adding that she usually received 10 to 12 orders on Sundays. Zanetti did not have sales figures for the rest of the past week but said she had also received numerous messages of support - and only one disparaging email - since the French bans. They include messages from cancer survivors and other swimmers who use her light-weight, quick-drying two-piece garments as protection from the sun. There are other Islamic swimsuits but Zanetti has said her designs are the first to be streamlined into two-piece swimwear with a head covering. 'A lot of the correspondence... was that they are survivors of skin cancer and they've always been looking for something like this, saying, 'Thank god we've found someone like this producing such a swimsuit',' she said. 'The support I'm getting is somehow about empowering women... I feel like I've been a counsellor. It's a cry of need that they want to have this enjoyment. 'Women are standing together on this. It doesn't matter what race or religion.' She said the one critical email questioned why Zanetti wanted to cover up women in France, noting 'we prefer our women to be naked'. Australia is grappling with a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment after a series of attacks by radicalised youth but the burkini has not attracted strong criticism in a country where people regularly cover up at beaches to protect their skin under the harsh sun. While there are divisions over the burkini in France, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday dismissed the idea of a ban in his country, saying Canadians should rise above the controversy as he called for the respect of individual rights and choices. Advertisement

Judges also ruled the clothing could be viewed as a 'provocation exacerbating tensions' within France, which is currently under a State of Emergency following a series of attacks by Islamic State.

A lorry was used by a man claimed by Isis to kill 86 people in Nice on July 14th, in an attack which took place next to the city's main beach.

It is among around 15 where the burkini is now banned, and mayors across France are widening the measure every day.

But critics point out that 30 Muslims died in the Nice attack, including women wearing traditional clothes, including headscarves.

They point out how the French authorities are meant to support free expression, including the right to offend and provoke, and say that the burkini ban is utterly hypocritical.

Lawyers for the Human Rights League (LDH), and the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) - who challenged the ban in Nice - said they would now appeal to the Council of State, France's highest administrative court.

Around ten women have so far been criminalised for wearing burkinis on French beaches this summer.

All were reprimanded by police officers in the Riviera resort of Cannes, and forced to leave the sand.
A UK-bound Sudanese migrant was murdered and 15 others seriously injured during a 'hugely violent' fight between rival gangs competing to get on board lorries around Calais on Tuesday.

All were among groups of mainly young men trying to force the HGVs to slow down or stop so they can stowaway and get to England.

Referring to the death in Marck, around four miles east of Calais, an investigating source said: 'As two gangs from Sudan and Afghanistan competed to get on to the motorway to stop the lorries, a fight broke out.

'Weapons including knives and sharpened sticks were used, and the situation got very violent indeed.

The two migrants were among a group of people from the 'Jungle' camp who tried to access a motorway to smuggle onto trucks crossing the Channel to Britain (File photo)

'The man tried to get away, and was found covered in blood in a field close to a local canal. He was rushed to hospital, but died from his wounds.

'Others are still being treated in hospital. It was a hugely violent fight and there were similar disturbances in other parts of the road system.'

The A26 so-called 'English Motorway' passes through Marck, and it is always full of lorries and cars heading towards the Channel Tunnel and Calais port.

Detectives guarded by CRS riot police were on Tuesday making enquiries around Marck, and in Calais itself, as a murder investigation was launched.

The victim has not yet been identified, but a 35-year-old Sudanese man in hospital with serious head injuries is thought to have been with him at the time of the attack.

In July, another murder probe was launched after a migrant was hacked to death and another six badly wounded during a gang fight next to the so-called 'Jungle' refugee camp.

The bloodbath took place as the men fought running battles in the giant shantytown by the A16 motorway.

The deceased was described by the French authorities as a 37-year-old Ethiopian who had been hoping to claim asylum in Britain.

A police source noted growing tensions in the area, where the number of attempts by migrants to halt trucks and jump aboard had grown (File photo)

It came after aid workers warned of a 'pressure cooker about to blow' as the French authorities began tearing down cafes and restaurants in the Calais 'Jungle', and security is improved.

Charity groups fear that the entire refugee camp in the French port town is about to be destroyed, leaving the migrants with nowhere to stay while they wait to get across the Channel.

Meanwhile security has been improved massively since last summer, when migrants regularly got into the secure zones around the Tunnel and Calais port.

Numerous aid groups offering help to between 6000 and 9000 men, women and children staying in Jungle say the tactics are a recipe for disaster.

A spokesman for L'Auberge des Migrants (Migrant Shelter) said the camp 'is already a pressure cooker about to blow - the situation is extremely tense.'

Rioting frequently breaks out in and around the camp as migrants fight over everything from food supplies to deals with people smugglers.

In March, demolition experts supported by CRS riot squads dismantled the southern half of the camp.

The operation involved tear gas and baton charges being used against mainly young men fleeing war and poverty.
An Australian woman and her British boyfriend left a police officer to die alone on the beach, police have claimed.

Byron Bay mother-of-two Sara Connor, 45, and David Taylor, 33, are expected to be charged with the murder of police officer Wayan Sudarsa, who was found dead on Kuta Beach in Bali with 17 head wounds on Wednesday.

Local police have revealed allegations the pair bashed Mr Sudarsa after accusing him of stealing Ms Connor's purse and of being a fake police officer.

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Australian woman Sara Connor and her British boyfriend David Taylor are accused of murdering a Bali police officer (Mr Taylor pictured on Tuesday)

Ms Connor is pictured hiding her face while she is escorted by Indonesian officials on Tuesday

Ms Connor, a mother-of-two from Byron Bay on the NSW north coast, is pictured being interrogated by police on Monday

They allegedly took his wallet and mobile phone, before they cut up and burned his cards along with their bloodied clothes, police said on Tuesday.

Police on Tuesday night took the couple to point out the place the items were allegedly burned, according to Daily Telegraph.

Ms Connor has maintained her innocence over his murder, her lawyer Erwin Siregar said.

'Sara said that she (was) not involved with this murder, she (was) not involved at all with this murder,' the lawyer said.

Her British boyfriend Mr Taylor has allegedly admitted to hitting Mr Sudarsa.

Following more than nine hours of gruelling interrogations on Monday, a clearer picture of the allegations has emerged.

Bali police officer Wayan Sudarsa was found dead on Kuta Beach on Wednesday

A crime scene established on Kuta Beach in Bali is pictured on Friday

Speaking outside Denpasar Police Station on Tuesday, the district's police chief Hadi Purnomo said it's believed Mr Taylor's first account was 'a lie'.

About 10pm local time (12am AEST) on Monday, Ms Connor's legal team emerged and told reporters what their client said occurred that fatal night.

Ms Connor and Mr Taylor, they said, were at Kuta Beach late last Tuesday night and were 'kissing' when she realised she lost her purse.

Mr Taylor approached Mr Sudarsa, who was patrolling the beach, and asked what he knew about the purse, Ms Connor's legal team said.

Mr Purnomo alleged it was Mr Taylor who first approached the officer, and allegedly accused him of being a fake policeman and of stealing the purse.

Ms Connor (pictured) has maintained her innocence over his murder, her lawyer Erwin Siregar said

About 10pm local time (12am AEST) on Monday, Ms Connor's legal team emerged and told reporters what their client said occurred that fatal night

A fight ensued, according to Mr Purnomo, which saw Ms Connor and Mr Sudarsa push each other to the ground.

The victim bit Ms Connor on the leg during the tussle, it was alleged.

Mr Purnomo claimed Mr Taylor beat the officer with a mobile phone, according to Herald Sun.

He allegedly yelled: 'You have stolen the bag, you are a fake police. Where is my bag? Where is my bag? F*** you. Where is my bag? F*** police.'

Mr Taylor then allegedly continued to hit Mr Sudarsa with a bottle.

Ms Connor hides her faces as she is escorted by police officials on Tuesday

The pair were taken to hospital for further physical examinations on Tuesday

Ms Connor is pictured being escorted from Sanglah Hospital in Bali on Tuesday

Mr Taylor is escorted by Indonesian police officials as he was taken to hospital on Tuesday

Mr Taylor is being held as a suspect for murder, assault and battery charges (pictured on Tuesday)

'There was bottle, then he smashed it to the victim,' Mr Purnomo alleged.

'David was getting crazier and hitting the victim with that broken bottle.'

Mr Taylor also allegedly beat Mr Sudarsa with his own binoculars.

Mr Taylor told Ms Connor the victim was still conscious before they left the beach, Mr Purnomo alleged.

'In her alibi, David told Sara to relax, the victim was just fainted. He would wake up. Let's just leave him,' Mr Purnomo said.

Mr Taylor's lawyer, Haposan Sihombing, said Ms Connor tried to help her boyfriend in the struggle.

But her lawyer said she 'insists that she was not involved with the murder at all'.

'She saw from behind that Taylor hit the victim, but she did not know what he used to hit,' the lawyer alleged.

Mr Taylor told Ms Connor the victim was still conscious before they left the beach, Mr Purnomo alleged

He allegedly accused the officer of being fake and of stealing Ms Connor's purse

Mr Taylor's legal team said they burnt the clothes before going to the Australian consulate in Denpasar where they were arrested on Friday afternoon.

Ms Connor faces a murder charge and an additional charge of participation in a murder.

Mr Taylor is being held as a suspect for murder, assault and battery charges.

The murder charge carries a maximum of 15-years in prison.

The pair were taken to hospital for further physical examinations on Tuesday.

Sara Connor (pictured), from Byron Bay on the NSW north coast, was taken into custody in Denpasar on Friday
Police raided a bingo hall and discovered 100 guns stashed away as part of an arsenal large enough 'to start a small war'.

Investigators also confiscated $87,000 in cash.

They found the huge stash of cash, guns, ammunition and body armor hidden in an underground bunker underneath the Paradise Day & Night Bingo Hall in Houston.

Police discovered 100 guns underneath a bingo hall in Houston during a raid

Lt Ruben Diaz said: 'There was enough, what I would consider, to start a small war.

'This is one of the largest seizures of guns I've seen in one particular spot.'

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson added: 'There was a whole table filled with ammunition boxes that were full of all caliber, including 50 caliber. I mean, when do you see that?'

Owners Robert Jones and Fred Kennedy were arrested following a year-long undercover operation, KHOU news reported.

There was a whole table filled with ammunition boxes that were full of all caliber, including 50 caliber

Twelve people were arrested including owners Robert Jones (far right, bottom) and Fred Kennedy (second left, bottom)

Police raided the Paradise Day & Night Bingo Hall (pictured) in Houston

Along with 10 others, including family members, they are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.

Prosecutors also claimed the owners were using family-owned ATMs to launder some of the $15 million in illegal earnings over the last four years.

But the suspects' attorney refuted those claims.

Stephen St Mark said: 'It's ridiculous is what it is. It's a legitimate bingo hall. They're running a state-licensed bingo operation.'

'This is Texas - people own guns. They are making a big hullabaloo over nothing.'

He said Jones, who has no prior criminal record, collected guns and stockpiled food in preparation for a natural disaster such as a hurricane, and had licensed the bingo hall with the state.
Jeremy Corbyn is the main reason why Labour voters are deserting the party, a new poll has revealed.

One in five people who said they would vote for Labour in a general election in May now say they would not vote for the party, according to YouGov, handing the Tories an even wider lead their new Prime Minister Theresa May.

Asked why they had abandoned the party, Mr Corbyn's name was cited by 29 per cent of respondents.

Asked why they had abandoned the party, Jeremy Corbyn's name was cited by 29 per cent of respondents

Nearly a fifth said they would not vote for the party because 'Labour is a 'mess' or a 'shambles,' while 12 per cent said they had left the party because they had no confidence in Labour at the moment.

The poll also suggests Mr Corbyn's lukewarm support for staying in the EU contributed to the loss in support for Labour; 7 per cent attributed this as a reason behind leaving the party.

Mr Corbyn's lacklustre approach to the EU referendum triggered the mass resignations from his shadow cabinet, which ultimately led to Owen Smith challenging him for the leadership.

It sent the party into its deepest civil war in its history as 80 per cent of Labour MPs signed a vote of no confidence motion against Mr Corbyn's leadership.

The poll also suggests the lukewarm support from Jeremy Corbyn (pictured campaigning yesterday) for staying in the EU contributed to the loss in support for Labour; 7 per cent attributed this as a reason behind leaving the party

Over the last few days Labour's London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale have urged Labour members to ditch Mr Corbyn in favour of his challenger Mr Smith.

The poll shows splits in the party had led to one in ten voters deserting the party in the last three months.

The latest bout of infighting came yesterday when Mr Corbyn was embroiled in a racism row after one of his own frontbenchers suggested he should have faced legal action for the way he had treated black female MPs.

Chi Onwurah, the shadow minister for culture and the digital economy, said the Labour leader would have been taken to a tribunal for constructive dismissal and discrimination 'in any other job'.

In an excoriating attack, she said Mr Corbyn had 'picked on' the two Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) MPs and had made it 'impossible' for them to do their jobs properly.

Over the last few days Labour's London Mayor Sadiq Khan (left) and Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale (right) have urged Labour members to ditch Mr Corbyn in favour of his challenger Owen Smith

Miss Onwurah said the leader had 'undermined' her after Mr Corbyn gave Thangam Debbonaire, a fellow Labour MP, the culture half of her portfolio without informing either of the women.

When he realised his mistake he then took the role back off Mrs Debboanire, who was suffering from cancer at the time, she explained.

In farcical scenes, Mr Corbyn then failed to inform Miss Onwurah she had her original job back  and refused to meet with either MPs for two months.

Chi Onwurah, a Labour MP and shadow minister, has criticised Jeremy Corbyn's leadership over his treatment of two black female MPs

In an article for the New Statesman, Miss Onwurah said: 'If this had been any of my previous employers in the public and private sectors Jeremy might well have found himself before an industrial tribunal for constructive dismissal, probably with racial discrimination thrown in  given that only five per cent of MPs are black and female, picking on us two is statistically interesting to say the least.'

In scathing remarks, she said as Mrs Debbonaire was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time, Mr Corbyn could also have faced disability action too.

She said: 'In any other job I would have called on my union for support in confronting an all-white management which prevented two of its few black employees from doing their jobs.

'I would have expected the Leader of the Labour Party to condemn such ineffectual management which allowed such abuse.'

She added: 'Jeremy made it impossible for two of the very few BME women MPs to do their jobs properly, undermining both us and Labour's role as the voice of opposition to the government.'

The shadow minister said the behaviour fitted into a pattern, stating: 'But Jeremy dismissed criticism that he was undermining his shadow ministers - just as he had earlier dismissed criticism that not appointing a woman to any of the great offices of state showed a lack of commitment to gender equality.

Miss Onwurah said the leader had 'undermined' her after Mr Corbyn gave Thangam Debbonaire (pictured) the culture half of her portfolio without informing either of the women

'He would decide what the great offices of state were. As I have said previously, being a white man comes with many privileges. Deciding what constitutes gender or ethnic equality isn't one of them.'

In his defence, a spokesman for Mr Corbyn told The Guardian: 'Chi Onwurah's comments relate to a discussion about the delineation of shadow cabinet roles last January, as is not uncommon in both shadow cabinets and cabinets. Chi was appointed by Jeremy Corbyn to be shadow minister for culture and the digital economy last September.

'When Thangam Debbonaire was appointed as a dedicated shadow minister for the arts in January, there was a negotiation about the division of responsibilities with Chi and Thangam, but at no point was anyone sacked. We regret that Chi feels she was singled out, but this was clearly not the case.'

Miss Onwurah, the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, has kept her frontbench post but nominated Owen Smith for the Labour leadership.

Some supporters wanted selfies with Mr Corbyn during the event in east London tonight

Meanwhile Labour MP Conor McGinn claimed Mr Corbyn was threatened by 'robust working-class voices' and 'strong women'.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour on Sunday night, Mr McGinn referred to earlier claims that Mr Corbyn had threatened to call his father to 'bully me into submission'.

He accused Mr Corbyn and his team of 'telling lies' after they denied the allegations.

The row came as the first ballot papers were sent out to an estimated 640,000 party members and supporters yesterday.

In a blow to Corbyn, Ms Dugdale backed Mr Smith in the Labour leadership contest while admitting the party is 'ripping itself apart'.

Supporters were making the case for the Labour leader to remain in his post at the Walthamstow community centre

The Scottish Labour leader accused Mr Corbyn of speaking 'only to the converted' and said Mr Smith could unite the party and win the next general election.

And London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged Mr Corbyn's supporters to conduct a 'civilised' campaign after he was booed at a campaign rally after backing Mr Smith.

At the rally in Kilburn on Sunday night, large parts of the 4,000-strong audience jeered and booed when a speaker mentioned Mr Khan's name.

It also emerged that both candidates have promised to change party rules to ensure that in future there will be at least one woman in post as the leader or a deputy leader of the party.

In response to a Labour Women's Network questionnaire, both Corbyn and Smith said they would support a rule change to ensure Labour has at least one woman in the leadership team - defined by the network as the leader or a deputy leader of the party.
A Catholic priest has been charged with murdering a 92-year-old Italian monsignor who allegedly caught him stealing sacred statuettes.

Giuseppe Rocco had a broken neck and had been strangled to death when he was found in his bedroom in the Cleric House in Trieste, Italy, in April 2014 by a housekeeper who came in to check on him.

Prosecutors believe Father Paolo Piccoli - who read Rocco his last rites - killed the older priest because he had reported him for allegedly stealing a set of figurines.

A Catholic priest has been charged with murdering a 92-year-old Italian monsignor who allegedly caught him stealing sacred statuettes. The dead priest was found in this manor

Rocco told Catholic authorities in the weeks before he was killed that statuettes of the Madonna, horse and a ship had gone missing.

They suddenly reappeared after his complaint, but he was suspected Piccoli was to blame, news.com.au reported.

Piccoli, 52, had been accused of stealing relics from another parish in the past and is believed to have a fetish for old artifacts.

Court documents suggest he landed his father in debt after spending huge sums of money on authentic robes when he was a boy.

The church warned Piccoli that he could face discipline after he was accused of the theft, which was not proven.

Weeks later, on the morning of April 25, housekeeper Eleanora Dibitonto found Rocco dead in his small room within the manor in north east Italy.

Ms Dibitonto called in Piccoli to give the priest his last rites as they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

Paramedics discovered a bone sticking out of the priest's neck, as well as two spots of blood underneath his body.

Piccoli claimed he had a condition with his skin that caused sores and bleeding, and that his blood ended up underneath Rocco's body when he was praying over the 92-year-old's dead body.

The father also claimed there were others in the manor that night, but Ms Dibitonto insists it was just the three of them.

'People were coming and going all the time in that house,' Piccoli told police.

'We were never alone. There was a centre for volunteers, a journalist, and a professor who often stayed at the house.'

But court documents claim Piccoli got up early on the morning of the murder to confront Rocco about the theft allegation, leading to an argument which allegedly ended with Piccoli strangling Rocco.
Usain Bolt was pictured with yet another mystery woman as he enjoyed the second night in a row of partying in London.

The fastest man in the world was spotted leaving his hotel with the woman wearing a revealing black dress that left little to the imagination and heading to a party.

Later that evening, a taxi full of eight women - including the one in the black dress were spotted walking into his hotel after he left the nightclub alone.

It was yet another night of partying and cavorting for the sprinter, who persuaded two girls he met in a club to come back for an after party on Monday night.

One of them said: 'He didn't want the party to end so he took us back to his hotel'.

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The fastest man in the world was seen again in the capital partying away into the small hours

He arrived in a taxi with friends and this mystery woman in a revealing black dress

Bolt later left the club alone but a taxi-full of women were seen arriving at his hotel shortly afterwards, including the woman in the black dress, seen doing the famous Bolt pose

Other woman were also seen going into the luxurious hotel, along with men believed to be the sprinter's friends

He was spotted leaving his hotel with the mystery female and heading to a party but Usain didn't seem to have kept in touch with the girls from Monday night and Tuesday morning

Two of the women Usain Bolt partied with in a nightclub and hotel on Monday night until around 5.45am in central London have been named

The mystery woman wore a revealing black dress and was the centre of attention

Pictured are two of the car-full of women were seen getting into a taxi and heading to Bolt's hotel from the club

These two women were also among those seen getting out of the car at Bolt's hotel later

The girls arrived in a black Mercedes and entered the hotel after gesturing for the cameras

Bolt (left) looks like he is clearly in the party mood as he leaves the nightcluib

He had flown into London after partying in Brazil, where he was pictured in bed with the former wife of a drugs kingpin Jady Duarte after a wild night in drinking and grinding with a host of women in Rio.

Last night, he was seen arriving at the party with the woman in the black dress, then leaving alone - but a taxi full of women arrived at his hotel shortly afterwards.

RUNNER'S FOUR-DAY PARTY MARATHON AFTER HISTORIC NINTH OLYMPIC GOLD Friday, August 19 - Usain Bolt takes to the track with team-mates for the 4x100m relay and brings the baton home, winning a historic ninth Olympic gold - three each at three different Olympics. His 'triple triple' equals the record haul of nine golds held by the USA's Carl Lewis and Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi. Sunday, August 21 - Bolt, having achieved his goal at what was his last ever Olympics, celebrates his 30th birthday, hitting the nightclub with friends. He is seen drinking and grinding with a host girls in Rio, and pictures of him emerge in bed with Jady Duarte, a Brazilian mother who was married to a deceased drugs kingpin. Sunday, August 22 - Bolt says goodbye to Rio with a Tweet in Portuguese saying: 'We came, we saw, we conquered. Rio I have endless love for you.' He is spotted at the airport an hour before the closing ceremony and boarded a plane to London to continue his international party marathon. Monday, August 23 - Bolt is seen cavorting with two women in a club, dancing and drunking until the early hours. He is the centre of attention, picking up the microphone and rapping and downing shots and champagne at the trendy Soho nightclub Cirque le Soir. He then takes two women back to his hotel for an afterparty. Tuesday, August 24 - The sprinter continues his party marathon, arriving at a club in a black cab with a mystery brunette wearing a revealing dress. Bolt continues to party then leaves the club alone - but a taxi-full of women wearing arrive at his hotel shortly afetrwards in the early hours of the morning. Advertisement

His girlfriend of two years, model Kasi Bennett, has voiced her discontent on social media, liking posts that criticise the star for his apparent infidelity.

Although Bolt seems unrepentant, posting a video of himself partying in nightclubs and drinking with the caption 'enjoy your success' to followers on Snapchat at 4am today.

His four-day party marathon comes after he won his ninth Olympic gold - the 'triple-triple, three medals at three Olympics - in Rio, equaling the record medal haul of the most decorated athletes in history.

Two of the women Usain Bolt partied with in a nightclub and hotel in central London until around 5.45am yesterday said the sprint legend was in the mood to party.

According to The Sun Soumia Ghouini, 24, from Peckham in south east London, and Cherelle Patterson, 26, from Crystal Palace in south London, were two of the women partying with the athlete who had just turned 30 and returned from Rio.

Miss Ghouini told The Sun about his post-Olympic partying on Monday, adding: At the club he got up and started rapping. I think he was just joking around because he knew the DJ.

At the end of the night a friend of ours said that he was having an after-party so we all just jumped in the taxi. There were lots of women in the cab.

He was carrying on the party because the club ended and he wasnt ready to finish. We got in the lift with Bolt and went up with the other girls into the room. He was having a great time.

Now my boyfriend is annoyed because it doesnt look good.

We havent split up but he was angry because obviously it doesnt put me in a good light.

But really it was all just a group of people having a night out and an afterparty  thats all.

Miss Patterson reportedly said: I didnt know he would be at the club. I knew he was in Rio but had no idea he was now in London.

Loads of girls were talking to him. It was just general chit-chat with me.

There was a group of us girls, about five, and we did end up going back to his hotel. We had a drink. I cant remember what hotel it was and the only people there were his entourage.

Back to mine? Usain Bolt was spotted returning to his London hotel room at 6am this morning in the company of two women who had been at Cirque le Soir nightclub in Soho

Party continues: A group of women who were at the Cirque le Soir club went back to Bolt's hotel and the two ladies pictured above waited for the lift with Bolt

Big night: Bolt partied the night away at Soho club Cirque le Soir in London, where he has been pictured before, and was seen leaving at 5.45am

Fans: The women who partied with Bolt got in different cars apparently to follow him back to his London hotel

DO YOU KNOW BRUNETTE? Do you know the mystery brunette? Call James Dunn on 0203 615 1524 or email james.r.dunn@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

Hes a talkative and lively man and thats what people do sometimes  just invite people back if the party is finished.

A waitress at the London club said: He skipped it because he wanted to party. Hes been coming here for years.

We gave him the mic and he was telling everybody it had been his birthday a couple of days ago.

People were buying him drinks  champagne, Sex on the Beach, Kamikaze shots. Everybody was just appreciating him and celebrating his gold medals.

Bolt was spotted downing shots and champagne at the trendy Soho nightclub Cirque le Soir - just 48 hours after being seen with three different ladies on the same night in Rio.

The sprint superstar, who completed the 'treble treble' in Brazil with three gold medals, arrived in Britain on Monday and wasted no time in hitting the town to continue his birthday celebrations.

At about 5.45am Bolt was spotted looking worse for wear as he returned to his hotel.

Queue: The women who had been at the Cirque le Soir club appeared to queue to get into a people carrier that was going to Bolt's hotel

Left behind? Some of the women who shared the car back to Bolt's hotel were in high spirits after apparently leaving two others in the lobby to wait with the sprint superstar

He apparently arranged for a group of women to follow him back to his hotel in a people carrier. Pictures obtained by MailOnline then show two of the girls waiting with him for the lift back to his room - with another four left to walk home.

Wearing short dresses, with one woman wearing a sleeveless fur coat and her friend in Christian Louboutin sky-high peep-toe heels they waited with Bolt and his mates to get the elevator upstairs.

On leaving the club the party animal - who was drinking champagne and cocktails at Cirque Le Soir in London's Soho to celebrate his 30th birthday and epic triple treble in Rio - showed off his trademark pose.

The sprint king landed in London on Monday afternoon fresh from his Olympic heroics in Rio and partied in west London celeb hangout Cirque le Soir - where he took the microphone and wowed revellers.

A waitress at the club took a video of the Jamaican sprinter singing inside the club and posted it on Instagram along with the caption, 'We gave him the mic because we cool like that.'

'He skipped the closing ceremony in Rio because he wanted to come party with his Cirque le Soir family  he's been coming here for years. I've seen him here about five or six times before,' waitress Yvett, 23, told MailOnline.

'We gave him the mic and he was telling everybody it had been his birthday a couple of days ago.

Reveller: Bolt was surrounded by glamorous women as he downed shots and partied at the club. The women left in a separate people carrier at around 4.30am with this woman later pictured waiting with Bolt in the lobby of his hotel

Shots: Usain Bolt was said to have been drinking champagne and downing shots until nearly 6am today with friends at Cirque Le Soir Nightclub in central London

Chosen: Two women were part of a group accompanying sprint superstar Bolt back to his hotel after leaving the Soho club in a separate taxi

Late night party: Bolt attracted admiring glances at the Cirque le Soir club and it appeared that a group of women, two of whom are pictured above, joined him at his central London hotel

Superstar: The women who partied with Bolt at Cirque le Soir appeared at his central London hotel and Usain pictures obtained by MailOnline suggest they joined him in the lift

Guests: After arriving at the central London hotel the clubbers checked their phones and hung around with Bolt as he waited for the lift

'People were buying him drinks  champagne, Sex on the Beach, Kamikaze shots  everybody was just appreciating him and celebrating his gold medals,' she said.

But while he was surrounded by beautiful women it seems Usain didn't cosy up to anyone special in the London club.

It comes after the Olympic legend spent the night in Rio spent the night in Rio with the widow of one of Brazil's most dangerous drug lords and took her back to the Olympic village, it has emerged.

Bolt had been at a nightclub in Rio and was 'completely drunk' at 7am when he arrived back to the athletes' accommodation with student Jady Duarte, a source told Globo.

Mother-of-two Jady, 20, took selfies of herself in bed with the Olympic legend as he appeared to kiss and cuddle her - and sent the pictures in Whatsapp messages to her friends.

Usain Bolt partied until the early hours and signed autographs after leaving the club

This woman was seen with him at his London hotel with another female friend

A group of women got in a car that went back to Usain Bolt's London hotel

The Jamaican sprinter, who has a long-term girlfriend, was celebrating his unprecedented nine gold medals - arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning at a club in the Barra de Tijuca suburb of Rio where he racked up a 1,000 bar bill which he paid for himself.

On the same night, a video posted to Twitter showed him twerking enthusiastically with a second woman during his evening out.

He was expected to attend Sunday night's Olympics closing ceremony but left Brazil a day early and was pictured arriving at London Heathrow yesterday.

It comes after it emerged that a girl who he apparently spent the night with is the widow of one of Rio's most dangerous drug lords.

Jady Duarte, 20, had two children with Douglas Donato Pereira, known by his chilling nickname Dina Terror, who commanded the narcotics trade in the Faz Quem Quer shantytown in the north of Rio.

Hometime: Sprint star Usain was pictured in startling blue trainers as he left the Cirque le Soir nightclub in Soho

Party animal: Usain Bolt spent the night downing shots and champagne according to a waitress at Cirque le Soir who spoke to MailOnline

Fresh pictures have emerged showing Usain Bolt kissing a second woman in a Rio nightclub just hours before 'spending the night' with a student who shared pictures of them in bed

The Jamaican Olympic star arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning at the club and racked up a 1,000 bar bill

Duarte wasn't the only woman to catch Bolt's eye - a video posted to Twitter showed him twerking enthusiastically with another local girl during his evening out (pictured)

Bolt's girlfriend, Kasi Bennett (pictured): Bolt's sister Christine said she expects his long-term girlfriend will be upset, but that this won't spell the end of the road for the couple

The kingpin, known for being 'violent and bloodthirsty' and wanted for at least 10 violent crimes, was shot dead by a elite police troops in March this year.

Duarte's night with the world's most famous athlete was revealed when she posted WhatsApp pictures that appear to show her kissing and cuddling Bolt.

In one of the photos - which first appeared on several Brazilian websites including Globo after Duarte shared them with friends - Bolt seems to give Duarte a kiss on the cheek while she looks into the camera.

The Jamaican sprinter, who turned 30 on Sunday, was also pictured partying until the early hours of Sunday morning at All In, a club in the Barra de Tijuca suburb of Rio.

Duarte described herself as a student, but is also the widow of Pereira, 'Dina Terror'.

According to police, Pereira was responsible for torturing and murdering a teenage girl from the slum in September 2014.

Video of traffickers torturing Rayssa de Carvalho, 18, before her death was posted on social networking sites.

Touchdown: Usain Bolt arrived at London Heathrow on Monday apparently unconcerned about the emergence of the pictures of his night partying

In typical fashion, the flamboyant runner (pictured dancing) took to the stage at the De Bracos Albertas club in Rio de Janeiro - delighting revelers and fans in the process

Party: The legendary sprinter was singing on stage at the club during his 30th birthday celebrations in Rio

He was also wanted for the death of another teenager just because her boyfriend had joined another gang.

Raiana Dantas de Jesus, 19, was killed with 20 bullets after her boyfriend Leonardo da Costa left to join gangsters in the Mare favela, taking drugs and weapons with him.

She too was tortured before she was murdered.

Before his death, Pereira posted pictures of himself on his Facebook page posing with guns and bragging how he was the 'terror of policemen'. He also called himself the Lord of War.

Police tracked him down to a house in the favela, where he opened fire with a powerful Glock 9mm pistol, but was killed in the shoot out.

Following his death, Jady posted photos with the gangster on her Facebook page. One read: 'In eternity, I will be with my love the way I always wanted, because in heaven all the time is time to be happy.

'God will take you in, it's my hope that in eternity I will see you.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Bolt's agents for comment.

Bolt was marking his 30th birthday having consolidated his position as one of the greatest athletes of all time

Usain Bolt signed off his extraordinary Olympic career with an unprecedented treble-treble: gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay for the third time in successive Games

The Jamaican sprinter, who turned 30 on Sunday, was pictured partying until the early hours of Sunday morning at All In, a club in the Barra de Tijuca suburb of Rio

It was a wild end to the sprinter's third and apparently final Olympics where he won another three gold medals, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest sprinters of all time.

In typical fashion, the flamboyant runner took to the stage at the De Bracos Albertas club - delighting clubbers and fans in the process.

Bolt, who has a girlfriend of two years at home in Jamaica who he calls his 'First Lady', also attracted the attention of Duarte, who shared photos of herself in bed with the superstar on WhatsApp early Sunday morning.

The intimate photos show the star curled with the student at 7am local time.

Speaking to local newspaper Extra, Duarte said that the impact of the pictures had left her mortified.

She explains: 'It's very negative. I never wanted to be famous, I'm dying of shame.'

Duarte did not reveal what happened next - other than to say: 'It was not a big deal. It was normal.

Bolt showed off his muscular frame as he danced at All In nghtclub in the Barra de Tijuca suburb of Rio

Bolt was reportedly among the last to leave the nightclub in Rio de Janeiro - but not before settling a bar bill

'I'd rather not talk about it - in order not to complicate matters.

'Like I said, it was normal.'

Local newspaper Extra also said she claimed to have no idea who Bolt was.

Duarte says she was at the club All In in Barra in the West Zone of Rio, with friends when 'Bolt spotted her'.She said: 'He sent a security guard to call me over. We spoke quickly.

'But at that moment I didn't know it was him, because there were many Jamaicans who looked similar.'

Duarte wasn't the only woman to catch Bolt's eye on Saturday night - a video posted to Twitter showed him twerking enthusiastically with another local girl during his evening out.

He sang and danced just hours after earning three Olympic gold medals. Bolt thus completed a triple triple, as he also won the 100 meters, the 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

Speaking to local newspaper Extra , Duarte (pictured) said she hadn't realized that she was with a famous athlete and described their nocturnal encounter as 'normal'

The 20-year-old student from Rio posted the WhatsApp pictures with Bolt to friends, which have been published by a number of websites in Brazil

Meanwhile his sister had just revealed that Bolt had a long-term girlfriend - 26-year-old Kasi Bennett.

Bolt and Bennett have been dating for more than two years and were likely to get engaged soon, according to Christine Bolt-Hylton.

But Bennett shared a cryptic tweet on Sunday. Someone commented on the world 'discovering' Bolt's girlfriend, saying Bennett was 'hot'.

Bennett replied: 'I wish there was no discovery, but thank you so much. That's really sweet of you.'

His sister Christine reacted today to the pictures of Usain 'cheating' on Bennet with Brazilian student Jady Duarte, 20 after his 30th birthday bash in Rio, saying that while her brother's long-term girlfriend will be 'upset', the couple will stay together.

Speaking from her hometown of St Andrews near Kingston, Jamaica, Christine said: 'I'm sure Kasi will be used to it by now. She is used to seeing pictures like this.

'People ask for pictures with him and he is always willing to have pictures.

'She is used to him being in the public domain.'

Wanted: Dina Terror (left) was named along with three others last year by Brazilian police with a reward of one million reals - $330,000 or 230,000

Husband: Duarte posted this picture of her with Douglas Donata Pereira. 'God will take you in, it's my hope that in eternity I will see you,' she said of the gunned-down drug lord

Remembered: Following his death, Jady posted photos with the gangster on her Facebook page. One read: 'In eternity, I will be with my love the way I always wanted, because in heaven all the time is time to be happy'

'I don't think anything happened between him and the Brazilian girl,' she added of the snaps with Jady.

'He loves Kasi too much to jeopardise the relationship.

'I'm looking at the pictures and it doesn't look like he was doing anything with her.'

'Usain doesn't believe in cheating. Normally when we speak he sees he is against stuff like that.

'When he was much younger he was popular with the girls but from when they have been together he hasn't done anything like that.

'If they were together as she is saying they were, I think she had planned for her to take the photographs and expose him for 'cheating'.'

Asked if her little brother should apologise, Christine said: 'Kasi was definitely OK with the party pictures.

'The pictures with the girl he should definitely apologise for.'

Bolt made an early exit from Rio Sunday night - departing a day earlier than planned and missing the Closing Ceremony entirely.

The Jamaican sprinter was seen heading for the departure lounge at Rio's Galeo International Airport an hour before the event got underway at 8pm local time on Sunday.

Duarte (pictured), who is from Rio, appears in two pictures next to Bolt. They have been published on several Brazilian websites

Party: The sprint king partied at the club until the early hours of Sunday as he celebrated an unprecedented 'triple triple' at Rio 2016

Fun: The Jamaican, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, wowed the crowd inside the Rio club by MCing behind the decks

His last tweet before departing Rio read in Portuguese: 'We came, we saw, we conquered. Rio I have endless love for you.'

Bolt had also been expected to attend a party in his honor at the Jamaica hospitality house but the event was canceled due to bad weather, with an apologetic note left pinned to the railings outside.

The early departure of the 30-year-old means the Games concluded with almost no big name stars in attendance, with Michael Phelps and Sir Bradley Wiggins already back on home soil.

Bolt is flying home to a hero's welcome in Kingston - and has had a reggae song called 'Bolt the Champion' composed in his honour.

The sprinter, who will now retire from Olympic competition following the Games, is expected to take on an ambassadorial role in athletics and has also signed a lifetime contract with Nike thought to be worth an estimated $30m a year.

However, the Jamaican champ has had no special treatment during the Rio Games, sharing a room in an Athlete's Village with team mate Asafa Powell for most of the event.

Prior to the Opening Ceremony, he and his Jamaica team mates were put up in a low-cost hotel close to Galeo International airport, where rooms go for as little as $136 a night.

The only luxury at the Linx Hotel was the services of a Jamaican chef, flown in especially to provide the Olympic star and his team mates with food fit for champions.
Anthony Albanese has revealed the incredible story that led to him finally meeting his father, whom he'd believed for many years to be dead.

As a child, Mr Albanese, a Sydney Labor politician, was told by his mother about how his father died in a car crash after they had met overseas and wed, he told the ABC's 7.30.

It wasn't until he was about 15 that his mother Maryanne Ellery, who'd raised him by herself in public housing, revealed the truth to him.

A photo from the ship the Fairsky, aboard which Anthony Albanese's parents Carlo Albanese (top left) and Maryanne Ellery (bottom right) met during a trip between Sydney and London

'We sat down just after dinner one night and she  it was very traumatic for her, I think, to tell me that in fact that wasn't the case, that my father might still be alive, that she'd met him overseas, fallen pregnant with me, had told him and he had said, basically, that he was betrothed to someone from the town in Italy where he was from,' he said.

Maryanne had adopted his father's name, worn engagement and wedding rings, and Mr Albanese believed it was because of the guilt she felt as a Catholic woman with a child out of marriage in the 1960s.

It was several decades until he decided to seek out his father and it was his son asking while at Maryanne's grave after she died in 2002 'where's your daddy' that prompted him to take action, he told 7.30.

But he had a challenge ahead of him - all he knew was his father's name, Carlo Albanese, that he was Italian, and the name of the ship which his parents had met aboard, the Fairsky, during a journey from Sydney to London.

However, the ship had been owned by a company that changed hands - eventually ending up with Carnival Cruises - and Mr Albanese knew its head, Ann Sherry.

He asked for help.

Mr Albanese (pictured) said meeting his father for the first time was 'extraordinary'

Despite the 'needle in a haystack' nature of the search, in box in an old company warehouse, the contact details for Carlo Albanese were found.

When Ms Sherry told Mr Albanese 'we've found him', he was stunned, but realised going about contacting his father was a new challenge.

He wrote a letter to his father's family, explaining he was Maryanne's son - but not mentioning anything about being Carlo's son.

A lawyer for the family responded and they agreed to meet in an Italian town called Barletta.

He arrived at the lawyer's office to meet his father - but had to have a whisky before Carlo arrived - a moment he called 'extraordinary'.

'The bell rung ... and the door opened, he walked in and opened his arms to me and we embraced.'

Mr Albanese discovered he had a brother and sister and was stunned by the reception, given his father already had a family.

He returned several times with his family to visit Carlo, but he fell ill and died in January 2014.

In their final conversation together, Carlo told his son he was happy they had finally met.
Police have interviewed a fifth person over the case of missing toddler William Tyrrell, who vanished from his grandmother's backyard nearly two years ago.

Detectives questioned Kim Loweke, who is best friends with William's grandmother Natalie Collins, over her whereabouts on the day the three-year-old went missing.

According to Nine's ACA, police became interested when the two women applied to the Department of Housing for a three-bedroom home in western Sydney.

Ms Loweke also has personal links with Tony Jones and William Spedding - two accused paedophiles that were both named as persons of interest in the case.

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Police have questioned Kim Loweke, the best friend of William Tyrrell's grandmother Natalie Collins, over here whereabouts on the day the three-year-old went missing

Ms Collins said it was 'disgusting' that police had questioned her best friend over the sudden disappearance of her grandson

Ms Loweke and Ms Collins applied to the Department of Housing for a three-bedroom home in western Sydney, which reportedly piqued the interest of police

Ms Loweke admitted that the set of coincidences were strange, but denied having anything to do with William Tyrrell's disappearance.

I was thinking about how the situation is so weird, it is weird. I cant work it out, me minds going a hundred miles an hour going whats going on, she told ACA.

I dont know why my name's come up in the situation I seriously dont know,' she said, trailing off with laughter.

Adding further intrigue to the mystery of William's disappearance, Ms Loweke owns an old silver Holden VX Commodore - eerily similar in shape and colour to the description of one of the cars that was parked outside William's grandmother's home in Kendall, NSW, when he went missing on September 12, 2014.

The cars - described as a dark grey old-model, medium-size sedan and an old white station wagon - became the focus of police inquiries early on in the case.

Detectives reportedly took photos of Ms Loweke's car.

Ms Loweke reportedly has personal links to both William Spedding (left) and Tony Jones (right)

William Tyrrell, 3, went missing from his grandmother's back yard in Kendall, NSW, on September 12, 2014

Ms Collins said it was 'disgusting' that police had questioned her best friend and cast doubt over the pair's intentions with requesting a new home.

Thats just disgusting, Im sorry, because like I wouldnt hide him. Like Kim said it would be good if we could find him, we would hand him over anyway,' she said.

In a statement released to ACA, NSW Police said it would not be appropriate to comment on who was being questioned by police as it was an 'ongoing investigation.'
A nudist who went for a dip in a lake in Germany was left in agony after a fisherman 'caught' his penis on a fishing hook.

Herbert Fendt thought he had got himself stuck on some weeds when he felt a sudden pain in his groin last week.

But to his horror, the naked swimmer looked down to see a fishing hook pierced through his penis.

A nudist who went for a dip in a lake (pictured) in Germany was left in agony after a fisherman 'caught' his penis on a fishing hook

Mr Fendt was swimming in the Kaisersee, a lake north of Augsburg in southern Germany, when he found the line attached to his genitals.

'I cried out to the fisherman ashore shouting "do not pull, do not pull". I was terrified he was going to try to reel me in,' he said.

Mr Fendt, who is using an alias to avoid ridicule, swam ashore but was unable to ease the hook out of his manhood.

He was forced to snip the line and cycle home with the hook still attached to his penis, before driving to hospital.

'The doctor could understandably not suppress a small grin when he saw it,' Mr Fendt said.

Doctors removed the hook and cleaned the wound, which is expected to fully heal.

To his horror, the naked swimmer looked down to see a fishing hook (file picture) pierced through his penis

The nudist is not allowed to take a shower or swim for a week, but says he will return to the lake for another dip in the nude once everything is back in working order.

Mr Fendt said the fisherman had little sympathy for him.

'The fisherman told me it is not an official bathing lake and he has the right to fish at the spot, which is marked by some signs.

'I tried to explain to him that he should take into account the many swimmers who use the lake, and that I am unaware of any official prohibition to swim here but he did not care,' he added.

The lake, which is near the village of Dickelsmoor, is popular with nudists.

President of the local fishing association Sylvia Fischer said the lake is owned by the anglers but is often used by naked bathers because it is surrounded by hedges.

'We fishermen can perfectly understand the situation,' Ms Fischer said. 'We have all had at times a fishing hook pierced through one of our fingers, so we can imagine the incident was quite painful.
Following the detainment of several Westerns in Iran in the past few months, the U.S. government is telling its citizens not to travel to the Persian country.

On Monday, the State Department issued a warning saying Americans - especially those who hold dual citizenship with Iran - should 'carefully weigh the risks' of traveling to Iran and consider cancelling or postponing any planned trips.

Those Americans already in the country 'should closely follow media reports, monitor local conditions, and evaluate the risks of remaining in the country'.

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The State Department has issued a new memo, warning American citizens from visiting Iran. Above, a general view of Tehran

The warning was issued in response to the detainment of several Western citizens in Iran in the past few months.

'Iranian authorities have detained and harassed U.S. citizens, particularly those of Iranian origin,' the travel warning says. 'Former Muslims who have converted to other religions, religious activists, and persons who encourage Muslims to convert are subject to arrest and prosecution.'

Iranian authorities have detained and harassed U.S. citizens, particularly those of Iranian origin. Former Muslims who have converted to other religions, religious activists and persons who encourage Muslims to convert are subject to arrest and prosecution.

The warning particularly mentions 'students, journalists, business travelers and academics' as targets for bogus spying charges.

'Iranian authorities have also prevented the departure, in some cases for months, of a number of Iranian-American citizens who traveled to Iran for personal or professional reasons,' the warning continues. 'U.S. citizens traveling to Iran should very carefully weigh the risks of travel and consider postponing their travel.'

State Department officials point out in the warning that the U.S. has no official diplomatic relations with Iran, so the government's 'ability to assist U.S. citizens in Iran in the event of an emergency is extremely limited'.

The warning comes amid a report that the Obama administration paid $400million to secure the release of four Iranian-Americans in January.

The president has denied the claims, saying that the sum was to settle an outstanding refund to the Islamic Republic for a failed military weapons deal in 1979.

However, the State Department did confirm last week that the money was contingent on the release of the prisoners.

The prisoners included Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmarti, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari.
Police are hunting for the man who viciously beat a cancer patient to death outside of the Illinois hospital where she was being treated for breast cancer.

Shannon Vincel, 46, was waiting for a shuttle around 9.30pm on August 15 when she was hit over the head with an unknown object outside of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America facility in Zion, Illinois.

Authorities say she suffered 'severe head trauma' and as a result, died the next day.

'Why would anyone just walk up and beat a girl from behind, without warning and just beat her to death?' said Anita Adam, Vincel's mother.

Tragic: Police are hunting for the man who viciously beat Shannon Vincel (above) to death outside of the Illinois hospital where she was being treated for breast cancer

She was waiting for a shuttle around on August 15 when she was hit over the head with an unknown object outside of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America facility in Zion (above)

Adam said her daughter flew back and forth between Springfield, Missouri and the hospital, where she would live in its extended-stay housing.

'Whenever she'd walk into the hospital she'd always say, 'Oh, what a beautiful morning,'' Adam said. 'So optimistic.'

Vincel had just finished chemotherapy and was undergoing radiation.

'She certainly was looking forward to being Shannon again,' Adam said.

'She'd lost all her hair, but she dealt with it so well. She just accepted it: 'This is what I've been dealt, I'm going to take care of it and get better.''

The Zion Police Department and the Lake County Major Crime Task Force are investigating the attack, but no arrests have been made.

Authorities say she suffered 'severe head trauma' and as a result, died the next day. A $25,000 reward is being offered for information in her death

Cancer Treatment Centers of America is offering a $25,000 reward for information in her death.

'He was just pure evil,' Adam said. 'So it would be wonderful to get this  I can't even call him a person.

'I don't know what I can call him. If that thing were off the streets. Because no one is safe with people like that out walking around.'

A visitation and funeral will take place for Vincel on Tuesday at St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church in Des Peres, Missouri.
Happened on the lane leading up to his luxury car garage, Toy Stor-Age

Driver was named locally as Matt Cobden, 37, father and business owner

A 13-year-old boy who was killed when a Ferrari F50 he was travelling in crashed into a fence has been named by police.

Alexander Worth, from Kings Worthy near Winchester, died at the scene following the single-vehicle crash on an access road on monday.

The Ferrari F50 was believed to have been driven by 37-year-old Matt Cobden, who was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The super car was said to have collided with wooden fence posts on the road that leads to Newlyns and Lodge Farms.

Residents said the teenager may have been impaled by one of the huge fence posts when it was pulled out of the ground by the force of the impact.

It happened on the access road to Mr Cobden's business Toy Stor-Age, a storage and maintenance facility for luxury and vintage cars in Hampshire.

Mr Cobdens wife Nicky, 37, of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, reportedly told The Sun: There is really nothing to say yet Im afraid.

His mother Caroline, 67, from Taunton, Somerset did not want to comment.

Officers from Hampshire Constabulary were called at 8.45pm on Monday night to the quiet village of North Warnborough, near Hook, following the tragic incident.

Mr Cobden was taken to North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and his condition has been described as stable.

Matt Cobden (pictured) was driving a Ferrari F50 when it crashed, killing a 13-year-old boy

The Ferrari F50 (pictured, stock photo) is capable of travelling at 201mph and can reach 60mph in just 3.8 seconds

Police said the vehicle crashed on an access road which leads to two farms.

Only 349 Ferrari F50s were built, between 1995 and 1997, and they now change hands for as much as 1,500,000.

When it was introduced in 1995, the two seater was the top of the Ferrari range.

The 4.7 litre V12 engine it uses was developed from the Alain Prost's 1990 Ferrari F1 car - but is bigger.

It can reach 60mph from standstill in just 3.8 seconds and does less than 10 miles to the gallon.

The last F50, which has a removable hardtop roof, was produced in Ferrari's Maranello factory, Italy, in July 1997.

Hampshire Constabulary said: 'Officers were called to reports of a single vehicle collision on the access road that leads to Newlyns and Lodge Farms, on Hook Road, at 8.45pm last night.

A bunch of flowers was left at the scene after a 13-year-old boy was killed following the crash

The car crashed on an access road which leads to two farms in the quiet Hampshire village

'There were two people inside the vehicle, which was a red Ferrari F50, a 37-year-old man from Surrey and a 13-year-old boy from the Winchester area.

'Sadly, the teenager suffered life-threatening injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

'The 37-year-old suffered serious injuries and is being treated at the North Hampshire Hospital where his condition is described as stable.
A former Fox News host has filed a lawsuit against the network claiming that former CEO Roger Ailes and current host Bill O'Reilly both subjected her to unwanted sexual advances.

'Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny,' claims Andrea Tantaros in the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in New York State Supreme Court.

Tantaros, 37, went on to claim in the suit that she was taken off the air when she complained about being sexually harassed by Ailes.

She is now asking for approximately $50 million in the lawsuit, which also names the network's current co-president Bill Shine, Executive Vice President Dianne Brandi, publicist Irena Briganti and Executive Vice President Suzanne Scott as defendants.

Fox News declined to comment on the allegations being made in the lawsuit due to pending litigation.

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Allegations: Andrea Tantaros (above) has filed a lawsuit against Fox News claiming she was taken off the air when she complained about sexual harassment

Named: Tantaros, 37, claims that she received unwanted sexual advances from both Bill O'Reilly (left) and Roger Ailes (right)

Rowdy guest: Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown (above in June) allegedly told Tantaros she 'would be fun to go to a nightclub with'

Tantaros joined Fox News in 2010 as a political correspondent and a year later in 2011 was named as one of the co-hosts of the popular Fox News show The Five.

She claims in her lawsuit that she was told to wears skirts while appearing on air because 'Roger wants to see your legs.'

Things took a turn however in 2014, when Tantaros was moved off The Five and on to the less watched Outnumbered.

It was while she was hosting Outnumbered that Tantaros claims that former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown began to sexually harass her after appearing on the program.

TANTAROS LAWSUIT DEMANDS FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION: SEXUAL HARASSMENT -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million in damages for lost income and mental anguish as a result of the unwanted sexual harassment from Roger Ailes. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION: RETALIATION -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million in damages for lost income and mental anguish for being subject to 'adverse actions' by all defendants in the case when she reported being harassed by Ailes. THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION: SEXUAL HARASSMENT -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million damages for lost income and mental anguish and punitive damages of $10 million for the 'illegal conduct perpetrated by Fox News and Ailes' and for acting with 'with malice and reckless indifference to [her] rights. FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION: RETALIATION -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million damages for lost income and mental anguish and punitive damages of $10 million for Fox News and the defendants adverse reactions which 'were a direct result of her having engaged in protected activity at Fox News and were reasonably likely to deter her from engaging in protected activity.' FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION: RETALIATION Tantaros seeks no less than $3 million damages and punitive damages of $6 million for Fox News and the defendants interference with the promotion of her book Advertisement

'Brown made a number of sexually inappropriate comments to Tantaros on set, including, and in a suggestive manner, that Tantaros 'would be fun to go to a nightclub with,'' claims the lawsuit.

'After the show was over, Brown snuck up behind Tantaros while she was purchasing lunch and put his hands on her lower waist. She immediately pulled back, telling Brown to 'stop.'''

Despite complaining, the network continued to book Brown on the show claims Tantaros.

Brown has denied the claims being made by Tantaros.

He told DailyMail.com: 'I have already put out a statement and appeared on air and Twitter. I am neither a party, nor a defendant.

'She alleges that this happened on the air and in the cafe. In front of almost 75-100 people? Never happened.

'As a survivor of sexual abuse, I would never contribute to that type of discourse. I am only hearing about it now, a year later. Never contacted, reprimanded or fired. As a matter of fact, signed a new contract with a raise and work more than I ever have. Fully deny.'

Tantaros' move to Outnumbered came after a meeting with Ailes in which Tantaros claims the former CEO told her to turn around 'so I can get a good look at you.'

Tantaros claims that because she refused to do this she was demoted to a less-watched news program.

She also claims that Ailes once asked her to perform 'the twirl' for him; said 'come over here so I can give you a hug'; and told her 'I bet you look good in a bikini.'

O'Reilly meanwhile invited Tantaros to his Long island home to stay with him, telling her it would be 'very private' she claims in her lawsuit, also telling her that he could 'see [her] as a wild girl' and that she had a 'wild side.'

Tantaros said that she and her agent told Shine, Scott, and Brandi about numerous examples of Ailes's alleged harassment.

'Ailes did not act alone,' claims Tantaros in her lawsuit.

'He may have been the primary culprit, but his actions were condoned by his most senior lieutenants, who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation and retaliation.'

Tantaros also takes aim at Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, saying the two men 'are plainly not disturbed by Ailes's conduct and the retaliatory conduct by Fox News senior executives.'

Named: Tantaros also named current Fox News co-president Bill Shine in the suit, saying she told him about the harassment (Shine on left with Nouriel Roubini and Trish Regan)

Top dog: Tantaros takes aim at Rupert Murdoch (above with so Lachlan last month leaving Fox News headquarters) saying he is 'plainly not disturbed by Ailes's conduct' in the $50million suit

Not flattering: Gretchen Carlson (left) was allegedly called 'nuts' by Ailes, and Maria Bartiromo (right) 'fat'

On one occasion in early 2015, Tantaros claims that Ailes brought her to tears just before she was set to go live on her show by talking about a recent failed relationship.

'During that conversation Ailes began 'xpressing his baseless and preposterous view that Tantaros had 'used' [her ex-boyfriend] to represent her in a lawsuit (he is a lawyer), and that Tantaros had 'dumped' him when he lost the case,' claims the lawsuit.

'He then told her: 'You're tough. You use men. He didn't get you what you wanted so you dumped him. Isn't that what happened?' At this point, Tantaros told Ailes that his line of questioning was inappropriate and unprofessional, as well as predicated on assumptions that were untrue. Nonetheless, Ailes would not stop, telling Tantaros that 'I bet you were mean to him.' By this point in time, Tantaros was in tears. However, by virtue of Ailes's position at Fox News, Tantaros did not believe that she could just leave his office.'

ROGER AILES ALLEGED COMMENTS ON EMPLOYEES - 'Is Greg Gutfeld gay?' - 'Is Dana [Perino] a lesbian?' - Perhaps Gutfeld and Perino are 'sleeping together?' - 'Are Kimberly [Guilfoyle] and Eric [Bolling] sleeping together?' Guilfoyle is 'easy' - Guilfoyle is a 'Puerto Rican w***e' and a 'Puerto Rican street fighter' - Shannon Bream's 'voice is annoying' - Referring to Monica Crowley: 'If I ever had to go on a date with her, I'd jump out the window.' - Referring to Gretchen Carlson: 'She's nuts.' - Referring to Catherine Herridge: -'She's a stalker' - Referring to Maria Bartiromo: 'She got so fat' - 'Harris [Faulkner] has to be careful. She has the tendency to look like the angry black woman' -Referring to Stacey Dash as 'the blakc girl' Advertisement

Tantaros claims in the lawsuit that she also began to feel targeted by the publicity department at Fox News, specifically Irena Briganti.

She then went to speak with Shine about her concerns she claims in the lawsuit, and he responded by telling her Briganti 'is like a rabid dog on a chain that we can't control. Sometimes that dog gets off the chain.'

He then pointed to a photo of Ailes on a magazine claims Tantaros, and said: 'You see him? He's a very powerful man. This powerful man has faith in Irena Briganti.'

Tantaros claims the meeting ended with Shine telling her she should not 'fight this' and that she 'needed to let this one go.'

That meeting occurred in April of 2015, and in June of that same year Tantaros claims she again spoke with Shine asking if there was a 'let's get her' mentality at the network.

Tantaros claims she pleaded with Shine to 'please let me do my job,' telling him she 'did not feel welcome here.'

The next month she met with Ailes, who said she was not being targeted by media relations when she asked him about the alleged actions of the network's publicity team.

And a month after that, Tantaros claims that as she passed Ailes in the hallway he told her: 'We need to get you a tighter dress.'

Tantaros claims that after multiple complaints to executives at Fox she was taken off the air in April of this year, just as she was to begin promotion of her book.

According to the lawsuit that letter came 'the day before the publication date of Tantaros's book and 12 hours before she was slated to appear on Fox and Friends to launch the book and embark on a media tour.'

She has not been on Fox News since that time.

'Brandi sent [Tantaros' lawyer] a letter stating that Fox News was invoking the 'pay or play' provision found at Paragraph 8 of Tantaros's employment agreement, which allowed Fox News to bar Tantaros from appearing on any Fox News programming so long as it continued to pay her,' claims the lawsuit.

'However, Brandi's letter made clear that Fox News was going far beyond the exercise of its rights under Paragraph 8, because Brandi's letter informed [Tantaros' lawyer] that, commencing immediately, Tantaros was 'barred from entering Fox News's premises anywhere in the world.''

Fox News previously claimed that Tantaros was using her lawsuit to gain leverage on the network as they negotiate her contract.

The New York Times was the first to report on the suit.

Awful: Kimberly Guilfoyle (above on Saturday with Bill O'Reilly), host of The Five, was allegedly called a 'Puerto Rican w****,' 'easy,' and a 'Puerto Rican street fighter' by Ailes

Sexuality: Ailes asked if The Five host Greg Gutfeld (left) was gay and if pundit Dana Perino (right) was a lesbian claims the lawsuit

Not good: Ailes also allegedly referred to Stacey Dash (above in 2015) as 'the black girl' and the Harris Faulkner 'has the tendency to look like the angry black woman'

Tantaros also details the less than flattering comments Ailes allegedly made about other Fox News employees in the lawsuit.

Among those she names are The Five host Kimberly Guilfoyle, claiming that Ailes called her a 'Puerto Rican w****,' 'easy,' and a 'Puerto Rican street fighter.'

Tantaros claims she was taken off air just as her book (cover above) was released in April

Tantaros also claims that the disgraced executive once asked her is Guilfoyle was sleeping with her The Five co-host Eric Bolling.

When reached by DailyMail.com, a flustered-sounding Kimberly Guilfoyle said: 'Im not taking any calls. Have a nice day.'

Ailes also had an odd obsession with the sexuality of his employees claims Tantaros, asking her once if Greg Gutfeld, host of The Greg Gutfeld Show, was gay.

He also asked if political pundit Dana Perino was a lesbian Tantaros claims in the lawsuit.

That was then followed by Ailes asking if Perino and Gutfeld were 'sleeping together' claims Tantaros.

Ailes also allegedly called Gretchen Carlson 'nuts'; Catherine Herridge 'a stalker'; Shannon Bream's voice 'annoying'; and said that Maria Bartiromo 'got so fat.'

Speaking about Monica Crowley Ailes allegedly said: 'If I ever had to go on a date with her, I'd jump out the window.'

In the lawsuit Tantaros also claims that Ailes once said: 'Harris [Faulkner] has to be careful. She has the tendency to look like the angry black woman.'

And after Tantaros and Stacey Dash had an on-air disagreement Ailes said to her: 'I heard you were mean to the black girl.'
Witnesses say she had been racially

A shocking video shows a woman verbally abusing passengers on a train before she physically assaults a nearby man who comes to their defence.

Captured on a fellow commuter's mobile phone on a Sydney train, the woman is seen attempting to land a punch on the man, before knocking into a nearby pram and then going in to kick him.

The man is reported to have stood up to the woman after she hurled a stream of racial abuse at nearby passengers.

'She was being really racist towards Asian people, because she was saying 'go back to your own country',' witness Candy Li told 7News.

The woman is recorded screaming: 'Shut up you little c***. F*** off,' before attempting to punch a man on a Sydney train

Ms Li said the incident had been distressing to watch.

The woman is recorded screaming: 'Shut up you little c***. F*** off,' before attempting to punch the man.

Passengers on the train can be heard talking about getting help, and the man at the receiving end of the physical assault is seen calling the police.

Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins told 7News he was disturbed by what he saw in the video.

'Safety and security are our number one priority,' he said. 'We work closely with police and the transport command.'

According to a NSW Police spokesperson, officers arrested a 52-year-old woman at Sydney's inner west Strathfield station on Saturday afternoon.

She was later taken to Concord Hospital by paramedics where she was treated under the Mental Health Act.

'She was being really racist towards Asian people, because she was saying 'go back to your own country',' said witness Candy Li

According to a NSW Police spokesperson, officers arrested a 52-year-old woman at Sydney's inner west Strathfield station on Saturday afternoon




Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has reignited calls for a European army to protect external borders from mass migration and terrorist threats.

Mr Sobotka told a meeting of Czech diplomats in Prague on Monday: 'I am convinced that in the long term we won't be able to do without a common European army.'

He reasoned a joint military should not compete with NATO but it should become a 'more actionable and reliable partner'.

Proposals for an EU army - which were always blocked by Britain - will reportedly now be discussed at the autumn European summit next month.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka shake hands in Berlin in 2014. Mr Sobotka has now called for a joint European army

Mr Sobotka said he hopes the meeting 'will bring concrete proposals and pledges'.

His wish for an EU Army comes despite The Visegrad Group of four central European countries - Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - demanding that the powers of the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker be reined in and more competences be returned to capitals after the Brexit vote.

'We need to change the overall functioning of the EU and I think it is needed to change the functioning of the European Commission,' Mr Sobotka said in July.

The Visegrad Group is an alliance of The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - for the purposes of furthering their European integration, and advancing military, economic and energy cooperation

His comments on Monday come after Europe's three most powerful leaders vowed the EU will not end after Brexit as they launched a desperate bid to bring the project back to life.

French president Francois Hollande said he wanted greater co-operation on defence with plans for an EU army more likely to go ahead without British opposition.

Europe must ensure its own defence, and France is certainly playing its role, he said.

In the highly symbolic meeting on the Italian island seen as the birthplace of European federalism, the leaders of Germany, France and Italy attempted to show the EU was not dead on Monday.

But they risked further inflaming Euroscepticism across the continent as they attempted to plough on without learning lessons from angry Brexit voters in Britain.

French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi during a press conference at the end of their meeting on the Italian military ship 'Garibaldi' near Ventotene Island, Tirreno sea, Italy, on Monday

The leaders of what will be the EUs three biggest economies once Britain leaves aimed to present a united front as they met on Ventotene to discuss their gameplan for Brexit negotiations.

The volcanic island off Naples is where the dream of a united Europe was born. In the 1940s dissidents Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi, imprisoned there by Mussolinis regime, wrote a manifesto for a free and united Europe on sheets of cigarette paper.

It called for the definitive abolition of the division of Europe into national, sovereign states. It was smuggled out and later published.

But instead of such lofty idealism, the leaders of Germany, France and Italy faced the grim reality of a growing backlash to their handling of the migration crisis and terrorism  and disagreements over how to proceed.

The trio also risk hostility from the other remaining EU member states, with some Eastern European countries making clear they will oppose any further integration.

French president Francois Hollande admitted the EU faces the risk of fragmentation and division but said it needs a new impulse on three fronts  the economy, defence and security.

Mr Renzi, Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande arrive for a meeting on a ship near Ventotene island

Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said: Many thought the EU was finished after Brexit but that is not how it is.

'We respect the choice of Britains citizens, but we want to write a page for the future.

It is easy to complain and find scapegoats and Europe is the perfect scapegoat. But it is also about peace, prosperity and freedom.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalled that the EU had been born from some of the darkest moments of European history and stressed the need to deliver growth to ensure people have jobs and hope in the future.

She called for more information sharing between European intelligence agencies, saying: We feel that faced with Islamist terrorism and in light of the civil war in Syria, that we need to do more for our internal and external security.

FOX POWER GRAB International Trade Secretary Liam Fox Liam Fox has boasted he is taking over a wing of the Foreign Office from Cabinet rival Boris Johnson. The International Trade Secretary has been involved in a turf war with Mr Johnson over their role in Brexit negotiations, and was accused of a land grab earlier this month after trying to seize part of his Foreign Office portfolio. Now he has boasted of the importance of his own post and claimed he has already taken part of the Foreign Secretarys empire. Speaking to American radio host Hugh Hewitt, Dr Fox was asked about his new responsibilities and the task of creating a new department from scratch. He replied: We are taking over a wing of what is at the moment the Foreign Office. Well be based between Downing Street and the Foreign Office, and thats going to send an important signal about how important Britain thinks trade is in our relationship with the wider world. He also suggested he was taking portfolios from other senior ministers such as business and defence. Advertisement

The three leaders spoke ahead of a working dinner aboard the Italian navys Guiseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier, which was anchored off the island.

The vessel is another symbolic location because it is co-ordinating the EUs migrant rescue operation in the Mediterranean.

Mr Renzi called the meeting in an effort to forge a common position on the way forward ahead of a summit of the 27 remaining EU states in Bratislava next month.

The Brexit vote has raised fears of similar referendums in other countries, particularly the Netherlands, which opposes changes to the EU to achieve closer integr ation.

Coming up with a road map acceptable to all will not be easy, with countries such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia vowing to draw up their own plans for a less centralised EU.

Mrs Merkel is holding a string of meetings with other EU leaders to discuss the post-Brexit EU, with visits to Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland in the coming days and meetings with the leaders of Slovakia and Hungary in Warsaw.

The German Chancellor has also invited leaders from the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Austria and other eastern European nations for informal meetings at a government guest house in Germany.

The three leaders did not elaborate publicly on how they planned to proceed with Brexit negotiations, but a French minister said on Monday they wanted the UK to get on with the process of leaving.

Axelle Lemaire, a French finance minister said: We want to know what Britain wants.

It was good to have that clarification from Theresa May that Brexit means Brexit, but now were just wondering, what does Brexit mean actually?

'Its not about [other European countries] having a hard line or soft line [with Britain], its clear to everyone its not in anyones interest to slow down the process.

For example, theres the European budget that needs to be discussed next year and its a seven-year budget, if we dont know whether Britain is going to be a key player in that budget how are we meant to make decisions.
A retired engineer who has spent his own money cleaning up his local neighbourhood to make it nicer for residents is being threatened by the council for 'breaking the law'.

David Render, 54, has spent months transforming his hometown of Washington, Sunderland  spending 289 to restore a sculpture and picnic bench in the town and cut back overgrown bushes.

He has also rounded up a team of volunteers to help him carry out regular litter collections to keep rubbish at bay in the town he claims has been neglected by the local authority.

However, instead of receiving any thanks for his work, he has now been accused of 'trespass, criminal damage and removal of property' by Sunderland Council.

David Render, 54, has spent months transforming Washington, Sunderland but is facing threats by the council accusing him of 'trespass, criminal damage and removal of property'

He has received an email telling him that he has been put under investigation and that 'appropriate action' will be taken if he continues to cut down branches that overhang roads.

Mr Render says that in a heated meeting at the council's headquarters he was also accused of 'vandalism' by a council officer, although his claim is denied.

He said: 'I didn't do it for recognition, I was just trying to help improve the area where we live and make it nicer for the people who call it home.

'But the last thing I expected to receive from the council was a threat of legal action. It's madness.

'I was told I wasn't doing suitable risk assessments before cutting down branches near the highway. The only risk assessment necessary was making sure the road was quiet and no cars were coming at the time.

'I think the council are angry that our group is making them look bad by showing what community spirit can achieve and reversing years of their neglect.'

The campaigner, who lives with his girlfriend in the Lambton district of the town, said he set up the Facebook group Restoring Washington, to bring some pride back to the 1960s new town. The social media page calls for volunteers and the group carry out goodwill gestures in the community.

He said he set up the group when he discovered a rusting sculpture near the Wear Industrial Estate while on one of his regular rubbish-picking expeditions on the streets and grass verges near his home.

Mr Render began his goodwill campaign after discovering a rusting sculpture near the Wear Industrial Estate while on one of his regular rubbish-picking expeditions on the streets. He is pictured with the sculpture after spending 289 of his own money to painstakingly restore it

The sculpture is pictured before it was restored by Mr Render in Washington, Sunderland

It was put in place by the former Washington Development Corporation and was once a gleaming multi-coloured symbol of the new town's ambition.

Mr Render, who ran his own motor engineering business, said: 'The sculpture had been forgotten completely, I only discovered it while I was picking up rubbish next to the slip-road where it stands.

'When I looked I saw a rusting frame holding the up the 'Wear' sign which was surrounded by globes which has rusted into holes.

'I knew it would be a long job but I thought it would be fantastic to restore it.'

He gathered a team of volunteers who hacked away the undergrowth, filled the corroded holes and repainted the sculpture in vibrant red and silver rust-proof paint.

The transformation encouraged Mr Render to continue his work in the local Princess Anne park.

He took a vandalised and rotting picnic table back to his home and with the help of other volunteers replaced the timber and took it back to where it once stood, making sure it was safely anchored to the ground.

He said: 'I felt the picnic tables in their original state were a hazard because they weren't fixed to the ground and the kids began pushing them over, I was worried someone would get hurt so I did something about it.

'We've organised teams to pick up litter, we've cut down overgrown thorns to free up footpaths and I think we have really made a difference to the area. It's a shame the council doesn't seem to agree.'

In an email to Mr Render earlier this month Mark Speed, head of Place Management at Sunderland City Council, said he had received complaints over the work carried out.

Mr Render said he tidied the area near his house and spent his own money making repairs

Mr Speed said in his email: 'You have been posting information on social media sites which suggest you have been deliberately and knowingly committing offences; you have been claiming to carry out activities which include trespass, criminal damage and removal of property which you do not own.

'Up to this point, although I have received a number of complaints regarding your actions, I have taken the view that you are well intentioned and have refrained from taking those matters further.

'One complaint however really concerns me. I understand you believe you are in a position to carry out risk assessments and then cut down branches and trees which overhang highways. This is not acceptable as you are putting yourself and other members of the public in danger.

'I must insist you stop these activities now before someone gets hurt. If you continues I will ask for investigations to commence and appropriate action will be taken.'

Mr Render admits he has caused Sunderland Council issues before when he lashed out to complain about rubbish collections. He dumped waste in the council offices (pictured)

Mr Render has now written to the Prince of Wales to complain about his treatment by the council.

Although Clarence House replied to say the Prince 'recognised the strength of his feelings', they said his complaint would need to be forwarded to the council.

Mr Render admits he has caused Sunderland Council issues before when he lashed out to complain about irregular rubbish collections.

He said: 'In June I dumped a bag of rubbish in the foyer at the city council to see how they liked having litter lying around - which is exactly what we have to put up with on a daily basis.
An armed robber who was kicked by a cow he was milking on a jail farm is suing taxpayers for his injuries.

Glenn Brian Remilton suffered serious spinal injuries after he was kicked in the chin by a cow on Dhurringle Prison dairy farm, north of Melbourne.

The 40-year-old, who is serving a 3.5 year sentence for robbing a 7-Eleven, claims the State of Victoria breached its duty of care by exposing him to the injury, reports Herald Sun.

A prisoner who suffered serious spinal injuries after he was kicked in the chin by a cow on a prison dairy farm is suing taxpayers

Mr Remilton is already receiving a disability support pension for his injuries, which were compounded by a car crash last September.

Judge Paul Lacava said he required two operations to fuse his spine and remove part of his vertebrae to relieve pressure on nerves.

'This was undoubtedly a serious injury which will impact your enjoyment of life for the rest of your life  and it is clear that you suffer from chronic pain radiating into your legs and arms.'

He pleaded guilty in April to robbing a 7-Eleven at knifepoint on at 2.49am on June 2, 2013.

Judge Lacava imposed a community correction order with 250 hours' community work.

The court heard he was a former heroin and meth addict who had been sober and out of trouble for nearly three years.
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These astonishing pictures show the sheer scale of Peace Valley - the world's largest cemetery in the world where five million people have been laid to rest.

Around 200 Iraqis are buried every day in Peace Valley - or Wadi al-Salam in Arabic - and it is expanding at twice its usual rate because of the ongoing war with ISIS.

The cemetery is located in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Najaf and millions of pilgrims visit the graveyard each year.

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These astonishing pictures show the sheer scale of Iraq's Peace Valley - the world's largest cemetery in the world

Burial: Five million people have been laid to rest in Peace Valley, including this person, who was buried earlier this year

A boy digs and then fills in a grave at Peace Valley - Wadi al-Salam in Arabic - where 200 Iraqis are buried every day

A woman inside the the Wadi al-Salam cemetery holds containers which are used for washing the thousands of graves

The sprawling graveyard it is expanding at twice its usual rate because of the ongoing war with militant group ISIS

The vast cemetery surrounds the mausoleum of the first Shi'ite imam, Ali Bin Abi Talib, who was a cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad.

Shi'ite paramilitary often visit Ali's golden-domed shrine before heading to the frontlines to battle ISIS.

Many of them request to be laid to rest in Wadi al-Salam should they be killed, as a reward for their sacrifice.

Before the rise of ISIS, between 80 and 120 burials took place at the cemetery each year. This has risen to 150-200 a day since the barbaric militant group over-ran a third of Iraq.

The cemetery is located in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Najaf and millions of pilgrims visit the graveyard each year

Mourners carry the coffin of their relative during a funeral in Najaf, Iraq, as they make their way towards Peace Valley

Before the rise of ISIS, between 80 and 120 burials took place at the cemetery each year. This has now risen to 150-200 a day. Pictured, a family mourn the loss of a relative

A woman washes the grave of her relative at the Wadi al-Salam cemetery, where five million Shi'ites are buried

A 25 square metre plot costs around five million Iraqi dinars (3,200) - almost double what it cost before the rise of ISIS

As the graveyard grows, and land becomes scarce, the price of a grave goes up.

A 25 square metre plot now costs around five million Iraqi dinars (3,200) - almost double what it cost before the insurgency.

But the four square miles of graves are not just for Iraqis. Thousands of Shi'ites from all over the world choose to be buried there, with many of them from neighbouring Iran.

Often built with baked bricks and plaster, decorated with Koranic calligraphy, some graves are above ground tombs, reflecting the wealth of those within

Shi'ite paramilitary often visit Ali's golden-domed shrine before heading to the frontlines to battle ISIS. Pictured a man holds containers used to wash graves

Many soldiers request to be laid to rest in Wadi al-Salam should they be killed, as a reward for their sacrifice. Pictured, a man mourns on the grave of his relative

Each of the thousands of crypts that are strewn across the sprawling site are said to be able to hold 50 bodies

Often built with baked bricks and plaster, decorated with Koranic calligraphy, some graves are above ground tombs, reflecting the wealth of those within.

Each of the thousands of crypts that are strewn across the sprawling site are said to be able to hold 50 bodies.
Robot brothels could soon be commonplace as Britain's sex industry undergoes a technological revolution.

Leading experts claim that technology can clean up the industry, wiping out issues such as sexually transmitted disease and sex slavery.

In his report, 'Sex work, Technological unemployment and the Basic income guarantee', NUI Galway Law professor John Danaher believes once sex robots become common legal sanctions may be introduced to the industry, which only regulates humans.

Robot brothels could soon be commonplace as Britain's sex industry undergoes a technological revolution. File image

Pimps and brothel-owners would be free to set up businesses offering cyborg sex to anyone who demands it without legal sanction, he said.

Professor Danaher even thinks that the robots could be better in bed than humans, and may even be better at developing emotional bonds with their clients.

He told the Daily Star: 'The cyborgs can cater for desire for sexual variety, freedom from constraint and complication and fear of lack of sexual success.

'Technology may become better at developing emotional bonds with their clients.

'They wont need to "fake it" the same way as human prostitutes.'

Experts believe that places with booming sex industries such as Amsterdam's red light district will be brimming with cyborgs by 2025.

They will not only fill brothels, but could even be living in our homes as technology develops, it is believed.

NUI Galway Law professor John Danaher believes that robots, which can be mass-produced, could even legalise the industry, which only regulates humans. Stock image

The news comes after a number of people have unashamedly admitted enjoying the company of life-like sex dolls.

Japanese man Senji Nakajima, claims he enjoys the 'perfect' relationship with 'Saori' - a rubber doll - who he shares his home with, along with his wife.

He says he is in love with the giant dummy, which he takes out on shopping trips so he can buy it expensive outfits.

Earlier this year, a three-time divorcee called Murray, from Queensland Australia, admitted he was in love with a sex doll called Noni.

However, it took him more than a year to learn how to have sex with her, he told ABC, which does not bode will for the dolls as a prospect for the sex industry.
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Yet more harrowing pictures have revealed the horrors children are facing in Syria as the civil war rages on.

Distressing images from Douma, east of the Syrian capital Damascus, show children covered in ash as they receive treatment at a makeshift hospital following a devastating airstrike.

Four people, including at least two children, were killed in the bombing in the rebel-held town yesterday.

The deadly attack comes just six days after a picture of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, who was seen dazed and soaked in his own blood in an ambulance after his home in Aleppo was destroyed, shook the world.

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Eyes that have seen too much: Yet more harrowing pictures have revealed the horrors children are facing in Syria as the civil war rages on

The disturbing photos - many of which are too graphic to be shown - show children crying as they try to comprehend the pain and suffering that is unfolding before their eyes

Distressing images from Douma, east of the Syrian capital Damascus, show children covered in ash as they receive treatment at a makeshift hospital

The deadly attack comes just six days after a picture of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, who was seen dazed and soaked in his own blood in an ambulance after his home in Aleppo was destroyed, shook the world

The disturbing photos - many of which are too graphic to be shown - show children crying as they try to comprehend the pain and suffering that is unfolding before their eyes.

Some of the young boys and girls are seen howling in pain, while others simply stare into space in a daze.

Other images taken in the medical center in Douma show distraught parents weeping hysterically over the dead bodies of their children.

One particularly haunting photo shows a small girl staring blankly into the distance as she sits on a hospital bed in a dress which is covered in the debris of her home.

The little girl is covered in cuts and bruises and her hair is matted with blood and ash, but she appears to be too stunned by the horrific scene to feel the pain.

The airstrike is likely to have come from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

Four people, including at least two children, were killed in the bombing in the rebel-held town yesterday. A child is seen wailing from pain as she is treated

Shock: Some of the young boys and girls are seen crying and howling in pain, while others simply stare into space in a daze

One particularly haunting photo shows a small girl staring blankly into the distance as she sits on a hospital bed in a dress which is covered in the debris of her home

Other images taken in the medical center in Douma show distraught parents weeping hysterically over the dead bodies of their children

The airstrike - which is said to have killed four - is likely to have come from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad

An injured child writhes in pain on a hospital bed in Douma as she awaits medical treatment following the airstrike

There was international uproar last week after Omran Daqneesh was pictured covered in blood as he was taken to hospital after his home and entire neighbourhood in Aleppo were reduced to rubble.

Footage shows Omran 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.

He was pulled from the rubble with his 10-year-old brother Ali, who later died.

epa05507415 Syrian medics gives medical attention to children injured in an airstrike attack on Douma, near Damascus

Suffering: Two boys, who are covered in blood after the airstrike in Douma, wait for treatment at a makeshift hospital

Helpless: A father stands with his two injured children after they suffered head injuries during the carnage yesterday

Too young: Three children wait in the hospital as their friends and family are treated following the devastating airstrike

Omran's father said he had been sitting with Omran in the living room of his home when the airstrike hit.

His wife, another son and two daughters were also inside, while Ali was just outside with friends and also caught in the explosion.

The father, who gave his name only as Abu Ali  meaning 'father of Ali'  fearing reprisals from the Syrian regime, said: 'It is very painful to watch your children falling in front of your eyes.'

A source close to the family said: 'They seem so lost and confused. I think they are very shocked. There have been many offers to help, even to get them out of there, but the father is refusing. He said, "I don't want money. I don't want help".'

Russia has denied being behind the strike on the Qaterji district which killed at least eight.
David Cameron (pictured outside Downing Street in his final days as Prime Minister last month) caused outrage by handing gongs to his aides, allies and Tory donors in his final resignation honours list

An inquiry has been launched into how David Cameron's controversial resignation honours list was leaked to the press.

Whitehall officials will interview the staff who had access to the confidential document, which is believed to have been confined to a few of Mr Cameron's former aides, Theresa May's closest advisers and a small team of civil servants.

The remarkable list, leaked to a journalist last month, included the names of 48 allies, political aides and donors close to the former Prime Minister and led to days of negative coverage that risked souring Mr Cameron's legacy in No 10.

He was accused of cronyism after handing gongs to his wife's stylist Isabel Spearman and George Osborne's aide Thea Rogers for political and public service.

The official list, which was eventually made public earlier this month, also saw knighthoods given to Cabinet ministers Michael Fallon and Patrick McLoughlin and former ministers Oliver Letwin and Hugo Swire, while former chancellor George Osborne became a Companion of Honour.

Critics said it showed Mr Cameron was hijacking the system to reward aides, political donors and senior figures in the losing Remain campaign. Labour demanded the honours system be overhauled.

Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood will oversee the leak inquiry and will be run by Sue Grey, the Government's head of propriety and ethics.

The Cabinet Office refused to comment but Whitehall sources confirmed to MailOnline that the inquiry is going ahead.

Mr Cameron's team has accused Mrs May's team of being responsible for the leak of names to the Sunday Times last month, suggesting her new Downing Street team was keen to put the information into the public domain before the new PM could be tarnished with the embarrassing list.

David Cameron was accused of cronyism after handing gongs to his wife's stylist Isabel Spearman (left) and George Osborne's aide Thea Rogers (right)

One of Mr Cameron's team told The Times: 'It had to be them. No civil servant would take the risk given the list was going to be published anyway and it's not like anyone from Cameron's team would do it.'

But Mrs May's team categorically denied any involvement in the leak.

Despite the inquiry, it is unlikely that the culprit will be found as these kinds of probes have a poor track record and Whitehall sources say they amount to little more than a box-ticking exercise.
Few details were given about the sorcery charges

Reportedly sent movements and names of Saudi troops to Iran

Accused of attempting to disturb public order and violating labour laws

to six years in prison

The unnamed Egyptian man has been

An Egyptian man has reportedly been sentenced to six years in prison on charges of attempting to disturb public order, violating the kingdom's labour laws and communicating with a sorcerer to bewitch his employer.

The Egyptian, who was unnamed in a report by Saudi newspaper Okaz, was accused of acquiring a secret military document that listed the movements and names of Saudi troops and of emailing this document to the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon.

The Egyptian man is accused of acquiring a secret military document that listed the movements and names of Saudi troops (file photo)

Saudi Arabia and Iran are regional rivals. The kingdom has long-accused Iran of meddling in its affairs and trying to destabilise the region.

Okaz reported on Tuesday that the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced the Egyptian national on Monday. Few details were given about the sorcery charges.
Dr Claire Sheppey, 47, who helped treat victims of the 7/7 bombings, died when a smouldering cigarette caught alight and started a house fire

A doctor who helped hundreds of victims in the 7/7 bombings died in her sleep when a smouldering cigarette caught fire to a plastic bag and started a house fire, an inquest has heard.

Dr Claire Sheppey, 47, a consultant paediatric anaesthetist who was part of the Royal London Hospital response team after the terror attacks, had gone to bed while twice over the drink-drive limit when the cigarette butt caught alight.

When firefighters arrived at her top-floor flat in Islington, north London, they saw flames 'punching through' her windows and found Dr Sheppey lying on her bed, unconscious.

They also found a smoke alarm in her hall with the batteries removed.

The inquest heard how Dr Sheppey was taken to the Royal London - the hospital in Whitechapel, east London, where she was employed - but was pronounced dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.

It was also there that she treated dozens of victims who were rushed to hospital following the attacks in July 2005.

Half of all those injured were treated in the hospital, including almost 30 people who lost limbs in the bombings.

Today, at an inquest into her death, the hearing was told how toxicologist Dr Susan Paterson found Dr Sheppey's reading was 193 milligrammes of alcohol per decilitre of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrammes and a reading of 100mg is typically associated with drunkenness.

Recording her conclusion, Coroner Mary Hassell said: 'It seems to me all the evidence points in the same direction.

'Claire was at home, she had been smoking. She discarded a cigarette butt which wasn't properly out and was disposed of in a plastic bag and then she went to bed.

Dr Sheppey, a consultant paediatric anaesthetist, had gone to bed while twice over the drink-drive limit when the cigarette butt caught alight

'A smouldering fire began. The flames would have been very toxic. There was smoke so thick you couldn't see a hand in front of your face.

'It seems to me it was in all likelihood that Claire fell asleep and was never even aware anything was wrong.'

She added that her death was an accident.

'As a consequence of inadequate disposal of smoking materials she was overcome by toxic fumes,' she said.

'The property did not contain working smoke detectors. It may not have awoken her but it may have awoken someone else.'

When firefighters arrived at her home in Islington, north London, they saw flames 'punching through' her windows and found Dr Sheppey lying on her bed, unconscious

London Fire Brigade investigator Dean Wilkinson said the fire was started by a smouldering cigarette butt discarded in a plastic bag by the sofa bed.

The fire engulfed the sofa and electrical items in the living room before opening a hole in the floor which a firefighter later fell through, he said.

He said items which fell into the flat below included a wine bottle and chipped cigarettes.

He said: 'Around the sofa bed was a number of plastic bags containing cigarette butts, cigarette packets, empty cigarette packets and paper.

The inquest heard how the blaze could have been smouldering for three hours before a neighbour saw it through a window and called 999. The damage is pictured above

'And the fire was determined as starting from a discarded cigarette butt. This fire is typical for giving off a lot of smoke before developing.

'In my opinion it would be going on for some time.'

HERO DOCTOR WHO CARED FOR 7/7 BOMBING VICTIMS Dr Sheppey, a consultant paediatric anaesthetist, was part of the response team at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, after the 7/7 terror attacks on London, which killed 52 people. Based at the hospital, she treated dozens of victims who needed medical attention following the attacks in July 2005. The majority of her patients were those who had been on the Circle Line train at Aldgate when a bomb exploded. Half of all those injured were treated in the hospital, including almost 30 people who lost limbs in the bombings. Dr Sheppey, who started working at the hospital in 2004, had also been a tutor at the Royal College of Anaesthetists for six years. Advertisement

He said the blaze could have been smouldering for three hours before a neighbour saw it through a window and called 999.

Dr Liinda Palm, who carried out the post mortem examination, wrote in a statement: 'Awareness of circumstances may have been impaired.

'Alcohol could have had an influence on her death. But I don't believe it was directly causative to her death.'

Dr Sheppey had also been a tutor at the Royal College of Anaesthetists for six years.

Dr Jane McNeill, clinical director for perioperative medicine and consultant anaesthetist at Barts, the trust that runs the Royal London Hospital, paid tribute to her at the time of her death.

She said: 'Dr Claire Sheppey was a very valued colleague and important part of our department with a joie de vive that will be so missed.

'Claire was appointed as a consultant in paediatric anaesthetist in 2004, she played a crucial part in the Royal London Hospital's response to the 2005 July bombings in London and has been integral to our department ever since.'
A Brexit supporter who screamed 'we voted to take our country back' as she destroyed a hijab sculpture claimed she had once worked for the Beatles.

Mikaela Haze, 70, yelled 'Saudia Arabians go home' before ripping the veil off the artwork at the Royal College of Art on July 18, just days after the EU referendum.

Haze, of Bayswater, west London, later told police she had never liked the burka 'because she used to be a design artist for The Beatles'.

The 6,300 sculpture, which consisted of a burka over a metal frame, was created by masters student Yasmeen Sabri to 'promote tolerance and understanding'.

Outburst: Mikaela Haze, 70, pictured outside court today, yelled 'Saudia Arabians go home' before ripping the veil off the artwork at the Royal College of Art

Destroyed: The 6,300 sculpture, which consisted of a burka over a metal frame, was created by masters student Yasmeen Sabri to 'promote tolerance and understanding'

Miss Sabri was putting the finishing touches on the artwork when Haze walked into the gallery in South Kensington, west London, with a bottle of cider.

Prosecutor Zahid Hussain said: 'She initially appeared to be gregarious, being friendly to Miss Sabri and taking the burka from the statue to look at it.'

Haze asked Miss Sabri to place the burka over her head.

Mr Hussain said: 'When Miss Sabri placed the burka over this defendant's head it is at this point she became agitated, she was aggressive and she remonstrated with Miss Sabri racially aggravated words.

'She said "Saudi Arabians go home" and "we voted to take our country back". This the police say is perhaps a reference to the results of the referendum where Britain exited the European Union.'

'The victim said she felt very alarmed, she was scared, and she was really scared the defendant would become physically violent.

'Her fears were confirmed when the defendant pushed the sculpture causing it to fall to the floor, shattering it on impact, causing it to break in half.'

Westminster Magistrates Court heard it had taken Miss Sabri six months to complete the sculpture, titled 'Walk a Mile in her Veil', pictured

Westminster Magistrates Court heard it had taken Miss Sabri six months to complete the sculpture, titled 'Walk a Mile in her Veil'.

Haze, who has had a drinking problem since she was a teenager, showed remorse and apologised after she was escorted from the gallery and arrested.

The prosecutor said that when Haze was interviewed by police she 'said she didn't like the burka as she used to be a design artist for the Beatles and never liked the burka.'

Haze was due to be sentenced today after pleading guilty to one count of causing religiously aggravated criminal damage on 18 July.

The case has been put back until November after the court heard about Haze's drink and mental health issues.

The prosecutor said that Miss Sabri did not want Haze punished and instead wanted her 'to receive help and rehabilitation for her drink problem'.

Magistrates adjourned sentencing until a report on the defendant's mental health and alcohol problems can be complied

Haze wept as she left the dock, saying: 'I just want to say thank you, I won't let you down.'
The names on the various Internet lists varies from one website to another, but these are among those most frequently cited as possible victims of a vast Clinton conspiracy.

Kevin Ives, 17 and 16-year-old Don Henry, were murdered in a rural community just south of Little Rock

Kevin Ives and Don Henry, both 17, crushed by a train, August 23, 1987. Their deaths were ruled accidental, with the medical examiner saying they had fallen asleep on a railroad line after smoking marijuana, but a grand jury found they had been murdered before being placed on the tracks. They had allegedly stumbled on a plot to smuggle drugs and guns from an airport in Mena, Arkansas that Bill Clinton was said to be involved in as state governor.

Victor Raiser, 53, small plane crash, July 30, 1992. The second finance co-chair of Bill Clinton's presidential campaign was killed along with his son during a fishing vacation in Alaska. Campaign press secretary Dee Dee Myers called Raiser a major player in the organization.

Paul Tully, 48, apparent heart attack, September 25, 1992. A chain-smoking, heavy drinking political consultant who weighed in at more than 320 lb. Tully died seven weeks before Clinton's first presidential election win. He had been political director of the DNC during Clinton's rise. Tully was on the left of the Democratic Party and usually worked for those who shared his views, however he agreed to work for Clinton because he was impressed with his oratory and thought he was the only Democrat who could beat President George Bush.

Paula Gober, 36, single car accident, December 7, 1992. She was Clinton's interpreter for the deaf for several years and traveled with him while he was governor of Arkansas. Her vehicle overturned on a bend, throwing her 30 feet. There were no witnesses.

Vince Foster, 48, committed suicide on July 20, 1993. He was an Arkansas lawyer who Bill appointed as deputy White House counsel when he became president in 1993. It didn't take long for Foster, 48, to realize he had made a terrible mistake by accepting the post. He hated the work and fell into a deep depression. Just six months into the job, his body was found in his car in Fort Marcy Park, Virginia, a gun in his hand and a suicide note torn into 27 pieces in the trunk.

Stanley Heard, 47, small plane crash, September 10, 1993. An Arkansas chiropractor who, according to the book, A Profession of One's Own, treated the Clinton family, Heard was asked by Bill Clinton to represent the practice as plans for 'Hillarycare' were being finalized. His attorney Steve Dickson, was flying him home from a healthcare meeting in Washington DC just eight months into the Clinton presidency. On the way to the capital from his home in Kansas, Dickson's small plane developed problems so he landed in St. Louis and rented another plane. That rented plane was the one that crashed in rural Virginia, killing both men.

Jerry Parks was head of campaign security

Jerry Parks, 47, shot to death, September 23, 1993. Parks was head of security for Bill Clinton's headquarters in Arkansas. As he drove home in West Little Rock, two men in a white Chevrolet pulled alongside his car and sprayed it with semi-automatic gunfire. As Parks's car stopped a man stepped out of the Chevy and shot him twice with a 9mm pistol and sped off. Despite there being several witnesses, no-one was ever arrested. The killing came two months after Parks had watched news of Vince Foster's death and allegedly told his son Gary 'I'm a dead man.' His wife Lois remarried and her second husband, Dr. David Millstein was stabbed to death in 2006.

Edward Willey Jr, 60,

Willey, 60, was having serious money problems and his wife, a volunteer aide in the White House, agreed to ask Bill Clinton for a paid job. Their meeting ended when Clinton allegedly forced himself on her in the Oval Office, kissing her, fondling her breast and pushing her hand on to his genitals.

Four years later Kathleen Willey wrote a book in which she put forward a theory that the Clintons may have had her husband murdered. She said after his death, a friend had told her that Ed had confided that he took briefcases full of cash to the Clintons' base in Little Rock, Arkansas during Bill's first presidential campaign.

Herschel Friday, 70, small plane crash, March 1, 1994. Friday was an Arkansas lawyer who Richard Nixon had once considered for the Supreme Court. Friday was known as a benefactor of Bill Clinton, serving on his campaign finance committee.

Kathy Ferguson, 37, gun suicide, May 11, 1994. She was the ex-wife of Arkansas State Trooper Danny Ferguson, who was named in a sexual harassment suit brought by Paula Jones against Bill Clinton. Ferguson left a note blaming problems with her fiance, Bill Shelton. A month later Shelton, upset about the suicide verdict, killed himself.

Then-President-elect Bill Clinton, right, puts his arm around the shoulders of Ron Brown

Ron Brown, 54, plane crash, April 3, 1996. Brown was chair of the Democratic National Committee during Bill Clinton's rise to the presidential nomination and was rewarded with the cabinet position. He was under a corruption investigation when his plane slammed into a mountainside in Croatia. Doctors who examined his body found a circular wound on the top of his head which led to suspicions that he had died before the plane crashed, but that theory was later discounted. The crash was attributed to pilot error.

Charles Meissner, 56, same plane crash as Brown. Meissner was assistant secretary for international trade and had been criticized for allegedly giving special security clearance to John Huang, who later pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for violating campaign finance laws, in a case that enmeshed the Clinton administration.

Barbara Wise, 48, natural causes, November 29, 1996. Wise, who worked alongside Brown, Meissner and Huang in the Commerce Department was found dead at her desk on the day after Thanksgiving 1996. Her death was originally classified as a homicide but police later said Wise, 48, who had a history of severe ill health, had died from natural causes. A local TV station initially quoted an unidentified police source as saying her body was partially nude and her office was locked, but those reports were also later denied.

Mary Mahoney was a White House intern

Mary Mahoney was just 25 when she was gunned down along with two assistants at the Washington D.C. Starbucks in 1997 where she was night manager. Mahoney, a lesbian, was also a White House intern and gay rights activist who reportedly acted as a 'mother-figure' to various women who had allegedly been sexually harassed by Bill Clinton.

John Ashe, former United Nations General Assembly president and U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda

John Ashe, 61, a politician and former president of the United Nations General Assembly, was pumping iron at his home in Dobbs Ferry, New York on June 22 when he dropped the weight. He died from 'traumatic asphyxiation. Ashe was about to stand trial in a corruption case for allegedly receiving $500,000 from billionaire real estate developer Ng Lap Seng. Ng was involved in a fundraising scandal and named in a 1998 Senate report for illegally funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the DNC during Bill Clinton's presidency. 'During the trial, the prosecutors would have linked Ashe to the Clinton bagman Ng. It would have been very embarrassing. His death was conveniently timed,' The New York Post reported.

Mark Weiner, 62, died on July 26. He had been due to be part of the Rhode Island delegation to the convention but pulled out due to ill health. However, Weiner, who was suffering from leukemia, still planned to travel to Philadelphia to see Bill Clinton speak and was dressing for the trip when he suddenly said he felt ill. Weiner, who raised prodigious amounts of money for both Clintons, never woke up. Both Bill and Hillary attended his funeral in Providence last week, with the former president giving the eulogy, remembering his old pal as 'forever young, forever exuberant  always just a little too much.'

Victor Thorn, 54, a journalist and strong critic of the couple climbed a mountain near his State College, Pennsylvania home on his August 1 birthday and shot himself to death. He wrote a trilogy of books on the Clintons, devoting one of the books to the number of their contacts who had mysteriously died

Lawyer Shawn Lucas died on August 2

Shawn Lucas, 38, a lawyer who supported Bernie Sanders, was found dead on August 2 on the bathroom floor of his Washington DC apartment. Just a month earlier he had attempted to serve papers on Wasserman-Schultz in a fraud case that alleges the party had unfairly favored Hillary Clinton in the primaries over Sanders. A video of Lucas taking the papers to the DNC's Washington headquarters has been viewed almost 400,000 times as of Wednesday morning on YouTube. In it, Lucas, who was said to have been a Sanders supporter and worked for a company called One Source Process, calls serving the papers 'the most gratifying thing I have ever done.' Lucas's mother Susan told Daily Mail Online the family is currently awaiting results of an autopsy and she does not know why her son died. 'He was a young man  38. He was in good health,' she said. 'But these things happen when people in seemingly good health suddenly die.

The list of deaths associated with people who had worked with Clinton was originally drawn up by right-wing radio personality Linda Thompson. She too died early in May 2009. She was 56 when she took an overdose of medication prescribed for a gastric bypass surgery she had had more than a decade earlier.

Joe Montano, a former DNC Chairman with in-depth knowledge of Hillary Clinton's campaign, has also been named as on the unofficial list after he died from what authorities say was a heart attack on July 25 - the day the DNC started.

Seth Conrad Rich, who was the Operations Director for Voter Expansion for the DNC, was found murdered on July 10.

His death initially appeared like a robbery gone wrong but his mother Mary Rich claims that nothing was taken from her son, who was found with two shots in his back.

The mystery surrounding his death has sparked a flurry of theories posted online, including claims that he was on his way to speak to the FBI when he was shot.
A woman is suing Malaysia Airlines for more than $200,000 after she claims she was sexually assaulted by a steward.

Australian woman Laura Bushney, 28, was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Paris on August 4, 2014, when she was allegedly assaulted by Chief Steward Mohd Rosli Bin Ab Karim.

Ms Bushney claims that Karim sat down next to her on the pretext of comforting her because she was scared of flying, before allegedly putting her legs up on to his lap and putting his hand into her pants.

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Australian woman Laura Bushney, 28, (pictured) is suing Malaysia Airlines for more than $200,000 after she claims she was sexually assaulted by a steward on a flight to Paris on August 4, 2014

Karim is currently on bail in France awaiting trial after allegedly confessing to the crime and being charged by French authorities, Courier Mail reports.

Karim was sacked by the airline two weeks after alleged incident and was charged by French police with indecent assault after 'several months of investigations'

The alleged assault is detailed in a Statement of Claim filed in the Federal Court of Western Australia, where Karim is claimed to have said he would check up on nervous flier Ms Bushney during the 13-hour flight.

Ms Bushney claims that Karim sat down next to her and began his alleged attack by running his hand down her stomach, later she says he put his hand inside her pants and touched her genitalia.

She is now seeking compensation after the alleged attack to cover financial losses and injuries sustained.

Her injuries from the alleged assault include genital trauma, abrasions, sleeplessness, racing heart, nausea and post-traumatic stress disorder, the Statement of Claim says.

Ms Bushney told a Malaysia Airlines official she had been sexually assaulted when her flight landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

According to the statement: 'The applicant stated that she wished to proceed with the complaint (and) French police took the Chief Steward to a police station within the airport,' the Courier Mail reports .

Karim was sacked by the airline two weeks after alleged incident and was charged by French police with indecent assault after 'several months of investigations'.

Ms Bushney is seeking compensation under the Montreal Convention, just like the families of people killed in the MH17 and MH370 incidents.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared mysteriously in March, 2014 with 239 people aboard, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Later that year in July 17, MH17 was shot down over Ukraine with 298 people killed after being hit by a surface-to-air missile which is believed to have been fired by Russian-back rebel troops.

Ms Bushney claims that Karim sat down next to her and began his alleged attack by running his hand down her stomach, later she says he put his hand inside her pants and touched her genitalia
A British soldier has died after being shot in the head with a live round during a night training exercise.

The soldier, from the Royal Regiment of Scotland, died from a serious head wound at the Otterburn camp in Northumberland - the UK's largest firing range.

Emergency services rushed to the scene but found the soldier had received a fatal head wound.

Armed Forces Minister Mike Penning confirmed the death, which happened during a live firing exercise on Monday night, but the soldier has not yet been named.

Tragedy: The serviceman died from a serious head wound at the Otterburn ranges in Northumberland (pictured) last night.

Training: The 93 square mile training area has been used by the Armed Forces to practice war tactics for more than a century

The death comes little more than a month after another soldier died while on a training exercise in Brecon, Wales, on the hottest day of the year.

Otterburn ranges is a 93 square mile training area used by the Armed Forces to practice battlefield tactics for more than a century.

It's the base that was found to breach health and safety guidlines earlier this year by using mortars that can damage a soldier's hearing, so close-range usage was banned.

Police will be working with the Ministry of Defence to establish the exact circumstances of the incident and a cordon is currently still in place.

Military officials have informed the soldier's next of kin and police and the Ministry of Defence are investigating.

Mr Penning said: 'My thoughts are with the soldier's family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.

'The safety of our personnel is our absolute priority and, while deaths in training don't happen often, any death is a tragedy.

'As well as a police investigation, MoD accident investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident'.

This week's death comes after Joshua Hoole, from Ecclefechan near Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, died on July 19 while on a pre-course training for the Platoon Sergeants Battle Course.

Location: Otterburn is the UK's largest firing range, and is in frequent use  artillery can be clearly heard from Lindisfarne to the north-east and Fontburn Reservoir in the south

The course is taken by infantry soldiers who want to progress to the rank of sergeant.

The 26-year-old, who was based at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, North Yorkshire and was a member of The Rifles regiment, collapsed after taking part in a fitness test near the Dering Lines infantry training centre at about 6.30am, when temperatures later peaked at just above 30C (86F).

Cpl Hooles death came just three months after the Defence Select Committee published a report calling for the MoD to become liable for prosecution for the deaths of armed forces personnel.

The report found that since the start of 2000, 134 military personnel had died while taking part in training exercises - 89 from the Army, 22 from the RAF, 15 were Royal Marines and eight were from the Royal Navy.

Three other soldiers died while taking part in an SAS training exercise in the Brecon Beacons on one of the hottest days of 2013.

Police will be working with the Ministry of Defence to establish the exact exact circumstances of the incident at Otterburn Camp, Northumbria, picture, and a cordon is currently in place.

Those deaths - of Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, Corporal Edward Maher and Corporal James Dunsby - led to the Health and Safety Executive to issue a so-called Crown Censure on the MoD, saying but for Crown immunity it would have faced prosecution for the failings that were identified.

This year British soldiers were banned from firing mortars at full range in training by health and safety bosses after a soldier was deafened at Oterburn.

The longer-range 81mm mortar, which was routinely employed by the British Army against the Taliban, is set to see reduced use in training after it was deemed a risk to the hearing of troops.

Health and safety chiefs have ruled that firing the 81mm at a longer range than 5,000 metres exceeds the upper work place sound limit by 137 decibels, despite the use of ear defenders.

In 1997 the MoD agreed to pay 80,000 to a former soldier after the parachute regiment member lost his hearing following an exercise at the Otterburn training ground in Northumberland.
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The star attraction at North Korea's newly renovated zoo may come as a surprise to many.

For the big draw to visitors are not the lions, tigers or bears - but the 'dog pavilion' next to the hippopotamus pen and reptile house.

It is home to dozens of varieties of dogs including schnauzers, German shepherds, Shih Tzus and Saint Bernards.

The main draw for visitors at Pyongyang's Central Zoo is the 'dog pavilion' home to Shih Tzus and Saint Bernards

Dogs are kept as zoo animals in North Korea - the zoo has been criticised for keeping the animals in poor conditions

Visitors feed the dogs - kept as zoo animals - in the newly renovated and recently reopened Central Zoo in Pyongyang

One, a King Charles spaniel, was presented as a gift to Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, by 'the U.S. company Tapco' in 1995.

According to plaques above their pens, Kim Jong Un himself chipped in by providing the zoo with its schnauzers, poodles, German shepherds and a Chihuahua.

Elsewhere, former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung presented the North with a Jindo dog that now resides in the zoo.

North Korea's own national dog - the puffy white Pung San breed - lives in a pen next to it.

A visitor to the zoo and her son pose for a photo on the back of a camel at the newly opened Central Zoo in Pyongyang

Pyongyang's central zoo dates back to 1959, when Kim Il Sung, the nation's first leader and the grandfather of Kim Jong Un, ordered it built on the outskirts of the city.

According to an official history, the zoo started off with only 50 badgers.

That same year, however, it got its first 'gift animals,' elephants donated by fellow socialist leader Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam.

Signs above many of the animal habitats note where the 'gift animals' came from - which is intended to remind visitors of how much North Korea's leaders are loved and respected by leaders abroad.

Zebras and ostriches at the zoo were donated to Kim Il Sung by the leader of Tanzania, and orangutans were donated by the late President Suharto of Indonesia.

The mayor of the Japanese city of Kyoto gave the old zoo a jaguar.

North Koreans inspect the bears at the newly opened Pyongyang Central Zoo - which is getting thousands of visitors a day

North Koreans feed an elephant at the zoo - reopened as part of an effort to improve the leisure spots in the capital

Renovations for the new zoo began in 2014 as part of Kim Jong Un's efforts to create more impressive structures and leisure centers around the capital, including several major high-rise housing areas, an equestrian centre, a sprawling new shooting range and a giant water park.

Central Zoo has previously been criticised for keeping the animals in deplorable conditions.

Travel publication Lonely Planet said most of the animals kept there 'look pretty forlorn'.

It said: 'Worst off are the big cats, nearly all gifts of long-dead communist big wigs around the world - the wonderful lions, tigers and leopards are kept in woefully inadequate compounds, and many have lost the plot as a result. The zoo's two elephants and its hippo all look exceptionally lacklustre as well.'

Footage uploaded to YouTube in December 2012 by documentary maker Alun Hill appeared to show bears and elephants trudging around largely concrete enclosures, and tigers staring vacantly at visitors from behind bars.

Most worrying was a 2006 report in the Asia Times which described a movie shot in the country called 'Fighting Animals', which purported to be a wildlife documentary but actually showed caged animals - even some endangered species - fighting to the death.

North Koreans wait at the gate of the refurbished Pyongyang Central Zoo - the zoo was first opened in 1959
A Missouri mother whose daughter died of a heroin overdose has written a moving message to the woman's drug dealer on her birthday.

Tina Louden lost her daughter, Ashley N. Shannon, in 2013. Ashley was 24 and had been using drugs for about five years.

But last week, on what would have been Ashley's 28th birthday, Louden took to Facebook to express her grief over the tragedy in the hope of making dealers realize the dangers of selling drugs.

'Let's make this go viral so all the drug dealers see what they are doing to our families': Tina Louden has posted a message to her late daughter's drug dealer

Overdose death: Ashley N. Shannon, pictured with her mom, died of a heroin overdose in 2013, aged 24

Louden took a photo of herself with the urn of Ashley's ashes, and posted it to Facebook.

In the caption she wrote: 'To my daughter's drug dealer, this is how I spend my daughter's birthday now  how do you live with yourself???'

'That's all I wanna kno (sic) ... I don't normally post pics like this but let's make this go viral so all the drug dealers see what they are doing to our families.'

The post has since been shared over 250,000 times.

Ashley, who had two daughters, died after a five year struggle to get clean

In her small community of DeSoto, Tina hoped the picture could reach Ashley's drug dealer, WMAZ reported.

'I know Ashley took the drugs, but I still believe the dealer should be somewhat responsible,' Louden told the station.

'They are selling this poison knowing that it could kill you.'

Louden added to KSDK that her daughter's drug problem started with prescription pills. Ashley had two children and struggled to get clean for five years.

But on July 4, 2013, Ashley overdosed and died.

The drug overdose mortality rate has risen by 425 percent since 1982, The Washington Post reported.

Drug overdose deaths have also outpaced fatalities from motor vehicle accidents.
A judge has ruled a Californian museum can keep two paintings of Adam and Eve by a German Renaissance artist which were looted by the Nazis because the family of the original owner took too long to lodge a claim.

The works, titled Adam and Eve, were painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder around 1530.

US District Court judge John F. Walter ruled that the Norton Simon Museum had legal title to the two artworks - even though it accepts they were looted by the Nazis at the start of the Second World War.

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The paintings Adam, left, and Eve, right, were looted by Nazi Luftwaffe leader Hermann Goering from Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker in May 1940

The two paintings were purchased by the Norton Simon Museum, pictured, in 1971 for $800,000 and are now worth around $24 million

The court heard the artworks had been purchased by Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker in Berlin in May 1931 after they had previously been looted from a Ukrainian church by the Soviet Union.

The decision to award ownership of the two paintings to the gallery follows a ten-year legal battle.

When they were sold to Goudstikker, they went under the hammer as part of the Stroganoff collection which had been stolen from the aristocratic family by the Bolsheviks.

When the Nazis invaded Holland in May 1940, Goudstikker and his wife and infant son fled Amsterdam on board the SS Bodegraven, which was heading to South America.

Goudstikker died on board the ship on May 16, when he fell through an open hatch. His wife Desi and son Edo inherited ownership of the 1,200 artworks left behind.

The paintings were purchased by Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, left, in 1931 in Berlin and were later looted by Hermann Goering, right and displayed in his country house

However, Hermann Goering looted much of the collection, including the Adam and Eve artworks which he displayed at his Carinhall country estate near Berlin.

The works were captured by the Allies and returned to the Netherlands. Goudstikker's son and wife did not seek the return of the artworks.

Instead, in May 1961, George Stroganoff claimed the works originally belonged to his family and had been looted by the Soviet Union in the late 1920s.

Dutch authorities agreed to sell the works to Stroganoff - even though they rightly belonged to the Goudstikkers by this point.

In 1971, the paintings were sold by the Stroganoffs to the Norton Simon Museum. for $800,000, the equivalent of about $4.8million today. They were appraised at $24million in 2006.

Goudstikker's daughter-in-law Marei von Saher brought a legal case against the museum claiming she was the rightful owner, but Walter ruled against her saying that because Goudstikker's art dealership decided not to seek restitution for the works after the war, his family thereby abandoned their claim to the art.
Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump won't hold any public events on a trip to Colorado after a planned immigration event got scrubbed as the GOP nominee continues to shape his message on the issue.

Instead, Trump campaign Colorado spokeswoman Lydia Blaha told the Denver Post Trump will not hold an event in the state, despite earlier reports by media outlets.

'The speech (Trump) was planning on giving is still being modified,' the campaign wrote supporters in an email, according to the paper, which reported that the campaign had been scoping out venues for an event.

Colorado is a battleground state with a large Hispanic population that is attuned to the immigration issue.

Donald Trump's campaign nixed a public event in Denver after scouting out locations, according to a report, while a Thursday event in Las Vegas got cancelled, according to the state party

Trump campaign spokesman Boris Epshteyn said on Fox News on Tuesday regarding Trump's immigration speech: 'It'll be in the next couple weeks.'

Speculation about what was behind Trump's schedule changes reached the point that the campaign issued an official statement on it late morning Tuesday.

'Today Mr. Trump is in Texas for two large fundraisers and then he will be taping an important town hall on border security and crimes committed by illegal aliens that will air nationally over two nights on Fox News Hannity,' said senior communications advisor Jason Miller.

'Following the second fundraiser, Mr. Trump will be speaking at a rally in Austin to draw additional national attention to his call for border security as well as the need for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clintons bought and paid for State Department.'

Miller continued: 'Tomorrow Mr. Trump returns to the battleground state of Florida where he will have two Tampa-area events, and he will spend all of Friday campaigning hard in another battleground state, Nevada. On Saturday, Mr. Trump will be in Des Moines, Iowa, for the second annual Roast & Ride fundraiser with Senator Joni Ernst.'

The statement did not mention any planned events for Thursday.

The Denver Post reported that the Trump campaign had been scoping out locations for a public event on Thursday, when an immigration speech was expected

Trump was emphatic on Monday that he was not 'flip-flopping' on immigration after people who attended Trump's meeting with members of the Hispanic community at Trump Tower in New York on Saturday claimed Trump was softening on the issue of how to deal with 11 million illegal immigrants.

'I really liked that Trump acknowledged that there is a big problem with the 11 million [undocumented] people who are here, and that deporting them is neither possible nor humane,' attendee Texas immigration lawyer Jacob Monty told Univision.

Trump is expected to attend a fundraiser in Colorado on Thursday, according to multiple reports, but his officials campaign schedule lists no official events for the day.

The Nevada Republican Party announced Sunday that Trump would give a speech in Las Vegas on Friday, but it isn't clear whether an event will happen. The state party lists it as cancelled on its official web page.

'Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled. We will post any updates about a rescheduled event,' according to the cancellation notice.

The state party announced that Trump will attend a fundraiser for the state GOP at Harrah's Lake Tahoe casino, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.

A planned Trump campaign event in Las Vegas was cancelled, according to the state Republican Party

Trump campaigned in Akron, Ohio on Monday, where he called for a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton

Trump told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly Monday night, 'We are going to obey the existing laws'

In the latest iteration of his immigration policy, Trump told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly: ' We are going to obey the existing laws. Now the existing laws are very strong. The existing laws, the first thing we are going to do if and when I win, is we are going to get rid of all the bad ones.'

Trump continued: 'What people don't know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm going to do the same thing and I just said that.'

Trump told 'Fox and Friends Monday morning: 'We have to be very firm. We have to be very, very strong when people come in illegally. We have a lot of people that want to come in through the legal process and it's not fair for them.'

Then he added: 'And we're working with a lot of people in the Hispanic community to try and come up with an answer. ... No, I'm not flip flopping. We want to come up with a really fair, but firm answer. It has to be very firm. But we want something fair.'

Trump is scheduled to attend a campaign rally in Austin Tuesday evening, followed by events in Tampa, Florida and Jackson, Mississippi on Wednesday.
A burger joint worker was hurled through the air when an oven he turned on exploded and injured him.

The worker, in his 30s, suffered minor injuries in the explosion at the burger bar in Melbourne's Crown Casino complex in the Southbank district.

Fire crews attended the scene at well-known Merrywell Restaurant and Bar, The Herald Sun reported.

A Southbank, Melbourne burger joint worker was injured when an oven exploded, throwing him into the air

Emergency services attended the scene of the explosion at the Crown Casino complex

Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman Bianca Villarosa said the man received head and neck injuries and was taken to The Alfred hospital.

Work Safe Victoria confirmed to The Herald Sun it was investigating the explosion, which occurred about 7.30am on Tuesday.

Although fire crews attended, there was no blaze.

Metropolitan Fire Brigades Ross Duncan said the explosion occurred when the victim turned an oven on.

The man injured in the blast received head and neck injuries and was taken to hospital
Roger Ailes allegedly asked a former Fox News host about the sexuality of his employees and even referred to one as a 'Puerto Rican w***e' according to a new lawsuit.

Andrea Tantaros claims in her sexual harassment suit against Ailes and Fox News that many of her co-workers were targets of less than flattering remarks by the former CEO of the network.

Among those she names are The Five host Kimberly Guilfoyle, claiming that Ailes called her a 'Puerto Rican w****,' 'easy,' and a 'Puerto Rican street fighter.'

Tantaros, 37, also claims that the disgraced executive once asked her if Guilfoyle was sleeping with her The Five co-host Eric Bolling.

When reached by DailyMail.com, a flustered-sounding Kimberly Guilfoyle said: 'Im not taking any calls. Have a nice day.'

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Awful: Kimberly Guilfoyle (above on Saturday), host of The Five, was allegedly called a 'Puerto Rican w****,' 'easy,' and a 'Puerto Rican street fighter' by Ailes

Sexuality: Ailes asked if The Five host Greg Gutfeld (left) was gay and if pundit Dana Perino (right) was a lesbian claims the lawsuit

Court battle: Tantaros (above in 2011) is suing for approximately $50 million claiming she was sexually harassed by Ailes and fired after she complained to executives

Ailes also had an odd obsession with the sexuality of his employees claims Tanatros, asking her once if Greg Gutfeld, host of The Greg Gutfeld Show, was gay.

He also asked if political pundit and former Whote House Press Secratry Dana Perino was a lesbian Tantaros claims in the lawsuit.

That was then followed by Ailes asking if Perino and Gutfeld were 'sleeping together' claims Tantaros.

Ailes also allegedly called Gretchen Carlson 'nuts'; Catherine Herridge 'a stalker'; Shannon Bream's voice 'annoying'; and said that Maria Bartiromo 'got so fat.'

Speaking about Monica Crowley Ailes allegedly said: 'If I ever had to go on a date with her, Id jump out the window.'

In the lawsuit Tantaros also claims that Ailes once said: 'Harris [Faulkner] has to be careful. She has the tendency to look like the angry black woman.'

And after Tantaros and Stacey Dash had an on-air disagreement Ailes said to her: 'I heard you were mean to the black girl.'

Not good: Ailes also allegedly referred to Stacey Dash (above in June) as 'the black girl' and the Harris Faulkner 'has the tendency to look like the angry black woman'

Not flattering: Gretchen Carlson (left) was allegedly called 'nuts' by Ailes, and Maria Bartiromo (right) 'fat'

No more: Ailes stepped down as CEO of Fox News last month, walking away with a reported $40 million severance

Tantaros is claiming in her lawsuit against the network that both Ailes and Bill O'Reilly subjected her to unwanted sexual advances while she worked there.

TANTAROS LAWSUIT DEMANDS FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION: SEXUAL HARASSMENT -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million in damages for lost income and mental anguish as a result of the unwanted sexual harassment from Roger Ailes. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION: RETALIATION -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million in damages for lost income and mental anguish for being subject to 'adverse actions' by all defendants in the case when she reported being harassed by Ailes. THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION: SEXUAL HARASSMENT -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million damages for lost income and mental anguish and punitive damages of $10 million for the 'illegal conduct perpetrated by Fox News and Ailes' and for acting with 'with malice and reckless indifference to [her] rights. FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION: RETALIATION -Tantaros seeks no less than $5 million damages for lost income and mental anguish and punitive damages of $10 million for Fox News and the defendants adverse reactions which 'were a direct result of her having engaged in protected activity at Fox News and were reasonably likely to deter her from engaging in protected activity.' FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION: RETALIATION Tantaros seeks no less than $3 million damages and punitive damages of $6 million for Fox News and the defendants interference with the promotion of her book Advertisement

'Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny,' claims Andrea Tantaros in the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in New York State Supreme Court.

Tantaros goes on to claim in the suit that she was taken off the air when she complained about being sexually harassed by Ailes.

She is now asking for approximately $50 million in the lawsuit, which also names the network's current co-president Bill Shine, Executive Vice President Dianne Brandi, publicist Irena Briganti and Executive Vice President Suzanne Scott as defendants.

Tantaros got her start on the network as a commentator beofre moving to The Five and later Outnumbered.

The switch to Outnumbered came after a meeting with Ailes in which Tantaros claims the former CEO told her to turn around 'so I can get a good look at you.'

Tantaros claims that because she refused to do this she was demoted to a less-watched news program.

She also claims that Ailes once asked her to perform 'the twirl' for him; said 'come over here so I can give you a hug'; and told her 'I bet you look good in a bikini.'

O'Reilly meanwhile invited Tantaros to his Long island home to stay with him, telling her it would be 'very private' she claims in her lawsuit, also telling her that he could 'see [her] as a wild girl' and that she had a 'wild side.'

Tantaros said that she and her agent told Shine, Scott, and Brandi about numerous examples of Ailes's alleged harassment.

'Ailes did not act alone,' claims Tantaros in her lawsuit.
Gridnev graduated with honors from a Frisco, Texas, high school in 2015 and was a commended National Merit Scholar

Ty Robertson, 21; Michael Frymire, 20; Samuel Patterson, 21, and Christian Sandford, 18, have been charged with drug possession

Fraternity members reportedly told police the Texas A&M sophomore had ingested 'some kind of an

Overdose death: Texas A&M sophomore Anton Gridnev, 19 (pictured), died from a suspected drug overdose Saturday morning

Four college fraternity members have been arrested on drug charges after a 19-year-old Texas A&M student died of a suspected overdose during a frat house party over the weekend.

Anton Gridnev was found unresponsive early Saturday morning at the Sigma Nu fraternity.

The 19-year-old, a member of the Greek organization, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

College Station police said in a statement Monday Gridnev, who was a sophomore majoring in economics, has recently moved into the Sigma Nu home at 550 Fraternity Row.

Investigators are still trying to determine what drug Gridnev ingested. The results of an autopsy are pending.

Police determined other drugs were in the house and arrested Ty Robertson, 21, for possession of LSD and ecstasy; Michael Frymire, 20, for possession of cannabis hash oil; and Samuel Patterson, 21, and Christian Sandford, 18, for possession of marijuana.

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All-night rager: Gridnev was found unconscious and not breathing at a party held at the Sigma Nu fraternity house (pictured)

Christian Sandford, 18, (left) and Samuel Patterson, 21, (right) have been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana

Michael Frymire (left), 20, has been charged with possession of cannabis hash oil, and Ty Robertson (right), 21, has been charged with possession of LSD and ecstasy

All four suspects were released from jail on Monday after posting bail, reported theBryan Eagle.

Three others, ages 19 and 20, were cited for being in possession of drug paraphernalia.

The Sigma Nu fraternity's national office says it is cooperating with the investigation into Gridnevs death.

As of Tuesday morning, the Texas A&M chapter of the fraternity has not been suspended.

According to the College Station police, officers responded to the Sigma Nu house at around 4.40am Saturday after getting a 911 call about a person who was unconscious and not breathing.

Paramedics began performing CPR on Anton Gridnev before taking him to College Station Medical Center, where the student was pronounced dead.

According to a probable cause statement cited by the station of WFAA, Sigma Nu members told police officers that Gridnev had taken some kind of an opioid.

Bright boy: Gridnev graduated with honors from a Frisco, Texas, high school in 2015 and was a commended National Merit Scholar

'Our hearts are filled with sorrow as we grieve the loss of this young man,' said Sigma Nu Executive Director Brad Beacham. 'Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with his family and loved ones. We appreciate the immediate support and care the Texas A&M community is providing during this very difficult time.'

A spokeswoman for Texas A&M also expressed condolences to Gridnev's loved ones in a statement.
A woman who lost her beloved dog a week before her wedding broke down in tears after her husband surprised her with a new pug puppy.

The woman, who lives in Berlin, became overwhelmed with emotion when she saw the new addition to her family.

Posting the video online, she explained that she had dreamed of getting a new puppy ever since her dog died two years ago.

A video shows a woman breaking down in tears after her husband surprised her with a pug

The clip begins by showing the woman, who is not named, opening the door and then immediately shutting it, asking: 'What is that?'

As it dawns on her that it is a pug, she breaks down in tears and goes in to meet the new puppy.

She struggles to control her emotions as she gets closer to the pug, before lifting it up to say hello.

The woman then asks her husband where he got the puppy.

Posting the video online, she explained that she had dreamed of getting a new puppy ever since her dog died two years ago

She explained in the post that she has been through a difficult couple of years after moving from Canada to Germany with her husband.

' I've been dreaming about having a pug again ever since my pug (and best friend) passed away the week before our wedding,' she said.

'I gave up my entire life in Canada to move to Germany and be with my husband. It was a really hard few years and the language is still an every day struggle so we decided that next year; when we move and get a bigger place... I could finally have my dream puppy.
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Acapulco may now be gripped by drug violence and vice, but in the 1950s it was a pristine, innocent playground for wealthy tourists and Hollywood stars.

The small resort town was once one of the most exciting metropolitan cities in the world, known for its stunning beaches and bustling nightlife.

But in recent times, Acapulco, has been gripped by such extreme violence that locals fear for their lives so much, they are forced to take guns to the beach.

In the early 1950s wealthy tourists flocked to Acapulco located along the Mexican Riviera in western Mexico.

These striking images show the many pleasures of the town decades before it was turned into a resort metropolis and before violence controlled the streets.

In the early 1950s wealthy tourists flocked to the small resort town of Acapulco located along the Mexican Riviera in western Mexico. A women pets a baby donkey in July 1953

By that time Acapulco had become the playground for Hollywoods jet set, the worlds first major resort to rely mainly on tourists arriving by air. Little girls dressed in native clothes sit with a donkey in Acapulco in July 1953

But today's Acapulco is gripped by drug violence and vice, nothing compared to the pristine, innocent playground for wealthy tourists and Hollywood stars. Pictured is a man sitting in his car after being shot by unknown gunmen

The small resort town was once one of the most exciting metropolitan cities in the world, known for its stunning beaches and bustling nightlife. But in recent times, Acapulco, has been gripped by such extreme violence that locals fear for their lives so much, they are forced to take guns to the beach. A man lies in pain after being shot by gunmen

But before all of the violence Acapulco was a place where Hollywood stars and millionaires vacationed on the beach. A couple dressed in native clothes have a drink in July 1953

The city became an exclusive destination to the likes of Hollywood's Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra. A boy dressed as a Caballero, a gentleman

From a population of only 4,000 or 5,000 in the 1940s, the city's population shot to about 50,000 by the 1960s due to foreign investment into hotels and roads. A little girl goes on a donkey ride through the town

The small town overlooks the Pacific and had been fashionable among wealthy Mexicans since the 1920s

The first road from Mexico City to Acapulco opened in 1927; this became a four-lane highway in the 1955 and is now a toll super-highway

In the 1960s, Acapulcos city center was redeveloped and a new airport was built inland

As more hotels were built in the south part of the bay, the old hotels of the 1950s lost their grandeur

During the 1960s and 1970s, new hotel resorts were built and accommodations were made cheaper

During that time, Acapulco had become the playground for Hollywoods jet set, the worlds first major resort to rely mainly on tourists arriving by air.

Acapulco was the place where Hollywood stars and millionaires vacationed on the beach.

The city became an exclusive destination to the likes of Hollywood's Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra.

The small town overlooks the Pacific Ocean and had been fashionable among wealthy Mexicans since the 1920s.

From a population of only 4,000 or 5,000 in the 1940s, the city's population shot to about 50,000 by the 1960s due to foreign investment into hotels and roads.

In the 1960s, Acapulcos city center was redeveloped and a new airport was built.

The first road from Mexico City to Acapulco opened in 1927 before becoming a four-lane highway in 1955 and now a toll highway.

During the 1960s and 1970s, new hotel resorts were built and accommodations were made cheaper making it no longer necessary to be a millionaire to spend a holiday in Acapulco.

With the new accommodations, the foreign and Mexican middle class could afford to travel there.

As more hotels were built in the south part of the bay, the old hotels of the 1950s lost their grandeur.

It was no longer necessary to be a millionaire to spend a holiday in Acapulco; the foreign and Mexican middle class could now afford to travel there

Locals of Acapulco watch intently as charro's rope a horse in the Caletilla bull fighting ring in 1952

Bullfighting was brought to Mexico more than 500 years ago by the Spanish conquerors of Mexico. Mexico is one of the eight countries in Mexico where bullfighting is a legal sport

Charro's attempt to rope a bill in the Caletilla bull fighting ring

Acapulco has more than 25,000 condominiums, most of which function as second homes for their Mexican owners. A man dressed as a Caballero takes a ride through the small town of Acapulco

A young boy sits on a donkey as the skies turn dark on a hot July evening in 1953

A woman poses with a basket full of fruits and vegetables on her head in July 1953

Acapulcos natural beauty remains unchanged with its calm, crystal-blue waters of Acapulco Bay, its near-perfect crescent ringed by rocky cliffs, palm-feathered slopes and miles of powdery golden sand

The town was only affordable for wealthy tourists who bathed in the sun as their boats glided across the town's beautiful blue water

A couple samples food along the beach of Acapulco

The relaxing waters of Acapulco Bay were perfect for Hollywood-style getaways for the elite in the early 1950s

Alcapulco's beaches were a place for rest and relaxation before it became one of the world's most exciting resorts with thousands of tourists flocking to it every year

Locals (pictured) would entertain tourists on a not-so-crowded beach during the early 1950s

Romance blossomed for elite couples and tourists who flocked to the town's beaches decades before Acapulco became a booming must-see tourist attraction

Sunbathers cruise across the deep blue waters of Acapulco Bay

Relaxing boat rides turned to fun in the sun as wealthy tourists took advantage of all Acapulco had to offer

Couples spent their vacations and honeymoons taking boat rides, jet-skiing and soaking up all the sun in the small resort town

Several wealthy tourists spent their time water skiing while spending their vacations in Acapulco

A women enjoys splashing her hands in warm waters in the Pacific Ocean

Tourists take a boat ride on the sunny blue waters where the sand is warm and friendly in Acapulco Bay

A water skier waves to a women in a speed boat in July 1952

This striking image shows a cove in Acapulco that had not yet been crowded with thousands of tourists in 1954
For years, Wanda Witter has lived on the streets in Washington, DC, trying to persuade officials that Social Security owes her more than $100,000. For years, the 80-year-old woman says people dismissed her as crazy.

But finally someone listened - and on Tuesday she received a $99,999 payout, The Washington Post reported.

Witter, a mother of four daughters, moved to the District of Columbia in 1999 to seek work after losing her job as a machinist in Corning, New York years earlier, according to The Post.

But even though Witter had earned a paralegal certificate to prepare for a new career, she remained jobless - and ended up sleeping in shelters or on the streets of DC.

Wanda Witter (pictured in August at her sleeping post outside) moved to Washington, DC in 1999 after losing her job as a machinist in New York and struggled to find work

Witter slept on the streets of DC (pictured) and decided to draw Social security benefits in 2006. But the checks she received seemed wrong so she didn't cash them in

In 2006 she decided to draw Social Security benefits. However, the monthly checks varied wildly, from $900 to $300. Believing the checks were wrong, Witter didn't cash them and sought help.

'If I just cashed them, who would believe me that they were wrong?' Witter said.

She remained homeless, bedding down on the concrete in a sleeping bag. Witter kept a tower of three suitcases, containing her Social Security paperwork, next to her.

She did not tell her relatives about her situation, out of pride. When one of her daughters found her in DC, Witter told her she had to stay until she got her money.

As Witter (pictured on the streets of Washington, DC) battled to get her money back, she kept a tower of three suitcases, containing her Social Security paperwork, next to her

Witter said she was repeatedly offered mental health counseling when it wasn't what she needed.

'She needed economic help, not mental help,' social worker Julie Turner said. 'That's part of the problem with homelessness in DC. So many cases are written off as being about mental illness. A lot of times, homelessness really is simply about economics.'

Turner was the one who finally listened to Witter in 2015. Instead of dismissing Witter as crazy, Turner patiently waded through her documents and verified her story.

'She had all the paperwork there, neatly organized, in order. She was right all along. They did owe her all that money,' Turner said.

Turner took Witter to attorney Daniela de la Piedra, who took on her case. In June, a Social Security official finally acknowledged Witter's case and wrote her a $999 check  the most that could be written on the spot.

Last week, Witter received her first full payment  $1,464. Witter received a $99,999 Social Security deposit in her bank account on Tuesday.

And last week, Witter moved into a studio apartment on Capitol Hill.

Social Security officials declined to comment.
Tesco sparked a social media storm after it announced it would replace the Scottish Saltire on its strawberries with a Union flag.

A tweet from the supermarket's official account said that it had made the change following complaints from English customers.

The switch prompted a furious response from Scottish Tesco customers, who threatened to boycott the supermarket if it was not reversed.

Tesco featured the Scottish Saltire on the packaging of strawberries and other fruit

The Saltire has now been replaced with the Union flag following customer complaints

The change in packaging was spotted by Scottish customers who took to Twitter

The supermarket had previously printed the Saltire on punnets of Scottish-grown strawberries and other berries to indicate their origin.

A Scottish customer spotted the flag was missing and took to Twitter to question the change.

Eileen Brown said: 'Tesco used to mark Scottish produce with saltire (our flag). Now you use Union flag. Please say why. Is it #casualracism?'

In response, Tesco wrote: 'Over the past year, we received several customer complaints regarding Scottish flags on strawberries in England.

'English customers criticised us why we do not apply the English flag on English berries and why we do for Scottish berries.

'When the category went through corporate re-design, it was decided to have British packaging only to avoid further criticism.'

Explanation: Tesco outlined the reason behind the change on its official Twitter account

The company added that the country of origin would still be printed in writing alongside the Union flag.

Dozens of Scottish Twitter users posted furious messages in response.

Paul Donaldson tweeted: 'As a shareholder, I hope you will be putting the Scottish flag back on packets on strawberries/raspberries if grown in Scotland.'

Another wrote: 'So if you receive several complaints about the Union flag on Scottish produce from Scotland you will stop that as well?'

One Scottish nationalist account added: 'Wish to complain about use of union flag. Represents xenophopia and genocide the world over. Please remove from products!'

Backlash: Dozens of Scottish customers posted furious tweets in response to the news

Another customer wrote: 'Not at all happy with this - you have just lost me as a customer unless this is rectified immediately.'

Others suggested Tesco should keep the Saltire and add the St George's cross to berries grown in England.

Asked at a press conference about the removal of the Saltire, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: 'Perhaps we should reflect and wonder what the response might be if this story was in reverse and the Union Jack was removed from packaging because of complaints in Scotland. So hopefully in whatever way this happens, common sense will prevail.'

She added: 'Strawberries from Scotland are just the best strawberries, and that's why we should eat them, not because of the flag that happens to be on the packaging.'

A Tesco spokesman yesterday: 'To provide consistency for customers, we mark all of our home grown fresh berries with a Union flag.

'The country of origin is also clearly displayed on pack.'

Customers have suggested all flags be used instead of the union

Other products like milk are still labelled with either the England or Wales flag depending on where they were sourced (pictured)




Increased wages come as productivity slumps and budget deficit

Senior government secretaries given $240,000 in pay rises since 2012

High-flying government secretaries have secured pay rises of up to $40,000 a year every year for the past decade, it has been revealed.

Former government officials have slammed the surge in public sector wages, which have ballooned by up to 40 per cent in the past four years.

The pay rises totaling $240,000 for the top-tier top departmental secretaries since 2012 comes in line with a slump in productivity and a budget deficit facing dire straits, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Former NSW Treasurer Michael Costa (pictured front) has blasted the the surge in public sector wages at a time when productivity has slumped

Former NSW Treasurer Michael Costa blasted the government's claims the sizable salary rises would help the public.

'There are two factors underlying the explosion in public sector costs. One is the extraordinary salaries paid to senior bureaucrats well in excess of market standards,' Mr Costa told the publication.

'The other is the continued failure of the public sector to increase its productivity despite claims that increased wages would lead to better outcomes for the public.'

Secretaries for Level One departments, which include Health and Social Services and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, have experienced over $200,000 in pay-rises over the past four years.

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson is currently earning $861,700  up from $620,000 in March 2012

Treasury secretary John Fraser climbed from $615,000 four years ago to $840,810

Department of Defence secretary Dennis Richardson rose from $646,000 to $840,810

They now make up to $814,000 after earning $612,500 in March 2012.

Secretaries for Level Two departments - including Education and Training and Agriculture and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection  now pocket $731,140, after earning $575,000 in March 2012.

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson is currently earning $861,700  up from $620,000 in March 2012.
A man allegedly broke into a home, viewed nude photos on an iPad and attempted to rape a resident when he returned home.

Mark McCormack, 47, was due to appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday charged over the break-in and attempted rape but his lawyer said he was in pain from his injuries and didn't want to appear.

McCormack was arrested on Saturday night after crashing a car allegedly stolen from the victim's home, and faces multiple charges including attempted rape, sexual assault, false imprisonment and related charges, The Herald Sun reports.

A man allegedly broke into a home, viewed nude photos on an iPad and attempted to rape a resident when he returned home (stock image)

The 47-year-old allegedly broke into the Frankston house on Saturday afternoon and waited for the resident to return home.

It is claimed McCormack viewed nude photos on an iPad before arming himself with a knife and allegedly confronting the victim.

'Don't make a noise or I'll kill you,' allegedly McCormack told the 54-year-old man.

He said he was going to rape him and bound his hands, police allege.

Investigators say McCormack took the victim to a bedroom and tried to rape him. The older man was hit in the back of the head with a bottle of wine which shattered.

After putting a number of items in the man's car, McCormack allegedly forced into the vehicle and drove around looking for an ATM so McCormack could withdraw money to buy ice.

An unmarked police car noticed the car being driven erratically and followed.

McCormack allegedly sped away and crashed into an embankment.

Police found the victim - with his wrists still bound - who subsequently told them what had happened.

McCormack was due to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to face multiple charges (stock image)

McCormack was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital where he was treated for a minor fracture to his spine.

He remained in hospital under police guard until he was released on Monday and charged with 13 offences.
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Animals forced to live in a hellhole zoo in Gaza can finally look forward to a brighter future after a heartbreaking rescue.

The animals homed in the Gaza zoo include the last Bengal tiger on Palestinian land and a pelican who has shared his enclosure for a year with the bleached bones and rotting flesh of fellow creatures who didn't make it.

Now the lorries transporting them and 13 more animal inmates - all that is left of a population that once numbered 65 - are taking them to Jordan where the majority of them will be rehoused in an animal park.

Desperate: Laziz (pictured) is the last Bengal tiger to be held on Palestinian land, and was among the 13 animals rescued from the Gaza Zoo

Salvation: Operation Noah's Ark saved the long-suffering residents of the worst zoo in the world, including Laziz (pictured)

Freedom: The rescue of the animals like this Bengal tiger in the forgotten hellhole that was their home is the end result of a delicate operation

Only Laziz the tiger will not reach journey's end tonight. He is poised to fly to South Africa in the coming days where he will live out his life in a massive enclosure at the Lion's Rock Big Cat Sanctuary.

The rescue of Laziz and the other dwellers in the forgotten hellhole that was their home is the end result of a delicate operation.

It began two years ago when Israeli bombs, sealed borders and a lack of basic care for the zoo animals created a perfect storm of suffering for them.

But the full horrific story started back in 2007 when around 90 percent of the animals were smuggled into the hermetically sealed territory through the tunnels dug by Hamas fighters used to bring in weapons, food, fuel and medicines.

They were brought in on the whim of a man who thought Palestinians would enjoy a distraction from their grim everyday lives through marvelling at a menagerie of wild things.

Spectacle: Dr Amir Khalil, director of Four Paws animal welfare charity, with the pelican that was among the saved animals

Looking out: Local entrepreneur Mohammed Awaida opened South Forest Park in 2007 and invested hundreds of thousands of pounds into it for monkeys like this one

Locked in: The animals were smuggled into the territory through tunnels dug by Hamas fighters used to bring in weapons, food, fuel and medicines

Distraction: Gaza residents were eager to pay money to see the animals on display, including monkeys and birds of prey

Tragic: One of the saddest creatures in the collection is a deer called Bambi. Her only fawn died 24 hours before the rescue mission began, suffering terrible wounds after it tried to writhe under the fencing of its enclosure in a bid for freedom

It is known that two baby elephants died in the troglodyte causeways linking Gaza to Egypt. But the rest of the exotic beasts made it through - only to be plunged into endless torment.

They were destined for the cages and compounds of the Khan Younis Zoo - one of several in a territory where the concept of animal welfare and animal right barely exists.

Local entrepreneur Mohammed Awaida - he runs a successful children's playground on the land opposite the zoo site - opened South Forest Park in 2007 and invested hundreds of thousands of pounds into it.

Gaza residents were eager to pay money to see a crocodile, lions, ostriches, snakes, monkeys, turtles, deer, a llama, a lion and two tigers among the animals on display.

But Gaza is not Windsor or Longleat. Its repeated conflicts with Israel has not only caused numerous civilian deaths but those of God's lesser creatures.

Rescue: Members of the international animal welfare charity 'Four Paws' check a sedated deer at a zoo in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, prior to evacuating all the animals at the zoo out of the Palestinian enclave

Hopeful: Palestine's repeated conflicts with Israel have not only caused numerous civilian deaths but also those of animals. Pictured, the rescuers from Four Paws animal charity

A number died in fighting in 2008, more in 2014 when Israel launched mammoth retaliatory raids on Gaza in a bid to stop DIY rocket attacks on to its territory by Hamas militants pledged to its destruction.

'It was after the 2014 fighting that the Khan Younis Zoo came on our radar,' said Dr. Amir Khalil, director of the mission launched by the Four Paws animal welfare charity that has now plucked the survivors to safety.

'It was clear that this was a failing place. Food, medicine, basic care for the animals - everything was in short supply and they were paying for it with their lives.

'The concept of a zoo came to the owner because he had probably seen a successful one elsewhere in the territory and decided to copy it. He might just have easily seen a mobile phone shop and copied that instead.

'After 2014 the health of these animals was deteriorating rapidly. Four Paws took the decision to rescue them. It has been an incredibly difficult, complex and delicate operation, not least because of the situation Gaza finds itself.

Home: As the situation in the zoo deteriorated, the mummified corpses of dead animals were left on display in enclosures with the still living residents

Vulnerable: Under the merciless sun the animals suffered and many died, after being given very little water and food

Suffering: Only local boys paid a few pence a day to water and feed the survivors wandered through sand-strewn compounds where ostriches, lions and other exotic animals once lived

'We have had to get permissions and permits from several agencies. The logistics of getting them out of Gaza and into Israel and out again have been taxing. It is an operation that has cost tens of thousands of pounds, but we did it, thanks to a fantastic team, many of whom were on the ground to help in the rescue.'

But even as the hour of safety approached, it was too late for some.

One of the saddest creatures in the collection is a deer called Bambi. Her only fawn died 24 hours before the rescue mission began, suffering terrible wounds after it tried to writhe under the fencing of its enclosure in a bid for freedom.

Her mother, herself lame, padded around the sandy, desolate place she had called home for the past three years, searching for her in vain.

And on the same day as the fawn's death two porcupines slated for rescue mysteriously vanished. Whether they broke out of their compound or were stolen is unknown.

But they reappeared again 24 hours before the caravan hit the road and were crated up ready for the voyage on Tuesday along with their wildlife chums.

They left with the deer, pelican, five cheeky macac monkeys- one of whom is pregnant - two giant tortoises called Tom and Jerry, an emu, two long-legged buzzards and the tiger Laziz to be shipped off to better places.

As the situation deteriorated over the last two years the mummified corpses of the dead animals were left on display in enclosures with the still living residents.

Under the merciless sun these preserved animals became as dry as tinder and collapsed in on themselves, the bones and dried flesh being dumped in once corner of the pelican's sandy habitat.

A few of them were even mummified by the owner himself who said: 'The idea to mummify animals started after the Gaza war because a number of animals like the lion, the tiger, monkeys and crocodiles died. So we asked around and we learned from the Web how to start.'

Last chance: Dr Khalil revealed how the owner asked them to take the animals in the end, 'but talks were seldom easy'. He added: 'We were in talks right up until we arrived in Gaza'

Future: Dr Khalil said it 'was not a zoo but a prison. I am thankful that it is over now. I hear the owner is going to concentrate his resources now on the children's playground opposite'

Abandoned: Locals said there was little noise to be heard from the zoo at night because there were so few animal residents left to make a noise. Now this Bengal tiger will be taken to a park in South Africa

Dr. Khalil, who supervised the evacuation of the zoo at a time when the Israeli military began reprisal raids on Hamas militant positions in Gaza because of a rocket fired into an Israeli town, said he was deeply saddened by what happened to them - and the state of the living.

'At least we are happy now to know that those who made it through will have a better life,' he added. 'We paid no money to the owner to rescue them. He could no longer cope.

'In the end he asked us to take the animals but talks were seldom easy. We were in talks right up until we arrived in Gaza.'

The zoo owner has been absent for media interviews this week at the deserted complex.

Only local boys paid a few pence a day to water and feed the survivors wandered through sand-strewn compounds where ostriches, lions and other exotic animals once lived.

Glass lined terrariums which were once home to a variety on snakes are empty and deserted. Locals said there was little noise to be heard from it at night - because there were so few residents left to make a noise.

Pitiful: Lorries are transporting the animals to Jordan where the majority of them will be rehoused in an animal park

Grateful: Despite the desperate conditions in the zoo, the animals that have survived are hoped to make a full recovery

Dr Khalil added: 'This was not a zoo but a prison. I am thankful that it is over now. I hear the owner is going to concentrate his resources now on the children's playground opposite.'

But the best news of all is the shape that Laziz is in. Aged around seven or eight - again, no-one knows precisely how he came to be in Gaza or when - he will soon be eating the 16.5lbs of meat he needs to sustain himself each day.
There are fears that Kim Jong-un may revive a fearsome assassination unit known as Unit 124, whose members used to hide among freshly dug up corpses as part of their training.

The unit was created in 1967 with one aim, to murder the South Korean president at the time, Park Chung-hee, but its thought the squad could be deployed by Kim Jong-un to kill defectors.

There have been several in recent years, the most recent being Thae Yong-Ho, the former number two at the North Korean embassy in Britain.

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There are fears that Kim Jong-un may revive a fearsome assassination unit known as Unit 124. Pictured are North Korean soldiers during a training exercise in 1953

The unit was created in 1967 with one aim, to murder the president at the time, Park Chung-hee. This image shows a failed assassination attempt on him in 1974 at the National Theatre in Seoul

He 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.

However, for Yong-Ho, it could be a fatal move.

Two military assassins despatched by the North Korean government shot dead defector Yi Han-yong in 1997 and two assassins posing as defectors were sent to kill high-ranking defector Hwang Jang-yop - a senior ruling Workers' Party official who once tutored Kim's late dictator father Kim Jong Il - in 2010.

North Korean defectors Hwang Jang-yop (left) and his long time aide Kim Duk-hong throw their arms into the air in a victory salute after emerging from the doorway of a chartered aircraft which brought them to Korea from the Philippines in 1997

Theyd spent four years training for the mission, according to the Mirror, but were caught and jailed in South Korea.

Upon his defection, Hwang said: 'The sad reality of North Korea is entirely the result of the wrong political system, the criminal policy for unification by arms and the anti- people leadership.'

Paul Fischer, author of A Kim Jong-il Production, told the Mirror that the North Korean regime uses assassinations to show its people it is fighting back.

He said: Theres no limit to what theyre willing to do and they tell themselves that its totally justifiable.

The way they see it is that they are the last bastion of the Cold War - a Cold war they still believe theyre fighting. Assassinations keep the rest of the world on its toes and let the North Korean population know theyre fighting back.

Unit 124 was the regimes most fearsome weapon in this arena, its operatives the toughest of the tough  forced to survive on snakes during training and sleep with dead bodies.

Former member Kim Shin-jo, who defected to South Korea 48 years ago said that he slept with the bones  it made you fearless and nobody would look for you in a grave.

There have been several defections in recent years, the most recent being Thae Yong-Ho, the former number two at the North Korean embassy in Britain

The Unit staged an audacious assassination attempt on Chung-hee in 1968, with 100 commandos wearing South Korean military uniforms attempting to storm his official residence, the Blue House.

They were stopped before they reached their target, though.

A huge gunfight broke out when they were quizzed by police, with 68 South Koreans losing their lives, plus three US soldiers.

The assassins, who mostly scattered, were tracked down and killed over a period of days.
Residents overlooking Lake Como have expressed their concern over the growing numbers of migrants camping out in their town looking to slip over the border into Switzerland.

Swiss authorities have effectively shut their border to asylum seekers forcing the men, women and children to sleep out in the picturesque Italian town.

Prior to June, would-be asylum seekers could board a train in Como and cross the border into Switzerland and seek refuge. Now, they are stuck in the picturesque Italian town and local politicians fear the situation is getting worse.

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Hundreds of migrants have been camping out on the Swiss - Italian border on Lake Como

The size of the camp has been growing since Swiss authorities closed the border in July

The migrants have explained they are unwilling to claim asylum in Italy and want to move on

A report by the BBC said the situation in Lake Como was deteriorating.

Many of the migrants are staying a short distance from George and Amal Clooney's 7.5 million 18th-century Italian villa with its views over Lake Como.

However, Swiss border guards are now turning away two-thirds of all asylum seekers, forcing Italian authorities to provide temporary accommodation.

Earlier this month, some 300 migrants were stranded near the border and this figure is rising on a daily basis.

Until emergency accommodation can be arranged, many of the migrants are being forced to sleep in a public park.

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.

Lake Como is normally home to international film stars such as George Clooney and members of the global jet set, but now the area is being inundated by migrants sleeping rough

Corda said: 'I'm confident that the people who cannot go to Switzerland will want return to a system of legality.'

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.

About 100,000 migrants, mostly from Africa, have landed on Italian shores this year, and more than 140,000 asylum seekers are already living in the nation's shelters. In 2014 and 2015, more than 320,000 migrants reached Italy by boat, the majority of whom have moved on to other European countries.

Several hundred migrants have slept on towels and blankets in the park near Como's train station since the Swiss clampdown began in mid-July, separating people from relatives or friends who had crossed some months before.

Many of the migrants claim they do not have any relations in Italy and want to move on

Non-governmental and human rights groups like Amnesty International and Bosia's Associazone Firdaus 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.

Swiss left-wing politicians are checking for possible violations of Swiss asylum law.

With the migrant crisis now in its third year, more people are arriving and more are dying on often dangerous journeys to Europe from northern Africa and the Middle East.

For many migrants, Italy has become the gateway into Europe now that - in response to a public backlash over the more than one million who streamed to the continent in 2015 - borders have slammed shut along the Balkan corridor and an accord between Turkey and the EU has stemmed an influx into Greece.

More than 140,000 asylum seekers are now housed in Italian shelters, up sevenfold from 2013. Italy has increasingly struggled to cope as Austria, France and Switzerland have turned back migrants seeking onward travel.

In Switzerland, asylum requests fell by more than a third year on year in July, even as those trying to enter rose.

In one week, Swiss border guards swept up nearly 1,800 people trying to cross from Italy without permission.

More than two-thirds have been turned away since July, up from one in seven through June this year.

Swiss Customs said this upholds the law - under Europe's so-called Dublin System for handling refugees, migrants can be returned to their first country of registry - and reflects a rise in migrants aiming to transit elsewhere in Europe.

Under Swiss law, its Secretariat for Migration (SEM) must process anyone requesting asylum. That means border officers or police must put asylum seekers in SEM's care even if they are ultimately deemed ineligible to stay.

But many of Como's migrants, including minors, told Reuters in interviews that they were rebuffed directly at the border despite presenting documents showing they sought to join family in Switzerland. It remains unclear if people were being rejected en masse under any formal policy, Bosia said.

Norman Gobbi, the local Swiss police director, has told local media of a more restrictive practice where only plausible asylum requests were being considered. Those requesting asylum only after being rebuffed for initially saying they wanted to travel onward were being returned to Italy, he said.
The mayor of Cormorant, Minnesota, has a real nose for politics, so it should come as no surprise that this past weekend he was re-elected for his third consecutive term.

As the townships beloved incumbent mayor, the nine-year-old Great Pyrenees named Duke had no trouble scoring a landslide victory in the election, which was held during the 6th Annual Cormorant Daze Festival Saturday.

'I don't know who would run against him,' Karen Nelson told WDAY6. 'He's done such great things for the community.'

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In dog they trust: Residents of Cormorant, Minnesota, on Saturday re-elected their incumbent mayor, a nine-year-old Great Pyrenees named Duke, for a third term

Alpha dog: Duke ran unopposed and scored a landslide victory in the election

In a video from the event, the fluffy pup is seen wearing a miniature black top hat and a patriotic star-spangled bandanna around his neck.

Duke made national headlines in 2014 when he was first elected mayor of Cormorant - a small township of 1,000 - by write-in vote.

At the time, a dozen residents of Cormorant paid $1 each to cast their ballots in the mayoral election, and in the end Duke emerged as the top dog.

Now nearing the end of his second one-year term, the four-legged politician is said to enjoy high approval ratings among his two-legged constituents.

The town's inhabitants are evidently satisfied with Duke's policies and overall job performance, as he ran unopposed this year.

Small-town politics:Cormorant is a township of 1,000 located in Western Minnesota

Throwing his hat in to the ring: Duke made national headlines in 2014 when he was first elected mayor of Cormorant by write-in vote

Duke's owner, David Rick, said that everyone voted for the snowy-white pooch, except for a single vote that went to his girlfriend, Lassie.

Duke celebrated his political triumph with a nice pet from his admirers before getting back to the ruff business of running the town.
Michael Coe, 35, was driving through East London when he spotted the two 16-year-olds cuddling on the pavement, it is claimed

An Islamic convert who allegedly beat up a teenager for hugging his girlfriend in public previously shouted at a Muslim girl for hanging around with Kuffar scum, a court has heard.

Michael Coe, 35, is standing trial over claims he attacked the 16-year-old boy near Upton Park tube station in East Ham, London, before turning on teacher Boutho Siwela when he intervened.

The prosecution claim Coe confronted the pair, demanding to know if they were Muslims, before calling the girl a 'whore' and grabbing the boy by the throat, causing him to black out before he woke up bleeding on the floor.

Today, Southwark Crown Court was told how Coe has a history of violence and had committed his first offence before his first alleged victim was born.

In May 2013, he was fined for religiously aggravated harassment after telling an 18-year-old Muslim girl that spending time with non-Muslims was 'against her religion'.

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said Coe shouted you are going towards their path before shouting they are Kuffar scum and calling her a slut.

He is also said to have told her: At the end of the day its between you and Allah - you should change.

Coe also told the court how he has spent what he believes is about 12 years in prison.

The court was told how in 1997, when he was just 16, Coe was convicted of wounding after punching a white man who called him a black b******.

Two years later, he was convicted of a common assault and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour.

Since then he has been convicted of robbery and a string of violent disorder crimes, including at Notting Hill Carnival.

In 2006 he admitted using a firearm to resist arrest, explaining : I had a gun, that was it.

The jury also heard details of the alleged incident for which he is being tried.

Mr Polnay described the attack as 'completely unjustifiable'. He told the jury that Coe allegedly demanded to know if the teenagers were Muslim and when they lied and said that they were not, he replied: 'Why am I wasting my time with you if you're not Muslim?'

He then called the girl 'a whore' before attacking her boyfriend, Mr Polnay said.

Coe was said to have grabbed the boy by the throat, causing him to black out, before he woke up bleeding on the floor

'He (Coe) grabbed him around the neck, that's the last thing the victim remembered,' he added.

'The next thing the boy woke up on the floor and he was bleeding. This was completely unpleasant and utterly unwarranted - this is a grown man on a child.'

The victim's girlfriend, from whom he has now split up, broke down in tears as she described the attack in court.

The girl said she had been holding hands with her boyfriend because she had had a 'bad day' and had urged her boyfriend to 'leave it' when Coe approached them.

She said Coe lifted the boy off the ground by his jumper and threw him against the wall, knocking him out before kicking him in the head.

The court was told how, when Mr Siwela tried to help the couple, Coe allegedly attacked him.

Mr Siwela said he heard the girl screaming while he was locking up his bike and turned around to see the defendant standing over the boy, who was lying on the ground.

Mr Siwela pulled out his phone to take pictures of Coes number plate as he got back into his car. But Coe spotted him, left the car and told Mr Siwela give me that phone, it is said.

I felt someone pick me up and throw me to the ground, the teacher told jurors.

I was still wearing my helmet - I had a hard impact on the back just behind my ear.

Coe, of Devenish Road, Greenwich, denies one count each of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery.

The trial continues.
A man reportedly attacked three women, a man and a baby with bear spray because he thought he was being set up for an ambush.

Daniel Ryan Woolard, 28, from Cumberland, Maryland, was charged with assault and held on $750,000 bond on Monday.

Police say a 7-month-old boy and four others have now recovered after being sprayed with bear repellent inside the home in western Maryland.

Daniel Ryan Woolard (pictured), 28, from Cumberland, Maryland, was charged with assault and held on $750,000 bond on Monday

Sgt. Korey Rounds says Woolard was visiting the property on Sunday when he came to believe he was being set up for an attack by a man who was coming over.

The sergeant says Woolard locked himself in a room and then came out spraying a pepper-based spray designed to temporarily disable wild bears.

Upon their arrival police officers from the Cumberland City Police Department heard several subjects screaming for help.

Three women, a man and a baby were treated and released.

Bear spray is a type of deterrent which includes capsicum and is used to deter aggressive animals in the wild (File photo)

The sergeant says the man Woolard was afraid of never showed up.

Bear spray is a type of deterrent which includes capsicum and is used to deter aggressive animals in the wild.

According to a report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service: 'Proper use of bear spray has proven to be the best method for fending off threatening and attacking bears, and for preventing injury to the person and animal involved.'

Earlier this month two Alaskan wilderness guides were saved after deploying pepper spray after being mauled by a brown bear.

A statement from the Alaska State Troopers said two guides 'were conducting a guided nature hike for several tourists when they were confronted by a sow and cub brown bear and ultimately mauled.

'One of the victims did deploy pepper spray and the bears eventually departed the area.'

One of the injured guides, a 41-year-old woman, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for further treatment.
Cambodia's UN-backed court trying members of Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge regime heard the harrowing accounts of those women forced into marriage.

Witnesses testified how such bonds were supposed to serve the state rather than their personal desires in the so-called 'Red Weddings'.

The defendants - Khieu Samphan, head of state in the 1970s regime, and Nuon Chea, right-hand man to the communist group's late leader, Pol Pot - already received life sentences in 2014 after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.

One 64-year-old woman (identified only by her file number) recalled how - at 23 - she was forced to marry an 'ugly' fighter 20 years her senior in a joyless ceremony in 1978

Defendants - Khieu Samphan, head of state in the 1970s regime, and Nuon Chea, right-hand man to the communist group's late leader, Pol Pot - already received life sentences in 2014

The Khmer Rouge government fell in 1979 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia after a series of violent border confrontations

Some 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from starvation, disease and execution as a result of the group's extremist policies when they were in power from 1975 - 1979.

Charges against the defendants in their second trial include genocide against ethnic minorities, along with implementing policies of rape and forced marriages.

One 64-year-old woman recalled how - at 23 - she was forced to marry an 'ugly' fighter 20 years her senior in a joyless ceremony in 1978.

She detailed how a commander raped and threatened to shoot her if she didn't consummate the marriage, the Bangkok Post reported.

Those who refused simply disappeared or were killed, she told the court, including her cousin. Most were believed to have ended up buried in the notorious 'killing fields'.

'They forced us to marry,' she said.

Between 1975 and 1979 the regime claimed the lives of almost 2m people through execution, starvation and disease - as the Khmer Rouge tried to turn Cambodia back to the middle ages

THE BRUTAL TERROR OF LIFE UNDER THE KHMER ROUGE The Khmer Rouge, the communist ruling party in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, was responsible for the deaths of almost two million people, through executions, torture and starvation. Its leader, Pol Pot, was determined for society to be transformed into classless agricultural communism. City dwellers were marched into the countryside to become farmers in labour camps, with those refusing to move shot dead and their homes burned to the ground. Factories, schools, banks and even hospitals were shut down and the population denied medicine. Many died through starvation or exhaustion as most people from cities had no idea how to fend for themselves in the countryside and farmers were often too terrified to help them adapt. Anyone with links to the former Cambodian government, filmmakers, writers and indeed anyone deemed to be intellectual deserved to be put to death in the eyes of Pot. Often people were condemned for wearing glasses or knowing a foreign language. Religion was outlawed, so Christians, Muslims and Buddhists were also executed in huge numbers. Advertisement

She added: 'I did not like him. I was forced to get married. I was so angry that I could not eat.

'He had an ugly physical appearance. He had dark skin and he spoke with an accent.

'He looked intimidating and I did not love him at all.'

Another male born transgender victim described being forced to marry a woman.

After the ceremony, Khmer Rouge soldiers would spy on the couples. They also listened outside closed doors to ensure each marriage was consummated.

'We had to have sex to survive,' the 75-year-old told the court, adding that her wife became pregnant.

In the coming weeks, other men and women who were forced into marriage will recall the disturbing times when Pol Pot's soldiers came for them.

They will describe how the regime insisted on couples bearing children who would become the next generation to serve the Khmer Rouge's agrarian revolution.

Theresa de Langis, a researcher on sexual violence, told the Cambodia Daily the effects of forced marriages on victims had been deep and far-reaching.

She told of 'the loss of human dignity', with people being forced together for sex - 'treated as animals, cows and dogs, put out to breed.'
A former police officer from New Hampshire is to plead guilty on Thursday to assault charges involving a the beating of a suspect who was involved in an hour-long car chase between Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Andrew Monaco, 31, formerly of the New Hampshire State Police, has been charged with simple assault due to his use of force and he is expected to admit to three counts.

In a shocking video captured by a TV news helicopter, the suspect Richard Simone Jr, appeared to surrender before being subjected to a vicious attack by Monaco and another State Trooper, Joseph Flynn, 32, of the neighboring Massachusetts State Police.

The attack left Simone with post-concussive syndrome according to medical reports.

A separate case will take place against Flynn later this year.

Joseph Flynn, 32, (left) of the Massachusetts State Police and Andrew Monaco, 31, (right) of the New Hampshire State Police, have been charged with simple assault

Richard Simone Jr, 50, (pictured) refused to stop for police in Holden, Massachusetts, leading them on an hour-long chase with speeds up to 100 mph that ended in Nashua, New Hampshire

Monaco is expected to plead guilty on Thursday of this week. He is no longer working for the police department

Monaco had previously been placed on leave from the New Hampshire State Police but it is believed that he no longer words at the force.

Authorities say Simone, 50, refused to stop for police in Holden, Massachusetts, on May 11, leading both officers them on an hour-long chase with speeds up to 100 mph that ended in Nashua, New Hampshire.

The video shows Simone stepping out of his pickup truck before kneeling and placing his hands on the ground.

The officers are seen approaching him cautiously, until Monaco begins punching Simone on the left side of his head, according to complaints filed against the troopers.

In a shocking video captured by a TV news helicopter, Richard Simone Jr, appeared to get out of his car (left) and surrender (right) before the vicious attack

The officers approached him cautiously, until Monaco began punching Simone on the left side of his head, according to complaints filed against the troopers

Both Monaco and Flynn punched Simone repeatedly while he was prone on the ground. Monaco also kneed Simone multiple times.

New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan said the footage raised 'serious concerns' about use of force.

'We must treat this incident with the utmost seriousness without disparaging all of the hard-working police officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe,' she said.

Flynn has been charged with two counts of simple assault while Monaco was charged with three. They were both suspended.

Both Monaco and Flynn punched Simone repeatedly while he was prone on the ground. Monaco also kneed Simone multiple times.

The charge is a misdemeanor and carries up to a year in jail, but New Hampshire law stipulates more serious penalties to on-duty law enforcement officers.

Each charge is subject to an enhanced penalty of up to five years, the attorney general said.

Simone later told investigators he was repeatedly told to 'stop resisting' although his arms were behind his back while the attack continued, according to the complaints.

Simone (pictured being taken into custody) said he was repeatedly told to 'stop resisting' although his arms were behind his back, according to the complaints. The incident was captured by a TV news helicopter

Simone told investigators he received three stitches in his ear while medical records indicate he was diagnosed with possible post-concussive syndrome following the beating.

Post-concussive syndrome is caused by a head injury, where symptoms like headaches, dizziness, sleep problems, depression, anxiety and cognitive issues can last for weeks or months.
More than a hundred child refugees with family in Britain are still stranded in Calais three months after the government promised to step up efforts to help them.

Dozens of children who have had their applications to move across the Channel approved are waiting up to ten weeks in squalid and dangerous conditions in 'The Jungle' camp.

A group of MPs on a visit to the French port town today said they were 'embarassed' about how the country is failing to keep safe those it has agreed to take.

Around 30 unaccompanied minors who have successfully applied to join family members already in Britain are still waiting in the camp where 9,000 people are now living.

Dozens of children, pictured in the Jungle Books Kids Cafe in the Calais Jungle, are living in squalid and dangerous conditions despite having had their applications to move to the UK approved

Save the Children complain that there is currently not enough food available to feed everyone and there are no beds available for children in guarded accommodation. Children are regularly going missing.

Majid, a 17-year-old from Syria, was told six weeks ago that he would be allowed to join his uncle and cousins in Willesden, north London, but is still living in a shack made from plywood and corrugated plastic sheets.

Since he got hit on the head with a stone during a violent clash between rival groups in the camp two months ago, he spends most of the day inside the makeshift hut as he is afraid to go out.

'There is no law here. It's a bad place to be, it's dangerous and not safe,' he said.

Nazifulla Rahimzai, pictured left in Calais today, is a 16 year-old from Afghanistan and is waiting to move to the UK to join his two older brothers who are living in South London. Medecins Sans Frontieres run a Child Refugee Service, picture right, at the Calais camp, where child asylum seekers can go to take lessons and play

Inside his shack he has pieces of paper with 'I love Syria' written on them on the walls. Asked if he ultimately wants to return to his homeland, where his parents are still living, he instantly said: 'Yes.'

Nazifulla Rahimzai, 16, from Afghanistan said he has two older brothers living in South London, but has so far not been allowed to join them.

Every night he tries to jump on lorries heading for England as he is desperate to leave the camp.

He said: 'Life is hard here. My family are in London. I want to be there.

'I am sad that I am here. I live in a caravan with three others. The camp is a scary place.'

Dozens of children who have had their applications to move across the Channel approved are waiting up to ten weeks in squalid and dangerous conditions in 'The Jungle' camp (pictured today)

Save the Children complain that there is currently not enough food available to feed everyone. Above, refugees queue to receive food distributed by the association 'Vie Active' in Calais, next to the 'Jungle' camp

Yvette Cooper, Labour MP and chair of the party's refugee taskforce, said: 'There are too many children and teenagers who are at risk here.

'The British side of the process for those who have got family in Britain needs to be speeded up.

'Children who have been through all the legal process and have family in Britain should be there being looked after, not still here.

'The British and French governments have got to work much more effectively together because when you have got children and teenagers who are at risk and when everyone is agreed they should be helped the system is just not working in practice.

'As soon as it's agreed and the legal process is agreed that they should be looked after by family in Britain, I don't understand why they're stuck living any long in tents here in Calais when we know there are trafficking gangs, abuse taking place and exploitation.

'Why would you leave young people and children here at risk?'

Around 9,000 refugees are living in squalid and dangerous conditions in 'The Jungle' camp in Calais

One youth worker in the camp told the MPs that a group of teenagers had attempted to apply for asylum in France but were told there were not enough spaces in government accommodation and 10 of them were turned away.

Miss Cooper said: 'That's just shocking when you have young people and children asking for help being turned away.

'The British government needs to help children with family in Britain, and the French government has to work to keep people safe who would otherwise be at risk here.

'There are children who have been trafficked here who may have been exploited and abused along the way. There is a responsibility on the French authorities to keep them safe and on the British to speed up the process.'

Heidi Allen, Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire, said: 'Children who have been accepted as having the right to be in the UK are still waiting weeks here on their own with no protection.

'Day-by-day they are trying to stay safe while they have perfectly good families to go to.

Thousands of refugees are living in makeshift accommodation for months as they wait for asylum applications to be approved

'What I struggle to understand is once these children have been identified as having passed the test, that we don't do anything with them, we just leave them here. It's horrid.

'What's the hold up? It seems to be a muddle of nothingness and nobody knows why. Clearly it's paperwork sat on someone's desk somewhere that is not being treated with the urgency it needs.

'All the information is there, the hurdles have been jumped over to get accepted, DNA tests have been done and their families have been traced. The hard stuff has been done, but then it just stalls.

'I don't think that is helped by the fact the Home Office official meant to be sorting this out is not even based here, they are in Paris.

'There is a lot of violence here and you can imagine there are a lot of desperate and vulnerable people.

'Never mind the physical care they need, mentally goodness only know what they have seen and that will take a long time to fix.'

Mrs Allen said Britain should provide safe accommodation for children whose applications have been approved as they wait to move.

More than a hundred child refugees with family in Britain are still stranded in Calais three months after the government promised to step up efforts to help them

A refugee walks passed a 'London Calling' mural at 'The Jungle' camp in Calais today

She said: 'We seem to wrapped up in a diplomatic impasse of what you can and cannot do in France.

'I find this embarrassing. I don't buy that we can't have some kind of secure area. When we have identified these children, we have a responsibility and should pull them out of here.'

David Burrowes, Tory MP for Enfield Southgate, said: 'Here there is a risk of violence, it is a place that is not safe for those we have said we will take responsibility for because of a family link.

'Too many vulnerable people are left in limbo.

'It seems you have to physically step foot on our shores before we take responsibility. It should happen in days rather than weeks or months.

'Plainly these young people and children want to be with their family. This is the worst place they could be. These children are isolated and alone.

'We need to show compassion to child refugees and there is no better place to do it than on our doorstep here in Calais.'
An Afghan migrant travelled 250 miles strapped to the bottom of a lorry with leather belts before he was caught, police have said.

The man, believed to be in his 20s, was arrested in Italy after motorists called police fearing he was about to fall off.

Police believe the man attached himself to the lorry in Brindisi, in southern Italy, and he was removed from the truck after it was pulled over on the motorway between Naples and Rome.

An Afghan migrant travelled 250 miles strapped to the bottom of a lorry with leather belts before he was caught, police have said

A picture released by the police showed hand marks on the axle of the lorry, suggesting he had been clinging on to the shaft

The Bulgarian lorry drivers were heading from Turkey to Spain and said they were completely unaware that the man had tied himself to their vehicle with two belts.

A picture released by the police showed hand marks on the axle of the lorry, suggesting he had been clinging on to the shaft.

After he was arrested outside Frosinone, Lazio, the Afghan was taken to hospital suffering from exhaustion.

He taken to a migrant centre and offered the chance to request asylum but chose not to, so now has seven days to leave Italy.

The Bulgarian drivers were allowed to continue their journey.

More than 100,000 migrants have landed in Italy since the start of the year, with many deciding not to claim asylum there because they want to reach other countries in northern Europe.
Fears are growing for a vulnerable 15-year-old girl who has been missing for five weeks.

Veronica Sbircea, from Kettering, who also uses the name Rachel, has been missing for over a month and has not used any of her social media accounts in that time.

Police officers looking for the missing teenager executed a search warrant at an address in the Spencer area of Northampton last Friday which led to the arrest of a 26-year-old man from Romford, Essex, on suspicion of child abduction.

Schoolgirl Veronica Sbircea, 15, from Kettering, who also uses the name Rachel, has been missing for over a month and has not used any of her social media accounts in that time

He was later released on bail until next month.

Veronica was last seen at about a quarter past five in the afternoon of Thursday July 28 in Brixton Road in south London.

The schoolgirl is known to have used public transport on a number of occasions in the 24 hours preceding the last sighting of her, but there has been no identifiable movement since.

Detective Superintendent Elliot Foskett, who is heading the Northamptonshire Police investigation team of more than a dozen detectives, today made a fresh appeal to the public.

Veronica was last seen at about a quarter past five in the afternoon of Thursday July 28 in Brixton Road in south London (pictured)

He said: 'It's now almost a month since there was a confirmed sighting of Veronica and we remain desperately concerned for her safety.

'Like many teenage girls, Veronica is an avid user of social media networks like Facebook and Snapchat, but her family and friends have not had any contact since July 28. In addition, we know she has no access to money and no way of earning an income.

'Once again, we're saying to the public: If you were in the Brixton Road area of south London at about 5.15pm on Thursday, July 28, we'd ask you to just think again as to whether you might have seen her.

'Veronica has been known to approach people asking to borrow their phone. You may have had such an approach and turned it away, but if you did, please let us know.

'This is a very vulnerable young girl and we are becoming more concerned by the day about her safety.

'We have made extensive inquiries in London and that process is ongoing. We have also made arrests as part of our investigation, but although we're still unable to trace her, we remain absolutely determined to do so.'

Veronica is white, 5ft, with long straight black hair and brown eyes.

Originally from the London area, she attended Kingsmead School in Southbury Road, Enfield.

Detectives have spent the past few days trawling through CCTV footage from at least 20 business premises in the Brixton Road area where Veronica was last seen.
A nine-year-old aspiring pilot with a pacemaker has spoken about the 'terrible' ordeal he suffered at the hands of TSA at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.

Chille Bergstrom was to travel home to Minnesota with his family on Saturday, but was denied an alternative screening process.

He was then surrounded by armed police and agents, who told his mother they have stopped terrorists using children with pacemakers.

The youngster, who was born with Godlen Hars Syndrome, has undergone 15 open heart surgeries in his short life  but still needs to have a pacemaker to survive with his four heart defects.

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Chille Bergstrom (pictured), a nine-year-old aspiring pilot with a pacemaker, has spoken out about the 'terrible' ordeal he suffered at the hands of TSA at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport

The youngster has undergone 15 open heart surgeries in his short life and will soon go through another

Because of this, they are required to always request alternative screening as he cannot go through metal detectors  but in this case, the TSA refused.

His mother Ali Bergstrom, of Wyoming, said she showed authorities the documentation proving Chille needs the alternative screening but was told they would need to request an exemption.

They never did, but were held up for more than an hour before being told they couldn't fly.

Bergstrom wrote on Facebook that her son had told TSA agents: 'I don't want an exemption, I want to go through an alternate screening like I always do.'

'He sat on my lap, crying for an hour, as we were surrounded by 18 TSA and police and were actually told by the TSA that 'some terrorist plots use children with pacemakers'.

He was then surrounded by armed police and agents, who told his mother they have stopped terrorists using children with pacemakers, his mother said. Above, a picture shows some of the agents the Bergstroms faced

She also added Chille's comments in her post.

'They should be fired for treating heart kids like this,' he said. 'They were so mean and lied and wouldn't swipe my hands for over an hour!

'What is wrong with them? 18 people, Mom!'

The nine-year-old also added that TSA apparently lets through 95 percent of guns 'but won't let me through because I have a pacemaker! This needs to go viral to protect other kids!'

Chille also articulately described his ordeal in an interview with Fox 9, saying: 'It was very scary. I thought it was my fault.'

He said that at one point, he had asked agents: 'Could you please explain to me what's happening right now? Because I'm not used to this.'

Chille (pictured with his mother Ali Bergstrom) was born with Godlen Hars Syndrome

His mother says that's when an agent said they wouldn't be flying.

'With all the years that we've been flying this has never happened,' she said. 'Usually, they are friendly, they smile, they give him a sticker, a TSA sticker.'

She added: 'One of the TSA agents told me they'd prevented terrorist attacks using nine-year-old boys with pacemakers and children before, so I laughed and said, 'Oh when?'

'At that point, the TSA agent became very quiet and said, 'Oh we're not at liberty to discuss this.''

She added that the whole experience was discriminatory and dehumanizing  and that no one has contacted her to apologize.

Ali Bergstrom says Chille has been flying with the family all his life (some family photos are seen above) and they've never had a problem with TSA until now

'He woke up with nightmares on Saturday night and on Sunday night.'

Chille, who is soon to undergo a 16th heart operation, added: 'It was really terrible.'

He hopes that sharing his story will prevent it from happening to anyone else.

A spokesman for TSA said the agency are reviewing the incident and in touch with the family.

In a statement to Daily Mail Online, a spokesman said: 'TSA is committed to ensuring all travelers are treated with respect and courtesy.

'TSA is conducting a thorough review of the incident. TSA officials are in contact with the family for feedback and support.'
The opt-out waiver has been available in Florida since 2000

Florida law requires schools to inform parents that the 'student has the right not to participate in reciting the pledge'

The school in question is the Killearn Lakes Elementary School in Florida

His sister-in-law sent the waiver back to the school writing that it was the 'dumbest thing I have ever read'

An uncle was furious after his niece brought home a Pledge of Allegiance waiver that would allow her to opt out of reciting it at her elementary school in Florida.

Micah Brienen posted a photo of the waiver to Facebook Thursday and it has since been shared more than 22,000 times by others who were also frustrated with the school, according to KDVR.

He wrote: 'This particular waiver was brought home by my niece from Killearn Lakes Elementary School.

In his frustration Brienen posed the question: 'What is happening to our country?!?'

Micah Brienen was angered after his niece brought home a Pledge of Allegiance waiver (pictured) that would allow her to opt out if reciting it

Brienen posted a photo of the waiver to Facebook Thursday and it has since been shared more than 13,000 times by others who were frustrated with the school

The waiver read: 'I understand my rights as a parent and I request that my child, noted above, be excused from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

'This request includes standing and placing his/her right hand over his/her heart.'

His sister-in-law returned her daughter's form calling it the 'dumbest thing I have ever read', according to the station.

She also wrote that she's 'so ashamed of this'.

A few days later, Brienen encouraged his friends on Facebook to contact the school's superintendent about the issue.

Florida law requires schools to inform parents that the 'student has the right not to participate in reciting the pledge'.

Some social media users were quick to blame President Barack Obama for the form, not realizing the opt-out was available in Florida since 2000, according to Snopes.

Florida law requires schools to inform parents that the 'student has the right not to participate in reciting the pledge'. Pictured is the Killearn Lakes Elementary School




In this chilling footage, the machete-wielding woman who reportedly hacked at three people during a rampage in Brussels is shot at point-blank range by police.

She can be seen sitting on a chair inside a shopping centre as six officers close in.

After police ask her to throw away the knife she refuses and runs outside. In the background, someone can be heard urging the police to shoot.

In this chilling footage, the machete-wielding woman who allegedly hacked at three people during a rampage in Brussels is shot at point-blank range by police. Here, officers close in as she sits on a chair

On a street next to the mall, an officer fires a shot at point-blank range into her arm.

The 52-year-old Filipino woman is accused of attempted murder but has yet to be questioned by prosecutors as she is in receiving medical attention.

She was shot yesterday after lunging at people getting off a bus in the Uccle area of the Belgian capital, stabbing one in the back and one in the stomach.

'No motive is being ruled out at this stage but terrorism is not the most likely case,' said police spokesman Xavier Dellicour.

The spokesman for the public prosecution authority Ine Van Wymersch said the woman has no criminal history.

She said: 'Police were forced to use their firearms to neutralise the woman, as she did not follow up police requests to throw away her knife.'

The three people wounded were all released from hospital on Monday.

Police ask her to hand over her knife but she runs away. Here, she can be seen standing outside the shopping centre

She is shot at close range by an officer. The woman's name has not been released

Local media quoted witnesses as saying an argument broke out on the No. 38 bus and the woman pulled out a knife.

The woman's name has not been released.

The Belgian capital has been on high alert since local Islamic State militants carried out the attacks in Paris last November and suicide bombings in Brussels itself in March.
Worldwide concern is growing over immigration levels which are higher than any time since the Second World War - but the British are less worried than they were five years ago, according to a survey.

Almost half of the British questioned in the Ipsos poll felt there were too many immigrants in the country - but this level was down from 71 per cent five years ago.

In France and Belgium, which have recently suffered deadly jihadist attacks, at least six out of 10 people believe immigration has had a 'negative impact', said the polling institute.

Almost half of the British questioned in the Ipsos poll felt there were too many immigrants in the country - but this level was down from 71 per cent five years ago (file picture)

Similar figures were found in Russia, Hungary and also Italy, which has had to deal with large numbers of migrants fleeing the Middle East or Africa and seeking to forge new lives in Europe.

In all, 49 per cent of those surveyed in 22 countries said there were 'too many immigrants' and 46 per cent felt 'immigration is causing their country to change in ways they don't like,' Ipsos said in a statement.

The Japanese were least likely to say there are too many immigrants in their country (only 12 per cent), and the Brazilians least likely to voice discomfort at how immigration is changing their country (23 per cent), according to the study.

The surveyors pointed to a rise in the number of British people who think that immigration has been good for the country, standing at 35 per cent, sharply up on the 19 per cent recorded in 2011.

At least six out of 10 people in France and Belgium, which have recently suffered deadly jihadist attacks, believe immigration has had a 'negative impact', said the polling institute. Armed police are pictured in Brussels in November

'Britain has in fact become more positive about many aspects of immigration. This might seem surprising given that the desire to reduce immigration was undoubtedly a key reason for the Brexit vote,' Ipsos spokesman Bobby Duffy said.

Duffy added however that the referendum decision to leave the EU 'has polarised opinion'.

Yves Bardon, an Ipsos director in France, said that images of migrants and refugees arriving on Europe's shores 'have heightened the fear of uncontrollable migration throughout most of Europe, with the key issue being their ability to integrate'.

Six out of 10 people questioned for the survey said they were concerned about terrorists pretending to be refugees, and four in 10 want to close their nation's borders entirely.
A man who slaughtered five people in an Alabama home as they slept used both a gun and an ax, criminal complaints allege.

Derrick Dearman, 27, of Leakesville, Mississippi, is charged with six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping.

The bodies of all five people - Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; and Robert Lee Brown, 26 and Chelsea Marie Reed, 22, who was five months pregnant - were found inside the home in Citronelle on Saturday.

Dearman attacked them as they slept, then abducted his estranged girlfriend and an infant from the home, a sheriff's captain said. Both of them were found alive.

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Derrick Dearman (pictured), 27, of Leakesville, Mississippi, slaughtered five people in an Alabama home as they slept using both a gun and an ax, criminal complaints allege

The complaints filed in Mobile County District Court on Tuesday do not allege in which order Dearman used the weapons, or elaborate further on the nature of the killing.

And a prosecutor says it is likely she will seek the death penalty for Dearman.

Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich told The Associated Press on Tuesday that 'by all appearances at this point' the mass killing will be a death penalty case.

She said no final decision has been reached, as the investigation is still in its early stages.

Meanwhile, Dearman has blamed the violent rampage on meth and told reporters after his arrest: 'Don't do drugs.'

Speaking as he was escorted to jail, Dearman said Monday he was on methamphetamine when he went to the house.

'Drugs [were] making me think things that's not really there,' he said.

Among the victims were Shannon Randall, 35, Robert Lee Brown, 26, and Joseph Adam Turner, 26 (left to right)

Chelsea Reed, 22, and Justin Reed, 23, (left to right) were also killed in the violent rampage

After the killings, authorities said, Dearman abducted estranged girlfriend Laneta Lester, who had sought refuge at the house, and a child of two of the victims.

Dearman said he spared their lives because 'I came down and realized what was really going on.'

'[I] turned myself in because I was sober and knew what was the right thing to do,' Dearman said.

In videotaped comments broadcast on television, Dearman expressed his love for Lester and apologized 'to all the family members'.

The suspect added: 'Don't do drugs.'

Speaking with reporters as he was escorted to jail, Dearman said Monday he was on methamphetamine when he went to the house

Dearman (pictured) will be charged with six counts of capital murder, including one charge for the unborn child, Mobile County sheriff's spokeswoman Lori Myles said

A man who said his family provided a home for Dearman and Lester earlier this year near Leakesville, Mississippi, said Dearman was often on methamphetamine and physically abused Lester during walks in the woods in rural southeast Mississippi.

'He was taking her out there and beating the c**p out of her,' said Charlie Passarelli Jr., who said he had known Dearman for years.

Dearman will be charged with six counts of capital murder, including one charge for the unborn child, Mobile County sheriff's spokesman Lori Myles said.

At about 1am on Saturday, someone inside the home called 911 and reported that Dearman was on the property, authorities said in a statement.

On Saturday afternoon inside a house (pictured) in Citronelle, Alabama, officers discovered the bodies of the victims

Authorities said at least one gun and other, unspecified weapons were used in the killings

Citronelle Police went to the house, but Dearman had left before officers arrived, sheriff's officials said.

Before daylight Saturday, Dearman returned to the home and attacked the victims while they were sleeping.

After the killings, Dearman forced Lester and a three-month-old baby identified by relatives as the child of Randall and Turner into a vehicle, and they drove to Dearman's father's house in Mississippi.
The closing of one of the last two Howard Johnson restaurants in a couple of weeks will mark the end of its fried clam strips, ice cream and other menu staples that nourished baby boomers and leave the once-proud restaurant chain teetering on the brink of extinction.

The slice of roadside Americana will no longer be served up in Bangor after September 6th.

For waitress Kathe Jewett, it's the only job she's held since starting work when the restaurant opened in 1966.

From start to finish: Kathe Jewett, 68, a waitress at Howard Johnson's in Bangor, Maine since it opened in 1966, fills water glasses at the restaurant on Tuesday

End of an era: This Howard Johnson restaurant in Bangor, Maine will close on September 6, 2016 - leaving only one left - in Lake George, New York

'It's bittersweet, but it's nothing to be sad about,' the 68-year-old Jewett insisted Tuesday during a break from serving customers. 'I've been here for 50 years  and it's time.'

The closing will leave only one Howard Johnson restaurant, in Lake George, New York.

Before falling on hard times, Howard Johnson took restaurant franchises to a new level.

The orange-roofed eateries once numbered more than 800, with the New England-based restaurant chain predating the ubiquitous Howard Johnson hotels.

Howard Deering Johnson started the business in 1925, when he inherited a soda fountain outside Boston.

That evolved into a chain of restaurants featuring comfort food and 28 flavors of ice cream.

The orange roof with a blue spire represented a dependable place for travelers to park the family car, grab a meal and spend the night.

In Bangor, the Howard Johnson Restaurant and Lounge in its heyday was popular with travelers and locals alike, including horror and science fiction author Stephen King.

Taking their order: Kathe Jewett, 68, has been with the Howard Johnson's in Bangor, Maine since it opened in 1966

King, who lives in Bangor, said he used to eat there often and enjoyed the patty melts and milkshakes.

Owners David Patel and his wife, Sally Patel, kept their restaurant going for the past four years as business slowed and hours were scaled back to just breakfast and lunch.

'It's not worth it to keep it open. We tried for four years,' Sally Patel said Tuesday, noting the hotel side of their business remains healthy and will be unaffected by the restaurant closure. 'We felt bad to close it.'

Fortunately for HoJo fans, the Lake George restaurant appears to be on solid ground and is open year round.

'We're doing great,' owner John LaRock said. 'We're going to do some renovations this winter. Spruce it up, keep it going.'

He said it's a 'good feeling' to be keeping the HoJo legacy alive.

'Knowing I have the only one left makes it special,' he said.

In happier times: Two customers sit at the counter at the Howard Johnson Restaurant in Bangor, Maine enjoy a dying slice of Americana in 2015

A slice of American life: Patrons dine inside Howard Johnson's Restaurant in Bangor, Maine

There was a tinge of sadness Tuesday as Bangor diners digested the news.

Christopher Leek, of Orrington, learned while celebrating his 49th birthday with his girlfriend and his mother that the restaurant he's visited since childhood is about to close.

'I'm devastated,' he said. 'It's my favorite breakfast place. It's a homey place.'

Walter Mann, of New Haven, Connecticut, who started a website dedicated to documenting HoJo's restaurant history, said he and other HoJo fans still hold out hope that an 'orange knight' will step forward to revive the restaurants.

If not, he'll still cherish the memories.
Zachary Todd Anderson, 25, has been charged in the abduction, sexual assault and death of a five-year-old girl from Minnesota

A 25-year-old man has been charged in the abduction, sexual assault and death of a five-year-old girl from central Minnesota.

Zachary Todd Anderson kidnapped Alayna Ertl early Saturday from her home in Watkins, about 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis, authorities said.

Alayna's body was found later that day.

Anderson was charged Tuesday with murder, criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and motor vehicle theft.

An autopsy showed Alayna died from 'homicidal violence,' which included strangulation and blunt force trauma to her head, according to KSTP.

The child had also been sexually assaulted, according to the criminal complaint.

Anderson was a friend of the family and had been spending Friday night at the Ertl family's house.

Alayna was last seen when she was put to bed around 2am Saturday.

She and Anderson were gone by morning along with the family's 2002 GMC Sierra truck.

He was found hours later at his family's cabin near Motley, about 80 miles to the north.

When Anderson's father found out about the abduction he called the sheriff's office and reported that he believed his son was involved, according to KSTP.

He said Anderson had called earlier that day and asked for permission to go to their family cabin in Motley.

Anderson kidnapped Alayna Ertl (pictured) early Saturday from her home and hid her body in the swamp under debris. An autopsy showed Alayna died from 'homicidal violence,' which included strangulation and blunt force trauma to her head

When Anderson's father found out about the abduction he called the sheriff's office and reported that he believed his son was involved and may have gone to their family cabin (pictured) in Motley, Minnesota. He was found there hours later

Alayna's body was discovered near Wilderness Park (pictured) outside of Motley in rural Cass County

A memorial sign was posted near where Alayna's body was found. It reads: 'A life gone to soon'

Investigators said they found the stolen 2002 GMC Sierra hidden in a wooded area near the cabin.

They also found a single-shot 20-gauge shotgun on the kitchen table with multiple rounds spilled about.

Officers told the station they also found an apparent suicide note with blood on it.

Anderson was arrested after being found in knee-deep water in a swampy area shortly after police began their search.

They said he had open cuts on his left wrist.

Police said he told them Alayna was hidden in the swamp under some debris. He then showed them the location.

Authorities came across the little girl's pink blanket sticking out from some brush in the water.

After scouting the area, they found the child's lifeless body submerged in the water and hidden under brush, KSTP reported.

Alayna's body was discovered near Wilderness Park outside of Motley in rural Cass County.

Anderson was a co-worker of Ertl's father and had stayed at the home on previous occasions, Meeker County Sheriff Brian Cruze said Saturday night.

According to the Star Tribune, Anderson does not have a previous criminal record outside of traffic violations.

Anderson is being held at the Crow Wing County Jail.




A man who sent a vile and threatening voice message to senior Labour MP Ben Bradshaw the day before his fellow Parliamentary MP Jo Cox was killed, has avoided jail.

Geoffrey Farquharson, 37, from Exeter city centre, left a two-minute-long message of 'venom' on the Parliamentary office phone of MP Ben Bradshaw in Westminster on June 15.

The two minute rant ended with Farquharson warning Mr Bradshaw - 'I will kill you, you ba***rd'.

Geoffrey Farquharson, 37, from Exeter, (pictured) has been spared jail after he accepted his two minute homophobic and racist rant to MP Ben Bradshaw was 'unacceptable'

The message made Mr Bradshaw, who is gay, fearful for the safety of his staff, Exeter Magistrates Court heard.

In the call the bearded defendant, born in Scotland, branded the gay Labour MP for Exeter a 'queer c***'.

He also commented about Muslims saying they are a problem and on the recording of the message could heard shouting he was 'sick of people being killed' by them.

He then made vile and derogatory comments about Mr Bradshaw's sexual preferences adding he liked 'Muslims here'. He went on to make the death threat.

Farquharson, who admitted sending a communication of an indecent or offensive nature at a previous hearing, was jailed for 12 weeks, suspended for two years and given a community order with 25 days rehabilitation activity.

He was also made subject of an indefinite restraining order banning any contact with Mr Bradshaw or from attending the Labour headquarters in Clifton Hill, Exeter.

He was warned he faced five years in jail if be breaches the ban. He was also ordered to pay 250 compensation and 85 costs.

Farquharson made vile derogatory comments about MP Bradshaw's (pictured) sexual preferences and said he 'liked' Muslims being here

District Judge Stephen Nicholls told Farquharson: I accept the call was made before that sad incident when Jo Cox was fatally injured.

'The message was clearly homophobic, Islamophobic and racist and there was clearly a death threat to Mr Bradshaw.

'You accept through your guilty plea that the message you sent to Mr Bradshaw was highly offensive. In the message, your voice became extremely angry and you make threats and use highly offensive and abusive language.'

Mr Bradshaw made a victim statement saying he was sad and disgusted at the message which he said was homophobic, Islamophobic, and racist and included a death threat.

The MP said he had received death threats in the past and was not unduly concerned about myself but anxious about his staff, especially in the atmosphere of increased anxiety after the death of Jo Cox.

Mr Rob Jacobs, defending, said the call to Mr Bradshaw's voicemail was completely unrelated to the death of Miss Cox.

He said: Farquharson is a very vulnerable and lonely individual with rather too much time on his hands to think and ruminate on his political views, which are somewhat strongly held.

He would say he is not homophobic or racist. He lost his temper and acted out of frustration, anger and annoyance in making the call.

It is an unpleasant offence and he acknowledges it was totally unacceptable.

On June 17 Farquharson was arrested by Devon and Cornwall Police under the Malicious Communications Act 1988.

Farquharson, who suffers from mental health issues, was accompanied by his carer when he returned to the court to be sentenced.
North Korea has been accused of laying fresh landmines on its side of the border with the South following a spate of high-profile defections.

The American-led UN Command in South Korea said Pyongyang had planted the explosives devices near a truce village inside the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two countries.

There have been reports that the North installed the landmines to prevent front-line North Korean soldiers from defecting to South Korea in the area.

The American-led UN Command in South Korea said Pyongyang had planted the explosives devices near a truce village inside the Demilitarised Zone (pictured) that divides the two countries

Much of the border, one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints, is strewn with land mines and laced with barbed wire.

But South Korean media said no land mines had been planted in the area of the truce village of Panmunjom until North Korea placed an unspecified number there last week.

The UN Command said in a statement that it 'strongly condemns' any North Korean action that jeopardises the safety of personnel in the DMZ.

It said it wouldn't speculate on why North Korea placed the mines there.

Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified South Korean government official, said the North apparently planted the mines to prevent front-line North Korean soldiers from defecting to South Korea via Panmunjom.

North Korea's state media didn't immediately respond to the UN Command statement.

But South Korean media said no land mines had been planted in the area of the truce village of Panmunjom (pictured) until North Korea placed an unspecified number there last week

More than 1,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea each year between 2012 and 2015. Dictator Kim Jong Un is pictured

Panmunjom, jointly overseen by North Korea and the U.N. Command, is where an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War was signed and is now a popular tourist spot for visitors from both sides.

Under the Korean War armistice, the two sides are barred from carrying out any hostile acts within or across the 2.5 mile-wide DMZ. Still, they have accused each other of deploying machine guns and other heavy weapons and combat troops inside the zone.

More than a million mines are also believed to be buried inside the DMZ. North Korean mines occasionally have washed down a swollen river into South Korea, killing or injuring civilians.

In August 2015, land mine blasts maimed two South Korean soldiers and caused tensions between the two Koreas to flare.

The U.N. Command statement came a day after U.S. and South Korean troops began annual drills despite North Korean threats to retaliate against the exercises, which it says are a rehearsal for an invasion.

This year's drills come at a time of intensified animosity between the rivals over the defection of a senior North Korean diplomat in London and a US plan to install a sophisticated missile defense system in South Korea.

On Tuesday, South Korean officials said three North Koreans who were found on a boat off South Korea's western coast earlier this month have expressed a desire to resettle in the South.
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Hillary Clinton's $33,400 per ticket lunchtime fundraiser in Los Angeles attracted an A-list crowd with power couple Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel opening their doors for the Democrat today.

Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx and Tobey Maguire were some of the boldest-faced names in attendance, according to the Clinton campaign.

Reporters, as per usual, weren't allowed to step foot into the residence.

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Hillary Clinton waves from inside her motorcade as she arrived for a lunchtime Los Angeles fundraiser hosted by Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel

Hillary Clinton's $33,400-a-head fundraiser was hosted by celebrity power couple Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel opening their doors for the Democrat today (Biel posted this picture on Instagram)

Jessica posted some very candid and goofy photobooth pictures of herself, Justin and Clinton alongside the caption: 'Look who came over for lunch'

Around 100 people attended the event, according to the pool report.

Millionaire heiress Maya Henry, 15, posted pictures of herself with Aniston, Biel and Timberlake at the luxurious villa in Los Angeles.

Originally, Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio was supposed to host the Clinton fundraiser, but according to Variety he got in a deadline crunch for a project he's working on for the Toronto Film Festival, which kicks off Sept. 9.

The project is a climate change documentary entitled, 'Before the Flood,' and includes interview from prominent Democrats like President Obama, former President Bill Clinton  the candidate's husband  and Secretary of State John Kerry.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Pope Francis are also included in the film.

While DiCaprio was preoccupied with the project, he did his due diligence to find someone else to host the fundraiser, personally approaching Timberlake and Biel to do the job, Variety said.

Multi-million heiress Maya Henry (right), 15, posted some beautiful Instagram pictures from the event, including one with former Friends star Jennifer Aniston (left)

She posted another snap moments later, thanking Justin (right) and Jessica (left) for being 'such wonderful hosts'

Composer Chloe Flower shared the moment Justin and Jessica gave a joint speech while a beaming Hillary Clinton stood on stage next to them

Reporters traveling with Hillary Clinton were given a glimpse of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel's driveway as the power couple hosted a lunchtime fundraiser for the Democrat

Stars including Jamie Foxx and Tobey Maguire (both left) shook hands before the A-listers were transported to the venue in golf carts

Actress Jennifer Aniston is spotted outside Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel's house today in Los Angeles as she attended a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton

Actor Tobey Maguire was spotted entering a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton today in Los Angeles

Tobey Maguire was one of the biggest names at the fundraiser that also attracted Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx

Actor Tobey Maguire (left) attended the $33,400 Hillary Clinton fundraiser alongside his wife Jennifer Meyer (right)

Guests, including actor Tobey Maguire (center), mull around outside the home of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, who hosted a fundraising lunch for Democrat Hillary Clinton

Tickets, like many that have attracted Hollywood celebrities, are set at a maximum donation price  hence the $33,400 per person.

Clinton is spending Monday through Wednesday of this week doing West coast fundraising, before giving an address on Donald Trump's ties to the 'alt-right' movement from Reno, Nevada on Thursday.

As part of this West coast tour yesterday she appeared last night on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' and raised funds at the home of Magic Johnson.

After her appearance at the Timberlake-Biel house in Los Angeles, Clinton jetted down to Orange County to grab more dollars from Democrats.

Tomorrow she'll head up north to the Bay Area and attend two galas, including one hosted by Apple's CEO Tim Cook and co-hosted by Lisa Jackson, who now works for Apple, but formerly served as President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency head.

John Gile (right), who serves as Co-Chair of Hillary Clinton for President, thanked a youthful looking Justin for a 'wonderful event'

Yael Braun (left), wife of talent manager Scooter (right), were also sharing pictures from the fundraiser which was originally meant to be hosted by Leonardo DiCaprio

American-born composer and classic pianist Chloe Flower wrote 'let's keep America great' alongside her photo from the lavish Los Angeles villa

THE A-LIST: Celebrities at the $33,400 fete included Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx, the campaign said
Hupp's 77-year-old mother fell to her death from a third-floor balcony in 2013, but police found no evidence of foul play

Hupp was never charged in Elizabeth's death and has denied any

A Missouri woman who has been linked to a high-profile murder in 2011 is now facing unrelated charges after shooting dead a suspected home intruder last week.

Pamela Hupp, 57, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection to the August 16 killing of Louis Gumpenberger in O'Fallon.

According to police, at 12.10pm last Tuesday they received a 911 call reporting a burglary in progress in the 1200 block of Little Brave Drive.

Homeowner charged: Pamela Hupp, 57 (left), was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder in the August 16 shooting death of suspected home intruder Louis Gumpenberger (right)

Crime scene: Gumpenberger's body is seen being wheeled on a gurney out of Hupp's home in O'Fallon

The owner of the home, Pamela Hupp, was the one who made the call, telling an emergency dispatcher that she had shot the suspected intruder, later identified as 33-year-old Louis Gumpenberger.

When interviewed by police, Hupp said that Gumpenberger accosted her in the driveway while she was sitting in her SUV.

Hupp said she ran into the house and Gumpenberger followed her. Once inside, Hupp allegedly shot the 33-year-old man with his handgun, which was later recovered at the scene.

An autopsy showed Gumpenberger had been shot at least twice, reported Fox 2 Now.

His ex-girlfriend told the station that 11 years ago, Gumpenberger was in a car accident that left him with nerve damage and he now walked with a severe limp.

Hupp called 911 to say that she had shot a man who accosted her in the driveway and followed her into her O'Fallon, Missouri, home

Autopsy showed Gumpenberger, who was disabled and walked with a limp, had been shot at least twice

For him to be alone at all is shocking for me. He doesnt drive. He doesnt leave the house by himself, Shannon Zoll said.

Gumpenberger had a job interview scheduled for the next day at a place that hires disabled people.

St Charles County Prosecutor Timothy Lohmar revealed during an afternoon press conference that Hupp had sought out Gumpenberger and brought him back to her home on the day of the killing.

Star witness: Hupp was a key witness in a high-profile murder trial after her long-time friend was stabbed to death in 2011

At the time of his death, the 33-year-old man was in possession of $900 and a handwritten note that talked about a plot to kidnap and kill Hupp.

Investigators believe Hupp was the one who placed those items in the victim's pockets after shooting him.

Ms Hupp was a key figure in an investigation into the 2011 murder of her long-time friend Elizabeth 'Betsy' Faria.

On December 27, 2011, Mrs Faria was discovered dead outside her home in Troy, Missouri. She had been stabbed 55 times with a serrated kitchen knife, which was still lodged in her neck, reported the St Louis Post-Dispatch.

Faria's husband, Russell Faria, was found guilty in 2013 of first-degree murder, but his conviction was later overturned and he was acquitted last year.

Faria sued Lincoln County police and prosecutors earlier this year, claiming that they 'fabricated evidence, ignored exonerating evidence and failed to investigate the other obvious suspect.'

Mr Faria and his defense have long pointed a finger of blame at Pamela Hupp for Betsy's murder.

Grisly murder: Elizabeth 'Betsy' Faria (left) was stabbed 55 times outside her Troy, Missouri, home in December 2011. Her husband, Russell (right), was initially found guilty of the murder but was cleared last year

Blame game: Mr Faria (left) have long pointed a finger of blame at Pamela Hupp for Betsy's murder, noting that she had been named a beneficiary of the woman's life insurance policy just days before her slaying

Hupp was among the last people to see her friend alive, and she had been named a beneficiary of Faria's $150,000 life insurance policy just days before her slaying.

Hupp was never charged in the woman's stabbing death and has denied any involvement in that case. She appeared as a witness for the prosecution in Russell Faria's first trial, but she was not called to the stand in his retrial.

A detective said testified during Faria's bench trial that Hupp told police that she and Betsy had been lovers, reported NBC News.

Then in October 2013, Pamela Hupp's mother, Shirley Neumann, 77, plummeted to her death from the balcony of her third-floor apartment at a retirement home. No one witnessed the womans fall, according to the Post-Dispatch.
This is the terrifying moment a gang of migrants armed with bats held up a Flemish lorry driver bound for the UK.

Dashcam footage shows branches had been pulled down to block a road leading to the port of Calais.

A group of men appeared holding the weapons, and one of them struck the lorry each time the driver revved his engine.

This is the terrifying moment a gang of migrants armed with bats held up a Flemish lorry driver bound for the UK

Trucker Marc Mombaerts told VTM News: 'If I give dared put our foot down, they immediately made it clear that they would strike the windshield.'

The footage came to light on the same day a UK-bound Sudanese migrant was murdered and 15 others seriously injured during a 'hugely violent' fight.

This was said to have taken place between rival gangs competing to get on board lorries.

Referring to the death in Marck, around four miles east of Calais, an investigating source said: 'As two gangs from Sudan and Afghanistan competed to get on to the motorway to stop the lorries, a fight broke out.'

In July, another murder probe was launched after a migrant was hacked to death and another six badly wounded during a gang fight next to the so-called 'Jungle' refugee camp.

A group of men appeared holding bats, and one of them struck the lorry each time the driver revved his engine

Previously, lorry drivers have warned that it is just a matter of time before a motorist is also killed unless security is improved.

Earlier this month a migrant armed with a chainsaw threatened a driver.

The Jungle has a population of 9,000.

Sami, an Eritrean who has been living in there for six months, said that the camp can be quite tense and that conflicts can quickly start.

He told local paper Nord Littoral: 'There are people who come from different countries who do not speak the same language.
Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osorio expressed 'deep regret' to his 75,000 staff today after being caught having an alleged affair on a business trip.

The married father-of-three, 52, spent time in a hotel room with Dr Wendy Piatt, the 45-year-old director general of the prestigious Russell Group of universities, while in Singapore for a conference.

But in his memo to staff he simply apologised for the damage the 'adverse publicity' had done to the bank's reputation rather than saying sorry for his actions.

He has faced intense media coverage and questions about what was paid for on expenses after racking up a room bill of 3,276 during his stay in June, with 550 spent in the spa.

Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osorio (pictured left) expressed 'deep regret' to his 75,000 staff today after being caught having an alleged affair with Dr Wendy Piatt (right), the 45-year-old director general of the prestigious Russell Group of universities, on a business trip in Singapore

The humiliating email read: 'My personal life is obviously a private matter as it is for anyone else. But I deeply regret being the cause of so much adverse publicity and the damage that has been done to the group's reputation.

'I have been a strong advocate of expecting the highest professional standards from everyone at the bank, and that includes me.

'Having the highest professional standards raises the bar against which we are judged and as I have always said, we must recognise that mistakes will be made.'

Lloyds has insisted no rules were broken and said the chief executive paid personal costs out of his own pocket.

But the revelations come at an extremely sensitive time for the bank.

Last month Mr Horta Osorio announced that Lloyds is cutting 3,000 jobs and shutting 200 branches as part of an efficiency drive, but with the bank declaring profits had doubled in the first half of 2016 to 2.5billion, it was heavily criticised for blaming the job losses and closures on Brexit.

Hand in hand: Mr Horta Osorio and wife Ana were seen publicly for the first time since the revelations at a funeral in Portugal

Mr Horta Osorio was on holiday in his native Portugal when the story broke but was due back in the office this week.

The chief executive  who is considered an effective boss by shareholders, and earned 8.8m last year  will pledge to steer the bank through the potentially rocky period after Brexit.

The comments were expected to be accompanied by a defence of his track record at Lloyds, which was bailed out by the Government during the financial crisis and is now on a path back to health.

It is not known if he will also issue a similar message to its millions of customers or to taxpayers, who still own a 9pc stake.

THE GROVELLING APOLOGY LLOYDS BOSS SENT TO STAFF In a memo to his 75,000 Lloyds staff today, group chief executive Antonio Horta Osorio apologised for the damage done to the reputation of the bank over allegations of his affair. He wrote: 'Having returned to work I wanted to use the opportunity to address the recent media coverage of my private life. 'As you may have read, my expenses were reviewed in light of speculation by certain newspapers and the Group has confirmed that they are fully compliant. As you'd expect, I pay for my personal expenses whilst away and only reclaim what is a business expense. 'My personal life is obviously a private matter as it is for anyone else. But I deeply regret being the cause of so much adverse publicity and the damage that has been done to the Group's reputation. It has detracted from the great work which you do for our customers on a daily basis and from the major accomplishments of the past five years. 'This includes the Government shareholding having reduced from over 40 per cent to around 9 per cent with over 16 billion plus dividends having been returned to taxpayers. 'More broadly I have been a strong advocate of expecting the highest professional standards from everyone at the bank, and that includes me. 'I will continue to strive to meet those standards. Having the highest professional standards raises the bar against which we are judged and as I have always said we must recognise that mistakes will be made. I don't expect anyone to get everything right all the time. 'The important point being how we learn from those mistakes and the decisions and actions we take afterward.' Advertisement

Mr Horta Osorio is understood to have written to fellow Lloyds executives after the scandal broke.

Insiders claimed an inquiry had established 'beyond any doubt' that he had done nothing wrong, and that the boss paid for personal expenditure on the trip using a separate credit card.

The revelations emerged days after Lloyds announced plans to axe 3,000 jobs and close 200 branches.

Revelations: The news of the alleged affair came days after the bank announced it was axing 200 branches and 3,000 jobs

Mr Horta Osorio has not yet spoken publicly about the alleged affair but was pictured hand in hand with his wife Ana at a funeral in Portugal.

The allegations led some shareholders to question his future at the bank, and opened him up to allegations of hypocrisy.

He has previously spoken out about the need to restore trust in banking, warning in a 2012 speech that reputations 'take years to build and can be destroyed overnight'.

Lloyds has a strict personal integrity policy which demands staff maintain 'the highest reputational standards'.

A breach can lead to disciplinary action. Lloyds declined to comment last night.
Trooper Jermaine Saunders (above) shot dead Daniel Harris during a traffic stop Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina

A criminal investigation is being conducted into the shooting death of a deaf father who was stopped for speeding last Thursday in North Carolina.

The State Bureau of Investigation says it is conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting death of 29-year-old Daniel Kevin Harris by Trooper Jermaine Saunders.

Police say Harris was followed by Saunders who tried to pull him over for a speeding violation on Interstate 485 around 6.15pm last Thursday in Charlotte.

Officials say Harris led the trooper on a brief chase before stopping near his home in the University area.

When he did stop, Harris got out of his car when an encounter happened between him and Saunders, causing a shot to be fired.

Harris died at the scene, which was just a few feet away from his home.

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Trooper Jermaine Saunders shot dead Daniel Harris (pictured), a deaf man who was apparently trying to communicate using sign language after he was pulled over

Saunders tried to pull Harris over for a speeding violation on Interstate 485 at around 6.15pm, but the driver led authorities on a brief pursuit before stopping.

But witnesses said Harris  who was unarmed  was shot almost immediately after he exited his vehicle, WCNC reports.

They also say he appeared to be trying to communicate with the trooper using sign language.

However, Saunders has said he shot Harris because he was advancing and not following commands, WCCB reports.

But Harris' immediate family, who are also hearing impaired, think he was 'just afraid' and not understanding the situation.

Jay Harris, who spoke to the local station through a sign language interpreter, believes his brother was not aware that troopers were trying to pull him over.

'He was unarmed - and he is a deaf individual, and I think that he was just afraid,' he said.

'He could not hear their warnings. He could not hear their commands to stop or to stay away from them.'

He added that his mother has been in the hospital with a heart issue since the shooting. 'He was shot, and now were left with nothing,' Jay said.

Neighbors blasted the decision to shoot first, ask questions later.

Youre pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped. To me, what happened is totally unacceptable, neighbor Mark Barringer told the local station.

They should have de-escalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation.

Harris (pictured feeding his son)  who was unarmed  was shot almost immediately after he exited his vehicle, witnesses say

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report identified Harris as hearing and speech impaired, but did not give further details about his impairments.

Saunders was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure after an officer-involved shooting.

State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Audria Bridges said agents will interview Saunders this week.

However, the SBI report doesn't mention that Harris is impaired.

Harris family have set up a fundraising page since his death, which has raised almost $23,000 so far, for his memorial and cremation costs.

In a post on the page, they say: He was unarmed when shot and killed by a state trooper.

His tragic death could have been prevented. Police brutality ends NOW.

They also plan to set up a foundation in his name to educate and provide law enforcement [with] proper training on how to confront deaf people.

Police say Saunders tried to pull Harris over for a speeding violation on Interstate 485 at around 6.15pm. Above, the scene after the shooting

Harris led authorities on a brief pursuit before stopping near his home in the Univeristy area, officials said

The family also hope to change the DMV registration system to require states to set up a DEAF alert to appear when a cars license plate is looked up.

With this change, Daniel will be a hero in our deaf community, they add.

Activist Shaun King notes that its not clear if Harris understood what was happened in the moments before his death since he could not have heard the sirens in his New York Daily News column.

He adds that while some cases of police shootings pose genuine threats to law enforcement, this case is hard to justify.

Beyond being unarmed, deaf and mute, Daniel Harris appears to have been a rather small, thin man, he wrote in his column.

Harris' family (above, with Harris second from left) plan to set up a foundation in his name to educate and provide police with proper training on how to confront deaf people

His family also hope to change the DMV registration system to require states to set up a DEAF alert to appear when a cars license plate is looked up

King insists opening fire could not have been the troopers only option.

What threat did Harris pose? Was a Taser or pepper spray used? Could the officer truly not subdue Harris on his own?

If reports from neighbors are accurate, it doesn't appear the officer even tried, but pretty much shot and killed Harris mere seconds after he got out of the car.

He added: Virtually any other option the officer could've considered was better than what he chose in this case, but here we are with another avoidable casualty of police violence.

Daniel Harris should be alive with a speeding ticket, but instead his family is raising funds for his cremation.
A Massachusetts family are reliving the trauma of their daughter's brutal 2012 murder after her killer has threatened to make the girl's sexual history public.

S&M enthusiast Seth Mazzaglia, now 32, was convicted in 2014 of strangling Lizzi Marriott, 19, before raping her lifeless body and dumping it in a river with the help of his self-styled 'sex slave' girlfriend. She has never been found.

Now Mazzaglia is appealing his sentence, which could mean unsealing court documents that reveal Marriott's sexual history - something her parents want to stop, The Huffington Post reported.

Killer: Seth Mazzaglia (pictured in 2014), now 32, strangled student Lizzi Marriott, 19, in 2012 before raping her body. He and ex-girlfriend Kathryn McDonough then dumped her body

History: Mazzaglia said Lizzi (center) was consented to S&M play when she died. He says her sexual history supported that story. Her parents (Bob, left and Melissa, right) dispute his claim

Rus Rilee, the lawyer representing parents Bob and Melissa Marriott, said the possibility of having their daughter's private life exposed had shattered them.

'This has completely traumatized her family, who, following this animal's rape and murder conviction, was just starting to heal and move on,' he told The Huffington Post.

He added: 'It's important for them to fight this battle for Lizzi. Her right of privacy is the only right this animal didn't take away from her when he raped and murdered her.

'It's all she has left.'

Marriott was a student at the University of New Hampshire when she was lured to Mazzaglia's home by her colleague and his then-girlfriend, Kathryn McDonough, now 22.

McDonough, who later said she was Mazzaglia's submissive sex slave, told the court that he strangled the teen and raped her body before they threw it into the Piscataqua River.

Sealed: Under New Hampshire's 'Rape Shield' law, Lizzi's alleged sexual history was sealed and inadmissible. But it might now be made public under Mazzaglia's new appeal

During Mazzaglia's trial his team said Marriott died accidentally while engaged in a consensual - but dangerous - sex act, and claimed her past history supported that.

The judge disagreed, declaring the details inadmissible and sealing the relevant documents under New Hampshire's 'Rape Shield' law.

That law stops defendants from using details of the alleged victim's sex life as part of their defense

But the court may revoke it during an appeal - such as the one Mazzaglia made in January, arguing that if the details had been included in his defense, he wouldn't have been sentenced to life without parole.

Rilee says that Marriott's sexual history as recorded in the documents is 'very much disputed' and that it is not in the public interest to air the unproven allegations.

He also believes that if the court rules the Rape Shield law can be lifted on appeal, it will have a 'chilling effect' on other rape victims coming forward.

Traumatized: The Marriotts are now fighting to make sure the documents stay sealed. But Mazzaglia's lawyer says his client needs a public trial

But Christopher Johnson, Mazzaglia's appellate public defender, argues that his client's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial trumps Marriott's right to privacy.

'The appellate process can't be fair if it's secret,' he said. 'We don't do secret appeals in this country, by and large.'

In September, Mazzaglia's public defender will go up against lawyers from the state and Marriott's family to argue that the documents should be unsealed.

After Marriott's appearance in 2012, investigators traced her to McDonough's door. McDonough then told all under a plea deal.

Mazzaglia currently remains in prison. McDonough finished her three-year prison sentence in June.
A three-year-old boy has died after a heavy bookcase fell on him in his home in rural Victoria.

The toddler, who has been identified as Blake Shaw by the Herald Sun, was on the floor at his parents' home in Clear Lake, about 300km north-west of Melbourne, when the unsecured case with doors tipped over.

Blake's family said the three-year-old was not climbing on the case.

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Toddler Blake Shaw, 3, was on the floor of his parents home in Clear Lake, about 300km north-west of Melbourne, when an unsecured bookcase crushed him

They said the case was right up against a wall and had been positioned in a corner.

Victoria Police confirmed the tragedy and were investigating how the bookcase ended up falling over.

'Police attended a home in Scott Hair Watsons Road, Clear Lake, where a three-year-old boy was found deceased [Monday night],' a police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

'Investigations are continuing but it is believed a heavy cabinet fell on the boy, causing fatal injuries, about 7.30pm.

'Emergency services were unable to revive the boy.'

Blake's parents were devastated over their son's sudden and tragic death.

Blake's family said the three-year-old was not climbing on the case and was not sitting close to it when it fell

The boy's family remembered him as an 'angel' and a 'beautiful-looking child'.

Blake's father, Tim, spoke of his grief over the death of his son who had just returned from a beachside outing with his grandmother, Dianne.

'The worst thing the kid ever did was smile,' Mr Shaw told the Herald Sun.

His devastated grandfather, Graham, said he could not stand looking at the bookcase that killed his grandson and would be getting rid of it.

'He just happened to be sitting on the floor and this thing fell down from the wall,' he said.

'It was just a bookshelf with doors on it. I dont want to look at that thing, so Im going to knock it apart and burn it.'

Blake also leaves behind two older brothers, 9News reported.
North Korea has fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast, the latest in a string of missile launches in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The country, ruled with a rod of iron by dictator Kim Jong-un, test-fired the missile at around 5:30am local time on Wednesday near the city of Sinpo, which is home to a submarine base.

The missile, fired from a North Korean submarine, flew about 500 km (300 miles) towards Japan in a show of improving technological capability for the isolated country that has conducted a nuclear test and as series of missile launches this year.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday's missile breached his country's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and condemned what he called an 'unforgivable, reckless act.'

Japan, China and South Korea have agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from provocation and follow U.N. Security Council resolutions, after its latest missile launch.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was seen celebrating after the launch last night

Foreign ministers from the three Asian neighbours also sought to soothe their often-testy relations, and have reached an understanding on a trilateral summit meeting in Japan this year, a Japanese official said.

'We have confirmed that we will urge North Korea to exercise self-restraint regarding its provocative action, and to observe the U.N. Security Council's resolutions,' Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference after hosting the meeting with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts.

In the face of the North Korean threat, cooperation among Japan, China and South Korea was more important than ever, Kishida said after his meeting with China's Wang Yi and South Korea's Yun Byung-se.

Yun promised South Korea's support to realise a trilateral summit by year's end, as well as to cooperate economically and to achieve a successful summit of the Group of 20 big economies next month in China.

Wang said China opposed North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes and any 'words or actions' that cause tension on the Korean peninsula, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

China will continue to push for the peninsula's denuclearisation, seek a resolution through talks and uphold regional peace and stability, Wang added.

Last year North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was pictured observing another missile being launched from a submarine near Sinpo, although experts believe the image may have been faked by Pyongyang

An underwater test-firing of a strategic submarine ballistic missile is seen in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency

The three ministers share the understanding that Japan will host a trilateral summit this year, though dates have yet to be worked out, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told reporters.

The latest launch comes two days after South Korea and the United States began annual military exercises in the South that Pyongyang condemned as a preparation for invasion.

North Korea has become further isolated after a January nuclear test, its fourth, and the launch of a long-range rocket in February brought tightened UN sanctions.

It has launched numerous missiles of various types this year, including one this month that landed near Japanese-controlled waters.

Current UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from any test of ballistic missile technology.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula were exacerbated by the recent defection of North Korea's deputy ambassador in London to South Korea, an embarrassing setback to Kim Jong-un's regime.

Sycophantic North Korean Army officers laugh at a joke made by dictator Kim Jong-un (pictured, centre). South Korean and US officials are becoming increasingly concerned about Kim's erratic behaviour and aggressive propaganda

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye further angered Pyongyang this week by suggesting the defection showed 'serious cracks' in Kim's regime.

Park also warned North Korea may carry out 'various terror attacks and provocations' in a show of strength aimed at building national unity and loyalty to Kim.

Seoul has urged people be on guard against possible North Korean assassination attempts on defectors and anti-Pyongyang activists in the South.

North Korea has conducted a number of submarine-launched ballistic missile tests with varying degrees of success.
Authorities in Warren, Ohio, detained a man last week, who allegedly masturbated on a sidewalk and behaved like a gorilla.

Timothy Cook, 32, has been charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated, the Smoking Gun reported.

Police responded to the Giant Eagle Plaza Friday regarding 'two white males running around the lot taking of their clothes, one of the males growling and punching the cement', a police report obtained by the website said.

Timothy Cook, 32, has been charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated. A police report said he 'was sweating profusely acting like a "gorilla"'

Authorities wrote: 'While Officers were in route to the call a second call came into dispatch about the same males.

'One of the males entered the License Bureau and was waving his arms around. He then excited the business and began masturbating on the sidewalk.

'The License Bureau then locked the doors to the business due to safety concerns.'

According to authorities, a police officer 'found Timothy Cook in the parking lot.

'Cook was sweating profusely acting like a "gorilla" - was squatting on all fours, punching the blacktop and jumping up and down screaming noncoherently.'

The report said the 32-year-old was detained by authorities without incident and an ambulance was called for him.

Police responded to the Giant Eagle Plaza Friday regarding 'two white males running around the lot taking of their clothes, one of the males growling and punching the cement'

Cook was pinpointed as the person who masturbated by witnesses, according to authorities.

The report said: 'Med Star arrived and administered Narcan to Cook for an apparent overdose.'

Cook was taken to Trumbull Memorial Hospital. He was revealed to have an outstanding drug possession warrant, which is active because of 'manpower shortages', police wrote.

Authorities said a different officer discovered 24-year-old Osmond LeMasters walking on Mahoning Avenue and detained him.

He was released from the scene and scheduled to be in court Tuesday morning.
Demand for new homes has soared since Britain voted to leave the EU, one of the countrys biggest builders said yesterday.

Persimmon, which specialises in family homes, said the number visiting its sites and reserving a home has jumped by a fifth since the referendum.

The surge defies gloomy predictions by George Osborne and pro-EU economists that the housing market would be hit hard by a vote to leave. Experts said families have shrugged off concerns about Brexit while estate agents predicted the coming weeks will be busier than expected.

Persimmon house builders (pictured), which specialises in family homes, said the number visiting its sites and reserving homes has jumped by a fifth since the EU referendum

The comments undermine doom-laden warnings from Remain campaigners that a Leave vote would send the housing market and wider economy into a tailspin.

Persimmon chief executive Jeff Fairburn said the scare stories  stirred up by David Cameron and former Chancellor Mr Osborne  were overplayed. I dont really understand where that fear came from, he said. Clearly Brexit created economic uncertainty but we didnt see any discernible change in customer behaviour.

Former Conservative Cabinet minister John Redwood welcomed the news as further evidence the economy has not been knocked off course by Brexit. Yet another gloomy lie put forward by the Remain campaign has been put to bed, he said.

Persimmons upbeat performance is the latest to suggest Mr Osborne was wrong to claim Brexit would plunge the UK into an immediate DIY recession.

Retail sales have risen since the June 23 vote and City economists last week upgraded their forecasts for the economy over the next two years.

Persimmon, based in York, concentrates on traditional housing for first-time buyers and first-time movers. Last year, the FTSE 100 firm sold 7,488 new homes in Scotland and the North of England plus 7,084 in Wales and the South of England.

In the first half of 2016, the company sold 7,238 new builds, up 6 per cent on last year. The average selling price also rose by 6 per cent to 205,762.

The surge defies gloomy predictions by George Osborne (pictured) and pro-EU economists that the housing market would be hit hard by a vote to leave

In an update to the City yesterday, it said reservations of homes since July 1 were up 17 per cent on the same period last year. Persimmon, whose brands include Charles Church and Westbury, also posted bumper results for the first six months of the year. Profits were up 29 per cent to 352.3million.

Colin Sheridan, an analyst at Davy Research, said: The longer-term effects of Brexit are still unknown but new home customers seem to have shrugged off the initial effects of the vote.

Separate figures from HM Revenue and Customs showed the housing market held steady after the EU referendum.

Steady: Separate HMRC figures show that following the decision to exit the number of homes being bought in July remained almost exactly the same as in June

Its report showed 94,550 homes were bought in July, only slightly lower than the 95,430 sold in June.

Britains exclusive fishing rights should be raised from 12 to 200 miles to keep out foreign vessels in the wake of the Brexit vote, said the Adam Smith Institute.

It said naval and air patrols should keep out foreign boats, which currently take 80 per cent of the catch in UK waters.
The fight between Mr Taylor and Mr Sudarsa

A British DJ and his Australian girlfriend flew into a drunken and violent rage before beating an Indonesian police officer to death because they believed he stole the woman's purse while the couple were kissing on a beach, police claim.

Byron Bay mother-of-two Sara Connor, 45, and David Taylor, 35, are expected to be charged with the murder of police officer Wayan Sudarsa, who was found dead on Kuta Beach in Bali with 42 wounds to his body on August 17.

Local police claim Mr Taylor accused Mr Sudarsa, who was on duty at a nearby hotel at the time, of stealing Ms Conner's purse and of being a fake police officer before beating him with binoculars, a beer bottle and a mobile phone, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

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Byron Bay mother-of-two Sara Connor, 45, and her British boyfriend David Taylor (pictured), 35, allegedly flew into a drunken and violent rage before beating an Indonesian police officer to death on August 17

Local police claim Mr Taylor accused the officer of stealing Ms Conner's (pictured) purse before beating him with binoculars, a beer bottle and a mobile phone

Mr Taylor confronted the police officer and the two fell to the ground as they wrestled, during which the officer allegedly bit Ms Conner on the leg and arm.

'Then David said to the victim: 'You are a bogus cop. Where's my bag? Where's my bag? F--- you bastard police.' The officer said: 'I don't know.' But he kept insisting, three times,' Denpasar Police Chief Hadi Purnomo said.

Mr Taylor then allegedly continued to hit Mr Sudarsa with a glass beer bottle as Ms Conner left to continue looking for her purse.

Police officer Wayan Sudarsa (pictured) was found dead on Kuta Beach in Bali last week with 42 wounds to his body

Ms Connor is pictured hiding her face while she is escorted by Indonesian officials on Tuesday

'By then David had lost it and hit him repeatedly with the broken bottle, causing the 17 wounds on the head. After the [officer's] head was injured, [Mr Taylor] searched his body, his belongings, that's how the victim's clothes got unbuttoned and loose. The man had already lost consciousness.'

They allegedly took his wallet and mobile phone, before Ms Conner suggested they cut up and burned his cards along with their bloodied clothes, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Conner allegedly came up with the idea to burn the evidence after a friend in Australia told her the police were looking for the couple.

A crime scene established on Kuta Beach in Bali is pictured on Friday

Ms Connor (pictured) has maintained her innocence over his murder, her lawyer Erwin Siregar said

About 10pm local time (12am AEST) on Monday, Ms Connor's legal team emerged and told reporters what their client said occurred that fatal night

Ms Connor has maintained her innocence over his murder, her lawyer Erwin Siregar said.

'Sara said that she (was) not involved with this murder, she (was) not involved at all with this murder,' the lawyer said.

Her British boyfriend Mr Taylor has allegedly admitted to hitting Mr Sudarsa.

Mr Taylor's lawyer, Haposan Sihombing, said Ms Connor tried to help her boyfriend in the struggle.

But her lawyer said she 'insists that she was not involved with the murder at all'.

Ms Connor hides her faces as she is escorted by police officials on Tuesday

Ms Connor is pictured being escorted from Sanglah Hospital in Bali on Tuesday

Mr Taylor is escorted by Indonesian police officials as he was taken to hospital on Tuesday

'She saw from behind that Taylor hit the victim, but she did not know what he used to hit,' the lawyer alleged.

Ms Conner's ex-husband, Anthony 'Twig' Connor, who is the father of her two sons aged nine and 11, was due to make a statement on behalf of the family in Sydney on Wednesday but decided not to front the media.

'Late last night we were advised by the Australian Government not to hold the conference', a statement from a family spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Mr Taylor is being held as a suspect for murder, assault and battery charges (pictured on Tuesday)

Mr Taylor told Ms Connor the victim was still conscious before they left the beach, Mr Purnomo alleged

He allegedly accused the officer of being fake and of stealing Ms Connor's purse

Ms Connor faces a murder charge and an additional charge of participation in a murder.

Mr Taylor is being held as a suspect for murder, assault and battery charges.

The murder charge carries a maximum of 15-years in prison.

Sara Connor (pictured), from Byron Bay on the NSW north coast, was taken into custody in Denpasar on Friday
Staying in dormitories can be stressful enough but imagine if your room was a former toilet block.

Students at Number 15 Middle School in Tongren, Guizhou province, have lodged a complaint after their school put beds into a toilet block, reports the People's Daily Online.

The toilets were concreted over, however students said the block still has a pungent smell.

Concrete works wonders! The toilet block was converted into a dormitory for the students at Number 15 Middle School in Tongren, China

And there's a sink! According to students, the dormitory still has a bathroom smell

According to reports, the school accidentally recruited too many freshmen and so had to convert the bathroom into bedrooms.

Students lodged the complaint to the school on August 19.

A student told reporters that no one has moved into the dormitory yet and that the rooms still have an unpleasant bathroom smell.

The school has responded to the complaint saying that the arrangement is temporary.

They apparently also said that students are at school to study and not to have fun.

Not permanent: The school has told the students that it is only a temporary measure

According to one student, the three classmates who were assigned to the converted bathroom have decided to rent rooms outside of the school.

An official from the school told reporters that it is just a temporary arrangement and the students will be housed in a new dormitory building which is still under construction.

People have been discussing the story on social media site Weibo.

One user commented: 'Schools want to make money'.

While another said: 'They just want to make money but it harms the innocent youth!'
Products worth over 26 million in total despite being contaminated

Some of crabs, lobsters and fish thought to be

Thousands of tonnes of potentially corrupted and dangerous seafood products have been imported into China over the past couple of years, according to investigators, raising significant health fears.

Illegal smugglers allegedly brought in around 5,000 tonnes of contraband seafood from Japan to sell cheaply since 2014, much of it sourced from near the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, according to People's Daily Online.

Customs officers in Qingdao, Shandong province, east China, revealed on August 21 that they have seized a large quantity of scallops, king crabs and fish which was being imported by vans licensed in south-west China's Guangxi province.

Large take: Illegal smugglers allegedly brought in around 5,000 tons of seafood from Japan

Illegal: Customs officers in Qingdao, east China, a large quantity of scallops, crabs and fish

Guilty? The suspected ringleader Wang was captured by police in Penglai Airport on June 24

Earlier this year, customs staff carried out a survey in which they found that some premium seafood was being sold for cheaper prices than was declared, which raised suspicions.

The total value of the smuggled goods was estimated to be around 230 million yuan (26.2million), and a seafood import company in Shandong became a primary suspect as the investigations got underway.

The suspected group ringleader Wang was captured by police in Penglai Airport on June 24, while customs officials halted other suspects in the cities of Shandong, Fujian, Guangxi and Liaoning.

Officials announced the seafood came into China via a detour in Vietnam, as the smugglers were trying to avoid duty and quarantines, and several tons of it were thought to have come from Fukushima.

Deadly: Fukushima has remained a major hazard zone since the nuclear meltdown in 2011

Outlawed: Nations prohibited the importation of seafood from the region on health grounds

Catastrophic: Over 1,600 people died from 'disaster-related injuries' at Fukushima

The Fukushima area has remained a major hazard zone since the devastating earthquake and subsequent nuclear core meltdown it suffered in March 2011.

Countries quickly prohibited the importation of seafood from the region on health grounds, and even local residents are known to steer clear of eating it.
Incredible footage shows the moment a crowd of people rush to help free a pensioner trapped underneath a car in China.

The man was riding his bike when he was hit and dragged under the car on August 19 in Yancheng, China's Jiangsu province, reports the People's Daily Online.

It took just three minutes for the man to be freed by the group before he was then taken to hospital.

That's teamwork: A large group of people gathered to twist the car and free the man

Accident: The man had been riding his bike when he was knocked down by the vehicle

Amazing: The group worked together and managed to free the man in under three minutes

According to reports, the elderly man was riding his bike when he was accidentally knocked down by a car.

He was crushed under the wheels and knocked unconscious.

As soon as people saw that he was trapped, they gathered together and helped to free him.

In the footage the crowd can be seen working together to move the car.

They manage to pull out the man who is then seen lying on the floor as they wait for the emergency services to arrive.

Mr Chen was at the scene when the incident occurred. He says: 'I went over and saw an elderly man's body pressed tightly against the bottom of the right front wheel of the car.'

He says that at the beginning there were only four or five people but after he shouted, more and more people came to help.

It took just three minutes for the man to be saved by the group.

Helping hand: People can be seen rushing over to try and help the group release the man
Researchers have discovered what could be the world's oldest needle in a Siberian cave, which they claim is 50,000-years-old.

The discovery was made in Denisova Cave  a site in the Altai Mountains that has already yielded many other archaeological discoveries.

The three inch (7.6cm) needle is crafted from ancient bird bone, and is believed to have been made by long extinct species of humans, called Denisovans.

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The finding comes from an annual summer excavation of Denisova Cave, which has been studied for more than three decades. The needle suggests that the Denisovans were more sophisticated than previously believed

THE HISTORY OF THE NEEDLE The needle was one of humankinds first tools. It is distinctive of the Upper Paleolithic period, which began 40,000 years ago. Previous to this finding, the oldest bone needle found was discovered in Potok Cave in the Eastern Karavanke, Slovenia. This dated back to around 47,000 years ago. Early needles were usually made of animal bones, antlers, and tusks. The needles were used for fashioning fishing nets and carrying bags, and sewing together hides for warmth. Advertisement

The finding comes from an annual summer excavation of Denisova Cave, which has been studied for more than three decades.

Professor Mikhail Shunkov, head of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, told the Siberian Time: 'It is the most unique find of this season, which can even be called sensational.

'It is a needle made of bone.

'As of today it is the most ancient needle in the word. It is about 50,000 years old.'

Previous to this finding, the oldest bone needle found was discovered in Potok Cave in the Eastern Karavanke, Slovenia.

This dated back to around 47,000 years ago.

The three inch (7.6 centimetre) needle is crafted from ancient bird bone, and is believed to have been made by long extinct species of humans, called Denisovans

The needle suggests that the Denisovans were more sophisticated than previously believed.

Previous findings from the cave have included intricate modern-looking polished jewellery made of chlorite.

But the researchers believe the needle is around 10,000 years older than the jewellery.

The finding comes from an annual summer excavation of Denisova Cave, which has been studied for more than three decades.

The needle was found in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in Russia. The cave was used by Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans, and dates back to at least 288,000 years old

Dr Maksim Kozlikin, head of the excavations at Denisova Cave, told the Siberian Times: 'It is the longest needle found in Denisova cave. We have found needles, but in younger (archeological) layers.'

The cave was used by Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans, and dates back to at least 288,000 years old.

In recent years it has provided a succession of revelations about our origins, including a discovery by DNA analysis that our ancestors crossbred with both Neanderthals and Denisovans.

WHO WERE THE DENISOVANS? A finger bone from the Denisova 3 find The Denisovans are an extinct species of human that appear to have lived in Siberia and even down as far as southeast Asia. Although remains of these mysterious early humans have only been discovered at one site - the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in Siberia, DNA analysis has shown they were widespread. DNA from these early humans has been found in the genomes of modern humans over a wide area of Asia, suggesting they once covered a vast range. They are thought to have been a sister species of the Neanderthals, who lived in western Asia and Europe at around the same time. The two species appear to have separated from a common ancestor around 200,000 years ago, while they split from the modern human Homo sapien lineage around 600,000 years ago. Bone and ivory beads found in the Denisova Cave were discovered in the same sediment layers as the Denisovan fossils, leading to suggestions they had sophisticated tools and jewellery. Professor Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, said: 'Layer 11 in the cave contained a Denisovan girl's fingerbone near the bottom but worked bone and ivory artefacts higher up, suggesting that the Denisovans could have made the kind of tools normally associated with modern humans. 'However, direct dating work by the Oxford Radiocarbon Unit reported at the ESHE meeting suggests the Denisovan fossil is more than 50,000 years old, while the oldest 'advanced' artefacts are about 45,000 years old, a date which matches the appearance of modern humans elsewhere in Siberia.' Advertisement

The cave has been studied for over three decades. In 2008, Siberian researchers discovered a finger bone fragment of 'X woman', a juvenile female believed to have lived around 41,000 years ago

In 2008, Siberian researchers discovered a finger bone fragment of 'X woman', a juvenile female believed to have lived around 41,000 years ago.

Analysis showed she was genetically distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans, confirming the Denisovan grouping.

In 2008, a bracelet was also found that was made by the Denisovans 40,000 years ago.

Scientists found that a hole had been drilled in part of the bracelet with such precision that it could only have been made with a high-rotation drill similar to those used today.

It was also carefully polished, with a heavy pendant added in the centre, probably hanging from a short leather strap.

The bracelet, which predates the needle by 10,000 years, indicated the Denisovans to be more technologically advanced than Home sapiens or Neanderthals in the same period.

Professor Shunkov added: 'We can confidently say that Altai was one of the cultural centres, where the modern human was formed.'
Of all the 100 billion stars in our universe, the one closest to us might just be one that supports alien life, if reports of a new discovery are to be believed.

A newly-spotted planet in our galactic neighbourhood might have the right conditions for life, according to reports.

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is expected to make the announcement tomorrow at 6pm BST (1pm ET).

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Scientists are preparing to unveil a new planet in our galactic neighbourhood which is 'believed to be Earth-like' and orbits its star at a distance that could favour life. The exoplanet orbits a well-investigated star called Proxima Centauri (pictured)

WHAT IS THE HABITABLE ZONE AROUND A STAR? The 'habitable zone' is an area around a star in which an orbiting planet's surface could hold liquid water. It is sometimes called the Goldilocks Zone because the conditions need to be just right. The boundaries of the habitable zone are critical. If a planet is too close to its star, it will experience a runaway greenhouse gas effect, like Venus. But if it's too far, any water will freeze, as is seen on Mars. Advertisement

Earlier this month, reports surfaced of scientists having spotted a planet, which is believed to be 'Earth-like', orbiting the star Proxima Centauri, the nearest stellar neighbour to our sun.

The researchers were due to unveil the discovery before the end of this month and apparently believe it orbits its star at a distance that could favour life - the so-called habitable zone, claimed German weekly Der Spiegel.

At the time, ESO spokesman Richard Hook said he was aware of the report, but refused to confirm or deny it.

'We are not making any comment,' he said.

ESO has now broken its silence and announced that it will be holding a press conference tomorrow.

No mention was made as to the subject of the press conference or who would be in attendance.

But it has been assumed the purpose will be to address the question that has been on peoples minds.

Artist's impression of an Earth-like exoplanet. The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface - an important requirement for the emergence of life

Proxima Centauri is part of the Alpha Centauri star system just 4.2 light years from our own solar system.

It is the closest star to our own, which means planet orbiting the star would be the closest exoplanet to Earth.

Discovered in 1915, Proxima Centauri is one of three stars in the Alpha Centauri system, a constellation mainly visible from the southern hemisphere.

The planet is thought to be in the star's 'habitable zone' - an area around a star in which an orbiting planet's surface could hold liquid water.

'The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface - an important requirement for the emergence of life,' said the magazine, quoting anonymous sources.

'Never before have scientists discovered a second Earth that is so close by,' it said.

Kepler-186f, seen here in an artist's rendering and discovered in 2014 by a team of astronomers including Professor Stephen Kane, is one of more than 200 'exoplanets' that researchers say lie within the 'habitable zone' of their stars and could potentially have life

According to Der Spiegel's unnamed source, whom they claim was involved with the La Silla team that made the find, this latest discovery was the result of intensive work.

'Finding small celestial bodies is a lot of hard work,' the source was quoted as saying. 'We were moving at the technically feasible limit of measurement.'

For over a century, astronomers have known about Proxima Centauri and believed it is part of a trinary star system, along with Alpha Centauri A and B.

'The discovery of possible planet around Proxima Centauri is very exciting,' Professor Phillip Lubin, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Universe Today.

'It makes the case of visiting nearby stellar systems even more compelling, though we know there are many exoplanets around other nearby stars and it is very likely that the Alpha Centauri system will also have planets.'

Located just 0.237 light years from the binary pair, this low-mass red dwarf star is also 0.12 light years closer to Earth, making it the closest star system to our own.

The report gave no further details.

Nasa has announced the discovery of new planets in the past, but most of those worlds were either too hot or too cold to host water in liquid form, or were made of gas, like our Jupiter and Neptune, rather than of rock, like Earth or Mars.

Last year, the US space agency unveiled an exoplanet that it described as Earth's 'closest-twin'.

Named Kepler 452b, the planet is about 60 per cent larger than Earth and could have active volcanoes, oceans, sunshine like ours, twice as much gravity and a year that lasts 385 days.

But at a distance of 1,400 light-years away, humankind has little hope of reaching this Earth-twin any time soon.

In comparison, the exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, if confirmed, is just 4.24 light-years away.

This is a mere stepping stone in relation to the scale of the universe but still too far away for humans to reach in present-generation chemical rockets.
Amazon is planning to dramatically undercuts Spotify and Apple with a music streaming service that costs just $5 per month.

The firm is working on a music subscription service that would only work on its Echo hardware, tech news website Recode reported, citing sources.

Amazon would like to launch the services in September, but has not finalized deals with major music labels and publishers, Recode reported.

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Amazon would like to launch the services in September, but has not finalized deals with major music labels and publishers, Recode reported.

Amazon was preparing to launch a standalone music streaming subscription service at $9.99 per month, in line with major rivals, Reuters reported in June, citing sources.

The Recode report said one sticking point, sources say, is whether Amazon will sell the cheaper service for $4 or $5 a month.

Amazon was not immediately available to comment.

Earlier this year music streaming service Spotify claimed Apple is attempting to block competition for Apple Music by refusing to approve a new version of the app.

Amazon launched the Echo  an internet-connected speaker powered by Alexa, the companys AI software  last year, and reportedly sold a million units.

HOW THE STREAMING SERVICES COMPARE Service Cost Apple Music $9.99 a month or $14.99 for a family plan (up to six family members) - both with a three-month free trial (9.99 and 14.99 in UK) Tidal $9.95-a-month for standard sound quality and $19.99-a-month for 'lossless high fidelity sound quality' (9.99 and 19.99 in the UK)



Spotify Free level with adverts, Premium $9.99-a-month service (9.99 in the UK) Beats Music $9.99-a-month or $99 per year Pandora $4.99-a-month for Pandora's ad-free internet radio service Deezer Free with adverts, $9.99-a-month for Premium+ (9.99 in the UK) Rdio Free with adverts, Rdio Unlimited costs $9.99 (9.99 in the UK) and US users can also get Rdio Select for $3.99 a month with limited downloads

It has added hundreds of new features to the sevice, and the e-commerce giant envisions its voice assistant functioning like the 'Star Trek computer', in that it will answer users no matter where they are in their home with instant feedback.

And, more than 10,000 developers have registered to add the virtual assistant to products, bringing this dream closer to a reality.

Since Amazon has outsourced Alexa, more than 10,000 developers have registered to build more innovated skills for the virtual assistant.

And the firm boasts that this group has grown Alexa's skills to over 1,400.

Since the beginning of 2016, Alexa's smart home API skills selection has increased by more than 5 times.

Amazon wants Alexa to boldly go where no AI has gone before. David Limp, Amazon's senior vice president for devices, envisions the voice assistant functioning like the 'Star Trek computer', in that it will answer users no matter where they are in their home and right away

'We are thrilled that tens of thousands of developers are already building skills for Alexa, helping to grow our Alexa skill selection by 50% in just over a month,' said Steve Rabuchin, Vice President, Amazon Alexa.

'We're excited to introduce new features that make it even easier for customers to discover those skills.'

Spotify's general counsel, Horacio Gutierrez, sent a letter to Apple on 26 June, saying Apple is 'causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers', according to Recode.

The letter says Apple turned down a new version of the app while citing 'business model rules' and demanded Spotify use Apple's billing system if 'Spotify wants to use the app to acquire new customers and sell subscriptions.'

Apple's Eddy Cue unveiled the major overhaul of Apple Music at the firm's WWDC in San Francisco earlier this month, which came after repeated complaints from customers over the streaming service

Apple launched Apple Music, its own music service, in June 2015.
Many of us can't imagine a world with internet - but the invention is still only 25 years old.

Today marks the anniversary of when the web was made public.

With the web officially created in March of 1989, and the first web page going live in 1990, there is little to mark the day as significant.

Internaut Day marks a quarter of a century since the webs inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, made the service publicly available for the first time on 23 August 1991

WHAT IS INTERNAUT DAY? The exact date may be disputed, but many internet users are celebrating the 23 August as Internaut Day, marking 25 years since the World Wide Web was made publicly available. 'Internaut' combines internet and astronaut, in celebration of pioneers and now expert users of the web. Sir Tim Berners-Lee officially created the platform in 1989, and the first web page was created in late 1990. CERN, where Berners-Lee was working at the time, has marked the 6 August 1991 as the official date that the web was made accessible to the public. Advertisement

On 6 August 1991, the project was publicly announced, with people around the world able to access web pages for the first time.

But the later date of 23 August has stuck as a celebration by and for the creation of internauts  pioneers and now expert users of the web.

The hashtag #InternautDay has been trending on Twitter, as users celebrate their love of the web.

Earlier this month, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) posted a tweet in celebration of the anniversary of the achievement, which Sir Tim reached while working at the Geneva institute.

While the date of 23 August has been disputed, the World Wide Web Foundation has responded to the hype diplomatically.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee (pictured) officially created the platform in 1989, and the first web page was created in late 1990. In the years since its initial conception, use has exploded, with stats showing more than 3.4 billion users worldwide

A blog post read: Today, many people around the world are celebrating whats being billed as Internaut Day.

'But many people have been asking us: Is Internaut Day actually the right day to celebrate the Webs invention?

We think the Web should be celebrated every day, the foundation added.

25 years ago, the #web became a publicly available service on the internet. Read more: https://t.co/CnYkqPIl9o, https://t.co/7CbJ368HPj  CERN (@CERN) August 6, 2016

The date may be arbitrary, the celebration is justified, with the majority of today's commerce only possible thanks to the connectivity the Web has brought about.

In the years since its initial conception, use has exploded, with stats showing more than 3.4 billion users worldwide.

Recent reports suggest internet traffic is growing by as much as 22 per cent a year, with the demand for bandwidth far exceeding supply.

Sir Tim is now leading a project to democratise the web and move power back from a handful of giant US tech companies to the people.

International web standards organisation W3c, of which Sir Tim is the founder, said: 'As we reminisce on the webs past, we should remember that we are all responsible for its future, and must take action on critical issues like connecting everyone affordably, protecting the web from overzealous government and corporate control, and opening up public data for everyone to benefit from.'
It had previously been spotted on the Lincoln Memorial and the tombstones of the Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC.

But now, it has been revealed a mysterious black slime is steadily making its way around the world.

Experts say the biofilm which has darkened landmarks in the US can also be found at numerous sites thousands of miles away, including Hadrians Villa in Italy and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Made up of a colony of microscopic organisms, this slime continues to challenge researchers as they attempt to battle it, with no known method of permanent removal.

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Experts say the biofilm which has darkened landmarks in the US can also be found at numerous sites thousands of miles away, including Hadrians Villa in Italy, pictured above, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia

WHAT IS THE 'SLIME'? The mysterious 'slime' taking over landmarks around the world is actually a biofilm. This is made up of a colony of microscopic organisms, and despite its nickname, it is actually dry. According to researchers, this property makes it more difficult to clean. The biofilm adheres to stone surfaces, and as rain slowly erodes the monuments, they become pitted - creating the perfect home for a colony. So far, there are no known methods to permanently remove it. Advertisement

According to the National Park Service, the biofilm adheres to stone surfaces.

And, as rain slowly erodes monuments like the Jefferson Memorial, the smooth stone becomes pitted, turning them into the perfect home for these colonies.

Researchers say it can be found all over the world, creating a dark layer atop the once-gleaming surfaces.

Its been observed on the dome of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial since 2006, and has even made it to monuments in Egypt.

Experts have joined forces to study the biofilm growth at the Jefferson Memorial over the last two years, and will soon test potential treatment options.

But, they say the work will not be easy.

Researchers say the biofilm can be found all over the world, creating a dark layer atop the once-gleaming surfaces. A former library at Angkor Wat is shown above, covered almost entirely by a black film

According to the National Park Service , the biofilm adheres to stone surfaces. And, as rain slowly erodes monuments, the smooth stone becomes pitted, turning them into the perfect home for these colonies. A structure at the Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom, is pictured

Treatment of biofilm is difficult, as there is no known permanent method for removing it, and we have to ensure that any treatment must not do further damage to the soft marble of the memorial nor encourage further growth, said Catherine Dewey, chief of resource management for National Mall and Memorial Parks.

We are testing a variety of treatment techniques to find the option that is least damaging to the stone, safe for the environment and visitors, and cost effective.

The NPS has recently launched testing with ten different chemical biocides on small areas at the base of the memorial, and will monitor the effects of these over the next few weeks.

Along with this, they will explore non-traditional options, including ozonated water and irradiation with lasers.

The normally pure white marble dome of the Jefferson Memorial has turned gray-ish with biofilm, otherwise known as black slime (seen above)

The parks department finally went public with their slime problem and are still seeking a solution

The substance has also crept over the Arlington National Cemetery, the Washington Monument, and the tombstones at Congressional Cemetery.

While its been dubbed a black slime, the biofilm is actually dry, notes CBS News Mark Albert when he visited the area.

And because of this property, its more difficult to clean off.

'It is very frustrating, Mike Litterst of the park service told Albert.
Last year he won over millions of fans when he showed off his naked torso as he vigorously scythed a field of grass in Poldark.

But despite being voted best TV moment of 2015, Aidan Turner has revealed that he was initially supposed to keep his top ON for the scene.

With his chiseled torso it's hard to believe that the 33-year old actor is also far from comfortable with his sex symbol status.

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Abs out: Despite being voted best TV moment of 2015, Poldark star Aidan Turner has revealed to Radio Times that he was initially supposed to keep his top ON for the scene

The now infamous scene turned the Irish actor into an instant pinup boy, but it turns out Aidan only has himself to blame.

He told the new issue of the Radio Times: 'It was so hot that day, and we had a whole field to do so I thought, well, he wouldn't be in a shirt It's so thick I can't even move in it.

'I'd be sweating straight away. I was thinking he'd leave the shirt  have maybe a towel or something, dry himself off and put a drier shirt on afterwards. So I just took it off, not thinking it would cause a stir.'

Stripping off: The now infamous scything scene turned the Irish actor into an instant pinup boy, but it turns out he only has himself to blame as it was his idea to remove his shirt

Indeed, it made such a mark on the viewing public that The British Scything Society has even introduced a new competitive scything skill  'Poldarking' - in which contestants have to complete a field topless.

'I wasn't prepared for what happened when the scene went out,' he modestly says. 'The reaction was  well, it was very unexpected.

'Somebody sent me a clip of Chris Evans, scything naked  or certainly topless. That was hilarious. But yeah, I think keep the tops on, fellas.

'I still stand by the drama involved in it, and I think we pulled off what was required. As distracting as it might be at times and no matter what it's become to some people, I still think the scene works.'

Getting in the swing: Some eagle eyed viewers complained that Aidan's scything technique wasn't quite up to scratch, despite expert training from one of the scything societies

However some eagle eyed viewers complained that Aidan's scything technique wasn't quite up to scratch. He explained:

'We did have an expert from one of the scything societies. He was showing me how to do it, and his technique was perfect but mine was awful.

'I knew I couldn't do what he was doing so I just hacked away at it. I would never have got through the whole field. I was exhausted after six feet of it.'

Man and wife: Aiden poses on horseback with actress Eleanor Tomlinson who plays his on-screen wife Demelza

With season two just around the corner, fans were dismayed to hear that during the shoot the weather was too cold for tops to come off often.

'The weather was tempestuous' Aidan explains, 'We had a lot of clouds, a lot of rain and it was so cold. We had a few scenes in the sea and I think Eleanor [Tomlinson, who plays his wife Demelza] almost got hypothermia.

'Surely there must be something in-between boiling and freezing? This is Britain. Whatever happened to the dull, mild, cloudy day?'

Steely stare: The weather was tempestuous for the second season, Aidan explained 'We had a lot of clouds, a lot of rain and it was so cold'

Trouble ahead? The trailer features 'the other woman' asking 'Cannot a woman love two men? Cannot a man love two women?', as Ross dances with both Demelza and Elizabeth

However the recently released trailer didn't disappoint, revealing a sweaty and shirtless Poldark mining underground as Elizabeth asks:

'Cannot a woman love two men? Cannot a man love two women?', as Ross dances with Demelza and Elizabeth.

Going out with a bang, the trailer ends with an explosive dueling scene.

The second series of Poldark starts on Sunday, September 4 at 9pm on BBC One.
The Made In Chelsea's gang's relaxing jaunt on the French Riviera turned into a hot house of drama as Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo and Olivia Bentley clashed over man-of-the-moment Francis Boulle.

On Monday's episode, tensions boiled over when Toff confronted Liv for kissing the object of her affection.

'I'm really upset - we have different morals,' she said. 'I think you should go because I really don't want to look at you.'

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Breaking point: On Monday evening's episode of Made In Chelsea: South Of France, Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo, seen here with pal Victoria Baker-Harber lashed out at Olivia Bentley for kissing the object-of-her-affection Francis Boule

While Toff's affections for the diamond heir and web entrepreneur were already well-known before Monday's episode, Olivia's were better concealed - until she spilled the beans to gal pal Binky Felstead during a canoe trip.

Apparently her attraction to the 27-year-old only dawned on her after Toff was making moves.

'I kind of like him,' she says while paddling. 'We were just sunbathing and Toff rang him for dinner or whatever. Thats when I realised I sort of like him.'

Revelation: Olivia revealed her feelings for the diamond heir and web entrepreneur to gal pals Binky and Victoria during a canoe trip

Eureka moment: 'I kind of like him,' she says while paddling. 'We were just sunbathing and Toff rang him for dinner or whatever. Thats when I realized I sort of like him'

Meanwhile, Francis was busy leading Toff on by bringing her a rose for agreeing to pose for him while he sketches her in a park.

'I feel like were in that Titanic film,' she says, beaming from ear-to-ear. 'Youre Jack. Im Rose. But Ive got on clothes and the boat doesnt sink.'

Keen to take their relationship to another level, she asks him what they'll do after their holiday in France comes to an end, and he says he'll likely return to Ghana.

'When you go back to Ghana we have to stay in touch,' she says.

Greetings: Francis leads Toff on by bringing her a rose for agreeing to pose for him for a sketch

What next? Keen to take their relationship to another level, she asks him what they'll do after their holiday in France comes to an end, and he says he'll likely return to Ghana

Keep in touch: 'When you go back to Ghana we have to stay in touch,' she says

Draw me, all of me: 'I feel like were in that Titantic film,' she says, beaming from ear-to-ear. 'Youre Jack. Im Rose. But Ive got on clothes and the boat doesnt sink'

Despite his friendly display to Toff's face, it soon becomes clear that Francis doesn't share her enthusiasm for a romantic relationship.

Over drinks with Jamie Laing and Binky, he made it clear that Toff has a very different agenda to him.

'I do worry she's getting too attached,' he says. 'She started asking me, "Are you coming back to London? How much are direct flights to Ghana?" I'm like, "Are you really going to come visit me in Ghana?" She keeps turning up at my house uninvited.

'Toff's awesome... I don't want to upset her.'

Binky tells Francis about Olivia's burgeoning feelings for him, and she warns him that he's 'gone a bit too far' with Toff and needs to put the brakes on it.

Not feeling it: Over drinks with Jamie and Binky, Francis makes it clear that Toff has a very different agenda to him

Too much: 'I do worry she's getting too attached,' he says. 'She started asking me, "Are you coming back to London? How much are direct flights to Ghana?"'

Time to end it: Binky tells Francis about Olivia's burgeoning feelings for him, and she warms him that he's 'gone a bit too far' with Toff

Tensions between Toff and Liv begin to foment when Victoria Baker-Harber, who went kayaking with Binky and Liv, tells the blonde about her love rival's affections for Francis.

'For some reason I think the fact that you like Francis Boulle has made her also like him,' she says. 'I think it's almost like you've put him on the map.'

Toff is not amused: 'She said that? She's like f**king obsessed.'

I have to tell you something: Tensions between Toff and Liv begin to foment when Victoria, who went kayaking with Binky and Liv, tells Toff about Liv's affections for Francis

Are you serious? 'For some reason I think the fact that you like Francis Boule has made her also like him,' she says. 'I think it's almost like you've put him on the map'

Elsewhere, Binky enjoyed cocktails with Liv and confesses that she told him about her feelings.

'I might have been with your lover boy this morning,' she says. 'Basically he knows you like him.'

Binky then encourages her pal to launch 'Operation Snatch Francis'.

But Liv has concerns about Toff.

'I know she's going to be really upset about this. I wish she'd just get the hint when he's like, "I don't want to be in a relationship."'

Matchmaker: Elsewhere, Binky enjoys cocktails with Liv and confesses that she told him about Liv's feelings

Let's do this! After downing two shots of vodka, Liv is ready to tell Francis about her feelings

After downing two shots of vodka, Liv heads to bar where Francis and the boys are partying, and cosies up to him on a sofa.

When she asks if he's pleased to see her he says yes, 'because it's nice to look at you.'

She said: 'Basically I came because I wanted to see you and say that I quite like hanging out with you and I do kind of like you. Oh my god - so embarrassing. I have never, ever told someone I like them. It's horrible.'

Sparks fly: When Live asks Francis if he's pleased to see her he says yes, 'because it's nice to look at you'

I want you: She then bucks up the courage to reveal her true feelings

The whole truth: 'Basically I came because I wanted to see you and say that I quite like hanging out with you and I do kind of like you'

He soon puts her at ease, making it clear that he wants to take things to another level.

'I like you too,' he says. 'I feel like we've got great chemistry. We have fun together.

'I think in consideration of Toff's feelings we should be a bit discrete. I should probably tell her first.'

He kisses her anyway.

It's mutual: He soon puts her at ease, making it clear that he wants to take things to another level

Finally! The pair share a steamy kiss at the nightclub

The next morning both Liv and Toff turn out to support Francis on the polo pitch, and he takes the opportunity to tell Toff they don't have a romantic future.

'You know how I originally said I wasn't looking for a relationship and you said you weren't either? I think you weren't being completely and totally honest about that.'

Clearly taken aback, she seems to almost instantly regret her feelings.

'The difficulty of that is when you spend time with someone in the manner we have you do develop some feelings I would have preferred not to develop.'

When he admits to kissing Liv the night before she suggests he was wrong to do so without speaking to her first.

He says that is his right as a single man, but says he hopes they can still spend time together and finish the drawing they started the day before.

'Why on earth would I want to do that after you've been kissing Liv?' she asks, calling him a 'd*ck' as she storms off.

Sorry 'bout it: The next morning both Liv and Toff turn out to support Francis on the polo pitch, and he takes the opportunity to tell Toff they don't have a romantic future

Say what? Clearly taken aback, Toff instantly regret her previous feelings and looks absolutely disgusted

Are you kidding me? When he admits to kissing Liv the night before she suggests he was wrong to do so without speaking to her first

Supported by Victoria, Toff confronts Liv at the polo match.

'You are a snake, that's exactly what you are,' she says.

Put on the defensive, Liv tells Toff she's being dramatic: 'I do like him and he said to me he didn't have feelings for you in that way. He doesn't like you in the same way you like him.'

When Toff tells her she doesn't want to look at her anymore, Liv has parting words of her own: 'At least he likes me more than you, b*tch.'

You broke the girl code: Supported by Victoria, Toff confronts Liv at the polo match, saying 'You are a snake, that's exactly what you are'

Bye! When Toff tells her she doesn't want to look at her anymore, Liv has parting words of her own: 'At least he likes me more than you, b*tch.'

But it's not only about girl-on-girl drama.

The episode also sees Tiffany Watson and Sam Thompson coming to blows after he admits that he feels he has 'another stint as a bachelor' in him, though not at the moment.

'So I just have to wait until you're ready to go be single?' she asks. 'I could happily not get with anyone else again.... Now [our relationship] is like a ticking time bomb. I am definitely not going to stay with you forever now.'

Dropping a bomb: Sam Thompson tells his girlfriend Tiffany Watson that he has 'another sting as a bachelor' in him
DMX has welcomed his 15th child.

The rapper's girlfriend Desiree Lindstrom gave birth to a son in New York City on Friday, according to TMZ.

Exodus Simmons was born at 6lbs, 10oz whilst his father was in Phoenix to perform at The Pressroom.

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Bustling babydaddy: On Friday, rapper DMZ' girlfriend Desiree Lindstrom gave birth to his 15th child and her first

Upon hearing the news the 45-year-old dashed over to New York that night.

Though the man born Earl Simmons has sired over a dozen children, his latest progeny is Lindstrom's first child.

It emerged that she was pregnant in May, when Instagram blog The Shade Room congratulated the couple and posted a photo of them embracing, her baby bump easily distinguishable.

On the move: The 45-year-old claimed in an interview this June that he had fathered children with nine women

Two years ago, the Party Up performer and his estranged wife Tashera Simmons finalised their divorce. She separated from him in 2010 after being married to him for 11 years.

Maryland woman Monique Wayne bore him a child in 2004, won child support and a successful paternity suit, and in 2008 was awarded $1.5 million in damages after he claimed she 'raped' him whilst he was unconscious.

In 2013, he attempted to file for bankruptcy to reorganise, among other concerns, his child support debt, which at that point surpassed $1.2 million. That year, the US Bankruptcy Court In Manhattan dismissed his case.

Get At Me Dog: Last year, the Party Up hitmaker was sentenced to six months in prison for delinquency on $400,000 of child support

By 2015, his inability to pay for his constantly expanding issue landed him in even hotter water. The Get At Me Dog hitmaker was sentenced to six months in prison for delinquency on $400,000 of child support.

In an interview with The Breakfast Club this June, DMX claimed he had fathered children with a total of nine women. He selected them, he said, 'just like a dog. I sniff the a**. I wag my tail.'
Adriano Zumbo's highly-anticipated TV program premiered on Channel Seven last night and the verdict is in.

Despite his reputation for creating mouth-watering delights, Zumbo's Just Desserts proved to be unpopular, with viewers taking to Twitter to slam the first episode.

'#justdessertsau was a slow, boring, unoriginal mess. Surely 7 must have known this but went overboard with promotion anyway, (sic)' one viewer tweeted on Monday.

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Slow start: Adriano Zumo's latest desserts show on Channel Seven premiered on Monday night with disappointing reviews

'Unoriginal mess': Viewers took to Twitter to share their negative reviews

Another viewer complained about the pre-show promotions, which ran for weeks before the debut: 'Sheer, unadulterated hell. & that was just the weeks of trailers. The show is actually much worse.'

Meanwhile, audiences also pointed out the glaring similarities between Zumbo's show - which sees 12 amateur cooks battle it out for the $100,000 prize money - and Network Ten's hugely successful Masterchef.

'A masterchef ripoff, OK I can live with that. But #Zumbo has zero personality, & home cooks are weird,' one person observed.

Frustrated: Audiences were left unimpressed after the pre-show promotions led to a poor start

'Masterchef ripoff': Viewers also accused the show of being a copycat of the Network Ten cooking contest

It appeared the show's lack of pace and excitement was a common complaint among viewers.

'This show has the chef-y lines from MasterChef spoken at the pace of someone at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting,' a viewer named Brendan wrote.

Another added: 'Were all the contestants given an Xanax prior to the show? The pace is putting me to sleep.'

Predictable: Another viewer accused the show of copying Masterchef

Boring: It appeared the show's lack of pace and excitement was a common complaint among viewers

And despite the show recruiting pretty English cook Rachel Khoo to star as Zumbo's co-host, viewers noticed a lack of chemistry between the pair.

'Maybe it's just me but I feel like Zumbo and Khoo have the combined charisma of a potato,' a viewer tweeted.

Monday's episode saw contestant Wendy landing herself in the bottom two after failing to recreate the famous patissiere's 'reflective dessert with a mirror like finish'.

Failure to launch: Despite the show recruiting pretty English cook Rachel Khoo to star as Adriano Zumbo's co-host, viewers didn't find the pair compelling to watch

'Combined charisma of a potato': Perhaps the lack of on-screen chemistry between hosts Zumbo and Khoo was to blame

She then went head-to-head with contestant Peter as they were put through the Zumbo Test, which was to create a dessert featuring layers of mandarin gel, salted caramel, yuzu cream and a hazelnut sable.

On top, it was coated with a mirror-like metallic glaze and resembled the shape of an egg.

Wendy scored a measly six points for her sweet disaster against Peter's 11 out of 20, sending her packing from the show.

Eliminated: Wendy was the first amateur cook to be booted off the show last night after scoring six out of 20 for her dessert
It seems Dennis Quaid has found love again.

The 62-year-old actor - whose split from wife Kimberly was revealed in June - has been linked to model Santa Auzina, 30.

The blonde bombshell has flooded her Instagram account with snapshots of the pair over the past month with one including the hashtag '#mylove.'

'My love': Dennis Quaid, 62, appeared smitten in an Instagram snapshot with his rumoured girlfriend, model Santa Auzina, 30

Auzina and Quaid have been spending a great deal of time together since he arrived in Montreal, Canada where he is filming The Art of More.

She posted one image of the couple at Notre-Dame Basilica on Thursday and called the actor her soulmate in a plethora of hashtags.

She wrote: '#notredame #catholic #santita #sundaymass #church #mylove #spiritual #soulmate #teamo #blondie #montreal #canada #amorepuro (sic).'

True love? The blonde bombshell posted an image of the couple at Notre-Dame Basilica on Thursday and called the actor her soulmate

Quaid, 62, and Auzina, 30, first sparked speculation of a potential romance in July when they were spotted looking cozy together at the Atwater Cocktail Club.

The French-Canadian model leaned in close to the actor as he wrapped his arm around her.

Meanwhile Quaid and his wife Kimberly filed for divorce a third time in June after 12 years of marriage.

The former couple - who have eight-year-old twins Thomas and Zoe together - have insisted the split was mutual.

Loved up: The couple first sparked speculation of a potential romance in July when they were spotted looking cozy together at the Atwater Cocktail Club

In a joint statement they said: 'After careful consideration, we have decided to end our 12-year marriage. The decision was made amicably and with mutual respect toward one another.'

'We will always remain great friends and devoted partners in raising our children.'

The pair reportedly plan to share custody of the twins and have already agreed on the division of their assets.

Kimberly - nee Buffington - first filed for divorce in March 2012, claiming in the petition the marriage had 'become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities'.

She withdrew the papers the following month, but in November of that year Quaid then filed for divorce himself, before they reconciled once again.

'Good times': The French-Canadian model has flooded Instagram with snapshots of the pair including this photo taken hours before their visit to Notre-Dame Basilica

Thomas and Zoe - who were born via a gestational carrier in November 2007 - were accidentally given a massive overdose of the blood thinner Heparin two weeks after they were born, but Dennis revealed recently that they have experienced no negative effects as they have grown older.

He said: 'They're perfectly normal as could be now. They're like head of their class.'

However, the Big Easy star admitted he and his wife went to a 'dark place' when their kids were fighting for their lives, but always did their best to stay optimistic.

Inseparable: Auzina and Quaid have been spending a great deal of time together since he arrived in Montreal, Canada where he is filming The Art of More

He said: 'You go to a dark place. But you gotta pull yourself away from that, you gotta remain optimistic. But everything turned out OK. We had a happy ending.'

In December 2008, Dennis and Kimberly reached a $750,000 settlement with Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai hospital, while the facility was also fined $25,000 by the California Department of Public Health over the blunder.

Kimberly is Quaid's third wife; he was married to actresses PJ Soles from 1978 to 1983, and Meg Ryan from 1991 to 2001.

He and Ryan have a 24-year-old son, Jack, an actor who made his film debut in 2012's The Hunger Games as Marvel, the District 1 tribute.
Silly sausage: Norman Reedus ran naked onto the set of The Walking Dead after sleeping in for his scene

It seems Norman Reedus takes a hard line approach when it comes to being punctual.

For his producer Greg Nicotero took great delight in reminding the former model about a time he ran to the set of The Walking Dead completely naked after sleeping in for a scene.

While the hunk, who plays Daryl Dixon on the show, enjoyed his snooze, the crew gave a stunt double his clothing, leading to much hilarity when the beefcake woke from his slumber.

According to EW, as they discussed a scene for the The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season set Greg noted: 'Norman, this was the day that you ran up naked.

'Normans alarm didnt go off and we put a [stunt] double in his wardrobe.

'And Norman refused and got to set, stripped his clothes off on his way to set, and got in the shot before we were ready.'

No doubt the crew got a very big surprise when they saw the completely naked 47-year-old loitering around in the background as shooting began.

Flaunting it: The professional clotheshorse has never been shy about showing off his body

Spilling the beans: The show's producer Greg Nicotero shared the delicious morsel

Of course Norman has hardly proven to be a man afraid to show off his body in the past.

For Helena Christensen's former lover first shot to fame parading his body as a professional clotheshorse, modelling for the likes of Prada, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Durban and Levi Strauss.

And a computerised version of the star appears completely in the buff in the forthcoming computer game Death Stranding.

In a mysterious teaser released earlier this summer his character wakes up on a beach completely naked.

But it seems he had not just overindulged after a night on the tiles, as strange marks start appearing all over his body as he wanders around aimlessly along the seaside.

Even buffer than usual: No doubt his co-star Andrew Lincoln felt a little intimidated when naked Norman started running around on set
Heather Locklear made a triumphant return to television on Monday's premiere of Too Close To Home.

The 54-year-old actress portrays a tough first lady in the Tyler Perry drama that is the first scripted series on TLC.

A preview clip from the eight-part series showed Locklear's character Katelyn confronting Anna, played by 27-year-old Danielle Savre, following an affair with the US president.

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She's back: Heather Locklear returned to television on Monday on the TLC show Too Close To Home

'So, this is how he keeps you. You must be really good,' Katelyn told the White House intern with a dubious past in Alabama.

'How long have you been f***ing?,' Katelyn then bluntly asked Anna.

A clearly intimidated Anna struggled to answer quickly, prompting Katelyn to bark: 'I asked you a question'.

'We're just friends,' Anna meekly replied.

Television star: The former Melrose Place star has a recurring role in the Tyler Perry drama

Nasty conversation: Locklear's character confronted series lead Danielle Savre who portrays Anna

'Friends?,' Katelyn asked incredulously.

'He's the president. You're a lying bit of trailer park trash. You can't be friends with the president. That's laughable. Is that a tear, dear?,' Katelyn sneered at her.

Katelyn then took Anna down a notch before issuing a warning.

New series: Too Close To Home premiered on Monday as the first scripted series on TLC

Series lead: Savre has the leading role in the series as White House intern Anna

'He made you feel special, didn't he? That's what he does. He has the ability to make you feel like you're the only one that matters. It's an act. It's a gift and it's no match for a kid from happy Alabama,' Katleyn told her.

'You took this leap into my life. Do you think I'm just going to let you walk away freely?,' she added.

Too Close To Home is the first series or film by Perry, 46, with an all-white starring cast.

Show creator: Tyler Perry, shown in May in New York City, created Too Close For Home and also is a writer, director and executive producer of the show

Locklear famously played Amanda Woodward in the primetime soap Melrose Place from 1993 to 1999 and in the 2009 reboot.

She last appeared on television in 2013 in season three of TNT's comedy-drama Franklin & Bash.

Locklear has a recurring role on Too Close To Home.
Chris Hemsworth isn't the only one in his household with a good-looking sibling.

Cristian Prieto, the hunky half-brother of Chris' wife Elsa, was spotted on the film set of Thor: Ragnarok in Queensland on Monday as he worked in the production's crew.

The Spanish filmmaker, who shares the same mother as Elsa Pataky, was seen joking around with his brother-in-law as he wheeled a trolley of tools across the bustling film set.

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Family reunion! Cristian Prieto, the hunky half-brother of Chris' wife Elsa, was spotted on the film set of Thor: Ragnarok in Queensland on Monday as he worked in the production's crew

Cristian, who made a fleeting appearance on Elsa's Instagram account last Christmas, looked casual in a blue T-shirt and black skinny jeans.

Chris also looked relaxed in a distressed grey denim hoodie, a khaki T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

Both Chris and Cristian wore their lengthy locks tied back off their faces.

Brotherly love: The Spanish filmmaker, who shares the same mother as Elsa Pataky, was seen joking around with his brother-in-law as he wheeled a trolley of tools across the bustling film set

Laid-back: Cristian, who made a fleeting appearance on Elsa's Instagram account last Christmas, looked casual in a blue T-shirt and black skinny jeans

A hairy situation! Both Chris and Cristian wore their lengthy locks tied back off their faces

At one stage, Cristian and Chris were seen standing with Thor star Hiddleston, who was busily typing on his phone.

Tom sported the famous black wig worn by his Thor character Loki, while completing his look with an all-black ensemble of a black suit, shirt and tie.

It's not the first time Christian has worked on set with Chris- The Madrid-born hunk also acted as a producer on The Avengers film in 2012.

In good company: At one stage, Cristian and Chris were seen standing with Thor star Tom Hiddleston, who was busily typing on his phone

Black-out! Tom sported the famous black wig worn by his Thor character Loki, while completing his look with an all-black ensemble of a black suit, shirt and tie

Rising star: It's not the first time Christian has worked on set with Chris- The Madrid-born hunk also acted as a producer on The Avengers film in 2012

Back home: Chris previously told how he pushed for Thor: Ragnarok to be filmed in Australia

Making a comeback: English actor Sir Anthony Hopkins (left) was also spotted on-set, as he reprises his role as Thor's father Odin

Who's that girl? US actress Jaimie Alexander, who plays Sif, was spotted under a blue cape

Cristian has worked in the film industry since he was young, having nabbed a gig on the film Giallo, starring his sister Elsa and Elsa's former flame Adrien Brody, at age seventeen.

In June 2010, he completed the New York Film Academy Filmmaking course by showcasing a graduation project starring Elsa titled Bye By Baby, which he wrote, directed and produced.

A year later, he was selected to work on the short film Prodigal, which was directed by Benjamin Grayson and starred Kenneth Branagh.

The talented creative also recently photographed an editorial for fashion brand Spell Byron Bay starring Elsa.

He and his partner Silvia Serra often visit Chris and Elsa in their home-town Byron Bay.

Talented family: Cristian has worked in the film industry since he was young, having nabbed a gig on the film Giallo, starring his sister Elsa and Elsa's former flame Adrien Brody, at age 17

Making the most of his sister's talents! In June 2010, he completed the New York Film Academy Filmmaking course by showcasing a graduation project starring Elsa titled Bye By Baby, which he wrote, directed and produced

Creative: A year later, he was selected to work on the short film Prodigal, which was directed by Benjamin Grayson and starred Kenneth Branagh

Man of many skills! The talented creative also recently photographed an editorial for fashion brand Spell Byron Bay starring Elsa
Shes the Sunrise reporter who is notorious for flirting with her interviewees.

And on Tuesday morning, Michelle Tapper used her famed interview style once again on Chris Hemsworth's hunky personal trainer, Luke Zocchi.

Taking part in a live cross from Brisbane, where Thor is being filmed, the giddy journalist could not resist the urge to touch Chris Hemsworths handsome instructors muscles as she quizzed him.

'I am a qualified masseuse': Sunrise reporter Michelle Tapper worked her charm on Chris Hemsworth's hunky personal trainer in Brisbane, on Tuesday morning

This is the man kind the muscle, she told the viewers watching at home. How do you get him looking so good?

We just lift a lot of weights and eat a lot of food and trained very hard, he simply replied.

I'm happy with how he looks right now, you happy with how he looks, asked the reporter, to which the actors trainer replied: He looks he looks good. Hes put on a bit of weight.

Back at it! Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are in Brisbane filming the latest installment of Thor this week

Cheeky: Taking part in a live cross from Brisbane, Michelle could not resist the urge to touch Hemsworths handsome instructors muscles as she quizzed him

She later teased: Its not just food and exercise, I been told, but you actually get the privilege of massaging his muscles?

Let him [Chris Hemsworth] know that I am a qualified masseuse. If you need any help today, I am on hand.

After a chorus of laughter from her colleagues back in the studio, Samantha Armytage joked: I am a qualified masseuse, Michelle Tapper's biggest lie. Get off him.

Moments later, Michelle took to her social media sites to share a snap of herself cosying up to Luke out on the blockbusters location.

Playful: After a chorus of laughter from her colleagues back in the studio, Samantha Armytage joked, I am a qualified masseuse, Michelle Tapper's biggest lie. Get off him

The man behind the muscle of @chrishemsworth @zocothebodypro @sunriseon7 @7NewsQueensland, she wrote in the caption.

A day earlier the reporter had been doing her best to catch the attentions of Chris and Tom as they filmed scenes for the movie.

Shouting out to the pair, Michelle eventually got a wave on camera for her efforts.

Overexcited: Michelle lost her cool on camera on Monday morning when she spotted Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston on the set of Thor: Ragnarok

All smiles: The Hollywood heavyweights waved in the direction of the camera, sending the Sunrise team into meltdown

In Thor: Ragnarok, Hollywood hunk Chris and Tom Hiddleston play brothers Thor and Loki, alongside fellow stars Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins.

Cate Blanchett will be playing a new villain Hela and Jeff Goldblum will take on Grandmaster while Tessa Thompson is set to play Valkyrie.

Taika Waititi is directing the latest Thor entry, which is due for release next year.

'Just sellin papers with my mate': On Monday, Chris uploaded a snap of himself with Tom posing by a newsstand on the streets of Brisbane
She's set to grace screens covered head-to-toe in Victorian period clothing when ITV drama Victoria starts this weekend.

However, Jenna Coleman, 30, embraced a more modern and racy style in an extreme plunging ensemble as she attended a Burberry party on Monday night.

She appeared in high spirits after a frosty interview that day in which she was quizzed about her relationship with Prince Harry on Good Morning Britain.

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Showing some skin: Jenna Coleman opted for a racy style as she attended a Burberry party on Monday night

Awkward: Earlier in the day, she looked distinctly unimpressed when Kate Garraway quizzed her about her relationship with Prince Harry during on Good Morning Britain

Later, in the evening, the former Doctor Who star took time out of promoting her latest role as Queen Victoria to join her pal Lily James at a party in her honour.

The former Emmerdale actress showed some serious cleavage in a plunging black midi dress.

She completed her looked with a double-breasted military-style jacket and a pair of studded towering platform sandals.

Rather more demure as she left: Jenna completed her looked with a double-breasted military-style jacket and a pair of studded towering platform sandals

Busy: Jenna is busy promoting new ITV period drama Victoria, which starts this weekend

Downton Abbey star Lily was celebrating her new role as the face and body of My Burberry Black.

The Cinderella star was joined by a host of stars, including Jenna, at the Thomas's Cafe at Burberry's Regent Street store.

Also at the bash was Lily's boyfriend and Jenna's former Doctor Who co-star Matt Smith as well as Downton stars Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael and Michael Cox.

Meanwhile, Jenna has spoken about discovering the sexy and funny side to Victoria while researching the famous monarch.

Sexy: The former Emmerdale actress showed some cleavage in a plunging black midi dress as she cosied up to her actor pal Douglas Booth

Lady in black: Matt's former Doctor Who co-star Jenna Coleman arrived in a black skirt, double-breasted jacket and towering platform sandals

Jenna plays a young Victoria in the ITV drama alongside Tom Hughes as Prince Albert and Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne - Victoria's Prime Minister and mentor.

But earlier on in the day, an interview to talk about her television project, didn't go too well.

Kate Garraway, 49, slipped in a cheeky question about those romance rumours with Prince Harry and Jenna did not appear thrilled.

Making an entrance: Actress Lily James arrives at Thomas's at Burberry Regent Street on Monday night

'Talking about passion, there have been pictures of you and Prince Harry,' a giddy Kate asked the actress, who has been sinking her teeth into her royal role.

'I'm assuming you were together for research, for the Royal Family?'

Lowering her smile, Jenna politely replied: 'No, he is a friend of mine.'

As the interview came to an end, the atmosphere became a little awkward as Jenna thanked both Kate and Ben Shepherd for their time.

Best supporting boyfriend: Lily was joined by her boyfriend of two years, actor Matt Smith, who was dapper in a suit

And speaking to the new issue of the Radio Times, Jenna said the drama will show a new side to the monarch from the serious matriarch who spent decades in mourning.

She said: 'One of the things I love about Victoria is how open, impulsive and vivid she is. Shes so un-precious and so funny.

'But if she hadnt had this will of iron, theres a possibility that she wouldnt have been queen.'

The full interview with Jenna is in the new issue of Radio Times, on sale now.
She can usually be seen filming Home And Away in her stuffy police uniform.

But Pia Miller swapped the starched shirt and bullet-proof vest for sexy swimwear when she shot a scene at Sydney's Palm Beach on Monday.

The actress and model flaunted her ample assets in the brightly coloured two-piece as she chatted to her co-star Isabella Giovinazzo.

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Busty: Home And Away star Pia Miller swapped her police uniform for a bikini while filming in Sydney's Palm Beach on Monday

With her long brunette tresses left loose over her shoulders, Pia showcased her natural beauty in minimal make-up.

The 32-year-old, who plays Katarina Chapman, in the popular soap clearly got a little chilly as she covered herself in a turquoise towel.

She could be seen holding it around her waist as she spoke to Isabella, who portrays Phoebe Nicholson.

Enviable physique: The actress and model flaunted her ample assets in the brightly coloured two-piece as she chatted to her co-star Isabella Giovinazzo

Bit cold? The 32-year-old, who plays Katarina Chapman, in the popular soap clearly got a little chilly as she covered herself in a turquoise towel

After wrapping the scene, Pia piled on the layers, covering herself with a long-sleeved striped top and a pair of brown Ugg boots.

Both actresses were also seen wearing fluffy blue dressing gowns in-between scenes.

Pia was seen enjoying quality time with her new beau Tyson Mullane and her two children, Isaiah, 13, and Lennox, 10, over the weekend.

Different look: Pia swapped the starched shirt and bullet-proof vest for sexy swimwear

Covering up: Pia could be seen holding it around her waist as she spoke to Isabella, who portrays Phoebe Nicholson

Not happy: The actress looked less than impressed in one of the beach shots

Isaiah is from one of Pia's earlier relationships, while Lennox's father is former AFL player Brad Miller.

The actress married the ex-sportsman in 2007 and the couple announced their split in October last year.

Pia opened up about the breakdown of her marriage, saying it was due to her struggle to balance family life with her filming commitments for the Channel Seven soap.

Ample cleavage: Pia showed off her flawless figure in the colourful bikini

Brave: Isabella did not seem to feel the cold as much and threw her towel over one shoulder

Keeping warm: After wrapping the scene, Pia piled on the layers, covering herself with a long-sleeved striped top and a pair of brown Ugg boots

All wrapped up: Pia was also seen wearing a fluffy blue dressing gown inbetween scenes

Popular soap: Isabella opted for a pair of flip-flops while Pia donned Ugg boots
She is one of the most sought-after models in the world.

So it comes as no surprise that Kendall Jenner could make anything look good.

The 20-year-old model sported the classic look of a white T-shirt and blue jeans as she headed to lunch in Los Angeles on Monday.

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Relaxed: Kendall Jenner was spotted heading to lunch in Los Angeles on Monday

Her statuesque model figure was definitely on display in the simple look.

Kendall tucked a baggy white pocket T-shirt into skinny light-blue washed jeans with the bottoms folded up into a very large cuff.

She did add a twist of fashionable flair to the classic look as she sported white leather ankle booties.

Chill mode: The 20-year-old model sported the classic look of a white T-shirt and blue jeans

Stunner: She added a bit of fashionable flair to the simple look as she wore white leather ankle booties

Protection: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star accessorised with a pair of aviator shades with rose-tinted lenses carrying her ullu Alligator Leather iPhone 6 Snap-On Case in Sun Ray

Heading out: Kendall had her brunette tresses put up in a messy bun as she sported natural, complimentary make-up on her face

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star accessorised with a pair of aviator shades with rose-tinted lenses as she carried along her car keys with a large pink and blue furry ball keychain.

Kendall had her brunette tresses put up in a messy bun as she sported natural, complimentary make-up on her face.

The outing comes just a few days after a report that she has hired extra security guards nto patrol her new Hollywood home.

Beating the heat: She was later seen grabbing some yogurt

Yum: Kendall proudly carried around the bowl containing her frozen treat

She beefed up her security according to TMZ, after a man was arrested outside her new house on Sunday night and charged with trespassing and stalking.

Kendall has drafted in extra guards to patrol the grounds and sit outside her house.

The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star already had a state of the art security system and bodyguards but was keen to step up her protection, with her mother Kris Jenner worried for her safety.

It was revealed on Thursday that a man arrested outside the star's new West Hollywood home on Sunday night pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor trespassing and stalking charges.

New home: Just last week it was reported that she stepped up her security after a man was arrested outside her new $6.5 million Hollywood Hills house

Meanwhile: Sister Kylie was having a ball posting pictures of herself online

Selfie obsessed: She even took the time to upload a self portrait on Instagram

But this isn't the first time the 20-year-old supermodel has been tracked down and approached by Shavaughn McKenzie, according to TMZ.

The reality star filed a restraining order against the man who has been chasing her for a 'long time' and on numerous occasions.

The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star has reportedly had several run-ins with the 25-year-old man.

Before Kendall moved into her $6.5 million Hollywood Hills mansion in June, he had showed up at her Los Angeles condo several times before.
She jetted to Los Angeles with her boyfriend of five years Kyle Sandilands earlier this week.

And Imogen Anthony announced to her followers on social media that she had arrived at her Beverly Hills home by posting a very busty selfie in lingerie.

The 25-year-old is not one to shy away from a racy shot and was dressed in a black lace bodysuit with a very plunging neckline and captioned the shot: 'We here'.

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Making an entrance: Imogen Anthony announced to her followers on social media that she had arrived at her Beverly Hills home by posting a very busty selfie in lingerie

The former Maxim model bundled her washed out pink locks into a top knot and pouted towards the camera.

The skimpy black lace bodysuit featured low plunging neckline showcasing her ample chest and decolletage.

She finished her look with a strong makeup look with dark eye makeup and winged eyeliner paired with highlighter across her cheeks.

A friend seated behind her shielded her face with her hands, suggesting she didn't want to take the attention away from Imogen.

Getting ready to jet: Shockjock Kyle Sandilands and his model girlfriend Imogen Anthony spent time smoking unhealthy cigarettes together before heading to LA

Earlier this week she and Kyle posed for snaps at Sydney airport as they prepared to head back to their home in California.

Before they hopped on their flight, the duo spent time smoking unhealthy cigarettes together while dressed in similar ensembles.

Imogen put her trim figure on display in a pair of tight leather pants which she teamed with an over-sized black printed T-shirt and heeled boots.

She had her long pink coloured locks tied into a bun and wore a full face of makeup including dewy foundation and a soft pink lip.

Airplane attire: Imogen put her trim figure on display in a pair of tight leather pants which she teamed with an over-sized black printed T-shirt and heeled boots

The model hid her eyes behind a pair of Versace sunglasses and carried a black bag, which had a slogan on it, reading: 'You fake like this Birkin.'

Kyle, 45, meanwhile wore an all-black outfit including a zip-up cardigan and T-shirt, with a cap.

He covered his eyes with dark tinted sunglasses and Imogen captioned one shot to her more than X followers: 'We are off to the Cali sun.'

Another she captioned: 'En route to the City of Angels.'

Quality time: The pair - who have a house in LA- were last there last month (pictured) and split their time between the US and Australia

The pair - who have a house in LA- were last there last month and split their time between the US and Australia.

Fashion designer Imogen recently told Daily Mail Australia that the pair aren't planning on getting engaged anytime soon, having been dating since March 2012.

'There's always rumours, there's rumours we've been engaged for three years, no we just chill, we don't need rings and stuff,' she said.

Later adding: 'It's just another little something that could be done if we wanted to.'
Conrad Hilton has been sued following an alleged high-speed wreck in May.

The 22-year-old troubled hotel heir was sued by Kelly Auld who claimed he struck her with his Range Rover, TMZ reported.

The accident is said to have taken place a day after Hilton struck a plea deal for his involvement in a 100mph crash near Palm Springs in August 2014.

Lawsuit defendant: Conrad Hilton, shown in June at a court hearing in Los Angeles, has been sued by a woman following a May high-speed crash

The lawsuit claimed that Hilton was driving erratically and drifted into Auld's lane.

Hilton allegedly accelerated and struck another vehicle before crashing into Auld's cars, according to court documents.

Auld claimed in court documents that Hilton looked dazed with both hands above his head before striking her vehicle.

The lawsuit claimed that witnesses saw Hilton throw a bong out of his window and was covered in vomit when he emerged from the Range Rover.

Recently released: The hotel heir was released from prison earlier this month after serving a two-month sentence for parole violations

The Range Rover was registered to Hilton & Hyland, which is his father Rick Hilton's real estate firm, according to the lawsuit.

Auld in her lawsuit pointed out that Hilton entered a court-ordered drug treatment program last year and was prohibited from driving.

Hilton was released from prison earlier this month after being sentenced in June to two months behind bars for parole violations.

The younger brother of Nicky and Paris Hilton has been on parole since 2015 and admitted in June to using drugs including marijuana, synthetic cannabinois and cocain in violation of his parole.

Youngest child: Kathy and Rick Hilton are shown in June with their youngest child Conrad

Famous family: Nicky Hilton is shown with her younger brother in March in Hong Kong

Hilton pleaded guilty in March 2015 to assault for making threats against passengers and flight attendants in July 2014 during an international flight from London to Los Angeles.

The son of Kathy and Rick Hilton also was arrested in June 2015 on suspicion of violating a restraining order obtained by an ex-girlfriend.
She is no stranger to controversies surrounding her rumoured diva-like antics.

And Mariah Carey, 46, has once again made headlines after she reportedly threw a laptop out of the window after her fiance James Packer, 47, played a Beyonce song.

According to The Fix, an insider has revealed that last month, James had attempted to get Mariah in the love-making mood by turning on Beyonce's smash hit 'Crazy in Love'.

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'Oh boy, was that a disaster!' Mariah Carey, 46, has once again made headlines after she reportedly threw a laptop out of the window after her fiance James Packer, 47, played a Beyonce song

'Oh boy, was that a disaster! Mariah threw the computer that was playing it via speakers out the window!' the insider said.

'Seriously, she just trashed it. She ran out of the room screaming.'

The insider continued: 'So the night was obviously finished for James, and they retreated to separate parts of the house. And she had a few glasses of wine to cool down.'

According to the source, Mariah has mandated that no other female pop-stars' music will be played in her and James' household.

Tense: The insider continued: 'So the night was obviously finished for James, and they retreated to separate parts of the house. And she had a few glasses of wine to cool down'

Strict on sound: According to the source, Mariah has mandated that no other female pop-stars' music, including that of Beyonce (pictured), will be played in her and James' household

Mariah's history of outlandish demands is well documented.

In 2005, the star famously commanded her team of minions to roll out a red carpet lined with candles as she entered a hotel in London.

Two years later, she made headlines after she attended an autograph signing at a Selfridges department store, for which she had demanded an antique table worth around $85,000AUD covered with silk cloth.

A rockstar entrance: In 2005, the star famously commanded her team of minions to roll out a red carpet lined with candles as she entered a hotel in London

The vocalist also insisted upon having a live version of her song Fantasy playing while she gave birth to her twins so that the newborns 'could hear the applause as they entered the world' in 2011.

She also revealed to V Magazine that she sleeps with 20 humidifiers around her bed as a way of protecting her golden vocal chords.

'Basically, it's like sleeping in a steam room. The bed is all towelling cloth, the ceiling is sloped so the water can't fall on my head, and it drips down to my side. My TV is behind glass,' she confessed.
It's every parent's worst nightmare.

Halle Berry plays a mother whose son has been abducted in the upcoming film Kidnap, as a sneak peek released Monday showed a thriller sure to have audiences on the edge of their seats.

The preview opens in an idyllic setting, as Karla McCoy (Berry) and her son Frankie (Sage Correa) are enjoying a game of hide-and-seek at the local amusement park when Frankie vanishes, leaving his mother in a panic as she scans the crowds for her son.

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Desperate moments: Halle Berry, 50, plays the role of a mother whose son has been abducted in Kidnap, and a new trailer was released for the film Sunday

When she sees him being pulled in a green sedan, the action kicks in, as she catches up and clings onto the moving vehicle to try and rescue her child. She was later seen chasing the off-camera abductor in her maroon Chrysler minivan, before stopping to report the incident at a police station, where she was advised to wait.

As her eyes surveyed the wall of unsolved kidnappings, Karla said, 'That's what all these people did - they waited.'

She then sprung back into action - consisting of a series of car chases and glimpses of weapons presumed to be involved in the onscreen conflict, including shotguns, knives and shovels - culminating in her lashing back at her enemy: 'You took the wrong kid!'

Method acting: Berry said that, as a mother-of-two, the film's plot struck her in 'a very visceral way'

Close to home: Playing the kidnapped son Frankie is Sage Correa, aged eight years; he is the same age as Berry's daughter Nahla, which helped fuel her raw passion in the film

'That's my Arnold moment - I'm strong with the shovel,' Berry told USA Today Sunday in a chat about the upcoming motion picture.

Berry said she was 'feeling fiery and determined' in accepting the role of the beleaguered parent, adding that the concept of the film 'struck a chord' with her.

The Oscar-winner said she didn't have to dig too deep to tap into the raw emotions required for the role, having two children of her own: daughter Nahla, aged eight years, and son Maceo, aged two years.

Back it up: Berry said of her scenes driving backwards into simulated traffic: 'Your heart leaves your body'

Pure shock: Berry is a vision of anxiety in these scenes following her onscreen son's disappearance

Springing into action: Berry's character refuses to wait for police to find her son, taking it upon herself to get her boy back

'Being a parent, I understood this in a very visceral way. I play an ordinary mom forced to act in extraordinary ways,' she told the outlet about the role, adding, 'I got to put in a little of what Halle Berry would do in this situation. That was fun.'

In one sequence of the film, which was shot in Louisiana, Berry's character flips her vehicle into reverse as cars are hurtling toward her; it was filmed on the Huey P. Long Bridge, which was closed for production as the A-lister filmed the scene with stunt drivers. Berry told the paper, 'Your heart leaves your body' looking back at 'cars speeding toward you at 80 miles per hour.'

The car chases seen in the film were a hybrid of Halle's driving and a stunt driver remotely controlling the vehicle's movements from nearby, according to the paper.

Grasping: Karla's (Berry) quest to retrieve her son takes her on a jagged, dangerous path

Hasta la vista, baby: Berry said a scene in which she uses a shovel as a weapon marks her 'Arnold moment'

The film's producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, told the publication that while 'there's a lot of Halle driving here, but that really crazy driving, we left to the professionals.'

He noted that Halle 'can kick serious butt out of the car' anyway.

Kidnap hits theaters December 2.
Nice guy Vinny Ventiera was left shattered after 'lamp guy' Brett Melnick lit up his gal.

Well groomed Brett is a hairdresser from Andi Dorfman's season on The Bachelorette  famed for showing up with a lamp he'd stolen from the hotel.

On Bachelor In Paradise, Vinny had been coupled up with Izzy Goodkind for weeks, but Brett's arrival made her weak at the knees.

Paradise lost: Vinny Ventiera was hurt after Izzy Goodkind started swooning for a newcomer on Monday's episode of Bachelor In Paradise

'I'm overwhelmed with how attracted I am to him, immediately,' she swooned as the perfectly quaffed stylist strode onto the beach.

'Like if I could draw the perfect man for meit'd be him,' she told the other women.

Vinny, 28, meanwhile was falling hard for Izzy, 25.

Izzy, a graphic designer, decided Brett was too gorgeous to resist.

Instant attraction: Izzy was instantly attracted to newcomer Brett Melnick

Percentage drop: Vinny was told by Izzy that she only liked him '75 percent' now

Feelings hurt: The shocking development left Vinny wiping away tears

'He's beautiful,' she crooned, before pulling him aside for a chat.

Afterwards she told Vinny she only liked him '75 percent' now that Brett was around.

'I want to be 100 percent,' she confessed.

Getting along: Izzy and Brett hit it off as she went after him

Vinny, a Florida native, was horrified.

'You're going to throw everything we have out of the window because he looks good? With jeans and sandals rolled up, give me a f***ing break,' he griped.

Heartbroken Vinny couldn't sleep and vowed to 'leave gracefully'.

Out the window: Vinny was horrifed that Izzy would go for Brett

'I feel crushed,' he cried.

His tears were part of another emotional week, in which Sarah Herron was sent home and Ashley Iaconetti hardly stopped bawling.

The show opened with Jared Haibon, who was tackling inconsolable Ashley.

Rought start: The episode opened with Jared Haibon dealing with inconsolable Ashley

'Every time you walk out of the room I miss you,' she wailed while he rubbed his temples in frustration.

'Are you sure you don't want to be with me ever?' bawled Ashley, who is a virgin at 28-years-old.

Jared considered leaving the show, but decided to stay and 'focus on' Caila Quinn.

Considered leaving: Ashley's presence made Jared consider leaving the show

Meanwhile, Carly Waddell, 30, was really bonding with Evan Bass, 33.

He was overjoyed.

'Shut the front door! Is this happening right now?' grinned the erectile dysfunction specialist.

Going strong: Evan Bass and Carly Waddell meanwhile were connecting again

Canadian model Daniel Maguire, 31, was wielding the power of his rose like a dictator.

'Papa bear's in control, I'm king of the jungle, president of the United States, I'm Gandhi,' he joked, as Sarah tried to woo him with a home baked cake.

In desperation, Haley Ferguson, one of the twins, planted a kiss on him.

In control: Daniel Maguire was feeling in control with one rose to hand out

Team work: Haley Ferguson kissed Daniel in a bid to keep her and twin Haley on the show

'But I don't like Daniel like that,' cringed the ditzy 23-year-old blonde.

Ashley was still crying, so Daniel advised her to 'slut it up a little bit'.

'Date five guys at the same timef*** ten different guys in a monthand if that ten doesn't work find something else,' he mentored.

Sage advice: Daniel offered dating advice to Ashley

Daniel gave his rose to Haley, who had only pretended to be interested in him.

Sarah and Ashley were sent home.

'I'm mad that I put myself though itto be sent home again. I'm a real human being who wants love and happiness and I got made a fool,' cried Sarah.

Sent home: Sarah made a cake for Daniel bu the still didn't give her a rose

Ashley jumped out of the car and asked the group if she could remain for a bit longer.

They accepted her back into the group, making things rather awkward for Caila amid the Jared love triangle.

The dynamics changed as new guys Carl, a tattooed fireman/model from Andi Dorfman's season, and Brett, also from Andi's year, arrived in paradise.

The guys: The seven remaining guys handed out seven roses

Carl was '100 percent' Emily's type.

'I'm so giddy right now,' fluttered the twin.

Brett meanwhile made a beeline for Caila, who accepted his date uncertainly.

'He's really fun and charismatic, how do you not give that a chance?' asked the 24-year-old brunette.

Great hair: Brett told Caila that he was hoping she'd be on the show

After talking with Jared she decided to forgo the datethen she changed her mind again.

'This sucks,' moaned Jared.

Brett, 32, was confused by her flip-flopping, but he managed to walk away with the gal.

New romance: Caila talked to Jared before reluctantly agreeing to go on a date with Brett

'I'm getting dumped for a lamp, it's not good,' said Jared.

Ashley moved in on Jared fast.

'I do think she's a backstabbing whore,' she told him.

Feeling better: Ashley was feeling better after Caila left Jared behind to go on a date

Adding: 'I hope this day makes Jared realise that Caila sucks'.

No such luck.

On the 'booze cruise' date Caila realised she'd 'made a huge mistake'.

Not into it: Caila was not into her date with Brett as she was thinking about Jared

'She's not feeling itor me,' agreed Brett.

But Emily went hard for Carl.

'She's riding him like Seabiscuit,' laughed Brett.

Into it: Emily meanwhile was all over Carl

Returning from the date Caila reassured Jared, who pounced on her like a panther.

Ashley cried yet again.

'It's like you found your soulmate, but your soulmate isn't into you,' she blubbered.

More tears: Ashley cried yet again after Caila came back to be with Jared

Enter Ryan Beckett, 33, from Kaitlyn Bristowe's season.

His game plan was to be 'the normal guy' with bad jokes and appalling dancing.

Ryan chose Haley for a horse riding date.

Date time: Haley was picked for a date by newcomer Ryan Beckett

Good times: Ryan lead the way on the horseback ride

'I'm a little excited to get away from Daniel, he's been following me around,' she said.

Fireman Grant organised a couple's massage with Lace Morris  and dropped the L Bomb to her in the hot tub.

'This is so sweet, you know how to make me feel special,' she told him.

Bachelor In Paradise continues on Tuesday on ABC.

Massage date: Grant arranged a couple's massage with Lace Morris
She's the consummate professional who has starred in many fashion campaigns.

But the very chilly elements proved to be a little too much for Jodi Anasta as she posed during a photo shoot for Myer department store in Sydney on Tuesday.

The Neighbours star looked a little on the cold side as she struck several poses for the camera in her chic ensemble.

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Freezing for fashion? Jodi Anasta looked a little on the chilly side during a fashion shoot in Sydney on Tuesday

Dressed in a beige coloured top with shoulder cut-out detail and a black thigh-high slit skirt, the 31-year-old still managed to exude heaps of glamour in the wintery climes.

With her dark glossy tresses left loose, the Australian beautys facial features were highlighted with smokey eyeshadow, blush cheeks and a nude lip.

Moments later, Jodi slipped into another striking outfit, consisting of a white high-neck blouse and a fitted navy skirt with a flowing hemline.

Bit chilly: The Neighbours star looked a little on the cold side in her chic ensemble

It's not summer yet: The starlet pulled various funny faces during the outdoor shoot

Hard at work: The 31-year-old struck several stunning poses as she worked her magic in front of the camera

Her attire was rounded off with a strappy pair of black kitten heels and a delicate pair of gold earrings, while her talons were painted a frosty pink shade.

The new campaign is no doubt a pleasant distraction for the star, who split from husband Braith Anasta, 34, in December, after three years of marriage.

The retired NRL star and Jodi welcomed baby Aleeia in 2013, and after the stress of her breakup, she spoke out about her seemingly sudden weight loss.

Well preened: With her dark tresses left loose, the Australian beautys facial features were highlighted with smokey eyeshadow, blush cheeks and a nude lip

Just like a pro! Despite the cooler weather, the star still managed to exude heaps of glamour

Final touches: Smiling widely someone was seen tending to her tousled hair

City chic: Jodi was dressed in a beige coloured top with shoulder cut-out detail and a black thigh-high slit skirt

'I have gone through a separation and I am being attacked for losing weight,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

In a joint statement, Jodi and Braith said they had decided to part ways after facing challenges 'like all married couples.'

'We are going to continue to support each other and remain best of friends, we only want the best for each other and more importantly our amazing daughter Aleeia,' they said.

Flaunting her figure: The form-fitting number cinched in to highlight the mother-of-one's slim waist

Putting her best foot forward: The flattering number was coupled with a pair of strappy heels

Meanwhile, back in November, Jodi opened up to Daily Mail Australia about her slim figure, claiming that her slender frame was a result of having an 'active' 22-month-old daughter.

'I'm just being a mum... and doing weights training. I'm trying to build muscle,' she said while attending the Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Female awards.

'Im training with a new trainer so its going well. I'm lifting all different types of weights, but only once a week.'

Hard to miss: The sexy thigh-high skirt drew attention to her lean and slender limbs

Quite the team: Lots of crew members were on hand to help out with the shoot

Quick change: Moments later, Jodi slipped into another striking outfit, consisting of a white high-neck blouse and a fitted navy skirt with a flowing hemline
She's the PR queen who's always clad in the latest high end designer fashion.

And Roxy Jacenko proved once again that she has a killer wardrobe after stepping out in Sydney in a chic motorcycle jacket on Tuesday.

Cutting a stylish figure, Roxy teamed the Celine leather jacket, worth $4,650, with a loose-fitting pair of jeans.

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She's a Rox-star! Roxy Jacenko showed off her inner rock chick on Tuesday as she stepped out wearing a leather jacket

A simple pair of black Chanel ballet flats finished off the designer darling's day-time look.

The mother-of-two looked in high spirits and smiled for the cameras as she strolled the Eastern suburb's streets.

Earlier that day, Roxy shared a closer look of her outfit as she gushed about her 'fav jacket' on Instagram.

Design darling: The 36-year-old teamed her Celine motorcycle jacket with a pair of Chanel ballet flats

The blonde businesswoman also informed her fans that the jacket was by French luxury fashion designer, Celine.

Meanwhile, Roxy revealed details about her husband Oliver Curtis's incarceration on Monday.

She told radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson that he is saving up for a blanket to protect him from the cold while he serves his jail term for insider trading.

High-end taste: The PR boss earlier revealed to her Instagram followers the luxury item was her favourite jacket

Appearing on KIIS FM's The Kyle and Jackie O show, the blonde beauty told the hosts she puts $100 per week into Oliver's prison buy-up so that he can buy necessities.

'I have to put $100 in his buy-up every week. You can't go over the amount. He's buying a doona next because it's cold,' Roxy revealed on-air.

Roxy also opened up about the possibility of conjugal visits, but admits it's not a priority.

Saving up: Roxy revealed on radio this week that she's topping up her husband Oliver Curtis' jail buy-up with $100 per week so that he can buy a doona

'I've visited twice. It's not a nice place. It's sad. It's not somewhere where you'd choose to be,' said Roxy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer just weeks after her husband's sentencing.

The Sydney-based entrepreneur also revealed during the radio interview that her children Pixie, five, and Hunter, two, have no idea their father is in jail.

Roxy said that her children think Curtis is in China, where he has previously spent a lot of time for on business trips.

Protective: Roxy said that her children Pixie, five, and Hunter, two, have been told that their father is in China for a business trip

'Its not unusual for them. When he was working he spent a lot of time there,' she said.

'So when they first asked. I said back hes in China.'

However, Roxy panicked and told the kids Oliver would be home for Christmas.

'I think I was asked on the spot when dad was coming home and I said Christmas. I will have to say he's still in China,' she said.
She is usually seen looking flawlessly made-up in an array of stylish outfits.

But Samantha Armytage ditched her professional ensemble in favour of a more casual look when she stepped out in Sydney after her show on Tuesday.

The Sunrise TV presenter dressed her curves in a fur gilet which was worn over a long-sleeved black top and a calf-skimming brown skirt.

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Laid-back: Samantha Armytage ditched her professional ensemble in favour of a more casual look when she stepped out in Sydney after her Sunrise show on Tuesday

She was seen strolling along the street in Double Bay in a pair of white trainers.

With her blonde locks straightened, the 39-year-old added a touch of glamour with her tortoiseshell sunglasses.

Earlier this month, Samantha admitted she almost quit Sunrise after being accused of racism over a controversial interview with mixed-race twins.

Casual: The TV presenter dressed her curves in a fur gilet which was worn over a long-sleeved black top and a calf-skimming brown skirt

The 39-year-old was slammed after her live interview with teenagers Maria and Lucy Aylmer in April last year because she said 'good on you' to the white sister while her darker-skinned twin watched on.

She told Australian Women's Weekly, that the controversy left her so devastated she considered leaving her job.

'I thought about quitting for a split second and then I thought absolutely not - I'm not going to let the b****** win,' she said.

Glamorous: The presenter is usually seen looking flawlessly made-up in an array of stylish outfits

Samantha recently spoke to Who magazine about her food weaknesses, with savoury being her most favoured category.

'Cheese and biscuits are my complete undoing,' said.

She also revealed her preferred drop is champagne and she ensures she's always prepared if the occasion for a glass of bubbles arises.

'I always keep a good bottle of champagne in the fridge'.

Controversy: Earlier this month, Samantha admitted she almost quit Sunrise after being accused of racism over a controversial interview with mixed-race twins

Rumours surrounding Samantha's love life have recently been aflutter, with the news of 60 Minutes reporter Michael Usher making the move to the Seven Network.
Ellen DeGeneres has something new to dance about.

As if the Louisiana native isn't wildly successful enough already, she can apparently add another of expertise to her already-stacked resume: real estate mogul.

The talk show host, 58, and her wife Portia Di Rossi, 43, recently sold a Hollywood Hills mansion for $9.9 million to Calvin Klein confidante Barry K. Schwartz and his wife, Sheryl.

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The spoils of victory: Ellen DeGeneres has sold this Hollywood Hills mansion for a second time. She and wife Portia Di Rossi collected $9.9 million in the sale of the amazing abode

Star time: Ellen and Portia appeared at the Finding Dory premiere in London this past July; Ellen provided the voice of Dory in the Pixar smash

It was not Ellen's first time selling the home, as she previously had owned the 4,000-square feet abode (with five bedrooms and three bathrooms) from 2005 until September 2007, when she received $10 million for the mansion and an adjacent dwelling from window heiress Allison Milgard.

There must have been something that drew Ellen back, as she went on to re-acquire the home for $8.75 million in November of 2014.

The Emmy-winning comic kept it in the show business family for some time after that, leasing it to Nick Jonas.

According to Variety's Real Estalker, the 4,000-square feet ranch home sits on a 1.63 acres toward the top of Nichols Canyon, with amazing views of both the surrounding city and nature areas.

Happy life: Ellen couldn't contain her glee while attending Wimbledon with Portia on July 9 in London

Originally constructed during the 1950s, the mansion was redesigned and renovated more than 10 years ago from famed architecture firm Marmol Radziner.

Among the jaw-dropping amenities include: Pennsylvania bluestone flooring both in the house and surrounding terrace area; and a 'great room' that certainly lives up to its name, measuring in at 1,100 square feet.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the opulent property also includes a garage that accommodates three vehicles, a swimming pool and a fire pit.

Another step forward: With the profitable sale of the property, it could be a matter of time before the dynamic duo sinks their teeth into their next lavish estate

Aside from the multi-million dollar sale, Ellen and Portia continue adding to their collection of property in the greater Los Angeles area.

The pair are also owners of a $15.995 million 1960s contemporary-style estate Beverly Hills they bought in 2014; and a pair of condos near the Westwood area - with a breathtaking view of the city - that they spent a total of $16 million on that year, as well.

The ladies have also have a massive retreat about 90 miles northwest of La La Land, with a $26.5 million estate that spans 17 acres, centered around a 10,522-square feet Tuscan villa they've owned since May of 2013.
On Sunday, she completed the 31 stops on the European leg of her world tour.

And Rihanna looked happy to be home, as she was spotted with her security in New York City on Monday.

The 28-year-old stunner was seen enjoying a casual outing as she made the most of some time off.

She's back! Rihanna, 28, looked happy to return home to NYC following her European tour on Monday

Rihanna looked ready for winter in a large, puffy jacket, layered over a warm grey sweater.

The Barbados-born beauty added a pair of distressed skinny jeans, cuffed at the bottom.

She completed her look with a pair of black, high heel ankle boots.

Rihanna accessorised with a pair of oversize hoop earrings and a double-layer gold necklace.

Fighting the cold? Ri-Ri kept warm in a grey sweater layered underneath her overcoat

The stunner kept her dark locks pulled back and styled in a tight top knot.

Despite having to live on planes and in hotels for her European tour, there was no visible ounce of sleep deprivation from the star.

The previous day, Rihanna was celebrating after her final concert in Europe, which took place at the V Festival in England.

However the Umbrella songstress had ruffled feathers with fans when she arrived nearly half an hour late for her set.

On display: The singer accessorised with a pair of oversize hoop earrings and a double-layer gold necklace

Hair look: The stunner kept her dark locks pulled back and styled in a tight top knot

Despite the drama Rihanna seems in good spirits and will make three more tour stops through the end of the year.

She is next performing in Philadelphia next week, before a concert in New York City later in September.

Rihanna will wrap her Anti World Tour, which kicked off in March, in November with a performance in Abu Dhabi.
She was left in tears after Michelle Blanchard branded her 'plus-sized' in the first episode of The Real Housewives of Auckland.

But now model Angela Stone has hit back at her co-star, pointing out that Michelle is an 'ex-model' while she is still working in the industry.

'I didn't see it coming. I didn't think a woman could be that nasty to another woman who doesn't really know her,' Angela told The New Zealand Herald.

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Speaking out: The Real Housewives of Auckland Angela Stone (pictured) has hit out at her co-star Michelle Blanchard after she branded her 'plus size'

'She's an ex-model. I'm a current model. Models have changed. The thing is, you don't have to be a size 8 to be a model today. I'm actually really proud of my body.'

Angela, who started modelling at the age of 14, said she was left in a state of shock when fellow housewife Michelle questioned her credentials.

'You still model? What, plus size?' Michelle asked when Angela was introduced as a model in the debut episode.

Frustrated: Angela (right), who started modelling at the age of 14, said she was left in a state of shock when fellow housewife Michelle (left) questioned her credentials

Despite first appearing to brush off the remark, Angela later left the party and had to be consoled by her co-stars Julia Sloane and Louise Wallace.

She has since penned a rebuttal pointing out she has never worn plus-sized clothing, which is normally size 16 up.

'I was initially surprised when Michelle Blanchard called me 'plus-sized',' she wrote in stuff.co.nz.

Offensive: 'You still model? What, plus size?' Michelle (pictured) asked when Angela was introduced as a model in the debut episode

Drama: The clash occurred during the first episode of The Real Housewives of Auckland

'I didn't understand why she would refer to me in that way. I quickly realised what she was implying, which was when the anger kicked in.'

The stylist and fashion designer said the term 'plus-size' is not an insult and should never be considered negative.

She highlighted the fact that not all models are size 8 as there is more variety now to represent the female form.

'I am the first to admit that I have never been a size 8, and have never tried to be either.

I am 5'11 and would obviously not fit into size 8 clothing. Why should I be made to feel that this is a bad thing? The answer is simple. I shouldn't. No one should.'

Rebuttal: Angela hit back at her co-star, pointing out that Michelle (pictured) is an 'ex-model' while she is still working in the industry
Ferne McCann shared another sexy picture of herself from her recent holiday in Mykonos, Greece, on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old looked incredible as she sat down and leaned against a wall, leaning her long legs out in front of her.

She flashed her ample assets in a skimpy red bikini which flattered her figure perfectly, with the colour complementing her golden tan.

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Red-dy for her close-up: Ferne McCann looked incredible when she modelled a sexy red bikini while on holiday in Mykonos

Showing off her look from a side angle, she proudly displayed the results of her recent nose job.

She captioned the image with the words: 'Mondays should be spent in Mykonos,' as she gazed out into the distance.

Ferne has since returned home to the UK and she spent the weekend at V Festival, where she checked out the likes of Bieber and Rihanna on stage.

Bra-vo! She has since returned to the UK and spent the weekend letting her hair down at V Festival

The week before, she appeared on This Morning to talk about her recent cosmetic procedure.

She said: 'I just wanted something subtle. I didn't want a big change. I was teased in school about my nose and I thought it was taking over my face.

'From the front, it looks similar to how it did before so there hasn't been much to get used to, but it is different from the side profile.'

All the colours: The day before, she stood out in a lime green jumpsuit which she teamed with bright blue accessories

Beginning to get emotional Ferne admitted: 'I seem so confident and loud, well I am loud, but on the inside, it really fazed me.'

Ruth and Eamonn took a call from her mother on the show, who said she admired her daughter's bravery.

'All that I want is for her to be happy and enjoy her life to the fullest,' she said.

If changing her nose is the only way to do it then so be it. It won't change her as a person. I admire her and support her.'
She's been enjoying an extended holiday in Los Angeles with her family.

And Tamara Ecclestone was enjoying some quality time with her two-year-old daughter Sophia on Monday, as she joined her glamorous mother Slavica and sister Petra Stunt for lunch at Gjelina Restaurant in California.

The 32-year-old Formula 1 heiress was clad in a black bodycon dress that highlighted her curves as she balanced little Sophia on one hip.

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Family outing: Tamara Ecclestone was enjoying some quality time with her two-year-old daughter Sophia on Monday as they headed to Gjelina Restaurant in California on Monday

Tamara showed off her figure in the casual number, set off with simple flip flops.

She wore her brunette locks pulled back in a bun and protected her eyes from the sun with large shades.

Sophia was clad in a pretty pink dress with a rose pattern, tiered skirt and adorable ruffles on the shoulders.

Starting her young: Sophia, clad in a pretty pink dress with a rose pattern, was completely engrossed in her mother's phone

The little girl's look was set off with sensible pastel shoes, funky shades, and her favourite accessory - her mum's phone.

Fifi seemed completely engrossed in what was on the screen, holding the gadget aloft to reveal the custom-made phone case, bearing a picture of the mother and daughter duo.

Tamara, her husband Jay Rutland and Sophia, who live in London, arrived in California earlier this month for one of their regular visits to sister Petra, who raises daughter Lavinia, three, and twin sons Andrew and James, one, with husband James Stunt.

Living it up: Tamara, her husband Jay Rutland and Sophia, who live in London, arrived in California earlier this month for one of their regular visits to sister Petra

It's also been a typically jet-set summer for Tamara, who only days before had been taking in the sights of Croatia after soaking up the sun in Mykonos.

Tamara recently told HELLO! magazine she was feeling happier than ever and loving every minute of family life.

'I kind of feel like this is who I was always meant to be and any mistakes I've made in the past have brought me to the right place and everything led me to this. It's a really nice feeling,' she explained.

The brunette beuayt also revealed why she recently took to Instagram to slam false rumours that she and Jay had split up.

She said: 'I guess people don't always like to read happy stories and are looking to create drama in other people's lives, but we're fine.'

Devoted mum: Tamara recently told HELLO! magazine she was feeling happier than ever and loving every minute of family life




Nick Cannon has enrolled in university.

The 35-year-old America's Got Talent host, who graduated high school in 1998, is heading back to education by enrolling at Howard University in Washington D.C.

In a post on Instagram, he wrote: 'YOU KNOW!!!!! #HU2020 My First Day as a Freshman!!! Howard University Class of 2020 (sic)'

Back to school: Nick Cannon - rocking classic Timberland boots - has revealed that he has enrolled at Howard University

The television personality - rocking classic Timberland boots - posted a series of inspirational quotes on his Instagram account where he admitted he was looking forward to 'getting mindful'.

He captioned the various pictures: 'Turning these Airplanes into School Buses! #FirstDayWave #BeNcredible ... Money Power Respect... Education Over Everything!! #EOE #Ncredible ...

'Been getting Money now its time to get Mindful!! ... All About the Benjamins!! Education Over Everything! #Ncredible #EOE ... Im ready!!! (sic)'

It comes after Nick starred in the 2002 movie Drumline, about a Harlem street drummer who attends a historically black college.

Inspired: The 35-year-old shared a Nelson Mandela quote about education after enrolling

Meanwhile, Nick - who has five-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with his former wife Mariah Carey - previously revealed he wants to teach his daughter that self-confidence is the most attractive thing.

He shared: '[I want to teach her that being attractive] is just about self-esteem. It's about understanding who you are and your own culture.'

And despite his divorce from Mariah, Nick always puts his children first and isn't quite ready to date yet.

His latest venture: Nick, pictured at the America's Got Talent live show earlier this month, graduated high school in 1998

He shared: 'There's nothing to tell ... me and Mariah get along great, and it's a process, nobody is holding nothing up. Why would I hold it up? I want her to be happy. She is such a beautiful spirit, and we put the kids first ...

'I haven't figured it out yet. I just don't think I'm ready to date yet. It's funny because my next film that I'm writing is all about online dating so I'm learning all about it.

'It's so intriguing to me but I have yet jump into that pool. But it's the new wave so I'm not against it.'
She revealed last year she was hoping an engagement ring wasn't far off.

And on Monday, all of Sara Oteri's dreams came true after her beau Damiano Di Pierto dropped to one knee and popped the question.

The former MasterChef Australia contestant announced the exciting news on Tuesday by taking to social media to share a picture of the stunning diamond.

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Off the market: MasterChef Australia contestant Sara Oteri announced her engagement to beau Damiano Di Pierto on Tuesday

'I'm rarely lost for words but yesterday I was rendered truly speechless,' she captioned the picture of the pair as they stretched their eyes wide.

'Like can't speak, see, stand or even breathe kind of speechless.

'Wow, I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you Damian,' she continued before ending the post with a hash-tag for getting married.

Excited: She posted to social media:'I'm rarely lost for words but yesterday I was rendered truly speechless. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you Damian'

Many fans of the television chef took to the post to congratulate the pair on their exciting news.

'Congratulations young lady - well @ least you can cook so your man will be well cared for,' one follower commented.

Another wrote: 'Whoo-hoo!!! That is sensational news, congratulations @sara.oteri and Damian!!! Sending lots of celebratory hugs your way tonight!'

Ready for a wedding? Last year, Sara opened up about her relationship, admitting she already decided she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Damian

Last year, Sara opened up about her relationship, admitting she already decided she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Damian.

Speaking to OK! magazine the reality star said: 'I have no eyes for anyone else but him. I'd be very happy to spend the rest of my life with him and he knows that.'

At the time of the interview, Sara said she wanted her proposal to be magical and a surprise.

The moment: At the time of the interview, Sara said she wanted her proposal to be magical and a surprise

She explained: 'We're not big on discussing those things. You want to be swept off your feet, even if you kind of known they're leading that way.'

The couple have been dating for over two years after meeting at the advertising agency Cummins & Partners in Melbourne but it was their shared love of food that brought them together.

Rather than following the traditional route and nipping out to a fancy restaurant in the city for their first date, Sara won over her beau with her impressive cooking skills.
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She's been enjoying a romantic and luxurious getaway with her boyfriend, hopping around the sun-soaked Mediterranean.

And it seems that Sara Sampaio and her boyfriend Oliver Ripley wanted to sampled the yacht-set lifestyle on the latest leg of their summer travels, as the loved-up couple ensconced themselves on a superyacht in St Tropez.

Soaking up the sun on the 85million vessel, the 25-year-old Victoria's Secret model showcased her enviable bikini body in a tiny pink two-piece as she and the tech firm CEO packed on the PDA.

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Sizzling in the sun: It seems that Sara Sampaio and her boyfriend Oliver Ripley wanted to sampled the yacht-set lifestyle on the latest leg of their summer travels, as the loved-up couple ensconced themselves on a superyacht in St Tropez

Clearly having slipped into the laid-back spirit of the Med, the Portuguese beauty looked the epitome of toned and tanned as she strutted about the deck before cooling off in the sea.

Opting for a lilac halterneck Sara certainly wasn't afraid to flash the flesh, as she showcased her taut tummy and afforded more than a glimpse of her cleavage.

Teaming her tiny top with a pair of equally small thong briefs, Sara ensured her perky bottom and long legs were on display.

All loved-up: Soaking up the sun on the 85million vessel, the 25-year-old Victoria's Secret model showcased her enviable bikini body in a tiny pink two-piece as she and the tech firm CEO packed on the PDA

Joining the yacht-set? Clearly having slipped into the laid-back spirit of the Med, the Portuguese beauty looked the epitome of toned and tanned as she strutted about the deck before cooling off in the sea with her British boyfriend

Wearing her long mane of dark hair tied back off of her face in a ponytail, the Vogue cover girl allowed her natural striking features to shine through as she went make-up free.

Clearly feeling the heat from the glaring French sun, Sara made her way to the superyacht's lowest deck before jumping into the sea.

While Oliver showed off his diving prowess by executing a graceful dive into the lapping waves, Sara opted for a more enthusiastic and wild approach.

Bikini babe: Opting for a lilac halterneck Sara certainly wasn't afraid to flash the flesh, as she showcased her taut tummy and afforded more than a glimpse of her cleavage

Perky and pert: Teaming her tiny top with a pair of equally small thong briefs, Sara ensured her perky bottom and long legs were on display

Graceful: While Oliver showed off his diving prowess by executing a graceful dive into the lapping waves, Sara opted for a more enthusiastic and wild approach

Taking the plunge: Clearly feeling the heat from the glaring French sun, Sara made her way to the superyacht's lowest deck before jumping into the sea

Fearless fashionista: The brunette beauty flung herself off the yacht and into the sea with reckless abandon

Following their dip in the water, the catwalk superstar gave her beau an eyeful as she clambered back aboard the yacht before cosying up to him for a steamy clinch as they dried off.

Leaning into the BlackOcean founder and CEO, Sara planted a lingering kiss on her boyfriends lips.

Oliver, born and raised in the UK before moving to New York, is the millionaire founder of the tech firm Black Ocean as well as a board member of nonprofit company Bespace.

The Oxford graduate was previously in a relationship with Brazillian supermodel Jeisa Chiminazzo, 31, with the pair tying the knot in 2013, however, with Oliver and Sara an item it seems the pair have called time on their marriage - though it is not known what the status of Jeisa and Oliver's relationship is.

Cooling off? After the couple had enjoyed their swim they got close underneath a showed on the yacht's lower deck

Smitten: Following their dip in the water, the catwalk superstar gave her beau an eyeful as she clambered back aboard the yacht before cosying up to him for a steamy clinch as they dried off

He's got it all! Oliver, born and raised in the UK before moving to New York, is the millionaire founder of the tech firm Black Ocean as well as a board member of nonprofit company Bespace

The model and the tech mogul have made sure they enjoy their stay in the South of France in style, as the couple are currently staying on Roman Abramovich's former pride and joy, which is now believed to be owned by Alshair Fiyaz.

With a length of 86 meters, the yacht can accommodate 2 helicopters; and boasts the likes Gymnasium, massage room, day spa and a bar.

The mammoth yacht can sleep up to 17 people, including crew, and features an opulent and expansive Owner's suite as it's crowning jewel.

But if guests don't fancy a sedate pace of life on the seas, Ecstasea has the means to ferry about guests to toher yachts or indeed a shore, as it boasts a 9.5m Vikal Limousine tender boat, a 9m Scorpion Sports Rib with an outboard motor and a 6m Pascoe rib.

Living it up: With a length of 86 meters, the yacht can accommodate 2 helicopters; and boasts the likes Gymnasium, massage room and day spa

A palace on the seas: The mammoth yacht can sleep up to 17 people, including crew, and features an opulent and expansive Owner's suite as it's crowning jewel

Plenty off room for toys: But if Sara and Oliver were looking for fun, they needn't look further than Ecstasea's watersports menagerie, which includes: six Sea-Doo RXP 255 jetskies, and four submersible Seabob Cayago F7s

But if Sara and Oliver were looking for fun, they needn't look further than Ecstasea's watersports menagerie, which includes: six Sea-Doo RXP 255 jetskies, and four submersible Seabob Cayago F7s.

Alongside that there is always the likes of waterskis, wakeboards, kneeboards, doughnuts, kayaks, paddleboards, windsurfers, and a collection of mountain bikes.

And it seems the couple couldn't resist the call of the yacht's many toys, as both Oliver and Sara took to the waves on a flyboard - though Sara couldn't seem to stay aloft on the expensive toy and crashed into the waves.

However, she seemed to have more luck on one of the Sea-Doos, and the model was seen blasting about with Oliver as her pillion passenger.

A real fly boy: It seems the couple couldn't resist the call of the yacht's many toys, as both Oliver and Sara took to the waves on a flyboard

It's all in the legs? Sara decided to have a go, and soon found herself propelled high into the air

Don't lean back! Though she couldn't seem to stay aloft on the expensive toy and crashed into the waves

A wet landing: The model crashed into the water after losing her balance on the jet-powered toy, though she escaped with no injuries

That's better: Sara seemed to have more luck on one of the Sea-Doos, and the model was seen blasting about with Oliver as her pillion passenger

A backseat driver: Oliver looked to be giving his girlfriend some tips when it came to handling the powerful vehicle
They married in 2012 after being friends for more than a decade - but Patrick Kielty says he has no regrets about how long it took him to romance Cat Deeley.

In an interview on This Morning on Tuesday morning, the 45-year-old, who is father to seven-month-old Milo with Cat, said things happened exactly as they should.

He said: 'If we had got together at the start, we could have got on one another's nerves. All things came at the right time.

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Slow-starter: Patrick Kielty reveals he doesn't regret taking over a decade to romance Cat Deeley during an interview with This Morning on Tuesday

The fairytale: The 45-year-old, who is father to seven-month-old Milo with Cat, said things happened exactly as they should

'I'm not sure we would be together if we had got together at the start.'

It was while presenting Fame Academy with Deeley back in 2002 that they first struck up a friendship - but it took a grand gesture to get make them a couple.

Explaining how he won the 38-year-old's heart by flying from Ireland to Los Angeles as a surprise birthday present, the comedian explained that Cat was so surprised 'she fell off her chair'.

He said: 'If we had got together at the start, we could have got on one another's nerves. All things came at the right time'

He added: 'I'm not sure we would be together if we had got together at the start'

Eamonn Holmes admitted it took him and Ruth more than four years to get together and he teased Patrick about what it was like for him to became an 'older dad.'

'It's a bit of a shock but it's the real world.

'Someone told me that at my age you get up in the night twice for a pee anyway so it's all good.

Taking his time: It was while presenting Fame Academy with Deeley back in 2002 that they first struck up a friendship - but it took a grand gesture to get make them a couple

On being a father to seven-month-old Milo, he said: 'It's a bit of a shock but it's the real world'

'He's at that age now where he's almost looking after himself. I am being hands on and all of that.'

Eamonn also asked how he felt about his son potentially having an American accent.

'I know, he'll be like, "Hey mum, hey dad!" he mimicked in a cute voice.

Cat and the comedian, who she married in a secret ceremony in Rome, Italy, in 2012 - they welcomed their child three years later.

Patrick is promoting a new television show, Debatables, which has been devised by Holly Willoughby's husband Dan Baldwin for BBC2.
She's got an extra pep in her step since revealing her new look after undergoing her nose job.

And Ferne McCann was radiating her new-found confidence as she put on a leggy display in a pair of sultry thigh-high dusty pink boots while dining at Sketch restaurant in London's Mayfair on Monday night.

The former TOWIE star, 26, paraded her toned pins in a pair of racy pale pink velour thigh-high boots as she arrived at the upmarket eatery.

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Pins on parade: Ferne McCann put on a leggy display in a pair of sultry thigh-high dusty pink boots while dining at Sketch restaurant in London's Mayfair on Monday night

Showcasing her toned curves in all their glory, the reality TV personality teamed her daring boots with a matching snakeskin-print two-piece, comprising a crop top and A-line mini-skirt.

In spite of the summer weather in the capital, the This Morning guest presenter draped a pink shearling-lined coat over her shoulders as she headed out into the night.

Keeping her accessorises simple, Ferne flashed a statement gold watch and toted her belongings in a large black leather handbag.

Fenre wore her glossy brunette locks straight and accentuated her striking looks with natural make-up.

Pretty in pink: The former TOWIE star, 26, paraded her toned pins in a pair of racy pale pink velour thigh-high boots as she arrived at the upmarket eatery

Leggy lady: Showcasing her toned curves in all their glory, the reality TV personality teamed her boots with a matching snakeskin-print two-piece, comprising a crop top and mini-skirt

On Tuesday morning, Ferne shared another sexy picture of herself from her recent holiday in Mykonos, Greece.

The TV starlet looked incredible as she sat down and leaned against a wall, leaning her long legs out in front of her.

She flashed her ample assets in a skimpy red bikini which flattered her figure perfectly, with the colour complementing her golden tan.

Summer days: In spite of the weather in the capital, the This Morning guest presenter draped a pink shearling-lined coat over her shoulders as she headed out into the night

Chic: Fenre wore her glossy brunette locks straight and accentuated her striking looks with natural make-up

Showing off her look from a side angle, she proudly displayed the results of her recent nose job.

She captioned the image with the words: 'Mondays should be spent in Mykonos,' as she gazed out into the distance.

Ferne has since returned home to the UK and she spent the weekend at V Festival, where she checked out the likes of Justin Bieber and Rihanna on stage.

Red-dy for her close-up: Ferne looked incredible when she modelled a sexy red bikini while on her recent holiday in Mykonos

Bra-vo! The brunette has since returned to the UK and spent the weekend letting her hair down at V Festival in Chelmsford, Essex

The week before, she appeared on This Morning to talk about her recent cosmetic procedure.

She said: 'I just wanted something subtle. I didn't want a big change. I was teased in school about my nose and I thought it was taking over my face.

'From the front, it looks similar to how it did before so there hasn't been much to get used to, but it is different from the side profile.'

All the colours: The day before, she stood out in a lime green jumpsuit which she teamed with bright blue accessories

Beginning to get emotional Ferne admitted: 'I seem so confident and loud, well I am loud, but on the inside, it really fazed me.'

Ruth and Eamonn took a call from her mother on the show, who said she admired her daughter's bravery.

'All that I want is for her to be happy and enjoy her life to the fullest,' she said.

If changing her nose is the only way to do it then so be it. It won't change her as a person. I admire her and support her.'
Kit Harington was front and centre on Monday afternoon as filming continued on the set of new thriller The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan.

The handsome actor, best known for his role as Jon Snow in HBO drama Game Of Thrones, looked stylishly casual in a plaid shirt and skinny jeans while waiting for cameras to roll.

Looking typically focused as he idled with members of the production team, Kit stood with hands on hips after filming another intense scene.

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Centre of attention: Kit Harington was front and centre on Monday afternoon as filming continued on the set of new thriller The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan.

The forthcoming film - written, directed, and produced by Xavier Dolan - also stars Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain and Susan Sarandon.

Expected for release in 2017, it tells the tale of an American movie star who finds his correspondence with an 11-year-old actor exposed, prompting assumptions that begin to destroy his life and career, according to IMDB.

As the lead in the new production, the role is set to be a break-out one for the youngster who will head-up a supporting cast that also includes Thandie Newton and Michael Gambon.

Quiet on set: The handsome actor, best known for his role as Jon Snow in HBO drama Game Of Thrones, looked stylishly casual in a plaid shirt and skinny jeans while waiting for cameras to roll

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.

Other forthcoming projects that will feature Kit include Brimstone with Dakota Fanning and the video game Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.

For the latter he'll provide the voice of Admiral Salen Kotch.

High and dry: Kit shielded himself with his leather jacket during a downpour in Montreal on Monday

But despite his increasing popularity, Kit's thoughts are never far from Game Of Thrones, HBO's blockbuster medieval fantasy epic.

'I feel like one of the safest people on Thrones now,' he dished to The Wrap in an interview published on Tuesday.
She was dumped as one of Myer's brand ambassadors in December.

But it appears Kate Peck has no ill feelings for the retail giant after she was spotted making a stylish entrance at the retailer's annual Spring 16 Fashion Launch in Sydney on Tuesday evening.

The 28-year-old showed off her enviable figure in a plunging Sass & Bide jumpsuit with stars and butterfly wings emblazoned all over.

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Making an entrance: Kate Peck made a stylish entrance at the Myer Spring 16 Fashion Launch in Sydney on Tuesday, wearing a plunging jumpsuit, months after she was dumped by the brand for her 'edgy' style

She boosted her impressive 5' 10" frame with black pointed-toe pumps and styled her famous short blonde tresses into a voluminous do.

Kate opted for simple accessorises, only adding a pair of gold earrings and a simple bracelet to her red carpet look.

The former MTV VJ added brown eyeshadow and kohl eyeliner to make her big blue eyes pop.

Lashings of mascara and possibly some extensions were also applied to make her eyes the centrepiece, while she added a nude shade to her luscious lips.

On point: The former MTV VJ added brown eyeshadow and kohl eyeliner to make her big blue eyes pop

Her attendance at the fashion launch comes eight months after the department store decided to part ways and not renew her contract for another year.

The Daily Telegraph reported in January that sources believe the model's 'grungy style' clashed with the direction the brand was heading in.

'It's been a great two years, perhaps I'm a little too much of a wild child to be a part of the Myer family, but regardless, I love them dearly and I had a ball,' Kate told the newspaper.

In response, a Myer spokesperson said there was no ill feelings towards the TV personality and they wished her all the best.

Ceased relatioship: Her attendance at the fashion launch comes eight months after the retail giant decided to not renew her contract

No bad blood here: A Myer spokesperson said there was no ill feelings towards the TV personality and the wished her all the best

'Kate was a valued ambassador, representing the brand across a broad range of fashion, racing, store and community events and we wish her all the best for the future.'

Kate was part of the exclusive brand ambassador team for two years and it has been reported that her contract ended in December.

But the department store's customer base apparently favour a brand ambassador who is more commercial in appearance.

Popping the hip: Kate showed off her slender frame in black trousers paired with a button up shirt and a caramel coat recently as she attended another fashionable launch

Kate has previously strutted down the runway alongside fellow ambassadors Jennifer Hawkins, Rachael Finch and Kris Smith.

Former Miss Universe Australia Laura Dundovic was a style ambassador for Myer for five years but her contract was not renewed in January last year.

However, she too attended the star-studded event in a chic black jumpsuit.
Farrah Abraham thought she was going to marry boyfriend Simon Saran.

That's why the 25-year-old reality star offered to put up the money for her 14 carat diamond engagement ring.

But her 26-year-old beau never paid her back, the Nebraska native revealed on Teen Mom OG's two-part season six premiere on Monday. And he never even got down on one knee to propose. Now it looks as if the two are no longer together.

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Not very romantic: Farrah Abraham revealed on Teen Mom OG on Monday that she put the cash up for her own engagement ring from Simon Saran, but he never paid her back; here they are seen in April

The porn star revealed to her mother Debra Danielson on the reality series that she is definitely not engaged.

'I bought an engagement ring that Simon had organized,' the beauty told her mother.

'He said to get it and was excited about it ... I thought he was going to propose and nothing has ever happened.

Diamonds on her mind: The 25-year-old reality star went ring shopping with her beau on an episode of Teen Mom

'I've had this ring. Simon still has not paid me back for it. I'm just really upset he did that.'

Later the pinup talked to him about the ring.

'I did pick one out. Then you said, "Oh. no. I didn't want to pay you back for that one. I didn't want to give that to you." I had it custom made. I still have it ... it's gorgeous,' she said.

'That's nice,' was all he said.

She got the bill but no proposal: 'I bought an engagement ring that Simon had organized,' the beauty told her mother. 'I thought he was going to propose and nothing has ever happened'; here she is seen with Simon in May

Farrah was also seen telling her friend Jenna about the rock.

'I bought an engagement ring and it's at my house. I pretty much hid because I was like, "I don't know what to do with this." And then he never pays me back for it or proposes and it's like someone teasing me,' she said.

The brunette then added that the relationship overall was not working. 'I'm not getting what I want and it's really annoying. So, we'll see,' she relayed.

Ring free: The MTV star, seen here in May 2015, has not worn the rock out in public

Also on the show Farrah and Simon - a real estate agent from San Diego - are seen house hunting in Los Angeles and they start bickering.

'You're interrupting me when I was trying to talk to you,' Saran stated.

'If you're worried about interrupting, than maybe you're not the right person to talk to me then,' the TV darling replied.

Saran - who graduated from the University Of California At San Diego in 2010 with a BA in Urban Planning - then ticked off Abraham's mother by posting an old mug shot of her online.

Her little one: Abraham has a daughter Sophia, aged seven

Her mom was not happy either: Farrah's mother Debra Danielson, pictured in August 2015, was mad at Simon for posting her old mug shot online

Her mom confronted him at Sophia's birthday party. 'If you f*** with my respect, it doesn't make me happy. You think I'm a liar and full of bulls***,' she said.

'I never called you a liar, if you are going to say that,' he argued.

Saran accused Debra of not supporting Abraham.'Are you delusional?' she asked him. Saran then walked away.

Her cast mates: The brunette with Catelynn Lowell and Amber Portwood at the 2015 MTV Movie Awards in LA in April 2015

Farrah also told Simon that she was not happy she had not yet met his parents. He made the excuse that they are always traveling.

It looks as if Farrah and Simon have split since the episode was taped because she has shot episodes of Patti Stanger's new WeTV reality show Million Dollar Matchmaker. In it, she cooks for two different men.

Also in July RadarOnline reported the Farrah and Simon broke up for good. This is not their first split - in 2015 they took a break.

Meanwhile, on Monday's show Maci Bookout is seen accepting a proposal from her boyfriend Taylor McKinney during a photo shoot on the beach in LA.
Tom Hiddleston and his co-star Chris Hemsworth paid a visit to a children's hospital in Brisbane just weeks after Taylor Swift surprised young patients there.

The Thor: Ragnarok stars met around 80 youngsters and their families at the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital on Tuesday.

Chris, 33, brought along his character's trademark hammer Mjolnir and Tom donned his full Loki costume and long black wig to surprise the youngsters.

'Met the real superheroes': Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston visited Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane

They happily posed for pictures with the delighted children and one 11-year-old patient even got the chance to interview the Hollywood stars for Juiced TV.

Koen Weir asked the actors: 'What is it like getting to be a superhero or supervillain?'

Chris told him: 'Well its very cool, especially when I face with this supervillain.

Brave: One young patient, Koen Weir (pictured), even got the chance to interview the Hollywood stars

'Hes very mischevious and hes got lots of tricks up his sleeve so youve got to watch him. Hes a bit shifty.'

Tom then chimed in, saying: 'Were brothers, not in real life obviously.'

Chris also told the young boy: 'Do you need a hand? Weve got your back if you do.'

The Australian actor later posted a shot of one young patient jokingly hitting Tom over the head with his hammer.

'Met the real superheroes of the world at @ladycilentochildrenshospital,' Chris wrote.

Cute: Koen asked the actors: 'What is it like getting to be a superhero or supervillain'

Interview: Tom chimed in, saying: 'Were brothers, not in real life obviously'

'A huge shout out to all the brave kids who are an inspiration to all of us! @twhiddleston #madepossiblebychf #ladycilentochildrenshospital #juicedtv.'

The pair's visit came just a few weeks after Tom's girlfriend, American pop star Taylor Swift, also brought smiles to children at the same hospital.

The mother of a young patient recovering from a brain tumour praised Taylor in an interview with ABC at the time.

Delight: Young patients at Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane enjoyed a surprise visit from the Thor: Ragnarok stars

Happy memory: The Hollywood actors met around 80 children and their families during the trip and happily posed for photos with the youngsters

'She thought my little boy was just amazing... very bright and beautiful and he had a lovely smile,' she said.

Tom, 35, and Chris, 33, recently arrived in the Queensland capital to film scenes for the upcoming Thor sequel.

The Hollywood actors spent the day shooting in the city's CBD, which had been redesigned to look like the streets of New York.

Thumbs up! Tom and Chris were also interviewed for the hospital's own TV station, Juiced

Surprise: The Thor: Ragnarok stars met around 80 youngsters and their families at the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital on Tuesday

Afterwards, still in their costumes from the set, they paid a visit to Lady Cilento's patients, and were also interviewed for the hospital's in-house TV station, Juiced.

In July 2015, Johnny Depp also visited the hospital while filming the new Pirates of the Caribbean film in Queensland.

The 53-year-old was dressed in full costume and make-up as Captain Jack Sparrow but asked staff to keep his visit private.

Kind-hearted: Last month, Tom's girlfriend Taylor Swift visited children at the same hospital
They welcomed their first daughter together, Luna Simone, this past April.

And though Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are frequently seen doting on her, the new parents opted for a night to themselves as they stepped out on Monday.

The happy couple showed off big smiles as they were seen walking hand-in-hand on their way to grab dinner at Madeo Restaurant in West Hollywood.

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Just the two of us: John Legend and Chrissy Teigen enjoyed a night out alone as they were spotted grabbing dinner at Madeo Restaurant in West Hollywood on Monday

Chrissy looked stunning for the romantic outing in a form-fitting, off-the-shoulder white top, which featured long sleeves and showcased her trim figure.

She sported the trendy top tucked into a pair of high-waisted, bright yellow trousers with a loose fit.

She finished off her chic look with a pair of strappy, nude heels, and carried a small, black and silver clutch.

Chic: The mother-of-one looked stylish for the outing, sporting an off-the-shoulder top and wide-legged, loose-fitting trousers

As in love as ever: The couple, who tied the knot in 2013, looked smitten as they walked hand-in-hand in West Hollywood on Monday

She highlighted her eyes with bold liner and mascara, also sporting a trendy, dark purple lipstick.

Chrissy accessorized with small, silver earrings, and wore her long, caramel tresses pulled back into a sophisticated braid.

John looked sharp in a black and white patterned button down, worn with a sleek, black zip-up jacket.

'They have full conversations': Chrissy shared a photo of Luna and her favourite toy on Tuesday

He coupled those with a pair of fitted, dark wash jeans, as well as low-top, white sneakers.

He held tightly to wife Chrissy's hand, and was also spotted carrying a to-go bag after the couple's dinner.

The doting duo, who tied the knot in Lake Como, Italy in 2013, welcomed daughter Luna Simone - their first child together - in April.
She spent the weekend having fun at V Festival with beau Simon Motson.

And Myleene Klass, 38, didn't look to have any post-festival blues as she headed to Global Studios with a big smile on her face on Tuesday.

The media personality opted for a casual look, rocking a heavily torn pair of boyfriend jeans and a plain white v-neck t-shirt.

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Back to work: Myleene Klass, 38, didn't look to have any post-festival blues, following her time at V, as she headed to Global Studios with a big smile on her face on Tuesday.

She turned the jeans up at the ankle and kept things coordinated with a white pair of kicks.

Myleene carried her essential in a large metallic handbag complete with decorative tassels, and covered her eyes with shades.

The radio presenter's blonde tresses came to rest on her shoulders, while a slick of dark lipstick added a glamorous touch to her look.

Dressed down: The media personality opted for a casual look, rocking a heavily torn pair of boyfriend jeans and a plain white v-neck t-shirt

Myleene and Simon went public in June after keeping their romance under wraps for six months.

The pair looked giddy as they shared a steamy smooch with at the Mahiki Rum VIP Lounge at V Festival site in Chelmsford, Essex, on Sunday.

Myleene didn't care who was watching as she leaned in for a long smooch with her handsome boyfriend as they checked out some music with a group of pals at Hylands Park.

The mum of two and Simon were in a world of their own as they kissed, before Myleene broke out some dance moves.

Looking good: Myleene carried her essential in a large metallic handbag complete with decorative tassels, and covered her eyes with shades

Fashionista: The radio presenter's blonde tresses came to rest on her shoulders, while a slick of dark lipstick added a glamorous touch to her look

The Sunday Mirror reported that Simon, a dad of two, was going through a divorce from his actress wife of seven years Anna Walton when he met Myleene last autumn.

'Myleene has always been a very moral woman,' a source has claimed. 'She was quite open with Simon after they first met, telling him they could not date publicly until his marriage to Anna was officially over.

'It was good because it helped the pair of them to really get to know one another slowly without being thrust into the public eye.'

Pucker up: Myleene and Simon Motson went public in June after keeping their romance under wraps for six months
He's been missing from our TV screens in recent weeks as he takes his summer break from This Morning.

However, after a holiday in Portugal, a tanned-looking Phillip Schofield was back in Britain as he joined his family at the launch of Friendsfest.

Clearly huge fans of the seminal Nineties TV comedy, Phillip, 54, looked in high spirits as he arrived at the outdoor festival in East London with wife Stephanie and their daughters Molly and Ruby.

They'll be there for you: Phillip Schofield arrives at Friendsfest in East London on Tuesday with wife Stephanie and his daughters Molly (left) and Ruby (right)

Eldest daughter Molly, 23, was bang on trend in a black bardot dress, while her younger sister Ruby, 20, went for a casual look in denim cut-offs and a white T-shirt.

Meanwhile, the TV presenter's wife of 23 years opted for a grey shirt dress and tan wedge sandals.

The This Morning host kept his cool on the blisteringly hot day in a light grey T-shirt and trousers.

Bronzed: The family are recently back from holiday in Portugal so had a sunkissed look about them

Daddy cool: The 54-year-old was sporting a healthy glow

The family were just a few of a host of stars in attendance at the launch of the festival in Haggerston Park in East London.

One of the big names in attendance was former Friends star Maggie Wheeler, who will no doubt be in high demand by guests for a selfie.

Maggie played Chandler's ex-girlfriend Janice in 19 episodes of the NBC comedy, which ran for 10 years before finishing in 2004.

Close knit: Phillip often brings his family to events with him

Oh... my... God! Friends actress Maggie Wheeler, who played Janice, was in attendance

Date night: The Only Way Is Essex couple Pete Wicks and Megan McKenna were also in attendance

Summer days: Megan looked excited to be reliving her childhood TV show

Where's Gunther? Megan and Pete enjoed a cocktail in the Central Perk replica

The Only Way Is Essex couple Pete Wicks and Megan McKenna were also in attendance.

Megan stood out in an orange playsuit and biker boots with her hair styled in playful buns on her head.

Her boyfriend Pete was in his signature ripped skinny jeans and bomber jacket as he posed on the red carpet with his co-star and lover.

Snubbing West for East: Made In Chelsea star Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo and Oliver Proudlock embraced summer in white ensembles

Glamour: TOWIE star Lydia Bright covered up in a floral maxi dress, while former Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts braved the heat in a leather A-line skirt and white T-shirt

Loved up: Former Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt and her husband Max Rogers dressed casually for their outing

Game Of Thrones star Laura Pradelska looked tanned in a blue shirt dress and platform trainers

Showing some leg: Lydia cosied up to Maggie on the Central Perk sofa

Last year's Friendsfest was a huge hit when it came to Brick Lane in East London's Shoreditch for just one week.

However, this year, the festival is on a much bigger scale and is touring venues across the UK including Haggerston Park, Chiswick House, Hylands House, Harewood House, Knebworth Park and Blenheim Palace.

The festival features life-sized replicas of Monica's Moondance Diner, Central Perk, Joey and Chandler's apartment and Monica and Rachel's apartment.

Too much fun! Phillip and his family recreate the title sequence from Friends as they played with colourful umbrellas on the iconic yellow sofa

Waiting for Monica: Phillip, Molly, Ruby and Stephanie take a seat in Monica's kitchen

Peek-a-boo: The This Morning host takes a selfie with the famous picture frame about the peephole of Monica and Rachel's apartment

Too much fun: Ashley looked thrilled to be standing inside the iconic Friends coffee shop
They've just returned from a romantic getaway in Turkey.

And Rhian Sugden, 29, and Oliver Mellor, 35, looked loved-up as they arrived on the yellow carpet for the press night of The Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon, at the Manchester Opera House, on Tuesday evening.

The attractive pair showed off their tans in plain white T-shirts, with Rhian's cropped number revealing her toned midriff and her bra visible through the material.

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Happy couple: Rhian Sugden, 29, and Oliver Mellor, 35, looked loved-up as they arrived on the yellow carpet for the press night of The Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon

Rhian matched her top with a patterned pair of billowing trousers which completely covered her footwear and came to rest on the floor.

The glamour model tied her sleek golden tresses back and covered her lips in a vibrant rouge. Her chestnut peepers were enhanced by lashings of mascara and a gentle dusting of shadow.

Oliver wore a pair of skinny blue jeans with a pair of shiny leather espadrilles and finished his look with some shades.

Plain white tee: Rhian's cropped number revealed her toned midriff and her bra was visible through the material

Happy! Once on the yellow carpet, the couple both beamed for the cameras, putting on a close display for their first publicised event together since the Vernon Kay sexting scandal

Walk this way: The pair strolled to the venue side by side, with Oliver placing his hand on Rhian's back

The pair strolled to the venue side by side, with Oliver placing his hand on Rhian's back.

Once on the yellow carpet, the couple both beamed for the cameras, putting on a close display for their first publicised event together since the Vernon Kay sexting scandal earlier this year.

Former Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett, 33, also attended the musical based on the the iconic sixties rock band.

Blonde beauty: The glamour model tied her sleek golden tresses back and covered her lips in a vibrant rouge

Stylish: Oliver wore a pair of skinny blue jeans with a pair of shiny leather espadrilles and finished his look with some shades

Classy: Former Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett, 33, also attended the musical based on the the iconic sixties rock band

All smiles: The brunette beauty wore a classy, breezy navy Bardot at Lipsy dress and a pair of metallic heels

The brunette beauty wore a classy, breezy navy dress and a pair of metallic heels.

Her flawless complexion emanated a healthy glow, and the actress was in a smiley mood on a balmy night in the city.

Back in 2010, Vernon was forced to make a public apology to his wife Tess Daly on Radio 1 and subsequently promised he would no longer contact Rhian or four other women he had been caught messaging at the time.

Heatwave: The hot summer temperature looked to have taken its toll on Roxanne with perspiration visible under her armpit

Dressed to impress: Her flawless complexion emanated a healthy glow, and the actress was in a smiley mood on a balmy night in the city

A splash of colour: The actress accessorised with a pretty, floral clutch

Legend: The Kinks guitarist Ray Davies looked excited to see the production based on his band

But earlier this year, the busty blonde revealed she was still speaking with the star, and even claimed he had asked her to meet up.

Vernon claimed at the time of the allegations that the WhatsApp messages he sent to Rhian asking to meet had been taken out of context, that he had done 'nothing wrong' and that his wife was completely aware of all contact.

Rhian said the messages were not like the explicit texts they had exchanged in 2010, until it emerged that Vernon had 'stalked' her Instagram and labelled one of her photographs a '10/10'.

Meanwhile, she and Oliver, who got engaged back in 2014, were forced to deny reports which surfaced earlier this year suggesting they had split.

Swapping the ring for the stage: Boxing trainer Joe Gallagher took a break from the gym to attend the musical
The last time Cameron Diaz was on a movie set was three years ago when she filmed 2014's Annie with Jamie Foxx.

Since then the 43-year-old actress has taken a break from Hollywood as she focuses on 37-year-old husband Benji Madden, who she tied the knot with in 2015.

And on Tuesday the blonde bombshell - who used to command a $20m-per-film salary - looked as content as can be as she visited a nail salon in Los Angeles with Nicole Richie (who is married to Benji's twin Joel) and her daughter Harlow.

She loves her new low-key life: Cameron Diaz looked thrilled as she left a nail salon in LA on Tuesday; it has been three years since she was on a film set

Cameron went makeup free and let her long, unbrushed mane fall over her shoulders.

The A lister covered her curves in a long, light grey tank dress and kept warm with a nondescript came- colored button-down cardigan. A grey cross-body purse looked sensible.

The ex of Justin Timberlake (who is hosting a star-studded Hillary Clinton fundraiser on Monday) held onto a French water bottle and cell phone.

Her SIL: The 43-year-old movie star was with sister-in-law Nicole Richie

And the little one came too: Behind the fashion designer was her daughter Harlow, aged eight

In style: Nicole, 34, looked boho summer chic in her sleeveless purple print dress that looked as if it had time traveled from the 1960s

Nicole, 34, looked boho summer chic in her sleeveless purple print dress that looked as if it had time traveled from the 1960s.

It also could be one of her own designs from her label House Of Harlow.

Richie, who used to be on The Simple Life with Paris Hilton, looked ready for her closeup with her Ray-Ban aviators and her blonde bob nicely parted on the side. She also carried a black Givenchy purse.

Her dude: The 43-year-old actress has taken a break from Hollywood as she focuses on husband Benji Madden who she tied the knot with in 2015; here they are seen in June

Her little eight-year-old daughter looked like a chip off the ole block with her light locks and similar facial features.

It looks as if Harlow and Cameron both went with red nails while Nicole chose light pink.

Cameron has no movies lined up though she has been promoting her new book The Longevity Book. Before that she wrote 2013's The Body Book.

That was then: The last time Diaz was on a movie set was three years ago when she filmed 2014's Annie with Jamie Foxx

'Like most everybody else, I had a poor body image when I was younger. Everyone made fun of me because I was so skinny. They used to call me Ethiopia and Skeletor,' she said when promoting her book.

'And all of that stuck with me well into my teenage years. I was embarrassed,' she admitted.

Cameron also spoke of how Benji has helped her.

This one did not do well: Before that she made the comedy Sex Tape with Jason Segel

'My husband has helped me a lot. He is the opposite: He shows all of his emotions and is very open. He has helped me to see things in my life that I thought I was OK withI wasnt able to see my pain.

'I was just pushing through. That is one of the things about marriage: It is like holding a mirror up in front of you. You learn things about yourself that you cant learn on your own.'
Amy Schumer discussed her sex life with live-in love Ben Hanisch on the Stern Show in Manhattan on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old Emmy winner and the 29-year-old furniture designer - who confirmed their romance January 5 - have sex daily, don't use protection, and she 'enjoys the smell' of him.

'I hope his parents don't listen to this, oh my god!' the New York comedian suddenly realized.

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'Hells yeah [I love him]!' Amy Schumer discussed her sex life with live-in love Ben Hanisch on the Stern Show in Manhattan on Tuesday

TMI! The 35-year-old Emmy winner and the 29-year-old furniture designer - who confirmed their romance January 5 - have sex daily, don't use protection, and she 'enjoys the smell' of him

'His parents [in Illinois] are the sweetest people. His mom always seems like she was just called down as a contestant on the Price Is Right.'

Amy continued: 'We love having sex with each other, but there's no performing. He's so sweet.'

The Trainwreck writer-and-star then joked that she was 'the laziest' person in bed.

'When it comes to sex, I lay there like I'm going to get a CAT scan so I'm not pleasing anyone,' Schumer joked.

The New York comedian suddenly realized: 'I hope his parents don't listen to this, oh my god! His parents [in Illinois] are the sweetest people. His mom always seems like she was just called down as a contestant on the Price Is Right'

Amy continued: 'We love having sex with each other, but there's no performing. He's so sweet'

'I lay there like I'm going to get a CAT scan': The Trainwreck writer-and-star then joked that she was 'the laziest' person in bed

'It's just, like, then you have to take care of them': Schumer and The Last Workshop owner have decided to delay all discussion of having children for two years

'You know when you start dating someone, you're like, "I love giving head?" I don't know what it is. I was just too busy. Too tired. No lies. Too busy.'

The Golden Globe nominee and The Last Workshop owner have decided to delay all discussion of having children for two years.

'It's just, like, then you have to take care of them, the kids,' the cherubic-faced funnywoman said.

'I don't even have a plant! I cant. I'm not going to water that.'

Lady in red: For her morning show appearance, Amy donned a black scoopneck top, red pencil skirt, and matching stilettos selected by stylist Leesa Evans

Morning coffee: The Hillary Clinton supporter sported full make-up, lashes, and a braided hairstyle

'I was the worst drug dealer': In Amy's 336-page memoir The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo - which hit shelves August 16 - she reveals she used to sell marijuana and shoplift

The brassy blonde joked: 'I became a weed dealer and a shoplifter because I deserve nice things'

For her morning show appearance, Amy donned a black scoopneck top, red pencil skirt, and matching stilettos selected by stylist Leesa Evans.

The Hillary Clinton supporter sported full make-up, lashes, and a braided hairstyle.

In Schumer's 336-page memoir The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo - which hit shelves August 16 - she reveals she used to sell marijuana and shoplift.

'I became a weed dealer and a shoplifter because I deserve nice things,' the brassy blonde joked.

'Not in the foreseeable future': Comedy Central has renewed her series Inside Amy Schumer for a fifth season, which has yet to go into production

Tour runs through December 31! The Last Comic Standing alum will next take her comedy tour to Ireland's 3Arena in Dublin on Friday (pictured on November 16)

Martha 'Daphne' Burns: Schumer's next acting gig is voicing three separate characters in the September 25 premiere episodes of Fox's The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers

'I was the worst drug dealer. I would run out of the little bags, so I would just use a huge Hefty bag.'

Comedy Central has renewed her series Inside Amy Schumer for a fifth season, which has yet to go into production.

'I am just touring, doing Standup and focusing on writing more for the next year at least,' Amy - who boasts 11.8M followers - tweeted on Thursday.

'We are slated for a season 5 but not in the foreseeable future.'

The Last Comic Standing alum will next take her comedy tour (which runs through December 31) to Ireland's 3Arena in Dublin on Friday.
She is currently gearing up for the arrival of her second baby, and judging by the size of Teresa Palmers belly, it could be any day now.

The 30-year-old - who is married to Hollywood actor Mark Webber - enjoyed a night out in Los Angeles on Sunday, where she attended the premiere for horror movie Antibirth.

Showing off her maternity chic style - and huge bump - in a chic two-piece ensemble, the Australian beauty appeared to be in great and content spirits.

Bumping along nicely: Teresa Palmer enjoyed a night out in Los Angeles on Sunday, where she attended the premiere for horror movie Antibirth

She dressed her fabulous curves in a dark blue polka dot blouse with tight black jeans, while shunning heels for a comfortable pair of black pumps.

With her blonde tresses tied up into a high ponytail, Teresa allowed her natural beauty to shine through with muted tones of makeup.

Moments later, the starlet uploaded an Instagram snap of herself and her partner - both taking a snooze during the screening.

Blooming lovely: Showing off her maternity chic style - and huge bump - in a chic two-piece ensemble, the 30-year-old appeared to be in great and content spirits

Keeping it chic: She dressed her fabulous curves in a dark blue polka dot blouse with tight black jeans, while shunning heels for a comfortable pair of black pumps

'This is what our 10:30pm date night looks like to @likemark's premiere of #Antibirth, the reality of #Parenting #Toddlerhood #Pregnancy #OldAge ,' she teased.

The following day, Teresa shared a picture of herself after completing a mountainous trek with close friend Phoebe Tonkin and her two-year-old son, Bodhi Rain.

The trio made sure to post memorable photos from their hike to their respective Instagram accounts (Phoebe and Teresa's) upon reaching the picturesque peak of their strenuous walk.

Teresa simply captioned the picture: 'Sunset hikes, sleepovers and #TheNightOf screenings with Aunty Phoebs. Could there be anything better in life?'

Smitten: Teresa shares Bodhi with her Hollywood beau, Mark Webber, who also has son Isaac from a previous relationship

Meanwhile, the mother-of-one recently opened up about her pregnancy, explaining to OK! Magazine that the experience of trying for a child was 'not fun' and it became 'downright unsexy.

'It became stressful, confusing, sad, disappointing and downright unsexy', she told the publication.

Teresa shares Bodhi with her Hollywood beau, 36, who also has son Isaac from a previous relationship.

Back in May, the married couple announced they were expecting their second child together, a son.
Typhoon Mindulle dumps heavy rain on northern Japan

A strong typhoon dumped heavy rain that caused flooding on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido on Tuesday after killing one person near Tokyo and injuring dozens.

Typhoon Mindulle, which made landfall near Japan's capital on Monday, flooded rivers, submerged roads and damaged farms in Hokkaido, TV footage showed.

A woman in Sagamihara city outside Tokyo died on Monday as a result of the storm, according to the Kanagawa prefecture government.

A train derailed by a landslide is seen on the Seibu Tamako line in Higashimurayama, western Tokyo, on August 22, 2016 Jiji Press (Jiji Press/AFP)

Neither the police nor local authorities had immediate details as to how she died, but media reports said the 58-year-old caregiver was riding a bicycle when swept away by flood water.

The death came after another storm, Typhoon Kompasu, hit Hokkaido on Sunday, killing a man in his 40s. His body was found Monday near his vehicle, which was stranded by flood water, according to the national Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Kompasu was downgraded to a temperate depression by early Monday and moved out over the Sea of Okhotsk.

But Mindulle was still dumping heavy rain on Hokkaido, where officials have issued warnings for landslides, flooding, violent winds and high waves.

Mindulle caused at least 61 injuries as it whirled across Japan's northeastern region, according to national broadcaster NHK.

Across the nation, Mindulle caused the cancellation of more than 500 flights, mainly to and from Tokyo's Haneda airport, on Monday.

Narita international airport east of Tokyo closed its runways in the afternoon for about an hour as officers evacuated the control tower due to strong winds.

More than one million people across Japan's eastern region were covered by evacuation advisories of varying degree since Saturday, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

In Hokkaido, more than 2,700 people temporarily fled their homes to public shelter between Saturday and late Monday, the local government said.

In Tokyo, Mindulle flooded rivers and snapped trees, including one that fell on rails at a train station in central Tokyo, causing the temporary suspension on Monday of the loop line that circles Tokyo's urban core.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the storm was on track to leave Japan by midday, also over the Sea of Okhotsk.

Typhoon Mindulle (top) is seen moving over Japan on August 22, 2016 NASA (NASA/AFP)
Clinton's health: Trump's sharpening focus of attack

On the skids in the polls and under fire for not releasing his tax returns, Donald Trump's campaign is sharpening a new attack on Hillary Clinton: claiming she is not healthy enough to serve as president.

The Internet is awash with conspiracy theories claiming that she may have a brain tumor, Parkinson's or dementia, or complaining that she has "seizure-like facial expressions" or allegedly twitches.

Trump, who at 70 is 16 months older than his Democratic adversary, his spokespeople and surrogates have used innuendo and fabrication to peddle their theories that she is not physically or mentally fit.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event on August 20, 2016 in Fredericksburg, Virginia Molly Riley (AFP/File)

"#WheresHillary? Sleeping!!!!!" he tweeted over the weekend.

Last week, he told voters in Iowa that Clinton was "not strong enough to be president."

On another occasion, he maintained that she "importantly also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS, and all of the many adversaries we face."

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump supporter, stepped up the attack on Monday, telling Fox News that Clinton was "tired" and "looked sick." Over the weekend, he came under fire for telling viewers to google Clinton's health.

"Go online and put down 'Hillary Clinton illness,' take a look at the videos for yourself," he said on Fox News.

Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who is not a doctor, last week diagnosed Clinton with dysphasia, a disorder that impairs speech and comprehension, and pushed conspiracy theories about her health promoted by some conservatives.

Team Clinton vehemently denies any health concerns, and released a letter from her doctor in July 2015 giving her an "excellent" bill of health.

But the root of the conspiracy theories lies in 2012, when Clinton was nearing the end of her stint as secretary of state and a stomach virus and dehydration prompted her to faint, causing what her doctor said was a concussion.

They said they found a blood clot on the brain and Clinton complained of double vision. She appeared in spectacles featuring a prism when testifying before Congress on Benghazi in January 2013.

But she was later given the all-clear. Her test results were normal, and her cancer screening evaluations all negative, said a letter released by her physician Lisa Bardack last year.

- Gender overtones -

Health is a legitimate subject of debate in presidential elections -- Americans want to know that the person they are going to elect to one of the toughest jobs in the planet is up to the task both mentally and physically.

But history is also peppered with coverups. The public had no idea John F. Kennedy had Addison's disease. The severity of Woodrow Wilson's stroke was concealed in 1919, as were concerns about Franklin D. Roosevelt's health before his fourth re-election -- just months before he died in 1945.

Ironically enough, Trump would be the oldest person ever elected US president if he wins. Clinton would be the second oldest after Ronald Reagan.

In 2008, then aged 71, Republican nominee and cancer survivor John McCain released more than 1,500 pages of medical history in a bid to lay to rest suggestions that he was either too old or too unhealthy to serve as president.

Jeanne Zaino, professor of political science at Iona College in New York, says Clinton may follow suit in releasing more medical records or have her doctor continue to reiterate her good health.

"I'm not sure it's going to hurt her but it does allow them (the Trump campaign) to come up with a counter to his tax issue," she told AFP.

What is clear is that running for president is grueling. Journalists trailing in Clinton's wake endure punishing schedules and little sleep.

The 68-year-old grandmother of two looks remarkably fresh faced and distinctly more robust than her husband, former president Bill Clinton, who underwent heart bypass surgery in 2004.

If Trump overplays the health card, it could backfire among women voters, who already have a very low opinion of the Republican nominee.

"Stamina, the word he keeps using, has gender overtones," Zaino said.

"To act as if this is a weak, frail woman who doesn't have the ability, the evidence suggests otherwise, and the same thing with him," she said.

"If you look objectively, it's hard to make the case that either one of them are suffering from lack of stamina."

Hillary Clinton's campaign team vehemently denies any health concerns, and released a letter from her doctor in July 2015 giving her an "excellent" bill of health Dominick Reuter (AFP/File)

A supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump waits for a rally to start on August 20, 2016 in Fredericksburg, Virginia Molly Riley (AFP/File)
Fraud suspect wanted by China pays $31 mn to end NZ probe

A Chinese-born businessman has agreed to pay New Zealand authorities US$31 million to settle their money laundering investigation into him, although he remains wanted by Beijing over the alleged multi-million-dollar fraud.

William Yan, 45, holds New Zealand citizenship and denies any wrongdoing. Although he was never charged in New Zealand with money-laundering, China still considers him one of the country's most-wanted suspects.

New Zealand police said Tuesday they have frozen assets worth NZ$42.85 million (US$31.22 million) including luxury cars, property and millions of dollars in bank funds, which will not be released until the money is paid.

According to the New Zealand Herald, William Yan has said he made his fortune legitimately as a businessman and two identities he came to N. Zealand with are valid because he was a foster child Michael Bradley (AFP/File)

The settlement with Yan, his wife Wei You and two associates follows a complex three-year investigation into alleged laundering of money derived from a series of frauds in China between 1999-2001.

"The outcome in this case reflects the effective working relationship between Chinese and New Zealand law enforcement agencies," said Paul Hampton, manager of the police financial crime unit.

The High Court had approved the settlement, police said in a statement.

"They were alleged to have assisted in money laundering and various property associated with them was restrained, including three Auckland properties, a Porsche and Maserati, and over NZ$4.5 million in bank funds.

Chinese authorities claim Yan stole NZ$129 million and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key revealed, following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this year, that Yan was fifth on China's most-wanted list.

It is not known if China will seek the extradition of Yan, who arrived in New Zealand in 2001 and was granted citizenship despite having multiple identities and an Interpol alert against his name.

In 2012, he was acquitted on charges relating to false declarations on immigration and citizenship papers.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Yan has said he made his fortune legitimately as a businessman and the two identities he came to New Zealand with, Yong Ming Yan and Yang Liu, are valid because he was a foster child.
'Burkini' bans good for sales, says Australian designer

Burkini bans in France have boosted sales and interest in the full-bodied Islamic swimsuit, particularly from non-Muslim women, the Australian credited with creating the design said Tuesday.

The burkini has sparked huge controversy in France, with bans in 15 towns in the country's southeast amid high tensions following a string of deadly jihadist attacks.

But Australian-Lebanese Aheda Zanetti, who claims the trademark on the name burkini and burqini and created her first swimwear for Muslim women more than a decade ago, said the furore in France has attracted more publicity for her products.

Australian-Lebanese designer Aheda Zanetti claims the trade mark on the name burkini after creating her first swimwear for Muslim women more than a decade ago Saeed Khan (AFP/File)

"It's just been so hectic," she told AFP.

"I can tell you that online on Sunday, we received 60 orders -- all of them non-Muslim," the 48-year-old Sydneysider said, adding that she usually received 10 to 12 orders on Sundays.

Zanetti did not have sales figures for the rest of the past week but said she had also received numerous messages of support -- and only one disparaging email -- since the French bans.

They include messages from cancer survivors and other swimmers who use her light-weight, quick-drying two-piece garments as protection from the sun.

There are other Islamic swimsuits but Zanetti has said her designs are the first to be streamlined into two-piece swimwear with a head covering.

"A lot of the correspondence... was that they are survivors of skin cancer and they've always been looking for something like this, saying, 'Thank god we've found someone like this producing such a swimsuit'," she said.

"The support I'm getting is somehow about empowering women... I feel like I've been a counsellor. It's a cry of need that they want to have this enjoyment.

"Women are standing together on this. It doesn't matter what race or religion."

She said the one critical email questioned why Zanetti wanted to cover up women in France, noting "we prefer our women to be naked".

Australia is grappling with a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment after a series of attacks by radicalised youth but the burkini has not attracted strong criticism in a country where people regularly cover up at beaches to protect their skin under the harsh sun.

While there are divisions over the burkini in France, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday dismissed the idea of a ban in his country, saying Canadians should rise above the controversy as he called for the respect of individual rights and choices.

Islamic clothing and the French position on their use in public Iris ROYER DE VERICOURT (AFP)
Shiny new buses challenge chaotic old ways in Tanzania

Sweaty passengers crammed into battered buses and stuck in traffic jams look on enviously as Tanzania's shiny new commuter buses fly by on the pristine asphalt of dedicated highway lanes.

In Dar es Salaam, the East African country's biggest city of five million people, rush hour has always meant chaos, until now.

The first phase of a new bus rapid transit system opened earlier this year offering a swift, clean alternative to the traditional "dala dala" buses, a twist on the English word "dollar" coined in the 1970s when the system started as an answer to inadequate public transport.

A Dar Rapid Transit (DART) bus travels down a street in Dar es Salaam Said Khalfan (AFP/File)

The new route cuts through 20 kilometres (12 miles) of the seaside city with two lanes of tarmac running down the middle of the existing highway.

When completed the route will extend for 130 kilometres, separated from the traffic by a crash barrier that prevents motorists from taking advantage of its free-flowing smoothness.

- 'Unique in East Africa' -

"Every day, hundreds of thousands of people lose time, and therefore money, in traffic jams, which have become a very big problem in Dar es Salaam," says Robert Lwakatare, head of the government agency responsible for overseeing the Dar Rapid Transit (DART) project.

A recent study estimated that traffic jams cost the Tanzanian economy $188 million (167 million euros) a year.

"It's amazing," says one young passenger who gave just her first name Judy, as a Chinese-made bus with bright blue-tinted windows pulls up to the platform.

There are 140 buses and 27 new stations in the transit system, enough to meet demand for the time being.

"Before I took two to two and a half hours to go into the centre of Dar es Salaam, and now it takes me 30 minutes," Judy said after scanning her ticket at an automated gate.

"This might seem normal in Europe, but it's not in our countries," says Lwakatare. "All this is unique in East Africa."

The clean vehicles themselves are a far cry from the dilapidated dala dalas, of which there are 7,000 registered in Dar es Salaam today, according to African Development Bank figures.

The drivers on the new buses wear short-sleeved shirts, ties and neatly pressed trousers and politely ask passengers to sit before starting off. Aboard the dala dalas, passengers find any space they can, while drivers shout and conductors hang precariously from open doors.

- 'People still need us' -

The first phase of construction cost $290 million (260 million euros), mostly funded by a World Bank loan, and Tanzania is relying on the African Development Bank to fund the remainder of the project.

Lwakatare says that around 100,000 people already use the new buses every day, a figure predicted to rise to 300,000 in the months ahead.

Costing 400-800 Tanzanian shillings ($0.18-0.37, 16-32 euro centimes) the ticket price is a little more expensive than on the dala dalas, which are destined to be phased out as the new system comes online.

Part of the budget is earmarked for compensating dala dala owners, who have also been included in a private sector consortium to operate the network in partnership with the government DART agency.

A dala dala tout named Justin, in faded jeans and an old green and grey jumper, views the new buses and what they mean for his future with equanimity.

"For the moment, people still need us because the blue bus does not go everywhere and are a bit more expensive."

"Later, we'll see," he says with a shrug, "but I think there will always be a need for a cheaper service."

The clean Dar Rapid Transit buses are a far cry from the dilapidated dala dalas Said Khalfan (AFP/File)

The new route cuts through 20km of Dar es Salaam with two lanes of tarmac running down the middle of the highway Said Khalfan (AFP/File)
Illnesses among Los Angeles homeless blamed on 'spice' drug

Synthetic marijuana is suspected to be behind an illness that has sent dozens of homeless people from a downtown Los Angeles neighborhood to emergency rooms in recent days, authorities said.

Eighteen people from the Skid Row homeless district were treated by firefighters on Monday and 14 were taken to hospitals, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said.

That came after the department on Friday evaluated about 50 people in the neighborhood, transporting 38 to hospitals.

Synthetic marijuana, also known as K2, is suspected to be behind an illness that has sent dozens of homeless people in Los Angeles to emergency rooms Spencer Platt (Getty/AFP/File)

Although the cause of the illnesses has not yet been confirmed by toxicology tests, authorities said it was likely a type of synthetic marijuana called "spice."

Local television news showed multiple men passed out in the street, many of them being treated by firefighters or other health personnel.

"Because it's synthetic, nobody for sure knows what active ingredients are in there, the strength is variable," Marc Eckstein, the Los Angeles Fire Department medical director, said in a statement.

He told local television station KTLA that the problem is a "public health crisis" in Los Angeles, home to the largest population of homeless people in the United States without access to emergency shelter.
Missing translator delays Bangkok shrine bomb trial

The trial of two Chinese Uighurs accused of killing 20 people when they allegedly bombed a Bangkok shrine was postponed Tuesday because the men still do not have a translator.

The delay is the latest snag in a cryptic case that has so far shed little light on the horrific attack in Thailand's capital last year that also left 100 people wounded.

More than a dozen ethnic Chinese were among the dead when explosives -- apparently left in a backpack -- detonated at the Erawan Hindu shrine popular with tourists, in August 2015.

Soldiers guard the gates of a military court in Bangkok, after two Chinese nationals were brought there to stand trial for the Erawan Shrine bombings a year ago, on August 23, 2016 Lillian Suwanrumpha (AFP)

The blast came weeks after Thailand's junta forcibly repatriated 109 Uighurs to China, where rights activists says the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority face cultural and religious repression.

Thailand had long been a transit hub for Uighurs fleeing China, most heading for Turkey.

But since the 2014 coup, which sparked criticism from western allies, Thailand's military leaders have grown closer to Beijing.

Junta authorities have been criticised for a murky investigation that appeared to wind down shortly after the arrest of the two men, leaving more than a dozen key suspects at large.

Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed have denied all charges, and have accused their jailers of beating them and denying them halal food in the military prison where they have been held for the past year.

Authorities deny the two men have been mistreated.

Their case was further complicated when their translator, an Uzbek national, fled after he was hit with drug possession charges in June.

Sirojiddin Bakhodirov accused police of planting drugs on him as punishment for helping Thailand's Uighur community -- a charge officers denied.

"He did not come to the court today so the trial needed to be postponed so that we can find a new translator," defence lawyer Schoochart Kanpai told reporters outside the courtroom.

The judge agreed to table the proceedings until the next hearing date on 15 September, according to an AFP reporter inside the courtroom.

The postponement "reflects poorly on the judiciary's preparations to try these suspects", said Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.

"Everyone knew that there were no other translators immediately available when the previous person was arrested on drug charges. This raises concerns for the suspects' right to justice, fairly and speedily served," he told AFP.

Prosecutors accuse Mohammed of placing the bomb inside a backpack at the shrine and say Mieraili was involved in transporting the device.

They say the bombing was carried out by a people-smuggling gang angered by a police crackdown.

Suspects in the August 2015 Erawan shrine bombing in Bangkok, identified by officials as Bilal Mohammed (C), also known as Adem Karadag, and Yusufu Mieraili (front L), have denied all charges Lillian Suwanrumpha (AFP/File)
How technology killed Pakistan's historic red light district

Pakistan's oldest red light district was for centuries a hub of traditional erotic dancers, musicians and prostitutes -- Pigalle with a Mughal twist, deep in the heart of vibrant Lahore.

But as an e-commerce boom revolutionises how Pakistanis conduct the world's oldest profession, locals say the historic Heera Mandi district is under threat.

Balconies where beautiful women once stood are now empty, while rust eats away at the locked doors of vacant rooms. The only stubborn hold-outs are shops selling instruments that once facilitated the aperitifs of music and dance.

An aspiring Pakistani dancer practices her Bollywood dance moves at a studio in Lahore Arif Ali (AFP)

Men now can book a rendezvous online through escort websites or even directly with women over social media, instead of searching out streetside solicitation.

With location rendered meaningless, prostitutes like Reema Kanwal -- who says the business "runs in my blood" -- have abandoned Heera Mandi.

The district, whose name translates as "Diamond Market", is close to the echoing, centuries-old Badshahi Mosque.

During the Mughal era, the great Islamic empire that ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 15th and 16th centuries, Heera Mandi was a centre for mujra, traditional singing and dancing performed for the elites.

The wealthy even sent their sons to the salons of tawaifs, high-class courtesans that have been likened to Japanese geishas, to study etiquette.

Later, when the British came, distinctions between courtesan or mujra dancer and prostitute were blurred.

Dance and sex became intertwined, and Heera Mandi began its long slide into sordidness -- but even so, Reema remembers "glorious" days.

Reema's mother and grandmother were also prostitutes, making her part of Heera Mandi's generations of women who danced and pleased men in the market.

"People used to respect the prostitutes of Heera Mandi, we were called artists," she says -- but all has changed over the last decade. "Now we don't have any honour."

She blames the loss on a rush of girls without her family background taking up the profession who have not been taught "how to treat people" the way she has.

- Diamonds in the rough -

Such girls, she says, need nothing to market themselves but a mobile phone, with which they can advertise on Facebook or Locanto, some offering services over Skype for as little as 300 rupees ($3).

Dozens of escort services with online bookings claim to serve thousands of clients in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad -- some even in Dubai and Singapore.

In a deeply conservative Muslim country where prostitution is banned and sex outside marriage is criminalised, one website says it caters to roughly 50,000 customers.

With the old traditions falling by the wayside, girls also no longer need an entourage of musicians and teachers, say the owners of the music shops that are the final remnants of old Heera Mandi.

The intricate mujra dancing that was such a foundation of the red light district required years of teaching and live musicians. Now girls learn easy but provocative dance moves via YouTube.

"They take a USB or sometimes they don't even need that, they have songs in their cellphones, they plug a cable and play the music," laments Soan Ali, one of the music shop owners.

Like Reema, Ali's family has also been in Heera Mandi for generations, and he proudly recalled his father's "hospitality" as he attempted to lure clients for his mother.

He takes a deep breath. "We are having a lot of difficulties," he admits. "Whoever is in this field is going through hard days."

- 'Heera Mandi is no more' -

For those who have migrated beyond Heera Mandi, however, the future is bright.

Mehak, who declined to give her full name, is a cosmetic surgeon by profession, a feminist by ideology, and by night one of Pakistan's most elite madams.

Seven sleek Persian cats prowl among the expensive wooden furniture of her home, which doubles as a brothel for upper-class Pakistanis in a wealthy residential neighbourhood of Lahore.

Mehak, who is in her mid-50s, says she recruits most of her girls through elite parties -- but adds "this online thing has really changed the business".

"A girl no longer needs a pimp to market her, she has Facebook, Twitter," she says.

"Heera Mandi is no more... even if a girl is from Heera Mandi she would never reveal it because the client would never risk sexually transmitted diseases and the bad image associated," she added.

Outside of the Diamond Market, she says, business is good.

"Medical students and MBAs have the highest rates, they get a hundred thousand (rupees, or $1,000) for one night," she says.

Now she plans to expand and offer male prostitutes.

"Girls from the elite class come to me and beg for boys," she says.

"They say they are ready to pay, but they need strong boys."

Balconies where prostitutes once stood dressed up to attract customers now stand dark and empty, in the famous red light district of Lahore Arif Ali (AFP)

A prostitute from the red light district practices her dance steps before heading out for an event in Lahore Arif Ali (AFP)
Chinese official defends protest-hit visit to Taiwan

A top Shanghai official Tuesday defended his controversial visit to Taiwan as "open and transparent" as protesters burnt his photo and accused him of promoting the island's unification with China.

Sha Hailin, a standing committee member of the Communist Party in the city and head of the United Front Work Department there, arrived on Monday for a forum on municipal exchanges.

He is the highest-level mainlander to visit since cross-strait ties worsened under Taiwan's new government.

Activists burn the portrait of visiting Sha Hailin, a standing committee member of the Communist Party in Shanghai and head of the United Front Work Department there, in Taipei, on August 23, 2016 Sam Yeh (AFP)

"Expel Sha Hailin!" about 100 angry protesters shouted outside a hotel in Taipei where the forum is taking place, tearing down and burning photos of Sha and Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je.

Protesters had also rallied at an airport and other locations Sha visited Monday, shouting slogans against communism and for independence for Taiwan.

"For my visit... there is no 'secret deal' as some people claim. Everything is open and transparent," Sha said in response to the protests.

"The journey for peaceful development, mutual understanding, respect and cooperation between the two sides will not be smooth sailing."

Relations with China have grown increasing frosty since Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the island's presidency in January. Beijing is highly suspicious of Tsai because her party is traditionally pro-independence, and has warned her against any attempt at a formal breakaway.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office announced it had suspended official contacts with Taipei after Tsai's government, which took office in May, failed publicly to accept the "one China" principle which governed relations under her predecessor.

Sha reiterated that "one China" was the basis for major progress in ties under Taiwan's previous Kuomintang government. He praised Mayor Ko for "openly expressing his understanding and respect" of it.

Taiwan has been self-ruling since splitting with the mainland in 1949 following a civil war but has never declared independence. Beijing still sees it as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
Seven held off Madagascar after double murder

Police investigating the double murder of two French volunteers on an island off Madagascar have arrested seven suspects.

Authorities arrested four people who were at the same nightclub as the two victims on Sunday, but have not yet established a firm link to the murders.

Prosecutor Thierry Rajaona Lauret, who is running the investigation, said three more suspects -- a French national living on the resort island of Sainte Marie, and two Madagascans -- were arrested on Tuesday.

A French man and woman were found dead on a beach on Sainte Marie island, off the northeast coast of Madagascar Sarah Tetaud (AFP)

There is "no doubt" the two volunteers were murdered, police said. "We just need to determine a motive."

The bodies of the two French citizens, a man and a woman aged in their 20s, were found Sunday on a beach of Sainte Marie with head injuries.

They had been volunteering at Cetamada, a local environmental non-profit organisation working to protect ocean mammals.

According to authorities on Sainte Marie, an island famous for eco-tourism, it is the first time French citizens have been murdered there.

In 2012, a French couple was found dead on a beach in southern Madagascar.
Turkey strikes IS as Syria border tensions flare

Turkey vowed to give full support to efforts to free a key Syrian border town from the control of Islamic State (IS) jihadists as anticipation grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group.

Turkish forces also pounded jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes after a deadly suicide bombing in the city of Gaziantep at the weekend and repeated rocket fire across the border.

Activists have said hundreds of Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the IS group to seize control of the Syrian town of Jarabulus, which lies opposite the town of Karkamis in Turkey.

Turkey has shelled Islamic State positions in Syria for a second day, in response to mortar fire from across the border, reports say Ilyas Akengin (AFP/File)

Without confirming the operation, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged to give "all kinds of support" to push the jihadists out of Jarabulus.

"We do not want Daesh (IS) to exist in Iraq and Syria," he told reporters.

The pledge came a day before US Vice President Joe Biden was due in Ankara to meet Turkey's leadership, with agreeing a unified strategy on Syria set to be a crucial issue.

He is by far the highest-ranking Western official to visit Turkey since the coup attempt to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In an interview with private NTV television, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey saw Jarabulus "as a national security matter".

"What we have said, since the beginning, is that having Jarabulus or any other city held by IS is unacceptable," he said.

The authorities also ordered residents to vacate Karkamis and the surrounding area for safety reasons after the rocket fire, although there was no indication this was linked to the impending operation.

"Residents of the town centre and six neighbourhoods (are) advised to relocate to more secure areas," the local governor's office said in a statement.

Nine mortar rounds fired from Jarabulus hit the centre of the town while two more hit another neighbourhood, it added.

No casualties or injuries were reported.

Turkish artillery responded by shelling IS positions around Jarabulus.

- 'May begin any time' -

Abdulkadir Selvi, a well-connected columnist for the Hurriyet daily, said the Turkey-backed offensive "could begin at any moment".

The move by Ankara-backed rebels could potentially put them on a collision course with the militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara vehemently opposes and which also has designs on Jarabulus after seizing the strategic Manbij area in northern Syria from IS.

Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the "Turkish shelling in Syria aimed to prevent the advance of troops backed by Kurds from Manbij towards Jarabulus".

He told AFP the commander of Kurdish-dominated forces headed to Jarablus, Abdel Satar al-Jader, was also "assassinated" on Monday after announcing he planned to resist the Turkish advance. There was no confirmation from Turkish sources.

Turkey regards the PYD as a terror group, although Washington sees its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia -- as the most effective fighting force against the jihadists.

The movements have come at a critical juncture for Turkey in Syria's five-and-a-half-year war, with signs growing it is on the verge of a landmark policy shift.

Ankara has always called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad as the key to ending the conflict, putting Turkey at odds with his main supporters Iran and Russia.

However Prime Minister Binali Yildirim at the weekend for the first time acknowledged that Assad was one of the "actors" in Syria and may need to stay on as part of a transition.

- 'The last song' -

Turkey has been shaken by one of the bloodiest years in its modern history, with a string of attacks by IS jihadists and Kurdish militants and the botched July 15 coup.

The attack in Gaziantep on a Kurdish wedding party for a young couple has horrified the country, with the majority of the 54 victims aged under 18 and including children as young as four.

But there is confusion as to who was behind the attack, with Erdogan initially saying the suicide bomber was a child aged 12-14 acting on the orders of IS.

However Yildirim on Monday said Turkey still had no clue who carried out the attack and said all "rumours" over the age and affiliation of the bomber should be taken with a pinch of salt.

One guest, Emine Ayhan, lost four of her five children in the blast.

"To finish off the evening the young guys wanted one last song. It was in the middle of this song that the bomb went off," Hurriyet quoted her as saying.

Turkish artillery bombs targets in Syria

Turkish cannons are seen firing towards the Syria border fom army positions near the the town of Kilis earlier this year Bulent Kilic (AFP/File)

A member of the Kurdish police known as the Asayesh observes enemy positions from a lookout point in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh during fighting with regime forces on August 22, 2016 Delil Souleiman (AFP)
Indian policeman blames 'spiritual powers' for swallowing 40 knives

An Indian policeman who spent two months swallowing knives and had 40 of them surgically removed said on Tuesday that "spiritual powers" made him do it.

The father of two underwent a successful five-hour operation to remove the knives from his stomach in the northern city of Amritsar after complaining to doctors of severe abdomen pain.

"I don't know why I did it but there was some spiritual power behind it," the 42-year-old told AFP from Amritsar in Punjab state, declining to be named.

An Indian surgical team operates on a policeman who swallowed over 40 knives, as seen at Amritsar hospital -, Corporate Hospital in Amritsar (AFP)

"It started in June when I swallowed the first knife and I enjoyed the feeling. It soon became a habit," he said.

Doctors said they initially thought he was suffering from a tumour after body scans showed a large solid mass.

But on further investigation, they discovered dozens of folding knives with metal and wooden handles and measuring up to 18 centimetres (seven inches) unfolded.

"We immediately prepared him for surgery and removed the knives. There was bleeding as some of them were unfolded," Rajinder Rajan, one of the surgeons at Corporate Hospital, told AFP.

Rajan said he suspected the patient, who told doctors he passed two more knives in his stools, was suffering from depression.

Although recovering well from Friday's surgery, he would undergo a psychological assessment before being discharged from the hospital, Rajan said.

Doctors were not ruling out the possibility that he had pica disorder in which the sufferer feels compelled to consume non-edible things.

But the man said he would not do it again.

"I consumed a knife a day for about two months. I never felt it was going to harm me but when it pained, I came to the hospital.

"I will not repeat it. I am glad they saved my life and I want to go back to my family."
Jews attacked on unauthorised West Bank visit

Israeli security forces rushed to the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday to rescue ultra-Orthodox Jews stoned by Palestinians as they visited a Jewish shrine, police said.

A statement said that about 60 members of a Hassidic sect went on a pre-dawn trip to Joseph's Tomb, in a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the city, which many Jews believe holds the remains of the biblical patriarch Joseph.

Palestinians believe an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yussef Dweikat, was buried there two centuries ago and the Palestinian office of religious sites considers it to be an Islamic archaeological monument.

Once a month, the Israeli army runs escorted nightime visits to the tomb by Jewish pilgrims but there are frequent attempts at wildcat pilgrimages Jaafar Ashtiyeh (AFP/File)

Patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers, before rising to become vizier of Egypt.

Once a month, the Israeli army runs escorted nightime visits to the tomb by Jewish pilgrims but there are frequent attempts at wildcat pilgrimages.

"During the course of the night about 60 Hassids entered Joseph's Tomb without authorisation," the police statement said. "Disturbance broke out at the scene and stones were thrown at them."

Israeli media said the bus carrying the worshippers was brought to a halt by Palestinian protesters before it actually reached the shrine.

"Police and soldiers were called to the scene to rescue (them)," the police statement said, adding that about half of the worshippers were detained for questioning.

Haaretz newspaper said that one of the Jews was slightly injured by a stone and Palestinian news agency SAFA said that three Palestinians suffered from inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces.

The incident happened in part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank designated "Area A", which is under Palestinian security control and off-limits to Israelis unless visits are coordinated in advance.

"Unauthorised entry to Area A is a criminal offence," the police said.

"Entry without coordination and without escort is dangerous for those who enter and also for the security forces who go in to rescue them."

The tomb, which has been the scene of repeated clashes, was torched in October 2015 and later repaired.

In October 2000, at the start of the second intifada, or uprising, Palestinians partly destroyed it after driving out an Israeli border police detachment stationed there.

One of the policemen died in the fighting, along with six Palestinians.
Flooding in Indian holy city halts cremations

India's holy city of Varanasi has been forced to halt cremations along the banks of the sacred river Ganges as deadly floods from monsoon rains hit parts of the country, an official said Tuesday.

More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes in recent days in northern Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar states as rain-swollen rivers burst their banks.

Over 20 people have been killed in the two states from the floods that hit swathes of India every year during the monsoon season.

Indian flood-affected residents use boats after flooding in a low lying area of the River Ganges in Allahabad on August 22, 2016 Sanjay Kanojia (AFP)

Floods have inundated the ghats or platforms on the edge of the Ganges in Varanasi, forcing families to cremate loved ones on the terrace roofs of nearby houses, Uttar Pradesh government spokesman Shailendra Pandey said.

"As the ghats are not available for cremation, the roofs of havelis (old mansions) and other old houses along the ghats are being used for cremation, but with great difficulty," Pandey told AFP.

Varanasi is India's most sacred Hindu city where thousands flock to cremate relatives in the hope of attaining nirvana, before scattering the ashes in the Ganges.

Cremations have been affected in the Hindu holy city of Allahabad, also in Uttar Pradesh, where pyres were being lit in nearby congested alleys, an official there said.

In flooded Banda district, a woman gave birth on a boat Monday while on her way to a medical centre, sparking criticism that local authorities provided little assistance.

A senior official said severe water logging meant it was extremely difficult to send medical help in time, leading the baby to be born in an inflatable dinghy amid the floodwaters.

"The child is fit and fine. We are extending all possible help to the family. Even if we had sent an ambulance there was no way it could have reached that place," police superintendent R. K. Pandey told AFP.

At least nine people have died in Uttar Pradesh state and another 15 in eastern Bihar over the past two days as floods hit rural areas as well as some cities, disaster management officials said.

A total of 130,000 people were sheltering in relief camps across the two states, officials there told AFP, and additional emergency workers have been deployed to help with rescue and relief efforts.

Several people have also been killed in central Madhya Pradesh state from flooding in the last 24 hours, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

Floods and landslides from the monsoon running from June to September claimed more than 50 lives last month, mostly in the remote, northeast state of Assam.

More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes in Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar states as rain-swollen rivers burst their banks Sanjay Kanojia (AFP/File)
Iraqi special forces led an operation on Tuesday aimed at retaking the jihadist-held town of Qayyarah, a key staging base for operations to attack Mosul, military sources said.

Qayyarah lies on the western bank of the Tigris river, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul, the Islamic State group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

'The operation started at dawn with the participation of Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and army forces,' Brigadier General Firas Bashar told AFP.

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After retaking Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in June, the main focus of Iraqi security forces is Mosul, which is the country's second city and IS's de facto capital in Iraq (file photo)

US-led coalition aircraft provided support, said Bashar, the spokesman for the operations command in Nineveh, the province in which Qayyarah and Mosul are located.

'The operation is ongoing and currently achieving its goals,' CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman said.

'Qayyarah will be cleared and the operation wrapped up quickly, bolstering our plans... for the final battle to liberate Mosul,' he told AFP.

He said Iraqi forces had been working with armed residents inside the town for this offensive, a rare occurrence.

'There has been coordination with groups of armed residents inside,' Noman said, declining to provide further details.

Iraqi security forces gather on the outskirt of Al Qayyarah, Iraq, on August 15

Smoke rises from clashes between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants on the outskirt of Al Qayyarah

Iraqi forces have spent weeks positioning themselves around the town, which is expected to be used as a launchpad for a broader operation against Mosul in the coming weeks or months.

Saleh al-Juburi, the mayor of Qayyarah district, said around 15,000 civilians were believed to be trapped under IS rule in the Qayyarah area.

'There are plans to bring food and medical supplies to those who are still in their homes and did not manage to escape Qayyarah,' he told AFP.

'We will distribute this aid immediately after the liberation of the town,' he said.

Juburi said CTS forces were making quick progress in Qayyarah and had already retaken key landmarks in the town hours after the launch of the operation.

'Most of the Daesh (IS) fighters have been killed or have fled,' he said.

After retaking Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in June, the main focus of Iraqi security forces is Mosul, which is the country's second city and IS's de facto capital in Iraq.
Merkel wants migrant return deals with N.African states

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Tuesday on the EU and North African countries to do deals modelled on a controversial agreement with Turkey to stem migrant flows to Europe.

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, Ankara agreed to take back one Syrian who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send one from its massive refugee camps to the bloc in a more orderly redistribution programme.

The deal also pledges billions of euros in EU aid for Turkey, visa-free European travel for Turkish citizens and accelerated EU membership talks.

Merkel also urged EU partners to step up to their responsibilities in taking in refugees who had arrived in Greece Tobias Schwarz (AFP/File)

"We must agree on similar deals with other countries, such as in North Africa, in order to get better control over the Mediterranean sea refugee routes," Merkel told regional daily Neue Passauer Zeitung.

"Such agreements are also in the interest of the refugees themselves," she said, pointing to the huge risks migrants take in crossing the Mediterranean in rickety vessels, as well as the large sums they have to pay smugglers for the perilous sea passage.

"It is safer for them and there are good reasons for them to remain in Turkey, close to their homeland, where the cultural and language barriers are lower," she said, defending the deal with Turkey as "correct, as before".

"We should work to ensure that it lasts," she said.

But fears are mounting in the EU that the pact with Turkey to curb migrant flows could collapse as a rift deepens over Ankara's crackdown following a failed coup.

Turkey angrily rejects EU criticism that its post-putsch purges might violate rights norms Ankara must meet under the agreement in return for visa-free travel for Turks and accelerated negotiations for bloc membership.

Meanwhile, Merkel also urged EU partners to step up to their responsibilities in taking in refugees who had arrived in Greece.

Before the EU-Turkey deal took effect, some 45,000 refugees had already arrived in Greece as Macedonia closed its borders to the migrants.

"That is, if one compares it to the number of residents, as if 360,000 refugees were to arrive in Germany over the course of a few weeks," she said.

"That shows what Greece has had to deal with," she said, noting that the 3,000 refugees distributed so far to other EU states falls below the expectations of what the member states should take on.
UN Command condemns N. Korea mine-laying on border

North Korea has been laying fresh landmines on its side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with South Korea, the UN Command said Tuesday, following a spate of high-profile defections.

Military personnel were seen planting mines on the North's side of a river crossing known as the Bridge of No Return -- close to the border truce village of Panmunjom, a spokesman for the UN Command, which oversees the Korean War armistice, told AFP.

In a statement the UN Command "strongly" condemned the Korean People's Army (KPA) activity.

North Korean military personnel were seen planting mines on the North's side of a river crossing known as the Bridge of No Return Kim Hong-Ji (POOL/AFP/File)

"The presence of any device or munition on or near the bridge seriously jeopardises the safety of people on both sides," it said.

The statement added that thousands of visitors -- often school-aged children -- take part in tours to the DMZ.

Despite its name, the DMZ separating the two Koreas is one of the world's most heavily militarised frontiers, bristling with watchtowers and landmines.

It acts as a buffer zone, stretching two kilometres on either side of the actual frontier line.

Because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty, the two Koreas remain technically at war.

The UN Command declined to "speculate" on why the KPA was engaged in laying fresh mines. But South Korea's Yonhap News Agency cited a military source as saying it may be an attempt to prevent front-line troops from defecting.

Cross-border Korean tensions are currently running high, with North Korea on Monday threatening nuclear strikes as South Korea and the United States began a large-scale military exercise which Pyongyang views as a provocative rehearsal for invasion.

The North has also been rocked by a series of defections, most recently that of its deputy ambassador to Britain who fled to the South in a major propaganda victory for Seoul.

Yonhap said the South Korean military was using banks of loudspeakers along the border to crow about the defection.

In August last year South Korea accused North Korea of planting landmines that maimed two soldiers on border patrol.

Despite its name, the DMZ separating the two Koreas is one of the world's most heavily militarised frontiers, bristling with watchtowers and landmines
Briton flew into a 'rage' as he hit Bali cop

Indonesian police said Tuesday that a Briton flew into a rage and repeatedly hit a Bali police officer over the head with a beer bottle after accusing him of being a "fake cop".

Traffic policeman Wayan Sudarsa was found dead last week with wounds to his head and neck on a popular beach in the south of the Indonesian resort island.

Briton David Taylor and his Australian girlfriend Sara Connor were arrested and have been named as suspects, a step in the Indonesian legal system meaning investigators believe they have enough evidence to consider filing charges.

Briton David Taylor is escorted with his head covered at a police station in Denpasar on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on August 19, 2016 Sonny Tumbelaka (AFP/File)

Taylor, a DJ, admitted in questioning Monday to having a fight with Sudarsa on the beach after accusing him of stealing Connor's bag. He hit the officer with bottles, binoculars and a phone after being pushed, according to his defence lawyer.

Giving his account of how the fight began, Hadi Purnomo, police chief in the Balinese capital Denpasar, said Taylor had "searched the victim, accused him of being a thief, and called him a fake cop even though he was wearing a uniform".

Taylor got "mad" and they started to fight on the beach, with the Briton repeatedly hitting the policeman's head with a bottle until it broke, Purnomo said.

"David was hitting violently, in a rage, with the bottle," said the police chief.

Connor, a mother from New South Wales, has maintained her innocence, saying she only sought to separate the fighting men.

However Purnomo said Tuesday he believed that she had taken part in the killing.

A day after the policeman's body was found, the couple checked out of their hotel and burned their clothes, the police chief said.

They had initially tried to deny any confrontation with Sudarsa and had offered a series of confusing and contradictory accounts of what had happened, he said.

They could face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of murder.

Bali, a pocket of Hinduism in Muslim-majority Indonesia, is a popular tourist destination known for its tropical climate and palm-fringed beaches.
Activists to battle on after Japan whaling court victory

Japanese whalers on Tuesday celebrated what they described as a court victory in the US to end years of high seas clashes with anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, which immediately vowed to fight on.

The arch enemies have waged a legal and public relations battle as Sea Shepherd has sought to disrupt an annual whale hunt in the Antarctic that Japan defends as scientific research.

However, the settlement between the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Japan's whaling body is unlikely to end the dispute as operations in Antarctic waters are mostly carried out by Sea Shepherd Australia, which does not come under the ruling.

The arch enemies have waged a legal and public relations battle as Sea Shepherd has sought to disrupt an annual whale hunt in the Antarctic that Japan defends as scientific research Institute of Cetacean Research (INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH/AFP/File)

On Tuesday, the Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku -- key players in Japan's whaling industry -- announced a legal settlement that would bar the US group from attacking whaling ships or funding such activities.

The parties involved "successfully resolved the dispute through mediated negotiations earlier this month", it said.

But Sea Shepherd played down any suggestion of a global agreement, saying the settlement only applied to its US arm and that other branches, including its Australian office, would keep fighting.

"The ruling in the US courts affects ONLY our US entity," the group's global chief executive Alex Cornelissen said in a statement.

"Sea Shepherd Global and all other entities around the world, other than the USA, will continue to oppose the illegal Japanese whaling in the Antarctic," it added.

The whaling institute insisted the settlement would act as a deterrent to "some extent" by choking off funding by the group's US arm.

The announcement comes after a US court issued a preliminary injunction against Sea Shepherd in late 2012, ordering it to steer clear of the whaling ships.

Last year, the group agreed to pay $2.55 million to Japanese whalers for breaching the earlier court order.

Japan initiated the legal battle after several hunts in which the anti-whaling activists pursued the fleet for months in the icy waters near Antarctica, seeking to stop the slaughter.

Activists harassed whalers with paint and stink bombs, rammed their ships, and snared ship propellers with ropes.

Japan claims it conducts vital scientific research using a loophole in an international whaling ban, but makes no secret that the mammals ultimately end up on dinner plates.

It was forced to call off the 2014-2015 hunt after the United Nations' top court, the International Court of Justice, ruled in 2014 that its annual mission to the Antarctic was a commercial hunt masquerading as science.

The hunt resumed at the end of 2015, with the fleet returning to Japan in March of this year after having killed more than 300 of the mammals.

A Bryde's whale lays on the deck of a whaling ship during Japan's whale research program in the Western North Pacific in 2013 Institute of Cetacean Research (INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH/AFP/File)
Palestinian suspect in police killings beaten to death

The alleged ringleader in the killing of two Palestinian policemen has died in custody after being beaten by security forces, a senior local official said on Tuesday.

The officers were killed in the West Bank city of Nablus last week when gunmen opened fire on security forces.

Two of the gunmen died in the subsequent shootout.

Under the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel, Palestinian police are only authorised to operate in 18 percent of the occupied West Bank Jaafar Ashtiyeh (AFP/File)

Ahmed Halawa, the alleged leader of the attackers, was arrested by police overnight and taken to the city's Jneid prison, Nablus governor Akram Rajub told the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Once there, he was severely beaten by security personnel, lost conciousness and later died, Rajub said.

"We'll examine the incident and draw lessons from it," he said.

Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip and is a bitter rival of the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority ruling the West Bank, condemned Halawa's "execution".

It said it showed "the bloody nature of the Palestinian Authority's security services."

Hamas and Fatah are due to contest municipal elections across the Palestinian territories in October.

Amnesty International has accused Palestinian security forces of routinely mistreating prisoners, with torture common and committed with impunity.

Under the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel, Palestinian police are only authorised to operate in 18 percent of the occupied West Bank, encompassing most of the major Palestinian towns, including Nablus.
Court hears horror of Khmer Rouge forced marriages

Cambodia's UN-backed court on Tuesday heard harrowing new details about the Khmer Rouge's forced marriages, one of the brutal regime's less reported atrocities.

The Khmer Rouge oversaw the deaths of up to two million Cambodians from 1975-1979 -- nearly one-quarter of the population -- in their quest for a Marxist agrarian utopia.

But the testimony is the first time the court has heard about the tens of thousands of couples who were forced to marry, often in mass ceremonies, as part of a Khmer Rouge plan to boost the population.

Cambodian monks pray in front of skulls of those killed by the Khmer Rouge regime at the Choeung Ek killing fields memorial in Phnom Penh on April 17, 2016 Tang Chhin Sothy (AFP/File)

One woman described being raped by a Khmer Rouge commander after she was threatened with execution for refusing to consummate a forced marriage to her husband.

The regime's two most senior surviving leaders, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 90, and former head of state Khieu Samphan, 85, are on trial.

They have already been convicted of crimes against humanity, but a second trial is investigating their alleged complicity in the mass murder of Cambodia's ethnic minorities, forced marriages and mass rape -- subjects that remain taboo in conservative Cambodia even today.

Rights groups and historians say the second trial is a significant step for victims of Khmer Rouge sexual violence.

The woman, now elderly, appeared in court wearing a dark suit.

Identified only by a court pseudonym she described being forced to marry a fighter twenty years her senior in a joyless mass ceremony in early 1978.

Those who refused simply disappeared or were killed, she told the court, including her cousin.

"They forced us to marry," she said.

She detailed how a commander raped and threatened to shoot her if she didn't consummate the marriage and she later gave birth to a daughter.

The pair became separated in the turmoil of Cambodia's civil war years but she later went back to her husband under societal pressure, she said.

"I never told such a story to anyone, but now it is time for me to speak out," she added.

Another male born transgender victim described being forced to marry a woman.

After the ceremony, Khmer Rouge soldiers would spy on the couples.

"We had to have sex to survive," the 75-year-old told the court, adding that her wife became pregnant.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said more research is needed on the mass rape and forced marriages carried out under the regime.

"Rape took place within those forced marriages. There still needs to be investigation about how widespread it was, but the issue is very sensitive in Khmer culture," he said.
Top diplomats from Japan, China, S.Korea start meeting

Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea began a two-day meeting on Tuesday with their countries at odds over territorial disputes, a US missile defence system and perennial regional problem North Korea.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, China's Wang Yi and South Korea's Yun Byung-Se met for dinner at a Tokyo hotel before the start of formal talks on Wednesday.

The three shook hands and smiled for the cameras without making any remarks.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (C), China's Wang Yi (L) and South Korea's Yun Byung-Se (R) met for dinner at a Tokyo hotel ahead of the start of formal talks on Wednesday Eugene Hoshiko (POOL/AFP)

The talks are the first since March last year and come ahead of a Group of 20 summit in China early next month.

"It is extremely important for the foreign ministers of the three countries that play major roles in the region to gather together and exchange opinions frankly," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters earlier.

Sino-Japanese tensions over a territorial dispute have risen this month, while China and South Korea have sparred over the planned deployment in the latter country of a US anti-missile system.

The Tokyo-Seoul relationship is also prone to periodic tension due to the legacy of Japan's harsh colonisation of the Korean peninsula from 1910-45.

Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

Tokyo has lodged more than two dozen protests through diplomatic channels since August 5, saying there have been about 30 intrusions by Chinese vessels into its territorial waters.

"We will deliver Japan's thinking directly and clearly," a foreign ministry official said regarding the dispute with China. "It is important for us to send our message firmly."

The visit is the first by a Chinese foreign minister to Japan since Xi Jinping became president in March 2013.

Separately, China has complained about the planned deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, arguing the missile shield damages its own security interests and will heighten regional tension.

South Korea, wary of offending China, had wavered about the installation but went ahead in the face of North Korea's continued missile development.

North Korea is likely to be a key topic at the meeting, though finding common ground will be difficult

Japan and South Korea regularly condemn Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile development, and feel frustrated by what they see as a lack of pressure on the country by the North's economic lifeline China.

Bilateral meetings between Kishida and his Chinese and South Korean counterparts are also scheduled.

The three-way meeting is expected to be followed later this year by a summit. The leaders met in November last year in South Korea.

"I strongly hope that the meeting will create big momentum" for a successful summit, said Japan's Suga.

Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea
Police in central India are sticking glow-in-the-dark strips on the horns of stray cattle to prevent motorists from crashing into the animals as they wander across roads at night, police have revealed.

Following a spate of road accidents, traffic police in one district of Madhya Pradesh state have stuck orange radium reflective bands on the horns of 300 cows and bulls to help drivers spot them.

Stray cattle are a major traffic menace in India, with hundreds of bovines roaming freely on roads across the country.

Stray cattle are a major traffic menace in India, with hundreds of bovines roaming freely on roads across the country

Kailash Chauhan, traffic police inspector for Balaghat district said: 'Many drivers injured themselves or killed the cattle after running over them at night.

'There was an urgent need to prevent such accidents.'

Because of the success of the scheme, officers said they now planned to purchase permanent radium paint to cover cows' horns, as the plastic bands only lasts for a few weeks.

Authorities have also asked farmers to fix glow-in-the-dark bands on their own cattle to help them be seen more easily.

In 2015 more than 550 people were killed in India in accidents involving stray animals, according to road ministry figures.

A World Health Organisation report in 2013 said more than 231,000 people die on India's deadly roads each year.
Iraq forces launch push to retake town south of Mosul

Iraqi special forces led an operation on Tuesday aimed at retaking the jihadist-held town of Qayyarah, a key staging base for operations to attack Mosul, military sources said.

Qayyarah lies on the western bank of the Tigris river, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul, the Islamic State group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

With the clock ticking down on what Iraq expects to be its biggest anti-IS operation yet, the UN warned of population displacement on a scale not seen in years.

After retaking Fallujah in June, Iraqi security forces are focused on Mosul, the Islamic State group's de facto capital in the country Sabah Arar (AFP/File)

"The operation started at dawn with the participation of Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and army forces," Brigadier General Firas Bashar told AFP.

US-led coalition aircraft provided support, said Bashar, the spokesman for the operations command in Nineveh, the province in which Qayyarah and Mosul are located.

"The operation is ongoing and currently achieving its goals," CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman said.

"Qayyarah will be cleared and the operation wrapped up quickly, bolstering our plans... for the final battle to liberate Mosul," he told AFP.

He said Iraqi forces had been working with armed residents inside the town for this offensive, a rare occurrence.

"There has been coordination with groups of armed residents inside," Noman said, declining to provide further details.

Iraqi forces have spent weeks positioning themselves around the town, which is expected to be used as a launchpad for a broader operation against Mosul in the coming weeks or months.

The US-led coalition said in its daily strike report that its aircraft had carried out four raids on a large number of targets in Qayyarah on Monday.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday reiterated his promise that "the city of Mosul will be liberated in 2016".

- 'Insufficient camps' -

The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) said that 200,000 Iraqis had already been forced to flee their homes this year and warned that Mosul could trigger an unprecedented crisis.

"Worse is yet to come," the UNHCR representative in Iraq, Bruno Geddo, said. "We predict that it could result in massive displacement on a scale not seen globally in many years."

Nearly 3.4 million people have already been displaced in Iraq since the start of 2014.

Mosul is Iraq's second city and had an estimated population of around two million before IS took it over in June 2014 in an offensive that sparked large-scale displacement.

Accurate numbers for the population remaining in the city are hard to come by but the UN and other officials have said that up to one million civilians may still be living under IS rule in the Mosul area.

"We are building new camps and pre-positioning emergency relief kits to ensure people fleeing get rapid assistance," Geddo said.

"But even with the best-laid plans, there will be insufficient camps for all families needing shelter and we need to prepare other options," he added.

Saleh al-Juburi, the mayor of Qayyarah district, said around 15,000 civilians were believed to be trapped under IS rule in the Qayyarah area.

"There are plans to bring food and medical supplies to those who are still in their homes and did not manage to escape Qayyarah," he told AFP.

"We will distribute this aid immediately after the liberation of the town."

Juburi said CTS forces were making quick progress in Qayyarah and had already retaken key landmarks in the town hours after the launch of the operation.

"Most of the Daesh (IS) fighters have been killed or have fled," he said.

After retaking Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in June, the main focus of Iraqi security forces is Mosul, which is IS's de facto capital in Iraq.

The Iraqi authorities and the aid community, including the UN, came under criticism for failing to cope with the much smaller influx of people displaced from Fallujah.

Iraq's "Golden Division" counter-terrorism forces train in Baghdad as they preparare for an operation to retake Mosul Sabah Arar (AFP/File)

The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) warns that Mosul could trigger an unprecedented crisis, with 200,000 Iraqis already having fled their homes this year Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP)
UN expert slams China on human rights

A UN expert accused China Monday of staging a "pincer movement" to curb the influence of lawyers, activists and non-governmental organisations and limit their ability to protest against abuses.

While China has made significant progress towards its ambitious goal of eliminating poverty by 2020, it has often ignored the harm done to individuals as it pursues greater economic development, said Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

At the same time, he said, Beijing has cracked down on civil society, limiting the space for individuals and groups to influence public policy and air grievances.

Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, delivers his speech during a press conference in Beijing on August 23, 2016 Wang Zhao (AFP)

Since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, the ruling Communist Party has arrested hundreds of activists and lawyers in a sweeping campaign that has closed avenues for the legal activism which emerged in recent years.

Recently introduced laws have combined with police action against protesters and lawyers in "a pincer movement designed to systematically narrow and control the space for citizens to express discontent over matters such as land rights, workers' rights and environmental threats", Alston wrote in a statement.

In later remarks to reporters, he chided Beijing for asserting that governments should be able to choose which human rights to respect and which to ignore, depending on cultural practices.

"That approach is simply incompatible with the international human rights system," Alston said.

"Given that China insists that it is part of the system... it would be very dangerous if we were to understand human rights with Chinese characteristics as authorising a fundamental departure from the full range of internationally agreed rights and standards."

Alston's comments came at the end of a nine-day tour of China, where he was invited to study the government's poverty alleviation efforts.

He praised China's commitment to reducing extreme poverty -- defined as an income of less than $2.30 per day -- but said it faces serious challenges, including inequality levels that are "deeply problematic".

Questions about the quality of Chinese data, however, made it difficult to assess the true nature of the challenges the country faces, Alston said.

"There is a need to focus more on the importance of getting accurate data and on greater transparency," he said.

Chinese authorities also did not respond to his requests to meet academics and other private citizens, he said, instead advising them that they "should be on vacation" during his trip.
Afghanistan hails US troop deployment to embattled city

Afghanistan Tuesday welcomed the deployment of around 100 US troops to Lashkar Gah to help head off a potential Taliban takeover, the first major American deployment to the southern city since foreign forces withdrew in 2014.

Fighting has recently escalated in the southern opium-growing province of Helmand, with insurgents coming within a few kilometres of its capital Lashkar Gah, raising alarm that the city was at risk.

The Taliban have also closed in on Kunduz, the northern city which the insurgents briefly seized last year in their biggest military victory so far, leaving Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts.

The US intervention in Afghanistan has fuelled the perception that foreign powers are increasingly being drawn back into the conflict as Afghan forces struggle to rein in the Taliban Manjunath Kiran (AFP/File)

"This is a big effort by the Taliban. It's probably the most serious push we've seen of the (fighting) season," Brig Gen Charles Cleveland, spokesman for US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters on Monday.

Cleveland said around 100 US troops had been deployed to Lashkar Gah, in what he called a "temporary effort" to train and advise local forces, although he refused to specify a time frame.

"We do not believe that Lashkar Gah is about to fall," he added.

The Afghan defence ministry welcomed the US reinforcements.

"The (US) troops... are providing all the support necessary to our forces on the ground," ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh told AFP.

"We have enough Afghan troops on the ground in Helmand, but they need support and training from our international partners. We appreciate their presence alongside our forces."

The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, underscores a rapidly unravelling security situation in Afghanistan.

Fighting has left thousands of people displaced in Helmand in recent weeks, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.

NATO officially ended its combat mission in December 2014, but US forces were granted greater powers in June to strike at the insurgents as President Barack Obama vowed a more aggressive campaign.

The US intervention has fuelled the perception that foreign powers are increasingly being drawn back into the conflict as Afghan forces struggle to rein in the Taliban.
Iran says it requested Russian strikes on Syria's Aleppo

Russian warplanes bombed Aleppo at Iran's request to assist its military advisors on the ground in the flashpoint Syrian city, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.

Ali Shamkhani, the top official coordinating security and political affairs between Tehran and its allies, Moscow and Damascus, was quoted by state television saying Iran called in Russian strikes "next to the land operation" in Aleppo.

"Iran has brought the powerful Russia along... due to its need to cooperate with Syria" in the fight against jihadists, added Shamkhani.

This image taken from footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry's official website reportedly shows a Russian bomber Tupolev Tu-22M3 conducting airstrikes

Iran and Russia are key backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but Tehran has remained relatively guarded about its precise involvement in the conflict.

Russia surprised the international community last week when it announced that its warplanes had flown out of Iran's Hamedan base to conduct strikes against targets in Syria.

That announcement prompted Iranian defence minister General Hossein Dehghan to criticise Russia's "showing off and inconsiderate attitude".

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman on Monday denied any differences with Russia over the use of Hamedan, adding that Russian raids from Iranian territory had ended for now.

"These planes did not leave (Monday) but on Thursday, in accordance with the land operations and not under pressure from any other country," Shamkhani said on state television.

It is illegal under Iran's constitution to give military bases to foreign armies.
An American soldier was killed Tuesday during an anti-Taliban operation near the capital of the southern Afghan province of Helmand, US-led NATO forces said.

The news comes after NATO on Monday announced the deployment of around 100 US troops to Lashkar Gah to help head off a potential Taliban takeover as fighting intensifies.

It marked the first major American deployment to the southern city since foreign forces withdrew from the opium-growing province in 2014.

Afghan security personnel prepare for combat during a battle with Taliban militants in Helmand province on August 10, 2016 Noor Mohammad (AFP/File)

'One US service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Lashkar Gah in Helmand today,' the coalition said, adding that another American and six Afghan soldiers were wounded.

'The service member was killed conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under NATO authorities when their patrol triggered an Improvised Explosive Device,' NATO added, without naming the soldier.

Fighting has recently escalated in the opium-growing province of Helmand, with insurgents coming within a few kilometres of Lashkar Gah -- raising fears the city itself was at risk of falling.

The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, underscores a rapidly unravelling security situation in Afghanistan.

Fighting has left thousands of people displaced in Helmand in recent weeks, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.

NATO officially ended its combat mission in December 2014, but US forces were granted greater powers in June to strike at the insurgents as President Barack Obama vowed a more aggressive campaign.

The US intervention has fuelled the perception that foreign powers are increasingly being drawn back into the conflict as Afghan forces struggle to rein in the Taliban.
Pakistan charges exiled political leader with treason

Pakistani police charged the exiled leader of a major political party with treason and inciting terrorism Tuesday, as his own second-in-command vowed to disown him a day after a violent protest in Karachi.

Altaf Hussain, leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which rules Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, was accused with a dozen other party leaders of shouting anti-Pakistan slogans at the demonstration Monday.

Security forces also sealed the party's headquarters, a day before the city council was due to elect imprisoned MQM member Waseem Akhtar as mayor.

Pakistani protesters shout slogans against Altaf Hussain, the leader of Pakistani political Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, during a demonstration in Karachi on August 23, 2016 Rizwan Tabassum (AFP)

MQM activists clashed with police and ransacked a private television station in the southern port city Monday leaving at least one man dead and seven others injured.

The violence erupted soon after Hussain gave a telephone address to supporters from London in which he castigated the media for not giving due coverage of his workers.

According to a police report, seen by AFP, he chanted "down with Pakistan" and called the country a "bastion of terrorism".

For more than two decades, Hussain has addressed supporters through a loudspeaker linked to his London home telephone.

Later Tuesday, Hussain's second-in-command Farooq Sattar, who was also briefly arrested after Monday's violence, said the MQM "completely disowns" Hussain's statements, accusing him of repeatedly embarrassing the party.

"We have decided to address his mental tension, or illness, or whatever condition he is suffering from," he said of Hussain at a press conference in Karachi.

"The MQM cannot afford to suffer this damage time and time again," he said, explaining what he claimed was a party decision to take control away from Hussain.

"It is MQM Pakistan, so it should be operated from Pakistan," he added.

Hussain issued an apology Tuesday for his comments.

- At home in London -

The MQM, run by Hussain from London -- and accused of using extortion and murder to cement its grip on power -- has long been blamed for ethnic violence in Karachi.

It has clashed repeatedly with authorities who, according to rights groups, have resorted to hundreds of extra-judicial killings during a "clean-up" operation that began in 2013 in a city already plagued by violence.

Last year Pakistani police registered a case under terrorism laws against Hussain over a speech criticising the country's powerful military establishment.

Previous charges have not resulted in action or extradition requests against Hussain, who has lived in London since fleeing a military operation against his party in 1992 and is a British citizen.

Hussain remains a highly influential figure in Karachi, Pakistan's economic centre and main port, though observers believe his grip on power is gradually diminishing in his absence and his party is no longer the force it once was.

Earlier this year another party stalwart also turned on Hussain. Mustafa Kamal, a former MQM mayor of Karachi, broke away to form his own political party, taking several party leaders with him.

Hussain was arrested in June 2014 by British police on suspicion of money laundering charges, but later released on bail, leading to speculation that his once cosy ties with London -- who viewed his party as a bulwark against Taliban terrorism -- were fraying.

As well as the money-laundering case, British police are also probing the murder of MQM politician Imran Farooq in London in 2010.

Altaf Hussain (pictured on signs) was arrested in June 2014 by British police on suspicion of money laundering charges, but later released on bail Rizwan Tabassum (AFP/File)
Kerry warns against crackdowns as Nigeria claims Boko Haram leader 'wounded'

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday praised Nigeria for its recent gains against Boko Haram Islamists but did not confirm military claims that the group's leader Abubakar Shekau has been wounded.

Speaking at a press conference in the ancient northern city of Sokoto, Kerry congratulated Nigeria for reclaiming swathes of territory and releasing thousands of hostages from Boko Haram while warning against the use of excessive force to fight extremists.

Nigeria has made "important progress", Kerry said. "Nigeria and its neighbours are degrading Boko Haram's capabilities."

Armoured vehicles donated by the United States to the Nigerian military to help in the fight against Boko Haram are pictured at an army base in Lagos Stefan Heunis (AFP/File)

But the top US diplomat cautioned against a heavy-handed response and emphasised respect for human rights.

"It is understandable that, in the wake of terrorist activity, some are tempted to crack down on anyone and everyone who could theoretically pose some sort of threat," Kerry said.

"But extremism can't be defeated through repression or fear. Fear instilled through repression invites not confidence but contempt," Kerry said. "It creates terrorists, trust creates citizens."

His cautionary message came hours after Nigeria's military claimed to have hit the elusive Shekau in an air strike on the Islamist group's forest stronghold, saying he was "fatally wounded on his shoulders" during an "unprecedented and spectacular" Friday raid.

PR Nigeria, an agency that distributes government news, released a video purportedly showing "declassified footage of the air operation".

The two-minute video appeared to show a camp from the air but did not reveal any faces or bodies.

A senior US state department official said the issue "didn't come up" between Kerry and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari during talks held between the two leaders in the nation's capital, Abuja.

- 'Strong start' -

Nigeria claimed to have killed Shekau in several previous raids -- only for the leader to surface shortly afterwards in videos.

Sidestepping any potential embarrassment, Kerry made no mention of the claim that Shekau -- Boko Haram's leader since 2009 -- had been wounded and did not take questions from the press.

This week Kerry is on a three-nation tour of Kenya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia focussed on counterterrorism.

His meetings have dealt with the terrorist threat across the continent, from Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabaab in East Africa to Islamic State-backed Boko Haram in the West.

"You have made a strong start at all levels of government," Kerry said about Buhari.

In return, Buhari thanked the US for its assistance in fighting Boko Haram and pledged to continue his anti-graft war "according to the rule of law".

The much-needed support from the United States comes as Nigeria is heading into a likely recession and is wrestling with a growing humanitarian crisis in the north.

In Sokoto, Kerry urged Nigerians to transcend "religions, ethnicities and all kinds of moral codes" by practising "tolerance and acceptance" to build unity and defeat terrorism.

- 'Rebuilding trust' -

The previous day, in northern Zamfara State, eight people were burned to death by a mob after a Muslim man tried to help a Christian accused of blasphemy.

To improve the situation requires "rebuilding trust in the government", Kerry said, vowing that the White House would continue to provide military and humanitarian support to Nigeria, a country home to over 170 million that is struggling to provide for people in its war-torn north.

Earlier this month the US government pledged $37 million (33 million euros) in aid for victims of Boko Haram as fears of a famine mounted in the violence-ravaged Lake Chad region.

Kerry said that the US will partner with Nigeria to open temporary schools where "displaced children are given access to meals, counselling and other social services".

In its quest to create a fundamentalist Islamic state, Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.6 million from their homes.

With entire villages razed to the ground and fertile farmlands abandoned, the United Nations has warned that some 50,000 children could starve to death this year in Borno state alone if nothing is done.

On Wednesday Kerry is scheduled to meet representatives of local NGOs helping to fight corruption -- a priority of the Buhari administration -- before flying to Saudi Arabia where he will discuss the Yemen crisis, the war in Syria and the international fight against the Islamic State group.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar at his palace in Sokoto, on August 23, 2016 Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP)

Nigeria's military claims Tuesday to have seriously injured Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau and killed other commanders in an air strike on the Islamist group's forest stronghold
Greece says at least 41,000 asylum seekers on its territory

Greece has at least 41,000 refugees and migrants who are seeking asylum, mostly Syrians eligible to relocate within the EU, the migration minister said on Tuesday.

Yiannis Mouzalas told a news conference that Greek and UN services had recorded 54,000 refugees and migrants on Greek territory between June and the end of July.

Over 41,000 of them on the mainland have expressed interest in asylum, or have made formal requests.

Yiannis Mouzalas told a news conference that Greek and UN services had recorded 54,000 refugees and migrants on Greek territory between June and the end of July Yannis Kolesidis (POOL/AFP/File)

Another 2,000 have agreed to be returned home.

At the same time, there are another 11,000 people currently being processed on Greek islands after landing there from neighbouring Turkey.

Mouzalas said the operation was designed to "begin to rein in the chaos", which overwhelmed Greek authorities after a succession of Eastern European and Balkan countries shut their borders to migrants starting in February.

Before the closures, and an EU-Turkey deal designed to stem the flow came into effect in March, over a million people had passed through Greece in 2015, primarily Syrians fleeing their country's brutal civil war.

The migration minister admitted that there are additionally "around 4,000" people who are avoiding follow-up registration as they hope to cross the border with the help of smugglers.

But Mouzalas denied reports that hundreds of people were being allowed to sneak across the border to Macedonia and Bulgaria.

"This is a lie," he said. "If 700 were leaving every day (as is claimed) we'd have no refugees left (in Greece)."
US soldier killed in anti-Taliban operation in Afghanistan

A roadside bomb killed an American soldier Tuesday near the capital of Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province, following the first major US deployment to the southern city since foreign forces withdrew in 2014.

The blast, which occurred during an anti-Taliban operation, left another American and six Afghan soldiers wounded, the US-led NATO coalition said.

The casualties came just a day after NATO announced the deployment of around 100 US troops to Lashkar Gah to help head off a potential Taliban takeover of Helmand's capital as fighting intensifies.

Afghan security personnel prepare for combat during a battle with Taliban militants in Helmand province on August 10, 2016 Noor Mohammad (AFP/File)

"One US service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Lashkar Gah in Helmand," NATO said in a statement.

"The service member was killed conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under NATO authorities when their patrol triggered an improvised explosive device."

The Pentagon said the troop's identity would be released after family were notified.

It marks the first American combat fatality in the country since January, when a US soldier was killed while conducting a mission with Afghan special forces in Helmand's Marjah district.

"This tragic event in Helmand province reminds us that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place, and there is difficult work ahead even as Afghan forces continue to make progress in securing their own country," US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a statement.

NATO said the soldier was not part of the new deployment to Lashkar Gah, which the coalition has called a "temporary effort" to train and advise local forces.

There are currently around 700 US troops in Helmand as part of a similar counter-insurgency training mission, NATO said.

Fighting has recently escalated in the opium-growing province, with insurgents coming within a few kilometres of Lashkar Gah -- raising fears the city is at risk of falling.

- 'Serious' Taliban offensive -

The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, underscores a rapidly unravelling security situation in Afghanistan.

Fighting has left thousands of people displaced in Helmand in recent weeks, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.

The Taliban have also closed in on Kunduz -- the northern city they briefly seized last year in their biggest military victory so far -- leaving Afghan forces stretched on multiple fronts.

"This is a big effort by the Taliban. It's probably the most serious push we've seen of the (fighting) season," said NATO spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland.

But coalition forces have insisted that neither Kunduz nor Lashkar Gah are at risk of falling to the insurgents.

NATO officially ended its combat mission in December 2014, but US forces were granted greater powers in June to strike at the insurgents as President Barack Obama vowed a more aggressive campaign.

The US intervention in Helmand has fuelled the perception that foreign powers are increasingly being drawn back into the conflict as Afghan forces struggle to rein in the Taliban.

The fighting in Helmand comes as Afghan troops are stretched on several other battlefronts across Afghanistan -- including the eastern province of Nangarhar, where the Islamic State group is making inroads.

Battle for Helmand province
Kashmiri women offer bangles to UN's Ban over inaction

Women in Pakistan-administered Kashmir offered their bangles to Ban Ki-moon Tuesday, an insult in patriarchal South Asia aimed at the UN head's perceived inaction over violence on the Indian side of the disputed region.

Hundreds of refugee women marched in Muzzafarabad, capital of the Pakistani side, chanting slogans against the UN and India as some clutched their bangles in their hands in protest at the weeks of deadly violence.

Much of Indian-administered Kashmir has been under curfew since protests broke out over the death on July 8 of a popular young rebel leader in a gunfight with security forces.

Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard during a curfew in Srinagar on August 17, 2016 Tauseef Mustafa (AFP/File)

More than 60 civilians have been killed in clashes between protesters and police and troops and thousands more injured in the worst violence to hit the restive region since 2010.

Hospitals have reported hundreds of young men and boys suffering serious eye and other injuries from the pellets.

"If the secretary general of the UN Ban Ki-moon can't help Kashmiris, he should wear these bangles and rest," protester Irshad Qureshi told AFP, clutching her bracelets.

Others held placards saying the bangles were "For UN". The protesters also burnt the Indian flag.

Bangles are deeply embedded in female identity in Pakistan.

To offer the delicate bracelets to a man is to say he is acting like a woman -- still seen as an insult in the deeply conservative country, where women have been fighting for their rights for decades.

Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan region in full.
DR Congo opposition strike call slows business

Business slowed in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Tuesday after the opposition called for a national strike to demand President Joseph Kabila end his 15-year rule when his mandate runs out in December.

Rush-hour traffic in Kinshasa was unusually jam-free in the busy city of 11 million people but it appeared to be business as usual in other cities.

"It took me seven minutes to drive from (the northwestern district of) Kitambo to the central station when it usually takes me 30," said Kinshasa taxi-driver Firmin Luzitu.

Joseph Kabila took over after his father was assassinated in 2001, before being elected in 2006 and 2011 Junior Kannah (AFP/File)

At the city's main market, two out of five stalls were shuttered and fishmonger Marguerite Makengo said: "No one's buying."

The call for a nationwide shutdown was issued by new opposition coalition, "Rassemblement" ("Gathering"), headed by veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, to protest against a delay in this year's scheduled presidential election.

The coalition also refused to join Tuesday's all-party talks over the election row, run by Togo's former premier Edem Kodjo, who was asked to step in by the African Union (AU).

The opposition has said it will join the AU-run talks if Kodjo -- seen as biased towards Kabila -- steps down and if the government releases all political prisoners.

In an apparent sign of compromise, the government last week promised to free some two dozen prisoners of conscience, but the opposition says 112 political prisoners remain behind bars.

And in the latest sign of a delay to the election, the electoral commission said this weekend that a voter registration drive launched in March would not be complete by December as it would need around a year of work.

The country's highest court earlier this year ruled that Kabila could stay in office beyond December if no election were held.

- 'High treason' -

Tension has been building for months in the vast mineral-rich nation of 71 million over fears Kabila will follow in the footsteps of neighbouring heads of state and change the constitution to extend his rule with a third term.

When Tshisekedi, who is 83 and frail, returned to DR Congo last month after a two-year absence he was welcomed by hundreds of thousands of supporters.

In a fiery speech in Kinshasa, Tshisekedi warned Kabila not to extend his rule, saying it would be "high treason" if the electoral process were not launched on schedule on September 19.

He told a rally that date was the "first red line which must not be crossed".

"The electoral body must be convened (by that date) for the presidential election. If it is not, high treason will be proved in the person of Mr Kabila, who will take responsibility for the misery of the Congolese people," Tshisekedi said.

"From that moment, his three-month notice period on the presidential palace begins. On December 19 the notice expires and on the 20th the house must be free," he added, to rousing cheers.

An immensely popular figure who emerged as a leading dissenting voice as far back as the 1980s, when he was a critic of strongman Mobutu Sese Seko, Tshisekedi in June in Brussels accomplished the rare feat of uniting the opposition.

Also in June, another leading light of the opposition, Moise Katumbi, was sentenced in absentia to three years in jail for property fraud.

The presiding judge in the case has since claimed the authorities pressured her into signing off on a guilty verdict to ensure Katumbi would be ineligible to run for office, according to a letter seen by AFP.
Florida probes non-travel Zika case on Gulf Coast

Officials are investigating a new non-travel related case of Zika virus near the port city of Tampa, suggesting the local spread of Zika in Florida may have reached the state's Gulf Coast, the governor said Tuesday.

A statement from Governor Rick Scott's office said only that the Florida Department of Health "is investigating one new individual with non-travel related Zika in Pinellas County," but did not say where and gave no further details.

Pinellas County includes the cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg -- both of which are west of Tampa -- about 300 miles (480 kilometers) northwest of Miami.

Florida Governor Rick Scott's office said only that the Florida Department of Health "is investigating one new individual with non-travel related Zika in Pinellas County" Joe Raedle (Getty/AFP/File)

The Department of Health (DOH) "has begun door-to-door outreach and sampling in Pinellas County and mosquito abatement and reduction activities are also taking place," said a statement from Scott's office.

Meanwhile, four more new non-travel related cases of Zika have been identified in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, which was the first area to report local transmission of the virus in late July, he said.

"DOH still believes ongoing active transmission is only taking place within the small identified areas in Wynwood and Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County," the goveronor's statement said.

The five new cases bring Florida's total of locally transmitted Zika infections to 42.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week urged pregnant women to avoid areas of Miami Beach and Wynwood where mosquitoes are believed to be spreading the virus, which can cause birth defects.

CDC chief Tom Frieden also said pregnant women and their partners may want to consider avoiding Miami-Dade County entirely.

Zika can be spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, or by sexual contact.

In four out of five cases, those who are infected show no symptoms.

Others may experience a rash, pink eye, and body pain -- all of which clear up within a week to 10 days.
Morocco posts fall in foreign tourist arrivals

Morocco has announced a 5.6 percent drop in foreign tourist arrivals for the first half of 2016, with holidaymakers apparently put off by unrest and attacks across the region.

Tourism is a backbone of the North African country's economy, along with revenues from exports and the remittances of Moroccans who work abroad.

Morocco has been spared unrest triggered by the Arab Spring revolts that have rocked North Africa and the Middle East since 2011, as well as attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

Tourism is a backbone of Morocco's economy, along with revenues from exports and the remittances of Moroccans who work abroad Fadel Senna (AFP/File)

But the number of tourist arrivals dropped by 5.6 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2015, said the Moroccan tourism office.

It said the number of British visitors fell by eight percent, with arrivals from Germany down by seven percent and those from both France and Italy five percent lower.

The number of Moroccans living abroad who visited the country in the first half of the year was up by 1.7 percent, said the Moroccan Observatory for Tourism.

Overall, nearly 4.2 million tourists visited Morocco in the first six months of the year, or 2.6 percent fewer holidaymakers than for 2015, it said.

Marrakesh and Agadir, the country's two main tourist destinations, also suffered from the slump, it added.

Marrakesh was the scene of a deadly attack on a cafe in 2011 that killed 17 people, mostly of them foreigners.

It was the deadliest attack in Morocco since the 2003 Casablanca blasts that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers.

The decline in tourist arrivals in Tunisia follows a series of attacks that killed dozens of foreigners in Tunisia and Egypt last year and were claimed by IS jihadists.
British-Australian man granted bail in Dubai

A British-Australian man detained in Dubai last month for highlighting the work of an Afghan refugee charity on social media has been released on bail, a campaign group said Tuesday.

Scott Richards, 41, had been held at a Dubai police station since his arrest on July 28 for allegedly breaching a new law on promoting foreign charities.

UK-based support group Detained in Dubai said in a statement on Facebook that Richards was home with his family in Dubai after being "finally bailed".

British-Australian citizen Scott Richards, pictured in Dubai where he is accused of breaching a new law on promoting foreign charities Radha Stirling (Detained in Dubai/AFP/File)

"He is home, relieved and recovering with his family, and will later prepare (his) legal defence," group founder Radha Stirling said on Facebook.

The group did not provide any details about bail conditions or potential charges against Richards, who had been denied bail on three previous occasions.

Richards grew up in Adelaide in Australia and then lived in London, before moving to Dubai about eight years ago, according to the campaign group. He is married with two sons aged 14 and three.
Police probe terror as motive in Virginia knife attack

The FBI was investigating Tuesday whether a double stabbing in the state of Virginia over the weekend was motivated by Islamic extremism.

The attack at an apartment complex in Roanoke, Virginia occurred late Saturday when an armed assailant attacked and seriously wounded a man and a woman.

"Both were attacked with a knife and severely injured," a statement from the Roanoake police department said in a statement.

Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a stabbing attack at an apartment complex in Roanoke, Virginia Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File)

"The male was able to fight off the attacker who fled the scene."

A separate FBI statement said witnesses reported during the attack that the suspect, 20-year old Wasil Farooqui, yelled "Allah Akbar."

Farooqui was arrested later Saturday after seeking treatment for undisclosed injuries at the same hospital where the victims were treated.

Police determined that he fit the description of the suspect in the stabbing and arrested him at the hospital on two counts of aggravated malicious wounding.

"It is believed that this was a random attack and Mr Farooqui had no connection to the two victims," the police statement said.

Authorities said he currently is being held without bond at a jail in Roanoke.
Iran rounds up 450 social network users

Iran has "arrested or summoned" around 450 social media users over their online activities, a website linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday.

Gherdab, the cyber arm of the Guards, said the people targeted administered pages on social networks including smartphone applications such as Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp.

"These people were carrying out immoral activities, insulted religious beliefs or had illegal activities in the field of fashion," said Gherdab.

Facebook and Twitter are officially banned in Iran but applications such as Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp are available and very popular Jung Yeon-Je (AFP/File)

It said the suspects would be put on trial without specifying how many exactly have been placed under arrest.

Isna news agency carried a similar report.

Iranian authorities have for years tried to impose curbs on its citizens using social media.

Facebook and Twitter are officially banned in the Islamic republic, although users can gain access with easily available and cheap software.

But applications such as Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp are available to Iranians and very popular.

More than half of Iran's population of 80 million is online, with Telegram, an instant messaging app alone having more than 20 million users.

President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, has repeatedly pointed to the ineffectiveness of measures to limit access to social media.

In May, state news agency IRNA reported that a committee headed by Rouhani had set a one-year deadline for foreign social media to hand over data on their Iranian users.
Japan at UN urges N.Korea to refrain from provocations

Japan on Tuesday strongly urged North Korea to refrain from provocations following a string of missile launches and threats from Pyongyang of nuclear retaliation in response to US-South Korean military drills.

Japanese senior official Kiyoshi Odawara told a UN Security Council debate on non-proliferation that North Korea's missiles launches, the most recent of which reached Japanese-controlled waters, were "blatant violations" of UN resolutions.

"Japan strongly urges North Korea to refrain from further provocations and to comply faithfully and fully with the relevant Security Council resolutions," said Odawara, Japan's parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs.

Japanese senior official Kiyoshi Odawara told a UN Security Council debate that North Korea's missiles launches were "blatant violations" of UN resolutions Kazuhiro Nogi (AFP/File)

North Korea on Monday threatened a pre-emptive military strike as South Korea and the United States kicked off large-scale annual military exercises.

Japan this month joined the United States in calling an emergency session of the council after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile that landed off Japan's northern coast and within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

But the council failed to condemn that August 2 launch after China sought to include language in a statement opposing the THAAD missile defense system that the United States plans to deploy in South Korea.

Odawara said North Korea's missile launches "cannot be condoned for any reason."

China's Ambassador Liu Jieyi took a swipe at the United States and its allies when he stressed the need to "avoid any action that is provocative to each other and may escalate tensions" on the Korean peninsula.

"Non-proliferation cannot be used as a pretext to beef up military deployment, step up military presence and scale up military exercises," said Liu.

Japan called on all UN member-states to redouble their efforts to fully implement all resolutions including a measure adopted in March that imposed the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea.

"These efforts are crucial and their significance and impact cannot be underestimated," said Odawara.

North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
Protesting Zimbabweans 'speaking with one voice': activist

Zimbabweans are finally "speaking with one voice", a leading human rights activist said Tuesday, as the country has been rocked by a wave of anti-government protests.

"Zimbabweans are saying enough is enough," said Jestina Mukoko, who heads the non-profit Zimbabwe Peace Project in Harare.

In the past protests were limited to one part of society, each one "angered at different levels at different times," she said.

Zimbabwe's opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters shout anti-government slogans during a demonstration in Gweru, on August 13, 2016 Zinyange Autony (AFP/File)

"But what we have a now is that the deepening poverty has kind of united Zimbabweans and somehow people are speaking with one voice."

Zimbabwe has seen a spike in the number and frequency of protests against the administration of President Robert Mugabe since June. Mugabe has ruled the country since independence in 1980.

"The bout of protests increasingly show that citizens have claimed their constitutional rights to demand accountability and response to their demands," Mukoko said at an international human rights conference in Johannesburg.

But Mukoko warned that the mounting protests -- spawned by a weak economy, rampant corruption and deepening poverty -- could trigger chaos if they succeeded in dislodging Mugabe.

"We still have long way to go. In ZANU-PF at the moment there is factional fighting, so even if he (Mugabe) was to step down today there will still be that wrestle for power and that might actually be more bloody than what we are seeing at the moment."

Zimbabweans have taken to Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag "ThisFlag" to share the hardships of living under the 92-year-old Mugabe's rule and to organise protests.

- 'Citizens are not afraid' -

"What we are seeing is that citizens are not afraid to go on the streets... we haven't seen this in a long time," Mukoko told AFP on the sidelines of the conference, organised by the International Federation for Human Rights.

The government's planned introduction of a token currency -- equivalent in value to the US dollar -- has triggered memories of the country's devastating 2008 economic collapse, prompting people to take to their concerns to the streets.

Zimbabwean authorities have responded to protests by deploying police to violently put down the demonstrations, and at a government event earlier this month Mugabe warned that protests "don't pay".

"Things like protests don't pay because usually they end up being violent protests," the long-ruling president said.

"What does it help to go in the streets with the intention to show that you are able to throw stones?"

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for 36 years.

"We see a government that is desperate and also using desperate measures (by blocking social media). We expect to see a lot of that because mobilisation has been going on the social media," said Mukoko.

"The heavy-handedness that we see the police demonstrating now is what they have used, and they repressed, brutalised those with dissenting voices. They have used those images to instil fear in other citizens and for (a) long time people did not want to cross the line... but I suppose Zimbabweans are saying it's all dying -- whether we remain quiet or we talk about it."

Mukoko was abducted by Zimbabwean state security agents and tortured in 2008.

A young woman holds a placard during a march for free basic education on August 17, 2016, in Bulawayo Zinyange Auntony (AFP/File)
Turkey vows 'all kinds of support' for anti-IS Jarabulus operation

Turkey pledged Tuesday to give "all kinds of support" to push Islamic State (IS) jihadists out of the Syrian town of Jarabulus near the two countries' border.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the promise amid reports Ankara-backed rebels were massing on the border in anticipation of an impending operation against IS.

"We will provide all kinds of support to the Jarabulus operation," Cavusoglu said, promising to help "cleanse" IS from neighbouring countries.

Turkish cannons are seen firing towards the Syria border earlier this year.Turkey pounded IS positions on Tuesday in Syria strikes after a deadly attack near its border killed at least 54 people Bulent Kilic (AFP/File)

"We do not want Daesh to exist in Iraq and Syria," he told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

Turkey on Tuesday pounded IS positions in Syria with artillery strikes after a deadly attack near its border killed at least 54 people.

"We shelled ISIS positions across the border," said a Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Turkish media reported that tanks and armoured vehicles amassed on the Syrian border.

In a live interview with private NTV television, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey was closely monitoring the developments on the Syrian side of the border, adding that Ankara has sees this "as a national security matter."

"What we have said, since the beginning, is that having Jarabulus or any other city held by IS is unacceptable," he said.
Danish lawmakers to visit Australia's Nauru migrant camp

Danish lawmakers will travel to the Pacific island of Nauru to visit a controversial Australian immigration centre and study the use of offshore settlements for asylum-seekers, one of the MPs said Tuesday.

Six members of the Danish parliament's Immigration and Integration Affairs Committee will leave on Saturday for Australia and Nauru, Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen of the leftist Red-Green Alliance told AFP, confirming reports in Danish media.

Schmidt-Nielsen said that although she found the Australian system "grotesque", the trip -- planned for several months -- was a chance for her to "ask some of the questions that the Australian government is preventing journalists from asking."

Under Canberra's immigration policy, asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are turned back or sent to detention centres in other countries, Nauru and Papua New Guinea Saeed Khan (AFP/File)

The release of more than 2,000 leaked reports of incidents on Nauru detailing allegations of widespread abuse and self-harm, including children wanting to kill themselves, have renewed calls for a parliamentary inquiry in Australia.

But the Nauruan government said last week that asylum-seekers had made up most of the claims in hope of being relocated to Australia.

Under Canberra's immigration policy, asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are turned back or sent to detention centres in other countries, Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

The chairman of the Danish parliamentary committee, Martin Henriksen of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party (DPP), has previously described the Australian policy as being "very sensible".

The ruling Venstre party's hardline integration minister, Inger Stojberg, is not on the committee, but has said that the Australian system "apparently works in an Australian context" and that her government would "continually consider... experiences from other countries."

The Australian government said on August 17 that it had agreed to close the Papua New Guinea camp.

The Guardian, which published the Nauru reports, said that only two Australian journalists had been granted access to the Nauru detention centre in the past three years.
Last animals set to leave 'world's worst zoo' in Gaza

A team of foreign veterinarians began taking measures on Tuesday to evacuate the last surviving animals from a zoo in the Gaza Strip that has been dubbed "the world's worst".

In front of each cage of the zoo in Khan Yunis, one of the vets stops and fires an anaesthetic dart into monkeys, birds, porcupines, and the only tiger in the Palestinian enclave.

Three foreign vets and their assistants took part in their seventh and final visit on Tuesday, carefully sedating animals for medical examinations, before they will be taken out of the strip.

Members of the international animal welfare charity "Four Paws" check sedated monkeys at a zoo in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, prior to evacuating the animals out of the Palestinian enclave Said Khatib (AFP)

The animals will undergo a series of ultrasound scans and vaccinations before crossing the Erez checkpoint into Israel on Wednesday morning.

For months, Amir Khalil, an Austrian vet of Egyptian origin, and colleagues from the Four Paws non-governmental organisation, have made regular visits to the zoo in southern Gaza.

"Khan Yunis Zoo has been known as the 'worst zoo in the world' since it became public last year that the zoo was crudely mummifying the animals that died in their care and displaying them," Four Paws says on its website.

"Four Paws has been active in providing emergency food and supplies to the animals, but now we have the chance to rescue them all for good."

At one point in the past there were more than 100 animals housed at the zoo, but they were decimated by repeated wars and shortages of customers.

- 'Harsh conditions' -

Now just 15 animals remain including a gazelle, pelicans, as well as the monkeys, porcupines and tiger.

But on Wednesday they will take the road to Israel and then to Jordan.

The tiger will eventually travel to South Africa, but will stop in Israel to be transferred to a cage adapted to air transport, said Khalil.

"A truck will come and take the animals to cross Erez," he said.

After that the Khan Yunis zoo will permanently close its doors.

"I am very sad," laments owner Ziad Aweda. "I brought these animals from Libya, Sudan, Egypt and even South Africa to Gaza."

They are now going in the opposite direction "because of the harsh conditions of life, the weak economy and the severe blockade."

All that will remain of the zoo are the stuffed carcasses of some the animals that died of starvation.

The nearly two million residents of Gaza are also suffering and find it difficult to get permits to Israel, which has maintained a blockade on the enclave for a decade.

Hamas, which runs Gaza, has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, the most recent in 2014 in which 2,251 Palestinians died, the majority civilians, according to the United Nations.

Seventy-three Israelis, including 67 soldiers, were also killed.

The Israeli blockade of the enclave and Egypt's closed border have suffocated the economy, with Gazans no finding it more and more difficult to find money for leisure.

Members of the international animal welfare charity "Four Paws" check a sedated deer at a zoo in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, prior to evacuating all the animals at the zoo out of the Palestinian enclave Said Khatib (AFP)
US deploys attack helicopters to strike IS in Libya

The United States has begun using attack helicopters to target the Islamic State group in the jihadists' Libyan former stronghold of Sirte, a defense official said Tuesday.

American jets have since the start of August been helping fighters loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) retake the coastal city of Sirte, conducting dozens of strikes on IS fighting positions and equipment.

Lieutenant Commander Anthony Falvo, a spokesman for the US military's Africa Command, said Marine Corps AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters had in recent days joined the operation.

A member of the forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord runs on a street on August 21, 2016 Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File)

"The Cobras provide additional precision air strike capability," Stuttgart-based Falvo told AFP in a phone interview.

"It gives us a little bit more flexibility."

SuperCobra gunships are based on the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship in the Mediterranean.

Harrier jets are also being launched from the ship to conduct strikes on Sirte.

As of Monday, the United States had conducted 77 air strikes in the city.

Pro-GNA forces, backed since August 1 by US air strikes, began an assault in mid-May to expel IS from what had been its Sirte stronghold.

The jihadists seized control of the city, which had been the hometown of Libya's slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, in June 2015.

They fought their way into Sirte on June 9 and have since faced a barrage of sniper fire, suicide bombings and booby traps, pinning down the jihadists in a downtown area near the sea.

More than 350 pro-GNA fighters have been killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in the battle, according to medical sources. IS casualty figures are unavailable.

The Pentagon has said US involvement in the Sirte operation would last "weeks not months," but Falvo did not want to speculate on how much longer the United States would continue its air campaign.

"We are there at the request of the GNA," he said.

"We will continue our support for as long as it is requested. If they were to tell us tomorrow they don't need our support any more, we would end our support at that point."
Prejudice rife despite pro-gay laws: Tutu's daughter

Desmond Tutu's daughter on Tuesday slammed rampant prejudice against homosexuals and the poor compliance with laws protecting the rights of gays and lesbians in Africa.

"The reality is that in much of Africa homophobic laws are tolerated and even in the places where the laws and the rights or LGBTI people are protected, the protections are on paper and not in fact," Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu-van Furth told AFP.

Even in liberal societies in Europe, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people face discrimination and harassment, the Episcopalian cleric said.

The Reverend Mpho Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu, speaks on April 29, 2014 at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town Rodger Bosch (AFP/File)

"So the lived experience of people is very different from the promises that are enshrined in our rights documents, our constitutions," she added on the fringes of an international human rights conference in Johannesburg.

Tutu-van Furth, who recently entered into a same-sex marriage, said gays and lesbians experience "uncertainty, insecurity and fear."

"People still face discrimination even though the paper says you are entitled to fair treatment, you are entitled to protection, those protections aren't the lived experience of many people."

Tutu-van Furth lost her licence to preside at holy communion, weddings, baptisms or funerals early this year after she married Marceline Tutu-van Furth, an Amsterdam-based professor specialising in paediatric infections.

The daughter of the retired archbishop and celebrated anti-apartheid campaigner, said the church had the responsibility to protect human rights.

"The church should actually be at the centre of the human rights agenda and the centre of those pressing for the exercise of rights of all human beings, it's not always on the right side of issues," she said.
Rights groups condemn executions over Iraq massacre

Rights groups said Wednesday that the executions by the Iraqi state of 36 men over a 2014 massacre claimed by the Islamic State group were failing to deliver justice and security.

Iraq on Sunday hanged 36 men found guilty of involvement in the killing of up to 1,700 military recruits who were captured by IS and allied militants from Camp Speicher, near the city of Tikrit.

The executions came after trials that rights watchdogs and the United Nations said failed to meet most basic standards.

The "Speicher" massacre, named after a base near Iraq's Tikrit where up to 1,700 military recruits were kidnapped before being executed by Sunni jihadists and allied militants Haidar Hamdani (AFP/File)

"When such a high-profile trial as this is mired with due process violations, what faith can anyone, on any side, have in Iraq's justice system," asked Human Rights Watch in a statement.

HRW pointed out that among the 36 who were hanged were 24 men who had an earlier death sentence in the same case overturned over procedural errors.

The group of defendants was then expanded and death sentences handed down again in February 2016 after a one-day hearing.

Amnesty International also criticised the hangings.

"Executing men who were forced to 'confess' under torture and were not given a proper chance to defend themselves is not justice," the London-based group said.

"Relying on executions to counter Iraq's security challenges is completely misguided. It does not address the root causes of deadly attacks and will only serve to perpetuate the cycle of violence," it argued.

According to Amnesty, at least 81 executions have been carried out in Iraq so far this year and at least 123 people sentenced to death.

Sunday's hangings were attended by officials and relatives of Speicher victims.
FBI probing possible Russian hack of US newsrooms: CNN

Hackers with apparent ties to Russia have conducted a series of cyber attacks on US media outlets including the New York Times, CNN reported Tuesday.

The FBI and other US law enforcement agencies are examining the breaches, US officials told CNN, and investigators believe Russian intelligence is likely to be behind the hacks.

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a New York Times spokeswoman did not confirm the investigation to CNN.

The FBI is investigating an allegations Russian hackers are targeting New York Times reporters in a series of cyber breaches (stock image of The Times headquarters)

According to CNN, investigators think the latest hacks are part of a broader of series of attacks that also targeted Democratic Party organizations.

Hillary Clinton's campaign has accused Moscow of hacking into Democratic National Committee emails.

CNN said Russian hackers are also believed to be attempting cyber attacks on Washington's many think tanks, which frequently employee former government officials to provide expert analysis on national security issues.

Cyber vulnerabilities have become something of a crisis in the US government.

The head of the Office of Personnel Management was last year forced to resign after her agency suffered a massive hack -- which many suspect originated in China -- that affected a staggering 21.5 million people.
Dutch general to report on UN response to South Sudan attacks

A retired Dutch general will lead an independent investigation to establish whether UN peacekeepers failed to protect civilians during heavy fighting in South Sudan's capital last month, the UN announced Tuesday.

Major General Patrick Cammaert will present a report within one month to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the findings will be made public, the UN spokesman said.

UN troops in South Sudan have come under heavy criticism for allegedly failing to protect civilians including women and girls raped near a UN base when fighting engulfed the capital Juba in early July.

Makeshift graves are seen at the UN House for the internally displaced persons in the Jebel area in Juba on July 22, 2016 Charles Atiki Lomodong (AFP/File)

The United Nations says it has documented at least 200 cases of rape in July alone by men in uniform, mainly troops loyal to President Salva Kiir.

Ban last week announced that he would launch an investigation of reports that peacekeepers failed to come to the aid of civilians during the fighting and will also look into a separate attack on a hotel in Juba.

South Sudanese soldiers allegedly gang-raped women, assaulted aid workers and shot a local journalist during the July 11 attack at the Terrain Hotel in Juba while peacekeepers reportedly failed to act.

The investigation will determine whether the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS "responded appropriately to prevent these incidents and protect civilians within its resources and capabilities at the time," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been sheltering at eight designated sites protected by UNMISS peacekeepers since the war began in December 2013.

The UN Security Council this month authorized the deployment of a regional force of 4,000 troops under UNMISS command that will ensure security in Juba and help protect UN bases.

Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting in early July between Kiir's government forces and those loyal to ex-rebel chief Riek Machar.
France sued over control of Titanic artifacts

The bankrupt US company that controls thousands of artifacts salvaged from the ill-starred Titanic has sued the French government to be allowed to sell some of them.

Premier Exhibitions filed the suit in a Florida federal bankruptcy court to press the French government to clarify it has no interest in the artifacts that would prevent their sale.

The suit, made last Wednesday in Jacksonville, came after the judge in the case last month denied Premier permission to sell some of the recovered goods, which include jewelry and clothing, to repay creditors.

A view of a Swiss watch found near the sunken Titanic ship, on display as part of a new exhibition at the 'Paris Expo', on May 31, 2013, in Paris Joel Saget (AFP/File)

Premier ran into financial trouble after years of putting on commercial exhibitions displaying items recovered from the Titanic, which sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, sending around 1,500 people to their deaths in the frigid northern Atlantic.

The judge ruled that the French government could still retain some rights over the first batch of some 2,100 artifacts recovered from the Titanic in 1987 by a Premier subsidiary together with the French maritime institute IFREMER.

An agreement between the Premier subsidiary, RMS Titanic Inc. and France at the time of the first salvage mission required the recovered goods -- called the "French Artifacts" -- to be kept together as a collection.

But Premier argues in the suit that France awarded it "unconditional" title to the artifacts in 1993, giving it the right to sell some.

The suit will require France to clarify to the court if it does or does not claim some control over them.

"A declaration of rights is both necessary and appropriate to establish that France does not have any interest in the French artifacts," the suit said.

Premier is also in control of a second, larger batch of items from the Titanic, known as the "American Artifacts," recovered after 1993.
US confirms Gulen extradition request, but says no link with Turkey coup

The United States confirmed Tuesday that Turkey had made a "formal" request for the extradition of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for last month's coup attempt, but specified the request was not linked to the failed putsch.

Gulen, who has lived in self-exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

"We can confirm now that Turkey has requested the extradition of Mr Gulen. But I wouldn't characterize the request as relating to the coup attempt," deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen speaks at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania on July 18, 2016 Thomas Urbain (AFP/File)

"We have received a formal extradition request, just not one pertaining to the coup attempt," said Toner, who did not offer further details on the dossier submitted by Ankara.

For weeks, Turkey has said that it requested Gulen's extradition to face trial in his home country. It has even accused him of running a "parallel state" in Turkey.

Despite constant pressure from Ankara, Washington appeared to be dragging its feet on the issue, saying it had not received a "formal" request and was looking for "evidence" of Gulen's involvement in the failed putsch.

The latest State Department comments come as diplomats and officials from the US Justice Department were due to meet with Turkish authorities about the Gulen case.

Vice President Joe Biden is also expected in Turkey on Wednesday. He will be the highest-ranking US official to visit the NATO ally since the coup attempt.
French submarine maker hit by secret data leak: report

French defence contractor DCNS has been hit by a massive leak of secret data on its submarines likely to alarm India, Malaysia and Chile, which use the boats, The Australian newspaper reported Wednesday.

The 22,400 leaked pages, which the daily said it had seen, detail the combat capability of the Scorpene-class submarine DCNS designed for the Indian navy, and variants of which are used by Malaysia and Chile.

Brazil is also due to deploy the vessels from 2018.

The submarines involved in the data leak are a scaled down conventionally-powered version of France's 4,700-tonne Barracuda, pictured here in a computer-generated image.

Australia awarded DCNS an Aus$50 billion (US$38 billion) contract last April to design and build its next generation of submarines.

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull sought to play down the impact in Canberra saying while the leak was "of concern", the Scorpene was a different model to the subs Australia is buying.

"The submarine we are building or will be building with the French is called the Barracuda, quite, completely different submarine to the Scorpene they are building for India," he told Channel Seven.

"We have the highest security protections on all of our defence information, whether it is in partnership with other countries or entirely within Australia."

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne issued a statement saying the leak "has no bearing on the Australian government's future submarine programme".

The programme, the statement said, "operates under stringent security requirements that govern the manner in which all information and technical data is managed now and into the future".

The leaked documents were marked "Restricted Scorpene India" and gave the combat capabilities of India's new submarine fleet, The Australian said.

They also included thousands of pages on the submarine sensors and thousands more on its communication and navigation systems as well as nearly 500 pages on the torpedo launch system alone.

DCNS told AFP that it was aware of the articles published in the Australian press and that "national security authorities" had launched an inquiry into the matter, without giving details.

"This inquiry will determine the precise nature of the documents which have been leaked, the potential damage to our customers as well as those responsible."

The Australian said DCNS implied that the leak may have come from India rather than France.

The daily, however, said the data was thought to have been removed from France in 2011 by a former French navy officer who at the time was a subcontractor for DCNS.

The data is believed to have passed through firms in Southeast Asia before eventually being mailed to a company in Australia, the newspaper said.

Australia awarded its submarine contract to DCNS but the secret combat system for the 12 Shortfin Barracudas is being supplied by the United States.

The submarines are a scaled-down conventionally powered version of France's 4,700-tonne Barracuda.
UN: Thousands of Central American children seek to enter US

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Thousands of children trying to escape gang violence and poverty in Central America have made their way to the United States this year  and there is no sign that the flow is letting up, the U.N. children's agency said in a report released late Monday.

In the first six months of 2016, UNICEF said almost 26,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the U.S. border along with 29,700 people traveling as a family, mostly mothers and young children.

Most are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, three countries with some of the world's highest murder and poverty rates, UNICEF said.

FILE - In this July 12, 2014, file photo, a young migrant girl waits for a freight train to depart on her way to the U.S. border, in Ixtepec, Mexico. In a report released Monday, Aug. 21, 2016, the UN children's agency said that thousands of children trying to escape gang violence and poverty in Central America have made their way to the United States this year and there is no sign that the flow is letting up. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

"It is heart-rending to think of these children  most of them teenagers, but some even younger  making the grueling and extremely dangerous journey in search of safety and a better life," UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said in the report. "The flow of young refugees and migrants highlights the critical importance of tackling the violence and socio-economic conditions in their countries of origin."

The United States pressured Mexico to step up detentions of migrants after the number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S. border soared to more than 44,500 in the first six months of 2014. Last year, Mexican authorities apprehended nearly 36,000 children, more than half of whom were unaccompanied. By comparison, Mexico detained just 9,600 children in 2013.

According to Mexican government figures quoted by UNICEF, more than 16,000 migrant children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were apprehended in Mexico during the first six months of 2016.

But thousands still make it to the United States.

While unaccompanied children apprehended in the United States are guaranteed an immigration court hearing, they are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney.

But UNICEF cited data showing that having an attorney makes a huge difference.

A comparison of cases initiated in 2015 showed that by June 2016, 40 per cent of unrepresented children were ordered deported, compared with 3 per cent of children who had lawyers.

"If deported, some of them could be killed or raped by the gangs they sought to escape in the first place," UNICEF said.

UNICEF detailed the risks of trying to get to the U.S. in the report entitled "Broken Dreams: Central American children's dangerous journey to the United States." They range from being trafficked, kidnapped or targeted by powerful criminal syndicates to dying in the desert heat.

Many girls have reportedly been forced to work in brothels and bars in Mexico and Guatemala, and UNICEF quoted an Amnesty International report saying as many as six out of 10 women and girls experience sexual violence during their journey.

UNICEF said child migrants should not be detained and should have full access to health care and other services, and be allowed to live with their families whenever possible.

With its partners, UNICEF said it is working to address the causes of migration.
Tyra Banks to teach business class at Stanford University

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Tyra Banks is trading the catwalk for the classroom.

The former host of "America's Next Top Model" and "FABLife" will teach students at Stanford University next May. Banks will serve as a guest lecturer for two weeks for a class on creating and protecting a personal brand .

The school says about 25 graduate students will receive instruction from the mogul and model on how to use media to showcase their business acumen and handle press exposure as a business leader.

FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2015 file photo, Tyra Banks arrives at Media's Tribute to African-American Achievements in Television at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Banks is trading the catwalk for the classroom. The former host of "America's Next Top Model" and "FABLife" will teach students at Stanford University in May 2017. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)

The class will culminate with the students sharing their personal brands to the public through video platforms.
The Latest: Milwaukee mayor lifts emergency curfew rules

MILWAUKEE (AP)  The Latest on the aftermath of the shooting of a black man by police in Milwaukee (all times local):

7:45 p.m.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is easing curfew restrictions for teenagers that were put in place after a police shooting earlier this month sparked violence.

Barrett issued a proclamation Monday saying the restrictions were no longer needed.

On Aug. 15, the mayor expanded the city's existing curfew to apply to anyone under 18 instead of those under 17. It also took effect an hour earlier, at 10 p.m.

The change was made after 23-year-old Sylville Smith was killed Aug. 13. A few hours after Smith's death, a protest on Milwaukee's largely black north side erupted into violence that reignited the following night in the Sherman Park neighborhood.

Smith's funeral will be held Friday at Christian Faith Fellowship Church in Milwaukee.

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9 a.m.

Wisconsin's attorney general says a fatal police shooting in Milwaukee that sparked two nights of violence was recorded by not one but two body cameras.

The state is investigating the Aug. 13 shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith. Authorities have said he was fleeing police and that footage from the officer's body camera clearly shows Smith holding a handgun and turning toward an officer when he was shot.

Attorney General Brad Schimel says authorities are reviewing that as well as a second video recorded by another officer's body camera. He says the vantage points are similar.
Union head says Chicago officers' due process being violated

CHICAGO (AP)  The head of the Fraternal Order of Police says the Chicago Police Department is violating the due process of seven officers who could lose their jobs for allegedly covering up Laquan McDonald's 2014 shooting.

A report by Chicago's inspector general following the release of video of McDonald's fatal police shooting prompted Superintendent Eddie Johnson to move last week to fire the officers.

Inspector General Joe Ferguson recommended the firing of 10. Johnson rejected the recommendation for one officer, and two others have retired.

Dean Angelo tells the Chicago Sun-Times (http://bit.ly/2bcXRiZ ) the FOP will represent the seven officers before the Chicago Police Board, which will decide their fate. He says their defense is being hampered by the union's inability to get its hands on the inspector general's report.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the department will provide the officers a breakdown of their alleged rule violations.

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Nazi-looted "Adam" and "Eve" paintings to stay in California

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A judge has ruled in favor of a Southern California museum in its 10-year legal battle over the ownership of two German Renaissance masterpieces that were seized by the Nazis in World War II.

U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter ruled last week that Pasadena's Norton Simon Museum, where the paintings "Adam" and "Eve" have been for more than 30 years, is the rightful owner of the two life-size oil-on-panel paintings.

The museum called the decision mindful of "the facts and law at the heart of the dispute," the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/2byipAv ) Monday.

The two paintings were purchased by the Norton Simon Museum, pictured, in 1971 for $800,000 and are now worth around $24 million

Marei von Saher alleged that the paintings were seized from her father-in-law, Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, after his family fled Holland during the Holocaust.

The Norton Simon countered that it legally acquired the works in the 1970s from the descendant of Russian aristocrats who had them wrongly taken by the Soviet Union in the 1920s.

Lucas Cranach the Elder painted the works in around 1530. In 1971, they were acquired by the museum for $800,000, the equivalent of about $4.8 million today. They were appraised at $24 million in 2006.

Depicting mankind in the ominous moment before the biblical Fall, the painting's ownership battle, too, points to a period in human history fraught with uncertainty: a 20th-century Europe ravaged by war.

The dispute is one of many to emerge in recent years involving precious art looted by the Nazis.

The judge said that because Goudstikker's art dealership decided not to seek restitution for the works after the war, his family thereby abandoned their claim to the art.

"Obviously, Ms. von Saher is disappointed with the court's decision," representatives from her legal firm, who plan to appeal the decision, said in a statement to the Times.

They also criticized a legal motion exchanged with them by the museum's legal team, presenting evidence that von Saher's father was a member of the Nazi Party.
Clinton: Trump health allegations a 'wacky strategy'

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Hillary Clinton pushed back Monday against charges that she's physically unfit for the White House.

The Democratic presidential candidate said the accusations are part of a "wacky strategy" by GOP rival Donald Trump and an "alternative reality" that's not focused on the kinds of issues that are most important to voters.

"I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe," she said in an appearance on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" taped Monday afternoon. "I have to step into the alternative reality and, you know, answer questions about, am I alive, how much longer will I be alive, and the like."

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton pauses to pose for a photograph as she talks with Jimmy Kimmel during a break in taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Clinton said she doesn't question Trump's health  she believes he's "healthy as a horse."

"This has become one of their themes," she said. "Make sure I'm alive."

The comments marked the first time Clinton has addressed debunked rumors about her health, which have been encouraged by Trump and his backers.

Much of the speculation stems from a concussion Clinton sustained in December 2012 after fainting, an episode her doctor has attributed to a stomach virus and dehydration.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani urged voters to "go online and put down 'Hillary Clinton illness,'" in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, saying the next morning that she "looks sick." Trump has questioned her stamina at campaign rallies and speeches, saying in a foreign policy address earlier this month that she "lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS".

Clinton expressed little concern Monday about the planned release of 15,000 additional State Department emails that went previously undisclosed during an FBI investigation into her use of a private server as secretary of state. The messages could become public in mid-October, just weeks before Election Day.

"My emails are so boring," she told Kimmel. "We've already released 30,000 plus, so what's a few more?"

She joked about photos showing her husband, former President Bill Clinton, smiling and looking overjoyed to be surrounded by the balloons that fell at the end of the Democratic National Convention.

"We were all pretty excited about the balloons," she said. "That's one of the things I enjoy about my husband is that he enjoys so many things and balloons is one of them."

When asked about her preparations for the three debates with Trump, Clinton said she's taking the match-up seriously but is getting ready for "wacky stuff."

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Follow Lisa Lerer on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/llerer

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton talks with Jimmy Kimmel during a break in the taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
High in the Bolivian Andes, a tour of Aymara sacred sites

EL ALTO, Bolivia (AP)  At a gasp-inducing 13,000 feet-plus (4,000 meters-plus) above sea level, a post marks the spot where Andean gods are said to dwell at the foot of towering, snow-covered peaks.

A group of "amautas," or spiritual guides, arrives to leave offerings to Pachamama, the Mother Earth figure in indigenous Aymara mythology. Women chew coca leaves to ward off the effects of high altitude and mumble prayers beseeching favors, while two priests circle the post and touch it with seashells to summon the spirits.

On a recent weekend, the mayor's office of El Alto, the nearly 3-mile-high city perched above the Bolivian capital of La Paz, led a group of tourism students on a visit to the site.

In this Aug. 13, 2016 photo, Aymara priests chew coca leaves before the start of a ceremony in honor of Pachamama or Mother Earth, on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia. According to Andean mythology, Pachamama awakens every August hungry and thirsty after the Bolivian dry season. To satiate the goddess, believers hold syncretic rituals in which they toss offerings including fruit, coca, sweets and a dead llama fetus into a bonfire and they water the soil with the warm blood of a sacrificed llama. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Officials are in the early stages of creating the first dedicated tours of sacred sites of the Pachamama. They're especially targeting foreign visitors, whose numbers are growing, said Diego del Carpio, head of tourism for the city.

"We have become materialists. We want to have the latest cellphone and a nice house. That's why we incentivize tourism to sacred sites for a spiritual re-encounter, to unload negative energies and recharge the positive ones," del Carpio said.

According to Andean mythology, Pachamama awakens every August hungry and thirsty after the Bolivian dry season. To satiate the goddess, believers hold syncretic rituals in which they toss offerings including fruit, coca, sweets and a dead llama fetus into a bonfire and they water the soil with the warm blood of a sacrificed llama.

The tour starting in El Alto goes to four sites and last five hours. Prices vary but it includes bus transportation, refreshments and a spiritual cleansing by women clenching fistfuls of herbs.

"Energy emanates from here," spiritual guide Victor Machaca said. "That is why it is sacred."

In this Saturday, Aug. 19, 2016 photo, foreign tourists walk on their way to see a ceremony in honor of Pachamama or Mother Earth, at La Ceja in El Alto, Bolivia. The tour starting in El Alto goes to four sites and last five hours. Prices vary but it includes bus transportation, refreshments and a spiritual cleansing by women clenching fistfuls of herbs. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Judge hears motion for new trial in '91 killing of boy

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP)  A New Jersey judge heard arguments Tuesday from an attorney representing a Florida woman seeking a new trial after she was convicted of killing her 5-year-old son 25 years ago.

Michelle Lodzinski's attorney argued prosecutors didn't present enough evidence at the trial to convict her, and also said a mistrial should have been declared when the jury foreman was dismissed during deliberations.

State Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves is expected to rule in the next few weeks.

Lodzinski faces life in prison and originally was to be sentenced Tuesday.

Lodzinski told authorities Timothy Wiltsey disappeared from a carnival in central New Jersey, then later claimed he was abducted.

She was charged in 2014 while she was living in Port St. Lucie, Florida, after witnesses in New Jersey identified a blanket found near the boy's body nearly a year after he disappeared.

Attorney Gerald Krovatin said in court filings after Lodzinski's May conviction that the jury foreman disobeyed Nieves' instructions and conducted online research on whether FBI agents in the 1990s were required to photograph crime scenes.

The foreman's inquiry came after an FBI agent testified he didn't photograph the scene where the blanket was found, near Wiltsey's remains. The foreman then mentioned his findings to the other jurors, Krovatin claimed.

Krovatin also argued the prosecution didn't present enough evidence to convict Lodzinski. No forensic evidence tied her or the boy to the blanket, though prosecution witnesses testified they'd seen the blanket at Lodzinski's apartment. No cause of death could be determined because the remains were so badly decomposed.
Man sought by China settles case in New Zealand for $31M

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  A former pharmaceutical executive who Chinese authorities accuse of embezzling money and fleeing to New Zealand has settled his case for $31 million, New Zealand police said Tuesday, in a deal that represents an unusual level of cooperation between the two countries.

William Yan settled without acknowledging any criminal or civil liability, the police said in a statement. Police had previously seized homes, luxury cars including a Porsche and a Maserati, and stocks from the 47-year-old Yan, his wife and two associates, the statement said.

Police said they would release those items once Yan and the others handed over 43 million New Zealand dollars ($31 million). Police said the money would then be split between the New Zealand and Chinese governments, with the amount each would get still to be determined.

In this Aug. 17, 2016 photo, William Yan leaves his apartment in Auckland, New Zealand. Former pharmaceutical executive, Yan, who's accused by Chinese authorities of embezzling money and fleeing to New Zealand has settled his case for more than $30 million. (Greg Bowker/New Zealand Herald via AP)

New Zealand authorities refused to answer further questions about the case, including whether China would attempt to extradite Yan. China's embassy in Wellington did not immediately respond to questions.

The settlement is the largest of its kind ever made in New Zealand, and the first for crimes alleged to have occurred in China. But critics say it raises questions about why Yan isn't facing charges and how much New Zealand is acquiescing to China's demands.

China represents a crucial market for New Zealand's agricultural exports, which include kiwifruit and dairy products.

One of Yan's Auckland-based lawyers, Simon Lance, said in an email that his client "does not accept that he is guilty of embezzling money in China."

Another one of the lawyers, Marc Corlett, said in a statement that the settlement was a "commercial compromise" that would allow Yan to recover his seized assets and "return his focus to his business activities in New Zealand and elsewhere."

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the police handle investigations independently and it is up to them to determine whether it is better to settle a case or pursue charges.

But opposition lawmaker Winston Peters said the way the case was handled was demeaning for New Zealand. "You know, we're dancing on a pinhead for China in so many areas," he said.

As part of an operation it calls Sky Net, China last year issued a list of its 100 most-wanted economic fugitives, who it accuses of absconding overseas with ill-gotten gains. Under the name Yan Yongming, Yan made the list at No. 5.

The listing said Yan is wanted by police in the northeast Chinese city of Tonghua, where he last worked as chairman of a pharmaceutical company, the Tonghua Golden Horse Group. It lists three different passport numbers and three national identification numbers for Yan, who it also lists under the name Liu Yangming.

China said between 11 and 20 of the alleged economic fugitives had fled to New Zealand, making it the third-most popular destination behind the U.S. and Canada.

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Disabled California man seeks to have voting rights restored

SAN DIEGO (AP)  A former producer at NPR who lost his ability to walk and speak asked a judge Tuesday to restore his right to vote under a new California law that makes it easier for people with disabilities to keep that right and regain it if lost.

David Rector, 66, handed a letter to a court clerk shortly after an advocacy group filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department asking that California be required to notify people who have been disqualified from voting about the law in time for the Nov. 8 election.

"How are these folks supposed to know about the right to get their voting rights back unless somebody tells them?" Thomas Coleman, legal director of the Spectrum Group, said outside the federal building in downtown San Diego. "The state judiciary has been dragging its feet."

This undated photo provided by William Herron, shows Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik, left, and her fiance, David Rector, who is seeking to have his voting rights restored five years after a judge ruled that a traumatic brain injury disqualified him from casting a ballot in San Diego. As the November election neared, it looked like Rector would once again be unable to vote. Then the 66-year-old former National Public Radio producer learned about a California law that took effect Jan. 1, that makes it easier for people with developmental disabilities to keep and regain the right to vote, if they can express a desire to vote. On Tuesday, Aug. 23, Rector will seek to have his voting rights restored and advocates representing him and others who have been disqualified will file a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department asking that the state be required to notify them of the new law in time for the Nov. 8 ballot. (William Herron via AP)

For years, California judges had stripped away the voting rights of people with some disabilities, including autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy, "almost as a matter of routine," Coleman said.

Mandy Griffith, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, declined to discuss the status of a year-old Justice Department investigation, launched at Coleman's request, into whether California unlawfully deprives disabled people of voting rights.

Rector was pushed in his wheelchair several blocks to San Diego Superior Court to deliver his written request. Wearing a white T-shirt with black letters that said, "I want to vote," he looked at a computer with eye-tracking software that voiced his desire to cast a ballot.

A judge will consider the request, court spokeswoman Karen Dalton said.

All but about a dozen states have some type of law limiting voting rights for individuals based on competence. Advocates say how those laws are enforced varies widely  not just by state but by county and judge.

Supporters of the limits say the restrictions protect against voter fraud.

Under California's new law, which took effect Jan. 1, seniors and other people with disabilities who are assigned conservators to manage their financial and other affairs keep the right to vote unless a court finds "clear and convincing evidence" that they cannot express a desire to exercise it.

"They're not at the head of the pack, but they're definitely on the forefront," said Michelle Bishop, voting rights specialist at the National Disability Rights Network. "This idea that you simply have to express the desire to vote is how we want people to be thinking about voting rights."

Coleman anticipates the law will provide voting protections in conservatorship cases going forward. The challenge, he said, is getting the word out to people who have lost the right  a number he estimates at 32,000 in California based on a review of Los Angeles County records.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement that his office had not seen the complaint and could not comment specifically on it. But Padilla said he supported the bill that became the law.

"We continually explore ways to provide information to California's diverse population and are always open to receiving recommendations to improve our outreach efforts," Padilla said.

The Judicial Council of California, which sets policies for state courts, had no immediate comment Tuesday.

Rector moved to San Diego from Washington, D.C., in July 2008 to join his fiancee, Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik. He registered to vote almost immediately, even before getting a new driver's license.

Eight months later, Rector clutched his chest and fell to his knees while reading a newspaper at breakfast, stricken by a tear in his aorta. After two days in the hospital, he suffered severe brain trauma that left him unable to speak or use his arms and legs.

Today, he uses a wheelchair to move around and can write with limited use of his right thumb. He communicates with electronic devices, using his thumb or eye-tracking software to indicate what he wants. According to the complaint, he can think, feel, comprehend, remember, see, hear and express emotions. During an interview, he cried out when Alexander-Kasparik described his injury and extended his hand to say goodbye.

Alexander-Kasparik says her fiance is still a voracious consumer of TV and radio news and that they collaborate on a comic book series. He laughs when watching scenes from "Star Wars."

Rector voted in 2010, telling his fiancee of his opinions on a flurry of state ballot measures. At a hearing the following year to appoint Alexander-Kasparik his conservator, Rector cried out after a judge checked a box that said he could no longer vote.

"We knew it was coming, but we didn't know there was anything that could be done about it," said Alexander-Kasparik, describing it as a devastating blow.

As this year's election neared, Alexander-Kasparik asked friends on social media for help getting Rector's rights restored. She eventually learned about the law authored by state Sen. Marty Block, a San Diego Democrat.

Voting "is central to his life," Alexander-Kasparik said. "Civic responsibility is central to his life ... There are so many people who died for this right. So many people take it for granted."

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This story has been corrected to say NPR instead of NRP in lead.

In this Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, photo Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik cares for her fiance, David Rector, who is seeking to have his voting rights restored five years after a judge ruled that a traumatic brain injury disqualified him from casting a ballot in San Diego. As the November election neared, it looked like Rector would once again be unable to vote. Then the 66-year-old former National Public Radio producer learned about a California law that took effect Jan. 1, that makes it easier for people with developmental disabilities to keep and regain the right to vote, if they can express a desire to vote. On Tuesday, Aug. 23, Rector will seek to have his voting rights restored and advocates representing him and others who have been disqualified will file a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department asking that the state be required to notify them of the new law in time for the Nov. 8 ballot. (AP Photo/Elliot Spagat)

In this Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, photo Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik cares for her fiance, David Rector, who is seeking to have his voting rights restored five years after a judge ruled that a traumatic brain injury disqualified him from casting a ballot in San Diego. As the November election neared, it looked like Rector would once again be unable to vote. Then the 66-year-old former National Public Radio producer learned about a California law that took effect Jan. 1, that makes it easier for people with developmental disabilities to keep and regain the right to vote, if they can express a desire to vote. On Tuesday, Aug. 23, Rector will seek to have his voting rights restored and advocates representing him and others who have been disqualified will file a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department asking that the state be required to notify them of the new law in time for the Nov. 8 ballot. (AP Photo/Elliot Spagat)
IS struggles to retain grip as it loses ground in Iraq

DIBAGA CAMP, Iraq (AP)  As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories.

The accounts point to the difficulties the extremist group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants' hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city.

In the latest areas recaptured, Iraqi troops over the past month took a clump of villages near a key military base south of Mosul that they plan to use as a hub for the assault. Residents of the communities, which lie strung along bends in the Tigris River, say that in the preceding weeks, the militants ruling them had seemed to be scrambling to keep control.

In this August 17, 2016 photo, men wait outside a fenced area at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people, where newcomers are interrogated before being allowed to stay, in Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In Qayara, which is the main town in the area and remains in IS hands, beheadings and extrajudicial killings that previously were occasional became commonplace in a hunt for spies and deserters, said Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, who was among thousands of residents who fled fighting in the area and now live in the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Kurdish-run territory.

"They started making raids on houses, arresting people and beheading them," he said.

Hajaj said the group's fighters appeared increasingly nervous as they watched news of IS loses elsewhere.

Their ranks also appeared to turn more to younger, less experienced men. At one point, almost all the militants guarding the streets were teenagers, he said. That, Hajaj said, was when he thought, "They're collapsing. They're finished."

The reliance on younger fighters in smaller communities could be a sign of overstretched manpower as the group's more veteran militants redeploy to Mosul or to neighboring Syria. Other factors could also be in play, like difficulties in finding new recruits and the effect of desertions, which Kurdish officials have said are on the rise.

Fighters as young as 13 or 14 were patrolling in the village of Awsaja on the other side of the river, said one resident, who asked to be identified by his nickname Abu Saleh for fear of reprisals against his family in areas still under IS rule. He said the militants killed seven people for trying to flee the village, displaying their bodies on a bridge as an example to others.

As Iraqi troops moved on Awsaja, the militants seemed confused on how to respond.

At one point, some IS fighters decided to retreat and ordered all the residents to come with them as human shields, Abu Saleh said. But that prompted an argument with others in the group who were remaining in the village to fight and wanted the residents to stay for their protection, said the 50-year-old psychologist, who fled with other residents and is now also in Dibaga Camp. Iraqi forces succeeded in retaking Awsaja in mid-July.

The area has been under IS rule for two years, ever since the Sunni militants overran much of western and northern Iraq, joining it to the territory they control in neighboring Syria in a self-declared "caliphate."

Though the group has been notorious for atrocities and its brutality in enforcing its radical vision of Islamic Shariah law, many in these Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq initially welcomed their rule. The Sunnis had long bristled under the rule by majority Shiites who lead the government in Baghdad. At first, IS provided them services the central government had neglected.

"When they first came, they gave the people money and food. And you know, the people are poor, they took it," said Sabha Khal Salih, a mother of two in the village of Hajj Ali, near Qayara. Young unemployed men joined the militants' ranks, she said.

But as time went on, living conditions deteriorated, in part because IS-held territories were cut off economically from the rest of Iraq. Also, the U.S.-led coalition's bombing campaign has strained IS's resources and prompted it to lash out against anyone it suspects of spying.

Abu Abdullatif, who worked in a clinic in Awsaja, said over the past three months, the militants became even more intrusive in enforcing their rules, even peeking into homes to see if women were properly covered there and imposing fines "just to get the money." Over time, he said, the food rations that IS distributed to the poor grew smaller, until finally they were giving only a few kilograms of flour  though members of the group continued to receive full rations.

Fearing residents were trying to escape, IS fighters strictly questioned  and sometimes demanded fees from  anyone trying to cross the river to markets in Qayara, he said, also speaking on condition he be identified by his nickname because he feared for the safety of relatives.

The group's fear of informants has fueled a crackdown in Mosul itself. This month, IS released a video titled "deterring the traitors," where six young men are shown being killed on a city street. In the video, the narration accused the men of being "the eyes of America," suggesting they were spies.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say the final assault on Mosul is still weeks away as forces fight to retake territory around the city. From the Qayara military base, Iraqi troops are still some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the city.

The towns and villages around Qayara recaptured from IS are still too close to the front lines and too rife with booby-traps and explosives for residents to return. When Iraqi forces retook the area, many of the IS fighters changed into civilian clothes and disappeared into the surrounding desert.

Hajaj, the Qayara resident, said people in the area will never allow them to regain a foothold.

"Now we know who they are, we will never let them return," he said.

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Associated Press Writers Salar Salim in Dibaga Camp, Iraq, and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show that Qayara and the villages in the area are near the Tigris River, not the Euphrates.

In this Aug. 17, 2016 photo, a woman and a girl walk past a mosque carrying mattresses and cushions at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people, in Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In this Aug. 17, 2016 photo, civilians who recently fled territory formerly controlled by Islamic State militants get off a truck at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In this Aug. 17, 2016 photo, a truck carrying civilians who recently fled territory formerly controlled by Islamic State militants arrives at at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In this Aug. 17, 2016 photo, a boy plays with a kite, at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In this August 17, 2016 photo, Sabha Khal Salih poses for a portrait at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people, where she has been staying with her family after fleeing her hometown of Qayyarah, in the village of Hajj Ali, in northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In this August 17, 2016 photo, Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, sits next to his son outside their tent at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people, as he demonstrates the way he once tried to hide a cigarette in his front pocket while living under Islamic State rule in his hometown of Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In this August 17, 2016 photo, Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, sits outside his tent at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people, in his hometown of Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)

In this August 17, 2016 photo, women try to enter a fenced area where men are interrogated before being allowed to stay, at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger recruits, according to residents. The accounts pointed to the difficulties the extremist group is facing as Iraqi forces backed by the United States prepare for an assault on Mosul. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)
Iran parliament pushes back on military for Russian base use

TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Iran's parliament on Tuesday pushed back against the military after it appeared to dismiss civilian oversight following Russia's use of an Iranian air base to launch airstrikes on Syria.

The rare parliamentary response is part of the larger give-and-take between civilians and the country's powerful security services since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. It also highlights the public unpopularity of allowing Russia to use the air base  which marked the first time since the revolution that a foreign military has used Iran as a staging ground.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani brought up the topic Tuesday as lawmakers gathered in Tehran for the body's opening session, a day after Iranian officials said that Russia's use of the Shahid Nojeh Air Base has stopped for the time being.

The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Larijani as criticizing Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Hossein Dehghan for not "speaking properly" to lawmakers' concerns. Dehghan over the weekend said Russia's use of the air base was not their concern, though parliament has oversight of all government ministries.

Dehghan "should have observed the ethics of governing," Larijani said.

Larijani added that the mission wouldn't have needed prior parliamentary permission as it was "temporary and only for refueling."

Three other semi-official news agencies quoted Larijani as saying the Russian flights from the air base, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the city of Hamedan, "have not stopped." IRNA did not report the remarks.

Comments by Iranian officials since Russia announced using the base last week suggest Moscow and Tehran initially agreed to keep Russian use of the air base quiet. Both Iran and Russia support embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Differences aside, Supreme Court unites Trump, Senate GOP

WASHINGTON (AP)  Differences aside, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are strongly united on one issue  ideological balance on the Supreme Court.

While Democrats are pushing the GOP-led Senate to confirm Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland by the end of President Barack Obama's term, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been resolute in blocking him, saying the next president should fill the high court vacancy. Republicans maintain it's a winning political strategy in a year when some GOP rank and file are struggling with reasons to vote for their nominee.

"I would argue that it's one of the few ties that binds right now in the Republican Party," said Josh Holmes, McConnell's former chief of staff. "It's one of the things that's kept a Republican coalition together that seems to be fraying with Donald Trump."

FILE - In this May 10, 2016 file photo, Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland meets with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, on Capitol Hill in Washington. While Democrats are pushing Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to confirm Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland by the end of President Barack Obamas term, McConnell has been resolute in blocking him, saying the next president should make the pick. Republicans say its a winning strategy in a year when some of the GOP rank and file are struggling with reasons to vote for their nominee. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Trump himself has made the same argument.

"If you really like Donald Trump, that's great, but if you don't, you have to vote for me anyway," Trump told supporters at a rally last month. "You know why? Supreme Court judges, Supreme Court judges. Have no choice ... sorry, sorry, sorry."

The billionaire businessman has made the future ideological balance of the high court a key issue in the campaign, promising to nominate a conservative in the mold of former Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. He often mentions the issue in campaign speeches, as does his vice presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

Pence often spends several minutes of his standard campaign speech reminding crowds of the importance of the court and conservative values. To loud cheers, he warns that a court in Hillary Clinton's hands could push through amnesty for immigrants living in the country illegally and strip individuals' rights to own guns, a reversal of the Second Amendment that Clinton has rejected.

Democrats had hoped that McConnell's insistence on blocking the nominee would hurt vulnerable Senate incumbents, but the issue of the Supreme Court fails to resonate with voters like jobs or terrorism. At the Democratic convention last month, Clinton never uttered his name.

After Obama nominated Garland in March, Democrats were particularly hopeful that Republican resistance would sway independent voters in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, where Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Pat Toomey are running in tough re-election races. But neither Ayotte's challenger, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, nor Toomey's challenger, Katie McGinty, has made the Supreme Court one of their top issues.

In Iowa, Democrat Patty Judge decided to challenge longtime Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley as Democrats targeted the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman over his refusal to hold hearings on Garland. But Grassley is still the favorite to win re-election.

Most of the vulnerable Republican senators have not wavered in their support for McConnell's obstruction.

After an April meeting with Garland, Toomey said that "for something as important as the fundamental balance of the court for a generation, the American people should have the maximum say" by picking the next president.

The only exception among Republicans up for re-election is Sen. Mark Kirk, who is an underdog in his re-election bid in heavily Democratic Illinois. Kirk said he supports a vote on Garland's nomination.

Carrie Severino, head of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said it's "a wash" in many of the Senate races because the people who care the most about the issue are partisans, not coveted independents.

For Republicans, Garland's nomination "crystallized the importance of the Senate and reminded people that there's so much that rides on these Senate seats."

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid is hoping to bring the issue to the forefront in September, when the Senate returns from a seven-week break. He has suggested he will use procedural maneuvers to try and force a vote on Garland, though those tactics are unlikely to succeed.

Reid said earlier this month that Republicans who are blocking Garland's nomination are Trump's "enablers." But he was also realistic about McConnell's determination to leave the decision to the next president, predicting that Clinton would pick Garland if she wins.

Though McConnell has remained resolute, that hasn't quelled speculation that he may do an about face after the election if Clinton wins in November and if Democrats take back the Senate. Garland is seen as more conservative than a potential liberal justice that Clinton could nominate, and at 63, Garland is older than any high court nominee since Lewis Powell in 1971.

If Clinton does win and Garland is not confirmed, some liberal groups are hoping she would try and reshape the court with a new pick.

"We should have four or five women on the court and at least one should be an African-American woman," said Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women.

Garland, the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, isn't hearing cases while his nomination is pending but is continuing his administrative duties. He also meets regularly with White House staff to prepare for a possible confirmation hearing.

Friends of Garland point out that he went through another lengthy confirmation delay when his appeals court appointment was held up for 19 months. He was later confirmed in 1997 on a 76-23 vote.

"He has given no sign of being frustrated," said Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law professor and longtime friend to his former student.

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Trump's stamina attack on Clinton stirs talk of gender bias

NEW YORK (AP)  Donald Trump and his Republican allies say Hillary Clinton is weak, lacks stamina and doesn't look presidential.

Intent on undermining his Democratic rival, Trump and GOP backers are increasingly relying on rhetoric that academics and even some Republican strategists say has an undeniable edge focused on gender. His criticism of Clinton goes beyond "Crooked Hillary," and complaints about her use of a private email server as secretary of state and her foreign policy decisions.

Clinton, Trump said in a speech last week, "lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all the many adversaries we face."

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and aide Huma Abedin, lower left, step from Clinton's campaign plane as they arrive at Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, Calif., Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, en route to a taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

He has repeatedly called attention to Clinton's voice, saying listening to her gives him a headache. Last December, he mocked her wardrobe. "She puts on her pantsuit in the morning," he told a Las Vegas audience. At rallies and in speeches, the billionaire mogul has also used stereotypes about women to demean Clinton, who stands to become America's first female president if she wins in November.

A frequent point of criticism: Clinton doesn't look like a typical president.

"Now you tell me she looks presidential, folks," he said at a recent rally in New Hampshire.

"I look presidential," he insisted.

Trump's allies have piled on. Running mate Mike Pence often uses the word "broad-shouldered" to describe Trump's leadership and foreign policy style, a tacit swipe at Clinton. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani argued that all of the miles Clinton logged during as secretary of state resulted in more harm than benefit.

"Maybe it would've been better if she had stayed home," said Giuliani, who more recently questioned Clinton's health, suggesting an internet search of the words "Hillary Clinton illness."

"She is the first woman from a major party running for president, so gender is always at play," said Dianne Bystrom, the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University.

Clinton pushed back Monday against insinuations she's in poor health, saying on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that campaign is like an "alternative reality" where she has to "answer questions about am I alive, how much longer will I be alive, and the like."

Gender has always been tricky for Clinton. Throughout her career, she has struggled with how to confront gender norms, ranging from the extent to which to embrace the historic potential of her candidacy to whether she should be referred to by her married name.

Trump, meanwhile, has accused Clinton of "using the woman card" to boost her appeal. That may not have helped his standing with female voters: A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found Clinton with a 19-percentage-point lead over Trump among women. Trump, meanwhile, has a 12-percentage-point advantage with men.

Katie Packer, a Republican strategist who founded a political consulting firmed aimed at appealing to Republican women, said that Trump has a history of seizing on his rivals' perceived weaknesses. In Clinton's case, she said, that appears to include her sex.

"He clearly views women as sort of the weaker sex, so I think he's going to look to exploit that with Hillary," said Packer, who helped run an independent anti-Trump organization during the primaries.

Trump's rallies are filled with blatant misogyny. Supporters wear "Trump vs. Tramp" political buttons, and have even harsher slogans and signs.

At the same time, Trump has a long history of hiring female executives and last week became the first Republican in the party's history to appoint a woman, pollster Kellyanne Conway, as his campaign manager.

Trump's campaign did not respond to requests for comment Monday, though in the past he has dismissed sexism charges as "nonsense."

Yet Conway herself has advocated using Clinton's sex against her.

Speaking to The New York Times in April, when she was still backing a Trump rival, Conway said Trump's efforts to turn Clinton's gender against her could prove effective.

"By taking gender head-on, Trump refuses to cede women voters and so-called women's issues to Hillary just because she is a woman," she told the paper. "He is 'Swiftboating' her by throwing shade on what should be a strength." Her mention of "Swiftboating" was referring to widely debunked criticism of Democratic nominee John Kerry's war record in the 2004 campaign.

Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics' Center for American Women and Politics, who has been tracking the gender dynamics in the race, said that even during the primaries when Trump was competing mostly against men, he took on the role of strong man, demeaning rivals.

Trump notably belittled his primary rivals, tagging Jeb Bush as "low-energy," and disparaging Ted Cruz as "Lyin' Ted," and Marco Rubio as "Little Marco."

"His message has been: I'm the manliest candidate, I'm the strongest, I know how to protect women  which is a pretty paternalistic take on it  I'm going to destroy ISIS and be very tough, to the point where he's talking about the size of his own manhood," she said of the candidate. "If you're trying to prove you're the manliest, then you're trying to emasculate your opponent."

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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

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Trump's boast of aid to GOP not backed up by finance report

WASHINGTON (AP)  Donald Trump portrays himself as an indispensable cash resource for fellow Republicans. So far, they're not seeing much of a benefit.

The presidential nominee's July fundraising provided the Republican National Committee with less than half as much as Mitt Romney's efforts four years ago, an Associated Press review of the campaign finance documents found.

"Typically you see the nominee lift everyone up," said Chris Schrimpf, a spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of Trump's defeated primary rivals. The battleground state features a critical Senate race this year, but Trump has all but ignored the Ohio state party. "This time, if anything, everyone else is carrying his water."

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Akron, Ohio, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The RNC received $18.1 million from joint fundraising with Trump last month, but only $10.6 million can be used to help Republicans  including Trump  win elections this fall, the filings show. The remainder is earmarked for convention and legal proceedings accounts, or was eaten up by Trump-centered fundraising costs.

RNC chairman Reince Priebus defends Trump as a strong fundraising partner for Republicans. Trump has made the same argument.

"I'm the one that's raising the money, and other people are getting to use the money that I raised," Trump said in an Aug. 11 interview with Fox News, adding that he is "raising a lot of money for the Republican Party."

The Trump campaign said that as of Aug. 1 his victory accounts contained $37 million to be disbursed to his campaign, the RNC and other partners. Trump's national finance chairman, Steven Mnuchin, said it was a strategic decision not to transfer the money right away.

"It has been a major priority of Donald to fundraise for the party, and the money for field expenses helps not only him but the rest of the ticket," Mnuchin said Monday.

Still, each day that money isn't in action puts Republicans a little further behind. Election Day is fewer than 80 days away, and early voting in some states begins in a few weeks. Effective voter contact and turnout operations are time-consuming and costly.

Mnuchin said there is "plenty of money" available. "We're deploying money as we think we need to deploy money," he said.

Andrew Weinstein and more than 100 other Republicans wrote an open letter to Priebus earlier this month urging the RNC to ditch Trump and focus on Senate and House candidates. Weinstein said Trump's lackluster aid to others "validates our entire point."

"He's all downside and no upside for the party," said Weinstein, a former communications director for Bob Dole's 1996 campaign.

Beyond the RNC, Trump could be helping state parties directly. But he has been particularly stingy with the states that have the toughest Senate elections, such as Ohio and New Hampshire, where Sens. Rob Portman and Kelly Ayotte could be key to maintaining GOP control of the chamber.

Trump's joint fundraising agreement overlooks those and other states, instead naming 11 partners that are somewhat head-scratching. Several of them, including West Virginia and Tennessee, don't have a Senate race and are expected to vote Republican in the presidential, while Democrats are heavily favored to win Senate races in other states, such as New York and Connecticut.

Mnuchin called the choice of benefactors a "strategic decision" and declined to explain it.

Regardless, the Trump Victory Committee hadn't transferred money to any of his state allies as of July 31.

In another change from 2012, Trump is not helping raise money for the National Republican Senatorial Committee or the National Republican Congressional Committee; Romney's joint fundraising account included both groups.

Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, is taking a broader approach to helping fellow Democrats. Her fundraising agreement spans 38 state and territory party groups and provided them at least $20.3 million last month, federal filings show. That doesn't include money used for the convention.

The Republican nominee has had a touchy relationship with his party, from threatening to quit the party and run as an independent to disparaging GOP stars and withholding endorsement of House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Raising money for others could help smooth things over, and that may be a reason Trump frequently talks up his efforts. When he formed his fundraising partnership in late May, Trump told the AP he is only raising money because "the RNC really wanted to do it, and I want to show good spirit."

Consistently claiming others as the focus of his fundraising also helps Trump obscure his change from a mostly self-funded primary candidate to one who raises money like everyone else.

The self-reliance talk has continued even though it's no longer entirely true. At a rally Saturday in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Trump said: "I have no donors telling me what to do. I'm my donor."

That same day, his July finance report showed he gave his campaign $2 million and raised more than $34.7 million from donors other than himself. That means he was about 5 percent self-funded last month.

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Associated Press polling editor Emily Swanson contributed to this story.

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Keep track on how much Clinton and Trump are spending on television advertising, and where they're spending it, via AP's interactive ad tracker. http://elections.ap.org/content/ad-spending

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Some of the Philippine president's memorable broadsides

President Rodrigo Duterte's threat to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations, later cushioned by his foreign secretary, is the latest flamboyantly irreverent utterance from a politician who has disparaged the pope, human rights advocates, the United States and other countries who controvert his worldview. His devil-may-care expletives against criminality, corruption and government incompetence helped him build a name as Davao city mayor before he claimed an overwhelming presidential race win that mirrored the depth of public exasperation over the social ills he abhorred. Many in the margins of society are enamored by his death threats against criminals, his anti-establishment rhetoric and his moments of sex-laced gutter humor. Opponents are bewildered, or are growing alarmed, by his rhetoric and the rising toll in his deadly battle against drugs.

Some of the memorable broadsides on Duterte's growing list of them:

ON THE UNITED NATIONS: "Maybe we'll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you're that rude, son of a bitch, we'll just leave you. So take us out of your organization, you have done nothing here anyway ... I would invite maybe China, the African ... Why don't they just form another organization? Why do you have to listen to this stupid (organization)?"  At a post-midnight news conference Sunday over remarks by U.N.-appointed rapporteurs about drug killings.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he speaks to the 115th Police Service Anniversary at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Manila, Philippines. Philippine President Duterte's threat to withdraw his country from the UN is the latest flamboyantly irreverent utterance from a politician, who has also disparaged the pope, local bishops, human rights promoters, the US on certain issues. A look at some of the combative presidents growing list of memorable broadsides. (Noel Celis/Pool Photo via AP, File)

ON U.S. AID AND DIPLOMATS: "We were talking to (U.S. Secretary of State John) Kerry, he's OK but I had a feud with his gay ambassador. Son of a bitch, I'm annoyed with that guy. He meddled in the elections, giving statements here and there ... So that Kerry, he came here and we had lunch and he left $33 million with me and (Defense Secretary) Delfin Lorenzana. I said, ahhh this is OK, let's insult them again so this fool will make a compromise. So this is just about money."  To army troops this month after receiving U.S. financial assistance for law enforcement training.

ON DRUG SUSPECTS: "The drug people are really insulting us. You know, I said, they are destroying the country and they are destroying the youth of the land. So my appeal to them is, since they are beyond redemption, they can stop and commit suicide because I will not allow these idiots to run their show, not during my watch ... Now, this Peter Lim, ... he goes in and out of the Philippines. ... I'm sure the Chinese authorities are listening now, better tell him. Do not come back to the Philippines anymore. The moment he steps out of the plane, he will die."  At a news conference in July.

ON THE JUDICIARY: "I'm warning you and not me being warned. Do not create a crisis because I will order everybody in the executive department not to honor you. You want to have a frank talk? ... You're the kingpin of the judiciary. I am the president. I have a job to do and you don't have one. No judges patrol the streets. No sheriff of yours makes arrests ... Please don't order me around ... If this continues, you stop me, OK ... or would you rather that I declare martial law?"  After Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno wrote that only the high court is authorized to discipline judges after Duterte linked a few judges to illegal drugs.

ON A SENATOR INVESTIGATING HIS CRACKDOWN: "Here is a senator complaining when one day I will tell you, her driver, who was her lover, was the one also collecting money for her during the campaign. Here is an immoral woman flaunting, well, of course, in so far as the wife of the driver was concerned, it's adultery. Here is a woman who funded the house of her lover and yet, we do not see any complaints about it. Those money readily came from drugs." In a speech this month blasting Sen. Leila de Lima, who has denied any wrongdoing and continues to lead a Senate committee investigation of drugs-related killings under Duterte's crackdown.

ON A SLAIN MISSIONARY: "I looked at her face, son of a bitch, she looks like a beautiful actress in America. Son of a bitch, what a waste. What came to mind was, they raped her, they lined up on her there. I was angry because she was raped, that's one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first. What a waste."  Joking at a campaign event in April about the gang rape and killing of an Australian missionary by inmates in a 1989 Davao jail siege.
Taiwan to probe bank fined in US for money laundering slip

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Taiwan's financial regulator is investigating Mega Financial Holding Co. after New York state ordered its banking unit to pay a $180 million penalty and install an independent monitor for violating the state's laws against money laundering.

The investigation comes as regulators across the globe step up financial scrutiny following the leak of a trove of data about offshore accounts set up by a Panamanian law firm.

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement seen Tuesday that it was looking over records at the bank, and investigating possible violations.

New York's Department of Financial Services announced the fine for Mega International Commercial Bank last Friday. It ordered the bank to beef up compliance after finding its staff, unfamiliar with U.S. regulations, failed to conduct reviews meant to detect suspicious transactions.

U.S. regulators expressed strong concern given that Mega International has two branches in Panama, which they described in a consent order as a "high-risk area" for money laundering.

They did not say if the bank had been implicated in money laundering but chastised it for failing to report "fraud, dishonesty, making of false entries and omission of true entries and other misconduct."

The government-appointed chairman of Mega Financial Holding, Chen Sung-hsin, told reporters in Taiwan that the bank was not engaged in money laundering, but had failed to keep up with regulatory requirements.

"The regulations are much tighter than in the past and we could not manage to meet them," he said.
Iraqi diplomat's sons suspected of attacking boy in Portugal

LISBON, Portugal (AP)  The twin sons of Iraq's ambassador to Portugal are suspected of leaving a teenager in a coma following an assault, and the government says it may ask Iraq to lift their diplomatic immunity from prosecution in a case that has provoked a national outcry.

One of the 17-year-old sons admitted in a Portuguese television interview broadcast Tuesday that he assaulted the 15-year-old Portuguese boy following an altercation in a bar. The victim was in a coma for five days but regained consciousness and left intensive care Tuesday, according to family lawyer Santana-Maia Leonardo.

Portugal's foreign minister, Augusto Santos Silva, said the Aug. 17 attack in the town of Ponte de Sor, 180 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Lisbon, could merit criminal charges but would require Iraq's cooperation, because the boys  sons of Iraq Ambassador Saad Mohammed Ridha  enjoy diplomatic immunity.

"If lifting these people's diplomatic immunity is necessary for justice to be done in this extremely serious case, then Portugal will take steps, with the Iraqi authorities, for that immunity to be lifted," Santos Silva told SIC television.

Emergency services said the victim suffered broken facial bones and was taken by helicopter to a Lisbon hospital.

A statement from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry characterized the ambassador's sons as victims of "a heavy beating" by six people at a restaurant. It said one son received a broken nose and rib as the six-member group "cursed" the diplomat's sons "because they were Arabs and Muslims." The statement added that the ambassador has filed a police complaint.

But in their own interview to SIC, the twins displayed no visible injuries. In excerpts broadcast Tuesday, one of them admitted assaulting the boy when he was spotted on his own, long after the bar altercation, as the twins drove through the town.

One of the sons, identified on screen as Ali Ridha, said he punched the Portuguese boy, knocking him to the ground, then "kicked him a few times" before his brother, Haider, stopped him.

"It's a dangerous recipe when you have teenagers, alcohol, this group mentality," Haider Ridha told SIC. "Things get out of control." Both spoke in English throughout their interview.

They said they haven't claimed diplomatic immunity and have cooperated with detectives.

A woman who answered the Iraqi embassy telephone said the matter was being handled between embassy staff and the Portuguese Foreign Ministry. She declined to provide further information or her name.

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Romania: 1 dead, 3 injured in fire at petrol refinery

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  Romanian officials say a man has died in a fire that broke out in a petrol refinery in eastern Romania which injured three others.

Mircea Gogan, medical director of the Bagdasar Arseni hospital in Bucharest, said a man who suffered burns to 90 percent of his died early Tuesday. Three others were also transported to Bucharest and remain hospitalized.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they had begun a criminal investigation of the fire Monday evening at the Rompetrol Petromedia-Navodari refinery on the Black Sea coast.
10 Things to Know for Wednesday - 24 August 2016

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:

1. CLINTON FOUNDATION DONORS GOT FACE TIME WITH HER AT STATE

More than half the people from outside government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state had one thing in common: their organizations all gave money to the Clintons' charities, the AP finds.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, front-centre, military commanders and ministers walk to the mausoleum of Turkey's founder Kemal Ataturk to pay respects, in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. Turkish media reports say Turkish artillery on Tuesday launched new strikes at Islamic State targets across the border in Syria, after two mortar rounds, believed to have been fired by the militants, hit the town of Karkamis, in Turkey's Gaziantep province. Hurriyet newspaper and other reports said the mortar rounds were fired from IS-held Jarablus, Syria.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

2. TRUMP SIGNALS EASING OF HARDLINE STANCE ON IMMIGRATION

The billionaire businessman suggests he's open to "softening" laws dealing with immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

3. MAGNITUDE 6.1 QUAKE RATTLES CENTRAL ITALY

First images of damage showed debris in the street and some collapsed buildings in towns and villages that dot much of the Umbrian countryside.

4. WHAT'S LATEST SOURCE OF FRICTION BETWEEN THE TWO KOREAS

South Korea's military says North Korea has fired a missile from a submarine off its east coast into the sea.

5. TURKEY SAYS OPERATION LAUNCHED TO FREE IS-HELD SYRIAN TOWN

The assault follows the Turkish foreign minister's pledge of "every kind" of support for operations against the extremist group along a 100-kilometer (62-mile) stretch of Syria's frontier.

6. WHY DRUGMAKER MYLAN HAS PR PROBLEM

Sky-high price hikes for the company's EpiPens are making it the latest target for patients and politicians infuriated by soaring drug costs.

7. MEXICO STORMS KILL MILLIONS OF MONARCHS

The storms blew down acres of forests where the migrating butterflies spend the winter in central Mexico, killing more than 7 percent of the butterflies, experts say.

8. WHICH SLICE OF ROADSIDE AMERICANA IS DISAPPEARING

One of the last two Howard Johnson restaurants will close in a couple of weeks, taking with it its fried clam strips and 28 ice cream flavors.

9. STEVEN HILL DIES AT 94

The versatile character actor achieved his greatest success late in life as grumpy District Attorney Adam Schiff on TV's long-running "Law & Order."

10. TOM BRADY WOUNDS THROWING HAND

The quarterback says he's ready to play after cutting his right thumb with scissors in a "silly accident" last week.

CORRECTS DATE - In this Nov. 12, 2015, file photo, a guide holds up a damaged and dying butterfly at the monarch butterfly reserve in Piedra Herrada, Mexico State, Mexico. Storms caused a big spike in the number of trees blown down or lost to heavy branch damage in forests where migrating monarch butterflies spend the winter in central Mexico, experts reported Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Russian soldier gets life for killing Armenian family of 7

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP)  An Armenian court on Tuesday sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison for killing a family of seven outside a Russian military base in Armenia, which sparked a major crisis in relations between the two historic allies.

The court, at the Russian base in the Armenian city of Gyumri, found Valery Permyakov guilty of killing the family after he left his base with a machine gun and went on a shooting rampage at their home, killing all of them including a 6-month-old infant.

Russia is Armenia's main sponsor and ally and has troops stationed there. The brutal killing sparked protests in the otherwise Russia-friendly Armenia as residents feared the supposed killer would be sent home.

Permyakov was reported to have confessed to the killing earlier in the trial but refused to give testimony. Two sets of tests by Russian and Armenian psychiatrists certified that the soldier is sane.

The family's lawyers welcomed the verdict, but insisted that the trial left many questions unanswered.

Artur Sakunts, who represents the family's relatives, on Tuesday blamed investigators for failing to establish a motive and whether Permyakov had any accomplices.
Palestinians probe police's role in death of suspect

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)  Palestinian authorities say they have launched an investigation into the alleged beating death by West Bank police of a Palestinian man accused of killing two officers.

Palestinian police have been conducting arrest raids in the city of Nablus to apprehend suspects wanted over arms and drug sales.

Last week, two suspects were killed in a shootout and two policemen were killed in an ambush. The man blamed for the policemen's deaths, Ahmad Halaweh, was later arrested and according to Akram Rajoub, the Nablus governor, police beat the man to death in prison.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said on Tuesday that authorities were investigating Halaweh's death.
Romania: 11 rescued from bat cave inundated by flash flood

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  Authorities say 11 people have been rescued after being trapped by a flash flood in a huge bat cave in western Romania.

Alina Marescu, spokeswoman for the local emergency services, told The Associated Press that the group had taken shelter Monday afternoon from torrential rain, only to be trapped by the flood. They were rescued after a seven-hour operation.

She said Tuesday that the group included two experienced speleologists  people who study caves. The others were aged 15-17, of which four were French. Marescu said they were checked by medics and nobody needed medical care.
Swiss charge 3 suspects in global phishing case

GENEVA (AP)  Swiss prosecutors say they've charged three people accused of illegally obtaining data on at least 133,600 credit cards with computer fraud following their extradition from Thailand.

The Swiss attorney general's office said Tuesday that the group for years earned a living from the unlawful procurement and fraudulent online use of credit card data. It said that "credit card holders around the world and Swiss financial institutions" were affected.

The three allegedly obtained the data through so-called phishing attacks, using emails, websites and text messages.

Prosecutors say they operated from October 2009 until they were arrested in 2014 and 2015 in Bangkok. They were then extradited to Switzerland, where they are currently in pretrial custody.
Tehran renames street near Saudi Embassy for executed cleric

TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A semi-official news agency in Iran is reporting that Tehran's City Council has voted to rename a street near the Saudi Embassy for a Shiite cleric executed by the Sunni-ruled kingdom in January.

The ISNA news agency says the council voted unanimously Tuesday to rename the Naaz Street after Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Saudi Arabia executed al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric and dissident, in January, along with 46 other prisoners. His execution sparked protests in Iran that saw demonstrators storm the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and another diplomatic post in the country.

Relations between the two countries, which back opposing sides in Syria's civil war and in Yemen, were subsequently severed.
Catholic school settles sex assault allegations for $1.9M

ORADELL, N.J. (AP)  A Catholic school in New Jersey has settled allegations of child sexual abuse for $1.9 million.

The agreement between Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell and 21 former students who said they were sexually abused by staff at the all-boys school between 1963 and 1978 was reached in November. But advocates for victims of sexual abuse held a news conference outside the school on Monday.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian released a copy of the settlement in which the school did not admit any wrongdoing, guilt or liability. The school says the money does not "relate or correlate" to the merits of the allegations.
British man accused in Bali police death confesses to fight

BALI, Indonesia (AP)  A British man arrested in the killing of a police officer on the tourist island of Bali confessed to bashing the Indonesian man with a beer bottle and leaving him unconscious, police said Tuesday. His lawyer said he didn't realize the officer would die.

David Taylor and his Australian girlfriend, Sara Connor, were arrested Friday, two days after the bloodied body of traffic police officer Wayan Sudarsa was found on the beach outside the Pullman Hotel in Kuta, a popular tourist area. Connor's handbag was found nearby.

The couple had been drinking beer on the beach in the hours before the late-night encounter.

Indonesian police officers escort murder suspect David Taylor, second from right, to an investigator's room at a local police station in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. Indonesian police have arrested an Australian woman and a British man in connection with the alleged murder of a police officer in the tourist resort of Bali. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Denpasar Police Chief Col. Hadi Purnomo said Taylor, 33, admitted getting into a fight with Sudarsa, who was on duty, after Connor realized she had lost her handbag and accused the officer of stealing it and being a fake police officer.

Purnomo said the dispute escalated after Taylor tried to search Sudarsa, who pushed the British man to the ground.

Taylor's lawyer, Haposan Sihombing, said his client admitted to hitting the Indonesian with a cellphone, binoculars and beer bottle, but he didn't realize Sudarsa would die.

"Taylor hit the victim repeatedly with the broken bottle, leaving him face down and unconscious," the police chief said. The couple left the scene but Taylor returned and turned over the body of Sudarsa, who was still unconscious, he said.

Sihombing said Connor, 45, tried to help Taylor during the fight, but her lawyer, Erwin Siregar, said she denies being involved.

"She insists that she was not involved with the murder at all. She saw from behind that Taylor hit the victim, but she did not know what he used to hit," Siregar said.

Prosecutors will decide charges after police submit their investigation report. A conviction for intentional murder in Indonesia has a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Purnomo said Connor could be charged with aiding an assault that led to death. The maximum penalty is 10 years if convicted.

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This story has been corrected to show that Taylor's age is 33 and Connor's is 45.
Israel uncovers illegal Palestinian weapons-making network

JERUSALEM (AP)  Israel has uncovered an illegal Palestinian weapons manufacturing network in the West Bank in one of its largest raids during a months-long crackdown on illicit arms, the military said Tuesday.

Since the start of the year, Israel has seized dozens of weapons, shuttered arms-making factories and arrested weapons dealers in a clampdown in the West Bank meant to quell a spate of Palestinian violence.

The military said that the latest raid overnight found seven weapons factories, 22 weapons-making machines and dozens of arms, which it said was a significant haul since it began targeting illegal weapons manufacturers. Among the seized arms were crude guns based on the Swedish "Carl Gustav" submachine gun, which the military says has been a preferred weapon for Palestinian attackers.

The military says that since January, it uncovered 29 weapons factories and seized 49 weapons-making machines and more than 300 firearms. More than 140 arms dealers and manufacturers have been arrested during that time.

The crackdown comes amid an 11-month wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence which has largely tapered off in recent weeks. Israel says the weapons' crackdown is making it harder and more expensive for Palestinian assailants to acquire guns.

Some 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings but also shootings. More than 206 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, the majority said by Israel to have been attackers. The rest were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Royal treatment: creating a new look for the Queen Mary 2

What a daunting assignment for an interior designer: Redecorate the Queen Mary 2.

The ship relaunched earlier this summer after $132 million in renovations. Alison Clixby, director of hotel design and projects for Cunard and P&O Cruises, had to make the ship look fresh and contemporary while maintaining the look of luxury.

She also had to keep in mind the ship's heritage. The QM2 is part of a line of Cunard ships named for British royals. Every ship in the fleet has been christened by members of the royal family, and 20th century VIP passengers included the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

In this July 6, 2016 photo, a pianist plays in the Grand Lobby aboard the cruise liner Queen Mary 2, docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Here's a Q-and-A with Clixby:

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AP: The QM2 launched in 2004 but your research included visiting the original Queen Mary, which launched 80 years ago and is now docked in Long Beach, California.

CLIXBY: We wanted to bring out that heritage and history and refer back to those old ships. But the question was, 'What was it about those ships that we could use now moving the Cunard brand forward?' Cunard also wanted to promote luxury  five- and six-star and white-glove service.

When I visited the Queen Mary in Long Beach, we looked for reference points like material elements that we could layer into the QM2. We needed to bring those elements through in some ways  for example, using decorative patterns from the original ship in a more contemporary way  but we didn't want to do a direct copy.

We were also looking at things that would work when it's a very gray, winter trans-Atlantic crossing, or when she's on a world cruise in sunnier climes. We needed that real balance between traditional and classic, but referring back to the art deco heritage of the older ships.

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AP: The QM2 has a lighter, airier feel than some ocean liners. How did you do that?

CLIXBY: We had the opportunity to re-carpet the entire ship including the cabins. Our principle was to have a holistic approach. Quite often on cruise ships, when they go through a refurbishment, they might change one thing but not adjacent spaces. We had the ability to do the whole thing, getting continuity and blends of color to change the whole color balance. There were a lot of old-fashioned colors on the ship  beige, brown, peach combinations  which were slightly on the 1980s side of color schemes. And now what you see in a lot of hotels is going more toward the warm grays, the taupes. We used those new colors and quite a mix of tones.

We were also always looking to practicality when it comes to cleaning. Modern carpet technology is fantastic. You can blend more of the colors successfully so that something that appears to be quite light actually has a lot of depth of color to cover a multitude of sins. If you pull out the color tufts from every area, they would be identical  red, blue, gold. That made the difference. That shock of color made it feel fresher, but the underlying continuity is the warm grays.

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AP: What's the difference between decorating public spaces like dining venues versus the private spaces?

CLIXBY: When we're doing the staterooms and it's personal, private space, you notice more of what you touch and feel and sit on. We did a lot in terms of new furniture details  handles, stitching, the quality of fabrics.

In the public spaces, our primary focus was the first impression: the wow factor and representing the Cunard brand. We worked with the ship's existing structures but changed the features  chandeliers and dramatic artworks  and changed the color balance.

In the staterooms, we've got the blue with the gold Cunard crest for the bed, throw cushions, bed runners, bright throws and a blue Brittania color for the cabins. The other elements were more neutral to lighten things up.

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AP: How did you balance the fussiness of vintage decor with contemporary style?

CLIXBY: Our natural tendency is, contemporary wins. But you want to create something that's timeless. You keep the pared-back aesthetic but add those older elements in. The furniture can be more decorative, for example. But we don't want to be completely design-led because that will be out of fashion very quickly.

In the lounge, decorative metal screens divide the space and make it more intimate. That's a direct reference back to metalwork from the 1930s. And we've got different fabrics on the seats, and then a button. The nail detail might be in a more contemporary gun metal, but that sort of element references traditional upholstery detailing.

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AP: Any tips for home decor?

CLIXBY: A key element is lighting  whether that's being able to turn off the main light because it's making the room too bright, or adding some accent lights or concentrating on the color temperature of those lights so they're not too cold.

Also you would ideally declutter. On a ship, it's done for you  someone is tidying up and putting your things away constantly! But it takes a lot of discipline, and it's difficult when you've got families and children. But there is that idea where you think, if you could just spend the weekend decluttering and buying a couple of throw pillows, it would add some fresh texture or color.

In this July 6, 2016 photo, the Britannia Restaurant is shown aboard the cruise liner Queen Mary 2, docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this July 6, 2016 photo, the detail of the back of a chair in the Queens Grill Restaurant is shown aboard the cruise liner Queen Mary 2, docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this July 6, 2016, the cruise liner Queen Mary 2 is docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this July 6, 2016 photo, the Queens Grill Balmoral Suite living room is shown aboard the cruise liner Queen Mary 2, docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this July 6, 2016 photo, the Queens Grill Balmoral Suite bedroom, on the upper level, is shown aboard the cruise liner Queen Mary 2, docked at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Frenchman injured after dentures stuck in throat for 6 days

PARIS (AP)  An elderly Frenchman has been hospitalized in serious condition after his false teeth reportedly were stuck in his throat for six days.

The Dunkirk Hospital said Tuesday it is investigating how its personnel handled the treatment of 85-year-old Roland Marissael.

La Voix du Nord newspaper reported that staff at the Dunkirk Hospital and Cambrai Hospital Center thought he was suffering from lung problems or dementia and refused to check his throat. Marissael's sons Jean-Jacques and Jean-Luc are quoted as saying they repeatedly told medics that he had accidentally swallowed his dentures.

The report says that an X-ray eventually revealed the false teeth were trapped in his vocal cords, and surgeons immediately removed them.
Kidnapping trial delayed for man who killed Peterson's son

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  A kidnapping trial has been delayed for the man serving life in prison without parole for killing the 2-year-old son of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson in South Dakota.

Joseph Patterson is accused of kidnapping and assaulting the mother of Tyrese Ruffin in Sioux Falls in 2014 while awaiting trial in the boy's death. Patterson was convicted last September of second-degree murder in the October 2013 death of the boy who was the son of Patterson's girlfriend, Ashley Doohen, and Peterson.

Judge Brad Zell held a hearing Monday on whether police illegally entered Doohen's home the night authorities say she was attacked. Officers gained access with a spare key from one of Doohen's friends.

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2015 file photo, Joseph Patterson, who was convicted in September 2015 for the 2013 killing of Tyrese Robert Ruffin, the 2-year-old son of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, is escorted into Minnehaha County Court in Sioux Falls, S.D. A kidnapping trial for Patterson, accused of kidnapping and assaulting the mother of Tyrese Ruffin in Sioux Falls in 2014 while awaiting trial in the boy's death, has been postponed from October 2016 to January 2017. (Joe Ahlquist/Argus Leader via AP, File)

Patterson's attorneys argued that since officers didn't have a search warrant, the search was illegal and the evidence obtained by officers should not be allowed at trial. Officer Pete Blankenfeld said authorities had Doohen's safety in mind.

"I felt it was necessary to enter the apartment to check on (her)," he said.
Myanmar says UN chief to attend ethnic peace talks

YANGON, Myanmar (AP)  Officials in Myanmar say United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend a peace conference next week that seeks to end decades of armed conflict with ethnic minority groups.

The U.N. is expected to soon confirm Ban's attendance at the conference, which begins Aug. 31 in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The deputy director of the President's Office, Zaw Htay, said Tuesday the government invited Ban to what is informally dubbed the 21st Century Panglong Conference after he expressed an interest in attending. The plans were confirmed by Sai Kyaw Nyunt, general secretary of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, which is organizing the event.

"Ban Ki-moon will come to represent the U.N.," he said.

It will be Ban's first visit to Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party replaced an army-backed government in March this year. His last visit was in November 2014.

Suu Kyi, the country's leader, chairs the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, which includes representatives of the government, ethnic armed groups and political parties. She has issued a call for mutual trust and unity ahead of the meeting.

Suu Kyi's father, Gen. Aung San, arranged the first Panglong Agreement with ethnic minority groups in 1947. It sought to meet their demands for more autonomy from the central government, but broke down following Aung San's assassination shortly afterward. Conflict with armed ethnic minority groups has been an almost constant factor of Myanmar's politics since then.
US, Biden face tough task to mend relations with Turkey

WASHINGTON (AP)  With suspicions on both sides mounting, the United States is struggling to preserve its wobbly partnership with Turkey as the Turks entertain closer relations with Russia and fume over a U.S.-based cleric blamed for orchestrating last month's failed coup.

Vice President Joe Biden arrives Wednesday in the Turkish capital, Ankara, to try to smooth over recent strains. He comes bearing no assurances that the United States will agree to Turkey's demand that it extradite Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Instead, he'll try to convey that America values Turkey as a key NATO ally amid worrying signs that the U.S. and Turkish approaches to the Syrian conflict may be diverging.

Turkey's Justice Ministry said its officials opened talks Tuesday with U.S. Justice Department and State Department officials in Ankara ahead of Biden's arrival.

FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2016 file photo, Vice President Joe Biden gestures during a news conference in Belgrade, Serbia. Biden faces a difficult mission when he travels to Ankara on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, to try to smooth over recent strains: He comes bearing no assurances that the U.S. will agree to Turkeys demand that it extradite Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

Tensions between the countries were already bubbling under the surface before the coup attempt July 15 and since have burst into the open. U.S. leaders were incensed when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of either supporting or backing the coup. As the U.S. issued denials, Turkish officials complained that Washington was slow to support Turkey's government at its time of greatest need, even though the U.S. had expressed support for Erdogan during the violence that claimed 270 lives.

For its part, the U.S. has been rattled by Turkey's recent diplomatic flirtations with traditional U.S. foes Russia and Iran, reflecting the possibility that a frustrated Turkey could be rethinking its allegiance with the West in pursuit of regional stability. This month Erdogan traveled to Moscow to boost ties and possibly collaboration on ending Syria's civil war, something Moscow has sought unsuccessfully with Washington. And following the Turkish foreign minister's surprise trip to Iran last week, Turkish media reported that Erdogan planned to visit Tehran on Wednesday  the same day he's also slated to meet Biden.

"Clearly President Erdogan is sending a message by getting closer to Russia and Iran that he's unhappy with the attitude of the West," said Bulent Aliriza, a Turkey analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Turkey's still going to remain a NATO member and aspire for EU membership, but the atmosphere is worse than it was on July 14," the day before the coup attempt.

A breakdown of ties to Turkey would be problematic for the U.S., which is counting on Turkey to pursue the same approach to fighting the Islamic State group and addressing extremism across the Middle East. Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey shares borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria, where the porous border permits Islamic State fighters into Turkey and would-be recruits into Syria.

But the U.S. and Turkey are unlikely to resolve their dispute over Gulen, who has lived in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania for 17 years in self-imposed exile. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup attempt. Turkey's government has insisted the U.S. return him to Turkey immediately.

The U.S. government wants firm evidence before considering extradition. Senior officials in the Obama administration say Turkey's extradition requests have been based on allegations of other crimes against Gulen, not evidence of involvement in the coup attempt.

U.S. officials, who briefed reporters ahead of Biden's trip on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday's talks in Ankara involved a Justice Department team assigned to consider the technical requirements of Turkey's extradition request. The officials said Biden planned to tell Turkey's leaders that their public allegations of U.S. complicity won't help their cause.

"People have an expectation that Gulen should be returned to Turkey immediately," said Gulnur Aybet, who teaches international relations at Turkey's Bahcesehir University. "If the extradition request is refused or delayed I'm afraid that's going to have serious repercussions."

The U.S. once considered Erdogan a leader interested in promoting democracy and working with America. That optimism has been dampened as Erdogan cracks down on media and other freedoms and puts a premium on opposing outlawed Kurdish rebels  sometimes at the expense, in the Obama administration's view, of focusing on IS.

Washington's concerns about human rights and democracy in Turkey have intensified since the Turkish government detained or fired tens of thousands of police, soldiers, teachers and journalists following the abortive coup. The U.S. has been careful not to criticize Turkey publicly to avoid undercutting the overall U.S. message of support for Turkey's government.

Turkey's fragile security was highlighted over the weekend when a suicide bomber killed at least 54 people at a Kurdish wedding celebration in Gaziantep, near the Syria border. It was the deadliest in a string of attacks this year in Turkey committed by IS or the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Adding to U.S. worries, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim recently appeared warm to the possibility of Syrian President Bashar Assad maintaining a role in a transitional government. For years, both Turkey and the U.S. have called for Assad's ouster, insisting he can't be part of Syria's future government.

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Associated Press reporters Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Bram Janssen in Istanbul and Dan Huff in Washington contributed to this report.

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AT&T to provide cellphone roaming, other services in Cuba

DALLAS (AP)  AT&T has reached a deal for enhanced roaming and other cellphone services for wireless customers visiting Cuba.

The Dallas-based telecommunications giant on Monday announced the agreement with the state telecommunications company, Etecsa. Terms were not released.

An AT&T statement says a start date and pricing for the wireless roaming in Cuba  including talk, text and data  will be announced later.
Minnesota nurses resume contract talks with Allina Health

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The Minnesota Nurses Association and Allina Health are returning to the bargaining table.

The union representing about 4,800 nurses at five Allina hospitals in the Twin Cities area rejected a labor contract offer last week and authorized an open-ended strike, just two months after a weeklong strike ended without a deal. They are expected to resume talks Tuesday.

Part of the dispute is over health care plans. Allina wants to transition its nurses to the same plan as other employees to save $10 million a year. The corporate plan carries lower premiums but higher deductibles. The nurses want to keep their current health plans.
Expert: Low-tech A/C reducing heat on Louisiana death row

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  An expert appointed by a federal judge has testified that a portable air conditioner consisting of an ice chest, a fan and an air duct has a high potential for helping drop the extreme heat indexes on Louisiana's death row that threaten three ailing condemned killers.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/2bz0dtb ) that Shane Hernandez, a professional engineer and air conditioning expert in Lafayette, told Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson on Monday that the low-tech units placed outside the inmates' cells work.

Jackson ordered state corrections officials in December 2013 to prevent heat indexes  a measure of temperature and humidity  on death row at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola from topping 88 degrees.

Hernandez testified that the humidity levels on the portion of Tier C where the three inmates have been moved are "much more comfortable" than other death row tiers that don't have the units.

"My clients for the first time in three years are in a reasonable condition," Mercedes Montagnes, the inmates' lead attorney, told Jackson.

Mary Roper, one of the state's lawyers, argued that the portable air conditioning units and a hole cut in the Tier C door to allow cool air from the air-conditioned guard pod to move into the tier are merely "temporary and experimental" measures.

Roper maintained the daily cool shower, ice chests filled with ice and extra fans that prisoners Elzie Ball, Nathaniel Code and James Magee are being provided are sufficient to remedy the constitutional violation that Jackson and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found on death row.

The state contends its second heat-remediation plan, which includes showers, ice chests and fans but no portable air conditioning units, is adequate.

The inmates' attorneys dispute that contention.

Jackson, who said Monday's testimony was very helpful, promised to issue a ruling "in pretty short order."

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Venezuelan government managers to lose jobs over recall

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  President Nicolas Maduro is ordering retaliation against managers in government agencies who signed a petition to recall him from office.

Socialist party leader Jorge Rodriguez said Monday that Maduro had set a 48-hour deadline for ministers to fire high-ranking public workers who added their names to a petition seeking a new presidential election.

The sackings would affect the ministries of food, finance, work and basic business, as well as workers in the office of the president.

FILE - In this April 12, 2016 file photo, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during the installation of a truth commission, at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Socialist party leader Jorge Rodriguez said Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, that Maduro had set a 48-hour deadline for ministers to fire high-ranking public workers who added their name to a petition seeking a new presidential election. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

Hundreds of public workers have already said they were fired this summer after signing the petition.

Critics of Venezuela's 17-year-old socialist revolution have made the recall effort their chief priority this year, but it is unlikely to succeed in wresting the presidency back from the socialist party as elections officials drag their feet at every turn.

The timing is crucial because a successful recall vote this year would trigger a presidential election that, according to polls, the opposition would likely win. But if the referendum is delayed until next year, a recall vote would result only in the vice president replacing Maduro until his term ends in early 2019.

Opposition leaders launched the recall process by gathering signatures from 1 percent of the voters earlier this year. They are now waiting for elections officials to allow them to begin the second phase. That requires them to collect petition signatures from the 20 percent of the country's voters, or 4 million people, over the course of three days in order to trigger a national recall referendum.

Maduro has consistently said the recall will not happen this year. But he has not spoken publicly about blacklisting people who support the effort.

The order to fire workers recalls widespread official retaliation against those who signed a petition to recall former president Hugo Chavez in 2004.

The government is Venezuela's largest employer, with nearly 3 million people working in a public post.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who would have a good shot at winning a presidential election if it were scheduled this year, has called a major protest for Sept. 1.

Also on Monday, the head of the Organization of American States accused Venezuela of failing to respect basic political rights. In an open letter addressed to imprisoned opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, Secretary-General Luis Almagro said "there is no democracy nor a state of law" in the South American country.

"The people of Venezuela are victims of bullying, which has become the defining characteristic of this government's approach," he wrote.

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Bahamas PM says stalled mega-resort to be finished and sold

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP)  The government of the Bahamas says it has reached an agreement that will lead to the completion of a stalled mega-resort financed and built by Chinese state-owned enterprises.

Prime Minister Perry Christie announced late Monday that China Construction will finish the Baha Mar project with financing from the Export-Import Bank of China. The complex will then be sold to a "world class" hotel and casino operator, he said.

Construction would resume in September and the project will open before the end of the 2016-2017 tourist season, Christie said in a nationally televised address that followed Supreme Court approved of the agreement. He did not identify any potential operators.

"This agreement represents a signal achievement for the Bahamas, and a milestone in the troubled history of Baha Mar," he said.

Baha Mar is a $3.5 billion project that was initially scheduled to open in December 2014 on 1,000 acres (405 hectares) along Cable Beach in Nassau. It would include four new hotels, a golf course and what would be the largest casino in the Caribbean. After a series of delays and the developer filed for bankruptcy in June 2015.

The stalled project had been expected to increase the overall economy of the tourism-dependent Bahamas by about 12 percent.
The Latest: Sheriff: Man used ax, then gunshots in massacre

CITRONELLE, Ala. (AP)  The Latest on the slaying of five adults at a home in Alabama (all times local):

4 p.m.

An Alabama sheriff says the suspect in the slaughter of five adults was armed with an ax as he attacked them in their sleep, using the weapon to strike one of his first victims in a reclining chair and then moving through the house to assault the others.

A photo provided by the Greene County Sheriff's Department shows Derrick Dearman, a suspect in the Saturday massacre of five adults in Citronelle Ala. Dearman, of Leakesville, Mississippi, will be charged with six counts of capital murder, Mobile County sheriff's spokeswoman Lori Myles said Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. (George County Sheriff's Department via AP)

Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran says Derrick Dearman overpowered the victims in the ax attacks, and then used guns from inside the house to shoot them.

Court records state that an ax and gun were used to kill each victim in Saturday's rampage in the south Alabama town of Citronelle.

Dearman, of Leakesville, Mississippi, is charged with six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping.

Authorities say Dearman abducted his estranged girlfriend and an infant from the home after the killings. Both were found alive.

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12:45 p.m.

Criminal complaints allege that a man used both a gun and an ax to slaughter five adults as they slept in an Alabama home.

The complaints filed Tuesday in Mobile County District Court do not allege in which order Derrick Dearman used the weapons, or elaborate further on the nature of the killing.

Dearman of Leakesville, Mississippi, is charged with six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping.

The bodies of all five people were found Saturday inside the home in Citronelle, Alabama. A sheriff's captain says Dearman attacked them as they slept, then abducted his estranged girlfriend and an infant from the home. Both of them were found alive.

11:30 a.m.

A prosecutor says it is likely she will seek the death penalty for a man accused of killing five adults in a south Alabama home.

Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich told The Associated Press on Tuesday that "by all appearances at this point" the mass killing will be a death penalty case. She said no final decision has been reached, as the investigation is still in its early stages.

Derrick Dearman of Leakesville, Mississippi, is charged with six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping.

The bodies of all five people were found Saturday inside the home in Citronelle, Alabama. A sheriff's captain says Dearman attacked them as they slept, then abducted his estranged girlfriend and an infant from the home. Both of them were found alive.

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8:15 a.m.

A prosecutor says the man accused of slaughtering two women and three men at a south Alabama house has been charged with six counts of capital murder.

Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said in a statement early Tuesday that Derrick Dearman is to have a first court appearance Wednesday morning.

The bodies of all five people were found Saturday inside the home in Citronelle, Alabama. A sheriff's captain says Dearman attacked them as they slept, and then abducted his estranged girlfriend and an infant from the home. Both of them were found alive.

Alabama court records don't indicate whether Dearman, of Leakesville, Mississippi, has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

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2:30 a.m.

A man held in the slayings of five people in rural Alabama says drugs are to blame for the killings.

Derrick Dearman made the comments Monday as he was led to jail in shackles by law enforcement officers. He expressed regret for the deaths and professed love for the estranged girlfriend whose relatives and friends were slain.

Dearman is from Leakesville, Mississippi. He says he was on methamphetamine when he went to the rural house where three men and two women were later found dead.

Authorities say Dearman will be charged with six counts of capital murder, including one charge for the unborn child of a pregnant victim.

Dearman told reporters he doesn't deserve to live.

Crime scene tape marks the home on Jim Platt Road near Citronelle, Ala., Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016, where authorities said five people were killed on Saturday. Police said that Derrick Dearman, 27, of Leakesville, Miss., has been taken into custody in connection with the murders. (John Sharp/AL.com via AP)
Russia, Germany, France raise alarm over fighting in Ukraine

MOSCOW (AP)  The leaders of Russia, Germany and France have raised the alarm about a recent uptick in fighting in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin's office said on Tuesday Putin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande discussed Ukraine in a telephone call earlier in the day and condemned recent fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict in Ukraine's industrial heartland between Russia-backed separatists and government troops has killed more than 9,500 people since it began in 2014. Despite 2015 peace accords signed in Minsk, Belarus, which initially helped to halt the fighting and then lower its intensity, international monitors have reported more clashes in the past weeks, some involving heavy weaponry.

Tanks ride along main Khreshchatyk Street during a rehearsal of a military parade, prior to Independence Day in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. Ukraine will mark the 25th anniversary of the Independence Day on Aug. 24. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine are parties to the Minsk accords.

The three leaders will meet face-to-face in early September to discuss ways to deal with the crisis, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, but did not say whether Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko would be invited as well.

The Kremlin said in Tuesday's read-out that Putin mentioned to Hollande and Merkel what Russia refers to as foiled terrorist attacks in the Russia-occupied Crimea. Russian intelligence said earlier this month that one of its employees and a soldier were killed in separate incidents in Crimea described as foiled terrorist attacks Armyansk within miles of the de-facto border between Crimea and Ukraine.

Kiev's "penchant to such forceful actions," Putin said on Tuesday, "harms the Minsk process and cooperation" of the four-party talks.

An Associated Press reporter in the government-controlled town of Maryinka on the frontline with the rebel stronghold of Donetsk heard heavy artillery throughout the night on Monday and early on Tuesday.

The town was shrouded in smoke Tuesday morning from the multiple fires from artillery shells that landed there during the night's fighting. Local residents say hostilities never really fully stopped there but the fighting has been particularly intensively in the past couple of weeks.

"It's quiet now, and we are outside," Maryinka resident Nonna said outside her home Monday evening. "But there's fighting during daytime, even kids don't go outside for a walk, they're scared."

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Mstyslav Chernov contributed to this report from Maryinka, Ukraine.

A soldier shares a tender moment with his girlfriend while other soldiers rest during a rehearsal of a military parade a few days before the Independence Day in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. Ukraine to mark the 25th anniversary of the Independence Day on Aug. 24. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Romanian health official detained on suspicion of bribery

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  Anti-corruption prosecutors have detained a senior Romanian health official on suspicion of paying bribes and influence peddling.

A court will rule later Tuesday whether Lazar Iordache, deputy chief of the National Medicine Agency, should be arrested for 30 days.

A statement said Iordache promised a health ministry official a cut of budgetary funds for two hospitals if he signed, and convinced other ministry officials to sign, certain projects connected to the hospitals. He is a board member of one of the hospitals.

He allegedly paid the unnamed person 126,000 lei ($32,000) in April from ministry funds he had access to. There was no immediate reaction from Iordache. The statement said the official he allegedly bribed reported him.
Mediation ordered in suit over autopsies in 8 Ohio killings

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  The Ohio Supreme Court wants a settlement reached in the case of a newspaper suing a coroner for autopsy records in the unsolved slayings of eight people from one family.

A complaint by The Columbus Dispatch that is before the court alleges the Pike County coroner is improperly withholding the final autopsy records.

The coroner says the autopsies are "confidential law enforcement investigatory records" that aren't subject to public records laws. Ohio's attorney general says he supports that position to avoid jeopardizing chances of catching the killers.

The court on Tuesday ordered the case to mediation. The Cincinnati Enquirer has filed a similar lawsuit, which is also in mediation.

Seven adults and a teenage boy from the Rhoden family were found shot at four homes near Piketon on April 22.

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The Latest: Trump pays tribute to border patrol agents

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):

9:35 p.m.

Donald Trump is paying tribute to border patrol agents and to the families of those whose loved ones were murdered by immigrants in the nation illegally.

A man is held back by an officer, not seen at left, and a woman as he responds to protesters after coming from an event where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. (Deborah Cannon/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

The Republican nominee brought several agents and women onstage with him at a rally in Austin, Texas, Tuesday night. He used them to highlight his call to build a border wall with Mexico and deport violent immigrants.

Trump is expected to unveil his full immigration plan next week. He has suggested he may back off his earlier vow to deport all 11 million immigrants in the nation illegally.

Trump's foray into reliably red Texas is unusual. But aides said Trump made the visit to Texas to hold a pair of fundraisers and reiterate his plan to toughen border security.

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9:20 p.m.

Donald Trump says life in the United States for African-Americans is "going in the wrong direction" and is vowing to help.

Trump says "a good education with a great paying job, that's success" in the United States. He says too many African-Americans are being left out, and promises his education and economic policies will aid minorities.

He asks: "What do you have to lose in trying Trump? I will fix it."

The declaration a rally in Austin, Texas, is part of a renewed push by the Republican nominee to woo black voters, with whom he has dismal approval ratings.

Trump also says he'll fight crime, repeating his claim that in many urban, minority neighborhoods, if "you walk down the street, you get shot."

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9:15 p.m.

Sen. Harry Reid says Donald Trump can't win in Nevada because there aren't enough "uneducated white men" for him to carry the state.

The Senate Democratic leader is retiring at the end of this year. He told reporters in Reno Tuesday that Nevada's demographics have changed so Trump can't count on support from so-called Reagan Democrats who crossed party lines in the past.

Reid says that change, combined with his belief that Republican women are abandoning the GOP's presidential candidate, translates into a November victory for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Reid predicts former Nevada Democratic Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto will defeat Republican Rep. Joe Heck in the race for Reid's seat. He also says Democrats will retake control of the Senate and pick up seats in the House.

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9 p.m.

Chicago police are debunking Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's claim that department officials told him they can reduce crime by being tougher.

During a Monday interview on Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor," Trump said Chicago's police force doesn't have "the right people in charge." He added he met "very top police" who told him if a specific person were put in charge, violence could be stopped "in one week."

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says no one in the department's senior command structure has ever met with Trump or his campaign staff.

Guglielmi said crime is best addressed by community policing and keeping illegal guns and repeat violent offenders off the street.

As of Monday, homicides in Chicago totaled 441. That's up from 296 at the same time last year.

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7:25 p.m.

When it comes to Donald Trump, Cher is not afraid to go there.

Speaking at a private fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, the singer and actress unloaded on the Republican presidential nominee. She compared him to Stalin and Hitler and said he reminded her of the murdering child character in the movie, "The Bad Seed."

"Consummate liar, doesn't care who she hurts, insane," said Cher at the Sunday event in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Cher told reporters afterward that Trump is "a racist, he's a misogynist, he's a horrible person."

A video of Cher's remarks was posted on Facebook and first reported by the New York Times.

An excerpt of Clinton's remarks was also posted on Facebook. She said, "I can't tell you how excited I am to have Cher here."

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6:45 p.m.

Donald Trump is suggesting he could favor "softening" laws dealing with immigrants living in the United States illegally.

Trump taped a town hall in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday for Fox News. Moderator Sean Hannity asked the Republican presidential nominee if he would change any statute to accommodate law-abiding citizens or those with children.

Trump answered, "There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people. We want people, we have some great people in this country."

He added, "We are going to follow the laws of this country."

His remarks could indicate he is considering easing his earlier pledge to deport the 11 million people living in the country illegally.

Trump said he would make a decision "very soon" about deportations.

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5:30 p.m.

Tim Kaine says Democrats have a chance of winning GOP-friendly Arkansas this presidential contest, thanks to Hillary Clinton's personal ties to the state.

Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, visited Clinton supporters at a Little Rock campaign office Tuesday.

The senator from Virginia said that while polls suggest an Arkansas victory would be an uphill climb, the Clinton campaign still believes the state is in play.

Clinton spent much of her adult life in Arkansas, and served as the state's first lady when her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was governor.

Since becoming Clinton's running mate last month, Kaine has been on a whirlwind tour around the country, including to other deep red states like Louisiana and Texas.

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5:15 p.m.

GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence got a haircut at a black-owned barbershop on Tuesday between campaign stops in the Philadelphia area.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has made overtures to black voters in recent days, asking them, "What do you have to lose?" by supporting him.

The owner, Henry Jones, says he had no idea who his lone customer for the day was when he arrived. The two discussed their families and sports while Pence sat for his $20 trim.

When the haircut ended, Jones asked Pence his name. When Pence identified himself as Indiana governor and GOP vice presidential candidate, Jones said, "Vice president?" and added, "This is history."

Jones says Pence didn't ask for his vote, and he is undecided in the November election.

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3 p.m.

Donald Trump's campaign says the decision by rival Hillary Clinton's family foundation to no longer accept foreign and corporate donations if she's elected president doesn't go far enough.

Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller says, "The Clinton Foundation's laughable attempt to address conflicts of interest fails to include many of its umbrella organizations," such as the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

Former President Bill Clinton has said that he and the health initiative's board are "considering a range of options to ensure that its vital work will continue and will announce details soon."

Miller warns that conflicts of interest "would continue unabated in a Hillary Clinton administration" under the proposed plan.

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2:30 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is praising small business owners as the "unsung heroes of our economy"

The Democratic presidential candidate is unveiling economic proposals on a Tuesday conference call with small-business owners.

Clinton is proposing a new tax deduction for small businesses and offering federal incentives to encourage state and local governments to streamline regulations. The goal, says her campaign, is to make it cheaper to start a company.

Clinton says: "we want you to do what you do best: innovate, grow and hire."

She's also attacking Donald Trump, saying he's "made a career out of stiffing small business." The Republican candidate has faced lawsuits accusing him of failing to pay small companies for services and products used in his businesses.

Clinton is on a three-day fundraising swing across California.

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1:45 p.m.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine is promoting Hillary Clinton's plans for helping small businesses, saying smaller companies are critical to America's economy.

Kaine told an audience at a Denver machine shop Tuesday that his running mate's proposals would simplify and cut small business taxes and allow business owners to take standardized deductions similar to those offered on personal income taxes.

The Virginia senator also said that Clinton wants to make it easier for community banks and credit unions to finance start-ups and small businesses expansions.

Kaine also said Clinton's plan would provide incentives for state and local governments to ease regulatory burdens on new companies, make health insurance more affordable for small businesses, and make it easier to do business with the federal government.

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1:05 p.m.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine is accusing Donald Trump of using his campaign to make money for himself.

Speaking at a Denver machine shop Tuesday, Kaine noted reports that Republican presidential candidate significantly increased the monthly rent his campaign pays in at his Trump Tower headquarters after his campaign started raising large amounts of money from donors.

Kaine said: "Once donors were writing checks to the campaign, Trump said, 'Wow, I can get more money personally out of this.'" He said Trump had a "what-can-the-campaign-do-for-me" ethos.

Trump campaign says it needed to rent more space in the building in anticipation of significantly increasing staff.

Kaine also said Trump was proposing a self-serving tax plan while Democrat Hillary Clinton would cut and simplify taxes for small businesses.

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12:15 p.m.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein says she could win the presidential election if she could just get more public exposure.

But she's not holding her breath.

At a Washington news conference Tuesday, Stein made her case for being included in the presidential debates, saying voters deserve to hear from all the candidates.

The Commission on Presidential Debates says candidates must have the support of at least 15 percent of voters to be included in the three debates.

So far, Stein has been polling in the low single digits. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has been doing a little better, but not good enough.

Stein said, "We could potentially win this race. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not ruling it out. It's a crazy election."

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11:35 a.m.

Donald Trump plans to use a pair of events in Texas on Tuesday to stress the need for tougher border security.

Jason Miller, the campaign's communications director, released a statement saying that Trump will tape a town hall in Austin for the Fox News Network focusing on the need to fortify the southern border. He will later expand on the theme at a rally in the Texas capital.

Trump has highlighted crimes committed by immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Government figures, though, do not indicate that these immigrants commit violent crimes more frequently than legal residents do.

Trump had been expected to unveil his full immigration policy this week, but that was postponed, likely until next week.

Trump will also campaign in Florida, Mississippi, Nevada and Iowa this week.

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10:25 a.m.

Vice President Joe Biden is telling Baltic leaders to disregard Donald Trump's threats not to defend NATO allies.

Biden is meeting with the leaders of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia during a visit to Latvia designed to show support to countries near Russia. He says the U.S. honors its Article 5 commitment to defend NATO allies.

Biden isn't using Trump's name. But he tells the leaders they "occasionally may hear something from a presidential candidate." He says that "it's nothing that should be taken seriously."

Trump alarmed NATO countries when he said if he's president, the U.S. might not defend NATO allies under attack if they haven't paid their fair share of defense costs.

Referring to Trump, Biden says, "I don't think he understands what Article 5 is."

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10:10 a.m.

Donald Trump's campaign is paying more than ever to rent space inside his Trump Tower in New York.

Federal Election Commission reports show that the Republican presidential nominee's campaign paid $35,457 per month for rent and utilities to Trump Tower Commercial LLC between August 2015 and this April. The payment began increasing in May and hit $169,758 last month.

The campaign says in a statement the rent hike came as the Trump team expanded from only the fifth floor to also include two additional floors.

It says the rent was calculated based on the average price per square foot in the area. It notes Trump made a $2 million personal donation last month, which more than covers the rent.

The Huffington Post first noted the bigger payments.

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3:35 a.m.

Donald Trump and his Republican allies say Hillary Clinton is weak, lacks stamina and doesn't look presidential.

Trump and his backers are increasingly relying on rhetoric that academics and even some Republican strategists say has an undeniable edge focused on gender.

He has repeatedly called attention to Clinton's voice, saying listening to her gives him a headache. Last December, he mocked her wardrobe.

The billionaire mogul has also used stereotypes about women to demean Clinton, who stands to become the country's first female president if she wins in November.

Trump often says Clinton doesn't look like a typical president.

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found Clinton with a 19-percentage-point lead over Trump among women.

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence speaks at Worth and Company, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016 in Pipersville, Pa. (Steven M. Falk/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

In this photo provided by KYW Newsradio reporter Jim Melwert, Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence gets his hair trimmed by barber Henry Jones in Norristown, Pa., Tuesday, August 23, 2016. (Jim Melwert/KYW Newsradio via AP)

Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. gestures while taking part in a roundtable and discussion with small business owners, hosted by Primus Aerospace, a manufacturing plant, in Lakewood, Colo., Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Akron, Ohio, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Philippines expects talks with China on sea feud this year

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he expects talks with China on a long-simmering territorial dispute to start possibly this year, and urged Beijing to allow Filipinos to fish at a disputed shoal.

Duterte told reporters he preferred to engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than take a more aggressive stance that could anger Chinese officials into calling off possible talks.

Former President Fidel Ramos, a key political backer of Duterte, met Chinese intermediaries recently to pave the way for the talks, to be held in Beijing.

An international arbitration tribunal ruled last month that China's massive territorial claims in the South China Sea based on historical grounds were invalid under a 1982 U.N. treaty, in a major setback for Beijing, which has ignored the decision.

Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, initiated the arbitration case against China. Duterte, however, has not pressed for Chinese compliance and does not plan to raise the decision at an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders with their Chinese counterpart in Laos next month.

"It's better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger whoever the officials there and they cut completely," Duterte said, adding that possible talks on maritime and security issues would be undermined if ties are strained.

"China should be hearing us out now, about time that you lift the bans on tourists and allow the Filipinos to fish there," Duterte said, referring to past Chinese restrictions on tourism and on access for Filipino fishermen to Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing seized in 2012.
12 TV series to watch this fall

NEW YORK (AP)  The fall television season has been an annual rite since viewers were splitting their time between the trio of networks on their black-and-white TVs.

Nowadays, watching TV isn't even limited to TV screens, while dozens of channels are spewing out new series for the modern pampered audience.

Although the major broadcast networks still make the most noise when it comes to promoting their new wares, savvy viewers may find the best new shows often blossom far afield of mainstream outlets, as cable channels and streaming services prove more and more conclusively they're where the action is.

This image released by TBS shows Wyatt Cenac in a scene from "People of Earth," premiering on Oct. 31. (Jan Thijs/TBS via AP)

For instance, Amazon Prime will host a six-part series starring as well as directed and written by Woody Allen beginning Sept. 30. Although "Crisis in Six Scenes" isn't yet available for preview, one thing is for sure: The first-ever TV series from this master filmmaker will be a signal moment not only for him, but also for the network that snagged him and for viewers on the lookout for groundbreaking content.

And there's plenty more ahead. Viewers who take the broad view this fall across the video landscape will find a host of delights such as these dozen new arrivals:

 "Atlanta," FX; Sept. 6. Starring and created by Donald Glover, who's also one of its writers, this remarkably gritty yet heartwarming comedy focuses on two cousins as they try to break into the Atlanta rap scene with many a stumble in both their professional and personal lives. Everything about this show rings true, sometimes painfully so: "I just keep losing. I mean, some people just supposed to lose ... just to make it easier for the winners?" Good question. But hope springs eternal, along with well-earned laughs, on this winning new series.

 "Queen Sugar," OWN; Sept. 6. If it were only a robust melodrama, that would be enough. Its African-American ensemble and perspective make this family saga instantly appealing. But along with an intoxicating tale of the at-odds Bordelon clan and their at-risk cane farm in the Deep South, "Queen Sugar" does something any series should be proud to accomplish: It puts forth a varied group of individuals ranging from rich to poor and from reckless to righteous, minus the stereotyping. This series is executive-produced by Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay, director of the Oscar-nominated "Selma." A breath of fresh air, it's a series that could bring viewers to OWN who have never come before.

 "Fleabag," Amazon; Sept. 16. Fleabag (this gal's nickname) is a klutz, a kook and a self-perpetuating outcast. On the loose in London, she's a cringingly hilarious mess you can relate to, even while seized by an urge to look away. Not that she isn't pretty and, one supposes, bright. And yet: "I have a horrible feeling that I am a greedy, perverted, selfish, apathetic, cynical, depraved, morally bankrupt woman who can't even call herself a feminist," she blurts out to her arm's-length dad, to which he replies, "You get all that from your mother." In the tradition of "Bridget Jones's Diary," ''Girls" and even TV-Larry-David's trouble-seeking compulsions, it's a virtuoso performance by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who not only stars but also created the series, which premiered on BBC Three in July.

 "The Good Place," NBC; Sept. 19. Clerical errors can happen anywhere, even in the Hereafter. On this comedy, a paperwork glitch leads to a not-so-good young woman being mistakenly dispatched to the exclusive Good Place, where only the most virtuous are meant to gain entry. Kristen Bell plays the misappointed Eleanor, who, through wiles if not through personal improvement, means to hang onto her Good Place posting  and to keep the mistake hidden from her Good Place overseer (Ted Danson). It's a refreshingly loopy, ultimately goodhearted romp, occasionally punctuated with surreal flights of fancy (Eleanor's invasive presence in the Good Place has wildly disruptive effects). It's a good place to settle for half-hours of fun.

 "The Exorcist," Fox; Sept. 23. To judge from the pilot, at least, this is no pro-forma remake. No, it appears to truly be its own thing while recapturing the (evil) spirit of the chilling 1973 film. The less said beyond that, the better, other than to note that the impressive cast includes Ben Daniels and Geena Davis  and to promise a twist that, all by itself, will make the pilot episode worth checking out. Here's hoping the same creative spirit haunts this show in episodes to come.

 "Westworld," HBO; Oct. 2. This two-pronged odyssey is simultaneously set in an imagined sci-fi future and the reimagined Old West past in the form of an epic theme park where lifelike robots indulge every appetite of its paying guests. What measure of depravity does this unleash in the humans who visit? And what measure of upheaval will be triggered when the robots go haywire? A huge ensemble includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright. The series' visuals  both its western splendor and its futuristic labs  is spellbinding. The potential sprawl of its mythology seems limitless. In short, this is a candidate to be HBO's next "Game of Thrones."

 "Divorce," HBO; Oct. 9. Sarah Jessica Parker has passed beyond "Sex and the City" to a next-stage comedy that takes her out of New York City and up to the 'burbs for a role that could prove as totemic as single-girl Carrie. This time, she plays a mother and a wife (to co-star Thomas Haden Church) who's having an affair and wants out of her marriage, explaining, "I want to save my life while I still care about it." But there's no simple escape for her or anyone else among the series' crumbling collection of marrieds, and this show about modern life and suburban mores is a shrewd reminder why. Funny and well-observed, "Divorce" is a comedy that could have viewers saying "I do."

 "Insecure," HBO; Oct. 9. What's it like to be a modern young black woman who can function in a mostly white world (and the totally white workplace of a social-service agency) but savors sisterhood with her favorite gal pal? This charming comedy was created by and stars Issa Rae (creator of the YouTube web series "Awkward Black Girl") as an insecure L.A. girl on the make and Yvonne Orji as her seemingly has-it-all-together chum.

 "Falling Water," USA; Oct. 13. This dreamy drama tells of three people who realize their dreams each compose part of a universal dream, with a powerful cumulative story to tell. Tess is a professional trend spotter who knows, without quite knowing how, what the next thing will be that catches on with the public. Taka is an NYPD detective whose job is finding clues to solve human puzzles. Burton is the fixer at an investment banking firm who's tasked with halting sinister human impulses. What does this add up to? A mesmerizing wakeup call.

 "Goliath," Amazon; Oct. 14. Billy Bob Thornton is irresistible as Billy McBride, a washed-up, gin-soaked former maestro of the courtroom who, now an ambulance chaser, has no way to go but up. Pulling him out of his funk is a wrongful death lawsuit he files against an all-important client of Cooperman & McBride, the titanic Los Angeles law firm he helped found. This deadly battle pits him against former partner Donald Cooperman, a fearsome adversary you might see as his Goliath. It's hard to tell from the two episodes previewed where this saga, co-created by David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal"), could lead, but Thornton's "David" is ripe for redemption and worth rooting for.

 "Berlin Station," Epix; Oct. 16. Could any series be more timely? A whistleblower has gained fame and notoriety for leaking secrets from the CIA's Berlin office. CIA Officer Daniel Miller (Richard Armitage, "Hannibal") arrives in Berlin on a clandestine mission to identify and stop this obscure scoundrel. The mood is tense and somber. The look is brooding. This thriller boasts an international collection of flawed or broken characters played by a global cast including Michelle Forbes and Richard Jenkins. In sum: Think John le Carre meets "True Detective."

 "People of Earth," TBS; Oct. 31. As loopy as this comedy is, it comes from a real place: There really ARE support groups for (self-declared) alien abductees. The show centers on a journalist visiting a small town to write about such a support group and the alien encounters its members allege. His initial skepticism then gives way to unsettling suspicions that he, too, has been spirited away. He is forced to claim his spot among this group of misfits  and, even more unnerving, to acknowledge the possibility of alien life. Wyatt Cenac stars as the journalist going through a major head trip as he learns to be more tolerant of others, however alien they may seem.

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EDITOR'S NOTE  Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier. Past stories are available at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore

This image released by Epix shows Richard Armitage as CIA Officer Daniel Miller in a scene from "Berlin Station," premiering on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. (Stephanie Kulbach/Epix via AP)

This image released by USA Network shows Lizzie Brochere as Tess in a scene from "Falling Water," premiering on Oct. 13. (Michael Parmalee/USA Network via AP)

This image released by Amazon shows Billy Bob Thornton in a scene from, "Goliath," premiering on Oct. 14. (Colleen E. Hayes/Amazon via AP)

This image released by HBO shows Issa Rae in a scene from, "Insecure," premiering on Oct. 9. (John P. Fleenor/HBO via AP)

This image released by HBO shows Anthony Hopkins, left, and Jeffrey Wright in a scene from "Westworld," premiering on Oct. 2. (John P. Johnson/HBO via AP)

This image released by HBO shows Thomas Haden Church, left, and Sarah Jessica Parker in s scene from "Divorce." (Craig Blankenhorn/HBO via AP)

This image released by Fox shows Alfonso Herrera in a scene from "The Exorcist," premiering Friday, Sept. 23. (Chuck Hodes/FOX via AP)

This image released by NBC shows Kristen Bell as Eleanor, left, and Ted Danson as Michael in a scene from, "The Good Place," premiering on Sept. 19. (Justin Lubin/NBC via AP)
Prisoner not seen publicly since 2002 at Gitmo hearing

WASHINGTON (AP)  The first high-profile al-Qaida terror suspect captured after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 appeared Tuesday at a U.S. government hearing called to determine whether he should remain in detention at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian not seen publicly since his capture by the CIA in 2002, sat expressionless during the brief hearing. Zubaydah was also the first to vanish into the CIA's secret "black site" prison network and was subjected to "enhanced interrogation."

The review panel issued no immediate ruling on his status. He has been held at Guantanamo Bay since September 2006.

This photo provided by U.S. Central Command, shows Abu Zubaydah, date and location unknown. A Palestinian not seen publicly since his capture by the CIA in 2002 has appeared at a U.S. government hearing called to determine whether he should remain in detention at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The 45-year-old Abu Zubaydah has been held at Guantanamo since September 2006. (AP Photo/U.S. Central Command)

The U.S. contended that Zubaydah, 45, was one of the most senior figures in al-Qaida when he was captured in Pakistan. It has since dropped that claim. Zubaydah's lawyers deny he was a member of al-Qaida.

Following his capture, the CIA under President George W. Bush initiated an interrogation program, now widely viewed as torture. Under this once-secret program, Zubaydah was subjected to what the Bush administration called "enhanced interrogation" in the belief that he was withholding information about al-Qaida. A Senate report released in 2014 said that belief was false.

Zubaydah was subjected to the torment of waterboarding 83 times in August 2003. Straining under a waterlogged cloth clamped over his face, Zubaydah became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth," according to CIA emails cited in the Senate report. He was body-slammed by his captors. He was hooded, then unmasked and ominously shown a coffin-like box.

In a statement prepared for the review and provided to The Associated Press on Tuesday, a lawyer for Zubaydah asserted that he poses no danger to the U.S.

"Abu Zubaydah is not now and never has been an enemy of the United States and has been involved in no terroristic acts," the lawyer, Mark P. Denbeaux, said in the statement.

Denbeaux, a law professor at Seton Hall Law School, maintains the government has grossly exaggerated its claims against Zubaydah. He pointed to a 2014 report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that accused the CIA of offering a misleading version of what it was doing with its "black site" captives and deceiving the nation about the effectiveness of its interrogation techniques.

"But it is only this forum," Denbeaux wrote, referring to the Guantanamo review, "that can correct, at least partially, the injustice done to this man since this panel marks the first time anyone other than torturers and jailers have had an opportunity to see and to hear from Abu Zubaydah."

Detainees are not permitted to speak at their review hearings. Zubaydah sat in silence during the proceedings. He reportedly lost his left eye while being held by the CIA. A photo of him from the time he was transferred from CIA custody to Guantanamo Bay shows Zubaydah with a black patch over his left eye. At Tuesday's hearing he wore wire-rimmed glasses. Resting on his chest and attached to a strap hanging around his neck was what appeared to be a black eye-patch.

At the hearing, the government's "detainee profile" of Zubaydah, dated March 31, 2016, was read aloud. It said he played a "key role in al-Qaida's communications with supporters and operatives abroad" and that he was "generally aware" of the 9/11 attacks before they happened. It does not say he was an al-Qaida member.

The government statement said he "probably retains an extremist mindset," adding that he has shown "a high level of cooperation with the staff at Guantanamo Bay." It said he has condemned the Islamic State group for its "atrocities and the killing of innocent people."

"Some of (Zubaydah's) former colleagues continue to engage in terrorist activities and could help (him) return to planning attacks against Israel and the United States in Pakistan, should he choose to do so," the government statement said.

Zubaydah was born in Saudi Arabia to a Palestinian father but does not have Saudi citizenship.

A statement read at Tuesday's hearing by a U.S. military officer acting as Zubaydah's personal representative said he wants to reunite with his family and "begin the process of recovering from injuries he sustained during his capture."

Zubaydah "has stated that he has no desire or intent to harm the United States or any other country, and he has repeatedly said that the Islamic State is out of control and has gone too far," the statement added.

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Sudan says it has South Sudan's former rebel leader who fled

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  South Sudan's former rebel leader and vice president who fled the country last week has re-emerged in neighboring Sudan, which announced Tuesday that he had needed "urgent medical attention." Riek Machar's whereabouts had been largely unknown for weeks, leaving an already fragile peace deal in limbo.

Machar's condition was now stable, and he will stay "until he leaves the country for a destination of his choice to complete his medical treatment," Sudan government spokesman Ahmed Bilal Osman said in a statement carried by the SUNA news agency.

Machar fled South Sudan's capital last month amid renewed fighting, just months after he returned to the country to resume being vice president under a peace deal signed last year under international pressure to end a civil war.

FILE---In this Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016 file photo, South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar addresses a press conference in his private residence in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Sudan announced Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016, it was now hosting South Sudan's former rebel leader and vice president, whose whereabouts had been unknown after he fled his country into neighboring Congo last week.Riek Machar needed "urgent medical attention," government spokesman Ahmed Bilal Osman said in a statement carried by the SUNA news agency. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene, File)

Many of his bodyguards were shot dead in the July fighting that erupted outside the presidential compound where Machar and former rival President Salva Kiir were meeting on recent tensions.

His absence further weakened the peace deal, with Kiir quickly replacing Machar as vice president in a contested move.

A spokesman for Machar, James Gatdet Gak, confirmed via social media that Machar was in Khartoum and suffered from "exhaustion and a swollen leg," and he thanked the Sudanese government for the medical care.

Osman, the government spokesman, said Sudan had recently accepted Machar for "purely humanitarian reasons" and promptly notified neighboring South Sudan's government. He did not say how or when Machar had arrived.

Sudan's foreign ministry spokesman had told The Associated Press on Saturday that Machar was not there.

South Sudan's presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, said the government was not aware that Machar was in Sudan and had no comment.

Last week, a spokesman for Machar announced that he had fled across the border into Congo after weeks of walking through the bush. The United Nations said it had arranged for its peacekeeping mission in Congo to fly Machar to a safe place away from the Congo-South Sudan border and that Machar was in the hands of Congolese authorities.

But Congo's government last week said it had no knowledge of Machar being there.

It was not immediately clear whether Machar had plans to emerge from his treatment in Sudan to speak publicly.

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 between armed supporters of rivals Kiir and Machar. Machar's side has received ammunition, arms, uniforms and other supplies from Sudan, a U.N. panel of experts has reported .

Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 900,000 have fled the world's youngest country, which was founded in 2011 after years of fighting for independence from Sudan.

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Experts: Mexico storms led to deaths of millions of monarchs

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Storms earlier this year blew down more than a hundred acres of forests where migrating monarch butterflies spend the winter in central Mexico, killing more than 7 percent of the monarchs, experts reported Tuesday.

Rain, cold and high winds from the storms caused the loss of 133 acres (54 hectares) of pine and fir trees in the forests west of Mexico City, more than four times the amount lost to illegal logging this year. It was the biggest storm-related loss since the winter of 2009-10, when unusually heavy rainstorms and mudslides caused the destruction of 262 acres (106 hectares) of trees.

This year's storm also appears to have frozen or killed about 6.2 million butterflies, almost 7.4 percent of the estimated 84 million butterflies that wintered in Mexico, said Alejandro Del Mazo, the attorney general for environmental protection.

FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2015, file photo, a guide holds up a damaged and dying butterfly at the monarch butterfly reserve in Piedra Herrada, Mexico State, Mexico. Storms caused a big spike in the number of trees blown down or lost to heavy branch damage in forests where migrating monarch butterflies spend the winter in central Mexico, experts reported Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

"Never had we observed such a combination of high winds, rain and freezing temperatures," monarch expert Lincoln Brower said of the storms, which struck March 8-9.

Two big storm losses within five years may suggest changes in the climatic conditions that have allowed the survival of patches of mountaintop forests. An additional 16 acres (6.5 hectares) of trees were lost to drought this year.

"This points up just how fragile these forests are, and how fragile the monarchs are, and it makes clear the importance of reforestation efforts," said Omar Vidal, director of the conservation group World Wildlife Fund Mexico, which carried out the forest survey along with experts from Mexico's National Autonomous University and the government.

The monarchs depend on finding relatively well-preserved forests, where millions of the orange-and-black butterflies hang in clumps from the boughs. The trees, and the clumping, help protect the butterflies from cold rains and steep drops in temperature.

That is why illegal logging in the 33,484-acre (13,551-hectare) nucleus of the reserve is so damaging. Conservationists have tried to convince the largely impoverished farm and mountain communities which actually own most of the land that the forest is worth more to them in terms of tourism when left standing instead of being cut down.

In April, Mexico's government announced it would create a special national police squad to patrol nature reserves and fight environmental crimes. While the force has not yet formally deployed, illegal logging in the monarch reserve dropped this year, from almost 49.4 acres (20 hectares) in 2015 to about 29.6 acres (12 hectares).

Unlike in past years, when most logging was done in the farming communities, about three-quarters of the tree-cutting this year occurred on public lands in the reserve's core area  precisely the kind of terrain that environmental police could most effectively protect.

"This is why we insist that illegal logging in the reserve has to be eliminated, and that the destruction of (the butterfly's) milkweed habitat in the United States has to be stopped, so that the monarchs have the ability to better respond to these extreme climate events" like the March storms, Vidal said.

Brower criticized authorities' decision to quickly approve "salvage" logging of trees downed by the storms, suggesting it strengthened logging interests and disturbs the forest's chances for natural regrowth.

He wrote that the "decision to authorize the very extensive salvage logging was possibly the worst management mistake that could have been made."

Environmentalist and author Homero Aridjis said, "The negative impacts of this logging on the forest cover will become all too apparent when the monarchs begin arriving (usually in November) just as the 'salvaging' comes to an end. "

"The Mexican government should be taking measures to mitigate the probable effects of climate change on the reserve, instead of turning a blind eye to illegal logging, such as the virtual clear-cutting" of the forest on government-owned land, Aridjis wrote.

The damage comes after a rebound for the monarch. The area covered by the butterflies this winter was more than 3 1/2 times that of a year earlier. They clump so densely in the pine and fir forests that they are counted by the area they cover rather than by individual insects.
ATF warns more explosives could be in Kentucky trail cameras

HARLAN, Ky. (AP)  Federal authorities are warning people in an eastern Kentucky town that there could be more explosive devices in a wooded area where a man was accused of setting them up.

Authorities found several trail cameras with explosives earlier this month in a wooded area in Harlan County. Police believe Mark Sawaf concealed the explosives in several trail cameras. Sawaf was shot to death by a fire investigator during a confrontation while Sawaf was helping authorities look for the explosives.
Burkinis on beaches stoke France's long debate on secularism

PARIS (AP)  Burkinis vs. bikinis.

Beneath the clash over how to dress, or undress, on the beaches of France simmers an issue that for decades has divided the nation, and grown more complex in this time of terrorism.

At least a dozen towns have banned body-covering burkini swimwear favored by some Muslim women, the latest skirmish in a long-running duel between some members of France's large Muslim population and the secular establishment.

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. Burkinis vs. bikinis. Beneath the clash over how to dress, or undress, on the beaches of France simmers an issue that for decades has divided the nation, and grown more complex in this time of terrorism.(AP Photo, File)

The burkini will finish in the closet at summer's end, but the refueled debate over the French principle of "laicite," or secularism, is unlikely to go away. And Muslims who feel they lost ground over an issue as shifting as the sand aren't likely to forget.

The July 14 truck attack in Nice that killed 86 and the July 26 murder of a priest saying Mass in northwest France appear to have lowered the bar of fear, and tolerance.

A 22-year-old French Muslim woman living in Marseille was accosted while shopping in a grocery store with her mother by several people who had seen her on a TV news show explaining why she wears a burkini to the beach.

"'You aren't at home here. Go home. This is fundamentalism,'" she said the group told her, recounting the event to The Associated Press, which chose not to identify her by name for her own protection.

The incident reflects just how threatening the subject of head-to-toe swimwear has become, and stoked the debate on secularism  still volatile more than a century after the 1905 law on separation of church and state that established it as a principle of the French Republic.

Then, it was enacted to bring peace to tumultuous relations with the Roman Catholic clergy. Today, enshrined in the constitution, secularism is still being defined, debated and clarified by politicians and experts. An Observatory of Secularism, attached to the prime minister, was created in 2007 and discerns an annual prize.

Some Muslims and non-Muslims alike maintain that the purpose of secularism is being thwarted and the principle transformed into an instrument to regulate the behavior of Muslims.

"Islamophobia is a new way to say I'm a patriot and that's the way I'll defend my country against you people who cannot integrate," said Rim-Sarah Alouane, an expert on Muslim issues at the University of Toulouse. Politicians, she said, "are actually making sure the population does not integrate. They are making Muslims feel like that they cannot be French."

With an estimated 5 million Muslims, France has the largest such population in Western Europe and is increasingly in search of ways to reign in traditions that clash with French culture and root out extremism.

France also has an unusually high number of atheists, which is another reason why secularism is a major issue.

The beach bans push the legal envelope on two national laws that amount to dress codes  no headscarves in classrooms and no face-covering veils in streets, passed in 2004 and 2010, respectively.

In neighboring Belgium, a law banning face-covering veils went into force in 2011. There is a push by some conservative politicians in Germany to ban face-covering veils in German public schools, courts and while driving, but Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said it's not a security issue.

France, steeped in its religious disputes with Catholics, its colonial past in Muslim North Africa and the secularist tradition that wrung peace from violence puts weight on Muslim garb that critics say is excessive.

Some point with concern to a statement by the man expected to head a foundation to better control foreign influence on French Muslims, former minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement, who counseled in a recent interview with Le Parisien daily for "discretion (for Muslims) in public spaces in these difficult times."

The burkini bans cite as reasons the observance of secularism, risks to public order and, sometimes directly, security, underscoring how sensibilities have quickened with France in a state of emergency living under what Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said is an "extremely high" terror threat.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls, backing the bans, said that burkinis are a sign of danger.

"The burkini isn't a new line of bathing suit, a style," Valls said in an interview last week with La Provence newspaper serving the cities of southern France. "It's the translation of a political project, counter-society, notably founded on the servitude of the woman."

The intransigence of Valls  who has said he would like to see a law banning headscarves in university classrooms  reflects worries by some that Islam is slowing gnawing at the fabric of French society, a theme once monopolized by the far-right National Front.

A swim day reserved for women at a private pool was canceled before the beach bans by the southern town of Pennes-Mirabeau because those to attend could don burkinis if they wished. Now, a driving school opening in the Beaujolais region, with a separate room for women to learn the driving code, is causing a local ruckus.

"The scale of the disaster" is much larger than the burkini issue, said Leyla Dakhli, an Arab history professor studying Muslim women's issues.

"We are seeing an accumulation" of diktats to regulate the behavior of Muslims. "They don't need to isolate themselves," she said, because this deprives women in traditional garb of opportunities to integrate.

"There is an anguish that is developing and that is crystalizing ... We need to have leaders who can calm things," she said.

A "Little Handbook for a Calm Laicite" was being published this week for use, the subtitle reads, by "teachers, students and their parents."

The handbook, whose main author is leading secularism expert Jean Bauberot, is needed, because secularism has gone astray, said one of four teachers contributing.

"We see a complete turnaround of secularism from 1905 to 2004," when the law banning headscarves and other ostentatious religions symbols from classrooms was passed, said Paul Guillibert, who worked for years as a philosophy teacher in a working-class Paris suburb with a high Muslim population.

The law was conceived to guarantee freedom of conscience and religion, a "secularism of compromise" that does not discriminate between citizens, Guillibert said.

"They have changed the definition" into one that makes public spaces "neutral," he said. And "it's rather clear there is (now) a form of Islamophobic instrumentalization of secularism."

He noted the national focus on students who refused to honor a minute of silence following the January 2015 newsroom massacre at the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo  about 200 instances with 40 reported to police, the media said at the time.

Dialogue rather than sanctions can help resolve such problems, Guillibert said.

"But we have transformed secularism into an instrument of combat," he said.

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Parents file federal suit over son's strange gym-mat death

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP)  The parents of a Georgia teenager found dead at school inside a rolled up gym mat have filed a new wrongful death lawsuit in federal court.

Classmates at Lowndes High School in Valdosta found 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson's body inside an upright mat Jan. 11, 2013. Investigators concluded he died in a freak accident, but Johnson's parents say someone killed him.

The lawsuit filed Aug. 17 in U.S. District Court by Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson names 39 defendants. It echoes a suit they filed last year and later dropped in a state court, alleging that classmates killed their son and law enforcement and school officials covered up the crime.
Scientists: Puffin chicks starving with less food available

PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Atlantic puffin chicks on Machias Seal Island in the Gulf of Maine have had the worst breeding season ever recorded, with the majority of chicks starving to death in burrows, scientists said.

A drop in the puffins' food supply is to blame, said Tony Diamond, director of the Atlantic Laboratory for Avian Research at the University of New Brunswick. Scientists have also said higher ocean temperatures have decreased the availability of the forage fish that young puffins like to eat.

In a typical year, 60 percent of the puffin nests with eggs produce chicks that fly off the nest, and this year, the success rate was 12 percent, the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/2bCwkaf) reported.

"Those that fledged were often very small with lots of down left in their plumage, so I don't expect . any of the chicks that hatched to survive long enough to breed," Diamond told the newspaper.

Puffins are seabirds with colorful beaks that are popular with birdwatchers because of their unique appearance. The adults fly out to catch fish to feed their young, which stay behind in burrows. Researchers began monitoring the Machias Seal Island colony, which is 20 miles south of Machias and home to more than 5,000 pairs of puffins, in 1995.

Cornell University ornithologist Stephen Kress said the puffin success rate was better on islands off mid-coast Maine. Those puffins' biggest food source has been warmer-water redfish, while they typically eat juvenile white hake and sand lance.

However, the Seal Island birds likely suffered because they couldn't find such an alternate food supply, Kress said.

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Deputies: Argument over kiss lands Florida man in jail

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP)  Police have arrested a Florida man they say pushed his girlfriend and cut her with glass after she declined to kiss him goodnight.

Records show 59-year-old Rudolph Battaglia was in the Palm Beach County Jail Tuesday following his Aug. 19 arrest on charges of battery and aggravated battery.

The Palm Beach Post (http://pbpo.st/2bfiCus ) reports the couple argued after he asked his 54-year-old girlfriend for a goodnight kiss, and she said she'd already kissed him.

The arrest report says Battaglia shoved her onto the bed, broke a crystal decoration and held up a piece of glass while threatening her. Deputies say the woman was cut on her left thumb when he slammed the glass on a table.
Challenge for GOP senators: Surviving a possible Trump loss

WASHINGTON (AP)  A key question looms for vulnerable Republican senators this election: If Donald Trump loses and loses big, can they still survive?

With 11 weeks until Election Day, Trump's declining standing in the polls has GOP Senate candidates preparing for the worst, and they're maneuvering now to put as big a margin as they can between themselves and the top of the ticket.

Some strategists foresee a historic Trump loss and the need to outrun the presidential nominee by at least five to 10 percentage points in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire and Florida, if Senate incumbents are to prevail in November. Such margins could be achieved, but it would not be easy, and most Republicans say there's a limit to how big Trump could lose without taking down nearly every vulnerable congressional incumbent.

FILE - In this June 22, 2016 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks to media outside his office on Capitol Hill in Washington. A key question looms for vulnerable Republican senators this election season: If Donald Trump loses and loses big, can they still survive? Trumps declining standing in the polls has GOP Senate candidates preparing for the worst 11 weeks before Election Day, and theyre maneuvering now to put as big a margin as they can between themselves and the top of the ticket. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Already, GOP senators in Illinois and Wisconsin are widely considered unlikely to survive in November. Few expect the solidly Republican House to change hands, but losses of as many as 15 or 20 seats are forecast.

Most GOP strategists now view a Trump loss to Democrat Hillary Clinton as a certainty, and their only question is how big.

"I'm more likely to think that it's going to be historic than that it's going to be close," said GOP strategist Rob Jesmer, formerly executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Democrats need to pick up four Senate seats to claim the majority if they hang onto the White House, since the vice president breaks tie votes. While Republicans are playing defense in more than a half-dozen heavily contested states, Democrats have only one seat at risk, in Nevada, where Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is retiring. Instead Democrats are expanding their list of pickup opportunities, adding Indiana by recruiting former Sen. Evan Bayh and working on North Carolina and Missouri.

Republicans take comfort in the fact that for now, incumbents including Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Marco Rubio of Florida are running well ahead of Trump in their states. Polls show Trump losing all three states, even as Rubio and Portman are ahead of their rivals and Toomey is close to Democrat Katie McGinty.

"Strong Senate candidates can stand on their own even if they are fighting against the tide, and there are numerous examples of where that's happened," said Steven Law, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's former chief of staff who now works with Super PACs dedicated to helping Republicans.

Despite voicing support for Trump, Portman describes distinguishing himself from the nominee on a policy position "almost weekly." He has built a hefty campaign organization over 16 months that operates independently of Trump's.

"We did that, frankly, not knowing who was going to be the top of the ticket, but knowing it could be an unpredictable year," Portman said.

In 2012, Barack Obama's re-election bid was a drag on Democrats in red states. Nonetheless, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp won in North Dakota even as Obama lost the state by 20 points and Democrat Jon Tester won in Montana even as Obama lost there by 14 points.

In 1996, GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole was headed for such a clear loss that Republicans began to run ads calling on voters to keep them in control of Congress to provide a check on Bill Clinton in the White House. It worked as Republicans won Senate seats that year even while losing the White House. In Arkansas, Clinton won his home state by 17 percentage points but a Republican won the Senate race.

This year, too, Republican senators and strategists are openly discussing split-ticket voting and messages aimed at convincing voters that a Hillary Clinton victory would only increase the imperative for a Republican Congress to act as a check on issues including Supreme Court nominations. Strategists anticipate that a clear pivot to that message could come after Labor Day.

Republican senators have been working to focus on local issues and home-state achievements, even as Democrats try to link them to Trump and his controversial statements about women and minorities. With the exceptions of Toomey and Mark Kirk in Illinois, GOP senators up for re-election have mostly said they will support Trump even as they've kept him at arm's length, attempting to at once maintain the backing of his core supporters without alienating independent voters and others.

The top Senate races are awash in money, as donors including the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers have checked out of the presidential race and are focused on saving Senate Republicans instead.

Whether any of it will be enough to preserve Republicans' slim Senate majority remains to be seen.

In Pennsylvania, "I certainly think the senator's going to do well and I think he can outperform Donald Trump," said Mike Barley, a GOP strategist in the state, speaking of Toomey. But "if you're talking about a 10-point-plus (Trump) loss, the path to victory is extremely narrow, if it exists at all."

Toomey is seen as a strong incumbent running a good race, as are Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Portman and Rubio. In Nevada, Republicans are bullish about their nominee for Reid's open seat, Rep. Joe Heck. By contrast some of the Democratic candidates, including Ted Strickland in Ohio, seem to be underperforming expectations. Frustrated Republicans say that if none of that ends up mattering, they'll know who to blame.

Said GOP consultant Brian Walsh: "If Republicans lose the Senate the responsibility for that will lie solely with Donald Trump."

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Associated Press writers Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2015 file photo, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. A key question looms for vulnerable Republican senators this election season: If Donald Trump loses and loses big, can they still survive? Trumps declining standing in the polls has GOP Senate candidates preparing for the worst 11 weeks before Election Day, and theyre maneuvering now to put as big a margin as they can between themselves and the top of the ticket. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Sheriff: Man killed 5 with ax and gun in middle of the night

CITRONELLE, Ala. (AP)  A man accused of slaying five people at an Alabama home brought an ax to attack his victims, striking one who had been sleeping in a reclining chair, and also used guns he took from the house to shoot them, an Alabama sheriff said Tuesday.

Derrick Dearman entered the house in Citronelle before dawn Saturday, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran told The Associated Press.

"They were down for the night sleeping, and he had enough familiarity with the house when he entered  I guess you could say in a rage  and he's disabling people as he's in there," Cochran said. "He was able to overpower them before they were able to protect themselves."

A photo provided by the Greene County Sheriff's Department shows Derrick Dearman, a suspect in the Saturday massacre of five adults in Citronelle Ala. Dearman, of Leakesville, Mississippi, will be charged with six counts of capital murder, Mobile County sheriff's spokeswoman Lori Myles said Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. (George County Sheriff's Department via AP)

An ax and a gun were used in the killings of each of the five adult victims, police allege in criminal complaints filed Tuesday in Mobile County District Court.

On Monday, as Dearman was led to jail in shackles, he professed his love for the estranged girlfriend whose family and friends were massacred and blamed the killings on drugs.

Speaking with reporters as he was escorted to jail by deputies in Mobile, Alabama, Derrick Dearman said Monday that he was on methamphetamine when he went to the house, on a dead-end dirt road.

"Drugs (were) making me think things that's not really there," said Dearman, 27, hanging his head and dressed in a bright yellow jail uniform.

After the killings, authorities said, Dearman abducted estranged girlfriend Laneta Lester, who had sought refuge at the house, and a child of two of the victims. Dearman said he spared their lives because "I came down and realized what was really going on."

"(I) turned myself in because I was sober and knew what was the right thing to do," Dearman said.

In videotaped comments broadcast on Mobile-area television, Dearman expressed his love for Lester and apologized "to all the family members." Dearman, saying all the victims were friends, added: "Don't do drugs."

A man who said his family provided a home for Dearman and Lester earlier this year near Leakesville, Mississippi, said Dearman was often on methamphetamine and physically abused Lester during walks in the woods in rural southeast Mississippi.

"He was taking her out there and beating the crap out of her," said Charlie Passarelli Jr., who said he had known Dearman for years. Passarelli said he suspected that Dearman was either buying or selling drugs before he and Lester moved out in late spring.

The slaying victims included a pregnant woman and her unborn child. A teenager who said she was related to all five victims by marriage or blood shook her head and fought back tears as she described her anguish over the slayings.

"They were really good people. They'd call and check on you, ask if you want to come down and eat," said Madison McDaniel, 17, who lives near the scene of the violence.

They had also become targets by welcoming Dearman's ex-girlfriend into the home, the sheriff said.

"I think the motivation was that he felt like they were keeping her from him," Cochran said.

"He couldn't deal with her being away from him and accept that she was leaving him," he said. "They were what was standing between them."

Relatives of the victims started an online fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses, and clerk Dawn Sullivan collected donations in a plastic jug on the counter at D&B Quick Stop, where the victims often stopped for snacks and drinks.

"It's a sad situation. It never should have gotten to that point," said Sullivan, whose husband was related to one of the victims.

Dearman, of Leakesville, is charged with six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping, including one charge for the unborn child, Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said.

"At this time it appears it will be a death penalty case, but it's very early in the investigation," Rich said.

Dearman's first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Alabama court records don't indicate whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The slain were identified as Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; and Robert Lee Brown, 26, said Mobile County sheriff's spokeswoman Lori Myles.

Turner was Lester's brother and had let her stay at the house, which all the victims shared, McDaniel said. Turner and Randall were married.

"I'd always get on my horse and ride down there bareback," McDaniel said. Her step-aunt Randall would say, "'Be careful because you're already got a hurt knee.' I'd say, 'OK, Shan-Shan.' That's what I called her."

Brown was Randall's brother, McDaniel said, and Chelsea Reed was Randall's niece. Chelsea Reed was pregnant with the child of her husband, Justin Reed, said McDaniel.

About 1 a.m. Saturday, someone inside the home called 911 and reported that Dearman was on the property, authorities said in a statement. Citronelle police came to the house, but Dearman had left before officers arrived, sheriff's officials said.

Before daylight Saturday, Dearman returned to the home to begin the attacks, the sheriff's department said.

After the killings, Dearman forced Lester and a 3-month-old identified by relatives as the child of Randall and Turner into a vehicle, and they drove to Dearman's father's house in Mississippi. Dearman released Lester and the infant and turned himself in, authorities said.

As he was led away to jail on Tuesday, Dearman said he barely remembers what happened but said that he deserves a harsh punishment.

"I deserve to die," he said.

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Associated Press Writer Jeff Martin reported from Atlanta.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Charlie Passarelli Jr. said he suspected Dearman, not Lester, of being involved with drug activity.

Crime scene tape marks the home on Jim Platt Road near Citronelle, Ala., Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016, where authorities said five people were killed on Saturday. Police said that Derrick Dearman, 27, of Leakesville, Miss., has been taken into custody in connection with the murders. (John Sharp/AL.com via AP)
Some vacation spots quietly benefit as travelers avoid Zika

NEW YORK (AP)  With government officials now warning pregnant women to avoid Miami Beach in addition to Puerto Rico, some sun seekers are desperately scrambling for a Zika-free vacation.

And that has left other tourist destinations to capitalize  quietly.

Travel experts say families worried about Zika are now looking to Arizona and Southern California to get some sun, along with cooler weather locales such as New England and Canada.

FILE - In this July 27, 2015, file photo, hikers cross paths along Bright Angel Trail heading into and out of the Grand Canyon at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. Zika fears are leading some to book away from the Caribbean and Florida. The American Southwest, New England and Bermuda are providing a virus-free alternative, but destinations are hesitant to market themselves as such. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

The Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes or through sex with an infected person. In pregnant women, a Zika infection can cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly, where babies are born with a dangerously small head. In others, it can lead to Guillain-Barre, which can cause temporary paralysis and in rare instances, death. That was the case earlier this month of a man between 35 and 45 years old who died in Puerto Rico after being infected.

Given that background, many would-be vacationers don't want to take the risk.

Jen LeFante and her husband Chris are expecting their first child in March. The New Jersey couple had wanted to escape to Puerto Rico or the Florida Keys for some relaxation before the baby arrives.

"But it seems like every travel destination we picked is on the Zika list," she says.

Instead, they are doing a number of smaller, driving trips including ones to upstate New York and Vermont.

"I'd much rather be on a beach," LeFante says.

Bermuda has seen several groups move meetings and conventions there from Caribbean islands, according to Glenn Jones, director of public and stakeholder relations at the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

"That's been a welcome and unexpected boost to our business this summer," Jones says.

However, the island nation off the coast of the Carolinas has been careful about how it handles the situation. Educating tourists who ask about the absence of Zika is fine, but don't expect a marketing campaign around it.

"There is a delicate balance there," Jones says. "We don't proactively seek to capitalize on this."

Ingrid Kessler takes a vacation every few years with 10 family members, spanning three generations. This year's adventure was planned for Riviera Maya in Mexico. But with two members of the group at child-bearing age  and older members with compromised immune systems  that plan was scrapped because of Zika. Canada's Banff National Park was briefly considered as an alternative but the group wanted beach time and the chance to go scuba diving. So Bermuda won out.

Such travel shifts worry tourism officials in destinations with Zika.

Miami is the first spot on the U.S. mainland where the virus has been transmitted by mosquito bites. The tourism industry has a lot at risk. More than 15.5 million people made overnight visits to Miami and nearby beaches in 2015, with an impact of $24.4 billion on the local economy, according to figures from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Some of that business is likely to go elsewhere.

Visitors' bureaus in some other destinations either said they didn't have proof of a Zika connection to their growth or were hesitant to speak about the bump, fearing that they might be perceived as gloating in somebody else's misery. But clues to the shift have surfaced, including in regulatory filings of publicly traded companies.

James Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, said on a recent earnings call that Las Vegas was benefiting as vacationers book away from Florida.

"As sad as that situation is in Florida, I certainly don't want to benefit from it as a result of that, but I can say that we're seeing a pickup in air traffic and in driving traffic even in the last couple of months," Murren said on Aug. 4.

That has hurt a particularly popular part of the travel business: honeymoons and so-called babymoons, trips prior to the arrival of a new child. For those destinations with Zika warnings, there has been a significant loss in business.

During the first half of this year, the average hotel occupancy rate in Puerto Rico fell from 78.6 percent to 74.8 percent, according to STR, a firm that tracks hotel data. May was particularly devastating with occupancy falling to 67 percent.

The luxury Belmond La Samanna hotel on St. Martin lost $700,000 in revenue  a 12-percent drop  in April, May and June as guests stayed away due to concerns over Zika, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Marriott International also said that its hotels in the Caribbean, Latin America and Mexico saw declining performance due to Zika concerns.

It's too early to estimate the economic toll of Zika. There are added health costs, the loss of business and the lack of travel. The 2002 and 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was estimated by the World Bank to have cost the global economy $54 billion.

The affected destinations aren't sitting still. Some are rejiggering marketing campaigns, hoping to attract new audiences.

Ingrid Rivera Rocafort, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, said the island is ramping up advertising efforts to lure baby boomers, retirees and gay and lesbian travelers.

Magazines including Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler have been offering "Zika-Free Destination" guides, offering alternative destinations. They include Bermuda, Charleston, South Carolina, San Diego, Palm Springs, Hawaii and Arizona.

And not every destination has to be warm-weather.

"When travelers tell me they want a place that's Zika-free, terrorist-free and affordable, I suggest Canada," says Wendy Perrin, a travel expert who offers advice on WendyPerrin.com.

Those who really want to head to Latin America are planning trips to places that are at higher elevations where mosquitoes don't live, such as Machu Picchu in Peru, Mexico City and Bogota, Colombia, Perrin says.

Perrin notes that mosquitoes have been spreading diseases like malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever for centuries, many of them deadlier than Zika.

"Obviously, people who are pregnant, or trying to be, should avoid Zika-affected areas," she says. "But the rest of us should be careful not to focus so much on avoiding Zika that we choose a destination that puts our health at greater risk, whether from mosquitoes carrying other diseases or from another cause such as tainted water."

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Follow Scott Mayerowitz at twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/scott-mayerowitz

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2014, file photo taken with a slow shutter speed, the lights of cars blur along Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas. Zika fears are leading some to book away from the Caribbean and Florida. On a recent earnings call, a resort official said that Las Vegas was benefiting as vacationers book away from Florida. The American Southwest, New England and Bermuda are providing a virus-free alternative, but destinations are hesitant to market themselves as such. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, file photo, a family from Peru takes a selfie in front of the Wynwood Walls, in the Wynwood area of Miami. The recent announcement that more than a dozen people have been infected with Zika by mosquitoes in the area has scared away some, but many others are still coming. The American Southwest, New England and Bermuda are providing a virus-free alternative, but destinations are hesitant to market themselves as such. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)
Appeals court: Week of early voting shouldn't return to Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Ohio law that trims a week of early voting in the swing state, reversing a judge's decision that had restored the time.

Democrats had challenged a series of Republican-backed voting changes they claimed disproportionately burdened black voters and those who lean Democratic. Among the policies was the elimination of early voting days in which Ohioans could also register to vote, a period known as golden week.

The state's attorneys argued that scrapping the days helped alleviate administrative burdens for local elections officials while reducing costs and the potential of fraud. But plaintiffs, who include the state's Democratic Party, said the burden on voters outweighed any benefit to the state.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, right, joins Jason LaMar in taking questions from the media about an iBook LaMar helped to create, during a news conference in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. The iBook, "Ohio: Pathway to the Presidency," seeks to highlight Ohio's role in the upcoming presidential election and provides biographical details on eight former presidents who called the state home. (AP Photo/Ann Sanner)

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled the golden-week cut still allows for "abundant" opportunities to vote within a 29-day window. Prior to the law, Ohioans had a 35-day period.

Early voting for the presidential election is now set to begin Oct. 12 in Ohio.

"Nearly a third of the states offer no early voting," the appeals court said. "Adopting plaintiffs' theory of disenfranchisement would create a 'one-way ratchet' that would discourage states from ever increasing early voting opportunities, lest they be prohibited by federal courts from later modifying their election procedures in response to changing circumstances."

The ruling comes after the state appealed a decision by U.S. District Judge Michael Watson in May. He sided with Democrats on their golden-week claim, finding that the cut violates the Voting Rights Act and voters' equal protection rights.

Watson had said evidence presented in the case reflected that black voters use same-day voter registration and early voting options at higher rates than whites. While the court can't predict how African-Americans will turn out in future elections, he said, "It is reasonable to conclude from this evidence that their right to vote will be modestly burdened" by the law.

More than 60,000 people voted during golden week in 2008, while over 80,000 cast ballots during the period in 2012, Watson had noted.

The appeals court reversed the decision by Watson, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush.

The 6th Circuit said that in evaluating the law's burden, "We find that elimination of Golden Week is a small part of what remains, objectively viewed, a generous early voting schedule."

Judge David McKeague wrote the opinion, joined by Judge Richard Allen Griffin. Both were Bush appointees.

Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch disagreed. She was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama.

"The charge that this appeal_and apparently many others_intrude upon the right of the states to run their own election process is both unfounded and antiquated," Stranch wrote in her dissent.

In a statement, Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted welcomed the decision, saying he hoped Democrats "end their wasteful lawsuits so we can all move forward with this election."

Ohio Democrats expressed disappointment with the decision and said they would examine their next steps to restore the days. Their options include asking the appeals court to reconsider or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a statement, state Democratic Party chairman David Pepper said the decision is a reminder that Ohioans need to exercise their voting rights this fall and "cast our ballot for candidates who will protect and expand the right to vote, not restrict it."

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El Salvador arrests ex-attorney general

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP)  El Salvador's former attorney general and a businessman he allegedly favored were among several people arrested in a corruption investigation, the country's current attorney general said Tuesday.

Attorney General Douglas Melendez said his predecessor, Luis Martinez, gave in to special interests in favor of businessman Enrique Rais, who also was arrested on bribery and other charges.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

"What happened in the previous administration is that unfortunately it caved to special interests in favor of Mr. Rais," Melendez said. "That is what happened. This is one of various cases."

Martinez allegedly favored Rais in a case against two Canadian businessmen with whom Rais had a partnership in a solid waste business.
Ex-Dutch general to lead probe into South Sudan attacks

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a retired Dutch general on Tuesday to lead an independent investigation into allegations that U.N. peacekeepers did not take action to prevent multiple cases of abuse and sexual violence against civilians and foreigners in South Sudan's capital.

The U.N. chief ordered the independent probe last week after expressing alarm at preliminary findings from the July 11 attack on a compound popular with foreigners in Juba, and reported rapes outside the U.N.'s main camp in the capital, Juba, where thousands of people have sought refuge from fighting.

The investigation team led by retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert will review reports of attacks on civilians and sexual violence in or near the U.N. compound and will determine whether U.N. peacekeepers responded appropriately to prevent these incidents and protect civilians, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The investigators will also assess the circumstances surrounding an attack on the compound popular with foreigners, the Terrain Hotel, and assess the U.N. response, Dujarric said.

The team will visit Juba and submit a report to the secretary-general within a month, which will be made public, he said.

The Associated Press reported last week that South Sudanese troops went on a nearly four-hour rampage through the Terrain Hotel compound in one of the worst targeted attacks on aid workers in the country's three-year civil war.

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.

Separately, several witnesses also told the AP 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. The violence came days after fighting erupted in Juba between opposing army factions.

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 when government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battled rebels led by his former deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the fighting and over 2 million people were displaced.

A peace deal reached in August 2015 has been threatened regularly by fighting. Last week Machar, who was fired by Kiir as vice-president in a new unity government, fled the country. On Tuesday, Machar re-emerged in neighboring Sudan, which announced that he had needed "urgent medical attention."
Deaf driver's shooting death by trooper under investigation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  In North Carolina, where state troopers are trained in dealing with the hearing impaired, investigators are still trying to unravel how a traffic stop turned fatal for a deaf driver with a history of minor offenses.

The family of Daniel Kevin Harris said he was unarmed and suggested the sequence of events was a tragic misunderstanding  the type the state's training manual warns troopers to avoid.

Authorities haven't said why Trooper Jermaine Saunders fired, and a review of public records shows a few traffic charges against Harris from other states, including damaging his employer's vehicle with his own car after he was fired last year, according to a Denver police report.

Friends and family of Daniel Harris gather around a heart drawn onto Seven Oaks Drive during a candlelight vigil to remember Harris, a deaf motorist who was shot and killed by a state trooper, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016 in Charlotte, N.C. Harris, a deaf man who was shot and killed by a North Carolina state trooper after he didnt stop for the officers blue lights was unarmed and likely did not understand the officers commands, the slain mans family says. (David T. Foster III/The Charlotte Observer via AP)

Thursday's incident started when Harris did not pull over as Saunders turned on his blue lights on Interstate 485 near Charlotte about 6:15 p.m. and ended after Harris drove down several miles of surface streets to his home.

North Carolina's Basic Law Enforcement Training manual has a section that deals with interacting with deaf drivers. "Keep your eyes on the person's hands," it reads. "Deaf people have been stopped by an officer and then shot and killed because the deaf person made a quick move for a pen and pad in his or her coat pocket or glove compartment. These unfortunate incidents can be prevented by mutual awareness which overcomes the lack of communication."

The victim's family said Harris likely didn't understand the officer's commands.

The Highway Patrol on Tuesday urged people not to jump to conclusions.

"Let us all refrain from making assumptions or drawing conclusions prior to the internal and independent reviews" by the patrol, the State Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney, Secretary Frank Perry of the state Department of Public Safety said in a news release. The agency oversees the Highway Patrol.

Harris' family said they want to make sure the incident is investigated thoroughly and also want the state to make changes so officers will immediately know they are dealing with a hearing-impaired driver.

Authorities have released little information about the investigation, including any possible body camera or dashboard camera footage or whether a gun was found near Harris. Saunders has been placed on administrative leave. A spokeswoman for the SBI didn't respond Tuesday to questions, including whether authorities have interviewed Saunders yet.

Harris' family is raising money for his funeral and will put any extra money toward educating police officers on interacting with hard of hearing people and calling for a computerized system to alert officers they are dealing with a deaf driver, according to the family's posting on YouCaring.com.

"You don't see deafness the way that you see the difference in race. We need to change the system," Harris' brother Sam said to reporters using sign language and an interpreter after the Monday night vigil.

Sam Harris is deaf, and so are his brother's parents and other family members. They signed with each other as an Associated Press reporter knocked on their door Tuesday.

Sam Harris didn't want to talk Tuesday, but wrote a note leaving an email address for an interpreter, who said no interviews could be conducted that day.

A review by The Associated Press shows Harris had been charged with traffic offenses and other misdemeanors in three states.

In 2015, Denver police were called to Shafer Commercial Seating after Harris was fired. Officials at the chair and tabletop manufacturer said Harris "got very mad and stormed out" after being fired, hitting an employer's vehicle with his own car causing light damage, according to a police report.

A warrant was issued, but never served, but it wasn't clear why. No one answer the phone at Shafer Commercial Seating after hours Tuesday.

Also in Denver, Harris had traffic stops in 2015 and 2008. The five misdemeanor charges filed in 2008 included obstructing a peace officer; all those charges were dropped. It's unclear what happened with the 2015 charge.

He was arrested twice in Florida in 2010  once for petit theft and once for speeding. A charge of resisting an officer was dropped. That year he pleaded no-contest to petit theft and guilty to speeding.

And in December of that same year, he pleaded guilty to interfering with or resisting police in Watertown, Connecticut.

The National Association of the Deaf works with law enforcement agencies to improve existing training manuals but doesn't have one of its own, CEO Howard Rosenblum said in an email.

The NAD supports intensive training for law enforcement officers on dealing with people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and says some officers should be trained to communicate in American Sign Language.

The North Carolina training manual includes clues to alert troopers that they may be dealing with a deaf person, such as they seem alert but don't respond to noise or sounds. It also advises troopers on types of communication that deaf people may use.

While the NAD doesn't keep statistics on violent encounters between deaf people and law enforcement, Rosenblum said there are "too many" such incidents.

"Too often, officers make verbal orders for individuals to comply and act aggressively when those individuals do not comply," Rosenblum wrote. "Deaf individuals often are unable to understand the verbal commands of law enforcement officers, and this has led to many physical altercations between law enforcement officers and deaf individuals over the years, with some resulting in death."

Harris was white, and authorities haven't revealed Saunders' race.

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Jim Anderson In Denver; Curt Anderson in Miami; and David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jeffrey-collins

Martha Waggoner reported from Raleigh, N.C. She can be reached at http://twitter.com/mjwaggonernc. Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/martha-waggoner.
Lawyer tells court Blagojevich to appeal prison sentence

CHICAGO (AP)  Rod Blagojevich's lawyer has notified a federal court that the imprisoned former Illinois governor plans to appeal his 14-year sentence for corruption imposed at a resentencing earlier this month.

Leonard Goodman filed the brief notice with U.S. District Court in Chicago Tuesday informing sentencing Judge James Zagel that the 59-year-old Democrat will appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Zagel on Aug. 9 rejected pleas for leniency from the now white-haired former governor and kept the sentence originally imposed in 2011 at 14 years. Blagojevich spoke at the Chicago hearing via video from a Colorado prison.
Prosecutor: Boiled water attack on gay men was premeditated

ATLANTA (AP)  In a vicious, premeditated attack, a Georgia man threw boiled water on a same-sex couple who were asleep in bed, and told one of the men "get out of my house with all that gay," a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Martin Blackwell is on trial facing charges including aggravated battery and assault in the Feb. 12 attack that caused severe burns and multiple surgeries for Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert, who were asleep together after working an overnight shift.

"I woke up to the most unimaginable pain in my entire life," Tolbert said, sobbing frequently during his testimony. "I'm wondering why I'm in so much pain. I'm wondering why I'm wet. I don't understand what's going on."

Martin Blackwell looks on during his trial in Atlanta, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. Blackwell is accused of pouring boiling water on his girlfriend's gay son and his friend as they slept. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

If convicted, Blackwell faces up to 80 years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Blackwell last week had agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors but decided against it after the judge said he would order him to serve 30 years of a 40-year sentence, multiple news outlets reported.

As Tolbert and Gooden testified, Blackwell showed no emotion.

After they were doused with hot water, Gooden and Tolbert leapt from bed. Gooden ran from the apartment and Tolbert jumped around the room screaming and crying, Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Franklin Engram told the jury.

Blackwell, 48, began dating Gooden's mother, Kim Foster, about two and a half years ago. Foster had moved into her sister's apartment in College Park with her children. Blackwell, a long-distance truck driver, would often stay there when he was in town, the prosecutor said.

Gooden had told his family he was gay a short time before the attack and, with the exception of Blackwell, they embraced and supported him, Engram said.

Gooden and Tolbert met when Tolbert ordered food at Taco Bell while Gooden was working at the drive-thru. They'd been dating for about a month at the time of the attack.

They had found jobs together working an overnight shift and after their second shift, they went to sleep as others in the apartment were getting ready to start their day.

When Foster's teenage daughters came home in the afternoon, Blackwell gave them money to go get something to eat to get them out of the apartment, the prosecutor said. Then he went to the kitchen, pulled out the biggest pot he could find, filled it with water, put it on the stove and waited for it to boil.

He then threw the hot water on the sleeping couple, Engram said.

Gooden's first instinct was to flee the apartment because he said he didn't know whether Blackwell had more water on the stove. Outside, without their wallets or cellphones, they frantically sought help. A frightened neighbor shut the door in their faces. Eventually, a friend called 911.

College Park police Officer Wayne Hood testified that he went to the apartment and Blackwell told him the two young men were having sex, making noise and were "stuck together like two hotdogs." Blackwell said he "poured a little hot water on them" but that they'd be fine, Hood testified.

Gooden said the couple hadn't ever had sex.

Both men suffered severe burns that required skin graft surgeries. Tolbert spent 10 days in the hospital; Gooden was there for about a month, including two weeks in a medically induced coma.

Georgia doesn't have a hate crime law, but the FBI has opened a hate crime investigation. An FBI spokesman didn't immediately respond to an email Tuesday asking about the progress of that investigation.

Foster testified that Blackwell had an "up and down" relationship with her children. He had said derogatory things about her son's sexuality, but she was still shocked when she learned about the attack, she said.

"I didn't know where it came from," she said. "I still don't know where it came from."

Marquez Tolbert cries as he describes the pain as he testifies in the trial of Martin Blackwell who is accused of pouring boiling water on him and a friend as they slept in Atlanta, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Still baring burn scars Anthony Gooden listens to testimony Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016 in Atlanta in the trial for Martin Blackwell who is accused of pouring boiling water water on him and a gay friend as they slept. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

During the trial for Martin Blackwell a lawyer holds a pot they say Blackwell used to pour boiling water on his girlfriend's gay son and his friend as they slept, in Atlanta, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Woman exonerated after 35 years sues officials in 2 states

RENO, Nev. (AP)  A woman who spent 35 years in prison for a 1976 Reno killing before being exonerated by DNA evidence has sued officials in Nevada and Louisiana, alleging civil rights violations and malicious prosecution.

Attorneys for Cathy Woods, 66, say she was deprived of almost her entire adult life based on a confession authorities got while questioning her without a lawyer at a psychiatric hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana.

"She was an extremely vulnerable person at that time and today," Elizabeth Wang, one of Woods' lawyers, said Tuesday. "Anyone who sees her would see what 35 years in prison did to her."

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2014, file photo, Cathy Woods appears in Washoe District court in Reno, Nev. Woods, imprisoned for 35 years before being exonerated in a 1976 Reno murder case, is suing officials in Nevada and Louisiana on federal civil rights, malicious prosecution and conspiracy claims. (Andy Barron/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP, File)

Woods, who also used the name Anita Carter, was freed in September 2014 and cleared last year in the stabbing death of 19-year-old Michelle Mitchell near the University of Nevada, Reno.

A National Registry of Exonerations' database lists Woods as the longest-ever wrongfully incarcerated woman in U.S. history.

Officials say DNA linked an Oregon prisoner, Rodney Halbower, to the stabbing, which drew intense media attention during the three years it went unsolved.

Halbower also is suspected in several Northern California deaths in early 1976, which were dubbed the Gypsy Hill killings. Now 68, he faces a court hearing Friday in San Mateo County, California, to determine if he should stand trial in the slayings of two teenage girls from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Authorities say Halbower's DNA on a Marlboro cigarette puts him at the scene of Mitchell's slaying.

Police and prosecutors in Nevada thought they had their break in the case when Shreveport police reported that Woods told a counselor in a psychiatric hospital in early 1979 that she recalled something about a woman being stabbed in Reno, according to Woods' lawsuit.

Woods had moved to Shreveport about a year after Mitchell's killing, and she had been committed to the hospital by her mother.

Her lawyers say Woods was diagnosed as schizophrenic and was "floridly psychotic and hearing voices" at the time she gave her alleged confession.

Woods only talked about "vague information about the crime that had been publicly reported," the lawsuit said, and she was denied a lawyer by detectives who "promised that things would go 'quicker' and easier if she did not have an attorney."

Woods was convicted in Nevada based largely on the confession and sentenced in 1980 to life in prison without parole. She won a new trial on an appeal to the state Supreme Court but was convicted again in 1985.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Reno, names the city of Reno, two former Reno officers, former Washoe County District Attorney Cal Dunlap, two former Shreveport officers and a doctor who treated Woods at the Louisiana State University Medical Center.

The lawsuit alleges malicious prosecution, multiple violations of Woods' constitutional rights to due process, and civil conspiracy. It seeks unspecified damages.

It accuses the doctor, Douglas Matthew Burks, of doing nothing to stop Woods' interrogation. Burks, who now practices in Florida, didn't immediately respond to messages at his office in Tampa.

Dunlap declined to comment about the case. Efforts to reach former Reno officers Lawrence Dennison and John Kimpton by telephone were unsuccessful.

A lawyer for former Shreveport Detective Donald Ashley said he had not seen the lawsuit and declined immediate comment. Former Detective Clarence "Jacky" Lewis, now a sheriff's lieutenant in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, declined to comment.

Woods lawyers accuse the officers and prosecutors of concocting a theory that Woods was a lesbian and killed Mitchell because she rejected sexual advances, and that Woods' "mannish" appearance explained witness reports of a man seen running from the scene of the crime.

Woods lives with a caregiver in Friday Harbor, Washington, Wang said.

The attorney called Woods' case "extraordinary for the extreme length of her wrongful incarceration," but "tragically common in other crucial respects."

Woods was a poorly educated woman with diagnosed severe mental illness who was "intentionally framed" by authorities for a crime she didn't commit, Wang said.

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The Latest: Ohio Democrats disappointed with voting ruling

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  The Latest on a federal appeals court's decision that upholds a cut to early voting in Ohio (all times local):

4:55 p.m.

Ohio Democrats are disappointed with a federal appeals court ruling that upholds a state law trimming early voting.

The Ohio Democratic Party is among the plaintiffs who challenged a series of Republican-backed voting changes, alleging they disproportionately burdened black voters and those who lean Democratic. Such policies include the elimination of early voting days in which Ohioans could also register to vote. This period was known as golden week.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled Tuesday the cut still allows for "abundant" opportunities to vote.

Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper says plaintiffs are weighing their next steps.

Their options include asking the appeals court to reconsider or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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1:45 p.m.

Ohio's elections chief is praising a ruling from a federal appeals court that upholds a state law trimming a week of early voting in the presidential swing state.

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted (HYOO'-sted) says Ohio offers "generous" opportunities to cast a ballot. He says the issue has been dragged through the courts and produced the finding that Ohio's laws are fair.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled Tuesday that the law still allowed for "abundant" opportunities to vote.

Democrats had alleged that law was part of a series of Republican-backed changes that disproportionately burdened black voters and those who lean Democratic. The law had eliminated a week of early voting in which residents could also register to vote.

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1:15 p.m.

A federal appeals court has reversed a judge's order that restored a week of early voting in swing-state Ohio.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled Tuesday that the law that made the cut still allows for "abundant" opportunities to vote.

Democrats had alleged that a series of Republican-backed changes disproportionately burdened black voters and those who lean Democratic. Such policies include the elimination of a week of early voting in which residents could also register to vote. This was known as golden week.

Plaintiffs including the state's Democratic Party claimed the burden on voters outweighed any benefit to the state.
Review: In 'Southside With You,' when Barack met Michelle

Writer-director Richard Tanne's feature film debut "Southside With You" views history through an unlikely, heart-shaped prism: the first date between Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson. Contemplating further such forays into presidential romance is indeed frightful. Are we itching closer to a rom-com about the courtship between Gerald and Betty? Or, heaven help us, "Pizza Night With Bill and Hillary"?

And yet Tanne's film is no mere First Couple valentine. Nuanced and charming, "Southside With You" is a sunny, strolling odyssey through African-American life in 1989, filtered through two future icons as they navigate the world around them and their place in it. Tanne and his excellent actors (Parker Sawyers as Barack, Tika Sumpter as Michelle) compress into a single day something broader and more meaningful than White House trivia.

Though the movie settles into a Richard Linklater-like series of conversations and encounters, it begins with the blare of Janet Jackson's "Miss You Much" on the car radio and the unmistakable feel of an '80s movie. "Southside With You" is, in a way, a portrait of a president-to-be as a young John Cusack.

This image released by Roadside Attractions shows Tika Sumpter, left, and Parker Sawyers in a scene from "Southside With You." (Matt Dinerstein/Miramax and Roadside Attractions via AP)

Riding in a beat-up yellow Datsun and flicking his cigarette ash out the window, 28-year-old Barack is on his way to pick up Michelle, a 26-year-old colleague from their law firm who persistently insists that they are emphatically not on a date. "Just another smooth talking brother," is Michelle's judgment, as recited here by her mother.

The Obamas' first encounters were, to an extent, sweetly old-fashioned. He took her to a movie. They kissed over ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

But the film was no mere date movie; it was Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing." And their stops include an African American art exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago and a community meeting in a church (something incorporated here from a later date) where "Brother Barack" flashes his speech-making skills.

They drive a little and walk a little through Chicago's Southside, but they're also passing through a larger cultural atmosphere. Barack is reading Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" before he leaves to pick up Michelle. Names of people killed on the streets of Chicago adorn a wall they stride past. Debate over the divisive ending of "Do the Right Thing" (when Mookie throws a trash can through Sal's pizzeria) engulfs them outside the theater.

Sumpter and Sawyers both, against the odds, evade the trappings of impression and give natural, intimate performances about two outsiders on their way to becoming Beltway insiders. "I'm tired of being two different people," Michelle says of being a black woman in a white world. They are both in the process of forming themselves, measuring their own ambitions. The undertow of history is all around: "Something else is pulling me," says Obama.

Inevitably, approximately half of the moviegoing electorate will have little interest in "Southside With You." But the film is essentially devoid of politics. Its tenderness, warmth and modesty (it's a mere 84 minutes long) is an all the more a welcome change of pace in this election year.

Even most of the winks you'd expect in an origin story like this aren't heavy-handed. Some are actually quite good. As Michelle gets ready for her date, her father hollers, ominously, "So what's this boy's name?"

"Southside With You," a Miramax and Roadside Attractions, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "brief strong language, smoking, a violent image and a drug reference." Running time: 84 minutes. Three stars out of four.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

This image released by Roadside Attractions shows Tika Sumpter, right, and Parker Sawyers in a scene from "Southside With You." (Pat Scola/Miramax and Roadside Attractions via AP)

This image released by Roadside Attractions shows Tika Sumpter, left, and Parker Sawyers in a scene from "Southside With You." (Pat Scola/Miramax and Roadside Attractions via AP)

This image released by Roadside Attractions shows Tika Sumpter, left, and Parker Sawyers in a scene from "Southside With You." (Matt Dinerstein/Miramax and Roadside Attractions via AP)
Social Security rolls back security measures on website

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Social Security Administration has rolled back extra security measures on the agency's website after getting complaints from people who had trouble accessing their accounts.

For years, workers and beneficiaries have been able to use the My Social Security website to get information about benefits, logging in with a user name and a password.

On July 30, the agency began requiring people to sign into their account using a one-time code that was sent to them in a text message. This is a common security method used by banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions to fight identity theft.

The agency said it implemented the extra security to comply with President Barack Obama's executive order requiring federal agencies to improve the security of online financial transactions.

"We implemented it aggressively because we have a fundamental responsibility to protect the public's personal information," the Social Security Administration said in a statement.

However, Social Security has temporarily stopped requiring the extra security after getting complaints.

"Our aggressive implementation inconvenienced or restricted access to some of our account holders," the statement said. "We are listening to the public's concerns and are responding by temporarily rolling back this mandate."
Utah man describes 'nightmare' conditions in Venezuela jail

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  A Utah man being held in Venezuela on weapons charges described living a "horrible nightmare" of police harassment and recurrent illnesses in his first communication from jail.

"It feels like the pressure of the world is weighing down upon my chest. My heart feels like it is swollen and about to burst," Joshua Holt wrote in a handwritten letter made public Tuesday by his mother. "Since I arrived at this horrible place where demons stroll the hallways ... my life has been in utter destruction."

Holt was arrested nearly two months ago when police said they found an assault rifle during a raid on the public housing complex in Caracas where he was staying with his Venezuelan bride. The two met on the internet when Holt wanted to practice the Spanish he had picked up as a Mormon missionary in a Latino community in Washington state. He flew to Venezuela to marry the woman and wait for a U.S. visa so they could start their life together near Salt Lake City.

FILE - In this July 13, 2016 file photo, Laurie Holt holds a photograph of her son Josh Holt at her home, in Riverton, Utah. Josh Holt, a 24-year-old American man jailed in Venezuela who is being held in Venezuela on weapons charges, described being harassed by police and forced to sleep in a hot cell barely big enough for a small bed in his first communication from jail. The former Mormon missionary was arrested two months ago after police raided the public housing complex where he was staying with his Venezuelan bride as they were waiting for her U.S. visa. Authorities said they found an assault rifle. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

But last month, Venezuelan Interior Minister Gustavo Gonzalez referred to Holt as "the gringo" and alleged the 24-year-old was a trained gunman linked to unspecified attempts by the U.S. to undermine President Nicolas Maduro's rule during a period of deep economic and political turbulence in the socialist South American country.

His mother, Laurie Holt, told The Associated Press that she received a scanned copy of the letter from her son's mother-in-law after a recent jailhouse visit. She posted a typed transcript of the message on Facebook in a bid to garner more support from the Obama administration.

American diplomats have met with Holt, most recently on Aug. 16. But the U.S. government so far has avoided ratcheting up public pressure on Venezuela amid already strained relations between two countries that haven't swapped ambassadors since 2010.

In the letter written in the past week, Holt describes being overwhelmed by fear and confusion following his arrest, saying he was forced to sleep for a week and a half in a hot cell with two tiny out-of-reach windows and barely big enough for a twin-size bed.

"The following hours were full of fear and terror as they threatened to do horrible things to me, as they took pictures of me and laughed as if I were some freak of nature or some animal from another world. Even the head boss over all of SEBIN took photos with me as if I were some sort of trophy to him," he wrote, referring to the initials for Venezuela's secret police. "I thought this must be the lake of fire and brimstone."

He denies any wrongdoing and accuses police of planting the weapon and a grenade in the apartment after officers unsuccessfully tried to shake him down for a $10,000 bribe.

Holt said he cries himself to sleep questioning his faith and struggling with a string of illnesses.

"I have had one sickness after another, kidney stones, bronchitis, and now have something that makes me itch like I have never itched before. I had times where I could barely breathe. The judge approved not one time, but twice for me to go to the hospital, however I have never left the jail," he wrote.

Holt's wife, Thamara Caleno, is also being held as an accomplice.

In the letter, Holt says he is grateful for the thousands of people who have taken an interest in his case under the #JusticeForJosh hashtag but asks them not to forget his wife. He said the two manage to see each other once a day when they fetch pop bottles filled with water for bathing.

"The truth is if I could I would stay here double the time just so my wife could have her freedom and be with our daughters," he wrote, referring to two children she had before she met him.

Holt said he has found solace in verses from the Book of Mormon.

A State Department official said U.S. officials are closely following the case and have discussed it with their Venezuelan counterparts. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with department policy, said the agency is calling on the Venezuelan government to respect due process and human rights and guarantee a free trial.

Holt says he wants the Obama administration to do more.

"When it comes to taking my money my government becomes an expert and never fails, but when it comes to saving my life, they abandon me and say there is nothing they can do," he wrote.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 15, when Holt says he will be able to demonstrate his innocence.

"However, with this government and with the things that I have seen and heard that doesn't mean anything," he said. "The only thing I can do is beg the Lord to soften the hearts of this people and that of the governments."

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Trump aides covertly fought freeing of Ukraine prisoner

WASHINGTON (AP)  For more than three years, lobbyist Jim Slattery worked in Washington to secure the release in Ukraine of the imprisoned political rival of the country's then-president. He said the work was sometimes harder than expected.

"I had a sense that there were people working on the other side," he said, "but they were doing it pretty secretively."

Slattery's hunch was right. His unknown opponent: The consulting firm run by Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his deputy Rick Gates, now the campaign's liaison to the Republican National Committee.

Attorney Jim Slattery poses for a photograph in his office in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. For more than three years, lobbyist Slattery worked in Washington to secure the release in Ukraine of the imprisoned political rival of the countrys then-president. He said the work was sometimes harder than expected. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Manafort resigned last week, shortly after disclosures by The Associated Press about his firm's covert lobbying on behalf of Ukraine's pro-Russian government at the time.

The U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act requires people working on behalf of foreign political leaders to disclose their efforts to the Justice Department, but neither Manafort and Gates nor U.S. lobbyists they directed did. Working on the other side, Slattery filled out the required paperwork describing contacts with Congress and State Department officials including specific phone calls and emails and the topics of their discussions.

"I damn sure didn't want to get in trouble violating foreign agent laws," said Slattery, a former Democratic congressman from Kansas.

Manafort and Gates were working for Ukraine's Party of Regions but said they did not represent Ukrainian political interests in the U.S. But emails and insider accounts obtained by the AP showed Manafort's firm directed a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort between 2012 and 2014 that appeared to undercut public support for imprisoned Yulia Tymoshenko, who was considered a political prisoner by U.S. and European governments.

In the emails, Gates showed familiarity with U.S. lobbying rules and how mandatory disclosure reports could be used to gather intelligence on Slattery. In May 2014, as Slattery was lobbying on Tymoshenko's behalf, Gates directed Mercury LLC to monitor Slattery's federal filings. In particular, Gates wanted to know the address of Slattery's client and any information that could be gathered in the U.S. to complement similar digging in Ukraine.

Mercury and another Washington lobbying firm, the Podesta Group Inc., were working on behalf of the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine. The AP identified at least $2.2 million in payments to the firms. The nonprofit said it was independent, but documents released last week by anti-corruption investigators in Ukraine have tied the group to Ukrainian political figures.

The Podesta Group last week hired outside lawyers to investigate its role in the lobbying campaign and threatened to sue the European Centre. The Podesta Group has acknowledged the firm's work with Gates but said it did not know Gates worked for Ukrainian political interests. An attorney for Mercury said it will also review the work.

The head of Mercury, Vin Weber, said his firm's efforts were not intended to justify Tymoshenko's imprisonment but to make the case that furor over her prosecution had obscured broader issues about Ukraine's relationship with the West. But a Mercury employee who worked on the project told the AP the firm overtly opposed Tymoshenko's release. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because employees are restricted from speaking publicly under signed, non-disclosure agreements.

"Everyone knew this was a shadow organization working for the greater good of the Party of Regions," the employee said.

The employee said U.S. lawmakers objected to Mercury's overtures and wanted Tymoshenko out of jail.

Slattery, the lobbyist, volunteered as an election monitor during Ukraine's 2004 elections. He said he was impressed by protests against election fraud known as the Orange Revolution that peacefully played out in the frigid streets of Kiev. The family of Tymoshenko, who was prime minister from 2007 to 2010, asked for help when she was jailed following an election defeat in 2010.

When he learned about the covert lobbying campaign that opposed him, Slattery said that he was disappointed but not surprised. He said he hopes the U.S. government will look more closely at whether such behavior violated federal laws.

"You don't want to be the only person in town complying with the law," he said.

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Associated Press writers Maria Danilova and Desmond Butler contributed to this report.

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Follow Jeff Horwitz and Chad Day on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/JeffHorwitz and http://twitter.com/ChadSDay
Murder charge for Tulsa man in slaying of Lebanese neighbor

TULSA, Okla. (AP)  Prosecutors charged a Tulsa man on Tuesday with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime in the killing of his Lebanese neighbor  a culmination of what authorities said was the man's violent feud with the family that spanned several years and included a regular barrage of racial insults and personal confrontations.

Stanley Majors, 61, was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and threatening a violent act in the Aug. 12 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara. The hate crime charge is a misdemeanor under Oklahoma law and accuses Majors of intimidating and harassing Jabara and his mother, Haifa Jabara, "because of race, color, religion, ancestry and national origin," according to court papers filed Tuesday by prosecutors.

Majors marked at least the 17th case since 2008 where Tulsa County prosecutors filed a hate crime charge, according to court records. The cases include the 2012 Easter weekend shooting deaths of three black residents. Alvin Watts, who is white, and Jake England, who said he was Cherokee Indian, pleaded guilty to the killings in 2013 and were sentenced to life in prison without parole.

FILE - This Aug. 12, 2016 file photo provided by the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, shows Stanley Majors. Majors has been charged with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime in the killing of his Lebanese neighbor, Khalid Jabara. (Tulsa County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

"The death of Khalid Jabara is tragic and our sympathies are with his family," Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement Tuesday. Majors is scheduled for arraignment in district court on Wednesday. A message left for Majors' attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Majors spent years in conflict with the Jabara family, often hurling epithets such as "filthy Lebanese," ''dirty Arabs" and "Moo-slems" at his next-door neighbors, authorities said. The Jabaras are actually Christian.

Lebanese immigrants have long been a visible part of the Oklahoma population, with many making their living as merchants, restaurateurs and grocers.

"Our parents raised us to be patriotic Americans, proud of our Lebanese heritage and our community's contributions to our country," said Jabara family spokeswoman Rebecca Abou-Chedid. "In charging Majors with a hate crime in addition to first-degree murder, the district attorney's office is making a much-needed and powerful statement that hatred and violence based on race, color, religion, ancestry and national origin has no place in our society."

Shortly after the charges were filed Tuesday, Muslim Advocates and the Arab American Institute demanded in a coalition letter presented by advocacy, civil rights, community and faith-based groups that Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett direct law enforcement authorities to conduct a "fair and thorough investigation" into Jabara's death.

"In the last year, hate crimes targeting Arabs, Muslims, and those perceived to be either have skyrocketed," Madihha Ahussain, Muslim Advocates staff attorney and lead for the Program to Counter Anti-Muslim Hate, said in the letter. "Unfortunately, there has also been a pattern of law enforcement officials minimizing the possibility that these crimes may be motivated by bigotry, sending a dangerous message that hate violence is not taken seriously."

Officer Jeanne MacKenzie, a Tulsa Police spokeswoman, said Tuesday that her agency investigates every case "to the fullest."

"We don't exclude anything or anybody by race or sexual preference or anything like that," she said.

Bartlett said he has scheduled a meeting with the city's public safety departments and the district attorney's office "to make sure we are doing everything in our power to ensure the safety of our community."

"The city stands by the Jabara family in this time of need and they will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers," the mayor said in a statement.

The alleged abuse between the neighbors escalated to the point where Haifa Jabara obtained a protective order in 2013 that required Majors to stay 300 yards away and prohibited him from possessing any firearms until 2018. Majors also had a 2009 felony conviction from California for threatening a crime with intent to terrorize.

But last year, Majors was accused of plowing his car into Khalid's mother, Haifa Jabara. She suffered a broken shoulder, among other injuries. After Majors struck her, he kept driving, prosecutors said. Officers who stopped him later reported that he was intoxicated. Prosecutors charged majors last September with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, leaving the scene of a collision violating the protective order and public intoxication.

Majors' conflict with the Jabara family also put him at odds with his husband, Stephen Schmauss, who came to befriend Khalid and thought of him as an apprentice, teaching him how to use power tools and computer circuitry. Last week, Schmauss said his husband had killed his "best friend."

Khalid Jabara's slaying drew national attention, including a mention from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who said her "heart breaks" for Jabara's loved ones.

Schmauss tried to explain Majors' comments, saying his husband is "textbook bipolar" and a diabetic who refuses to take any medication. Schmauss said anything Majors said to the Jabara family was "done under the bipolar situation."

While awaiting trial for assault and battery, a judge freed Majors from jail on $60,000 bond, overruling strong objections by Tulsa County prosecutors, who called him "a substantial risk to the public" and pleaded with the court to set a higher bond of $300,000.

Schmauss, who claims that his cellphone was shattered when Majors fired at least five rounds from a handgun inside the couple's house the day Khalid Jabara was killed, said in an e-mail that he can't attend his husband's arraignment on Wednesday because he is undergoing radiation therapy for cancer.

"My cancer is so painful, requiring me to take strong pain pills that make me sleepy," he said. "I will visit (Majors) on my feel good days in the future.
In Turkey, Biden aims to mend wobbly ties to key NATO ally

WASHINGTON (AP)  With suspicions on both sides mounting, the United States is struggling to preserve its wobbly partnership with Turkey as the Turks entertain closer relations with Russia and fume over a U.S.-based cleric blamed for orchestrating last month's failed coup.

Vice President Joe Biden arrives Wednesday in the Turkish capital, Ankara, aiming to smooth over recent strains but with limited leverage. He comes bearing no assurances that the United States will agree to Turkey's demand that it extradite Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Instead, he'll try to convey that America values Turkey as a key NATO ally amid worrying signs that the U.S. and Turkish approaches to the Syrian conflict may be diverging.

Ahead of Biden's visit, the U.S. said it was considering a formal extradition request for Gulen from Turkey. But State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that Turkey's request was for alleged crimes unrelated to the failed coup. He declined to provide details.

To that end, the U.S. was seeking further evidence from Turkey to substantiate its claim that Gulen was behind the overthrow attempt. Turkey's Justice Ministry said its officials opened talks Tuesday with a team from the Justice Department and State Department that the U.S. dispatched to Ankara ahead of Biden's arrival.

Tensions between the countries were already bubbling under the surface before the coup attempt July 15 and since have burst into the open. U.S. leaders were incensed when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of either supporting or backing the coup. As the U.S. issued denials, Turkish officials complained that Washington was slow to support Turkey's government at its time of greatest need, even though the U.S. had expressed support for Erdogan during the violence that claimed 270 lives.

For its part, the U.S. has been rattled by Turkey's recent diplomatic flirtations with traditional U.S. foes Russia and Iran, reflecting the possibility that a frustrated Turkey could be rethinking its allegiance with the West in pursuit of regional stability. This month Erdogan traveled to Moscow to boost ties and possibly collaboration on ending Syria's civil war, something Moscow has sought unsuccessfully with Washington. And following the Turkish foreign minister's surprise trip to Iran last week, Turkish media reported that Erdogan planned to visit Tehran on Wednesday  the same day he's also slated to meet Biden.

"Clearly President Erdogan is sending a message by getting closer to Russia and Iran that he's unhappy with the attitude of the West," said Bulent Aliriza, a Turkey analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Turkey's still going to remain a NATO member and aspire for EU membership, but the atmosphere is worse than it was on July 14," the day before the coup attempt.

A breakdown of ties to Turkey would be problematic for the U.S., which is counting on Turkey to pursue the same approach to fighting the Islamic State group and addressing extremism across the Middle East. Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey shares borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria, where the porous border permits Islamic State fighters into Turkey and would-be recruits into Syria.

But the U.S. and Turkey are unlikely to resolve their dispute over Gulen, who has lived in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania for 17 years in self-imposed exile. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup attempt.

"People have an expectation that Gulen should be returned to Turkey immediately," said Gulnur Aybet, who teaches international relations at Turkey's Bahcesehir University. "If the extradition request is refused or delayed, I'm afraid that's going to have serious repercussions."

The U.S. once considered Erdogan a leader interested in promoting democracy and working with America. That optimism has been dampened as Erdogan cracks down on media and other freedoms and puts a premium on opposing outlawed Kurdish rebels  sometimes at the expense, in the Obama administration's view, of focusing on IS.

Washington's concerns about human rights and democracy in Turkey have intensified since the Turkish government detained or fired tens of thousands of police, soldiers, teachers and journalists following the abortive coup. The U.S. has been careful not to criticize Turkey publicly to avoid undercutting the overall U.S. message of support for Turkey's government.

Turkey's fragile security was highlighted over the weekend when a suicide bomber killed at least 54 people at a Kurdish wedding celebration in Gaziantep, near the Syria border. It was the deadliest in a string of attacks this year in Turkey committed by IS or the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Adding to U.S. worries, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim recently appeared warm to the possibility of Syrian President Bashar Assad maintaining a role in a transitional government. For years, both Turkey and the U.S. have called for Assad's ouster, insisting he can't be part of Syria's future government.

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Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper and Dan Huff in Washington, Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Bram Janssen in Istanbul contributed to this report.

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Obama meets with family of Baton Rouge man killed by police

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  President Barack Obama met Tuesday with the family of Alton Sterling, the black man in Louisiana whose death last month in a police shooting sparked protests and mass arrests.

Obama consoled the relatives during a brief meeting on the sidelines of his trip to Baton Rouge to tour flood damage and meet with affected residents. The White House said Obama also met with the families of officers killed or injured nearly two weeks later by a gunman, apparently in response to Sterling's killing.

The president spent roughly 25 minutes with the families at the airport before boarding his flight back to Washington.
The FBI is investigating cyber intrusions targeting reporters of The New York Times and is looking into whether Russian intelligence agencies are responsible for the acts, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

The cyberattacks are believed to have targeted individual reporters, but investigators don't believe the newspaper's entire network was compromised, according to the official, who was briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

CNN first reported the FBI's investigation.

It was not immediately clear how many reporters may have been affected, or how many email accounts were targeted.

The FBI is investigating whether hackers backed by Russian intelligence have targeted New York Times reporters

Hackers also penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee. Embarrassing disclosures revealed staffers appearing to boost Hillary Clinton over Vermont senator Bernie Sanders

The DNC hack led to the resignation of Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

The news comes as federal authorities continue to investigate a breach of the Democratic National Committee that outside cybersecurity experts have attributed to Russian intelligence agencies and that led to the posting of embarrassing internal emails.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other Democratic entities have also been affected. Earlier this month, House Minority Leader advised fellow Democrats not to allow family members to answer their phones or read incoming texts after a mix of personal and official information of Democratic members and hundreds of congressional staff  purportedly from a hack of the DCCC  was posted online.

New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy told CNN, which first reported the breach: 'Like most news organizations we are vigilant about guarding against attempts to hack into our systems.'
Chile issues alert over faulty condoms

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)  Chilean authorities are issuing a health alert, saying they distributed more than 712,000 defective condoms.

Public Health Institute Director Alex Figueroa said Tuesday that the easily breakable condoms were imported from China. He said that the condoms were not properly stored and they have problems "in consistency, lubrication and size."

Public health services distributed 712,224 preservatives out of the total 1,187,000 batch of condoms.

Figueroa asked Chileans to avoid using the "Kaiju" brand condoms and assured citizens that pharmacies sell other brands.
A world-famous Scottish painter did not create a landscape work that had been valued at more than $10 million, a federal judge has found.

Peter Doig, a 57-year-old painter born in Edinburgh, was sued by retired Canadian prison guard Robert Fletcher who bought the painting in 1976.

Fletcher claims he bought the painting from a then-unknown Doig for $100 while he was an inmate in the prison he worked in.

But years later, after the painting's value rocketed to $10million, Doig denied painting the piece - causing it's worth to plummet.

A federal judge in Chicago ruled that Doig cannot have been the artist because he was in a Canadian high school at the time - not in prison. He said it was actually the work of another artist with a similar sounding name, Peter Doige.

Retired Canadian prison official Robert Fletcher said he had bought this painting from Scottish artist Peter Doig - but Doig denied painting the work

Evidence clearly showed that it is case of mistaken identity, US District Judge Gary Feinerman said.

Feinerman has not yet formally announced a verdict, but the entire case of the painting's owner hinges on his claim that Doig painted it.

The suit was filed in Chicago because one auctioneer who had expressed interest in selling the painting is based in the city.

Doig's disavowal of the painting caused the painting's projected sale price to tank, prompting Fletcher to file a lawsuit for millions in damages.

Fletcher maintained that the painting of a desert landscape, which he paid $100 for in the 1970s, is by Doig.

Fletcher (right) filed a lawsuit for millions in damages against Doig (left), saying Doig's disavowal had caused the price of a projected sale to tank

He claimed he bought it while Doig was serving prison time in Canada's Thunder Bay Correctional Center.

But Feinerman said that was impossible, because Dog was in high school at the time.

The judge pointed to high school yearbook photos and said that proved Doig was in a Toronto high school when Fletcher said he was painting in prison.

'Peter Doig could not have been the author of the work,' the judge said.

Doig's works are prized for their ethereal scenes often with subjects appearing as ghostly figures in forests or lakes.

Doig's 1990 landscape 'Swamped,' (pictured) sold for $25.9 million last year at Christie's according to the auction company's website

His painting of someone slumped over a canoe, entitled 'Swamped,' sold last year at Christie's for $25.9 million, according to the auction company's website.

Authenticity disputes typically arise long after an artist dies, not, as in this case, when the artist is still living and flatly denies a work is his.
North Korea seeks UN meeting on US-South Korea exercises

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  North Korea on Tuesday warned that joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States are pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula "to the brink of a war" and asked for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

In a letter to the council president, North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Jan Song Nam accused the United States of "creating the danger of war" with the annual drills which began Monday.

North Korea has threatened nuclear strikes in response to the exercises which it calls an invasion rehearsal.

This kind of fiery rhetoric by Pyongyang is not unusual but the warning comes at a time of more tension following the defection of a senior North Korean diplomat and a U.S. plan to place a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff later said North Korea had fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off its east coast into the sea on Wednesday morning. South Korean defense officials said it wasn't immediately known whether the launch was successful or not.

Jan said in the letter that the situation on the Korean Peninsula "has become unprecedentedly instable (cq) due to the introduction of nuclear strategic bombers, anti-ballistic missile system of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and other strategic assets by the U.S. to the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity."

He said the Security Council had previously "unjustifiably ignored" several requests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea  the country's official name  to put the U.S.-South Korean exercises on its agenda.

The ambassador warned that if the council again ignored the North's request to discuss the exercises, it will not only give up its responsibility for maintaining international peace and security but become "a political tool" of the United States.

"It is the consistent stand of the DPRK government to fundamentally terminate the danger of a nuclear war posed by the U.S. by dint of the powerful nuclear deterrence and defend the regional and global peace," Jan said.

He also warned that "peace, security and relaxation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and in the region cannot be thinkable unless the U.S.-South Korea aggressive joint military exercises are totally halted."

Kiyoshi Odawara, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official, told a U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday on halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction that North Korea's nuclear test in January and ballistic missile launches  including one on Aug. 3 in which a rocket landed in Japanese waters  pose "clear challenges to the global nonproliferation regime and cannot be condoned for any reason."

Odawara strongly urged North Korea to refrain from further provocations and to comply with council resolutions that call for an end to its nuclear weapons program. "These efforts are crucial, and their significance and impact cannot be underestimated," he said.

China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told the council that "nonproliferation cannot be used as a pretext to beef up military deployment, step up military presence and scale up military exercises."

"All parties should stay consistently engaged in the process towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, stay committed to the peace and stability of the peninsula ... and avoid any action that is provocative to each other and may escalate tensions," Liu said.

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Campaign season opens quietly for Haiti's presidential redo

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  Campaigning for Haiti's presidential redo election has gotten off to a very quiet start, with major candidates waiting for the weekend to hold their first events.

Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council opened the 45-day campaign season Tuesday for 27 presidential candidates and various legislative hopefuls.

The redo of an annulled presidential vote will not be underwritten by the U.S. or monitored by European Union observers.

A supporter of Maryse Narcisse gives out campaign posters promoting the presidential candidate, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. Campaign season begins yet again for Haiti as authorities organize a redo of last year's presidential vote. ( AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Council President Leopold Berlanger says $25 million is needed to hold the first round. He says Haiti's interim government has already allocated $11 million and just over $6 million remains in a trust fund from last year.

Berlanger says the remaining money is expected next month.

He says the council will organize fair and transparent balloting, saying Haitians "are tired of seeing chaos in their elections."

A mural that decorates a wall features Haiti's former President Jean Bertrand Aristide and presidential candidate Maryse Narcisse with a message that reads in Creole; "People who won't obey" in response to foreigners suggesting how the country's politics should be run, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. Campaign season begins yet again for Haiti as authorities organize a redo of last year's presidential vote. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
Best Buy and Tableau Software leap; Smucker and Zoe's skid

NEW YORK (AP)  Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily on Tuesday:

Best Buy Co., up $6.43 to $39.23

The electronics retailer reported better online sales and lower costs, and gave a strong sales forecast for the current quarter.

Zoe's Kitchen Inc., down $6.41 to $30.84

The Mediterranean-style restaurant chain reported weak sales and cut its forecast for the year.

Tableau Software Inc., up $7.35 to $62.22

The data analytics company made a surprise CEO change, saying Adam Selipsky of Amazon Web Services will take the job Sept. 16.

J.M. Smucker Co., down $12.60 to $143.63

The maker of jellies, jams and other foods reported weak fiscal first-quarter sales.

Mylan NV, down $2.28 to $45.62

Senators asked the drugmaker to justify the rising price of its EpiPen allergy injector.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., up 3 cents to $1.81

The Commerce Department said sales of new homes surged to their fastest pace in almost nine years in July.

Mobileye NV, up $3.10 to $49.66

The car technology company said it will work with auto parts supplier Delphi Automotive to develop a platform for a fully autonomous car.

CF Industries Inc., up $1.14 to $24.83
Anti-abortion activists file suit over Chicago 'bubble zone'

CHICAGO (AP)  Anti-abortion activists filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of a Chicago ordinance that stops protesters from getting within 8 feet of people entering health care facilities without their consent.

The activists argue that the ordinance  which is similar to a Colorado law upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court  is vague, confusing and violates their free speech rights with its 8-foot "bubble zone" around people who are within 50 feet of clinic entrances. The buffer zones around hospitals and clinics have become "vast anti-speech zones," according to the lawsuit.

More than a dozen cities and several states enforce similar zones around clinics with the aim of protecting abortion seekers from intimidation. A 1994 federal law  enacted in response to bombings, arson and violent protests directed at abortion providers  prohibits blocking access to abortion clinics.

The Chicago complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, outlines the claims of two anti-abortion groups and four "sidewalk counselors" who want to hand out literature to women seeking abortions. They allege that Chicago police selectively enforce the ordinance, applying it only to them and not to volunteer escorts who walk with patients and, according to the lawsuit, take away anti-abortion literature patients accept from protesters.

The sidewalk counselors, according to the lawsuit, are peaceful and want to "express their deeply held religious convictions on a matter of great public concern, indeed, a matter of life and death."

Chicago's ordinance is similar to a Colorado law that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2000. The law includes an 8-foot no-approach bubble zone within 100 feet of a clinic door.

Chicago's law "is almost identical to a statute the Supreme Court has already upheld, except that our buffer zone is half the size," said Chicago Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey in an email. "The city will vigorously defend against this suit."

But attorneys for the anti-abortion activists say the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014 struck down a Massachusetts 35-foot buffer zone law, effectively overruling its earlier decision.

Abortion rights activists said buffer-zone laws protect women.

"I wish free speech was all that was going on outside these clinics," said Vicki Saporta of the National Abortion Federation. "Unfortunately, there have been threats, intimidation, assault and stalking by anti-abortion extremists."

In Chicago, anti-abortion activists recently started wearing the same color vests as volunteer escorts with an icon that looks similar to Planned Parenthood's logo, according to a Planned Parenthood statement about the lawsuit.

The bubble zone allows staff and patients to avoid being swarmed by protesters, said Linda Diamond Shapiro of Planned Parenthood of Illinois. "This small distance can make an enormous difference in keeping entrances accessible and reducing aggressive confrontations," she said.

Attorneys from the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based conservative law firm, filed the lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs Veronica Price, Anna Marie Scinto Mesia, David Bergquist, Ann Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League and Live Pro-Life Group. The lawsuit names as defendants the city of Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

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Man keeps $121,000 in Amazon goods he was to deliver

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (AP)  Authorities say they've arrested a driver who refused to deliver $121,000 worth of Amazon items because he said he was never paid.

An arrest report from the Lee County Sheriff's Office says 36-year-old Julio Hernandez was arrested Friday on theft and extortion charges.

The sheriff's office last month began investigating the theft of thousands of Amazon orders that were supposed to be driven from a distribution center in Ruskin, Florida, to Fort Worth, Texas.
Police identify 2 children killed in apartment explosion

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP)  Authorities have identified two children killed in an explosion and fire at a Maryland apartment complex.

The Montgomery County police department said in a news release Tuesday that 8-year-old Deibi "David" Samir Lainez Morales and 3-year-old Fernando Josue Hernandez Orellana were among seven people killed in the Aug. 10 fire.

Authorities identified three other victims last week and are working to identify two more.

The explosion at the Flower Branch apartments in Silver Spring shook homes more than a mile away. Some residents reported smelling natural gas before the explosion; officials also had been called to the building July 25 by residents who reported smelling gas.
Clinton Foundation donors got face time with her at State

WASHINGTON (AP)  More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money  either personally or through companies or groups  to the Clinton Foundation. It's an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president.

Donors who were granted time with Clinton included an internationally known economist who asked for her help as the Bangladesh government pressured him to resign from a nonprofit bank he ran; a Wall Street executive who sought Clinton's help with a visa problem; and Estee Lauder executives who were listed as meeting with Clinton while her department worked with the firm's corporate charity to counter gender-based violence in South Africa.

They are among at least 85 of 154 people with private interests who either met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton and also gave to her family's charities, according to a review of State Department calendars released so far to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. The 154 does not include U.S. federal employees or foreign government representatives.

FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks in Philadelphia. More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money, either personally or through companies or groups, to the Clinton Foundation. It's an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The AP's findings represent the first systematic effort to calculate the scope of the intersecting interests of Clinton foundation donors and people who met personally with Clinton or spoke to her by phone about their needs.

The meetings between the Democratic presidential nominee and foundation donors do not appear to violate legal agreements Clinton and former president Bill Clinton signed before she joined the State Department in 2009. But the frequency of the overlaps shows the intermingling of access and donations, and fuels perceptions that giving the foundation money was a price of admission for face time with Clinton. Her calendars and emails released as recently as this week describe scores of contacts she and her top aides had with foundation donors.

Clinton's campaign said the AP analysis was flawed because it did not include in its calculations meetings with foreign diplomats or U.S. government officials, and the meetings AP examined covered only the first half of Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.

"It is outrageous to misrepresent Secretary Clinton's basis for meeting with these individuals," spokesman Brian Fallon said. He called it "a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation."

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump fiercely criticized the links between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department. "It is impossible to figure out where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins," he said at a rally Tuesday night in Austin, Texas. "It is now abundantly clear that the Clintons set up a business to profit from public office."

State Department officials have said they are not aware of any agency actions influenced by the Clinton Foundation. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday night that there are no prohibitions against agency contacts with "political campaigns, non-profits or foundations  including the Clinton Foundation." He added that "meeting requests, recommendations and proposals come to the department through a variety of channels, both formal and informal."

Last week, the Clinton Foundation moved to head off ethics concerns about future donations by announcing changes planned if she is elected. Those planned changes would not affect more than 6,000 donors who have already provided the Clinton charity with more than $2 billion in funding since its creation in 2000.

"There's a lot of potential conflicts and a lot of potential problems," said Douglas White, an expert on nonprofits at Columbia University. "The point is, she can't just walk away from these 6,000 donors."

Fallon said earlier Tuesday the standard set by the Clinton Foundation's ethics restrictions was "unprecedented, even if it may never satisfy some critics."

Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering low-interest "microcredit" for poor business owners, met with Clinton three times and talked with her by phone during a period when Bangladeshi government authorities investigated his oversight of a nonprofit bank and ultimately pressured him to resign from the bank's board. Throughout the process, he pleaded for help in messages routed to Clinton, and she ordered aides to find ways to assist him.

Grameen America, the bank's nonprofit U.S. flagship, which Yunus chairs, has given between $100,000 and $250,000 to the foundation  a figure that bank spokeswoman Becky Asch said reflects the institution's annual fees to attend CGI meetings. Another Grameen arm chaired by Yunus, Grameen Research, has donated between $25,000 and $50,000.

In another case, Clinton was host at a September 2009 breakfast meeting at the New York Stock Exchange that listed Blackstone Group chairman Stephen Schwarzman as one of the attendees. Schwarzman's firm is a major Clinton Foundation donor, but he personally donates heavily to GOP candidates and causes. The next day, according to Clinton emails, the State Department was working on a visa issue at Schwarzman's request. In December that same year, Schwarzman and his wife, Christine, sat at Clinton's table during the Kennedy Center Honors.

Blackstone donated between $250,000 and $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Eight Blackstone executives also gave between $375,000 and $800,000 to the foundation. And Blackstone's charitable arm has pledged millions of dollars in commitments to three Clinton Global aid projects ranging from the U.S. to the Mideast. Blackstone officials did not make Schwarzman available for comment.

And in June 2011, Clinton met with Nancy Mahon of MAC AIDS, the charitable arm of MAC Cosmetics, which is owned by Estee Lauder. The meeting occurred before an announcement about a State Department partnership with MAC AIDS to raise money to finance AIDS education and prevention.

The MAC AIDS fund donated between $5 million and $10 million to the Clinton Foundation and several million more in commitments to programs through the Clinton Global Initiative.

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2006 file photo, then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is greeted by S. Daniel Abraham at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money, either personally or through companies or groups, to the Clinton Foundation. It's an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president. (AP Photo/ Jose F. Moreno, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2008 file photo, Muhammad Yunus speaks during a panel discussion on rural development at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York. More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money, either personally or through companies or groups, to the Clinton Foundation. It's an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)
Canadian man caught with sled full of drugs sentenced

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP)  Prosecutors say a Canadian man caught pulling a sled carrying more than 280,000 prescription pills across the border into Vermont has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Authorities say 21-year-old Cedrik Bourgault-Morin of Quebec, was found with about $1.6 million worth of Xanax pills after he tripped a sensor while smuggling the drugs across the border in a sled on Jan. 13.

Authorities say the pills weighed 182 pounds.

Bourgault-Morin was sentenced on Monday.

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How EpiPen's maker raised prices, and hackles, so much

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)  Sky-high price hikes for EpiPen, the injected emergency medicine for severe allergic reactions to foods and bug bites, have made its maker the latest target for patients and politicians infuriated by soaring drug prices.

The company, Mylan, has a virtual monopoly on epinephrine injectors, potentially life-saving devices used to stop a runaway allergic reaction. Mylan N.V., which has headquarters in Hertfordshire, England, and Pittsburgh, has hiked prices as frequently as three times a year over the past nine years, pushing its list price for a package of two syringes to more than $600.

A look at the situation:

In this Friday, July 8, 2016 photo, a pharmacist holds a package of EpiPens, an epinephrine autoinjector for the treatment of allergic reactions, in Sacramento, Calif. Price hikes for the emergency medicine have made its maker, Mylan, the latest target for patients and politicians infuriated by soaring drug prices. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Q: Who uses EpiPens?

Roughly 40 million Americans have severe allergies to spider bites, bee stings and foods like nuts, eggs and shellfish. They at risk for a serious reaction  anaphylactic shock. Symptoms quickly escalate from wheezing, hives and skin swelling to rapid heartbeat, trouble breathing and convulsions and, without treatment, possibly death.

As a precaution, many carry EpiPens, which contain the best "antidote," the hormone epinephrine. Last year, more than 3.6 million U.S. prescriptions for two-packs of EpiPens were filled, according to data firm IMS Health. That earned Mylan nearly $1.7 billion.

Q: How do EpiPens work?

A: In an emergency, the syringe is jabbed against the thigh. The needle inside injects the epinephrine into muscle tissue. But that can be difficult in a panic or with a child who won't hold still. The syringes expire after a year.

Q: How did the price for EpiPens get so high?

Like all drugmakers, Mylan periodically hikes its prices. In 2007, when Mylan took over rights to EpiPen, a pair of syringes cost $93.88. According to Elsevier Clinical Solutions' database of prices set by manufacturers, Mylan raised the price 5 percent the in 2008 and 2009, when a competitor hit the market. Its price jumped 20 percent in late 2009, followed by a series of 10 percent and 15 percent increases. The price hit $609 per pair in mid-May.

Q: How can Mylan do that?

A: In the U.S., drug manufacturers charge what they think the market will bear. Unlike other countries, the U.S. government doesn't regulate drug prices, though the Veterans Affairs and Medicaid negotiate big discounts. Mylan hasn't answered questions about how it justifies its price hikes. A statement released Monday didn't address prices.

Q: What do people really pay?

A: It depends on an individual's insurance coverage. Private insurers often negotiate discounts off the list price, and patient out-of-pocket costs vary by plan. But patients with high-deductible plans or no insurance can pay list price or more, depending on the pharmacy. In its statement, Mylan said most customers have insurance that limits their copayments, or they can use a copay discount card to save $100.

The statement recommended that people review their coverage. It also says that since 2012, Mylan's EpiPen4Schools program has given schools more than 700,000 free EpiPens.

Q: Isn't there any competition?

A: Barely, and few people know about it. One cheaper product remains on the market, Adrenaclick. But EpiPen, introduced in 1987, is so well known that most doctors prescribe it without considering Adrenaclick, and pharmacists can't substitute that for EpiPen, said Evelyn Hermes-DeSantis, director of drug information services at Rutgers University's pharmacy school. A pair of Adrenaclick syringes costs $142 to $380 at pharmacies, according to online comparison sites.

EpiPen has a U.S. patent giving it a monopoly until 2025, according to Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat. Generic maker Teva has permission to launch a version but hasn't gotten regulatory approval yet. A rival injector called Auvi-Q was recalled last year because of potential inaccurate dosing, Raffat noted, and a third product has twice been rejected because of issues with the injector.

Q: Is there another alternative?

A: Some people get prescriptions for epinephrine vials and get a doctor to put it in syringes. But Rutgers' Hermes-DeSantis said that raises concerns about sterility and proper storage.

Q: Why is there such a furor now?

A: Drug prices are a hot topic in the presidential race, and Congressional committees have been investigating eye-popping increases by other companies. New drugs for cancer and rare diseases can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and older drugs, even some generics, have had unprecedented price spikes. With the increase in high-deductible insurance plans, more people are paying the full cost of prescriptions. And the back-to-school season means some families are facing sticker shock as they buy new EpiPens to keep at their child's school.

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William: Brexit will not weaken friendship between UK and Germany

The Duke of Cambridge has claimed that the "depth" of Britain's friendship with Germany will not change after Brexit.

William, who was speaking at a gala in Dusseldorf alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that the relationship with the region and country would not weaken.

"In short, what began 70 years ago as a relationship of necessity between an occupying power and a region in ruin, is today a partnership of genuine friendship and of massive mutual benefit.

The Duke of Cambridge during a British Forces Germany (BFG) military parade, during a visit to Dusseldorf.

"This partnership will continue despite Britain's recent decision to leave the European Union. The depth of our friendship with Germany and with North Rhine-Westphalia will not change."

The Duke, who was speaking at the Tonhalle, added: "Bilaterally and internationally we will continue together to lead efforts to promote prosperity, security and stability in the world."

William was visiting the German city to mark the anniversary of the making of the state which was created by the British military government in 1946 after the Second World War.

"Operation Marriage" merged the regions of North Rhine, part of the largely Catholic Rhineland, and the predominantly Protestant Westphalia.

A close link between Britain and the North Rhine-Westphalia state has endured since, partially thanks to the continued military presence.

It was the first time that the Duke had met Mrs Merkel.

They shook hands on a red carpet to a band playing Let It Go from the film Frozen at the Tonhalle.

Earlier in the day, William met members of the British Forces Germany (BFG) who are stationed in the region.

He watched a BFG military parade with the region's minister, President Hannelore Kraft, who presented the federal state's highest honour - the Fahnenband - to the Brigade.

William revealed that he wished he had served in Germany to a member of the 20th Armoured Brigade.

He told Andy Thorne, deputy chief of staff at the HQ of the BFG who has been stationed in Germany for 10 years, that he "wished" he had been given the opportunity to be based in the country.

Thorne said the Duke commented "I never had the opportunity to serve in Germany" but was sorry not to have done so.

The Duke also posed for a photograph with a young boy who was trying to sneakily take a picture without his father seeing.

Ethan Wicks, 12, had been instructed by his father Captain Ian Wicks, who is based in Germany and was the parade commander, to keep his phone away.

But when the Duke spotted Ethan trying to be subtle, he asked "would you like a proper one?" and posed for a photo.
Jason Statham: How Olympic diving dream bellyflopped

Action movie star Jason Statham has revealed his failure to compete at the Olympic Games remains a "sore point".

The British actor represented England in diving at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, but finished outside the medal positions in three competitions.

Statham, 49, praised the increase in funding for diving after Team GB's success at Rio 2016, but he believed he may have chosen the wrong sport to compete in.

Jason Statham and fiancee Rosie Huntington-Whiteley at the premiere of Mechanic: Resurrection (Invision/AP)

Speaking at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Mechanic: Resurrection, he told the Press Association: "It's a bit of a sore point I never got to the Olympics.

"I just heard they got seven million or something for the diving per year. They deserve it. The divers we've got now are just terrific.

"I started too late. It probably wasn't my thing. I should have done a different sport."

Statham, who was joined on the red carpet by his supermodel fiancee Rosie Huntington-Whitely, said he got "fulfilment" from his leading roles in action films.

Starring opposite actress Jessica Alba, he plays assassin Arthur Bishop in Mechanic; Resurrection - a sequel to the 2011 remake of the Michael Winner film The Mechanic.

Statham said: "I think I'm more suited to action movies than courtroom dramas so I tend to stick to those.

"It's something I get a lot of fulfilment out of. I feel I'm better at those than I am at other stuff. I play to my strength I suppose."

Mechanic: Resurrection director Dennis Gansel said he believed Statham was "the best" action movie star working in Hollywood.

"I've been a fan of him since day one in Guy Ritchie movies," he said.

"He turned himself into this action star. I think he's the most diverse and interesting guy working in the industry today.

"If he wouldn't be an A-list star, he would be one of the best stuntman working out there."
Ryan Lochte sees sponsors walk away after Rio Olympics embarrassment

Three more high-profile sponsors have followed Speedo in cutting ties with United States swimmer Ryan Lochte following his Olympic controversy.

The 32-year-old, having won his 12th Olympic medal at the Rio Games, made news for the wrong reasons in Brazil after fabricating claims that he was the victim of an armed robbery at a petrol station, along with team-mates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen.

Bentz and Conger were removed from a plane on Rio's runway as they attempted to fly home, before being later allowed to leave Brazil, while Feigen was reported to have made a charitable donation of more than 8,000 to have a charge of falsely reporting a crime dropped, and to get his passport back.

Ryan Lochte has won 12 Olympic medals

All four are subject to an International Olympic Commission investigation into their conduct and, after swimsuit company Speedo withdrew their sponsorship of Lochte, clothing chain Ralph Lauren, skin-care firm Syneron-Candela and Japanese mattress maker Airweave followed suit.

"Ralph Lauren continues to proudly sponsor the US Olympic and Paralympic Team and the values that its athletes embody," a statement from the company read. "Ralph Lauren's endorsement agreement with Ryan Lochte was specifically in support of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the company will not be renewing his contract."

A Syneron-Candela statement said: " Syneron-Candela will be ending its partnership with Ryan Lochte. We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners. We wish Ryan well on his future endeavours and thank him for the time he spent supporting our brand."

Airweave tweeted: "After careful consideration, we have made the decision to end our partnership with Ryan Lochte. We remain committed to supporting Team USA and the athletes preparing for the Paralympic Games."

Speedo were the first company to end a relationship with Lochte, announcing the decision in a statement on Monday.

It read: "Speedo USA today announces the decision to end its sponsorship of Ryan Lochte.

"As part of this decision, Speedo USA will donate a 50,000 US dollars (37,900) portion of Lochte's fee to Save The Children, a global charity partner of Speedo USA's parent company, for children in Brazil.

"While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behaviour that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for.

"We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience."

Lochte responded by issuing a statement through his public relations firm, saying: ''I respect Speedo's decision and am grateful for the opportunities that our partnership has afforded me over the years."

Lochte was part of the USA's gold medal-winning 4x200 metres freestyle relay team for the fourth Olympics in succession, adding to further golds in the 400m individual medley at London 2012 and the 200m backstroke at Beijing 2008.
Brexit 'to cost Scottish economy 11.2bn a year'

Brexit is projected to cost the Scottish economy up to 11.2 billion each year, according to the Scottish Government.

Leaving the European Union will also hit tax revenues by up to 3.7 billion annually, its analysis found.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the figures are further evidence of the need to protect Scotland's relationship with the EU.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the figures show the importance of Scotland's relationship with the EU

The Government analysis paper suggests that by 2030, Scottish GDP is projected to be between 1.7 billion and 11.2 billion per year lower than it would have been if Brexit did not occur.

Tax revenue is projected to be between 1.7 billion and 3.7 billion lower.

The paper is the first in a series that the Government plans to publish looking at the potential impact on Scotland of the UK leaving the EU.

Ms Sturgeon said: "This paper shows, in the starkest possible terms, the potentially huge cost to Scotland of being taken out of the European Union and the single market.

"This analysis - based on a wide range of sources - demonstrates that leaving the EU, under any potential alternative arrangement, will have a profound and long-lasting impact on the public finances and the wider economic and societal well-being of both Scotland and the UK as a whole.

"That stark picture outlined today means that, whatever the model of relationship with the EU which is chosen by the UK Government in their negotiations before and after Article 50 is triggered, it will not be as economically beneficial as full EU membership.

"The only way to protect Scotland's economy - and the clear benefits which come from being part of the world's biggest single market - is to work to ensure we protect our relationship with the EU.

"My Government is absolutely committed to pursuing every possible avenue and option to do that."

The First Minister, who has warned the result of June's EU referendum makes another vote on Scottish independence ''highly likely'', has already held talks with the Prime Minister, EU institutions and individual member states.

She has also set up her own expert group to advise on protecting Scotland's relationship with Europe, and has set out five key interests she will try to protect during any negotiations.

These include ''the need to make sure Scotland's voice is heard and our wishes respected'', free movement of labour, access to the single market and a say in its rules.

Leaving the EU could p otentially increase the cost of exporting to European markets, reduce the UK's attractiveness to overseas investors and impose new restrictions on labour, increasing skills shortages and reducing productivity, the Scottish Government states.

The scale of such impacts on Scotland will depend on the UK's Brexit deal with the EU, and whether Scotland succeeds in securing its own distinct relationship with the bloc.

Options for the UK include securing European Economic Area (EEA) membership in which it would retain access to the single market, negotiating its own Free Trade Agreement with the EU such as Switzerland has done, or reverting to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

The UK Government and the EU member states have yet to set out their preferred models.

The Scottish Government's paper draws on analysis of the different options by the Treasury and a range of organisations such as the Centre for Economic Performance and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research to calculate the potential long-term impact on Scotland.

It found EEA membership was likely to have the smallest impact on the economy and public finances, while WTO trading rules would likely have the largest impact.

Alastair Cameron, director of pro-union organisation Scotland in Union, said the Scottish Government is using the figures to deflect from its own economic data due to be published this week.

He said the economic hit caused by Brexit would be outweighed by the damage caused if Scotland were to leave the UK.

"By rushing out these speculative and selective Brexit figures in a cynical attempt to muddy the waters ahead of the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report, Nicola Sturgeon has all but admitted she has no answers to the economic questions about independence," he said.
Soldier dies during live-firing exercise

A soldier has died while taking part in a night live-firing exercise, the Armed Forces Minister has said.

Mike Penning said the incident happened at the Otterburn Training Area in Northumberland

The soldier was from the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and police and the Ministry of Defence are investigating.

The road leading to the entrance of the Otterburn Training Camp in Northumberland

Mr Penning said: "My thoughts are with the soldier's family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.

"The safety of our personnel is our absolute priority and, while deaths in training don't happen often, any death is a tragedy.

"As well as a police investigation, MoD accident investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident."

The MoD said the soldier who died was male and he was shot during a training exercise on Monday night.

A spokesman said the Defence Safety Authority is investigating, but added that there were no details on whether any other personnel were involved.

The accident happened on a firing range at the training area, and Northumbria Police said the soldier died after suffering a "serious head wound".

A spokesman said: "At around 11.15pm last night police received a report that a soldier had been shot on the military ranges in Otterburn during a live-firing exercise.

"Emergency services attended and found the male soldier had received a serious head wound. Sadly he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

"Police will be working with the Ministry of Defence to establish the exact circumstances of the incident and a cordon is currently in place. Military officials have informed the soldier's next of kin."

The MoD has not yet released the soldier's identity.

The death comes little more than a month after another soldier died while on a training exercise in Brecon, Wales, on the hottest day of the year.

Joshua Hoole, from Ecclefechan near Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, died on July 19 while on a pre-course training for the Platoon Sergeants' Battle Course, taken by infantry soldiers who want to progress to the rank of sergeant.

The 26-year-old, who was based at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, North Yorkshire and was a member of The Rifles regiment, collapsed after taking part in a fitness test near the Dering Lines infantry training centre at about 6.30am, when temperatures later peaked at just above 30C (86F).

Cpl Hoole's death came just three months after the Defence Select Committee published a report calling for the MoD to become liable for prosecution for the deaths of armed forces personnel.

The report found that since the start of 2000, 134 military personnel had died while taking part in training exercises - 89 from the Army, 22 from the RAF, 15 were Royal Marines and eight were from the Royal Navy.

Three other soldiers died while taking part in an SAS training exercise in the Brecon Beacons on one of the hottest days of 2013.

Those deaths - of Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, Corporal Edward Maher and Corporal James Dunsby - led to the Health and Safety Executive to issue a so-called Crown Censure on the MoD, saying but for Crown immunity it would have faced prosecution for the failings that were identified.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "This is a tragic incident and my deepest condolences go to the family, friends and colleagues of the soldier who has died.
Owen Smith puts economy at centre of his pitch for Labour leadership

Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith has vowed to address the country's economic problems if he beats Jeremy Corbyn in next month's election, telling voters: "What you won't get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party."

In an apparent escalation in the war of words between the Pontypridd MP and Mr Corbyn, Mr Smith ferociously lambasted his rival for suggesting they only needed to win back "some" Conservative voters.

He touted himself as the man to provide a "coherent narrative" that would actively try and win over millions of people who voted for the Tories in last year's general election.

Owen Smith is challenging Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership

Speaking to party members in Hammersmith, Mr Smith also attempted to shore up his credentials as a radical candidate, quipping that "Jeremy is not the only socialist in the village".

He told the audience: "Jeremy, the biggest thing he said recently that I disagreed with was 'yes, we've got to get some of the people who contemplated voting Tory in the past to vote Labour', rubbish - we've got to get two million people who actively voted Tory 12 months ago to vote Labour in 106 seats.

"What you won't get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party.

"You will have someone who is trying to forge a coherent narrative about what is wrong with Britain, why we are so unproductive as an economy, why we are not creating more decent jobs.

"It's not right that people are having to hold down two or three jobs to make ends meet - and that's true in Tory areas and Labour and I would fix all of that and make it work."

Mr Smith currently trails the left-wing leader substantially in the polls, with the winner of the leadership contest expected to be announced on September 24.

Ballot papers are starting to get sent out to an estimated 640,000 members and supporters, who will be asked to choose between the pair.

The party has been dogged by talks of a split in the event of Mr Corbyn, who has lost the support of the vast majority of his parliamentary peers, winning again.

A stark warning was issued by his challenger that division could leave the party in the wilderness for "generations".

He said: "If we disappear, either through the general election, or through splitting, either side of that general election, then we will be lost for generations."

He added: "This generation has the biggest choice we've had, in my view, in 20 years, we have a choice if we are going to look into our navels or look up at the skyline - and we should be doing the latter, on behalf of the British people."

Mr Smith reaffirmed his opposition to beginning the formal procedure of taking Britain out of the EU, even if it meant ostracising the 17 million people who voted for Brexit.

In a move bound to infuriate those who voted leave in last month's referendum, he said that if Labour just won the support of the 48% of people who voted remain, it would still be enough to win a general election and not activate Article 50.

He said: "48% of the people didn't vote to leave (the EU), now if we can secure 48% for a general election, we will be laughing.

"There is a both a rationale for doing it because it's right for working people in this country, there is also an electoral advantage to be won, to be on the right side of this argument.

"I think a lot of people will come to realise that we will be worse off as a result (of Brexit) and if we are up front in leading that charge then we will reap some of the benefits from it."

The former shadow work and pensions secretary, who was again forced to defend his history of working for a large pharmaceutical company during the meeting, later challenged the view that Mr Corbyn's supporters occupied a higher moral ground than his own.

He said: "I'm sick and tired of debate in this party right now that paints some people who support Jeremy as a sort of purest of the pure, principle filled and the rest of us who are saying 'we've got to win Jeremy, and we're worried we're at a lower ebb than we've been since 1982' are somehow sell-outs or people who are willing to trade our principles, compromise them for power - rubbish."
France's Hollande says world faces shame if nothing done for Aleppo

VENTOTENE, Italy, Aug 22 (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Monday the international community would be left ashamed if nothing was done to stop the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Syria's northern city of Aleppo.

An upsurge in fighting and air strikes in and around the city, split between government-held west and rebel-held eastern sectors, has prompted growing international concern, galvanised by pictures on Thursday of a dazed, bloodied child.

"We know there are conflicts that are unresolved and I'm thinking of what's happening in Syria with this crisis in Aleppo, this humanitarian catastrophe which one day will bring shame to the international community if we do nothing," Hollande told reporters alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
British contractor killed in mine-filled Iraqi city

BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - A British national hired to clear mines planted by Islamic State in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi was killed on Monday in a work-related incident, his U.S. employer said.

His death, the first of a Western de-mining expert in the city, highlights the challenge of making territory safe for civilians once it's recaptured from the militants, who have been pushed off of more than half the areas they seized in Iraq two years ago.

A statement from Janus Global Operations did not name the victim, whom it said was killed in an worksite "incident" that is now under investigation. Another Briton suffered minor injuries, it said.

The company is helping Iraqis remove explosive ordinance and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) left by Islamic State before U.S.-backed Iraqi forces retook the city, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, in December.

Hundreds of IEDs planted on Ramadi's streets and buildings have delayed the return of thousands of residents. A shortage of Iraqis trained in dismantling the explosives has slowed efforts to restore security. Several Iraqi technicians have previously been killed by snipers.

The United States, Norway and other countries in the international coalition battling Islamic State militants in Iraq and neighbouring Syria contracted with Janus earlier this year to help the cash-strapped Iraqi government rehabilitate Ramadi.

The British embassy in Baghdad said it was in contact with Janus about Monday's incident but offered no further details.
Afghans push India for more arms, despite Pakistan's wary eye

By Sanjeev Miglani

NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - India is set to deliver more arms to Afghanistan to help it fight Islamist militants, Kabul's envoy to New Delhi said, even if Pakistan is wary of closer military cooperation between countries lying to its east and west.

India has provided a little over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan in the last 15 years, but has been more measured in providing weapons in order to avoid a backlash from Pakistan, which sees Afghanistan as its area of influence.

Last December, after years of dragging its feet, New Delhi announced the supply of four attack helicopters in India's first transfer of lethal equipment to the government in Kabul since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was toppled.

Kabul immediately deployed three of the Russian Mi-25 attack helicopters to go after insurgents, and the fourth will be inducted in the next few weeks.

Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the Afghan ambassador to India, said regional security was deteriorating and Afghan national forces were in dire need of military supplies to tackle the Taliban, Islamic State and other militant groups.

"We are grateful for the four helicopters. But we need more, we need much more. Today we are heading into a situation that is worrisome for everyone in the region including India," he told Reuters in an interview.

On Aug. 29, the head of the Afghan army, General Qadam Shah Shahim, is expected in New Delhi to submit a list of military equipment drawn up in consultation with the U.S. military, Indian defence officials said.

It is not yet clear how much would be paid for and how much would be handed over for free.

The equipment includes more Mi-25s, smaller helicopters used for transporting troops and medical emergencies, and spares for existing Russian-origin aircraft in the Afghan air force fleet.

"The agenda for the army chief's visit is clear. We will be finalising the enhancement of defence ties," Abdali said. India, he added, had told the Afghans that it would do whatever it could to meet the security forces' requirements.

INDIAN LEADER RANKLES PAKISTAN

The fact that much of the proposed equipment originates from Russia need not be a stumbling block to an agreement, the United States has said, despite Western sanctions against Moscow.

Russia and the United States share a common goal in stabilising Afghanistan, and India can act as a go-between to help re-equip Afghan forces which fall well short of the capacity required despite billions of dollars in U.S. spending.

The Afghan government lost control or influence of nearly 5 percent of its territory between January and May, the U.S. government's top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report, highlighting the challenges its forces are facing.

But the move to increase cooperation with Afghanistan is likely to aggravate fears in Pakistan of being wedged between two hostile neighbours.

Relations with both countries have cooled lately.

Afghanistan says Pakistan must do more to stop militants operating on its territory, while India has blamed Pakistan for unrest in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned up the dial a notch by making a rare reference to Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province in a recent speech.

Asked about the prospect of closer military ties between Afghanistan and India, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said the government did not comment on bilateral ties between two countries.

But he warned against attempts to destabilise Pakistan, which, like its arch-rival India, has a nuclear arsenal.

"Our expectation is that India should not be allowed to use Afghan soil to create instability in Pakistan."

According to an Indian defence ministry official, discussions with Kabul included the possibility of increasing the number of Afghan officers being trained in Indian military institutions each year from around 800 now.

U.S. SUPPORT

The United States, which has allocated more than $68 billion to train and equip the Afghan security forces since 2002, has welcomed greater Indian military assistance to fill shortfalls in hardware and personnel.

Earlier this month, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, held talks with Indian officials to find ways in which New Delhi could help the Afghan air force, which is struggling to maintain ageing Russian aircraft because of sanctions on Moscow.

Nicholson said donor nations had contributed $4.5 billion to Afghanistan, but those funds could not be used to buy Russian aircraft or spare parts because of the restrictions triggered by the conflict in Ukraine.

India is not constrained by such considerations and can export Russian-made equipment it already owns or source hardware and spares from Russia to send on to Afghanistan.

"Any additional aircraft or spare parts that India can provide Afghanistan would be greatly appreciated and welcomed by them to help build and maintain the Afghan Air Force," Nicholson said at the end of his trip.

A Russian diplomat said Moscow supported efforts to strengthen Afghan forces, even if it cannot directly equip it.
PM Lee's health scare exposes Singapore's leadership uncertainty

By Marius Zaharia

SINGAPORE, Aug 23 (Reuters) - One of Singapore's greatest strengths is its predictability: in a region where coups and economic meltdowns are not uncommon, it has long been a haven of stability for investors and businesses.

But when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong almost collapsed during a National Day speech on Sunday, it brought into focus concerns that have been simmering for months about the future of the wealthy city-state.

The economy has lost some of the zest it had under the open trade-oriented model created by founding father Lee Kuan Yew, whose death last year for many marked the end of an era. Doubts have also started to emerge about Singapore's position as one of the world's leading financial capitals.

Singapore is vulnerable to attacks by Islamist militants: just this month, two Singaporeans were detained before they could join Islamic State in Syria and Indonesian police foiled a plot to attack the island nation with a rocket.

And, now, Lee's stumble at the podium has exposed the apparent lack of a chosen successor, a remarkable state of affairs for a country where politics has been carefully managed since independence half a century ago under one powerful party.

Lee Kuan Yew's successor, Goh Chok Tong, was identified at least five years in advance. Lee Kuan Yew's son Lee Hsien Loong was groomed to become the next leader long before he took office in 2004.

"Singapore is indeed going through one of the toughest times with the economy faltering and the threat of terrorism," said Inderjit Singh, a former lawmaker for the People's Action Party (PAP), which has ruled without interruption since 1965.

"It is a concern that we are quite late in putting in place the fourth-generation leadership."

Few see Singapore heading into a crisis, however. In last year's election - held months after the death of patriarch Lee Kuan Yew - the PAP won almost 70 per cent of the popular vote and swept all but six of parliament's 89 seats.

It was not the ruling party's highest-ever vote. But it came as a huge relief after the 2011 polls in which the party scored its lowest vote since independence. The vote also belied growing resentment over a widening wealth gap, a high cost of living, and a flow of foreign workers who now account for nearly a quarter of the island's 5.7 million people.

SUCCESSION QUESTION

Doctors say that Lee, 64, has no serious health concerns.

Still, when he returned to the stage an hour after his turn, Lee said: "what just happened makes it even more important" to talk about succession.

Lee then mentioned Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who he said would soon resume his duties following a stroke earlier this year. Heng had been touted by local media as a potential successor, although doubts remain about his long-term health.

Gillian Koh, deputy director at the Singapore think-tank Institute of Policy Studies cited other candidates, including: Chan Chun Sing, a minister in the prime minister's office; Tan Chuan-Jin, a former army chief and now minister for social and family development; Ong Ye Kung, acting minister for education and senior minister of state for defence; and Lawrence Wong, the newly appointed second minister of finance.

Other analysts mention combinations of the same names. What qualifies them for this unofficial shortlist is their experience in key roles in finance, education or defence as well as a track record of community work - much like the prime minister himself.

Another potential successor is Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, some analysts said, though he has repeatedly denied interest in the job. Tharman is an ethnic Tamil and few believe that despite its multi-culturalism Singapore is ready for a prime minister who is not ethnic Chinese.

No matter who the next leader is, the recruiting and promotion system put in place by Lee Kuan Yew for the PAP will prevent radical shifts in policy, said Garry Rodan, director of the Asia Research Institute at Murdoch University.

"No maverick is going to come through this process. It's incredibly thorough and institutionalised," Rodan said. "There is less likelihood of any radical shift from any leader in the PAP compared with most other governments anywhere in the world."

Furthermore, the opposition is widely seen as too weak to dislodge the PAP in the foreseeable future.

UNCERTAINTY

Singapore's political stability is key to investors' trust in the country.

"A smooth succession and policy framework is particularly credit-relevant for our assessment of the country's susceptibility to event risk, given that Singapore's political stability has never been tested through a transition away from the ruling PAP," said Moody's analyst Anushka Shah.

With growing use of social media, Lee's government has come under more criticism than his father ever allowed, including from his younger sister, who has called his cabinet "authoritarian".

Some analysts say an economy growing at only 1-2 percent, well below the rates that turned a seedy colonial port into an island bristling with hundreds of glass-and-steel towers, could increase popular discontent with the ruling party.

But unease about the succession can be felt at street level.

"In terms of having a stable leadership, it is important for me," said 29-year-old marketing consultant Delon Wong. "There's no clear candidate ... right now and that worries me."
Indonesia steps up security in Bali after arrest of suspected militant

DENPASAR, Indonesia, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities have tightened security in Bali, a police official said late on Monday, after reports at the weekend of a suspected militant plot to attack the holiday island.

"In connection with information about a terror arrest and a planned action in Bali, we are increasing security at all points of entry into Bali," said provincial police chief Sugeng Priyanto.

"The focus of our attention is also the small ports that are spread around Bali," he said, adding that informal points of entry are also being monitored.

Anti-terror police said at the weekend they were investigating whether a suspected militant arrested in Sumatra last week was plotting an attack in Bali.

Police found a bomb and "high (impact) explosive materials" during a raid on the suspect's house.

"The suspect told us in a statement that they were planning an attack in Bali but there are no details or timeline," said national police spokesman Agus Rianto by phone.

A nightclub bombing on the resort island in 2002 carried out by homegrown militants killed 202 people, mostly Australians, and prompted a nationwide security crackdown.

Indonesia has seen a recent resurgence in radicalism, inspired in part by the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East.
Philippines police say not all 1,067 unexplained killings are drug-related

Aug 23 (Reuters) - The Philippines' national police chief said on Tuesday not all of the 1,067 unexplained killings being investigated during a crackdown on illegal drugs, which began seven weeks ago when President Rodrigo Duterte took power, were drug-related.

Police Director-General Ronaldo dela Rosa said some of those killings had been the result of personal grudges or robbery, although most of them were still being investigated and could be drug-related.

"Not all deaths under investigation are drug-related," dela Rosa told a Senate inquiry on the extra-judicial killings.
Pakistan forces seal MQM party headquarters after TV station attack

KARACHI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Pakistani paramilitary forces have sealed the headquarters of a powerful political party in the commercial hub of Karachi and detained five of its top leaders, after supporters of the party stormed the office of a television channel.

Supporters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) rushed to the office of ARY News on Monday shortly after their leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, had in a telephone address sharply criticised the Pakistani media for failing to report on his workers' recent hunger strikes.

Crowds of MQM workers then attacked the television office, firing shots and smashing the premises. They later clashed with police outside, leaving one person dead and several wounded.

"We have sealed the MQM headquarters, their media office and (their) hostel, some weapons have also been recovered," Khurram Shahzad, the sector commander for the regional paramilitary Rangers force told reporters on Tuesday.

MQM said five of its leaders had been taken into custody.

Hussain is known for his fiery addresses to his supporters in Karachi though a loudspeaker connected to a telephone in his London home.

His hold on parts of the sprawling and crime-ridden metropolis is so strong that he can bring entire areas to a standstill and disrupt life for millions in the city.

In a statement issued from London, Hussain asked for forgiveness from the army and Rangers chiefs.

"From the depth of heart, I beg pardon from the Pakistani establishment," he said. "I was under severe mental stress over extra-judicial arrests and precarious condition of my workers sitting at hunger striking camp."

Law enforcement agencies and its opponents accuse MQM of racketeering, abduction, torture and murder in its bid to maintain power.
Over 1,900 killed in "chilling" Philippines war on drugs

By Karen Lema and Manuel Mogato

MANILA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - More than 1,900 people, or about 36 per day, have been killed in a violent campaign against drugs in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte came to office seven weeks ago, the country's national police chief said on Tuesday.

Director-General Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate hearing there was no declared policy to kill drug users and pushers and that about 1,100 deaths were still being investigated.

"We are not butchers," he said.

The rest of the dead were people killed in police anti-narcotics operations, dela Rosa said.

"This has a chilling effect," said Senator Frank Drilon after the police chief's deposition. "We are all concerned about the number of deaths, by any language this is alarming."

Duterte, nicknamed "the Punisher", was voted to power promising to wipe out drugs and warning traffickers they risked death if they did not mend their ways.

The inquiry is being conducted by a staunch critic of the president, Senator Leila de Lima, who has summoned top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the "unprecedented" rise in the body count and reports of vigilante killings.

Duterte has warned legislators not to interfere with his campaign, saying they could be killed if they blocked efforts aimed at improving the country.

Nearly 700,000 drug users and drug peddlers have turned themselves in to escape the crackdown, police chief dela Rosa said. He said there was a decrease in overall crime, although murders and homicides had increased.

Outside the senate building, dozens of supporters cheered dela Rosa for leading the war against drugs, chanting his nickname, "Bato, Bato".

Some carried placards reading: "We are with you Bato in the fight against drugs".

The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said overnight it was "deeply concerned" by the reports of the killings and the State Department urged Duterte's government to abide by human rights norms.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the United States and European Union members "should make it clear to Duterte that inciting such violence is unacceptable and will reap potentially severe diplomatic and economic costs".

"Otherwise, it's hard to envision when these killings will end," it said.

POLICE INVOLVED

The number of those killed provided by dela Rosa at the Senate hearing was higher than the 1,800 he gave at the hearing on Monday. He gave no explanation for the higher number but said the figures were updated.

Dela Rosa said about 750 of the dead were killed in police operations against drug peddlers. The other deaths were being investigated, he said.

"Not all deaths under investigation are drug-related," dela Rosa said, adding that 40 killings were known to be due to enmity or robbery.

He also said about 300 of his officers were suspected to be involved in the drugs trade, warning these personnel will be sacked and charged in court if found guilty.
Romania - Factors to watch on August 23

Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Tuesday.

DEBT TENDER

Romania sold a planned 500 million lei ($126.75 million) worth of Feb. 2020 treasury bonds on Monday, with the average accepted yield at 1.81 percent, central bank data showed.

Debt managers last issued the bond in July at an average yield of 2.00 percent.

REFINERY

Four people were injured in a fire and blast at Romania's Black Sea Petromidia crude refinery, deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat said on Monday.

EU CROP MONITOR

The European Union's crop monitoring service significantly cut its forecast on Monday for average maize and soft wheat yields in this year's EU harvest after adverse weather.

CEE MARKETS

The Polish zloty eased in early trade on Monday on concerns over a possible budget deficit overshoot, before regaining some ground helped by a rebound of Europe's main equities indices.

For the long-term Romanian diary, click on

For emerging markets economic events, click on

For an index of all diaries, click on
Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Health official warns Zika could spread across U.S. Gulf

One of the top U.S. public health officials on Sunday warned that the mosquito-borne Zika virus could extend its reach across the U.S. Gulf Coast after officials last week confirmed it as active in the popular tourist destination of Miami Beach. The possibility of transmission in Gulf States such as Louisiana and Texas will likely fuel concerns that the virus, which has been shown to cause the severe birth defect known as microcephaly, could spread across the continental United States, even though officials have played down such an outcome.

U.S. lawmakers press Mylan on EpiPen price increases

Two senior lawmakers on the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee on Monday pushed for information regarding sharp price increases for EpiPens, drug-filled injectable devices used by people to counter potentially deadly allergic reactions. Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote Mylan Chief Executive Heather Bresch on Monday to ask how Mylan determined the price of EpiPens and what changes had been made to the product to account for the higher price.

Social class may influence multiple myeloma survival

Household income and education levels may play a bigger role than race or ethnicity in whether patients survive the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma, a U.S. study suggests. Lots of previous research points to worse cancer survival odds for people of color. But this disparity might be due in large part to class issues like the type of insurance and access to care, the current study concludes.

Women with dense breasts may need annual mammograms

While most older women might not need breast cancer screening with mammography more often than every three years, some women with dense breasts may need mammograms every year, U.S. research suggests. Among women aged 50 to 74, those without a high risk for breast cancer or dense breast tissue didn't have an increase in breast cancer deaths if they went for mammography every three years instead of every two years.

After a fracture, patients often continue meds that boost fracture risk

Older people who break a bone are often receiving medications that can increase the risk of a fracture - and even after an accident, less than 10 percent of them stop taking those drugs, according to a new study. "One would expect that a significant health event like a fracture would result in some change in the use of prescription drugs that might have contributed to that event," said lead author Dr. Jeffrey C. Munson of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Lebanon, New Hampshire. "In contrast to this expectation, we observed that for the overwhelming majority of patients we studied, a fragility fracture did not lead to any change in medications that have been linked to fracture risk."

Eat your food packaging, don't bin it - scientists

Scientists are developing an edible form of packaging which they hope will preserve food more effectively and more sustainably than plastic film, helping to cut both food and plastic waste. The packaging film is made of a milk protein called casein, scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Pfizer boosts cancer drug roster with $14 billion Medivation deal
Head of Poland's PZU going to Milan for talks on buying Pekao from UniCredit, sources say

By Marcin Goclowski and Pamela Barbaglia

WARSAW, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Poland's biggest insurer, PZU, is flying to Milan for talks on buying Poland's second-largest bank, Bank Pekao SA, from its owner, the Italian bank UniCredit.

Two sources said on Monday that PZU's chief executive, Michal Krupinski, would go to Milan this week to discuss a possible deal.

The negotiations are part of the government's larger agenda of taking back control of the country's banking sector, which is 58 percent owned by foreign investors.

"You can say that he's going," one source close to the matter said. Another source confirmed the trip.

Another source close to the transaction said that UniCredit has already decided that a 40.1 percent stake in Pekao is up for sale. But its advisors are telling Italy's largest bank it ought to sell part of its stake on the open market, the source said, before making a deal with a strategic investor.

A different source familiar with the deal said that PZU, a state-run insurer, would be the main buyer of Pekao, as it has up to 7 billion zlotys ($1.84 billion) of cash on hand. But that is not enough to buy 40.1 percent of Pekao, a stake worth $3.5 billion.

Selling part of the stake on the market would make a deal less expensive for Poland. And a Polish buyer would still get effective control of Pekao with, say, 30 percent ownership.

"The PZU-Pekao transaction is possible, but it has to be sorted out. Such a deal could be done along with secondary public offering of some of Pekao shares. Also, the state fund PFR may be involved," the same source said.

UniCredit said last month it had raised 749 million euros by selling a 10 percent stake in Pekao. It had previously owned a controlling 50.1 percent.

UniCredit is looking for fresh capital, because it faces a capital shortfall estimated at 7 billion to 8 billion euros ($7.92-9.05 billion).

Poland's ruling party, the Law and Justice (PiS), pledged that it would increase state's control over economy in its successful election campaign last year.

"One buys banks to gain more control over the economy, not for profits," a Warsaw-based analyst said. "The deputy prime minister prepared a development plan and wanted to encourage banks to take part in infrastructure projects, but they hesitate. If banks are state-run again, they will not hesitate."

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said the government would look with interest at a potential sale of Pekao, and PZU's Krupinski said the group would consider taking over both Pekao and Polbank, the Polish unit of Austria's Raiffeisen .

Buying back Raiffeisen Polbank and Pekao would give PiS control of 54 percent of the banking sector, according to Kamil Stolarski, an analyst with Haitong.

PZU, PFR and UniCredit declined to comment.
Gas leaks from Bangladesh fertilizer plant, 50 people ill

DHAKA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - About 50 people fell ill in Bangladesh after inhaling gas that leaked from a fertilizer factory in the port town of Chittagong, an official said on Tuesday.

Police and the fire brigade were trying to contain the spread of ammonia that began on Monday night, said Mesbah Uddin, the district's deputy commissioner.

The state-owned factory producing diammonium phosphate fertilizer is on the bank of the Karnaphuli river, across the water from Chittagong, but wind has pushed the gas towards the city.

The gas had leaked from a pipeline, Uddin said. Residents in the affected area have been told to stay indoors.
Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on Aug 23

PRAGUE, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA========================== Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/2E/events-overview ==========================NEWS================================== CEE MARKETS: The Polish zloty eased in early trade on Monday on concerns over a possible budget deficit overshoot, before regaining some ground helped by a rebound of Europe's main equities indices. Story: Related stories: ========================PRESS DIGEST============================ PRIME MINISTER INTERVIEW: The four countries of the Visegrad group will open two priority topics at the September EU summit in Slovak capital Bratislava - strengthening security, including the struggle against terrorism and tackling migration, and faster convergence and economic growth, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said. Sobotka also said his country did not want a "strong" muslim community, however he said it was important to distinguish between peaceful muslims and islamic terrorists.0 Pravo, page 1 (Reuters has not verified the stories, nor does it vouch for their accuracy.) For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
In Iraq, Nigeria and now Turkey, child bombers strike

By Patrick Markey

ISTANBUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The boy looked scared and younger than 16 when Iraqi police grabbed him on the street in the northern city of Kirkuk. Pulling off his shirt, they found a two-kilogram bomb strapped to his skinny frame.

That was last Sunday. Less than a day earlier, Turkey was less fortunate: a teenage bomber detonated his suicide vest among dancing guests at a Turkish wedding party, officials say, killing 51 people, nearly half of them children themselves.

Saturday's attack at the wedding in Gaziantep marked not only Turkey's deadliest this year, but also the first time in Turkey that militants may have deployed a child bomber in a way already used to deadly effect in wars from Africa to Syria.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban has long used children. One 14-year-old bomber on a bicycle hit the Kabul NATO base in 2012 killing six people; two years later a teenager blew himself up at French cultural centre in the Afghan capital.

Researchers and officials say Islamic State and other militants are now increasingly using the same tactics, perhaps to build ranks depleted by losses, preserve adult fighters or simply catch security forces off guard.

In West Africa, Boko Haram has preyed on displaced children or young girls it kidnapped to force them to become bombers. In Iraq and Syria, activists say Islamic State took in children from towns it captures or recruited families to its territory, and indoctrinated their children in its schools and camps.

Islamic State in particular, highlights its child recruits for its "Cubs of the Caliphate" brigades, publishing images and videos on social media of children receiving training and indoctrination, and carrying out bombings or executions.

"Child recruitment across the region is increasing," said Juliette Touma, a UNICEF regional spokesperson. "Children are taking a much more active role ..., receiving training on the use of heavy weapons, manning checkpoints on the front lines, being used as snipers and in extreme cases being used as suicide bombers."

Little has been publicly released about the attacker in the Gaziantep bombing. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that the bomber was between 12 to 14 years old, and said Islamic State was probably responsible.

The blast tore into celebrations at a Kurdish wedding on the street late at night. As many as 22 of the dead were under the age of 14. No one claimed the attack, but Islamic State in the past has targeted Kurdish gatherings to stir ethnic tensions.

Turkey's prime minister was more cautious on Monday, saying it was too early to say who carried out the attack, though security sources say witnesses reported the bomber was a child.

Turkish authorities are also investigating whether militants may have placed the explosives on the suspect, without his or her knowledge before detonating them long distance.

That tactic has been used before in Iraq, where children or even mentally disadvantaged adults have been dispatched as unwitting bomb couriers into markets and checkpoints before they are blown up from afar.

TEENAGE RECRUITS

In the failed attack in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk a day later, local television images and photographs showed the boy crying and screaming as he was grabbed by Iraqi security forces near an interior ministry building.

Security officials said the boy is 16 years old, though local media reports said he was much younger. He is an Iraqi national from Mosul, the largest urban centre still under militant control, which Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by U.S. air strikes are moving to liberate.

Hisham al-Hashimi, an analyst and author who advises the Iraqi government on Islamic State, says militants this year had reactivated their Heaven's Youth Brigade, in reaction to the group's battlefield losses in Iraq and Syria.

"Teenagers are easier to recruit for suicide missions, especially in moments of suffering or despair having lost loved ones," he said. "They also attract less attention and less suspicion than male adults."

Child recruits who have escaped from Islamic State ranks in its base in Syria's Raqaa have described how they were taught to handle weapons, and also how to detonate suicide belts.

A study in February for Combating Terrorism Center at West Point military academy that examined Islamic State propaganda on child and youth 'martyrs' between January 2015 and 2016, found three times as many suicide operations involving children over the year.

"They represent an effective form of psychological warfare-to project strength, pierce defenses, and strike fear into enemy soldiers' hearts," the study said. "Islamic State is mobilizing children and youth at an alarming rate."

Those tactics are mirrored in West Africa where U.N. officials have tracked a rise in attacks like the one carried out by a girl as young as ten who last year exploded a bomb in a busy market place in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing 16 people.

Security sources at the time said the explosive device was wrapped around her body.

In an April report, UNICEF said attacks involving child suicide bombers between 2014 and this year rose four-fold in northeastern Nigeria, where militant group Boko Haram is based, and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

A 12-year-old Nigerian girl captured with explosives in Cameroon in March told police she had been abducted by Boko Haram after the group overran her village a year earlier.

According to the UNICEF report, nearly two thirds of all the child attackers they tracked were girls. In the first six months of this year alone, UNICEF says it has also noted 38 child suicide bombers in West Africa.
Slovakia - Factors To Watch on Aug 23

BRATISLAVA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/1C/events-overview =====================EVENTS===================================== BRATISLAVA: Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg to discuss current political issues. Related stories: =====================NEWS===================================== RATING: Fitch Ratings has affirmed natural gas distriburing company SPP - distribucia, a.s.'s (SPPD) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A-' and senior unsecured rating at 'A'. The Outlook on the IDR is Stable. Story: Related stories: ===================PRESS DIGEST=============================== AUTOMOTIVE: Volkswagen had partially suspended operations at its plant making spare parts in a northern Slovak town Martin over the firm's contract dispute with two of its auto parts suppliers. Hospodarske Noviny, page 1 (Reuters has not verified the stories, nor does it vouch for their accuracy.) For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jan Lopatka on +420 224 190 474 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
Philippine court temporarily stops burial of Marcos in heroes' cemetery

MANILA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The Philippine Supreme Court ordered the government on Tuesday to put on hold a divisive plan to bury former dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a heroes' cemetery, a court spokesman said.

A plan supported by President Rodrigo Duterte to bury the former president in the cemetery has been criticised by human rights groups and many politicians, including Vice President Leni Robredo and senators allied with former President Benigno Aquino.

The 15-member high bench of the court, responding to a petition filed last week by opponents of the plan, told the government not to do anything on the issue for 20 days, Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters.

Te did not elaborate on why the court had isued the order but said it had called for arguments from both sides to help the judges decide on the issue before the planned burial on Sept. 18.

As a dictator in the 1970s and '80s, Marcos, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $10 billion in ill-gotten wealth and thousands of suspected communist rebels and political foes were killed. His wife, Imelda, denies amassing wealth illegally.

In 1986, he was ousted in a "people power" revolt and fled to Hawaii where he died three years later. His remains were returned in the early 1990s and have been kept in a family mausoleum in his hometown in the north.

Newly elected president Duterte has said Marcos, as a former leader and a soldier, should be buried at the cemetery. Marcos was a guerrilla leader during World War Two when the former U.S. colony was occupied by Japanese forces.
Nigerian air force says kills top Boko Haram militants, leader believed wounded

ABUJA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants and believed it had fatally wounded the group's leader in a raid on the Islamists' northeast heartland.

Government planes attacked the fighters in the village of Taye inside the Sambisa forest in Borno State on Friday, the air force said, adding it had only just confirmed details of the raid.

"Their leader, so called 'Abubakar Shekau', is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders," the statement released on Tuesday from army spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman added.
As Kerry visits Nigeria, air force says top Boko Haram fighters killed

By Lesley Wroughton

SOKOTO, Nigeria, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's air force said it had killed a number of senior Boko Haram fighters and possibly their overall leader, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged to consider ways to ramp up military assistance to Nigeria to defeat the militant group.

Government planes attacked the Islamist group inside the Sambisa forest in its northeast heartland on Friday, the air force said, adding that it had only just confirmed details of the impact of the raid.

"Their leader, so called 'Abubakar Shekau', is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders," the statement by military spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman added, without going into details on the source of its information.

The Obama administration has paid close attention to the fight against the militant group which has declared allegiance to Islamic State and destabilised a whole region by attacking Nigeria's neighbours.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not address the reported air raid on the militants and Kerry did not raise it in their meeting in Abuja, a senior State Department official said. "It didn't come up," the official said in an interview, "I don't think (Buhari) has enough information and we didn't have enough information to raise it."

On his first stop in the remote northern city of Sokoto, the top U.S. diplomat said the struggle against Boko Haram would succeed only if it tackled the reasons why people join militant groups and gained the public's trust.

"It is understandable that, in the wake of terrorist activity, some are tempted to crack down on anyone and everyone who could theoretically pose some sort of threat. But extremism can't be defeated through repression or fear," he said.

U.S. PLANES

Nigeria has been pushing the United States to sell it aircraft to take on Boko Haram - a group that emerged in northeast Borno region seven years ago. The militants have killed an estimated 15,000 people in their fight to set up an Islamist state.

Under Nigeria's last president, Goodluck Jonathan, the United States had blocked arms sales and ended training of Nigerian troops partly over human rights concerns such as treatment of captured insurgents.

But the new administration argues its human rights record has improved significantly enough to lift the blockade.

The senior State Department official said there was now a recognition by the Nigerian military of the need to pay attention to human rights. "While they are not perfect, they are conscious" of the issue, the official added.

In May, U.S. officials told Reuters that Washington wanted to sell up to 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Nigeria in recognition of Buhari's reform of the country's army. Congress needs to approve the deal.

Kerry said Buhari had made "a strong start at all levels of government" since taking office in May 2015, without referring specifically to rights abuses.

In the meeting with Buhari at the sprawling presidential villa, Kerry promised to look at ways to ramp up military cooperation with Nigeria to "bring this fight to a close," the State Department official said, adding that the militant group no longer held any territory in the north.

Kerry "made very, very strong commitments to the (Nigerian) government that we are going to look at what we can do differently," the official said, adding that the package for the aircraft was still being considered and needed congressional approval.

"We are working with (Nigeria) to make sure they can afford it, and they know how to use" the aircraft, the official added.

There was no immediate reaction from Boko Haram, which communicates with the media only by videos. The military has reported the death of Boko Haram's Shekau in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements.
Euro zone yields creep up after resilient German, French data

By Abhinav Ramnarayan

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Germany's benchmark 10-year bond yield nudged off a one-week low on Tuesday after strong data from the euro zone's two biggest economies pointed to resilience in the face of the UK's shock vote to leave the European Union.

German private sector growth slowed in August, but remained robust overall, a purchasing managers' index showed, suggesting Europe's biggest economy is set to keep on expanding in the summer months after it grew more than expected in the second quarter.

France's private sector grew at its fastest pace in 10 months.

The eurozone figures are closely watched for evidence of the Brexit impact on the UK's largest trading partner, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"While it's too early to get this from the hard data, releases like the PMIs are a good source of early insight into how the region will respond," he said.

The yield on Germany's 10-year bond was up marginally at minus 0.08 percent, off a one-week low touched in early trade. France's 10-year bond also edged higher to a yield of 0.15 percent, according to Tradeweb.

"It seems be a technical market - we haven't seen much supply of late and investors have cash to put to work and are picking up some bonds," said David Schnautz, an analyst at Commerzbank.

"We could be back to normal next week when supply comes back properly," he said.

Germany on Wednesday plans to sell 4 billion euros of five-year debt, a tap of its zero percent October 2021 notes. Analysts believe Finland may return to the market with a new bond via syndication either this week or the next.

The issuer has in the past said it will look at a five-year maturity, but analysts pointed out that a longer tenor has not been excluded.

"If anything, we could imagine that agency moving out towards the seven-year tenor, given that five-year rates trade below the deposit facility rate threshold for ECB purchases," strategists at ING said in a note.

Finland's five-year bonds were yielding minus 0.46 percent on Tuesday morning.

Trading in euro zone bonds is likely to remain cagey ahead of a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week.

U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak on Friday and is largely expected to signal that the central bank is preparing to hike rates once again.

"Yellen's speech on Friday remains the headline event this week and I think we could continue to see an element of caution in the markets in the lead up to this," said Erlam.

U.S. 10-year yields briefly hit a two-week high of 1.60 percent earlier on Monday before tracking back to 1.55 percent by Tuesday morning.
Hong Kong shares barely move as investors await Fed policy clues

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares were roughly flat on Tuesday as investors awaited clues on U.S. monetary policies from the coming annual conference of the Federal Reserve.

The Hang Seng index was unchanged at 22,998.93, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.2 percent, to 9,586.99 points.

The Hong Kong market's upward momentum appears to have lost some steam over the past few sessions after the main indexes hit nine-month highs.

Investors are anxiously awaiting comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Friday at the central bank's annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Many investors still doubt the U.S. will lift rates anytime soon, so a hawkish tone from Yellen would challenge that assumption.

Almost all sectors in Hong Kong fell on Tuesday, with IT and industrial shares leading the decline.
0-Oil up on Iran talk; stockpile build cited by API surprises

By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday after Reuters reported Iran was sending positive signals that it may support joint OPEC action to prop up the market, before the market pared gains on trade data showing a surprise build in U.S. crude stocks.

Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, refused to join a previous attempt this year by the group and non-OPEC members led by Russia to stabilize production. But sources in OPEC and the oil industry told Reuters that Tehran appeared more willing to support such talks scheduled next month in Algeria.

"Iran is reaching its pre-sanctions production level soon and after that it can cooperate with the others," said a source familiar with Iranian thinking after a visit by Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino to Tehran as part of a tour to convince OPEC of a production freeze.

Brent crude settled up 80 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $49.96 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 69 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $48.10.

Tehran has been boosting its oil output since the lifting of Western sanctions in January. News of its potential support for a production freeze helped halt an abrupt slump in crude prices that began on Monday, after a 20-percent rally in the past two weeks.

Still, Brent and WTIpared gains in post-settlement trade after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.5 million barrels last week, a surprising build versus analyst expectations' for a draw of 500,000 barrels. The U.S. government will issue official inventory data on Wednesday.

Despite rebounding this year, oil still trades at less than half of mid-2014 levels, with the market still worried about a glut that spurred the biggest price rout in a generation.

The selloff has battered the economies of Venezuela, Iraq and Nigeria, which are more anxious to boost crude prices than major OPEC producers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are keen to protect market share.

Many analysts remain skeptical of the effort to freeze production. Goldman Sachs maintained a "weak" $45-$50 price forecast through the 2017 summer.

"The current price level of well over $40 does not provide non-OPEC producers with any kind of motivation to support oil prices by cutting or maintaining current production levels," said Tamas Varga, analyst at London-based energy broker PVM.
Kerry tells Nigeria fight against Islamists is not just a military one

SOKOTO, Nigeria, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's battle against Boko Haram will only succeed if it tackles the reasons why people join Islamist militant groups and if the government and its military gain people's trust, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday.

"We also know that beating Boko Haram on the battlefield is only the beginning of what we must do," Kerry said in a speech in the northern Nigerian city of Sokoto at the start of a visit to the West African nation.
In re-election bid, Ohio senator keeps safe distance from Trump

By Kim Palmer and Susan Cornwell

COLUMBUS, Ohio/WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Rob Portman is largely ignoring Donald Trump, which is hard to do in U.S. politics today, but the strategy seems to be working for the Republican senator in his re-election bid in Ohio.

As congressional Republicans across the country grapple with the Trump effect on their home-state campaigns, the mild-mannered Portman, 60, may be pointing the way forward in his race, the nation's most expensive Senate contest so far this year.

Last week in Columbus, the state capital, Portman made no mention of Trump in a campaign appearance, though the New York businessman is the Republican presidential nominee and Portman has endorsed him.

On Portman's web site, Trump is absent. Portman has hit the campaign trail in Ohio with a Republican who had White House ambitions, but it's the state's Governor John Kasich, not Trump.

Kasich lost his bid for the party's nomination to Trump. Since then, Kasich pointedly has not endorsed Trump, a property developer and television personality who has never held elected office and whose smash-mouth politics worries many Republicans who fear he may lose them votes in Senate and House of Representatives races.

Those concerns have been compounded by Trump falling behind his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in opinion polls.

Portman campaign manager Corey Bliss said his boss has never wavered in his support of Trump and there has been no conscious effort to de-couple Portman from the presidential nominee.

But a story on the Cleveland.com web site last week reported that Portman, a veteran Washington insider, has yet to appear at a single Trump campaign event, or even in the same photo, with him.

While effectively disconnecting himself from his party's nominee, Portman has led Democratic rival Ted Strickland by five to nine points in various polls since late July. Strickland is a 75-year-old ex-governor of the Midwestern swing state.

A Monmouth University Poll on Monday gave Portman a lead of 48 percent to 40 percent over Strickland, while Clinton had 43 percent of likely Ohio voters and Trump had 39 percent.

Portman does not view either presidential nominee as crucial to the Ohio election, Bliss said. "We are focused on our race and running for U.S. Senate," he said.

BIG DOLLAR RACE

With the Nov. 8 elections nearing rapidly, the Ohio race is the costliest U.S. Senate show-down in 2016. Candidates, parties and outside groups have spent $45 million, said the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog group.

Portman worked briefly for former President George H.W. Bush, then was elected to the House. He resigned to be U.S. trade representative in 2005-2006, then director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for President George W. Bush.

Strickland, a former Ohio governor, previously represented southeastern Ohio in Congress for 12 years. That region of the state could play a role in the Portman-Strickland fight, but Trump himself is a major factor.

Paul Beck, a political science professor emeritus at Ohio State University, said despite distancing himself from Trump, Portman could still be hurt if Republicans are so turned off by the presidential nominee that they decide not to vote at all.
North Korea lays new landmines near border truce village - report

SEOUL, Aug 23 (Reuters) - North Korea has laid landmines in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, the South's Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday, as tension rose on the divided peninsula after the start of annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

North Korea, which conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and a string of rocket tests since then, regards the joint exercises as akin to war and has threatened to launch a military strike in retaliation.

North Korea had laid the mines near the DMZ "truce village" of Panmunjom, which is controlled by both of the Koreas and the U.S. military.

"North Korean's military was seen laying several landmines last week on the North's side of the Bridge of No Return," Yonhap quoted an unidentified South Korean government source as saying.

The bridge crosses over a river along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) border, near the scene of a 1976 attack by ax-wielding North Korean soldiers in which two U.S. soldiers were killed.

Yonhap said the mines were laid on the North's side of the MDL border.

The DMZ is littered with mines planted over the years but neither side is meant to lay new ones. Last year, two South Korean soldiers were wounded by what the South said were mines laid by the North. The North expressed regret for the incident, without directly admitting to planting them.

South Korea's defence ministry declined to comment on the Yonhap report of new mines saying the area was under the control of the U.N. Command.

The U.N. Command, headed by the U.S. military, which jointly supervises security in Panmunjom with the North, expressed concern about activities by the North's military but did not confirm the report about mines.

"The presence of any device or munition on or near the bridge seriously jeopardizes the safety" of people near the border, the U.N. Command said in a statement.

It declined to speculate on the reason for recent unspecified activity by the North's military.

Yonhap cited the government source as saying the mines may have been laid to prevent North Korean soldiers from defecting to the South.

On Monday, the North's military said it was prepared to launch a retaliatory strike against the South and the United States in response to the annual drills called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, in which about 25,000 U.S. troops are participating.
Bulgaria charges four Afghans with people-smuggling

SOFIA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Bulgaria charged four Afghans with smuggling offences, prosecutors said on Tuesday, for trying to help 29 Syrians cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border through the Rezovska river on Sunday.

The four, who are not registered as refugees in the Balkan country, could face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 30,000 levs ($17,374.18), if convicted.

Bulgaria introduced tougher jail terms last year to deter refugee smugglers.

It has deployed more border police at its south-east border following an attempted coup in Turkey last month amid fears of a potential rush of migrants.
UK court says SABMiller shareholders can be split into two classes

By Martinne Geller

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - SABMiller shareholders can be treated as two separate groups when they vote on the brewer's 79 billion pound ($103 billion) takeover by Anheuser Busch InBev, a court in London ruled on Tuesday, granting a request from SAB aimed at making the vote as fair as possible.

The marriage of the world's largest beer makers was agreed last year with an offer of 44 pounds per share in cash for general shareholders and a discounted cash-and-stock offer aimed at the largest two - Altria Group and Bevco - to help them avoid large tax bills.

The agreement grew contentious this summer after a fall in the British currency increased the value of the cash-and-stock offer above that of the cash offer. AB InBev sweetened its offer in July after several shareholders, including activist hedge funds, pressured SABMiller to seek a new deal.

Both brewers' boards have recommended AB InBev's "final" offer, and SAB requested that Altria and Bevco -- which have already signalled their support -- be treated as a separate class.

Justice Richard Snowden said on Tuesday it was an understandable request since it lowered the risk of delays or challenges from dissenting shareholders who might have challenged the vote as unfair given that Altria and Bevco has agreed to a different offer arrangement.

With the judge's ruling, the deal will require 75 percent approval by SAB shareholders, excluding Altria and Bevco, which together control about 40 percent of the shares.

"I have jurisdiction to order a meeting of public shareholders to be summoned that does not include Altria and BevCo," Snowden told the court.

Altria and Bevco, a vehicle of Colombia's Santo Domingo family, will therefore give their support separately, SABMiller and AB InBev said.

Prominent investor Aberdeen Asset Management had voiced opposition to the revised offer, saying it still undervalued the brewer of beers including Castle Lager, which has a strong presence in fast-growing markets of Latin America and Africa.

SAB also said more details about the implementation of the deal were expected to be published along with transaction documents on Aug. 26.

There are planned meetings of shareholders of each company on Sept. 28. If approved, the deal is expected to close on Oct. 10.

The new entity will be almost wholly controlled by executives from AB InBev, maker of beers including Budweiser and Stella Artois.
Congo opposition strikes to call for Kabila to step down

KINSHASA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Opponents of Congolese President Joseph Kabila began a general strike on Tuesday to demand he steps down when his mandate expires in December.

Police fired teargas to disperse a few hundred protesters who had gathered at the headquarters of the largest opposition party in the Kinshasa district of Limete, a Reuters witness said.

In the city centre rush hour seemed lighter than usual, and in the surrounding suburbs, especially opposition strongholds such as Limete, many Congolese stayed at home and shops were boarded up. There were no reports so far of any impact in the mining sector, where foreign firms have big investments.

The government opened a round of talks on Tuesday on the timetable for elections that were due to be held in November but will be delayed because nothing is ready. The opposition is boycotting the talks, which it sees as a delaying tactic facilitated by a Kabila ally, Togolese diplomat Edem Kodjo.

"The government's provocations, its inconsistencies, are increasing as they seek to corrupt the facilitator to rig the outcome of the dialogue," opposition spokesman Bruno Tshibala said on Radio France International, whose FM station was off air locally, as it often is on opposition protest days.

"That's why we decided to launch this general strike."

A government spokesman dismissed the strike as the work of "some radicals ... having some old fashioned fun".

Kabila's opponents accuse him of dragging his feet on holding the election in order to cling to power in Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that has not seen a peaceful change of government since independence from Belgium in 1960.

He took power when his father was assassinated in 2001, then won his first election in 2006.

Western powers are leaning on Kabila to honour the constitution, which limits a president to two terms, and step down. They fear political tensions could reignite a regional war that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003.
New Zealand police strike deal with Chinese corruption suspect

WELLINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - New Zealand police said on Tuesday they had reached a deal with a Chinese-born businessman for him to pay a record NZ$42 million ($31.3 million) fine to settle legal action following an investigation with China into money laundering.

William Yan, a New Zealand citizen, is on China's most-wanted list of international fugitives, accused of embezzlement.

New Zealand courts seized his assets two years ago while police investigated whether they were the proceeds of money laundering in China.

The settlement announced on Tuesday means that Yan avoids any criminal or civil responsibility, New Zealand police said in a statement.

Detective Inspector Paul Hampton, manager of NZ Police's asset recovery and financial group crime, said the proceeds of the fine would be shared between the New Zealand and Chinese governments.

China's Foreign Ministry said Chinese and New Zealand police had worked closely on the case, but it did not say if China would seek Yan's extradition.

"Going forward, Chinese police will continue to work with New Zealand to advance relevant enforcement cooperation on the Yan case," the ministry said in an emailed statement.

The cooperation between the two countries comes as China seeks to drum up Western help in a campaign dubbed "Operation Fox Hunt" to track down corruption suspects who have fled overseas.

China has been pushing for extradition treaties with various countries but many Western nations have been reluctant to help, not wanting to send people to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of suspects is a concern.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has said an extradition treaty was "possible". Key has also said up to 60 Chinese corruption suspects were in New Zealand.
France, Germany press for EU encryption law after attacks

PARIS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - France and Germany said they want to compel operators of mobile messaging services to allow access to encrypted content to aid terrorism investigations, joining forces after a series of deadly attacks in both countries.

French intelligence services, on high alert since attackers killed scores of civilians in Paris in November and in Nice in July, are struggling to intercept messages from Islamist militants.

Many of the groups now favour encrypted messaging services over mainstream social media, with jihadist Islamic State a big user of such apps, investigators in several countries have said.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the European Commission should draft a law obliging operators to cooperate in judicial investigations into tracking down terrorists.

"If such legislation was adopted, this would allow us to impose obligations at the European level on non-cooperative operators," he told a joint conference with his German counterpart in Paris.

Cazeneuve singled out the app operated by Telegram, which he said did not cooperate with governments, adding that legislation should target both EU and non-EU companies. A spokesman for Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Telegram, founded by Russian Pavel Durov in 2013 and incorporated in several jurisdictions, promotes itself as ultra-secure because it encrypts all data from the start of transmission to the finish.

A number of other services, including Facebook Inc's WhatsApp, say they have similar capabilities.

Cazeneuve's initiative, which he hinted at earlier this month, has come under fire from privacy and digital experts, who warned against opening "backdoors" that would let governments read content.

"How could we then prevent terrorists from creating their own encrypted apps and as a consequence enjoy a higher level of security than users who have nothing to hide?" experts including the head of France's CNIL privacy watchdog wrote in a comment piece in Le Monde on Monday.

"Cracking down on encryption for the wider public would therefore give a monopoly on its usage to organisations that would abuse it."

France and Germany - where nerves are equally raw following a wave of attacks on civilians this summer, including two claimed by Islamic State - are also seeking closer links between the continent's databases of personal information.

That would cover data on visas, potential militant threats within the border-free Schengen area, refugees and airline passengers, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said.
Iraq asks foreign companies to raise oil output, exports

By Maher Chmaytelli

BAGHDAD, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Iraq on Tuesday asked foreign oil companies to increase oil output and exports, as Baghdad joined those spotlighting production potential ahead of a major energy gathering late next month.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi, who took up his post this month, met in Baghdad with oil companies operating in Iraq.

"The minister reaffirmed support for the operations of international companies in order to increase the production and export rates of crude oil and natural gas," ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said.

The meeting aims at "opening a new chapter in cooperation" with the foreign companies, he said.

Iraq is OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia and an increase in its output, alongside that of Iran, could aggravate the global oil glut and complicate discussions between OPEC and non-OPEC producers on output limits to prop up prices.

OPEC members will meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF), which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria from Sept. 26-28.

Luaibi on Monday renewed Iraq's demand to review contracts with the companies to cut the fees that they receive when crude prices fall.

The companies say those fees are already low given the investments and challenges required to raise output at ageing fields in the southern region.

Iraq produces about 4.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and this year started exporting liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas condensates. Total gas exports so far this year reached 12,000 metric tons for LPG and more than 100,000 cubic meters (3.5 million cubic feet) for condensates.

Iraq was in talks with foreign oil companies to link the fees they charge for developing their fields to oil prices and have them share the burden when markets go down, former oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told Reuters in January.

Iraq generates 95 percent of its public budget from oil sales. It has service agreements with companies including CNPC , BP, Shell, Eni, Exxon Mobil and Lukoil, which get paid for the extra barrels produced at fields awarded to them through a bidding process.

Current service agreements with oil companies are straining Iraq's budget as the government pays them a fixed fee for increasing production at ageing fields. Its own revenue dropped as oil prices have more than halved compared to 2014.
South Africa and ArcelorMittal forge steel pricing agreement

CAPE TOWN, Aug 23 (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal's South African business and the country's government have agreed a new pricing model aimed at bolstering the domestic steel sector and reviving the economy.

The company was fined a record 1.5 billion rand ($111 million) on Monday for setting prices at the level consumers would have to pay for imported steel, but Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies told parliament on Tuesday that it had agreed on a mechanism that would provide transparent pricing based on domestic prices in a number of other countries.

The government of Africa's most industrialised country formed a team six years ago to find ways to lower domestic steel prices after consumers complained that the European group's South African subsidiary was charging high prices.

"This has been the concern that we've had for a long time, that the price of domestically produced steel has been supplied in the market on the basis of what the import parity price would be," Davies said.

The local price for flat steel products will now be calculated through a formula using the weighted average of domestic prices in countries such as Germany, the United States and Japan, but excluding China and Russia, Davies said.

In future, when ArcelorMittal South Africa changes its flat steel prices, it will have to use a transparent mechanism based on the forecast basket prices of fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, as well as vehicle and other transport equipment, Davies added.

"The basket aims to provide a fair price during boom and bust periods," he said.

ArcelorMittal South Africa officials were not available to comment.

South Africa, which has the only primary steel mill in sub-Saharan Africa, imposed a 10 percent import tariff last year to protect an industry hurt by cheaper Chinese imports. ($1 = 13.4800 rand)
UN braces for refugee exodus from Iraq's Mosul

By Stephanie Nebehay and Stephen Kalin

GENEVA/BAGHDAD, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in and around Mosul could be uprooted by the military assault to retake the city from Islamic State, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.

"In Mosul we believe the displacement situation may be about to dramatically worsen," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a briefing in Geneva, saying the agency needed more land for camps.

"The humanitarian impact of the military offensive is expected to be enormous, up to 1.2 million people could be affected."

About 3.4 million people have already been forced by conflict to leave their homes across Iraq, taking refuge in areas controlled by the government or in the Kurdish autonomous region east of Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital.

With a population at one time as large as 2 million, Mosul is the largest city under the ultra-hardline militants' control in either Iraq or neighbouring Syria.

Iraqi and Kurdish forces are gradually closing in on the city 400 km (250 miles) north of Baghdad, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition.

Its fall would mark the effective defeat of Islamic State in Iraq, according to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

"Mosul will be liberated in 2016. We have a plan to liberate Nineveh," he told a news conference on Tuesday in Baghdad. Nineveh is the province where Mosul is located and is home to a number of religious and ethnic groups including Christians, Turkmen and Kurds, in addition to Sunni Muslim Arabs.

Abadi said the government was in contact with all sides to find a way to manage Mosul, which he said would be done in cooperation between the federal government, the Kurdistan government, local residents and security forces.

The Iraqi military is battling its way up the Tigris river and has about 60 km (40 miles) left to reach the outskirts of Mosul; Kurdish peshmerga forces are deployed 30 km east of the city.
Penguin promoted to brigadier at Edinburgh Zoo

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Standing in line for a special ceremony, uniformed soldiers of His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard are carefully inspected -- by a penguin.

Sir Nils Olav, a resident king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, was honoured with the title of brigadier on Monday during a parade in the Scottish park. The bird is the mascot of His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard and was made a knight in 2008.

Under cloudy skies, Sir Nils Olav slowly made his way down the zoo's Penguin Walk, ending his inspection with a cry and a scratch of his head. A zoo keeper then bestowed the honour on his wing.

The penguinial link between Edinburgh Zoo and Norway goes back to 1914 when a Norwegian family presented the zoo with king penguins.

In 1972, one of the zoo's king penguins was named Nils Olav after Norwegian Major Nils Egelien, who arranged his adoption, and Norway's then King Olav. Two others have shared the name since.
Saudi Arabia isn't flooding oil market ahead of freeze talks: Kemp

By John Kemp

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's oil production hit a record in July, according to published statistics, and is likely to hit another in August, according to industry sources.

Some analysts have interpreted the increases as an aggressive demonstration of the kingdom's ability to ramp up output ahead of an informal meeting of oil ministers in Algeria next month.

In this view, Saudi Arabia is increasing output as a warning to rivals that if there is no agreement on a production freeze it has the means to continue raising its output and intensify the pain for all oil exporters ("Saudi signals it may hit new output record ahead of freeze talks", Reuters, Aug. 17).

Saudi Arabia may have resorted to volume warfare in the past to encourage agreement on output and punish non-compliance ("OPEC and other commodity cartels", Alhajji and Huettner, 2000).

But a closer look at the kingdom's recent production, consumption and export statistics paints a more nuanced picture.

At least this time around, there is no evidence that Saudi Arabia is raising production to intensify the pressure on its rivals to reach a production freezing agreement.

SEASONAL EFFECTS

Saudi oil production typically increases during the summer months to meet extra direct consumption of crude in the kingdom's power plants.

In the past decade, Saudi oil production has been on average almost 400,000 barrels per day higher in July than January (http://tmsnrt.rs/2bz0A6P).

The production swing from January to July has been very variable, ranging from a reduction of 325,000 bpd to an increase of more than 1 million bpd.

But production has tended to increase seasonally by between 150,000 bpd and 650,000 bpd, according to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI).

In 2016, crude production increased by 440,000 bpd between January and July, which is squarely within the normal range.

Temperatures across the Arabian peninsula and neighbouring parts of the Middle East hit record levels during July and early August ("Oil demand likely rising in sweltering Middle East", Reuters, Aug. 12).

Strong air-conditioning demand is likely to have contributed to high combustion of crude oil and refined products such as diesel and residual fuel oil.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia has installed more gas-fired generating capacity and taken other measures to reduce direct crude burn in the power system.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said earlier this month oil production had risen "in part to meet the increase in seasonal demand during summer".

"Domestic demand usually goes up during the summer due to increasing use of electricity for cooling," he explained.

But he went on to note "this summer's increase is lower than that of previous summers" owing to efficiency measures.

Published data show direct crude combustion was just over 700,000 bpd in June, significantly lower than in June 2015 (894,000 bpd) and June 2014 (827,000 bpd).

Data on direct crude consumption during the heat waves of July and August will only become available in September and October (http://tmsnrt.rs/2bz12lM).

EXPORTS AND STOCKS

Saudi oil production has also been increasing to meet "higher demand from our customers", according to the minister. "We still see strong demand for our crude in most parts of the world."

Saudi crude exports averaged 7.456 million bpd in June, down by almost 380,000 bpd compared with January, but up by 91,000 bpd compared with the same month a year earlier.

Saudi crude exports have been fairly steady since 2014. The kingdom has successfully defended its volumes but has not increased them (http://tmsnrt.rs/2bAP7l1).

The rise in output during July (and hinted increase in August) was necessary because crude consumption and export sales had been outstripping output.

Crude oil stockpiles on Saudi territory declined every month between November 2015 and May 2016 by a total of more than 40 million barrels (http://tmsnrt.rs/2bAPewL).

It is possible that oil stocks were moved from tank farms within the kingdom to storage facilities in the United States, the Caribbean, Singapore, China, Korea and Japan to be closer to customers.

But it is also possible the kingdom's stockpiles have experienced a real drawdown. The energy minister may have hinted as much in his interview with the Saudi press agency published on Aug. 11.

"Last month, the supply figure of 10.75 (million barrels per day) was above that of production. Are you drawing down stocks?" the minister was asked.

"There has been a modest stock drawdown last month, which is expected during this time of year," the minister replied.

"As the rebalancing process consolidates, we expect de-stocking to accelerate in all parts of the world."

GREATER OPENNESS

Al-Falih's carefully scripted interview with the Saudi press agency seems to have been an attempt to provide more insight and clarity about Saudi oil data to the wider market.

Unfortunately, it was poorly executed, with draft remarks leaking ahead of publication, and the discussion may have been too erudite, obscuring rather than elucidating the minister's intended message.

But it appears to have been a serious effort at greater openness and a genuine attempt to improve understanding of Saudi production policy ("Saudi Arabia's oil policy could become more transparent", Reuters, May 9).

Most commentators seized on the minister's remarks about being ready to "take action to help the market rebalance" in conjunction with OPEC and non-OPEC producers.

The Algeria meeting would provide a venue to discuss the market situation including any "possible action that may be required to stabilize the market".
Austrian independent presidential hopeful bets on EU against far-right rival

VIENNA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - In Austria's presidential run-off, the independent running against a far-right candidate is aiming to use public concerns over Brexit against his rival, who has said the country should in some cases consider leaving the European Union.

Former Austrian Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen focused his campaign squarely on his EU-friendly credentials on Tuesday to fight against his eurosceptic rival Norbert Hofer, who could become the EU's first far-right head of state.

The anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO) has pledged to support a referendum on Austria leaving the European Union if Turkey joins the bloc or if significantly more political power is transferred from member states to Brussels.

Van der Bellen narrowly won a previous runoff vote in May, but Hofer's anti-Islam FPO successfully challenged the result, and the country's Constitutional Court has ordered a re-run.

"The reaction after the count (in May) encouraged me... I received several spontaneous calls from Brussels and other (EU) capitals. In English one would say that a sigh of relief went through Europe," Van der Bellen said at a campaign event.

The FPO and its European allies, such as France's National Front, congratulated Britain on its vote in June to leave the EU, but a poll shortly after that referendum found that a majority of Austrians did not want their country to follow suit.

FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache has watered down his language on leaving the bloc - referred to as Auxit or Oexit, after the German name for Austria. He now describes his party as EU-critical rather than wanting an exit referendum in any case.

Unveiling his new campaign posters on Tuesday ahead of the re-run vote on Oct. 2, Van der Bellen sought to capitalise on the FPO's shifting stance.

"It's my firm conviction that any talk, even if just talk, speculating about the so-called Oexit... is already harmful," Van der Bellen said in front of posters saying 'For the standing of Austria' and 'Stronger together - no to Oexit'.

Despite the FPO's mixed message on Brexit, recent polls have largely shown Hofer ahead of Van der Bellen but within the margin of error for the largely ceremonial role, which nevertheless holds the power to dismiss the cabinet.

More generally, the FPO is running first in opinion polls ahead of a parliamentary election due by 2018.
Pakistan forces seal regional party headquarters after TV station attack

By Syed Raza Hassan

KARACHI, Pakistan Aug 23 (Reuters) - Pakistani paramilitary forces raided the headquarters of a powerful political party in the port city of Karachi on Tuesday after its London-based leader incited supporters to storm the office of a television channel the day before.

The operation deepens a dispute between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has dominated Karachi politics for decades, and local security forces that regularly spills into violence.

It also comes as members of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are set to elect an imprisoned MQM politician, Waseem Akhtar, as mayor of Pakistan's biggest and richest city on Wednesday.

Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar, who was detained on Monday after the attack on the TV channel, sought to distance himself from comments made by the party's influential, firebrand leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in self-imposed exile in London.

Sattar said that Monday's violence, during which MQM supporters fired shots at the office of a television channel, had been started by Hussain when he criticised Pakistani media in a telephone address to his supporters in Karachi.

The supporters later clashed with police outside the television building, leaving one person dead and several wounded.

"Whatever happened yesterday should not have happened, we condemn it," Sattar told reporters, in a rare public rebuke of Hussain. "MQM will be run from here (Pakistan). This message is for there (London) and it is for here."

Paramilitary Rangers forces sealed the MQM headquarters and media office on Tuesday. Police also lodged a case of treason against Hussain after he said that "Pakistan is a cancer for the entire world" in his Monday address.

In a statement issued from London on Tuesday, Hussain asked for forgiveness from the army and Rangers chiefs.

"From the depth of (my) heart, I beg pardon from the Pakistani establishment," he said. "I was under severe mental stress over extra-judicial arrests and (the) precarious condition of my workers sitting at (a) hunger striking camp."

Hussain is known for fiery addresses to his followers in Karachi though a loudspeaker connected to a telephone in his London home.

Many residents have grown increasingly intolerant of MQM's street protests, which can severely disrupt life for millions of Karachi residents.

But the party remains a major electoral force and in December swept local elections.

The MQM largely draws its support from the descendants of Urdu-speaking migrants from India who dominate Karachi and other urban centres of southern Sindh province.

The army has long accused the MQM of racketeering, kidnappings for ransom and targeted killings in Karachi.

MQM denies the charges and has accused the Rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown on crime in Karachi began in 2013. The Rangers deny any abuse.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said he had called on British authorities to support Pakistan's efforts to bring Hussain "within the ambit of the law".
With Biden visit, U.S. seeks balance with truculent Turkey

By Jeff Mason and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON/ISTANBUL, Aug 23 (Reuters) - When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited Turkey in January, he struck a difficult balance between showing support for a NATO ally faced with multiple security threats while criticising its record on free speech and dissent.

Now, with relations between Washington and Ankara going through one their testiest periods in recent memory, he may find it even tougher to get those dual messages across when he visits on Wednesday.

Biden will be the most senior U.S. official to visit Turkey since the failed July 15 coup, when a group of rogue soldiers tried to overthrow the government and killed at least 240 people.

Turkey says the failed putsch was orchestrated by the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for 17 years. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called on the United States to extradite Gulen.

Washington has yet to do so, saying it needs clear evidence. That has angered Erdogan and sparked an outpouring of anti-Americanism from pro-government media.

The West, for its part, is worried by the widespread purges that followed the coup, in which some 40,000 people have been detained and 20,000 formally arrested.

Around 80,000 people have been sacked or suspended from the military, civil service, police and judiciary. Turkey says those institutions were infiltrated by Gulen's followers years ago in a bid to take over the state. Gulen denies this.

Biden will look to show support, while raising concern about the extent of the crackdown, according to officials. Turkey will press its case for Gulen's extradition.

"The vice president will also reaffirm that the United States is doing everything we can to support Turkey's ongoing efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the coup attempt while ensuring the rule of law is respected during the process," a senior Obama administration official told reporters, briefing ahead of Biden's visit on condition of anonymity.

WESTERN INSENSITIVITY

Turkey is both a NATO member and part of the U.S. coalition in the fight against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq - as well as a frequent target for the militant group. More than 50 people were killed in a suicide bombing over the weekend in the southeastern city of Gaziantep that may have been orchestrated by Islamic State.

U.S. relations have been complicated by that fight, in which Washington backs the Syrian Kurdish YPG rebels against Islamic State. Ankara is worried the YPG's advance emboldens Kurdish insurgents in its mainly Kurdish southeast. On Monday Turkish artillery shelled YPG positions in northern Syria.

Erdogan has complained about what he sees as insensitivity from the West, saying Western countries have expressed more concern over the post-coup crackdown than the coup itself and Western leaders have been slow to voice support.

Erdogan has lashed out at Washington for failing to extradite Gulen. Some Erdogan supporters have tried to blame the United States for the coup. One newspaper said the attempt was financed by the CIA and directed by a retired U.S. army general.

A day after the failed putsch, the labour minister said it was clear "America is behind it", although Erdogan's spokesman later said he had spoken "in the heat of the moment".

Biden, who is due to meet with both Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim during his one-day visit to Ankara, is widely seen as making the trip because of his ability to balance tough talk with messages of support.

"Unhelpfully, there have been some kind of off-the-record Turkish officials asserting that somehow the United States may have had some role. But as the vice president would say, all of that is malarkey," the U.S. official said. "We'll make that clear during the meetings and in our engagements with Turkish people."

SEMI-SWEET RELATIONS

At a weekend briefing with reporters in Istanbul, Prime Minister Yildirim said that while Gulen's extradition would top the discussion, Biden was also coming to improve relations.

"Why is Mr Biden coming? To make our semi-sweet relations sweet," he said, in a reference to Turkish coffee.

He said he wanted to see the extradition process sped up, and Gulen put under temporary arrest in the meantime.

Before the July 15 coup, Turkey had already submitted 84 dossiers on Gulen and his movement to U.S. authorities, and has since sent another four since the coup, Yildirim said.

A team from the United States was due to arrive in Turkey ahead of Biden's visit and meet with judicial institutions about the extradition, he said.

However, the U.S. official said Turkey had so far only submitted extradition requests based on events before the coup.
Virginia man held for stabbing shouted "Allah akbar"- police

Aug 23 (Reuters) - A Virginia man has been charged with stabbing two people while shouting the Muslim phrase "Allah akbar," and the attack is under investigation by the FBI, police said.

The suspect, Wasil Farooqui, 20, of Roanoke County, is suspected of randomly attacking a man and woman with a knife on Saturday when they entered a Roanoke apartment building, Roanoke County police said.

The man and woman were severely injured. The man fought off the attacker, who was shouting "Allah akbar," police said in a statement dated Monday and posted online on Tuesday. The phrase means "God is greatest" in Arabic.

Police arrested Farooqui when he showed up injured at a hospital emergency room in Roanoke, about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Washington. He was identified by the man and woman, who had been taken there by medics.

Police contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the attack. Adam Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Division, said the agency was working with police.

"While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident," he said in a statement.

Farooqui is charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding. He is being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail, the police statement said.

Citing sources familiar with the case, ABC News reported that the FBI was looking at whether the attacker was trying to behead a victim.

It said federal authorities had been aware of Farooqui for some time. ABC said that in the past year, he traveled to Turkey and may have tried to cross the border into Syria, where the militant Islamic State is recruiting and inspiring sympathizers around the world.
Congo opposition strikes to call for Kabila to step down

By Aaron Ross

KINSHASA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Opponents of Congolese President Joseph Kabila went on strike on Tuesday to demand that he step down when his constitutional mandate expires in December.

In the commercial centre of the capital Kinshasa, home to 12 million people, rush hour seemed lighter than usual. Many shops were shuttered in the city's surrounding districts, especially opposition strongholds such as Limete.

Police fired teargas to disperse dozens of protesters from opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS party, who threw stones and erected barricades near the party headquarters in Limete, a Reuters witness said.

But the strike appeared to have significantly less uptake than one in February over the same issue. In the eastern city of Goma and southern mining hub of Lubumbashi, where foreign firms have big investments, residents said that activity largely carried on as usual.

"I really regret seeing our Congolese brothers and sisters open their stores," said Samuel Kazadi, a motorbike taxi driver on Kinshasa's Avenue de Commerce, where several shops had their metal doors locked.

But he added: "We are waiting for Dec. 19 ... Kabila won't stay in power. The population will be in the street every day."

Elections were due to be held in November, before Kabila's mandate runs out on Dec. 19, but will be delayed as authorities enroll millions of new voters.

Kabila's opponents accuse him of dragging his feet on holding the election in order to cling to power in Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that has not seen a peaceful change of government since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Western powers are leaning on him to honour the constitution, which limits a president to two terms in office, and step down. They fear political tensions could reignite a regional war in the country's mineral-rich east that killed millions of people between 1996 and 2003.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement that Washington was monitoring the situation and was concerned "the window to reach consensus on an electoral timeline and plan for transition is narrowing".

Toner urged government and opposition leaders to try to advance a national political dialogue that began on Tuesday with Edem Kodjo, a Togolese diplomat and African Union-appointed facilitator, who is working with the parties on a timetable for the vote.

The main opposition alliance, led by Etienne Tshisekedi, is boycotting the talks, which it sees as a delaying tactic. The talks, expected to last until Saturday, are only meant to set a schedule for further talks whose aim will eventually be to set an election timetable.

In an olive branch to the opposition, the government agreed to free several democracy activists on Friday to try to ease tensions, but Tshisekedi called it insufficient.

Some opposition leaders did show up for the opening session, including Tshisekedi's former chief of staff Albert Moleka and Jean-Lucien Bussa, president of the CDER party.

"Our doors remain wide open. Today or tomorrow, they can join us at any time," Kodjo said in his opening remarks.
Lamborghini expects to double worldwide sales in 2019

By David Shepardson

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Lamborghini Chief Executive Officer Stefano Domenicali said on Tuesday the luxury automaker expects to at least double production to 7,000 vehicles a year by 2019 once it rolls out a new SUV.

Domenicali told Reuters that the automaker plans to cap yearly production of its supercars at 3,500. He also expects SUV production will be at least as high but could be higher depending on demand. The Italian automaker is part of Volkswagen Group.

Domenicali, who was named CEO of the automaker in February, said Lamborghini also plans to boost its worldwide dealer network by about 20 percent to 160, from the current 132.

About 30 percent of its dealers and sales are in the United States, its largest market. Lamborghini sold a record 3,245 vehicles worldwide in 2015, including just over 1,000 in the United States.

Lamborghini is adding 500 employees and doubling the size of its Sant'Agata Bolognese plant in Italy as part of an investment worth hundreds of millions of euros announced in 2015. The new SUV will go on sale in 2018 starting at around $200,000.

Lamborghini is joining a number of luxury carmakers that have entered the profitable SUV market, including VW's Porsche unit.

Domenicali said he wants to keep brand volume limited. The company unveiled its Centenario Roadster in California, and said the company had already sold out of the 20 roadsters it was building at a starting price of 2 million euros before taxes.

Lamborghini plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid electric version of the SUV by 2020, and could eventually add a zero emission vehicle.
Iran signals more willingness for OPEC action to boost oil price

By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler

DUBAI/LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Iran is sending positive signals that it may support joint action to prop up the oil market, sources in OPEC and the oil industry said, potentially aiding efforts to revive a global deal on freezing production levels at talks next month.

OPEC's third-largest producer has been boosting output after the lifting of Western sanctions in January. Tehran refused to join a previous attempt this year by OPEC plus non-members such as Russia to stabilise production, and talks collapsed in April.

Though Iran has not yet decided whether to join a new effort, Tehran appears to be more willing to reach an understanding with other oil producers, the sources said.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino last week toured oil-producing countries including Saudi Arabia and Iran to rally support for a deal. Despite rising this year, oil at around $49 a barrel is less than half its level of mid-2014.

"Iran is reaching its pre-sanctions production level soon and after that it can cooperate with the others," said a source familiar with Iranian thinking after del Pino's visit to Tehran.

"In general, Iran prefers more actions from the OPEC side rather than just freezing at the maximum production level of all members. If this freezing issue helps prices to improve, Iran by positive words of support, will help."

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are due to meet informally in Algeria next month on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum. Russia is also expected to attend the IEF.

Venezuela, whose economy has been hit hard by the oil price collapse, has for months sought to rally producers towards an agreement to limit production. Del Pino was in Tehran on Aug. 15 before flying to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Iran confirmed its participation in the OPEC meeting in Algeria, an OPEC source said on Tuesday.

'POSITIVE SIGNS'

Russia, which in April was ready to freeze production, now wants to see an internal agreement among OPEC before it commits to rejoining an initiative.

"Negotiations are ongoing. I see positive signs coming from OPEC 'majors'," said a senior industry source familiar with the discussions, referring to Riyadh and Tehran.

"Russia wants to see an OPEC agreement before committing anything. So (OPEC members) are busy among themselves formulating an agreement."

OPEC sources say Iran's participation in a production pact has been the main stumbling block in reaching a deal.

The previous attempt to freeze output at January levels collapsed in April after Saudi Arabia said it wanted all producers, including Iran, to join the initiative.

Tehran insists it will be ready for joint action only once it regains pre-sanctions output of 4 million barrels per day (bpd). It pumped 3.6 million bpd in July, OPEC figures show.

But since the appointment of Khalid al-Falih as Saudi energy minister in April, Riyadh has taken a softer tone towards Iran at OPEC. The group is likely to revive freeze talks in September as Saudi Arabia appears to want higher prices.

Besides Iran, output levels in Nigeria and Libya could also complicate reaching a deal. While Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia have reached record production since April, Nigeria's hit its lowest in more than two decades due to attacks on oil sites. Libya is pumping a fraction of its pre-conflict rate.

"The difficult question for all will be defining the freeze - at what level of production. Agreeing a number may be a challenge - unless they all agree to allow some form of flexibility?" the senior industry source said.

An OPEC source from a main Middle East oil producer agreed.
Greece asks EU to do more on migrant relocation - minister

ATHENS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Greece has asked the European Union to speed up the relocation to other member states of migrants and refugees in the country under a plan agreed last year to ease pressure on frontline countries Greece and Italy.

Under the plan, 160,000 migrants could be relocated over two years, but so far just under 4,000 people have been relocated from Greece and Italy to other European countries.

"At the moment we have 7,000 people ready to be relocated and no answers from the European Union member states which would be obliged to accept them," Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told journalists.

"Therefore, we ask for this gap to be covered."

Mouzalas said he and fellow ministers would tour member states next month to discuss the issue. Greece was "seeking that the European Union fulfils what has been agreed", he said.

Central European members fought the EU's move last year to relocate asylum seekers, with Hungary and Slovakia challenging the decision in EU courts.

"The European Union member states are responding with delays that do not correspond with our needs to cover the positions that we have requested," Mouzalas said.

More than 58,000 migrants and refugees are currently in Greece, nearly all of whom planned to head farther north but ended up stranded in the country due to border closures in the Balkans.

Of those living in camps and facilities on the mainland, 94 percent are Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis and 46 percent are children, according to figures released by authorities on Tuesday.

Most camps have been criticised by humanitarian organisations as having poor, unsanitary and unsafe conditions.
Roadside bomb kills U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, coalition says

By Mohammad Stanekzai

LASHKAR GAH, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier in Helmand, a province in southern Afghanistan that has seen an upsurge in violence in recent weeks.

The bomb also wounded another U.S. soldier and six Afghan soldiers, coalition forces said in a statement on Tuesday. The wounded soldier was in stable condition, the statement said.

Around 100 U.S. troops were deployed in Helmand at the weekend to support Afghan security forces struggling to contain a resilient Taliban insurgency, the U.S. military said.

Afghan officials in Helmand said the newly deployed U.S. troops are helping Afghan troops to retake the area around Lashkar Gah, the capital of the province. Government troops lost the area to the Taliban in intense fighting over recent weeks.

Around 10,000 U.S. forces are operating in Afghanistan, divided between a NATO training and assistance mission and U.S. counter-terrorism operations against militant groups. Since international troops began to leave the country in 2014, fatalities among coalition forces have dropped significantly.

One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded when they came under fire in Marjah district of Helmand on January this year. Last month, five U.S. special operations troops were wounded in an operation against Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters have made major gains across Helmand in the past year, forcing government troops to abandon some bases and checkpoints. Afghan troops have pushed the Taliban back a few kilometers from areas near Lashkar Gah, but officials say the militants remain within four to 10 kilometers of the city.
Iraq executions carried out without proper trial, fuelled by vengeance -UN

BAGHDAD, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Thirty-six men hanged in Iraq for a sectarian mass killing of soldiers were denied a proper legal defence at their trials and the executions appeared to have been "fuelled by vengeance", the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The hangings were carried out on Sunday at a prison in southern Iraq, state TV said. Those executed were suspected Sunni Muslim militants convicted in the killings of as many as 1,700 soldiers, mostly Shi'ite Muslims, after they were taken captive by Islamic State insurgents two years ago.

"The individuals who have been executed were convicted only on the basis of information provided by secret informants or by confessions allegedly extracted under duress," U.N. human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told reporters in Geneva.

She said the defendants' court-appointed lawyer did not intervene during the proceedings apart from a three-minute statement just before the verdicts were delivered.

The United Nations, she said, had urged Iraqi authorities "to ensure that any trial conducted in connection with the massacre respects due process ... rather than be fuelled by vengeance. Unfortunately, this (36 hangings) was not the case".

In a recent report, Amnesty International said one of the hanged men had told its researchers that the defendants were beaten into making confessions, but that his complaint was ignored and not investigated.

The soldiers were killed after Islamic State overran Camp Speicher, an ex-U.S. military base near Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, in 2014. U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and Iranian-supported Shi'ite militias retook the region last year.

The Shi'ite-led government came under increased pressure from local Shi'ite politicians to execute militants sentenced to death after an Islamic State bombing killed at least 324 people in a Baghdad shopping street on July 3.

Justice Minister Haidar al-Zamili said on Sunday he expected more death sentences to be carried out over killings after Camp Speicher's fall to Islamic State, dismissing U.N. and human rights groups concern over the fairness of the trials.
South Africa finance minister told to report to police - report

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 23 (Reuters) - South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has been ordered to report to a police investigative unit known as the "Hawks" by Thursday over allegations relating to a rogue tax unit, the Daily Maverick online news service said on Tuesday.

The rand fell nearly three percent after the story was published but was one percent weaker by 1619 GMT.
Massacre reports show U.S. inability to curb Iraq militias

By Ned Parker and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON, Aug 23(Reuters) - Shi'ite militias in Iraq detained, tortured and abused far more Sunni civilians during the American-backed capture of the town of Falluja in June than U.S. officials have publicly acknowledged, Reuters has found.

More than 700 Sunni men and boys are still missing more than two months after the Islamic State stronghold fell. The abuses occurred despite U.S. efforts to restrict the militias' role in the operation, including threatening to withdraw American air support, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

The U.S. efforts had little effect. Shi'ite militias did not pull back from Falluja, participated in looting there and now vow to defy any American effort to limit their role in coming operations against Islamic State.

All told, militia fighters killed at least 66 Sunni males and abused at least 1,500 others fleeing the Falluja area, according to interviews with more than 20 survivors, tribal leaders, Iraqi politicians and Western diplomats.

They said men were shot, beaten with rubber hoses and in several cases beheaded. Their accounts were supported by a Reuters review of an investigation by local Iraqi authorities and video testimony and photographs of survivors taken immediately after their release.

The battle against Islamic State is the latest chapter in the conflict between Iraq's Shi'ite majority and Sunni minority, which was unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The war ended decades of Sunni rule under Saddam Hussein and brought to power a series of governments dominated by Shi'ite Islamist parties patronized by Iran.

Washington's inability to restrain the sectarian violence is now a central concern for Obama administration officials as they move ahead with plans to help Iraqi forces retake the much larger city of Mosul, Islamic State's Iraqi capital. Preliminary operations to clear areas outside the strategic city have been under way for months. Sunni leaders in Iraq and Western diplomats fear the Shi'ite militias might commit worse excesses in Mosul, the country's second-largest city. Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group, seized the majority-Sunni city in June 2014.

"CENTRAL TOPIC"

U.S. officials say they fear a repeat of the militia abuses in Mosul could erase any chances of reconciling Iraq's Sunni and Shia communities. "Virtually every conversation that we have had internally with respect to planning for Mosul - and virtually every conversation that we've had with the Iraqis - has this as a central topic," said a senior Obama Administration official.

In public, as reports of the abuses in Falluja emerged from survivors, Iraqi officials and human rights groups, U.S. officials in Washington initially played down the scope of the problem and did not disclose the failed American effort to rein in the militias.

Brett McGurk, the special U.S. envoy for the American-led campaign against Islamic State, expressed concern to reporters at a June 10th White House briefing for reporters about what he called "reports of isolated atrocities" against fleeing Sunnis.

Three days before the briefing, Gov. Sohaib al-Rawi of Anbar Province informed the U.S. ambassador that hundreds of people detained by Shi'ite militias had gone missing around Falluja, the governor told Reuters. By the time of the White House briefing, Iraqi officials, human rights investigators and the United Nations had collected evidence of scores of executions, the torture of hundreds of men and teenagers, and the disappearance of more than 700 others.

Nearly three weeks later, on June 28, McGurk struck a measured tone during testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said reports of abuses had been received in the early days of the operation, "many of which have turned out not to be credible but some of which appear to be credible."

McGurk declined a request for an interview. Mark Toner, the State Department's deputy spokesperson, said American officials had expressed "concern both publicly and privately" about reported atrocities. "We find any abuse totally unacceptable," Toner said, and "any violation of human rights should be investigated with those responsible held accountable."

Militia leaders deny that their groups mistreated civilians. They say the missing men were Islamic State militants killed in battle.

EXACTING REVENGE

Iraqi government officials also challenged the reports of widespread violence against civilians. In an interview, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi's deputy national security adviser, Safa al-Sheikh, said there were a few incidents, but added: "There are a lot of exaggerations, and some of the reports didn't have any basis."

Iraq's main Shi'ite militias, trained and armed by Tehran, emerged during the 2003-2011 U.S. occupation and have grown in power and stature. After helping the government defend Baghdad when Islamic State seized Mosul in 2014, the militias became arms of the Iraqi government. Islamic State has slaughtered thousands of Iraqis, of all faiths.

There now are more than 30 Shi'ite militias whose members receive government salaries. The major groups have government posts and parliament seats.

Their might has also been enhanced by some of the more than $20 billion in military hardware the United States has sold or given to Iraq since 2005. Their weaponry includes armored personnel carriers, trucks, Humvees, artillery and even tanks, according to U.S. officials, independent experts and pictures and videos militia members have posted on the internet.

Collectively, the Shi'ite militias are known as the Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The militias officially answer to Abadi. In reality, the main groups answer only to themselves, display their own flags and emblems, and are advised by the Quds Force - Iran's elite foreign paramilitary and intelligence service.

The Falluja offensive began on May 22. For more than a year, American officials had warned Iraqi officials repeatedly that the United States would suspend air support in areas where militias were operating outside the Iraqi military's formal chain of command. The policy was designed to prevent American planes from inadvertently bombing Iraqi forces and to restrain militias from entering areas considered sensitive to Sunnis, according to U.S. officials.

In the first two days of the Falluja offensive, reports emerged of militiamen separating males from fleeing families. American, Western and U.N. diplomats pressured Abadi, other top Iraqi officials and militia leaders to stop the abuses. Abadi and other political leaders publicly called for protection of civilians.

"DON'T BE TREACHEROUS"

The Americans' influence was hindered by the fact they had no forces in Falluja and couldn't observe specific abuses, according to the Western diplomat who tracked the campaign.

On May 26, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's leading Shi'ite cleric, pleaded with combatants to protect civilians. Aid agencies estimated at the time that as many as 100,000 people remained inside Falluja.

"Don't be extreme ... don't be treacherous. Don't kill an old man, nor a boy, nor a woman. Don't cut a tree unless you have to," Sistani said, citing sayings of the Prophet Mohammed.

Sistani's pleas and the American threats fell on deaf ears.

The first known instance of systematic abuse by the militias in the Falluja offensive occurred May 27 northeast of the city, in the farming region of Sejar. Militiamen and security forces stopped a group of fleeing Sunnis, pulled aside somewhere between 73 and 95 males aged 15 and older and took them away, according to Gov. al-Rawi of Anbar Province and a Western diplomat who monitored the offensive. Women and children were freed.

"We are still in contact with women and children who were handed to government people," said the Western diplomat. "They still don't know where the men are."

On May 29, militiamen just west of the farming areas of Sejar, separated 20 men from a group of fleeing Sunnis and "started killing them," said the Western diplomat. "The police arrived when there were three left alive. The police took the three and dumped them" in a camp east of Falluja for people displaced by the civil war.

Terrified that the militias would storm the camp and kill them, the trio arranged protection for themselves in Baghdad, the diplomat said. Gov. al-Rawi confirmed this account.

A Sunni academic said he spoke to three survivors of the alleged massacre, two brothers and their cousin. The men said the killings occurred during fighting between Iraqi federal police forces and Islamic State, according to the academic.

SURVIVOR ACCOUNTS

The three survivors told the academic that they were among some 50 people who had sought shelter in a house when they saw federal police raise the Iraqi flag at a nearby school. The group waved white cloths and was directed to leave the house by the police.

When the group emerged, the three said, the police separated the men from their families. One officer then opened fire and killed 17 men, the academic quoted the survivors as saying, adding that the three were spared when another officer intervened. The shooter was arrested, according to the Anbar governor.

Worse was to come. Shi'ite militiamen seeking vengeance against Islamic State rounded up Sunnis on June 3 from the town of Saqlawiya, according to witnesses interviewed by Reuters, U.N. workers, Iraqi officials and Human Rights Watch.

According to these accounts, more than 5,000 Sunnis, mostly members of the al-Mohamda tribe, left Saqlawiya, a farming community five miles northwest of Falluja. The Sunnis made their way toward what they thought was the safety of government lines marked by Iraqi flags. A gray-haired man described the scene in a video recorded by local officials after he and 604 other men were freed two days later.

"When we arrived there, we discovered they were the Hashid," the Shi'ite militias, the witness said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein, two senior Iraqi officials, and a 69-year-old survivor interviewed by Reuters identified the militiamen as members of Kataib Hezbollah. One of the most powerful Shi'ite paramilitaries, Kataib Hezbollah was organized by and retains close ties to Iran's Quds Force. Both are deemed to be terrorist groups by the United States.

Kataib Hezbollah denied being involved in abuses in Falluja. "They make these claims based on accusations from politicians that ISIS is depending on," said Kataib spokesman Jaafar al-Husseini. "They are trying to keep us far from the operations of Anbar and Mosul."

The militiamen separated out an estimated 1,500 males aged 15 and older and moved them in groups to different locations, including warehouses and an Iraqi base called Camp Tariq, according to survivors, U.N. investigators and Human Rights Watch.

"FISTS, KNIVES AND CABLES"

The survivors described being crammed into small rooms and halls and denied food and water, straining to breathe in the stifling heat. Militiamen using sticks, pipes and hoses beat the detainees and declared that they were taking revenge for Camp Speicher - a June 2014 massacre by Islamic State of 1,566 Shi'ite and other non-Sunni air force cadets.

A 32-year-old man, one of six survivors Reuters interviewed, said he was packed into a room with dozens of other captives, his hands tied behind his back.

"They started hitting us with their fists, knives and cables," he said. "When people fainted, we yelled they were going to die, and the guards told us that's what they wanted."

The guards, the survivor said, told the captives they were avenging the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers killed in fighting around Falluja since 2014.

In a video recorded by local officials, another survivor told how men craving water were given bottles in which to urinate and told to drink their own waste.

A 47-year-old survivor described how he watched militiamen repeatedly beat his 17-year-old son and carry off the corpses of 15 men who appeared to have been beaten to death. The man was one of the 605 survivors released on June 5. His son was not among them, he said; the boy hasn't been seen since.

"We want to know the destiny of our sons," the man told Reuters. "We consider the Americans responsible for everything that has happened."

UNACCOUNTED FOR

In all, militiamen killed at least 49 men who were detained in Saqlawiya, four of whom were beheaded, according to the U.N.'s Zeid.

The brutality ended without explanation for some 800 detainees after two days. But 643 Saqlawiya detainees remain unaccounted for. Their names are recorded on a list circulated by local officials to the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and government investigators and reviewed by Reuters.

On June 7, Sheikh Ali Hamad, a leader of the Mohamda, a Sunni tribe, decried on television what he called "a genocidal crime" and the deaths of "tens of our sons."

The same day, the Anbar governor informed U.S. Ambassador Jones that hundreds of Sunni men were missing. U.N. envoy Zeid issued a statement citing "extremely distressing, credible reports" of abuse, including summary executions of men and boys by militiamen.

On June 9, the day before McGurk's White House briefing, Human Rights Watch issued a report on the alleged atrocities in Sejar and Saqlawiya.

The regular Iraqi security forces, including the U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Service, eventually established safe corridors and guided civilians out of the city. Some 100,000 civilians escaped as a result.

A PIECE OF THE ACTION

Today, the Shi'ite militias are clamoring to join the Mosul offensive, fired by zeal, a desire for revenge and hopes of burnishing their political standing within their sect.

"They will want a piece of the climactic battle," said Kenneth Pollock, a former CIA analyst now with the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy institute.

Ryan Crocker, a career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2007 to 2009, said the Obama administration has downplayed abuses by both militia and Iraqi forces. "This administration is so determined to be able to declare victory over ISIL (that) they don't really care about any of the rest of it," said Crocker.

Over the disapproval of the Mosul provincial government, Abadi and militia leaders have said that militias will participate in the campaign to liberate the city.

The chief PMF administrator is Jamal Ibrahimi. Known by the nom de guerre Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, he is on the U.S. international terrorist list.

U.S. officials say Ibrahimi is the leader of Kataib Hezbollah, the militia that Iraqi officials, Western diplomats and others hold primarily responsible for the atrocities committed in the Falluja offensive.

Ibrahimi and the militia deny that he heads Kataib Hezbollah.
UN desperate to find land for new camps in Iraq ahead of Mosul assault

By Emma Batha

LONDON, Aug 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - U.N. refugee officials bracing for an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from the Iraqi city of Mosul said on Tuesday they were struggling to find land for camps to house them.

Up to 1.2 million people could be affected by an expected military offensive to retake Iraq's second biggest city from Islamic State, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said.

The agency is planning to create camps in up to six locations across northern Iraq but said finding land had become a "critical issue" fraught with difficulties.

"This is a massive problem for us because there is not a lot of land that is available," said Caroline Gluck, UNHCR's spokeswoman in Baghdad.

Many private landowners are unwilling to lease land while other areas are unsuitable because of their topography, proximity to fighting or the risk of unexploded ordinance or landmines.

Land may also be unsuitable if located in areas where the arrival of displaced Iraqis could inflame ethnic, sectarian, religious or tribal tensions.

Gluck said disputes over land ownership and a lack of clarity over land tenure documents were compounding problems.

U.S.-backed Iraqi and Kurdish forces are advancing on Mosul - Islamic State's de facto capital 400 km (250 miles) north of Baghdad - ahead of an offensive which aid agencies expect could happen in September or October.

Once home to 2 million people, Mosul is the militant group's last major bastion in the country following the fall of Falluja in June.

Gluck said more than 1 million people were still believed to be living in Mosul and warned there was the potential for a "full-blown catastrophe".

"It will have major ramifications for Iraq and everyone is trying to be as prepared as they can," she added.

"But the bottom line is we really don't know how many people will come out, how long the conflict will be ... We are to some extent operating in the dark."

Gluck said many had been surprised how fast Falluja had been recaptured from Islamic State.

Iraq is already one of the world's biggest displacement crises with around 3.4 million people uprooted from their homes across the country. But only 15 percent are in camps with others renting or living in shelters including mosques.

Some 48,000 people have fled the Mosul area in recent months, the UNHCR said. Several camps in the wider region are being expanded and new ones set up.

But Gluck said it was important to look at solutions aside from camps.

She said the agency was distributing emergency shelter kits to families comprising plastic sheeting, poles, ropes and tools.

It is also looking at housing people in communities and the possibility of getting sponsorships for people to move to other areas - a politically sensitive issue given movement restrictions in Iraq.
Florida announces Zika case hundreds of miles from Miami

By Julie Steenhuysen and Letitia Stein

CHICAGO/TAMPA, Fla., Aug 23 (Reuters) - Florida officials on Tuesday announced the first case of Zika transmitted by mosquitoes in Pinellas County, located some 265 miles (425 km) from Miami, where the first locally transmitted U.S. cases were reported.

Steve Huard, acting spokesman for Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County, said the case involves a woman without a significant travel history, indicating the virus was contracted locally.

He did not know the timeline on the case, only that it had been confirmed within the past day. He did not have any more details on the patient's illness.

"At this point, it's a single case. It's a one-off," Huard said. "We don't know where it originated, and we are doing appropriate testing and medical surveillance."

Florida Governor Rick Scott said the state department of health has begun door-to-door outreach in Pinellas County, testing individuals to find other cases.

Pinellas County is home to St. Petersburg, Clearwater and a number of Gulf Coast beaches that are popular tourist destinations.

Scott said the health department and Pinellas County Mosquito Control have begun "aggressive spraying and mosquito abatement efforts," and he said any pregnant woman who wants a free Zika test or a Zika prevention kit should contact the health department.

The Zika virus was first detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.

Federal health officials on Friday warned pregnant women not to travel to Miami Beach after Florida confirmed that the mosquito-borne Zika virus was active in the popular tourist destination, becoming the second area in Miami to be affected after Wynwood.

Mara Gambineri, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health said the department believes ongoing local transmission is only occurring in the small areas identified in Miami-Dade County.

On Tuesday, Florida announced four new cases of Zika in the Wynwood neighborhood, where officials have been aggressively spraying for the mosquitoes that carry the virus for weeks. Florida has so far reported 42 cases of locally transmitted Zika.

Gambineri said in an email the cases of individuals in Wynwood experienced Zika symptoms in mid-July, prior to the start of an aerial spraying campaign. Gambineri said the cases were only announced today because the individuals required antibody testing to rule out other mosquito-borne illness, such as dengue and Chikungunya.

CLOSELY MONITORING NEW CASES

In a conference call on Friday, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the CDC does expect to see occasional cases of local transmission, which is what experts have seen with outbreaks of dengue and Chikungunya.

In those outbreaks, for every 9 or so one-off cases, there was one new cluster of local mosquito-borne transmission, but he said, "The vast majority of local transmissions hit a dead end after one or two people in one household."

Frieden said the CDC is closely monitoring new cases in the Wynwood neighborhood to see whether their mosquito control efforts - which have included aerial spraying of pesticides to kill adult mosquitoes and mosquito larvae - are working.

Mosquito control experts in Pinellas County are not planning the type of aerial spraying campaign underway in Miami-Dade County. Local officials said they believe ground-level efforts will be most effective against the type of mosquito that transmits Zika, which can breed in small containers.

Rob Krueger, an entomology and education support specialist with Pinellas County Mosquito Control, compared aerial spraying to dropping golf balls on a football field. While chemical droplets may get close to the mosquito habitat, there is no way to know that every possible breeding spot has been reached through a diffuse, overhead approach.

"Our method is strictly boots-on-the-ground, and going door to door to make sure that we can find every Aedes aegypti mosquito that is out there and eradicate it," Krueger said.

He said mosquito control districts in Florida have flexibility to use the approach and chemical agents best suited for the local population and financial resources. Pinellas, which is Florida's most densely developed county, does not typically use aerial spray products against this type of mosquito.

Krueger said there is no "magic bullet" for eradicating Aedes aegypti. What it is going to take is "going door to door, fixing it as we go."

Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said Florida needs to make it clear that "anywhere these mosquitoes are present is at risk."

Adalja said while knowing the exact area of transmission is important for issuing travel warnings to pregnant women, he said the entire state needs to be vigilant.

Adalja expects multiple counties in Florida will be affected, as well as areas in Texas and Louisiana, though these outbreaks will be limited to discreet areas.
South African police summon finance minister Gordhan - source

By Mfuneko Toyana and Stella Mapenzauswa

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 23 (Reuters) - South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has been summoned by an elite police division and may face charges in relation to an investigation into a suspected rogue unit of the state tax service, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday.

Treasury spokeswoman Phumza Macanda confirmed to Reuters that the Hawks police division had contacted Gordhan on Monday and that the finance minister was taking legal advice.

Gordhan and former officials at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) must report to the Hawks on Thursday morning where they will receive a 'warning statement' given to someone before they are charged with an offence, the source said.

A letter to one of the SARS officials, seen by Reuters, says the summons relates to contravening surveillance regulations.

Uncertainty over leadership at the finance ministry will worry investors as Africa's most developed economy teeters on the edge of recession and credit rating agencies consider downgrading it to "junk" status by year-end.

The rand tumbled three percent after the news first emerged and was 2.3 percent weaker at 13.89 against the dollar by 1746 GMT, its weakest in nearly three weeks.

"The currency is taking a serious view on this," political analyst Gary van Staden said. "The mere suggestion, true or false, that there is a campaign against Gordhan will bring dire financial and economic consequences."

Local media reports in May said Gordhan may face arrest on espionage charges for setting up the unit to spy on politicians including President Jacob Zuma.

Gordhan, who headed SARS from 1999 to 2009, has said the unit set up at the tax agency was lawful.

Zuma spooked investors in December by replacing then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene with relatively unknown lawmaker David van Rooyen. After markets tumbled, Zuma demoted van Rooyen and appointed Gordhan, in his second stint in the job.

Zuma has rejected allegations by opposition parties that he has failed to publicly back Gordhan, saying that the law should take its course.

This month, the ruling African National Congress suffered its worst ever electoral performance since coming to power at the end of apartheid 22 years ago.

The ANC's reputation was bruised by Zuma's flip-flopping over the finance ministry and by a constitutional court ruling that said he flouted the law over an order to repay inappropriate spending of state funds on his private home.

A presidency spokesman did not respond to request for comment.

Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said he knew nothing about the report. In May, Mulaudzi said Gordhan was not a suspect and that police were not singling out the finance minister in their investigation of the surveillance unit.

Gordhan, who headed SARS from 1999 to 2009, has said the unit set up at the tax agency was lawful.
Mexico reclaims migrant-shuttling 'The Beast' railroad concession

MEXICO CITY, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Mexico's Communications and Transport Ministry said on Tuesday it had taken over a concession to a southern railroad, whose trains are known locally as "The Beast," which thousands of Central American migrants have used to hitch rides to the United States.

The ministry scrapped the concession, which had belonged to the Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab rail company, on the grounds of "public interest, public usage and national security," it said in a statement, without elaborating.

Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab had been trying to wash its hands of the concession since at least 2007, according to a more-detailed account in the official government gazette.

The Chiapas-Mayab railroad, which has suffered from chronic underinvestment, begins in the southern state of Chiapas and connects with a network of freight trains that head northward.

For years, Central American migrants headed for the United States have illegally used "La Bestia," or "The Beast," to travel through Mexico.

However, after a surge in the number of U.S.-bound child migrants in 2014, Mexico clamped down, making it harder for migrants to jump aboard the freight train.

Officials said images of migrants riding on top of the trains, which were hotbeds of criminal activity, were a major embarrassment to Mexico internationally.

The flow of migrants now atop the trains is down about 90 percent from 2014 levels, officials said.

Two years ago, Mexico had said it would invest over six billion pesos ($326.44 million) to triple the speed of the trains, double cargo capacity and slash the number of accidents along the 665 kilometers (413 miles) of track due to be renovated.
Machinery could solve labor shortages for Colombia coffee growers

By Julia Symmes Cobb and Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Coffee-picking machinery could help solve perennial labor shortages in Colombia's coffee industry, the head of the country's growers federation said on Tuesday, as farmers seek workers for the September harvest.

Colombia, the world's top producer of high-quality arabica beans, has faced labor shortages for years, as growers have battled weather extremes that damaged crops across the Andean nation.

Machinery could end the labor troubles once and for all, federation president Roberto Velez told Reuters in an interview.

"Our idea is to get our own version of mechanical assistance for harvesting," Velez said, referring to similar machinery used by Brazilian growers to pick beans.

Automated harvesters, which are operated like tractors, helped Brazilian farmers cut labor costs in 2014 amid a drought and low coffee prices.

Colombia's mountainous terrain can make the use of machinery challenging, so any equipment will need to "Colombianized," he added.

In the meantime, continued shortages could damage production and export figures.

"It's a structural issue, not a temporary one - we have to find a quick and definitive solution," Velez said.

Displacements during 52 years of war, higher tree productivity and an expansion of coffee-growing in the south have increased demand for workers, he said. The federation is advertising work opportunities in local media hoping to attract pickers.

Workers can earn up to 2 million pesos, about $700, per month, nearly three times the country's monthly minimum wage, Velez said.

Colombia's growers, already reeling from drought, are bracing for torrential rains and roya leaf rust usually brought by the La Nina phenomenon, which may begin this month.

La Nina and roya have devastated the Colombian harvest before, sending annual output in 2012 down to a decades-long low of 7.7 million 60-kg bags.
Groups fighting in northern Syria

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Syria's multi-sided civil war has raged for more than five years, creating a patchwork of areas controlled by different groups supported by various external powers.

Here are the main battlefronts in northern Syria and the groups fighting there:

KURDISH PEOPLE'S PROTECTION UNITS (YPG)

The Kurdish YPG militia is at the heart of a U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State and controls swathes of the north, where Kurdish groups associated with the militia have set up their own government since the Syrian war began in 2011.

YPG-controlled areas of northern Syria include an uninterrupted 400 km (250 mile) stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border from the frontier with Iraq to the Euphrates river, and a pocket of territory in northwestern Syria called Afrin.

The YPG has been fighting Islamic State in northern Syria as part of a U.S.-backed alliance called the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), which also includes Arab groups.

In addition to fighting Islamic State, the secular YPG has also clashed with nationalist Syrian Arab insurgents and other members of non-Islamic State jihadist groups battling President Bashar al-Assad, mostly near Aleppo.

The YPG has mostly avoided conflict with the Syrian government. However the last week saw the heaviest conflict yet between the government and the YPG in the city of Hasaka, a power struggle eventually won by the YPG.

FREE SYRIAN ARMY REBEL GROUPS

There are numerous rebel groups with a Syrian nationalist agenda fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in northern Syria. Many of them have received military support from foreign states opposed to Assad, notably Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

While their main aim is to topple Assad, a number of FSA groups have also been fighting Islamic State in areas near the Turkish border. These groups are preparing to take part in a Turkey-backed operation to capture the border town of Jarablus from Islamic State. The rebels want to stop the YPG or affiliated groups from taking the town.

FSA rebels are fighting in the city of Aleppo against the Syrian government and its allies who are trying to capture the whole city. The FSA rebels have also clashed with the YPG in and around Aleppo, accusing the Kurdish group of coordinating attacks with the government. The YPG has denied this accusation.

SYRIAN GOVERNMENT

Around Aleppo, the Syrian army is supported by Russian war planes in the air and by an array of pro-government militias including Iran-backed militia and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah on the ground.

The military has throughout the war enjoyed a major advantage over its opponents thanks to its air power.

In northern Syria, the government and its allies are currently fighting insurgents in and around Aleppo. It has also fought Islamic State to the east of the city.

With its priority being to crush Arab rebels in western Syria, the government had mostly avoided conflict with the YPG, until the recent Hasaka battle.

ISLAMIC STATE

The ultra-hardline Sunni Islamist group controls around 68,300 sq km (26,370 square miles) of territory across Iraq and Syria, according to intelligence group IHS Conflict Monitor.

Aiming to safeguard the self-declared caliphate, the group is fighting nearly all the other parties in the Syria conflict.

But since the peak of its expansion in mid-2014, IS has steadily lost ground in northern Syria, mostly to the YPG. Its last significant foothold at the Syrian-Turkish border is Jarablus. It still controls the city of Raqqa, however, often described as the Syrian capital of its caliphate alongside Iraq's Mosul.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a number of coordinated and lone wolf attacks in Europe, Turkey and the United States and Canada.

The Syrian government, rebels and a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces are all, separately, fighting Islamic State across Syria.

JAISH AL FATAH

Jihadist groups are playing a vital role in the anti-Assad insurgency, notably in and around Aleppo.

Jaish al-Fatah, or the army of conquest, is a military alliance of Islamist rebel groups that drove the army and its allies last year from Idlib province, southwest of Aleppo, before the Russian intervention in Syria turned the tide in Assad's favour.

It re-emerged this year as a February ceasefire collapsed and diplomatic efforts to end the war stagnated, working with more moderate rebel groups to break a government siege of rebel-held Aleppo in July.

Its main members are Ahrar al-Sham and the powerful group formerly known as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. Nusra in July renamed itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and distanced itself from the global jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden.

The al Qaeda-affiliated Syrian branch of the Turkestan Islamic Party often fights alongside Jaish al-Fatah. The Turkestan Islamic Party is a Chinese separatist group made up mainly of Uighurs, a Chinese Muslim minority.
Sarkozy book sets out his presidential comeback platform

PARIS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy will run for president in 2017, hoping to return as France's head of state after being unseated in 2012 by the now deeply unpopular Francois Hollande.

Sarkozy will join more than a dozen contenders vying for the Les Republicains ticket in primaries, where former prime minister Alain Juppe will be his strongest rival.

Below are some key points from his policy platform outlined in a new book "Everything for France".

IMMIGRATION

* "Drastically reduce" the number of foreigners who can enter France every year.

* Any foreigner wishing to become French will have to spend at least 10 years in France before seeking citizenship, compared with five years now.

* Economic migration must stop during the next five-year presidential term.

* The right of legal immigrants to bring to France immediate family members will be suspended until there is a coherent immigration policy at the European level. ISLAMIST ATTACKS

* Create a special court for "anti-terrorist security". A similar court was used in 1963 against the OAS, a far-right paramilitary organisation that carried out attacks and assassinations in a brief attempt to prevent the independence of Algeria, a former French colony.

* Sarkozy indicates he favours a return to "double punishment" of convicted foreigners - a measure he abolished as president. It could require a reform of the European Convention of Human Rights. LABOUR LAWS

* Allow companies to determine the working hours of their employees. If management and unions cannot reach an agreement, a company vote would determine the length of the working week.

* The minimum retirement age would be increased to 63 years in 2020 and 64 years in 2025.

* The working week for civil servants would increase to 37 hours from 35 hours.

* Unemployment benefits would be gradually reduced. TAXATION

* "Immediate elimination" of the so-called solidarity tax paid by those who have assets of more than 1.3 million euros.

* Income tax would be cut by 10 percent as soon as July 2017.

* Sales of companies would benefit from a tax credit of 85 percent or a total tax exemption if the business is maintained for at least five years, with a job guarantee for a majority of employees.

* The tax relief plan for companies implemented under the current Socialist government would be doubled. At least 34 billion euros in social contributions would be cut to increase French companies' competitiveness. LAW & ORDER

* Stiffen sentences for multiple offenders. After three convictions, the offender's sentence would be automatically increased by 25 percent. After five convictions, by 50 percent and after 10 convictions, by 100 percent.

* The age of criminal responsibility would be lowered to 16 from 18 currently.
Ghana president orders men who threatened judges freed from jail

ACCRA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Ghana President John Mahama has decreed the early release of three men convicted over death threats against Supreme Court judges made during a panel discussion broadcast on a local radio station.

The case was part of a bid by authorities to ensure stability ahead of a presidential election in December and protect Ghana's image as a beacon of peace in West Africa.

Amid a dispute in June over voter roll revisions the Mahama supporters said on Accra-based Montie FM that they would hunt down and "finish" judges if they ruled in favour of the opposition.

They were convicted by the Supreme Court of contempt following a high-profile hearing and sentenced to four months in prison.

Mahama on Friday ordered them freed after they expressed remorse in a direct appeal, said a government statement distributed on Tuesday. The men had also apologised in court.

"The president reminds all concerned especially persons working in the media ... to guard against the use of intemperate language which has the potential of causing unnecessary tension especially in this election year," the statement said.

Politicians of all parties say it is vital to ensure peace during what is likely to be a closely-fought election between Mahama and opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo. Religious leaders and traditional chiefs have reinforced the same message.
Philippines' Duterte says talks with China on sea dispute 'within the year'

By Manuel Mogato

MANILA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he expects talks with China on their South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an international ruling rejecting China's claims there when he attends a regional summit next month.

An arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July when it ruled that China had no historical title over the South China Sea and it had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with various actions there.

Raising the issue at a summit in Laos of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, together with its "dialogue partners" including China, the United States and Japan, would inevitably compound China's anger.

Duterte, speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Manila, said it was "better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there".

Asked about a date for bilateral talks, he said: "Within the year."

The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that has been concerned about China's pursuit of territory in the South China Sea, said it welcomed efforts by rival claimants to manage and resolve differences peacefully.

At the same time, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said Washington "urge(d) that negotiation should be undertaken on terms acceptable to all parties, free from coercion or the use or threat of force."

Washington was a strong backer of the case the Philippines brought against China, but has sought unsuccessfully to forge a unified position among Southeast Asia countries on the issue.

Richey-Allen did not comment on Duterte's comment that he would not raise the issue at Sept. 6-8 Laos summit, which U.S. President Barack Obama is due to attend.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims to parts of the sea.

Duterte said the Philippines had no intention of raising the arbitration ruling during the summit, although he added: "If somebody dwells on it, we will discuss, but for the Philippines, we have talks."

If formal negotiations with China were to fall through, "where do we go?" he asked.

A former Philippine president, Fidel Ramos, traveled to Hong Kong this month in an effort to rekindle damaged ties with Beijing.

While there, Ramos said the Philippines wanted talks with China to explore a path to peace and cooperation.

Duterte said his government wanted to talk to China so Philippine fishermen could return to the disputed Scarborough Shoal fishing ground.

In 2012, China seized the shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case.

China has ignored the court's ruling that none of its claims in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile (320 km) exclusive economic zone. Its construction work on reefs there has alarmed other claimants, as well the United States and Japan.
Chile issues health alert after faults found in condoms

SANTIAGO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Chile's health authorities on Tuesday issued an alert and said they were investigating reported problems with Chinese-made condoms distributed for free in family health centers nationwide.

The public health institute ordered that three batches of approximately 1.7 million Kaiju condoms be withheld from distribution while it investigated reports that they broke during use and were too small.

"This is a preventative measure to avoid any problem with users of the product and to show vigilance," said health official Jaime Burrows.

The problems may be related to incorrect storage, said public health institute director Alex Figueroa, adding that people were being asked not to use those already distributed.

Kaiju said on its Facebook page that the product had arrived in Chile in 2014 and 2015 and had been fully tested without problems.
GRAINS-Corn touches one-week low on improved U.S. crop conditions

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures slid to a one-week low on Tuesday and soybean futures lost ground, a day after a U.S. government report showed both crops were thriving.

Expectations that a privately run U.S. crop tour would uncover stronger yields in the coming days than on Monday, when it began, put additional pressure on prices, traders said.

Massive supplies of crops are a focus for traders as farmers will soon start bringing in harvests from their fields, adding to inventories already in storage.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) helped fuel expectations for big harvests with a report on Monday that raised the corn crop's good-to-excellent rating by one percentage point. That surprised analysts and traders, who had generally expected a decline.

Crop ratings typically deteriorate heading into autumn, so the improvement weighed on prices, said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading in Indiana.

"I'd have to blame it solely on crop conditions," he said about the price move.

Chicago Board of Trade most-active corn dropped 1.5 percent to $3.37-1/4 a bushel. The contract earlier fell to $3.35-1/4, its lowest price since Aug. 16.

Soybeans slipped 0.2 percent to $10.13-1/2 a bushel, and wheat gave up 1.8 percent to $4.27-1/2 a bushel.

Traders estimated that funds were net sellers of about 7,000 to 13,000 corn contracts, 4,000 to 6,000 wheat contracts and zero to 1,000 soybean contracts.

The USDA surprised traders earlier this month by sharply raising its U.S. corn and soybean production forecasts, with average yields for both crops at a record high.

This week, they are assessing results from the annual Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. Participants on Tuesday reported that corn and soybean fields in central and east-central Indiana were generally on track for bigger-than-average harvests.

That was a change from Monday, when scouts found harvest prospects for crops in South Dakota were lower than a year ago. They projected corn yields in Ohio would come in roughly unchanged from last year and below a three-year average.

"Scouts should start moving into much better-yielding areas as the tour progresses," said Kevin Van Trump, chief executive officer for agricultural consultancy Farm Direction.

The tour ends on Thursday. Pro Farmer on Friday will release national corn and soybean crop estimates that incorporate what participants saw.
Islamabad is fully responsible for the rising heat in India-Pakistan ties.

It has brazenly sought to stoke the current unrest in Kashmir, disregarding the repercussions on relations with India.

Nawaz Sharif, supposedly committed to betterment of bilateral ties, has led in attacking India for using "excessive force" in the Valley.

He declared the slain terrorist Burhan Wani a martyr, called for observing July 19 as martyrdom day in his honour and for celebrating Pakistan's Independence Day as Kashmir Freedom Day.

Campaign

Pakistan asked the International Human Rights Commission to investigate India's atrocities in Kashmir and Pakistani ambassadors were instructed to launch an international campaign against India on this count.

Hafiz Saeed, a UN-designated international terrorist, was allowed to lead a protest march in Islamabad on August 4 against the visiting Indian home minister.

Sharif has been provocative on Kashmir on several earlier occasions. He has harshly attacked India at the UN General Assembly, repeatedly called Kashmir Pakistan's jugular vein, advocated self-determination for Kashmir in accordance with UN resolutions and so on.

This has, however, not deterred Modi from spending his political capital in engaging him and keeping the dialogue channels open. He has overseen Pakistani abetted terrorist attacks in Punjab and Jammu.

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. (AP)

New Delhi has shown some understanding of Sharif's political compulsions in being strident on Kashmir periodically in order to cover his flanks vis-a-vis the armed forces and religious groups.

His verbal onslaughts have been tolerated in the belief that strengthening the civilian democratically elected leadership against the armed forces served India's longer term interest.

This time, however, Sharif has gone beyond managing domestic political pressures.

At one time he seemed ready to give greater priority to the terrorism issue in order to facilitate a dialogue, but even when India awaits a satisfactory answer on the Mumbai attacks and Pakistan's about-turn on the Pathankot attacks has caused further frustration, Sharif has openly lionised terrorism in Kashmir, worsening the differences on this sensitive issue.

Modi had reached out to him personally in an effort to build some equation that could facilitate the management of a fundamentally antagonistic relationship, but with Sharif wilfully adding fuel to the fire in Kashmir, Modi will have to play his diplomatic cards with him differently now, with less room for personal gestures.

Pakistan has continued its diplomatic belligerency by plying our ambassador in Islamabad with provocative and propagandist notes calling for self-determination for Kashmiris, demanding an end to human rights violations there, seeking authorisation to send humanitarian assistance to the Valley including medicines and a team of doctors to treat eye injuries and so on.

To needle us further, it has invited the Indian foreign secretary to visit Islamabad to discuss the Kashmir issue. India has retorted by declaring that Pakistan has no locus standi on Kashmir, that it must cease interference in India's internal affairs, that Kashmir is an integral part of India and that the only issue to be discussed is vacation by Pakistan of J&K territory under its illegal occupation.

Terrorism

We have asked Pakistan to stop exporting terrorism, end infiltration, arrest UN declared international terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and give a status report on progress in the investigation of the Mumbai and Pathankot terror attacks. In our view terrorism alone has to be the focus of any FS-level talks.

With these hardened positions the prospects of any resumption of dialogue, already dim, have receded further.

Modi has expressed his frustration with Pakistan by turning the tables on it on humanitarian issues by drawing attention to human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (a better terminology as it automatically includes Gilgit/Baltistan) and in Balochistan. Pakistan's accusation that India is interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs by speaking of Balochistan is altogether phoney as it has interfered in India's internal affairs, even outside J&K, for decades.

Critical

It has interfered in Punjab during a critical period and has flayed India internationally on the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat riots issues.

It has abetted terrorism in various Indian states, with the 2008 Mumbai attack being particularly heinous.

These are the many other redlines that Pakistan has crossed in its relations with India, such as its attempted territorial grab in Kargil in 1999 and official threats to use nuclear weapons against India.

For Pakistan to characterise Modi's mention of the human rights situation in Balochistan as crossing of redlines is truly ridiculous.

That Modi's remarks on Balochistan should be criticised domestically by some opposition and media circles is unfortunate.

It is incomprehensible why India should be reproached for discarding the Panchsheel doctrine in its relations with Pakistan when, besides the fact that this doctrine pertains to India-China relations, Pakistan has not observed its principles for the last 70 years.

How India loses its moral high ground if it raises human rights issues in Balochistan is hard to fathom.

According to this reasoning, the US should be at the bottom of the moral ladder as it pronounces on human rights violations everywhere.

Those in India (echoing Pakistan) who are criticising Modi for diverting attention from the situation in the Valley by raising Balochistan, obviously do not believe that Pakistan has been diverting attention from its grave domestic problems by incessantly agitating the Kashmir issue and offering internal jihadi groups an external target for paradise-seeking quests.
Saturday, August 20 was late Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's birthday. Rajiv Gandhis political career lasted barely seven years; it started with the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi in 1984 and ended with his own assassination. But within those years, he made a mark by doing things differently from the traditional political class.

Had the charismatic leader not become the victim of an LTTE suicide bomber on May 21, 1991, the Congress party's fortunes might have been scripted differently.

Now I understand why Americans had failed to read the 9/11 attack.

Neena Gopal's latest book The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi has once again brought the focus on the sordid episode of the nation's failure to protect its former prime minister. I have always found Sri Lanka fascinating, particularly after serving as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990.

The author, during the course of writing the book, had long conversations with me on the situation leading up to Rajiv Gandhis assassination. I have not read the book yet; but I find from the published extracts the book contains some of my recollections.

Rajiv Gandhi served as prime minister from 1984 to 1989; he had no political experience but his exuberance to get things done and impulsiveness and impatience to get results endeared him to the masses. He attempted to end longstanding conflicts facing the country during his term. While some of them like river-water sharing in Punjab and ending Bodo insurgency in Assam were partly successful, many other such attempts did not live up to the expectations.

When Rajiv came to power, India-Sri Lanka relations were in a mess. Indira Gandhi had given sanctuary to a motley collection of Tamil separatist insurgent groups who had fled the island nation along with thousands of Tamils in the wake of Sri Lanka's infamous July 1983 pogrom against Tamils. The Tamil insurgent groups became a potential threat to Sri Lankas sovereignty. So Sri Lanka had little option but to accept Indian counsel, particularly after talks with Tamil groups failed to yield results.

Rajiv Gandhi signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord 1987 with President JR Jayawardane to ensure Sri Lankan Tamils got a degree of autonomy within a united Sri Lanka, while India underwrote the disarming of Tamil militants. The Accord was hastily conceived and hurriedly executed in typical Rajiv Gandhi style of trying to resolve problems in double time, often defying political wisdom. Though the implementation of the Accord cost Rajiv Gandhi his life, it is an anachronism that both the countries never allowed it to reach its logical conclusion.

Rajiv Gandhi's leadership had done quite well till opposition parties managed to rally together and focus on his alleged involvement in the Bofors gun purchase scandal; the misconceived Indian army intervention in Sri Lanka only added masala to the allegations of Rajiv's ineptness. The young Gandhi scion's popularity drastically came down, resulting in the Congress partys defeat in the national elections held in 1989.

It was a depressing time for men in uniform like me in Sri Lanka from 1988 onwards when opposition parties at home ridiculed the Indian forces while the Congress was put on the defensive. The DMK government, which had come to power in Tamil Nadu, was openly hostile to the IPKF.

It extended hospitality to wounded LTTE cadres in the state, while our soldiers fighting them died un-mourned on foreign soil.

The VP Singh government in New Delhi and President Premadasa were on the same page on the recall of IPKF. It was on March 24, 1990 that the last landing craft carrying IPKF commander and his operations group left Trincomalee harbour to Chennai.

Thus both the governments saved the LTTE from annihilation as IPKF had already cut it down to size, reducing the overblown self-image of Prabhakaran to the realistic proportion of an insurgent leader in hiding in the jungle. He knew he was fighting with his back to the wall; eight batches of LTTE leadership were dead.

Even as IPKF observed a ceasefire, Prabhakaran had secretly made common cause with his sworn enemy Sri Lanka President Ranasinghe Premadasa to do what he couldn't - to evict the IPKF from Sri Lanka. It must have been a humiliating experience for Prabhakaran to break bread with Premadasa.

Prabhakarans plot to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi was probably conceived at that time. Premadasa readily obliged the LTTE leader; he not only issued an ultimatum to India to withdraw the forces from the island but also supplied arms to the LTTE.

During the next couple of months, the IPKF was being disbanded in Chennai and our headquarters was being wound up. The component units and formations moved out. Last of our radio interception units that had regularly shared its output of LTTE transmissions brought me one such intercept.

It was a recording of one of the LTTE networks operating from somewhere in Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. The contents of the conversation in the peculiar Jaffna Tamil dialect were startling. It ordered the dumping of Rajiv Gandhi. While I dont remember the exact wording, the scene is still embedded in my mind.

Dumping is the term the LTTE used for killing. I was familiar with the dialect LTTE used in their communication. In 1987, I had collected the documentation of LTTE kangaroo courts done with Nazi precision ordering dumping of 102 people who were shot and dumped in garbage pits for committing crimes like selling drugs, soliciting et al. I called the radio operator who knew Jaffna Tamil very well to confirm the content of the intercept; he was emphatic it was an order to kill Rajiv Gandhi. I was shocked and immediately informed the IPKF force commander.

He asked me not to touch it. He had good reasons because we have no functional headquarters for follow up action. He asked me to hand over the audio cassette to the Intelligence Bureau in Chennai for taking further action. Immediately, I went over to the IB headquarters and met the joint director.

He was a good friend known to me for more than a decade. He listened to the audio and laughed at me. Colonel, it is all bravado. They are not specifically saying when and where Rajiv should be killed. In any case, I dont believe they would kill Rajiv. Why would they? I still remember the conversation because it left me uneasy though I had no answer to his logical reasoning. With a troubled mind, I returned to my office.

I checked with my Sri Lankan Tamil sources who said Rajiv Gandhis assassination would be in keeping with Prabhakarans style.

Later, when I was in New Delhi in early 1991, I dropped into the North Block office of the same IB officer I had met in Chennai. He was holding a top security appointment. He asked me about my future plans after retirement in March 1991 and offered to assist me in case I needed any help. I again asked him about the Rajiv Gandhi assassination cassette; he simply laughed it off.

The rest is history; Rajiv Gandhis killing came as a shock to me. I was left with a lingering feeling of guilt for not vigorously pursuing the information I had in hand which could have prevented the assassination. When the Special Investigation Team was formed to investigate Rajiv Gandhis assassination, its chief DR Karthikeyan called me to help out in the investigations. As I had retired, I suggested the names of officers and NCOs who could help him to progress the investigation.

I also informed him about the audio cassette containing assassination threat to Rajiv Gandhi I had handed over to the IB. He told me the Navy also had a similar intercept.

This is one instance where Indian intelligence community as a whole had failed. Now I understand why Americans had failed to read the 9/11 attack although they had bits and pieces of information about it well in advance. Collecting information is one thing; but assessing what it implied is a different ball game.

Napoleon said if you expect the enemy to attack from four directions, he may well do it from the fifth one!
 Albemarle County Professional Fire Fighters Association and Charlottesville Fire Department continues the annual Fill the Boot fundraising campaign through Sept. 5. Members will be located outside local shopping centers and intersections, accepting donations for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. (804) 285-2961.

 Charlottesville City Council offers grants to homeowners who may not otherwise qualify for the citys elderly and disabled tax relief programs. Details are available at charlottesville.org/COR or (434) 970-3160.

 Chris Breiner Viticulture & Enology Scholarship accepts applications through Sept. 6 for scholarships designed to cover the cost of the enology and viticulture certificate programs offered at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Details are available at pvcc.edu/chris-breiner-scholarship. (434) 961-5354.

 Charlottesville Lyme Support holds its monthly meeting from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Central Library, 201 E. Market St. (434) 245-2218.

 City of Charlottesville holds an Our Town Charlottesville town hall-type meeting for the Johnson Village, Frys Spring and Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhoods to discuss emerging issues, ask questions or share concerns with City Council members and staff members from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Johnson Elementary School at 1645 Cherry Ave. Dinner and childcare will be provided. (434) 970-3129.

 DePaul Community Resources holds an information meeting on becoming a foster or adoptive parent from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday at 552 Hillsdale Drive. (434) 977-9847.

 Dominion Power holds a job fair for construction trades for solar energy facilities to be built in Virginia from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday at Virginia Workforce Center at 2211 Hydraulic Road. (800) 526-8324.

 Hospice of the Piedmont accepts applications for its fall Journeys Bereavement Day Camp, which is offered from 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Oct. 1 at Camp Holiday Trails to children and teens ages 5 through 18 who have been affected by the recent or impending death of a loved one. Details are available at hopva.org. (434) 817-6900.

 Junior League of Charlottesville accepts applications through Sept. 19 for its fall 2016 community grants program that awards up to $2,500 to help nonprofit community organizations meet immediate local needs. Details and online applications are available at jlcville.org. (304) 228-7030.

 Quit Smoking Charlottesville, a free support group, will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. each Thursday from Sept. 8 through Nov. 3 at the Charlottesville/Albemarle Health Department at 1138 Rose Hill Drive. (434) 296-5525

 Scottsville Senior Center accepts applications for free membership. The center meets from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Wednesday at Scottsville Community Center. Details are available by calling (434) 286-6890.

 Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center is closed through Aug. 31 for maintenance and renovations. The Smith Access Pass will be honored at Carver Recreation Center at 233 Fourth St. NW and Crow Pool at 1700 Rose Hill Drive. (434) 970-3083.

 Steven D. Rosenfield hosts a screening of the documentary The Promise, about the evidence that convicted Jens Soering, followed by a discussion of newly developed evidence and a question-and-answer session at noon Wednesday at CitySpace at 100 Fifth St. NE. (434) 220-4852.

 Virginia Extension Services accepts registration for the day-long official 4-H Babysitters Training Course, which will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 3 at the Albemarle County Office Building on Fifth Street Extended. $10. (434) 872-4580.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe promised to make Virginia a center for biotechnology during a visit to the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in Charlottesville on Monday afternoon.

I want Virginia to be known as the brain state, he said. These are the jobs of the future.

In the spring, the General Assembly reached a deal with the governor to set aside about $2.2 billion for higher education investment research. Much of that funding will go to research centers such as the foundation, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.

McAuliffe said the state will need to invest in this field as Virginia loses jobs in the defense industry.

Were losing a lot of high-paying defense-industry jobs, he said. Bio[technology] could replace a lot of those jobs.

Charlottesville is quickly becoming a center for biotechnology research. Focused ultrasound  which utilizes directed beams of ultrasound energy to destroy tumors or cancerous cells, or to deliver medication  has made international news as a possible treatment for a wide range of maladies.

The technology could be particularly useful for combating neurological disorders because it could provide a less invasive, less risky and less expensive means of treatment.

It is currently in use in Europe and Israel, but not widely available in the United States.

The foundation recently capped off five years of research on the use of focused ultrasound to treat essential tremor. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will begin offering reimbursements for the treatment later this year, making it a viable commercial treatment in the U.S.

Dr. Neal Kassell said Medicaid reimbursements will finally open the floodgates for the field of focused ultrasound in the U.S. There are about 60 disorders  including 15 neurological disorders  the foundation has identified for possible treatment with focused ultrasound.

The first experimental treatments on patients with epilepsy will begin in the next few weeks to months, Kassell said.

Following McAuliffes lead, UVa recently established the Brain Institute, which will conduct interdisciplinary research on the human brain. Scientists from around the world hailed the discovery, by a UVa researcher, of a link between the brain and the immune system.

Its this kind of research that McAuliffe believes could put Virginia on top.

Dr. Richard Shannon, who oversees the UVa Health System, said the potential is there.

I think weve got a number of discoveries here that put us in position, he said. Were in the lead, but we wont stay there unless we keep pushing.

More information is available at fusfoundation.org or by calling (434) 220-4993.
RICHMOND  Calling rights restoration an issue of basic justice, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Monday that he had restored the rights of more than 13,000 felons on a case-by-case basis and will continue to do so for the rest of about 206,000 ex-offenders.

Saying the states restoration process was, and is, unfair, an undaunted McAuliffe promised that his administration would continue to restore rights to ex-offenders who have served their sentences but do so consistent with the state Supreme Courts ruling July 22 that restoration must be done on an individual basis.

He said felons whose rights he restores will have been subjected to a thorough review that involves more than a half-dozen agencies. McAuliffes administration still has not released the list of the approximately 206,000 felons subject to his April 22 order that was overturned.

We will proceed, McAuliffe said to the crowd of recently restored voters, elected leaders and administration officials during a noon ceremony at the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial on Capitol Square in Richmond. I will not stand down.

The governor said each of the 13,000 people who had registered to vote before the Supreme Court overturned his order was mailed an individual letter Friday indicating that their rights had been restored after a review. Accompanying the letter was a voter registration card, so they can re-register.

McAuliffe said those sent the letter, and those individual felons who are granted rights in the future, will be subject to a thorough review that involves agencies including the Virginia State Police, Department of Corrections, Department of Criminal Justice Services, Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Behavioral Health, and the Secretary of the Commonwealths office.

The governor had promised to swiftly restore rights a second time on an individual basis for the roughly 13,000 ex-offenders who registered to vote before the Supreme Courts ruling. Administration officials Monday said the process took about three weeks and more than a dozen staffers to complete.

The restoration announcement for the 13,000 applied to felons who had been granted their voting rights under McAuliffes mass civil rights restoration orders in April, May and June but were ordered stricken from the voting rolls when the Supreme Court of Virginia rescinded the order after a legal challenge by Republican leaders in the General Assembly.

McAuliffe said restorations will be handled in the order of those who have waited the longest. He said the administration will release a list of all people whose rights have been restored on the 15th of each month.

These men and women have endured enough hardship and disappointment, the governor said, taking aim at Republican leaders in the legislature who he said have deliberately worked to suppress their votes in our democracy.

McAuliffe was introduced by Eric Branch, who served four and a half years in prison for breaking and entering and was released in April 1992.

This is a wonderful occasion, said Branch, whose rights were restored in June 2015. The governor clearly understands that this is a moral issue and an economic issue  in the context of our greater struggle for civil rights.

***

Mondays event amounted to a public relations reset for the McAuliffe administration, which announced with much fanfare a mass restoration order four months ago based on a list of felons believed eligible for reinstatement.

But the list proved to have flaws and unintentionally qualified some felons who still were incarcerated or ineligible for restoration.

In April, McAuliffe had said he issued the mass restoration order to address Virginias restoration policy, which he said was a vestige of the states Jim Crow laws aimed at disenfranchising the black vote.

While a host of Jim Crow restraints  such as poll taxes and literacy tests  impeded voting by blacks, the felon ban dates to a version of the state constitution adopted in 1830.

The ban on felons voting disproportionately affects blacks, who made up 58.5 percent of Virginias prison population as of mid-2014, according to the Department of Corrections. Virginia is one state among a handful that does not provide some form of automatic rights restoration to ex-offenders.

Republican leaders, angered over McAuliffes blanket order in April, criticized it as an unconstitutional act contradicting the requirement that a governor restore rights on an individual basis.

They also called it an attempt by the Democratic governor to fatten the voting rolls to help his party in the upcoming presidential and congressional elections. McAuliffe is a longtime friend of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and was chairman of her 2008 presidential bid.

The GOP leaders sued  and in a 4-3 ruling on July 22, the Supreme Court of Virginia struck down McAuliffes order. The court ordered the Virginia Department of Elections to cancel the registration of all felons who had been invalidly registered under McAuliffes actions.

Virginians believe in second chances, and that is why our constitution established an individualized process to restore the political rights of those who are deserving, House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said in a statement issued after the McAuliffe announcement Monday.

The numerous mistakes Governor McAuliffe made attempting to restore rights en masse and the ongoing evaluation of an unknown number of individuals originally affected by the original order demonstrates the wisdom of a case-by-case process, added Howell, saying that leaders will review McAuliffes process and serve as a check on the excesses of executive power.

***

The governors restoration orders and the Virginia Supreme Courts ruling created electoral chaos.

McAuliffes office had blamed the complications on Republican leaders in the legislature who challenged the governors order in court. GOP leaders say they brought the suit to hold McAuliffe accountable to the state constitution.

Local registrars were obligated to remove from the voting rolls felons who had registered.

One of the affected voters was a candidate for Richmond School Board. In another local case, Michelle Mosby, a candidate for mayor of Richmond, submitted the minimum number of 50 ballot signatures from one district. One of her 50 signatures was from a felon who regained his rights under McAuliffes April order, then lost them in the Supreme Courts ruling.

In addition to the right to vote, restoration of civil rights enables an ex-offender to serve on a jury, become a notary public and seek elected office. People who regain their civil rights subsequently may petition a circuit court for restoration of their rights to possess firearms.

Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, said McAuliffe alone was responsible for those who have endured the roller-coaster of bureaucratic incompetence his executive overreach exposed.

Norment said the governors criticism of the Supreme Courts July 22 court ruling and the legislature was petulant and imprudent and said the episode should serve as a cautionary tale for those who would declare policies by fiat, circumventing the protections enshrined in the Constitution of Virginia.

McAuliffe said he again would ask the GOP-controlled legislature to back automatic restoration, a process he said is the law in 40 other states.

Extending voting rights to individuals who are living and working in our communities is not a partisan act, he said in urging lawmakers, Democratic and Republican alike, to go earn these Virginians votes.

Republicans might not be in the mood to cooperate with the governor. A number take issue with McAuliffes decision to make his restoration policy apply to violent as well as nonviolent felons.

Others were angered by an order he issued last year that allowed felons to restore their civil rights without first needing to satisfy their court fees or pay restitution to crime victims.

Undoubtedly, the governor has restored the rights of some deserving citizens, Howell said. But, there is also no doubt that he has restored the rights of some odious criminals.

In the meantime, the governor said he will concede no ground despite the monumental and momentous task to undertake restoration on a case-by-case basis.

The lesson of history will show that our aim is true and our cause is just, he said.

Toward the end of his remarks Monday, McAuliffe said he realized there would be some errors in the mass restoration policy due to its massive administrative challenge and 17 million data points.

Said Norment: I sincerely hope the administration has taken greater care in issuing these case-by case restoration orders than it demonstrated over the last four months.

Jim Nolan reports for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Three Northern Virginia men accused of killing a Louisa County man during a shootout earlier this year have been indicted on first-degree murder charges, according to authorities.

On July 11, a grand jury indicted Darcel Murphy, 29, of Stafford; Dion Phoenix, 24, of Woodbridge; and Tobias Owens, 30, also of Woodbridge, on charges of first-degree murder, robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and use of a firearm in the commission of murder. Murphy and Phoenix also face charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The defendants originally were charged with second-degree murder, but the grand jury upgraded the charge for all three men to first-degree murder, according to a news release.

At about 6:45 p.m. on March 30, rescue crews were called out to a home in the 2100 block of Oakland Road in Louisa County after the homeowner, Kevin Eugene Robinson, was found dead by a visiting family member. Robinsons body was covered in a blanket with just the lower part of his body visible, according to authorities.

Thinking Robinson had had a heart attack, the family member called 911, but when rescue arrived, authorities said it was clear Robinson had been shot several times. The rescue scene immediately turned into a criminal investigation.

Authorities said the scene indicated a shootout between Robinson and the home invaders.

According to court records, Murphy has previous convictions for robbery and abduction in Hampton County, as well as a robbery in Newport News. He also pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute a Schedule I or II drug in Prince William County.

Murphy, Owens and Phoenix are scheduled to be arraigned in Louisa County Circuit Court on Sept. 12, according to a news release from the Louisa County Sheriffs Office. But according to online court records, Owens is only scheduled to be in Louisa County General District Court on Sept. 8. Clarification from authorities could not be confirmed Monday.

Murphy and Phoenix are being held without bond at the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange. Owens is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
Tuesday marked the five-year anniversary of the 5.8-magnitude Mineral Earthquake felt by tens of millions of people along the East Coast, including those in Culpeper County where structural damage in old town was especially severe, and U.S. Senator Mark Warner, D-Virginia, experienced the immediate aftermath.

Five years later, lessons have been learned and memories of that shaky day remain intact. Theres still a hole at 118 N. Main St. where the circa-1870 Levy building once stood  the most visible reminder of the local damage done in the quake that occurred at 1:51 p.m. The old building was dramatically cracked up its side in the quake, and condemned by Culpeper officials as unsafe before being demolished days later.

A bit of good news is that work has finally started in earnest to construct a park on the empty lot sandwiched between a deli and a lawyers office. Culpeper Renaissance is leading the park effort, and its members were on site Tuesday working on the beautification project they hope to see to fruition within the next month.

Culpeper Renaissance board president-elect Jonathan Krawchuk, station manager at Culpeper Media Network, was filming in the Library of Congress Packard Theater on Mount Pony in anticipation of Warners visit when the earthquake struck.

The chandeliers were swinging, Krawchuk recalled. It sounded like a bus was going right over us.

Warner said Tuesday that he was in a vehicle on his way to Culpeper and didnt feel the earthquake. He found out about it over the phone and when he arrived at Mount Pony was forced to stay outside while they checked for structural damage at the Library of Congress.

While that day was definitely a memorable one for me and many other people, its certainly not one any of us are eager to repeat, Warner said. Its another reminder that we must do all we can to ensure the resiliency of our buildings, bridges, roads and tunnels against natural disasters, and its one reason why I have introduced the BRIDGE Act, which would make it easier for states and localities to access financing to modernize and improve transportation networks, water and wastewater systems and energy infrastructure.

On a smaller scale, Krawchuk said the park on the Main Street Culpeper lot would be completed as soon as humanly possible, and there were signs of progress Tuesday morning.

Local Christmas tree farmer Tom OHalloran recently laid pavers for the path that will traverse the E.B. Wood Memorial Park, named for the buildings late owner. He was back at it again Tuesday.

In addition, over the weekend, volunteers constructed framing around the unsightly walls of the neighboring buildings left exposed to the elements since the earthquake.

The framing will be covered with corrugated baked enamel steel, bright white, to cover up all that stuff, said CRI President Steve Miller.

Miller was in Manhattan the day of the earthquake, retiring from a long corporate career and preparing to open Piedmont Steakhouse in downtown Culpeper.

CRI secretary Lee Rees, with the Culpeper Police Department, was at his home in Madison County when the earthquake happened, and immediately reported for duty. Among the lessons learned since, he cited the importance of working together as a community to solve problems, even those ones for which no planning is possible.

Have your connections in place to make sure things go smoothly, Rees said.

Cell phone connectivity was pretty much nonexistent for a while during the beginning of the earthquake event, noted Culpeper County Administrator John Egertson in reflecting on lessons learned.

We have since put into place the GETS  government emergency telecommunications service  to allow the emergency operations center to communicate by phone if this should happen again, he said.

Culpeper County Building Official Bob Orr, the last word on condemning the Levy Building, said Tuesday that, since the earthquake, he has attended training by the International Code Council focusing on disaster evaluation of structures.

We are in the process of the implementation of new software for the building and zoning departments, he said. This product includes a module that tracks damaged properties and generates FEMA reports, which helps save time as this documentation is time-critical.

FEMA approved nearly $40 million in disaster aid for Virginia counties damaged in the earthquake, including Culpeper, where preliminary damage amounts totaled more than $6.5 million, according to Piedmont Environmental Council.

Retired Culpeper Town Construction Engineer Hank Milans helped inspect the Levy Building, though he admitted Tuesday that he was hesitant to enter the heavily-damaged structure.

Milans recalled being on Davis Street until 11 p.m. on the day of the earthquake, inspecting buildings all over town. He was on the third floor of town hall when the temblor happened.

We knew it was an earthquake right off the bat. It sounded like the sonic boom of a jet, he said. Town hall is a steel structure building and it shook pretty good.

Other Culpeper buildings damaged in the quake included the towns oldest church at St. Stephens Episcopal that survived the Civil War and the circa 1757 estate at Salubria in the county. Both have since been repaired, but not without substantial restoration and expense.

According to a recent study in the Journal of Geophysical Research, more earthquakes are likely in the area. Researchers have discovered pieces of the mantle have been breaking off in this region below the North American Plate and sinking deeper into the earth.

The largest ever recorded earthquake occurred in 1960 in Chile, measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale, followed at number two by the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, measuring 9.2, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has restored civil rights to almost 13,000 felons whose voter registrations were nullified by a Virginia Supreme Court order, he announced Monday.

McAuliffe, whose plan to restore voting rights to more than 200,000 felons through executive orders was thwarted by a Republican challenge in the states highest court, said he will update the review process while meeting the courts case-by-case criteria.

While the Democratic governor hopes the political battle waged since spring will settle, General Assembly Republicans said theyre reviewing the new process.

The governor speaks of returning voting rights to convicted felons more swiftly to overcome Jim Crow-era restrictions meant to suppress black voters.

If Virginia did things the way they had always been done, this is not a place any of us would want to call home, McAuliffe said in his speechMonday. If Virginia did what weve always done, our children would still attend segregated schools.

McAuliffe said the Secretary of the Commonwealths Office will vet each individual who has served their time and completed supervised release. The secretariat will cross-reference each person with several state agencies, including Virginia State Police, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Corrections.

On April 22, McAuliffe announced a sweeping order restoring voting rights to a 200,000-person class of convicted felons. After a Republican challenge, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in JulyMcAuliffe can only approve civil rights, including to serve on a jury, one person at a time.

Prior to April 22, the administration automatically reviewed civil rights restoration for people convicted of non-violent crimes, a process eased under Republican governor Bob McDonnells administration.

Automatic review  not automatic restoration  will expand to all felons regardless of their crimes severity as long as they have completed their sentences and supervised release, Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Thomasson said in an interview Monday. Updated restoration lists will be available monthly, McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe said the criminal justice system already punishes more serious crimes with longer sentences.

Throughout the political and legal battle after April 22, Republican legislators said violent felons should have stricter standards for rights restoration than non-violent felons.

That principle, folks, is not found anywhere in the constitution. What happens is it leaves different governors applying different subjective standards to Virginians who simply want a voice in our society, McAuliffe said in his speech.

The administration plans to restore rights in order by the date individuals were released from supervision. Those wishing to move ahead may contact the Secretary of the Commonwealths Office.

The order is not meant to directly affect restoration of gun rights.

McAuliffe also called on Republicans to take up an amendment to the Virginia Constitution to remove the case-by-case requirement.

They are unlikely to answer.

A statement issued Mondayfrom Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said errors made administering the original orders, demonstrate the wisdom of a case-by-case process.

He said the General Assembly will review the governors new process and whether it meets legal requirements.

Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, a member of the House Courts of Justice Committee, said the process worked well under the McDonnell administration.

Im still shaking my head trying to figure out why the system that has been in place since Bob McDonnell was governor isnt working and needs additional changes, Cline said.  He hasnt complied with the law thus far, so were going to have to look at it pretty closely.

The administration started this round by reviewing the 12,833 people who had registered to vote under McAuliffes executive orders in April, May and June. Most of those individuals were approved August 15, but some are under review, Thomasson said.

Of the total registered, more than 400 registered in the Lynchburg area.

Marcus Oliver, who was last convicted in 2009 of drug possession, said hell be checking the mail every day after hearing notices were mailed to that group Friday.

Thomasson confirmed Monday Olivers rights were restored.

If I could shake his hand, Id give him a hug, Oliver said of McAuliffe.

Oliver plans to re-register to vote in Lynchburg Friday on his day off. Those with restored rights like every other Virginian must register by Oct. 17 to cast a ballot in the Nov. 8 presidential and congressional elections.
British rocker Ozzy Osbourne hilariously ridiculed the fate of famed Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson when recently visiting the grave of his left arm, buried in the family cemetery at historic Ellwood on the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County  as portrayed on a recent episode of the new History Channel show, Ozzy and Jacks World Detour.

Premiering last month, the program follows the former Black Sabbath front man and his reality TV star son  both apparent history buffs  as they visit significant sites. The duo was on its way to Jamestown when they made a detour in Orange, resulting in two minutes of humorous, albeit historic air time.

Were in Civil War country now, are we? asks Ozzy in the beginning of the brief segment to which Jack replies, Big time. The Civil War started around here and ended around here. This was the front line.

Jack said he stumbled upon the site of Stonewalls Jacksons amputated arm on the Internet.

This famous generals arm is buried here, he says, eliciting an incredulous, What!?! from Ozzy, the first of many similar reactions.

Jackson was one of the most gifted tactical commanders in history, Jack says, and they called him Stonewall because he stopped an advance like a stone wall, that is, until his own troops shot him during the 1863 Battle at Chancellorsville. Jackson was badly wounded and transported to the nearby field hospital at Ellwood manor, where his arm was amputated.

Why didnt they call him Stonewall one-arm Jackson? asks Ozzy to which Jack replied, They probably would have but he died seven days later.

Jackson was 39.

Stonewall one-arm dead Jackson, Ozzy says as they travel along Route 20 approaching the Wilderness Battlefield area and entrance to Ellwood.

They had a funeral for his arm? asks Ozzy to which Jack explained that Jacksons wife didnt want to disturb the grave where the appendage had already been buried.

What!?! says Ozzy.

Weird, right? says Jack.

Pulling up to Ellwood unannounced, Ozzy proclaims, Lets see the slimmest grave in history.

Reading an interpretative sign on site, the rocker again acts surprised when informed, here lies the amputated left arm of Stonewall Jackson.

Its like a Monty Python (expletive deleted)! he says. Why did they bury it here?

Jacks explains that a resident of Ellwood saw the limb laying outside on the ground, gathered it up and brought it across the field for burial in the family cemetery at which point a computer-generated cannonball came hurling toward the TV.

He just feels so incomplete in the afterlife, says Jack, making his father laugh.

He was armless, Ozzy said.

It was an armless thing to, Jack said. Stonewalls arm  ahhh!

Ozzy then turned toward the grave and gave Jackson a high five.

The rest of Jackson is buried in Lexington.

A bit irreverent, the History Channel segment was all in good fun, said Mark Leach, president of the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield. He got to meet Ozzy and Jack when they visited in March.

I actually thought they did a good job, Leach said Tuesday.

When the TV crew arrived, local people doing yard work on site, including Leach, were not allowed to watch the filming.

We didnt quite know what to expect, he said. I was kind of happy with it. They showed us on the map and the signs for the battlefield.

He added that Ozzy and Jack were really respectful in not attempting to cross a rope surrounding the grave site and took the time to read the interpretative panels.

They showed there is something to learn there, Leach said, who said he wasnt at all offended by Ozzys comments about Jacksons left arm. My favorite part was when they showed the cannonball coming toward the screen. It made me sit up on the edge of my chair!
Virginia, like the country as a whole, has a difficult and troubling history that has been easier to ignore or sanitize than to face squarely. On July 22, the Supreme Court of Virginia struck down Gov. Terry McAuliffes order that restored civil rights to more than 200,000 Virginians who had completed their criminal sentences. The court relied, not on the text of the Virginia Constitution, but on the backdrop of history  in which no Virginia governor had before issued so broad an order  to reach its conclusion.

Understanding what that history is, however, leaves me very concerned about the implications of the courts decision.

While most citizens are aware of the horrors of slavery, far fewer have a detailed knowledge of the continuing atrocities that followed after Reconstruction and into the Jim Crow era. During that time in the Deep South, under the cover of vagrancy and peonage laws, the criminal justice system was used to perpetuate a de facto system of slavery, in which thousands of African-American men were held in indefinite bondage for crimes like unemployment or loitering.

This was followed in a number of the former Confederate states, including Virginia, by the disenfranchisement of former felons, which  along with poll taxes and literacy tests  was used as a deliberate strategy to reduce the political power of black residents. The Washington Post reported that one Virginia state senator in a 1902 report mentioned felon disenfranchisement as a way to eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this State. As part of this strategy, the constitutional revisions in Virginia at that time expanded those provisions to include crimes the convention delegates felt were particularly likely to be committed by African-Americans, according to the official journal of the Virginia Constitutional Convention.

Moreover, enforcement of Virginias disenfranchisement provisions was also historically racist. Historians have found evidence that the lists of felons that were distributed to registrars for use in the enforcement of the policy were limited nearly exclusively to black Virginians, and news articles from the early 1900s in the Richmond Dispatch confirm that white supremacist Democrats had challengers at every precinct, armed with (l)ists of dead negroes and those disenfranchised by crime so that they (could) be barred.

These policies and tactics continued throughout most of the 20th century, led by Gov. Harry F. Byrd and his political machine that ensured the continued suppression of the political power of the African-American community.

In explicitly basing its decision on this backdrop of history, the court implicitly embraced the dark racial history that McAuliffe sought to overcome. By grounding its ruling on the precedent of many governors whose overt motivations were limiting African-American participation in elections, the court put itself in the position of affirming that dark history, and sending a disheartening message to the black citizens of this commonwealth.

For the Virginia Supreme Court, this decision represents another opportunity lost to rectify an instance of racial injustice rooted in the old ways of Virginia. Whereas there may not be a practical way of giving reparations for slavery, or providing compensation for the catastrophic economic effects of Jim Crow, as a society it would seem that we could at least agree on the need to speedily remove all of the obvious vestiges of those dark eras.
For a state that prides itself on strong, conservative fiscal management, Virginia has a chronic problem with revenue forecasting.

Given the roller coaster of surpluses and shortfalls that cause the commonwealth to giveth, then taketh away, then giveth and taketh away again, Virginians are justified in wondering if state economic experts are capable of providing reliable fiscal projectionsor at least an understanding of what prevents them from doing so.

Were not suggesting that reading economic tea leaves is an easy or straightforward process. But shouldnt there be a process or policy to ensure public school teachers and state employees, for example, arent told to expect raises before they are certain to get them?

Heres how we put it in this space just over a year ago: Making budget projections is no easy process, especially in light of the volatile stock market and the lengthy, unsteady recovery from the recession. As the governor pointed out, Virginias fiscal position is unique given its dependence on federal government and military employment vis-a-vis the specter of additional sequestration cuts and congressional pressure to shrink the federal government.

A year later, ditto.

Heres a little Virginia fiscal history to put the situation in perspective:

In the fall of 2014 (fiscal 2015), Gov. Terry McAuliffe offered the jaw-dropping news that Virginia faced a $2.4 billion shortfall for the fiscal years 2015 and 2016. Virginias constitution requires the state have a balanced budget so residents and state workers should be prepared for painful budget cuts, he warned.

The combination of budget cuts and tapping of the states rainy day reserve fund tempered the hurt: There would be a gap of $346 million in fiscal 2015, and a $536 million shortage in fiscal 2016. Still bad, but looking a little better.

But waitby the end of July 2015, just a month into fiscal 2016, the governor announced the biggest surplus in Virginia history: $553 million. A budget was approved with teacher and state worker raises, along with the governors $1 billion initiative for public schools.

But wait againthe storm clouds returned in the spring. In April, it looked like fiscal 2016 might end with a $347 million shortfall, but as the fiscal year ended in June, the red ink diminished to $266 million. Nevertheless, raises are gone. Education initiative? Hanging by a thread.

(To be fair, we should point out that wildly varying budget predictions are a bipartisan affair. Gov. Bob McDonnell initially predicted that Virginia would finish fiscal 2010, as the Great Recession unfolded, with a $4 billion shortfall. Lo and behold, he was able to report subsequently that the year ended with a $403 million surplus.)

Clearly, state revenues never stand still. Estimates for tax payments by individuals and businesses can surprise the best bean-counters. Refunds claimed by Virginia taxpayers vary widely as well. Fees that accrue to the state rise and fall with economic conditions. Is the federal government going to be stingy with the defense spending that so many Virginia workers depend on? Or will it open the spending purse a bit wider?

A troubling trend, state leaders acknowledge, is that Virginia is trading high-paying, full-time jobs for more low-paying, part-time jobs that generate less taxable income and less tax revenue. Thats a separate challenge, but one that directly impacts the states coffers.

Virginia remains one of the nations wealthiest states, benefiting from its proximity to the nations capital. It has a current budget of about $105 billion, so every $100 million in shortfall or surplus represents 1/1,000th of the budget. That might not sound like much, and its unfortunate that raises for teachers and state workers would depend on a few thousandths of the state budget, but that shows how important it is to have reliable revenue estimates, or a system thats designed to better accommodate these fluctuations.
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Sheryl Underwood  Husband, Family & Net Worth She is known for her trademark smile which can be described as the brightest and broadest smile ever seen on planet earth. She is none other than Sheryl Underwood the comedian, actress, and TV host whose funny wits has left America in great awe. Although Sheryl has risen to become an important personality in the industry, ...

Team Mystic Pokemon Go: 7 Facts You Need To Know And Signs You Are One Team Mystic of the break out game Pokemon Go is a team that is full of sass and chivalry. With an enchanting monicker, Team Mystic stands out from the rest of its counterparts and deserves to take the crown as champion in the Pokemon gaming-verse. To be a member of this exceptional team of Pokemon battle ...

Exploring Guy Beahms Dr Disrespect Persona, Wife and Why He was Banned Permanently From Twitch Guy Beahm who is popularly known by his online alias  Dr DisRespect, is an award-winning Twitch.tv streamer. He has leveraged on the Twitch platform to become an internet personality that is quite widely known. His online success is just more proof that anyone who is good at what they do can attain celebrity status ...

Critical Facts About Lee Ann McAdoo  The Infowars Anchor Lee Ann Mcadoo is a conservative journalist and television host whose interests in conspiracies and astrology has established her as a famous American reporter. Often referred to as Wonder Woman, McAdoo is a reporter who works for InfoWars.com, a controversial right-wing website run by radio show host, Alex Jones. Who Is Lee Ann McAdoo? Lee Ann McAdoo was born on 7 ...

Millie Weaver  Age, Husband & Infowars Career Millie Weaver is an American model, journalist, political activist, and social commentator. The young and beautiful journalist rose to fame working as a reporter for a controversial right-wing website InfoWars.com. Also known as Millennial Millie, Weaver is a social media influencer with over 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 35,000 followers on Twitter. Who Is Millie Weaver and What Is ...

Is Jessica Tarlov Married? What Are Her Height & Weight? Jessica Tarlov is an American political consultant, strategist, and analyst whose influential and regular TV presence has made a popular figure. A good example of beauty with brains, Tarlov has appeared on various TV networks, mostly the FOX News Network where she is known for her liberal views on political analysis and insights. She is also the senior director ...

Who Is Kelly Rebecca Nichols  Alex Jones Ex-Wife? Kelly Rebecca Nichols is the ex-wife of controversial American radio show host, Alex Jones. She got nationwide attention following her divorce and subsequent custody battle with her estranged husband. Nichols, who worked with PETAs public relations department, was herself no stranger to controversies as she was involved in several publicity stunts of the non-profit animal rights ...

Who Is Bree Morgan  Cole Sprouse Ex-Girlfriend And What Is She Up To Now? Although Bree Morgan became famous through the Instagram, she also sapped some dose of popularity from Disneys sweetheart, Cole Sprouse of the Sprouse brothers. She is not only an Instagram star but also a YouTube vlogger whose popularity has long exceeded the ordinary level. Bree is conspicuously prominent on the internet and has her digital savviness ...

Does Vanna White Have Husband or Children, What Is Her Net Worth / Salary? For over three decades, Vanna White has been a household name, famous as the co-host and letter turner of the iconic NBC game show Wheel of Fortune. The talented and beautiful television personality is also an actress with several TV series and films to her credit. Since making her Wheel of Fortune debut in 1982, she has become one ...

Liz Wheeler  Biography, Husband & Net Worth Liz Wheeler is the kind of girl who sets the room on fire whenever she comes around. In this situation, however, she sets our screens on fire each time she appears as the host of One America News Tipping Point. She is, therefore, a presenter, publisher, consultant and a member of the Board of Zoning ...

Betty White  Net Worth, Children & Husband The entertainment industry will remain indebted to personalities like Betty White who brought something extra to the table and kept the world entertained for donkey years. The comedienne, actress, and writer graced the big screens in the early 50s as a show host and has been a delight since then. She is the queen of ...

Is Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Dead or Alive, What Are His Net Worth & Education? Everyone will always remember Bill Nye as the Science Guy. Besides his TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, he is well-known for his Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World which started airing in 2017 as well as his appearances in many famous media projects as a science educator. The star studied mechanical engineering ...

Is Cesar Millan Dead, Who Is The Wife & What Is His Net Worth? Cesar Millan is the famous dog whisperer who often stirs up mixed emotions. The Mexican-American is precisely speaking, a dog behaviorist; he has been in the game for over 25 years. His Emmy-nominated television series, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan further pushed his method and tactics into the limelight. The series was produced from 2004 ...

Is Thomas Sanders Gay and Does He Have A Boyfriend? By the time Vine was shut down in January 2017, Thomas Sanders was already popular within and beyond the internet community for his heavy involvements on the online video hosting platform. After the tragic shutdown of Vine impacted on the growing career of the multi-talented personality, he immediately switched over to YouTube where he continued to upload ...

Is Shepard Smith Gay, Who Is The Boyfriend & What Is His Net Worth? There are only a few media personalities who are as bold and confident as Shepard Smith. Apart from his impressive stint at Fox News Channel which includes but not limited to his classic news delivery, upfront stance on virtually every issue and much more; he loves his job as much as he loves his personality. Smith ...

Is Milo Yiannopoulos Gay? His Husband and Net Worth Milo Yiannopoulos is a popular writer, journalist, polemicist, public speaker, and political commentator who is also known as the founder of The Kernel, an online blog. He has been said to be among the list of 100 weird and influential people in the United Kingdom. He appeared on this list as a result of personal beliefs and ...

Does Ryan Seacrest Have A Wife Or Girlfriend, What Is His Net Worth? From radio to television, Ryan Seacrest is a household name and a force to be reckoned with in showbiz. The radio personality, television host, and producer is best recognized as the host of the popular TV talent search contest American Idol. Heres how the media personality who always knew what his lifes ambition was and diligently pursued ...

Is Anderson Cooper Gay, Who is The Boyfriend or Husband? For many, the thought of becoming a millionaire by writing and talking about other people appears unachievable but this is the reality of the prominent American journalist Anderson Cooper who gathered millions of dollars for conducting accurate political analysis and other vital reports on TV. He is the main anchor of the CNN news show Anderson ...

Is David Muir Gay or Does He Have A Wife, What Is His Salary? David Muir is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works for the ABC broadcast-television network and anchors the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir program while also co-anchoring the magazine program 20/20. The Ithaca College graduate, whose show has become the most-watched newscast in America, has covered stories from all across America and the world; reporting ...

Joel Osteen  Divorce Rumors, Net Worth & Family Members Joel Osteen is an American Televangelist, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church based in Houston, Texas, a husband and a father of two. He is an author of many books, seven of which are New York Times Best Sellers and his televised sermons capture more than 7 million viewers per week and 20 million every month ...

Who Is Todd Chrisley? What To Know About His Children, Gay Rumors & Net Worth Premiered on the USA network in 2014, Chrisley Knows Best is one of the most watched family reality TV shows in the U.S. The series which is currently in its sixth season is centered around U.S real estate mogul Todd Chrisley and his family. The show reveals Todd the patriarch of the Chrisley family as a strict dad who rules ...

Who Is Shannon Bream Of Fox News? Her Husband, Children & Net Worth Shannon Bream who hosts the iconic primetime program started her journalism career in the late 1990s debuting as the evening and late-night news reporter for the CBS affiliate, WBTV. The beauty from America currently works for the Fox News Channel and she is best known for anchoring the primetime program. She also hosts Americas News ...

Is Troye Sivan Gay, Who Is His Boyfriend and What Is His Net Worth? Troye Sivan is an Australian singer and songwriter best known for songs like Happy Little Pill, Youth, Heaven (with Betty Who) and The Boyfriend Tag (with Tyler Oakley) which have all garnered him different awards and ranked on the Billboard Charts. Sivan, who was born in South Africa but now resides in the United States, is ...

Did iDubbbz Have Cancer, Is He Gay and Who Is His Girlfriend Now? iDubbbz is one YouTuber who has made a career out of courting controversy. Renowned for his absurdist channels and comedy video series, the Los Angeles based personality is the owner of two channels, iDubbzTV, and iDubbzTV2, as well as the brains behind comedy video series such as Content Cop, Kickstarter Crap, Gaming News Crap, and ...

Inside Greg Gutfelds Love Story With Wife Elena Moussa and Why Fans Thought He Was Gay Greg Gutfeld is a seasoned American television producer whose career in the media industry has spanned over a decade. He is a man of many talents who makes extra income through comedy, journalism, and editorial works. Gutfeld regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a panellist and co-host of the political talk show The Five ...

Works That Made Bo Burnham A Household Name and How Much He Is Worth Now One of YouTubes first viral stars and the worlds most exciting young comedian, Bo Burnham, has always amazed critics and comedy aficionados alike. Often regarded as the Justin Bieber of comedy, thanks to his fresh looks, floppy blond hair and hoodies, he has a multi-faceted career bigger than many comedians twice his age. It wouldnt ...

Is Louie Anderson Gay And What Is His Net Worth? Louie Anderson has one of the most abstract faces in the industry and equally knows how to use it to his advantage. He is not only a stand-up comedian but also an actor and television host who is known for his distinctive comic wits. Some of his notable projects include Family Feud, where he was ...

Is Don Lemon of CNN Gay, Who is His Partner and What Is His Salary? Don Lemon has risen to become one of the most recognizable faces on CNN over the past few years. The fiery journalist, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, is liked and somewhat disliked for his strong and candid opinions on a variety of matters that do not just include politics but also race, significantly, matters that ...

Is Rachel Maddow Gay, Who is the Wife and How Much Does She Earn in Salary? Rachel Maddow is an award-winning American journalist, political commentator, and television news anchor. She is best known for hosting the popular nightly TV show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Prior to this, she hosted a talk radio program on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. As of now, the TV sensation co-anchors MSNBCs ...

Demystifying Pokimane  Her Real Name, Ethnicity & Boyfriend Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Pokimane Thicc is one of those stars who took advantage of the internet to make a name for herself. Given the unlimited potentials which the social media space offers, many people have been instantly propelled to fame just by posting creative online contents. Not only has ...

A Breakdown of Kris Jenners Net Worth, Sources Of Income and Relationships Over The Years Standing outside and looking in, Kris Jenner looks like the oil that greases the wheels of the entire Kardashian/Jenner machine. She has been dubbed a momager and rightfully so because she seems to have had a part to play in the trajectory of each and every one of her daughters individually and the Kardashian brand ...

Pursuits That Brought Liza Koshys Fame To its Zenith and Her Love Life Since David Dobrik Liza Koshy is an American actress who has leveraged YouTube as a platform to promote her comedy while also serving as a television host on occasions. She is talented and funny and has gathered a lot of fans from around the world. Koshy started on Vine in high school and was able to get millions of ...

Alex Aiono Biography  Inside The Life Of The American Singer Not everyone who started from the streets has attained the heights where Alex Aiono is currently. His story could be referred to as the perfect definition of rising from Grass to Grace. He came into the limelight after he started out as a YouTuber, singer, and producer. One fascinating thing about the young YouTuber is ...

Virginia Vallejo Biography And Her Love Story With Pablo Escobar Virginia Vallejo can be referred to as one of the oldest whistleblowers in history after her involvement with Pablo Escobar which made her famous. Over the years, many questions have been raised about her relationship with the drug lord and why she endangered her life to be with him despite his notorious acts. The death ...

Princess Love Bio  Ethnicity, Real Name & Parents For many people, Princess Love is simply Ray Js wife but there is so much more to this feisty lady than meets the eye. She is a star in her own right and has many feathers on her cap. Princess Love is a reality TV star, a model, video vixen, and fashion designer. She and her ...

Who is Papa Franku Also Known As Filthy Frank or Joji, Where is He Now? The social media as we all know today has given people the opportunity to be creative and innovative and at the same time, make something of themselves. YouTube is one of the known social platforms we have today that makes it possible for people to express their God-given talents and post videos they created to ...

Who Is Molly Qerim, How Did She Become a Famous Sports Anchor and Who Is Her Husband? Molly Qerim is an American sports anchor popularly known for moderating First Take, a highly rated sports talk show, on ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, Qerim hosted Fantasy Live and NFL AM on NFL Network. It is quite obvious that the widely acclaimed television personality is in a class of her own when it comes ...

Safiya Nygaard  Height, Parents & Net Worth Safiya Nygaard is an American YouTuber, writer, content producer, and director who is popular for posting makeup, beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. Her videos regularly top at least one million views, thanks to her lively character as well as her willingness to experiment with outrageous outfits and different beauty products. Here are the things to ...

The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...

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 ...

Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...

Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...

Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...

Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...

Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...

Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...

Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel  h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...

Lilypichu Bio  Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...

KSI  What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother  Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...

The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...

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 ...

What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...

What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...

Matt Carriker Biography  Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...

Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...

Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents  George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...

Gloria Govan Bio  Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA  after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...

Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...

Who Is October Gonzalez  Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...

Who Is Tony Berlin  Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...

The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

Vicky Karayiannis, Chris Cornells Wifes Bio, Children and Family The world of showbiz is made up of different people who serve different roles, and function in a variety of capacities, and one of the most important people are those in the background. Publicists are undoubtedly one of these background people yet they are vital to the life and fame of most of our favorite ...

Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel  Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...

Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...

Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband  Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...

Nadeska Alexis Bio  Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...

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 ...

A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...

Kay Adams Biography  Does The Sportscaster Have A Husband or Boyfriend? When you hear the phrase sports enthusiast, women are hardly the first group that comes to mind. Well, thats changing pretty fast. Especially with the rise of female sports analysts and broadcasters like Kay Adams who is famed for knowing more about sports than most men do. And why not, shes paid handsomely for it ...

Ben Shapiros Family  Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...

QVC Shawn Killinger Bio  Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...

Liv Lo  Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...

Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...

Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...

Who Is Jessica Gadsden  Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...

Who Is Collins Tuohy  Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...

Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...

Marty Lagina Bio  Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...

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 ...

Natasha Bertrand Biography  Is She Married? Who Is the Husband & What Is Her Age? Natasha Bertrand is not just a young prominent journalist but a first-rate investigative reporter. With her natural beauty and smile, Natashas sharp, insightful political commentary also makes her a thorough reporter. Her sound political perspective and coverage in the country have made her a force to be reckoned with in the profession. Renowned for her ...

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 ...

Is Stephanie Gosk Gay or Lesbian, Who is the Wife or Partner  Jenna Wolfe? In August 2013, NBCs Today viewers were greeted with two shocking news. Today weekend anchor, Jenna Wolfe, announced that she was as a lesbian, introducing her partner as NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and said the two are expecting their first child. A long time has passed since then and certainly, a lot of things ...

Nikki Mudarris  Bio and Net Worth: 5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know Nikki Mudarris, also known as Miss Nikki Baby, is a reality television star, model and fashionista. Shes best known for VH1s reality TV series Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood. Her entrepreneurial skills enable her to create and run a successful lingerie line Nude by Nikki. Not only that, but Nikki has also successfully run the Las ...

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. ...

Understanding The Height of Fame John Oliver Achieved With The Daily Show and How He Met His Wife Without knowledge of who he is and his exemplary career, John Oliver cuts an unassuming figure of a regular man but he is one of the most influential personalities in America, especially on television. Since he began his career in 1998, he has been a loud and unapologetic agent of change, using his wit and ...

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Arpita looked adorable in a T-shirt emblazoned with Daisy Duck. (Photo: Instagram)

Mumbai: Mommy-to-be Arpita Khan Sharma was recently in for a lovely surprise when her friends along with mother Salma Khan and also elder sister Alvira Agnihotri hosted a baby shower for her.

While Arpita looked adorable in a T-shirt emblazoned with Daisy Duck. All those who were present at the baby shower were wearing a T-shirts which read, 'The Best is yet to come'.

The shower took place in Dubai, where Arpita was seen on a 'babymoon' with hubby Ayush Sharma recently. She posted a series of pictures on Instagram. Check it out.

#aunutty2be @karenalaungani @neevasheth @ahilyaa82 @kavitacharakbaig @natashakunil @nataschac @deekshajani @trishalaa_gogri @niyanta1212 missing my @alizehagnihotri A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:41am PST

Blessed with the best , thank you  A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 2:24am PST

Sister Loving ! A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 2:25am PST

My sweetheart @deekshajani A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 2:31am PST

The pregnant posers  @niyanta1212 A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 2:33am PST

#sisters#daywellspent#pampered#aunutty2be#blessed A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:41pm PST

#sisters#aunutty2be#pampered#daywellspent#funtimes#blessed A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:43pm PST

#daywellspent#pampered#posers#aunutty2be#girliegang#blessed A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:46pm PST

#girliegang#aunutty2be#posers#funtimes#daywellspent#dxb#family#blessed A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:48pm PST

#spaday#daywellspent#ottomanspa#dxb#blessed#pampered#posers#family#funtimes#celebrations A photo posted by Arpita Khan Sharma (@arpitakhansharma) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:56pm PST
Shares in VW immediately jumped on news of the deal, gaining around 2.2 per cent to 122.7 in morning trading in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt: German car giant Volkswagen said on August 23 it had reached a deal with suppliers to begin deliveries again after a stoppage that forced the group to halt production at several plants.

"The affected sites are preparing step-by-step to resume production," VW said in a statement.

VW and suppliers Cartrim and ES Guss -- which make seat covers and gearbox parts -- had returned to talks on Monday after negotiations into the small hours of Saturday yielded no results.

The VW statement added that both parties had agreed to keep details of the agreement secret. Without a deal, VW had warned on Monday, around 28,000 workers at the six plants affected would have seen shifts cut. Some had already lost hours since deliveries of the vital parts had been interrupted.

The car giant obtained court injunctions ordering the two suppliers to resume delivery in early August. But they refused, saying that VW had cancelled future contracts without providing adequate compensation.

A spokesman for Prevent, the two suppliers' parent company, told business daily Handelsblatt on Friday that VW was imposing "unacceptable conditions" on its suppliers. Politicians had added pressure on the two sides to reach a deal on Monday.

"This should not be an example for others to learn from," warned Stephan Weil, premier of Lower Saxony state, as he welcomed the deal on Tuesday.

Lower Saxony is home to tens of thousands of VW workers at the group's Wolfsburg headquarters and is also a major VW shareholder.

Employees of the company "became victims of a conflict that was needlessly fought out on their backs," Weil said.

Volkswagen, which also owns brands from luxury Audi to lower-end Skoda, is still in the throes of its biggest-ever crisis after it admitted in September 2015 to a massive emissions cheating scandal affecting 11 million diesel engines.

It has agreed to pay out $14.7 billion to settle damage claims in the US, although some analysts have estimated the final cost of the affair at $20-30 billion dollars as further claims roll in.

Shares in VW immediately jumped on news of the deal, gaining around 2.2 per cent to 122.7 in morning trading in Frankfurt -- outstripping the DAX index's gain of 0.65 per cent
Quintillion Business Media's proposal for approval for issuance of equity shares to Bloomberg has also been deferred.

New Delhi: Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared seven FDI proposals worth Rs 290 crore, while it deferred decision on other seven applications including that of a wholly-owned subsidiary of Idea.

Tikona Digital Networks' Rs 267-crore proposal to increase foreign equity to 76.73 per cent through issuance of CCDs was approved by the government.

According a Finance Ministry statement, an application to increase foreign investment in Idea Cellular Infrastructure Services Ltd (ICISL) to up to 67.5 per cent was deferred by the panel, chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.

ICISL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Idea, which has become a foreign-owned company with more that 50 per cent overseas investment.

Other deferred proposals included, Morgan Stanley India Primary Dealer Pvt Ltd's proposal for increasing equity participation from 75 per cent to 100 per cent by way of transfer of equity shares from Morgan Stanley India Capital Pvt Ltd (indirectly owned by Foreign Investor) to Morgan Stanley Mauritius Co Ltd, Mauritius by amending the earlier approval.

Besides, Quintillion Business Media's proposal for approval for the issuance of equity shares to Bloomberg has also been deferred.

Investment proposals of HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt Ltd, and The Financial Times (India) Private Limited were also deferred.

Companies whose investment proposals were cleared includes IMCD India, Samara Capital Partners Fund II Ltd, Reckitt Benckiser (India) Ltd, Haymarket SAC Publishing (India) and Fincare Business Services.

The FIPB rejected five investment proposals including that of pharma company Sanofi-Synthelabo (India). India allows FDI in most sectors through the automatic route, but in certain segments considered sensitive for the economy and security, the proposals have to be first cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
New Delhi: The Commerce and Industry Ministry will suggest states to formulate their own intellectual property rights (IPR) policy with a view to promoting innovation and giving a boost to the economy, an official said on August 23.

The ministry today convened an interactive session with industry associations on the National IPR Policy. A Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) official said that a "good suggestion" on state IPR policy was made during the session.

"We will suggest state governments to consider this and prepare their own IPR policy kind of document," the official said.

The DIPP, under the commerce and industry ministry, regulates IPR related matters, among others. Explaining the benefit, the official said a policy documents helps incentivise IPR filing, fund R&D activities, boost state economy and promote creativity and innovation at local level.

The ministry has already sought states' help in enhancing the awareness of the new IPR policy. It has also asked them to translate the policy in regional languages. While addressing industry associations, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that a nation-wide awareness campaign on IPR will be launched by the DIPP.

It will be taken forward by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) in collaboration with Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) and industry associations.

On pilot basis, the department has carried out roadshows in 18 states. The target is to carry out 3,500 roadshows by the end of 2020.

Abhishek said in the recent decades, the pace of innovation in the country was not impressive, and as India is looking to be USD 10-20 trillion economy in the future, it is important to promote innovation and creativity.
New Delhi: In more trouble for businessman Vijay Mallya, the ED has registered a fresh money laundering case against him and his associates to investigate the alleged loan default of Rs 6,027 crore availed from a consortium of nationalised banks, a case taken over by CBI recently.

Officials said the agency has filed the second criminal case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after it recently obtained details of the case from CBI which has filed its FIR after getting a complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI).

The CBI had early this month filed a fresh case under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating against Mallya on the basis of a complaint received from SBI on behalf of the consortium of lenders for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 6,027 crore to them by not keeping repayment commitments of loan taken during 2005-10.

By registering the fresh case, ED wants to strengthen its probe against the beleagured liquor baron and expedite a slew of actions it has initiated against him, including getting issued a global arrest warrant by Interpol and attaching more of his assets under the stringent PMLA.

Besides these steps, it also wants to invoke the India-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to force the businessman to return and join the investigation. Besides Mallya, his companies Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and United Breweries Holdings Limited have also been named as accused in the CBI FIR which is now part of the ED case.

Both the central probe agencies had earlier filed cases of alleged default by the now-defunct KFA in repayment of loans obtained from IDBI Bank. ED is also preparing to soon start the second round of assets attachments under PMLA after the embattled businessman early this month skipped appearance before a special PMLA court in Mumbai.

The agency, sources said, has identified some pledged shares, associated immovable and movable assets of Mallya and his family members that would be seized and frozen as part of its action plan.

It is also in the process of getting a 'proclaimed person' order issued by the special court which will be sent to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in order to execute the India-UK MLAT to bring Mallya back here to join the probe. ED has already attached his properties worth about Rs 1,411 crore under PMLA in this case a few months ago.

The agency wants Mallya to join the investigation in the PMLA case "in person" in the Rs 900 crore alleged loan fraud case relating to IDBI Bank and has virtually exhausted all legal remedies like seeking an Interpol arrest warrant and getting his passport revoked. Mallya and others are alleged to have diverted a part of the loan to some of their offshore businesses.
Telecom is one of the most leveraged sectors as the companies have been heavily investing in capex towards network expansion and spectrum buys.

Mumbai: Government is looking at pushing the upcoming spectrum auction by a few days to coincide with the period considered auspicious by Hindus, as requested by telecom industry, a top official said today while exuding confidence that revenue target from the biddings will be met.

"The date of auction we had announced from September 29, but many companies and people feel that the Navratra is starting from October 1 that is a good time to bid. If it gives them good comfort to bid and spend more money to buy the spectrum, we are willing to change it to the first week," Telecom Secretary J S Deepak told reporters here.

Citing high reserve price for certain mobile radiowaves, telecom firms have not shown great enthusiasm so far for the upcoming round, being touted as the largest spectrum auction in the country.

Telecom is one of the most leveraged sectors as the companies have been heavily investing in capex towards network expansion and spectrum buys.

The third largest telecom player, Idea's chief financial officer Akshaya Moondra had said earlier this month that the industry is moving into an era of "spectrum glut" from "spectrum scarcity" due to which companies would not bid in a "frenzy" and stick to economic fundamentals. Deepak, however, sought to dismiss notions of any dampness in the spectrum sale.

"We are selling a lot of good quality spectrum, so prices will be high," Deepak said, adding that "almost all" the companies participated in a pre-bid meeting held recently.

He exuded confidence that auctions will be "successful" and the Department of Telecom (DoT) will meet its revenue mobilisation targets through it.

The government planned to kick off the biggest ever spectrum auction on September 29 and had said it was expecting 25 per cent upfront payment for the spectrum below 1 GHz, which would be assigned within 30 days after the bidding.

The government is making available 2354.55 MHz of spectrum in these auctions and at base price it will garner Rs 5.56 trillion or Rs 5.56 lakh crore, which includes the additional Rs 27,000 crore of harmonised spectrum.

It is putting up massive quantity of spectrum for the first time to help remove fragmentation and improve quality of services. The simultaneous auctions will take place for seven bands - 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz.

Bidders will have to pay 25 per cent of the amount upfront, for spectrum above the 1 GHz band, they will have to pay 50 per cent upfront. The instalments would be the same as in previous auctions, with the second instalment becoming due three years after the initial payment.

On the industry body COAI's letter on Reliance Jio to the PMO, Deepak refused to comment. In a no holds barred attack, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio yesterday lashed out at COAI, of which it is a member, for acting "maliciously" as "mouthpiece" of certain dominant incumbent operators having vested interests against the company.

Hours after the Cellular Operators Association of India wrote to Prime Minister's Office alleging free data and voice being offered by Reliance Jio under beta test was generating huge traffic using spectrum allocated for commercial use but no revenue was coming to government, the company shot of a letter to the association with copies marked to all the addresses the COAI letter had gone to.
The handle had tweeted messages expressing gratitude of the well wishers.

New Delhi: Twitter has deleted a fake handlecreated in the name of RBI Governor designate Urjit Patel that was used to respond to congratulatory messages following his appointment on Saturday.

The Twitter handle '@urjitpatel_' shot into limelight instantly after the government announced Patel as successor of Raghuram Rajan on his completion of three-year term on September 4.

The handle had tweeted messages expressing gratitude of the well wishers who began using that handle to congratulate Patel.

The RBI had instantly denied that Patel does not own the handle and now micro-blogging site Twitter has deleted the account.

The fake handle was opened in June this year but was not used to tweet anything before Saturday.
India behind just the US, China, Japan, UK, Germany and France in combined individual wealth.

Hyderabad: India has figured among the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world with a total individual wealth of $5,600 billion while the United States topped the chart.

According to a report by New World Wealth, India was ranked 7th ahead of Canada ($4,700 billion), Australia ($4,500 billion) and Italy ($4,400 billion), which came in at 8th, 9th and 10th slots, respectively.

The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total individual wealth held ($48,900 billion) while China stood second and Japan third, with total individual wealth of $17,400 billion and $15,100 billion, respectively.

Others in the top 10 club include the UK (4) with a total individual wealth of $9,200 billion, followed by Germany (5th, $9,100 billion) and France (6th, $6,600 billion).

Wealth refers to net assets of a person. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities, the report said adding that it excludes government funds from its figures.

The ranking of India as one of the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world is largely because of its large population. On per capita basis, the average Indian individual has net assets of approximately $4,200. This means each Indian owns wealth of Rs 2.81 lakh, which isFsc not a big figure by any standard as this amount cant even buy a house for anywhere in India.

In terms of wealth held per person, European countries dominated the global rankings, with Monaco, a known tax haven, taking the number one spot. As of June 2016, the average person in Monaco owns $1.6 million in wealth, the highest in the world.

However, India is witnessing a steady rise in high-networth individuals. There are approximately 236,000 HNWIs living in India, with a combined wealth of $1.5 trillion, the report said.

If we want to put this figure in perspective, $1.5 trillion wealth owned by Indian super rich is more than a years output of countries like Canada, South Korea, Australia, Spain, etc. During the review period (2007 - 2015), Indian HNWI volumes increased by 55 per cent from approximately 152,000 HNWIs in 2007 to 236,000 HNWIs in 2015.
SEBI cooperates and facilitates exchange of information with its counterparts in other jurisdictions for the purpose of regulatory enforcement.

New Delhi: Market watchdog SEBI will focus on co-operating with other domestic and global regulators for strengthening and promoting a conducive environment for the securities market in the current fiscal.

Besides, SEBI's priority will be achieving its mandated statutory objectives through various policy initiatives targeted towards investor protection, market development and effective regulation.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cooperates and facilitates exchange of information with its counterparts in other jurisdictions for the purpose of regulatory enforcement. It is a signatory to multilateral MoU of International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

The pact has proved to be an effective tool in cross-border cooperation in combating financial fraud and misconduct.

During 2015-16, the regulator received 89 requests for information from overseas regulators seeking SEBI's assistance. Similarly, 44 such requests were made by the capital market watchdog to its regulatory counterparts in other jurisdictions.

"During 2016-17... it will be SEBI's endeavour to cooperate with other regulators, not only in India, but across the globe for strengthening and promoting a conducive environment for the securities market to flourish within the caveats of regulation," the regulator said in its latest annual report.

The regulator hosted a number of international organisations, including regulatory bodies, business and ministerial delegations, last fiscal. These meetings foster deeper levels of co-operation, facilitate a better understanding of the Indian securities market and further collaboration with visiting institutions.
Ajay Devgn and his 'Shivaay' composer Mithoon along with The Vamps.

Mumbai: Popular British boy band The Vamps had landed in Mumbai recently after they had collaborated with music composer duo Vishal-Shekhar on a music video in London. The band now seems to be making good use of their time in Mumbai since they seem to be all set to collaborate with Ajay Devgn on a brand new project.

Ajay tweeted a picture with the members of the band, Bradley Simpson, Connor Ball, James McVey and Tristan Evans piquing curiosity surrounding the project.

Ajays ambitious directorial Shivaay is currently gearing up for its release this Diwali and Mithoon, the music composer of the film, is also a part of the picture.

Mithoon took to twitter to talk about the potential collaboration as well.

Something interesting coming up soon. https://t.co/yEJFnFhAFN  Mithoon (@Mithoon11) August 23, 2016

Though the album of Shivaay might already be ready, it is likely that the collaboration could be for the highly anticipated film, taking into consideration the Ajay-Mithoon combination, or something entirely different.
The United States is launching the active phase of a large-scale search and rescue exercise for vessels in distress at sea, in the Bering Strait, TASS reports citing US Coast Guard Spokesperson Alana Ingram. Russia, Canada, Norway and Finland will be present as observers.

Organised by the US Coast Guard and the US Northern Command, the drills, dubbed Arctic Chinook, will run through August 26. Coast Guard officials did invite the other Arctic Council countries to actively participate, including Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, Finland and Sweden. However, US partners in the Arctic Council decided not to participate.

The spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, which is a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces, said she would not describe it as a refusal although, admittedly, the plan was initially to promote the participation of the other countries in the exercise. Anyhow while preparing for the drills, the organisers decided to give the other countries observer status. Eventually, four countries agreed to observe the drills, including Canada, Finland, Norway and Russia.

Ingram said the US would welcome its Arctic partners' interest in observing the exercise, including any cooperation with the US Northern Command and the US Coast Guard.

The exercise will include the Crystal Serenity, a cruise ship that will be used in the mock "disaster" with simulated critical, severe and mild passenger injuries, which will require their evacuation. However, no maneuvers or activities that directly affect the Crystal Serenity are planned during the drill. The US Coast Guard will provide at least three helicopters, an HC-130 rescue aircraft and other resources, according to Ingram.

The upcoming exercise will be a follow-up to the Arctic Zephyr exercise that took place in October 2015 in Anchorage, Alaska.
Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan had been on a brief visit to the U.S. along with daughter Suhana to drop son Aryan off for college earlier this month. Aryan, who aspires to be an actor like his famous father, has been enrolled on a filmmaking course.

And being the crowned prince that he is, Aryan has already made himself home and is enjoying his college life to the fullest.

These pictures and video show the heir apparent of Bollywood have a blast with his college mates at a pool party. Aryan also has no qualms flaunting his chiselled physique.
Mumbai: Superstar Salman Khans sister Arpita Khan Sharmas house help has been detained on charges of stealing cash and gold worth Rs 3.25 lakh from Arpitas residence at the plush Pacific Heights on Sherly Rajan Road in Bandra (West).

35-year-old help, Afsa Khan, didnt show up to work on Saturday, which was also when the family had realised that theres been robbery and put two and two together.

A complaint was registered, and the police team spoke to Arpitas chauffeur and the domestic help working in neighbouring apartments, ultimately tracing the accused to her home in Nalasopara. Afsa was nabbed from her apartment according to senior inspector Ramchandra Jadhav of the Khar police station. Her name was not registered with the police, although she had been working at Arpitas home for the last year and a half.

Arpita and husband Aayush Sharma had been blessed with a baby boy, Ahil, earlier this year.
Sushant Singh Rajput will also be seen in 'M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story' this year.

Mumbai: Sushant Singh Rajput, who's currently shooting for 'Raabta', an action-romance being shot in Budapest and Mauritius among other locations, will be seen in some intense action sequences in the film, for which he was seen rigorously working out. And while shooting one of these intense scenes, he tore a ligament in his right knee.

About his injury, the 'M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story' actor said in a statement, "We practiced a lot and I could do the stunt properly every time, but unfortunately on the day of the shoot it was pouring and the ground was slippery. That caused the injury. I am glad that we could still finish the scene as planned."

The doctors who examined his injury have asked Sushant to avoid running and other strenuous workouts for a month till the injury heals.

Raabta marks the directorial debut of Dinesh Vijan, co-producer of films such as Cocktail and Love Aaj Kal with Saif Ali Khan.
Mumbai: Indie-rock duo Sleigh Bells have filed a lawsuit against Demi Lovato, accusing her of lifting musical elements from their 2010 track 'Infinity Stars for her 2015 track, Stars.

In the suit filed on Monday via California federal court, Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells and Derek Miller have asserted that distinct song signatures with eerily uncanny semblance that defy the logic of coincidence can be observed upon scrutiny.

"A comparison of the two songs reveals that, at the very least, the combination of the hand claps and bass drum, structured as 3 quarter beats and a rest, with the bass drum providing a counter-rhythm to the hand claps, is at least substantially similar in both works.This infringing material repeats throughout the defendants' song", the lawsuit reads.

The complaint names Lovato, UMG Recordings and producers Carl Falk and Rami Yacoub as defendants. Representatives for Lovato and Sleigh Bells have refused to comment on the controversy.

Post the release of Stars in November, 2015, Sleigh Bells had tweeted at Lovato about the similarities, specifically mentioning their song, Riot Rhythm.
Telugu movie buffs still remember the beautiful Anita Hassanandani, who shot to fame with the song Gajuwaka pilla... in her debut movie Nuvvu Nenu in 2001.

She went on to act in many Telugu and Hindi films and a few serials. After making a cameo appearance in Genius four years ago, she was nowhere to be seen.

But now, Anita is all set to make a comeback with a lead role in Manalo Okkadu, which, interestingly, is directed by R.P. Patnaik, the composer for Nuvvu Nenu.

Patnaik, who has directed Broker, Friends Book and Tulasi Dalam, will be acting as a lecturer and Anita will be portraying the role of his wife. The film will hit the screens on Saturday.
A 7-year-old boy in Bangladesh with a rare disease is being called the tree boy because of the growth of scaly warts on the skin of his limbs. Ripon Sarkar, who is from Thakurgaon, Bangladesh, suffers from epidermodysplasia verruciformis, which greatly increases ones risk to human papillomavirus.

He was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on August 20 for treatment for the first time owing to his familys poor financial condition. The child is unable to walk or eat on his own because of his tree-like hands and feet. But fortunately, doctors believe that his limbs are operable as his fingers and toes are still identifiable. Interestingly, his symptoms are similar to the ones of 26-year-old Abul Bajandar who had been recently treated at the same hospital.

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a rare and inherited disorder which causes wart-like lesions on the skin. It takes place due to an infection of the human papillomavirus. Despite the devastating effects of EV, there is a lack of any rigorous treatment against the disease.

Ripons father Mohendra says that his son was affected at the tender age of just three months when warts first began to develop on his palms and feet. We are hopeful about the child's situation. In Abul's case, we couldn't distinguish the warts from his fingers, Burn and plastic surgery unit coordinator Samanta Lal Sen told the Daily Mail.
Associate sociology professor Julie Brines and doctoral candidate Brian Serafini found what is believed to be the first quantitative evidence of a seasonal, biannual pattern of filings for divorce.

The researchers analysed filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and found that they consistently peaked in March and August, the periods following winter and summer holidays.

Their research, which they will present at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA), suggests that divorce filings may be driven by a domestic ritual calendar governing family behaviour.

Winter and summer holidays are culturally sacred times for families, Brines said, when filing for divorce is considered inappropriate, even taboo. And troubled couples may see the holidays as a time to mend relationships and start anew: Well have a happy Christmas together as a family or take the kids for a nice camping trip, the thinking goes, and things will be better.

Unhappy holidays

People tend to face the holidays with rising expectations, despite what disappointments they might have had in years past, Brines said. They represent periods in the year when theres the anticipation or the opportunity for a new beginning, a new start, something different, a transition into a new period of life. Its like an optimism cycle, in a sense. Theyre very symbolically charged moments in time for the culture. But holidays are also emotionally charged and stressful for many couples and can expose fissures in a marriage. The consistent pattern in filings, the researchers believe, reflects the disillusionment unhappy spouses feel when the holidays dont live up to expectations. They may decide to file for divorce in August, following the family vacation and before the kids start school. But what explains the spike in March, several months after the winter holidays?

Getting ready

Couples need time to get finances in order, find an attorney or simply summon the courage to file for divorce, Brines suggests. Though the same considerations apply in summer, Brines thinks the start of the school year may hasten the timing, at least for couples with children. Suicides also tend to peak in spring, and some experts have said the longer days and increased activity elevates mood enough to motivate people to act. Brines wonders if similar forces are at play with divorce filings.

The pattern persisted even after accounting for other seasonal factors such as unemployment and the housing market. The researchers reasoned that if the pattern was tied to family holidays, other court actions involving families  such as guardianship rulings  should show a similar pattern, while claims less related to family structure wouldnt. And they found exactly that: The timing of guardianship filings resembled that of divorce filings, but property claims, for example, did not.

The divorce filing pattern shifted somewhat during the recession, showing a peak earlier in the year and one in the fall, and more volatility overall. Given uncertainty about financial considerations like housing values and employment, Brines said, its not surprising the pattern was disrupted. But the shift in the pattern during the recession is not statistically significant, she said.

Source: www.phys.org
Kolkata: To mark Mother Teresa's sainthood ceremony in Vatican on September 4, a postal cover, coin and statue will be dedicated to the late Roman Catholic nun. Made of pure silk, India Post will release a special postal and numismatic cover of Mother Teresa, the first of its kind, on September 2.

"A five-rupee commemorative coin issued by the Indian government in 2010 to mark the centenary birth celebrations of the legend will be engraved on the cover. This is a special feature as it combines the two collectible items of coins and stamps," eminent philatelist Alok K Goyal, who designed the stamps, said.

The collectors' item will be released in a limited edition of 1,000 pieces. Besides this, the Republic of Macedonia, where Teresa was born in 1910, has also announced to release a special gold-plated silver coin on the Nobel laureate. The coin will have a face value of 100 Macedonian Denars and will be released next month.

Up to 5,000 pieces of the coin will be minted for the global market out of which 50 will be made available for the Indian market, said Goyal, an international dealer in unusual stamps and coins.

At the centre of the coin is a statue of Mother Teresa dressed in her trademark plain white sari with three blue stripes along its border. The coin also has the image of a clematis flower known as "Matka Teresa" (Mother Teresa) bred by Stefan Franczak, Polish Jesuit monk.

It also carries the Latin inscription "Sancta Teresia de Calcutta" (Saint Teresa of Calcutta).
I don't know how many young women come to this blog or how many are parents of teenage or young adult women, but here are some safety tips from Kelsey's Army:

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I

P

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1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed.5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.Remember the acronym TIPS:ake Chargenform others of your whereaboutsrepare for any situationurvival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen)For more information, go to Kelsey's Army
When Karen Vaswani created a design for a job that was commissioned to her by the archdiocese of Kolkata, little did she or anybody else know, that it would make find its way to the Vatican. Months ago, the 44-year-old Mumbai-based designer created a logo for the canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa and now it has been chosen as the official emblem for the ceremony to be held in Rome on September 4.

The exercise was not part of any kind of competition, clarifies Karen. A lot of people are confused thinking this was some sort of competition, but thats not the case. There was no other participant.

In April this year, the archdiocese of Kolkata asked me to design a logo for the canonisation celebrations and that is how it started, she says. It was Sister Prema, the chief of Missionaries of Charity (in Kolkata) and Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, the postulator in Rome, who liked the logo, which led to it getting selected for the canonisation of Mother Teresa internationally.

They liked what I had made and the news about the selection came to me in April, but I wasnt willing to publicise it at all. I was thrilled. I had not expected this kind of global recognition, Karen says.

The logo (inset) shows Mother Teresa affectionately holding a child in her arms. Shes known for her love for children, for humanity in general and the pose reflects just that. Its a classic Mother pose. I knew that the logo would be used on multiple mediums, so I kept the design minimalist, she says, adding that there was no brief given to her. She studied several pictures of Mother Teresa before starting to design the logo.

I have followed her work closely  she and her work is inimitable. I researched extensively, read a lot of material before finalising the design. I went through many pictures to understand the basics, she says.

The entire exercise of creating the logo took her about two to three days. I kept the colours basic, I didnt want something that would look too serious. I made about five designs and I think this one got selected because she has a slight smile on her face, Karen adds.

When the news about the selection broke out, it took many by surprise. Thats not because of the magnitude of what she had managed to achieve. It was because until then everyone had known her as a musician.

I had worked as a graphic designer for over seven years and later I started to freelance, after my daughter was born. Music has always been my passion. I am part of a five-member band called Rocking Marmalade and we do a lot of jazz shows. We do some retro stuff as well. I am also the choir conductor in my parish. So when the news about this logo came out, everyone was surprised to know that Im a graphic designer, says Karen.

The designer wont be attending the grand ceremony in Rome; shes currently busy preparing for a performance by her choir group, Victory Chorus Line, at the National Centre For The Performing Arts.

We are holding a special celebration at the NCPA and our choir group will be performing a song that we have especially composed for the occasion  its called Angels of Mercy. 

Ask her if she plans to register the logo and she says, I dont want to get into registrations. I designed it of my will and I am very thrilled with the selection, Karen says.
New Delhi: A three-year old boy was killed on Tuesday when he was crushed by his school van while the driver was allegedly reversing the vehicle without realising that the boy was standing behind it in Civil Lines area of north Delhi.

The victim, identified as Aviral was a student of John Wesley School and he was dropped off by his school van around 2 pm outside his house in Shri Ram Railway Colony today.

"The driver didn't check whether the boy was standing behind and reversed the vehicle. The boy was crushed under the wheels and was rushed to Parmanand Hospital where he was declared brought dead," deputy commissioner of police (North) Madhur Verma, said.

There were other children in the van when the incident happened.

The accused driver, Rahul, 28, ran away leaving the van but was caught later by the police.

A case under sections 279 and 304(A) IPC has been registered at the Civil Lines police station and the accused has been arrested, added the officer.
The arrested teen is a school dropout while his younger brother is studying class XI and the elder one is a temporary worker in the airport.

Chennai: A 17-year-old boy high on ganja set his mother, a temporary worker at the city airport, on fire when she reportedly refused to feed him and wash his clothes besides chiding him for his vagabond adventures and failure in not landing in a proper job like his elder brother.

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when the teen came home looking for food when his mother was alone while his elder and younger siblings and their father, who works as a cook, were away.

The teen got infuriated and picked up a quarrel with his mother who was of the impression that her son was only threatening her by dousing her with kerosene. In a flash, the teen lit a match and set her on fire.

Ablaze, the woman ran helter-skelter in the house until the neighbours came to her rescue. They also pinned the juvenile down and sent her to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH). During the treatment, the woman, in her statement before a magistrate, recorded that her son was the only reason for her ending up in the burns ward at KMCH. Late into the night, the woman succumbed to her burns. The boy was handed over to the city police who referred him to the Juvenile Justice Board in Chengelpet where the boy was subsequently lodged.

The arrested teen is a school dropout while his younger brother is studying class XI and the elder one is a temporary worker in the airport. The incident, reported in Trisulam, had left the entire area appalled. The body of the deceased was handed over to the family to carry out the last rites.
Both the woman and man claimed it was the other that cut their throats. (Representational Image)

Meerut: A man and a woman were found in a guest house here with blade injuries to their necks, with the two blaming each other for the attack after an argument.

The incident took place on Monday at a guest house in Railway Road police station area where Ajit, a resident of Ghaziabad, had come to meet his lover, police said.

The woman has alleged that she was suddenly attacked by Ajit when they were talking in the room and he later slashed his throat as well, a police official said.

Meanwhile, Ajit claimed that he was called by the woman at the guest house where she asked him to marry her. He said he will talk to his family about the proposal.

Hearing this, the woman got furious and attacked him with a blade and later injured herself as well, the official said.

The guest house staff informed the police after they rushed to the room, hearing the woman's cries for help.

The couple was admitted to a hospital, they said. Police have a registered a case of attempted suicide against them and an investigation is underway.
Dave was alone in the office when attacked. His body was discovered by an office assistant later. (Photo: Representational Image)

Ahmedabad: A senior journalist was found murdered on Monday night, stabbed repeatedly in the chest while at work in his office in Junagadh in Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

Kishore Dave, bureau chief of Gujarati newspaper Jai Hind, was stabbed at 9 pm when he was writing a story, say reports.

Dave was alone in the office when attacked. His body was discovered by an office assistant later. There are no CCTV cameras at the office and hence footage of the incident could not be captured.

A police case has been registered but it does not mention any suspects, say reports.

However, relatives of 53-year-old Dave have alleged that the son of a local politician is responsible for the murder. According to them, Dave had reported on a case of alleged sexual harassment against the politician's son about a year ago, and the journalist had been granted bail after a cyber crime case was filed against him.
A division bench of two justices said there was no reason to interfere with a trial court order or to reduce the quantum of sentence in the case. (Representational image)

Chennai: Upholding a lower court order, the Madras High Court on Tuesday confirmed life imprisonment for three accused in the murder of a 24-year-old woman IT employee near her office on the city outskirts more than two years ago.

A division bench of justices S. Nagamuthu and V. Bharathidasan, said there was no reason to interfere with a trial court order or to reduce the quantum of sentence in the case and confirmed life term for the three migrant workers from West Bengal  Ram Mandal, Uttam Mandal and Ujjal Mandal.

The bench directed authorities to pay Rs. 2 lakh to the family of the deceased from out of the Victim Compensation Fund within four months.

A Mahila Court had pronounced all the three guilty and sentenced them to life for murdering the woman, employed with Tata Consultancy Services, who went missing on February 13, 2014. The woman's decomposed body was found at the SPICOT IT Park in Siruseri, nine days later.

The investigation into the case was transferred to Crime Branch CID on the orders of the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the three were arrested when they tried to use her ATM card.

At the time of the arrests, police had said the woman was waylaid, dragged to a nearby bush and assaulted by the accused when she was walking on a footpath on the main road, which was about one km from the IT park campus.

The murder brought to sharp focus safety issues concerning women IT employees, especially those leaving office in late hours, and prompted software companies to clamp preventive measures, including mandatory use of office vehicle for those working beyond 8 pm.
Srinagar: At least 18 people were injured, 3 of them critically, after security forces fired live ammunition on protesters in Vihil and Nowgam areas of Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian district on Tuesday.

Those with grave injuries have been admitted to Srinagar Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) for specialised treatment, while others are being treated at a medical facility in Vahil and Shopian district hospital.

According to reports, the Army personnel and members of J&K polices counter-insurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) were removing barricades erected by the locals along the road passing through the twin villages. This irked the residents, who rushed out of their homes shouting pro-freedom slogans and pelted stones on the security personnel, who tried to disperse the crowd.

Injured locals alleged that security forces fired teargas canisters and pellet guns resulting to injuries.

They (security forces) descended on the villages and apprehending that they may enter houses, beat us and damage properties, the villages came out and started shouting slogans but faced the brutality, said one of the injured on condition of anonymity.

However, police officials denied the charge, saying that the security forces were removing the roadblocks when they faced heavy stone-pelting. To disperse the protesters, the security personnel resorted to aerial firing and lobbed tear smoke towards the violent crowd, but failing to contain situation, pellet guns were also fired.

The incident set off fresh tensions in Shopian and locals took to streets protesting atrocities by the security forces'.

Clashes have also been reported in Malangam village of Bandipora district. Witnesses said Pakistan national flag was put up in the village and when security forces entered the village to pull down the flag, the residents came out on the streets leading to clashes. The security forces fired dozens of teargas canisters to quell the slogan-chanting crowds.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley from Wednesday during which he will review the situation and may hold talks with cross section of people, a move which comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" over the situation there.

This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the Valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.

As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousand were injured so far in different violence.

The Home Minister had said the Centre wants an emotional relationship with the state and not just need-based.

Singh had said the central government will talk to whosoever needed once peace and normalcy is restored in the state.

"As far as Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we don't just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir," he said, reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the state.

On Monday, while meeting a joint opposition delegation led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his "deep concern and pain" over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a "permanent and lasting" solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday appealed to ULFA for the release of the boy, son of a local BJP leader, who was abducted on August 1. (Photo: PTI)

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday appealed to the Paresh Barua-led faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to release the boy it had abducted on August 1, on humanitarian grounds.

"I appeal to the abductors to release the boy as a humanitarian gesture. Our government believes that violence will achieve nothing and we are committed to the peace process," he said.

Kuldeep Moran, son of local BJP leader and Tinsukia Zilla Parishad vice-president Lakheswar Moran, was kidnapped from Tinsukia district by the hardline faction of ULFA.

It had on Monday released an ISIS-style video that purportedly showed the boy surrounded by armed and masked militants and appealing to the Chief Minister and his family to secure his early release.
Lucknow: Virtually providing a fresh weapon to the opposition against the Akhilesh Yadav government on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its latest report on Tuesday noted a sharp rise in crimes against women in the state.

The report, which assumes significance ahead of crucial Assembly elections in the state barely a few months away, was tabled in the state legislature.

It pointed out that there has been 61 per cent increase in crimes against women between 2010-11 to 2014-15. A major portion of the period under CAG review was during the tenure of the Samajwadi Party government which came to power in March, 2012.

It said that while crime against women in 2012-13 was 24,652, it rose to 31,810 in 2013-14.

"The crimes against women did not decline in 2014-15," it read.

Attributing the increase in crime graph to lack of sufficient police force, the CAG said that against sanctioned limit of 178.48 policemen per one lakh population, only 81 were available, marking a shortfall of 55 per cent.

Latching on to the report, opposition BJP pooh-poohed the government's claims of taking effective steps to check crime against women.

"It vindicates the view of our party that the SP government has failed to protect the dignity of women and provide them safety and security," BJP General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

Congress MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh said law and order in the state was at its lowest ebb and the government's claims proved to be hollow.

The CAG said, "As compared to total number of violent crimes in the country, UP tops the list with 12.7 per cent and crime against the women are maximum. If the shortage of force is not attended immediately then the situation will become worse."

It asked the government to ensure adequate force to check crimes, especially agianst women.

The report said that as per the recommendation of Union Home Ministry to raise the number of women force to 33 per cent, the number of female police was only 4.55 per cent in the state, which is the most populous in the country.

It recommended that keeping in mind the large scale of crimes against minor girls and women, the state should seriously consider the recommendation of the MHA.

As per data compiled by the CAG, while the cases of rape with minor girls (11-18 age group) was 1,033 in 2012-13, it rose to 1,619 in 2014-15.

The data stated that there were 2,280 cases of attack on minor girls to outrage their modesty in 2012-13, which rose to 4,297 in 2014-15.

The report also pointed towards lapses in financial assistance to rape victims chalked out by the Centre on the directives of the Supreme Court.

It said Rs 15.03 crore sanctioned by the Centre as assistance was not utilised by the state in 2010-12, despite the fact that 3,544 incidents of rape were reported during the period.
The CBI has concluded that Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had allegedly amassed around Rs. 10 crore of disproportionate assets. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has finalised its chargesheet in the disproportionate assets case against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his family members after its probe found that Rs. 10 crore of ill-gotten assets were allegedly amassed during his stint as the Union Minister.

CBI, which had registered an FIR last year to probe allegations that Singh had allegedly amassed over Rs. 6 crore of disproportionate assets, has concluded that the figure is around Rs. 10 crore, the agency sources claimed on Tuesday.

The agency had initiated an inquiry alleging that as Union Minister during 2009-2012 (UPA rule), Singh had accumulated disproportionate assets worth Rs. 6.03 crore (approx) in his family members' name, CBI had said.

The allegations have been strongly refuted by Singh.

The findings of an year-long probe, which is almost complete, alleges that a complex web of investments, unsecured loans, property and share purchase besides false claims of agriculture income were used to camouflage the assets which were disproportionate to known sources of his income, CBI sources said.

They said the agency will soon move Delhi High Court seeking permission to file the chargesheet in the matter.

A detailed forensic analysis of documents and cyber forensic analysis of the computers of Singh's associates shows an alleged conspiracy in which money was purportedly routed through a complex web of shell companies into real estate investments as well, the sources claimed.

The FIR had named Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, LIC agent Anand Chauhan and Chunni Lal Chauhan. The allegations have been refuted by Singh.

In a statement, the CBI spokesperson had said it was further alleged that Singh had invested his unaccounted income in LIC policies in his name and in the name of his wife and other family members through a private person by showing the same as agricultural income.

The CBI claimed an MoU was signed between Singh and Chauhan on June 15, 2008 for maintenance of an apple orchard for three years.

Chauhan had deposited Rs. 5 crore (approx) in his own bank account and debited the same through cheques for purchasing various LIC policies in their names, CBI had alleged in FIR.

CBI now claims that Singh's wife Pratibha had given the money in cash to Chauhan to be invested in 11 LIC policies.

Over eight policies worth Rs. 4.4 crore matured from which a property was purchased in Greater Kailash worth over Rs. 5 crore, the sources said.

Another associate of Singh, V Chandrasekhar, had provided Rs. 80 lakh in the property purchase, CBI has now alleged. The probe has found that the MoU was back dated through forgery in the stamp paper after they came to know about CBI probe into their assets, the sources claimed.

They said the investigations show that stamp papers which were used in the MoU were not even printed in 2008 besides the forensic analysis of stamp register shows that name of Anand Chauhan was inserted by overwriting on the stamp purchase register.

It was alleged in the FIR that Singh attempted to legitimise the same as agricultural income by filing revised Income Tax Returns in 2012 showing an increment from Rs 45 lakh, claimed in the ITRs of 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12, to Rs 5.1 core in the revised Returns as earned from sale of apples from Srikhand Orchards to United Apple Associates, Pawanoo.

The probe has now found that the purported claims of Rs. 5.1 crore being agriculture income from the sale of apples grown in Srikhand Orchard in Palampur was also false, the CBI sources alleged.

The agency got the orchard examined by experts of Indian Agriculture Research Institute who in their report said it could not have produced apples worth Rs. 5 crore which were mentioned in the revised income tax returns of Singh, the sources claimed.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. The flights of Russian warplanes from the Iranian airbase in Hamedan have not been suspended, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on August 23, TASS reports.

"The flights havent been suspended. Iran and Russia are allies in the fight against terrorism," Larijani said. He added that Irans Shahid Nojeh air base in Hamedan is only "used for refueling," not for permanent deployment.

The speaker responded to last weeks statement of MP Mahmud Sadeghi that 20 lawmakers had sent a letter to the parliaments presidium demanding explanations about the use of the airbase. "The request will be certainly considered," Larijani said.

Last week for the first time ever, Russias military used an airfield in Iran to attack terrorists in Syria. Long-range bombers, namely Tupolev-22M3 and Sukhoi-34 front-line bombers participated in the raid. Earlier, these aircraft flew sorties from airdromes in Russia and front-line bombers, from the Hmeymim base in Syria.

On Monday, Irans Foreign Ministry official spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran that Russia stopped using the base in Iran.








Muktsar: Asserting that Chandigarh "was, is and will" ever remain an "integral part" of the state, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday said that any deviation from existing practice of appointing state Governor as the Administrator of Chandigarh was not at all acceptable.

He said that though as per States Reorganization Act every parent state has sole right over its Capital city but grave injustice had been meted out to Punjab by denying Chandigarh to the state.

Badal said that Punjab has the sole right over its capital and it must be given to the state at every cost.

He said that till Chandigarh was not given to the state around four decades old practice of appointing Punjab Governor as the Administrator of Chandigarh should be continued.

He alleged that Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal was a "chronic non performer" who had "totally failed" to fulfill even a single promise in Delhi.

He said that it was a fact that Kejriwal was suffering from "anti-Punjab syndrome" and his stand on Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal was contrary to the interests of the state.

"Nothing good can be expected for the state from Kejriwal who has no sympathy with Punjab or its people", he added.

Lashing out at Congress and AAP, the Chief Minister alleged that both these parties were "conniving" to turn the state into desert by constructing SYL canal.

He alleged that while the Congress had "planned and executed plan" to snatch water of the state, the AAP was now its toes to get SYL constructed at the earliest.
New Delhi: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the meeting between a delegation of J-K opposition parties and the Prime Minister must be welcomed if it is the first sign of "fresh thinking" even as he pitched for sending an all-party delegation to the Valley.

"Monday's meeting between PM & J&K opposition parties: if it is the first sign of fresh thinking, we must welcome it. Next step should be sending All Parties Delegation to J&K", the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.

Only Monday, Congress had dismissed as "shooting from the hip" the Prime Minister's call for a dialogue to find a lasting solution to the unrest in Kashmir Valley which is on the boil for last 45 days.

"It looks that the Prime Minister's words keep changing. What he said at the all-party meeting, his remarks in the Independence Day address and today he is talking of dialogue, but dialogue with whom? There is a suspicion that these are mere words, mere empty rhetoric for the Prime Minister. He is unfortunately shooting from his hip and merely shooting the breeze," party spokesman Manish Tewari had said.

Modi had a 75-minute-long meeting with a joint opposition delegation led by former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday.

The Prime Minister emphasised on the need for dialogue to find a "permanent and lasting solution" within the framework of the Constitution and also asked all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
Dalit community members holding a banner while protesting against the attacks on them in Gujarat. (Photo: PTI)

Gandhinagar: Fifty Congress MLAs were evicted and suspended for a day from the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday after they staged a demonstration and disrupted the House proceedings over the Una Dalit flogging incident.

During a discussion on atrocities on Dalits in Una, Congress members rushed to the Well of the House displaying placards saying the BJP government was "anti-Dalit" and also threw bangles towards ruling party ministers.

At least 20 of the members wore body suit banners as they continued with their protest despite repeated warnings by Speaker Ramanlal Vora on the second and last day of the Monsoon session here.

As the din refused to die down, the Speaker ordered marshals to evict them from the House. Then he named and suspended them for a day. Subsequently, Congress MLAs were forcefully taken out of the House.

The Speaker then remarked that the Opposition came with a pre-planned strategy to protest over Dalit issues as more than their concern for Dalits, they were trying to garner political mileage out of it.

Two leaders--Congress leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela and senior leader Mohansinh Rathwa--remained seated during the ruckus. The Speaker had not suspended them but later they too walked out protesting the action of Vora.

Earlier, the Assembly session began with a heated debate over the issue of Dalit atrocity in the state, with senior Congress leader Raghavji Patel raising the issue of attack on Dalits at Samter village after the Dalit Asmita rally on August 15 as a matter of urgent public interest under Gujarat Assembly Rule 116.

He sought answer from the government as to what actions were taken to provide security to Dalits in the event of the attack.

Minister of State for Home, Pradipsinh Jadeja in his reply said that Dalits were attacked at Samter village when they were returning from the rally on Independence Day.

He said police fired 51 teargas shells and several rounds in the air to protect them. In the process, 7 police personnel including one DySP and a police inspector, were injured, Jadeja said.

Following this, Congress leader Vaghela demanded a judicial inquiry through a sitting High Court judge into the Una incident of beating Dalits over skinning of a dead cow on July 11.

Vaghela said the CID inquiry initiated by the government is not trustworthy. Upon this, Chief minister Vijay Rupani said the government will act with responsibility to ensure safety of Dalits, and asked opposition to work together to protect the interest and safety of Dalits.

Raghavji alleged that the Dalits were attacked because they were not provided adequate police protection (in Samter case).

Jadeja said police have filed 11 FIRs against the perpetrators (in all Dalit atrocity case as a whole) and required measures were taken and immediate help was provided.

Upon this, Congress Dalit leader Shailesh Parmar rose and demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge in the Una Dalit atrocity incident.

He also questioned as to why the Sanjay Prasad report on 2012 Thangad killing of three Dalit youths by police, and a CEPT University report on untouchability in Gujarat, were not yet tabled in the House.

Responding to this, Jadeja said Thangadh incident report was under consideration, and added that government has formed a Special Investigation Team to investigate the Thangadh incident. The government has also requested the High Court to constitute a designated court for this.

A heated debate ensued over this with Congress leader Manibhai Vaghela alleging that the Una incident was a pre-planned conspiracy to destabilise Gujarat government and remove Anandiben Patel as chief minister.

On this remark BJP MLA Jayantibhai Kavadiya made some comments and Manibhai twice threatened to lodge a case against him. This caused chaos in the House with the chief minister assuring that the BJP government is with the Dalit community.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly has 57 Congress MLAs, 2 NCP, 1 JDU, one independent and 121 legislators of the ruling BJP.
New Delhi: The government will take all steps to "strengthen" the country's elite counter-terror force -- NSG -- by providing better infrastructure and weapons, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said.

The minister, after inaugurating a composite building for the counter-hijack squad of the force near Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here, said he would also welcome a proposal for creation of a new category of medals for these commandos and those from other special forces to recognise their 'shaurya' (bravery) and to boost their morale.

Singh lauded the National Security Guard (NSG) for its role during the terror attack early this year at the Pathankot IAF base which ensured that there was "no damage to the strategic installations and equipments" inside the air force station.

"I will make efforts to see that your infrastructural needs are met...Any special force like NSG needs special training and some very sophisticated equipments. The Home Ministry will take all steps to strengthen NSG," he said, noting countries across the globe are facing the scourge of terrorism.

The counter-hijack squad complex, modelled on the pattern of the German special counter-terror force GSG-9 and built at a cost of Rs 38 crore, houses some vital assets of the force like a base for 'black cat' commandos who undertake counter-hijack operations, a sniffer dogs squad and a bomb disposal squad.

Singh said NSG commandos get their motivation and courage to combat the terrorists from their feeling of "national pride".

"You have a special place in the hearts of the people ...Whenever NSG is deployed, the country knows they are in safe hands. You have done your job very ably," Singh said as he made a special mention of the Akshardham temple attack operation of 2002 during which NSG neutralised the terrorists.

He asked NSG to commemorate the birth and death anniversaries of its martyrs as suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to all central security forces, by holding special events.

He said the commandos should train themselves and ensure when in operation they should kill the enemy and not get killed.
Police detained around 400 people, including senior leaders of the Congress party, as they tried to enter the state Assembly. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

Gandhinagar: Nearly 400 Congress supporters, along with its senior leaders and MLAs, were detained while they were marching towards the state Assembly as part of the party's 'Janakrosh rally' organised on Tuesday, police said.

They were stopped when they reached the main gate of the Assembly.

Among those detained included Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela, state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki, senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil, Siddharth Patel, Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry, Manish Doshi, and nearly 20 MLAs.

"We detained around 400-odd people as they tried to enter the state Assembly. Those detained included senior party leaders," Gandhinagar SP Virendra Yadav said.

Thousands of Congress party supporters on Tuesday gathered in Gandhinagar to hold a rally against the "oppressive" BJP government, and atrocities on the Dalits, even as monsoon session of the Assembly was in progress on the second - and last day.

As the protesters reached the Assembly entrance, police put up a barricade to stop them from entering the premises.

When they tried to force their way, police used force and water canons to prevent them, and then detained them. All those detained were later let off.

Emerging from the police detention, Bharatsinh Solanki attacked the BJP government in the state for being "irresponsible and oppressive".

"The BJP government has become irresponsible and oppressive towards the public. Corruption has grown and every section of people is fed up with the government. Even when the Dalits were being attacked, beaten up, the Prime Minister remained silent on the issue and instead expressed his solidarity for the people of Balochistan," Solanki said.

He said the government did little to prevent attacks on the Dalits, the adivasis and the OBC community members.

Earlier, addressing the gathering at the rally, LoP Vaghela asked the public to uproot the BJP government.

"Unlike the BJP government, the Congress government worked in the interest of the public. When our PM (Narendra Modi) was chief minister here, in 2013, he criticised Congress-led UPA government over rising petrol, diesel price. The price continues to rise," he said.

"The BJP stalled passage of GST Bill for four years. Now, it had trouble when Congress raised objection to it. BJP continues to chant that the PM is from Gujarat. They wanted to congratulate Urjit Patel for being appointed as RBI governor, for his being a Gujarati. I objected to it. All this is being done to mislead the public," Vaghela told the gathering.

Earlier, around 50 Congress MLAs were evicted and suspended for a day from the Assembly when they protested in the House over the Una Dalit flogging incident.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday announced initiatives worth over Rs 500 crore for higher education and school education in the state.

Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, she announced setting up of a centre to link all the universities and affiliated colleges in cloud computing which will offer the students and teachers a range of services.

The proposed centre will come up on the Anna University campus here at an estimated cost of Rs 160 crore, she said, adding that a motor vehicle technical centre will also be established there to focus on research related to emission mitigation and fuel consumption of automobiles.

An auditorium, at a cost of Rs 50 crore, with a capacity to accommodate 5,000 people, will also come up in the technical university, she said. Jayalalithaa also announced a research uplift and training centre on the Anna University campus which will coordinate all the aspects related to obtaining a patent.

Other announcements made by her for the higher education sector include establishing training centres at Chennai and Dharmapuri to help the Indian Engineering Services examination aspirants and a scheme to send 100 government engineering students on 15-day annual foreign study visits.

Proposing new initiatives for the school education sector, Jayalalithaa announced construction of schools, upgradation of the existing ones, providing raincoats and boots to the students of hill areas, computerisation efforts, creation of virtual classrooms etc.
Students body AISA has claimed that it has taken strong note of the allegations and has expelled Ratan from its membership.

New Delhi: The anticipatory bail plea of Anmol Ratan, accused of raping a 28-year-old JNU student in a university hostel room, on Tuesday came up before a Delhi court which decided to hear it on Saturday.

The petition was filed before Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal who put up the matter for arguments on the next date of hearing on August 27.

Police claimed a first-year Ph.D student had alleged that Ratan, also a JNU student, raped her on August 20.

According to her complaint filed at Vasant Kunj (North) police station, she had posted on her Facebook account that she wanted to watch a movie and asked if anyone had its CD.

It said Ratan apparently messaged her saying he had a copy. Thereafter, he picked her up yesterday on the pretext of giving her a CD of the film and took her to Brahamputra Hostel, where he stays.

She alleged that he offered her a spiked drink and raped her. He also threatened her and asked her not to report the matter, she said.

However, the woman approached the police on August 21 and a case of rape was registered and further probe is underway.

Students body AISA has claimed that it has taken strong note of the allegations and has expelled Ratan from its membership.
Somwarpet/Bengaluru: Actress-turned-politician Ramya is facing a private complaint in a court seeking action on sedition and other charges against her for "insulting" Indian patriots by her remark that "Pakistan is not hell".

As Ramya's remarks triggered a bitter backlash on social media and BJP and ABVP workers staged protests terming her remarks "anti-national", the actress stood her ground in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

The complaint has sought a direction to police to book Ramya, an ex-Congress MP, under IPC sections 124(a) (sedition), 344 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).

Read: If Ramya is guilty of sedition, then case should be filed against Modi too: Cong

Advocate K Vittala Gowda filed the complaint before Somwarpet Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, which yesterday admitted it and posted it for hearing on August 27.

In the complaint, Gowda accused the multi-lingual actress of "insulting" India and "provoking" people by appreciating Pakistan which is a "traditional enemy of India."

After a recent visit to Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers, Ramya had reportedly said at a meeting in Mandya, which she represented from 2013 to 2014 in Lok Sabha, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

Her remarks had come as an ostensible counter to comments of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, "going to Pakistan is same as going to hell."

Reacting to the controversy, Ramya said "...this is the state of affairs in this country today. Sedition is being slapped against anyone and anybody who is entitled to an opinion which should not be the case."

She accused BJP of trying to curb freedom of expression. "I think that as an individual I should be allowed to air or express my thoughts, views and opinions. I think BJP government is trying to curb that."

She said other parties could also misuse sedition law and file cases against BJP leaders because of the "bizarre" statements some of them were making which were "seditious" but they do not do it and instead engage them in discussions.

Ramya also said the BJP "right now" would not do anything to repeal the sedition law as it using it to its advantage.

The sedition issue has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India by police, after anti-national and anti-Army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by it here recently.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday to discuss the flood situation in the state.

Modi on Monday promised Centre's total support to five flood-hit states in rescue and relief operations.

"Centre assures total support in the rescue & relief operations. I hope the situation in the affected areas normalises at the earliest," he said in a tweet.

"HM @rajnathsinghji is closely monitoring the situation. He has spoken to the CMs & taken stock of rescue & relief operations," he said.

Read: As flood situation worsens in 5 states, PM assures Centre's support

At least 40 people have died and hundreds of thousands have been evacuated as floods hit vast swathes of central and eastern India, officials said Monday.

Days of heavy rain have caused the Ganga and its tributaries to rise above the danger level during the past 48 hours in about 20 districts of the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Officials said at least 17 people have died in Madhya Pradesh, 14 in Bihar and nine in Uttar Pradesh because of drowning, electrocution or injuries from collapsed houses.

In Allahabad, water from the Ganges entered many residential areas, forcing people to move to safer areas. About 12,000 people were evacuated from low-lying surrounding villages, a government statement said.

In Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, flooding forced a halt to cremations at a main riverfront area, District Magistrate Vijay Karan Anand said.

In Bihar, 600,000 people were evacuated and the army and air force are on standby because more rain is forecast in the next two days, said disaster management official Vyasji.
The plea came in the backdrop of the tragic death of two children and a youth on the Independence Day after they were entangled by killer strings of Chinese manja. (Representational Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Animal rights body PETA has sought an immediate nationwide ban on the use of glass-coated manja (strings) for flying kites for causing death and damage, leading the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to seek the governments response on the matter on Tuesday.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar issued notice to Ministries of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Home Affairs, Commerce & Industry and Power and the Animal Welfare Board of India who were made parties in the case by the petitioner, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The matter has been put up for further hearing on September 6.

In its petition, PETA contended that manja, sharp string coated with glass and metals, posed a grave threat to humans and animals as every year a number of deaths were caused due to the deadly string.

"To increase the chances of being able to cut as many kites as possible, kite-strings are made deliberately sharp with churned glass, metals and other materials in order to make them razor sharp to cut through other persons kite strings.

"These strings not only cut through other kite strings when in the air, but are also quite capable of cutting through the skin of animals and human beings, thereby severely injuring and even killing them," PETA alleged.

The petition, filed through advocate Shadan Farasat, said manja posed a huge threat when it comes into contact with live overhead electric wires, leading to grid failure.

"Due to manja being coated with glass, metals and other sharp material, these strings act as good conductors of electricity, increasing the probability of detached manja strings stuck in power lines, electrocuting kite flyers and passers-by coming into contact with these strings," it said.

PETA also said minor children were engaged by the cottage industry for the manufacture of manja which caused respiratory problems among them as they inhaled harmful substances which were extremely detrimental to their health.

The plea has also referred to various orders, including the November 2015 order of the Allahabad High Court which banned the use of Chinese manja in the entire State of Uttar Pradesh and sought ban on "manufacture, import, sale and use" of these strings.

The plea came in the backdrop of the tragic death of two children and a youth on the Independence Day after they were entangled by these killer strings.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. The 9th session of the Armenian-Chinese joint commission on trade-economic affairs was held in the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 22, press service of the MFA informed Armenpress.

The session was chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Robert Harutyunyan and Vice Minister of Commerce of China Qian Keming.

A wide range of issues related to the cooperation between Armenia and China in agricultural, bilateral trade, healthcare, industrial, aviation, tourism, road construction, infrastructure, innovative technologies and other sectors were discussed in-detail during the session.

The sides summarized the results of bilateral cooperation and the development of trade-economic relations within the framework of agreements and decisions reached in recent years.

At the end of the meeting Robert Harutyunyan and Qian Keming signed the session protocol. According to the agreement, the commissions next session will be held in Beijing in 2017.
Kumar told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister that Modi assured him that immediate action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a national silt management policy. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: With Bihar battling floods despite receiving less than normal rains, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the Centre's intervention as he insisted that desilting the river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods.

Modi offered assurance to him, saying immediate and positive action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a national silt management policy, Kumar told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister.

He also linked the Modi government's ambitious Namami Gange project with better silt management in Bihar, saying if attention is not paid to the situation, then it will also put a question mark on the programme's success as he feels like "crying" at the condition of Ganga in the state.

Read: At least 40 dead as floods ravage Bihar, MP

"The very serious condition that we see today never occurred earlier. The only way to get rid of this is desiltation. There is a need for national silt management policy," he said.

He urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the "unprecedented" situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.

"The Prime Minister assured me that experts will be sent and a decision on this subject should be taken soon. Immediate and positive action will have to be taken," he said.

The Chief Minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years.

Though Bihar has received 14 per cent less rains than normal during the monsoons, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rain fall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it.

Kumar also appeared to blame Farakka barrage for the situation. He has earlier held it responsible for increasing siltage in the Ganga river basin.

Due to silt, Ganga could not store the amount of water it used to earlier, leading to flood-like condition despite not receiving proportionate amount of rain fall, he said.
Tayal at an event said an IED was found at DRDO Bhawan two months ago, and the NSG defused after other agencies failed to do so. (Photo: PTI/ Representational Image)

New Delhi: An old bomb shell was found in the high-security DRDO Bhawan complex in the city and later defused, National Security Guards chief RC Tayal said on Tuesday.

The bomb disposal squad of the counter-terrorism force "handled an IED incident" at the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) facility in Delhi a few months ago, he said during an event.

Tayal hailed the NSG bomb disposal squad as the "number one", saying when "no other" agency could handle the situation, it was his men who "defused" the explosive.

He, however, did not share details of the incident he cited in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

NSG officials later clarified that the IED was an old shell of the "unexploded ordnance" category. It was found on April 14 during the construction work undertaken by the Delhi Metro around the DRDO premises in Metcalfe House.

Besides the 120mm mortar shell, two empty artillery shells were found that day, they said.

When the bomb disposal squads of local police and others could not succeed in defusing the explosive, the National Security Guard team was called in, the officials said.

"One of the three shells was live. They were taken to the NSG garrison in Manesar in a sanitised condition inside huge explosion-proof vessels and were destroyed in controlled conditions," a senior official said.

There was no terror angle to this incident and the operation ended in a day's time, he added.

The NSG has a special bomb disposal squad which not only assists its counter-terrror and counter-hijack commando units during operations, but also helps neutralise high-level bomb threats involving IEDs and cleverly concealed explosives.

The squad had lost its Commanding Officer Lt Col Niranjan EK while he was sanitising a terrorist's booby-trapped body at the Pathankot airbase which was attacked early this year.
New Delhi: Payal Abdullah, the estranged wife of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and their two sons were evicted from the government allotted bungalow on Akabar Road in Delhi on Monday evening.

A team of officers, including cops, officers from the Jammu and Kashmir Resident Commissioners office and CRPF men, arrived at Payals residence on Monday after the high court ordered her eviction.

Payal and her sons were at the spot when the officers removed their belongings from the eight-room plush bungalow. They were also seen taking down Omar Abdullah's nameplate from the house.

According to reports, the guards had initially refused entry to the eviction officers and a brief scuffle ensued between them. Payal's counsel, Amit Khemka, accused the officers of misbehaving with her, for throwing her belonging out of the house.

The Delhi High Court had earlier asked her orally to "gracefully" vacate the official bungalow, failing which, it said she was "liable to be evicted forthwith", terming their entitlement to retain the bungalow as "wholly illegal".

The court ruled that if Omar and Farooq Abdullah, both 'Z plus' protectees, can be secured while in private accommodation, "there is no reason" why Payal and her sons cannot be, the detailed verdict of Justice Indermeet Kaur made available on Monday said, though the judgement was pronounced on August 19.

The court said Payal's apprehension that she and her sons would not be given adequate security cover was "misconceived" and dismissed her plea to retain the 7 Akbar Road bungalow in Lutyens Delhi.

"Noting the above factual matrix, this court is of the view that the entitlement of the petitioners (Payal and her sons) to retain this accommodation is wholly illegal. It is government accommodation. Petitioners have no claim or right upon it. They are liable to be evicted forthwith. Their apprehension that they will not be given an adequate security cover is misconceived.

On August 16, a trial court in Delhi had asked Payal to move out of the house in Lutyen's zone here. Three days later, Justice Indermeet Kaur had asked Payal's counsel "Will you gracefully evict or I should pass an order?"

The high court said that Payal and her sons were deriving their entitlement to retain the bungalow only through the official position of Omar Abdullah and "have no independent right or claim in this property".

"This accommodation has now been alloted to the new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. The admitted position as on date is thus that the petitioners are residing in this property as illegal occupants. Their entitlement to stay in the aforenoted government alloted bungalow is no longer available to them. They are admittedly not in government employment," the court said.
Singh told those present at the meetings that the government was working on a 3-stage plan to address the problem. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: While the unrest in Kashmir over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani continues well into its second month, the Centre has initiated back channel talks through Rajnath Singh.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Rajnath Singh has held two rounds of talks with eminent citizens  mainly non-Kashmiri Muslims, to discuss a plan of action and seek their help in initiating a dialogue with Kashmiris.

The talks began on August 18, with the first meeting of 10 individuals being held in Singhs office. The second was held on Sunday with 14 eminent individuals. Senior fuctionaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were also present at the meetings, said the report.

The attendees included former Orissa High Court judge Ishrat Masroor Quddusi, former Rajya Sabha member Shahid Siddiqui, security analyst Qamar Agha, Milli Gazette editor Zafarul Islam Khan, Supreme Court advocate Ashok Bhan, former J&K interlocutor MM Ansari and former AAP leader Mufti Shameem Kazmi, among others.

Reports of numerous working groups on J&K, which were never fully implemented, were being examined afresh following the meetings, and some action would be taken on the key recommendations once the situation in the Valley improved.

Singh told those present at the meetings that the government was working on a 3-stage plan to address the problem. He assured those present that the use of pellet guns would be minimised.

The 3-stage plan includes encouraging civil society groups to interact with youth in Kashmir, sending an all-party delegation to the state and examining the role of the clergy in spreading the message of peace.

The invitees highlighted two important aspects of the problem, said the report. The first was that strongly worded statements by some senior ministers of the government, in which Kashmiris were accused of being Pakistani agents, were adding fuel to the fire.

The second was that some news channels were creating the impression that India was at at war with Kashmiris. The invitees told the government representatives that both these actions needed to be checked. Many other suggestions, including connecting the chain of broken promises were made by the invitees, said the report.
BJP, Congress and BSP MLAs jostled with other legislators and continued to raise slogans while marshals tried to remove them. (Photo: ANI)

Lucknow: Pandemonium prevailed on Tuesday in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly as opposition parties sought to corner the Akhilesh Yadav government over several issues, prompting the Speaker to order the eviction of the protesting legislators.

Legislators from BSP, BJP, RLD and Apna Dal jumped into the Well of the House with placards and banners even before the Assembly proceedings started.

BSP members donning caps with slogans "Daliton par atyachar nahi chalega" (atrocities on Dalits will not be tolerated) and banners highlighting the issue of cane dues protested against the government.

BJP members raised the issues of law and order, electricity, women security etc.

RLD members also pitched in raising the issue of non-payment of cane dues while Peace Party member Ayub was seen with the banner "Adityanath ke goondon ko giraftar karo" (arrest goons of Adityanath).

Amidst the din, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey tried to pacify the members to return to their seats for Question Hour, but his attempt went in vain.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohd Azam Khan said strict action should be taken against the legislators, whom he accused of committing contempt of the House by jumping into the Well even before the start of the proceedings and arrival of the Speaker.

"They are trying to communalise things and vitiate the atmosphere of the state. BSP men are doing all this for cheap media publicity. Instead of pointing banners to us, they are showing it to media, which showed their intentions," he said.

On his demand, a resolution was passed with voice vote to remove the agitating legislators from the House following which the Speaker asked the marshals to evict them.

BJP, Congress and BSP MLAs jostled with other legislators and continued to raise slogans while marshals tried to remove them. While some resisted the marshals, others voluntarily went outside the House.

Some BSP MLAs were seen using force while resisting the marshals.

"It has never happened in the House. Some legislators used force with marshals," Khan charged.

The Speaker said he was forced to take strict action. "It was a strict decision but necessary. The action (of MLAs) against marshals should be condemned. Both BSP and BJP are competing with each other in creating nuisance for cheap publicity," Khan said.

The agitated MLAs after being removed from the House sat on dharna in the gallery outside.

Later, Speaker continued Question Hour but as opposition leaders were not present he started agenda of Zero hour.

Later, Azam Khan moved a resolution to call back the protesting legislators stating "the House proceedings do not look good without them".

Though Congress members conceded, BSP, BJP and other parties continued sloganeering outside the House.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav meanwhile presented supplementary grant of over Rs 25,000 crore for the financial year 2016-17. After completing the agenda, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey adjourned the House for the day.
Lucknow: In a statement which might not go well with the bureaucracy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said some officers have allegiance to other political parties in the state and they were creating hurdles in implementation of government schemes.

"As far as dial 100 scheme is concerned, we want to bring it. We have got some good and some bad officers. I know that some of our officers have allegiance to other parties and they do not want this scheme to get functional," he said at an infrastructure meet here.

"If dial 100 number becomes functional, then police will reach the spot within 10 minutes and it will become an example before the entire country. These officers are creating a hurdle in this but we have found out a way," he said.

"We have a very good chief secretary. He will see who is sitting on the file. If the CM is standing behind him, he will clear the file," Akhilesh said.

Attacking BJP which has been cornering the state government over the law and order issue, the CM said, "They (BJP) want a debate on law and order. But before that they should look in their own states. They look so weak on the borders."

"I have attended army schools and many of my schoolmates are serving on the borders. The entire country knows what the situation on the borders is," he said.

Referring to BJP's charge that many senior leaders were ruling the state by proxy, he said, "You might have read the allegation of five-and-a-half CMs in UP many times. I say you find out one (CM candidate), then it will be decided, who is leading and who is lagging behind. This will be decided by the people of the state."

"I am a new Chief Minister but I have done a lot under training. Think what I will do in times to come. We will work with more transparency. We want to go among people on the basis of our work but other parties want to take the things in other direction," he said.

Referring to BJP's ongoing 'tiranga' yatra, he said while UP is poll-bound, the saffron brigade was taking out 'yatras'. "We unfurled the national flag on August 15. I don't know till when BJP people will unfurl the flag. We are not against it but in which direction they want to take the country. What is the definition of 'achche din'," he said.

On Congress projecting Sheila Dikshit as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly polls, he said, "Congress said it wants to project an upper caste as CM candidate. Tell in which direction they want to take the country."

Attacking the media, he said it highlights Bulandshahr and Mathura incidents underlining the law and order problem in the state but it never gives prominence to what is happening in Delhi and Haryana. "Media is only concentrating on UP," he said.
New Delhi: The apex consumer commission has directed a foreign airline to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 to a customer and upgrade his economy class ticket to business class if he travelled in future, as a penalty for serving him non-vegetarian food instead of a Jain meal he had opted for.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) upheld the district forum's order also directing Swiss International Airlines, to pay Rs 10,000 towards litigation cost and dismissed the revision petition filed by Mumbai resident Amit Jay Kumar Jain to enhance the compensation.

"The opposite party (airlines) shall be bound by its commitment to upgrade economy class to business class in one flight booked by the complainant from India to Europe or Europe to India with a rider that the complainant must undertake that flight within one year," the bench presided by Justice Ajit Bharihoke said.

The bench, which also comprised member S M Kantikar, noted that the complainant was alerted by a co-passenger before he could eat the non-vegetarian food served to him.

"It cannot be said with certainty that the complainant consumed a morsel of non-vegetarian food. Thus, under the circumstances, the compensation awarded to the complainant seem to be reasonable and there is no cause for interfering with it," the bench added.

According to the complaint, on May 6, 2011, while flying from Zurich to Mumbai, Jain was served with a non-vegetarian meal whereas he had opted for a special vegetarian Jain meal.

When he approached the district forum in Mumbai, the airline said the mistake was human error and offered that in future any one economy class ticket booked by the complainant from India to Europe or from Europe to India would be upgraded to business class and an apology was also tendered in writing.

The forum had also granted a compensation of Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 as cost towards the litigation to Jain. Jain's appeal for enhancing the compensation was rejected by the state commission after which he approached NCDRC.
Chennai: DMK treasurer and Leader of Opposition M K Stalin on Tuesday said his party would approach Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah over the issue of suspension of 79 of his party MLAs from the Assembly.

"If needed, we will meet him," Stalin told reporters when asked if his party was planning to approach Rosaiah over the issue of suspension of DMK MLAs.

He said as of now his party did not have any idea of calling on the Governor over the issue.

To another question, he said that 79 members, including himself, have been suspended for only a week and that they would participate in House proceedings after the end of the suspension period.

He reiterated that public meetings will be held across Tamil Nadu, including Madurai and Tiruchirappalli, on the suspension issue.

Stalin and 78 other DMK MLAs were suspended on August 17 for allegedly stalling the proceedings of the House. On August 18, they held a mock Assembly in the precincts of Fort St George and a case was registered against DMK members.

DMK has also approached the Madras High Court over the issue.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao exchanges the agreement on irrigation projects with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Tuesday. TS irrigation minister T. Harish Rao is also seen. (Photo: P. Anil Kumar)

MUMBAI: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and TS CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao signed a treaty on Tuesday for the sharing of Godavari waters.

The decision was taken at the Maharashtra governments official Sahyadri guesthouse on Tuesday during the first meeting of an inter-state board for joint irrigation projects between Maharashtra and TS.

Mr Fadnavis allayed the fear that people in the bordering Gadchiroli district have of it being flooded. We have now developed a proper mechanism to control flooding. I would like to assure the people that their villages would not be flooded, he said.

The height of Tummidihatti has been reduced to 148 metres from 152 metres. About 113 hectares of land in Gadchiroli will go under water due to this barrage.

The height of Medigadda would be 100 metres, bringing under 150 hectares of land under water, while 1,214 hectares of land would be submerged under water due to the Chanakha-Korta barrage. But no village or house would go under water anywhere, Mr Fadnavis said.

Mr Chandrasekhar Rao, on his part, termed the treaty as historic while speaking to the media. Problems can be resolved if properly coordinated. Today, is a historic day for both states. Water from Godavari and Pranahita would be used by both the states. Earlier, Congress governments at the Centre and both states (Maharashtra and undivided Andhra Pradesh) could not resolve the issues. But we have succeeded. The projects will take about two years to reach fruition. Both states will be benefited, Mr Rao said.

He also clarified that TS has no dispute with Maharashtra in the Krishna valley, but does with AP. We will resolve problems together with Maharashtra. The Maharashtra CM is like my brother and is very pragmatic. My blessings are with him, Mr Rao said.
Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has claimed the Border Security Force is training a peoples militia whose aim is to break away from Bengal.

The charge arises out of a probe report submitted by the DIG, Jalpaiguri Range, to the ADG (Law and Order) at the state secretariat saying BSF officials in the Mathabhanga area of Cooch Behar in North Bengal imparted training to volunteers of the Narayani Sena.

Narayani Sena, an arm of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples Association or GCPA, has been known to demand a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar on ethnic grounds for Rajvanshi tribe.

The training, according to the report, happened a day after August 15 without the state administration knowing. The TMC said this was an attempt by the BJP-led Centre to spread unrest in the region for political gains.

The Sena is said to be raising militants by picking volunteers in large numbers. Narayani Sena leader Ananta Ray said BSF was only responding to their request to teach them to give a guard-of-honour to BJP MP and junior Union minister S.S. Ahluwalia when he visits the area.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik Beglaryan received the Chinese delegation led by Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming on August 22.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Armenia Tian Erlong, representatives of the Chinese CCECC company and Sinohydro Corporation CJSC also took part in the meeting, press service of the Armenian Ministry told Armenpress.

Armenian Minister Gagik Beglaryan welcomed Qian Keming stating that the Armenian-Chinese relations in the sphere of transport and communication are gradually developing.

For several years a number of Chinese companies are trying to carry out different projects in the road construction sector in Armenia, and, finally, this year it succeeded. Today we are working with Sinohydro Corporation CJSC, and we have also cooperated with CCECC company for many years, Gagik Beglaryan said.

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce also underlined the recent cooperation achievements of the two states especially in the field of transport infrastructures.

The Chinese Sinohydro Corporation company won a tender for the North-South road corridor construction project, which is the best opportunity for cooperation. The Chinese side will carry out timely and quality work, and we expect the comprehensive assistance of the Armenian side, Qian Keming said.

The sides also talked about the necessity of the restoration of the Silk Road and Armenias role in the Eurasian region as a transportation hub. The Chinese side said they are interested in the construction of the Armenian-Iranian railway.

At the end of the meeting the Chinese Vice Minister expressed his willingness to continue cooperation in the road construction sector in the future.

The Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication ensured that the Armenian side is also interested in mutually beneficial, productive and long-lasting cooperation between the two states in the field of transport infrastructures.
Hyderabad: Four deaths in Hyderabad district and two in Ranga Reddy due to diphtheria in the last two months have put the health department on alert.

Officials have now decided to vaccinate children between two and seven years.

Diphtheria is a bacterial infection that causes sore throat and spreads easily.

It is a preventable disease and children can be vaccinated for it. But many are not given the vaccine as the parents are not aware or have not been advised by their doctors.

The recent deaths in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy were of five-seven-years-old children. Dr Padmaja K., in-charge district medical and health officer of Hyderabad, said, Those who miss the vaccines are children of construction workers, migrants and those who frequently move from one place to another. These children are vulnerable as their vaccination schedules are not followed.

Doctors stress need for vaccine

Four deaths in Hyderabad district and two in Ranga Reddy due to diphtheria in the last two months have put the health department on alert. Dr Padmaja K., in-charge district medical and health officer of Hyderabad, said, Children who missed the vaccination are vulnerable. We have decided to have camps from August 24 to 31 so that they can be covered.

In Ranga Reddy, children of construction workers and labourers are being identified who might have missed the vaccine. The recent death of a 16-year-old boy from Bihar in Yusufguda led authorities to check for vaccination records of migrants.

A senior health official said, The patient was admitted to Fever Hospital at the last minute when all his airways were choked and the heart muscles had become very weak. The parents said that he had only got a BCG vaccine. The teenage boy died from multi-organ failure. The first few days of fever were completely neglected leading to severe complications. Experts at Fever Hospital said that though it was a rare case, children missing vaccinations is a common phenomenon.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao exchanges the agreement on irrigation projects with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Tuesday. TS irrigation minister T. Harish Rao is also seen. (Photo: P. Anil Kumar)

Hyderabad: Even as the Congress, Telugu Desam and CPI slammed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, accusing him of mortgaging the interests of the state to Maharashtra through the agreement on irrigation projects signed on Tuesday, the TRS has termed the pact as historic.

While Mr Rao was busy signing the MoU with his Maharashtra counterpart Devender Fadnavis, back home, the Congress took out protest rally from Gandhi Bhavan to the Hyderabad collectorate.

TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, who led the rally, criticised the agreement saying that the CM has surrendered before the neighbouring state.

A great injustice has been done to Telangana. Fearing that the Congress will get a good name from past projects, KCR has resorted to redesigning. He is spreading lies over the MoU. Redesigning of irrigation projects is aimed at commissions and not for the good of the people. The CM has surrendered to Maharashtra. Public money has been wasted on full page ads, Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

CLP leader K. Jana Reddy, TPCC working president Bhatti Vikramarka, former ministers Ponnala Laxmaiah, Danam Nagender and others raised slogans against the pact.

Elsewhere, TD spokesman Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy too questioned the agreement with Maharashtra. How can it be called historic when the states interest is mortgaged? Its a black day. Telangana projects are turning into white elephants. Why is KCR silent on Almatti? he asked.

CPI leader Chada Venkat Reddy alleged that the TS government was following the diktats of Maharashtra. TRS may feel its historic, but it is not so in the eyes of the people, he said.

Meanwhile, TRS MP B. Vinod Kumar hit back at the Opposition. When the TRS government decided to construct projects where water is available, Congress is objecting. When Pranahita and Penganga will meet, water in the Godavari will increase. Uttam Kumar Reddy has no knowledge about projects, he charged.
Bengaluru: Actress-turned-politician Ramya is facing a sedition charge filed against her by a lawyer in Karnataka for praising people in Pakistan, kicking up a controversy.

Caught in a controversy over her remarks that Pakistan is not hell, people there are just like us, Ramya stuck to her views and ruled out an apology.

Her remarks came as a veiled counter to comments of defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, going to Pakistan is same as going to hell.

The former Mandya MP had visited Islamabad as part of a Saarc delegation of young lawmakers and made the remarks at a meeting in her constituency.

While the BJP staged protests terming her remarks anti-national, the actress stood her ground. I dont think I am wrong. Its freedom of speech, also our duty to speak on inclusiveness and peace.

The Ramya controversy has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India, after anti-national and anti-Army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by the organisation in Bengaluru recently.

Meanwhile, the Congress sought to turn the tables on BJP over its attack on Ramya, contending that if wanting better ties with Pakistan was sedition, then the first case should be lodged against Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made an impromptu stopover for festivities with the Pakistan premier.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to go on two-day visit to review the law and order situation in Kashmir. (Photo: Representational Image/PTI)

Srinagar/New Delhi: Ahead of home minister Rajnath Singhs two-day visit to the Valley, at least, 17 people were injured, three of them critically, when security forces fired live ammunition on protesters in Vihil and Nowgam areas of the Jammu and Kashmirs southern Shopian district on Tuesday.

The seriously injured were brought to Srinagar Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences for specialised treatment whereas the rest were being treated at a medical facility at Vahil and the district hospital of Shopian.

Reports received here from Shopian said that the Army and members of J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group were removing barricades erected by the locals along a road passing through the twin villages.

On seeing them, the residents came out of their homes and began chanting pro-freedom slogans. Police said the security personnel came under heavy stone-pelting as they tried to chase the surging crowds.

Meanwhile, as the Valley continues to see unprecedented turbulence for well over a month now, home minister Rajnath Singh along with his top officials, including home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, will visit the state on Wednesday, during which he will chair a meeting of the Srinagar-based Unified Command. This is the second visit by him to the Valley in about a months time.

During the two-day visit, the home minister will also interact with a cross-section of people from the Valley, though no formal invitation has been extended to the Hurriyat Conference for a meeting.

So far 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several hundreds have been injured, mostly due to the use of pellet guns by the security forces.

J&K cops quit, chant aazadi slogans

Apparently succumbing to pressure from locals who are religiously obeying the protest schedule issued by the separatists to prolong the unrest, a Jammu and Kashmir policeman on Monday announced his resignation and chanted pro-aazadi slogans at a rally at Behrampora outside the town of Sopore. Another cop promised to follow the suit soon.

Two Special Police Officers (SPOs) Firdous Ahmed and Waseem Ahmed Shiekh participated in a rally and said they wanted to resign from the police force. While Ahmed who is posted at sub-district police office of Rafiabad, Sopore as driver said that he has already resigned, the Sheikh sent a message saying he too will quit his job.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday reserved its orders on a petition questioning the Bulletin issued on March 10, 2016 by the TS Legislature Secretariat merging TS Telugu Desam Legislature Party with the TRS Legislature Party.

Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao was hearing a petition moved by A. Revanth Reddy, TD MLA and party Floor Leader in the Assembly. The petition said that the Speaker, who is also Chairman of the Tribunal under Schedule X, only has the jurisdiction to decide on disqualification and cannot decide on the merger of a political party independently as per the Constitution.

While commencing the argument, TS A-G K. Ramakrishna Reddy informed the court that he was appearing on behalf of the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly.

The judge took exception as the Secretary had communicated the decision of the Speaker as a ministerial job and said that the A-G cannot advance arguments on the merits of the case as the Secretary has no role since the decision was taken by the Speaker.

The A-G told the court that the Secretary was aware of the decision of the Speaker and being the A-G, he had every right to appear on behalf of the secretary and the government. In fact, he has received instructions to appear in the present writ, Mr Reddy said.

At this stage, a heated argument took place between the judge and the A-G and the AG, in a raised voice, submitted that he will argue the matter in the capacity of an advocate-general of the state and he was entitled to argue and the court shall not desist him from arguing in the matter. The judge cautioned the A-G not to raise his voice and said that at the most, Mr Reddy could appear for the Secretary but not for the Speaker.

The A-G, while referring to Article 177 of the Constitution, said that he could appear on behalf of the Speaker and further submitted that prior to this petition also, a writ was filed seeking disqualification of the MLAs who defected to TRS. A division bench had passed an order and as of now, the matter was pending in the Supreme Court.

When the A-G said that usually, the courts will not issue notice to the Speaker and there was protection from the judicial review on the decisions taken by the Legislature, the judge said courts do have judicial review in these type of issues and there are judgments of the Supreme Court.

The A-G said that the Speaker had allotted the seats to the 12 MLAs who joined TRS and bulletin also explains the same and there was nothing more in it.

During the course of hearing, J. Ramachandra Rao, additional advocate general appeared before the court and submitted that all the 12 MLAs have been issued notices and he was instructed to appear on their behalf. He sought two days to argue in the matter. The judge declined to grant him the time and asked him to argue at 2.30 pm, but he could not do so.
New Delhi: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday appealed to the Indian workers, who have lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia, to return to India by September 25 failing which they have to make their own arrangements for boarding, lodging and return journey.

My advice to all Indian workers is that they should file their claims and return home by 25th September, 2016. We will bring them back free of charge. Those who do not return by 25th September will have to make their own arrangements, Ms. Swaraj said.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao exchanges the agreement on irrigation projects with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Tuesday. TS irrigation minister T. Harish Rao is also seen. (Photo: P. Anil Kumar)

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao signed a treaty on Tuesday for the sharing of water, assuring people that no village from either state would be submerged in water.

The TS government is going to build three barrages  Thummidihatti on the Pranhita river, Medigadda on the Godavari river and Chanakha-Korta on the Penganga river  that would benefit both the states.

Maharashtras Gadchiroli, Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts will benefit and 30,000 hectares of land will be irrigated as a result.

We are happy that Telangana has cooperated with us in the use of water. The issues with the earlier government are resolved. The treaty is going to benefit us immensely and not a single village would be submerged in water from the rivers. I have requested the Telangana CM to protect Maharashtras interests in the dispute over the Krishna river as well, Mr Fadnavis said. The TS government is going to fund the construction of the barrages and land acquisition too.
Murugan, who has previously written six novels, four collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry, said he doubts whether he can continue to write in his usual realist mode. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Contemporary Tamil author Perumal Murugan on Monday ended a self-imposed literary exile of 19 months with a new book - a collection of 200 poems "A Coward's Song".

Threatened by protests from Hindutva activists against his Tamil novel "Madhorubagan" (One Part Woman), which they deemed offensive, a dismayed Murugan had announced in a Facebook post in December 2014 that the writer in him was dead. "Author Perumal Murugan is dead," he had written.

In July, the Madras High Court had dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of the author and ban of his "offensive" book in Tamil, besides forfeiting all the copies of its English translation "One Part Woman" saying there was nothing obscene in the book.

Dressed in a white shirt and dhoti, Murugan, speaking in Tamil read out a powerful statement after the launch of his new book at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, which was translated and read out in English.

The 50-year-old author also recited two poems "Hometown" and "A Coward's Song" before that.

Describing the first three months after he had declared his "death", Murugan said he did not want to "even write one word". He said during that time he felt like a like "a walking corpse", and "like a rat in a burrow".

"It was poetry that saved me. My mind has now attained a state of being able to write poetry," he said, adding now when he writes he feels a censor seated within him and "unable to shake him off".

"My writing will do little to change the world so let me be quiet and speak through my writings," said the author, who began writing poetry when he was a child.

In the discussion with Nilanjana Roy following the reading statement, Murugan said he believed "No writer can write a single work in defence of caste."

"In my perception caste is ubiquitous but present subtly in society. Why caste exists and why is so divisive is a question that plagues me," Murugan said.

The author was introduced by poet Ashok Vajpeyi, who said it was "encouraging for poets like us that he is alive and that he chose to write poetry instead of prose".

Refusing to delve into the dark days following his self- imposed exile, the author, who is also a professor of literature, said he never believed he would be able to write again.

"Today is a happy day for me. My book of poems has been published and released in Delhi. I don't want to relive my dark days of 2015," he said.

Murugan, who has previously written six novels, four collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry, said he doubts whether he can continue to write in his usual realist mode.

"I doubt whether I can continue to write in future in the realist mode. I might have to resort to other techniques. Only time will tell on that," he said.
Chennai: In measures to increase operational efficiency of the police, the Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa announced the providing of bullet-proof jackets, mine sweepers and bullet proof helmets to cops.

The CM said the risk allowance to police had been doubled. The gesture would entail an additional expenditure of Rs 60.73 crore, she said while winding up the debate on the demand for grants to police and fire & rescue services departments in the Assembly on Monday.

She made a total of 81 announcements and several new initiatives worth `209.19 crore. Procuring vehicle-mounted baggage scanner, explosive vapour detectors, mini jammers, multi-zone doorframe metal detectors, night vision binoculars and modern communication equipment apart, Ms Jayalalithaa announced modernising the police control room in Chennai with the setting up of Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (3ci) Operation Centre at an estimated Rs 12.22 crore.

For fire personnel, among the other things, she announced procuring 1,000 personal protective equipment at a cost of Rs 5.50 crore. Police taking measures to curb crimes, says CM:

The Chief Minister further said that murders for gain which stood at 74 in 2005, 153 in 2010, has also come down to 107 in 2015. Many among the 1,641 murders in 2015 were because of family feuds, love affairs, monetary dealings, land deals, personal enmity and due to verbal duels. Only a few murders have taken place due to revenge, rowdyism and for gain, Ms Jayalalithaa said. The police were unable to prevent murders as the disputes were not brought to their notice by the people concerned. Still, they are taking continuous steps to prevent incidents of crimes, she added.
Many cow vigilante organisations across north India have begun targeting the BJP for its alacrity towards the cause. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Despite the Prime Ministers stern warning against cow vigilantes, lakhs of gau rakhshaks are set to descend on Delhi on November 6 to attend an awareness programme on cow protection.

According to reports, the event, organised by former RSS ideologue Govindacharya, will be held in a stadium, and a special deep daaan is also being organised on the banks of the Yamuna, to coincide with the Chhath Puja festivities.

We will organise such awareness programmes at state levels throughout India," said Govindacharya, emphasising that anyone associated with the RSS cannot go against gau rakhsha.

The event is seen as a result of growing disillusionment among RSS and similar rightwing organisations with the current NDA government, after the PM spoke out against violence by self appointed cow vigilantes in Gujarat and UP, especially with the upcoming polls in UP in 2017.

In a strong rebuke to cow vigilantes, some of whom flogged dalits in his home state Gujarat, Modi had earlier said that he felt enraged at such 'anti-social elements' who indulged in crimes by the night and masqueraded as cow protectors during the day.

This did not go down well with the RSS and the Sangh Parivar in general, with many cow vigilante organisations across north India have begun targeting the BJP for its alacrity towards the cause.

In Rajasthan for instance, over 550 members representing around 125 cow shelters in the state met in Jaipur, only to hit out at the present government for not doing enough for cow protection. This, after it was widely reported that over 500 cows were starving in Rajasthan, and were in a very pitiable state.

"We decided that if the Rajasthan government does not improve the current infrastructure, then all the bovines in the state would be taken to respective district magistrate's residence and set free," said Govindacharya.

Earlier, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) also took potshots at the PM for his remarks, saying that Modi insulted them by dubbing them anti-social, and demanded that the government talk to them.

VHP international working president Pravin Togadia said that Modi's directive to states to create dossiers of cow vigilantes amounts to 'racial profiling' of Hindus as they are the ones who give their lives for protecting the animal.

But BJP is also attempting to salvage its strained relationship with the Sangh, trying to distinguish between violent cow vigilantism and love for the cow.

Defending the Prime Ministers comment, BJP spokesperson Sudesh Verma said, Prime Minister did not speak against cow protection. He spoke against cow vigilantism and those who take the law into their own hands and create social conflict.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs that on August 23 the USD exchange rate was 474.25 AMD which is a decrease of 0.28 drams compared to the previous day.

The euro increased by 1.20 drams forming 537.18 drams, and British pound rose by 3.43 drams forming 625.06 drams. Russian ruble decreased by 0.06 drams forming 7.32 drams on August 23.

The prices for precious metals are as follows: the price for silver per gram is 288.33 AMD, gold-20,369.12 AMD, and platinum  16,924.71 AMD.
Workers at a bakery in Pune were forced to do sit-ups for refusing to pay donation for Ganesh festival. (Photo: YouTube screengrab)

Pune: Workers at a bakery were made to do sit-ups allegedly by members of a local Ganesh Mandal for refusing to pay them donation for the upcoming festival, police said on Tuesday.

A purported video of the incident, which occurred at a bakery in Bhosari area on August 15, has gone viral, while the three accused have been arrested, police said.

According to an official of Bhosari police station, the accused went to the bakery and demanded 'vargani' (donation) of Rs. 151 from the workers for the Ganesh festival. The workers, who are non-Maharashtrians, said the owner of the shop was not there and hence they did not give the donation, the official said.

Following the denial for donation, the accused, identified as Prakash Landage (30), Ganesh Landage (30) and Mahesh Mare (31), abused the workers and later made them to do sit-ups, the official said.

A complaint was filed by one of the workers, Irshad Mommammed Ayub Khan, and a case under IPC sections 294 (obscene act or words in public), 341 (wrongful confinement), 385 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered, the official said, adding investigations are underway.
New Delhi: While Perumal Murugan has emerged from a self-imposed literary exile with a new book of poems, the Tamil author who was forced to publicly renounce writing after protests against his novel 'Madhorubagan, says he now censors his own characteristic realistic style.

"A censor is seated inside me now. He is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, or it may be interpreted thus, is a real bother. But I'm unable to shake him off. If this is wrong let the Indian intellectual world forgive me," Murugan said after his new anthology was released late on Monday evening.

In December 2014, a dismayed Murugan had declared in a Facebook post that the writer in him was dead. He described the subsequent period as "nightmarish".

"Between December 2014 and June 2016 I couldn't so much as scratch a line in the first three months. As though the fingers of my heart had become numb. I couldn't read a thing," the author said adding that it was then he realised the full meaning of the Tamil phrase 'nadaipinam', 'a walking corpse'.

The dark period, he said, ended in 2015 when he spent a few days at a friend's house in a room stacked with books.

"With nothing to do I lay dazed night and day. I wallowed in a dark hole without the urge to see or talk to anybody. But as I ruminated over my existence, there came a certain instant when the sluice gates were breached. I began to write. I chronicled the moment when I felt like a rat, dazzled by the light, burrowing itself into its hole," Murugan said.

The poems that emerged after that stay finds place in his just released anthology 'Kozhayin Paadalkal,' (Songs of a Coward.) "As I started to write, I began to revive little by little, from my finger nails to my hair. It was poetry that saved me," he said.

In July this year, the Madras High Court dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of the author and ban of his "offensive" book in Tamil, besides forfeiting all the copies of its English translation "One Part Woman" saying there was nothing obscene in the book.

Commenting on the judgment, Murugan said, "The learned judges have also said that 'Perumal Murugan should be able to write and advance the canvas of his writings'. The last word of the verdict  'Write'  sounds to me both as a command and as a benediction."

Murugan also expressed his gratitude to writers from Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country and the world, who extended their support to him.

"Across the country voices were raised in support of freedom of expression and against intolerance. It is those voices which have brought me here today. I accepted this invitation to speak here only to express my gratitude to those voices," he said in a statement that he read out in Tamil followed by a translated version that was also read out.

The author, who considers poetry to be a private act says he used to write poetry for himself and has so far published our volumes of poems containing some 150 poems.

Murugan, 50, also said he is mulling the reissue of his earlier works.

"I will soon begin the weary task of reviewing my books. If required I shall revise the text. I'm not sure if this is right. However, when so many things that are not quite right re happening all over, why not this? What am I to do?" he said.

Murugan, who has previously written six novels and four collections of short stories said he had at one point in time listed out the books he planned to write and the number, the author said, came to 50 with over 10 novels.

"I'm not sure now that I will write every one of those 50-odd books. Even if I do I doubt if they will take the same shape as conceived earlier. It's however certain that my writing will not be the same," he said.

Stating that he needed time to gather his creative energies he said, "I'm not a motor pump to draw water from the depths the moment it is switched on. I'm more a pupa in a cocoon. It will require time to develop colourful wings. Please allow me the time to do so."

Murugan also said he doubted whether he could continue to write in future in the realist mode. "I might have to resort to other techniques. Only time will tell on that," he said.

In a discussion following the book launch Murugan, whose first novel 'Eru Veyyil' was published when he was 25 years old, and whose writings have touched on the caste equations in Tamil Nadu said, "No writer can write a single word in defence of caste."

In my perception caste is ubiquitous but is subtly present everywhere. Why does caste exist and why caste is so divisive this is a question that has plagued me all my life," he said to applause.

Incidentally, the author who is a professor of Tamil literature said he had edited a volume where 32 of his students had considered the caste issue.

The author was introduced by poet Ashok Vajpeyi, who said it was "encouraging for poets like us that he is alive and that he chose to write poetry instead of prose".
BENGALURU: A 26-year-old IT professionals desire to gift his sister a Canon camera on Raksha Bandhan turned sour after he received a brick instead of the camera, for which he had paid Rs 36,3000.

Ranjeet Kumar, who works in Marathalli, ordered the camera through the e-commerce site, Amazon India, on August 11 and received his surprise package on August 16.

That is not all, Mr Kumar told Deccan Chronicle narrating the incident, the e-commerce site, rather than taking the onus, only added to his misery by not resolving the issue even a week after the incident.

The brick packed in a camera box to deceive the techie.

I had ordered Canon EOS 700D 18MP Digital SLR Camera (Black) for my sister as she is doing a course in photography and needed the camera. I had thought of gifting it to her on the Raksha Bandhan day and ordered it online on August 11 on the Amazon site, where I got a deal for Rs 36,300. I gave my company address for shipping and received the parcel on August 16. I paid the amount by swiping my card and I had a nasty surprise when I opened the package, he said.

I tried getting in touch with the agent, but could not. I immediately contacted the e-commerce site, but had a very bad experience with their customer care support team. They misbehaved with me during my telephonic conversations with them. It has been six days and I have been shooting mails to them asking for a refund, but the company has said that they will first set up an internal inquiry.

After repeated calls, a representative from Amazon got in touch with Mr Kumar and assured him that they would look into the matter. The company wrote a mail stating, Message From Customer Service, Dear Ranjeet, Im Thinlay from the Amazon.in's Executive Customer Relations team. Jeff Bezos received your e-mail and asked me to respond on his behalf. I'm sorry for the inconvenience you've experienced with your Order ID: 171-0230560-0472364. I understand that you've received a brick instead of Canon EOS 700D 18 MP Digital SLR Camera (Black) with 18-55mm and 55-250mm IS II Lens, 8GB card and Carry Bag. I've engaged our internal team to investigate this issue. Your patience is all that we require, while we work to resolve your issue. As I'm personally tracking this issue, I'll surely write back to you once we have an update that needs to be passed on to you. Mr Kumar has approached the Mahadevpura police station and registered a complaint.
Chennai: Coimbatore has recorded the maximum number of fatalities due to road accidents overtaking Chennai. While Tamil Nadu holds the dubious distinction of leading the country in road accident fatalities in 2015, Coimbatore recorded 962 fatalities out of total 15,642 registered across the state.

Next to Coimbatore comes Kancheepuram district where 906 persons died in accidents. Chennai comes next with 889 fatalities in road accidents.

Interestingly, Chennai recorded a steady decline in the number of accidents and fatalities in the last two years in contrast to sharp rise in Coimbatore. In 2015, Chennai reported 7,336 road accidents and 889 casualties. The previous year it had registered 9,468 accidents resulting in 1048 deaths. Coimbatore had recorded a rise in the number of accidents to 4,054 in 2015 from 3,937 in 2014 while fatalities had gone up to 962 from 948 the same period.

Coimbatore police commissioner A. Amalraj said the city did not record any rising trend in road accidents. He said in 2015, the city recorded about 246 fatalities, which is less than Chennai and this year till date, 140 casualties have been reported. It is a safe city, he said.

Coimbatore District Road Safety-cum-Traffic Advisory Committee member K. Kathirmathiyon said accidents occur due to engineering faults and lack of enforcement. If an accident occurs, a scientific analysis should be done to find out the causes for it. It is not being done. That is the main reason for accidents, he said, adding black spots should be identified and solutions should have been worked out for avoiding accidents there. Lack of visibility in NH 47 and NH 209 junction has caused several accidents. But no steps are being taken to rectify it, he said.

If accidents occur due to poor road engineering designs, officials concerned should be charged under IPC Section 304 A for causing fatalities to public and motorists, he said. However, the policy note of police department tabled by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday said though the number of vehicles increased every year, the ratio between number of vehicles and number of road accidents had shown a decreasing trend from 2013 to 2015.
Chennai: The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) has committed gross irregularity in the selection of Associate Professor and Professor in the department of mathematics, the Madras high court held on Monday.

A division bench comprising Justices A.S elvam and P. Kalaiyarasan gave the ruling while granting relief to Associate Professor W.B. Vasantha, who has been waging a legal battle against IIT-M since 1997 after being denied the Professors post and ineligible persons were chosen instead.

Now the court has ordered the IIT-M to consider her, within two months, for the post of Associate Professor from July 27, 1995 and for the post of Professor from January 6, 1997 or from the relevant dates.

Slamming the IIT-M for the manner in which the maths professors post was filled in June 1996, the court said, It is suffice to observe and direct that the IIT-M as an institute of national importance should be role model to others in adopting the procedures and laws not only in selection process but in all aspects.

Vasantha in her petition had said she had applied for the post of Associate Professor in January 1995, but was not selected. When she responded to an advertisement for professors post in June 1996, she met with the same fate. However, she was made Associate Professor. She moved the high court in 1997 pointing out that S. G. Kamath selected as Associate Professor did not possess basic qualification while another selected candidate A Rangan did not have the required first class PG in mathematics; besides, the selection committee itself was not properly constituted.

Accepting her contentions, a single judge had on July 25, 2013 ordered CBI probe into the IIT-M appointments during 1995-2000. The IIT-M quickly managed to get this order stayed by a division bench and Vasanthas battle for justice continuedtill the present favourable order.

Allowing Vasanthas contention, the bench in its present order upheld the order of the single judge that the selection of Kamath and Rangan and also the constitution of selection committee were irregular and improper.

In this case, no doubt selection for the post of Associate Professor and Professor was made contrary to the terms of the advertisement and gross irregularity has been committed by the institute in the selection process, the bench held and dismissed the IIT-M contention that Kamath was chosen even though he did not possess the basic qualification stipulated in the advertisement, as he was already working as Assistant Professor in the department of mathematics.

As far as Rangan was concerned, the court said the Annamalai University, where he was awarded M.Sc degree, graded only second class. When the university graded as second class, the selection committee has no authority to round off the mark 59.6 as 60 and held he was possessing first class in M.Sc. Contrary to the basic qualification required as given in the advertisement, the selection made by the committee is irregular and cannot be termed as good, even if there is no allegation of malafide explicitly made, the court said.

The court also referred to the observation made by the single judge that Rangan could have applied, despite not having the requisite qualification, as he had known he would get the post. Had the IIT-M made it known that second class qualification was enough, many persons with second class would have applied but in the present case, the chances of such others were denied, the bench pointed out.

Interestingly, the IIT-M had sought to take shelter behind section 36 of the IIT Act, which gave it immunity from annulment of its actions relating to selection to posts or irregularities in procedure not affecting the merits of the case in question. Brushing this aside, the court held that by making selections to the posts of Professor and Associate Professor by applying irregular procedure, the IIT-M had denied Vasanthas rights and that indeed affected the merits of the case.

As for the single judges order for CBI probe, the bench held that such probe was not warranted for the lapses committed by the IIT-M. As the issue related to appointments made during 1995-97, the concerned persons might have retired and any enquiry at this length of time will not be fruitful.

Prof Vasantha, cant forget humiliation heaped on her

I was beginning to despair that I would die without seeing the light at the end this long battle for justice. The court has now reestablished that justice will prevail, ultimately. But then, I wonder if anything can compensate me for the torture, humiliation, frustration and depression I have undergone through these years in spite of my exemplary qualifications and research work hailed across the mathematics world, said Dr W.B. Vasantha Kandasamy, who had authored 116 books, written over 800 research papers and served as blind referee for over 500 papers for prestigious international journals.
Madhya Pradesh police have stuck orange radium reflective bands on the horns of 300 cows. (Photo: Facebook/ Patrika Photos)

New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh police are sticking glow-in-the-dark strips on the horns of stray cattle to prevent motorists from crashing into the animals as they wander across roads at night, an officer said Tuesday.

Following a spate of road accidents, traffic police in one district of Madhya Pradesh state have stuck orange radium reflective bands on the horns of 300 cows and bulls to help drivers spot them.

Stray cattle are a major traffic menace, with hundreds of bovines roaming freely on roads across the country.

"Many drivers injured themselves or killed the cattle after running over them at night," Kailash Chauhan, traffic police inspector for Balaghat district said.

"There was an urgent need to prevent such accidents," he said.

Because of the success of the scheme, officers say they now plan to buy permanent radium paint to cover cows' horns, as the plastic bands only last for a few weeks.

Authorities have also asked farmers to fix glow-in-the-dark bands on their own cattle to help them be seen more easily.

In 2015 more than 550 people were killed in India in accidents involving stray animals, according to road ministry figures.

A World Health Organisation report in 2013 said more than 231,000 people die on India's deadly roads each year.
Hyderabad: Osmania University Vice Chancellor, Prof S. Ramachandram conducted an inspection of encroached lands within the University on Tuesday.

Prof Ramachandram said the University will soon create a committee to look into the problem of encroachment of lands. He said there are a few legal cases on the OU land encroachment problem that has been pending for a long time.

He added that all these cases will be revisited with the new committee helping streamline efforts to pursue the pending cases. He said an efficient legal process will be put in place to meet the encroachment problem head on.

Encroachments on campus include religious structures and even a toddy compound. Prof. Ramachandram said his first aim was to clear all encroachments within the campus and its vicinity - which amount to 25 acres.

Hyderabad university plans to have a paperless election

The University of Hyderabad (UoH) will explore all possibilities of going paperless for the student union elections set to be held in the next couple of months. The present student unions tenure will come to an end in a few weeks time, following which the varsity will be going for polls to elect a new body.

These are the first student union elections after the death of research scholar Rohith Vemula and SFI and ABVP among other student groups will be locking horns with each other to get the support of nearly 5,000 student voters.

When asked about the chances of going paper-less, university pro vice-chancellor Vipin Srivastava said that the administration would definitely explore all possibilities for the same.

Large quantities of paper (in the form posters, banners, pamphlets) will be used during campaigning and going paper-less will prove beneficial. Also, Computer Science department will be asked to give inputs of holding polls using technology as an alternative to the regular casting of vote through paper ballot, he said.

Further, he stated that student groups would be sensitized on the advantages of going paper-less during canvassing time. It may be mentioned here that NGT gave directions to Delhi University to conduct its student union elections, slated for September 7, in paper-less mode. Mr Srivastava stated that they would contact their counterparts in DU and take their inputs and suggestions on this issue before going to polls.
Panaji: Congress on Tuesday attacked Arvind Kejriwal over his visits to the poll-bound Goa, saying the Delhi Chief Minister is professing "an artificial love" for the coastal state for making "political gains" at the cost of "Goan identity."

"All his artificial love which he (Kejriwal) is professing for Goans, is buried in his ambitious plan of looting and eradicating the identity of Goans," Congress unit spokesman Trojano D'Mello told reporters here.

He also alleged the AAP leader was eying the land resources of Goa as an "agent of the Delhiites."

Notably, Kejriwal during his Goa visit on Sunday had predicted that Congress would not be able to win even a single seat in the 40-member House in the elections next year.
HASSAN: Is Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Holenarsipur and son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, H.D. Revanna, facing a threat from Naxalites, terrorists or underworld dons to deserve police escort and security cover?

The question was posed by Karnataka Development Programme Implementation member Devraje Gowda of the Congress party who wondered on what grounds Mr Revanna was enjoying extended police security cover.

Citing a gazette notification, Mr Devaraje Gowda, at a press conference, said that as per law, Mr Deve Gowda got SPG cover for five years after he stepped down as Prime Minister in 1997 and the cover was extended for another five years based on threat perception but the eligibility period for availing police security has lapsed long back.

Even now the family members of Mr Deve Gowda have been extended police security. Besides, Mr Revanna gets police personnel posted at his farmhouse at Paduvalahippe village of Holenarsipur round the clock apart from escort vehicles for no reasons, said the KDP member adding that Mr Revanna has not made payments to the police department for availing security.

There are four gates at Revannas farmhouse four police personnel guard the gates round the clock in batches. No one dares to enter the farmhouse, alleged the Congress leader. Will I get the same treatment from the police department? he asked.

Though, Mr Devaraje Gowda says that he had raised the matter with the office of the Superintendent of Police, Hassan, to know the reasons for providing security cover to Revanna, he had not received a reply from the office so far.
Harud is a film directed by Aamir Bashir. Set in strife-torn Kashmir, its the story of an adolescent Kashmiri boy, Rafiq, with a missing elder brother and a traffic policeman father steadily declining into lunacy because he cant cope with the trauma of violence around him on the streets. It details the haunting dreariness of everyday life in Kashmir where eruption of violence gets as unremarkably absorbed into ordinariness as suppressed anger and fear that preceded it. In the directors own words, the film is about what an average Kashmiri has been through in the last two decades. The film is not singularly about Rafiq. Its about an entire generation of youth growing up under the threat of violence that could explode any moment, coupled with the uncertainty of an uncertain future. 23 Winters is a documentary by Rajesh S. Jala. Woven around a real-life protagonist named Bota, its a poignant story about a young Kashmiri pandit turned prematurely old, having spent his youth in the refugee camps in Delhi due to forced exile during mass migration of Kashmiri pandits in early 1990s. Bota developed schizophrenia, conjuring up hallucinated dreams of returning to Kashmir. Though the film centres around the plight of an individual, it reflects the pain of displacement of an entire community, and of a generation growing up in forced exile away from their homeland.

The directors of both films are Kashmiris  one a muslim, another a Kashmiri pandit. Both are stories of ordinary humans who suffered because of situations beyond their control. Protagonists of the two films are ostensibly on different sides of the fence, yet the suffering and its source is common. Both graphically portray heart-wrenching sorrow about lost youth, missed opportunities and shattered dreams. That is the tragedy of Kashmir. In this battle, there is no winner. Neither the average Kashmiri residing in the Valley, or the ones forced to leave. Neither the stone-pelting boys losing golden years of youth, nor the valiant soldiers of the security forces laying down their lives in the call of duty. Reports from the Valley talk about an intensity of anger and resentment that is reminiscent of the early 1990s, the beginning of insurgency in Kashmir.

Other than longstanding issues and grievances, and the persistent malignant shadow of Pakistan, the magnitude of the current crisis and its continuation could also be explained in factors rooted in the current politics of the state. Inherent contradictions of the alliance between the Peoples Democratic Party, that has been soft on militancy, and the proponents of love jihad and ghar wapsi, the BJP, came onto the surface over issues like beef ban in Jammu and Kashmir and release of hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat. Inadequate relief for 2014 flood victims rehabilitation, failure of the alliance to start any meaningful dialogue with various stakeholders in the state, intolerant attitude of the ruling party at the Centre manifested in a series of vicious statements and violent actions against minorities continuously eroded the middle ground of conciliation in Kashmir. Incidents like the physical assault of an MLA in the J&K Assembly, a Kashmiri truck driver being burnt alive over beef rumours, hardened and encouraged extremist elements on both sides of the divide.

This typically led to a situation where the majority middle ground constantly and continuously ceded space to a frenzied eruption of the azadi and pro-Pakistan forces. The Centres complete reliance on the Army and paramilitary forces for controlling the situation without making any effort towards a political solution has only escalated the crisis. In the last 45 days, the BJP government has undone years of painstaking work done by previous governments to bring about a semblance of peace in Kashmir. Various confidence-building measures by previous governments have been demolished by pellet guns. The strategy of previous BJP Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to solve Kashmir issue within the ambit of Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat and Kashmiriyat is completely ignored by the present government. The Delhi-Lahore and Uri-Muzaffarabad bus services launched by Mr Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh respectively were part of confidence-building measures. Trade routes between Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkote were opened by Dr Singh to facilitate trade and people-to-people contacts. Between 2005 and 2008, several working groups were made to reach out to people in Kashmir that included representatives of political parties, ethnic groups, intellectuals and professionals.

In 2010, the UPA government engaged with a cross-section of people through interlocutors. An all-party delegation talked to separatist leaders and ordinary people. There were genuine attempts to create a healing touch and find a political solution. The arrogance and shortsightedness of the current government has done irreparable damage to a fragile situation. As Kashmir continues to burn, a small news item went largely unnoticed. Amid cries of azadi, 308 youth from different parts of the state donned the uniform of the Indian Army. Between death and devastation, distrust and destruction, this news ignites a flicker of hope and points towards a direction that is imperative for establishing peace in the Valley. It is essential to engage with the local populace, specially the youth, in Kashmir. For any solution towards peace, its necessary to integrate the youth of Kashmir into the mainstream of Indian society, economy and polity.

Militancy cannot be fought by brute force alone. While there cannot be any compromise on the unity and integrity of the nation, and any force that threatens or challenges the territorial integrity of India needs to be dealt with firmly, bullets and pellets cannot provide a lasting solution. The solution lies in engaging the people of Kashmir through dialogue and confidence-building measures, through economic opportunities for locals, by creating a conducive atmosphere for the youth to lead a normal life, and finally by the age-old civilisational values of compassion, tolerance and inclusiveness that is India. A hard line on either side will only harden historical faultlines. Its time that both sides agree to give and take across the faultlines, lest more misery comes in the way of an ordinary citizen  Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist, of the state of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have agreed to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China, the Kremlin said on August 23, TASS reported.

"The three leaders agreed to maintain personal contacts over Ukraine, in particular, to hold a joint meeting on the sidelines of the September 4-5 summit of the Group of 20 in China," the release says.

The leaders discussed the prospects of the Minsk process, based on the synchronization of the political steps and security measures, the Kremlin press service reported on Tuesday.

The sides discussed "issues of Ukraines internal crisis, including prospects for the continuation of the Minsk process, based on the synchronization of the political steps and measures in the sphere of security," the Kremlin said. The Russian President, German Chancellor and French President emphasized "the importance of the provision of a permanent legislative framework for the special status of Donbass, the constitutional reform and amnesty, the organization of local elections." All these questions "should be coordinated in the Contact Group (on the Ukrainian crisis resolution) where Kiev has the possibility to conduct a direct dialogue with the (self-proclaimed republics) of Donetsk and Lugansk".

According to the statement, in a telephone conversation, Putin drew attention to the recent alleged attempt by Kiev to carry out a subversive act in Crimea, marking the damage from such actions for the settlement process.

"Vladimir Putin drew attention of his partners to a rude provocation by the Ukrainian side, which sent to the territory of the Russian Federation early in August a team of saboteurs for committing terrorist attacks," the Kremlin press service said. "Kievs tend to such kind of military actions damages the Minsk process and cooperation within the Normandy format," it added.






I get lots of calls and emails from readers who want to share their UFO sighting experience with me. For their benefit I would like to explain a few things about UFO sightings.

Of all the sources of information we have about UFOs, eye witness accounts is the largest. But we have to be very careful when dealing with it, because it is also one of the most misleading. Just because you saw something fly in the sky which you couldn't identify, doesn't mean it is a flying saucer from another world. As Friedman points out, all UFOs-Unidentified Flying Objects are not Flying Saucers, but all Flying Saucers are UFOs.

Ever since the UFO phenomenon started in the 1940s highly qualified scientists like Nuclear Physicist Stanton Friedman, Dr. James McDonald, Dr. James Harder, Dr. Allen Hynek and NASA engineer Dr. Paul Hill, have analyzed and quantified these UFO sightings scientifically, and provided explanations for them. UFO sightings can be categorized into three groups.

INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION CATEGORY

This category deals with cases where people report that they saw an UFO many years or decades after the incident had happened. A gentleman called me from Bangalore to inform that in 1969 he saw an UFO. Whether he is telling the truth or not is immaterial, the fact is he cannot recall the exact date, time or provide corroborative evidence. Not much can be done with these cases.

IFOs - IDENTIFIABLE FLYING OBJECTS CATEGORY

In this category there is sufficient information is available to scientifically examine the UFO sighting by competent authorities and reveal if the UFO they sighted comes under astronomical phenomena like Planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Artificial satellites, meteors, comets or atmospheric phenomena like Aurora Borealis, ball lightening, reflections from fog or advertising blimps, balloons, clouds, contrails, magnesium flares, migrating birds, paper, debris, kites, insect swarms, leaves, fireworks, swamp gas, window reflections, lights from cars, beacons and lighthouses or unmanned Ariel Vehicles, military test crafts, re-entering satellites and rocket launchings. And finally there are crackpot UFO sighting reports from people suffering from paranoid delusions, overactive imaginations, attention grabbers and hoaxes.

THE UNKNOWNS or FLYING SAUCER CATEGORY

This category is the one that deals with the actual Flying Saucer phenomenon. It deals with objects seen in the skies or ground which cannot be connected or identified with any of the examples mentioned in the IFO - Identifiable Flying Objects category. The most important aspect of this category is the reports are made by very competent, reliable observers like highly trained pilots- both military and civilian, Military and civilian radar operators, commanders of nuclear missile bases, Generals, Astronauts, Astronomers, police officers, high ranking government officials, journalists, and well known scientists.

The flight pattern of these crafts, clearly prove that they are products of a more advanced intelligence. For example in just a fraction of a second they could cover 10 kilometers. They frequently exhibited the ability to fly straight up and hover, and go forward and backward without making any sound. In some incidents by using some kind of EMP waves (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) they have disabled the missile firing mechanism in a fighter plane (1976 Tehran) and nuclear missiles in American ICBM bases (Montana 1966 and 1975).

If one is interested in seeking the truth about the UFO phenomenon then they must study the Unknowns or UFO category in the six Scientific Studies conducted on the subject since 1948, five in America one in France. By analyzing them scientifically we can get a clear picture of the UFO phenomenon.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
The 29-year-old deaf man, Daniel Harris, was shot dead by a trooper who tried to pull him over for speeding. (Photo: AP/Representational)

Miami: Authorities in the southern state of North Carolina, the United States, on Monday said they are investigating the death of a deaf man who was fatally shot after a trooper tried to pull him over for speeding.

Daniel Harris, 29, who used sign language to communicate, led trooper Jermaine Saunders on an eight-mile (13-km) chase on Thursday that started on an interstate highway and ended outside his home in Charlotte, local television station WSOC reported.

The driver exited his vehicle in the neighbourhood and an "encounter took place" that led to a shot being fired, North Carolina State Highway Patrol spokesman Sergeant Michael Baker said in a statement.

The driver died at the scene, Baker said. No weapon was recovered from Harris, the State Bureau of Investigation told WSOC.

Saunders has been placed on administrative leave while investigators review evidence, including dashboard and body camera videos.

A neighbour called the shooting "totally unacceptable."

"He didn't even hear the siren, he didn't hear anything... You're pulling someone over who is deaf, they are handicapped," Mark Barringer told WSOC.

Harris's family has launched an online fundraiser to pay for funeral expenses.

Leftover money "will be used to set up a foundation in his name to educate and provide law enforcement proper training on how to confront Deaf people," the family's YouCaring.com fundraising page said.

They hoped to change drivers' registration systems so that a "deaf" alert will show up when police look up a car's license plate.

"With this change, Daniel will be a hero in our deaf community," the family said.

More than $10,000 had been raised by late Monday.
Washington: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said there will not be any detention centres for illegal immigrants in the US as he asserted that he would get "bad people" out of the country and the deportation process will be done in a humane manner.

"We are going to obey the existing laws. The first thing we are going to do if and when I win, is we are going to get rid of all of the bad ones. We have got gang members, we have killers. We have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country," Trump told Fox News in an interview.

"We are going to get them out. And the police know who they are. They are known by law enforcement who they are. We don't do anything. They go around killing people and hurting people. They are going to be out of this country so fast your head will spin," Trump said.

He said the outgoing President Barack Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country using the existing laws and same was done by his predecessor George Bush.

"Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I'm going to do the same thing and I just said that," he said.

Deportation, he said would be done in a humane manner. "We want to do it in a very humane manner. You don't have to put them in a detention centre," he said.

"I am not going to put them in a detention centre. I said that it's something that has been done at a very strong manner. I don't agree with that. I'm not talking about detention centers," he added.

"I have very, very good relationships with a lot of people, a lot of Hispanic people. We are talking about it. We are going to get rid of the bad ones. The bad ones are going to be out of here fast. And you know there are a plenty of bad ones, gang members, gang leaders," Trump said.

Thought he has been trailing in all major national polls, the billionaire from New York said he is doing quite well against his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

"We just had a poll come out, the "Los Angeles Times" that has us two points ahead. We are very close in Ohio. We are right about even in Florida. I think we are doing very well. And don't forget she is spending a fortune of money," he said.

When asked about changes in the leadership of his campaign, Trump said he wanted to run it his way. "I ultimately decided I want to run the campaign the way I want to run the campaign," he said.

"I just wanted to make this change. I felt very comfortable with the people that I had. I'd like them for a long time. I wanted to make this change for a while and I made it," he said.
Washington: Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, on Monday threatened a journalist and warned that he would expose her personal life.

In a series of tweets, Trump attacked the intelligence of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski. Trump said he would expose the real story of longtime friendship between Brzezinski and her co-host Joe Scarborough.

"Tried watching low-rated @Morning_Joe this morning, unwatchable! @morningmika is off the wall, a neurotic and not very bright mess!" Trump tweeted.

"Some day, when things calm down, I'll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!" he said in another tweet.

The Republican presidential nominee, criticises the US media in almost all his speeches. He has also cancelled media credentials of several major US media outlets including The Washington Post.

In May, the 70-year-old Trump called popular US television news anchor Megyn Kelly a "bimbo" and later made peace with her.
The announcement comes on the heels of two separate incidents in which Texas retirees denied carrying weapons at a border checkpoint in Saint Stephen, New Brunswick. (Representational image)

Ottawa, Canada: A rash of gun-toting Americans visiting Canada prompted its border agency to launch a public awareness campaign on Monday reminding Americans about their northern neighbors' relatively strict firearms laws.

"Canadian laws are different than US ones," the Canada Border Services Agency said in a statement.

"Non-restricted firearms can be used for hunting purposes and protection against wildlife in remote areas."

But, it added, the "use of firearms for personal protection, or protection of property is not deemed a valid purpose to import firearms into Canada."

Switchblades, nunchucks, crossbows, blowguns and brass knuckles are also banned in Canada, it noted.

The announcement comes on the heels of two separate incidents in which Texas retirees denied carrying weapons at a border checkpoint in Saint Stephen, New Brunswick.

A search of their vehicles uncovered several handguns, a shotgun and loose ammunition, which were seized.

The two tourists were also fined more than Can$1,000 ($775 US) and kicked out of Canada, along with their wives.

In the first six months of this year, 413 guns were seized at the border -- both from smugglers and gun lovers. The figure is up from 386 guns seized during the same period in 2015, according to government figures.

Authorities have linked recent spikes in violent crimes to the smuggling of handguns and other prohibited weapons from the United States.

US gun culture is also a source of derision in Canada. Canada only began arming its border guards in 2006.

South of the border, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump provoked fresh debate this month over gun rights when he appeared to suggest that "Second Amendment people," who view gun ownership as a constitutional right, could take dislike for his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton into their own hands.
The Texas professors had argued that academic freedom could be chilled under the so-called "campus carry" law backed by the state's Republican political leaders. (Photo: AP/Representational)

Austin: A United States district judge on Monday denied a motion from three University of Texas professors who wanted to ban guns in their classroom after the state gave some students that right under a law, which went into effect this month.

The professors had argued that academic freedom could be chilled under the so-called "campus carry" law backed by the state's Republican political leaders. The law allows concealed handgun licence holders aged 21 and older to bring handguns into classrooms and other university facilities.

But US District Judge Lee Yeakel said the professors "have failed to establish a substantial likelihood of ultimate success on the merits of their asserted claims," and denied a motion from the three seeking an injunction to ban guns.

"It appears to the court that neither the Texas Legislature nor the (university's) Board of Regents has overstepped its legitimate power to determine where a licensed individual may carry a concealed handgun in an academic setting," Yeakel said.

Republican lawmakers said campus carry could help prevent a mass shooting.

"There is simply no legal justification to deny licensed, law-abiding citizens on campus the same measure of personal protection they are entitled to elsewhere in Texas," Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement.

University of Texas professors had lobbied unsuccessfully to prevent the campus carry law, arguing the combination of youth, firearms and college life could make for a deadly situation.

Lawyers for the professors were not immediately available for comment. The university has threatened to punish professors who try to ban guns in classrooms.

The professors had argued that they discuss emotionally laden subjects such as reproductive rights in class, and they would be forced to alter their classroom presentations because of potential gun violence.

The Texas campus carry law took effect on August 1 as the University of Texas held a memorial to mark the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest US gun incidents on a college campus.

On August 1 1966, student Charles Whitman killed 16 people in a rampage, firing from a perch atop the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, the state's flagship public university.

Eight states have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on public post-secondary campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state laws.
While police are hunting for the suspect, the motive behind the attacks remains a mystery. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab)

Akiruno, Japan: Police in Japan's Akiruno city are looking for a man accused of slashing women's buttocks after swimming behind them at a water park.

According to a report in the Mirror, the accused attacked eight women at the Tokyo Summerland Park when the swimming pool was packed with people.

Police registered eight instances where the man swam up to a woman, slashed her buttocks with a blade and fled from the place.

While the other seven women got some help from people surrounding them, one was left bleeding in the swimming pool.

All of the women were rushed to a local hospital and are being treated upon. Doctors said that all the victims suffered minor injuries to their buttocks.

While police are hunting for the suspect, the motive behind the attacks remains a mystery.
Aside from China and the Philippines, four other governments are contesting ownership of parts of the South China Sea, a busy passageway for shipping. (Photo: AFP)

Manila, Philippines: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he expects talks with China on a long-simmering territorial dispute to start possibly this year, and urged Beijing to allow Filipinos to fish at a disputed shoal.

Duterte told reporters he preferred to engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than take a more aggressive stance that could anger Chinese officials into calling off possible talks.

Former President Fidel Ramos, a key political backer of Duterte, met Chinese intermediaries recently to pave the way for the talks, to be held in Beijing.

An international arbitration tribunal ruled last month that China's massive territorial claims in the South China Sea based on historical grounds were invalid under a 1982 UN treaty, in a major setback for Beijing, which has ignored the decision.

Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, initiated the arbitration case against China. Duterte, however, has not pressed for Chinese compliance and does not plan to raise the decision at an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders with their Chinese counterpart in Laos next month.

"It's better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger whoever the officials there and they cut completely," Duterte said, adding that possible talks on maritime and security issues would be undermined if ties are strained.

"China should be hearing us out now, about time that you lift the bans on tourists and allow the Filipinos to fish there," Duterte said, referring to past Chinese restrictions on tourism and on access for Filipino fishermen to Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing seized in 2012.

Aside from China and the Philippines, four other governments are contesting ownership of parts of the South China Sea, a busy passageway for shipping. The region is also believed to sit atop sizable deposits of gas and oil.
Duarte, who had shared her topless photographs with Bolt on Whatsapp, said she was 'dying of shame', according to a report. (Photo: WhatsApp)

Rio de Janerio: While the on-going controversy about Jamaican sprinter spending a night with a Brazilian student is doing rounds on the internet, it has emerged that the girl is a widow of the country's bloodthirsty drug lord branded as 'Dina Terror'.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Jady Duarte had called herself a student, but she was in fact the widow of a violent drug lord. Duarte, 20, had two children with Douglas Donato Pereira, popularly known as 'Dina Terror', who was killed in a shootout with the police.

Read: Usain Bolt caught cheating, raunchy pictures with Brazilian student go viral

Famous for his bloodthirsty behaviour, the kingpin who was wanted for 10 years for drug-related violent crimes, was shot dead by police officials in March 2016.

Following his death, Duarte had even posted a tribute to her late husband Pereira stating that she would hope to see him in heaven.

Duarte, who had shared her topless photographs with Bolt on Whatsapp, said she was 'dying of shame', according to a report.

In one of the photographs, Duarte can be seen kissing Bolt while in another the Jamaican sprinter is seen with his arms around her.

Duarte had also tweeted saying that when she spent the night with the sportsman, she did not know who he was until her friend told her.

Bolt who has not commented on the photographs, was previously quoted saying that he believed cheating was acceptable.
The accused pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London. (Representational image)

London: An Indian-origin web manager charged with siphoning off over 100,000 pounds from his boss' UK-based firm was on Tuesday jailed for 39 months by a court in London.

Gaurav Sachan, who worked as digital head for home improvement firm Alison At Home, had pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London.

"You have let down everyone around you. You committed that offence through the most flagrant abuse of your position," the judge told Sachan.

The 31-year-old was accused of stealing 104,581 pounds from celebrity interior designer Alison Cork.

According to 'Evening Standard', the fraud occurred between March and December 2014 by moving cash via PayPal accounts.

Sachan helped divert the funds into someone else's Account by altering the account details held in the firm's name.

He allegedly bought Tommy Hilfiger clothes, a ring for his wife and stayed at luxury hotels with the funds. "It was discovered that somebody had been using the administrator privileges for the company to change the recipient details for monies supposed to be received by Alison At Home," prosecutor James Benson told the court.

"The defendant used the monies to fund a lavish lifestyle his bank accounts show him shopping at expensive designer outlets such as Tommy Hilfiger and Russell and Bromley," he added.

Sachan was caught only when he went on a long trip to India to visit his sick father and Cork was forced to appoint a new head of digital.

Another accounts manager at the business was jailed in February last year for stealing 23,000 pounds from the company.

Abeyomi Ogunagbadaro, 45, was given a 16-month sentence for embezzling the cash and then laundering it via two of his friends' bank accounts.

Ogunagbadaro had been sacked after only two months back in 2014 for poor performance but his fraud only came to light once he had left the firm.

Alison Cork, who launched the home improvement business in 2012, is a well-known interior designer and also appears on television makeover shows in the UK.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria announced on August 23 that soon it will be known who the people suspected in trying to blow up the Russian gas pipeline got the order from, Armenpress informs.

A representative of the State Security Service said the arrested people were planning to bomb the gas pipeline which passes through the territory of Saguramo village and connects Russia and Armenia. 5 Georgian citizens are arrested. They are charged with plotting a terror attack. One policeman has also been detained for abusing official position and a citizen for not informing the law enforcement bodies about the criminal group.

Investigation revealed the group intended to explode the pipeline connecting Russia and Armenia.

The representative of the State Security Service told in a briefing one of the group members often visited Ukraine, but there is still no information whether the group has been directed from abroad or not.

The Municipal Court of Tbilisi chose arrest as a preventive measure for all the 5 detainees on August 22. Another court session will take place on October 10.

The public will be informed in the near future on the links of the gang and the one standing behind them, the Minister told the reporters.
The Philippine government and the communist guerrillas on Monday met in Norway for talks aimed at ending one of Asia's longest insurgencies. (Photo: AP)

Oslo: The Philippine government said on Monday it hoped to reach a peace deal with communist guerrillas within a year, as the two sides kicked off talks in Norway aimed at ending one of Asia's longest insurgencies.

"On the part of the (government) panel, we have imposed a timeline of nine to 12 months," Silvestre Bello, the government delegation's head of negotiations, told reporters.

The government and the rebels hope to breathe new life into the peace process by discussing simultaneously the outstanding issues of social and economic reforms, political and constitutional changes, and an end to hostilities.

Previous peace talks have addressed one issue at a time.

"With this new approach we are quite confident that we will be able to achieve our timetable," Bello said.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office on June 30, has made the resumption of talks with the rebels one of his top priorities.

He has even floated the possibility of forming a coalition government with them.

The head of the rebel delegation, Luis Jalandoni, confirmed the timetable but was more cautious in his optimism about reaching a political settlement after 30 years of failed talks.

"I think we will try to do it in one year but it might take a little more time because the negotiations on social and economic reforms could take more time," he told AFP.

"It's more complicated than some may think," he said.

Established in December 1968, the Communist Party of the Philippines launched a rebellion three months later that has so far claimed the lives of 30,000 people, according to official estimates.

'Many false dawns'

Its armed faction, the New People's Army (NPA), is now believed to have fewer than 4,000 gunmen, down from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s, when a bloodless revolt ended the 20-year dictatorship of late president Ferdinand Marcos.

But the movement retains support among the poor in rural areas, and its forces regularly kill police officers or troops while extorting money from local businesses.

There have been many false dawns in the peace process, most recently in 2011 when the previous administration of Benigno Aquino and the communists said following talks they believed peace could be attained in 18 months.

However the peace process slowly crumbled as the Aquino government refused to release jailed communist rebel leaders.

This time, the two sides agreed to ceasefires from Sunday to create a conducive environment for the talks in Oslo.

The rebels declared a seven-day unilateral truce hours after Duterte's decision to free its top jailed leaders last week.

Some of those rebels flew to Oslo to take part in the negotiations, which are due to wrap up on Friday.

The government responded by saying it would restore a unilateral ceasefire that was declared in July but abruptly withdrawn by Duterte just days later after a rebel ambush.

The government has said its ceasefire will last for as long as necessary to bring peace.

'Differences to overcome'

The communists said their own ceasefire would only last until August 27, but a rebel statement said they were willing to discuss a longer truce with Manila.

However, this would only be possible after the government freed all 550 guerrillas detained by the government, the rebels said.

"We expect the realisation of the amnesty proclamation to release all political prisoners as a necessary incentive for the ceasefire between the two parties," rebel delegation head Jalandoni said on Monday.

"The road to peace will have its humps and bumps. It will not be easy even if we try to accelerate," he said.

Norway, which has been acting as intermediary for the peace process since 2001, hailed the hopeful atmosphere today, as delegates from the two sides laughed and hugged.

"We know that there are...challenging issues to discuss and differences to overcome in the coming days and in the process ahead," Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said.

"We sincerely hope that you will make (progress) for the benefit of the people of the Philippines."
London: Supporters of Julian Assange fear an assassination attempt was made on the Wikileaks founder after an intruder scaled the walls of his Ecuadorian Embassy hideout in London.

Ecuador on Tuesday expressed concern over the "inadequate" response from the British authorities to the incident at the embassy, which has been Assange's home for over four years.

An official statement from Ecuador said: "The Ecuadorian government expresses its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place.

"The government of Ecuador regrets that, despite the enormous resources that the British government has undertaken to prevent Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorian embassy, the authorities did not respond more quickly to this extremely serious attempt an unauthorised entry," the statement said.

The statement said it has made available all evidence in its possession to help clarify this "serious incident" to the UK diplomatic police.

"The government of Ecuador expresses its willingness to cooperate with the security forces in the UK to prevent future incidents and renews its commitment to protect Julian Assange," it added.

A number of social media users suggested it was an assassination attempt "ordered" by Hillary Clinton, while others thought US President Barack Obama was involved.

Wikileaks wrote on Twitter earlier today: "At 2:47am an unknown man scaled the side wall (and the) window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security.

However, Scotland Yard seems to be treating the incident as an "attempted burglary".

"Police are investigating an alleged attempted burglary at diplomatic premises in Kensington and Chelsea. Detectives from Kensington and Chelsea's CID are leading the investigation alongside colleagues from the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue," a Metropolitan Police statement said.

Assange is wanted in Sweden in relation to a 2010 rape allegation, which the Australian national denies. He has fought against being extradited to Sweden, saying he fears he would then be transferred to the US to face charges on Wikileaks' activities.

In 2012, while on bail, he claimed asylum inside the Ecuadorean embassy in central London after the UK Supreme Court had ruled the extradition against him could go ahead.

A UN working group had ruled in February that Assange was being arbitrarily detained. However, the UK Foreign Office has called for the UN decision to be reviewed, saying Assange was staying in the embassy voluntarily and that the UK had a legal duty to extradite him to Sweden.

Met Police had scaled back its multi-million-pound security presence from the Ecuadorean embassy last year, saying the operation was "no longer proportionate".

The round-the-clock vigil on Assange had reportedly cost the force around 11.1 million pounds.

Earlier this month it emerged that Swedish prosecutors investigating the rape allegation against Assange have agreed to question him at his embassy hideout.
Police secure the scene around a bus stop after a knife attack in Brussels on Monday. (Photo: AP)

Brussels: A woman stabbed and wounded three people on a bus in Brussels on Monday and was then shot and wounded by police, the public prosecutor's office for the Belgian capital said.

Officials were not immediately available for comment but public broadcaster RTBF quoted unidentified sources as saying police did not believe the incident was politically motivated and that the assailant had mental health problems.

The local prosecutor's office was handling the matter, not the federal body which deals with cases of suspected terrorism.

The Belgian capital has been on high alert since local Islamic State militants carried out the attacks in Paris last November and suicide bombings in Brussels itself in March.

Since a man killed 85 people in Nice last month by driving a truck into Bastille Day crowds, a string of less violent incidents elsewhere on the continent has kept Europeans on edge.
Mine-clearing has to be completed before residents can return to the crisis ridden areas. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP)

London: A British citizen has been killed in Iraq trying to defuse a bomb left by the ISIS terrorist group, according to reports.

Another worker is said to have been hurt clearing ordinance in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a US contractor said.

Iraqi forces backed by coalition air strikes retook the city from ISIS in December 2015, but mine-clearing has to be completed before residents can return, BBC reports.

The UK Foreign Office said it was in contact with Janus following the death.

"We are in contact with the employer of a British national who has died in Iraq and have offered our support at this difficult time," a spokesperson said.

The incident is said to have taken place in the Al-Malaab neighbourhood of Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province.

Janus Global Operations began its work in April after being awarded the contract to clear thousands of devices and booby-traps left by ISIS.

It announced the death of the British contractor without providing further information.
The alleged abduction came weeks after similar incidents -- involving two other sons of opposition leaders convicted of war crimes -- which were blamed on plainclothes policemen in Dhaka. (Photo: Representational Image/AP)

Dhaka: Police have abducted the son of a top Bangladeshi war crimes convict, his family said Tuesday, the latest in a series of forced disappearances of opposition leaders' children.

More than 30 plainclothes officers seized Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, formerly a decorated brigadier general in Bangladesh's powerful army, from his home in the capital Dhaka on Monday evening, his family said in a statement.

"The officers cordoned off the whole street before breaking down the door and forcibly entering the family home, blindfolding the caretaker and severely beating him until he fell unconscious," the statement said.

The police had no warrant and gave no reason for arresting Azmi, the family said.

"No official acknowledgement of his arrest has yet been made, without which there are credible fears for a possible extrajudicial abduction," the statement said.

Azmi's father Ghulam Azam, the former head of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), was sentenced to 90 years in prison in 2013 for war crimes during the 1971 independence war against Pakistan. He died in prison in 2014.

The alleged abduction came weeks after similar incidents -- involving two other sons of opposition leaders convicted of war crimes -- which were blamed on plainclothes policemen in Dhaka.

"We don't know anything about these incidents," a national police spokesman said.

Bangladesh's highest court is also set to decide the fate of another top Islamist leader who was sentenced to death in 2014 for war crimes.

If Mir Quasem Ali, who was a top financier of the JeI, loses his final appeal, with hearings expected to start Wednesday, he will be executed within weeks.

His son Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, who was part of his legal defence team, was allegedly abducted earlier in August.

Critics say the abductions are an attempt by police to sow fear and prevent Islamists from staging protests against Ali's imminent execution.

"The government must investigate (the families') claims. Unfortunately there has been no visible move to find out their whereabouts," leading rights activist Nur Khan Liton said.

The United Nations on Tuesday urged the government to annul Ali's death sentence and to give him a retrial in compliance with international standards.

Five opposition leaders, including four top Islamists, have been executed for war crimes in the past three years despite rights groups' criticisms that their trials were flawed.
The Jiaolong deep-sea submersible being lowered into the water before a test dive at the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean in 2012. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: China's unmanned submersible has dived to a depth of 10,767 metres at the world's deepest ocean point, setting a new record for the country to enable it to explore ocean beds for minerals and other natural resources, officials said on Tuesday.

"Haidou-1" set the record at the Mariana Trench in the West Pacific, the deepest area in the world, during a scientific expedition from June 22 to August 12, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

During the trip the submersible dived over 8,000 metres below the sea surface once, 9,000 metres twice and 10,000 metres twice.

This makes China the third country after Japan and the US to have built submersibles capable of reaching depths in excess of 10,000 metres.

"It is another milestone in our maritime science journey after Jiaolong manned submersible," said Liu Xincheng, a scientist with CAS and head of the expedition.

During the expedition, scientists also collected over 2,000 biological samples from 5,000 meters to 10,000 meters below sea level, including some unidentified species.

In June 2012, Jiaolong reached a depth of 7,062 metres at the Mariana Trench, the deepest of China's manned submersible.

China has been striving to master the technology in deep sea diving to explore the ocean beds for minerals and precious metals.

Last year Jiaolong carried out 118 day voyage in the southwest Indian Ocean where it reported to have discovered large deposits of precious metals like gold and silver.

During its mission in March last year, Jiaolong successfully carried out 13 dives to observe different hydrothermal areas, the characteristics of hydrothermal fluids and deep-sea biodiversity, gathering a huge amount of data and more than 700 samples, according to the official media.

Deep-sea "chimney vents", also known as hydrothermal sulfide, are a kind of seabed deposits containing copper, zinc and precious metals such as gold and silver.

China has gained a 15 year approval ISA in 2012 to explore a 10,000 sq km polymetallic sulphide ore deposit in an international seabed region of the southwest Indian Ocean.

China also has obtained exclusive rights to prospect in a 75,000-square-km polymetallicnodule ore deposit in the east Pacific Ocean in 2001.
Chinese marines or special forces," the Wall Street Journal, (WSJ) on Friday cited experts monitoring the base's development as saying. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: Amid reports that China's "logistic facilities centre" in Djibouti includes weapons stores and small contingents of marines, the state-run media in Beijing on Tuesday asserted that Beijing has no intention of following the US pattern of establishing military bases around the world.

China has no intention of following the US pattern of establishing military bases around the world to project its power over other countries, and Chinese facilities in Djibouti are meant to support Chinese peace-keeping and anti-piracy missions near Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, a report in the state-run Global Times said.

"Due for completion next year, the naval outpost is expected to feature weapons stores, ship and helicopter maintenance facilities and possibly a small contingent of

Chinese marines or special forces," the Wall Street Journal, (WSJ) on Friday cited experts monitoring the base's development as saying.

The WSJ report said the outpost is a historic step that marks a bold new phase in China's evolution as a world power. It went on to say that it is a sign of "China's strategy to extend its military reach across the Indian Ocean and beyond".

"They are misinterpreting China's foreign policy, believing that China intends to follow the US pattern of building military bases globally or to meddle in other countries' domestic affairs," Li Weijian, a professor of West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies said.

China has a very limited overseas military deployment and the country largely lacks the capacity to protect its citizens and interests in Africa, the report aid.

"The facilities in Djibouti serve to protect China's economic interests in Africa and to help safeguard regional peace, as China is only beginning to learn to behave like a responsible global power," Li said.

Djibouti provides a major foothold in the Indian Ocean for China in the Indian Ocean.

The Chinese Ministry of Defence early this year said under a deal reached between China and Djibouti, the facilities will also help Chinese troops carry out international peacekeeping operations and perform humanitarian rescues.

Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier said the centre, which the American defence officials termed as a military base is aimed to provide better facilities to the personnel on Chinese vessels can get better rest and replenishments.

Djibouti is strategically located near the world's busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. It serves as a key refuelling and transhipment centre, and is the principal maritime port for imports to and exports from neighbouring Ethiopia.

China uses Indian Ocean Island nation of Seychelles where Chinese escort ships halt for supply and rest facilities and invested in two major ports, Hambathota and Colombo in Sri Lanka. In the Arabian Sea China has taken over the Pakistan port of Gwadar as part of its development of the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Islamabad: A day after Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain described Pakistan as "a cancer for the entire world" and raised anti-Pakistan slogans, a treason case was registered against him in Karachi.

Sindh police chief A D Khawaja on Tuesday confirmed that a case of treason had been registered against the MQM supremo for his inflammatory speech to party workers outside the Karachi Press Club.

"Two cases have been registered against the MQM," the Express Tribune quoted Khawaja, as saying.

"One case pertains to treason for his anti-state speech to the participants of the hunger strike campaign setup by the party outside KPC and the other case pertains to the incident following his remarks which saw some media houses being attacked by MQM activists," he added.

Several party leaders who were present at the hunger strike camp, including senior leader Farooq Sattar, have also been nominated in the cases.

Khawaja said the decision to register cases against the MQM was taken during a high-level meeting of police officials in the metropolis.

Hussain has apologised to Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Director General (DG) Rangers Major General Bilal Akber for his vitriolic speech.

MQM spokesperson Wasay Jalil, shared the apology statement by Hussain on Twitter.

"From the depth of heart, I beg pardon from my remarks against Pakistan, the establishment including General Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers," Hussain said.

Parts of Hussain's speech that went viral on social media showed that while addressing MQM workers protesting outside the Karachi Press Club against "enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings", he raised anti- Pakistan slogans and also called the country "a cancer for [the] entire world".

Regretting the violence against media houses by the party workers aftermath his speech, he asked the authorities to release of MQM leaders who were arrested.

Media houses were ransacked by the MQM party workers on Monday evening after listening to his provocative speech before clashing with police, leaving at least one person dead and over half a dozen injured.

The MQM headquarters 'Nine Zero' were sealed and senior party leaders were taken into custody by Sindh Rangers for allegedly inciting violence in the metropolis.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had also contacted senior British officials and discussed Hussain's inflammatory speech which caused unrest in Karachi.

Reports suggest that Nisar has urged the British government to help initiate legal action against the MQM chief.
The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China was held yesterday in Beijing. (Representational Image/ AFP)

Islamabad: Continuing with its efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, Pakistan has briefed China about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir during their bilateral strategic dialogue.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who is on a two-day visit to China, attended the bilateral strategic dialogue meeting and also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing during his trip, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China was held yesterday in Beijing where Chaudhry led the Pakistani delegation while the Chinese side was headed by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asian and Consular Affairs Kong Xuanyou.

Chaudhry apprised his counterpart of the "grave humanitarian situation" in Kashmir and the ongoing "human rights violations", the statement said.

"He (Chaudhry) expressed the hope that the international community would play its role in calling on India to put an end to blatant human rights violations in the Valley," the Foreign Office said.

Both sides held detailed discussions on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and China, including the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), economic cooperation, defence, counter-terrorism, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, culture, education and people to people contact.

The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in all areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries. The Foreign Secretary and his Chinese counterpart also exchanged views on regional situation including India, Afghanistan and South China Sea.

Cooperation in multilateral forums including at the UN was also discussed, the statement said. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They agreed to continue to share their respective perspective, it said.
Islamabad: Pakistan has launched a fresh drive to gather support for its NSG membership bid with a top official on Tuesday embarking on a visit to Belarus and Kazakhstan to gain their backing.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi is undertaking visits to Belarus and Kazakhstan from August 23 to 27 as a special envoy of Premier Nawaz Sharif, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"The objective of the visits is to seek the two friendly countries' support for Pakistan's membership of the (48-nation) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," it said.

The Special Assistant is carrying letters from Sharif addressed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"In his letters, the Prime Minister has underscored the need for the NSG to adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of the membership for non-NPT states in order to promote strategic stability in South Asia and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime," the Foreign Office said.

While in Belarus, Fatemi will call on President Lukashenko and will hold meetings with Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov and Minister of Industry Vitali Vovk, it said.

In Kazakhstan, the Special Assistant's programme would include meetings with Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan M Ashikbayev.

Pakistan faces a tough challenge in gaining entry into the nuclear trading club as it has failed to get the support of the US which is pushing for India's membership.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks from the rampart of the Red Fort on India's Independence Day, in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Lahore: Pakistan's Punjab Province Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution condemning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on Balochistan and Gilgit-Biltistan and asked the federal government to take up the issue at international fora, including the UN.

Tabled by Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, the unanimously adopted resolution said the House strongly condemned Modi's statement on Balochistan and Gilgit-Biltistan and termed it as interference in Pakistan's affairs.

"The federal government should raise this matter at international forums including the United Nations. The world should be told about the Modi government's interference in Pakistan's affairs," the resolution said.

Pakistan Peoples Party legislator Khurram Wattoo asked the chair to also request the federal government to sever trade ties with India.

Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mahmoodur Rashid alleged that Modi's statement manifested his policy of intolerance and interference into affairs of other states.

Prime Minister Modi, in his Independence Day speech, had said that he was thanked by the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan, for flagging their problems.
Muzaffarabad, Pakistan: Women in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir offered their bangles to Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday, an insult in patriarchal South Asia aimed at the UN head's perceived inaction over violence on the Indian side of the disputed region.

Hundreds of refugee women marched in Muzzafarabad, capital of the Pakistani side, chanting slogans against the UN and India as some clutched their bangles in their hands in protest at the weeks of deadly violence.

Much of Kashmir has been under curfew since protests broke out over the death on July 8 of a popular young rebel leader in a gunfight with security forces.

More than 60 civilians have been killed in clashes between protesters and police and troops and thousands more injured in the worst violence to hit the restive region since 2010.

Hospitals have reported hundreds of young men and boys suffering serious eye and other injuries from the pellets.

"If the secretary general of the UN Ban Ki-moon can't help Kashmiris, he should wear these bangles and rest," protester Irshad Qureshi said, clutching her bracelets.

Others held placards saying the bangles were "For UN". The protesters also burnt the Indian flag.

Bangles are deeply embedded in female identity in Pakistan.

To offer the delicate bracelets to a man is to say he is acting like a woman -- still seen as an insult in the deeply conservative country, where women have been fighting for their rights for decades.

Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan region in full.

The Kashmir Valley, where the recent violence has occurred, is the epicentre of a separatist insurgency seeking either independence or merger of the territory with Pakistan.
ABVP and NSUI members protested at Jawaharlal Nehru University against AISA on Monday, after a PhD student was allegedly raped by a member of that student group. All India Students Association (AISA) member Anmol Ratan, 28, against whom the rape case has been filed, was not present in the hostel when police came to arrest him, they said.





Police said they went to his hostel on Sunday night and on Monday morning. The alleged rape took place on Saturday. The medical reports are awaited, said police.



Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Saurabh Sharma alleged that Ratan was in the hostel and the police was not ready to arrest him because the authorities were trying to protect him.

According to him, JNUs Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) has prevented trial of the accused in sexual harassment cases previously as well.



ABVP and National Students Union of India (NSUI) screamed slogans like Bekhauf Azadi (freedom without fear) against AISA and the JNU vice chancellor. They also shouted murdabad against each other intermittently between raising slogans against AISA.



Ratan was the AISA president till six months ago. Ratans friends and other AISA members have said that they are not in touch with him since Sunday night.



When asked about Ratans whereabouts Sucheta De, national president of AISA said, We havent spoken to him and we will not speak to him is what we have decided. We have expelled him from AISA.



In a statement, AISA said, We have written to the vice-chancellor seeking disciplinary action against a JNU student (Ratan) who has been accused of sexual assault by a fellow student.



Sharma from ABVP referred to previous such cases where professors and students were quietly suspended. He said, Professors like Arshad Alam who was found guilty of rape never faced jail because these cases are taken care of by GSCASH.



This year the then president AISA in JNU, Akbar Chaudhary, facing sexual harassment charges for two years, was also acquitted by an appeals committee of GSCASH, he said. GSCASH has representatives from JNU Students Union (JNUSU), JNU Officers' Association (JNUOA), hostel wardens, faculty and administrative staff. It was formed in 1999 under the Vishakha guidelines of the Supreme Court.



The GSCASH has more members from AISA and they will try to resolve the case within the campus and will free Anmol, said Sharma.



ABVP said that they dont want expulsion on paper for Ratan for the sake of it. They want him to be punished by law.



The girl who filed the complaint against Ratan was not able to go court to record her confession and statement, as she was not feeling well, said police.



The FIR filed by the 28-year-old girl alleged that in June 2016, she had put out a statement on Facebook that she wanted to watch a film called Sairat and asked if anyone had a copy. She said that Ratan messaged her that he had a copy.



She said in the FIR that on Saturday, Ratan picked her from her hostel to give her the film and took her to his hostel Brahamputra where he offered some drinks to her. After that raped her and did not allow her to go and threatened her against complaining.


The AAP government will continue to fight for getting powers for the elected representatives, said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the Assembly on Monday, indicating the intentions of the government to move the Supreme Court against a High Court order holding LG as the administrative head in Delhi.





We might be young in politics but do not take us lightly, we may finish you, warned Sisodia, after the Opposition blamed the Aam Aadmi Party government of pursuing an ideology and work culture of confrontation.



As soon as the short duration discussion began on situation arising out of the judgment delivered by the Delhi High Court on August 4 in matters related to governance of Delhi, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta cautioned that any attempt to dissect the ruling would amount to contempt of court.



Sisodia agreed to the suggestion and said the discussion should not be on the judgment but its implication.



He said the Centre is trying to indirectly impose Presidents rule in Delhi but the Aam Aadmi Party government will continue to fight for the people and strengthen democracy.

Our ideology and work culture cannot be doubted as we have been voted to power to fight for them and for their elected representatives, said Sisodia.



He concluded the discussion in the absence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is out of Delhi.



Sisodia said that the AAP government is fighting to ensure that an elected person should be more powerful than a selected person  a veiled reference to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung who has been selected to be the administrative head of the Union Territory.



The Bharatiya Janata Party earlier hit out at the AAP government for playing to the galleries and continuing its agenda of confrontation with an eye on political gains in other states.



Please get over the mentality of a child and start delivering for the common man, said Gupta.



Malviya Nagar legislator Somnath Bharti said the AAP government will challenge the High Court judgment in the apex court. Chandni Chowk legislator Alka Lamba said there cannot be any compromise on the partys commitment to fight corruption.



Palam legislator Bhavna Gaur said the voters of Delhi have a right to elect legislators and a chief minister but it is not clear who will run the government.



She repeated Kejriwals stand. The CM had had asked why the value of a voter in Delhi should be less than that in any other state. Are residents in Delhi paying less tax or are there any less?" she said.



Alleging attempts to hamper the AAP government, she said its attempt to order a probe into the CNG scam has been blocked. "Can't an elected government order a probe into corruption? said Gaur.



Private power companies have allegedly conducted a Rs 8 crore scam but when we try to expose them, we are silenced, Gaur said.



The legislator said the AAP government's work was being appreciated the world over. Free medicine being given in hospitals is a model which has government apart, she said.



Laxmi Nagar legislator Nitin Tyagi said his voters keep asking him questions which he cannot answer.



He said the elected government is answerable to the voters and it is not supposed to function in a way that pleases a particular individual  an indirect reference to the LG.


Workers at a bakery here were made to do sit-ups allegedly by members of a local Ganesh Mandal for refusing to pay them donation for the upcoming festival, police said today.





A purported video of the incident, which occurred at a bakery in Bhosari area on August 15, has gone viral, while the three accused have been arrested, police said.



According to an official of Bhosari police station, the accused went to the bakery and demanded 'vargani' (donation) of Rs 151 from the workers for the Ganesh festival. The workers, who are non-Maharashtrians, said the owner of the shop was not there and hence they did not give the donation, the official said.



Following the denial for donation, the accused, identified as Prakash Landage (30), Ganesh Landage (30) and Mahesh Mare (31), abused the workers and later made them to do sit-ups, the official said.



A complaint was filed by one of the workers, Irshad Mommammed Ayub Khan, and a case under IPC sections 294 (obscene act or words in public), 341 (wrongful confinement), 385 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered, the official said, adding investigations are underway.
Continuing with its efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, Pakistan has briefed China about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir during their bilateral strategic dialogue.



Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who is on a two-day visit to China, attended the bilateral strategic dialogue meeting and also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing during his trip, the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.



The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China was held yesterday in Beijing where Chaudhry led the Pakistani delegation while the Chinese side was headed by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asian and Consular Affairs Kong Xuanyou.



Chaudhry apprised his counterpart of the "grave humanitarian situation" in Kashmir and the ongoing "human rights violations", the statement said. "He (Chaudhry) expressed the hope that the international community would play its role in calling on India to put an end to blatant human rights violations in the Valley," the Foreign Office said.



Both sides held detailed discussions on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and China, including the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), economic cooperation, defence, counter-terrorism, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, culture, education and people to people contact.



The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in all areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries. The Foreign Secretary and his Chinese counterpart also exchanged views on regional situation including India, Afghanistan and South China Sea.



Cooperation in multilateral forums including at the UN was also discussed, the statement said. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They agreed to continue to share their respective perspective, it said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley tomorrow during which he will review the situation and may hold talks with cross section of people, a move which comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" over the situation there.



This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.



As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousand were injured so far in different violence. The Home Minister had said the Centre wants an emotional relationship with the state and not just need-based.



Singh had said the central government will talk to whosoever needed once peace and normalcy is restored in the state. "As far as Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we don't just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir," he said, reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the state.



Yesterday, while meeting a joint opposition delegation led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his "deep concern and pain" over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a "permanent and lasting" solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir.
Assam Police have sought the help of their Arunachal Pradesh counterparts to secure the release of Kuldeep Moran, son of a BJP leader, who was abducted by the Paresh Barua-led anti-talk ULFA-Independent on August 1 from that state.



Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay today said, "As soon as we learnt about Kuldeep's abduction in Arunachal Pradesh, we filed a case at Nakhung police station in Changlang district of that state from where he was kidnapped".



"As the incident happened in Arunachal Pradesh, we will have to act only through their police. They are hopeful of securing his release. "The main focus of the security forces and intelligence agencies is his safe release," he said.



On the ISIS-style video sent by the ULFA-I to TV news channels in which Kuldeep is purportedly shown surrounded by a group of armed masked militants, the DGP said it was the first time that such a video has been received.



"Its authenticity and contents are being investigated," he said about the video in which Kuldeep, son of BJP's Tinsukia Zilla Parishad vice-president Lakheswar Moran, is heard appealing to Assam Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal, his uncle and Sadia BJP MLA Bolin Chetia, and his parents to secure his release from the kidnappers.



In the video, Kuldeep also expressed the fear that his life was in danger as he could be caught in a crossfire between the kidnappers and security forces. He also said he was being moved from place to place. Asked if ULFA-I was responsible for the kidnapping as claimed by the insurgent outfit, the DGP said, "It is more or less confirmed."



On reports of ULFA-I's subversive activities increasing in Upper Assam and recruiting of fresh cadre, the state police chief said, "We are alert and are carrying out operations against them. We have zero tolerance to insurgency. We have been tackling them since the last 30 years."



He also informed that an umbrella organisation of ULFA-I, NSCN-K and some Manipur-based militant outfits were mainly active in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Myanmar.



A ransom of Rs one crore has been demanded from his MLA uncle Bolin Chetia and Kuldeep's mother and wife yesterday appealed to the ULFA-I through the media to release him, saying they do not have the finance to make the payment.



Stating that he had received a phone call from the ULFA-I regarding the ransom for his nephew's release, Chetia told reporters today that paying that amount was not possible for him and that he did not endorse the idea of paying ransom money.



Chetia also said that he had apprised the Chief Minister about the kidnapping and the ransom demand and it was for him to take necessary action. The ULFA-I had in a recent release admitted to have abducted Kuldeep.


With Bihar battling floods despite receiving less than normal rains, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the Centre's intervention as he insisted that desilting the river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods.



Modi offered assurance to him, saying immediate and positive action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a national silt management policy, Kumar told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister.



He also linked the Modi government's ambitious Namami Gange project with better silt management in Bihar, saying if attention is not paid to the situation, then it will also put a question mark on the programme's success as he feels like "crying" at the condition of Ganga in the state.



"The very serious condition that we see today never occurred earlier. The only way to get rid of this is desiltation. There is a need for national silt management policy," he said. He urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the "unprecedented" situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.



"The Prime Minister assured me that experts will be sent and a decision on this subject should be taken soon. Immediate and positive action will have to be taken," he said. The Chief Minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years.



Though Bihar has received 14 per cent less rains than normal during the monsoons, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rain fall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it.



Kumar also appeared to blame Farakka barrage for the situation. He has earlier held it responsible for increasing siltage in the Ganga river basin. Due to silt, Ganga could not store the amount of water it used to earlier, leading to flood-like condition despite not receiving proportionate amount of rain fall, he said.


Terming his India visit as "successful", Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Bimlendra Nidhi today said all "obstacles" in the bilateral relationship have been cleared ahead of Premier Prachanda's trip to the country next month.



Nidhi had paid a four-day visit to India from August 17 to 22 as the special envoy of Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal "Prachanda". Nidhi said his visit was "successful" in improving Nepal-India ties that were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.



"All the obstacles in the bilateral relationship have been cleared after the visit," he said. Nidhi's visit was mainly centred to prepare ground for Prachanda's upcoming official visit to India on September 15, the first foreign entourage of the Prime Minister after assuming office last month.



Nidhi who is also Nepal's Home Minister discussed the proposed visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and Nepal President Bidya Bhandari to India. The visit of special envoy Nidhi is the first high-level visit from Nepal to India after the formation of the new government in Nepal under Prachanda.



Nidhi held high-level meetings with Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and as well as Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh among others during his stay in New Delhi.



Nidhi said he briefed Indian leaders and officials about Nepal's top priorities that included implementation of the Constitution, which was promulgated in September last year. Nidhi said he discussed matters relating to the anti-constitution movement that was launched by Madhesi parties and amendment to the new constitution for resolving political crisis among other issues.



Prachanda had 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 did not have a hand in building or bringing down the Nepali government, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said today. Rae said India wants to work with Nepal in development projects by improving bilateral ties between the two countries.



India did not have a hand in bringing down the government in Nepal, Rae was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Nepal after Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's visit to India.



Pointing out the need for promotion of religious tourism in Nepal, Rae informed that "homework" is being done for direct air connection between major Indian and Nepali cities.



Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda was elected Prime Minister on August 4 for the second time after his brief stint with premiership came to an end in 2009. The Prime Ministers post had been left vacant since last month after CPN-UML chairman K P Sharma Oli tendered his resignation.



Nepal had plunged into a political turmoil after Oli's resignation. Ties between India and Nepal were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.



Madhesis, mostly Indian-origin, had launched a six-month-long agitation from September to February in which more than 50 people were killed. The agitation had also crippled the landlocked country's economy as supplies from India were blocked.


Anmol Ambani, the 24-year-old eldest son of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, has been inducted on the board of Reliance Capital as an additional director.





The induction follows the recommendation by the nomination and compensation committee of the board of Reliance Capital, comprising largely of independent directors.



Anmol Ambani is proposed to be appointed as full time executive director at the forthcoming annual general meeting of the company, Reliance Capital said.



Anmol Ambani has been working in various financial services businesses within Reliance Capital since 2014.



He has been actively involved in internal business reviews across companies and has also been part of interactions with Nippon Life for increasing stake in Reliance Life Insurance and Reliance Capital Asset Management in the last two years.During the last two years, Anmol Ambani has also been travelling across the country to get exposure and detailed understanding of businesses at grass-root level, the company said.



"I would like to thank the company and the board of directors for giving me this opportunity. It is my privilege to be part of such anillustrious board. The last two years have given me great learnings about the financial services business. I look forward to using this experience for scaling up our businesses and contributing towards their growth and progress," Anmol Ambani said.


Vaya Life, a young innovation firm looking at reinventing daily personal items, has rolled out its first product  Vaya Tyffyn  adding a new demension to the humble Indian lunch box.





Sharing the thought behind reinventing the lunch box with DH, Vaya Life Founder and Chief Executive Officer Vashist Vasanthakumar said, I have been involved with consumer products at Apple in my career, where I realised that there is more than just technology needed to design a product in order to make it aspirational. The lunch box is a very personalised product that hasnt changed in over 200 years.



Vasanthakumar created a team of 12 specialists, including product designers and thermal engineers, who went about fixing some of the key issues surrounding regular lunch or tiffin boxes, such as poor plastics, leaking, low heat retention, and so on. We found that people want a lunch box that holds hot food for 6-7 hours, which is good to look at, and made of high-quality steel. We wanted to create an aspirational product, while catering to demand for the dabba.



Vaya Tyffyn, available in three variants, has gone through water-resistant tests and thermal simulations, before coming to market, where it is priced at Rs 2,500 per unit on Vayas website. As part of styling and convenience, we also developed a separate messenger bag for the lunch box that doubles up as a table mat, with a pouch to hold cutlery too, he said.



The lunch boxes are made from 18-8 food-grade stainless steel, which is imported from countries within Asia, before getting assembled in China.



Currently, were only focusing on design and engineering, and want to work on products. We may look at domestic manufacturing in future. Also, were keen on eventually building an ecosystem around the lunch box. We will eye multiple retail stores for sales later, Vasanthakumar said, adding that more variants of Vaya Tyffyn are being looked at as well.



Vaya Life has raised around $6 million as angel investment, and over the coming year, plans to get into reinventing more daily-use personal items.






Was an IED recovered from a high security DRDO facility in the national capital?





A slip of tongue put National Security Guards (NSG) chief R S Tayal in the soup on Tuesday when he said an IED was found at a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) facility and only his force could defuse it.



As it created a flutter, the NSG later clarified that an UXO (Un-exploded ordnance) was found near Metcalf Bhavan, a DRDO facility in north Delhi, some months ago and not an IED.



There was no terror angle to it. All started with a remark by Tayal during his speech in the presence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the inauguration of the composite building complex of 52 Special Action Group of the NSG here.



"Two months ago, an IED was found in DRDO Bhawan and when no other agency could handle it, our unit defused it," Tayal said hailing his force as the "number one".

He did not share more details of the incident.



NSG officials later said what they recovered on April 14 was an old 120mm mortar shell of the "unexploded ordnance" category during the construction work undertaken by the Delhi Metro near the DRDO premises in Metcalf House in north Delhi. Two empty artillery shells were found that day.



Delhi Police's bomb disposal squads and others could not defuse it and it was then that the NSG team was summoned.


Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's home state of Goa is set to find a permanent place in Indias naval history as the Navys next destroyer would be named INS Mormugao, after the states main port.





On September 17, INS Mormugao will set sail from Mazgaon dock in Mumbai for sea trial, which is likely to continue for close to two years before the 7300-tonne warship with Barak-8 long-range missiles is inducted into the Navy.



The ship has been named after Goa's picturesque main port, which featured in several movies.



From the days of the Portuguese and the Sultans of Bijapur, the port city has a rich history, which the Navy felt would put the Goan city in the same league as Kochi or Mysuru, which found a place in the Navys hall of fame.



Almost 15 years ago, when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government cleared indigenous construction of a large number of guided missile destroyers with advanced features as a follow up to the Delhi-class destroyers, it was planned to name them after state capitals like Kolkata and Chennai.



The scheme was later modified by the UPA government that also incorporated coastal cities into the nomenclature.



As a result, the first three ships under the Project-15A were named as INS Kolkata, INS Kochi and INS Chennai. The first ship, INS Kolkata, was commissioned in August 2014.



Since both Kolkata and Chennai are also important ports, besides being state capitals, they fit the nomenclature either way.



In the next batch, four ships under Project-15B are planned at a cost of Rs 29,345 crore. The first one, INS Visakhapatnam, was launched in April 2015 and will be commissioned by 2018.



INS Mormugao is the next one in the line, to be followed by INS Paradip (representing Odisha), while the last ship in the series would be named after a coastal city in Gujarat, which has the longest coastline among the states.






Ten days after the CBI registered a fresh case, the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday registered a money laundering case against former MP Vijay Mallya.





The case has been filed against Mallya for defaulting on Rs 6,027 crore loan given to him by a consortium of banks.



The ED was earlier investigating a case involving the loan he took from IDBI Bank, after the CBI had registered a case.



Officials said they had collected details from the CBI on its second FIR to file a fresh money laundering case against him.



The CBI on August 13 filed the FIR under sections of criminal conspiracy and cheating for not honouring his commitment to repay a Rs 6,027 crore loan Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines took during 2005-10 from a consortium of banks.



The complaint was filed by the State Bank of India on behalf of the consortium.

This was the second case filed by the CBI after registering an FIR on the default of loan given by the IDBI Bank.



Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries Holdings Limited have also been named as accused in the FIR.



State Bank of India and others had advanced credit facilities to Kingfisher Airlines between 2005 and 2010. However, Kingfisher Airlines had failed to honour the commitments in 2009-10.



According to the FIR, Kingfisher Airlines did not keep its account with the consortium and it became a Non-Performing Asset (NPA), the FIR said.


GEDDES  If you visit the Dairy Cow Birthing Center at this year's New York State Fair, you may see the arrival of Cayuga County's newest calf.

The popular exhibit will feature 36 pregnant cows from six central New York farms  three of which are based in Cayuga County. Each farm will bring six cows and three calves will be delivered daily at the fair.

The Cayuga County farms participating in the exhibit are Fessenden Dairy of King Ferry, Pine Hollow Dairy of Locke and Sunnyside Farm of Scipio Center.

The other farms that will send cows for the exhibit are Walnut Ridge Dairy in Lansing, Twin Birch Farm in Skaneateles and Venture Farms in Tully.

Eileen Jensen of the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition said the purpose of the dairy cow birthing center is to educate fairgoers and highlight dairy farms in New York.

"We're doing that by bringing in cows that will have calves right here on site throughout the 12 days of the fair," she said at the fair's media day Tuesday.

This is the fourth year the exhibit has been part of the fair's lineup. It's one of the fair's most popular attractions. Last year, the center drew more than 230,000 attendees during the fair's 12-day run.

The center will be in a new location this year. It will be located near the west end of Broadway, one of the fair's main streets, past the midway and close to a new picnic area on the fairgrounds.

"We're really, really excited about this new location," Jensen said.

A large inflatable dairy cow will be posted outside of the exhibit's entrance. Jensen said there will be a social media campaign to encourage fairgoers to take selfies with the inflatable cow. The hashtag for the campaign is #wowthatcow.

If you can't make it out to the fair, you'll be able to follow the action at the dairy cow birthing center online. A live 24-hour webcam is available online at uddermiracles.com. Jensen said they've had people from China, South Africa and South America watch the live feed.

Other new features include:

 A play area for children who are waiting for the birth of a calf. Kids can dig into a box filled with corn or practice milking a fiberglass cow. A trivia wheel will give fairgoers a chance to win prizes if they can correctly answer agriculture-themed questions.

 A couple of new technological advancements will be utilized in the exhibit. Organizers have installed fans and misting systems to help keep the cows cool. And they will utilize a device called Moocall, which is attached to a cow's tail and can detect when it's on the verge of giving birth.

Jensen said there's only 50 of the devices being used by farmers throughout New York, so they're eager to experiment with it at the fair.

"We're really excited to try these out and see what they're all about and see how they work," she said.

There will be more than 350 volunteers working in the exhibit to help educate attendees on not only the birthing process, but the dairy industry and agriculture as a whole.

"We want to bridge that gap between the consumer and the farm," Jensen said.

The fair begins Thursday and will run through Sept. 5.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a fresh plea for setting aside the combined result of NEET-I and II, held on May 1 and July 24 respectively, on the grounds of different difficulty levels of question papers.





A bench of Justices Anil R Dave and L Nageswara Rao has decided to consider next week the petition by Bihar resident and medical aspirant Shivangi Singh, who has figured in the list of successful candidates in the combined result declared on August 16.



The plea made through advocate Manoj Singh contended that the declaration of the combined result without normalising the marks obtained by candidates in NEET-I and II was illegal and unconstitutional and violative of their fundamental rights under Article 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.



It said that treating NEET-I and II conducted on two different dates with two different sets of questions with different difficulty level as one single exam for determining the rank of candidates without applying the normalisation formula, amounted to placing NEET-I candidates higher in All India Ranking vis-a-vis candidates from NEET-II with poor score due to difference in difficulty level.



Hearing a separate petition by Bengaluru-based students, the apex court had on August 16 refused to pass an interim direction to the CBSE to publish separate merit lists for CBSE students and their counterparts in state boards in NEET held for undergraduate medical and dental courses in private colleges all over the country.




Known as the Abode of Peace in the Northeast, the Communist-ruled Tripura on Tuesday saw violence when local non-tribals clashed with the members of a tribal political party.





Thousands of members of the tribal political party took out a rally in the state capital Agartala on Tuesday afternoon demanding creation of a separate Twipraland state carved out of tribal-dominated areas.



According to police sources, at least 25 people were injured, a few of them critically, after more than 20,000 tribal members of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) took out a rally.



The members of IPFT blcoked peoples movement, which resulted in a scuffle. Soon there was a violent retaliation.



At least 25 people were injured in sporadic clashes after which Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in Agartala.



A huge contingent of paramilitary force, Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and the police have been deployed in Agartala, police sources added.



Several vehicles were set on fire and business establishments were pelted with stones.



The IPFT had permission for the rally. But things went awry. We took immediate action. Section 144 will remain in force though the situation is under control. A section of people are indulging in rumour mongering and trying to spark communal tension. We will take action against them, said Tripura DGP K Nagraj.

One-third of the four million people in Tripura are tribals.




Manipurs human rights activist Irom Sharmila now faces a new battle ahead of the 2017 Assembly pollsprocuring official documents to prove that she is a bona fide citizen of India.





During her 16-year fast, Irom was under arrest and was force-fed through her nose at a special ward at a government hospital in Imphal. Due to this, she was cut off from the rest of the world and could not get any of the necessary paper work done.



Irom does not have a passport, PAN card or Aadhaar card, nor does she have a bank account.



Getting these documents has become my biggest challenge. I need to have them because now I am getting invites from across the country. People want me to come and make the fight against Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) a global campaign. For that, I will have to travel and meet people, Sharmila told reporters in Imphal on Tuesday when she was brought to a local court for the regular trial.



I want to travel to Delhi where I have been invited for a national-level solidarity meet on my new strategy to fight AFSPA after I gave up my fast. I have also another invite from Punjab where youth from 30 countries are gathering, Sharmila added.



A very close aide, who did not want to be named, said: She has been under arrest for 16 years and all her fundamental rights as a citizen of India were curbed. Now these documents will be needed since she wants to contest election. We fear the government might not cooperate with her in issuing these documents.



In the court, cross-examination of witnesses took place and as usual, Irom did not plead guilty.



She also requested the court to remove the security cover since she is out on bail. The court has notified September 5 as the final date of hearing after which the court might pronounce its judgement, said Iroms court-appointed legal counsel L Rebeda Devi. Irom had also requested the court to dispose off the case against her as she has ended the fast.


Afghan Army chief Gen Qadam Shah Shahim will visit New Delhi early next week  at a time when India is planning to step up its military support to Afghanistan.





Gen Shahim will meet his Indian counterpart, Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag. He is also likely to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.



The visit comes shortly after the US publicly encouraged India to step up military support for Afghanistan.



His visit is likely to provide New Delhi and Kabul an opportunity to discuss Indias supply of both lethal and non-lethal military hardware to Afghanistan in order to help the Afghan National Army fight Taliban and Islamic State.



More support



Sources here said that Kabul expected New Delhi to be more forthcoming in offering military support to Afghanistan.



Kabul already conveyed to New Delhi its request for a range of weapons and defence equipments, in addition to the MI-25 attack helicopters already provided by India.



New Delhi, for years, kept its military support to the conflict-hit country limited to providing training to officials and soldiers of the Afghan National Army and supply of non-lethal defence hardware.



It was in December 2015 that India provided MI-25 helicopters to give some teeth to the newly revived Afghan Air Force. So far, India provided three choppers to Afghanistan, while the fourth one is likely to be inducted soon.

Pakistan, which is keen to have a strategic depth in its western neighbourhood, has been jittery about Indias role in Afghanistan.



Militant organisations based in Pakistan carried out several attacks on Indias diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.




The chief of Army staff Gen Dalbir Singh on Tuesday appealed to the people of Kashmir to eschew violence and help restore peace.





Gen Dalbir Singh, who was on his second visit to Kashmir during the unrest to review the security situation, made the appeal at 15 Corps Headquarters in Srinagar.



Uphold human rights



While appreciating the professionalism with which the troops had been operating in full synergy with other security and civil agencies, he urged them to uphold human rights and exercise maximum restraint while dealing with the protesters.



Last week, Northern Command chief Lt Gen D S Hooda, while making similar remarks, had described the ongoing unrest as a tough situation and appealed to security forces, separatists, governments and students to help restore normalcy and peace in Kashmir.



A defence spokesperson said, accompanied by Lt Gen Hooda and Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Satish Dua, the army chief visited units in north Kashmir, where he was briefed on the operational preparedness, besides the recent successful counter infiltration operations in which over 10 militants were killed.



Cong welcomes Centres move



A day after attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modis empty rhetoric on Kashmir, the Congress on Tuesday cautiously welcomed the Centres fresh initiative for dialogue to resolve the volatile situation in the Valley, DHNS reports from New Delhi.

if it is the first sign of fresh thinking, we must welcome it, former home minister P Chidambaram said, referring to Modis Monday meeting with the leaders of Opposition parties of Jammu & Kashmir.




While the curfew was relaxed in parts of Srinagar on Tuesday for the first time since July 9, at least 15 people were injured in fresh protests in other parts of Kashmir, where restrictions prevailed for the 46th day.





The situation in Srinagar was peaceful though some minor clashes between stone pelting youth and forces erupted in the old city area. There was increased movement of people and vehicles in Srinagar during the day.



However, shops, educational institutions and business establishments remained closed while public transport continued to be off the road. To counter the separatists strike after 6 pm, the authorities re-imposed curfew in the evening.



A police spokesman said following improvement in the situation, curfew was lifted from most areas of Srinagar. He said three incidents of stone pelting were reported from Shopian, Srinagar and Sopore till evening. Reports stated that 14 people were injured after security forces fired bullets and pellets to quell protests in Nowgam-Vihil village of south Kashmirs Shopian district. While four protesters received bullet injures, the rest were hit by pellets, hospital officials said. In north Kashmirs Bandipora district, a woman was injured when security forces fired pellets to disperse protesters. Witnesses said protests erupted after security forces brought down Pakistani flags hoisted in Malanagam village.



The police arrested eight government employees, including the president of Employees Joint Action Committee, and shifted them to sub-jail in Baramulla.



The employees were detained on Monday after the police foiled their protest against the killing of civilians and demanded an inquiry by a Supreme Court judge to look into the excessive use of force.



A total of 67 people, including two police personnel, have been killed and nearly 8,000 injured in the clashes that erupted after the killing of Hiz-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.



Reports said two special police officers publicly resigned from their jobs in Sopore town of north Kashmirs Baramulla district. However, the police denied any such development.



Meanwhile, the police have strongly rebutted a news report carried by a national daily on closing down of police stations in south Kashmir and running militants training camps there.




A panel of film experts constituted to draft the Kannada Film Policy has recommended a cap on multiplex ticket rates at Rs 120.





The committee, headed by Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy chairman S V Rajendra Singh Babu, submitted its Kannada Film Policy report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Babu told reporters a cap on the ticket rate collected by multiplexes had become the need of the hour as some of them were charging exorbitant rates and arbitrarily depending on the response to a film. Babu said the committee has also recommended that multiplexes should compulsorily exhibit at least two Kannada films full time.



He said it has been suggested that the government provide a subsidy of Rs 50 lakh to those who come forward to construct Janata theatres. However, only Kannada films will be allowed to be screened at these theatres. Janata theatre, created on the lines of Amma theatre in Tamil Nadu to provide cinema-viewing at an affordable cost, was announced by Siddaramaiah in his budget two years back. The government proposes to construct 300 Janata theatres.



Babu said cash incentives provided to films winning national awards should be enhanced to Rs 25 lakh and those winning state-level awards to Rs 20 lakh. Babu said cinema show tax on non-Kannada films should be increased from Re 1 per show to Rs 5 per show and the proceeds (estimated to be around Rs 20 crore per year) be channelised for development of the Kannada film industry.



Babu said the policy suggests introduction of online tickets in all theatres. It recommends that the state should adopt the Telangana model to curb digital piracy and protect intellectual property by setting up Intellectual Property Crime Unit. The unit has representatives of cyber crime team of the state police, Film Chambers of Commerce, members of the film industry and officials of the state Information Technology department to crack down on piracy.



Karnataka Film Chambers of Commerce president Sa Ra Govindu, producers Rockline Venkatesh, actor Jayamala are some of the members of the Kannada Film Policy panel.


A Majority of the people believe that Kashmir is a political problem and has to be addressed politically, while emphasising that the unrests witnessed in 2008, 2010 and 2016 were different phases of the same demand, freedom from India. Chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Zulfikar Majid of DH in an interview that the problem can neither be solved within the ambit of the Indian or Pakistani constitutions. Excerpts:



What is your response to Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement about finding a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem?



The prime minister said that talks should be held within the ambit of the Indian Constitution. If that was the case, Kashmir has been under the ambit of the Indian constitution for 70 years and there has been no solution. The problem cannot be solved within the ambit of the Indian or Pakistani constitutions.



The home minister is coming to Kashmir again. If offer of talks comes from New Delhi, what will be your response?



New Delhi isnt even acknowledging that Kashmir is a problem. They are sometimes saying it is a law and order issue, sometimes it is an employment issue and now they are blaming Pakistan and the separatists.



Coming to the current unrest, there are allegations that it is being sponsored by Pakistan. What is your take?



It is unfortunate that every time there is a peoples movement in Kashmir and people come on the streets they (government of India) blame Pakistan for this. It is an easy escape route for them. The people of India dont question the government policy of using heavy hand in Kashmir when they blame Pakistan.



The Separatists are pushing people to hardships every now and then by calling endless strikes. It has crippled the economy of Kashmir and has also affected the education sector. Your say?



Rather than blaming the separatists, you should question the government. They have imposed curfew for the last 45-days and are getting more companies of CRPF and have even called back BSF to crush the people. Rather than addressing the problem politically, they are coming down with heavy military approach.



Coming to the issue of weekly protest calendars issued by separatists. It seems you people are helpless before the stone pelters and are following them instead of them following you.



Yes, I agree to some extent that there is a section of the youth who are of the view that dialogue and engagement are not going to lead us anywhere.



What is the solution, keeping in view the present world order?



We believe that the most easy and democratic way of solving the problem is to hold a referendum on both sides of the Line of Control or there should be tripartite talks between India, Pakistan and Kashmiris.



Where do you see the present agitation heading?



You have to understand that we cannot look at the situation as a culmination point. There is a long-lasting issue here. Whether 2008, 2010 or the present uprising, it all boils down to what Kashmiris want. They want freedom and every time the demand has been the same.
A day after the Jammu and Kashmir government said that it will conduct school exams scheduled from next month on time, security forces on Tuesday occupied two schools in Srinagar.





The Border Security Force (BSF), deployed in Srinagar on Monday after a gap of 11 years, occupied the historic S P High School. This is the fifth school which has been recently occupied by the security forces.



Simultaneously, while the BSF was taking over possession of S P School, Kothi Bagh Higher Secondary School for girls was also occupied by the border guards. Earlier, three other prominent schools were taken over by the security forces.



Officials from the education department said Nawa Kadal Boys Higher Secondary School and M P Higher Secondary School in the congested old city area were the first to be occupied. Subsequently, Boys Higher Secondary School Sonawar was also taken over by the security forces.



The people of Kashmir have taken serious note of the developments, accusing the ruling coalition of making a mockery of the system.



On August 22, Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar directed J&K State Board of School Education to conduct on time exams for students who have not been able to attend school during the 46-day curfew. The government has been saying that the people should decide between what they want, agitation or education? The people, however, this time do not seem to be buying the governments terminology.



S P School has been occupied by BSF. Somebody ask the education minister where shall the students go now, said Ghulam Hassan, an old city resident.




It occurred 11 years ago, but a state labor law violation committed by Floyd Rayburn's company is being raised as an issue in the 54th Senate District race.

Rayburn, one of five Republicans seeking the party's nomination in the Sept. 13 primary, is the owner of F.G. Rayburn Mason Contractors. In 2005, the company was accused of not paying $292,828.84 in wages to 68 employees. That's an average of $4,306 owed to each worker.

While the issue was resolved more than a decade ago, Rayburn's opponents have brought it back to light in this election. A website targeting Rayburn published the state Labor Department's inspection findings.

Rayburn said the violation stems from the Ontario County Jail project his company worked on in the early 2000s. Because it a was public project using a prevailing wage schedule, he paid his employees $24 an hour and a fringe benefit package worth $16 an hour. The $24 an hour was the salary they received in their paychecks, while Rayburn put the $16 an hour fringe benefit share into 401(k) plans for each worker.

"This way they save money," he said in an interview. "You may not know, but I do, construction workers  Thursday night they get paid and they're out of money by Monday, a lot of times Saturday. They'll go spend money on whatever  Bass Pro, things like that. That's what they do. But this was a guaranteed savings. And there were people who (saved) over $20,000 over two years."

The state Labor Department didn't see it that way. And that's when Rayburn learned of annualization.

According to Associated Builders and Contractors, the state uses the same approach to annual private and public benefits for workers. The group says this increases costs for contractors, especially those that already pay benefits to employees.

In many cases, contractors opt to pay the employees their fringe benefits in cash instead of offering traditional packages.

Rayburn said he was contacted by the state Labor Department and told he owed more than $292,000 in pay to his employees.

"They told me with annualization, if you pay a person on prevailing wage and you put the fringe benefit portion in a 401(k) on just public work, you have to do that on private work, too," he said.

"I don't do a lot of public work. So every hour those guys worked on the public work I had to pay that $16 an hour in their private work, too. And I didn't bid the jobs figuring $16 an hour in (fringe benefits), because who does?"

Rayburn said it cost him close to $230,000 to settle the violation. Most of it was interest paid to the employees. He said four of his workers wanted to return the money.

"They said, 'Floyd, you've already paid us for this,'" Rayburn recalled.

According to Rayburn, he wasn't hit with a penalty for the annualization violation. He didn't have to pay a fine.

As for why the violation is being mentioned in the state Senate race, Rayburn blamed labor unions and the Senate Republicans' campaign arm. The Senate GOP in Albany is backing Canandaigua Supervisor Pam Helming, who has received the party's endorsement in the 54th District race and also is running on the Conservative, Independence and Reform party lines.

While Helming is considered the favorite to win the primary because of her establishment backing, Rayburn is viewed her biggest threat. He has been able to mostly self-finance his campaign. He loaned his campaign $185,000, according to his fundraising reports.
Close on the heels of a complaint that Hebbal (BJP) MLA Y A Narayanaswamy had converted his G category site into a commercial one, a fresh complaint has been filed with the Bangalore |Development Authority (BDA) and Urban Development Department questioning the allotment itself.





The complaint, filed by an NGO Committee on Judicial Accountability (CJA), stated that the MLA and his wife owned sites in Bengaluru before the allotment of the G category site in 2009.



The G category site (number 1073 measuring 4,000 sq ft) was allotted to Narayanaswamy at HRBR Layout 1st Stage, 5th Block on November 4, 2009. The complaint stated that the allotment was in violation of rule 10(3) of the BDA (Allotment of Sites) Rules 1984. The rule states that any person who or any dependent member of whose family, owns a site or a house or has been allotted a site or a house by the BDA or a co-operative society in the city or anywhere in the state, shall not be eligible for the allotment.



The affidavit submitted by Narayanaswamy to the Election Commission revealed that at the time of allotment of G category site, Narayanaswamys wife B N Usha Nandini owned a property (number 461 measuring 5,000 sq ft) at 4th Main, Dollars Colony in RMV 2nd stage. The property was purchased in May 2009 for Rs 1.25 crore. Interestingly, the same address is provided by Narayanaswamy in the lease-cum-sale deed executed by the BDA for the G category site.



This apart, documents available with Deccan Herald show that Narayanaswamys wife owned another self-acquired property in MSR Nagar. Besides, Narayanaswamy jointly owns a property with one S N Subba Reddy at survey number 89 (measuring 6,573 sq ft) at Shettigere in Jala hobli. This property was purchased in May 2007 for Rs 49 lakh and Narayanaswamy has 50% share.



The rule 10(3) makes it clear that if any dependent member owns a site or a house they are ineligible for another allotment, the complaint by the CJA stated. It added that when hundreds of poor people are awaiting BDA sites, allotting a site at a subsidised price to a person who is powerful and mighty and not eligible for an allotment as per BDA rules, defeats the purpose of the scheme and also violates article 14 of the Constitution.



When contacted, MLA Narayanaswamy said he was not aware of the BDA rules. I did not know that a person who owned a self-acquired property, which is not allotted by BDA or co-operative society, is not eligible for allotment of a G category site.



While seeking allotment of the site, Narayanaswamy, in his letter on September 19, 2006, claimed that he was in need of his own residential house in Bengaluru to discharge his public duties.



First, BDA had allotted a site at 10th Block Banashankari 6th Phase.

However, Narayanaswamy, who was an MLC then, wrote to the principal secretary Urban Development Department on July 20, 2009, claiming that the site allotted to him was not suitable for residential purpose and asked for an alternative site at a location of his choice. Subsequently, within 10 days of the allotment in Banashankari, an alternative site was allotted to him at HRBR Layout.




Lysosomal Storage Disorders Support Society (LSDSS) has sought more funds for treatment of patients with Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD).





The state government has provided Rs 1 crore for treating LSD patients at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. However, members of the LSDSS fear that these funds might not be sufficient to offer treatment to all the patients.



Manjit Singh, President, LSDSS, said: The recent funding of Rs 1 crore from the government is a welcome step as such an initiative has been undertaken in Karnataka for the first time.



It was done following the interim order of the High Court on July 25, 2016. The amount needs to be increased to bear treatment costs of all patients with treatable LSDs in Karnataka.



He explained that the cost of treatment varies between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 1 crore per patient annually, depending upon the body weight of the patient. We have to ensure that there is continuous flow of funds so that patients lives are not compromised with, he added.



LSDs are rare, life-threatening, chronically debilitating diseases that affect mostly children, who often die within a few months or years after birth. Treatment in the form of ERTs provide a ray of hope to such patients.




With drug peddling thriving in many areas in east and south east Bengaluru, the city police are planning to intensify patrolling in these areas and keep watch on places frequented by local youths and foreign nationals living in the city.





To buy narcotic substances, youngsters from various parts of the city throng certain localities which are in the East and the Southeast divisions of the Bengaluru police. Areas such as TC Palya in KR Puram, Hennur, Banaswadi, Kalyan Nagar, Kammanahalli, Horamavu, Lingarajapuram and Frazer Town in the East division and Marathahalli, Whitefield, Kadugodi, Hulimavu, Koramangala and surrounding areas in the South East division are under the police scanner.



The police are planning to intensify patrolling in these areas and deploy policemen in civil dress to nab those involved in selling narcotic substances, sources in the city police told DH.



These areas are home to a large number of foreign students, who are suspected to be aiding drug peddling, said a senior police officer. There are a few more areas in the East and Southeast divisions which are still being identified, he added.



From January 2014 to June 2016, the East division police have registered 41 cases related to drug peddling, while the Southeast police have booked 34 cases.



The number of cases registered by the police in these two divisions is much higher than those booked in the other five divisions, the police said.



A strict vigil will be kept on eateries, cafes, colleges and paying guest accommodations, as these are the places where narcotic substances are being sold. These places are frequented by local youths as well as foreigners. It was found that local youths, mainly college students are getting involved in drug peddling to make a quick buck easily, the officer said.



All the police stations in the two divisions have been directed to put up a sticker saying No to drugs along with the contact numbers of the jurisdictional deputy commissioner of police and assistant commissioner of police. Over the past few months, we are directly getting several messages on WhatsApp from the public who tip us off on such illegal activities, said N Sateesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).



An inspector from a police station in East division mentioned that narcotic substances are easily available in the neighbouring Hoskote of Bengaluru Rural district. The city police will inform the Bengaluru Rural district police to keep watch on a few pockets in Hoskote and surrounding areas.



Nigerian held with cocaine

A Nigerian national was arrested by the Central Crime Branch sleuths while he was peddling drugs near Bande Hosur in Bagalur in east Bengaluru on Monday.

The police seized 260 grams of cocaine worth Rs 15 lakh from Adinife Raphael Ogugua (37) (in pic) who hails from Lagos in Nigeria. The police said Ogugua was waiting for customers in Bande Hosur to sell the substance. The police approached Ogugua as customers and he told them that each gram of cocaine costs Rs 5,000. The police arrested him immediately. He had come to India in 2010 on a business visa and stayed in Mumbai and Delhi. In 2012, he came to Bengaluru and was overstaying. His passport has been confiscated. The police said they were questioning Ogugua on the source of the cocaine.
The Ramanagaram district superintendent of police (SP) on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the suicide of Shivanna, who named DGP Om Prakashs sons in the dying declaration.





Ramanagaram SP Chandragupta said, The case will be probed by a team led by Magadi inspector. The statements of Shivannas family members have been recorded and are being examined.



It is also learnt that a video has emerged in which Shivanna has mentioned names of a few people responsible for his death and the video is being verified. If required, the people concerned will be questioned, said another senior police officer.



Shivannas son, Arun Kumar, said that their family is being threatened by his relative Lokesh and his family members. We are being threatened by our uncle, a few other relatives and even the police. Every one in our family and people in our village should know that these people should be held responsible, if anything goes wrong, he said.



After my fathers death, I went to the police station to lodge a complaint but the police asked me not to name DGPs son Kartikesh in the complaint. I told the police that my father has mentioned Karthikeshs name in the video but they did not pay heed. The police should consider the video as evidence and conduct a fair investigation, he added.



T Shivanna, 57, had consumed poison at his house at Gavinagamangala village on Sunday evening. He was rushed to a hospital in Magadi before being taken to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. On Monday, around 6 am, he failed to respond to treatment and died.



He accused the son of state police chief Om Prakash of harassing him by supporting his rivals in a land dispute. Before consuming poison, he had claimed that he was harassed by his relatives and a few influential people over a land dispute and was unable to handle the pressure.



Son doesnt know Shivana: DGP

DG&IGP Om Prakash said that he spoke to his son, who is currently abroad. When I asked him about Shivanna, he said that he is not aware of anyone by that name. It is astonishing how Karthikeshs name was dragged into the incident. I found that Shivanna and Lokesh have filed several complaints against each other and a charge sheet has been filed in a couple of cases and the trial is going on. There is no reason for them to bring up my sons name. Let the police investigate the case.
For the second time in a month, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will fly to Srinagar on Wednesday with an aim to create an atmosphere for talks to resolve the problems dogging Jammu and Kashmir.





The decision on Singhs two-day visit came on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted at a fresh dialogue to find a permanent and lasting solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir within the framework of the Constitution, while meeting the states Opposition leaders.



The home minister first visited Srinagar on July 23 to review the security situation and speak to various stakeholders to find peace in the state rattled by protests over the killing of self-styled Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.



According to a spokesperson, Singh will attend various meetings and host different delegations at Nehru Guest House in Srinagar.



During his last visit, too, Singh had stayed in the guest house, instead of the Raj Bhavan, in an attempt to send a message about his intention to listen to all shades of views. Ahead of his visit, the Ministry of Home Affairs has already sent 26 companies (2,600 personnel) of the Border Security Force to Kashmir and 30 additional companies are ready to be deployed in the Valley in the coming days.



In Srinagar, Singh will meet Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and top government officials to review the security situation in the state.



He will also keep his guesthouse doors open to various stakeholders to meet him for talks, official sources said.



During his meeting with the Opposition leaders on Monday, a deeply concerned and pained Modi said there has to be a dialogue and emphasised the need for all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.



The continuing protests, which have so far claimed at least 65 civilian lives and injured hundreds, with several suffering eye injuries from pellet guns, have triggered an alarm in the security establishment. The BSF has been re-deployed in the Valley after 11 years.



On agenda



The home minister will attend various meetings and host different delegations in Srinagar.



Ahead of his visit, the MHA has already sent 2,600 BSF personnel to the Valley.



He will meet Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and government officials and review the security situation.



Curfew relaxed



Curfew was relaxed in parts of Srinagar on Tuesday for the first time since July 9. At least 15 people were injured in fresh protests in some parts of Kashmir, where restrictions prevailed for the 46th day. See P8
Internships are not only for college students. An initiative by CAVEO, a senior citizens care service and BHIVE, a co-working space in the city, are giving senior citizens the opportunity to get out of retirement and work.





The programme, in which companies and senior citizens took part, was held on Tuesday as part of the Art Bengaluru festival in Oakwood Premier Prestige, UB City. In the morning session, corporates and start-ups discussed with the organisers what internships they could provide.



The afternoon session was attended by 13 senior citizens. They had one-on-one interactions with people from the CAVEO team to understand what previous experience they had and what kind of job profile they were looking for.



The initiative was inspired by the Hollywood movie The Intern in which the character played by Robert De Niro takes up an internship years after retirement. Clips from the movie were screened at the session to inspire the participants.



When they walked in they looked nervous and doubtful about whether they would be able to do this. But after the discussions and watching the clips from the movie, they became more confident and even excited, said Devanshi Seth, who runs CAVEO.



17 internships



They have already got 17 internships and will be matching the job profiles to the right candidates over the week. Most of them are for content writing while some are for market analysis, accounting and for the post of guest lecturers. Talking about why companies would want senior interns, Seth, said, For corporates, these interns have years of experience to offer.



They will be able to add value the companys work by providing a different perspective. On the other hand, start-ups often dont have the resources to hire full-time employees. If they hire senior interns on a short-term pay-per-day basis, they can get good quality work. Besides those who attended the session, they have received queries from about 30 more people.



BHIVE is offering two free seats for senior citizens in each of their centres to access their co-working space. Besides, the companies working from the space will have access to the expertise of the senior interns.


The High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the proceedings against the engineers booked by Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) for allowing construction on buffer zones around stormwater drains.





Justice Anand Byrareddy refused to grant stay on the proceedings initiated against, T Nataraj  Joint Director, BBMP Town Planning (North), Chowde Gowda  retired director of Town and Country Planning and Mohammed Abdul Azeem  retired Assistant Executive Engineer (PWD) and directed them to cooperate with the investigation. The judge recorded the statement of the government counsel stating that if stay is granted on the proceedings, then it would impair and scuttle the investigation. The judge said that the petitioners will not be arrested till the investigation is completed.



The petitioners, Nataraj and Gowda, have been booked for allowing construction in the buffer zone in Bilekahalli, and Azeem for allowing construction in Nayandahalli.



The petitioners have contended that they have visited the spot and have verified that they have not allowed any construction in the buffer zone and that they cannot be booked under Section 420 of IPC which talks about cheating.



The government counsel sought four weeks time to submit the investigation report of Nataraj and Gowda and the judge adjourned the hearing of Azeems petition to August 25.



Recommendations on penalty

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday informed the High Court that it will submit recommendations to the state government to prescribe the quantum of penalty/punishment under Section 321B of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976.



Section 321 B penalty talks about the penalty against jurisdictional officers failing to prevent unauthorised deviations or constructions, but does not prescribe the quantum of penalty or punishment.



Following directions by the High Court in the previous hearing to submit a list of erring officials who had issued sanctioned plan, commencement order, possession certificate without verifying whether the building is being constructed or a stormwater drain or not, government counsel Sreenidhi V appearing for BBMP submitted details of the FIR filed by Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF).



Justice L Narayanaswamy directed BBMP to produce the government notification with respect to the amendment of the bye-laws and adjourned the next hearing after a month.


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OWASCO  Enter Jennifer Sova's living room during a violin lesson, and she will have monkeys holding bananas with musical notes taped up her wall. On the floor will be cards for a music note matching game. There are finger puppets, too, for bow-holding exercises.

"I keep trying to make it fun for them, but kids are smart, and they're going to realize it's work," she said.

Practicing instruments may be work, but with Sova singing variations of "The Wheels on the Bus" to show specific bow-holding exercises, it seems anything but. When children are not taking orchestra lessons, she has used bribery to get them to practice. Students can earn Mozart Monies or Beethoven Bucks each time they practice.

"Then we have little auctions or little stores where they can spend their money on fun little prizes or treats or things that are motivating them," Sova said. "And I'm not against bribery! If it gets them practicing their instrument  which it does, in most cases it does  then you know at least they're practicing it, and they'll get better at it."

Once students overcome that hurdle of hard work, Sova said, the intrinsic love of music emerges.

Sova's own intrinsic love of music is contagious, and she's working to spread her passion to children in Cayuga County through a new orchestra program called Cayuga Children's Orchestra, to be hosted at Veteran's Memorial Hall in Cayuga. Aimed for children in third through fifth grades, Sova plans to hold lessons twice per week in violin, viola, cello and bass. Eventually, her dream is to teach a full children's orchestra.

While the program is not fully fledged, Sova is hoping to generate interest from parents in the area. Eventually, she plans to go to the village of Cayuga's board of trustees to get permission to run the program.

Tara Fricano, one of the village's trustees, is already on board. Her 7-year-old daughter, LilyAnn, has been taking violin lessons from Sova for approximately six months.

"She likes the challenge," Fricano said. "She's proud of herself. It's the confidence. It's really good for her setting goals; it's habit-forming and has a purpose."

While there are several area schools that offer orchestra classes, Sova said, some of them do not allow children to start until fifth grade. Her children, for instance, have been playing since they were 3 years old, but administration at Owasco Elementary School would not allow them to join the orchestra program early.

LilyAnn Fricano, too, is a homeschooled student, and therefore unable to participate in area school districts' programs.

Sova, whose background is in musical education, said the optimal ages for children to start learning musical instruments is between 6 and 9 years old.

"Here in Auburn, the kids can't even begin until they're 10 years old," she said. "They're missing that window where the brain is really like a sponge and just absorbs it. It's definitely important that these kids get to start earlier than they are."

There are area school districts without orchestra programs, too, something that Sova as a beginning student once faced. Since her father was in the military, Sova's family moved around a lot. After falling in love with orchestra in sixth grade in Georgia, she went two years without it after her family moved to Pennsylvania and then to New Jersey. While she wishes she had taken band during those years orchestra-less and instrument-less, absence makes the heart grow fonder  and as soon as it was available again, she took off.

In ninth grade, Sova moved to Montana, where her orchestra director worked with her at lunch and during study halls. By her senior year, Sova had earned a music scholarship to the University of Kansas. Despite the scholarship, out-of-state expenses were difficult, so Sova later transferred to Weber State University in Utah to get her degree in music education. For 16 years she has taught various orchestra programs, and has been mentored by composers and music educators Deborah Baker Monday and Janice McAllister.

"I just hate to see that there's nothing here for these kids to be involved with," Sova said. "That's the nice thing about music. It brings kids together. Kids have a need to feel like they belong in something, and that's something that music often does."

While Sova teaches private lessons now at Sova's Strings Violin & Viola Studio, she's looking forward to her new endeavor of teaching group orchestra classes. When she teaches, she gets parents involved, too, even if they don't know how to play an instrument. For example, she has some parents walk around the room fixing the students' bow holds.

Fricano said she's been learning to play the violin along with her daughter since taking lessons with Sova.

"I think this would be a fantastic program for over there (Cayuga)," she said.
[Jim Hansens supralinear sea level rise scenario looks increasingly likely. Des] By Chris Mooney

17 August 2016 (Washington Post)  In a new study, scientists who study the largest ice mass on Earth  East Antarctica  have found that it is showing a surprising feature reminiscent of the fastest melting one: Greenland. More specifically, the satellite-based study found that atop the coastal Langhovde Glacier in East Antarcticas Dronning Maud Land, large numbers of supraglacial or meltwater lakes have been forming  nearly 8,000 of them in summer between the year 2000 and 2013. Moreover, in some cases, just as in Greenland, these lakes appear to have then been draining down into the floating parts of the glacier, potentially weakening it and making it more likely to fracture and break apart. This is the first time that such a drainage phenomenon has been observed in East Antarctica, the researchers say  though it was previously spotted on the warmer Antarctic Peninsula and was likely part of what drove spectacular events there like the shattering of the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002. When it comes to East Antarctica, however, thats the part of the continent where people have for quite a long time assumed that its relatively stable, theres not a huge amount of change, its very, very cold, and so, its only very recently that the first supraglacial lakes, on top of the ice, were identified, said Stewart Jamieson, a glaciologist at Durham University in the U.K. and one of the studys authors. The study was led by Emily Langley of Durham, who worked along with Jamieson and Chris Stokes from her university and Amber Leeson of Lancaster University. The work was recently published online by Geophysical Research Letters. The research raises concern, for the following reason: Mounting evidence suggests one reason that Greenland has been melting so fast lately is precisely these kinds of lakes. In the summer as air temperatures warm, lakes form on top of the ice sheet, and on its finger-like glaciers that extend outwards into deep ocean fjords. These lakes can then suddenly disappear all at once, or flow into rivers that drain into the ice below, lubricating the ice and helping to increase the lurch forward of glaciers. Sometimes, researchers have even been able to document fresh water flowing outward directly into the sea from the base of a glacier. That injection of cold fresh water into salty water can then create tornado-like underwater flow patterns at the submerged glacier front that cause further ice loss. [more]
The American Red Cross has a time-honored mission: to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the wake of disaster.

Every eight minutes, volunteers nationwide respond to the call of communities who have been affected by disaster, and provide food, clothing, shelter and mental health services. While it may not be possible to completely prevent disasters like floods or hurricanes, it is possible to prepare for them.

The month of September is National Preparedness Month, and is a perfect opportunity to highlight the crucial role that preparing for a disaster can have in helping communities recover. In addition, Oct. 9-15 has been designated as National Fire Prevention Week. In recognition of these designations, the American Red Cross will be holding a variety of events to educate and safeguard communities from disasters. Some examples of these programs are the Citizen Preparedness Corps, Pillowcase Project and Home Fire Preparedness Campaign. The goals of these programs are to teach households how to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

By scheduling a presentation such as the Citizen Preparedness Corps for a group or organization, people can take important steps toward the security and responsiveness of their neighborhood, school or organization. The Citizen Preparedness Corps is a New York state-developed program, delivered in conjunction with the National Guard, which covers:

 Preparing supplies and equipment before a disaster

 Responding to a disaster with the proper knowledge of insurance information and possible scams

 Handling the emotional stress of recovery

 Creating community solidarity by helping neighbors whenever possible

This presentation can be delivered to a group, and also can incorporate a hands-only CPR tutorial, which makes it especially beneficial to schools seeking a way to meet the state graduation requirement for students.

The Pillowcase Project is a Red Cross program sponsored by Disney, and is delivered to 8- to 11-year-olds. Its a fun, exciting presentation to an age group that can contribute its energy and enthusiasm to a sometimes difficult topic. Students are encouraged to share with their household as a vehicle to prompt adults with conversations regarding preparedness. The presentation also aligns with the state fifth-grade curriculum, though it can be also be delivered to faith-based clubs, Girls Scouts or Boy Scouts, in addition to the traditional classroom setting. Each student who received the training also gets a pillowcase, a marker and a workbook full of valuable preparedness resources.

The Home Fire Preparedness Campaign is the initiative to reduce the incidence of death and injury by fire by 25 percent over five years. In order to do this, the Red Cross installs up to three free smoke alarms in homes. The process is easy, free and the appointment itself only takes 20 minutes. By having a working smoke alarm, the risk of being fatally wounded in a fire is greatly reduced. The Western and Central New York Region has a goal to install 5,000 smoke alarms this fiscal year, and by doing so, significantly decrease the incidents of fatal home fires.

The work of the Red Cross could not be done without its dedicated volunteers, who see the value of not only responding to disaster, but working to curb its longer-term effects. If you are interested in working with and implementing these programs, setting up a presentation or receiving your own free smoke alarm, contact me at james.segerson@redcross.org or call your local Red Cross chapter, which you can find at redcross.org/wcny.
MARCELLUS  Its been a dozen years since Dan and Dina Curley took late Marcellus Village Mayor Fred Eisenbergs advice and opened their restaurant, Daniels Grill.

Fred Eisenberg was instrumental in getting us open," Dan Curley said. "He came to me about this building and said, Marcellus needs a restaurant.

Curley was a seasoned chef in his early 40s and ready to take on his own venture. His career was spent cooking and managing kitchens in independent, chain and institutional kitchens. He even traveled to South Korea to oversee Kahunaville opening a restaurant in that country.

Hailing from Westvale, Curley spent time cooking in Marblehead, Massachusetts. This is where he met his wife and partner, Dina, who has been instrumental in their success, he said.

Dina is the woman with the smile who often greets and escorts people to their tables at Daniel's. Over the years, she has transitioned to part-time, taking a job as a realtor with Realty USA for a little change of pace. But, she can still be found at the door at Daniel's most nights.

The restaurant business has changed dramatically during Daniels first dozen years, and the Curleys and their staff have evolved right along with the rise of their guests' interest in food.

Food service has changed with the Food Network and internet, Curley said.People are more educated about food and are also more nutritious conscious.

The Curleys serve a wide spectrum of people with varying tastes. One can grab a burger, have a pizza, enjoy a salad or select an entree consisting of fresh seafood or high quality meats all at the same table.

"The pizza dough recipe was from my mom's cupboard and was dated 1946, Curley said. We dont develop the gluten in the flour, so it's not like mall pizza. which is chewy. Instead, it is crispy and light, more like pastry.

Curley understands the rise of celiac disease and how serious this condition is, as well as how many other food allergies can affect his guests, and he is comfortable working around their needs.

"This is serious for them, and I am happy to accommodate," he said. "For true celiacs, 1/600 of a gram will poison them for a week, making them feel ill.

After all these years, cooking is still Curley's thing and the experimentation continues. Since the restaurnt opened, he said, he's evolved to making all the sausage products, tasso ham and desserts in addition to fresh stocks, salad dressings and sauces.

The key lime pie recipe is from his grandmother, Hazel Curley. It's a baked key lime with more lime juice added. Dina Curley described it as not as sweet so the tartness of the lime comes through a bit more.

Curley is also sourcing local food and raves about the Crooked Barn, an organic farm on Falls Road in Marcellus. Ultimately, though, it comes down to flavor for him. All their dishes are blind tasted to make sure the best flavor rises to the top.

Service is as important as the food, Curley said. "There has to be a bond between the front of the house and the kitchen. The common goal is pleasing the guest.

The Curleys have experienced very little turnover of staff during their tenure. One server, Elaine Moore, has been with them since they opened, and Brandy Cole is in her eighth year.

Curley said the bar is really to service the restaurant crowd. Jen Kirk is in charge and has developed a martini list and switches the taps out on a regular basis to keep the beer selection fresh. There is also a list of wines by the glass. Many people simply enjoy dining at the bar.

Serving the Marcellus community where the Curleys live, Daniel's Grill is five miles from Skaneateles and five miles from Camillus. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. It is closed Sundays and Mondays but will always consider opening up for a private party.

The Curleys encourage their neighbors who want to escape the summer tourism of Skaneateles or the hustle and bustle of Camillus' Route 5 to make the drive over to Marcellus, perhaps even take a stroll in Marcellus Park after dinner.

People sneak out of Skaneateles," Curley said. "Especially in the summer, they want to get out.

The Curleys know how fevered the pitch can get in Skaneateles, as they both worked for Bill Eberhardt at the Sherwood Inn before opening Daniel's.

Dina ran the Inn's busy catering operation, while Dan was the executive chef. They are both grateful to Eberhardt for the experience and are still connected to Skaneateles, as they own a camp on the lake near the Glen Haven.

Dan and Dina are people that live and work in their community and their restaurant is truly a labor of love.

I'm so grateful we've had this opportunity, Dina Curley said, I haven't had one day of regret.
SAN DIEGOTrafficHaus has signed on as a Supersized Sponsor of The European Summit in Prague.

TES takes place Sept. 20-23.

A leading adult ad-serving platform, TrafficHaus will team up with ReviveAds, one of the industrys most comprehensive ad block prevention programs.

The team at Reviveads and TrafficHaus are really excited to meet with anyone interested in learning more on their upcoming products and the evolving world of ad blocking. The ReviveAds and TrafficHaus duo is the first and only ad network to be able to offer advertising through their unique real time bidding to ad block users, a company rep said. With over 300 sites, these anti ad blocking gurus can optimize your ads and get back your lost revenue back in days.

At the Summit in Prague, the anti-ad block company will host the Opening Party thats already generated some buzz for its open bar. The party will be on the premier day of the Summit, on Sept. 20. Festivities will begin at 10 p.m. at the Duplex Dance Club.

TrafficHaus will then raise the stakes and go all in by hosting the Texas Holdem Poker Tournament at the Arabelle IV Seminar Room on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 9 p.m.

For more, visit TrafficHaus.com.
Update: Synopsys Expands DesignWare IP Portfolio with Acquisition of Sidense Corporation (Oct. 17, 2017)

Ottawa, Canada  August 23, 2016  Sidense Corp., a leading developer of Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) One-Time Programmable (OTP) IP cores, today announced that it has demonstrated successful operation of its patented SHF 1T-OTP memory macros at TSMCs 16FF+ and 16FFC process nodes.

Parametric measurements for both 16FF+ and 16FFC silicon were made during programming and read operations, and at-speed tests have been run on four macros totaling 4 Mbits of memory. Split lots are being characterized across the entire operating range. Qualification will follow Sidense standard procedures for HTOL and HTS reliability testing and will conform to the automotive standard AEC-Q100 Grade 1 (125C). Customer design kits, supporting a range of configurations, will be made available early next quarter. Fully qualified Sidense 1T-OTP macros will be available to customers in 1Q17 (16FF+) and 2Q17 (16FFC).

Our highly secure and reliable split-channel 1T-OTP bit cell, the heart of all our OTP products, shows superior performance characteristics as we scale down to 16nm and smaller geometry FinFET structures, said Ken Wagner, Sidense Senior Vice President of Engineering. Our upcoming OTP macros for TSMCs 16FFC and 16FF+ process nodes will enable our customers to develop leading-edge products targeting the IoT, mobile computing, communications and automotive markets.

For 16nm implementation, Sidense is adding several enhancements to its proven SHF 1T-OTP architecture including low-voltage reads along with a differential read mode and enhanced security features, such as improved side-channel attack and tamper protection features. When implemented in TSMCs 16nm processes, Sidenses 1T-OTP FinFET bit cell shows a significant area reduction compared to TSMC 20SOC implementation, more than 10 times lower leakage currents than 28nm/20nm bit cells, higher programmed cell current and five orders of magnitude difference in read current between programmed and un-programmed states.

About TSMC 16FFC and 16FF+ Processes

16FFC is a compact version of TSMCs 16FF+ process. ICs fabricated in the 16FFC process may be used in ultra-low-power applications such as wearables and IoT applications. Compared to 28HPC+, both 16FF+ and 16FFC provide more than 40% speed improvement, and more than 80% leakage reduction. By leveraging the experience of 20SoC technology, TSMC 16FF+ shares the same metal backend process in order to quickly improve yield and demonstrate process maturity for accelerating product time-to-market.

About SHF Memory IP

Sidense SHF One-Time-Programmable (OTP) memory IP is based on a patented 1T-Fuse (anti-fuse) bit-cell. The 1T-Fuse bit-cell uses gate oxide breakdown as a robust, non-reversible programming mechanism. Optimized for high-performance and a wide range of bit densities, Sidense SHF macros are available for standard CMOS processes. There are no requirements for any additional masks or processing steps.

Sidense SHF memory IP is provided as a complete, non-volatile memory (NVM) subsystem providing interfaces and features to support a range of embedded SoC applications. The SHF module integrates the OTP memory and Integrated Power Supply (IPS) hard macro blocks along with program control, programming and test interface, error correction and Built-In Self-Test (BIST) RTL. SHF applications include: code storage, ROM replacement, secure encryption key storage, configuration, fuse replacement, trimming and calibration.

About Sidense Corp.

Sidense Corp. provides very dense, highly reliable and secure non-volatile one-time programmable (OTP) Logic Non-Volatile Memory (LNVM) IP for use in standard-logic CMOS processes. The Company, with over 120 patents granted or pending, licenses OTP memory IP based on its innovative one-transistor 1T-Fuse bit cell, which does not require extra masks or process steps to manufacture. Sidense 1T-OTP macros provide a better field-programmable, reliable and cost-effective solution than flash, mask ROM, eFuse and other embedded and off-chip NVM technologies for many code storage, encryption key, analog trimming and device configuration uses.

Over 150 companies, including many of the top fabless semiconductor manufacturers and IDMs, have adopted Sidense 1T-OTP as their NVM solution for more than 500 designs. Customers are realizing outstanding savings in solution cost and power consumption along with better security and reliability for applications ranging from mobile and consumer devices to high-temperature, high-reliability automotive and industrial electronics. The IP is offered at and supported by all top-tier semiconductor foundries and selected IDMs. Sidense is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada with sales offices worldwide. For more information, please visit www.sidense.com.






For the National Park Service centennial this year, Flagstaff journalist and author Kevin Fedarko explored the Grand Canyon in a way that few have done before.

Fedarko and photographer Pete McBride spent much of the year hiking the length of Grand Canyon on an assignment for National Geographic to report on the development threats facing the crown jewel of the national park system.

The piece is featured in National Geographics September issue and describes a place that is, as Fedarko put it in an interview last week, facing irreparable damage from a whole host of development threats from every point on the compass.

In a narrative that accompanies photos of his hike through the heart of the canyon, Fedarko writes of increased helicopter flights operated by the Hualapai Tribe, massive development plans near Tusayan, the reopening of a uranium mine near the canyons South Rim and plans for a motorized tram down to the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers.

Since it entered the American consciousness, the Grand Canyon has provoked two major reactions: the urge to protect it, and the temptation to make a whopping pile of money from it, he wrote in the article.

Fedarko, who has spent years as a Colorado River guide, readily admits that he was unprepared for what it would take to walk the 650 miles from Lees Ferry to the Grand Wash Cliffs. The punishing trek is largely unmarked by trails and involves navigating across thin ledges with huge drops, climbing over boulders and scree and walking as long as necessary to reach scarce water sources. Fedarko said there wasnt a single hour when his body wasnt in some sort of pain or discomfort.

Each morning we would stuff ourselves with oatmeal, then set out on a 12- to 14-mile slog that usually involved hauling our packs up as much as a thousand vertical feet, descending impossibly steep slopes, or pushing through thickets of thornbushes, he wrote in the article.

After the first leg of the journey, Fedarko said he was seriously thinking about how to outsource the assignment to a bunch of college students.

He said the only way the duo made it through most of the canyon (he has two final segments to complete this fall) was thanks to a group of Flagstaff-based Grand Canyon hikers, backpackers and river runners who took McBride and Fedarko under their wing, teaching them what to pack, planning their routes and accompanying them into and out of the canyon.

Despite the hardships, the author said traveling by foot through the canyons wildest reaches was the best way he knew to reflect on what would be lost to the creep of development. One of the most compelling is the silence of the canyon, he said.

The silence was so deep and so dense that it feels like a medium you feel like you're moving through, Fedarko said last week. It was walking on foot amid that silence that I fully came to appreciate how abruptly its shattered when something like a helicopter flies overhead.

The hikers' route was divided into seven segments that ended and began at each of the places along the canyon that would see major changes under proposed plans.

In some ways, Fedarko said, the narrative he tells of profit-driven projects threatening the protection and preservation of Americas public lands is nothing new. But in terms of magnitude, scope and variety, the threats currently facing Grand Canyon are unprecedented, he said.

Its the fact that these developments will create a virtually unbroken spectrum of development across the South Rim, anchored by pieces of infrastructure bolted to the rims of Grand Canyon and that they will be strung together by a continuous sound of helicopters, Fedarko said.

Theres also worry that these developments will accelerate neighboring threats, paving the way for others to pursue similar commercial endeavors.

Whats also difficult is there isnt one single entity or project that conservationists must rally against, Fedarko said. Instead, he said, each project comes with its own cast of characters, backstory and intractable set of complexities that conservationists have to master to create an effective opposition.

He said he came away from the trip with more of an appreciation for how the Park Service has so far managed to strike a balance between making the canyon accessible to a massive and diverse stream of visitors and yet also protect the vast majority of the area as wilderness.

And while all of the development proposals Fedarko described in the article are outside the national parks boundaries, he emphasized the power of the Park Services voice and its partnerships, especially with nearby Native American tribes.

Fedarko said he absolutely supports one of the conservationists proposals to create a 1.7 million-acre national monument around the park, but his overall view of the future of this American treasure is pessimistic.

I think these developers -- all of them are too savvy, to well-organized and too well-funded to be combated effectively unless an entire generation of Americans decides to stand up on behalf of the idea that we need places like Grand Canyon and we need them now more than ever, he said.
There was a time when talking to a machine in public might have resulted in you being declared insane and taken to an asylum. From that point in time, we have reached somewhere where it is totally acceptable to have long conversations with a witty virtual assistant on your phone while completely ignoring the people around you. Almost every major software platform now has voice recognition in one form or another, be it virtual assistants or mere dictation. We have achieved a lot on how we speak to our smart gadgets now. But are we really there yet?

Were talking more. But why? Before we really delve into the quality of digital assistants and voice recognition on different platforms, we need to stop and take stock of what really facilitates the current state of this technology. At a broad overview level, everything from better audio formats to higher quality microphones have helped in making digital voice interaction a valid and acceptable option. But the technology wasnt really waiting for those parts.

When it comes to the hardware side, the growth of voice assistants on phones as a platform is quite predictable, considering that we have always been looking for ways to replace the hard to use phone keyboards, trying everything from larger screens to new ways for typing. Now, for voice recognition to truly evolve on phones, there was a need for processing power. Google started with the voice search app, with the concept of offloading most of the processing to its servers. Gradually, smartphone processors gained power exponentially and now we have phones that can take care of the processing locally as well, especially for basic, repetitive tasks.

Although hardware improvements have been crucial, the improvements on the software side have been way more significant. The field of artificial intelligence has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years. Rather than exactly catching the sound and transcribing it, modern day virtual assistant AI works on a predictive model where it checks the probability of a certain sound being a certain word to guess what you are saying. And newer abilities are being added every day where the AI can do things like understanding your mood and learning your preferences.

Although the innovations mentioned above are quite significant, let us not forget that necessity is the mother of invention. In the past years, the devices that can handle voice interaction have not only been limited to phones and computers. A lot more categories have been included into smart devices, including smartwatches, smart homes and smart cars. Each of these platforms have different configurations, and hence need a system complicated yet reliable enough to function optimally with them.

With a combination of all these factors, it is quite evident that voice assistants have risen to their present level of efficiency. Let us have a deeper look at each of these platforms.

Apple - Siri

Since its introduction in October 14, 2011 on the iPhone 4S, Siri has virtually been integrated into the entire Apple ecosystem, except OS X. Let us accept it, even if Google got to voice recognition first, it was this witty talking assistant on the iPhone that suddenly made voice assistants popular. So much so, that Siri now has a pop-culture significance with respect to virtual assistants, enough to be featured in a Marvel movie!

Setting up Siri is quite easy, where it asks you to speak a couple of statements and also to set the voice gender, location and your nickname. Once thats done you are good to go. Although Siri has a lot of interesting features, we could not test a number of them as they were unsupported in India. Keeping that aside, Siri has a really high accuracy when it comes to detecting english and almost never mistakens what you said, even in a moderately noisy environment.

Considering the richness of the conversation, Siri does give natural replies especially for common queries like the ones about weather. But where Siri currently stumbles is understanding the context of two queries following each other, which is one more thing Google Now excels in, even up to more than five queries. Only rarely were we able to get Siri to understand a reply that referred to something from the previous reply and they were mostly from list results.

If we were to look at the features showcased at WWDC, where Apple announced the launch of Siri on macOS Sierra, the successor to OS X, it definitely looks like Siri is set to be a lot more capable than it is currently. The queries that were directed at it were quite complicated and contextual in nature and Siri did not falter with any of those. If only Apple launched its features at the same time in India.

Android - Google Now

In the group of virtual assistants that are getting better and better at having conversations with you, Googles combination of Google Now and Ok Google is comparatively silent. No, it doesnt do that to contemplate your personality better! As of now, Googles virtual assistant relies more on Googles own search power to solve a host of queries. There are a number of ways you can access this depending on the version of Android your phone is running. Lollipop detects Ok Google from any screen and launches the search app, unless you explicitly turn this feature off. We should inform you that keeping this enabled has reportedly caused some OEM phones to have microphone problems. Considering Marshmallow, the latest version until N goes out of beta, Google Now on Tap is another feature that allows the launching of Google Now over any screen, giving relevant information pertaining to whatever is displayed on the screen at that moment. For example, if you are having a conversation with a friend about going to a movie, launching Now on Tap will show you the showtimes of the movie from theatres around you, the movies rating on IMDB, and allow you to set a reminder to buy the tickets, all within the cards that pop-up when you long-tap the home button. Clicking on the various app icons (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc) will launch the particular app (if installed) or open the relevant webpage with relevant content (the Facebook page or Twitter account of the movie, the YouTube trailer etc). Although this isnt strictly voice, it is definitely one of the best ways a virtual assistant can be used and activating this through voice (Ok Google anyone?) is just one step away for the prolific developers at Mountain View.



Google hasnt yet announced any services that will be integrated with Google Home

Google Now supports speech recognition in multiple languages including some regional Indian languages, but Now on tap only supports English, Japanese, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Korean, Portuguese, or Russian. Ok Google has one of the best regional language detections and offers really intuitive features without you having to explicitly enable or configure them. If only it could tell you a joke!

Special Note: Google Assistant, announced at Google I/O 2016 aims to be the spiritual successor to Google Now, taking Googles AI conversational. Two products have been announced with Google Assistant support - Google Home, an Amazon Echo inspired home assistant speaker from Google and Allo, a whatsapp like messaging app that will combine bots and voice commands.

Windows - Cortana

Due to the persistent comparisons between the three, it might be hard to accept that Cortana has been around for just two years and not more. Microsoft launched Cortana at the Microsoft BUILD Developer conference in April 2014, and if you really dont know the inspiration behind the name yet, you need to reassess your gaming creds. The name was inspired by a synthetic intelligence character in Microsofts Halo franchise and the virtual assistant has been voiced by the same voice actor for the US-English specific version.

Microsoft has integrated Cortana into its entire ecosystem, including Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft Band, Xbox One and even launched apps for iOS and Android (although the Android version is in early access right now for India). Cortana has the usual features like its competitors do and can set reminders, show search results, read out the weather and more, all in natural language queries. Apart from this, you have access to Notebook, where you can specify your interests, and even remove those that Cortana detects on her own. It can also launch specific apps when asked and integrates into services like Foursquare to provide you information. Cortana also lets you set contact specific reminders which pop-up when youre communicating with the contact or depending on location as well. And if the thought of a virtual assistant constantly listening to you does feel slightly unnerving to you, then you can set do not disturb hours.



Halo-inspired Cortana is relatively new into the voice assistant category

On PC, Cortana also integrates with Microsoft Edge to provide you features like Restaurant opening timings, reservations etc., on a restaurant website, coupons on a retail website etc. It has also been included into Skype as a bot to order food, provide info, transcribe videos and schedule appointments. On the Windows Mobile app, there is a constant effort from Cortanas side to keep the interactions within the app. For example, when we asked Cortana to book a cab, it showed us ten cab providers around us within the Cortana app itself, allowing us to ask Cortana to call one based on their position on the results.

On mobile, Cortana does indeed keep Microsofts reputation consistent with the discrepancy in performance and setup process between its Android app (in early preview) and the Windows Mobile app. While the Android preview for India did not need any language configuration and automatically started with an Indian english accent and even told us Bollywood inspired jokes in Hindi, although it refused to understand Hindi itself. The Windows Mobile app, on the other hand, wouldnt launch with language set to English (India) and it had to be set to English (United Kingdom).

Cortana is expected to get a slew of new features with certain builds of the Windows 10 Anniversary update, and we can fairly say that the grounds are heating up.

Alternate platforms (Cars, Console)

Although the major focus of developing virtual assistants with voice recognition capabilities has been on smartphone developers, other product categories are also heating up when it comes to incorporating speech as an interface. One such category is connected cars, or more appropriately, smart cars. Even moderate range luxury cars had certain voice operated features since quite a while and the same goes for Bluetooth connectivity to your phone. Now, major software giants and car manufacturers are collaborating to create and incorporate operating systems for smart cars that enable them to be much closer to the virtual assistants that we are implementing on our phones. Android Auto, which works by connecting an Android phone to a compatible car, allowing you to use Google Now in your car. Apple wasnt far behind and had launched Apple Carplay with iOS 9 that essentially gives you the same capabilities with your iPhone. Both platforms have been picked up by a large number of manufacturers and soon, you will be talking to more than your co-passengers in your car.

Microsoft has also announced that Cortana is coming to Xbox. This opens up a lot more doors for voice interaction. Maybe you can pause your next Halo game just by asking Cortana to do so. This is in line with Microsofts goal to unify the Xbox and the PC. And since Microsoft is doing it, we can expect Sony to catch up pretty soon.

A smart home wouldnt really be smart if each time you had to interact with it. Or you would have to deal with a mind boggling array of switches on a highly complicated panel, would it? That is exactly what makes home automation the perfect use-case for voice interfaces. Hence it is no surprise that Amazons online store is actually running out of Echo. It's smart-speaker can talk to you, a number of apps and services and any smart device that it is connected to, thanks to Alexa, the onboard virtual assistant. Even Google has jumped into the fray and announced Google Home, which sounds quite similar to Amazons Echo. It is yet to be seen what Googles expertise with Google Now does to this product.

Beyond platform restrictions

Microsoft might have launched Cortana for Android and iOS, but there is no doubt that it works best on Windows. Apart from that, neither Apple nor Google have truly launched their virtual assistants beyond their own ecosystem. So if you are looking for a platform agnostic virtual assistant to talk to, you might have to look harder. The Google Play store might have a few interesting options. We tried Assistant and it definitely has a sense of humour. Even though it is quite capable, the robotic voice and the multiple redirect to its internal browser with search results was quite dull, compared to the contextual results we get from the standard voice assistants.

Dag Kittlaus and Adam Chayer, creators of the AI behind Siri, have recently shown off their newest creation. Viv, a platform agnostic virtual assistant is to be launched with certain third-parties towards the end of the year. Its more similar to Amazons Alexa and Facebooks Messenger bots than Siri or Google Now in its integration with third party services. Their demonstration at the TechCrunch Disrupt NY in May this year showed Viv being able to handle fairly complex queries both in terms of breadth of AI and depth speciality. Due to their strength in AI and lack of a software giants pressure behind them, they hope to get a large number of third party vendors on board and make Viv something as ubiquitous as Bluetooth or Location tracking currently.



Amazons Echo with Alexa will soon understand your emotional state as well

With all these developments, and the opening up of Siri to third-party developers, we can only predict that speech as an interface is headed towards widespread usage. Because once it gets easy to talk to your devices from across the room, would you really want to play with buttons anymore?

This article was first published in July 2016 issue of Digit magazine. To read Digit's articles first, subscribe here or download the Digit e-magazine app for Android and iOS. You could also buy Digit's previous issues here.
Xiaomi India Head, Manu Jain told PTI that the company has seen this growth from the time it entered the Indian market in July 2014

Xiaomi has announced that its smartphone sales in India have grown by 72% in the past two years. Xiaomi India Head, Manu Jain told PTI, We entered India in July 2014 and disrupted the smartphone industry with high-quality devices. We have since then seen an incredible growth rate of 72 per cent year-on-year (July 2014 to July 2016) in terms of smartphone sales. However, Jain did not comment on the total number of devices the company has sold in in India. Besides smartphones, the company also sells other products such as tablets, power banks and Bluetooth speakers. Citing data by research firm, IDC, Jain said that Xiaomis Redmi Note 3 smartphone was the single highest-shipped smartphone ever in the history of Indias online market, in any given quarter.

While a majority of Xiaomis sales come from an online platform, the company may be planning to change that. Earlier this month, Jain has told PTI that the company is planning to double it's offline presence in a few months. He added that while they had a partnership with Redington last year, they have now tried up with Innocomm and Just Buy Live.
AIM-listed Tlou Energy has renewed a cooperation agreement with General Electric and Australias IK Holdings for the delivery of a proposed gas to power solution for Botswana.

The agreement provides the framework for co-operation between the parties in relation to sharing of infrastructure and technical support for the delivery of a new 50 megawatt power generation facility, gas supply to the existing 90 megawatt Orapa power station and a proposed 300 megawatt gas-fired power project.

The company, which focuses on delivering power in Botswana and Southern Africa through the development of coal bed methane projects, said the agreement has an expiry date of 30 November and may be terminated at any time by any party.

The agreement does not bind any party to enter into any formal commercial arrangements, however provides a framework for co-operation to finalise the respective project tender processes and approvals and the roles and commercial outcomes for each party.

At 1025 BST, Tlou Energy shares were up 5% to 6.30p.
Newly elected President Rodrigo Dutertes mission to cleanse the Philippines from drug crime has led to 1800 deaths in the seven weeks following his election.

A total of 712 of the drug suspects were killed in police operations while the remaining majority of deaths at 1067 were caused by vigilante groups according to National Police Chief Ronald De la Rosa at a Senate Committee hearing.

The president has been referred to as The punisher or Duterte harry for his steamroll approach for his anti-drugs campaign which has led to 600,000 suspects turning themselves in. The 71-year-old leader has encouraged citizens to kill suspected drug dealers. "Shoot him and I'll give you a medal," Duterte said in June, according to a report by the Associated Press (AP).

The mass killings have sparked alarm among human-rights groups, including UN-appointed human-rights experts who have urged Duerte to stop the killings. In response, on 21 August he threatened to leave the UN but Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay has since confirmed that this was not going to happen. According to Yasay, the president was merely expressing his profoundfrustrations.

His tirade against the drug problem on the island is of utmost importance to the president, putting his job on the line in order to curb trade in crystal meth. The country has the highest consumption rate of methamphetamine, locally known as shabu, in the region at an estimated 2% of the 100m population.

The president formerly served as the mayor of the city of Davao for more than two decades. He implemented the same hardball tactics during his term, which provided positive results transforming the city into a crime free place.

The Chair of the Senate committee Leila De Lima seems to think otherwise. The blatant disregard for human life has got to stop, said De Lima. She's concerned that some law enforcers and vigilantes are using the campaign to "commit murder with impunity," with many of the killings being carried out illegally, according to a report by AP.

Despite these deaths Duerte has continued support from segments of the Filipino community due to their frustration with the countrys deeply embedded corruption and culture of impunity.
The leaders of the euro area's three largest economies vowed to push ahead with the European project despite the populist backlash against Brussels.

Meeting on the Italian island of Ventotene, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Francois Hollande and Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi called for closer cooperation on security matters and improved opportunities for the young.

The aim of the European leaders was to lay the groundwork for the EU summit due to be be held in Bratislava in September.

In a ceremony charged with symbolism, they also paid homage to one of the European Union's founding fathers, Altiero Spinelli, a federalist who had been imprisoned on the island by the country's fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, and to lay the groundwork for the EU summit due to be be held in Bratislava in September.

Renzi said Europe "must write a new chapter" following Brexit.

"Europe is not the problem. It's more the solution," he said in remarks from the flight deck of the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi, which was moored off the coast of the island.

"Immigration, it's Europe's fault, the economy is bad, it's Europe's fault. But that is not the case," he reportedly said at a press conference.

"We respect Great Britains decision but we also want to make clear that the other 27 [member countries] are banking on a safe and prospering Europe," Merkel said.

"To have security we need frontiers that are controlled so that is why we are working to reinforce coastguards and border guards," Hollande said.

"We want more coordination in the fight against terrorism."

Italy's Garibaldi was one of a number of vessels on an EU mission against people traffickers in the Mediterranean.
The three leaders of the EUs largest countries by population maintained that the Britain's decision to leave the trading block did not mean the end of Europe.

Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel, Frances president Francois Hollande and Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi met at a military airport in Naples in a symbolic gesture to strengthen the EUs resolve after the UK leaves.

We think that Europe is not the problem. Its more the solution  Many thought the EU was finished after Brexit but that is not the case, said Italys prime minister Matteo Renzi on Monday.

From the military airport they visited the island of Ventotene where they paid their respects to to the grave of Altiero Spinelli. Spinelli, considered to be one of the founding fathers of the EU, was imprisoned on the island with Ernesto Rossi during the second world war by Italys fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and wrote the 1941 Ventotene Manifesto, which called for a federation of European countries to oppose the nationalist populist movements which led to the war.

The leaders pledged to boost economic growth, co-operate on EU security and improve prospects for the Europes youth.

Faced with terrorism and the civil war in Syria, we must do more for our internal and external security. Defence co-operation must be strengthened and the exchange of intelligence information must be intensified, Merkel said.

Hollande added: If there is one wish we have to share it is to say that Europe must assure its own defence, and France will take its part.

Hollande did not refer to the Brexit result explicitly but suggested that something needed to be done to counter the growing economic uncertainty in the continent.

Its true that there was a slowdown of growth in the second quarter, and we must quash, as much as possible, all of the uncertainties and give an additional spur [to economic growth], he said.

The meeting of the trio comes before an informal summit in Bratislava in September with the 27 members of the trading bloc, minus the UK, where there will also be discussions on the future of the EU and the ongoing migrant crisis.

Germany has said it wants a better Europe, while more Europe and closer integration was touted but its southern colleagues.

There are further tests ahead with growing euroscepticism and populist movements across the continent. Similar referendums to the UKs could take place in the Netherlands and Germany and France face tight elections in 2017. Italy is facing a referendum on constitutional reform later this year.

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, said: The Italian referendum, likely be held in November, poses a key risk to the political and economic outlook for later this year, almost on par with the US political risk. Opinion polls suggest that the result of the Italian referendum is too close to call.

The leaders will compare notes on EU reform ideas. Renzi may push more ambitious ideas than Merkel, who prefers modest changes  We do not look for any formal loosening of the fiscal rules at the end of the EU reform discussions. Nonetheless, last months decision to not impose fines on Spain and Portugal for their 2015 fiscal overshoots exemplifies the flexibility of the rules. Within limits, countries will be allowed a little more fiscal leeway. We expect that to hold especially for Italy, which has implemented serious structural reforms under Renzi.

The trio committed to prolong the 315bn EU investment plan to 2019, and reportedly an enlargement of the plan was also discussed but with no agreements to the size of the increase.

Renzi is trying to encourage investment spending against a deficit reduction requirement under rules from the Eurozone to stimulate the wilting Italian economy. He said flexibility was allowed from the rule book and that the countrys budget deficit was at its lowest in 10 years.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton failed to disclose the existence of 14,900 emails to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during its investigation, according to the Financial Times.

The conservative legal group Judicial Watch said the emails were meant to be released in the coming months, following the multiple lawsuits filed by the group against the State Department regarding Clintons use of a private email server, the FT reported.

FBI director James Comey was the first to disclose the existence, in July 2016, of thousands of work-related emails whose existence had not come to light during the investigation.

Following an order from Judge James E. Boasberg of Federal District Court yesterday, the State Department agreed it would appraise the emails by 23 September 2016, after which a schedule would be set for their public release. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, said that at least some of the emails would be released before the November elections.

The department had already gone through around 30,000 emails from during Clintons tenure as Secretary of State and released most of them, which amounted to around 55,000 pages. More than 2,000 emails were found to contain classified information, according to another report from Reuters. Comey said in July that he did not believe the emails were intentionally deleted but characterized her handling of classified information as extremely careless.

This revelation raised questions about Clintons trustworthiness in the lead up to the elections. According to a poll by CNN-ORC, close to two-thirds of registered voters find her to be neither honest nor trustworthy. Given these doubts, Clintons stable single-digit lead over Republican candidate Donald Trump could be in jeopardy.

A RealClearPolitics average of polls showed Clinton was expected to win 47% of the popular vote compared to Trumps 41.5%.

Clinton defended herself saying she used a private server for convenience and did not compromise classified information. She then later apologized, saying she took responsibility for her actions.

Judicial Watch also said the emails revealed how donors to the Clinton family's charitable foundation seeked access to her even while she was Secretary of State. The charity receives millions of dollars from foreign donors, including countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Her husband Bill Clinton announced on 18 August that he would step down from the foundation if she won the election, following these questions of access.

Judicial Watch released emails on Monday showing her top aide Huma Abedin setting up meetings with more than a dozen donors who had given over $10,000 to the foundation.

Nevertheless, there was no evidence in the emails that the meetings were set up in order to receive the money.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.66% to 6,873.69 points in afternoon trade on Tuesday, with housebuilders topping the London index.

Persimmon led housebuilders higher after reporting a better-than-expected jump in first half profits. Pre-tax profit rose 29% to 352.3m in the six months to 30 June on a 12% increase in revenue to 1.49bn. Analysts at Deutsche Bank had anticipated a 26% increase in pre-tax profits to 345m.

Tesco rallied after Kantar Worldpanel said sales in the 12 weeks ending on 14 August fell 0.4%, albeit at the slowest rate of decline in six months. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said the drop in Tesco's sales - stretching back to March 2015 - might be about to hit bottom, with the grocer possibly returning to growth in 2016.

Going the other way, Hikma Pharmaceuticals slumped ahead of its interims on Wednesday. In a trading update on 4 August, the drug maker warned it expected full year core operating profit of its generics arm to be between $30m and $40m, compared to $46m in 2015.

Hikma said at the time: "The revenue impact from the delay in certain new product approvals will be largely offset by higher contract manufacturing revenue.

"This change in the mix of revenue will have an adverse impact on profitability in 2016, which will also be impacted by higher than expected costs resulting from the acceleration in timing of certain pipeline-related litigation".

Fellow pharmaceutical stocks Shire and Astrazeneca were also in the red.

National Grid shares declined after energy regulator Ofgem rejected its request to recover costs incurred under a Drax contract as it failed to meet the test criteria.

National Grid had been looking to recover the costs of two contracts for grid services that it agreed with SSE and Drax worth 113m in total.

The request was made as an income adjusting event where National Grid applies for an increase in its cost targets to cover unforeseen events beyond its control.

But Ofgem has decided that costs the company incurred under the Drax contract did not meet the test for an income adjusting event.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 484.20p 4.47%

Tesco (TSCO) 165.50p 3.76%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,861.00p 3.73%

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 195.00p 3.61%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,638.00p 3.45%

Anglo American (AAL) 862.40p 3.28%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,631.00p 3.03%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 163.50p 3.02%

BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,063.00p 2.90%

Standard Life (SL.) 359.30p 2.69%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 1,064.00p -2.03%

Compass Group (CPG) 1,487.00p -0.54%

Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,891.00p -0.53%

Shire Plc (SHP) 5,070.00p -0.49%

CRH (CRH) 2,499.00p -0.36%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,880.00p -0.24%

Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,969.50p -0.23%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,084.00p -0.14%

National Grid (NG.) 1,080.00p -0.09%

3i Group (III) 624.50p -0.08%
Cape , an international provider of industrial services to the energy and natural resources sector, reported mixed results for the first half of the year due to weaknesses in the UK business, but maintained that full-year expectations were unchanged.

For the six months ended 3 July, order intake decreased by about 23% to 309m, compared to the same period last year, largely due to the timing of key contract awards which resulted in an order book of 820m.

Revenue increased by 10% to 396.3m due to a small benefit from exchange rate movements and from the Redhall Engineering Solutions acquisition in May 2015. At constant currency, organic revenues increased by 6%.

The increase in sales was driven by the company's operation in the Asia Pacific, which partially offset weaker than expected margins in the UK resulting in 25% reduction in group operating profit.

UK operating margins were affected by weakness in the offshore North Sea and thermal coal power generation markets, and poor commercial performance on the ExxonMobil contract at Fawley.

The Asia Pacific business performed above expectation driven by increased project activity in Australia, South Korea and Singapore. The Middle East business delivered a strong contribution from the SOCAR-Cape joint venture in Azerbaijan, which mitigated the increased cost pressures from clients in the region.

The Group achieved cash conversion of 73% and adjusted net debt of 113.7m.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share was 8.9p, down from 13.2p in 2015.

Industrial disease claim provisions increased by 8.7m due to the result of recent litigation from Aviva about employer liability claims.

Expectations for the full year unchanged with a higher profit weighting in the second half driven by increasing project activity in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, the effects of the restructuring in the UK and the benefit of foreign exchange tailwinds. The company is restructuring the UK business to maximise growth by using all of it services to its customer base whilst reducing overhead costs.

Chief executive Joe Oatley, said: "The first half results demonstrate the value of Cape's strategy of developing a balanced business across the maintenance and new construction segments with a broad geographical spread.

Although we have seen a deterioration in a number of our markets, overall the group has delivered solid top-line growth, highlighting the resilience of our business. We continue to invest in order to deliver on strategic goals whilst adapting our cost base where necessary to match market conditions. Despite the challenges in many of our markets, our expectation of the financial result for the full year is unchanged."

The interim dividend was maintained at 4.5p per share

Shares in Cape were down 3.32% to 182p at 12:02 BST.
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Digitimes Research: Japan to focus on developing self-driving, medicare and smart-factory industries

The Japan Revitalization Strategy 2016 calls for the development of key technologies related to the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), including IoT, robot and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and also aims to push Japan's GDP to reach JPY600 trillion (US$5.992 trillion) by 2021 by focusing on a number of emerging industries such as self-driving, medicare and smart factories. However, to accelerate the development of Industry 4.0 and new emerging industries, the government is expected to inject a significant amount of capital and human resources to develop related AI technologies in the next 10 years, according to Digitimes Research.

The revitalization strategy also calls for joint efforts by the government and private sector in a total of 10 segments, including Industry 4.0, health, green energy, sports, real estate, services, agriculture, tourism, revolution of small and medium enterprises, and igniting domestic demand. Additionally, the development of Industry 4.0 products will cover revolution in industrial systems, application of Big Data, industrial innovation and talent cultivation. The development of Industry 4.0 aims to create added value of up to JPY30 trillion by 2020.

For the development of Industry 4.0 applications, the government will encourage innovation in the IoT industry by offering cooperation initiatives, capital support, adjustment of relevant regulations, and strategy implementation.

According to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the development of Industry 4.0 is expected to cause losses of 7.35 million jobs by 2030, and therefore it calls for concrete efforts to switch these jobs to new segments. The government will earmark JPY10 billion to cultivate talent needed for the AI industry, Digitimes Research noted.

Content from this article was part of a complete Digitimes Research Chinese-language report that has not yet been translated into English. If you are interested in an English version of the report or wish to receive more information about the report, click here to contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Digitimes Research also provides quarterly tracking services for market sectors such as China Smartphone, China Smartphone AP, Taiwan ICT and Taiwan FPD. Click here for more information about Digitimes Research Tracking services.
Sharp 8C-B60A

Sharp's 8C-B60A 8K (60p) professional camcorder integrates capabilities for video shooting and recording, playback, and line output. The 8C-B60A was developed with technical cooperation from Astrodesign, a company possessing 8K image technologies, according to Sharp. Besides the ability to shoot images in high resolution 8K (60p), this camcorder is designed to offer ease of use in shooting and recording and to lessen the burden on the camera operator in the post-recording editing process, Sharp said. The 8C-B60A's image pickup device is a large, Super 35-mm-equivalent CMOS image sensor with 33 million pixels. Compression utilizes a coding method that exerts minimal burden on the CPU, thus enabling efficient 8K (60p)-image editing and approximately 40 minutes of continuous recording (when using the bundled 2-TB SSD pack). Because it allows real-time output of 8K uncompressed images at the same time that recording is taking place, the 8C-B60A can be used for live transmissions as well. With this professional-use camcorder as the entry point to the creation of 8K images, Sharp said it is striving to disseminate 8K image content in its aim of establishing an 8K ecosystem at the earliest possible date.
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The following editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday, Aug. 16:

Some 9,800 American troops and another 26,000 contractors are in Afghanistan, after having waged war there for 15 years. Given the state of the situation there, it is now up to President Barack Obama  and the two major party candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump  to explain in specific terms what exactly the U.S. is doing there still, or agree that America should get out.

First, even though it has been Americas strategy for years to train and equip Afghan troops to defend the country against Taliban forces so that U.S. soldiers can go home, it is perfectly clear that U.S. strategy has failed. The Taliban have surrounded Helmand province and its capital Lashkar Gah and have been prevented from taking it only through repeated, frequent U.S. air strikes.

The Afghan military and police forces who are supposed to not only protect Afghan government territory but also to expand it through military force have instead faded in the face of the Taliban, abandoning their high-tech weapons and equipment. They also spend a certain amount of time blaming each other for the collective battlefield failure. Their units are ridden with conflicting loyalties to tribes and warlords.

Their leaders real priorities are to gain as much of the profits from the opium trade as possible. Helmand province is a center of production of opium, the raw material of heroin. Rivalries among Afghan leaders are usually rooted in seeking access to opium profits. Afghanistan remains the world leader in the production of opium, in spite of years of American admonitions and incentives to grow something other than the poppies from which it is harvested. Afghanistan is Americas own drug culture protectorate.

The third problem that suggests strongly that it is time for the United States to go home is the utter chaos of governance that characterizes the Kabul regime. In principle  an arrangement stitched together by Secretary of State John Kerry  Ashraf Ghani, a Pashtun, a member of Afghanistans traditional ruling tribe, is president and Abdullah Abdullah, from Afghanistans northern tribes, is, in effect, prime minister. They are rivals. In principle they were supposed to work together, to please the Americans as much as for any other reason. But now they have split sharply again over appointments to lucrative positions in government.

If the argument for being in Afghanistan is to watch neighboring Pakistan, a sometimes unruly nuclear power, then the U.S. should watch Pakistan, not pour resources into Afghanistan.

So why is America doing this? The cost, an estimated $1 trillion-plus, and the exposure in U.S. troops, suggests that Americans should care, even to the degree that Afghanistan becomes a subject for discussion in the sometimes inane trialogue among Obama, Clinton and Trump that is preceding the Nov. 8 vote. Fifteen years is a long time to prolong what appears to be an expensive, utterly fruitless policy in a country now of little or no interest to the United States.

Are churches being muzzled?

The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, Aug. 15:

In an attempt to cement support from conservative Christians, Donald (I love the evangelicals!) Trump has been promising to seek the repeal of a law that prohibits members of the clergy from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit. Youve been silenced, Trump told 700 pastors and their spouses last week. But he promised that were going to get your voice back.

Trump is wrong. The restrictions imposed on churches by the law  which also apply to secular tax-exempt organizations  dont prevent them from speaking out about political issues; it simply prohibits them from endorsing or opposing candidates. And even that restriction has been lightly enforced by the Internal Revenue Service, to the benefit of both political parties.

The target of Trumps criticism is the Johnson Amendment, which was added to the tax code in 1954 at the behest of then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson. The amendment prohibits so-called 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organizations, secular and religious alike, from participating in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.

The amendment doesnt prevent priests, rabbis or other members of the clergy from sermonizing about political issues from poverty to climate change to terrorism, nor does it prohibit them from endorsing candidates in their personal capacities. Rather, it says to churches and other nonprofits that if they seek the benefits of tax-exempt status  which can be worth millions of dollars  they must refrain from a subset of political speech. The underlying principle is that when taxpayers provide a financial benefit to charitable organizations (including religious ones), they shouldnt be asked to subsidize political views with which they might disagree.

Nevertheless, many religious leaders  particularly politically conservative evangelicals  have railed against the restrictions as a violation of their 1st Amendment rights. The Republican convention that nominated Trump also approved a platform that calls for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment.

Some argue that repealing the amendment wouldnt make much difference because the IRS isnt aggressively enforcing it. Others note that most members of the clergy abide by the restrictions. A survey published earlier this month by the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life found that 14 percent of frequent churchgoers reported hearing clergy speak in favor or against a presidential candidate in recent months.

But even if the rule is mostly being observed, repealing it could embolden more priests and preachers to turn religious services into campaign rallies.

Moreover, at a time when the Supreme Court has equated political speech with spending on elections, churches and other religious organizations might be tempted to involve themselves even more in the political process, and the collection plate could become a conduit for political contributions. The Johnson Amendment should remain on the books, and it should be enforced.

EPA gets tough on big rigs

This editorial ran in the Los Angeles Times

Urgent action is needed to try to stanch the damage from the burning of fossil fuels, and the difficulty of doing so does not make the task any less urgent. The Obama administration took a good step forward Tuesday in ordering a 25 percent reduction over 10 years in carbon emissions from heavy-duty trucks, including tractor trailers, and a lesser reduction in emissions from delivery trucks, school buses and other large vehicles.

The new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency, tougher than what the administration had initially proposed, rely on trucking companies adopting cost-effective technologies, including more efficient engines and devices to reduce drag, steps that even the American Trucking Association said could achieve emissions targets without being unduly disruptive. The rules are expected to reduce fuel costs by as much as $170 billion and could cut 1.1 billion metric tons of carbon emissions over the next decade, setting a path for other nations to follow.

Heavy-duty trucks account for about 5 percent of the nations on-road vehicles, but 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sources. In recent years they have been the second-fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases, so curtailing them should have a real effect on the carbon emissions that feed global warming. And despite denials by Donald J. Trump and other Republican leaders, global warming is real and dangerous and already affecting us, as can be read in the smoke over the Cajon Pass and the mud from receding Louisiana floodwaters.

In a sense, the new EPA rules make federal standards even tougher than Calilfornias rules for in-state trucks. (EPA regulations cover interstate trucks, accounting for about 60 percent of those on California roads.) The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is responsible for ensuring that the region meets federal air quality standards, is among several regional agencies pushing the EPA to also tighten limits on truck emissions of nitrous oxides, which are key components of regional smog.

The federal government ought to move on those regulations as quickly as is reasonable. This is exactly what the U.S., and California, should be doing: setting an international example in fighting global warming.

Examining Aetnas pullout

The following editorial appeared in the Charlotte Observer on Thursday, Aug. 18.

On Monday evening, one of the nations largest insurers released a statement announcing its intention to stop offering individual coverage in most Obamacare markets. Aetnas announcement, just six paragraphs long, explained that it had lost more than $430 million on the public exchanges since 2014, thanks largely to too many high-cost (read: sick) enrollees.

Aetna regretted its decision, said CEO Mark Bertolini in the statement, but doing business in the Obamacare marketplaces created significant sustainability concerns.

Its the same complaint other insurers have voiced about Obamacare, and it mirrors what Bertolini said just two weeks ago in a second-quarter earnings call. But earlier this year, Bertolini let slip another figure that didnt make it into Mondays six paragraphs: Aetna enjoyed a record $6.5 billion in government program premiums in the first quarter.

In other words, doing business with the government isnt so bad after all. In fact, its gotten especially good since Obamacare came along, thanks largely to the Affordable Care Acts expansion of Medicaid in most states (but not yet North Carolina.) Medicaid, like Medicare, offers the best of most worlds for insurers  its single-payer, government-financed insurance, and it has low enrollee costs. So while insurers like to gripe about the individual Obamacare exchanges, they have no issues with the big Medicaid profits that Obamacare helps provide.

Aetna, at least, seemed to see that big picture not long ago, even calling the Obamacare marketplaces a good investment in April. What changed? It could be that last month, the Obama administration blocked Aetnas proposed $37 billion merger with Humana. On Wednesday, the Huffington Post revealed a July letter from Bertolini to the Justice Department in which he said that if the merger (and its bottom-line benefits) didnt happen, Aetna would pull out of Obamacares exchanges.

Aetnas about-face, fishy or not, doesnt change that insurers are legitimately losing money in the Obamacare exchanges. Because of that, those state marketplaces are suddenly wobbly.

Thats troubling, but there are remedies available. Lawmakers could find new ways to give insurers financial relief, including making good on old risk corridor promises to cover insurers losses on the exchanges. The administration could try to bring more healthy people into the exchanges with tax credits or higher penalties for declining coverage.

The government also could pursue a more radical but perhaps overdue solution of linking the plentiful Medicaid and Medicare Advantage dollars that insurers crave to their participation in the Obamacare exchanges.

Those measures and others would require approval from a Republican-led Congress that hasnt been inclined to help the Affordable Care Act get better. We hope the 2016 election will change that dynamic, because despite its struggles, Obamacare has done its job of insuring more Americans and slowing the rise of health care costs.

Is it perfect for everyone? No. But for insurers, its a lot better than theyd have you believe.
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 23, the 236th day of 2016. There are 130 days left in the year.

Today's highlight:

On Aug. 23, 1926, legendary silent film star Rudolph Valentino died in New York at age 31.

On this date:

In 1305, Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason.

In 1775, Britain's King George III proclaimed the American colonies to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion."

In 1858, "Ten Nights in a Bar-room," a play by Timothy Shay Arthur about the perils of alcohol, opened in New York.

In 1913, Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story, was unveiled in the harbor of the Danish capital.

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.

In 1927, amid protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery.

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow.

In 1944, Romanian Prime Minister Ion Antonescu was dismissed by King Michael, paving the way for Romania to abandon the Axis in favor of the Allies.

In 1960, Broadway librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, 65, died in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

In 1973, a bank robbery-turned-hostage-taking began in Stockholm, Sweden; the four hostages ended up empathizing with their captors, a psychological condition now referred to as "Stockholm Syndrome."

In 1982, Lebanon's parliament elected Christian militia leader Bashir Gemayel president. (However, Gemayel was assassinated some three weeks later.)

In 1989, in a case that inflamed racial tensions in New York, Yusuf Hawkins, a 16-year-old black teen, was shot dead after he and his friends were confronted by a group of white youths in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. (Gunman Joey Fama was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison; he will be eligible for parole in 2022.)

Thought for Today: "A wise man without a book is like a workman with no tools."  Moroccan proverb.
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Tanning industry blames Obama for salon closings

Owners say the 10 percent tax on tanning in the health care overhaul has forced nearly 10,000 U.S. tanning salons to close.



By KELLI KENNEDY

Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  The tanning salon industry is feeling burned by Obamacare. Business owners around the country say the little-noticed 10 percent tax on tanning in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul has crippled the industry, forcing the closing of nearly 10,000 of the more than 18,000 tanning salons in the U.S.



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India is the seventh richest country in the world with a total wealth of $5.6 trillion ($5,600 billion) according to the latest ranking by New World Wealth where the United States continues at the top with a total wealth of $48.9 trillion ($48,900 billion), followed by China and Japan. United Kingdom with total wealth of $9.8 trillion ($9,200 billion), Germany with total wealth of $9.1 trillion ($9,100 billion) and France with total wealth of $6.6 trillion ($6,600 billion) take the 4th, 5th and 6th places. India, at 7th position, ranks ahead of Canada ($4,700 billion), Australia ($4,500 billion) and Italy ($4,400 billion), which comes in at 8th, 9th and 10th slots, respectively, according to a report by New World Wealth. ''The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total individual wealth held ($48,900 billion) while China stood second and Japan third, with total individual wealth of $17,400 billion and $15,100 billion, respectively,'' the report said. India's ranking as one of the wealthiest countries in the world is largely because of its population. "Australia's ranking is impressive, considering it only has 22 million people living there," the report stated. The growth of wealth in dollar terms has been the highest for China making it the fastest growing wealthiest country over the past 5 years. The New World Wealth report said major economies continued to dominate the global ranking of the richest countries, with one nation's private fortunes jumping by $200 billion in six months alone. The report ranked different countries on the basis of total amount of wealth, including property, cash, equities and business interests, held by all individuals as of June 2016. At least three countries from Asia appeared on the list, while four from Europe made it to the rankings. Analysts are impressed by Australia's showing in the top ten, considering that the country only has 22 million people living there. The country, as well as Canada, has also overtaken Italy over the past 12 months, while China posted the fastest wealth growth over the past 15 years. In terms of wealth held per person, European countries dominated the global rankings, with Monaco taking the number one spot. As of June 2016, the average person in Monaco, a known tax haven, owns $1.6 million in wealth, the highest in the world. New World Wealth said the high average of wealth of Monaco's residents can be attributed to the country's tax-free regime. Liechtenstein, another tax haven, came second on the list, with the average wealth per capita standing at $610,000. Taking the third spot is Switzerland, with per person wealth at $284,000, followed by Australia ($203,000) and Norway ($193,000). The remaining five places in the top ten went to Luxembourg ($179,000), Singapore ($157,000), United States ($151,000), United Kingdom ($147,000) and Sweden ($143,000). Countries ranked by total individual wealth, 2016 ($ billion) United States 48,900 China 17,400 Japan 15,100 United Kingdom 9,200 Germany 9,100 France 6,600 India 5,600 Canada 4,700 Australia 4,500 Italy 4,400 Source: New World Wealth








A new book explores the life and work of a 19th-century Gaeltacht man and Land League advocate whose fiery speeches were said to have set Donegal on fire.

Daniel (Mac) Sweeney established Land League committees in Gaoth Dobhair and Cloughaneely in the 1880s, when he returned to Donegal after living for some years in California.

Daniels great-granddaughter, Diane Lovegrove Bader of California, tells his story in her new book, Setting Donegal on Fire.

Joe McHugh, TD, minister of state for the Diaspora, launched the book last week before a full house at an tSean Bheairic in Falcarragh.

Diane said she developed a particular interest in genealogy in 2000, though her mother had long referred to Daniel as the hero in the family.

But she never explained why or what he did, Dianne recalled.

So 16 years ago Diane found a Sweeney family web site and began to ask questions about her great-grandfather. Through that she found distant cousins in the US state of Montana, as well as Tom Sweeney in Dublin, of Clan Mac Sweeney.

The history just grew and grew, she said, adding, People introduced me to other people. Teacher and historian Joe Kelly of Falcarragh was among those she contacted in her research.

A family visit to Ireland in 2003 took her to Doe Castle, a stronghold of Clan Mac Suibhne; and she attended a big Sweeney reunion for her 65th birthday. She has also visited Poison Glen, where the family was from, and met with relations there.

Using original letters, pictures, diaries and documents, Dianes new book recounts Daniels story and his struggle to champion the cause of tenants in Cloughaneely and Gaoth Dobhair.

Born in Dunlewey in 1830 and educated in the Rosses, Daniel taught for a time in Acres but emigrated in 1850 and made his way to San Francisco. There he established a cattle stockhard, grew his business and became wealthy.

But after meeting relatives and friends from Ireland at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, Daniel became determined to make a trip back. He returned alone, and while in Falcarragh he bought Carowcannon House and adjoining 160-acre farm.

In 1877 he took his wife and family of eight back to Cloughaneely.

Daniel saw for himself the ongoing plight of poor native tenants. He had read about Michael Davitt and his Land League protests, and his successful attempts to seek rent reductions for Mayo people.

By 1880, Daniel established Land League committees in Cloughaneely and Gaoth Dobhair. As president of the new branches, he became an advocate for the tenants, organising meetings and delivering speeches.

On one occasion Daniel addressed an estimated 12,000 people in Falcarragh in a speech said to have set Donegal on fire.

The work was not without risk: Daniel and two other local activists were arrested and imprisoned without trial in Dundalk for 14 months.

The story of this Land League leader is told in Setting Donegal on Fire, available at An tSean Bheairic in Falcarragh, and on Amazon.

Pictured: Joe McHugh, TD and minister of state, at the book launch with author Diane Lovegrove Bader.
Family and friends of 15-month-old Maisie ODonnell McGinley braved waist-deep mud on Saturday week in a challenge to benefit the hospital that restored the girl to health.

Maisies mother, Kerry, of Kilmacrennan, organised the Mud Run for Maisie at Extreme Adventure, outside Convoy, for the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin. About a dozen people took part.

Id like to give a massive thank-you to all who participated for all the money they raised, Kerry said. Funds will be used for a new transport incubator.

Maisie was born seven weeks early on May 4th, 2015. When she was two days old her lung collapsed and she was placed on a ventilator and airlifted from Letterkenny University Hospital to the neonatal intensive care unit at Holles Street.

It was horrific, Kerry said. But she said hospital staff were absolutely amazing. The staff never left her side. Maisie was there for 10 days until she was breathing on her own and well enough to return to LUH, where she spent the next few weeks until she reached 5 lbs. and was bottle feeding.

Shes doing brilliant now, Kerry said.

Kerry is grateful to all who have supported the effort, and offered special thanks to Gerard ODonnell and Brian Crossan of Extreme Adventure for their help.

Donations can also be made at Maisies Everyday Hero page under Maisies Mud Run, or through the Maisies Mud Run Facebook page.

Pictured: A wee push.. Maisie Mc Ginley O'Donnell with he mother Kerry as her friends get behind her to support Maisie's Mud Run National Maternity Hospital

Pictured: Kerry O'Donnell with her family and friends at Maisie's Mud Run in aid of the National Maternity Hospital. Her daughter Maisie (pictured centre) was born premature 15 months ago and airlifted to Hollis Street after her lungs collapsed and she couldn't breathe for herself. Maisie is doing great today, and her mother wanted to do something to raise money for the hospital .
Mourners filled St. Marys Church in Derrybeg on Sunday week last for the funeral Mass for well-known Crolly publican and businessman John Rua Gillespie.

John Rua, (pictured) of Coillin Daragh, Crolly, passed away last Friday morning at the Mater Hospital in Dublin. He was 77.

Born in Bunbeg, John Rua was a son of the late Owenie and Cissie Gillespie. John Rua came from a humble background and was a hard-working man all his life.

Never out of work and always busy, he worked his way up and made a good life for himself and his family.

John Rua had no formal education past the age of 16, but due to his intelligence, capabilities and innovative actions, he never had to leave his native Gaoth Dobhair to find work. A sign of his innovation was the wind farm he built nearly 20 years ago on a Gaoth Dobhair hill, which became one of Irelands first wind farms.

After leaving school at age 16, John Rua went on to work at the former ESB generating station at Meenacuing in Gaoth Dobhair. He later purchased Teach Phaidi Oig public house, located near the Crolly bridge and close to the famous Crolly Doll factory.

John Rua completely renovated and extended the pub building into a spacious bar, lounge and living accommodation. In later years he developed a successful mobile home site to the rear of his premises.

About 20 years ago he set up a company, Gineadoiri Gaoithe Teoranta, to develop a wind farm on a site at Cro na Laght in Gaoth Dobhair. At the time, this site was identified as one of the most suitable sites in Ireland for wind generation in a study undertaken by the Department of Energy/EU.

The project was so successful that he provided additional turbines on the site about a decade ago.

Behind the scenes, John Rua also supported a number of charities. He sponsored many underprivileged children through the development and humanitarian relief organisation World Vision, and financed many young children from other countries through to university, with some graduating as doctors.

Devoted family man

Above all, John Rua was a devoted family man, an exceptional husband, father, grandfather and brother. Everything he ever worked for was for his family, and he was a huge presence in their lives, taking a great interest in everything that was happening in the lives of his children and grandchildren.

John Rua was always there to offer his family support and advice.

Poignantly, in his final days, he spoke of having a feeling of closeness to both of his late parents and his brother, Joe.

John Ruas funeral Mass was celebrated in St. Marys Church in Derrybeg with interment taking place afterwards to Magheragallon cemetery.

The principal celebrant of the Mass was an Dr. Ro Oirm. Padraig O Baoighill, P.P., Gaoth Dobhair, and concelebrants were Canon Michael Herrity, P.P., Annagry; Father Brian O Fearraigh, C.C., Gaoth Dobhair; Father Donnchadh O Baoill, C.C., Cnoc Fola; Father John Britto, Gaoth Dobhair; and Father John Joe Duffy, C.C., Stranorlar.

The church was filled to capacity, with mourners attending from across the country to say farewell to the well-known man.

John Rua was predeceased in April of 1983 by his father, Owenie, and by his mother, Cissie, in September of 1998. His brother Joe died in September of 1995, aged only 51 years. He was also predeceased by his brother, Eugene, who passed away in infancy.

He is survived by his wife, Bella Gillespie; by his sons Eoghan, Liam, Cathal, Colin and Eoin; by his daughters Celine, Fiona and Eileen; by his brothers Liam, Colm and Owenie; by his sisters Maire, Ann, and Eileen; by grandchildren, nieces and nephews, in-laws and wider family circle.
The majority of people who attended a meeting to discuss the future of one of the most famous boats in the county want to retain the iconic landmark.

Sinn Fein Councillor, John Sheamuis OFearraigh, held a meeting to gauge the sentiment of the community in relation to the boat at An Chrannog in Gaoth Dobhair last Friday night.

He said that of those who attended the meeting the general consensus was that Bad Eddie should be retained.

Bad Eddie was formally known as Cara na Mara and was brought from Lorient in France to Gaoth Dobhair in the early 70s. The boat was on anchor in the sea when a storm struck and it was brought to the shore outside Ostan Ghaoth Dobhair.

The boat has been photographed by visitors from across the world. The boat attracts visitors in all kinds of weather and has proved an attraction to the community for decades.

Cllr. OFearraigh said that the establishment of a working committee was agreed at the meeting. It was also agreed that a feasibility study be carried out on the boat. A further meeting will be held in the next four weeks.

The Cnoc Fola based councillor added that one of the most important statements made at the meeting was that work would need to be carried out on the boat as soon as possible.

The meeting heard that despite the fact that the boat was made of strong wood that the nails were rusty and were releasing the pieces of wood that hold it together.

There are signs on the boat at the moment asking people not to go near the boat as it could prove dangerous.

Cllr. OFearraigh said that there are many issues that need to be dealt with in relation to the boat before the possible restoration might take place. The councillor said that he would be liaising with Donegal County Council in relation to the issue.

Meanwhile, a documentary is being made on the boat by a local director. At present any old footage of the boat and the area is being sought to be used within the documentary.

Anyone who has old photographs, video footage or footage of any description can contact info@ligidtv.com, sonia@ligidtv.com call 087 401 5269 or you can visit the Facebook page; Bad Eddie or Cara na Mara.
The Letterkenny Community Heritage Group this evening will unveil a summer seat in memory of the late historian and environmentalist May McClintock.

The unveiling ceremony takes place at 7.30pm tonight, Tuesday, beside the Penal Monument on Letterkennys Sentry Hill.

She would have been a very good friend to our group, Gabriel Flood of the heritage group said, praising Mrs McClintock for her contributions to the community and her dedication and service in the fields of local history, heritage and the environment.

Cllr. James Pat McDaid, mayor of the Letterkenny Municipal District, will officially unveil the seating.

Mrs McClintock, 84, passed away in March of this year. She had been an active member of many local organisations, including the Donegal Historical Society; Letterkenny Tidy Towns, of which she was a founding committee member; An Taisce, who presented her with a lifetime achievement award in 2013; and the Irish Farmers Association, who recognised her contributions with an honourary life membership.

Light refreshments will be served afterwards in the Station House Hotel.

Pictured:: The memorial bench is beside the Penal Monument on Letterkennys Sentry Hill. Above, A view of St. Eunans Cathedral through the monument, which was created by sculptor Redmond Herrity.
Surgical procedures have been cancelled at Letterkenny University Hospital today as patients waited to be admitted.

Management said significant numbers of patients were waiting for admission on Tuesday afternoon.

The hospital has cancelled some surgical procedures and called on the public only to attend the emergency department in the case of real emergencies.

Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) put the number of patients awaiting admission to the hospital at 11 on Tuesday morning.

Management said the hospital had been very busy with significant numbers of patients awaiting admission to the hospital.

The hospital apologised to patients and their families for the delays.

The Full Capacity Protocol has been implemented and all efforts continue to be made to identify patients who are appropriate for discharge, hospital management said.

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.
An Ariton man recently charged with capital murder in connection with a two-year-old Barbour County murder was out on bail at the time of his arrest for another pending murder charge against him in Coffee County.

Barbour County Sheriff Leroy Upshaw confirmed 42-year-old Derrick Markeith Harris was out on bond when authorities arrested him late last week, serving him with a felony capital murder warrant from Barbour County.

The Barbour County Sheriffs Office released information late last week that they had charged Harris with capital murder in the killing of 81-year-old Eugene Johnson.

The sheriffs statement said the warrant charging Harris was obtained after evidence had been acquired as part of an almost two-year long investigation into Johnsons death.

Upshaw said he could not release many details of what led to the arrest, calling it an ongoing investigation.

But court records show Barbour County Sheriffs investigators charged Harris with capital murder  robbery. Records also show investigators charged Harris with fatally choking and cutting the victim with a knife during the theft of cash on Sept. 4, 2014.

According to earlier Eagle reports, emergency officials found Johnson dead after responding to a fire at his Robinson Street home in the Clio Manor Apartments. Johnson was the father of longtime Clio Police Chief Richard Johnson.

Upshaw said more charges, including arson, are possible in the ongoing investigation.

Harris was taken to the Barbour County Jail and held without bail on the capital murder robbery charge.

Upshaw confirmed Harris had apparently just been released from custody in Coffee County after posting bail there on an unrelated pending felony murder charge.

Court records show a judge reduced the bail for Harris earlier this month on his pending felony murder charge to $100,000.

Records show Coffee County Sheriffs investigators arrested Harris on July 20, 2015, and charged him with murder. Investigators charged Harris with using a 9mm handgun to fatally shoot Felix Dupree Flowers on July 20, 2015.

According to a statement from Coffee County Sheriff Dave Sutton, the charge stemmed from deputies responding to a shooting which occurred on Coffee County Road 106 in Brundidge. Deputies received an emergency call at 12:09 a.m. reporting a person had been shot and was being taken to Troy Regional Medical Center in Troy by personal vehicle. The victim, 33-year-old Flowers, of Brundidge, was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Coffee County Sheriffs Chief Deputy R.W. Whitworth told the Eagle the fatal shooting occurred at a residence in Brundidge, but inside the Coffee County line.

According to the Alabama sex offender registry, Harris is also a convicted sex offender after he was convicted of misdemeanor second-degree sex abuse in Dale County in 2001.

Court records show Harris pleaded guilty to felony first-degree theft of property, felony first-degree criminal mischief and a violation of the sex offender community notification act in Dale County in 2007. He also pleaded guilty to felony second-degree assault in Dale County in 2002.
New Zealands wine industry is on track to reach its target of $2 billion of exports by 2020, according to chairman of New Zealand Winegrowers, Steve Green.

New Zealand Winegrowers annual report shows exports have risen 10% in the last year, to just under $1.6 billion. This is the 21st consecutive year the industry has experienced significant export growth.

Green (pictured) said: The on-going progress towards the $2 billion goal is founded on our reputation as a wine exporter of the first rank, known for crafting and marketing distinctively New Zealand, high quality, high value wines.

This continued strong performance is testament to underlying market and consumer demand for our wines in key markets, he said.

With demand strong the improved supply from vintage 2016 is expected to lift export volumes by a further 10% over the next 12 months.

The 2016 annual report is available at: http://www.nzwine.com/media-centre-1/statistics-information/
Home Two wheelers Hanoi Plans To Ban Motorcycles  But Why? oi-Vishnu

Vietnam's government plans to ban Motorcycles by 2025, to make more space for buses and metro services.

Presently, around 5 million motorcycles are on the streets of Hanoi and the government estimates that the economic growth will increase those numbers by 2020. The streets are already crowded, and air pollution is so bad that the Real Time Air Quality Index shows the city as "unhealthy."

The Hanoi government is building highways, bridges, tunnels, bus stations, along with more bus services, and is also adding six new metro train lines by 2030. The government has plans to ban motorcycles from the city centre within ten years.

The Guardian reports that some see the move as not fair to those who cannot afford their own cars. Many are waiting for the construction of the two new metro lines, which is scheduled to be finished by 2020.
Home Two wheelers Very First Suzuki Hayabusa Day Celebrated In Eight Indian Cities oi-Ajinkya

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. celebrated August 21, as 'Hayabusa Day'. Celebrations were organised in eight major cities across the country. In Japan, 'Hayabusa Day' is celebrated on August 23rd, to mark the inception of Suzuki's fastest street legal motorcycle.

This is the first time Suzuki celebrated 'Hayabusa Day' in the country. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune played host to the celebrations. Every Suzuki Hayabusa owner in the country came together to celebrate this iconic motorcycle.

Hayabusa owners and enthusiasts rode together to celebrate Suzuki's fastest motorcycle. They also organised the ride to create brand awareness along with safe riding in the country. All riders were handed memorabilia to commemorate 'Hayabusa Day' in India.

Currently, Suzuki offers its Hayabusa in three colour options for the Indian market: Candy Daring Red with Metallic Mystic Silver, Metallic Thunder Gray with Glass Sparkle Black, and Pearl Bracing White with Metallic Mystic White.

The 2016 Hayabusa is priced attractively at Rs. 13.57 lakh ex-showroom (Delhi). Powering the Hayabusa is a 1,340cc four-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine. This engine produces 197bhp, along with 155Nm of torque, and is mated to a 6-speed gearbox.
(function() { (function(){function b(g){this.t={};this.tick=function(h,m,f){var n=void 0!=f?f:(new Date).getTime();this.t[h]=[n,m];if(void 0==f)try{window.console.timeStamp("CSI/"+h)}catch(q){}};this.getStartTickTime=function(){return this.t.start[0]};this.tick("start",null,g)}var a;if(window.performance)var e=(a=window.performance.timing)&&a.responseStart;var p=0 =c&&(window.jstiming.srt=e-c)}if(a){var d=window.jstiming.load; 0 =c&&(d.tick("_wtsrt",void 0,c),d.tick("wtsrt_","_wtsrt",e),d.tick("tbsd_","wtsrt_"))}try{a=null,window.chrome&&window.chrome.csi&&(a=Math.floor(window.chrome.csi().pageT),d&&0 =b&&window.jstiming.load.tick("aft")};var k=!1;function l(){k||(k=!0,window.jstiming.load.tick("firstScrollTime"))}window.addEventListener?window.addEventListener("scroll",l,!1):window.attachEvent("onscroll",l); })(); M. Bakri Musa Seeing Malaysia My Way About Me Name: M. Bakri Musa Location: Morgan Hill, California, United States Malaysian-born Bakri Musa writes frequently on issues affecting his native land. His essays have appeared in the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, International Herald Tribune, Education Quarterly, SIngapore's Straits Times, and The New Straits Times. His commentary has aired on National Public Radio's Marketplace. His regular column Seeing It My Way appears in Malaysiakini. Bakri is also a regular contributor to th eSun (Malaysia). He has previously written "The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia" as well as "Malaysia in the Era of Globalization," "An Education System Worthy of Malaysia," "Seeing Malaysia My Way," and "With Love, From Malaysia." Bakri's day job (and frequently night time too!) is as a surgeon in private practice in Silicon Valley, California. He and his wife Karen live on a ranch in Morgan Hill. This website is updated twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays at 5 PM California time. View my complete profile



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The Hyenas, Vultures and Maggots of 1MDB The Hyenas, Vultures and Maggots of 1MDB

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com





1MDB is not yet a bloated carcass (it is bloated only with debt) and already the hyenas, vultures and maggots are feasting with glee. In the wild, hyenas and vultures wait till their prey is dead, and maggots, rotting. Not these human hyenas, vultures and maggots.



Scavengers are vital in the ecosystem; they cleanse the environment of dead and decomposing bodies. In contrast, these human hyenas, vultures and maggots feasting on 1MDB are part of the rubbish. Perverse as it may seem, they have an exalted opinion of themselves. They view what they are doingdefending Malaysian Official 1 who is related to one of the hyenas Reza Azizas honorable.



This 1MDB mess is humungous; it will burden Malaysians for generations. That is a grim and undeniable fact.



Other facts, also undeniable, include these. One, 1MDBs debt in excess of RM42 billion, and growing fast, exceeds the current budgetary allocation for education. No other entity, private or public, then or now could come even close. Those loans are ultimately the responsibility of taxpayers as well as those who do not pay tax. Those non-taxpayers, meaning the poor, are impacted because funds meant for them would be diverted to servicing those debts.



Two, 1MDB has gone through as many accounting firms as Britney Spears with boyfriends. Its latest, Deloitte, has resigned, but not before making a most unusual declaration. That is, the US Department of Justices June 20, 2016 asset forfeiture lawsuit contained information that, if known at the time of the 2013 and 2014 audits would have impacted the financial statements and affected the audit reports.



Along the same vein, the Auditor-Generals Report on 1MDB which the government had promised to make public is now under the Official Secrets Act. Those reports have always been public. Why keep this one secret?



Three, 1MDB has gone through as many chief executives in as many years, not the sign of a well-managed company. Four, drive by the site of the proposed Tun Razak Exchange, 1MDBs signature development. It is empty. Last, 1MDB has yet to generate a sen of profit despite being in existence since 2009.



Meanwhile Switzerland has forced the sale of the bank involved with 1MDB and imposed an unusual and tough stipulation. Its new owner must not employ any of the existing senior managers of the sold bank. Singapore summarily closed the local branch of that bank. Its head now faces criminal charges. He was denied bail while awaiting trial, reflecting the gravity of the alleged crime. Singapore admitted to being lax in monitoring the banks activities with respect to 1MDB. Singapore also froze the assets of Jho Low, Najibs financial confidant and key 1MDB player, an unprecedented as well as severe action.



There are other facts. The Attorney-General and Bank Negara have closed their investigations with no negative findings. Then there are the American DOJs asset forfeiture lawsuits and the class-action suit of Husam and Chang.



In America anyone can file a lawsuit. Thus you may dismiss the American lawsuits but not the actions of the Swiss and Singaporean authorities. As for the Attorney-General and Bank Negara Governor exonerating 1MDB, I let readers give that its proper weightage and relevance. Nonetheless that would still not explain 1MDBs huge debts, changes in management and auditing firms, empty TRX lot, and the Auditor-General Report being kept secret.



For those who believe that Najib is Gods gift to Malaysians, you cant argue with them. It would also be blasphemous to dispute Allahs choice. For the rest of us, we need a more rational explanation, one that does not assault credibility or insult intelligence.



Back to the hyenas, they are now uncharacteristically quiet, their former flamboyance gone. Perhaps they are enjoying their morsels while they can, in their penthouses of Manhattan, mansions of Beverly Hills, and luxury yachts cruising the South China Sea. One would expect that having benefited handsomely from 1MDB they would harbor some gratitude to defend their benefactor.



The vast majority of Najibs supporters are simple, unsophisticated Malay villagers still under the grip of feudalism. To them it is a simplistic my leader, my race, my country, right or wrong! Their loyalty to leaders is intense and unquestioning, up to a point. Betray that, and you pay the price. Datuk Onn was a hero for stopping Malayan Union, and Tunku Abdul Rahman for bringing merdeka. When they fell out of step with their followers, their drop from hero to villain was precipitous and merciless.



Najib is nowhere near the caliber of those two giants. We must remind him and his ardent supporters of that.



Those villagers aside, only those vultures and maggots remain Najibs supporters. The hyenas should be, but for reasons best known to themselves have chosen to remain silent. That leaves the vultures to be his noisiest and ugliest cheerleaders. Unlike the hyenas with their bounties in the millions, those vultures are satisfied with a promotion or two and a federal award (second or third class) thrown in. Satisfied because stripped of their new appointments, they would earn but a mere fraction back at their old law practices or whatever they did before prostituting themselves to Najib.



The maggots are there as long as there is a decaying carcass. A few ringgit tossed their way to fill the tanks of their used motorbikes, and they are happy parading their red shirts or polluting the social media with their inane comments. Once the carrion is gone, so will they.



Some support Najib out of inertia, buttressed by the havoc of regime change in Iraq and Libya as well as the performance of the opposition. Others reflect the forbearance of Malaysians. Najib, they rationalize, won the last election albeit without the majority of the popular votes. Nonetheless that victory was reaffirmed by the recent state elections in Sarawak as well as the two by-elections in Peninsula Malaysia.



That is a dicey defense. Winning elections is no license to steal or be corrupt. Nixon won a landslide in 1972, yet that did not stop his impeachment and subsequent resignation in disgrace for covering up the Watergate break-in.



A few would argue that Najibs shenanigans are no different from Mahathirs many opaque UMNO proxy companies plus London Tin, Bank Bumiputra, and Forex debacles. To them 1MDB is merely a different crocodile, albeit much more menacing, but from the same fetid swamp. Malaysia will never progress with that attitude.



Then there is the reflected glory argument. Reza Aziz, Malaysian Official 1s stepson, is one of the producers of the Academy Award-winning The Wolf of Wall Street. Most would miss the irony as the film is banned in Malaysia. Nonetheless Malays in particular should celebrate that achievement.



Malaysians would have, and proudly too, had the film not been tainted. Indeed, the Academy publicly demanded that Reza Azizs name be officially deleted. It is like winning at the Olympics, and later disqualified for doping. Instead of glory, shame.



Another aspect of Najibs support is crude anti-American rage triggered by the DOJs lawsuit. That was seen as interference as well as double standards. America too is blighted with corruption, they sniff. True. As South Korean Tongsun Park and Indonesian James Riady, as well as former Attorney-General Mitchell and Presidents Counsel John Dean found out, the corrupt do get caught, convicted, and jailed. Thats the lesson Malaysians should draw from America.



As for American interference, if Najib and other corrupt Third World leaders do not want that, then next time accept only Zimbabwean dollars and use a bank in Uzbekistan. Buy properties in Bali or Cancun, not Manhattan or Beverly Hills, and bet at casinos in Macau not Las Vegas. There are no shortages of hyenas, vultures and maggots in those countries to clean up your mess.

















The Hyenas, Vultures and Maggots of 1MDBM. Bakri Musawww.bakrimusa.com1MDB is not yet a bloated carcass (it is bloated only with debt) and already the hyenas, vultures and maggots are feasting with glee. In the wild, hyenas and vultures wait till their prey is dead, and maggots, rotting. Not these human hyenas, vultures and maggots.Scavengers are vital in the ecosystem; they cleanse the environment of dead and decomposing bodies. In contrast, these human hyenas, vultures and maggots feasting on 1MDB are part of the rubbish. Perverse as it may seem, they have an exalted opinion of themselves. They view what they are doingdefending Malaysian Official 1 who is related to one of the hyenas Reza Azizas honorable.This 1MDB mess is humungous; it will burden Malaysians for generations. That is a grim and undeniable fact.Other facts, also undeniable, include these. One, 1MDBs debt in excess of RM42 billion, and growing fast, exceeds the current budgetary allocation for education. No other entity, private or public, then or now could come even close. Those loans are ultimately the responsibility of taxpayers as well as those who do not pay tax. Those non-taxpayers, meaning the poor, are impacted because funds meant for them would be diverted to servicing those debts.Two, 1MDB has gone through as many accounting firms as Britney Spears with boyfriends. Its latest, Deloitte, has resigned, but not before making a most unusual declaration. That is, the US Department of Justices June 20, 2016 asset forfeiture lawsuit contained information that, if known at the time of the 2013 and 2014 audits would have impacted the financial statements and affected the audit reports.Along the same vein, the Auditor-Generals Report on 1MDB which the government had promised to make public is now under the Official Secrets Act. Those reports have always been public. Why keep this one secret?Three, 1MDB has gone through as many chief executives in as many years, not the sign of a well-managed company. Four, drive by the site of the proposed Tun Razak Exchange, 1MDBs signature development. It is empty. Last, 1MDB has yet to generate a sen of profit despite being in existence since 2009.Meanwhile Switzerland has forced the sale of the bank involved with 1MDB and imposed an unusual and tough stipulation. Its new owner must not employ any of the existing senior managers of the sold bank. Singapore summarily closed the local branch of that bank. Its head now faces criminal charges. He was denied bail while awaiting trial, reflecting the gravity of the alleged crime. Singapore admitted to being lax in monitoring the banks activities with respect to 1MDB. Singapore also froze the assets of Jho Low, Najibs financial confidant and key 1MDB player, an unprecedented as well as severe action.There are other facts. The Attorney-General and Bank Negara have closed their investigations with no negative findings. Then there are the American DOJs asset forfeiture lawsuits and the class-action suit of Husam and Chang.In America anyone can file a lawsuit. Thus you may dismiss the American lawsuits but not the actions of the Swiss and Singaporean authorities. As for the Attorney-General and Bank Negara Governor exonerating 1MDB, I let readers give that its proper weightage and relevance. Nonetheless that would still not explain 1MDBs huge debts, changes in management and auditing firms, empty TRX lot, and the Auditor-General Report being kept secret.For those who believe that Najib is Gods gift to Malaysians, you cant argue with them. It would also be blasphemous to dispute Allahs choice. For the rest of us, we need a more rational explanation, one that does not assault credibility or insult intelligence.Back to the hyenas, they are now uncharacteristically quiet, their former flamboyance gone. Perhaps they are enjoying their morsels while they can, in their penthouses of Manhattan, mansions of Beverly Hills, and luxury yachts cruising the South China Sea. One would expect that having benefited handsomely from 1MDB they would harbor some gratitude to defend their benefactor.The vast majority of Najibs supporters are simple, unsophisticated Malay villagers still under the grip of feudalism. To them it is a simplistic my leader, my race, my country, right or wrong! Their loyalty to leaders is intense and unquestioning, up to a point. Betray that, and you pay the price. Datuk Onn was a hero for stopping Malayan Union, and Tunku Abdul Rahman for bringing merdeka. When they fell out of step with their followers, their drop from hero to villain was precipitous and merciless.Najib is nowhere near the caliber of those two giants. We must remind him and his ardent supporters of that.Those villagers aside, only those vultures and maggots remain Najibs supporters. The hyenas should be, but for reasons best known to themselves have chosen to remain silent. That leaves the vultures to be his noisiest and ugliest cheerleaders. Unlike the hyenas with their bounties in the millions, those vultures are satisfied with a promotion or two and a federal award (second or third class) thrown in. Satisfied because stripped of their new appointments, they would earn but a mere fraction back at their old law practices or whatever they did before prostituting themselves to Najib.The maggots are there as long as there is a decaying carcass. A few ringgit tossed their way to fill the tanks of their used motorbikes, and they are happy parading their red shirts or polluting the social media with their inane comments. Once the carrion is gone, so will they.Some support Najib out of inertia, buttressed by the havoc of regime change in Iraq and Libya as well as the performance of the opposition. Others reflect the forbearance of Malaysians. Najib, they rationalize, won the last election albeit without the majority of the popular votes. Nonetheless that victory was reaffirmed by the recent state elections in Sarawak as well as the two by-elections in Peninsula Malaysia.That is a dicey defense. Winning elections is no license to steal or be corrupt. Nixon won a landslide in 1972, yet that did not stop his impeachment and subsequent resignation in disgrace for covering up the Watergate break-in.A few would argue that Najibs shenanigans are no different from Mahathirs many opaque UMNO proxy companies plus London Tin, Bank Bumiputra, and Forex debacles. To them 1MDB is merely a different crocodile, albeit much more menacing, but from the same fetid swamp. Malaysia will never progress with that attitude.Then there is the reflected glory argument. Reza Aziz, Malaysian Official 1s stepson, is one of the producers of the Academy Award-winning The Wolf of Wall Street. Most would miss the irony as the film is banned in Malaysia. Nonetheless Malays in particular should celebrate that achievement.Malaysians would have, and proudly too, had the film not been tainted. Indeed, the Academy publicly demanded that Reza Azizs name be officially deleted. It is like winning at the Olympics, and later disqualified for doping. Instead of glory, shame.Another aspect of Najibs support is crude anti-American rage triggered by the DOJs lawsuit. That was seen as interference as well as double standards. America too is blighted with corruption, they sniff. True. As South Korean Tongsun Park and Indonesian James Riady, as well as former Attorney-General Mitchell and Presidents Counsel John Dean found out, the corrupt do get caught, convicted, and jailed. Thats the lesson Malaysians should draw from America.As for American interference, if Najib and other corrupt Third World leaders do not want that, then next time accept only Zimbabwean dollars and use a bank in Uzbekistan. Buy properties in Bali or Cancun, not Manhattan or Beverly Hills, and bet at casinos in Macau not Las Vegas. There are no shortages of hyenas, vultures and maggots in those countries to clean up your mess.
Local politicians are calling on a resolution to the ongoing dispute between Eflow and CRG who operate the M1 toll plaza.

eFlow will withdraw its tag service as of 31 August from the toll plaza at the M1 near Drogheda.

Deputy Fergus O'Dowd said last week that he has been in ongoing contact with the Minister for Transport, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Celtic Road group about the tolling tag dispute at Gormanston.

I believe the ongoing dispute must be immediately resolved, Deputy O'Dowd said, and I have called on Minister Ross to appoint an independent and competent person to liaise with all parties to bring this unnecessary deadlock to an end.

The head of Toll Operations within TII has confirmed to me that discussions are still ongoing between TII and Celtic Roads and they are hopeful an agreement can be reached.

The key issue is road safety and the simple fact is there are many people that will be unaware of this issue and will approach the toll, possibly in the fast lane and be met with an un-raised barrier.

This could cause serious accidents and consequently huge traffic disruption and I believe this safety issue must come first.

This is an unacceptable situation and an agreement before the end of August must be reached by ministerial intervention and mediation if necessary, Mr O'Dowd said.

Deputy Declan Breathnach is in agreement.

Deputy Breathnach said the dispute has been ongoing for weeks now and it seems no end is in sight. eFlow have stated that they will not be renewing their contract with Celtic Roads Group which is due to expire at the end of August. If unresolved this dispute will lead to the removal of barrier free tolling for eFlow customers, Deputy Breathnach said.

Earlier this week I met with representatives from Celtic Roads Group. They informed me that eFlow have ceased communication with them and there are no negotiations in progress.

This is alarming as the expiry date for the current contract is fast approaching.

Deputy Breathnach has had direct correspondence with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) as a result of a Parliamentary Question raised by him.

They state that providing an electronic toll collection service with tags has a cost associated with it and TII has successfully negotiated a fee agreement with all private tolling services except for CRG. CRG operates three tolling facilities (M1, M7/M8 and N25) and service agreement contracts were issued to CRG in March 2016.

They say that CRG have not signed these agreements to date and as a result TII is schedule to withdraw their services on 31 August.

They are in the process of communicating directly with customers to offer them a process of migrating to other electronic tag companies.
The luxury train they are calling the 'Irish Orient Express' pulled into Clarke Station on Thursday last.

The 'Grand Hibernian' is the brain child of the Belomond company who operate similiar services across Europe.

Anyone at Clarke Station at approximately 4.20pm on Thursday afternoon was treated to an exterior view of the luxury new train.

And luxury is the word - as it will cost you in the region of 1,500 per night to take a trip on this remarkable locamotive.

The Grand Hibernian is first luxury rail experience of its kind in Ireland, and was apparently on a dry run through Ireland, with the full service starting in September.

The train offers 16 opulent twin and four double cabins. All cabins are en-suite, with additional features including a wardrobe, writing desk and chair. According to the website, large windows let you admire the verdant landscape as it unfolds.

Passengers can also enjoy an observation carriage, fine food and dining options, in the most decadent of surroundings.

There are various packages available with stops- including Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Blarney Castle, the spectacular Lakes of Killarney, wild Connemara National Park, Bushmills Distillery and Galway.

Passengers on the train will enjoy daily excursions to the best places to visit in Ireland at each of the destination stops.

All this however comes at a cost, ranging from a two day trip which will set you back3,160 per person - to the six day grand tour which costs an eye-watering 7,722 per person.

Belmond have a global collection of 46 iconic hotels, trains and river cruises in 22 countries.
As your start-up begins to grow and take on more staff, youll likely run into a few challenges. Its much easier to keep everyone on the same page when theres only a handful of people in the business.

When your workforce balloons to 20, 100 or more staff, thats when issues emerge. Due to numerous factors, including background, work history, education and personality, each of your staff members is likely to have different values, attitudes and expectations when it comes to the employment relationship. This can cause legal complications.

Here are the top 10 people issues that start-ups must consider as they scale:

1. Contracts

Having a clear and current contract in place for any staff member, whether they are a full time, casual or part time employee, or a contractor, is a relatively simple but vital step. It helps reduce misunderstandings and disputes about the nature of the arrangement.

It is also important that any contract covers an employees current role or position. If an employee is promoted, for example, this can mean the old written contract no longer applies. This can cause disputes if/when the employment comes to an end leading to claims for reasonable notice of termination. The contract should also consider fundamental issues such as whether the relationship is exclusive, and a protection of key matters such as IP, confidential information and post-employment restraints.

2. Contractors vs employees

Start-ups typically focus on flexibility as a key element to their business. But how far does this flexibility go?

The characterisation of whether a person is, at law, truly an employee or an independent contractor is significant. It is relevant for tax, superannuation, employment entitlements and possible claims under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) such as unfair dismissals or claims under the sham contracting provisions. It also directly affects the duties that the person has towards a start-up, with a number of implied duties of fidelity and good faith, and other fiduciary duties, dependent upon an employment relationship.

3. Intellectual property

It is important to clearly establish that your business owns the IP in the products being developed for your business. That is relatively simple to secure, through some basic terms in a contract, or a clear policy or other document covering the topic that is made legally binding.

But what if your employees also develop some new IP or invention, with some work colleagues after hours, but using the business IT and premises? Who owns it?

If you cover these issues through employment contracts, policies, and/or Deeds, you have a good chance of asserting ownership. If you dont take these precautions, your chances are low.

4. Confidential information and post-employment restraints

As your start-up scales you need to have an eye on the capacity to protect your confidential information, including by having enforceable post-employment restraints that are focussed on legitimate business needs and are able to adapt and be tailored as the business grows.

With the increasing use of forensics as a way of gathering evidence of theft of confidential information, there has been more activity from employers and Courts protecting the information. A clear contractual right to restrain an employee or protect confidential information is an important legal step and practical disincentive.

5. Policies and procedures  do we need them?

Start-ups are often unprepared when it comes to addressing employee conflict and poor behaviour.

An employees view of appropriateness and an employers will frequently differ. Having in place policies that identify behavioural expectations can assist in practically enforcing standards, and protecting the business from a rogue employee. At the very least, policies should deal with what constitutes harassment, discrimination and bullying.

An organisation with clear policies, a code of conduct, well trained staff and a grievance resolution procedure that is implemented, is able to prevent matters escalating out of the employers control.

6. Whats work got to do with it?

Conduct at work is one thing. But what about outside work?

It is well settled that an employer may discipline, and dismiss, an employee for conduct out of hours where there is sufficient connection with work. The use of social media is an example where the lines can be blurred between what is private and public.

There are a range of claims that can be made associated with the use of social media. The most common involves offensive comments made about an employer or another employee. An employees defence that they did not understand how Facebook worked, or were just joking have proven to be implausible.

7. WHS/OHS issues

As a business you are legally responsible for the safety of all of your employees and for other people who might be affected by safety hazards in your workplace or safety issues causes by the products that you design, manufacturer or supply. The rules will differ slightly from state to state but the basic concepts are the same.

If somebody is hurt at  or because of  your business, the government safety agency in your state or territory will ask you:

What were your safety procedures and policies?

Had these been communicated to staff?

What steps did you take to assess and evaluate the risks in relation to the work that you do or the products that you provide?

As your start-up grows, you need to have in place some basic systems and polices to address these issues. Failing to have systems in place simply because you didnt have time to think about it, will not be an adequate explanation or excuse. Fines and other penalties can apply where businesses breach these obligations.

8. Workers Compensation

Your employees have to be covered by workers compensation insurance, and in most jurisdictions you will also have to apply the same insurance coverage for contractors who work for your business.

If one of these employees or contractors gets injured and makes a claim there will be various obligations to assess and either accept or reject the claim promptly, and then manage the rehabilitation process for that worker.

Generally the workers compensation authority in each state, or an insurance broker, can help you identify what policies you need to have in place.

9. Working remotely

Flexibility, and the capacity to work remotely, is increasingly seen by employers as a strategic business issue, critical to workplace effectiveness, employee engagement and long term business sustainability.

Most progressive workplaces now have policies that set some parameters for how flexible working arrangements can work. Often separate agreements are reached, setting out mutual expectations. Matters covered can include planning a home office, safety considerations, work organisation, supervision, the provision of work equipment and work stations, system requirements, access to training and career progression and information security. These are all matters that are typically the subject of consideration with more formal remote working arrangements. Thought also needs to be given to an employees privacy out of hours and to separating their working and home lives.

10. Sweat Equity

It is a great idea to incentivise your employees by giving them some form of equity in the company, particularly if (like most start-ups) the company is short on cash but big on ideas.

But there are a range of legal requirements in terms of how shares or share options are provided to employees . You need to step though these carefully.

In addition some start-ups make the mistake of thinking that they can bypass or ignore minimum employment conditions that are set by legislation, because they provided employees a generous equity benefit instead. This is not the case. The FW Act and awards set minimum standards and conditions of employment (things like rates of pay, annual leave and sick leave, etc.) and these have to be satisfied at all times; it is not possible to bypass them or to satisfy them by providing equity.

About the authors

Nick Ellery and Jack de Flamingh are both Partners at Corrs Chambers Westgarth lawyers.
Macquarie University has partnered with neighbouring businesses  including Optus, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott, Konica Minolta, NAB and AMP Capital  to transform Macquarie Park into a world-class, collaborative ecosystem and innovation hub for entrepreneurs, SMEs, multinationals and researchers.

The Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID), which covers more than 350 hectares, consists of 180 multinational enterprises, 200 SMEs, Macquarie University and Macquarie University Hospital.

According to Professor David Wilkinson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Corporate Engagement and Advancement), Macquarie University, the MPID will offer entrepreneur and start-up support, collaboration spaces and a program of innovative events.

Welcoming Commonwealth, State and local government support, Professor Wilkinson said the MPID growth strategy includes plans to heavily investment in infrastructure, innovation programs and incubation over the next five years.

He spoke to Dynamic Business about the short-term and long-term plans for the MPID and the support available to entrepreneurs.

How will the MPID support start-ups?

MPID will host events and create shared spaces to encourage innovation and creativity for Australias brightest minds. We plan to host weekly events including hackathons as well as innovation, arts and community engagement events that will allow individuals to brainstorm how to tackle challenges across healthcare, cybersecurity, business and commerce. We will also run events that engage corporates and businesses in setting challenges for startups and entrepreneurs to respond to.

The incubators in the district will also be supported with programs to provide co-working space, mentorship and the networking opportunities for start-ups. Further, well be helping start-ups take advantage of funding opportunities. We also plan to partner with international innovation districts and, if successful, these partnerships will open up opportunities for international collaboration.

What strategies are in place to drive innovation?

Within the coming months, were launching a pop-up incubator whilst the new Business Innovation Centre, a purpose-built incubation facility, is being built. This will open in Autumn 2017. Wet-lab, medtech and deep tech incubation space is also being built which is due to open in 2019. Were also updating cafes to become SMART event venues and plan to host weekly events such as hackathons as well as innovation, arts and community engagement events, in addition to launching intrapreneur and entrepreneur programs.

By 2022, MPID will have a central University campus hub and business hub as a part of a new town centre precinct. These hubs will also be used to foster engagement and incubation for businesses.

How will the MPID transform the area?

Apart from the new incubators, SMART cafes, engagement spaces and town centre business hub development, MPID will drive innovative solutions within the community using the strengths of Macquarie University and the businesses involved in the district. Through this initiative, we are aiming to increase student placements, job growth, economic growth and community engagement. This will provide economic impact as well as offering the North Shore community access to entrepreneurial and startup programs and facilities.

Based on residential and retail growth, Macquarie Park is a thriving hub and is predicted to double in size in the next 20 years to become Australias fourth largest CBD  theres no better place to build Australias own internationally recognised innovation hub.
Laurence Soper taught at St Benedict's in the 70s and 80s faces nine charges

A former Roman Catholic priest accused of historical sex offences against five boys at St Benedict's School has appeared in court.

Laurence Soper, 72, has appeared at Ealing Magistrates' Court facing nine charges which all allegedly took place at the school where he taught in the 1970s and 80s.

Mr Soper was arrested in 2010 and bailed, but failed to return to a London police station in March 2011. A European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012 and he was detained in Kosovo in May.

He gave his name in court as Andrew Charles Kingston Soper - Laurence being the name he took when he was ordained as a priest.

Four of the charges, relate to a single alleged victim under the age of 14 and date from 9 September 1971 to 31 July 1974.

Two charges of indecent assault relate to a second boy aged under 16 and are alleged to have occurred between September 1979 and July 1981. Mr Soper also faces charges of indecent assault against three further boys under 16, alleged to have taken place between September 1980 and July 1983.

After teaching at St Benedict's, Mr Soper became abbot of Ealing Abbey, which had founded the school and supplied monks to teach there.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police's sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command had appealed for help in tracing Mr Soper.

He is due to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on 19 September

23rd August 2016
LIVE OAK  By 6 p.m. Monday, more than 100 U.S. veterans had lined up in the back parking lot of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 7263. The group consisted of men and women from all branches and eras of the military. They chatted amiably or rested in folding camping chairs, waiting for an organization called the Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance to give them a brown paper bag filled with medicine.

Plants, not pills, said Aaron Newsom, co-founder and vice president of Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance, as he stood at the head of the line and greeted many of the former military personnel warmly. Thats our motto  at least thats one of our mottos.

Newsom, who served in the Marine Corps from 2002 to 2008, also stands at the front lines of a new war. This war does not involve bullets or bombs, but is just as deadly.

About 60 percent of those returning from deployments in the Middle East, and 50 percent of older veterans suffer from chronic pain, according to Veterans Affairs officials. About 13 percent of all veterans taking opioids  roughly 68,000 people  have been classified as suffering from opioid use disorder, or addiction.

While the per capita numbers for veterans are higher, the problem is not isolated to military personnel. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called U.S. abuse of prescription narcotics the worst drug addiction epidemic in the countrys history. In fact, the organization reports the number of overdose deaths is now greater than those of deaths from heroin and cocaine combined.

Newsom and Veterans Alliance co-founder Jason Sweatt, 40, are not just leaders in the burgeoning medical marijuana industry, they also use the medicine to treat their own combat-inflicted PTSD.

What veterans need, what everyone needs, is alternatives to prescription medications. Not just narcotics, but also the wide range of antidepressants and their negative side effects, Newsom said.

So on the first and third Monday of each month, the Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance meets behind the VFW building in Live Oak to provide just such an alternative to an army of veterans with PTSD and chronic pain.

To ensure that Santa Cruz County military veterans receive the medical marijuana they need, the Veterans Alliance has developed a unique business model. They grow the marijuana, donate a percentage of the yield to medical card-holding members for free and then sell the remainder to general medical cannabis dispensaries to fund what Newsom calls the mission.

Ive had nine surgeries in the last six years, said Timote Peterson, 64, who served in the Army from 1970 to 1972. Medical marijuana is far preferable to where I was a few years ago. These guys have really helped me out.

Peterson said he was addicted to pain medication from 2003 to 2012 and described his detoxification from OxyContin as worse than kicking heroin.

Medical marijuana is not perfect. It isnt that effective for really acute pain, but it is a damn sight better than most the other stuff they prescribe to you, Peterson said.

Unfortunately, no controlled studies have been conducted to evaluate the safety or effectiveness of medical marijuana for PTSD, according to Marcel Bonn-Miller, a principal investigator at the Department of Veterans Affairs Substance and Anxiety Intervention Laboratory in Menlo Park.

In an effort to better understand the effects of medical marijuana on PTSD symptoms, Bonn-Miller and his team have donated their time and resources to perform a six-month study of members of the Veterans Alliance.

Were using written questionnaires to assess their PTSD and sleep over time. Were also having the marijuana that the Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance distributes tested by SC Labs, Bonn-Miller said.

Yet medical marijuana is only one aspect of the Veterans Alliances mission. The organization is also a community and support network for veterans.

We want to create a place for veterans to speak about their combat experiences and the therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis, specifically as it relates to the traumas of war, said Newsom. Veterans commit suicide, often due to chronic pain, at the rate of nearly two dozen a day. Thats unacceptable.

To join the Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance, you must be a military veteran, California resident and have a state medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor. For more information, visit scveteransalliance.com.

SANTA CRUZ VETERANS ALLIANCE

What: The Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance Compassion Program.

Where: VFW Post No. 7263, 2259 Seventh Ave., Santa Cruz.

When: 6-8 p.m., first and third Monday of every month.

To enroll: Bring proof of military service, doctors recommendation for medical marijuana and a valid California ID.

Information: scveteransalliance.com.  (c)2016 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.) Visit the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.) at www.santacruzsentinel.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. AMX-2016-08-21T00:01:00-04:00
Heres a subtle way to point out that Trump is the least qualified candidate for president weve ever seen

You cant see it in the polls  which show Hillary Clinton leading by more than 10 percent in states that would give her 298 electoral voters  but Donald Trumps campaign has done one very smart thing recently.

Trump has stopped doing interviews with anyone but the friendly folks/Trump advisors at Fox News. The last interview he gave to a non-Fox employee was the one where he attacked the Khan family.

So you can understand why theyve pulled back.

But even in his friendly interviews, he often betrays his complete lack of policy knowledge  even about the defining policy of his campaign.

On Monday night, Trump tried to explain his possibly evolving immigration stance to Bill OReilly. He ended up making news by basically admitting that hes been lying about the issue for a year. But he also revealed how out of his depth he is only 80 some days before a presidential election.

NBCs Benjy Sarlin explains:

Trump also seemed confused about how the deportation process works. He told OReilly that he would not house suspected illegal immigrants in detention centers while their cases were adjudicated. Ive never heard the term, Trump said. Im not going to put them in a detention center. In fact, there already are immigration detention facilities all over the country that Congress requires the administration fill up with 34,000 people at all times. Trumps own immigration plan  which is still on his website  states that illegal border crossers must be detained until they are sent home, no more catch-and-release.

Not knowing anything about actual policy, nor caring about any consistency, was an advantage to Trump in the GOP primary where it gave him room to attack Ted Cruz for supporting Amnesty, though Cruz and he had nearly identical immigration policies.

Now Trump has recognized what Mitt Romney did around this point in 2012  you cant win a general election by alienating the fastest growing groups of new voters, Asian-Americans and Latinos, by attacking immigrants. So hes at least changing his tone on the issue, even though its likely far too little, way too late.

How should the Clinton team respond to this? Bait him. Force him to contradict himself and reveal his lack of knowledge and the implicit cruelty hes displayed by toying with millions of peoples fate without even a dusting of responsibility.

And this tactic could be used over and over.

Maybe Donald Trump doesnt understand what it means to promise to deport 11 million people.

Maybe Donald Trump doesnt understand why he should release his tax returns the way every major party candidate since Nixon has.

Maybe Donald Trump doesnt understand how connected his financial interests are to Russia, which is why we need to see his tax returns.

Maybe Donald Trump doesnt understand that when he makes promises to charities, they actually expect that hell fulfill them.

Maybe Donald Trump doesnt understand what will happen to the 18 million people whod lose health insurance under his plan.

Heading into the debates, Hillary Clinton has a decided advantage in one area: She knows stuff.

Lots of stuff. More stuff than Ill ever know and certainly more stuff than Donald Trump will ever know.

Exposing the reckless caprice with which Trump operates wont hurt him with his fans, who we arent trying to convince to do anything except to keep their heads above the salad guard. But it will help expose the glaring and obvious issue in this election thats so obvious to most women, who are turning away from Trump in record numbers.

As Toure put it:

This race must be familiar for many women: shes overqualified for the promotion, hes unqualified, and yet its still a contest.  (((Toure))) (@Toure) July 29, 2016

While you can debate whether Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate ever for president  because shes definitely up there, its obvious that Trump is the least qualified major party candidate ever. You know that. And he knows that.

Continually saying Maybe Donald just doesnt understand is a way to say that over and over in a way that will make him even more prone to self-destruct.

[CC image credit: Gage Skidmore | Flickr]
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YANGON - A new book has claimed Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M worked with clothing factories in Myanmar where children aged just 14 worked for more than 12 hours a day. Swedish authors Moa Karnstrand and Tobias Andersson Akerblom told the Guardian they met with 15-year-old girls who were working until 10pm  a clear breach of Myanmar labour regulations as well as ILO conventions. The girls were working for Myanmar Century Liaoyuan Knitted Wear and Myanmar Garment Wedge, close to Yangon.
Most commercial fisheries are in decline. Scientists and economists are concerned that commercial seafood harvesting may end within three decades. If the long-term trends continue, they predict there will be little or no seafood available for a sustainable harvest by 2048.

Many commercial fisheries are on the brink of collapse, so its extremely important to know if your seafood is coming from a sustainably managed fishery.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

Luckily, there are organizations working hard to change that. The Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch program has been providing consumers with information on ocean-friendly choices for 15 years through its printable guides, website and recently revamped mobile app.

The app is a user-friendly guide for choosing the most environmentally responsible seafood to eat. It tells you best options, good alternatives and ones you should avoid.

Here are 16 popular seafood options that you should avoid eating, according to Seafood Watch:

Caviar: Avoid caviar from all wild-caught sturgeon and paddlefish. Instead, opt for caviar and fish thats been farmed in the U.S. or Canada as a best choice.

Cod: Atlantic cod from the Gulf of Maine and the Georges Bank is generally considered an avoid. The exception to this is, the good alternative handline fishery on Georges Bank, which is more selective and does not catch any other depleted stocks. All Pacific cod from Japan and Russia is on the avoid list because so little is known about the health of cod populations in the Japanese and the Russian Pacific.

Eel: Freshwater eel is most commonly sold as unagi and served in sushi. Worldwide, farmed freshwater eel is on the avoid list. Young eels are farm-raised after being captured from the wild. This practice adds pressure to wild populations already in decline. In addition, theres concern about habitat loss and damage, and the amount of wild-caught fish required to feed farm-raised eels.

Halibut: Most Atlantic halibut is overfished, so its on the avoid list. The exception is farmed Atlantic halibut. Its a good alternative because its raised in closed tank systems that have little impact on local habitats.

Lobster: American (Maine) lobster from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank is a good alternative, but avoid lobster from southern New England. Avoid spiny lobsters from Belize, Brazil, Honduras and Nicaragua, which have poor management, declining populations of lobsters and high levels of illegal fishing.

Mahi Mahi: Generally, mahi caught by international longline fleets is on the avoid list. The exception is Ecuador, where improved longline methods reduce accidental catch so mahi is a good alternative.

Marlin: All striped marlin and most blue marlin are on the avoid list. The exception is blue marlin thats caught in Hawaii. Theres minimal bycatch in this fishery, so its a good alternative.

Octopus: Octopuses from Mauritania, Morocco, and the Philippines are all on the avoid list due to heavy fishing pressure, habitat damage and a lack of fishery management. Octopuses from Spain and Portugal caught with trawl are also an avoid. Trap-caught octopuses from Spain, Hawaii and the Gulf of California are good alternatives.

Orange Roughy: This is an avoid because orange roughy grows slowly and reproduces late in life (they can live to be 100 or more!). These traits make it especially vulnerable to overfishing. It is caught using bottom trawls in sensitive seamount habitats, which causes damage to vulnerable corals.

Salmon: Most farmed salmon is on the avoid list due to concerns such as the use of antibiotics important to human health and the potential for parasite and disease transfer to wild salmon populations. Wild-caught salmon is generally a best choice or good alternative.

Shark: Though there are some exceptions, most sharks are on the avoid list because theres concern about bycatch and serious overfishing. Studies show that shark has among the highest levels of mercury and other dangerous toxins found in fish because they are an apex predator and toxins bioaccumulate as they travel through the food web.

Shrimp: Wild shrimp from Louisiana and Mexico are on the avoid list for poor management, illegal fishing or heavy bycatch loads that include sea turtles and many other species. Most shrimp imported from outside the U.S. is on the avoid list. A recent Consumers Reports study found 60 percent of raw shrimp tested positive for bacteria, including salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

Snapper: Red snapper from the South Atlantic is on the avoid list because it hasnt recovered yet from overfishing. New Zealand Tai snapper is also on the avoid list when caught by bottom trawls or Danish seines. These methods can severely impact the seafloor habitat.

Squid: Squid from India, Thailand and China are on the avoid list due to poor management, bycatch and damage to seafloor habitats. Squid from California, the Gulf of California and the U.S. Atlantic are good alternatives.

Swordfish: Swordfish were considered overfished in the 1990s. Their populations are stable now, due in part to the Give Swordfish a Break campaign that prompted an international recovery plan. But fishing methods matter, so avoid imported swordfish caught by international longline fleets.

Tuna: Some tuna populations are healthy and abundant. Others are being fished faster than they can reproduce. Tuna is on the avoid list when caught with purse seines with FADs (fish aggregating devices) and most longline methods.

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The asbestos industry was well aware that asbestos was deadly. Yet, the companies that mined asbestos and those that exposed workers, military personnel and consumers to it and their insurers kept what they knew secret for decadesendangering hundreds of thousands of Americans, many of whom perished as a result.

Even in recent years, decades after the dangers of asbestos became widely known, some companies continue trying to cover upeven destroyevidence of their products devastation to workers, their families and many others who have been sickened and died from asbestos diseases.

Today, some of the most well-known companies in the country are lobbying Congress to pass legislation that would tip the scales of justice heavily in their favor when facing lawsuits from people who are sick and dying.

Modern knowledge of asbestos dangers is well over a century old. In 1900, a London doctor discovered asbestos fibers in the lungs of a textile factory worker who died at the age of 33 from severe pulmonary fibrosis, leading the physician to believe asbestos was the cause of death. By 1918, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics noticed a growing number of unusual deaths for those who worked with asbestos. By the early 1930s a name was given to the disease, asbestosis, for those who died after being exposed to asbestos on the job.

While banned in more than 50 other countries, asbestos remains legal and used in the U.S. and the diseases it causes kill up to 15,000 Americans each year.

Industry was Aware of the Asbestos Danger

In 1948, an internal memo from an insulation industry scientist warned that asbestos-based insulation caused asbestosis.

I realize that our findings regarding Kaylo (brand of insulation) are less favorable than anticipated. However, since Kaylo is capable of producing asbestosis, it is better to discover it now in animals rather than later in industrial workers.

 Dr. Arthur J. Vorwald, director, Trudeau Foundation, Nov. 16, 1948

Hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved and a national tragedy averted if the insulation industry responded appropriately to the science and removed asbestos from its products. It did not. Instead, it continued to manufacture one of the most widely used asbestos products without informing workers or the public.

A 1949 internal Exxon memo titled Company Confidential lists Cancer of Lungs as a disease likely caused by asbestos.

In 1958, an inter-office memo from the National Gypsum Co., which mined and used asbestos, stamped Personal & Confidential reads: Just as certain as death and taxes  if you inhale asbestos dust you get asbestosis. (M.C.M Pollard, National Gypsum Co. Sept. 22, 1958.)

Hiding the Danger from Workers and the Public

Despite a litany of corporate memos acknowledging the medical literature on the affects of asbestos, most companies profiting from its use continued to expose workers and the public to it for decades.

One of the most notorious industry memos, from 1966, shows just how callous executives were toward factory workers who were being exposed to asbestos.

The director of purchases for the Bendix Corporation (now Honeywell) wrote in a memo to an official with the Canadian Johns Manville Co.:

My answer to the problem is: if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products why not die from it.

 E.A. Martin, Bendix Corporation, Sept. 12, 1966

Today, Honeywell is one of the biggest corporate backers of legislation, the so-called FACT Act, passed by the House and awaiting action in the Senate that would delay and deny compensation to those who have been sickened from asbestos disease. Between 2010 and 2015, the company contributed nearly $250,000 to a small number of House Republicans who were instrumental in moving the bill through Congress.

An Aug. 7, 1978 memo by an official at Babcock and Wilcox, a company that designs, engineers and manufactures boilers and other power generation equipment, acknowledged the company was aware it was violating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards set to limit worker exposure to asbestos fibers. The company decided to investigate the problem but not to warn workers who were being exposed. Instead, the company official wrote:

The investigation is going to be handled as discreetly as possible. It is a concern of the meeting attendees that a labor violation such as a walkout or an OSHA citation would be forthcoming if the hourly labor force was aware of the apparent danger of asbestos exposure.  As the situation stands right now no one in the meeting wants the warning signs posted at this time.

 T.L. Wharton, Babcock & Wilcox, Aug. 7, 1978

While the death toll from asbestos-triggered diseases continued to mount, the industry remained silent on what it knew to be the truth about the risk to workers. A 1971 memo from a Ford Motor Co. executive, unearthed by the Center for Public Integrity, argued that $1.25 per car was too much to spend on safer alternatives to asbestos brakes, concluding the cost penalty of switching to metal or carbon brakes is severe.

Another asbestos industry giant, Union Carbide, went on the offensive when OSHA issued its first asbestos regulations for worker safety in 1972. That same year, the company issued a memorandum to sales executives who might get angry calls from customers concerned about the new regulations.

If the customer is persistent and threatens to eliminate asbestosa certain amount of aggressiveness may be effective. Words and catch phrases such as premature, irrational or avoiding the inevitable will sometimes turn the table.

The main objective is to keep the customer on the defensive, make him justify his position.  Change the mood before discussing anything pertinent about the new regulations. Alternating between an aggressive and submissive attitude is confusing and allows you to bide your time.  Dont cover too much ground in one confrontation. Even rabies shots are spaced at moderate intervals.

 B.L. Ingalis, Union Carbide June 22, 1972

Public Relations and Science for Sale

A speech from an asbestos industry expert dated June 7, 1973, describes a plan to sway the U.S. press, which had been increasingly reporting on the health impacts of asbestos exposure.

The good that asbestos does in protecting lives and property is of no concern to the press. 

The press relations battle will therefore be won, not when the media starts to print positive or balanced articles about asbestos, but when the press ceases to print anything about asbestos at all. 

And now, having heard the bad side of the public relations problems, its time for some good news. And the the good news is that despite all the negative articles on asbestos-health that have appeared  very few people have been paying attention.

Matthew M. Swetonic, executive secretary, Asbestos Information Association/North American, June 7, 1973

In the early 1980s, as the U.S. Gypsum Company was being sued by public school districts seeking compensation for the removal of the companys asbestos products, it hired the international public relations firm, Hill and Knowlton to help. The firm designed a comprehensive communications strategy to dissuade other lawsuits and shift the publics perception about asbestos and the asbestos industry. In its plan, Hill and Knowlton called for the creation of a third-party panel of independent experts to be available for testimony, commentary and technical support in appropriate markets and forums.

By 1984 a number of asbestos companies adopted another recommendation by Hill and Knowlton and formed the front group, the Safe Buildings Alliance (SBA), that allowed the industry to pool resources to push back against its critics in a number of venues, including the media. As Hill and Knowlton described in its recommendations, the SBA could also act to deflect attention away from affected companies and take the heat from activist industry critics.

In 2001, the Ford Motor Company, concerned about mounting lawsuits brought by former auto workers who blamed their mesothelioma on the asbestos-laced brakes the company once made, decided to try and shift the science in its favor in order to sow doubt into the prevailing consensus that auto mechanics are at greater risk of becoming sick with mesotheliomaa disease that the only known cause is from exposure to asbestos.

The company hired a well-known industry consultant, Dennis Paustenbach and his then-firm Exponent and another, Cardno ChemRisk that Paustenbach started in the mid 1980s, to conduct a series of studies, articles for publication as well as expert testimony. Of course, Paustenbachs work on behalf of Ford found that those who worked with or around brake pads were not at greater risk of being diagnosed with mesothelioma. All told, Ford spent more than $40 million between the two consulting firms.

In a Dec. 28, 2010 letter to a Ford attorney, Paustenbach extolled the benefits of his and his colleagues work to Ford writing that:

 the asbestos related research which resulted in publications which have been enormously illuminating to the courts and juries.  In my view, these papers have changed the scientific playing field in the courtroom.

In 2005, Georgia-Pacific recruited Stewart Holm, then director of toxicology and chemical management at Georgia-Pacific, for a new position to be specially employed to perform expert consulting services in connection with pending and anticipated litigation concerning alleged exposure to asbestos. Holm was to study the harms of chrysotile asbestos, and his work was to be directed solely by GPs in-house counsel. He agreed to keep his work confidential from anyone outside the company.

Between 2008 and 2011, Holm co-wrote four articles on asbestos published in the journal Inhalation Toxicology that minimized asbestos risks. The articles disclosed that Georgia-Pacific had funded the research. But what they did not discloseand what Holm later acknowledged in an Oct. 14, 2011 letter in the journalwas that Georgia-Pacific had commissioned the research specifically to address issues that had arisen in asbestos litigation. And he belatedly disclosed that his co-authors were all consulting experts retained by Georgia-Pacific to conduct the research or prepare the articles.

Georgia-Pacific is owned by Koch Industries, which is one of the biggest financial supporters of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), that is currently pushing state legislatures to adopt laws that would run out the clock on dying asbestos victims seeking compensation in court.

Several states, including Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and West Virginia have already passed versions of the ALEC-sponsored bill into law.

Fallout from BASF/Cahill Gordon Cover Up Still Unfolding

The Engelhard Company, which would later become a subsidiary of BASF, conducted tests of its talc in the 1970s and found samples contaminated with asbestos. However, not only did the mining and use of the contaminated talc continue, the tests remained secret until they were revealed during a deposition of an Englehard executive as part of a personal injury lawsuit brought in 1979 by the family of an employee who died from mesothelioma.

In his deposition taken Jan. 28, 1983, Glenn Hemstock, then Engelhard vice president of research and development, acknowledged for the first time under oath that the company knew the talc it mined and used to manufacture products was tainted with asbestos.

In 1984, after the 1979 case was settled and the family signed a binding non-disclosure agreement, Hemstock sent a memo directing employees in possession of any documents pertaining to the companys talc and talc products to gather them up. Court documents suggest that Engelhard executives, as well as its attorneys, including those with Cahill, Gordon, & Reindel, destroyed and hid these documents. These documents suggest Engelhard and Cahill, Gordon & Reindel went to great lengths to bury any evidence of the problem and lie about asbestos that poisoned thousandsa brazen enterprise that continued well after BASF took over the company.

By 1989, company executives were regularly making claims under oath that the talc mined and used by the company was asbestos-free. William H. Ashton, an expert witness for Engelhard, said in a sworn affidavit that from the 1940s through the 1980s, talc mined in Vermont and specifically, the talc mined by Engelhard Corporation (and its predecessors)  has been considered to be talc free from contamination by asbestos.

Engelhard and its successor BASF and its lawyers used this affidavit in thousands of lawsuits for decades as evidence that it did not produce asbestos-containing talc and successfully pressured hundreds of victims of asbestos-related diseases to drop their cases against Engelhard. In 2008, Jennifer Riester, an attorney for BASF and two of its subsidiaries, urged the attorney representing a victim of asbestos exposure to voluntarily drop the lawsuits brought against both subsidiaries. Riester, in her letter to the plaintiffs attorney, noted that more than 500 claimants in six different states dropped their cases after seeing the 1989 Ashton affidavit.

Today, a class action lawsuit has been filed in federal court against both BASF and its former law firm, Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, alleging they conspired to destroy and manufacture evidence in thousands of asbestos injury cases brought against BASF and Engelhard over the years.

BASF and Cahill, Gordon & Reindel attempted to have the case dismissed, but a federal judge denied their request in April 2016. U.S. District Judge Jose Lineras of New Jersey wrote that the defendants:

[H]ad a duty to preserve evidence when it was relevant in a prior lawsuit and where it was reasonably foreseeable that the evidence would be relevant to anticipated lawsuits of nearly identical subject matter and similarly situated adversaries.

The Judge then found BASF and Cahill, Gordon, & Reindel had a legal obligation to disclose evidence in connection with an existing or pending litigation. For the thousands of individuals exposed to Engelhard/BASFs asbestos-laden talc, their quest for justice, denied for decades, has now gained new hope.

The Fight to Protect Americans from Asbestos and Ensure Accountability for Those Responsible Continues Today

These are only a few examples of the 70-year conspiracy of corporations and their lawyers to hide the risks presented from exposure to asbestos.

The asbestos industry isnt finished. It is now seeking to change the playing field in court. A well-funded lobbying effort has been in full-swing at both the state and federal levels to get legislation passed that would make it much harder for asbestos victims and their families to recover compensation from these corporations responsible for their illnesses.

Roughly 15,000 Americans continue to die each year from diseases caused from asbestos inhalation, even though the amount used today is far less than was once used when the aforementioned companies and many others were mining and using asbestos.

Diseases triggered from asbestos, including asbestosis, mesothelioma and non-mesothelioma lung cancers, remain among the leading causes of occupational illness and death in the U.S.

With the long latency period of asbestos disease, many people exposed decades ago are being diagnosed today and diagnoses and deaths from asbestos-triggered disease will likely continue at their current levels for years to come.

Unbelievable to many, asbestos, while no longer mined in the U.S., is not banned in this country and continues to be brought in by certain industries and it can still be found in some consumer products, including those meant for children. In 2015, laboratory tests found asbestos in several crayon sets and toy crime scene fingerprint kits imported from China and sold in stores in this country.

As described above, many companies, industry lawyers and consultants knew the risks asbestos presented to workers and public health decades ago and kept it secret in order to protect profits and evade responsibility. And as a result, the fight to prevent asbestos exposures and ensure that all of the corporations responsible are held fully accountable continues to this day.
Beatrice High School received a $40,000 grant to help encourage and guide students into post-secondary education.

In todays society, young people need to have more than a high school degree to get the jobs they want and make the money they want to make, BHS Principal Jason Sutter said.

The College Access grant will be doled out to BHS from Education Quest Foundation on an annual basis of $10,000 for four years starting this school year.

Sutter said 27 other schools in Nebraska received College Access grants in various amounts this year, including Southern High School in Wymore. BHS was previously awarded the grant, which lasted from 2010 to 2014. Sutter said the school had to wait two years before applying again for the current batch of money.

The main goal of the grant is to increase our college-going rate by 10 percent by the end of the four years, Sutter said. He added that the school chose that goal as part of the application process.

BHS met that same goal during the four years it previously held the grant. The rate of graduates who went on to enroll in a post-secondary educational institution increased from 60 percent to 70 percent, and has held steady since.

Much of the money will be used to transport students to visit a variety of colleges, such as those in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney, Hastings, Peru, Crete and Fremont, using school buses, charter buses and vans.

Studies have shown that one of the most effective ways to get kids interested in going to college is getting them on college campuses, Sutter said.

Sutter and school counselors Tracy Post and Jennifer Prososki said the college visits have enlightened BHS students in the past.

Seeing their faces light up is rewarding, Prososki said. This gives them the chance to go to campuses and see kids in college and think, These students arent that different from me. I can do this.

BHS offered the college visits to its students throughout the previous grant period. Sutter said additional trips extending into the past two years caused BHS to dip into its general funding.

The grant money might also be used for transportation to college fairs, bringing guest speakers to the high school, transportation to local manufacturers (which, starting last year, offered tours with industry information to BHS students who signed up), a day dedicated to filling out scholarships, and other activities and programs.

The purpose and use of the College Access grant ties directly to the high schools improvement goal and mission statement, which relate to helping students achieve their goals, Sutter said.

The principal went on to say that BHS makes a concerted effort not to force four-year universities on its students, but to listen to the students goals and give them resources and guidance to achieve those goals.

We want to know what those goals are and help them reach those goals and prepare them for life after high school, Sutter said. If their goal is to take over the family plumbing business, we want to help them to learn what education is needed and help them find things like apprenticeships and job shadowing.

Post added that the schools resources are often geared toward first generation college students (students with one parent who did not attend a post-secondary institution) and students receiving free and reduced lunch rates.

The schools College Access Committee is expanding this year to include more staff members, the counselors and Sutter said.

Wed like to have more staff members go on those trips so those conversations can happen on a daily basis in the classrooms, Sutter said.

The committee will continue to form new programs using the grant money to reach their goals.

I hope that the new committee will continue to bring new ideas, Prososki said. The more, the better.

Sutter said BHS was recognized by Education Quest at a conference in Chicago this year as one of the leading schools in terms of using the grant money effectively.

Were getting more and more kids to think about life after high school and to entertain the idea of going to college, Sutter said.

Post said BHS is using the funds for what theyre meant for  changing students' culture into one where higher education is expected of them.

Its awesome that some students say, I wasnt thinking about going to college, but then their minds are changed after visiting a campus, Sutter said. Thats the most gratifying part of this for us.
Thanks to Chiles major investments in renewables, the Latin American country is seeing an incredible solar boom.

Chile Has So Much #Solar Energy Its Giving It Away for Freehttps://t.co/aTihUBdWz9 pic.twitter.com/fMC1dN5inh  InSunWeTrust (@InSunWeTrust) June 3, 2016

In a new Bloomberg report, Chile Has So Much Solar Energy Its Giving It Away for Free, solar capacity from the countrys central grid has increased four fold to 770 megawatts since 2013. Another 1.4 gigawatts will be added this year with many solar power projects under development.

Thanks to an economic boost from increased mining production, Chile now has 29 solar farms and another 15 in the pipeline. Enel Green Power Chile Ltda. recently commissioned Chiles largest solar PV project connected to the grid. The 160-megawatt facility will be located in the northern part of the country in the municipality of Maria Elena, about 1,300 kilometers north of Santiago.

With so much clean power available, the price of solar has cost absolutely nothing for certain regions in recent months. As Bloomberg stated:

Spot prices reached zero in parts of the country on 113 days through April, a number thats on track to beat last years total of 192 days, according to Chiles central grid operator.

However, the article points out that Chiles rapid solar expansion isnt all good news. Due to the nations bifurcated power grid, the central and northern grids are not connected.

PV Insider noted that most of the demand is in the central grid, yet the best solar resource in the country resides in the Atacama desert in the north. The northern grid represents approximately 24 percent of installed capacity whereas the central grid holds the majority of capacity at 74 percent of installed megawatts.

The northern grid is where solar prices are going to zero, Bloomberg noted. Meanwhile, the main population centers in the south are not seeing the same benefits.

Chile, therefore, must invest in its transmission infrastructure in order for the whole country to tap into the norths glut solar power and stabilize demand.

Chile has at least seven or eight points in the transmission lines that are collapsed and blocked, and we have an enormous challenge to bypass the choke points, Energy Minister Maximo Pacheco told the publication. When you embark on a path of growth and development like the one weve had, you obviously can see issues arising.

The good news is that the Chilean government is addressing the problem with its planned 1,865-mile transmission line that will link the two grids by 2017.

Santiago's Metro System to Become World's First to Be Powered Largely by Solar and Wind https://t.co/lugisx23bl @Good_Energy @ukycc  EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) June 1, 2016

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Greenpeace launched a global campaign today demanding that the worlds largest canned tuna company, Thai Union Group (TUG), take urgent and far-reaching steps to eliminate labor abuse and destructive, wasteful fishing practices from its supply chains. In the U.S., TUG owns Chicken of the Sea, which also faces mounting pressure from both consumers and concerned environmental, labor and human rights advocates to clean up its act.

We can no longer allow Thai Union Group and its brands around the world, including Chicken of the Sea, to sacrifice the worlds oceans and jeopardize workers at sea, said Greenpeace USA Seafood Markets Lead Graham Forbes. For far too long Thai Union Group has passed the blame onto others and hidden behind ineffective policies. Until this industry giant takes responsibility and demonstrates real leadership, we will work to ensure that every single customer knows its not just tuna that comes with buying one of its tainted brands.

In response to investigations and media reports from the New York Times and Associated Press connecting TUG to human rights abuses, forced labor and destructive fishing methods, Greenpeace USA on Friday contacted the company to demand a detailed work plan and schedule for moving toward lower-impact fishing techniques and increased oversight, traceability and transparency at sea. TUG and its subsidiary brands primarily catch tuna using two fishing methods, purse seining with fish aggregating devices (FADs) and longlining. These methods result in high levels of sharks, turtles, juvenile tuna and seabirds caught unintentionally (known as bycatch) and are often associated with illegal fishing and violations of human and workers rights.

https://twitter.com/GreenpeaceTuna/status/650774618358190080

Greenpeace Southeast Asia also sent an investor brief to Thai Union Group shareholders to inform them of the risks associated with the company. Implications in human rights abuses and forced labor have brought reputational and legal risks, as three class-action lawsuits have already named TUG as the supplier of fish caught via forced labor and used in Chicken of the Sea canned tuna and pet food brands in the U.S. The brief also warned that destructive fishing methods and overfishing threaten the companys ability to sustain revenue into the future.
Is seafood on the menu tonight? Well, theres a chance it might have been caught by a slave. Thats what the Associated Press uncovered when reporters traveled to the remote island of Benjina, Indonesia. They found workers trapped in cages, whipped with toxic stingray tails for punishment and forced to work 22 hours a day for almost no compensation.

We speak to two of the Associated Press reporters who broke this remarkable story, Robin McDowell and Martha Mendoza. We caught up with them last week in Los Angeles just before they headed to the University of Southern California to receive the 2016 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting for this remarkable series.

Watch here:

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[Update: Rio Grande do Sul, Brazils southernmost state, suspended the use of the pyriproxyfena pesticide that stops the development of mosquito larvae in drinking tanksto combat the spread of the Zika virus. Read more here.]

As the Zika epidemic spreads explosively around the world, pregnant travelers have been put on pause due to the viruss suspected association with microcephaly, the congenital condition in which a babys head is abnormally small.

While the link between the mosquito-borne virus and microcephaly has yet to be scientifically proven, Argentinian and Brazilian doctors have suggested an alternate culprit: pesticides.

Proving whether #Zika is linked to birth defects could take years https://t.co/juBUkVp3zp pic.twitter.com/VY7XypjQug  nature (@Nature) February 10, 2016

The report, written by the Argentine group Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), suspects that pyriproxyfena larvicide added to drinking water to stop the development of mosquito larvae in drinking water tankshas caused the birth defects.

The authors said that the pesticide, known by its commercial name SumiLarv, is manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a Japanese subsidiary of Monsanto.

According to PCST, in 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Health introduced pyriproxyfen to drinking-water reservoirs in the state of Pernambuco, where the proliferation of the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is very high.

Malformations detected in thousands of children from pregnant women living in areas where the Brazilian state added pyriproxyfen to drinking water is not a coincidence, even though the Ministry of Health places a direct blame on Zika virus for this damage, while trying to ignore its responsibility and ruling out the hypothesis of direct and cumulative chemical damage caused by years of endocrine and immunological disruption of the a acted population, PCST said.

Public health officials in Brazil inspect points of standing water, a breeding ground for the Zika-carrying Aedes mosquito. The virus has been linked to microcephaly, but the theory has not been scientifically confirmed. Photo credit: Flickr/Twitter

As it happens, the northeast state has registered the largest number of cases of microcephaly. Pernambuco, the first state to detect the problem, has roughly 35 percent of the total microcephaly cases across Brazil.

Previous Zika epidemics did not cause birth defects in newborns, despite infecting 75 percent of the population in those countries, the paper said. Also, in other countries such as Colombia there are no records of microcephaly; however, there are plenty of Zika cases.

Indeed, as The Ecologist observed from PCSTs report, Colombia has so far diagnosed 3,177 pregnant women with the Zika virus, but these women gave birth to healthy babies or are carrying healthy fetuses.

Sumitomo Chemical says on the Sumilarv website that the product not only poses minimal risk to mammals, birds and fish; it also allows it to be applied to drinking water. Application to the aquatic breeding sites of mosquitoes ensures a rapid decline of the adult mosquito population significantly reducing bite rates.
By Andrea Germanos

While its been touted by some energy experts as a so-called bridge to help slash carbon emissions, a new study suggests that a commitment to nuclear power may in fact be a path towards climate failure.

For their study, researchers at the University of Sussex and the Vienna School of International Studies grouped European countries by levels of nuclear energy usage and plans, and compared their progress with part of the European Unions 2020 Strategy.

That 10-year strategy, proposed in 2010, calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by least 20 percent compared to 1990 levels and increasing the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption to 20 percent.

The researchers found that progress in both carbon emissions reduction and in adoption of renewables appears to be inversely related to the strength of continuing nuclear commitments.

For the study, the authors looked at three groupings. First is those with no nuclear energy. Group 1 includes Denmark, Ireland and Portugal. Group 2, which counts Germany and Sweden among its members, includes those with some continuing nuclear commitments, but also with plans to decommission existing nuclear plants. The third group, meanwhile, includes countries like Hungary and the UK which have plans to maintain current nuclear units or even expand nuclear capacity.

With reference to reductions in carbon emissions and adoption of renewables, clear relationships emerge between patterns of achievement in these 2020 Strategy goals and the different groupings of nuclear use, they wrote.

For non-nuclear Group 1 countries, the average percentage of reduced emissions was 6 percent and they had an average of a 26 percent increase in renewable energy consumption.

Group 2 had the highest average percentage of reduced emissions at 11 percent and they also boosted renewable energy to 19 percent.

Pro-nuclear Group 3, meanwhile, had their emissions on average go up 3 percent and they had the smallest increase in renewable shares16 percent.

Looked at on its own, nuclear power is sometimes noisily propounded as an attractive response to climate change, said Andy Stirling, professor of science and technology policy at the University of Sussex, in a media statement. Yet if alternative options are rigorously compared, questions are raised about cost-effectiveness, timeliness, safety and security.

Looking in detail at historic trends and current patterns in Europe, this paper substantiates further doubts, he continued. By suppressing better ways to meet climate goals, evidence suggests entrenched commitments to nuclear power may actually be counterproductive.

The new study focused on Europe and Benjamin Sovacool, professor of energy policy and director of the Sussex Energy Group at the University of Sussex, stated, If nothing else, our paper casts doubt on the likelihood of a nuclear renaissance in the near-term, at least in Europe.

Yet advocates of clean energy over on the other side of the Atlantic said the recent plan to close the last remaining nuclear power plant in California and replace it with renewable energy marked the end of an atomic era and said it could serve as a clear blueprint for fighting climate change.

Natural Resources Defense Council President Rhea Suh wrote of the proposal: It proves we can cut our carbon footprint with energy efficiency and renewable power, even as our aging nuclear fleet nears retirement. And it strikes a blow against the central environmental challenge of our time, the climate change that threatens our very future.

#ICYMI: Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors to be replaced with 100% renewable energy: https://t.co/dymNM5g0NS via @EcoWatch  NRDC ?? (@NRDC) June 22, 2016

The new study was published in the journal Climate Policy.

This article was reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams.
Sea Shepherd Globals Flagship, the Steve Irwin, is en route to the Indian Ocean to confront a killer in our oceans.

A fleet of fishing vessels is actively fishing on the high seas of the Indian Ocean using driftnets; a form of fishing banned by the United Nations in 1992 due to its indiscriminate and destructive impact.

Steve Irwin crewmember, Erica, holds a common dolphin, which was retrieved dead in the illegal net. Photo credit: Eliza Muirhead

Taking advantage of the remoteness of the region and in the absence of law enforcement, the fleet has demonstrated a resurgence of this out-dated, outlawed practice.

The Steve Irwin first intercepted the fleet of vessels engaged in illegal fishing in January 2016. Sea Shepherd Global has released shocking photographs and video of the encounter, showing sharks, dolphins, seals and multiple species of fish, including critically endangered Southern Bluefin tuna, entangled and dead in the illegal nets.

Watch here:

The goal of this new campaign, Operation Driftnet, is to confront the vessels while they are engaged in the act of illegal fishing and subsequently employ direct-action techniques to shut-down their operations.

Sea Shepherd Global will also document the vessels and collect evidence of their operations to aid with land-based investigations.

Using this combination of at-sea and on-land actions, Sea Shepherd aims to end the destructive streak of these vessels.

Campaign leader and Captain of the Steve Irwin, Siddharth Chakravarty said, Driftnets were banned in 1992 by a United Nations moratorium. The nations of the world were concerned 24 years ago about the negative impact of this form of fishing. Driftnets didnt have a place in the worlds oceans then and they dont today. Our role is to ensure the ban is enforced.

Sea Shepherd Global expects to engage with the fleet of illegal vessels in the coming days.

Here are more photos from the campaign:

Crew of the Steve Irwin hauls the abandoned driftnet out of the ocean. Photo credit: Eliza Muirhead

Capt. Chakravarty with some of the many animals slaughtered in the illegal driftnet. Photo credit: Tim Watters

A brown seal, retrieved dead from the illegal nets. Photo credit: Eliza Muirhead

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The demand for food products raised without antibiotics is growing fast. In 2012, sales of these products had increased by 25 percent over the previous three years (1).

The overuse of antibiotics in food-producing animals is being blamed for the increase in resistant bacteria, also known as superbugs. When these are passed to humans they can cause serious illness.

However, other experts suggest that antibiotic use in food-producing animals poses very little risk to human health.

Photo credit: TakePart

This article explores how antibiotics are used in foods and their potential consequences for your health.

Antibiotic Use in Food-Producing Animals

Antibiotics are drugs used to treat bacterial infections. They work by killing or stopping the growth of harmful bacteria.

Since the 1940s, antibiotics have been given to farm animals like cows, pigs and poultry in order to treat infections or prevent an illness from spreading.

Low doses of antibiotics are also added to animal feed to promote growth. This means a greater production of meat or milk in shorter periods of time (2).

These low doses may also reduce animal death rates and improve reproduction.

For these reasons, antibiotic use has become widespread in agriculture. In 2011, 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. were for use in food-producing animals (3).

Bottom Line: Antibiotics are drugs used to treat bacterial infections. They are widely used in animal agriculture to treat disease and promote growth.

The Amount of Antibiotics in Foods is Very Low

Contrary to what you may think, the chances of you actually consuming antibiotics through animal foods is extremely low.

Strict legislation is currently in place in the U.S. to ensure that no contaminated food products are able to enter the food supply.

Similar laws are in place in Canada, Australia and the European Union.

Additionally, vets and animal owners are required to ensure that any animal products they produce are drug-free before they can be used as food.

Drug withdrawal periods are enforced before treated animals, eggs or milk are used as food. This allows time for the drugs to completely leave the animals system.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a strict process of testing all meat, poultry, eggs and milk for unwanted compounds, including antibiotic residues (4).

Bottom Line: Due to strict government legislation, it is extremely rare that antibiotics given to an animal would enter your food supply.

There is No Evidence That Antibiotics in Foods Are Harming People Directly

No evidence suggests antibiotics in food products are directly harming people.

In fact, figures from the USDA showed that the amount of animal products found to have antibiotic residues were extremely low and those that did were disposed of.

In 2010, less than 0.8 percent of animal food products tested positive for some form of contamination, including antibiotic residue (5).

Products confirmed as positive do not enter the food chain. Producers with repeat violations are publicly exposeda system that discourages any misconduct.

Bottom Line: There is no evidence to suggest that antibiotics are being consumed from animal food products, let alone causing harm to humans.

The Overuse of Antibiotics in Animals Can Increase Resistant Bacteria

Antibiotics are generally fine when used properly for treating or preventing infections.

However, excessive or inappropriate use is a problem. When antibiotics are overused, they end up becoming less effective for both humans and animals.

This is because bacteria that are frequently exposed to antibiotics develop a resistance to them. As a result, the antibiotics are no longer as effective at killing harmful bacteria. This is a great concern for public health (6).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recognized this concern, updating its regulations to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics in livestock.

Bottom Line: Excessive antibiotic use can increase resistant bacteria, making the antibiotics less effective for both animals and humans.

Resistant Bacteria Can Spread to Humans, with Serious Health Risks

Resistant bacteria can be passed from food-producing animals to humans in a number of ways.

If an animal is carrying resistant bacteria, it can be passed on through meat that is not handled or cooked properly.

You can also encounter these bacteria by consuming food crops that have been sprayed with fertilizers containing animal manure with resistant bacteria.

One study found that people living close to crop fields sprayed with pig manure fertilizer are at a higher risk of infection from the resistant bacteria MRSA (7).

Once spread to humans, resistant bacteria can stay in the human gut and spread between individuals. The consequences of consuming resistant bacteria include (8):

Infections that would not have happened otherwise.

Increased severity of infections, often including vomiting and diarrhea.

Difficulty in treating infections and higher chances that treatments will fail.

In the U.S., every year around two million people get infected with bacteria resistant to one or more of the antibiotics normally used to treat the infections (9).

Of those people, at least 23,000 die each year. Many more die from other conditions made worse by the infection (9).

Bottom Line: Resistant bacteria can be transferred from animals to humans through contaminated food products, causing infections and even death.

Resistant Bacteria in Food Products

Resistant bacteria in supermarket foods is a lot more common than you might think.

Commonly reported harmful bacteria from foods include Salmonella, Campylobacterand E.coli.

Of 200 U.S. supermarket meat samples of chicken, beef, turkey and pork, 20 percent contained Salmonella. Of these, 84 percent were resistant to at least one antibiotic (10).

One report found resistant bacteria in 81 percent of ground turkey meat, 69 percent of pork chops, 55 percent of ground beef and 39 percent of chicken breasts, wings and thighs found in U.S. supermarkets (11).

Another study tested 136 beef, poultry and pork samples from 36 U.S. supermarkets. Almost 25 percent tested positive for the resistant bacteria MRSA (12).

Many products claim to be raised without antibiotics, including some that are labeled organic. This does not mean these products are free from resistant bacteria.

Evidence suggests that these products still contain resistant bacteria, although they are slightly less resistant than regular products grown using antibiotics.

A study found that organic chickens were more frequently contaminated with bacteria like Salmonella and Campylobacter than non-organic chickens. However, the bacteria in organic chickens were slightly less resistant to antibiotics (13).

Again, the prevalence of Enterococcus bacteria was 25 percent higher in organic chicken than non-organic chicken. However, the amount of resistant bacteria was almost 13 percent less in organic chicken (14).

Another study found that out of 213 samples, the frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli tended to be only slightly lower for chicken raised without antibiotics, compared to regular chicken (15).

Bottom Line: Resistant bacteria are frequently found in animal-based food products. Food labeled organic or raised without antibiotics may have slightly lower amounts of resistant bacteria.

Why You Probably Dont Need to Be Concerned

There is no clear-cut evidence directly linking antibiotic use in food-producing animals to increased illness due to resistant bacteria in humans.

One review concluded that the danger to health is very small because proper cooking destroys the harmful bacteria (16).

It may actually be the human use of antibiotics that causes the majority of bacterial resistance (16).

Interestingly, the spread of bacteria such as MRSA from infected pigs to farmers is common (17).

However, transmission to the general public is rare. A study from Denmark reported that the likelihood of transmission for the population was only 0.003 percent (18).

If the food products are cooked properly and good hygiene practices are followed, then the risk is extremely low.

Bottom Line: There is no clear-cut link between antibiotic use in animals and resistant bacteria infections in humans. The risk to human health is likely to be small, since adequate cooking destroys bacteria in food.

How To Minimize Your Risk of Illness

It may be impossible to completely avoid resistant bacteria in animal foods.

However, there are things you can do to significantly reduce your risk:

Practice good food hygiene: Wash your hands, use separate cutting boards for different foods and wash utensils thoroughly.

Ensure food is cooked properly: Cooking meat to the proper temperature should kill any harmful bacteria.

Buy antibiotic-free foods: You can minimize your risk even further by looking for labels that read organic, raised without antibiotics or antibiotic-free.

Take Home Message

The debate on antibiotic use in animals still continues.

Although there is no evidence that antibiotics in foods harm people directly, most agree that the over-use of antibiotics in food-producing animals is a problem.

It can contribute to the development and spread of drug-resistant bacteria, which is a potential risk to public health.

This article was reposted from our media associate Authority Nutrition.

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By David Pinsky

Every day, roughly half of the money Americans spend on food outside of the home is gobbled up by the U.S. foodservice industry.

Wait, whats foodservice?

Companies that buy, transport, cook or serve the food you get at Subway, Burger King, a Beyonce show or the Super Bowl, Walmart corporate cafeterias, the University of Kentucky, Chicago Public Schools, Yosemite National Park, Hilton hotels or even in the U.S. Capitols cafeterias.

Foodservice is one of the largest industries we frequent often, though many know nothing about.

These companies buy and sell tons of seafood and some of it is destructively caught and potentially connected to forced labor.

So  how do the companies rank that supply and serve up tuna at Subway, fried shrimp at Disney World or a tuna salad sandwich in a cafeteria for Toyota employees.

Glad you asked.

Today, Greenpeace released Sea of Distress, its first seafood sustainability ranking of foodservice companies.

Sodexo, Compass Group and Aramark led the rankings as the only companies that passedbarelywhile Sysco and US Foods are among the 12 failing companies.

Many companies are supplied by Thai Union Group, the largest tuna company in the world that owns U.S. brand Chicken of the Sea and supplies supermarkets too, including Walmart and Kroger. Thai Union is notorious for ocean destruction. And some of its seafood supply chains have been linked to human rights abuses, where seafood workers were forced to work under horrendous conditions for months with no escape. From the halls of Congress to your university, favorite restaurant or workplaceyou could be eating seafood connected to ocean destruction or even human rights abuses.

You have the power to help transform a global industry ripping up the sea and exploiting workers.

Its time for companies profiting off of ocean destruction and mistreated workers to change. You have the power to tell companies not to destroy ocean life and to protect workers rights from Southeast Asia to right here in the U.S.

Ready to help? Heres how:

1. Know the facts. Check out Sea of Distress to see which are the best and worst ranked companies.

2. Eat tuna? Tell the foodservice provider of your company, school or favorite restaurant that you want responsibly caught tuna and express your concern if it is coming from suppliers that cannot guarantee sustainable and ethical products, like Chicken of the Sea or Thai Union.

3. Speak your mind. Join Greenpeace Greenwire to connect with volunteers. Together, ask how your foodservice provider is working to stop forced labor, labor abuse, illegal fishing and protect workers rights. If its a lousy response, take your business elsewhere.

4. Eat less seafood. Reducing seafood consumption now can help lessen the pressure on our oceans, ensuring fish for the future.

5. Vote with your dollar. If you or someone you know eats seafood, use the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch app. Only buy green-rated Best Choice seafood.

David Pinsky authors Greenpeace USAs annual seafood sustainability report for the nations largest supermarkets, holding major companies accountable and shifting seafood practices that have global impacts on our oceans.
By Stephen Wells

Progressive Farming. Family Style. It sounds like the slogan of a brand you could trust to adopt a forward thinking business style and embrace the publics growing consideration of animal welfare in animal agriculture, but a new undercover investigation blows that idyllic family farm image out of the water.

The undercover investigation documents dangerous neglect of pigs and piglets. Photo credit: The Animal Legal Defense Fund

The tagline belongs to The Maschhoffs, which is the third largest pig producer in the U.S. and enjoys business from Hormel Foods, one of its largest customers. One of the companys Nebraska big breeding facilities is at the center of newly released undercover footage from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the nations leading legal animal protection organization. The footage is sickening.

Mother pigs and piglets alike are shown suffering and dying from a wide array of gruesome ailments. Undercover investigators documented pigs suffering for days or weeks with extreme prolapsed rectums, intestinal ruptures, large open wounds and huge, bloody ruptured cysts. The investigation also revealed that the pigs are left to go long stretches of timeup to three dayswithout food as the result of a failure of the electronic feeding mechanism. The footage reveals that The Maschhoffs workers were aware of the malfunction but still did not pursue alternate ways to feed the pigs.

The footage includes particularly haunting images of thumping, a practice considered to be industry standard. Thumping is a method of killing piglets deemed sickly or too small. Their skulls are thumped, i.e., smashed against the floor. Its a brutal act to watch and its even more difficult to watch the aftermathmany piglets dont die immediately. The footage shows piglets conscious and looking around frantically or moving and convulsingdying slowly.

Footage reveals pigs and pigelts living in conditions far worse than the best possible environment The Maschhoffs advertise. Photo credit: The Animal Legal Defense Fund

Watching the footage, it starts to seem that slow, painful deaths are also standard at the facility. Pigs are marked with green paint to signify that they need to be killed, but many are left to languish for days, weeks, even months before they are euthanized. Some of the pigs die on their own, but those who are still alive when their time comes are shot in the head, but it doesnt always work. The Animal Legal Defense Funds footage shows a mother pig still alive after the first shot. It took multiple shots and many minutes of suffering before she finally died.

The piles of dead piglets are a heartbreaking and concerning sight. Photo credit: The Animal Legal Defense Fund

All this hardly seems like the highest level of animal care that The Maschhoffs claim on the Animal Welfare tab of their website. That means that when consumers consider their options at the grocery store and choose a product from The Maschhoffs or one of their customers, they are not getting what they paid for. The Maschhoffs work hard to promote the image of a friendly family farm because more and more Americans are thinking about animal welfare when they make their food choices. Customers simply would not be interested in the product if the company were honest about their practices, which seem to put profit over animal welfare and the law.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is using the results of its undercover investigation to educate the public about what happens behind closed doors and to urge real change through the legal system. The organization has filed complaints with the Attorneys General of Nebraska and Illinois, where The Maschhoffs headquarters is located. The complaints allege that the companys business practices are unfair due to the apparent neglect of denying food and proper veterinary care, and deceptive due to the companys own advertising that it is committed to humane animal handling and providing the best possible environment for the animals.

Watch the uncover investigation video here:

For more information about the Animal Legal Defense Funds investigation, visit www.aldf.org/protectpigs.

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LINCOLN  Groups that want to legalize casinos at Nebraska horse racing tracks are trying to decide what to do now that a $1.4 million petition drive has failed to place the issue on the ballot.

Supporters said they were shocked to learn this month that petition circulators didn't gather enough valid signatures to put the issue before voters in the Nov. 8 general election. The 10-month petition drive flopped because nearly 42,000 signatures  more than one-third of the total collected  were declared invalid.

"We don't have a consensus on what to do just yet," said Lance Morgan, CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska's economic development corporation. "We have not formulated a definitive plan, but we do plan to continue with this."

Ho-Chunk Inc. paid virtually all of the campaign's costs in partnership with the Nebraska Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, a group that promotes horse racing. Horse racing advocates say casino games would help revive their struggling industry.

Ho-Chunk wanted to reopen Atokad Downs, a South Sioux City race track that closed in 2012, and operate a casino on the site. The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska owns and operates WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan, Iowa, but the facility lost some of its market share when the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino opened in Sioux City, Iowa, in 2014.

Barry Lake, the horsemen group's president, said board members will meet soon to discuss their next steps.

"It's too early to tell at this point," Lake said. "We were all in with that petition drive. The two partner organizations contributed a great deal of money and employee resources to it. We were obviously shocked and disappointed."

Legalizing casinos in Nebraska would require a constitutional amendment approved by voters. At least 117,188 valid signatures were needed to place the issue on the ballot this year, but Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale announced this month that petition organizers didn't submit enough.

Organizers turned in nearly 120,000 signatures for the proposed constitutional amendment. However, more than 24,000 were rejected because signers weren't registered in the county indicated on the petition sheet. Another 4,600 were rejected as duplicates, and more than 3,000 were turned down because signers were not registered voters.

The ballot drive included two other petitions that spelled out how casinos would be regulated and taxed, but those measures are moot without a constitutional amendment to allow gambling.

Gambling opponents cheered the announcement but said they expect casino interests will push for legalization again, possibly through next year's Legislature.

"They're always going to come back," said Pat Loontjer, executive director of Gambling with the Good Life. "It's a greed-driven industry. They're not going to go away."

Loontjer said the failure to gather enough signatures shows a lack of support among voters. Nebraska allows keno, horse racing and a lottery, but voters have repeatedly rejected video gambling machines.

"With more than $1 million and 10 months, (petition organizers) couldn't get their signatures," she said. "The people of Nebraska have spoken. They do not want this. We're just grateful to the citizens of Nebraska who care about their quality of life."

Some lawmakers who support casino gambling criticized the ballot measures, saying they would have made it much harder for the Legislature to regulate the industry. Sen. Paul Schumacher, who has worked on previous gambling ballot measures, said lawmakers should submit their own proposal next year that allows more regulation.

"It would be wise for the Legislature to say, 'That was a near miss. Maybe it would behoove us to put something on the ballot," said Schumacher, of Columbus. "The Legislature now has a chance to do it right."

Schumacher disputed the argument that the proposal failed to make the ballot because of a lack of support. He pointed to previous ballot drives that gathered enough signatures to qualify, including the ones where he was involved in 2002 and 2004. During those years, he said organizers relied on an elaborate tracking system to weed out duplicate and invalid signatures.

"Had this latest initiative been done competently, it would have been on the ballot," Schumacher said.
By Missy Martin

I wrote the below letter to fight for the right to my health and to act as a voice for all other students who are also required to pay for unhealthy, poor quality food over the course of their college careers. Students should not be required to pay for meal plans that do not support their health and well-being. I believe all students should be eating FLOSN (fresh, local, organic, seasonal and non-GMO) food. Otherwise, they should be given the opportunity to opt out. My hope is that our decision makers realize the impact their choices are having on our minds, bodies and future.

After writing the letter, Belmont University denied my request to opt out of my meal plan. This response tells me that my school values the price of a meal plan over my health. By my school not allowing me to opt out of a meal plan, I am being forced to feed my body with food laden with toxic chemicals. I refuse to put harmful food in my body. Belmont denying my right to health is unacceptable.

As a result of Belmonts response, I decided last week that I am taking a gap year and transferring next year to a school that aligns with my values for human and environmental health, and that will support me in my development as an advocate for environmentally sustainable and socially responsible choices, practices and communities.

I started a petition to show Belmont leadership that this issue matters, and although I will not be attending the school anymore, I still want to continue to be a voice for my Belmont friends and all other students required to have a meal plan because they live on campuses all over our country.

Join me in demanding the #RightToHealth. Sign my petition, and lets continue to voice the right for students to choose what they put in their bodies and the need for healthy, fresh, and affordable food on college campuses.

Below is a shortened version of my letter to Belmont:

Dear Dining Services,

The reason I am writing is to discuss my meal plan. I understand that students are required to have a meal plan, but I am hoping that we can work together and make an exception for my circumstance.

First, I would like to share a little bit about my story. Then, I will discuss how healthy food is a passion in my life both at Belmont University and beyond.

This summer I ate by FLOSN (fresh, local, organic, seasonal and non-GMO) criteria. I noticed that when I eat food with integrity, I feel better in mind, body and spirit. I have more energy to do what I love and to lead with passion and purpose. I have really struggled being on a meal plan the last two years. I am eating food that I dont believe in and that doesnt support human and environmental health. It has contributed to a college experience that, for me, is unhealthy and unhappy. How can I function when I know that each cell in my body is being fed with food laden with toxic chemicals?

Did you know that the average non-organic apple contains 42 pesticide residues (5 known or probable carcinogens, 19 suspected hormone disruptors, 10 neurotoxins and 6 developmental or reproductive toxicants)? The Environmental Working Group listed 12 of the most heavily sprayed food items and many of those listed are what our school refers to as the healthy options in Belmonts cafeteriaapples, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, spinach, peppers and greens.

Its not just about organic, but I also stand behind and fully live by a non-GMO lifestyle. Heres why:

This is an excerpt from my letter to 50 senators asking them to oppose the DARK Act:

One of my main concerns with GMOs is the relationship between GMO crops and agrochemicals. Use of toxic herbicides, like Roundup, have increased 16 times since GMOs were introduced. The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, was listed as a probable human carcinogen last year by the World Health Organization (WHO), reinforcing the numerous research findings that have proven the detrimental effects of this toxic ingredient.

I want to avoid the foods that contain GMOs and agrochemicals. Protecting the health of my body, my future and our planet is important to me.

How is FLOSN food a part of my future aspirations?

By becoming an environmental lawyer, I hope to reflect change by protecting both human and environmental health from destructive pesticide exposure and GMOs by reforming legislation. I attended the Tennessee Local Food Summit and the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conferences and by listening to what the farmers in the region have to say, I believe the most pressing issue farmers face is feeling voiceless against big agribusinesses. I want to give them a voice. I want to be a change maker by fighting for funding and sustainable tools and practices for the farmers and their communities. Through informing, inspiring and mobilizing people at the local and national levels to start supporting, growing and buying FLOSN food, I believe food and health systems can be transformed.

Now, I want to address all of the other students required to have a meal plan because they live on campuses all over our country. I believe all students should be eating FLOSN food. Otherwise, they should be given the opportunity to opt out.

We need to care for each other and cultivate a healthier world. Belmont says Belief in something greater. Well, lets live by that phrase! I have talked to dining services in the past and I want to continue to collaborate with them on how to take steps on doing right. I have experience working with Turning Greens The Conscious Kitchen, a program that created the first FLOSN school district in the country at affordable price points.

By working together, we can shift the paradigm of college dining. Acting with a conscious mindset and thoughtful perspective is critical. We need to assess our surroundings and investigate the impacts of what students are exposed to every day. We need to see ourselves as catalysts for the change our world needs at every level. Will you stand up for students right to the access of healthy, fresh and affordable food and protecting their health?

I need to opt out of a meal plan because I do not support the food that is currently being served both at the cafeteria and campus stores.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response.

With kindness,

Missy Martin

Missy Martin, from Naperville, Illinois, is pursuing a double major in environmental science and social entrepreneurship with a minor in public relations with a concentration in contemporary social issues.
Zika could extend its reach from Miami to Gulf States such as Texas and Louisiana, National Institute of Health official Anthony Fauci said in an interview Monday.

This warning comes just days after the Center for Disease Control expanded on its first ever domestic travel warning by advising pregnant women not to travel to Miami Beach due to the spread of Zika. Fauci highlighted the increased risk of Zika in Louisiana because of recent flooding, as standing water provides an ideal breeding ground for mosquitos.

In many Southern cities, mosquito season is getting longer thanks to climate change, which is a threat multiplier for Zika and other vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue.

For a deeper dive:

News: Washington Post, Reuters, TIME, The Hill, NPR, Wall Street Journal

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.
(Facebook/GoPro)"GoPro Hero 5" may have voice control

GoPro Inc. has remained mum about details of the next iteration of a GoPro camera, the GoPro Hero 5, but somehow leaks surface online giving fans an idea what the product may bring to the table.

It should be noted that the leaked details have not been confirmed by the company so it's best to take them with a pinch of salt. Based on the image and specs report from Japanese site Nokishita, via Mirrorless Rumors, GoPro Hero 5's external appeal won't have significant changes and will look much like its predecessors. It can also be seen that the camera will have a touchscreen display on the back.

It also appears that the Hero 5 will have the same graphics processor as the Hero 4, which means that the device will have 4K at 30 frames per second as the highest quality for the video mode. Image stabilization feature, Global Positioning System (GPS) connectivity and voice control are also likely to be included. The voice control is said to allow users to turn the device on or off with the use of verbal commands.

Meanwhile, a PDF file of the alleged user manual of the camera was also obtained by The Verge, and it detailed some of the features that are expected of the device. It looks like the camera will be what company CEO Nick Woodman described it to be  the "most connected and convenient" action camera ever made.

As mentioned in the instructional file, which has since been deleted, GoPro will soon have a cloud service called the GoPro Plus, which lets users upload their content via cloud, edit them and share with other users remotely from any device. The uploading of content is likely done via a Wi-Fi connection, according to The Verge, as it's unlikely that the action camera will come with its own cellular connectivity.

More and more rumored features about the GoPro Hero 5 start to pop up as the holidays are nearing. It is expected that this will continue before the year ends, when the camera is expected to arrive.
(Photo: REUTERS / Stringer)The remains of the Kano central mosque bombing victim is carried on the top of a car from the Murtala Mohammed specialist Hospital for burial according to Muslim rites, in Kano State, November 28, 2014. Gunmen set off three bombs and opened fire on worshipers at the central mosque in north Nigeria's biggest city Kano, killing at least 35 people on Friday, witnesses and police said, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of Islamist Boko Haram militants.

Nigerian Christians and Muslims have met in the mainly Muslim north of the west of Nigeria to open the International Centre for Inter-Faith Peace and Harmony.

The center is located in Kaduna, where more than 20,000 people have died in various conflicts over the last three decades and it was opened Aug. 19.

It is one of a growing number of interfaith initiatives in Nigeria and its goal is to systematically document interfaith relations to inform national and international policy-making.

The Christian Council of Nigeria and Jama'atu Nasril Islam, led the effort to open the center, which was preceded in 2014 by a consultative forum held in Abuja that drew about 40 Muslim and Christian leaders.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, said at the official opening.

"We have come here as pilgrims, Muslims and Christians, to seek the will of God for justice and peace," he said.

"Pilgrimages are for people of faith to holy places. That might be places of great historical importance for our faith.

"However, places where the sanctity of life, holy in the eyes of the Holy God, are under threat can also be holy places. Like here in Kaduna.

"We are today in the city that has been known by many for the fights with religious connotations."

But now Kaduna will be a city known for its witness to inter-religious peace and harmony, he said.

"This place can be a holy place in a new way, bringing a new vision and anew reality of people of faith living together.

Many supporters were recognized at the grand opening, among them Dr. Emmanuel Josiah Udofia, primate of the African Church and president of the Christian Council of Nigeria, Sultan of Sokoto Sa'adu Abubakar, and Dr. Khalid Aliyu, secretary general of Jama'atu Nasril Islam.

PRINCE GHAZI

Prince Ghazi of Jordan and Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja were among those who envisioned the goals of the center.

Malam Nasir EL-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State, formally opened the center.

He shared his experience of the way that religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim, sometimes speak and act in ways that hinder interreligious peace.

He was, however, strongly supportive of the center as a physical symbol helping Muslims and Christians work together more effectively.

Abubakar also expressed support for the center, and spoke about how God wants there to be religious diversity in Nigeria.

Onaiyekan said he believes the center could potentially become a model for conflict resolution in other parts of the world.
(Photo: REUTERS / Tony Gentile)Pope Francis listens to Rahmi Yaran, Mufti of Istanbul (R) during a visit to Sultan Ahmet mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul November 29, 2014. Pope Francis began his visit to Turkey with the delicate mission of strengthening ties with Muslim leaders while condemning violence against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East.

Turkey has faced sporadic bombings and has survived a coup attempt this year so it is hardly surprising Pope Francis has offered prayers for the victims of the latest suicide bombing in the country.

A total of 54 people were killed in the blast and a further 69 people were injured, including women and children, as they danced in the street at a Kurdish wedding party in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said it was likely that the terrorist group calling itself ISIS or Daesh was behind the attack and claimed it was carried out by a child aged between 12 and 14 in the mainly Muslim nation.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later said authorities did not know if the suicide bomber who attacked a Kurdish wedding killing the 54 people was a child, the BBC reported.

After reciting the Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square on Sunday, Pope Francis said "sad news" had reached him about the "the bloody attack" carried out in "dear Turkey," Vatican Radio reported.

"Let us pray for the victims, for the dead and the injured, and we ask for the gift of peace for all," said Francis.

The Pope also led the crowd in the square in praying the Hail Mary for the victims of the suicide bombing, The Catholic Herald reported.

Pope Francis had also told pilgrims gathered in the Vatican that "life is not a video game or a soap opera."

The "narrow gate" to salvation described by Jesus isn't narrow because God is oppressive, but because pride bloats Christians and prevents them from entering God's merciful embrace, Francis said.

Christians "must seize the opportunities of salvation" and not waste time on trivial things before the gate is closed, the Pope told the faithful.
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A Melbourne teacher will spend three years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to having an emotional and sexual relationship with one of his students.Judge Peter Kidd, Chief Judge of the County Court of Victoria, handed down the sentence yesterday after the 37-year-old teacher, Wesley Ellis, admitted to having sex with his 16-year-old student 12 times during 2015.Earlier this month, the AAP reported that the relationship between Ellis and the student developed after he gave her his mobile number and they began texting each other.The court heard that the two would meet in hotels, as well as secluded car parks near Melbourne airport, which is where they were caught by police in November last year.Ellis defence barrister, Ian Hill QC, said the offences occurred at a time when the 37-year-old was going through marital problems.He thought he was in love with her, Hill told the court, adding that Ellis had a deluded fantasy that he could maintain the relationship with the student.In a character reference to the court, Ellis' wife said her husband was a good man, and described his offending behaviour as out of character.The girls family said they were worried about her emotional stability and feared that her future relationships would be negatively impacted.Ellis defence had initially pushed for a short term of imprisonment as well as a community corrections order.However, Kidd said the sentence needed to be significant enough to deter others  particularly teachers  from engaging in such crimes.
Corporal punishment has declined so rapidly in the United States in the last 15 years that many people think its practically nonexistent in modern American public schools.

To the contrary, more than 109,000 students were paddled, swatted, or otherwise physically punished in U.S. classrooms in 2013-14, according to Education Week Research Center analyses of the most recent wave of federal civil rights data.

Corporal punishment is often seen by proponents as a good alternative to suspending students. But in a field that requires specialized certification for all manner of programs and subjects, corporal punishment stands out for the virtual nonexistence of training or detailed procedures on how to paddle children of different sizes, ages, or psychological profiles. And in the absence of such training or guidance, the practice can leave students more vulnerable to injury and districts at greater risk of expensive lawsuits.

Federal civil rights data show students experienced corporal punishment in 21 states and more than 4,000 schools nationwide during the 2013-14 school year. Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma physically disciplined the most students in 2013-14though the practice continues to be the most widespread in Mississippi, where more than half of students attend schools that use paddling and other physical discipline. But students were physically punished even in a few states that prohibit the practice.

Economic variation

Even within the states where it was most common, paddling was far from evenly distributed. Nationwide, students eligible for school meal programsa proxy for low-income statuswere more likely to attend schools that use corporal punishment than students who dont qualify.

That makes sense, considering the higher poverty levels in the Southern states that make up the bulk of states allowing corporal punishment. However, within nearly all the states that allow corporal punishment, wealthier students are less likely than low-income students to attend a school that actually uses the practice.

For example, low-income students in Tennessee are 1.38 times more likely to attend a school that uses corporal punishment when compared to higher-income students. The same pattern holds in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

However, in Mississippi, the state that uses corporal punishment most extensively, the reverse is true: Students who dont qualify for school meals are a bit more likely to attend schools that paddle, 59 percent versus 55 percent for low-income students.

See Also Open image caption Close image caption Trey Clayton, 19, sits on the porch of his home in Sarah, Miss. Clayton, a former student from Independence High School, suffered injuries he sustained from being paddled on March 10, 2011. He was called to the office for mouthing off to a teacher and a librarian and was disciplined with a paddle. The incident left Clayton - then in the eighth grade - with a broken jaw, a two-inch gash in his chin, and two missing teeth. "I was crying, all kind of stuff, because my mouth hurt. I was spitting teeth," Clayton said. "I do believe in discipline, but I believe there's certain things you can take to prevent stuff like that happening." Yalonda M. James for Education Week School Climate & Safety Miss. Man's Life Upended by 8th Grade Paddling Remove Save to favorites

Both white and black students are more likely than students of other races to attend a school that allows corporal punishment, but black students are disproportionately likely to experience physical discipline. Based on the federal data, white students made up about 50 percent of all those who experienced corporal punishmentbut they made up about 60 percent of the student population in their schools. Black students, by contrast, made up 22 percent of all students attending schools using corporal punishment, but 38 percent of those who received such discipline nationwide.

The racial gap becomes more conspicuous when you compare rates of corporal punishment for white versus black students within the schools that documented it: Black students experienced corporal punishment at twice the rate of white students, 10 percent versus 5 percent.

We do see corporal punishment as just one piece of the school-to-prison pipeline and the disproportionate disciplining of students of color, said Rhonda Brownstein, the legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Other racial groups

While other racial groups made up too small a portion of the enrollment to take a meaningful statistical measure in many of the schools in states that allowed corporal punishment, some of them did show up in the data. In Oklahoma, for example, which has a significant and often disadvantaged Native American population, those students were nearly twice as likely to attend a school that allowed physical discipline as one that didnt.

We know that in schools where corporal punishment is practiced, its often on boys, minorities, and kids with behavior issues. We have this grave irony of hitting primarily boys, a significant percentage of whom have already endured maltreatment, said Victor Vieth, the founder and senior director of the Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center, which was created by hospital networks to reduce corporal punishment. The group trains officials in hospitals and schools on ways to help parents and educators avoid corporal punishment in responding to childrens misbehavior.

The training program has spread rapidly, but for schools using corporal punishment, theres little guidance to be had from the mishmash of vague and sometimes contradictory state laws, district policies, and case laws that address the practice.

Case law was set nearly 40 years ago, with the 1977 case Ingraham v. Wright . The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Florida students who argued that corporal punishment violated their rights to due process under the 14th Amendment as well as their Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. At the time, the high court argued that school officials had considerable discretion to discipline students on campus. Since then, there has been no new federal precedent, though the U.S. Department of Educations office for civil rights has cited schools use of corporal punishment in larger investigations of racially disproportionate discipline.

State laws a jumble

Theres no consensus among states on how to regulate physical discipline in schools. Texas allows the discipline unless parents ask in writing that their child not be paddled, while Utah bans physical discipline without a parents written permission. Alabama allows the practice, and Maryland bans it, but neither state details what corporal punishment would include.

In Louisiana, administrators fill out a form for corporal punishment incidents, naming witnesses, describing the students behavior and other types of discipline that had already been tried, such as a detention or a meeting with parents. Florida requires its districts that want to use corporal punishment to hold a public hearing every three years.

Policies can vary within states, too. The Texas education agency allows corporal punishment, but its Child Protective Services requires foster parents to opt their students out, arguing it can hurt students with a history of trauma and interfere with students ability to trust adults.

In part, the variation comes from significant local control of corporal punishment policies. Fifteen states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, Wyoming, and Tennessee, explicitly allow corporal punishment but let local school boards decide whether to use it.

That leads to more specific rules in some districts than others. For example, Louisianas Central Parish stipulates no more than three swats of a paddle approximately 20 inches long, 4 inches wide, and not exceeding  inch in thickness for any grade, while Pointe Coupee schools use a district-set paddle but limit the number of strikes to three for grades 6 and under, and five for upper grades.

Thats a common size for a school paddle, though theres no real consensus on what size implements should be used on children of different ages, nor how many strikes or how hard they should be. From state to state and district to district, spankings are given for infractions from being tardy to fighting, and can run from one to eight strikes in a session, according to a review of paddling-related lawsuits.

In fact, one of the few things states and districts seem to agree on is that those who paddle generally learn as they go.

Ive been doing this a long time and I dont know that Ive ever seen anyone offer training, said Daryl Scoggin, the superintendent of the Tate County, Miss., school district on the border of Tennessee. Its kind of like, I had it done to me, and so I knew what I needed to do. I guess its more that you learn by watching.  We dont practice on dummies or anything like that.

And even when state or district laws ban physical discipline, individual schools still reported using it. All told, Education Week found 18 schools that reported at least oneand often severalcases of physical punishment in four states that have outlawed the practice on paper. For example, District of Columbia public schools ban the use or attempted use of physical force to discipline a student; not just hitting or spanking, but also pushing, grabbing, or unreasonable restraint. The district keeps a special investigator to evaluate any alleged corporal punishment. Ten schools spanning all grade levels reported such cases in 2013-14, Education Week found.

Corporal punishment is not allowed in our schools, thus we take it very seriously and follow all protocols when there is an allegation at our schools, said Michelle Lerner, a District of Columbia schools spokesperson. Lerner confirmed reporting the cases Education Week found, but declined to comment on the specifics of them or allow the investigator to discuss trends in the district.

Unexplained cases

Administrators at other schools told Education Week that the illegal cases were caused by reporting errors in the federal Civil Rights Data Collection. This is possiblethe massive biennial survey has had inaccuracies in prior yearsbut Mary Schifferli of the Education Departments office for civil rights said each school and district had to certify its data as accurate, in a system that flags potential issues such as when a school reports corporal punishment incidents after saying that it did not use corporal punishment.

National Trail public schools in Ohio, for example, listed at least 29 corporal punishment incidents across four categories in two schools. I have no idea why we have any instances listed with corporal punishment. We do not utilize corporal punishment, said Jeff Parker, the National Trail superintendent, who plans to file for a correction with the Education Department.

Nationwide, corporal punishment seems to be on a steady decline: from more than 300,000 students in 2000 to more than 109,000 in 2013-14 nationwide, according to Education Department estimates.

The Education Department does not bar physical discipline in K-12 schools, but the federal Head Start program prohibits its use among early-education grantees.

A long list of national education and child welfare groups , including teachers unions, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and associations for state education departments and boards of education, school nurses, counselors, and psychologists, have also come out against the practice.
When then-8th grader Trey Clayton entered the Independence High School assistant principals office for a paddling in 2011, everyoneschool officials, his mom, even Trey himselfthought it was a preferable alternative to being suspended.

Im not going to lie, I was in a lot of trouble during school, Clayton said. Every time, they gave me the option to get a paddling or get sent home, and I took the paddling.

But that March, the decision to take paddling over suspension would lead to weeks out of school, years of court battlesand ultimately Clayton leaving school entirely.

Advocates of physical discipline often point to it as an effective means of getting students in line without missing school time from suspensions. But new research not only questions the effectiveness of corporal punishment like spanking and paddling, but suggests it might make it more difficult for students to behave well in the future.

Its been part of these schools for decades, and the teachers and administrators are sure it works, said Elizabeth T. Gershoff, an associate professor and corporal punishment researcher at the University of Texas at Austin. But everything we know about how children process being hit by adults goes against it being effective.

In a 2016 study analyzing 50 years of research on 160,000 children, Gershoff and colleagues at the University of Michigan found the more children are spanked, even with an open hand, the more likely they are to defy adults and show more anti-social behavior, aggression, mental-health disorders, and lower academic achievement over time. Children struck with implements, such as paddles, showed even worse effects.

The relationship between spanking and negative outcomes was the same at all ages, Gershoff said. Theyre less well behaved, ... they dont do as well in school. Spanking had the opposite effects that people want it to have.

Negative effects

A 2010 study in the journal Neuroimage also found that adolescents who had regular paddling over a three-year period showed less grey matter in the area of the brain associated with self-control and problem solving.

The more we hit kids for their misbehavior, the more we may be reducing their neurological ability to actually control their behavior, said Victor Vieth, the founder and senior director of the Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center, which was created by hospitals to reduce corporal punishment.

Clayton had received licks with the schools wooden paddle before, for misbehaviors like falling asleep in class or being tardythough he wryly noted that the beatings didnt give him much pause: I would go in, get a paddling, come back, go about my day.

But studies have also found its easy for corporal punishment to get out of hand, as it did for Clayton that day near the end of 8th grade, his first year in that high school. Clayton went to the office on March 10, 2011 to be paddled for mouthing off to a teacher and a librarian. This time, however, court documents show that shortly after getting three strikes, Clayton fainted as he left the office, breaking his jaw and opening a two-inch gash in his chin when he hit the floor. When I went to pick him up, my son was spitting teeth into the trash can, Treys mother, Dana Hamilton, said.

Clayton and his mom launched a three-year lawsuit against the district as a result of the incident, alleging school officials used excessive force and disproportionately targeted boys for punishment. Another Independence High student, William Cody Childress, was already fighting a separate suit based on a 2009 paddling.

Both students lost: Federal and state case law overwhelmingly defer to school officials judgment with regard to whether corporal punishment is excessive, even if students sustain injuries over several days or require hospitalization. In a footnote to Claytons case, U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Mills noted that, while the boy had no legal grounds for compensation from the school, if defendants agree that plaintiff suffered these serious injuries as a result of his paddling, they might reasonably regard themselves as being morally obligated to pay him some damages in compensation.

Even when adults are trained and use clear procedures for corporal punishment, its easy for such situations to escalate, Vieth said. Thats one of the main reasons doctors are concerned about this practice, he said.

Clayton missed weeks of class while his jaw was wired shut. He missed the end-of-semester tests and was not allowed to make them up, ultimately failing 8th grade. As the lawsuit continued, Clayton became more disengaged from school; he transferred to another school, then later dropped out.

When the school called Claytons mother over that last incident, she approved his punishment of three strikesthough it may not have mattered if she had protested. Mississippi, like several other corporal punishment states, allows parents to opt out, but the requests dont carry the force of law.

At the time when I OKd it, I was all for corporal punishment, Hamilton said. Im totally against it now. If the teachers and principals are not trained properly, anything can happen to a child.

In the aftermath of the lawsuits, Tate County briefly suspended its use of corporal punishment, but has since brought it back. Daryl Scoggin, who became the superintendent after both the ban and reinstatement, said he gives his principals broad discretion to paddle, but also urges them not to turn to it as a first option.

If you make [corporal punishment] the first option, any other option seems like its no big deal, he said. Scoggin also said repeated paddlings, as Clayton experienced, are less likely in Tate County now.

I like to give kids the opportunity to self discipline and reason through it first. ... If Ive administered corporal punishment two or three times over a period of time and it doesnt seem to be effective, then Im not going to keep kicking a dead horse, he said. Thats the message I try to give to all my principals: If youve paddled a child two or three times and it doesnt seem to be altering their behavior, then we need to move onto something else.

Clayton, now 19, said he hopes to earn a GED and go to college to become a nurse or a diesel mechanic. It will be years before his daughter Evelyn, 1, and her 2-year-old sister start school, but Clayton has decided one thing already: They will attend no school that allows corporal punishment.

Editors note: The paddle that Trey Clayton is holding in the accompanying video is his own. He said it resembles the one used on him in 2011, but the schools paddle did not have holes in it.
Its hard to change a deep culture that favors physically disciplining students at school, but it is happening.

Nationwide, the practice is on a steady decline, from more than 300,000 students in 2000 to more than 109,000 in 2013-14 nationwide.

That mirrors shrinking support for physical punishment in general: The Annie E. Casey Foundations Child Trends annual study finds the percentage of adults who believe that sometimes children need a good, hard spanking for discipline shrunk from 84 percent for men and 82 percent for women in 1985, to 76 percent for men and 65 percent for women in 2014.

And even when parents believe they should physically discipline their own children, they are less sanguine about having school officials do so. For example, while more than 60 percent of parents in the South, where corporal punishment tends to be more common in schools, believed in spanking their own children, only 35 percent approved of corporal punishment in schools, according to a 2002 ABC News poll.

The culture weve found is a dichotomy, said Kimberly Jones Merchant, a managing attorney and the director of educational opportunities for the Mississippi Center for Justice, which represents disadvantaged students in that state.

While many parents believe their children should be paddled for acting up, she said, there is also a belief that theres a line that should be drawn when a stranger at school is doing the paddling. Its been difficult on a state level to try to change the policy because there are a whole slew of parents who not only support it but want it.

The center was part of the unsuccessful push to ban corporal punishment in Mississippi last year. Marilyn Young, a former Mississippi state school board member and a former board member and educator in Tunica County schools, said media coverage of the nearby Memphis, Tenn., public schools decision to ban corporal punishment made it harder to pass the statewide ban in 2015. Nearly all of Tunicas poor, mostly rural school district is black, as were all of the more than 160 students who experienced corporal punishment in the district in 2013-14.

A lot of people thought all hell broke loose (after Memphis ban), Young said. It just puts this image in your mind that students are going to be totally out of control if they cant get a whipping.

Tiered Response

Instead of an outright ban, critics of corporal punishment in Mississippi and beyond have focused on baby steps. The state law allows districts to decide whether or not to use corporal punishment, and only 11 of Mississippis 148 school districts explicitly ban corporal punishment, according to Merchants analysis, but many are trying to reduce administrators use of the practice.

Some of the administrators, its finally dawning on them that [corporal punishment] doesnt work and they need to find an alternative, Young said.

In 2013-14, federal civil rights data show that out of more than 25,000 students who received corporal punishment in Mississippi, the Grenada, Miss., school district accounted for more than 400 of them. While its high school did not use corporal punishment, its K-3, 4-5, and middle schools did. In the lower schools, black students received corporal punishment at double the rate of white students. In Grenada Elementary School, for example, 10 percent of white students received physical discipline, compared to 23 percent of black students.

Grenada recognized the high number of office discipline referrals, leading the district to take a closer look at our discipline policy, said David Daigneault, the districts superintendent. The then-4,300-student school system decided to implement positive behavior intervention and supports, or PBIS, a tiered framework for dealing with student misbehavior. Grenada isnt alone: A 2015 study of public attitudes toward corporal punishment in the International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education likewise found a generational change of educators and parents moving away from physical discipline and towards PBIS and similar methods.

Grenada has developed behavior plans for each of its students and added more punishments involving loss of privileges, such as missing music, art, library, or computer time, in addition to missing recess. Corporal punishment can be used now only after the student has already received counseling, parent conferences, and other forms of discipline without effect, though there is still no districtwide limit on what implement can be used or to what extent. The district also began allowing parents to opt their students out of physical punishment.

Before implementing the new discipline system, Daigneault said, 255 out of 1,546 students at Grenada Elementary, the districts K-3 school, received corporal punishment in 2013-14. By 2014-15, after implementation, that number fell to 108 students, and then to 61 students in 2015-16.

The Tunica district similarly has limited corporal punishment on its own, but it took us about five yearstrainings at the board level for two years, talking about how can we cut our system of referrals down  and it is still a constant struggle, Young said. We have board members vote to get rid of it, and then the next board members vote to bring it back.
One of the most stalwart advocates for big-city school districts and a power player in federal education policy got its start 60 years ago as an ad hoc meeting of superintendents worried about prospects for graduates in cities where manufacturing jobs were dwindling.

That groupincluding superintendents from Chicago, Cleveland, New York City, and San Franciscoevolved into the Council of the Great City Schools, the Washington-based advocacy organization that champions the interests of the countrys 69 largest urban districts and Hawaiis statewide school system.

Along the way, the council became a formidable voice on behalf of urban districts, and has served as a forum for big-city school leaders to learn from one another. The group has left an imprint on major federal education legislation and policies, from Title I, which provides additional funds to high-poverty schools, to the federal E-rate program, which subsidizes telecommunications services for libraries and schools.

As the council enters its 60th year, it faces tests to its staying power.

The urban education landscape in many cities now includes expanding school choice such as charter schools and vouchers, and, in some cases, state-run school districts. A new federal education law is shifting decisionmaking authority to states, an arena where the council has held little sway. And the councils central missionaccelerating the pace of academic progress in schools filled mostly with low-income students of coloris as challenging as ever.

Supporters of the council say its role is even more important at this juncture.

I couldnt do my job without the council, said Kaya Henderson, the outgoing chancellor of the District of Columbia school system who serves on the groups executive committee.

The Council of the Great City Schools: Key Moments

Without the council, I wouldnt have the information that I need, I wouldnt have the network with other urban superintendents that I need, I wouldnt have the visibility.

The council often points to the District of Columbia as an exemplar of the strides that urban districts have made. Despite stubborn racial gaps in performance, the district is the fastest-improving urban school system in the country on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nations report card.

Those results are proof to Michael Casserly, the councils executive director, that urban schools are getting better and the groups work is having an impact.

Collectively, though, urban school systems still trail the national average in performance on NAEP. And in districts that have improved, large gaps remain between black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian peers.

I dont think anybody is satisfied with where we are, Casserly said. But I do think that, as an organization, weve been instrumental in defining a vision for improvement, galvanizing the membership around that mission, and putting the tools in place to help them improve and then the measures to tell whether or not we have been effective.

Arne Duncan, who was the U.S. secretary of education from 2009 until late last year, said the council deserves credit for the improvements in urban school systems and for being willing to be held publicly accountable for results.

I think they have worked with a level of courage and commitment to children and commitment to results that is, frankly, often rare in the education space, said Duncan, a former CEO of the Chicago district.

The districts that make up the council serve about 7.3 million students, 40 percent of whom are Hispanic, 29 percent African-American, and 20 percent white. Seventy percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of poverty.

Reach and Impact

Over time, the council has become well-respected for its knowledge of how urban systems work and a go-to source for lawmakers and others looking to test how education policies and proposals are likely to play out in big-city schools. The councils steady leadership from Casserly, the executive director since 1992, along with Jeff Simering, the legislative director since 1994, has helped bolster its reputation.

Whats unusual is the level of expertise that they bring to the table, said Vic Klatt, a lobbyist on K-12 issues. They sweat the details in lots of ways that others dont.

The group is also bipartisan in nature, an advantage when working both sides of the aisle to secure as much money as it can for districts while pushing to avoid saddling them with more rules.

The council has demonstrated time and again that its member districts were willing to subject themselves to more scrutiny. Its support for the annual testing requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act and the breakdown of testing results by demographic groups are some of the most prominent examples. But arguably its most important move was persuading urban districts to voluntarily have their students performance on NAEP collected, analyzed, publicly reported, and compared with state-level results as part of the Trial Urban District Assessment, or TUDA.

The councils deep research on issues and its ability to provide quick feedback from its member districts has made it an invaluable resource to congressional and Education Department staff members.

Michael Yudin, the former assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services in the Obama administration, said he relied on the councils knowledge when it came to understanding how new policies and programs would work in urban schools.

We were always cognizant of their voice and their influence and their ability to help with implementation, Yudin said. At the end of the day, can districts implement what we are trying to do? And thats the role that they played in helping us think through that.

But the councils work to influence policy in Washington at times has drawn the ire of other groups that advocate for children.

The group opposed the Federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 because it feared it would impose untenable costs for districts. The council was joined in its opposition by other major K-12 organizations, but the stance put it at odds with health and wellness groups pushing for more-stringent nutrition standards in school meals. It has also been at odds with some civil rights organizations and disability groups over how to hold schools accountable for student performance and tackle the achievement gap.

Setting the Agenda?

Whether the council sets the K-12 agenda in Washington or is seen as a follower depends on the issue.

Duncan and others say it has been agenda-setting in delving into the education of African-American and Latino boys and examining the role of race and the persistence of racial disparities in schools. The councils initiatives around improving academic outcomes for black, Latino, and Native American boys, for example, predated President Barack Obamas My Brothers Keeper program by several years.

When the debate began raging about too much testing in schoolsgiving rise to the parental opt-out movementthe council did an in-depth survey on testing in schools. The report, released last October, added hard numbers to a largely evidence-free debate, Casserly said.

More to the point, the Obama administration released a set of principles to help districts cut back on the number of assessmentsthe very same day the councils report was released.

I think we are really ahead on some of these national conversations, the District of Columbias Henderson said.

But in the more recent debates around how to hold schools accountable for performance under the new Every Student Succeeds Act, the council, some observers said, was not among the prominent voices.

The council includes members of big-city school boards, and while much of its work focuses on influencing federal policy, it works directly with districts to improve all manner of their operations. The council deploys teams of experts to review such areas as curriculum, transportation, food services, and finances. And superintendents say they can rely on the organizations advice on a range of issues.

Working for Districts

The Tulsa, Okla., district, which joined the council last year, tapped its network of experts to review the districts instructional programs and adopted some of the recommendations in a new strategic plan, said Superintendent Deborah Gist. Still, some of the most intractable problems in urban districts persistlagging graduation rates, overall low achievement in reading and math, and high teacher turnover, to name a few. Leadership churnespecially at the superintendent levelremains a stubborn problem. A council report in 2014 found that the average tenure for a big-city superintendent is 3.2 years.

John Deasy, a former Los Angeles Unified superintendent who was ousted by his board in 2014, said the council cant be blamed for leadership churn that sometimes results from school boards and superintendents pursuing different agendas and circumstances that are products of local environments.

The council has trained urban school boards in good governance, and the unique nature of its members, consisting of both school chiefs and school board members, means that both groups of leaders can work together and see issues from each others point of view, Deasy said.

As for criticism of test scores in urban schools, superintendents said its unfair to hold the council responsible. But Casserly said criticism about the rate of progress is valid.

I think as an organization its our responsibility to claim some ownership with where we are, he said.

As many of the challenges of educating children in poverty expand beyond urban districts to those in suburbs, the council faces questions about membership and who should be included in its ranks. In recent years, it has turned down applications from large school systems such as Marylands Prince Georges County and Washoe County, Nev., whose student populations mirror those of existing member districts but fell short on other criteria such as being in a city with a population of more than 250,000.

The council has started to invite those districts to meetings, but without full membership, they do not have access to the groups highly praised strategic-support teams.

On its core missionimproving academic achievementthe council will redouble efforts to improve overall instructional programs, turn around chronically underperforming schools, and focus on students who have always lagged behind their peers, including African-American boys, English-learners, and poor students.

I dont see a fundamental shift in our priorities, Casserly said. I see more an intensifying of the work.
The basement of a once-abandoned tobacco factory may seem to be an odd place to teach the most cutting edge computer technology, but that's where The Iron Yard, a computer coding academy in Durham, North Carolina, makes its home. It holds classes in the basement of the American Tobacco Campus, a renovated multi-use industrial site where the American Tobacco Factory once manufactured famous cigarette brands like Lucky Strike and Liggett & Myers.Yet, The Iron Yard's location does have a certain sense of continuity or symmetry to it. The industrial chic decor, with cement walls and floors, pipes hanging from the ceiling, and glass walls for every room, immediately brings to mind the feeling that this is a place of work, befitting a for-profit school dedicated to providing students with no-frills, nose-to-the-grindstone training intended to lead to a highly skilled job in just a few short months.The Iron Yard's students pay $13,900 to attend a rigorous 12-week program, working Monday through Friday in classes of around 15 students. A typical class consists of a lecture component and practice problems. While The Iron Yard nationally offers five different programs, ranging from data science to application design, the Durham location only offers courses on front-end and back-end engineering. (For all the coding illiterate out there-a group in which I count myself-The Iron Yard's website explains front-end engineering deals with "creating experiences in web browsers that users see and interact with," while back-end engineering focuses on "the logic and database needs required to run and scale web applications.")In order to graduate from the program, students have to create an independent final project, demonstrating the coding skills they learned from the program. According to reviews from former students, The Iron Yard's teachers tell their students to expect an entry-level salary of around $40,000, which is actually a conservative estimate according to data collected by PayScale.com. Whether they are delivering on that promise is difficult to ascertain.The Iron Yard is a chain of 22 campuses scattered across the country, the first of which opened in 2012 in Greenville, South Carolina. Coding academies, also known as programming boot camps, are a rapidly emerging market, with over 70 schools in the United States and Canada as of May 2015. Their main draw is the quick completion time, with most programs lasting only a few months, and the promise that students will leave with a junior programmer's level of knowledge.Right now, computer programming is a hot career choice, but historically, employment in the field has seen wild swings in demand. In the 90's the tech industry was booming thanks to the newly realized potential of the Internet. In the new millennium, the dot-com bubble popped and 86,000 people lost their jobs seemingly overnight. Demand was slow to recover, but now, according to some estimates, the market will face a shortage of 1 million computer programmers in the near future.In order to fill the market gap for coders, coding academies are springing up across the nation. Statistics on coding academies are hard to come by, leading to calls for transparency, but one report states that 10,000 more students enrolled in 2015 than in 2014, an increase of 138 percent.One such academy, Fullstack Academy in New York City, was founded by Nimit Maru and David Yang. The pair are experienced programmers who thought it'd be fun to teach their passion and mentor rising engineers.Students taking the main, immersive program learn full-stack Javascript. "Full-stack" is coding jargon for proficiency in both front-end and back-end coding. Fullstack Academy has a rigorous student vetting process, with coding questions appearing on the application.Yang said. "We accept about 5-8% of all applicants."The Iron Yard has a more "take all comers, survival of the fittest" approach to admissions. Applicants must provide some basic background information, but, according to Stacy Merrick, the Durham Iron Yard media representative, the Iron Yard doesIn fact, Merrick says most students at the Iron Yard come to the academy with "little to no formal coding education." While it is not required, most students have previously obtained a bachelor's degree and have some work experience.Whether coding academies that rapidly churn out graduates like The Iron Yard and Fullstack Academy are the solution to the need for tech workers is not yet known. Kevin Jeffay, the chairman of the computer science department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in an email that he is intrigued by coding academies. He said he believes creating workers with a very specific skill set isn't necessarily a bad thing, adding that "we're not in a one-size-fits-all world and at present there seems to be demand for 'coders' across a fairly wide spectrum of coding skills and proficiencies."Jeffay added that, since college graduates are more expensive to hire than non-degree-holders, not every company needs college-educated workers for all positions.Jeffay suggested.Yet, despite their potential upside, Jeffay said he is still unsureBoth Fullstack Academy and the Iron Yard boast high job placement numbers, but some have cautioned that their estimates may not be completely accurate. There is no industry standard for what constitutes a "job," so many schools include internships and part time jobs in their job placement numbers.With the world of technology constantly changing, coding academies must strive to stay on the cutting edge. To solve this issue, each Iron Yard location creates a business advisory board. These boards consist of representatives from local tech businesses who give school administrators input on what qualities and skills they are currently seeking in employees. Soltech, a business located in Atlanta, Georgia, is on the advisory board of the local Iron Yard; it is a programming contractor that hires Iron Yard graduates.Soltech vice-president Veanne Smith said in an over-the-phone interview that they love their Iron Yard employees.says Smith.Given the brevity of instruction and the very specific subject matter, questions have been raised about whether or not they're creating well-rounded students. According to Merrick, the purpose of The Iron Yard is not to give students a well-rounded education. "The Iron Yard is designed specifically to prepare students to enter the workforce as junior-level developers after graduation," she explained. Fullstack's Yang agrees with this sentiment, saying coding schools are becoming more en vogue largely due to what Yang calls "the unbundling of education," which allows students to focus on their area of interest by removing general education requirements.Even as concerns are voiced, for the time being, the number of-and enrollment at-coding academies should continue to grow explosively. From 2014 to 2015 there was a 138 percent increase in graduates. And with students paying a national average of $11,000 in tuition, it's no surprise that the coding boot camps raked in $172 million in revenue last year. Whether these "unbundlers" prove to be a permanent-and influential-innovation in higher education is anybody's guess at this point. We will perhaps find out when the software industry again has a glut of technical workers as it has in the past.
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."
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
People on the Isle of Man need to be better educated about autism so they don't automatically brand children with the condition as 'naughty'.

That's the opinion of parents who've spoken out after a Facebook row erupted last week concerning so-called 'badly behaved children' in restaurants and cafes.

Sara Mattio is a director of Action 4 Autism - her nine-year-old son has severe autism; she says it's 'sad' that people don't understand the complexity of the spectrum.

She says there's a clear difference between children who are having a tantrum and those who are suffering from a meltdown - something often triggered by a sensory overload:
Heroin courier's sentence was not 'unduly lenient'

Appeal judges have ruled the sentence handed down to a pregnant woman who was caught importing heroin to the Isle of Man was not 'unduly lenient'.

The case against 34-year-old Louise Creer from Port Erin was brought before the High Court of Justice last month.

In June this year Creer was sentenced to four years and six months in prison - it followed her arrest in February for trying to import more than 85 grams of the Class A substance to the Island.

The drug had a street value of over 8,000 - during her time in hospital Creer discovered she was pregnant; she later pleaded guilty to production and possession of the drug with intent to supply.

At the time of sentence Deemster Montgomerie gave her a one third reduction saying he was showing mercy as due to a lack of facilities at the prison the baby would be removed once born.

Following the verdict the Attorney General's Chambers contended the sentence was unduly lenient and it was referred to the Appeal Division.

In the judgement Judge of Appeal Tattersall, and Deemsters Doyle and Bailhache, ruled the prosecutor couldn't give 'any reasoned argument' to support that submission.

They highlighted the prosecutor herself had said 'sentencing was an art and not a science' adding the aggravating factors put forward - including the quantity of drugs and previous convictions - were not deemed as such.

Summing up the appeal the trio said "we do not think that such an approach is justified nor that the interests of justice will be served by increasing the respondent's current sentence".
Charters Outperform Districts On State Tests

In 12 of 13 demographic subgroups- including minorities, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities- students at public charter schools academically outperformed students at traditional public schools on standardized and state-mandated End-of-Grade (EOG) tests. Overall for the most recent year, NCDPI data reveal that the performance average of NC charter school students was 66.6% compared to the traditional public school student performance average of 56.2%.

Charter schools are tuition-free public schools that have more freedom than district-run public schools but are required to meet certain state regulations, such as participation in the state testing program. The N.C. General Assembly passed the charter school law twenty years ago. Today, 159 charter schools enroll an estimated 82,000 students. According to self-reported data collected by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction in 2015, the wait list for charter school seats hovers around 32,000 children.North Carolina state statutes outline six goals for the state's public charter schools. "Improve student learning" is first on the list. That is no accident. Yet, the prioritization of raising student achievement may come as a surprise to some. After all, the mainstream media repeatedly claim that charter schools are meant to be, first and foremost, "laboratories of innovation," that is, schools that adopt alternative instructional models, teaching methods, and institutional configurations.But experimentation is a means to an end. The state's charter school law provides them the regulatory flexibility to implement alternatives, but freedom to experiment was never meant to come at the expense of improving student learning. In fact, some of the most successful charter schools in North Carolina employ what some would consider to be conventional or "old fashioned" teaching methods.The point is that we should not determine the success of charter schools and the charter school movement generally based on the novelty of their approaches but on their ability to improve student learning for the population that they serve. If state test scores are any indication, they are doing just that.In time for National Charter Schools Week, the Roger Bacon Academy, Inc. and the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools published a comparison of charter and district performance on 2014-15 state tests. Data were verified by NC Department of Public Instruction analysts and compare overall proficiency percentages by subgroup. According to the Roger Bacon Academy analysis,The thirteenth demographic subgroup was the Academically and Intellectually Gifted (AIG) population. In that case, students in district schools outperformed their counterparts in charters by only 0.5 percentage points.Among traditionally underperforming demographic subgroups, charter schools far outperformed district schools. Nearly half of low-income students in charter schools achieved grade level proficiency on state tests, compared to 41.5 percent in district schools. Hispanic, African American, and English Language Learner students who attend charter schools are significantly more likely to be grade level proficient than their district school peers.That said, I doubt that the charter school community is content with merely outscoring district averages. They want to close achievement gaps. Although the white-black and white-Hispanic achievement gaps are narrower in charter schools than in districts, there is still much work to be done.The 2014-15 school year is not the first time that charters outperformed districts. Charter school proponents point out regularly that aggregate charter proficiency averages have surpassed district scores for years.Predictably, the mainstream media and charter opponents often refuse to acknowledge that fact. Instead, they choose to focus almost exclusively on charters that have been censured or closed due to financial mismanagement or academic failure. Others choose to criticize the racial and socioeconomic demographics of charter school enrollment. While those issues warrant additional discussion, the fact is that charter schools are among the most successful public schools in the state and should receive the recognition they deserve.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has become actively involved in the nigh-fatal stabbing incident in Roanoke, Va. last Saturday evening, with the FBI investigating if the attack might have been inspired by the Islamic State.

The attacker, 20-year-old Wasil Farooqui of Roanoke County, has allegedly attacked a couple on Saturday evening. Brandishing a knife, Farooqui allegedly tried to behead the man as the couple was trying to enter an apartment building.

Though the attack might have seemed like a random act if violence, Farooqui's possible connections with the Islamic State came into light after it was reported that the 20-year-old had shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the assault.

The phrase, which translates to "God is great," had been used by multiple terrorists who have initiated fatal attacks among civilians.

While Farooqui caught his victims off guard, police investigating the case have stated that the man the 20-year-old was attempting to behead was able to fight him off. Farooqui was ultimately taken into custody after he went to the same hospital as his victims after the attack.

Farooqui's possible link to the Islamic State has attracted the attention of authorities for a while now, especially since the knife attacker traveled to Turkey last year. During that time, there were speculations that he might have tried to enter Syria in order to personally join the Islamic State.

After his failed attack last Saturday, however, the FBI's full force is now cracking down on his background. Adam Lee, a special agent in charge of the FBI's Richmond Division, asserted that the investigation is now ongoing and that the bureau hopes to close the case soon.

"The FBI is working with the Police Department following the incident that occurred on Saturday evening. While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident," he said.

Farooqui is currently incarcerated at the Western Virginia Regional Jail. He is being held without bond.
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 23, 2016 -- Patterns abound in nature, from zebra stripes and leopard spots to honeycombs and bands of clouds. Somehow, these patterns form and organize all by themselves. To better understand how, researchers have now created a new device that may allow scientists to study patterns in 3-D like never before.

The specially designed system, called an H-shaped dielectric barrier discharge system, produces filaments of discharge plasma that can assume a vast range of patterns -- in 3-D. By studying and mathematically modeling such patterns, researchers can explore what complex mechanisms may be producing nature's diverse designs.

"Setting up a dielectric barrier discharge system for 3-D patterns should greatly advance the science of pattern formation," said Lifang Dong, a professor at Hebei University in China.

More than 60 years ago, Alan Turing proposed a simple mathematical model called the reaction-diffusion model that corresponds to the change in space and time of the concentration of one or more chemical substances to explain nature's patterns. The model suggests that as two interacting chemicals spread out, they could arrange themselves as stripes, spots or other designs. Scientists have since used this reaction-diffusion model to explain a number of patterns like leopard spots, the location of feather buds in chicks, hair follicles in mice, and even the ridges on the roof of mouse embryo mouths.

One major limitation, though, is that most of these studies were confined to one- or two-dimensional experiments. At the molecular level, nature's patterns are three-dimensional.

But it's not easy to make 3-D patterns, Dong said. The first 3-D experiment didn't come until 2011, when researchers at Brandeis University used chemical reactions to generate patterns with Turing's reaction-diffusion model. A dielectric barrier discharge system, however, which Dong and her colleagues describe this week in Physics of Plasmas, from AIP publishing, has several advantages, she said.

Not only can this system produce a wide variety of patterns, the patterns are also clear and easy to visualize. You can probe in great detail how the patterns vary over both space and time. While fluid or chemical-based experiments can take hours or days to make patterns, the dielectric barrier discharge system does it in seconds.

The experimental system produces plasma -- electrically charged air and argon gas -- that's discharged through several gaps. Viewed from the side, the gaps form an H-shape. When the researchers change certain properties of the device, such as the voltage, the filaments of discharge plasma form different 3-D structures across the gaps. A high-speed camera can then record the changes of transient shapes with time.

The researchers have already produced several patterns seen in nature by a previous single gas gap dielectric barrier discharge system. For example, they've recreated the distinct spot and stripe design of the 13-lined ground squirrel. The physics experiments suggest complex mechanisms may be behind the pattern -- and not Turing's simple reaction-diffusion equations.

These patterned plasmas aren't just for biology. They can be used potentially in designing tunable photonic crystal devices, which could be used as components for telecommunication systems such as microwave filters, optical switches and waveguides, Dong said. Photonic crystal devices control and channel light, usually relying on an array of materials with different refractive indexes that help steer the light beam. But by producing patterns of plasma filaments instead -- which can be adjusted and modified -- researchers can tune the devices to work exactly as needed.

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The article, "Three-dimensional patterns in dielectric barrier discharge with 'H' shaped gas gap," is authored by Xing Gao, Lifang Dong, Hao Wang, Hao Zhang, Ying Liu, Weibo Liu, Weili Fan and Yuyang Pan. The article will appear in the journal Physics of Plasmas on August 23, 2016 (DOI:10.1063/1.4960831). After that date, it can be accessed at: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/pop/23/8/10.1063/1.4960831.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

Physics of Plasmas is devoted to the publication of original experimental and theoretical work in plasma physics, from basic plasma phenomena to astrophysical and dusty plasmas. See http://pop.aip.org.
Washington, DC - August 23, 2016 - Findings from a new study, reported in the journal mBio, may help food companies improve the quality of dairy products. The researchers have discovered that bacteria in raw milk arriving at dairy processing facilities are highly diverse and differ according to season, but still contain a core microbiota.

"The ultimate goal in all of this research is to get dairy products with longer shelf life, less spoilage, and less waste. We don't know what kind of influences the environment has on the microbiome on our foods, and this study is a step forward in that direction," said Maria Marco, PhD, associate professor, Department of Food Science & Technology, University of California-Davis, and lead author of the paper. "If we can better understand and control the microbes coming into processing facilities, we can avoid some food waste."

The microbial composition of raw milk has an impact on the quality, shelf life, and safety of processed milk and other dairy products. While harmful bacteria rarely reach the consumer, because they are destroyed during pasteurization, other bacteria can cause spoilage issues or defects in the product, such as off-flavors in cheese, which can result in product being thrown away. While scientists have intensively studied the microbial ecology of fresh produce and animal products, little is known about the influences of storage, transport, and processing facilities.

In the new study, researchers set out to identify the microbiota of raw milks collected for large-scale product manufacturing in California. California is the largest producer of milk in the United States, producing 20% of the total U.S. milk production. The scientists analyzed the bacteria in raw milk arriving in 899 tanker trucks at two different dairy processors in the California Central Valley in the fall of 2013 and the spring and summer of 2014.

Bacteria varied by season and were highly diverse, with roughly 50% of the taxa present at less than 1% relative abundance. As a comparison, roughly 20% of human fecal communities are composed of taxa below 1% relative abundance. Milk also had a core microbiome composed of 29 different taxa, including Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and unidentified Clostridiales.

Another important finding was what happened to the milk after it got into the dairy processing plant. "We saw this interesting shift of the types of bacteria that are dominant in the milk when it goes from the truck to silos where the milk is stored before pasteurization," said Dr. Marco. The effects of the processing facility outweighed the raw milk microbiome and the microbial composition changed distinctly within some, but not all silos, a short time after transfer.

By knowing the types of microbes present in foods, scientists can devise ways to manage or get rid of spoilage microbes, so they don't make their way into the final product and cause quality problems. "This study was an exploratory mission to find out what types of bacteria are in our raw milk and what happens to them when they reach the built-environment," said Dr. Marco. "We now need to tackle the bigger problem of how can we control those microbes in an effective way."

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The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 48,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.

ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications and educational opportunities. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
Nearly half of the world population is fed by the industrial N2 fixation, i. e., the Harbor-Bosch process. Although exergonic in nature, NH3 synthesis from N2 and H2 catalyzed by the fused Fe has to be conducted at elevated temperatures and high pressures. It consumes over 1% of the world's annual energy supply. Developing efficient catalysts that enable NH3 synthesis under mild conditions is a grand scientific challenge and is of great practical need.

The ideal catalyst for NH3 synthesis should have strong activation to N2 (small activation energy Ea) but relatively weak binding to the activated N species (small EN), which is, unfortunately, unattainable by transition metals (TM) themselves because of the linear scaling relations between Ea and EN, i.e., a transition metal catalyst having strong activation to N2 will have strong binding to the activated N, and vice versa. Such relations determine the rate of NH3 synthesis over the TM catalyst, and therefore, although tremendous research efforts have been applied, the industrial catalyst useed nowadays is essentially the same as the original one developed by Mittasch in 1909.

The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) research group led by Prof. CHEN Ping demonstrates, for the first time, that the scaling relations on catalytic NH3 synthesis can be "broken." Thus, NH3 synthesis under mild reaction conditions can be achieved at an unprecedentedly high rate over a new set of catalysts.

The key element leading to this change is the employment of ionic hydride LiH. Distinctly different from proton or atomic H applied in biochemical, organometallic, and heterogeneous NH3 formation, H in LiH bears a negative charge that ensures that LiH is a strong reducing agent breaking the TM-N bond, and an immediate H source abstracting N to Li to form LiNH2. LiNH2 can further split H2 heterolytically giving off NH3 and regenerating LiH. Through this mechanism (See Figure a), the activation of N2 and the subsequent hydrogenation of N are carried out separately over the two reactive centers, i.e., TM and LiH, respectively, so that the direct influence of TM on the NH3 formation rate is broken.

Figure Mechanistic proposal for the relayed two-active center catalysis of the TM-LiH system (a) and the catalytic performances of 3d TM-LiH composite catalysts (b and c). (Image by Guo Jianping and CHEN Ping)

Such a "relayed" two-active center catalysis enables the 3d TM(N)-LiH composites (3d TM spread from V to Ni) universal and unprecedentedly high NH3 synthesis activities. The DICP researchers found that, at 573 K, their activities are at least four (Cr-, Mn- and Co-LiH), three (V-LiH), two (Ni-LiH), and one (Fe-LiH) order of magnitude higher than the corresponding neat or supported TM(N) (See Fig. b and c), respectively.

Of equivalent importance is the superior low-temperature activities that have been achieved. The composites mentioned above perform extraordinarily well at lower temperatures, i.e., below 600 K (See Figure b). In particular, Fe-LiH and Co-LiH show constant activities of ca. 69 and 56 mol g-1 h-1 at 423 K, respectively. Also worthy to note is that the Cr-, Mn-, Fe- and Co-LiH composite catalysts outperform the Cs-promoted Ru catalyst, one of the most active NH3 synthesis catalysts, by 2-3 times at 573 K and 12-20 times at 523 K.

The dissociative activation of N2on transition metals has long been regarded as the rate-determining step in NH3 synthesis. For TM-LiH composites, however, the rate-determining step is found to be the hydrogenation of LiNHx species, showing remarkable changes in the energetics of catalysis.

NH3 synthesis is regarded as a bellwether reaction in heterogeneous catalysis. The strategy in the circumvention of the scaling relations, the employment of ionic hydride in hydrogenation, and the abnormal behavior of early transition metal nitrides etc., shown in this work should be highly referenceable to other catalytic processes.

The DICP group has been engaged in hydrogen storage over alkali hydrides, amides and imides for 14 years (Nature 2002). An accidental finding in the year 2009 stimulated the researchers to investigate the interaction of transition metals with those alkali compounds. The continuous research efforts over the years led them step-by-step from hydrogen storage to NH3 decomposition and now to NH3 synthesis.

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This work is financially supported by the National Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars (51225206), the Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (2011-iChEM) and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP DMTO201504).
For decades, conservationists have considered blue-winged warblers to be a threat to golden-winged warblers, a species being considered for federal Endangered Species protection. Blue-winged warbler populations have declined 66 percent since 1968, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

The two species are known to frequently interbreed where they co-occur, and scientists have been concerned that the more numerous blue-winged warblers would genetically swamp the rarer golden-wing gene pool.

New research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program shows that, genetically speaking, blue-winged and golden-winged warblers are almost identical. Scientists behind the research say the main differences between the two species are in feather color and pattern, in some cases just a simple matter of dominant or recessive pairings of gene variants, or alleles.

"We think we have finally pinpointed the proverbial genomic 'needle in the haystack' between these taxa," said study co-author David Toews, adding the findings suggest conservationists should be less concerned with hybridization and primarily focused on preserving habitat for both species. "This is something that conservation practitioners have wanted for a very long time."

The research is published in the September issue of the journal Current Biology. Toews' collaborators include fellow Cornell Lab postdoctoral researcher Scott Taylor, along with partners from Cornell University's Department of Biological Statistics and Computational Biology, the University of California at Riverside and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The team investigated the genetic architecture behind the differences between the two warblers by analyzing the genomes of 10 golden-winged and 10 blue-winged warblers from New York, with birds sampled from the Sterling Forest along the New Jersey border to the St. Lawrence River Valley. Across their analysis of the entire genomes of both species, they found only six regions (or less than .03 percent) that showed strong differences. In other words, blue-winged and golden-winged warblers are 99.97 percent alike genetically.

One of the differentiating regions has a gene that likely controls yellow/white versus black throat coloration; the black throat of the golden-winged warbler is a Mendellian recessive trait, occurring only in birds that have a pair of recessive alleles of this genetic variant. Another region likely controls body color; the yellow body of blue-winged warblers is likely an incompletely recessive trait.

When blue-winged and golden-winged warblers interbreed, they produce various hybrids, including two forms called the Brewster's Warbler (with a light body and no black throat) and Lawrence's Warbler (with a yellow body and black throat). The new research shows the Brewster's form of golden- and blue-winged warbler hybrids seems to be an expression of dominant traits for throat and body color, whereas the Lawrence's form of hybrid exhibits recessive trait expression for both.

The research supports a model, proposed by John T. Nichols of the American Museum of Natural History in 1908, that the Brewster's form of golden- and blue-winged warbler hybrids is an expression of dominant traits, and the Lawrence's form is a recessive-trait expression. Put another way, the striking visual differences between golden- and blue-winged warblers could be considered akin to the differences between humans with and without freckles.

The research also shows golden-wings and blue-wings have even less genetic differentiation than two subspecies of the Swainson's Thrush, the olive-backed and russet-backed forms.

Toews, Taylor and their collaborators also analyzed a subset of genetic regions from golden- and blue-winged warblers from across their range and found individuals from as far away as Manitoba and Missouri show similarly little genomic difference. This kind of genetic data carries information not only on how different the birds are today, but also on how long they might have been separated -- or interbreeding -- in the past.

Going back 250 years to when golden-winged and blue-winged warblers were first scientifically described, they were known to live in different places, with golden-wings in the Northeast and upper Midwest and blue-wings in a band slightly farther south from the Ozarks to the Appalachian Mountains. And it was thought forest clearing by European settlers starting in the late 1700s caused the habitat changes that brought the two species together, causing their hybridization.

In using the whole genome to look deeper into these birds' evolutionary histories, Taylor and Toews made a surprising discovery: These two species have probably been intermixing, at least intermittently, for thousands of years, well before Europeans colonized North America.

"This hybridization has been considered our [humans'] fault," said Taylor. "But the propensity for these two species to hybridize is natural and appears to be part of their pre-European evolutionary history."

Hybridization was one of the threats identified in the national Golden-winged Warbler Conservation Plan, published by a consortium of conservation groups and government agencies in 2012, though loss of young forest habitat was cited as the primary threat. Hybridization, and the question of human causation, may play a role in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's upcoming decision on whether golden-winged warblers warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The matter of golden-wing/blue-wing genetic similarity may pose a tricky question for the American Ornithologists' Union, too, should its North American Classification Committee be asked to consider this evidence in a proposal to lump golden-wings and blue-wings into a single species.

"Someone could definitely make a case for golden-winged warblers and blue-winged warblers being one polymorphic species. They are extremely similar," Taylor says. "From a conservation standpoint, they need comparable types of young forest habitat so we could treat them similarly, whether it's in the name of conserving one species or a complex of two closely related species."

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A recent study published by Brazilian researchers from the D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Institute for Research Professor Amorim Neto (IPESQ), alongside Tel Aviv University and the Boston Children's Hospital in the US, indicates that microcephaly, a very usual feature in cases of Zika virus gestational infection, is just one of several observed brain changes. The results are extremely important as they describe which areas of the brain are most affected and the severity of such damages.

The research, published in the scientific journal Radiology, assessed pregnant women, fetuses and newborns infected by zika virus through computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. According to Dr. Fernanda Tovar-Moll, correspondent author of the study and researcher at IDOR and UFRJ, the study was essential to identify the severity of the neurological changes induced by the viral infection in the developing central nervous system. Dr. Deborah Levine, coauthor of the study, also stresses the importance of describing different malformations in the brains of fetuses and newborn babies caused by zika virus.

Unlike observed in other infections such as toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus and herpes, the fetuses' and babies' brains infected by zika virus showed cortical malformations and changes located at the junction of the brain's white and grey matter. The researchers also identified reduction in brain volume, cortical development abnormalities and ventriculomegaly, a condition in which the brain cavities (spaces filled with fluids) are larger than normal. Notwithstanding the fact that almost all babies have shown abnormalities in head circumference, cases of normal circumference in babies with severe ventriculomegaly were also found.

The results also pointed out abnormalities in the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibers that allows communication between the brain's left and right sides and further in neuronal migration, i.e., the neurons didn't move to its correct destination in the brain.

The research team will undertake further research correlating morphological changes observed in this study with clinical and immunological data, in addition to information from the environment where mothers and babies were infected. "We are developing a follow-up study to investigate how the congenital infection by zika virus can interfere not only in the prenatal period but also in the postnatal brain maturation. Microcephaly is only the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Fernanda Tovar-Moll.

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Access to the article: http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/abs/10.1148/radiol.2016161584 About IDOR

D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) is a nonprofit organization which aims to promote scientific and technological progress in healthcare through research and education. IDOR was established in 2010 in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since then, the institute is responsible for designing, planning and overseeing most of the educational and research activities conducted intramurally by its sponsor, one of the most important hospital groups in Brazil, the Rede D'Or Sao Luiz. Our main areas of research are neurosciences, oncology, translational and clinical research.
Researchers from the Universities of Groningen (Netherlands) and Pennsylvania have discovered a piece in the puzzle of how sleep deprivation negatively affects memory.

For the first time, a study in mice, to be published in the journal eLife, shows that five hours of sleep deprivation leads to a loss of connectivity between neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with learning and memory.

"It's clear that sleep plays an important role in memory - we know that taking naps helps us retain important memories. But how sleep deprivation impairs hippocampal function and memory is less obvious," says first author Robbert Havekes, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences.

It has been proposed that changes in the connectivity between synapses - structures that allow neurons to pass signals to each other - can affect memory. To study this further, the researchers examined the impact of brief periods of sleep loss on the structure of dendrites, the branching extensions of nerve cells along which impulses are received from other synaptic cells, in the mouse brain.

They first used the Golgi silver-staining method to visualize the length of dendrites and number of dendritic spines in the mouse hippocampus following five hours of sleep deprivation, a period of sleep loss that is known to impair memory consolidation. Their analyses indicated that sleep deprivation significantly reduces the length and spine density of the dendrites belonging to the neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus.

They repeated the sleep-loss experiment, but left the mice to sleep undisturbed for three hours afterwards. This period was chosen based on the scientists' previous work showing that three hours is sufficient to restore deficits caused by lack of sleep. The effects of the five-hour sleep deprivation in the mice were reversed so that their dendritic structures were similar to those observed in the mice that had slept.

The researchers then investigated what was happening during sleep deprivation at the molecular level. "We were curious about whether the structural changes in the hippocampus might be related to increased activity of the protein cofilin, since this can cause shrinkage and loss of dendritic spines," Havekes says.

"Our further studies revealed that the molecular mechanisms underlying the negative effects of sleep loss do in fact target cofilin. Blocking this protein in hippocampal neurons of sleep-deprived mice not only prevented the loss of neuronal connectivity, but also made the memory processes resilient to sleep loss. The sleep-deprived mice learned as well as non-sleep deprived subjects."

Ted Abel, PhD, Brush Family Professor of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania and senior author of the study, explains: "Lack of sleep is a common problem in our 24/7 modern society and it has severe consequences for health, overall wellbeing, and brain function.

"Despite decades of research, the reasons why sleep loss negatively impacts brain function have remained unknown. Our novel description of a pathway through which sleep deprivation impacts memory consolidation highlights the importance of the neuronal cell network's ability to adapt to sleep loss. What is perhaps most striking is that these neuronal connections are restored with several hours of recovery sleep. Thus, when subjects have a chance to catch up on much-needed sleep, they are rapidly remodeling their brain."

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Reference

The paper, 'Sleep deprivation causes memory deficits by negatively impacting neuronal connectivity in hippocampal area CA1', can be freely accessed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13424. Contents, including text, figures, and data, are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Media contact

Emily Packer, eLife

e.packer@elifesciences.org

01223 855373

About eLife

eLife is a unique collaboration between the funders and practitioners of research to improve the way important research is selected, presented, and shared. eLife publishes outstanding works across the life sciences and biomedicine -- from basic biological research to applied, translational, and clinical studies. All papers are selected by active scientists in the research community. Decisions and responses are agreed by the reviewers and consolidated by the Reviewing Editor into a single, clear set of instructions for authors, removing the need for laborious cycles of revision and allowing authors to publish their findings quickly. eLife is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust. Learn more at elifesciences.org.
We probably do it every day, but scientists have only just discovered a distinct new way in which we move our eyes

We probably do it every day, but scientists have only just discovered a distinct new way in which we move our eyes.

The team from the University of Tubingen in Germany assessed the eye movements of 11 subjects using tiny wires attached to the cornea and with infrared video tracking. In results published in eLife, they discovered a new type of eye movement that is synchronised with blinking.

The movement they discovered helps to reset the eye after it twists when viewing a rotating object. It is like avoiding tiny rotations of a camera to stabilise the image we perceive. We don't notice the eye resetting in this way because it happens automatically when we blink.

"We were really surprised to discover this new type of eye movement and it was not what we had anticipated from the experiment," says lead author Mohammad Khazali.

"We had expected to find that another, already well-known type of eye movement is synchronized to blinking."

Although it is brief, blinking creates an interruption in our visual perception. We spend up to a tenth of our waking hours blinking but hardly notice it. It serves an essential role in lubricating the eye and may even provide the brain with small, frequent mental breaks.

The scientists sought to investigate whether a reflexive, involuntary eye movement called torsional optokinetic nystagmus (tOKN) occurs at the same time as blinking. The theory was that this reflex also creates a break in the visual system so synchronising them minimises downtime.

The subjects' eye movements were tracked as they viewed a rotating pattern of dots. As their eyes twisted to follow the dots, they frequently reset, via tOKN, to avoid moving beyond the mechanical limits of the eye muscles. However, this resetting was imperfect and the eyes gradually twisted until the muscles couldn't twist any more. This varied between subjects from three to eight degrees of rotation.

Once they reached their maximum, the eyes reset so they were no longer twisted at all. This happened at the same time as blinking. The scientists have called this newly-discovered movement blink-associated resetting movement (BARM).

"The eye's sharpest vision is enabled by a spot on the light-sensitive sheet of the retina called the fovea and this needs to stay balanced to ensure objects of interest can be scrutinised in an optimum way," says Khazali.

The frequency and size of the movement is determined by how far the eyes have deviated from a neutral position. It helps to reduce strain in the eyes as they move to assess the world around us. In further experiments, the scientists discovered that it even occurs when the eye is not tracking a rotating object.

"To discover such a ubiquitous phenomenon in such a well-studied part of the human body was astonishing to us and we're very grateful to the volunteers who took part in the study," says Khazali.

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Reference

The paper 'A new motor synergy that serves the needs of oculomotor and eye lid systems while keeping the downtime of vision minimal' can be freely accessed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16290 . Contents, including text, figures, and data, are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license.

About eLife

eLife is a unique collaboration between the funders and practitioners of research to improve the way important research is selected, presented, and shared. eLife publishes outstanding works across the life sciences and biomedicine -- from basic biological research to applied, translational, and clinical studies. All papers are selected by active scientists in the research community. Decisions and responses are agreed by the reviewers and consolidated by the Reviewing Editor into a single, clear set of instructions for authors, removing the need for laborious cycles of revision and allowing authors to publish their findings quickly. eLife is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust. Learn more at elifesciences.org.
Fertility experts are calling on the companies who make the solutions in which embryos are cultured during in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to give a clear list of ingredients following publication of a trial that shows that the composition of these laboratory cultures affects the outcomes of the resulting embryos and babies.

The first randomised controlled trial (RCT) to look at the effect on perinatal outcomes of different IVF culture media found that they affected the numbers of viable embryos created, the rates of successful implantation in the womb, the pregnancy rates and the babies' birthweights.

The research is published today (Wednesday) in Human Reproduction [1], one of the world's leading reproductive medicine journals, together with a second paper [2] that reviews what is currently known about embryo culture media and which concludes "there is a strong case for demanding full transparency concerning the compositions of and scientific rationale behind the composition of embryo culture media". In an accompanying editorial [3], the journal's editor-in-chief, Professor Hans Evers, calls for urgent action by industry and regulators in the wake of these findings, saying that, just as with foods such as peanut butter, the exact composition of the culture media should be listed.

He writes that the results from the clinical trial show that "floating an embryo for only a few days in a culture medium affects the birthweight of IVF children nine months later. The Barker hypothesis (Developmental Origins of Health and Disease) proposes that events in early life affect cardiovascular and metabolic health at an adult age. Small differences in birthweight may reflect more subtle disturbances that only will manifest themselves later in life. As of today, after publication of this RCT, not knowing the exact composition of their IVF culture media is no longer an option for clinical embryologists".

Dr John Dumoulin, the IVF laboratory director in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands, and his colleagues recruited 836 couples who were scheduled for IVF or ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) treatment at one of ten IVF centres in The Netherlands between July 2010 and May 2012. They randomised them to have their embryos cultured in one of two culture media: human tubal fluid (HTF) or G5. The randomisation was "double-blind" so that the patients, their gynaecologists, fertility doctors or outcome assessors did not know which medium was being used. Blinding of the embryologists was not possible as they performed the laboratory procedures. The researchers followed the progress of the couples for a year after randomisation or, in the cases where there were ongoing pregnancies, until birth.

A total of 383 babies were born alive, of which 300 were singletons and 80 were twin children. The researchers found that birthweight was lower in the G5 group compared with the HTF group, with an average difference of 158g. More singleton babies were born prematurely in the G5 group (8.6% versus 2.2%), and even when the researchers adjusted for gestational age at birth and gender, the average birthweight was still lower in the G5 group.

There was a greater number of embryos cultured in the G5 medium that were good enough to be implanted compared to those cultured in the HTF medium (2.8 versus 2.3). In the G5 group implantation rates when using fresh embryos (rather than ones that had previously been frozen) were significantly higher (20.2% versus 15.3%) and pregnancy rates were significantly higher (47.7% versus 40.1%) than in the HTF group. There was a slightly higher (6%) live birth rate in couples assigned to G5 than those assigned to HTF (44% versus 38%), although this was not statistically significant.

Dr Dumoulin said: "For the first time, by means of a large randomised controlled trial, we have shown that human embryos that are cultured in vivo are sensitive to their environment and that something is programmed into these embryos during those few days before transfer to the womb that still has an effect nine months later. This being the case, we must be aware that David Barker hypothesised that the environment in early life, from foetus to the first two years of life, can have a significant effect on long-term health. This means that we should be careful and we should no longer blindly accept new culture media, or other alterations in laboratory or clinical procedures, without first rigorously studying effectiveness and safety."

However, he explained that his results are not as simple to interpret as saying that one medium was better than another, and that, for instance, the lower birthweight seen in the G5 group did not necessarily mean it was better or worse than HTF.

"It has already been shown that birthweight of children born to sub-fertile couples who were conceived naturally is lower than of children in the general population. There must be some patient-related factors in play resulting in a lower birthweight in these particular couples. So, perhaps in our study, the G5 babies are the 'normal' ones, with a birthweight that is correct for their particular origin from sub-fertile couples, while the HTF babies are too heavy. We just know too little at the moment."

One of the differences between the two culture media is that G5 medium contains certain amino acids that are not in the HTF medium. There are also about 20 other embryo culture media commercially available. Dr Dumoulin and his colleagues say that should be a greater level of scrutiny of them, with further randomised trials, that their full composition should be made publicly available by the companies that produce them and should have a scientific rationale; new formulations should only be introduced after properly conducted trials.

In the second paper, a working group of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, led by Professor Arne Sunde, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, made the same recommendations. Their research showed that culture media vary widely, their composition is usually unknown by the end users (the embryologists, clinicians and patients), and data about the influence of the media on outcomes are conflicting.

Prof Sunde said: "The key issue is that we must know the composition of the culture media we use, since it seems to induce differences in the make-up of the children born. We have no information about long-term consequences of this, but we cannot rule out that the composition of the culture media may affect the health of children as they grow up and become adults."

At present, there is no uniform regulation of embryo culture media. In Europe, the majority of media approved for use carry the CE mark, but other non-CE media can still be used. In the USA media must obtain approval from the Food and Drug Administration before being marketed. Overall, fertility centres choose the media they want to use according to their own preferences. Manufacturers differ on whether and how they give information on the composition of the culture media and the scientific rationale. Usually they notify end users, such as embryologists, of any changes and the scientific data that support those changes, but not always.

"It is not obligatory to declare changes and the information we might get is far from sufficient," said Prof Sunde. "We want to know in detail what changes have been made and the scientific basis for the changes, including animal and human clinical data backing the change."

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[1] "Influence of embryo culture medium (G5 and HTF) on pregnancy and perinatal outcome after IVF: a multicenter RCT," by Sander H.M. Kleijkers et al. Human Reproduction journal. doi:10.1093/humrep/dew156.

[2] "Time to take human embryo culture seriously", by Arne Sunde et al. Human Reproduction journal. doi:10.1093/humrep/dew157.

[3] "Peanut butter", by Hans Evers. Human Reproduction journal. doi:10.1093/humrep/dew129.
PHOENIX, AZ (August 23, 2016)--Researchers from the Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI) today announced they have begun enrolling the first participants in a multi-site study to determine whether two investigational anti-amyloid compounds--an active immunotherapy and an oral medication--can prevent or delay the emergence of symptoms of Alzheimer's in people identified by genetic markers as being at particularly high risk for developing the disease at older ages.

The five-year Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative (API) Generation Study will involve more than 1,300 cognitively healthy older adults, ages 60 to 75, who are at high risk of developing symptoms of Alzheimer's because they inherited two copies of the e4 type of the apolipoprotein (APOE) gene--one from each parent. Roughly one in four people carry a single copy of the e4 type of the APOE gene, which is strongly linked to late-onset Alzheimer's, and about two percent of the world's population carries two copies.

"Enrolling the first participants into the Generation Study marks a major milestone for the trial and for Alzheimer's prevention research in general," said Pierre N. Tariot, MD, one of the API leaders and director of BAI, a division of Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the United States. "By studying this high-risk population, we hope to assess each treatment's potential to preserve memory and thinking as well as their effects on biological measures of the disease."

The study is sponsored by Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, and Amgen, a biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, CA, in collaboration with BAI, with funding from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as the Alzheimer's Association, FBRI, GHR Foundation and Banner Alzheimer's Foundation.

The Generation Study is part of the API, an international collaborative led by BAI to accelerate the evaluation of promising treatments. It will enroll at about 90 sites across North America, Europe and Australia, including BAI's headquarters in Phoenix. Since some participants in the study will not yet have brain amyloid deposits at the time they are enrolled, the study can address whether treating before or after this event occurs may be more advantageous.

Study participants will receive either the active immunotherapy (CAD106) developed by Novartis, or the oral medication (CNP520), subject to regulatory approval, developed by Novartis, in collaboration with Amgen, or a placebo. The two drugs will be tested separately and are intended to stop the accumulation of amyloid.

In addition to testing these two investigational treatments in individuals at especially high risk for Alzheimer's, the Generation Study is among the API efforts intended to help find faster ways to test the range of promising treatments in other individuals who, based on their genetic background or biological features, are at increased risk for Alzheimer's, and to provide a public resource of data and biological samples to advance scientific research against this disease.

"We are excited to extend our approach to the evaluation of prevention therapies to individuals at the highest known risk for developing the common form of Alzheimer's that strikes at older ages," said Eric M. Reiman, MD, the other API leader and executive director of BAI. "And, we are excited about the chance to work with our collaborators from Novartis and Amgen, our academic colleagues, and our valued research participants in the effort to find effective prevention therapies as soon as possible."

The API Generation Study is the first to incorporate genetic testing and counseling into the study screening process. Participants will be required to learn whether they carry none, one or two copies of the e4 type of the APOE gene. Only those who learn they have two copies will be invited to participate in the study. The API Generation Study will be providing genetic counseling in person, by phone or through video-conferencing.

"We understand that learning one's genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease may be emotionally impactful," said Jessica Langbaum, PhD, principal scientist at BAI, associate director of API, and principal investigator of GeneMatch. "To support study participants, we will provide them access to trained professionals who specialize in helping people better understand the results of genetic testing."

Participants will be recruited via multiple venues, including the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry's GeneMatch program. GeneMatch is a first-of-its-kind program designed to identify a large group of people interested in volunteering for Alzheimer's research studies, based in part on their APOE genetic information.

The API Generation Study is an important complement to the ongoing API Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's Disease (ADAD) trial in Colombia, South America, which focuses on cognitively unimpaired members of extended families affected by a rare genetic mutation that makes carriers virtually certain to develop Alzheimer's symptoms by their 40s or 50s.

Alzheimer's is a debilitating and incurable disease that is estimated to affect as many as 5.1 million Americans age 65 and older, and more than 46 million people worldwide.

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For more information on the API Generation Study visit http://www.generationstudy.com.

About Banner Alzheimer's Institute

Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the goal of ending Alzheimer's disease without losing another generation. It is helping to launch a new era of Alzheimer's research--detection, treatment and prevention at the pre-symptomatic stage--and to establish a comprehensive model of care that can be the national standard. BAI was founded in 2006 by Phoenix-based Banner Health, one of the country's largest nonprofit healthcare systems. For more information, go to http://www.banneralz.org.

About Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative

The Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative (API) is an international collaborative formed to launch a new era of Alzheimer's prevention research. Led by the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, the API will conduct prevention trials in cognitively healthy people at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease. It will continue to establish the brain imaging, biological and cognitive measurements needed to rapidly test promising prevention therapies and provide registries to support enrollment in future prevention trials. API is intended to provide the scientific means, accelerated approval pathway and enrollment resources needed to evaluate the range of promising Alzheimer's prevention therapies and find ones that work without losing another generation. For more information, go to http://www.banneralz.org.

About GeneMatch

GeneMatch is a research program of the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry to help identify individuals who are willing to participate in research studies based in part on their APOE genetic information, the major genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease. The program is optional for people who are enrolled in the Alzheimer's Prevention Registry. It will enroll people who are between 55 and 75 years of age, reside in the U.S. and do not have a diagnosis of dementia or other cognitive impairment syndrome. For more information, go to https://www.endalznow.org/genematch.
Jeff Pearson will present a slide show about his 1976 horse ride across Wyoming in honor of the National Park Service's centennial on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Lovell Visitor Center.
New findings published in the Journal of Electrochemical Society about the process involving transformations in glass that occur under intense electrical and thermal conditions could lead the way to more energy-efficient glass manufacturing

Charles McLaren, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering at Lehigh University, arrived last fall for his semester of research at the University of Marburg in Germany with his language skills significantly lagging behind his scientific prowess. "It was my first trip to Germany, and I barely spoke a word of German," he confessed.

The main purpose of McLaren's exchange study in Marburg was to learn more about a complex process involving transformations in glass that occur under intense electrical and thermal conditions. New understanding of these mechanisms could lead the way to more energy-efficient glass manufacturing, and even glass supercapacitors that leapfrog the performance of batteries now used for electric cars and solar energy.

"This technology is relevant to companies seeking the next wave of portable, reliable energy," said Himanshu Jain, McLaren's advisor and the T. L. Diamond Distinguished Chair in Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh and director of its International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass. "A breakthrough in the use of glass for power storage could unleash a torrent of innovation in the transportation and energy sectors, and even support efforts to curb global warming."

As part of his doctoral research, McLaren discovered that applying a direct current field across glass reduced its melting temperature. In their experiments, they placed a block of glass between a cathode and anode, and then exerted steady pressure on the glass while gradually heating it. McLaren and Jain, together with colleagues at the University of Colorado, published their discovery in Applied Physics Letters.

The implications for the finding were intriguing. In addition to making glass formulation viable at lower temperatures and reducing energy needs, designers using electrical current in glass manufacturing would have a tool to make precise manipulations not possible with heat alone.

"You could make a mask for the glass, for example, and apply an electrical field on a micron scale," said Jain. "This would allow you to deform the glass with high precision, and soften it in a far more selective way than you could with heat, which gets distributed throughout the glass."

Though McLaren and Jain had isolated the phenomenon and determined how to dial up the variables for optimal results, they did not yet fully understand the mechanisms behind it. McLaren and Jain had been following the work of Dr. Bernard Roling at the University of Marburg, who had discovered some remarkable characteristics of glass using electro-thermal poling, a technique that employs both temperature manipulation and electrical current to create a charge in normally inert glass. The process imparts useful optical and even bioactive qualities to glass.

Roling invited McLaren to spend a semester at Marburg to analyze the behavior of glass under electro-thermal poling, to see if it would reveal more about the fundamental science underlying what McLaren and Jain had observed in their Lehigh lab.

A high-speed avalanche

McLaren's work in Marburg revealed a two-step process in which a thin sliver of the glass nearest the anode, called a depletion layer, becomes much more resistant to electrical current than the rest of the glass as alkali ions in the glass migrate away. This is followed by a catastrophic change in the layer, known as dielectric breakdown, which dramatically increases its conductivity. McLaren likens the process of dielectric breakdown to a high-speed avalanche, and using spectroscopic analysis with electro-thermal poling as a way to see what is happening in slow motion.

"The results in Germany gave us a very good model for what is going on in the electric field induced softening that we did here. It told us about the start conditions for where dielectric breakdown can begin," explained McLaren.

"Charlie's work in Marburg has helped us see the kinetics of the process," Jain said. "We could see it happening abruptly in our experiments here at Lehigh, but we now have a way to separate out what occurs specifically with the depletion layer."

McLaren, Jain, Roling and his Marburg team members published their findings in the September 2016 issue of the Journal of Electrochemical Society.

"The Marburg trip was incredibly useful professionally and enlightening personally," said McLaren. "Scientifically, it's always good to see your work from another vantage point, and see how other research groups interpret data or perform experiments. The group in Marburg was extremely hardworking, which I loved, and they were very supportive of each other. If someone submitted a paper, the whole group would have a barbecue to celebrate, and they always gave each other feedback on their work. Sometimes it was brutally honest--they didn't hold back--but they were things you needed to hear."

"Working in Marburg also showed me how to interact with a completely different group of people," he continued, "and you see differences in your own culture best when you have the chance to see other cultures close up. It's always a fresh perspective."

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Researchers at Linkoping University have developed in collaboration with French colleagues a small device that both detects the initial signal of an epileptic attack and doses a substance that effectively stops it. All this takes place where the signal arises - in an area of size 2020 m known as a "neural pixel".

The results, from the Laboratory for Organic Electronics at LiU's Campus Norrkoping, have been published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), with Asst. Prof. Daniel Simon as main author.

According to a recently produced estimate, no less than six percent of the Earth's population suffers from some type of neurological illness such as epilepsy or Parkinson's. Some medicines are available, but when these are taken orally or injected into the bloodstream, they also end up where they aren't needed and may cause serious problems. All medicines have more or less severe side effects, and no fully satisfactory treatment for neurological illnesses is available.

Neurons, or nerve cells, are the cells in the body that both transmit and receive nerve impulses. The small 2020 m device developed by the scientists can both capture signals and stop them in the exact area of nerve cells where they arise. No other part of the body needs to be involved.

"Our technology makes it possible to interact with both healthy and sick neurons. We can now start investigating opportunities for finding therapies for neurological illnesses that arise so rapidly and so locally that the patient doesn't notice them," says Daniel Simon.

The experiments were conducted in the laboratory on slices of brains from mice. The device consists of a sensor that detects nerve signals, and a small ion pump that doses an exact amount of the neurotransmitter GABA, a substance the body itself uses to inhibit stimuli in the central nervous system.

"The same electrode that registers the activity in the cell can also deliver the transmitter. We call it a bioelectronic 'neural pixel', since it imitates the functions of biological neurons," says Daniel Simon.

"Signalling in biological systems is based on chemical signals in the form of cations, which are passed between transmitters and receptors, which consist of proteins. When a signal is transferred to another cell, the identification of the signal and the triggering of a new one occur within a very small distance - only a few nanometers. In certain cases, it happens at the same point. That's why being able to combine electronic detection and release in the same electrode is a major advance," says Professor Magnus Berggren.

The small ion pump, which was developed at the Laboratory for Organic Electronics, attracted a great deal of attention when its first application as a therapeutic device was published a year ago. The sensor that captures the nerve signal has subsequently been developed by the LiU researchers' collaborators at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines in Gardanne, France. The mouse experiments were performed at Aix-Marseille University. The entire device is manufactured from conductive, biocompatible plastic.

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The Swedish part of the research was funded by Vinnova, the Swedish Research Council, and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The work took place at the OBOE centre, under the leadership of Asst. Prof. Daniel Simon and Professor Magnus Berggren.

Article: The bioelectronic neural pixel: Chemical stimulation and electrical sensing at the same site. Amanda Jonsson, Sahika Inal, Ilke Uguz, Adam Williamson, Loig Kergoat, Jonathan Rivnay, Dion Khodagholy, Magnus Berggren, Christophe Bernard, George G. Malliaras and Daniel T Simon, PNAS 2016. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1604231113

Read more:

Ion pump gives the body its own pain alleviation, LiU News, 9 May 2015

https://www.liu.se/forskning/forskningsnyheter/1.633415?l=sv

OBOE Center: http://oboecenter.se/

Contact: Assistant Professor Daniel Simon, daniel.simon@liu.se +46 11 363476
MELBOURNE, MONDAY Aug. 22, 2016: We all know that a brush with poison ivy leaves us with an itchy painful rash. Now, Monash University and Harvard researchers have discovered the molecular cause of this irritation. The finding brings us a step closer to designing agents to block this mechanism and sheds light on other serious skin conditions, such as psoriasis.

The international team of scientists have shown, for the first time, a connection between an immune molecule found in the skin and skin sensitisers -- the research was published overnight in Nature Immunology.

Professor Jamie Rossjohn, co-lead author with Dr Florian Winau, Harvard Medical School, confirmed the body's immune molecule, CD1a, plays a crucial role in mediating skin inflammation and irritation after contact with urushiol -- the 'active ingredient' found in plants endemic to Northern America and parts of Europe and Australia.

"A complex set of experiments, coupled with imaging techniques at the Australian Synchrotron revealed the molecular interplay between CD1a and urushiol. This highlights CDIa's role in sudden and uncomfortable skin reactions," Professor Rossjohn says.

Dr Tang Yongqing and Dr Jerome Le Nours say the research team needed a combination of scientific creativity and ingenuity to crack the CD1a-urushiol code.

"For over 35 years we have known CD1a is abundant in the skin," says Dr Le Nours. "Its role in inflammatory skin disorders has been difficult to investigate and until now has been really unclear. Our work, which included imaging the CD1a-urushiol connection, represents clear evidence that CD1a is instrumental in skin-related diseases."

"Our results were strengthened by in vivo and clinical studies at Harvard Medical School, in the United States," Dr Yongqing says.

The studies in Boston also showed that blocking the function of CD1a prevents the triggering of this skin-based allergic reaction, giving the researchers further evidence of just how important CD1a is.

"Future research could lead to the development of new treatments to combat minor skin irritations as well as chronic inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis, eczema and rosacea," says Dr Yongqing.

"We now have a target to further investigate. Our basic discovery may make a big difference in the future treatment and prevention of inflammatory skin diseases," Dr Le Nours concludes.

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This work was a collaboration between researchers from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (Rossjohn, Yongqing, Le Nours) and researchers at the Harvard Medical School (Winau).
Physicians from Children's Hospital of Michigan, UC Davis Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital, in collaboration with 19 other pediatric emergency departments around the country, have established a "proof of principle" for measuring patterns of ribonucleic acid (RNA) expression in the bloodstream that can enable clinicians to distinguish bacterial infections from other causes of fever in infants up to two months old.

The diagnostic test--a high through-put RNA analysis that yields specific markers known as RNA biosignatures--means that emergency department physicians could someday avoid ordering painful, invasive exams for many of the more than 500,000 febrile infants who arrive at hospitals each year and must be evaluated to determine whether a bacterial infection is the cause of their fevers. Results that indicate no bacterial cause would also help reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and antibiotic treatments.

The findings of a study conducted in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) and led by principal investigators Prashant Mahajan, Nathan Kuppermann and Octavio Ramilo are published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association in an article titled "Association of RNA biosignatures with bacterial infections in febrile infants 60 days of age or younger."

Typically, fewer than 10 percent of infants evaluated for fever in emergency departments have serious and potentially life-threatening bacterial infections, including bacteremia (bacteria in the blood), bacterial meningitis or a urinary tract infection. But because of their age and current treatment guidelines, many febrile infants undergo invasive testing and are hospitalized and given antibiotic treatment until a bacterial infection can be ruled out.

"Finding an accurate but less invasive method to determine if babies with fevers have bacterial infections is a 'holy grail' for emergency department physicians," said Kuppermann, professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at UC Davis School of Medicine. "This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that the evaluation of RNA biosignatures could one day be that tool."

Current guidelines for evaluating young febrile infants call for culturing bacteria from blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid samples. Cultures typically take 24 to 48 hours to determine if bacteria are present. The tests, while effective, are invasive and can be painful for young patients as well as stressful for parents. Testing also is costly, involves some degree of clinical risk and may require hospitalization, all of which pose important questions for pediatricians and emergency department physicians who do not want to miss a serious infection.

Although the RNA biosignatures approach has been shown to be valuable in detecting certain infections in older children and adults, the current study is the first to show that the test could also be used in very young febrile infants. Some physicians and researchers had concerns that RNA biosignatures may not work in this patient population because the immune cells in the blood of these youngest patients were too immature to mount a detectable response to bacterial infection.

"Despite the young age of the babies in this study, they did carry robust RNA biosignatures," said Ramilo, chief of infectious diseases at Nationwide Children's Hospital and professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University. "Regardless of whether they had a viral or bacterial infection, their immune systems were already programmed to respond with specific patterns."

Although cultures are the current standard for diagnosing bacterial infections, they can deliver false results. If not enough blood is drawn--a common problem with the youngest babies--bacteria may not grow in a culture medium even if present, causing the diagnosis to be missed. In addition, bacteria can be picked up from the skin during a blood draw, contaminating the culture and leading to a false-positive result.

In contrast to blood cultures, an RNA biosignature assay requires only a small amount of blood to detect immune system responses to pathogens. DNA within white blood cells are prompted to produce different RNAs according to environmental cues, the first step in making proteins that are essential for keeping the cell functioning and able to cope with changes in the surroundings. For example, RNAs associated with inflammation are produced in response to bacterial infection, and RNAs associated with interferons (a group of signaling proteins) are expressed in response to certain viruses. By analyzing the patterns of RNAs produced--the RNA biosignatures--it can be determined with a high degree of certainty whether an individual has a bacterial infection or not.

The prospective study was conducted with infants 60 days or younger with fever (defined as having a rectal temperature of at least 38C/100.4 F). RNA biosignatures were measured on a selected group of 279 infants, of whom 89 were determined to have bacterial infections. Nineteen healthy infants with no fever served as controls.

The research team found that RNA biosignature testing was highly sensitive and specific for categorizing patients with and without bacterial infections when compared with the current standard using bacterial cultures. In infants who had bacteremia (bacteria in the blood) the test had 94-percent sensitivity; meaning it aligned with the bacterial culture in 94 percent of the cases. For febrile infants whose fever was not caused by bacteremia, the RNA biosignature test agreed with the negative culture 95 percent of the time (95-percent specificity). For all cases of serious bacterial infections, which included bacteremia, meningitis and urinary tract infections, the RNA biosignatures test had an 87-percent sensitivity for detecting bacterial infection and an 88-percent specificity for infants without bacterial infection when compared to the standard culture results. It may be that in the cases of disagreement between RNA biosignatures and standard cultures, the RNA biosignatures are more reflective of the true type of infection.

"The implications of these findings are potentially paradigm-changing," said Prashant Mahajan, professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Wayne State University and chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Children's Hospital of Michigan. "For 100 years, doctors have looked directly for bacteria in body fluids to make a diagnosis. We have now shown that genomic analysis to detect the response of the human immune system is also very accurate and potentially can be more rapid in determining if a young baby has a bacterial infection."

The RNA biosignatures testing was much more accurate than the Yale Observation Scale, which currently is used as a screening test in emergency departments to help determine if young infants with fever are likely to have a bacterial infection. The scale is based on behaviors such as the quality of a baby's cry, and reaction to parents and social response.

With a renewed five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the research team will be validating the study findings on a larger patient population and evaluating whether the RNA biosignature is stable at two different time-points. They also will be testing a new RNA biosignatures polymerase chain reaction platform--currently available only for research purposes--which they anticipate will produce faster results and be more applicable in clinical laboratories. The new study will also determine if RNA biosignatures testing can detect the presence of a simultaneous bacterial and viral infection in a single patient.

This study was conducted through PECARN, a network of pediatric emergency departments throughout the country that has established new, evidence-based standards for managing common and important problems in pediatric emergencies. PECARN, which annually evaluates more than 4,000 febrile infants ages 60 days or younger, offers an ideal setting to evaluate the application of RNA expression analysis for diagnosing and managing young infants with fevers in a prospective manner.

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In addition to the three principal investigators, 36 other PECARN researchers and physicians from the network co-authored the study.

The study was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (grant H34MCO8509), Emergency Services for Children, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (award R01HD062477). PECARN is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and Emergency Medical Services for Children Network Development Demonstration Program (cooperative agreements U03MC00008, U03MC00001, U03MC00003, U03MC00006, U03MC00007, U03MC22684, and U03MC22685).
FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. - Diabetes has become one of the top causes of vision loss around the world, according to an article published on August 23, 2016 in Diabetes Care journal by a global consortium led by researchers at Nova Southeastern University's (NSU) College of Optometry in Fort Lauderdale/Davie, Florida, and the Vision and Eye Care Unit at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Blindness and visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy (DR) increased significantly in the 20-year period researchers analyzed. In 2010, one in every 39 blind people was blind due to DR, which increased 27 percent since 1990. Of those with moderate or severe vision impairment, one in 52 people had vision loss attributed to diabetes, an alarming increase of 64 percent since 1990.

Poor control of glucose levels and lack of access to eye health services in many parts of the world are thought to contribute to this increase, according to the researchers. As more people live longer with diabetes, there is a higher risk of developing DR and subsequent vision loss.

DR is a condition resulting from chronically high blood sugar from diabetes in which the delicate blood vessels in the lining of the inside of the eye (retina) become damaged and start leaking and distorting vision, according to the National Eye Institute. In DR's most advanced stage, new abnormal blood vessels grow, damaging the retina and leading to permanent scarring and vision impairment or blindness.

"Unfortunately diabetic retinopathy usually does not have any symptoms in the early stages," says Janet Leasher, O.D., M.P.H., co-author of the report and a professor at NSU's College of Optometry. "People diagnosed with diabetes should have a dilated eye health exam at least every year and be advised by their eye care practitioner for their personal situation. Patients should work closely with their health care provider to determine the best methods to control their blood sugar levels."

During the 20-year period analyzed in this study, the regions of the world with the highest number of people visually impaired by DR were South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, and West Sub-Saharan Africa. The regions with the highest number of people who were rendered blind from DR were East Asia, Tropical Latin America, and South Sub-Saharan Africa.

In people older than 50, the greatest increase in the prevalence of blindness caused by DR occurred in South Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Latin America Central Sub-Saharan Africa. Those regions with the greatest increase in the prevalence of visual impairment caused by DR in this age group lived in Central, South and Tropical Latin America. Results showed a slight decrease in visual impairment caused by DR in South and Southeast Asia, Oceania, and East and West Sub-Saharan Africa.

"With the alarming prevalence of vision loss due to diabetes rising more than two-thirds in the last 20 years, the precipitous global epidemic of diabetes must be addressed," said Rupert R.A. Bourne, FRCOphth, M.D., lead investigator of the report, ophthalmologist and professor and associate director of the Vision and Eye Research Unit at Anglia Ruskin University.

The authors recommend public policy planning in regions most affected by DR, including:

Strategies for preserving the vision of diabetic adults,

Development of evidence-based, cost-effective strategies to screen for DR,

Improve control of systemic risk factors (e.g., glucose and blood pressure) among people with diabetes,

Increase health education and awareness of the risk of visual loss from DR,

Intensified prevention and treatment of DR through the introduction of laser treatments, intra-vitreal injections of steroids and anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) drugs, and

Reduction of differences between regions in the screening and management of diabetes and DR, socioeconomic factors and medical infrastructure.

The estimates in this study form part of the broader research of the Global Vision Database, which seeks to estimate and report on the changes over time in the causes and prevalence of vision loss.

###

The research team consisted of Dr. Leasher; Dr. Bourne; Seth R. Flaxman, B.A.; Jost B. Jonas, M.D.; Jill Keeffe, Ph.D.; Kovin Naidoo, O.D., M.P.H.; Konrad Pesudovs, Ph.D.; Holly Price, B.Sc., Ph.D.; Richard A. White, Ph.D.; Tien Y. Wong, M.D., Ph.D.; Serge Resnikoff, M.D., Ph.D.; and Hugh R. Taylor, A.C., M.D., on behalf of the Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study.

Their findings are published in the peer-reviewed journal, Diabetes Care in an article titled "Global Estimates on the Number of People Blind or Visually Impaired by Diabetic Retinopathy: A meta-analysis from 1990-2010." Read the full article at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc15-2171

This research was partially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Fight for Sight, Fred Hollows Foundation and the Brien Holden Vision Institute.

About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): Located in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional degree levels. A private, not-for-profit institution with more than 26,000 students, NSU has campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, while maintaining a presence online globally. For more than 50 years, NSU has been awarding degrees in a wide range of fields, while fostering groundbreaking research and an impactful commitment to community. Classified as a research university with "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is 1 of only 50 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie's Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private, not-for-profit institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education's criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. Please visit http://www.nova.edu for more information about NSU and realizingpotential.nova.edu for more information on the largest fundraising campaign in NSU history.
BROOKLYN, New York -- With the outsourcing of microchip design and fabrication worldwide, a $350 billion business, bad actors along the supply chain have many opportunities to install malicious circuitry in chips. These "Trojan horses" look harmless but can allow attackers to sabotage healthcare devices; public infrastructure; and financial, military, or government electronics.

Siddharth Garg, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and fellow researchers are developing a unique solution: a chip with both an embedded module that proves that its calculations are correct and an external module that validates the first module's proofs.

While software viruses are easy to spot and fix with downloadable patches, deliberately inserted hardware defects are invisible and act surreptitiously. For example, a secretly inserted "back door" function could allow attackers to alter or take over a device or system at a specific time. Garg's configuration, an example of an approach called "verifiable computing" (VC), keeps tabs on a chip's performance and can spot telltale signs of Trojans.

The ability to verify has become vital in an electronics age without trust: Gone are the days when a company could design, prototype, and manufacture its own chips. Manufacturing costs are now so high that designs are sent to offshore foundries, where security cannot always be assured.

But under the system proposed by Garg and his colleagues, the verifying processor can be fabricated separately from the chip. "Employing an external verification unit made by a trusted fabricator means that I can go to an untrusted foundry to produce a chip that has not only the circuitry-performing computations, but also a module that presents proofs of correctness," said Garg.

The chip designer then turns to a trusted foundry to build a separate, less complex module: an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), whose sole job is to validate the proofs of correctness generated by the internal module of the untrusted chip.

Garg said that this arrangement provides a safety net for the chip maker and the end user. "Under the current system, I can get a chip back from a foundry with an embedded Trojan. It might not show up during post-fabrication testing, so I'll send it to the customer," said Garg. "But two years down the line it could begin misbehaving. The nice thing about our solution is that I don't have to trust the chip because every time I give it a new input, it produces the output and the proofs of correctness, and the external module lets me continuously validate those proofs."

An added advantage is that the chip built by the external foundry is smaller, faster, and more power-efficient than the trusted ASIC, sometimes by orders of magnitude. The VC setup can therefore potentially reduce the time, energy, and chip area needed to generate proofs.

"For certain types of computations, it can even outperform the alternative: performing the computation directly on a trusted chip," Garg said.

The researchers next plan to investigate techniques to reduce both the overhead that generating and verifying proofs imposes on a system and the bandwidth required between the prover and verifier chips. "And because with hardware, the proof is always in the pudding, we plan to prototype our ideas with real silicon chips," said Garg.

To pursue the promise of verifiable ASICs, Garg, abhi shelat* of the University of Virginia, Rosario Gennaro of the City University of New York, Mariana Raykova of Yale University, and Michael Taylor of the University of California, San Diego, will share a five-year National Science Foundation Large Grant of $3 million.

Verifiable ASICS by Riad S. Wahby of Stanford University, Max Howald of The Cooper Union, Garg, shelat, and Michael Walfish of the NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, earned a Distinguished Student Paper Award at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, one of the leading global conferences for computer security research, held in May in Oakland, California. The authors were supported by grants from the NSF, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research, a Microsoft Faculty Fellowship, and a Google Faculty Research Award.

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The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, when the NYU School of Civil Engineering and Architecture as well as the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly) were founded. Their successor institutions merged in January 2014 to create a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition to programs at its main campus in downtown Brooklyn, it is closely connected to engineering programs in NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai, and it operates business incubators in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. For more information, visit http://engineering.nyu.edu.

*ahbi shelat prefers lower-case spelling

Key words: integrated circuit, application-specific integrated circuit, microchip, cybersecurity, hardware security
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 targets call for 90% of all people living with HIV to know their HIV status, 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV infection to receive antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 90% of those receiving ART to achieve durable viral suppression by the year 2020. In a study appearing in PLOS Medicine, Vincent Habiyambere of the World Health Organization (WHO) and colleagues find that insufficient capacity to perform laboratory tests used in monitoring HIV infection, and underutilization of existing testing capacity, are limiting the ability to meet these goals.

The researchers analyzed responses to annual surveys sent to WHO offices from 127 countries between 2012 and 2014. Respondents each reported on the capacity and usage of CD4 testing, HIV viral load (VL) testing, and early infant diagnosis in their country. The researchers found that the capacity of available CD4 instruments was sufficient to meet the demand of all people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), irrespective of treatment status, but VL capacity was inadequate to cover needs in most reporting countries. Even when capacity was sufficient, machines were being underutilized; only 13.7% of existing CD4 capacity and only 36.5% of existing VL capacity were utilized across reporting countries in 2013.

Habiyambere and colleagues note that the responses were limited to national programs and did not include testing capacity in the private sector, and that incomplete responses or non-response to surveys limit the comprehensiveness of the survey data. However, they note that these findings identify shortfalls in VL testing capacity and underutilization of CD4 and VL technologies that will need to be addressed to reach the UNAIDS targets. They say: "With laboratory systems in reporting countries expanding, a national laboratory strategic plan to strengthen services must be developed, implemented, and monitored by governments and their national and international partners. The focus of international community, to ensure optimal use of laboratory technologies, should be on those countries where interventions for scaling up access to HIV diagnostic technologies are most needed."

In an accompanying Perspective, Peter Kilmarx and Ravia Simbi discuss the practical challenges of achieving high capacity and efficiency in all stages of HIV care and note that moving forward, "strong leadership, resources, planning, and management are needed to scale up laboratory services. Continuing monitoring efforts, like those of Habiyambere and colleagues, are essential."

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Research Article

Funding:

The authors received no specific funding for this work that was done in the context of their regular work. However, VH has WHO activity funds to carry his technical work including this survey and data analysis in the context of his work in WHO and not specifically for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests:

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation:

Habiyambere V, Ford N, Low-Beer D, Nkengasong J, Sands A, Perez Gonzalez M, et al. (2016) Availability and Use of HIV Monitoring and Early Infant Diagnosis Technologies in WHO Member States in 2011-2013: Analysis of Annual Surveys at the Facility Level. PLoS Med 13(8): e1002088. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002088

Author Affiliations:

Department of HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

GSSHealth, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002088

Contact:

Vincent Habiyambere

World Health Organization

Department of HIV/AIDS

20 Avenue Appia

Geneva, 1211

SWITZERLAND

+41227913945

habiyamberev@who.int

Perspective Article

Funding:

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Competing Interests:

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation:

Kilmarx PH, Simbi R (2016) Progress and Challenges in Scaling Up Laboratory Monitoring of HIV Treatment. PLoS Med 13(8): e1002089. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002089

Author Affiliations:

Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Ministry of Health and Child Care, Harare, Zimbabwe

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002089
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) during youth is associated with elevated risks of impaired adult functioning, according to a longitudinal study published in PLOS Medicine. The study, conducted by Seena Fazel of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues, demonstrates that children and adolescents experiencing even milder forms of TBI (including concussion) may have reduced longevity and significant psychosocial problems in adulthood.

TBI constitutes the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in individuals under the age of 45 y globally. However, research on the long-term health of people with TBI has commonly addressed more severe injuries and medical diagnoses. To uncover broader risks associated with TBI, Fazel and colleagues compared premature mortality and long-term psychosocial outcomes between the roughly 100,000 people born in Sweden between 1973 and 1985 who sustained at least one TBI before age 25 y, and their unaffected siblings, who were followed up until age 41. The researchers found that TBI consistently predicted later risk of premature mortality (adjusted relative risk 1.40 [95% confidence interval 1.16; 1.68]), psychiatric inpatient admission (1.57 [1.47; 1.67]), psychiatric outpatient visits (1.31 [1.26; 1.37]), disability pension (1.49 [1.38; 1.60]), welfare recipiency (1.19 [1.14; 1.23]), and low educational attainment (1.28 [1.23; 1.33]) in the sibling-comparison analyses, and the effects were stronger for those with greater injury severity, recurrence, and older age at first injury.

The datasets used may include some misclassification, and despite the sibling-comparison design the associations may be confounded by shared factors other than TBI. Nonetheless, Fazel and colleagues' estimates are likely conservative and suggest that the public health benefits of preventing TBI include longevity and psychosocial outcomes. The authors state, "[s]ervices should consider how to routinely and systematically review these children [with TBI] on a regular basis to allow the subtle but important neurological, cognitive, and psychiatric consequences of TBI to be identified." In an accompanying Perspective, Donald Redelmeier and Sheharyar Raza discuss the study design, limitations, and theories for the mechanism by which TBI could cause adverse long-term psychosocial consequences.

###

Research Article

Funding:

The study was supported by the Wellcome Trust (095806), the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Swedish Research Council (2010-3184; 2011-2492; 2013-5867), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD061817). DJS is supported by a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Professorship (NIHR-RP-011-048). HL has served as a speaker for Eli-Lilly and Shire and has received a research grant from Shire; all outside the submitted work. BMD is receiving funding from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, both outside of the submitted work. The funders were not involved in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, and approval of the manuscript.

Competing Interests:

HL has served as a speaker for Eli-Lilly and Shire and has received a research grant from Shire; all outside the submitted work. BMD is receiving funding from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, both outside of the submitted work. The remaining authors report no financial or any other conflicts of interest.

Citation:

Sariaslan A, Sharp DJ, D'Onofrio BM, Larsson H, Fazel S (2016) Long-Term Outcomes Associated with Traumatic Brain Injury in Childhood and Adolescence: A Nationwide Swedish Cohort Study of a Wide Range of Medical and Social Outcomes. PLoS Med 13(8): e1002103. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002103

Author Affiliations:

Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom

Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America

Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

School of Medical Sciences, Orebro University, Orebro, Sweden

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002103

Contact:

Seena Fazel

University of Oxford

Department of Psychiatry

Warneford Hospital

Oxford, Oxfordshire OX3 7JX

UNITED KINGDOM

seena.fazel@psych.ox.ac.uk

Perspective Article

Funding:

This article was supported by a Canada Research Chair in Medical Decision Sciences, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Comprehensive Research Experience for Medical Students at the University of Toronto. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests:

DR is a member of the Editorial Board of PLOS Medicine.

Citation:

Redelmeier DA, Raza S (2016) Concussions and Repercussions. PLoS Med 13(8): e1002104. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002104

Author Affiliations:

Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Evaluative Clinical Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Division of General Internal Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Center for Leading Injury Prevention Practice Education & Research Toronto, Ontario, Canada

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1002104
Contrary to a prevailing theory, coral larvae could not survive the five-thousand-kilometer trip across the Pacific Ocean to replenish endangered corals in the eastern Pacific, according to new research. Researchers used a supercomputer to simulate billions of coral larvae traveling on ocean currents over a 14.5-year period. The simulations showed that even during extreme environmental events that speed ocean currents, like the 1997-1998 El Nino, coral larvae could not survive long enough to make the trip from coral reefs in the western and central Pacific to help corals in the east recover from environmental damage.

"Our study uses computer simulations to allow us to answer questions about coral biology that we can't answer in the field," said Iliana Baums, associate professor of biology at Penn State University and a coauthor of the research paper. "The information we gain can help direct conservation efforts for these vital organisms. Without living corals, beaches would erode at an alarming rate -- there are already areas in the Caribbean that are losing a meter of beach a year due to reef loss. Reefs provide habitats for one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and they are extremely economically important for fisheries, coastal protection, tourism, the aquarium trade, and as sources for new pharmaceuticals. The reefs in the eastern Pacific that we study are particularly important because they survive in inhospitable conditions, and understanding how they do this could be critical when designing strategies for reef conservation as the climate continues to change."

The research, by an international team of scientists from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, Penn State University, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, the University of California Riverside, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, will be published by the journal Nature Communications on August 23, 2016.

The study used a state-of-the-art numerical model run on Bristol University's BlueCrystal supercomputer to track the dispersal of simulated coral larvae from 636 reef locations in the Pacific. The supercomputer enabled the researchers to deal with the very large computational demands required to explicitly test, for the first time, a long-standing theory that El Nino events could promote long-distance dispersal of coral larvae across the Pacific Ocean. The researchers used the simulations to identify reefs that either are important sources of larvae to other reefs, or are very isolated from such sources and therefore potentially more vulnerable to disturbances. One such area is the Eastern Tropical Pacific, a large area stretching from Baja California in the north to the coastline of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in the south. Coral reefs in this region have been around for thousands of years despite living in particularly hostile environments for reef formation with limited suitable coastline, cool temperatures, and frequent disturbances. Eastern Tropical Pacific reefs are sparsely distributed and are also very isolated, both within the region itself and from the more diverse reefs of the central and western Pacific.

"We simulated the dispersal of over five billion model larvae from 636 reefs throughout the central and eastern Pacific from 1997 to 2011," said Sally Wood, postdoctoral research associate in coral reef ecosystem modeling in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol and a coauthor of the paper. "This time period crucially covered a range of oceanographic conditions -- ocean currents are highly variable over time -- including the extreme El Nino of 1997-1998. Contrary to the theory that eastward dispersal may happen during El Nino events, we found no such dispersal."

As is happening worldwide at the moment during the current El Nino event, the large El Nino in 1997-1998 wiped out a lot of the corals in the eastern Pacific. Usually corals recover from events like this through a combination of proliferation of survivors and colonization by larvae that are brought in sporadically by the currents from nearby unaffected reefs. However, the new research shows that coral reefs in the far eastern Pacific Ocean, separated from the nearest reefs by over 5,000 km of open ocean, could be on their own when it comes to recovery from mass mortality events such as happened in 1998.

Biologists have been interested in this region since Darwin, who regarded the deep ocean that separates the eastern and western Pacific as an impassable barrier. Several of the same species can be found on both sides of the barrier, suggesting that the barrier has at some point been breached, but it is not clear when or how frequently this has occurred, or in what direction. Genetics is commonly used to detect connections between populations by measuring the level of genetic relatedness, similar to a paternity test. Recent genetic data for corals indicate that eastern and western populations of some species have been isolated for at least the previous few generations -- possibly thousands of years in long-lived corals. "We compared these genetic data to the larvae dispersal data that we simulated," said Baums. "The two data sets lined up pretty well, suggesting that our simulations are doing a good job of capturing what is actually happening in nature."

"Coral larvae are tiny and can survive for a maximum of about 120 days," said Baums. "The larvae travel mainly by ocean currents to establish new colonies, but because of their small size it is currently impossible to track them across the vast distances of the Pacific Ocean to know if healthy populations of corals in the western Pacific could help to rejuvenate decimated populations of corals in the eastern Pacific. For the first time, our computer simulations combined with genetic data allowed us to test whether the larvae could survive this journey."

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In addition to Baums and Wood, the research team included Claire B. Paris of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, Andy Ridgwell of the University of California Riverside, William S. Kessler of NOAA's Pacific Marine Envirnomental Laboratory, and Erica J. Hendy of the University of Bristol. The research was supported by the National Environmental Research Council of the U.K., the U.S. National Science Foundation, NOAA, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the University of Bristol Alumni Foundation, a Worldwide Universities Network Mobility Grant.

CONTACT

Iliana Baums: baums@psu.edu, (+1) 814-867-0491 (office), 814-321-3593 (mobile)

Barbara Kennedy (PIO): science@psu.edu, (+1) 814-863-4682

IMAGES

Three images with captions and credtis are available for download at https://psu.app.box.com/v/Baums8-2016
The energy-storage goal of a polymer dielectric material with high energy density, high power density and excellent charge-discharge efficiency for electric and hybrid vehicle use has been achieved by a team of Penn State materials scientists. The key is a unique three-dimensional sandwich-like structure that protects the dense electric field in the polymer/ceramic composite from dielectric breakdown. Their results are published today (Aug. 22) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"Polymers are ideal for energy storage for transportation due to their light weight, scalability and high dielectric strength," says Qing Wang, professor of materials science and engineering and the team leader. "However, the existing commercial polymer used in hybrid and electric vehicles, called BOPP, cannot stand up to the high operating temperatures without considerable additional cooling equipment. This adds to the weight and expense of the vehicles."

The researchers had to overcome two problems to achieve their goal. In normal two-dimensional polymer films such as BOPP, increasing the dielectric constant, the strength of the electric field, is in conflict with stability and charge-discharge efficiency. The stronger the field, the more likely a material is to leak energy in the form of heat. The Penn State researchers originally attacked this problem by mixing different materials while trying to balance competing properties in a two-dimensional form. While this increased the energy capacity, they found that the film broke down at high temperatures when electrons escaped the electrodes and were injected into the polymer, which caused an electric current to form.

"That's why we developed this sandwich structure," Wang says. "We have the top and bottom layers that block charge injection from the electrodes. Then in the central layer we can put all of the high dielectric constant ceramic/polymer filler material that improves the energy and power density."

The outer layers, composed of boron nitride nanosheets in a polymer matrix, are excellent insulators, while the central layer is a high dielectric constant material called barium titanate.

"We show that we can operate this material at high temperature for 24 hours straight over more than 30,000 cycles and it shows no degradation," Wang says.

Comparison to BOPP

A comparison of BOPP and the sandwich structure nanocomposite, termed SSN-x, in which the x refers to the percentage of barium titanate nanocomposites in the central layer, shows that at 150 degrees C, SSN-x has essentially the same charge-discharge energy as BOPP at it typical operating temperature of 70 degrees C. However, SSN-x has several times the energy density of BOPP, which makes SSN-x highly preferable for electric vehicle and aerospace applications as an energy storage device due to the ability to reduce the size and weight of the electronics significantly while improving system performance and stability. The elimination of bulky and expensive cooling equipment required for BOPP is an additional bonus.

"Our next step is to work with a company or with more resources to do processability studies to see if the material can be produced at a larger scale at a reasonable cost," Wang says. "We have demonstrated the materials performance in the lab. We are developing a number of state-of-the-art materials working with our theory colleague Long-Qing Chen in our department. Because we are dealing with a three-dimensional space, it is not just selecting the materials, but how we organize the multiple nanosized materials in specific locations. Theory helps us design materials in a rational fashion."

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In addition to Professors Wang and Chen, contributors to the paper, titled "Sandwich-Structured Polymer Nanocomposites with High Energy Density and Great Charge-Discharge Efficiency at Elevated Temperatures," include first author and post-doctoral scholar Qi Li, Ph.D. student Feihua Liu, Matthew Gadinski, a former Ph.D. student now at DOW Chemical, Guangzu Zhang, a post-doctoral scholar, all in Wang's lab, and Tiannan Yang, a graduate student in Chen's group.

This work was supported by the US Office of Naval Research.
The Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Bighorn Audubon Society have teamed up to offer the public a day in the field watching and learning about wildlife.

Participants in the wildlife tour should meet at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Tongue River Valley Community Center in Dayton, Wyo., and bring a lunch.

The group will visit Amsden Creek Wildlife Habitat Management Area and Tongue River Canyon. Experts will be on hand to discuss the species that inhabit the area as well as the importance of succulent forage for big game animals.

That evening in Sheridan the community will celebrate Wyomings wildlife with speakers, music and a silent auction at Weston Wineries, 122 N. Main St. in Sheridan.

Please send an RSVP for either the wildlife tour or wine event to info@wyomingwildlife.org.
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) -- the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging -- has chosen Nicholas G. Castle, BSc (hons), MHA, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh as the 2016 recipient of the Elaine M. Brody Thought Leader Award.

This distinguished honor is given annually by GSA's Social Research, Policy, and Practice Section (SRPP) to one of its members in acknowledgement of outstanding career contributions in social research, policy, and practice. It was established in 2009 and honors the late Elaine M. Brody, MSW, DSc (hon), a former SRPP section chair and GSA president whose pioneering research in social gerontology focused on family caregiving and enhancing the well-being of older people.

The award presentation will take place at GSA's 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 16 to 20 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit http://www.geron.org/2016 for further details.

Castle is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh. He has more than 150 first-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals and is currently working on several grant-funded initiatives. He serves on several editorial boards, and is the editor for international research for the GSA's The Gerontologist. His current research focuses on examining staff turnover in nursing homes, staffing issues in long term care, and nursing home top management.

He also is a GSA fellow, which represents the Society's highest class of membership.

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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society  and its 5,500+ members  is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
Among adults enrolled in an integrated health care system, receipt of primary care at integrated team-based care practices compared with traditional practice management practices was associated with higher rates of some measures of quality of care, lower rates for some measures of acute care utilization, and lower actual payments received by the delivery system, according to a study appearing in the August 23/30 issue of JAMA.

Limited evidence is available to support the utility of medical home and accountable care integration with mental health and primary care teams. Brenda Reiss-Brennan, Ph.D., A.P.R.N., of Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, and colleagues assessed the association of integrating physical and mental health over time in team-based care (TBC) practices with patient outcomes and costs. The study included adult patients who received primary care at 113 Intermountain Healthcare Medical Group primary care practices from 2003 through 2005 and had yearly encounters with Intermountain Healthcare through 2013, including some patients who received care in both TBC and traditional practice management (TPM) practices.

Of the 113 practices observed over the study period (2010- 2013), 102 practices were classified annually as TBC (n = 27) or TPM (n = 75). The analysis included 113,452 patients (average age, 56 years; women, 59 percent). The researchers found that patients treated in TBC practices compared with those treated in TPM practices had higher rates of active depression screening (46 percent for TBC vs 24 percent for TPM), adherence to a diabetes care bundle (25 percent for TBC vs 20 percent for TPM), and documentation of self-care plans (48 percent for TBC vs 8.7 percent for TPM), lower proportion of patients with controlled hypertension (85 percent for TBC vs 98 percent for TPM), and no significant differences in documentation of advanced directives (9.6 percent for TBC vs 9.9 percent for TPM).

Rates of health care utilization were lower for TBC patients compared with TPM patients for emergency department visits, hospital admissions, ambulatory care sensitive visits and admissions, and primary care physician encounters, with no significant difference in visits to urgent care facilities and visits to specialty care physicians.

Payments to the delivery system were lower in the TBC group vs the TPM group ($3,401 for TBC vs $3,516 for TPM) and were less than investment costs of the TBC program.

"The study suggests the value of coordinated team relationships within a delivery system emphasizing the integration of physical and mental health care," the authors write.

(doi:10.1001/jama.2016.11232; the study is available pre-embargo to the media at the For the Media website)

Editor's Note: This research was supported by Intermountain Healthcare's Medical Group, Primary Care Clinical Program, Institute for Healthcare Leadership, Office of Research, and Office of Population Health. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, etc.

Editorial: Integrated Behavioral and Primary Care - What Is the Real Cost?

"This study has several important implications. Integrated TBC is clearly superior to TPM for patients with complex mental illness and chronic medical disease, consistent with the increasing recognition that this type of care is best applied to higher-risk patients with substantial disease burden," writes Thomas L. Schwenk, M.D., of the University of Nevada, Reno, in an accompanying editorial.

"However, practicing in an integrated, value- and outcomes based model but continuing to be reimbursed in a traditional, volume-based system is costly. The investigators note that the investment cost of the program was lower than the reduction in reimbursement, but both are, in fact, a reduction in the bottom line for practices large and small, and therein lies the most important implication of this study."

"The results of the study by Reiss-Brennan et al document the value of an integrated model of mental health and chronic disease care that likely can only be provided to patients who receive their care in large, integrated health systems. The most significant consequence, however unintended, of outcomes-based medical care and value-based reimbursement may be a profound change in the fundamental structure of the U.S. health care delivery system."

(doi:10.1001/jama.2016.11031; the study is available pre-embargo to the media at the For the Media website)

Editor's Note: The author has completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

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High prescription drug prices are attributable to several causes, including the approach the U.S. has taken to granting government-protected monopolies to drug manufacturers, and the restriction of price negotiation at a level not observed in other industrialized nations, according to a study appearing in the August 23/30 issue of JAMA.

The increasing cost of prescription drugs in the United States has become a source of growing concern for patients, prescribers, payers, and policy makers. Aaron S. Kesselheim, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues reviewed the peer-reviewed medical and health policy literature from January 2005 to July 2016 for articles addressing the sources of drug prices in the United States, the justifications and consequences of high prices, and possible solutions.

The authors write that per capita prescription drug spending in the United States exceeds that in all other countries, largely driven by brand-name drug prices that have been increasing in recent years at rates far beyond the consumer price index. In 2013, per capita spending on prescription drugs was $858 compared with an average of $400 for 19 other industrialized nations. In the United States, prescription medications now comprise an estimated 17 percent of overall personal health care services.

Drug prices are higher in the United States than in the rest of the industrialized world because, unlike that in nearly every other advanced nation, the U.S. health care system allows manufacturers to set their own price for a given product. In contrast, in countries with national health insurance systems, a delegated body negotiates drug prices or rejects coverage of products if the price demanded by the manufacturer is excessive in light of the benefit provided; manufacturers may then decide to offer the drug at a lower price.

The most important factor that allows manufacturers to set high drug prices is market exclusivity, protected by monopoly rights awarded upon Food and Drug Administration approval and by patents. The availability of generic drugs after this exclusivity period is the main means of reducing prices in the United States, but access to them may be delayed by numerous business and legal strategies. The primary counterweight against excessive pricing during market exclusivity is the negotiating power of the payer, which is currently constrained by several factors, including the requirement that most government drug payment plans cover nearly all products. Another key contributor to drug spending is physician prescribing choices when comparable alternatives are available at different costs. Although prices are often justified by the high cost of drug development, there is no evidence of an association between research and development costs and prices; rather, prescription drugs are priced in the United States primarily on the basis of what the market will bear.

The researchers write that the most realistic short-term strategies to address high prices include enforcing more stringent requirements for the award and extension of exclusivity rights; enhancing competition by ensuring timely generic drug availability; providing greater opportunities for meaningful price negotiation by governmental payers; generating more evidence about comparative cost-effectiveness of therapeutic alternatives; and more effectively educating patients, prescribers, payers, and policy makers about these choices.

"There is little evidence that such policies would hamper innovation, and they could even drive the development of more valuable new therapies rather than rewarding the persistence of older ones. Medications are the most common health care intervention and can have a major benefit on the health of individuals, as well as of populations, but unnecessarily high prices limit the ability of patients and health care systems to benefit fully from these vital products."

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(doi:10.1001/jama.2016.11237; the study is available pre-embargo to the media at the For the Media website)

Editor's Note: This work was funded by a grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Engelberg Foundation. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, etc.
In a study appearing in the August 23/30 issue of JAMA, Jason D. Wright, M.D., of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, and colleagues examined trends in the route of hysterectomy (abdominal, minimally invasive, or vaginal), use of electric power morcellators (a procedure in which the uterus is fragmented into smaller pieces, and may result in the spread of undetected malignancies), and prevalence of abnormal pathology before and after a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning.

Concern about the safety of electric power morcellation for gynecologic surgery led the FDA to issue a safety communication in April 2014 discouraging use of the devices and, in November 2014, to recommend against use of morcellation in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Concern has been raised that these actions may result in performance of a greater number of hysterectomies via laparotomy (surgical incision into the abdominal wall), with an increased risk of complications.

The study included women age 18 to 95 years who underwent hysterectomy from 2013 to the first quarter of 2015 recorded in the Perspective database, which includes more than 500 hospitals across the United States and approximately 15 percent of hospitalized patients. Outcomes were compared before and after the FDA's alert in April 2014.

The researchers identified 203,520 women, including 117,653 women (58 percent) who underwent minimally invasive hysterectomy. Among women who underwent minimally invasive hysterectomy, power morcellation was used in 13.5 percent in Q1 2013, peaked at 13.7 percent by Q4 2013, and declined to 2.8 percent by Q1 2015. The overall complication rate was unchanged over time. Complications declined for abdominal hysterectomy, attributable to a decline in intraoperative complications, but were stable for minimally invasive hysterectomy and vaginal hysterectomy. The prevalence of uterine cancer, endometrial hyperplasia, other gynecologic cancers, and uterine tumors of indeterminate behavior in women who underwent morcellation were unchanged.

"The FDA warnings might result in a lower prevalence of cancer among women who underwent morcellation due to greater scrutiny on patient selection. However, the high rate of abnormal pathology after the warnings highlights the difficulty in the preoperative detection of uterine pathology. Continued caution is needed to limit the inadvertent morcellation of uterine pathology," the authors write.

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(doi:10.1001/jama.2016.9432; the study is available pre-embargo to the media at the For the Media website)

Editor's Note: This article was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute. All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.
In an extensive interview published online this week, the winners of the 2016 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics discuss their 40-year effort to detect gravitational waves, the elusive ripples in the fabric of space-time that Albert Einstein so boldly predicted. The discussion, with physicists Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss, covers the challenges of eavesdropping on gravitational waves, why their discovery has captured the world's imagination, and what the future holds for astronomy.

"We really are opening up a whole new way of observing the universe, a way that is going to be central to the human race's exploration of the universe around us, not just for years or decades, but for centuries into the future," said Kip Thorne, Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology.

Thorne, Weiss and Ronald Drever co-founded the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, known as LIGO. Last year, for the first time, the LIGO experiment registered the signal generated by the collision of two black holes, confirming a central prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity. A second detection was announced this past June, ushering in a new era of astronomical exploration.

"The first thing [Einstein] would ask about is probably the technology..." said Rainer Weiss, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which operates the twin detectors. "Einstein would be interested in the rest of it, but mainly, 'How did you do it?'"

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The complete interview is freely available at http://www.kavliprize.org/events-and-features/2016-kavli-prize-astrophysics-discussion-kip-thorne-and-rainer-weiss.

The three Astrophysics Laureates will be honored at the Kavli Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo on September 6, 2016. The prizes were announced June 2 by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-06/b-9sp060116.php

About The Kavli Prizes

The Kavli Prizes recognize scientists for their seminal advances in three research areas: astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience. Consisting of a scroll, medal and cash award of one million dollars, a prize in each of these areas is awarded every two years beginning in 2008.

Kavli Prize recipients are chosen biennially by three prize committees comprised of distinguished international scientists recommended by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society.

The 2016 Kavli Prizes will be awarded in Oslo, Norway, on September 6. For detailed information on each of the prizes, the 2016 laureates and their work, and all the Kavli Prize Week events, please see the Kavli Prize website: http://www.kavliprize.org.

The Kavli Prizes are a partnership between the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, The Kavli Foundation (USA) and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
Extensive systems of fossilised riverbeds have been discovered on an ancient region of the Martian surface, supporting the idea that the now cold and dry Red Planet had a warm and wet climate about 4 billion years ago, according to UCL-led research.

The study, published in Geology and funded by the Science & Technology Facilities Council and the UK Space Agency, identified over 17,000km of former river channels on a northern plain called Arabia Terra, providing further evidence of water once flowing on Mars.

"Climate models of early Mars predict rain in Arabia Terra and until now there was little geological evidence on the surface to support this theory. This led some to believe that Mars was never warm and wet but was a largely frozen planet, covered in ice-sheets and glaciers. We've now found evidence of extensive river systems in the area which supports the idea that Mars was warm and wet, providing a more favourable environment for life than a cold, dry planet," explained lead author, Joel Davis (UCL Earth Sciences).

Since the 1970s, scientists have identified valleys and channels on Mars which they think were carved out and eroded by rain and surface runoff, just like on Earth. Similar structures had not been seen on Arabia Terra until the team analysed high resolution imagery from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft.

The new study examined images covering an area roughly the size of Brazil at a much higher resolution than was previously possible - 6 metres per pixel compared to 100 metres per pixel. While a few valleys were identified, the team revealed the existence of many systems of fossilised riverbeds which are visible as inverted channels spread across the Arabia Terra plain.

The inverted channels are similar to those found elsewhere on Mars and Earth. They are made of sand and gravel deposited by a river and when the river becomes dry, the channels are left upstanding as the surrounding material erodes. On Earth, inverted channels often occur in dry, desert environments like Oman, Egypt, or Utah, where erosion rates are low - in most other environments, the channels are worn away before they can become inverted.

"The networks of inverted channels in Arabia Terra are about 30m high and up to 1-2km wide, so we think they are probably the remains of giant rivers that flowed billions of years ago. Arabia Terra was essentially one massive flood plain bordering the highlands and lowlands of Mars. We think the rivers were active 3.9-3.7 billion years ago, but gradually dried up before being rapidly buried and protected for billions of years, potentially preserving any ancient biological material that might have been present," added Joel Davis.

"These ancient Martian flood plains would be great places to explore to search for evidence of past life. In fact, one of these inverted channels called Aram Dorsum is a candidate landing site for the European Space Agency's ExoMars Rover mission, which will launch in 2020," said Dr Matthew Balme, Senior Lecturer at The Open University and co-author of the study.

The researchers now plan on studying the inverted channels in greater detail, using higher-resolution data from MRO's HiRISE camera.

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Social Media in Industrial China

By Xinyuan Wang

Social Media in Rural China

By Tom McDonald

Published by UCL Press

UK publication date: 13th September 2016

Free open access download / 15 paperback / 35 hardback

How has the biggest mass migration in human history affected Chinese communication habits?

How do migrants in Chinese factories use social media, and what impact does it have on their lives?

Have the inhabitants of rural China been 'left behind' in the social media revolution?

Does social media empower and encourage political participation amongst Chinese citizens?

These are just some of the questions explored by Social Media in Industrial China and Social Media in Rural China -- the latest books in an eleven book series revealing the discoveries made by the UCL Department of Anthropology's global 'Why We Post' social media research project.

From the ways in which social media is a form of education for factory workers, to the increase of privacy, Social Media in Industrial China and Social Media in Rural China together offer detailed and thoroughly researched insights into how social media is being used in China, and the impact it's having on peoples' lives.

Described as the biggest migration in human history, more than 250 million Chinese people have left their homes in rural China to live and work in urban areas. Social Media in Industrial China details the 15 months that anthropologist Xinyuan Wang spent living amongst a community of these migrants in a small factory town in southeast China to examine their use of social media. It was here that she witnessed a second, simultaneous migration taking place: a movement from offline to online, where the online world now provides a home for the migrants workers who feel otherwise 'homeless'.

The product of 15 months of research in a small rural Chinese community, Social Media in Rural China by Tom McDonald argues that, despite popular misconceptions to the contrary, social media is deeply integrated into the everyday experiences of many rural Chinese people. McDonald argues that social media empowers the rural population to extend and transform existing relationships, whilst also experimenting with completely new forms of interactions through online interactions with strangers. By juxtaposing these seemingly opposed relations, rural social media users are able to use this technology to understand, capitalise and challenge the notions of morality that are the foundations of rural life.

These two fascinating studies explore the full range of preconceptions commonly held about Chinese people- their relationships with education, with family, with politics, with 'home'- and argue why, for this vast population, it's time to reassess exactly what we think we know about China and the evolving role of social media.

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To request copies of the books or to discuss interviews, articles, features and reviews, please contact:

Alison Major

44-0-203-108-7343

Alison.major@ucl.ac.uk

Laura Haapio-Kirk

44-0-7455-343-426

l.haapio-kirk@ucl.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

About Why We Post

Why We Post is a project by nine anthropologists who conducted nine simultaneous 15-month studies on the uses and consequences of social media around the world. Sites included a factory town and a rural town in China, a town on the Syrian-Turkish border, low income settlements in Brazil and Chile, an IT complex set between villages in South India, an English village, and small towns in Italy and Trinidad. The first four titles in the Why We Post series (How the World Changed Social Media, Social Media in an English Village, Social Media in Southeast Turkey and Social Media in Northern Chile) are available to download free, or purchase in print. The remaining titles, which will be published during 2016 and 2017, include books exploring the use and impact of social media in Brazil, India, southeast Italy and Trinidad. To find out more, visit ucl.ac.uk/why-we-post. To view the video introduction to the Why We Post project, please click on https://youtu.be/0jA5B32MP98.

About UCL Press

UCL Press was re-established at UCL as the first fully Open Access university press in the UK. Its publishing focuses on scholarly monographs, textbooks and journals. UCL believes that Open Access is the best way to make research widely available to all, and that Open Access represents a powerful opportunity for universities to reassert their role in the research workflow by taking on publishing and dissemination. Visit http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press or follow @UCLpress on Twitter to find out more.

About The Authors

Tom McDonald is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong. He received his PhD in Anthropology from UCL in 2013 and has published numerous academic articles on Internet use and consumption practices in China. Xinyuan Wang, is a PhD candidate at the Dept. of Anthropology at UCL, She obtained her MSc from the UCL's Digital Anthropology Programme. She is an artist in Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. She translated (Horst and Miller Eds.) Digital Anthropology into Chinese and contributed a piece on Digital Anthropology in China.
It's a familiar hazard of vacation time: While you're conspicuously absent, your colleagues in the office forget to water and fertilize the plants - often leaving behind nothing but a brownish skeleton. Whether a plant thrives or wastes away depends above all on whether its roots get enough water and nutrients. Geophysicists at the University of Bonn have now visualized such processes for the first time using electrical impedance tomography. The researchers have now published their results in the scientific journal Biogeosciences.

Plants imbibe the vital cocktail of water and mineral nutrients through their roots. This twisting organ not only provides purchase in the soil - the fine root hairs actually grow actively into soil zones where the fount of nutrients bubbles particularly richly. Plants take up minerals either directly from the soil solution or get them from clay minerals or humic substances. In the end, these microscopically small processes at the root hairs of plants also determine whether the world population goes hungry or has enough to eat. This connection explains the great scientific interest in these processes in the soil.

The mineral substances in the soil are usually present in the form of electrically charged ions. "The ions influence the electrical properties of the roots, which enables us to visualize the uptake of nutrients by roots in a new way", says Prof. Dr. Andreas Kemna, geophysicist at the University of Bonn. His team has now developed a new method: The scientists "x-ray" the root systems of the plants using electrical impedance tomography, which is also used as an imaging technique in medicine.

"Unlike doctors, however, we not only measure electrical conductivity, but also electrical polarizability, which is influenced by the uptake of nutrients at the plant root", explains Prof. Kemna. While conductivity describes the ability of a medium to transport electrical charges, polarizability is the ability to align local positive and negative charges using an electrical field - similar to a compass needle in a magnetic field.

Conclusions regarding nutrient uptake by the root system

The researchers are experimenting with the roots of living crops, which are embedded in a transparent Plexiglas box filled with a nutrient solution. The researchers apply an alternating electric field to this so-called rhizotron. The electrical polarization processes this produces vary with the uptake of ions by the roots. Numerous measurement sensors on the rhizotron record the polarization signals, which are transformed into tomographic images with the aid of special numerical algorithms.

By performing the electrical impedance tomography at different measurement frequencies, the researchers get frequency-dependent tomograms, which can be visualized in color as cloud-like forms on the computer screen. The individual fine roots can not be recognized. "However, the resolution is good enough to permit conclusions regarding the nutrient dynamics of the root system of a plant", says doctoral candidate Maximilian Weigand of Professor Kemna's team.

When the plant is particularly active, for instance due to a rich offering of nutrients, water, and light, then there are correspondingly great changes in the polarization signals at the roots - for instance in the daytime compared to nighttime. However, if there is a stress situation, such as drought or a dearth of nutrients, then the lack of nutrients also leads to a visible drop in polarizability. This can then be visualized and observed through the tomography.

"With this study, we have demonstrated the fundamental feasibility of the method", says Prof. Kemna. The next step is to use theoretical models to reproduce the electrical polarization processes in such measurements. In addition, the scientists also want to test their system out in the field, where there are still no suitable, non-destructive measurement methods to record the activity of root systems. Together with the Julich Research Center, a test with winter wheat is underway in Selhausen in the context of the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre "Patterns in Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Systems - Monitoring, Modelling and Data Assimilation".

Prof. Kemna gives an example: "If we can optimize nutrient uptake, we will be able to anticipate and react better to the risks of drought due to climate change and possibly increase crop yields". The new method could be of valuable service in gaining a better fundamental understanding of the interactions between roots and soil.

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Publication: M. Weigand and A. Kemna: Multi-frequency electrical impedance tomography as a non-invasive tool to characterise and monitor crop root systems, Biogeosciences, DOI: 10.5194/bg-2016-154, in review

Contact for the media:

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kemna

Steinmann-Institute

Department of Geophysics

University of Bonn

Tel: 0228/733060 or 737429

E-Mail: kemna@geo.uni-bonn.de
Researchers at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at CU Anschutz have developed a technique that estimates an HIV-negative patient's adherence to drugs prescribed to prevent HIV transmission during sex.

The test measures traces of antiretroviral drugs in a spot of dried blood to determine how much pre-exposure prophylactic, or PrEP, medicine a patient has used. Truvada, the only FDA-approved antiretroviral PrEP drug for HIV prevention, is proven more than 90 percent effective in stopping HIV transmission during sex - in those who use it consistently. The assay technique provides an objective way to tell if patients are using PrEP consistently.

"There's a need to objectively measure PrEP adherence because traditional ways have not been very effective," said Pete Anderson, Pharm.D. and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy. "This assay takes advantage of the long half-life of PrEP medication in red blood cells. This means the drug builds up in these cells only if the patient takes it consistently."

The method is to spot a sample of a patient's blood on an absorbent paper-like card and send it to a lab which isolates and measures concentrations of PrEP drugs found in dried red blood cells. These drugs' presence are measured to estimate how many doses a patient has taken over the last month or two. Clinicians then have an objective measurement that shows if a patient is using PrEP effectively. Studies show that people using the PreP method are most successful when medication is used consistently.

The lab manager at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy who developed the assay, Lane Bushman, said, "Most cell sample collections require significant effort for processing, but the dried blood spot is an easy sample collection technique. This helps with implementing the test in most settings."

Anderson said, "This assay has been in high demand for PrEP studies. We recently helped a South African lab to develop the method to help with testing demand in that region."

The assay is now being used in research internationally and the approach could have application for other drugs that require accurate measurement of patient adherence to dosing.

"We now have a grant to develop a way to do the testing at bedside," Anderson said. "We also see applications for other medications. For example, our colleague Dr. Jennifer Kiser is evaluating if a similar test could work for Hepatitis-C medications."

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Anderson's research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, is ongoing with studies now underway at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and collaborating institutions.

At CU Anschutz, professors are practicing clinicians and researchers who, along with their students, bring advances in the lab directly to the clinic, improving patient care and outcomes. The Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is ranked fifth in NIH-funded research.
The University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute and Hendrix Genetics, a global leader in animal breeding, have established a research agreement to improve the sustainability of animal production.

Researchers will focus on driving innovations that lead to greater disease resistance in farmed animals and better selective breeding programmes.

Their goal is to reduce losses and improve welfare in the fish farming and livestock industries.

The agreement builds on existing collaborations in salmon disease genetics between the two organisations. The Roslin Institute already works closely with the salmon breeding company Landcatch, a Hendrix Genetics company based in Ormsary in Argyll, Scotland.

This collaboration has yielded the discovery of a gene that makes salmon more resilient to a viral disease. It has also led to the development of genetic tools that have improved selective breeding for resistance to sea lice.

Scientists at the Universities of Stirling and Glasgow, as well as the University of Edinburgh's sequencing facility Edinburgh Genomics, were also part of the research team that led to these discoveries.

The strategic partnership between Hendrix Genetics and The Roslin Institute will strengthen and extend their relationship. It will allow them to explore precision breeding technology, not only in aquaculture, but also in pig, chicken and turkey breeding.

Dr Johan van Arendonk, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer at Hendrix Genetics said "This partnership with Roslin - a world leading research institute - offers a unique opportunity to improve our breeding programs through applied research projects using the latest genomic technology."

Professor Bruce Whitelaw, Deputy Director and Head of the Division of Developmental Biology at The Roslin Institute, said "We are excited about building on our long-term relationship with Landcatch through establishing this strategic partnership. Working with Hendrix Genetics across a number of commercial species offers exciting opportunities for the science that Roslin pioneers."

Dr Ross Houston, a group leader in aquaculture genetics at Roslin, said "This is an exciting development which will allow us to build on past successes with Hendrix Genetics Aquaculture, and facilitate new projects to improve disease resistance in salmon and other species through selective breeding."

Dr Alastair Hamilton, senior scientist at Hendrix Genetics, will split his time between the Roslin Institute and the Hendrix Genetics as part of this partnership.

The Roslin Institute receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

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PARADISE VALLEY  A previously unidentified strain of parasite has grown so prolific in the Yellowstone River that it is overwhelming whitefish, killing thousands and prompting the state last week to close more than 180 miles of the river to all recreation.

The sheer parasite loading itself is almost shocking the fish, thats whats killing them, said Eileen Ryce, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks hatchery section chief, during a Tuesday press conference along the banks of the Yellowstone River south of Livingston.

Scientists like Ryce believe that the parasite bloom may be so large and unprecedented in part because the Yellowstone River is experiencing near-record low flows and high water temperatures.

We could see varying responses (of the parasite) depending on which river it gets into, said Travis Horton, Region 3 fisheries manager in Bozeman.

The nearby Madison River, where flows are dam controlled, may be more resilient to the parasite since the waters temperature is cooler, coming from the bottom of Hebgen Lake, and the flows can be maintained at a steadier rate. Likewise, outbreaks of similar parasites in Idaho that killed whitefish in 2011 and 2012 may have been more limited because some of the streams are dam controlled, Horton said.

The FWP officials spoke to a crowd of about 50 people  anglers, local lawmakers, the media and business owners  at a fishing access site where the stench of dead whitefish rotting on the riverbank wafted through the air.

Acknowledging the effect of the rivers closure to anglers, floaters and on all of the many businesses that service such recreationists, Gov. Steve Bullock said the impact goes far beyond the waters edge. Yet he said science needs to guide this.

We need to make sure we are not only protecting this watershed and this water but indeed our entire state, he said, noting that the outdoor recreation industry creates about 64,000 jobs and $6 billion in consumer spending annually in Montana.

When Rep. Alan Redfield, R-Livingston, asked why certain portions of the river couldnt be open to fishing to ease some of the impact on local businesses, Horton said FWP hopes to contain the parasite outbreak to the Yellowstone and make its duration short-lived.

We want to try to minimize this, Horton said. We dont want to make this situation worse by rushing ahead.

Horton added that when the Yellowstone Rivers peak water temperatures drop below 55 degrees and stay there, FWP would consider lifting the river closure.

Were not looking at it being a permanent closure, said Jeff Hagener, FWP director.

He noted the rule to enforce the closure is a temporary emergency closure good for 120 days. After that time the department is forced to re-examine the issue to decide whether the closure should be extended.

The fish kill has been documented by FWP crews from the Yellowstone National Park boundary about 100 miles downstream to just west of the town of Big Timber, Horton said. Other public reports of dead whitefish and suckers downstream from Big Timber to Laurel have not been confirmed by FWP.

The microscopic parasite that infects the fish needs two hosts to complete its life cycle, Ryce explained. It starts in a Bryozoan, a moss animal similar to a freshwater sponge. The Bryozoan releases the parasite that fish absorb through their gills. Similar parasites have caused internal bleeding and kidney failure in whitefish in other outbreaks, such as the ones in Idaho.

But the Yellowstone outbreak is different, Ryce said. There are so many spores being found inside the fish that the scientists are calling it a naive reaction.

What we mean by that is that the immune response that the fish are expressing would suggest that they have not been exposed to this parasite previously, she said. That has concerned us since it would suggest its a new infection. At least we havent seen anything on this scale previously.

The other thing thats concerning is from the histology results there were high numbers of parasites seen in multiple tissues. That suggests to us that the infective load thats currently out in the river is very high. Why thats a concern is that the sheer volume of parasites thats out there makes it very easy for the parasite to be spread to other waters.

Thats the reason FWP took the unusual step to close down much of the upper river to recreation, Horton said, calling it a very dramatic step that we took. Its also why the agency is stressing that the best way to fight the spread of the parasite, along with other aquatic invasive species, is to clean, drain and dry all boats and fishing equipment.

FWP crews will continue to search for dead and dying fish in the Yellowstone River and its tributaries like the Stillwater and Boulder rivers to try to determine the extent of the outbreak.

I hope we can continue to work together, recognizing that the long-term objective is to protect this valley and the river, Bullock said.

Yet Ryce noted that FWP staff doesnt expect the parasite to disappear, even with colder water temperatures and higher river flows. However, if the fish are given time to adapt they may build up some immunity to the parasite and recover.
HOUSTON, Aug. 23, 2016 - Breast cancer patients in the U.S. will have a new surgical option that eliminates exposure to radioactive materials and offers a less invasive, more flexible alternative for cancer detection. Receiving FDA approval in April and a distribution deal this month, the new device will be used to locate early stage tumors that cannot yet be felt.

Co-invented by University of Houston physicist Audrius Brazdeikis and his collaborators at the University College of London, the Sentimag technology platform is a magnetic surgical guidance probe used with nanoparticle tracers and other magnetic devices to more safely and easily determine the spread of cancer. Its first introduction commercially in the U.S. will be its use with an implantable magnetic lesion marker, called Magseed, that easily guides surgeons to cancerous lesions. The Sentimag+Magseed combination serves as a replacement for procedures involving surgical wire needles and radioactive seeds, which are the two standards of care currently in practice for finding a breast tumor in advance of a lumpectomy.

Receiving 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April, the Sentimag+Magseed breast cancer diagnostic system can now be marketed stateside. Thanks to the distribution deal unveiled this month between Devicor Medical Products and Endomag, a UH spinoff medical devices company co-founded by Brazdeikis, the technology will be immediately available for use here in the U.S. Devicor Medical Products, a division of Leica Biosystems, will be the exclusive distributor of Sentimag in the U.S. and Canada.

As breast cancer screening programs have advanced, tumors are now detected much earlier, so they are smaller, less defined and harder to feel. In fact, 50 percent of all breast tumors cannot be felt at diagnosis. Since these small tumors are often impalpable, they are difficult for surgeons to locate during a lumpectomy.

"Magseed is designed to guide surgeons using Sentimag to locate impalpable tumors for biopsy and has many advantages over wire and radioactive seed localization," Brazdeikis said. "Radiologists can place the Magseed magnetic markers up to 30 days in advance of surgery using X-ray or ultrasound guidance. This offers scheduling flexibility for surgeons and radiologists, as well as for patients, compared to wire-guided localization."

Traditional guide wires, which are inserted by a radiologist in a separate procedure prior to a patient's lumpectomy, protrude from a patient's breast, leading to potential discomfort and restricting the patient to the hospital. More critically, the protruding guide wires risk movement prior to surgery, requiring follow-up surgery in up to 55 percent of lumpectomy procedures. Conversely, Magseed is similar in size to a grain of rice and placed within the tumor, allowing the possibility for patients to return home before their operations. During the lumpectomy, the Magseed magnetic marker is located using audio-visual cues from the Sentimag device.

Prior to its approval for use in the U.S., Sentimag received its European conformity (CE) mark in 2010 for use in Europe and has been used in more than 14,000 breast cancer procedures across Europe with another Endomag product, the Sienna magnetic nanoparticle tracer. The Sentimag+Sienna combination, used as part of the sentinel lymph node biopsy procedure for breast cancer staging, completed a multicenter clinical trial with 160 subjects in the U.S. earlier this year at six medical centers in Texas, Pennsylvania and California.

The Sienna was the first magnetically detected lymphatic mapping agent to be trialed in the U.S. under an Investigational Device Exemption. The results of the trial are being used for a Premarket Approval (PMA) submission, which is the most stringent type of device marketing application required by the FDA. Brazdeikis estimates it will take 12 to 18 months for Sienna to receive regulatory approval under the stricter PMA guidelines.

Brazdeikis, who heads the Biomedical Imaging Group at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH, co-founded Endomag with his colleagues at the University College of London, physics professor Quentin Pankhurst and systems engineer Simon Hattersley, to bring their technology to the marketplace. Their Sentimag invention is the foundation of these new surgical options. As the world's most sensitive handheld magnetic probe, Sentimag is capable of detecting minute quantities of magnetic material in the body to guide surgeons, using Magseed in lumpectomies and Sienna in sentinel lymph node biopsies to locate the first lymph node to which a tumor's metastasizing cancer cells drain.

"Our partnership with Devicor Medical Products, a leader in breast cancer care, strengthens our ability to support the entire U.S. and Canadian market," said Eric Mayes, CEO of Endomag. "And our continued research collaboration with Professor Brazdeikis and UH, as well as clinical research collaborations with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, means that Texas remains essential to our success as we grow our business in the U.S."

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Twitter handles: @US_FDA @endomag @UHouston @ucl @UH_News @abrazdeikis

Facebook pages: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Devicor Medical Products, Inc., UH College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics (NSM), University of Houston

Hashtags: #FDA #Sentimag #breastcancer

About the University of Houston

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 42,700 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country. For more information about UH, visit the university's newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.

To receive UH science news via email, sign up for UH-SciNews at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/mailing-lists/sciencelistserv/index.php.
MIAMI--An international team of scientists used a state-of-the-art computer model, a high-powered supercomputer, and five billion 'virtual' coral larvae to test Charles Darwin's 1880 hypothesis that marine species cannot cross the Eastern Pacific's "impassable" marine barrier. The team, which included University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Associate Professor Claire Paris, found that Darwin's theory still hold true today even under extreme El Nino conditions known to speed up ocean currents.

To trace the journey of coral larvae transported by ocean currents in the Eastern Pacific Barrier, a 4,000-mile stretch of ocean that separates the central from the eastern Pacific Ocean, researchers from University of Bristol and Penn State University used Paris' biophysical model on Bristol University's BlueCrystal supercomputer to simulate five billion model 'larvae' from 636 remote reefs traveling on ocean currents over a 14-and-a-half year period.

"This work wouldn't have been possible until recently because of the computer power, the climate data, and the probabilistic biophysical model necessary to find some robust modeling results," said Paris, a coauthor of the study. Paris' open-source software, called the Connectivity Modeling System, simulates the movement of larvae in the ocean by currents and incorporates aspects of their biology, such as development and death.

The simulations showed that even in extreme environmental events such as the 1997-1998 El Nino that speed ocean currents, coral larvae could not survive long enough to make the trip from coral reefs in the western and central Pacific to help corals in the east recover from recent environmental damage. The findings have also been confirmed by genetic analysis.

"Whether coral reefs can survive the pressure of climate change as well as local stresses will depend to a large extent on the ability of coral to reproduce and disperse; to replenish damaged populations, migrate from deteriorating conditions and colonize new frontiers," said Sally Wood, a coral reef researcher at the University of Bristol and lead author of the paper. "So it's important to map where coral are able to get to."

The results indicate that vulnerable coral populations in the eastern tropical Pacific have been completely isolated from the rest of the Pacific Ocean for at least the past two decades. The findings provide important information to conservation efforts for the economically and environmentally important coral reefs in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

"While genetic data can tell us the degree to which coral reefs are related, the model reveals the processes by which larval connectivity or barrier to their dispersal happens. This is important for effective conservation measures." said Paris.

Reefs provide habitats for one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and they are extremely economically important for fisheries, coastal protection, tourism, the aquarium trade, and as sources for new pharmaceuticals. The reefs in the eastern Pacific that we study are particularly important because they survive in inhospitable conditions, and understanding how they do this could be critical when designing strategies for reef conservation as climates continue to change.

The team found that even during the record-breaking El Nino of 1998, coral larvae could not survive long enough to make the trip from reefs in the central Pacific to those in the east. These findings support the opinion of Charles Darwin, who considered this intimidating expanse of open ocean 'impassable' and counter recent arguments that the 'East Pacific Barrier' must be breachable since the same coral species are found on both sides.

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Video: https://youtu.be/MArjWJoPpG0

The study, titled "El Nino and coral larval dispersal across the Eastern Pacific marine Barrier," was published on line August 23, 2016 in the journal Nature Communications, doi:10.1038/ncomms12571. The study's coauthors also included: Andy Ridgwell from the University of California, Riverside; William S. Kessler from NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle; and Erica J. Hendy from the University of Bristol.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF-RAPID 1048697 and NSF-OCE 1260424).

About the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School

The University of Miami is one of the largest private research institutions in the southeastern United States. The University's mission is to provide quality education, attract and retain outstanding students, support the faculty and their research, and build an endowment for University initiatives. Founded in the 1940's, the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has grown into one of the world's premier marine and atmospheric research institutions. Offering dynamic interdisciplinary academics, the Rosenstiel School is dedicated to helping communities to better understand the planet, participating in the establishment of environmental policies, and aiding in the improvement of society and quality of life. For more information, visit: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu.
Mathematical models analysing the interplay between society and hydrological effects have been developed at TU Wien (Vienna). They provide insights into ancient cultures -- as well as into our own future

Something really drastic must have happened to the Ancient Maya at the end of the Classic Period in the 9th century. Within a short period of time, this advanced civilisation in Central America went from flourishing to collapsing -- the population dwindling rapidly and monumental stone structures, like the ones built at Yucatan, were no longer being constructed. The reason for this demise remains the subject of debate even today. Model calculations by TU Wien may have found the explanation: the irrigation technology that served the Mayans well during periods of drought may have actually made their society more vulnerable to major catastrophes.

The lessons learnt may also help us to draw important conclusions for our own future. We need to be careful with our natural resources -- if technical measures simply deal with the shortage of resources on a superficial level and we do not adjust our own behaviour, society is left vulnerable.

Socio-hydrology

"Water influences society and society influences water," says Linda Kuil, one of Prof. Gunter Bloschl's PhD students of the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems, funded by the Austrian Science Fund, at TU Wien. "The water supply determines how much food is available, so in turn affects the growth of the population. Conversely, population increases may interfere with the natural water cycle through the construction of reservoirs, for example."

Since water and society have such a direct influence on each other, it will not suffice to describe them by separate models. This is why researchers at TU Wien explore the interactions between sociology and hydrology and represent them by coupled mathematical models. The emerging field of socio-hydrology establishes mathematical interrelationships, e.g., between food availability and birth rate, or between recent water shortages that are still fresh in our memories and society's plans for building water reservoirs. These kinds of interrelationships, combined with a large amount of historical and current data, ultimately yield a complex system that produces different scenarios of human-nature interactions.

The water reservoir: a blessing and a curse

"It's well-known that the Mayans built water reservoirs in preparation for dry spells," Linda Kuil says. "With our model, we can now analyse the effects of the Mayans' water engineering on their society. It is also possible to simulate scenarios with and without water reservoirs and compare the consequences of such decisions."

As it turns out, water reservoirs can actually provide substantial relief during short periods of drought. In the simulations without reservoirs the Mayan population declines after a drought, whereas it continues to grow if reservoirs provide extra water. However, the reservoirs may also make the population more vulnerable during prolonged dry spells. The water management behaviour may remain the same, and the water demand per person does not decrease, but the population continues to grow. This may then prove fatal if another drought occurs resulting in a decline in population that is more dramatic than without reservoirs.

Sustainable use of resources

We will probably never know all the reasons for the decline of the Mayans. After all, wars or epidemics may have played their part too. The socio-hydrological model developed by the Gunter Bloschl-led team of researchers at TU Wien does, however, tell us that droughts and water issues are one possible explanation for their demise and shows us just how vulnerable an engineered society can be. "When it comes to scarce resources, the simplest solutions might turn out to be superficial and not always the best ones," Linda Kuil believes. "You have to change people's behaviour, reassess society's dependency on this resource and reduce consumption -- otherwise society may in fact be more vulnerable to catastrophes rather than safer, despite clever technical solutions."

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Further information:

Prof. Gunter Bloschl

Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management

TU Wien

Karlsplatz 13, 1040 Wien

43-1-58801-22315

bloeschl@hydro.tuwien.ac.at

Linda Kuil, MSc

Centre for Water Resource Systems (CWRS)

TU Wien

Karlsplatz 13, 1040 Wien

T: 43-1-58801-406667

linda.kuil@tuwien.ac.at
Research reveals that impacts of haze pollution in the US and China vary significantly

A new Yale-led study published in the journal Nature Communications sheds light on the surprising role that haze in China plays in promoting the urban heat island effect [UHI], a process whereby city centers tend to be significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas.

Scientists have always suspected that aerosol particles, or haze, played a role in amplifying UHI, said Xuhui Lee, a professor of meteorology at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies [F&ES] and senior author of the study. Now they have evidence that in China -- unlike the U.S. -- haze is a significant driver of UHI.

The study also highlights the paradoxical nature of haze, and the challenges scientists face in isolating its effects on climate change. Smaller aerosol particles that pose public health risks such as asthma actually cool surfaces and reduce UHI by blocking sunlight. But larger aerosol particles radiate heat in the form of long-wave radiation, thus increasing local temperatures.

"When people talk about aerosols, particle size matters a lot," Lee said.

Previous research by Lee and his colleagues showed that UHI in the U.S. and Canada appears to be driven by a lack of vegetation, especially trees, which are highly effective in dissipating heat through convection. But when they attempted to replicate their experiment in China, the model performed poorly.

At first they thought it was due to the structure of Chinese cities, where there is more vertical stacking as opposed to the sprawling nature of cities in the U.S. Instead, they found a strong correlation between the amount of haze and an increase in heat: cities with more haze pollution had an amplified urban heat island effect.

Even more surprising, they found the greatest UHI in midwestern and northwestern small to mid-sized cities, not in the massive cities located along China's east coast.

China's semiarid midwestern and northwestern cities have more large aerosol particles due to road dust and coal combustion that create a thick haze layer and result in a net warming of about one-degree Celsius. Lee even speculates that stir-fry cooking contributes to the UHI.

The study also reveals the ways in which local factors can affect the spatial patterning of UHI. For example, although many parts of the U.S. have air pollution problems that affect respiratory health, researchers couldn't find a correlation between UHI and haze in the U.S., possibly because aerosol particles here are too small to create a warming effect. Here, the highest UHI is found in wet climates -- especially southeastern cities such as Atlanta -- posing public health risks and management challenges for city administrators in the face of climate change.

There are several important implications of this research, Lee said. The first is that aerosol pollution must be reduced. "Cleaning up has a co-benefit," he said. "It helps improve human health, but it also helps to cool the local climate."

Second, researchers must improve the ability of models to quantify the effects of aerosols on climate change. According to Lee, most climate models don't actually calculate the long-wave radiation at the ground, or heat, produced by haze pollution. Other models only measure land surface properties, such as the effects of removing vegetation on local climate.

"That's one of the frontiers in climate change prediction," Lee says. "There's a whole gap in our theory and methodology, so we tried to quantify that, not just to describe with empirical evidence. We tried to propose a framework to close this knowledge gap."

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Chang Cao, the first author of the study, is a visiting doctoral student from Nanjing University of Information, Science and Technology, Nanjing China.
Heres another reason to teach the scientific controversy over evolution: inquiry-based methods improve student engagement and learning  and U.S. science education needs a jumpstart like that.

More than fifty science and engineering organizations, including the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, recently signed a letter to the two major party presidential candidates asking twenty questions about pivotal scientific and engineering issues. NPR notes, The groups behind the questions represent more than 10 million scientists and engineers.

One of those twenty inquiries is on science education:

Education: American students have fallen in many international rankings of science and math performance, and the public in general is being faced with an expanding array of major policy challenges that are heavily influenced by complex science. How would your administration work to ensure all students including women and minorities are prepared to address 21st century challenges and, further, that the public has an adequate level of STEM literacy in an age dominated by complex science and technology?

While science education has a national and global impact, policy on the matter is generally made at the state level. That aside, how do we ensurethat the public has an adequate level of STEM literacy? Well, its not as simple as just teaching facts to be committed to memory. Students learn best by engaging in critical analysis. And asking questions and examining evidence is the heart of scientific inquiry.

The history of crafting national science standards underscores this point. John Timmer at Ars Technica explains:

Inspired by the visit of Halleys comet in the 1980s, the AAAS started Project 2061, an attempt to envision where the organization would like to see science literacy in the year the comet would return. Jo Ellen Roseman, Project 2061s Director, told Ars that the goal was to characterize what the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind would constitute adult science literacy.  While we had no idea what the world would be like, we could guarantee that it would be shaped by science, mathematics, and technology, Roseman said. And therefore every citizen of the US, every high school graduate had to be literate in those fields.  Driven by this concept, AAAS gathered scientists and educators to produce a document called Science for All Americans. This publication, while not a set of education standards, laid out the ideas they should contain. Written in prose, it describes basic facts about the Universe that people should know. But over half the document is focused on the nature of science, technology and math, the historic development of these fields, and the habits of mind essential for scientific literacy.

Nature has also pointed this out in a special issue on science education: [S]tudents gain a much deeper understanding of science when they actively grapple with questions than when they passively listen to answers.

Writing in the journal Science, Jonathan Osborne, professor at Stanford Universitys School of Education, praises critical thinking in the classroom. The Abstract states:

Argument and debate are common in science, yet they are virtually absent from science education. Recent research shows, however, that opportunities for students to engage in collaborative discourse and argumentation offer a means of enhancing student conceptual understanding and students skills and capabilities with scientific reasoning. As one of the hallmarks of the scientist is critical, rational skepticism, the lack of opportunities to develop the ability to reason and argue scientifically would appear to be a significant weakness in contemporary educational practice. In short, knowing what is wrong matters as much as knowing what is right. This paper presents a summary of the main features of this body of research and discusses its implications for the teaching and learning of science.

In teaching about origins, teachers could do a lot more to introduce argument and debate. Many present evolution dogmatically, instead of inviting students to grapple with the evidence and examine the scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory. Active engagement in learning is beneficial from both a scientific and pedagogical standpoint. Using critical analysis in evolution-education would be a big step toward upgrading scientific literacy.

As we never tire of saying, students need to spend more and higher quality time learning about evolution. Presenting both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of neo-Darwinism teaches students more about this fascinating and important subject, not less. The content itself is well suited to spark interest and discussion  where we come from and how is a topic of relevance to all. Nothing could be more relevant.

Judged by scores on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a test for 15-year-olds given every three years, the U.S. ranks 27th out of 64 countries in science. Thats not good enough. Its time to make a change, and we know how to start.

Photo credit: aitoff via Pixabay.
In November, India will play host to the seventh session of Conference of the Parties (COP7) as also the first session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP1). American journalist Drew Johnson fears that the press may be subjected to similar restrictions at the event that the UN has put before him and other journalists in the past

Take your job plan and shove it, Mr President. Your policies have harmed Chattanooga enough. That was the headline of an opinion article written by American journalist Drew Johnson criticizing US President Barack Obamas jobs plan in 2012. The only problem is that President Obama happened to be in the city that day. Eventually, Chattanooga Times Free Press, the conservative newspaper Johnson worked for, fired him.

The newspaper claimed that he violated editing principles while putting out that headline. But Johnson claimed otherwise. He stated that he had followed the standard editing procedure and the policy on the basis of which he was fired did not exist at the time he wrote the article.

Johnson, whos been a columnist for The Washington Times, wasnt at the receiving end for the first time. In February 2007, Johnson exposed former US Vice President Al Gores electricity consumption records. The investigation revealed that he used more electricity in a month than an average American household did in one full year. Numerically speaking, Gores bills were twenty times higher.

Unfortunately, for Gore, the expose was in the aftermath of his much acclaimed documentary called Inconvenient Truth. Johnsons findings made Gore appear like a hypocrite who wasnt personally cutting down on his electricity consumption but sermonising the entire world on adapting to a sustainable way of life to compliment the environment. At that time too, Johnson was faced with criticism.

Nevertheless, Johnson carried on with his journalism that eventually led him into a standoff with the United Nations. After irking the sitting US President and former Vice President, Johnsons reportage and questioning led to the World Health Organisation (WHO) throwing him out of Conferences of the Parties held in Moscow in 2014. He has observed the United Nations frequently censor the press and harass journalists through various means.

In November, India will play host to the seventh session of Conference of the Parties (COP7) as also the first session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP1). Its something that has Johnson worried. Besides kicking journalists out of meetings that should be open to the press, there is an indirect kind of press exclusion that takes place at the COP meetings to ensure that only a very small number of reporters will even be able to attend, he told exchange4media.

He further said, The COP is being held at the exact same time as the U.S. presidential election in November, so most international political reporters will be too busy reporting on the most important election in the world than to cover a WHO tobacco control meeting. However, he was hopeful that Indian journalists will work towards ensuring accountability at the WHO meet in Noida.

The world will listen to Indian journalists if they report that WHO officials and government leaders from across the globe are treating the media in ways that would never be tolerated by Indian leaders, he added.

During his trip to India earlier this month, Johnson spoke exclusively to exchange4media. Edited excerpts:

In an opinion piece for The Washington Times, you have termed the United Nations a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to press freedom. What prompted you to level such serious allegations against the world body?

The United Nations host the annual World Press Freedom Day to promote freedom of the press among UN member countries and to encourage governments to operate in a transparent and accountable manner. At the same time, however, the UN and especially, its public health arm, the World Health Organization, are taking drastic steps to silence the press.

For example, the media has been banned from two separate WHO tobacco control Conferences of the Parties (COPs) that I attended as a journalist. During the most recent one, two years ago in Moscow, I and other journalists were physically removed from the COP event so we could not see how delegates voted on a proposed international tobacco tax and other issues.

These meetings are supposed to be open to the media, and they shouldve been. After all, these delegates are high-ranking government officials  health and finance ministers from 180 countries  who are using their citizens tax dollars to come together and discuss issues that impact the health and financial well-being of most of the people on Earth. The media should have had the opportunity to report their discussions, record their votes and allow the public to hold them accountable for their decisions.

Additionally, the WHO blacklisted a reporter who wrote critically about the organizations response to the Ebola crisis. She was banned from press conferences and blocked from receiving email updates from the WHO.

The organization also frequently awards prominent meetings to countries that have almost no press freedom at all. Turkmenistan, for instance, hosted two WHO meetings in the past year, even though the country was ranked third-worst in the world for respecting press freedom by Reporters Without Borders. The nation is known for imprisoning and even murdering journalists who attempt to objectively report on the government.

Since the UN hosts World Press Freedom Day while behaving as a threat to press freedom, I felt very justified in using terms like hypocrite and fraud. In fact, Im not sure those terms are strong enough. The UN is behaving in a truly despicable manner.

Isnt it ironic that a global organisation like United Nations is being accused of subjugating the press? In an ideal scenario, the UN should be at the forefront of guarding press freedom.

Its absolutely outrageous that the organization that is most responsible for protecting global press freedom has become an enemy to the very principles it should be defending.

As an American or an Indian, its easy to take a cavalier attitude about the UNs horrible actions when it comes to press freedom. Fortunately, our countries have strong laws regarding freedom of the press, open meetings, open records and government transparency.

But for smaller, less-developed or more corruption-prone countries, the UN sets the standard for how journalists should be treated and recommends policies to enhance press freedom. But these countries may very well lose their interest in protecting freedom of the press once they realize that the UN, their guiding light regarding how to operate a free and objective media, is banning the press and preventing journalists from receiving information. The UN is setting a truly dangerous example that will harm journalists, and ultimately, citizens in countries throughout the world.

Why is the United Nations behaving in such a reckless manner?

In my experience, when a government goes to extreme lengths to prevent the media from attending meetings or accessing information that should be a matter of public record, its because someone has something to hide. It may very well be that the UN and the WHO have something to hide, as well.

Are any media organisations or journalists actively taking up this issue?

The Committee to Protect Journalists and UN Watch have both expressed concern about the WHOs troubling treatment of the media. A few members of the international press who were present when the media was banned from the COP in Moscow intend to attend this years version of the meeting in Greater Noida this November to report on press exclusion issues.

Frankly, however, the number of international reporters who attend this meeting and who arent simply WHO cronies that intent on making the organization look good is very small.

As a result, journalists in the host country are the most influential voices when it comes to holding the WHO accountable for mistreating the media. The world will listen to Indian journalists if they report that WHO officials and government leaders from across the globe are treating the media in ways that would never be tolerated by Indian leaders.

A few journalists from Western Europe and North America can only do so much to hold the WHO accountable. Dozens of Indian reporters can force huge changes in how the UN and the WHO treats the media.

In November 2016, India will play host to the seventh session of Conference of the Parties (COP7) as also the first session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP1). Do you expect the media to be subjected to similar restrictions that you have faced at UN events in the past?

Some insiders and delegates expect WHO officials to create opportunities for the media to interact with COP leaders that havent existed in the past. That may provide the appearance of more accountability and engagement with the media. But in reality, I expect the media will be kicked out of the COP proceedings and banned from covering discussion and votes. So the shameful media exclusion and the shocking assault on press freedom will almost certainly continue.

Besides kicking journalists out of meetings that should be open to the press, there is an indirect kind of press exclusion that takes place at the COP meetings to ensure that only a very small number of reporters will even be able to attend. The COP is being held at the exact same time as the U.S. presidential election in November, so most international political reporters will be too busy reporting on the most important election in the world than to cover a WHO tobacco control meeting. Additionally, the COPs are almost always held in locations that are extremely expensive and difficult for Western European and North American journalists to attend, meaning that many of the worlds most influential media outlets simply dont report on the meetings.

While India is certainly easier to get to for most journalists than South Africa or Uruguay and simpler to get into than Moscow, it is still a place most media outlets wont pay to send reporters. As a result, it is imperative that Indian journalists cover the meeting and report on the policy decisions that take place, as well as shine a light when press freedom is attacked.

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Mills levied by School District 2 will hold steady for most funds next year, with a notable exception  taxpayers are now on the hook for debt service payments on bonds used to build Ben Steele Middle School.

The district held back on the bonds until it needed the money when construction began this spring. Debt service payments can encompass principal and interest payments and other fees.

"You're not paying interest on it from the get go," district CFO Mike Arnold said.

SD2 trustees approved elementary and high school budgets in less than an hour Monday night. The impact upon individual taxpayers is uncertain, as changes in property value vary.

Property values rose overall in both districts, up about $4 million to $198,430,778 for the elementary tax base and up about $5.5 million to $269,574,516 for the high school tax base. SD2's high school tax base covers a larger geographic area that includes several independent elementary school districts.

Overall, mills for the high school district are down 1.5, and mills for the elementary district are up 10.81. General fund budgets increased slightly for both districts, as did enrollment projections.

A state-funded program sometimes helps districts with debt service payments, but funding has decreased each year. When debt service payments spiked in fiscal year 2015 to more than $8.5 million for the elementary district, the state chipped in about $2.6 million. That dropped to about $784,000 the following year. Even though debt service payments rose this year, it's unclear what the state's payment will be.

The state contribution on debt service payments at the high school level, though smaller, has dropped consistently, from about $342,000 in fiscal year 2013 to about $122,000 last year, despite a similar total district payment.

Reserves also continued to inch up, around 8 percent for the elementary and high school districts. Montana law caps reserves at 10 percent of a district's general fund.

Enrollment

SD2 projects high on enrollment figures during its budgeting process in order to account for potential enrollment increases, then sets money tied to the increase aside in the budget. That money then gets sent back to the state if the increase never materializes. But if the district doesn't overestimate and enrollment spikes, it can't ask for more money later. Most state payments are tied to student enrollment.

The school district typically doesn't release enrollment figures until the second or third week of school. Billings hasn't hit original growth projections set by a consultant in 2012. Overall district enrollment has continued growing, but it's lagged in younger grades.

Elementary mills also went up for tuition payments, a product of state restructuring of special education funding.

Some trustees expressed concerns about approving a budget while having no contract with the teachers union, the Billings Education Association. The union and district have been negotiating teacher contracts since May with a summer hiatus.

SD2 officials built the budget off of the current district offer. Trustee Janna Hafer expressed concern about a final agreement costing more than expected.

"What gives?" she said.

Arnold said that trustees would have to approve budget revisions.

Trustee Mike Leo suggested the district consider changing the structure of administrators' raises, which are set at the same rate as teachers, "if things get tight" in the future.
By a 7-3 count Monday, the Billings City Council voted to award up to $500,000 in downtown tax increment financing to match private investment required for maintaining, restoring and updating the privately-held Hart-Albin Parking Garage.

Councilmen Chris Friedel, Dick Clark and Shaun Brown voted against the grant, which had previously been approved by the Downtown Billings Partnership.

Joining Mayor Tom Hanel in support of the proposal were Councilmen Brent Cromley, Mike Yakawich, Larry Brewster, Rich McFadden, Ryan Sullivan and Al Swanson. Councilwoman Angela Cimmino was absent.

Half the reimbursements for work that will keep water out of the 229-space garage on N. Broadway will be paid during the current fiscal year, with the remainder during the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Architect Dennis Deppmeier called the garage stout. It will have a long life cycle to it once the work is complete, he said.

Work will include improving the garages lighting system, Deppmeier said. We are going to create an environment where people feel more comfortable there, he said.

Spaces in the garage are leased during the work week but are available to the public weekday evenings and on weekends.

Some council expressed skepticism over whether to grant the proposal.

They have had the garage all this time and havent maintained it, Clark said. What makes us think that all of a sudden they will start maintaining it?

Tom Zurbuchen of Billings told the city council the expenditure is not an appropriate use of (tax increment financing) money. A flat giveaway of tax dollars to a private entity is totally wrong, and I urge you to reject it.

Two special reviews received city council approval following a pair of public hearings. The first, approved 9-1 with Sullivan opposed, will allow a beer and wine license with gaming for the Copper Creek Casino to operate at a new location, 545 S. 18th St. West.

The casino is now at 1731 King Ave. West, Suite 1.

The city council unanimously passed the second special review it considered, approving construction of a parking lot on the 1100 block of 16th Street West. As a condition, the city council will require access off 16th Street West rather than from a nearby alleyway, which neighbors said could get busier with the addition of the proposed 43-space parking lot.

Billings Chamber of Commerce Board President Bill Cole told the city council that the Yellowstone Kelly Interpretive Site is nearly fully funded, with $475,000 of the estimated $500,000 cost either on hand or pledged.

The latest large contribution is from Harvey Singh of Singh Contracting, who pledged $80,000 and was present Monday with his son, Taj.

The city of Billings got the project's fundraising going, donating $50,000 in what Cole called seed money to get the project moving.

Hanel issued a mayoral proclamation naming Aug. 25 through Sept. 25 as Attendance Awareness Month in Billings. Kristin Lundgren, United Ways director of impact, told council members that chronic absenteeism has been identified as the number one reason why students drop out of school.

Attendance is emphasized during the first month of the school year, which begins Thursday, because its absolutely predictive of student performance during the rest of the year  and possibly in future years.

Last year, more than 2,400 of the 16,300 or so students enrolled in Billings schools were chronically absent.

Students will be rewarded for consistent attendance, she said. About 4,000 Billings households will receive information on the importance of consistent school attendance, she told the council.

Our goal is to have every kid in school, she said.
The GBP to AUD exchange rate continued its climb on Wednesday's foreign exchange market session despite poor UK mortgage apps.

The Australian Dollar attempted to hold back further Pound gains as the Aussie exchange rates firmed following last weeks slumps.

Mortgage approvals in the UK may have dropped to their lowest level in 18 months, but the data has nonetheless boosted Pound Sterling exchange rates today.

This is largely because the decline has not been linked to the Brexit, but rather a natural lull in the markets which was expected to follow the rush earlier in 2016 to purchase buy-to-let properties before new government stamp duty came into effect in April.

Britains CBI data may have helped to boost the Pounds demand slightly later in the day. Trends only dipped to -5, despite markets expecting a drop of -10. This may have worked alongside the weeks short-cover rally to bolster Sterling demand on Tuesday afternoon.

The Pound has remained in high demand against its rivals on Tuesday, trading at 1.16 against the Euro, 1.31 against the US Dollar and 1.72 against the Australian Dollar.

This comes as an unusual development, given that the last UK domestic data came on Friday; investor sentiment has instead been high lately on an official denial of April 2017 as the latest that Article 50 will be triggered.

In UK domestic news, trade union TUC have reported that around 1.6 million UK households are in a dangerous state of debt, estimated as paying more that 40% of gross income on unsecured repayments.

Latest Pound/Australian Dollar Exchange Rates

On Saturday the Australian Dollar to British Pound exchange rate (AUD/GBP) converts at 0.552

The GBP to AUD exchange rate converts at 1.811 today.

The pound conversion rate (against euro) is quoted at 1.165 EUR/GBP.

The live inter-bank GBP-USD spot rate is quoted as 1.161 today.

Please note: the FX rates above, updated 29th Oct 2022, will have a commission applied by your typical high street bank. Currency brokers specialise in these type of foreign currency transactions and can save you up to 5% on international payments compared to the banks.

Future GBP Forecast: UK CBI Results, Mortgage Data Ahead

The next UK ecostats to watch out for will arrive shortly, in the form of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) industrial trends for orders made in August.

As with the previous months CBI results for the post-Brexit period, forecasts have been pessimistic for the outcome, with a decline expected from -4 points to -6.

Following on from this tomorrow will be the BBA mortgage approvals figure for July, which is expected to dip slightly from 40.1k to 38.8k.

Australian Dollar (AUD) Exchange Rates Trading in a Narrow Range despite Confidence Increase

The Aussie has made limited movements in exchange rates on Tuesday, having traded in a tight range overall against its regular peers.

This lacklustre result has come against the ANZ Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence index rising from 117.6 to 121.8, though the release was classified as low-impact.

Economists have attributed the rise to high activity in Australian share markets, as well as a slight dip in the unemployment rate.

Australian Construction Output Stats due to Influence AUD-GBP Exchange Rate Tomorrow

The next notable Australian data release will arrive in the early hours of Wednesday, covering both skilled vacancies in July and construction work done in Q2.

The only forecast made at present has been for an improvement in the construction work figure, from a prior -2% to -0.5%.

Later on in the week, Thursdays Q2 capital expenditure result will be announced; this previously came in at -5.2%.

UK Family Debt Problem could Lower Pound (GBP) Exchange Rate Values in Future

Returning to the recent negative news regarding the UKs family debt situation, TUC General Secretary Francis OGrady recently commented on what is a growing issue, stating that;

Higher wages must be at the heart of the government's economic plan. We need a return to proper year-on-year pay rises, and a higher national minimum wage.

While not a dominant problem in the grand scheme of the UK economy, the situation still bears observing in the future, due to its potential to escalate further.
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Internet shopping website Amazon is opening a delivery station in Exeter and will work with independent delivery companies to deliver orders to its customers.

Launched in 2012, Amazon Logistics empowers independent local, regional and national delivery companies across the UK to deliver Amazon parcels to customers every day of the week, including Sundays.

The company, which has branched out into internet TV services, will employ more than 20 people directly at the new delivery station in Sowton, Exeter when it opens in September.

Amazon will use eight independent delivery companies who are hiring more than 80 drivers to deliver parcels to the Exeter area.

Jamie Stephenson, UK Director for Amazon Logistics, said: "Amazon Logistics adds capacity and flexibility to Amazon's delivery network, enabling us to meet the delivery needs of customers.

"Amazon Logistics is also helping independent local delivery companies to grow their businesses by providing state of the art technology to deliver Amazon orders."

Amazon Prime members receive unlimited One-Day Delivery on millions of items as one of the many benefits of Prime. They can also have their parcels delivered on Sunday at no additional charge.

Amazon continues to offer customers more and more ways to receive their orders including free Standard Delivery to more than 14,000 Amazon Pickup Locations, ranging from Amazon Lockers to Post Office branches and convenience stores.
Hi,



I started a new post on EB5 as all the other posts on this topic seem to pretty old (2013 and earlier).



I'm planning to process my greencard thro the EB5 program. I'm researching the same to obtain as much info as possible before proceeding this route, as the risk factor is high.



Some of the points of concerns are:



01. Choosing the right Regional Center and Project

02. Choosing the right attorney

03. Fees and payments

04. Others



I would appreciate if others who have been successful in the past 2 or 3 years or are in the process of applying to please share their experiences so that I could make an informed decision.



Thanks

Suresh
Dear Friends,I went to VAC in Ankara (turkey), for applying standard visit visa for business aim, ( I am a member of our company business team), i have to handle everything and my knowledge in this process is zero. I really need your guide.Today ;after 10 days I has received one mail from tlscontact, as follow:Reference: GWF*********Dear ******* MASOUD,UK Visas & Immigration has now assessed your UK visa application and made a decision. Your documents and the decision will be sent back to either the UK Visa Application Centre where you applied, where we willcontact you by email over the next few days to collect them, or if you are using the courier return service, willbe sent directly back to the address you provided.Please note that TLScontact does not know the outcome of the assessment and has played no role in thedecision-making process.Kind regards,TLScontactUK VIsas & ImmigrationThis email and any information transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please delete it from your system.This is a post-only email address that is not monitored for replies. For questions and more information about visa application, scheduling for an appointment and all other queries please visit the Visa Enquiries section of the UK Visa Application Centre website.S/N:**----------------------------------------------------I got this e-mail today, I think we are refused/rejected :confused2:would you please help me about this e-mail,second thing is : I am in Iran now and my passport is in VAC in Ankara, I already had set someone to just pickup my passport, I think i have to clear something more with him about decision and if it will be approved he must go to UK console in Ankara for visa issuing.I really need your help and guideYour faithfullyMasoud
Hi everyone,



My soon to be husband is considering taking a job in Dubai. I have a Masters degree in occupational therapy and 2 years of experience working in a well respected hand therapy clinic.



I'm unsure how well my experience will apply in Dubai. I was able to find a few hand therapy offices with occupational therapists through a google search but open positions for occupational therapists seem scarce. Anyone have some insight on this issue or know the best way to approach finding a job?



Thanks,

Rebecca
Hi all,

been reading this for a while, though this is my first post.



Was planning to go to Muscat with the family for Eid, by car, and was wondering where to cross. Last year for National Day I ended up spending 6 hours in Kalba, due to Hatta being somewhat closed. Coming back I went through Al Ain and it was rather smooth. Any advice?



Is Hatta open, going around the Sharjah-Kalba road, bypassing the Omani enclave on the E44?



is there a border cross in Al Nasla, after Rafaq/Huwaylat? Couldn't find any info on the Internet, but from Google Maps there seem to be a border post, only not sure if open to expats.



Is the Kahlba post still tiny, hence better to avoid during busy season?



Any advice is welcome, I think it could help a lot of people.
Hello!I just registered here at Expat Forum, so I really have no idea how to go on about this, so I thought about replying to this thread.How can I join the BCA? I'm an expat (Syrian) and I'm 17 if that matters, do they accept minors? I'm only a few months away from 18, or do I have to apply for a family membership if there is such thing, also, what are the fees! Thank you very much, and once again, sorry, I'm too confused so I'm not even sure that this is in the right place!
Montana State University Billings' library director will leave his position on Sept. 2, and an interim director has been appointed, according to a press release from the university. The university will conduct a national search for the next director.

Brent Roberts has been at MSUB since 2000. He was appointed associate director in 2000 and director in 2010. He also served on the Montana State Library Commission, which is composed of five members appointed by the governor and a librarian within the Montana University System, including the superintendent of public instruction.

Roberts has accepted the position as dean of the Greenwood Library at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Roberts has been a visionary librarian and scholar with a deep commitment to making library resources central to the needs of students, faculty, and the Billings community, Provost Robert Hoar said in a press release. He has leveraged the universitys resources, and has created a strong synergy between MSUB and our statewide network of resources and data, ensuring citizens have greater access to information and academic interests.

Megan Thomas, MSUBs reference and assessment librarian, will serve as the librarys director in the interim.

A farewell party for Roberts will be held Sept. 1 from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the MSUB Library. The community is welcome to attend.
Monday, August 22, 2016

This kind of smear (from Salon)

Washington man stabs kissing interracial couple, cites Donald Trump when arrested

has got to stop.

It doesnt matter which candidate some despicable, hateful wacko cites. Its not news, it means nothing, and it proves nothing positively or negatively about the individual so mentioned, praised, or referenced. Any news source that highlights it to suggest otherwise is playing despicable cognitive dissonance games, and is devoid of fairness and honesty.

Of course, this is Salon. But it is not alone.

In the same unethical category is drawing significance from who attends a candidates rally, as the conservative media did when the father of the Orlando shooter attended a Clinton rally. Candidate endorsements from disreputable individuals are also beyond a candidates control, and are weak indictments of the candidates themselves at best. Admittedly, when just about every troglodyte, uncivil and boorish celebrity under the sun endorses the same candidate, this begins to suggest a reason worth pondering. No single endorsement individually, however, qualifies as significant. John Hinckley, I hear, may be a Hillary supporter. So what?

No, this is not the same issue posed when a mass killer announces fealty to ISIS, or when a cop-killer invokes Black Lives Matter. Those are organizations and movements. They are accountable for the messages they employ to inflame and recruit. The stated believe in such a group is genuine evidence in assessing a societal danger. One can belong to such movements without paying dues or attending a meeting. Unless there is a legitimate nexus between the illegal act and the rhetoric of a candidate, a captured wrongdoers mention of that candidate should be treated as the trivial detail that it is, not splattered on a headline. When has Trump ever expressed animus towards interracial couples? Never.

The news media has so much legitimate ammunition to attack both of these candidates, it is inexcusable to manufacture evidence like this.

_____________________

Pointer: Fred
Tuesday, August 23, 2016



For many working parents, finding a hired caregiver/nanny that they trust to be with their children during the workday is extremely important. It may be convenient to pay your nanny under the table, but not only is this illegal, but it can be incredibly costly if you get caught. If you do not pay nanny taxes, there are heft fines and penalties, sometimes ranging upwards of $25,000.

Many families find this both complicated and time consuming. Prefering to dedicate this time to their family, they outsource the nanny payroll to a specialty nanny payroll service like HomeWork Solutions. If youre determined to figure out how to pay the nanny taxes yourself, here are the steps on how to pay your nanny legally.

Step #1

Track your nannys hours, gross pay, withholdings, and net pay from the very start. There are nanny payroll calculators online that can help you, but these will not help you determine exactly what your filing requirements are as well as what tax filing deadlines there are. In addition, you will need to research and find out how much you will owe for disability, workers comp, sick pay, and other benefits that you choose to provide.

Step #2

Apply for a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) and ask your nanny to fill out a W-4 and I-9 tax form as soon as possible. The I-9 shows that the nanny is legally able to work in the U.S. and the W-4 is used to figure out how much tax should be withheld from her gross wages each pay period.

Step #3

Next, youll need to register with your state as an employer. There will be a form that you will need to fill out to apply for an employer registration number. This will certify that quarterly taxes are credited accurately and in a timely fashion.

Step #4

You will then need to fill out a new hire report for your state and you can do this simply by searching online with the following text: New Hire for State (X). This will notify state agencies that there is a new employee and you will be given proper instructions on how to report.

Step #5

State laws vary on the compliance items employers must follow. From pay frequency to treatment of overtime to required minimum benefits - you will need to learn what is required in your state. Research workers compensation laws in your state. Laws will vary from requiring coverage to all household workers, to requirements based on hours worked, to optional coverage. However, if the nanny is eligible for workers compensation and you do not plan ahead for it, there could be a significant penalty for not complying.

Step #6

Next comes the actual reporting and payment of taxes. Most tax reports are due quarterly, so you will need to carve out time every three months to complete and file tax reports. Many states require that you file online, and there are steep penalties for late payments. At the end of every year you will need to accurately complete and file Forms W-2 and W-3 with the Social Security Administration as well as a Form 1040 Schedule H with the Internal revenue service.
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OPEC has done it again.

Talk of a potential deal to freeze output helped push oil close to $50 a barrel and prompted money managers to cut bets on falling prices by the most ever. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for crude, went from a bear to a bull market in less than three weeks.

OPEC is on course to agree to a production freeze because its biggest members are pumping flat-out, said Chakib Khelil, the groups former president. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said that the talks may lead to action to stabilize the market.

This is all courtesy of some very well-timed comments from the Saudi oil minister, said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York hedge fund focused on energy. Theyve been successful over the last year in jawboning the market, and this is the latest example.

WTI is up 20 percent from its Aug. 2 low, meeting the common definition of a bull market.

This was a very short market so we were bound to get some covering, said Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group Inc., a consulting company in Villanova, Pennsylvania. You probably wont hear a lot from OPEC with prices up here, but if we get down to where we were a few weeks ago we can expect to hear more.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plans to hold informal talks to discuss the market at the International Energy Forum next month in Algiers. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the nation -- not an OPEC member -- was open to discussing a freeze.

Talks to implement a production cap collapsed in April when Saudi Arabia said it wouldnt take part without Iranian participation. Iran was restoring exports after sanctions over its nuclear program were lifted in January.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Russia are producing at, or close to, maximum capacity, Khelil said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Aug. 17. Saudi Arabia told OPEC that its production rose to an all-time high of 10.67 million barrels a day in July, according to a report from the group.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Declining crude and gasoline stockpiles in the U.S. also bolstered the market last week. Crude supplies dropped by 2.51 million barrels as of Aug. 12, Energy Information Administration data show. Gasoline inventories slipped 2.72 million barrels during the period. Stockpiles of both crude and gasoline remain at the highest seasonal levels in decades even after the declines.

Theres a high level of uncertainty right now, so fairly small news can move the market a lot, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. It still remains the case that we have a huge surplus of supply and arent going to see it disappear anytime soon.

A backlog of drilled but uncompleted wells, or DUCs, helps support the bearish case, said Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc. in New York. Theres also been an upsurge in drilling as prices have climbed. U.S. producers added oil rigs for an eighth week, the longest run since April 2014, according to Baker Hughes Inc. data on Aug. 19.

The EIA increased its domestic output forecast for 2017 to 8.31 million barrels a day from 8.2 million projected in July, according to its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook released Aug. 10.

In the U.S., DUC completion and the drilling of new wells are changing the production outlook, Morse said. We might see U.S. production rise next year instead of falling.
When not catching crayfish and learning to play guitar, 12-year-old Emma Power has spent the past two years corresponding with her city government.

Since age 10, Emma has been writing Billings City officials asking that a section of guardrail be installed along the Alkali Creek Trail to protect cyclists from a dropoff.

Her determination finally paid off this summer when the guardrail was installed with the help of some Boy Scouts from Troop 7, and $5,000 from the city.

Emma, a self-proclaimed future novelist, lives in the Heights near Alkali Creek Road, where the biking trail was finished a few years ago. She bikes often on the trail, with her pink helmet secured over her bright blue hair. Her only worry had been a 15-foot section of the trail that ran along a large dropoff.

Concerned for the safety of riders who might be unfamiliar with the path, the then-10-year-old Emma wrote to Mayor Tom Hanel and asked if it was something he could help with. He could not.

She wrote to the Director of Parks and Recreation, who apologized, but said he also couldn't help.

After 12 letters and countless emails, Emma tried a new tactic, getting in touch with her city council representative.

Ward One Representative Mike Yakawich took an immediate interest.

Yakawich's council ward covers the Pioneer Park area all the way to Hilltop in the Heights. He had biked the Alkali Creek Road many times and had noticed the large dropoff that caused Emma concern.

"There is no better way to know the potholes, cracked sidewalks, creek conditions, trails, cross walks and the general infrastructure of the ward than by either walking or biking," Yakawich said.

About a year and a half ago, Yakawich met Emma and her mother, Virginia Power, along the stretch of trail causing Emma's concern. Emma said Yakawich was able to win over Billings Public Works Director David Mumford.

Mumford told Emma the path was within city safety regulations, but was something he would look into. He spoke with City Engineer Debi Meling who contacted Troop 7 Eagle Scout candidate Matthew Charles.

The City provided $5,000 in materials for the project and over the weekend of Aug. 6, Charles and his friends and family installed the railing along the bike trail. When Emma came to see the project being done, she said people called out thanks as they drove by.

"It's a neat thing how it all came together," Yakawich said. "All because of a young lady who loves her neighborhood and who knows how her city government works."

Emma said throughout the process she met people who worked for the city who were "very nice" and others who were "really, really serious." Whenever she and her family cycle the path, they point to the railing, a tangible reminder of Emma's persistence.

Emma plans to follow her brothers to Montana State University Billings and said she wants to continue to stay involve in the improvement of Billings.

"I love my city," Emma said.
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In a crowded foyer Monday, World War II veterans Dorothy Weber and her husband, John, scanned a wall of photos that bore the words, Home of the Brave arched over a painted American flag.

Television camera lights glanced off the glass covering the sepia-toned photographs showing younger versions of themselves and other black-and-white framed photographs in the foyer of the main building at Villa de San Antonio. Close to 50 men and women, some in wheelchairs, some using walkers, gathered for a ceremony as the wall of photos was unveiled.

We were very humbled that they were bringing recognition to us, said Dorothy Weber, 92, who served in the U.S. Navys Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES).

Her husband agreed.

Its good to be honored, said John Weber, 93, who served on the battleship USS Idaho. We just did what was necessary to win the war.

The couple, who has been married 70 years, met when he was 5 and she was 4. They got together after the war and had two children.

Forty residents of the senior living community at 8103 N. Hollow, are featured in the tribute to veterans who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

Jerry Stanley, executive director of Villa de San Antonio, said the idea of a tribute wall started in California and has become a best practice of Kisco Senior Living communities across the country.

Stanley said the staff hosted a town hall meeting to share the idea with residents. The seniors voted on placing the wall downstairs as well as its name.

It was befitting, Stanley said. This is just a small token of appreciation. It cant compare to the sacrifice they made for our freedom.

Air Force Chaplain Bruce Glover, the featured speaker at the ceremony, asked the audience what percentage of Americans actually serve in the armed forces.

A woman in the crowd gave the correct answer - less than 1 percent.

We do this wall because a very small percentage of Americans wear a uniform of one of the branches of the military, Glover said. We say thank you for those who wear the uniform, because it is their efforts, their sacrifices and their service that guarantee the rights that you and I have and the freedoms we enjoy.

Resident Charles Nelsen, 83, hopes the wall inspires other residents to share their stories. A 20-year Air Force veteran, he received the Bronze Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying missions over North Vietnam. Nelsen, a combat pilot, said its difficult to see young men and women come home and face challenges as they adjust to civilian life.

We need to do what we can to make sure that they are not forgotten, either, he said.

After the ceremony, Ramiro Rocky Garza, 84, wearing a green T-shirt with USMC on the front, stared at the top row that included his portrait, taken when he was just 17.

His two daughters, Linda Chavolla and Sharon Bracamonte, both from Northern California, commented how striking their father looked in his Marines dress uniform so many years ago, accompaying him as he pushed his walker to the dining room.

They said Garza served two tours in the Korean War as a radio operator. They talked of hearing his stories about nightmarish sights of dead enemy soldiers and how he defused a grenade by twisting the top off and letting the gunpowder spill on the ground.

And they talked of how the sight of Marines marching in formation still prompts him to pull a handkerchief from his pocket and dab tears from his eyes.

He, Chavolla said, is a true blue Marine.

vtdavis@express-news.net
A national organization leading efforts to expose the sexual abuse of children by priests has turned its attention to the Archdiocese of San Antonio for giving refuge to a Chicago priest removed from ministry last fall for an inappropriate relationship with an adult man.

Now at a South Side parish and seeking a formal transfer to the archdiocese here, Father Marco Mercado has been assigned to hospital ministry but his duties might expand in the future, according to a statement Monday from Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller.

Father Marco Antonio Lopez Mercado, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, is in residence at St. Lawrence Church in San Antonio, the statement said.

Following his removal from ministry in his last assignment in Chicago, we have conducted our own independent review of the facts and, following that effort, as well as the counseling Father Marco has undertaken and his acceptance of responsibility in the situation in question, we are satisfied that he is suitable for ministry here, Garcia-Sillers statement said.

We are working very closely with Father Marco through this process of rehabilitation as he seeks to gradually assume additional responsibilities in ministry in this part of the church in South Texas.

The archdiocese would not answer further questions about the case, including the age of the man with whom Mercado had a relationship, whether he was a member of Mercados former parish, or if the archdioceses inquiry included contacting the man to ask his view of his relationship with Mercado.

The three-paragraph announcement came after the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests emailed a statement about the Catholic hierarchys handling of the case, accusing Archbishops Blase Cupich and Garcia-Siller of doing what bishops have done for decades: splitting hairs and making excuses instead of protecting parishioners.

SNAPs statement predicted that the churchs response to Mercado will deter other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers from stepping forward in cases of sexual abuse by priests.

Every sexual contact between a Catholic cleric and a Catholic parishioner is, by definition, improper and unhealthy, in part because of the huge power differential between the two, said SNAP director David Clohessy in the statement.

Clohessy accused Garcia-Siller of protecting a colleague's career and pretending to have investigated, when we strongly suspect he hasnt even contacted Father Mercados victim.

Mercado was rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines and was reportedly a popular priest. In late October, parishioners presented the Chicago archdiocese 5,000 signatures seeking the priests reinstatement.

At the time of his suspension, Mercado issued a statement, reported by the Chicago Tribune, that said: As a human being I am not perfect, but as a priest my priority has always been the work of the Gospel and the struggle for immigrants and the most vulnerable.

Mercado also said, I pray that this issue is resolved soon, and I ask for your prayers, at the same time that I apologize if this scandal has caused any hardship to the faithful.

eayala@express-news.net

Twitter: @ElaineAyala
The importance of postpartum depression, both in terms of its prevalence and the need for appropriate screening and effective treatments, has become an increasingly important area of focus for clinicians, patients, and policymakers. This derives from more than a decade of data on the significant prevalence of the condition, with roughly 10% of women meeting the criteria for major or minor depression during the first 3-6 months post partum.

Over the last 5 years, interest has centered around establishing mechanisms for appropriate perinatal depression screening, most notably the January 2016 recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that all adults should be screened for depression, including the at-risk populations of pregnant and postpartum women. In 2015, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endorsed screening women for depression and anxiety symptoms at least once during the perinatal period using a validated tool. Unfortunately, we still lack data to support whether screening is effective in getting patients referred for treatment and if it leads to women accessing therapies that will actually get them well.

Dr. Lee S. Cohen

As we wait for that data and consider ways to best implement enhanced screening, its important to take stock of the available treatments for postpartum depression.

Seeking a rapid treatment

The current literature supports efficacy for nonpharmacologic therapies, such as interpersonal psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy, as well as several antidepressants. The efficacy of antidepressants  such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors  has been demonstrated for postpartum depression, but these agents carry the typical limitations and concerns in terms of side effects and the amount of time required to ascertain if there is benefit. While these are the same challenges seen in treating depression in general, the time to response  often 4-8 weeks  is particularly problematic for postpartum women where the impact of depression on maternal morbidity and child development is so critical.

The field has been clamoring for agents that work more quickly. One possibility in that area is ketamine, which is being studied as a rapid treatment in major depression. The National Institutes of Health also has an initiative underway called RAPID (Rapidly Acting Treatments for Treatment-Resistant Depression), aimed at identifying and testing pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments that produce a response within days rather than weeks.

Recently, considerable interest has focused on SAGE-547, manufactured by Sage Therapeutics, which is a different type of antidepressant. The so-called neurosteriod is an allosteric modulator of the GABA A (gamma-aminobutyric acid type A) receptors. The product was granted fast-track status by the Food and Drug Administration to speed its development as a possible treatment for superrefractory status epilepticus, but it also is being studied for its potential in treating severe postpartum depression.

Approximately a year ago, there was preliminary evidence from an open-label study suggesting rapid response to SAGE-547 for women who received this medicine intravenously in a controlled hospital environment. And in July 2016, the manufacturer announced in a press release unpublished positive results from a small phase II controlled trial of SAGE-547 for the treatment of severe postpartum depression.

Specifically, this was a placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized trial for 21 women who had severe depressive symptoms with a baseline score of at least 26 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). For some of the women, postpartum depression was not of new onset, but rather was an extension of depression that had manifested no earlier than the third trimester of pregnancy. A total of 10 women received the drug, while 11 received placebo. Both groups received continuous intravenous infusion over a 60-hour period.

Consistent with the earlier report, participants receiving the active agent had a statistically significant reduction in HAM-D scores at 24 hours, compared with women who received the placebo. Seven out of 10 women who received the active drug achieved remission from depression at 60 hours, compared with only 1 of the 11 patients who received placebo. Even though the results derived from an extremely small sample, the signal for efficacy appears promising.

Of particular interest, there appeared to be a duration of benefit at 30 days follow-up. The medicine was well tolerated with no discontinuations due to adverse events, which were most commonly dizziness, sedation, or somnolence. The adverse events were about the same in both the drug and placebo groups.

Next steps

These early results have generated excitement, if not a buzz, in the field, given the rapid onset of antidepressant benefit and the apparent duration of the effect. But readers should be mindful that to date, the findings have not been peer reviewed and are available only through a company-issued press release. It is also noteworthy that on clinicaltrials.gov, the projected enrollment was 32, but 21 women enrolled. This may speak to the great difficulty in enrolling the sample and may ultimately reflect on the generalizability of the findings.
LARAMIE  A former Laramie law enforcement officer accused of killing a University of Wyoming student in 1985 initially denied homicide allegations in a police interview but later said he killed the girl, according to court documents.

Fredrick Lamb of Laramie was arrested Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder and arson based on DNA evidence more than three decades after the woman's body was found.

Lamb defense attorney Charles Pelkey declined comment on Sunday, saying the defense needs to see evidence first.

Lamb had an initial appearance on Saturday in Albany County Circuit Court, facing felony charges of first-degree murder and first-degree arson in connection with the 1985 death of Shelli Wiley, 22, whose apartment was also set on fire.

More than two dozen people showed up for the hearing.

Judge Robert Castor turned the case over to Circuit Court Judge Thomas Lee of Cheyenne because of a potential for a conflict of interest. Castor said he knew the defendant and his family, and worked with Lamb as a prosecutor.

Lamb worked as an officer with the Laramie Police Department and the Albany County Sheriff's Office, but he didn't work for either at the time of Wiley's death.

Lamb initially denied the homicide allegation in a police interview, but he went on to say, "Fred Lamb did it. I'm not denying that I did it," and "bottom line is, I killed a girl," according to court documents.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Thursday, where the judge will determine if the case moves to district court.
The Pro Farmer Crop Tour is dominating market thinking this week. Actual analysts are traveling in groups to predetermined sites to create real-life estimates of the corn and soybean crop sizes. Some years, this tour results in surprises that affect prices. This year, we are probably looking at a ho-hummer. Expect the tour to confirm what the trade has factored into prices  huge crops once you get out of Ohio and head west.

Corn is strong

Last week, USDA whacked a couple of percentage points off the corn ratings, but the market shrugged it off with the idea that this always happens in August. This week USDA put 1 percent back on, so we now officially have 75 percent of the crop rated good or excellent. Last year at this time we had 69 percent rated good or excellent.

Ohios corn continues to be rated at 46 percent good and excellent. This is consistent with the current estimate of the Ohio yield at less than 150 bpa. The U.S. is expected to go close to 200 bpa.

Soybeans

Soybeans are in a similar situation, although the ratings have been lower. USDA left the rating this week at 72 percent good and excellent. Last year, we were only at 63 percent. Ohio beans are 56 percent good and excellent.

Locally, we have seen fairly good coverage from spotty thunderstorms. The feeling is that we have hurt the corn yields some, but the beans are filling well now. A Trumbull County farmer commented to me last night that this August was soooo much better than last August, when the beans started dropping leaves.

Beans made price gains Monday on good export news. November futures were up over 11 cents, and some farmers were back thinking about new crop sales again. We are trading this Tuesday morning, Aug. 23, at 10.14 November futures, down nearly 2 cents on the day so far. That is 71 cents above the recent Aug. 2 low, so it is a place to reward the market with sales if you did not sell a lot a few weeks ago.

It is hard to accept that we dropped almost $2.50 from the high, but reality is that it is August and we have had a nice bounce in a mostly negative market.

Exports

Looking at those exports, the news yesterday was that 120,000 tons of soybeans were sold to what is currently an unknown (to the general market) destination. This is a large sale at a good time.

With it, the export inspections for the last five weeks are now averaging 835,000 tons a week. Last year in the same period we were only at 230,000 tons.

With these exports, we are hitting the USDA estimates. I am reminded that one good thing about cheap prices is that we are able to sell more easily. This is one reason why the market says that the cure for cheap prices is cheap prices.

Wheat

Our soft red winter wheat market has recovered a little after a decline of nearly $1.35 in two months. The low was put in the September contract at a few ticks under 4.00 on the 2nd. This morning we were trading 4.10, but that was down five and a quarter cents.

The world wheat market is awash in wheat, so we have low prices. Our best hope currently for recovery is that fact that France, normally a big exporter, is the one country that had a poor yield because of excessive rains. This week the news was that they would export less than 5 million tons outside the EU. Last year they did 12.5 million tons.

So, this is shaping up to be a count-your-blessings year. Be glad rains returned so that northeast Ohio has better crops than north central. Be glad the crops look so good, even if for most they are not as good as the crops in Iowa. They usually arent. Be glad that the corn crop may be reduced a bit and one end of the field is better than the other, but the crop is close to being made.

The disaster this year will be for those in the driest areas who have poor crops in a cheap year.
Midwest spinach production explained in detail

Learn how spinach performs in the Midwest and seasonal considerations in a new publication from ISU.
Farmers will have the chance at the Dorset County Show to voice their opinions on what they think is needed from a future domestic agricultural policy post-Brexit.

The meeting, which will be led by the National Farmers' Union Vice President Guy Smith, is part of the unions largest consultation in a generation.

Mr Smith has urged as many younger farmers to take part, saying it was vital they should be involved in shaping farming policy in a post-Brexit era.

National Farmers Union Vice President Guy Smith

Trevor Cligg, NFU county chair, urged producers to attend the event to make their voice heard as there was still considerably uncertainty over the next steps the UK Government would take and the long-term effect on agriculture.

Mr Cligg, who runs 600 cattle on a 1,100 acre organic farm at South Perrott, near Beaminster, said farmers had witnessed some ups and downs in the weeks since the referendum result.

The fall in the value of sterling has helped producers but this has been partially offset by higher input prices.

'Swings and roundabouts'

"There have been some swings and roundabouts," said Mr Cligg.

"Farmers in the county are concerned about the possibility of imported products from third countries coming into the UK which have been produced at a much lower welfare standard.

"I am also concerned about the nature of the future trade barrier controls with Europe."

Mr Cligg said he was also concerned about the future of countryside stewardship payments, which help farmers look after the environment.

"I have come to the end of my agreement and Defra has told me to go ahead and reapply but they cant guarantee a new scheme will go ahead."

Future of direct payments to farmers

James Cossins, NFU Dorset deputy county chair, said that while cereal and oilseed prices had risen and the fall in sterling had helped boost export margins, there was still concern about the future of direct payments to farmers.

Mr Cossins, who runs a 2,200 acre dairy, beef and arable farm at Tarrant Rawston, near Blandford, added the horticultural sector was concerned about the supply of labour from the European Union, which is crucial to the viability of many firms.

Rebecca Cox, past chair of Dorset YFC and Dorset County Show Competitions Secretary, said: "The Brexit decision will lead to the biggest change in agricultural policy in this country for several decades.

"It is vital that young farmers take the opportunity to get involved in the debate as it will be our generation that will be most affected by the referendum decision," she added.

The NFU will agree its post-Brexit policy at its Council meeting in October following the consultation meetings taking place around the country.
First three winter wheat trials give yields close to the five-year average, according to harvest results from AHDB variety trials.

Harvest results for the first three AHDB Recommended Lists (RL) winter wheat trials report average yields of 10.57t/ha, which is very close to the five-year average of 10.59t/ha.

Specific weights from one trial in Essex average 78.6kg/hl

Group 4 hard feed varieties are giving the highest outright yields, with Evolution top of the table at 106%, and KWS Santiago, Belgrade, and KWS Silverstone all yielding 105%.

2016 feed varieties are also performing well, with candidates RGT Paddington (a hard feed variety) and soft feed varieties Bennington and Stratosphere all yielding 106%.

Winter Barley yields remain low after 19 trials.

Updated AHDB Harvest Results (22 August 2016) show that both treated and untreated yields for winter barley remain down on the five-year average.

The overall treated yield average for 2016 is 8.99t/ha, which is 0.36t/ha below the five year average, with the untreated yield average at 6.82t/ha, compared to the five-year value of 7.52t/ha.

Specific weights from seven trials average just 65.4kg/hl. Screenings through a 2.5 mm sieve are also running high at an average of 20%.
Five new areas are expected to commence badger culling this autumn, including Devon and Cornwall.

The Government wants to press on with its strategy to tackle bovine TB in cattle.

South Devon, North Devon, North Cornwall, South Herefordshire and West Dorset are all thought included in the new trials.

More than 3,000 badgers have been culled in Gloucestershire and Somerset since the trial began 2013.

But animal rights campaigners have condemned the Government's decision.

'More expensive, more inhumane'

The BVA supports the wider roll-out culling

David Bowles, the RSPCA's head of public affairs, said the cull was not necessary.

"The RSPCA believes there are better ways to tackle bovine TB," Mr Bowles told BBC Breakfast.

"It's more expensive to cull. It's more inhumane to cull. It doesn't sort out the problem even if you do it properly."

A Defra spokeswoman said the the Government's environmental body, Natural England, is currently considering applications for further badger control licences as part of the usual licensing process.

"England has the highest incidence of TB in Europe and that is why we are taking strong action to deliver our 25-year strategy to eradicate the disease and protect the future of our dairy and beef industries," said the spokeswoman.

"Badger control in areas where TB is rife is one part of our long-term plan, which also includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls and improving biosecurity on farm and when trading."

'Disastrous failure'

Chief executive of the Badger Trust, Dominic Dyer, said that after four years of badger culling "no one can now doubt" that the policy has been a "disastrous failure on scientific, cost and humaneness grounds."

"For the new Deftra Secretary Andrea Leadsom to ignore the facts and extend this policy into five new areas of the country defies belief.

"The badger cull is built on three pillars of sand, incompetence, negligence and deceit, and will ultimately collapse because it fails to address the key cause of bovine TB, which is cattle to cattle infection."

Sean Wensley, President of the British Veterinary Association, said the BVA recognises the need to control the wildlife reservoir of disease as part of a "comprehensive strategy" to eradicate bovine TB.

"Control measures in cattle must be accompanied by simultaneous and coordinated control measures in badgers and susceptible farmed species," Mr Wensley said.

"For these reasons, BVA supports the wider roll-out of culling to carefully selected areas where badgers are regarded as a significant contributor to the high incidence of bovine TB in cattle, through the use of cage trapping and shooting only.

"We do not support the continued use of controlled shooting as part of the badger control policy."
Over the last few weeks there have been several barn fires across Somerset.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue investigations have led a conclusion that the fires have been down to deliberate acts of arson.

We are working with our partners at Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service and investigations into these incidents and those responsible are ongoing.

Chief Inspector Mark Edgington, Local Policing Commander for East Somerset, said: "We take incidents of arson extremely seriously.

"They have huge financial implications for farmers in addition to the enormous danger they pose to people and livestock.

"We will work with our partners to identify those responsible and they will be dealt with robustly.

"Farms are particularly vulnerable to a deliberate fire"

"We want to hear from anyone who has any information about these incidents or any other suspected arson.

"You can call us on the 101 number or alternatively you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

"We want to prevent any further fires before someone is seriously hurt."

Fire Investigation Officer Andy Justice from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue said a fire on a farm can be "devastating"; resulting in the loss of machinery, stores of hay and straw, livestock and the destruction of buildings.

"Every year Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service attend 100s of fires and emergency incidents on farms and small holdings and a serious fire on a farm can affect the financial stability of even the most well run business.

"Farms are particularly vulnerable to a deliberate fire due to their isolated locations, open boundaries and readily ignitable hay and straw stacks.

Steps to minimise the risk of fire on farms

1. Ensure machinery is well maintained and serviced regularly  clean machinery regularly to keep it free from hay, straw, oil and grease.

2. Remove hay and straw from fields as soon as possible after harvesting. Ensure it is dry before storing to prevent spontaneous combustion  many fires are caused by storing damp or wet hay.

3. Store hay and straw away from other buildings especially those containing fuels or chemicals and separate from livestock. Store in stacks at least 10 metres apart and ensure there is sufficient space between the top of the stack and the roof lighting.

4. Only carry out hot work, i.e. welding or grinding, in clear areas.

5. Electrical safety checks should be carried out regularly, especially in areas where straw or hay is stored.

6. Ensure any fuels, chemicals and hazardous materials are stored in clearly labelled containers. They should be locked away in locations away from other buildings.

7. Have designated areas for smoking away from combustible materials and ensure cigarettes and matches are extinguished properly.

8. Keep escape routes clear at all times and keep all areas free from rubbish, oily cloths and other combustible materials.

9. Ensure that your family and employees know what to do in the event of a fire; make sure everyone knows where the nearest phone is. Carry a mobile phone at all times, especially if working alone.

10. Keep firefighting equipment in good working order and ensure it is serviced regularly. Ensure it can be accessed easily at all times and that everyone is aware where it is located.

11. Make sure that the entrance to your farm is clearly sign posted and keep all access routes clear for emergency vehicles.
A month before the application window closes, land managers are being urged to apply for 2017 Countryside Stewardship agreements.

Rural organisation CLA says that the environmental land management scheme is "too important to be derailed by the current lack of clarity" from Government on some aspects of its future.

To meet the application window deadline for 2017 agreements, applicants must have requested an application pack for the Mid Tier element of the scheme by the end of August and submit their application by the end of September.

CLA President Ross Murray said the Treasury announcement earlier this month has provided "much-needed reassurance" that the Government is committed to honouring agri-environment agreements next year.

"Land managers will clearly demonstrate their appetite for delivering this crucial work", CLA President Ross Murray

'Too important to be lost'

Mr Murrsay said: "There are still some areas of clarification that we are working with Government to iron out, but land managers should press on with submitting their applications for 2017 agreements in good time for the end of September deadline.

"The environmental outcomes that will be delivered under these schemes are too important to be lost.

"While Government has shown its commitment to next years Countryside Stewardship, the status of agri-environment schemes beyond 2017 remains uncertain.

"In the run up to the Autumn Statement the CLA will be making the case for the Government to continue to fund Countryside Stewardship up to 2020.

"By pressing on with applications for programmes of work under next years scheme, land managers will very clearly demonstrate their appetite for delivering this crucial work to Government.

"A high volume of strong applications in the next month will highlight all that would be lost if fully-funded agri-environment schemes are not maintained as part of the domestic food, farming and environmental policy that must be established before the UK exits the EU."
It will be an unusual start to the school year for 28 students in Mandan who will have a police car escorting their bus for the first day of classes on Thursday.

These students live on the south side of the barricade on Highway 1806, where the Dakota Access Pipeline protest is taking place.

Morton County Sheriff's Department will send a patrol car to escort the students to and from school on Thursday, according to Rob Keller, a public information officer with the Morton County Sheriffs Department.

A patrol car will meet the Mandan school bus at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday and will escort the bus past the barriers and as far down as the Fort Rice Boat Dock and then back to school. The patrol car will escort students on the bus ride home later that afternoon.

"As long as the barriers are there, law enforcement will continue to escort, Keller said.

While Bitz said the plan could change, the district has reached out to students and their families informing them of the police escort.

Our primary concern is that we want to make sure our students are safe," Bitz said.

Bismarck State College

As local elementary and high school students are scrambling to buy last-minute back-to-school supplies, students at Bismarck State College flooded the campus on Tuesday for the first day of fall classes.

Enrollment at BSC remained steady this year, according to Karen Erickson, director of admission and enrollment services. This came as a surprise to college officials, who have observed a decline in area high school graduation numbers.

All that anyone hears about is the growth in North Dakota and the growth in Bismarck-Mandan. But that growth is just hitting middle schools, it wasnt at the high school level," Erickson said.

This year, 2,324 full-time BSC students attended the first day of classes, compared to 2,336 last year.

The bubble, if you will, just hit the middle schools, and, of course, its going to eventually hit the high schools. So thats why our campus has been pretty excited with where our numbers are at, given what we know about our key market areas," Erickson said.

BSC is still processing applications for part-time students, including high school students who are taking dual-credit courses. In addition, there are about 1,500 part-time students enrolled at BSC, and this year the school saw about a 5 percent increase in the number of students in its Liberal Arts Transfer program.

United Tribes Technical College

Early student enrollment numbers at United Tribes Technical College shows enrollment is up, bucking the trend of declining enrollment.

School started on Monday, and 451 students were enrolled and registered for classes at UTTC, up from 393 students last year, according to Donovan Lambert, UTTC director of admissions and recruitment. Registration doesn't end until Friday afternoon, and that number may increase.

Bismarck and Mandan schools

The school bells will ring in Bismarck and Mandan on Thursday, and both districts are anticipating continued growth in enrollment.

Bitz said he's anticipates the district will be up 70 to 80 students this year, a little more than 2 percent increase compared to last year. Mandan Middle School continues to see the largest growth in students, as it was last year, Bitz said.

Bismarck Public Schools are also expecting a slight increase in students.

We monitor it all summer, and we expect it to go up," said Bismarck Superintendent Tamara Uselman, adding that the district is growing in all areas.

"The middle schools are growing out of their skin," Uselman said. "We're growing at the high schools ... and then our elementary schools, of course, are growing, and we're monitoring class sizes."

Light of Christ Catholic Schools will also continue to see record enrollment numbers, with a 7 percent increase in enrollment this year.

The three elementary schools have their first day of classes on Thursday, and students at Light of Christ Academy and St. Marys Central High School start on Wednesday.
The food service industry has a key role in supporting local produce and helping to protect the viability of our farms, the Ulster Farmers Union has said.

Following a meeting with Lynas, a local food service company in Northern Ireland, UFU deputy president Victor Chestnutt said that people often forget the "significant distribution network" behind food packaged in retailers.

He added that these businesses are key in getting food into the public sector, small retailers and restaurants.

"Farming can continue to deliver more jobs if the right marketing strategy is pursued"

"Due to the nature of food labelling legislation, it is not always essential that the origin of the produce is displayed to the end customer.

"Where this is not displayed people will naturally question whether these businesses, and indeed the public sector, are buying food produced locally or simply food sourced from local companies but produced in other countries," said Mr Chestnutt.

'Backing local food more important than ever'

The farming union recognises that some food service companies are doing an "excellent job" marketing local produce.

But it says there is "disappointment" in others not doing so.

"This ignores the benefits supporting Northern Ireland produce brings to the local economy, tourism and the environment", said the UFU.

"As we move towards leaving the EU, backing local food will be more important than ever.

"With Lynas, we agreed that continuing to support initiatives such as the NI Year of Food and Drink is important.

"There are opportunities to build on this if government can invest more in local food promotion," said Victor Chestnutt.

He added that as the cornerstone of the local economy, agriculture and food can continue to deliver more jobs if the right marketing strategy for the industry is pursued.
A lack of transparency throughout the British beef supply chain is affecting returns for all, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

The AHDB said the industry needs to start to "work together better to deliver greater efficiency".

Summarising a series of analyses into current pricing of beef carcases, AHDB Beef & Lamb suggests the market isnt currently working to the benefit of either producers or processors.

Producers are seeing a reduction in returns and processors are not getting the mix of carcases that their customers require, the organisation said.

AHDB undertook the analysis following reports of changes to pricing specifications by processors, however the resulting analysis found difficulties on both sides.

'Transparent environment'

Stephen Howarth, AHDB Market Intelligence Market Specialist Manager, said a "more transparent environment", allowing "more positive, open relationships" to develop across the supply chain, would "potentially benefit everyone."

"It would give producers more certainty about future market requirements, encouraging them to make the changes needed to deliver consistent carcases.

"In return, processors would get more certainty that they will be able to secure the supply they need. It would be a clear win-win for both groups of levy payers."

Specification range

The first stage of the analysis looked at the extent to which the prime cattle being delivered to processors meet their requirements.

The second looked at levels of penalties and the final instalment showed that prices paid for prime cattle are only partly related to meat yields.

The report found only half of the cattle slaughtered in the months analysed hit suggested specification range, and less than a quarter of male cattle hit both target classification and the narrowest weight range.

The fragmented nature of production is one factor preventing carcases being more consistent, the report understood.

Only relatively small adjustments to carcase classifications are needed for producers to significantly improve returns.
A new interactive tool allows farmers to calculate meat, milk and eggs production as well as greenhouse-gas emissions from livestock.

Released by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the tool was developed to make the sector more productive and more climate-friendly.

GLEAM-i, the Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model interactive, aims to provide farmers answers to a wide range of questions.

A screenshot of GLEAM-i interface

For example, as a small livestock keeper or a pastoralist, how can you get your animals to produce more milk, meat or eggs? If you're a policy maker, what practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock should you support?

GLEAM-i can be run by anyone using the Excel software, including community organizations working in remote rural areas.

It includes variables such as countries and regions, the number and types of livestock - dairy or meat sheep, backyard or industrial pigs, grazing or mixed systems - feed materials, manure management as well as the specific conditions under which the animals are kept.

Helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

"The objective of GLEAM is to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that livestock activities are as efficient as possible so that they can continue to contribute to people's food, nutrition and livelihood needs while utilizing fewer natural resources," said Anne Mottet, Livestock Policy Officer at FAO.

Hundreds of millions of people around the planet depend on livestock for livelihoods, food security and nutrition.

Livestock is particularly important for developing countries where demand for animal protein is growing and for remote and marginal areas, where limited alternatives exist.

Yet, it is estimated that the sector is responsible for 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

FAO research based on GLEAM has found that with feasible and affordable changes, livestock farmers can increase production and reduce emissions by nearly a third.

Precise information about the environmental footprint of livestock supply chains will help stakeholders to take better-informed decisions and reduce greenhouse gases emissions.

"For example, governments can use GLEAM-i to prepare national inventories and to develop policies for improved efficiency in animal husbandry, feed and manure management," Mottet said.
Potato farmers and contractors are being reminded of a new dose rate limit for stored potato crops this season.

This change is part of the gradual annual reduction in CIPC total dose permitted, and is a core component of the CIPC stewardship process.

Chlorpropham (or CIPC) is isopropyl-N-(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate, and is widely used as an agrochemical applied to stored potatoes.

It works by interfering with cell division to inhibit sprout development.

This has been initiated by the Potato Industry CIPC Stewardship Group (PICSG), the industry steering group including companies holding the approvals for formulations, with a view to retaining access to the vital treatment.

For the 2016-17 season, the new statutory total dose rates for CIPC are as follows:

 Fresh market: 24 grams per tonne of potatoes

 At store temperature of 5C or less, only a single application, up to 16 g/tonne, should be made, before the temperature is reduced below 7C

 Processing market: 42 grams CIPC per tonne of potatoes

The new rates are down from the previous level of 30 g/tonne for fresh potatoes and 50 g/tonne for processing potatoes.

Proven to 'be effective'

Adrian Briddon of Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research, hopes that these changes will maintain the status of zero exceedances observed in statutory testing in the last two years and help preserve the availability of this vital sprout suppressant.

"The new rates have been proven to be effective, so long as its evenly distributed and applied at the right time."

Adrian adds that this label change is expected to be the penultimate one, before the 2017 five-yearly formal review, a more significant impact will be felt when this comes into force.

"After this review, any store that requires a CIPC application must have an appropriate fan system installed to facilitate the active recirculation of air within the store."

He urges producers to plan ahead and have stores ready for this change.

Volume of chemical

"Investing in the equipment sooner rather than later will not only save you time next year, it will also reduce the volume of chemical required, therefore paying for itself within a year or two."

Adrian urges growers to carry out a BE CIPC Compliant Store Check prior to making a treatment.

This uses a traffic light system, which will help to inform decisions on whether to apply CIPC.

"Green means its good to go ahead with an application, amber highlights an area of concern and red shows a problem that must be addressed before application.

"Even though the last exceedance of the MRL for CIPC, in statutory testing, was observed over two years ago, we must ensure that the industry works together and adheres to the new guidelines in order for the product to remain available on the market," concludes Adrian.
The University of Edinburghs Roslin Institute and Hendrix Genetics, a global leader in animal breeding, have established a research agreement to improve the sustainability of animal production.

Researchers will focus on driving innovations that lead to greater disease resistance in farmed animals and better selective breeding programmes.

Their goal is to reduce losses and improve welfare in the fish farming and livestock industries.

The agreement builds on existing collaborations in salmon disease genetics between the two organisations.

The Roslin Institute already works closely with the salmon breeding company Landcatch, a Hendrix Genetics company based in Ormsary in Argyll, Scotland.

This collaboration has yielded the discovery of a gene that makes salmon more resilient to a viral disease.

It has also led to the development of genetic tools that have improved selective breeding for resistance to sea lice.

Scientists at the Universities of Stirling and Glasgow, as well as the University of Edinburghs sequencing facility Edinburgh Genomics, were also part of the research team that led to these discoveries.

Unique opportunity to improve breeding programs

The strategic partnership between Hendrix Genetics and The Roslin Institute will strengthen and extend their relationship.

It will allow them to explore precision breeding technology, not only in aquaculture, but also in pig, chicken and turkey breeding.

Dr Johan van Arendonk, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer at Hendrix Genetics said This partnership with Roslin  a world leading research institute - offers a unique opportunity to improve our breeding programs through applied research projects using the latest genomic technology.

Professor Bruce Whitelaw, Deputy Director and Head of the Division of Developmental Biology at The Roslin Institute, said We are excited about building on our long-term relationship with Landcatch through establishing this strategic partnership.

"Working with Hendrix Genetics across a number of commercial species offers exciting opportunities for the science that Roslin pioneers."
NFU Scotland has met with Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing on a Perthshire farm in a bid to get the Scottish Government to strip out gold-plating from within Scotlands greening rules.

The Union has repeatedly called on the Government to remove a significant number of Scotland-only greening rules that place growers at a "competitive disadvantage" when compared to growers south of the Border.

Todays visit was hosted by Ian Sands, who farms at Balbeggie, near Perth and also chairs NFU Scotlands Combinable Crops committee.

While the Brexit vote will inevitably lead to different arrangements for Scottish agriculture in the future, the Union urged the Cabinet Secretary to press ahead with proposed changes to greening on the expectation that existing arrangements for direct support through the CAP will remain in place at least until 2020.

'Simplified and improved'

Scotland-only management rules on harvesting and field margins put Scottish growers at a "competitive disadvantage"

The Union believes current greening rules can be simplified and improved.

"Areas where gold-plating can be stripped out of Scottish rules include the growing of Nitrogen Fixing Crops (NFC) to meet greening requirements; the use of conversion factors when calculating Ecological Focus Areas (EFA); grazing on buffer strips; management of fallow land and a greater choice of EFA options including forestry and hedges," NFU Scotland said.

The Union also believes that the requirement for livestock farmers to have a record of intended nitrogen and lime applications to all their fields of permanent grassland is "no more than another compliance trip wire, with no positive environmental outcome."

Speaking after the meeting, Ian Sands said: "On using NFCs to meet EFA requirements, Scotland-only management rules on harvesting and field margins put Scottish growers at a competitive disadvantage with respect to growers in England.

'Impractical'

"For 2016, a third management prescription was added for Scotland, requiring farmers growing NFC as an EFA option to grow at least two such crops.

"The area of the largest crop must not account for 75 per cent or more of the NFC EFA crop area.

"These examples of gold-plating also need to be viewed alongside the complete nonsense introduced in Scotland this year"

"For many growers, that makes this option impractical and on farms with a relatively small EFA obligation, the smaller of the crops would be too small to be economically produced, stored, transported and marketed.

"EFA conversion factors were included by Europe as an option to simplify the burden of measuring EFA land on both farmers and officials.

Unlike the rest of the British Isles, the Scottish Government decided not to take advantage of this simplification.

"In Scotland, it means ridiculous hoops are required to record the actual width of buffer strips and field margins measured along their entire length, and inspected to those measurements," Mr Sands said.

"This is a nonsense for Scotland where watercourses or field boundaries are rarely in a straight line."

'Environmentally beneficial'

Mr Sands explained the buffer strips and field margins help produce wildlife corridors.

He said: "We believe that the use of the Conversion Factors would encourage uptake and so be environmentally beneficial, as well as simplifying administration.

"EU provides the option to allow EFA buffer strips to be grazed, and the Scottish Government did not take advantage of the grazing option.

"Unfortunately, not allowing grazing is a serious disincentive to the establishment of buffer strips by farmers needing to graze livestock on fields that have a water course on their boundary.

Mr Sands explained that last winter many Scottish farms experienced flooding and damage to drains, with the logical time to undertake maintenance work when land is out of crop.

"Scottish growers are precluded from doing drainage works during the fallow period by the current interpretation of the rules in Scotland. That, again, isnt the case in England," Mr Sands said.

'Complete nonsense'

"These examples of gold-plating also need to be viewed alongside the complete nonsense introduced in Scotland this year, requiring nutrient management plans on permanent grassland. That is something we have also written to the Cabinet Secretary about.

"Given the uncertainty that lies ahead, Scotlands growers deserve to get the best deal from greening measures.

"That would make the years ahead where we continue to operate within the CAP more manageable and efficient for our farmers while still delivering meaningful environmental benefits," Mr Sands concluded.
Cheffins, which conducts the largest monthly sale of tractors and agricultural machinery in the world, is celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Sutton sale ground in Cambridgeshire with a landmark auction on the 5th September.

Over the past 20 years, Cheffins has secured its dominance of the industry on a global basis, attracting sellers from over 100 countries worldwide.

In total, over 70,000 tractors have been sold and over 600,000 lots offered since Cheffins has been in place at Sutton in Cambridgeshire.

Bill Pepper, Director at Cheffins comments: The past 20 years at Sutton has seen Cheffins rise from strength to strength to now being the leading auctioneer in the second-hand machinery market."

"During the 20 years in-situ, weve seen the rise and fall of the Fordson Super Major trade to Syria, the influx of Eastern European buyers as borders fell, the devastation of Foot and Mouth, the astonishing Sudanese trade for the older Massey Fergusons and the introduction of online bidding to name just a few events"

A truly global business, Cheffins has over 30,000 registered buyers worldwide, with regular sales to Spain, Ireland, Germany, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Northern Africa.

Over sixty per cent of lots are sent for export and over twenty per cent of sales in the past twelve months have been sold direct to the developing world.

Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, with questions over exchange rates, export legalities and agricultural funding, the second-hand farm machinery market has remained indomitable.

Cheffins sales have grown year-on-year, with overseas purchasers looking to strike a bargain in the face of the weakening pound.

In fact, sales for July and August 2016 saw an uplift in gross sales of 50 per cent and 75 per cent respectively compared to the previous year.

"Brexit kick-starts export trade"

"Brexit has actually kick-started the export trade with the past two auctions grossing greater profits than they have since 2013.

"Current exchange rates have meant that buyers have seen that they can secure a bargain by coming to the Cheffins sale rather than purchasing in their own countries."

"No other auctioneer in Europe offers such a diverse range of second-hand machinery and often these items present a saving for farmers rather than buying new direct from dealerships."

"A number of the larger tractor manufacturers have reported drops in sales following Brexit, however we can happily say that hasnt been the case for our markets.

Dating back to the 1940s and initially located in the centre of Cambridge, the sale has expanded from a few tractors and accessories to the largest sales of their type with approximately 3,000 lots sold per month.

Such increase in the number of lots offered, necessitated the move in 1996 to the purpose-built 40-acre site which Cheffins now occupies in the agricultural heartland of the UK.

The sale will see circa 3,000 lots and will also feature a new Drive Through tractor auction, allowing bidders to see tractors in action during bidding.
By John Tyndall



Iowa State University researchers are seeking feedback from Iowa farmers willing to test an early online version of a tool to better understand the costs of implementing nutrient management and soil conservation practices.



The researchers are near completion of a beta version of the online tool to help articulate the cost of various best management practices designed to reduce nutrient and sediment loss.



John Tyndall, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, says he hopes to glean insights from user interaction and feedback.



Cost information is so crucial for decision making, said Tyndall. While developing this tool, it became very clear that up to date, scalable and transparent cost information for environmental Best Management Practices is scarce and in some cases, simply non-existent.



Tyndall says that much of this work was initiated by Dr. Laura Christiansen as part of her PhD work at Iowa State and that its caught the interest of other states. Other states with nutrient reduction strategies have been borrowing initial cost numbers from us, he said.



We wanted to create a tool that mimics similar financial decision-support tools farmers are familiar with, Tyndall said. Comprehensive conservation cost tools like this havent existed before. This new tool covers most all reduction strategy BMPs and is designed to be updated and adjusted depending on scale of use and management characteristics.



By providing farmers with information and decision reports similar to those available for other aspects of their production systems, Tyndall hopes that farmers find this tool useful for making the financial commitment to conservation.



He hopes the beta online tool also will provide insight on the types of production practices farmers commonly use. He will continue to refine the tool to ensure it is dynamic and up-to-date with cost trends.



The latest update to the decision tool includes the addition of management practices such as contour prairie strips and saturated buffer strips, all of which have demonstrated ability to reduce nutrient transport into waterways. The research is funded by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center.



Farmers who are interested in learning more about this decision support tool may contact Tyndall at jtyndall@iastate.edu. To learn more about Iowa Nutrient Research Center funded projects, visit the Iowa State exhibit at the Farm Progress Show near Boone Aug. 30 - Sept. 1. Many research results around best management practices will be on display and serve as topics for speakers. Find the Iowa State building at the corner of Central and Seventh Avenues on the Farm Progress Show grounds.



Research funded by Iowa Nutrient Research Center

The Iowa Nutrient Research Center has funded 31 research projects conducted by scientists at Iowa State, University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa since its establishment in 2013 by the Iowa Board of Regents in response to legislation passed by the Iowa Legislature and signed by Governor Branstad.



The center, administered by Iowa State University, is meeting the need for continued research and innovation to address Iowas water quality concerns. It supports research to evaluate the performance of current and emerging nutrient management practices, providing recommendations on implementing the practices and developing new practices.



The centers director is John Lawrence, associate dean for extension and outreach in Iowa States College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of ISU Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension.

Source:.iastate.edu
The North Dakota Attorney General has been granted permission to review federal rules once published and determine whether the state should file a petition for a review of the rules.

Members of the North Dakota Industrial Commission made the move Tuesday after being told by state oil and gas industry regulators that its critical to respond quickly to Bureau of Land Management rules on venting and flaring of natural gas.

The final rule is going to be coming very soon, Bruce Hicks, assistant state mineral resources director, said.

The rule is likely to be published in the Federal Register before the end of September, possibly before its Sept. 26 meeting, according to Hicks, who said it would be best for Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to be able to respond quickly once theyre published.

The proposed rules would require industry to use existing technologies and equipment to limit flaring and venting on public and native lands.

Ten pages of comments were provided to BLM in April by the NDIC containing objections to the proposed rule, estimating it would lead to losses in royalties and tax revenue to the tune of $24 million annually in North Dakota.

We want rules that are similar to ours so it doesnt impact industry, said Hicks, adding that the industry already is hurting.

The three-member commission also granted permission for Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms and NDIC legal counsel to prepare comments to provide to the McKenzie County Commission and that countys planning and zoning commission, which are preparing an ordinance on oil and gas regulation.

Hicks said the department wanted to be able to submit proposed changes prior to the planning and zoning meeting Sept. 13 and the regular county commission meeting Sept. 20.

The agency is aiming to provide comments addressing concerns over language that may conflict with state regulations, according to Hicks.

We want to make sure theyre aware of our concerns, Hicks said.
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.
A strange thing occurred this month in the American political universe when a business organization wrote a letter to several key Congressmen advocating on behalf of a bill that would increase government oversight over companies. Yes, you read that right: companies are voicing their support for more government regulation.

The proposed law in question is the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act, which would require persons who form corporations or limited liability companies in the United States to disclose the beneficial owners of those corporations. The letter came from The Clearing House Association, a group backed by some of the worlds largest banks including HSBC, Citigroup and Bank of America.

Its well known that private banking institutions have traditionally favored discretion and confidentiality on behalf of their clients, so why are banks suddenly advocating on behalf of transparency?



Take a look at the history of corporate transnational regulation and a clearer answer begins to emerge as to why the private sector is now embracing increased transparency. Over the past forty years, U.S. companies have been subject to an ever-increasing litany of regulations aimed at tackling international economic and security concerns.

Laws passed by Congress like the Bank Secrecy Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Money Laundering Control Act, and the Patriot Act have all included various requirements aimed at preventing corporate involvement in such weighty international issues as terrorist financing, money laundering and public corruption. These laws have been bolstered by numerous protections for corporate whistleblowers and have resulted in trillions of dollars in fines and penalties against companies by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other enforcement agencies.

Today, many of these rules have been duplicated overseas and normalized through international conventions, like the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing for Terrorism.



All of this regulation has also led to an enormous increase in the cost of compliance for companies. Businesses must put in place preventative controls aimed at complying with their regulatory obligations, such as know-your-customer questionnaires, third party due diligence measures, and internal employee training. Its no wonder, then, that larger businesses are embracing proposed corporate transparency rules that would shift the burden of compliance onto their customers and third parties to disclose their ownership structure.



Decades of international corporate regulatory enforcement have also shown that moral condemnation and criminalization are alone insufficient to stop economic crimes that cross international borders. No matter how much governments penalize illegal corporate activity, they will only be addressing part of the problem so long as sovereign governments continue to shelter criminal and terrorist organizations and maintain impunity for their corrupt public servants.

Thats why international non-profit organizations like Global Financial Integrity and TRACE International, for which I work, have long advocated for corporate transparency laws that would actually begin to address this international game of whack-a-mole. Corrupt politicians and criminal organizations make use of financial institutions to transfer their money across borders, leaning on the sophistication of shell companies and globalized banking to hide their assets in offshore accounts.



According to one 2012 academic study, out of 60 countries examined, the United States was found to be the second-easiest place in the world for criminals to incorporate an anonymous shell company for illegal activities. (Kenya was the easiest). Corporate transparency laws, like the one proposed by U.S. lawmakers, are aimed not at legitimate entrepreneurs, but at these would-be criminals.



For forty years, governments have worked towards eliminating economic wrongdoing such as public corruption and money laundering largely through targeting of the private sector. But despite increased coordination and cooperation among governments and law enforcement agencies, these crimes will remain difficult to suppress so long as their beneficiaries are able to continue to easily conceal their activities from regulators through offshore shell companies.

Recent global scandals such as the Panama Papers have galvanized public sentiment around the need for increased corporate transparency.

International businesses, too, now see the distinct potential that corporate transparency has for lowering compliance costs. A new paradigm shift in combating cross-border economic crimes is not only needed, but has finally become opportune.

____

Severin Wirz is based out of Nairobi and is a consultant for TRACE International, the globally renowned anti-bribery standard setting organization. TRACE recently launched TRACEpublic, the first global register of beneficial ownership information, which allows companies to share and search for beneficial ownership information at no cost
If you are ever robbed or, heaven forbid, raped, do you think you should be notified of all the relevant court dates? Do you think you should have the right to have your voice be heard? Do you think you should be free from intimidation and harassment? These are obvious things we all assume are covered within the legal system, but the unfortunate reality is that these are not guaranteed rights. Too often there are instances in North Dakota of crime victims being overlooked, forgotten, and not treated as anything more than a witness or evidence in a case. I support Measure 3  Marsy's Law for North Dakota  in order to improve this.

Measure 3 is about ensuring that crime victims have guaranteed rights that are respected and protected to the same degree that we honor defendants' rights. We would never dream of not giving someone accused of a crime their constitutional right to be innocent until proven guilty or to a fair and speedy trial. Yet, we are one of only 18 states that still doesn't provide crime victims with constitutional rights to be notified of court proceedings and to be heard.

Not only is this needed on principle alone, but we also know that existing statutory crime victims' rights are not always followed. They are weaker than the defendant's constitutional rights, and there isn't any recourse for ignoring them. Crime victims have been unaware of plea agreements, they haven't been notified that accused or convicted persons have been released from custody, and they haven't gotten information about court proceedings. This isn't right. It's happening to your neighbors and friends, possibly even to your family members. We need to change this, and Measure 3 is the right step to ensure crime victims are equally protected and respected under the law.
What can you tell us about your new book The Affair?

The Affair

The making of Cleopatra in Rome in 1961/2 was dramatic, and not just because Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had their infamous affair. The film had started out as a low-budget one designed to help 20 th Century Fox finances but it soon spiraled wildly out of control. Hundreds of actors and crew were accommodated in Rome for nine months on full pay with nothing to do for most of the time, so it was inevitable some would get up to mischief. Against this backdrop I invented two main characters: Diana, a clever but naive researcher, and Scott, an American journalist on his first posting hoping for success with girls. I wove their stories into the Burton/Taylor melodrama, and had a great time writing it!

Please tell us about your research process into Rome in the 1960s.

I started by contacting everyone who worked on the film who is still alive, and struck gold when I found an actor called John Gayford who has amazing recall for every last detail of the filming, from the salaries paid to the type of sandwiches served in the bar! I visited Rome in October 2011 and wandered round Cinecitta, managing to have a feel of Elizabeth Taylor's gold dress in the museum there, and I hung out on the Via Veneto where you can still watch Vespas chugging up the hill. And I read everything I could about the period, both non-fiction and fiction. My partner works in the film biz and was able to explain details like the way they measured the distance from the camera to the actor's head with a tape measure in order to set focus!

Tell us about when you first saw the film Cleopatra.

My mum was a huge Elizabeth Taylor fan so I imagine we sat down and watched it one Saturday afternoon on the TV. I was impressed by the glitz and glamour and when I watched it again a couple of years ago it was just as I recalled. It got terrible reviews in 1963 but has been shown at the Cannes Film Festival this year as a 'rediscovered classic' and although clunky in places, I would urge you to watch it for the sheer extravagance. In these days of CGI they will never again build huge wooden boats in order to destroy them in a sea battle!

Your debut novel Women and Children First was published last year, so what can you tell us about this for fans of your new book?

WACF follows the fate of three characters who were on the Titanic's maiden voyage. There's a young steward called Reg, who is a decent lad but makes a morally questionable judgment in the aftermath of the sinking; there's an upper class lady who is pregnant and unmarried; and there's an Irish woman travelling with her four children to join her husband in America. I followed their stories for six months after the sinking to examine the way the shock of what they had been through impacted on their lives, because no one walked away from that horrific event unscathed.

You have written both fiction and non fiction, so do you have a preference between the two?

I like doing both, and I particularly enjoy doing my 'Love Stories' series (see below), but if absolutely forced to choose I prefer fiction. The process of creating characters is magical. I hope it doesn't sound pretentious if I say that there comes a stage when they take on a life of their own and you feel as if you know them like friends. Of course, sometimes they refuse to fit into the plot I've carefully worked out beforehand and adjustments have to be made. I think all novelists would say that when it's going well, novel-writing is a mystical and exciting process we don't quite understand.

When did your interest in Titanic begin?

At my grandfather's knee - literally. Both my grandfathers worked in shipbuilding on the Clyde and told me the story of the most luxurious ship in the world that sank on its maiden voyage. And then I watched A Night to Remember (still my favourite Titanic film) and I was hooked. The Titanic story is full of compelling human drama and forces you to imagine: "What would I have done?"

What was your process of weaving the story around the backdrop of the film?

When I started planning The Affair, I knew I knew I wanted a main character who could wander through all areas of the film rather than just being stuck in 'Makeup' or 'Costume', and that's why I made Diana a researcher. I wanted her to be clever and ambitious but not remotely streetwise so she was bound to get into trouble! The character of Scott was invented to show what it was like for the paparazzi who tried to eke a living from snatching celebrity pics, but I also wanted him to be a loveable womanizer. The plot is tightly planned around the facts, so I had a timeline of when each Cleopatra scene was shot and made Diana's story follow that.

Tell us about your non fiction book Titanic Love Stories?

Titanic Love Stories tells the stories of the thirteen honeymoon couples on board the ship: their backgrounds, how they met and fell in love, their weddings, and what happened to them as the ship sank. It sold in loads of countries round the world so the publishers commissioned Civil War Love Stories, which was published in April this year, to tie in with the 150 th anniversary of the American Civil War. I'm currently writing World War Two Love Stories, which is fascinating because some of the couples are still alive and I'm able to interview them directly. And as soon as I finish that, I'll be writing World War One Love Stories. I love my series - although, of course, the stories don't all have happy endings.

Why do you like to draw on history as the backdrop in your novels?

I've always loved history. Part of my degree was in history and I've worked with a lot of well-known historians over the years. I particularly like exploring the differences between the lives of people in past eras and ours. The Affair covers very recent history, just fifty years ago, but it feels very distant: homosexuality was illegal, most women hoped to give up work when they got married, and international phone calls had to be pre-booked through an operator. Feminism hadn't happened - as fans of Mad Men will be well aware - and some doctors still advised their patients to take up smoking as a way of calming their nerves!

What is next for you?

I've started a new novel set in Paris in the 1920s about an Englishman who has been very damaged by the First World War and the French girl who takes him under her wing. I love the era and this is a book I've always wanted to write.

by Lucy Moore for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Tyga's former landlord says he owes $186,275.

Tyga

The 26-year-old rapper reportedly owes the huge sum to F&S Investment Properties, after he rented retail space for his Egypt Last Kings Clothing and allegedly trashed it.

TMZ reports that the landlord has won a case against him and "if Tyga doesn't pay up, F&S lawyers will grill him in court about his finances".

This is the latest financial drama for Tyga, who reached a settlement with his former landlord earlier this month after a bench warrant was issued his arrest when he failed to show up for a hearing.

Tyga allegedly owed Gholamreza Rezai $480,285.00 in damages for his old rental home, which he vacated "sometime prior to" October 31, 2012, but he won't face arrest after reaching a confidential agreement with the owner of his old home.

Gholamreza's attorney, Danny Abir, told People magazine: "There has been a settlement reached to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, the terms of which are confidential.

"My law partner, Boris Treyzon, will appear in court to ask the judge to quash the bench warrant since a settlement has been reached and our client is satisfied."

Boris Treyzon, the landlord's other attorney, previously insisted Tyga understood the significance of the case when he was served legal papers and was aware of the implications when he splashed out on a $189,000 Mercedes-Maybach for girlfriend Kylie Jenner's 19th birthday, which could have seen the vehicle seized.

He said: "On the date the debtor [Tyga]'s notice is served, there is a lien that's created on all of his assets. [That means] he isn't allowed to do any transfers.

"Once [Tyga was] served, the lien is created. Of course, we have an irate client who is owed half a million dollars and then the client reads that Tyga is giving a Maybach as a gift - that's in violation of two things.

"There is a hold on him transferring any assets while there is a judgment outstanding - that's going to be a separate action to recover that car unless the judgment is satisfied - and he's to appear in court, be placed under oath and he needs to answer questions."
A nationwide search to find Britain's best beach hut is over! A fairy-tale red and white polka dot beach hut called 'My Happy Hut' in Dovercourt, Harwich has been crowned as the winner of this year's prestigious Beach Hut of the Year Award 2016.

Home and Garden on Female First

The hut is aptly named, as owner, Anna Davies, acquired the hut to inject some happiness into her and her three children's lives, following tragic circumstances that led to her moving to the Harwich area as a single mother.

'My Happy Hut' completely captivated the panel of expert judges, which included TV favourite, Phil Spencer, co-presenter of 'Location, Location, Location'. Historian and author Dr. Kathryn Ferry, beach hut designer Pete Samson, beach hut lover and Sunday Times journalist Charlotte Vowden and previous Towergate Beach Hut of the Year 2015 winner Jane Ashmore all joined Phil on the panel to make this difficult decision.

Phil Spencer visited 'My Happy Hut' on Friday, to award owner, Anna Davies with the illustrious accolade of 'Beach Hut of the Year 2016', and present her with 1,000, a year's free beach hut insurance and a commemorative plaque to proudly hang in her award winning hut. Harwich and Dovercourt beach hut association will also benefit from this win as they will also receive 500 as part of Anna's prize.

Beach hut owners from across the nation's favourite seaside towns and beaches submitted entries, each vying to be crowned winner of Towergate's Beach Hut of the Year 2016. However 'My Happy Hut', was chosen by the judges as the pick of the bunch for its vibrancy, stand out style and the effort that went into creating a hut of happiness for them to enjoy together as a family.

This year's top 10 huts were:

The Bohol Hut - Hove Esplanade, East Sussex

Hove Esplanade, East Sussex Hut 279 - Hove East Sussex

Hove East Sussex Hut 303 - Brightlingsea, Essex

Brightlingsea, Essex No 31 - West Bay, Thanet, Kent

West Bay, Thanet, Kent No 14 - Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex

Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex No 65 - Calshot, Solent, Hampshire

Calshot, Solent, Hampshire My Happy Hut - Dovercourt, Essex

Dovercourt, Essex Serenity-on-Sea - Bournemouth, Dorset

Bournemouth, Dorset Millie - Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex

Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex Buggleskelly - Glyne Gap, East Sussex

Phil Spencer, co-presenter of 'Location, Location, Location' and a judge on the Towergate beach hut 2016 panel said: "I have fond memories of summers spent whiling away the hours at my family's beach hut and the way this competition continues to grow and capture the hearts of seaside lovers clearly shows our affinity with beach huts in the UK is increasing.

"I think it gets tougher each year to select a winner as the standard of entries is truly incredible and we were spoilt for choice with an array of unique and fantastic designs. However, 'My Happy Hut' was chosen for its delightful decor and for bringing joy, not only to Anna and her family, but to the beach hut community. "

'My Happy Hut' has been selected because of its vibrancy. The beach hut has a fairy-tale enchantment which is brought to life by its red and white polka dot exterior, its traditional pastel interiors and carefully selected objects which add to its happy seaside vibe. 'My Happy Hut' has glass double doors and windows behind what its owners call the 'drawbridge'. The front drops down to create a decked area, making it perfect to use all year round.

On being told the news, Anna Davies said: "I am genuinely shocked and excited that 'My Happy Hut' has been crowned beach hut of the year! It's a wonderful acknowledgement of how much love and hard work we have poured into our hut, so to receive this accolade, and of course meeting Phil Spencer, is just wonderful. I love the beach hut community spirit and once a year we go on a Dovercourt beach hut crawl enjoying food and drink at every hut we visit along the way. This hut has been my salvation and continues to bring myself and my family joy every summer."

Emma Watson from Towergate said: " This was a standout entry this year. It oozes joy and happiness - as soon as you see it you can't help but smile. "My Happy Hut" captured the judges attention because of its wonderfully bright decor that helps cheer up everyone's day. It clearly plays a huge part in making memories for the family and is a great attraction along the beach front.

Congratulations goes to Anna and 'My Happy Hut' and to our other beach hut of the year finalists".
Audrie & Daisy is set to be a documentary that's not to be missed when it comes to Netflix in September and the brand new trailer for the film has arrived.

Audrie & Daisy

Netflix has become the go-to platform to distribute movies and Audrie & Daisy is the latest film to premiere on the channel this year, reaching a wider audience than ever before.

Audrie & Daisy sees husband and wife team Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen in the director's chair. They are no strangers to the documentary genre with films such as The Rape of Europa and The Island President under their belts.

Audrie & Daisy is set to be a powerful film that looks at sexual assault and online bullying. Take a look at the new trailer:

Audrie & Daisy is an urgent real-life drama that examines the ripple effects on families, friends, schools and communities when two underage young women find that sexual crimes against them have been caught on camera.

From acclaimed filmmakers Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, Audrie & Daisy takes a hard look at America's teenagers who are coming of age in this new world of social media bullying, spun wildly out of control.

Audrie & Daisy is a movie that comes after The Hunting Ground, which looked at levels of sexual assault on college campuses in America.

The film premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival at the beginning of the year and will be coming to Netflix this September.

Audrie & Daisy will premiere on Netflix Friday September 23rd.

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Gavin DeGraw has announced that his highly anticipated fifth studio album 'Something Worth Saving' is now available for pre-order at digital retailers, ahead of its release on September 9 via Sony Music.

Gavin DeGraw

Those who do pre-order will receive lead single 'She Sets The City On Fire', plus album track 'Making Love With The Radio On' as instant grat tracks.

That first single was written by DeGraw alongside Gregg Wattenberg, with Wattenberg also producing the song.

This all comes ahead of Gavin's co-headline 2016 North American tour with Billboard chart-topping record artist, Andy Grammer.

Kicking off on August 28 with a homecoming show in Bethel, the multi-city tour will include shows in major theaters including Los Angeles' Greek Theatre and New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom.

Tickets for these shows are all on-sale now, with more information available at www.gavindegraw.com

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Dougie Poynter has confirmed McFly are working on new music to accompany their 'Anthology Tour' in September.

McFly

The 'Obviously' hitmakers are planning to drop their first music in six years in time for the shows following a three-year hiatus, which saw the group team up with Busted's James Bourne and Matt Willis to form the supergroup McBusted.

Of the new music, which will be the first since 2010's 'Above the Noise' LP - the 28-year-old rocker said: "There will be new McFly music.

"There's a few ideas floating around already, we'll hopefully be writing stuff on tour."

The hunky bassist - who is joined by Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones and Harry Judd in the band - has assured fans that McFly have no plans to retire anytime soon.

He added to The Sun newspaper: "McFly will always be there.

"They're my family, we're all brothers."

The 'Star Girl' group were forced postpone their tour until September as a result of drummer Harry's herniated disc.

In May, he wrote on Instagram: "I'm absolutely gutted to say that we've had to postpone the tour as I've herniated a disc in my neck.

"I've honestly tried everything to make it work but I'd never want to do a tour where I wouldn't be able to give you guys the 110% performance you deserve every night.

"I'm gunna do all the rehab possible to get myself ready to do the most epic shows we've ever put on! Love Harry, Barry, The Triple D, The not quite as good half of Pudd or whatever it is you wanna call me x #mcfly #itsnotalwayseasy (sic)"

McFly are due to kick off their tour in Manchester with three dates, starting on September 12.

They will conclude their tour in Kentish Town, north London, on September 28.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's itinerary for their forthcoming trip to Canada has been revealed.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Prince William and Catherine, both 34, will embark on a tour of British Columbia and will begin their tour in Victoria on September 24.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson confirmed: "The Duke and Duchess are delighted to be returning to Canada.

They hold very happy memories from their visit in 2011 - their first overseas tour as a married couple.

"They are really looking forward to seeing other parts of this beautiful country and having the opportunity to meet many more Canadians along the way."

It's believed their children - 15-month-old Princess Charlotte and three-year-old Prince George - will join them in Victoria where they will be joined by their Maria Borrallo, who will take care of the youngsters while their parents embark on official engagements.

Their visit will include a trip to Great Bear Rainforest, which is home to marine life including whales, sea otters, dolphins and sea lions, according to their website.

The trip follows their visit to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly on September 1 and September 2 and William's trip to Dusseldorf, Germany on Tuesday (23.08.16).

The royal couple's Canada trip itinerary:

September 24, Victoria, British Columbia

September 25, Vancouver, British Columbia

September 26, Bella Bella and Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia

September 27, Kelowna, British Columbia and Whitehorse, Yukon

September 28, Whitehorse and Carcross, Yukon

September 29, Victoria, British Columbia

September 30, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

October 1, Victoria, British Columbia
Prince Harry has been using his piloting skills to help with a "human-assisted migration" of 500 elephants in Malawi.

Prince Harry

The 31-year-old royal - a former Army helicopter pilot - is currently helping non-profit organisation Africa Parks by assisting with immobilising the animals by aiming darts from a chopper.

Frances Read of Africa Parks explained to People magazine: "As you can imagine, everything is on quite a significant scale. A helicopter goes up with a vet and they identify a cohesive group of elephants, which is really important because you've got to keep the family groups together.

"Then they try to flush them out of the woodlands and onto the floodplains, which makes it a lot easier and safer to dart."

According to the publication, the flame-haired royal is staying in the general camping area on the riverside at Liwonde National Park and uses a bucket to wash and eats food made in a field.

Frances previously said it is a great help to the group that Harry is joining in with the project to move the large animals across the southern African state as part of a 500 Elephants initiative.

She said: "We are delighted that Prince Harry has joined us on this very important project."

Frances admitted it is a huge task.

Explaining the process, she added: "As you can imagine, everything is on quite a significant scale.

"A helicopter goes up with a vet and they identify a cohesive group of elephants, which is really important because you've got to keep the family groups together. Then they try to flush them out of the woodlands and onto the floodplains, which makes it a lot easier and safer to dart.

"As they are being darted, cars move in on the ground. So as soon as the elephants start to go down there are people to assist and make sure they are breathing properly and are positioned safely, so that they haven't fallen on their chest or against something, or on one another."
With Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) out of prison in the second season of Narcos, everybody is looking for revenge, but when things get out of hand and Pablo's life is taken the question remains, #WhoKilledPablo?

Returning in September for a second run of new episodes, the drama will focus on Pablo's escape from prison, with detective Steve Murphy hoping to remain hot on his tail.

Directed by Jose Padilha and created by Chris Brancato, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard write show following their work on Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Viewers know that the second season will focus on Pablo's death and so believe it will be the final season, but no confirmation has been made as to Narcos' future.

Credit: Netflix

Narcos' second season premieres on Netflix on September 2.
BOWMAN -- The small town of Bowman was still rattled Monday after a rural Bowman County man was found dead in a motel room there Saturday.

Its a little scary, Bowman resident Mandy Stedman said. It hits home.

Three unidentified suspects in the alleged homicide were arrested Sunday in Colorado, about a day after the victim was found in a pool of blood at the El-Vu Motel south of Bowman along U.S. Highway 85.

El-Vu housekeeping staff discovered the man on the floor of a room, according to a statement released Sunday by Bowman Police Chief Charles Headley.

The three suspects in custody include a Bowman man, a Bowman woman and a man from Minnesota.

Police department officials said Monday that more information about the case will be revealed during a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m.Tuesday, Aug. 23.

El-Vu Motel manager Christina Pfahl said our hearts and our prayers go out to all families involved and asked for privacy as the investigation continues. Bowman police officers are investigating the case with the help of state Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents from Dickinson and Bismarck.

After interviews and following up on leads, along with help from law enforcement agencies in Wyoming and Colorado, the three suspects were taken into custody.

Stedman said people in Bowman believe they know the identities of those involved, even though police have not released those names yet. She added that she believes the mans death was related to drugs and that drugs have always been in Bowman, but its just getting worse

We all knew within, not even 24 hours, we already had names, she said. Its only obvious because it is a small town. People know your ins, your outs, which vehicles you drive and who you were with.

Sen. Bill Bowman, who represents the area in the state Legislature, said he wasnt aware of the situation until he was eating breakfast Monday morning in Rhame.

Bowman said while he doesnt know anything about the case, he knows that this is a tragedy for the area.

All I know is that anytime this happens in a community, its devastating to the community, he said.

Stedman said that she, along with others in the community, are concerned with the fact that they were not alerted to the situation as it was unfolding.

The whole issue and the concern was that nobody informed us that a potential murderer was walking our streets, she said.

Stedman said she only found out about the events when they were posted on Facebook Live by the local newspaper, the Bowman County Pioneer.

You should probably inform the community that it happened in, but that didnt happen, she said.

Jerry Weiler has called Bowman home for around 20 years. But unlike Stedman, he said he wasnt concerned about being notified because the police were handling the situation.

If people are notified, they seem to get in the way of what the men in blue are trying to do, he said. I feel they did what they needed to (to) keep the scene and story intact.

Stedman, who was born and raised in Bowman, said its a friendly town full of good people.

Were a good small town, she said. We really are. We still wave (to people in the car). Thats just the kind of town it is.

Weiler said its a shock to see this happen in this small community.

I feel sad for the families that are affected, he said. I mean Bowman is a small community and we all know everyone. I am shocked that it happened and hope we never have another incident like this for along time.
China will dethrone the current leader, the US to become the world's biggest retail market in 2016 with total sales of $4.886 trillion as against $4.823 trillion in the US, an Emarketer report said.The Asian country will also remain the globe's largest retail ecommerce market with sales forecast to be above $899.09 billion in 2015 or 47.0 per cent of worldwide online retail sales.

China will dethrone the current leader, the US to become the world's biggest retail market in 2016 with total sales of $4.886 trillion as against $4.823 trillion in the US, an Emarketer report said. The Asian country will also remain the globe's largest retail ecommerce market with sales forecast to be above $899.09 billion in 2015 or 47.0 per cent of...#

According to Emarketer, China which has one of the most developed ecommerce markets, online purchases will account for 18.4 per cent of the country's total retail sales this year, the highest worldwide.The research agency also expects retail ecommerce sales in China to reach $2.416 trillion in 2020, of which purchases through mobile will account for 68 per cent.Emarketer attributed the ecommerce boom in China in part to online marketplaces like Alibaba, Tmall and JD.com, which took advantage of the country's undeveloped traditional retail infrastructure.Alibaba, Tmall and JD.com positioned themselves well to capitalise on growing consumer demand by creating their own payment systems, Emarketer forecasting director Monica Peart said.In addition, with rising incomes and increased internet access in rural areas, the cultural appetite to shop digitally will continue and we can expect to see further growth in mobile spend, Peart observed. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Ambassadors of five countries have urged the Bangladesh government to increase the speed of trade union registration in the apparel sector and also lower the cases of rejection of applications.These envoys from the US, Netherlands, UK and Canada led by EU delegation head Pierre Mayaudon met senior officials of commerce, labour and foreign ministries.

Ambassadors of five countries have urged the Bangladesh government to increase the speed of trade union registration in the apparel sector and also lower the cases of rejection of applications. These envoys from the US, Netherlands, UK and Canada led by EU delegation head Pierre Mayaudon met senior officials of commerce, labour and foreign ministries.#

In the meeting, the labour ministry showed a progress report , which showed that 507 trade unions were registered, while 133 safety committees were set-up.These diplomats showed their dissatisfaction over the slow pace of formation of participation committees and safety committees in the garment sector, during the meeting.The meetings have been taking place since the formation of the Sustainability Compact, launched in July 2013, in response to the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed around 1,100 people, mostly apparel workers.These envoys shared the opinion that the rate of union registrations was far lower than the numbers of units in the industry, while at the same time, the number of rejection of applications was high.They expressed concern in the delay in implementing corrective action plans in the sector already inspected under a government-ILO joint initiative. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Indian government has cracked the whip on online retailers, asking them to comply strictly with ecommerce guidelines, when releasing advertisements announcing a sale or discount in newspapers. And if they are giving advertisements, then it should be clearly mentioned that these discounts are given by vendors and brand owners.

Media reports quoting an official said that online retailers were clearly told they cannot announce any kind of sale discounts at a recent meeting held in the commerce ministry, following complaints by a trade association of brick-and-mortar stores.

The commerce ministrys action comes close on the heels of complaints received from stakeholders including the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

The Indian government has cracked the whip on online retailers, asking them to comply strictly with ecommerce guidelines, when releasing advertisements announcing a sale or discount in newspapers. And if they are giving advertisements, then it should be clearly mentioned that these discounts are given by vendors and brand owners. Media reports quoting an...#

In March, the government had allowed 100 per cent FDI through automatic route in the marketplace format of e-commerce retailing.



As per the guidelines issued by the DIPP, foreign direct investment (FDI) has not been permitted in inventory-based model of e-commerce.



The guidelines also state that such entities will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods and services and shall maintain level playing field."E-commerce guideline allows owner of inventory that is seller registered on marketplace to determine price including by giving discount," another official said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
US based private equity firm TA Associates has invested $140 million for a minority stake in TCNS Clothing Company Pvt. Ltd., which retails the W, Aurelia and Wishful womenswear apparel brands.The three brands are available in more than 1,600 multi-brand stores across India, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and the Middle East, and in over 300 exclusive stores in more than 100 cities.

US based private equity firm TA Associates has invested $140 million for a minority stake in TCNS Clothing Company Pvt. Ltd., which retails the W, Aurelia and Wishful womenswear apparel brands. The three brands are available in more than 1,600 multi-brand stores across India, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and the Middle East, and in over 300 exclusive stores in...#

TCNS clocked sales of more than $120 million in fiscal 2016, up 70 per cent year-over-year and added around 100 stores last year, while also venturing into Sri Lanka and Mauritius.As the leader in branded women's apparel, TCNS Clothing is driving the shift in organised retail and providing the Indian consumer with a differentiated product and value proposition, Naresh Patwari, director at TA Associates' Mumbai office said.With Anant Daga as the CEO and a very strong management team, we believe that TCNS is well prepared to capture this large and long-term growth opportunity, he added.Founder of TCNS Clothing OS Pasricha too said, We are pleased to have TA Associates as our partner for the next phase of our growth, and are delighted to welcome TA to our company and to our board. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Bordeaux Digital Printink will present its new Eden PG for textile and Plasma VG and HF for industrial printing at SGIA trade show which runs September 14-16, 2016 at booth 948.The new Eden PG pigment ink for all types of fabrics makes digital textile printing simple and easy to implement and allows print shops to print any type of fabric with a single ink and a single printing line.

Bordeaux Digital Printink will present its new Eden PG for textile and Plasma VG and HF for industrial printing at SGIA trade show which runs September 14-16, 2016 at booth 948. The new Eden PG pigment ink for all types of fabrics makes digital textile printing simple and easy to implement and allows print shops to print any type of fabric with a single...#

Carrying the Oeko-Tex and GOTS certifications, Eden PG meets the highest standards, allowing its use for the most sensitive clothes like baby clothing, the company said.The Bordeaux booth will feature a full living space designed with Bordeaux's inkjet solutions including textile for fashion and a range of home decor items like furniture and wall decoration.In industrial printing, the company is showcasing a range of tailor made inks for specific applications, as well as the ability to custom-develop UV curable inks for every need like the Plasma VG and HF.Guy Evron, marketing director at Bordeaux said, With our solvent, UV and now textile solutions print shops have the advantage of getting a full range of solutions and support from a single and reliable source. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
China is planning to add 17 more products from Bangladesh, including items like synthetic fibre, silk waste, short boots and some leather products, to the list of 4,700 products for which it has long been providing duty-free benefits. The duty-free benefit would be provided as part of an effort to deepen trade relations between the two countries.

The duty-free access to 17 products was agreed in principle by the Chinese side at the 14th session of the biannual Bangladesh-China Joint Economic Commission, held at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) in Dhaka.

At the meeting, Bangladesh side said that through China provides duty-free benefit to 4,700 products, the list does not include the products of their (Bangladeshi businesses) choice. Beijing has agreed in principle to widen its trade benefits, ERD senior secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin said at a press briefing post-meeting.

China is planning to add 17 more products from Bangladesh, including items like synthetic fibre, silk waste, short boots and some leather products, to the list of 4,700 products for which it has long been providing duty-free benefits. The duty-free benefit would be provided as part of an effort to deepen trade relations between the two countries.#

The Chinese delegation led by vice minister for commerce Gao Yan requested Bangladesh to start the procedure for availing duty-free benefit for the 17 new products so that the benefits can be reaped at the earliest, Mejbahuddin said.

The visiting team also showed interest in investing in the apparel zone that is being set up in Munshiganj by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), he said.

Bangladesh's garment exports to China increased by 11.9 per cent year-on-year to $341.22 million in 2015-16. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
A subsidiary of Shandong and China based Daiyin Textile and Garment Group, Daiyin Textile (M) Sdn Bhd is investing around RM 500 million to expand operations in Malaysia.Malaysian media quoted general manager Steven Cheng as saying that RM 300 million would be invested in expansion of its existing yarn spinning plant, which will double output to 40 million kg per annum.

A subsidiary of Shandong and China based Daiyin Textile and Garment Group, Daiyin Textile (M) Sdn Bhd is investing around RM 500 million to expand operations in Malaysia. Malaysian media quoted general manager Steven Cheng as saying that RM 300 million would be invested in expansion of its existing yarn spinning plant, which will double output to...#

While the rest of RM 200 million would be spent in setting up a new plant to produce denim jeans, earmarked for exports to the US.According to Cheng, both the projects would help create 1,100 new job opportunities, up from around 300 workers currently. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
On the back of capacity expansion and enlarging domestic business, Indian home textiles producer and exporter, Indo Count Industries Ltd (ICIL) has forecast a 15-20 per cent growth in fiscal 2017. This includes returns from investments in capacity expansion to establish a high-end brand in the domestic market. It clocked Rs 2,213 crore sales in fiscal 2016.

Indo Count derives 90 per cent of its revenues from exports and ships to countries like Australia, South Africa, etc, also plans to expand and strengthen its export markets.

"We have also invested in capacity expansion to establish our brand  Boutique Living - in the domestic market. Following these developments we are expecting 15-20 per cent revenue growth in fiscal 2017," ICIL MD Mohit Jain told a news agency.

On the back of capacity expansion and enlarging domestic business, Indian home textiles producer and exporter, Indo Count Industries Ltd (ICIL) has forecast a 15-20 per cent growth in fiscal 2017. This includes returns from investments in capacity expansion to establish a high-end brand in the domestic market. It clocked Rs 2,213 crore sales in fiscal 2016.#

The company which clocked sales at Rs 2,213 crore in fiscal 2016, recently launched 'Boutique Living', a home textiles range in India which caters to the high-end and premium segment.

Indo Count, with three production units in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, is spending around Rs 475 crore in two phases on capacity expansion. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Arpita Khan and Aayush Sharma are blessed with a son Ahil, and the couple have been posting such cute and adorable pictures of the little one on their social media handle and we just cannot stop looking at his sweetness. Ahil is always surrounded by his loved ones and almost everyone has a picture with him.

Check out new pictures of baby Ahil here! We're sure this will make your day.

Ahil with Grandpa Grandpa Salim Khan holds baby Ahil and the little boy looks really happy and excited being in his company. Aayush-Ahil "Our baby is growing up so fast @aaysharma" says Aayush Sharma on his Instagram handle. Well surely guys time flies! Amrita-Ahil Amrita Arora holds Ahil and kisses him during Rakhi celebrations at the Khans residence. The picture looks adorable isn't it? Fun Times Arpita Khan holds her son Ahil in her arms while another little girl ties rakhi to the little boy. The Khan Family The Khan family pose for a family picture after after the rakhi celebrations. They're surely one blessed and united family. Ahil Ahil is delighted by seeing so many people at once during the rakhi celebrations at Salman Khan's house. Rakhi A little girl and a young woman tie rakhi to baby Ahil as he looks on wondering what's happening here! A Happy Boy Ahil is mostly always happy and always loves to be in the company of people.

Also, there's a sad news that we have to share here; it was reported that Aayush-Arpita's house was robbed a few days ago and the thieves fled with valuables worth 3.25 Lakhs. The thieves broke into the Pacific Heights apartment in Bandra and targeted their home for the loot.

Red Hot Pictures! Bruna Abdullah Takes Hotness To A Whole New Level

Arpita Khan and Aayush Sharma were on a holiday and only returned on Sunday night to see their house robbed by thieves. The Mumbai police are currently looking for a maid named Aafsa, who was working in the apartment. She has been reported missing since July 30, 2016.

The police also said that the theft must have happened before Sunday and have registered a case under the Indian Penal Code Section 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of employer).

Hot Bikini Pictures! 'Chak De India' Girl Chitrashi Rawat Holidays In Goa
Deepika Padukone's Next Bollywood Film

Deepika Padukone will soon start the shooting of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati.

(In Pic-A sweet picture of Deepika Padukone with child model and her fan Dhyana Madan)

Deepika's Role In Padmavati

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone will play the role of Rani Padmini of Chittorgarh in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next film Padmavati.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone looks stunning in her black attire and a bun)

Deepika & Ranveer

According to recent reports, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone will play the lead roles in Padmavati.

Ranveer Singh will be playing the obsessed Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji in the movie.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone with her fan)

Deepika & Shahid

Rumours are doing the rounds that actor Shahid Kapoor has been reportedly roped in to play Deepika Padukone's on screen husband Raja Rawal Ratan Singh in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati.

(In Pic-Deepika with her fans)

Unique Pair

Needless to say if Shahid Kapoor accepts the role then Padmavati would mark his first collaboration with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and also with Deepika Padukone.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone snapped with her little fan)

No Screen Share Between Ranveer-Deepika

If reports are to be believed, the beautiful actress and her rumoured boyfriend Ranveer Singh would not be seen sharing any scenes together in the film.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone and Dhyana Madan)

Intimate Scenes

Rumour has it that Deepika Padukone would be sharing some intimate scenes with her husband in the movie Padmavati.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone signing autograph for her little fan Dhyana)

Deepika Will Not Work With A TV Actor

Earlier it was reported that initially a television actor was signed to play Deepika Padukone's husband in the film, but the actress didn't approve of it and requested to sign a bigger star for the role.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone posing for a pic with her fan)

Deepika & Shahrukh

Many insiders also claimed that superstar Shahrukh Khan was also approached to play the role of Deepika Padukone's husband in Padmavati but the actor denied the offer due to date problem.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone)

Padmavati's Shooting

It has been reported that the shooting of Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh's Padmavati will start in the month of September.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone spotted waving at the shutterbugs)

Padmavati's Script

Prakash Kapadia, who earlier scripted Deepika Padukone's superhit film Bajirao Mastani, has reportedly been roped in to write Padmavati.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone shares a candid moment with her little fan Dhyana)

Deepika's Hollywood Project

Apart from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, Deepika Padukone would also be seen in xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage, which is her first hollywood project.

(In Pic-Deepika Padukone posing for the cameras with Dhyana Madan)
Shruti Ramachandran, the Pretham actress is the latest sensation of Malayalam film industry. She has already created a fan base in the industry, with her unique appearance and performance as a ghost.

Interestingly, Shruti is not just a budding actress, but a multi-faceted talent. She is an architect by profession and is currently working as an assistant professor in Azadi College, Vytilla, Kochi.

The actress, who wants to concentrate in both her teaching and acting careers, is also a trained classical dancer. Shruti is the student of popular dancer Narayani Anoop, the daughter of Mullassery Raju.

Narayani suggested Shruti Ramachandran to director Ranjith, who was searching for a new face for his Dulquer Salmaan movie Njaan. Thus, she made her acting debut by playing Dulquer's girlfriend in the movie.

It was Jayasurya, who met Shruti at a gym, and approached her to play the ghost in Pretham. Even though she was initially reluctant to accept the offer, the actress later changed her mind and decided to do the film.

Shruti is extremely excited that her role and the different look have been widely accepted by the audiences. She says the complete credit of her performance goes to director Ranjith Sankar and costume designer Saritha Jayasurya.
The past week was not an eventful one for the Malayalam film industry. There was only a single release in the past week in the form of Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Pinneyum, which has Dileep and Kavya Madhavan in the lead roles.

The film industry also celebrated the first day of the Malayalam New Year on August 18, 2016. Here, we list the major highlights of the past week.

Go through the slides to read more..

Pinneyum Opens To Mixed Reviews Pinneyum, directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and featuring Dileep and Kavya Madhavan in the lead roles, hit the theatres on August 18, 2016. The film has opened to mixed reviews. While a certain set of critics gave the films a thumps up, some other sections bashed the movie. Team Kammara Sambhavam Begins Shoot The shoot of Dileep's most awaited movie Kammara Sambhavam began on August 18, 2016(Chingam1). The makers of the film also released the first look poster of the film. Kammara Sambhavam would be directed by Ratheesh Ambat under the script written by Murali Gopy. Nadhir Shah Begins Kattapanayile Hrithik Roshan Nadhir Shah began the shoot of his upcoming film Kattapanayile Hrithik Roshan, which would have Vishnu Unnikrishnan in the lead role. The film, which narrates the story of a guy who wants to make it big in films, is being produced by actor Dileep First Look Poster Of The Great Father Mammootty's upcoming film, which would be directed by debutante Haneef Adeni, has been titled as The Great Father. The film would be produced by August Cinemas. The makers of the film recently released the first look poster of the film. Pretham And Ann Maria Declared As Hits Pretham, which released on August 12, 2016 and Ann Maria Kalippilaanu, which released on August 5, 2016, have garnered good reports and are going strong at the box-office. Both the films are on the way to become big hits. Mohanam 2016 Sparks Controversies Mohanam 2016, which was held in Calicut on August 15, 2016, to honour Mohanlal was attended by celebrities of film industry. The event had its own share of controversies as directors Vinayan and Ali Akbar accused the makers of the show of hiding the news of writer T A Rasaq's death, for the sake of the show. Oppam Songs Released The songs of Mohanlal's upcoming movie Oppam got released in the past week. The songs have garnered attention, especially the song Chinnama Adi.. sung by M G Sreekumar.

The first day of Malayalam New Year is considered to be a good one by the Malayalam film industry. Major actors of the film industry like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep, Dulquer Salmaan, Jayaram etc. took to Facebook to wish all their fans on the special day.

Film-makers also opt to start the shoot of their films on this particular day, as it is considered to be a good one for the films in concern.

Meanwhile, major Malayalam movie release of August have already hit the theatres. Upcoming Malayalam film Dum, which has Lal and Shine Tom Chacko in the lead roles, is expected to hit the theatres this week.

The list of Malayalam movies, which would hit the theatres during the Onam season, is ready. As per the reports, Oozham, Oppam, Welcome To Central Jail, Kochavva Paulo Ayyapa Coelho etc. are the movies which would hit the theatres during Onam season.
Well-known Hindi film-maker Anurag Kashyap was in Chennai recently and as always had many things to say about Tamil cinema.

Talking about Tamil films' chances at the international film festivals, Anurag has said, if producers are willing to send their movies to festivals, then Tamil movies would easily travel to many places.

"If 'Subramaniapuram' had been sent to film festivals, it would have journeyed way more than even my films did! However, producers in Tamil cinema do not want to send them. I also tried to send one of Bala's films, but the producer had issues," he has said, according to a report from Deccan Chronicle.

The Raman Raghav 2.0 director feels that Tamil producers fear that their movies might be leaked if sent to film festivals.

"The production house is afraid that a film will get leaked, if it is sent for fests. So, they go for the theatrical release first. But the irony is that festivals won't take in films that have been released already.

Vetri's 'Visaaranai' was able to do that because he held back the theatrical release - as he was one of the producers of the film. If filmmakers start controlling their films, then Tamil cinema will go places. The problem with Tamil cinema is not the films; it is the attitude," he has said.

Also Read: 'Dharma Durai' Movie Review & Rating: Fairly Executed Drama With A Relevant Message
Punch Dialogues

Some of the punch dialogues from the film, the most famous being 'naa oruthadava sonna nooru thadava sonna maathiri', were immortalized by fans and is still among the favourites.

Favourite Among Auto Drivers

One of the characters played by Rajinikanth in the film, catapulted his fame to new heights as he became popular among auto drivers and how! Even today many auto rickshaws in Chennai and other cities ply carrying Rajinikanth's photo.

When 'Baasha' Sent Media Into Frenzy

During its release, Baasha became the talk of the town, prompting local and national media to cover the story extensively. Since then all Rajinikanth's movies have been media-friendly!

368 Days

The film was a blockbuster hit and was played in many theatres for as long as 368 days. It also redefined the stardom of superstar Rajinikanth overnight.

Possible Sequel

After the grand success of Baasha, the makers wanted to come up with a sequel. But then decided against it, stating that Baasha is inimitable and that not even a sequel could equal it.

Re-release In 2012

Baasha was re-released in Hindi after digitizing the print in 2012. The film was also dubbed and released in Telugu, which was a success in Andhra Pradesh.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/22/16 -- Further to its news release of July 29, 2016, Handa Copper Corporation ("Handa Copper" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: HEC) announces that its previously announced shares for debt transaction has been approved by the TSX Venture Exchange and an aggregate of 130,000 common shares ("Common Shares") of the Company at a deemed price of $0.05 per Common Share have been issued to a certain service provider. With the issuance of the Common Shares pursuant to the shares for debt application, the debt owing to such service provider, in the amount of $6,500.00 has been fully extinguished.

The Common Shares issued pursuant to this transaction are subject to a hold period of 4 months and one day from the date of issuance.

About Handa Copper Corporation

Handa Copper is actively pursuing the exploration and development potential of a highly significant copper discovery in the Republic of Congo. The geological parallels between the West Congolian Belt and the Central African Copperbelt (CACB), the world's richest copper province, have been recognized since the 1930s. However, sustained modern exploration has never been carried out on the former until now.

Previously undisclosed archival records acquired by the Company, which included more than 10,000 stream sediment and soil samples, confirm the potential for CACB-style copper deposits on the Company's exploration licenses in the RoC. In addition, new data detailed soil sampling and geological mapping will assist the Company to effectively prioritize exploration targets for drilling.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Handa Copper Corporation

Marek Kreczmer

CEO

(604) 601-6926

marek@handacopper.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/22/16 -- DuSolo Fertilizers Inc. (TSX VENTURE: DSF) ("DuSolo" or "the Company") announces the resignation of Mr. Darren Bowden from its Board of Directors. Giles Baynham, CEO of DuSolo noted "We would like to thank Darren for all his hard work as the Interim CEO and as a Director, and wish him well in his future endeavours."

ABOUT DUSOLO

DuSolo Fertilizers Inc. is focused on developing a fully integrated process to produce and sell phosphate based fertilizers within the Cerrado region of Brazil as part of a nationwide effort, incentivized by the government, to increase supply of domestically sourced fertilizers and achieve agricultural self-sufficiency.

On behalf of DuSolo Fertilizers Inc.

Giles Baynham, Chief Executive Officer

Forward-looking statements

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 statements 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 DuSolo 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 DuSolo disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contacts:

DuSolo Fertilizers Inc.

(604) 484 7122

ir@dusolo.com




HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VIETWATER 2016 Expo & Forum, Vietnam's leading international water supply, sanitation, water resources and purification event, organised by UBM Asia, will take place at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City from 9-11 November 2016.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/399990

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121014/HK92339LOGO-d

Hosted by the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA) and supported by the Ministry of Construction (MOC), VIETWATER is renowned as the flagship business platform in the drainage & sewerage and water supply industries. With over 400 exhibitors from 38 countries & regions and 15 international pavilions such as France, Germany, Australia, Finland, Belgium, Japan, mainland China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and many others. VIETWATER 2016 expects to welcome over 10,000 trade visitors, professionals, consultants, engineers, key decision-makers, thought leaders and government representatives.

In collaboration with Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant, VIETWATER 2016 held a factory visit on 22 August 2016, with the participation of Mr. Cao Lai Quang, Chairman of Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA) and Ms. Eliane Van Doorn, Business Development Director ASEAN, UBM Asia, together with media reporters.

Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant is the biggest plant in Ho Chi Minh. It has invested to increase its capacity by 469,000 m3/day with a total capital of $VND 2,800 billion. Mr. Cao Lai Quang said, "The factory visit is one of the exhibition's highlighted activities at VIETWATER 2016. It can be said this is an insightful trip. We have experienced many practical lessons about factory operation and management as well as technical innovation. We would like to thank Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant for supporting us to organise such a successful visit."

On the same day, UBM Asia organised a Press Conference at Duxton Saigon Hotel to introduce VIETWATER 2016 (www.vietwater.com) and RE & EE VIETNAM 2016 (www.renewableenergy.com) to be once again co-located at SECC, Ho Chi Minh City from 9-11 November this year. The conference gathers many famous media agencies and exhibitors to listen to expert speakers including Assistant Prof., Dr. Nguyen Hong Tien, Director of Technical Infrastructure Department, Ministry of Construction; Mr. Cao Lai Quang, Chairman of VWSA; Mr. Huynh Kim Tuoc, Director, Energy Conservation Center HCMC (ECC -- HCM) and Mrs. Delphine Roussele, Project Director, EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN).

Ms. Eliane Van Doorn said at the Conference that UBM has extended the exhibition space as the events are growing, and that 97% of the booth space has already been booked, with many leading industry brands participating in order to showcase their new innovations, technologies and solutions.

Regarding the sustainable development of Vietnam's water, the event will come alongside an international conference titled "Sustainable Water Supply and Sewerage Development Solutions in the context of Climate Change: Water Resource Degradation, Drought, and Saline Intrusion", which will also be part of the Vietnam's leading renewable energy and energy efficiency exhibition- RE & EE Vietnam 2016. All activities will take place for three days under one roof.

Vietwater Pre-registration is now open. To save valuable time, please register at http://www.vietwater.com/en-us/Visitors/Visitor-Registration or contact VIETWATER team @+84 8 5401 2718.

Notes to Editors:

About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in Asia and the largest commercial organiser in China, India and Malaysia. Established with its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has strong global network of 32 offices and 1,300 staff in 24 major cities. We operate in 19 market sectors with 230 exhibitions and conferences, 28 targeted trade publications, 18 vertical portals for over 2,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world.

The Representative Office of UBM ASIA in Ho Chi Minh City

6th Floor, KN Building, 74 Nguyen Khoai, Ward 2

District 4, Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam

T: +84 8 5401 2718

F: +84 8 5401 2717




AMSTERDAM and ROME, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Integrated cardiology software, solutions and services optimize the path to treatment through early i nterventions to enhance patient outcomes and help lower costs

Minimally invasive treatments supported by live intelligent image guided therapy help patients recover quicker and go home earlier

Next generation point of care testing and cardiology informatics enable rapid clinical decision-making

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today announced its presence at theESC Congress 201 6 , showcasing its latest in advanced integrated cardiology solutions with a focus on prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Philips will spotlight multiple modalities to address the needs of a growing and aging population with a personalized and cost effective approach to cardiovascular care, featuring: IntelliSpace Cardiovascular, Dynamic Coronary Roadmap, EPIQ with HeartModel Anatomical Intelligence (AI) as well as Philips Volcano IVUS and iFR/FFR technologies.

Visitors to the Philipsbooth(E4-N100) will experience Philips holistic approach to cardiovascular care, featuring its integrated cardiology software, innovative solutions and best-in-class services approach to connect people, technologies and care protocols across the entire health continuum. From intravascular imaging, ultrasound, healthcare IT and advanced software applications, to physiology image guided interventional technologies and Personal Health Solutions for better heart health, Philips is providing a customized integrated approach to deliver enhanced workflow for the entire clinical team.

"Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and accounts for more costs than any other chronic illness. At Philips, we believe every heart is unique and every patient deserves an individual approach to their health. To this end, we're providing clinicians with the tools they need to enable efficient and effective clinical decision making and deliver personalized care to each one of their patients," said Bert van Meurs, Business Leader of Image Guided Therapy for Philips. "As health systems continue to move toward value-based care, we're committed to transforming workflow for first time right diagnosis, increasing productivity and improving outcomes for cardiology patients at the point of care."

During this year's Congress, Philips and its customer partners will host a Satellite Symposium on Ultrasound featuring leading echo experts sharing their latest experience related to Anatomical Intelligence and Peri-interventional Imaging followed by an interactive panel discussion. Hands-on tutorials on topics including next-generation point-of-care testing enabling rapid clinical decision making, precision guided technologies in the interventional lab, and Anatomical Intelligence within ultrasound, will also be presented. Throughout the event, Philips will also host a daily series of short presentations on solutions and technologies enabling personalized heart care, taking place in the Forum section of the booth. For the full schedule of short talks, please click here.

Visitors to the Philips booth at the ESC Congress 2016 will also have access to the company's recently launched AlluraClarity Clinically Proven platform, introducing the scientific community to 18 comparative peer-reviewed studies with 3,840 patients. Clinical data demonstrates the ability of Philips' AlluraClarity to provide equivalent image quality for a full range of clinical procedures at low X-ray dose levels.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Philips will demonstrate its advanced solutions delivering diagnostic confidence and decision-making through every step of the cardiology patient journey, including:

HeartModel AI - premier Anatomical Intelligence Ultrasound (AIUS) application - part of a suite of tools and technologies available on Philips' EPIQ Ultrasound system that brings advanced automated quantification, 3D views, robust reproducibility and significant time-savings to echocardiography

IntelliSpace Cardiovascular - next generation image and information integrated software solution gives access to the full range of images and includes a cardiac history timeline to provide a comprehensive overview of the patients' care along the health continuum

IntelliSpace Portal 7.0 - advanced cardiology informatics data sharing, analytics and visualization platform to help clinicians diagnose patients and communicate across modalities, with one efficient, automated, and guided workflow

Minicare 1-20 Acute - on the spot handheld point-of-care blood testing that speeds up clinical cardiac assessment providing lab comparable Troponin results within minutes

Affinity 70 Ultrasound - offers a powerful combination of performance and workflow for quick, confident diagnosis

Also showcased in the Philips booth are advanced technologies driving navigation for appropriate treatment paths, including:

EchoNavigator - fuses live 3D TEE and X-ray in real time to provide image guidance in the 3D space, supporting physicians in complex structural heart procedures for the appropriate treatment path, enabling better patient and cost effective care

IVUS (intravascular ultrasound) - provides detailed and accurate measurements of the vessel and a wide range of clinical studies has been shown to help ensure accurate stent expansion

iFR Scout - pullback technology reveals the physiologic profile of the entire vessel and is optimized to assess serial lesions and diffuse coronary disease enabling physicians to make informed treatment decisions

Dynamic Coronary Roadmap - provides live 3D image guidance for navigating vascular structures by overlaying real-time 2D fluoroscopy images and a 3D reconstruction of the vessel tree acquired with the 3D-RA feature of your Allura X-ray system or from a previous CT/MR scan*

provides live 3D image guidance for navigating vascular structures by overlaying real-time 2D fluoroscopy images and a 3D reconstruction of the vessel tree acquired with the 3D-RA feature of your Allura X-ray system or from a previous CT/MR scan* StentBoost Live - a tool for stent visualization in the coronary arteries*

HeartNavigator - provides immersive user experience and automated tasks to simplify planning, measurement, device selection, and choice of X-ray viewing angle for TAVI, LAA, Mitral and other SHD procedures

3D Room Planner - a digital tool that enables modality specialists to closely work together in creating a lively experience and understanding of the future OR in a 3D simulation

Prevention and Healthy Living

According to the recent Future Health Index commissioned by Philips, of the more than 25,000 patients surveyed, one-third (35%) have a cardiology related medical issue, with high blood pressure being the most common condition, present in 23% of survey respondents. Furthermore, the majority (87%) of healthcare professionals in the cardiology space surveyed also indicated they consistently advise patients to keep track of their blood pressure regularly. The results of the Future Health Index reinforce the need to move from reactive to proactive and preventative care management, especially within cardiology. To that end, Philips will showcase its personal health programs at the ESC Congress 2016. Philips' personal health programs represent a new era in connected care by empowering consumers to improve their health through better habits.

For more information on Philips presence at the ESC Congress 2016, please visit http://www.philips.com/esc and follow the ESCcongress conversation @PhilipsLiveFrom throughout the event.

This material is not meant for distribution in the USA.

* Not yet CE marked

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. The company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2015 sales of EUR 16.8 billion and employs approximately 69,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found atwww.philips.com/newscenter.

For further information, please contact:



Kathy O'Reilly

Philips Group Press Office

Tel: +1-978-659-2638

Mobile: +1-978-221-8919

Email: Kathy.oreilly@philips.com

Twitter: @kathyoreilly


MUMBAI, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Hexaware Technologies Limited, a leading global provider of IT, business process and consulting services, announced that analyst firm NelsonHall has identified Hexaware as a High Achiever in their NEAT vendor evaluation for Software Testing under Overall, Digital Focus, Efficiency Focus, and Transformation Focus market segments.

Aligned with the organization's 'Shrink IT. Grow Digital' strategy, the Testing Services unit (Branded as Digital Assurance) has a two-pronged strategy for growth. The first strategy focusses on identifying opportunities for automation to significantly reduce the QA (Quality Assurance) spend for testing applications on the traditional platforms by delivering 'Quality with Speed'. The second strategy focusses on assuring quality for digital transformation programs across verticals, by leveraging its Continuous Test Platform (CTP) that integrates multi-channel innovative accelerators, pre-built domain-centric test suites, service virtualization driven test environments and plug and play solutions.

"Hexaware is expanding its digital testing capabilities and investing in underlying automation. It also has a differentiated strategy for software testing IPs and accelerators," said Dominique Raviart, IT Services Practice Director for NelsonHall. "In the testing tool space, Hexaware systematically uses open source software or its own proprietary tools to provide an alternative to testing COTS but at a lower price," he added.

"This recognition by NelsonHall is very important for us and comes at the right time in our journey as we see a very positive response from clients for our innovative platforms like iD2E (Integrated Design to Execution) automation, FAME (framework for automated mobile testing) for multi-channel testing, quantifying usability of apps using our UMI (usability measurement index) model, automated Big Data testing, service virtualization and our innovations in on-demand performance engineering using the cloud and security testing solutions," said Tony Mohanty, Global Head, Digital Assurance, Hexaware Technologies. He further added, "Being just the 'right size', we have no fear of cannibalization as we aggressively expand the test automation coverage across our clients and demonstrate how our solutions can help our prospective clients save significantly on the QA spend and move away from an FTE based model to an output based pricing model."

About NelsonHall

http://research.nelson-hall.com/about-nelsonhall/

About Hexaware Technologies

http://www.hexaware.com

Safe Harbor Statement

http://hexaware.com/investor-information.htm

For more information, contact:

Sreedatri Chatterjee

Hexaware Technologies Limited

E-mail: sreedatric@hexaware.com


PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The French private sector expanded at the sharpest pace in ten months in August, flash survey data from Markit showed Tuesday. The composite output index rose to 51.6 in August from 50.1 in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. 'France's private sector economy gathered some momentum in August, raising hopes of a pick-up in GDP growth after the stagnation seen in the second quarter,' Jack Kennedy, a senior economist at IHS Markit said. Service providers reported a second successive monthly rise in business activity. The Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to a 10-month high of 52 in August from 50.5 in July. The score was expected to remain unchanged at 50.5. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector continued to contract in August. The factory PMI came in at 48.5 versus 48.6 in July, and also below the expected score of 48.8. 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.
MOSCOW, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Top Results:

The FICO  Credit Health Index for Russia has held steady since summer 2015, following a seven-year decline

has held steady since summer 2015, following a seven-year decline 16 percent of Russian credit accounts are delinquent, more than twice as many as in January 2012

of Russian credit accounts are delinquent, more than twice as many as in The FICO Credit Health Index measures the percentage of delinquent consumer loans and credit cards reported to NBKI, Russia's largest credit bureau

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111010/CG83314LOGO

The bad rate of Russian consumer loans has held steady for a year, following a seven-year decline, according to July data from analytic software company FICO and National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBKI), Russia's leading credit bureau. The FICO Credit Health Index stood at 90, and has remained within a point or two since July 2015.

"While the steady performance is good, the bad rate we have seen for the last year is the highest since we began the index in 2007," said Evgeni Shtemanetyan, who directs FICO's operations in Russia. "This 'new normal' reflects the evolution of the Russian credit market, as lenders moved from secured credit to credit cards and other products that carry higher risk."

The FICO Credit Health Index measures Russia's overall credit health, based on the percentage of consumer loans and credit cards reported to NBKI that are delinquent by more than 60 days. The July 2016 index of 90 means that 16 percent of Russian credit accounts were delinquent, which is the same as July 2015 but more than twice the level of January 2012, when just 7 percent of accounts were delinquent.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160819/399785

Source: FICO and NBKI

Every one of the eight federal regions is below the index's benchmark score of 100, established in October 2008, but all have reached a plateau in the past year. Centralnyi, Dalnevostochnyi, Privoljskii, Severo-Zapadnyi, Uralskii and Yujnyi have all experienced a slight increase since last quarter. The average drop in index since January 2012 has been 24 points, with Sibirskii experiencing the largest drop of 33 points and Centralnyi experiencing the smallest drop of 21 points. The regions Centralnyi (index 94), Severo-Zapadnyi (index 95) and Privoljskii (index 92) are the only regions outperforming the overall index. For the current quarter July 2016, Severo-Kavkazskii and Sibirskii continue to have the lowest index value at 85.

"In our opinion, we have already passed the peak of overdue debts' growth," said Alexander Vikulin, CEO of NBKI. "Although the level of overdue loans in retail lending is still high, it's now possible to talk about stabilization of the situation with bad debts. However, the main risk remains the same - the decline in real incomes. If this trend continues, it will increase the likelihood of default for all retail credit products. Therefore, lenders need to continue to closely monitor market indicators such as the PTI (payment to income), as well as to put the 'signal' (online monitoring of the financial behavior of borrowers) on portfolios of all types of loans, including secured ones."

FICO and NBKI share this data with Russian lenders to improve their understanding of the credit market, and help them extend credit to consumers safely and profitably. More than half of the top Russian banks use FICO Scores delivered by NBKI.

About NBKI

National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBKI) is the largest credit bureau in the Russian Federation. It was created in 2005, and counts among its shareholders major commercial banks and international companies CRIF and TransUnion. Its main specialty is an integrated center that stores and processes comprehensive data for creditors' decision making. As of April 2016, NBKI consolidates data about 77 million borrowers and 184 million loans from 3800 Russian creditors. The bureau provides the Russian market with modern high-tech solutions for risk assessment and control.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 165 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Businesses in more than 100 countries use FICO solutions for a wide range of mission-critical applications, from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time. Learn more at https://www.fico.com.

For FICO news and media resources, visit www.fico.com/news.

FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/russians-hold-credit-delinquencies-at-16-percent-according-to-data-from-fico-and-nbki-300316133.html
HONG KONG, CHINA and BERLIN, GERMANY -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Seerene (https://www.seerene.com), an advanced analytics spin-off of the Hasso Plattner Institute, today announced it has been selected as a finalist for the coveted Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific. Seerene monitors various dollar effects of technical debt, digital transformation, and changes across software stacks, teams, and technologies.

Accenture launched the FinTech Innovation Lab in New York in 2010 in collaboration with the Partnership for New York City, and has since developed counter-cyclical programs in London (2012), Hong Kong (2014) and Ireland (2014). Global, top-tier financial institutions participate in the Labs. These organizations seek to engage with exciting startups who are spearheading new technologies to drive innovation in the banking and insurance industries.

Entrepreneurs developing potentially game-changing technologies for financial services -- particularly in the areas of big data and analytics, mobile and wireless, payments, risk management, security, compliance, and social media and collaboration technologies -- are selected to participate.

Seerene provides actionable insights for the IT executive in charge of digital transformation, in order to optimize the internal software assets and teams. The platform offers in-depth analytics for faster, better, and more efficient software development and maintenance, as well as key performance indicators for internal and external development capacities. These metrics make it easy to generate progress reports for the board or CEO. It enables IT management to assess and manage third party service provider performance, and even set clear KPIs for service provider contracts.

About Seerene

With offices in Hong Kong, Germany, and New York, Seerene provides IT Executives with advanced analytics on software, code and people, to drive change, decrease technical debt and allow them to be at the forefront of Digital Transformation.Seerene clients include SAP, IBM, Adidas, Mercedes-Benz, The Generali Group and other global Fortune 1000 companies. For more information and case studies, please visit www.seerene.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

Press Contact:

Jessica Hasson

PulpPR for Seerene

jessica@pulppr.com




Third Point Offshore Investors Limited (the "Company")

(a closed-ended investment company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 47161)

23 August 2016

HALF YEAR RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2016

~ Positive NAV performance despite a highly challenging market environment ~

Third Point Offshore Investors Limited ("TPOIL" or the "Company"), the closed-end, London listed event-driven, value-oriented hedge fund managed by Daniel S. Loeb's Third Point LLC (the "Investment Manager") announces its half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2016.

Financial Highlights (as at 30 June 2016, unless otherwise stated)

 Net Asset Value ("NAV") growth in USD class of 1.6% and GBP class of 1.4%

Ticker Tranche NAV HY16 NAV FY15 NAV Total Return TPOU USD Class $ $16.88 $16.62 1.6% TPOG GBP Class  16.17 15.95 1.4%

 The Company's NAV increased 1.0% to $844.5 million (FY15:$835.9 million)

 Noting the widening of the discount, the Board instructed the Investment Manager to recommence purchasing shares in the Company up to a total aggregate holding of 14.99% of each class of shares; the Master Partnership purchased 558,229 US Dollar shares during the period ended 30 June 2016

Portfolio Performance of the Master Fund

 Markets in the first half of 2016 experienced significant volatility due to multiple macroeconomic events, including uncertainty about Brexit, which resulted in choppy markets towards the end of the second quarter. The Investment Manager navigated this by carefully monitoring and adjusting exposures, posting positive returns for the period as strong performance in the Second Quarter outweighed moderate losses in the First Quarter

 Returns for the period have been led primarily by strength in the corporate and sovereign credit portfolios. Several core equity positions in the Healthcare and Industrials sectors were also accretive to performance

Outlook

 The Investment Manager reduced market exposure during the second half of 2015 and has maintained net equity exposure levels of 30 - 65% through the first half of 2016

 During the second half of the year, the Investment Manager expects periodic market dislocations due to varying macroeconomic events across geographies

 The Investment Manager will continue to monitor and shift exposures accordingly and will search for compelling risk-adjusted opportunities for investment across the capital structure

Marc Antoine Autheman, Chairman of Third Point Offshore Investors Limited, commented: "I am pleased to report a positive NAV performance from Third Point Offshore Investors for the first half of 2016, despite a highly volatile market environment. This was driven by the Investment Manager's thoughtful application of portfolio construction and nimble approach to shifting exposures.

"The Board and the Investment Manager have noted the widening of the discount to NAV in 2016 and recognise the need to support the Company. To this effect, the Board has instructed a series of share purchases by the Master Funds, this included the purchase of 558,229 US Dollar shares during the period.

"The Investment Manager has an expectation of macroeconomic events leading to periodic market dislocations across a number of geographies in the second half of the year, it will therefore continue to monitor and shift exposures accordingly, while looking to identify compelling risk-adjusted opportunities for investment across the capital structure."

Enquiries:

Third Point Offshore investors

Investor Relations

+1 212 715 6707 FTI Consulting

Ed Berry

Tom Blackwell

+44 (0)20 3727 1046

+44 (0)20 3727 1051

Notes to Editors

TPOIL is a feeder fund that invests in Third Point Offshore Fund Ltd. (the "Master Fund"), with the investment objective of achieving uncorrelated, long term, attractive risk-adjusted returns. The Company has two share classes which differ by denomination (LSE: TPOU, TPOG).

Chairman's Statement

I am pleased to present the Ninth Unaudited Semi-Annual Financials for Third Point Offshore Investors ("the Company").

The Company was established as a closed-end investment company, registered and incorporated in Guernsey on 19 July 2007. The Company invests its assets in Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P. (the "Master Partnership") via Third Point Offshore Fund, Ltd. (the "Master Fund"), which pursues an opportunistic investment approach based on event-driven fundamental value analysis.

During the first six months of 2016, the Company's net asset value appreciated by 1.6% and 1.4% for the U.S. Dollar and Sterling share classes, respectively. Performance was driven by Third Point LLC's (the "Investment Manager") ability to invest opportunistically across capital structures and hold both long and short investments. The Investment Manager has benefitted from a thoughtful application of portfolio construction in a volatile market and has maintained a nimble approach to shifting exposures. Returns for the year to date have been led primarily by strength in the corporate and sovereign credit portfolios. Several core equity positions in the Healthcare and Industrials sectors were also accretive to performance.

The Investment Manager reduced market exposure during the second half of 2015 and has maintained net equity exposure levels of 30 - 65% through the first half of 2016. The portfolio benefitted from emergence of more attractive opportunities in corporate credit and added exposure to the strategy. Conversely, the Investment Manager decreased exposure to structured credit in 2016, primarily due to concerns about reduced liquidity.

The Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board") and the Investment Manager have noted the widening of the discount to NAV in 2016. As a result, the Board instructed the Investment Manager to recommence purchasing shares in the Company up to a total aggregate holding of 14.99% of each class of shares in accordance with the discount control policy outlined in the Company's annual report. Details of the shares repurchased are outlined in Note 6. We believe in the importance of transparent communications with Shareholders and aim to be responsive to your inquiries. To this end, the Company's website (www.thirdpointpublic.com) publishes monthly NAVs, a monthly shareholder report, a narrative quarterly letter from the Investment Manager and other relevant information about the Company.

In corporate governance matters, the independent Board of Directors and Audit Committee have met regularly.

My fellow Directors and I are honoured to serve our Shareholders.

Marc Antoine Autheman

22 August 2016

Directors' Report

The Directors submit their Report together with the Company's Statements of Assets and Liabilities, Unaudited Statements of Operations, Statements of Changes in Net Assets, Unaudited Statements of Cash Flows and the related notes for the period ended 30 June 2016, "Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements". These Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements have been properly prepared, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, any relevant enactment for the time being in force, and are in agreement with the accounting records and have been properly prepared in all material aspects.

The Company

The Company was incorporated in Guernsey on 19 June 2007 as an authorised closed-ended investment scheme and was admitted to a secondary listing (Chapter 14) on the Official List of the London Stock Exchange on 23 July 2007. The proceeds from the initial issue of shares on listing amounted to approximately US$523 million. Following changes to the Listing Rules on 6 April 2010, the secondary listing became a standard listing. The Company is a member of the Association of Investment Companies ("AIC").

Investment Objective and Policy

The Company's investment objective is to provide its Shareholders with consistent long term capital appreciation utilising the investment skills of Third Point LLC (the "Investment Manager") through investment of all of its capital (net of short term working capital requirements) in Class E Shares of Third Point Offshore Fund, Ltd (the "Master Fund"), an exempted company formed under the laws of the Cayman Islands on 21 October 1996.

The Master Fund is a limited partner of Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P. (the "Master Partnership"), an exempted limited partnership organised under the laws of the Cayman Islands, of which Third Point Advisors II L.L.C., an affiliate of the Investment Manager, is the general partner. Third Point LLC is the Investment Manager to the Company, the Master Fund and the Master Partnership. The Master Fund and the Master Partnership have the same investment objectives, investment strategies and investment restrictions. The Master Fund and Master Partnership's investment objective is to seek to generate consistent long-term capital appreciation, by using an event driven, bottom-up, fundamental approach to evaluate various types of securities throughout companies' capital structures. The Investment Manager's implementation of the Master Fund and Master Partnership's investment policy is the main driver of the Company's performance.

The Investment Manager's fundamental approach to investing begins with analysing a company's financial performance, its management and competitive advantages, its position within its industry and the overall economy. This analysis is performed on historical and current data with the ultimate goal of producing a set of projected financial results for the company. Once the projections are established, the Investment Manager compares the current valuation of the company in question relative to its historical valuation range, the valuation range of its peers and the overall market in general to determine whether the markets are mis-pricing the company. The Investment Manager ultimately invests in situations where it believes mis-pricing exists because this fundamental analysis indicates that such a disconnection will correct itself over the long term.

The Investment Manager's bottom-up approach attempts to identify individual companies that would make attractive investment targets based on their growth and profitability characteristics. This approach differs from a top-down methodology which first evaluates macro-economic, sector, industry or geographic factors to select the best sectors or industries for investment.

The Investment Manager seeks to identify Event Driven situations in which it can take either a long or short investment position where it can identify a near or long-term catalyst that would unlock value.

Results and Dividends

The results for the period are set out in the Unaudited Statements of Operations. It is anticipated that the Board following discussions with the Investment Manager, will declare an annual cash dividend equivalent to 4-5% of the Net Asset Value ("NAV") of the Company to the extent that the positive NAV performance of the Company is sufficient to support such dividends and there are no extenuating circumstances preventing the Company from doing so. No dividends were paid during the period.

Share Capital

Share Capital Conversions took place during the period ended 30 June 2016. A summary and the number of shares in issue at the period-end are disclosed in Note 6 to the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

Directors

The Directors of the Company during the period and to the date of this report are as listed on these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

Directors' Interests

Mr Targoff holds the position of Chief Operating Officer, Partner and General Counsel of Third Point LLC. Pursuant to an instrument of indemnity entered into between the Company and each Director, the Company has undertaken, subject to certain limitations, to indemnify each Director out of the assets and profits of the Company against all costs, charges, losses, damages, expenses and liabilities arising out of any claims made against them in connection with the performance of their duties as a Director of the Company.

Christopher Legge and Keith Dorrian hold 3,000 and 2,500 U.S. Dollar shares respectively. No other Directors hold shares in the Company and held no shares during the period.

Corporate Governance Policy

The Board has considered the principles and recommendations of the Association of Investment Companies Code of Corporate Governance ("AIC Code") by reference to the Association of Investment Companies Corporate Governance Guide for Investment Companies ("AIC Guide"). The AIC Code, as explained by the AIC Guide, addresses all the principles set out in the UK Corporate Governance Code, as well as setting out additional principles and recommendations on issues that are of specific relevance.

The Board has determined that reporting against the principles and recommendations of the AIC Code, and by reference to the AIC Guide (which incorporates the UK Corporate Governance Code), will provide better information to Shareholders. The Company has complied with all the recommendations of the AIC Code and the relevant provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code, except as set out below.

The UK Corporate Governance Code includes provisions relating to:

 the role of the chief executive;

 executive directors' remuneration; and

 the need for an internal audit function.

For the reasons set out in the AIC Guide, the Board considers these provisions are not relevant to the position of the Company, being an externally advised investment company with no executive directors or employees. The Company has therefore not reported further in respect of these provisions.

The AIC Code provides a "comply or explain" code of corporate governance designed especially for the needs of investment companies. The AIC published the code of corporate governance during February 2015 and the Company has reviewed its compliance with these standards. The UK Financial Reporting Council ("FRC") has confirmed that so far as investment companies are concerned it considers that companies which comply with the AIC Code will be treated as meeting their obligations under the UK Corporate Governance Code ("The UK Code") and Section 9.8.6 of the Listing Rules.

The Company does not have employees, hence no whistle-blowing policy is necessary. However, the Directors have satisfied themselves that the Company's service providers have appropriate whistleblowing policies and procedures and confirmation has been sought from the service providers that nothing has arisen under those policies and procedures which should be brought to the attention of the Board. The UK Code is publicly available at: hhtps//www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Publications/Corporate-Governance/UK-Corporate-Governance-Code-April-2016.pdf. The Code of Corporate Governance (the "Guernsey Code") provides a framework that applies to all entities licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission ("GFSC") or which are registered or authorised as a collective investment scheme. Companies reporting against the UK Code or the AIC Code are deemed to comply with the Guernsey Code. It is the Company's policy to comply with the AIC Code.

Board Structure

The Board currently consists of five non-executive Directors. As the Chairman of the Board is an independent non-executive, the Board considers it unnecessary to appoint a senior independent Director.

Name Position Independent Date Appointed

Name Position Independent Date Appointed Marc Antoine Autheman Non-Executive Chairman Yes 21 June 2007 Christopher Legge Non-Executive Director Yes 19 June 2007 Keith Dorrian Non-Executive Director Yes 19 June 2007 Christopher Fish Non-Executive Director Yes 19 June 2007 Joshua L Targoff Non-Executive Director No 29 May 2009

One third of the Directors retire by rotation at every AGM with the exception of Mr. J Targoff, who as the Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and Partner of the Investment Manager, is not considered independent and will therefore be subject to annual re-election by Shareholders. All other Directors are considered by the Board to be independent of the Company's Investment Manager. Any Directors appointed to the Board since the previous AGM also retire and stand for re-election. The Independent Directors take the lead in any discussions relating to the appointment or re-appointment of directors. The Independent Directors consider it important that the Board includes a representative of the Investment Manager.

The Board meets at least four times a year and in addition there is regular contact between the Board, the Investment Manager and Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited (the "Administrator"), and the Board requires to be supplied in a timely manner with information by the Investment Manager, the Administrator, Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited (the "Company Secretary") and other advisors in a form and of a quality appropriate to enable it to discharge its duties. The Board, excluding Mr Targoff, regularly reviews the performance of the Investment Manager and the Master Fund to ensure that performance is satisfactory and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the relative appointments and Prospectus.

It carries this review out through consideration of a number of objective and subjective criteria and through a review of the terms and conditions of the advisors' appointment with the aim of evaluating performance, identifying any weaknesses and ensuring value for money for the Company's Shareholders.

New Directors will receive an induction from the Investment Manager on joining the Board, and all Directors undertake relevant training as necessary.

The Company has no executive directors or employees. All matters, including strategy, investment and dividend policies, gearing and corporate governance procedures are reserved for approval by the Board of Directors. The Board receives full information on the Company's investment performance, assets, liabilities and other relevant information in advance of Board meetings.

Board Tenure and Succession planning

The Board notes the AIC Code and UK Code suggest it would be good practice for all Directors to be offered for re-election at regular intervals subject to continued satisfactory performance. In accordance with the Company's articles of incorporation, at least one third of the Independent Directors and Mr Targoff (treated for the purposes of the AIC Code as a Non-Independent Director) will retire at each Annual General Meeting (Principle 3 - AIC Code). The Company considers that putting forward all Independent Directors for re-election more frequently would not be in the best interests of Shareholders.

The Board believes that benefits to Shareholders arise from the Directors' long-term knowledge and experience of the Company and it's management including their ongoing ability to independently review the performance of the Investment Manager. The majority of the Board have been in office since the company was incorporated in 2007 and have served longer than nine years. The Board however, takes the view that independence is not necessarily compromised by the length of tenure on the Board and experience can add significantly to the Board's strength.

The Directors undertake an annual evaluation of the Board's performance and continuing independence and during this evaluation (which includes a review of the diversity of experience within the Board to ensure that it remains appropriate) all Directors are asked to confirm their future intentions. At the recent review Mr Fish indicated his intention to retire from the Board at the 2017 AGM. The Company's nominations committee has robust procedures for the identification of prospective Non Executive Director candidates and over the coming months will seek to identify appropriate candidates for consideration. As part of the selection process, due regard will be paid to the recommendations for Board diversity. However, ability and experience will be the prime considerations.

Directors' Biographies

Marc Antoine Autheman

Marc Antoine Autheman, is a resident of France. He has over 38 years of experience in the public and private finance sectors. Mr. Autheman is currently Chairman of Euroclear S.A. and Chairman of Cube Infrastructure Fund. He worked in the French Treasury for ten years from 1978 to 1988, prior to joining the Minister of Finance's private office, Minister Beregovoy, as advisor for monetary and financial affairs between 1988 and 1993. From 1993 to 1997, he worked as Executive Director for France for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and chaired the audit committee of the World Bank during this time. From 1997 to 2004, he worked in a number of roles at Credit Agricole S.A. ('CASA'), mainly as CEO of Credit Agricole Indosuez. He holds Master's degrees in Law and Economics from the University of Paris.

Keith Dorrian

Keith Dorrian, is a Guernsey resident and has over 43 years' experience in the offshore finance industry. Joining Manufacturers Hanover in 1973 he moved to First National Bank of Chicago in 1984 where he was appointed Vice President and Company Secretary. In 1989 he joined ANZ Bank (Guernsey) where, as a Director of the Bank and Fund Management company, he was closely involved in the banking and fund management services of the Group. He took up the position of Manager Corporate Clients in Bank of Bermuda Guernsey in 2000 and was appointed local Head of Global Fund Services and Managing Director of the Guernsey Bank's Fund Administration company Management International (Guernsey) Limited in Guernsey in 2001, retiring on 31 December 2003. He is currently a member of the Guernsey Investment Fund Association, the Institute of Financial Services, the Institute of Directors and is a Director of a number of funds and fund management companies and holds the Institute of Directors Diploma in Company Direction. Mr Dorrian was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Christopher Fish

Christopher Fish, is Guernsey resident and is a director of a UK listed fund as well as three Guernsey based financial companies. During the past 42 years he has held executive positions as a director of the Royal Bank of Canada (Channel Islands) Limited and as the Americas Offshore Head of Coutts where he was responsible for the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman and Uruguay offices. In 1997 he was appointed the Senior Client Partner for Coutts Offshore before taking up the position of Managing Director of Close International Private Banking in 1999 from where he retired in 2005.

Christopher Legge

Christopher Legge, is a Guernsey resident and worked for Ernst & Young in Guernsey from 1983 to 2003. Having joined the firm as an audit manager in 1983, he was appointed a partner in 1986 and managing partner in 1998. From 1990 to 1998, he was head of Audit and Accountancy and was responsible for the audits of a number of insurance, banking, investment fund and financial services clients. He also had responsibility for the firm's training, quality control and compliance functions. He was appointed managing partner of Ernst & Young for the Channel Islands region in 2000. Since his retirement from Ernst & Young in 2003, Mr. Legge has held a number of non-executive directorships in the financial sector. He is an FCA and holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Manchester.

Joshua L. Targoff

Joshua L. Targoff has been the Chief Operating Officer of the Investment Manager since May 2009. He joined as General Counsel in May 2008. Previously, Mr. Targoff was the General Counsel of the Investment Banking Division of Jefferies & Co. Mr. Targoff spent seven years doing M & A transactional work at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Mr. Targoff graduated with a J.D. from Yale Law School, and holds a B.A. from Brown University. In 2012, Mr Targoff was made a Partner of the Investment Manager.

Meeting Attendance Records

The table below lists Directors' attendance at meetings during the period, to the date of this report.

Scheduled Board Audit Committee Meetings Meetings Attended Attended Marc Antoine Autheman 2 of 2 1 of 1 Christopher Legge 2 of 2 1 of 1 Keith Dorrian 2 of 2 1 of 1 Christopher Fish 2 of 2 1 of 1 Joshua L Targoff1,2 2 of 2 N/A

1Mr. Targoff is not a member of the Audit Committee.

2Mr. Targoff does not attend Meetings as a director where recommendations from the Investment Manager are under consideration.

Committees of the Board

The AIC Code requires the Company to appoint nomination, remuneration and management engagement committees. The Board has not deemed this necessary as, being comprised wholly of nonexecutive Directors, the whole Board considers these matters.

Following the "Women on Boards" review conducted by Lord Davies' of Abersoch in February 2011, the Board has examined Lord Davies' recommendations and noted that it was consistently reviewing its policy and future appointments to the Board would continue to be based on the individual's skills and experience regardless of gender. The Investment Manager has wide experience in managing and administering fund vehicles and has access to extensive investment management resources. The Board considers that the continued appointment of the Investment Manager on the terms agreed would be in the interests of the Company's Shareholders as a whole.

Audit Committee

The Company's Audit Committee conducts formal meetings at least three times a year for the purpose, amongst others, of considering the appointment, independence, effectiveness of the audit and remuneration of the auditors and to review and recommend the annual statutory accounts and interim report to the Board of Directors.

Directors' Duties and Responsibilities

The Directors have adopted a set of Reserved Powers, which establish the key purpose of the Board and detail its major duties. These duties cover the following areas of responsibility:

 Statutory obligations and public disclosure;

 Strategic matters and financial reporting;

 Board composition and accountability to Shareholders;

 Risk assessment and management, including reporting, compliance, monitoring, governance and control; and

 Other matters having material effects on the Company.

These Reserved Powers of the Board have been adopted by the Directors to clearly demonstrate the seriousness with which the Board takes its fiduciary responsibilities and as an ongoing means of measuring and monitoring the effectiveness of its actions.

The Directors are responsible for the overall management and direction of the affairs of the Company. The Company has no Executive Directors or employees. The Company invests all of its assets in shares of the Master Fund and Third Point LLC acts as Investment Manager to the Master Fund and is responsible for the discretionary investment management of the Master Fund's investment portfolio under the terms of the Master Fund Prospectus.

Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited ("NT") acts as Administrator and Company Secretary and is responsible to the Board under the terms of the Administration Agreement. The Administrator is also responsible to the Board for ensuring compliance with the Rules and Regulations of Guernsey Law, London Stock Exchange listing requirements and observation of the Reserved Powers of the Board and in this respect the Board receives detailed quarterly reports.

The Directors have access to the advice and services of the Company Secretary who is responsible to the Board for ensuring that Board procedures are followed and that it complies with applicable rules and regulations of Guernsey Law, the GFSC and the London Stock Exchange. Individual Directors may, at the expense of the Company, seek independent professional advice on any matter that concerns them in the furtherance of their duties. The Company maintains appropriate Directors' and Officers' liability insurance in respect of legal action against its Directors on an ongoing basis and the Company has maintained appropriate Directors' Liability Insurance cover throughout the period.

The Board is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Internal Control and Financial Reporting

The Directors acknowledge that they are responsible for establishing and maintaining the Company's system of internal control and reviewing its effectiveness. Internal control systems are designed to manage rather than eliminate the failure to achieve business objectives and can only provide reasonable but not absolute assurance against material misstatements or loss.

The Directors review all controls including operations, compliance and risk management. The key procedures which have been established to provide internal control are:

 Investment advisory services are provided by the Investment Manager. The Board is responsible for setting the overall investment policy, ensuring compliance with the Company's Investment Strategy and monitors the action of the Investment Manager and Master Fund at regular Board meetings. The Board has also delegated administration and company secretarial services to NT; however it retains accountability for all functions it has delegated.

 The Board considers the process for identifying, evaluating and managing any significant risks faced by the Company on an on-going basis. It ensures that effective controls are in place to mitigate these risks and that a satisfactory compliance regime exists to ensure all local and international laws and regulations are upheld. In light of recent market volatility and economic turmoil, particular attention has been given to the effectiveness of controls to monitor liquidity risk, asset values, counterparty exposure and credit availability.

 The Board clearly defines the duties and responsibilities of their agents and advisors and appointments are made by the Board after due and careful consideration. The Board monitors the ongoing performance of such agents and advisors.

 The Investment Manager and NT maintain their own systems of internal control, on which they report to the Board. The Company, in common with other investment companies, does not have an internal audit function. The Audit Committee has considered the need for an internal audit function, but because of the internal control systems in place at the Investment Manager and NT, has decided it appropriate to place reliance on their systems and internal control procedures.

 The systems are designed to ensure effectiveness and efficient operation, internal control and compliance with laws and regulations. In establishing the systems of internal control, regard is paid to the materiality of relevant risks, the likelihood of costs being incurred and costs of control. It follows therefore that the systems of internal control can only provide reasonable but not absolute assurance against the risk of material misstatement or loss.

Board Performance

The Board and Audit Committee undertake a formal annual evaluation of their own performance and that of their committees and individual Directors. In order to review their effectiveness, the Board and Audit Committee carry out a process of formal self-appraisal.

The Directors and Committee consider how the Board and Audit Committee functions as a whole and also review the individual performance of its members. This process is conducted by the respective Chairman reviewing individually with each of the Directors and members of the Committee their performance, contribution and commitment to the Company. The performance of the Chairman is evaluated by the other independent Directors.

Management of Principal Risks and Uncertainties

As noted in the Statement of Directors' Responsibilities in respect of the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements, the Directors are required to provide a description of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the Company. The Directors have considered the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and have prepared and review regularly a risk matrix which documents the significant risks faced by the Company. This document considers the following information:

 Identifying and reporting changes in the risk environment;

 Identifying and reporting changes in the operational controls;

 Identifying and reporting on the effectiveness of controls and remediation of errors arising; and

 Reviewing the risks faced by the Company and the controls in place to address those risks.

The Directors have acknowledged they are responsible for establishing and maintaining the Company's system of internal control and reviewing its effectiveness by focussing on four key areas:

 Consideration of the investment advisory services provided by the Investment Manager;

 Consideration of the process for identifying, evaluating and managing any significant risks faced by the Company on an ongoing basis;

 Clarity around the duties and responsibilities of the agents and advisors engaged by the Directors; and

 Reliance on the Investment Manager and Administrator maintaining their own systems of internal controls.

Further discussion on Internal Control is documented in the Directors' Report under "Internal Control and Financial Reporting".

The main risks and uncertainties that the Directors consider to apply to the Company are as follows:

 Underlying investment performance of the Master Fund. To mitigate this risk the Directors receive regular updates from the Investment Manager on the performance of the Master Fund. The Board reviews quarterly performance updates on the Master Fund and has access to the Investment Manager on any potential question raised;

 Concentration of Investor Base. The Directors receive quarterly investor reports from Jefferies International Limited ("Corporate Broker") and there is regular communication between the Directors and Broker to identify potential significant changes in the shareholder base;

 Discount/Premium to the NAV. The Investment Manager, Corporate Broker and, when considered necessary, the Board of Directors, maintain regular contact with the significant Shareholders in the Company. As part of the ongoing process to seek to narrow the discount to NAV per Share at which the Shares are traded, the Directors introduced an annual dividend policy and a share repurchase programme which is outlined in Note 6. Under the dividend policy it was anticipated that the Company would pay a cash dividend of 4-5% of NAV to the extent that the positive NAV performance of the Company would support such a dividend and absent other, exigent circumstances relating to the Investment Manager and/or otherwise. There was no dividend declared during the period ended 30 June 2016. The Board monitors the discount/premium to the NAV on a regular basis and continually maintains regular contact with significant Shareholders and the Investment Manager when necessary.

 Performance of the Investment Manager. The Directors review the performance of the Investment Manager on an annual basis and Board representatives conduct an annual visit to the Investment Manager;

 Failure of appointed service providers to the Company. The Directors conduct a formal review of each service provider annually in addition to receiving regular updates from each service provider and ensuring that there is ongoing communication between the Board and the various service providers to the Company;

 Financial Risk. The Board employs independent administrators to prepare the Financial Statements of the Company and meets with the independent auditors at least twice a year to discuss all financial matters including the appropriateness of the accounting policies.

 Liquidity Risk. Shares of the Master Fund may be redeemed quarterly on 60 days' prior written notice or at other times with the consent of the Master Fund's Board of Directors in order to pay Company expenses. The majority of the investments held by the Master Fund are held in cash and securities with quoted prices available in active markets/exchanges.

Going Concern

During the first six months of 2016, the Directors have carried out a robust assessment of the principal risks facing the Company, including those that would threaten its business model, future performance, solvency or liquidity. The Directors believe that the Company is well placed to manage its business risks successfully, having taken into account the current economic outlook.

The Directors having considered the above risks and reviewed ongoing budgeted expenses have a reasonable expectation that the Company will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due. After making enquiries and given the nature of the Company and its investment, the Directors are satisfied that it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements. The Master Fund Shares are liquid and can be converted to cash to meet liabilities as they fall due. After due consideration, the Directors consider that the Company is able to continue for the foreseeable future.

Significant Events During The Period

There were no significant events during the period.

Relations with Shareholders

The Board welcomes Shareholders' views and places great importance on communication with its Shareholders. The Board receives regular reports on the views of Shareholders and the Chairman and other Directors are available to meet Shareholders if required. Shareholders who wish to communicate with the Board should, in the first instance, contact the Administrator whose contact details can be found on the Company's website. The Annual General Meeting of the Company provides a forum for Shareholders to meet and discuss issues with the Directors of the Company. The ninth Annual General Meeting was held on 22 June 2016 with all proposed resolutions being passed by the Shareholders.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA") legislation is aimed at determining the ownership of US assets in foreign accounts and improving US tax compliance with respect to those assets. On 13 December 2013, The States of Guernsey signed an intergovernmental agreement ("IGA") with US Treasury in order to facilitate the requirements under FATCA. The US - Guernsey IGA came into effect on 30 June 2014. The Board is monitoring implementation with the assistance of its legal advisers and accountants.

UK - Guernsey Intergovernmental Agreement

On 22 October 2013, The States of Guernsey signed an intergovernmental agreement with the UK ("UK-Guernsey IGA") under which potentially mandatory disclosure requirements may be required in respect of Shareholders who have a UK connection. The UK - Guernsey IGA came into effect on 30 June 2014. The Board is monitoring implementation of the UK-Guernsey IGA with the assistance of its legal advisers and accountants.

Significant Shareholdings

As at 12 August 2016, the following had significant shareholdings in excess of 5% in the Company:

Total Shares Held % Holdings in Class Significant Shareholders US Dollar Shares Goldman Sachs Securities (Nominees) Limited 10,605,304 22.17% Vidacos Nominees Limited 9,343,284 19.53% HSBC Global Custody Nominee (UK) 5,119,149 10.70% Nortrust Nominees Limited 3,387,466 7.08% The Bank of New York Nominees Limited 2,561,039 5.35% Sterling Shares Vidacos Nominees Limited 166,699 9.57% HSBC Global Custody Nominee (UK) 150,050 8.62% James Capel Nominees Limited 149,201 8.57% Alliance Trust Savings Nominees 125,698 7.22% Hargreaves Lansdown (Nominees) 114,458 6.57% Platform Securities Nominees 101,098 5.80% Lawshare Nominees Limited 100,684 5.78% The Bank of New York Nominees Limited 91,351 5.25%

The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge:-

 these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and have been properly prepared in all material aspects;

 these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements include information detailed in the Directors' Report, the Investment Manager's Review and Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements, which provide a fair review of the information required by:-

a) DTR 4.2.7 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules ("DTR"), being an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year 2016 and their impact on these Unaudited Condensed Interim Report and Financial Statements, and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year; and

b) DTR 4.2.8 of the DTR, being related party transactions that have taken place in the first six months of the current financial year 2016 and that have materially affected the financial position or the performance of the Company during the six month period ended 30 June 2016 and any changes in the related party transactions described in the last Annual Audited Financial Statements that could have a material effect on the financial position or performance of the Company in the first six months of the financial year 2016.

Signed on behalf of the Board by:

Marc Antoine Autheman

Chairman

Christopher Legge

Director

22 August 2016

Disclosure of Directorships in Public Listed Companies

The following summarises the Directors' directorships in public companies:

Company Name Exchange Christopher Legge Ashmore Global Opportunities Limited London John Laing Environmental Assets Group Limited London Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) B Limited London TwentyFour Select Monthly Income Fund Limited London Keith Dorrian AB Alternative Strategies PCC Limited Channel Islands AB International Fund PCC Limited Channel Islands DW Catalyst Fund Limited London Eurocastle Investments Limited Euronext IIAB PCC Limited Channel Islands MasterCapital Fund Limited Ireland Christopher Fish Boussard & Gavaudan Holding Limited Euronext and London

Statement of Directors' Responsibilities in Respect of the Financial Statements

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements in accordance with applicable Guernsey Law and generally accepted accounting principles. Guernsey Company Law requires the Directors to prepare Financial Statements for each financial period which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the net income or expense of the Company for that period.

In preparing these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements the Directors should:

 select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

 make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

 state whether the applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements; and

 prepare the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and to enable them to ensure that the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements comply with The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008.

They are also responsible for the system of internal controls, safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Directors have responsibility to confirm that:

 these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and have been properly prepared in all material aspects;

 these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements include information detailed in the Directors' Report, the Investment Manager's Review and Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements, which provide a fair review of the information required by:

a) DTR 4.2.7 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules ("DTR"), being an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year 2016 and their impact on these Unaudited Condensed Interim Report and Financial Statements, and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year; and

b) DTR 4.2.8 of the DTR, being related party transactions that have taken place in the first six months of the current financial year 2016 and that have materially affected the financial position or the performance of the Company during the six month period ended 30 June 2016 and any changes in the related party transactions described in the last Annual Audited Financial Statements that could have a material effect on the financial position or performance of the Company in the first six months of the financial year 2016.

Signed on behalf of the Board by:

Marc Antoine Autheman

Chairman

Christopher Legge

Director

22 August 2016

Investment Manager's Review

Performance Summary

USD Class 30-Jun-16 31-Dec-15 % Return Share Price 13.64 14.70 (7.2%) Net asset value per share 16.88 16.62 1.6% Premium/(discount) (19.2%) (11.6%) GBP Class 30-Jun-16 31-Dec-15 % Return Share Price 12.95 15.05 (14.0%) Net asset value per share 16.17 15.95 1.4% Premium/(discount) (19.9%) (5.6%)

Strategy Performance

For the six months ended 30 June 2016, the net asset value per share increased by 1.6% and 1.4% in the U.S. Dollar and Sterling share classes, respectively.

Markets in the first half of 2016 experienced significant volatility due to multiple macroeconomic events. A challenging start to the year was reversed mid-February as a turnaround in the U.S. Dollar and oil boosted existing and new equity and credit investments in commodities, cyclicals, industrials, and emerging markets. Uncertainty about Brexit resulted in choppy markets towards the end of the Second Quarter. The Investment Manager navigated this by carefully monitoring and adjusting exposures, consistent with risk tolerances and guidelines, posting positive returns for the period as strong performance in the Second Quarter outweighed moderate losses in the First Quarter.

Profits in the Investment Manager's corporate and sovereign credit portfolios were partially offset by negative returns in equities and structured credit. Within equities, outperformance by several U.S.-based core positions was countered by detraction from one large Healthcare position. The structured credit market saw a period of challenged liquidity in the First Quarter which was moderately reversed in later months. The Investment Manager was able to capitalise on a significant shift in the Energy space during the period and expressed a constructive view primarily through corporate credit investments. Finally, the Company continued to benefit from a large successful investment in the sovereign debt of an issuer based in Latin America.

Risk Outlook

During the second half of the year, the Investment Manager expects periodic market dislocations due to varying macroeconomic events across geographies. The Investment Manager will continue to monitor and shift exposures accordingly and will search for compelling risk-adjusted opportunities for investment across the capital structure.

At 30 June 2016, exposure in the Investment Manager's portfolio across four funds and three managed accounts was as follows:

Long Short Net Equities 70.4% (27.5%) 42.9% Credit 41.9% (7.2%) 34.7% Macro & Other 12.9% (2.3%) 10.6%

Net equity exposure is defined as the long exposure minus the short exposure of all equity positions (including long/short, arbitrage, and other strategies), and can serve as a rough measure of the exposure to fluctuations in overall market levels. The Investment Manager continues to closely monitor the liquidity of the portfolio, and is comfortable that the current composition is aligned with the redemption terms of the fund.

Independent Review Report

Introduction

We have been engaged by the Company to review the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements in the Unaudited Condensed Interim Report for the six months ended 30 June 2016 which comprise the Statements of Assets and Liabilities, Unaudited Statements of Operations, Statements of Changes in Net Assets, Unaudited Statements of Cash Flows and the related notes 1 to 13. We have read the other information contained in the Unaudited Condensed Interim Report and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the information in the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

This report is made solely to the Company in accordance with guidance contained in International Standard on Review Engagements (UK and Ireland) 2410 ("ISRE 2410") "Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity" issued by the Auditing Practices Board. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company, for our work, for this report, or for the conclusions we have formed.

Directors' Responsibilities

The Unaudited Condensed Interim Report is the responsibility of, and has been approved by, the Directors. The Directors are responsible for preparing the Unaudited Condensed Interim Report in accordance with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority. As disclosed in note 3, the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements of the Company are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Our Responsibility

Our responsibility is to express to the Company a conclusion on the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements in the Unaudited Condensed Interim Report based on our review.

Scope of Review

We conducted our review in accordance with ISRE 2410, "Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity" issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. A review of interim financial information consists of making enquiries, 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 (UK and Ireland) 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.

Conclusion

Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements in the Unaudited Condensed Interim Report for the six months ended 30 June 2016 are not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority.

Ernst & Young LLP

Guernsey, Channel Islands

22 August 2016

1. The maintenance and integrity of the Third Point Offshore Investors Limited web site is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by the auditor does not involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, the auditor accepts no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially presented on the web site.

2. Legislation in Guernsey governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Statements of Assets and Liabilities

Unaudited Audited As at As at 30 June 2016 31 December 2015 (Stated in United States Dollars) US$ US$ Assets Investment in Third Point Offshore Fund Ltd at fair value (Cost:

US$451,664,655; 31 December 2015: US$451,964,939) 844,489,579 835,871,318 Cash 74,112 99,015 Redemption receivable 219,000 174,000 Other assets 33,853 30,260 Total assets 844,816,544 836,174,593

Liabilities Accrued expenses and other liabilities 202,205 156,305 Directors' fees payable (Note 5) 58,819 66,649 Administration fee payable (Note 4) 43,149 40,894 Total liabilities 304,173 263,848

Net assets 844,512,371 835,910,745 Number of Ordinary Shares in issue (Note 6) US Dollar Shares 47,831,627 47,655,833 Sterling Shares 1,741,451 1,868,055

Net asset value per Ordinary Share (Notes 8 and 11) US Dollar Shares $16.88 $16.62 Sterling Shares 16.17 15.95

Number of Ordinary B Shares in issue (Note 6) US Dollar Shares 31,887,772 31,770,577 Sterling Shares 1,160,980 1,245,382

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 22 August 2016 and signed on its behalf by:

Marc Antoine Autheman

Chairman

Christopher Legge

Director

See accompanying notes and attached Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements of Third Point Offshore Fund Ltd. and Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P.

Unaudited Statements of Operations

For the period ended For the period ended 30 June 2016 30 June 2015 (Stated in United States Dollars) US$ US$ Realised and unrealised gain from investment transactions allocated from Master Fund Net realised gain from securities, derivative contracts and foreign currency translations 19,693,645 46,264,312 Net change in unrealised (loss)/gain on securities, derivative

contracts and foreign currency translations (10,687,482) 16,363,696 Net gain/(loss) from currencies allocated from Master Fund 258,871 (1,199,330) Total net realised and unrealised gain from investment

transactions allocated from Master Fund 9,265,034 61,428,678 Net investment loss allocated from Master Fund Interest income 10,423,583 4,640,405 Dividends, net of withholding taxes of US$970,471

(30 June 2015: US$861,894) 2,818,524 2,222,347 Other income 19,295 33,013 Stock borrow fees (291,786) (70,088) Incentive allocation (Note 2) (1,494,578) (11,234,209) Investment Management fee (8,188,108) (8,841,735) Dividends on securities sold, not yet purchased (367,296) (179,598) Interest expense (1,605,424) (1,114,110) Other expenses (1,340,783) (1,286,090) Total net investment loss allocated from Master Fund (26,573) (15,830,065) Company expenses Administration fee (Note 4) (80,019) (88,261) Directors' fees (Note 5) (119,735) (132,829) Other fees (395,791) (425,798) Expenses paid on behalf of Third Point Offshore Independent

Voting Company Limited (41,290) (57,973) Total Company expenses (636,835) (704,861) Net loss (663,408) (16,534,926) Net increase in net assets resulting from operations 8,601,626 44,893,752

See accompanying notes and attached Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements of Third Point Offshore Fund Ltd. and Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P.

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

Unaudited Audited For the period ended For the year ended 30 June 2016 31 December 2015 (Stated in United States Dollars) US$ US$ (Decrease)/increase in net assets resulting from operations Net realised gain from securities, commodities, derivative contracts and foreign currency translations allocated from Master Fund 19,693,645 17,074,389 Net change in unrealised loss on securities, derivative contracts and foreign currency translations allocated from Master Fund (10,687,482) (34,520,795) Net gain/(loss) from currencies allocated from Master Fund 258,871 (839,993) Total net investment loss allocated from Master Fund (26,573) (5,195,199) Total Company expenses (636,835) (1,320,596) Net increase/(decrease) in net assets resulting from operations 8,601,626 (24,802,194) Net assets at the beginning of the period 835,910,745 860,712,939 Net assets at the end of the period 844,512,371 835,910,745

See accompanying notes and attached Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements of Third Point Offshore Fund Ltd. and Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P.

Unaudited Statements of Cash Flows

For the period ended For the period ended 30 June 2016 30 June 2015 (Stated in United States Dollars) US$ US$ Cash flows from operating activities Operating expenses (398,484) (574,124) Directors' fees (127,565) (130,687) Administration fee (77,764) (84,390) Third Point Offshore Independent Voting Company Limited (41,290) (57,973) Redemption from Master Fund 620,200 46,160,500 Cash(outflow)/inflow from operating activities (24,903) 45,313,326 Cash flows from financing activities Dividend distribution - (45,347,221) Net decrease in cash (24,903) (33,895) Cash at the beginning of the period 99,015 91,476 Cash at the end of the period 74,112 57,581

Third Point Offshore Independent Voting Company Limited consists of Director Fees, Audit Fee and General Expenses.

See accompanying notes and attached Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements of Third Point Offshore Fund Ltd. and Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P.

Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements

For the period ended 30 June 2016

1. The Company

Third Point Offshore Investors Limited (the "Company") is an Authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey on 19 June 2007 for an unlimited period, with registration number 47161.

The Master Partnership is an investment company and applies specialised accounting guidance as outlined in Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2013-08, Financial Services - Investment Companies (Topic 946), Amendments to the Scope, Measurement, and Disclosure Requirements. The Investment Manager evaluated this guidance and determined that the Partnership meets the criteria to be classified as an investment company.

2. Organisation

Investment Objective and Policy

The Company's investment objective is to provide its Shareholders with consistent long term capital appreciation, utilising the investment skills of the Investment Manager, through investment of all of its capital (net of short-term working capital requirements) in Class E shares of Third Point Offshore Fund, Ltd. (the "Master Fund"), an exempted company formed under the laws of the Cayman Islands on 21 October 1996. The Master Fund's investment objective is to seek to generate consistent long-term capital appreciation, by using an Event Driven, bottom-up, fundamental approach to evaluate various types of securities throughout companies' capital structures. The Master Fund is managed by the Investment Manager and the Investment Manager's implementation of the Master Fund's investment policy is the main driver of the Company's performance.

The Master Fund is a limited partner of Third Point Offshore Master Fund L.P. (the "Master Partnership"), an exempted limited partnership organised under the laws of the Cayman Islands, of which Third Point Advisors II L.L.C., an affiliate of the Investment Manager, is the general partner. Third Point LLC is the Investment Manager to the Company, the Master Fund and the Master Partnership. The Master Fund and the Master Partnership share the same investment objective, strategies and restrictions as described above.

The Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements of the Master Fund and the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements of the Master Partnership, should be read alongside the Company's Unaudited Interim Report and Financial Statements.

Investment Manager

The Investment Manager is a Limited Liability Company formed on 28 October 1996 under the laws of the State of Delaware. The Investment Manager was appointed on 27 June 2007 and is responsible for the management and investment of the Company's assets on a discretionary basis in pursuit of the Company's investment objective, subject to the control of the Company's Board and certain borrowing and leveraging restrictions.

The Company does not pay the Investment Manager for its services as the Investment Manager is paid a management fee of 2 per cent per annum of the Company's share of the Master Fund's net asset value (the "NAV") and a general partner incentive allocation of 20 per cent of the Master Fund's NAV growth ("Full Incentive Fee") invested in the Master Partnership, subject to certain conditions and related adjustments, by the Master Fund. If a particular series invested in the Master Fund depreciates during any fiscal year and during subsequent years there is a profit attributable to such series, the series must recover an amount equal to 2.5 times the amount of depreciation in the prior years before the Investment Manager is entitled to the Full Incentive Fee. Until this occurs, the series will be subject to a reduced incentive fee equal to half of the Full Incentive Fee. The Company was allocated US$1,494,578 (30 June 2015: US$11,234,209) of incentive fees for the period ended 30 June 2016.

3. Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements do not include all the information and disclosures opined in the Annual Financial Statements and should be read in conjunction with the Company's Annual Financial Statements as at 31 December 2015.

These Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with relevant accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("US GAAP"). The functional and presentational currency of the Company is United States Dollars.

The following are the significant accounting policies adopted by the Company:

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities comprises cash at bank and on hand. Usually this is short term cash that settles between 0-3 months.

Valuation of Investments

The Company records its investment in the Master Fund at fair value. Fair values are generally determined utilising the net assset value ("NAV") provided by, or on behalf of, the underlying Investment Managers of each investment fund. In accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 820 "Fair Value Measurement", fair value is defined as the price the Company would receive upon selling a security in a timely transaction to an independent buyer in the principal or most advantageous market of the security. For further information refer to the Master Partnership's Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

The valuation of securities held by the Master Partnership, which the Master Fund directly invests in, is discussed in the notes to the Master Partnership's Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements. The net asset value of the Company's investment in the Master Fund reflects its fair value. At 30 June 2016, the Company's US Dollar and Sterling shares represented 11.40% and 0.53% (31 December 2015: 10.94% and 0.61%) respectively of the Master Fund's net asset value.

Uncertainty in Income Tax

ASC Topic 740 "Income Taxes" requires the evaluation of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of preparing the Company's tax returns to determine whether the tax positions are "more likely- than-not" of being sustained by the applicable tax authority. A tax benefit from an uncertain tax position may be recognised when it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon examination, including resolutions of any related appeals or litigation processes, on the basis of the technical merits. Management has evaluated the implications of ASC 740 and has determined that it has not had a material impact on these Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

Income and Expenses

The Company records its proportionate share of the Master Fund's income, expenses and realised and unrealised gains and losses on a monthly basis. In addition, the Company accrues interest income, to the extent it is expected to be collected, and other expenses.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements in conformity with US GAAP may require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Other than what is underlying in the Master Fund and the Master Partnership, the Company does not use any estimates in respect of amounts that are material to the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

Foreign Exchange

Investment securities and other assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into United States Dollars using exchange rates at the reporting date. Purchases and sales of investments and income and expense items denominated in foreign currencies are translated into United States Dollars at the date of such transaction. All foreign currency translation gains and losses are included in the Unaudited Statement of Operations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-15 - Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40)("ASU 2014-15"). The pronouncement defined management's responsibility regarding the assessment of the Company's ability to continue as a going concern, even if the Company's liquidation is not imminent. Currently, no similar guidance exists for manager representation of going concern. Under this guidance, during each period on which financial statements are prepared, management needs to evaluate whether there are conditions or events that, in the aggregate, raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date the financial statements are issued. Substantial doubt exists if these conditions or events indicate that the Company will be unable to meet its obligations as they become due. If such conditions or events exist, management should develop a plan to mitigate or alleviate these conditions or events. Regardless of management's plan to mitigate, certain disclosures must be made in the financial statements. ASU 2014- 15 is effective for annual periods ending after 15 December 2016, however early adoption is permitted. Having reassessed the principal risks; the Directors considered it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-07, Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities that Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or its equivalent) ("ASU 2015-07"), in which certain investments measured at fair value using the net asset value per share method (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient are not required to be categorised in the fair value hierarchy. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods, including interim periods, beginning after 15 December 2016. The Master Partnership has adopted ASU 2015-07 and accordingly has not levelled applicable positions.

In January 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01 (ASU 2016-01) "Financial Instruments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities." ASU 2016-01 amends various aspects of the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure for financial instruments. ASU 2016-01 is effective for annual reporting periods, and interim periods within those years beginning after 15 December 2017. We do not expect that this standard will have a material effect on our financial statements.

4. Material Agreements

Management and Incentive fees

The Investment Manager was appointed by the Company to invest its assets in pursuit of the Company's investment objectives and policies. As disclosed in Note 2, the Investment Manager is remunerated by the Master Fund by way of management fees and incentive fees.

Administration fees

Under the terms of an Administration Agreement dated 29 June 2007, the Company appointed Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited as Administrator and Corporate Secretary.

The Administrator is paid fees based on the NAV of the Company, payable quarterly in arrears. The fee is at a rate of 2 basis points of the NAV of the Company for the first 500 million of NAV and a rate of 1.5 basis points for any NAV above 500 million. This fee is subject to a minimum of 4,250 per month.

The Administrator is also entitled to an annual corporate governance fee of 30,000 for its Company secretarial and compliance activities.

In addition, the Administrator is entitled to be reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the course of carrying out its duties, and may charge additional fees for certain other services.

Total Administrator expenses during the period amounted to US$80,019 with US$43,149 outstanding (30 June 2015: US$88,261 with US$47,603 outstanding).

Related Party

The Company has entered into a support and custody agreement with Third Point Offshore Independent Voting Company Limited ("VoteCo") whereby, in return for the services provided by VoteCo, the Company will provide VoteCo with funds from time to time in order to enable VoteCo to meet its obligations as they fall due. Under this agreement, the Company has also agreed to pay all the expenses of VoteCo, including the fees of the directors of VoteCo, the fees of all advisors engaged by the directors of VoteCo and premiums for directors and officers insurance. The Company has also agreed to indemnify the directors of VoteCo in respect of all liabilities that they may incur in their capacity as directors of VoteCo. The expense paid by the Company on behalf of Voteco during the period amounted to US$41,290 (30 June 2015: US$57,973).

5. Directors' Fees

The Chairman is entitled to a fee of 60,000 per annum. All other independent Directors are entitled to receive 36,000 per annum with the exception of Mr. Legge who receives 44,000 per annum as the audit committee chairman. Mr. Targoff has waived his fees. The Directors are also entitled to be reimbursed for expenses properly incurred in the performance of their duties as Director. The Directors' fees during the period amounted to US$119,735 with US$58,819 outstanding (30 June 2015:US$132,829 with US$69,199 outstanding).

6. Share Capital

The Company was incorporated with the authority to issue an unlimited number of Ordinary Shares (the "Shares") with no par value and an unlimited number of Ordinary B Shares ("B Shares") of no par value. The Shares may be divided into at least two classes denominated in US Dollar and Sterling.

The Company has issued approximately 40 per cent of the aggregate voting rights of the Company to VoteCo in the form of B Shares. The B Shares are unlisted and except for an entitlement to receive afixed annual dividend at a rate of 0.0000001 pence (Sterling) do not carry any other economic interests and at all times will represent approximately 40 per cent of the aggregate issued capital of the Company.

The Articles of Association provide that the ratio of issued US Dollar B Shares to Euro B Shares to Sterling B Shares shall at all times approximate as closely as possible the ratio of issued US Dollar Shares to Euro Shares to Sterling Shares in the Company.

Sterling US Dollar Shares Shares Number of Ordinary Shares Shares issued 1 January 2016 47,655,833 1,868,055 Shares Converted Total shares transferred to share class during the period 191,886 11,822 Total shares transferred out of share class during the period (16,092) (138,426) Shares in issue at end of period 47,831,627 1,741,451 US Dollar Sterling Shares Shares US$ US$ Share Capital Account Share capital account at 1 January 2016 369,431,423 33,311,828 Shares Converted Total share value transferred to share class during the period 3,146,805 256,274 Total share value transferred out of share class during the period (256,274) (3,146,805) Share capital account at end of period 372,321,954 30,421,297 US Dollar Sterling Shares Shares Number of Ordinary B Shares Shares in issue as at 1 January 2016 31,770,577 1,245,382 Shares Converted Total shares transferred to share class during the period 127,923 7,881 Total shares transferred out of share class during the period (10,728) (92,283) Shares in issue at end of period 31,887,772 1,160,980

In respect of each class of Shares a separate class account has been established in the books of the Company. An amount equal to the aggregate proceeds of issue of each Share Class has been credited to the relevant class account. Any increase or decrease in the NAV of the Master Fund, as calculated by the Master Fund, is allocated to the relevant class account in the Company according to the number of shares held by each class.

Each class account is allocated those costs, expenses, losses, dividends, profits, gains and income which the Directors determine in their sole discretion relate to a particular class. Expenses which relate to the Company as a whole rather than specific classes are allocated to each class in the proportion that its NAV bears to the Company as a whole.

Voting Rights

Ordinary Shares carry the right to vote at general meetings of the Company and to receive any dividends, attributable to the Ordinary Shares as a class, declared by the Company and, in a winding-up will be entitled to receive, by way of capital, any surplus assets of the Company attributable to the Ordinary Shares as a class in proportion to their holdings remaining after settlement of any outstanding liabilities of the Company. B Shares also carry the right to vote at general meetings of the Company but carry no rights to distribution of profits or in the winding-up of the Company.

As prescribed in the Company's Articles, each Shareholder present at general meetings of the Company shall, upon a show of hands, have one vote. Upon a poll, each Shareholder shall, in the case of a separate class meeting, have one vote in respect of each Share or B Share held and, in the case of a general meeting of all Shareholders, have one vote in respect of each US Dollar Share or US Dollar B Share held, and two votes in respect of each Sterling Share or Sterling B Share held. Fluctuations in currency rates will not affect the relative voting rights applicable to the Shares and B Shares. In addition all of the Company's Shareholders have the right to vote on all material changes to the Company's investment policy.

Repurchase of Shares and Discount Control

The Directors of the Company were granted authority to purchase in the market up to 14.99 per cent of each class of Shares in issue at the Annual General Meeting on 22 June 2016, and they intend to seek annual renewal of this authority from Shareholders. The Directors propose to utilise this share repurchase authority to address any imbalance between the supply of and demand for shares. Pursuant to the Director's share repurchase authority, the Company, through the Master Fund, commenced a share repurchase program in December 2007. The Shares are being held by the Master Partnership. The Master Partnership's gains or losses and implied financing costs related to the shares purchased through the share purchase programme are entirely allocated to the Company's investment in the Master Fund. The Master Partnership has an ownership of 11.45% of the USD shares outstanding at 30 June 2016 (31 December 2015:10.66%). In addition, the Company, the Master Fund, the Investment Manager and its affiliates have the ability to purchase Shares in the after-market at any time the Shares trade at a discount to NAV. The Master Partnership purchased 558,229 US Dollar shares during the period ended 30 June 2016.

At 30 June 2016 and 31 December 2015 the Master Partnership held the following Shares in the Company in the after-market:

Number of Average Cost 30 June 2016 Currency Shares Cost per Share US Dollar Shares USD 5,837,982 US$64,425,766 US$11.04 Number of Average Cost 31 December 2015 Currency Shares Cost per Share US Dollar Shares USD USD 5,279,753 US$56,710,193 US$10.74

Further issue of Shares

Under the Company's Articles, the Directors have the power to issue further shares on a non-pre-emptive basis. If the Directors issue further Shares, the issue price will not be less than the then-prevailing estimated weekly NAV per Share of the relevant class of Shares.

Share Conversion Scheme

The Company's Articles incorporate provisions to enable Shareholders of any one Class of Ordinary Shares to convert all or part of their holding into any other Currency Class of Ordinary Share on a monthly basis. Upon conversion a corresponding number of B Shares will be converted in a similar manner.

If the aggregate NAV of any Currency Class at any month-end falls below the equivalent of US$50 million, the Shares of that Class may be converted compulsorily into Shares of the Currency Class with the greatest aggregate value in US Dollar terms at the time. Each conversion will be based on NAV (Note 8) of the share classes to be converted. At this time the Board has no intention to compulsorily convert the Sterling Shares into US Dollar Shares.

7. Taxation

The Fund is exempt from taxation in Guernsey under the provisions of the Income Tax (Exempt Bodies) (Guernsey) Ordinance 1989.

8. Calculation of Net Asset Value

The NAV of the Company is equal to the value of its total assets less its total liabilities. The NAV per Share of each class is calculated by dividing the NAV of the relevant class account by the number of Ordinary Shares of the relevant class in issue on that day.

9. Related Party Transactions

At 30 June 2016 other investment funds owned by or affiliated with the Investment Manager owned 5,630,444 (31 December 2015: 5,630,444) US Dollar Shares in the Company.

10. Significant Events

There were no significant events during the period.

11. Financial Highlights

The following tables include selected data for a single Ordinary Share of each of the Ordinary Share classes in issue at the period end and other performance information derived from the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements.

US Dollar Sterling Shares Shares 30 June 2016 30 June 2016 US$  Per Share Operating Performance Net Asset Value beginning of the period 16.62 15.95 Income from Operations Net realised and unrealised loss from investment transactions allocated from Master Fund 0.27 0.23 Net loss (0.01) (0.01) Total Return from Operations 0.26 0.22 Net Asset Value end of the period 16.88 16.17 Total return before incentive fee allocated from Master Fund 1.74% 1.54% Incentive allocation from Master Fund (0.18%) (0.16%) Total return after incentive fee allocated from Master Fund 1.56% 1.38%

Total return from operations reflects the net return for an investment made at the beginning of the period and is calculated as the change in the NAV per Ordinary Share during the period ended 30 June 2016 and is not annualised. An individual Shareholder's return may vary from these returns based on the timing of their purchases and sales of shares on the market.

US Dollar Sterling Shares Shares 30 June 2015 30 June 2015 US$  Per Share Operating Performance Net Asset Value beginning of the period 17.06 16.43 Income from Operations Net realised and unrealised loss from investment transactions allocated from Master Fund 1.21 1.16 Net loss (0.33) (0.31) Total Return from Operations 0.88 0.85 Net Asset Value end of the period 17.94 17.28 Total return before incentive fee allocated from Master Fund 6.47% 6.43% Incentive allocation from Master Fund (1.31%) (1.26%) Total return after incentive fee allocated from Master Fund 5.16% 5.17%

Footnote:

1.Includes foreign currency translation of profit/(loss) with respect to Sterling share class.

Total return from operations reflects the net return for an investment made at the beginning of the period and is calculated as the change in the NAV per Ordinary Share during the period ended 30 June 2015 and is not annualised. An individual Shareholder's return may vary from these returns based on the timing of their purchases and sales of shares on the market.

US Dollar Sterling Shares Shares 30 June 2016 30 June 2016 US$  Supplemental data Net Asset Value, end of the period 807,208,261 28,164,673 Average Net Asset Value, for the period 781,429,994 28,621,062 Ratio to average net assets Operating expenses (1.51%) (1.57%) Incentive fee allocated from Master Fund (0.18%) (0.17%) Total operating expense (1.69%) (1.74%) Net loss (0.08%) (0.06%)

US Dollar Sterling Shares Shares 30 June 2015 30 June 2015 US$  Supplemental data Net Asset Value, end of the period 849,975,379 35,357,387 Average Net Asset Value, for the period 829,979,635 35,489,351 Ratio to average net assets Operating expenses (1.38%) (1.38%) Incentive fee allocated from Master Fund (1.27%) (1.27%) Total operating expense (2.65%) (2.65%) Net loss 1.87%) (1.87%)

Footnote:

2.Average Net Asset Value for the year is calculated based on published monthly estimates of NAV.

3.Operating expenses are Company expenses together with operating expenses allocated from the Master Fund.

12. Ongoing Charge Calculation

Ongoing charges for the period / year ended 30 June 2016 and 31 December 2015 have been prepared in accordance with the AIC recommended methodology. Performance fees were charged to the Master Fund. In line with AIC guidance, an Ongoing Charge has been disclosed both including and excluding performance fees. The Ongoing charges for the period / year ended 30 June 2016 and 31 December 2015 excluding performance fees and including performance fees are based on Company expenses and allocated Master Fund expenses outlined below.

(excluding performance fees) 30 June 2016 31 December 2015 US Dollar Shares 2.45% 2.45% Sterling Shares 2.56% 2.46% (including performance fees) 30 June 2016 31 December 2015 US Dollar Shares 2.81% 2.44% Sterling Shares 2.90% 2.70%

13. Subsequent Events

As of 22 August 2016, the Master Partnership purchased 41,771 US Dollar Shares in the Company as part of its share purchase programme announced 5 February 2016.

There were no other events subsequent to the period-end which, in the opinion of the Directors, may have an impact on the Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements for the period ended 30 June 2016.

Management and Administration

Directors Christopher Legge* Marc Antoine Autheman (Chairman)* PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 3QL. Channel Islands, GY1 3QL

Keith Dorrian* Joshua L Targoff PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 3QL. * These Directors are independent.

Christopher Fish* PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 3QL.

Investment Manager Registered Office Third Point LLC PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, 18th Floor, 390 Park Avenue, St Peter Port, Guernsey, New York, NY 10022, Channel Islands, GY1 3QL United States of America

Auditors Administrator and Secretary Ernst & Young LLP Northern Trust International Fund PO Box 9, Royal Chambers Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited, St Julian's Avenue, PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, GY1 4AF Channel Islands, GY1 3QL

Legal Advisors (UK Law) Legal Advisors (Guernsey Law) Herbert Smith Freehills LLP Mourant Ozannes Exchange House, Primrose Street, PO Box 186, Le Marchant Street, London, EC2A 2HS, St Peter Port, Guernsey, United Kingdom Channel Islands, GY1 4HP.

Legal Advisors (US Law) Receiving Agent Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP Capita Registrars 825 Eighth Avenue, Worldwide Plaza, The Registry, New York, NY 10019-7475, 34 Beckenham Road, United States of America. Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TU, United Kingdom
CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- T5 Data Centers (www.t5datacenters.com), innovators in providing state-of-the-art, customizable and highly reliable computing support environments, today announced the acquisition of a 208,000-square-foot, Tier III data center facility in the Elk Grove Village suburb of Chicago. The new T5@Chicago facility is the ninth data center to be added to the T5 portfolio and extends T5's market base to the greater Chicago area, one of the most desirable data center markets in the United States.

T5@Chicago is currently operational and partially occupied. Additional capacity is being added to provide server ready space for future customers. The existing data center went online last year and was acquired by T5 Data Centers because the purpose-built facility had the same high-quality attributes as T5's existing data center portfolio. The building features a baseline Tier III infrastructure with an N+1 electrical and mechanical topology, secure private data halls available from 540kW to 9.0MW, and the ability to easily customize operational controls in each data hall to accommodate each customers' unique data center services requirements.

"Chicago is becoming an increasingly hot market for reliable data center services," said Tim Bright, Executive Vice President of Wholesale/Enterprise Markets for T5 Data Centers. "We were fortunate to find an available, operational facility with the data center architecture and quality consistent with T5 data center standards. With this acquisition, we can offer Chicagoland regional customers move-in ready data center capacity, customizable and expandable to meet any need."

Since commissioning, the data center has been managed by T5 Facilities Management (T5FM), which provides best-in-class facilities management services to data center owners across North America, so T5 Data Centers is certain that T5@Chicago meets its exacting standards. With the acquisition, the T5FM team will continue to provide 24/7 facilities support so customers can be assured of uninterrupted service.

In addition to the existing 208,000 square foot, LEED Silver certified building, T5@Chicago can be expanded on the adjacent, four-acre parcel by up to 28 MW. The location in Elk Grove Village is readily accessible to O'Hare International Airport.

For more information about T5's data center services, visit www.t5datacenters.com.

About T5 Data Centers

T5 Data Centers (T5) is a leading national data center owner and operator, committed to delivering customizable, scalable data centers that provide an "always on" computing environment to power mission critical business applications. T5 Data Centers provides enterprise colocation data center services to organizations across North America using proven, best-in-class technology and techniques to design and develop facilities that deliver the lowest possible total cost of operations for its clients. T5 currently has business-critical data center facilities in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Portland, Charlotte, and Chicago with new projects announced in New York, and Colorado. All of T5's data center projects are purpose-built facilities featuring robust design, redundant and reliable power and telecommunications, and have 24-hour staff to support mission-critical computing applications.

For more information, visit www.t5datacenters.com.

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Contact:



Aaron Wangenheim

T5 Data Centers

(415) 292-7700

aaron@t5datacenters.com






CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar extended its weakness against the other major currencies in the early European session on Tuesday amid risk appetite, as market participants diverge on U.S. rate hike prospects this year. Meanwhile, a dearth of major data and bets that a rate hike is unlikely at the Fed's September or November meetings, also weighed on the currency.



The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.45 percent or 31.07 points at 6,859, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.82 percent or 36.05 points at 4,425 and Germany's DAX is up 0.93 percent or 97.28 points at 10,591.



Investors looked ahead to a key speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen this Friday following hawkish rhetoric from a couple of Fed officials.



In the Asian trading today, the greenback traded lower against its major rivals.



In the early European trading, the U.S. dollar fell to a 15-month low of 0.7340 against the NZ dollar and nearly a 3-week low of 1.3209 against the pound, from early highs of 0.7260 and 1.3128, respectively. If the greenback extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.74 against the kiwi and 1.36 against the pound.



Against the euro, the yen, the Swiss franc and the Australian dollar, the greenback dropped to 4-day lows of 1.1355, 99.94, 0.9593 and 1.3164 from early highs of 1.1315, 100.39, 0.9632 and 0.7616, respectively. The greenback is likely to find support around 1.14 against the euro, 98.00 against the yen, 0.95 against the franc and 0.78 against the aussie.



Against the Canadian dollar, the greenback slipped to 1.2884 from an early high of 1.2946. On the downside, 1.26 is seen as the next support level for the greenback.



Looking ahead, Markit's flash U.S. manufacturing PMI for August, U.S. Richmond Fed manufacturing index for August and U.S. new home sales data for July are set to be published in the New York session.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Nineteen abstracts to be presented, including new post-hoc sub-analyses from the ARISTOTLE Phase 3 trial and multiple retrospective real-world data analyses from ACROPOLIS

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced today that 19 abstracts (late-breaking, rapid-fire, oral and poster presentations) will be presented at ESC Congress 2016, to be held August 27-31 in Rome, Italy. These new data from post-hoc analyses from ARISTOTLE (Apixaban for ReductionIn STroke and Other ThromboemboLic Events in Atrial Fibrillation) and retrospective real-world data analyses continue to underscore the Alliance's commitment to the evaluation of Eliquis for patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE). Of note, several of the real-world data analyses are part of ACROPOLIS (Apixaban ExperienCe Through Real-WOrldPOpuLatIon Studies), a global real-world data research program designed to further evaluate the effectiveness and safety of apixaban in routine clinical practice.

"The Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer Alliance is pleased to share 19 abstracts, which include new real-world analyses, as well as new sub-analyses from the pivotal Phase 3 ARISTOTLE trial," said Rory O'Connor, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Internal Medicine, Pfizer Innovative Health. "We look forward to the opportunity to contribute to the scientific discussion and continued research during ESC Congress 2016."

"As patient and provider needs continue to evolve, it's essential that we deepen our understanding of how medicines are working in real-world situations," said Jack Lawrence, M.D., Vice President, Cardiovascular Specialty Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "This year at ESC Congress 2016, we'll be discussing new NVAF and VTE data that complement our robust body of clinical trial data."

The complete list of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer Alliance presentations is included below. Abstracts can be accessed on the ESC Congress 2016 website.

Title Presenting Author/Type Date/Time (BST) Location/Session Phase 3 Clinical Trial Sub-Analyses Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and History of Falls Are at High Risk for Bleeding but Have Less Bleeding with Apixaban than Warfarin: Results from the ARISTOTLE Trial

Session: New Trends in Antithrombotic Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation Rao et al. /

Oral, Rapid Fire Aug. 28,

11:10 Agora 1 Poster Area Efficacy and Safety of Apixaban versus Warfarin in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Active Cancer: Insights from the ARISTOTLE Trial

Session: New Trends in Antithrombotic Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation Melloni et al. /

Oral, Rapid Fire Aug. 28,

11:20 Agora 1 Poster Area Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Treated with Apixaban Are Less Likely to Discontinue Study Drug When Compared with Warfarin: Insights from the ARISTOTLE Trial

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation III Xavier et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Real-World Data and Other Analyses Contemporary Results from EHR Study of Real-World Bleeding Risk among Elderly and Overall Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients Prescribed Apixaban, Dabigatran, Rivaroxaban and Warfarin

Session: New Trends in Antithrombotic Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation Horblyuk et al. /

Oral, Rapid Fire Aug. 28,

12:00 Agora 1 Poster Area Real-World Comparisons of Major Bleeding Risk and Major Bleeding-Related Hospitalization Costs among Elderly Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients Newly Initiated on Apixaban or Warfarin

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation Lip et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Is Major Bleeding Risk for Oral Anticoagulants Similar Between Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients Newly Initiated on Warfarin and Propensity-Score Matched NOAC Initiators? A Real World Study

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation Lip et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Major Bleeding Risk in Patients 75 Years of Age or Older with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Initiating Oral Anticoagulants: A 'Real-World' Comparison of Warfarin, Apixaban, Dabigatran, or Rivaroxaban

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation II Lip et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Is There a Difference in Treatment Persistence Across Oral Anticoagulants? Results of a UK Cohort Study Evaluating Oral Anticoagulation Therapy in an Atrial Fibrillation Population

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation Stynes et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Real-World Comparison of Major Bleeding and Associated Costs among Treatment-Naive Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients Initiating Apixaban or Warfarin

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation II Trocio et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Aspirin, not without Bleeding Risk in the Real World: Results of a UK Cohort Study Evaluating the Use of Antiplatelet Therapy for Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation (AF)

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation III Ridha et al. Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Is Aspirin Monotherapy Effective for Stroke Prevention in the Real World? A UK Cohort Study Evaluating the Incidence of Stroke in the Absence of Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation (AF)

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation II Ridha et al. Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Differences in the Characteristics of Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Who Are Newly Prescribed Apixaban, Rivaroxaban, Dabigatran and VKA in General Practice in the UK

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation Stynes et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Risk of Bleeding with Non-Vitamin K Antagonists and Phenprocoumon in Routine Care Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation III Hohnloser et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Are Your Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Patients Protected from Ischaemic Stroke? Clinical Characteristics of AF Patients Eligible for Stroke Prevention but Remaining Untreated in UK Clinical Practice

Session: Poster Session 3: Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation II Ridha et al. /

Poster Aug. 28,

14:00 Poster Area Bleeding Risk for Non-Valvular AF Patients Prescribed Warfarin, or Standard Doses of Apixaban 5mg BID, Dabigatran 150mg BID or Rivaroxaban 20mg QD in Real-World Practice: Findings from EHR

Session: Are You Still Afraid about Bleeding Risk of Antithrombotic Therapy in Atrial Fibrillation? Lip et al. /

Oral, Advances in Science Aug. 28,

14:18 Minsk Village 4 Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Associated with Initiation of Individual Oral Anticoagulants among Patients with Newly Diagnosed Venous Thromboembolism

Session: Poster Session 4: Thrombosis and Coagulation Li et al. /

Poster Aug. 29,

08:30 Poster Area A Nationwide Register Study to Compare Bleeding Rates in Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Prescribed Oral Anticoagulants

Session: Registries Atrial Fibrillation Halvorsen et al. /

Late-Breaker Aug. 29,

08:45 Raphael The Hub Costs of Major Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Incident Venous Thromboembolism in Clinical Practice in the United Kingdom

Session: Advances in Pulmonary Embolism Cohen et al. /

Poster Aug. 29,

16:03 Moderated Poster Station Poster Area Potential Impact of Apixaban on Hospital Resource Use in Patients with Venous Thromboembolism

Session: Antithrombotics in Daily Clinical Practice Li et al. /

Oral, Rapid Fire Aug 30,

17:24 Galileo The Hub

About Eliquis

Eliquis (apixaban) is an oral selective Factor Xa inhibitor. By inhibiting Factor Xa, a key blood clotting protein, Eliquis decreases thrombin generation and blood clot formation. Eliquis is approved for multiple indications in the U.S. based on efficacy and safety data from seven Phase 3 clinical trials. Eliquis is a prescription medicineindicated to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF); for the prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which may lead to pulmonary embolism (PE), in patients who have undergone hip or knee replacement surgery; for the treatment of DVT and PE; and to reduce the risk of recurrent DVT and PE, following initial therapy.

ELIQUIS Indications and Important Safety Information

Indications

ELIQUIS is indicated to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

ELIQUIS is indicated for the prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which may lead to pulmonary embolism (PE), in patients who have undergone hip or knee replacement surgery.

ELIQUIS is indicated for the treatment of DVT and PE, and to reduce the risk of recurrent DVT and PE following initial therapy.

ELIQUIS Important Safety Information

WARNING: (A) PREMATURE DISCONTINUATION OF ELIQUIS INCREASES THE RISK OF THROMBOTIC EVENTS, (B) SPINAL/EPIDURAL HEMATOMA (A) Premature discontinuation of any oral anticoagulant, including ELIQUIS, increases the risk of thrombotic events. If anticoagulation with ELIQUIS is discontinued for a reason other than pathological bleeding or completion of a course of therapy, consider coverage with another anticoagulant. (B) Epidural or spinal hematomas may occur in patients treated with ELIQUIS who are receiving neuraxial anesthesia or undergoing spinal puncture. These hematomas may result in long-term or permanent paralysis. Consider these risks when scheduling patients for spinal procedures. Factors that can increase the risk of developing epidural or spinal hematomas in these patients include: use of indwelling epidural catheters concomitant use of other drugs that affect hemostasis, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), platelet inhibitors, other anticoagulants a history of traumatic or repeated epidural or spinal punctures a history of spinal deformity or spinal surgery optimal timing between the administration of ELIQUIS and neuraxial procedures is not known Monitor patients frequently for signs and symptoms of neurological impairment. If neurological compromise is noted, urgent treatment is necessary. Consider the benefits and risks before neuraxial intervention in patients anticoagulated or to be anticoagulated.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Active pathological bleeding

Severe hypersensitivity reaction to ELIQUIS (e.g., anaphylactic reactions)

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Increased Risk of Thrombotic Events after Premature Discontinuation: Premature discontinuation of any oral anticoagulant, including ELIQUIS, in the absence of adequate alternative anticoagulation increases the risk of thrombotic events. An increased rate of stroke was observed during the transition from ELIQUIS to warfarin in clinical trials in atrial fibrillation patients. If ELIQUIS is discontinued for a reason other than pathological bleeding or completion of a course of therapy, consider coverage with another anticoagulant.

Premature discontinuation of any oral anticoagulant, including ELIQUIS, in the absence of adequate alternative anticoagulation increases the risk of thrombotic events. An increased rate of stroke was observed during the transition from ELIQUIS to warfarin in clinical trials in atrial fibrillation patients. If ELIQUIS is discontinued for a reason other than pathological bleeding or completion of a course of therapy, consider coverage with another anticoagulant. Bleeding Risk: ELIQUIS increases the risk of bleeding and can cause serious, potentially fatal, bleeding. Concomitant use of drugs affecting hemostasis increases the risk of bleeding, including aspirin and other antiplatelet agents, other anticoagulants, heparin, thrombolytic agents, SSRIs, SNRIs, and NSAIDs. Advise patients of signs and symptoms of blood loss and to report them immediately or go to an emergency room. Discontinue ELIQUIS in patients with active pathological hemorrhage. There is no established way to reverse the anticoagulant effect of apixaban, which can be expected to persist for at least 24 hours after the last dose (i.e., about two half-lives). A specific antidote for ELIQUIS is not available.

ELIQUIS increases the risk of bleeding and can cause serious, potentially fatal, bleeding. Spinal/Epidural Anesthesia or Puncture: Patients treated with ELIQUIS undergoing spinal/epidural anesthesia or puncture may develop an epidural or spinal hematoma which can result in long-term or permanent paralysis.



The risk of these events may be increased by the postoperative use of indwelling epidural catheters or the concomitant use of medicinal products affecting hemostasis. Indwelling epidural or intrathecal catheters should not be removed earlier than 24 hours after the last administration of ELIQUIS. The next dose of ELIQUIS should not be administered earlier than 5 hours after the removal of the catheter. The risk may also be increased by traumatic or repeated epidural or spinal puncture. If traumatic puncture occurs, delay the administration of ELIQUIS for 48 hours.



Monitor patients frequently and if neurological compromise is noted, urgent diagnosis and treatment is necessary. Physicians should consider the potential benefit versus the risk of neuraxial intervention in ELIQUIS patients.

Prosthetic Heart Valves: The safety and efficacy of ELIQUIS have not been studied in patients with prosthetic heart valves and is not recommended in these patients.

The safety and efficacy of ELIQUIS have not been studied in patients with prosthetic heart valves and is not recommended in these patients. Acute PE in Hemodynamically Unstable Patients or Patients who Require Thrombolysis or Pulmonary Embolectomy: Initiation of ELIQUIS is not recommended as an alternative to unfractionated heparin for the initial treatment of patients with PE who present with hemodynamic instability or who may receive thrombolysis or pulmonary embolectomy.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

The most common and most serious adverse reactions reported with ELIQUIS were related to bleeding.

TEMPORARY INTERRUPTION FOR SURGERY AND OTHER INTERVENTIONS

ELIQUIS should be discontinued at least 48 hours prior to elective surgery or invasive procedures with a moderate or high risk of unacceptable or clinically significant bleeding. ELIQUIS should be discontinued at least 24 hours prior to elective surgery or invasive procedures with a low risk of bleeding or where the bleeding would be noncritical in location and easily controlled. Bridging anticoagulation during the 24 to 48 hours after stopping ELIQUIS and prior to the intervention is not generally required. ELIQUIS should be restarted after the surgical or other procedures as soon as adequate hemostasis has been established.

DRUG INTERACTIONS

Strong Dual Inhibitors of CYP3A4 and P-gp: Inhibitors of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) increase exposure to apixaban and increase the risk of bleeding. For patients receiving ELIQUIS doses of 5 mg or 10 mg twice daily, reduce the dose of ELIQUIS by 50% when ELIQUIS is coadministered with drugs that are strong dual inhibitors of CYP3A4 and P-gp (e.g., ketoconazole, itraconazole, ritonavir, or clarithromycin). In patients already taking 2.5 mg twice daily, avoid coadministration of ELIQUIS with strong dual inhibitors of CYP3A4 and P-gp.

Inhibitors of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) increase exposure to apixaban and increase the risk of bleeding. For patients receiving ELIQUIS doses of 5 mg or 10 mg twice daily, reduce the dose of ELIQUIS by 50% when ELIQUIS is coadministered with drugs that are strong dual inhibitors of CYP3A4 and P-gp (e.g., ketoconazole, itraconazole, ritonavir, or clarithromycin). In patients already taking 2.5 mg twice daily, avoid coadministration of ELIQUIS with strong dual inhibitors of CYP3A4 and P-gp. Strong Dual Inducers of CYP3A4 and P-gp: Avoid concomitant use of ELIQUIS with strong dual inducers of CYP3A4 and P-gp (e.g., rifampin, carbamazepine, phenytoin, St. John's wort) because such drugs will decrease exposure to apixaban and increase the risk of stroke and other thromboembolic events.

Avoid concomitant use of ELIQUIS with strong dual inducers of CYP3A4 and P-gp (e.g., rifampin, carbamazepine, phenytoin, St. John's wort) because such drugs will decrease exposure to apixaban and increase the risk of stroke and other thromboembolic events. Anticoagulants and Antiplatelet Agents: Coadministration of antiplatelet agents, fibrinolytics, heparin, aspirin, and chronic NSAID use increases the risk of bleeding. APPRAISE-2, a placebo-controlled clinical trial of apixaban in high-risk post-acute coronary syndrome patients treated with aspirin or the combination of aspirin and clopidogrel, was terminated early due to a higher rate of bleeding with apixaban compared to placebo.

PREGNANCY CATEGORY B

There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of ELIQUIS in pregnant women. Treatment is likely to increase the risk of hemorrhage during pregnancy and delivery. ELIQUIS should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk to the mother and fetus.

Please see full Prescribing Information, including BOXED WARNINGS and Medication Guide, available at www.bms.com

About ACROPOLIS

ACROPOLIS(Apixaban ExperienCe Through Real-WOrldPOpuLatIon Studies) is the Eliquis (apixaban) global real-world data program designed to generate additional evidence from routine clinical practice settings to further inform healthcare decision makers, including healthcare providers and payers. The ACROPOLIS program will include retrospective, outcomes-based analyses from over 10 databases around the world, including medical records, medical and pharmacy health insurance claims data, and national health data systems.

Analyses of real-world data allow for a broader understanding of patient outcomes associated with Eliquis outside of the clinical trial setting, as well as insight into other measures of healthcare delivery, such as hospitalization and costs.

About ARISTOTLE

ARISTOTLE (Apixaban for Reduction In STroke and Other ThromboemboLic Events in Atrial Fibrillation) was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Eliquis versus warfarin for the prevention of stroke or systemic embolism. In ARISTOTLE, 18,201 patients were randomized (9,120 patients to Eliquis and 9,081 to warfarin). ARISTOTLE was an active-controlled, randomized, double-blind, multi-national trial in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, and at least one additional risk factor for stroke. Patients were randomized to treatment with Eliquis 5 mg orally twice daily (or 2.5 mg twice daily in selected patients, representing 4.7 percent of all patients) or warfarin (target INR range 2.0-3.0), and followed for a median of 1.8 years.

About the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer Collaboration

In 2007, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb entered into a worldwide collaboration to develop and commercialize apixaban, an oral anticoagulant discovered by Bristol-Myers Squibb. This global alliance combines Bristol-Myers Squibb's long-standing strengths in cardiovascular drug development and commercialization with Pfizer's global scale and expertise in this field.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

About Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. For more information, please visit us at www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer_News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding product development. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Pfizer Disclosure Notice

The information contained in this release is as of August 23, 2016. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.

This release contains forward-looking information about Eliquis (apixaban), including its potential benefits, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including, without limitation, the ability to meet anticipated clinical trial commencement and completion dates as well as the possibility of unfavorable clinical trial results; decisions by regulatory authorities regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Eliquis; and competitive developments.

A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results", as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005490/en/

Contacts:

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Media: Rob Perry, 407-492-4616, rob.perry@bms.com

Investors: Bill Szablewski, 609-252-5894, william.szablewski@bms.com

or

Pfizer Inc.

Media: Steven Danehy, 212-733-1538, steven.danehy@pfizer.com

Investors: Ryan Crowe, 212-733-8160, ryan.crowe@pfizer.com
HORSHAM, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 --



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.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Taku Gold Corp. (CSE: TAK) ("Taku" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update of its exploration activities in Yukon and Northern B.C. Since July 6th Taku's exploration crew has completed work at the Wounded Moose and Bishop-Montana properties in the Dawson area of Yukon, the McQ property located in the Mayo area of Yukon, and the Tagish project located in Northern B.C. This work includes ground geophysical surveys, prospecting and sampling. Results of the exploration work are pending, and will be released as they are received and compiled into Taku's extensive database.

In addition, Taku is pleased to announce that Independence Gold Corp. ("Independence") has commenced up to 1,500 m of rotary air blast drilling on the Hudbay Zone on Taku's Rosebute Property (Independence News Release, August 17, 2016). Independence is testing the relationship between gold mineralization and east-west trending structures at the Hudbay Zone which hosts three, north trending gold-in-soil anomalies, each greater than 1.0 kilometres in length and 150 metres in width. Gold values returned from rock samples within the Hudbay Zone range from below detection to 12.2 grams per tonne, with visible gold occurring in quartz veins.

The Rosebute Property comprises 694 contiguous claims (14,387 hectares) and contains two significant new gold discoveries known as the Norwest and Hudbay zones. The Property is located approximately 58 kilometres south of Dawson City, Yukon and approximately 29 kilometres north of the Golden Saddle Deposit owned by Kinross Gold Corporation. The Property is contiguous to the west of Independence Gold's Henderson Property, and is situated in close proximity to the proposed northern access road that will provide access to the multi-million-ounce Coffee gold deposit recently purchased by Goldcorp for $520 Million.

Mark Fekete, P.Geo is the designated "qualified person" as defined in Section 1.2 in and for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 that reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.

On Behalf of the Board of Taku Gold Corp.,

Zachery Dingsdale, CEO and President

About Taku Gold Corp.

Taku Gold Corp. (http://www.takugold.com) is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of precious metal properties in Canada with a particular emphasis on the White Gold District of the Yukon Territory and the Tagish Lake region of Northern British Columbia.

Follow Taku Gold On:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/takugold/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/takugoldcorp

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TakuGold

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/takugold/

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Taku Gold Corp.

#608-409 Granville St.

Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2

zak@takugold.com

604 642-0116 (FAX)

604 642-0115

www.takugold.com




BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - August 23, 2016) - BioBridges, a Career Portfolio  Management company providing integrated services to the burgeoning pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device communities, has been named to the Top 50% of the Inc. 5000 list. BioBridges was named to the list in recognition of its outstanding 3-Year growth of 149%, and 2015 revenue of $31.2M. This is the second year in a row that the company has made the list, moving up 764 rankings from its 2015 position.

Inc. 5000 is a respected ranking of the top growing, privately held companies in the nation and serves as a comprehensive catalog of American entrepreneurial success. According to Inc. Editor in Chief Eric Shurenberg, "We honor just one thing: real entrepreneurial achievement by a founder or a team of founders. No one makes the Inc. 5000 without building something great -- usually from scratch."

"Our continued growth is a direct reflection of the career choices that BioBridges professionals are making, which is to define their careers by the work they are passionate about," said Jason Falchuk, Founding Partner of BioBridges. "They are leveraging their skills to get the work done, and as a result, growing pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies can achieve their clinical and business goals."

"Being included in a peer group of progressive and dynamic companies in the Inc. 5000 for the second year in a row is an honor. We thank the many professionals and clients that make up the BioBridges community and the loyalty, dedication and support they continue to show," said Jeff Souza, CEO and Partner. "We congratulate the other companies who have been recognized and thank Inc. magazine for building this platform."

Inc. magazine began the Inc. 5000 in 2007 as an expansion of the Inc. 500, which premiered in 1982. Percentage revenue growth is measured over a four-year period, and all candidates must be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent. The list can be viewed in entirety at: www.inc.com/inc5000.

About BioBridges

Founded by industry veterans, BioBridges helps exceptional life science professionals pursue the work that inspires them. The company's scalable Career Portfolio  Management model allows highly skilled professionals to focus on the work they are passionate about enabling companies to advance science and produce breakthrough therapies. For more information, please visit www.biobridges.com.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/8/22/11G111400/Images/5000_color_stacked-f6124f315c0e9adb8c706fe485c9126d.jpg

Media Contact

Amy Steinberg

asteinberg@biobridges.com

781.591.4740
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc. ("Dynasty" or the "Company") (TSX: DMM)(OTCQX: DMMIF) wishes to provide a brief operations and corporate update.

Operations

Zaruma

In mid-June of this year, with the participation of the Ecuador labour ministry, Dynasty entered into an agreement with the mine workers at its Zaruma mine in southern Ecuador such that the workers were permitted to extract ore from the Zaruma mine for a 10 day period, the net proceeds of which were to be applied toward the workers' outstanding wages. Dynasty is pleased to announce the results of this 10-day arrangement. Approximately 2,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 3.35g/t Au were mined and processed as per the terms of the agreement. The resulting approximately 215 ounces of gold were sold for proceeds (net of processing costs) of US$192,341.24, which contributed to the outstanding wages for the Zaruma miners. Mining activity is continuing at the Zaruma mine at this time with the majority of the work force having returned. Such workers are operating under the terms of the agreement with the Company announced on July 21, 2016, which shall continue until the outstanding wages have been repaid.

On August 19, 2016, the Ecuador Ministry of Labour informed Dynasty's Ecuadorian subsidiary, Elipe S.A., that it had finalized and archived the collective dispute between the company and the mine workers. "We are pleased that this has been settled and we can move forward in a constructive way with the mine workers," commented CEO Robert Washer.

Dynasty Goldfield

Dynasty is pleased to announce that progress is being made toward active mining of the Dynasty Goldfield project. Dynasty and Green Oil S.A. ("Green Oil"), the mining contractor, have satisfied the financial guarantee required by the Ecuador environment ministry and anticipate receipt of full regulatory approval within the next two weeks to commence mining at the Dynasty Goldfield site. With this approval in its final stage, Green Oil plans to move machinery to the site shortly. After all final approvals have been obtained, Green Oil may begin road construction for the development of the open pits within in these concessions.

Corporate

Dynasty has also appointed Hernan Moreno to the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Hernan, who holds both legal and financial professional designations, gained his accounting experience in Ecuador with both Ecuadorian and international organizations.

About Dynasty Metals & Mining

Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc. is a Canadian based mining company involved in the mining, exploration and development of mineral properties in Ecuador. The Company is currently focused on gold production and continued development at its Zaruma Gold Project. The Company also owns the Dynasty Goldfield Project, a permitted property 180km southwest of the Zaruma project, and the Jerusalem Project, an exploration property immediately south of the Fruta del Norte project.

For further information please visit the Company's website at www.dynastymining.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains statements which are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking information" which are prospective in nature. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "projects", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such information in this news release includes, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's efforts at obtaining regulatory approval at the Dynasty Goldfield site, the timing of such approval and the Company's plans if and when final approvals have been obtained. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Dynasty's actual results, revenues, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Important risks that could cause Dynasty's actual results, revenues, performance or achievements to differ materially from Dynasty's expectations include, among other things, that the Company will be unable to obtain regulatory approval at the Goldfield Project, that construction will not go as planned at the Goldfield project, that the Company will be unable to re-commence operations at the Zaruma Project, that equipment will no longer function as intended, that alternative transactions or arrangements to fund the Company will not be available on terms acceptable to the Company or at all, and other risks found in Dynasty's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2015, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Other than in accordance with regulatory obligations, Dynasty is not under any obligation and Dynasty expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc.

Robert Washer

President and CEO

info@dynastymining.com

www.dynastymining.com




HANGZHOU, China, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The highly-anticipated G20 Summit will be held in Hangzhou, China in September 2016. In addition to West Lake, Hangzhou is also home to world-renowned 573-square kilometer Qiandao Lake, an exquisite body of water dotted by 1,078 emerald islands. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and water, as well as many eco-friendly elements.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160818/399261

With the G20 Summit approaching, the Qiandao Lake Scenic Tourism Bureau of Chun'an County has sent an invitation to people around the world: there are infinite surprises here for you.

Qiandao Lake is located in Chun'an county, a region with a history dating back more than 1,800 years, and where the ancient Huizhou and Jiangnan cultures met and become fused into one.

Beneath the surface of Qiaodao Lake lie two thousand-year old ancient cities, Shicheng (Lion City) and Hecheng, which were built in the Han and Tang dynasties with their gates, stone tablets and ancient sculptures still clearly visible today. In February 2011, the China-based monthly magazine Chinese National Geography published a series of exquisite and amazing photos depicting the underwater ancient cities. In June 2016, Lion City officially opened its gates after reconstruction, lifting the veil of the ancient city.

Qiandao Lake's fish and pig-head competition cultures, which trace their origins to more than 800 years ago, have also attracted the attention from many foreign artists. French artist Anne-Catherine Becker Echivard created a fish-head artwork entitled Chun'an Fish Story.

In addition to its profound culture, Qiandao Lake also provides an opportunity to partake in a variety of unforgettable leisure and tourism activities including riding on the greenway circling the lake, aquatic sports, canyon rafting, swimming in a natural outdoor swimming pool, lakeside camping, fishing and sampling of local food delicacies.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Nutritional High International Inc. (the "Company" or "Nutritional High") (CSE: EAT)(OTCQB: SPLIF)(FRANKFURT: 2NU), is pleased to report that it has received a license for its Illinois dispensary and held a successful open house at its dispensary in Effingham Illinois.

Receipt of Illinois Dispensary License

Nutritional High was advised by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation ("IDFPR") that it has received all required registration information and that its subsidiary NH Medicinal Dispensaries, LLC ("NHMD") is now licensed to operate the dispensary in Effingham, IL. The Company is in the process of registering its employees with IDFPR and expects to finalize the process by the end of August, upon which, The Clinic Effingham will commence its operations. The Clinic Effingham may now begin patient registrations and any qualifying Illinois residents who are interested in being registered should contact Kelley Esker at kesker@clinicillinois.com.

Nutritional High CEO Jim Frazier provided the following comments: "We are very proud of meeting this major milestone in the development of our business in Illinois and are pleased that we can start assisting patients in the area. We thank our partners and our new staff at The Clinic Effingham for their great effort in making The Clinic Effingham a reality, and we look forward to working with them to grow the business and provide top level service and product offerings to qualifying patients in Illinois."

The Clinic Effingham Open House

The Clinic Effingham held a successful open house on August 15th at its location in Effingham. Over 100 people turned out to the event to learn more about the Clinic and the benefits that medical cannabis can offer potential patients, with a chance to meet the management team, including the Clinic's general manager Zachary Yborra. Included among the attendees were members of local government and law enforcement officials. Pictures of the event have been posted on the Company's social media pages.

The Clinic Effingham will be working with eight different cultivators, which grows the flowers and manufactures extracts. The cultivator centers also manufactures gummies, capsules, cookies, brownies and other infused products.

The Clinic Effingham will hold three patient information seminars, where Clinic staff will answer questions about the Illinois medical cannabis program, receive patient information, learn about qualifying conditions and how medicinal cannabis can help qualifying patients. The patient information seminars will take place on Wednesday, August 24th at 4:00PM, Monday, August 29th at 10:00AM, and Wednesday, August 31st at 5:00PM, at The Clinic Effingham, located at 1011 Ford Avenue Suite C Effingham, IL.

About Nutritional High International Inc.

Nutritional High is focused on developing, manufacturing and distributing products and nationally recognized brands in the hemp and marijuana-infused products industries, including edibles and oil extracts for nutritional, medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively through licensed facilities in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law.

For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+.

About The Clinic Effingham

The Clinic Effingham represents a partnership between Ataraxia, GTI and Nutritional High. This partnership includes leading Illinois dispensary and cultivation operators with a track record of successfully serving patients and positively impacting the communities in which they operate.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include submission of the relevant documentation within the required timeframe and to the satisfaction of the relevant regulators, completing the acquisition of the applicable real estate and raising sufficient financing to complete the Company's business strategy. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.

Contacts:

Nutritional High International Inc.

Jim Frazier

CEO

321-516-7171

jfrazier@nutritionalhigh.com



Transcend Capital Inc.

Etienne Moshevich

Investor Relations

604-681-0084

et@transcendcapitalinc.com




NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Troymet Exploration Corp. (TSX VENTURE: TYE) ("Troymet" or the Company") reports it has finalized its 2016 diamond drill program for the Redhill project copper-gold-zinc-silver volcanogenic massive sulphide project in British Columbia.

The 1,000 metre drill program is expected to run from mid-September through October 2016. It will test a number of targets including:

-- A newly recognized and undrilled target type (chargeability anomalies potentially representing slumped/mechanically transported sulphides) - see News Release dated July 25, 2016. -- Selected, fixed-loop transient EM (FLTEM) conductors and associated copper and zinc soil anomalies. The mineralization in hole RH-06-25 (8.75% copper, 4.75% zinc, 1.22 g/t gold and 61.19 g/t silver over 2.04 m) is associated with a medium strength, 200 m long FLTEM conductor. -- Gold-in-soil anomalies underlain by diorite intrusive.

Troymet recently completed a confirmatory EM survey of hole RH06-25 on the VMS prospect utilizing the Volterra-EM and Volterra-BHEM systems of SJ Geophysics Ltd. The BHEM survey confirmed a significant off-hole response to the mineralization in the hole. Responses were seen at 30 Hertz indicating conductivities in the range of 100 - 200 Mhos. A potentially large body of mineralization is possible given the depth of the mineralization (approx. 215 m), its conductivity and nearby diamond drill results.

In-fill soil sampling of the approx. 900 m x approx. 250 m gold-in-soil anomaly has aided in selecting potential drill sites. Further hand trenching may be undertaken prior to drilling. Prospecting identified shearing with local quartz and quartz-carbonate veining along a magnetic low in a diorite intrusive. The gold-in-soil anomalies track this structure.

Qualified Persons

All technical data, as disclosed in this press release, has been verified by the Company's qualified persons Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo. and Ronald H. McMillan, Ph.D., P.Geo. Both are Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Troymet Exploration Corp.

Troymet Exploration Corp. is a junior exploration company with a solid treasury and with projects in British Columbia (Redhill and Golden Eagle), Manitoba (McClarty Lake) and Utah (Wildcat). Troymet operates the Wildcat, Redhill and Golden Eagle projects. Hudbay Minerals Inc. is the operator of the McClarty Lake joint venture and must contribute $1,151,052 in joint venture expenditures before Troymet is required to fund its participating interest. Troymet retains a 2% net smelter returns royalty (NSR) on the Key property, British Columbia, which was sold to New Gold Inc. in 2013.

TROYMET EXPLORATION CORP.

Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo., President, CEO & Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in respect of: the Redhill Project, including the possible exploration and development of the Redhill Project; the exploration potential and analogous deposit potential of the Redhill Project; future data analysis, sampling plans and exploration plans on the Redhill Project; the timing for exploration and drilling on the Redhill Project; exploration targets and the potential of such exploration targets; and the ability and the timeframe within which the Redhill Project can be advanced. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information reflects Troymet's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Troymet and on assumptions Troymet believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the current share price of Troymet's common shares and the ability to raise future equity financing, if needed, at prices acceptable to Troymet; Troymet's current and initial understanding and analysis of the Redhill Project; the ability of Troymet to discover viable exploration targets and the results of exploration on the Redhill Project; the cost of exploration, including sampling and drilling, on the Redhill Project; Troymet's general and administrative costs remaining constant; and the market acceptance of Troymet's business strategy.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Troymet to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the early stage development of Troymet and its projects, and in particular, the Redhill Project; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; capital market conditions and market prices for securities, junior market securities and mining exploration company securities; commodity prices; the actual results of current exploration and development or operational activities; competition; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents and other risks inherent in the mining industry; lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting Troymet; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. A description of other assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of other risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Troymet's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Troymet does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Troymet Exploration Corp.

Investor Relations

250-729-0453

info@troymet.com

www.troymet.com




ST. ALBERT, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Enterprise Group, Inc. ("Enterprise," or "the Company") (TSX: E) is pleased to provide an update on its business following the sale of substantially all of the assets of its utility construction business unit, T.C. Backhoe & Directional Drilling ("TCB"). The Company completed this transaction on July 7, 2016.

Gross proceeds from this transaction were approximately $20.3 million, subject to post-closing adjustments, including payment of $3.4 million of working capital. The net book value of TCB's capital assets was approximately $13.3 million. The gross proceeds were subsequently deployed against Enterprise's debt, resulting in a considerable improvement of the Company's financial position.

The sale of TCB will also create considerable improvements within Enterprise's cost structure. As a result of the sale and the subsequent reduction of total debt, the Company anticipates that it will retire $275,000 in monthly lease obligations, and reduce its monthly interest payments by $100,000 resulting in total annual reductions of $4.5 million. TCB also required annual insurance payment allocations equivalent to more than 20% of the Company's total insurance costs in 2015. Post transaction, Enterprise's capital assets total approximately $70 million.

"We are confident that this sale has helped to align Enterprise's business units with the company's larger strategy," stated Leonard Jaroszuk, the Company's Chief Executive Officer. "Since its acquisition in 2007, TCB served as a valuable contributor to Enterprise's overall operations. However, TCB not only generated a much lower operating margin than our other business units, but also retained the greatest number of employees. This created a risk profile that exceeded those of our other business units, within a segment that is experiencing greater competition and a commensurate narrowing of margins. As a result, we anticipate that the sale of this business will have little impact on Enterprise's earnings potential, while significantly improving our debt profile. Our offerings are now ideally suited to our clients' needs, and we look forward to taking advantage of the opportunities that will arise as a result of this agility."

About Enterprise Group, Inc.

Enterprise Group, Inc. is a consolidator of construction services companies operating in the energy, utility and transportation infrastructure industries. The Company's focus is primarily construction services and specialized equipment rental. The Company's strategy is to acquire complementary service companies in Western Canada, consolidating capital, management, and human resources to support continued growth. More information is available at the Company's website, www.enterprisegrp.ca - also, today's filings can be found on www.sedar.com

Forward Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. The Company's Annual Information Form and other documents filed with securities regulatory authorities (accessible through the SEDAR website www.sedar.com) describe the risks, material assumptions and other factors that could influence actual results and which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Enterprise Group, Inc.

Leonard Jaroszuk

President & CEO



Enterprise Group, Inc.

Desmond O'Kell

Senior Vice-President

780-418-4400




DUBLIN, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "North Africa Air Conditioner Market (2016-2022)" report to their offering.



North Africa's Air Conditioner Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.55% during 2016-2022

North Africa region is emerging as a key potential region in Middle-East & North Africa (MENA) air conditioners market. Key factors that have led for the growth of market includes rising public & private investments, growing infrastructure along with increasing population and rising disposable income.



During 2010-15, most of the North African countries such as Egypt, Libya, Sudan & Sudan have witnessed weak economic conditions due to internal social and civil unrest, plunging oil price, continuous depreciation in currency and insufficient investments. As a result, construction industry faced challenges, which affected the market growth of air conditioner market.



Demand for air conditioners in the coming years would be recorded from residential and commercial markets. In 2015, Egypt has contributed the major revenue and volume share followed by Algeria and others.



In North Africa air conditioner market, mini-split segment has dominated the overall market and is expected to maintain market dominance through the forecast period. Amongst all end users, residential acquired largest revenue share in all the North African countries.



The report thoroughly covers the air conditioners market by AC types, applications and countries. The report provides the unbiased and detailed analysis of the on-going trends, opportunities/high growth areas, market drivers, which would help the stakeholders to decide and align their market strategies according to the current and future market dynamics.



Key Highlights of the Report



- Historical & Forecast data of North Africa Air Conditioner Market Revenues for the Period 2010-2022F.

- Historical & Forecast data of Egypt Air Conditioner Market Revenue for the Period 2010-2022F.

- Historical & Forecast data of Algeria Air Conditioner Market Revenue for the Period 2010-2022F.

- Historical & Forecast data of Morocco & Western Sahara Air Conditioner Market Revenue for the Period 2010-2022F.

- Historical & Forecast data of Sudan & South Sudan Air Conditioner Market Revenue for the Period 2010-2022F.

- Historical & Forecast data of Libya Air Conditioner Market Revenue for the Period 2010-2022F.

- Historical & Forecast data of Tunisia Air Conditioner Market Revenue for the Period 2010-2022F.



Markets Covered



The report provides the detailed analysis of the following market segments:

- Type of air conditioners:

-- Room

--- Window AC

--- Spilt AC

-- Ductless

--- Floor Standing

--- Cassette Type

--- Suspended Type

-- Ducted

--- Packaged

--- Ceiling Concealed

-- Centralized Air Conditioner

--- Chilling Unit

---- Chiller

---- VRF/ Condensing Unit

--- AHU/FCU

--- Others (pipe, valves, ducts, dampers, diffusers)

- End Users:

-- Residential

-- Hospitality

-- Commercial Buildings & Retail

-- Oil & Gas

-- Healthcare

-- Government & Transportation

-- Others



Companies Mentioned



- Carrier Corporation

- Daikin Industries, Ltd.

- GREE Electric Appliances Inc.

- Hitachi Ltd.

- Johnson Controls, Inc.

- LG Electronic Inc.

- Midea Group Co. Ltd.

- Panasonic Corporation

- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

- Sharp Corporation

- Trane Inc.

- Zamil Air Conditioners Holding Co. Ltd.



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/42x3r9/north_africa_air



Related Topics: Household Appliances, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning)

Also Available



GCC Air Conditioner Market (2016-2022)



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
DUBLIN, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Saudi Arabia Refrigerators Market By Type (Top Mounted Freezer Refrigerators, Single Door Refrigerators, etc.), By Capacity (Less than 300L, 301L - 600L, and Above 601L), By Sales Channel, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021" report to their offering.

The refrigerators market in Saudi Arabia is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 7.5% during 2016 - 2021.

Saudi Arabia faces extreme climatic conditions, with temperature often shooting to 50C during peak summers. Consequently, a refrigerator is more of a necessity product in the Kingdom.

On account of growing number of households and increasing disposable income, demand for refrigerators has been growing in the country at a robust pace over the last few years. Moreover, in order to bring down the soaring electricity consumption in the Kingdom, the Government of Saudi Arabia has made it mandatory for refrigerator companies to sell energy efficient refrigerators with 3 & above star ratings. This move is expected to have a positive impact on Saudi Arabia's refrigerator market in the coming years.

The market has been broadly segmented into four categories, namely, top mounted freezer refrigerators, single door refrigerators, side-by-side refrigerators & French door bottom-freezer refrigerators. Among these categories, the top mounted freezer refrigerators segment dominated the overall Saudi Arabia refrigerators market in 2015, and the segment is anticipated to maintain its dominance over the next five years as well. In addition to being highly energy efficient, the top mounted freezer refrigerators acquire less space and comparatively offer large storage space in various compartments.

Few of the leading players operating in Saudi Arabia refrigerators market include Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hitachi.

Saudi Arabia Refrigerators Market 2011 - 2021 discusses the following aspects

- Saudi Arabia Refrigerators Market Size, Share & Forecast

- Segmental Analysis - By Type (Top Mounted Freezer Refrigerators, Single Door Refrigerators, Side-by-Side Refrigerators & French Door Bottom-Freezer Refrigerators), By Capacity (Less than 300L, 301L - 600L & 601L & Above), By Sales Channel (Retail Stores, Exclusive Showrooms & Online Channel), By End Use Sector (Residential & Commercial)

- Policy & Regulatory Landscape

- Changing Market Trends & Emerging Opportunities

- Competitive Landscape & Strategic Recommendations

Key Topics Covered:

1. Research Methodology

2. Product Overview

3. Analyst View

4. Global Refrigerators Market Overview

5. Saudi Arabia Refrigerators Market Outlook

6. Saudi Arabia Refrigerators Market Segmental Analysis

7. Market Dynamics

8. Market Trends & Developments

9. Policy & Regulatory Landscape

10. Trade Dynamics

11. Saudi Arabia Economic Profile

12. Competitive Landscape

13. Strategic Recommendations

Companies Mentioned

- Gibson International

- Haier KSA

- Hamad A. Alessa & Sons Co. (HAASCO)

- Hisense International Co. Ltd.

- Hitachi Saudi Arabia Ltd.

- LG Electronics Inc.

- Samsung Saudi Arabia

- TCL Home Appliances (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.

- Toshiba Gulf FZE

- Whirlpool MEEA JLT

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ttc9kd/saudi_arabia

Related Topics: Household Appliances

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
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- NGINX, Inc., the engine delivering sites and applications for the modern web, today announced the availability of NGINX Plus Release 10 (R10), the latest release of its application delivery platform, and most significant release to date. NGINX Plus extends open source NGINX with advanced features and award-winning support for an enterprise ready solution. Today's updates to NGINX Plus offer even more capabilities that enterprises need to flawlessly deliver and secure both legacy applications, as well as modern, microservices-based applications built in the cloud.

The most notable new feature in NGINX Plus R10 is a Web Application Firewall (WAF) powered by ModSecurity and fully supported by NGINX. According to the latest State of the Internet - Security report by Akamai, the volume of attacks happening against web applications is continuously rising, with a 26% increase in attacks in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the final quarter of 2015. NGINX Plus with ModSecurity WAF helps secure applications and data from a broad range of attacks. In this current climate, a WAF is a must-have for any mission-critical web application.

"In today's digital environment, a security breach is incredibly costly for any organization -- both in lost revenue and damaged reputation. Consumers expect organizations to keep their information safe, and simply cannot allow themselves to be susceptible to major security incidents," said Gus Robertson, CEO of NGINX, Inc. "With Web Application Firewall support and added security features in NGINX Plus we are providing additional tools to help customers keep their applications and data protected."

Other key new features in NGINX Plus R10 include:

Further security capabilities: In addition to the new WAF, the security capabilities of NGINX Plus have been further enhanced with the addition of support for JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and support for dual stack ECC-RSA certificates. The inclusion of native JWT support in NGINX Plus reduces complexity for application administrators by offloading authentication operations to NGINX Plus. Support for dual stack ECC-RSA certificates enables companies to improve performance by up to 5x with ECC certificates while maintaining backwards compatibility with older devices.





Support for IP Transparency and DSR load balancing: In order to support a broader range of enterprise applications and deployments, NGINX Plus R10 adds in support for IP Transparency and Direct Server Return (DSR) load balancing. With IP Transparency the original client IP Address is passed to the backend service, which is mandatory for a large number of enterprise applications. With DSR load balancing, NGINX Plus will make the initial load balancing decision, after which the server will respond directly to the client. DSR is useful for latency sensitive and real time applications since having the server respond directly to the client reduces overall response time.





nginScript support: nginScript will form the next-generation configuration and control language for NGINX, giving users deep and fine-grained control over how their applications are delivered and secured. In this preview release, the nginScript module allows users to control HTTP, TCP, and UDP traffic, generating responses and making precise decisions to route requests to the optimal servers.





The NGINX Plus WAF, using the popular ModSecurity module, is available now to NGINX Plus customers in the NGINX dynamic modules repository.

To learn more about NGINX Plus R10, please visit: https://www.nginx.com/blog/nginx-plus-r10-released/

To learn more about open source NGINX and the added benefits of NGINX Plus, visit: https://www.nginx.com/products/feature-matrix/

Current and prospective NGINX users can also learn more about NGINX Plus R10 and other NGINX solutions at this year's annual user conference, nginx.conf 2016, taking place September 7-9 in Austin, Texas. To register, visit: https://www.nginx.com/nginxconf/

About NGINX, Inc.

NGINX is the heart of the modern web -- helping the world's most innovative companies deliver their sites and applications with performance, reliability, security, and scale. The company offers an award-winning, comprehensive application delivery platform in use on more than 160 million sites worldwide. Companies around the world rely on NGINX to ensure flawless digital experiences through features such as advanced load balancing, web and mobile acceleration, security controls, application monitoring, and management. More than half of the Internet's busiest websites rely on NGINX, including Airbnb, Box, Instagram, Netflix, Pinterest, SoundCloud, and Zappos. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Moscow and London. Learn more at https://www.nginx.com/

Press Contact:

Chad Torbin

Email Contact

415.548.6536




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Select Sands Corp. ("Select Sands" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SNS)(OTC: CLICF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement (APA) whereby Select Sands will buy certain assets of Tutle Holdings. The assets to be acquired include a permitted and producing wet processing plant, equipment and related assets, all nearby its Sandtown silica sands deposit in Arkansas, USA.

In consideration of the sale and transfer of the assets, Select Sands will pay Tutle US $475,000 in cash and US $75,000 in Select Sands common shares for a total purchase price of US $550,000. The number of common shares will be calculated by dividing US $75,000 by the 20-day volume weighted average price of Select Sands' common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange with Canadian dollars converted to U.S. dollars at the noon rate of Exchange for Cdn/U.S. dollars on the closing date as posted on the Bank of Canada's website.

Completion of the transaction is subject to receipt of the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

In June 2015, Tetra Tech completed a mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment (PEA) report which concluded the initial capital cost for a processing facility to produce Tier 1 sand from the Sandtown deposit was estimated to be US $42.3MM, of which the wet processing plant costs were estimated to be US $11.47MM.

Tutle Holdings, (Tutle & Tutle Trucking), who owns the plant, is the largest frac sand trucking company in the United States providing "last mile trucking" to the wellhead in all major oil and gas markets in the United States. Paul Tutle, CEO of Tutle Holdings comments: "We are pleased to complete this initial transaction with Select Sands and to take a small equity position in the company. We expect the company will quickly become a player in the market and look forward to working with Select Sands in the future."

Select Sands President & CEO Rasool Mohammad commented: "This acquisition is expected to lower production costs of our 40/70 and 100 mesh silica sand products and better position the Company to service the growing demand in the oil and gas markets. We are very pleased to be working with Tutle, a well-respected company, which is additionally positioned to benefit from marketing and growing our customer base for our tier 1 Northern White silica sand products."

The wet processing plant is currently being contracted by Select Sands to produce Northern White 40/70 and 100 mesh silica sand products with daily capacity of 1,500 tons per day. The wet processing plant includes feed hopper, conveyor, classifiers, cyclones, and control building and is optimized to increase its daily capacity at minimal cost as needed.

Select Sands continues to seek additional opportunities in the region to secure strategic assets that will continue to optimize production and capture the intrinsic value of the Sandtown deposit for its shareholders.

Mark Horan, P.Eng. of Tetra Tech, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this News Release.

About Select Sands Corp.

Select Sands' Sandtown property, located in northeast Arkansas, USA, is underlain by the Ordovician St. Peter sandstone formation, which is a major source of 'Ottawa White' Tier-1 frac sand/industrial sand selling into major US oil and gas basins as well as industrial and specialty end markets. The Sandtown property is located 3.1 miles from Highway 167 near a natural gas pipeline. The property has an active power line on the property and is located approximately 14.7 miles from the nearest rail system (see Select Sands December 4, 2014 News Release). Compared to competitive sand mines located in Wisconsin owned by the largest US frac sand producers, Sandtown has a competitive location advantage as it is approximately 650 rail miles closer to the Texas/Louisiana oil/gas plays as well as the Houston port and industrial hub.

As per the June 2015 PEA report by Tetra Tech of Golden, Colorado, USA and Vancouver, BC, Canada, the Sandtown property has a pre-tax net present value of US $160 million and a post-tax net present value of US$92 million. The PEA was completed on a portion of the current silica sand mineral resources (see the Select Sands' June 10, 2015 News Release). Select Sands would like to remind investors that mineral resources for the Sandtown Property are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability and there is no certainty that this PEA will be realized. Subsequent to the completion of the 2015 PEA, Select Sands announced an updated mineral resource estimate for the Sandtown property totaling 41.98 Million Tons of Indicated silica sand mineral resources (see the Select Sands February 10, 2016 news release).

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. Such statements include statements regarding the ability to satisfy the conditions necessary to complete the proposed transaction and statements regarding the targets and future exploration on the Company's properties. Information and statements which are not purely historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information and statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information and statements herein. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking information and statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such information and statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking information and statements. Any forward-looking information and statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward looking information and statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

For more information about Select Sands Corp., please visit www.selectsandscorp.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.

Contacts:

Select Sands Corp.

Rasool Mohammad, B.Sc. (Mining)

President & CEO

(604) 639-4533



Investor Relations:

Arlen Hansen

(604) 684-6730

SNS@kincommunications.com




SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - August 23, 2016) - Maxta Inc., a leading provider of software-based hyperconvergence, today announced the addition of two well-known storage industry executives and has promoted a company veteran to expand and further strengthen its leadership team. The company also announced it has moved to new, larger quarters in Santa Clara, California.

Joining the Maxta executive ranks are Herb Schneider, Mitch Seigle and Kiran Sreenivasamurthy, who will respectively lead the company's engineering, marketing and product management teams. The three new vice presidents will report to Maxta founder and chief executive Yoram Novick and work closely with Andrew Perry, senior vice president of sales, and Jim Fitzgerald, vice president of business development and OEM sales.

Schneider, a successful serial entrepreneur, has more than 25 years of leadership experience in systems hardware and software engineering, delivering complex systems and software solutions for enterprise flash storage, enterprise networking and OpenStack-based clouds. Prior to joining Maxta, he served as executive vice president of engineering at Nebula, a provider of cloud software for enterprise customers. Schneider also co-founded GridIron Systems, a private maker of flash-based application acceleration appliances and served as co-founder and vice president of Extreme Networks, a publicly-held provider of enterprise and carrier-grade networking equipment. He holds several patents in data networking and security, and earned a BSEE from the University of California at Davis.

Seigle brings more than 20 years of industry marketing experience to Maxta, garnered at leading storage hardware and software companies where he held progressively responsible management and executive roles in product marketing and management, corporate communications, corporate marketing and investor relations. Before joining Maxta, he was vice president of marketing and product management for Syncsort, a provider of big data integration tools and storage backup and recovery software. His prior leadership experience includes serving as vice president of corporate marketing for LSI, a maker of storage silicon, systems and software and as senior director of corporate marketing for Engenio Information Technologies, a leading provider of storage arrays and software to server and storage OEMs.

Sreenivasamurthy, who joined Maxta in 2013, has successfully led the company's product management and product marketing efforts through its critical early stages of development, culminating in bringing to market award-winning Maxta MxSP hyperconvergence software and MaxDeploy appliances. His previous roles include serving as lead software product manager for Hewlett-Packard 3PAR storage and product manager for Mendocino Software, a maker of continuous data protection software. Additionally, he held various technical marketing, planning and engineering positions with NetApp, NetIQ and Taos Mountain. Sreenivasamurthy holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Mysore, a master's degree in computer science from Pace University, and an MBA in marketing and entrepreneurship from Santa Clara University.

"A business is only as good as its people and with the expansion of our leadership bench I can honestly say that Maxta is well positioned to be a great business," said Novick. "Herb and Mitch are formidable additions to the Maxta team thanks to their industry knowledge and experience and Kiran has proved himself many times over in his previous role at Maxta. With the talent these executives bring to the team, I am convinced we will continue to succeed in delivering to enterprises of all sizes a superior hyperconverged infrastructure with unmatched simplicity, agility and cost savings."

The company's new principal offices are located at 2350 Mission College Boulevard, Suite 703, in Santa Clara, California. For contact information and directions, please visit www.maxta.com/contact.

Maxta is currently hiring for positions worldwide. For more information about employment opportunities, please visit www.maxta.com/careers.

About Maxta

Maxta is redefining enterprise IT infrastructure through a groundbreaking approach to hyperconvergence that dramatically simplifies operation while delivering much greater agility and cost savings. Our award-winning MxSP software and MaxDeploy appliances offer unparalleled freedom of choice in servers, storage devices and server virtualization platforms, while eliminating the need for complex and costly storage arrays. For more information, visit us at www.maxta.com or follow us on Twitter @MaxtaInc and LinkedIn.

Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/8/22/11G111426/Announcement_Preview-9e594c173cc4993da169b0e9a63f4190.pdf

MEDIA CONTACT:

Judy Smith

JPR Communications

818-798-1475

judys@jprcom.com
Opponents of a major oil pipeline that would cross the Missouri River a half-mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation plan to march Tuesday, Aug. 23, across a bridge over the river between Bismarck and Mandan in solidarity with protesters camped out at the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site near Cannon Ball.

The Standing Rock Water Protectors and allies will march peacefully across the Veterans Memorial Bridge at 2 p.m. and will later attend the Morton County Commission meeting at 5:30 p.m. in Mandan to provide public comment on the countys emergency declaration, a news release stated.

Meanwhile, film actress Shailene Woodley, who has been involved with the months-long pipeline protest, will headline a solidarity rally at 1 p.m. Wednesday outside U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with a hearing on the tribes request for an injunction to halt construction of the 1,172-mile pipeline. Actress Susan Sarandon also will speak at the Washington rally, a news release stated.

The tribe, represented by the environmental law group Earthjustice, sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month over permits issued for the nearly $3.8 billion pipeline, which will be the largest oil pipeline from western North Dakotas Bakken oil fields, moving 450,000 barrels per day from Stanley to Patoka, Ill. Standing Rock members oppose the Missouri River crossing, fearing a pipeline leak would contaminate their water supply and other sacred sites.

An estimated 2,000 or more protesters are camped out south of the construction site along Highway 1806 about 45 miles southeast of Mandan. Dakota Access LLC temporarily stopped work at the site last week as protests ramped up, leading to 29 arrests for trespassing or disorderly conduct, but pipeline construction continues elsewhere along the four-state route.
SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- CFN Media Group, the leading creative agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, published an article examining Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s (OTC PINK: MJNA) pioneering efforts throughout Latin America in getting approvals for medical use of cannabidiol (CBD).

Medical Marijuana, Inc. has successfully achieved licenses to import its RSHO cannabidiol oil into numerous Latin American countries, but many would-be consumers still don't fully understand how the product differs from marijuana. In an open letter, the Company's CEO Dr. Stuart Titus attempted to eliminate the confusion surrounding hemp-derived CBD -- including its own RSHO product line -- and explain its potential benefits.

In this article, CannabisFN.com takes a closer look at the letter to Brazilians and what the sentiments mean for Brazil and Latin America moving forward. Here is a link: http://www.cannabisfn.com/dr-stuart-titus-clarifies-medical-cannabis-policy-letter-brazilians/

Learn how to become a CFN Media featured company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/

Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from your smart phone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8

Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com

About CFN Media

CFN Media (CannabisFN) is the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis. We help marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the US and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed.

About Medical Marijuana Inc.

Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally friendly, economically sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com.

To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s video statement, click here.

Shareholders are also encouraged to visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. Shop for discounted products.

CFN Media

Frank Lane

206-369-7050

flane@cannabisfn.com




GRAND ISLAND, NE -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- The Company expects that the upcoming first quarter May 31, 2016 Form10Q filing should address the removal of the "yellow flag" placed on the Company's stock symbol by the OTC. It's anticipated that all securities notices indicating that the Company is not in good standing will then be removed in the normal timing course of such companies that again achieve full reporting compliance.

SNSGF is a fully-reporting entity.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016, Sense Technologies, Inc. released their Fiscal February, 2016 financials. See: http://www.otcmarkets.com/edgar/GetFilingPdf?FilingID=11546895

Sense Technologies 2016 Fiscal year highlights include: Gross Sales increase of 113% over prior year, a 65% reduction in direct Cost of Sales, and a dramatic $375,000 increase in Gross Profit yielding a gross profit margin of 64.8%.

About Sense Technologies, Inc.

Sense Technologies, Inc. http://SenseTech.com develops and markets backing awareness products for safety and is in the process of acquiring Scribner Natural Products www.ScribnerSoybean.com.

About Scribner Natural Products

Scribner Natural Products is an industrial food and feed products company in Scribner, Nebraska, where it operates a soybean crushing mill, along with interest in a Trucking, Logistics and Consulting company. Learn more about Scribner Natural Products from an interview with Michael Yorba segment 1 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d6GH7RIAU and, segment 2 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgRE_ykvGo4

See the Public Wire report here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDFX2LrKVx8

"We believe we are very near completion of our due diligence process, and see no impediments at this point to reaching a successful conclusion. We are on a fast track because it is in our shareholders' interest to commence the profit potential just as soon as we can," said Bruce Schreiner, Sense Technologies, Inc.'s President. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sense-technologies-inc-provides-further-130100187.html

Forward Looking-Statement

This press release consists of 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. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. In particular, there is no assurance that the parties will reach a definitive agreement for the proposed transaction or that the transaction will be completed. Additionally, no assurance can be provided that the terms of any transaction will be similar to those contemplated by the Letter of Intent. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact Sense Technologies Inc.

Website: http://www.sensetech.com/

Phone: (308) 381-1355

Email: info@sensetech.com




HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- OFS Portal announced today that it has surpassed its 250th Operator Agreement; White Rock Oil & Gas LLC, Lime Rock Resources Operating Company, MRC Global (US), RSP Permian LLC, Memorial Production Operating LLC, and Fleur de Lis Energy LLC each signed the OFS Portal Electronic Data Agreement, increasing the number of operators in the community to 256. Petrobids became the 33rd approved network in the OFS Portal community by signing the RFx agreement.

"The growth in operators in the OFS Portal community directly correlates with the pressure to cut costs during this prolonged downturn in oil prices," said Chris Welsh, CEO, OFS Portal. "Increasing business efficiencies through a successful eCommerce deployment extends beyond just the operators. Suppliers are also looking into eCommerce as a primary way of cutting costs. We are leading the way in eCommerce adoption by providing OFS Portal Supplier Connect, an oil & gas Order to Cash solution."

The OFS Portal community implements global standards and industry best practices to reduce supply chain costs.

Key aspects of the OFS Portal agreement include the preservation of data ownership, confidentiality and the use of open and non-proprietary standards. Providing consistent and reliable protection of electronic data helps accelerate adoption of electronic commerce and thus helps more operators and suppliers achieve costs savings through electronic commerce.

Suppliers in the oil & gas sector who are interested in taking advantage of the cost-cutting benefits of these supply chain improvements can contact OFS Portal at 832-681-7300 or learn more at www.ofs-portal.com.

Current OFS Portal members include: Baker Hughes, GE Oil & Gas, Halliburton, Schlumberger Oilfield Services, Select Energy Services, and Weatherford International.

CONTACT:

Yvonne Pham

Marketing Manager

Phone: 832.681.7315




SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Western Economic Diversification Canada

Indigenous Canadians are taking their place on the world stage as they invite an international audience to the heart of Canada, promoting business development and increasing awareness of Indigenous Canadian communities. The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, announced funding of $57,000 to support the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute (ILDI) in delivering the 2016 World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) in Saskatoon.

Up to 1,000 delegates at this year's WIBF will make important connections that aim towards enhancing economic, employment and training opportunities for Indigenous peoples. Attendees will also learn more about regional and national Indigenous Canadian cultures, and will join with local citizens at the Saskatchewan World Indigenous Festival of the Arts, a showcase of local and international Indigenous talent.

Quotes

"Indigenous Canadians represent the fastest-growing segment of the Canadian population and are an important part of Canada's economic prosperity. The Government of Canada is committed to investing in opportunities for Indigenous people to help secure a better quality of life for their communities and build a stronger, more unified and prosperous Canada."

-- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada

"The World Indigenous Business Forum 2016 is an opportunity for leaders and entrepreneurs to connect and share business experiences, ideas and initiatives. Delegates will engage with other Senior Executives, Directors and Managers from global sectors"

-- Barb Hambleton, Vice-President, Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc. and Director, World Indigenous Business Forum.

Additional Links

World Indigenous Business Forum

Indigenous Leadership Development Institute

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter: @MinisterISED, @WD_Canada, @WIBF_ILDII, WD Homepage

IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL.

Contacts:

Rhonda Shymko

A/Director, Policy, Planning and External Relations

Western Economic Diversification Canada

306-716-1901

rhonda.shymko@canada.ca



Barb Hambleton

Vice-President

Indigenous Leadership Development Institute Inc.

204-940-1700

barbhambleton@ildii.ca



WD Toll-Free Number: 1-888-338-WEST (9378)

TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired):

1-877-303-3388




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Augusta Industries Inc. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: AAO) today released its financial results for the six months ending June 30, 2016. For the period ending June 30, 2016, the Corporation had record revenues of $1,818,000, an increase of $800,000 or 82% as compared to the six months ending June 30, 2015.

"We are extremely pleased as to how the first part of 2016 has unfolded," said Allen Lone, President of the Corporation. "The results for the first two quarters of 2016 is an indication of the success that the Corporation has experienced in its sales efforts in 2015 and the first part of 2016. The results are a true reflection of the Corporation's efforts to increase its sales, decrease costs and focus on a growing market."

Other highlights:

-- Net income for the six months ending June 30, 2016 was $149,000 or a net gain of $0.001 per share, an increase of $627,000 or $0.002 per share, as compared to a loss of $478,000 or $0.003 per share for the six months ending June 30, 2015. -- Gross profit for the six months ending June 30, 2016 was $692,000 (38.1%) compared to $305,000 (30.06%) for the six months ending June 30, 2015. The Corporation also reduced its operating expenses in the six months ending June 30, 2016 to $541,000 from $617,000 for the same period in 2015.

Consolidated Financial Highlights

June 30, 2016 December 31, 2015 ------------------------------------- Total current assets $ 1,200,000 $ 911,000 Total non-current assets 49,000 56,000 ------------------------------------- Total Assets $ 1,249,000 $ 967,000 ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Current liabilities $ 1,016,000 $ 866,000 Long-term debt 40,000 50,000 ------------------------------------- Total Liabilities 1,056,000 916,000 ------------------------------------- Total Shareholders' Equity 193,000 51,000 ------------------------------------- Total Liabilities & Shareholders' Equity $ 1,249,000 $ 967,000 ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- 6 months ended 6 months ended June 30, 2016 June 30, 2015 ------------------------------------- Revenue $ 1,818,000 $ 1,018,000 Cost of sales (1,126,000) (713,000) ------------------------------------- Gross profit 692,000 305.000 ------------------------------------- Expenses Research and development 74,000 106,000 Selling 19,000 22,000 General and administrative 448,000 489,000 ------------------------------------- Total operating expenses 541,000 617,000 ------------------------------------- Earnings from operations 151,000 (312,000) Other expenses Finance expense, foreign exchange and loss on investments 4,000 (166,000) ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Net income (loss) for the period before taxes 155,000 (478,000) Income taxes (6,000) - ------------------------------------- Net income (loss) for the period $ 149,000 $ (478,000) ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Earnings (loss) per share: $ 0.001 $ (0.002) Basic and diluted -------------------------------------

The financial statements, notes to the financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ending June 30, 2016 are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About the Corporation:

Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Marcon International Inc. ("Marcon") and Fox-Tek Canada Inc. ("Fox-Tek"), the Corporation provides a variety of services and products to a number of clients.

Marcon is an industrial supply contractor servicing the energy sector and a number of US Government entities. Marcon's principal business is the sale and distribution of industrial parts and equipment (Electrical, mechanical and Instrumentation.) In addition to departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, Marcon's major clients include Saudi Arabia-Sabic Services (Refining and Petrochemical), Bahrain National Gas Co, Bahrain Petroleum, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Qatar Petrochemical, Gulf of Suez Petroleum, Agiba Petroleum and Burullus Gas Co.

Fox Tek develops non-intrusive asset health monitoring sensor systems for the oil and gas market to help operators track the thinning of pipelines and refinery vessels due to corrosion/erosion, strain due to bending/buckling and process pressure and temperature. The Corporation's FT fiber optic sensor and corrosion monitoring systems allow cost-effective, 24/7 remote monitoring capabilities to improve scheduled maintenance operations, avoid unnecessary shutdowns, and prevent accidents and leaks.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimates of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are detailed from time to time in the Corporation's periodic reports filed with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. The Corporation has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

Augusta Industries Inc.

Allen Lone

President, CEO

(905) 275 -8111 ext. 226

atlone@fox-tek.com




BELLINGHAM, WA--(Marketwired - August 23, 2016) - Fundamental Research Corp., an independent research firm specializing in the small-cap and microcap sectors, has announced that it has updated its analysis of eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI). To the view the updated research report in its entirety visit http://www.otcmarkets.com/financialReportViewer'symbol=EXPI&id=159381.

eXp World Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for a number of entities including eXp Realty, the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage and First Cloud Mortgage, Inc. The Company's real estate brokerage operations now has more than 1,600 real estate professionals who span across 41 states, the District of Columbia and parts of Canada.

In the report, Fundamental Research Corp., which initiated coverage of eXp World Holdings, Inc. back in April of this year, cites the Company's record second quarter revenues and healthy balance sheet and the addition of 2 strong independent board members as well as adding to the company's Executive team among the reasons for its upward revisions.

All research issued by Fundamental Research Corp. is based on public information. Fees were paid by EXPI to FRC. The purpose of the fee is to subsidize the high costs of research and monitoring. FRC takes steps to ensure independence including setting fees in advance and utilizing analysts who must abide by CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. Additionally, analysts may not trade in any security under coverage. Our full editorial control of all research, timing of release of the reports, and release of liability for negative reports are protected contractually. To further ensure independence, EXPI has agreed to a minimum coverage term including four reports.

About eXp World Holdings, Inc.

eXp World Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for a number of companies most notably eXp Realty LLC, the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage as a full-service real estate brokerage providing 24/7 access to collaborative tools, training, and socialization for real estate brokers and agents through its 3-D, fully-immersive, cloud office environment. eXp Realty, LLC and eXp Realty of Canada, Inc. also feature an aggressive revenue sharing program that pays agents a percentage of gross commission income earned by fellow real estate professionals who they attract into the Company.

eXp World Holdings, Inc. also owns 89.4% of First Cloud Mortgage, Inc. a Delaware corporation launched in 2015 and now licensed to originate mortgages in Arizona, California, Virginia and New Mexico. First Cloud Mortgage has positioned itself as a Planet Friendly Mortgage Company via the purchase of carbon offsets for homeowners offsetting the first year of the Carbon Footprint of the typical home on each mortgage originated through First Cloud Mortgage, Inc.

As a publicly-traded company, eXp World Holdings, Inc. uniquely offers professionals within its ranks opportunities to earn equity awards for production and contributions to overall company growth.

For more information you can follow eXp World Holdings, Inc. on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, or visit eXpWorldHoldings.com. For eXp Realty please visit: eXpRealty.com and for First Cloud Mortgage, Inc. check out FirstCloudMortgage.com.

The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update them. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company's expansion, revenue growth, operating results, financial performance and net income changes. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in forward-looking statements include changes in business or other market conditions; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Investor Relations Contact Information:

Glenn Sanford

Chairman & CEO

eXp World Holdings, Inc.

glenn@expworldholdings.com

360-389-2426



Contact:

Sid Rajeev, CFA

www.researchfrc.com

Direct: 604-682-7065
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Donald Trump has called for the appointment of independent special prosecutors to probe allegations of corruptions against Hillary Clinton while she was the US secretary of state. The Republican presidential candidate demanded the investigation at an election rally in Ohio Monday. He alleged that Clinton Foundation accepted large payments from major corporations and wealthy individuals- foreign and domestic- while she was Secretary of State. The Clinton Foundation accepted as much as $60 million from Middle Eastern countries, according to Trump. He accused the Clintons of making the State Department into 'the same kind of Pay-to-Play operations as the Arkansas Government was: pay the Clinton Foundation huge sums of money and throw in some big speaking fees for Bill Clinton and you got to play with the State Department.' The septuagenarian said he is calling for investigation by a Special Prosecutor because the FBI and Department of Justice, which 'whitewashed' the Clinton email scam, cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate the corruption allegations. Trump insisted that the Justice Department is required to appoint an independent Special Prosecutor because it has proven itself to be a political arm of the White House. 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.
MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Major Drilling Group International Inc. (TSX: MDI) (the "Company") today reported that it will release its first quarter results, ended July 31, 2016, on Tuesday, September 6, 2016 after the markets have closed.

Webcast/Conference Call Details

Denis Larocque, President & Chief Executive Officer, and David Balser, Chief Financial Officer, invite you to participate in a webcast/conference call on Wednesday, September 7, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern to discuss the Company's first quarter results for fiscal 2017.

To access the webcast, which includes a slide presentation, please go to the investors/webcasts section of the Major Drilling website at www.majordrilling.com and click on the link. Please note that this is listen-only mode.

To participate in the conference call please dial 416-340-2216 and ask for Major Drilling's first quarter results conference call. To ensure your participation, please call in approximately five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call.

For those unable to participate, a taped rebroadcast will be available approximately one hour after completion of the call until midnight, Wednesday, September 21, 2016. To access the rebroadcast, dial 905-694-9451 and enter the passcode 7971354. The webcast will also be archived for one year and can be accessed on the Major Drilling website (www.majordrilling.com).

Major Drilling's Annual and Special Meeting will be held on Friday, September 9, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern at the TMX Broadcast Centre, Gallery, The Exchange Tower, 130 King Street West, Toronto Ontario.

About Major Drilling Group International Inc.

Based in Moncton, New Brunswick, Major Drilling Group International Inc. is one of the world's largest metals and minerals contract drilling services companies. To support its customers' mining operations, mineral exploration and environmental activities, Major Drilling maintains field operations and offices in Canada, the United States, Mexico, South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Contacts:

Chantal Melanson

(506) 857-8636

Chantal.Melanson@majordrilling.com




Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its new home sales report for July at 10 am ET Tuesday. Economists expect new home sales to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 580,000 units for the month. Ahead of the data, the greenback held steady against its major rivals. The greenback was worth 1.1329 against the euro, 100.11 against the yen, 0.9611 against the franc and 1.3189 against the pound as of 9:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
DUBLIN, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Application Performance Management (APM) - Global Strategic Business Report" report to their offering.

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 2014 through 2020. Also, a four-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based on public domain information including company URLs.

This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Application Performance Management (APM) in US$ Million. The Global market is further analyzed by the following types of Operating Systems: Mainframe, Unix, Windows and Others.

The report profiles 73 companies including many key and niche players such as

AppDynamics, Inc. (US)

AppNeta (US)

BMC Software, Inc. (US)

CA Technologies, Inc. (US)

Dell, Inc. (US)

Dynatrace, LLC (US)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development Company (US)

International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation (US)

ManageEngine (US)

Microsoft Corporation (US)

Nastel Technologies, Inc. (US)

New Relic, Inc. (US)

Oracle Corporation (US)

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (US)

Splunk, Inc. (US)

SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC (US)

Key Topics Covered:

1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

APM: Ensuring Availability & Performance of Applications

The Changing Scenario

Growing Complexity of IT & Applications Makes APM Imperative

Growing Need to Continuously Monitor & Manage Application Performance Augurs Well for APM Software Market

Developing Regions to Drive APM Software Adoption

2. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Evolving APM Market Presents Opportunities for Vendors

Established Players Face Heat from New Vendors

Competitors in the APM Market

A Brief Review of Leading Players in the APM Market

Dynatrace: The Market Leader

CA Technologies

IBM

Dell

Microsoft

Splunk

New Relic

AppDynamics

Vendors Focus on Ease-of-Use Features & New Delivery Models

Vendors Emphasize on Providing Support for New Application Environments

Lack of Differentiation to Foster Consolidation of APM Vendors

3. MARKET TRENDS & ISSUES

Digital Businesses & Application-Related Issues Raise Significance of APM

Application-Centric Business Activities Drive Focus onto APM

Increasing Number of Applications Necessitate Implementation of Effective APM Platforms

Subdued IT Spending & Focus on Doing More with Less' Puts APM in Spotlight

Globalization of Businesses & Consumerization of IT Bode Well for APM Market

Enhanced User Experience

A Major Focus Area of APM

Real-User Monitoring Vs Synthetic Monitoring

Hybrid Cloud Model Drives the Need for Next Generation APM Tools

Mobility Trend Fosters Investments into APM Market

Opportunity Indicator

APM Vendors to Address the Critical Need for Mobile App Monitoring

Shadow IT Necessitates Use of APM Tools

Customer-Centric Businesses Shift Focus onto APM

Proactive APM Tools Essential for the Agile DevOps Frameworks

IoT's Impact on Enterprises: Growing Significance of APM

Table 8: Global Connected Devices by Category (2014, 2016 & 2020)

Breakdown of Unit Installed Base (in Million Units) for Consumer, Generic Business and Vertical Business (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Big Data Analytics & APM: Providing Real-time Insights about App Performance

Big Data Analytics Enable Decision Making

Big Data-Driven Anomaly Detection to Enhance Effectiveness of APM Tools

Virtualized & Highly Dynamic IT Environment in Businesses Necessitates APM Strategy

Rising Significance of Cloud-based APM Tools

Shifting of Load Testing to Cloud

APMaaS: An Ideal Business Model for Resource Constrained Organizations

SMBs Leverage APM SaaS to Enhance Competitiveness

Log Management: A High Growth Area for APM Market

Application Design

Significant Influence on Application Performance

Lack of Application Testing Turns Focus onto APM

Application Dependencies on Underlying Infrastructure & Components Affects App Performance

Integration of APM across Applications Presents Opportunities

Deep-Dive Visibility: Essential for Improving Transaction Visibility

APM Tools Enable Collaborative Management

Different APM Tools for Different Teams

Application Tuning Vs SLAs

Hands-on Vs Hands-off

Many Users Vs Many Apps

Outside-in Vs Inside-out

Depth of Analysis Vs Ease of Use

APM Vital for Monitoring of Web Application Performance

Transaction Tracing

Vital But on its own Inadequate for Effective APM

on its own Inadequate for Effective APM Usability & Flexibility Issues Hamper Adoption of APM Tools

APM Enabling BSM to Align IT with Business

Regulatory Compliance: A Key Benefit of Using APM Tools

A Peek at Innovative Technologies Supporting APM

ITOA and Big Data Analytics

CEP (Complex Event Processing) Technology

EUEM (End User Experience Management) Technology

Application Dependency Discovery & Mapping (ADDM)

A Review of Select Innovations in the APM Market

APM Capabilities Continue to Evolve

Evolution of New Tools for Combining APM, ITOA and NPM Capabilities for APIs

Evolving Container & Microservices Architectures of Digital Businesses Necessitate New APM Solutions

APM Becoming Vital for Application Services of Virtual Network Architectures

Rising Prominence of Hybrid IT Necessitates New APM Solutions

4. AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (APM)

Application Performance Management (APM): A Conceptual Definition

The APM Conceptual Framework

End-User Experience

Runtime Application Architecture

Business Transaction

Deep Dive Component Monitoring (DDCM)

Analytics/Reporting

Tools Supporting APM

APM Software

On-Premises APM Software

Cloud-based APM Software

5. PRODUCT INNOVATIONS/INTRODUCTIONS

Prelert Introduces Retail Order Analytics Solution

Blue Medora Provides VMware vRealize for Dell PowerEdge

ScienceLogic Introduces Complete Monitoring & Dependency Mapping for IBM SoftLayer

AppNeta's SaaS-delivered APM Supports PHP 7

Aryaka Launches SD-WAN ULTRA Service

SOASTA Unveils DPM Platform Winter 2016 Release

Site24x7 Announces Availability of RUM and Mobile APM

Dynatrace Releases Dynatrace Load Solution Suite

Ipswitch Launches WhatsUp Gold 16.4

Site24x7 Introduces Mobile APM Beta

Stackify Introduces APM+ Solution for Microsoft ASP.NET

Scout Monitoring Launches Scout APM

Riverbed Technology Unveils Enhancements to SteelCentral Platform

New Relic Adds New Capabilities to New Relic Software Analytics Cloud

AppNeta Launches RAM-based Pricing Model

AppDynamics Offers Application Intelligence Platform Support for AWS Services

AppDynamics Unveils Application performance Monitoring for Python Applications

AppDynamics Unveils New APM Solution for Microservices Architectures

Concurrent Unveils Latest Release of Driven APM Product for Hadoop Applications

Project Hosts Introduces Azure Application Management Service

Secure-24 Launches New APM Service

Riverbed Technology Introduces Riverbed SteelCentral AppInternals 10

Aternity Introduces mAPM for Enterprise Apps

Appvance Integrates APM with New Relic Appvance Performance Cloud

Site24x7 Introduces Site24x7 APM Insight

AppDynamics Launches Application Run Book Automation Solution

AppDynamics to Launch APM for Mobile Apps

AppDynamics Introduces APMaaS in a Box

AppEnsure Launches Application Performance Monitoring and Management Solution

Layered Tech Adds APM Capabilities to Managed Services Portfolio

NetScout Launches nGeniusONE Unified Performance Management Platform

CallCopy Releases Insight Application Performance Management Software

6. RECENT INDUSTRY ACTIVITY

UBS Chooses AppDynamics Application Intelligence Platform

Gogo Selects AppDynamics Application Intelligence Platform

Kony Integrates Crittercism's Mobile APM into Kony Mobility Platform

Online Business Systems and AppDynamics Partner for APM Solution

StrongLoop and CA Technologies Enter into Partnership

Riverbed Technology to Upgrade SteelCentral for Performance Management and Control

Thoma Bravo Takes Over Compuware

Idera Takes Over Uptime Software

Carbonite Chooses Stackify's APM Solution

Riverbed Technology Deploys Riverbed SteelHead for VTB Bank

Thoma Bravo Acquires Riverbed Technology

New Relic and Carahsoft Enter into Partnership

Keynote Merges into Dynatrace

Compuware Renames APM Business as Dynatrace

OSN and AppNeta Enter into Partnership

EMW and Crittercism Provide Mobile APM Solution in Middle East

AppDynamics Offers Freemium Version of AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring

Apica and New Relic Enter into Technology Partnership

Tatanet and Compuware Enter into Strategic Partnership

Accenture and Crittercism Enter into Alliance Agreement

CloudSigma and New Relic Partner to Provide Improved APM Solution

SolarWinds Takes Over Pingdom

New Relic Takes Over Ducksboard

Compuware Inks APM Deal with Amdocs

SMT and AppDynamics Ink Partnership Agreement

MphasiS and Lucierna Partner for APM as a Service

AppNeta and SolarWinds in Strategic Partnership

SmartBear Software Takes Over Lucierna

Riverbed Technology Acquires OPNET Technologies

FUJIFILM Medical Systems and AppDynamics Enter into Joint Initiative

Arcadia Solutions and Compuware Partner for EHR Optimization Program

AppDynamics' APM Solution to Support PHP Platform

Boundary and Plexxi Enter into Strategic Partnership

BMC Delivers APM Solution for Customers of Amazon Cloud Services

7. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS

8. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

Total Companies Profiled: 73 (including Divisions/Subsidiaries 76)

The United States (59)

(59) Canada (1)

(1) Europe (12)

(12) France (3)

(3) Germany (3)

(3) The United Kingdom (2)

(2) Spain (1)

(1) Rest of Europe (3)

(3) Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan) (2)

(Excluding Japan) (2) Middle-East (2)

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nvhrng/application

Related Topics: Computing Services

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
Radiation therapy (RT) is a type of treatment most commonly used against cancer or to control and kill malignant cells. Typically, X-rays, gamma rays or charged particles (CPs) are the medium used. For oncological applications, RT works by attacking a cancerous cell's DNA. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the molecules inside a cell that contain and pass along genetic data, is used in the development and operation of all known living organisms and certain viruses. RT works by damaging the DNA of cancerous cells, which leads to an inability for the targeted cells to grow. RT may be administered as either an adjunct or primary treatment therapy.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 --



"Shanbehzadeh Ensemble, from Paris, which plays the droning music of the Boushehr region of southern Iran, enthralled with its minimalism.... It was, refreshingly, a little bit punk."

"Mr. Shanbehzadeh sang with declamatory fervor, easing down to a whisper or pushing the grain in his voice toward a full rasp, commanding the stage with his gestures."

-The New York Times

Not A Crime, a campaign that raises awareness of human rights abuses in Iran, today announced that renowned Afro-Iranian musical group the Shanbehzadeh Ensemble will make two U.S. appearances to culminate the movement's 2016 education equality campaign. The performances -- Sept. 17 at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts and Sept. 23 at New York's Apollo Theater -- will occur as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits New York for the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Not A Crime uses art and creativity to shine a light on the mistreatment of the Baha'is, Iran's largest religious minority. The campaign was founded in 2015 by Maziar Bahari, a former Newsweek journalist who was jailed in Iran and became the subject of "Rosewater," a film directed by Emmy Award-winning host Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show." This year, Not A Crime has focused on creating 15 murals throughout Harlem, a community that has a rich history of using art to address discrimination. Local and global artists have made Harlem's walls their canvas this summer, creating art that provokes conversation about human rights violations, particularly education discrimination.

Formed in 1990 by legendary Afro-Iranian musician Saeid Shanbehzadeh in his native Bushehr, Iran, the group delivers a spellbinding experience of the traditional music and dance indigenous to southwestern Iran and the bordering Persian Gulf. Through ululation and movement, the ensemble celebrates their deep Afro-Iranian history by exploring complicated emotions shared by communities across the world: joy, oppression and pain. The Shanbehzadeh Ensemble creates a unique, energetic and uplifting infusion of Iranian folk music and dance using instruments that include the neyanban (bagpipe), neydjofti (flute), dammam (drum), zarbetempo (percussion), traditional flute, senj (cymbal) and boogh (a goat's horn).

"As an artist, I have always suffered from the sword of censorship in music and dance," said Shanbehzadeh. "My struggle for freedom of expression and thought has been primarily aimed at liberating myself from the chains of the Iranian government and its censorship. Now I believe it is my duty to defend these freedoms for my fellow Iranians and everyone else around the world. Unfortunately, in my country there are many who cannot have access to an education because of their religious beliefs. I joined the Not A Crime campaign to support this basic human right for the Baha'is."

Adds Bahari, "We are truly honored to have the Shanbehzadeh Ensemble join Not A Crime's effort -- speaking loudly and with a creative spirit -- in heightening attention to human rights abuses in Iran. The ensemble, now based in Paris, has shared similar obstruction from Iranian leadership as that of the Baha'is. In lending their voice to Not A Crime's mission, they're helping demonstrate that creativity, artistry and education have a valuable place in modern Iranian culture."

The Shanbehzadeh Ensemble will make its first stop in San Francisco on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m., playing at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater. The group will take the historic Apollo stage Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for both shows are now on sale.

Learn more about the Shanbehzadeh Ensemble performances in this short documentary.

"Education Is Not A Crime"

The Baha'is, Iran's largest religious minority, are frequently jailed on false charges and denied access to higher education. There are 74 Baha'is currently imprisoned and more than 200 were executed in the early 1980s after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Thousands of Baha'is are currently studying through an underground education system known as the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE). Not A Crime is working to stop the human rights abuse of young people barred from studying because of their beliefs and is encouraging universities worldwide to admit Iranian Baha'i students. The education campaign started in 2015 with an Education Is Not A Crime Day (the last Friday of February 2015) and screenings of a film Bahari made called "To Light a Candle" -- and now it has grown into a movement. Mark Ruffalo of "The Avengers," Rainn Wilson of "The Office," Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and rights activist, and Shirin Ebadi, also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, have spoken against the persecution of the Baha'is. Nearly 100 universities -- including Stanford and Yale -- currently accept the BIHE certificate.

Kelsey BaRoss

(201) 450-2716

kbaross@rosecomm.com




SHENZHEN, CHINA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Huawei announced today that its FastConnect FAT (Fiber Access Terminal) won the annual Red Dot Award for Design Concept. The innovative ergonomic design of the FastConnect connector provides a unique spatial layout, which facilitates installation and removal of drop cables and ensures a proper bending radius.

Huawei's FastConnect FAT was developed for FTTx networks. By using the e-labels of drop cables and Huawei's NMS (Network Management System), it implements intelligent management of drop cable routing information and quick fault locating, assisting operators in resource management and O&M. An e-label is attached to each drop cable. By scanning the e-label using a mobile phone or pad, a construction maintenance engineer can upload the optical fiber information to the NMS in real time, which then manages and synchronizes the optical fiber information and device location information, also in real time, based on a GIS (Geographical Information System). The NMS and the ergonomic design assist operators in constructing an intelligent, simple, and fast user interface, which greatly improves drop cable deployment efficiency.

Dedicated to FTTH technical innovation, network construction cost reduction, and deployment efficiency improvement, Huawei provides customers with the FastConnect ODN solution characterized by fast deployment and intelligent management. Huawei's FastConnect ODN solution has assisted Spain's Telefonica in deploying more than 10 million FTTH homes passed within three years and been deployed in various other markets as well, including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Peru.

"Winning the Red Dot Award is a great endorsement for Huawei's innovation capability in the ODN field," said Jeff Wang, president of Huawei Access Product Line. "Huawei is in the leading position for providing global fiber broadband subscribers with optimal experience, and assisting operators in achieving fast fiber broadband network deployment and continuous business success. Going forward, Huawei will continue to promote innovation in the field of passive optical distribution, helping customers reduce FTTH deployment costs and improve FTTH deployment efficiency."

Huawei will exhibit the FastConnect FAT product series at the Ultra-Broadband Forum (UBBF) to be held in Frankfurt, Germany from September 29-30, 2016, where they will showcase its efficient deployment features and award-winning user-friendly design.

About Huawei

Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider with the vision to enrich life through communication. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei's 170,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services have been deployed in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than one third of the world's population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees. For more information about Huawei, visit www.huawei.com.

Huawei Technologies

Miranda Liu

miranda.liu@huawei.com




Dominion Diamond Corporation (TSX: DDC, NYSE: DDC) (the "Company") will release its fiscal 2017 second quarter results for the period ended July 31, 2016, after market hours on Thursday, September 8, 2016.

Beginning at 8:30AM (ET) on Friday, September 9, the Company will host a conference call for analysts, investors and other interested parties. Listeners may access a live broadcast of the conference call on the Company's web site at www.ddcorp.ca or by dialing 844-249-9383 within North America or 270-823-1531 from international locations and entering passcode 61866332.

An online archive of the broadcast will be available by accessing the Company's web site at www.ddcorp.ca. A telephone replay of the call will be available two hours after the call through 11:00PM (ET), Friday, September 23, 2016, by dialing 855-859-2056 within North America or 404-537-3406 from international locations and entering passcode 61866332.

About Dominion Diamond Corporation

Dominion Diamond Corporation is the world's third largest producer of rough diamonds by value. Both of its production assets are located in the low political risk environment of the Northwest Territories in Canada where the Company also has its head office. The Company is well capitalized and has a strong balance sheet.

The Company operates the Ekati Diamond Mine and also owns 40% of the Diavik Diamond Mine. Between the two mining operations, diamonds are currently produced from a number of separate kimberlite pipes providing a diversity of diamond supply as well as reduced operational risk. It supplies premium rough diamond assortments to the global market through its sorting and selling operations in Canada, Belgium and India.

For more information, please visit www.ddcorp.ca

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160823005892/en/

Contacts:

Dominion Diamond Corporation

Ms. Kelley Stamm, 416-205-4380

Manager, Investor Relations

kstamm@ddcorp.ca


CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - Apple Inc. (AAPL) is planning to launch three new iPhone models in 2017, including a premium handset with a curved display, the Nikkei Asian Review reported Monday, citing sources familiar with Apple's plans.



The new iPhone models will reportedly include a 4.7-inch model, a 5.5-inch model and the premium handset that will be either 5.5 inches or larger.



According to the Nikkei report, the premium handset will have a screen bent on the two sides like the one adopted by Samsung Electronics for its top-end smartphones. The first two iPhone models will have flat screens like current Apple mobile devices.



The premium handset will reportedly adopt advanced organic light-emitting diode or OLED panels, while the other two models will continue to feature low-temperature poly-silicon panels. However, Apple's rival Samsung is the main supplier of OLED displays.



Samsung will be Apple's sole OLED supplier next year, but the South Korean conglomerate will not be able to fully meet demand for itself and Apple next year.



Samsung introduced curved displays with the launch of the Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy 6 Edge last year. Its latest product lineup includes two premium handsets, the Galaxy 7 Edge and Note 7, with curved screens.



The Nikkei Asian Review reported earlier that Apple scrapped plans for a premium iPhone 7 model in the second quarter, amid stiff challenges from Android rivals.



The decision by Apple to scrap a 5.5-inch handset equipped with a dual-lens camera came less than six months before the model's planned launch in September.



It now reportedly leaves Apple with only two models that will debut in September - a 4.7-inch iPhone 7 with a single lens camera and a 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus with a dual lens camera.



In late July, Apple said it recently sold its one billionth iPhone, about nine years after the first iPhone was launched. The tech giant has reached the milestone at a time when iPhone sales have slowed down.



Apple has reported lower iPhone sales for the last two quarters, marking the first time the device has registered a decline in sales since its launch in 2007.



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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A Conservative legal watchdog has released 725 pages of US State Department documents, including previously unreleased email exchanges in which Hillary Clinton's former top aide allegedly provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the Secretary of State.



The new revelation by Judicial Watch coincided with Donald Trump's call for the appointment of independent special prosecutors to probe allegations of corruptions against Hillary Clinton while she was the US secretary of state.



He also demanded that the controversial Clinton Foundation be shut down.



Judicial Watch claimed that the new documents it released included 20 Hillary Clinton email exchanges not previously turned over to the State Department, contradicting statements by Clinton that, 'as far as she knew,' all of her government emails were turned over to the State Department.



Judicial Watch said the Huma Abedin emails reveal that the longtime Hillary Clinton aide apparently served as a conduit between Clinton Foundation donors and Clinton while the latter served as Secretary of State.



In more than a dozen email exchanges, Abedin provided expedited, direct access to Clinton for donors who had contributed $25,000 to $10 million to the Clinton Foundation.



In many instances, the preferential treatment was reportedly provided to donors was at the specific request of Clinton Foundation top executive Douglas Band. In Abedin's June deposition to Judicial Watch, she conceded that part of her job at the State Department was taking care of 'Clinton family matters.'



Included among the Abedin-Band emails is an exchange revealing that when Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain requested a meeting with Secretary of State Clinton, he was forced to go through the Clinton Foundation for an appointment. According to the Clinton Foundation website, in 2005, Salman committed to establishing the Crown Prince's International Scholarship Program (CPISP) for the Clinton Global Initiative. And by 2010, it had contributed $32 million to CGI. The Kingdom of Bahrain reportedly gave between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation, Judicial Watch says.



It names Hollywood executive Casey Wasserman, Slimfast mogul Daniel Abraham, controversial appointee Rajiv Fernando among Clinton Foundation donors who were granted special favors from Clinton's State Department.



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VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - Eurozone consumer confidence deteriorated for a third straight month in August to its lowest level since April, defying expectations for a rebound, preliminary figures from the European Commission showed Tuesday. The flash consumer confidence index dropped to -8.5 from -7.9 in July. Economists had forecast a modest improvement to -7.7. The reading was the lowest since April's -9.3. The consumer confidence index for the EU also declined for a third straight month, down by 0.1 points to -7.8. The final figures will be released along with the economic sentiment report on August 30. 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.
Big Name Investors Back the Technology as Its Ties to Virtual Reality Breed High Growth Potential

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --While most new technologies experience a slow market entrance, 360-degree video will likely skip that trend, thanks to its ties to virtual reality (VR) and early investment from major technology players including Facebook, Samsung, and YouTube. ABI Research forecasts professional grade cameras and mid-tier, prosumer 360-degree cameras to hit nearly two million shipments by 2021, with consumer 360-degree cameras to top four million by the same year.

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"The most prominent force driving 360-degree video content and hardware is VR," says Eric Abbruzzese, Senior Analyst for ABI Research. "And though VR has been experiencing a period of content starvation due to its novelty, small early install base, and the high cost of premium VR, support from major content platforms will lessen this for 360-degree video."

360-degree video market activity is abundant across both consumer and enterprise applications. In regards to enterprise, Nokia already signed a multi-year deal with content giant Disney to use its OZO camera, and stated that VR and 360-degree video is a core business component as it restructures around forward-looking technologies and product line expansion. Additionally, wearable camera market leader GoPro, experiencing a slowdown in its core market, has its own professional-grade, 360-degree multi-camera rig and will likely release a consumer-grade, 360-degree offering in the near future.

VR's role in 360-degree video cannot be understated either. While viewing 360-degree content can be done on a computer or mobile device, the most compelling and natural viewing experience is in VR. And as the desire for content surges, ABI Research forecasts nearly 70 million mobile-based VR products to ship, like Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR, by 2021.

"It is rare to see a culmination of factors as powerful as what's happening for 360-degree cameras and video," concludes Abbruzzese. "Decreasing average selling prices for VR hardware and 360-degree cameras, the possibility for 360-degree camera integration with mobile devices, network and bandwidth improvements for 4K and HDR content that are also enhancing 360-degree video streaming, and a slowing wearable camera market all are creating a rich and promising next step for 360-degree video."

These findings are from ABI Research's Consumer, Prosumer, and Professional 360-Degree Cameras (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/product/1024957-consumer-prosumer-and-professional-360-deg/). This report is part of the company's Smart Home (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/practice/connected-home/), Transformative Technology (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/practice/transformative-technology/), and Video, OTT, and AR/VR sectors (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/practice/cloud-content-ott/), which include research, data, and analyst insights.

About ABI Research

ABI Research stands at the forefront of technology market research, providing business leaders with comprehensive research and consulting services to help them implement informed, transformative technology decisions. Founded more than 25 years ago, the company's global team of senior and long-tenured analysts delivers deep market data forecasts, analyses, and teardown services. ABI Research is an industry pioneer, proactively uncovering ground-breaking business cycles and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info:Mackenzie Gavel Tel: +1.516.624.2542

pr@abiresearch.com




Former North Dakota U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon will represent the Standing Rock Sioux tribal leaders who have been sued by Dakota Access LLC for protesting the pipeline construction.

Chairman Dave Archambault II and council member Dana Yellow Fat are among several defendants named in a civil case filed last week in federal court in Bismarck by Dakota Access. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants are interfering with pipeline construction north of the reservation.

Purdon said he worked closely with Archambault while serving as U.S. attorney and he was asked to represent the tribal leaders.

This case is about the parameters of the First Amendment in terms of tribal officials protesting here in North Dakota, Purdon said.

The complaint claims that Archambault, Yellow Fat and others tried to block Dakota Access employees from entering and exiting the construction site. The complaint also claims that Archambault excused all tribal employees from work on Aug. 12 and encouraged them to protest.

Pipeline construction has been halted in that area since last week.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland granted a temporary restraining order against the tribal leaders and other defendants that prevents them from unlawfully protesting the pipeline construction.

A hearing was set for Thursday in the case, but has been postponed because Archambault plans to travel to Washington, D.C., for a hearing on Wednesday in the tribes lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Purdon said.

The Bismarck hearing is now set for Sept. 8 to determine if a preliminary injunction should be issued. The temporary restraining order has been extended until Sept. 8, though Hovland wrote in his order that the parties are strongly encouraged to meet and confer in good faith in an attempt to resolve this dispute prior to the hearing.

Archambault and Yellow Fat are among 29 people who have been arrested during the protest. Each faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in Morton County.

Purdon resigned as U.S. attorney for the district of North Dakota last year. He now works in private practice in Bismarck for national law firm Robins Kaplan, where he is co-chairman of the American Indian Law and Policy Practice Group.
ANAHEIM, CA--(Marketwired - August 23, 2016) - At a formal dedication ceremony held on August 6, 2016, University President Kevin Alexander, OD PhD, shared his vision for the Southern California College of Optometry, now in its new home at Ketchum University.

"In my 2009 inaugural address, I shared a vision for a college of optometry that not only provided the best training for optometrists, but was a leader in health care education," said Dr. Alexander. "I am happy to report that by the hard work of all, we now have an energized university, with a robust optometry school, a model PA program about to graduate its first class and a College of Pharmacy that welcomed its first students this fall. Now, with the completion of Ketchum Health, we are well on the way to accomplishing the vision set forth in 2009."

Dr. Alexander added, "As we began this journey, our motto has been, 'the future is expecting us.' With all humility, I am so proud to stand before your today and say, Ketchum University IS the future of health care."

"The vision where students from various disciplines can practice as teams is well on the way to reality," said Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Julie Schornack, OD, MEd. "Within the next 12 to 18 months, a medical clinic and dispensing pharmacy will be added to Ketchum Health, where PA and pharmacy students will also conduct their clinical training alongside optometry students."

"For the first time in Ketchum University's history, this new facility will bring to life President Alexander's vision of an interprofessional collaborative practice and education model," concluded Dr. Schornack.

After a toast led by Dr. Schornack, MBKU Board Chairman Jerry Hunter, EdD, joined President Alexander and other members of the MBKU leadership team in cutting a giant purple ribbon that had been placed across the entrance of Ketchum Health.

"This is an exciting time for Ketchum University," said Dr. Hunter. "As Chairman of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank President Alexander and his entire team on achieving this significant milestone."

After the ribbon cutting, guests joined the Ketchum University leadership team inside for refreshments and tours of the new facility, including the 2016 Sharing Visions Art Exhibit.

About Marshall B. Ketchum University

Located in Fullerton, CA, Marshall B. Ketchum University is an independent, private, non-profit, accredited educational institution. MBKU is home to the Southern California College of Optometry, the School of Physician Assistant Studies and College of Pharmacy. Named after the founder of the optometric institution in 1904, the change to the university structure addresses the growing demand for highly skilled health care professionals. The university's Southern California College of Optometry confers a Doctor of Optometry (OD) and a Master of Science in Vision Science (MS) degree. MBKU's School of Physician Assistant Studies under the College of Health Sciences awards a Master of Medical Sciences (MMS) degree. MBKU's College of Pharmacy welcomed its first class in the fall of 2016 and will award a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. MBKU owns and operates two premier eye and vision care centers: the University Eye Center at Ketchum Health and the University Eye Center at Los Angeles.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/8/22/11G111425/Images/KetchumHealthDedicationRibbonCutting-4c5e19739843a8c3a56b6ba85ef7d50b.JPG

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Katie Santos-Coy

Director of Marketing and Communications

714.449.7463

ksantoscoy@ketchum.edu
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A U.S. soldier was killed in Afghanistan Tuesday by an improvised explosive device, the Resolute Support Mission said. The US service member died of injuries sustained while conducting Train, Advise, Assist activities with Afghan counterparts near Lashkar Gar in Helmand Province, the NATO-led coalition said in a statement. Another US service member and six Afghan soldiers were wounded as their patrol triggered an Improvised Explosive Device. They are currently in stable condition,' said General John W. Nicholson, commander of USFOR-A and Resolute Support An investigation is being conducted to determine the exact circumstances of the event, he added. 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.


LAS VEGAS (dpa-AFX) - The City of Somerville has decided not to appeal a key environmental permit granted in July for Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s (WYNN) $2.1 billion Everett casino project. The decision paves the way for work on the casino project, known as Wynn Boston Harbor, to go ahead.



Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said that his city north of Boston has successfully resolved several of his core concerns regarding the Wynn casino project and therefore, will not pursue further appeal of the casino's license via the courts.



Monday was Somerville's deadline to appeal the permit granted last month to Wynn by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.



Somerville will also withdraw four other legal actions against Wynn, thus ending a protracted, public dispute.



'I want to be clear, our appeal was never about stopping the casino but rather about our civic duty to protect the health, safety, and quality of life of our residents. While we did not get everything we asked for, the appeal did yield significant and meaningful results for our residents, so we feel the process worked,' Curtatone said.



Curtatone noted that the operation of a ferry from Boston to the waterfront casino, which was not previously a condition of the license, is now required for the full 50 years that the license covers.



Every trip shifted off the road and onto the ferry will reduce air pollution in the neighborhoods and ease casino road traffic, the mayor added.



Further, Curtatone said that the city's appeal increased the amount of public open space and decreased the unusually long proposed term of the license from 85 to 50 years.



Somerville, together with Wynn, the state, and other regional partners, will continue to seek progress on traffic mitigation and mobility concerns as well as opportunities as they relate to the casino.



'We look forward to collaborating with Wynn MA specifically around the five areas noted in the agreement: Regional Planning, Multi-Modal Mobility and Transportation Funding, Bus Transit Improvements and Bus Rapid Transit, Air Quality and Public Health, and Environmental Sustainability,' Curtatone said.



Wynn Resorts began construction of the casino last month and plans for a June 2019 opening.



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PUNE, India, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the MarketsandMarkets report "Spectroscopy IR Detector Market by Detector Technology (DTGS, MCT, InGaAs), Spectrum Sensitivity (NIR, Mid IR, and Far IR), Cooling Requirement (Cooled and Uncooled), Product Type (Benchtop, Portable, Hyphenated) - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the overall market is estimated to be worth USD 224.5 Million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 6.9% between 2016 and 2022, whereas the unit shipment of IR detector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% between 2016 and 2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 45 market data Tables and 69 Figures spread through 86 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Spectroscopy IR Detector Market".

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/spectroscopy-ir-detector-market-142905081.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The major factors driving the growth of the IR detector market for IR spectroscopy include upgradation of IR spectroscopy devices by replacing with new IR detector modules and the growing shipment of IR spectroscopy devices in various industries.

The benchtop IR spectroscopy device segment held the largest share of the IR detector market in 2015

The benchtop IR spectroscopy device segment held the largest share of the IR detector market in 2015, while the market for portable IR spectroscopy device is expected to grow at a significant rate between 2016 and 2022. In the current scenario, benchtop IR spectroscopy plays a key role in a number of industries such as pharmaceutical, biological, chemicals, food & beverages, and others. The increasing shipment of benchtop and portable IR spectroscopy devices is driving the growth of the IR detector market.

Mid IR detector plays a key role in the IR detector market

The IR detector market for IR spectroscopy 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 in the research and industrial sector. Along with this, the market for NIR spectroscopy devices is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period, which would, in turn, drive the growth of NIR detector market in the near future.

APAC region would grow at a significant rate during the forecast period

The market in APAC is expected to grow at a significant rate in the IR detector market for IR spectroscopy in the near future because of factors such as the presence of a large number of IR detector and IR spectroscopy device manufacturing companies in the region. For instance, in April 2016, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (Japan) announced its plans to establish a new optosemiconductor manufacturing unit in Japan by February 2017. Similarly, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.) has expanded its business by establishing an innovation center in China; it has invested around USD 9.5 million for R&D in this center. Also, DANI Instruments SpA (Italy) has signed a distribution agreement with Labindia Instruments Pvt. Ltd. (India).

Inquiry Before Buying: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=142905081

The key companies operating in the IR detector market include Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (Japan), Excelitas Technologies Corp. (U.S.), LASER Components GmbH (Germany), UTC Aerospace Systems (U.S.), Newport Corporation (U.S.), and others.

Browse Related Reports

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

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

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ir-spectroscopy-market-42486905.html

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 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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CRANBROOK, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Tarku Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: TKU) (the "Company" or "Tarku") announces that it has amended the option agreement (the "Agreement") with Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. concerning the Tarku property (the "Property"), located in the province in Saskatchewan. Under the terms of the amendment, Tarku will acquire a 100% interest in the property and is not required to make further cash payments or complete work commitments. The Company also announces that it is renaming the project "Virgin River."

The initial option agreement with Eagle Plains stipulated that Tarku was to make staged cash and share payments totaling $500,000 cash ($35,000 paid to date) and issue 1,200,000 shares of Tarku (200,000 issued to date) over a five-year period that started in 2014. The new terms allow Tarku obtain a 100% interest in the property by issuing two million shares to Eagle Plains. Eagle Plains will maintain a 2% Net Smelter Royalty in the Property, however Tarku can purchase 1% for $1,000,000.

The amended agreement provides Tarku with much more flexibility in advancing the property, as it ensures that the Company can deploy the maximum amount of its capital on exploration, as opposed to making option payments.

Sylvain Laberge, President and CEO of Tarku stated, "I am pleased with the outcome of the negotiations with Eagle Plains and its management and their desire to build a long term relationship."

The Agreement is subject to the approval of the TSX-Venture Exchange.

About the Virgin River (formerly Tarku) Property:

The Virgin River (formerly Tarku) property comprises four mineral claims totaling 18,400 ha overlying a large north-south trending area in northern Saskatchewan. The property is located along the Virgin River Fault, a major structure which forms the boundary between the Virgin River and Lloyd Domains. This feature creates a favorable setting for the deposition of significant structurally-related mineral deposits including the Dufferin Lake and Centennial deposits located 10km and 40km north of Tarku, respectively (management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Tarku property).

The area is underlain by mixed metasedimentary units, intermediate volcanics and significant felsic intrusive bodies, all of which have been affected by numerous structural events related to re-activation of the Virgin River Fault. Several well- defined northeast-trending geophysical conductors, verified locally by geological mapping, have been identified by historic airborne surveys. All of these features, in conjunction with significant gold values up to 2.26 g/t and anomalous base metal and uranium values throughout the property illustrate the exploration potential of this property for both gold and uranium deposits.

About Tarku:

Tarku Resources Ltd. is an exploration company focused on discovery in the mineral-rich Canadian landscape. The foundation of the company is based on an experienced management team with a track record of success. The goal of Tarku is to provide success for shareholders through the implementation of strategic property acquisition, the use of proven exploration techniques and the exploitation of fertile ground. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the company's properties.

This press release was supervised by Bernard-Olivier Martel, P. Geo., Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.

Contacts:

Sylvain Laberge

President and CEO

514-702-9841

slaberge@sdnlfinancial.com




The global textile chemicals marketis expected to grow at a CAGR of close to 4% during the forecast period, according to Technavio's latest report.

In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the global textile chemicals market for 2016-2020. To determine the market size by revenue, a top down approach has been followed in different end-user segments by considering 2015 as the base year. In addition, the report discusses the major drivers are influencing the market growth and the challenges faced by the vendors and the market as a whole. It also examines the key emerging trends and their impact on current and future market scenarios. Based on product platform, the textile chemicals market is segmented into the following:

Coating and sizing chemicals

Colorants and auxiliaries

Finishing agents

Surfactants

Others

With approximately 40% of the market share, the coating and sizing chemicals segment accounted for a larger proportion of the market share in terms of consumption volume during 2015. The segment is likely to sustain its market during the forecast period. The market share of these chemicals can be attributed to the fact that they are used for processing all types of yarns.

Technavio's research study segments the global textile chemicals market into the following regions:

APAC

Americas

EMEA

APAC: largest textile chemicals market

The presence of established textile manufacturers and growth in the production of cotton andsynthetic fibershold strong prospects for the market growth in APAC. The rise in domestic demand and increasing exports will drive the textile chemicals market in APAC during the forecast period. China and India are the largest consumers of textile chemicals due to the growing apparel and textile production and rising production of synthetic fibers and cotton. The textile industry in China is estimated to produce over 45 million tons of chemical fiber, an increase of 5 million tons than the forecast (40 million tons) in the country's 12th Five-Year Plan. The capacity of high-performance fibers also grew from 5 million tons in 2010 to 18 million tons in 2015.

According to Chandrakumar Badala Jaganathan, a lead analyst at Technavio for research on specialty chemicals, "The growth in the production of smart textiles, especially in China and India, is also contributing to the market growth. Further, many European manufacturers are establishing their production facilities in APAC due to the availability of cheap labor and low production cost. These factors are likely to increase the consumption of textile chemicals during the forecast period."

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Textile chemicals market in Americas

The higher demand and steady economic recovery are expected to drive the textile chemicals market in the Americas. The growing demand for textile chemicals in developed and developing nations, including Mexico and the US have increased the consumption of textile chemicals in the region. The manufacturers in the US are focused on chemicals for preparation, bleaching,dyeing, and finishing processes and Canada is largely involved in the manufacture of a wide range of chemicals for industrial applications.

"Manufacturers in the US offer chemicals for bleaching, preparation, dyeing, and finishing processes. Whereas manufacturers based in Canada are involved in the production of chemicals for manufacturing applications, especially bleaching. The growing demand for industrial textiles and apparel is likely to drive the market growth in the region," states Chandrakumar.

Textile chemicals market in EMEA

Germany and France are the two major manufacturers of textiles in Europe. R&D programs pertinent to smart textiles are being conceived to reduce production costs, optimize industrialization, and large-scale production, thereby making products available to the customer faster.

Further, the EU has funded many textile projects to renew the textile sector in Europe. For instance, INnovation in the TEXtile industry (INTEX) is a project intended to create awareness regarding the application of emerging technologies. It will be implemented by a consortium of Textile National Federations, Textile Technological Centres, and specialized consultants from eight European countries. The project also aims at encouraging the participation of textile enterprises based in Europe in R&D. This can probably be achieved by producing at least 25 EC funded research, technology, and development projects.

The top vendors in the global textile chemicals market highlighted in the report are:

AkzoNobel

Arkema

Dow Chemical

Huntsman

Browse Related Reports:

Global Performance Chemicals Market 2016-2020

Agrochemicals Market in India 2016-2020

Global Ethylene Oxide and Ethylene Glycol Market 2016-2020

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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.

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TUSTIN, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Logomark -- the industry-leading promotional products supplier -- is pleased to announce its "12 Weeks of Summer" campaign won a "Best Supplier Self-Promotion" award from Counselor magazine's inaugural Promotional Campaign Awards. The awards recognize leading promotional innovations for client promotions, social media campaigns, distributor promotions, and outstanding marketing videos. Counselor is the "voice" of the ad specialty industry, delivering award-winning content to executive-level distributors and owners responsible for the future of their businesses.

The 12 Weeks of Summer campaign ran from May to July 2016 and featured weekly new product releases, as well as promotions and prizes including a trip for two to Southern California. "We're thrilled to earn this industry recognition from Counselor magazine, an influential publication that reaches industry leaders including top distributors and quality salespeople," said Logomark executive vice president and chief relationship officer, Scott Pearson. "The campaign produced impactful results for our firm including a five percent boost in web traffic and 11 percent increase in time spent on the site. In addition, we saw booked sales year-over-year growth of 18 percent beginning on the campaign launch of April 1."

The August 2016 issue of Counselor details the various award-winners, and notes how the Logomark campaign expanded its visibility while generating excitement among both customers and employees. The magazine highlighted Logomark's weekly launch of new products including dual USB car chargers and matched promo sets designed to underscore the company's prowess in packaging and digital printing. The write-up in Counselor also mentioned Logomark's usage of entertaining videos it sent to distributors in order to call attention to the weekly product launches and the prize promotions.

The campaign's top prize trip included airfare and Orange County accommodations for two, an informative visit to the Logomark facility in Tustin, Calif.; dinner with Logomark CEO Trevor Gnesin and his executive staff; and two additional days to enjoy Southern California. Winners of one of three customizable beach cruisers were required to follow Logomark's Instagram and submit fun summer photos.

Follow Logomark on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest product launches, or sign up for its sneak peek email program to preview these new products in advance.

For more information, visit www.logomark.com.

ABOUT LOGOMARK: Founded in 1993, Logomark is a premier supplier of personalized gift and promotional products for the North American and global advertising specialty market. The company is a certified member of the Quality Certification Alliance, ensuring standards that deliver the highest levels of product safety. Providing more than 3,000 top-quality products in diverse categories, Logomark persistently reinvents the promotional products industry exceptional product selections, innovative solutions and unequaled customer support. Logomark offers a complete line of products, an easy-to-use mobile app, an award-winning website and is ranked 8th in product searches on the industry's leading search platform. For more information on the company's broad line of quality promotional products, please call 800-789-4438 or visit www.logomark.com.
SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Energy Storage North America (ESNA), the largest gathering of policy, technology and market leaders in energy storage, today announced the finalists for the 2016 ESNA Innovation Awards, which recognize excellence and impact in energy storage project development. All finalists will be honored during an award ceremony at the annual Energy Storage North America conference and expo, held on October 4-6 in the San Diego Convention Center. Additionally, ESNA will present the Utility and Policy Champion Awards to one individual each from the policy and utility sectors who have shown leadership and dedication in advancing energy storage in North America.

The nine Innovation Award project finalists demonstrate outstanding achievements across three categories: Centralized Storage (utility-scale), Distributed Storage (commercial, industrial or residential) and Mobility (transportation, electric vehicles and enabling infrastructure). Finalists were selected on the basis of their impact on the energy storage ecosystem, services supplied to customers and the grid, unique technology solutions, financing, or partnerships.

ESNA 2016 Innovation Award Finalists

Centralized Energy Storage

IPL Advancion Energy Storage Array (Indiana): First grid-scale, battery-based energy storage system to operate in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.

MESA 1 Project: Allows Snohomish (Washington) County Public Utility District to increase their use of renewable energy and improve overall reliability while using open, non-proprietary industry standards.

The Village of Minster (Ohio) Energy Storage Project: One of the largest storage systems connected through a municipal utility, providing multiple revenue streams including frequency regulation, transmission and distribution deferral, and demand response.

Distributed Energy Storage

Stone Edge Farm Microgrid (California): First of its kind to incorporate three modes of operation -- on-grid, off-grid, and microgrid -- with multiple types and brands of batteries and inverters, PV, bulk hydrogen storage, fuel cells and ability to export power.

PowerHouse -- 20-home energy storage pilot (Ontario): Canada's first virtual power plant, uses an aggregated fleet of autonomously controlled residential solar and energy storage systems located at customer homes.

Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center (Colorado): PV plus energy storage system engineered and controlled such that the asset is used to manage the Center's electric bill.

Mobility

UC San Diego EV Smart Charging with Energy Storage (California): Solar PV coupled with energy storage that allows the campus to reduce demand charges, while utilizing renewable energy.

eMotorWerks EV Charging Network (California): Intelligent charging stations controlled via a cloud-based, self-learning platform, that can provide demand curtailment solutions to utilities.

EV4 Santa Clara Intel Station (California): Solar-powered, battery-based DC fast charging system in Silicon Valley.

Public voting will determine winners

Winners for each category will be determined by the ESNA Advisory Board (50%) as well as public voting (50%). One vote per user will count toward the final results and votes will be accepted until September 20. Visit the ESNA awards website to learn more about the projects and how to cast your vote.

About Energy Storage North America

Energy Storage North America is the largest conference, exhibition and networking event for the North American energy storage industry. Now in its fourth year, ESNA connects developers, energy users, utilities and policymakers to advance understanding and deployment of energy storage and ultimately build a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient grid. ESNA 2016 will take place October 4-6 in San Diego, California. Visit www.esnaexpo.com to learn more.

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978.750.0333




Global IT recruitment firm to add 250 people to its Philadelphia office

Frank Recruitment Group ("FRG"), a leading global staffing and recruiting firm focused exclusively on the enterprise software market, today announced the opening of its Philadelphia office. The company plans to hire 250 people, most of whom will be recent college graduates interested in becoming recruiters. FRG provides robust training and support that prepares new hires to become specialists who recruit and place technology experts in jobs around the world. In April of this year, FRG was acquired by TPG Growth, the middle market buyout and growth equity platform of leading alternative asset firm TPG.

With 10 offices spanning Europe, Asia, and the Unites States, FRG employs more than 900 individuals globally. FRG's industry-leading "FRG University" prepares all new hires for the recruiting market, and the company provides ongoing immersive training and mentorship programs to promote career and talent development. This unique training, along with industry-leading compensation, allows FRG to attract and retain talent and position its clients for success.

"Entering a new market and building a team is exciting for us, as at our core, FRG is a people-centric business," said James Lloyd Townshend, CEO of FRG. "We are focused on enabling our employees, providing them with top-level training, fast-track career progression, and ongoing professional development. We help young graduates take advantage of the significant-and lucrative-opportunities that are available in the tech recruiting industry. We look forward to bringing our specialized model to a new city."

FRG has flourished as a result of its focus on the fast-growing technology recruitment market. The firm operates six core brands, each focused on recruiting software professionals that specialize in a different technology product. In 2007, the company launched its original brand, Nigel Frank, which recruits professionals who specialize in Microsoft Dynamics. In addition to Nigel Frank, the company has since added:

Mason Frank International, which recruits for Salesforce experts

Churchill Frank, which focuses on experts in big data software

Anderson Frank, which recruits NetSuite software professionals

Pearson Frank, which places talent in Java, Web and PHP jobs

Washington Frank, which specializes in staffing opportunities in emerging cloud technologies

"At TPG Growth, we're focused on identifying disruptive models that can transform industries," said Shamik Patel, Principal at TPG Growth. "As the demand for specialized technology experts grows, an efficient, scalable approach to placing them in jobs has the potential to revolutionize the recruiting industry. We look forward to partnering with the team to continue the company's growth in Philadelphia and beyond."

TPG Growth's portfolio includes numerous companies that, like FRG, leverage opportunities for disruption, such as Airbnb, e.l.f. cosmetics, ipsy, Spotify, and Uber.

FRG's Philadelphia office formally opens September 12, 2016. The office has hired 40 individuals to-date and is currently hosting regular recruitment events for its new office. Upcoming recruitment events will occur on August 31st and September 6th at Ten Penn Center (1801 Market Street Philadelphia, PA). For more information about job opportunities, please contact joinUSA@frankgroup.com

About Frank Recruitment Group

Frank Recruitment Group was founded in Newcastle, UK in 2007 and is a leading global niche IT recruitment business that employs more than 900 people across its offices in London, New York, Newcastle, San Francisco, Melbourne and Singapore. The group operates six trading brands; each aligned with a specific technology product. Nigel Frank was established in 2007 and is the global leader in recruiting Microsoft Dynamics professionals. Its second core brand, Mason Frank, was launched in 2010 and is the largest global provider of Salesforce professionals. In 2014, the Company launched two additional brands: Churchill Frank, which focuses on Big Data solutions; and Washington Frank, FRG's incubator brand, which specializes in staffing opportunities in emerging cloud technologies. In 2016, FRG launched two further brands; Anderson Frank, which specializes in NetSuite staffing and Pearson Frank, which recruits Java and PHP developers. FRG plans to expand its outreach globally and attract more recruiters in strategic hubs to continue to meet demand for the Company's services. For more information, visit www.frankgroup.com.

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Contacts:

Media:

TPG

Erika White, +1 415-743-1550

ewhite@tpg.com
CANNON BALL  North Dakotas homeland security director ordered the removal of state-owned trailers and water tanks from the Dakota Access Pipeline protest campsite Monday, citing mounting reports of unlawful activity -- the latest involving lasers -- and the risk of damage.

Based on the scenario down there, we dont believe that equipment is secure, Homeland Security Division Director Greg Wilz said.

As tribal members from across the nation streamed into the campsite, swelling its population to between 500 to 4,000 people depending on estimates, the loss of their main drinking water supply came as a blow and sent local officials scrambling to find an alternative water source.

I feel like I just got shot down, said Johnelle Leingang, executive secretary to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II and the tribes emergency response coordinator. Its very hurtful.

A black heavy-duty pickup backed up to the water tanks and pulled them away just before noon as the beating sun drove temperatures into the 80s.

Two air-conditioned trailers and a command center vehicle  delivered with the water tanks a week ago by the North Dakota Department of Health at the tribes request  also were hauled away from the campsite, which overlooks the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers just south of where the oil pipeline would cross the Missouri.

People are getting overheated now already, Leingang said shortly before 4 p.m., as the temperature hovered around 90.

Governor seeks fed help

Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who issued an emergency declaration Friday to make additional state resources available to manage public safety risks associated with the protest, called Monday for federal officials to help manage the situation.

In an interview with conservative talk show host Scott Hennen, Dalrymple noted the campsite sits on land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose approval of the pipelines river crossings led to the tribe filing a federal lawsuit to stop it. A judge will consider the tribes request for a temporary injunction during a hearing Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Dalrymple spokesman Jeff Zent said the governor spoke Monday morning with Jo-Ellen Darcy, who supervises the corps as the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, discussing the fact the campsite is on corps land and that protesters dont have a permit.

While Zent said the governor requested no specific action by the corps, Dalrymple told Hennen, I think they have to step up and take some responsibility, as well.

Corps spokeswoman Eileen Williamson said the agency is just monitoring the situation and has no action planned.

At this point, there is not a permit, but it is my understanding they are requesting a permit, which will undergo a review for issues such as environmental impact, health and safety, she said.

The corps may ticket unauthorized campers but has no authority to remove them, leaving that to law enforcement, Williamson said.

We want to make sure that things are handled peaceably, she said.

With work temporarily halted on the pipeline, only a handful of protesters stood along Highway 1806 by the construction site Monday morning, with the rest down at the campsite.

The Morton County Sheriffs Office estimated 2,000 to 2,500 protesters, while one campsite leader, Phyllis Young, pegged the gathering at closer to 4,000.

Standing Rock spokesman Steven Sitting Bear said it had grown to 2,500 to 3,000, with many coming and going as they worked around their work and school schedules.

Ive been getting notifications from tribes all over the country that have caravans in route, so its continuing to grow, he said.

Law enforcement on site estimated between 500 and 800 protesters were present Monday morning.

Laser incidents investigated

Authorities had arrested 29 protesters  including the tribal chairman  in the last two weeks for alleged disorderly conduct or trespassing, but things were comparatively quiet over the weekend and no additional arrests were reported as of mid-afternoon Monday, officials said.

However, authorities announced they are investigating two incidents of laser strikes aimed at aircraft being used to observe the protest site.

A pilot reported a laser beam hitting him in the eye around 5:15 a.m. last Wednesday, causing him to be blinded temporarily, according to the Morton County Sheriffs Department.

A second incident occurred about 12:45 a.m. Sunday. In that case, the pilot said he was able to look away in time to avoid the laser, authorities said.

Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft is a federal violation. Reports have been forwarded to the North Dakota Highway Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Some at the protest complained last week that aircraft were being used to disrupt cell phone communications.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said the planes are being used for public safety observation and not being used to disrupt any services.

A traffic control point remained in place on State Highway 1806 south of Mandan.

Zent said the governor has no plans to mobilize the North Dakota National Guard.

Hed like to keep this in the law enforcement arena, he said.

Factions develop

Dalrymple said that while the majority of protesters were peaceful, theres an element of outside agitators responsible for vandalism, trespassing on private property and blocking the highway  hundreds of criminal acts.

Threats also have been made against law enforcement on social media, Kirchmeier noted.

Leingang dismissed claims of unlawful activity at the campsite as rumor and said nothing bad is happening here.

Still, protesters acknowledged the camp has split into two factions.

You have the pacifists and then you have the people who feel something should be done, and theyre camped across the river from each other, said Jesse Stevens, 32, a member of Wisconsins Menominee and Oneida tribes.

Stevens and two other men from Keshena, Wis., left Friday evening and arrived Sunday night, delayed by a broken water pump on his GMC Jimmy. While they set up camp on the peaceful side, Stevens said he felt like he should be across the river.

My point in coming out here was some kind of action, regardless of whether its life-threatening or not, he said. This is our land, our people.

Dionne Addison, 40, a Northern Arapaho Tribe member who caravanned with family from Wyomings Wind River Reservation, said she was a little concerned about her childrens safety at the campsite. But she added, I believe theres strength in prayer, and said its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Our water is sacred, she said. I want to make a difference, and I want them to know they can make a difference, too.

Forum News Service reporter Amy Dalrymple contributed to this story.
Ten years of development work, SEK 20 billion in investments

More than 10 million kilometres of test driving

Global launches in five phases

40,000 customers to be invited to experience Scania's range first-hand on site in Sodertalje

A strong focus on customer profitability, through precisely customised transportation solutions in the form of sustainable products and services

The new truck delivers 5% lower fuel consumption on average

Scania's entire range is re-defining the market's view of the term 'premium'

Scania is introducing a new truck range, the result of ten years of development work and investments in the region of SEK 20 billion. With the new range, Scania is extending its offering and can now, thanks to its unique modular system, supply more performance stages, connectivity and a comprehensive palette of productivity-enhancing services as well as sustainable transportation solutions that are precisely customised for each type of customer in the highly competitive transportation industry. The promise is that Scania's customers will always be able to carry out their work in the most sustainable and profitable way, regardless of industry and area of application.

"It is undoubtedly the biggest investment in Scania's 125 year history," declares Henrik Henriksson, President and CEO of Scania. "It is with hearts bursting with pride that my colleagues and I are now presenting the products and services that will bring Scania to new levels regarding market shares and carry us far into the next decade.

"Today we are not just launching a new truck range but also a unique, ingenious toolbox of sustainable solutions in the form of products and services that Scania is first in the industry to be able to deliver and I feel I can claim this with confidence. We are focusing firmly on our main task: to give our customers the necessary tools for achieving profitability in the one business that really means something to them, namely their own."

Production of the new trucks starts immediately at Scania's final assembly plant in Sodertalje. Initially the focus will be on vehicles and services for long-haul transportation, but additional options will be continually introduced as more Scania plants readjust and additional options emerge.

"There is a tremendous amount of development work by our engineers behind this introduction," emphasises Henrik Henriksson, Scania's President and CEO.

"The most noticeable features are of course the new cabs, but the real innovation is that we are now introducing new technologies, services and insights that will help our customers gain an overview of both their costs and their revenues. Our goal is for our customers to be able to achieve sustainable profitability, regardless of assignment type or the conditions in which they work. Our customers' vehicles always constitute a link within the bigger picture; Scania embraces this through quality, accessibility and a range of physical or connected services. Our new range of products and services redefines the term 'premium' within the truck industry."

Scania is launching its new range in phases, with a clear focus on various customer segments and according to a carefully planned schedule. The introductions will continue after the first unveiling in Europe, with more customer options, before the entire process concludes with simultaneous launches on markets outside Europe. Among the improvements Scania is introducing, one that is particularly noticeable is a 5% reduction in diesel fuel consumption, thanks to factors such as improved powertrains and better aerodynamics.

The express goal is for at least 40,000 customers and prospective customers to have test driven the new vehicles themselves in connection with the launches, and to have been introduced to Scania's entire range, covering everything from sustainability optimisation to financing, insurance and maintenance. Other channels are online communication, the media and Scania's approximately 1,700 dealers in more than 100 countries. The unveiling was held earlier tonight in Paris, live in front of roughly 1,500 special guests and globally to the online community.

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

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Contacts:

Scania Trucks

Orjan Aslund, +46 (0)70 289 8378

Head of Product Affairs

orjan.aslund@scania.com
SmartMetric is leading the adoption of fingerprint biometric based security in credit cards along with other card based systems such as access control, identity management and health cards. We are pleased to see that the technology we have spent so long in developing is now being recognized as a truly transformative change technology that will have a major impact on the Banking and Financial Services Industry said today SmartMetric's President and CEO, Chaya Hendrick.

SmartMetric is the creator of the in-the-card fingerprint scanner for chip credit cards. It uses a SmartMetric developed miniature and super thin fully functional fingerprint reader that sits inside the credit card. The biometric reader is used to turn on the card's surface chip following a fingerprint match and prior to being inserted into card readers or ATM's.

The SmartMetric solution overlays biometric protection on top of the new chip card technology now being issued across the United States. There are now more than 4.8 billion chip payments cards issued globally.

SmartMetric officially launched its groundbreaking biometric payments card this April at the Smart Card Alliance Payments Forum in Orlando, Florida. The company is now in talks with card issuing Banks around the world.

To view a video of the SmartMetric biometric chip card follow this link:

SmartMetric Biometric Payments Card -- https://youtu.be/zSX59uHoHqU

To view the company website: www.smartmetric.com

*research figures from ACI Worldwide research report as published by Business Intelligence, July 2016

Safe Harbor Statement: Certain of the above statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.

SmartMetric, Inc.

Head Office:

+1.702.990.3687

info@smartmetric.com



Investor Relations

Everest Corporate Advisors, Inc.

702.334.7791

415.250.0105
TORONTO, TORONTO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- TransGaming Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TNG) (the "Company" or "TransGaming") is pleased to announce that it will hold a special meeting of its shareholders on September 16, 2016 (the "Meeting") for the purposes of approving (i) a change of business from one focused on the digital distribution of games for Smart TVs, next-generation set-top boxes and over-the-top devices, to that of lending to, investing in and financing real estate transactions (the "Proposed COB") under the rules of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), (ii) the sale of TransGaming's GameTree TV business (the "Sale of Assets"), (iii) the creation of a new Control Person (as that term is defined in the polices of the TSXV) in connection with the private placement by TransGaming of $1,168,125 of subscription receipts to Plazacorp Holdings Limited (the "Plazacorp Financing"), (iv) the election of new directors of the board of directors of the Company (the "New Directors"), (v) a consolidation of the common shares of TransGaming by a ratio of up to 35:1 (the "Consolidation"), (vi) a change of the name of the Company to "Findev Inc." (the "Name Change"), (vii) the offering by the Company of mezzanine financing credit facilities to Plazacorp Investments Limited and/or its affiliated companies (the "Credit Facility"), and (viii) certain amendments to the TransGaming stock option plan (the "Plan Amendments" and, together with the Sale of Assets, the Plazacorp Financing, the New Directors, the Consolidation, the Name Change and the Credit Facility, the "Other Transactions").

The record date for the purpose of determining the holders of common shares entitled to receive notice of and attend the Meeting and vote thereat is August 22, 2016. The management information circular (the "Circular") relating to the Meeting provides significant disclosure with respect to the matters to be submitted to the Meeting and will be filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

PLAZACORP FINANCING

TransGaming is also pleased to announce that, consistent with its plans previously announced via news release dated May 9, 2016 as part of the Proposed COB, it entered into a subscription agreement for subscription receipts with Plazacorp Holdings Limited ("Plazacorp Holdings") on August 22, 2016 pursuant to which Plazacorp Holdings acquired 77,875,000 pre-Consolidation subscription receipts from the Company at a purchase price of $0.015 per subscription receipt for gross cash proceeds of $1,168,125 (the "Proceeds"). These subscription receipts will entitle Plazacorp Holdings to receive, upon exchange, 2,225,000 post-Consolidation common shares at a deemed price of $0.525 per post-Consolidation common share.

Proceeds from the Plazacorp Financing will be held in escrow pending satisfaction of certain release conditions (the "Escrow Release Conditions") related to the completion of the Proposed COB. If the Escrow Release Conditions are not met, the Plazacorp Financing will not close and the funds will be returned to Plazacorp Holdings without interest. Once the Escrow Release Conditions are satisfied and the Proceeds are released from escrow to TransGaming, the proposed use of the Proceeds shall be to fund real estate investments as described in the Circular. The 2,225,000 post- Consolidation common shares to be issued to Plazacorp Holdings would constitute forty percent (40%) of the issued and outstanding post-Consolidation common shares of the Company, thereby rendering Plazacorp Holdings a Control Person of the Company.

PROPOSED COB

The Company announced its intention to proceed with the Proposed COB via news release dated May 9, 2016. If completed, the Proposed COB will constitute a "Change of Business" under Policy 5.2 of the TSXV and is conditional upon, among other things, the Company obtaining TSXV and shareholder approval.

Upon completion of the Proposed COB, the Company will become a Tier 1 investment company. If the Proposed COB does not obtain regulatory and shareholder approval, the Company will not proceed with the Other Transactions. In such circumstances, the Board will reconsider the strategic objectives of the Company and report back to the shareholders.

OTHER TRANSACTIONS

Sale of Assets

TransGaming announced via news release dated August 16, 2016 that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with TransGaming Interactive UK Limited, a subsidiary of General Media Ventures Ltd., through which it is proposing a sale of its GameTree TV business in conjunction with the Proposed COB. The financial terms of the Sale of Assets will be fully disclosed in the Circular and the completion of the Sale of Assets will be conditional upon, among other things, the Company obtaining TSXV and shareholder approval.

Amendment of Stock Option Plan

The primary amendment to the current stock option plan, which will only be effective upon receipt of shareholder and TSXV approval, is a change from a fixed number stock option plan to a rolling stock option plan, with the maximum number of shares reserved for issuance being equal to ten percent (10%) of the issued and outstanding shares of TransGaming as at the date of the grant of an option under the amended stock option plan. For further details and information about the amendments to the stock option plan, please see the Circular.

Election of New Directors

The Company is seeking shareholder approval to establish a new board of directors comprised of six (6) individuals, four (4) of whom would be independent of Plazacorp Holdings. They include: Mr. Anthony Heller, President, Plazacorp Investments Limited, Mr. Sruli Weinreb, Founder and Managing Partner, Plaza Capital Limited, Mr. Brice Scheschuk, CEO, Globalive Capital and Globalive Communications and current Chair of TransGaming's Board, Mr. David Roff, Partner, Globalive Capital, Mr. Niall Finnegan, President, Finnegan Marshall Inc., and Mr. Devon Cranson, President, Cranson Capital.

Consolidation

TransGaming proposes to consolidate its common shares by a ratio of up to 35:1. Based on TransGaming's 116,797,889 currently issued and outstanding common shares with a market trading price of $0.02 per share, the proposed Consolidation would result in 3,337,082 issued and outstanding post-Consolidation common shares, each with a market price of $0.70 per share.

Name Change

The Company proposes to change its name to "Findev Inc." following the Proposed COB.

Credit Facility

TransGaming will also seek out the necessary shareholder and regulatory approval of the establishment of a secured revolving term credit facility to be made available by the Company to Plazacorp Investments Limited and its affiliates as mezzanine financing for certain condominium development projects in the Greater Toronto Area, with such credit facility to be evidenced by a credit agreement between the Company and Plazacorp Investments Limited. For further details and information about the Credit Facility, please see the Circular.

SHAREHOLDER'S MEETING

Shareholder approval of not less than 66 2/3% of the shares voting in person or by proxy at the Meeting will be required to approve the Sale of Assets, the Consolidation and the Name Change. The resolutions approving the Proposed COB, the Plazacorp Financing, the New Directors, the Credit Facility and the Plan Amendments require approval by a simple majority of the votes cast by shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at the Meeting.

BROKERED PRIVATE PLACEMENT

In connection with the proposed COB and Other Transactions, the Company expects to complete an arm's length brokered private placement of a minimum of 16,666,666 subscription receipts and up to a maximum of 33,333,333 subscription receipts at a price per subscription receipt of $0.60 resulting in gross proceeds to the Company of a minimum of $10,000,000 and up to a maximum of $20,000,000 (the "Private Placement"). Each subscription receipt shall be automatically exercisable into one post-Consolidation common share upon the satisfaction of certain escrow release conditions. In addition, each subscription receipt will include, at no additional cost, one common share purchase warrant in the capital of the Company for each post- Consolidation common share issued. Each warrant shall be exercisable for a period of 36 months from the date of completion of the Private Placement, into one post- Consolidation common share at an exercise price of $0.70.

The proceeds from the Private Placement will be held in escrow and will be released to the Company subject to and conditional upon (i) the satisfaction of all conditions precedent to the Proposed COB and Other Transactions, and (ii) the receipt of all required regulatory approvals necessary to complete the Proposed COB and Other Transactions (including, without limitation, the conditional approval of the TSXV). If the escrow release conditions are not satisfied, the subscription receipts issued in the Private Placement will immediately become null, void and of no further force or effect and the escrowed proceeds will be returned to the holders on a pro-rata basis.

Cranson Capital Securities Inc. (the "Agent") will act as the agent for the Private Placement. The Company shall pay the Agent an initial work fee of $10,000 upon confirmation of shareholder approval for the Proposed COB and a cash amount equal to six percent (6.0%) of the aggregate proceeds of the Private Placement raised by the Agent. For further details and information about the Private Placement, please see the Circular.

CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

The TSXV has conditionally approved the Change of Business, Other Transactions and Private Placement, subject to TransGaming fulfilling all of the requirements of the TSXV including receipt of shareholder approval where applicable.

OTHER INFORMATION

Completion of the Proposed COB and Other Transactions is subject to a number of conditions, including TSXV acceptance and shareholder approval. The Proposed COB and Other Transactions cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. TSXV approval of the Private Placement is also required. There can be no assurance that the Proposed COB, Other Transactions and Private Placement will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular to be prepared in connection with the Proposed COB, Other Transactions and Private Placement, any information released or received with respect thereto may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of TransGaming Inc. should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the Proposed COB, Other Transactions and Private Placement, and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

On behalf of the Company,

Dennis Ensing, CEO

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this document may constitute "forward-looking" statements, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used in this document, such statements use words like "may", "will", "expect", "continue", "believe", "plan", "intend", "would", "could", "should", "anticipate" and other similar terminology. These statements reflect current assumptions and expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this document. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to vary significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's the most recently filed Annual Report which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this document are based upon what we believe are reasonable assumptions, we cannot assure investors that our actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by securities law.

Contacts:

Dennis Ensing

CEO

(416) 979-9900

dennis@transgaming.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- World Financial Split Corp. (TSX: WFS)(TSX: WFS.PR.A) announces results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Decrease in net assets attributable to holders of Class A shares amounted to $3.2 million or $1.45 per Class A share. Net assets attributable to holders of Class A shares as at June 30, 2016 were $4.0 million or $1.92 per Class A share. Cash distributions of $0.26 per Preferred share were paid during the period.

The Fund is a mutual fund corporation which invests in a portfolio that includes common equity securities selected from the ten largest financial services companies by market capitalization in each of Canada, the United States and the Rest of the World (the

"Portfolio Universe"). The issuers of securities in the Portfolio, other than Canadian issuers, must have a minimum credit r ating of "A" from Standard & Poor's Rating Services or a comparable rating from an equivalent rating agency.

In addition, up to 25% of the Net Asset Value of the Fund may be invested in common equity securities of Financial Services companies not included in the Portfolio Universe as long as such companies have a market capitalization at the time of investment of at least US$10 billion and for non-Canadian issuers, a minimum credit rating of "A-" from Standard & Poors

Rating Services or a comparable rating from an equivalent rating agency.

The Fund employs a proprietary investment strategy, Strathbridge Selective Overwriting ("SSO"), to enhance the income generated by the portfolio and to reduce volatility. In addition, the Fund may write cash covered put options in respect of securities in which it is permitted to invest.

The Fund's investment portfolio is managed by its investment manager, Strathbridge Asset Management Inc. The Fund's Class A and Preferred shares are listed on Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols WFS and WFS.PR.A respectively.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Selected Financial Information: ($ Millions) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Statement of Comprehensive Income For the six months ended June 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Income (including Net Loss on Investments) $ (2.2) Expenses (0.4) ---------- Operating Loss (2.6) Preferred Share Distributions (0.6) ---------- Decrease in Net Assets Attributable to Holders of Class A Shares $ (3.2) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For further information, please contact Investor Relations at 416.681.3966, toll free at 1.800.725.7172 or visit www.strathbridge.com.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investment funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

Contacts:

Strathbridge Asset Management Inc.

Aaron Ho

Vice-President, Finance



Strathbridge Asset Management Inc.

121 King Street West, Suite 2600

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 3T9

416.681.3966; 1.800.725.7172

info@strathbridge.com

www.strathbridge.com




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Canacol Energy Ltd. ("Canacol" or the "Corporation") (TSX: CNE)(OTCQX: CNNEF)(BVC: CNEC) is pleased to provide the following update concerning the Nispero 1 gas discovery, the doubling of its gas drilling program for the remainder of 2016, and an increase of 9% in Corporate cash sales to 19,440 barrels of oil equivalent per day ("boepd") for the month of July 2016 compared to the average cash sales of 17,817 boepd for the quarter of April 1 to June 30, 2016.

Nispero 1 Exploration Discovery (100% Operated Working Interest)

The Nispero 1 exploration well was spud on the Esperanza Exploration and Exploitation Contract on July 17, 2016. The well reached total depth of 9,906 feet measured depth ("ft md") on August 7, 2016, encountering 79 ft md (55 feet true vertical depth) of net gas pay with average porosity of 17% within the primary Cienage de Oro ("CDO") reservoir target. The CDO reservoir interval was perforated in 7 different intervals between 8,792 to 9,630 ft md and flowed at a final stabilized rate of 28 million cubic feet per day ("MMscfpd") of dry gas with no water at a flowing tubing head pressure of 2,045 pounds per square inch over a test period of 53 hours. The Corporation is currently completing the Nispero 1 well for permanent production via a flow line that will tie the well into the Corporation's operated Jobo production facility.

Given the success at Nispero, the Corporation plans to immediately drill the offsetting Trombon gas prospect from the same drilling platform the Nispero 1 well was drilled from. The Trombon 1 exploration well will target the same CDO reservoir interval tested in the offsetting Nispero 1 well, but in a distinct and isolated fault block located approximately 2 kilometers south of the Nispero discovery. The Corporation anticipates spudding the Trombon 1 well late in the week of August 29, 2016, and anticipates that the well will take 5 to 6 weeks to drill and flow test.

Expansion of the 2016 Gas Drilling Program

The Corporation is currently contracting a second rig to drill the Nelson 6 and Nelson 8 wells while the existing rig will be left to drill the Trombon 1 exploration well and then be mobilized to drill appraisal wells in the Clarinete and Oboe fields. The Nelson 6 exploration well will target gas pay within the shallow Porquero sandstone reservoir in the Nelson field. The Nelson 8 well is a development well targeting productive reservoirs within the CDO reservoir that are not being drained by the existing producing wells in the Nelson field. The Corporation anticipates that both new Nelson wells will be drilled and tested prior to the end of 2016. Following the drilling and testing of the Trombon 1 exploration well, the existing rig will be mobilized to the Clarinete field to drill the Clarinete 3 appraisal well prior to the end of 2016. The Corporation intends to keep one drilling rig active for all of 2017 drilling gas exploration and appraisal wells on its operated VIM 5, Esperanza, VIM 19 and VIM 21 Exploration and Production contracts.

The objectives of the expanded gas drilling program are to 1) target management's estimate of more than 100 billion cubic feet of potential recoverable resource in order to secure new gas sales contracts, and 2) increase the productive capacity of the Corporations gas assets to more than 190 MMscfpd in 2017 to supply the new contracts.

The Corporation also plans to spud the Mono Cappuccino oil exploration well on its operated VMM2 E&P contract in the last quarter of 2016.

Corporate Production

Gas and oil cash sales before royalties for the month of July 2016 averaged approximately 19,440 boepd, which consisted of 88.0 MMscfpd (15,431 boepd) of gas, and 4,009 barrels of oil per day of oil which included production from Ecuador. Of the 88 MMscfpd of gas cash sales, approximately 85.0 MMscfpd were realized contractual gas sales as the Corporation saw its customers accept physical delivery of nearly all of their nominated gas volumes. The average cash netback of the gas cash sales was approximately US$ 26.60 / barrel of oil equivalent during this period, while the average cash netback of the oil sales was US$ 25.16 / barrel.

The Corporation will provide updates when relevant information becomes available.

Canacol is an exploration and production company with operations focused in Colombia and Ecuador. The Corporation's common stock trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the OTCQX in the United States of America, and the Colombia Stock Exchange under ticker symbol CNE, CNNEF, and CNE.C, respectively.

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, including without limitation statements relating to estimated production rates from the Corporation's properties and intended work programs and associated timelines. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Corporation cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these forward looking statements. They are made as of the date hereof and are subject to change and the Corporation assumes no obligation to revise or update them to reflect new circumstances, except as required by law. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration for and development of crude oil and natural gas properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological and geophysical data, fluctuating energy prices, the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs or delays and other uncertainties associated with the oil and gas industry. Other risk factors could include risks associated with negotiating with foreign governments as well as country risk associated with conducting international activities, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Corporation.

Realized contractual gas sales is defined as gas produced and sold plus gas revenues received from nominated take or pay contracts.

Gas cash sales is defined as realized contractual gas sales plus cash received for gas classified as deferred revenues accordingly to IFRS. Corporate cash sales is defined as gas cash sales plus Colombian oil sales plus the Corporation's share of Ecuador tariff oil sales.

The portion of deferred revenues for the month of July 2016 was approximately 3 MMscfpd.

Boe conversion - The term "boe" is used in this news release. Boe may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of cubic feet of natural gas to barrels oil equivalent is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. In this news release, we have expressed boe using the Colombian conversion standard of 5.7 Mcf: 1 bbl required by the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia.

Contacts:

Investor Relations

214-235-4798

IR@canacolenergy.com

www.canacolenergy.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 08/25/16 -- This document corrects and replaces the press release that was issued on August 23, 2016 at 4:13 PM EDT.

TomaGold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: LOT) ("TomaGold" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the first closing of a convertible secured debenture (the "Debenture") in the amount of $300,000 of a total of $2,000,000 (the "Offering"). The Debenture will bear interest at an annual rate of 10% and will have a maturity date of 24 months from the date of issue.

The debenture holder, during the 24 months from the date of closing, has the right, at its sole discretion, to convert the outstanding principal balance and accrued and unpaid interests into that number of Conversion Units determined by dividing the amount being converted by $0.15, provided that the Corporation has the right to require the conversion, in part or in full, of the outstanding principal amount and the accrued and unpaid interests under the Debenture if the closing price of the Class A shares of the capital stock of the Corporation ("Common Share") on the TSX Venture Exchange is equal to or exceeds $0.22.

Each Conversion Unit, at a price of $0.15 each, will consist of (i) one Common Share; and (ii) one half (1/2) Warrant ("Conversion Unit"). The definitive terms of the warrants are the following. Each whole Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one (1) Common Share of the Corporation at a price of $0.20 each for a 24-month period from the date of issue of the Debenture.

The Corporation will grant a movable hypothec on all of its present and future moveable assets to the debenture holder. Other movable hypothecs will rank "pari passu" to such movable hypothec for an additional amount of up to $1,000,000.

The convertible secured debenture is subject to regulatory approval. The Debenture, Warrants, Units and underlying Common Shares issued will be subject to a mandatory 4 months and 1 day holding period.

Stock options

The Corporation has also granted to directors, officers and consultants an aggregate of 2,900,000 stock options to acquire the same number of common shares of the Corporation at $0.15 per share for a period of 5 years.

About TomaGold Corporation

TomaGold Corporation is a Canadian-based mining exploration company whose primary mission is the acquisition, exploration and development of gold projects in Canada and abroad.

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. The statements in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements". Readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results may vary materially from those described in such "forward-looking" statements.

Contacts:

David Grondin

President and Chief Executive Officer

(514) 583-3490

www.tomagoldcorp.com




EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/23/16 -- Editors Note: There is a photo associated with this press release.

Concordia University of Edmonton's Board of Governors is pleased to announce that Dr. Tim Loreman has been named as the next university President. Dr. Loreman will succeed Dr. Gerald S. Krispin, who announced his retirement earlier this year after 10 years as president.

"This is an exciting time at Concordia University of Edmonton and we know that Dr. Loreman is the right person to lead us into our next decade of achievement," said Michael Wade, Chair of the Board of Governors. "Along with his lengthy record of academic excellence, Dr. Loreman has demonstrated a strong grasp of the complexities of university administration in the 21st century through his current position as Vice President Academic and Provost."

Dr. Loreman has been with the institution for 14 years and is looking forward to leading a university that has become known nationally and internationally for excellence in teaching, research, and community outreach activities.

Dr. Loreman is an active, award-winning and highly respected academic and researcher in the field of inclusive education. He has presented his research on inclusive education and pedagogy at major conferences around the world, from Australia to the United States and Britain to Bangladesh. He has been published extensively in books, journals and reports, and was founding editor of the International Journal of Whole Schooling and co-editor of Exceptionality Education International. Major Canadian research grants have allowed Dr. Loreman to complete large cross-institutional and cross-national CIDA projects such as reforms of the education system in Ukraine to better support inclusive education, which has now been extended to school systems in Pacific Island nations.

"I have seen our university grow spectacularly over the years. We have always ensured our students are placed at the centre of all that we do, and, through our commitment to preparing them for a successful future, the university is developing into a more robust, inclusive and scholarly community," said Dr. Loreman. "I'm proud of what has become one of Canada's best smaller universities and am honoured to have been chosen as the next President."

Concordia University of Edmonton is nestled in Alberta's capital city of Edmonton within the Highlands neighbourhood overlooking the beautiful North Saskatchewan River Valley. It offers over 45 majors and minors in the fields of arts, science and management, as well as two after-degree programs, three master's degrees and several graduate certificates and diplomas.

To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link: www.marketwire.com/library/20160823-timloreman800.jpg.

Contacts:

Concordia University of Edmonton

Sarawjeet Panesar

Marketing & Communications Specialist

780-479-9347

sarawjeet.panesar@concordia.ab.ca

www.concordia.ab.ca




BASINGSTOKE, England, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Capita Healthcare Decisions, in partnership with China's National Health and Development Research Centre (CNHDRC) and the International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI), has successfully won funding from the UK Government to support healthcare development in China.

The Prosperity Fund, a cross-government initiative managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), is a 1.3 billion fund to promote the economic reform and development needed for growth in eligible partner countries over the next five years. Funding is being received by a number of providers. In China the project has six objectives consistent with the Fund's global goal of promoting reform and growth - including a focus on healthcare.

The strategic partnership between Capita, CNHDRC and the iDSI (which is led by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) International), will enable extensive skill sharing and strategic guidance, allowing Chinese healthcare to achieve benefits and improvements in a number of areas.

As part of this, Capita will use its 16 years of experience to guide Chinese healthcare organisations on the use of clinical content. As well as its widely used and accredited specialist clinical teletriage algorithms, and patient focused web based clinical algorithms, Capita's internal clinical editorial team - supported by an extensive network of external experts - can create or update tailored clinical content to meet clients' requirements.

Insight will also be given on the capability to make this content digitally dynamic using Capita's Decision Management System (DMS) technology and Patient Relationship Management System, Salus, built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

This strategic relationship between three leading authorities in healthcare policy and healthcare technology, with particular strengths in emerging markets, will set the foundations for transformed healthcare delivery.

Dr Charles Young, chief medical officer at Capita Healthcare Decisions, said:

"Our relationship with iDSI and CNHDRC is extremely exciting, both strategically and in a practical way. Working closely with these partners enables us to functionalise high level strategic guidance, and so enable healthcare providers to directly improve health outcomes globally."

Notes to editors

More information on the Prosperity Fund can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cross-government-prosperity-fund-programme/cross-government-prosperity-fund-update
Acconeer AB, a Lund, Sweden-based IoT company, closed a SEK60m funding round.

Backers included existing shareholders and new investors including Jorgen Lantto, former CEO of Fingerprint Cards, and Bert Nordberg, former CEO and Chairman of Sony Mobile.

The company intends to use the funds to complete its 3D sensor A1 for commercial launch and mass production, which is planned for early 2017.

Founded in 2011 by Dr. Mikael Egard, Dr. Mats Arlelid, Marten Obrink, Professor Lars-Erik Wernersson and Lund University and led by Lars Lindell, CEO, Acconeer is developing a ultra-low power, high precision 3D sensor which aims to improve the way mobile devices interpret their surroundings for applications ranging from virtual reality and gaming to security and robot control.

Information from the sensor can also be used to identify different materials, or for practical applications, such as taking measurements of shirt size before ordering online.

FinSMEs

23/08/2016
Lemonade, a NYC-based peer to peer insurance company, received a significant investment from XL Innovate*.

In conjunction with the funding, whose amount was not disclosed, XL Innovates Managing Partner Tom Hutton joined Lemonades board.

The company will use the funds to prepare its New York launch.

Led by Daniel Schreiber, co-founder and CEO, Lemonade is a B-Corp peer to peer insurance company that replaces brokers with bots and machine learning.

The company, which recently hired senior insurance executives and behavioral economist Professor Dan Ariely, is also backed by Sequoia and Aleph VC.

FinSMEs

23/08/2016
WILLISTON -- A common dryland practice has led to a common problem in the oil patch  the saline seep.

The Williston Research Extension Center is taking a closer look at seeps and examining the best ways to address them.

Saline seeps are areas where the power of evaporation, which can reach as far as 6 feet below the surface of the soil, is pulling salts up from the ground water, sterilizing patches of land. From a distance, seeps look like snow in summer, but they are a salty crust that sterilizes the land and prevents things from growing. They are a remnant of the wheat-fallow approach to dryland farming, once fairly common, and still in use by some producers today. In the fallow year, no crop is grown in an attempt to accrue water for a subsequent crop. But the accumulating rain water from that area feeds the groundwater table, raising it too near the surface in some places. In dry, summer months, evaporation can then pull salts from that groundwater, depositing them on the surface.

The first signs of this happening out in a field may be stunted or dying trees in a nearby shelter belt, or wet spots that persist two or three days longer in the field. These are the places where tractors tend to bog down or cut deep ruts.

Later, when the spot dries, occasional salt crystals may be visible, sparkling here and there in the sun.

Rank wheat or barley growth, sometimes accompanied with lodging in an area that had been normal, may be the best and last crop where the saline seep is about to finally appear. The next time, the crop may not survive at all, or do very poorly. Kochia might persist in the spot for a year or so, followed by foxtail barley infestations, and then nothing. Nothing at all grows. When the ground is wet, it may seem darker than usual, but when ground dry, there is the tell-tale patch of snow in summer. A saline seep has arrived.

In some countries, saline seeps have been approached with tile or mole drain systems, which intercept water before it can feed the groundwater, but that isnt the right approach in the semi-arid western North Dakota. Theres not enough water to flush salts out of the soil, and, even if there was, where would all that salt ultimately go?

Most likely, to a neighbors field, where it causes problems for them instead.

Agronomic approaches are better in semi-arid land. This approach uses deep-rooted plants to use up water in a defined watershed, and keep it from feeding the groundwater in a problem area.

The latter approach to saline seeps is the subject of a reclamation study being conducted at the Williston Research Extension Center by cropping specialist Clair Keene. The research center has had a seep that had been gradually increasing in size for 20 or so years. In the last five, however, the increase was substantial enough to worry the farm manager.

Keene began her study with a set of simple monitoring wells  plastic PVC pipes  to get a handle on what area is charging up and feeding the seep. Now she is looking at which varieties of salt-tolerant alfalfa will work best to address the problem in a multi-year variety trial.

Her study hit the spotlight at a recent Field Day for pipeline reclamation. Seeps are pertinent to oilfield efforts because things like well pads remove plants from an areas watershed, and this can potentially contribute to rising groundwater levels.

Keene acknowledges an alfalfa management system would be quite a change for a producer growing mostly annuals. Theyd need different equipment to bale hay if they didnt happen to have a neighbor wanting it for their livestock.

That could seem pretty silly, but it could still be the best choice for returning the land to high productivity in the shortest timeframe, and it is fairly low cost and low rent.

Alfalfa is a perennial crop that, once established, doesnt need much in the way of herbicides or fertilizer. Being a legume, it fixes nitrogen, which can ultimately enrich the soil for subsequent grain crops once the seep is under control.

Another benefit to using alfalfa is its long lifespan  up to seven years. It wont need replanting, and because its a perennial, it can be out there growing during early spring and late fall, catching as much water as possible in the wetter periods of the growing season. It is also deep-rooted, and can reach as far as 20 feet down.

Once a seep is addressed, an area might then be returned to annual crops, but using a more intensive cropping system instead of fallow, to ensure water is no longer feeding groundwater in a shallow area.

An intensive cropping system replaces the fallow year with a cash crop like peas. Even better, add some safflower or sunflower to the rotation. The three-crop rotation can help prevent diseases and pests, as well as manage the watershed to eliminate future seeps.

Alfalfa isnt the only option, of course, to address a seep. There are perennial grasses with high salt tolerance such as AC Saltlander and Garrison Creeping Foxtail, which may be useful in areas with really high salt concentrations.

Plans for addressing a seep can be customized, Keene says, but the big thing to realize is that a producer cannot just manage the problem spot. The entire watershed has to be considered when developing a plan.

The seep itself is like the tip of the iceberg. Its the visible part, Keene said. But to deal with it and make it go away you have to manage the whole recharge area.
Global alternative asset firm TPG has named Sanghoon Lee as a Partner.

Lee will be responsible for leading TPG Capital Asias investment activities in South Korea, further expanding the firms presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

A native of South Korea, He brings to TPG more than 15 years of investment and banking experience in the Korea market, having most recently served as Managing Director and Head of Korea for Morgan Stanley Private Equity. Lee joined Morgan Stanley in 2010 and oversaw the groups private equity transactions in South Korea.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Lee was with Merrill Lynch, where he led the companys M&A and Capital Market transactions in South Korea.

Founded in 1992, TPG is a global private investment firm with over $70 billion of assets under management and offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, Houston, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Singapore, and Tokyo.

In 1994, the firm made its first investment in Asia and opened its first office to lead private equity investments in the region. Since that time, TPG has invested $8.1 billion in 69 investments across 12 countries through varied local and regional economic cycles.

Investments in South Korea include Korea First Bank and Hanaro Telecom.

FinSMEs

23/08/2016
Scoro, a London, UK-based work management software solution, closed a $1.9m seed funding.

Backers included SmartCap, Inventure, and Alchemist Accelerator.

The company will use the funds to accelerate the development of its automation features and integrations with other business tools, to expand its sales and support teams across its five international offices.

Launched in 2013 in Estonia by Fred Krieger, Kristina Lilleois, Indrek Saarnak, Priit Matiisen, Scoro provides a SaaS-based work management solution which allows professional and creative services to control the entire workflow, to streamline work and eliminate unnecessary processes to ensure a business runs efficiently its processes, from sales right through to billing.

Features include calendaring, task and project management, quoting and billing, enterprise-level reporting and a real-time dashboard.

Customers include professional services companies such as Grant Thornton, Sothebys International Realty and creative agencies such as Graphic Evidence and WSI.

FinSMEs

23/08/2016
New Delhi: To attract investors for the expansion and modernisation of rail infrastructure, Railways is setting up a Rs 30,000 crore fund, first-of-its-kind for the national transporter, for implementation of remunerative projects across the country.

We are creating a fund of Rs 30,000 crore for setting up Railways of India Development Fund (RIDF), said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Investors like World Bank, National Infrastructure Investment Fund, pension and insurance fund and other institutional investors are expected to be part of the RIDF. However, the RIDF will invest only on those rail projects which have high rate of return."RIDF will focus on new lines for freight movement or redevelopment of stations. It will not invest in those projects which are not remunerative," he said.

A survey will be carried out before taking up the project. Projects with minimum rate of return ranging between 14 per cent and 16 per cent will be taken up by the RIDF.

Railways will seek the cabinet nod before setting up the infrastructure fund.

Since freight lines are more remunerative than passenger line, RIFD will focus on goods movement.

Currently, railways has undertaken many new lines projects which are socially desirable but economically non-viable.

Certain projects in the hilly and remote areas are being taken up to provide rail link to the people of those regions.

Railways is facing about Rs 32,000 crore shortfall in the passenger operation as it is heavily cross-subsidised from freight business. PTI
The death of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker in a bomb explosion and a spate of bomb attacks in Keralas northern district of Kannur on Saturday show that the cadres of political parties are not ready to put an end to the political hostilities that have claimed more than 200 lives in the district in the past two decades.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken the initiative in this regard by urging Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take steps to bring peace to the district in his first meeting with him after assuming office on 25 May.

Modi had raised the political violence in Kannur district as a major issue during his campaign for the Assembly election on 16 May. Senior national leaders of the party had also taken up the matter with President Pranab Mukherjee.

Pinarayi had extended his cooperation to free Kannur of political violence if the prime minister directed his party workers to drop arms. Saturdays incidents show that the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadres have not received their leaders message. The police said the explosion that killed 24-year-old BJP worker Deeshith at Kottayampoyil near Koothuparamba at 7 pm on Saturday may have occurred while he was handling bombs at his house.

The palm of Deeshith, who is the son of local BJP leader Ponnambet Pradeepan, was shattered in the explosion that took place at the staircase room in the house. Although the youth was immediately rushed to a hospital at Thalassery, doctors declared him brought dead. The police has registered a case and the investigation is on.

Kannur CPM district secretary EP Jayarajan viewed the incident as proof that BJP was making bombs with the intention of unleashing violence in the district. He alleged that the BJPs attempt was to gain political mileage by creating unrest in society.

Curiously, a local committee office of the CPM at Kodiyeri, 20 kms away from Kottayampoyil, came under a bomb attack six hours later. Party area secretary MC Pavithran blamed the BJP-RSS combine for the attack. He said that five BJP-RSS men, who came on bikes, had hurled a number of bombs at the party office at 3 am on Saturday. The CPM workers allegedly avenged the attack by hurling a bomb on the local BJP office at Kalithazhaey an hour later.

Kannur had witnessed a series of post-poll clashes between the CPM and the BJP workers following the counting of votes on 19 May. One CPM worker was killed when bombs were hurled at the CPM victory rally at Dharmadom, which is represented by Pinarayi in the Assembly.

The post-poll clashes in Kannur also led to the murder of another CPM worker and retaliatory action by the CPM at Payyanur within two hours last month. While the chief minister justified the murder of the BJP worker by saying that it was a revenge killing, his party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan gave an open call to party workers not to spare those who kill his party men.

Bombs form an important part of the arsenal that political parties maintain to combat their political opponents not only in Kannur but also in nearby districts. Almost all parties, including the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), use bombs during political clashes. They are used for defence, as well as attack.

A senior police officer at Kozhikode said that in most cases of political murders he investigated in the northern districts bombs were found hurled before the murder. The officer, who did not want to be identified, told Firstpost that the assailants hurl bombs mostly to drive away witnesses.

There have been several cases of blasts while making or handling bombs leading to deaths and grievous injuries. A 36-year old CPM activist was killed and four others were injured while they were engaged in making bombs at Nadapuram in Kozhikode district just before the Assembly polls in May this year.

Nine steel bombs and bomb-making materials were seized in raids conducted by the police following the blast. The police found several units engaged in making and testing bombs in the area, where the political clashes involve CPM and IUML activists. There had been two such blasts there before this incident. Five Muslim Youth League workers were killed in one such blast in 2011.

The CPM lost two workers in a similar incident at a village in Kannur in June 2015. The blast occurred while four persons were engaged in making crude country bombs at Kolavallor, which is known for frequent clashes between the activists of the CPM and the BJP.

Six party workers were injured in bomb blasts in Kannur district during 2015. More than 100 bombs including eight steel bombs were seized by the police in raids following these blasts.

According to police, most parties have trained squads for making bombs. Some parties outsource bomb manufacturing to experts. Materials for making the bombs such as gun powder, sulphur and potassium are mostly sourced from Mahe, a part of the Union Territory of Puducherry, surrounded by Kannur on three sides and Kozhikode on the fourth.

The bombs are usually stored in abandoned houses or in uninhabited or vacant areas to be used when needed. There were several instances of accidental explosions of such hidden bombs resulting in the death of innocent people. A Congress worker was killed last year when he stumbled upon a bomb while collecting firewood at a hillock near Dharmadam in Kannur district. The practice poses grave danger to children since they play with objects not knowing that they are explosives. The police conduct raids only after explosions. The action yields little result since those storing bombs shift them to safe places anticipating raids.

Even when bombs are seized, there has been no further action. Although the Explosives Substance Act provides for imprisonment up to 20 years for using bombs, not even one person was convicted in Kannur district so far.

The delay in prosecuting the culprits has indeed helped the bomb culture to take firm root in Kannur district.
The man found dead Saturday in a Bowman motel has been identified as Nicholas Johnson, 23, of Rhame, a small town just outside of the far southwest North Dakota city.

Bowman Police Chief Charles Headley said during a press conference Tuesday that he wouldnt share specifics about the cause of Johnsons death, but said three people -- two of whom worked at the El-Vu Motel, where Johnson was found dead -- were arrested last weekend in Colorado on suspicion of homicide.

Chase Swanson, 21 and Madison West, 26, a couple from Bowman, and Todd Pashano, 28, from Minnesota, are being held at a correctional facility in Denver until they are extradited to Bowman in early September.

Police did not immediately know what city in Minnesota Pashano was from.

A violent tragedy has occurred in our community, Bowman City Commission President Lyn James said. We dont know the facts yet. We dont know what happened for sure that night, and until we do lets concentrate on what we do know. We have lost a young man, a friend, a neighbor and a son from our community. For now, lets do what Bowman County does best and give comfort to our grieving and help those who need it most, and support those who are doing their best.

Swanson and West lived and worked at the El-Vu Motel. Pashano was a motel guest when the murder occurred.

El-Vu Motel workers found Johnsons body in a pool of blood on Saturday while doing housekeeping and police were dispatched to the motel around noon, Headley said. The Bowman Ambulance Service was the first on the scene.

Headley said when police arrived at the scene, they found the circumstances of Johnsons death to be suspicious and then determined that West and Swanson, who were living in Room 25 where the body was found, were missing.

Headley said the focus of the investigation then turned to finding Swanson and West, who were tracked to Cheyenne, Wyo., through help from law enforcement agents in Wyoming and Colorado.

West and Swanson have both have a history of run-ins with the law.

West has an open felony case against her from events that occurred in July. She has been charged with felon in possession of a firearm, theft of property, prohibited alteration in handgun, and simple assault -- domestic violence.

Swanson has a string of charges against him as well. The most recent is an inactive felony case for aggravated assault, terrorizing, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Johnson had traffic violations and misdemeanors on his record.

No records could immediately be found for Pashano.

Bowman resident Mandy Stedman its sad that the alleged crime involved Bowman residents.

These guys were homegrown that did this, she said. You know, this is our hometown people that did this and its going to hit harder than some random person just coming through town killing somebody.

Stedman said Johnson was a good man and his whole family are God-fearing people.

Johnson was a good guy and didn't deserve this, she said.

Headley added that he is confident and pleased with the investigation thus far and said police are working to seek out the justice that is deserved for the family and the victim.
The governments in New Delhi and Srinagar need to be watchful to ensure that police extortion is nipped in the bud whenever it raises its ugly head in the current disturbed conditions in Kashmir. It is an extremely subversive possibility, for the anger and resentment it causes among young people can spur fresh eruptions of stone-pelting and other kinds of disruptive demonstrations.

Conversations with a range of political activists, lawyers, journalists and others in some of the more remote parts of the Kashmir Valley indicate that some elements in the police are extorting money from those whom they suspect or accuse of pelting stones. The rate, according to grassroots activists, has gone up to Rs 30,000.

From 2010 and up to the early months of 2011, those suspected or accused of pelting stones during the summer of 2010 were often rounded up and taken to police stations. In several cases, boys who had had nothing to do with pelting stones were also rounded up and accused of 'pelting'  for no better reason that a police official did not like his manner or attitude.

A common pattern of which people speak is that boys were beaten, humiliated and brutalised for a few days, until their parents paid money to have them released; Rs 20,000 was said to be the typical figure. Fearing retribution, people who talk of this trend insist that they must not be named.

Generally, the police threatened those whom they rounded up with the draconian Public Safety Act, which Sheikh Abdullah had put onto the state statute to replace the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1977. It provides for preventive detention for two years without legal process.

The media, politicians and activists in Delhi had roundly condemned the act at the time; Home Minister Charan Singh was forced to state that the Centre had not been consulted. However, Abdullah went ahead and converted the ordinance into law amid pandemonium in the assembly.

Few of the boys were actually booked under this black law, but a large number were brutalised in police stations that winter. Some were sodomised. Extortion was widespread.

A former supreme commander of a major militant group, who generally keeps his ear to the ground, makes a startling revelation in an off-the-record conversation. He says that militant commander Burhan Wani, over whose death in a police encounter on 8 July the Valley has been in ferment, had helped pay for the release of several of the boys that winter.

That sounds far-fetched, for Burhan had only become a militant in October 2010. He would have been very junior in the militant ranks. However, given the young mans undisputed dynamism, it is possible that he claimed some money from Hurriyat leaders and sent those sums for the release of those whose parents could not pay the demanded amounts.

Whether that is true or not, there can be little doubt that round of brutalisation-cum-extortion generated much of the resentment into which Burhan tapped to motivate young men to join his ranks. Apart from that season of extortion, police corruption and cynical unresponsiveness in the normal course are a major cause of youth alienation in Kashmir.

Police corruption and extortion are common across the country, and in many other countries too. However, there are few places where they have such a destabilising impact as in Kashmir. It is anti-national in a far more immediate and costly way than it is elsewhere.

Omar Abdullah, who was the chief minister of the state in 2010, did not see this danger. When I brought the trend, and the inherent dangers, to his notice in September 2011, he was dismissive. The police had booked very few boys under PSA, he said.

As for Kashmiri boys, they used to throw stones in the 1980s, said he, they had simply gone back to it after a phase of gun-wielding militancy. He seemed sublimely unconcerned about the possibility that stones could lead back to guns - as they have, and will further.

Current chief minister Mehbooba Mufti no doubt knows what happened that winter. It happened a lot in Anantnag, which she now represents in the assembly, and she had kept touch with the ground situation at the time.

She would be well advised to ensure that laws are implemented with due process. Allowing the maintenance of order to become an instrument of extortion could pave the way for much more trouble for her government, which still has four years to rule, and for her political reputation.
Ahmedabad: Patidar quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel used the agitation as a tool to satisfy his ambition to emerge as a leader and has become a "crorepati" within one year of launching the movement, two of his former aides have claimed.

Hardik's former close associates  Chirag Patel and Ketan Patel  have levelled these allegations against him in an open letter addressed to him, indicating fissures in the agitation launched by Patidars to seek OBC status and qualify for reservation in government jobs and education in Gujarat.

In the letter, Chirag and Ketan alleged that the 23-year-old Hardik has become a 'crorepati' (millionaire) within one year of launching the Patel quota agitation.

The two, core members of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), which started the movement under the leadership of Hardik, today made the letter public.

"Your ambition to become a leader, selfishness and urge to be wealthy has caused huge damage to the community as well as to our agitation," alleged the PAAS leaders.

"People of our community very well know that instead of helping kin of those who lost their lives during our agitation, you and your close friends are living a lavish life. You and your uncle Vipul bhai bought expensive cars from the donations collected to help the martyrs and to fund the agitation," said the letter.

"Normally, people find it difficult to make both ends meet after going to jail. But, it is exactly opposite in your case as you have become a crorepati after going to jail," Chirag and Ketan claimed.

Hardik has moved to Udaipur, Rajasthan after being granted bail by the Gujarat High Court last month in two sedition cases lodged against him in Ahmedabad and Surat. One of the conditions for granting bail was that he would stay outside Gujarat for the next six months.

Hardik or his associates have not yet responded to the charges made in the letter. He was in jail for almost nine months. Along with him, Chirag and Ketan were also behind bars for almost eight months as they are co-accused in the sedition case filed by Ahmedabad Police following large scale violence in Gujarat after their mega rally here on August 25, 2015.

Recently, Hardik formed a new team and sidelined Chirag and Ketan, spokespersons of PAAS. Both of them accused Hardik of dictatorial style of working, which according to them, has ruined chances of getting reservation for Patels.

"Because of your dictatorial approach, our dream of getting reservation has been shattered. For your personal gains, you have been boasting in the media only about your imprisonment. You must not forgot we also went to jail."

Chirag and Ketan asked Hardik to stop behaving in such a manner or else the duo said they would reveal some of the "darkest secrets" related to the agitation.
The present government is still in a denial of the perpetual violence in Kashmir. Ironically, our Prime Minister made three contradictory statements in this regard after watching a month-long bloodshed. One, he appealed the syncretic consciousness of Kashmiriyat to resolve the crisis without appealing to the armed forces to adopt a humane face. Two, he insisted upon generic dialogue without inviting any group or organisation. Third, he strategically raised the issue of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to contain Pakistans design in the valley which contrarily legitimises the Kashmiris claim for azadi (freedom).

Though the present crisis appears to be without a roadmap, it did not take place in a vacuum and without historical linkages. In its background lies ill-treatment, poor governance, alienation and deprivation of the Kashmiri community as compared to other citizens of India. While perusing Justice AS Anands book Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, we find the quotes of Sir Albion Banerjee, the Prime Minister of Kashmir who resigned in 1929 on the state of affairs of Kashmir under Maharaja Hari Singh in the following terms: "Jammu and Kashmir state is labouring under many disadvantages, with a large Mohammedan population, absolutely illiterate, labouring under poverty and very low economic conditions of living in the villages, practically governed like dumb driven cattle. There is no touch between the government and the people, no suitable opportunity for representing grievances."

The extreme frustration of people usually results into the call for national self-determination possibly in the hope of a better life. The first organised class struggle started in Kashmir, when on 29 April 1865, Dogra forces mercilessly killed 28 Shawl workers at Zaldager, Srinagar. This ultimately resulted in the formation of the first political party in the state  All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference.

It was established on 21 June 1931 by Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, Molvi Yusuf Shah, Molvi Ahmad, Saed Hassan Jalali, Saed-Ud-Din Shawl, Ghulam Ahmad Ashai, Mistri Yaqoob Ali, Mufti Shuhab-Ud-Din, Chowdhury Ghulam Abbas, Gowhar Rehman, Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, Ahmad Shah Jalali among others. Later on, Sheikh Abdullah gave secular colour to the party in 1938 by the active persuasion of Pt Prem Nath Bazaz and Muslim Conference was officially converted into National Conference on 11 June 1939. The party also became part of Maharajas interim government and then contested the elections in early 1950s. However, with the arrest of Shaikh Abdullah on 8 August 1953 for allegedly seeking an independent Kashmir, there developed a big gap in the relationship between the Centre and the state.

The Article 370, that guarantees a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, is probably under strain for perceived reasons. Unlike the previous Congress as well as Vajpayee regime, who maintained a moderate stance on Kashmir by keeping the option of dialogue open with Pakistan, Hurriyat leaders and other stakeholders, the Modi government is maintaining a hard stand on the issue.

At the same time, both the Centre and the state government failed to deliver on the front of governance, employment, poverty alleviation, education and law and order. There is a clear absence of transparency and accountability in the governance of the state that further fuels the already growing frustration. As a result, the largest chunk of Kashmiri workforce has to depend on unorganised sector. A class struggle between rich landed class and landless class is also in the making. Apprehensions, uncertainties, deprivation and humiliation have become a part of their daily life. Similar is the case with administrative structure and public distribution mechanism.

Nothing is possible without bribing, be it getting an identity card, employment, social security benefits, contract, licenses, registering an FIRs in police stations and so on.

While Hurriyat leaders are accused of receiving monies through hawala routes, there is no concrete action to block such flows. Apparently, it looks like a ploy to keep people who matter under remote control in the backdrop of what keeps simmering beneath the fragile surface of the valley. Does it not point to some larger game being played at the cost of lives of ordinary people? Interestingly again, the major projects announced for Kashmir are not working in a transparent manner. For instance, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) in Kashmir is notoriously referred to as East India Company. Kashmir is deprived of its own hydro resources despite having the flow of three rivers: Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. The state also witnessed natural disasters without timely help to rehabilitate the people. The growing dependency of the local youth on government for employment is another source of worry as it creates a huge competition with no substantive result. Employment is based on patron and clientele relationship than merit and fairness. Most of the benefits are appropriated by native party elites and their supporters.

The outreach initiatives recommended by Rangarajan committee failed to yield desired results. The greatest loss for a Kashmiri is not only the hate, suspicion and prejudice received from certain sections of citizens from other parts of India but also the consequent denial of choice to them to affiliate with multiple identities. That they are in many cases viewed as potential terrorists with rising incidences of cross-examination leads to greater humiliation like lynching, non-renting of houses, checking of baggage and demand for I-card from the students of Kashmir and most particularly from those who sport a beard. There is a denial of public spaces to Kashmiris where they could speak freely without any fear of persecution as fear has penetrated deep into their psyche.

There was an uneasy calm between 2002 and 2006 that got ravaged in 2007 by the fake encounter expose in Ganderbal area, in which naive civilians were allegedly killed by security forces, dubbed as foreign mercenaries. It got worsened in 2008 over the Amarnath land row. In 2009, a strong mass uprising was seen in the state over the Shopian rape and murder case. Then in 2010 came the Machil fake encounter case allowing peace a little chance in the state. At the core of these protests was an emotional anger of the civilian against the arbitrary use of power by the army under Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA).

Come what may, the draconian loyalty test mechanism through the use of sedition laws and anti-national yardstick against those who wish to look at the Kashmir problem from the angle of rationality and secularism is not only unethical but also politically unjustifiable. These tools only perpetuate separateness and fear psychosis not only among secular nationalists but also between other Indian citizens and Kashmiris, Kashmiri Muslims and Muslims from other parts in India, between Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslims, between Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Buddhists, and Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Sikhs.

Strangely, attempts have also been made to vitiate the intra-social atmosphere by encouraging the ethnic cleavages between groups like Dogras, Gujjars, Paharis, Pathans and so on. It is reflected in the formation of regional councils like Doda Hill Valley Council, Poonch-Rajouri Hill Council and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.

Be that as it may, the recent uprising is different from earlier movements in multiple senses. First, this movement is led by the fourth generation youth who were born after 1989, having first-hand experience of militancy, humiliation, military brutalities and thus, leading the movement with utmost heroic romance. Second, most of the youth taking part in processions are those who participated in 2014 election campaigns for PDP to defeat the BJP as well as National Conference. However, they later got frustrated with PDPs alliance with BJP and thus felt heavily cheated. Third, the present crisis unlike the past is of uniform civil character spread both vertically and horizontally across the cities, towns and villages. Fourth, there is an approximate defragmentation and manufactured convergence of separatists, civil society activists, pro-Indian workers including PDP, NC and Congress, native political and business elites, contractors, liaison agents, Ulema and disgruntled adolescents either because of fear or their conscientious response. Sixth, unlike the past, there is a greater defiance of curfew with new heroism of do or die, as final situation.

The protesters are more violent than before. There also appears to be an involvement of secret agencies from across the border which not only provide huge fund to active agents but also recruit young villagers, street children, poorly educated and unemployed youth to the militant club of Burhan. Even in sloganeering, a charm for the new wave of militants including Abu Dujana, Saddam Paddar, Zakir Musa Waseem, Waseem Malla could be seen from the slogans like Waseem lega Aazadi, Saddam Bhai qadam badao- hum tumhare saath hain. The names of top separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Ashraf Sehrai, Azam Inqilabi and Shabir Ahmed Shah were at low ebbs. Ironically, Hurriyat continues to lead the protest programme by announcing weekly protest calendars.

The religious symbols are also constantly deployed. It can be seen in the use of shrines, mosque and madrasas as a mobilisational tool. These platforms are used for freedom-songs and jihadi speeches by the Ulema, local Imams and youth leaders. Religious sloganeering is very much in use like Naara-e-Takbeer, Allah-o-Akbar and jingles Aazadi Ka Matlab Kya, La IIlaha Illalaha. Separatist but secular slogans and jingles are also chanted in chorus like Asalam-o-Asalam, Aye Shaheedo Asalam, Hum Kya Chaahte Azaadi, Burhan Tere Khoon Se Inqlaab Aayega, and Behane Maange Azaadi, Bachhi Maange Azaadi, Buday Maange Azaadi, Is Paar Maange Azaadi, Us Paar Maange Azaadi, to keep the momentum of the protesters high.

But does the solution to the Kashmir lie in independence? In all probabilities, the demand for azadi would be a total disaster. The pertinent question is what other solution be most acceptable to majority of the Kashmiris if not independence? Here it must be acknowledged that the mere appeal to syncretic tradition of Kashmir to maintain peace by the central government appears meaningless in the wake of the failure of both the Centre and state to connect with the people at grassroots level. The Central government in partnership with state government should ensure a life high on human development index without compromising the aspirational and emotional need of the younger generation. There is also a need of inter-faith dialogue to strengthen communal harmony and to avoid communal violence.

The crises in Kashmir, past and present is an outcome of failed promises, poor governance, treatment of Kashmiris as the other, death of party politics, AFSPA and its arbitrary use by armed personnel, and finally the conspicuous absence of genuine representative government.

The author is associate professor and head, Department of Political Science, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), Hyderabad. He can be mailed at afrozalam2@gmail.com. Views are personal.
United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) releasing the video of Kuldeep Moran, the kidnapped son of a BJP leader, is seen as a warning to the ruling party in Assam. Though the kidnappers, who have identified themselves as Ulfa cadre, have demanded a ransom of Rs one crore from Kuldeeps father, money is not seen as the sole motive behind the kidnap. The kidnap is being rather seen as a move to deter BJPs march in North East by the militant group, which is known for it's anti-BJP stance.

"This incident might deter the growth of BJP. Workers might desert the party for security concerns," says Professor Apurbakumar Baruah an expert on northeastern politics. He further added that similar incidents have caused major setbacks in the party when two BJP candidates named Pannalal Oswal and Jayanta Dutta were abducted and killed in 1999 and 2001 respectively.

These two incidents, seen as a failure of the then ruling NDA government to provide security to its leaders, were said to have created rift between the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as both the candidates were known to be Sangh favourites.

The police also suspects political motivation behind the kidnappings.

"Ratneswar Moran is a leader who is not known for his money. There could be other motivations behind his sons kidnapping," says a top police official. August has seen a series of desperate subversive activities carried out by Ulfa (I) which came as a surprise to many as the militant group was going through a major setback since a majority of its leadership is engaging itself in peace talks.

The faction of Ulfa led by commander-in-ch ief Paresh Baruah  which is averse to talks without sovereignty as the core issue  renamed itself the Ulfa (Independent) and stayed back in the dense forests of Myanmar. Subversive activities of the militant group in Brahmaputra valley drastically declined after majority of the Ulfa leaders, who favoured talks came under the governments fold.

In a rather desperate attempt to make its presence felt, the faction on 12 August opened fire at a gathering killing two and injuring more than seven people in Tinsukhia district. On 15 August, it planted five bombs in various places of the district. Kidnapping of Kuldeep Moran was carried out more than ten days before these attacks, but the group claimed its responsibility publicly only on Monday.

The recent insurgent activities of the militant group is seen as an attempt by the group to resurge, but GM Srivastava, expert on terrorism in North East, sees it as a security failure. "Security failures of these sorts often happen after elections. Ulfa often takes advantage of security lapses.This is one of that sort. But it cannot be called resurgence of Ulfa. For Paresh Baruah is left with only a few newcomers as cadres, the former director general of police of Assam says.

BJP has been repeatedly facing threats from Ulfa. The group threatened to attack BJP workers before 2014 general election.The group also threatened to foil Narendra Modis public meeting in Assam before the state assembly elections earlier this year. Ulfa(I) issued similar threats against the party before the elections on the ground that the party has remained silent about the outfit's 26 men who had gone missing after "Operation All Clear" was carried out in Bhutan against Ulfa in December 2003. The group also believes that the operation was carried out by Indian Army in Bhutanese soil, instead of the Royal Bhutan Army.

Kidnapping of Kuldeep Moran is Ulfa(I)s execution of what it had threatened to do. The abduction might be a sign of the group's resurgence or might be just a case of security lapse, but at a time when the BJP is raring to march ahead in North East with much pace than ever before, it is an incident BJP cannot afford to overlook .

This article was amended to correct an error in the surname of Kuldeep and Ratneswar Moran. It was earlier spelled as Maran.
Kathmandu: Terming his India visit as "successful", Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Bimlendra Nidhi on Tuesday said all "obstacles" in the bilateral relationship have been cleared ahead of Premier Prachanda's trip to the country next month.

Nidhi had paid a four-day visit to India from 17 to 22 August as the special envoy of Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal "Prachanda". Nidhi said his visit was "successful" in improving Nepal-India ties that were at an all-time low since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal last year and over the Madhesi agitation.

"All the obstacles in the bilateral relationship have been cleared after the visit," he said. Nidhi's visit was mainly centred to prepare ground for Prachanda's upcoming official visit to India on 15 September, the first foreign entourage of the Prime Minister after assuming office last month.

Nidhi who is also Nepal's Home Minister discussed the proposed visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal and Nepal President Bidya Bhandari to India.

The visit of special envoy Nidhi is the first high-level visit from Nepal to India after the formation of the new government in Nepal under Prachanda. Nidhi held high-level meetings with Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and as well as Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh among others during his stay in New Delhi.

Nidhi said he briefed Indian leaders and officials about Nepal's top priorities that included implementation of the Constitution, which was promulgated in September last year. Nidhi said he discussed matters relating to the anti-constitution movement that was launched by Madhesi parties and amendment to the new constitution for resolving political crisis among other issues.

Prachanda had 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.
As five states in India are reeling under intense flood situation, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the flood situation in Bihar, one of the worst-hit states in India.

He said that the flood problem in Bihar is not new as the rivers from both Uttarakhand and Nepal are flooded every season and they flow through the state. However, he conceded that the situation this year is "unprecedented" and "worrisome". He also said that the water retention capacity of the Ganga river is at an all time low due to heavy siltation. The CM also requested the Prime Minister to send an expert panel to find a permanent solution to the flood problem. "It will only grow worse every year if a proper siltation policy is not implemented," Nitish Kumar said.

He also said that the uninterrupted flow of Ganga will also be affected due to excessive siltation. "This will also affect the Modi government's ambitious Namami Gange scheme," he said. Kumar also assured the PM that the entire state machinery is involved in rescue operations.

Meanwhile, the situation remained grim on Tuesday as fresh rain alerts were issued in Gujarat, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh is on red alert with predictions of very heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours, Gujarat and Odisha are expected to receive heavy rainfall in isolated places in the next two days, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.

In the present bout of monsoon, more than 26,400 people have so far been rescued by the NDRF from the flood-ravaged areas in Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and other states.

While UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh remain the worst hit states, water has started receding in Gujarat and Rajasthan, rekindling hope that normalcy will be restored quickly in these states. The rescue operations are underway in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

In north east and east India, Sikkim has also been affected by flooding over the last few days and parts of West Bengal are under threat after the Ganga reached above danger levels in Murshidabad, according to a report in Floodlist.

According to Floodlist, a Home Affairs Disaster Management Division report claims that at least 480 people have died in rain and flood related incidents in the country since the start of this years monsoon in June while thousands have been evacuated.

Relief operations underway

The National Disaster Response Force has fanned out 56 rescue and relief teams to help people hit by heavy rains in various states and tasked two Deputy Inspector General-rank officers in Bihar and UP with monitoring the situation. "So far, the NDRF teams have evacuated more than 26,400 people from various flood-prone areas in the country this monsoon season. Besides the rescue work, these teams have provided medical care to the more than 9,100 people in these states," the force said.

In Bihar on Sunday, NDRF teams evacuated 3,400 people from Didarganj, 580 from Bakhtiyarpur, 545 from Danapur, 380 from Chhapra, 355 from Vaishali and 15 from Maner in Patna.

The force said 11 flood rescue teams rescued 275 people from Ballia, 275 from Varanasi and 325 from Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

147 marooned people were shifted to safer places from Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

"An NDRF team pre-positioned in Sikkim conducted similar operations in Tingbung and Lingdang villages and evacuated more than 450 people yesterday," it said.

Prime Minister promises relief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday promised total support to these flood-hit states in conduct of rescue and relief operations. He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh is closely monitoring the situation and has spoken to chief ministers of of these states.

I pray for the safety & wellbeing of those in areas affected by floods in parts UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan & MP: PM @narendramodi  PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 22, 2016

Centre assures total support in the rescue & relief operations. I hope the situation in the affected areas normalises at the earliest: PM  PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 22, 2016

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had a telephone conversation with chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav (UP), Harish Rawat (Uttarakhand), Nitish Kumar (Bihar) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) on Monday morning and took stock of the flood situation in their respective states.

In Madhya Pradesh, torrential rains have lashed western parts disrupting normal life.

The Ganga had on Sunday crossed the danger mark in West Bengal, Bihar and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh where Yamuna river is also in spate, while heavy rainfall has created a flood-like situation in some parts of Rajasthan where six persons have died so far.

Flood situation remains grim in Bihar

The Indo-Gangetic plains are the worst hit in the country as six rivers, including Ganga, are flowing above danger levels.

The districts witnessing flood-like situation include Patna, Vaishali, Buxar, Bhojpur, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar, a Disaster Management Department statement said. Meanwhile, in the event of more rainfall, water may enter Patna, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Katihar, Siwan, Bhojpur and Buxar districts.

Altogether 1,39,330 persons have been evacuated to safer places so far and around 1.05 lakh people have taken shelter in 162 relief camps.

UP reels under floods as Ganga flows at an all time high

One of the worst hit district remains Allahabad, the confluence point of two major rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna as both were flowing above danger levels. Both Ganga and Yamuna have crossed the danger mark by more than a metre and water levels in both the rivers are steadily rising by a rate of about three cm per hour, official sources said. The army has been kept on standby for rescue and rehabilitation efforts in Allahabad. Schools have been ordered to close down and people taking shelter in relief camps.

Low-lying areas of the city, including residential colonies as well as temples located in the vicinity of the Sangam, have been lying submerged for quite some time. An aerial survey was conducted by District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar in remote villages of the district's trans-Yamuna region and also supervised air-dropping of packets of food at a number of places.

Varanasi, Unnao and Balia districts are also inundated with a swollen Ganga as rescue operations continue. Over 100 villages are also facing a critical flood situation in the district. So far, about 10,000 people have taken shelter in relief camps.

Meanwhile, after a decade of facing droughts the Bundelkhand region of the state is also flooded this year. With two straight years of extreme drought and a decade of scanty rainfall, Banda region was unprepared for the flood. The Cane river, in a first, is flowing 8 metres above the danger mark, according to NDTV.

With inputs from PTI
Islamabad: Pakistan has launched a fresh drive to gather support for its NSG membership bid with a top official on Tuesday embarking on a visit to Belarus and Kazakhstan to gain their backing.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi is undertaking visits to Belarus and Kazakhstan from 23 to 27 August as a special envoy of Premier Nawaz Sharif, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"The objective of the visits is to seek the two friendly countries' support for Pakistan's membership of the (48-nation) Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," it said.

The Special Assistant is carrying letters from Sharif addressed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"In his letters, the Prime Minister has underscored the need for the NSG to adopt a non-discriminatory approach on the question of the membership for non-NPT states in order to promote strategic stability in South Asia and strengthen the global non-proliferation regime," the Foreign Office said.

While in Belarus, Fatemi will call on President Lukashenko and will hold meetings with Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov and Minister of Industry Vitali Vovk, it said.

In Kazakhstan, the Special Assistant's programme would include meetings with Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan M Ashikbayev.

Pakistan faces a tough challenge in gaining entry into the nuclear trading club as it has failed to get the support of the US which is pushing for India's membership.
Actor-politician Ramya (Divya Spandana), who was recently in Islamabad to attend a Saarc Young Parliamentarians Conference, has raked up a controversy for her comments on Pakistan. She referred to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement, "going to Pakistan is like going to hell," by responding with "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

Soon after a Karnataka-based advocate, K Vittal Gowda, lodged a complaint of sedition against Ramya for her statement, accusing her of insulting India and provoking Indians by appreciating Pakistan.

Ramya's statement has also sparked protests across the state by local ABVP and BJP cadres, who are demanding an apology from her, failing which, they want her to move to Pakistan.

Ramya spoke to Firstpost about her comments and the controversy. Excerpts from the interview below:

Can you elaborate on what exactly happened leading to the sedition complaint filed against you?

I was speaking about my experience at the Saarc conference that I recently attended in Pakistan. I said that I was pleasantly surprised when I went to Pakistan. I had heard such negative things, but when I went there, I realised the people there are just like us. Pakistan is certainly not hell. I havent been to hell, perhaps Manohar Parrikar has, but Pakistan is certainly nothing like hell.

Do you think there is a growing intolerance to contrarian opinion and views in our country?

Yes, very much. This wasnt there a couple of years ago. Ours is a democracy. People are free to express themselves, within certain stated limits of course, as long as you dont go harming another individual. We have to realise that when we talk of inclusiveness and its complexities, it is very important that every voice is heard. We are entitled to have an opinion. But some people are trying to curb freedom of speech and enforce their opinion on others. They are trying to curb peoples right to express themselves. They think people who have an opinion are anti-national. But they do what they want.

You keep referring to they? What do you mean by they? Who are they?

Certain groups and elements. In my case they would be the ABVP and BJP. They are free to protest against what I said. They are free to express their opinion, but to slap a sedition case is a bit much. In fact, I was surprised when a journalist asked me, 'when you speak against what Parrikar has said, arent you speaking against India?' How is that so? I am speaking about an individual.

This is not the first time we have seen such a controversy. We saw a sedition case just a week ago. Perhaps we should do away with the sedition law. If what I said is sedition, then every comment made by anybody can be seen as sedition.

Its an interesting point you talk about. The debate has been on whether it is time to amend the sedition law

Absolutely. There is a need to redefine the law and clarify it in todays context, if not do away with it altogether. It doesnt suit a democracy like ours, because it is too general.

So what next in the sedition complaint filed against you?

I havent yet received a copy. The media has got it before I have. Pakistan is not defined as an enemy state in our law. What I have said is not seditious and I feel the complaint will be quashed.
Last year when Prithika Yashini got recruited to the Tamil Nadu police, she became India's first transgender sub-inspector. It was not easy for her  she had to fight for her right at the Madras High Court, which in turn had relied on a landmark Supreme Court judgment of 2015.

Yashini's historic achievement, which made headlines across the world, seems to have signalled a great transformation in the lives of transgenders in India. Reportedly, the Tamil Nadu police has issued orders to include transgenders in its latest recruitment of over 13,000 police constables in the state.

In remarkable affirmation of sexual diversity, they also have been allowed to apply as male, female or the third gender.

Moreover, transgender people will get the concessions of women in terms of educational qualifications, physical fitness and reservation. An amazing turnaround for a state, which in 2013 had rejected a transgender candidate when she failed a medical examination for police recruitment.

If all goes well, by December, the state will have many transgenders on the streets in police uniform and that will be the single most important demonstration of their their socio-economic transformation. Despite a rather progressive cultural and policy environment, transgenders in the state have been stigmatised and have not been been able to free themselves from the popular stereotypes. Denied formal and informal employment, the only livelihood options available to most of them  particularly the outed ones  were prostitution or begging. Purely because of their gender reasons, they have been denied all basic rights such as access to appropriate housing (most of them end up in slums under exploitative conditions), healthcare, banking, credit, and most importantly, jobs.

The present breakthrough is a great example of how progressive policies can help address social marginalisation. The state was the first in India to have instituted a transgender policy that carried a number of welfare entitlements, which was followed by a transgender welfare board in 2008. In the same year, the government also issued an order to include a "third gender in applications for admission to government colleges.

That DMK leader Kanimozhi actively championed their cause made a huge political difference. Her party MP Trichy Shiva even introduced a private bill in Rajya Sabha proposing reservation for them. Undoubtedly, no other state government in India or political party would have made such sweeping policy changes to address a major issue of social marginalisation. And the results clearly demonstrate that political affirmation really works. The present government also seems to be treading the same path.

Although sporadically, encouraging things are happening elsewhere in India as well. A couple of months ago, Kochi Metro announced that it would employ, although not directly, transgender people in housekeeping, crowd management and customer care. Reportedly, the suggestion came from the local police, which not long ago clashed with some transgender activists on the streets. A popular womens weekly in the state 'Vanitha' featured a transgender on its cover and also carried a stylish photoshoot with her. Sexual diversity is slowly becoming a mainstream thing in the state's media as well.

Similarly, last year, a college in West Bengal appointed a transgender person as its principal, which was another first in the country.

Tamil Nadus affirmative steps towards breaking stereotypes, surrounding transgender people and mainstreaming them, stands out as a unique model. Home to India's largest festival that celebrates the live of transgender people (Koovagam Koothandavar festival), the state has a history of tolerance to sexual diversity. It also had at least two TV channels in which transgender people anchored prime time programmes. However, social stigma and lack of safety nets still kept them on the margins of society and they continued to live on the streets either selling sex or harassing people. What began to change the odds against them was the political recognition of their rights in the late 2000s and commensurate policy interventions by the then state government. Policy empowerment and greater visibility prompted them to assert their rights.

The final breakthrough came from the Supreme Court in 2015, when it recognised them as the "third gender" and asked the Centre to treat them as socially and economically backward. In fact, it was the same Supreme Court verdict that helped the Madras High Court pass orders in favour of Yashini getting her the inspectors job.



What also tipped the situation in their favour was pressure from the civil society. The state has a number of NGOs that advocate for the rights of the transgender people.

The Tamil Nadu experience should be an inspiring lesson for other states. The Supreme Court in its 2015 order was very clear that the "absence of law recognising hijras as third gender could not be continued as a ground to discriminate them in availing equal opportunities in education and employment." The order gives them the same reservation rights as the OBC.

Nothing prevents the transgender people from demolishing the stereotypes and shun the wretched lives that they had been enslaved to  they have the law on their side and they have examples such as Tamil Nadu. It's time they asked for their rights become more visible. Sexual diversity is a reality and people have to see it as mainstream.
A 500-acre facility to breed freshwater turtles in Uttarakhand ought to be good news. I for one ought to be jumping with joy. But I'm not and here's why.

On Aug 20, an IANS news release said the state's Chief Minister, Harish Rawat, had approved a turtle breeding facility in Rishikesh. The scavengers will then be released in the River Ganga. The 2,400-kilometre-long holy river carries not only the ashes of cremated bodies but partly burnt ones, carcasses of animals, sewage from every town and city along its course, as well as industrial effluents. The news report says 400 crematoriums will be built to take care of the many dead, but the turtles will have to deal with the rest. These animals have a natural mechanism to rid the river of pollutants, says an official. Who is he, which organisation does he represent, and what is his expertise? Unknown.

Over the years, state pollution control boards conducted surveys to find and fine the polluters. As many as 764 industrial units such as sugar refineries, distilleries, pulp and paper industries, and tanneries, discharge 500 million litres per day of mostly toxic waste into the river and its tributaries, Kali and Ramganga. Some cities have waste treatment plants but they are not adequate. Local municipalities have no money to run these plants, while others don't have any treatment plants. No government has succeeded in reducing pollution. And yet, they want a bunch of turtles to fix the problem.

This is not a new initiative. The first river clean up program was launched in 1986. A year later, the Centre and the state governments funded a program to breed turtles. They took eggs from wild nests on the sandy banks of the River Chambal and incubated them at centres in Varanasi and Kukkrail, near Lucknow. After the hatchlings of the Indian peacock softshell, Indian flapshell and Indian softshell emerged, they were reared for a year and released in the Ganga at Varanasi. Barring a gap of 12 years between 1993 and 2005, nearly 35,000 tiny cooters swam to freedom.

What did this operation achieve?

We don't know but it won't be a surprise if it didn't amount to much. The authorities didn't track the turtles after release and their fates are unknown. But the state of the river has only worsened.

The dinner-plate-sized Indian flapshell is a survivor and arguably the most widespread and common turtle in the country. It lays up to 14 round eggs in a nest cavity along river banks, ponds, rice fields, canals, and even septic tanks. It eats anything from water plants to insects to carrion. The metre-long Indian softshell turtle is also a glutton and lays up to 35 eggs three times a season. And the third candidate, the peacock softshell turtle is even more fecund, laying up to 40 eggs each time on multiple occasions throughout the nesting season. These are not delicate species that need a specialised environment to breed. While they may be able to survive the organic effluents, they cannot deal with the chemicals being poured into the river. And unless this is controlled, it's unlikely any life can survive in the river.

If the river is a moving feast of corpses and plants, these creatures ought to thrive with no help from humans. And yet they do not. All these turtles were indiscriminately slaughtered until the 1980s for the meat markets of Bengal. When hunters mopped up the local rivers and streams of its turtles, contractors went as far up as the Punjab to meet consumers' appetites. Experts then estimated that 50,000 to 75,000 Indian flapshells, 7,000 to 8,000 large softshells, and at least 10,000 to 15,000 hardshell turtles were sold at the Howrah market in Calcutta annually.

When the plight of these turtles hit the news, they were protected by the Wildlife Act. Much of the trade was shut down over time, but a fraction of it went underground. Each year, reports trickle in of crime sleuths arresting poachers. In March this year, 52 turtles were found caught in a net, only 10 survived. The arrest of two poachers is August last year busted one of the largest smuggling rings. In another instance, 123 confiscated turtles were returned to the wild in November. According to statistics maintained by the Wildlife Protection Society of India, 3,800 softshell turtles were confiscated in 2015, over 8,000 in 2014, and more than 5,000 in 2013.

Bengal, the main local turtle market, is downriver from Varanasi. The belly plate of turtle shells are dried and several crammed into jute bags to be smuggled to China and Southeast Asia. Is there any guarantee that these captive reared turtles will not feed the smugglers' racket?

Poaching is just part of the problem. In Chambal, sand miners scoop out sand where gharial and turtles make their nests. This is the source of not only the wild populations, especially of Indian softshell and peacock softshell, but the futile turtle breeding operations in Varanasi and Kukkrail. If the nesting habitat is destroyed, poachers are hammering the adults, and any eggs moved to breeding facilities that have no proven success, what will become of the wild populations?

Estimates of the Ganga clean up since its inception range from Rs 4,000 crores to 20,000 crores. How much of it funded the turtle program? Probably not a lot. In May 2015, the Modi government sanctioned another Rs 20,000 crores for the Namami Ganga project. Over the past two years alone, it spent Rs 2,958 crore although there is little to show for it. In the meantime, the Minister for Road Transport, Highways, and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, thinks the clean up may actually cost Rs 80,000 crores. If all the zeros are confusing, that's about $11 billion.

Unless there is a monitoring program that assesses whether hand-reared turtles in the still waters of breeding facilities can survive the toxic sludge that is the Ganga, at least one component of the program is doomed to be a failure.
Whoever thought that the jingoism going on in the name of cow vigilantism is a tale from the yonder, something too rustic to unsettle the urbane, is up for a surprise. And not a pleasant one at that!

If this story narrated by a man hailing from Assam is to be believed, the self-assumed cow vigilantes (whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently termed "anti-social) have spread their tentacles in Mumbai as well and are not ashamed to impose their gau-friendly "rules" openly.

The incident happened in Amboli area of Andheri West, when a creative director with a production house in Mumbai, Barun Kashyap was going about his day like any other. On the morning of 19 August, Barun took an auto on his way to work. The auto-driver, in Barun's words, "was curious" about his long hair and pierced nose." By way of casual conversation, or so I thought while reading Barun's post, the driver asked him about his native place. But the auto-driver soon lost interest and instead focused on the leather back that Barun was carrying with him.

"He turned around and saw my leather bag. Then he leaned to touched my bag and concluded it was made of cow leather," Barun said in his Facebook post.

While he tried to refute the claim and said the bag was made of camel hide, the driver remained unconvinced. Soon, much to Barun's horror, the auto-driver stopped at a small temple despite his repeated protests. Three men, sporting tilaks on their forehead approached the auto and were quickly apprised of the situation by the driver. They poked in their heads to check the material of the bag for themselves. "When I was busy protesting, one of the guys came to the other side of the auto and started checking my bag," reads Barun's narrration of his ordeal which received hundreds of reactions from outraged people.

The men then asked Barun his name, which he told them. But apparently that was not satisfactory enough.

"What's your full name was the next question.... Barun Kashyap Bhuyan.. The guy looked at the other two and said something in Marathi, out of which I could only understand the word 'Brahmin'," says Barun in his post.

The men apparently concluded that Barun was a Brahmin and therefore spared him.

The incident in itself is not half as scary as the smugness with which the auto-driver walked away. "Aaj to bach gaye (You were spared today)," was the driver's response when Barun asked for his phone number. The auto-driver did not hesitate in giving his phone number either.

Incidentally, Kashyap deleted the post but here's a screenshot of the post.

According to a report published in News 18, Barun has lodged a complaint in the Amboli police station but the police said there was no cognisable offence committed for them to file a report. "There was no offence to lodge an FIR. We have just registered a non cognizable offence report. Investigation is on," police sources told News 18.

Atrocities against Dalit by the self-styled gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) has been a major concern for the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. An united Opposition has constantly been raking up the issue and the government has come under fire for its non-reactive approach towards these vigilante group.

The incident also comes days after the Home Ministry cracked the whip on cow vigilantism, asking 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 comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked these so-called gau rakshaks and asked people to beware of these 'fake' protectors trying to divide the society and the country. After maintaining a questionable silence on the issue, Modi again made a statement in Telangana against the self-proclaimed vigilante groups. "These people are hell-bent on destroying the society and are disturbed by the unity of India. These people, in the name of gau rakhsha, are trying to create conflict in the society," he said.

He made these comments after his government and BJP came under attack over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by gau rakshaks in various states, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
"By dubbing such movies in Marathi you are creating competition for local films, which are already facing problems. A Maharashtrian, as it is, follows Hindi. If he wants to see the film, he can watch it in Hindi."

So said Ameya Khopkar, president of the Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena (MNCKS) in reference to the upcoming MS Dhoni biopic (MS Dhoni: The Untold Story) that is to be dubbed in Marathi. MNCKS is the film wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Khopkars statements are indicative of a broader truth (and no, Im not going to resort to cliches like the blind leading the blind to which, as I write these words, some loud and obnoxious talking head on a TV channel is resorting, in the context of something entirely irrelevant). And that truth is that the MNS hasnt a clue about what it is doing anymore. Not a damn clue.

No, this isnt a sanghi thing, its not a congi thing, its not a leftist thing, its not a bhakt thing, its not a manoos thing... its just a thing. A very real thing.

Aside from being established by Raj Thackeray  who embodies the spirit of his uncle Bal Thackeray far more than Uddhav does  to split the Shiv Sena vote bank, the MNS was ostensibly built on the planks of 'Sons of the Soil' and the primacy of the Marathi language. And now, the party seems to have lost its way. In fact, to say the party symbolised by a train engine has lost its way is to be extremely gentle, not to mention disingenuous. That this train engine has run off the tracks, through a forest, across a highway, into a hill, then rolled into a river and now is floating into the wide expanse of the Arabian Sea is probably more apt. Heres why:

In 2008  two years after the partys inception as a secular party, and one that would fight for your right to celebrate Valentines Day  came the partys drive to give Biharis and North Indians what-for. As the months rolled on, the MNS was incredibly busy. If the partys goons extremely respectable recruits werent railing against Chhath Puja or battling the (cough) noble battle against non-Marathi autorickshaw and taxi drivers, they were out trying to get shops, commercial establishments and housing societies to put up Marathi signboards.

And when gentle persuasion didnt work, these fine recruits took matters into their own hands  a technique to which party supremo Raj Thackeray has oft-alluded as the MNS way. Or style, I forget which.

All of these are interesting facts, but its the issue of Marathi signboards that is most pertinent. As a civic correspondent from 2008 to 2010, I had a courtside view of the MNS posturing and fretting when it came to the issue of signboards in Marathi. Presumably, having the names displayed in Hindi was not sufficient  never mind the fact that the scripts are identical  considering the hue and cry the partys various representatives in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) would raise on this issue.

It was in fact around this time that agendas for BMC committee meetings and press releases from the municipal corporation ceased to be in English and Hindi. They were only issued in Marathi. Not that the MNS had a major role in pushing this aspect of the agenda, because after all, the big (yet estranged) brother Shiv Sena was still pulling all the major strings.

But, the cumulative statement from the MNS appeared to be: Mumbai (maybe even Maharashtra, but I didnt bother checking the then-fledgling partys reach beyond the state capital) is for Marathi-speakers and no one else.

In September 2008, Thackeray took exception to a speech delivered by Jaya Bachchan in Hindi at a promotional event for the film Drona  thats right, a Hindi film  and said, If (she) wants to speak in Hindi, she better shift to Uttar Pradesh. In Maharashtra, she must learn Marathi. She should also learn to respect the sentiments of Maharashtra.

Running through the full set-list of the MNS antics will take far too long, so lets just skip through and tick off the main points.

- Demanding that only Marathi-speaking autorickshaw drivers receive licences? Check

- Raising the Marathi nameplates issue again and again? Check

- Slapping around Abu Azmi for his inability to take oath in Marathi? Check

- Threatening to ban films whose makers refuse to donate money to farmers in Maharashtra? Check, although this one is neither here nor there.

But the bottomline with the MNS has always been this sense of Marathi asmita and the demand that everyone speak Marathi, or else they have no business to be in the state.

So how does that gel with Khopkars remarks that Maharashtrians are able to follow Hindi?

Well, from a logical point of view, its not something new to us. In fact, Id venture as far as to say a not inconsiderable chunk of the Rs 100 crore that all of Salman Khans films seem to rack up these days come from a Maharashtrian audience. And unless Im woefully mistaken, Salman has yet to act in a Marathi film (although there are some reports that he will have a cameo in Riteish Deshmukh's next) or one dubbed in Marathi.

From the MNS point of view, however, Khopkars remark is a massive hammer blow to an already brittle leg of that body that is the partys agenda. By expressly stating that if they (Maharashtrians) wish to watch the Dhoni biopic, they can do so in Hindi, Khopkar has laid waste to the previous arguments spouted by the party that basically seemed to scream that people in this state only speak Marathi.

Oh yes, and Khopkar also added that (if) they do not take back this dubbed version we will protest in a democratic way. (That's the MNS idea of democracy, in case you were wondering)

The fact is that his party is doomed. This volte face on language would not have been a big deal were it not to have come from a regional party with such few political issues to raise. That this 10-year-old party  that has made the language issue its one and dare-I-say only  is now having doubts about the language part, speaks volumes about its future.

But wait, I hear you say, youve only picked up one sentence from what Khopkars had to say.

Alright, lets revisit the rest of it.

Regarding the issue of Dhonis film being dubbed, he went on to say, If one producer releases his film in Marathi, it will pave the way for the others too. That is a scary scenario since regional filmmakers already face a lot of problems in getting screens at multiplexes. Bharatmata Cinema, a single screen theatre in Lalbaug, plays only Marathi films. If they too start screening dubbed films, where will our producers and directors go?

The renowned Marathi actor-filmmaker Sachin Pilgaonkar has weighed in on this issue. He was quoted last week as saying, I appreciate the progress (of the Marathi film industry) but at the same time I am worried about the Marathi film industry as well. The number of films is increasing day by day but every film cannot be a Sairat.

Quite right. Lets keep listening.

There are four releases every week and the audience is limited. Non-Maharashtrians went to watch Sairat, but do they go to watch every Marathi film  they don't. When you release three films together then audience is divided, he continued.

Quite right, once again. I tell you what, this man has gone from strength to strength since the days of Tu Tu Main Main, but that's a digression.

His point is crystal clear. And thats precisely why the Khans try not to release their films at the same time. Films  except for the occasional, unavoidable clash  are released in their own time-slots so as to give each one of them a chance to get public attention.

Khopkars point about the scary scenario is therefore flawed for two reasons: It is misguided (see Sachins statement and my own further elaboration) and it deeply undermines the Marathi film industry, by suggesting that if the Dhoni film was to be released in Marathi, no one would get to (or would want to) see Marathi films. I think theyll do just fine with or without competition from Sushant Singh Rajputs dubbed adventure.

Now youre going to tell me I dont deserve to live in Mumbai with that attitude and that Im just biased against the MNS.

Well, the first point is neither one into which I wish to get, nor is it one that you have the authority to make. As for the second, lets just look at the numbers:

The year 2009 and its Maharashtra Assembly polls saw a sprightly young party pick up 13 Assembly seats  making it the states fourth largest party  and by the 2014 polls, that tally was down to one, with many candidates losing their deposits. The party had lost relevance even in the eyes of the people who voted its members into power. And with the Mumbai civic polls right around the corner, the party  or its brains trust, at the very least  feels the need to stay in touch with its core vote bank: The Marathi-speakers that got the party 28 seats in the last BMC election.

But the party has lost its relevance. It's lost its appeal. It's lost its momentary grip on the politics of the state.

To put it another way, by getting all worked up about a film where an erstwhile Bihari (who has never lost his sense of identity) will be depicted speaking in Marathi, the MNS has lost any credibility and identity it may have once had.

The end is nigh.
Brasilia: Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff enters her final battle to win back power on Thursday, when senators open an impeachment trial expected to remove her from office for good.

That would formally end 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America's biggest economy. During a trial expected to last several days, the former Marxist guerrilla, 68, will take the stand to defend herself against charges that she fiddled state accounts. She denounces the impeachment drive as a "coup" by her rivals, led by her replacement, former vice president Michel Temer.

"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 told reporters on Thursday. But media estimate that most senators will vote to remove her. "This will be the last chance she has to defend herself. For our part, we will treat her with respect," said one of the senators seeking to impeach Rousseff, Cassio Cunha Lima.

"It will also depend on her attitude. If she is aggressive and provocative, there will be a reaction," he told AFP

The trial opens on Thursday, 25 August, four days after the Olympic Games closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. Rousseff is scheduled to appear in person to defend herself on 29 August. Senate president Renan Calheiros said the final vote would likely take place on 30 August. If two thirds of the senators vote against her, she will be out. "Dilma would need a miracle for that not to happen," said political analyst Everaldo Moraes from Brasilia University. "Even her own allies can see that."

Rousseff survived torture in the 1970s under Brazil's military regime. She later beat cancer and became the country's first woman president. But she was unable to resist the turning of the political tide as she struggled to cope with a recession that hit in 2014 and failed to maintain alliances. "She made every kind of mistake that a president can make," said Sergio Praca, an analyst at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

"She failed to keep her campaign promises, didn't pay enough attention to her coalition, ignored her own party and didn't listen to anyone." Political chaos and scandal have compounded Brazil's recession.

A probe into corruption in the state oil firm Petrobras has implicated Rousseff's rivals and allies. The impeachment, however, is not linked to the scandal.
Foreign Ministers from Japan, China and South Korea will meet on Wednesday in Tokyo to strengthen trilateral ties amid rising tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over the disputed Senkaku islands.

The talks will focus on economic cooperation and towards coordinating a response to North Korea's continued nuclear weapons development, Japanese government sources told news agency Kyodo.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said he along with his South Korean and Chinese counterparts, Yun Byung-se and Wang Yi, respectively were expected to attend a preparatory dinner on Tuesday, Efe news reported.

The annual trilateral meetings are hosted on a rotating basis by the three countries, although they were stalled from 2012 to 2015, owing to deteriorating relations between the countries.

The Chinese Foreign Minister is the first from China to visit since President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2013. His visit comes amid growing tensions between the neighbours following frequent intrusions by Chinese ships into Japanese waters surrounding the Senkaku.

The Japanese minister also plans to broach the issue at a bilateral meeting with Wang, said government sources on Tuesday.

Kishida will try to register a protest with China over the Senkaku incidents and urge it to respect international laws in the various regional maritime disputes it is embroiled in.

The Tokyo-Beijing diplomatic standoff over the sovereignty of the uninhabited Senkaku islands in the South China Sea has worsened in recent months.

Meanwhile, the Wednesday meet in Tokyo could pave the way for a meeting between the Japanese prime minister and the Chinese president on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, between the 4th and 5th of September.
Istanbul: US Vice President Joe Biden visits Turkey Wednesday for a brief trip set to last several hours, in between a trip to Latvia and Sweden.

The two allies are experiencing tensions which the visiting US leader will try to defuse as much as possible, but there is not necessarily a tidy resolution to all the issues at hand.

*Fethullah Gulen: The US-based preacher Turkey blames for the 15 July coup attempt. The Turkish born Islamic cleric was once allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but the two have fallen out in recent years. Washington has sent teams to help Turkey prepare an evidence-based formal extradition request, but Ankara wants him immediately.

*Syria: Kurdish forces, backed by the United States, have been making significant gains recently against the Islamic State group, seizing territory from the extremists and declaring autonomous zones. The gains are helping to drastically reduce the foreign fighter flows over the porous Turkish border, along with increased security inside Turkey.

However, Ankara is wary of the advances by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), in part because of the group's links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which is fighting an insurgency in Turkey. Turkey wants the YPG to withdraw from areas it has taken from Islamic State.

For the US, the priority in Syria and Iraq is defeating Islamic State. Turkey remains focused on overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad and supporting various armed opposition factions.

*Post-coup crackdown: In the wake of last month's failed coup, Turkey has purged the civil service and military of many high-ranking officials. The US has admitted some of its key point men in Turkey have been removed from their posts. Notably, the commander of the joint Turkey-US military base Incirlik in the south of the country was allegedly involved in plotting the coup. The US uses the base to bomb Islamic State, a concession from Turkey granted last year after much wrangling.

*Russia: After the coup, Erdogan's first trip abroad was to Russia to mend fences with President Vladimir Putin. Turkey downed a Russian jet on the Syrian border in November, and Moscow slapped a mass of sanctions on Ankara. Tourism to Turkey from Russia plummeted by 93 per cent, devastating the sector. There has been some concern Turkey, a NATO member, could pivot to Russia or at least increase its security cooperation.

Turkish officials say they are merely resetting their relationship with Moscow and seeking warm ties, but do not intend to leave the Western camp. However, the more tensions are raised with the West - including a marked downturn in the relationship with the European Union - the more questions are asked about Turkey's direction.
Karachi: Pakistan on Tuesday charged MQM chief Altaf Hussain with treason for his inflammatory speech that incited party workers to attack media outlets.

Hussain, leader of Mutthaida-E-Qaumi Movement - the single largest party in Karachi, was accused of raising anti-Pakistan slogans at a protest rally that turned violent. Several journalists of various media organisation were attacked by the activists of the MQM. The protesters pelted stones and resorted to heavy aerial firing that killed one person and wounded others.

Two cases have been filed against Hussain: one for treason for his anti-Pakistan speech to participants in the hunger strike organised by MQM and the other for inciting party workers to violent protests, Inspector General of Sindh AD Khawaja was quoted as saying by the Geo News.

The case pertains to the attack on 'ARY News' office, vandalising of property, arson and pelting of stones at police. MQM party workers took to streets on Monday after Hussain, in an address from London, incited them to storm media outlets and chant anti-Pakistan slogans during the hunger strike. The hunger strike was launched to protest the disappearance and arrest of their workers by the paramilitary rangers.

Responding to the protests, paramilitary rangers launched a major offensive here and sealed offices of the party. The senior membership of MQM confirmed that they are no longer under the directive of Hussain. Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar and other leaders said that in future the party would operate from Pakistan alone and that all decisions would be taken by the leadership in Pakistan and not from London from where Hussain has controlled the MQM for years now.

"The MQM should operate from Pakistan alone," Sattar said. "We totally disassociate ourselves from the violence that took place in Karachi on Monday. It is totally against our policy to use violence to achieve our ends," he added.

"Altaf Hussain and the entire party are being ridiculed due to these statements," Sattar added. "Enough is enough we cannot side with anti-Pakistan statements or ideology," said another MQM leader Aamir Liaquat Hussain.

The MQM remains the single largest party in Karachi for decades now and have dominated the political landscape for years sweeping provincial and national elections but since the clean-up operation began on the orders of the centre, the party has come under intense pressure.
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday condoled the passing away of former President of Singapore, S R Nathan.

"It is with great sadness that I received the news of the passing away of former President of Singapore, S R Nathan," Mukherjee said in a message to his Singaporean counterpart Tony Tan Keng Yam.

Mukherjee said that the life and achievements of Nathan were exceptional.

"He served Singapore with distinction. He will always be remembered for his sagacity and wisdom in leading Singapore - and his contribution to its emergence as a vibrant economy and progressive society," he said.

The President also recalled his pleasant and fruitful interaction with Nathan when he visited Singapore as External Affairs Minister in 2007.

"On behalf of the people of India and on my own behalf, I offer deep condolences to the people of Singapore and to President Nathan's family," Mukherjee said.

Nathan, who died on Monday at the age of 92, had suffered a stroke three weeks ago.

The stroke was his second in recent years, with the latest having placed him in critical condition.
Istanbul: The Turkish-Syrian frontier witnessed a second consecutive day of cross-border fire in two separate locations on Tuesday, involving numerous factions, including Islamic State, just ahead of a planned visit by US Vice President Joe Biden.

Turkey started shelling Islamic State positions just over the border on Monday evening and also attacked Kurdish forces further south inside Syria.

The shelling of Islamic State in Jarablus, a city on the border, continued for a second day, while the extremist group retaliated with mortar fire into Turkey.

Also, three rockets fired from Syria landed Tuesday in Kilis, southern Turkey, about 80 kilometres away. Islamic State and Syrian rebel factions hold villages on the other side of the border.

Biden is due in Ankara on Wednesday for a brief trip set to last hours. He will be the most senior official from Washington to come since the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey.

Backed by US-led alliance airstrikes, the Kurds have been a key force in driving Islamic State from territories in northern Syria.

Their advances have made NATO-member Turkey wary and caused tensions between Ankara and Washington, which are likely to be addressed during talks with Turkish leaders, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Despite the Turkish shelling of their positions, the Kurds claimed they advanced against Islamic State and took more territory from the extremist group near Minbij, a key northern Syrian border area.

The US Department of Defence confirmed Monday that operations in the northern Syrian city of Minbij with the Kurdish-led forces are ongoing, amid a "broader effort to prepare defendable positions for long-term security."

Islamic State was driven from the city earlier this month but left behind many booby traps which were being cleared.

Seizing Minbij is meant to help cut down on the flow of foreign fighters to Islamic State from over the still-porous Turkish border and weaken the extremist group's hold in northern Syria, according to Kurdish and US officials.

The US has special forces on the ground in northern Syria with the Kurdish-led forces.

Syrian rebels said this week that Turkey is planning to help them launch an attack on Jarablus, in a move that could cause fresh tensions with the Kurds and the US.

With regards to the recent shelling, CNN Turk quoted a government official as saying Turkey was aiming to open a corridor for rebels, from factions mostly focused on fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Ankara is moving rebels from western Syria, though Turkey, to Karkamis, just across from Jarablus ahead of a planned attack, two rebel fighters told dpa. Karkamis is where the Islamic State fired mortars landed.

Ankara is a major backer of Syrian rebel factions fighting al-Assad, including Islamist groups, and appears keen to have these forces control territory on its border, rather than the Kurds.

Turkey is currently facing a Kurdish insurgency on its own territory and is concerned about growing nationalist sentiment among the minority group.

Kurds, a minority in Turkey and Syria, have long complained about systemic discrimination in both countries.

The Syrian Kurds have begun to carve out autonomous zones for themselves and their latest military push appears aimed at linking up their eastern territory with a western enclave.

Purges since the failed Turkish coup have led to more than 1,600 officers, including many generals, being discharged and the military is undergoing a shake-up, even as the country faces numerous security issues.

The US has said some of its key military interlocutors in Turkey were removed.

Biden and Erdogan are also to discuss Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish born preacher living in the US. Turkey alleges Gulen, a former Erdogan ally, plotted the coup and wants him extradited while Washington is asking for a formal request with evidence. Gulen denies the charges.
Who Can See a Toucan? You Can!  Free!

Who wants a free birding trip to Panama? Who wants a free birding trip to Trinidad & Tobago? Who wants a free world-class Zeiss Victory SF binocular?

Its time to get your friends and extended family to join the ABA. There are just 4 months left in our membership recruitment contest. This is a separate contest from our monthly drawings. At the end of the year, the ABA is giving away three very attractive prizes to the three people who bring in the most members.

One prize is a 7-night stay for one at Canopy Tower in Panama, plus a $500 travel voucher. A second prize is a 5-night stay for two at the Asa Wright Nature Center in Trinidad & Tobago, plus a $500 travel voucher. A third prize is a brand new Zeiss Victory SF binocular. Each prize retails for around $3,000.

We are now at the end of August and here are the top three recruiters.

1st Place  6 new members recruited (Sharon S.)

2nd Place  5 new members recruited (Tracy W.)

3rd Place  3 new members recruited (Raymond V.)

What do you think? Can you get more than 3 people to join our organization? When your friends join (you can send them here), they must tell us that you referred them, so we know to give you the credit.
Lenovo and Microsoft have inked a strategic deal under which the former will preload latters apps on its Android devices.

As a result of the partnership, Lenovo will preload Microsofts productivity apps including Microsoft Office, OneDrive and Skype on select Android devices. The collaboration between Microsoft and Lenovo also includes a patent cross-licensing agreement that covers Lenovo and Motorola devices. Lenovo did not specify which specific models will come pre-loaded with Microsoft apps.

Microsoft had entered into similar deals with Samsung, Acer and Xiaomi. The company had even teamed up with 20 OEMs to pre-install Office Apps and Skype on Android tablets last year.

Nick Parker, corporate vice president OEM Division, Microsoft said,

Microsofts thrilled that our productivity apps will be pre-installed on Lenovos premium devices. The marriage of Microsofts apps and Lenovos Android-based devices will enable customers around the world to be more productive, more connected and achieve even more.

Christian Eigen, Leader of Corporate Alliances, Lenovo said,

Our collaboration with Microsoft will create new opportunities for our customers to take advantage of some of Microsofts most popular apps. Installing Microsoft apps and services on our devices will bring additional value to consumers around the globe.

Source
If you're planning to send your kids to college, it's never too early to start saving. Fortunately, there are some excellent investment options designed specifically for college savings that can help you grow your money and give you some tax advantages as well.

If you're not sure where to start, here's a quick guide to getting your child's college fund up and running.

1. Decide what type of account you need

There are a few different ways you could choose to save for college, and here are three of the most common:

529 Savings Plan -- These accounts are run by the states, and may be opened directly or through a brokerage. A 529 savings plan allows you to contribute money, invest in mutual funds similarly to a 401(k), and withdraw money tax-free for qualified higher education expenses. Contribution limits are high, and your state may offer additional tax incentives.

Coverdell ESA -- Similar in tax treatment to a 529, a Coverdell has a few key differences. The main drawback is that you can only contribute $2,000 per year for each beneficiary. However, you can invest in any stocks, bonds, or funds you want, and can use the money for any level of education, not just college.

Roth IRA -- Although a Roth IRA isn't specifically intended for college saving, it can be a useful alternative if you don't want to commit to using the money for college expenses. Specifically, there is an exemption that says Roth IRA funds can be withdrawn penalty-free anytime to pay for college expenses.

Here's a more thorough look at these three account types to help you decide.

2. Research account options

If you choose a 529, you have a lot of options -- you aren't limited to your own state's plan. However, I mentioned before that a lot of state-run plans offer incentives to residents, so it's a good place to start. There's a great directory at www.savingforcollege.com that you can use to compare your home state's plan with others.

If you choose one of the other options, it's a little easier. Coverdells and Roth IRAs are available from a wide variety of online brokers, and opening an account is rather easy.

3. Invest through a broker or buy direct?

This step applies to 529 plans only. While the options available vary by state, I'll use my home state of South Carolina's 529 savings plan as an example. There are two options -- direct-sold and advisor-sold. The direct-sold option can be opened, funded, and managed directly through a state-run website, but is only available to state residents.

On the other hand, savers who want to invest in the plan but aren't state residents have the option to invest through a financial advisor. Other states, such as Tennessee, will allow anyone, regardless of residency, to directly invest in its 529.

Additionally, many online brokers offer certain states' 529 savings plans. For example, TD Ameritrade's 529 savings plan is sponsored by the state of Nebraska, and is open to all U.S. college savers.

4. Decide on your investments

In a 529 plan, the investment options look similar to those in a 401(k). There are a variety of stock- and bond-based investment funds to choose from, with varying levels of risk. There are also pre-packaged portfolio options designed for a specific risk tolerance (aggressive, conservative, etc.) as well as target-date funds that gradually shift from aggressive to conservative investments as your child gets closer to college age.

If you choose a Coverdell or Roth IRA, it's not so simple, thanks to the choice between thousands of investment options. However, it doesn't have to be too difficult -- our Foolish contributors are here to help you choose solid investments for either of these account types, whether you want to invest in mutual funds or individual stocks.

5. Fund the account

You'll have several options to fund your new account. You can deposit a lump sum when you open the account, or you can deposit a little bit at a time. Or, you can set up automatic contributions to occur weekly, monthly, quarterly, or at another interval. Many savers use a combination of these options -- as a personal example, I prefer to contribute large amounts to my kids' 529 plans every few months, while my wife has a smaller contribution set up to automatically transfer from her checking account every payday.

6. Do periodic maintenance

If you choose a target-date investment strategy, you can literally just deposit into the account and leave everything alone until your child is in college.

On the other hand, if you choose other investment funds or invest in individual stocks and bonds, there's one important homework assignment you have. As your child gets closer to college age, you need to gradually change your strategy from a growth-oriented one to a preservation-oriented one. Simply put, this means gradually shifting from stocks to bonds (and even some cash assets) over time. You don't need to make changes every so often -- every couple of years, simply increase the percentage of your portfolio in less-risky assets by 5% or so, and you'll be fine. Here's a thorough discussion of asset allocation that explains this concept in detail.

7. Watch your money grow

The final piece of advice I'll give is to leave your money alone once it's invested. Aside from shifting your asset allocation as I described in the previous step, it's generally a good idea to leave your investments alone. This is an especially important concept if you choose a Coverdell or Roth IRA and buy individual stocks. Don't try to be a "trader" with the account -- just let your investments do what they're supposed to do. There are some situations where it's OK to sell stocks, but you should approach your college investments with the intention of holding onto them until you need to withdraw the money.
This week will feature a five part series, with one installment per day, putting forth my presentation of a biblical-theological case against the creation of certain kinds of chimeras, or human-animal hybrids. Part I follows below.

Advances in the sciences sometimes appear to occur overnight. Such appearances can often be deceiving, however. Rare is the technological or scientific advance that does not follow years upon years of research, trial and error, failure and experimentation.

The latest news coming from the field of biology and genetics hasnt happened overnight, but things are advancing quickly. Some of the more interesting, and indeed troubling, developments have to do with what are known as chimeras.

The Chimera, of course, is a fire-breathing creature from Greek mythology, with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent. In the scientific community, however, chimeras are organisms most often created by the intermixing of species.

We are faced now with the possibility of new technological advances giving humans the ability to do radically new things. A scientific pragmatism is at work, which reduces elements of the material world to their practical uses, and ignores the basic structures of creation.

In the case of genetic manipulation, however, can certainly does not imply ought. The respect of limits on human activity, based on the theological recognition about the identity of humans and animals, is what will serve as a check on the tendency in modern science to functionalize the world.

For years chimeras have been relatively non-controversial. Animal-animal chimeras are nothing new, given the intermixing of breeds and species, of dogs and mules, for example. Some kinds of human-animal interaction have a long precedent as well.

For many years insulin for diabetics originated in the organs of cows or pigs (animal insulin is no longer available in the United States, having been replaced by synthetic insulin). The first documented transplant of animal organs or tissue into a human being occurred in 1668, when Dutchman Job van Meeneren used pieces of a dogs skull to repair a human cranium.

The recipients of such xenotransplants technically become chimeras, because of the shared cross-species tissues or organs. While animal to human transplants remain outside the medical mainstream, innovations in genetics over past decades have upped the ante with regard to the legitimacy of chimera research.

What is new about the current state of interspecies research is that the scale of the mixtures has been miniaturized, often to sub-cellular or genetic level. For example, in 2003, Chinese scientists combined human cells with the eggs of rabbits, creating human-rabbit embryos. In 2004, researchers in Minnesota created pigs with human blood running through their veins. Scientists at Stanford University in California have considered creating mice with partially human brains, and the proposal won initial endorsement from the universitys ethics board.

The rationale for all this research is that testing and experiments done on animals is much more useful and reliable the closer the animals physiology is to being human. Thats why primates like marmosets are used in later stages of research where possible negative human reactions must be discovered.

In 2005, the National Academies of Science issued guidelines that, in part, address the creation of human-animal chimeras. The academy said that such hybrids are important in understanding human disease and in testing new drugs and human embryonic stem cells. There are seemingly limitless possibilities for the future of such research.

Genetic research and even modification, especially with regard to plantlife, can not be rejected out of hand as always immoral. Certain kinds of animal-animal chimeras may also be morally acceptable. But it is the permanence of fundamental changes to the human person that raise genetic manipulation to a level of concern above that of organ or tissue xenotransplantion.

Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and member of the Presidents Council on Bioethics, put it this way at a hearing on human-animal chimeras: I think its very important as a Council that we make sure that we distinguish between using human or animal parts across species, such as insulin, heart valves, things of that nature, and mixing the genetic material that has proliferative capacity  theres a huge difference between those two things.

Indeed, as we will see in the remaining parts of the series, there are excellent biblical-theological reasons why the genetic intermixing of human and animal species is morally impermissible.
Google is ready to start sending out the latest version of its Android operating system to a handful of devices.

The release announced Monday means many Nexus-branded devices should receive a free upgrade to Android 7.0, nicknamed "Nougat," during the next few weeks.

The first models in line include the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G.

Other smartphones coming out this fall will be sold with Nougat already installed.

The new version of Android has been in a testing phase since March as Google polished the system that will feature 72 new emojis and the ability to reply to notifications without opening an app.

Rival Apple is scheduled to release the latest operating system for the iPhone next month.
Columbia University graduate students who work as research and teaching assistants can form a union, the U.S. labor board ruled on Tuesday, opening the gates for graduate student organizing on private campuses all over the country.

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In a 3-1 vote, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said that graduate students working as academic assistants are employees who get organizing rights under federal labor law. The NLRB's decision allows Columbia University research and teaching assistants to vote on whether they want to join a United Auto Workers affiliate. The decision only applies to private colleges. Organizing rights for graduate students at public colleges depend on each state's labor laws. Graduate students have formed unions in more than a dozen states. Columbia University disagrees with the decision, university spokeswoman Caroline Adelman said in a statement. "First and foremost, students serving as research or teaching assistants come to Columbia to gain knowledge and expertise, and we believe there are legitimate concerns about the impact of involving a non-academic third-party in this scholarly training," Adelman said.

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During an interview on the FOX Business Networks Varney & Co. Tuesday, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke discussed Donald Trumps recent appeal to the African-American community.

The Democrats take the black vote for granted so they dont have to appeal to anything I havent heard Mrs. Clinton talk about the urban pathologies in the American ghetto that are the result of progressive urban policies  failed policies[Trump] is making an appeal. He is pleading to black Americans who are stuck in these ghettos. The American ghetto has replaced cotton fields where Democrats have gathered black [Americans] and these horrible miserable conditions all for political power, he said.

Even though black Americans have largely showed outward support for Democrats in previous presidential elections, Clarke said they have traditionally voted Republican.

It was Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, who freed the slaves. It was the Republicans in Congress [that] did the heavy lifting to get the Civil Rights Act passed as well as the voting rightsOnce we reconnect black people with their history their eyes will open and theyll see theyve been hoodwinked by this monolithic voting for Democrats, he said.

He also said the conditions of the American ghetto need to be discussed.

These progressive policies have wrecked some great American citiesLook at Chicago right now  455 murders to date. Thats more than the deaths of coalition forces in Afghanistan since the start of Obamas second term in 2013, he said.
The real long-term test of any large-scale, modern infrastructure is an economic one, according to Ubuntu creator Mark Shuttleworth.

Shuttleworth, who serves as an advisor to Canonical, the open-source software company that delivers Ubuntu, said today at OpenStack East 2016 that the biggest driver of economics in the cloud will be operations, particularly how many processes a team can operate using OpenStack.

"This will determine success over the next five or 10 years," Shuttleworth said.

Shuttleworth delivered a brief OpenStack demonstration designed to illustrate a simplified, model-driven approach to operations between multiple integrated applications. "There is more information about integration in the system than there is about raw apps," he explained. "As a system grows more complex, your ability to model integration becomes more profound. In a model-driven world, you don't want to do anything manually. Anything that can be modeled you want to model."

Because of OpenStack, high-level, open-flow operations are possible, Shuttleworth said. This architecture is built to allow users to distill multiple actions into one action. Large companies that run multiple Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) clouds in multiple environments can gain a birds-eye view of the underlying architecture that ties everything together.

Who Is Mark Shuttleworth?To the tech world, Shuttleworth is best known for his work on open-source technology, but to the rest of the world, the South African-born renaissance man is probably better known as the first African to fly into space. He did this in 2002, with his own funding, after studying for seven months at the Yuri A Gagarin State Scientific Research and Testing Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia.

Shuttleworth was able to afford that historic flight thanks to the money he made as the founder of Thawte, a consulting firm that built an e-commerce Web server that was the first to ever be fully encrypted. He sold the company to Verisign in 1995 for $565 million.

In 2000, he formed HBD (Here be Dragons) Venture Capital, a start-up incubator, and in 2004, he founded Canonical. Shuttleworth hinted last year that Canonical was looking into an initial public offering (IPO), but he later backtracked and said he would wait to see how the technological landscape shifted over the next few years before considering an IPO.

Today, Canonical employs 750 people in 42 countries around the world. Its day-to-day operations are managed by CEO Jane Silber.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
A U.S. appeals court refused on Monday to reconsider its decision to overturn a $1.27 billion penalty against Bank of America Corp and a jury verdict finding it liable for mortgage fraud leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected a petition by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office to have a three-judge panel rehear the case and give the government at least an opportunity to seek a new trial.

Bharara's office had argued that the ruling in May "overlooked a wealth of evidence" establishing the fraud perpetrated through a mortgage program called "Hustle" run by Countrywide Financial Corp, which Bank of America acquired in 2008.

The appellate court gave no reason for its decision to reject the petition to rehear the case, which was contained in a one-page order.

A spokesman for Bharara declined comment. Bank of America also declined to comment. Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for Rebecca Mairone, a former midlevel Countrywide executive who was also found liable at trial, said he was pleased with the result.

The lawsuit was filed in 2012 following a whistleblower's complaint and remains one of the biggest government enforcement cases to go to trial in connection with the U.S. housing meltdown and financial crisis.

A federal jury in 2013 found Bank of America and Mairone liable for fraudulently selling shoddy loans originated through Countrywide's "High Speed Swim Lane" program, also called HSSL or "Hustle."

The Justice Department said the program rewarded staff for generating more mortgages and emphasized speed over quality, resulting in mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being lied to about the quality of loans they bought.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized by the government in September 2008 and remain in conservatorship.

Following the verdict, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in 2014 imposed a $1.27 billion penalty on Bank of America and ordered Mairone to pay $1 million.

But the 2nd Circuit ruled in May that the evidence at most showed that Countrywide breached contracts to sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investment-quality loans, and that there was no proof it intended any deception.

The case is U.S. v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc et at, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 15-496.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Image source: SABMiller.

Marlboro maker Altria Group (NYSE: MO) is well-known for its tobacco business, which spans not just cigarettes but also cigars and smokeless tobacco products. In addition, Altria has the Ste. Michelle wine business under its corporate umbrella, and although it's a tiny part of the overall business, its growth has outperformed the much larger tobacco segment. Yet what has gotten the most attention with Altria this year has been the company's roughly 27% stake in beer maker SABMiller, which intends to move forward with a planned acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD). Although investors are largely focusing on the aspects of the proposed merger, largely lost in the shuffle has been the fact that the SABMiller stake's positive impact on Altria's overall earnings has declined in recent years. In that respect, SABMiller has effectively been the worst-performing "segment" of Altria's business.

What's happening to Altria's beer exposure?

Historically, SABMiller has made a substantial contribution to Altria's overall profitability. From 2012 to 2014, SABMiller brought in $1 billion or more in income each year, and the beer business represented almost a fifth of Altria's total pre-tax earnings in 2012.

Yet those figures diminished in 2015, and SABMiller's 2016 performance has been weaker still. During the first quarter, SABMiller contributed just $66 million toward Altria's pre-tax earnings, down by half from the previous year's first quarter and almost three-quarters less than what SABMiller produced in the first quarter of 2016. The beer business bounced back in the second quarter, producing $199 million toward Altria's bottom line. But even that was down from $225 million in 2015's second quarter, producing downward pressure that offset some of the strength in Altria's other segments.

Why has SABMiller given Altria less?

Looking at SABMiller's fundamental business, the first thing that stands out is that the company has seen deteriorating performance over the past year. For the fiscal year ending on March 31, SABMiller reported revenue of $19.8 billion, down more than 10% from fiscal 2015 figures. Even reductions in costs weren't sufficient to overcome the downward impact on earnings, which fell an even steeper 18% to $2.7 billion.

SABMiller blamed much of its negative financial performance on the strength of the U.S. dollar compared to foreign currencies. The company boasted organic volume growth of 5%, and net producer revenues rose 8% on a constant currency basis. In particular, double-digit percentage growth in premium lager and global lager brands supported the company's fundamental success, and improving conditions in Latin America, Australia, and Europe helped to bolster SABMiller's financials even in the face of currency pressure.

Also, SABMiller took one-time charges related to impaired investments on its books. The charges arose from its business in Angola and South Sudan, and SABMiller has had to pull out of South Sudan because of a lack of available foreign currency within that nation. The impairments totaled more than half a billion dollars, with a one-time gain only partially offsetting the impact on SABMiller's bottom line.

What's next for Altria and SABMiller?

If all goes well and SABMiller's merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev goes through, then Altria will emerge with a stake of more than 10% in the beverage giant plus about $2.5 billion in cash. That will give the tobacco giant money it can use to repurchase shares or boost dividends, and it will also sustain its diversification from the beer and soft-drink industry through its continuing stake in Anheuser-Busch InBev.

For now, Altria has taken a hit from its SABMiller interest, but in the long run, the company expects that beer and soft drinks will keep boosting its bottom line over time. If Anheuser-Busch's dreams for SABMiller come true, then Altria should be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the merger for years to come.

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 recommends Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. 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.
Its a common misconception in public discourse that the global poor are trapped in poverty because of globalization. We frequently hear things from our public leaders about how markets are crushing the poor. The reality is that the poor arent dominated by markets. They are excluded from them. says Michael Matheson Miller in an article for The Stream.

Miller hits on four different problems and misconceptions of how international economic development is currently addressed. He starts out by explaining how the current system benefits the wealthy and well-connected.

Many of the powerful and wealthy dont have an economic incentive to build institutions of justice like clear title to land or broad access to the formal economy. They are doing well under the status quo and many of them are actually benefiting from the current situation through connections, access to special privileges, bribes and sweetheart deals on things like mineral rights.

Miller then discusses the problem of becoming fixated on the bugbear of unfettered capitalism and later gives examples of how populist policies and rhetoric distract us from building a stable and flourishing economy

India, for example, provides up to 100 days of paid labor for the poorest, which makes the state look benevolent. But if instead the government built institutions of justice, if they didnt suffocate the poor under corruption and cronyism, then the government wouldnt need to offer the subsidy. The poor would be able to find work that paid better, and they would have the dignity of knowing they were taking care of their families, not dependent on the benevolence of the state.

The last misconception of the current way of thinking about economic development is the idea that charity, and not business, is the solution to poverty.

Charity and concern for the poor is essential. There will always be poverty and human need, and, as Benedict XVI wrote in Deus Caritas Est, this requires a response of love. The state cannot solve all our problems. Neither can economic development alone. There will always be the need for human love and care for the widow and the orphan. But at the same time, for the majority of the worlds poor, the long-term problem is they are excluded from the institutions of justice that would enable them to create prosperity in their own families and communities.

You can read Millers full article on The Stream here.
Image source: iStock/Thinkstock.

When you think about stocks that are good for retirees, you probably don't think about Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). But that doesn't mean shares of the nation's second biggest bank by assets don't have a place in a retiree's portfolio.

The main strike against Bank of America from a retiree's perspective is that it pays a small dividend. This matters because retirees typically need income from their investments to replace lost salaries.

This is where the dividend yield comes into play. It measures how much a stock pays out each year relative to how much its shares cost -- the bigger the yield, the bigger the dividend.

Bank of America's stock yields around 2%. That's slightly less than the average stock on the S&P 500, which yields 2.1%. And it's much less than other big bank stocks such as Wells Fargo, which yields 3.1%.

One of the reasons Bank of America's dividend is so low is that it slashed its quarterly payout to $0.01 a share during the financial crisis and has raised it only twice since then. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and others have boosted their dividends every year since 2011.

The issue for Bank of America is that its earnings have been inconsistent, thanks to tens of billions of dollars' worth of legal expenses stemming from the crisis. On top of that, the Federal Reserve now has veto power over banks' capital plans, which has slowed the pace at which Bank of America can raise its dividend.

It's worth pointing out, too, that Bank of America's shares are more volatile than the average stock. This is another strike against it from the perspective of most retirees, who tend to value capital preservation more than younger investors.

You can see this by looking at Bank of America's beta, which measures the volatility of its stock on an ordinary day. Its beta is 1.7, according to Finviz.com. This means it's 70% more volatile than the broader market. On average, then, when stocks fall 1%, Bank of America is off 1.7%.

But even though these two strikes seem to disqualify Bank of America's stock from most retired investors' portfolios, there are instances in which even a retiree may want to hold the bank's stock. Specifically, if a retiree has plenty of income and is looking for a bank stock that offers decent upside potential, then Bank of America is one of the best bets among the nation's biggest banks.

Shares of the North Carolina-based bank trade for one of the lowest valuations in its industry. They're priced right now at a 35% discount to book value. Wells Fargo, by contrast, trades at a 37% premium to its book value.

You can see Bank of America's low valuation reflected in analysts' price targets. The consensus price target on its stock is 14% higher than today's price. The implied upside to most other bank stocks, by contrast, is less than 10%.

The net result is that Bank of America's stock may not be great for most retired investors who need income, but it could serve a purpose for retirees who are more interested in capital appreciation.

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.

John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool recommends Bank of America. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The Minnesota Nurses Association and Allina Health are returning to the bargaining table.

The union representing about 4,800 nurses at five Allina hospitals in the Twin Cities area rejected a labor contract offer last week and authorized an open-ended strike, just two months after a weeklong strike ended without a deal. They are expected to resume talks Tuesday.

Part of the dispute is over health care plans. Allina wants to transition its nurses to the same plan as other employees to save $10 million a year. The corporate plan carries lower premiums but higher deductibles. The nurses want to keep their current health plans.

The affected hospitals are Abbott Northwestern and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United in St. Paul, Unity in Fridley and Mercy in Coon Rapids.
A New Jersey waterpark visitor who was partially paralyzed in an accident has had his lawsuit reinstated.

Roy Steinberg says employees at Sahara Sam's Oasis Water Park in West Berlin, Camden County, didn't properly instruct him on safety on a surfing ride.

Two courts had granted the park's motion to dismiss the case, which seeks monetary damages. The state Supreme Court reinstated it.

Steinberg signed a waiver barring him from suing due to negligence. But the Supreme Court found the park could possibly be found grossly negligent because it didn't post safety signs the ride's manufacturer recommended.

Steinberg says he wasn't told novices should lie on a board or, if standing, not hold onto a rope with both hands. He fell and hit his head.

A waterpark attorney hasn't returned a message left Tuesday seeking comment.
Former Sen. Mary Landrieu, (D-LA), who served in the Senate during Hurricane Katrinas devastation in Louisiana in 2005, discussed the recent flooding in the southern part of the state and efforts to kick start the recovery process.

Landrieu viewed reports that FEMA was already on the ground in Louisiana working with flood victims as reassuring for concerned residents of the state.

That is exactly what people want to hear: what the federal government can do, what the state and local governments can do. They recognize theyve got to do for themselves as well. And of course non-profits and churches and charities will step up. But its a real partnership between the individual, their community and the government to get this fixed and done and to get people back in their homes, Landrieu told the FOX Buisness Networks Sandra Smith.

Landrieu then responded to criticisms of a delayed decision by President Obama to visit the flood zone in Louisiana days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump surveyed the damage.

Well, first of all, the flooding wasnt a one-day event, the waters actually just went down a day or two ago. The flooding happened all last week  I know because I was there for part of it. And so, you dont want to have a presidential visit for sure in the middle of water rising and the rescue operation. So, I think Gov. Edwards was right to reach out and ask the president to come. This is a good time with the water going down, you can access a lot of areas.

According to Landrieu, Trumps visit was appreciated for bringing attention to the damage and recovery process.

I thank Donald Trump for coming and anything that can bring attention to our state. But you need to do more than come, he made a contribution which was wonderful. And most importantly, people want to hear from him, from the president and from Secretary Clinton, what they can do to make the situation even better.

Landrieu also weighed in on Hillary Clintons statement explaining her decision to delay her visit to the flood zone so her campaign would not be a distraction from recovery efforts and whether it is a mistake.

No, I think the timing is very important and Im sure shell come. I mean she was a real leader in the rebuilding [after] Superstorm Sandy; I know because I served with her in the Senate. Landrieu continued, But most importantly its what she does as president  can we improve our flood insurance program, can we get money on the ground sooner, can we work better with non-profits?

Then Landrieu reacted to sentiment that delaying Clintons trip would be less effective because time is of the essence to keep attention on the damage and potentially lead to an increase in much needed funding and donations.

Well, its not going to be a month and it shouldnt be, but as you know if youre from Louisiana, these recovery efforts last decades. I mean, we hope this doesnt last decades, were still recovering from Katrina and that was over 10 years ago. Now hopefully this will be quicker, its terrible but its not the same scale as Katrina, but yes, absolutely. Again, the most important thing is to get FEMA money to people, get help for them and to organize strategically.
Leo DiCaprio abruptly backed out of hosting a $33,400-per-guest fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at his LA home on Tuesday, saying the change in plans was because of the production schedule for a documentary hes producing  but not everybody is convinced of the story.

The move came just days after the Hollywood Reporter said the star and his eponymous foundation could be linked to a scandal involving a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, at the same time Hillary and Bill Clintons own charitable fund is under scrutiny.

Guests attending the Clinton event in LA were notified via email over the weekend that the production schedule for [DiCaprios] climate change film Before the Flood has altered . . . which will prevent him from returning to Los Angeles . . . As a result, Leo personally asked his friends Justin Timberlake and wife Jessica Biel to host Tuesdays lunch with Hillary at their home in the Hollywood Hills.

But some attendees wondered if the move had more to do with the THR report, which said the US Department of Justice filed an asset-seizure complaint in federal court pertaining to a Malaysian fund that backed Red Granite Pictures  a production company behind the DiCaprio film The Wolf of Wall Street.

THR wrote: The complaint does not target DiCaprio  hes referred to twice in the 136-page document only as Hollywood Actor 1.  But The scandal shines an unfamiliar light on the charitable foundation of the most powerful actor in Hollywood thanks to the way [it] has benefited directly from DiCaprios relationship with key figures in the saga.

A Clinton insider told us the THR report was not at all a factor in the move. A source close to the star added, Leo is stuck in New York until Wednesday to finish his current project in time for it to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival . . . Not wanting to leave Hillary hanging, Leo called his friends Justin and Jessica and asked if they would host.

DiCaprio was in the Hamptons over the weekend with girlfriend Nina Agdal when the pair was involved in a fender-bender.

A conservative street artist called Sabo took aim at DiCaprio and Clinton in LA on Monday.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post's Page Six.
Cancer Treatment Centers of America is offering a $25,000 reward for information in the death of a Missouri patient beaten to death outside her Illinois hospital residence.

The health care facility announced the reward Thursday. Police are investigating the Monday night beating of 46-year-old Shannon Vincel was from St. Louis, MO but has been living in Springfield, Missouri died Tuesday. Police say Vincel was sitting outside her hospital residence on Monday night when someone hit her in the head with an unknown object. Authorities say she suffered "severe head trauma.''

Authorities have said the attacker was dressed in dark clothing and ran off.

Vincel's sister, Fabienne Vincel, says she hopes the reward money

"leads to the quick capture'' of the attacker.

Cancer Treatment Center of America spokeswoman Kirsten Gerlach says security around the Zion facility has been increased.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday that the state has confirmed five new non-travel related cases of Zika, including one in the Tampa Bay area, though officials have not declared that a zone of active local transmission.

Scott said at a Zika roundtable held in the Tampa areas Pinellas County that four new cases were connected to mosquitoes in Miamis Wynwood arts district. He says the fifth was diagnosed in a Pinellas County resident who hasnt traveled internationally. Officials are looking into the possibility that the Pinellas County resident was infected with the virus in a neighboring county.

The news comes just a day after Scott called on federal health officials to send the state more resources to fight the growing transmission of Zika virus. The Miami Herald reported that Florida is still waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to send the state an additional 5,000 Zika antibody tests and 10,000 Zika prevention kits, as well as a promised $5 million in funding, to help combat Zika.

The number of locally transmitted cases in Wynwood and Miami Beach had reached 37, but Tuesdays addition of four new cases brings the total to 41. State officials had predicted Monday that the number will rise in the coming weeks without swift mosquito eradication in the area.

The CDC is expected to fulfill Scotts order for the additional supplies on Tuesday, the Herald reported.

On Monday at a senior center in Wynwood, the neighborhood where the continental U.S. saw its first local Zika transmission earlier this summer, Scott met with U.S. Reps. Frederica Wilson (D), Carlos Curbelo (R), Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.

The Herald reported that among the conversations that took place during the meeting, Levine criticized Scott for not keeping the city informed of new local Zika cases as they arise.

Its important that myself, the city manager, [and] our counterparts at the county are getting timely, accurate information as fast as possible, Levine said during the meeting, according to the Herald. As you know, we have our constituents. We have our businesses ... weve just got to have that information.

Scott had told reporters a few hours earlier that he had publicly announced the Miami Beach cases within hours of their confirmation Friday morning. He responded to Levines concerns after the meeting by criticizing him for not attending previous local meetings organized to address Zika.

Everybodys had the opportunity to participate, Scott said, according to the Herald.

As of Monday, State Surgeon General Celeste Philip told the Herald there were no new local cases to report. But there were seven additional travel-related cases, consisting of four in Miami-Dade, two in Osceola and one that involves a pregnant woman, bringing the states total to 600 Zika cases so far this year.

To monitor Zika locally, the state has trapped and tested about 32,000 mosquitoes, including 6,000 in Miami-Dade, and none have tested positive for the virus, Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam told the newspaper.

Scott assured local officials during the Monday meeting that the state would be sending $5 million to aid the countys mosquito control efforts, the Herald reported.

Gimenez, who estimated the county would need to spend about $8 million to combat Zika, said he was very happy to know a check was en route.

Well be waiting for it, Gimenez said.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
George and Amal Clooney can breathe a sigh of relief: Their marriage is safe until spring.

Researchers at the University of Washington have found that if your marriage survives to September, you should be good for another six months.

Most divorces come after the winter holidays and summer vacation, the researchers say in a study to be presented Sunday at the American Sociological Association conference in Seattle.

They analyzed divorce filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and found most happened in March, followed by August.

For a lot of people who are maybe dissatisfied with their marriages, theyre discontent, but theyre not quite sure what to do about it, the holidays are sort of an opportunity for things to kind of turn around, study author Julie Brines, an associate sociology professor at Seattle University, told The Post.

If that doesnt happen, unhappy spouses may feel ready to call it splits afterward. Filings increase in January and February until peaking in March, Brines says.

A lot of this is more reactive than proactive, she said. Its in response to what didnt happen during the holidays.

In Washington, the number of filings rose by about 40 percent from a low in December to the high in March.

As for the August filings, Brines notes that many families go on vacation in July, so couples may be holding off for a month.
A Fort Myers middle school student tried to suffocate himself to death after a classmate bullied him. Though he was hospitalized, the boys mother did not find out about the suicide attempt until days later.

The boy, who was not named, collapsed while attending class at Fort Myers Middle Academy, Fox 4 reported. Initially, doctors spent three days testing to determine the cause before a mother of the boys friend revealed the truth that he had tied his hoodie tightly around his head after a student tormented him.

The boys mother, Vanessa, told Fox 4 that her son was sensitive and afraid to speak up, but she believes the school should have investigated the situation further. She has spoken with the principal, but took her son out of the school.

"At least letting staff and everybody at the hospital know that he tried to suffocate himself," Vanessa told Fox 4.

No staff at the school had been disciplined, a Lee County Schools spokeswoman said, adding that federal law prohibits confirmation of whether or not a student has been hospitalized.

Vanessa told Fox 4 she hopes the school district will develop better protocol for bullying.

"To make sure that this never happens again," she told the news channel.
Locally transmitted Zika cases in Florida could reach 400 by summers end, projections released Tuesday by a team of American biostatisticians suggests. Researchers project the virus will also spread to other Southern states, including Texas, South Carolina and Oklahoma.

It wasnt clear at first whether mosquito densities were high enough to sustain an outbreak in the U.S., Dr. Ira Longini, a biostatistics professor at the University of Florida and a senior researcher at UFs Emerging Pathogen Institute, said in a news release.

That all changed when Zika began being transmitted in Miami, where officials had reported 37 non-travel-related Zika cases as of Monday. On Tuesday, that number rose to 41, consisting of four new cases in South Florida and one in the Tampa, Florida, area.

Researchers model projects 395 Zika cases and 79 symptomatic cases in Florida by September 15 stemming from local transmission, according to the release. They predicted a median of eight of the infections could be in pregnant women in their first trimester, a time when the risk for birth defects is thought to be greatest.

By the end of summer, they predicted there would be 11 locally acquired cases in Alabama, three in Arkansas, six in Georgia, four in Louisiana, 10 in Mississippi, 12 in Oklahoma, 16 in South Carolina, and five in Texas.

Longini and his team used the data to contribute to a website showing how Zika has spread through Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, and how it may spread moving forward.

Researchers have previously conducted retrospective analyses of Zika infection outcomes with statistics from Latin America, none have involved prospective cohorts, according to the release. Longinis research may help investigators track women throughout and after their pregnancies to study outcomes from infection during the first trimester.

He expects to know these outcomes in the fall, as many of the prospective mothers began their pregnancies during late 2015 and early 2016.
Every one knows what a bird is, asserts an early 20th century book that I found while browsing the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL).

As Ive learned during my Professional Development Internship with Jacqueline Chapman at Smithsonian Libraries this summer, its not always that simple. Taxonomy is ever-changing, especially at the granular level needed by subject specialists around the world who use BHL to conduct research on organisms ranging from mosses to turtles to fungi.

BHL is a consortial digital library whose member libraries digitize works in natural history and botany based on both user requests and subject librarians selections. My project for this summer was to refine a collection assessment methodology for BHL using both taxonomic and bibliographic analyses. Along the way, Ive learned valuable lessons in using library tools, troubleshooting in Python (a computer programming language), and understanding the thought processes of 19th century ornithologists and pteridologists.

Becca Greenstein

Last year, Jacqueline worked with Robin Everly, the Smithsonians Botany and Horticulture Librarian, to conduct a taxonomic and bibliographic analysis to assess the depth of the BHLs fern and lycophyte literature. They presented their results at an international conference on ferns, Next Generation Pteridology, and had the unique ability to talk with many subject-specialist users from around the world. Jacqueline later shared this proof-of-concept with researchers at TDWG in Nairobi, Kenya.

For the bibliographic portion of the project, Fern Books and Related Items in English before 1900 was used to create a list that could be referenced to determine whether a book was available on BHL, and if not, if we had access to it. A year later, I furthered this analysis by seeing what has changed in the past year and making requests for partner libraries to scan items to add to the collection. I enjoyed gathering data for books with titles such as Greenhouse Ferns and the Romance of Plant Life, Rambles in Search of Ferns, and The Fern Paradise: A Plea for the Culture of Ferns (2nd edition in BHL).

As the bibliography used included all editions of a particular work, regardless of whether the content had changed, I decided to not digitize the 53 works on the list whose content was already in BHL in another edition of the same work. As you can see in the graphs below, the number of fern books on BHL from this list has increased by 36% over the past year. The 112 titles from the list that are not yet in BHL but that we have access to via partner libraries will be in BHL after they are digitized. We lack access to only 37 of the titles on the list that would add content to BHL, and it will be interesting to follow up with this study to see if current partners acquire new resources or if new partners that possess these materials join the BHL Consortium.

2015 Bibliographic Analysis: Graph presents percentage of books from the list generated using Fern Books and Related Items in English before 1900 that are in BHL, are not in BHL but are held by a BHL partner, and are neither in BHL nor held by a BHL partner.

2016 Bibliographic Analysis, showing that the BHL collection of fern books has increased from 2015 to 2016.

For the taxonomic portion of the project, BHLs coverage of a particular taxonomic grouping using scientific names was analyzed. The digitized material on BHL is in the form of images, which the computer does not recognize as text. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), the images are converted to machine-readable text. Taxonomic Name Recognition (TNR) then searches the OCR to find scientific names using multiple recognized lists of scientific names.

To use this powerful analytical tool to analyze BHLs literature on birds, I upgraded the Python 2 code used for last years analysis to Python 3, the newest version of the programming language. Using my code, I counted the number of mentions in BHL of each genus of birds that appear in Catalogue of Life, as determined by TNR, to identify potential gaps in the BHL collection.

Of the 2234 genera analyzed, 99.6% of them are mentioned in the BHL corpus, 131 individual genera had more than 10,000 mentions in BHL, and 88% of them had more than 100 mentions.

I conducted an in-depth analysis of the 37 genera with fewer than ten mentions in BHL to figure out possible reasons for the paucity of literature. I determined that this lack of literature could be attributed to such things as the more-recent description of some of the genera, such as within the past 20 years, to the locality of some genera, as in some birds being endemic to far-away (to 19th century European ornithologists) places like New Guinea and Mozambique, and to taxonomic changes to the genera over the years. I then looked for the first mention of each of the 37 genera in books and journal articles online and in print, in addition to submitting scan requests for the books we have access to that werent already in BHL. There was something surreal about trekking up to the Birds Library, which is tucked away on the sixth floor of the National Museum of Natural History, finding Ornithologische Berichte on the shelf (and no, I dont speak German), and opening to page 118 to find Wilhelm Meises initial description of Stresemannia bougainvillea.

Meises initial description of Stresemannia bougainvillea is next to my thumb.

My internship lasted six weeks, but it did not feel like that long. I hope that BHL will use my code to analyze larger sets of data and/or data at a higher level (for example, how is BHL doing at collecting literature on Kingdom Animalia?).

Through conducting my project, Ive learned that things you learn in library school really do apply to the real world, how an academic library at an institution without students functions, and the workflow behind digitizing materials that appear in BHL and on the Smithsonian Digital Library. Ive learned that library tools we take for granted can be unreliable, but arent usually, and that getting help from people who do research on ferns and those who do speak German can be very beneficial. I hope to bring the things Ive learned back to my final two semesters of library school, as well as into my hoped-for career as a science librarian after I graduate.

________________________

About the Author

Becca Greenstein is getting her Masters in Library Science at UNC-Chapel Hill. For her Bachelors degree, she went to Carleton College, where she majored in Biology and minored in Chinese. After graduating from Carleton, she worked as a lab technician at the University of Minnesota before starting library school. After she graduates, she hopes to continue honing these skills while working in an academic or special library as a science librarian.
The @TwoWomenTravel Twitter account has just 28 tweets, but it had quite a turnout over the weekend, racking up more than 25,000 followers as one of the two women live-tweeted her journey to get an abortion, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

The Irish woman and a friend documented their 48-hour trip to obtain a legal abortion in Britain, as the procedure is banned in Ireland unless the mother's life (not merely her health) is at risk.

The Irish Family Planning Association site notes at least 10 Irish women a day have to leave home to get an abortion, with at least 165,000 women and girls heading to UK clinics between 1980 and 2015.

The live tweets went from boarding the plane in Ireland to a series of waiting rooms in a British clinic, exhausted and hungry from their travels"We could be home by noon in another world," they noted.

The procedure itself was "safe" and "quick" and attended to by a "warm" staff, they said. One "cc" included in nearly every tweet: that of @EndaKennyTD, the Twitter handle for Ireland Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who's been accused of stalling on talks to repeal the country's Eighth Amendment, which is behind the abortion ban, per Ireland's Independent.

The women received support, including from Ireland's health minister, Simon Harris, who tweeted, "Thanks to @TwoWomenTravel for telling story of reality which faces many." The two women had their own thanks to offer, "with one glaring exception" (apparently Kenny).

Women who head to England to get an abortion "do not choose to be shamed into the secrecy, panic, and guilt that the journey to leave their home country inspires," the women behind the tweets wrote in their final post.

(A teen raped in Mexico was denied abortion access.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: Irish Woman, Friend Live-Tweet 48-Hour Trip to Get Abortion
At first Micah Brienen thought his sister-in-laws text message was a joke.

I was immediately shocked by it, Mr. Brienen, of Bonita Springs, Florida, told me. I thought it was a fake.

Click here to join Todds American Dispatch: a must-read for Conservatives!

But the text message was not a fake  it was the real deal.

It was a Pledge of Allegiance waiver from his nieces public school in Tallahassee:

I understand my rights as a parent and I request that my child, noted above, be excused from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This request includes standing and placing his/her right hand over his/her heart.

His sister-in-law returned the form to the school with the following message: This is the dumbest thing I have ever read and I am so ashamed of this.

Now Mr. Brienen is not one to post political stuff on his social networking pages  but when he saw the Pledge of Allegiance waiver  he could not resist.

Click here to read the book thats driving liberals nuts  God Less America.

I thought it was definitely something that needed to be out on social media, he told me.

He posted an image of the waiver on Facebook and wrote the following:

My niece brought this home from school todayWhat is happening to our country?!?

His message took off faster than Michael Phelps in a kiddie pool  and late yesterday it landed on my desk.

I believe its another stop in the progressive political movement to destroy the education system, Mr. Brienen told me. We have a lot of American values and traditions that seem to be whittling away.

Thats true  but you might be surprised to learn who was ultimately responsible for the waiver. It wasnt far left Democrats. It was Republicans.

This is a response to a Florida law voted on by the Florida Legislature and signed by Governor Rick Scott, said Chris Petley, the spokesman for Leon County Schools.

Specifically, he was referring to Florida Statue 1003.44. That law dictates to all school districts in Florida that, each student shall be informed by a written notice published in the student handbook or a similar publication pursuant to s. 1006.07(2) that the student has the right not to participate in reciting the pledge.

In other words, dont blame Leon County Schools.

We are required to comply with the law, he replied.

Republicans signed off on that, folks. Republicans. Lord Almighty. Thats like finding a hair on a biscuit.

Mr. Brienen, who voted for Gov. Scott, said he still opposes the Pledge waiver.

If we dont make a stand now  we might not have the Pledge of Allegiance in school, he said. Whats next, removing the flags? Its only the beginning.

Floridas Pledge of Allegiance waiver should not come as a surprise to readers of this column. Ive long documented the attack on patriotism in our public school system.

It wont be long before kids will need a Notary Public before they can sing the national anthem or wave Old Glory.

George Washington is probably looking down from Heaven  shaking his head and wondering, I crossed the Delaware for this?


Donald Trump is pushing back against claims that he might change his stance on illegal immigration. Earlier, he was expected to propose a new approach on Thursday in Colorado; now that speech has been cancelled. Still, there is speculation that, following his meeting with members of a new Hispanic advisory committee over the weekend, he might back off on plans to deport the 11 million people who are in the country illegally.

I say, go for it. Mr. Trumps hard stand on immigration has alienated not only the Hispanic community, but also many moderate Republicans. Though President Obamas executive action to protect millions from deportation is not popular, most Americans applaud our countrys history of welcoming immigrants. But, most also want secure borders.

Also, the deportation notion is an idea that was scorned by many as impractical and inhumane. (I reckoned it would take a bus convoy stretching more than 10,000 miles, or 6 times the distance between El Paso and Canada, to get the job done.)

As he has recently laid out some sensible policies on the economy and on law and order, Mr. Trump has begun to recover in the polls. A modulated but intelligent approach to our immigration dilemma offers the GOP candidate a chance for even more progress.

Here is a four-step approach that might actually move the needle on immigration.

First, allow the 11 million people living in the country without papers an opportunity to achieve legal status. Those who apply and fulfill various requirements, such as having no criminal record and having a credible employment history, would become legal alien residents, which would allow them to work and pay taxes. There are already thirteen million people in the country who have that status; there would be no stigma and it would bring millions out of the shadows.

To counter critics who would call this amnesty, or who would charge the approach as unfair to those who have entered the country illegally, stipulate that these legal alien residents would never have a shot at citizenship. This should be acceptable since under todays policies their children born in the U.S. are automatically citizens.

Second, end birthright citizenship. The policy of automatically granting citizenship to every child born on American soil is outdated and harmful. The United States is one of only two advanced countries that still embrace birthright citizenship; most have long ago discarded the practice. We grant citizenship to more than 300,000 babies born to undocumented people in our country every year  many more than enter each year without papers. We also reward so-called birthright tourism, whereby tens of thousands of women come to the U.S. every year from countries like China and Russia to deliver their babies on U.S. soil. Because of our family-friendly immigration policies, those foreigners know that come hard times in their country, that baby could usher relatives into the U.S.

Granting automatic citizenship makes it impossible to close our borders. This prize, worth millions of dollars in benefits over the course of a lifetime, is irresistible. Though it would require an amendment to the constitution, this change should and can be made as part of a bigger deal. In 1993 Senator Harry Reid proposed limiting birthright citizenship to U.S. citizens and legal resident aliens; since then, there have been other attempts to make a change.

Third, seal the borders. The Obama administration has claimed that it is impossible to prevent people entering the country illegally. Many would argue they havent tried very hard. By its various amnesty proposals  like the DACA in 2012 or the broader executive order protection millions more from deportation, the White House has encouraged undocumented migrants; the welcome mat is quickly visible thousands of miles away.

Obamas outreach to Cuba has launched another wave of migrants, as people from that country worry the U.S. might jettison our long-standing policy of giving them automatic sanctuary. Also, a judge ruled last year against indefinite detention of people caught crossing the border and ordered them released within a few days. Thousands have simply disappeared into the system; some 15,000 who were denied asylum stayed anyway. The message sent south: the doors are open again.

Unless the U.S. prevents people from crossing the border or undertakes a tough policy of deporting those who enter back to their country of origin, we will continue to see the ranks of the undocumented grow. It is impossible to imagine that in this day of drones and advanced surveillance we cannot do a better job. Maybe it takes a wall; maybe not. But this is not an impossible job.

Finally, revise our immigration policies so that they attract the best and the brightest people in the world. The United States immigration policies are outdated not guided by self-interest. As an example, taxpayers underwrite many of the worlds greatest universities, which attract some of the smartest young people in the world. We then often refuse to allow those highly educated and ambitious graduates to stay in our country. This is stupid.

We need to fix this. Trump should take it on.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called for an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor into pay-to-play accusations involving the Clinton Foundation, amid new allegations the group sought special access for donors with Hillary Clintons State Department.

The Clintons made the State Department into the same kind of pay-to-play operations as the Arkansas government was: pay the Clinton Foundation huge sums of money and throw in some big speaking fees for Bill Clinton and you got to play with the State Department, Trump said at a campaign rally Monday night in Akron, Ohio.

The amounts involved, the favors done, the significant amount of time, require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor immediately, immediately, he added.

Trump also called the investigation by the FBI and Justice Department into Clintons private email server a whitewash, and said the two agencies cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clintons crimes.

Earlier Monday, conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch released new emails showing communications between Clinton aide Huma Abedin and the Clinton Foundation while Clinton was secretary of state. The group said they show Abedin provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the secretary of state, including for Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain.

That email exchange occurred in June 2009. It started with top foundation official Doug Band notifying Abedin that the crown prince was coming to the U.S. and seeking a meeting. He noted he is a good friend of ours.

Abedin wrote back that the crown prince had asked to see Clinton through normal channels.

She added: I asked and she said she doesnt want to commit to anything for thurs or fri until she knows how she will feel. Also she says that she may want to go to ny and doesnt want to be committed to stuff in ny.

Two days later, Abedin wrote to Band saying they were offering up a morning meeting between Clinton and the crown prince.

Fox News also reported Monday that, according to previously unpublished documents, a senior executive at the Clinton Foundation left almost 150 telephone messages for Clintons top aide at the State Department within a two-year time frame.

A review of State Department call logs for Cheryl Mills, the longtime Clinton confidant who served as chief of staff for the entirety of Clintons four-year tenure as Americas top diplomat, reflects at least 148 messages from Laura Graham  then the Clinton Foundations chief operating officer  between 2010 and 2012. No other individual or non-profit appears in the logs with anything like that frequency or volume, the review found.
The Washington Post is not known for publishing works of fiction, but the paper apparently has made an exception for an art critics dystopian vision of how Republican nominee Donald Trump would destroy the arts world and sculpt it in his own image.

On Sunday, in the Posts Arts Section, the paper published a lengthy piece by art critic Philip Kennicott asking, "What would happen to the arts if this country turned to authoritarian leadership?"

In the piece, Kennicott casts Trump as a Putin-esque authoritarian who could be waiting to grab the arts world by the throat. He says Trump has deployed authoritarian language more consistently than any major political figure in memory.

Kennicotts piece was first highlighted by Newsbusters.

He points to changes since the culture wars of the '80s and early '90s and says some of those changes could make the arts a flash point for the larger cultural forces unleashed by Trumps rhetoric.

He concludes that the author of the Art of the Deal, may in fact not be a good deal for the arts.

He then goes on to tell a story, using past experience with cultural repression, what Trump has already said and plausible extrapolations based on the history and political science of authoritarianism of what he believes could happen if Trump were elected.

In Kennicotts hellish vision of the arts under Trump, he imagines a play that mocks the new administration called MacTrump that gets hit by a libel suit. When students go ahead with the production despite the suit, the audience and actors are pepper-sprayed by police.

By the summer of 2018, the hottest on record, it seemed no part of the cultural sector hadnt been politicized. The top box-office draw was 'Death Wish VII: Border Wars,' a reboot of the old Charles Bronson vigilante film series, which came out just as mass deportations in Arizona and Texas were beginning, he predicts.

Then there's this: "A theater in Texas was shut down indefinitely by the fire marshal after a comedian mocked the president at an open-mic night. One city had dusted off old obscenity laws to block a LGBT film festival. A Latin music festival with a valid street permit was shut down by police, who cited a noise control ordinance from 1935."

Click for more from Newsbusters.org
A San Francisco suburb is testing a controversial strategy to combat the gun violence that's plagued the community  paying people not to commit crimes.

The experiment known as Advance Peace is being conducted in Richmond, Calif., and works like this: The 18-month fellowship hires convicted felons to "court" troubled youth -- who so far have avoided arrest due to lack of evidence -- with offers of cash and out-of-town vacations if they mend their ways.

If, after six months, a fellow in the voluntary program begins to achieve specific goals, they can earn up to $1,000 a month.

That doesn't sit well with victims rights activist Lorrain Taylor, whose twin sons were gunned down in the nearby city of Oakland when they were just 22.

"If I were to find out that the guy who murdered my twin sons was getting a thousand dollars for a promise? I mean, how can you trust? ... I mean, if they kill somebody, they will lie," Taylor said, breaking down in tears.

But supporters say the money, which comes from private donations, is like an allowance that many American parents give their children as a reward for hard work -- and argue daily, intensive engagement is the only way to disrupt urban gun violence.

Fox News went for a drive with one ex-con, Joe McCoy, who now works for the city and has paired up with young fellows like 26-year-old Harold Sylvan to help them set positive goals.

"Like, I've never had a job," Sylvan, who has served time for drug crimes, told Fox News. "I'm 26 and just now getting a job. I never knew what a W-2 was, or how you make [a] resume. They taught me everything."

As he searches for more youth to participate in the program, McCoy said, We're gonna go all over the area.

Sylvan and other so-called fellows" get to travel, too. One vacation shot shows Sylvan posing for the camera in Los Angeles, just one of the many excursions available to those who stay out of trouble. Other destinations include New York, Washington D.C., and even London.

Our point is to connect with that young man in a very human way, to change that mindset that gives rise to destructive behavior, said program director DeVone Boggan with the Richmond Office of Neighborhood Services. Services don't stop bullets, but relationships can, and relationships do.

Boggan said most of the 82 men who've gone through the program are still alive, and are not considered suspects in recent gun crimes.

But critics say the Advance Peace program sends a bad message, and that if anyone should get money or trips, it should be the victims of violence.
An Army soldier used a slide of Hillary Clinton in a power point presentation on handling classified information and under a heading about American insiders who pose a threat to national security.

The picture of Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, appears in a rogue's gallery of six people, including at-large NSA-snitch Edward Snowden and Nidal Hassan, the Army psychiatrist and radicalized Muslim who fatally shot 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, as reported first by The Washington Examiner.

An Army spokesman on Tuesday confirmed to Fox News that the picture of the slide used in news accounts is authentic.

Maj. Thomas Campbell, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command spokesman, also said the slide was part of a smaller-scale Army units seminar on best practices for handling classified information and maintaining operational security.

However, its use was not reviewed or approved by the unit's leadership, and does not reflect the position of the Army," Campbell said.

Clinton was the subject of a roughly two-year-long FBI investigation into her use of a private server for official correspondence while secretary of state from 2009 to 2103.

FBI Director James Comey said the agency found three emails that included parts of classified information and that Clinton was extremely careless. However, he did not recommend criminal charges and the case was close in July.

The U.S. Army W.T.F! Moments Facebook page on Sunday appeared to first post the slide of Clinton and the others, according to The Examiner.

The other three images on the slide are of retired CIA Director David Petraeus, who gave classified information to his biographer and mistress; Aaron Alexis, the Washington Navy Yard sniper; and Chelsea Manning, who gave classified information to WikiLeaks.

Fox News Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
The Trump campaign is making the case that the Clinton Foundation pledge not to accept foreign and corporate donations if Hillary Clinton is elected president doesn't go far enough -- since related charities could still take that money.

The nonprofit foundation announced last week it would accept donations only from U.S. citizens and independent charities if Clinton wins in November. The move was meant to settle ethical concerns amid newly released emails that Trump claims reveal a "pay-to-play" operation.

But such a donation ban has not yet been announced regarding smaller Clinton-tied charities including the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).

The Trump campaign argues the the groups are exploting a "corporate loophole."

The Clinton Foundations laughable attempt to address conflicts of interest fails to include many of its umbrella organizations," Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said Tuesday. "The bottom line is that conflicts of interest with foreign governments and special interests would continue unabated in a Hillary Clinton administration under their insufficient and unacceptable proposal.

The Boston Globe first reported on the implications for these lesser-known charities. The newspaper also reported the alliance has no plans to change its fundraising.

Still, the groups could be planning other changes.

Canadian philanthropist Frank Giustra, who founded the enterprise partnership with former President Bill Clinton, said he plans to make the charity an independent entity, according to the newspaper.

Bill Clinton, daughter Chelsea Clinton and family lawyer Bruce Lindsey sit on the alliance and the foundation boards. The alliance says the groups are separate legal entities but that the alliance board would soon meet to determine its next steps.

Former President Clinton also announced Monday a series of steps he'd take to distance himself and his wife from the 12-year-old foundation and other groups if Hillary Clinton is elected. Among them, he said he would no longer do fundraising for the foundation and would resign from the board.

He also said he would step down from the board of CHAI, though did not address its fundraising. He said only that the board is considering "a range of options to ensure that its vital work will continue and will announce details soon."

The CEO of that group is Ira Magaziner, a former Clinton White House adviser.

Clinton, in his statement, defended the work of his network of charities. When I left the White House in 2001 and returned to life as a private citizen, I wanted to continue working in areas I had long cared about  Thats what the Clinton Foundation has tried to do, he said.

Clinton also said the Clinton Global Initiative would hold its final CGI America meeting in September.

Heightened political and media scrutiny on the Clinton-Giustra partnership began at about the time Hillary Clinton announced her presidential campaign last year, considering Canadian law does not require nonprofit charities to disclose their donor rolls.

Giustra responded in May 2015 by saying the partnership had two legal opinions that confirmed donors have a right and an expectation of privacy under Canadian law and charitable best practices.

However, he said the partnership would ask major donors for permission to disclose their contributions. And he rejected accusations and reports that the partnership had accepted foreign donations or that he made donations to the foundation to further his business interests.

The partnership did not response to a request Monday for comment.
Scientists have released incredible pictures of sunken light aircraft carrier USS Independence that were taken by underwater robots exploring the wreck.

The historic ship, which served in World War II and was used in the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, was intentionally sunk off California in 1951. The 622-foot-long Independence sits in 2,600 feet of water in the Greater Farallones National Maritime Sanctuary.

Experts on the research vessel E/V Nautilus are using two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to study the ship, which has been described as amazingly intact by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. The robots initial dive began on Monday and they have already sent back a number of eerie images from the wreck. A Grumman Hellcat fighter aircraft, for example, can be seen in the elevator used to transport planes between the carriers hangar bay and its flight deck. An anti-aircraft gun is also visible and the ships bow can be clearly seen in the oceans depths.

The dive is being streamed live. James Delgado, NOAAs head of maritime archaeology, who is on board Nautilus, has speculated that the ship may have hit the seafloor bow first, based on evidence he was seeing late Monday.

A second aircraft was identified on the ship Tuesday. The robots initial dive ends Tuesday and a second dive will begin on Thursday.

Independence, which was acoustically mapped by NOAA IN 2015 using autonomous underwater vehicles, is the deepest shipwreck in the Greater Farallones National Maritime Sanctuary.

Launched in 1942, the Independence saw service in the Pacific during the war and took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. After the war ended, Independence was one of more than 90 vessels used as a target fleet for Operation Crossroads, the U.S. atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946. The ship, which survived the tests, was damaged by shock waves, heat and radiation and was returned to the U.S., where it was moored at San Franciscos Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and used for decontamination studies. The blast-damaged carrier was towed out to sea and scuttled on Jan. 26, 1951.

As well as conducting the first visual survey of Independence, the Nautilus cruise also aims to study the habitat of deep sea coral and sponges within the Maritime Sanctuary. Specific sites will be prioritized for future research into ocean acidification.

Researchers on board the Nautilus will explore another shipwreck, the freighter Dorothy Wintermote, this weekend. In addition to mapping the wreck, scientists will also record how fish and invertebrates have colonized the structure, as opposed to living in their natural seafloor habitat.

The Ocean Exploration Trust operates the 210-foot Nautilus.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
The FBI is probing a possible cyberbreach of numerous company email accounts belonging to New York Times reporters by Russian government-linked hackers, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told Fox News on Tuesday.

The investigation, which is ongoing, is looking into how and how far the perpetrators infiltrated the Times email accounts in question. It was not exactly known how many New York Times email accounts may have been compromised, according to law enforcement sources.

The latest apparent hacking adds to the laundry list of recently disclosed Russia-involved hacks of high profile U.S. organizations.

In recent months, Fox News has reported that Kremlin aligned hacking groups are believed to have been behind the intrusions of the DNC, DCCC, Clinton presidential campaign, and the Clinton Foundation.

A law enforcement source warned of a domino effect playing out in cyberspace where these hackers island hop to other targets after compromising an entity. This was previously demonstrated in the Clinton campaign breach, where Russian hackers were able to gain access to a campaign network through the DNC.

It is commonplace for Kremlin-aligned hacking groups to target journalists who portray the Putin regime in an unfavorable light, a law enforcement source told Fox News. Of particular concern, according to this source, is the potential that these reporters sources may be revealed and compromised as a result of the New York Times intrusion.

The FBI declined to comment on the targeting of New York Times reporters, but has publicly acknowledged it is investigating the intrusions of the DNC and DCCC.

New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy would not confirm the FBI's investigation, but said, "We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised."

Earlier, Murphy said: "Like most news organizations we are vigilant about guarding against attempts to hack into our systems. There are a variety of approaches we take up to and including working with outside investigators and law enforcement."

CNN first reported the breach of reporter email accounts and added that other U.S. news organizations were also targeted. The source speaking to Fox News was unaware of other reporters at different agencies who may have been targeted.

In 2013, the Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility for breaking into the Times' online home page, as well as tweeting a false story from The Associated Press' account about a bomb at the White House.

Last month, a hack of Democratic National Committee emails led several DNC officials to resign. The White House said Russian operatives may have been responsible for sending the leaked emails to Wikileaks.

As Fox News has previously reported, cybersecurity analysts have implicated such Russia-linked cyber militias with carrying out web-based attacks against a number of foreign entities over the past several years. Multiple sources familiar with the research behind these attacks tell Fox News that among Russias targets have been the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, White House staffers, NATO, and segments of the Ukrainian government.

Fox News' Matt Dean and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Before Dino Carter even proposed to his girlfriend, he asked Martyn Galvin to be the best man at his wedding. Galvin repaid his pal of 18 years by setting up the bachelor party, collecting money from the groom and his friends for a big bash in Prague and a horse-racing outing in Yorkthen skipping out with the $10,500 or so he had gathered from the group, the Guardian reports.

The British swindler (deemed perhaps the "worst best man ever" by the New Zealand Herald) was sentenced to 20 months in jail in a Teesside court Thursday in what the presiding judge called "one of the nastiest and meanest" scams he'd ever seen.

The partygoers only found out they'd been bamboozled when 17 of them showed up at the Newcastle airport last August. Ready for their three-day Prague junket, they found they had no flight booked and no accommodations reserved in the Czech Republic, reports the Telegraph.

Red flags arose before the trip when Galvin blew off group meetings, which is when he said he was unavailable because he'd been receiving treatment for bowel cancernot true.

More from Newser

Galvin's attorney blamed a gambling addiction and said Galvin intends to pay back all the victims; the lawyer also admits that while Galvin never had cancer, he is plagued by a "chronic digestive problem." The groom, for his part, didn't let Galvin ruin his big day.

"I picked a new best man and the wedding day was the proudest, happiest day of my life," he said in a statement read to the court.

(A priest punched the best man at a wedding he was officiating.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: Best Man's Bachelor Party Turns Out to Be 'Nastiest' Scam
A man in Arizona who apparently tweeted that he was close to viciously murdering his roommates is now facing murder charges  in the death of one of his roommates.

A fight between Zachary Penton, 21, and Daniel Garofalo, 41, led to a shooting Sunday night at the home in Gilbert, investigators told ABC 15.

Police said Penton called 9-1-1 to report that he had killed Garofalo. He faced second-degree murder charges, Fox 10 reported.

I need to move out of my place before I viciously murder my roommates, read a post Saturday morning on a Twitter account under the name Zac_Penton. The post was deleted Tuesday afternoon. Police said they were working to confirm whether it was, in fact, Penton behind the tweet.



Penton's attorney, Josh Davidson, told ABC 15 that people often write statements that arent meant to be taken seriously.

A neighbor in the area described the apartment as rowdy and said Garofalo once claimed the FBI was watching him, Fox 10 added.

"There were lots of parties, always stuff going on, the guy seemed nice, but he was very creepy," the neighbor added.

Click for more from Fox 10.
Critics have accused academia of subtly indoctrinating students with a liberal agenda for years, but the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency has brought one Pennsylvania political science professor out into the open.

Gettysburg College Prof. Kathleen Iannello announced in an Op-Ed penned for Philly.com that she will not even try to treat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and GOP choice Trump equally because, in her mind, Trump is a lightning rod for promoting further hate.

My approach for the fall semester will be boldly honest: It is a disservice to students to attempt to provide balance when I know that balance is an offense to the truth, Iannello wrote.

In the column, titled Balanced Presentation A Dishonest Exercise In Presidential Race, Iannello admits that, as a liberal, [she has] no problem extolling the virtues of Democrats.

To prove her fairness, Iannello notes that she has assigned readings of moderate Republicans and has even offered praise for Ronald Reagan. But Trump is another story, she claimed.

His harsh and distasteful commentary regarding religious and ethnic groups, as well as women, only serves as a lightning rod for promoting further hate, Iannello wrote. He displays neither a record of public service nor an understanding of the word statesmanship. In the history of our country, it is hard to recall anyone less prepared to take office.

When asked by The College Fix if her stance would be fair to students who might not share her politics, Iannello said it would.

I can assure you that all students will have a voice in my classes, she told the site.

Officials at Gettysburg College said they believe the class will be fair, too.

Its an important part of our mission as a liberal arts institution to ensure that ideas can be shared openly, and we have every confidence that students will be given opportunity to express their views freely in their classes, a spokesperson told the site.

Students who claim to have taken Iannellos classes in the past may doubt her ability to tolerate dissenting opinions.

Professor Iannello means well and is a decent teacher, but she preaches her liberal propaganda way too much in class, read a 2008 entry on Ratemyprofessor.com, adding, she is not open to new ideas and is very closed-minded on her beliefs.

Other entries described her as intimidating if you lean right and a person who gives conservatives a hard time. If youre a right-winger, be prepared to walk into a brick wall whenever you enter the classroom, one review states.

Click for more from The College Fix
In a victory for teacher unions, the California Supreme Court decided Monday to let the state's teacher tenure law stand.

The high court decided not to review a lower court ruling that upheld tenure and other job protections for teachers. That ruling came in a lawsuit by a group of students who claimed that incompetent teachers were almost impossible to fire because of tenure laws and that schools in poor neighborhoods were dumping grounds for bad teachers.

The appeals court said in its decision in April that the students had failed to show California's hiring and firing rules were unconstitutional.

That appeals court had overturned a Los Angeles Superior Court judge's decision that sided with the students and threatened to shake up public schools that teach more than 6 million students from kindergarten through 12th grade statewide.

In reversing that decision, the appellate panel said the trial highlighted problems with tenure and layoff statutes and showed the "deleterious impact" of staffing decisions on poor and minority students. But it said state law wasn't to blame.

Justice Roger Boren, presiding over the 2nd District Court of Appeal, wrote in the 3-0 opinion that some principals get rid of highly ineffective teachers by sending them to low-income schools. Those decisions have nothing to do with the teacher tenure law, he said.

The closely watched case highlighted tensions between teacher unions, school leaders, lawmakers and well-funded education reform groups over whether policies like tenure and firing teachers with the least seniority keep ineffective instructors in the classroom, particularly in already low-performing schools.

Teachers have long argued that tenure protects them from being fired on a whim, preserves academic freedom and helps attract talented teachers to a profession that doesn't pay well.

The Vergara v. State of California lawsuit, including Beatriz Vergara among the public school student plaintiffs, was backed by Students Matter, a nonprofit group founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur David Welch.

Attorneys for the state and teachers unions had argued that the case was never about helping students, and there was no evidence presented showing the disputed statutes were the cause of educational inequalities.
Jurors convicted Hemy Neuman of murder in his second trial for the killing of Rusty Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody, Georgia day care in November 2010. He's been found guilty of murder and possession of a firearm.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for a total of 3.5 hours. One juror told FOX 5's Aungelique Proctor the decision to convict wasn't easy.

"It was difficult, because of all the circumstances," the female juror commented.

Neuman was initially found guilty but mentally ill, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. But the Georgia Supreme Court overturned that verdict because of an error made by the judge.

On Monday the defense argued Hemy Neuman is mentally ill and was not sane when he pulled the trigger and killed his alleged lovers husband, Rusty Sneiderman. The jury completely rejected the defense claims of insanity.

Prosecutors say Andrea Sneiderman and Hemy Neuman both worked at General Electric. They claimed that Neuman was having an affair with Sneiderman's wife, Andrea, at the time of the murder, something she has repeatedly denied. The defense contends Neuman was insane and the affair was a delusion.

DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James was quite animated during closing arguments and worked the entire courtroom as he acted out several scenarios.

"They paid Dr. Flores $25,000 to come in here and testify. But they can't get a doctor from the Department of Corrections to come in here and testify? They want you to find him not guilty by reason of insanity. They want you to convict him based on a doctor's note? (Gesture, Hemy Is insane)," James demonstrated.

But defense attorney Lelita Delan reminded jurors that defense expert Dr. Adriana Flores believed Neuman was delusional and thought he was protecting the Sneiderman children, who he wrongly thought were his.

Click for more from Fox 5.
Federal authorities are investigating a weekend stabbing in Virginia to see whether the attacker may have been trying to behead a victim and whether the attack was inspired by the Islamic State terror group.

Wasil Farooqui, 20, was charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding in the stabbing attack Saturday that left two people wounded.

The FBI confirmed to Fox News it is investigating the dual stabbing alongside the Roanoke County Police Department. A source familiar with the case also told Fox News the FBI is investigating the attack as a possible terrorism-related incident.

"The FBI is working with the Roanoke County Police Department following the incident that occurred on Saturday evening, said Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBIs Richmond Division.

"While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident," Lee said.

According to ABC News, Farooqui had traveled to Turkey in the last year and may have tried to sneak into Syria to meet with ISIS militants.

Farooqui allegedly attacked a man and woman at an apartment complex in Roanoke, according to WDBJ-7. Both victims were seriously injured in the attack. Witnesses told authorities that Farooqi was yelling Allah Akbar.

Authorities believe that Farooqui may have been trying to behead the male victim, according to ABC News. Investigators said that there was no connection between Farooqui and the victims.

"The FBI is working with the Police Department following the incident that occurred on Saturday evening," Special Agent In Charge Adam Lee, head of the FBIs Richmond field office told ABC News in a statement. While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident."

Farooqui was being held without bond at the Western Virginia Regional Jail.

Fox News' Matt Dean contributed to this report.

Click for more from ABC News.
Authorities in South Carolina say a white man charged with the shooting deaths of nine black churchgoers in Charleston "self-radicalized" in the months before the shootings and grew more entrenched in his beliefs in white supremacy.

The information was filed Monday as part of a listing of more than a dozen expert witnesses that prosecutors intend to call in Dylann Roof's federal death penalty trial later this year.

The 22-year-old Roof is charged in the June 2015 deaths of nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church.

Authorities have long said they believed Roof was the author of an online manifesto in which he embraced Confederate symbols and talked about white supremacy. Handwriting analysis experts are expected to testify that he wrote another similar document in jail.

___

Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP. Read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/meg-kinnard/ .
Residents of this dusty hamlet are skeptical that an ongoing effort to replace 1.4 miles of chain link fencing with an imposing steel curtain -- much less the the ambitious border wall Donald Trump has vowed to build -- will stem the tide of illegal immigrants they find under their trailers, in their backyards or wandering through town.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is replacing the stretch of 20-year-old fencing with an 18-foot-high steel wall that extends another 6 feet underground into a bed of concrete. The project also includes elevating the roadbed that runs alongside the wall, to improve the effectiveness of vehicle-borne Border Patrol agents.

Its a short span, but it provides a glimpse at the scope  and cost  of what may be coming along the 2,000-mile border, especially if Trump is elected in November.

There are no other fence projects of comparable size, said Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier.

Sunland Park is like many other small communities abutting the border fence that sporadically stretches 702 miles through parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It sits at the western base of Mount Cristo Rey, with the iconic statue of the crucified Christ at its summit, 10 miles northwest of El Paso. One long-time resident estimates that of the 15,000 or so residents, a third are in the U.S. illegally.

Across the border lies Anapra, a violent suburb of Ciudad Juarez. And while officials say crossings into Sunland Park have decreased while the fence project is under way, they still occur fairly regularly, officials said.

Despite significant decreases in illegal traffic, this area continues to be exploited by alien and narcotics smugglers due to the inadequate infrastructure in the area that lends an advantage to the smugglers, Border Patrol Agent Jose Romero told FoxNews.com.

Jesus and Jessica Castro live in a double-wide mobile home a quarter mile from the fence. They believe even the fortified fence will be more of a hindrance than a deterrent to illegal cross-border movement.

We see them running through the village confused, not knowing where they are or where to go, Jessica Castro said as she watched their young daughter play in the dirt yard while her husband waxed their car. The fence really doesnt make a difference.

Armando Martinez said he has encountered illegal immigrants on his fenced-in property several times.

Ive had them try to hide under my trailer when Border Patrol is looking for them, but my five small dogs start barking and scare them off, Martinez told FoxNews.com. Ive also had a young man of around 20 saying he was from Mexico City hide behind my truck once.

Even with the new and improved fence, theyre always going to find a way over, he said.

Another section of the border fence that was recently rebuilt was a stretch west of the San Luis Port of Entry in Arizona, a project completed in February 2016. Both projects replaced fencing that predated the federal Secure Fence Act of 2006, and did not extend the border barrier from the 702 miles it currently covers.

The 2006 law leaves flexibility to the Department of Homeland Security to determine how much the fence should extend above and below the ground. A 2008 bill that called for all new fence construction to be two layered, 14-foot high fencing along the southwest border was never passed.

It has been three years since any major additions have been made to the border fence, and Border Patrol officials said no additional projects are being planned. They are currently conducting repair and maintenance projects on 354 miles of previously installed fence.

As long as the fence doesnt cover the entire border, there will always be a way around, if not over, say residents. In Sunland Park, they point to Mount Cristo Reys rugged valleys of sharp rocks, cactus, and scrub brush and the area at the base of the mountain where the fence stops as typical access points for border crossers.

The real deterrent, they say, is manpower. The Border Patrol is as ubiquitous to the village as tumbleweeds, with vehicles strategically positioned on mesas that offer a clear view of the area to ground-level operations where foot traffic is prevalent. Cameras and motion sensors help focus the agents on trouble spots.

Pancho Rodriguez lives in a single-wide trailer and when he talks about the security of the village he points to a nearby mesa where a green and white Border Patrol SUV sits vigil.

Thats why I feel safe, Pancho Rodriguez told FoxNews.com as he pointed from outside his trailer to a Border Patrol SUV sitting on a mesa overlooking the village. They are always here.

Mosier said the construction is in no way tied to the ongoing presidential campaign. But if the election leads the winner to make a major commitment to the border fence, it will be costly for U.S. taxpayers or, as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump likes to say, Mexico.

If the cost of upgrading the fence near Sunland Park is representative, it would cost about $6 billion to similarly rebuild the existing fence to the same heavier-duty specifications. That would leave another nearly fenceless 1,300 miles to address.

Much of the current fence cost far less, with some designed to keep vehicles from crossing and others aimed at stopping foot traffic. According to a GAO report in 2009, the cost of pedestrian fencing ranged from $400,000 to $15 million per mile with an average of $3.9 million a mile.

If Sunland Parks new fence is an indicator, the cost is only rising.
On this episode of the Branding Blowout Podcast we talk with Marlene Williamson, CEO of Watermark, about how to create thought leadership for women CEOs and executives.

Watermark, which started 22 years ago in the San Francisco Bay area, has a mission to increase the representation of women in leadership positions. Williamson, the current CEO says the the organization produces more than 50 events each year in the San Francisco area, including conferences on innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills for female executives. Williamson and I discuss:

More From Entrepreneur.com Why Middle Managers Are Secretly the Superheroes of the Workplace

How female CEOs and C-Suite executives use their uniqueness as a leadership advantage

The work required to become a thought leader in more male dominated fields such as engineering

How a female executive's personal brand may differ from their male counterparts

Top three recommendations for women executives to become thought leaders in their fields

Click here to start listening to the podcast and learn how you take your c-suite executive and CEO brand to the next level.
Prosecutors charged a Tulsa man on Tuesday with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime in the killing of his Lebanese neighbor -- a culmination of what authorities said was the man's violent feud with the family that spanned several years and included a regular barrage of racial insults and personal confrontations.

Stanley Majors, 61, was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and threatening a violent act in the Aug. 12 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara. The hate crime charge is a misdemeanor under Oklahoma law and accuses Majors of intimidating and harassing Jabara and his mother, Haifa Jabara, "because of race, color, religion, ancestry and national origin," according to court papers filed Tuesday by prosecutors.

Majors is scheduled for arraignment in district court on Wednesday.

Majors spent years in conflict with the Jabara family, often hurling epithets such as "filthy Lebanese," `'dirty Arabs" and "Moo-slems" at his next-door neighbors, authorities said. The Jabaras are actually Christian.

Lebanese immigrants have long been a visible part of the Oklahoma population, with many making their living as merchants, restaurateurs and grocers.

The alleged abuse between the neighbors escalated to the point where Haifa Jabara obtained a protective order in 2013 that required Majors to stay 300 yards away and prohibited him from possessing any firearms until 2018. Majors also had a 2009 felony conviction from California for threatening a crime with intent to terrorize.

But last year, Majors was accused of plowing his car into Khalid's mother, Haifa Jabara. She suffered a broken shoulder, among other injuries. After Majors struck her, he kept driving, prosecutors said. Officers who stopped him later reported that he was intoxicated. Prosecutors charged majors last September with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, leaving the scene of a collision violating the protective order and public intoxication.

Majors' conflict with the Jabara family also put him at odds with his husband, Stephen Schmauss, who came to befriend Khalid and thought of him as an apprentice, teaching him how to use power tools and computer circuitry. Last week, Schmauss said his husband had killed his "best friend."

Khalid Jabara's slaying drew national attention, including a mention from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who said her "heart breaks" for Jabara's loved ones.

Schmauss tried to explain Majors' comments, saying his husband is "textbook bipolar" and a diabetic who refuses to take any medication. Schmauss said anything Majors said to the Jabara family was "done under the bipolar situation."

While awaiting trial for assault and battery, a judge freed Majors from jail on $60,000 bond, overruling strong objections by Tulsa County prosecutors, who called him "a substantial risk to the public" and pleaded with the court to set a higher bond of $300,000.
Nearly 100 people were evacuated from a Southern California town Monday night after a gas leak was reported.

According to Fox 5 San Diego, authorities went to Ocean Beach around 7:15 p.m. in response to the gas leak report.

Residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

The cause of the gas leak remains under investigation.
A man accused of fatally beating his girlfriend's toddler son has been charged with murder.

Camden County prosecutors say Zachary Tricoche will be arraigned Tuesday afternoon. The 24-year-old Pennsauken man was being held without bail and it wasn't known Monday if he has retained an attorney.

Pennsauken police found the toddler when they responded to a 911 call at a Mansion Boulevard home around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. The child was taken to a hospital but died there early Sunday.

Prosecutors did not provide details on the child's injuries or said how they may have occurred. They also have not said whether anyone else was in the home when the beating allegedly occurred or who lives in the residence.

The boy's name has not been released.
It didnt take long for the new gender identity policy in Albuquerque schools to cause confusion, after a memo from one assistant principal told teachers not to refer to students as boys or girls.

It was all a mistake, but it showed how the quickly changing rules on how to identify children by gender has left educators baffled and parents angry.

The school has acknowledged the mistake and has rectified it, Rigo Chavez, spokesman for the Albuquerque Public School district, said.

The clarification came after the assistant principal at Carlos Rey Elementary School, on the citys westside, misinterpreted the new policy in a note to staff that was leaked outside the school circle.

The case mirrored one in Charlotte, N.C., where teachers have been advised to stop calling children boys and girls, according to a training presentation on transgender issues. Instead, the progressives who control Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools want teachers to identify the youngsters as either students or scholars.

But in Albuquerque, even though boys are boys and girls are girls again, parents are still getting used to the new policy as the school year enters its second week.

According to the Albuquerque Public School districts newly implemented Non-Discrimination for Students: Gender Identity and Expression policy, students shall have the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun corresponding to their chosen gender identity. Students are not required to get a court ordered name, gender change or to change their official records before they must be addressed by the name and pronoun that correspond to their gender identity.

There is no mention of mandated school requirements to abolish across the board gender reference of students. But all of this is little consolation to the majority of parents FoxNews.com spoke to outside Carlos Rey Elementary School Monday. Most had heard about the errant memo.

Four mothers picking up their children were shocked to hear the policy had even gone into effect expressing anger they were never notified by either the school or the school district.

Its going to confuse the kids and may even bring [gender confusion] on early, said Daundra Cordova.

The three other mothers nodded their heads in agreement.

Tausha Cordova said the situation could boil over.

Theres going to be a lot of irate parents going to the school when their kids come home telling them what they saw, she said.

This working class, predominately Hispanic neighborhood in southwest Albuquerque has strict cultural and familial mores and there is a sense that the gender identification policy could be more disruptive than accommodating.

Matthew Gallegos, who was picking up his child, expressed concern how the policy could mushroom by the time a student gets into middle and high school.

It may not be an issue at the elementary school level, but there could be more cases of bullying in middle school and high school, said Gallegos.

Principal Judith Touloumis deferred comment to Chavez.

One young female teacher standing outside of the school in a light drizzle monitoring students getting on buses after school said she was told not to talk about the policy, but did acknowledge there is some confusion.

I guess we are going to have another training to clear things up, said the teacher.

Zane Stephens, co-director and co-founder of The Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, said the education process must be ongoing.

Students should not go to school in fear of what they might be called, said Stephens. How do kids go to school in an equitable environment if they are in fear?

Stephens said the new policy should not come as a surprise since the district has been doing LGBTQ training for years.

I do not feel this policy is putting the cart before the horse, he said.

This is a point many of the parents at Carlos Rey Elementary School may disagree with.

We had no idea this was going on in the schools, said Cordova.
Hundreds of people in Georgia attended a forum Monday night voicing concerns over a mosque and Muslim cemetery planned for Newton County -- a plan that officials reportedly approved without any public input.

Fox5Atlanta.com reported that the area of land essentially amounted to a compound. The complaints included fears the land could ultimately be used as a terror training camp. Other people cited the tradition of Muslims traditionally burying their dead unembalmed.

I would like to say that there is no camp, everyone will have access, Imam Mohammad Islam told the news station. He said the plans call for a 4,000-square-foot mosque with a 2,500-square-foot preparation center.

His congregation includes mostly Bangladeshi Muslims, the news station reported. The imam did not rule out expanding to a new school in the neighborhood in the future.

Some members of the community expressed disappointment that the imam did not attend the meeting to discuss the plans.

If they want to assimilate into our community, where are they at tonight? one man asked. Mr. Imam, come and talk to us.

The station reported that it tried to get a response from city officials who worked on the project but several commissioners refused to comment.

Newton County is about 40 minutes southeast of Atlanta.

Click for more from Fox5Atlanta.com
Hundreds of California students could be sent home on the first day of school over a new vaccine law that took effect last month.

KPIX-TV reported Monday that parents are no longer allowed to cite personal or religious beliefs as a reason not to have their kids vaccinated. Kindergarten students and seventh graders must have proof that they received their immunizations.

For students in the Bay Area, Monday was the first day of school and Oakland school officials are prepared to turn students away from the classroom if they dont have their vaccinations.

There could be a few hundred kids that are not immunized and so well be encouraging them as quickly as possible to get out there, Oakland Unified School District John Sasaki told the station. Their parents may try to drop them off and well have to turn them away.

Students who got their personal belief exemptions approved before January will be grandfathered into the new law, according to the station. The new law states they still must get their immunizations when they reach seventh grade.

Click for more from KPIX-TV.
Roy Nabors has been a ramp agent for Southwest Airlines for seven years. His primary job function includes marshaling planes and loading and unloading freight and baggage. When he initially applied for the position never would he have imagined that his job function would one day encompass color patterns and uniform design.

Related: Employee Engagement Is More Important Than the Customer

Approximately two years ago Southwest Airlines, the worlds largest low-cost carrier, unveiled a new logo (a heart colored by blue, red and orange stripes). Two years later Southwest Airlines is ready to unveil a bold and bright new uniform design. However, instead of hiring an outside company for the undertaking, it tapped employees like Roy Nabors to get the job done.

When Southwest Airlines executives realized it was time refurbish their outdated uniforms, instead of hiring an outside designer, they put out an open call to employees from all departments. Anyone interested in contributing thoughts and suggestions to the design of the airlines new uniform was welcome to apply. Thousands expressed an interest and the company eventually narrowed it down to forty-three employees.

Over the course of 19 months, those selected employees met every two weeks in Chicago and Dallas to collaborate on the design of the new uniforms. The result? A bolder, more fashion forward and functional uniform for employees. The new uniforms are also machine washable, a rarity when it comes to airline attire. Those who participated in this undertaking, such as Joan Mast, a flight attendant for the airline for 36 years, called it an unforgettable experience.

Related: Poor Employee Engagement Is the Biggest Retail Fail of 2015

Incorporating employees into the creative decision making process allows for a more authentic brand. According to Sonya Lacore, vice president of Cabin Services for Southwest Airlines, the new uniforms truly reflect the personality of the companys employees. The same result may not have been achieved if the uniforms were designed by an outside firm.

Also, the process of bringing employees together from various departments, various cities and various job functions allowed employees to interact and work together with fellow employees who otherwise may have never had an opportunity to do so, arguably contributing to a more cohesive workplace culture. Lastly, allowing employees to apply innovative thinking outside of the scope of their day-to-day functions benefits both employees and employers. As Andy Savitz author of "Talent, Transformation and The Triple Bottom Line" notes, engaged employees tend to be more motivated, more loyal and more inspired.

Related: The Secret to Employee Engagement

The new uniforms are expected to publicly launch soon.
A Texas teachers note to parents has some students breathing a big sigh of relief as the school year begins.

KXAS-TV reported Monday that Brandy Youngs note to the parents of her second grades class at Godley Elementary School in Johnson County about her homework policy has gone viral.

Young passed her note to parents at the schools Meet the Teacher Night and explained her policy, according to KTRK-TV.

The message read:

Dear Parents,

After much research this summer, I am trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year.

Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance. Rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside, and get your child to bed early.

Youngs policy has received a lot of praise.

Samantha Gallagher, a parent of one of the girls in Youngs class, told KTRK-TV that she was so pleased with the new policy that she posted the letter on Facebook.

"I am very grateful Brooke has an innovative teacher who is willing to adopt new policies for the benefit of her students and their families," Gallagher added.

Click for more from KXAS-TV.
The heroin epidemic that has plagued the nations urban and rural communities alike had not spared West Virginia, but nothing prepared Cabell County officials for 26 overdoses in a four-hour span last week.

The wave of misery was focused in a Huntington public housing complex, where victims injected from a batch of the drug believed to have been laced with Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine. Investigators believe two fatalities that occurred during the same time period could be related.

We have never seen anything like this before to this magnitude, said Gordon Merry, Emergency Management Service director for Cabell County.

It was the latest cluster of overdoses to take place in communities ranging from gritty cities to rural farmlands. Overdoses involving heroin and synthetic drugs like spice left two dozen hospitalized earlier this month in Ohio; killed two and sickened 16 two months ago in New Haven, Conn.; and hospitalized 33 last month in Brooklyn.

Just last week, nine people overdosed on heroin from a single bad batch, with one woman dying. And twice in the last week, paramedics have rushed to Los Angeles' Skid Row to treat multiple people sicked by synthetic marijuana.

Incidents of large-scale overdoses bring headlines, but public health and law enforcement officials say the opioid crisis gripping the nation claims most of its victims quietly, one or two at a time. In Cabell County, there have been at least 440 overdoses this year, including 26 fatalities.

In this weeks incident, the mystery substance was so strong, some patients were administered four doses of Narcan, a prescription medicine that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose. One is normally enough.

I would caution people  beg them  not to partake of heroin, Merry said. The only thing that was good about this bout of heroin overdoses is 26 people now have a chance to reevaluate their lives to see if they could go into rehabilitation.

Drug use is on the rise in West Virginia because the economy has been decimated, largely over the last two years, Merry said. The decline of the coal industry dealt a crippling blow to an economy that was never strong to begin with, he said.

CDC statistics show West Virginia has the highest per capita rate of lethal overdoses in the nation, followed by New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio. The drug epidemic has not spared any communities, said Jim Johnson, director of the Mayors Office of Drug Control Policy in Huntington.

Some 22 million people across the country suffer from substance abuse disorders, resulting in 50,000 overdose death rates each year, Johnson said. This is right up there on that same level as terrorism and homeland security concerns in our country. That doesnt even count the number of people getting Hepatitis B and C and HIV.

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, calls the opioid and heroin addiction of Americans a growing epidemic in our nation, noting drug overdoses claim more than 129 lives each day.

Local police and governments are overwhelmed by the epidemic, and the FBI and DEA say synthetic opiates manufactured in China, Mexico and the U.S. have flooded Main Street America. Police in Huntington trace the drugs wreaking havoc in the city of 50,000 to Mexico, via Detroit. On the streets of Huntington, a gram of heroin that would sell for $100 in the Motor City could fetch double, giving a powerful incentive to make the 350-mile trip south through Ohio.

Law enforcement was doing a terrific job in terms of arrests and seizures, and the community was coming together doing everything a community should be doing, but when we look at the internals, 13.9 percent of our babies were born addicted to drugs and 60 percent of the umbilical cords of babies tested positive for opiates, Johnson said.

There are victories to claim amid the war. Huntington EMS, where Merry has worked for 43 years, is lowering the lethality of overdoses, thanks to Narcan.

We were able to cut our death rate from 35 people last year to 25 this year, at this time, Merry said. We attribute that to a lot that we are doing, such as giving Narcan to the police and fire departments and the Department of Health started a needle exchange program that brings people into clinics where they can also receive additional help.

Like his counterparts in countless cities and towns across the nation, Merry ticks off the tragedies he has seen and wonders how each takes a toll that will be felt for decades. Earlier this week, a four-year-old boy was badly injured when his father drove into a tree while high on heroin. In another case, a mother shot up in a gas station bathroom, overdosed, and fell to the floor with the needle still in her arm. Her young child was terrified that he could not wake her up and ran to get help.

EMS was able to resuscitate the mother, but the child is going to have a rough life. He kept crying and was devastated because his mother was just lying on the floor, unresponsive, Merry said. It is just so sad.
When I left my high-paying job at a successful private equity firm in San Francisco, I broke "the rules." For the first time in my life, I felt free but also very afraid. Its every financial professionals dream to become a partner at a private equity firm where the compensation can amount to tens of millions in a lifetime. But me? I left the partner track to move to Tulsa. No, that's not a typo. My fifth generation Native American roots were still there in my hometown where my parents had raised me 20 years before.

I chose Oklahoma over New York, Chicago or San Francisco because I wanted to give back and transform the landscape of business in Tulsa. I am a builder in every sense of the word. I like to build businesses that contribute to the economy, but first I needed to search for and acquire a business that I could nurture.

After 16 months of cold-calling entrepreneurs, in 2010 I finally unearthed the perfect company. The ConsumerAffairs website was originally created in 1998 as a news resource for journalists looking for trends in consumer complaints. Since then, my acquisition team has transformed the website from a complaint forum into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform with more than 250 partner brands, representing 98 percent of our revenue and all our growth.

Related: 6 Leaders Share the Secrets to SaaS Startup Success

In the process, a new revenue stream emerged involving subscriptions as opposed to advertisements. As we increased offerings and improved the overall user experience for consumers and businesses, clients expanded their partnership with us.

We broke the rules, and it worked.

Each month, more than six million visitors come to ConsumerAffairs.com to research, review and engage with the more than 5,000 brands represented on our site. Recent additions to our user experience include expert reviews, buyers guides, how-to articles and best match tools to grow the available resources we offer consumers as a platform for purchasing advice.

Many CEOs have an idea of what they want to do with a business, but not many are thinking about how they can overhaul and revamp revenue streams. Collaborating with the brightest minds can help because the future value of a company is based on innovative ideas, products, services and revenue models that have yet to exist. Whether its relocating headquarters or adding new product lines and revenue streams, experiencing a breakthrough requires finding new ways to break the rules that bind most entrepreneurs. I threw away some of the top entrepreneurial rules shared among the business community to find a new level of happiness, prosperity and company success.

Rule 1 -- Follow the money.

Anti-rule -- Time is more important than money.

I could have been a partner at a San Francisco private equity firm, but instead I chose to take a 60 percent pay cut and acquire my own company.

Had I stayed at my 90 hour a week job, my career would have been purely about financial gain rather than the broader context of cultivating my own company. My acquisition of ConsumerAffairs.com has resulted in adding jobs to the overall Tulsa economy. Another benefit has been spending more time with my wife and two children. Unlike money, time is something that cannot be made.

Rule 2 -- Web-based businesses belong only in the Bay Area.

Anti-rule: Anywhere but Silicon Valley.

Bringing our headquarters to Tulsa was a pearl clutching moment because conventional wisdom says youre supposed to build a consumer web business in Silicon Valley. Tulsa, Okla., is not typically seen as a tech town. It is still dependent on oil and gas even as we see declines in those sectors.

Related: Why You Don't Need to Found Your Startup in Silicon Valley

Although not being based in San Francisco has encumbered our product and ability to attract engineering talent, by headquartering in a smaller market, we have a significant cost structure advantage. Its worth the trade-off in talent acquisition so that we can scale the company to further success without spending millions of dollars in rent to be located near Google or Microsoft. It just so happens that there is a lot of new development happening in Tulsa, making business overhead more affordable. As an early adopter, ConsumerAffairs is at the forefront of that economic development.

Rule 3 -- Dont buy a technology risk laden company.

Anti-rule -- Acquire companies with innovative or technology potential.

The processes of the original CEO from whom I purchased ConsumerAffairs were largely manual. When I acquired the company, I had to build a technology platform that did not already exist. After hiring a team of 29 engineers and four product managers to overhaul manual operations, the original business is now only 3 percent of our revenue.

Even though we had to create a platform on top of the existing business, weve grown the company at a compound annual growth rate of 91 percent since 2012.

Rule 4 -- If it aint broke, dont fix it.

Anti-rule -- When the ground is shifting under your feet, try pivoting even an established company.

Conventional business wisdom says that entrepreneurs should not change anything about a stand-alone acquisition for at least two years -- especially not its revenue model. Pivoting is supposedly only for start ups because achieving product/market fit and monetization is a near miracle for most, and earning money at something new is really hard. But with a business goal of doubling revenue consistently, we had to rethink our advertising-based revenue model, pricing and processes. I waited only 30 days to start tinkering.

Breaking the two-year rule paid off when we launched the ConsumerAffairs for Brands accreditation program. The goal now is to dispute and enable the use of feedback and analytics to drive operational improvements in customer service and product offerings.

Related: How ConsumerAffairs Survived Pivoting and Improved Profitability

Over the past two years, we have engaged more brands in solving consumer issues, expanded our platform to include dispute resolutions and offered brands a chance to provide documentation if they are unable to facilitate a resolution with a consumer. This is whats unique about our partnership that no other review platform provides.

Reducing reliance on the websites advertising model enabled us to improve the consumer experience dramatically, and by developing new products born from the need to service brands, we have seen a massive return on equity.

Rule 5 -- Micromanage for better employee results.

Anti-rule -- Unleash your staff.

Instead of micromanaging, I enable talent. Our corporate culture promotes freedom and responsibility by not having any rules. Some 60 percent of our workers telecommute. We offer unlimited paid time off with a paid vacation stipend. We maintain a well-stocked bar with the best beer selection for those who enjoy an alcoholic drink at lunch, and we have Uber on speed dial so that people can get home from work safely if they take good advantage of this employee perk. Freedom as a core belief is paying off. Our 2015 retention rate was 92 percent, which is unusual in the corporate and sales sectors.
European Union chief Jean Claude Juncker has branded borders the worst invention ever in an astonishing blast.

The bureaucrat slapped down calls for tougher frontier controls on the Continent despite growing fury over the fallout from the migrant crisis.

And he called for more solidarity with refugees and their children.

Speaking in Austria he said: We have to fight against nationalism, we have the duty not to follow populists but to block the avenue of populists.

Borders are the worst invention ever made by politicians.

He even appeared to say the Continent risked bloodshed by echoing former French president Francois Mitterands warning that nationalism added to nationalism led to war.

The comments sparked a furious reaction from Downing Street.

The PMs official spokeswoman said: The British people think that borders are important, having more control over our borders is important, and that is an issue we need to address.

Migration Watch chair Lord Green added: The EU is far from being an antidote to nationalism in Europe. The Commissions arrogance dismissal of genuine concerns in fact stokes up public anger in a growing number of member states.

The row came as Angela Merkel met with French President Francois Hollande and Italian PM Matteo Renzi for a post-Brexit crisis summit on an Italian aircraft carrier.

Renzi insisted Britains bombshell Brexit vote didnt mean the EU was finished.

Separately Swedish PM Stefan Loefven warned Theresa May that aggressive moves by the UK to cut the rate of corporation tax could ruin Brexit negotiations.

He said: If they begin that kind of race that will of course make discussions more difficult.

Jean Claude Juncker has repeatedly upset EU member states over the migrant crisis.

He unveiled plans for a swift response to the crisis a year ago by calling on EU states to each take a share of 160,000 asylum seekers who had travelled to Italy and Greece.

Earlier this year he threatened to fine nations that refused to take part.

The EU Commission President was speaking in Austria, one of a number of EU states that have ripped up the spirit of the Schengen no passport zone on the Continent by reintroducing border checks.

Germany infuriated Switzerland on Sunday by tightening its own border controls in a desperate bid to stop the tide of illegal immigrants pouring into the country.

The Swiss said it was clear evidence Angela Merkel had ripped up the welcome mat she laid out for refugees last year. Some 3,385 illegal immigrants are thought to have entered Germany from

Switzerland so far this year  up 40 per cent on the same period in 2015. Swiss Finance Minister Ueil Maurer said: Germany has clearly moved away from its welcoming attitude.

This story first appeared in The Sun.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling on people with Turkish roots who are longtime German residents to be loyal to Germany.

Merkel's comments in an interview with the daily Ruhr Nachrichten published Tuesday come during a tense period in German-Turkish relations.

Ankara was angered by the German Parliament's vote in June to label the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide, and has bristled at criticism of its crackdown following a coup attempt. Germany is home to roughly 3 million people with Turkish roots.

Merkel was quoted as saying: "We expect of people of Turkish origin who have long lived in Germany that they develop a high degree of loyalty to our country." She added that Germany will try to keep "an open ear" for their concerns.
A self-styled head of state arrived in New York this week seeking, like countless others before him, to establish goodwill, form diplomatic ties and attract investment. But Vit Jedlicka's most important and daunting task is to make the case that his nascent nation actually exists.

Jedlicka is the founder of Liberland, a 2.7-square-mile sliver of what he believes is unclaimed terra nullius -- or no mans land -- along the Danube between Croatia and Serbia. The idealistic Czech established his state on the motto to live and let live, and he and a team of believers declared its independence on May Day last year.

We wanted to go against the flow, Jedlicka, who considers himself president of the internationally unrecognized nation, told FoxNews.com. We want to be leaders in the Liberty Movement. We want [Liberland] to be the best place for people to live in and I think that this is the future -- voluntary interaction between people. Between citizens and their government.

Jedlicka was a libertarian politician in his homelands Conservative Party of Free Citizens when he set out to build a nation on the American-inspired principles of political freedom, voluntary association and autonomy. He found land he believed was unspoken for -- although that is the subject of dispute -- and planted his flag. One year later, nearly half-a-million people from across the globe have applied for citizenship to the micro nation.

We know that liberty attracts people, he said. It attracts investment. We know that liberty works.

Jedlicka told FoxNews.com he was meeting with architects, members of the media and even possible financial investors during his trip to the U.S. He claimed that unnamed venture capitalists have shown interest in providing financial backing and that he and his cabinet are in the process of setting up a development and vicinity fund.

For now, the only resident of Liberland is one person who lived there before Jedlicka ever circled it on a map. Should it become a full-fledged nation, Liberland will bloom with skyscrapers, apartment towers and bustling streets, all lured by a vision of low taxes, freedom and property rights, Jedlicka promises.

Jedlicka believes neither Croatia nor Serbia claimed the small piece of land when they established their borders following the breakup of Yugoslavia, and that international law allows him to claim the land for the Republic of Liberland. While there is historical tradition for claiming a no-mans land, Croatia has dismissed Jedlickas stake and bars entrance from its territory. That policy threw a monkey wrench into last years Liberation Day, as a throng of prospective citizens who had first gathered in Serbia -- including Jedlicka -- were promptly arrested by Croatian police when they crossed the river into their promised land.

The president of the self-proclaimed micro-nation of the Free Republic of Liberland, Vit Jedlicka, has been arrested by Croatian police for illegally trespassing an international border, read a statement from the Liberland Press Association provided to FoxNews.com at the time. The arrest may have taken place on no mans land territory. This would raise issues on the Croatian-Serbian border and could start a new crisis in the Balkans.

The incident did not inflame old tensions, and, in fact, went mostly unnoticed. But Croatian authorities have patrolled the border since last year, preventing any of Liberlands new citizens from entering.

To date, there has been no official diplomatic recognition from any members of the United Nations. The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Liberland does not infringe upon its territory, but has also branded the project frivolous.

International law dictates that for this place to be a formal state they have to fulfill four criteria. They have to have a permanent population, have an established territory, an effective government, and a capacity to enter international relations, William W. Burke-White, a law professor at University of Pennsylvania, told FoxNews.com last summer. Even if they can fulfill the first three, if they lack the capacity to enter into international relations they will never be formally recognized as a county.

Jedlicka says he has a court date in September, and hopes to argue his case for sovereignty.

We are expecting the courts of Croatia will show that its illegal for them to go inside of Liberland and prevent people going there from Serbia, Jedlicka said, adding that he is confident that Liberland will be recognized by the international community within a year.

Next week, Jedlicka and his tiny cabinet will hold a constitutional conference in Europe. On the horizon are drafting a constitution, establishing a government and coining a currency. But first, he has some convincing to do.

From the very beginning we knew that it was going to take at least two years, Jedlicka said. So the plan is for next summer. I think from there on, things will move pretty quickly.
Nigeria's military said Tuesday it believes an airstrike has "fatally wounded" Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, but there was no way to confirm yet another claim of the death of Nigeria's Islamic extremist leader.

A statement does not say how the military got the information but identifies other commanders as "confirmed dead" in an air raid on Friday.

The statement comes as Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, with President Muhammadu Buhari, on a visit to discuss Islamic extremism and regional security. Kerry, speaking Tuesday morning in northern Sokoto city, made no reference to the army's report.

Shekau, according to a BBC profile, is known as a fearless loner with a photographic memory, a complex and often paradoxical man who is part intellectual, part terrorist. His nickname  Darul Tawheed  translates as a specialist in Tawheed, or the concept of monotheism in Islam.

He hardly talks, one journalist, Ahmed Salkida, told BBC. He is fearless  He is one of those who believes that you can sacrifice anything for your belief. Shekau does not speak English, but is fluent in his native Kanuri, Hausa and Arabic languages. He reportedly does not even communicate directly with the groups soldiers.

Shekau, according to those who study the group, is known for being particularly brutal.

I enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill  the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams, he said in a clip released in 2012 after an attack in Kano, Nigeria, that killed more than 180 people.

Shekau was Boko Harams second in command until founder Mohammed Yusuf was killed in a 2009 crackdown. Shekau was initially thought to have also been killed during those attacks, but he later surfaced in a video claiming to be the terror groups new director.

Nigerian security forces have at least three times in the past declared that they have killed or fatally wounded Shekau, only to have him resurface in video and audio recordings. The military has said in the past that Boko Haram was using look-alike fighters to impersonate the supposedly dead leader.

The strikes came in "the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid" carried out by the Nigerian Air Force while Shekau was praying on Friday, Islam's holy day, at Taye village in the extremists' Sambisa Forest holdout in northeast Nigeria, according to the statement signed by army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman.

"Those Boko Haram terrorist commanders confirmed dead include Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, amongst others. While their leader, so-called `Abubakar Shekau', is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders. Several other terrorists were also wounded," he said.

Shekau started the uprising in 2009 that has killed 20,000 people, driven more than 2.2 million from their homes, and spread across Nigeria's borders. It has been marked by deadly attacks and suicide bombings at schools, mosques and marketplaces and mass abductions including nearly 300 schoolgirls taken from a remote school in northeastern Chibok town in April 2014. Dozens escaped but 218 remain missing.

A video showing dozens of the girls last Sunday said Shekau is willing to negotiate a prisoner swap for detained Boko Haram commanders. President Buhari is under increasing pressure to rescue or negotiate the girls' release, but his spokesman has said officials are wary since previous negotiations failed because officials were duped into talks with the wrong people.

Boko Haram appears to be fractured by a leadership struggle as the Islamic State group announced it had a new leader. Shekau has insisted he is still in charge. He had pledged the group's allegiance to the Islamic State group last year -- giving ISIS its first franchise in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A political leader who could soon become the mayor of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, may not be able to step inside the mayor's office for months -- because he's reportedly sitting in prison on a string of charges, including arranging health care for terrorists.

Pakistan's military locked up Waseem Akhtar, a former member of the country's parliament, more than a month ago, The Guardian reported. However, his political party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement or MQM, reportedly won control of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's council and indicated it would select Akhtar as the port city's new mayor on Wednesday.

Karachi's estimated population topped 16 million in 2015.

Akhtar, 60, also stood accused of inciting riots across the city in 2007, The Guardian added.

MQM senator Nasreen Jalil said the charges could keep Akhtar behind bars for months, so his allies would likely ask to set up a special office for him in jail. "Obviously he should be on the ground to do his work but we just have to work around it."

The tension between Akhtar and the military helped trigger new violence this week. Troops raided and sealed several MQM offices Tuesday in Karachi, neighboring Hyderabad district and elsewhere, Brig. Gen. Khurram Shahzad said, adding that some weapons had been confiscated.

The Rangers, a paramilitary force that polices Karachi, also arrested other MQM leaders and lawmakers. Fighting in Karachi Monday night into Tuesday left one person dead and eight wounded, officials said.

The secular party represents ethnic Mohajirs -- those who fled to Pakistan from India during the 1947 partition -- and has long dominated politics in Karachi. Its supporters have staged violent protests and clashed with political rivals and police in the past.

MQM supporters attacked three TV stations and clashed with police in Karachi after their self-exiled leader, Altaf Hussain, delivered a speech by phone from London against the Pakistani government on Monday night.

After the speech his supporters chanted "Down with Pakistan."

The Interior Ministry said it would discuss the matter with British authorities and called on London to "cooperate to bring to justice this man involved in such heinous crimes," without elaborating.

Hussain later apologized in a statement, saying he was under mental stress during the speech.

Other party leaders distanced themselves from Hussain. Central party leader Farooq Sattar told a press conference that Hussain's explanation for the speech was "intolerable" and "unacceptable."

Standing before reporters with several MQM lawmakers behind him, Sattar said all party decisions from now on would be taken inside Pakistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from The Guardian.
Sudan said Tuesday it is hosting South Sudan's former rebel leader and vice president, whose whereabouts had been unknown after he fled his country into neighboring Congo last week.

Riek Machar needed "urgent medical attention," government spokesman Ahmed Bilal Osman said in a statement carried by the SUNA news agency. He said Machar's condition was now stable and that he would stay "until he leaves the country for a destination of his choice to complete his medical treatment."

Machar fled South Sudan's capital last month amid renewed fighting, just months after he returned to the country to resume being vice president under a peace deal signed last year under international pressure.

Many of his bodyguards were shot dead in the July fighting that erupted outside the presidential compound where Machar and former rival President Salva Kiir were meeting on recent tensions.

His absence has further weakened the already fragile peace deal, with Kiir quickly replacing Machar as vice president in a contested move.

Osman, the Sudan government spokesman, said Machar had been received "recently" in Sudan but did not give details on when or how he entered the country. He said Sudan accepted Machar for "purely humanitarian reasons" and promptly notified neighboring South Sudan's government.

Sudan's foreign ministry spokesman had told The Associated Press on Saturday that Machar was not there.

Last week, a spokesman for Machar announced that he had fled across the border into Congo after weeks of walking through the bush. The United Nations said it had arranged for its peacekeeping mission in Congo to fly Machar to a safe place away from the Congo-South Sudan border and that Machar was in the hands of Congolese authorities.

But Congo's government last week said it had no knowledge of Machar being there.

It was not immediately clear whether Machar had plans to emerge from his treatment in Sudan to speak publicly.

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 between armed supporters of rivals Kiir and Machar. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 900,000 have fled the world's youngest country, which was founded in 2011 after years of fighting for independence from Sudan.
Budget Blinds Donates for Second Consecutive Year to Wounded Warriors Canada

Veteran Partnership is Celebrated at Annual Summit in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

ORANGE, CA (PRWEB) August 23, 2016 - Budget Blinds, an international window covering franchise with over 1,050 territories in the U.S., Canada and Monterrey, Mexico, recently held their eighth annual Canadian Summit in Edmonton, Alberta, where they presented a $15,000 check to Wounded Warriors Canada (WWC). This is the second consecutive year that Budget Blinds has partnered with WWC to support their mission to help Canadas ill and injured Armed Forces members, Veterans and their families.

WWCs National Partnership Director, David MacDonald, was a featured speaker at the Summit dinner on July 21, and shared his own personal journey serving as an infantry soldier in the Royal Regiment of Canada. MacDonald was severely injured when his vehicle rolled during a search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He suffered traumatic brain injury, a broken pelvis, leg and ribs, and a crushed hand, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

As National Partnership Director for WWC, MacDonald helps to raise money and support for Veterans, including developing awareness for the needs of Veterans and their families, and especially the devastating impact of PTSD. MacDonalds own struggle included depression and anger that lead to a divorce and attempted suicide.

Shirin Behzadi, Chief Executive Officer of Budget Blinds and its parent company, Home Franchise Concepts, introduced David MacDonald at the Summit dinner by reading a prepared biography. Later, she shared that, It was hard to get through it without crying, it was very touching. Everyone was touched by Davids life story, his military service, his life threatening injury and the impact that PTSD had on David. He is a true hero. An inspiration and a remarkable person.

MacDonald expressed gratitude to companies like Budget Blinds that enable Veterans to get the kind of help they need by supporting the ministries of Wounded Warriors Canada.

Attending the Summit meeting were independent Budget Blinds franchise business owners, Corporate personnel and manufacturing partners, including Springs Window Fashions, who contributed to the monetary donation for WWC.

Behzadi added, At Budget Blinds and Home Franchise Concepts, we strive to empower people by helping to put them in business for themselves as franchise owners. But, we also work towards a larger cause of helping to improve peoples lives. Giving back to our Veterans and partnering with Wounded Warriors Canada is an honor and a privilege. We thank our Veterans and David MacDonald from the bottom of our heart for all their sacrifices.

To learn more about Wounded Warriors Canada and David MacDonald, visit the WWC website or read theBudget Blinds blog page.

About Budget Blinds

Budget Blinds was founded in 1992 and is part of a family of brands under the umbrella of Home Franchise Concepts, franchisor of home improvement service companies including Tailored Living and Concrete Craft. Budget Blinds has over 1,050 franchise territories serving nearly 9,000 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Monterrey, Mexico. The company offers a full line of high-quality, custom window coverings including shutters, shades, blinds, draperies and window film. It also provides free in-home consultations as well as complete measuring and installation services. Budget Blinds has been recognized as a leader in the franchise industry by organizations such as Entrepreneur, AllBusiness, Inc. and Franchise Business Review. For more information on Budget Blinds, visit http://www.budgetblinds.com or connect with us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/budgetblinds. For franchise opportunities, please visit http://www.budget-blinds-franchise.com.

SOURCE Budget Blinds

Contacts:

Eddie Cervantes

Home Franchise Concepts

+1 (714) 279-2415

Renee Coloman

Home Franchise Concepts

(714) 637-2100

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Last year, Shkreli abruptly elevated the price of the malaria and HIV medicine Darapim by 5,000 percent, from $13.50 to $750, sparking harsh questioning from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Patients with a certain type of blood cancer also are facing a pocketbook problem. In 2015, the FDA approved daratumumab, a promising drug for multiple myeloma. It hit the market costing upwards of $135,000 for one year of treatment.

Price busting

What can be done?

In their paper, the Harvard researchers suggest tougher requirements for granting and extending exclusivity rights. (The Harvard study was supported by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the Engelberg Foundation.) The authors also back the idea of enhancing competition by ensuring quicker availability of generic drugs. And they propose that more education about drug costs and value-based prescribing be integrated into physicians' continuing education because, they said, many doctors don't know the costs of the medications they're prescribing.

Obviously, we agree with both the problem and most of the potential solutions proposed by the authors, Lyman said. We need a multipronged approach to this problem. A single solution is unlikely to entirely deal with it.

For example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, which oversee Medicare and Medicaid, must be allowed to negotiate drug prices with industry  as is the rule in all other major markets globally, Lyman said. On that same point, the Harvard group recommends enabling Medicare to negotiate drug prices for individual Part D plans (also known as the prescription drug benefit) and to exclude coverage for pricey products that add limited medical effect.

Patient trade-offs

Available treatments have to be assessed in terms of clinical meaningful benefit, harms (toxicity) and cost as patients often have choices, Lyman said. Hopefully, the introduction of biosimilars (drugs that arent an exact replica of already-approved meds but are therapeutically equal) will increase competition and reduce costs over time.

But as Lyman and his HICOR colleague Ramsey wrote in a recent JAMA Oncology editorial, any policy changes that are deemed politically viable still will require some tradeoffs, perhaps even lessening patient access to cancer medicines.

And prescription prices are just part of the larger reality of climbing medical costs.

Its not just the drugs but also rising use and costs of advanced imaging (such as CTE/PET scans) and the rising costs of hospitalization due to mergers and reduced competition among providers and health systems, Lyman said.

It all has created an unsustainable health care environment economically for all of us but especially our patients.
New Learn Build Earn Launch Causes Worldwide Discussion, as Unique Bonus Introduced by eMarketing Champs

New Learn Build Earn launch causes worldwide discussion in the digital marketing review underground, as unique bonus package introduced by eMarketing Champs. Tumlr Users Can Now Generate Revenues From Ads.

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The new Learn Build Earn Review is causing worldwide discussion in the digital marketing review underground because it promises to provide complete A to Z training on how to launch a successful information product online.

HanifQ, an expert internet marketer, has provided a full guide and comprehensive bonus package for the Learn Build Earn program, available on this webpage:

[+]http://emarketingchamps.com/learn-build-earn/

Hanif regards himself as a legitimate LearnBuildEarn review critic, because of his extensive experience with information-based products. According to Hanif Learn Build Earn members should take advantage of Tumblr's latest display-ads platform.

Tumblr was recently sold to Verizon and the social platform's new owner has announced the release of an exciting new feature. Tumblr users can now generate profits by having ads displayed on their blog. Tumblr has 550 million monthly users and but Tumblr's previous owner, Yahoo, which previously purchased the platform for $1.1 billion failed to generate a profit with the acquisition. Ads were previously displayed on the dashboard of users but this strategy proved to be unprofitable for Yahoo.

Verizon's new approach could turn Tumblr into a more profitable product but the details of the plan still need to be released. Users can already display ads on their blog and will receive a share of the revenues. Tumblr is already selling ads across Facebook's network and it is likely that more advertisers will decide to use this platform. Tumblr users have the possibility to opt in or out of the ad programs in their settings. The ads can be turned back on at anytime if they are distracting or if users are against displaying ads on their blog.

With 69% of Tumblr users belonging to the millennial generation, Tumblr could soon turn into one of the most efficient ad platforms for advertisers who want to reach out to a younger audience. Tumblr users are a little different from the users who prefer more popular networks like Facebook and Twitter. Tumblr users are typically more artsy and even quirky. It is likely that being able to generate a profit by displaying ads on their blog will encourage Tumblr users to create even more original content. Verizon's plan to display ads on Tumblr blogs and to reward users with a slice of the pie could turn this network into a profitable product. However, a lot of details still need to be unveiled about this program.

Mr Quentino's comprehensive LearnBuildEarn review and bonus package can be accessed on his official site:

http://emarketingchamps.com/learn-build-earn/

For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/Learn-Build-Earn-Review-Bonus-1034359789965465/

Contact Info:

Name: Hanif Quentino

Organization: eMarketingChamps



Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNQj1Nw2ho

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/new-learn-build-earn-launch-causes-worldwide-discussion-as-unique-bonus-introduced-by-emarketing-champs/129034

Release ID: 129034

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Thyroid Education Online Class: Affordable, Quick. Easy

A Well Run Life announced the launch of its new online course about the Thyroid. In less than 1 hour, people will learn the basic vocabulary of the Thyroid making their Doctor visits more effective. Learn more at: http://a-well-run-life.thinkific.com/courses/a-happy-hour-on-the-throid

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Earlier today, A Well Run Life announced the launch of The Happy Hour Series: The Thyroid, it's a new Online Class. For anyone with even a passing interest in the world of Thyroid Health, this launch will be worth paying attention to, as it's set to shake things up.

Currently, with even a passing glance, a person will notice information about Thyroid health can be complicated to understand and hard to find. The A Well Run Life's Founder, Peter Deeley Jr, makes a point of saying "things are going to change when The Happy Hour Series: The Thyroid Online Class launches".

Peter Deeley Jr continues "People who suspect that they have a Thyroid condition can now be educated about the basics of their Thyroid in less than 60 minutes. We do this because we believe this online class makes learning about your Thyroid simple and unintimidating. Ultimately this is going to be a huge benefit to our customers because it will make Doctor visits more productive. Patients will go into those visits better educated. Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. Maggie Garvin will equip you with the basic vocabulary to improve the quality of your visits with the Doctor you are consulting with."

A Well Run Life was established in October 2014. It has been doing business over two years and it has always aimed to bring optimal health to everyone who seeks it.

Currently, the closest thing to The Happy Hour Series: The Thyroid Online Class are YouTube videos which create a noisy environment in which to figure out what is important to know about the Thyroid, but The Happy Hour Series: The Thyroid (online class) improved on this by this boiling the key things a person needs to know in order to effectively discuss their thyroid with their physician. This is predicted to make A Well Run Life's online class very popular with those who suspect that they may have a Thyroid condition.

Once again, The Happy Hour Series: The Thyroid Online Class is available http://a-well-run-life.thinkific.com/courses/a-hap...

For further information about A Well Run Life, this can be discovered at http://www.awellrunlife.com/

For more information, please visit http://www.awellrunlife.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Peter M Deeley

Organization: A Well Run Life

Address: 3257 E Bartlett Place

Phone: 6027177458

Release ID: 129015

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CaptureStream Announces a New Streaming Media App for Recording for Netflix

( August 23, 2016 ) San Francisco, CA -- Netflix boasts over 30 million users in the U.S. alone and nearly 50 million users worldwide. Trips to Blockbuster and "Be Kind, Rewind" are something today's youth will never understand. Netflix has changed the world and the cable industry will never be the same.

With new series, cartoons and movies such as Narcos exclusive to Netflix, as well as other 3rd party programming being added monthly, Netlfix seems as necessary as any household utility. Allowing users to share their account with friends and neighbors has only increased their market share and deterred potential competitors from entering the online video streaming market.

Latin American Netflix users are finding more and more programming available in Spanish. While Germany and France have recently approved of Netflix entering the European market. Netflix is no longer a U.S. product, although still largely an English language product.

As streaming media technology has improved, so have the standards demanded by today's consumer. Much like iTunes once locked users into using their own file format and devices, Netflix is still seen as an online only video solution for people who benefit from fast internet connections. This is also quickly becoming a thing of the past developers, coders and application creators find new solutions to take Netflix global.

CaptureStream recently announced the addition of their latest application allowing users to record from Netflix, convert their recordings to compatible file formats and resolutions, and export their videos to their preferred mobile devices.

This will open up new viewing experiences for Netflix users who are traveling, or need to conserve precious bandwidth on their mobile devices. The application works by capturing the Microsoft Silverlight stream after Microsoft's Play Ready DRM has produced the image to the user's desktop, once activated the Netflix video will be captured in the background of the user's PC.

The CaptureStream team has also been working hard on several "Netflix hacks" to improve the users viewing experience. These include incorporating Netflix Search code's into the users Chrome browser, allowing users to search hidden categories without having to manually type the sub-category code.

Another one of their new Netflix hacks is called the "Netflix Party", this Chrome based application allows users to remotely watch videos together, the video is synchronized in such a way that both users will be watching the same video output at the same time. The Netflix Party also incorporates a chat box so that the fans can chat with each other non-intrusively while enjoying their movies.

Their most popular application for Netflix is a 3rd party development called Tunnel Bear, Tunnel Bear allows the Netflix users to view the Netflix library of another country. U.S. users traveling abroad can view their libraries in English while Spanish speakers can opt to access Spain's or even Mexico's Netflix library. This has been highly popular among U.S. civilian contractors and military personal serving overseas and is free for basic usage.

About CaptureStream:

CaptureStream is a software development company specializing in media compatibility. Founded in 1999 CaptureStream has pioneered many of the first generation of streaming media recorders and converters.

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Glorious Way Church Launches Honor The Blue Campaign

The church launched the campaign as a way to thank officers who put their lives on the line to protect and serve, reports http://gwc.cc/.

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Houston-based Glorious Way Church has recently announced the launch of their Honor The Blue Campaign as churches and groups in other areas begin replicating it. The purpose of the campaign is to show support for and solidarity with law enforcement officers in the Houston area, thanking those who put their lives on the line for the people of Houston every day. The first Honor The Blue presentation event was held on August 4th, 2016 at Harris County's Cypresswood Station.

"Police officers here in Houston and around the nation make personal sacrifices for our safety every day. The recent attacks against officers in Dallas and other cities have really highlighted the need for us to show unity with the men and women who work so hard to keep us out of harm's way," said Claire Buntrock, a spokesperson for Glorious Way Church and the Honor The Blue Campaign. "They put their lives on the line to protect ours. They run to the fight. We just wanted to do something to say thank you and let them know they have our continued prayers and support."

On August 4, 2016, Pastor John Greiner and staff of The Glorious Way Church gathered at the Cypresswood police station with Harris County Constable Mark Herman, Houston Area Pastors Council President Dave Welsh, and members of the local police force to make the first Honor The Blue Presentation. The campaign presented the nearly 700 employees of the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Department and the Harris County Sheriff's Department with a vacuum-insulated, stainless steel RTIC tumbler etched with the words of Psalm 91 and stuffed with thank you notes and coupons for free local menu items.

Real estate firm Caldwell Companies covered most of the etching costs, and tax firm Molen and Associates provided sponsorship and notes for 100 cups. Local franchises of Rudy's BBQ, Whataburger, and Panera Bread and others donated free menu items for the cups.

As Buntrock goes on to say, "We know that the days can be long and tough for our local officers. We will never be able to show enough gratitude for what they do for us, but we hope they feel an overwhelming sense of love and support every time they look at these cups. At least for some, we feel like we've accomplished that. The feedback from officers has been so warm and heartfelt."

Churches and organizations across the nation can email honortheblue@gwc.cc and find out how easy it is to organize an event like this in their neighborhood.

About Glorious Way Church:

Glorious Way Church has been equipping believers for the work of ministry for over 20 years. Find refreshing worship, true communion, and an environment rich in the Word and Spirit at GWC.

For more information, please visit http://gwc.cc/

Contact Info:

Name: Claire Buntrock

Organization: Glorious Way Church

Phone: (281) 580-8806

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/glorious-way-church-launches-honor-the-blue-campaign/129078

Release ID: 129078

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Essure Lawyers Announce Major Victory In California Birth Control Lawsuits

A California State Judge has rejected Bayer's arguments for legal immunity, allowing Essure lawsuits to proceed.

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Hundreds of women have already filed lawsuits over Essure, a controversial birth control implant that patients say causes horrendous side effects. But the lawsuits have always faced major hurdles, attorneys at say. At times, the very future of these cases has seemed in doubt. Essure's manufacturer, the multinational healthcare company Bayer, argues that its medical device should be protected from product liability lawsuits. Essure was approved as a Class III, or "high-risk," medical device by the US Food & Drug Administration. Bayer has long said that this federal approval means the implants should be immune from personal injury claims, which are usually based in state law. In a recent court decision, Judge Winifred Y. Smith of Alameda County's Superior Court of California disagreed, rejecting Bayer's arguments for immunity. Smith is allowing the lawsuits of 14 women, all suffering from alleged Essure side effects, to proceed. Following Judge Smith's August 2nd decision, the women will be able to proceed on the basis of allegations that Bayer failed to warn the FDA, and therefore the public, of Essure's potential dangers. Claims that the company misrepresented Essure's safety and efficacy in unapproved advertisements and promotional materials will also be allowed to move forward. While the decision only applies to 11 cases filed in the California State court, attorneys close to the litigation say that it could improve the prospects for thousands of other women who believe their injuries were caused by Bayer's birth control implant. Earlier this year, the FDA added a "black box" warning to Essure, cautioning patients and physicians about the device's risks. A black box warning is the agency's highest level of warning, indicating that a product may cause severe injuries or death. Bayer has also been ordered to conduct a new clinical study, research that will evaluate the potential dangers of Essure in "real world" settings. Between April and July of 2016, nearly 500 women filed Essure lawsuits against Bayer. Most of these cases are currently pending in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Severe pelvic pain, menstrual abnormalities, migraine headaches, hair loss and weight gain are the most frequently alleged side effects. Many women say they were forced to undergo a hysterectomy procedure to relieve their symptoms. With the litigation progressing swiftly, attorneys say thousands of other women may be eligible to file lawsuits of their own. But time may be limited, and they urge women who are considering hiring counsel to do so immediately.

Contact Info:

Name: Michael Monheit, Esq.

Email: michael@monheit.com

Phone: (877) 515-3774

Organization: Birth Control Problems

Source: http://www.prreach.com/pr/25666

Release ID: 129169

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OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran took to social media and television over the past few days after learning a group of citizens, including at least four members of the board of aldermen, are working to change the city's form of government -- a move which could cost Moran tens of thousands of dollars in salary.

Last week, a story in The Mississippi Press detailed efforts by a citizens group -- led by businessman George Conwill and supported by aldermen Greg Denyer, Matt McDonnell, Bobby Cox and Mike Impey -- to secure the roughly 1,500 signatures needed on a petition to allow voters to decide whether to change the city's form of government from its current mayor-aldermen form to the city manager-council form.

Over the weekend, Moran took to her Facebook page to fight against the move.

In her post, Moran made several claims:

"There are only six city-manager forms (in Mississippi)." In reality, there are seven -- with five of them on the coast, with Biloxi and Gulfport also employing city managers in addition to a full-time mayor.

"There are no cost savings" -- noting that city managers are frequently paid as much or more than full-time mayors. The National League of Cities, however, reports that "local governments have found that overall costs actually have been reduced with competent management. Savings come in the form of reduced operating costs, increased efficiency and productivity, improved revenue collection, or effective use of technology."

"Nationwide it is more suited for large urban cities." The NLC says the city manager form is used primarily by cities with populations of 10,000 or more. Ocean Springs current population is around 18,000.

"A City Manager proposes the budget, does all the hiring and firing and controls all departments. Those tasks are completely taken from the aldermen." Whether a city manager has total autonomy to hire and fire all city staff varies, based on the individual city's charter. The city manager also proposes a budget, but it remains at the council's discretion to accept, reject or amend the budget.

Another claim Moran made in her post was directed at Denyer.

Ocean Springs alderman Greg Denyer

"I recall years ago that Alderman Greg Denyer (who I respect and consider a friend) said in a board meeting that he wanted to explore the city manager form of government," Moran wrote, "but quickly backed off that proposal when his godson Scott Walker decided to run for Mayor."

Moran also implied in her post that Denyer would perhaps run for the mayor's post once the form of government is changed.

"There were two or three inaccuracies from what she has written or said," Denyer said. "Number one, she said Scott Walker is my godson. He is not. Number two, she insinuated I would run for the part-time mayor's post, which is also untrue."

Denyer said he is also troubled by Moran's claim that "a group of aldermen wishes to change the form of city government."

"I'm troubled by her suggestion that this idea is being driven by the aldermen," he said. "We were contacted by a group of concerned citizens and some of us have chosen to support it. Alderman can each have their own opinion, one way or another."

Under the city manager form of government, the mayor's position becomes a voting member of the council, but the mayor's salary is reduced, in many cases to the same level as the council members.

Currently, Moran is paid $87,500. Aldermen are paid just over $20,000. Of the five coast municipalities employing the city manager form of government, D'Iberville pays its mayor the most at $45,000; Gautier the least at $7,200.

In an interview with WLOX, Moran also hinted that she might start a petition of her own to change the city's form of government from its current weak mayor form, in which the mayor only votes in the event of a tie, to the strong mayor form, where she would have a vote.

"That's fine," Denyer said. "If she want to get some citizens together and gets the signatures -- that's up to her.

"I had two people contact me last night," Denyer added, "both of them wanted to know why the mayor is working hard to try to deny people the right to vote on this. That's all that happens once we get the signatures -- people get the right to vote."

As noted in last week's story, the group headed by Conwill hopes to have the necessary signatures delivered to the city clerk's office by December. Once the signatures are ratified, the board of aldermen has to set the date for a city-wide referendum within 60 days.
Thermalabs Launches 100% Bio Organic Anti Nail Fungus Product

Cosmetics firm Thermalabs has launched a 100% bio organic product.

--

Thermalabs has launched yet another product this month. Going by the name 'Anti Nail Fungus', this is a 100% bio organic formula that's been designed from natural ingredients. The new product has been launched under Thermalabs new Organic Healthcare brand, which has a portfolio of three products so far. This is a major milestone for the company that's seeking to make inroads in the organic healthcare niche.

Thermalabs was established some three years ago in New York City, United States. The company started out as an innovative startup that was committed to combating skin cancer. With a small team of talented researchers, Thermalabs launched its initial release sometimes in 2013. This was a self-tanning lotion going by the name 'original self tanner'. It featured unique ingredients such as green tea and Aloe Vera. The company managed to do a thorough job introducing the product to the market. By the end of the first week in the market, the original self tanner had garnered thousands of sales on major e-commerce platform marketplace. This further attracted the attention of media outlets and popular industry blogs, which provided much-needed exposure for the company. By the end of the first month in business, Thermalabs was already getting a lot of valuable coverage as a burgeoning startup. By the end of the first year in operation, the company had managed to garner over 50,000 customers from all over the world. Its online marketing prowess, as well as the ability to distinguish its products from the competition, played an important role.

In recent times, the U.S beauty company has been segmenting into different branches. Largely, this has been seen as a move to diversify its operations and expand into more market niches. Previously, Thermalabs exclusive focus was on self tanners and tanning accessories. But with the new strategy, the company is able to dive in new waters. Thermalabs Supremasea sub-brand takes care of the firm's skincare products based on mineral salts from the Dead Sea. Thermalabs Tent World sub-brand has everything to do with the firm's range of top-quality beach-related and sporting tents. Lastly, the Organic Healthcare brand caters for all health products that are designed at the firm's factory in Israel.

Thermalabs Anti Nail Fungus is the third product to be released under the Organic Healthcare umbrella. The product is handmade by skilled artisans, using herbs, plants and seeds extracted from their natural setting in the mountains of Galilee. Thermalabs Organic Healthcare leverages over 1000 years of healthcare knowledge from the Rambam to make its formulations. This particular product contains no alcohol and no parabens. It's also completely chemical free. According to the product's listing page on Amazon.com, main ingredients include Dead Sea salt, Tea Tree, Rue, Urea, Oregano and Seaweed among many others. It'll be interesting to see how the product, as well as the entire brand, fares in the market. At this point in time, the company is focusing on an elaborate bring-to-market strategy.

For more information, please visit http://www.thermalabs.com/home

Contact Info:

Name: James Crothers

Organization: Thermalabs

Address: 450 West 58th Street New York, NY 10019

Phone: (877) 266-6257

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_toClMZ_0M

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/thermalabs-launches-100-bio-organic-anti-nail-fungus-product/129207

Release ID: 129207

For more information visit r



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BILOXI, Mississippi -- Jerry O'Keefe -- World War II hero, former Biloxi mayor and state representative, and patriarch of the funeral home business which carries his name -- has died, according to numerous reports. He was 93 years old.

"We've lost a great Biloxian, someone who did so much for this community in so many ways, and the country has lost an American hero," said current Biloxi Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich in a statement.

O'Keefe died of congestive heart failure shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday morning. Gilich ordered the flags at all Biloxi city facilities lowered to half-staff.

Jeremiah Joseph "Jerry" O'Keefe III was born July 12, 1923 in Ocean Springs and at the age of 18 enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. As a U.S. Marine Corps pilot, O'Keefe was credited with shooting down five Japanese Kamikaze fighters in a single day, earning ace status. O'Keefe shot down seven Japanese aircraft in total.

O'Keefe was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Navy Cross for his service during the war.

In 2015, Congress awarded O'Keefe the Congressional Gold Medal. Along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Gold Medal is the nation's highest civilian honor and is presented to those "who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient's field long after the achievement."

"Jerry O'Keefe was one of the last of America's Greatest Generation," said Gilich, who recalled as a boy delivering groceries to the O'Keefe home and later served as a page during O'Keefe's tenure in the state legislature.

O'Keefe's family has owned a funeral home business since the start of the 20th century and in 1957 he bought out a competitor to form the Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home.

In 1960, he was elected to the state legislature and served one term. In 1973, he was elected to his first of two terms as Mayor of Biloxi.

Among O'Keefe's contributions to Biloxi during his eight years as mayor was the conversion of the View Marche in downtown Biloxi to a walking mall, annexation which expanded Biloxi, and opening Biloxi's harbor to commercial shrimping.

In 1976, O'Keefe revoked a parade permit the city had issued for a Ku Klux Klan parade. Ultimately, Klan members were arrested, Biloxi City Hall was vandalized and a cross was burned on the front lawn of O'Keefe's home, according to the Sun Herald.

In addition to his business and political activities, O'Keefe was known for his commitment to civic and philanthropical activities. He was a major patron of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs and the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi.

O'Keefe and his first wife, Annette, who died in 1998, were the parents of 13 children. He is survived by his second wife, Martha, 11 children and several dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"We can take great comfort in the fact that we were all able to share in Jerry's life, to benefit from his service to country and community," Gilich said. "Today our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Jerry was a big part of the fabric of our community, and it's comforting to know that he has such a large family to carry on the O'Keefe legacy."
Staff at UK life insurer Prudential, who are based in Reading, have voted to take industrial action following the announcement the company will be offshoring skilled jobs to India.

The Unite members based voted 97 per cent in favour of industrial action over plans to offshore 81 jobs dealing with annuities to the city of Mumbai.

Most of these jobs are full time and according to Unite it strongly deplores the loss of these jobs.

As such, the trade union has presented the company with an alternative business plan to make cost savings in this area.

The Prudential plan to offshore work, called Project Jupiter, is the moving of individual annuities servicing and bereavement work from Reading to Mumbai.

Prudential has about 1.4m annuities customers that would require these services at some point during the life cycle of such products.

However, Prudential employees have voted not to co-operate or undertake any work related to Project Jupiter and according to Unite, this will severely delay the transfer of work to India.

According to Prudential 2m will be saved by Project Jupiter. However Unites business plan contrasts this figure against the four highly paid senior appointments recently made by Prudential UK and Europe chief executive in its alternative business plan.

Unite regional officer Ian Methven said: Unite members have been left with no choice but to take action in order to protect their jobs. The union has challenged the alleged cost savings and the assumptions that are behind the transfer of 81 jobs to India.

These proposals make no business sense at all. The cost savings are questionable and the risk to customer relations is great. There are alternative ways of saving money in this area and we urge Prudential to think again about the offshoring of this skilled work.

We urge the company to withdraw its proposals and sit down with Unite on how we can use the existing skills to improve the service currently provided to Prudential customers.

A Prudential spokesperson said: We are aware of the outcome of the ballot, voted in by 36 Unite members, and continue to hold discussions with the union order to avert the proposed action.

We have already secured alternative roles for 20 people out of the initial 80 impacted, and expect further opportunities to emerge over the next eight months. We have contingency plans in place to ensure that there is no impact to the service we provide to our customers.

It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.

Robert Forbes, a chartered financial planner with London-based Stadden Forbes Wealth Management, said: I would think that the overall cost savings is trivial compared to the loss of experience and it is inevitable that service standards will plummet before the new staff are up to speed.

Clearly where the staff are is irrelevant, but the loss of experience and the reputational damage must be less than the purported savings.
HM Revenue & Customs has attempted to clarify a few points in its non-dom statutory residence test, although tax advisers have suggested some rules are no clearer.

This replaces the version published in May and attempts to clear up rules around transit days for non-doms flying through the UK.

It gives a scenario where a lawyer, who lives in France but works internationally, lands in London Gatwick at 6.30pm on Tuesday and his onward flight departs from Heathrow at 2pm on Wednesday.

In the first version, he meets a colleague by chance, catches up on non-work related conversation and later uses personal email and social media.

His day of arrival in the UK may be treated as a transit day and will not count as a day of presence in the UK for statutory residence test purposes, while his departure day may also count as a qualifying day under the tests deeming rule.

This is because the meeting was not planned and he and his colleague did not talk about work issues. His use of social media at the hotel is acceptable as it was not used in any way whatsoever for business or work purposes, stated HMRC.

However, in the second similar scenario, the lawyer and his colleague discuss a case they are both involved in.

That evening, he contacts his boss on social media to make him aware of the earlier discussion and they exchange some emails on the case.

His day of arrival in the UK may not be regarded as a transit day and will be treated as a day spent in the UK for statutory residence test purposes, read the guidance note. If he works in the UK for more than three hours, the day will also count as a UK work day. His departure day may also count as a qualifying day under the tests deeming rule.

Gary Heynes, national head of the private client team at RSM UK Tax and Accounting, said the examples demonstrate HMRC does not understand business.

The difference between the two examples is trivial and has little basis in reality, I find it hard to believe things would ever be this clear cut, he commented.

John Cullinane, tax policy director for the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said the examples prove business content cannot be disregarded, even for chance meetings or internet use. If someones up against their days limit, then something like that might tip them over, he added.

The other significant change is around the types of events which may give increase to exceptional circumstances that are exempt from the statutory residence test. Crucially, HMRC has added or, so the statement now reads sudden or life threatening.

The type of events will be, by their nature, out of the ordinary and it is difficult to be prescriptive about what characteristics such an event would exhibit, read the guidance.
The government should delay the introduction of the non-domicile reforms until 2018, so they can be carefully considered and fixed for the long-term, chartered accountants Blick Rothenberg have argued.

Last summers Budget saw then- chancellor George Osborne announce plans to change the tax regime for people who have a foreign domicile.

Late last week, HM Treasury stated these changes would bring an end to permanent non-dom status for tax purposes, as it published a consultation on how they could be prevented from sheltering UK residential property from inheritance tax.

This will involve abolishing the practice known as enveloping, where individuals hold UK residential properties through an overseas company or similar vehicle.

Nimesh Shah, partner at Blick Rothenberg, said it was an unusual move to begin another round of consultation, after an initial nine months of reviewing policy, especially since there has been no delay to the effective date of the rules coming into force of 5 April 2017.

The original announcement was made over a year ago so the government has had ample time to get the rules in order, and to leave such an important measure on the backburner for such a length of time is disappointing, he stated.

The new consultation will run until 20 October, and while the latest announcements are largely expected to be the final form of the rules, there are important points of detail to iron out, argued Mr Shah.

The government should delay the introduction until 2018, so that this final consultation can be carefully considered as it is important the rules are fixed for the long-term, especially after the almost annual tinkering to the rules since the last major reforms in 2008.

The latest version of the rules will effectively bring all UK residential property within the scope of IHT, irrespective of how the property is owned (for example through a company).

Mr Shah said it was disappointing that the government had not taken forward a relief, or some form of relaxation, when extracting properties from companies.

The motive behind recent measures has been transparent ownership of residential property, and to not offer any kind of transitional rules goes against previous suggestions. Our expectation is that it was simply too difficult to offer a workable relief and so this has been shelved.

However, in more positive news, the consultation has offered some encouragement to non-domiciled individuals to remit monies to the UK, which Mr Shah said will be helpful for inward cash flow into the UK economy.

Overall, the consultation response was largely as expected but more time should have been offered to what has become a key component of the UKs tax policy, especially given the EU referendum result.

peter.walker@ft.com
Exchange-traded fund provider Source has shifted its multi-asset portfolio in favour of European equities, despite wavering confidence in the region in light of recent poor performance.

The Source Multi-Asset Portfolio now holds a maximum overweight position to the eurozone after its research team decided to pull away from the US market.

Andras Vig, director at Source, said the eurozone economy is still accelerating, pointing to the attractive valuations in the region, particularly compared to US equities, which he said have become too expensive.

He said the prevailing market sentiment is negative towards Europe, which has offset decent dividend income and growth.

Despite the pockets of risk in Europe, such as banks, Mr Vig claimed the negative sentiment towards the region is not justified.

Although some of the uncertainty will remain, there is enough growth to support equities in the region, he said, adding the company has softened its negative stance on European oil and gas, upgrading it to neutral.

While we remain more positive on equities in Europe than the US, we still expect steady economic growth in both regions, although the UK might experience a mild recession.

Mr Vig said Source remains neutral on the UK given the recent Brexit-induced uncertainty.

The provider has also opted for more defensive US allocations, with an upgrade to healthcare and a downgrade to retail, in both cases shifting sector positions to neutral. Europe is fairly stagnant and will undoubtedly be a big loser from an eventual Brexit Ben Yearsley

Ben Yearsley, investment director at the Wealth Club, agreed negative sentiment towards Europe had meant the region now looked better value compared to the US, which he said was now looking toppy.

But he said there were a couple of things to bear in mind, pointing to the US trading at a premium to other global equities, which he said was possibly because of the amount of world leading companies it has under its belt.

The US economy is on a different trajectory than Europe at the moment, Mr Yearsley said, pointing to the solid GDP growth in the US, falling jobless numbers, and positive profits.

Compare that to Europe, which is still fairly stagnant and will undoubtedly be a big loser from an eventual Brexit as the UK accounts for so much trade.

However, I do like buying into areas that are overlooked and unloved, and currently Europe is one of those areas.

Mr Yearsley also said, from a stock market and a currency perspective, UK investors have done very well out of the US over the last year or so, meaning a spot of profit taking is inevitable and prudent.

katherine.denham@ft.com
CITRONELLE, Alabama -- A Mississippi man used a gun and an ax to kill five adults as they slept in an Alabama home, police allege in criminal complaints filed Tuesday.

The criminal complaints filed in Mobile County District Court do not allege in what order Derrick Dearman used the weapons or elaborate on the nature of the slayings in the rural home Saturday.

On Monday, as he was led to jail in shackles, Dearman professed his love for the estranged girlfriend whose family and friends were massacred and blamed the killings on drugs.

Speaking with reporters as he was escorted to jail by deputies in Mobile, Alabama, Derrick Dearman said Monday that he was on methamphetamine when he went to the house, located at the end of a dead-end dirt road.

"Drugs (were) making me think things that's not really there," said Dearman, 27, hanging his head and dressed in a bright yellow jail uniform.

After the killings, authorities said, Dearman abducted estranged girlfriend Laneta Lester, who had sought refuge at the house, and a child of two of the victims. Dearman said he spared their lives because "I came down and realized what was really going on."

"(I) turned myself in because I was sober and knew what was the right thing to do," Dearman said.

In videotaped comments broadcast on Mobile-area television, Dearman expressed his love for Lester and apologized "to all the family members." Dearman, saying all the victims were friends, added: "Don't do drugs." He said he doesn't deserve to live.

A man who said his family provided a home for Dearman and Lester earlier this year near Leakesville, Mississippi, said Dearman was often on methamphetamine and physically abused Lester during walks in the woods in rural southeast Mississippi.

"He was taking her out there and beating the crap out of her," said Charlie Passarelli Jr., who said he had known Dearman for years. Passarelli said he suspected that Dearman was either buying or selling drugs before he and Lester moved out in late spring.

The slayings left three men and two women dead, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child. A teenager who said she was related to all five victims by marriage or blood shook her head and fought back tears as she described her anguish over the slayings.

"They were really good people. They'd call and check on you, ask if you want to come down and eat," said Madison McDaniel, 17, who lives near the scene of the violence.

Relatives of the victims started an online fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses, and clerk Dawn Sullivan collected donations in a plastic jug on the counter at D&B Quick Stop, where the victims often stopped for snacks and drinks.

"It's a sad situation. It never should have gotten to that point," said Sullivan, whose husband was related to one of the victims.

Dearman, of Leakesville, is charged with six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping, including one charge for the unborn child, Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said.

"At this time it appears it will be a death penalty case, but it's very early in the investigation," Rich said.

Dearman's first court appearance has been scheduled for Wednesday morning. Alabama court records don't indicate whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The slain were identified as Shannon Melissa Randall, 35; Joseph Adam Turner, 26; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; Chelsea Marie Reed, 22; and Robert Lee Brown, 26, said Mobile County sheriff's spokeswoman Lori Myles.

Turner was Lester's brother and had let her stay at the house, which all the victims shared, McDaniel said. Turner and Randall were married.

"I'd always get on my horse and ride down there bareback," McDaniel said. Her step-aunt Randall would say, "'Be careful because you're already got a hurt knee.' I'd say, 'OK, Shan-Shan.' That's what I called her."

Brown was Randall's brother, McDaniel said, and Chelsea Reed was Randall's niece. Chelsea Reed was pregnant with the child of her husband, Justin Reed, said McDaniel.

About 1 a.m. Saturday, someone inside the home called 911 and reported that Dearman was on the property, authorities said in a statement. Citronelle police came to the house, but Dearman had left before officers arrived, sheriff's officials said.

Before daylight Saturday, Dearman returned to the home and attacked the victims while they were sleeping, the sheriff's department said. Authorities said at least one gun and other, unspecified weapons were used.

After the killings, Dearman forced Lester and a 3-month-old identified by relatives as the child of Randall and Turner into a vehicle, and they drove to Dearman's father's house in Mississippi. Dearman released Lester and the infant and turned himself in, authorities said.

As he was led away to jail on Tuesday, Dearman said he barely remembers what happened but said that he deserves a harsh punishment.

"I deserve to die," he said.
Furious French farmers have blockaded roads outside the headquarters of dairy giant Lactalis as part of a major protest over low prices.

About 400 dairy farmers took part in the demonstration in the western French city of Laval on Monday evening (22 August), which cut off access to a major Lactalis dairy production factory.

Pictures posted on Twitter showed protesters used tyres to block roads in and out of the factory.

CARTE INTERACTIVE Les agriculteurs de l'Ouest en ordre de bataille contre Lactalis a Laval https://t.co/7uJ5ZoGLIi pic.twitter.com/DJfx4l1z02  France Bleu Mayenne (@bleumayenne) August 22, 2016

Some of the tyres were set on fire in scenes reminiscent of national farmgate prices protests staged in France last summer.

See also: Dairy farmers plan second night of protests

The picketing continued into Tuesday (23 August) as lorries continued to be prevented access in or out of the factory.

The protesters have vowed to continue the action all week.

The protests were organised by two of Frances biggest farming unions, the countrys national union, FDSEA, and the young farmers group Jeunes Agriculteurs.

Les agriculteurs du Maine et Loire convergeront en masse vers Laval mardi 23 aout #tousalaval @FNSEA @JeunesAgri pic.twitter.com/PRuxQfIOeR  FDSEA 49 (@FDSEA49) August 19, 2016

The unions have accused Lactalis, which owns brands including Parmalat cheeses, President butter and Rachels Organic, of taking advantage of dairy farmers and not paying them enough for their milk.

Philippe Jehan, president of FDSEA in the Mayenne region in north-west France, told the countrys media the protest sent a strong signal to Lactalis that they needed to pay dairy farmers a fair price for their milk.

Lactalis pays 257 (221) per 1,000 litres of milk, which is about 30 (26) less than other French milk processors and the lowest price since 2009.

No access for lorries

Mr Jehan told French media: No Lactalis lorry will be allowed out of the factory until our views have been heard.

Around the protest area, young farmers have fixed posters on lorries carrying the slogans: Farmers on their knees. We have got to save the and Our jobs at a price.

On Monday, Andre Besnier, president of Lactalis, a family-owned dairy company which was formed in 1933, said he was willing to discuss milk prices with French farming union leaders.

We understand the difficulties for producers today, said Mr Besnier.

Global oversupply of milk, Russias ban on western food imports and weaker demand for dairy products in China have been blamed for the dairy price slump which has crippled farmers both in the UK and EU over the past 18 months.

In the UK, dairy lobby group Farmers For Action blockaded the Muller processing factory in Market Drayton earlier this month over the companys failure to increase milk prices in line with more positive market signals.
'Anne of Green Gables' Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Netflix Picks Up Adaptation from 'Breaking Bad' Writer

It is officially the era of remakes, with "Ghostbusters" recently making its way to the big screen and "Power Rangers" heading to theaters next March. The television landscape is seemingly following in the steps of film, as another adaptation is arriving to Netflix very soon. The classic "Anne of Green Gables" by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery will be heading to Netflix next year.

Fresh off its success with original titles such as "Jessica Jones," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," and most recently, "Stranger Things," Netflix is adding another original title, this time in the form of "Anne." The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the upcoming TV adaptation of the 1908 classic has been picked up by the streaming company, which will be working with CBC to release the eight-episode series.

"Anne" is written by Moira Walley-Beckett, who won the 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for her work in "Breaking Bad." Critically acclaimed director and write of "Whale Rider" Niki Caro will direct the two-hour premiere episode, which will debut on Netflix and Canada's CBC. Wally-Beckett will serve as series showrunner and will executive produce alongside Miranda de Pencier ("Beginners"), Alison Owen ("Saving Mr. Banks"), and Debra Hayward ("Bridget Jones's Diary").

Netflix's Vice President for Content Elizabeth Bradley had nothing but praises for Walley-Beckett, describing her work on "Anne" as "riveting, funny, emotional, surprising, beautiful." She also credited Caro, who worked on the film "North Country" with Charlize Theron back in 2005 and most recently the upcoming "The Zookeeper's Wife" starring Jessica Chastain for the director's "extraordinary talent."

Deadline reports that "Anne" will be a coming-of-age series set in 1890, when a 13-year old orphan is accidentally sent to live with an old maid and her brother. While the series will pay tribute to the classic by Montgomery, it will tackle relevant issues today. These include bullying, sexism, prejudice, with themes of identity and trust.

While production has not disclosed which actors and actresses will be major players in the series, it seems like an original Netflix title worth watching out for. Check back for more updates on the upcoming "Anne of Green Gables" TV adaptation.
'Samsung Galaxy Note 7' Latest News & Updates: Everything You Need To Know About The Upcoming Galaxy Note 7

The "Galaxy Note 7" is the newest top-end mobile line-up by Samsung and it is now complete. The internal specs, cameras and its waterproofing have said to be inherited from the Samsung Galaxy S7 but it still has its own new features and design.

Design

According to an article by The Week UK, the upcoming "Samsung Note 7" is 6.04ins tall, 2.91ins wide, and 0.31in thick and weighing 5.96lbs. It also has a 5.7ins screen with short bezels top and bottom. It is made almost from metal and glass which is considered to be the best phone that can be bought right now.

The "Samsung Galaxy Note 7" also has a dual-curve design setup which bends to the side of the phone. The body is said to be an IP68 certified, which can go underwater up to almost five feet (1.5m) for up to 30 minutes.

Display

With its 5.7ins screen display of the new "Samsung Galaxy Note 7," it can be also considered a sa phablet. It will have an AMOLED display and its screen will be a Quad-HD panel with 518 pixels per inch which can make colours more rich and vibrant.

"Samsung Galaxy Note 7" will have a new feature that could make watching streaming features even better, the high dynamic range (HDR) that can improve the display. A new 'Always On' lock screen is also said to be added on the upcoming phone plus an S Pen Stylus for making notes on large displays.

Cameras

According to Recombu, "Samsung Galaxy Note 7" will have a 12-megapixel main with a 5-megapixel camera for thge fron camera. The camera is said to capture 4K video at 30fps, 1080p footage at up to 60fps and slow-motion 240fps capture at 720p with a built-in auto HDR formatting.

Power And Performance

"Sumsung Galaxy Note 7" will run in Android 6.0.1 and uses an Exynos 8890 chipset mated to 4GB RAM in the UK. USB-Type C compatibility, an NFC chip for Android Pay, fingerprint, iris and heartbeat scanners plus faster wireless charging capabilities for the 3,500mAh capacity battery.

Price

According to Trusted Reviews, the "Samsung Galaxy Note 7" price will start from 749 and will be available on Spetember 2. A free Samsung Gear VR headsets will be given for those who pre-order the said device.
Supernatural Season 12 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Sam, Dean Fighting The Men Of Letters; More Plot Details Revealed

"Supernatural" Season 12 is going to be an action-packed series with the hunt going on for Sam and Dean. Episode 1 will see the two brothers, portrayed by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, facing The Men of Letters. It is interesting to see what the humans can do to the immortal duo.

Toni Bevell, portrayed by Elizabrth Blackmore, a member of The Men of Letters in "Supernatural" Season 12, accused Sam and Dean for changing the course of history in the supernatural world. The London group of men have been keeping track of the brothers throughout the years, but now they feel the urge to intervene because they feel that things have gotten out of control. These British Men of Letters are no-nonsense group of men. They are private yet well-organized. For them, everything should be done by the book, and no gray areas unlike the American hunters who are reckless and disorganized.

"Supernatural" Season 12 is taking off from the launching of the arc in season 11. Mary Winchester, portrayed by Samantha Smith, is the mother of Sam and Dean who was resurrected back to life. In the last episode of Season 11, Toni Bevell shot Sam Winchester. Now, in the newest epsiode, their mother Mary will be hunting for her younger son although she does not know if he already died in the hands of the British Men of Letters. Padalecki confirmed that Sam did get shot, but nobody knows where.

"Supernatural" Season 12 will get a little more mature as it presents the single-mindedness of the Sam and Dean Winchester. Yes, they will still have conflicts, arguments and fighting, perhaps? But they will be on the same wavelength for the first time in many immortal years. Could this be brought about by the presence of their mother Mary whom they have lost when they were still at a young age?

Watch out for "Supernatural" Season 12 on Oct 13. Stay tuned to GameNGuide for more updates!
'Homeland' Season 6 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Fans To See A Different Peter Quinn, Claire Danes Teases A 'Reborn' Season

"Homeland" Season 6 has a lot of surprises in store for its fans as Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend) is set to be back. Fans have been afraid that they will no longer see the role of the 34-year-old star as he was last seen in a very bad shape in the finale of "Homeland" Season 5.

Peter Quinn Back In 'Homeland' Season 6

Rupert Friend has recently spotted filming for "Homeland" Season 6 in New York City. Although he is sporting a different look, with a scruffy hair and baggy clothes, fans will surely enjoy his return. According to Movie News Guide, the political thriller television series showrunner Alex Gansa revealed that Peter Quinn is really not dead.

Alex Gansa even added that fans are about to see a different Peter Quinn in "Homeland" Season 6. The stroke he suffered from "Homeland" Season 5 has a major impact on his life that resulted to a "changed and altered" personality. Not only that, he will also be seen experiencing episodes and post-traumatic stress disorder in "Homeland" Season 6.

'Homeland' Season 6 Moves In New York

Moreover, Hollywood Life reported that "Homeland" Season 6's settings will be moved backward in the time of the interim period when the former U.S. president steps down and a new one is coming. Alex Gansa explained that the show is set to feature the adjusting period of New York City after the historical 9/11 attack happened.

Meanwhile, Claire Danes, who plays the role of Carrie Mathison, found that New York suits to be the best location for "Homeland" Season 6. The TV series will once again picture the America moving on from a very tragic event. The 37-year-old actress described that "Homeland" Season 6 tackles about being reborn that fans will surely relate to. "Homeland" Season 6 is about to air on Jan. 15, 2017 on Showtime.
'Game of Thrones' Season 7 News & Update SPOILERS: Jason Momoa Teases Khal Drogo's Return, Daenerys Targaryen Death? [PHOTO]

It's that time of the year once again when "Game of Thrones" fans speculate on which characters will return in the next season. However, Jason Momoa seems to be making it easy for everyone. The "Justice League" star is openly teasing the return of Khal Drogo in "Game of Thrones" Season 7!

Is Drogo the new Jon Snow? And how will his resurrection affect Daenerys Targaryen in "Game of Thrones" Season 7?

Jason Momoa Officially In Ireland Shooting For 'Game Of Thrones' Season 7? Khal Drogo Resurrection Confirmed?

Any faithful follower of Jason Momoa's Instagram account may have noticed his recent posts about Daenerys Targaryen. The actor's posts confirmed that he is in Ireland and is looking forward to seeing Dany soon. Does this mean that Khal Drogo will appear in "Game of Thrones" Season 7?

Unfortunately, the Dany posts have already been deleted. However, Jason Momoa's most recent Instagram post showed the actor out for drinks with "Game of Thrones" Season 7 executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss. Oh, and he can't seem to stop adding the caption, "ALOHA DROGO."

A photo posted by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Aug 20, 2016 at 2:21pm PDT

So does this mean that Khal Drogo will be resurrected in "Game of Thrones" Season 7? There are speculations that Jason Momoa could simply appear in a flashback sequence. However, if Drogo ends up getting a larger role in the show, things might not end so well for Daenerys Targaryen.

'Game Of Thrones' Season 7 To Reveal Khal Drogo As Azor Ahai, Daenerys Targaryen As Nissa Nissa?

Game & Guide has already reported about a theory pointing to Khal Drogo being Azor Ahai. Some fans believe Drogo is the prophesized savior of Westeros who will wield the flaming sword Lightbringer.

Unfortunately, this could also mean that Daenerys Targaryen is Nissa Nissa, the messiah's ill-fated beloved who was killed to create the sword. Will Khal Drogo's return lead to Dany's death in "Game of Thrones" Season 7?

Do you think Jason Momoa is in Ireland to film for "Game of Thrones" Season 7? Is Khal Drogo the true Azor Ahai? Let us know in the comments.
The free event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 29, and feature more than 30 different types of aircraft.
An out-of-state magazine salesman has been arraigned on rape, sodomy and sexual harassment charges stemming from events in Philomath incident, a day after he was jailed on a harassment charge in a Corvallis incident.

LaDerrick Monquell McCray, 20, of Gulfport, Miss., pleaded not guilty Monday in Benton County Circuit Court to seven felony charges related to a rape case in Philomath and one charge of harassment Sunday in Corvallis. McCray has been booked at the Benton County Jail on $500,000 security.

All of the charges stem from incidents that occurred over the weekend in Philomath and Corvallis while McCray was working as a door-to-door magazine salesman, according to assistant district attorney Amie Matusko.

According to court records, McCray is alleged to have had sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old female in Philomath who was incapable of consent "by reason of mental incapacitation and/or physical helplessness."

Matusko declined to share details of the alleged rape in Philomath, but she did say that the incident took place on Saturday. She added that McCray's driver's license listed his residence as Mississippi and that he "has no ties to Oregon."

McCray was arrested Sunday in Corvallis after a woman reported that he "touched her in an offensive manner and made sexually suggestive statements" while McCray claimed to be selling magazines door-to-door from an out-of-state company.

According to Corvallis police, the woman reported that McCray led her from the doorway of her residence by putting his arm on her lower back and then insisting that she let him come inside. McCray later left and the woman called to report the incident to police. McCray was later located based on a description and arrested.

McCray has been charged with two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy, two counts of unlawful sexual penetration, one count of second-degree sex abuse and one count of harassment.

Court-appointed defense attorney Rob Corl is representing McCray in the case. McCray is next set to appear in court at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
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Bonn court decision : 23-year-old threatened a Paris-style attack

Bonn A man who threatened police last December with an attack similar to Paris has been jailed for five months.

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His aggression towards police officers has landed the 23-year-old in prison again. The judiciarys answer to threats made by the accused on 19 December was a five month prison sentence. The man threatened two policemen at Bonns main train station with a Paris style attack only three weeks after the devastating attacks in the French capital.

The two officers were patrolling the tunnel under the station that night when the 23-year-old and some others ran in front of them at around 3.30am. Acting as a witness before the criminal judge, one policeman said they would not have paid him any further attention but then the 23-year-old continued to turn round and insult them. They still would not have acted, but then the 23-year-old suddenly threatened them with an attack like the one in Paris.

Then we lost our patience, said the officer. Enough is enough. We couldnt let him get away with that after what had happened in Paris three weeks earlier. The officer said that from the way the man spoke, he seemed fairly serious.

Several people nearby also heard him. They therefore took the man, who smelled strongly of alcohol, to the nearest police station and charged him. He did not resist, made fun of it all and then was laughing as he got into a taxi.

The 23-year-old may not be laughing in court. It turns out he is not unknown to police. He was already involved in criminal activity in his youth and in 2012 was sent behind bars by the Juvenile Criminal Court for causing grievous bodily harm.

After being allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence on probation, he beat up a taxi driver. He was sentenced on 30 January 2015 to seven months in prison without probation, which was amended to a suspended sentence on appeal.
Migrant crisis : Academics and migrants work hand in hand

Sankt Augustin Engineers organised a toy-building competition for migrant children and their parents.

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Engineers from the Bonn-Rhine-Sieg College do not normally bother with toys cars or handcarts. But in one special case, this was exactly what they did. The aim of Professor Dirk Reith and his colleague Matthias Metzen for a student project about electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and technology journalism was to use simple things to bring happiness to migrant children. Planning and construction is part of everyday life for the academics. What made this project special was that the children and their parents themselves were to be hands on. During several visits to migrant accommodation in Husarenstrae in Sankt Augustin, the children madly screwed and bolted.

Iris Adams, who is responsible for migrants in the city, supported the project as it offered a change to the somewhat monotonous life in the migrant home.  We wanted to give the children and their parents a positive joint experience that would give them satisfaction and self-confidence, said Reith. The guidelines were simple: the toy had to be robust, cheap and easy to make with a construction manual in pictures not words. Each piece needed to be ready in an hour.

The resulting toys probably would not win design prizes, but they were certainly original. Most importantly, the organisers said the students, both children and parents, had fun together. And if something breaks, the residents of the home know how to fix it.
Niklas P. attack : Walid S. remains behind bars

Bonn The court in Bonn on Monday agreed the main suspect in the Niklas P case should remain in custody but amended the charges against him.

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Walid S., who allegedly caused the death of 17-year-old Niklas P. in Bad Godesberg with a single blow, is to stay behind bars. A Bonn court rejected a complaint against detention by defence lawyer Martin Kretschmer on Monday afternoon because of the risk of repeat offending. The court also amended the charges from suspicion of manslaughter to suspicion of bodily harm resulting in death as requested by the public prosecutors office.

Due to the current status of investigations  and in particular with regard to the results of the autopsy report  it is currently assumed that the main suspects initial punch to Niklass head caused his death due to pre-existing health issues. As regards this punch, current results of investigations assume the main suspect acted with intent to cause bodily harm, but not with intent to kill, said court spokesman Bastian Sczech.

A complaint against continued detention was rejected because it was overwhelmingly likely the main suspect had committed an offence. That suspicion is based on the one hand on the main witnesses who saw the incident, on the statements of other witnesses from that night as well as on the blood and traces of DNA on a jacket the accused allegedly wore that night. There was a risk of repeat offending because findings indicated he had committed other violent offences.

Many people, particularly in Bad Godesberg, reacted with horror and outrage to the amendment of the charges from manslaughter to bodily harm resulting in death. As reported, the post-mortem showed there was pre-existing damage to the schoolboys brain and a single blow to his head caused a tear in a vein and led to his death shortly afterwards. According to senior public prosecutor Robin Fabender, the pathologist determined there were no further injuries and therefore no extensive use of violence. It can therefore no longer be assumed the perpetrator acted with intent to kill.

I am speechless, said one woman from Bad Godesberg about the change. Another said it was a disgrace: It doesnt make the incident any better. The victims family have a life sentence, but for the perpetrator things are looking better and better was the view of another. And: He hit him. Full stop. Am I supposed to learn from this that its not as bad to kick someone who is sick?

Its again a difficult time for the family that reminds them of their grief, said Dean Wolfgang Picken, who is giving pastoral care to Niklas P.s family.

Alexander Poretschkin from the victim support organisation Weier Ring (White Ring) knows how important it is to the family that a perpetrator is sentenced. When no perpetrator is found or someone charged is released, the - unjustified  blame the family place on themselves increases. The severity of the judgement is secondary. However, the following applies: The more severe the punishment, the greater the guilt.

Whether or not Walid S. is guilty is for the court to decide.
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.
NASA plans to hand over ISS to commercial firm News oi -GizBot Bureau

NASA is planning to hand over the control of the International Space Station (ISS) to a commercial company around the mid 2020s, the US space agency has said.

"NASA's trying to develop economic development in low-earth orbit," said Bill Hill, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development.

SEE ALSO: Here's how Li-Fi is different from Wi-Fi: Pros and Cons when compared to Wi-Fi

"Ultimately, our desire is to hand the space station over to either a commercial entity or some other commercial capability so that research can continue in low-Earth orbit," said Hill, speaking on a panel of NASA staff assembled to discuss the upcoming Mars mission.

The timing fits with the end of the US government's current funding of the ISS programme, which was extended by Obama administration from its original deorbiting date of 2016 through 2020, 'Tech Crunch' reported.

Operations were prolonged through 2024 to help give NASA a platform from which to run its near-Earth preparatory missions leading up to the ultimate manned mission to Mars. However, NASA did not specify any potential buyer.

SEE ALSO: LEAKED: iPhone 8 Concepts with All-Glass Design Show What We Can Expect in 2017

A new docking adapter is being put in place to support crew shuttle missions from Boeing and SpaceX, both of which are set to start shuttling personnel to the ISS in 2017. SpaceX has been running resupply missions for the space station and NASA since 2012, and has completed nine such missions to date.

Source PTI

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Android Nougat (7.01) is now officially available for Nexus devices! News oi -Chakri Kudikala

It was always coming! Google finally pulled the wraps of the much-anticipated Android Nougat stable build release to Nexus devices along with the Pixel C. The update will start rolling out from today and it weighs around 1.1GB in size.

To recall, Google released the Developer Preview of Android N five months ago and last month the company released the final build of Developer Preview. Also, there are rumors which stated that the Android N update will start its rollout from August 22 and the final build is here at last.

SEE ALSO: Galaxy Note 7: Top 6 Sites to Pre-order the Samsung Phablet in India

The devices which are supported for Android N update are the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, and the Pixel C Tablet. As said earlier, the update already started rolling out and it may reach your device at any time.

As per Google, Android N is a major upgrade over the previous iteration of Android which is Android Marshmallow as the company has added around 255 new features to tweak the operating system.

Google has improved features such as Doze Mode to save more battery life. Additionally, there are some other interesting features such as new emoji, notification shade improvements, a brand new multi-window mode, better quick settings, hamburger settings menu, and so on.

SEE ALSO: 7 Weird Things Ever Listed on eBay for Sale

However, the most interesting feature, Android N Seamless Update won't be supported with the above mentioned devices as the chipsets in these devices may not handle the feature. It will be available in next generation Nexus devices which are due to launch sometime in September or October 2016.

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'Feels Like Home Season 2' offers something real and tangible to think about; takes home a pertinent point - if your intentions are good, there is nothing in life that isn't achievable.
Ohio has three of the 10 most-segregating school district boundaries by income in the United States, while Alabama has six such district lines out of the 50 most-segregated in that category, according to a new report from EdBuild, a nonprofit organization which studies school funding issues.

Fault Lines: Americas Most Segregating School District Borders looks at student-poverty rates between adjacent districts, and examined more than 33,500 such district boundaries to see where there were the biggest such income disparities between neighboring districts.

The most-economically segregating district boundary was between Grosse Pointe and Detroit schools in Michigan, according to EdBuilds analysis. Here are the various disparities between those two districts:

And Birmingham, Ala. school boundaries with two neighboring districts accounted for the next two most-economically segregated boundaries.

The report follows on the heels of significant attention to school segregation by income as well as race this yearthe share of high-poverty and racially isolated schools has grown in the U.S. in recent years, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in May.

The EdBuild report points the finger directly at a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Milliken v. Bradley , in which the court held that school desegregation plans cannot be enforced across districts lines, as helping to increase such economic segregation between schools.

Because property taxes play such an important role in school funding, well-off communities have an interest in school district borders that fence off their own neighborhoods from lower-wealth areas and needier studentsand most states laws allow this kind of self-segregation, the EdBuild report states.

Click here for a table with comparisons of district boundaries and information like the Detroit-Grosse Point chart above. And read the full report from EdBuild below:

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
August 2016 by Marc Jacob

Colo Atl, the provider of carrier-neutral colocation, data center and interconnection solutions at 55 Marietta Street in Atlanta, GA, announces that Georgia Public Web (GPW), a Municipal owned corporation that is Bridging Georgias Digital Divide, has chosen to be a tenant at Colo Atls downtown Atlanta facility. With GPWs Meet Me Room (MMR) presence in Colo Atl and 56 Marietta, the telecommunications service provider and Fiber Network Alliance (member) can easily connect to common carriers including other FNA members  with no monthly recurring cross connect fees inside the Colo Atl facility.

"The Colo Atl facility is an attractive location for us due to its roster of more than 90 network operators," comments David Muschamp, President and CEO of Georgia Public Web, Inc.

We are most pleased to welcome Georgia Public Web, an advanced facilities-based telecommunications network provider with over 3,500 route miles of active fiber optic cable to our Colo Atl family, states Tim Kiser, Owner and Founder of Colo Atl. Colo Atl allows GPW to stay true to its mission of delivering high-end telecommunication services throughout the State of Georgia, by providing quick installation, expertise staff, exceptional customer support, and critical interconnection opportunities with no monthly recurring cross connect fees.

Founded in November 2001, Colo Atl provides a reasonable, accommodating and cost-effective interconnection environment for more than 90 local, regional and global network operators. In 2016, the company is celebrating its 15-year anniversary of providing service excellence and growth.
Alan Burkitt-Gray speaks to Don MacNeil, chief operating officer of GTT, about its company restructuring after coming out of Chapter 11 and its strategic roadmap for the next 12 months.
Are you a fan of your local public school? Then youve got some companyin fact, you might have more company than at any other time in recent history.

Thats one main conclusion from results of a public-opinion poll released by Education Next, a K-12 policy journal, on Tuesday. The poll, which has been conducted since 2007, found that a higher share of respondents would give their local schools an A or B grade (55 percent) than in any other previous survey conducted by the group. Views of public schools have improved across several demographic groups broken out by Education Next since 2007, but whites views of their local schools remain markedly better than those of blacks and Hispanics.

But the public also believes that the nations public education system is less than the sum of its parts. In fact, just 25 percent would give one of those two top marks to U.S. schools as a whole.

An analysis of the results from Education Next argues that its hard to understand why members of the public are generally pleased with their local schools, given Americas relative performance on international tests. The analysis goes on to note that the publics opinion on this point seems to jibe with the policy shift in the Every Student Succeed Act, which Congress passed last year to reauthorize federal education law, and which reduces the federal role in schools.

Perhaps members of Congress heard from their constituents that they felt their local schools were good enough, says the Education Next analysis of the results written by Paul E. Peterson , Michael B. Henderson , Martin R. West , and Samuel Barrows .

Support for annual, federally required testing remains strong in the poll, although support for the testing opt-out movement has gained support among teachers.

Education Next is published by the right-leaning Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Who Thinks What About Schools

For the grades the public would give to local schools, lets compare the 2007 results, the first year of Education Nexts survey, to 2016. Back in 2007, 43 percent of the public gave their local schools an A or B grade. Heres how thats shifted:

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According to the survey, blacks and Hispanics views of their local public schools have improved overall, but they are less likely to rate them well than whites and the general public. And in general, the growth in the share of the public giving local schools a B has grown more than the share of those who say their local schools deserve an A.

Note that the survey included public school employees in 2007, but did not specify that they were teachers. The 2007 survey also didnt break out Democrats, Republicans, and parents as did the poll in 2016.

But what about the publics view of the nations schools overall? How has that changed from 2007 to 2016?

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So not much change from 2007, when 22 percent gave the nations schools an A or B. Hispanics views of Americas schools seems to have shifted the most.

Here are a few more accountability-related tidbits:

 For the general public, 69 percent in 2016 support federal testing requirements that students be assessed in reading and math annually in grades 3-8 and once in high school. Thats compared to 67 percent in 2015. Among all the demographic groups, Hispanics expressed the most support at 75 percent.

 Support for the Common Core State Standards continues to slide, with just 42 percent supporting itdown from 49 percent last yearand 42 percent opposed, up from 35 percent last year. However, when Education Next replaced Common Core with standards for reading and math that are the same across states by which students are judged, support in 2016 jumped to 55 percent and opposition drooped 28 percent. Given that several states have fiddled with, altered, or replaced at least portions of the common core recently, whether the standards are truly same across state lines might be increasingly up for debate.

Clinton and Trump Tidbits

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton may have the ardent support of the two national teachers unions, but how do members of her party feel about their impact on schools? Forty-two of Democrats surveyed told Education Next that unions have a generally positive impact on schools, with just 23 percent saying they have a generally negative impact, and 35 percent saying theyre neither positive nor negative for schools. (Among Republicans, 21 percent thought they had a positive impact, 33 percent were netural, and 47 percent thought unions had a negative impact.)



And if GOP nominee Donald Trump is looking for an education issue popular with his party, he might try charter schools. In fact, hes been touching on his support for school choice more frequently recently , it seems. Education Next found that 60 percent of Republicans said they support the formation of charters when a definition for them is provided, with 21 percent opposed. However, just 41 percent of Republicans support universal tuition vouchers, with 49 percent opposed. (Among Democrats, the breakdwon was 45 percent in favor, 22 percent neutral, and 33 percent opposed.)



The sample size of the survey was just under 4,200, and it was conducted in May and June of this year. There were 1,571 parents with school-age children in the home in the sample, along with 609 teachers. Fifty-two percent of the respondents identified as Democrats, while 44 percent said they were Republicans, and 4 percent identified as independents.

Theres a lot more in the Education Next survey results about teacher policy, racial disparities in discipline, school spending, among other topics. And check out what our coworker Corey Mitchell wrote about the separate K-12 poll results from Education Next and Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup last year.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
GREENSBORO, N.C.  Aircraft maintenance and overhaul company HAECO Americas said Monday construction is underway for its $60 million hangar that will create 500 new jobs at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

The company said at a groundbreaking event, attended by Gov. Pat McCrory and N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla III, that its nearly 250,000-square-foot hangar on the east side of the airport will cost $60 million, roughly $20 million more than earlier estimates.

HAECO said earlier that 400 people will work at the plant but said Monday it expects to hire 100 more for a total of 500 workers.

HAECO said in a news release that 176,000 square feet will be hangar space with room for eight narrow-body aircraft or two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft simultaneously. The building will be the largest within HAECO Americas' hangars and almost twice the size of each of the four hangars that the company currently operates at PTI.

HAECO Americas operates four hangars for maintenance, repair and overhaul of large jet aircraft at PTI as well as operations in Lake City, Fla., Macon, Ga., and an engine maintenance center in Oscoda, Mi. The company also has factories in Wallburg and High Point for design engineering and manufacturing operations for seats and other cabin interior projects.

HAECO Americas, formerly TIMCO, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the HAECO Group, which employs 17,000 people globally.

The company employs 1,400 at PTI currently.

PTI began grading the land in April with up to $9 million that included money from Greensboro and Guilford County as well as the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Although public support for charter schools has remained relatively steady over the past 10 years, support for school vouchers has fallen, according to a new poll released today.

Charter schools are more popular among Republicans with 74 percent supporting the publicly funded schools that are run independently from the traditional district system, compared to 58 percent of Democratsnumbers that have changed little over the last decade, according to Education Next, a journal published by Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution.

Meanwhile, overall support for school vouchers for low-income students, which allow eligible students to use public money to attend a private school, has dropped from 55 percent to 43 percent over the last four years among people of both political parties, according to the poll. In 2007, the first year of the survey, support for vouchers for low-income students was at 56 percent, although the question in the survey was phrased differently at that time.

Taken together, these shifts are quite remarkable, write the authors of a report which accompanied the survey results. Rarely does opinion on a policy question change so dramatically over the course of a single decade.

The nationally representative poll of 4,181 adults was conducted from May to June of this year.

But school vouchers for low-income students are more popular among Democrats than Republicans49 percent compared to 37 percent in 2016which puts most voters at odds with the policy initiatives of their party leaders. Vouchers and other similar programs are generally pushed through state legislatures by Republican lawmakers against opposition from their Democratic counterparts.

Universal vouchers, or vouchers for all students regardless of income, are also more popular among a growing number of Democrats, having risen from 49 percent in support in 2013 to 56 percent in 2016.

Black and Latino may be driving Democratic support for these policies, say the reports authors.

Although support for tax-credit scholarshipswhich are similar to vouchers but not directly funded with public dollarshas slipped some (again, mostly due to Republicans), they are the most popular type of private school choice program, with 65 percent of respondents supporting the idea.

From the Common Core to Teacher Tenure

Support for policies around standardized testing follow a somewhat similar pattern to charter schools and vouchers. While respondents views toward federally required testing have remained mostly unchanged over the last decade, support for the Common Core State Standards fell to a new low in 2016.

In 2012, 90 percent of respondents indicated they favored the common core. In 2016, that number is just 50 percent, marking an eight-point drop from just last year.

Much of that fall has been driven by a shift in Republican attitudes toward the standards. Meanwhile, nearly four out of five survey respondents say that they support the federal government requiring testing in math and reading.

On the one hand, Americans continue to support state and federal policies that require schools to assess student progress toward meeting state-designated performance standards, write the reports authors. On the other, they are steadily turning against the most prominent initiative to do just thatthe Common Core State Standards.

There is also mixed news for teachers in the surveys findings. While support for tenure has dropped, support for higher teacher salaries has climbed to its highest level since the 2008 recession. However, respondents also greatly underestimate how much teachers get paid and tend not to be so generous when first told the average teacher salary in their state.

The largest gap between the general public and teachers on any issue in the 2016 survey was on the topic of merit pay: 60 percent of the public supported the policy, while only 20 percent of teachers did.

There was not a significant difference based on political party-affiliation.

To dig further into the numbers as well as public attitudes toward other issues ranging from teacher unions to blended learning, click on the link for the full results here: Ten-Year Trends in Public Opinion From the Ed Next Poll .

Related stories:
Lidl, a German-based discount grocery chain, has filed plans to open a store in Roanoke County.

Lidl US Operations LLC purchased the land on Aug. 2 from F&W Properties II Inc. for $2.1 million, according to real estate records. It's a vacant parcel at the corner of Valley Gateway Boulevard and Challenger Avenue.

The company also submitted a site plan to Roanoke County's community development department. Jill Loope, the county's economic development director, said the plan was approved in June but had been in the works for many months.

The site plan calls for the construction of a 36,000-square-foot grocery store with about 130 parking spaces. The lot is already zoned for commercial use. The next step is for the company to file a permit to build. However, there is no timeline in the plans.

Lidl is similar to Aldi, another international discount grocer that opened its first Roanoke Valley location last year. It is known for its low-cost, no-frills operation and a lot of private label brands. Customers are asked to bring their own grocery bags, for example, or to pay for bags. Lidl offers more than just food, though, and also sells household items, furniture and some clothing. As planned, the Roanoke County store would be much larger than Aldi, which is about 16,000 square feet, and would be more comparable to Walmart Neighborhood Markets, which are around 41,000 square feet. Three Walmart Neighborhood Markets opened in the Roanoke Valley in early 2015.

Before Aldi and Walmart's markets arrived, the region had seen very few new grocery chains. The area is dominated by Kroger, which has about 15 stores.

Loope said Lidl offers a different grocery model for the region, and its location is the "perfect spot" for a grocery because of its visibility.

Lidl's interest in Roanoke County is part of the chain's plan to launch in the U.S. It is part of the Schwarz Group, Europe's largest retailer. Over the past 40 years it has grown to operate more than 10,000 stores in 27 countries, according to its website. The company made plans to expand in the U.S. and put its U.S. headquarters in Arlington last year. Since then, the grocer has been buying up land across the East Coast for stores and distribution centers. Its first stores are planned to open by 2018, according to multiple media outlets.
MARTINSVILLE  Patrick Henry Community College and Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County are partnering to offer the Martinsville Memorial Fellows Nursing Scholarship Program. The hospital is providing $100,000 over a five year period to fund scholarships for students who have been accepted into the associate degree nursing program at PHCC.

This partnership is a win-win for the college, the hospital, the community, and especially for nursing students, says Amy Webster, PHCCs Coordinator of Health Sciences. The hospital is investing in these students by providing significant financial support and career opportunities.

Students accepted to the Martinsville Memorial Fellows Nursing Scholarship Program receive up to $3,000 per year towards tuition and/or supplemental materials such as textbooks and uniforms. Students are also guaranteed a job with the hospital either during or upon completion of the associate nursing program.

Scholarship recipients must commit to working at Martinsville Memorial hospital either for two years after graduating from the nursing program and passing the registered nursing licensure exam or for 8 to 12 hours per week during nursing school. Only students who are already certified as a nurse aide in the state of Virginia are eligible to work for the hospital while in nursing school. Students who have not received their CNA certification must commit to the two-year term of employment at the hospital upon graduation and licensure.

Students can pick up an application from the nursing office in Philpott Hall room 123 or from the Foundation Office in Frith 146 on PHCCs main campus. Applications must be submitted by August 31 for consideration. For questions or assistance, contact Amy Webster at awebster@patrickhenry.edu or (276) 656-0248.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug 22, 2016) - DuSolo Fertilizers Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DSF) ("DuSolo" or "the Company") announces the resignation of Mr. Darren Bowden from its Board of Directors. Giles Baynham, CEO of DuSolo noted "We would like to thank Darren for all his hard work as the Interim CEO and as a Director, and wish him well in his future endeavours."

ABOUT DUSOLO

DuSolo Fertilizers Inc. is focused on developing a fully integrated process to produce and sell phosphate based fertilizers within the Cerrado region of Brazil as part of a nationwide effort, incentivized by the government, to increase supply of domestically sourced fertilizers and achieve agricultural self-sufficiency.

On behalf of DuSolo Fertilizers Inc.

Giles Baynham, Chief Executive Officer

Forward-looking statements

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 statements 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 DuSolo 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 DuSolo disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 23, 2016) - East Africa Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EAM) ("East Africa" or the "Company") is pleased to report that long time shareholder SinoTech (Hong Kong) Corporation Limited ("SinoTech") has elected to exercise 3,500,000 warrants at a price of $0.23 realizing $805,000 CDN for the Company. The exercise will bring SinoTech's total holdings to 37,788,062 or 32.1% of the Company. SinoTech is a private share company incorporated October 26, 2010, that has supported East Africa's advancement activities for a number of years.

The proceeds will be used for ongoing technical, permitting and exploration expenditures as the Company prepares to advance the Terakimti Oxide Gold Project to the development stage, and prepare the Mato Bula and Da Tambuk deposits for mine permitting.

East Africa's management anticipates an active Fall program on the development and exploration fronts as the Company looks to address corporate objectives including; completion of mine permitting, close project financing and on receipt of the mining permit initiate development for the Terakimti Oxide Gold project, the initiation of operations at Magambazi in Tanzania, and continuing to grow the Company's mineral resource base in Ethiopia through exploration and definition drilling.

The Company's current resource base in Ethiopia comprises 926,000 gold equivalent ounces in the indicated category plus 860,000 gold equivalent ounces in the inferred category (see table below and news release dated June 29, 2016) from Terakimti, Mato Bula and Da Tambuk. Exploration targets planned to be tested to continue the growth of the resource base include the VTEM09 and Mayshehagne prospects, and additional targets along the largely underexplored Mato Bula/Da Tambuk trend.

"The continued support of SinoTech as we develop our Ethiopian assets is greatly appreciated", stated Andrew Lee Smith, Company President and CEO. "East Africa Metals expects to continue to benefit from the contributions of our Beijing-based partner as we continue to advance the Harvest and Adyabo Projects".

East Africa's Mineral Resources at Harvest (Terakimti) and Adyabo Projects

Project Ownership Resource Summary Adyabo 3(Indicated) 100% 446K Ounces AuEquiv Adyabo 3(Inferred) 100% 434K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Oxide Update 1 (Indicated) 70% (Permit Pending) 132K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Sulphide 2 (Indicated) 70% 348K Ounces AuEquiv 139M lbs CuEquiv Terakimti Sulphide 2 (Inferred) 70% 426K Ounces AuEquiv 170M lbs CuEquiv

The resources stated above have been previously disclosed in News Releases. (Terakimti Initial Resource Estimate disclosed via news release dated January 27, 2014; effective date January 17, 2014. Terakimti Gold Oxide disclosed via news release October 27, 2015; effective date October 18, 2015. Subsequent to the release of the Terakimti Gold Oxide Resource update, a review by the resource QP identified an error in the tabulation of mineral resources. The corrected resource information was disclosed via news release on January 11, 2016. Adyabo project updated mineral resource estimate disclosed via news release dated June 14, 2016; effective date May 31, 2016).

1Terakimti Gold Oxide Resource update disclosed October 27, 2015; effective date October 18, 2015. Full mineral resource estimate disclosure can be found in the company's news release dated October 27, 2015, available at www.eastafricametals.com or at www.sedar.com. Subsequent to the release of the Terakimti Gold Oxide Resource update, a review by the resource QP identified an error in the tabulation of mineral resources. The corrected resource information was disclosed via news release on January 11, 2016. Metal prices for gold and silver are $1,300/oz and $17.50/oz, respectively.

2Terakimti Initial Resource Estimate disclosed via new release dated January 27, , 2014; effective date January 17, 2014. Full mineral resource estimate disclosure can be found on the company's website or at www.sedar.com. Metal prices for gold, silver, copper, and zinc are $1,400/oz, $25.00/oz, $3.50/lb, and $0.90/lb, respectively.

3Adyabo project updated mineral resource estimate disclosed via news release dated June 14, 2016; effective date May 31, 2016. Metal prices for gold, silver, and copper are $1,400/oz, $20.00/oz, and $3.20/lb, respectively. Metallurgical recoveries of 88.5% for gold, 87.5% for copper and 50% for silver were applied at Mato Bula and Mato Bula North. Metallurgical recoveries of 97% for gold, 72% for copper, and 50% for silver were applied at Da Tambuk.

Gold Equivalent grade calculator (Au, Ag, Cu):Au g/t + (Ag g/t*$Au/$Ag) + (Cu %*22.0462*$Cu)/($Au/31.1035)|||Gold Equivalent grade calculator (Au, Ag, Cu, Zn):Au g/t + (Ag g/t*$Au/$Ag) + (Cu %*22.0462*$Cu)/($Au/31.1035) + (Zn %*22.0462*$Zb)/($Au/31.1035)|||Copper Equivalent grade calculator (Cu, Au, Ag):Cu % + ((Au g/t*$Au)+(Ag g/t*$Ag)/(22.0462*$Cu*31.0135)|||Copper Equivalent grade calculator (Cu, Au, Ag, Zn):Cu % + ((Au g/t*$Au)+(Ag g/t*$Ag)/(22.0462*$Cu*31.0135) + Zn%*$Zn/$Cu|||31.1035 is a grams/ounce conversion factor. 22.0462 is a tonne/pound conversion factor.

About East Africa

The Company's principal assets and interests include both the 70%-owned Harvest polymetallic VMS exploration Project, which hosts the Terakimti Deposit and which covers approximately 86 square kilometres in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, 600 kilometres north northwest of the capital city of Addis Ababa, and the Adyabo Project, hosting the Mato Bula trend Adyabo Resource, covering 225 square kilometres immediately west of the Harvest Project. The Company owns 80% of the Adyabo Project, and upon execution of a net smelter return agreement the Company will own 100% of the Adyabo Project, subject to a 2% NSR. East Africa now has mineral resources defined at both projects in Ethiopia and plans to continue to test priority targets. Additionally, the Company owns the 91 square kilometre Handeni Property located in north-eastern Tanzania. Handeni includes the Magambazi Project, a gold deposit discovered in 2009. East Africa has entered into a definitive agreement with an arm's length private exploration and development company to advance the project.

More information on the Company can be viewed at the Company's website: www.eastafricametals.com. Jeff Heidema, P.Geo., a Qualified Person under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Andrew Lee Smith, P.Geo., CEO

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "budget", "schedule", "may", "will", "could", "might", "should" or variations of such words or similar words or expressions. Forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions that have been made by East Africa as at the date of such information and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of East Africa to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: receipt of the Terakimti Gold Oxide Resource mining permit; closing of project finance; early exploration; the closing of the agreement with the exploration and development company to advance the Magambazi Project or identify any other corporate opportunities for the Company; mineral exploration and development; metal and mineral prices; availability of capital; accuracy of East Africa's projections and estimates, including the initial mineral resource for the Adyabo, Harvest and Magambazi Projects; estimated exploration licence extensions; interest and exchange rates; competition; stock price fluctuations; availability of drilling equipment and access; actual results of current exploration activities; government regulation; political or economic developments; foreign taxation risks; environmental risks; insurance risks; capital expenditures; operating or technical difficulties in connection with development activities; personnel relations; the speculative nature of strategic metal exploration and development including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves; contests over title to properties; and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, as well as those risk factors set out in East Africa's management's discussion and analysis for the year end December 31, 2015; management's discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2016; East Africa's listing application dated July 8, 2013 and Tigray Resources Inc. Management Information Circular dated March 28, 2014. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The contained gold, copper and silver figures shown are in situ. No assurance can be given that the estimated quantities will be produced. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to the successful integration of Tigray Resources Inc.'s business with the Company; the price of gold, silver, copper and zinc; the demand for gold, silver, copper and zinc; the ability to carry on exploration and development activities; the timely receipt of any required approvals including mining permits; the ability to obtain qualified personnel, equipment and services in a timely and cost-efficient manner; the ability to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner; and the regulatory framework regarding environmental matters, the renewal or extension of exploration licences, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although East Africa has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. The Company does not update or revise forward looking information even if new information becomes available unless legislation requires the Company do so. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Goldgroup Mining Inc., Vancouver, BC. ("GGA.TO" - "Goldgroup Mining") issued a press release on June 27, 2016 claiming to announce a closing of mining operations at the SJG Project, which is misleading, deceptive, and has proven to be false. Goldgroup issued the June 27 press release without independently confirming the facts -- and admitted its failure to confirm the facts in the release. DynaMexico feels compelled to correct the misleading press release issued by Goldgroup.



DynaMexico herein states the facts: following an unscheduled inspection of the mining operations at the SJG Project on June 26, 2016 by a Sinaloa State governmental agency, an order of temporary work stoppage was quickly overturned by Sinaloa State court order.



The Sinaloa State Court ruled that the unscheduled inspection and the temporary suspension of mining operations at the SJG Project, were improper. The Sinaloa State Court further ordered the immediate removal of the temporary suspension.



Following the Sinaloa State Court Order, all mining and milling operations at SJG promptly resumed normal activities.



DynaMexico herein states the facts: following a second unscheduled inspection of the mining and milling operations at the SJG Project on August 18, 2016 by a Sinaloa State governmental agency, an order of temporary work stoppage was quickly overturned by a second Sinaloa State court order.



The Sinaloa State Court ruled that the unscheduled inspection and the temporary suspension of mining and milling operations at the SJG Project, were again improper. Once again, the Sinaloa State Court further ordered the immediate removal of the temporary suspension.



Following the second Order issued by the Sinaloa State Court, all mining and milling operations at SJG have once again promptly resumed normal activities. Mining and milling operations at SJG have continued uninterrupted since that time.



The award of damages in excess of $48 million USD against Goldgroup Resources Inc. ("Goldgroup Resources", a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldgroup Mining Inc.), by virtue of a sentence issued on October 5, 2015 by the Thirty Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico, remains as ordered by the court. (See below item 16.) Goldgroup Resources has challenged the award, but it has been unsuccessful.



Goldgroup Mining, the parent company, has not disclosed the $48 million award of damages, nor has Goldgroup Mining disclosed the unsuccessful efforts of its subsidiary to challenge the award, in its Annual Information Form -- the equivalent of its annual report to shareholders.



An unrelated lawsuit, in which the amount in controversy was only $3 million, was disclosed by Goldgroup Mining Inc.



Goldgroup Resources currently holds a minority interest in the outstanding share capital of DynaMexico. Goldgroup Resources has challenged this level of ownership through the legal system, but this challenge has also been unsuccessful. The ownership of Goldgroup Resources in the capital of DynaMexico remains at 20%.



Goldgroup Mining, the parent company, has not disclosed the unsuccessful efforts of Goldgroup Resources to challenge this ownership level in DynaMexico, in its Annual Information Form.



Since 2005, the exclusive operator of the SJG Project, under contract with (and an affiliate of) DynaMexico, is Mineras de DynaResource S.A. de C.V. ("DynaMineras"). This operating control of the SJG Project has continued uninterrupted since 2005, before Goldgroup Resource contributed investment in DynaMexico.



Goldgroup Mining, the parent company, has not disclosed that DynaMineras has operating control of the SJG Project, in its Annual Information Form.



Since 2000, the President of DynaMexico holds broad powers of attorney granted by the shareholders of DynaMexico. The powers of attorney give the President broad authority to act for DynaMexico. The powers of attorney existed before Goldgroup Resources' investment in DynaMexico.



Goldgroup Mining, the parent company, has not disclosed the existence of the powers of attorney, in its Annual Information Form.





MAZATLAN, Aug 23, 2016 - DynaResource de Mexico SA de C.V. ("DynaMexico"), the 100% owner of the San Jose de Gracia Project, located in the County of Sinaloa de Leyva, State of Sinaloa, Mexico (the "SJG Project"), is providing clarifying statements and a number of updates with respect to the SJG Project:

DynaMexico's further clarifying statements regarding the SJG Project:

In recent years, Goldgroup has continuously misrepresented its ownership interest and shareholder position related to DynaMexico and the SJG Project;



DynaMexico, since May 2000, owns 100% of the mining concessions and related interest comprising the SJG Project;



At no time has Goldgroup owned any interest in the SJG Project; rather its only ownership interests have been earned under agreement as a common shares equity interest (shareholder's interest) of DynaMexico;



DynaResource Inc., Irving, Texas ("DynaUSA") currently owns 80% of the outstanding share Capital of DynaMexico; Goldgroup currently owns 20% of the outstanding share capital of DynaMexico;



At no time during its involvement as a common shares equity interest holder (shareholder) of DynaMexico, has Goldgroup been an operator at the SJG Project;



There is no joint venture agreement with Goldgroup involving the SJG Project;



Since the earning of its shareholder's interest in DynaMexico (March, 2011), Goldgroup has continuously refused to contribute funds to the ongoing maintenance, advance, and further development of the SJG Project;



Consistently and continuously since March 2011, Goldgroup has sought to, and threatened to stop, delay, or otherwise impair and negatively impact the financing, maintenance, advance and further development of the SJG Project;



On October 5, 2015 DynaMexico received a $ 48 M USD Judgment against Goldgroup Resources Inc.; See $48 M USD in Damages Awarded to DynaMexico in Mexico Litigation below;





$48 M USD in Damages Awarded to DynaMexico in Mexico Litigation

See copy of prior news release of DynaMexico issued October 12, 2015, below:

DynaResource de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. awarded Damages of $ 48 M USD

Against Goldgroup Resources Inc.

Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico (October 12, 2015) DynaResource de Mexico SA de C.V. ("DynaMexico", and "the Company"), the 100% owner of the San Jose de Gracia Project, located in the County of Sinaloa de Leyva, State of Sinaloa, Mexico ("SJG", and the "SJG Project"), announces that it was awarded damages in excess of $48 M USD (Forty-Eight Million Dollars) on October 05, 2015, by virtue of a sentence issued by the Thirty Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico (Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Distrito Federal), File number 1120/2014. Additional Resolutions were also ordered in favor of DynaMexico (the Damages, and the additional Resolutions are together referred to as, the "Oct. 5, 2015 Resolution").

The Oct. 5, 2015 Resolution affects the shareholders of DynaMexico which are: DynaResource Inc. (Irving, Texas), (OTCQB: DYNR); which currently holds 80% of the outstanding share capital of DynaMexico; and Goldgroup Resources Inc. ("Goldgroup"), which currently holds 20% of the outstanding share capital of DynaMexico. Goldgroup Mining Inc. ("GGA.TO") is reported to own 100% of the outstanding share capital of Goldgroup Resources Inc.

A certified English translation of the Oct. 5, 2015 Resolution is set forth below:

FIRST: The action and litigation based on commercial law filed by DynaMexico is valid and enforceable, and where Goldgroup and the American Arbitration Association were found to be in default, was proper.

SECOND: Goldgroup is declared in breach of its Corporate duties, for failure to refrain from claiming direct ownership of 50% of the San Jose de Gracia Mining Project.

THIRD: Goldgroup is condemned and ordered to pay to DynaMexico the amount of USD $20,000,000 (Twenty Million Dollars USD) in damages caused by Goldgroup to DynaMexico, deriving from its breach of obligations in refraining from claiming direct ownership of 50% of the San Jose de Gracia Mining Project; which amount should be paid within five days upon execution of this order and resolution.

FOURTH: Goldgroup is condemned and ordered to pay to DynaMexico the amount of USD $28,280,808.34 (Twenty Eight Million Two Hundred and Eighty Thousand Eight Hundred and Eight and 34/100 Dollars), for breach of its corporate duty and covenants with regards to the San Jose de Gracia mining project, as a result of depriving profits from DynaMexico which DynaMexico could have earned for the sale of gold produced and extracted during the years 2013 and 2014; which amounts that should be paid within five days upon execution of this order and resolution.

FIFTH: Goldgroup is condemned and ordered to pay losses and damages to DynaMexico, which Goldgroup continues to cause, until full payment of the above mentioned amounts has been made, which damages and losses shall be calculated by an expert opinion in a corresponding legal procedure related to this litigation.

SIXTH: Pursuant to Article 1424 of the Commercial Code of Mexico, the arbitration provision established under clause 8.16 of the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated as of September 1, 2006, is ineffective and impossible to execute.

SEVENTH: This Court declares that any controversy arising from the Earn In/Option Agreement must be brought and resolved under Mexican Law and by competent Mexican Courts with proper jurisdiction, in recognition of the waiver and exclusion of the arbitration clause (contained in the Earn In/Option Agreement) by both parties.

EIGHTH: This Court declares that the American Arbitration Association must abstain from hearing arbitration procedure number 50 501 T 00226 14, or any other ongoing and/or future ongoing arbitration already filed or to be filed by the defendant Goldgroup, based on the Earn In/Option Agreement dated September 1, 2006.

NINTH: This Court declares that the American Arbitration Association does not have jurisdiction to hear any conflict and/or interpretation arising from the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated September 1, 2006.

TENTH: This Court declares, that the American Arbitration Association does not have jurisdiction to hear disputes arising between shareholders of DynaMexico, which disputes do not arise directly and immediately from the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated September 1, 2006.

ELEVENTH: This Court declares, that the American Arbitration Association does not have jurisdiction to hear any matters where Koy Wilber Diepholz, who is the President of the Board of Directors of DynaMexico, and has been personally sued in relation to the arbitration clause established under clause 8.16 of the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated September 1, 2006, since he signed the mentioned instrument in representation of the Company and not in his personal capacity.

TWELFTH: The expenses and costs associated with these proceedings are hereby waived.

THIRTEENTH: LET IT SO BE PUBLISHED. Copy of this Order and Sentence shall be found in the corresponding record.

ORDERED, adjudged and decreed by the Thirty Sixth Civil Judge of the Superior Court of the Federal District, Mr. JULIO GABRIEL IGLESIAS GOMEZ.

DATED: October 5, 2015.

The sentence described above (the October 5, 2015 Resolution) constitutes a public record and may be reviewed through the Courts in Mexico City, Mexico.

DynaMexico's Filing of Legal Demand

On December 23, 2014, DynaMexico filed an Original Petition and Legal Demand (the "Demand") in the Thirty Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico (Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Distrito Federal), as File number 1120/2014 against Defendants Goldgroup Mining Inc., Goldgroup Resources Inc., and certain individuals acting in concert with the two Goldgroup companies (collectively "Goldgroup"). The Demand complained that Goldgroup has:

(a) Wrongfully used property, confidential information and data belonging to DynaMexico;

(b) Consistently failed to disclose, or has disclosed inaccurately, several matters of material importance to the public; and,

(c) The Demand seeks to declare the AAA Arbitration proceedings in Denver, Colorado, (filed by Goldgroup), as invalid or seeks to nullify such proceedings.

The Demand requested damages be awarded DynaMexico from and against Goldgroup for:

(d) Using and disseminating confidential information belonging to DynaMexico;

(e) Asserting that Goldgroup owns any interest in the San Jose de Gracia Project, rather than owning a common share equity (shareholder's) interest in DynaMexico;

(f) Improperly disclosing the percentage of interest owned by Goldgroup in DynaMexico;

(g) Improperly disclosing or implying that Goldgroup is the operator of the San Jose de Gracia Project;

(h) Attempting to delay, stop, or otherwise impair the financing and further development of the San Jose de Gracia Project;

(i) Making numerous threats against management of DynaMexico;

(j) Failing to properly disclose that broad powers of attorney for acting on behalf of DynaMexico are held by an individual not affiliated with Goldgroup.

DynaMexico believed the filing of the Demand to be necessary in order to protect its SJG Property and interests, and in order to seek fair retribution and damages caused by Goldgroup against DynaMexico and the SJG Project.

DynaMexico will continue to be vigilant against unsubstantiated claims regarding operations at the SJG Project.

K.D. DIEPHOLZ;

DynaResource de Mexico, SA de CV.; Presidente

IMPORTANT CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING CANADIAN DISCLOSURE STANDARDS

The Company has Shareholders who are "OTC Reporting Issuer" as that term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 51-509, Issuers Quoted in the U.S. Over-the-Counter Markets, promulgated by various Canadian provincial Securities Commissions.

Accordingly, certain disclosure in this news release or other disclosure provided by the Company has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. In Canada, an issuer is required to provide technical information with respect to mineralization, including reserves and resources, if any, on its mineral exploration properties in accordance with Canadian requirements, which differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to registration statements and reports filed by United States companies pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. As such, information contained in this news release or other disclosure provided by the Company concerning descriptions of mineralization under Canadian standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by United States companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC and not subject to Canadian securities legislation. This news release or other disclosure provided by the Company may use the terms "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources". While these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations (under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), the SEC does not recognize them. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted to reserves. In addition, "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities legislation, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, although they may form, in certain circumstances, the basis of a "preliminary economic assessment" as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This News release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27 A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to future financial or operating performance may be deemed "forward-looking". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that DynaMexico expects to occur, are "forward-looking information". These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the Company's expectations regarding the future growth, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities of DynaMexico. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current internal projections, expectations or beliefs and are based on information currently available to DynaMexico. In some cases forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. Certain assumptions have been made regarding the Company's plans at the San Jose de Gracia property. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of DynaMexico and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Such factors include, without limitation: capital requirements, fluctuations in the international currency markets and in the rates of exchange of the currencies of the United States and Mexico; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated reserves and resources and between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; changes in national and local governments in any country which DynaMexico currently or may in the future carry on business; taxation; controls; regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which DynaMexico does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents; labor disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks) as well as those risks referenced in the Annual Report for DynaMexico available at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results and future events could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Although DynaMexico believes that the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking information. DynaMexico expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.







Contact



For further information on DynaMexico, please contact:

Brad J. Saulter, V.P. - Investor Relations

US Telephone: 972-868-9066



K.D. Diepholz, DynaResource de Mexico

Presidente


NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug 23, 2016) - Troymet Exploration Corp. (TSX VENTURE:TYE) ("Troymet" or the Company") reports it has finalized its 2016 diamond drill program for the Redhill project copper-gold-zinc-silver volcanogenic massive sulphide project in British Columbia.

The 1,000 metre drill program is expected to run from mid-September through October 2016. It will test a number of targets including:

A newly recognized and undrilled target type (chargeability anomalies potentially representing slumped/mechanically transported sulphides) - see News Release dated July 25, 2016.

Selected, fixed-loop transient EM (FLTEM) conductors and associated copper and zinc soil anomalies. The mineralization in hole RH-06-25 (8.75% copper, 4.75% zinc, 1.22 g/t gold and 61.19 g/t silver over 2.04 m) is associated with a medium strength, 200 m long FLTEM conductor.

Gold-in-soil anomalies underlain by diorite intrusive.

Troymet recently completed a confirmatory EM survey of hole RH06-25 on the VMS prospect utilizing the Volterra-EM and Volterra-BHEM systems of SJ Geophysics Ltd. The BHEM survey confirmed a significant off-hole response to the mineralization in the hole. Responses were seen at 30 Hertz indicating conductivities in the range of 100 - 200 Mhos. A potentially large body of mineralization is possible given the depth of the mineralization (~215 m), its conductivity and nearby diamond drill results.

In-fill soil sampling of the ~900 m x ~250 m gold-in-soil anomaly has aided in selecting potential drill sites. Further hand trenching may be undertaken prior to drilling. Prospecting identified shearing with local quartz and quartz-carbonate veining along a magnetic low in a diorite intrusive. The gold-in-soil anomalies track this structure.

Qualified Persons

All technical data, as disclosed in this press release, has been verified by the Company's qualified persons Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo. and Ronald H. McMillan, Ph.D., P.Geo. Both are Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Troymet Exploration Corp.

Troymet Exploration Corp. is a junior exploration company with a solid treasury and with projects in British Columbia (Redhill and Golden Eagle), Manitoba (McClarty Lake) and Utah (Wildcat). Troymet operates the Wildcat, Redhill and Golden Eagle projects. HudBay Minerals Inc. is the operator of the McClarty Lake joint venture and must contribute $1,151,052 in joint venture expenditures before Troymet is required to fund its participating interest. Troymet retains a 2% net smelter returns royalty (NSR) on the Key property, British Columbia, which was sold to New Gold Inc. in 2013.

TROYMET EXPLORATION CORP.

Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo., President, CEO & Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in respect of: the Redhill Project, including the possible exploration and development of the Redhill Project; the exploration potential and analogous deposit potential of the Redhill Project; future data analysis, sampling plans and exploration plans on the Redhill Project; the timing for exploration and drilling on the Redhill Project; exploration targets and the potential of such exploration targets; and the ability and the timeframe within which the Redhill Project can be advanced. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information reflects Troymet's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Troymet and on assumptions Troymet believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the current share price of Troymet's common shares and the ability to raise future equity financing, if needed, at prices acceptable to Troymet; Troymet's current and initial understanding and analysis of the Redhill Project; the ability of Troymet to discover viable exploration targets and the results of exploration on the Redhill Project; the cost of exploration, including sampling and drilling, on the Redhill Project; Troymet's general and administrative costs remaining constant; and the market acceptance of Troymet's business strategy.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Troymet to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the early stage development of Troymet and its projects, and in particular, the Redhill Project; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; capital market conditions and market prices for securities, junior market securities and mining exploration company securities; commodity prices; the actual results of current exploration and development or operational activities; competition; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents and other risks inherent in the mining industry; lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting Troymet; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. A description of other assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of other risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Troymet's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Troymet does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Trading symbol (TSX-V): RML

VANCOUVER, Aug. 23, 2016 /CNW/ - Rusoro Mining Ltd. (the "Company" or "Rusoro") welcomes the award (the "Award") issued on August 22, 2016 by the Arbitration Tribunal ("Tribunal") operating under the Additional Facility Rules of the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID") in the arbitration brought by Rusoro against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ("Venezuela"). The Tribunal awarded the Company damages of US$967.77 million plus pre and post-award interest which currently equates to in excess of US$1.2 billion.

Rusoro filed its request for arbitration before ICSID on July 17, 2012 under the Canada-Venezuela Bilateral Investment Treaty ("BIT"). In its Award, the Tribunal upheld Rusoro's claims that Venezuela breached its obligations under the BIT by unlawfully expropriating Rusoro's investments without paying compensation and by imposing certain restrictions on the export of gold. As a result of these breaches, the Tribunal ordered Venezuela to pay damages of US$967.77 million as of the date of the expropriation (16 September 2011), together with interest accrued between that date and the date of actual payment, calculated at a rate p.a. equal to US$ Libor for one year deposits, plus a margin of 4%, to be compounded annually. The amounts awarded must be paid net of any taxes imposed by Venezuela. The Tribunal also ordered Venezuela to contribute US$3.3 million towards Rusoro's costs in the arbitration.

The Award is due and payable immediately and Rusoro expects that Venezuela will comply with its international obligations and make prompt payment of the award. The Award is immediately enforceable in any of the over 150 member states party to the New York Convention.

Andre Agapov, President and CEO of Rusoro said, "On behalf of Rusoro's board of directors, its management and employees, and all of its stakeholders, we are pleased that the Tribunal has recognized Venezuela's breaches of Rusoro's rights in connection with its investments in the Venezuelan mining sector. The company looks forward to collecting on the Award on behalf of all of its stakeholders. We thank our legal team at Freshfields, led by Nigel Blackaby and Noah Rubins. We would also like to acknowledge our consultants and technical teams for their contribution and dedication. Finally, we thank our shareholders for their continued support throughout this prolonged and difficult process."

Calunius Capital has provided financing to Rusoro since the commencement of the arbitration in 2012. Mick Smith of Calunius Capital commented: "it has been a pleasure to work with Andre Agapov and the Rusoro team over this period, who have been so ably assisted by Freshfields in the arbitration. We are delighted to have helped achieve such an excellent result for Rusoro's shareholders and creditors".

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Andre Agapov"

Andre Agapov, President & CEO

Forward-looking statements:

This document contains statements about expected or anticipated future events and financial results that are forward-looking in nature and as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business conditions, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, competitive and general economic factors and conditions, the uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, the occurrence of unexpected events, and the Company's capability to execute and implement its future plans. Actual results may differ materially from those projected by management. For such statements, we claim the safe harbour for forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Legislation Reform Act of 1995.

"Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

SOURCE Rusoro Mining Ltd.
CRANBROOK, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug 23, 2016) - Tarku Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:TKU) (the "Company" or "Tarku") announces that it has amended the option agreement (the "Agreement") with Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. concerning the Tarku property (the "Property"), located in the province in Saskatchewan. Under the terms of the amendment, Tarku will acquire a 100% interest in the property and is not required to make further cash payments or complete work commitments. The Company also announces that it is renaming the project "Virgin River."

The initial option agreement with Eagle Plains stipulated that Tarku was to make staged cash and share payments totaling $500,000 cash ($35,000 paid to date) and issue 1,200,000 shares of Tarku (200,000 issued to date) over a five-year period that started in 2014. The new terms allow Tarku obtain a 100% interest in the property by issuing two million shares to Eagle Plains. Eagle Plains will maintain a 2% Net Smelter Royalty in the Property, however Tarku can purchase 1% for $1,000,000.

The amended agreement provides Tarku with much more flexibility in advancing the property, as it ensures that the Company can deploy the maximum amount of its capital on exploration, as opposed to making option payments.

Sylvain Laberge, President and CEO of Tarku stated, "I am pleased with the outcome of the negotiations with Eagle Plains and its management and their desire to build a long term relationship."

The Agreement is subject to the approval of the TSX-Venture Exchange.

About the Virgin River (formerly Tarku) Property:

The Virgin River (formerly Tarku) property comprises four mineral claims totaling 18,400 ha overlying a large north-south trending area in northern Saskatchewan. The property is located along the Virgin River Fault, a major structure which forms the boundary between the Virgin River and Lloyd Domains. This feature creates a favorable setting for the deposition of significant structurally-related mineral deposits including the Dufferin Lake and Centennial deposits located 10km and 40km north of Tarku, respectively (management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Tarku property).

The area is underlain by mixed metasedimentary units, intermediate volcanics and significant felsic intrusive bodies, all of which have been affected by numerous structural events related to re-activation of the Virgin River Fault. Several well- defined northeast-trending geophysical conductors, verified locally by geological mapping, have been identified by historic airborne surveys. All of these features, in conjunction with significant gold values up to 2.26 g/t and anomalous base metal and uranium values throughout the property illustrate the exploration potential of this property for both gold and uranium deposits.

About Tarku:

Tarku Resources Ltd. is an exploration company focused on discovery in the mineral-rich Canadian landscape. The foundation of the company is based on an experienced management team with a track record of success. The goal of Tarku is to provide success for shareholders through the implementation of strategic property acquisition, the use of proven exploration techniques and the exploitation of fertile ground. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the company's properties.

This press release was supervised by Bernard-Olivier Martel, P. Geo., Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.
Kibaran Resources Limited (ASX: KNL), ('Kibaran' or the 'Company') is pleased to announce that it has started studies on expanding its Epanko Graphite Project in Tanzania.The studies, which will focus on increasing Epanko's capacity from 40,000 tonnes a year of graphite concentrate to 60,000t, follow the recently announced binding agreement with Japanese commodities giant Sojitz.Under the agreement, Kibaran will supply battery grade graphite to growing battery markets including Japan, Korea and Taiwan.Kibaran decided to start the expansion studies after securing binding agreements covering all of the project's forecast 40,000tpa production. These agreements reflect the high quality of Epanko's graphite and will underpin final project funding discussions.The expansion related work programs now underway include;- Expansion and pre-development activites such as engineering design to BSF standards for mining and processing, grade control, mineral resource drilling and mine planning.

- Acceleration of Environmental and Social Impact Work

- Definitive Feasibility Study on downstream processing of Epanko graphite, including the production of battery-grade graphite for sale to the lithium battery industry

- Product development and marketing

Epanko Expansion & Pre-Development

A significant work program associated with the expansion and pre-development activities to provide a seamless timeline from debt financing to development of the Epanko Graphite Project has commenced.

Drilling has now commenced and is aimed at the following

- Increasing the Mineral Resource to support the upgraded mining rates

- Grade Control, Hydrological and Geotechnical aspects to support the increased mine plan

The expansion and plant upgrade studies will be completed using company's existing technical consultants managed by GR Engineering to BFS standards.

The design of plant and costings for expansion will consider allowing for a larger crusher and designing space for an additional rod mill and flotation cells.

In conjuction with the expansion work, additional metallurgical testwork is being carried out on the lower grades. This may allow for lower grade material being treated as ore rather than waste and stockpiled for future processing.

The upgraded mining plan will include a revised pit design, new mining schedule and the planned work program is expected to be completed during the December 2016 quarter.

Environmental and Social Impact Work

The Company will also focus on accelerating the relocation and compensation process. Strong support has been shown by the District and Regional Governments and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals.

Work is now focused on the relocation and compensation of land occupiers who will be affected by mine development. A Relocation Action Plan (RAP) is being completed in accordance with IFC Equator Principles as a condition precedent to project finance and mine development. Compensation to land owners is included in the Company's BFS budget.

The RAP process has strong support from the District and Regional Governments and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. The Company has appointed international consultants who specialise in Equator Principal RAPs. The Company has also recently appointed a full time Community Liaison Manager. After several months of community consultation, a Resettlement Working Group (RWG) has been established, representing all stakeholders including the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Regional and District Government, District Land Officer, Chairman of the Ulanga District Council and affected community representatives and a third RWG meeting was held on Friday, 19 August. Identifying alternative areas for resettlement was a key item on the agenda.

As previously noted, an ambit legal claim has been lodged by four landowners directed at the Government, Regional and District Commissioners, District Executive Director, National Environmental Management Council, MTL Consultants and the Company, seeking a court ruling that compensation and relocation of affected residences is completed in accordance Tanzanian legislation, prior to commencement of mining.

The aim of this claim is that no mining should take place until compensation and reloction is settled in accordance with legislation. As the Company has no intention of commencing mining prior to fulfilling compensation and relocation commitments to IFC Equator Principles, the claim itself is considered by the Company's legal advisors in Tanzania as vexatious and lacks credibility. A Court hearing is scheduled for 25 August where it will initially be determined whether the applicants have standing to proceed with the action. If the applicants are granted standing, the Company does not expect that this action, if it proceeds, will impact on the pre-development project work being undertaken and the Company will continue to work with all stakeholders in the RAP process in a consultative and professional manner.

Kibaran continues to make positive contributions to the local community as part of its ongoing corporate and social investment in the Ulanga District community. The Ulanga District Commissioner was guest of honour last week, when the Company made a contribution to the Celina Kombani Secondary School, as part of its Keep a Girl in School program. This program helps girls complete their education, aiding the development of the local community.





Downstream Processing Feasibility Study



The company has now finalised the framework for the commencement of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for downstream processing including the production of Battery (Spherical) Grade Graphite to the growing Lithium-Ion Battery Market. The study will include other value added products (i.e graphite foils) and the battery (Spherical) testwork.



The study will speciflly evaluate the spheronization technology with its identified partners. Coated graphite will also be considered



The company expects to report the results and the progress of its production scale testwork regarding battery grade graphite over the comining weeks which will be central to the DFS.





Product Marketing



The company has secured binding agreements with the three largest graphite traders in the two largest markets outside China and continues to focus on these markets and believes there is opportunity to secure further strategic alliances and partnerships.



The company has commenced further testwork to allow the provision of samples to these groups.







Further information, please contact:



Managing Director Andrew Spinks

Media Paul Armstrong

Read Corporate

+61 8 9388 1474



Kibaran Resources Limited| ABN: 15 117 330 757

338 Hay Street Subiaco WA 6008 | PO Box 2106 Subiaco WA 6904

T: +61 8 6380 1003

E: info@kibaranresources.com | www.kibaranresources.com


Sample # Gold (g/t Au) Silver (g/t Ag) 8175 -- 1.3 8177 0.16 1.3 8179 0.16 5.2 8182 -- 1.8

Vancouver - Brian Arkell, President and CEO of Caza Gold Corp. is pleased to provide an update on exploration results at the El Diamante Project in Nicaragua.The Caza Gold exploration team recently completed the first phase of fieldwork at El Diamante outlining a large area of altered lithocap and quartz-sulfide veins with gold values as high as 0.16 g/t Au and silver up to 5.2 g/t Ag. Diamante is one of four early-stage generative exploration projects where Caza has identified large areas of epithermal-style alteration and anomalous geochemistry, in previously unexplored regions. Located in the Chontales Department, 125 kilometers east of Managua along Federal Highway 7, the Diamante project consists of a 25 hectare exploration concession, centered on a large area of alteration. Cazas geologists initially identified the area using airborne and remote sensing techniques followed up by ground-based, reconnaissance exploration. This initial work identified a broad zone of strong alteration, or lithocap in andesitic volcanic rocks.The recently completed fieldwork outlined an area of alteration approximately 10 square kilometers. This lithocap is characterized by varying degrees of advanced argillic alteration, containing silica, alunite and other clays, along with iron oxides after pyrite. Locally, silicification is very strong accompanied with pyrite or iron oxides. Vuggy silica and silicified breccias, associated with structural zones, were also observed. Peripheral to the main zone of alteration on the southwestern side, is a zone of intense opalization which in places, contains up to 3-4% fine, disseminated pyrite.The altered lithocap tends to form prominent topographic highs. In the southeastern portion of the property, where drainages have cut into the lithocap, Caza discovered abundant quartz-pyrite veins in float. Due to the size and abundance of the float blocks, Caza believes there may be mineralized material under shallow soil cover below. Seven samples were taken of which four returned significant gold and / or silver values:The alteration in the lithocap is consistent with the upper parts of an epithermal system, indicating potential for concealed target below. The assay results would support a potential gold-silver target at shallow depths below cover. Brian Arkell, President and CEO of Caza Gold Corp. , states: These early results on the Diamante project are quite encouraging, especially the gold and silver results in the southeast. The alteration is very strong and covers a very large area, which together with the geochemistry indicates potential for a sizeable concealed target.Caza is currently planning a second phase follow-up program, subject to financing, to collect more detailed information and further advance the project.See map at:http://www.cazagold.com/_resources/pdf/Diamante-NR-Geology-Aug-22-2016.pdfCaza has a quality control and quality assurance program in place for all projects based on industry best-practice standards and guidelines. Surface samples are collected following established procedures and protocol under the supervision of Company geologists. Samples are bagged and labeled in the field, then transported to a secure storage area. Coarse, blind, blanks and blind commercial standard gold reference materials for analysis control are inserted in the sample stream. Samples in sealed bags are transported to the primary laboratory by Company or Inspectorate personnel. All samples were prepared at the Inspectorate prep facility in Managua, Nicaragua and analyzed at applicable Reno, Nevada or Vancouver, British Colombia analytical labs. Analyses are done following industry best-practice standards and guidelines and include multi-acid digestion followed by fire assay, gravimetric, AA, or ICP methods. Assay results along with blanks and standard reference material results are reviewed by Company personnel and found to be within acceptable ranges. Data is then imported directly into a secure database by a Company database specialist.Brian Arkell, MSc. Geology, SME Registered, Fellow AusIMM, President and CEO, is the Qualified Person who reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Caza Gold Corp. is a gold and copper exploration company focused on discovering new deposits in Nicaragua. The Company controls a large land position in the highly prospective but largely undeveloped gold belts of Nicaragua. Caza has developed a large portfolio of projects in Nicaragua, including the Los Andes gold-silver project and the Piedra Iman copper-gold project.Caza controls over 425 square kilometers of prospective ground within the central Nicaragua Gold Belt. In addition to the Los Andes Gold Project, Caza is exploring the Piedra Iman porphyry in northern Nicaragua along with five high-sulfidation volcanic hosted Au-Ag targets located in west-central Nicaragua near the Pan-American Highway.CAZA GOLD CORP.Per: /s/ Brian ArkellBrian Arkell, President and CEOFor more information, please contact Brian Arkell at 1-720-883-7338 or the Company at Toll Free: 1-877-684-9700, tel: (604) 685-9750, fax: (604) 685-9744, email: brian.arkell@cazagold.com or visit our website, www.cazagold.comNeither 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.This news release includes certain statements and information that may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws or forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, assumptions or expectations of future performance, the likelihood of commercial mining and financing requirements and the ability to fund future exploration and development are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as intends or anticipates, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should, would or occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such 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 and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbour.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the state of Georgia, alleging that a state-run network of schools for students with behavioral and emotional disabilities unnecessarily segregates those students from their peers.

The lawsuit was expected. Last week, the Justice Department sent a letter to state officials saying that after months of negotiation, it saw no other option but to pursue legal action.

About 4,600 students attend the 24 schools that are a part of the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support, or GNETS . Located around the state, these students are officially enrolled in their home districts, but are assigned to these separate placements if they have emotional or behavior disabilities that are considered severe. The program, which enrolls children ages 3-21, has operated for 40 years.

In its lawsuit against the state, the Justice Department said that for the vast majority of students, such segregation is unnecessary and thus is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The complaint also refers to the results of an investigation Justice Department officials did back in 2015 , which noted that students were housed in shoddy facilities, were often not given access to any art, music, foreign language, vocational courses or gifted education courses, and in some cases were not given access to physical education.

I wrote about the GNETS program in 2015 after the Justice Department released its letter of findings. In addition, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a three-part series on GNETS , saying that the school network had a disproportionate enrollment of black students and that students in the program were restrained far more than students at other schools in the state

The Georgia governors office said it was not a party to the suit and referred an inquiry to the state Department of Education, which oversees the program. The Education Department did not have a response Tuesday.

Leslie Lipson, an attorney at the nonprofit Georgia Advocacy Office, said that a coalition of groups that oppose the GNETS program had been trying unsuccessfully to meet with state officials for months.

Were disappointed that the negotiations werent fruitful, Lipson said. But were encouraged that the Department of Justice is continuing its enforcement of the ADA.

UPDATE (Aug. 24) Georgia State Superintendent of Education Richard Woods has released a statement:
It's been a helluva specific year in Italian restaurants. Region-specific dining is on the rise, yet most struggle to pin Italian dishes to the map. Here's a bluffer's guide to a few of the boot's most delicious regions.

Emilia-Romagna

All hail the mountains and plains of Emilia-Romagna, ground zero for parmesan, Massimo Bottura and balsamic vinegar. This rich belt runs right across the peninsular encompassing Modena, Reggio Emilia, Rimini and its capital Bologna, lovingly known as the fat one. Antipasti-wise, its great gift to pre-gaming is mortadella (the spiced, spongy pork sausage called baloney in the States) and gnocco fritto, yeasty dough pieces deep fried into fluffy puffed-up pillows  try it with whipped mortadella at Trattoria Emilia in the old Gill's site.This is also egg pasta central with special mentions going to tortellini  ricotta and spinach versions with sage butter are common, as is the use of butter, period. See also tagliatelle made extra light with spinach, and to go with it, bolognese, traditionally made with pork and veal, not beef. Rabbit alla cacciatore (with onion, capsicum served over polenta) is huge in Modena. Get some lambrusco or sangiovese in your glass, and chase everything with nocino (liqueur flavoured with green walnuts).

Try it at: Trattoria Emilia 360 Little Collins Street, Melbourne 03 9670 7214; Osteria la Passione 486 Bridge Road, Richmond 03 9428 2558

400 Gradi has approval from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Cannoli stuffed with ricotta and dipped in pistachio is a Sicilian dessert staple. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Sicily

Pistachio, seafood and citrus-rich, it's the island off the toe of the boot where active volcano Mount Etna presides over new-wave flinty chardonnays and syrahs and where you definitely leave the gun, take the cannoli. Dessert is non-negotiable, especially those pastry cigars piped with ricotta (Rosa Mitchell's at Rosa's Canteen are winners), and gelato served in brioche buns with the cap used as a spoon. Cassata is massive too  a layer of ricotta and dried fruit over booze-and-juice-soaked sponge. Palermo up north is the holy grail of street snacks, though we've inherited the tamer versions such as arancini (rice balls), mini fried calzone, chickpea fritters and other deep-fried wonders, lots of which you'll find at Elwood newcomer Figo. Spleen burgers and intestines on sticks, sadly, haven't made it to Melbourne yet.

Try it at: Rosa's Canteen Little Bourke Street & Thomson Street, Melbourne 03 9602 5491; Figo 73 Brighton Road, Elwood 03 9531 7732

Sardinia

Suckling pig, sweet and tender, cooked over a spit roast is pride of Italy's second largest island. At Pietro Porcu's Sardinian restaurant, Da Noi in South Yarra, you can rent out the back room and they'll cook your pig over a fire while you start on antipasti. Sardinia is also boss of a couple of great pasta creations - culurgiones are little pastie-shaped ravioli with a potato and mint filling, and malloreddus are little ridged semolina shells served with a sausage sauce. You'll find both in Albert Park at Vieni Qua where Da Noi graduate Carlo Furcas has taken over the kitchen. Snack-wise, Sardinians are also responsible for those ultra fine crispbreads that are known as carta di musica because they resemble sheet music.

Try it at: Vieni Qua 149 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park 03 9696 8963; Da Noi 95 Toorak Rd, South Yarra 03 9866 5975

Veneto-style bigoli noodles with duck, dried mandarin and asiago at Vaporetto. Photo: Simon Schluter

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Veneto

The most noteworthy export of Veneto, a great mass in the North East taking in Verona, Venice and Treviso, might actually be the culture. Venice is famous for coffee shops (side note, tiramisu hails from Treviso), and bacari  stand-up wine bars where you duck in for small snacks (little sandwiches, stuffed olives and so on, collectively known as cichetti) and a small glass of wine during the day  are a way of life. Heart Attack and Vine is modelled on a Venetian bar, as is Vaporetto in Hawthorn, where you can also get bellinis (prosecco and peach puree) and sarde in saor: fried, marinated sardines on toast. When you go to carb town it will be polenta dishes served with gamey meats, fat spaghetti known as bigoli and endless takes on risotto. But you'll find us in the bar making meals of snacks and amazing wines from Soave.

Try it at: Heart Attack and Vine 329 Lygon Street, Carlton 03 9005 8624; Vaporetto Bar and Eatery Rear 681 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn 03 9078 5492

Campania

It's all about buffalo mozzarella and pizza taken so seriously the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (aka pizza police) travels globally, bestowing its approval upon select venues who meet true Napoli specs, right down to dough acidity and type of tomatoes used. La Svolta and 400 Gradi both have the tick. Running along the south coast it's simple Mediterranean cooking  bread and pasta, fresh vegetables and olive oil, and lots of tomatoes. So this is where you want a Caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil). Students can also thank Naples for the gift of dried pasta  maccheroni.

Try it at: 400 Gradi 99 Lygon Street, East Brunswick 03 9380 2320; La Svolta 450 Hampton Street, Hampton 03 9521 8990
FILE - In this April 12, 2016 file photo, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during the installation of a truth commission, at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Socialist party leader Jorge Rodriguez said Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, that Maduro had set a 48-hour deadline for ministers to fire high-ranking public workers who added their name to a petition seeking a new presidential election. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

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By Franco Ordonez, McClatchy Washington Bureau (TNS)

WASHINGTON  The head of the Organization of American States has declared the continued imprisonment of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez the end of democracy in Venezuela.

In an eight-page open letter to Lopez, a former mayor of Caracas, Secretary-General Luis Almagro said Lopez had been the victim of a lying and horrific political system.

"Clearly in Venezuela today there is no fundamental freedom and no civil or political rights," Almagro wrote in the letter, which was posted to the OAS website Monday.

Almagro's letter follows a Venezuelan appeals court decision that upheld the nearly 14-year prison sentence handed to Lopez for inciting violence during anti-government protests in 2014.

It was an extraordinarily passionate denunciation of the Venezuelan government by the head of the United Nations-like organization, whose members include nearly all the nations of the Western Hemisphere, and the latest in what has been an unusually public campaign by the former Uruguayan diplomat against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

While no other Latin American leader has been as outspoken in denouncing what Almagro called the Venezuelan government's human rights violations and economic malfeasance, his continued use of his position as head of the 34-member organization to deliver ever stronger and more personal rebukes reflects rising concern in the region about Venezuela.

"Those of us who have suffered at the hands of dictators know that trying to eliminate opposition or dissident voices is a true reflection of the ignorance of tyrants," Almagro wrote.

Earlier this month, a group of 15 countries called on Venezuela to act "without delay" to clear the way for a vote on whether to recall Maduro from office as a way out of a worsening crisis.

The letter was posted the same day Lopez's wife, Lilian Tintori, said Lopez had received death threats from one of the guards tasked with holding him. An Almagro adviser said the court's decision, and not the threat, had been the motivation for the remarkably personal letter.

"I must confess that right now I feel close to the injustice that you're suffering, close to the suffering of all the people of Venezuela," Almagro wrote.

Almagro chose an open letter to Lopez rather than another report or a statement in an effort to draw new attention to Venezuela's deteriorating conditions. "It's his style," said the adviser, speaking only on the condition of anonymity to discuss Almagro's thinking. "To be more personal. Not scripted."

The adviser said Almagro had not consulted OAS members before issuing the letter, though none was likely surprised by its vehemence, considering Almagro's consistent message that the Maduro government needs to make changes. The adviser cited the refusal of the South American trade organization Mercosur to let Venezuela take its turn at the group's rotating presidency as a sign of regional concern over the country's government.

"It's becoming really difficult for countries to look the other way," the adviser said. "It's almost impossible to do that. They have tried to kick the can, but it's not going anywhere."

In recent weeks, the Obama administration has intensified its push for a recall vote against Maduro even as the government has made clear it's unwilling to allow a referendum that could put the opposition in power. U.S. officials have been seeking ideas in private and public meetings with former officials, research centers and academics across Washington and Miami in an effort to craft a new strategy. Last week, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, Adm. Kurt W. Tidd, convened a meeting of experts in Miami to discuss what might happen in Venezuela.

Venezuela sits on the world's largest oil reserves, yet the country's economy is crumbling. Food and medicine shortages are rampant, and basic services are in turmoil. Even the oil industry is in a precarious position, with a recent study claiming it's beset by mismanagement and under-investment.

Maduro has responded to Almagro's attacks by calling him a "piece of trash" and accusing him of meddling in Venezuelan affairs. Venezuela's top diplomat in the United States has charged that Almagro has overstepped his authority by acting unilaterally without the support of OAS members.

Almagro's open letter is reminiscent of his stark 132-page report in which he described the worsening crisis in Venezuela, demanded "immediate change" and pushed for a recall vote against Maduro.

But the letter is more emotional, addressing Lopez with the familiar form reserved in Spanish for friends and family, though Almagro acknowledges never having laid eyes on Lopez.

Almagro confesses that at first he was unsure whether Lopez qualified as a political prisoner, before he realized the political horrors Lopez had fallen victim to.

Almagro then describes a rotting government he says is fueled by corruption. He cites the controversial arrests of Maduro's two nephews on federal U.S. drug charges and recordings of them saying they were at war with the United States.

To show he is not alone in his thinking, Almagro mentions criticism of Venezuela by the United Nations and European Parliament over human rights concerns.

"In Venezuela there is no democracy or rule of law," Almagro wrote.

The United States has stood behind Almagro, a former Uruguayan foreign minister. Last week, the State Department blasted the Venezuelan government for failing to guarantee the rights of Lopez and other political prisoners.

"Rather than silencing peaceful democratic dissent, now is the time for Venezuela's leaders to listen to diverse voices and work together to find solutions to the political, social and economic challenges facing the Venezuelan people," said Elizabeth Trudeau, a State Department spokeswoman.
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State News in Brief

AUSTIN

Push to block guns at colleges denied

A federal judge has denied a last-minute attempt by professors to block a new Texas law that allows concealed handguns in college classrooms, buildings and dorms.

The decision Monday comes two days before the fall semester begins at the University of Texas at Austin. The 50,000-student campus has led opposition to the law since it was signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last year.

Three professors claimed in a lawsuit that guns in classrooms could be dangerous when discussions wade into politically charged topics. But U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that neither lawmakers nor university regents overstepped their power in choosing where concealed firearms could be allowed on campus. Texas has allowed licensed concealed handguns in public since 1995. But colleges until now had been off limits.

COLLEGE STATION

Likely OD victim at A&M identified

Authorities have identified a Texas A&M University student who investigators believe died of a drug overdose after being found unresponsive at a fraternity house.

Anton Gridnev was found early Saturday during a party at the Sigma Nu fraternity. The 19-year-old, a member of the fraternity, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

College Station police said in a statement Monday that Gridnev, who was from Frisco, Texas, had recently moved into the Sigma Nu home.

Investigators are still trying to determine what drug Gridnev ingested.

The results of an autopsy are still pending.

Police determined other drugs were in the house and four young men, ages 18 to 21, were arrested on suspicion of possession.

ROANOKE

Most cars cleared after train derailment

Officials say most of the cars have been cleared after a train hauling coal derailed in rural North Texas.

Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff said Monday afternoon that 22 of the 26 derailed cars were cleared and all were expected to be shortly. During Sunday's derailment, some cars fell into a creek below a train bridge in Roanoke, north of Fort Worth. No one was injured.

DeGraff said track repairs are underway and repairs to the bridge will take multiple days.

DeGraff said U.S. Highway 377 has been closed as heavy equipment moves in and out of the site. He says the highway is set to reopen Tuesday for the morning and evening commutes but additional closures may be required at other times during the day.

FORT HOOD

Officials looking into soldier's death

Officials are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a Fort Hood soldier from Illinois.

Spc. Dion Shannon Servant was found unresponsive in his barracks room at the Texas military base Friday.

The 24-year-old entered active-duty service in June 2014 as a petroleum supply specialist. He was assigned to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, since December 2014. Servant was from Maywood, Illinois.
SHARE This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Kimberly Cargill. Texas' highest criminal court on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014, denied an appeal from Cargill who is on death row for the slaying of her developmentally disabled baby sitterin June 2010. Cargill, 47, of Whitehouse, is one of seven condemned women in Texas. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

By Michael Graczyk

HOUSTON  Texas ' highest criminal court denied an appeal Wednesday from a woman who was sentenced to death for the killing of her developmentally disabled babysitter four years ago.

Kimberly Cargill, of Whitehouse in East Texas, was convicted of killing 39-year-old Cherry Walker in June 2010.

Prosecutors say Cargill was facing a child abuse investigation and that she had already lost custody of one of her two children to her mother. They say she killed Walker to keep her from testifying at a custody hearing.

Walker's body was found on the side of a road in Smith County. It had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire, and an autopsy determined that she died of asphyxiation.

Cargill testified at her trial that Walker suffered a seizure while she was driving Walker home after a pleasant dinner at a restaurant, and that she panicked and didn't act rationally. She said she set Walker's body on fire to get rid of any of her own DNA that may have been on her.

In her appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Cargill argued that the evidence against her wasn't sufficient to justify a capital murder charge. She also said the trial judge improperly allowed testimony about how she acted enraged and screamed during phone calls to state child welfare officials and about how she had choked her two children and her mother, who had been given temporary custody of one of the children.

She also said her legal counsel at trial was insufficient, that the judge improperly refused to allow testimony from a defense expert about the effects of prescription drugs on physical illness, and she made constitutional challenges to the Texas death penalty.

Cargill does not have an execution date and can still pursue federal appeals. She is among seven women on death row in Texas.
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For those who know the excitement of rodeo doesnt begin with 2,000-pounds of bucking muscle on four hooves.

Before catching that first aroma of popcorn cooking in the concession stands or smelling the layers of earth spread over the coliseum floor, before the lights go down and the music is turned up, before the chute opens and the roar of the crowd drowns out almost every other sound, the rodeo begins on four wheels.

It certainly did, at least, for Jack Lowry.

Nearly 25 years ago, Lowry, a successful Ram Trucks dealer hailing all the way from Jersey Shore, PA, was busy getting his young family actively involved in horse shows and rodeos. Lowry got to know the other participants well. He must have quickly realized the people who loved taking part in the sport of rodeo and livestock competitions were all people who needed to own trucksnot as a luxury item for image or for style, but as a way to maintain their livelihood.

Those with an office job, or who happen to spend most of their driving time navigating paved roads, can still get to work whether its in a four-door sedan or a two-door SUV. But for the family whose daughter is taking her prized boer goat to the stock show, or whose son is competing with a 1,600-pound heifer, or the tie-down roper who wouldnt be going anywhere without his horse, anything less than a tough, reliable truck just isnt going to cut it.

Jack Lowry knew that what people in the rodeo world needed back then, like what they still need today, was something dependable and strong. They needed a vehicle with an engine and transmission that could push through anything  whether it was the coldest Michigan winter or the hottest West Texas summer. In short, they needed a trailer-towing machine, a truck born and bred to handle the harsh demands of the cattle, horse, and agricultural industry.

They needed a RAM.

Lowry began attending rodeos with trucks rigged for towing. He didnt want to just talk to people about what Ram trucks could do (and do better) for the other participants. Jack Lowry meant to show them.

During its first year in 1981, Lowrys Ram Rodeo program sponsored 18 rodeo events and has since gone on to support thousands more, including the 84th San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo, as the official vehicle sponsor. Rodeo and stock show fans are invited to check out all the features that RAM has to offer, whether that happens to be a backup camera on the trailer hitch or the kind of diesel torque that can tow up to 31,000 pounds.

Its a legacy of trust with a long history, and the results are easy to witness.

If youre going out to Foster Communications Coliseum today, look around and count how many Ram trucks you see along the stockyards and in the parking lot. Stock show participants couldnt tell you how many hours theyve tirelessly devoted into training, feeding, and grooming their livestock to be ready for competition. But they can definitely tell you what truck they trusted to get them there.

For the men and women who make this month in February so exciting, the first real thrill of rodeo began only after their animals were safely secured, the trailer loaded, and the moment the key turned on the ignition beginning their journey to San Angelo. For them, their rodeo began on four wheels, and for many, it began inside a RAM.
Idaho is moving toward a more nuanced approach to holding its schools accountable, under a new accountability system given preliminary approval by its state board of education. And, according to the board minutes, the state wont rank its schools, despite proposed U.S. Department of Education regulations that would require states to do so.

The state board and the committee members designing the new accountability model said during the board meeting that the new model is in compliance with the [Every Student Succeeds Act] and its intent and hopes that the U.S. Department of Education will adjust the regulations before they are finalized, according to the meeting minutes .

State education officials dont want to take lots of bits and pieces from different indicators to come up with a one-time score, state board member Debbie Critchfield told Magic Valley , a Twin Valley news publication. We didnt believe it was an accurate reflection of whats happening in our schools.

The boards vote last week allows for the accountability committee to continue refining the new system. After getting feedback from commmunity members, the board will make final tweeks before sending it to the state legislature for approval in the spring.The state plans to use the new accountability system under ESSA.

Kentucky and California officials have complained that coming up with a summative score oversimplifies measures of school quality and forces states to weigh the value of some measures against others.

The Education Department closed the 60-day comment period on its proposed regulations earlier this month and is expected to come out with its final regulations later this year.

Idahos new system would measure several data points including student test scores, teacher quality, student engagement and to display them in a dashboard  style, a popular accountability system several states are considering using under ESSA. While prior accountability systems measured and displayed to parents and administrators just student test scores and high school graduation rates, dashboard accountability systems measure and display several indicators that state officials think defines school succees.

The state, like several others , is on a fast-track to get its new accountability and teacher evaluation systems up and running after problems implementing their prior systems approved under Race to the Top waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act, ESSAs predecessor.

Idahos state board of education suspended its its controversial Five Star accoutability system in 2014 because the state couldnt gather enough information from its test score data to determine student growth.

Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics.
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.
While a new state law requires children to be vaccinated to attend public or private school, thousands of California students are filing into classrooms this month without the required immunizations.In fact, it will be years before the law that Gov. Jerry Brown signed last year, in the aftermath of a measles outbreak that was traced to Disneyland, fully takes effect and forces all kids -- save those with strict medical exemptions -- to have all their shots.What's changed is that parents can no longer opt out of vaccinations by claiming a religious or personal-belief exemption. However, parents need to provide immunization records at only two points of their child's school career -- at the outset of kindergarten and seventh grade.As a result, those who had already claimed an exemption are grandfathered in until they move from preschool to kindergarten or from sixth to seventh grade. First-graders won't have to show proof of immunizations for six years, and eighth-graders can graduate from high school without ever having to get the 10 shots preventing diseases like measles and hepatitis.The slow rollout allows schools to maintain the current practice of confirming a student's immunization paperwork just twice, though pupils new to a district must submit proof of vaccination regardless of grade, state legislative officials said.In Oakland, where classes opened Monday, 400 of roughly 37,000 students had ongoing personal exemptions, down from 500 last year, district officials said.Meanwhile, many families in the city who had no opposition to vaccines were nonetheless still working Monday to get their children the shots or provide proof to the district. And school staff was still processing paperwork on the first day of class.Over the weekend, 2,600 of these students had no proof of vaccination entered in the system, but the actual number who were unvaccinated was probably closer to a couple hundred, said district spokesman John Sasaki. He was unaware of any students who had been sent home because they lacked paperwork, but said those without it would not be allowed in class."I don't expect that to be a significant number at all," he said. "If you're a parent whose kids are not vaccinated, you're going to be impacted, and it's going to be something you'll have to deal with. We want kids to be vaccinated and in class as soon as possible."According to health experts, a high level of immunization -- usually more than 90 percent of the population -- creates "herd immunity," a kind of umbrella protection that prevents infectious diseases from spreading. If too many children at a school aren't vaccinated, diseases like measles and whooping cough can spread and potentially infect children who cannot be immunized, many of whom already have weakened immune systems.Studies have shown that last year's statewide measles outbreak, which infected well over 100 people, was largely fueled by pockets of under-immunized people throughout California.Parents who don't immunize their children usually question the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and some raise concerns about a long-debunked link between vaccines and autism. A study that found a possible connection, published in the 1990s, was retracted years ago.Across the Bay Area and state, families appear to understand the evolving law, administrators said. In Berkeley, a week before the start of school, most students had their forms in, said Superintendent Donald Evans. Those who don't "will be sent away," he added.Officials in many districts were referring families to local clinics and medical facilities to get the required shots.While Senate Bill 277 severely limited the ability of parents to opt out of immunizations, state law has long required students to be immunized. At the start of every school year, districts frequently had to send students home who failed to submit the necessary paperwork. Yet some schools were lax in enforcement.The new law makes clear how serious the state is about vaccines, and parents have largely bought in, said state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, who authored the measure."The measles outbreak that took place certainly got people's attention," he said. "We're not hearing reports of parents complaining or protesting. They're just getting their kids vaccinated.""You can't let families slide," said Sherri Willis, spokeswoman for the Alameda County Public Health Department. She said that in the past, some families who had no problem with vaccines simply failed to get them by the first day of school.Before SB277, the number of families claiming personal exemptions was small in most districts -- around 2 to 3 percent. Some of those parents opposed the vaccine legislation and, after its passage, have refused to immunize their children.San Francisco mom Adrienne Moore, who fought the law, spent months trying to get a medical exemption for her kindergartner.Moore said her daughter became unresponsive for nine days after her first tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, or Tdap, shot when she was a baby. Before school started last week, she said, her doctor agreed to support a one-year medical exemption.Moore's second daughter, who would start kindergarten next year, has no exemption. If it's a choice between vaccines and homeschooling, the mom said her girls would stay home.The law is still subject to a court battle, and a federal judge in San Diego is expected to rule this week on whether to delay it while a legal challenge proceeds. A lawsuit filed by an antivaccination group, Education 4 All, charges that the law violates the right to an education under California's constitution.
Individual orders have gone out re-restoring voting rights for some 13,000 former felons in Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Monday.Included with each mailing: A voter registration form.This first round of new restorations covered most of the people who, following McAuliffe's mass restoration order in April, registered to vote in Virginia. A few of those cases remained under review as of Monday, the administration said.The state Supreme Court nullified McAuliffe's April order a month ago, agreeing with GOP legislative leaders who had sued the governor over an unconstitutional exercise of his restoration powers.Only individual orders are valid, the court said.With individual orders now done for nearly all the people who registered to vote, McAuliffe said his administration will turn its attention now to as many as 200,000 more people he initially hoped to cover via mass orders. They will be prioritized by earliest date of release, and those who request restoration will jump to the front of the line, McAuliffe said.The administration's review process will closely resemble, officials said, the one used prior to April's mass restoration. It includes checks with eight state agencies to be sure felons completed their sentences and aren't under state supervision, Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Thomasson said.He hasn't actually sign these new orders, though, they are printed with his signature already in place.Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. "Tommy" Norment, R-James City, said in a statement following the governor's announcement Monday that he was "pleased Gov. McAuliffe has complied with the decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia."Norment and Speaker of the House William Howell filed the lawsuit that forced McAuliffe to re-work his process, and their suit also removed the 13,000 or so felons who had registered in the interim from the state's voting rolls. Those people must re-apply to vote in any coming elections."Had the Governor followed the Constitution of Virginia on April 22 when he initially attempted this, those affected by today's announcement might not have endured the roller-coaster of bureaucratic incompetence his executive overreach exposed," Norment said in his statement.Howell, R-Stafford, said in his own statement Monday that the General Assembly "will carefully review Governor McAuliffe's process to determine if he followed the legal requirements."That process wasn't submitted to the court, or to GOP leaders, for input before it was implemented, nor did the Supreme Court's decision require this. The process used now is at least as robust as the one the McAuliffe administration used to restore rights, individually, to some 18,000 people before moving to the mass order system, said Thomasson, whose office oversees restorations.That process did not spark a lawsuit, or high-profile complaints, from the General Assembly's Republican majority.It's not clear how many individual orders the administration can process before the Oct. 17 deadline to register to vote in November's elections, but the administration has promised to release the names of people whose rights are restored every month, on the 15th.The governor and his team resisted previous calls for this sort of transparency, but critics quickly found mistaken restorations in a database the administration put online so people could see whether their rights had been restored. That database required a full name and the last four digits of a social security number to check, and a pair of commonwealth's attorneys inputted names from their jurisdictions."The numerous mistakes Gov. McAuliffe made attempting to restore rights en masse ... demonstrates the wisdom of a case-by-case process," Howell said in his statement.Howell said he believes "some deserving citizens" have had their rights restored now, as well as "some odious criminals." He called on McAuliffe to say "specifically why he is restoring rights to habitual offenders, those who have not yet paid back their victims, and the Commonwealth's worst sex offenders."McAuliffe's answer on this point has been simple: Because they've served their time. The governor re-iterated Monday that he has no intention of treating people differently in this process based on the crimes they committed. That is what the criminal justice system is for, he said.The governor also decried the state's automatic disenfranchisement for felons as a relic of a racist past. He called, much as his predecessor, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell did in his farewell address, for the General Assembly to amend the state constitution and make restorations truly automatic, instead of subject to a governor's whims.Voting rights, as well as the right to serve on a jury, run for public office and become a notary public, are restored by the governor under the state constitution. Gun rights require an additional step and a judge's consent.
Meningitis, a rare and possibly fatal disease, has seen outbreaks in the nation's three biggest cities in recent years. In Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, it has disproportionately impacted gay men, and officials aren't sure why.Since June 2015, there have been nine cases in Chicago, including one death -- all impacting gay men. L.A. County has had 15 cases of meningitis this year -- eight of those gay men. And New York City has had 22 cases -- all among gay men -- that resulted in seven deaths from 2010 to 2014."True, we are talking about 13 cases in L.A. But 13 cases is too many for a completely preventable disease," said Robert Bolan, the medical director of the Los Angeles LGBT Center.Meningitis, which has symptoms similar to those of the flu, is spread through continuous close contact -- think college students living in dorms. It causes inflammation of the spinal cord and brain, which can lead to brain damage or death in just hours or days if left untreated. There's a vaccine but only for some of the disease's bacterial and viral strains.Officials also worry that the new cases may have been sexually transmitted, which would be a new development in the disease's history.Sarah Kemple, medical director of the communicable diseases program at the Chicago Department of Public Health, can only guess why the outbreaks are affecting gay men more than others."Men who have sex with men tend to have very tight-knit social networks, similar to what you would see among colleges, she said.After L.A. County had an outbreak in the gay community two years ago, Bolan wrote to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking them to research the connection between gay men and intermittent meningitis outbreaks in large urban areas. The CDC and the New York Department of Public Health launched that study this year -- and has since extended it to L.A.The three cities have started working together to figure out the best ways to eliminate the disease and keep it from spreading within and outside their jurisdictions.Our key objective is to get the vaccine out there, and weve made broad strides there, said Kemple.As part of new public awareness campaigns in Chicago and L.A., both cities have started offering the meningitis vaccine for free at local gay health centers and events targeting the LGBT community. In Chicago, the vaccine is also now offered at various Walgreens locations.For health officials in other urban areas, Kemple advises getting ahead of the curve now.Start bringing awareness to the vaccine and connect with providers that serve gay populations so they can start informing their patients about the need to get vaccinated, she said.Despite the concern among health officials that the disease will spread to gay communities in other large cities, Bolan is hopeful now that the CDC is on the case.Weve reached a tipping point with the CDC," said Bolan. "Its now on everybodys radar."
Monday was the end of the line for a landmark California case challenging tenure and other traditional job protections for teachers -- and the teachers won.The outcome left some union opponents looking for a different battlefield in the ongoing wars over public education, while others said they should try the courts again.The case, Vergara vs. California, was closely watched across the country as a test of whether courts would invalidate employment rights of teachers on the argument that they violate the rights of students.The assault on these protections is part of a broader approach to reforming education that would make schools more like the private sector, which relies on competition, measurable results and performance incentives.In such a scenario, employee protections get in the way, said Joshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers."It's fundamentally about providing a marketplace agenda within public education -- doing away with the kinds of protections teachers have won over many years, such as seniority and due process, and creating the dog-eat-dog narrative that exists in the private sector," he said.Attorneys pursuing the case on behalf of nine students presented a different narrative. They argued that these job protections caused such harm to students that the rules violated their constitutional rights. Making it easier to fire bad teachers, the attorneys said, would not only improve academic performance, but would narrow the achievement gap that separates white, Asian and wealthier students from their lower-income, black and Latino peers.At trial, students testified about teachers who belittled or ignored them, while plaintiff experts asserted that such instruction left students behind, unable to catch up.This testimony bowled over the trial court judge, who in 2014 threw out the job protections, saying that the damage to students "shocks the conscience."But in April, a three-judge court of appeal panel shrugged off the claims of harm and said it was up to the Legislature to set education policy, including the regulations in question.Monday's high court decision was about whether justices would hear arguments and weigh in. They decided against it. But their 4-3 split may well reflect the level of contention over how best to improve education."This has been such a polarized issue," said Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla.Bonilla tried to craft compromise legislation that eventually was abandoned by teachers unions and their critics."Unfortunately, on one side, we had the California Teachers Assn. that is satisfied with the status quo," Bonilla said. "On the other side, you had many people interested in making changes to education but ... if they couldn't have everything in a bill, they weren't going to support my bill. That's not a realistic perspective in terms of how policy is crafted."Although Vergara backers could not get around union clout in the Legislature, they had access to money and a crack team of attorneys.The lawsuit challenged five statutes that in combination, it argued, violated the constitutional rights of students. These laws grant the protections of tenure to teachers after two years on the job. They stipulate that teacher layoffs, when they occur, must be based primarily on seniority. And they set up a dismissal process for instructors that is more lengthy and difficult than for many other state employees.The effort was a "Hail Mary pass," said Michael Petrilli, executive vice president at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a right-leaning think tank. "You throw a Hail Mary pass when you're out of other options. The reformers in California turned to it because the Legislature was locked up by unions."The Legislature remains the most logical place to determine such employment rules, some advocates on both sides said."This was an appropriate move by the Supreme Court and really a victory for the idea of a separation of powers as it relates to education-policy matters," said Mark Paige, an assistant professor in public policy at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. "The trial court decision was an example of an activist court. The opinion lodged the trial court in the middle of a policy matter.""I don't think it means the end of the tenure war," Paige said. "My hunch is that it won't be in California, given the state's more liberal leanings."The state Supreme Court's four-member majority did not issue an opinion, which isn't required for a case that won't get review. Three justices wanted to hear the case, and two of them issued dissenting statements saying important issues of law were at stake.The court majority, however, accepted the logic of Division Two Presiding Justice Roger W. Boren, who wrote in April for the court of appeal: "The court's job is merely to determine whether the statutes are constitutional, not if they are 'a good idea."The appeals panel did not challenge evidence that many students are ill served in California public schools. But the judges said the laws being questioned were not necessarily responsible.That logic bodes poorly for future court challenges in California or elsewhere, said Eric A. Hanushek, a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution of Stanford University, who testified on behalf of the Vergara plaintiffs."Courts don't make policy decisions except in extreme cases and California is an extreme case," he said. And "even in the worst case, the courts aren't stepping up."But plaintiff's attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. insisted that the disagreement of three Supreme Court justices on Monday suggests a path forward.The two justices who posted statements said the findings of the trial judge should have received more deference. Both concluded that the appeals panel set too high a barrier for considering the merits of the claims."Because the questions presented have obvious statewide importance, and because they involve a significant legal issue on which the Court of Appeal likely erred, this court should grant review," wrote Justice Goodwin H. Liu. "There is considerable evidence in the record to support the trial court's conclusion that the hiring and retention of a substantial number of grossly ineffective teachers in California public schools have an appreciable impact on students' fundamental right to education."Boutros said that reasoning provides "a launching pad.""The door is open to bring other suits in state court and federal court," he said.The group Students Matter, which funded the lawsuit and recruited the students and their families, said it will continue to push for legislative change in Sacramento. It also is pressing its reform agenda on other fronts. In another lawsuit, the group is trying to force several school systems to use standardized test scores in teacher evaluations.Student Matters has access to a network of philanthropists and foundations willing to bankroll its business-inspired vision of education reform.Nationally, Vergara-like legal challenges are being pursued in New York and Minnesota. Neither appears close to resolution.What will carry the day, Boutros said, is public opinion."If you talk to any rational person on the street about the issues, they're going to agree with us," he said.Some in his camp are talking about a ballot initiative as a next logical step to limit job protections, although unions defeated such an attempt in the past.Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the Vergara case distracted from real problems and potential fixes. Schools, she said, need smaller classes, an influx of new teachers and more generous, secure funding.The backers of Vergara, she said, make it harder to promote effective change "because they pretend there are simple silver-bullet solutions -- that you can fire, threaten or sanction your way to helping children succeed."
On his third visit to Miami since the nation's first outbreak of Zika, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday once again asked Washington for more help fighting the infectious disease -- even as he fended off accusations that he's not disclosing new cases quickly enough."We are still asking the federal government to be a partner in this," said Scott, who asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send an additional 5,000 Zika antibody tests and 10,000 prevention kits to Florida -- an order that federal officials have promised to fill by Tuesday.State health officials say the virus has begun spreading locally in Miami-Dade County, first in a mile-square area of Wynwood and, most recently, in a 1.5-square-mile section of Miami Beach.At a roundtable meeting in the De Hostos Senior Center in Wynwood, Scott said the state is "working hard" to fight the virus and provide the resources it can. In a bi-partisan push for federal Zika dollars, he appeared with U.S. Reps. Frederica Wilson -- a Democrat -- and Carlos Curbelo, a Republican, as well as Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.But the coalition quickly fell apart. Levine, a Democrat with gubernatorial aspirations, had accused the Republican governor earlier that day of playing politics with Zika and keeping the city in the dark about the number of local infections. He confronted the governor."It's important that myself, the city manager, our counterparts at the county are getting timely, accurate information as fast as possible," Levine said. "As you know, we have our constituents. We have our businesses... We've just got to have that information."He continued: "I hope that after this meeting we can be assured by you and your team that we will get information as soon as possible."Scott responded to Levine that the state has a responsibility to ensure that the information it issues on Zika is "timely and accurate." A few hours earlier, he told reporters that he had released the information about the Miami Beach cases within hours of confirming them on Friday morning.But after the meeting, the governor criticized Levine for not returning his telephone calls and failing to attend previous community meetings the governor had hosted on Zika."Everybody's had the opportunity to participate," Scott said.Gimenez, a Republican who has participated in the governor's community meetings prior to the first local Zika case, also took a shot at Scott during Monday's meeting."Everything's not rosy, Governor," Gimenez said to Scott, who was seated near him. "There are times when communication has broken down a little bit and we want to make sure that doesn't happen. We want to make sure we are all on the same page, and we are all communicating the same thing. We are all Floridians."Florida has 37 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus, according to the state health department. State Surgeon General Celeste Philip said there were no new local cases to report on Monday. There were seven new travel-related cases, with four in Miami-Dade, two in Osceola and one involving a pregnant woman -- raising the statewide total to 600 people who have been infected with Zika this year.Philip vowed an aggressive response to knock down mosquitoes and educate the public about Zika in Miami Beach. She said Wynwood has seen improvement after weeks of aerial spraying."So far in Wynwood," she said, "we've seen that we've gone several weeks without any new cases."Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam reported the state has trapped and tested 32,000 mosquitoes statewide, including 6,000 in Miami-Dade, and none have we returned positive for Zika virus, which he said was "a good thing."During the Wynwood meeting, Scott promised Miami-Dade that the state is sending an additional $5 million to help offset the county's costs for increased mosquito control efforts in response to Zika, including aerial spraying in Wynwood and trucks and backpack foggers in Miami Beach."I'm very happy to hear that there's a check in the mail. We'll be waiting for it," responded Gimenez, who has estimated that Zika will force the county to spend about $8 million.Gimenez said the county has launched an aggressive response with more than 100 workers in the field every day dedicated to mosquito control.Last week, Scott announced a second area in Miami-Dade with active transmission of the virus by mosquitoes on Miami Beach between Eighth and 28th streets, and Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean -- the heart of the region's tourism industry. Federal health officials issued an unprecedented advisory, telling pregnant women to avoid the tourist destination -- and to consider postponing travel to Miami-Dade County altogether.The governor has yet to visit Miami Beach since announcing the news that Zika was spreading in the resort city. Scott's absence was criticized on Monday by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, who held a press conference alongside Levine, the Miami Beach mayor, at an Alton Road cafe."He isn't planning on coming to Miami Beach, which is astonishing," said Wasserman Schultz, who has criticized congressional Republicans for failing to fund an emergency appropriation requested by President Barack Obama in February to fight Zika.Wasserman Schultz and Levine also criticized Scott for providing insufficient information to local leaders when he announced the news that Zika was spreading on the beach."This issue is serious," Levine said. "To play politics with people's lives is wrong, and there's no place for that."Asked if he had been "blindsided" by the state, Levine said yes."He not only blindsided me -- he blindsided our administration, the county administration. I think he blindsided everybody," Levine saidIn Wynwood, business owners complained to the governor about the economic impacts of the CDC's travel advisory telling pregnant women to avoid a square-mile area just north of downtown Miami.While Scott's administration has "cleared" sections of the square-mile area in Wynwood, the CDC's guidance advising pregnant women to avoid the entire zone has remained unchanged.Albert Garcia, vice chair of the Wynwood Business Improvement District, said Zika has put at risk a decade's worth of redevelopment efforts to transform the once-blighted area into a cultural attraction."We can lose this in the next couple of weeks if we don't act quickly," Garcia said."When the box gets drawn, there's tremendous implications," said Joseph Furst, the group's chairman, "and it sends an incorrect message to individuals outside that box where those individuals feel there's no concern if they're outside that area, and we know that's inaccurate.""The reality of that box is suffocating," added Jessica Goldman, CEO of Goldman Properties. "Businesses have seen anywhere from a 50 to 60 percent decrease. ... It's been a message of fear."Scott acknowledged the importance of tourism to Florida's economy, noting that the industry employs about 1.2 million people statewide. He wouldn't say whether the state's public-private partnership to promote tourism, Visit Florida, would handle Zika.As of Monday, the Visit Florida website contained no mention of Zika in Miami-Dade or the CDC's advisory."We just had another quarter of record tourism," Scott said in Wynwood. "We've had 57 million tourists just in the first six months of this year. We're on track to do 110 to 115 million tourists."
Parents Sue Crocs Over Child's Escalator Injury

Flora Kim and David Kang, of Dallas, Texas were enjoying the annual meeting of the American Association of Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki September 2014 with their son. That was until the boy's foot got caught in an escalator at the resort, tearing skin from his leg and requiring emergency surgery.

Now the parents are suing Crocs, claiming that the shoes the boy was wearing at the time were "negligently and improperly designed," and that the company knew about the risk to children wearing their shoes on escalators.

Croc Danger

According to the lawsuit, Crocs was aware that children had suffered severe injuries when their rubbery, oblong shoes got trapped in small spaces on escalators as far back as 2008. There are worldwide reports of the shoes getting caught in the "teeth" at the bottom or top of the escalator or the crack between the steps and the side of the escalator, and almost all of the serious injuries have involved young children.

The lawsuit claims the boy was holding his mother's hand while they rode the escalator, and the machine severed tendons and muscles and broke bones when it trapped his foot in the space between a step and the sidewall of the escalator. "In essence, his foot was completely crushed and destroyed," said Leslie Chaggaris, one of the family's lawyers.

"Eventually a bystander was able to activate an emergency stop button, but not until (the boy) had traveled almost the entire distance between floors while his foot was painfully trapped in the moving escalator," the suit alleges. The boy spent two days at a Honolulu hospital after emergency surgery and received additional surgeries at home in Texas.

Escalator Risk

The parents have also named the Hilton resort in the lawsuit, claiming the hotel negligently maintained the escalator's safety. Under premises liability, property owners are responsible for ensuring things like escalators are working properly. And because they're designed to transport people, some courts have upheld a high standard of safety for owners and operators of escalators.

If you've been injured on an escalator, or due to a poorly designed product, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area. Many are happy to offer a free consultation.

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More than 4,000 items in alcohol-related cases across the state were analyzed incorrectly by Michigan State Police's Forensic Science Division, officials said today.They were processed, in part, using an incorrect calibration model, according to a letter from an official with the MSP Forensic Science Division that was attached to a news release issued by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office."There were no cases originally reported near Michigan's legal Blood Alcohol limit of 0.080 g/dL that have amended results that move them across this threshold in either direction," MSP spokeswoman Shanon Banner said in an email to the Free Press.The cases occurred from December 2015 to April 2016 and were reprocessed in June, according to the letter from the state police's forensic science division. Not all the alcohol-related cases during that time period were affected and about 2,000 cases didn't require any correction, MSP officials said.Further review showed "the results for some cases were incorrect by a range of -.002 g/dL to +.004 g/dL," the letter said.Luther Glenn, president pro tem for the Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association, said he wants to see those findings confirmed by a neutral third party.Many alcohol-related cases are prosecuted by city attorneys, not the county prosecutor's office.The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said that of the 402 affected cases in Wayne County, 89 were prosecuted, or are being prosecuted, by its office.They sent letters to attorneys representing defendants and included corrected results from MSP, prosecutors said in a news release today informing the media of the error. The prosecutor's office also will send letters to attorneys with cases where MSP determined the results were unchanged."We will work cooperatively to resolve any issues that arise from the information received from the Michigan State Police Forensic Services Division," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. "If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Appellate Division at 313-224-5790. "
Body camera footage of a fatal police shooting that sparked unrest in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood will not be released until the Milwaukee County district attorney makes a charging decision, Attorney General Brad Schimel said Monday.Schimel said the body camera footage would not answer all the questions about what happened during the interaction that led to the fatal police shooting. The release of the footage could compromise the investigation, he said.Three officers were on the scene quickly and two of them were wearing body cameras; those officers have not viewed any of the footage, he said. All three have undergone initial interviews and were cooperative, he said."The investigation is ongoing and it is done only when the prosecutor is satisfied that the investigators have given them all we can," Schimel said. "That means until a charging decision is final there could always be follow-up."Schimel is head of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is leading the probe into the fatal shooting at the request of Milwaukee police and in compliance with a 2014 state law requiring outside investigation of officer-involved deaths.According to preliminary information provided by city officials, Sylville Smith was shot when he ran from a traffic stop about 3:30 p.m. Aug. 13. Police Chief Edward Flynn has said body camera footage shows Smith was armed and turning toward Officer Dominique Heaggan, who then opened fire. That footage has not been released publicly. Unlike other controversial police shootings around the country, both the officer and the suspect were black."Release of the videos would compromise the integrity of the investigation," Schimel said."We do not want to create the worst-case scenario: That the DA determines that charges might be appropriate and then cannot complete a successful investigation because we let the investigation get compromised," he later added.An autopsy showed Smith suffered one gunshot wound to the chest and one gunshot wound to the right arm, the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office said Friday.The fatal police shooting touched off two nights of violent unrest in the Sherman Park neighborhood, which many observers said had its roots in decades of systematic problems including segregation and poverty.During those two nights, eight businesses were torched, at least six squad cars were damaged, at least four officers were injured and two teens were wounded in separate shootings. Three people have been charged in connection with looting at a liquor store. Authorities estimate the damage at several millions of dollars.Schimel urged the public to have patience, saying the investigation will be expedited but not rushed. Thirteen state agents responded to the scene and the investigation is a "top priority," he said. The state's crime lab investigators wore body armor and were delayed by the violent unrest after the shooting, he said.Crime lab analysts are working to examine DNA evidence on the gun recovered and comparing it with a federal database to determine if it had been linked to any other cases, Schimel said. Authorities have said the gun was reported stolen after a burglary in March at a home in the Town of Genesee in Waukesha County.Schimel also acknowledged some agents with the Division of Criminal Investigation are former members of the Milwaukee Police Department, which has more than 1,800 sworn officers. Those who are hired are experienced investigators, oftentimes retired detectives from the department, he said."The likelihood that there would be some relationship between a particular patrol officer, who is going to be much younger than an experienced detective, and that detective is small, and if there is any relationship at all that investigator would not be permitted to have any role in the investigation," Schimel said.(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)The family of Dontre Hamilton, who was shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer in 2014, raised concerns when they learned at least half of the Department of Justice agents and a top supervisor responsible for the state's investigation into Hamilton's death had long careers with the Milwaukee Police Department before joining the Department of Justice.One of the state lawmakers who sponsored the legislation requiring independent officer-involved deaths also expressed concern that the Justice Department did not truly lead the probe into Hamilton's death and instead primarily reviewed reports from the Milwaukee Police Department, which did the bulk of the work.Hamilton was fatally shot April 30, 2014. The state turned over its investigative reports to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm in early August, more than three months later. Chisholm announced his decision not to charge the officer in late December.Asked if this case would follow a similar timeline, Schimel said: "We are very optimistic that this will move much faster."(END OPTIONAL TRIM)During the news conference, Schimel expressed sympathy for Smith's family, saying, "No one would want to trade places with them.""They have some distrust of the system and that is understandable under the circumstances," he said of the family.Smith, 23, who had been arrested multiple times but had never been convicted of a felony, could legally possess a gun. His family has said he was a concealed-carry permit holder. He is survived by a 2-year-old son.Heaggan, 24, who began his career as a police aide in 2010 and became a sworn officer three years later, was recognized by the Police Department in 2014 for helping a homeless woman. No citizen has ever filed a complaint against him with the city's Fire and Police Commission.He is facing widespread threats on social media, and at a news conference the day after the shooting Flynn said the officer was out of town for his own safety.In other developments Monday, Mayor Tom Barrett rescinded a 10 p.m. citywide curfew for people younger than 18 that he imposed after violence in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood. The curfew was announced Aug. 16 after two nights of violence sparked by the shooting.Separately, Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. announced Sherman Park, part of the county's park system, would be closed between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. That order remains in effect.Also Monday, funeral services for Smith were announced for Friday. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until noon, followed by a service at Christian Faith Fellowship Church in Milwaukee. The Rev. Jesse Jackson will speak at the service, the civil rights leader's Chicago office confirmed.
On Monday, in the morning, at Holy Spirt School, New Farm, during Book Week 2016, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC addressed assembly and then read to students and staff Mem Foxs Possum Magic.
Description

GIS  23 August 2016: A workshop to promote the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development ( TICAD VI) and discuss the training needs for Mauritius for the year 2017 was held yesterday at Le Sirius Labourdonnais Hotel, Port Louis at the joint initiative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Ministry of Civil Service and Administration Reforms.

The objective of the workshop was to sensitise and share information with representatives of different Ministries/Departments relating to the promotion of TICAD VI which will be held on 27-28 August 2016 in Nairobi and to discuss on the training needs of some key ministries.

Participants also had discussions on the African Business Education Initiative which was launched at the TICAD in 2013. This initiative aims at enabling young African people from both public and private sectors to foster industrial expansion in their home countries, and to encourage more business partnerships between Japan and Africa.

JICAs presence in Mauritius

JICAs assistance to Mauritius dates back to early 1980s for the construction of the Albion Fisheries Research Centre in addition to several technical cooperation projects in the field of aquaculture. Within the framework of TICAD, Japanese Technical Cooperation has a focus on the following sectors in so far as Mauritius is concerned: Fisheries; Environment and Climate Change; Disaster Risk Reduction; Renewable Energy; and Wastewater Management.

Japan has been providing valuable support to the Ministries/Departments concerned in regard to numerous projects, among others, in coastal protection and rehabilitation programme; landslide management programme; and various projects in the fisheries sector.

Moreover, with a view to establishing a more efficient meteorological observation system for Mauritius, Japan is currently providing substantial support for the installation of a Meteorological Doppler Radar System and the construction of a radar tower at Trou aux Cerfs. This highly sophisticated radar system will be a vital tool in advance meteorological projection in the future. It is expected to be operational in by end 2017.

Other important areas in which JICA has been active are:

 Grand Baie Sewerage Project to the tune of 7 billion Yen which aims at improving sewerage treatment by connecting approximately 6000 houses to the existing treatment plan in the Grand Baie area.

 Technical Advice for water treatment process engineering to the tune of 47 million Yen. The objective of the project is to improve techniques on operation and maintenance of water treatment plants with a view to having safer and better quality of potable water.

 Construction of the Fisheries Training and Extension Centre (FiTEC) at Pointe aux Sables. The Centre has been at the forefront in providing training to enhance development in fisheries sector for Mauritius.
(TNS)  There is no doubt that texting while driving is dangerous, but Texas remains one of only four states without a law banning the practice  and changing that scenario will be an uphill battle when the Legislature returns in January.The Texas Senate, where anti-texting bills were defeated in 2013 and 2015, is poised to remain hostile territory in the 2017 session. Much of the opposition has solidified around the Legislatures most conservative Republicans, who are leery of broadening police powers and see anti-texting laws as furthering an intrusive, nanny state government.State Sen. Konni Burton, R-Colleyville, vowed to renew last sessions successful effort to block a texting ban from getting a vote on the Senate floor.We currently have a number of laws on the books for hazardous driving which provide sufficient cause for law enforcement to stop a motorist, she said, adding that efforts should focus on educating drivers rather than embrace the unintended, and unwanted, consequences of criminalizing the use of a device.Advocates promise an equally focused effort to prohibit drivers from sending and receiving text messages, citing reports that claim the practice is twice as dangerous as driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08  the legal limit for driving while intoxicated.We will continue to fight for this issue because, quite honestly, were losing too many fellow citizens needlessly to distracted driving, state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, said at a recent Austin policy summit, sponsored by AAA Texas, meant to build support for laws to combat driver distractions, including text messaging.On the surface, a texting ban is the type of bill that sails through the Legislature.The proposed law has passionate supporters who repeatedly travel to the Capitol to provide heart-wrenching testimony about spouses, siblings and children lost to a driver distracted by a text message, phone call or other cellphone use. Its the kind of real-life narrative that converts politicians into supporters, and several legislators have credited victims families with changing their minds on the issue.A texting ban also has widespread support from powerful allies, including law enforcement groups, insurance companies, major cellphone corporations, the Texas Medical Association and Texas Hospital Association.Emerging studies indicate that such laws save lives and reduce crashes, and polls show general public support for limiting the use of cellphones and other hand-held devices by drivers.Even so, the closest Texas came to enacting a texting ban was in 2011, when it was amended onto a popular bill and approved with minimal dissent  only to be vetoed by then-Gov. Rick Perry, who called the proposed law a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.In 2013, a bill imposing a fine of up to $100 for reading, writing or sending a text while driving  though not when the vehicle was stopped  passed the House, 97-45, but didnt get a vote in a Senate committee. 2015 version also easily passed the House and got a boost when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick  who now supports a texting ban after voting against it as a senator in 2011  moved the bill into a new committee, where it was approved. However, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, needed support from 19 senators to get a Senate vote but could line up only 18: all 11 Democrats and seven Republicans.It wont get easier in 2017. Zaffirini lost one Republican supporter with the retirement of Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler. Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, who is running for Eltifes seat and has no Democratic opponent, voted against texting bans in 2013 and 2015.Another soon-to-be senator also voted against a texting ban in 2015  state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, who has no Republican opponent in his bid to replace Sen. Rodney Ellis, a texting-ban supporter who will soon become a Harris County commissioner.Hughes and Miles didnt return calls seeking comment.The difficult landscape wont deter Zaffirini and state Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, who have said that passing a texting ban remains a priority.Supporters also enter the 2017 legislative session believing they have better answers to a common question: Do anti-texting laws work?AT&T Corp., for example, says a study of its cellphone network found motorists in Texas, Arizona, Montana and Missouri  the four states without anti-texting laws  were 17 percent more likely to send a text while driving than residents of the other 46 states.Research by Alva Ferdinand, a Texas A&M University assistant professor of health policy and management, found states with a texting ban had a 3 percent reduction in fatalities and a 7 percent reduction in accidents that required hospitalization.Should a ban go into effect in Texas, we would expect to see 90 lives saved per year, she said.Two points stood out from the studies, Ferdinand said: The type of ban mattered. Safety improved if laws allowed police to pull over drivers seen using a hand-held device, but anti-texting laws that require officers to ticket only motorists pulled over for other offenses made things worse  encouraging such dangerous behavior as using phones hidden in laps, which takes eyes off the road for longer periods, Ferdinand said.States where you have to be caught doing something else first is where you are seeing some slight increases in fatalities, she said. Age matters. Texting bans reduce fatal and injury accidents for 15- to 21-year-olds, but the greatest safety improvements came for drivers aged 22 to 64 when laws go further by banning the use of any hand-held electronic device behind the wheel.For the longest time, we were blaming the young drivers, but (older drivers), the more experienced drivers, feel they have what it takes to compensate for the fact that they are distracted, Ferdinand said.Currently, Texas law prohibits drivers under age 18 from texting behind the wheel, and all drivers are banned from texting or using cellphones in school zones.At least 95 Texas cities have passed ordinances outlawing a range of distracting behaviors  from simple bans on texting to prohibitions on any hand-held electronic device while driving  including Austin, Bee Cave, Buda, Kyle, Lakeway, Liberty Hill, Lockhart, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Sunset Valley, West Lake Hills and Wimberley, according to AAA Texas.The hodgepodge of laws can be confusing for drivers, but officials in cities such as Austin want to ensure that their more comprehensive bans arent superseded by state law  a major reason why the proposed 2015 bill specified that a statewide texting ban wouldnt pre-empt stricter city ordinances.Austin has banned the use of electronic devices while driving since 2015 after discovering that a previous texting-only ban was unenforceable because motorists could say they were checking GPS, looking up a number or performing any other nontexting action.Austin police issued 5,122 tickets in 2015 and almost 3,500 in the first seven months of this year. There is no data yet showing the impact of the Austin ordinance, but Bianca Bentzin, chief of the citys prosecution division, believes it has been effective.People tell us that we dont see many second offenses, Bentzin told the AAA Texas distracted-driving summit on Aug. 10. This is usually habitual behavior. Were not hearing a lot of, This is terrible, I cant believe this law exists.  People are agreeing that this is needed.Texas A&M Universitys Center for Transportation Safety sent observers to 190 intersections across the state in February and March 2015. Of almost 32,000 drivers observed: 5 percent were talking on a phone 3.5 percent were textingThe numbers were down slightly from 2014, when 5.9 percent of drivers were on phones and 3.7 percent were texting.Source: TxDOTEXPERT REPORTINGAmerican-Statesman Capitol reporter Chuck Lindell has covered legal affairs for the past decade. He also covers the Texas Senate.2016 Austin American-Statesman, TexasVisit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) -- The cyberattack threatened to permanently encrypt a Rhode Island police departments computer data. Years of arrest records were at risk of being lost forever.At the time of the crisis, about two years ago, hackers were making great forward leaps in their use of "ransomware," which hackers use to lock down data before requesting ransom.But in this case, the hackers were foiled by Rhode Islands Cyber Disruption Team, a panel of more than 30 cyberexperts from law enforcement, academia and the private sector who work together to protect networks and defeat attackers. In short, someone on the disruption team knew how to write the necessary code to save the files and defeat the attack, says state police Capt. John Alfred.Although Alfred wont say too much more about the case, he stresses that it exemplifies the type of information-sharing that state police hope to cultivate on a much larger scale.The sharing of cyberintelligence between government security agencies and non-government entities is a new frontier  another progression  in the wave of intelligence-sharing that followed the terrorist attacks of September 2001, says the superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, Col. Steven G. ODonnell."Twenty five years ago, the number one priority was... La Cosa Nostra for the state police detective bureau... the No. 1 priority for the state police in 2016 is cyber," O'Donnell says.After 9/11, the coordination focused on getting government agencies on the same page. Now, says ODonnell, state police are working to develop stronger ties with companies, universities and others who are heavily invested in efforts to protect networks from cyberattack."They get information all the time about their own... cyberthreats and all the hacking that goes on within their business structures," ODonnell says. "...The information that we look at from a law enforcement perspective may be really helpful to them and the information they can provide us can be very helpful to us."Last spring, ODonnell combined the state police computer crimes unit and the fusion center, a state police-run intelligence-sharing entity.The computer crimes unit, previously part of the organizations detective unit, had formed about 10 years ago, with its responsibilities and workload growing ever since.The fusion center had evolved from a post-9/11 entity focused on sharing of homeland security-related intelligence to an entity that handled analysis and exchange of information regarding all sorts of criminal matters beyond terrorism.In late April, both units were put under the command of Alfred.And in June, state lawmakers allocated funding to hire three civilian staffers to join Alfreds team.ODonnell says the changes should help state police expand on the previous efforts of the Cyber Disruption Team and increase outreach.- Some businesses and other entities can benefit from public education campaigns designed to spread the word about the best ways to guard computer networks, according to Alfred.In May, for example, members of the Cyber Disruption Team gave presentations about securing cyber assets to the representatives of 32 Rhode Island cities and towns."Eighty-five percent of computer problems can be stopped by having proper computer hygiene," Alfred saysSome non-government entities, who have much to lose in a cyberattack, already staff their own teams of highly skilled specialists.Some of these specialists have the necessary expertise and government security clearances to work quite closely with Alfreds team. This can make it possible for their companies to benefit from the latest intelligence on cyberthreats, which course through a secure portal in the fusion center.Such sharing is already happening, just not on the scale that O'Donnell hopes to see in the near future.He envisions a specialist from a large company such as Raytheon working closely with Alfreds team, perhaps even keeping a desk at state police headquarters in Scituate."If you can prevent a $2-million loss, why wouldnt you do that?" ODonnell says. "If that means you have to pony somebody up two days a week, Im going to do that if Im a CEO.""If were all talking to each other on a daily basis or bi-daily basis or weekly and were all on a task force together, much more information is shared," he says.Already, members of the Cyber Disruption Team, including representatives of companies such as National Grid, CVS, Lifespan, some banks and universities, meet on a monthly basis, Alfred says.ODonnell says he cant give a more comprehensive list without seeking permission from the participants.Tim Horan, president of National Grid Rhode Island, said the utility company has a team of specialists who have the right skills and tools to look after cybersecurity.These specialists, said Horan, can increase their collaboration with state police and the cyber disruption team if thats called for. Such networking, he says, "is the right thing to do.""Its an area thats changing every day," Horan said. "What were doing now and whats affecting us a year from now will be different.""The bottom line is the attacks are out there," he said. "They are increasing. They are getting more sophisticated."
(TNS)  NEW YORK  Donald Trump outlasted more than a dozen competitors to win the Republican presidential nomination and face off against Democrat Hillary Clinton  except, as it turns out, he doesnt even see her as his most significant opponent.Im not running against Crooked Hillary, Trump said at a Fairfield, Conn., rally last Saturday. Im running against the crooked media. Thats what Im running against.A Bloomberg Politics analysis of Trumps Twitter messages during his campaign shows how true that is. Searching Trumps roughly 5,000 tweets and retweets since his June 2015 launch for mentions of 25 major media organizations (listed below), Bloomberg Politics found nearly 1,000 examples through Friday morning. Of those, 256 messages were critical, and together they garnered more than 875,000 retweets and 2.4 million likes. Over the same period, Trump sent just 140 tweets attacking Clinton. Those got more than 1.2 million retweets and more than 3.3 million likes.A partys leading presidential candidate isnt really expected to focus on his or her general-election opponent until after the primary is over, and Trump didnt clinch his nomination until May. But his focus on the media is still unmistakable, and its a building block for his dubious argument that the election may be rigged against him. (Its also likely to intensify, if Trumps hiring of the antagonistic Breitbart News chairman Stephen Bannon is any indication.)The five primary targets of Trumps ire since he announced his candidacy are, in his own words:The failing and dishonest New York Times, with 53 attacks (including 37 since January)Ratings-challenged and biased CNN, with 52 attacks (including 14 so far in August)Unfair Fox News, with 46 attacks (most of which were back in 2015)The wrong Wall Street Journal, with 23 attacks, No credibility and dishonest Politico, with 17 attacks. Trumps anti-media Twitter campaigns can be sorted into several categories. Many were counterattacks against specific coverage, such as a May 14 New York Times front-page story headlined Crossing the Line: Trumps Private Conduct With Women, after which Trump sent out no fewer than 16 tweets.Some were vehicles to attack longtime enemies, such as New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman, whom Trump repeatedly described as dopey and little. Others were gripes about the medias perceived bias, including several tweets that labeled CNN as the Clinton News Network.Others were attempts to undermine unfavorable polls, which Trump dubbed phony. He leveled that charge several times against polling partners NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. In the case of Fox News, many of Trumps attacks have been directed at specific journalists (e.g., Megyn Kelly) or not-so-subtle suggestions that the network drop certain unfriendly pundits (Karl Rove).Since March, however, Trump has largely changed his tune on Fox News, whose recently departed CEO, Roger Ailes, Trump calls a longtime friend. Trump has attacked or criticized the network only two times on Twitter while praising it six times.Trump has praised and criticized Bloomberg Politics journalists, the Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll, and Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent company Bloomberg LP, who has endorsed Clinton. (In keeping with the overall methodology, only attacks mentioning Bloombergs corporate Twitter handles or referring to the media arm were included in the analysis.)While Trump has kept up a steady stream of attacks against the media since entering the race, he has actually sent out a lot fewer tweets mentioning major outlets overall. In particular, the number of times hes cited media polls or upcoming TV appearances has fallen from around 50 tweets in October and December to five in July and just two so far in August (in which he promoted Wednesdays Fox News town hall-style event with him).Twitter feuds arent Trumps only response to the media, and theres likely more where that came from. One factor working to his advantage: In an era of distrust of many American institutions, the media are no exception. As Thomas Patterson, a professor at Harvards Kennedy School of Government, recently told ABC News, Its one of those things where truth is in the eye of the beholder, and trust in the media has dropped so far that a lot of people dont trust the messenger.The full list of media organizations in the analysis includes:National newspapers:New York City dailies:Broadcast TV news networks:Cable TV news networks:Newswires:Political news or aggregation sites:Magazines:
I'm running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion. H https://t.co/w8Hoe1pbtC  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 12, 2015

Every non-hyperbolic tweet is from iPhone (his staff). Every hyperbolic tweet is from Android (from him). pic.twitter.com/GWr6D8h5ed  Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri) August 6, 2016

(TNS) -- August is a busy month for the aides running the presidential nominees' Twitter accounts.It is typically a lull period for campaigns: The conventions are over, and early voting is still a ways off. But in 2016, Twitter is a key tool in promoting a candidate's messages and attacking an opponent.Candidates are able to speak to the public in a more direct and interactive way with Twitter, said Dr. Janet Johnson, a University of Texas at Dallas clinical assistant professor who studies political rhetoric on the social media platform.But running a campaign account requires a small army of staffers who can channel the voice, tone and tweet structure of their candidates and do so round the clock.Many campaigns make it very clear when the candidate tweets. Clinton staffers create photos, videos and polls to connect with voters. But Hillary Clinton, @HillaryClinton , signs the tweets she authors with "- H."The fingers doing the typing on Trump's bombastic Twitter presence, @realDonaldTrump , often belong to Trump himself, but his staffers do their share, too.But Trump does not sign the tweets he writes the same way Clinton does, Johnson said.According to an analysis by Stack Overflow's David Robinson, tweets that are posted by Trump himself come from an Android phone. Those from his staff are posted on an iPhone.The tweets come at different times of the day and use hashtags, links and retweets in distinct ways. "What's more, we can see that the Android tweets are angrier and more negative, while the iPhone tweets tend to be benign announcements and pictures," Robinson wrote on his blog. Johnson, the UTD professor, said she sees Trump's Twitter presence as a performance that relies on his reality TV background."Americans enjoy seeing what is next with Trump," Johnson said. "Im not sure that the 10.2 million followers are potential voters  I think they are an audience for him."Johnson said that when the campaigns engage with other Twitter users by favoriting or retweeting, it's a zero-cost way to acknowledge a potential voter."You feel a connection," she said, but it is unclear if that will be enough to get the person to the polls."The internet will never elect a president," Johnson said. "It will always come down to the fundamental questions: What does a candidate believe in, and what are the issues that you care about?"
Liberal Politics from the Heart of Bluegrass Country
In 1976 a television crew discovered a mummified corpse in a California funhouse. Unbelievably, an investigation revealed that it belonged to an Oklahoma outlaw who had been shot by sheriff's deputies in 1911 and whose remains had been traveling the country ever since. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll trace the postmortem odyssey of Elmer McCurdy, "the bandit who wouldn't give up."

We'll also reflect on a Dutch artist's disappearance and puzzle over some mysterious hospital deaths.

Show notes

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TEHRAN (AFP): Iran released images of its first domestically built long-range missile defence system on Sunday, a project started when the country was under international sanctions.



Images on multiple state news agencies showed President Hassan Rouhani and Minister of Defence Hossein Dehghan standing in front of the new Bavar 373 missile defence system.



The system was designed to intercept cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft and ballistic missiles, according to earlier statements by Dehghan.



The project was launched as an alternative to the Russian S-300 system, the delivery of which was suspended in 2010 due to sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear programme.



"We did not intend to make an Iranian version of the S-300 -- we wanted to build an Iranian system, and we built it," Dehghan told the IRNA news agency over the weekend.



In an earlier speech at Friday prayers, he said: "Our missile power is at such a level that we are able to destroy all our targets at any operational range."



Rouhani said in a televised speech on Sunday that Iran's military budget had more than doubled compared with last year.



"If we are able to discuss with world powers around the negotiating table, it is because of our national strength, because of our national unity," he said.



Rouhani also unveiled the first Iranian-made turbo-jet engine, saying it was capable of flight at 50,000 feet.



"The Islamic republic is one of eight countries in the world who have mastered the technology to build these engines," the president said.



Dehghan added that Iran was now looking to develop seaborne cruise missiles capable of supersonic speed.



In 2015, shortly before the conclusion of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme, Moscow re-authorised the delivery of the S-300 system in a move criticised by the United States and Israel.



Iran's army said in May that it was now equipped with the S-300 system, though further parts are due over the coming months.



The new Bavar 373 has Iran's first vertical launcher, using Sayad 3 missiles that were first tested in September 2014.


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About Censored News Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell. Since 2006, Censored News has received more than 20 million pageviews. As a collective of writers, photographers and broadcasters, we publish news of Indigenous Peoples and human rights. Contact publisher Brenda Norrell: brendanorrell@gmail.com

From the publisher Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a journalist in Indian country for 40 years. Norrell created Censored News after she was censored and terminated as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today in 2006. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the mainstream media for 14 years. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com

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Activities

John F. Germ, president of Rotary International, honored the Rotary Club of Greensboro on the service organizations 100th anniversary, appearing at various events and venues.

Germ visited the International Civil Rights Center & Museum at 134 S. Elm St. in Greensboro, where on Jan. 27, 1917, the first Rotary Club of Greensboro met when then Guilford Hotel occupied the site.

In 1930, F.W. Woolworth acquired the property to relocate its Greensboro store, where the 1960 sit-ins made history.

Greensboro Rotary is working with the museum to install a historic marker, stating: On this site January 27, 1917, in what was then the Guilford Hotel, the Rotary Club of Greensboro held its first meeting. The hotel was razed in 1930 to make way for the F.W. Woolworth building you see now, presently occupied by the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

***

Young Leaders United, a program of the United Way of Greater High Point, met Aug. 11 at The Salvation Army of High Point to organize school supplies and prepare 51 backpacks for local students in need.

Young Leaders United representatives used school supplies donated to The Salvation Army by community members to fill each backpack with school supplies.

The group will host a social event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Brown Truck Brewery, 1234 N. Main St. in High Point.

For information, email Brittany Burton at Brittany.Burton @unitedwayhp.org.

Announcements

The Triad Chapter of the North Carolina Native Plant Society will meet at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Library, 1420 Price Park Drive in Greensboro.

Lisa Tompkins, a society member and a landscape designer and owner of Carolina Heritage Nursery in Waxhaw, will present the program, Along the Roadside: Unappreciated Botanical Treasure. She will share her pictures and findings of plants and plant combinations seen along North Carolinas roads.

For information, contact Judy West at (336) 431-9322 or visit www.ncwildflower.org.

Awards

The Friend O Rose Garden Club of Gibsonville selected the home of Kim and Zane Cooper, at 704 Timberlake Drive, as Yard of the Month for August.

Five years ago when the Coopers moved there, the property was overgrown with shrubs. Today it has been transformed into a beautiful yard. The walkway is lined with flowerbeds of candy tuft, gerbera daisies and liriope.
RALEIGH  The nations largest electric company is negotiating with North Carolinas environment agency over a $6.6 million fine to punish Duke Energy for a big spill of liquefied coal ash.

Attorneys for both sides said delaying Mondays scheduled hearing may help resolve the disputed fine for polluting the Dan River in 2014. Duke Energy Corp. has called the proposed fine disproportionate and arbitrary.

Spokeswomen for the company and the state Department of Environmental Quality declined comment on the scope of the negotiations.

Duke Energy also objected last year when the agency sought an unprecedented $25 million fine for persistent groundwater pollution at the closed Sutton power plant in Wilmington.

The agency later reduced that fine to $7 million and agreed it would cover groundwater contamination at all 14 coal-burning Duke Energy plants in North Carolina. Environmental groups called that a sweetheart deal for the company where Republican Pat McCrory had worked for nearly three decades before running for governor.

McCrorys environmental agency said it was forced to reduce the fine because of a policy adopted under McCrorys Democratic predecessor that favors offenders taking corrective action over paying fines.

Attorneys for Duke Energy  a $57 billion corporation in terms of market capitalization  said DEQ has again exceeded its authority in an effort to ratchet up the Dan River penalty to a newsworthy amount.

North Carolina officials began pursuing stronger regulations and enforcement of coal ash after a pipe burst at a holding pit at Duke Energys power plant in Eden in 2014, coating 70 miles of the Dan River in more than 30,000 tons of sludge.

Coal ash  whats left after burning coal for electricity  can contain toxic chemicals including arsenic, chromium and lead.

Duke Energy denies that the 112 million tons of coal ash in its 33 storage pits are polluting water supplies. But it did admit to violations related to the Dan River spill when it pleaded guilty to federal pollution misdemeanors in May 2015 and agreed to pay $102 million in fines and restitution, the state agency said.

The state is proposing daily penalties dating back to January 2012 for these pollution violations. The company says thats improper.

The Dan River spill, the third-largest in U.S. history, pushed North Carolina legislators to force the company to stop storing coal ash in unlined pits by 2029. New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules that took effect last year are expected to force similar cleanup at coal ash pits around the country.

The companys challenge of its state Dan River fine is being heard by Administrative Law Judge Phil Berger Jr. Hes the son of North Carolinas Senate leader, Republican Phil Berger, who lives in Eden.
Blaming Washington and trade deals for job losses in manufacturing is only pointing to the tools used, not to the root cause. No one seems to know what Wall Streets role is. Cost/benefit analysis was known as early as 1911. In Dodge v. Ford Motor Co. (1919), the Michigan Supreme Court said corporations were created to maximize profits. But the 1970s were when the bean counters began running companies. These best and brightest, as David Halberstam called them, didnt know how to make things, only money. Cost-cutting was the Holy Grail.

In Detroit, car guys no longer were in charge; accountants were. Innovation was frowned on, R&D cut to the bone. All decisions were determined by the bottom line and Wall Streets demand for quarter-over-quarter increases in profits. The off-shoring of jobs was demanded by Wall Street, not directly but by the relentless drive for more cost-cutting, so shareholder value could be increased  and so Wall Street bankers could make more money.

Start-ups now resist going public because they can innovate without interference from Wall Street. America lost its edge so Goldman Sachs and others could profit.

Sandi Campbell

Siler City
When Donald Trump said, I will always tell you the truth, he obviously didnt mean he had been or was doing so, rather that he would begin to sometime after hes destroyed Americas credibility and military power, legal system and economy. Trump couldnt finish his Charlotte speech without repeating lies such as the percentage of unemployed black youth. When speaking of families who had lost loved ones, he said, She (Clinton) doesnt even care, narrowly evading that callous lie by adding, Im convinced, making it all about himself as usual and letting his audience know that their loyalty to him was their honor, truth be damned.
Despite an arrest on child endangerment charges and his resignation earlier this year, the former longtime treasurer of the Connecticut Republicans has received more than $4,000 in pay for the last four months, federal election records show.

Gary Schaffrick received nine paychecks totaling $4,275 since his March 28 resignation from his unpaid treasurers post and his paid back-office job with the state GOP, according to the Federal Election Commission. The most recent payment for $475 was dated July 21.

The Bristol resident was charged on March 6 in his home city with one count of risk of injury and impairing the morals of a minor, a felony, for allegedly taking a bath naked with a 5-year-old boy who is a family acquaintance.

State Republican Party boss J.R. Romano said Monday that the party has severed all ties with Schaffrick, but would not elaborate on the payments, which were marked as payroll on FEC reports.

Hes not an employee, Romano said. Hes no longer at the party.

Schaffricks Bristol-based lawyer, Jodi Zils Gagne, did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Schaffricks next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday in state Superior Court in Bristol.

Paul Rotiroti, the prosecutor in the case, said Monday that he could not discuss the matter because the charge is still pending. In May, the Bristol Press reported that Schaffrick was turned down for a first-time offender program that allows defendants to avoid a conviction.

In the police report, investigators say he openly bragged to relatives about how much he enjoyed bath time with a 5-year-old during sleepovers at Schaffricks residence. Schaffrick took baths with the boy and put him in his lap while both were nude, according to the warrant, which said the two sometimes shared a bed.

The charge of risk of injury to a minor covers a range of offenses, from supplying a child with alcohol, cigarettes or pornographic material to inappropriate sexual contact. The latter carries a minimum penalty of five years in prison for cases involving minors under the age of 13.

In addition to serving as elected treasurer, Schaffrick was a paid employee of the party and earned about $10,000 a year helping the party leaders with logistics and record keeping.

He also served on the Republican State Central Committee, but is no longer on the 72-member governing body of the party, according to Romano. In April, Schaffrick traveled to Cleveland as part of the state GOPs preparations for the national convention in July, which he did not attend. The move rankled some members of the GOP.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
GREENWICH  Greenwich residents who have a hard time leaving their home no longer need to feel isolated, thanks to an innovative online video support group project started at Jewish Family Services of Greenwich.

The program, the Online Video Support Group Project, has received interest from other medical institutions in the country that deal with patients from various illnesses that impair their ability to travel to physical, in-person support groups.

Grieving doesnt just happen on Thursdays at 10:30, said Lisa-Loraine Smith, executive director of Jewish Family Services of Greenwich. The original idea was to do a 24-hour service, but we realized quickly that was very expensive and we couldnt do that. People need a community, they want to connect. Technology is a great way to connect.

Patrons of the three pilot support groups see a screen split with live images of all the different members, so they can see their reactions and hear them speak in real time as if they were all in the room together. Smith said it sort of looks like the opening credits from the Brady Bunch.

Each session has a moderator, and at Jewish Family Services of Greenwich the cost is similar for online support groups as for in-person ones, and different for each support group.

JFS offers four different online options and fees: A six-week group for caregivers and another for the chronically ill cost $120; a four-week group for children of Holocaust survivors costs $80, and drop in rates for those who only want one session from either of the three online groups at $25 each.

Some in-person support groups are free because of sponsorships from donors, Smith said. They are looking for donors to sponsor online sessions as well.

Smith said the idea came in the months following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, when someone came to her and mentioned how online programming would reach much farther than their current range of services.

They began to reach out to various populations who couldnt get out easily, and one of the first ones that gained traction was the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, support group.

They forged a relationship with a Jewish Family Services group in New Jersey, and helped them establish a similar program. Since then, organizations from as far afield as Wyoming have asked for help facilitating their own online support groups.

Smith said they just help with the technical side, and the organizations provide their own moderators.

Were really there to hold peoples hand and say look, you can do it, Smith said.

Over time, JFS realized some populations were better fit for the new program than others. Smith said younger groups tended to catch on better than the elderly, which is why they offer online groups for the chronically ill and children of Holocaust survivors but others, like the living well in later life support group, are still offered in person at their facility.

Still, Smith said, the success of the program with those they were able to reach has been a positive thing.

These people wouldnt be able to connect with the community, and thats really what support group services are all about, to make you realize you arent alone, Smith said. I think its been a great opportunity for you to branch out and meet people from all over and see how this can impact us in a positive way.

pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss
Business / Economy

by APO

The African Institute for Remittances (AIR) on 12 August 2016 concluded in Harare, Zimbabwe, a three-day Consultative and Stock-Taking workshop with African Central Banks, partners and other stakeholders on Remittances in the African Union Member StatesHARARE - The African Institute for Remittances (AIR) on 12 August 2016 concluded in Harare, Zimbabwe, a three-day Consultative and Stock-Taking workshop with African Central Banks, partners and other stakeholders on Remittances in the African Union Member States. The workshop was organized by AIR, with the support of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, aimed at: (1) raising awareness on the Mandate and Function of the Institute and (2) take stock of levels of advancement of AU Member States in their legal and regulatory frameworks and remittances data measurement, compilation and reporting methods so as to define/design necessary programmes for capacity building and technical assistances.The workshop was attended by 19 National and regional Central banks, representing 25 AU Member States. In his welcoming remarks, the Interim Executive Director of AIR, Mr. Amadou Cisse, recalled the main objectives of the Institute, which are to (1) lower the cost of sending money to and within Africa, (2) improve the remittances data measurement, compiling and reporting systems in the AU Member States and (3) leveraging the social and economic impact of remittances in Africa.Ambassador Olawale Maiyegun, Director, Department of Social Affairs, in his opening remarks, highlighted that remittances, apart from its economic impact, should be seen from the point of view of its significant contributions on improving the livelihood of beneficiary families and as a gateway to financial inclusion agenda in Africa.He drew particular attention to the increasing number of Women as senders of remittances; and as recipients "Women make better use of remittances than Men", the Director said. The workshop was also addressed by Dr. Mpulo, Director External Reserves Management, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.The workshop was an opportunity for Central Banks and other stakeholders to share their experiences and challenges on remittances data measurement, compiling and reporting systems as well as on remittances markets legal and regulatory frameworks.The workshop also allowed AIR to identify gaps in these areas that would enable the Institute to start engaging a few of African countries towards addressing the main challenges to improve remittances data accuracy and make African remittances markets more competitive and efficient. Going forward, AIR in collaboration with African Central Banks and Partners, will design TA programmes for specific countries where gaps are identified.
Dismissed. Photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Starbucks has prevailed in one of the slew of current lawsuits arguing it deceptively underfills drinks. On Friday, a U.S. District Court rejected a California customers claim that Starbucks purposefully puts too much ice in so it can misrepresent the amount of actual liquid. The dismissal still leaves the near-identical lawsuit filed earlier in Illinois, but the company surely welcomes one fewer piece of pending litigation impugning its ice-filling practices.

The idea behind plaintiff Alexander Forouzeshs suit was that Starbucks instructs baristas to fill the liquid in iced drinks up to a preset fill line thats not at the top of the cup. The remainder is ice, and thats fraud, he claimed, because beverage sizes dont contain the quantities advertised (12 ounces for a Tall, 16 ounces for a Grande, 24 ounces for a Venti). But Judge Percy Anderson didnt buy that argument. If children have figured out that including ice in a cold beverage decreases the amount of liquid they will receive, his ruling reads, then a reasonable consumer would not be deceived by the ice Starbucks adds into cold drinks.

He also notes how Starbuckss drink cups are totally clear, meaning consumers cant miss the ice, and also that nowhere does the company say drink sizes represent ounces of pure liquid. Forouzeshs goal had been to expand his complaint into a class action that included every Californian whod purchased an iced Starbucks drink in the last ten years.

This cuts the number of lawsuits accusing Starbucks of drink-size fraud down to three: the other ice suit, plus two claiming it underfills hot drinks by over-aerating the milk. The company actually tried consolidating them (which wouldve helped Starbucks), but earlier this month a federal court decided those plaintiffs should each get their own day in court.


Lamb chops and rice casserole, corn, and tomatoes. Photo: Bobby Doherty/New York Magazine

Harolds Meat + Three

Harold Moore gives a southern style of eating a Manhattan spin.

The former Commerce chef describes why his restaurant at the new Arlo Hotel in Hudson Square might be just what picky New Yorkers (and jet-lagged travelers) have been waiting for.

This isnt exactly Nashville-style meat and three. Moore was unimpressed by what he found down South. The food is good but not for New York, he says. People here dont want steam tables, and they dont eat heavy on the regular. So hes cooking mains to order on a wood-fired grill and offering lighter options and three price tiers: $19 for things like crab au gratin and green-chile tripe; $29 for beer-can chicken or broiled flounder; $39 for a whole roasted lobster or strip steak.

Just like at Thanksgiving, its all about the sides. Moore has never met a starch he didnt like. Hell serve rice six ways, seven potato preps, and vegetables ranging from broccoli with burnt garlic to green-bean casserole.

You can supplement your dinner plate with an unlimited salad bar. I love the idea of choice, says Moore, from an old-school Italian antipasto bar to the buffet at Le Perigord. His will morph as the day progresses, from cereals and fruits in the morning to manned stations for carving meat and whole sides of salmon. Staff will be on hand to constantly replenish and keep the avocados green.

When youre traveling, breakfast is a relative concept. You dont know when people are arriving, or what theyre in the mood for depending where theyre coming from, says Moore. So meat-and-three-style brunch will be available daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., with meat loosely interpreted as protein waffles, a Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich, and the shakshuka Moore made famous at Commerce.

2 Renwick St., at Canal St.; 212-374-2632; Sept.

The Beekman

Two major restaurateurs bring breakfast, lunch, and dinner to an 1882 Financial District landmark with a stunning nine-story atrium.

Tom Colicchios Fowler & Wells

Photo: Jimi Celeste/Jimi Celeste/PatrickMcMullan.com

The Attraction: I walked into the space and was just floored by the architecture; I said, If I dont get this deal and one of my competitors does, Im going to be really pissed. 

The Name: The building used to house the American Society of Phrenology, the study of, like, lumps on your head, and the guys who ran it were Fowler and Wells.

The Concept: More French-influenced, less globally influenced. Really good sauce work, good roasted and braised meats and fish. I think everyone is fatigued from too much soy and sugar and spice.

The Menu: Besides the main menus modern American dishes, specials include riffs on turn-of-the-last-century classics  sole Veronique, lobster Thermidor, beef Wellington, oysters Rockefeller.

Keith McNallys Augustine

The Attraction: The buildings extraordinary interior attracted me to the project. Plus being heavily in debt and having to work.

The Name: The name refers to Saint Augustine, a brilliant 4th-century theologian who had a wildly hedonistic lifestyle.

The Concept: Closer to a French restaurant than a brasserie. And probably more glamorous than my other places.

The Menu: Grilled New York State veal chop with tete de veau and a blanquette of baby vegetables and sweetbreads; Augustine salad (haricots verts, foie gras, artichoke barigoule, and fresh greens).

5 Beekman St., at Nassau St.; Sept.

in Hotel Dining Cut

Wolfgang Pucks steak-centric New York debut (Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown, 99 Church St.; Sept.). Majorelle

Christian Delouvrier cooks, Charles Masson gardens (Lowell Hotel, 28 E. 63rd St.; Sept.). Leuca

Coastal Southern Italian from Andrew Carmellini (the William Vale, 111 N. 12th St., Williamsburg; Oct.). Harvey

Adam Leonti is big on grains and vegetables (The Williamsburg Hotel, 96 Wythe Ave.; Oct.). Massoni

Inauthentic Italian from Dale Talde (Arlo Nomad, 11 E. 31st St.; Oct.). Ortzi

Jose Garces goes Basque (Luma Hotel Times Square, 120 W. 41st St., Nov.). Black Walnut

Gjelina meets the South via Nightingale Nines Rob Newton (Hilton Brooklyn, 140 Schermerhorn St., Boerum Hill; Dec.). Blue Ribbon Federal Grill

The Bromberg brothers, eclectic as ever (AKA Wall Street, 84 Williams St.; Dec.). Unnamed Seamus Mullen Restaurant

Tertulias tapas maven heads to Brooklyn (1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, 60 Furman St., Brooklyn Heights; Dec.).

*This article appears in the August 22, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
With Android 7.0 Nougat now rolling out to current nexus devices, Google also brings news about a new developer preview that will be arriving to Nexus devices in the future.

A post from the Android Developers blog reads: Were moving Nougat into a new regular maintenance schedule over the coming quarters. In fact, weve already started work on the first Nougat maintenance release, that will bring continued refinements and polish, and were planning to bring that to you this fall as a developer preview. Stay tuned!  Dave Burke, Engineering VP.

If the timing of the developer preview release is before the release of new Nexus phones, we could assume to expect Nexus phones to launch with Android 7.1. This isn't something Google has done with Nexus devices of the past, so we are just speculating here.

It looks like Android will be continuing a path for the Android Beta program, offering Android users the option to opt-in and receive OTA updates with unreleased features much like iOS does with how it distributes its Public Beta builds.

The Android Beta Program must have a pilot for a new era of earlier updates with experimental features. Google has seen the potential of a seamless OTA delivery system for developer previews. The invaluable feedback from users helped to release the Android Nougat release so much quicker than previous releases. Although, Nougat is arguably just a refinement of Android Marshmallow.

Google has gotten into the groove of software updates and we are excited to see what updated with Direct Boot will be like with the new Nexus hardware (updates that only require a simple restart). For now, Google will continue to call these builds developer previews.

Any peeps out there already running Android Nougat? What new features do you expect to see in this falls developer preview?

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by Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo

'If what Cde George Rutanhire said about Dr Mujuru is true then after critically analysing his assertions I came to a conclusion that whilst Nkomo and ZIPRA were busy fighting the war, Mugabe and his ZANLA were busy raping and boko-haraming our mothers and sisters during the liberation struggle'

After reading a disgusting story on the front page of the Sunday Mail dated August 21,2016 titled 'Dr Joyce Mujuru Unmasked' I was ashamed to be living in a country where fools claim to have liberated us. Cde George Rutanhire a former member of the ZANLA General staff accused Dr Joyce Mujuru of being promiscuous during the liberation struggle.Instead of telling us the truth about who killed Chairman Herbert Chitepo so that justice prevail, the grey headed foolish Rutanhire was busy telling us 'who slept with who' during the liberation struggle.Whether it is true or not it's none of our business as unemployed young people who are failing to put food on our tables due ZANU PF's ill economic policies. But on another note that story helped to open a can of worms about how ZANLA forces raped and boko -haramed girls in villages across Zimbabwe during the liberation struggle. Instead of unmasking Dr Joyce Mujuru, Rutanhire unmasked how they (ZANLA) raped and abused our mothers and sisters during the liberation struggle.This old man must apologise not only to Amai Mujuru but to the rest of women in Zimbabwe because the precedence he set will result in thousands of women being abused out there by foolish men like him who will go to the public exposing their (women) privacy when they break ties.Rutanhire is like those boys who rush to the H-Metro to leak indecent photos of their ex-girlfriends something which is usually done by foolish people of his DNA.It's high time we (as men) respect women in this modern day society. Don't they have a right to their privacy? Telling us about who Dr Mujuru dated or got intimate with before getting married to the Late General Solomon Mujuru is stupid and disrespectful to her late husband and her family as well.If someone can come out and tell us who you (Rutanhire) slept with during the liberation struggle before marrying Amai Rutanhire do you think it's necessary George? What if someone comes out and tell us all who Amai Rutanhire (your wife) got intimate with before or even after meeting you will you like it Comrade?Shame on the Editor of the Sunday Mail who even in his wisdom or lack of it saw that disgusting story worth to be published and worse on the first page. I also urge the government not to arrest or harm people who will later on come out in the near future and tell the nation about First Lady Grace Mugabe's past before marrying President Mugabe because it is not crime since you have already allowed Cde Rutanhire to do that to others. Those who live in glass houses must not throw stones.George Rutanhire must issue a public apology to Dr Mujuru and the rest of women in this country. Such a level of disrespect on our mothers and sisters must not be tolerated especially in this civilized society where we are fighting against patriarchy and abuse of women.Pasi neharahwa dzisingaremekedze kodzero dzemadzimai.Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo, Snr is an exiled human rights defender and democracy activist. He is reachable on his whatsapp +263775037579
Introduction

There can be no rivalry amidst Galaxies, but this has never stopped us from putting them against each other in all sorts of comparisons. It's what we call a shootout and this time, we'll be focusing on camera performance.

In this edition of our intergalactic shootout (it's certainly not our first), we'll be leaving three top Galaxy smartphones to battle it out - we've got the Galaxy Note7, the Galaxy S7 edge, and last year's Galaxy Note5. The trio was released within less than a year and is eyed by millions of fans. But this is a friendly battle, creatures from a single team fighting for the sake of increasing their reputation, if you would forgive us the Pokemon pun.

The three curved Galaxies here are all considered top of the line, even though the older Note5 features a slightly less powerful chipset. They are all beautiful though and capable in their own right and putting them against each other in a VS article would hardly produce a winner.



Samsung Galaxy Note5  Samsung Galaxy S7 edge  Samsung Galaxy Note7

That's why we are taking those three into a friendly neighborhood shootout. We want to explore Samsung's achievements in the camera development over the course of the last 12 months and see where it leads us.

The Galaxy Note5 relies on a 16MP 16:9 camera with f/1.9 aperture and optical image stabilization. The Galaxy S7 edge and Galaxy Note7 switch the sensor back to a regular 4:3 one with 12MP resolution, but upgrade the setup with blazing-fast autofocus and an even wider f/1.7 aperture. The delay between the S7 edge and Note7 release gave Samsung an opportunity to refine the camera interface and possibly the processing.

Samsung Galaxy Note5 Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Samsung Galaxy Note7 Primary camera resolution 16MP

5312 x 2988px

16:9 aspect 12MP

4032 x 3024px

4:3 aspect 12MP

4032 x 3024px

4:3 aspect Primary camera sensor 1/2.6" sensor size, 1.12 m pixel size, Sony IMX240

28 mm, f/1.9 1/2.5" sensor size, 1.4 m pixel size, Sony IMX260

26 mm, f/1.7 1/2.5" sensor size, 1.4 m pixel size, Sony IMX260

26 mm, f/1.7 Stabilization Optical Image Stabilization Optical Image Stabilization Optical Image Stabilization Focus Phase Detection Auto Focus Dual Pixel Phase Detection Auto Focus Dual Pixel Phase Detection Auto Focus Flash Single LED Flash Single LED Flash Single LED Flash Features Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama, Auto HDR, Manual mode, Virtual shot, Selective Focus, Live Broadcast, Slow-motion video, Hyperlapse video, Downloadable modes Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama, Auto HDR, Manual mode, Virtual shot, Selective Focus, Live Broadcast, Slow-motion video, Hyperlapse video, Downloadable modes Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama, Auto HDR, Manual mode, Virtual shot, Selective Focus, Live Broadcast, Slow-motion video, Hyperlapse video, Downloadable modes Video recording 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 1080p@30fps 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 1080p@30fps 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 1080p@30fps Video recording Optical stabilization, digital stabilization (1440p and below), HDR, stereo sound rec. Optical stabilization, digital stabilization (1440p and below), HDR, stereo sound rec. Optical stabilization, digital stabilization (1440p and below), HDR, stereo sound rec. Front camera 5 MP, f/1.9, 22mm, Auto HDR, Panorama

1440p@30fps, dual video call 5 MP, f/1.7, 22mm, Auto HDR, Panorama

1440p@30fps, dual video call 5 MP, f/1.7, 22mm, Auto HDR, Panorama

1440p@30fps, dual video call

So, if you are among those users who like to have the best possible camera in their pocket, and you are wondering between one of these three either for budget, or feature reasons, this article is for you.

On the other hand, if you'd love to see how those three beasts cross the finish line almost simultaneously when it comes to benchmarks, designs, interface, and screen quality, you should maybe refer to our reviews and specs pages instead.

Now, let's fire up those camera apps, and let this intergalactic camera shootout begin!
ZTE has officially set its IFA 2016 event for September 1 and today the Chinese manufacturer sent out a teaser of what we can expect. It appears the main focus this time will be on audio. This is clearly evident by the "right hear right now" slogan on the promotional banner, as well as the accompanying information, which promises a brand new device at the Berlin venue:

ZTE, one of the worlds leading smartphone manufacturers, will present its latest array of smart devices at this years IFA in Berlin. Featured among them, will be a brand new device launched during the companys press conference on September 1.

The text does on to talk about fan-fueled inspiration and above everything else, a superior audio experience.

All signs really seem to point to a new Axon smartphone on its way to IFA and we can only hope so. The ZTE Axon 7 hit a homerun in the value department. An excellent specs sheet, including Snapdragon 820 SoC, QHD AMOLED display and 4GB of RAM, all for about EUR 450 is undoubtedly a deal. We can only hope ZTE manages to outdo itself.
News / National

by Samantha Chigogo

Zimbabwe yesterday signed a "framework agreement," with an Austrian construction firm Geiger International and a Chinese Company, China Harbour Engineering (CHEC), setting the stage for the rehabilitation, dualisation and upgrading of the Beitbridge - Harare and Harare-Chirundu highways.The deal will also see the upgrading of Harare Drive into a ring road.Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo represented the Government, while Mr Eric Geiger stood in for Geiger International, while Mr Vincent Wang represented CHEC.The deal is part of several agreements that Government will be involved in to ensure a successful take-off of projects that have been hanging in the balance for months.Addressing delegates at the signing ceremony, Dr Gumbo said the implementation of the projects would begin soon, adding that the cost would be made public in due course."The signing of this framework is an important milestone in the negotiations that will result in the implementation of the construction of this very important road in Zimbabwe through a combination of Build Operate Transfer (BOT) and Loan financing models," he said, dismissing claims that it would cost $2.1 billion."The section from Beitbridge to Harare shall be implemented as a BOT, with a concession period of 20 years, while the section from Harare to Chirundu  including the Harare ring road  will be implemented as a combination of a loan and private sector investment contributed by CHEC."Dr Gumbo hailed the two companies that won the tender saying they were tried and trusted."The appointment of Geiger International and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd emanated from the evaluation of five expression of interests submitted at the invitation of my ministry," he said."The consortium was awarded the project through State Procurement Resolution PBR139E of 15 March 2016, which was later revised and reissued as PB139F of 14 July 2016."Discussions carried out between the two parties at different levels have culminated in the production of this framework document, which will describe the summary of the scope of works, funding models, implementation and level of local participation.Minister Gumbo said the agreement acknowledged the two formats to be adopted in funding the project."This agreement provides for the parties to negotiate and sign the specific agreements relating to the Public Private Partnership arrangement for Beitbridge to Harare, and the loan facility for the remainder of the project," Dr Gumbo said.He said some work had already started including drawing up of engineering, procurement and construction contracts as well as financial contracts for the project.




Haiti - Education : 21 Haitian scholars depart for Cuba





Monday at the National Palace in the framework of bilateral cooperation Haiti-Cuba the de facto President Jocelerme Privert received 21 young scholars (16 medical and 5 in law, engineering and agronomy) from different regions of Haiti, that will leave the country on Tuesday August 23 for Cuba.



This meeting was held in the presence of Jean Beauvoir Dorsonne, Minister of National Education, Pierrot Delienne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aviol Fleurant, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, Dr. Daphnee Benoit, the Minister of Public Health.



Privert congratulated the scholars while asking them to be ambassadors of Haiti to Cuba and to take seriously their studies "This is a heavy responsibility that you assume, that to succeed and also worthily represent your country in foreign land in the middle of several other nations. The ultimate goal is beyond your training, come back to your new knowledge and skills at the service of Haiti."



The Head of State also praised the cooperation Haiti-Cuba, which allows for already many years, the Haitian students to perform graduate studies in Cuban universities.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Social : Clash between students and police force





The end of the occupation at the beginning of the offices of the rectorate of the State University of Haiti (UEH) and the Directorate of Post-Graduate Studies (DEP), illegally occupied by a group of alleged students since 5 February https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18200-haiti-flash-end-of-6-months-of-occupation-to-the-rectorate-of-ueh.html did not end the protest movements of these supposed "students".



Monday, "students" whose list of claims does not seem to end, have taken concrete and erected barricades of burning tires in several strategic places of Christophe Avenue. They thus paralyzed the nrollment in entrance examination, forced the postponement of exams and made it impossible to validate registrations for candidate to INAGHEI, FASCH and IERAH-ISERSS.



Highly motivated protesters threatened to make fail the organization of the admission exams for the new academic year if they do not get satisfaction of their claims...



Agents of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) were deployed and had to repeatedly use tear gas to disperse, often under the throwing stones and bottles, the protesters near the faculties.



Much of the day the situation remained tense. The Operation Brigade andof Departmental Intervention (BOID) intervened in reinforcements and fired in the air live ammunition, according to the testimony of residents, to calm and disperse the last boldest protesters...



TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Fuel prices, Senatus defends the population

Senator Jean-Renel Senatus, estimates that 30 gourdes adjustment is inappropriate in a context of economic gloom and on the eve of the new school year. He says the population is not strong enough to support such an increase. He announced the convocation on Tuesday, of the Prime Minister Jean-Charles and the Ministers concerned, asking them not to increase fuel prices by 30 and to review their decision.



A brutal decision

The Deputy Antoine Rodon Bien-Aime (PHTK), Chairman of the Commission "Economy and Finance" of the Lower House announced that the issue of the rising prices of fuel at the pump, will be discussed at the meeting scheduled for Tuesday with the economic and financial authorities around the proposed 2016-2017 budget. He denounced a brutal decision that ignores the cost of living and that is neither in the amending budget, nor in the proposed 2016-2017 budget.



Several ministers convened to parliament

Tuesday, Romain Yves Bastien, Minister of Economy, Aviole Fleurant, Minister of Planning and Jessy C. Petit-Frere, Minister of Trade are expected to Parliament to explain the latest government decision to revise upwards the fuel prices.



Publication of the electoral roll late

Jovenel Moise, presidential candidate under the banner of PHTK expresses concern about the non-publication of the final voters list, while the elections are fast approaching...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18401-haiti-flash-survey-brides-jovenel-moise-winner.html



End of steps

On Monday, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced the end of the draw to recruit members of the polling stations, and the last of 5 days of training of Great Electoral Trainers.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2016/08/22 | Source

Actress Kim Yoon-hye is starring in the drama "My Sassy Girl - Drama".

Advertisement

Kim Yoon-hye is now in the main cast after Kim Joo-hyun turned down the role.

According to reports, Kim Yoon-hye takes on the role of Jeong Ki-joon's (Jung Woong-in) only child Jeong Da-yeon. She is like her father, a passionate incarnate.

Initially, the role was supposed to go to Kim Joo-hyun but in the end she refused the role. Kim Yoon-hye finally got it and this will be her return to dramas for the first time in 5 years.

Meanwhile, "My Sassy Girl - Drama" is a pre-produced drama based on the famous movie and will be released in Korea, China and Japan at the same time.
News / National

by Tendai Mugabe

Liberation movements in Southern Africa are aware of machinations by former colonisers to destabilise the region through several means, Zanu-PF secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo has said.Among other tricks, Chombo said, the erstwhile enemies were using religion and funding opposition of political parties to effect regime change and to break the bond that binds liberation movements.Chombo said this last week at the 7th ordinary congress of MPLA in Angola.He said Zimbabwe had for the past decade weathered a storm financed by Western countries led by Britain."The threat of regime change orchestrated and championed by our former colonisers continues to be a living reality for us as liberation movements," he said. "Zimbabwe over the past decades has been the testing ground for the all stratagems the enemy wishes in effecting regime change."Latest ploys by the enemy range from manipulating religion, economic sabotage through sanctions and abuse of social media. It is regrettable that the enemy has been studying gullible members of our party and is exploiting them to forward their regime change agenda. The enemy is also using opposition political parties that are being deployed to aid the regime change agendas."Chombo said such machinations and plots would fail."Let me take this opportunity to assure MPLA that in spite of these relentless efforts, we are vigilant and remain focused on serving our people," he said."Zanu-PF remains a strong party under the leadership of the President and First Secretary, R G Mugabe. The party is formidable and unshaken by these threats and progressive loyal members of our party are aware of the daunting task ahead of us. Let me also reiterate that the unity of our parties continues to be fundamental in defeating the work of the enemy."Chombo hailed MPLA for its efforts towards transforming lives of local people in all spheres.He said he was humbled by MPLA's desire to pay close attention to Angola's economic performance."Economically, MPLA as the ruling party has scored tremendous victories for the people in ensuring the growth and sustainability of the Angolan economy," he said."Over the past decades, after the war, MPLA improved the Gross Domestic Product of the Angolan economy, a situation that has seen Angola transforming from a war torn country to a country on the path of economic development. Angola under the focused leadership of MPLA, has witnessed massive investments in infrastructure that is road network and the provision of housing to the people. This is indeed victory for the MPLA, more so for the people of Angola."Chombo also commended MPLA's turn around strategies and called for joint ventures in the field of agriculture and mining between Zimbabwe and Angola."Zanu-PF would like to commend MPLA for putting in place policy measures to cushion the Angolan economy and maintain positive economic trajectories," he said. "Particularly, efforts made towards the diversification of the economy focusing on agriculture, mining and beneficiation. It is heartening to note that these efforts will go a long way in improving the status of the economy to a more sustainable one in future."To this end, in the spirit of partnership, guided by the party to party and Government to Government Joint Cooperation Agreements, Zanu-PF welcomes the possibility of joint ventures in agriculture, and mining for the benefit of our people."Chombo said such synergies would allow the two countries an opportunity to share experiences in economic development.At regional and continental level Chombo said: "MPLA and its Government continue to play an important role in maintaining peace as well as taking part in world economic development through the implementation of the Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and roadmap, Agenda 2063 and ultimately achieving the Sustainable Development Goals."Zanu-PF shall forever cherish the role played by MPLA during the Zimbabwe liberation struggle. When Zimbabwe faced western sponsored economic and political challenges, the Angolan government through Sadc maintained its solidarity with Zimbabwe, this was victory for the people of Zimbabwe."Within the family of former liberation movements of Southern Africa, MPLA is an active participant. Our meetings as parties have revitalised and rejuvenated our shared Pan African spirit."
News / National

by Staff reporter

The government has suggested that it may still be a while before it introduces the much distrusted bond notes on the market with the Reserve bank revealing in court on Friday that the notes are only at a planning stage.In its opposing papers to legal action against the bond notes that has been filed at the constitutional court by former Vice President Joice Mujuru, RBZ said it also still needed to meet statutory requirements to back the use of the notes, whose introduction is targeted for October this year.
struction giant Hutchinson Builders may be banned from tendering for Commonwealth-funded construction work by up to 12 months if action by Fair Work Building and Construction (FWBC) is successful.The watchdog is considering applying to Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to have sanctions imposed on the Hutchinson for breaching the federal building code. If the action goes forward, this will mark the first time FWBC has formally suggested sanctions against any organisation for this reason.Last Tuesday (16 August), the Federal Court ordered Hutchinson to pay $25,575 for discriminating against a tiling company which did not have an enterprise agreement with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).Two employees were also fined an additional $1,800 each.FWBC alleges Hutchinson refused to award a contract to the tiler because it was not endorsed by the union.The FWBC was currently considering whether to formally recommend a sanction in relation to this conduct, director Nigel Hadgkiss told the Australian Financial Review.There is no such thing as a union EBA project, he said.Subcontractors should not be disadvantaged just because their enterprise agreement is not endorsed by a particular union or industry organisation.The FWBC was deeply concerned as it had a number of other employers also before the courts for similar allegations of discrimination, he added.In his final judgment, Judge Salvatore Vasta said the actions by Hutchinson were a blatant case of discrimination against the tiler.Hutchinson allegedly engaged the tiling company for a project at Nundah in 2012. After sending a quote and then meeting with the construction company, the tiler was told it could commence work on 22 October.However, Hutchinson emailed the firm on 24 October allegedly saying the firm was no longer to be engaged on the project.Thank you for your time invested in the project, unfortunately without a union endorsed EBA we will not be able to engage (tiling company), Edwin Hawley of Hutchinson Builders allegedly said in an email.When contacted by HC, a spokesperson for FWBC confirmed that the possibility for a sanction remains under active consideration.However it would not be appropriate to comment on further specific details at this stage, he added.HC also contacted Hutchinson Builders which failed to respond prior to publication.
A recent court ruling has put the spotlight on bullying investigations  in particular the duty of care owed to those who have had allegations made against them.



The case involved four employees from the Maryborough office of Disability Services Queensland who had allegations of bullying and harassment made against them in 2008 and again in 2009. These claims were supported by both the public and the union.



A subsequent investigation by the employer found these allegations to be unsubstantiated.



The four employees then brought claims against the employer alleging they were owed a duty of care by the employer both when the initial complaints were made and during the investigation. They alleged that a lack of support and subsequent breach of this duty led to psychiatric problems.



While the District Court initially dismissed these claims, the Queensland Court of Appeal found that a duty of care did exist for three out of four of these cases.



There is no doubt that in appropriate circumstances an employer will owe a duty of care to take reasonable steps to prevent psychiatric injury to an employee, Justice Jean Dalton said in her final judgment.



In an appropriate case a duty will arise not because the work, workload, or system of work itself is creating problems, but because there is unhappiness within the workplace, not of the employers making, but of which the employer is aware.



The duty will occur if a psychiatric injury is reasonable foreseeable in each employees case, Dalton said.



In this instance, as complaints were made in 2008 and then again in 2009, the employer should have been aware there would be a fairly substantial investigation. Due to the size of the employer, it should have also recognised that if support was not offered, each employee may suffer harm.



The employer breached their duty of care by failing to provide any support except offering a free departmental counselling service and removing certain employees from their roles, the judges found.



In some instances, employees were required to work alongside complainants and were subject to picketing by the union. Furthermore, some were segregated and isolated from friends and colleagues in the workplace by being ordered not to discuss the ongoing events.



In all cases however, there was insufficient evidence to say that any breaches of duty led to psychiatric injury.



For the employee for whom no duty was owed, the court found that she did not lose her substantiative position during the investigation.



In fact she was moved to a new role which she had sought and was thus somewhat insulated from the workplace conflict.



This set her case aside from those who had to spend considerable time working in stressful conditions with those who lodged serious claims against her, the court found.




In July, Dauman 'reserved the right to resign' in a bid to protect potential severance pay, after Redstone sought to remove several board members, including Dauman, from National Amusements - the company that controls Redstone's major shareholdings in Viacom.

Dauman's contract was said to have contained a clause which states that he could resign with good reason if there were changes to Viacoms board.

In June, Dauman and Viacom director George Abrams filed legal papers that sought to have Redstone medically evaluated, after the pair were ousted from the Sumner Redstone trust.

The filing contended that Redstone was not mentally competent to remove them and was manipulated into doing so by his formerly-estranged daughter.

Dauman's settlement deal resolves a number of lawsuits and countersuits between the two sides.
Staff work for longer hours and take fewer sick days Staff experience higher rates of injury Female workers have higher rates of sickness

A 10% boost in the number of required exports at the firms affected women more than men, the research found. Female rates of injury were boosted by 6.4%, severe depression by 2.5%, the use of anti-blood clot medication by 7.7% and hospitalisations due to heart attacks or strokes by 17.4%.



As for men, the same increase in the number of exports actually decreased the chance of severe depression. The researchers attributed this to the subjective state of depression and effects such as higher wages on happiness.



Although the number of sick days taken was fewer overall, the researchers found that there were actually two stages in how workers responded to the higher productivities levels. At first, fewer sick days were taken as workers felt pressure to come in despite feeling unwell. As the demand became more sustained however, the number of sick days increased overall for both men and women.



In light of this data, the researchers said employers should actively combat stress in the workplace  a trend which is already starting, they noted.



Large US companies are offering trainings in cognitive behavioural skills, scented relaxation rooms, living walls decorated with plants, and outdoor cafes with wildflowers, in order to help their employees combat stress at work, the paper said.



Our results suggest that such endeavour may be especially useful for the female workers whose employers are rapidly expanding in the global market.




The 17th Annual Stick Boy Mayview Madness 5k and 1-Mile Fun Run takes place here on Saturday, September 3, right in the heart of a fun- and activity-filled Labor Day weekend. The 5k run starts at 8:30 a.m. adjacent to the American Legion Hall and finishes in front of Bistro Roca restaurant, where post-race snacks will be provided and awards presented. The 1-Mile Fun Run presented by Blue Ridge Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine starts in the same location at 8:00, so parents can accompany their kids and still make the 5k start time.

Both runs benefit Blue Ridge Conservancys work with willing landowners and local communities to permanently protect land and water resources with agricultural, ecological, cultural, recreational and scenic value in northwest North Carolina.

Blowing Rock is excited to again host the Mayview Madness 5k. Last year we had about 300 runners come to town and enjoy the views and our hospitality. This year should be even more exciting, since the run will take place during the Labor Day weekend. This will allow for visitors staying in Blowing Rock over the holiday weekend to join in on the fun while raising funds for Blue Ridge Conservancy, which helps makes the High Country a great place to visit, said Tracy Brown, Blowing Rock TDA Executive Director.

The Mayview Madness 5k is run on a course that winds through the historic Mayview neighborhood, with magnificent views along the route. For a map of the route, visit blueridgeconservancy.org/news-events/annual-events/mayview-madness-run/race-map-2/

For those participants living in or near Blowing Rock, ZAP Fitness Running Center is offering three weeks of free training runs and clinics in advance of the events, including a session for children planning to participate in the 1 Mile Fun Run. The adult training runs are open to all ages and abilities and will range in distance from 2-7 miles. Runners will meet each week at 5:45 p.m. at the dirt parking lot on Highway 221 adjacent to the entrance to Moses Cone Park. Sessions are as follows: August 17: Proper Running Technique; August 24: Using Speed to Your Benefit; August 31: Race Strategy.

The 5k will have prizes donated by local businesses for the top three male and female finishers in each of ten age groups, including a separate category for master runners. Reebok running shoes will be awarded to the male and female first place finisher in each category. Details and registration at register.chronotrack.com/r/22542.

For other events taking place in and around Blowing Rock over the Labor Day weekend, visit blowingrock.com/calendar. For more information on the Blue Ridge Conservancy, visit blueridgeconservancy.org.

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Back-to-school haircuts were a top priority for Watauga County students at this years Back 2 School Festival.

Thanks to efforts by members of the Womens Fund of the Blue Ridge (WFBR) and volunteers from 15 area salons, 133 students received free haircuts at the event on Saturday, Aug. 13th. Additional students received gift cards for free haircuts, and more than 200 students received goody bags with hair care products.

The Womens Fund has organized haircuts at the Back to School Festival for the past three years, asking hair professionals to donate an hour or two of their time to volunteer at the festival. The Watauga High School Cosmetology Department generously allows the Womens Fund to use the professional training facilities for haircuts.

Stylists from the following local salons generously volunteered their time to provide free haircuts: Changes Salon, Absolute Style, Christy and Company, Canvas Beauty Bar, Appalachian Hair Salon, Circle A Family Hair Care, Shear Shakti, JC Penneys, and Holly Meyers.

The following salons donated gift cards, merchandise or donations for the Back to School Festival: Changes Salon, Haircut 101, Split Endz Salon, Signature Salon, Southgate Salon, Absolute Style, Bloom Salon, and Tommy Light Hair Studio.

Six girls decided to cut off enough hair to donate their ponytails to Wigs for Kids, an Ohio organization providing custom wigs to children with hair loss resulting from illness.

To volunteer for upcoming outreach events with the Womens Fund of the Blue Ridge, contact Womens Fund Executive Director Karen Sabo at [email protected] or 828-264-4002. Volunteer forms are available on the Womens Fund website, www.womensfundoftheblueridge.org.

About the Womens Fund of the Blue Ridge

Our mission is to create positive change and economic justice for women and girls in the counties we serve. Through funding to local nonprofit agencies, we aim to be a philanthropic catalyst for all women and girls to have access to the resources they need as they strive to become empowered and reach their full potential.

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The Whitetop Mountain Band will be making a rare NC High Country appearance for Joe Shannons Mountain Home Music Concerts, this Saturday, August 27th at the First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock. The concert begins at 7:30pm.

The Whitetop Mountain Band hails from Whitetop Mountain, Virginia, a mere 50 miles from Bowing Rock. They are a family-based old-time band, founded in the early 1940s by the legendary Albert Hash(1917-1983), a beloved and well-known fiddler and luthier. In the 1970s, Alberts brother-in-law, Thornton Spencer(fiddle) and his wife, Emily Spencer (banjo, vocals), joined Albert in the band. These days the group includes the Spencers daughter, Martha(banjo, fiddle and vocals), along with Ersel Fletcher(guitar, vocals) and Debbie Bramer(acoustic bass, vocals). Their shows are very versatile and entertaining  containing everything from fiddle/banjo instrumentals to powerful solos and harmony vocals on blues, classic country, honky-tonk, traditional bluegrass numbers, old timey ballads, originals, and four part mountain gospel songs. They are well known for their high energy and charisma on stage.

JSMHM director, Rodney Sutton states, The Whitetop Mountain Band represents a link to the past that has pretty much been lost here in this area of North Carolina. They are an authentic old-time family band who, in the time-honored tradition, have learned directly from their old-time mountain music ancestors. While there are many really great revivalist bands to be found locally, nothing compares to the genuine traditional sound in the music and singing that can be only be achieved from having that genetic family connection.

The band has won many awards throughout the years at competitions and fiddlers conventions like Fiddlers Grove, Galax Old Time Fiddlers Convention, Sugar Grove, Jefferson, Fairview Battle of the Bands, Laurel Bloomery, etc. They have over a hundred ribbons/trophies altogether in band, fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, folk song, duet singing, and dancing awards. In 2012, they were recognized by a bill passed by the Virginia State Senate and House for their contribution to Virginia mountain music. The Whitetop Mountain Band also won ACMA Old Time Entertainers of the Year in 2013.

The band currently has recordings on the Arhoolie Record Label and Virginia Foundation of the Humanities. The band has also been recorded by JuneAppal, Heritage and been on compilations for Rounder Records.

Over the past 45 years, The Whitetop Mountain Band has played more shows than any Old-time Appalachian band. Their tours have taken them to every major North American folk festivals and to foreign countries from Ireland to Australia. For a chance to hear the real deal when it comes to Old-time Mountain music and singing, make sure to catch this JSMHM concert.

Please note the venue change from earlier promo  The First Baptist Church of Blowing Rock is located at 350 Sunset Dr. in Blowing Rock.

This concert is supported by the following private sponsors: The Ned Trivette Family; Dr. E. Frank and Tara Hancock; JP Green and Marianne Ferlazzo; Lynn Hubbard; Merida H. Steele  In Honor of John H. Steele; and The Estate of Joe Shannon. Business Sponsors include; The Mast Store, Stick Boy Kitchen, Mountain Time Publishing and the High Country Press. Additional support is provided by the Watauga County Arts Council and the North Carolina Art Council. Joe Shannons Mountain Home Music is also proud to be included as a site on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina (BlueRidgeMusicNC.com).

Tickets cost $18 in advance and $20 at the door. Student tickets are $10. Children 12 and younger are admitted free. Advance tickets may be purchased online at mountainhomemusic.org and at the Mast General Store (Boone and Valle Crucis), Freds Mercantile on Beech Mountain, Stick Boy Bread Company(345 Hardin St, Boone), also Footsloggers and Pandoras Mailbox on Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock.

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Opinion / Columnist

IN recent times, there has been a push by vanquished opposition groups for what some have termed the National Transitional Authority (NTA) to run the affairs of Zimbabwe. The strangest thing is that this call is coming from the likes of compatriot Tendai Biti and Ibbo Mandaza. These are the very two people who forcefully inserted themselves on a 5th of July 2016 Investment Conference which was being addressed by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Reserve Bank Governor John Mangudya which was convened by an organisation called Africa Confidential in London.Their primary objective for making that trip was to come and countervail the efforts to unlock investment being made by the minister and the Governor.Dr Mandaza did not get the visa for the trip. Apparently, he was considered not important enough. But Mr Biti did not only make the trip but he also made a spirited effort to insidiously undermine the efforts being made to turn around the economic fortunes of the country. Within a month of doing this he then turns around and gathers some clergy who see themselves as modern-day Muzorewas and starts an intellectually pretentious agenda for an NTA.How duplicitous can one be? On the one hand, you sabotage the economy and on the other you want to come with a messianic attitude of a super patriot to the rescue? Why didn't you ask for an NTA when you announced to the world that Zimbabwe had only $217 left in its current account?Transitional governments are meant to manage institution building. Zimbabwe crafted an internationally lauded Constitution and institutions preceding therefrom are in place right now. The various commissions are almost all in place as well. What then is the purpose of this caretaker government when there is an elected government in place? Is this an attempt to gain power through the backdoor?Everyone knows that the initial plan wanted by the NTA protagonists was for this to kick in once the Government had collapsed. So they did everything they could to make the Government crumble. How cynical is that? How conniving can people be really? They now realise that this is not going to happen.There are failures by the Government. It's disingenuous to pretend otherwise. But if Zimbabwe is in a crisis then it is partially man-made. If people who had lost an election had conceded defeat magnanimously a lot of what is happening in Zimbabwe would not be happening. Now the same people are seeking to replace an elected government with a constitutional illegitimacy?Which elected government welcomes the intrusion of unelected third parties? What is the desired outcome of this illegitimacy?Zimbabwe has many political parties as it is. So really there is a very broad participation in the political processes of the country. One of the reasons countries have NTAs is an effort to broaden political participation of the people. But no, this one is actually constricting the political participation that saw over 4 million people making a choice of who they wanted to govern them. This is some de-democratisation of the nation.Transitional authorities are also normally a post-conflict arrangement. Where is that conflict in Zimbabwe? The only conflict we know is within those that cannot fathom why their own antipathy and aversion to Zanu-PF has no purchase or traction among the people. Congo, Burundi, Iraqi, Libya, and Lord Soames after the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference, these were post-conflict transitional authorities to manage the process to inclusivity.In Zimbabwe everyone is included. They just lose elections. The negative sum politics (shaisano) or zero-sum game that Zimbabwe is experiencing is because it is the same politicians now calling for an NTA who are going around undermining Zimbabwe's efforts at recovery. Of course, add to that corruption and the ruling party's own factionalism.Let's talk about efficacy of an NTA. Which NTA has ever had cohesion? As an adulterated authority made up of disparate and competing interest groups. Who chooses who here? A third player? The role of the third party becomes more prominent in fact that the third party becomes the authority really.In this case who will be the third party who underwrites this? Under what pretext, anyway? Competing interests and illegitimacy will ensure lack of effectiveness. Granted the GNU brought a lot of positives, and these would have continued had some decided to undermine the succeeding government by questioning its legitimacy by alleging rigging and mutating ballots!What is wrong with conceding defeat when one loses an election really? There are even some who allege that the Commonwealth-run 1980 elections were rigged. But let's leave that one. Why should we let unelected people take long-term decisions on behalf of the people? How do they make sure they still have the people on board? What is the source of their power? Those who are elected derive theirs from the people. Is this not an elitist arrangement taken in lieu of the people?Clearly, these people have already started in their attempts to build an elite consensus. How different is that from the Rhodesian philosophy that blacks would only be allowed to vote provided they had a certain level of education and had certain assets? We saw this same thing during the constitution-making process when the wishes of the common folks were being disregarded by the elite who clearly believe that simple people are simpletons. Zanu-PF continues to win elections because they realise that universal suffrage means that every single individual has one vote  king or commoner, the professor and the illiterate. Not this elitist snobbery which disregards the wishes of the people.And the people who are pushing this are politicians. Isn't it clear they are trying to create avenues to gain State power through artifice? Now they are saying they will ask Zanu-PF to buy into this bastardised arrangement. The only free advice we can give them is to go and build strong linkages with constituencies and ask them for their votes.That is how people gain popular mandates. As of now, no one mandated them to even talk on behalf of the people. We cannot have a manipulative self- appointed political aristocracy tampering with our democracy within three years of us benchmarking our democracy by a people-originated and people- supported Constitution. If they are really patriots, let the opposition stop working tirelessly for Zimbabwe's isolation.These guys have stoked instability by undermining normalcy and now they want to tell us normalcy will only come through something called an NTA? Well, compatriots, our Constitution has legislated for every democratic scenario possible. Tell the nation where in the Constitution you see an NTA.So the elective process chose and continues to choose Zanu-PF to superintend over the affairs of the country. How does anyone really expect it to abdicate from that responsibility and hand over power to God knows who? How will the masses choose who will even participate in this arrangement?Zimbabwe has an uncontested Constitution. Ninety-five percent of the population chose it. It frames how people want to be governed and which institutions safeguards the people against the excess of such a government. This columnist will support any effort to make those institutions deliver their constitutional mandate rather than to make them moribund for the sake of an elitist arrangement by spent political players seeking relevance.Our Constitution is the foundation upon which all State and democratic institutions should be built upon. It is the only bedrock to any political arrangement that should be made. To amend it so as to accommodate failed political careers is to spit in the face of Zimbabweans who chose their Government only four months after they chose their Constitution. Let us not forget Zanu-PF now has enough majority to amend that Constitution. It has not done so because it regards it a sacrilege at this point. Please do not desensitise it to that idea.To amend the Constitution, Zanu-PF's assent is needed as it is the only party that has enough MPs to do that. So for this to happen whether it is Constitutional Amendment No. 21 or 1 it doesn't matter, it needs Zanu-PF. Now how do you invite Zanu-PF to a process where you are going to ask it to give up what it has in hand so that it can fight for it afresh?This is not because national considerations are giving way to partisan political considerations in Zanu-PF but because those that are trying to court Zanu-PF into getting into bed with them are trying not to use charm but bash it into submission by undermining its every move to normalise Zimbabwe's economy by attacking the Lima efforts, bond note initiative as well re-industrialisation through a Buy Zimbabwe agenda. To them the suffering of Zimbabweans people doesn't matter. They are just a means to an end.Anyone who genuinely wants to alleviate the suffering of the people, should join the fight against corruption, take part in the fight against both political and economic isolation and help attract investment for the country by not painting a calamitous and distorted impression of this peaceful country. Above all, stop catastrophising your own country.
Jari Lindstrom (PS), the Minister of Justice and Employment, stated on Saturday that allowing elderly job seekers to retire would be an honourable act as even enhanced measures have proven insufficient in helping them find employment, wrote YLE .

The Finnish Government has received praise for its proposal to allow over 60-year-old long-term unemployed to retire.

Nor would it be terrible expensive, Sampo Terho, the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group, added in an interview with the national broadcasting company on Monday. The measure, he pointed out, is only estimated to cost 2030 million euros.

Antti Lindtman, the chairperson of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Group, commended both the Finns Party and the Government for considering what he pointed out is a feature of the long-term unemployment programme of the Social Democratic Party.

I'm very pleased that people are longer forced to wait in lines at [employment] service counters, he said.

The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) has similarly welcomed the proposal, according to YLE.

Jarkko Eloranta, the chairperson of SAK, reminded in an interview with the national broadcasting company that a similar legislative measure was introduced in 2005 to allow roughly 4,000 over 57-year-old people who had been without a job for more than ten years to retire.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Opinion / Columnist

Since when have donkeys and dogs shared bedroom and one expected a full and happy rest from all of such species together? While both dog and donkey are animals, never though can they stand side by in support of one another except to fight and distabilize peace. The worst enemy of the two animals is one who puts them together. But then humans were given better brains of God. Zimbabwe too has been acclaimed to be a land with a highly literate people by United Nations statistics and standards.Pain grips any logical person when failing to understand why all Zimbabweans cannot see things for what they really are in the country: ugly, sadistic, competitively nasty and brutal, due to government corruption therefore Zimbabwe is a failed government. Why are we blinding ourselves against reality in the name of we are a tribe better than another tribe, or ingratiating self to Zanu for the sake of being acceptable as the favoured of Mr. Robert Mugabe and the ruling cohorts? While immediate and temporary benefits may be multiple when someone decides on joining Mugabe's Zanu, people forget these are short but never long-lived benefits however one may consider them. Take a hard look at the ten years of Joyce Mujuru as the Vice President of Zimbabwe, let alone twenty-six years as a faithful Zanu Member of Parliament (MP) and, still yet, another ten years of being a Zanu faithful cadre in the armed struggle only to end up a mockery of what the struggle was all about.Think of the hundreds of Zimbabweans who have died since after 18 April 1980 and consider the cause of their deaths. Many died out of mere suspicion that they were supportive of the official political opposition party that had spend similar amount of time in the trenches of an armed struggle. One would expect some respect for comrades who had spend equivalent time in the battle grounds against, an enemy if such were actually the truth. What cuts the differences between and ideology born on conviction and sheer love of power for the sake of it, is the desire to count self less important to the ideals one sacrificed for the sake of FREEDOM OF ALL IRRESPECTIVE. One can never say this was the cause why many innocent Zimbabweans lost and continue to lose their lives under the banner of President Robert Mugabe and his so-called revolutionary vanguards.After the December 2015 shocking Zanu Congress that sacked half of the Zanu Sino styled Politi-Buro and undermined the respect of people choices in selecting a leader of Zanu among other unpleasant atrocities, Zanu has openly disregarded common men suffering and run down the country economy. Were there any democracy Zanu would have either called for a fresh term of elections or President Mugabe would have just resigned. Except for extreme avarice that is ruling the hearts of all joining politics today in Zimbabwe, events of recent unrest (August 2016) in the country would have suggested that every effort to communicate peacefully the failure of a system has had its toll and the government need acknowledge the people loud call on stop ugly oppressive brutality on the people as enough.The Zanu euphemism in believing that Zanu is the only way to economically attaining oneself unaccountable wealth through plunder and theft and label it as success is false and full of immoral, legal and political uncertainties. The ripple effect of the Zanu euphemism also led, in Zimbabwe, to the formation and seeding of many churches that are feebly faith based except as they make economic gains for church leadership contributing to the smooth stay in power of Zanu.Foundation of churches cannot be only in order to exploit the desperation of the suffering masses and soften their acquiescence to Zanu extreme brutality as well as to cushion their sorrowful length of suffering without such a faith being criminal. It smells a ploy at the heart of Zanu strategy to render masses politically important almost permanently. Everyday a church emerges among the desperate communities of Zimbabwe while similarly a political association is born to try and squeeze smooth entry through funding of self-centered persons into the political puzzle hoping that by joining the political forum of parties one may pave his/her way into the permanent strata of the wealth. Arguably this notion besets the nation of Zimbabwe unlike any other in Christian history of spreading growth.The above distortion helps to highlight the extent to which Zanu has convinced the generality of Zimbabweans that the best in Zimbabwe is to join corruption out of a defeatist imagination that Zanu cannot be beaten out of power by organized mass driven protests. Yet with a clear ideology TO NEVER CEASE TILL MUGABE AND HIS CABAL ARE RETIRED IMMEDIATELY all things are possible. Brutality has gone unnoticed yet promoted from the complicity with which Mr. Mugabe, the African Union and the SDCC have connived to undermine masses electoral victory by leaving Mr. Mugabe in control of government machinery. Mr. Mugabe and Zanu have used state machinery to benefit himself financially apart from employing and rewarding all retired soldiers and none conscripted constabulary forces to mobilize and vandalize rural people. For the truth to show openly Mr. Mugabe and his surrogates have to be stopped from benefiting from state funds and machinery and that calls for a Transitionary Authority to develop the transparency necessary over a reasonable time for elections to be free and fair.Due to an apparent failure on major aspects of the rule of law application and the obvious eminence of the executive presidency of Robert Mugabe, open cruelty and a haphazard application of instant justice is on the growing among Zimbabweans as typical of any developing lawless nations. The painful reality is caused by blatant, uncontrolled-selfishness immensely rooted in huge capital accumulation of power and wealthy in unprecedented measures and scales by those professing innocent leadership. Such selfishness has only enabled dictatorship manipulation of masses with acute sense of respect that has often always relapsed into a cause of perpetual anger in ordinary people against exploitation.Perpetual anger against exploitation matures into a revolution whose overall outcome is often a civil war with much loss to innocent human life. Amazingly, a huge growing but Diabolically-driven leadership on an all-out -to grab; subsequently unable to control their avarice blindly promote social injustices born on love of money, self and power. These men and women will do anything to eliminate none profit organizations and opposition political parties so they establish themselves as defacto rulers of suffering countries. Indeed, in that context Zimbabwe has become a haven of brutality aimed at foiling a people politically social justice driven up rise against a tyrannical cruel regime whose government has failed.A conscience, concise, constant and consistent mass driven up-rise stand born out of selfless love of people and social justice is pertinently relevant to STOP the gangrene of CORRUPTION CANCER now mature for treatment in Zimbabwe politics of governance. In my next argument I develop practical ways tested elsewhere in the world on efforts such as #THEFLAG #JAMBAJA and #ZVAKWANA , SOKWANELE, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH initiatives must deal a blow to a beleaguered Zanu government now groping for political and economic fresh air.The haven of brutality that inevitably precipitated failure in the country of Zimbabwe has to be put to an end which should enable Zimbabweans to rebuild the country unity, economy growth without politics of hate, brutality and violence. Much honesty thinking and refocusing is required. Time for entering into liberation war for personal gain has proven an abject failure and disservice too self and nation. We need look at our children and grandchildren and apologize than hang onto power till blood is shade unnecessarily. We have to radically move away from the theory of violence as the only answer to resolving politics based on centrifugal forces.--------------Andrew Manyevere
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Vogue Williams is the latest celebrity to be linked with RTE's new flagship show, Dancing with the Stars.

She already has a new show starting on RTE 2 entitled Vogue Williams - On the Edge, but she was full of praise for RTE's replacement for The Voice of Ireland.

She previously took part in the Australian version of the ballroom show, so she is well acquainted with the format.

An inside source has revealed that she has been approached to take part as a contestant in the celebrity programme.

However, Vogue has hinted that she would be more interested in judging the celebs than donning the sequins herself.

"I absolutely love that show. I don't think I could be a dancer - I've already done it - but it's going to be a great show," she told the Diary.

Survival

Vogue recently reunited with her old pal Bear Grylls for his survival races.

Taking place all over the UK, Vogue has been hosting and DJ-ing at the events and still has trips to Edinburgh, Manchester and London ahead of her.

The Mission Suvive winner also said she wasn't surprised that Bear managed to get Courtney Cox to munch down on a sheep carcass while filming in Kerry for his Irish episode.

"The thing about it is, when he asks you to do something, I don't know what it is about him, but you really want to impress him so you'll do it, hence why I drank my own wee," she said.

She also revealed how she has almost finished her debut lifestyle book, which will dish out her top tips on keeping in shape.

"The book is almost finished but it's not actually out till next year. So I'm excited to have that handed in," she said.
Irma Mali is on a babymoon in Ibiza with her partner, firefighter Barry Maguire

Top model Irma Mali is 18 weeks pregnant with her first child with boyfriend Barry Maguire and is "feeling fantastic".

The Diary can reveal that the well-known beauty has jetted off to Ibiza for a 'babymoon' with her other half, shortly after telling their friends and family of their happy news.

She's the latest top model to get pregnant, with Sarah Morrissey and Karen Fitzpatrick also expecting.

Lingerie

Looking at recent on-set snaps of Irma it is hard to believe she is pregnant.

The Lithuanian-born model (33) hasn't started showing yet and was modelling lingerie only recently.

Her agent, Jules Fallon from 1st Options, said Irma is feeling amazing as she gears up to welcome a sibling for her 13-year-old daughter, Nikoleta.

"She is over the moon with joy. She looks and feels fantastic," Jules said.

Irma has been dating firefighter Barry for the past two years after meeting him through mutual friends.

She recently hinted that things were getting serious between the pair - asked if their future together involved the pitter-patter of little feet, she answered "you never know".

The well-known model, who previously dated Danny O'Donoghue from The Script, has been living in Ireland for over 10 years, after coming here to start a new life with her daughter.

She is one of Ireland's busiest models and said she rarely has a quiet spell as she's so in-demand.

Life wasn't always so charmed for Irma though, who also had a part in Game of Thrones.

She recently opened up about her childhood in Lithuania, saying that after her father passed away aged just 39, she had to go and pick berries to sell at a market just to make ends meet.

Struggle

She said it was often a struggle for her hard-working mum to keep food on the table for her and her brother - but that the experience only made the family stronger.

Stunning Irma went on to train as a chef for five years before moving over to Dublin with her former partner.

Determined Irma has said that her tough upbringing has made her appreciate her current life even more.

"I am grateful for all I have and everything I have achieved," she said.

"Life is never just good, there are ups and downs and that's OK."
The scene after the fatal accident on the Drogheda-Slane road Picture: Damien Eagers

A 13-year-old boy remains in a critical condition after being hit by a car.

The teen cyclist was rushed to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda following the incident on the outskirts of the town on Sunday evening.

The latest incident comes as the Road Safety Authority (RSA) launched a campaign for road safety among children under 14.

The collision took place on the Drogheda to Slane road shortly after 8.30pm on Sunday.

The road around King William's Glen Junction was closed off until late on Monday afternoon, with gardai forensic collision investigators scanning the area.

Driver

At the scene was a silver Renault Scenic which was involved in the crash. Its front windscreen was entirely smashed. The driver of the car is understood to have avoided injury.

The N51 road, near Tullyallen Village, has already made headlines this year as a notorious blackspot.

A man died after being struck by a car on the same stretch of road just last week.

A motion had already been put forward to Louth County Council by Cllr Kevin Callan requesting an inspection of the "line of sight" at the junction.

"Currently a severe difference of road surface level exists west of the junction which is causing traffic travelling from the Drogheda direction to Slane to travel into the wrong side of the road to avoid this dip," the motion read.

Seperately, the RSA has urged parents and teachers to put road safety on top of the back-to-school checklist.

Four children under the age of 14 have died on Irish roads this year - with 32 dying on Irish roads between 2011 and 2015. Of the 32, 14 were pedestrians, while two were cyclists.

Chief Executive of the RSA, Moyagh Murdoch encouraged parents to insist that their children wear reflective clothing.

"Don't leave them standing on the side of the road in the dark to wait for a bus.

"Make sure they know that when they're on the bus, they should wear their seatbelt at all times and never stand while the bus is moving," Ms Murdoch said.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old Irish woman who died in a car accident in Australia will be laid to rest this week.

Sarah Kelly was killed in the crash in Perth, and will be buried in her home town of Ballinasloe on Thursday.

The popular hairdresser moved to Perth about two years ago. It's understood she had recently applied for permanent residency there and was a member of her local camogie club. Southern Districts GAC Perth paid tribute to Ms Kelly following her passing and called her "a wonderful member of our camogie team".

"Sarah joined our club this year and brought with her energy and enthusiasm, a beaming smile and infectious laugh," the club said in a Facebook post.

Sarah is mourned by her parents, Mary and Pat, along with her two brothers and two sisters.
Robot Brothels Could Soon Become A Reality

Trending News: In The (Near) Future, Brothels Could Be Staffed By Robots

Why Is This Important?

Because robosex is our inevitable, craven future.

Long Story Short

Experts are predicting that soon brothels will be serviced by sex robots with artificial intelligence who wont need to fake it and wont pose the risk of sexually transmitted infections.

Long Story

Lets face it, as soon as any technological advance takes place someone out there tries to work out if we can use it for sexual gratification (the answer is almost always "yes").

The internet is an incredible resource of universal knowledge, but around 37% of its content is porn.

So as we get closer and closer to having robots live amongst us, its safe to presume that someone would be working on finding a way humans can have sex with them.

It is well-known that development is taking place on sex robots and they are getting closer and closer to existing. There are already (very creepy) plastic sex dolls that retail at around $6,000, made by a company called RealDoll.

Matt McMullen, the CEO of RealDoll, told an Ask Me Anything feature for Reddit:

We are building an AI system which can either be connected to a robotic doll or experienced in a VR environment. I think it will allow for an option that never existed before, and for some, may represent a happiness they never thought they could have.

GineersNow

It seems that the sex wont have to be robotic either.

John Danaher, a law lecturer from NUI Galway in the Republic of Ireland, believes that the robots will be able to pander to all the whims and fetishes of their clients.

Technology may become better at developing emotional bonds with their clients. They wont need to fake it the same way as human prostitutes," he told the Daily Star.

Some scientists have gone as far as to suggest that by 2050 there will be whole brothels staffed by sex robots. An academic paper by futurology scientist Ian Yeoman and Michelle Mars, a sexologist at the University of Wellington, states that:

In 2050, Amsterdams red light district will be all about android prostitutes, who are clean of sexual transmitted infections, not smuggled in from Eastern Europe and forced into slavery, the city council will have direct control over android sex workers controlling prices, hours of operations and sexual services.

Metro

With the rapid development of VR, virtual reality porn is surely just a matter of time and ethically its not a great leap from there to sex robots. Theres a sense of inevitability that man on robot action is written in our future, but will it take off?

While advocates suggest that sex robots would stop the spread of STIs and prevent human trafficking, it may be some time before theres a line of men clutching a bunch of flowers (or bottles of WD40) outside brothels.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Would you trust a sex robot to do the job?

Disrupt Your Feed

If the sex robots really do have AI, its only a matter of time before they start to decide theyd rather have a night off.

Drop This Fact

Futurologist Ian Pearson released a report last year that predicted that robot-human sex will overtake human-human sex by 2050.
Best Watches Under $5,000

These Special Watches Are Worth the Splurge

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Product photos from retailer site.

With additions by Brian Scott Lipton

If a watch is not only an instrument for keeping time but a statement of your personality, ambitions, and appreciation for doing things properly, then it makes sense to buy the best you can afford. If you wear a suit to work your watch may even be your chief mode of personal expression. In an era when all we have to do is glance at our iPhones to see where we are in material reality, wearing a watch is increasingly indicative of a man who truly values his time  and yours.

RELATED: Best Rolex Watches for Men

So how much should you spend on a watch? The key to answering the question is figuring out if its something you want to keep and wear for the rest of your life, or merely a stopgap until youre in a position to acquire something better. If the former, then near $5,000 is a good goal to set to ensure you wont have to trade up again in a few years  though if you do, making an investment at this level guarantees youll have some equity on hand to work with.

Getting into the game at the up-to-$5,000 level means no compromises are necessary in terms of what brands you can afford; you neednt cast any more wistful looks at the wrists of your better-equipped friends. Some of the finest names in watchmaking are yours for the choosing, including Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Panerai and IWC. And more than just a watch youll be getting craftsmanship, heritage, Swiss expertise  the very best.

These are heirloom quality pieces that will bring not only personal satisfaction but also the respect of those who know what theyre looking at. Its the difference between getting a watch thats merely good enough and one thats better than what most men strap to their wrists every morning. Nearing the $5,000 mark, youve already upgraded, and garnering covetous glances is now part of your everyday routine. An accountant may tell you that its better to buy five $1,000 watches than a single watch worth $5,000. But theres a reason we dont ask accountants for advice in buying watches.

Hitting the $5,000 mark is a respectable amount, but not the bank-breaking hit that most people will assume you took for the handsome pieces here (only your accountant needs to know the truth). Thats because weve shopped around for the best deals on discontinued models and other advantageous offers to maximize your bang for the buck. When youre dealing with watch brands that have been around since the 1800s, having the very latest model doesnt matter quite as much.

This is also the price range at which you can afford to care whats inside the watch as well. Quartz movements are valued by many for their accuracy, but they tend to be found in less expensive pieces. Fine mechanical watches like the ones on this list are endowed with automatic or hand-wound movements that cost much more to manufacture and require the expertise of a master watchmaker. Yes, they require some maintenance, but like all fine machinery thats part of the appeal. A pedal car may save you money on gas but would you drive one to work every morning?

Watches as Investments

Suffice it to say, if you're dropping thousands of dollars on a timepiece, you're going to be interested in its lifetime value. Many a man today walks around with the watch his father or grandfather wore, and wouldn't think of parting with it, or even getting it appraised. But some watch obsessives take pleasure in buying and selling watches, in expanding their collections, or in trading up over time, and these global buyers and sellers have created a sophisticated second-hand watch market. Both Christie's and Sotheby's  the world's two largest auction houses  hold regular auctions dedicated to timepieces, and their collected sales are measured in the millions. In other words, there's a lucrative market out there, and a hunger for quality timepieces.

If you'd like to participate, or hope to purchase a watch that will hold its value (or even increase in value) over time, then here are some things you should keep in mind:

Brands matter. Watch houses with lasting reputations tend to attract more buyers, and therefore retain their value more.

Watch houses with lasting reputations tend to attract more buyers, and therefore retain their value more. High price doesnt mean high quality. An expensive watch isn't necessarily a good watch. Unfortunately, lots of watches with huge price tags rely more on the recognition of their brand name, or on a gaudy design, rather than on quality construction or intricacy of design.

An expensive watch isn't necessarily a good watch. Unfortunately, lots of watches with huge price tags rely more on the recognition of their brand name, or on a gaudy design, rather than on quality construction or intricacy of design. Watch markets are a great place to do your homework. Websites such as WatchBox and Hodinkee, not to mention eBay and even Amazon are great places to take stock of what is selling and what isn't.

Remember, you're playing the long game here. A watch isn't likely to appreciate in value in a year, or even ten years, but when you look at, for example, the resale value of 50-year-old Rolexes, you can expect a nice long-term return, either for your retirement or for your grandchild's. So here are our picks for the best watches under $5,000. Welcome to the big leagues.

Best Chronograph Watches Under $5,000

IWC Aquatimer Black Dial

IWC

IWC is one of the most interesting and admirable Swiss watch brands. Founded by an American watchmaker in 1868 their pieces are known for an elegant, almost sparse beauty matched by the precision of their movements. They began making special pilots watches for the military back in 1936 and won recognition for indispensable instruments that also happened to look great in peacetime.

$3,475 at JomaShop.com

Bell & Ross Aviation Gold Heritage

Bell & Ross

Bell & Ross is a relative newcomer to the luxury watch world, and headquartered in Paris to boot. But they quickly gained a following with watches based on military aviation instruments like this square-cased Heritage Aviation model that looks like its traveling at Mach 2 and then some.

$3,750 at Amazon.com

Tudor Automatic Heritage Chronograph

Tudor has long been known as Rolexs baby brother, but pieces like this throwback chrono are big on allure in their own right. This watch might have a bit too much 70s flair for some, but there are few cooler choices you can make. Pair with a sports car for the ultimate style statement.

$3,995 at Jomashop.com

Best Dress Watches Under $5,000

IWC Portofino Automatic, Blue Dial

IWC

As sporty as IWCs pilot watches are, their dressier Portofino counterparts amp up the elegance to the Nth degree. This model with a blue dial set off by a black crocodile leather strap can easily hold its own with a tuxedo and will make any tailored suit look that much sharper. Well worth a splurge.

$4,460 at Jomashop.com

Panerai Luminor Marina

The Panerai Luminor, an Italian-designed watch with Swiss guts, is one of the most unique and beautiful wrist watches available anywhere. Originally made for the Italian navys elite underwater commandos, it still carries a certain military flair, but thanks to its tan leather strap and stylish face it is an extremely civilized addition to any watch collection.

$4,668.89 at Jomashop.com

Montblanc Star Legacy Automatic Watch

Perfect for a night on the town, this stylish wash boasts the distinctive Montblanc design expression. The stainless steel case features the companys indelible straight horns and a distinctive double-shaped bezel with domed sapphire glass, an easy-to-read blue dial with Roman numerals and a prominent Roman XII, along with the traditional railway minuterie and the classic leaf-shaped and baton-shaped hands which complete its elegant appearance.

$1475 at Jomashop.com

Best Dive Watches Under $5,000

Breitling SuperOcean Heritage

Breitling, founded in 1884, doesnt only make watches rooted in aviation. The SuperOcean, with its dashing embossed leather strap, is an ultra-capable diving watch with rugged good looks. Simple and stylish, the first SuperOcean was launched in 1957 and it has since become one of Breitlings core models. This watch means business.

$3,850 at Amazon.com

TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300, Green Dial

As robust and sporty as it is stylish, this newest member of the TAG family is particularly well-suited for underwater exploration. Its fully equipped with the companys six standard diving features of all water resistance to 300 meters (30 bar), a unidirectional rotating bezel, a screw-down crown, luminescent hands and markers, a double security clasp, and a sapphire crystal.

$4,200 at TagHeuer.com

Best Investment Watches Under $5,000

Cartier Tank Solo XL Automatic

The Cartier Tank is a classic timepiece designed by the world-famous jeweler Louis Cartier in 1917. Inspired by the then ground-breaking post WWI Renault tanks, you can go your whole life with this watch  and this watch alone  and never lack for style or sophistication.

$3,195 at Jomashop.com

TAG Heuer Carrera

TAG Heuer

The Carrera is a subtle watch that does everything right, from its subdued styling to its heft weight on wrist. Total watch amateurs will know just from holding this bad boy that it's been engineered to perfection, and with 33 jewels, two subdials, and a 100-meter water resistance rating, it's got the makings of a great heritage watch.

$4,500 at Jomashop.com

Breitling Navitimer 41 Automatic

If youre looking for the perfect watch to not just enjoy for the long-term but to make an investment in, you cant do better than the sophisticated timepieces created by this heritage Swiss brand. It first crafted the beautiful Nativimer in 1952, and the watch was soon worn on numerous pilots and others in the industry, who were taken with its flight-specific slide rule. Today, this brand-new take on this iconic watch effortlessly combines the timepieces historic appeal with contemporary refinement.

$4,750 at Breitling.com

Best Everyday Watches

Zodiac Super Sea Wolf

The STP 3-13 automatic movement and sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating stay true to the quality and style of Zodiac. The Swiss-made timepiece features uni-directional mineral crystal top ring and a black and white dial with gold-tone accents, while also being water-resistant to up to 20 ATM. This watch proves you don't need to throw down cash to have style.

$1,495 at ZodiacWatches.com

Rado Captain Cook Automatic

For the man who wants his watch to be as vibrant as he is, this gorgeous watch will look  and feel  great from morning to night. This stunning timepiece draws on many of the elements of the 1962 original model and also uses many of the companys signature elements from the past decades, including a ceramic-dial inlay, a sapphire crystal, and the precision-inspired moving anchor symbol. Whether youre a captain of industry or captain of your own ship, this watch will put you in charge of having an amazing day.

$2,600 at Rado.com

Best GMT Watches Under $5,000

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Automatic GMT Watch

Omega

Pay close attention to the James Bond movies and youll see that 007 is sporting an Omega Seamaster, one of the seminal sports watches made for divers and other swashbucklers who may or may not be working for the British secret intelligence service. We like to think its more than mere product placement; Seamasters are models of adventurous horological excellence.

$4,850 at Amazon.com

Tudor Black Bay Automatic GMT

This stylish and ultra-functional watch is not just the perfect watch for when you travel, you may never want to take it off your wrist. This Swiss-made beauty features an attractive bi-directional rotating burgundy and blue bezel, an incredible 70-hour power reserve, a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, and is even water-resistant up to 660 feet. Let yourself go!

$3,899 at Chrono24.com

Baume and Mercier Clifton Club GMT

Chic yet functional, this Swiss-made luxury automatic GMT watch features an opaline black dial, blue bezel, luminescent hands with Superluminova emission, a stainless steel case and a black calfskin strap and blue rubberized calfskin lining on the reverse. This is one club youll definitely want to belong to.

$2,300 at MrPorter.com

If you still didn't see a watch that satisfied your horological cravings, check out all our watch coverage. You're sure to find something.

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Duke Universitys great historian of thought and Hayek scholar Bruce Caldwell sent the following e-mail to me, which I share here with Bruces kind permission (link added):

It works in a way for Bernie Sanders too of course. But the Il Duce jaw and mannerisms of Trump makes the comparison to him easier. (Though when Bernie is shouting about capitalist corruption it does remind one of the later stages of Hitlers standard speech, when he starts screaming about the fatherland.)

Has anyone in the blogosphere noticed the chilling similarity between Hayeks description in the Road To Serfdom (in the chapter titled  Why the Worst Get on Top ) of how a dictator comes to power and the Trump campaign? First, aim at the least educated individuals; they are more likely to have more primitive and common instincts. Next, attract the docile and gullible, who have no strong convictions of their own but will join up. Identify a common enemy to build solidarity and blame for ones present problems. Then add in a dose of nationalism. The relevant pages are pp. 160-161 of the Collected Works edition.

I do agree. And I agree also that Trumps manner and look  and, of course, his howls, growls, bleats and screeches  combine to make him eerily like a classic political strongman. Central casting could have done no better than to produce Trump for such a role.

Heres the passage from Hayeks Road to Serfdom that Bruce has in mind:

There are three main reasons why such a numerous and strong group with fairly homogeneous views is not likely to be formed by the best but rather by the worst elements of any society. By our standards the principles on which such a group would be selected will be almost entirely negative.

In the first instance, it is probably true that in general the higher the education and intelligence of individuals becomes, the more their views and tastes are differentiated and the less likely they are to agree on a particular hierarchy of values. It is a corollary of this that if we wish to find a high degree of uniformity and similarity of outlook, we have to descend to the regions of lower moral and intellectual standards where the more primitive and common instincts and tastes prevail. This does not mean that the majority of people have low moral standards; it merely means that the largest group of people whose values are very similar are the people with low standards. It is, as it were, the lowest common denominator which unites the largest number of people. If a numerous group is needed, strong enough to impose their views on the values of life on all the rest, it will never be those with highly differentiated and developed tastes it will be those who form the mass in the derogatory sense of the term, the least original and independent, who will be able to put the weight of their numbers behind their particular ideals.

If, however, a potential dictator had to rely entirely on those whose uncomplicated and primitive instincts happen to be very similar, their number would scarcely give sufficient weight to their endeavors. He will have to increase their numbers by converting more to the same simple creed.

Here comes in the second negative principle of selection: he will be able to obtain the support of all the docile and gullible, who have no strong convictions of their own but are prepared to accept a ready-made system of values if it is only drummed into their ears sufficiently loudly and frequently. It will be those whose vague and imperfectly formed ideas are easily swayed and whose passions and emotions are readily aroused who will thus swell the ranks of the totalitarian party.

It is in connection with the deliberate effort of the skilful demagogue to weld together a closely coherent and homogeneous body of supporters that the third and perhaps most important negative element of selection enters. It seems to be almost a law of human nature that it is easier for people to agree on a negative programme, on the hatred of an enemy, on the envy of those better off, than on any positive task. The contrast between the we and the they, the common fight against those outside the group, seems to be an essential ingredient in any creed which will solidly knit together a group for common action. It is consequently always employed by those who seek, not merely support of a policy, but the unreserved allegiance of huge masses. From their point of view it has the great advantage of leaving them greater freedom of action than almost any positive programme. The enemy, whether he be internal like the Jew or the Kulak, or external, seems to be an indispensable requisite in the armoury of a totalitarian leader.

That in Germany it was the Jew who became the enemy till his place was taken by the plutocracies was no less a result of the anti-capitalist resentment on which the whole movement was based than the selection of the Kulak in Russia. In Germany and Austria the Jew had come to be regarded as the representative of capitalism because a traditional dislike of large classes of the population for commercial pursuits had left these more readily accessible to a group that was practically excluded from the more highly esteemed occupations. It is the old story ofthe alien race being admitted only to the less respected trades and then being hated still more for practising them. The fact that German anti-semitism and anti-capitalism spring from the same root is of great importance for the understanding of what has happened there, but this is rarely grasped by foreign observers.
Aleppo May 2016

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

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..moshearens.com..15 August '16..Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants to sue Britain over the 1917 Balfour Declaration , which pledged His Majestys Governments support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. Arthur James Balfour has a well-deserved place in history, not only because he signed the famous letter addressed to Lionel Walter Rothschild, but also because he served as Britains prime minister between 1902 and 1905, and as Britains foreign secretary between 1916 and 1919.As for Abbas, he might have remained completely unknown had it not been for the Balfour Declaration. The Palestinians as a national entity, recognized internationally and as such by themselves, would probably not have existed had it not been for the Balfour Declaration. They were not recognized as such at the time, either by the Turks or the British.The Balfour Declaration refers to existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine. Thirty years later, in November 1947, the UN partition declaration called for the establishment of a Jewish and an Arab state in a divided Palestine. The non-Jewish population in Palestine was considered by the international community, and by themselves as well, not a distinct nationality but part of the Arab nation.It was the establishment of Israel, and the following Arab wars waged against Israel, that gave rise to a separate Palestinian national consciousness and in time international recognition of a Palestinian nation. Abbas has no reason to sue Britain, which by its declaration and the subsequent establishment of Israel also gave birth to the Palestinian nation that he purports to lead. If anything, he should recognize Britains contribution to Palestinian nationhood.What would have been the fate of the Arab population living in Palestine at the time of the Balfour Declaration had Britain not pledged its support to the Zionist enterprise and if Israel had not been established 31 years later? We can only speculate, though one would expect that their fate would have been intertwined with the fate of the Arab populations in the Middle East in the years after World War I until the present time, and no doubt would have been affected by it.A description of the tragic fate of the Middle Eastern Arab population in recent years is graphically described in Scott Andersons long review in:  Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart.  Even those who have followed these events  the unending fighting, the brutal massacres, the refugees fleeing for their lives  would do well to read Andersons account. It hardly seems likely that the Palestinians, had it not been for the establishment of Israel, would have avoided being caught up in this Arab national catastrophe.Some minority groups living in Israel, under the impression of events in Syria, have begun to show an appreciation for Israel and the tranquil living conditions and economic opportunities it provides. There has been an increase in volunteering for service in the Israel Defense Forces by Israels Christian Arab young men. And the Druze in the Golan Heights, who for years insisted they were Syrians and rejected Israeli ID cards, have began applying for Israeli citizenship and have put their Syrian flags away.Will the time come when Palestinians, those who are citizens of Israel and even those living in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, recognize that providence has been kind to them? That the establishment of the State of Israel may have saved them the suffering of their Arab brethren in neighboring Arab countries?The rhetoric of Palestinian leaders like Abbas in Ramallah and Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza might lead you to believe that nothing can be worse than Israeli occupation, but its not likely that all Palestinians believe that. Maybe some even consider the establishment of the State of Israel a blessing in disguise.
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On August 19, eight vigilance officers raided the house of a businessman in Perumbavoor, in Ernakulam, in Kerala, and seized gold and valuables worth 13 lakh.

What makes this story different from other raids is that the eight officers were not vigilance officials, but sophisticated robbers.

To make things murkier, according to the Kerala Police, the robbery was carried out by a group which has clear links with terror groups and it is suspected that it was done to fund terror-related activities in India.

Read | Suspected woman recruit says 40 attended IS terror classes in Kerala

On Monday the police arrested Abdul Halim, the prime suspect, and three of his accomplices. Halim and his group have in the past targeted gold merchants and other businessmen, and that money has been used to fund terror-related activities in Kerala and to fight the court cases of those accomplices. Media reports link Halim to Thadiyantavide Nazeer, an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, who was caught in 2009 after being on the run for almost two decades. Annas, one of those arrested along with Halim, is a suspect in a bus burning case in Kochi in 2005 and in the 2006 Kozhikode bus blast case. Naseer was the prime accused in 2005 case.

This leads to a question: Are terror-related incidents on the rise in Kerala? According to the South Asia Terror Portal (SATP), 22 terror-related incidents have been reported in the first seven months of this year in Kerala. Out of these only one  the June 15 Kollam bomb blast at a civil station  was violent, while the others were non-violent incidents like seizure of weapons, search for terror suspects and seizing fake Indian currency notes. During the corresponding period in 2015 only six such incidents were recorded.

Read | Kerala school under scanner over missing people

Terror in India has long been associated with the extremist activities in Kashmir, Punjab or the Northeast. But in the south there is a silent and more potent terror wave, said a government official in Thiruvananthapuram who did not want to be named.

The recent news of about 20 people leaving the state to fight the holy war in Iraq and Syria for the Islamic State (IS) and the arrest of a Kabul-bound woman, who was an IS recruiter, from the Delhi airport point to this growing wave.

Is this a sudden change and what are the reasons for it?

We have been monitoring patterns for some time now, and one of the main reasons for a high rate of terror-related activities in Kerala is its close ties with the Gulf (West Asia). A lot of radicalisation and terror planning and funding comes from this route into Kerala, said a former top official of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), who investigated many terror cases in the state until recently, but did not want to be identified.

Read | Cops probe ISIS suspects stay in Andaman islands

What is very disturbing is that many well-off people are part of these silent modules and many times they themselves are not aware of it....Also, it is no longer limited to north Kerala, reports of such activities come in from all places in the state, he said.

Kerala earned the tag Gods Own Country with its picturesque backwaters, pristine beaches and Chinese fishing nets. But theres a growing undercurrent of terror-related activities that have spread the length and breadth of the state  the Perumbavoor case should remind the Pinarayi Vijayan government of this.

@vijucherian

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For some years now, Indias Dalit movement has come close to triggering coordinated nationwide protests, but faltered every time, mainly because it didnt have a youthful new leader who could galvanise the community.

Enter Jignesh Mevani.

The 35-year-old lawyer-turned-Dalit activist burst onto the national scene at a time the anti-caste movement was looking for a young and energetic leader who had mass appeal and could grab headlines.

Rohith Vemula could have been that leader but he died before he could be discovered. Dontha Prashanth, Rohiths friend and comrade from the University of Hyderabad, could have emerged as a leader of the nationwide struggle following Rohiths death but was marginalised because of his poor Hindi and distance from Delhi: Two things needed to stay in the media spotlight.

So when Mevani happened, it seemed like the time had come. Here was a leader who could growl at the most powerful political force in the country today--the Sangh Parivar--and that too in its heartland.

The agitation he spearheaded following the horrific July 11 flogging of Dalits in Una for skinning a dead cow, even forced chief minister Anandiben Patel to resign, some said.

Equally important, Mevanis rise came just months after the greying, upper-caste dominated Communist movement found its new-age mascot: Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

Mevani seemed invincible when he declared at the July 31 rally in Ahmedabad that Dalits would start breaking the bones of cow protectors if they dared to as much as touch them. That one statement stood out more than any other because it had never been done: The feudals had never been openly threatened this way.

This was a state with no history of such assertion against Hindutva and no major Dalit fightback against ancient Hindu codes. This was Gujarat, where Dalits form less than seven percent of the population. And Mevani was threatening to put his words to action starting with Saurashtra, where in many villages even today upper castes accept money from Dalits by sprinkling holy water on the currency.

But few asked Mevani how he planned to deliver on his threat perhaps because of how convincingly he issued it. If a small fighting unit of 800 Dalits could defeat a Peshwa army of 2,000 in the historic battle of Bhima Koregaon in 1818, Gujarats Dalit minority could easily take on the feudals, his supporters argued.

Battle lines drawn, Mevani marched from Ahmedabad toward Una where his supporters had planned a massive show of strength on August 15.

Mevani (second from right, backrow) announces the start of his 10-day march to Una in Ahmedabad. (Siddharaj Solanki/ HT photo)

The fight presented itself on the night of August 13. Hundreds of men from the dominant Koli and Darbar castes blocked a key road leading to Una at a village called Samter. The police did nothing to control them as they pelted stones at Dalits heading to Una and even attacked a woman journalist at Samter. As Mevani and others entered Una on August 15, reports poured in that Dalits headed to the rally were being attacked in other villages too.

If Hardik Patel can go to jail for seven months, I am willing to be jailed for 27 months, Mevani thundered at the event and drew rapturous applause when he once again threatened to break bones. As if responding to his challenge, violence against Dalits escalated in Samter with many victims saying the police force did nothing.

All eyes were on Mevani as he went straight to the Una police station after the rally ended at around 12.30 pm. As cameras rolled, he argued loudly with senior police officers. When it became clear which side the police was on, Mevani zoomed off toward Samter to take on the mobs, or so it seemed at the time.

Mevani told me hes going to teach them a lesson. He will be victorious, said Balubhai Sarvaiya, the main target of the July 11 attack by alleged cow protectors.

An hour passed without word from Mevani and then another two. When HT finally got through to him on the phone, he said, Samter? No, Im on my way to Ahmedabad. Didnt he tell Balubhai that was going to Samter? There was a threat to my life and I was advised to leave.

Balubhai didnt believe it at first. But by 5 pm, it was painfully clear that Mevani wasnt coming back. By 8 pm, all activists who had come from outside had left Una. Just Balubhai and his family, including women and children, remained at the police station pleading and arguing with the police to escort them safely back home.

#ChaloUna Balubhai, victim of UnaAttack,speaks to HT,says unable to return home after protest @htTweets pic.twitter.com/NKP3FAI4AR  Sudipto Mondal (@mondalsudipto) August 15, 2016

This isnt an isolated case. Dalit villagers say theyre facing social boycott at many places and theres no saying from where the next attack will come. Balubhai and his family -- for whom this entire mobilisation supposedly happened  are back to where they started -- alone and scared.

This is to not say Mevani and others are cowards  indeed its a relief that he avoided taking law into his own hands. But its time to focus on how the muscular assertion and demands may have damaged the movement and put Dalit lives at risk.

Mevani should look at the Maoists who led another violent movement seeking justice for the meek. Could the Maoists protect Dalits from the Ranvir Sena in Bihar? Could they save Dalit Christians from Hindutva extremists after they killed VHP leader Lakshmananda Saraswati?

Mevani says he wants guns for Dalits. The Maoists armed Dalits in Telangana but did that protect them from landlords? Are the Maoists in a position to save innocent adivasis from the wrath of security forces?

The sentiment of dismay is summed up best by Sanghapali Aruna Lohitakshi, a PhD student at JNU and a Dalit woman leader, who was on stage with Mevani.

We cant afford to risk the safety of our brothers and sisters who come out to support us. Weve lost too many lives already, and we need to strategise better to protect them. We want to fight back, but not at the cost of our brothers and sisters, Sanghapali told the online portal, Ladies Finger, in a recent interview.

Mevani needs to be told that there is a difference between courage and bravado  and all forms of assertion need not be hyper-masculine. He needs to appreciate that seeking answers within the constitutional framework is as brave as taking on a rampaging mob.

Many Ambedkarite groups have been working at the grassroots level in Gujarat for decades and have painstakingly built a robust network of lawyers and activists who provide help and emergency relief to Dalits in distress. Leaders of these groups had pleaded with Mevani to tone down his statements but he didnt budge.

Another problem with his message is his alternative to cow-skinning, a profession that many Dalits have used to climb out of poverty in the state.

Take a vow with me that you will no longer do the dirty work of skinning cattle, he told the gathering on Independence Day and threatened to block railroads if the government did not announce plans to give five acres of farmland to each Dalit in Gujarat within 30 days.

Its true that a majority of Dalits still dont own land, which is in the vice-like grip of the feudal castes of Gujarat. The demand for land reforms is, legitimate but its ridiculous to present it as an alternative to people like Balubhai who make upwards of Rs 50,000 a month from skinning dead cattle.

Mevani should have consulted Balubhai and others involved in the cow-skinning business and come up with a charter of demands for their economic emancipation instead of calling their profession dirty.

There are others in the business who make twice as much. I thought it was just a blackmail tactic when they said we should stop picking up dead cows. I didnt know they seriously wanted us to stop this business. What we want is protection, not a new profession, said Balubhai.

Maybe Mevani will find some pointers from the businessmen belonging to the Dalit India Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) who shared stage with him on August 15. We want to formalise, professionalise and industrialise the business of skinning cattle. We want to capture the leather industry and make it the stronghold of Dalits who have been doing this work for centuries. For that to happen, we need the support of leaders like Mevani. But hes no mood to listen, a DICCI leader told HT.

Mevani could have also exchanged ideas with Dontha Prashanth, who travelled in an unreserved compartment of the Secunderabad-Rajkot Express, just to be with him on that historic day. The scholar, who is pursuing a PhD in Ambedkarite economics, would surely have given him good advice. But Mevani chose to completely ignore Donthas presence on stage, not even a nod in his direction. Instead, he sat glued to another man who became a celebrity through his speeches, Kanhaiya Kumar.

Kanhaiya walked off stage the moment he finished his address and Radhika Vemula, Rohith Vemulas mother, who spoke next, had to stop midway because the crowd was distracted by the JNU celebritys exit.

But despite all this, Mevani still enjoys widespread goodwill. Dalits and their leaders know that it may be years, perhaps generations before they find another charismatic leader like Mevani. He needs to be warned against taking this groundswell of goodwill for granted. For, it will be heartbreaking to see this spectacular Dalit surge crash and scatter against the intransigence of one man.

(Views expressed are personal. The author tweets as @mondalsudipto)
The youth who defy curfew, pelt stones and fight pitched battles with security forces in the Valley are veritable family drop-outs. Their parents have no control over them. They might follow the Hurriyats calendar of protests. But they arent exactly at the separatists beck and call.

Be they teenagers, sophomores or university alumnus, the mood is defiant; the anger so palpable that one can slice it with a butter-knife. Im unable to convince my son; this generation isnt in our control, bemoaned a Kashmir University professor. What you see is a mass movement driven by boys as young as 12 to 16.They hold the trigger.

The universitys faculty comprises teachers from across the valley. One among them quoted students from South Kashmir, the worst affected among all regions, as telling him that each youth now was a militant. Some had guns, some didnt.

On August 16, a boy was killed in police action at Batamaloo. Next day, a group of fifty assembled at the same spot to take on the forces, recalled another teacher. Their generation only saw violence. They dont dream of building careers. Theyre ready to die, he said.

Read: The challenge of engaging with a hitherto unknown Kashmir

The uprising is the result of accumulated anger compounded by excessive use of force after Burhan Wanis killing. It has to it an unmistakable religious dimension feeding on the shenanigans of Hindu supremacists elsewhere in India.

One heard slogans in support of Pakistan and against India at the SMHS hospital where scores of injured youth are under treatment. But to entirely attribute the agitationthat has unprecedented mobilisation in the countryside-- to an external conspiracy would be a costly folly.

A PDP insider offered on it an interesting construct: protests driven by anger grew into a kind of civil disobedience movement that had Pakistan navigating it from behind the Hurriyat veneer. Its overt diplomatic offensive on rights violations drew sustenance from on-the-ground covert action, including co-option of armed militants who addressed azadi-seekers in Anantnag and Pulwama.

Ascendant pro-Pakistan sentiments in the Valley are confirmed by local journalists. The contributory factors are many: incidence of intolerance in India; lack of trust in the PDP-BJP coalition; absence of political dialogue on Kashmir and security crackdown on protests after Buran Wanis encounter killing.

But how serious is the demand for Azadi? On the face of it, pretty much! The voices one heard on streets, at hospitals and in assemblies of traders, teachers and lawyers could be paraphrased to read: Youre mistaken if you think you can tire us out; weve enough rations for six months; wed fight till the end; wont let the cause for which so many of our brothers died go waste.

Read: Caught in the line of fire: Lives of CRPF men in Kashmir

Muslim Kashmir is reluctant to continue its relations with an India perceived as Hindu India. Thats a harsh reality, admitted a local legislator. So the problem that needs prompt negation is the valley peoples psychological secession from mainland India!

A militant-turned-politico had for it an antidote thatll require a BJP leap of faithfrom seeking to scrap Article 370 to granting autonomy to Kashmir. It wont be Pakistans extension in Kashmir, as was once argued by Arun Jaitley. It will be its defeat. We ask for Azadi when we are denied autonomy or self rule.

Read: Video of two Kashmir cops resigning amid cheers from public goes viral
Every year, sometime in August, hospitals in Mumbai brace themselves to receive scores of young men who are brought in with a variety of injuries ranging from broken ribs to cracked skulls. It is almost a ritual and though the numbers have been decreasing, they are still large enough to warrant concern.

These young men are Govindas, participants in the festival of Janmashtami which celebrates the birthday of Krishna. There are various types of celebrations around the country  the one in Vrindavan is famous; in Maharashtra, it is marked by the dahi handi, which references the story of the blue deitys penchant for breaking a pot of curd and butter. In Mumbai, Pune and elsewhere, young men form human pyramids to reach a pot tied on a rope strung between two buildings and try and break it.

Read | Dahi Handi in Bollywood: From Shammi Kapoor to Hrithik and Sonakshi

The effort here is not just to reach the pot but to make a higher and higher pyramid. In 2012, a nine-tier pyramid topped 43 feet and no doubt someone would have tried to break that record, except that the courts have stepped in and put a halt to the practice. Taking note of the rising number of injuries and even deaths, the government and the High Court of Bombay laid down strict guidelines  children below 12, who were used in the upper layers because they were lighter in weight, could no longer take part and the height of a pyramid could not be more than 20 feet. Many groups ignored these strictures and the ruling itself was challenged in the Supreme Court; last week the apex court upheld the judgment and reiterated that only boys over 18 could take part.

Read | Pride, politics and culture: Why Mumbai wants dahi handi festival to go on

This has put a dampener on celebrations this year and stymied the plans of many political parties who had, over the years, taken complete control of the festival. What at one time was a neighbourhood celebration has now metamorphosed into a raucous and high-energy event involving competitive politics, loudly played electronic music, filmy glamour and not surprisingly, big money. Local politicians, in a display of one-upmanship, set up dahi handis for their band of followers and offer lakhs in prizes in the presence of film stars, which encourage youngsters to reach out even higher. The human cost can be terrible  without safety nets or other measures, such as helmets, those who fall inevitably land up in hospitals with serious injuries; last year one person died. In 2015, thanks to court-imposed controls, the number of injured was recorded at 129, one-third of the figure recorded the previous year. But even that is considered too high and doctors have been demanding that the controls be imposed strictly.

Read | Cant stand on stool to break dahi handi: Raj Thackeray

Thats easier said than done. Political parties have invoked religious sentiment and have criticised the courts for interfering in tradition. Courts should not cross Laxman Rekha said an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna. But much of the anger is also directed at the BJP-led government in the state which, politicians say, did not put up a robust defence of cultural traditions.

The involvement of politicians in religious festivals is a long-standing tradition in the state. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak turned Ganesh Chaturthi from a quiet, family affair into a powerful tool for community mobilisation by installing a Ganpati idol in his newspaper Kesaris office in Pune. It brought together citizens from disparate backgrounds in a show of nationalistic fervour. Since then, community celebrations have only grown and each year the queues to see some of the more high profile idols keep growing and the size of the donations  in cash, gold and even cars  keeps increasing. It is hardly surprising that politicians get involved.

Read | Shiv Sena slams CM over dahi handi restrictions

This year, however, the Supreme Courts restrictions on the height of the human pyramid for dahi handis have discouraged many politicians from organising events. The NCP and Congress have already cried off  the curbs have taken the enjoyment out of the whole affair, they say. The others, however, are going ahead  with elections to the Mumbai municipal corporation coming up early next year, they need to engage with local communities, especially the Marathi manoos, which celebrates dahi handi the most vigorously.

What is more important, safety or sentiment? This is a question that will have to be addressed. Already the Sena has been criticising its ally and talking about how only Hindu festivals are curbed, notwithstanding the fact that there are no other religious celebrations were so many people get hurt. The government cannot be seen to flout the Supreme Courts orders; at the same time, it has to consider what local communities think. It is a balancing act as difficult as scaling a very high pyramid.

Sidharth Bhatia is a senior journalist based in Mumbai

The views expressed are personal
The LG vs AAP government tussle seems to have taken a toll on the people of Delhi if the spate of rapes of children in recent times is anything to go by. Close on the heels of the rape of a three-year-old girl comes the gangrape of an eight-year-old. She was taken away by three men as she lay sleeping outside her home. What makes this more horrifying is the fact that the main accused had allegedly tried to abduct the child earlier as well.

Read| Gurgaon woman abducted and gang-raped for publicly shaming harassers

Children and women in cities and towns across India are vulnerable to predators for lack of basic amenities. In the present case, the family was sleeping outside as there was no power. Lack of toilets forces women to use fields where predators lie in wait. Much of the crime takes place in unauthorised colonies where there is little or no police patrolling. Migrant workers who live in flimsy shacks or out in the open have no choice but to leave their children unattended while they work. This leaves them open to criminals who kidnap or rape them.

Read | Incest rapes in Delhi up, fathers among offenders

The fact that migration from villages to cities is going to increase cannot be disputed. But certainly the areas where migrant labour is clustered can be policed a bit better.

Now that the LG has been given judicial sanction to exercise his powers, the law and order situation should be looked at more carefully. There is nothing to stop the police from building up a database of offenders in these areas. The police are either not around to protect the scores of people who live in the open or are not available on emergency lines. In the case of rapes of women and children from among the more disadvantaged sections, the police have routinely been accused of dragging their feet in registering cases.

Read | Is Mumbai a safe city? Records say not really so

Simple solutions like better power supply, street lighting, more women constables in police stations in areas where migrant labour live and better sanitation can go a long way towards reducing such crimes.

@LalitaPanicker

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The Madhya Pradesh police have expressed helplessness in nabbing cyber criminals, saying most of the cases were traced to foreign countries such as Nigeria and Oman.

Special director general of police, MP cyber cell, Rajendra Kumar told HT on Monday that most cyber crimes registered in the state are done through systems based in foreign countries.

They are using the IP addresses based in those countries. In about eight out of ten cases, police have traced the IP address of the accused to Nigeria or Oman, he said.

In July 2015, unidentified cyber criminals duped a Bhopal resident Syed Sultan Jameel of Rs 45 lakh in an internet banking fraud. During investigations, the police traced the IP address of the accused to Nigeria.

In another internet banking fraud, director of Horticulture department, Mahendra Singh Dhakad was duped of Rs 9 lakh by unknown accused. In this case too, police traced the IP address of the accused to Nigeria.

The special DGP said the police become helpless when an IP address of the accused is traced to a foreign country.

It is almost impossible to nab the accused (in a foreign country). The police in such a case are left with no options, he said.

Additional inspector general, cyber cell, Vijay Khatri said use of illegal servers makes it more difficult to nab the accused.

Khatri noted that no action is taken against these servers in those countries due to the lack of proper norms and regulations.

Apart from this, no cooperation is received from investigative agencies of those countries. Also the countries which host the illegal servers are mostly poor. Hence, their governments dont pay much attention to curb such cyber crimes, he said.
Cupertino-headquartered technology giant Apple is reportedly expected to change the name of its retail stores from Apple Store to just Apple.

According to a MacRumors report, Apple has informed all its retail staff with confirmation that store will disappear from both online and in retail stores. Apples online store listing refers to stores by names like Apple Union Square or Apple Valley Fair or Apple The Grove, instead of Apple Store, Valley Fair or Apple Store, The Grove.

Apple, which launched its 10th location in New York City and named it Apple World Trade Center, dropping the word Store from its name.

The change in name has already been reflected on every website for Apples various store. The re-branding is already reflected on every website for Apples various stores. Apple stores, with fancy headphone setups and avenue displays will now change on a seasonal basis to showcase different products, the report stated.

The report also said that the change in name will be phased. The changes would begin with the recently opened Apple Stores and then move on to the older and more popular ones.

Earlier, the Foreign Investment and Promotion Board (FIPB) of India  the nodal agency for clearing investment proposals by overseas companies  had cleared Apple Incs plans to set up retail outlets in the country, but had said the iPhone maker must comply with 30% local sourcing rules.

The decision was announced just a week after Apple CEO Tim Cook made his first visit to the country to capitalise on its growth prospects, and in the face of slowing sales in China, the companys biggest overseas market. When contacted, an Apple spokesperson refused to comment on the development.

The California-based company had applied for a waiver of the mandatory sourcing norms, and there was widespread speculation that the government would accept its proposal.

Apple currently has Apple-owned stores across the world, including the US, the UK and China. The sourcing norm has been a hurdle for Apple in India, since the market does not have enough vendors to help it meet the norm. It sells in India through distributors, such as, Redington, Ingram Micro and Bettel.

According to Indian rules, a DIPP secretary-led panel first approves a companys application, and then sends it to the FIPB for a formal clearance. Reports earlier said that the DIPP had approved Apples proposal to open retail stores in the country without the 30% sourcing rider.
NEW DELHI: Taking a dig at the lieutenant governor, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday in the Delhi assembly that voter was bigger than the elected and the elected bigger than the selected. He questioned how a selected official (the L-G) can govern Delhi when the city has elected representatives.

Our fight is against the idea that Delhi will be governed by the L-G despite an elected government. When we contested elections, we knew that law and order, police and land were not under our control, he said at the four-day session of the Assembly.

Sisodia was referring to the Delhi high courts verdict that all decisions taken by the Delhi government have to be cleared by the lieutenant governor.

The L-G should cooperate with us on other subjects like he did with the other governments... The weight of someones vote in Uttar Pradesh should be the same as the weight of a Delhiite, he said.

Sisodia said the Centre wants to govern Delhi via Presidents rule.

If it was upto them (BJP), they would tear the calendar and turn back time so that February 10, 2015 never comes, Sisodia said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was elected on February 10 last year.

Sisodia said the opposition had a problem with the AAP governments style of working because the party challenged traditional norms and worked for the poor.

Delhi would have become jannat had the Centre not put a spanner in our works. For us, a manifesto is a contractual obligation. It might be a julma for others. We are accountable to the public, said Malviya Nagar MLA, Somnath Bharati.

AAP legislators said they pin their hopes on the Supreme Court.
NEW DELHI: Days after banning the manufacture, storage and use of all sharpened kite strings, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs blamed the Central government for allowing the import of Chinese manjha. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia sought an explanation from the prime minister.

The issue was raised by party MLA Somnath Bharti on the first day of the four-day assembly session.

The Central government should ban the import of killer Chinese manjha. People in Delhi can bring it from neighbouring town so no point just banning its use in Delhi. Import is not a state subject and the Central government should ban it across the country, said Sisodia.

Leader of Opposition, Vijender Gupta, however, accused the Delhi government of delaying the process, which led to the death of two children and an adult.

The Delhi government deliberately delayed the process of ban to benefit the mafia. An NGO alerted the government in March 2015, but they sat on it. The government is responsible for the deaths due to manjha, said Gupta.

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.

The state environment department had issued a draft notification on Tuesday that sought to impose a ban on the Chinese manjha. The notification sought objections from stakeholders till 60 days, saying the final notice will be issued after that.

As per the act, people will get another 545 days to raise any objection. Last two years were wasted by Delhi government and the same government will waste next two years also, Gupta added.

Somnath Bharti, who initiated the discussion, said banning the use of manjha wont have much impact since the enforcement agencies are not with the AAP government. If import is banned, the problem will be resolved. Vijender Gupta is raising the issue but he is silent on the responsibility of Central government, said Bharti.

The discussion gained momentum when Sisodia demanded explanation from the PM and Gupta objected to the language used by him. In reply, Sisodia said when the matter is related to the people of Delhi, he will seek explanation from everyone.
NEW DELHI: A 30-year-old Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable allegedly committed suicide at the National Museum complex near India Gate on Monday afternoon.

Police said he used the lanyard of his service pistol to hang himself.

A senior police officer said the constable, Munna Kumar Roy, was under depression due to prolonged illness. He was undergoing treatment at Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences.

The CISF is in charge of securing the complex and has a unit there. Roy was posted as a washer-man at the unit. No suicide note was recovered, said the officer.

At about 1.45 pm, one of Roys colleagues found him hanging the forces unit lines on the first floor.

Roy was rushed to RML Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on admission. The Tilak Marg police station was later informed. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered.

Originally from Jharkhand, Roy is survived by his wife and a daughter. He was posted at the National Museum Complex two months ago. Before that, he was posted in Ghaziabad, police said.
NEW DELHI: Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung suspended two DANICS officials, including a former OSD (officer on special duty) to deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and recommended suspension of another officer for illegally transferring government land to a private party.

Sources said Navelendra Kumar Singh, ADM (southeast), was ADM (north) when the alleged irregularity took place and before that he was posted as OSD to Sisodia.

During his posting as ADM (north), he issued an order to hand over 27 bigha and 16 biswa prime land in north Delhis Bhalaswas village to a private individual. The land was acquired by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), said a government official.

The L-G also recommended suspension of KC Surendra, ADM (north), who had implemented Navelendras order. Amit Kumar Pamasi, SDM (Model Town), has also been suspended.

Sources said the revenue department secretary received the complaint in and forwarded it to the directorate of vigilance.

After the inquiry was completed, the chief secretary forwarded the file to L-G, who approved the suspension.

DUSIB was to acquire the land but high court had quashed the order in 2002. The officials should have followed the procedure, if they had to transfer the land. For 14 years, no action was taken but suddenly the land was transferred within a month. This raised suspicion on the intent of the officer, the official added.

The L-G has also recommended a CBI inquiry in the matter.
NEW DELHI: I feel relieved, said Madhavi Vishwanathan, mother of murdered journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, after two men who killed IT executive Jigisha Ghosh in Delhi in 2009 were sentenced to death and one got life imprisonment.

The verdict, she said, brought justice to Jigishas family and gave her strong hope.

On September 30, 2008, six months before Ghosh was shot, TV journalist Vishwanathan, then 25, was murdered on Nelson Mandela Road when she was returning home from work at about 3.30am.

The accused in both cases are the same.

...They have struggled a lot for this day. Now, I am hopeful that the court gives the same judgment in Soumyas case. These men, who murdered Soumya and Jigisha in cold blood, should be given the strictest of punishment. If they are punished, it might save many more innocent deaths, she said.

Madhavi said she even visited the court for the hearing.

I was there at the court. This case is no more just about my own daughter. This is a fight against these men and we have to win it. I attended the hearing and congratulated Jigishas parents, who have been bravely pursuing the case for all these years. I draw strength from Jigishas parents. We are all very happy and content with the judgment, she said.

It took six months for Delhi Police to arrest the accused in Vishwanathans murder. The case had hit a dead end but after the men were arrested for Ghoshs murder, they admitted their involvement in Soumyas murder.
NEW DELHI: The JNU students union (JNUSU) has written to the universitys vice-chancellor, demanding action against a research scholar accused of raping another student.

A 28-year-old JNU student had on Sunday filed an FIR with Delhi Police against a member of the Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA), accusing him of raping her in a hostel room after spiking her drink.

The woman, a first-year PhD student, said that Anmol Ratan, also a PhD student, offered her to give a copy of a movie and asked her to accompany him to his room at Brahmaputra hostel.

She told the police that he raped her when she was unconscious and later told her not to report the matter.

We condemn the incident and call for speedy action. ...we demand that the (police) force takes all steps to ensure justice and arrest the accused without delay. The university must take necessary action against the accused student, the union said.

A police officer said the rape survivors statement could not be recorded before the judicial magistrate on Monday. The complainant told us she was unwell and wouldnt be able to record her statement. We will approach her again on Tuesday, said the officer.

Her statement before the judicial magistrate is important in the case because it is admissible in the court of law.

The police raided possible hideouts of the suspect, Ratan, in Delhi and adjoining states. The police approached his family members and asked them to produce Ratan before them at the earliest.

The university said the incident was a blot on its image and asked the JNU community to remain vigilant against such incidents.

In a statement, the university said, JNU administration strongly condemns an incident of heinous rape in a campus hostel. It has completely shaken the JNU community and has tarnished the image of the university.

The AISA had on Sunday expelled Ratan and ended his primary membership. The ABVP held a protest against Ratan in the campus and demanded his rustication.
LAKHIMPUR KHERI: Tiger terror rules half-a-dozen villages around Mailani forest range along the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border after seven people were mauled to death in the region since February.

Forest officials could not confirm if one or more tigers were attacking villagers, but they ruled out chances of the predator being a maneater as all the victims were left behind.

The primary aim now is to tranquillise, catch and release the animal back in the forests, Lucknow division chief conservator of forests Eva Sharma said.

Foresters on foot and on elephant-back were scouring the dense forests to trace and trap the killer tiger, after a 58-year-old villager, Baburam of Chhedipur, was killed on Saturday. The mutilated body was recovered late at night.

More trackers were pressed into the tigers trail as Baburam became the third casualty in five days since August 15.

South Kheri divisional forest officer Sanjay Biswal said on Monday wild animals have ventured out of the forest for safety and food after heavy monsoon rain flooded large pockets of Mailani range. This has increased the risk of man-animal conflicts.

The presence of a tiger and a tigress was reported in the area. But it is hard to say if both or one of them is involved in the attacks, he said.

Located close to Dudhwa national park and tiger reserve at the Himalayan foothills, the predators sometimes stray into human habitation on the fringes of Mailani range in Lakhimpur Kheri district.

A 50km-corridor separates Dudhwaand-Mailani, which serves as a buffer zone for Kishanpur sanctuary of the tiger reserve. Dudhwa and Kishanpur collectively have more than 150 tigers; hugely territorial and solitary animals that prowl a large area for prey. Tigers rarely attack humans if not provoked, or if there is no shortage of natural prey such as swamp deer and wild boars in case of Dudhwas big cats. Old and infirm tigers, however, prey on easy targets such as livestock and people.

Sugarcane plantations in the area offer ideal cover for tigers, and wild boars are found in abundance in such fields as they love to eat the sweet roots.

The spate of killings has worried forest officials because Mailani range has last reported a fatal tiger attack way back in June 2012.

Elephants from Dudhwa were deployed for an intensive combing operation to identify and trap the rogue predators. Teams from the World Wildlife Fund are helping the foresters.

Camera traps have been installed to monitor the movement of tigers, and three trap cages were placed too, Biswal said.

People living in the fringe villages have been asked not to go near or inside the forest. Farmers were advised to work in groups in cropland located near the woods.

Most of the victims are either youngsters or elderly. On August 15, a 14-year-old girl was killed when she had gone with her mother to the forest to tend their goats.

A 60-year-old from Chhedipur village was attacked and killed four days later when he was tilling his fields near the forest. Fellow farmers found the savaged corpse.

A tiger is declared maneater if it has killed and wounded human for prey, and showed a tendency to enter villages again and again.

Conservationist KK Mishra said the Mailani predator cannot be called a maneater because the killings were reported either inside forests or in fringe areas.

(With inputs from HTC Lucknow)
NEW DELHI: The East Delhi Municipal Corporation has devised a novel way to improve the efficiency of its sanitation workers (safai karamcharis). It will simply rechristen them.

Municipal sanitation workers will now be known as paryavaran sahayak or environmental helpers.

The corporation leaders believe this will bring respect and dignity of profession to over 60,000 sanitation workers who work for the three municipal corporations.

Sources in the municipal corporations said the North and South Delhi Municipal Corporation also plan to change the name of sanitation workers.

The sanitation workers are the pillars of our plans to keep the environment clean. Calling them safai karamcharis did not seem honourable. Therefore, we have decided to refer to all our sanitation workers as Paryavaran Sahayaks, said Raj Kumar Dhillon, east Delhi deputy mayor.

Sources said that apart from a name change, the corporations also plan to change uniforms of the sanitation workers. There are plans to conduct training exercises for them.

The proposal received mixed reactions from the unions of sanitation workers. Some unions welcomed the name change, saying it will be a huge morale booster. But some others said the corporation should instead try to improve their working conditions.

The change of name will benefit the workers psychologically. An honourable name will help the workers carry out their duties more efficiently. We welcome the move by EDMC and hope that other corporations will also follow, said Sanjay Gahlot, president of Swatantra Mazdoor Vikas Sanyukt Morcha.

Other unions, however, were not impressed.

How is a name change going to help the workers? The corporation should have rather paid the arrears which have been pending for more than a decade or agreed to their demand of making the contractual employees permanent. A change of name will not improve the working conditions. The corporations must first think about that , said Raj in der Mew a ti, general secretary of the United Front of MCD Employees.

The municipal sanitation workers had gone on strike thrice in the past one year over non-payment of dues. The three corporations were struggling to stay afloat due to a crippling financial crisis. The strike, one of which continued for 15 days, had triggered a sanitation crisis in the national capital.

The real reason why sanitation workers, continue to work as sanitation workers generation after generation is the deep-rooted caste system in the country, said Bezwada Wilson, founder of Safai Karamchari Andolan and winner of this years Magsaysay Award.

However, the government agencies are oblivious of the real reasons behind their problems and now have found a new way to reinstate the ca ste by changing names. The changing of names seems like away to glorify and ornament ali se the caste system. Such gimmicks must be stopped, Wilson said.

In his budget speech this year, rail minister Suresh Prabhu had also announced to replace coolie for porters with sahayaks or helpers.
NEW DELHI: A seven-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped by three youths in east Delhis Yamuna Khadar village near Mandawali late on Sunday night.

Police said the girl was allegedly brutalised for almost an hour by the three accused at an isolated place near Yamuna Khadar due to which she suffered injuries in her private parts.

The girl was bleeding when she returned home and told her parents about the brutality. She was first admitted at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital from where she was referred to AIIMS for better treatment.

Police sources said the girl suffered multiple injuries in her private parts and her condition was serious.

Rishipal Singh, de puty commissioner of police (east), confirmed the crime and said that the girl was recuperating. Singh said that all three accused were arrested. Two of them are neighbours of the girl and the third is their friend, said the DCP.

The accused were identified as Bhure, 19, Amir, 21, and Bhim Sen, 19. A case under the relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and IPC was registered against them at the Mandawali police station.

A police officer said, on Sunday night, the girl was sleeping outside her home on a cot. Around 11 pm, the three youths gagged the girl and took her towards an isolated place in a nearby jungle. They threatened to kill the girl if she screamed or raised any alarm.

The three then took turns to rape the girl till she fell semi-unconscious.

The trio then dumped the girl near her house.
NEW DELHI: The AAP government came under criticism from the Supreme Court on Monday for showing reluctance in accepting a high-powered committees suggestion to spend money from the environment compensation cess (ECC) it has collected to install radio-frequency identification drive (RIFD) on commercial vehicles entering the national capital.

We dont understand why you are not inclined to implement it. The whole world has the RFID system. Please tell them that they should be progressive and forward-looking and not be an obstructionist, a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur told the Delhi government counsel, ordering that ECC money must be used for the project to be executed by the SDMC.

The Delhi government counsel had requested for time to respond to the recommendation as the transport department was mulling it.

ECC was imposed after the SC in August 2015 ordered every truck will have to pay a cess before entering Delhi at the toll-tax booths. Over ` 300 crore has been collected since November 2015. SC-constituted EPCA said Rs 125 crore can be utilised for RFID.

The SC ordered the Delhi government to release Rs 93 lakh within six weeks as fees to RITES, which will vet the contract for the project.
A Class 6 student of a Delhi government school in east Delhis Trilokpuri died after he fell off the roof of his school building while flying a kite with friends, police said.

The 12-year-old boy, Sahil, suffered multiple injuries and was admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in a critical condition. However, he succumbed to his injuries a day later. He was a student of Rajkiya Sarvodaya Vidyalaya .

He lived in Trilokpuri with his parents, a brother, and four sisters, who were planning to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with him like every year.

Neighbours say his sisters are still in shock and not ready to accept that their brother is no more.

The boys family members and neighbours have blamed the school authorities for being negligent. They have alleged that the school administration never bothered to construct a boundary wall on the roof. Sahil accidentally slipped from the roof while flying a kite. A boundary wall could have averted the tragedy, a neighbour told the police.

Sahils family members have also accused the local police of not taking any action against the school administration. They have alleged that even six days after the incident, no FIR has been registered.

Rishipal Singh, deputy commissioner of police (east), confirmed that the boy accidentally fell off the school buildings roof while flying a kite. He and a few other children were flying kites on the roof when he slipped. We are looking into the matter, said Singh.

The police said that Sahil and other children went to the terrace of the building on the third floor for flying kites after classes were over in the afternoon. Sources in the police said Sahil had not attended the school in the morning. They said some construction work was going on at the school at the time of the accident. Further inquiry into the incident was on.

(HT has contacted the Directorate of Education for a comment. The report will be updated soon after it responds)
In one of the biggest house burglaries in the national capital, thieves decamped with valuables including diamond jewellery worth Rs three crore and Rs 60,000 cash from a bungalow in Defence Colony area in south Delhi, police said on Tuesday.

The burglary was reported from the bungalow of one Tanmay Seth in the posh Anand Lok residential area in Defence Colony on Sunday night, said a senior police officer.

The family of Seth, son-in-law of Jet Airways vice-president(security) Avneet Singh, had gone to attend a marriage at around 9pm on Sunday, the police said.

The theft was disclosed when the family returned from the marriage ceremony, in the wee hours of Monday.

The incident was reported around 4am on Monday and the family told the police that the main gate was left open so that they dont have to wake up anyone when they returned. A window of the house was not bolted and the thieves had an easy entry , said Nupur Prasad, additional DCP-I (South).

The thieves are believed to have entered the bedroom on the first floor of the bungalow through the open window and collected the valuables and jewelleries kept in an almirah there, police said.

The bungalow had also no security arrangements and there was no security guard on the gate. CCTV cameras too were not installed there, they said.

Two maids and a servant employed by the family were present in the bungalow and were reportedly sleeping at the time of the theft.

Forensic team has collected fingerprints from the place to screen the suspects and teams are working on CCTV footage of the nearby area.

A case has been registered at the Defence Colony police station.

The maids and servant and locals including security guards of the residential area were thoroughly questioned by the police but so far there were no clues about the burglars.
The father and three-year-old sister of a minor girl who was gang-raped in Mandawali on Sunday have not eaten since. And it is not just because of the trauma.

The 40-year-old man, bedridden with a prolonged cardiac ailment, is dependent on his wife -- a daily wager. Since she is with her daughter at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), there is nobody to support him and the younger daughter.

The seven-year-old girl was kidnapped and brutalised by three neighbours late on Sunday night. She suffered injuries in her private parts.

My wife earns R300 everyday either by working in the fields or at construction sites. I am weak because of my heart condition and anaemia. I cant even stand without support, said the father, sitting on a cot outside the shack from where the minor girl was kidnapped.

Our neighbours sometimes give us food. But they cant feed us every day as they are also poor, he said.

The area near Yamuna Khadar, where the family lives in a hut, does not have electricity supply and access to drinking water, roads and toilets. The victims father explained that they were able to sustain all these years because of their helpful neighbours. But the trust has been shaken after their daughters gang rape.

Despite being a slum area that has no civic amenities, our area had not experienced such an incident. But now I am afraid. Those who perpetrated this dastardly act were not outsiders but our neighbours, he said.

I fear for the safety of my other four minor daughters, he said.

The family, which belongs to a village in Uttar Pradesh, have decided to leave the city.

My children walk some two kilometres on the dirt roads that pass through the jungle to reach school everyday. If neighbours would became predators, how can we send our children to school, the father said. He said the rape victim was a Class 1 student at a nearby government school.

Even as the family is struggling to cope with the tragedy help is yet to come from official quarters. The victims father said neither the government nor any private organisation has come forward to help them.

The family is hopeful that the local politicians, who had visited them during elections and promised them every possible help to make their lives better, will render some help.
A JNU committee hearing the appeals of 21 students fined in connection with an event in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, found them all guilty of indiscipline but reduced punishments for some of them.

The event to commemorate Afzal Gurus death anniversary was held on February 9.

The committee appointed by the JNU vice-chancellor looked into aspects related to indiscipline. For some the punishment has remained same while for some, it has been reduced, an official told HT.

The punishment to Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya remained the same as earlier given by a high-level enquiry committee (HLEC). Punishment to some other students was reduced, sources said.

The students had organised a cultural event on February 9 where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. Khalid, Bhattacharya and JNU students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar were arrested and later released on bail in a sedition case after the incident.

JNU V-C M Jagadesh Kumar had formed a four-member committee to hear appeals of students found guilty of indiscipline by the high-level committee.

The committee was constituted a month after the Delhi High Court stayed the punishment.

Bhattacharya and Khalid were rusticated for one semester. But JNU will remain out of bounds for Bhattacharya for five years from July 25, 2016. A fine of Rs 20,000 was also slapped on Khalid.

Read: Ganga Dhaba not just a food joint but an eternal part of JNU: Students

Some students were given relief after the appeals. For instance, Rama Naga, the general secretary of the JNU students union, has been asked to pay Rs 10, 000 instead of Rs 20, 000.

Ashutosh, who was earlier fined Rs 20,000, has been asked to pay Rs 15,000 but the order to vacate the hostel remains. Anant was fined Rs 20,000 and now has been asked to pay Rs 5,000, said a student.

ABVP leader and JNU students union joint secretary Saurabh Sharma said his financial penalty was reduced. I have been asked to pay Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 10,000, he said.

The University said every student was called for deposition before the appeals committee. Every student was given a copy of the HLEC report and the evidence and was given an opportunity to make an appeal in writing.

It wasnt immediately clear if JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumars earlier fine of Rs 10,000 was reduced.

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National Security Guard chief RC Tayal on Tuesday claimed that the agency defused a bomb at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) building two months back, but the revelation later turned out to be a damp squib.

Two months ago an IED was found in DRDO Bhawan. No one (security agencies) could do anything about it. The NSG commandos successfully diffused it, Tayal said during a function attended by Union home minister Rajnath Singh at 52 Special Action Group of the NSG in Samalkha.

Singh inaugurated a composite building for commandos at the campus in Samalkha near IGI Airport during the function.

The announcement from the stage in the presence of the home minister, ministry staff and hundreds of officials and commandos of the NSG created a flutter so much so that Tayal shied away from media queries once the function was over.

When asked to explain he said, It was not a serious issue.

His junior officials, however, clarified Tayals comments saying it was not an IED but an Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) that was recovered during Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) work near Civil Lines in Delhi.

He was not referring to the DRDO at Vijay Chowk. It was part of a routine thing. A UXO was recovered during an excavation work for Metro rail near Metcalfe House (old DRDO building) which we diffused, an official, who did not want to be named, said.

It was a UXO recovered during work for a Metro station some time ago which was diffused by NSG, NSGs inspector general (operations) Major General Dushyant Singh also said.

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A three and a half-year-old boy was run over by his school van outside his house in north Delhi on Tuesday.

Abhiral Rana was waiting to cross the road after being dropped by school van when he was crushed as the driver could not spot him while reversing the van.

Ranas parents who were standing on the balcony of their first floor flat in Civil Lines railway colony saw the accident. Abhiral was a student of the John Wesley preparatory school in Tis Hazari.

Around 11.40 am, I heard a childs cry. I came out and to my horror saw Rana crushed and stuck under the left wheel of the Eeco van, said Sunil Kumar, a neighbour.

The driver did not realise he had hit the child and ended up dragging him to about 10 feet. Later, he stopped the car and I saw Ranas father Hitender, who had come down by that time. Both of them pulled out Rana but it was too late, the neighbour said.

Read: Delhi boy dies after falling off school building while flying kite

The child was then taken to Sant Parmanand hospital in the same van. The doctors declared him brought dead. Hitender, a senior railway technician, said he had stopped dropping his son to school only a month ago.

I used to drop him at school but last month we hired a cab after his school timings changed. I regret my decision, said Hitender.

An investigating officer said Rana had got down from the van and was waiting to cross the road. The driver, Rahul, swiftly took a U-turn was going back to drop other children, when he hit Rana.

DCP North (Madhur Verma) said Rahul,28, has been arrested and a case under section 279 and 304 A registered against him.
I was certain that these people will get death penalty Our daughter was the centre of our lives, said Sabita Ghosh, the mother of the IT professional Jigisha Ghosh who was abducted and murdered in March 2009, said on Monday after a Delhi court ordered death penalty for two convicts, life sentence for one. The three convicts who abducted her and robbed her of gold jewellery, two mobile phones, and debit and credit cards and dumped her body near Surajkund in Haryana, about 20km from her Vasant Vihar home.

Read: Delhi court convicts all three for robbing, murdering Jigisha Ghosh in 2009

However, the family did not leave it to the police to trace the killers of the young woman. Unconvinced with the polices explanation that the murderers had left behind few clues, and, hence it would take time to arrest them, Jigishas father, JN Ghosh, a former government servant donned the mantle of an investigative officer. He went to the bank, collected statements and receipts of purchases made by the suspects using Jigishas debit card. Then he zeroed in on the shops where the purchases have been made and saw the CCTV footage. It is this footage that led to the arrest of the three accused.

Read: Heres how cops nailed Jigishas killers after picking up debit card trail

While the efforts of Jigishas father in bringing the killers to justice are commendable but what he did was not his responsibility. But he was probably forced to do so because he was not convinced that the police would get their act together and suspected that they would end up doing a shoddy investigation. Jigishas father cannot be blamed for thinking that way because there have been several cases before this one that have failed to reach a conclusion because of shoddy and unprofessional investigation. A case in point is the Aarushi murder case. The Noida Police had failed to keep general public from visiting and tampering with the crime scene. The police really need to update their skills and follow proper processes while investigating cases. In the Jigisha case, it would seem the accused were police informers raising the question of whether the police verify the credentials of those whose help they seek.
The Maharashtra government seems to be working at cross purposes with the Centre on the issue of cow protection. The prime minister made it clear that at least 80% of so-called gau rakshaks were anti-social elements working under the guise of cow protection and roundly condemned their actions. Now the department of animal husbandry in the state has called for volunteers engaged in animal welfare activities on religious grounds to apply for honorary positions as welfare officers to monitor the beef ban. The requirement is that they should have no political affiliations. Those selected will get official ID cards to monitor and report any act of cruelty to animals. Many of the applications cleared are from those belonging to Hindutva outfits such as the VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, ABVP and RSS.

Read | New symbol of Hindutva project: Is Gau Raksha the new Ram Mandir?

This is really giving gau rakshaks legitimacy to harass people under guise of carrying out `official duties. While these volunteers are to cover all animals, it is clear from the jubilation in the Hindutva camp that the focus will be on cows. This will embolden the vigilante groups, which is exactly what the prime minister had warned against. The Maharashtra government  run by the BJP  cannot be unaware of the fact that this has been taken as licence by vigilantes to monitor the transport of cattle, the disposal of carcasses and to examine any meat either being carried or stored that they deem suspicious. This scheme, which has no clear guidelines or recruitment criteria will create more fear and anxiety among minorities who are automatically under suspicion when it comes to cow protection.

Read | Gau rakshaks and cow-vigilante groups cloud PM Modis economic drive

So far the gau rakshaks have harassed people on the basis of rumour, even going to the extent of lynching those whom they suspect of anti-cow offences. This has tarnished the governments image both nationally and internationally and it was to reverse this damage and protect the innocent that the prime minister expressed such strong sentiments. But it would seem that rather than stop this ugly trend, the Maharashtra government has found a way around this and sought to give this official sanction. This will make it more difficult to crack down on these anti-social groups which will now find it easier to evade being apprehended and prosecuted given the very broad mandate they now have. The Maharashtra government must also be mindful cattle are not synonymous with meat alone. They are at the centre of the diary and leather industry. All this could be jeopardised if cow vigilantes are allowed to freely dictate what does or does not constitute cow protection. The laws to do so are in place and any other form of law enforcement is illegal and undesirable. The Maharashtra government must review this consequences of this scheme immediately and scrap it.

Read | In state after state, cow protection vigilantes pick on Dalits, Muslims


The IITs will open their doors for non-resident students, with a goal to increase their number of seats to 100,000 by 2020.

The countrys top tech institutes have around 72,000 students in their undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate courses, and all of them stay in hostels. But the IIT Council, the highest decision-making body of the institutes, decided on Tuesday to admit day scholars who can study from home or stay in a rented place outside the campus.

Another aim is to put research on the forefront, for which students will be allowed to do a PhD right after BTech, deviating from the practice of permitting only postgraduates to do doctorate programmes.

Besides, a prime ministers fellowship of Rs 60,000 a month for five years will be given to around 1,000 students to do research in IITs.

IITs are our modern temples. Bright IITians prefer to go abroad to do research because they get fellowships and better facilities, said human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar, who presided over the meeting.

We want to provide facilities in IITs so that research could be carried out in India. We want to convert brain drain into brain gain.

The plan is to increase the number of seats by 10,000 a year until 2020 by admitting non-resident students. Ideally, there would be an increase of 4,000 seats in undergraduate courses and 6,000 in postgraduate and PhD seats.

Read| IITs explores ways to increase number of girl students

The 23 IITs in the country will assess their infrastructure and faculty strength to decide how much more students they can admit without stressing resources.

Officials said a number of students will be allowed to study as day scholars, without hostel accommodation. Such students will have to find accommodation outside the campus, or travel from home if their institute is located in their hometown.

This is something that is being worked out whether we will be able to arrange something for them or have tie-ups with paying guest accommodations, or students will be asked to take care of they stay, an official said.

Javadekar promised a drive to fill up teacher vacancies so that an increase in the number of students doesnt affect the quality of teaching.

Another decision taken by the council is to introduce a three-week induction course to allow students to adapt to their new environment, take up courses on languages and creative arts, and bond with classmates as well as faculty members. Classes will commence only after the induction course.

The IIT Council has also approved a pilot run of a national aptitude test, which will be voluntary in nature and will not have a bearing on engineering admissions.

To improve their stature, the council cleared a project in which seven IITs  Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Roorkee and Guwahati will be assisted to help break into the top 100 universities in the global university ranking by 2018. At present, no IIT features on the list.

Read| Battle for space in IITs between UG students, research scholars

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The University of Cambridge has welcomed the UK Home Offices decision to introduce a Tier 4 pilot visa scheme. According to Graham Virgo, pro-vice-chancellor for education at the University of Cambridge, a pilot scheme to streamline the international student visa process could benefit Indian students applying for a masters course at the varsity.

As many as 150 Indian postgraduates are currently studying at Cambridge, which is one of only four higher education institutions in the UK to run trials of the new Tier 4 visa application pilot, which simplifies the visa process and extends post-study leave from two to six months.

Under the Home Office pilot launched in July, students applying for their visa will be required to submit fewer documents alongside their visa applications.

Applications from Indian students to University of Cambridge masters courses have been steadily rising since 2013. Between 2013-14 and 2015-16, there was a 4.2% rise in applications from Indian students applying for a postgraduate course at the varsity. There was a 13.67% rise between 2014-15 and 2015-16 in offers to Indian nationals applying for postgraduate course at the university. The two-year trial will apply for 2016-17 and 2017-18 entries, with the Home Office likely to publish its evaluation of the pilot in 2019. All overseas applicants to Cambridge applying for a visa to undertake a masters course of 13 months or less will automatically be considered under the scheme.

Read more: Is the new UK visa pilot scheme restricted for best, brightest students?

Students will not be required to submit financial documents or their previous academic qualifications when applying for their visa. They will, however, be subject to immigration rules and undergo Home Office security and identity checks. The extension to students post-study leave means students who enrol on masters courses at Cambridge will have more time to find work after graduating, or to pursue further studies in the UK.

Anthony Dangerfield, head of Cambridges International Student Team, says, Those eligible under the pilot will have access to a streamlined visa application process and the additional time granted on the visa will be in helpful in supporting students to take full advantage of work opportunities in the UK after completion of studies.

We are sure that prospective students from India will recognise the benefits of the additional six-months on their visa after completing a University of Cambridge masters course. This will enable them to pursue work opportunities, facilitate a switch to a work or entrepreneur visa or undertake further study.

After a two-year trial of the scheme, the Home Office Science (Migration and Border Analysis) will carry out an independent evaluation, examining management information and data from the participating universities. The evaluation will test the aims of the pilot and will report interim findings with a final report in the spring of 2019.

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Is there anything Priyanka Chopra cant do? She is a massively talented actress and she can sing too, which she made clear when she sang her own interpretation of Britney Spearss Toxic.

Watch: Priyanka Chopra, Jennifer Lopez lip-sync to Enriques song

On top of looking like an angel , PeeCee also has the voice of an angel that will make you cry tears of joy. All you have to do is listen to her paying homage to the queen of pop by recreating one of her biggest hits ever with Hollywood actress Jodie Foster. Released in 2003, Toxic has more than 210,281,000 views on YouTube.

Britney Spears will release her ninth studio album, Glory, on August 26, so theres no better time than now to celebrate the pop icon; and thats just what Priyanka Chopra and Jodie Foster recently did. For a new episode of Lyrical Improv with Lynn Hirschberg, via W Magazine, Priyanka and Jodie performed Toxic in two very different ways

Read: Priyanka Chopra shuts down Billboard red carpet in backless blue dress

Watch actresses Priyanka Chopra and Jodie Foster offer hilarious renditions of Spearss hit: While Jodie did a serious reading, solemnly saying lines like Youre dangerous / Im loving it, Chopra enthusiastically sang the lyrics, Im addicted to you / Dont you know that youre toxic?

And just when we thought things couldnt get better, we discovered another video - one of Halle Berry performing Oops I Did It Again.

Read: Halle Berry joins Twitter, Instagram and immediately posts naked pic

Check out the Oscar winners dramatic reading of Spearss Oops, I Did It Again, below:

We love both of these videos and cant imagine a better way to celebrate the forthcoming release of Glory by appreciating her old hits too. Because lets face it  she has a lot of them!

Read: Britney Spears sends birthday greetings to Madonna with dancing video

You remember these, dont you?

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At least 11 protesters were injured in Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian district on Tuesday as security forces opened fire at a stone-pelting mob, police said.

Eleven people were injured in Nowgam, a senior police officer said, adding that three of the injured were brought to Srinagar for treatment.

Authorities continued restrictions in many parts of Kashmir as life remained paralysed for the 46th consecutive day.

Curfew would continue in old Srinagar city and Anantnag town while restrictions will remain in force in all other districts of Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Baramulla, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kupwara and Badgam towns, a police official said.

Educational institutions, markets, public transports and other businesses remained closed as separatists have already extended protest shutdown till August 25.

At least 68 people including 66 civilians and two policemen have died in the violence in the valley since July 9, a day after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces in a gunfight.

Meanwhile, oil supplies were restored to the valley on Tuesday after chief minister Mehbooba Mufti assured of security to the oil tanker owners and truckers.
For an author with international acclaim, Perumal Murugan appears extraordinarily ill at ease with adulation. He keeps his gaze low, refuses interviews and shows his discomfort when the camera flashes all descend on him.

He says the hounding by right-wing forces over the past year made him into a nadaipinam, a walking corpse. He refuses to dwell on the experience of being pushed out of his hometown of Namakkal in south Tamil Nadu, even when prodded by media and an interviewer.

But at the release of his new collection of poems in Delhi on Monday, the Tamil writer signalled that the episode left a deep scar. The author of One Part Woman and Pyre may be back on the literary scene, but says he will revise his earlier work and revise the text, if necessary.

A censor is seated inside me now. He is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, or it may be interpreted thus, is a real bother, he told a packed hall at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.

Im not sure if this is right. But Im unable to shake him off. If this is wrong, let the Indian intellectual world forgive me.

Author Perumal Murugan speaks at the launch of his new collection of poems in Delhi on Monday. (Penguin publishers handout photo)

His Madhorubagan  whose English translation One Part Woman Penguin published in 2013  talks about a mysterious temple ritual where childless women supposedly have sex with strangers. The novel sparked violent protests in his hometown as right-wing groups said he brought disrepute to the region. Its a trauma that reverberates in the title of his new book, Kozhaiyin Padalgal (A Cowards Poems)

The episode may fundamentally change Murugans characteristic style. He burst onto the literary scene more than a decade ago with his precise exploration of caste, class and gender dynamics in Tamil Nadus Kongu region. But on Monday, he admitted he didnt know if he could sustain his style of realism and may have to opt for other literary techniques. Only time will tell.

But he appeared sure only one time in the evening, when he was asked if he would continue writing on caste. I believe a writer cannot write a single word in defence of caste. Why caste exists and why it is so divisive is a question that plagues me, said the writer.

He detailed how he saw caste determining daily lives in his village and the conflicts between different castes descriptions of which fill his latest Pyre and have angered right-wing groups.

Perumal Murugan reads out a statement at the launch of his new book in Delhi on Monday. (HT Photo)

He thanked the Madras high court, which last month quashed charges against him and upheld his rights as a writer. Perumal Murugan should not be under fearlet the author be resurrected to what he is best at. Write, the court had said. The author seemed to have taken the advice to heart, saying the court order came as both a command and a blessing to him and said he plans to write 50 more books.

Across the country, voices were raised in support of freedom of expression and against intolerance. It is those voices which have brought me here today. I speak here only to express my gratitude to those voices, he said.

Perumal Murugan (centre) in conversation with author Nilanjana Roy (Right) and AR Venkatachalapathy (left) at a book launch in Delhi on Monday. (HT Photo)

Murugans first writing was a short ode to his cat and he first published in Tamil in 1988. For many years, he taught at a local college and wrote in the middle of the night in his home, unknown to his colleagues and students. He hails from a peasant family in southern Tamil Nadu and says he saw his first proper house when he turned 20. This, he says, inculcated a passion for open spaces and landscapes.

I led a contented life in an out-of-the-way small town. But circumstances have thrust me today to the capital city. This cannot be without cause for regret, That regret was especially evident in his poem, Hometown, that was read out in Tamil and English.

Dont be in haste

to ask anyone

about their hometown

It is possible

that there are also those

who have no place

to call their hometown.

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External affairs minister Sushma Swarajs just-concluded visit should serve to re-activate the Act-East policy for which Myanmar was meant to be an entry point to the larger South East Asian community. It is heartening that Myanmar has assured India that its soil will not be used for anti-India activities. But, there is no denying that the Chinese have got a real head-start in economic ties with Myanmar, thanks to its money power and ability to conclude projects in time.

India last year extended the deadline for its connectivity projects in Myanmar from 2016 to 2019 which does not really inspire confidence.

India had taken on two major projects, the Kaladan transport one and the India-Myanmar-Thailand highway. These being showcase projects, India should have prioritised them. Thailand has completed its work on the project and Myanmar is way ahead of India in its execution of the project.

READ: Why India needs to cosy up to Myanmars Aung San Suu Kyi

India has got bogged down because of lack of coordination among ministries. These are the sort of projects that can integrate the South East Asian economy with India and for which there should be no excuse to lag behind.

But this does not mean that we should not try and regain some lost ground. Chinas investment in Myanmar is $ 14 billion, a third of the countrys total foreign investment. Indias is $ 2 billion.

India should not waste time lamenting the fact that it will not be able to catch up in a hurry. It should focus on areas where it can push ahead rapidly.

For a start, it should complete commitments made earlier. It must re-energise ongoing agreements and focus on areas like renewable energy, skill development, health, education and of course security. These can be the pivots of the Act East policy and where India has considerable expertise.

India has every reason to step up cooperation with Myanmar which has a huge land border with India. The upcoming visits of Myanmarese leaders, the most important of which is that of Aung San Suu Kyi, should be an occasion to revitalise ties and take trade forward.

READ: Will not allow any anti-India activities, Myanmar tells India

It is clear that Suu Kyi is all for a policy of equal engagement with India and China though the scales seem tilted in Chinas favour at the moment. India must seize the opportunity of the visits and get things back on track with this strategically important border nation.

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India is set to deliver more arms to Afghanistan to help it fight Islamist militants, Kabuls envoy to New Delhi said, even if Pakistan is wary of closer military cooperation between countries lying to its east and west.

India has provided a little over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan in the last 15 years, but has been more measured in providing weapons in order to avoid a backlash from Pakistan, which sees Afghanistan as its area of influence.

Last December, after years of dragging its feet, New Delhi announced the supply of four attack helicopters in Indias first transfer of lethal equipment to the government in Kabul since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was toppled.

Kabul immediately deployed three of the Russian Mi-25 attack helicopters to go after insurgents, and the fourth will be inducted in the next few weeks.

Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the Afghan ambassador to India, said regional security was deteriorating and Afghan national forces were in dire need of military supplies to tackle the Taliban, Islamic State and other militant groups.

We are grateful for the four helicopters. But we need more, we need much more. Today we are heading into a situation that is worrisome for everyone in the region including India, he told Reuters in an interview.

On August 29, the head of the Afghan army, General Qadam Shah Shahim, is expected in New Delhi to submit a list of military equipment drawn up in consultation with the US military, Indian defence officials said.

It is not yet clear how much would be paid for and how much would be handed over for free.

The equipment includes more Mi-25s, smaller helicopters used for transporting troops and medical emergencies, and spares for existing Russian-origin aircraft in the Afghan air force fleet.

The agenda for the army chiefs visit is clear. We will be finalising the enhancement of defence ties, Abdali said. India, he added, had told the Afghans that it would do whatever it could to meet the security forces requirements.

PM Modi rankles Pakistan

The fact that much of the proposed equipment originates from Russia need not be a stumbling block to an agreement, the United States has said, despite Western sanctions against Moscow.

Russia and the United States share a common goal in stabilising Afghanistan, and India can act as a go-between to help re-equip Afghan forces which fall well short of the capacity required despite billions of dollars in US spending.

The Afghan government lost control or influence of nearly 5% of its territory between January and May, the US governments top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report, highlighting the challenges its forces are facing.

But the move to increase cooperation with Afghanistan is likely to aggravate fears in Pakistan of being wedged between two hostile neighbours.

Relations with both countries have cooled lately.

Afghanistan says Pakistan must do more to stop militants operating on its territory, while India has blamed Pakistan for unrest in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned up the dial a notch by making a rare reference to Pakistans restive Balochistan province in a recent speech.

Asked about the prospect of closer military ties between Afghanistan and India, a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson said the government did not comment on bilateral ties between two countries.

But he warned against attempts to destabilise Pakistan, which, like its arch-rival India, has a nuclear arsenal.

Our expectation is that India should not be allowed to use Afghan soil to create instability in Pakistan.

According to an Indian defence ministry official, discussions with Kabul included the possibility of increasing the number of Afghan officers being trained in Indian military institutions each year from around 800 now.

US support

The United States, which has allocated more than $68 billion to train and equip the Afghan security forces since 2002, has welcomed greater Indian military assistance to fill shortfalls in hardware and personnel.

Earlier this month, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, held talks with Indian officials to find ways in which New Delhi could help the Afghan air force, which is struggling to maintain ageing Russian aircraft because of sanctions on Moscow.

Nicholson said donor nations had contributed $4.5 billion to Afghanistan, but those funds could not be used to buy Russian aircraft or spare parts because of the restrictions triggered by the conflict in Ukraine.

India is not constrained by such considerations and can export Russian-made equipment it already owns or source hardware and spares from Russia to send on to Afghanistan.

Any additional aircraft or spare parts that India can provide Afghanistan would be greatly appreciated and welcomed by them to help build and maintain the Afghan Air Force, Nicholson said at the end of his trip.

A Russian diplomat said Moscow supported efforts to strengthen Afghan forces, even if it cannot directly equip it.

Our policy is simple; we would not like to be involved directly, but we would support any initiative that strengthens the ability of the Afghan authorities to fight against terrorist groups and stabilize the situation in the country, the diplomat said.
The BJP is stepping up its poll offensive.

Around 350 party leaders from across the country are in Delhi on Tuesday for a days session to prepare for the next years states elections and the big one in 2019  the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, who led the party to power in the last Lok Sabha elections, are meeting the leaders for a stock-taking exercise and some pep talk.

Half way through its term at the Centre, the BJP leadership feels it is time to prepare for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. But, the next year will be busy too. The countrys most populous state Uttar Pradesh and Modi and Shahs home state of Gujarat are among those due for assembly elections.

The leaders at Tuesdays meeting are the core group of the partys state units and will be leading the charge in assembly and general elections. Shah will deliver the inaugural speech and the Prime Minister will be the last speaker of the day.

In between, separate sessions are planned for states that have been divided into three categories  where the party is in power, where its the principal opposition and third group is of the states where the BJP is a marginal player.

The BJP wants to improve coordination between the government, the party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, in the 13 states where it is in power or is part of a ruling alliance.

It wants go one better in the states where it is the main opposition party. During the meeting, the leaders are expected to draw plans to win these states. The party will look to expand its reach in the states where it is a bit player.

Improving synergy between the Centre and the party is vital and will be talked about in the meeting.

The partys sweep of states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2014 brought it to power at the Centre. Most of these states have a BJP government and anti-incumbency will be a challenge in 2019.

Modi government has launched several welfare schemes. It is partys responsibility as well to monitor and help their implementation. All state units will be told about this, a BJP office-bearer said.

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Nearly 60% of the rape survivors in Uttar Pradesh since 2010 were minors, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said on Tuesday in a report highly critical of the state governments failure to curb crime against women.

The report for the years 2010-2015 was placed in the state assembly, barely a few weeks after a Noida-based woman and her minor daughter were gang raped by highway robbers near Bulandshahr.

Separately, the UP government also told the assembly on Tuesday that in the past five months, 1,012 rape cases were registered in the state.

The data is likely to provide fresh ammunition to the opposition to target the Akhilesh Yadav government over the states law and order in the run up to the assembly polls due early next year.

The BJP was quick to respond, announcing an agitation in Lucknow on Wednesday to highlight the issue.

The CAG report vindicates whatever we have been saying so far against this government. Its a failure on law and order and in checking crime against women. Its time that this government demited office, state BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

The government, however, said it had taken steps to check crime against women.

The state government has launched recruitment drive to fill up the vacant posts in the police force. The population of UP is much higher that other states, it reflects on police- population ratio as well, a government spokesperson said in response to the CAGs criticism of the government for failing to fill up vacancies in police.

The report said incidents of crime against women increased consistently in the last five years and were much higher than the all-India average.

There was a 61% increase in incidents of crime against women between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the report said, adding that 59% of the rape survivors were minors.

The districts with highest number of rape cases in 2010-15 were Aligarh (392), Moradabad (377), Allahabad (348), Meerut (346), Agra and Lucknow (328 each).

The CAG report -- on performance audit on empowerment of women-2015  said that despite a high incidence of crime, the state government has not taken effective steps to significantly strengthen its police force.

The actual police manpower per one lakh population in the state was amongst the lowest in the country, it added.

The CAG found the state had deployed 1,62,783 police personnel to protect 19.98 crore population.

Only 81 police personnel per one lakh population were available in the state to enforce law and order, it noted. This is much below the United Nations norms of 222 police personnel per one lakh population.

The CAG said there was 55% shortage of police manpower and expressed apprehension that if the dearth of police force was not immediately addressed, it might worsen the crime scenario in the state.
Indian Dogs Go Back reads graffiti daubed on streets of Old Srinagar. Junctions are christened Shaheed Burhan Chowk after the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, whose killing last month triggered violent protests.

Near the Jamia Masjid, where two militants and a CRPF commander were killed on August 15, sit a group of the forces menfrom Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Kerala and Tamil Naduwith their blue armored vehicle parked nearby.

The mosque is empty, so are the streets. But that is for now.

Every evening, there is heavy stone-pelting, says the Andhraite jawan. We take the stones, but are supposed to retaliate within maximum restraint... reduce using pellets and tear gas shells.

Read| Kashmir is a volcano, act before it explodes, says Antony

The protests since Wanis killing on July 8 had boiled over as agitators started raining stones on security forces. The retaliation left 67 dead and thousands injured, triggering a debate over the use of pellets and tear gas shells to quell protests.

If we get injured, no newspaper publishes our photo, the jawan said, explaining how they are caught between the devil and deep seathe frenzied mob and the orders from above.

During HTs tour of restive Srinagar, witnesses said protesters generally shout slogans against the CRPF rather than the local police.

You dont know what will happen when the stone-pelting starts, says the Bengali trooper. Pointing to the vehicle, he says, This bunker they can put petrol and burn it down, leaving them without a vehicle to go back to their camps. The wait for another one might take hours.

Worse is when the phone lines go down, cutting out contact with their families, who get worried watching television news.

Read| Signalling a shift: PM Modi reaches out to Kashmiris

Some of the men do not tell their wives or parents what they face here.

If I tell my wife back in a village in Karnataka that I face stones from protesters every day, she will say leave your job and come back home, says a jawan.

An Assamese trooper, standing guard near Lal Chowk in Srinagar, however said his family would be happy to know about him and asked if his picture would come in the papers.

At Khanyar locality in Downtown Srinagar, a Tripura jawan said he had no clue about the Olympic feat of gymnast Dipa Karmakar who is from his state. I am so caught up here that I have missed other news.

My company was in Manipur a few weeks ago. Orders came that situation in Kashmir was bad and we needed to make a move. We packed our bedding, picked up our guns, and within four hours found ourselves in Srinagar, he said.

None of the CRPF personnel wished to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media.

But one jawan, who did not wish even his native state to be reported, summed up the situation: Kashmiris want azaadi. India wont give it. Between the two, we are caught in the line of fire.

Read| Talk peace: Dialogue alone can draw Kashmir out of the abyss
Telangana Police who are probing cases registered against Maoist-turned-gangster Mohammed Nayeemuddin , found skeletal remains of a teenaged girl on Monday, reportedly murdered by him around three years ago.

Police have so far registered 38 cases against Nayeem and his gang members. An SIT was formed to probe the cases and it has so far arrested 34 people.

During investigation of cases against the gang, it was revealed that Nayeem murdered a 17-year-old girl (at a house) in Alkapur Colony in Hyderabad, a state police said.

Police said Nayeem and others of the family were preparing to go to an engagement function sometime in 2013.

The girl objected to various works being assigned to her and also refused to stay alone at home. Nayeem then beat her up and forced her to eat some sleeping pills, which led to her death. After returning from the function, Nayeem, with help of his aide Fayeem and others disposed of the body, the release said.

Following a confession by Fayeem, the skeletal remains of the girl was found from the outskirts of Manchirevula area.

Nayeemuddin alias Nayeem alias Balanna (45), wanted in several cases including the murder of an IPS officer, was killed in an alleged encounter with police in Shadnagar town of Mahabubnagar district of the state on August 8.
Any tactical decision has a shelf life. And it calls for a shifting of gears at the right moment.

When India warmed up to the military junta in Myanmar, it was touted as a tactical decision. That India has to engage with whoever is in power with a country which shares 1,643 km land boundary with Indias four northeastern states made sense. China making heavy investments to spread its strategic footprint in Myanmar lent urgency to the Indian move. It angering Aung San Suu Kyi was something India could live with as long as junta was in power, it was reasoned.

Suu Kyi had long ties with India, a lot of it through nostalgia, which couldnt have come in the way of taking tactical decisions dictated by realpolitik. In the mid 1990s, India began cosying up with the junta and since 2000, this policy made rapid progress, primary driven by the security concerns.

But the Chinese made better sense of the winds of change blowing in Myanmar. The tectonic change ushered in Suu Kyis National League for Democracy in a landslide election victory last year, bringing the curtains down on five decades of military rule.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi came to visit Myanmar on April 5 this year. Suu Kyis National League for Democracy was sworn in on March 30. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj visited Myanmar on August 22, to become the highest-ranking Indian official to visit that country.

Read | Will not allow any anti-India activities: Myanmar to India

Indias concerns

Her visit just followed a five-day high-octane visit Suu Kyi made to China. Suffice to say in more ways than the one that the Chinese saw what was coming and shifted the gears to engage with the new leadership in Myanmar.

But that is one part of the story. For India, there are immediate domestic concerns to be taken care of through maintaining ties with Myanmar than pursuing any geopolitical games on the regional chess board.

Myanmar shares land boundary with four northeastern states. It also shares a maritime border with India. The practice of insurgent groups making Myanmar as a safe haven has long troubled India. There have been successes on the security cooperation.

But more distance needs to be covered. It is not that any great ideals of altruism that lead China to play in the reconciliation process of various ethnic groups. China supports it because a Myanmar riled by such conflicts hamper Chinas economic interests. There are many projects, including building a road and rail network across northern Myanmar to the Bay of Bengal, which would help Beijing to step up Chinas trade with West Asia without taking the contentious South China sea route.

But a policy that aims at creating an impression that India is competing with China in Myanmar wouldnt help the Indian cause much. Indian efforts should be to engage with the new leadership in Myanmar, in offering help in the process of reconciliation of various ethnic groups and continuing with the cooperation in various fields. External affairs minister invited Suu Kyi to visit India at an early date. And that visit will provide an opportunity to build on Swarajs engagment.

There are issues that need to be sorted. On Indian operations against the NSCN (Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland) camps along the India-Myanmar border in June, Suu Kyi told journalist Karan Thaper in an interview that said it was important to have transparency when it comes to hot pursuit missions.

The lack of transparency erodes the very foundations of friendship, she had said.

If we as neighbours are to establish peace on our borders and genuine understanding between our two countries, there has to be more transparency. Its the lack of transparency that creates all kinds of speculation and suspicion, she had said.

There is enough catching up to do bilaterally. And it is quite evident.

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A gruesome palace intrigue is playing out in Odisha, where four siblings linked to the erstwhile royalty of Paralakhemundi, headquarters of Gajapati district, committed suicide on Sunday after public uproar and intense media scrutiny over their role in managing the affairs of the former king.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday ordered a probe by the state crime branch into the mysterious suicides. On Tuesday, even as a special investigation team (SIT) of the crime branch arrived in Paralakhemundi to start the investigation, family members of the deceased lodged a police complaint against 11 people, including the local MLA and also an Odiya TV news channel, for driving the four brothers and sisters to suicide.

Ananga Manjari, the manager of the ailing royalty and former MP Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deb, was found dead in her house on Sunday along with younger sister Bijayalaxmi Patra and a brother Sanjay Patra. Another brother, Tulu Patra, was found in a critical condition and admitted to hospital but died a day later.

Aged between 35 and 55 and all unmarried, Anangamanjari and her siblings were accused of confining and mistreating the ailing royal and mismanaging his estate.

The police claim that initial reports indicate Ananga Manjari, Bijaylaxmi and Tulu had ingested poison, while Sanjay, also the personal assistant to the royal, had hanged himself.

The suicides rocked the state five days after the 74-year-old Gopinath Gajapati was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai following allegations that the Patra clan had confined him in the palace and placed him in virtual isolation.

Police say three suicide notes and a diary were recovered from the house. In her note, the Ananga Manjari said she was always loyal to Gajapati and never harmed his interests, but was taking the extreme step after the humiliating smear campaign against her family.

My sister and brothers have taken the extreme step after Paralakhemundi (Congress) MLA K Surya Rao and former district BJD president Basanta Das ran a smear campaign against them with the help of some unscrupulous elements. The news channel sensationalised it without verifying facts, said Purnima Patra, a sister of the four deceased siblings.

Meanwhile, a member of the SIT probe team who did not want to be named, said: The suicide notes and diary have been sent for forensic tests. We will be questioning all concerned, including the family members of the deceased as well as Gopinath Gajapati.

The chain of events started last week when fingers were pointed at Ananga Manjari for allegedly keeping the ailing royal under house arrest in his palace for the last two years. It was alleged that she did not allow even Gajpatis relatives to meet him. Besides, she and her siblings were also accused of usurping royal familys properties.

The precarious health of Gopinath Gajapati, who represented the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat twice from 1989 to 1996, became a subject of public discourse. Soon, thousands of locals hit the streets in protest against the apparent mistreatment of the former king.

The opposition BJP and Congress, as well as the ruling BJD, demanded action against Ananga Manjari and her brother Sanjay, who allegedly controlled the royal properties worth over Rs 500 crore.

On August 16, Gopinath Gajapati was shifted to a private hospital in Chennai. The intense media speculation and allegations that followed culminated in the mass suicide by the four Patra siblings on August 21.

(With PTI inputs)


The eviction of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullahs estranged wife Payal from a plush VIP bungalow in the nations capital underscores the governments push to rid its limited living spaces of squatters.

Like many politicians, bureaucrats and their families overstaying in Lutyens Bungalow Zone, Payal Abdullah too was reluctant to vacate the house given to the chief minister, though he no longer holds the post. But a court order forced her out on Monday.

The BJP-led NDA government has evicted about 1,500 squatters, mostly politicians and bureaucrats, since it came to power in May 2014. It has refused to entertain any request for extension, even from former party parliamentarians and ministers.

Home to the Capitals power elite, the leafy VIP zone designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens in the early 20th century has wide, tree-lined promenades, spacious bungalows, and signature landmarks.

But the houses are limited, and the pressure to find homes for new ministers and officials mounts because of the reluctance of many VIPs to move out at the end of their term, or after they take up assignments outside the Capital.

The low rent, between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh a year, for those overstaying added to the lure.

But in June this year, the government came up with a rule, fixing 10% additional charge to the rent for the first month of overstay. For the second, the penalty goes up to 20%, and doubles each subsequent month until the charge reaches the maximum limit of Rs 10 lakh.

There are four VIPs overstaying in Lutyens bungalows now  Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, his Uttarakhand counterpart Harish Rawat, former home minister Buta Singh, and Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Singh was given the 1 Jantar Mantar address when he was Union steel minister, but didnt vacate the house after he returned to his native state in June 2012 as its chief minister. The previous UPA government allowed Buta Singh to retain the 11-A Teen Murti Marg bungalow for security reasons till June 2014, but he continues to stay on. He was allowed several extensions before.

Both leaders have challenged the move to evict them in court. We will have to wait for the courts order, a Union urban development ministry official said.

Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, who was Union water resources minister from 2012 to 2014, occupies 9, Teen Murti Lane. The UPA government allowed him to stay there till June 2015, while the NDA administration extended the occupancy by another year.

Sonowal resigned as Union sport minister in May, but continues to occupy his 12 Tughlaq Road bungalow.

They requested for a bungalow in exchange for one of the six houses from the Uttarakhand and Assam quotas. We are considering the request, the ministry official said.

The NDA government has adopted a strict policy to reject requests from politicians to extend their stay in official accommodations, in sharp contrast to its predecessors decisions. Sources said senior BJP leader and former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha had to vacate his house after the government showed him the rule book.

The UPA government, however, had allowed RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and a host of politicians and bureaucrats to retain their bungalows in February 2014, just before the general elections.

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India was ranked seventh among top 10 wealthiest countries in the world, according to a report by New World Wealth. The United States topped the chart.

With a total individual wealth of $5,600 billion, India stood at No. 7 in the list, ahead of Canada ($4,700 billion), Australia ($4,500 billion) and Italy ($4,400 billion), which came in at 8th, 9th and 10th slots, respectively.

The US is the wealthiest in the world in terms of total individual wealth held ($48,900 billion) while China ($17,400 billion) stood second and Japan third with $15,100 billion.

Others in the top 10 club were the United Kingdom at No. 4 with a total individual wealth of $9,200 billion, followed by Germany (5th, $9,100 billion) and France (6th, $6,600 billion).

Wealth refers to net assets of a person. It includes all their assets -- property, cash, equities, business interests-- less any liabilities, the report said, adding that it excludes government funds from its figures.

The ranking of India as one of the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world is largely because of its large population. Australias ranking is impressive, considering it only has 22 million people living there, the report explained.

Over the past 5 years, China was the fastest growing wealthiest country in terms of dollar wealth growth.

On India, the report stated, Australia and India also grew strongly and India, Australia and Canada have just overtaken Italy over the past 12 months.

The study ranked the wealthiest countries in the world as of June 2016 in terms of total individual wealth held.
A 43-year-old Indian migrants release from police custody after he tried to abduct a girl from a beach resort in Italy has sparked calls for his deportation.

Justice minister Andrea Orlando has sent inspectors to the Ragusa city prosecutors office after Ram Lubhaya -- who was caught while trying to abduct a 5-year-old girl off a beach near the Sicilian city of Ragusabut -- was released because attempted kidnapping is a non-carcerable offence under Italian law.

The parents had chased and fought with Lubhaya to get him to let go of their child. Lubhaya was arrested an hour later based on eyewitness descriptions, Ansa news agency reported.

Prosecutor Giulia Bisello ordered the man - who has a criminal record, no residency permit, and currently makes a living by creating henna tattoos on the beach where he also sometimes spends the night - released without questioning.

Her decision sparked an outcry on social media and a wave of calls from concerned beachgoers to police emergency services, which prompted Bisello to track the suspect and get him arrested again.

However, after questioning him for several hours, the prosecutors ordered his release again, based on the legal code.

This law makes me vomit, said the childs mother. We were told the suspect did not conclude the crime -- we were supposed to lose sight of him in order to say he kidnapped our little girl.

The suspect, she said, only stopped because we tackled him. He was holding her very tight, with her face almost in his armpit. We were hoping this person would be deported from Italy at least.

While prosecutors decisions cant be challenged, Orlandos inspectors are tasked with assessing whether there were any abnormalities or violations of the law that could be subject to disciplinary action, the ministry said.
A Karnataka lawyer has approached a court demanding sedition charges be filed against actress-turned-politician Ramya for praising Pakistanis, triggering a controversy with many saying the colonial-era law is being used to curb free speech.

Ramya, a Congress leader, visited Islamabad last week for a meeting of young parliamentarians from the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nations.

On her return, she said she didnt agree with defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who recently compared Pakistan to hell.

Pakistan is not hell; people there are just like us. They treated us very well, she told reporters.

Read: You cant bring every criticism under the ambit of sedition

This infuriated Katnamane Vittal Gowda from Kodagu  about 250 km from Bengaluru -- who moved a court in Somwarpet on Monday and said he was appalled by the 33-year-olds comments. The court will hear the case on August 27.

Ramya has said she will not apologise. I dont think I am wrong. Its freedom of speech, also our duty to speak on inclusiveness and peace. Curbing freedoms is wrong in democracy, she told news agency ANI.

The incident comes amid a heated nationwide debate over the sedition law following charges against Amnesty India for alleged anti-national slogans chanted at a Bengaluru event against mounting casualties in Kashmir on August 13. The case was filed on a complaint by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS.

In February, sedition charges were filed against Jawaharlal Nehru University students for alleged anti-national chants at an event, sparking widespread protests. Activists say the sedition law is vague and often used to crack down on dissent.

The law also presents a difficulty for the Congress, which publicly backed the JNU students but rules Karnataka that brought the sedition charges against Amnesty India.

The case against the human-rights group has drawn massive criticism of the state government, both nationally and internationally. Chief minister Siddaramaiah has been unable to rally his followers around a common consensus on whether the law is justifiable or not in a modern democracy.

A day after Independence Day at a gathering in Haryanas Rewari district, , Parrikar said, Yesterday, our soldiers sent back five terrorists. Going to Pakistan is the same as going to hell.

Ramya disagreed, saying politicians wanted to spread hatred and said she wont apologise for the larger cause

Everybody is entitled to their views and that is what democracy is about, you cant force your ideology on anyone. It is really sad but such is situation in the country today, she told ANI.

Ramya was a Lok Sabha member from Mandya for a year and joined the Congress in 2011. Her real name is Divya Spandana.

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Former defence minister A K Antony on Tuesday said the Kashmir situation is volcanic now and would explode and go out of hand if urgent steps were not initiated to find a solution.

Kashmir is a volcano now. There is mistrust, fear and anger among the minds of people, especially among youths. The Centre should intervene immediately; otherwise there would be an explosion. Things in Kashmir would become uncontrollable, the Congress leader said while releasing a book by a group of journalists from Kerala who visited Kashmir two years ago.

Antony said urgent steps should be initiated for holding dialogue with all stakeholders in the state to find a political solution in the Valley and efforts should be made to win the hearts and trust of the people in Kashmir.

It is a difficult task, but we have to do that, he said.

We should regain the trust of youth. That could be achieved only through talks, he said, adding if conventional paths are not suitable, other ways should be adopted and a human approach should be made.

Terrorists in the Valley and people of Kashmir should not be treated alike, he added.

The Valley remains under curfew for the past 45 days, and the use of pellet guns has taken over 60 lives since the clashes between security forces and the Kashmiris broke out following the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

Antony noted that this was for the first time in free India that curfew continued for such a long period in Kashmir.

Few such attempts were made when UPA was in power. But, it could not move forward, he said.

The government failed to realise the seriousness of the issue in the initial stages. But they have now understood the seriousness of the situation. No one should make statements that vitiate the atmosphere in Kashmir.

Talking over the role of Pakistan in the violence, Antony said: Pakistan government and military have failed to come to terms with the reality that Jammu and Kashmir is part of India... Pakistan has a major role for the present problems.

Terrorists infiltrate into Kashmir with the help of Pakistan military, he charged. In some cases terrorists trained by Pakistan military also come to India.

However, the former defence minister said not every time can the neighbour be blamed for the problems in the Valley.

I know there are problems. Pakistani military is creating more and more problems. They will continue to do so, nobody can stop that. But, always blaming the Pakistani military and not taking proper action is not good.

Asserting that a political solution was the only way to solve the problems, the Congress leader said the Centre should send an all-party delegation to Kashmir immediately.

Kashmir needs a political solution. As a first step, the government must send an all-party delegation, and then start a political dialogue to find a political solution. We cant delay it anymore. The government must start acting on war footing. At any cost we must win hearts of the people, especially the youth, of the Kashmir Valley, Antony told reporters.
Continuing with its efforts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, Pakistan has briefed China about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir during their bilateral strategic dialogue.

Foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who is on a two-day visit to China, attended the bilateral strategic dialogue meeting and also met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing during his trip, the Pakistan Foreign Office said.

The seventh round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and China was held on Monday in Beijing where Chaudhry led the Pakistani delegation while the Chinese side was headed by assistant minister of foreign affairs for Asian and consular affairs Kong Xuanyou.

Read | Bilateral talks should focus on finding Kashmir solution: Pakistan tells India

Chaudhry apprised his counterpart of the grave humanitarian situation in Kashmir and the ongoing human rights violations.

He (Chaudhry) expressed the hope that the international community would play its role in calling on India to put an end to blatant human rights violations in the Valley, the foreign office said.

Both sides held detailed discussions on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and China, including the 46 billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), economic cooperation, defence, counter-terrorism, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, culture, education and people to people contact.

Read | Modi hints at Kashmir talks, says need to find permanent solution

The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in all areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

The foreign secretary and his Chinese counterpart also exchanged views on regional situation including India, Afghanistan and South China Sea.

Cooperation in multilateral forums including at the UN was also discussed, the statement said.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They agreed to continue to share their respective perspective, it said.

Read | No compromise over violence in Kashmir; Pak challenging Indias unity: Jaitley
A bagful of Rs 1,000 notes totalling Rs 29 lakh buried for safety by Maoist guerrillas in a dense Jharkhand jungle has become termite food.

Kanhu Ram Munda, a regional leader of the CPI (Maoist) outfit, buried the money in January and found out in June that termites had fed on the treasure, police said on Tuesday.

The rebels, who claim to be fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, carry out hit-and-run attacks on security forces and extort money from businesses, especially the mining industry in mineral-rich state.

The bag hidden in the Chakri-Bakrakocha jungles in East Singhbhum along the Jharkhand-Odisha border contained extortion money of the Munda-led Gurabandha Squad of the CPI (Maoist).

Police learnt the loss to the Maoist coffers from Mangal Tudu, a member of Mundas squad, who surrendered on July 21.

Tudu told his interrogators the termite attack soured the relationship between Munda, who carries a reward of Rs 30 lakh on his head, and his comrades.

The Gurabandha Squad is now facing a shortage of funds  weve blocked their supply lines effectively, said Anoop T Matthew, the Jamshedpur SSP.

A bundle of Rs 1,000 weighs about 120gm, and Rs 29 lakh stashed in a bag will weigh 3.50kg, bank officials calculated.

A police special branch report says the CPI (Maoist) groups collect about Rs 200 crore annually from development projects, kendu leave traders, timber merchants and miners across Jharkhand  a state where 18 of its 24 districts are affected by insurgency.

The Maoists extort up to Rs 25 lakh a month from the miners and gem traders operating illegally in the emerald mines in the Gurabandha jungles, 110km from Jamshedpur.

We recovered about Rs 10 lakh the rebels collected from contractors engaged in development projects here last year. We will get the better of Kanhu soon, officer Matthew said.

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Expensive radio collars with in-built mortality alert, global positioning system (GPS) and very high frequency (VHF) systems used to track the movement of tigers have come under fire from conservationists after the seven-year-old tiger Jai went missing from Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary near Nagpur in April.

Well known tiger conservationist Valmik Thapar has questioned the usability of collars after scientists of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) lost track of Jai.

I am worried about Jai. Why was a radio collar fitted on the tiger and why is it not functioning? Thapar had asked on August 20 and asserted that the Wildlife Institute of India, which radio collared Jai, should be held accountable for defunct collar.

Thapar, who worked extensively on tiger movement and its conservation, said he was against of radio collaring of tigers.

But, scientists at WII have backed up the methodology that has proved instrumental in re-introduction of tigers in Sariska and Panna.

The collars are used to study tiger movement and not to control them. There have been only half a dozen cases in past where collars didnt yield the kind of result we expected because of various reasons - fighting, battery drain, damage to collar, tough terrains and others. All in all, the methodology is the best available - Sariska and Panna have already proved it, VB Mathur, director WII told Hindustan Times.

The collars dont come cheap. Each collar with both GPS and VHF facility cost nearly Rs 3.50 lakh. Available only with selected merchants, these collars are mostly imported from Germany. There are some collars that come with drop off feature that can be easily detached from a growing tigers neck through a signal to avoid suffocation. This type of collar is even costlier with price tag of Rs 5 lakh. Scientists avoid these collars unless theres emergency because it means replacing a collar if it drops off.

GPS provides satellite based movement of tigers (that can spread across several hundred sq km), while movement through VHF can be studied through ground links up to a distance of 2-5 km.

The major drawback with the collars is its battery life. Each of the collars has a battery life of nearly one year because of which scientists cannot track the movement of tigers 24X7. Scientists can remotely switch on or switch off the battery in the collar. A longer duration time limit is thus set (generally from 5-8 hours) when the tiger is inside a protected area and shorter duration (1-3 hours) when it is outside such an area.

Jai was fitted with a German-made GPS vectronic collar. Bilal Habib, a scientist at WII who fitted the collar on Jai, told Hindustan Times that high tension wires and limited space in Umred led to losing track of the animal.

Umred has high tension power lines that have electromagnetic fields. Similarly, GPS and VHF collars too have the same fields. When both coincide, we fail to get signals. Thats how Jais collar showed irregular behaviour, Habib said. He said that the collar was fitted with mortality alert that hasnt given any signal till date.

Jai was collared in September 2015. But barely two months later on November 25, scientists realized the GPS had stopped working. But they continued tracking the big cat through VHF signals for the next five months. On April 18, the VHF signals also stopped, prompting an intensive search for the tiger.

Habib said Jai had extended his territory from 380 sq km when he was collared, to 580 sq km when the last VHF?signals were recorded. Umred is spread across only 189 sq km area. There are 13 tigers in Umred of which 7 are male including Jai.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said nationalism was the BJPs identity, and asked the party to be cautious of forces trying to deflect peoples attention from his governments works.

He referred to the ongoing Tiranga Yatra of BJP MPs, claiming that the event evoked a sense of nationalism and that such constructive programme will go on despite challenges.

Giving a pep talk to 350-odd BJP leaders from across the country, Modi said winning election was not just an aim for the BJP but an exercise of national building and strengthening the cause of nationalism.

Tiranga Yatra united India against forces who are trying to disturb social fabric, Modi said. His words at the meeting of BJPs core group from states coincide with the criticism it faces over handling of Kashmir and cow vigilante.

Modi spoke on importance of collective decision making in strengthening organisation and reaching out to poor people.

We should think of how to create an impression among poor people, Modi said, as he stressed on communicating with such people in common language. He said most BJP leaders come from a modest background. In his nearly hour-long speech, Modi spoke about strengthening partys ideology and expanding its base.

The day-long exercise, which also saw BJP leaders getting lesson on use of social media and how state units should function, is the first before next years assembly election in six states, including Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

He advised party leaders against lobbying of any sorts to secure ticket to contest election and said the level of understanding about the execution of central governments scheme in respective areas would be a yardstick to finanlise candidates.

Half way through its term at the Centre, the BJP leadership feels it is time to prepare for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

In his opening address, Shah said BJP has more than 1000 MLAs, more than 300 MPs and government n 13 states. But, we should try to advance further. For this it is important that government and organisation function smoothly, he said, saying the core groups job will be to strengthen the party at the booth level.

If we are able to achieve this, then a huge change will be witnessed in the party in next 10-15 years, Shah said. He asked the party to provide a decisive, transparent, corruption free and ideology driven government in the state.

Congress leader Randeep S Surjewala mocked the PMs statement saying it was one more act of political deception.

Those who had no sacrifice, participation and intent in creating Indian nation state can never be trusted as propagators or champions of nationalism. (The) Modi establishment has converted India into a nation state where liberal traditions are under serious assault and mockery of law is rampant, he said.

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The legal tussle over the single-window medical entrance test NEET has reached the Supreme Court again, with an aspiring doctor filing a petition to set aside the combined result of the exam conducted in two phases.

Bihar-based Shivangi Singh said the authorities should have declared the results after normalization of marks obtained by the candidates in the two tests. A successful candidate herself, Shivangi claimed the students who took the second paper did not get enough time compared to those who took NEET-I. According to her, it was unfair to treat students of the different tests on par.

Her advocate Manoj Singh mentioned the petition before a bench headed by Justice AR Dave who agreed to hear the case next week.

Read: NEET: Medical and dental students confused over admission process

The plea said the declaration of combined result without normalising the marks obtained by candidates in NEET-I and II was illegal and unconstitutional.

Shivangi stated in her petition that treating NEET-I and II  held on different dates with two different sets of questions with different difficulty level  cannot be treated as one single exam for determining the ranks. Without applying the normalization formula would amount to placing NEET-I candidates higher in All India Ranking compared to the students who took NEET-II.

There should be an independent committee of experts to ascertain the different in the difficulty level of the question papers, the petitioner said and also sought a direction to the CBSE to rectify the errors in answer keys in question booklet of NEET-II.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday about the flood situation in the state and urged him to consider dismantling the Farakka barrage -- constructed under an Indo-Bangladesh treaty -- which he said was behind the increasing silt in the Gangas riverbed.

A bed full of silt makes a river grow prone to flooding.

Kumar said Bihar would continue to face the problem of floods due to heavy siltation from rivers, including the Ganga, and insisted the Centre must formulate a national siltation management policy.

We are carrying the relief and rescue operations in flood-hit areas. The Centre has assured all assistance. The damage done by the floods will be assessed and then we will take steps accordingly. The Prime Minister has assured all help, Kumar said after meeting Modi in New Delhi.

Kumar told Modi that the present flood situation in 12 districts of Bihar was the result of excessive discharge from Bansagar (Madhya Pradesh) and Rihand (Uttar Pradesh) dams due to torrential rainfall. The water flowing downstream into River Ganga had forced the state to face the brunt of floods for decades, he said.

There should be a national silt policy so that de-siltation in rivers, including the Ganga, could be carried out, so that the river has a higher water retention capacity. Unless that happens, Bihar would be forced to face the brunt of floods, Kumar said.

Around 10 lakh people have been affected by the latest floods due to the swollen Ganga and its tributaries, leaving thousands marooned, especially those living in riverside areas in districts of Patna, Begusarai, Khagaria, Katihar and Vaishali.

Kumat told Modi that the current situation was alarming since the state was still 14% rain deficient this monsoon season and had not received more than 1,000mm rainfall in the past one decade.

Bihar has only received 615mm rains against 719.9mm rains for normal monsoon. There is still 14% deficiency, with 152 blocks receiving less than 40% rains, which has also affected the Kharif crop of paddy and maize, he said.

He urged the PM to send a team of scientists and experts to study the siltation problem in the Ganga.

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With Bihar battling floods despite receiving less than normal rains, chief minister Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, seeking the Centres intervention as he insisted that desilting the river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods.

Modi offered assurance to him, saying immediate and positive action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a national silt management policy, Kumar told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister.

He also linked the Modi governments ambitious Namami Gange project with better silt management in Bihar, saying if attention is not paid to the situation, then it will also put a question mark on the programmes success as he feels like crying at the condition of Ganga in the state.

The very serious condition that we see today never occurred earlier. The only way to get rid of this is desiltation. There is a need for national silt management policy, he said.

He urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the unprecedented situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.

The chief minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years.

Though Bihar has received 14% less rains than normal during the monsoon, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rain fall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it.

Kumar also appeared to blame Farakka barrage for the situation. He has earlier held it responsible for increasing siltage in the Ganga river basin.

Due to silt, Ganga could not store the amount of water it used to earlier, leading to flood-like condition despite not receiving proportionate amount of rain fall, he said.
Police in Madhya Pradesh are sticking glow-in-the-dark strips on the horns of stray cattle to prevent motorists from crashing into the animals as they wander across roads at night, an officer said Tuesday.

Following a spate of road accidents, traffic police in Balaghat district have stuck orange radium reflective bands on the horns of 300 cows and bulls to help drivers spot them.

Stray cattle are a major traffic menace in the country, with hundreds of bovines roaming freely on roads across the country. Many drivers injured themselves or killed the cattle after running over them at night, Kailash Chauhan, traffic police inspector in Balaghat told AFP.

There was an urgent need to prevent such accidents, he said. Because of the success of the scheme, officers say they now plan to buy permanent radium paint to cover cows horns, as the plastic bands only last for a few weeks.

Authorities have also asked farmers to fix glow-in-the-dark bands on their own cattle to help them be seen more easily. In 2015 more than 550 people were killed in India in accidents involving stray animals, according to road ministry figures.

A World Health Organisation report in 2013 said more than 231,000 people die on Indias deadly roads each year.
Pakistan expressed grave concern on Tuesday over what it called unnecessary delay in the investigation of the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing case.

We also call upon the Indian government to share information about the investigation proceedings of the terrorist attack, Pakistans foreign office said. More than 42 Pakistani nationals lost their lives in the bombings, it added.

It said Indian attempts to exonerate some of the individuals involved in the attacks have raised serious questions over the due process of law and dispensation of justice.

Powerful bombs ripped through two compartments of the Samjhauta Express train, the rail link between India and Pakistan, during the intervening night of February 18 and 19, killing 68 people.

The National Investigating Agency has filed a charge sheet against eight people including Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Asimanand, Sunil Joshi (deceased), Ram Chandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and Amit (absconding), Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajender Choudhary in the case which is undertrial.
A police constable who swallowed 40 knives over two months and had them surgically removed said on Tuesday that spiritual powers made him do it.

The father of two underwent a successful five-hour operation to remove the knives from his stomach in Amritsar after complaining to doctors of severe abdomen pain.

I dont know why I did it but there was some spiritual power behind it, said the 42-year-old.

Certain news outlets identified the man as Surjeet Singh, who is employed with Punjab Police and is posted at Tarn Taran district.



It started in June when I swallowed the first knife and I enjoyed the feeling. It soon became a habit, he said.

Doctors said they initially thought he was suffering from a tumour after scans showed a large solid mass.

But on further investigation, they discovered dozens of folding knives  some folded and some with exposed blades up to 18 cm (seven inches) long.

We immediately prepared him for surgery and removed the knives. There was bleeding as some of them were unfolded, Rajinder Rajan, one of the surgeons at Corporate Hospital, told AFP.

Rajan said he suspected the patient, who told doctors he passed two more knives in his stools, was suffering from depression.

Although recovering well from Fridays surgery, he will undergo a psychological assessment before being discharged from the hospital, Rajan added.

Doctors did not rule out the possibility that he had pica disorder, in which the affected feels compelled to consume non-edible things.

But the man said he would not do it again.

I consumed a knife a day for about two months. I never felt it was going to harm me but when it pained, I came to the hospital. I will not repeat it. I am glad they saved my life and I want to go back to my family, he said.

Read | Swami Sivananda oldest man ever says no sex, no spice, daily yoga key to age


An investigation committee that looked into the suicide of University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula has concluded that the administration and its vice-chancellor P Appa Rao cannot be held responsible for his death, according to sources in the HRD ministry.

The report has exonerated the authorities and the vice-chancellor, the source said.

Vemulas death in January led to a wave of protests against the NDA government and then HRD minister Smriti Irani. Agitating students said Vemula had been pushed to suicide by a suspension ordered by the V-C upon a prodding from Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya.

The probe by former Allahabad HC judge Ashok Kumar Roopanwal has also reportedly raised questions about Vemula being a Dalit, sources said. The HRD ministry did not confirm that the report has been submitted and refused to comment on the issue.

Roopanwals report was expected on August 1 but it was ostensibly delayed over fears that it may have derail the Parliament session.

Read| Time to end controversy: Govt report says Rohith Vemula was a Dalit

Read| Rohith Vemula: An unfinished portrait
Union home minister Rajnath Singh will visit Kashmir on Wednesday for the second time in a month as the Centre stepped up efforts to end seven weeks of violence that has left 67 dead and over 10,000 injured.

Singhs two-day visit follows Prime Minister Narendra Modis meeting with opposition leaders from Jammu & Kashmir on Monday. Expressing deep concern and pain at the prolonged unrest, he asked them to convey his sentiments to the people that those who lost their lives were part of us, our nation, a remark that was seen as softening of the Centres approach towards protesters.

The PMs reconciliatory tone ahead of Singhs visit to Kashmir raised expectations about the possibility of engagement with Hurriyat leaders. Home ministry sources, however, said Singh, accompanied by home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, will meet civil society members and the thrust of the visit will be on employment generation for Kashmiri youth.

No one has contacted us officially or even through back channels, moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told HT.

A day before Singhs visit, separatists also upped the ante with Mirwaiz writing to Pope Francis of Vatican, Dalai Lama, Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and many ambassadors seeking their help to find a solution to the problem, which India and Pakistan cannot and are not able to do on their own.

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference of Kashmir, which I chair, believes that a war is being waged against us by the democratic Indian state, in total violation of all democratic norms. The security machinery of India has embarked upon the strategy of ruthlessly crushing us and our resistance to its unprecedented brutality, he said.

Read| Want to see pens, laptops in hands of Kashmiri youth: Rajnath

Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh was in Srinagar on Tuesday to review the security situation. He appealed to people to shun violence and also asked security forces to uphold human rights and exercise maximum possible restraint while dealing with the protesting mobs.

The security establishment in New Delhi remains confident that the cycle of violence, triggered by the killing of Hijbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, could be contained. The Centre has asked security forces to strictly implement curfew in the Valley.

A senior official said that curfew restrictions were not being implemented strictly due to non-availability of requisite number of boots on ground. Around 15,000 paramilitary personnel, who were deployed for security during the Amarnath Yatra, have now been pressed for law and order duties in the Valley, taking the total paramilitary strength to 60,000.

As per home ministry data, 5,197 security personnel and around 5,600 civilians have been injured in clashes so far.

Read| No political solution from India is pushing J-K towards Pak, feel Kashmiris

The focus of Singhs visit, said home ministry officials, will be on quick employment generation through skill development schemes such as Udaan and Himayat and also through recruitment in paramilitary forces and India Reserve battalions.

The Congress welcomed Singhs visit and said the government should start the dialogue process immediately and decide who to hold the dialogue with.

The opposition party also said that dialogue was the way forward for peace in the Valley and not guns, lathicharge or use of tear gas and pellet guns.

We had informed the Prime Minister that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is very bad. We requested him to start the dialogue process. Who to talk to and when -- they should at least make an announcement and start the process, said Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

He (Singh) should keep going there. But, I dont think by using guns and by lathicharge or by using tear gas and pellet guns we can bring peace there. Peace will come only by dialogue, he added.

Read| Kashmir unrest: Lack of political will keeps Valley on the boil
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday Indian workers who have lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia will be brought back to the country free of charge, if they file their claims by September 25.

When Saudi Government settles with the Companies, the workers claims (for unpaid dues with their employers) will also be settled Those who do not return by 25th September will have to make their own arrangements for boarding, lodging and return journey, Swaraj tweeted.

Read: Govt plans to evacuate 10,000 laid off Indians in Saudi amid food crisis

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.

Swaraj had last month directed the embassy in Riyadh to provide free ration to unemployed Indian workers in Saudi Arabia. Swarajs response came after a tweet by a man who said around 800 Indian workers were starving in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Indian passport holders outside India, most of them are employed as blue collar workers. The oil-rich country is often criticised for human rights violations and difficult working conditions for migrant workers, a charge its government denies.

Earlier this month, minister of state for external affairs VK Singh had visited Saudi Arabia after a large number of Indian workers sought the governments intervention in taking up their difficulties with the authorities there. He also visited Saudi Arabia last week to resolve the matter.

@Gen_VKSingh visited Saudi Arabia twice to resolve the problems of Indian workers rendered unemployed due to closure of companies there, Swaraj tweeted on Tuesday.

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Flood situation in many parts of Uttar Pradesh has worsened and schools were closed for the next few days in Allahabad and Balia, officials said on Tuesday.

With the raging waters of Ganga river entering the city in Allahabad, district magistrate Sanjay Kumar ordered closure of schools for the next two days.

In Allahabad, Indian Air Force choppers were being used to drop relief material, food and other commodities in the flood-hit areas.

More than 45 localities have been hit by the floods and water has entered thousands of homes in Allahabad.

All schools in Ballia have been closed till August 27, district magistrate Govind Raju said.

An embankment here started breaching late on Monday after which the army was requisitioned and people evacuated.

The breach has since been plugged, an official told IANS.

Over 16 lakh people have been affected by the floods in Poorvanchal -- eastern Uttar Pradesh, and many have been relocated, the official said.

More than 200 villages have been affected in Varanasi and 500 houses were under water due to Varuna river here.

National Disaster Response Force personnel have been involved in rescue operations in five flood-hit districts of Gonda, Ballia, Varanasi, Balrampur and Allahabad.
A seven-year-old girl was allegedly abducted from the Rae Bareli railway station and raped, police said on Tuesday. Three police officers have been suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the incident.

The girl was found in a serious condition on Platform 2 of the station around 7:30 am on Monday, and admitted to the district womens hospital, where she underwent surgery.

Her condition is stable, but she will require a week of medical treatment, hospitals chief medical superintendent Dr Reeta Bhatia said.

After her abduction, the girl was taken to Gangaganj, raped and dumped at the railway station, police said. An FIR for abduction and rape was filed at the government railway police station, Rae Bareli.

The main accused, Dashrath Patel, was untraceable but the Government Railway Police and the Rae Bareli police arrested his wife, Kamlesh, on the charge of luring the child and bringing her to Patel. She has been named as a co-accused in the case.

The incident took place after a woman and her three daughters, aged seven, six and one, arrived by a passenger train on Platform 1 of the Rae Bareli railway station around 1:30am on Monday, superintendent of police (GRP) Sonia Singh said at a press conference along with superintendent of police, Rae Bareli, Vinay Kumar on Tuesday.

She said the woman and her daughters had returned to Lucknow from Bhusaval by the Pushpak Express. They were supposed to take a train to Gonda but ended up boarding the wrong train (a Rae Bareli passenger) and were told to get off by the travelling ticket examiner at the Rae Bareli station.

The suspended police officers are sub-inspector Raj Kumar Singh, and constables Vijay Tewari and Devendra Kumar.
The final hearing on the Congress plea challenging a Delhi high court verdict holding it and BJP prima facie guilty of violating the law on foreign funding, would start in the Supreme Court from September 14.

While fixing the date for final hearing, an apex court bench, comprising Justices J S Khehar and Arun Mishra, on Tuesday made it clear that no adjournment would be granted in the case.

The high court had said that by receiving donations from UK-based Vedanta Resources subsidiaries, the two mainstream political parties had violated the law concerned.

The Congress had sought an immediate stay on the March 28, 2014 high court verdict which had directed the Centre and Election Commission (EC) to take appropriate action against them within six months.

Challenging the order, the party had contended that the high court had erred in interpreting the law and there is no concealment or suppression of such contribution which were duly reflected in the returns submitted to the Election Commission.

It had contended that Vedanta was owned by an Indian citizen, Anil Aggarwal, and its subsidiaries were incorporated here. Hence, they were not foreign sources.

The prohibition to make any contribution to a candidate or a political party or office-bearers thereof relates to foreign citizens and Indian entities, if more than one half of the nominal value of share capital of such entities are held either singly or in the aggregate by citizens of a foreign country, the petition had said.

The high court had held that Vedanta was a foreign company as per the Companies Act and therefore, the Anil Aggarwal-owned firm and its subsidiaries, Sterlite and Sesa, were foreign sources as per the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

The verdict was delivered on a PIL by a NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms and EAS Sarma, a former secretary in the government, who had alleged that the two parties had violated the Representation of the People Act and FCRA by taking donations from government companies and foreign sources.
The apex consumer commission directed Swiss International Airlines to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 to a flyer and upgrade his economy class ticket to business class for his future travels, as a penalty for serving him non-vegetarian food instead of a Jain meal he had opted for.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) upheld the district forums order also directing Swiss International Airlines, to pay Rs 10,000 towards litigation cost and dismissed the revision petition filed by Mumbai resident Amit Jay Kumar Jain to enhance the compensation.

The opposite party (airlines) shall be bound by its commitment to upgrade economy class to business class in one flight booked by the complainant from India to Europe or Europe to India with a rider that the complainant must undertake that flight within one year, the bench presided by Justice Ajit Bharihoke said.

The bench, which also comprised member S M Kantikar, noted that the complainant was alerted by a co-passenger before he could eat the non-vegetarian food served to him.

It cannot be said with certainty that the complainant consumed a morsel of non-vegetarian food. Thus, under the circumstances, the compensation awarded to the complainant seem to be reasonable and there is no cause for interfering with it, the bench added.

According to the complaint, on May 6, 2011, while flying from Zurich to Mumbai, Jain was served with a non-vegetarian meal whereas he had opted for a special vegetarian Jain meal.

When he approached the district forum in Mumbai, the airline said the mistake was human error and offered that in future any one economy class ticket booked by the complainant from India to Europe or from Europe to India would be upgraded to business class and an apology was also tendered in writing.

The forum had also granted a compensation of Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 as cost towards the litigation to Jain.

Jains appeal for enhancing the compensation was rejected by the state commission after which he approached NCDRC.
The United States has backed Amnesty International after a sedition case was registered against the global rights group in Bengaluru for hosting a Kashmir event where alleged anti-India slogans were raised.

State department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said the US supported the right to freedom of expression for anyone including the Amnesty.

With Amnesty International, Im sorry. Well, we obviously, as we do around the world, support the right to freedom of expression and assembly, including through civil society, Toner told reporters here on Monday.

He was asked about the sedition charge against the group in India after they staged an event called Broken Families on the situation of different families in Kashmir.

Read: You cant bring every criticism under the ambit of sedition

Toner said the state department was aware of the reports that police in Bengaluru have initiated preliminary investigation into allegations of sedition against Amnesty International.

I direct you to the police for more details into this investigation, but certainly we, as I said, respect the right for Amnesty and others to express themselves freely.

The remarks came a day after Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said he had not given any clean chit to the rights group. He had earlier said the group was not involved in anti-national activities though some anti-India slogans were raised by some participants.

During the August 13 event, peace and justice in Kashmir was discussed and three families from the strife-torn Valley talked about alleged rights violations.

A complaint was registered after Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishads alleged that Amnesty representatives and other participants shouted anti-national slogans and criticised the armys role in the border state.
Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday vowed to pursue the agenda of political resolution to the Kashmir problem, economic empowerment and good governance, saying the state has suffered political subversion over the last seven decades and can ill-afford further disruption.

She said some forces with dangerous agenda are active on the ground to divide the people in the name of religion and region, and their every attempt has to be defeated with firmness.

Expressing her resolve to establish a new system of justice and equality in the state, she said the aim of her party was to script a new chapter in the political history of the state by removing the trust deficit between different regions.

She sought the peoples cooperation in maintaining calm so that developmental initiatives can take shape.

Read | 5% of people giving bad name to Kashmiris, says Mehbooba

Mehbooba, who heads the PDP, asked her party cadres to reach out to all sections of society to confront emerging challenges posed by the different divisive and subversive forces in the state.

Political subversion and uncertainty that the state has faced in the last seven decades has already taken a heavy toll on the state, its economy and human resources.

It can ill-afford any further disruption and the attempts being made currently by some quarters to squeeze the space for its residents will have to be met with maturity, wisdom, collective action and democratic assertion of our rights, she said, addressing a meeting of prominent leaders, office bearers, and party cadres here.

She said her party will carry forward its agenda of political resolution, economic empowerment, good governance and employment generation and convert Jammu and Kashmir into a real welfare state.

Noting that this vision is mentioned in the partys Agenda of Alliance with the BJP, she said her party has been able to inspire confidence among a majority of the people in all the regions of the state about its ability to resolve the problems faced by Jammu and Kashmir on political, economic, administrative and financial fronts.

Read | Handful of people with vested interests inciting trouble in Kashmir: Mehbooba

(The) PDP is a cementing force to unite all regions and sub- regions of the state, Mehbooba said, adding her party, unlike other political parties, has never indulged in doublespeak to hoodwink the people for petty political gains.

Earning faith and trust of the people of J-K is the biggest achievement of (the) PDP, she said and asked party cadres to take the PDPs message of peace, harmony and stability to the grassroots level.

The chief minister said the agenda of the PDP could, to a large extent, respond to the complex problems of the state.

Expressing satisfaction at the steady growth of the PDP as a platform for change in Jammu and Kashmir, she said the credit goes to the disciplined, dedicated and ideologically motivated cadres of the party and people living in all regions of the state.

It is because of the selfless efforts of the party cadres that the PDP has now emerged as a respectable voice from the state that channelizes the aspirations of the people across regions, religions and communities representing the beautiful mosaic of the diversity of J-K, she said.
The government will soon set up an expert panel, led by Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya, to start allotting a number to each caste in the country.

The cabinet had announced its decision to set up the panel in July last year.

The panel is crucial to making sense of the 4.6 million names of castes, sub-castes and surnames thrown up by the first caste census in Independent India through 2010-11.

A senior government official told HT that the formalities to set up the panel would be completed soon.

The cabinet secretariat had sought nominations for members to the panel from the ministries of social justice, tribal affairs and minority affairs. The order should be issued soon, the official said.

The official confirmed that next years Uttar Pradesh election appeared to have goaded the government to revive action on the panel.

Politics have usually influenced every decision taken by the government on caste census. It was in the run-up to the Bihar assembly elections, way back in 2010, that the Congress-led coalition government commissioned the caste census in the first place.

The Congress wanted the caste head count but did not wish to run the risk of antagonising the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The Manmohan Singh-led cabinet eventually cleared the caste census, weeks before the 2010 elections in Bihar.

Last year, it was the NDA governments turn to play to the gallery when it hurriedly announced the decision to set up the Panagariya panel.

If nothing else, the cabinet approval last year  and the notification to be issued  would insulate the government from attacks by OBC leaders.

OBC leaders expect the census to peg the their population at a much higher level than the 27% quota in jobs and education that the backward classes are entitled to.

Once the results come in, political parties targeting OBC votes are expected to agitate for a higher quota.

National sample survey reports in the past have estimated OBC population to be in the 38-42% range. But putting a number to each caste is not going to be an easy task.

The expert group has to carry out the mammoth of matching each of the 4.6 million entries with the correct caste, an exercise that could take years.

British census commissioners in pre-Independent India  the only ones to have attempted the census  had advised against repeating the exercise ever again. The last such census was attempted in 1941 but the caste data was never compiled.
Upholding a lower court order, the Madras high court on Tuesday confirmed life imprisonment for three accused in the murder of a 24-year-old woman IT employee near her office on the city outskirts more than two years ago.

A division bench of justices S Nagamuthu and V Bharathidasan, said there was no reason to interfere with a trial court order or to reduce the quantum of sentence in the case and confirmed life term for the three migrant workers from West Bengal -- Ram Mandal, Uttam Mandal and Ujjal Mandal.

The bench directed authorities to pay Rs two lakh to the family of the deceased from out of the Victim Compensation Fund within four months.

A womens court had pronounced all the three guilty and sentenced them to life for murdering the woman, employed with Tata Consultancy Services, who went missing on February 13, 2014. The womans decomposed body was found at the SIPCOT IT Park in Siruseri, nine days later.

The investigation into the case was transferred to crime branch CID on the orders of the then chief minister Jayalalithaa and the three were arrested when they tried to use her ATM card.

At the time of the arrests, police had said the woman, walking on a footpath one km away from her IT park campus, was waylaid, dragged to a nearby bush and assaulted by the accused.

The murder brought to sharp focus safety issues concerning women IT employees, especially those leaving office during late hours, and prompted software companies to clamp preventive measures, including mandatory use of office vehicle for those working beyond 8pm.
When Mayawati became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1995, a dingy slum in a densely populated part of Lucknow was ecstatic.

This was the office of the Akhil Bharatiya Safai Majdoor Sangh (ABSMS)  a union of manual scavengers, mostly Dalit men and women who lift and clean human excreta by hand.

The union organised a grand meeting in Mayawatis honour and said Indias first Dalit woman CM was a new beginning for the millions of manual scavengers, who are a victim of Indias millennia-old caste system.

But the hopes were quickly snuffed out when the workers realised their leader Mayawati  whose party stormed to power on the back of the Dalit vote  wasnt interested in solving the manual scavenging crisis.

In our memorandum to the state government, we demanded freedom for manual scavengers from the dirty job. But surprisingly, the CM didnt react to our plea, said Shyam Lal Valmiki, national general secretary of ABSMS.

Read | Ahmedabad to Una: The great Gujarat Dalit march for freedom begins Friday

Their other demands such as the abolition of privatisation in sanitation work in municipal bodies and the establishment of schools exclusively for Dalits also went unheard.

Shyam said the Bahujan Samaj Party counted the Dalit vote as its strongest pillar but manual scavengers faced the maximum discrimination during Mayawatis tenures as CM.

In her last tenure from May 2007 to 2012, the BSP government opened 114,848 posts of safai karamcharis. At that time, we approached her again demanding jobs for manual scavengers, but to no avail, Shyam said.

He said the present Samajwadi Party (SP) government had also done little to rehabilitate manual scavengers.

In 1993, Parliament banned the employment of manual scavengers as well as construction of dry latrines. In 2013, another act was passed to curb the menace.

But activists say the state has more than 10,000 manual scavengers as implementation of the law has been lax.

Read | Delhis civic bodies and jal board defy ban, still employ manual scanvengers

In 2014, the UP social welfare department identified 53 manual scavengers in Lucknow and gave them Rs 40,000 in four installments under a central-government-run welfare scheme. The Lucknow administration also identified 4,149 houses that used dry latrines but only a third of them were finally converted into toilets with flush.

Activist Bezwada Wilson, who won the Magsaysay award this year for his work in eradicating manual scavenging, says UP is one of the worst-performing states in uprooting the caste-based practice.

In addition to traditional employers like the Railways, local municipalities often also recruit manual scavengers.

State officials say apart from Lucknow, the practice is rampant in districts such as Kanpur, Agra, Badaun, Pilibhit, Barabanki, Unnao and Gorakhpur.

Many manual scavengers, surprisingly, have high expectations from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Read | HT SPOTLIGHT Life in the gutter: Manual scavenging banned, really?

None of the governments so far has given us a single penny. Its the first time the amount of Rs 40,000 is given to manual scavengers, said Asha Valmiki, a manual scavenger in old Lucknow.

She also hailed PM Narendra Modis announcement of making India a manual-scavenging-free nation by 2019. Its indeed a good move. I am sure we would get freedom from the profession, she added hopefully.

This comes at a time when other members of the Dalit community are protesting against rising caste-based atrocities across India and see the BJP as one of the main reasons for their plight.

Uttar Pradesh goes to polls early next year and the Dalit vote is expected to determine the winner of the elections.

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Unsmiling matrons, rooms with lackluster furniture and insipid food  hostels can be forbidding, but the new student accommodations springing up in the Juhu-Andheri area have no resemblance to the older establishments.

Students here pay between Rs 2-6 lakh per annum for services like round-the-clock laundry service, air-conditioning, Wi-Fi, security and furnished rooms with kitchens. While many of these accommodations are large flats that are shared by students, others are refitted buildings that can accommodate between 50 and 150 students each. There are at least six such hostels created from remodeled buildings in up-market Juhu Scheme area.

In the past couple of years, every second building that has come up in this area has been converted into hostels. This is a home away from home, with the best of amenities available for children. Every room has been designed keeping in mind the comfort of students, especially since they are staying away from their families, said Chander Matta, owner of Bright Youth Hostels, which runs five facilities in Juhu Scheme, Vile Parle and Andheri.

A fully stocked pantry at a hostel in Vile Parle. Some of these accommodations are large flats shared by students, others are refitted buildings that can accommodate between 50 and 150 students. (Vidya Subramanian/HT )

Mumbai, with its unaffordable housing, can be an expensive place for an outstation student. The University of Mumbai has only a handful of hostels and fewer than 10 colleges in the city offer hostel facilities. This is inadequate for the thousands of students who come to Mumbai to study, said college principals. The fact that most colleges dont offer residential option on campus is pushing more and more students to these new-age hostels, because for them, safety is more important than the cost of living, said Vijay Joshi, principal of K J Somaiya College in Vidya Vihar.

The Somaiya group of institutes has two hostels that accommodate close to 1000 students each and even then many students are forced to find accommodation elsewhere. Earlier only those looking for medical and management seats would travel to other parts of the country but now, even commerce and arts students come to Mumbai from various other states and the university needs to cater to them too, he added.

Limited hostel options attached to colleges being one of the main reasons for the growth of these hostels, the other reason is expensive rent and long hours of commute that are forcing children to find accommodation close to college, said Poonam Vora, owner of Women Intern and Student Housing (WISH) group of hostels which runs 25 facilities in Juhu Scheme that house students from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka and West Bengal. Some students are from the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Scores of students from outside Mumbai join colleges in the city every year, but the number of hostels do not match demand. In a city with unaffordable housing, plush rooms such as this one, in good residential areas such as Vile Parle and Juhu, are getting popular with students. (Vidya Subramanian/HT PHOTO)

The hostel owners said that, apart from the fact that the area has several colleges, Vile Parle and Juhu Scheme are preferred locations for the hostels because it is a quiet and safe residential area. Many parts of town are not only expensive, but are also not very safe post 7-8 pm as they become very lonely, said Matta. Parents approve of these hostels because they monitor the movement of students, have rules prohibiting men from entering accommodations meant only for women and allow women students to report late at night to the hostel only if parents make the request. Students like the convenience.

This is the first time Im living on my own, so my parents wanted to make sure I live closer to college and also live well. My mother is extremely happy knowing that Im not starving on any day, and that theres a female warden here 24/7. While the food is not as good as my moms, at least I dont have to cook myself, said Pinali Mehta, 19, a Hyderabad resident who is doing a Bachelor of Mass Media course at UPG College, Vile Parle. Pinali shares a 3-BHK flat converted into hostel accommodation with seven girls, each paying almost Rs 3 lakh per annum, and the house is situated barely five minutes away from her college. I dont even have to depend on public transport or bother about pothole-ridden roads, she added.

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Senior officials of hospitals that conduct organ transplant procedures will now have to undergo training sessions for orientation of Transplantation of Human Organ Act (TAHO) 1994. The decision was taken during a high level meeting, chaired by CM Devendra Fadnavis, senior health officials and doctors at Mantralaya on Monday.

The state government has now formed a 16-member committee, headed by Dr Deepak Sawant, Health Minister of the state, to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under the TAHO act. Only last week, Sawant had said that the state needs a separate SOP as a line of defence against the loopholes brought to light during investigations of the controversial kidney scam at L H Hiranandani Hospital. A simplified version of the SOPs is what was demanded by Fadnavis, sources revealed.

Dr Mohan Jadhav, Director, Directorate of Health Services who attended the meeting has been given the responsibility of preparing a checklist of for all the procedures to be followed for an organ transplant procedure. DHS is also supposed to coordinate with Directorate of Medical Education through a mailing system with standard format, consisting details of donors and recipients.

Jadhav also pointed out the lack of expertise to pinpoint forged documents attested by local advocates after which the committee decided that from now on, the documents will be verified by the magistrate to avoid malpractices. The decision to train doctors in the law is significant because some of the accused in the kidney scam have said that they did not know the law.

A government resolution is soon to be passed, making it compulsory for the representative of all the hospitals to attend the symposium where the laws of organ transplant will be explained in detail. DMER and DHS are also entrusted with a responsibility to organize Continuing Medical Education (CME) along with all the hospitals for better coordination.

A number of other discussions also took place on the Aadhar linking of donors and recipients, biometric registrations, special arrangement for a room and proper equipment to record video footages of the counseling sessions.

State Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant said that while they dont want to inconvenience doctors due to the new guidelines, exploitation of poor classes for organ transplants needs to be stopped immediately and the ministry in no way will be allow the malpractices to continue due to documentation errors.

Who is on the committee?

The sixteen member committee will be headed by Dr. Deepak Sawant, with the Minister of State for Public Health and Family Welfare as a special invitee. The Principal Secretary, Public Health and Family Welfare, Director of State Health Services, Director of Medical Education and Research, and Additional Commissioner (crime) of Mumbai police will be its principal members.

Other members include Dr. Avinash Supe, dean of KEM Hospital, Dr. Sujata Patwardhan, head of Urology at KEM Hospital, Dr. Rekha Davar, gynaecologist from Grant Medical College, Dr. Umesh Oza, urologist and president of Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, Dr. Ashok Kripalani, nephrologist, Dr. Shrirang Bichu, Bombay Hospital. Uday Warunjikar, Advocate Gautam Khanna, Hinduja Hospital Chief Executive Officer, Deputy Director of the human organs transplantation section of the state health services will also be part of the 16-member committee.
Under fire for shoddy road works and corruption in poll-bound Mumbai, with most of the censures coming from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena is attempting to turn the tables and target its ally by shifting focus to Nagpur, the stronghold of the BJP.

In an editorial in the partys mouthpiece, Saamana, the Shiv Sena severely criticised the BJP-ruled Nagpur Municipal Corporation on Monday for the poor condition of roads in the city, grafts in road concretisation and lack of basic infrastructure.

The public will be happier if those blowing their trumpet about roads works in Mumbai pay attention to the poor quality of roads in Nagpur. The BJP has a stronghold on the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and is in power in Delhi too. Despite the BJP having a majority, the people of Nagpur have to spend their lives dodging potholes, read the editorial.

The Shiv Sena also took potshots at chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Nitin Gadkari, union minister for road transport and highways, as both hail from Nagpur. While these bosses sit at their high-profile posts and call the shots, who is supposed to take responsibility for the poor condition of roads in Nagpur?

The party said that Nagpur is as important as Mumbai as considered to be the second capital of Maharashtra. It added that Nagpur is home to not only several pilgrimage destinations but also the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

With the Mumbai 2017 civic polls drawing closer, BJP leaders have repeatedly targeted the Shiv Sena for alleged corruption by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in road, sewerage and drainage contracts, despite being a junior partner in the coalition ruling the civic body. With the Nagpur civic body headed to polls in 2017, the Shiv Sena decided to use the same strategy, and target its ally for corruption in road works by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation.

There is a lot of talk about corruption in the contracts for the cementing of roads in Nagpur. Water pipelines were damaged during the work and should have been repaired and replaced, which didnt happen, read the editorial. It added that the tainted contractors should be identified and jailed.

The party said the BJP-led state government is misleading Nagpur residents by promising them a smart-city, while the citys basic infrastructure lies in shambles.

Earlier, Anil Parab, the Shiv Sena chief for Nagpur, led a delegation to the Nagpur Municipal Commissioner with a list of complaints about the crumbling roads and potholes.

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In a discussion that panned for over two hours with more than 20 speakers, the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) passed a proposal making yoga and surya namaskar mandatory in all civic schools on Tuesday.

The ruling allies rejected the amendment demanded by opposition parties Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) to make it optional for schools.

SP also demanded deleting surya namaskar from the proposal.

The discussion follows a notice of motion mooted by BJP corporator Samita Kamble to improve the health of students by incorporating these traditional practices. While ally Sena had earlier demanded that martial arts be included in the proposal, it remained mum in the discussion at the general body meeting in BMC headquarters despite being the majority party.

BMC runs 1,188 primary and 49 secondary schools in Mumbai. This includes nearly 400 Urdu-medium schools.

The discussion also included references to the upcoming BMC elections and vote-bank politics played by both BJP and SP. Corporators alleged that BJP was trying to saffronise education, both, in the Centre and the states by introducing such proposals.

BJP corporators, however, argued that surya namaskar is yoga and does not have any religious colour. Dilip Patel, a BJP corporator said, It has been internationally accepted that yoga is the best form of exercise. Bringing in religion is a political tactic by SP.

Ritu Tawde, former education committee chairman and BJP corporator said, Surya namaskar is a form of meditation. It will help children progress, both mentally and physically.

The notice of motion will now be forwarded to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta who will send it to the state government with his comments.

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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep concern and pain on Monday over weeks-long deadly violence in Kashmir, saying there was a need for dialogue and a permanent solution to the regions troubles.

Modis comments are seen as conciliatory after he spoke of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in his Independence Day speech but not the protests in Kashmir. Several of his ministers had also called the protesters aggressors and said there would be no compromise with them.

The prime ministers latest remarks came at a meeting with opposition leaders from Kashmir, where street protests against last months killing of militant commander Burhan Wani by security forces left 67 people dead, mostly in police firing. Parts of the state have been under curfew for 45 days. Those who lost their lives during recent disturbances are part of us, our nation. Whether the lives lost are of our youth, security personnel or police, it distresses us, a government statement quoted Modi as saying at the meeting.

The prime minister emphasised that there has to be dialogue and we need to find a permanent and lasting solution to the problem within the framework of the Constitution, it said.

Modis Independence Day reference to Balochistan and PoK, the first by an Indian prime minister, was seen by many as inopportune and diluting Indias moral ground on Kashmir. His Mondays remarks appear more in line with the moderate vision of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose government was the first to hold talks with Kashmiri separatists.

Kashmiri leaders have voiced concern over the use of what they say is disproportionate force against the local people and accused the states ruling BJP-PDP alliance of trying to tackle the violence using administrative measures such as indefinite curfew rather than seeking a political solution.

The Kashmiri delegation, led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, told Modi it was dismayed at the lack of a political approach in dealing with the ongoing unrest, sources said.

The eight-member delegation urged him to start a dialogue with all stakeholders, saying an administrative response rather than a political solution had created an unprecedented sense of disaffection and disenchantment in Kashmir, especially among the youth. A delegation member, who refused to be identified, said a suggestion was made that the prime minister directly address the people of Kashmir in his monthly radio broadcast Mann ki Baat.

The PM acknowledged that he should have reached out to the people earlier. His remark that there is a need to look beyond development aspect to address the problem is significant, said Congress leader GN Monga, who was also part of the delegation. Lets hope for the best. Another member said Modi looked visibly concerned and serious to resolve the problem.

Abdullah said the prime minister agreed with the delegation that development alone was not the answer to the crisis.

The Kashmiri leaders met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday. The party leaders from the state urged him to visit the Valley and assess the situation first hand.

He might visit Kashmir soon, said a state leader.

In Jammu, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said vested interests had incited the states youth to scuttle her development projects. There have been encounters before, people have been killed before. But why so much madness this time around? she told a rally, referring to the gunning down of Wani.

Whenever they see that some constructive work is being done, some progress is being made, they try to hinder it, she said.
The national disaster response force (NDRF) rescued 45 people early Monday morning from possible death after their boat stalled in swirling flood waters of the Ganga for almost 12 hours at Jagdishpur village of Raghopur, the constituency of Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashi Yadav.

The country boat with 20 children, 19 women and six men, developed a snag in its outboard motor. It drifted with the river current and its propeller got stuck in underwater vegetation between two palm trees.

As efforts by the crew to rectify it failed, passengers panicked and made frantic calls to their relatives and even to media persons, who alerted the district administration and the disaster management department.

NDRF commandant Vijay Sinha was communicated about it at 1.30am. Four NDRF teams then fanned out in different directions from its base in Didarganj in Patna and was able to locate the boat around 3 am and return in about an hour.

We left at 4pm on Sunday but having travelled some distance our boat developed snag and got stuck between two trees just as we were about to enter the main river. We kept trying to communicate for help but there was no help till around 3.30am, Surendra Kumar, one of the survivors told HT over phone.

The district administration, however, insists that the villagers had started their journey some time between 7 and 8pm, defying government orders banning plying of boats in the swollen Ganga after 5.30pm.

The misadventure almost cost their lives, but for the timely intervention by the NDRF.

In pitch dark condition, the boat had also lost its way. We used search lights and megaphones to communicate and succeeded in safely escorting it back to safety, said assistant commandant, 9, NDRF, Abhishek Rai.

Another of the rescued passengers, Majoj Rai said, We also called ex-MLA Satish Kumar Singh who got in touch with the SDO who then informed the circle officer,

The circle officer allegedly took no action and the administration is said to be contemplating disciplinary steps against him.

After the incident, principal secretary, disaster management department of Bihar Vyas Ji has ordered all district magistrates to strictly enforce the cut off time of 5:30pm for plying of boats to prevent a similar incident.

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The Border Security Force (BSF) has nabbed a 19-year-old Pakistani national for illegally entering the Indian side at Theh Kalan border outpost (BOP) near Khalra.

The arrested person has been identified as Sham Mohammad, a resident of Rampura Khurd village of Lahore district. He was caught around 4.40am on Monday from near the barbed fence.

However, nothing objectionable was found on him. The BSF sources said it looked as if Sham crossed the international border inadvertently. During questioning, he told the BSF that he had a fight with his cousin Saboo on Sunday night and suffered some injuries. Sham said he was distressed over the fight and entered the India side by mistake.

The BSF sources said after Sham will be handed over to Pakistani Rangers after thorough questioning.

4-kg heroin seized

A day after the BSF seized 4-kg heroin in an area under the Uddhar Dhariwal border outpost, 2-kg more heroin was recovered on Monday from the same area. At about 8.10am, a patrolling party of BSFs 88th Battalion stumbled upon two packets of the contraband valued at Rs 10 crore in the international market, said NP Negi, deputy commandant and public relation officer (PRO) of the BSF.

Read more: BSF seizes heroin in Amritsar sector
The Allahabad High Court is awaiting the reply of the Uttar Pradesh government in the custodial deaths of nine Sikh inmates of Pilibhit Jail in 1994. The notice of motion in the case was ordered on July 13.

The court order came in the wake of a fresh plea of Pilibhit-based social activist Harjinder Singh Sekhon who sought re-opening of the case closed by the UP government in 2007.

Addressing the media here on Monday, Sekhon accused the UP police of resorting to harassment, saying cops raided his house in Pilibhit in his absence. Police did not carry any search warrants and ransacked my house in the presence of my family members when I was away, Sekhon stated.

Sekhon pointed out that as per the CBI-CID inquiry report, 7 of the 28 TADA detainees in Barrack 7 of Pilibhit jail died in police custody on the intervening night of November 7-8 in 1994.

Sekhon was instrumental in fighting the legal case of the fake encounter of 10 Sikhs in which 46 cops were convicted in April this year.

Sekhon had also approached Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to take up the matter with the UP government and also provide security to him.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Gandhi lashed out at the AAP, blaming its Delhi leaders for ruining the work done by its volunteers in the state. Gandhi said he was appealing to all those political workers and activists of the state who were not ready to accept the subedar style of politics in Punjab. We will name the outfit in a fortnight, he said.

There is no difference between the AAP, Congress and Akalis. The AAP began as a noble party but it has turned out to be just like the others. Tickets have been given on considerations other than merit and hard work. And the party is entirely controlled by subedars in Delhi  Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak. At the top is Arvind Kejriwal, who runs the party like a one-man show. If I could, I would throw Kejriwal out of the party to clean it up, he said.

Dr Gandhi and his supporters at the announcement of a political front in Chandigarh on Tuesday. (Ravi Kumar/HT Photo)

When asked why he had not resigned from such a party, Gandhi said the AAP had a limited role to play in his winning from Patiala. I have promised my electorates that I will serve them as long as I can. I had made some promises that I am trying to fulfil. The AAP, however, is free to throw me out, he said.

He said a host of leaders in the state were keen on becoming a part of the front. The groups that have joined us include Democratic Swaraj Party, Swabhimaan Party, Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Party, Apna Punjab and the AAP Volunteers Forum, he said.

Former bureaucrat, Hardip Singh Kingra, who resigned from the AAP a day before it released its first set of candidates, was also present at the press conference.

Gandhi said Navjot Singh Sidhu was welcome to join them and he was also in talks with the Bains brothers (independent MLAs Balwinder and Simerjit Singh Bains) Insaaf Team in Ludhiana.

Punjabis reposed faith in Shromani Akali Dal expecting prosperity and bright future, but this regional party has reneged on the interest and future of Punjab. A new regional party is now needed that will be controlled by Punjabis. he said.
Three days after assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Varinder Pal Singh was manhandled near the clock tower, police swung into action and raided four open-air casinos and lodged FIRs against them.

Nearly, all such makeshift casinos have vanished. Two days after the incident the police have raided at four such centers and lodged FIRs.

Read here: Ludhiana open-air casino men thrash cop, try to put money in his pocket

Police have arrested one Vinay Kumar of Makkar Colony under the gambling act for inviting people to a set bet near Samrala Chowk.

Similarly, the Shimlapuri police have arrested Ravinder Kumar of Shimlapuri, Amit Kumar of Satguru Nagar, Moti Nagar police arrested Manoj Kumar and Kishan Giri of Jeevan Nagar and Jamalpur police Sanjiv Kumar of Guru Nanak Nagar of Mundian Kalan for inviting people to set bets.

Open air casinos centres are often seen at Kashmir Nagar, Samrala chowk, Cheema Chowk, Janakpuri, Tajpur road, clock tower and Basti Jodhewal Chowk.

The case

A policeman was manhandled when he confronted a group of people who were inviting bets for a game of dice from roadside near the Clock Tower here on Friday. The accused had set up their open-air casino where a crowd had assembled, leading to obstruction in the vehicular traffic.
Flights at the Chandigarh international airport can now operate for two hours more at night (till 10pm from previous 8pm). The move follows the Indian Air Force (IAFs) decision to extended the air traffic control (ATC) watch hours by two hours on Monday. Till now, flights were allowed only for 12 hours at the airport  that operates 15 flights a day  from 8am to 8pm.

Also read | Get one-way air ticket from Chandigarh to Srinagar for Rs 3,000

The new timings of 8am to 10pm will be followed from Monday to Friday with the airport reverting to the old timings on Saturday and Sunday.

The airport had received approval for extension of watch hours in December 2015, but it will now be implemented officially.

Chandigarh international airport CEO Sunil Dutt said, Now, flights can land and take off till 10pm. The new timings may attract airlines to have late departures from Delhi, Mumbai etc.

Dont miss | Chandigarh airport to finally be international: Dubai flight from Sep 26

The restricted operation hours had also played a part in delaying the start of international flights.

Officials added that runway resurfacing will be completed by January 2017.
A day-long show of indiscipline by resident doctors of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) left thousands of patients harassed on Monday.

For the first time in the last two decades, the main gate of the institute was blocked and ambulances carrying patients were sent back.

The strike  the second in less than three weeks  will continue on Tuesday as well.

A protest in the emergency was triggered on Sunday night, after a 28-year-old Ludhiana resident slapped a doctor after he failed to save his mothers life. Protesting doctors moved to the main gate and blocked it for a couple of hours.

Patients had no one attend to them at the New OPD. (Anil Dayal/HT Photo)

An FIR was registered against the Ludhiana resident and later a DDR was filed by the attendants family, accusing the doctor of negligence.

Strengthening of security and triage system (the criteria used to decide on the sickness levels during an emergency) at the emergency OPD are the two main demands of doctors.

Dr Mounika Reddy, treasurer, association of resident doctors (ARD), said, This is the second assault this week and we do not feel safe. We want security.

PGI director Dr YK Chawal and other department heads failed to control the situation on Sunday night, which led to spillover of protest on Monday.

Hundreds of doctors carried a rally outside every building, including the paediatrics and the cardiac centre. Later, they put up a tent in front of directors office and raised slogans.

6-member committee formed

The PGI director formed a six-member committee listen to doctors demands and held a three-hour meeting.

A fact-finding committee has been constituted and most of the demands have been fulfilled, said Dr YK Chawla.

Dr Amit Sharma, vice-president, ARD, said, The strike will continue on Tuesday as well, as they have only given us assurance.

A PGIMER press statement reads, The OPD registration timings were reduced on Monday. A total of 4,110 patients were registered in different OPDs.

For Tuesday, OPD registration of PGI will be open till 9am only, in view of the strike by resident doctors.

Patients, kin harassed

The counters of the new OPD closed before 9am on Monday as well.

I had come from Jammu to get my child examined in neurology OPD. Now, the next OPD day is on Wednesday. This is sheer harassment, said Ramya.

Batala resident Amritpal Singh said, I had got an appointment for surgery after waiting for 14 days which got cancelled. The doctors should think twice before going on strikes.

Disciplinary action will be taken

We will investigate this issue. Warning will be issued to doctors and if they continue on strike, disciplinary action will be taken, he added.
The opposition Congress on Monday tried to steal the thunder of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal after he claimed to have scuttled the Narendra Modi governments move to appoint a separate administrator for Chandigarh.

Punjab Congress spokesman Sunil Jakhar produced copies of unstarrred question asked by SAD MP Sher Singh Ghubaya in the Lok Sabha in 2015 seeking reply from the ministry of home affairs on a new capital for Punjab. The ministry, in its reply dated May 5, 2015, said: As per Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, a common capital was created after reaching a consensus with state governments of Punjab and Haryana. At present, the Union government has no proposal to establish a new capital. The state government is the competent authority to take such a decision.

Accusing Badal of doublespeak, Jakhar said Gubayas question revealed the mindset of the SAD. The Modi government could not have appointed a separate administrator for Chandigarh out of the blue. The question exposes that the Akalis want to surrender their claim on Chandigarh. They tried a soft launch of the idea of a new capital through Gubaya. There are many land sharks in the ruling party waiting for such a move to reap profits, he added.

What he said

The capital of Punjab is located at the far end of the state creating problems for the people. Does the government have any proposal to establish a new capital or mini-capital at a central place of Punjab to ameliorate the suffering of Punjabis? Ghubayas unstarred question in Lok Sabha in 2015
The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed Panjab University to re-employ teachers who were ordered to be retired with immediate effect by a single-judge bench of justice Amol Rattan Singh on August 16. This bench had dimsmissed petitions of 45-odd PU faculty members seeking enhancement of retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Read here: HC dismisses petitions to enhance PU faculty retirement age to 65 yrs

Taking up the appeal against the single judge bench, the HC division bench of justice Surya Kant and justice Sudip Ahluwalia also asked the university to let these faculty members retain their residential accommodation at the campus. The detailed order is awaited.

Mondays direction came on the petitions of AS Ahluwalia and others who had challenged the single-judge order, stating that before the single-judge bench they had not sought a declaration from the central government to issue a formal order on the status of the university, but were seeking the benefits of retirement age. They also claimed that these would automatically flow to them, due to the character of the centrally-funded institution of PU.

Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Gurminder Sing had argued that the funding pattern of PU was completely changed in 2011 and brought on a par with central universities.

Appearing for PU, senior advocate Anupam Gupta, supported the petitioners and questioned as to why central government had to consult Punjab on the this issue, whereas Punjab did not have any control over PU, being outside its jurisdiction.

The high court also took note of the submissions of assistant solicitor general, Chetan Mittal who said that the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 recognised PU as inter-state body corporate and not the central university. The court asked him as to why was the amendment nor carried out by the Centre if that was the only hitch.

Later, the HC issued notice to the Centre, Punjab and Panjab University for September 13, with direction on re-employment.
Fed up with sarcastic remarks of his family over mounting losses, businessman Gurmeet Singh allegedly murdered his sleeping wife with an ice pick on Tuesday at New Shivaji Nagar here and tried to kill his son, too.

The boy escaped with an injured shoulder. Gurmeet has told police that he wanted to kill himself after murdering Savinder Kaur (40), but his son, Aashu (18), made him change his mind and agreed to lie that it was the work of three intruders. It failed to fool police and they arrested Gurmeet in the evening before booking him for murder.

The father-sons story had many holes, said additional deputy commissioner of police (crime) Balkar Singh, who inspected the scene of crime. When we asked them sternly, Gurmeet came out with the facts.

Body of victim Savinder Kaur being taken away from the familys New Shivaji Nagar house in Ludhiana on Tuesday. (Gurminder Singh/HT Photo)

Also read | Ludhiana man murders 3 of his family before killing self

Gurmeet Singh runs a sanitary-ware store on the ground floor of his house. The business wasnt doing well for a few months and his wife and son had started taunting him over it, said assistant commissioner of police (central) Amandeep Singh Brar. Under depression, the businessman gagged his sleeping wife with his pillow and stabbed her 18 times with the ice pick. He then went into his sons room and stabbed him in the shoulder. It woke him up and he pacified his father, who told him to keep his mouth shut.

No forced entry

Police found no sign of a forced entry in the house. It has to be an insiders job, assistant commissioner of police (central) Amandeep Singh Brar said. That the family took 30 minutes to report the crime also raised doubts. Nothing was looted from the house, which made it easy to solve the case. Six months ago, the family lost some cash, valuables, and house keys in a burglary at the house. So, initially, police thought those burglars had broken in again using the stolen keys. They detained seven tenants from the third floor but, later, found them to be innocent.
Former Gurdaspur superintendent of police (SP) Salwinder Singh, who had hit headlines earlier this year during the Pathankot terror attack, got a relief as the Punjab and Haryana high court restrained Punjab Police from arresting him in an alleged rape and corruption case.

The high court bench of justice MMS Bedi directed Salwinder, now posted as assistant commandant of 75th battalion of the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) to join investigations, but at the same time asked the police not to arrest him till next date of hearing on September 23. The police have also been asked to respond to his petition.

Also read | Salwinder talks to media, yet police say cop booked for rape is absconding

The conduct of controversial officer had come under scrutiny after his car was taken over by Pakistani terrorists before attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in January this year. The former SP was also questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the attack on the episode in which he had claimed that he along with his cook and a jeweller friend were abducted by terrorists.

Salwinder was booked by the police in August 3, 2016, in an alleged case of graft and rape about which a complaint was made two years back. The police have failed in arrest him so far, even though his anticipatory bail plea was dismissed on August 11 by a district court.

Pathankot terror-tainted Punjab cop Salwinder booked for rape

The complaint of womans husband was probed twice, which was initially submitted to the chief minister during a sangat darshan in 2014. He was given a clean chit in first probe. But a subsequent probe by a Pathankot SP found Salwinder guilty, as per the petition. It was alleged that Salwinder had sexually harassed the woman and also demanded Rs 50,000 in lieu of dropping a rape case against her husband.

Maninder Singh Bajwa, who appeared for Salwinder, had submitted that the complaint was false and argued that complainant had been adding up allegations and changing statements. It was also argued that both the inquiries were held by the same-rank officials in which he was once exonerated. Bajwa had argued that the complaint was made by the womans husband and her statement was not recorded. The court was told that Salwinder was ready to give voice samples as being demanded by prosecution to investigate the calls exchanged between woman and him.
Not many young takers for its tickets has left the grand-old Congress restless. With Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) aiming to lure young voters with youth candidates, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Punjab state chief Captain Amarinder Singh have promised 35 seats in 2017 elections to the youth.

According to the state Youth Congress and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) sources, the figure of youth applicants is around 100. Most among these are past and present office-bearers of the Punjab Youth Congress or scions of political families.

Also read | Congress open to alliance with BSP: Capt Amarinder Singh

The number of past and present Youth Congress office-bearers who have applied through us is 57. In total, around 100 applications have been received from youth candidates, Punjab Youth Congress president Amarpreet Singh Lalli told HT. The age limit to qualify as a youth, Lalli said, is between 25 and 40 years. Lalli himself is an applicant from Garhshankar.

The discomfort of the PPCC in revealing the numbers is telling. Even a week after applications came to a close on August 15, it refused to divulge figure of youth applicants saying the list is still being compiled. But sources in the PPCC reveal the figure is between 100 and 110.

But Amarinder on Monday described the response from the younger generation as overwhelming, saying most of them are graduates and post-graduates. Claiming that the exact figures has not been worked out as yet, he pegged the number of youth applicants as quite substantial and around 30 to 35% . He said the total number of ticket applicants was 1,661 and the response was overwhelming and indicative of which way the wind is blowing.

Amarinder did not respond to messages and calls on the number of youth applicants.

Party insiders said in the August 16 meeting of Rahul with the Punjab top brass, including Amarinder, state affairs in-charge Asha Kumari and campaign chairperson Ambika Soni, there was a discussion on youth faces that could be fielded.

Punjab Congress chief changes tune, attacks Badals over drugs issue

Rahul is not too keen on scions of political families, but a majority of applicants are sons of MLAs, MPs and former MLAs and Youth Congress office-bearers. The party has even approached certain youth candidates to apply on seats of sitting MLAs. Unlike earlier polls when Congress fielded youth from tough seats, Rahul this time wants them to be fielded from even winnable ones, said a party leader.

There is also no clarity in the party on the age for youth. A senior leader said it could even be 50, if sons of a few political families have to be accommodated.

The list of youth aspirants with a political lineage include Vikram Chaudhary, son of MP Santokh Chaudhary, Kamaljit Brar, son of former MLA Darshan Brar, Deepinder Randhawa, estranged cousin of MLA Sukhjinder Randhawa who has applied from latters seat Dera Baba Nanak and Fatehgarh Churian, Karanvir Dhillon, grandson of MLA Amrik Dhillon, and Angad Singh, son of MLA Guriqbal Kaur. The partys dilemma is ticket to a few family scions will result in heartburn in others.

Carrot-and-stick approach of Capt

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder is trying to invoke unity among ticket aspirants in the party by adopting a carrot-and-stick policy. He made the conditions to qualify for chairmanships of boards and corporations, if Congress comes to power, more stringent. In a statement on Monday, Amarinder said only those applicants will be eligible for these posts from whose constituencies the party candidates win.

Amarinder had earlier said those denied tickets will be adjusted as chairpersons. Those who will not be able to make it to the final list will be equal stakeholders in the government formation as campaign drivers. Their performance during the elections will qualify them for positions in the government later. The assessment of winability will be made at multiple levels and through multiple channels. The party has adopted a scientifically foolproof method to ensure that the best candidate gets nominated, he said.

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The Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Jalandhar, may be able to admit 150 MBBS students in the coming session, as the Supreme-Court-appointed committee has approved the recognition to it.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) had disallowed admission after annual assessment. But now after the overseeing committee has cleared us in an August 19 public notice on the Health Ministry website, we expect this permission to come, principal Dr Kulbir Kaur said.

The process of approving and disapproving medical colleges is over by June usually but concerns related to the MCIs functioning forced the government to give the colleges another chance to seek approval. In May, a three-member committee under former chief justice of India RM Lodha was asked to oversee the counselling and admissions under the MCI.

Panipats NC Medical College is another institute from the region to get permission to fill its 150 MBBS seats.

Meanwhile, the MCI has declared the admission schedule for the MBBS (bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery) and BDS (bachelor of dental science) programes, directing the states to get over with first counselling by September 5 and open the session by September 13. However, Punjab might run behind schedule, since its PMET is under judicial scanner after the parents of some candidates moved the Punjab and Haryana high court last month, alleging lack of transparency in the compiling of results.

The hearing is on Tuesday and we have placed the MCIs latest notification on the admission schedule in the high court, said Anupam Gupta, counsel for Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, which governs admissions.
Seeking attention of students, especially the new comers on the campus, the Panjab University (PU) student organisations are resorting to dharna politics.

With three different organisations  Student Organisation of India (SOI), National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad (ABVP)  holding protests at the same place and same time, it is clear that the protests have nothing to do with the issues the leaders are raising. And it is just a show of strength.

Sitting on the floor outside the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), three parties were seen screaming at full throttle.

NSUI members protesting outside the UIET at Panjab University in Chandigarh on Monday (Anil Dayal/HT Photo)

Also read | PU student elections: ABVP continues its struggle to get into council, has high hopes

The department was buzzing with rhyming slogans like Kyun pade ho chakkar mein, koi nahi hai takkar mein, Aaayi aayi NSUI aayi and ABVP zindabad, PU authorities murdabad.

While the SOI was highlighting the issues on the lack of basic facilities, including poor conditions of washrooms in UIET, the NSUI was demanding special chance in examination for UIET students. Meanwhile, the ABVP leaders were screaming, Hamari maange poori karo (fulfil our demands).

Although all three bodies held protest at the same place, the SOI leaders claimed that they were the first ones to organise a protest.

PU student elections: SOIs promises to better varsity fall flat

Piyush, SOI representative from UIET, said, It was SOI that decided the venue for the protest a couple of days ago. Later, our plan was circulated following which NSUI occupied the venue half an hour before we reached, and then followed the ABVP team.

To this the senior leader of NSUI, Manoj Lubana said, We had planned a protest earlier also, and our demands are entirely different. We have been demanding a special chance for UIET students in exams. It was only in 2012 that special chance was given to students and the university has not declared a special chance for UIET as yet.

Harmanjot Singh Gill, joint secretary, ABVP, Punjab, said, We got to know that two parties are holding a protest together. So, we also joined them demanding fulfilment of our pending demands.

UIET is battle ground for parties

It is believed that the parties deliberately planned their protests at the UIET, considering the fact that the engineering department has been a major vote bank since many years.

As per the sources, with over 2,500 votes, the UIET has been the main battle ground with most parties, including NSUI, PUSU and SOI, claiming that they get maximum votes from here.

In past three years, UIET has been topping the list with highest number of votes followed by the law department, University Institute of legal studies, chemical engineering department, physics and dental sciences departments.

Feedback campaign to prepare manifestos

The NSUI and ABVP started their feedback campaign from Monday, where the senior party leaders and supporters were seen getting feedback forms filled up from students on the campus.

Meanwhile, the ABVP leaders held a door-to-door feedback campaign.

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The decision of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to field former Indian basketball player Sajjan Singh Cheema from Sultanpur Lodhi has intensified the race for nomination among Congress leaders in this segment.

With sitting Congress MLA Navtej Cheema and the AAP candidate, both coming from a Jatt Sikh community in a constituency dominated by Kamboj caste voters, the clamour has increased in the Congress to replace Navtej with another strong Kamboj leader and Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinders loyalist Captain Harminder Singh.

Even as Navtej, who is also the chief whip of the Congress Legislative Party in the Punjab assembly, is nurturing the constituency with dedication to get his re-election but after the AAP ticket to Sajjan, his opponents have roped in all power in convincing the Congress high command to shift him to the Jatt-dominated constituency, possibly Shahkot.

Also read | Run up to 2017 Punjab polls: Youth uninterested, Congress restless

Their claim is that in the present scenario, the division in Jatt Sikh votes within the AAP and the Congress may cost dear to the party.

The SAD probable from the seat and former minister Upinderjit Kaur comes from the Kamboj community having nearly 42% voters in the segment. The vote percentage of Jatt Sikhs in the segment is nearly 27%.

Since Sultanpur Lodhi is among the only few constituencies in Punjab where the Kamboj community dominates, candidature of a community leader can bring the desired results. In the present circumstances, the division in Jatt votes is likely to give a clear edge to the SAD as the Kamboj community has electoral history of unitedly rallying behind the candidate from its community, said Mandeep Singh Khinda, a senior Kamboj leader, who was part of the Kamboj delegation that recently met the PPCC chief.

Another contention of this group is that Cheema has lost control over this segment as, during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress trailed by a heavy margin of 11,627 votes to the SAD. While, Cheema is a close associate of the Rajya Sabha member and Congress Campaign Committee convener for Punjab Ambika Soni, Harminder comes from the Captain group and is presently running a special helpline for ex-servicemen, launched by the PCC chief. This helpline, whose head office is situated in Harminders office in Jalandhar, is being monitored by Lt General TS Shergill (retired), a close friend of Amarinder is setting chord with ex-army men by resolving their problems.

Notably, the Kamboj community voters are significant in Sultanpur Lodhi, Shahkot, Bholath, Kapurthala and Tanda-Urmur segments of Doaba and political parities generally give one ticket to this community.

Last time, the Congress gave ticket to Col (retd) CD Kamboj from the Shahkot segment of Jalandhar and he managed to reach very close to the vote share taken by transport minister Ajit Singh Kohar only because of the Kamboj factor.

Cheema, when contacted, said time has passed when people used to exercise their right to franchise keeping in view my caste factor.

Moreover, I enjoy great reputation in the community as well. As far as ticket is concerned, every person has a right to apply and lobby. My preference will remain this segment only as I have worked hard for the people here, said Cheema.

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Four pilgrims were killed and 20 others injured, some of the seriously, when a tree fell on a vehicle carrying them near Kohli village on the Agroha-Adampur road, the police said here today.

Police said a canter carrying 50 pilgrims was on its way from Sangrur in Punjab to Gogameri, a place of religious importance, in Rajasthan. When it reached near Kohli village, a tree fell on the vehicle, killing four pilgrims on the spot yesterday.

Out of the four deceased, three were identified as Naresh (28) of village Israna (Panipat), Sheela (15) and Ankit (16) of Faral village in Jind district.

All the injured were admitted to Adampur Civil Hospital and Agroha Medical College. The condition of some of them was stated to be critical.

A case has been registered by the police in connection with the mishap.
State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief and Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Vijay Sampla led the Tiranga Yatra from Khatkar Kalan, the native village of martyr Bhagat Singh, on Monday morning to commemorate the 70th year of Indias Independence.

While addressing a massive gathering, Sampla said that the Azadi 70  Yaad Karo Qurbani programme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country, was aimed at inculcating the spirit of patriotism among youth.

He said that during the Tiranga Yatra programme, chalked out by the Prime Minister, Union ministers would visit the places associated with the great martyrs and freedom fighters to commemorate 70 years of Indias Independence and 75 years of Quit India movement. The Tiranga Yatra would help in igniting the spirit of patriotism among youth, thus, ultimately strengthening the unity in diversity, said Sampla, while adding by holding Tiranga in their hands, the youth of the country would be motivated to fight against the nefarious designs of the forces inimical to unity and integrity of the country.

Under the programme, union cabinet ministers, including Arun Jaitley, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Harsh Vardhan, Anil Dave participated in the Tiranga Yatra programmes at different places in Punjab.

BJP president appreciated Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) state president, Shiv Vir Rajan, state secretary Ashu Sampla, and others for arrangements of the programme.

BJP organisation secretary Dinesh Kumar, assistant media adviser, Punjab, Vineet Joshi, Punjab Social Welfare Board chairperson Varinder Kaur Thandi, state BJP vice- president Sudesh Kumari, former MLA, Mohan Lal Banga and several others were present on the occasion.

Yatra welcomed in Hoshiarpur

Hoshiarpur: The Tiranga Yatra flagged off and led by Vijay Sampla at Khatkar Kalan reached the city on Monday afternoon where it was received by hundreds of BJP workers.

City residents had to face a lot of harassment due to the BJP procession. Long queues of vehicles with Tricolour atop choked the roads as the cavalcade halted at several places to enable leaders receive garlands from cheering supporters.

Traffic remained blocked for a long time on Railway Road and Clock Tower Road due to the reception at the BJPs office near the municipal library. Commuters were caught unawares as no signboards had been put up by the traffic police to guide them about the diversion.

Addressing the gathering in the party office, Sampla said the pan-India yatra was planned by the Modi government to instill a spirit of nationalism in the people. Senior BJP leaders Dinesh Kumar, Vineet Joshi, Rahul Kothari, Shiv Veer Rajan, Tikshan Sud, Amit Sampla and Sanjiv Talwar accompanied Sampla.
Actor Regina Cassandra, who has been working in Tamil and Telugu films for a while, will be making her Hindi film debut with Aankhen 2. The actor, however, says that she will try and balance her career as she cant think of leaving the southern industry for Bollywood.

I will definitely make time for both. I dont think I can leave the south industry for good... Its where Im from. My roots are in the south. I might branch out into different places, but Ill always have my roots here, Regina said in an interview.

Read: Bollywood entry for any south actress is a big feat, says Regina Cassandra

Regina was dazzled by the Bollywood stars at the muhurat of Aankhen 2.

It was an unforgettable experience. Being present among some of the stalwarts of the Hindi film industry isnt something we all get to be a part of everyday. Im looking forward to my journey in Bollywood, she added.

Watch Shankara trailer here:

Why did she choose Anees Bazmees Aankhen 2 as her Bollywood debut?

Well, sometimes you dont choose. Your destiny has already been chosen for you. I did get a few offers in Hindi cinema before. Somehow it didnt feel right. Maybe the time was not right or maybe it was just me. I wasnt ready.

Aankhen 2 happened very organically. I was asked to come meet the team in Mumbai and in a days time, things were sorted. You can say it just happened, much to my surprise, she said.

Why did she wait this long to make her Bollywood debut?

I wasnt waiting for anything. I was always interested in acting. Be it theatre or ads. Acting is something I respect and take great pride in. I didnt think Id make a foray in Telugu itself... So Bollywood wasnt something I was dreaming about as well.

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan along with Arshad Warsi, director Anees Bazmee, Regina Cassandra, producer Gaurang Doshi and music director Meet Brother during the announcement of Bollywood movie Aankhen 2 in Mumbai on Wednesday night. (PTI)

Regina realises going pan-India is a leap ahead.

I know its something like a promotion for an actor who hails predominantly from Tamil Nadu to be placed in Bollywood because that would mean being positioned on a national level. Im glad Bollywood has happened at this time in my life, because earlier, I dont think I was fully ready to take on what is being thrown at me now. Ive evolved as an actor, she said.

She is grateful to Tamil and Telugu cinema.

My south films have taught me well. I can now safely say I know my positives and my negative, What I can do and what I need to brush up on. Hence, I think the timing is perfect for my Bollywood debut, she added.

For now, Regina will next be seen onscreen in the action thriller Shankara, which is remake of the Tamil hit Mouna Guru and also the source for the Hindi film Akira, starring Sonakshi Sinha.

Shankara is being released on August 26 -- a week ahead of Murugadosss Akira -- to get into theatres first.

Excited about it, she said: In Shankara, I play the heros love interest. Its an offbeat film and it did really well in Tamil. Im someone who has always loved thrillers and different stories.

About the same film being released in Hindi, Regina said: Ive heard its being remade in Hindi as well with a few changes. Looking forward to the Hindi film as well.

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Swastika Mukherjee says she feels like a struggler every time she is in Mumbai. The actress, who keeps shuttling between Kolkata and Mumbai (her boyfriend-director Suman Mukhopadhyay is based in Mumbai), laughs while recalling her Mumbai experience. Whenever I land at the Kolkata airport, I feel like a star. Things change when I land in Mumbai. I wait for people to get back to me in there... something which I havent done in a long time in Kolkata. I am starting from scratch in Mumbai and feel like a struggler. But I am enjoying this phase too... its exciting, she says.

The actress, who was appreciated for her portrayal of Anguri Devi in Dibakar Banerjees Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015), sounds optimistic about making it big in Bollywood. Everybody has watched Dibakars film in Bollywood, so it has made my job easier. I am in talks with a few production houses, but in Bollywood no director makes five films in a year. So, its a long process. Since Suman is also doing theatre in Mumbai, he is helping me out with the contacts, smiles the Bye Bye Bangkok actress.

Swastika believes that good work speaks for itself and will reach the right people irrespective of the films language.

(L-R) Actors Parno Mittra, Ritwick Chakraborty, Swastika Mukherjee, Anjan Dutt, Vikram Chatterjee and music composer Anupam Roy during the promotion of Shaheb Bibi Golaam. (Prateek Choudhury)

Known to be choosy, Swastika will be seen playing a housewife, Jaya, in filmmaker Pratim D Guptas Shaheb Bibi Golaam. She says she didnt have to do any research for the role as she is portraying a housewife and the things which happen in most homes every day. Jaya or Bibi is not alien to me. Compromise is synonymous with most middle-class housewives. Initially, they think about the well-being of their parents, after marriage their in-laws and husbands. Later, she lives her life caring for her children. They dont have anything to claim their own. If a housewife shows the courage and breaks free, she is then called selfish, says the Bhooter Bhabishyat actor who believes most housewives have a thankless job.

She draws the reference of Henrik Ibsens play A Dolls House, where the protagonist Nora leaves her children and husband because she wanted to discover her real self. Recently, I played Nora in Sumans play in Mumbai. Nothing much has changed in our society since the time the play was premiered in 1879. Till today, we blame a woman when she leaves her in-laws, husband and kids, says Swastika.

Watch: Tomar Ki Naam from Shaheb Bibi Golaam

Known for her feisty nature and someone who doesnt hesitate speaking her mind, Swastika raises question like why women cannot speak openly about their sexual desires. How often do we hear that a man has agreed to have sex because the woman wanted it? Its always the man who decides when he wants to have sex, says the actress.

Though Jaya is one of her favourite characters so far, she admits she was anxious when the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) denied certification to the film. At one time, we thought we will have to release the film without the character of Bibi, smiles the Kranti actress.

Swastika has shown the song, Tomar Ki Naam, where she is lap dancing, to her father-actor Santu Mukherjee. He liked the song and thought the film will strike a chord with the audience, says the actress, whose earlier films such as Take One, Aami Aar Amar Girlfriends and Family Album, have faced problems from CBFC too.

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Telugu romantic drama Premam, a remake of the Malayalam blockbuster of the same name, will now release in October. The film, which stars Naga Chaitanya, was earlier scheduled to release on September 9.

The film will hit the screens during Dussehra festival in October. The original plan was to release in September; however, it has been postponed to make way for the release of Chaitanyas other film Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo, said a source from the films unit.

Read: Naga Chaitanya in Telugu remake of Premam

Directed by Chandoo Mondeti, the film tracks three different stages of romance in the life of its protagonist. Last week, the makers released the first song Evare from the album and it has been very well received. Now, theyre planning to unveil 1-minute video of the song on a special occasion.

Watch the song Evare from Premam here:

Read: Naga Chaitanyas Premam to release on August 12

They want to unveil it on the occasion of Chaitanyas father Nagarjunas birthday on August 29. The films audio launch will happen in the third week of September to coincide with the birth anniversary of late legendary actor Nageswara Rao, he said.

The film also stars Shruti Haasan, Madonna Sebastian and Anupama Parameswaran.

Watch the trailer of Premam here:

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Khal Drogo might just be back in Season 7 of popular fantasy drama TV series Game Of Thrones after a brief stint in the series first season, if rumours are anything to go by.

Ireland I AM HOME. @Guinness hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahaha so happy to be back. ALOHA DROGO A photo posted by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Aug 20, 2016 at 1:21pm PDT

It is being speculated that Jason Momoa -- who essayed Drogo in Season 1 of the series and briefly during a vision in the second season -- before being killed off, is set to reprise his role as he was seen hanging out with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss in Ireland where the filming is taking place, reports Aceshowbiz.com.

Read: Samuel L Jacksons NSFW Game of Thrones narration is hilarious

Ive had to keep this quiet for to long. Finally the balls are back. The HOUND my man. Rory cyborg and me eating cheese and watching the greatest show ever A photo posted by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Jun 6, 2016 at 1:24pm PDT

David and dan. I love ya what an honour. Greatest role I ever played. I love watching the moon of my life Fuck shit up. @emilia_clarke Couldn't have done it better baby so proud. ALOHA j A photo posted by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies) on Jun 1, 2016 at 2:30pm PDT

Actress Maisie Williams, who essays the role of Arya Stark, took to her Twitter handle and posted: Just finished reading Season 7. S**t gets real. Id start preparing yourselves now. Scratch that, nothing will prepare you for this. Holy Ba**s.

Read: We asked Siri and Cortana about Game of Thrones. They had funny replies

just finished reading season 7  Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

shit gets REAL  Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

i'd start preparing yourselves now  Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

scratch that, nothing will prepare you for this  Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

holy BALLS  Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) August 22, 2016

Actor Kit Harington, who plays the role of Jon Snow, also shared what to expect from the next season.

I think its going to get very bleak before if there is a happy ending, Harington said before having the script.

If theres any sort of win or heroic moment for Jon and everyone else. I think its going to get very dark before it gets better.

I think what we might see this season is those White Walkers and that Army of the Dead really come into force. So thats going to be exciting to see. I dont know what it means. I think with the whole winter is finally here business, it means everyone is going to have a really bad time, Harington added.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that both major presidential candidates are quite unpopular, but he knows whos more qualified and hes voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November.

The 91-year-old Carter spoke with The Associated Press on the site of a Habitat for Humanity construction project in Memphis.

Carter, considered a worldwide ambassador for Habitat for Humanity, said he doesnt like to advocate for particular issues because he works equally with Republicans, Democrats and people of many religious beliefs in his role with the home building charity.

But he did say that everybody knows that Im a Democrat, and Ill be voting Democratic.

Clinton, a former first lady and Secretary of State, is running against Republican billionaire businessman Donald Trump. Polls have shown that Clinton is unpopular with voters, Trump even more so.

Its been an exciting and unprecedented kind of campaign this year, and unfortunately, the way its turned out, both choices in the major parties are quite unpopular, Carter said. But I dont have any doubt that one of the candidates is better qualified than the other.

Carter, who has battled cancer in the past year, is being joined by about 1,500 volunteers during a weeklong effort to build 19 homes in a low-income neighbourhood near the citys downtown. The former president wore blue jeans, a hard hat, a tool belt and a red bandanna around his neck as he hammered nails into the wooden frame of a house under construction.

Moving amid the skeleton framing of the house, Carter appeared energetic and sure-footed as he talked with workers and used a level to make sure wooden beams were installed correctly.

Carter revealed in August 2015 that he had been diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his brain. He said in March that he no longer needs cancer treatment. He addressed his health during a news conference, seated beside his wife, Rosalynn.

Now I feel pretty certain about my cure and the cancer being in remission, but the doctors are still keeping an eye on me, he said.

But during the peak of his fight with the illness, he had his doubts.

A year ago, I didnt think I was going to live but two or three weeks because they had already removed part of my liver because I had cancer there, Carter said. After that, when they did an MRI, they found four cancer places in my brain so I thought I just had a few weeks to live.

By last November, Carter was responding to treatment and was able to travel to Memphis for another Habitat for Humanity project.

By the time I got to here, I was putting on a kind of a false optimistic face, Carter said.

Before a question and answer session during the news conference, Carter drew laughs when he mentioned Trump.

Well have questions later. Anybody who asks about Donald Trump will be disqualified from the occasion and will have to leave, Carter said. So, I just want to give that one premise for the question and answer period. We want to stick to Habitat, if you dont mind.

Jonathan Reckford, CEO of the Atlanta-based charity, said Carter and his wife have donated their time to help build and improve 3,944 homes in 14 countries.

Carter said he plans to go to Canada to build homes with the charity next year. He still teaches Sunday school classes in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Donald Trump made a passionate pitch to the African-American voters, who he said were living in poverty in neighbourhoods that are more dangerous than war zones, but drew strong criticism from the rival Clinton Campaign for insulting and stereotyping the community.

During a rally in Ohio, the Republican presidential candidate repeatedly posed the question to African-Americans, What do you have to lose? Youre living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs.

You can go to war zones in countries that were fighting and its safer than living in some of our inner cities...I ask you this. Crime. All of the problems. To the African-Americans who I employ so many. What the hell do you have to lose? Youll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Right now, you walk down the street. You get shot, he said.

Trump first posed this question to African-American voters during a rally in North Carolina on Thursday, then repeated it at a rally in Michigan on Friday and Virginia on Saturday.

In Ohio, Trump alleged on Monday that in the past eight years, the African-American labour force participation dipped another three percentage points and its dropped another six% for teenagers.

Nearly 4 in 10 African-American children live in poverty, he said.

For those hurting the most, who have been failed again and again by their politicians, Ive asked in recent days, what do you have to lose by trying something new? If you keep voting for the same failed politicians you will keep getting the same results, Trump said passionately.

Senior member of the Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons campaign Marlon Marshall responded to Trump saying it could not be clearer how much African-Americans have to lose under the 70-year-old billionaire tycoon.

He is doubling down on insults, fear and stereotypes that set our community back and further divide our country, he said.

But again this is not surprising, this is a man who questions the citizenship of the first African-American president, has a disturbing pattern of courting white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of colour, he alleged.

As demonstrated by his bigotry and actions, Donald Trump is unfit and unqualified to be President. We cannot afford this out of touch and divisive thinking in the White House, which is why we must take nothing for granted and work as hard as we can to make sure Hillary Clinton is our next president, Marshall said.
Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbafs The Nights of Zayandeh-Road, which was mauled and banned by his countrys autocratic regime in 1990, has been resurrected and will open the Classics section at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, set to roll on August 31.

The work was termed by the Iranian clergy as a betrayal of the spirit of revolution. It was initially cut by 37 minutes, but was subsequently banned when public attraction for it seemed overwhelming.

Read: Irans Mohsen Makhmalbaf underlines a bloody dictatorship in The President

But a stroke of luck early this year helped. The original negative was stolen from the archives in Iran, and Makhmalbaf himself restored it. However, only 63 minutes of the original 100 are available. The rest is perhaps lost forever.

Happy at finding his lost baby, so to say, the auteur -- whose The President was screened at Venice 2014 and whose Sokout won awards at the festival in 1998 -- said in press note: I was surprised to notice that in spite of all the mutilations (nearly one third of the movie), the story and the main structure of the film still remained rather unharmed... The movie looked like a living thing with no limbs, but it was still breathing, and its story and meaning were not lost. I decided to work on what I had recovered from the remaining negative and the sound in London.

Read: Kandahar review | Of women, tyranny and hope in Mohsen Makhmalbafs world

Though he could send The Nights of Zayandeh-Road well past the Venice submission deadline, the festival director. Alberto Barbera, had no hesitation in taking it, describing the work as touching.

Makhmalbaf -- like several Iranian artists, including a great talent like Golshifteh Farahani (to be soon seen along with Irrfan Khan in Anup Singhs Rajasthani fable, The Song of Scorpions) -- left Iran, and he has since 2005 made Paris his home. Directors like Jafar Panahi (whose Taxi won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2015) -- who decided not to leave Iran -- are languishing in a way. Panahi has been under house arrest of sorts and stopped from making cinema, though he has surreptitiously made three movies and had them sent to foreign festivals.

(Gautaman Bhaskaran will cover the Venice Film Festival, running from August 31 to September 10)

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DNA tests confirmed the identities of five of the seven militants involved in Bangladeshs worst terror attack last month, in which 22 people were killed, an official said on Tuesday.

The five attackers were identified previously but their identities have been confirmed after matching their DNA with their family members, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The militants, who were from well-off families and had English-medium educations, were identified as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Khairul Islam Payel, Shafiqul Islam Uzzal and Meer Saameh Mubasser.

Rahman said the identity of Holey Artisan Bakerys pizza chef Saiful Chowkidar had also been confirmed after the testing, Dhaka Tribune reported.

Twenty hostages, mostly foreigners, were hacked to death on July 1 by seven militants inside a popular upscale eatery in Dhakas Gulshan neighbourhood before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

An Indian girl, Tarushi, 19, was among the hostages killed by the attackers. Two police officers were also killed in the attack.

Photos of suspected attackers had surfaced in the public domain in the aftermath of the Gulshan cafe siege, prompting social media users and journalists to search for their identities and look into their family and educational backgrounds.
Exiled Baloch leader Munir Mengal has asserted that the Pakistan government is continuing to suppress their voices.

Mengals comments came in the wake of Islamabads action against Baloch leaders in-exile for allegedly backing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks on the atrocities in Pakistans Balochistan province.

Mengal told ANI that that Prime Minister Modi spoke for the humanity and freedom of Balochistan but the Nawaz Sharif-led government continued to suppress the voices by putting them behind bars.

Prime Minister Modi made his statement on a humanitarian perspective. This move by Pakistan, however, does not come as a shock. Sometimes it lures by money, then threatens with sticks. People of Balochistan are familiar with such tricks, Mengal said.

Earlier in Pakistan, the local police said that five cases have been registered against Baloch leaders-in-exile in Khuzdar area in this regard.

The cases were registered against Baloch Republican Partys (BRP) Brahamdagh Bugti, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) leader Harbiyar Marri and Baloch Students Organisation chairperson Karima Baloch.

The complaints were filed by Munir Ahmed, Maulana Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Hussain, Ghulam Yaseen Jatak and Muhammad Rahim at five police stations in the region.

District police officer Muhammad Ashraf Jatak said the petitioners claimed that Bugti, Marri and Karima Baloch supported Indian Prime Minister Modis August 15 speech.

The three leaders were booked under Section 120, 121, 123 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code which refer to concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment, waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan, concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war, and assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty.

Prime Minister Modi, in his Independence Day address, had thanked the people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for the goodwill they have shown towards him.

He had in an all-party meeting on Kashmir said the time has come that Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against the people in Balochistan and PoK.

Modis statement about atrocities in Balochistan has hit a nerve with Pakistan, which has now voiced that it would raise the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Indian Americans will finally have a postage stamp of their own, one which they have wanted for years to mark the symbolic coming of age of an increasingly influential ethnic minority.

The US will issue a stamp to commemorate Hinduism as it has for other religions, said Congresswoman Caroline Maloney, making the announcement in New York.

The stamp, which bears a picture of a diya or Diwali lamp, will be officially launched in October and it will be available for sale a few weeks after, according to the announcement.

The diya was photographed by Sally Andersen-Bruce, the stamp was designed by Greg Breeding, and William J Gicker of the postal service was the projects art director.

I really feel uplifted, said Ranju Batra, the Indian American who spearheaded the Diwali Stamp Project for years. She was present at the announcement with Maloney.

Indian Americans first began working towards a Diwali stamp 16 years ago, according to MR Rangaswami, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has been involved in the project.

But that first effort, launched by Washington doctor Shailendra Kumar, petered out after a while because of lack of traction  there wasnt enough support.

The community kept trying, organising itself in the process. Maloney of New York became an eager participant, and moved a resolution in the house of representatives in 2014.

But a resolution was not sufficient to move the US postal service to issue a stamp, said Rangaswami. The community began writing to the service.

More than 10,000 petitions were sent over the years. To impress lawmakers of their case, the community organised a Diwali event on Capitol Hill, home to the US legislature, in 2015.

A resolution was also moved in the US Senate by Democrat Mark Warner and Republican John Cornyn, co-chairs of the Indian Caucus, and the stamp began to look possible.

Rangaswami said Indian Americans needed the stamp as a symbolic coming of age of the community, to reflect, perhaps, their growing clout in the country.

Estimated to be around 3 million, Indian Americans are among the most prosperous and educated in the US.
Indonesian authorities have tightened security in Bali, a police official said late on Monday, after reports at the weekend of a suspected militant plot to attack the holiday island.

In connection with information about a terror arrest and a planned action in Bali, we are increasing security at all points of entry into Bali, said provincial police chief Sugeng Priyanto.

The focus of our attention is also the small ports that are spread around Bali, he said, adding that informal points of entry are also being monitored.

Anti-terror police said at the weekend they were investigating whether a suspected militant arrested last week was plotting an attack in Bali.

Police found a bomb and high (impact) explosive materials during a raid on the suspects house.

The suspect told us in a statement that they were planning an attack in Bali but there are no details or timeline, said national police spokesman Agus Rianto by phone.

A nightclub bombing on the resort island in 2002 carried out by homegrown militants killed 202 people, mostly Australians, and prompted a nationwide security crackdown.

Indonesia has seen a recent resurgence in radicalism, inspired in part by the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East.

An IS-linked gun and bomb attack in the capital Jakarta in January killed four people and counter-terrorism forces have since arrested dozens of suspected militants.
Iraqi special forces led an operation on Tuesday aimed at retaking the jihadist-held town of Qayyarah, a key staging base for operations to attack Mosul, military sources said.

Qayyarah lies on the western bank of the Tigris river, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul, the Islamic State groups last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

With the clock ticking down on what Iraq expects to be its biggest anti-IS operation yet, the UN warned of population displacement on a scale not seen in years.

The operation started at dawn with the participation of Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and army forces, Brigadier General Firas Bashar told AFP.

US-led coalition aircraft provided support, said Bashar, the spokesman for the operations command in Nineveh, the province in which Qayyarah and Mosul are located.

The operation is ongoing and currently achieving its goals, CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman said.

Qayyarah will be cleared and the operation wrapped up quickly, bolstering our plans... for the final battle to liberate Mosul, he told AFP.

He said Iraqi forces had been working with armed residents inside the town for this offensive, a rare occurrence.

There has been coordination with groups of armed residents inside, Noman said, declining to provide further details.

Iraqi forces have spent weeks positioning themselves around the town, which is expected to be used as a launchpad for a broader operation against Mosul in the coming weeks or months.
As the Islamic State loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories.

The accounts point to the difficulties the extremist group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city.

In the latest areas recaptured, Iraqi troops over the past month took a clump of villages near a key military base south of Mosul that they plan to use as a hub for the assault. Residents of the communities, which lie strung along bends in the Tigris River, say that in the preceding weeks, the militants ruling them had seemed to be scrambling to keep control.

In Qayara, which is the main town in the area and remains in IS hands, beheadings and extrajudicial killings that previously were occasional became commonplace in a hunt for spies and deserters, said Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, who was among thousands of residents who fled fighting in the area and now live in the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Kurdish-run territory.

They started making raids on houses, arresting people and beheading them, he said.

Hajaj said the groups fighters appeared increasingly nervous as they watched news of IS loses elsewhere.

Their ranks also appeared to turn more to younger, less experienced men. At one point, almost all the militants guarding the streets were teenagers, he said. That, Hajaj said, was when he thought, Theyre collapsing. Theyre finished.

In this August 17, 2016 photo, men wait outside a fenced area at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people, where newcomers are interrogated before being allowed to stay, in Hajj Ali, northern Iraq. (AP)

The reliance on younger fighters in smaller communities could be a sign of overstretched manpower as the groups more veteran militants redeploy to Mosul or to neighbouring Syria. Other factors could also be in play, like difficulties in finding new recruits and the effect of desertions, which Kurdish officials have said are on the rise.

Fighters as young as 13 or 14 were patrolling in the village of Awsaja on the other side of the river, said one resident, who asked to be identified by his nickname Abu Saleh for fear of reprisals against his family in areas still under IS rule. He said the militants killed seven people for trying to flee the village, displaying their bodies on a bridge as an example to others.

As Iraqi troops moved on Awsaja, the militants seemed confused on how to respond.

At one point, some IS fighters decided to retreat and ordered all the residents to come with them as human shields, Abu Saleh said. But that prompted an argument with others in the group who were remaining in the village to fight and wanted the residents to stay for their protection, said the 50-year-old psychologist, who fled with other residents and is now also in Dibaga Camp. Iraqi forces succeeded in retaking Awsaja in mid-July.

The area has been under IS rule for two years, ever since the Sunni militants overran much of western and northern Iraq, joining it to the territory they control in neighboring Syria in a self-declared caliphate.

Though the group has been notorious for atrocities and its brutality in enforcing its radical vision of Islamic Shariah law, many in these Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq initially welcomed their rule. The Sunnis had long bristled under the rule by majority Shias who lead the government in Baghdad. At first, IS provided them services the central government had neglected.

When they first came, they gave the people money and food. And you know, the people are poor, they took it, said Sabha Khal Salih, a mother of two in the village of Hajj Ali, near Qayara. Young unemployed men joined the militants ranks, she said.

But as time went on, living conditions deteriorated, in part because IS-held territories were cut off economically from the rest of Iraq. Also, the US-led coalitions bombing campaign has strained ISs resources and prompted it to lash out against anyone it suspects of spying.

In this Aug. 17, 2016 photo, civilians who recently fled territory formerly controlled by Islamic State militants get off a truck at the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Hajj Ali. (AP)

Abu Abdullatif, who worked in a clinic in Awsaja, said over the past three months, the militants became even more intrusive in enforcing their rules, even peeking into homes to see if women were properly covered there and imposing fines just to get the money. Over time, he said, the food rations that IS distributed to the poor grew smaller, until finally they were giving only a few kilograms of flour  though members of the group continued to receive full rations.

Fearing residents were trying to escape, IS fighters strictly questioned  and sometimes demanded fees from  anyone trying to cross the river to markets in Qayara, he said, also speaking on condition he be identified by his nickname because he feared for the safety of relatives.

The groups fear of informants has fuelled a crackdown in Mosul itself. This month, IS released a video titled deterring the traitors, where six young men are shown being killed on a city street. In the video, the narration accused the men of being the eyes of America, suggesting they were spies.

US and Iraqi officials say the final assault on Mosul is still weeks away as forces fight to retake territory around the city. From the Qayara military base, Iraqi troops are still some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the city.

The towns and villages around Qayara recaptured from IS are still too close to the front lines and too rife with booby-traps and explosives for residents to return. When Iraqi forces retook the area, many of the IS fighters changed into civilian clothes and disappeared into the surrounding desert.

Hajaj, the Qayara resident, said people in the area will never allow them to regain a foothold.

Now we know who they are, we will never let them return, he said.
Im so excited to share my first post of my trip to Geneva, Switzerland with Geneva Tourism! I shared some info about this trip in this packing post, but I had not been to Europe in nine years and was so excited to go back.

The first full day I was there, we walked to the lighthouse on the lake. There is such a beautiful view of the city from the lake, and I couldnt get over how many white swans were everywhere! In the morning, they were sleeping  I had never seen a swan sleep and they curl into the tightest little ball. So as a true tourist, you know I had to take a photo.

We went to Victorinox to make our own Swiss Army Knives, and the whole time I just thought, Oh if Christian could see me now, he would be so proud! After that we walked around the neighborhood of Carouge for the first part of the day, and I couldnt get over how much it resembled Italy. Turns out, its called Genevas small Italy. Each building was more beautiful than the next, and we had lunch at Restaurant du Mont-Saleve. Delicieuse!

The afternoon was my favorite part of the entire trip. We rode electric bikes to the countryside of Geneva. If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat (CBLied), you may have seen me compare it to my vision of heaven. Absolutely stunning. There were sheep, cows, horses, geese and pigs roaming fields (just as they should be). There was the largest field of sunflowers Ive ever seen. We even biked to France (youll see the little hut with beinvenue toward the bottom of this post)! We stopped at a local winery, and the view of the countryside was breathtaking. You guys love how much I enjoy biking around Orange County on my little beach cruiser, so this was my dream afternoon!

We had dinner on the lake at Brasserie des Halles de Ille as the sun set, and walked back to the beautiful Le Richemond hotel under bistro lights beside the lake (can we talk about the darling macarons they left in my room?). I think any trip where you dont have to plan and can just follow along is the mecca in my book, and Caroline and Kristelle of Geneva Tourism couldnt have been better hostesses.

One of my favorite things about the Swiss is how peaceful and respectful they are. So much of the country is based on the honor code. For example  you dont have to show your bus, train or trolley pass every time you hop on, rather they trust that you are truthful and have paid your way. The same policy goes for newspaper sales. How amazing that there is still a community with people whose core values and intentions are honest. Geneva is known for this state of mind, and its been called the Geneva Spirit.

dress, similar style here | bandana | sandals | bag | sunglasses

jacket | similar tshirt | denim, similar style here | sandals | bag | sunglasses

similar tank | denim | sandals | bag | bandana | sunglasses

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Thank you so much for reading! I LOVED reading all of yalls comments about your trips to Switzerland and hearing about your favorite things! Part two of this trip will be on CBL next week, so theres still more fun stuff and recommendations to come.

Thanks so much for reading! XO 
Israel has uncovered an illegal Palestinian weapons manufacturing network in the West Bank in one of its largest raids during a months-long crackdown on illicit arms, the military said Tuesday.

Since the start of the year, Israel has seized dozens of weapons, shuttered arms-making factories and arrested weapons dealers in a clampdown in the West Bank meant to quell a spate of Palestinian violence.

The military said that the latest raid overnight found seven weapons factories, 22 weapons-making machines and dozens of arms, which it said was a significant haul since it began targeting illegal weapons manufacturers. Among the seized arms were crude guns based on the Swedish Carl Gustav submachine gun, which the military says has been a preferred weapon for Palestinian attackers.

The military says that since January, it uncovered 29 weapons factories and seized 49 weapons-making machines and more than 300 firearms. More than 140 arms dealers and manufacturers have been arrested during that time.

The crackdown comes amid an 11-month wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence which has largely tapered off in recent weeks. Israel says the weapons crackdown is making it harder and more expensive for Palestinian assailants to acquire guns.

Some 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings but also shootings. More than 206 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, the majority said by Israel to have been attackers. The rest were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

Israel says that Palestinian incitement has fueled the violence. The Palestinians say that nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation and a lack of hope for gaining independence are driving attacks. The attackers have overwhelmingly been in their teens or 20s, often acting alone without the support of militant groups, making it difficult for Israeli forces to stop them.
The US blocked 300 million dollar military aid to Islamabad as it failed to get a Congressional certification for satisfactory action against the dreaded Haqqani Network, the Pentagon has said.

The Haqqani Network has carried out a number of kidnappings and attacks against US interests in Afghanistan, the Afghan government and other civilian targets.

The group is also blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people.

We continue to have a close relationship with Pakistan with regard to terrorism and fighting terrorism. (But) Its obviously in Pakistans own interest and the United States interest to combat terrorism in as many ways as possible, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters on Monday.

US defence secretary Ashton Carter did not give Congressional certification to Pakistan for satisfactory action against the Haqqani network this year, Cook said.

In the absence of the certification, the Pentagon blocked disbursement of the military aid to Pakistan under Coalition Support Fund, which is essentially reimbursement money for the expenses made by Pakistan Army in support of US operations in Afghanistan.

With regard to that 300 million dollar, there was a (June 30) deadline in terms of whether or not to transfer that money or to use that money in other ways, and it was determined that at this moment in time, it was best to reprogramme that money in other directions, Cook said.

The Washington Post, which first reported about it, has described the withholding of the US military assistance to Pakistan as a potential blow to US-Pak ties.

The Pentagon press secretary, however, said the US will continue to work closely with Pakistan and weve seen significant efforts on the part of the Pakistanis.
A Japanese father stabbed his 12-year-old son to death after complaining the boy was failing to study for a school entrance exam, media said on Tuesday.

Kengo Satake, the boys 48-year-old father, told police that he argued with his son for not studying before a test to enter a private junior high school, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Competition for entry to the best schools in Japan is intense. Admission to a prestigious one is seen as having a decisive impact on a childs future prospects.

The son, named Ryota, was taken to hospital on Sunday after the stabbing but died from loss of blood, Aichi prefectural police in the central city of Nagoya told AFP.

The father stabbed his son in the chest with a kitchen knife, a police spokesperson said, declining to provide details of the motive.

The father was arrested after police got a call from hospital staff, he said.

Satake reportedly told police he had stabbed his son by mistake.

The boy was aiming to enter one of the leading private schools in Aichi prefecture and his father had regularly scolded him over his studies, NHK said, citing people with knowledge of the family.

The boys mother was at work when the incident occurred, the Asahi Shimbun daily reported.
Turkey on Monday went back on claims that a child bomber linked to Islamic State (IS) carried out a deadly suicide bombing close to Syria, saying it had no clue who was behind the attack.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara could not confirm who was the perpetrator of the attack on a Kurdish wedding in the city of Gaziantep which left 54 dead, apparently contradicting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had said it was a child bomber acting on IS orders.

We do not have a clue about who the perpetrators behind the attack were. Early information on who did the attack, in what organisations name, is unfortunately not right, Yildirim told reporters in Ankara.

His comments were in stark contrast with those by Erdogan who said on Sunday that the bomber was a child aged between 12-14 acting on orders of IS jihadists.

Yildirim described as rumours whether the attack was conducted by a child or an adult, while insisting security agencies would continue their work to find out who was responsible.

Those who were behind the attack will be revealed, there is no doubt about this.

The Hurriyet daily said DNA tests were under way to ascertain the bombers identity, nationality and gender.

Strikes on IS, PYD

Security forces believed jihadists had timed the attack as retaliation for offensives both by Kurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forces against IS in Syria, according to earlier Turkish press reports.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, hundreds of rebel fighters were preparing inside Turkish territory to launch an offensive on the IS-held Syrian town of Jarablus.

Without explicitly confirming the rebel offensive, foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey backed anyone fighting against IS and would itself fight the group to the end.

Our border must be completely cleansed from Daesh, he said in televised remarks, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

CNN-Turk and NTV channels later reported that Turkish armed forces launched artillery strikes on separate targets of IS jihadists and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurdish militia in northern Syria.

Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey fired on IS targets in the town of Jarablus and PYD targets around the area of Manbij, the reports said.

Grave holes are prepared as family members and friends attend the funeral of victims of the suicide bombing in Gaziantep. (Reuters)

Dead mainly under 18

The majority of those killed in the wedding blast were children or teenagers, with 29 of the 44 victims identified so far aged under 18, media said.

The death toll rose to 54 after three more died in hospital in the early morning, the Dogan news agency reported.

Sixty-six people were still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition. Television pictures showed fire brigade workers hosing down the area of the attack with water in a clean-up.

The leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas said in a statement that all of those killed were Kurds.

The bride and groom -- a couple from the strongly Kurdish region of Siirt to the southeast -- were rushed to hospital but not seriously wounded.

The attack followed a string of strikes blamed on IS and Kurdish militants in recent months but if IS launched the attack, it would be the first significant jihadist action in Turkey since a failed July 15 coup.

Hurriyet said the type of bomb used -- stuffed with 2-3 centimetre shards of iron and detonated with C-4 explosives -- was similar to that used in previous suicide bombings against pro-Kurdish gatherings blamed on IS in the border town of Suruc and at Ankara train station last year.

The authorities were also looking for two individuals said to have accompanied the suspected suicide bomber into the wedding party but who then left the scene.

All 44 victims identified so far were laid to rest in harrowing ceremonies in Gaziantep on Sunday, with relatives throwing themselves on the coffins in grief, an AFP correspondent said.

The hillside graveyard was pock-marked before the ceremony with the holes of dozens of freshly dug graves for the victims.

One mother, Emine Ayhan, lost four of her five children in the bombing while her husband is in intensive care, the Yeni Safak daily said.

According to the list of victims in Turkish media, the youngest -- named as Gurbet Akcan and Muhammet Yagiz -- were both aged four.

The UN Security Council on Monday condemned what it described as a heinous and cowardly terrorist attack.
Authorities cracked down on the most powerful political party in the financial hub of Karachi and filed a treason case against its leader Altaf Hussain on Tuesday after he described Pakistan as a cancer for the entire world.

Hussain apologised for his remarks but the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) appeared divided. The party leadership said the MQM will operate from Pakistan alone, a reference Hussain, who lives in self-exile in London. MQM leader Farooq Sattar said there is a problem, adding Hussains frequent apologies after incendiary statements is an issue that needs to be resolved.

Nine MQM leaders were detained on Monday night and the partys headquarters was sealed after party workers, reportedly incited by a speech by Hussain, attacked two TV news channels, resulting in the death of one person and injuries to several others.

Sindh Police chief AD Khawaja said a treason case was registered against Hussain for his speech. Two cases have been registered against the MQM. One case pertains to treason for his anti-state speechand the other case pertains to the incident following his remarks which saw some media houses being attacked by MQM activists, he said.

Soldiers cordon-off an area outside offices of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, or MQM, in Karachi, Pakistan. (AP Photo)

The trouble began shortly after Hussain addressed MQM workers protesting outside Karachi Press Club against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of their colleagues. Hussain spoke over phone, and videos featuring the audio of his speech went viral on social media.

Pakistan is a cancer for the entire world, Hussain can be heard saying in the videos. Pakistan is a curse for the world. Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism for the worldWho says long live Pakistan, its down with Pakistan.

He also shouted slogans against Pakistan and castigated the media for not giving coverage to MQM workers.

On Tuesday, Hussain apologised to the military establishment, including army chief Gen Raheel Sharif and Pakistan Rangers official Maj Gen Bilal Akber.

From the depth of my heart, I beg pardon from my remarks against Pakistan, the establishment, including Gen Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers, he said in a statement issued by the MQM.

Hussain, who is facing charges of money laundering in Britain, said he was under severe mental stress over extrajudicial arrests and the condition of MQM workers who were on a hunger strike. Being a Pakistani, I assure the Pakistani people, establishment, army, ISI, all higher authorities and leaders that I will never use such words again, he said in the statement.

Pakistani media personnel gather outside the headquarters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party after it was sealed by paramilitary rangers following a raid in Karachi. (AFP Photo)

MQM leader Farooq Sattar distanced the party from Hussains remarks at a news conference. Slogans were raised yesterday regarding the state of Pakistan which should not have been raised at any cost, Sattar said soon after he was released after an overnight detention.

The MQMs policy is to unite people on one platform and it could not think about adopting an anti-state policy, he said. This party wants the supremacy and rule of Constitution. However, there was some talk against Pakistan and I can assure you that every supporter of the party denounces this act, he added.

Shortly after Hussain completed his speech on Monday, MQM activists ransacked the offices of ARY News and Samaa TV and clashed with police, leaving one person dead and more than half a dozen injured. The violence was condemned by all political parties and prompted action by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers.

Television footage showed dozens of men and women barging into ARYs office, smashing doors, windows and equipment with rods and batons and setting fire to vehicles. Staffers of Neo TV station, whose office is located in the same building as ARY, were also beaten up.

On the streets, MQM activists clashed with police who tried to stop them, sparking volleys of gunshots and teargas at several places across Karachi. Rioters set fire to vehicles, including a police van.

Hussain and the MQM, which draws support from Urdu-speaking people who migrated from India, were close to the army during the tenure of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf. In recent years, relations between the military and the MQM have been strained.

The MQM has accused the army of using an anti-terror drive to crack down on its workers.
India may have certain diplomatic advantages but China is emerging as a more significant neighbour for Myanmar, a Chinese think tank has said following Aung San Suu Kyis recent Beijing visit.

Suy Kyi, whose National League for Democracy took power in Myanmar in April after sweeping elections last year, picked China for her first visit outside the Asean region and called on the Chinese president and prime minister.

Suu Kyi has chosen China for her first overseas trip outside Asean probably not because she is emotionally close to Beijing, but out of Myanmars domestic politics and national interests, Liu Zongyi from the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies wrote in the state-controlled Global Times. She will lead the country to seek a balance among major powers.

India, on the other hand, needed close ties with Myanmar to curb militancy along its northeastern borders and get access the neighbours energy resources and the Asean region.

Suu Kyis latest formal visitshows that China seems to be more significant than India in Myanmars diplomacy, Liu wrote.

Though barred from the presidency by a junta-drafted constitution, the 71-year-old Nobel laureate is the de facto leader of her country and holds several government posts including that of foreign minister.

Indias engaging of the erstwhile military rulers could be one of the reasons Suu Kyi was miffed with New Delhi. Suu Kyi was never a fan of New Delhis dual-track policy -- supporting democratic forces and meanwhile having close ties with the military junta, Liu said.

New Delhi, however, did have a few leads over Beijing.

They share a lot in culture, religion and democratic values, and their high-level officials have had close relationship for a very long time, the commentary said.

Suu Kyis mother was an ambassador to India. The democracy icon, he said, spent her adolescence in the neighbouring country and graduated from University of Delhi.

New Delhi had many reasons to ensure Myanmar and China didnt get too cosy.

Ties with Myanmar were crucial for Indias security, he said. A large number of cross-border ethnic and rebels groups from Indias Northeast had military bases in the neighbouring country. Myanmar was also a gateway for Indias Look East policy.

Besides, Myanmar is a crucial link to Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor and has worked jointly with China on oil and natural gas pipelines and port construction, the article said.

India was thus worried that Myanmar could become Chinas corridor to the Indian Ocean which can hence threaten Indias national security and its peculiar interests in the waters.
Federal prosecutors on Monday declined to bring criminal charges against a police officer in New Jersey who fatally shot a black man as he exited a car with his hands raised during a routine traffic stop.

The December 2014 slaying of Jerame Reid in Bridgeton prompted protests in the city similar to demonstrations that have been held across the United States in response to a series of fatal police shootings of unarmed black men.

Reid was killed by Bridgeton Police officer Braheme Days after the driver of the car in which Reid was riding was pulled over on suspicion of ignoring a stop sign, according to the US Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey.

Reid was unarmed, the attorneys office said.

Viewing the evidence as whole, the government determined that federal charges are not warranted, US attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.

The charging decision follows a $1.5 million tentative settlement agreement Reids family reached about a month ago with the city of Bridgeton and the officers.

A grand jury in Cumberland County last year declined to file charges against the officers, local media reported.

Video of the incident shows Days approaching the parked car on Reids side. Hey, how are you all doing? he says before asking why they had not stopped at a stop sign.

Within a few seconds, Days pulls out his gun and tells his patrol partner, Roger Worley, who is white, that there is a gun in the glove compartment.

Dont you f****** move. Im going to shoot you, Days said.

He also shouted at Worley to get the men out of the car.

The video shows Days reaching into the car and removing what appears to be a gun and dropping it to the ground. Days repeatedly orders the men not to move and show their hands.

Moments later, Days shouts: Hes reaching! Hes reaching!

Days steps back from the car, and Reid emerges with his hands up around shoulder height.

Almost instantly, both police officers shoot at him. At least six shots can be heard as Reid falls to the ground.

Although Worley also fired his weapon, only the shots fired by Days struck Reid, the US Attorneys Office said.

A lawyer for the family did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Bridgeton Police Department.
Seven people with links to terrorist networks, at least three of whom were planning attacks, have been arrested in France this month, interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Tuesday.

Cazeneuve said at a press conference that French Police had arrested as many people for terror links in the first half of 2016 as for the whole of last year.

However, he did not give details of the August arrests.

On August 8, a 16-year-old girl from the Paris suburb of Melun was remanded in custody on charges of planning a jihadist attack.

The teenager was an administrator of a group on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that was used by two jihadists to plan the murder of a priest in Normandy in July.

According to investigators, she relayed numerous Islamic State (IS) propaganda messages calling for attacks and also expressed a personal desire to take action.

The arrests follow two attacks in July that shocked the country just as it was starting to rebound from the jihadist bloodshed in Paris in November.

On July 14, a 31-year-old Tunisian rammed a 19-tonne truck into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, killing 86 people and wounding more than 400.

And on July 26, two 19-year-olds stormed a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray and slit the throat of an elderly priest.

Several major cultural and sporting events were cancelled in the wake of the attacks on security grounds.
Three of the nine places cited by India as addresses of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan have been found incorrect by a UN committee, which has removed these from its list.

One of the addresses which has been dropped by the UN Security Councils al Qaeda sanctions committee was found similar to that of a residence of Maleeha Lodhi, Islamabads envoy to the UN.

However, the six other addresses provided by India have not been amended. India, in a dossier, had cited these nine addresses as those frequented by Dawood.

The Security Councils ISIL and al Qaeda sanctions committee on Monday amended its entry concerning Dawood, the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, with underline and strikethrough.

In the amendment, the Committee has stricken through the address Main Property at Margalla Raod F- 6/2 Street no.22, House No.07, Islamabad number 29 in Karachi. This address was later found to be similar to that of a residence belonging to Lodhi.

When asked about the amendment, a top Indian official at the United Nations told PTI that one address of Dawood in the listing entry was incorrect. The address was of Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, and not Dawood Ibrahim, the sources said.

The amendment also strikes through other addresses 8th Floor of Mehran Square, near Pardesi House-3, Talwar Area, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan and 6/A Kjauabam Tanzeem, Phase-5, Defence Housing Araea, Karachi, Pakistan.

As evidence to show that Dawood Ibrahim is holed up in Pakistan, a dossier prepared by India had listed nine residences of the underworld don in that country and stated that he is known to frequently change his locations and addresses there.

On 22 August 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry concerning Dawood on its ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, it said.

Dawoods other addresses mentioned in the listing Karachi, Pakistan (White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton), House Nu 37 - 30th Street - defence, Housing Authority, Karachi, Pakistan and Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad in Karachi have not been amended.

Islamabad has consistently denied that Dawood is living in the country.

The information about the residences in Pakistan, including one bought near the house of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in Karachi two years ago is contained in the dossier that had been prepared to be handed over to Pakistans National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz during talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, which were later cancelled.

Dawood is known to frequently change his locations and addresses in Pakistan. He has amassed immense property in Pakistan and moves under the protection of Pakistani agencies, the dossier had said.

Another amendment enacted by the Committee concerns details of his family.

The information Fathers name is Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Kaskar, mothers name is Amina Bi, wifes name is Mehjabeen Shaikh has been underlined in the listing.

Dawood was listed on November 3, 2003 and the entry has been amended in March and July 2006, July 2007 and March 2010. Being a UN designated terrorist, he is subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

The amendment further struck out Bombai as his place of birth, noting instead that it is Kher, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

It has added Sheikh Farooqi, Bada Seth, Bada Bhai, Iqbal Bhai, Mucchad and Haji Sahab as his low quality aliases.

The listing includes information about his various passports, including those issued in Pakistan.

The listing says Dawood had a Passport number A717288 issued on 18 August 1985 in Dubai and a Pakistani number G866537 issued on 12 August 1991 in Rawalpindi but adds the term misuse for this two passports.

He also has Passport number C-267185 issued in Karachi in July1996, Passport number H-123259 issued in Rawalpindi in July 2001 and Passport number G-869537 issued in Rawalpindi.

Dawood is wanted in India for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 257 people were killed and nearly a thousand injured. He is also accused of masterminding other terror attacks and of money laundering and extortion.
US security assistance for Pakistan, which has been declining for years as a reflection of the deteriorating ties between the two erstwhile allies, has plummeted by more than 75% since 2011.

From $1.2 billion in 2011, it is now $316 million, as requested by the US administration for 2015, according to a report of the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

Relations between the two countries hit a new low in 2011 after US Navy SEALs found and killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani military town of Abbottabad.

Over the same period, total US assistance, including economic aid and compensation for helping coalition military forces, is down from $3.5 billion to $814 million (as requisitioned), the report released earlier this month said.

Ties never really not recovered since 2011, if you look at statements from congressional leaders combined with their refusal to clear the F-16 deal and the introduction of the non-waivable exemption clause,  a congressional aide said.

You can make a persuasive argument that the link between declining security assistance and deteriorating ties is causal and not mere coincidence, the aide added.

Duplicitous is a word frequently used by lawmakers from both sides and even in the media for Pakistan, a non-NATO ally, specially on account of its patchy counter-terrorism efforts.

The US has been pushing Pakistan to act against terrorists operating from its soil, such as the Haqqani Network that attacks foreign forces in Afghanistan, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which targets India.

Islamabad, however, has been found to be focused more on terrorists that target Pakistan, the bad terrorists, and not the good terrorists that serve its strategic goals.

Frustrated by Pakistans continued ambivalence, US senators came together earlier this year to block a US proposal to sell to Pakistan eight new F-16 jets at subsidised costs.

They are also moving to make substantial portions of annual aid to Pakistan incumbent upon its counter-terrorism measures, denying the US administration the authority to seek waivers.

Last month, the Pentagon announced it was not releasing $300 million in reimbursement for expenses incurred by Pakistan in support of US military operations in Afghanistan.
KARACHI: Activists of a key political party clashed with police and ransacked a private television station in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Monday, leaving at least one man dead and seven others injured. The violence erupted soon after the influential Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) partys exiled chief, Altaf Hussain, castigated the media for not giving them due coverage. His activists, who had just ended a week-long hunger strike against a government crackdown against them, attacked the ARY station after Hussain addressed them by phone from self-imposed exile in London. MQM workers also clashed with police on the streets.

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MANILA: The Philippines has recorded about 1,800 drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven weeks ago and launched a war on narcotics, far higher than previously believed, according to police figures.

Philippine national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa told a Senate committee on Monday 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1.

Police were also investigating 1,067 other drug-related killings, Dela Rosa said, without giving details. The comments came a day after Duterte lashed out at the United Nations for criticising the wave of deaths.

As recently as Sunday, the number of suspected drug traffickers killed in Dutertes war on drugs had been put at about 900 by Philippine officials. But this number included people who died since Duterte won the May 9 presidential election.

Duterte said in a strongly worded on Sunday that the Philippines might leave the UN and invite China and others to form a new global forum, accusing it of failing to fulfil its mandate. However, his foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, said on Monday the Philippines would remain a UN member and described the presidents comments as expressions of profound disappointment and frustration.
KATHMANDU: Cooperation on several big ticket ventures, including the 6,720MW Pancheshwar power project and the construction of roads in the Terai region, are expected to top the agenda when Nepals new Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda visits India on September 15.

Prachanda, who came to power after his predecessor KP Sharma Oli quit, is visiting at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India has already assured him of full support for the new government.

Ahead of the visit, Prachanda has sent a special message to Modi that Indias moral support would be key in completing the remaining task of the peace process and implementation of the new Constitution, sources said. He has also said he wants to work with India to boost development and reconstruction work. Top Nepalese officials told HT that several crucial projects will be discussed during the visit, including the completion of the detailed project report for the Pancheshwar multi-purpose project to be built by a joint venture.

India is also expected to build a polytechnic institute in Prachandas hometown of Chitwan. New Delhi is also expected to pledge additional support for the victims last years major earthquakes in Nepal as the funding gap could rise to Rs 30 billion.

The construction of postal roads  so-called because they were originally developed for the movement of mail  in the Terai plains with Indian funding and the completion of other pending projects will also be discussed during the visit, officials said.

Deputy prime minister Bimalendra Nidhi, who is also the home minister and special representative of the Nepal government, is in New Delhi to prepare the grounds for Prachandas visit. He has already held talks with President Pranab Mukherjee, Modi and other senior politicians and officials.
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his Russian counterpart and close ally Vladimir Putin wants to host an Israeli-Palestinian summit to revive peace talks, in an interview published on Monday.

Sisi told state newspaper editors that he believed Israel was increasingly convinced of the need for a peace deal, saying it was a positive sign.

But Palestinian infighting between the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbass Fatah in the West Bank remained an obstacle, he said in the interview.

Talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abbas have been suspended since 2014, despite a push by Washington and France to resume the peace process.

Sisi, who is seen as having good ties with both Israel and Abbass Palestinian Authority, has also been pushing for a resumption of negotiations.

Putin has told me that he is ready to receive both (Abbas) and Netanyahu in Moscow to carry out direct talks to find a solution and solve the issue, Sisi said.

I see that the conviction of the importance of peace is rising among the Israeli side, and the conviction about finding an exit to the issue is a positive sign.

At the same time, it is important to end the Palestinian-Palestinian rift... and to have national reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas so that the climate be ready for real efforts to establish a state, he said.
WASHINGTON: Is this the new Donald Trump, re-staffed, re-set? The Republican nominee, who has had a tough few weeks, appears to be wavering on his earlier hardline position against illegal immigration, a cornerstone of his campaign.

His new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said in a TV interview on Sunday his position on the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants had yet to be determined.

That seemed like a comedown, but Trump sought to dispel that notion on Monday, saying he was not flip-flopping and he still favoured firm, but fair measures as before. Strong measures against illegal immigration  such as a wall along the border with Mexico  have been a key component of his campaign.

But it also cost him the support of Hispanics, who account for 17% of the US population  more than blacks, less than whites  and most undocumented immigrants are Hispanic. Trump has also been polling poorly among the other powerful ethnic minority, African Americans, getting only 1% support in a recent poll, with zero in some important swing states.

He tried to reach out to blacks last week, asking them to try him once as they didnt have much to lose, arguing the Democratic party has always taken advantage of them and their vote.

In a similar outreach to Hispanics, Trump met a group of them on Saturday and, according to reports, told them deporting undocumented immigrants was neither possible, nor fair.

His campaign pushed back immediately, saying he was making the same argument as he has before  that he has always favoured being fair and human. Conway made the same point. But her statement that Trumps position was yet to be determined was seen as an attempt to throw the door open to softening the rhetoric, as the campaign has done before.

Trumps first call for banning Muslims from entering the US was whittled down to a temporary suspension from some areas of the world.
LONDON: Britains communications regulator Ofcom on Monday rejected complaints that it was inappropriate for a hijab-wearing journalist to present reports of the Bastille Day attack in France. A suggestion in a tabloid that it was not right for presenter Fatima Manji to report the incident set off a storm. Ofcom received 17 complaints about Channel 4 Newss use of Manji. However, it deemed there was no ground to launch a probe into any potential breach of the broadcasting code.

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John Jacob Astor, the man most closely associated with the American fur trade and whose name is a synonym for wealth surpassing imagination, became involved in the business without ever setting a trap. The German-born immigrant to the United States, who rose from obscurity to build a financial empire, typifies the great American success story.

Fur became an item of great economic importance to the development of America, but it was politically important as well. The existence of French Canada depended upon the profits of the fur trade. France was not going to spend money on an unproductive outpost, and it was fur that kept Canada solvent. The beaver became a factor of empire, and battles were fought and treaties delayed over who was to control access to prime trapping areas. The future of North America depended on the flashing paddle and the beaver trap as much as it did on muskets and bayonets.

By 1756, the fur trade was so well established that it survived the upheaval of the French and Indian War with little alteration. The routes to the west continued to run from Hudsons Bay, where an English company was dominant; from New York City up to Albany and out past the Great Lakes to the Illinois country; and the greatest route of all, from Montreal up the Ottawa River, out across Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes, and past the settlement of Grand Portage to the river systems in the heart of the continent.

After their victory in the French and Indian War, the British ran the fur trade largely as their predecessors had done. From the eastern depots came the annual fleet of canoes holding 12 men and four tons of goods. At the western end of the Great Lakes they were replaced by the northern canoes; in these the traders penetrated as far as the foothills of the Rockies where they wintered and traded with the Indians. As the ice broke up in the spring, the trappers from the west would head for Grand Portage with their furs. There they met their eastern partners with European goods and drank, fought, feasted, and settled accounts for the year.

Because the pelts were better farther to the north, the southern trade to the Illinois country was the weakest of the three areas. But the drawing of an artificial boundary line right across the heart of the trade and the later quarrel between the Hudsons Bay Company and the Montreal-based Northwest Company served as an advantage to the American traders. Together they helped make John Jacob Astor one of the richest men in North America.

The third son of a butcher, John Jacob was born in Walldorf in the Duchy of Baden, Germany, in 1763. His father was a neer-do-well, but his mother was industrious and frugal to the point of parsimony, though the family often went in rags. The eldest son, George, left home for England, where he set up in the musical instrument business. The next son, Henry, soon departed for New York City where he became a butcher like his father. John Jacob remained at the small family holding until 1780; by then his mother had died and his father had remarried. When relations between John Jacob and his stepmother became strained, he left his fathers house with what money he had to seek his fortune. He headed out on foot for the Rhine Valley.

Young Astor worked his way down the Rhine River on a timber barge, and by the time he reached salt water he had enough money to pay for passage to London. There he went to work with his brother George, learning to make musical instruments. He mastered the English language and gathered all the information he could about the then-rebellious American colonies. By the end of the American Revolution in 1783, John Jacob Astor had saved enough money for passage to the new United States. He took ship in November with about $25, seven flutes as stock-in-trade, and a ticket giving him a berth in the crews quarters.

It was the typical eighteenth-century passage across the Atlantic Ocean, about eight weeks of cold and misery before the ship entered Chesapeake Bay late in Januaryjust in time to be frozen in the ice for two months. Astor was not one to pass up opportunities, even in mid-ocean; on the passage he met another German emigrant who had been to North America before, and who had dealt successfully in the fur trade. He questioned the man extensively, and by the time the ice had melted from the bay, Astor was sure the fur trade was for him.

He reached New York in March 1784, and perhaps no 21-year-old approaching the metropolis has ever been more determined to make his fortune than John Jacob Astor; certainly few have more completely fulfilled their ambition.

Around 1785 he married Sarah Todd, who was connected to one of the old Dutch families. To the marriage she brought a dowry of $300.00, a keen business sense, and an expert eye for furs. It may have been the dowry that enabled Astor to set up a shop of his own, for in 1786 he opened a store on Water Street where he sold musical instruments and bought furs. The Astors tended strictly to business, living frugally, and devoting themselves almost exclusively to making money. Astor himself often left the shop in his wifes care while he went off to the frontier.

Within a few years he knew the fur trade well and had established connections, not only throughout the American Northwest territories, but also in Montreal, which was the heart of the trade. He gained a great advantage over his competitors in 1796 when Jays Treaty, between the United States and Great Britain, was put into force. Prior to that it had been agreed that neither British nor American traders were to be hindered by the international boundary. Jays Treaty did away with that; the British were already beginning their time-honored practice of seeking American friendship at Canadas expense, and the Canadian fur traders were left in the lurch.

Their misfortune was Astors gain. He and the United States would expand together. Astor not only took over territory that had been closed to the Canadians, he was then clever enough to make a deal with the Northwest Company so that he could import goods through them. Thanks to the treaty makers, he was able to insert himself into the American end of the Canadian trade. By 1800, Astor was recognized as the leading American merchant in the fur trade and was thought to be worth a quarter of a million dollars. He was still only beginning.

By now Astor was starting to act and look like a comfortable capitalist. He moved into a new house in New York City and established worldwide connections, becoming the very picture of early nineteenth-century American merchant enterprise. His horizons were always expanding, at least as far as profits were concerned.

Soon after the turn of the century, he became interested in the Orient. American ships were just starting their China trade, and Astor, on a visit to London, obtained from a friend a license to trade in any East India Company port. Armed with this mandate, Astor persuaded another friend in New York to join in his venture, and they sent a trade ship to Canton, China. When it returned successfully, Astors share of the profit was $50,000. New vistas were opening up before him, though fur was still his primary interest. Part of his profit from the venture into China went into the purchase of real estate in New York City, property that later proved to be the real basis of the Astor fortune.

Some thought the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was an act of folly for the young republic, but Astor was not one of them. With that immense territory under United States control, it became possible to see the fur trade extending all the way to the Pacific coast. The return of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806 added fuel to his ambition, and by the next year he and his agents were fighting to drive the Canadian fur traders out of the upper Mississippi Valley.

These were the years of Astors peak activity. In 1808 he incorporated as the American Fur Company, a move that consolidated his holdings and prepared for an all-out assault on the Far West. He was not, of course, without competition, and it was actually the antagonism of the fur traders of St. Louis that led him into his most grandiose scheme.

By this time, the best fur lands were being found farther to the west. In the United States traders were in the Rockies already, and in Canada they were working to the north and toward the mountains. The increasing length of the journey from the Great Lakes area to the West cut into the profits of the trade, shortened the time that could be spent among the Indian tribes, and generally narrowed the margin on which the traders operated.

A western entrance to the trading areas had long been desired, but to this point, none had been found. Canadians had already searched; a Scottish Canadian named Alexander MacKenzie had set out for the Pacific from the Athabasca country in 1780, but he did not reach it. Instead he found the Arctic by what he called the River of Disappointmenttodays MacKenzie River.

In 1793-94, he tried again, and this time he almost reached his goal. He wanted to find the Columbia River, and American and Canadian history might have been different had he done so. But he was a couple of hundred miles north of his aim when he crossed the Continental Divide, and instead of the easy Columbia, he found the turbulent and unnavigable Fraser River. The Canadians kept trying; an employee of the Northwest Company, David Thompson, was deep in the Rockies, surveying, exploring, and preparing a final drive to the Columbia River.

Montreal was itself almost in the heart of the continent, and to the Canadians it was logical to find a western terminal as an extension of their already existing trade network. To Astor, it was less sensible to trek all the way across the continent than to sail south around South America and land at the back door. He would do it the easy way.

It took more than a year to formulate his plans. This was not to be a one-shot stab in the dark; it was to be a large enterprise, and Astor foresaw the depot he hoped to establish on the Columbia River as the focus of the whole western trade. Even Astor did not have the money for the venture alone, and he approached the Northwest Company with his project, offering the organization a one-third interest in his proposed Pacific Fur Company.

Officially the Northwest Company was uninterested; it was feeling its way to the coast, and was confident that in any struggle it could control the area. However, three former members of the company agreed to join Astor. Internal dissension was a part of the history of the Northwest Company, and there were always Montreal men around who, for one reason or another, had been squeezed out. The articles of incorporation of the Pacific Fur Company were signed in June of 1810, and the venture was ready to be launched.

In the spring of 1811 the ship Tonquin arrived on the Pacific coast, and a fort was built at the mouth of the Columbia River. The traders named it after their employer, and thus Astoria was born. Six weeks after the American flag had been hoisted over the little stockade, a party of white men came down the river from the interiorDavid Thompson and his fellows of the Northwest Company. He had lost time in surveying one river too many, and so the Oregon coast became American instead of Canadian.

Astors plan for his fur empire was really world-wide. He proposed to send out one or two ships a year from New York around Cape Horn to Oregon. These ships would carry American manufactured goods for trading with the Indians. The furs obtained in this exchange would not return to New York, however, other ships would carry them to the best market for fur, the Orient. At Canton they would be traded for Oriental goods. These in turn would be carried through the Indian Ocean to Europe. There they would be tradedalways at a profitfor European goods that would then be brought across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. The scheme had a great deal to recommend it and deserved to succeed.

Unfortunately for Astor, however, it was a failure. One of the ships was lost to an explosion, with all hands. There were difficulties with the Indians, and the outbreak of the War of 1812 and the disruption of normal trading patterns were altogether too much for the enterprise. In 1813 an expedition of the Northwest Company, commissioned by the British government in Canada, arrived and demanded the cession of the fort. Astors agent sold it to them for $58,000, succumbing to a combination of military and business pressure.

Aside from the premature demise of the Pacific Fur Company, Astor had little cause to regret the War of 1812. His own interest in it, as always, was economic profit. Because of connections in Washington, D.C., he was able to secure concessions allowing him, in effect, to continue the fur trade in Canada throughout the war.

During the conflict, Astor bought up Canadian furs at a better price and less risk than London merchants and made enormous profits from them in New York. Ostensibly these furs were from American property owned in the Northwest at the time of the outbreak of war. In 1812, Astor amassed $50,000 worth of raw furs. That was his poorest year of the war.

The fur trade continued to be basic to his interests, but he never let his profits lie idle. By the end of the war, the United States government was on the brink of bankruptcy. Astors response, together with a consortium of associates from Philadelphia, was to buy high-interest bonds with debased currency, and he emerged from the war in far better shape than the Federal Government. At the same time, he enlarged his New York City holdings so that by the time peace was made, Astor was immensely wealthy and ready to take over virtually the whole of the American fur trade.

Now, Astor again looked beyond the Mississippi River to the West. He helped persuade Congress in 1816 to pass an act excluding Canadians from the American fur trade unless employed by an American company. Astor then bought out the holdings of the Northwest Company inside American territory for a fraction of its worth. The company was at that point engaged in a struggle with the Hudsons Bay Company and was in no condition to defend itself.

Five years later, trading competition in the Missouri River country was all but nonexistent, leaving the area practically free for Astor. The St. Louis interests tried to fight him for a while, but they lacked the strength for a long contest and were finally absorbed. Astor pushed farther west yet and challenged Jim Bridgers Rocky Mountain Fur Company for its territory. This was a hard-fought and vigorous contest; Bridger and his people knew their country, were effective traders, and were nearly as unscrupulous as Astors men.

By the late 1820s, the fur trade was beginning to die. Geography and economics were working against it. The distances and costs were becoming too great for the returns, and in Europe styles were changing and the price of furs was in decline. Perhaps because his business acumen never left him, or because he was getting tired, Astor determined to leave the trade, and in June 1834, he sold all of his commercial interests. He spent the last 14 years of his life administering his estate, until his death in 1848.

If his astuteness never left him, neither did his love of money. He died the richest man in America by far, leaving an estate estimated at more than $20,000,000. Washington Irving thought him a great man; Astors official biographer, James Parton, considered him ruthless and selfish, but added, he was one of the ablest, boldest, and most successful operators that ever lived. His obituary printed in the New York Herald stated that he exhibited at best but the ingenious powers of a self-invented money-making machine.

In his later years, Astor tried to pass himself off as a liberal humanitarian, but the pose was too unnatural, and it never became credible. To the end, money was his passion, and to make it his men evicted widows and debauched Indians. Though some writers, notably in the late nineteenth century, have regarded him as a great American hero, history has not accepted the verdict. Today, in a more complex era, Americans ask more of their heroes than the ability to make money.

This article was written by James L. Stokesbury and originally published in December 1997 issue of American History Magazine.

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The Civil War CD-ROM, Guild Press of Indiana, Inc., Carmel, Ind., $69.95.

The Civil War CD-ROM provides an irrefutable argument for the space-saving technology of CD-ROMs. Not only is every dispatch, every sketch and every report from the Official Records crammed into a single compact disc, but room has been found for four other research volumes.

Ever since the first volume of War of the Rebellion: The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies first appeared in 1881, scholars and hobbyists alike have come to depend on the meticulously collected documents for their own research. In a way, the Official Records has allowed the study of the Civil War to become scrutinized and analyzed more than any other era in U.S. history. However, to expert and neophyte alike, the sheer bulk of the 128 bound volumes of the Official Recordsalmost a library in itselfcan seem daunting.

The CD-ROM is set up much like a library search program, which should be familiar to most researchers. Users will find no memory-wasting graphics here; the programmers opted for a single screen that is clean and easy to understand, complete with a search engine for terms and names, and a large scrolling area where users can read the reports and letters without interruption. Original page numbers are preserved in the text, while citation information is included at the top of the screen. Another window in the upper left-hand corner allows the user to browse the database book by book. Depending on the computer system (the CD only needs 4MB RAM and a 4x speed CD-ROM drive, and is compatible with either Macintosh or Windows), setup is quick and easy.

One of the improvements over the original Official Records is organization. Guild Press has broken down each book into sections, separating battle reports and dispatches and reindexing them for manageable searching. Major battles are also indexed separately. The search engine is extremely fast and completealmost too complete. Type in Mine Run, for example, and the user is confronted with every single instance the term appears in every volume. Users are warned to be highly specific.

Guild Press also included the aforementioned four additional research worksFrederick H. Dyers three-volume A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, William F. Foxs Regimental Losses in the American Civil War (1861-1865), Alan and Barbara Aimones A Users Guide to the Official Records of the American Civil War and Military Operations of the Civil War: A Guide Index to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. The last book, the result of a reindexing effort by the National Archives in the 1960s and 1970s, also allows the user to jump directly to the referenced record.

Perhaps The Civil War CD-ROMs greatest attraction is that it allows easy access to the records themselves. By scrolling through each dispatch, jumping from report to report, users can see a battle unfold and follow the backbiting and contradictory reports issued by officers in the engagements wake. One can read Lew Wallaces attempts to explain his actions at Shiloh, observe George Crook lecture his superior on the proper manner to send messages, peruse every misstep John Pope takes with his new Army of Virginia, and witness Abraham Lincolns growing frustration with his commanders continual plea for reinforcements.

Timothy R. Sniffin
John Woods swashbucklers set out to seize a Union fleet.

BY PHILLIP RUTHERFORD

As the new year of 1864 arrived, General Robert E. Lees attention focused on New Bern, North Carolina. Stationed there on the Neuse River was a fleet of imposing Federal warships and Yankee ironclads under construction in the sounds. They were inviting targets, Lee thought. On January 2, he wrote a recommendation to President Jefferson Davis.

A bold party could descend the Neuse at night, capture the gunboats, and drive the enemy by their aid from the works on that side of the river, while a force should attack them in front.

If anyone other than Lee had suggested such a scheme, Davis probably would have rejected it outright. But Lee saw the ironclads and gunboats as the nucleus of a fleet that would sweep the Carolina waters clean of the enemy. Davis agreed and immediately issued orders: attack New Bern.

A successful capture of the river town would solve a number of problems for the Confederacy. It was a military operations center, a major supply depot, and a rallying point for the strong unionist sentiment still alive in the state. Even if it could be held just long enough to loot the supplies stored there, the raid would be worthwhile. To head the land attack, both Lee and Davis decided on Major General George Pickett. And from the beginning, Davis had no doubt who he would select to head the naval part of the operation; his choice was a grandson of Zachary Taylor, son of Union General Robert Wood, and Davis own chief military aide and nephew . . . John Taylor Wood.

Already something of a hero, Wood distinguished himself in a type of naval warfare that had almost gone out of style. He was adept at surprising and capturing enemy warships using only darkness, stealth, small arms, and a few daredevils like himself. Employing his navy on wheels, (small boats transported to their destination by wagon) he had already cut out and captured seven enemy vessels, including two well-armed gunboats, the Satellite and the Reliance.

Knowing that the success of the operation depended on surprise, Wood immediately began to organize his part of the assignment, telegraphing naval commanders in Richmond, Wilmington, and Charleston. He ordered them to select crews of vigorous, hardy seamen for a secret mission. They were to be equipped only with cutlasses, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, three days cooked rations, and the clothes they wore; they were to travel fast and light.

Lieutenant Benjamin Loyall, commandant of midshipmen on the Confederate Naval Academy schoolship Patrick Henry, led the Richmond contingent, consisting of ten cutters and approximately 115 men and officers. On January 28, they left the James River and rowed to Petersburg, where they lashed the boats upright on railway gondolas and road in them like passenger cars on the overland trip.

When the Richmond group reached Goldsboro, North Carolina, Lieutenant George Gift, delayed with supply problems, had not yet arrived with his men and boats from Charleston and Wilmington. (The main problem was inter-service rivalry; he accused, The army people monopolize everything, yield nothing.) Evidently by prearrangement Loyall knew to push on to the embarkation point at Kinston. Arriving there at 2:00 a.m. on the 31st, his men quickly unloaded the boats and slid them down the bank into the Neuse. Wood had already engaged a pilot who knew the route and its dangers well. For secrecys sake, he sent them all twenty miles downstream to the first rendezvous, a small island, while he nervously awaited Gift.

As he paced the bank, Wood undoubtedly considered the problems of the total operation. New Bern might not be another Gibraltar, but it would be difficult to take. Located at the confluence of the Trent and Neuse Rivers, it had been in Federal hands for nearly two years, and the hands had not been idle. The Yankees constructed a line of earth-works, anchored by Fort Stevenson on the northeast, to protect the only land approach to the town; in front of these fortifications they cut all the trees for two miles, furnishing their artillery a clear field of fire. Fort Anderson, built just across the Neuse, covered the plain before the works with an effective crossfire. And most disturbing, the Federals at Moorhead City could instantly supply reinforcements by rail if they were ever needed. Pickett had a most difficult job ahead of him.

But Wood could not be too concerned with Picketts troubles; he had problems of his own. The success of the entire operation depended on capturing the gunboats. If he failed, not only would the dream of a small eastern fleet fade; New Bern would not be held, even if taken. Three or four of the warships constantly patrolled the rivers, ready to use their guns in the towns protection or to ferry supporting troops. In fact, the gunboats had already materially aided in New Berns defense when Brigadier James Pettigrew threatened Fort Anderson in March 1863. Their guns drove the Confederates from the field and shielded the landing of reinforcements. Wood had to take the gunboats quickly and without damage if he was to support Pickett and later use them to raid enemy shipping.

After a morning of worry, Wood watched Gifts train pull in at noon, carrying two large launches, two cutters, and a crew of about 135. Wood was relieved but anxious to get started. As it was obvious that the launches would take time to unload, he took only the cutters and left to join Loyall, telling Gift to follow with the eighty-two men he left behind.

When Wood arrived at the island, the men had just finished supper, the last hot meal they would have for several days. Calling them all together, including the twenty-five marines under Captain Thomas Wilson, he revealed their orders for the first time. The seamen, especially the younger ones, were excited by the audacity of the plan and would have cheered if they had not been ordered to keep quiet. After leading them in a prayer for the success of their mission, Wood divided the little flotilla into two divisions of six boats each, taking command of one group and giving the other to Loyall, his executive officer. He passed out white armbands for nighttime identification and gave them the password, Sumter. They then pushed off on the remaining backbreaking forty miles to New Bern.

Back at Kinston, Gift and his men unloaded the heavy launches and dragged them to the Neuse with the help of two mules. Impressing a pilot, they started downriver in the two boats, each armed with a 12 pound bow howitzer. They made good time; it was 3:00 p.m., an hour after Wood left them.

Woods men in the cutters strained at their muffled oars, pulling hard in the cold, dusky light. The river was treacherous; in places it was so narrow that the sailors could almost touch the cypress and water oaks overhanging each bank; in others, it broadened into a shallow lake. Half-sunken logs, snags, and sandbars clogged the channel. The boats, now in a single, sinuous line, constantly hung up, ran into the bars, and banged into each other. Mostly, the quiet was unearthly. Excepting the infrequent whispers of the men, the only sounds were the splash of a misplaced oar and the creaking of the oarlocks. Scarcely could a living thing be seen. Occasionally a flock of squawking ducks exploded in their faces in a flurry of feet and feathers. In the trees overhead, a screech owl shattered the night quiet. Clouds formed; then a cold mist and drizzle began to fall, adding to the misery of the bone-weary men.

The pilot had warned them of two points where the Yankees posted cavalry and infantry pickets. Here, they had to observe absolute silence and were cautioned to only fire if fired on. If spotted, they would pull down-river with all their might so that they could begin their attack before news of them reached New Bern. But fortunately they passed the picket points unnoticed.

About 3:30 a.m., February 1, the character of the stream began to change: the river broadened and the banks became low and marshy. Then through the thickening fog and mist, Wood saw the dim glow of New Berns lights and at the same time heard heavy firing nearby. Pickett had begun his part of the operation. This was the perfect moment to attack. Although his men were tired and he did not have Gifts launches, he knew the watches on the gunboats would be almost blind from the fog and the long night. The raiders could be among the warships before being hailed, and after the captures, the guns of Fort Stevenson and Fort Anderson would be hard put to search them out.

Wood formed the cutters into two columns and eased forward, straining his eyes for the prey. They rowed past the town, staying near the opposite bank. They reversed and came back, closer this time. They could not be certain: was the fog obscuring the gunboats, or were they simply not there? This time the flotilla moved in among the wharves, so near that the seamen could hear the sleepy voices of the sentries. There were no gunboats at New Bern!

Just before dawn, Wood ordered his men to row about three miles back up the Neuse to a small island in Bachelors Creek, where they could rest. There, the sailors pulled the boats from the water and hid them in the bushes and tall marsh grasses. Those not selected as sentries simply collapsed, ignoring the cold, muddy ground and wet grass. They had rowed sixty miles down a foul river; they had been awake for almost twenty-four hours; and they had been on edge, expecting a fight. They were exhausted.

As the sun rose and the fog dispersed, the Confederates were astounded to see a tall crows nest with a Yankee lookout in plain sight of their camp. Miraculously, the observer did not spot them the entire day. The men made as little movement as possible and anxiously ate their pre-cooked rations; campfires were out of the question. Meanwhile, Wood went off in search of Pickett to coordinate their efforts.

The plans for the land attack were good ones. Pickett would make a frontal assault against New Bern with the mass of his 4,500 troops; he would send Brigadier Seth Barton with cavalry and artillery to cut the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad from Morehead City to check the arrival of reinforcements; in the meantime, Colonel James Dearing would attack Fort Anderson across the Neuse, also preventing reinforcements from that quarter; and lastly, General Lee would order a diversionary demonstration at Morehead City to keep the Yankee nervous.

Things were going much as planned. By late afternoon on February 1, the enemy had been driven back inside his works in front of New Bern, but Pickett was getting edgy. He heard nothing from Barton, whose operation was absolutely essential. If he did not cut the rail line, New Bern would become a tap for the Confederates.

Meanwhile, Gifts command had been rowing down from Kinston all day. If Wood had trouble maneuvering the small cutters through the congested twists and loops of the Neuse, Gift with his heavy launches must have had hell. Although they embarked only an hour after Wood, they failed to link up with him until almost sundown, about fifteen hours after the first group arrived.

Early that morning when Wood heard the guns opening Picketts offensive, Lieutenant G. W. Graves, commander of the three gunboats in the New Bern estuary and captain of the U.S.S. Lockwood, heard them too. Signaling Acting Master Jacob Westervelt of the U.S.S. Underwriter and Acting Master Francis Josselyn of the U.S.S. Commodore Hull to stand by, Graves waited for a message from Brigadier I. N. Palmer, chief of the Federal land forces. At about 6:30 a.m., it arrived; the Rebels were attacking in force, and Palmer needed the gunboats to repel them. Graves ordered the Underwriter to steam up the Neuse and anchor about 100 yards below Fort Stevenson to command the cleared plain outside the Union works. The Hull would take position above her. Although the Underwriter arrived on station at 9:00 a.m., the Hull drove so solidly aground as she got underway that she could not even be moved by tugs. Notified that the Rebels were erecting a battery near Brices Creek, off the Trent, Graves steamed up that river as far as the shallow channel would permit.

Near sundown, Loyall and Wood scouted downriver near New Bern to see if a possible prize had turned up. It had. The Underwriter, a side-wheel steamer of 325 tons, one of the largest in North Carolina waters, lay riding at her mooring. She was 186 feet long and 35 feet wide. Mounting two 8-inch shell guns, and a 30-pound and a 12-pound howitzer, she carried a crew of eighty-four. Wood told Loyall that they would attack her sometime after midnight. Ironically, she was scheduled to leave for duty off Hatteras the following morning.

At 11:00 p.m. Wood assembled the men for their final instructions. Each man, specially picked, knew his job. Wood always made certain that his men were more than just fighters; they could operate a vessel after its capture. After leading his men in prayer and dividing the marine detachment among the craft as the sharpshooters, he ordered them all into the boats. As they settled themselves, young Midshipman Palmer Saunders looked up into the clouding sky and remarked, I wonder, boys, how many of us will be up in those stars by tomorrow morning. While this comment sobered the older men, the younger sailors were full of excitement positioning their cutlasses and pistols for instant access, regaling each other with the great deeds they would do, and choosing buddies for the imminent fight. On every boat, the commanders handed out short tapered, white-pine dowels provided by the expeditions carpenter; they would soon come in handy. In the distance the battle lanterns of the Underwriter shone clearly at each mast.

The cutters, again in their two divisions, traveled cautiously side by side. Wood would strike forward, Loyall aft. The launches brought up the rear. Since the cutter force was more than enough to take the Underwriter, the launches would be used only for reinforcement or defense from other gunboats.

The raiders were not attacking blindly. Sometime earlier, a spy dressed as a hill-country farmer slipped into New Bern and visited the gunboats at the wharves. He noted their armaments, the discipline of their crews, and their modes of keeping watch. Woods men knew what to expect.

As the raiders approached the Underwriter, sheets of rain began to fall, obscuring her for a time. Then, at 300 yards, her black hull stood out. In New Bern, a lonely bell tolled mournfully, like a death-knell. Nearing the gunboat, the raiders suddenly heard the ships bell ring out five times: 2:30 a.m. Everything was going perfectlythen at about 100 yards came a sudden, nervous shot, Boat ahoy! Boat ahoy! Wood did not answer. Boat ahoy! Boat ahoy! Wood still did not respond and gained a few more valuable yards. Then out of the night came the ear-shattering clacking that they all dreaded: the lookout sprung the battle rattle, calling the crew to quarters.

The surprise was over. Wood yelled, Give way! Give way strong! Loyall and the other boat commanders took up the cry, Give way, boys! Give way as you never did before! They had to get under the Underwriters deck guns or be annihilated. The cutters shot forward.

On the Underwriter, all was instant chaos. The crew, dazed by sudden awakening, many undressed, stumbled out on deck half panic-stricken, but still not certain of the danger. Officers screamed commands, the armorer frantically distributed small arms, and the men hurried to light battle lanterns. The raiders could hear the slap of bare feet on deck and the jangle of loose equipment being kicked about. Then dim, shadowy figures appeared at the rail.

The flash of deadly small arms fire lit up the ship, clearly outlining the heads of the crew and allowing the raiders to mark their locations. Minie( balls smacked into wood and flesh. The marines stood in the bows of the rocking cutters and gave it their best shot. Then they were alongside! The coxswain of Woods boat, a giant of a Virginian, shouted and sneered, guiding the tiller which his knees as he waved two pistols in the air. Suddenly he lurched and fell forward, dead with a bullet in his forehead. The rudder, now loose, caused the boat to swerve from the intended boarding position at the fore gangway and to strike near the wheelhouse. By then most of the cutters had closed, and the raiders had thrown their grapnels over the ships rail, making the little boats fast with their prey. Westervelt had indeed felt oversecure: the anti-boarding nets were down.

Gift thought he saw the Underwriter trying to get underway and shouted to Midshipman John Scharf to disable her deck machinery with a bow howitzer. Scharf put his shell through the pilothouse without appreciable effect. As he readied to fire again, he saw the boarders swarming up the ships side and over the rail. Fearful of hitting fellow Confederates, he desisted.

Wood intended to be first on deck as he had in all of his other midnight sorties, but the death of his coxswain changed that. Loyall, who lost his eyeglasses in boarding, was first aboard, with Engineer Emmett Gill right behind. The near sighted Loyall immediately stumbled and fell head long onto the deck. At that second a volley from the ships crew cut down Gill and the next three raiders: They all fell on top of Loyall, each taking from four to six balls. By the time he struggled from beneath this bleeding mass of flesh, the battle had begun in earnest.

The dark ship was like something from a nightmare: men cheered, shouted, screamed with pain. The noise from small arms fire and the clashing of cutlasses was deafening. Lending an even more chaotic air to all was a crate of wildly cackling chickens. From near the ships armory came and unending flash and roar as the armorer pressed loaded rifles into the hands of defenders who could then fire without reloading. Men fell all over the rain-and-blood-slick deck. A few of the ships crew tried to man the small howitzer to sweep the deck, but Woods sword never stopped slashing, and he cut them down.

Although the fighting was initially three to one against the Confederates, because only part of the force was engaged, the relentless pressure from the raiders began to tell. The marines who rallied as ordered on the hurricane deck poured a murderous fire into the Federal sailors. As the raiders from fore and aft linked up amidships, the defenders began to fall back into the companionways, some forced into the wardroom and others into the coal bunkers and steerage. Defenders and raiders alike picked up empty rifles and used them as clubs. The acrid black-powder smoke mixed with a light fog that rolled in to throw a ghostly haze over the dark deck. After ten or fifteen minutes of desperate, bloody fighting, a cheer rang out, Shes ours! Shes ours!

It was then that Confederate Surgeon David Conrads job began. He leaped from the hurricane deck to the lower deck and slipped in the pools of blood. Rising up, he grabbed the arm of Lieutenant Wilkinson to steady himself. Wilkinson, not recognizing the surgeon in the darkness, cocked his pistol and put it to Conrads head, thinking he was an enemy sailor. Conrad slapped it away just in time. Wilkinson only said, Im looking for you Doctor. Come here. He led him in the dark and haze to a boy holding another in his lap. Having to examine the limp sailor by feel, he ran his hands over the boys head until they disappeared into a great gash between his ears. Some brawny Federal sailor had cleft Midshipman Saunders head completely in two.

Dead and wounded littered the deck, cut down by cutlass slashes, gunshots, and flying wood splinters gouged from the deck and rails by the hail of bullets. Loyall leaned exhausted against an aft cannon, himself bleeding from a splinter wound. Conrad ordered the men to lay out the dead on deck, as he went below to find more wounded. In the dim light of the wardroom lantern he found six more, all suffering from pistol wounds.

The brief action had been savage. The Confederates lost Engineer Gill, Midshipman Saunders, Seaman Hawkins, Seaman Sullivan, and Marine Bell. In addition they found fifteen wounded and discovered four missing. The Federals had twenty wounded and nine killed, including Captain Westervelt, who jumped overboard along with some of the crew at the beginning of the melee and was then shot while hanging on to a hawser.

By the time the doctor returned from below, the raiders were trying to get the Underwriter underway and instantly convert her into a Confederate cruiser. Every able man went to his preordered station. An engineer and five helpers hurried to the engine room to get up steam; Loyall and his command attempted to unshackle the chains from the moorings; Gift and the launches tried to tow the gunboat out into the river away from the forts; Lieutenant Hoge opened the magazines; his crew manned the deck guns; and the marines guarded approximately forty prisoners.

Then one piece of bad news after another reached Wood. The engine room reported the fires banked and that it would take at least an hour to raise enough steam. Loyall told him that the Underwriter was chained to a buoy and it would take hours to free her. Gift sent word that the ship would not budge; she was likely aground. At almost the same moment, Fort Stevenson, alerted by both the sounds of the battle and some escaped seamen, opened on the ship will small arms and cannon, heedless of Yankee sailors still aboard. The very first shell, either trough excellent gunnery or blind luck, penetrated the wheelhouse and burst amid the deck machinery, disabling the walking beam. It was all over. The Underwriter would never serve the Confederacy. She had suddenly become a deathtrap for her prize crew.

Wood, decisive as always, did not lose a second dwelling on the bad luck. Calmly ordering the Confederate dead and wounded and the Union wounded and prisoners put aboard the boats, he commanded Hoge to load all cannon and turn them on the town. As shells from Fort Stevenson and the other batteries began to fall heavily on the Underwriter, all the raiders and prisoners had left the gunboat except for four lieutenants. Wood told them to bring embers from the boilers and fire the ship. When the fire from the burning ship ignited the cannon, the Underwriter would fire her last broadside into New Bern. Soon great columns of flames shot out of the forward hatch and wardroom. Within five minutes of the first Federal shell-burst, all had abandoned the Underwriter, except the Union dead who would burn with her.

The raiders and their prisoners clustered on the lee of the gunboat, protected by its hull. The little boats again formed a double line for the dash to safety. As the flotilla cleared the gunboat, the menprisoners and raiders alikepulled for their lives. The fire from the fort was momentarily heavy but ineffective. From the light of the burning ship, the men could clearly see the depressed muzzles of the cannon and their crews at ready. But suddenly the fire slackened. The Confederates thought that the glare from the blazing gunboat had blinded the gunner, but they later learned that the officers and men had abandoned their guns, anticipating the momentary explosion of the tons of powder in the ships magazine.

In the haste to load the boats for the escape, one of the small cutters took on eighteen or twenty prisoners and only two guards, one in the stern steering and one in the bow. Realizing that they could not make headway with this heavy load, one of the guards called out to a cutter about fifty yards ahead that they needed to discard some of the prisoners and take on a stronger guard. Seizing this unexpected opportunity, U.S. Engineer Edgar Allen grabbed the stern guards cutlass and shouted for the prisoners to pull for shore with their lives. Instead, some of them, along with the bow guard, leaped overboard. But Allen and the remaining Yankees saved themselves from a Confederate prison, captured a cutter, and took a Rebel prisoner to boot

Wood, looking back at the flaming Underwriter from a half mile away, was not satisfied with the progress of the fire. She might still be saved by the Yankees. Therefore, he ordered Hoge back to the ship to better spread the fire. The lieutenant complied, and shortly a great ball of flame shot out of the window near the pilot house. He returned and Wood was then content to leave. Before the raiders rounded the bend and totally lost sight of the Underwriter, they looked back at her one last time. Wood later said that a burning ship was a picture of rare beauty. So must have been the Underwriter. Enveloped in flames, she lit up the night sky for miles with her flashes. Even with the increasingly heavy rain, there was no chance of anyone saving her. After two hours, at 5:00 a.m., the flames reached her magazine, and she exploded with an earthshaking roar, scattering burning debris for hundreds of yard before settling to the river bottom.

About 3:00 a.m., Brigadier Palmer informed Lieutenant Graves, who was up the Trent River in the Lockwood, that the Underwriter had been captured. Shortly thereafter, he could see her burning in the distance. Although he wanted to come to her assistance, he was unable, because the fog had made the intricacy of the channel even more difficult. The Hull, of course, could not help, because she was still aground downriver.

As the raiders pulled up the Neuse about eight miles to Swift Creek, where they would make camp and again communicate with Pickett, Conrad, went from boat to boat tending the wounded.

Near sunrise, the Confederates landed their boats and made the wounded as comfortable as possible. As they examined the cutters, they no doubt thanked their carpenter for his white dowels. The boats probably would not have made it to safety without them, for an average of fourteen had been used in each craft to plug bullet holes. Now came their saddest duty: digging a long pit, they interred their dead and marked the graves.

All that day they rested from the fight, while Wood talked to Pickett. Typically Wood was undaunted. He tried to convince Pickett to let him ferry an infantry force back down the river in his small boats and make a night amphibious assault on New Bern while Pickett again attacked from the front. But Dearing had accomplished little and Barton practically nothing, so Pickett was afraid of Union reinforcements arriving and refused. It is entirely possible, though, that Woods plan might have worked. By this time, the two remaining gunboatsthe Hull now afloatguarded the land approaches to New Bern, and relief ships sent by the Federal navy would not arrive for two days. The river was basically undefended. In addition, the demonstration ordered by Lee at Morehead City inadvertently accomplished Bartons task: it had cut the railroad, and major reinforcement was precluded. Even U.S. Admiral David Porter later agreed with Wood:

Had the enemy attacked the forts, the chances are that they would have been successful, as the garrison was unprepared for an attack on the river-flank, their most vulnerable side.

Wood refused to accept Picketts decision. On February 2, after transferring all his wounded and prisoners to Colonel Dearing and leaving his men to rest, he rushed to Richmond to make a personal appeal to Davis to overrule Pickett and continue the assault. It did not matter to him that the raid was basically successful, even if it did not accomplish its major goals: the Confederates had secured considerable supplies near Morehead City and destroyed many Federal works; Pickett had killed or wounded over 100 of the enemy and captured over 300 more, all with minor losses; and the burned hulk of the Underwriter, one of the larger gunboats in the Union navy, now lay on the bottom of the Neuse. But Wood wanted total victory.

Following Woods orders, Loyall and his men rowed for two nights and a day back to Kinston, awaiting further word from Richmond. They arrived on February 5 and received a wire from Wood on the 8th. The raiders were to stay in readiness at Kinston; the mission was not complete. Their wait was short. The next day Wood ordered most of the boats and men to return to Petersburg. The New Bern Raid was over.

Lionized for their work, Wood and his men received a Joint Resolution of Thanks from the Confederate Congress. Most of the officers won immediate promotion, but Wood refused his, stating, The affair does not deserve it.
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Riz Gras aka Fat Rice

by Sheena 6079048 Ingredients 2 habanero or jalapeno peppers, seeds and stems removed, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 large onion, chopped

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/3 cup oil

1 pound boneless chicken or beef, cubed

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 1/4 cups chicken or beef broth

2 1/2 cups long grain white rice

salt and pepper, to taste Instructions Put the peppers, garlic, onion and tomato into a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.

In a jumbo cooker pan , heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the blended vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes.

Then add chicken, tomato paste, and broth, bring to a boil.

Add the rice, salt and pepper, cover. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Remove from heat and serve! Powered by Recipage

A delicious chicken and rice dish traditionally from Burkina Faso! So flavorful and also great with beef or lamb!Hey everyone! I'm back with a fabulous recipe today!It's been a busy few weeks and I haven't been able to post regularly due to that busy schedule, but I'm making up for it with today's recipe! My daughter started school, which I mentioned in my last post for Mini Tortellini Kabobs . She's really enjoying her school year so far and has tons of exciting stories to tell me all about 4th grade!The night before she started school, I attended an amazing farm dinner ! If you need ideas for a rustic wedding or party, take a peek at the photos I posted! Seriously gorgeous!!I'm settling into my new job! It's been a great change of pace and I'm super excited to be working with such a great non-profit, Promise Neighborhood of Central Minnesota I'm also on the mend right now after spraining my ankle pretty badly this weekend! I have to wear an air splint for two weeks and see a foot specialist after that. Good thing I have some recipe posts in my draft folder all ready to go, since I'm not sure when I'll be able to get into the kitchen! All I have to say is, make sure when you're walking in a grassy area keep an eye out for any holes in the ground. I stepped into a pretty deep one that was partially covered in grass. Yeah, totally covering my face in embarrassment right now! Lol!Now onto the recipe!I mentioned awhile back that my boyfriend is from Burkina Faso, Africa. I've been browsing the internet for some recipes that I can make for him from back home and one of the first he talked about was this rice!It takes a bit of prep to get it going, but the end result is delicious! I love that you blend all of the fresh veggies and use that to cook the rice in. I used chicken breast based on the recipe I found, but he mentioned his family uses bone in pieces of beef when making this! That or lamb would taste wonderful too!This recipe is traditionally spicy and if you love spice, use the habaneros. I only had jalapenos on hand and used those, and this version wasn't spicy at all.It's great as a main dish, or even a side. I prefer meatless rice dishes like this, so next time I might just skip the meat all together and see how it turns out.Overall, we really enjoyed this recipe! I'm glad I could make something that reminded him of home, and also add something new to our dinner menu!This recipe makes a pretty big batch, so you'll have enough for a large family or leftovers for lunch that week. It's very budget friendly too, which we love!Enjoy!If you liked this post, follow the Hot Eats and Cool Reads board on Pinterest here Other posts you may enjoy:
The online community marketplace will join discussion on the sharing economy at the region's premier tourism gathering

One of the world's best known online marketplaces for accommodation has been confirmed to present at the region's leading tourism gathering.

The San Francisco, California-based Airbnb has confirmed its participation in next month's State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) in Barbados.

The home rental company's regional manager for the Caribbean Mikel Freemon will join a panel on the sharing economy at the 14-16 September conference organized by the region's tourism development agency, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

"The sharing economy is a US$26 billion dollar sector and Airbnb is one of the most successful architects of the accommodation component of this sector, disrupting the traditional hotel industry and raising concern among the incumbent firms. We are delighted to have Airbnb share its success model as we examine this hybrid market model and discuss the challenges, risks and opportunities for the Caribbean tourism sector," Sylma Brown, director of the CTO's New York office said.

Airbnb is a US$25.5 billion business and has served over 60 million people since it was formed in 2008. The community marketplace has over two million listings in 191 countries and earned nearly $1 billion in revenue last year.

Freemon will be joined on the panel by Khalil Bryan, a Barbadian entrepreneur and co-founder of Caribbean Transit Solutions which provides on-demand and real time information on taxis and buses, and Frank Comito, the chief executive officer of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). It will be moderated by Paul Pennicook, Jamaica's director of tourism.

The session on the sharing economy takes place on Friday 16 September.

The State of the Tourism Industry Conference, which has as its theme, Honouring Our Legacy, Defining Our Future, is the pre-eminent tourism gathering in the region. It brings together tourism decision-makers, including ministers, commissioners and directors of tourism, hotel and airline executives, travel agents, students, the media and persons directly and indirectly involved in tourism. It is preceded by CTO business meetings, including meetings of the board of directors and the Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism.

This year's conference at the Hilton Barbados Resort is organized in collaboration with Barbados' Ministry of Tourism and International Transport and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

For more information on SOTIC, including how you can register, participate and benefit, visit www.sotic.onecaribbean.org.
HVS prides itself on being a trusted advisor for hotels owners and investors, and we are constantly looking for opportunities to maximize our clients cash flows and returns. The following article highlights the basics of cost segregation studies and their potential benefits for our clients. While HVS does not offer this service, we have consulted with cost segregation professionals to maximize its potential benefits in a hospitality context.

The Internal Revenue Code (aka the IRS Code) requires that the cost of commercial property be expensed over its designated recovery period. This annual expense, known as depreciation, is a benefit to the owners of commercial properties in that it reduces their taxable income. Generally, commercial real estate is depreciated over 39 years on a straight-line basis. Land is not depreciable and must be shown as a separate non-depreciable asset.

Many owners of commercial real estate set up their depreciation schedules over 39 years, not considering the significant tax savings that might be realized by allocating (or segregating) the propertys cost between its real and personal property components. While failing to properly allocate the propertys cost can be an issue for all commercial real estate types, it can be particularly detrimental for personal-property intensive assets such as hotels.

Introduction to Cost Segregation Studies

Cost segregation studies are recognized by the IRS as an accepted method of accelerating the depreciation of the property through classifying or reclassifying some of the propertys assets as personal property. By accelerating the depreciation deduction, the cost segregation study lowers the property owners income tax liability, thereby increasing cash flow. Additionally, accelerating the propertys depreciation allows the majority of the benefit to be claimed early in the assets life. This savings can be used to shelter income or pay off debt. The savings can also be invested at a significant return to the owner.

Through various court cases and rulings, the IRS recognizes that some components of commercial and residential rental property are personal property (Section 1245 property) for the purposes of depreciation. This class of property is depreciated over three, five, or seven years. Hotels, in particular, have a significant amount of property that can be reclassified to shorter depreciable lives of typically five or seven years. These lives are significantly shorter than the 39-year depreciable life of the hotels real property (Section 1250 property). Although site improvements are generally classified as real property, there are significant site improvements that are depreciated over 15not 39years.

How Cost Segregation Studies Work

For most studies, a cost segregation professional will perform a physical inspection of the property and identify the building components that are eligible to be classified as personal property. In the case of new construction or renovation, a cost segregation professional will often review the contractor invoices as they are submitted, allowing for a more detailed classification of the buildings components. When studies are performed for existing structures (in the case of an acquisition), historical costs are typically not available. Therefore, the inspection will be critical to determining which of the buildings components are eligible to be classified as personal property.

After determining the cost, asset type (real or personal), and proper depreciable life for each of the buildings components, the cost segregation expert will provide the owner with a report that details the findings. This report will include a schedule of assets showing the proper classification of the components, their recovery periods according to the General Depreciation System (GDS), the asset class, and the code section (either 1245 or 1250 property). The property owners tax professional then inputs this information into the assets depreciation schedule.

There are opportunities to perform cost segregation studies at various stages of the ownership cycle, including new construction, acquisition, and during a renovation or remodel. Even in the event that a property has been owned for many years, a look-back study can be performed. Look-back studies examine differences between the depreciation deduction that was actually claimed and the depreciation deduction that should have been claimed had the proper allocation been performed. Properties that are currently booked as solely real property (39-year property) are particularly good candidates for look-back studies. The difference between the depreciation deduction that was actually claimed and what was eligible to be claimed, based upon the cost segregation study, can be taken as a lump-sum depreciation deduction in the current tax year. An amended return is not necessary to claim this deduction. Form 3115, Change of Accounting Method, is filed and submitted along with the current year tax return.

Example of How a Cost Segregation Study Saved a Hotel Owner Money

Tim Cody, a cost segregation expert based out of St. Louis, has been performing cost segregation studies for ten years. Mr. Cody provided the following example from a cost segregation study he performed for a hotel with 210 guestrooms, a business center, a fitness center, a pool, and a conference room. The hotels cost basis of $46,895,000 (excluding land), which was originally classified as 39-year property, was reclassified as follows:

The estimated savings for the property owner was $765,000 in the first year and $2,362,000 over the life of the property. This savings is based on the owners specific reinvestment rate and effective tax rate; actual savings will vary depending on each owners tax rate and investment criteria.

Additionally, HVS provided Mr. Cody with a photograph (see below) of a portion of a hotel guestroom so he could indicate potential reclassification opportunities.

Conclusion

Cost segregation studies have the potential to provide financial benefits to hotel ownersbenefits that may have been overlooked. Hotel owners are encouraged to contact their tax professional for more detailed information. HVS is also happy to refer hotel owners to qualified cost segregation professionals. Contact Tim Sauer, MAI, at (314) 922-6734 or tsauer@hvs.com.

While HVS does not perform cost segregation studies, our engineering and architectural division (HVS Design) is frequently engaged to allocate costs for a variety of other purposes. For example, HVS Design is engaged by clients constructing or renovating hotels to segregate the personal and real property costs for permitting fee or property tax purposes. Additionally, HVS Design is able to segregate project costs to determine the projects eligibility for various tax credits, such as energy or Brownfield tax credits. HVS Design also segregates costs for projects with multiple funding sources to delineate which costs should be paid by the various parties in joint ventures, condominiums, or other similar split-responsibility contracts.

About Tim Sauer

Tim Sauer, MAI, a Senior Project Manager with HVS St. Louis, has spent years in management and analysis roles in the field of commercial real estate. He works extensively on assignments for hospitality-focused mixed-use assets in St. Louis and throughout the United States. Tims prior industry experience includes appraisals, market studies, and rent comparability studies for properties in the U.S., Canada, Central America, and Europe, informing clients on purchase-price accounting, goodwill impairment, litigation, and financing. Tim graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Economics from The Ohio State University. He is a Designated Member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI). For more information, contact Tim at (314) 922-6734 or tsauer@hvs.com.
A stunning location for an end-of-year special

Colm Mac Con Iomaire will bookend an outstanding 2016 with a performance at Christ Church Cathedral in December.

The stunning surrounds of the Dublin venue will host the former Frames man, who bagged a Choice nomination for And Now The Weather, as well as touring from New York to Bantry.

Hooking up with old band leader Glen Hansard in September, it's under his own auspices that the violinist and vocalist will close out the year; tickets for the December 12 show are priced at 28/25 and available from Friday.
The Diplo produced mix of 'Bird Song' has been released

MIA criticised Interscope for failing to release the Diplo produced version of 'Bird Song' one of the tracks from her forthcoming album AIM

The issue has been resolved and you can now listen to the Diplo version below.

MIA also released the track listing for her new album on Instagram.

AIM is out September 9

#MIA #AIM - TRACKLIST - pre order coming today A photo posted by MIA (@miamatangi) on Aug 18, 2016 at 12:07am PDT
There have been many magical Hot Press Chatroom @ Electric Picnic moments, but none that quite compare with New Order's 2006 gracing of our bijou tent.

Having been told by their media handler that Peter Hook was coming down on his own, the sight of him, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris strolling in unison towards the Chatroom had us excited - and apprehensive as well because they were having a right old ding-dong amongst themselves. The arguing continued inside the tent with the 150 or so assembled fans getting to hear tales about Ian Curtis, the Hacienda, Stephen's tanks, Hooky's Freebass supergroup and "those bunch of losers U2" that were punctuated with repeated intra-band exhortations to ?"Fuck off!" and "No, you fuck off!" "There are plenty of stories we definitely won't tell the grandchildren," Barney said when asked just how hedonistic it all was in the '80s. "A few came out last night at dinner, actually. We made Led Zeppelin look like the Spice Girls!"

The stress fractures exhibited that day turned out to be real, with Hooky leaving the band in 2007 in the most acrimonious of circumstances. With no new studio album for a decade, the fear was that New Order had run out of creative steam. That all changed last year when they unleashed Music Complete, a record that had fans and critics alike purring with delight. The ooh-ing and aah-ing intensified in May when an "extended version" of the record, Complete Music, hit the racks with Hot Chip and Chemical Brother Tom Rowlands among those on remix duty.
Wikileaks is still run by Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has been holed up for the past four years. Last month he released thousands of hacked emails and other documents from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) exposing the dirty tactics and deep dishonesty of the Clinton campaign. Publication of the documents caused turmoil in the Democratic Party. Chairwoman and close Clinton confidante Debbie Wasserman Schultz had to resign. Clinton strategist Bob Beckel then told Fox News: "A dead man can't leak stuff. This guy's a traitor, he's treasonous, and he has broken every law of the United States. And I'm not for the death penalty, so... there's only one way to do it: illegally shoot the son of a bitch."

We might pause to wonder what reaction would have been had a top official of the Trump operation threatened explicitly to have somebody seen as undermining their campaign illegally killed. That is to say, murdered. Clinton's gripe against Assange is that he gave the mass of the American people access to the truth about their government's dirty tricks. Clinton's Irish crowd includes every opportunist Nationalist party in the land. Clinton is a "friend of Ireland," they plead - meaning that she would welcome them into the White House with a warmth which Trump couldn't emulate, and allow them to bathe in bogus glamour while posing with eager grins for photographs for distribution to Irish 'papers' to show how well-got they are.

Not a bother to them that their heroine has beaten the war drum for every recent US assault; assaults that has helped generate the tide of blood now dimming the Middle East, and have sparked terrorist atrocities both in Europe and on the beaches of North Africa. The US is currently bombing Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Meanwhile, Clinton misses no opportunity to declare support for Israeli violence against the Palestinian people. Her moral response to the murder of sons of bitches she sees as enemies of US strategy was well expressed in her response to Gadaffi being sodomised to death with a bayonet: "We came, we saw, he died." Followed by a snigger. (We have been here before. Her husband, pudgy sax-abuser Bill, once had a missile unleashed against a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan in order to distract attention from a semen stain on an intern's dress.)
Tonight Panti Bliss' takes to the airwaves with a cabaret of chat.

Pants Bliss is taking to the airwaves for her cabaret of chat and a cavalcade of guests tonight at 10pm on RTE Radio one.

The show will be entitled Pantisocracy, an excellent pun meaning 'A form of utopian social organization in which all are equal in social position and responsibility.'

The show will be a irreverent mix of pressing issues, catty chat, and Panti's pithy observations that we know and love.
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
VANCOUVER  The federal Liberals promised a new relationship with the provinces and territories on health care, but so far funding talks have resulted in little progress, The Huffington Post Canada has learned.

Several provinces are frustrated by Ottawa's vague proposals and its apparent desire to put no new money on the table  beyond $3 billion over four years for home care promised during last year's federal election.

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Describing the discussions as stuck in a Mexican standoff is "too positive," Quebec Health Minister Dr. Gaetan Barrette told HuffPost Monday in a telephone interview.

The provinces have no assurances that Ottawa will increase health care funding next year, he said. "We don't even have that!

"To me, it seems, we are facing a tactic from a federal government to postpone everything. It's going to be an excuse not to spend money by the next budget. It's clear as daylight to me."

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Federal officials want to talk about concepts but have yet to mention how much money they are prepared to fork over, or how permanent the new investments will be, Barrette added.

"They address the issue of mental health with no amount of money attached to it. They also committed to drug addiction with no money attached to it. Basically, we are nowhere as we speak, and there has been no significant work whatsoever."

"To me, it seems, we are facing a tactic from a federal government to postpone everything. It's going to be an excuse not to spend money by the next budget. It's clear as daylight to me."  Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette

During the election campaign, Justin Trudeau's Liberals promised a new health accord with a long-term funding agreement. The Liberals pledged to expand home care, make prescription drugs more affordable and mental health care more accessible.

As an "immediate commitment," the Grits also promised $3 billion over the next four years to deliver more and better home care, including, when necessary, palliative care.

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When the budget was released, however, no extra money was set aside for health care. Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said at the time that the cash would be part of a new health care deal.

Philpott met her provincial and territorial counterparts in January and the group has held several teleconferences. Both sides generally agree on several new areas of investments  home care (including palliative care), expanding mental health and addiction services, health innovation, including the adoption of new digital health technology, improving the affordability and access to prescription medication, and indigenous health care.

But Ottawa seems unwilling to fork over more cash than that $3 billion  with no additional money going to increase the Canada Health Transfer (CHT).

"There is $3 billion for home care and a three per cent escalator," a senior federal source familiar with the talks told HuffPost. "Those are both large amounts of money."

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Under a 10-year deal negotiated by Liberal prime minister Paul Martin in 2004, CHT payments have increased by six per cent a year to help the provinces and territories pay for health care. Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper extended the deal but planned a drop in next year's escalator, tying it to GDP growth or three per cent, whichever is higher.

British Columbia Health Minister Terry Lake said his province is struggling to care for an aging population  15 per cent of which is already older than 65.

"We don't think that $3 billion over three or four years is nearly enough to reflect the growing need of the older Canadians, particularly in British Columbia," he said Monday. "If [the federal government] wants meaningful change, $3 billion is not going to do it."

Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister, Dr. John Haggie, said his province's average age is increasing more rapidly than other parts of Canada  more than 18 per cent are now over 65.

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While Ottawa consistently mentions home care, he said, federal officials have also proposed, at different times, to use part of the $3 billion funding envelope for other priorities, such as mental health, addiction, and pharmacare.

"Exactly what is in it has varied depending on the conversation we've had."

$3 billion not enough: Barrette

"It's been vague," he added. "We have not heard yet what they are going to bring to the table."

Even if the CHT escalator drops, he noted, it's possible the federal contribution will remain the same. The $3 billion Ottawa is pledging for health care is pretty close to the three per cent that's missing from the health transfer, he said. "If you do the math, it's not far off."

But for Barrette, that $3 billion shared between provinces over several years is just not enough. The mental-health needs alone across Canada require at least a $1.5 billion investment, he said.

"Bringing the health care escalator down to three per cent, is like saying to Canadians we are freezing voluntarily the level of services provided to today's level," he said.

Health care 'is in jeopardy'

It will mean a reduction of services over the years, Barrette said, because the needs are going up, not down.

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"At three per cent, the status of health care in Canada is in jeopardy."

At July's Council of the Federation meetings in the Yukon, premiers called for an immediate increase to the CHT, asking Ottawa to boost its contributions to 25 per cent of provincial health care spending. The current average is 22 per cent.

Even that would be a far cry, health ministers said, from the once 50/50 split that once existed between Ottawa and the provinces.

Ottawa's position

Philpott was unavailable for an interview but her office confirmed the Grits don't plan to increase the broad-base CHT.

"While the Canada Health Transfer continues to provide a stable funding base, any additional health care funding will be focused on achieving transformative and measurable improvements in priority areas such as home care," her press secretary, Andrew MacKendrick, wrote in an email.

Philpott's office was unable to say what "transformational and measurable improvements" means.

Sources in Ontario, B.C. and Quebec who are involved with the negotiations said no discussions have taken place on conditions attached to the funding.

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The Liberal government is just starting to turn its attention towards the health negotiations, a senior source said, noting that cabinet had a brief chat on the topic on Sunday.

"We don't want to get to a position where we are micromanaging health system performance, because that is not the federal government's job, but there are some specific things that we want to see accomplished," said a senior source who requested anonymity before speaking candidly about the talks. "If we put a bunch of money in mental health, we want to make sure it is making its way to patients."

Although both sides are a long way from agreeing, measurable outcomes are what the federal government wants.

"We think that we have a big demographic problem in the country, and we are not going to solve it by treating seniors in hospitals," the source said, calling that the most expensive and least efficient way to care for Canada's aging population.

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2004 boost went to providers, not patients: Lake

"We are trying to figure out how to create funding to have provinces expand the suite of services they offer people, especially seniors, outside of hospitals."

One often cited statistic suggests it costs approximately $1,000 to keep someone in the hospital for one day but only $130 to have someone in a long-term-care facility, or $55 to provide them home care.

Pointing to the current dispute in Ontario over physician pay, the source said Ottawa also doesn't want to pump billions more into the health care sector only to give doctors a raise.

One consequence of the 2004 federal health care boost was that some provinces reduced their own health care spending. Another, perhaps more significant, effect, as the David Naylor Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation noted last year in its report, was that much of the new money went to increase physicians' salaries rather than to modernize and broaden the scope of the health care system.

Quebec won't accept strings attached

"[A]n opportunity was missed," the panel found.

"The $40 billion that was invested across the country, many of it went to providers, not patients," Lake said. "I agree. I think there should be mechanisms to show that it actually is going to patients. I think we can design that in a way that isn't overly prescriptive and in a way that doesn't tie the hands of provincial governments."

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For Barrette, however, that's a no-go.

"In Quebec, we will never agree on strings. We cannot. We can't."

Ottawa has already promised to respect asymmetrical federalism, he said. "That means we will spend the money the way we see fit."

Philpott's office said her goal for an agreement on long-term funding includes signing different bilateral agreements.

"Provinces and territories have different circumstances and starting points, which will be taken into account in these bilateral agreements," MacKendrick wrote.

"Decisions on federal funding linked to a new health accord will be made once the areas for reform are identified through negotiations with the provinces and territories over the coming months."

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Caring for aging population becoming more expensive

That's giving some hope to some of the provinces that want Ottawa to give them a demographic top-up to account for their aging population.

Lake, for example, argues that B.C. lost $250 million under a funding formula that applies equal per capita funding, while Alberta, with a much greater proportion of younger people, saw a $1-billion windfall.

It costs more money to care for older populations, so provinces with many seniors should have a higher level of health care investment by the federal government, he said.

"I actually think there will be more  and I think there will be a terrible backlash if there isn't," he said.

"Seniors are now outnumbering children for the first time in our country's history. Unfortunately, our health care system hasn't quite got the memo yet."

Behind the scenes, even Ontario, which opposes changing the per-capita funding arrangement, is signalling that it could support a top-up.

According to calculations by the Conference Board of Canada prepared for the Canadian Medical Association, which is calling for a boost in next year's budget, Ontario could receive $677.9 million next year in additional payments if Ottawa were to provide a $1.66 billion top-up for senior care.

"Seniors are now outnumbering children for the first time in our country's history. Unfortunately, our health care system hasn't quite got the memo yet," CMA president-elect Dr. Granger Avery told the group's annual meeting in Vancouver Sunday.

For now, the federal government doesn't intend to change the per capita funding and isn't keen on a seniors top-up, but a senior source said: "Who knows? Maybe we end up there."

Also on HuffPost

Canada's Most and Least Healthy Places, As Mapped By The 10 and 3 See Gallery
Canadians' boundless love for Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip has resulted in a flood of new funding for brain cancer research.

The research fund in Downie's name has raised more than $265,000, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre said in a statement Monday. And the number is still growing.

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The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie revealed he had terminal brain cancer earlier this year. (Photo: Andrew Chin/Getty Images)

"At Sunnybrook, we have heard from Canadians across the country, in the United States and around the world who organized events to watch the show and collect donations for Sunnybrooks brain cancer research," the statement said.

The centre added several corporations have reached out and expressed interest in supporting Downie's fund.

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Click here to donate to Downie's fund

The Tragically Hip performs in Kingston, Ont. on August 21. (Photo: Mike Homer/LiveNation)

After the revelation of Downie's terminal brain cancer diagnosis earlier this year, the Hip embarked on a national farewell tour. It culminated in a massive finale in Kingston, Ont., which was broadcast live by the CBC.

Some 11.7 million Canadians tuned in on television, radio and online at some point during the band's nearly three-hour set, according to the broadcaster.

With a file from The Canadian Press

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UPDATE:On Wednesday, Jamie Oliver confirmed his son's full name in an Instagram post.

"His name's River Rocket Oliver we think it suits him and he's a little gift and we are all very happy," the dad-of-five wrote.

A photo posted by Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) on Aug 24, 2016 at 8:47am PDT

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Original post:

Its been two weeks since Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools welcomed their fifth child, and now the couple has finally revealed their baby boys unique name.

On Monday, Jools posted a photo of their sons nursery art to Instagram, which reads Dream Big River. She then captioned the snap with a rocket and heart emoji, causing many to believe the babys full name is River Rocket.

  A photo posted by Jools Oliver (@joolsoliver) on Aug 22, 2016 at 10:16am PDT





According to Mirror UK, Olivers sister, Anna-Marie Hunt, only further fueled rumours of the baby's full name when she left a comment on the post, saying: It's all about the River today! The proud new aunt also added a wink, rocket and monkey emoji.

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The British chefs quirky baby name choice comes as no surprise, as Oliver and his wife have always loved unique nature names. In fact, their four older kids are Poppy Honey Rosie, 14, Daisy Boo Pamela, 13, Petal Blossom Rainbow, 7, and Buddy Bear Maurice, 5.

Hanging out with my boy in the veg patch!! As you do ... big love guys, happy Thursday jamie o xx X xx A photo posted by Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) on Aug 11, 2016 at 12:13am PDT





On social media, Olivers fans praised the name the couple chose for their newest addition. Aww lovely and so apt as rivers flow out to the sea, one wrote.

Another said: Loving the name goes with all your other beautiful names and children you must be very proud.

River is actually a very trendy moniker not only because its a nature name, but because its unisex, too. In fact, recent research by Nameberry revealed that River is actually one of the top gender-neutral names of 2016, coming in at number six.

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Other celebrities have also chosen this name for their kids. Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, for instance, recently welcomed their third son and named him Journey River. And back in 2014, Kelly Clarkson gave birth to a daughter and named her River Rose.

Of course, arguably the most famous River is the late actor River Phoenix.

While fans all agreed that River is a beautiful name choice, some didnt understand where Rocket came from.

Apparently Jamie Oliver's new son has been named River Rocket....River I get, it's a cool name, but Rocket? Because of his love of salad?  Mrs H (@TheNostromo_) August 23, 2016

While Oliver and his wife have not confirmed that their sons middle name is Rocket, we can understand why they might have chosen it. After all, the name choice has proven to be fashionable in Hollywood. Just last year, Avatar star Sam Worthington named his son Rocket Zot.

Additionally, word names are becoming increasingly popular among celebrities. Jena Malones son is Ode Mountain, Jeff Goldblums son is Charlie Ocean and Zooey Deschanel's daughter is Elsie Otter, for instance.

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So maybe River Rocket isnt so odd after all.

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If you love to soak up the rays but also know how important it is to protect your skin from the harmful effects of the sun, then you know what to do  head to KFC.

The fast food giant has allegedly launched its own brand of sunscreen, and it smells just like fried chicken.

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Named "Extra Crispy", the sunscreen provides SPF30 protection from ultraviolet rays, while giving the user "a healthy chicken aroma". However, a promotional video for the sunscreen (starring US actor George Hamilton) warns repeatedly that this is one product from the Colonel's kitchen that is definitely not edible, and a disclaimer on the limited-edition product's website states: "Even though this product smells delicious, it is not delicious. The only skin that should be extra crispy this summer is on your fried chicken."

We made a sunscreen and it's free* and it smells like fried chicken and fried chicken smells delicious.https://t.co/fdqaJWcnpY  KFC (@kfc) August 22, 2016

The website also claims that Extra Crispy has already sold out completely after just one day, with no indication for the moment whether it will be re-stocked or not.

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The surprising move is not KFC's first foray into the beauty industry. Back in May, the chain hit the headlines with the announcement that it was introducing edible nail polishes to its Hong Kong clientele, exploiting the brand's famous slogan "Finger Lickin' Good". The polishes, which were available in two different flavours, were designed to taste like the KFC chicken recipes for "Original" and "Hot and Spicy", and were reportedly fabricated from natural ingredients.

Fast-food rival Burger King also attempted to break into the market, releasing a "Flame-Grilled Fragrance" designed to imitate the meaty aroma of the chain's Whopper Burger in Japan in 2015.

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A 46-year-old breast cancer patient in the U.S. was viciously attacked outside a hospital residence.

ABC 7 reports Shannon Vincel was outside a hotel property for the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, Ill. on Aug. 15.

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Shannon Vincel was waiting for a hospital shuttle to take her to a treatment centre when she was attacked. (Photo: Screengrab via WGBN/AOL)

Just before 10 p.m., a man approached Vincel and attacked her, hitting her in the head with a blunt object.

She died in hospital a day later, after her family took her off life support.

'Shannon was so kind'

"She thought she was in a safe area because it was on hospital grounds," Anita Adams, Vincel's mother, told KSDK.

"She was just sitting there waiting for the shuttle to pick her up and take her to treatment. Why would anyone just walk up and beat a girl from behind, without warning and just beat her to death? Why?"

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"She thought she was in a safe area."

Cancer Treatment Centers of America is assisting police in the investigation into Vincel's death. The organization has offered a US$25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.

"Shannon was so kind and she didnt deserve this, no one deserves this," Adams told KMOV.

"Being a cancer victim, for someone to deliberately take her life its unthinkable to me, her mother said.

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Second-grade teacher Brandy Young just made the impossible possible for elementary students everywhere when she decided to implement a no homework policy for the new school year.

The Texas educator sent a letter home to parents last week, which has now gone viral, to seal the deal.

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"Dear Parents," the note read. "After much research this summer, I am trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year."

But don't think Young is just trying to avoid marking some extra assignments. She claims there's research to back up her innovative policy.

"Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance," she wrote. "Rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside and get your child to bed early."

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And the teacher has a point, according to education expert Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman.

"The data shows that homework over this level is not only not beneficial to children's grades or GPA, but there's really a plethora of evidence that it's detrimental to their attitude about school, their grades, their self-confidence, their social skills and their quality of life," she told CNN on Tuesday.

Parents seem to agree as well.

Mom Samantha Gallagher, who originally shared the post on Facebook, recently told KTRK-TV how pleased she is with the policy.

"I am very grateful [my daughter] Brooke has an innovative teacher who is willing to adopt new policies for the benefit of her students and their families," she told the station.

And with over 69,000 shares and counting, seems like others are on board as well.

"This is so awesome as it demonstrates how many parents and teachers would support this kind of policy!" one parent commented on the post. "Especially for kids in elementary school. It prioritizes family time and youth activity! I feel 8 hrs a day in school for kids this age is enough."

"I like this teacher. She has her head on right. I can understand why your post has so many shares," wrote another.

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Mrs. Young sounds like an A+ teacher to us!

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A recent robbery took a lot longer than the thieves were expecting.

Two armed men held up a Boost Mobile store in Paterson, N.J., last Wednesday, but instead of quickly escaping with phones and cash, they got locked in instead, according to NBC 4 New York.

'I gotta live'

Store manager Tommy Torrez had to think quickly when the two burst in with a gun. He told them to take what they wanted and while they were busy, he ran out through a back door into another business.

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I gotta go, I gotta live, he told CBS 2.

Torrez then ran through the travel agency next door and brought down the front gate, according to the outlet.

In surveillance video of the incident, someone outside the mobile phone store is seen pulling down the gate there too.

The robbers soon realized they were trapped, and tried all sorts of tactics to escape.

Two men who held up a cellphone store in New Jersey are seen trying to get out after someone outside pulls down the front gate. (Photo: CBS 2 New York/Screenshot)

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One of the thieves is seen on the security camera lifting the ceiling tiles. The two also tried using a fire extinguisher to get out through the basement, Torrez told The Record and Patterson Press.

The surveillance footage even shows one pleading with the people gathered outside Boost Mobile.

'I can't let you outta there!'

"Let me out," he could be heard saying.

"Yo, c'mon."

Cellphone video obtained by NBC 4 showed the crowd laughing and staring at the men.

"I can't let you outta there!" one woman yelled back.

Robbers eventually managed to escape

But while this may have seemed like a happy ending for Torrez and police, the men eventually found a way out.

The store manager told News 12 the thieves used tools to tear down a barred window and escape.

He also told The Record and Patterson Press he called police many times, saying the robbers were armed, but cops said they only received three or four calls and that no one mentioned a gun until 19 minutes after the first one.

As soon as there was a mention of a weapon, the response was immediate, said Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale.

But he said cops will still investigate how they responded.

Torrez said the suspects escaped with C$148.

Also on HuffPost

Dumb Criminals See Gallery
Surrey RCMP and the B.C. coroner's service are looking into the death of a man found stuck inside a charity donation bin.

On Tuesday morning, a passerby called police to the bin located in an empty lot near the Guildford Town Centre mall.

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Emergency crews had to cut the steel bin open to free the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, said RCMP Cpl. Scotty Schumann in a news release.

A passerby saw the man stuck in the bin and called police.

"At this point this sudden death does not appear suspicious and the males identity is still being determined," he added.

Officers are canvassing the neighbourhood for witnesses and video surveillance, said Schumann.

Last September, a homeless woman was trying to pull donated items out of a similar bin in Pitt Meadows, east of Vancouver, when she got trapped.

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The 45-year-old later died of her injuries in hospital.

The containers, which are usually located in parking lots or on busy streets, collect donations like clothing and shoes for charities. They are designed with heavy chute openings to deter people from taking items out.

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I regularly get asked this question. Many people comment on it being a fad or far too difficult.

So here goes, perhaps this will clarify a few things.

Mindfulness, the origins

Mindfulness has its roots in ancient practices from all over the world. Thich Nhat Hanh was central to Buddhist practices being introduced to the Western world. Buddhist practices describe two types of meditation, firstly meditation which calms the mind and secondly, the type of meditation that allows a deeper insight and understanding.

Jon Kabat-Zinn was the pioneer who enabled mindfulness to be viewed as a practice for all, without the attachment of religion. Extensive research by the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice has demonstrated the health benefits. Including changes to mental and physical health.

What actually is Mindfulness?

Its stepping off the runaway 'autopilot' train for a while. We can get caught up in living a life where we are not actually present. This results in missing out on the good things, not listening to what our bodies need, and losing sight of what we need and our potential. Its so very easy to live in past events, analysing and trying to untangle things in our minds and also trying to control or anticipate the future can also take up hours and hours of our day. Being able to attend to the moment to moment experience and pay attention to current emotions can have an extraordinarily positive impact on our health and wellbeing.

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Mindfulness is giving attention to the experiences happening now, internal bodily sensations and external every day experiences. Rather than always being caught up in a web or thoughts or rushing from one activity to the next, we start to experience pauses and gaps to allow for insight.

What will mindfulness do for me?

When we live in the moment we see things much more clearly. There is a deeper understanding and insight into our lives. This could impact on us by giving more confidence to follow our hearts desires, or perhaps it could reduce the internal suffering we experience when we get caught up in thinking. Challenges will still come and go in your life but you will find yourself responding in different way, a way that is kinder for you and others. Which often results in a challenge being resolved a lot easier.

Having more insight and understanding is something that will benefit every area of your life. When we experience more clarity we tend to make decisions that are healthy and wise and we tend to lead a calmer and more balanced life.

What do I need to do?

To start with just a gentle practice of mindfulness of breathing will work wonders. There are several key considerations to starting this practice. Firstly, the mind will wander when you sit and bring your attention to your breath. Its OK to just acknowledge the thought and come back to focusing on your breath. The more we become preoccupied with the thought or irritated by becoming distracted the further we get from the present moment. Its absolutely OK for your mind to wander, just notice and come back. Secondly, we need to be engaging in this practice for at least 10 minutes every day to reap the rewards.

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You can start to be present for all of the activities of your day. Taking a really curious interest in everything from drinking your cup of tea to noticing everything around you when you leave the house will enhance your ability to live here and now. It also makes all activities much more enjoyable, you experience them to a greater extent, with all of your senses.
The "Burkaverbot", or burqa ban, is a hot topic in Germany, once again.

Some politicians from the conservative camp, inspired by recent French jurisdiction, have called for a legal ban on women wearing full body veils. (In Germany, for simplicities sake, all body veils are called burqas, even if this is a very particular form of veil only worn in countries such as Afghanistan.)

Unlike the French or British, Germany hasn't had a long standing empire, she never ruled over vast foreign territories whose population was Muslim. While France had ruled in northern Africa, as did Britain in what was to become Pakistan, Germany never had a direct connection with a Muslim country whose people came to her shores after her empire disintegrated.

The first major influx from a majority Muslim country came with the so-called "Gastarbeiter", or guest workers, from Turkey. They started arriving in the 1960s and early 1970s, mostly to work in menial manufacturing jobs.

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Some of those who arrived back then, mostly from rural Anatolia, stuck to rather conservative ways and traditions, which here and there caused friction, because of forced marriages and the like. But never did they underscore their faith, at least not in public.

This might have been because the Turkish (so far) have had a long and strong tradition of secularism, ever since the Father of Turks, Kemal Ataturk, tried to forcefully turn his country into a Western orientated nation state between the World Wars.

On the other hand, Germany has a long tradition of being a rather conformist society, in which those who stick out are seen as nuisances. So, outing yourself as being Muslim, or underscoring your Muslim faith, was seen as a sure way to make it even harder for Turkish people to get accepted in Germany.

Also, the Muslim faith has a bit of an image problem in Germany, like in many other Western countries. Most Germans have never heard of Sufism but instead worry about Salafists, standing behind pop-up stalls on the high street, giving away free copies of the Quran to the witless - who then, sooner or later, join the radicals for Jihad in Syria. (So the story goes.)

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As the below chart shows, fanaticism and the propensity for violence are often associated with Islam by the majority of German society. Discrimination against women actually scores the highest.

More infos & graphics on religious affairs by Statista

Though the Turkish immigrant workers and their descendants have been in Germany for quite a while, the high influx of refugees last year from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan worries many Germans. Not just because they're foreigners, but also because they're from Muslim countries.

What happened on New Year's Eve in Cologne and other German cities, where many intoxicated men from Maghreb states, such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and other Arab countries, sexually harassed women on a scale never seen before has dampened the German's enthusiasm for welcoming refugees further and hardened common prejudices about Muslims, particularly Muslim men.

Then, on the other hand, many a passer-by in Munich doesn't turn a head anymore when a group of obviously minted Emirati or Saudi female tourists, dressed in black from head to toe, roam the pricey boutiques in the town centre, burning their men's petro dollars. Many actually welcome the veiled ladies because of their purchasing power.

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But spotting a fully veiled woman at the local IKEA store or the main train station elsewhere in Germany can really get people angry. There's more than one reason as to why burqas, niqabs, hijabs and chadors and the like enrage the regular Joe, or Fritz.

Some argue that those who come to Germany have an obligation to fully adapt, along the lines of: "when in Germany, you do as the Germans do". German Chancellor Angela Merkel has somewhat diplomatically expressed this view, saying she didn't think an outright ban would help but "a fully veiled woman in Germany has barely any chance of integrating."

And indeed, as the below chart shows, even a third of people of Turkish descent in Germany actually believe that in order to integrate, people should not just start speaking German and adhere to German laws, but also adapt fashion-wise.

More infos & graphics on religious affairs by Statista

Others argue that a woman who is forced into hiding under a sheet of cloth is a sure sign of backward social norms, and a punch in the face of female emancipation. Others get the political mixed in and see a black veil as a sure sign of authoritarian tendencies and anti-democratic sentiments.

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Others again, after hearing one of the seemingly young veiled women speak fluent German without an accent, indicating she might have grown up in Germany or actually be "biodeutsch" (somewhat jokingly meaning of biological German descent) just can't believe that teenage rebellion has gone down the drain.

To find that these days a rebellious attitude doesn't necessarily entail dying your hair bright colours and wearing skimpy clothes can be shocking, especially when instead it can take the form of going into hiding under a black sheet. (It surely works better than any punk hairstyle these days.)

Full body veils are still really rare in Germany. And more importantly, many liberal minded German women just can't fathom the idea of conservative politicians asking for laws to be passed telling women what to wear and what not.

After all, that's the sort of thing you hear about happening in countries where the Mullahs have a say in fashion affairs, isn't it!?
Peter Dazeley via Getty Images

I don't watch Eastenders. I used to. Den and Angie, Simon Wicks and Cindy, Pauline and Arthur. I stayed watching through the first time the Mitchell brothers came to the Square. I stopped a while back, when career took evenings away and the gloss of US TV dramas replaced the grit of London soap.

I watched Friday's episode. I didn't know the back stories of the characters. But yet I did. I knew how those women felt. I never got my day in court, I was one of the 1 in 15 who did report the rape but I was one of the many that the CPS decided not to prosecute over.

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I totally commend Eastenders for the storyline, for the outcome. Rape Crisis South London have done an outstanding job at advising and ensuring the words spoken by the survivors ring true and real. When Ronnie says, that's what women do, we blame ourselves. When Kathy says she's happy, it's taken a while, but life is good. When Linda says she doesn't think about it 24/7 anymore but it is always there, colouring things. When Roxy says she's glad she didn't just curl up... And when she almost seems to break again with the realisation that the jury didn't believe her...

That's so important. To be believed. Even after knowing everything I know, even after doing all the recovery I've done, it still crumbles me when someone doesn't believe.

The Rape Crisis blog focuses on the hurtfulness of silence and the work they are doing to #breakthesilence. Silence hurts. Survivors are silenced all the time. Through our own silencing, when we have shame and feel we cannot share for fear of judgement and blame. Through not being believed, through being blamed. And through being treated differently, as though we are changed, broken, fragile. So then we have to prove we are strong, surviving, brave. Which then means we are tempted to silence ourselves, again. And of course, if we do speak, even when we are believed, no-one likes to hear the sad stories, they make people uncomfortable, and people look for answers to comfort themselves, the most common being well, you must have done something to make him want to do that....

In my recovery I became very frustrated with the silence. I've used the #silencehurts hashtag for several years now, since I spoke of it at SlutWalk London in 2012. I found that when I shared with others, they shared with me. Like Linda said, you think you're alone, but it's happened to all of us. I discovered that I wasn't alone and that this thing had happened too, to many of the people I knew. There was some kind of perverse comfort in knowing it wasn't just me, that others understood what I was going through. I know the truth of the trauma psychiatrist's conclusion that community is the critical factor in trauma recovery and I know the isolation that society's myths and prejudices when it comes to rape inflict on survivors.

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That's why I set up the ReConnected Life Community, a free resource where survivors can be supported and support each other. Because being part of community is the first step in ridding ourselves of the self-blame and shame - we saw it happen in the episode, with the women around the table, sharing their stories, shedding their self-blame, supporting each other, and finding solace in solidarity.

Kathy is right, life can get better. It doesn't need to be the struggle of surviving that Linda thinks it will be. There is a way to reclaim and redefine who we want to be, changed perhaps, but a new version of ourselves that we are proud to be. There is a way to lose the self-blame, to lose the shame. There is a way to break free from the silence. And it starts with Community. In solidarity with all.

To find out more and join the ReConnected Life Community, click here: reconnected.life/community
Engineering is a career that is all too often misunderstood as technical and labour intensive - and as such, a job that should be done by men and not women. This is so counter-intuitive, because when we really look at the necessary skillset and disciplines that engineering brings together, it becomes one of the most accessible professions in the modern world. The ability to design, plan, execute, use scientific knowledge but also manage and communicate really requires a diverse workforce of men, women and many ethnicities. So it's really important that young people, and especially girls like me, are encouraged by those in the industry to get on board with the challenging and rewarding careers on offer.

Recent research found that only 5%* of 4-12 year old children say that they would choose to drop science or design & technology from their studies, which shows that kids have a real interest in these subjects. Why then, are there not enough young people - particularly girls - choosing to study science, technology, engineering and maths at A-Level or at university, and therefore a shortage of young people going into engineering and technology careers?

I think that what parents think plays a real part. Many parents have certain perceptions on engineering - perhaps from their parents expressing similar ideas - that are so far from the truth. The idea that it is too technical and that there isn't good money in the field is an ideal that can easily be quashed. On average, engineering graduates earn a minimum of 24,524 (second only to medicine) compared to the national average of 21,000 . Not only that, the variety of disciplines that span engineering could take you to working on a microscopic scale in optical silicon photonics or perpetual motion in superconductors and superfluidity, to macroscopic scales such as the development of technology to further develop our understanding of the universe and quantum physics. Then there are operational positions, and managers who review and consult the paperwork behind such operations. In my opinion, almost anyone could find a position that suited them within the engineering industry.

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The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is one of the many organisations trying to change this and I am working with them and a few others to really make a difference. I sit on their Junior Board and help with ideas to reach parents and young people like me. For example, the IET ran its second annual Engineering Open House Day last week, to give families a first-hand experience of what it's like to be an engineer, and the chance to visit venues and organisations not traditionally known for engineering, in order to inspire and encourage them.

A range of creative venues across the UK took part, including the National Theatre, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the BBC, ITN Productions and Sky. They put on backstage tours and talks to show children and parents the different roles that engineers play at their organisations. This included taking TV signals from camera to screen to digitally plotting and set designs or changes - and their significance in making plays, exhibitions, or productions actually happen.

Big engineering companies that contribute huge amounts to the British economy - such as Shell in partnership with the Aberdeen Science Centre, Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant, Caterpillar, and Crossrail also took part, to demonstrate what their brilliant engineers do each day.

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This year's Engineering Open House Day was a success in helping to bring a little engineering magic into the lives of around 1,500 children and parents, but schools, parents and the industry do need to do more still.

Events like this help to reach kids, but it's really important that more is done to inspire children about STEM and support them with their ambitions if we are to see more young people becoming the engineers of the future. By showing people what engineers do and by standardising the perceptions of the industry we can bring in a wider diversity of people into the industry and really take things to the next level.

For updates on next year's Engineering Open House Day, and for information on the venues that took part this year, visit: www.engineer-a-better-world.org/engineering-open-house-day.
Halfpoint via Getty Images

In all my life I have never seen such a look of apprehension as I did last week in conversation with my work colleague about her upcoming weekend break. Touching on the usual "are you getting away" chitter chatter, she fearfully told me that her friends had invited her on a trip to what I could only assume was the outer edges of Mordor. As it transpired they'd booked the Eurostar to Paris, but boy was she not looking forward to it!

It must be a funny old time for those working in the travel industry. After years of Brits cashing in on package holidays to cheap and cheerful destinations across the Middle Eastern belt we've had the fear put into us with any desire to explore new places being sapped up as a consequence. 'Safe' holiday destinations such as Spain and Portugal are enjoying a surge in demand while the likes of Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and even Turkey are off the books. Even the good-old Staycation is back in popularity, with 84 per cent of Brits making UK trips this summer according to research, largely because folk are too worried by the threat of terrorism abroad.

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Bizarre really. The West has never been so safe. Even accounting for the recent attacks on Brussels, Paris and Turkey, historical data compiled using the Global Terrorism Database shows the number of fatalities from terrorist attacks between 1970 and 1990 amount to considerably more than those killed between 1990 and 2015. According to Dr Adrian Gallagher, Associate Professor in International Security at Leeds University, "Western Europe is safer now than it has been for decades and is far safer than most other parts of the world," adding that he would "support the idea that Western Europe is perhaps more peaceful now than at any point in modern human history".

The fact that acts of terrorism are more widely reported is certainly contributing to the rise of the Safecation, but the biggest contributing factor is more likely to be the way in which they are being reported. Rhetoric of fear is alive and well in the British press, and is as likely to blame for us leaving Europe politically as it is for us 'staying' in Europe when it comes to booking a holiday. Ironic, hey!

But here's the rub. If we allow terrorists to disrupt our plans and force us to cower behind wind breaks in Benidorm then they're winning. And what's more, we're paying for it! New research by working animal charity SPANA found "going to a destination that was too 'touristy'" and "choosing a destination that was too 'British'" both appeared in the top ten holiday regrets from this summer. "Not exploring outside our comfort zone" would be one I'd add.

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I recently visited Gaziantep on the Turkish Syrian border, and despite recent sad news of a sporadic mindless act of terrorism, I felt completely safe. The tragedy, of course, is that the British press will publish a different account of it. Turkey's Deputy Prime Mehmet Simsek was quoted in the Daily Mail saying "the aim of terror is to scare the people but we will not allow this," right after details about "blood and body parts" being everywhere and repeated mentions of "massacres", "atrocities" and mentions of political instability.
One of my earliest musical memories is watching the video for Gary Numan's breakthrough single Cars, mesmerised by the pale, android-like figure intoning glassily over a synth bassline.

A fusion of man and machine, like a musical Terminator, the performer was unlike anything else in the chart, at that time populated by the likes of disco divas Donna Summer and Sister Sledge, and the song propelled him into an enduring music career consolidating his status as a pioneer of commercial electronic music.

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The far-reaching influence of the King of Synthpop has embraced contemporary hard rock behemoths Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and Foo Fighters, who have all covered or adapted his material, while in the UK his music topped the charts again last decade in the unlikely vehicle of girl group Sugababes (Freak Like Me), as well as Basement Jaxx's dance hit Where's Your Head At?

It was an honour for myself to find out where Gary's own head was at in an interview 25 years on from my first experience of him, and to discover what a cordial and unpretentious interviewee he was, notwithstanding his decades of experience in a cut-throat music business that has beaten him down as much as it has elevated him. Gary has also long battled the social disorder Asperger Syndrome and suffered an annus horribilis at the turn of the millennium when his baby, grandmother and dog all died within months of each other. Away from the stage he's a qualified pilot who's owned several small aircraft including a WWII combat plane. He later married one of his own fans.

Right now Gary is the subject of a new documentary - Android in La La Land - focusing on his new life in America with his wife and daughters while he still plugs away at recording and releasing new music, as determined to leave a lasting legacy as he was when forming Tubeway Army as a London teenager in the 70s. It's essential viewing for Numanoids, covering his darker periods of depression, anxiety and near bankruptcy, while also seeming to miss a trick by glossing over his latter-day output, leaving blanks for viewers less acquainted with Gary's musical career.

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While not a diehard Numanoid myself, I've enjoyed many of his live shows over the years and will always keep tabs on whatever new material he records. Here's a selection of his unflinching answers to some questions I put to him ten years ago.

KG: In all your years of experience, what would you say is the worst thing about the music business?

GN: (Long pause) I think the very fact that it all turns out to be just business. It can be a bit soul-destroying seeing things you've done just become 'products'. There's a huge amount of bullshit, lying and deception, and very little loyalty. People who you thought were your friends will stab you in the back, the two-faced c*nts.

KG: You once failed an audition for The Jam - what do you think would've happened if you'd got the nod? You and Paul Weller would've made quite an interesting combo.

GN: I'd have had a fight with Weller within about two weeks! You just can't have two frontmen in the same band with the same forceful personalities and both wanting to get their own way.

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KG: Do you believe in fate or are we the masters of our own destiny?

GN: I think it's a combination of both. I don't think that everything is pre-ordained, but equally, one day you're gonna be in a plane and it's gonna fly into that mountain, and what can you do about it? Nothing. It was always going to happen. Some things will happen no matter what choices you make, but there are other things you can engineer and things you can deliberately avoid. You'll never be in a plane crash if you refuse to get into a plane.

KG: What do you think you'd be doing now had you not made it as a solo artist?

GN: What I'd have liked to have been is a racing driver... what I'd have probably done is become a forklift driver. I got expelled from school before I did my O levels so I've got no education or any academic qualifications whatsoever. I would've been doing an unskilled job or I'd have tried to become a racing driver.

KG: After experiencing so many bereavements earlier this decade are you still angry with God or has it faded?

GN: Oh no, I've always been angry and I've always found really religious people difficult to understand. I respect their beliefs and I'm not saying that I'm right - well, I think I am - but if I'm wrong then that's gonna be even worse. But what if he is there and he's let all these things happen? I don't actually dwell on it that much any more but it was obviously a big deal to me while making the album Pure, in which all my bitterness towards God just poured out, giving it much more of a real vibe rather than singing about imagined tragedy. Whenever I'm writing new songs it'll continue to rear its head.

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KG: You're presently touring the country again. What are your favourite UK live venues?

GN: I've done Wembley Arena a few times which is a really vibey venue but I'm not big enough to play there any more. One of my ambitions has been to get big enough to play Wembley again because to walk out at the arena is something else. Other than that, I play at the Shepherds Bush Empire more than anywhere else because I like it there so much.

Gary will be touring the UK again in September: dates at www.garynuman.co.uk
When you get the opportunity to visit the tranquillity of The Lake District you should take it! Particularly if you live in a city and work hard for these breaks away. It was a wonderful weekend and I am happy to share the experience with you.

I took just one day off from my business (if emails don't count) and drove over 200miles to 'The Lakes'. Well, on the edge to the historic market town of Sedbergh, nestling at the foot of the Howgills, is just a couple miles away from The Malabar where we stayed. As well as being England's first Book Town, Sedbergh is known for its prestigious public school, founded in 1525 and attended by former rugby stars, Will Carling and Will Greenwood to name just a couple. Streets are quaint and cobbled and shops are individual - not the same old high street variety. There's also a good selection of cafes, which are popular with walkers on the long-distance Dales Way that passes through the town.

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Now I live in London and don't drive too many places, so the prospect of a road trip and a peaceful setting is even more exciting. We arrived at about 6pm on Friday evening. The Malabar luxury B&B is run by first-time B&B owners, Fiona and Graham, it has six indulgent bedrooms including three suites - all with large designer bathrooms. We were warmly greeted by them upon arrival- they treat all their guests to afternoon tea. A choice of ten loose-leaf teas and homemade pastries. The scones were my favourite and very welcome too!

We stayed in one of their suites. It was spacious, designed to a high specification and bursting with character- exactly what we wanted. The view from the courtyard was simple but stunning all in one.

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On the Friday we went into the town of Sedbergh to eat. The roads leading there are so remote there is no pavement between the hotel and town so a taxi was compulsory but reasonably priced.

Saturday morning and after a lazy start we were treated to a feast of a breakfast. I had hot lemon water, green tea, porridge and fruit. Quite similar to what I would have at home, just way nicer and served outside with a view. The fresh air was a tonic.

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The Saturday we went to Cautley Spout. Now I really loved this day out. We hardly saw anyone on the walk to the top. It was fitness (which you know I love) but not too intense. The views on the way up were a far cry from my usual city scene and the utter peace when we reached the top of the waterfall we perfect. Very romantic. We had a brief paddle in the rock pools up there before making our way down.

We also ate near to Lake Windermere on evening. The lake itself I have visited many times as a child, its a spectacular site to behold but too busy to be as idyllic as you want it to be.
Last Thursday night I inadvertently caused a car crash.

After finishing performing my hit stand-up comedy show Independence in the Edinburgh Fringe, I went to the temporary taxi rank on Potterrow to get a black cab back to where I am staying. Now I drive an electric powered wheelchair which means I need the driver to get their ramp out so that I can get in. I work all over the UK and I have found that this not to be a problem for most taxi drivers. Indeed some of my best mates are cabbies. However for some unknown reason, when I approach cab drivers in Edinburgh and ask for the ramp, they look at me as if I've just suggested gang-raping their mother.

Other professions who provide a public service do not get to pick and choose who they serve. There would be an outcry if doctors or firefighters starting being picky about who they would and wouldn't help! So why should black cab drivers be any different?

As a stand-up comedian I've spent a lot of time working in Edinburgh over the years. In fact I've worked here 8 out of the 34 weeks we've had so far this year, equaling nearly 24% of 2016 to date. That's a lot of my cab fares that Edinburgh drivers have missed out on! Indeed back home our local black cab company often say that my wife and I keep them in business. It doesn't take a financial genius to work out that, if you're running a company providing transportation to the public then people with mobility issues are going to be some of your best customers.

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Two years ago I was waiting in the exact same place with my mate for a taxi. It was pouring with rain in a way that only ever seems to happen in Scotland. There was so much water running down my face that it was difficult to see. Eventually we did manage to get a black cab to stop by my mate flagging one down whilst I hid out of sight round the corner. But once I emerged, the driver steadfastly refused to get out of the cab to get the ramp out, an activity that would have only taken thirty seconds or less. My mate and I stared in disbelief, soaked to the bone as he drove off into the distance.

Like the driver last Thursday, this driver couldn't even produce the customary medical exemption certificate that taxi drivers are obliged to produce to prove that they are legally entitled to refuse to take disabled passengers on medical grounds. Obviously I've no wish for some poor cabby to do his back in helping me into his cab. But I've noticed that far more drivers in Edinburgh flash me one of these certificates than anywhere else I've worked in the country; and there's no means of checking online whether a certificate is genuine or not. Call me a suspicious Aloysius, but I can't help but think there's a crafty cabby out there somewhere with a scanner and a colour printer knocking out fake medical certificates ten to a dozen. Either that or driving a black cab in Edinburgh has an abnormally serious detrimental effect to your health!

Last Thursday there was only one accessible back cab on the Potterrow taxi rank. But when I approached him, he made it clear that he would not take me because I am a wheelchair user and he was "too old" to help me get in. I asked to see his medical exemption certificate but he angrily said he didn't have one. It's quite difficult to have a conversation through a passenger-side car window when you're sat down, so I opened the side door to try to explain to him that my personal assistant is insured to help me get into cabs so he doesn't need to do any heavy lifting. But before I could speak he flew into a rage and slammed his foot down on the accelerator, pulling out into the road without looking and straight into the rear end of another car!

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Nothing like a bit of instant karma is there?

I took a photo of the taxi's registration plate and reported the driver to Edinburgh City Council that very same evening, but four days later they haven't so much as acknowledged my complaint. In contrast, the last time I complained about a black cab refusing to take me back home in Liverpool, the council disciplined the driver within 24 hours. I can't help but wonder whether the council's inability to deal quickly and effectively with these drivers is partly to blame for why the situation is so bad in Edinburgh.
We've been hearing that video content is the next big it thing for years. Video has definitely landed, with an added juicy bit called livestreaming. I must admit that I'm an instant gratification kind of gal and the idea of watching a broadcast unfold, sans edits or scripting is like a cold drink on a ridiculously hot morning.

Live-streaming isn't new; in fact, it's been around in one form or another since the 1990s. Sites like Ustream and Livestream have been around for years, but never before have we experienced the perfect overlap of smartphone technology and social media.

Facebook is leading the pack and investing big time. A few months ago, Mark Zuckerberg announced new live broadcast features--through a live broadcast, of course. In just a few short months, Periscope alone has accumulated over 15 million registered users and Youtube offers 360 live-streaming and 'spatial' audio for realistic surround sound.

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Let's face it - Live-streaming video is cheap, highly engaging and easy to pull off.

Brands have traditionally spent billions of dollars on TV ads, billboards and print, but that focus has now shifted to digital media. Social media is more cost-effective and yields better results than the traditional methods. Social media is constantly evolving and tracking ROI is no longer a difficult task.

But what is it about live-streaming that's so appealing to people?

What you see is what you get

With so many edited images and videos, nothing is as it seems anymore. Live-streaming makes it much harder to paint a rose coloured image. I love a bit of unscripted reality tea and it feels good to know that what I'm watching is real. People want to see who you really are and feel like they are participating in a shared experience. According to Brandlive, over 90% of marketers say that the biggest benefit of live video is the authentic interaction it provides with their audience.

Engagement, Engagement, Engagement

One of my new TV favourites is BBC's Inside the Factory. It provides exclusive access to some of the largest factories in Britain to reveal the secrets behind production on an epic scale. While the series isn't live- streamed, it's a perfect example of the type of bite-sized content that brands should be creating to engage with their audience. Live-streaming humanizes a brand in a way images and recorded video can't. It makes it easier to tell your story and to give access to your brand in a whole new way.

Last year, GE launched #DRONEWEEK on Periscope, broadcasting live video film by a GE-engineered drone flying from coast to coast.

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Versatility

Live video isn't just for big brands, it can be a great tool for organisations that have teams scattered across the globe. Live-streams are now being used to conduct team meetings, shareholder meetings, brief new hires, trainings and how-to's - the possibilities are endless.

Completely ad-free (for now)

Those annoying ads in the beginning of the video that you are forced to watch on YouTube? Not here, not yet. Facebook is testing short video ads that will play during breaks in Facebook Live broadcasts, but you can enjoy ad free streaming for the time being.

Life-saving Live

This is an area that I will be keeping my eye on. It will be interesting to see how the healthcare space uses live-streams. Dr Shafi Ahmed, a cancer surgeon at the Royal London Hospital who is pioneering VR surgery, broadcasted the first live surgery - in virtual reality few months ago.
Daniela Mangiuca via Getty Images

The trailer has dropped for 'Arrival,' and it is already being hyped as the science-fiction event of 2016. The plot hinges on the appearance of monolith-esque spacecraft in the sky, and linguist Amy Adams' mission to find a way to communicate with these extra-terrestrial newcomers. Part of the film's appeal comes from its attempts to take a somewhat realistic approach to some pretty trippy subject matter, 'Interstellar'-style.

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So if aliens really did land tomorrow, how would we, as human beings, make ourselves understood? Verbal communication would probably be out of the question; after all, this new species would have evolved in an entirely different way to us. They might not even have mouths. 'Arrival' posits that written language might hold the key to communication; but which one? English? Spanish? Mandarin? Arabic? Surely there is a case to be made that our first contact with alien life be visual.

Drawing simplistic round faces is how earthling children learn about emotions and facial cues. It makes sense, then, to start in the same place with any little green visitors who drop in.

Which brings us to the humble emoji.

Just as ancient civilisations told their stories through pictograms and hieroglyphs, now the quickest way to convey an emotion or state of mind is through the heart-eyes emoji, or the crying-laughing emoji... or the poop emoji. Emoji provide a visual language that transcends nationality or culture.

"That the 'language' is so universal and recognisable is due in large part to the Unicode Consortium, the group of major tech companies in charge of defining and approving new emoji," writes Andrew Cunningham. "Every year it proposes, discusses and approves new additions to the language, and that heavyweights like Apple, Google and Microsoft have become so diligent about supporting new versions is a rare victory for standards in an age where every tech company on Earth is trying to lock you into its own proprietary silo."

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There have been some key variances in how certain emoji are displayed from device to device, such as Apple's handgun, which now appears as a water pistol. Cunningham fears that, should these variations continue, we will end up with multiple strands of incompatible emoji dialect. But surely if we are to present a united front to our new intergalactic friends, we need to iron out such fragmentation?

According to Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia, we needn't worry much. "The varied appearance of emoji on different platforms I see as a lesser issue in 2016 than it has been in the past, and an issue that is slowly resolving itself as platforms look to one another for cues on consistency," he says.

As the popularity of emoji has grown, so has their diversity, with more recent upgrades including a wider choice of ethnicities and different combinations for families -- a fitting primer in the human race, you might say.
The Confession: The Untold Story of The "War on Terror"

The Confession is a documentary film produced by Ashish Ghadiali, in which he interviews Moazzam Begg, a British ex-Guantanamo detainee who was released without charge in 2005. The documentary unequivocally reveals the reasons behind the rise of the "Modern Jihad".

The documentary film was rudimentary in terms of its production, with no dramatic sound, light or special effects. It was literally a talking head for 90 minutes. However, this talking head of Begg and the untold story he shared was amply powerful in its authenticity and credibility. It was not told by writers from a money-spinning silver screen industry, but by the eyes that witnessed a generation of conflict from the Gulf war, Bosnian genocide and the Chechen war to the war on Afghanistan. In this documentary, Begg was effectively able to take the viewers with him in his life journey with its hodgepodge of thoughts and emotions.

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We, the British public, are constantly told that the "War on Terror" is not a choice but a necessity to protect us and our interests from the undeveloped, backward and malevolent 'Jihadis', 'terrorists', 'Islamic fundamentalists' and 'radicals'. We have instantly and uncritically accepted this narrative that is crafted by the establishment, equipped by a multi-million arms industry and the neoconservative lobbyists that go hand in hand with the rise of Islamophobia nationally and globally.

The narrative of the "War on Terror" was crafted through the stories of self, of us and of now, creating a sense of urgency after a crisis, which in our case is the atrocity of 9/11 and provoking us to take action manifested in the "War on terror" by capitalising on our emotions of anger, frustration and despair.

This propaganda is derived from the art of public opinion engineering, whereby our minds are moulded and our imbibed ideas are suggested largely by a small number of powerful people who understand our mental processes and social patterns and who pull the wires which control the docile public mind, making us believe the implausible. This group of powerful individuals can be institutions, think-tanks, lobbyists, and an ally of governments or all together that initiate what is called mimetic warfare.

Dr Robert D. Crane, a former advisor of the US President Richard Nixon, describes this mimetic warfare as a psycho-strategic warfare that uses mimes which can be symbols, slogans or words that are psychologically loaded to manipulate the public sub-conscious to produce a desired result. Such mimetic warfare is designed to achieve victory over a perceived enemy they themselves might create to give them a purpose of existence and to further their economic and political interests.

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Most nation states live on such mimetic warfare. Mussolini, the Italian fascist, propagated that Italy is a prisoner in the Mediterranean because Italy lacked control over geo-strategic regions such as Gibraltar and the Suez Canal and therefore Italy ought to start a war. Italians believed this narrative so much so they melted wedding rings in an effort to contribute to the war that killed almost 100,000 Libyans who were perceived wrongly as the enemy.

Once Communism was the bogeyman of Western liberalism and when it imploded, the so called 'Islamic' terrorism became a handy enemy especially after 9/11, perceiving it as an existential threat to the free world, dragging our country into the war mires of Afghanistan and Iraq, killing approximately 2 million civilians in the last 15 years of the "War on Terror" (as stated in a landmark study, released in 2015 by Washington DC-based Physicians for Social Responsibility).

So is our British government showing us duplicity in its realm and approach? What if all of what we were told and believed were nothing but fallacy? Were there ways of avoiding killing 2 million civilians? Was the "War on Terror" an exclusive necessity or a choice to further the interests of the few? How did 'Islamic' terrorism or "Modern Jihad" come about and what provoked it? Did our government play a role in the ascent of "Modern Jihad"?

All these questions were highlighted by the untold story of Moazzam Begg in The Confession that did not only challenge the government-supported, widely-spread narrative of the "War on Terror" but dismantled it.
Having taken part in the May 2015 elections, and been elected a councillor, as well as being long listed for parliament back in February this year, I feel I have an improved understanding of the difficulties faced of even being in the position to stand as a candidate, let alone win.

It is expensive and time consuming. I am fortunate enough to be in a secure job as a doctor in Emergency Medicine and General Practice, yet I still found it no easy task to participate. This worries me because if a professional like me could struggle then so too could many more other people in less well paid jobs. Could someone on the minimum wage stand? This is dangerous for democracy if only money determines who stands as candidates.

Reflecting on our local and national elections, for us to make any real and meaningful change to our politics, it can no longer be done from the sidelines only, and I feel we must actively get involved ourselves. I am trying to encourage people from all walks of life to get involved in politics but it is no easy task as you will all appreciate. I often heard it said during the months running up to the election, when I had put myself forward to be a councillor, that 'I would do it myself if I had the time or the money'. This was the most common response I heard to me encouraging people to participate in the process themselves as candidates.

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I feel, like many others do, that for us to have truly representative and reflective democracy, and to address the ever growing apathy towards politics, we need more everyday people to get involved and participate as council and parliamentary candidates. That way we would have more of the type of politicians we want and can identify with, plus all their associated varied skills from their respective careers and backgrounds. Plato said 'one of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics, is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.' A true revolution of politics would be enabling greater participation from across society, leading to a more varied mix of politicians, both locally and nationally.

We would all benefit from this across party lines. People with regular jobs have highly transferable skills and know what it is needed in their area be it in teaching, business, management, nursing, the service sector etc. We must not ignore this reservoir of untapped talent.

To achieve this change we need to consider the obstacles faced in doing so. I feel they are time and money, as many friends, colleagues and those on the doorstep often said to me. To mount a political campaign is no easy task and requires a lot of planning and effort, and therefore time and money.

You may be working and the only 'bread winner' in your house, for example. To participate may mean you lose out financially as you are not earning when out campaigning. The American actor Will Rogers said 'politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated' and he said that in the 1930's! Does this mean those who have regular jobs during the day should be excluded from politics? Does this mean only the financially secure or retired be allowed to govern us? This effectively excludes a large section of society and denies us the skills, knowledge and attributes they regularly use.

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Equally, you may decide to mount your campaign in the evenings and weekends in your spare time, knowing you will need to sacrifice key family or leisure time which is essential for health and well being. It is not easy. This again puts people off before they have even started and I feel we are missing out on what they could bring. They could be the change we need to make our society better and inspire more young people to get involved.

What can we do then to bring about such change to bring more everyday people into the political fold? I don't pretend to have all the answers but I feel giving some suggestions may help continue this much needed conversation and spark more debate. I would like to see legislation discussed that actively supports those who put themselves forward as political candidates for council or parliament.

If selected, could employers support candidates in allowing them paid or part paid 'political leave' to pursue their campaigns without fear of financial loss? I imagine supportive employers would be proud to have a member of staff seek to represent their local area? Indeed, many employers support members who are union representatives, as well as being encouraged by government to support members of the British Army Reserve (of which I am a member). Why can't something similar be considered for political candidates? This would be a step towards a healthier democracy I feel.

Also, if elected to local government, local councils must do all they can to allow those with regular jobs to take part by allowing committees to meet after 5pm in the evening when they are available. Meeting earlier in the day effectively denies people with regular jobs from active participation. I would encourage all councils to have their committee meetings after 5pm to encourage greater democracy.
Tim Burgess

Timbuktu, the place name has always been used to suggest somewhere far away, hard to get to and, generally, not round here. It suggests travel and distance.

When a few people asked about a follow up to my first book, Telling Stories, I jokingly started to refer to Tim Book Two, the follow up. I thought it was certainly a medal hopeful in the pun Olympics but people took me a bit more at my word than I maybe would've liked.

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It started to all get a bit more real - Faber and Faber even came in and said they'd publish it, so all I had to do was write it. Maybe the Timbuktu element was more in my conscious than my subconscious as it turned out to be a quest, and a kind of vinyl travelogue. The name came around two years ago and slowly the content hit the pages - by December it was completed. Tim Book Two made it onto the cover alongside the more descriptive, Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul To San Francisco.

I'm much more used to making albums than writing books, and after the secrecy and labour in a studio would come the excitement and mayhem of a tour.

I'd done a book tour for Telling Stories but for a book with 'Adventures' in the title, we wanted to move away from a traditional reading and questions and answers.

Tim Book Two is about record shops, vinyl and the joy of sharing your favourite albums with your favourite people - kind of like what happens every day but I wanted to ask some people that everyone might know. I texted Johnny Marr, pushed a note under the dressing room door of Iggy Pop, bumped into Neil Tennant in the street and sent smoke signals to David Lynch - the message was the same. I just wanted them to recommend one album - if they wanted to they could say why, and I'd then go and attempt to find it on vinyl.

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Their recommendations were in and the adventure took me to dozens of record shops on The Charlatans tours of the US, the UK and Europe.

A book about records deserves a vinyl soundtrack but when the albums are by The Clash, Joy Division Willie Nelson and Paul Simon it's hard to know if permission will be granted - Paul Simon came back instantly with a yes, so You Can Call Me Al was the first song we had. News came in from The Clash's publisher that their songs weren't ever on compilations, then, rumour has it a certain Mr Jones called them and Rebel Waltz from Sandinista! was our second confirmation. It was almost as exciting as getting the recommendations in the first place.

We thought if we had records, we might as well have a record shop, so Vinyl Adventures was born - stocking all the albums from the book and much of the O Genesis back catalogue - records given to us along the way by guests and sew on patches, gig tickets and even a really expensive box set (Dinosaur Jr) that's over a hundred pounds and nobody ever buys it. All the record shop essentials - even Nick who played the part of record shop guy, was channelling the slightly grumpy, 'I know more about music than you' air that some, but not all vinyl retailers possess. Looking back, he didn't seem much different to the actual Nick we know so maybe he was born to do it, as Craig David might say.

A van was hired and packed with the shop - guests were called and RSVPs came back in from Gary Neville, Sharon Horgan, Stephen & Gillian from New Order and Chris & Cosey from Throbbing Gristle, hosts including Stuart Maconie, Shaun Keaveny and David Haslam were signed up and venues like Salford Lads Club, Jodrell Bank and Cecil Sharp House were booked, tickets put on sale with sold out signs at the ready.

We saw Kirk Whitehouse's broken vinyl artworks online and he made 5 of the covers of the albums and even gave the Abba Gold artwork to Chris Carter, who chose it and Born In The USA was given to Gary Neville who'd recommended it as his choice for Tim Book Two

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We had the custom built turntable that Rega Research had made for us, featuring the cover artwork of Pete Fowler - we were a mobile art exhibition, record shop, book club and gathering of friends - as well as all that I DJ'd what (according to Twitter) is the toughest pub in Glasgow (one of my favourite DJ sets ever), we headed to two festivals, one event was moved outside into a beautiful courtyard as the weather was so hot.

From Norwich to Glasgow and back it was like a mobile self help group with vinyl addicts and it was so much more than a book tour. Best not joke about the next book being called One, Two, Another, should I?

Tim Burgess Presents...Tim Book Two: 'Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco' out now on Faber and Faber.

The accompanying compilation 'Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco' is out now on O Genesis Recordings.

www.timburgess.tmstor.es
I started my working life at the age of 17, with a job at my local estate agent. It was initially meant to be work experience over the summer between my first and second years at college. However, when they asked me to stay full time, I accepted, and never started my second college year. Looking back, it was a really stupid or really risky thing to do (depending on how you look at it). That job went pear shaped after about 9 months and I was seriously wondering if I'd made the biggest mistake of my life.

The estate agent and I eventually parted company and I drove home in tears, scared of what to do. I hadn't been earning much at all, and my mother was expecting me to pay rent. So when I got home I started to look for jobs in London. Since I lived about an hour out of London, it wasn't really a "normal" thing to do. I didn't know anyone else who commuted in, and all of my family had normal jobs in shops. But at 18 years old I made some appointments with recruitment agencies in London and went up there by myself. To this day I can't remember what was going through my mind when I travelled up there. London was somewhere I'd only ever been on school trips. Looking back, it was actually quite a brave thing to do.

On that day I went up, the first agency told me that they had something that I could be put forward for. I was really excited, and waited for their call. The call came a few hours later and they asked if I was still in London and could I go to the interview. I was overjoyed and said yes. After a 3 hour interview, I was offered the job! On the very same day I'd gone up there! I could not have been more excited.

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I ultimately left home at 18 and lived in a shared house. But I had a good job and I was independent. Not many people can say that when they are only 18.

Now, more than a decade on, I often wonder what a mentor might have said to me back then. As a mentor now, what career advice would I have given my 18 year old self?

1. You don't have to hate your job

That first job was awful and I left just three months later. I sat in a glass office with five other people who barely said two words to each other all day. No-one ate lunch together, and my boss gave me a whole load of grief for not having a legible signature. Since the walls were glass, I could see into the office opposite. They had Dress Down Fridays, chatted to each other by the water cooler, and had cakes when it was someone's birthday. They had quite a few more people in their office, and it looked so fun. I stared at them all enviously every day while I sneaked chocolate buttons out of my drawer (because I wasn't permitted to eat anything at my desk).

My last job was great. I worked with loads of really nice people; I worked in a lovely area; and I genuinely enjoyed my job. I never woke up wishing that I didn't have to go into work (apart from when it was snowing and I wanted to stay snuggled up in bed!). Sitting in a fish bowl with no conversation is not forced on you. Nothing is stopping you from going and looking for something else. Even if you have only just started there. If it's a horrible environment, you will end up resenting your time there and you won't work your best.

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My career advice is that you don't have to love your job, but you should never hate it.

2. Don't be afraid to speak up

Your opinion is just as valuable as anyone else's. If you are sitting in a meeting and someone says something you don't understand, ask them what they mean. You have as much right as everyone else to know what is going on. And, at 18 years old, people are going to assume you will ask what you don't understand. My nana once told me that she got herself into trouble for invoicing 20 when it should have been 2000. Back in the 50s, she was a secretary and worked near Bank. Part of her job was to send out invoices for the machinery that her company built. She told her boss that all the secretaries should be given a tour of all the machinery so that it meant a little more to them than just a code in a book. From that day forward, all secretaries were shown around on a regular basis.

My career advice would be that you have the right to speak up, and if you are told that you don't, you are not in the right company.

3. You are the expert at what you do

Even if you don't think you are, people will expect you to be. On my first day working at an investment bank, the printer broke and I was expected to fix it. I was also expected to know what flights my boss wanted for her trip to Hong Kong that following week. Of course I didn't know, but as Secretaries and PAs, we become masters at these kinds of things.

People will try to tell you how to do your job. I always say that as long as you can explain why you have done something and you can show a logical trail of thought, then you have made an acceptable decision. Whilst I will always encourage people to challenge me if they don't think what I'm doing is right, no-one has a better knowledge about my role than I do.

My career advice would be that you should have confidence in your own ability.

4. Learn about the business you are in

One of the best pieces of career advice I received came in the form of a question. "How does your department make money?". At the time of being asked this question, I didn't have a clue. But it wasn't until I could fully answer it that I understood what my team did.

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So ask yourself. How does your company make money? If you don't know, you don't know your business. Ask your boss. Ask their boss. Even ask THEIR boss. Ask anyone and everyone to explain what they do and how they fit into the organisation. There aren't many people who won't want to tell you what they do.

My advice is to understand your company from the bottom to the top. If your company is massive, at least understand where your department fits into the organisation.
"My parents always wanted me to 'mind my own business,' as they think I need to focus on how to be promoted at work and how to create my own family later on. But, it always looked wrong to go to your work, go back to your house, spend time with your family and never look around. Pretending that what was going on around us in Syria has never existed was very hard for me. All the social justice and freedom of speech that we never had were things which are unignorable. The fear that the people have when they see a policeman or even only a traffic policeman wasn't normal at all. In other countries, people feel safe when the police is around, but for us it's the opposite!

There is something that happened with me that I'll not be able to forget, ever. When I was supposed to do my military service, I went to the competent authority, but when I joined I was three days late. In a country where they respect their citizens and at least deal with them as human beings, you will expect that I might be paying a fee or something, but you will never imagine that I was chained from my feet and my arms and was grabbed with a group of other young people who had the same situation. They kept us for 3 days in a place looks like a prison but it was much worse with criminals and normal prisoners who have committed crimes. That was really humiliating. And till this moment I'll never understand why they needed to do that."
In recent years, the Secretary of State has been obliged to report to the Appropriations Committees of the Congress on the implementation of best-practice whistleblower protections at the United Nations, its Funds, Programs, and Specialized Agencies. A favorable report on each UN agency is required, if the Congress is to release the total US annual contribution to each organization in the UN common system.

If the Secretary of State does not report that whistleblowers are protected at a UN agency, the Congress must withhold 15 percent of the contribution. In addition to 15 UN agencies, the requirement pertains to the UN Secretariat, including the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Office of Internal Oversight (OIOS), where 2015 saw dramatic reversals in whistleblower protection. Moreover, for the Secretariat, 15 percent of the US' annual funding equals tens of millions of dollars that the institution sorely needs.

Given the terrible year for UN whistleblowers recorded in 2015, we at the Government Accountability Project (GAP) anticipated an unfavorable report from the Secretary of State, expressing the disappointment of the US government as it promotes accountability at the UN. Such a finding would create an urgent obligation to amend the whistleblower protection policy and effectively apply it at the Secretariat. If that were done, it could go a long way toward establishing an ethical international meritocracy that functions in compliance with the aspirations of the UN's founding principles.

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This was not to be. The Secretary of State reported that the UN Secretariat's policy reflects "best practices among international organizations." "However," the report continues, "more can and should be done to promote effective implementation and enforcement of the policy." The State Department then elaborates its discussion of the Secretariat's Ethics Office outreach and training operations during the reporting period to support the argument that - though more could and should be done -- the UN is striving to promote effective anti-retaliation measures.

The legislation that required this report is simple and explicit, however (Section 7048). The Secretary of State must report that each UN agency to which the U.S. contributes funding has adopted and is enforcing best practice protections for whistleblowers regarding:

(i) legal burdens of proof;

(ii) statutes of limitation for reporting retaliation;

(iii) access to independent adjudicative bodies, including external arbitration; and

(iv) results that eliminate the effects of proven retaliation.

There is not much room for equivocation in responding to the reporting mandate. In his report to the Congress, the Secretary of State nonetheless dodges the requirement and describes -- for roughly three-and-a-half single-spaced pages -- ethics training provided to UN Secretariat staff and something called "Leadership Dialogues."

Quite simply, the report is not germane to the legal requirement imposed by the Congress. Congress did not ask for an account of the activities of the UN Ethics Office in New York. It asked whether the whistleblower protection policy met specific standards and whether the policy was enforced. The answer to both questions is an unqualified "No." In coming blogs, we will elaborate on the failure of the Secretariat (and UN Peacekeeping Operations) to comply with the four standards set out in law.

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All of us who watch the UN Secretariat's Ethics Office recognize that it has two functions. First is the responsibility to address specific complaints of retaliation by assessing them fairly and providing relief where required. This is the hard edge of ethics and compliance work. Secondly the Ethics Office has a softer, more flexible dimension: providing guidance and training to the staff on ethical dilemmas.

The US legislation requires information responsive to the first dimension of work, but the State Department provides data about the second. The reason the Congress prioritizes the first aspect of work over the second is obvious: if the policy is inadequate or not enforced, then it doesn't matter what sort of advice or training the UN Ethics Office provides for staff.

The State Department report tries to finesse an obvious problem in UN operations that should prohibit the disbursement of the full US contribution to the Secretariat.

To be clear, neither GAP, nor the UN whistleblowers we represent, want to weaken or impoverish the United Nations, and certainly not the DPKO or OIOS. Both departments have vital functions, and the international community depends on the effectiveness of their operations. But whistleblower protections impose an honor code on an institution: if an official betrays the principles of the UN Charter and behaves unethically, his or her conduct will be reported by a whistleblower and (presumably) corrected. This single measure constitutes a cost-free, non-invasive means to rapidly correct a plethora of operational problems, small and large.
Many Americans and critics of President Obama are suspicious of the United States' recent $400 million cash payment to Iran. The cash transaction between the U.S. State Department and the Iranian government coincided with the release of five American hostages who had been detained in Tehran under Iranian custody.

"Let me be clear: The United States does not pay ransom," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters earlier this week, after a greek chorus of Republican politicians referred to the U.S. cash transfer as a "thinly-veiled ransom payment." The White House released a statement describing how the cash payment was part of a larger $1.7 billion settlement over an arms sale in 1979.

Longstanding diplomatic policy forbids the U.S. from paying ransom to hostage-takers. Paying ransom for hostages, as the logic goes, only encourages more hostage-taking, and this is why U.S. policy is so opposed to it. Many critics have voiced opposition to the United States' firm stance against transacting in this way, though. It's a contentious policy.

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The U.S. State Department for decades has circumvented its ban on ransom payments by dispatching "freelance diplomats," usually in the form of American politicians who have political clout and are well-liked in international circles. It's a tricky kind of maneuvering. While prominent American figures have traveled to foreign countries on unofficial diplomatic missions to free hostages throughout American history, the U.S. began to employ this tactic more frequently during The Cold War.

As for the freelance diplomats, James B. Donovan's deft handling of hostage negotiations during the Cold War set an example for Bill Richardson and the Reverend Jesse Jackson to follow in later years. Since the 1980s, both Richardson and Jackson have tallied an impressive number of successes on America's behalf (and they continue to serve the U.S. in this capacity). Here is a timeline summarizing the most notable examples of freelance diplomacy since 1960.



Apr. 1962 - Amid Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Russia, New York lawyer James B. Donovan negotiates the release of Francis Gary Powers, an American airplane pilot and CIA operative who had been shot down by the Soviets and detained two years earlier, in 1960. With the backing of President Kennedy, Donovan travels to Berlin and arranges for a prisoner swap; in exchange for Powers's freedom, the U.S. releases Colonel Rudolf Abel, a KGB spy who had been caught in the U.S. several years earlier.

Sept. - Dec. 1962 - Without 'official' diplomatic status (behind the scenes, the CIA and Attorney General Robert Kennedy were overseeing Donovan's missions), James Donovan persuades Fidel Castro to release 1,163 Cuban exiles who were captured during the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961.

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1963 - James Donovan uses the clout he's established with Castro, traveling to Havana to negotiate the release of several dozen American citizens who are being held captive in Cuban jails.

1984 - Rev. Jesse Jackson travels to Damascus, Syria, where he meets and negotiates directly with Syrian president Hafez Assad. Jackson secures the release of Lieutenant Robert Goodman, a U.S. Navy pilot.

1987 - Rev. Jesse Jackson travels to Cuba, where he convinces Fidel Castro to release 48 Cuban and Cuban-American prisoners.

Sept. 1990 - Rev. Jesse Jackson persuades Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to relax bureaucratic restrictions, paving the way for women and children detainees to be released. As a result of Jackson's efforts, over 700 foreign women and children who were detained in Iraq and Kuwait return home to the U.S.

Nov. 1990 - Following Jesse Jackson's trip two months prior and over the objections of then-President George H.W. Bush, Muhammad Ali travels to Iraq to secure the release of 15 remaining American detainees.

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1994 - New Mexico congressman Bill Richardson negotiates the release of American pilots detained in North Korea.

1995 - New Mexico congressman Bill Richardson travels to Iraq, where he negotiates with Saddam Hussein to secure the release of two U.S. oil workers who wandered over the Iraq-Kuwait border.

July 1996 - New Mexico congressman Bill Richardson helps to secure the release of Lia McCord, an American woman, who was detained in Bangladesh for carrying heroin.

Nov. 1996 - New Mexico congressman Bill Richardson travels to North Korea and successfully negotiates the release of a Evan Hunziker, a 26-year-old American.

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Dec. 1996 - New Mexico congressman Bill Richardson helps negotiate the release of three Red Cross workers who had been imprisoned by Sudanese rebels.

1999 - Against the urging of the White House, the Rev. Jesse Jackson travels to Serbia and negotiates the release of three U.S. soldiers detained in Belgrade.

2006 - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson meets with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Richardson persuades Bashir to release an imprisoned American journalist who had entered the country without a visa in an attempt to report on the genocide in Darfur.

2009 - President Bill Clinton travels to North Korea on an "unofficial humanitarian mission," negotiating the release of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. The women were captured by North Korean soldiers while filming a documentary along the China-North Korea border.

2012 - After the Rev. Jesse Jackson makes a personal plea to Yahya Jammeh, President of the West African nation of Gambia, two Americans serving long prison sentences in Gambia are freed. They return home to the United States.

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Solve a real problem. "Treat entrepreneurship as agnostic experimentation" - Peter Thiel Have you ever pondered an idea in the shower and thought, "this is worth millions!" The truth is, most ideas are not viable businesses. One technique to test market viability is to build a straw-man level product to safely and effectively test your idea and user interest, while generating real data that can help you refine and improve it. Don't make the common mistake entrepreneurs make by creating a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. Back problems with empirically tested data, and create a solution that attacks the problem at its core. Focus on building an aspirin level product that solves real headaches, rather than a product that is mostly nice to have- like vitamins. You may find yourself taking one-a-day vitamins for a month or two, but ultimately you forget about them. Be honest with yourself-- is your company selling an aspirin or a vitamin? If it's the latter, it might be time for a reevaluation through the form of market testing. Have fun with it, and be a little crazy.

Start small, then scale!

"Think big, start small, fail quickly, scale fast." - Anonymous

Hyper-focus on a small target market and then expand to different markets. A common mistake entrepreneurs make is feeling the need to cater to the widest possible group of consumers. This is the wrong approach! Look at Amazon for instance-- they started as an online book-selling company and then expanded into the largest internet retailer in the world. While PayPal, for example, could benefit any person making online transactions, the company gained tremendous traction by focusing first on a very specific segment of Ebay users. This approach worked and turned PayPal into one of the most successful payment processing systems in the Silicon Valley. It's important to be aware of a larger market for future growth, but it's even more important to focus on a very niche market and continue to expand to adjacent markets.



Be the last mover.

"This is the age of Digital Darwinism, where technology and society evolve faster than any organization can adapt. The best advantage you can leverage is being built for the newly possible" - Tom Goodwin

Look at some of the most popular technology companies out there right now. Before Apple there was BlackBerry, before Google there was Archie, and before Facebook there was Myspace. The tremendous advantage Apple, Google, and Facebook had in this scenario is in their ability to learn from their predecessors. All three of these companies saw what their competitors were doing wrong and capitalized on these opportunities, potentially saving them millions in R&D costs. It's a combination of external factors that allows for the creation of new technology in this fast paced environment.



Simplicity is key!

"You've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology." - Steve Jobs

In the words of Richard Branson, "Keep it simple, stupid!" When have you heard a customer say, "I wish this product were more complicated" or "I wish this technology were harder to use." The answer is, NEVER! Keep it simple, and focus on the core premise of your product before implementing specific features. Google, for example, has very complicated proprietary algorithms behind their search engine, but the user only encounters a simple webpage with a logo and search bar. Another great example is Uber. Remember the days when you had to call a taxi, know your location, have cash on hand, and then wait for your cab to get to you? Now, all the customer has to do is push one button and their ride is on their way! No need to go through the logistical nightmare that you once had to. In short, keep it simple.
In this Tuesday, June 28, 2016 photo, Syrian refugees gather for water at Ruqban border camp in northeast Jordan. Syrian refugees and international aid officials say little water and no food has reached 64,000 Syrian refugees stranded in the desert since Jordan sealed its border in response to a suicide attack on June 21, 2016. (AP Photo)

They'll kill us and they'll rob us in taxes.

The Congressman was describing to us that this is why constituents in his district have been telling him they do not want refugees allowed in the U.S. - particularly Muslims from war-torn nations such as Syria.

As he spoke at the local library to a group of us the photo of Omran Daqneesh was circulating around the world. The five-year-old was the latest victim of the continued carnage in Syria - this time a bombing attack in Aleppo.

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The photo has revived questions about why the Obama Administration will only allow 10,000 refugees this year into the country. At the time we were not aware of the photo of Omran - who did survive - but we had many of the same questions.

The Congressman - a Democrat - earlier in the year had voted with House Republicans to actually stiffen the already formidable vetting requirements that refugees must undergo before they allowed entry. The State Department says that process normally takes a minimum of 18 months and about 20 percent are rejected or delayed.

Since then the Congressman has done more research and regretted his vote on the bill did not prevail. Now he is supporting Obama's efforts. "I'd like to get above the 10,000 refugees a year," he exclaimed.

Let's put that in perspective. The United Nations reports that 65 million have been forced from their home by violence. The number of refugees, a more legal definition of someone who cannot return home, is 21.3 million. Half of these are under 18. Millions are stuck in refugee camps and millions have attempted to flee to safety in Europe. An estimated 3,000 of those refugees have died so far this year in the Mediterranean.

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We wanted to tell the Congressman our experience with the one refugee family that has joined our community a month ago.

This family of four spent 30 months in a Jordanian refugee camp. The dad was once a taxi driver, the mom a hairdresser; the children are 8 and 9. The girl has a mischievous laugh that I discovered one day while I was fixing their bunk bed and she popped her head up from underneath the upper mattress. The boy I met during a community concert that the family attended designed to raise money for the refugee effort. He handed me and others chunks of fruit, displaying a grace and level of politeness that belied his young age.

None of them know English yet but they do know and often, often say thank you. Their gratitude is palpable. These are not terrorists and any investment we make through our taxes will likely be repaid many times.

When I got a chance to speak I asked the Congressman if he was willing to go above 10,000 refugees a year and how high would he go.

He was not willing to offer a number. "You can only do what is practical," he said.

By now we had been engaged in a wide-ranging discussion that extended from refugees to the Palestinian-Israel conflict (where by the way millions of Palestinians remain mired in refugee camps).

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But the 10,000 quota number had struck a nerve among several of the three dozen in the room, many of whom had also met or worked in behalf of our local refugee family.

Leslie, who helped me moved furniture into the family's new house, said we had to find a better job of telling people the dangers these refugees faced and the need to bring more to America.

"Security is impossible to guarantee," he said. "We have to take a chance, because this is a battle for people's hearts and minds." This also offered a way to overcome the extremists, the terrorists in the Middle East, who had painted the U.S. as the uncaring enemy, he said.

Another speaker, who said he had worked internationally with refugees, was even more strident. "We need to be willing to accept people who are literally drowning to get out of there," he said. "Ten thousand is nothing, absolutely nothing."

Germany had committed to taking one million refugees, he said. America was three times the size of Germany, meaning we should take three million.

The Obama administration has indicated it would be willing to take 100,000 next year. Oxfam has said that number should be at least 200,000.

I don't know what the right number is but here's what I told the Congressman. I know that Russia is trying to make its mark in the world by aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by endless bombing runs that are destroying the remaining fabric of a nation.

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At the very minimum we can offer an alternative.
Mike Morrell, former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, appeared on the Charlie Rose Show recently with a Morell Plan to end Syria's civil war.

He owlishly explained the solution as "a transition of power from [President] Assad to a...transitional government that represents all of the Syrian people. That is only going to happen if Assad wants it to happen, if Russia wants it to happen, if Iran wants it to happen." The former deputy director said the Morell Plan is urgent because, "[t]he Syrian civil war has to end, and the reason it has to end is because It is feeding extremism in Iraq and Syria."

If Mike Morell is the best the CIA has to offer, the agency should be replaced with a subscription to The New York Times at a savings of approximately $15 billion annually. Deputy to Jeane Kirkpatrick, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Chuck Lichenstein, once told me that he learned more about what he needed to know by reading The New York Times than by reading the CIA's National Intelligence Estimates.

The Morell Plan exemplifies the sophomoric nature of the CIA's prescriptions which caused Lichenstein's despair. The plan is clueless about what a transitional government representing all the Syrian people would look like and how it would be selected. Will the Syrian people be represented along religious, tribal, ethnic, geographic, or other lines? Will representatives be elected on a one-person, one-vote principle, and will the millions of Syrian refugees be permitted to vote? Will the executive be plural or singular? Will there be an interim constitution to govern the transitional government? How long will the transition government serve and what comes after the transition? Why does Morell believe a Syrian transitional government will end the civil war when transitional governments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Libya did nothing to end civil wars in their respective countries? What is the likelihood that a transitional government representing the antagonistic interests of Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, and Kurds will agree on anything when the civil war has pushed the level of intramural distrust to its high water mark? Their canyon-like divisions find expression in the multitude of armed on the civil war battlefield, including the Al Nusra Front, the Syrian Free Army, YPG, ISIS, the Syrian Armed Forces, and Hezbollah.

To borrow from Gertrude Stein, there is no there there in the Morell Plan. It will mean whatever the rival stakeholders want it to mean. Even if Russia, Assad, and Iran agreed to the plan, every issue relevant to ending the civil war would remain in play. Morell, nevertheless, exhorts the United States to employ military force and risk the lives of American soldiers to advance his chimerical solution. Isn't one brave Army Captain Humayun Khan dying for nothing in Iraq more than enough?

Morell absurdly insists that the United States must remain militarily engaged in Syria because its civil war is feeding extremism in Iraq and Syria. He forgets that extremism in the region was fueled by Syria's oppressive government and hostility towards its neighbors long before the civil war erupted. Extremism was rampant in Syria and Iraq before ISIS was born. That international terrorist organization is the child not only of civil wars, but of dictatorial governments which earmark the Arab world, including Egypt under President el-Sisi and Saudi Arabia under King Salman. If national security requires the United States to extinguish the forces of extremism wherever they exist by military means, as Morell insinuates, we will be at war throughout the Middle East and North Africa till the end of time.

Morell's conviction that the United States is capable of snuffing out extremism in foreign lands is delusional. Hundreds of our brave marines slaughtered in Lebanon in 1983 were there to quell extremism. We sought to end civil war and extremism in Sudan by midwifing an independent South Sudan. Our baby immediately convulsed with its own civil war. It is fostering the extremism we intended it to extinguish. Morell tellingly omits any examples where his type of plan for defeating has extremism succeeded.

The CIA cannot afford any more ciphers like him. If it is to continue, its biblical motto, "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free," must be replaced with the prayer of Francis of Assisi: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things that I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
It is not that United States Senator John McCain (R-AZ) should be loved less, but that the Constitution should be loved more that he should be rebuked for declaring that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is "clearly a deserter" who should be punished. Senator McCain--like all other federal or state officers--took an oath to defend, not to besmirch the Constitution under Article VI.

All civilized jurisprudence celebrates the presumption of innocence. United States Chief Justice Edward White elaborated in Coffin v .United States (1895): "The principle that there is a presumption of innocence in favor of the accused is the undoubted law, axiomatic and elementary, and its enforcement lies at the foundation of the administration of our criminal law."

A companion constitutional principle enshrined in Article I, section 9, clause 3 condemns bills of attainder, i.e., the legislative infliction of punishment without the procedural safeguards afforded by a judicial trial. As Justice Felix Frankfurter taught, "The history of liberty has largely been the history of observance of procedural safeguards."

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At present, Sgt. Bergdahl faces trial by general court-martial for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for walking off his Army outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. Senator McCain has impaired Sgt. Bergdahl's constitutional presumption of innocence by declaring him "clearly a deserter." The Senator insistence that "I am not prejudging" was no more convincing than the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland: "Sentence first--verdict afterwards." Mr. McCain has not retracted his support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has played judge, jury, and prosecutor too to vilify Bergdahl as a "dirty rotten traitor."

The Senator has also used his legislative influence over the armed forces in attempting to coerce punishment for Sgt. Bergdahl . Last October, Mr. McCain responded to Lt. Col. Mark Visger's recommendation of neither jail time nor a punitive discharge for accused with the implied threat, "If it comes out that [Bergdahl] has no punishment, we're going to have a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee." As Chairman, Senator McCain wields substantial influence over military weapons and budgets and the appointments and promotions of military officers. The spirit if not the letter of the bill of attainder prohibition denounces the exertion of legislative power to prescribe judicial punishment for a named individual. And as St. Paul preached in 2 Corinthians 3:6, "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

The United States Supreme Court also instructed in Berger v. United States (1935) that the government's interest in a "criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done." And justice requires the appearance of justice, not coerced verdicts or punishments.

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Senator McCain similarly dishonored due process and the presumption of innocence on March 26, 2014, when he asserted that Edward Snowden was working for the Russians: "Sure. Not a doubt in my mind," he responded when asked by the Washington Examiner.

Mr. Snowden, however, has never been charged with acting as a foreign agent for Russia, and Senator McCain has never adduced proof other than his personal conviction that he has. Last July, Snowden wrote the following which conflicts with the Senator's narrative: "Putin has signed a repressive new law that violates not only human rights but common sense. Dark day for Russia."
This week marks the 47th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Festival, an event that epitomizes the spirit of the sixties. As I discuss in Beatleness: How the Beatles and Their Fans Remade The World, many music fans, age 12, 13, and 14 in 1969, bemoan the fact that they were "too young to go to Woodstock." Nevertheless, these young people felt a strong affinity with Woodstock Nation, watching the event on the news or looking at the photo spread in Life magazine.

Throughout the sixties, the Beatles exposed young baby boomers to new sounds, images, and ideas, and these youngsters were well aware of the counterculture. Those with older siblings were even more tuned in, and, in mixed-age groups, discussed it all in mind-expanding conversations in dens and on playgrounds across America. Many boomers born between 1955 and 1958 say they grew up faster because of the Beatles and the cultural tumult of the sixties, but were "too young to be real hippies."

Three years before Woodstock, these children listened closely to "Nowhere Man," a distinctly different kind of pop song. Lennon's clear, emphatic vocal challenged baby boomers of all ages to be actively engaged in the world and to have opinions about what they saw around them. Many fans said they heard the song as the Beatles telling them to "pay attention." Perhaps the conspicuous harmonic tone, about one-minute into the song, functioned as a clarion call to, what would emerge three years later, as Woodstock Nation.

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A few months after "Nowhere Man," in the summer of '66, the Beatles presented young people with the equally emphatic "Rain." Through the metaphor of weather, this psychedelic song pointed out the foolishness of straight society. These songs helped define the contours of "the generation gap."

Then Revolver happened, presenting boomers with more psychedelic sounds and glimpses into altered consciousness. Some younger listeners recall being frightened by "Love You To," "Tomorrow Never Knows," "She Said She Said," and even "Eleanor Rigby." But they also remember intense conversation with older friends and siblings who helped them appreciate these songs.

A year later, during the Summer of Love, these same young fans (and Time magazine) saw the Beatles as the chief hippies. In those same mixed-age groups, they had "a splendid time" with Sgt. Pepper, engaging with the weirdness of the cover and the transporting music.

The half million baby boomers who showed up at Woodstock were those old enough to go, with or without parent's permission. But millions of tuned in tweens and young teens, now age 60, give or take a year or two in either direction, could not be there in body but were absolutely there in spirit.

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Although the Beatles didn't play at Woodstock, Beatleness permeated the event in spirit and sound. Richie Havens performed three Beatle songs, and Joe Cocker and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young each performed one.

Taking place less than two weeks after the Manson murders, which involved Beatles references written in victims' blood, Woodstock challenged the newly emerging perception of hippies, two years post-Summer of Love, as violent and dangerous.

The deadly stabbing at the Rolling Stones' Altamont festival four months later, while shocking and disturbing at the time, was, in retrospect, caused by a cascade of bad decisions on the part of the Stones' machine; violence was predictable. But a half million people at Woodstock, many on drugs and lacking basic necessities, remaining peaceful and cooperative, was extraordinary. When sixties historians discuss these festivals, the ordinariness of Altamont should not neutralize the extraordinariness of Woodstock.

Watching Woodstock on the news, John Lennon was moved by the unlikely peacefulness of a crowd that size, and felt that his messages of peace and love were having an impact. Indeed, the peacefulness of the huge crowd, happily cooperating under physically stressful circumstances, is why the event has maintained its luster and historical significance for those who reject the broader cultural cynicism towards the era of peace and love.

Joni Mitchell, who couldn't appear at Woodstock because of a previous commitment to appear on the Dick Cavett Show, was, like Lennon, moved by the event's historical significance and wrote "Woodstock," released In March '70 on Ladies of Canyon. That same month, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young released their version on Deja Vu. Joni's version was more spiritual, more contemplative, and seemed to capture the singularity of the event, whereas the CSNY version has a more tribal, celebratory quality.

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A month after these songs were released, the Beatles broke up. Then the first Earth Day took place. A few weeks later four students were shot and killed at Kent State while protesting the escalation of the Vietnam War. Fans' six-year journey with the Beatles was over, and so were the sixties.

Earlier on Huff/Post50:
Like Robert Schenkkan did with "All the Way," J.T. Rogers shows the insane amount of wrangling and linguistic gymnastics involved in enacting real political change in "Oslo". In place of soaring speeches, we get secret walks and after-hours drinking sessions that blur the line between enemy and friend and, more importantly, begin to shed the cloak of hatred that has obscured the humanity on both sides. The title refers to the 1993 Oslo peace accords, which most people will remember as a photo of Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shaking hands with Bill Clinton presiding over the ceremonious occasion. All three are largely absent from this meticulously brilliant and disarmingly funny masterpiece that gives you a fly-on-the-wall peek into one of the historic negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. All previous talks, including the Camp David accords, were between Israel and another Arab country that would claim to speak on behalf of the Palestinians before selling them out for their own country's interests.

Terje Rd-Larsen, who was then the head of the Fafo institute, believed there was an opportunity for peace if he could just get both sides in a room and let them get to know each other without the usual confines of having a mediator. Played with restrained eccentricity and deep warmth by Jefferson Mays, he's propelled by an unwavering idealism that never feels naive. Throughout the show's two-and-a-half hours, time seems to speed up and there's a gathering momentum that the world indeed can be changed for the better. I kept thinking about the George Bernard Shaw quote from "Man and Superman": "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

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Kyle Craft conjures both Bob Dylan's tight folk phrasing and David Bowie's expansive sense of wonder. His debut album, "Dolls of Highland," opens with a rollicking piano riff and the energy sustains throughout the album's dozen keys-driven tracks. I caught him play a short but thrilling set at Mercury Lounge the other week. He apologized frequently for his voice between songs, but even in a cold-stricken state, his pipes are undeniably powerful and exude the beauty and painful longing of songs like "Three Candles," in which he sings "all that you had to give me was hell," complete with Dylanesque harmonica interludes. Craft, who grew up in Louisiana but now lives in Portland, brings an authentic southern blues sensibility to glam and folk rock but what makes "Dolls" one of the best albums of the year is his ability to transform his influences into a sound that's all his own.

Sometimes eating and drinking out in this city can feel like a staycation. This notion crept up on me the other week at the recently opened cocktail bar, BlackTail, which is molded after a prohibition era American Ex-pat bar in Cuba. The high-ceilinged, dark wood-drenched space is anchored by a reproduction of John Vanderlyn's painting "Landing of Columbus." The bar's name comes from the planes that well-heeled New Yorkers would take for boozy weekend getaways, and it's the brainchild of Dead Rabbit owners Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry. The offerings include a mixologist's take on a rum and coke that transforms the tired island drink into a concoction worth savoring.

The Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and North African meld of cuisine at Green Fig is chef Gabriel Israel's take on modern Israeli food. Housed in Yotel, the restaurant features trees that sprout up through the middle of tables, giving an earthy, elegant and tranquil atmosphere to the feast that follows. Some of the many highlights include a mezze of hummus, tahini foam and charred eggplant served with a housemade flat bread called "laffa," a carrot steak with mozzarella and basil leaves, octopus carpaccio, and a skin-charred sea bream.

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There are some places in the city I've walked by a thousand times without ever experiencing. The Grand Hyatt Hotel next to Grand Central is one. The building was a landmark on childhood trips on the crosstown bus, but I only stepped inside for the first time recently for their boozy brunch at New York Central Bar and Kitchen. The lobster benedict was even better than it sounds but had steep competition with mac and cheese carbonara, smoked salmon flatbread, and a bruleed raisin French toast that we had for dessert. There was also a deceptively simple cucumber mint gazpacho to start, which cleansed the palate as it perked it up.
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton delivers remarks at a gathering of law enforcement leaders at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, U.S., August 18, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Welcome back to the Electoral Math series, where we try to predict the outcome of the presidential race using the smartest metric: Electoral Votes (EV) charted over time. The first of this year's column series ran two weeks ago, and we've seen a lot of polling data since. A whopping 14 states moved around within the categories, but this much volatility is normal this early in the process.

Almost all of this movement was good news for Hillary Clinton, as states firmed up for her or even switched from Donald Trump's column over to hers. Clinton only saw bad news in one state, and Trump only saw good news in two states.

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As always, we begin with an overview of how the election would turn out if it were held today (and if all the current polling is correct). As you can see, Clinton has considerably widened the lead she held two weeks ago. To read the chart, blue is Clinton and starts from the bottom; red is Trump and starts from the top. White are states which are tied, in the middle. Whichever color crosses the 50 percent line (from either direction) wins.

[Click on any of theses images to see larger-scale versions.]

As you can see, it's not even close. Hillary Clinton wins with a landslide of votes in the Electoral College. Clinton's percent of the total is 66.5, roughly twice Trump's 33.5 percent. Currently, no states are tied.

In fact, Hillary Clinton is now doing better than Barack Obama did for the entire 2012 election. Obama did hit the highs Clinton is now enjoying back in 2008, but not until a few weeks before the election (after the economy tanked and John McCain stumbled on what to do about it).

Two states wobbled a bit, but ended up roughly where they started. Texas was briefly stronger for Trump, then slipped back. Georgia cycled from being tied to Clinton then back to Trump, but not by a lot. Three states (Oklahoma, South Carolina, Missouri) weakened for Trump, with South Carolina weakening the most. Two states (Indiana and Utah) did firm up considerably for Trump. New Mexico weakened for Clinton, but this was due to the first poll becoming available (meaning the previous rating wasn't really all that valid). But Clinton saw six states get markedly better for her: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, and Ohio.

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Let's take a look at how all this played out in the detailed charts for each candidate, starting with Trump. All raw data (and the category names) come from Electoral-Vote.com

[Definition of terms: "Strong" means 10 percent or better in the polls,

"Weak" means five percent or better, and "Barely" is under five percent.]

To put it bluntly, that's a pretty weak chart. Two weeks ago, Donald Trump had 93 EV in the strong category. Now he has 95. In the intervening period, Utah went from Weak Trump to Strong Trump, but Kansas slipped from Strong Trump to Weak right afterwards. South Carolina had been in the Strong column for Trump, based on their 2012 vote, but polling finally appeared for 2016 and it slipped all the way to Barely Trump as a result. Strong Trump did see a big surge when Texas moved up from Weak Trump, but then another poll a few days later meant it slipped right back again. During these four days, Trump hit his all-time high of 122 EV in the Strong category. Just after Texas fell back, Indiana was added to Strong Trump, leaving him where he is now, at 95 EV.

While Trump did swap a few states back and forth between Weak and Strong, the best indicator of any candidate's overall strength is tracking the "Strong Plus Weak" line, because it shows how many states they can feel fairly confident about. Trump lost two states from either Strong or Weak down to Barely Trump in the past two weeks, as South Carolina moved down and then Missouri followed suit. Both had initially been in the Strong Trump column, it's worth mentioning. Overall, Trump's Strong Plus Weak metric fell from 158 EV down to a new low for him at 139 EV.

When you add in the Weak Trump states, Trump's overall total has stayed fairly stable. He began two weeks ago with 185 EV and now holds 180 EV. He lost two states to Clinton (North Carolina and Iowa), but he gained Georgia, resulting in a loss of only 5 EV overall.

Now let's take a look at Clinton's chart.

This is, obviously, a much happier chart than Trump's. Two weeks ago, Clinton had just begun a big march upwards. She has continued this climb and now sits in a pretty enviable position. If the election were held today, it wouldn't even be close.

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Most of the improvement to the Strong Clinton category happened just before I wrote my initial column two weeks ago. Clinton had hit 223 EV just in Strong alone at that point. Since then, she added Maine's 4 EV, and then New Mexico and Colorado swapped places (Colorado went from Weak Clinton to Strong Clinton while New Mexico did the opposite), which resulted in a net pickup of another 4 EV in the Strong category. Clinton ended the period with 231 EV in Strong -- only 39 EV short of victory in this category alone.

Clinton's Strong Plus Weak line bounced around a bit more, but climbed noticeably at the very end. Two weeks ago, Georgia moved from being tied all the way up to Weak Clinton, but then fell back to Barely Clinton and eventually switched over to Barely Trump. But the big news for Clinton in the Weak category was the addition of first Florida and then (just today) Ohio. Clinton's Strong Plus Weak started at 273 EV, moved up to 302 EV when Florida firmed up and just today hit a whopping 320 EV with the addition of Ohio.

Some context for that number is necessary. Barack Obama's highest total within Strong Plus Weak in 2012 was only 288 EV. He did better back in 2008, but only in the final few weeks of the campaign, when he hit 317 EV. To put this another way, even at his highest point during the excitement of the 2008 campaign, Obama never managed to hit the Strong Plus Weak number that Hillary Clinton just charted. Her current Strong Plus Weak 320 EV is fifty more votes than she needs to win the race, folks.

Clinton's overall total (with the Barely states added in) is even more impressive. Two weeks ago, Clinton had 319 EV overall. She now has 358 -- a full 88 EV more than she needs to win. Of course, things change over time and she may not be able to sustain this enormous advantage, but the fact that she's at such a strong point this far out is indeed notable.

My Picks

Of course, one poll number isn't always definitive. This is where some interpretation of the data comes in handy. That's a fancy way of saying that gut feelings also have their place when taking an overview of the race.

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In my first column, I played things fairly conservatively, mostly due to the lack of data. This time around I'm getting a little more confident, but some states still remain a little questionable for me. As always, if you scroll down to the bottom of this column you can see the full lists of all the states in each of my categories, together with their Electoral Votes.

Here is my new map, broken down into my own categories of: Safe, Probable, Lean, and Too Close To Call. The darker the color on the map, the better for each candidate (and a big hat tip to 270toWin for both providing our map and also for pointing out last time around that I could create such seven-color maps on their site -- thanks, guys!).

Likely States -- Clinton

Safe Clinton (14 states, 179 EV)

Likely States are made up of Safe and Probable. The Safe column grew from last time by one state, as I moved Oregon up from Probable Clinton (not entirely sure why I put it so low to begin with, I have to admit). The rest of this deep-blue list remains the same this week.

Probable Clinton (9 states, 94 EV)

The Probable Clinton category had a flurry of movement, however. Oregon moved out of here (up to Safe), as I just noted. Four states (Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, and New Mexico) remained the same as last time around. But five states moved up to this category -- four from Leans Clinton (Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and Virginia moved all the way up from Too Close To Call, with several strong polls showing Clinton has opened up a double-digit lead there (Clinton is so confident in Virginia that she's pulled her advertising money out of the state, in fact).

Likely States -- Trump

Safe Trump (15 states, 89 EV)

Safe Trump saw three changes from last time. Indiana moved up to Safe from Probable Trump, but two states also moved down from this category for Trump. Kansas moved down to Probable Trump after a weak poll there, but the big news was the loss of South Carolina -- all the way down to Leans Trump.

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Probable Trump (4 states, 56 EV)

There was good news and bad for Trump in the Probable category. Two states moved out, and two states moved in to replace them. Indiana was the best news for Trump, moving up to Safe. Utah moved up into Probable from Leans Trump, with a strong poll result there. That's the good news. The bad news for Trump was seeing Kansas slip down to Probable, and the loss of Missouri down to Leans Trump. Mississippi and Texas saw no changes and remain only Probable Trump at this point.

Tossup States

Leans Clinton (3 states, 53 EV)

Clinton saw a lot of movement both into and out of this category, and all of it was good news for her. While Nevada stayed in this category from last time, the other four states previously here all moved up to Probable Clinton. But the really big news was that both Florida and Ohio can now be considered Leans Clinton. Some might disagree (and call me too optimistic), so we'll just have to see what the next round of polling shows, but for now both states are showing a clear trajectory -- they've both moved from being tied to being Barely Clinton and then finally Weak Clinton. This means she's currently got margins of better than five points in each state, meaning they can't be considered true tossups any more. Of course, both of these states are historically very volatile, so things could change very quickly, but for now their big EV hauls have to be chalked up in Clinton's column.

Leans Trump (2 states, 19 EV)

This category has completely changed for Trump, as the one state that was here previously (Utah) firmed up for Trump, while two others (Missouri and South Carolina) weakened so much they can now only be seen as Leans Trump.

Too Close To Call (4 states, 48 EV)

The real tossup category is fairly small this week, considering how far out we are from the election. Three states moved out of Too Close To Call this time around, all of them in Clinton's favor. Florida and Ohio are now in Leans Clinton, and Virginia moved all the way up to Probable Clinton. This leaves only Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, and North Carolina. What's really eye-opening about that list is how dramatically it has shifted since the past few election cycles. Iowa is almost always a close state at some point in the race, but the other three used to be solid Republican states. Time will tell if this is due to the candidate the Republicans chose this time around or whether it represents a deeper demographic shift in the electorate. My off-the-cuff guess is that Arizona is probably weak because of Donald Trump, but that Georgia and North Carolina will continue to be seen as swing states in the next few presidential elections as well.

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Final Tally

The past two weeks have been pretty consistently bad for Donald Trump and pretty consistently good for Hillary Clinton. This has been reflected in the state-level polling. Trump is seeing states weaken that he can't afford to lose (Missouri, South Carolina), and he's seen states that are also must-win for him move into Hillary Clinton's column (Florida and Ohio are merely the most prominent -- there are many others as well). Any possible pathway for Trump to win the necessary 270 EV is now almost impossible to see, given the current polling.

Donald Trump has 19 states firmly in his corner right now. That may sound impressive, at least until you consider that only three of them have 10 or more EV (and Tennessee and Indiana only have 11 EV each). The only big prize that Trump can count on is Texas, with its whopping 38 EV. Other than that, Trump is winning a lot of very rural states without a lot of population, which only gives him a total of 145 EV that he can currently count on. This leaves him an enormous 125 EV to make up if he has any prayer of winning. Trump only has two states even leaning his direction right now, and Missouri and South Carolina only have 19 EV between them. Even if you add in all the Leans Trump and Too Close To Call states, Trump only comes up with a grand total of 212 EV. That is 58 EV short of the goal.

Hillary Clinton has built on her enormous advantage this week. Last time around she had 18 states with a combined 210 EV in her pocket. This time around, Clinton has 23 states she can count on, and they add up to 273 EV. This is three more than she needs to win. Right now, Clinton could lose every current tossup state (even the ones leaning her direction), and she'd still win the election. To put this another way, Clinton doesn't even need the following states to claim victory: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio. Trump could run the table in all these battlegrounds, and she'd still win. If you add in the three states leaning her direction, Clinton now has 326 EV. Trump's number, by comparison, is 164 EV. She's currently beating him by 162 EV -- meaning her total is almost exactly double Trump's total.

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If this keeps up, there's not going to be a whole lot of "boy, this election is close, folks" news stories written over the next few months. To do so would be almost laughable when the margin is that huge. Rather than wondering who is going to win this election, the only question the pundits will have left to predict is how big Clinton's Electoral College landslide will be on Election Day. That is still months away, but Hillary Clinton is now in a safer spot than Barack Obama enjoyed at any time during either of his two elections.

[Electoral Vote Data:]

(State electoral votes are in parenthesis following each state's name. Washington D.C. is counted as a state, for a total of 51.)

Hillary Clinton Likely Easy Wins -- 23 States -- 273 Electoral Votes:

Safe States -- 14 States -- 179 Electoral Votes

California (55), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maine (4), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), New Jersey (14), New York (29), Oregon (7), Rhode Island (4), Vermont (3), Washington (12), Washington D.C. (3)

Probable States -- 9 States -- 94 Electoral Votes

Colorado (9), Connecticut (7), Michigan (16), Minnesota (10), New Hampshire (4), New Mexico (5), Pennsylvania (20), Virginia (13), Wisconsin (10)

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Donald Trump Likely Easy Wins -- 19 States -- 145 Electoral Votes:

Safe States -- 15 States -- 89 Electoral Votes

Alabama (9), Alaska (3), Arkansas (6), Idaho (4), Indiana (11), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Montana (3), Nebraska (5), North Dakota (3), Oklahoma (7), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), West Virginia (5), Wyoming (3)

Probable States -- 4 States -- 56 Electoral Votes

Kansas (6), Mississippi (6), Texas (38), Utah (6)

Tossup States -- 9 States -- 120 Electoral Votes:

Tossup States Leaning Clinton -- 3 States -- 53 Electoral Votes

Florida (29), Nevada (6), Ohio (18),

Tossup States Leaning Trump -- 2 States -- 19 Electoral Votes

Missouri (10), South Carolina (9)

Too Close To Call -- 4 States -- 48 Electoral Votes

Arizona (11), Georgia (16), Iowa (6), North Carolina (15)

Polling data gaps:

Polled, but no polling data since the primaries -- 6 States

(States which have not been polled since the beginning of June, with the dates of their last poll in parenthesis.)

Louisiana (5/6), Maryland (4/17), Massachusetts (5/5), Minnesota (4/27), Mississippi (3/30), New Mexico (5/15)

No polling data at all, yet -- 12 States

(States which have not been polled so far this year.)

Alaska, Alabama, Hawaii, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Wyoming

Chris Weigant blogs at:
A few days after the death of five of his officers, Dallas police chief David Brown challenged civilians there to "be a part of the solution" and "serve your community." His suggestion, though not singular, may be a bellwether for something gaining ground all around the country - the idea that service to others, which doesn't require a uniform, brings people together.

For some time since 9/11, there's been talk of national service in one form or another to spread the burden beyond less than 2 percent of the population in uniform. Popular support for it is overwhelming. Demand for service opportunities is beginning to outstrip supply. Already the largest generational cohort, Millennials are also the most service-oriented. The sentiment of late, as one-time infantry officer Will Bardenwerper said in The Washington Post, is to encourage more Americans to "perform a mission focused on the collective good would bridge some of the divides that are weakening us as a country."

A mandatory or encouraged year of community, public, or national service is now under serious consideration by both parties in this year's election, thanks in good part to the prodding of retired Army general Stan McChrystal's coalition of organizations under the Service Year Alliance. Such a commitment to service, he exhorted in The Atlantic ,"teaches young Americans the habits of citizenship, and the power of working in teams to build trust is one of the most powerful ways this generation can help restore political and civic responsibility--and in the process help to heal a wounded nation."

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But the benefits go well beyond this. Service to others helps a person by helping others, providing a sense of personal and collective identity not found in smart phones or social media - real, human connectivity in an alienated, narcissistic, and atomized society. Identity being values in action, it helps develop the internal moral GPS needed to navigate a complex, dynamically interconnected, and information congested world, discerning fact from fiction. All these make for a stronger, less manipulated, and more responsible citizenry only from which, as Jefferson envisioned, more accountable government comes.

It would also go far to make the country less vulnerable to mass media manipulation and the politics of fear and ignorance played out daily in the obsessive reality show of terrorism, distrust of police and other forms of government, and a culture of entitlement and impunity manifesting in everything from bad Olympian behavior abroad to proliferating acts of street violence at home. This does more than tarnish the national brand: America, after all, cannot long remain the land of the free if it is no longer the home of the brave.

A national narrative of service fosters a collaborative mindset, establishing real common ground for much-needed civil dialogue on matters inexplicable in 140 characters. A greater sense of empathy also goes far to close engagement gaps abroad for a neo-isolationist superpower that issues like climate change are compelling to get in the same global sandbox and play nice with others.

Besides revitalizing citizenship along the lines of thinking globally and acting locally, a more universal sense of service and sacrifice remedies an unwholesome civil-military relationship. Rather than slogans and bumper stickers, if civilians truly wish to honor veterans, police, firefighters, first responders and others in uniform who put their lives on the line on their behalf, then they should strive to make this a country worth the sacrifice of those they emulate much less than they admire. They need not go far, for there are myriad ways to become citizens as responsible to neighbors as to nation - patriotism being something you do and not just say.

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But those giving back owe something to those paying it forward. "Our mission," I tell other veterans sharing a privileged place of veneration, "is not complete until we've explained to our youth what service and sacrifice has meant to us. What they do with our hard-earned wisdom is up to them, but this much at least we owe them." Such a dialogue fosters the passing of the baton of leadership to another generation in search of its own answer to what it means to be an American in today's world.

On a more practical side, as the National Service Ride project points out in its school presentations, service learning is where real education begins. Beyond enfranchising disconnected youth, it's the easiest way to obtain vital 21st century economic qualifications, among them team-playing, team-building, and team-leading along with interpersonal and problem-solving skills. It helps build the networks from which the majority of vocations are now found. Businesses now looking at labor more as an investment than a cost are seeking people of character, integrity, commitment, dedication, maturity, and reliability that only self-less service can engender. The implications of a better qualified work force for prosperity in general and a revitalized middle class in particular are enormous.



While more hands, hearts, and minds are needed for public and national service, most Americans can best serve their country by serving their community. It is, after all, it communities - not its capital - that makes the United States the exceptional country it is. Besides, as many organizations like the Alliance for Peacebuilding, TRENDS Global, and the UN Association well know, the dynamics of building peace and security as well as civil society and social resilience are the same over here as they are over there - whether with community policing, gender equality, race and religious relations, and so on.

The blessings of liberty ultimately come through inclusiveness and a sense of community fostered from and not despite diversity. This country's founders were well aware of this, going out of their way to make sure America works better from below than above. Its long-standing penchant for charity, volunteerism, and bottom-up change puts the United States in an ideal position to remain a world leader - morally and not just physically. And like charity, citizenship begins on the block. In today's world, you can go global by first going local.
I know that we don't always agree on politics, but I also know that you have always been open-minded and supportive of my personal and professional civic and political work. So, I am hoping for some real talk...

As the 2016 election approaches, I need to know that you are with me. I could give you every reason that Donald Trump is uniquely and profoundly unqualified to be president when it comes to national security or foreign affairs, but many of our nation's leading military minds have already done that. We could talk about his sub-par business record as evidence that he is not an economic genius, but the Washington Post already did that. I could try to convince you that he should release his taxes, or should be more honest about his relationship with Putin. But, his fellow Republicans are writing op-eds to that end. Together, I am fairly certain that you find these arguments persuasive.

However, the real reason that I need to believe you will vote against Trump - and for Hillary Clinton - is much more simple: his words... I cannot bear the thought that you could look your kids in the eye and tell them you were proud to cast your ballot for a man to lead our country who says the things Donald Trump says. We could be here all day reciting the list of egregious offenses to so many Americans, including many statements that ridicule members in our family: strong women ("pigs"), immigrants ("criminals"), military officers and veterans ("loser" POWs). And then after he spews his special brand of huge gold adorned hate, he has the arrogance to play us all for fools by having his surrogates provide b.s. ("blatant spin") the next day. We all hear what he says. No one - Democrat, Republican, or Independent - believes Katrina or Kellyanne (including Katrina or Kellyanne) as they stumble through their half-hearted explanations. Our family may not be Manhattan born and Upper East Side educated, but us corn-fed, cow-eyed Midwestern hicks have a sense of decency for our fellow Americans; we have a deep sense of respect for our military and veterans; and we have an abiding love of this country that our great grandparents immigrated to not so long ago. A man applying to be our President that shows up for the interview and mocks those asking the questions, or threatens the fellow-applicants, and then takes this electorate for gullible fools isn't worthy of the job.

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Look, we have 70-some days until the election, and I'm imagining you feel like you are in a bit of a pickle. I know you well enough to know that you cannot vote for him to lead America. BUT, I also recognize that you aren't a Hillary fan. I know you don't agree with certain policies. And let's be honest, you do not trust her for reasons both real and imagined (though that's a conversation for another day). Here is the thing: you can still vote for her. You can trust the many Republicans who you respect and who have said they will vote for her because she is supremely qualified; you can trust many of our nation's military leaders, who worked with her as Secretary of State and trust her to be our commander in chief and lead our troops. You can trust that when she's elected, even if she is going to appoint judges further left than you, she has the utmost respect for our Constitution (and unlike Trump, she most certainly has read it!). And, you can trust that she is going to put our country ahead of her ego. For the love of our country, I can trust that you are going to vote for her.

So I want to ask you to do one thing for me, as someone who is working tirelessly because I believe so strongly that she must be our next president -- don't hide. Don't be afraid to be public about your vote. Offer all the caveats you want; make it known that you are holding your nose, whatever. But, share your opinions on Facebook and at book club that with whatever reservations you may have, you are going to cast a vote for Hillary Clinton on November 8. You see, I am pretty sure that your friends are in the same boat; and if everyone in the suburbs of Indianapolis, Chicago, Fairfax County and Denver, or across Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania gives one another permission to support this incredibly smart, hardworking, dedicated public servant, we will all wake up November 9 proud to look our children in the eye and tell them that this amazing country made history last night by defeating hate-filled and bigoted rhetoric, and elected a woman who we may not always love or agree with, but who we know will be a leader our country can be proud to call Madam President.
Ocean waves washing up on tropical beach

It's nice that Frank Ocean just released his long-anticipated new album, 'Blonde', that some say is truly awesome. But the fact that 12 of 20 stories on a Google News search under the word "ocean" on Sunday were about his music and that on Monday it had proportionately grown to 6 out of 9 "ocean" news stories might also indicate a larger problem with our culture, society and survival odds as a species.

Our increasingly urbanized celebrity-driven culture and corporate ratings-driven news media are reducing people's awareness of how essential the seas are to our economy (90 percent of trade, also fishing, tourism, real estate, etc.) national security (we're still a maritime nation) and yes, survival. Over half the oxygen Frank Ocean breathes in before singing some of his haunting "baritone with tenor moments" comes from the photosynthesis of ocean phytoplankton that is now in decline for reasons science does not yet fully understand.

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The global ocean is experiencing a cascading series of disasters linked to industrial overfishing, pollution, loss of habitat and fossil-fuel fired climate change. By mid-century, by weight, there could be more plastic than living fish in the seas. The ocean's basic chemistry is being altered by climate-linked ocean acidification that is making it harder for shell-forming creatures to survive be they plankton, coral, crab or clam. And a warmer more acidic ocean also holds less dissolved oxygen. Within decades it could look more like the seas did 20 million years ago, meaning more jellyfish, harmful algal blooms and microbial mats and far fewer bony fish, seals, whales and dolphins.

Certainly the flooding disaster in Louisiana that reflects how fossil-fuel fired climate change can and will put low-lying coastal regions at risk and the mucky green algal bloom that's choking parts of Florida's shoreline are two reasons we ought to be seeing more news stories about our coasts and ocean than we are. Frank Ocean and his family were themselves forced to leave New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. And while no single weather event can be directly linked to climate change, that's kind of like saying no single medal won by Russian athletes at the last Winter Olympics can be directly linked to Russia's state-sponsored doping program, yet the trend lines are clear. Just ask the next president.

As much as some would like to think it's about Donald Trump's policy choices like climate denial, his celebrity status and the media's love of spectacle were contributing factors in turning a former reality show TV star and real estate developer into one of this year's two major party contenders for President of the United States. Still, neither Mr. Trump nor former Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton have mentioned ocean issues on the campaign trail. I don't know if they've mentioned Frank Ocean but I'd be less surprised.

In the past two weeks, I've written about what a good ocean policy for the next President should be (in Sierra magazine) where the presidential candidates stand as best we can tell (in The Progressive) and why President Obama should establish an Atlantic Ocean Monument before leaving office (in The Hill).



I've also helped launch a letter to Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump signed by 115 prestigious ocean leaders in the hope we'll get a response from their campaigns in September and thus make the blue in our red, white and blue something voters get a chance to learn and think about when they cast their ballots.

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Steven Hill, who became well known as District Attorney Adam Schiff on Law & Order, but whose acting career was guided even more by his religious faith, died Tuesday in Monsey, N.Y., his daughter Sarah told the New York Times.

He was 94.

Adam Schiff was a leveling force on Law & Order for 11 seasons, from 1990 to 2000. He often cautioned attorneys on both sides not to take risks for what they considered principles, arguing that a plea bargain was often the best practical course.

Hill told the Times in 1996 that he understood standing up for principle, but that "our stories are about real life and that's how life is today. We plea-bargain all over the place."

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Hill's portrayal of Schiff won him two Emmy nominations, in 1998 and 1999.

Hill's other most famous television role was playing Dan Briggs, the first leader on TV's Mission: Impossible before Peter Graves took over the role in the show's second season.

It was his departure from Mission: Impossible, which was never explained on the show, that underscored Hill's relationship with acting and religious faith.

Born Solomon Krakovsky in 1922 in Seattle, son of Russian immigrants, he began his acting career after serving in World War II.

His first role on Broadway was in A Flag Is Born, where his fellow cast members included Marlon Brando.

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A year later, he joined Brando, Montgomery Clift, Julie Harris and 46 other actors in the first class at Lee Strasberg's famous Actors Studio.

"Steven Hill is considered one of the finest actors America ever produced," Strasberg told writer John Sobiski years later.

Martin Landau told Sobiski, "When I first became an actor, there were two young actors in New York: Marlon Brando and Steven Hill. A lot of people said that Steven would have been the one, not Marlon. He was legendary. Nuts, volatile, mad, and his work was exciting."

Hill acted in movies, on early television dramas and on stage, including the original Mister Roberts. But his roles were modest, and in 1952 he re-enlisted for two more years in the Navy.

When he resumed acting, he became a familiar face on television shows from Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Playhouse 90 to Naked City and Ben Casey.

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In 1961 he appeared in the play A Far Country, and he later said that one line in that play, where a character screams at Sigmund Freud, 'You're a Jew!', led him to reexamine his own faith.

Inspired by the well-known Rabbi Yakov Yosef Twersky, he became a strict Orthodox Jew, eating kosher, praying three times a day and observing the Sabbath.

His unavailability for filming from Friday sundown through Saturday forced him to turn down several roles, including one in The Sand Pebbles.

It also became an issue with Mission: Impossible, where producers had agreed to accommodate his schedule, but found it became difficult. It was reportedly one of the major factors in his departure.

While Hill didn't make a direct connection, he left acting for 11 years after Mission: Impossible, moving to a Jewish community in Rockland County, New York, to pursue writing and real estate.

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He returned to acting in 1978 and again became a familiar character, first in movies like Yentl, Heartburn and Billy Bathgate, then from Law & Order.

When Adam Schiff left the show, he was going to work with Simon Wiesenthal at the Holocaust Project. In real life, Hill simply retired, his faith and acting legacy intact.
Mepron, a thick liquid antimicrobial drug used to treat Babesia and malaria, as well as a fungal infection called Pneumocystitis carinii.

In 2011, the United Kingdom stopped requiring that dogs brought into the country be inspected for ticks. Earlier this year, several dogs tested positive for babesia, a malaria-like disease transmitted to ticks that previously had only been found in foreign. These dogs had never left the U.K.

While babesiosis is a new worry to U.K. dog owners, it's been a threat to human beings for years -- it just hasn't become a health-scare-of-the-week like Zika, West Nile, avian and swine flu. Most people have never heard of it.

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Babesia microti, the protozoan that causes babesiosis, occurs throughout continental Europe and Asia, as well as throughout New England and northern Midwest regions -- the same areas in which Lyme disease is most often diagnosed. It's no coincidence: Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi) and Babesia both are transmitted by ticks, along with a number of other pathogens. Like Lyme and Plague (bubonic plague), Babesia is a zoonotic illness, meaning that it is transmitted from non-human animal hosts to human hosts.

Babesia microti is a tiny parasite that invade red blood cells. Many healthy individuals who contract Babesia don't show any symptoms. Among those who do, symptoms can be similar to the flu, including "fever, chills, sweats, headache, body aches, loss of appetite, nausea, or fatigue," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Many patients also report the sensation of not being able to catch their breath, known as "air hunger," resulting from a deprivation of oxygen. The parasite can also destroy red blood cells (hemolytic anemia), which causes the oxygen deprivation -- and which can be fatal.

According to the CDC , "people who do not have symptoms or signs of babesiosis usually do not need to be treated"; however, Medscape, a website resource for physicians, recommends "treatment for all diagnosed cases to prevent [long-term damage from the latent infection, known as] sequelae and potential transmission through blood donation." Medscape also states that, "In addition, patients should be advised to take precautions against tick exposure and to refrain from donating blood until completely cured of babesiosis."

Transmission of the Babesia microti via blood donations has become an increasing concern in recent years.

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Because most patients who have it are asymptomatic, and presumably because the CDC doesn't recommend treating it in such cases, many blood donors either don't know that they are infected with Babesia or that the infection poses any potential risk to those who will receive their blood.

One year ago, New Jersey former First Lady Jean Byrne died from babesiosis after having acquired the disease from a blood transfusion. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 38 percent of deaths due to microbial infections resulting from blood transfusions are caused by Babesia microti.

In a 2012 episode of Discovery's "Monsters Inside Me," Brittany Goff discovered -- as many Lyme disease patients do -- that in addition to Lyme, she also was infected with Babesia parasites that were compounding her illness. "I had never heard of babesiosis before in my life," Goff said. "I was completely shocked. It was scary to know that I've had a parasite living in my body for the past eight years and I didn't even know it." According to Medscape, about 20 percent of patients who test positive for babesiosis also have Lyme disease, and "the symptoms experienced by these patients are more severe symptoms and last longer than those experienced by patients who have either disease alone."

Because of the increasing prevalence of babesiosis from blood transfusion, a Rhode Island blood bank laid off 60 employees to make up for the costs of testing for Babesia last year. Nationally, donated blood is not tested for the parasite -- although that may be changing soon. A year ago, the FDA issued a recommendation to test all blood for Babesia, and the American Red Cross presently is participating in a study with a company called IMUGEN to test some of the blood supply for Babesia microti.

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The non-testing policy for Babesia in donated blood is a stark contrast for the FDA's highly conservative HIV policy, which not only tests all donated blood samples for the HIV virus, but which also prohibits blood donations from any man who has had sex with another man within the past 12 months (yet has no similar prohibition against heterosexual men and women, regardless of the number of sex partners or whether those partners engaged in high-risk sexual activities). The federal approach to tickborne illnesses is quite the opposite, as the CDC recommends (as referenced above) against treating asymptomatic people who carry Babesia -- even though donated blood is not tested for it.

Just last week, an article published in Current Opinion in Hematology found that transfusion-transmitted babesiosis "imposes a significant health burden on the United States population. Further research is needed to better inform decisions on optimal screening strategies and reentry criteria, but given the acute need and the currently available screening tools, initiation of blood donor screening to prevent TTB should be given high priority." And an article published last month in Transfusion Medical Review found that 19 percent of patients found in medical literature to have been infected with Babesia via blood transfusion died as a result; of those who died, a minority -- 34 percent -- were over age 65.

Babesia can be treated. The Columbia University Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center recommends a combination of atovaquone (Mepron), a bright yellow, paintlike liquid antibiotic also used to treat malaria, and azithromycin for seven to 10 days in patients who have moderate symptoms. For patients with severe symptoms, the center recommends intravenous antibiotic (clindamycin) and quinine for the same length of time in healthy patients; however, in the case of immunocompromised patients (which may include those who have Lyme disease), "studies have shown an association between longer treatment duration and a positive outcome; therefore, treatment of these individuals should be continued for weeks or months until blood smears are negative for at least two weeks."
Now that same sex marriage is the law of the land, engaged gay couples are going to be having some serious chats about money if they want their love to survive the ever after. Before your walk down the aisle make sure you have "The Financial Talk."

Used to be when a gay couple had 'The Financial Talk' en route to commitment, both guys were nervous as they went full disclosure on their HIV status. Whatever these happened to be, they worked out how their lives would accommodate their situations then and into the future.

Today when a committed gay couple en route to marriage has 'The Financial Talk', both guys are nervous as they go full disclosure about their financial statuses. Whatever these happen to be, you're going to want to work out in advance how your lives will accommodate your situations now and into the future.

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Hear me now, ignorance of your partner's finances is not bliss and certainly not a viable ingredient for wedded bliss. Yet many couples embark on commitment in the dark about each other's salaries, spending, savings, expenses and budgets simply because they dread the idea of 'The Financial Talk'. I know, I know, 'The Financial Talk' about money is right up there with invasive medical procedures in the not-fun sweepstakes. But not unlike colonoscopies and root canals, procrastination can be harmful. Do it now before the wedding so that you and your marriage can move forward in fitness and in health.

Fairy tales vs. financial realities

OK, you've met your soul mate and can hardly believe your luck that he wants to be yours, now and forever. But one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make is getting swept up in the dream of a huge fairy tale wedding and ignoring legal responsibilities and financial realities. Rushing to say "I do!" without getting on the same page financially can lead to horrific results; debt, discord, divorce and EWSD (empty wallet stress disorder).

The issues of marriage are complex but far and away the number one topic all couples fight about most is money. Sadly, the greater the financial strain on a couple the greater their chances of ending up divorced.



Why should we have 'The Financial Talk' before the wedding?

The sooner after you two have decided to make it legal, the better. Sure, the conversation may initially be uncomfortable but it's going to a lot more uncomfortable down the line if you have to dig yourself out of debt or if you can't pay your bills because your husband just 'invested' in multiple sets of 1000-thread count sheets.

Where do we begin?

A good place to start the conversation is the astute Financial Compatibility Quiz by Jeff Motske of Trilogy Financial. Take the free quiz here:

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Talk about your background, how you were raised and how relate to money. I grew up in a household with extreme savers, where I know many other people grew up with parents who didn't stop spending until their credit cards were maxed out. You want to get a sense of how each of you approaches money. What did your parents teach you about it? Spending, philanthropy, saving? Don't feel bad if you've never thought about these things before, most people haven't thought about it for themselves, let alone for a potential spouse. But it's an invaluable exercise.

What issues should we discuss and seek to reach an agreement?

Once you've taken the quiz, here are a few topics you'll want to address. Write your answers down along with the date so you revisit the document later to measure your progress.

1.What are your financial priorities as a couple?

Even if you're double income no kids, that doesn't mean you should rush and spend every penny. What do you want to accomplish? What are your financial goals? Do you want to buy a house? Retire or even retire early? How much do you need in your rainy day fund?



2.What your plans for retirement?

How and when do you want day work to become an option for both of you? Is your goal financial independence or do you plan to keep working as long as you love your job? What is your financial fall back plan if you are unable to continue working?

3.Where do you stand today?

It's great to think long term and talk big picture, but full disclosure involves the day-to-day nuts and bolts as well. This means coming clean on your credit rating, student loans, credit card debts, trust funds, retirement accounts, cosigns on outstanding loans, settlements or other debts, wills, and what, if anything, is still in the pawnshop.

4.Should we get a prenuptial agreement?

Rich or poor, the pre-nup conversation is never fun. If both of you are young and entering the marriage without much in the way of assets, you may be able to skip this. (But I tend to err on the side of caution particularly because in my hometown of L.A., finances can change spectacularly overnight. Savvy shopkeepers know that that kid in filthy sneakers and torn jeans may have just closed a $50 million picture deal.)

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For sure, if there are significant assets and/or children (or pets . . . ask any divorce attorney, people fight to the death over pets as in 'Take the kids, you moron, but I'm getting the DOG!') you'll want to add the layer of protection a pre-nup gives you.

A monthly Financial Date Night? Really?

If tying the knot is in your future, or even if you are already married, commit to a monthly Financial Date Night with your significant other. The more documents you have in writing (or have at your fingertips by computer) - such as bank statements, credit cards bills, or investment statement- the better and more constructive the conversation will be. Reward yourself with a cocktail after the conversation but you might want to stay off the sauce during it.

Having regular, open and frank discussions about money and finances with your spouse will increase your chances of having a long and prosperous marriage.

On top of the bottom line

Few couples agree on every single aspect of every financial topic, of course. But sometimes the reality of how little financially a pair has in common can lead people to rethink their engagements. This is not necessarily a bad thing. If you don't see eye to eye on your future, you may be entering a doomed marriage. Don't get me wrong, you don't have to be 100% in agreement, but at least you need to share priorities and be willing to work together for your goals as individuals as well as your goals as a couple.

The sooner you get on the same page financially the better. Don't wait until the wedding date has been set; that's when you might feel pressured to not ask the tough questions or to ignore troubling information from your future spouse.

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If you procrastinate and don't follow the financial roadmap on your financial plan, even the most expert guidance on the planet is irrelevant. The best advice I can give to couples is to get your head out of the sand and start building your financial lives together now, no matter how long you've been together. Consider contacting a professional who can help with your specific situation and time frame. Putting a plan in place and saving for your goals means that you won't outlive your financial resources and are well positioned to live happily ever after.

Until Next Time and as always Be Fiscally Fabulous, and remember Gay Money Matters.

Invite to talk about 'The Talk'

I'm not nearly done with this topic yet. Do you and your finance or spouse (or anyone you know) have a particularly funny or insightful story about money disclosures and the trials, tribulations and trauma of 'The Talk'? Let me know because I'd love to hear it and I'm sure everyone else would too.
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks about health insurance marketplace enrollments and the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Last week Aetna, one of the country's largest insurance companies, announced that it was cutting back its participation in the health care exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With several other major insurers also cutting back their participation, there will be very limited competition in many markets. This prospect has supporters of the ACA worried and opponents gleefully looking forward to the day when millions may lose their insurance.

Before looking at the economics, it is worth mentioning that Aetna is upset because the Justice Department is blocking a merger with Humana, another major insurer. Aetna quite explicitly threatened the Justice Department with reducing its participation in the exchanges if it blocked the merger. While there could be real economics behind both Aetna's threat and its pullback from the exchanges, it is also possible that Aetna's main motivation is to retaliate for the refusal to approve the merger.

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Leaving Aetna's motivations aside, there is a real problem with the exchanges. The people who are signing up on the exchanges are proving to be less healthy than the population as a whole. As a result, they are more costly to treat. This means that either people on the exchanges will have to pay more for their insurance or the federal government will have to pay larger subsidies. We can try to make the insurers swallow the cost, which is pretty much the policy currently in place, but they will not stay in a market if they are losing money, as Aetna now claims to be doing.

It is important to recognize that this is not a problem of health care costs rising rapidly in general. The rate of growth in health care spending has fallen sharply in recent years and has been much slower than was projected at the time the ACA was passed. So the problem is not overall health care costs, the problem is the mix of people who sign up on the health care exchanges.

There are two simple ways to address this problem. For one, the insurers are still making money in the individual market outside of the exchanges. We could simply make participation in the exchanges a condition for participating in the individual markets. This in effect tells the insurers that if they want to make money insuring healthy people, they will also have to bear the risk of insuring less healthy people.

The other route would be to do what President Obama originally proposed in his 2008 campaign: set up a Medicare-type public option in the exchanges. This would ensure that everyone had an efficient low cost plan which they could buy into.

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Both of these steps would require political action either by Congress or state legislatures, as would most other routes for dealing with the problem. At the moment, the Republican Congress is not about to do anything to sustain the ACA since they have made its destruction the centerpiece of the last three national elections.

A main reason that they can attack Obamacare - threatening the health care insurance of tens of millions of people - is that almost no one knows what it is. Back when the ACA was being debated, Republican opponents circulated absurd stories about the government deciding which people would live and which would die. For tens of millions of voters, the ACA is about death panels coming to take away their mothers.

It is not about people, including white Republican people, getting health care who could not previously afford it. Republicans are happy to attack their fictionalized version of Obamacare (who wouldn't?), but they are unwilling to go after the real thing because they know it matters to their voters.

We have a chance to see this hypocrisy in action in Kentucky where Republican governor Matt Bevin recently got elected on a platform of destroying Obamacare. Yet once he took office, he has left in place the state's popular system of exchanges, Kentucky Kynect. He also is continuing to have Kentucky take part in the ACA expansion of Medicaid, although he does want to increase the role for private insurers.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did the same thing in his re-election campaign in 2014. While calling for the death of Obamacare, he insisted that Kentucky Kynect had nothing to do with the ACA. Obviously McConnell is an astute politician, he surely knows that Kentucky Kynect is Obamacare, but he also knows that his constituency actually likes Kentucky Kynect. Unfortunately McConnell's opponent was too scared to defend Obamacare and point out McConnell's deception.

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If we are going to see the problems with the ACA addressed, Democrats will have to start talking about the program and explaining what it has done in ensuring that people have health care. If people understand what the ACA is, they are likely to want to protect it, just as millions now rush to the defense of Medicare whenever it is threatened.
NBC NEWS -- Pictured: Inside Val Verde Correctional Facility, an 875 bed private prison holding both men and women in separate wings for the 'Operation Streamline' U.S. Border Patrol operation, which makes jail time mandatory for people convicted of illegal entry into the United States -- February 28, 2007 -- Photo by: Al Henkel/NBC NewsWire

Last week was a turning point. The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) announcement that it will wind down its use of private prisons is a major step in the struggle to end for-profit incarceration in America.

While the decision doesn't change much immediately -- it will take five years for the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) to phase out its 13 private prison contracts -- it's already making serious waves. Moments after the announcement, the stock prices of the country's two largest private prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group, plummeted. The next day, Moody's, the well-known credit rating company, downgraded CCA's debt to "junk" status.

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As they often do, the publicly traded companies are doing all they can to calm their shareholders. In response to the DOJ's decision, CCA CEO Damon Hininger, who banked $3.4 million in total compensation in 2015, told investors that when the company has lost BOP contracts in the past, they've been "very, very successful" at finding "new and existing partners."

Unfortunately, he's right. In the Public Interest recently documented CCA and GEO Group's success in marketing the facilities they own. In his response, Hininger even highlighted CCA's facility in California City, California, as proof that investors shouldn't worry. In 2010, the BOP pulled its prisoners out of the facility, but by year's end CCA had inked a new deal with the state of California and other federal agencies to fill it.

Eight of the 13 prisons impacted by the DOJ's decision are owned by either CCA, GEO Group, or a smaller private prison company, Management and Training Corporation (MTC). We should keep a close eye on these facilities as the BOP leaves the scene. When private prison companies actively seek new prisoners to fill facilities they own, it's that much harder for us to tackle mass incarceration.

While the DOJ's decision means that 20,000 prisoners, many of them immigrants convicted of reentering the U.S. after deportation, will no longer be held in dangerous conditions typical of private facilities, it could and should affect many more than that.

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In her announcement, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates wrote that private prisons "simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs and resources" as public prisons, nor do they "save substantially on costs." The fact that for-profit prisons harm prisoners, prison staff, and taxpayers isn't exactly news. But Yates's words should resonate with other governments across the country that contract with the private prison industry.

Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should be listening. The country's immigration detention system is extremely privatized. Private prison companies manage two thirds of the immigration detention beds under the jurisdiction of DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Nine of the 10 largest immigration detention facilities are run either by CCA or GEO Group with contracts that are extremely lucrative. In 2015, CCA made 14 percent of its revenue from operating one facility, the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, which has come under fire for understaffing and rampant sickness, among other problems.

The next major step for the federal government should be ending DHS's immigrant detention contracts with private prison companies. The ACLU has launched a petition to do just that. And Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) are directly pressuring DHS to end its reliance on for-profit detention.

Beyond that, state and local governments should end their contracts with private prison companies for facility operation, as well as the many services CCA and GEO Group have branched out to in recent years, like reentry services, substance abuse treatment, and electronic monitoring. This would add to the dwindling resources governments have to address public safety, since every taxpayer dollar that goes to private prison company profits is a dollar not being spent on addressing mass incarceration.

The DOJ's decision has put a more just and humane criminal justice system on the horizon. Now, we have the momentum, not the companies that profit from mass incarceration.
The military coup and the attempt to seize power in Turkey

Turkey's brief democratic moment is ending. The rise of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Development and Justice Party (AKP) in 2002 signaled the collapse of the militarized secular republic created by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The recent failed coup killed the semi-liberal democracy that briefly replaced Kemalism.

NATO is an anachronism and Ankara's membership even more so. The Cold War's premier military alliance led by the U.S. should have disappeared once the Europeans recovered from World War II and especially after the Soviet Union dissolved. Today Turkey undermines U.S. and European security. As Ankara moves toward an authoritarian one-party state, its membership in NATO becomes ever more incongruous. A civil divorce would be best for all parties.

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Erdogan, who as Istanbul's mayor was jailed for publicly reading an Islamic poem, began as the reformer Turkey had spent decades waiting for. He was supported by liberals hoping for a more democratic and open society in which the military stayed in its barracks. The Europeans saw Erdogan as the man to take Turkey into the European Union.

And he delivered, at least until the AKP won its third consecutive election in 2011. Then he began moving in an unmistakably authoritarian direction. Credited with reviving Turkey's economy, Erdogan appeared to believe that AKP officials deserved to do as well financially as politically. Elected president, he built an 1100-room official residence fit for a sultan of old.

Police and prosecutors who asked too many questions about high officials' suspicious cash holdings were replaced. Military officers and others were convicted of fantastic charges based on fabricated evidence. Journalism became a risky profession, with record numbers of editors and reporters jailed or fired. Entire media companies were seized, while internet enterprises were pressured.

Those criticizing the president, including a high school student and former beauty queen, were prosecuted. A court decided that comparing Erdogan to Gollum in Lord of the Rings was a criminal offense. Noted Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute, Erdogan "has a track record of persecuting and prosecuting his opponents, usually on the premise that there's a conspiracy to undermine him."

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Erdogan also decided that politics trumped peace, abandoning the ceasefire he had negotiated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Doing so reignited Ankara's bitter conflict with Kurdish separatists and reaffirmed Turkey's fervent support from Turkish nationalists. Ankara also opposed Kurdish ambitions in Syria, which had collapsed into civil war. Erdogan even attempted to drag the U.S. into the conflict against the Assad government while accommodating the Islamic State as it conquered territory and terrorized captive residents.

Last fall his government shot down a Russian aircraft for briefly violating Turkish airspace. Moscow reacted circumspectly, unlike Erdogan, but threatened a far tougher response to a second incident. Whether Ankara's act was retaliation for Russian attacks on Turkish-supported insurgents, strict enforcement of its airspace, or an attempt to entangle NATO in the Syrian conflict, the attack was irresponsible and dangerous. The alliance responded by warning Erdogan against further provocations.

Although he has began to repair the international damage--Ankara recently normalized relations with Russia--he redoubled domestic repression after the failed putsch. The government has good cause to target anyone promoting a military repeat, but the regime has treated the coup as the equivalent of the Reichstag fire for the Nazis, an excuse to launch a country-wide crackdown. Warned Turkey's one liberal party, the largely Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, Erdogan's campaign was "a tool and opportunity for the government to purge all opposition and limit democratic rights and freedom." The Great Purge obviously was prepared well in advance.

The regime made the unsupported claim that the cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally, plotted the coup--which seemed unlikely for an elderly exile. In fact, Erdogan blamed the religious leader while the coup was still in progress, before any investigation had even begun. The military long had resisted infiltration by outside forces, including Gulenists. The latter gained ground only after the Erdogan government broke the armed forces' independence. It seemed more likely that officers, Gulenist and secularist, joined against a common foe.

Nevertheless, nearly 2800 judges were fired the day after the coup, and at least 50,000 state officials and employees were suspended or ousted in the following days: academics, policemen, governors and local governors, interior, finance, and education bureaucrats, presidential staffers, school teachers and administrators, and others. Some of those sacked had been appointed previously by the AKP. The regime even dismissed 350 members of Turkish Airlines, including cabin crew. Most apparently were thought to be affiliated with the 77-year-old Gulen, who has lived in rural Pennsylvania since 1999.

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Moreover, barely a week after the attempted putsch the government took over a multitude of private institutions, including 1229 associations and foundations, 1043 schools, 35 health care organizations, 19 labor groups, and 15 universities. The government revoked press cards for journalists, preventing them from working, and closed a score of independent news sites. Guilt by association became official policy: those targeted "belong to, have ties with or are in communication with" Gulenists, claimed the regime.

The regime's attack on education has been particularly widespread. The government demanded the resignation of 1577 deans, from every Turkish university, including private institutions, ordered all university professors to cancel foreign travel, suspended 15,200 public administrators and teachers, and revoked the licenses of 21,000 private teachers, preventing them from working. An education ministry official pointed to "tip-offs that these are mostly linked with terrorist activities," meaning Gulen. Obviously these many thousands of people were not involved in the coup. Instead, the Erdogan government appeared determined to eliminate any opposition its increasingly authoritarian rule.

Exactly what Erdogan plans is unknown. While the formal suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights and imposition of a state of emergency might only be temporary, in practice they seem unlikely to end. Erdogan claimed to be acting to protect "democracy, the rule of law and rights and freedoms of our citizens," but he has been ostentatiously violating all of them for years. Now the situation is likely to get far worse.

Erdogan has been emboldened, the opposition has been weakened, critics have been silenced, and restraints on the government have disappeared. Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek predicted that the government would authorize creation of committees to assess the guilt of tens of thousands of people accused of disloyalty. This proposal echoes the violent purges of Maoist China and Islamist Iran, which inflicted mass injustice and disrupted social development.

"As Turkey descends more deeply into repression and conflict, its value to NATO decreases ever further. "

Punishing most anyone thought to oppose Erdogan and the AKP also risks making violence the only form of opposition possible. Yet even before the coup ISIS terrorism and Kurdish resistance were growing. Now Turkey's ravaged military will be less able to battle these foes.

As Turkey descends more deeply into repression and conflict, its value to NATO decreases ever further. Of course, Ankara retains advocates. Robbie Gramer of the Transatlantic Security Initiative argued: "The anti-ISIS coalition, strategically important American and NATO bases in Turkey, NATO's posture toward Russia, and the EU's migration deal would all be at risk if NATO forced Turkey out. Given the array of threats the alliance faces, NATO could not afford to put any of this at risk."

However, Gramer greatly inflates Turkey's geopolitical value. Ankara's 1952 membership is a Cold War artifact. The Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact no longer exist, ending any serious military threat to Europe. Nothing has changed with Vladimir Putin: there is no evidence that Moscow has the slightest interest in staging a blitzkrieg through the Balkans, let alone to the Atlantic Ocean. Russia's brutal treatment of Georgia and Ukraine is essentially defensive against an expanding NATO, not offensive in attempting to recreate the Soviet empire. There is no renewed Russian threat for Turkey to combat.

Actually, Ankara has become worse than useless for U.S. security. NATO itself is more burden than asset for America. The Europeans are capable of confronting any threat from a much weaker Russia as well as challenges created by conflict in North Africa and the Middle East. The continent refuses to spend seriously on its own security because it expects the U.S. to step in.

Turkey's primary military benefit to Washington is access to Incirlik airbase, which is not in fact contingent on Ankara being part of NATO. Moreover, the Erdogan government's cooperation is not guaranteed. It failed to back the U.S. in its invasion of Iraq and initially barred attacks on the Islamic State. Turkey also controls the Bosphorus Straits, but has an independent interest in constraining Russian activity in the Black Sea, which is of only limited interest to America. Finally, Ankara routinely violates the airspace of fellow NATO member Greece and continues to maintain troops on the island of Cyprus, divided by a Turkish invasion four decades ago.

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Wishful thinking cannot overcome such a record. It should be apparent that the alliance has little influence over Turkey's behavior. Hoping to appease Erdogan, James Stavridis, dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts and former NATO commander, argued that "the United States should use NATO as a mechanism to support Turkish positions," yet those stances are largely antithetical to America's interests. Nor is there any reason to believe that Ankara would become more pliable if Washington sacrificed America's basic interests.

Moreover, Ankara probably would not qualify for alliance membership today. It is engulfed in multiple conflicts largely of its own making. The government's refusal to address the aspirations of the large Kurdish minority led to an extraordinarily brutal military campaign in the 1980s and 1990s which could have induced Western intervention had the culprit not been a member of NATO: 4000 towns were destroyed, 30,000 or so people were killed, and three million people were displaced.

The Erdogan government won plaudits from abroad for forging a ceasefire, which Erdogan jettisoned last year for political purposes. Now the conflict burns anew. Ankara recently expanded its military efforts to include Syria's Kurds, who have created their own autonomous zone.

Moreover, Turkey fostered conflict in Syria and terrorism at home. Early in the civil war the Erdogan government backed the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and attempted to drag the U.S. into the horrid imbroglio. The latter objective might explain Turkey's otherwise inexplicable decision to down a Russian aircraft. Had Moscow retaliated NATO could have found itself involved in war.

The Turkish government also aided the rise of the Islamic State by turning a blind eye to the latter's cross-border activities, a decision which backfired badly. Already responsible for an increasing number of terrorist attacks, Daesh might attempt to regroup in Turkey once its "caliphate" disappears. The group then might not be easily dislodged.

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At the same time, Turkey no longer meets the democracy and human rights standards for new members. In fact, Secretary of State John Kerry warned Ankara against moving away from the alliance's "requirement with respect to democracy" in the aftermath of the coup. NATO was willing to overlook such blemishes in the past, but today's descent to authoritarianism is much harder to accept.

Especially since Erdogan appears to be following a script written years ago. Before taking power Erdogan said "democracy is like a streetcar. When you come to your stop, you get off." Unfortunately, that stop turned out to be authoritarianism.

Further, the regime is distancing itself from the West. Labor minister Suleyman Soylu blamed America for the coup, while an AKP MP, Aydin Unal, claimed that U.S. soldiers dressed as Turks participated in the fighting. Turkey's ambassador to the U.S. Serdar Kilic merely replied "I hope not" when asked if America was involved. The regime also blamed the U.S. for hosting Gulen. President Erdogan said any state that harbored those involved in the coup would be considered "at war" with Turkey. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim claimed that Washington's request for evidence of Gulen's guilt before bustling him off to Ankara's tender mercies called into question the two nations' friendship. Obviously that relationship does not include respect for the rule of law.

NATO has become a self-parody, including countries such as Montenegro, which has 2080 men under arms--fewer than the number arrested by Turkey in the coup's aftermath. However, at least Podgorica is harmless, a modern day variant of the fictional Duchy of Grand Fenwick in the novel The Mouse that Roared. In contrast, Turkey is turning into a security black hole.

Ankara's political limitations also are becoming more evident. During the Cold War Washington supported a succession of brutal dictatorships. But that world has disappeared. The growth of Putinism in Ankara today is a terrible embarrassment, with no corresponding security benefit for America as compensation. And the price will only rise.

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Last Thursday, something unusual happened in America. In a country uncomfortable with both political discussions and art which is not decorative, we heatedly discussed a statue. You know the one I'm referencing - the nude statue of presidential hopeful Donald Trump - depicting him as a pompous dictator with no clothes and no testicles and a very, very small penis.



Photo by James Michael Nichols via Twitter

Commissioned by the anarchist art collective, INDECLINE, statues of a salmon pink Trump simultaneously were erected (its hard to find another word) in public spaces in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Seattle. Named "The Emperor Has No Balls," New York City's Parks Department removed the statue. A spokesman said they removed it because the statue was unaccompanied and had been installed without a permit. A Parks employee quipped, "NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small," to the delight of many. I have to admit I thought the quip was pretty funny.

Others, however, were not laughing. They said the statue was an example of body shaming.

Mark Sandlin, a Presbyterian minister and highly regarded progressive Christian blogger, acknowledges the important role that art plays in society. He believes we need to be careful about "limiting and controlling the artist's expression". Yet, he feels INDECLINE crossed the line into body shaming for its own sake. He told me,

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We also need to guard against people who want to hide behind the claim of "art" when all they are really doing is belittling, bullying, or embarrassing someone. While I appreciate the "emperor's new clothes" angle of the Trump statues, I'm finding it very difficult to see them as much more than a case of body shaming, and that's never OK with me. If they had been statues of a naked Hillary [Clinton], I feel certain we would have been incensed by them.



Similarly, Meghna Sridhar writing for Feministing, raised a fair point about the "smug liberalism" of American leftist culture in "PSA: Your Transphobia and Body Shaming Isn't Radical".

Nothing is being said by the piece that is difficult for one in the current political climate to say - that Trump is a joke, or that fat people must be shamed, or that male bodies that don't conform to masculine notions of genitalia deserve scorn. Indeed, the real naked emperors seem to be the installation's smug audience instead, parading around in seeming robes of progressive politics, which actually, upon closer inspection, are their own naked delusions of open minded, non-oppressive grandeur.

I, too, can see how the statues may reinforce Americans' regrettable habits of body shaming and transphobia or anxieties around anyone who is not cisgender or any man who does not have testicles or or who does have a very small penis. These are problems in American culture and work to harm more people than many of us realize. It is a problem when we associate genitalia with maturity or bravery or intelligence. I agree with Sandlin and Sridhar as far as that goes.

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In fact, INDECLINE told Priscilla Frank for The Huffington Post that is what they were doing -- appropriating the association of testicles with being a man in American culture and using that against Trump. But they were doing something more. "We decided to depict Trump without his balls because we refuse to acknowledge that he is a man," they said. "He is a small arrogant child and thus, has nothing in the way of testicles."



Make America Great Again, by Illma Gore

By the same token, in a painting called Make America Great Again, genderfluid feminist artist, Illma Gore, painted a nude portrait of Trump which also featured a small penis. Gore readily admits her intention was to shame Trump and his politics by invoking American men's anxiety over small penises. "if anyone is going to be threatened by a small penis, it's Trump."

Her painting was modeled after a real life, middle aged friend. As far as I can tell, no one seemed to take exception to the slight pot belly and sagging skin of her painting. Other than commentary of the small penis, the painting is a fairly straightforward depiction of a naked man.

Yet, Make America Great Again has provoked hysterical responses. Gore has been anonymously threatened with lawsuits if she sells the painting, has been punched in the face by a Trump supporter in her own Los Angeles neighborhood, and has received thousands of death threats.

She notes that her painting has been understood and well received "everywhere apart from America". This has to raise the question, "What about this painting has triggered the anxieties of Americans in particular?"

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The brouhaha over the INDECLINE statues is reminiscent of the controversy over Maurice Sendak's children's book, In The Night Kitchen, published in 1970.



From In The Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak

The "before" picture here was how Sendak originally drew a 3 year old little boy who dreams, falls out of his pajamas and into the Night Kitchen where he bakes cakes. The "after" pictures show the diaper which was painted on him by librarians who fancied themselves the custodians of American morality and felt independently authorized to censor Sendak. The book remains on any list of the most analyzed, controversial, and banned books in America.

Americans have legitimate concerns about body shaming and transphobia. But Americans also are anxious about seeing penises in library books, on paintings, and on statues.

This aspect of body exaggeration is what other commentators about the INDECLINE statues were interested in. They were not worried about body shaming or transphobia. They saw the exaggeratedly small penises as essential to legitimate commentary about this particular politician.

Journalist David Person is on the board of contributors for USA Today. INDECLINE is suggesting, he says, "that despite Trump's bravado and bluster, he essentially is the emperor who has no clothes. Worse, he lacks the strength to provide true leadership. That is what the emasculated statue is about. They also seem to be suggesting that Trump's allegiance is not to this nation but that he has a secret agenda -- hence the Masonic ring on his finger."

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Los Angeles area filmmaker and artist Robin Rosenthal places the statue "in a long tradition among artists, notably Spain's Francisco de Goya, of political cartoons." INDECLINE's statue is "pure political commentary," insists Rosenthal. "It's a political cartoon in the form of a sculpture. If it is body shaming, artists and cartoonists have license to body shame."

Goya's cartoons were hard hitting political commentaries. His Los Caprichos [Whims] published in 1799 and his Los Desastres de la guerra [The Disasters of War] produced in the 1810s are sharp observations of his era. Goya skewered groups of people, such as the Catholic clergy, he believed to be largely responsible for many of the ills of Spanish society. A precursor to today's political cartoonists, Goya excelled in an informal style, exaggerations, and pointed attacks on contemporary prejudices and superstitions. It also is worth noting that he withdrew his Caprichos in 1803, after having sold only 27 copies of the set. His reason: concerns about the repressions of the Spanish Inquisition.

"The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters," from Los Caprichos, by Goya, 1799



"The Same," from Los Desastres de la guerra, by Goya, ca. 1810

If I were Trump and someone painted me with an exaggeratedly small penis for political reasons, I'd be offended. No doubt about that.

Yet, as Rosenthal suggests, there is a long history of exaggerating human bodies in order to make a political point. In fact, the exaggeration of political figures' bodies is essential to American political commentary. If you google "political cartoon + Abraham Lincoln" or the name of any American politician, you will find exaggerations of their bodies.



Drawing by Thomas Nast

Lincoln as long and thin as a string bean. William Howard Taft, said to have weighed in at 300 pounds, busting out of his impossibly ill-fitting clothes, that tiny hat tottering on his head. Barack Obama with his inevitable big ears and, in this cartoon by Michael Ramirez, exposed bottom.

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Body shaming? Sure it is. Is it intentional? Without doubt.

I'm under no illusion, however, that with these political cartoons of American presidents, I am looking at anywhere near accurate representations of their bodies. Obama is an extraordinarily good looking man whose ears do not proceed from his shoulders. Of that I am certain.

And with INDECLINE's Trump statue, it does not occur to me that I am looking at an actual representation of Trump's body. He is not, after all, salmon pink, nor is he fat. I assume he is not old enough to have the varicose veins given to him (although I could be wrong). I assume he has testicles. I have no way of knowing the size of his penis. Nor do I care to.

What I do care about is Trump's relationship to every petty demagogue who ever lived with their swagger and self importance and their erecting of expensive, grotesque statues of themselves in public squares. I care about Trump's misogyny. I care about how he reflects and has tapped into a disturbing aspect of American culture -- that horrid delight in making fun of anybody who is vulnerable, different from us, or presents any sort of real or imagined existential threat. And, yes, I get that is what the INDECLINE artists were doing -- delighting in giving Trump a taste of his own medicine. That, too, disturbs me. But only a little bit.

Mostly, I think, "Well done, INDECLINE!" With your guerrilla tactics and guerrilla art, you provoked a conversation among us about politics, art, and about our own culture. And for that, I thank you.
Here's a little girl power for your Instagram feed. Julie Van Grol, an illustrator and art instructor in Minneapolis, Minnesota is illustrating 100 powerhouse women as a part of a daily illustration project called "100 Days of Badass Babes."

For the last couple of weeks. Van Grol has been posting her babe of the day to Instagram with the hashtag #100daysofbadassbabes. The selected subjects range from supreme court justices to rock band members, all illustrated with vibrant, funky patterns and bright colors. Lucky for you, she's only a quarter of the way into the project so you're all invited to follow along for the duration of the 100 days. Below are a couple of the illustrations from the collection so far.

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Van Grol says the process for selecting her subjects has been a collaborative one- and she's open to suggestions if you have a fierce female in mind. With each post, more suggestions are coming in and more conversation is being sparked, something Van Grol is really excited about. What started as a list where she jotted down personal idols expanded to a Google doc shared with girlfriends which came to include and surpass 100 names in just 2 hours. There's clearly no shortage of leading ladies to illustrate - what a problem to have am I right?

The naming behind the project is also pretty neat. As a firm believer in the idea that gender exists on a spectrum, it was important to Van Grol to be sure to celebrate both cis females as well as non-binary, gender fluid people. That is why you'll see her use the word "babe" and her own personal definition for the term is t-shirt worthy.

"Babes are the people who encounter obstacles, give 'em the middle finger, and do the thing regardless," said Van Grol.


As September approaches, it's time to prepare for the most-important month--Bourbon Heritage Month.

Unlike National Hot Dog Day or National Paint Your Toes Red Month, Bourbon Heritage Month is real and honors the bourbon industry every September.

The Kentucky governor signs a declaration every year to celebrate the state's heritage month, which coincides with the stills churning after a traditional short summer beak and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. But no matter where you are, you can and should celebrate Bourbon Heritage Month. Here are five tips to help you enjoy the most out of your September. Some may require a trip to the Bluegrass State.

1. Blind taste bourbons from at least three states. By now, your local liquor store should have bourbons from several states. I recommend conducting blind tastings to see if Kentucky is still king in your home.

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2. Join the bourbon sub culture. Whether it's your local liquor store club or a private Facebook forum, Reddit or Twitter start enjoying bourbon with people you don't know. That way, you can get in an argument with them later about which bourbon is better.

3. Cook with bourbon. In Kentucky, bourbon is a little like salt and pepper. Season or drip to taste.

4. Attend the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. At the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, mechanical bull riding tends to occur at Wild Turkey events and great cigars are smoked at Heaven Hill's shindig, but there are many others to choose from.

5. Visit Shively, Kentucky. On the outskirts of Louisville, Shively was essentially built to support the distilling industry. Today, it's home to the Bulleit Experience at Stitzel-Weller, Brown-Forman's workhorse distillery and Michter's new distillery. While driving through town, take note of the street names. They're named after distilling legends.

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To describe Gomorrah as a massive success in its home country would be to underestimate its impact on popular culture. The show, which airs on Sky Atlantic -- and is therefore theoretically available solely to Sky subscribers -- has become a national phenomenon, rivalled only by HBO's Game of Thrones. Lines of dialogue have turned into instant catchphrases, and a whole country has found itself trying to mimic the sing-song cadence and growling delivery of the actors, and Neapolitan comedy ensemble The Jackal have built their fortune on Gomorrah parody sketches.

Sundance TV has picked up both season: the first two episodes air on Wednesday, August 24th. Here's why you should watch it.

A classical tragedy told in modern tones

The tale of the powerful Savastano clan, torn apart by ruthless ambition and generational conflict, has the solemn pacing of Greek theater and the brutality of the true crime stories on which it is based, as told by Roberto Saviano in his international bestseller. Saviano is also the mind behind the serialized adaptation of Gomorrah, which marks a sharp departure from Matteo Garrone's film of the same name: Garrone's work had the stark brutality and staccato rhythm of quasi-documentary fiction and was mostly acted in a local dialect so unintelligible it required subtitles even for native Italian speakers. Gomorrah the series opts for a softer choice of language, one that draws on the work of great Neapolitan playwrights such as Eduardo De Filippo.

This classic story of power and betrayal is told through a mix of high-adrenaline action sequences and long, slow-burning sequences that are reminiscent of Scandinavian cinema. Gomorrah takes its time building its world in minute detail only to smash it down and build it again.

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There are no good guys

Even a vicious universe like the one in Game of Thrones has its heroes, the good guys one can root for. Gomorrah has none: the story is told entirely through the eyes of murderous criminals, chiefly (in Season 1) camorra boss Pietro Savastano (Fortunato Cerlino), his only son and heir Gennaro (known as "Genny" and played by Salvatore Esposito), and Ciro Di Marzio (Marco D'Amore), an ambitious young upstart whom Donna Imma (Maria Pia Calzone), Pietro's wife, does not trust. The police is largely absent from the picture: everyone, or nearly everyone, is a monster. In the world depicted by Gomorrah, crime is everyone's day job and killing something you will have to do, eventually, so you want to start getting used to it. Even those who don't seem to be cut out for it will have to fit in, eventually, most often in a traumatic manner.

This might make for a deeply unlikable show, but here's the thing: when everyone is a monster, their humanness starts showing in the cracks of that monstrosity. Every single character on Gomorrah has a weak spot, issues they have to deal with, loved ones they want to protect and are willing to die for. Family -- the one you're born with and the one you choose for yourself -- is the backbone of the story.

Much of the sinister beauty of Gomorrah is in the acting: Fortunato Cerlino, Marco D'Amore, Salvatore Esposito, Maria Pia Calzone, Marco Palvetti (who plays Salvatore Conte, the sleek, pious head of a rival clan) and -- in Season 2 -- Cristiana Dell'Anna and Cristina Donadio work wonders with a script that is often based on wordless exchanges and only rarely relies on exposition.

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This is Italy, too

The Italy American tourists dream of and may have visited while on holiday is very likely a lovely, intensely sexy place, one where ancient history is always around the corner and even the smallest country village has a beauty spot of sorts. Shot mostly on location in the impoverished Neapolitan suburbs of Scampia and Secondigliano (the run-down horror of the Le Vele housing project in Scampia is a recurring establishing shot), Gomorrah shows you a side of Italy that is rarely seen even by Italians themselves. To put it bluntly: if you've ever done drugs while on holiday on the Amalfi coast, this is what got you the coke you snorted. Gomorrah may be fiction, but the bloody turf wars, the shady deals and the endless violence are real.

Gomorrah airs on Sundance TV on Wednesday, August 24th at 10/9c: here's the full official trailer.
A Muslim woman wears a burkini, a swimsuit that leaves only the face, hands and feet exposed, as she swims in the Mediterranean Sea in Marseille, France, August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

IZMIR PROVINCE, Turkey -- As the sun set on a hot Saturday at Marika Beach Club in the popular seaside town of Urla less than 30 miles from Izmir in western Turkey, Rabia Arslan finally decided to call it a day.

Donning a purple "hashema," the conservative swimwear that covers the body and the head, also known as the "burkini," the 30-year-old mother of two had been determined to make the most of her day at the beach.

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Had Arslan been in Cote d'Azur, the cooling swim she enjoyed here with her young children would have been out of reach.

Last week, a number of French municipalities, including the town of Cannes, banned the burkini from their beaches. The French ban argues that burkinis are provocative symbols of Islam and fall against the secularism principle guaranteed by the French constitution.

A Muslim woman wears a burkini on a beach in Marseille, France, August 17, 2016. (Fethi Belaid/Getty Images)

With historical ties to France, Turks are divided in their opinions of the burkini both in France and in their own country.

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When it was founded in 1923, the Turkish Republic adopted a constitution echoing the secularism of the French, which ensures separation of religious affairs from those of the state. The French term for legal secularism, laicite, was regarded as extremely precious in Turkey's road to modernity throughout the 20th century. In line with this model, headscarves were banned from public institutions such as government offices and universities. This approach to secularism contrasts with the model seen in the United States and the United Kingdom, which tends to respect religious freedom rather than seek to minimize it -- at least until recently, before Donald Trump came up with the plan to ban Muslims entering the country.

As Turkey grew more democratic and as religious minorities became the majority, conservative Turks began to demand equal rights in public space. The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government came to power 14 years ago with the promise of lifting the longstanding ban on headscarves in public institutions, which they eventually did in 2013. Today, the wives of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yldrm, the top two officers in the country, both have been known to wear headscarves.

With historical ties to France, Turks are divided over their opinions of the burkini both in France and in their own country.

In Cnar Pilgrimage Store in the busy Kemeralt shopping district of Izmir, hashemas start from as little as $13 for a decent piece. A young saleswoman there says they sell out of most sizes of the swimwear at the very beginning of summer season.

But the popularity of the hashema does not speak to a larger trend of veiled women in Turkey. In fact, there are many Turkish families in which headscarf-wearing members live side by side with their unveiled relatives. My own sister-in-law wears a headscarf, while her three sisters and I do not. In that respect, parts of Turkish society are fairly progressive, especially here close to Izmir.

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The opinions on the veil in Turkey, like the burkini, are quite diverse. According to a 2014 survey from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, while at least 50 percent of Turks prefer a woman to cover her hair in public, 52 percent of Turks surveyed also state that in the end, women should be able to decide for themselves what to wear.

It seems unlikely for Turkey to expect a burkini ban like France's. In many cases, the attire is seen as a natural extension of the headscarf, the fight over which was fought and won by the Islamist government. Although not as hotly debated as the headscarf years ago, the burkini is also known to have prompted some cultural debate in Turkey. As such, the people I talked with on the beaches of a town in western Turkey were similarly divided in their opinion on the French banning it.

Women in headscarves hold posters reading 'Do not touch my headscarf' as they stage a demonstration in Ankara on October 23, 2008. (Adem Altan/Getty Images)

As I interviewed both Turkish liberals and conservatives on the beach in Urla, this divide became clear. Some said they aren't so surprised and may even be supporting the burkini ban on French beaches. Others are angered by it and by what they perceive as the clear lack of tolerance towards other religions.

Urla is a resort town near Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey. Its residents support separating religion from the state like Ataturk intended, to the extent that they boast about calling their hometown "the infidel Izmir." Unlike most of central Anatolia, which tends to be more conservative and strongly support the AKP, Izmir has always had fairly liberal views.

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It was on my first day of interviews in Urla that I met Arslan and her family, who provided similarly divided opinions.

"This is a Muslim country and we must live according to our religion," Arslan, who was the only woman I saw wearing a hashema, said of her right to wear the garment.

'Europe is the birthplace of Renaissance and reform, and yet it denies someone her freedom to wear whatever she wants to the beach.'

But her brother, Bekir Gunduz, 31, isn't as supportive of her strong rhetoric. He said an individual cannot be forced to wear (or not to wear) a particular piece of garment. His wife doesn't wear the headscarf or the burkini. "As long as what she wears is modest and doesn't bother me or others, I'm fine with it," he said.

"Europe is the birthplace of Renaissance and reform, and yet it denies someone her freedom to wear whatever she wants to the beach," Gunduz added.

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But while they discuss the social implications of swimwear, the brother-sister pair suspect an ulterior motive behind burkini ban in French beaches and blame growing Islamophobia in the West for it. Gunduz said he feels that Europe is determined to prevent the spread of Muslim culture by measures like this latest burkini ban.

"Look at the countries France and other exploiters colonized in the past," he stated. "[Western countries] surely don't want a block of Muslims getting strong inside their countries."

Meanwhile, at Izmir's offices of Religious Affairs Directorate, located on the same street as the hashema store, imam Osman Ust answers phone calls from the public on everyday religious issues.

Turkish women wearing a 'hashema', swim at the beach near Istanbul on August 18, 2006. (Mustafa Ozer/Getty Images)

In between counseling a man who regretted his decision to divorce his wife, and another one asking advice on how to pray during a long bus ride, Ust told me that, "any kind of ban is purely ideological," noting that he believes Islam requires women to cover every part of the body other than their face and hands when outside of their homes.

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When I returned to the beaches of Urla for a second day of interviews, there were only a handful of women wearing hashemas on the overcrowded beach, many of whom congregated towards the back.

It seems that since the lifting of the headscarf ban and other developments during Islamist AKP government's rule, the roles have been reversed. It is now secular Turks who tell me of their fear of being unable to live in accordance with their liberal beliefs -- a common concern shared by the burkini-banning French politicians. But this is not a problem on the secular beaches of Urla.

From the beaches of Urla, it seems that, at least in this part of Turkey, a ban on burkinis is not expected anytime soon. There are, however, people here who are not as happy about the swimwear as others.

It seems that on this beach, neither liberals nor conservatives feel comfortable in each other's presence.

A young psychologist and mother of two in her 30s (who asked not to be identified out of fear of reprisal), told me that in principle she supported individual freedoms of religious people and of the lifting of the headscarf ban when it was first proposed. But as Turkish society became more polarized and liberals like her felt threatened, the mood has changed.

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"I don't share [the conservative] mentality and don't find burkini aesthetic. I wouldn't want to go to the same beach with them," she said.

Her friend, an Austrian father of two young children (he asked not to be named for similar reasons), is married to a Turkish woman and has been living in Turkey for the past 12 years. He said he is tolerant of burkini, joking about the other extreme that, "in Austria, people can go even naked, which is kind of illegal in some places in the world."

Some on the beach went so far as to disassociate the burkini from Islam all together.

Two Muslim women enjoy their time with other people at the beach in Narbne, southern France on June 4, 2015. (Raymond Roig/Getty Images)

Osman Oncu, a 51-year-old Turkish club owner from Bremen, Germany, was visiting the beach with his 61-year-old German partner, Barbara Stanschus.

"Islam doesn't enforce this kind of clothing," Oncu said of the burkini, "unless you are a [member of] the Tuareg in desert and need to cover from head to toe to avoid sand."

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It seems that on this beach, neither liberals nor conservatives feel comfortable in each other's presence. Talking to both, I felt as if each side wished the other were invisible. A less than ideal solution to ease this tension is allocating women-only or segregated beaches exclusively to burkini wearers. Some resorts in Turkey already have specially designated sections for males and females, an addition to Turkish tourism that has sparked debate, with some arguing that it represents an increasing divergence from the separation of religion and state.

As summer draws to an end, it is unlikely that segregated beaches will become more widespread here in Urla, but the burkini ban controversy is likely to spread and continue to divide people not only in France, but also throughout various cultures and countries, just as it has in Turkey.

Also on WorldPost:
Drug prices in the U. S. are already approaching a crisis point for many patients unable to afford their prices, often despite being insured. These examples indicate how serious this problem has become:

The use of prescription drugs by Americans, partly driven by direct-to-consumer advertising since the 1990s, has reached an all-time high.

Many people take five or more medications, especially those with chronic conditions.

Under the catastrophic drug coverage plan enacted in 2003, the Medicare Part D program, beneficiaries pay just 5 percent of the bill when their drug costs pass4,850; insurers pay 15 percent of the remainder, with taxpayers paying 80 percent, thereby incenting drug companies to drive their prices sky high. (1)

Yearly out-of-pocket costs expenses for cancer drugs often amount to one-half the average annual household income (2), and many cancer patients are forced to reduce the frequency of their prescribed drugs and cut their spending on food and clothing to get by. (3)

The cost of Gleevec, a 15-year old pill for leukemia, averaged10,893 per month in 2014, four times its initial price. (4)

According to the Milliman Medical Index, the cost of prescription drugs for a typical family of four covered by an average employer-sponsored preferred provider organization (PPO) in 2016 came to4,270, about four times higher than in 2001. (5)

The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services projects that total drug spending will reach535 billion in 2018, almost 17 percent of all health care spending. (6)

Between May 2015 and May 2016, prices received by drug makers rose by nearly 10 percent, the second highest increase among the 20 largest components in the Producer Price Index, despite pushback from insurers, scrutiny by U. S. lawmakers, and growing public concerns about drug costs. (7)

Now enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive, pro-corporate "free trade" agreement negotiated mostly in secret by large corporate players in the world economy. It was negotiated over seven years in closed-door sessions excluding the press, policy makers, and the public. Its 30 chapters were released in November 2015, with most chapters granting specific new rights and powers for corporations. As a regional trade agreement, it includes 12 countries--the U. S., Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, all of which signed the document "in principle" earlier this year. None have yet ratified it.

If ratified, this is what the TPP would do:

Require every signatory nation to grant a new 20-year monopoly for new uses of old medicines.

Provide other options for patent extensions, or "ever greening."

Give companies marketing exclusivity protections that create monopoly even when a drug is off-patent.

Provide drug companies with greater opportunities to influence government drug coverage and reimbursement policies.

Lock in rules that would limit competition and contribute to preventable suffering and death. (8)

In effect, the TPP would give drug companies wide latitude to jack up prices and costs of medications with their expanded monopoly rights and keep lower cost generics off the market. Its rules could not be altered without consensus by all signatories to the agreement. Moreover, even in countries such as Canada and Australia, where the pharmaceutical sector and drug prices are regulated by the government, the TPP could have profound effects on the criteria these countries use in decisions about drug safety and effectiveness, the approval process, listing of drugs on public formularies, post-market surveillance and inspection, and the future pricing of drugs. (9)

We have an epidemic of prescription drug use with harms not just to affordability of necessary care but also to patient safety. As the drug industry rolls on with its advertising and lobbying campaign for increased revenues for its CEOs and shareholders, adverse drug reactions have become the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 2,400 people every week. Dr. Donald Light,professor of comparative health care at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, sums up the problem this way:

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Flooding the market with hundreds of minor variations on existing drugs and technically innovative but clinically inconsequential new drugs, appears to be the de facto hidden business model of drug companies. In spite of its primary charge to protect the public, the FDA criteria for approval encourage that business model . . . The clear conflict of interest and approving so many new drugs with few clinical benefits serve corporate interests more than public interests, especially given the large risks of serious harm.(10)

The TPP will make all this even worse. If ratified in this country, as it could be in a lame duck Congress after the November elections, the TPP would drive drug prices in the U. S. even higher than they now are, limit competition further, and prevent the government from negotiating drug prices, as the Veterans Administration has done for many years, successfully gaining discounts of about 42 percent. The drug industry's trade and lobbying group, PhRMA, would be the main beneficiary of TPP policies, all at patients' and taxpayers' expense:

The current political landscape regarding the TPP raises worrisome concerns. It has had the support of most Republicans and many Democrats, including Hillary Clinton until she recently changed her position. President Obama has been pushing for its passage as part of his legacy. PhRMA is lobbying heavily for its enactment, including $238 million in 2015 and campaign contributions of some $50 million in this last year. (11)

There are some bright spots that give us hope that the TPP can be defeated and that an expanded role by government can alleviate this crisis in drug costs and prices. Since the TPP will also ship more jobs overseas to lower-cost labor markets, push down U. S. wages and increase income inequality, a growing number of organizations have joined together to oppose it, including labor unions, consumer, senior, health, human rights, and civil rights organizations. According to a recent AARP survey, 81 percent of respondents over age 50 think that drug prices are too high and 90 percent want politicians to do something about it. Proposals have been made in at least 10 states demanding transparency in drug pricing, while California has Prop 61 on the November ballot, which would block state agencies from paying more than the prices negotiated by the VA for prescription drugs. (12) The

American Medical Association and the American Association of Health-System Pharmacists have joined together in calling for a ban on direct-to-consumer drug advertising. (13)

TPP is a danger to this country. It would only serve corporate masters, and must be defeated.

References:

1. Alonzo-Zaldivar, R. Drug firms gouge taxpayers by gaming Part D catastrophic coverage. Associated Press, July 25, 2016.

5. Milliman Medical Index: Healthcare costs for a typical American family will exceed $25,000 in 2016 and have tripled since 2001. PRNewswire, May 24, 2016.

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7. Walker, J. Drug makers' pricing power remains strong. Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2016.
Kai Degner, author of this post, is the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia's 6th congressional district (Shenandoah Valley, Roanoke, & Lynchburg). His opponent is 24-yr incumbent Bob Goodlatte, who is Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Here is my claim: I am running in the most important anti-obstruction race in the United States. My opponent is not just one of a group of obstructionist legislators, he is personally responsible for killing bills in his Judiciary Committee related to any number of issues important to the majority of Americans.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte's role as Chair of the Judiciary Committee lets him kill bills and thus block campaign finance reform, immigration reform, criminal justice reform, sensible marijuana policy, consumer protections, civil rights, voting rights, labor rights, veterans funding, equal and fair pay, and more.

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But, because my opponent is a master at going unnoticed during his 24 years in office and safely gets re-elected, most Americans don't understand Rep. Bob Goodlatte's unique role in our dysfunctional, partisan, and out-of-touch congress.

To boot, rather than focusing on solutions, he is leading the partisan effort to bring perjury charges against Hillary Clinton and serves as an advisor to the Trump campaign. His now dogged and unwavering support of Donald Trump exposes his allegiance to the Republican Party establishment rather than to the Constitution and his constituents.

A Selection of Bob Goodlatte's Obstruction

Let me share just a few examples of where Goodlatte is out of touch with voters and America.

He delayed and weakened 9/11 first responder funding. He stops all immigration reform policies, thus enabling the status quo that is frustrating so many of us. He does not believe there is any threat to voting rights in America. He voted yes on making the Patriot Act permanent. Of course, he voted for the Iraq War - and then continually votes to cut funding for veteran programs and benefits. He voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, partially because it would extend the protections to gays and immigrants. He voted no on ending job discrimination based on sexual orientation. He is one of the biggest recipients of NRA contributions, and blocks any reasonable attempt to mitigate gun violence.

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He does not believe marijuana has ANY health benefits AT ALL and keeps cannabis a Schedule 1 Narcotic. This enforces cruel and usual punishment mainly suffered by the poor and black; fills for-profit prisons; keeps necessary medicine from children, veterans, and others; gives gangs a way to cash-flow their operations; contributes to the opioid epidemic; and keeps government in the way of business, jobs, and research. Meanwhile, the hemp economy is dormant, keeping agriculture, manufacturing, and retail sectors from capitalizing on the potential of this plant.

He killed the Marketplace Fairness Act, after it passed the Senate, and thus continues the advantage online retailers have over local retail business - and caused Virginia to raise the gas tax.

His National Environmental Scorecard in 2015 was 0%, down from 3% in 2014. Since 1993, he has consistently voted against environmental protections (think family health, clean water, and strong economies), and for fracking, fossil fuels, and pollution. He votes no on reducing carbon emissions, and has no commitment to mitigating climate change.

I could go on about issues, but let me switch to the fundamentals: campaign finance and government reform.

Bob Goodlatte is not funded by everyday voters. He is funded by PACs and large donors.

In 1992, about 80% of Bob Goodlatte's donations came from people in the district. Now in 2016, about 80% of his donations come from outside of the district - and half come from outside Virginia. His contributors are mainly PACs - only 1-2% of his donations comes from small donors.

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Bob Goodlatte does not support the government reform he campaigned for.

In 1992, Bob Goodlatte won the right to represent voters in Virginia's 6th congressional district with a campaign based around his promise to serve only 6 terms (12 years). Now in 2016, he is seeking his 13th term (years 25 and 26). Given the district is so reliably conservative, the argument that he needs to protect the seat for Republicans is bogus, and proves that he's more concerned about his own power and influence than for ensuring our officials are not career politicians bought by corporate and special interests.

Who is Kai Degner?

On June 8th, 2016, after one candidate had to discontinue his race, I unexpectedly became the Democratic candidate to run against Bob Goodlatte. I am in my 8th year on Harrisonburg's city council, and served as mayor from 2009-10. I am a small business owner and real estate agent, having previously worked for nonprofits and as an environmental consultant out of college. My most consistent work is in the realm of community dialogue and listening skills training, and I have facilitated and convened over 300 forums, debates, and panels on a variety of issues.

At heart, I am a community organizer and entrepreneur who believes people participating in honest processes can lead to achieving the values espoused by our Constitution: justice, peace, and equal opportunity. As part of my campaign, I am hosting five citizen assemblies based on areas where there is work to do for us to become a more perfect union: justice, economy, representation, preservation, and equality.

Can I win?

I believe I can win through a multi-partisan coalition of people frustrated with a dysfunction congress who understand that Bob Goodlatte is a unique part of the problem and must be replaced. Trump voters, of which there are many in this district, just rejected establishment career politicians in the primary and are clearly frustrated with elected officials who simply toe a party line.

With funding for an advertising campaign, I can bring attention to the truth: Trump voters are frustrated with exactly what Bob Goodlatte represents. If that message can permeate a generation's habit of voting for Goodlatte, I win. But, I need the funds to communicate that message so voters in the district understand the connection between their frustrations and Goodlatte.

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I am not rich. I am not funded by PACs. I am not years into preparing to run congress. But, I am 100% committed to this race and do believe I - WE - can win. Between early June and late August, I raised about $70,000 and will get back on the phone as soon as I publish this post. I need to quadruple my fundraising to have any chance of introducing myself to enough voters in this district.

How You Help: Donate and Share the Importance of this Race

I am proud my support is overwhelmingly coming from inside the district, but anyone in American wanting to see progress on government reform, criminal justice reform, the drug war, immigration, and civil rights should understand this race is perhaps the most important congressional race in the nation.

You can donate to this race and bring attention to its importance to these issues.

Share this race with national advocacy organizations who care about progress on these important issues.

Like my Facebook Page

Follow me on Twitter @kaidegner
Yet what is less known is the historical context for what motivated the Daughters to make their original $50,000 donation.

The UDC was founded upon five basic tenets -- memorial, educational, historical, benevolent, and social -- all of which were intended to insure the legacy of the Confederacy, pro-slavery warts and all. The group's donation to George Peabody College, which became part of Vanderbilt University in 1979, achieved three of these goals.

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While it is true that the Daughters' educational goal -- to tell the "true" (i.e. pro-Confederate) history of the war -- was being met through textbooks in the region's white public schools, the dormitory at Peabody College -- a teachers' training school -- also accomplished this goal.

Certainly, naming the building "Confederate Memorial Hall" commemorated Dixie's veterans through brick and mortar. Yet the underlying goal of the donation was to provide the daughters of those veterans -- especially those who could not afford it -- with a place to live while they completed their education as teachers. Teachers, it must be added, whose instruction would likely include a pro-Confederate view of the Civil War.

So, in effect, providing these young women a residence hall also served the UDC's goals of being a benevolent organization as well as an educational one. More importantly, with this gift, the Daughters made a strategic move to extend the legacy of the Confederate generation in perpetuity.

This was the ultimate goal. In fact, the Daughters, founded in Tennessee in 1894, included a statement in their constitution that they would work to extend the Confederate legacy "unto the third and fourth generation," which eventually came to mean all future generations.

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The successful effort by Vanderbilt University to remove the word "Confederate," therefore, represents more than erasing the historical name of the residence hall or giving a middle finger to Confederate heritage organizations, although it may be interpreted as such.

The more significant outcome is that it marks the end of a Confederate legacy--and not just one that commemorates white southern heroes. It brings to an end the history of a heritage that justified the institution of slavery, helped maintain the system of Jim Crow, and was used to deny African-Americans their civil rights.
This post part of The Establishment's Summer Arts Series, featuring four female creators hailing from Austin, Texas, who are using their work to explore gender, race, reproductive rights, and sexuality -- in other words, to fight the good fight. Stay tuned for more multimedia profiles every Friday.

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Check out our exclusive interview with Patino below -- she talks Austin feminists, the state of reproductive rights in Texas, and of course, why she might want to get the hell out of America.

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Laura Patino is angry. She's ultraviolet -- she's dangerous. She radiates incandescent dance-pop-electronica as the front woman of Holiday Mountain and wants people in their big trucks to get. off. her. ass.

"I have a Prius and it's red. It says, 'Caution Driver Singing.' If you see that? You change lanes motherfucker."

She is equal parts kitsch and social commentary, her music -- produced with drummer Zander Kagle -- deftly toggling between undeniable rump-shaking rhythms and scathing swipes at what it's like to be a woman in the world, musically and otherwise.

"If you want to be really honest with your political messages and art -- you are cast into a certain realm," Patino explains. "I really think you can make social change happen -- absolutely -- but I also think that if you want to become one of the biggest entertainers in the world you're not going to be able to talk about a lot of things. At least as a woman, you have to end up being a porn Barbie . . . maybe you're allowed to be bitchy (thank you Nikki Minaj), but you have to fit into this box of things that don't upset the flow too much."

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Patino says she was raised in a "pretty conservative" Mexican and Catholic household outside of Denver, Colorado, where shame and confusion about her body was part and parcel of growing up. To see her gyrating in technicolor leotards and warbling about her body -- "This is my choice, my body, my rules" -- it's hard to imagine her struggling within her own skin and sexuality, but she insists it's something she still wrestles with on a daily basis.

"Inherently there was a lot of confusion about my body -- that attitude of, 'you're asking for it if you're wearing that . . .' And that's the worst fucking attitude. That other people's lack of self control or other people's garbage becomes like, 'you're just the receptacle.' Women are beautiful, we have beautiful bodies, and that's our fault?! That's our punishment or something? There are a lot of messages all around us that we aren't okay as we are. Music, performance, yoga, all of these have all been journeys into me accepting my body and loving it and being able to say, 'I feel beautiful and safe in my own skin.' It's a constant struggle between freeing your inhibitions and feeling like you're staying safe in society. For me, it's been a journey of learning to love my own body -- that definitely hasn't always been the case."

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Zander and Laura doing what they do.

Patino started playing classical piano at age 5 before wending her way into more experimental music, laying the foundation for the fusion of genres she creates today, merging together reggae, ska, pop, and glam rock; her level of pageantry has been likened to David Bowie's.

"My classical teacher passed me to a jazz piano teacher when I was about 12 because I would always add in my own inflections or notes to the pieces. She was like, 'You aren't ever going to be a classical pianist, get out of here!'"

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Patino and Kagle have been collaborating since they met in 2011 "in a basement" while they were studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, forging a partnership which Patino says is unbelievably unique.

"It's just us. It's a very rare beautiful thing to be able to find somebody that you actually are on a dream-like state-page with, where you're subconsciously in the same creative space. That's a diamond rarity thing. It just comes down to two people being aligned in an almost intangible way."

While Holiday Mountain is on the proverbial map -- they just played SXSW, are about to drop an album (entitled Shia LaBeouf, of course), and collaborated with the genre-melting band Mexican Institute of Sound on an epic track and music video (featured below!) -- Patino says the road to stardom is paved with a few broken dreams and the hushed mutterings of "bitch."

"We're fed an image of a fairytale where the guy comes up to you and says, 'I'd like to offer you a record deal!' and then you're playing a sold out show in LA! . . . but that's not real life," Patino laughs. "It's a lot harder than that. It kind of irks me when [people say] they don't think there's any difference to being a woman in the music industry. You come into a room with everyone else and you're the only woman here and you're the last person to get their hand shaken and asked their name because people are kind of assuming you're like the girl prop who's there to look cute and play the part. 'Men are doing the work' -- there's still that underlying assumption -- so there's a lot of having to prove myself and being assertive. I don't give a shit if I get called a bitch. It's a very male-dominated industry."

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Patino also says that nothing else makes her happier than creating, than collaborating with other people; it's both nerve-wracking and cathartic. She says that in her day to day life she feels her gender "a lot," but when she steps onto the stage, "I notice that I let it go. I try not to be on a soapbox and tell people how to feel, but I earnestly have beliefs that I don't know how else to express. My writing and my being on stage is the only time I can exorcise those demons."

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Your cover letter should be like a mini skirt: long enough to cover the important parts, but short enough to be interesting! Here are 5 tips to writing the perfect cover letter in order to get your resume read:

Drop Some Names

Whether you heard about the job on a company website, or your Aunt Janice is the CEO looking for stellar new employees, you must say how you heard about the job. If you have a personal contact with someone at the company, drop the name in your cover letter. Even though we all like to believe the world is a meritocracy, it isn't. Being connected to important people and using their names appropriately will get you in the door, but just make sure you clear it with the VIP first. Now...staying in the door is up to you.

Twitter-ize Your Cover Letter

You've all been trained by twitter to edit your communications down to the important parts. And there's no better time to employ a strict editing technique than in your first communication with a potential employer. A standard cover letter should be no more than 5 sentences and include:

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What job you are applying for

Where you heard about the job

Why you're interested/qualified for the position

Briefly express enthusiasm for the company and your qualifications. Like a mini skirt, nobody is looking at the fabric; it's just a way to emphasize your legs (your resume!)

Professional Contact Info

Make sure to include all of your contact information in the signature of your email: Name, email, and phone number. Yes, I know all of your info is on the resume, but...you need to make things simple for the person you want to hire you. Be easy to contact. If your email address is sexykitty29@hotmail.com get a new account ASAP! You are entering a professional world so make sure your email reflects that.

Attachments

A cover letter is really just a cover email with the attached PDF resume. No need to send a cover letter and a resume as two separate attachments. It's redundant. Make sure your resume is appropriately titled: parkinson_krista_resume_2016, or something clean and simple. Test it out on a friend first to make sure your resume is easy to open and prints on one page.

Closing Time

The way you end your email is key to getting a response. You can end with, "I'd love the opportunity to interview with your company," or "Is it possible to schedule a meeting with you next week?"

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PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 29: Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on during a campaign rally with democratic vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) at Temple University on July 29, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A day after accepting the democratic presidential and vice presidential nominations at the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are kicking off a three-day bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

I have tried to write this story before. It's an adoption story. It's painful. It's personal. It is not easy to share. But with Hillary haters working overtime to dismiss, deride and defame her as the embodiment of all evil, I feel an obligation to speak. Because Hillary Clinton plays an essential role in this story. Although she is unlikely to remember us, she helped changed our lives forever.

Every adoption story is different; many begin with loss. Loss of a pregnancy. Loss of fertility. Loss of hope. Ours was no different.

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But our story ends with joy, a baby boy with a wide smile, who grew to be a kind, thoughtful and funny young man. I am grateful to his birth mother. I am grateful for every day that he is in my life. And I am grateful to Hillary Clinton, whose simple act of kindness made all the difference.

Pursuing adoption, at least back then, was fraught with uncertainly and disappointment. Doors opened and closed. A private adoption for a baby girl, for whom our friends had already donated maternity clothes, failed when the birth mother changed her mind.

Then I traveled to Guatemala. The orphaned and abandoned children I visited in Guatemala remained beyond reach; with the legal system in shambles, it would have taken several years to adopt and bring a child out of the country.

Our last hope was a domestic adoption agency. We signed up and heard nothing for a year.

Then one night, while attending an American Bar Association meeting in Chicago, I found myself at a small dinner with Hillary Clinton, then the First Lady of Arkansas and a partner in a prominent Little Rock law firm. She had recently been appointed to the organization's new Commission on Women. I was a new member of the Leadership Council for what is now the Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice. It was a small, informal affair.

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"Although she is unlikely to remember us, Hillary helped changed our lives forever. "





There were about ten women at the table. I sat directly across from Hillary. I liked her immediately. She was warm, engaging and a bit funny. I no longer recall who organized the dinner, but I remember every detail of the long narrow room with dark wood paneling, and I remember where the pay phone was located--on the wall right outside the room--because when I excused myself to call home, I found that my husband had been frantically looking for me.

The agency had called. There was a baby boy waiting for us in Little Rock, Arkansas. I needed to catch the next flight home.

I returned to the table. Did I blurt out the news? Was it obvious that I had returned from the phone call in an altered state? Little Rock, really?

I recall Hillary's delight at the news, and her helpful tutorial on Arkansas' adoption laws. She offered a recommendation for a good local adoption lawyer and made suggestions for a hotel. I thanked her and returned home to a blur of activity: endless phone calls; documents faxed back and forth; and a proud big sister insistent on putting the nursery in order before we flew to Arkansas.

And then everything stopped.

The agency was slow in responding to our request for medical records. When they finally arrived, they presented a confusing and potential devastating portrait of our baby's health. My husband, a physician, found the medical notes cryptic at best, and the agency, located in another city, was unable to help us.

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I needed help on the ground. We knew no one in Arkansas. My husband had no colleagues there. There was no public Internet to help locate trusted medical care. I decided to take a chance and called Hillary at the Rose law firm. I wasn't sure that she would even remember my name or return my call. But she did--within minutes--and quickly grasped the gravity of the situation. She put me on hold, placed a call and made an appointment for our baby with the pediatric practice where she took her daughter Chelsea.



I took down the information. She wished me luck. And with her help our luck changed. Our baby was quickly cleared for adoption.

She called me later to check in. I sent her a thank you note. After that, we did not speak again.

Last month, in her acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, in an attempt to explain her true self to skeptics in Philadelphia and beyond, Hillary Clinton said: "It's true. I sweat the details...Because it's not just a detail if it's your kid, if it's your family. It's a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president, too."

Our "detail" came home with us because Hillary Clinton sweated the details of an adoption 26 years ago for a family she didn't know, didn't represent, and didn't expect anything from.
It's not every day that the United Nations urges moms to post more breastfeeding pictures to social media, yet that day has arrived.

At a recent briefing in Geneva, World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib spoke out in favor of the mighty 'Brelfie', stating that "it's absolutely to be encouraged."

The practice has been dubbed by many as a "social media trend," but whatever the label, the name or the assumption, one thing is certain: Brelfies carry the potential for much-needed positive change...

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7 Powers of the Mighty Brelfie:



Brelfies break the stigma about breastfeeding in public. Brelfies spread the word about the importance of breast milk. Sharing our Brelfies unites women, regardless of location. Brelfies empower mothers to trust in their bodies and their babies. Brelfies remove the taboo from the act of nourishing our children. The natural variation of each unique Brelfie proves that there is no singular, one way to breastfeed. Simply, Brelfies celebrate motherhood.

This statement comes shortly after UNICEF issued a press release highlighting the importance of breastfeeding within the first hour after birth. When asked about the Brelfie 'trend', UNICEF said:

"The United Nations wants to get people talking about breastfeeding, to improve infant nutrition around the world. Everything that can be done should be done." (Christophe Boulierac, UNICEF spokesperson.)

Get people talking about breastfeeding...such a simple yet crucial concept and one that -- thankfully -- hasn't been overlooked by our healthcare professionals, as shown in Lansinoh's 2016 Global Breastfeeding Survey results. According to the survey, which canvassed the opinions of healthcare providers working in both prenatal and postnatal care, a whopping 81% suggest that moms should be talking about breastfeeding with their providers well in advance of their due dates.

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It seems that the medical world is in agreement; the more we talk about breastfeeding and share our precious nursing pictures, the more accessible breastfeeding becomes, not only for ourselves, but also as a ripple effect for mothers across the globe.

For moms, the message seems crystal clear...

Let's normalize the normal together.

Let's support one another along our nursing journeys.

Let's share our breastfeeding pictures with pride.

The Mama Bean Facebook page is a Brelfie-sharing paradise -- join the community and share your picture here.

Related article: Why UNICEF wants all Babies to Breastfeed within an Hour of Birth
My worst travel nightmare has materialized: a throbbing toothache in a foreign country. From experience, I'm sure it's a dead nerve and I need antibiotics tout de suite. After two days of downing pain relievers miles from a town of any size on Corsica, I know I must deal with this immediately. Certainly before boarding a ferry from France to Sardinia, Italy so the doctor and I can communicate. We arrive in Bonafacio, a striking city with a stout hilltop fortress and stunning white chalk cliffs on the southern tip of the island. France is famous for its red tape and I'm ready to tackle it with respect to healthcare.

We reserve the day until our late afternoon ferry for my emergency, knowing it could take some time. Close to tears from the ache, I tell our hotel desk clerk what's wrong and ask if she can get me a medical appointment. She picks up the phone and dials the local doctor whose office is down at the port. "Yes, he is seeing walk-in patients this morning. Here's his address and our shuttle will take you."

We enter his bare bones, second-story walk-up office in a pastel 18th century building overlooking the sparkling harbor. I wait ten minutes until his current patient comes out and then in I go. All he asks is my name. No ID, no insurance paperwork, nothing else. I'm in need and he's treating me. A couple questions, a quick look in my mouth, a few taps on my teeth, and he writes two prescriptions: one for an antibiotic and one for pain (a drug not available back home). Total damage: $33. We head to the pharmacy next door, shell out a whopping $16 for the meds, and we're on our way. Less than an hour after my plaint at the hotel and just shy of $50 for an impromptu doctor's consult and the cure for my pain. I pop the pills and by the time we board the ferry hours later, my jaw is no longer on fire.

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An Indian woman praying with folded hands.

In church this Sunday, we sang the hymn "Praise to the Man" which contains these two phrase:

"Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!"

and

"Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren."

I felt acutely uncomfortable with the words and stopped singing it. The tune is rousing. The words were written by William W. Phelps, a contemporary with Joseph Smith, and who fell out with Joseph Smith, but later asked for forgiveness and to be accepted back into the church. When Joseph Smith was martyred at Carthage Jail in Illinois, he penned this poem to the prophet.

While I appreciate the feeling of those who loved Joseph Smith and who were devastated by his murder, the words of this song now seem to me to be akin to worship, which is not what modern Mormons feel for this prophet. We honor him and his sacrifice. We think that The Book of Mormon is the word of God. But we also recognize Joseph Smith's flaws. Yet this song seems to elevate him to nearly divine status and I am unsure that is the way that I feel about the early Mormon prophet.

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To non-Mormons, I would hasten to add that Mormons do not now nor ever have prayed to Joseph Smith. We do not believe that he has become a god. We do not think that he intervenes in our lives or in the present workings of the church. The current prophet of the church is inspired by Jesus Christ, not by Joseph Smith, and it is Christ who is the head of our current church.

And yet, I am still bothered by what seem to me remnants of a near deification of Joseph Smith that happened shortly after his martyrdom. Joseph Smith was a prophet, yes. He was also, by his own admission, involved in treasure-seeking in his early years. He was notably bad with finances his whole life, which was part of the reason he ended up in Liberty Jail before his martyrdom, and part of the reason many of the most faithful Saints turned against him. He lied to his wife Emma about his involvement in polygamy for years before it became public. Also by his own admission, he lost the first 116 pages of the translation of The Book of Mormon, pages which were never found and which he was never allowed to translate again. The Book of Mormon which we have today is only a partial translation of the Gold Plates because of Joseph Smith's flaws.

In the Doctrine and Covenants 135, our scripture claims that "Joseph Smith "has done more save Jesus only for the salvation of men in this world". I worry that this sounds as if we think that Joseph Smith is in some way on the same level as Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was a man, not the son of God. He was not divine in any way. He did not have the capacity to resurrect himself or to resurrect others from the dead. He could not suffer the Atonement of Christ which allows all of us to repent of our sins and return to God.

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While I usually think Mormons do a good job of making Joseph Smith seem like a human being rather than god-like, there are moments like singing this song when I feel a twinge of unease, not just because of Joseph Smith, but because of our current leaders. Deifying our leaders creates problems in the church today. It makes it difficult for members to have their own opinions, politically and spiritually. It encourages members who agree wholeheartedly with the current leadership to shun those who speak out about their disagreement.
Want to see a really hip and cool website? Take a look at the Concert Across America website which is promoting a remarkable event on September 25th. This event is becoming so big, and the website is so beautiful and chock-full of energy, ideas, things to buy and things to do that I don't know where to start. So let's start with why this event, or I should say, this phantasmagoria of events is being held at all.

Actually what this really is all about is a #ConcertAcrossAmerica to #EndGunviolence. You see, even an old guy like me is starting to write with hashtags rather than just plain, old (boring) words. Behind these tags is a remarkable, collaborative effort combining the energies and commitments of more than 100 organizations who have already organized more than 75 concerts in 40 states, with more on the way. And not only can you get to a live event by driving a couple of hours in one direction or another, if you even have to go that far, but through the miracle of social media you'll be able to attend multiple events. In that regard, I should also put a link (it's right here) to the concert's Facebook page, which also contains news about all the different events.

I was going to stick around my home state, Massachusetts, and go to concerts here and there, but I'm tempted to go down to da city because the concert at the Beacon Theater, which happens to be a few blocks away from where I used to live, is going to be an unbelievable event. I mean, when was the last time that the one, the only, the magnificent Jackson Browne shared a stage with Marc Walkin' in Memphis Cohn and, and, Roseanne Cash??? I mean, this really can't be done.

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I'm going to make a prediction. My sister Barbara and my mother actually went to Woodstock for the real deal in 1969. They went up there because my father, who managed a big dairy in New Jersey, used to buy raw milk from Max Yasgur, on whose farm the concert was held. So a couple of days before the great event Max called my father to tell him not to send up a truck to get that week's milk supply because, as Max put it, "they're running all over the place." And he wasn't talking about his cows. He was talking about the 400,000 who showed up and camped out all over his land.

Anyway, back to my prediction. If I had a nickel for everyone who, over the years, claimed to have been at Woodstock, I wouldn't have to keep working for a living. Truly, the concert was a national, cultural event. And my prediction is that we may be looking at the same kind of situation on September 25th because everyone will either have been at one of the performances or will want everyone else to believe that they went to one of the events.

Take a quick look at the logos of the supporting organizations. It's a who's who of faith-based groups. anti-violence groups, environmental groups, student groups, education groups - an enormous outpouring of interest, energy and concern. And don't forget to buy a t-shirt and contribute to the campaign. I just bought a shirt and added some more dough. You should do it too.

In addition to the music already planned, many more are taking shape, and at least 150 faith-based organizations are also planning to hold musical and devotional events. This gets us to around 300 venues where people will gather on September 25th to use music as a medium to express their determination to stop the killings, the injuries and the violence caused by guns.

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Hand of prisoner grabbed the metal fence in black and white

This blog was co-authored by Emily Greytak, PhD, Director of Research at GLSEN.

Back-to-school season is a good time to ask how we are doing as a society when it comes to helping young people navigate the path to a successful life. Judging from a new report looking at the overrepresentation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth in our juvenile and criminal justice systems, the answer is a definitive, "Not so well."

A new report out today, Unjust: How the Broken Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems Fail LGBTQ Youth, examines how as many as 3.2 million LGBTQ youth are at risk for becoming enmeshed in our juvenile and criminal justice systems. In fact, LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to end up in juvenile detention; 20 percent of youth in juvenile justice facilities identify as LGBT or gender non-conforming compared to 7-9 percent of youth in general.

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That's a bitter truth in a nation guided by equal protection under the law and an aspiration that our children should all have a fair chance to learn, grow and succeed. So what's behind this devastating statistic?

Family rejection, discrimination in our communities, discriminatory enforcement of laws, and hostile school environments all play a part. But let's focus on how the climate in our nation's schools puts many LGBTQ youth at greater risk for being criminalized. We all know that being bullied at school can be devastating. LGBTQ students experience disproportionate rates of in-school victimization, while also facing a lack of support from or recourse through school officials. Recently released statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth were twice as likely to be bullied as heterosexual peers, and national studies indicate that transgender youth experience even higher rates of bullying.

Studies show that LGBTQ youth who are bullied at school are at higher risk of mental health challenges, missing school, and deciding not to attend college. Paradoxically, these students also are the targets of harsher disciplinary measures by schools--even though they are frequently the victims of harassment and violence. These factors together result in LGBTQ young people to be more likely to drop out of school, which in turn means they're also more likely to have run-ins with law enforcement.

LGBTQ young people also are among the groups of students who are more likely to be suspended, expelled, or otherwise removed from school settings -- often for relatively minor offenses. This puts them on track to enter the so-called "school-to-prison pipeline." Fully one-quarter of LGBTQ students in a GLSEN 2013 nationwide survey had been disciplined at school for public displays of affection that would not result in discipline if the display of affection had been between non-LGBTQ students. Furthermore, LGBTQ youth are at risk for discipline if they violate discriminatory practices, such as gendered dress codes.

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The bottom line is that our schools are failing when it comes to creating a level playing field for LGBTQ students and protecting them from bullying and harassment. The result is that LGBTQ youth are significantly more likely to enter the criminal justice system. It's no wonder that the percentage of LGBT and gender-nonconforming youth in juvenile detention is double that of LGBT youth in the general population.

Even more alarmingly, once LGBTQ youth are in the system, they face exceedingly high levels of mistreatment and abuse. Surveys show, for example, that LGBTQ youth are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault and abuse by staff and other youth in juvenile detention facilities. A federal study found that 10.5 percent of LGB youth had been sexually assaulted by a peer compared to 1.4 percent of heterosexual youth. Aggravating the problem is the fact that transgender youth frequently are placed in facilities according to the sex on their birth certificate instead of their lived gender. This happens despite federal requirements that placement decisions should be individualized and should take into account an individual's personal safety.

In this election year, we hear a lot of talk about how young people are our future and how we should be doing everything we can to help them succeed. Let's start by making a commitment to treating all young people with the respect and the fairness they deserve--whether in our schools, in our communities, or in our juvenile and criminal justice systems.
FREDERICKSBURG, VA - AUGUST 20: GOP nominee Donald Trump holds a rally in Fredricksburg, VA on August 20, 2016 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/WireImage)

The death penalty exoneration reported in the New York Times contained the customary horrors.

In 1983, police in rural North Carolina arrested two mentally-disabled African-American teenage half-brothers for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. After hours of interrogation without a lawyer, the oldest brother cracked under threats of execution, signing a confession written by police. Then, bewildered, he asked his interrogators: "Can I go home now?"

He never did. Confronted with the coerced confession after hours of the same unrelenting pressure, the intellectually disabled 15-year-old brother signed a confession of his own.

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At trial, both recanted their confessions, the only evidence against them. But a Bible-thumping prosecutor later known as America's "deadliest DA" sought the death penalty. The jury sent them to death row.

In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case. In dissent, Justice Harry Blackmun noted that the older brother had the mental age of a nine-year-old. "This factor alone," he wrote, "persuades me that the death penalty in this case is unconstitutional."

After 30 years, pro bono lawyers pressed for DNA testing of a cigarette butt found near the victim's body. The testing matched the DNA on the cigarette to a man with a history of sexual assaults who lived a block from where the body was found. A man who -- only weeks after the murder -- had confessed to the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl in the same town. Remarkably, the local police had never questioned him about the strikingly similar crime for which the brothers were sentenced to death.

In 2014, the brothers were released -- 31 years too late.

This case typifies the reason that the 2016 platform of the Democratic Party states succinctly: "We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual punishment. It has no place in the United States of America." But If Donald Trump becomes president, we will have more such cases -- many more.

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Trump is a longtime death penalty enthusiast who has committed to expanding its reach. This despite all the evidence that its application is unconscionable -- entrapping the innocent, and disproportionately ensnaring the poor and the miserable, while bypassing those whose guilt is often greater.

Start with the innocent. By March of this year, the number of official death row exonerations reached 156. The reasons are not hard to pinpoint.



Trump is a longtime death penalty enthusiast who has committed to expanding its reach.



First, race. In almost 80 percent of the cases where the defendant is executed, the victim was white. In contrast, the majority of death row inmates -- that is, the 10 percent of defendants eligible for the death penalty who actually receive it -- are black or Latino.

To this add the most dire personal hardship. The biographies of death row inmates are numbingly similar: fetal alcohol syndrome, organic brain damage, medical inattention, economic and educational deprivation, and repeated familial beatings, torture and sexual abuse which makes mere parental neglect enviable by comparison. In itself, the laser-like focus of our death penalty on those who suffer society's most terrible conditions exposes its inescapable inequity.

Cement all this with terrible lawyers. Routinely, the disadvantaged get the defense that they can pay for.

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A review of death row cases documents the inevitable results. Lawyers who are overworked, inexperienced, unprepared and underpaid. An absence of vital expert witnesses. Forensic or scientific evidence which is botched or phony. A failure to investigate facts essential to the defense.

But not all of the distortions of justice are inadvertent. Add police and prosecutors who, unchecked by a zealous defense, run roughshod at trial and, at times, withhold potentially exculpatory evidence. Or "eyewitnesses" who are vengeful or mistaken. Or crafty snitches who shift blame to the defendant in exchange for a lighter sentence. Or, in some cases, all of this.

There is no way to redeem these miscarriages. Far from being a magic bullet, DNA exonerations expose but the tip of the death penalty's dark iceberg. Contrary to popular delusion, DNA evidence is available in less than 10 percent of murders -- steel bullets, which account for the majority of killings, do not create human DNA. The only question is how often we have buried our mistakes.

This is, perhaps, the ultimate price of a regime so blatantly discriminatory: while it unerringly selects the underprivileged, it does not exclude the innocent. But the American system is specifically engineered to ensure that those are convicted stay convicted, guilty or not.

This is the dirty secret which few of us understand.

In 1996, responding to the widespread perception that death sentences were being unreasonably delayed by last-minute legal maneuvers, Congress passed the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act -- AEDPA. Its aim is to place "finality" of sentencing and execution above the risk of executing the wrong person.

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If "effective" means putting the innocent to death, AEDPA is an indubitable success. Once convicted a defendant can present new evidence of innocence only through a habeas corpus petition -- the very remedy AEDPA seeks to curb. And its effects on habeas corpus are draconian.

Suppose that a defense lawyer uncovers persuasive new evidence that the man about to die is, quite possibly, innocent. Under AEDPA, that is not nearly enough to prevent his execution. Instead, the new evidence must be so "clear and convincing" that no reasonable jury would now convict him of murder.

"Reasonable doubt" no longer applies. 50-50 does not pass the test. Even "more likely not" won't do it. In short, AEDPA reverses the burden of proof.

And yet, unbelievably, even if the defendant musters "clear and convincing evidence of innocence," the state can still execute him.

Why? Because AEDPA erects yet more barriers against the use of this new evidence.

First, the evidence is barred if his original lawyer could have discovered it had they been reasonably diligent. So if the lawyer who defended him was too incompetent or inexperienced or just plain lazy to uncover what he should have found, the prisoner is out of luck.

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Second, even if the exculpatory evidence could not have been found before conviction, it is still barred if the reviewing court finds that the original trial was "constitutionally fair." Chilling as it it may seem, a man who newly discovered evidence appears to vindicate can nonetheless be executed if the trial which convicted him -- however wrongly -- is deemed "fair."

Under AEDPA, this is hardly a daunting standard. The most common claim of unfairness is that the defendant's lawyer was so grossly inadequate that this denied his client a fair trial. And drunks and drug addicts and lawyers who fell asleep at crucial moments have been found good enough to get their client executed.



The certainty that we have executed many hundreds of innocent people should cause us to recoil.



But stop and consider the resulting Catch-22. If the defendant had a lawyer bad enough to pass test two -- that his trial was unfair -- then he probably has failed test one: very often the new evidence could have been discovered by more diligent lawyer.

Yet even if a defendant clears every one of these hurdles, another barrier awaits. In order to get a hearing to consider the new evidence, he needs the approval of the federal court overseeing his case. If the court turns him down -- no matter how arbitrary the reason -- he is barred from appealing.

In other words, he's dead. If his claim was presented before, no matter how badly -- or incompletely -- he's dead. And even if the U.S. Supreme Court hands down a new rule of law which would prevent his execution were he tried today, it does not matter unless the Court expressly applies the rule to habeas corpus petitions. Otherwise, he's dead.

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Truly, this is justice in a fun house mirror -- Franz Kafka as executioner.

That should haunt us all. And the certainty that we have executed many hundreds of innocent people should cause us to recoil. As Justice William Brennan once wrote: "It is tempting to pretend that those on death row share a fate in no way connected to our own... Such an illusion is ultimately corrosive, for the reverberations of justice are not so easily confined... [ T]he way in which we choose who will die reveals the depth of moral commitment among the living."

Instead, the way we choose who will die betrays a moral blindness, a preference for punishment as palliative which allows the ills of our society to permeate the gravest judgment we can make about a fellow human -- that we are entitled to take his life. And with this, all too often, comes class bias -- the idea that these people are not like us, and therefore should be of no concern.

A word of personal honesty, for the death penalty can never be a bloodless subject.

Many occupants of death row have committed murders too hideous to describe here. Were the victim a member of my family, I would be gripped by the desire for vengeance. But society does not owe me that. The loss of a loved one cannot be redeemed -- not this way, not through this system. For the error and injustice embedded within is rooted in human flaws beyond our power to abolish.

But, state-by-state, it is within our power as citizens to abolish the death penalty. And it is within the power of the Supreme Court to bar it all together -- yet another reason to care about which president appoints our justices, and which party has now committed to ridding us of capital punishment.

This last point is crucial. A Supreme Court ruling would bar the federal government from imposing capital punishment, a step Congress is unlikely to take. And the states most enthusiastic about the death penalty -- Texas, Missouri, Georgia and Florida -- have the least qualms about its inequity. In particular, Texas -- which leads the country in death row exonerations -- continues to briskly execute its prisoners.

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In the near term, these and other states are no more likely to abolish the death penalty than are countries like China, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. When it comes to capital punishment its advocates, typically conservative, forget that it is something they scorn in other contexts -- a government program. So the question is whether the federal government or any state can constitutionally maintain a regime of death so discriminatory and prone to lethal error.



In crucial areas of the law, much may depend on who takes Antonin Scalia's place. Including whether America, like Yemen or North Korea, continues to execute the innocent.



Here, again, the death of Antonin Scalia looms. On the Court, no one advocated the death penalty more fiercely; no one was more cavalier about the prospect -- indeed, the certainty -- of wrongful executions. To read his opinions on the subject is to wonder at the callousness, smugness and sheer self-satisfaction which so blithely permeates his prose. But his unwonted exuberance may have had an unwanted result -- pushing his colleagues closer to abolition.

Before Scalia's demise, a 5 to 4 Republican majority upheld Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol. In dissent, Justice Breyer, joined by Justice Ginsburg, questioned the death penalty as a whole. "Today's administration of the death penalty," Breyer wrote, "involves three fundamental constitutional defects: serious unreliability, arbitrariness in application, and unconscionably long delays that undermine [it's] penological purpose."

Now Donald Trump has offered us a list of prospective nominees to fill the vacancy Scalia left. All are hard-line conservatives, all but certain to uphold this shameful aspect of our justice system. In this way, as in others, Trump has promised to perpetuate Scalia's dubious legacy.

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In crucial areas of the law, much may depend on who takes Antonin Scalia's place. Including whether America, like Yemen or North Korea, continues to execute the innocent.
Don't spend a fortune on cosmetics when everyday foods offer therapeutic and beauty-boosting benefits without potentially harmful ingredients.

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In response to these mounting concerns about the ingredients found in skin care products, consumers are looking for more natural products. A 2016 report from Mintel indicates widespread interest in food-based and probiotic skin care options among American consumers, 78% of whom already use, or are interested in using, products containing fruit-based ingredients. Eveline Ashton, a bioenergetic practitioner and holistic healer, has noticed this trend as well. "With the growing awareness of climate change and movement toward organics," she says, "I think people are waking up to some of the old ways, where natural is better. I certainly found in my practice that many people came to me because they were not happy with the standard medical emphasis on pharmaceuticals, and more and more people are developing allergies and becoming sensitive to chemicals."

To nourish your skin the way your ancestors did, set aside the expensive products full of questionable ingredients, and try out these natural skin care options. Most of these dermatologist-approved ingredients are probably already in your kitchen cabinet!

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In addition to their cleansing and healing properties, ground oats make an excellent gentle exfoliator. In December 2015, President Obama signed into law an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, effective in 2017, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of products containing polyethylene (plastic) microbeads, which are the key ingredient in many exfoliating scrubs. While opinions vary on the actual effectiveness of using these beads on your skin, there is no question that they wreck havoc on marine life, as they are insoluble and too small to be filtered out by most wastewater plants. Alternative exfoliators containing salt, sugar, and coffee grounds have gained popularity in response to the microbead problem, but the sharp edges of these substances can cause small tears in the skin. Oats, on the other hand, are less abrasive when ground up into a fine powder, which you can do at home in a food processor. Dattner says the ground oats "should feel a little gritty, but not chunky," like almond meal. And if you are sensitive to gluten, be sure to use a gluten-free variety. Ashton recommends the following uses for oats:

To soothe rashes, eczema, hives, acne, or redness: Mix water and finely ground oats to form a paste, and apply as a facemask or to any affected area. Rinse off with warm water after about 15 minutes--up to an hour, for a particularly bad rash--or when itching subsides. For a full-body soak, add ground oats to lukewarm bath water.

To cleanse and exfoliate: Combine two parts ground oats, one part finely ground almonds (which contain healing vitamin E), water, and a few optional drops of essential oil to form a paste. Gently massage onto dampened skin then rinse with warm water.

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In a bloody season where Turkey's vibrant summer has given way to the turbulent environment caused by frequent terrorist attacks -- including this weekend's IS bombing near a wedding in Gaziantep as well as the July failed coup attempt -- there are still those who passionately continue to believe in Turkey's strength, universal stature and its natural reputation as the gateway of the East and West.

His first name Emre literally means: "the one who loves to love" and his last name "Erturk" means: "a soldier of Turk." The tall, calm, flamboyant designer is in his early 40s. His day job is from politics yet he believes that the arts may very well be the answer to many of today's global calamities.

"I think the problem in this world is the lack of love, which are resulting all these wars and chaos in our world." said Erturk as he took a sip of his Turkish tea, shook his head, and looked into the sky in a quiet cafe in Istanbul. "That's why I believe artists and designers have a great responsibility right now. Art creates unity, love, and mutual understanding, and that's why artists from all over the world should get on this mission."

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His clients range from Hollywood stars and celebrities from each side of the Atlantic to political figures and movers and shakers from around the world. Erturk explained that through his designs and paintings he also aims to share his love of humanity, compassion, and tolerance that goes far beyond the material value of his handbags, sunglasses, and clutches -- all of which are adorned with unique symbolism. The most well-regarded of these symbols are his "evil eye" paintings and designs as well as his "horse shoe" symbol that according to him represent the essence of his work, "to love and to spread love."

He started painting when he was only four years old, close to the time when he had a traumatic episode in the sea that almost took his life. "I was walking on the shore and suddenly the waves took me in," said Erturk as he explained how suddenly, as he was drowning in the sea, a powerful force pushed him out of the water and threw him back on the beach. "I don't know what it was, but it was that universal energy, that magical moment that later on made me realize I'm here for a reason."

When he was still a teenager, at age 18, he was donating much of his minimal income to different charities in Turkey -- including the Aids charity in Istanbul. At 23, he went to London to work on his fine arts and design degree at Schiller university. There, while still a student, he put on his first solo exhibit, where he dedicated the entire collection and all its proceeds to the war victims in Bosnia and the orphans of the Bosnian war. "I remember when I was 24, I did a whole campaign for people to bring their used clothes so we can ship them to the orphans and children in Bosnia."



The Artist's Famous "Evil-Eye" Paintings In His Studio In Istanbul

"In beginning, there were times that I would give back everything I would make -- and so many people -- including my mom would think I'm just crazy." said Erturk with a big smile, as he remembered his work in London and New York, where he officially launched his accessories brand "Emre New York" back in 2000. He was one of the first designers in the United States to officially launch "in-flight pet friendly" luxury bags and for many consecutive years was the official handbag designer for the Academy Awards.

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Through his art exhibitions and infamous "evil eye" paintings he has supported many global charities and foundations in the US, UK, Europe, India, and Turkey. "Your work is a contact from the universe" said Erturk, as he emphasized on his personal belief in the "Golden Age" discipline -- a "cosmic and mystical" way of life that takes its roots in the teachings of the great 13-century Persian poet Rumi and his reincarnation.

"It teaches us to love unconditionally. Imagine if our politicians, law makers, and those in power would also follow the same beliefs." said Erturk.

The Turkish designer physically transcends his philosophy of unity and love into his accessories and fashion must-haves, like his recently launched "organic, toxic-absorbent" sunglasses that are made in Italy with a unique base that's made of wood, oil, and cotton-seed. He explained that people need to understand "how severely the world is missing love, humanity, and acceptance." Whether it's the political chaos we see here in the region or the climate change we witness globally, Erturk says, "we are all responsible to do our part."



The designer's "Organic, Toxic-Absorbent" Sunglasses and His "Evil-Eye" Inspired Clutch In His Studio in Istanbul.

Holding his sunglasses in his delicate hands, he suddenly recalled the failed Turkish coup in July. He explained how the country and people reclaimed their unity after the coup. "Sometimes things are born out of chaos, but unity prevails at the end. Governments can change, but it's important that people unite together." Erturk's optimism and passion for Turkey's inherent universal nature came through his hopeful sighs as he explained that after the July 15th events, "the non-practicing Muslims are now united with the Muslims, the Turkish Jews are now united with the Muslims; out of that chaotic moment, people didn't forget each other and stood by one another--that's how the world needs to be."

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As he got up to leave, he looked at the teenagers begging for money on the streets and said, "you know, this is why I came to this world, to just do a little with my art."
No Need to Build The Donald's Wall, Its Built

Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com

At the federal courthouse, Ignacio Sarabia asks the magistrate judge, Jacqueline Rateau, if he can explain why he crossed the international boundary between the two countries without authorization. He has already pleaded guilty to the federal misdemeanor commonly known as illegal entry and is about to receive a prison sentence. On either side of him are eight men in the same predicament, all still sunburned, all in the same ripped, soiled clothes they were wearing when arrested in the Arizona desert by agents of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Once again, the zero tolerance border enforcement program known as Operation Streamline has unfolded just as it always does here in Tucson, Arizona. Close to 60 people have already approached the judge in groups of seven or eight, their heads bowed submissively, their bodies weighed down by shackles and chains around wrists, waists, and ankles. The judge has handed out the requisite prison sentences in quick succession -- 180 days, 60 days, 90 days, 30 days.

On and on it goes, day-in, day-out. Like so many meals served in fast-food restaurants, 750,000 prison sentences of this sort have been handed down since Operation Streamline was launched in 2005. This mass prosecution of undocumented border crossers has become so much the norm that one report concluded it is now a driving force in mass incarceration in the United States. Yet it is but a single program among many overseen by the massive U.S. border enforcement and incarceration regime that has developed during the last two decades, particularly in the post-9/11 era.

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Sarabia takes a half-step forward. My infant is four months old, he tells the judge in Spanish. The baby was, he assures her, born with a heart condition and is a U.S. citizen. They have no option but to operate. This is the reason, he says, that Im here before you. He pauses.

I want to be with my child, who is in the United States.

Its clear that Sarabia would like to gesture emphatically as he speaks, but thats difficult, thanks to the shackles that constrain him. Rateau fills her coffee cup as she waits for his comments to be translated into English.

Earlier in April 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, still in the heat of his primary campaign, stated once again that he would build a massive concrete border wall towering 30 (or, depending on the moment, 55) feet high along the 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexican border. He would, he insisted, force Mexico to pay for the $8 billion to $10 billion barrier. Repeatedly throwing such red meat into the gaping jaws of nativism, he has over these last months also announced that he would create a major deportation force, repeatedly sworn that he would ban Muslims from entering the country (a position that he regularly revises), and most recently, that he would institute an extreme vetting process for foreign nationals arriving in the United States.

In June 2015, when he rode a Trump Tower escalator into the presidential campaign, among his initial promises was the building of a great and beautiful wall on the border. (And no one builds walls better than me, believe me. I will do it very inexpensively. I will have Mexico pay for that wall.) As he pulled that promise out of a hat with a magicians flair, the actual history of the border disappeared. From then on in Election 2016, there was just empty desert and Donald Trump.

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Suddenly, there hadnt been a bipartisan government effort over the last quarter-century to put in place an unprecedented array of walls, detection systems, and guards for that southern border. In those years, the number of Border Patrol agents had, in fact, quintupled from 4,000 to more than 21,000, while Customs and Border Protection became the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country with more than 60,000 agents. The annual budget for border and immigration enforcement went from $1.5 to $19.5 billion, a more than 12-fold increase. By 2016, federal government funding of border and immigration enforcement added up to $5 billion more than that for all other federal law enforcement agencies combined.

Operation Streamline, a cornerstone program in the Consequence Delivery System, part of a broader Border Patrol deterrence strategy for stopping undocumented immigration, is just one part of a vast enforcement-incarceration-deportation machine. The program is as no-nonsense as its name suggests. It's not The Wall, but it embodies the logic of the wall: either you crossed illegally or you didnt. It doesnt matter why, or whether you lost your job, or if youve had to skip meals to feed your kids. It doesnt matter if your house was flooded or the drought dried up your fields. It doesnt matter if youre running for your life from drug cartel gunmen or the very army and police forces that are supposed to protect you.

This system was what Ignacio Sarabia faced a few months ago in a Tucson court. His tragedy is one that plays out so many times daily a mere seven blocks from where I live.

Before I tell you how the judge responded to his plea, its important to understand Sarabias journey, and that of so many thousands like him who end up in this federal courthouse day after day. As he pleads to be with his newborn son, his voice cracking with emotion, his story catches the already Trumpian-style of border enforcement -- both the pain and suffering it has caused, and the strategy and massive build-up behind it -- in ways that the campaign rhetoric of both parties and the reporting on it doesnt. As reporters chase their tails attempting to explain Trumps wild and often unfounded claims and declarations, the on-the-ground border reality goes unreported. Indeed, one of the greatest secrets of the 2016 election campaign (though it should be common knowledge) is that the border wall already exists. It has for years and the fingerprints all over it aren't Donald Trump's but the Clintons', both Bill's and Hillary's.

The Wall That Already Exists

Twenty-one years before Trumps wall-building promise (and seven years before the 9/11 attacks), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to replace the chain link fence that separated Nogales, Sonora, in Mexico from Nogales, Arizona, in the United States with a wall built of rusty landing mats from the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. Although there had been various half-hearted attempts at building border walls throughout the twentieth century, this was the first true effort to build a barrier of what might now be called Trumpian magnitude.

That rusty, towering wall snaked through the hills and canyons of northern Sonora and southern Arizona forever deranging a world that, given cross-border familial and community ties, then considered itself one. At the time, who could have known that the strategy the first wall embodied would still be the model for todays massive system of exclusion.

In 1994, the threat wasnt terrorism. In part, the call for more hardened, militarized borders came in response, among other things, to a never-ending drug war. It also came from U.S. officials who anticipated the displacement of millions of Mexicans after the implementation of the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which, ironically, was aimed at eliminating barriers to trade and investment across North America.

And the expectations of those officials proved well justified. The ensuing upheavals in Mexico, as analyst Marco Antonio Velazquez Navarrete explained to me, were like the aftermath of a war or natural disaster. Small farmers couldnt compete against highly subsidized U.S. agribusiness giants like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland. Mexican small business owners were bankrupted by the likes of Walmart, Sams Club, and other corporate powers. Mining by foreign companies extended across vast swaths of Mexico, causing territorial conflicts and poisoning the land. The unprecedented and desperate migration that followed came up against what might be considered the other side of the Clinton doctrine of open trade: walls, increased border agents, increased patrolling, and new surveillance technologies meant to cut off traditional crossing spots in urban areas like El Paso, San Diego, Brownsville, and Nogales.

This administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders, President Bill Clinton said in 1996. We are increasing border controls by fifty percent.

Over the next 20 years, that border apparatus would expand exponentially in terms of personnel, resources, and geographic reach, but the central strategy of the 1990s (labeled Prevention Through Deterrence) remained the same. The ever-increasing border policing and militarization funneled desperate migrants into remote locations like the Arizona desert where temperatures can soar to 120 degrees in the summer heat.

The first U.S. border strategy memorandum in 1994 predicted the tragic future we now have. Illegal entrants crossing through remote, uninhabited expanses of land and sea along the border can find themselves in mortal danger, it stated.

Twenty years later, more than 6,000 remains have been found in the desert borderlands of the United States. Hundreds of families continue to search for disappeared loved ones. The Colibri Center for Human Rights has records for more than 2,500 missing people last seen crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. In other words, that border has become a graveyard of bones and sadness.

Despite all the attention given to the wall and the border this election season, neither the Trump nor Clinton campaigns have mentioned Prevention Through Deterrence, nor the subsequent border deaths. Not once. The same goes for the establishment media that can't stop talking about Trumps wall. There has been little or no mention of what border groups have long called a humanitarian crisis of deaths that have increased five-fold over the last decade, thanks, in part, to a wall that already exists. (If the people dying were Canadians or Europeans, attention would, of course, be paid.)

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Although wall construction began during Bill Clintons administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) built most of the approximately 700 miles of fencing after the Secure Fence Act of 2006 was passed. At the time, Senator Hillary Clinton voted in favor of that Republican-introduced bill, along with 26 other Democrats. "I voted numerous times when I was a senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in, she commented at one 2015 campaign event, "and I do think you have to control your borders."

The 2006 wall-building project was expected to be so environmentally destructive that homeland security chief Michael Chertoff waived 37 environmental and cultural laws in the name of national security. In this way, he allowed Border Patrol bulldozers to desecrate protected wilderness and sacred land.

Imagine a bulldozer parking in your family graveyard, turning up bones, Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., of the Tohono Oodham Nation (a Native American tribe whose original land was cut in half by the U.S. border) told Congress in 2008. This is our reality.

With a price tag of, on average, $4 million a mile, these border walls, barriers, and fences have proven to be one of the costliest border infrastructure projects undertaken by the United States. For private border contractors, on the other hand, its the gift that just keeps on giving. In 2011, for example, the DHS granted Kellogg, Brown, and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, one of our warrior corporations, a $24.4 million upkeep contract.

In Tucson in early August, Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence looked out over a sea of red Make America Great Again caps and t-shirts and said, We will secure our border. Donald Trump will build that wall. He would be met with roaring applause, even though his statement made no sense at all.

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Should Trump actually win, how could he build something that already exists? Indeed, for all practical purposes, the Great Wall that Trump talks about may, by January 2017, be as antiquated as the Great Wall of China given the new high-tech surveillance methods now coming on the market. These are being developed in a major way and on a regular basis by a booming border techno-surveillance industry.

The twenty-first-century border is no longer just about walls; its about biometrics and drones. Its about a layered approach to national security, given that, as former Border Patrol Chief Mike Fisher has put it, the international boundary is no longer the first or last line of defense, but one of many. Hillary Clintons promise of comprehensive immigration reform -- to be introduced within 100 days of her entering the Oval Office -- is a much more reliable guide than Trumps wall to our grim immigration future. If her bill follows the pattern of previous ones, as it surely will, an increasingly weaponized, privatized, high-tech, layered border regime, increasingly dangerous to future Ignacio Sarabias, will continue to be a priority of the federal government.

On the surface, there are important differences between Clintons and Trumps immigration platforms. Trumps wildly xenophobic comments and declarations are well known, and Clinton claims that she will, among other things, fight for family unity for those forcibly separated by deportation and enact humane immigration enforcement. Yet deep down, the policies of the two candidates are far more similar than they might at first appear.

Navigating Donald Trumps Borderlands Now

That April day, only one bit of information about Ignacio Sarabias border crossing to reunite with his wife and newborn child was available at the Tucson federal courthouse. He had entered the United States near Nogales. Most likely, he circumvented the wall first started during the Clinton administration, like most immigrants do, by making his way through the potentially treacherous canyons that surround that border town.

If his experience was typical, he probably didnt have enough water or food, and suffered some physical woe like large, painful blisters on his feet. Certainly, he wasnt atypical in trying to reunite with loved ones. After all, more than 2.5 million people have been expelled from the country by the Obama administration, an average annual deportation rate of close to 400,000 people. This was, by the way, only possible thanks to laws signed by Bill Clinton in 1996 and meant to burnish his legacy. They vastly expanded the governments deportation powers.

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In 2013 alone, Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out 72,000 deportations of parents who said that their children were U.S.-born. And many of them are likely to try to cross that dangerous southern border again to reunite with their families.

The enforcement landscape Sarabia faced has changed drastically since that first wall was built in 1994. The post-9/11 border is now both a war zone and a showcase for corporate surveillance. It represents, according to Border Patrol agent Felix Chavez, an unprecedented deployment of resources, any of which could have led to Sarabias capture. It could have been one of the hundreds of remote video or mobile surveillance systems, or one of the more than 12,000 implanted motion sensors that set off alarms in hidden operational control rooms where agents stare into large monitors.

It could have been the spy towers made by the Israeli company Elbit Systems that spotted him, or Predator B drones built by General Atomics, or VADER radar systems manufactured by the defense giant Northrup Grumman that, like so many similar technologies, have been transported from the battlefields of Afghanistan or Iraq to the U.S. border.

If the comprehensive immigration reform that Hillary Clinton pledges to introduce as president is based on the already existing bipartisan Senate package, as has been indicated, then this corporate-enforcement landscape will be significantly bolstered and reinforced. There will be 19,000 more Border Patrol agents in roving patrols throughout border enforcement jurisdictions that extend up to 100 miles inland. More F-150 trucks and all-terrain vehicles will rumble through and, at times, tear up the desert. There will be more Blackhawk helicopters, flying low, their propellers dusting groups of scattering migrants, many of them already lost in the vast, parched desert.

If such a package passes the next Congress, up to $46 billion could be slated to go into more of all of this, including funding for hundreds of miles of new walls. Corporate vendors are salivating at the thought of such a future and in a visible state of elation at homeland security tradeshows across the globe.

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The 2013 bill that passed in the Senate but failed in the House of Representatives also included a process of legalization for the millions of undocumented people living in the United States. It maintained programs that will grant legal residence for children who came to the United States at a young age and their parents. Odds are that a comprehensive reform bill in a Clinton presidency would be similar.

Included in that bill was, of course, funding to bolster Operation Streamline. The Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse in Tucson would then have the capacity to prosecute triple the number of people it deals with at present.

After taking a sip from her coffee and listening to the translation of Ignacio Sarabias comments, the magistrate judge looks at him and says shes sorry for his predicament.

Personally, Im mesmerized by his story as I sit on a wooden bench at the back of the court. I have a child the same age as his son. I cant imagine his predicament. Not once while he talks does it leave my mind that my child might even have the same birthday as his.

The judge then looks directly at Sarabia and tells him that he can't just come here "illegally, that he has to find a legal way (highly unlikely, given the criminal conviction that will now be on his record). Your son, she says, when he gets better, and his mother, can visit you where you are in Mexico.

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Otherwise, she adds, he'll be visiting you in prison -- not exactly, she points out, an appealing scenario: seeing your father in a prison where he will be locked away for a very long time.

She then sentences the nine men standing side by side in front of her for periods ranging from 60 days to 180 days for the crime of crossing an international border without proper documents. Sarabia receives a 60-day sentence.

Next, armed guards from G4S -- the private contractor that once employed Omar Mateen (the Pulse nightclub killer) and has a lucrative quarter-billion-dollar border contract with Customs and Border Protection -- will transport each of the shackled prisoners to a Corrections Corporation of America private prison in Florence, Arizona. It is there that Sarabia will think about his childs endangered heart from behind layers of coiled razor wire, while the corporation that runs the prison makes $124 per day for incarcerating him.

Indeed, Donald Trumps United States doesnt await his presidency. Its already laid out before us, and one place its happening every single day is in Tucson, only seven blocks from my house.

Todd Miller, a TomDispatch regular, is the author of Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches From the Front Lines of Homeland Security. He has written on border and immigration issues for the New York Times, Al Jazeera America, and the NACLA Report on the Americas and its blog Border Wars. You can follow him on twitter @memomiller and view more of his work at toddwmiller.wordpress.com.
The worst place to develop a new business model is from within your existing business model. - Clay Christensen

The top 10 industries that are being disrupted the most by digital are media, telecom, consumer financial services, retail, technology, insurance consumer products, nonprofits, business and professional services, and education. 90% of the executives in these industries profess to having a digital strategy in place, so why are these business leaders worried about being disrupted? The research points to two perfect storm factors:

1. Low barriers to entry into these sectors lead to more agile competition

2. Large legacy business models

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Incremental change will not prevent businesses from being disrupted. In fact, transformational change is a necessity for survival, requiring straightening of core business capabilities as well as investments in new business model innovation.

The difference between market takers and market makers is not product innovation, it is business model innovation.



To learn more about business disruption and what companies can do to prevent being disrupted by exploring new business model innovation, Ray Wang, bestselling digital business author and CEO of Constellation Research, and I invited Saul Kaplan, a business model innovation expert to our weekly show DisrupTV.

Saul Kaplan is the founder and Chief Catalyst of the Business Innovation Factory and author of The Business Model Innovation Factory. Kaplan started BIF in 2005 with a mission to enable collaborative innovation. The nonprofit is creating a real world laboratory for innovators to explore and test new business models and system level solutions in areas of high social importance including healthcare, education, entrepreneurship, and energy independence. Prior to focusing on business model and system level innovation at the Business Innovation Factory Kaplan served as the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and as the Executive Counselor to the Governor on Economic and Community Development. Kaplan also served as a Senior Strategy Partner in Accenture's Health & Life-Science practice and worked broadly throughout the pharmaceutical, medical products, and biotechnology industry. Kaplan shares his innovation musings on Twitter (@skap5), his blog (It's Saul Connected) and as regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Fortune and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

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The Path to Sustainable Growth is Business Model Innovation



Business model innovation is key to business survival. So what is business model innovation? "This is all about the difference between incremental versus transformation change. We are living in a century that screams for transformational change. Most of our innovation processes are designed to help us do better than what we are doing today, not to completely change it. Business model innovation is not just about improving existing business models and becoming more competitive - which you must do. To avoid business disruption, you must be able to imagine, prototype and test entirely new business models. It is imperative for leaders today to do research and development for business models the same way they do R&D for products and technology," said Kaplan.

"Today, we love creating new products and we love developing new technologies but let's face it, we have more technologies than we humans know how to access and use to solve problems. What we are missing is the ability to explore new business models. We need to start thinking about minimum viable business models. How do we make it safer and easier to manage in the real world," said Kaplan.

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Innovation Junkies Are Not Tweakers

What is an innovation junkie and do you need to hire these types of contributors to avoid being Netflixed (disrupted)? "Innovation junkies are people who are always trying to improve things. They are always thinking about what's next and always trying to re-imagine and re-engineer to continuously adapt and improve. We have big social challenges that we need to work on and tweaks are not going provide the solutions. We have a nation of tweakers and what we really need are more people and leaders and organizations that can actually get transformational idea off of the drawing board and onto the real world," said Kaplan.



"Being an innovation junkie is a blessing and a curse. You are always trying to make people's lives better and that's a very cool thing. But at the same time, you realize that the job is never done. They minute you accomplish something, you immediately focus on the next adventure," said Kaplan.

Market Makers Versus Share Takers



Kapan believes that companies are not getting high grades for avoiding disruption. We give variable grades to organization on strengthening and protecting current business models. For proper context, we should consider and understand the distinction between share takers and market makers.

"Share takers think and act like this: here's the industry we compete in, here's where we stack up relative to the competition, and here's how we protect our share and ultimately take shares away from competitors who are ahead. Most of the world is comprised of share takers. This is what we were taught in business schools. But the real interesting area of study, especially as it pertains to disruption is not share takers, but market makers," said Kaplan.

Market makers do not play by share taker rules. They don't necessarily view themselves as part of an industry, but rather they focus on creating new industries. Eventually as market makers succeed, they start to behave like share takers and that's when they are most susceptible to being disrupted. "We need more market makers. We need leaders to figure out how to do both - share taking and market making - and to create parts of their organization that are capable of market making. You cannot tap someone on the shoulder and call them the 'head of innovation' and then expect them to do both share taking and market making. Market making requires a different approach and point of view," said Kaplan.

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"Uber, Airbnb and Netflix completely disrupted industries by creating new business models. They didn't invent anything new technologies, but instead they created new business models that delivered value to their customers in a better way. The incumbent industries and companies had all the parts and capabilities but what got in their way was the straightjacket of today's business model and they didn't have an innovation sandbox to do the R&D for new business models," said Kaplan.

Solution to the Innovator's Dilemma? Business Model Innovation Sandbox



The new strategic imperative for businesses is to invest in a business model innovation sandbox. "We know the approach to transformational change is different than the approach for incremental change. We also know that organizations have to do both and so organizing around incremental change is within the core of your business. You can create committees and sort ideas and use traditional financial metrics to manage and select different projects. You can predict which ideas add value to today's business model," said Kaplan.

However the sandbox is different. "To stand up the exploration of transformational ideas, the traditional approaches will not work. The notion that the CFO is using a spreadsheet that predicts how much revenue and how much margin you're going to create is out the door. Companies must be willing to experiment with ideas, prototype the work and concept and test the market to see potential value and market need. Companies must give innovation junkies the space to explore. Kaplan uses the sandbox metaphor to illustrate the need for adoption and use of design and experimental mindset. "Most innovation does not require us to invent anything new. We already have the technology. Innovation is about combining the parts in different ways to change the value equation. The reason we don't do it is because we are locked in the straightjackets of today's business model. We need a sandbox with all the capabilities there that we can combine in a new and different ways to change how we deliver and capture value from the customers," said Kaplan. All disruptive companies use a sandbox to redefine new business models with existing technologies, in new combinations, that incumbent companies also had access to.

Kaplan believes that cloud computing is the perfect and most effective solution for companies to develop a business model innovation sandbox. The cloud can be an amazing feeder of capabilities into a sandbox, to enable ongoing business model exploration. The most disruptive companies in the world have leveraged cloud computing technologies to service and connect with customers in a whole new way. Kaplan points to companies that fail to gain momentum because they ignore scaling challenges using traditional management practices - the lifecycles vary, meaning exploration and optimization require different set of skills and capabilities.

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CEOs Must Lead Business Model Innovation



Kaplan is starting to see more executives at the highest levels including CEOs, thinking more about new business models. CEOs are leading digital business transformation across all industries. Leaders are more open to invest in the sandbox. Kaplan advises CEOs to delegate the responsibility of managing the core functions to the chief operating officers, so they can spend more time on exploring new business models. Kaplan believes that new business model innovation sandbox is part of the answer to the innovator's dilemma. Organizations will always choose incremental transformation and strengthening the core existing capabilities versus transformational change. The nuance here is to strengthen the core and at the same time create the condition for exploration.

Business leaders must explore and answer the following: Which business models are feasible? Which models do I want to create separate business from? Which models can lead to separate models or spin offs? Too many leaders answer the change management questions before they settle on the model.

The Minimum Viable Business Model



Kaplan points to entrepreneurs being taught about the minimum viable product and yet no one is discussing the importance of the minimum viable business model (MVBM). They pour all of their efforts and investment dollars that they raise into the product, not answering the simple question of what business model is needed to take the idea or working prototype into the real world with paying customers. Does the business model support the product use cases? Does the product solve the customer's problem or create incremental value? Worry about scaling and change management and how hard it is for the rest of the organization to do it. Worry about developing a MVBM. Too many leaders get bogged down very early in the scale and change management questions, killing the opportunities that exist to do transformational work.

The power of storytelling is a key ingredient to any innovative process. - Saul Kaplan

Kapaln invites the most amazing innovation junkies (or storytellers) to attend an annual event called the Business Innovation Factory (BIF). Kaplan launched BIF 12 years ago in order to invite and cultivate an innovation community with the purpose of enabling 'random collisions of unusual suspects' - or making a ruckus. BIF is a community of innovation junkies (including some of the most influential business executives of the biggest companies in the world) from around the globe. The BIF event is quite intimate - Saul and his team purposefully limit the attendance to approximately 500 innovators in order to ensure meaningful connections are made at a comfortable and highly inspiring setting. Storytellers (32 guest speakers) share intimate stories with no slides and references to companies or products, leaving it to the audience to recognize innovation and meaningful patterns. This is a very intense and inspiring two-day event where very deep connections are made with incredible change agents and explorers. I so much enjoy the BIF event that I volunteered my time to serve as a BIF Board member.

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This is a Black Lives Matter Banner in Charlotte, NC, November 2015. Camera - Canon 7D Mark II, Lens - Canon EF 200mm f/2L IS USM

This is an excerpt from William Cheng's Just Vibrations: The Purpose of Sounding Good (University of Michigan Press, 2016, foreword by Susan McClary), available both in print and Open Access. A version of this essay was presented at the 2016 Meeting of the Society for American Music in Boston, MA. Reprinted with permission from the University of Michigan Press.

Arriving at the twilight of summer, we've witnessed yet another season of broken hearts and windows and formations and bodies and boundaries. Shouts of "Black Lives Matter!" have reached fever pitch amid civilians' protests against racism, hate crimes, police brutality, and injustice. In addition to using batons, tear gas, stun guns, smoke grenades, rubber bullets, and other crowd-control tactics, officers in several cities have employed Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), which can weigh over three hundred pounds and fire cones of noise up to almost 150 dB and 2.5 kHz.

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Development efforts for the LRAD originated in the wake of the 2000 terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. Since then, the LRAD Corporation, based in San Diego, has sold its line of products to military and security personnel worldwide. Thanks to strong international business, LRAD's revenues totaled $24.6 million in the fiscal year 2014, up 44 percent from $17.1 million the year before. As of today, more than seventy countries have purchased LRAD systems.



Protest and LRAD at the 2009 Pittsburgh G-20 Summit.

The LRAD Corporation markets its devices in benevolent, caring terms. Promotional materials stress LRADs' utility for wildlife protection, emergency mass notification, public safety, and rescue operations (such as talking a suicidal person off a bridge or communicating with stranded hikers on a mountain). The website states, complete with emphases: "LRAD is not a weapon; LRAD is a highly intelligible, long range communication system and a safer alternative to kinetic force. But a blanket denial of LRADs as weapons runs counter to the maker's proud claims about the devices' potential to scare off sea pirates and overcome enemy combatants in wars abroad. "If [LRADs'] maker tempered its initial [weapon] metaphors," Juliette Volcler points out, "it's because this allows distributors to sidestep the U.S. and European prohibitions on weapons sales to China that have been in place since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. It allows . . . the LRAD Corp. to publish glowing notices after its products are used to distribute information to survivors of natural disasters, such as in Haiti, or to counter anti-capitalist protesters in Canada."

LRADs use a technology called piezoelectric transducers to focus sound waves into a narrow field of impact (hence their moniker of sound cannons). In January 2010, the Disorder Control Unit of the NYPD released a seven-page briefing on the LRAD. One section stated that "while the sound being emitted in front of the LRAD may be very loud, it is substantially quieter outside the 'cone' of sound produced by the device. In fact, someone could stand next to the device or just behind it and hear the noise being emitted at much lower levels than someone standing several hundred feet away, but within the 'cone' of sound being emitted." Security forces and governing bodies to date have not subjected LRADs to extensive regulation, presumably because the devices fly under the radar as weapons in their own right.





Page 3 of the "Briefing on the LRAD by New York City Police Department: Special Operations Division/Disorder Control Unit" (January 2010)

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LRADs' ability to focus sound into a narrow field doesn't eliminate the risk of collateral damage. In any case, the promise of exactitude doesn't make LRADs less problematic than drones (with purported capacity to carry out precision strikes) or sniper rifles (in the hands of a mass murderer). More generally, there's a lack of research on LRADs' injurious capabilities. Here's Amnesty International's report on the use of LRADs in the Ferguson protests two summers ago:

On the night of Aug. 18 [2014] at approximately 10:00 p.m., following the reported throwing of bottles at police and a group of protesters stopping in front of a police line in defiance of the five second rule, law enforcement activated a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). The LRAD was pointed at [a] group of stationary protestors on the street approximately fifteen feet away. Members of the media and observers were likewise about the same distance from the device. No warning from law enforcement that an LRAD would be used was given to the protesters. After providing earplugs to a member of Amnesty International, a St. Louis County police officer says, "This noise will make you sick." Several members of the delegation reported feeling nauseous from the noise of the LRAD until it was turned off at approximately 10:15 p.m. LRADs emit high volume sounds at various frequencies, with some ability to target the sound to particular areas. Used at close range, loud volume and/or excessive lengths of time, LRADs can pose serious health risks which range from temporary pain, loss of balance and eardrum rupture, to permanent hearing damage. LRADs also target people relatively indiscriminately, and can have markedly different effects on different individuals and in different environments. Further research into the use of LRADs for law enforcement is urgently needed.

On 12 December 2014, attorney Gideon Orion Oliver sent the NYPD commissioner a memo on behalf of several people who claimed to have been injured by an LRAD while protesting the Staten Island grand jury's failure to indict the primary police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner. Oliver requested that the NYPD refrain from using LRADs until thorough and independent testing has been conducted, until guidelines have been drafted and published, and until officers have received appropriate training to operate these devices. But a hurdle in such pleas lies in a lack of public awareness and empathy. Unless you've been bombarded by an LRAD, it's difficult to imagine or even believe the degree and nature of pain that this sonic artillery can inflict.

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The fact that LRADs tend to leave few visible traces of injury on victims' bodies doesn't make the devices any less in need of regulation than, say, bullets and batons. LRADs are a sonorous smokescreen: because a relative absence of discernible wounds raises the victim's burden of proof in a court of law, these devices require stricter, not laxer, operational guidelines. It's too easy to write off an LRAD's deployment as mere warning shots that precede escalation of true force.

In a video that shows a nighttime demonstration in Ferguson, we first hear the sounds of LRADs and police instructions; then we hear and see rubber bullets and tear gas lobbed into the crowd. No matter how piercing the LRADs may have felt to this crowd, our attention (as YouTube viewers here and now, as protesters then and there) necessarily jerks toward the bullets once they start flying. Because look: bullets. During violent confrontations, nonlethal weaponry can serve practically as a euphemism for prelethal. The announcement of a technology that's unlikely to kill nonetheless augurs the presence of external force and the weighted options of consequent lethality. By the same mortal token, a tragic reality in the name Black Lives Matter is how it comes fueled by laments that black deaths matter--for it is black deaths that repeatedly and horrifically make the news, inciting outrage and after-the-fact damage control.



Photograph: Michael B. Thomas/AFP/Getty Images

LRADs leave protesters with little choice but to cover their ears with both hands. There's a brutal irony here given how one of the rallying cries of Black Lives Matter is precisely, "Hands up! Don't shoot!" Many protesters in the above-mentioned Ferguson video already had their hands raised above their heads to signal their weaponless status and to decry police killings of unarmed individuals. Police actions that force protesters to cup their ears effectively strip the hands-up-don't-shoot gesture of its symbolic charge. The raising of hands transforms from a deliberate sign of willful pacifism into a reflexive show of self-preservation. So beyond the capacity of LRADs to inflict harm, the devices pervert the protesters' choreographies of resistance. They also drown out protesters' words and music, overriding free speech and rendering dialogue among assemblies inaudible.
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Marketing and branding are not always cheap for small businesses. While it is very essential given the very early stage of a business, branding and marketing a new business is an effort that has to compete with several other efforts in the startup. Nonetheless, there's no other way around running an effective marketing strategy for your business.

Whatever says a new business cannot take advantage of the exceptional possibilities that effective branding and marketing can attract to business? While you do not have to go overboard with your spending like an already established business would, there are strategies that you can implement with effective results.

Let's look at the top branding and marketing strategies you can use to stimulate the growth of your new business.

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Design with Your Audience in Mind

Your first step in branding, and indeed marketing your business is to create a logo. This is where you have the first opportunity to captivate the minds of your audience and quickly win your way into their hearts. A good looking logo that is able to captivate your audience will earn the trust of your customers better.

While larger companies with bigger branding budgets can afford to create different reiterations of their logo and not worry about the cost, for a small business it's very important that you get it right on the very first attempt.

A good way to make this happen without having to break the bank is to partner with a designer who has great work portfolio. Another alternative is to use cheap freelance service like Fiverr to outsource your design tasks to highly talented graphic designers who are ready to work on the cheap.

To highlight the methods that will be most effective in helping you get a well-branded company logo that won't cost you a fortune, try the following:

Partner with a designer: the idea is to offer them your services in exchange for theirs. And if the deal is huge such that it involves the total branding of your business, including your website design -- then offering them part of your business in exchange might be considered.

Run a Contest: Running a contest is still one of the most effective ways to attract high-quality talents without having to spend so much.

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Win on Social Media

The ultimate aim of branding and marketing your business is to attract customers. With social media expanding every day and users increasingly interacting with businesses and brands via various social media channels, there's never a better time to take advantage of this huge opportunity than now.

An effective social media strategy can help to optimize almost every other aspects of your marketing efforts. According to Guy Sheetrit, founder of a digital marketing company, having an effective social media strategy will bridge the successful customer acquisition barrier that many small businesses face. "Not only does the inclusiveness that social media cultivates encourage small business growth, it's also very cost effective to acquire customers," he says.

While social media may be cost effective, it may require some form of expertise which you can achieve through study and practice.

Own Your Online Presence

The power of using the internet to reach new customers cannot be overlooked.

Many business owners only consider an internet marketing strategy as an afterthought and do not put much consideration into developing their marketing skills. This is why so many small businesses begin and end their internet marketing strategy with owning a website.
Government services are one of the most obvious and immediate application areas for the blockchain. Several governments around the world are already working on a variety of initiatives, but in Canada, we have yet to see visible signs of activity.



Let me illustrate via some examples, what cities, municipalities and governments around the world are currently doing with the blockchain in the first half of 2016.

In Delaware, the state where a majority of new companies in North America will likely incorporate, Governor Jack Markell announced two recent blockchain initiatives, under the banner "Delaware is open for blockchain business". The first was about moving state archival records to an open distributed ledger. The second allows any private company that incorporates in that state to keep track of all the equity issued and the different shareholder rights on the blockchain.

In Singapore, the government has turned to blockchain to prevent traders from defrauding banks. This was driven by an incident where Standard Chartered lost nearly $200 million from a fraud in China's Qingdao port two years ago. Fraudulent companies used duplicate invoices for the same goods to get hundreds of millions of dollars from banks, so the Singapore government developed a system with the local banks focused on preventing invoice fraud by having the blockchain create a unique cryptographic hash (a unique fingerprint) of every invoice. The banks share then, this unique key, rather than the raw data. If another bank tries to register an invoice with the same details, the system will be alerted.

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Estonia came up with the idea of establishing an e-residency program, where anyone in the world could apply to become an e-resident of Estonia, and they get a digital ID card with a cryptographic key to securely sign digital documents, eliminating the need for ink signatures on official paperwork. An e-resident can also open bank accounts using Estonia's e-banking system, set up an Estonian company using the country's online system, and use their e-services. With the blockchain, Estonia is bringing worldwide residents to them virtually, and increasing their government revenues accordingly.

Estonia also has a healthcare initiative where medical records are tracked, and as a patient, you know who looked at your record and when, so you are in control of your own data, and you have transparency about the medical care you are getting.

In Russia, the CSD (Central Securities Depositories) is looking at implementing the blockchain to allow the various stakeholder entities to more directly transact with each other.

The Republic of Georgia is developing a blockchain land registry, spearheaded by their National Agency of Public Registry. They want to show that Georgia is corruption free, modern and transparent government.

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Another land registry application is taking shape in Ghana, West Africa, where they are implementing it in 28 communities, to enable tamper-resistant property ownerships. Again, the driving element was to make a statement against the perception that the country had corrupt practices, and this initiative is used as a signal to attract foreign investors.

Sweden is planning to place real estate transactions on the blockchain once a buyer and seller agree on a deal and a contract is made. From there, all parties involved in the transactions -- banks, government, brokers, buyers, and sellers - are able to track the progress of the agreement once it is completed, enabling instantaneous confirmation of valid transactions with the utmost levels of security and integrity.

The government of South Korea has come out in support of the blockchain as a priority and encouraging the banks to create projects around it.

The UK is exploring the use of a blockchain to manage the distribution of grants. Monitoring and controlling the use of grants is incredibly complex, and subject to potential fraud or abuse. A blockchain, accessible to all the parties involved, is a better way of solving that problem.

Behind these cases of blockchain activity around the world, Canada is not part of the narrative. In my research, there were no significant projects, initiatives, statements, or positions that I could find where any city or government entity in Canada were involved.

We can lament this situation, or we can take the challenge to catch-up. There is plenty of room for innovation, especially in small cities and municipalities who are a perfect starting point. Given the early stage of blockchain technology, it is a lot easier to implement solutions at smaller scales first, in jurisdictions that have between 5 to 50,000 citizens, instead of larger cities of more than a million inhabitants.

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As a government entity, what can you do with the blockchain? Generically, there are 4 categories of activity:

1) Verification. Licenses, proofs of records, transactions, processes, or events. Did this event take place? Was this service performed on this piece of equipment? Does this person have the right permit?

2) Movement of assets. Transferring money from one person/entity to another. Enabling direct payments, once a work condition has been performed.

3) Ownerships. Land registries, property titles, and any type of real estate ownership. The blockchain is a perfect keeper of the chain of custody for any physical asset.

4) Identities. Government, cities should issue blockchain e-identities to its citizens, enabling them to securely use services like voting. An e-identity could become similar to a passport, allowing its holder access to a variety of services and rights.

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How do we get there? What actions can the government take?

1) Government leaders should get up to speed on the blockchain by understanding it first, and committing to exploring its potential.

2) Put people in charge of developing a blockchain strategy. Maybe there are employees that have been exploring it already, and they need to spread their wings and gain legitimacy with new projects.

3) Start experimenting with blockchain technology via proofs of concepts, sandboxes and small projects that do no harm.

4) Develop new and more progressive ideas that are increasingly ambitious, and touch the lives of the citizens you are serving.

5) Make a difference. Commit to introducing innovative blockchain-based solutions that cut costs and provide better or faster services to citizens.

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Working abroad has been no walk in the part for Louise*, 33, who originally hails from Manila, Philippines. She has been providing support services for a few international companies, and is now working at a travel agency in Kuala Lumpur. From chronic homesickness to embarrassing culture shocks, she braced new challenges in order to earn a better income for her family. Louise left her toddler under the care of her ageing parents and became one of Philippine's many 'OFWs' - overseas foreign workers.

*name changed to protect anonymity

Louise's salary is what kept her in Malaysia and out of the Philippines. Considered average in her host country, it is massive by comparison. "If I'm lucky, I can maybe earn $200 per month in Manila," said Louise, "but such jobs are hard to come by, employers don't want to pay too much."

Sending Money Home

When asked how often she sent money home, to pay for her parents' rent and daily expenses as old gold days in US, Louise said, "at least once a month, sometimes more". When asked about the method of funds transfer, Louise said, "I follow the suggestion from the money exchanger". Bank transfer? "No," Louise firmly shook her head, "they (parents) don't have bank account".

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Louise live frugally in Kuala Lumpur, even more so after the Ringgit took a hit after an international, well-known scandal. She had to constantly rearrange her budget so her family will receive at least the same amount every month, despite the unfavorable currency rate. Her mother's health has recently gotten worse, so she tries to send more money to help cover the medical bills.

Stories like Louise's is not uncommon.

Bitcoin's Adoption Rate in the Philippines

Many Filipinos have turned to Bitcoin as a solution. The BitcoinTalk Philippines forum is very active. A few media sources noted that Bitcoin adoption is 'accelerating' in the Philippines. There's a Bitcoin ATM in Manila's financial district. One of the biggest names of Philippines-based Bitcoin service provider also offers bill payment, credit card payment and even tuition school payments, as well as buy bitcoin service from 7-Eleven, the popular convenience store chain.

If those are not enough options to spend bitcoins, Visa/Mastercard denominated Wirex bitcoin debit card can help someone who received bitcoin to make payments anywhere or to withdraw it as the local currency, PHP, from the ATM. By the looks of it, the Bitcoin infrastructure in the Philippines is ripe and ready to be used by OFWs everywhere.

'Remittance is just one use case of Bitcoin'

Wirex co-founder Pavel Matveev said that Bitcoin usage in the Philippines is far beyond simple remittance. 'Remittance is just one use case of Bitcoin, but there's so much more", he said, "it's also the easier access to financial services that we can provide, through Bitcoin. That's the great thing about it."

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Citing the low penetration of financial services in the Philippines, Matveev talked about the high growth potential of Wirex in the country. Without bank accounts, citizens have less access to credit/debit cards, loans, and more. Even though many people have smartphones, the concept of mobile banking is not common knowledge. "Bitcoin changed all that. The unique properties of Bitcoin have allowed Wirex to offer bank-less banking services, from the phone, which is something unheard of just one year ago."

What does this mean? Well, Louise have not tried it yet, but if she did try the combination of all three of Wirex main services (bitcoin debit card, remittance and mobile banking), it would look something like this:

Set up Wirex account and order plastic card for her family

Purchase bitcoin in host country and keep in the account

Load the card with bitcoin whenever her family needs money, from app

Family withdraws money from ATM or spends directly from the Mastercard
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Boo at the Zoo is back

Boo at the Zoo will take place from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, throughout the grounds of the zoo, and is free to the public.
Recording Industry Claims Keeping Copyright Terms At Life Plus 50, Instead Of Life Plus 70 Too Expensive

Although one would expect record labels to be happy that the TPP includes a provision extending the life of minimum copyright at the expense of the listening public, it seems they still not content, complaining that making alterations will be too costly to rights holders, says Mike Masnick.

___________________________

Guest Post by Mike Masnick on Techdirt

Okay. I've heard lots of crazy arguments from the record labels, but I may have found the craziest. We've discussed how ridiculous it is that the TPP includes a provision saying that every country that signs on must make sure the minimum copyright term is life plus 70 years. This will impact many of the countries that negotiated the agreement, which currently have terms set at life plus 50. This was a key point that the recording industry and Hollywood fought hard for. When even the Copyright Office recognizes that life plus 70 is too long in many cases, the legacy industries recognized that getting copyright term extension through Congress in the US might be difficult  so why not lock stuff in via international agreements?

And, of course, the USTR was fine with this, because the USTR goes along with basically everything that Hollywood asks for. But here's the crazy part: having gotten such a ridiculous thing, the recording industry is whining about its own victory. As Kimberlee Weatherall points out, the recording industry in New Zealand is bitching about the fact that the change doesn't go into effect immediately because it's "too costly" for copyright holders.

That's because the TPP has a "phase-in period" that allows countries to adjust and gradually move copyright terms upwards. But the record labels are having none of that:

Meeting before a parliamentary committee this week, Recorded Music chief executive Damian Vaughan said his advocacy group supports an article in the TPP deal that standardizes the terms of protection of a work to the life of an author plus 70 years. (New Zealand is one of several participating nations that currently has a term of 50 years after death.) However, Vaughan thinks a proposed phase-in period for nations upgrading to 70 years is unnecessary and a costly burden for rights holders. "It's not making copyright simple or easy to understand to the music user or the public whatsoever," he said, according to RadioNZ. "It is making the process significantly more complicated, and it's the rights organizations and the copyright holders who will be forced to administer this We note the cost we incur will be far higher than any perceived cost savings."

Now, think about what Vaughan is really saying here. Let's be clear: copyright term extension is deliberately removing these works from the public domain. When they were created, a deal was struck between the public and the content creator. That deal said "this work goes into the public domain, but to give you incentive to create it in the first place, we'll give you some limited exclusive rights for this amount of time." That's the deal that was struck. But, now, with copyright term extension, that deal gets thrown out, screwing over the public. They don't get anything back despite the fact that material that was destined for the public no longer is. So there's a massive cost to the public and no payment whatsoever. That's problematic alone.

And to make things even more obnoxious, Mr. Vaughan is whining that not being able to fuck over the public fast enough is unfair because it puts too much "cost" on the record labels? REALLY? Boo fucking hoo. You were the ones who pushed for extending copyright terms, and now you want to whine that it might be too costly to administer the process? Fine, fuck it. Let's just toss out the extension and maybe consider decreasing copyright terms overall. That'll give the record labels a lot less to administer, saving them lots and lots of money. Oh, and also giving the public what they were promised. Seems like a good deal all around.

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Fifteen Baylor seniors have been selected for the school's 75th Round Table. Founded in 1942, the literary discussion group emphasizes independent thought and lively debate.

Selection to Round Table is considered to be among Baylor's highest honors.

Round Table members are Will Schatzman, Peter Ceren, Gershwin Greene, Xander Von Klar, Talus Iorio-Ronek, Vice-president Reagan Imsand, Briana Brady, Lauren King, Mary Drue Hall, Sydney Tindall, Rileigh Arrington, Secretary Chapin Montague, President A. J. Johnson, Hailey Miller and Jamie Kessler.

English instructor Heather Ott serves as the group's faculty adviser.
The American Insurance Association (AIA) announced Monday that it would continue to advocate for the need to establish a clear regulatory definition of the industry term Big Data at the upcoming National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Summer 2016 meeting in San Diego this week.Without a common understanding of what the NAIC views as Big Data, regulators and interested parties run the risk of not approaching the subject from the same starting point, the AIA reasoned in a release.The insurance trade organization also provided feedback to the NAIC on their draft recommendations for reforming the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).On Friday, the Big Data (D) Working Group will assemble to discuss its proposed definition of Big Data. Prior to the meeting, AIA submitted its feedback to the NAIC on their proposal. AIA intends to push for the Working Group to settle on a clear definition prior to examining the terms use by insurers.The purpose for establishing a definition is to differentiate Big Data from that which has already been considered and decided by state regulators, said AIA Sr. Counsel & Director, Compliance Resources Lisa Brown. AIA would suggest that the Working Group consider the nature of the data and that a final definition should be limited in scope to unstructured data that is large in volume.
An investigation into complaints against Blue Cross and Blue Shield in North Carolina will continue as the insurance departments findings have been disputed.The News & Observer reports that customers claimed they were double-billed, dropped from coverage or assigned to the wrong health plans and the NC Department of Insurance launched its investigation in May.The potential outcome was for the insurers to be penalized with multi-million-dollar fines.State insurance commissioner issued a short statement Monday which says that further examination of Blue Cross Blue Shield is necessary explaining that disagreements on the findings persist.The statement noted that a timescale for the conclusion of the probe was not possible at this stage.Blue Cross says it is working with the insurance department to bring about a resolution and in a memo to employees in April and seen by the News & Observer, it said Our current challenges stem from platform, technology and process issues, not actions that could be deemed illegal or unethical.Allstate Insurance Company of Canada has announced a new personal insurance coverage solution for drivers working for Uber and similar ride-share firms.The coverage, available in Alberta effective Aug. 22, is available to eligible drivers as an endorsement to their existing personal auto policy and will close the gap between personal lines and commercial coverage for ride-share drivers.Allstate Canada recognizes the increasing need for this type of coverage as consumer demand and transportation network enterprises continue to grow, says Dave MacInnis, Vice-President of Product Operations at Allstate Insurance Company of Canada. The sharing economy is only going to continue to expand; the insurance industry needs to evolve with it to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers.Wholesale specialty insurer Breckenridge has announced that it has filled some key roles ahead of expected growth of the firm.Pete Feeney, CIC has been named as president of the Breckenridge Insurance Services brokerage division with specific focus on expansion plans for specialty markets.Meanwhile, Ron Boudreaux also joins Breckenridge Insurance Services as executive vice president of national accounts, bringing almost 40 years of experience to the role.Both Feeney and Boudreaux were previously with Swett & Crawford.Finally, Robert J. Matamoros has been named executive vice president of specialized distribution for Breckenridge Insurance Group. He was previously executive VP at the firms brokerage division.
Over 100,000 individuals were displaced due to the rainfall-induced flooding that occurred in south Louisiana over the weekendeven more worrisome is that the weather event could drastically affect insurance rates across the state.Thousand-year rains drenched parts of south Louisiana, submerging parts of East Baton Rouge, Livingston and St. Helena parishes in 2 feet of water for 48 hours, reported NOLA.com.Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said that changes to the states flood map and rate hikes are "way down the road." He also noted that many communities are still waiting for the floodwaters to recede before the damage can be assessed."[Louisiana is] becoming scarier and more expensive," Donelon said of insuring a home in the state. Aside from the historic rainfall, he also pointed out the states vanishing coastline and rising sea levels as other factors policyholders should be worried about.There were properties that had the unfortunate distinction of being "severe repetitive loss" propertiesproperties that were flooded twice this year; once by the flood over the weekend, and the other during a previous weather event. Donelon said that such properties can expect surging premium rates unless their owners take mitigation steps.Notably, many of the people who sought shelter from the floods did not live in the designated high-risk flood zones where flood insurance is required.Flood insurance is typically not included in standard homeowners insurance and must be purchased separately.According to statistics from Gov. John Bel Edwards' office, over 86,500 have registered for disaster assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following the flooding.If the flooding leads to flood map changes, more homeowners could find themselves in high-risk zones. More policyholders would then have to pay for flood insurance, and those currently paying would likely have to pay for even higher rates.FEMA is in the process of analyzing the full effects of the flood before it can get to reworking Louisianas flood maps."Before there are any changes made to the flood maps, we will coordinate with the state and all the communities," FEMA spokesperson Romine-Ortega told NOLA.com in an email.Donelon warned that areas outside the levee systemSlidell, LaPlace, and Venetian Islescould experience an increase in their rates as the government expects more risk elsewhere.
BHS to Close Walk-In Clinic at Pittsfield's Market 32

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Berkshire Health Systems says its new Urgent Care Facility on East Street is working so well that it's closing Walk-In Care Clinic inside the Market 32.



The BHS Walk-In, located inside Market 32 near its Pharmacy, will close on Friday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m. The clinic will remain open for its regular hours, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until the 26th.



The clinic was opened over a year ago to treat minor injuries and illnesses at a lower cost and speedier pace than the emergency room and was staffed by a licensed nurse practitioner



BHS also opened a walk-in clinic at Williamstown Medical Associate that will continue to operate weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.



When the BHS Walk-In in Pittsfield first opened in April 2015, and for many months after, the site cared for an average of 50 patients per week, with a high of nearly 100 per week during peak times. Most recently, the number of patients has declined significantly, with many choosing to visit the BHS Urgent Care facility, which opened in September 2015 and provides a greater range of services.
MCLA President Jaime Birge presides over his first commencement earlier this year. Birge is MCLA's 12th president.

Q&A With MCLA President James Birge



NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Originally called the North Adams Normal School, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts was founded to train public school teachers.

True to that heritage, today's MCLA faculty members take seriously their role as educators. That is the message the college's 12th president received when he arrived on campus earlier this year.

"To a department, the faculty talked about their commitment to students achieving their academic goals, which isn't always the case," James F. "Jaime" Birge said recently. "Faculty aren't always as uniformly committed to that purpose as our faculty here. Literally, every department talked, in one way or another, about their commitment to helping students achieve their academic goals. I was really, really pleased about that.

"And the second thing  faculty talked about their recognition of or contribution to the importance of retention of students  getting students here and having them leave after they've earned their degree."

Birge, who grew up in Lee, returned to the Berkshires this year after a career that took him to Washington State, West Virginia and, most recently, New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce University.

He came to MCLA with a perspective on the role of public education in the 21st century but without a preconceived agenda of changes to make on the North Adams campus.

As he prepared for the start of his first full academic year at the school, Birge sat down with iBerkshires.com to talk about what he has learned about MCLA, what he wants other people to know about the school and the process the school is using to adapt to a changing world.

Question: How does the investment in the new science center and the concentration on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) and that sort of thing fit in with your vision for a liberal arts education?

Answer: Science has always been part of the foundation of a liberal arts education. So it fits in perfectly. The value of a liberal arts education is that students are educated broadly and deeply, so it should include the physical sciences among other disciplines. So I think it fits in very well.

I think the other piece is that, as I wrote a few months ago, the value of a liberal arts education is that it allows students to be agile in a changing labor force. So because they have the capacity to think well and write well and be critical in their thought and written word, they thrive in any career because of that foundation in the liberal arts.

So it's our obligation not just to offer solely traditional liberal arts majors but professional majors as well.

It doesn't feel like a change in focus or mission?

A: No, in fact all of the courses that occur in that building are courses and majors that we offered prior to that building. That curriculum has always been part of the foundation of a liberal arts education.

I think that building gives us the capacity to think about new academic programs to respond to some high-need fields that we haven't responded to, as well.

Such as?

A: Certainly, the health professions. Are we preparing our students to enter health profession fields? We aren't, frankly. So we need to think about that from a curricular point of view  what could we develop or how can we revise programs we have now to be more responsive to the needs for health professions.

This goes back to something people have heard me say before: The foundation of American higher education is on colleges and universities responding to the needs and demands of society. And we know from labor statistics that the health profession fields are the fastest growing and longest growing in society.

We're going to come to a point where  in fact in some of those fields, we have a lack of employees now. So how does American higher education respond to that need? And I'll say it more locally, how does MCLA respond to those needs? We have to be in tune to those things.

This might back up to a broader question, but what is your vision for where you want to see the college go? Did you come in with a five-year plan?

A: No. Lots of people ask me, what's my vision for the institution. I don't have one, nor will I, frankly. There will be a vision for the institution, but it will be a vision that we own collectively. So I came in and spent much of the spring meeting with all the academic departments and the administrative units to get a sense of the institution and where they think our strengths are and where they think we need to move.

And from that, we will develop a vision that is developing. Once that is more public, I think people will recognize it and they can own it because it's part of what they see as the vision for the institution.

I think it's arrogant and ineffective for one individual to say, 'I have a vision for this place,'  whether it's MCLA or General Dynamics or whatever. I think the most effective visions are those that are generated from stakeholders and have a resonance with a broad spectrum of people. That's what we'll have here.

Are you expecting something so formal as a statement to define that vision?

A: We will start, starting in a couple of weeks, to meet with the board to talk about beginning a strategic planning process we'll enter into later this year. So that vision will be articulated formally in that strategic plan.

I will start talking about my impressions and what I've cultivated from people later this summer with my colleagues when I talk with them collectively about what I've seen and gleaned from their input.

I know it's all still a little new for you, but what have you learned so far about MCLA? Has anything surprised you?

A: There are lots of surprises here. I was very excited about the institution when I was a candidate, as you might imagine, but since I've been here, to discover the things that I have that tell me more about this place  It is really a gem that I think many people don't know about.

I'll give you a few examples.

Four out of five years, MCLA has been identified by 'U.S. News & World Report' as a top 10 public liberal arts institution nationally. Kiplinger's Personal Finance listed us last year as a top 100 best value institution. Last spring, the U.S. Department of Education identified us as one of 13 public institutions nationally that graduates Pell recipients at the same rate as non-Pell recipients.

So, clearly, the work that we do here is recognized and validated by external organizations. That is tremendously reassuring to me, and I hope to the people we tell.

But we don't tell a lot of people. In fact, that's one of the areas that I think we have to work much harder on: getting information like that out. Those are really important accolades for an institution so we become more visible.

There are more things that are more internal that I see. Other than Mass Maritime, MCLA has the highest percentage of STEM degrees in the state university system. We're a liberal arts institution, but going back to what I said before, sciences have always been part of a liberal arts education. We have a higher percentage of STEM degrees of the degrees we award than any school in the state university system  other than Mass Maritime, which is mostly STEM degrees. That surprised me.

The performing arts we have here. I came here, and after two weeks, I went to see Ibsen's The Doll House,' which is a notoriously complicated performance. Our students were masterful with it. I was really impressed by it. They were just absolutely incredible. Between that and seeing this dance company performance that was so big we couldn't even have it on campus. It was at Mass MoCA. The night that I was there, I'm going to guess 350 to 400 people were in the audience  really, really incredible.

One of my favorite stories is the student I met on my second day here who was in the science center working on an augmented reality program. I didn't know what augmented reality was; most people didn't until recently when this Pokemon Go thing came up. Daniel was working on this program, and I asked him, 'Is this a project for class?' And he said, 'No, I'm just trying to design a mobile application for students to be able to study better,' just because that's what he wants to do. We have the capacity to give students the research space and the equipment to do those sorts of things.

For being a smallish state university tucked into the hills of Western Massachusetts, I think we do some pretty impressive things.

You mentioned that you need to get the word out on that better. Why? I guess what I'm asking is are you concerned about enrollment and attracting more students?

A: Certainly. We're a tuition-driven institution. We depend on tuition revenue and fee revenue to come in, so we're always focused on that.

But it's also about stepping into our own reality. We want to be recognized for who we are, which is a high quality, affordable institution. We want to get some of those more salient points about our identity out so people can see the kind of institution we are.

Now, enrollment is something that we always talk about because, as I said, we're a smallish institution. But this year, our incoming class is about 20 percent higher than the previous year. I think we will be if not the highest, among the highest increases on a percentage basis in the state. That's a tremendous jump, to have a 20 percent increase in an incoming class.

Our retention rate is up this year. It's hovering right now just around 80 percent. It will probably drop a little bit between now and the beginning of the semester. But it's still going to be among the highest retention rates we've ever had, if not the highest.

So we're starting to find our stride after a couple of years of seeing lackluster enrollment. I think that's directly related to the staff in admissions, some new leadership there. They've done a really wonderful job of telling students the story about MCLA and then our financial aid office being able to package students.

They've done a good job helping students find ways to pay?

A: Yes. Forty-six percent of our students are Pell-eligible, meaning they come from families making less than $40,000 per year. Forty-six percent is the highest in the state university system. It's probably the highest in four-year public education in the state. The community colleges are usually higher, but among four-year publics, I'm sure we have the highest Pell recipient rate.

Do you have numbers on first-generation college students?

A: About 30 percent of our students are first generation.

How does that compare to the state university system?

A: I don't know how that relates to other institutions. Community colleges would be higher because that's typically an entry point for first-generation students. But I don't know what that data is. That's typically not captured in the data that I look at.

You talked about retention and recruitment of students. I was also wondering about recruitment of faculty. Up the road at Williams College, they've talked quite a bit about the problem of the local economy and the 'trailing spouse' problem for potential faculty. Is that something you're worried about here?

A: We certainly think about that here. I don't know that it rises to the level of 'worry' for me. We have almost a dozen new faculty coming in this year. I don't think we've missed out on the faculty we've wanted because of trailing spouse issues. It may be the case, but I haven't seen it. I've only been here a couple of months.

But to be able to see that number of new faculty tells me that we're doing OK.

I think it becomes easier, frankly, as we increase our visibility and people get to know that we're a high-quality liberal arts institution. That helps us recruit faculty.

I'm really excited about what's happening in North Adams. For me to look at North Adams now compared to 30 years ago when I was in the Berkshires, it's a very different place. North Adams was an industrial economy. Now, it's the creative economy. There are lots of things that are happening here, whether it's the development of the Greylock Mill or the Blackinton Mill or the Redwood Motel, some plans that are on the books for some new museums among other things. I think there's an energy that is happening in North Adams in particular and Northern Berkshire County in general that tells me that in as few as two years this will be a very different place than it is now  a much more vibrant and vital place than it is right now.

Along with that, do you see more opportunities for the college to be involved with cultural institutions, other educational institutions to create more of a synergy?

A: I think we're limited only by our imagination.

Yesterday, I met with the new superintendent of schools, Barb Malkas, and I'm hoping we can have more engagement. I think if we can collaborate with the school district, we can improve the things we do and hopefully can contribute to improving the things that they do. But I was really struck by her comments. She said, there's a perception about a lack of quality in the North Adams schools, but there really is a high quality there. I was delighted to hear that. But like MCLA, it may be a matter of them promoting that a little more. I think we can do more things together, which I would like to do.

I think we can do more with Williams. We're two very different institutions. We don't compete for the same students. We don't compete for the same faculty. But we have common missions in terms of being liberal arts institutions. [Williams President] Adam Falk has been very welcoming to me. We've had a couple of lunches together. I think there are things we can do. Our students can take classes together. It's a nice partnership.

I think there a lot of things we can do with other educational institutions, K-12 and higher ed, as well as with the local cultural organizations with internships. I want us to cultivate those things.

One of the things I really want us to work on is  as I said earlier  our historic public purpose has been to respond to the needs and demands of society. What do the Berkshires need? What kinds of employees do they need. I've met with the leadership at General Dynamics, the leadership at a number of banks, the leadership at Berkshire Health Systems to say, 'What is it you need that we can respond to?' We're starting to think about what are our new academic majors or how can we revise some of our current majors to be more responsive to what their needs are.

We draw about 60 percent of our students from outside the Berkshires. If we can draw those students here and maintain them for employment, that just adds to the vitality of Berkshire County. And I think we have a role to play with that.

The other area of cooperation is among the schools in the state university system. Have you had a chance to engage them?

A: Oh yeah. We actually meet pretty regularly, at least monthly. I know the other presidents well. I'm a product of the state university system, so I probably lean a little closer to Ramon Torrecilha at Westfield. But he also happens to be the closest to here. I've gotten to know some of the others pretty well.

At the state level, in terms of state support, are there concerns about the level of support the system is getting from Beacon Hill?

A: We always worry about that. This year, we were grateful to the Legislature for approving a number of important programs for funding. The governor vetoed a number of those things. The Legislature overrode those vetoes.

I think we can probably do a better job at MCLA advocating for ourselves, saying, 'These are the things that we're contributing to life in the Berkshires and it's important for us to have that kind of funding.' So the governor and the Legislature have a better understanding why that type of funding is so important for us.

That will be my role as the advocate of MCLA to get that message out.

The July revenues for the commonwealth were positive. We're hoping that continues, certainly. It makes it less likely that we'll be seeing future legislative sessions like we did last year.

But for our part, what we can control is to raise the visibility level of MCLA so that policy makers understand just how important this place is to the Berkshires and how important they are to us.

So it all circles back to telling the story?

A: I think so, to a certain degree.

A little earlier, we touched on what you've learned about MCLA since you've been here. How about life in general? How has it been readjusting to life in the Berkshires?

A: It's been great.

I had forgotten just how enjoyable life is in the summer in the Berkshires. It is really a special place. I've lived all over the country, literally from Rhode Island to Washington State. And there's something distinct about the Berkshires  in general but especially in the summer. There's an energy here. My wife and I have been able to attend a couple of different cultural events. Being downtown when they put sand on Eagle Street was a lot of fun. It was fun to be out there the other night for [the Downtown Celebration], it was packed, absolutely packed.

You couldn't find a parking spot. I think I parked over by Planet Fitness just to be able to walk down to Main Street. There are lots of fun things that are going on. I think there are more better days on the horizon for North Adams than not. It's just fun to be here.
The Board of Selectmen held an executive session following the regular meeting Monday to discuss the ongoing litigation with the Berkshire Mall.

Lanesborough, Berkshire Mall Getting Closer to Assessment Settlement

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  A settlement regarding the assessment of the Berkshire Mall may be near.

The Baker Hill Road District's Prudential Committee held an emergency executive session with the Board of Selectmen on Monday night, in which both boards discussed the current Appellate Tax Board cases between Berkshire Mall LLC, the Board of Assessors and the Baker Hill Road District as well as cases between those entities in the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

According to Mark Siegars, attorney for the Baker Hill Road District, the mall's owners offered a settlement to which the town has seven days to respond. The board called the emergency meeting to discuss further negotiations, but after about an hour, no action was taken.

The town's attorney Jeff Blake offered no comment, saying public discussion could be a detriment to the town's negotiating position  one of the few reasons a board can call an executive session in Massachusetts.

While details of the offer were not disclosed, the offer may signal progress in a continuing battle over property assessments. The Berkshire Mall, currently owned by Strategic Property Services, appealed the property's assessments for both 2015 and 2016.

Prior to that, the previous owners, Pyramid Companies, had appealed decisions from 2010 through 2012 and ultimately reached an agreement. That agreement was multiyear and impacted future assessments.

The value and future of the mall has been of significant concern for Lanesborough because of its importance to local revenues. Since 2008, the value has declined from $60.4 million down to $33.5 million in 2014. The agreement reached with Pyramid carried an assessment of $36.7 million, after a re-evaluation, in 2015 and $31.5 million in 2016.

With the sale of the mall in 2014, that agreement was reopened and taken to court, leaving those figure still uncertain.

Those assessed figures, however, do not take into account the closure of two anchor stores  Best Buy and Macy's  in the last year. The impact of the loss of those two stores is not expected to be truly known until the 2018 re-evaluation.

In other business, Town Manager Paul Sieloff said Pittsfield Community Television will no longer be managing the town's community television station. But, he said he is in the midst of discussions with another entity to take over.

"We got a proposal from an entity to take over and manage the whole system for us," Sieloff said.

Sieloff said with the expansion of Charter Communications throughout town, there should be a boost in franchise fees. He suggested upping the revolving fund by some $2,000 to help upgrade the equipment used to film and broadcast government meetings.

"This equipment was updated in the last eight months, we spent $16,000 to $18,000, and we've had a lot of good change to the process," Sieloff said.

He hopes to have a new entity in place to run the town's station by Nov. 1. Resident Ronald Tinkham added that with the upgrades Charter has made to the cable infrastructure, the channel has changed to 191.

 The Selectmen also stuck to their guns when it came to a request to turn on a streetlight the board had previously voted to remove from Baglee Avenue. Two residents there asked for the light to be put back. But, the town had removed the light, as well as others, as a cost-saving measure.

Chairman John Goerlach suggested that a functioning light on the street be relocated to provide some illumination toward the end of the dead-end road. Selectman Robert Ericson agreed.

"We will look at what the effect of moving it will be," Ericson said.

 The state Legislature was unable to pass a home-rule bill to remove some land around the Narragansett Avenue bridge from Article 97 conservation restriction. The land needed to be removed in order to allow for a reconstruction of the bridge and requires a 2/3 vote from the Legislature during formal session, which closed on July 31.

Nonetheless, planning for the project is continuing. Blake presented the board with an order of takings to legally have the easements for privately owned properties needed for the project. Blake said all of the landowners agreed to donate the land in a "friendly taking" but instead of receiving paperwork for each individual property, the order of takings ensures the easements for all.

 The Selectmen also rejected the idea of raising plumbing and gas inspection fees for commercial properties to $100. Sieloff said the fee change, which was first suggested last August, would align the two as well as be more in line with the prices in other communities.

"It's a hard call with the tax increases already," Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers said. "I'd like to see no increase, a hold until times are better.

 Sieloff also said the town is again looking for an accountant. The Selectmen had hired someone but he backed out. The town is now accepting applications again for another consideration.
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ICAOs Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu reiterated the UN agencys support of Perus national and global civil aviation objectives in recent bilateral meetings with the countrys Minister for Foreign Affairs of Peru, Ambassador Ricardo Luna Mendoza, and Vice Minister of Transports and Communications, Dr. Fiorella Molinelli Aristondo. Thanking the Peruvian Government for the work performed by the Peruvian Representation on the ICAO Council and for hosting ICAOs South American Regional Office in Lima, Dr. Liu encouraged Peru to further strengthen its participation at ICAOs international forums. The development of ICAOs support with regards to environmental protection, technical cooperation, security, and the prioritisation of aviation as a lever for socio-economic development, were also discussed.
Three sales employees from FASTSIGNS of Chattanooga received national recognition at the 2016 FASTSIGNS Outside Sales Summit, held in Arlington, Tx.David Murphy received the Platinum Sales Award, which recognizes outside sales professionals who achieved sales exceeding $1 million from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. With more than 615 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers worldwide, only 11 Outside Sales Professionals received this award.Additionally, Markela Albright and Reis Costa each received the Bronze Sales Award, which recognizes outside sales professionals who achieved sales between $300,000 and $499,999 from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.Were very proud of our team for their outstanding sales achievements and for providing excellent service to our customers every day, said Phil Bacon, FASTSIGNS of Chattanooga franchisee. We look forward to continue helping local businesses and organizations increase their visibility and achieve their goals using superior visual communications solutions.FASTSIGNS of Chattanooga has been in business for 26 years. The center is located at 3763 Powers Court and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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
A crumpled lady lay small and scared in a hospital bed.



Uninsured.

And unsure. Unsure if she mattered. Unsure what would happen. Unsure how to proceed.



Sure only of pain. Loud, screaming, lonely stabs of pain.



Her mangled nerves and troubled mind refused to move in concert with her dilapidated body.



Nothing works right. Thats all that could be honestly said, of each nook and cranny of her life. Nothing works right.



Cant Anything Work Right?

I arrive at that conclusion with some regularity too, even though my ailments are not hers.

Nothing works right. Or perhaps more desperately as a protest, Cant anything work right?Well, sometimes, not always, but sometimes, things do work right. And when they do, the hope of all things sad coming untrue begins to re-emerge from its hiding. And you smile in relief. You beam with quiet joy. You might even jump with giddiness.I saw another woman, around this same time, on the verge of giddy jumping. She was in the community group Im privileged to lead. She was gathered with a cadre of those whod learned to fuss over each other quite well in tender ways. We were in a pole barn. In Hinkle. A raging fire warmed the air. But her words caused the hottest atmospheric spark.Because the woman, Ann, had news to report. Hopping news. News that wouldnt be suppressed. That couldnt be suppressed. She had news that every now and again, something works right. Better than right. Or rather, she had assurance that Someone works right, and He often does so through folks who are unsure on behalf of folks who are unsure and who think that nothing ever works right.Ann knew the frail woman in the hospital. Ann ached for the crumpled woman, shook with compassion for the forgotten womans pain, trembled with the disorientation of the sick womans plight. And it wasnt as if Ann didnt have her own troubles or scores else to do either!And Ann wasnt alone. Come to find out, over the preceding three months of languishing, uninsured, unsure sorrow, several folks in myriad ways put on a live rendition of the Apostle Pauls text in 1 Corinthians 12. They proved that if one part of Jesus body finds itself lambasted--bruised and broken by the fall- that the rest of the body smarts with the demolition of it too. If one part finds itself helpless and alone, the other part has to run smack dab into the chaos of that helpless aloneness.So for months, Ann had been an integrated component in a pick-up team of care. So had Sharon. And Sandy. And Terri. And Lori. And Charissa. And Don. And Allen. And Thomas. And even me with the tiniest bit role. But the team had been led by my friend and colleague, Pastor Hutch; led passionately, ably, persistently, courageously, and prayerfully.And then add in pray-ers, which is a real job, like Susan, Lyn, Michael, Beth, Margie, Judy, Charlie, Cathy and a pro-bono lawyers zealous advocacy, and a social worker who means it, but whose names Jesus and Hutch know, but I dont, and a host of dedicated nurses at Erlanger. And Charlie. And Kelly. And Connor. And Jay. And on and on, literally, it likely goes.A couple of weeks before Anns good news of reversal and homecoming, during a polite discussion about the love of God, she interrupted us. Her inner trouble disrupted us. Her advocacy erupted from within her. Her own helplessness got the best of her. Her frustration overtook her. And we stopped what we were doing, because she was wise and called us to prayer.To prayer that moves, if not a mountain, at least a bureaucratic process with Medicare. To prayer that generates rescue, rehabilitation, and a swirl of purposeful activity. She called us to demanding prayer to the Shepherd of the harassed. And we harassed him with the crumpled ladys distress.We nagged, prodded, and pleaded. We reminded Him, sought to cajole Him and urged Him. We trusted Him and admitted how hard that was. We brought a woman trapped in a vortex of nothing working right, right up close to Him. And said, Wont you do something to show that sometimes things work right?And He said, Yes.He said a loud, Yes!And now several weeks later, the cause of Anns new giddiness, the crumpled woman was being brought home. Liberated from hospital captivity. She came home finally insured, emancipated from bureaucratic limbo, and no longer unsure if she mattered. Because some of our all-star mercy givers with feet on their prayers, convinced her with their time, their hearts, their wrestlings on her behalf, and their million little acts of self-forgetful service.And a nurse at the hospital said, What church is that? Weve never, in the hospital business, seen a patient get that much care from that many people who are not her family.But she didnt realize, we are a family. Much like your church is.See, Im willing to bet this story isnt all that unique. Its just heartening. And what happens all the time in varying versions in communities breathed into existence by Christ and animated by Him.Its why Lesslie Newbigen once suggested:I have come to feel that the primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross?I am, of course, not denying the importance of the many activities by which we seek to challenge public life with the gospel evangelistic campaigns, distribution of Bibles and Christian literature, conferences, and even books such as this one.But I am saying that these are all secondary, and that they have power to accomplish their purpose only as they are rooted in and lead back to a believing community.And it is why a Lutheran Bishop once responded so cleverly to a hypothetical quandary that could, of course, at any moment, become stunningly real.He was asked, What's the best advice a pastoral or other counselor might give to a woman in her prime who faces devastating health problems?The Lutheran Bishop replied without pause, She should have been an active member of a vital congregation for the previous twenty years.Of course, thats not truly a pastoral answer.But its certainly a robust pastoral theology. It gets at the heart of the myriad deposits of trust we deposit over years and similarly have invested in us when we are privileged to be anchored in a one-anothering community of faith that means it and embodies the self-giving care we ourselves have received from our suffering but resurrected Savior.Weve been engrafted into the family of Him who sets the lonely in families, who is a Dad to duds, and a Mom to misfits, and a Craftsman who refurbishes so much that is not working right, so that sometimes, an earnest woman entrusted with many sorrows of her own, can care more about the sorrows of another than about her own, and can report that the Father does plenty. For the uninsured. For the unsure. For those for whom nothing ever works right.And to that, I say, as an onlooker, Amen. And glory. And Hallelujah.-----

Eric Youngblood is the senior pastor at Rock Creek Fellowship (PCA) on Lookout Mountain. Please feel free to contact him at eric@rockcreekfellowship.org or follow him on Twitter @GEricYoungblood.
Ed Bearss, chief historian emeritus of the National Park Service will be at Bachman Community Center on Signal Mountain to screen a documentary on his life and talk about the history of the National Park Service on Wednesday from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Mr. Bearss is a legendary character of the park service and this week the agency is celebrating their centennial. Nashville historian and documentary filmmaker David Currey will also be attending.



"Mr. Bearss has lead an extraordinary life. Not only is he one of the nations authorities on Civil War history and battlefield preservation, he is also the most recognizable face and a living legend in the 100 year history of the National Park Service. In 2005, Smithsonian Magazine recognized him as one of the top 35 remarkable people every American should meet.



"Now 93-years-old, millions still remember his iconic voice from Ken Burns The Civil War. In 2014, David Currey, principal at Encore Interpretive Design and Road Films, produced a one-hour documentary on the man behind the legend. The one-hour film takes us on a journey from his early years in 1920s Montana, to his wounding by the Japanese in World War II, to his vaunted career in the NPS and the impact he has had on preserving some of Americas most important stories and places. All led by the master tour guide  Ed Bearss. Afterward, he will talk about his career in the National Park Service," officials said.



The event is sponsored by Encore Interpretive Design and the Bachman Community Center. Tickets are $10. DVDs of the documentary will be available for purchase.
Glass Street LIVE is a communitywide block party hosted by neighborhood partner, Glass House Collective, in correlation with the National Park Centennial Celebration highlighting artist Wayne White on Sept. 24, 2016 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.The festivities will include a street party, a giant puppet show, and a parade to Sherman Reservation. Featuring music from Jazzanooga, art exhibits, and food, Glass Street LIVE will be held on Glass Street and will bring neighboring communities together.Chattanooga native Artist Wayne White, who announced his return to Chattanooga for a yearlong art installation, has been commissioned to build larger-than-life puppets, to be debuted at the block party.Created to resemble General Cleburne and General Sherman, these 12-14 foot high marionettes will be manned by three people each and will help tell the story of what happened on the Sherman Reservation during the Civil War.The quarter-mile parade will highlight new access points for a trail constructed to connect the Sherman Reservation National Park to Glass Street. The Glass House Collective is advocating increased awareness of and visitation to the park, which is open to visitors but seldom used. As the fourth-largest parcel in the National Park Service's local system, the Sherman Reservation has the potential to serve as a municipal park, a historical tribute and much needed green space access for the surrounding communities.For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1757689257839054/
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Edward Price, a former British economic official, teaches international political economy, financial systems and international relations at NYUas Center for Global Affairs. He is also an economic advisor for BritishAmerican Business (BAB). Educated at the London School of Economics (LSE), Edward holds an MSc in Finance and Economic Policy and an MA in German History. He has worked in both the British and European parliaments, was Americas editor at IFLR and has worked in the City of London. He speaks German, gets by in Italian and is a member of the Economic Club of New York (ECNY).
The Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga invites the Chattanooga community to its ninth annual First Amendment Dinner on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 North Terrace Road.

"This event educates us about our First Amendment rights and honors local veterans for their service," organizers said.

The keynote speaker will be Anti-Defamation Leagues Interim Regional Director Shelley Rose. The cost for this annual event is $12 (free for veterans) if reserved before Sept. 2. After Sept. 2, the cost is $14 for both veterans and non-veterans. RSVP to 493-0270 ext. 10 or rsvp@jewishchattanooga.com. Space is limited.

The First Amendment Dinner was started nine years ago as a way to honor veterans and inform the public of their First Amendment Rights. In this Presidential election year we feel that it is extremely important for the public to understand the importance of keeping the freedoms we have grown to enjoy and to respect those who serve our country in order to keep these freedoms. said Michael Dzik, Jewish Federation executive director.



About Shelley Rose:

Shelley Rose is the interim regional director with the Anti-Defamation League, Southeast region. She has been with ADL for over 18 years. In this position, she plans and executes the direction and administration of all regional office activities to further the mission of the ADL. Ms. Rose organizes community programming, provides educational outreach to community organizations, oversees Holocaust education, coordinates legislative advocacy and conducts workshops and presentations for parents and educators on religious intolerance, anti-bias training and cultural awareness. She has a bachelor of science in industrial relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master of arts in higher education from Ohio State University.
Three US Family Members Win Rs 41 Lakh Each From Same Lottery Draw
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With Guardians of the Galaxy having surpassed everyones expectations, the sequel has become one of Marvels most anticipated future films.

Those who attended San Diegos Comic Con earlier this year were treated to a lengthy clip from the film, while those outside Hall H have been left with only trailer descriptions to suffice.

Thankfully, concept art multiple images have hit the internet, the most recent coming thanks to Empire.

In the image, the original films team can be seen taking on a space Kraken/dog with Baby Groot looking particularly shocked.

Speaking to the magazine, Chris Pratt - who plays Star Lord - said: Youre going to see these characters having to endure the realities of being family.

"Youre talking about a guy who has been longing to know who his father is for a long time. Hell discover if that person lives up to the expectations he has in his head.

33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 Show all 34 1 /34 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 1. Captain America: Civil War Release date: 6 May 2016. Iron Man and Captain America are set to face off in this superhero blockbuster that will feature nearly all the Avengers but wont be an Avengers film. It will also mark the first time Spider-Man will feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Sony having made a deal with Marvel Studios. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 2. X-Men: Apocalypse Release date: 27 May 2016. Following the success of Days of Future Past, Apocalypse will follow the young X-Men team as the battle against Oscar Isaacs titular villain as he gathers his four horsemen; Magneto (Fassbender), Angel (Hardy), Storm (Shipp), and Psylocke (Munn). Expect carnage and no Wolverine. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 3. Suicide Squad Release date: 5 August 2016. The first supervillain film, Suicide Squad is also based in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe, where Batman and Superman live) and will introduce the world to Margot Robbies Harley Quinn and Jared Letos Joker. One of the more exciting upcoming DC films thats for sure. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 4. Doctor Strange Release date: 4 November 2016. Benedict Cumberbatch will debut in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Captain America and Iron Man live) as the Sorcerer Supreme. The film already has an incredible cast, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachael McAdams and Tilda Swinton. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 5. Untitled Lego Batman film Release date: 20 February 2017. Kicking off 2017 is the Lego version of Batman, who will lead his own spin-off, having already featured in the amazing Lego Movie. Will Arnett voices the titular character, while Zach Garfianakis - from the Hangover - will voice The Joker. But will he better than Leto? 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 6. Untitled Wolverine film Release date: 3 March 2017. Having not starred in X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine will return to the big screen in a solo film which was recently made R-Rated following the success of Deadpool. It is expected to be Hugh Jackmans last outing as the titular character. Fox 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Release date: 5 May 2017. Chris Pratt and the crew are returning to space in the sequel to the surprisingly successful Guardians of the Galaxy. According to director James Gunn, the film will not feature Thanos, even though he will to play a major role in phase MCU Phase 3. Cast includes newcomers Kurt Russell and Pom Klementieff, as well as, rumour has it, Sylvester Stallone. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 8. Wonder Woman Release date: 23 June 2017. Gal Gadot is returning to the DCEU in her very own film, marking the first female-led superhero film on this list. Chris Pine is on board to play Wonder Womans love interest. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 9. Untitled Spider-Man reboot Release date: 7 July 2017. Yes, it is another Spider-Man reboot, having previously been redone with Andrew Garfield as the lead. However, this time it is part of the MCU, with Tom Holland as the titular character, and a heavily rumoured cameo by Iron Man could be in the pipeline. We can dream. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 10. Untitled Fox film Release date: 6 October 2017. In a strange announcement, Fox decided to withhold the release of Gambit until a future, as-yet unannounced date, which could be here, or this could be a completely separate project. Many suspect Deadpool 2 could nicely fit here, Fox capitalising on the success of the first film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 11. Thor: Ragnarok Release date: 3 November 2017. Chris Hemsworth will be returning as the Norse God in his third solo MCU film. Flight of the Conchords Taika Waititi is on board to direct, and promises a fun adventure that will likely lead into Marvels next project, Infinity War. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 12. Justice League Part One Release date: 17 November 2017. Hot on the heals of Thor comes Justice League Part One, the first DCEU team-up flick which will see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg work together to fight bad guys. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 13: Untitled Fox film Release date: 12 January 2018. Kicking off 2018 will likely be the second Deadpool film, but then again, this could very well be another X-Men team-up. Theres also talk of an X-Force film, with Deadpool and other mutants teaming up to fight evil. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 14. Black Panther Release date: 16 February 2018. The first non-white male-led superhero film in the MCU comes in the form of Black Panther, with Chadwick Boseman reprising the titular role, having also starred as the Panther in Civil War. Creeds Ryan Coogler is on to direct what could be a very exciting film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 15. The Flash Release date: 16 March 2018. The Flash will be the first DCEU film since Justice League, and sees Ezra Miller take the lead. Phil Lord and Chris Miller were supposed to pen the film before Disney snapped them up for the Han Solo-film, leaving Seth Grahame-Smith to take charge. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 16. Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 Release date: 4 May 2018. And so, we finally get to the point of all these Infinity Stones! Thanos will be the big bad, with the Avengers needing to team up to defeat their biggest foe yet. It has previously been described as the end of the Avengers as we know it. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 17. Ant-Man and The Wasp Release date: 6 July 2018. Peyton Reed will be back to direct this surprise sequel to one of the better received MCU films. While the name is ridiculous, at least Marvel are finally having a leading female superhero. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 18. Untitled Fox film Release date: 13 July 2018. Again, not much word on this one except it is thought to be X-Men spin-off New Mutants, something Josh Boone has been hit up to write. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 19. Animated Spider-Man Film Release date: 20 July 2018. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal - the team behind the live-action Spider-Man films - are producing this unrelated animated adaptation of the hero. Because you can never have too much Spider-Man, right? 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 20. Aquaman Release date: 27 July 2018. Another Justice League spin-off, Jason Momoa plays the leading man. Furious 7s James Wan is on to direct, but little else is known about the film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 21. Captain Marvel Release date: 8 March 2019. Weve hit 2019, and the first confirmed superhero film will be the first proper female-led MCU film. No-one is confirmed to be in the titular role of Carol Danvers just yet. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 22. Shazam Release date: 5 April 2019. Dwayne Johnson stars as the villain in this DCEU film which will be somewhat separate to the other DC films. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 23. Avengers: Infinity War Part 2. Release date: 3 May 2019. The conclusion to the long drawn MCU saga. Expect a big finish with at least a few planets being destroyed. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 24. Justice League Part Two Release date: 14 June 2019. Soon after the Infinity War story reaches its conclusion, so will the Justice Leagues. Not much is known, except Darkseid will likely be the villain for at least one of the parts. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 25. Inhumans Release date: 12 July 2019. The concept of Inhumans (or Marvels mutants) has already been introduced in TV, through Marvels Agents of Shield, yet the film is expected to introduce the Royal Family who have yet to be seen in the show. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 26. Cyborg Release date: 3 April 2020. Having debuted in Justice League Part One three years previously, Cyborg will finally be making his own outing, with Ray Fisher as the titular character. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 27. Untitled MCU film Release date: 1 May 2020. The first of three untitled Marvel films. There are a couple of contenders, the first is a likely sequel to Spider-Man with Sony, or a third Guardians of the Galaxy film, thus finishing the trilogy. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 28. Green Lantern Corps. Release date: 19 June 2020. Before you start to worry, this has nothing to do with the Ryan Reynolds-starring flick that hit cinemas a little while ago. Instead, this will be another DCEU film that will likely spin-off from Justice League after the Green Lantern Corps cameo in one of the parts. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 29. Untitled MCU film Release date: 10 July 2020. As well as Spider-Man or Guardians of the Galaxy sequels, a Doctor Strange or Black Panther one could fit in nicely here. Or perhaps Black Widow may finally get the solo-film she deserves. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 30. Untitled MCU film Release date: 6 November 2020. Some speculators also think a Blade film could fit in here, marking over 20 years since the first Blade. But many believe the character may be better suited to a Netflix series, as with Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Theres also talk of a Runaways film reaching cinemas at some stage. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 31. Untitled Ben Affleck Batman film Release date: TBA. Now were onto the TBA release dates, the first of which is a Batman solo film, written and directed by Ben Affleck. When this is due, no one is quite sure but expect it sooner rather than later if Batman v Superman is a success. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 32. Suicide Squad 2 Release date: TBA (rumoured 2017). A sequel to Suicide Squad is expected to come in 2017 according to recent reports, but nothing has been confirmed. If the first is successful, it should come as no surprise for Warner Bros to rearrange their schedule to fit in this surefire hit. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 33. Venom Release date: TBA. This is an odd one, as it has been confirmed Sony are wanting to release a Venom film completely unrelated to the upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Venom, as you may know, is a Spider-Man villain, intrinsically linked to Spider-Man, so it seems odd they would release a film unrelated to the rebooted project and not linked to the MCU. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 Anything else? Well, now you mention it, theres also that sequel to Fantastic Four that has seemingly been dropped by Fox. Plus, theres the Gambit film which has been put on hold (but will likely fill an untitled Fox slot so we havent added it extra). Then again, it could be shoehorned in somehow Marvel

Kurt Russell will play Star Lords father in the film, a character called Ego, the Living Planet. Meanwhile, director James Gunn has spoken out against those criticising the recently reported casting of Mary Jane in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
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In 2009, Michael Mann released Public Enemies, a biopic telling the story of gangster John Dillinger and FBI agent Melvin Purvis' attempts to capture him.

The Johnny Depp and Christian Bale-starring mob drama earned critical acclaim upon its release and ended its theatrical run deemed a commercial success also.

Since the film, director Mann has only released one film - the cyber-thriller Blackhat - and has racecar driver biopic Enzo Ferrari on the way.

An IndieLondon interview with Mann - conducted for the release of Public Enemies - has resurfaced thanks to Reddit user TMWNN and reveals an interesting tidbit of information about the film's script: they had to tone down some of its content because the real life Dillinger's actions were so unbelievable.

Mann revealed: "He didnt take six or seven people hostage, he took 17 guards hostage with that wooden gun he had carved. It wouldnt be credible if you put it in a movie, so we had to tone it down."

The occurrence in question saw Dillinger escape from Crown Point jail, Indiana, reportedly using nothing but a fake pistol made from a potato.

Mann's upcoming film Enzo Ferrari was originally due to star Bale who dropped out due to fears over the weight gain required for the role. The film, currently in development, will be released in 2018.

The director is currently planning to write a prequel to his 1995 film Heat.
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Marking the main road through Berlin's affluent Schoneberg district now stands a simple white plaque; a tribute to a legendary artist, ending with those magic words, "we can be heroes, just for one day".

The plaque commemorates the time Bowie spent in the city between late 1976 and 1978, embedded into the building on Hauptstrasse 155 that once served as a flatshare for him and fellow musical legend Iggy Pop. The area has long attracted the sparkling, the brilliant; from Albert Einstein, actor Klaus Kinski, and director Billy Wilder.

Clearly, the musician still managed to leave his own mark on the city; with The Guardian reporting several hundred fans turned up for the unveiling of the plaque, alongside politicians and former friends, bringing traffic to a standstill in the area.

The 3,400 (2,900) plaque is made of a bone china; quoting the chorus of "Heroes", which was directly inspired by a couple he spied kissing in front of the looming Berlin Wall.

The song forms part of a series albums often referred to as the "Berlin Trilogy", including Low, "Heroes", and Lodger. Though directly inspired by the spirit of the city, the work was actually recorded over in Switzerland and the US.

The commemorative plaque dedicated to musician David Bowie reading 'In this house lived from 1976 to 1978 David Bowie. During this time the album Low, Heroes and Lodger were created. They were storied in music history as 'the Berlin Trilogy' is displayed at the artist's former apartment in Berlin in August 22, 2016. (TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Its installation was signed off by the senate in spite of it usually requiring a five-year waiting period to ensure the deceased figure is, in fact, historically significant. But there's no doubt when it comes to Bowie.

David Bowie: Life in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie in 1960s Dezo Hoffman/Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures Davy Jones; life before David Bowie Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie in 1964 Dezo Hoffman/Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie 'In Mime' at the Middle Earth Club, London, 1968 Ray Stevenson/Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie in 1969 I T N/Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie performing his final concert as Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, 1973 Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie in 1973 PA David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie, with his wife Angela (Angie) and his son Zowie, after receiving an award for his latest record "Ziggy stardust" in Amsterdam, 1974 AFP David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie in the 1970s Sunshine/Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie poses with a pig David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, confirmed his death on Twitter Duncan Jones/Twitter David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie in the 1980s Everett Collection/Rex David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie gives a press conference presenting the Japanese movie 'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' directed by Nagisa Oshima, during the 36th International Film Festival in Cannes, 1983 AFP via Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie performs on stage during a concert in La Courneuve, 1987 AFP David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie during his concert in West Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, 1987 EPA David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie shakes hands with Princess Diana, 1993 PA David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie autographs copies of his newest album 'Outside' at the grand opening of a Herald Square music store 26 September 1995 in New York AFP/Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie performs at the Panathinaikos stadium in Athens during a rock festival, 1996 Reuters David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie and his wife, supermodel Iman smile as they pose for photos after Bowie received a star on the world famous Walk of Fame 12 February in Hollywood, 1997 Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie getting ready to perform 'Earthling' at the Phoenix Music Festival in 1997 Pat Pope/Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie on stage performing during the Tibet House Benefit Concert in New York City, 2001 Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie Meltdown concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London, June 2002 Rex David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie performing during his concert at the Stravinski hall stage of the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland, 2002 EPA David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie in 'Last Call with Carson Daly' TV programme taping in New York, 2003 Startraks/Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie walks with his with wife Iman and daughter Alexandria (2) in New York, 2003 Shutterstock David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie performs on stage on the third and final day of 'The Nokia Isle of Wight Festival 2004' at Seaclose Park, in Newport, UK Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie and Kate Moss at the 2005 CFDA Awards dinner party at the New York Public Library in New York City, 2005 Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie and model Iman arrive to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala, Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, 2008 Getty David Bowie: Life in pictures David Bowie anf Tilda Swinton at the MoMA's 6th Annual Film Benefit in New York, 2013 BFANYC.COM/Rex David Bowie: Life in pictures Flowers are left below a mural of David Bowie on the wall of a Morley's store in Brixton on 11 January 2016 Getty



Berlin's mayor, Michael Muller, stated that Bowie had contributed greatly to Berlin's, "sense of being a city of culture, creativity and openness... David Bowie belongs to Berlin, David Bowie belongs to us."
At Tuesday mornings monthly meeting of the Public Safety Commission, Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker officially announced that his department has officially been re-accredited by CALEA (the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc). The agency was officially informed of the re-accreditation earlier this month after a team of CALEA assessors performed an inspection of the department in April.

The department was first accredited in 2013 after an exhaustive self-assessment and later independent assessment process that began 2010. This years inspection was the departments first renewal of accreditation which will run for four more years.



Accreditation from CALEA is an internationally recognized benchmark for professionalism in law enforcement. The organizations goals are to strengthen an agencys crime prevention operations, formalize management procedures, improve service delivery, and increase community confidence in the agency. Currently, approximately 6% of law enforcement agencies in the United States are CALEA accredited.



Accreditation of law enforcement agencies is still fairly rare, so this renewal speaks volumes for the quality and amount of effort put forth by our officers and civilian staff, said Chief Parker. Im proud of our collective effort to maintain this status and thankful for our positive relationship with the community. Even though there is quite a bit of turmoil around the country relating to the police, our community is very supportive and we hope to grow that even more through increased engagement.



Chief Parker presented certificates of commendation to Lt. Chip Whitfield and Tonya Baker, department accreditation manager, for their efforts overseeing the agencys re-accreditation.



Chief Parker presented Chris Crossen for promotion to the rank of captain during Tuesday mornings meeting. Captain Crossen is currently serving as the division commander of the departments Criminal Investigations Division (CID).

Captain Crossen has served the department for more than 20 years in a number of different capacities including patrol officer, public information officer, patrol shift supervisor, and operations supervisor for borh CID and patrol. Captain Crossen has a bachelors degree from Georgia State University in business administration and a masters degree in public administration from Columbus State University. He is a graduate of the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College at Columbus State University, the FBI National Academy, and the Senior Management Institute for Police.



The promotion was approved by a unanimous 4-0 vote of the commission (Keith Whitworth did not attend Tuesdays meeting).



Dalton Fire Chief Bruce Satterfield presented a certificate of commendation Tuesday morning to Engineer Josh Peek for his heroic action to save the life of a choking infant earlier this month.

While off duty, Engineer Peek was eating dinner with his family at the Oakwood Cafe on Aug. 5. At another table, an infant became choked while eating. The infant was turning blue from a lack of oxygen when Engineer Peek ran up to render aid, delivering back blows and chest compressions to the infant. When firefighters and EMS responded to the scene, the infant was already breathing normally again, thanks to Engineer Peeks quick life-saving actions.


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Andrea Leadsom looks set to expand the inhumane and ineffective slaughter of badgers  despite scientists dismissing suggestions the policy helps control TB in cattle  in one of her first major acts as Environment Secretary, campaigners have said.

Ms Leadsom, who supports fox hunting, has backed selling off Britains forests and opposed measures to halt climate change, was appointed to the Cabinet post by Theresa May after dropping out of the Conservative party leadership race.

A string of eminent scientists have criticised the decision to cull badgers, with Professor David Macdonald, who chairs Natural Englands Science Advisory Committee, describing trials in 2013 as an epic failure in 2014.

In June last year, the Government admitted that only one of just four badgers tested for TB after they were killed during the cull actually had TB.

However, according to a report by the BBC, the culls are to be expanded into north and south Devon, north Cornwall, west Dorset and south Herefordshire. Culls, in which the badgers are shot, already take place in Dorset, Gloucestershire and Somerset.

The broadcaster spoke to a farmer who had signed up for the cull in one of the new areas.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) refused to confirm the report, but did not deny it and issued a response defending the use of badger control in areas where TB is rife.

However, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said in a statement it was alarmed that despite three years of failed culls the UK Government is now forging ahead with plans to kill badgers in six different areas.

David Bowles, the RSPCAs assistant director of public affairs, said: We are saddened but unsurprised at the restart of the badger culls, but to extend the number of cull areas further is alarming  especially when the last three years of culls have been such a failure, often missing targets such as numbers to be killed.

This action is flying in the face of public and scientific opinion. We remain firmly opposed to plans for a widespread cull because we have not seen any evidence that the pilot culls have succeeded in reducing bovine TB in the cull areas and we have serious concerns about the humaneness of the culling methods used.

Recommended Read more Case for the badger cull called into question as new figures show huge

And Paul Wilkinson, The Wildlife Trusts head of living landscapes, said the main way that cattle were infected with TB was from other cows, not badgers.

The results of the previous badger culls indicate that this policy is flawed and unsupported by the evidence, he said.

Culling has been shown to be more expensive, less effective than other bovine TB control mechanisms and the free-shooting of badgers has been shown to be an inhumane method of killing.

A vaccine for cattle should be a priority. The Government has failed to develop one for TB. UK cattle are already vaccinated for up to 16 diseases  why should TB be different?

A study published earlier this year found that badgers deliberately avoided cattle, making direct transfer of the disease unlikely. But they like to forage for food on cow pastures, so could potentially pass on TB through the environment.

We should eat badgers, says Two Fat Ladies star Show all 2 1 /2 We should eat badgers, says Two Fat Ladies star We should eat badgers, says Two Fat Ladies star ClarissaBAdger.jpg PA We should eat badgers, says Two Fat Ladies star

Green MP Caroline Lucas urged Ms Leadsom to think again before needlessly inflicting such harm on one of Britains best-loved wild animals.

These reports suggest that one of Andrea Leadsoms first acts as Secretary of State at Defra is to oversee an extension to the inhumane and ineffective badger cull, she said.

Her decision to wave through this slaughter in our countryside shows a shocking disregard for animal welfare  and flies in the face of scientific evidence on the spread of bovine TB.

And Rachael Maskell MP, Labours Shadow Environment Secretary, said: We need a different approach based on what works, not this unscientific, unevidenced and ineffective Tory cull.

It is time for long-term solutions to combat bovine TB and for the Government to prioritise the vaccine which is better for all animal welfare and a solution that is proven to work.

In September last year, eminent scientists including Professor John Krebs, formerly president of the British Science Association, wrote an open letter to the Guardian calling for an end to badger culling. They wrote that experts had concluded culling made "no meaningful contribution to cattle TV control in Britain" after a Government-funded, 50m study over 10 years.

Ross Murray, president of rural business and landowners group the CLA, said: We support the Governments 25-year strategy for eradicating bovine TB. The badger cull is one important part of a comprehensive strategy which also includes pre and post movement testing of cattle, the removal and slaughter of infected animals and vaccination.

"Bovine TB is a devastating disease that is causing misery for dairy and livestock farmers across the countryside. It is vital that all those involved in the cull have the support of local people and law enforcement as they carry out this important task. We are grateful to all those that are taking part in this important effort and call on all those who value the English countryside to continue supporting our UK farmers and their herds.

The National Farmers Union declined to comment, saying it was "speculation" until the actual announcement was made by the Government.

A Defra spokesperson said: Natural England is currently considering applications for further badger control licences as part of the usual licencing process.

England has the highest incidence of TB in Europe and that is why we are taking strong action to deliver our 25-year strategy to eradicate the disease and protect the future of our dairy and beef industries.

Badger control in areas where TB is rife is one part of our long-term plan, which also includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls and improving biosecurity on farm and when trading.

This comprehensive approach has worked overseas and is supported by the Government and Defra chief scientists and leading vets.
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In a new study, scientists who study the largest ice mass on Earth  East Antarctica  have found that it is showing a surprising feature reminiscent of the fastest melting one: Greenland.

More specifically, the satellite-based study found that atop the coastal Langhovde Glacier in East Antarcticas Dronning Maud Land, large numbers of supraglacial or meltwater lakes have been forming  nearly 8,000 of them during summer months between the year 2000 and 2013. Moreover, in some cases, just as in Greenland, these lakes appear to have then been draining down into the floating parts of the glacier, potentially weakening it and making it more likely to fracture and break apart.

This is the first time that such a drainage phenomenon has been observed in East Antarctica, the researchers say  though it was previously spotted on the warmer Antarctic Peninsula and was likely part of what drove spectacular events there like the shattering of the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002.

When it comes to East Antarctica, however, thats the part of the continent where people have for quite a long time assumed that its relatively stable, theres not a huge amount of change, its very, very cold, and so, its only very recently that the first supraglacial lakes, on top of the ice, were identified, said Stewart Jamieson, a glaciologist at Durham University in the UK and one of the studys authors.

Recommended Read more May 2016 was the hottest on record

The study was led by Emily Langley of Durham, who worked along with Jamieson and Chris Stokes from her university and Amber Leeson of Lancaster University. Their findings were recently published online by Geophysical Research Letters.

The research raises concern, for the following reason: Mounting evidence suggests one reason that Greenland has been melting so fast lately is precisely these kinds of lakes. In the summer as air temperatures warm, lakes form on top of the ice sheet, and on its finger-like glaciers that extend outwards into deep ocean fjords.

These lakes can then suddenly disappear all at once, or flow into rivers that drain into the ice below, lubricating the ice and helping to increase the lurch forward of glaciers. Sometimes, researchers have even been able to document fresh water flowing outward directly into the sea from the base of a glacier. That injection of cold fresh water into salty water can then create tornado-like underwater flow patterns at the submerged glacier front that cause further ice loss.

In the new study, Langley and her colleagues find large numbers of lakes forming atop Langhovde Glacier, both inland from, and outward from, the so-called grounding line, which is where the marine glacier touches the seafloor far below the ice surface. Past the grounding line, the glaciers ice begins to float and forms an ice shelf, extending out across the surface of the ocean.

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

The occurrence of these lakes was strongly related to surface air temperatures  they formed when temperatures rose above zero Celsius, or, above freezing, and formed most frequently in the summer of 2012-2013, which saw 37 days with temperatures above the freezing point.

What we find is that the appearance of these lakes, unsurprisingly, is correlated directly with the air temperature in the region, and so the maximum number of lakes, and the total area of the lakes, as well as the depth of the lakes, all of these things peak when the air temperatures peak, said Jamieson.

The study found in particular that atop the Langhovde ice shelf, lakes not only formed but appeared to sometimes drain downward, as rapidly as in five days in one case (which is considerably slower than the fastest drainage events in Greenland).

This raises the concern that these events could possibly be weakening the ice shelf by widening or exploiting fractures within it. But Jamieson said the study could not prove that, in part because it is much harder to observe the consequences of lake draining events in Antarctica than it is in Greenland.

When glaciers lose large parts of their ice shelves, they become less stable and flow faster towards the ocean, contributing to an increased rate of global sea level rise.

The size of the lakes  are probably not big enough to do much at present, but if climate warming continues in the future, we can only expect the size and number of these lakes to increase. So thats what were looking at, Jamieson said.

He added that the mid-sized Langhovde Glacier is not special when it comes to East Antarctic meltwater lakes  other parts of coastal Antarctica see them too. The reason the study focused on Langhovde is simply that there was a lot of satellite and temperature data available.

In Greenland, when meltwater from the ice sheets surface flows out from beneath glaciers and enters the sea, it often takes with it sediment from the glacier bedrock, washing it out as well. This leads to the appearance of what are called meltwater plumes in the ocean near glaciers, areas of water with significantly different coloration due to high levels of sediment concentration.

So far, such plumes have not been observed around East Antarctica, Jamieson said.

Still, the lakes, and especially the apparent drainage events, raise a distinct worry about the future of Antarctica, which contains vastly more ice than Greenland and which, thus far, has not been losing nearly as much. The parallels between these mechanisms, and those observed on Greenland/the Antarctic Peninsula, suggest that lakes may similarly affect rates and patterns of ice melt, ice flow and ice shelf disintegration in East Antarctica, the study concludes.

Richard Alley, a glaciologist at Penn State who was not involved in the study, noted in an email comment that seeing some Antarctic surface melt is not too surprising. Across many sensors and studies, there is summertime melting on the surface of Antarctica around the edges, and sometimes in some places extending farther inland than you might think, he said.

However, Alley continued, we should be very concerned about such melting increasing. Alley referred to a study from earlier this year, by Rob DeConto of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and David Pollard of Penn State, which found that surface melt is one factor that could greatly speed total Antarctic ice loss, by increasing the tendency for hydrofracture to occur, in which meltwater helps to break apart ice shelves.

The lesson of DeConto and Pollard was that, based on current understanding, avoiding a major expansion of surface melting in Antarctica is taking out insurance against a very large and rapid sea-level rise, Alley said. This new work is part of the body of science needed to help us learn just how much warming may be too much if we wish to avoid large and rapid sea-level rise.

For now, scientists plan to use the instruments available  mainly, at the moment, satellites  to further study the Antarctic lakes.

Its not hitting the glacier really hard at the moment, this process, but of course, as things warm up, wed expect it to start doing more damage, like we see in Greenland, said Jamieson.

 Washington Post
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Simon Roberts is the maker behind award-winning Ridgeview wines. Based near the village of Ditchling in the South Downs, this small, family-run estate produces 169,000 bottles of the finest traditional method sparkling wine each year.

Founded in 1994 by Simons parents Mike and Chris, Ridgeview is the first English wine  and the first ever sparkler  to beat champagne in the Decanter World Wine Awards, taking the prize for best sparkling wine in 2010.

Our family wines are fresh and full-driven, harmonising the land of the South Downs and the climate to produce complex and sophisticated wines, enjoyed for every occasion from lazy summer afternoons to state banquets and everything in between, says Simon.

Winemaker Simon Roberts inside Ridgeview

One of the UKs leading winemakers, Simon is renowned for his skilled palate and his emphasis on natural production methods, preferring minimal intervention in the winery to allow the grapes to speak for themselves. Starting out in marine engineering, he soon discovered he most enjoyed the farming aspect, eventually progressing into wine production. He gained experience at the Brown Brothers winery in Victoria, Australia, returning to the family business in 1999, where, as production manager and director, his daily role takes him from bottling, blending and fermenting to analysing current wine trends.

Here, he chooses his top five drinks of the week:

Ridgeview Bloomsbury 2013

This is Ridgeviews signature wine that reflects our style and philosophy. Its perfect for celebrations as it showcases our unique English characteristics. This is a Chardonnay-dominant blend with a third Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. It has a fresh palate thats fruit-driven, with notes of bread straight from the oven. Bloomsbury is the first blend we make each year which reflects our house style: young, fresh and elegant. As a family, we were very proud when a previous vintage was served for the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Try it with smoked salmon canapes.

Some Young Punks, The Squids Fist, 2013

13.79, All About Wine. Buy it now

This is a really unique wine from exciting Australian wine makers. All their wines are distinctive, as is the artwork on their labels. The Squids Fist is a blend of Sangiovese and Shiraz which makes for quite a complex layered combination. The artwork is by graphic novel illustrator Asaf Hanuka, and his work reflects the wine perfectly  big, bold and full of character. This would be fantastic served alongside roasted duck breast and beetroot.

The Balvenie Doublewood 12-Year-Old Single Malt

37, Waitrose. Buy it now

An excellent handcrafted single malt whisky, full of complex flavours and textures. Balvenie Distillery always adheres to a high level of quality. Corners are not cut and this is reflected in the whisky. A smooth, sweet, almost fruitful drink which oozes of the consideration and time the master blenders have taken. An excellent example of a fine crafted whisky.

Brown Brothers Patricia Victoria Cabernet, 2006

22, The Wine Society. Buy it now

Brown Brothers is another great family winery and the Patricia range shows what excellent quality wines they make. As I have previously worked in the winery I know that no attention to detail is spared. The Patricia range only uses the best fruit that comes through the winery door; each range perfectly epitomises both the variety and the region of the fruit. The wine shows dark red berries and liquorice, making a complex and fascinating wine. This would be lovely with a summer barbie. I met my wife while working at Brown Brothers, which also makes this wine extra special.

Inniskillin Sparkling Vidal Icewine 2012

48.95, Drinks Direct. Buy it now

My favourite dessert wine. This is truly incredible and technically very interesting, while being something a bit different. The wine uses Vidal grapes frozen on the vine in Niagara, Canada, and is made in the traditional bottle-fermented method. It has excellent richness and a velvety texture like classic sweet icewine, with the acidity and freshness of a Chardonnay-dominant brut  a real juxtaposition of a wine. Serve with desserts such as creme brulee. We have special memories of drinking this with my father to celebrate his 60th birthday a few years ago.
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France and Germany are to pressure the EU to let them break one of the most central technologies of the internet.

The two countries plan to ask the European Commission to force technology companies to limit the encryption used to keep messages private.

The rule is being proposed as a way of helping governments monitor communications between suspected terrorists. The French Interior Ministry said that it would only use the powers to monitor people who were being investigated.

 How to opt out of new WhatsApp's terms of use

But privacy advocates have repeatedly said that it wouldnt be possible to weaken encryption only for those that are under investigation. Allowing authorities to read any specific message also stops all of them from being fully private, they have said. Making it possible to read any specific message also stops all of them from being fully private, they have said.

Whats more, activists say that such technology is central to keep all behaviour on the internet private. As well as being used in messaging apps, encryption ensures that banking transactions and other important and intimate information is kept private.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The push was announced by French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve. He said that he and his German counterparts would ask the European Commission to limit encryption across the continent, at an EU summit next month.

Exchanges carried out via applications like Telegram must be identified and used in the course of judicial proceedings, Mr Cazeneuve said.

We propose that the EU Commission studies the possibility of a legislative act introducing rights and obligations for operators to force them to remove illicit content or decrypt messages as part of investigations, whether or not they are based in Europe.

 All the personal information you give away each time you 'like' a Facebook page

Similar intentions have been announced by the UK government in the past. Those are still up for debate but were walked back at least slightly in the face of an angry reaction from campaigners and activists.
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Wind instrument players are being warned by doctors over possible lung damage after a bagpipe player is believed to have died from a reaction to mouldy pipes.

Doctors writing in the journal Thorax have said instruments should be cleaned regularly to avoid "bagpipe lung".

Dr Jenny King, a member of the team at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester that treated the piper, told the BBC that if caught early, similar problems could be treated with a good prognosis.

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The 61-year-old patient described in the journal practised every day and had been ill for a number of years.

Doctors realised the bagpipes might have been the cause of the problems when he travelled abroad for a few months without his instrument and his condition improved.

He is thought to have developed a bad reaction to mould and fungi that was found to have developed inside the moist interior of his bagpipes when they were checked in a lab.

Inhaling pathogens had caused inflammation and eventually led to irreversible scarring.

Dr King said: "Sadly, in his case, the damage was fatal.

"If you can diagnose these problems early and remove the trigger then they can be treated and the prognosis is really good."

Musicians are urged to clean their instruments regularly and consider whether a cough or any breathlessness could be linked to their practice.

PA
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The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group is expected to apologise on Wednesday after allegations about his private life led to doubts about his commitment to the high street bank.

Antonio Horta-Osorio will reportedly release a memo to the banks employees voicing deep regret over any damage to the bank's reputation, following claims the CEO had an extra-marital affair, according to Sky News.

Mr Horta-Osorio has remained silent amid claims he had a relationship with Wendy Piatt, the Director General of the Russell Group of universities, which surfaced a fortnight ago.

The memo will allegedly confirm his resolve to direct Lloyds through uncertainty in the British banking sector following the vote to leave the European Union, as well as his commitment to deliver an efficiency drive announced in 2014, which is aimed at bolstering the bank's recovery from a taxpayer bailout in 2008.

The memo is likely to reassure Lloyds shareholders that Mr Horta-Osorio is not thinking about stepping down after the claims about his private life prompted many to speculate he may resign.

Last month, Lloyds announced it would be cutting 3,000 jobs and closing 200 branches despite doubling its pre-tax profits.

A statement from the group announced it had enjoyed a 2.5bn profit in the six months to the end of June, compared to 1.2bn in the previous half year.

 "Lloyds deserves massive fine"

The total number of jobs cut since the announcement of broader cost cuts in October 2014 will stand at 12,000 by the end of next year.

The latest 200 branch closures come on top of another 200 already earmarked for closure at Lloyds.

The decision was part of plan to pare about 9,000 roles by 2017, the London-based bank said in a statement at the time. The losses were in divisions such as consumer operations, risk management and finance.

The government still owns a 9.2 per cent of the lender after spending 20.5 billion ($29 billion) rescuing it during the financial crisis.

Lloyds have declined to comment on the reports.
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Tourists spending has increased significantly following UKs vote to leave the EU as visitors made the most of the post-Brexit slump in sterling.

International tax-free shopping spending rose 7 per cent overall in July, compared to the same month last year, according to retail tourism analyst Global Blue.

Visitors from Japan, Indonesia and the US accounted for the biggest increase with spending by Japanese visitors up 96 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.

Recommended Read more Airports exchanging less than one Euro for each Pound Sterling

Travellers from Indonesia spent 88 per cent more than last year on tax- free shopping, followed by US shoppers with an increase of 46 per cent compared to 2015.

Though the weaker pound following the referendum was initially unwelcome news, it has proved perfect timing for tourists visiting the UK; enjoying our British leisure, luxury and cultural offering during the summer season, Gordon Clark, Global Blue managing director UK, said.

The figures follow previous reports that Britains tourism industry could benefit from the Brexit vote in the short term.

Economists from the Office of National Statistics, last week, said that there were signs the steep fall in sterling since the June referendum might have attracted overseas shoppers to the UK.

There is anecdotal evidence from respondents suggesting the weaker pound has encouraged overseas visitors to spend. Department stores and specialists retailers like jewellers are among those reporting a good month, Joe Grice, the chief, economic adviser to the ONS, said.

Swiss watch exports to the UK were more than 13 per cent higher in the month after the country voted to leave the EU than a year earlier, the Swiss watch industry federation reported on Tuesday.

Previous research from Tourism Alliance suggested there were 18 per cent more foreign visitors and 11 per cent more British tourists in London in July compared with the same month in 2015.

Airbnb, an online accommodation website, saw a 24 per cent uplift in London visits in July compared to June.

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Show all 6 1 /6 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you More expensive foreign holidays The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more nito100 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you No immediate change in immigration status The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Higher inflation A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation  a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods  food and clothes being the most obvious  but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Interest rates might rise The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Did somebody say recession? Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economys future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018 AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you And we wouldnt even get our money back All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget Getty Images

Sterling has fallen 18 per cent on a trade-weighted basis since last November.

Last week certain London airport bureaux de changes were retuning less than 1 for each pound offered.
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Britons and other foreign tourists have stayed away from Paris as terrorist attacks, strikes and floods cost the Paris region tourism industry some 750m (644m), officials said on Tuesday.

France is the most visited country in the world with 85 million tourists spending time there last year. The country relies heavily on its tourism industry and generates more than 7 per cent of its gross domestic product from tourism, and over 13 per cent of that total in the Paris region alone.

But the number of tourists visiting the region has gone down markedly since 130 people were killed in Paris in November.

The sector suffered another blow when a gunman drove a truck into crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, in July, killing 85 people.

Strikes and floods have also taken their toll.

Frederic Valletoux, the head of the Paris region tourist board, said the decline in tourists has cost the region millions of euros as he called for a relief plan.

"Its time to realise that the tourism sector is going through an industrial disaster," Valletoux said.

"This is no longer the time for communication campaigns but to set up a relief plan," he added.

Valletoux called for major investments to protect the tourism sector, which employs about 500,000 people in the region.

He urged Jean-Marc Ayrault to meet with local tourism officials to debate an emergency plan.

Nightly hotel stays were down 8.5 per cent in the Ile-de-France region in the first half of 2016, with an 11.5 per cent decline in foreign tourists and a 4.8 per cent decline in French tourist, according to the tourist board figures.

World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Show all 30 1 /30 World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris National Portrait Gallery, London, UK World's monuments show solidarity with Paris London Eye, UK World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Sydney Opera House, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The HSBC building, Hong Kong, China World's monuments show solidarity with Paris California State University, Long Beach, USA World's monuments show solidarity with Paris US Embassy, Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Swiss Parliament, Bern, Switzerland World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Chhatrapati Shivaji train station building, Mumbai, India World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Eiffel Tower, Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Wembley Stadium, London World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The fortress 'Tsarevets', Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The SSE Hydro arena, Glasgow, Scotland World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Story Bridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Perth Council house, Perth, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Plaza Francia (France's Square), Caracas, Venezuela World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Penshaw Monument, Sunderland, UK World's monuments show solidarity with Paris St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Chile's presidential palace La Moneda, Santiago, Chile World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris World's monuments show solidarity with Paris De La Salle university, Manila, Philippines World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Greenland Centre, Jinan city, China World's monuments show solidarity with Paris Calagary Tower, Alberta, Canada World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Senate building, Mexico City Reuters/Tomas Bravo World's monuments show solidarity with Paris One World Trade Centre, New York, USA World's monuments show solidarity with Paris The Angel de la Independencia monument, Mexico City

Japanese visitors were down 46.2 per cent in the first half compared with the same period in 2015, followed by Russians down 35 per cent and Chinese down 19.6 per cent, the Paris region tourist board statement said.

Meanwhile, British holidaymakers picked safer destinations such Spain and Greece over France and other terrorism-struck countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia.

Spain was a favourite with more than 2 million UK tourists visiting Spain in June, up 17,5 per cent on 2015.

In January a survey by Travelzoo, a travel deals site, found that 30 per cent of UK rate the general safety and security of a destination as the most important factor when deciding where to go on holiday.

Additonal reporting by Reuters
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Aretha Franklin has cancelled a number of forthcoming concerts after her doctors advised her to rest up.

The 74-year-old music legend and 18-time Grammy winner announced she would be cancelling five shows.

Due to doctors' orders I will have to cancel a few concerts for the next month or so, Franklin said in a statement sent to Associated Press.

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.

She will no longer be performing at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts on 26 August near Vienna, Virginia and is cancelling two performances at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. She will also not be attending "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 on 15 September and a solo performance on 23 September.

Franklin said she expects to be performing again in November.

This is the first time Franklin has called off a performance for health reasons since August 2015, when she cancelled a Las Vegas show because of exhaustion.
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Great British Bake Off viewers will probably remember Ian Cumming from last year's series, the runner-up behind baking champion Nadiya Hussain.

Before GBBO, Cumming was a travel photographer and the official photographer for the Dalai Lama when he visited the UK.

But while the job may sound glamorous, he has described a rather gruesome moment from his photography days which contrasts vastly with the idyllic, pleasant setting of the bunting-laden, pastel-coloured bake-off tent in the grassy settings of the home counties.

Cumming was bitten by mosquitos multiple times while working in Belize over 20 years ago. He told the Mirror his bites soon became infected with a particularly rare parasite and the baker could see them moving underneath his skin.

Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Show all 12 1 /12 Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Rav The 28-year-old could be a comforting presence in the Bake Off tent. With his job supporting students at City University London and his experience of volunteering for charities such as Victim Support, Rav may be the first one to lend a hand to a fellow contestant in need of a shoulder to cry on. Rav lives in Kent with his parents and enjoys using unusual ingredients, taking inspiration from far eastern cuisine and vegan baking. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Benjamina The 23-year-old teaching assistant, who lives in south London, recently gained a first in economics and is known as a straight-A student. She could be her own strongest critic as she is not happy when things do not turn out right. Her other critic is her twin sister, who gives her feedback on her creations. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Val Like Jane, former primary school headteacher Val has a long history of baking. The 66-year-old took over the family baking aged 15 and says she can make the classics with her eyes closed. Now semi-retired, she works two days a week so will find plenty of time to practice her bakes. Originally from Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, but now living near Yeovil, Somerset, she could bring a more unusual touch to the Bake Off tent as she likes to do aerobics in her kitchen while waiting for her jams to boil. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Kate The farmer's daughter from Norfolk could gain an edge by bringing in seasonal fruits and produce gathered from her parents' farm. The 37-year-old mother-of-two has said she thrives on nurturing others and working as a nurse, so she could be a comforting figure in the tent. Sugar craft is her particular strength. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Andrew Originally from Northern Ireland, Andrew lives with friends in Derby and works as an aerospace engineer for Rolls-Royce, designing jet engines. His scientific background could lead to some very precise and beautiful bakes, with creations including a baguette Concorde. The 25-year-old will likely make use of the secret recipes passed down by his mother and grandmother. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Lee The oldest contestant in this year's competition, 67-year-old Lee has gone through many changes in his life - starting his career as a builder before changing direction in the 1980s and studying theology. He has worked as a pastor for the past 30 years and lives in Bolton, and will have the support of his two children and four grandchildren. He first caught the baking bug in 1984 while recovering from a back injury picked up playing cricket. He enjoys traditional flavours such as hazelnut, vanilla and chocolate. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Louise The 46-year-old's piping and icing skills are sure to be spot-on as she loves to decorate her cakes with elaborate designs. Originally from Merthyr Tydfil, she now works as a hairdresser in Cardiff and has developed her love of baking over the last 10 years. She is sure to have the stamina for long days in the tent as she loves mountain walks and has completed a four-day trek in the Andes. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Michael Bake Off viewers are sure to see the influence of Michael's Cypriot heritage in his baking, as he loves to make Greek pastries with his grandmother. The 20-year-old, from London, is studying politics and economics in Durham, where he handles sharing a kitchen with four friends by baking late at night or in the early hours. He may shine in the Showstopper round as he enjoys making "big grand cakes" and combining unusual flavours. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Selasi Long hours working as a client service associate in a financial institution may leave Selasi with little time to practice, but the 30-year-old has impressed his colleagues with the cupcakes he makes for charity bake sales. Originally from Ghana, he moved to the UK 15 years ago and now lives in London. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Jane With a grandfather who owned a bakery and a father who loved to cook, 61-year-old Jane will draw on a long family history of creating breads and cakes. The garden designer, from Beckenham, south-east London, likes to start early, getting her bread in the oven at 5am most mornings. Expect a strong showing in the technical challenges as she knows her classic cakes, biscuits and pastries. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Tom The 26-year-old grew up in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, but now works in London as a project engagement manager for The Royal Society of Arts. Having lost 30kg, he enjoys his bakes but believes in eating them in moderation. Tom makes his own cheese and salami from scratch, so judge Mary Berry is unlikely to scold him for cutting corners. PA Who is in the Great British Bake Off 2016 tent? Candice The 31-year-old was inspired to bake by her grandmother and hopes to follow in her footsteps - aiming to be "even half the lady she was". She grew up in the pubs her parents ran and now lives in Bedfordshire, working in pastoral care and PE teaching at a secondary school. PA

Some of the mosquitos which bit him were infected with botfly, a parasite native to parts of central and south America. If a mosquito is infected by a botfly, its eggs can land on the skin when the mosquito does. When the egg hatches to larvae it can burrow in the human skin and live there.

Cumming said he could see numerous larvae wriggling around under [his] skin. After managing to squeeze some of them out in Beliz, on his return to the UK he had to seek treatment in hospital to have the rest cut out.

"I tried putting an antibiotic ointment on to the five or so infected bites on my left leg, but it didnt make much difference. It was supposed to block the air holes of the larvae, which I could see wriggling around under the skin. It was a very weird feeling."

I know we often have parasites living on us but it was nothing compared to seeing something moving under my own skin."

Since his time on the show, Cumming has continued both his baking and photography. He has worked with food brands developing recipes and travelled to Iceland for a shoot and, as of yet, has no horror stories to tell.
My Martin forebears had arrived in south Walker County by 1836, waiting for removal of the Native Americans from the area. That finally happened, and Great Granddad, Enos Martin, witnessed the event. He was still a teenager at the time, and lived near the Broomtown Road  shown as the first "Brainerd's Road" to appear on any local map). It was called that because it led directly to the widely-known Brainerd Mission to the Cherokee Nation near where I presently live in Chattanooga. I have written about that already. Great Grandfather Enos reportedly heard the Indian Agent say, "Get on your horse, Chenowee", thus starting the Cherokee Removal from the stockade at Center Post, Ga. (Mary Martin Gilmer of Rock Spring, Ga., heard that story directly from her grandfather, Enos).

Enos's son, George Leander Martin, was among the first white children to actually be born in Walker County. He married Emma Alice Harper, daughter of Elijah Harper, a farmer and breeder of fine horses, who settled on what is now known as York Road near his father, Enos. It was close to what would later become the "Harrisburg, Ga." station of the TAG Railway. That was barely inside Chattooga County, adjacent to Walker County.

A large family was eventually born to my grandparents, and they lived happily, engaged in farming. They were involved in building the Macedonia Methodist Church, and in the local school - at Lookout Hall - where my grandmother was a teacher. However, in about 1890 a new railroad was put through from Chattanooga to Gadsden, Ala. It cut across one corner of Enos Martin's farm - and was a huge event for the entire community. The railroad employed local farmers when they had "down time" in the winter months, so my grandfather, George, was able to make himself a bit of pocket change by working on that railroad. A whistle-stop railway station was designated for Harrisburg. Our Harrisburg was named for the one in Pennsylvany, according to my dad  who was there when the naming was done.

When my dad was six years old the new railroad was nearing completion. He and his older brother, Gus, (Augustus McCameron) had heard about trial runs that were being made, and they begged their dad to take them to see, and test for themselves. As a result, they got the scariest ride of their entire lives when they boarded the small, open-air "dummy" engine with accompanying flatbed car. It started to roll at a good clip, when suddenly some improperly secured rails began to separate, throwing the wheels directly onto the crossties. This set up such a horrendous vibration that my grandfather was thrown off, leaving his two sons in grave danger of falling underneath the steel wheels, between flatbed car and engine. Luck was with them, as the engine stopped just in time to save them from that fate. No one was seriously injured.

And at about the same year, from nowhere, a Native American man appeared at my grandparents door, seeking a few day's lodging. Country people of the time were accustomed to such requests, and no one was seen as a total stranger - so the Native American was welcomed in to stay. If he had a name, or point of origin, both were long-since forgotten by the time I heard the story. All my dad remembered were two things: the man's mysterious actions, and how he was ary handed , (meaning either handed), as he could use either hand to perform any small task. (He would demonstrate this ability by writing, or by whittling a piece of wood, alternately using both hands). And by mysterious actions I mean he would stand for a long while gazing off at some distant object, then "take off" at a rapid clip in its direction. He never told anyone what he might be looking for, or why. I am certain there must have been speculation as to what he was doing there. Had he been sent back by his grandparents in Oklahoma to scout out "sacred sites" from past ages, or was he looking for something more tangible, like lost Cherokee treasure? No one knew, and no one ever found out. Could there be some connection with the Dahlonega, Ga., gold rush of the earlier 1800's? It is a fact that within the last 20 years (since about 1996) an actual Cherokee "sacred site" has been discovered in that area near where my grandparents lived - and has been duly studied and recorded by archeologists. (It is on private property and I am sworn to secrecy about it!)

But there is a parallel story to my dad's - of the mysterious Native American - a story my dad knew nothing about - and which I have only recently discovered on the Internet. This second story relates how a similar Native American appeared out of nowhere to watch the progress on the new railroad going through the area about 1890. He would stand on a high pinnacle of Pigeon Mountain and observe, silently, what was taking place. When construction was done and the trains were running, our Native American friend simply disappeared. Could the mysterious men of both those stories really have been one and the same? We may possibly never know for sure...

The Chattanooga Southern Railway began operations in 1891, according to John Wilson's new book on railroads, and that date would fit with all I have written above, and would co-ordinate precisely with my fathers age at the time. That railroad eventually became the Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (The TAG) Railroad, with its Chattanooga office located across MLK Boulevard from the Read House.

(Chester Martin is a native Chattanoogan who is a talented painter as well as local historian. He and his wife, Pat, live in Brainerd. Mr. Martin can be reached at cymppm@comcast.net )
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Hillary Clinton has dismissed claims she is suffering from poor health, during an appearance on US chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

The Democratic presidential nominee jokingly asked Kimmel to check her pulse, while the host responded by insisting she demonstrate her vitality by opening a jar of pickles.

Since securing the Democratic Party nomination, Ms Clintons opponents have sought to raise questions about her health.

Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Show all 15 1 /15 Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Darren McCollester/Getty Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Mary Schwalm/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Darren McCollester/Getty Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP

CNN dubbed those worried about Ms Clintons condition healthers, an allusion to the birthers who doubt US President Barack Obama was born in the USA.

Conservative blogs in the US have spread rumours suggesting she is physically unfit to be President, while Fox News has run a number of segments suggesting she may suffer from seizures.

FactCheck.org has also pointed out a number of false medical records purporting to show Ms Clinton suffers from seizures and dementia have been circulated on Twitter.

Despite being two years older, Republican nominee Donald Trump has also implied his opponent suffers from poor health.

In a recent speech, he stated: she lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on Isis and all of the many adversaries we face, not only in terrorism, but in trade, and every other challenge we must confront to turn our great country around."

Most recently, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani encouraged voters to "go online and put down 'Hillary Clinton illness'. Take a look at the videos for yourself".

In response, the Clinton campaign team criticised Mr Trump for promoting deranged conspiracy theories, while Dr Bardack, Ms Clintons personal physician, emphasised: Secretary Clinton is in excellent health and fit to serve as president of the United States.

On her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ms Clinton joked: Back in October, The National Enquirer said I would be dead in six months, so with every breath I take I feel like I have a new lease on life.
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Sir Antony Jay, the broadcaster and writer who contributed to comedy hits such as Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, has died at the age of 86.

The writer and producer died peacefully on Sunday evening surrounded by his wife and family.

Along with co-author Jonathon Lynn he is best known for writing the BBC political comedies starring Paul Eddington, Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds.

He began his career in the BBCs current affairs department and was a founding member of the Tonight team, later becoming editor of the programme in 1982.

Notable deaths in 2016 Show all 42 1 /42 Notable deaths in 2016 Notable deaths in 2016 Debbie Reynolds was an American actress, singer, businesswoman, film historian, and humanitarian. She died on December 28 in Los Angeles Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Actress Carrie Fisher died on December 27 aged 60 Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Comedian and Actor Ricky Harris died on December 26 aged 54 Rex Notable deaths in 2016 British singer George Michael died on 25 December aged 53 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Rick Parfitt OBE was an English musician, best known for being a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist in the rock band Status Quo. He died on December 24 in Marbella, Spain Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Lord Jenkin of Roding died at the age of 90 on the 21 December PA wire Notable deaths in 2016 Rabbi Lionel Blue died on the 19 December Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Zsa Zsa Gabor died on December 18 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Leonard Cohen died on 7 November Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Grand secretary of the Orange Order Drew Nelson died on 10 October aged 60 after a short illness PA Notable deaths in 2016 Aaron Pryor, the relentless junior welterweight died Sunday, Oct. 9, at the age of 60 at his home in Cincinnati after a long battle with heart disease AP Notable deaths in 2016 Polish Director Andrzej Wajda died on October 9, aged 90 Reuters Notable deaths in 2016 Stylianos Pattakos has died following a stroke on 8th October. He was 103 years old. AP Notable deaths in 2016 Dickie Jeeps, was an English rugby union player who played for Northampton. He represented and captained both the England national rugby union team and the British Lions in the 1950s and 1960s. He died on 8th October. He was 84 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Duke of Westminster Billionaire landowner the Duke of Westminster, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor has died on 9 August, aged 64 Rex Features Notable deaths in 2016 Christina Knudsen Sir Roger Moores stepdaughter Christina Knudsen has died from cancer on 25 July at teh age of 47 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Caroline Aherne The actress Caroline Aherne has died from cancer on 2 July at the age of 52 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Christina Grimmie Christina Grimmie, 22, who was an American singer and songwriter, known for her participation in the NBC singing competition The Voice, was signing autographs at a concert venue in Orlando on 10 June when an assailant shot her. Grimmie was transported to a local hospital where she died from her wounds on 11 June Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Kimbo Slice Former UFC and Bellator MMA fighter Kimbo Slice died after being admitted to hospital in Florida on 6 June, aged 42 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Muhammad Ali The three-time former heavyweight world champion died after being admitted to hospital with a respiratory illness on 3 June, aged 74 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Sally Brampton Brampton who was the launch editor of the UK edition of Elle magazine has died on 10 May, aged 60 Grant Triplow/REX/Shutterstock Notable deaths in 2016 Billy Paul The soul singer Billy Paul, who was best known for his single Me and Mrs Jones, has died on 24 April, aged 81 Noel Vasquez/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Prince Prince, the legendary musician, has been found dead at his Paisley Park recording studio on 21 April. He was 57 Notable deaths in 2016 Chyna WWE icon Joan Laurer dies aged 45 after being found at California home on 20 April Notable deaths in 2016 Victoria Wood The five-time Bafta-winning actress and comedian Victoria Wood has died on 20 April at her London home after a short illness with cancer. She was 62 Notable deaths in 2016 David Gest The entertainer and former husband of Liza Minnelli, David Gest has been found dead on 12 April in the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Warf, London. He was 62-years-old PA Notable deaths in 2016 Denise Robertson Denise Robertson, an agony aunt on This Morning for over 30 years, has died on 1 April, aged 83 Notable deaths in 2016 Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Hadid, the prominent architect best known for designs such as the London Olympic Aquatic Centre and the Guangzhou Opera House, has died of a heart attack on 31 March, aged 65 2010 AFP Notable deaths in 2016 Ronnie Corbett British entertainer Ronnie Corbett has passed away on 31 March at the age of 85 2014 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Imre Kertesz Hungarian writer and Holocaust survivor Imre Kertesz, who won the 2002 Nobel Literature Prize, has died on 31 March, at the age of 86 REUTERS Notable deaths in 2016 Rob Ford Rob Ford, the former controversial mayor of Toronto, has died following a battle with a rare form of cancer. The 46-year-old passed away at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on 22 March Notable deaths in 2016 Joey Feek Joey (left) passed away in March after a two-year cancer illness. She was part of country music duo, Joey + Rory, with her husband Rory (right) Jason Merritt/Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Umberto Eco Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco died 19 February 2016 aged 84 EPA Notable deaths in 2016 Harper Lee Harper Lee, the American novelist known for writing 'To Kill a Mockingbird', died February 19, 2016 aged 89 2005 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Vanity Vanity, pictured performing in 1983, died aged 57 REX Features Notable deaths in 2016 Dave Mirra The BMX legend's body found inside truck with gunshot wound after apparent suicide aged 41 Notable deaths in 2016 Harry Harpham The former miner became Sheffield Labour MP in May after many years as a local councillor. He died after succumbing to cancer, at the age of 61. Notable deaths in 2016 Dale Griffin The Mott the Hoople drummer died on January 17, aged 67 REX Notable deaths in 2016 Rene Angelil Celine Dion's husband and manager Rene Angelil has lost his battle with cancer on 14 January, aged 73 2011 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Alan Rickman Legendary actor Alan Rickman has died on 14 January at the age of 69 after battle with pancreatic cancer. He is largely regarded as one of the most beloved British actors of our generation with roles in Love Actually, Die Hard, Michael Collins, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and an illustrious stage career 2015 Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Maurice White The Earth, Wind & Fire founder died aged 74. The nine-piece band sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and won six Grammy awards Notable deaths in 2016 Lawrence Phillips Former NFL star found dead in prison cell on 13 January in suspected suicide, aged 40 AFP/Getty Images

Sir Antony was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) for personal services to the Royal Family after scripting the documentaries Royal Family and Elizabeth R: A Year In The Life Of A Queen.

In 1988 he was created a Knight Bachelor.

Sir Antony also authored several management books and founded Video Arts, a management and sales training film company, alongside John Cleese and two other colleagues in 1972.

In his later years, Sir Antony became an outspoken critic of the BBC, recommending that the public broadcaster be slimmed down in a report commissioned by the centre-right think tank the Centre for Political Studies in 2008.

Earlier this month he had reunited with Lynn to create a new Yes Minister sketch inspired by Brexit for the Guardian.

Additional reporting by Press Association
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Scott Eastwood has spoken for the first time of the death of a girl he was dating in a car accident.

The Suicide Squad actor and son of director Clint Eastwood told GQ Magazine the last time he cried was after the death of the woman, who he did not name, a few years before.

I dated a girl a couple of years ago who died in a car accident, he told the magazine. The f**ked-up thing is, it was a fender bender, and there was a recall on airbags. Her airbag exploded. It shot a projectile through her body. It split her spine. Ive never told anybody that.

Suicide Squad character posters Show all 38 1 /38 Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters Suicide Squad character posters

Eastwood, 30, said her sudden death has made dating women more difficult. He never contacted the girls father after her death because he had never found the right words to say to him.

Ive lost friends before; Ive lost some great friends, he added. But, I had never lost someone I had been really intimate with.
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A teacher is under investigation by her primary school after video footage has emerged of her insulting a cocktail bar bouncer who refused her entry.

Emily Higgins, who teaches at St Gregory's Catholic Primary School in Bearwood, was caught on camera during the confrontation outside Birmingham's Geisha cocktail bar.

The video shows her repeatedly calling the bouncer a "t**t" and other expletives, before shouting: "My dad owns your a**".

She stated her father was already inside the bar and would make sure she could gain entry.

After Ms Higgins' appeals for her father's help came to no avail, she repeatedly tried for barge her way into the bar until her friend was able to convince her to walk away.

The video went quickly viral on social media after a witness Barrington Patterson posted the footage on Facebook, praising the door staff for their handling of the situation.

Ms Higgins was soon identified by parents of St Gregory's pupils, who called for an investigation.

A parent, who wanted to stay anonymous, told the Birmingham Mail: "I was completely shocked when I saw the video and recognised her immediately.

I know that parents in our community have been shocked and disgusted by her behaviour.

Although she was on a private night out, her behaviour was abhorrent and against our values as of our church and our community."

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA

Mrs Krystyna Bickley, the school's headteacher, confirmed she was aware of the video and investigating the incident.

The Independent was unable to reach Ms Higgins for a comment.
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Two Isis supporters murdered an imam because they viewed his practice of Islamic healing as "black magic", a jury has heard.

Jalal Uddin, 71, suffered multiple injuries to his head and face in an attack, thought to have involved a hammer, in a children's play area in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on the evening of February 18 this year.

The Crown say the Bangladeshi national was targeted after he left the mosque where he usually prayed, ate a meal at a friend's house and then walked home.

Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, 22, and Mohammed Abdul Kadir, 24, were said to have developed "a hatred" of Mr Uddin when they discovered last year that he practised Ruqya healing - which involves the use of amulets.

It is alleged the pair went on to mount surveillance of Mr Uddin, described as "quiet, dignified and well-respected", before events reached a deadly climax.

Opening the case at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Paul Greaney QC said: "Who hated a decent man like Jalal Uddin with such virulence? The answer to that important question is to be found in the twisted ideology of Isis, sometimes known as Islamic State.

"Jalal Uddin was a practitioner of a form of Islamic healing called Ruqya.

"Isis regards this practice as black magic and adheres to the view that those who engage in it deserve severe punishment, even death.

"Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, the defendant, and an associate of his named Mohammed Abdul Kadir were supporters of Isis and so they subscribed to the view that those who practised Ruqya deserved such punishment."

Mr Greaney said Syeedy will claim he does not support Isis or violent extremism of any kind.

He told jurors: "Your task will be to determine whether that defence may be true. Our submission is that once you have heard all of the evidence, you will be sure that it is not true."

He said it was the Crown's case that Syeedy drove Kadir to the gates of the park, knowing full well that Kadir intended to attack Mr Uddin so as to kill him or at least cause him really serious harm.

He said the pair had "stalked" Mr Uddin around the streets of Rochdale on February 18 before Kadir left Syeedy's car and ran towards Mr Uddin as he entered the park on the final leg of his journey home.

Kadir was said to have landed "repeated forceful blows", including to his mouth and teeth, which left the victim with a depressed skull fracture. He then dashed to the exit on the other side of the park where he was picked up by Syeedy and spirited away, the court heard.

Two young girls discovered the unconscious Mr Uddin at about 8.45pm and the alarm was raised. He was rushed to hospital where he died a short time later - as a result of a killing "of hatred and intolerance", said Mr Greaney.

Syeedy, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale, denies the murder of Mr Uddin with another (Kadir).

Kadir fled abroad in the days that followed the murder, the jury was told.

PA
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A highly decorated king penguin has been given a promotion in a special ceremony at Edinburgh Zoo.

Resident king penguin Sir Nils Olav is an honorary member of the King of Norway's Guard and gets to inspect the soldiers when they visit the Scottish capital.

Already a knight, the famous penguin has now been given the new title of Brigadier Sir Nils Olav.

The honour was bestowed upon the animal during a ceremony attended by more than 50 Norwegian soldiers from the unit.

The troops are taking part in this year's Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Barbara Smith, acting chief executive for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said: We are honoured to host His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard as they bestow a prestigious new title upon our king penguin, Sir Nils Olav.

It is a very proud moment and represents the close collaboration between our two countries, Scotland and Norway.

During the ceremony, Sir Nils paraded along the zoo's penguin walk, while inspecting the soldiers of the guard.

Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour Show all 8 1 /8 Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46379.bin Alan R Thomson/RZSS Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46381.bin Alan R Thomson/RZSS Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46384.bin Alan R Thomson/RZSS Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46386.bin Alan R Thomson/RZSS Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46421.bin David Moir/Reuters Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46390.bin David Moir/Reuters Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46391.bin David Moir/Reuters Penguin p-p-p-picks up new army honour 46392.bin David Moir/Reuters

Brigadier David Allfrey, producer and chief executive of the tattoo, added: This is just a simply fantastic example of the great relations between our two countries and it couldn't be a more charming tradition.

At the tattoo we, of course, have many inspecting officers but this is by far my favourite. Congratulations, Brigadier Olav.

The current penguin is the third to hold the name Nils Olav and carry on the links with the Norwegian soldiers.

The tradition dates back to 1972 when a king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo was named after two people - Major Nils Egelien, who organised his adoption by the zoo that year, and the then-King of Norway, King Olav.

After his adoption, the bird was given the role of mascot of the Norwegian Guard.

Since then, the original penguin and his two successors have moved up the ranks.

In 2005, the current Nils Olav became Colonel-in-Chief of the unit, before being knighted three years later - an honour approved by King Harald V of Norway.

But Edinburgh Zoo's history with penguins and Norway goes back much further than the 1970s.

In 1914, the Norwegian family of Christian Salvesen presented the Zoo with its first king penguins. Five years later, it had the first successful hatching of a king penguin chick.
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Angela Merkel has called for the EU to sign Turkey-style "one in, one out" deals with North African states in a bid to avert a growing summer immigration crisis.

The German Chancellor signalled that the deal with Turkey, which saw billions of euros pledged to the country, could form a blueprint for others.

Her call came following a meeting with leaders of France and Italy and after a UN warning that the immigration crisis in which thousands have drowned in the Mediterranean, is once again about to explode.

The UN special representative for international migration reported that 95,000 people had already made the perilous journey across the sea from Africa to Italy this year, with numbers set to soar in September and October.

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, Ankara agreed to take back one Syrian who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send one from its extensive refugee camps to the bloc, in a more orderly redistribution programme.

The deal also pledges billions of euros in EU aid for Turkey, visa-free European travel for Turkish citizens and accelerated EU membership talks.

While the agreement has come under intense pressure since last months bungled military coup in Turkey, Ms Merkel backed the concept as a way forward elsewhere.

She told regional daily Neue Passauer Zeitung: "We must agree on similar deals with other countries, such as in North Africa, in order to get better control over the Mediterranean sea refugee routes.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

"Such agreements are also in the interest of the refugees themselves. Citing the existing deal she went on: "It is safer for them and there are good reasons for them to remain in Turkey, close to their homeland, where the cultural and language barriers are lower.

The German Chancellor said the Turkey deal is still "correct and that the EU should work to ensure that it lasts".

She also urged EU partners to step up to their responsibilities in taking refugees who had arrived in Greece

Earlier today UN special representative Peter Sutherland warned that numbers coming from Libya to Italy are expected to rise as high as 170,000, despite 3,100 having drowned trying to make the trip in 2016. There are already 140,000 migrants, mainly from Libya, living in camps in southern Italy, putting a huge strain on the country.

Asked whether he thought Brexit had partly been caused by voters seeing pictures of the immigration crisis, Mr Sutherland said: It certainly was. Immigration was and is a huge issue, theres no question about that. But that doesnt alter the fact that  Europe is the solution, not the problem.

The only way that we can deal with the migration problem is by having a European policy. If every country simply cowers behind borders and agrees not to cooperate as a result of a response to nationalism then Europe really will be in a mess.
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The United Nations has warned that Europe is on the brink of another immigration crisis and told countries facing it they must not cower behind borders in the wake of the UKs Brexit vote.

Peter Sutherland, the UN special representative for international migration reported that 95,000 people had already made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy this year.

With the summer high season beginning the numbers are expected to rise as high as 170,000, despite thousands already having drowned trying to make the trip.

Desperate Journeys: 4,027 refugees drown so far this year

There are already 140,000 migrants, mainly from Libya, who are living in camps in Southern Italy, putting a huge strain on the country.

Mr Sutherland said the Italians were working hard, having saved 70,000 people from Mediterranean waters, and were taking in huge numbers.

In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing for food at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees' tents at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Oxy transit camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos The graves of drowned refugees in Mytilene, Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos A building used to house unaccompanied children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing to register at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees arriving on smugglers' boats from Turkey in Lesbos

Asked whether he thought Brexit had partly been caused by voters seeing pictures of the immigration crisis, he said: It certainly was. Immigration was and is a huge issue, theres no question about that. But that doesnt alter the fact thatEurope is the solution, not the problem.

The only way that we can deal with the migration problem is by having a European policy. If every country simply cowers behind borders and agrees not to cooperate as a result of a response to nationalism then Europe really will be in a mess.

He also said that arrangements made with Turkey to stem the overall crisis had done nothing to stop people coming from Libya, with migrant boats mainly carrying people from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Overall more than 264,000 people have risked their lives to reach Europe by sea so far in 2016, with more than 3,100 having drowned.

Mr Sutherland then defended comments made by EU president Jean-Claude Juncker after he was attacked over a speech in which he said borders are the worst invention ever made.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Sutherland said: Thats taking a momentary comment out of context, this is a very complicated issue. For this to become part of a histrionic response to the Brexit debate is ludicrous.

The reality that he was trying to make clear is that one of the great achievements of Europe was the destruction of borders  destruction of the border between Europe and Eastern Europe when Communism collapsed and the development of a Europe without borders. Its been crucially important.

For people to deny that, which is the evidence of much of the Brexit debate, is absurd.

Downing Street said yesterday Mr Juncker's views on borders were not something that the Prime Minister would agree with.
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The Government has dismissed concerns that it is in denial and disarray over its continued sales of arms to Saudi Arabia.

The autocratic petro-state is currently engaged in a bombing campaign in Yemen where it has blown up hospitals, schools, and weddings as part of its intervention against Houthi rebels.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UNs high commissioner for human rights, has said that carnage caused by certain Saudi coalition airstrikes against civilian targets appear to be war crimes.

Recommended Read more UK quietly admits it was wrong to say Saudi is not targeting civilians

The European Parliament and the House of Commons International Development Committee are among bodies that have called on the Government to stop fuelling the attacks.

British arms sales to the country, which ministers must actively sign off on, have surged since the start of the campaign. The Independent reported last month that the UK had agreed 3.3bn in arms exports in the first year of the bombardment.

Now a major UK aid charity has launched a public appeal to the Government to stop any further sales.

Penny Lawrence, deputy chief executive of Oxfam GB, said the UK was flagrantly ignoring its own arms control rule as well as international treaties.

UK arms and military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect, she said.

Theresa May has so far been quiet on the issue of Saudi Arabia (PA)

Schools, hospitals and homes have been bombed in contravention of the rules of war. The UK Government is in denial and disarray over its arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen.

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

"It has misled its own parliament about its oversight of arms sales and its international credibility is in jeopardy as it commits to action on paper but does the opposite in reality. How can the Government insist that others abide by a treaty it helped set up if it flagrantly ignores it?

The Government however rejected the claims. A spokesperson said it was satisfied that Saudi Arabia was not breaking licensing conditions  and by implication that the country was not breaking humanitarian law by bombing civilian targets.

The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world, she said.

The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK's export licensing criteria.

The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of IHL. The situation is kept under careful and continual review."

The Governments confidence in the Saudi Arabian government to uphold humanitarian law was not mirrored by recent statements issued by ministers before the summer break.

In late June the Foreign Office quietly issued a number of corrections to previous ministerial statements in which it was claimed that Saudi Arabia was not targeting civilians or committing war crimes

In many cases ministers had denied war crimes were being committed  statements corrections suggest went too far. Instead, statements were corrected to only suggest the Government had not actively confirmed that war crimes were being committed.
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The controversial new junior doctors contract must be suspended pending an inquiry into damning claims that plans for a 7-day NHS are ridden with danger, the Deputy Labour Leader has said.

Tom Watson demanded an inquiry after leaked papers outlined a string of potential problems with the 7-day proposals cited by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt as the key reason for imposing the contract.

It comes after internal documents suggested the NHS has too few staff and too little money to deliver the governments plan.

In a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, Mr Watson said: The seven-day NHS policy has nonetheless been used to justify imposition of a new contract upon junior doctors.

That is wholly unacceptable, given the current paucity of evidence underpinning the policy.

He added: Imposition should be suspended and doctors allowed to remain on their current contract until such time as you can demonstrate the evidence justifying the policy.

He also calls for a full inquiry preferably carried out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Confidential Department of Health papers drawn up for Mr Hunt in late July and recently passed to the Guardian and Channel 4 News show that senior civil servants trying to deliver a key Tory election pledge have uncovered 13 major risks.

They said the biggest danger is workforce overload, a lack of available GPs, hospital consultants and other health professionals

Juniors doctors have held eight days of strikes to protest against a new contract which Mr Hunt claims is needed to deliver the service, but that they claim ignores the need for extra doctors to enable the expansion of care.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: Over the past six years, eight independent studies have set out the evidence for a weekend effect - unacceptable variation in care across the week - and this Government is the first to tackle this issue. The benefits of a seven day service for patients are wide ranging - a safer NHS, more choice and better access to services, including extended GP hours, but we make absolutely no apology for prioritising patient safety - as the public would expect any responsible Government to do.


Art Creations founder and CEO, Tony Mines, announces a new addition to the management team of Chattanooga business. Jessica Mines Dumitru joins her father, her brother, Jason Mines, and their employees as she becomes the new chief operating officer and co-owner of the 45-year-old business. Art Creations has two locations in Chattanooga, 201 Frazier Ave. and the Commons Boulevard location near Hamilton Place.

Ms. Dumitru brings to her new job a background in business and finance as a result of her years as an attorney, both in Tennessee and Texas. A graduate of The University of the South at Sewanee with a graduate degree from New York University and her J.D. from Texas A & M., Ms. Dumitru acknowledges her excitement in returning home to the business where she often worked as a young person.

Im a firm believer in the value of the small business in our economic system," said Ms. Dumitru. "The fact that Im joining a family-owned and family-managed business that has been an integral player in Chattanoogas arts community for almost 50 years excites me. Ive watched my father build a successful business on a foundation of knowledge, hard work and a continued drive to learn and excel. Working alongside him to move Art Creations forward is the ideal next step for me. Entrepreneurship fits perfectly with my personal and professional goals.

Art Creations specializes in custom picture framing, fine and graphic art supplies and arts education for individuals and groups. The only Tennessee business to have two nationally-certified framers on staff, Art Creations is also the only business with a Guild-certified framer, credentialed by the Professional Picture Framers Association. CEO Tony Mines also serves on the International Board of Directors of National Art Material Trade Association, representing small retail art businesses. Jason Mines is the frame shop manager and a skilled artisan with almost 15 year of experience.

Tony Mines founded Art Creations after apprenticing to George Little of the Little Art Shop and returning to Chattanooga following his service with the U. S. Army. The Mines family now owns the building on Frazier Avenue where he served his apprenticeship and a second location at Commons Boulevard.

Ms. Dumitru combines her love of business with active community involvement. She is the current regent of the Chief John Ross Chapter, DAR, holds offices at both the state and national level with DAR, is a member of the 2016-2017 Leadership Chattanooga class and serves on the Small Business Sub-Committee of Mayors Council on Women. She and husband, Michael J. Dumitru, an attorney with Miller and Martin are the parents of two children, Noah James, 3 and Lorelei Eras, 1.




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Newly released files have exposed the role Margaret Thatcher personally played in securing one of the UKs biggest and most controversial arms deals.

The previously secret files show how officials helped then Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher carefully negotiate the notorious Al-Yamamah deal which saw Britain sell fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

The documents detail a meeting and private lunch between Mrs Thatcher and King Fahd, soon after which the 42bn contract was clinched, sparking anger form arms-trade campaigners.

It came back to haunt Tony Blair who intervened to stop an investigation into the deal, that was exploring claims of ran a multimillion-pound "slush fund".

The files released by the National Archives at Kew reveal the delicate tightrope Mrs Thatcher walked to initially secure the contract and the efforts to keep talks secret.

She was invited by Prince Bandar to meet King Fahd in Riyadh, a trip supported by then Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine on the proviso there was certainty it would clinch a deal to sell the Tornado jets.

Mr Heseltines private secretary, Richard Mottram, wrote to Mrs Thatcher's adviser Charles Powell: "It seems unlikely that Prince Bandar would seek to engineer such a meeting unless something positive was likely to come out of it, otherwise he runs the obvious risk of embarrassing both the Prime Minister and King Fahd."

A briefing document from the Foreign Office to Downing Street suggested a deal was likely to be the true intention of the visit, but confirmation was needed.

It said: "To date, we only have Prince Bandars word for it that the King has decided to buy Tornado. We need to get this made more precise and more explicit.

"Tackling the King in person is probably the only way of smoking the Saudis out."

The Government tried to keep discussions secret from the press, briefing that the Prime Minister would "take opportunities as they arise to promote major export projects".

But, behind the scenes, a detailed strategy was being planned with a confidential document ahead of the meeting outlining "tactical arguments" to secure an "early and favourable decision to purchase.

Another briefing note urged caution over how Mrs Thatcher would bring up discussions.

It said: "I have no doubt that the Prime Minister will wish to discover the position on Tornado when she sees the King, but I feel bound to advise that she should aim to give the King himself the opportunity to raise the matter first, and that it would not be in our interests to appear to pressure the Saudis unduly at this point."

An official record of the meeting between Mrs Thatcher and King Fahd on 14 April 1985 made no mention of Tornados or an arms deal.

But in a letter to the King the following day, the Prime Minister mysteriously wrote: "I was glad that we were able to discuss a further matter privately over lunch.

"I look forward to receiving your majestys personal envoy soon, in order that we may conclude this matter successfully."

That September an agreement in principle was signed for the UK to supply Tornado, Hawk and PC9 aircraft to Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom had been leaning towards a deal with France, until Mrs Thatchers intervention.

But there were later claims that defence giant BAE Systems, making the planes, ran a multimillion-pound "slush fund" offering sweeteners to Saudi royals.

A 1992 report by the National Audit Office into the deal was suppressed over fears it may offend the Saudis, an unprecedented step, and more than a decade later the Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation.

That was dropped in 2006 after an intervention by Tony Blair, and in 2010 BAE Systems eventually reached a settlement over corruption claims with the Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice that cost it 286m.
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An incoming ban on menthol cigarettes could be scrapped on account of Britain leaving the European Union, it has been signaled.

A phased ban on the flavoured cigarettes is currently due to come in 2020 thanks to the European Commissions latest Tobacco Products Directive.

Britain is currently planning to go further than these EU rules and also introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.

Recommended Read more The EU is banning menthol cigarettes

Asked about whether the ban on menthols would survive Brexit, a spokesperson for the Department for Health told The Sun newspaper: This is one of the many areas that the Government will want to consider carefully as part of the process of leaving the EU.

An unnamed source also told the newspaper that the latest tranche of tobacco control regulations was set to be reviewed by the Government upon Brexit.

The Brexit process is however unlikely to be complete by 2020, with suggestions Article 50 may only be triggered in that year. If this is the case, the rules will already be in place by the time Britain leaves the EU.

The restrictions on menthol cigarettes were prosed because of evidence suggesting they make it easier to start smoking and are popular with young people.

Mounting research also suggests menthol cigarette smokers suffer worse respiratory problems than smokers of unflavoured cigarettes  possibly because they inhale more deeply.

Health campaigners reacted angrily to suggestions the ban could be ditched.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of anti-smoking campaign group ASH, told the Independent, that the ban was a good idea regardless of whether Britain was in the EU or not.

Banning menthol cigarettes is recommended by the WHO because theyre easier to inhale and make it more likely children will become addicted," she said.

"In the UK there is strong support, from the public, parliament and the government, for policies to stop children starting to smoke. Whether were in the EU is neither here nor there.
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Police are investigating the election expenses of the leader of the Remain EU referendum campaign, who was rewarded in David Camerons honours list.

Will Straw, who was given a CBE by the outgoing Prime Minister, is a former Labour candidate from the 2015 general election.

The Sun newspaper reports that police are looking into claims that Mr Straw did not properly record a visit to his 2015 target Rossendale and Darwen constituency by a Labour battlebus.

Recommended Read more Advertising agency reveals rejected Remain campaign posters

Election spending and financial support is tightly restricted in order to ensure that candidate with a financial advantage do not gain too much of an electoral advantage.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: Inquiries remain ongoing.

Mr Straw is the son of former cabinet minister Jack Straw. This year he led the unsuccessful Stronger In campaign; he previously ran the political blog Left Foot Forward.

At the 2015 general election was defeated in his bid to enter Parliament by Conservative MP Jake Berry, who retained Rossendale and Darwen with a majority of 5,654.

The allegations are the latest in a string of claims about candidates election expenses at the 2015 general election.

All the main polical parties have been subject to similar claims: SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was accused of not recording supposed local spending on a helicopter, while Conservative activists were alleged to have not properly recorded tens of thousands of pounds in 29 marginal seats.
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An American soldier was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb on Tuesday during an operation in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the US military said.

The military's public affairs office in Kabul said the attack took place in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, and that six Afghan soldiers were wounded.

We are deeply saddened by this loss, but remain committed to helping our Afghan partners provide a brighter future for themselves and their children, Gen John Nicholson, commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, was quoted as saying.

Recommended Read more Taliban take Sangin as Afghan army forced to abandon strategic town

The bombing came a day after officials said 100 American troops had been sent to Lashkar Gah to help defend the city, which appears to be at increasing risk of falling to the Taliban.

Afghan officials say the insurgents effectively control around 80 per cent of the province.

The US military said the unidentified soldier was killed while conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under Nato authorities".

It marked the second time this year that an American soldier was killed in hostile circumstances in Afghanistan. In January, a US soldier was killed by small arms fire near the Marjah district, also in Helmand. The US and Nato formally ended their combat role in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, shifting to a training, advisory and counterterrorism mission.

Helmand's annual $3 billion opium crop produces most of the world's heroin and is used to fund the insurgency. Its population is mainly Pashtun, the ethnic group from which the Taliban derives most of its support. And the province borders Kandahar, where the Taliban's government was based from 1996 until the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
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A mob has killed eight people by burning down the house of a Muslim man who intervened in the attempted lynching of a Christian student accused of blasphemy.

The incident has sparked fears of religious riots in Nigeria, where the population is evenly split between Muslims and Christians, and has been condemned by President Muhammadu Buhari as barbaric and unacceptable.

Local police in Zamfara State said a row erupted after a Christian student at a polytechnic was alleged to have made a blasphemous statement against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Recommended Read more Boko Haram kills 18 at funeral in northeast Nigeria

Witnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that a large group of his Muslim classmates beat the student in public, until a passerby, named in local reports as Tajudeen, stepped in and drove the victim to hospital.

Zamfara state police spokesman Shehu Mohammed told the AFP News Agency the mob then turned on the Muslim passerby, setting fire to his house which had eight people in it at the time.

The spokesman added: The man who rescued the student and his wife were not among the dead.

The incident took place on Monday, and on Tuesday state governor Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari joined hundreds of people in mourning those killed.

Amid fears of an escalation of violence, Mr Yari called an emergency security council meeting over the incident and police have imposed a nightly curfew on the community around the Abdu Gusau Polytechnic in Talata-Mafara.

No stone will be left unturned until all those behind this act are brought to book, Mr Yari said.

President Buhari reacted to the developing story on Twitter, writing: I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric & unacceptable. I assure that the law will take its course.

My prayers are with the families of the victims.

Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever.

Despite periodic flare-ups of sectarian violence, Muslims and Christians have lived relatively peacefully side by side in northern Nigeria since the country won independence from Britain in 1960.

The Boko Haram Islamist group has been to blame for a number of church bombings in the region in recent years, which are sometimes met with violent reprisals by Christians against Muslims accused of supporting the group.

Nigeria was named at the start of the year as the most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian, in a report by the Christian charity Open Doors, though some criticised the findings as overly simplistic.
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The chief executive of a South African real estate giant has been arrested on suspicion of strangling his wife to death with her hair straighteners.

Jason Rohde was arrested by officers at his home outside Johannesburg at dawn on Tuesday morning, following the death of his wife Susan Rohde late last month.

Mr Rohde, 47, is the CEO of Sothebys International Realty in South Africa, a franchise of the property brand launched in the seventies by the London auctioneers of the same name.

He and his wife, also 47, were attending a Sothebys conference at the Spier Wine Estate near Cape Town on 24 July when Ms Rohde was found hanged by the electrical chord of her hair straighteners in the bathroom.

The property moguls lawyer had previously told News 24 how he said he had woken up on that Sunday morning to find his wife was not in their bed. He said he went to the bathroom and was unable to open it, at which point he called for help.

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Mr Rohdes lawyer, Daniel Witz, said that according to his client, the pair initially woke up together.

She went into the bathroom to get ready and he fell asleep. When he awoke to get ready for a breakfast talk, he was unable to open the door, he said.

Hotel maintenance staff helped open the door, at which point Ms Rohde was found dead, Mr Witz said.

According to eNCA, the incident was initially reported as suicide.

But a murder investigation was opened after a state pathologists post mortem suggested the cause of death was strangulation.

Captain FC van Wyk of the Western Cape police said the suspect was expected to appear on a charge of murder in the Stellenbosch Magistrates Court. He faces an additional charge of obstruction of justice.
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) will meet before the end of the month to decide if the outbreak of yellow fever in Central Africa constitutes an international health emergency.

Around 400 people have died this year from the virus, which can cause bleeding from the ears, eyes and nose, jaundice and organ failure in the most severe cases.

WHO is coordinating mass vaccination programmes across Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and has said the campaigns must succeed in order to prevent what it classifies as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

If one is to be declared, the WHO emergency committee is where it will be done - as was the case in the first such meeting following the emergence of the devastating Ebola outbreak in August 2014.

But with no new cases reported in Angola 23 June and, according to the latest WHO situation report, just 16 deaths to date in DRC, such as declaration seems unlikely.

A spokesman for the WHO said the emergency committee meeting had been scheduled for 31 August.

Addressing a UN media briefing, Tarik Jasarevic said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan had asked the independent experts to meet and analyse the situation and response to the outbreak.

Save The Children has told The Independent the vaccination drives are going well in their early stages, but it has previously warned the virus is on the brink of spreading to Asia, the Americas and southern Europe, where there are populations of the Aedes mosquito species which carries the disease.

Cases have already been recorded in Uganda, Kenya and as far afield as China, where 11 instances were reported to the WHO among migrant workers returning from Angola.

The current WHO vaccination drive is designed to inoculate 14 million people across 8,000 locations as quickly as possible, in order to prevent yellow fever getting a foothold among the 10-million strong population of Kinshasa, the DRC capital.
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About 1,500 Americans washed up on the shores of Canada, and not because they were migrating to the neighbour to the north out of fear of a Donald Trump presidency, but by pure accident.

The would-be invaders were participating in the annual Port Huron Float Down  an event where hundreds of Michigan residents drift along the US side of the St Clair River in Michigan on rafts, dinghies, and inner tubes.

However, heavy winds diverted the floaters, turning a once-innocuous float fest into an international incident as the 1,500 people drifted ashore in Sarnia, Ontario.

They were pushed over pretty quickly, and because they had no control over these dinghies and the wind was basically directing them and the current, they ended up over here, Sarnia Police constable John Sottosanti told CTV Network.

The Sarnia Police Service also said the event presented dangers given the large number of participants, the lack of life preservers, and challenging weather conditions.

Without much identification, the floaters were ill-prepared to be stranded outside of the US, and Canadian authorities said it took roughly six hours to transport them back to US Customs and Border Enforcement.

It was a bit of a nightmare, but we got through it, Sarnia Police Staff Sgt Scott Clarke said. There were long waits and long lines. They were cold and wet, but they all made it home.

The US Coast Guard saved about 40 people in the waters and assisted 125 others, the Times Herald reported. Although some people did experience hypothermia, emergency responders were able to attend to them.

In pictures: Canada whale-watching boat sinks Show all 5 1 /5 In pictures: Canada whale-watching boat sinks In pictures: Canada whale-watching boat sinks Rescue personnel mounting a search for victims of a capsized whale watching boat park on a wharf in Tofino, British Columbia Reuters In pictures: Canada whale-watching boat sinks A woman pays her condolences from the First St. dock to passengers of a capsized whale watching boat in Tofino AP In pictures: Canada whale-watching boat sinks A candle burns on the First St. Dock in memory of those who lost their lives on a whale watching boat that capsized, in Tofino AP In pictures: Canada whale-watching boat sinks Canadian Coast Guard crew arrive at a dock in Tofino AP In pictures: Canada whale-watching boat sinks Rescue personnel mounting a search for victims of a capsized whale-watching boat park on a wharf in Tofino Reuters

For their part, the US Coast Guard has attempted to work with the city of Port Huron to make the Port Huron Float down a sanctioned event, however no organisers have risen to the occasion.

There are still several details to work out, Lt Ben Chamberlain said. There would need to be an official event sponsor and as of yet no one has stepped up to do that and take on the responsibility of all of the safety issues.

The Port Huron Float Down thanked Canadian authorities for their assistance and understanding.

Youve shown us true kindness and what it means to be amazing neighbours! they wrote. This is exactly why we stress the importance of paddles and oars, and not entering the water if you are incapable of maneuvering on your own.

Despite the difficulties, they announced next year's event will commence 20 August.
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A town in Canada known for 60 years as the Land of rape and honey has changed its motto after the majority of its residents voted for a rethink of its image.

The town of Tisdale in northern Saskatchewan has changed its motto to Opportunity grows here after the town council voted through a rebrand for the town at the end of last year.

The 60-year-old motto refers to the produce the town was once known for, the yellow oilseed called rape or rapeseed, and its honey.

The use of rape produce has diminished over the years in favour of the better known crop Canola in recent years, and some residents were worries that the motto could offend people who mistook the word rape as referring to sexual assault, The Canadian Press reported.

There appeared to have been fierce debate within the town's residents over whether the slogan should be changed or not, despite town officials recieving complaints each year about the motto.

At the time that Tisdale began surveying its residents about the slogan a year ago, the town's economic development director Sean Wallace said: "There's passionate people who believe it should be changed and passionate people who beleive it shouldn't be changed.

"It's been both famous and infamous," he said.

"There's some residents who feel I should be educating people on what rapeseed is, and there's some people who feel I should look at rebranding becuase its no longer called rapeseed anymore, it's called canola," he added.

Welcome boards inviting people into the land of rape and honey, which has around 3,200 residents, often ended up on social media showing people posing next to the slogan.

But Mr Wallace says that the new slogan conveys an easily understood message while honouring the towns agricultural traditions.
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She caressed its smooth, pink surface, embossed with a golden rose and inscribed with her name, Ashley N Shannon, followed by her dates of birth and death. It had been eight years since Ashley started using heroin and three years since it killed her.

On this day, a Monday, Ashley, a dark-haired mother of two, would have turned 28.

Recommended Read more US death rate increases for first time in a decade

Moved by impulse, Louden grabbed her cellphone and snapped a grainy photo of her face resting on the urns rim. Then she started typing.

To my daughters drug dealer, she wrote, this is how I spend my daughters birthday now.

  how do you live with yourself???

She posted it to Facebook. More than 250,000 people have clicked share in the week since.

That was exactly what Ms Louden intended. Her message, brief and sharp, ended with a call to action: I dont normally post pics like this but lets make this go viral so all the drug dealers see what they are doing to our families.

Ms Loudens honest, raw confession is just the latest in a string of online posts and even death announcements that have dared to talk about topics long-held as taboos: addiction, drugs, mental illness.

For decades in obituaries, mourners were expected to fill in blanks. Died suddenly or passed away at home became code phrases for overdose or suicide".

But a new wave of parents, like Ms Louden, are harnessing the Internet to turn their childrens deaths into something meaningful.

As Alexandra Rockey Fleming reported in The Washington Post this month, the conventional death notice is changing: She will be best remembered for her free spirit, love of life, and the incredible strength she had while enduring so much pain that came from her struggles with addiction, said the death announcement for Kelsea Brandt, of Forest Hill, Md, whose mother, Wendy Messner, has founded a group called Rage Against Addiction with the mission of making rock bottom the foundation for a new life".

Ms Loudens post, she told TV station KSDK, has inspired addicts and their families to message her. They say her photo moved them to get help.

Maybe it would change somebody, Louden told KSDK. We live through this pain, every birthday, every holiday, its not the same. Part of our heart is gone.

Prescription pills came first for Ashley, before she moved to heroin. For five years, she struggled to get clean, KSDK reported, to be healthy for her two young daughters. But on July 4, 2013, Ashley overdosed. She was 24.

I know Ashley took the drugs, but I still believe the dealer should be somewhat responsible, Ms Louden told the TV station. They are selling this poison knowing that it could kill you.

Its all painfully timely. Overdoses are at a record high, with public health officials saying the nation is in crisis.

Adjusting for population, the drug overdose mortality rate has risen by 425 percent since 1982, The Washington Post previously reported. Drug overdose deaths have outpaced fatalities from motor vehicle accidents and, in what one official called a silver lining to what is absolutely a tragedy, there has been a grim increase in organ donation. In the last five years, organ donors who died of overdoses jumped by 50 percent, according to Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network data.

In 2014, an estimated 914,000 people aged 12 and older had reportedly used heroin, a 145 percent increase since 2007, according to the World Drug Report from the United Nations. The reason, according to the report, is simple: as law enforcement and the medical community crack down on prescription drug abuse, addicts are turning elsewhere for their next high. And in the U

Just last week, 26 people overdosed on heroin in a span of four hours in the small West Virginia city of Huntington, population 49,000. An overdose outbreak of similar magnitude in New York City (population 8.4 million) would affect more than 4,400 people, according to a Washington Post analysis.

And more recently, officials have begun finding heroin supplies laced with a mixture of other dangerous opioids. One is Carfentanil, an animal tranquiliser strong enough to knock out an elephant.

Law enforcement can hardly keep up. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Families feel helpless. Its why parents like Ms Louden have turned to one of the few things in their control  the Internet.

Though her town of De Soto, Missouri., is small, Ms Louden told KSDK she cannot know if her daughters drug dealer saw her grieving Facebook post. But, she said, maybe somebodys drug dealer did.

Washington Post
Benyaro - Wyomings indie roots and rock artist  will be performing select dates across the USA for their Get Out The Vote fall tour, partnering with HeadCount and Rock the Vote to encourage registration and voting in November's elections. They kicked off the tour on Aug. 14 with a 'Rock the Vote' show at Q Roadhouse in their adopted hometown of Jackson Hole. They will be in Chattanooga at Clyde's on Main Sept. 24.



Review for Benyaro:

Of the civically minded tour, frontman Ben Musser states, Voting is very important, no matter the choices. It may sound hyperbolic, but people die every day fighting to have that right. Many Americans take it for granted. I hope to encourage folks across the USA to shed cynicism, use your best judgement, and vote practically on Nov. 8."

This election season is particularly one of interest for Ben Musser who attended The Hill School alongside Donald Trump, Jr. Despite those school boy ties, Musser is actively campaigning against his former classmates father.

In conjunction with their tour, Benyaro will release the first new material from their sessions with Danny Kadar (The Avett Brothers, My Morning Jacket), recorded at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC. The politically inspired song "Too Many Men" will be released as a single to college and AAA radio on Aug. 30.
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The father of a toddler who was snatched by an alligator at a Walt Disney resort reached into the animals mouth in a failed attempt to try and save his son, investigators have revealed.

A report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the seven-foot alligator bit Lane Graves head as the boy bent down at the edge of a lagoon while gathering sand for a sandcastle at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort near Orlando, and that the boy died from a crushing bite and drowning.

The report also revealed that other guests had warned that an alligator was in the lagoon where children were playing. It did not, however, address what role Walt Disney Worlds policies or lack of them possibly played in the death of the child this summer.

Alligators are common throughout Florida (AFP)

The Associated Press said that at the same time, the Orange County Sheriffs Office released its report and ruled the death was an accident. One witness, a 16-year-old tourist, said he was walking with his younger siblings on a beach-area walkway when he heard a scream from the lagoon and saw the alligator taking the boy.

The alligator first came in head first toward the beach but turned around once it had the child in its mouth and crawled back into the water headfirst, Peter Courakos told police.

Tourist Alfred Smith said he photographed the alligator from his hotel room balcony about an hour and a half before the attack. A short time before the attack, he said, he saw children playing in the ankle-deep water. He was heading out the door to warn them about the alligator when he heard Lanes mother screaming, the wildlife agency report said.

The two-year-old was on holiday with his parents, Matt and Melissa Graves, from Elkhorn, Nebraska, in June. Lawyers have said that Disney could be liable for millions of dollars if it was found liable, but the family have said they do not intend to bring a case against the resort.

The wildlife agencys report said Lane did nothing to provoke the alligator and that the death is classified as a predatory attack.

The alligator may have had a diminished fear of people by being in an area with lots of humans, and wildlife officials are still investigating if alligator feeding took place, according to the wildlife agency.

After the boys death, Disney World made changes to limit possible visitor contact with alligators on the property.

Workers were building a stone wall around the lagoon and No Fishing signs were installed around waterfront areas. Fishing at Disney World was changed to be limited only to excursions.

Authorities said they are confident they caught the offending alligator but acknowledge they are not sure. In the end, the findings of the report indicate the victim was an unfortunate match for a specific predator seeking prey, and his family had no warning the child was in any potential danger.
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The son of the imprisoned Mexican cartel kingpin, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, has been freed a week after his kidnapping in Puerto Vallarta amid concerns of a war brewing between rival cartels in Mexico.

AFP said that an unnamed member of the cartel leaders family confirmed the release of Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 29, and five others who were kidnapped last week.

They were negotiating all this time, but now are free and well, the source said, adding that the men had already returned to their homes in Sinaloa.

A Mexican government official also confirmed news of the release to CNN under condition of anonymity.

AFP and CNN offer conflicting reports as to whether Mr Guzman Salazar was released on Friday or Saturday.

Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Show all 4 1 /4 Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside El Chapo's hideout Pictures reveal how the Mexican drug lord had been living since his escape Getty Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside El Chapo's hideout The inside of a house searched by marine special forces where Guzman was hiding Getty Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout Inside El Chapo's hideout Inside a house searched by marine special forces during the military operation to recapture Guzman Getty Inside Mexicos top drug lord El Chapos hideout El Chapo's attempted escape A marine stands guard next to a manhole of the sewer system through which drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman tried to escape Getty

The Mexico Attorney Generals office did not confirm knowledge of the release, and said they are still working on the investigation.

Mr Guzman Salazar was kidnapped with five others on 15 August when a group of gunmen stormed a high-end restaurant, La Leche, in the beach resort city.

The Jalisco state attorney identified Mr Guzman Salazar based on security footage of the night of the kidnapping.

Investigators presume a rival cartel, Jalisco New Generation, is behind the kidnapping, which is seen as a blow to the dominating Sinaloa cartel as their leader, El Chapo, remains behind bars.

The kidnapping raised concerns of an all out war between the rival cartels if Mr Guzman Salazar was not released.

Mexican authorities have not confirmed that it was, in fact, the upstart cartel behind the armed abduction. In years past, the Jalisco New Generation has emerged as a violent force in Mexico, known for their ambushes against the state.

Jalisco New Generation put the Mexican armed forces on the defensive last year when they shot down a military helicopter, killing seven soldiers.

The full force of the Mexican state will be felt in the state of Jalisco, said Mexican national security commissioner Alejandro Rubido in the aftermath of the attack. Satisfactory results will start to be seen very soon."
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A 27-year-old central Florida man is being recognised for honesty after finding a wallet with $3,400 (2,580) inside and turning it over to sheriff's deputies.

Turns out an Orlando woman lost the wallet earlier this month while visiting the beach near Palm Coast with her children.

Kevin Miller tells the Daytona Beach News-Journal he knew someone was depending on that money and he's glad it's been returned to her. The woman's name hasn't been released.

He says he spotted the wallet on 5 August in a shopping centre parking lot. He says he decided to pick it up after seeing two nearby teens eyeing it. He immediately called the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

Mr Miller said he really could have used the money but felt it was important to do the right thing.

Associated Press
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A Boston-area couple were shocked to find their rainbow flag  a symbol of gay pride  ripped from their porch and bombarded with eggs.

Cari and Lauri Ryding first raised the flag on their porch in the wake of the mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando that claimed the lives of 49 people.

Recommended Read more WNBA guard Shavonte Zellous explains how basketball helps LGBT players

Reeling from the act of weekend vandalism, the Rydings were touched when their neighbours in Natick, a suburb of Boston, immediately began to show solidarity with the couple.

The Boston Globe reported that by Sunday, some 40 houses in the neighbourhood brandished rainbow flags and colourful decorations.

It just happened so quickly  the whole neighbourhood said, Get me a flag. Get me a flag. Get me a flag, Penni Rochwerger, who lives by the Rydings, told the Globe. If we can stop whatever hate is out there, I think thats really important.

Lauri Ryding, 52, said that she felt overwhelmed by the showing of support from the people on Strawberry Hill Road.

One persons act of fear and maliciousness created such a powerful statement of love, she said. We are very blessed, very fortunate.

Cari Ryding, 49, first moved to the neighbourhood 23 years ago when she was married to her then-husband. She said she loved the family-feel of the area, which was cemented when they split up 10 years ago.

The community then welcomed her wife over four years ago.

When I moved in four and a half years ago, I was embraced, Lauri recalled. Our relationship was embraced.

As for the vandals, the Rydings informed the Natick police who are conducting an investigation. Whether or not they find the suspects, the Rydings feel supported.

Somebodys fear called them to action, Lauri said. But our neighbours support and love called to them to action  and love conquers hate. Love wins. We win.
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A high school athlete charged with sexually assaulting two unconscious women at a party has been sentenced to two years probation and will not be placed on the sex offenders register.

David Becker, 18, had originally been charged with two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault and battery in connection with the crimes from 2 April in Massachusetts, in which he had allegedly penetrated the two women with his finger while they were unconscious, WWLP.com reports.

Beckers case was continued without a finding and his terms of probation state that he must remain drug and alcohol free, stay away from the 18-year-old victims and submit to an evaluation for sex offender treatment.

The continued without finding verdict means Beckers record will not show a conviction and he will not have to register as a sex offender, MassLive reported. This will change if he re-offends within his two year probation period.

According to East Longmeadow police, Becker had attended a house party with the two women and all three had stayed to help clean up when the party ended. When they had finished the two women went upstairs to share a bed, with one of the women needing assistance. Becker joined them in the bedroom to talk before they all fell asleep together. The victims both reported waking up to find Becker sexually assaulting them.

Becker said he believed his actions with one of the alleged victims had not been a problem because she did not stop him. He denied sexual activity with the second alleged victim. The police report also showed he had texted one of the women the next day to apologise for his actions.

Beckers attorney Thomas Rooke had highlighted in court the students status as a three-sport athlete, and as someone who clocked the second-most hours of community service in his class, New York Magazine reported.

Mr Rooke told the magazine he was pleased with the verdict and that giving the student jail time would have destroyed this kids life".

"We all made mistakes when we were 17, 18, 19 years old, and we shouldn't be branded for life with a felony offense and branded a sex offender, he added.

Mr Rooke later told MassLive: [Becker] can now look forward to a productive life without being burdened with the stigma of having to register as a sex offender.

The goal of this sentence was not to impede this individual from graduating high school and to go onto the next step of his life, which is a college experience.

Beckers sentence will allow him to complete his probation in Ohio, where he was reportedly set to attend college. A spokesperson for the University of Dayton told MassLive Becker will not be attending the college.
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Stanford University has banned spirits from campus parties as part of a new policy to fight "high-risk behaviour" which critics argue is not the right way to tackle an epidemic of sexual assault.

It comes months after former student Brock Turner was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a rubbish bin in January 2015 after a campus party.

The new policy goes beyond state laws and bans spirits, shots and mixed drinks at all parties except those hosted by student organisations or graduate residences.

Containers of alcohol larger than 750ml, as well as any drink stronger than 20 per cent alcohol, are also now prohibited. Any offending student would be sent to the Dean and could be removed from student housing.

Recommended Read more Brock Turner forced to attend drug and alcohol counseling

Turner, a Stanford swimmer, was sentenced in June to six months in jail and three years probation, a decision that triggered international outrage and an effort to have judge Aaron Persky removed from his post.

Judge Persky claimed that a prison sentence would have a severe impact on Turner, who was convicted of three counts of sexual assault. He instead forced Turner to get drug and alcohol treatment.

The new Stanford alcohol policy is a result of "dialogue" between students and staff since March, according to president John Hennessy about how they could change the campus alcohol culture.

Ralph Castro, director of Stanford's office of alcohol policy and education (OPAE), said: Our intention is not a total prohibition of a substance, but rather a targeted approach that limits high-risk behaviour and has the backing of empirical studies on restricting the availability of and access to alcohol.

Previous Stanford guidance from the OPAE warned women that "alcohol affects both sexual intent and aggression", and that women who drink are "perceived to be more sexually available". The page has been scrubbed from the website.

Critics of the policy say it is an inappropriate way to tackle a growing epidemic of sexual assault, in a country where one in five women will be raped or sexually assaulted during their time on campus.

"Sadly, Stanford appears to agree with Brock Turner that 'alcohol' and 'party culture' are to blame for his conduct," wrote Michele Dauber, the Stanford law professor leading the Judge Perksy recall movement.

She added that the policy makes students less safe by incentivising heavy drinking in private rooms rather than at parties.

In another tweet, she added: "But Stanford still has yet to apologise to the victim, offer to pay for her therapy, or even install a light over the dumpster."

Another university that bans alcohol is Brigham Young, where a victim of sexual assault was accused of "violating the honour code" for drinking beforehand.

The University of Oklahoma also banned alcohol in 2004 after a student died from drinking to excess.
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If you scrape away all of the spin and the political positioning that Hillary Clinton's decision to use a private email server has spawned, you are left with these facts:

1. Clinton is the first secretary of state to exclusively use a private email account for official business.

2. She is also the first secretary of state to have a private email server housed at her home.

3. When asked by the State Department to turn over her emails, Clinton had a team of lawyers go through them to separate those that were purely personal and those that touched on some aspect of her professional life. The personal emails were deleted permanently off the server. The professional ones were turned over to the State Department.

Clinton deleted more emails than she turned over. Her team never actually read all of the emails, skimming subject lines instead. And there was never anyone outside of Clinton's direct orbit brought in to oversee the process. The essence of Clinton's argument regarding this email-sorting process was: Trust me. As in, my team of lawyers found all of the emails that were even tangentially tied to my day job as the nation's top diplomat and turned them over to the State Department.

Which makes this headline in The Washington Post today all the more troubling: "FBI uncovered 15,000 more documents in Clinton email probe." Spencer Hsu wrote:

"The FBI's year-long investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server uncovered 15,000 more documents from her time as secretary of state that were not previously disclosed by her attorneys. The State Department is expected to discuss when and how it will release the emails Monday morning in federal court.

"The total -- confirmed by the Justice Department -- was disclosed by a conservative legal group after the State Department said last week that it would hand over the emails. The number to be released is nearly 50 percent more than the 30,000-plus that Clinton's lawyers deemed work-related and returned to the department in December 2014."

Um, okay.

So, the FBI found about 15,000 documents/emails sent or received by Clinton that were not part of the 30,000 emails her own search turned up. It's not clear, of course, whether any/all of these emails and documents were work-related. It's possible that all 15,000 were part of the 30,000-plus emails Clinton and her team deleted permanently.

But, we know from FBI Director James B. Comey that during its investigation, the FBI found several thousand work-related emails that had not been previously turned over by Clinton. While these 15,000 appear to be at least part of what Comey is referring to, there's no way today of knowing how much overlap between those two sets there actually is.

The statement from the Clinton campaign reflects its own uncertainty about what, exactly, is in these emails.

To be clear: Clinton has already been cleared of any official wrongdoing in the matter by Comey. And Comey and the FBI were aware of this latest batch of emails -- hell, they found them! -- when he rendered his judgment on Clinton.

But, the whole thing just makes it harder and harder for Clinton to sell the idea that her process for sorting emails into professional and private piles was effective. And that raises the possibility that Clinton got rid of lots of emails that she shouldn't have via a process that was something short of transparent. Which is a very bad look for someone who is currently the clear front-runner to be the next president.

Copyright: Washington Post
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Donald Trump prides himself on running a minimalist, even austere, presidential campaign. The dozens of advisers, pollsters, image experts and fashion gurus that so bloat and expand the pay-rolls of most traditional operations are not for him.

But there is one area where he appears to be more willing to shell out and thats the amount he pays himself to rent office space in Trump Tower.

Reports by the Federal Election Commission show that the Republican presidential nominee campaign paid $35,457 (26,897) per month for rent and utilities to Trump Tower Commercial LLC between August 2015 and April this year.

(Reuters (Reuters)

However, the payments began increasing in May and hit $169,758 last month. The rent for the New York property jumped even though he was paying fewer staff in July than he was in March.

Mr Trump became the de facto Republican candidate in May after he won the Indiana primary, and senator Ted Cruz and John Kasich suspended their campaigns.

He formally accepted the nomination at the partys convention last month and said he would begin accepting donations to his campaign. Previously, he had boasted that he was paying for everything out of his own finances.

The campaign did not immediately respond to enquiries from The Independent. However, in a statement to The Huffington Post, it said that it had expanded into larger quarters.

Mr Trump makes a personal contribution of $2m per month to the campaign, obviously a much higher amount than rent, the statement said.

It did not, however, address the question of why the campaign needed more space when it had a lower number of staff.

 Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton: Who has more psychopathic traits?

In 2000, when Mr Trump was considering running as an independent candidate, he said: Its very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.

Mr Trump has long been accused of paying himself and members of his own family during the campaign. In June, The New York Times revealed that the Trump campaign, which had just $1.3m to hand in June, paid at least $1.1m to his businesses and family members in May for expenses associated with events and travel costs. The total represented nearly a fifth of the $6m that his campaign spent in the month.

He could end up turning a profit if he repaid himself for the campaign loans, said Paul Ryan, a campaign finance expert with the Campaign Legal Centre. He could get all his money back plus the profit margin for what his campaign has paid himself for goods and services.

Mr Trump flies to campaign events on his personal Boeing 757 airliner, which he has nick-named "Trump Force One". The Huffington Post said the plane, which is aging, gets through up to $10,000 in fuel every hour. It said, that as a result of this, air travel has been one of the biggest expense categories for his campaign. In July 2016, $495,000 went to Mr Trumps company that owns it.

Yet not everything about the campaign has been a financial boost for the candidate. Earlier this month it was reported that Trump-branded businesses had seen a dip of at least 10 per cent in visitors since he ran for president.
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In an effort to reframe the presidential race not as a parade of his own controversies, but as a referendum on his opponent, Donald Trump on Monday night called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clintons crimes.

Speaking on the stump in Akron, Ohio, the Republican nominee claimed a criminal probe was necessary regarding the issue of large foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation during Ms Clintons tenure as US Secretary of State.

Recommended Read more How Donald Trump is helping Latino activists turn Arizona purple

However, Mr Trump argued, the Justice Department cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate, having proven itself to be a political arm of the White House in failing to prosecute Ms Clinton over her use of a private email server while in office.

Questions have been raised over the years regarding the potential for a conflict of interest between Ms Clintons work at the State Department and her family mega-charitys courtship of foreign donors. The Trump campaign is eager to turn it into an election issue.

Late last week, Bill Clinton announced that the Clinton Foundation would no longer accept foreign donations if Ms Clinton is elected. The former president also said he would stand down from the board of the global non-profit if he returns to the White House as First Gentleman.

Meanwhile, amid claims and denials that he has softened his stance on immigration, Mr Trump cancelled a policy speech on the issue that he had been set to deliver in Colorado on Thursday. In an email, the Trump campaign told supporters the speech was still being modified.

On Monday night, continuing his attempted outreach to minority communities, Mr Trump departed as usual from his prepared remarks to suggest that American inner cities run by Democrats were comparable to war zones.

You can go to war zones in countries that we are fighting and it is safer than living in some of our inner cities that are run by the Democrats, he said, promising that, were he to be elected, Youll be able to walk down the street without getting shot."
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He raised racially-charged questions about President Obamas origins, he never saw a TV camera he wouldnt talk at, and he built a national political profile on a platform of anti-immigrant sentiment. So its hardly surprising that Joe Arpaio, the long-time sheriff of Arizonas Maricopa County, was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trumps presidential bid.

Arpaio, who styles himself Americas toughest sheriff, has introduced the Republican nominee several times on the stump and joined the motley roster of speakers at the Republican convention in July. But to those who have followed his career closely, the controversial lawman is more than simply Trumps opening act  hes an inspiration.

Recommended Read more How Donald Trump is helping Latino activists turn Arizona purple

When Donald Trump started campaigning I said, Hes taken a page from Arpaios book, says Julie Erfle, an immigration reform campaigner from Phoenix. I dont know whether Joe Arpaio even believes everything he says, but he does what he does because it brings him fame and publicity, and it boosts his ego.

Just like Trump, however, the sheriff is embroiled in his own legal difficulties. Last Friday, a federal judge recommended prosecutors bring criminal contempt charges against Arpaio and three of his aides, who are accused of wilfully violating a court order banning sheriffs deputies from detaining drivers based solely on the suspicion that they were in the US illegally.

The case goes back to a 2007 lawsuit filed on behalf of Latino motorists, who claimed they were racially profiled by the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) for traffic stops and immigration checks. The judge found that the practice had gone on for a further 18 months after the 2011 injunction.

Now 84, Arpaio is running for his seventh term in office at this Novembers election, but the judges referral may hasten the end of his political career. Trumps name at the top of the ticket is expected to turn out Latino voters in historic numbers to oppose him  which also spells nothing but bad news for Sheriff Joe.

Arpaio was first elected in 1993, when looking tough on crime was smart politics for candidates of either party. He earned his reputation by dabbling in forms of prisoner abuse that many voters found more colourful than concerning. Most famously, he tackled overcrowding by erecting an open-air jail from old Army tents, rather than build a costly new facility.

Inmates at Maricopa Countys Tent City jail on the outskirts of Phoenix (Getty) ((Getty Images))

Inmates at Tent City on the outskirts of Phoenix were forced to sleep outside even in the desert summer. They were once fed bread and water for a week for allegedly desecrating American flags. After claiming prisoners were smuggling out their standard issue white boxer shorts  costing MCSO tens of thousands of dollars a year  Arpaio made them wear pink undies instead.

Writer Len Sherman worked on two books with Arpaio, first laying out his worldview in the 1996 tome Americas Toughest Sheriff  the lawmans equivalent to Trumps The Art of the Deal, if you will. Back in the 1990s, Sherman says, Arpaio was funny and outgoing and brought a lot of attention to Arizona. He was seen as a colourful cop, not a partisan figure. But once immigration became an issue, everything changed. It became ugly very quickly, and all the funny stuff suddenly rang hollow.

In the 2000s, convinced that the US government was doing too little to combat illegal immigration, Arpaio directed his deputies to begin conducting the so-called saturation patrols described in the lawsuit, whereby drivers of Latino descent were routinely stopped and their immigration papers checked. He also ordered workplace raids in which hundreds of undocumented workers were arrested and threatened with deportation.

Maricopa County Sheriffs deputies conducting an immigration sweep in 2010 (Getty) ((Getty Images))

Erfles husband was a Phoenix police officer, shot dead on duty by an undocumented immigrant in 2007. But rather than rally to Arpaios cause, she became one of his strongest critics. Our city police departments do a phenomenal job and believe very much in community policing, she says. But when you have someone like Sheriff Joe Arpaio as the face of policing in Arizona, youre creating more problems, not solving them.

In 2010, Arizonas Republican-controlled legislature passed the controversial Senate Bill 1070 (SB1070), the harshest set of anti-immigration measures anywhere in the US. Victimised by the new law and the old lawman, Latinos have steadily awakened as a major political force in Arizona, and this year are expected to make up around 20 per cent of the state's electorate.

When Arpaios campaign signs appeared in the windows of several branches of the Arizona-based Discount Tire Company earlier this month, immigrant rights campaigners called for a boycott. Emboldened Latino activists believe 2016 could be the year that they finally unseat the sheriff, says Roberto Reveles, founding president of Somos America, which helped organise the boycott and acted as a plaintiff organisation in the racial profiling lawsuit.

Its a combination of the court case, Trump going over the top with his racism on a national stage, and the idea that we as a Latino voting community can make a significant difference this year as never before, says Reveles. Arizona is on the verge of change.

Trump and Arpaio first became acquainted as participants in the so-called birther controversy of Obamas first term, when the sheriff sent investigators to Hawaii to track down evidence that the president was born not in the Aloha State, but in Kenya. Naturally, they found none, but Trump nonetheless wrote to Arpaio in 2012, urging him to keep up the good fight.

After the property mogul launched his presidential campaign last summer with a speech describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug traffickers, Arpaio was one of the first prominent political figures to offer his endorsement. Speaking at the GOP convention last month, the sheriff drew raucous applause when he declared: Donald Trump will build the wall!

In fact, says Sherman, Arpaio is a relatively recent convert to the concept of a Mexican border wall. In the book, he said he didnt believe in walls. He said, If they build a wall, Im going into the shovel-and-ladder business. He only started believing in walls because of Trump. When the Sheriff started with the birther stuff, it was just politics. When he started with the immigration stuff, it was just politics. But over time he adopted it as his belief, and I think Trump does the same thing: theyll believe anything that works for them at that moment.

In spite of his legal woes, Arpaio is expected to coast through his Republican primary this month, but the general election in November will likely be his toughest race to date. His rival is veteran Phoenix police officer Paul Penzone, whom he defeated by six points in 2012. A poll released by Arizonas Lincoln Strategy Group in July found Penzone three points ahead.

Chad Willems, a consultant to the Arpaio campaign, disputes the results of the Lincoln poll and doubts claims that the court case will prove terminal. The judges referral is not a guilty verdict, Willems says. Some of our opponents have this fantasy that Joe Arpaio is going to be led off in shackles and a striped jail suit. Thats just simply not the case.

Arpaio has reportedly raised a campaign war-chest of more than $10m (7.6m) from his army of donors, three-quarters of whom come from beyond Maricopa County. Like Trump, he has attracted fans across the US with his regular appearances on Fox News. But Sherman  a self-described liberal Democrat  says cash may not be enough this time.

All the money in the world wont help if youre indicted, if youve lost the trust of the people, he says. Arpaio has no reason to be re-elected beyond personal gratification. He doesnt talk about the future, about how the county is changing and MCSO will change with it. Its the same with Trump: theres emotion and fearmongering, but theres no coherent vision whatsoever."
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A homeless woman in Washington DC who told everyone that she was due a $100,000 cheque from social security has finally been proven right - after 16 years of living on the streets.

Wanda Witter, 80, spent more than a decade sleeping nearby a McDonalds with three suitcases of belongings, telling anybody that would listen that she was due the money.

They kept thinking I was crazy, telling me to get rid of the suitcases, Ms Witter, a mother of four, told the Washington Post.

But the cheque finally came after she was helped by a social worker called Julie Turner who then appointed her a lawyer.

The longstanding battle with the federal agency started when Ms Witter lost her job as a machinist in Corning, and she moved in with her daughter who lived in Colorado. She applied to take paralegal classes at a local community college and graduated three years later.

But she did not manage to secure paralegal work in Washington DC, and her social security cheques that she decided to draw between 2006 and 2008 were coming through in incorrect amounts, so she crossed them out as void and sent them back, determined to fix the issue.

When her money ran out, and she moved into a homeless shelter, refusing help from her daughter.

She then took up the fight to get the cheques re-sent, even if they were for the wrong amount. She was sent to mental counsellors, but she insisted she was telling the truth and was owed the money.

In May this year, she was taken by Ms Turner to the Legal Counsel for the Elderly, where her lawyer, Daniela de la Piedra, consented she was owed the money.

In June 2016, she received a cheque for $999 - the maximum amount Social Security could write up straight away.

But the problems did not end there. While she was waiting for more money to come in, a homeless man rammed a stack of chairs into her face while she tried to prevent him from rummaging through another womans belongings, leaving her with a blackened eye.

The first full payments are now reportedly coming in, and Ms Witter has moved in to her own apartment, which costs $500 per month.

She needed economic help, not mental help, Ms Turner told the Post.

Thats part of the problem with homelessness in DC. So many cases are written off as being about mental illness. A lot of times, homelessness really is simply about economics.
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A Japanese father has stabbed his 12-year-old son to death after complaining the child was not studying hard enough for a school entrance exam.

The boy, named Ryota, was rushed to hospital after the incident but died from blood loss, according to Nagoya local police.

A police spokesman declined to provide details of the motive, but explained: The father stabbed his son in the chest with a kitchen knife.

 Japan's emperor hints at wish to step down

Kengo Satake, the childs father, told police in Nagoya, capital of Japans Aichi Prefecture, he argued with his son for not studying for an entry test for a private junior high school.

He was arrested after local police received a phone call from hospital staff.

Mr Satake reportedly explained to police he stabbed his son by mistake, according to Japan Today.

The Satakes neighbours told police they used to occasionally see Ryota being locked out on the balcony as punishment for misbehaving.

The boys mother was at work when the incident took place, local media reported.

Competition for entry to the best schools in Japan is fierce. Admission to prestigious institutions is seen to have a direct correlation to a childs future prospects.
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Pakistani paramilitary forces raided the headquarters of a powerful political party in the port city of Karachi on Tuesday after its London-based leader incited supporters to storm the office of a television channel the day before.

The operation deepens a dispute between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has dominated Karachi politics for decades, and local security forces that regularly spills into violence.

It also comes as members of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are set to elect an imprisoned MQM politician, Waseem Akhtar, as mayor of Pakistan's biggest and richest city on Wednesday.

Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar, who was detained on Monday after the attack on the TV channel, sought to distance himself from comments made by the party's influential, firebrand leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in self-imposed exile in London.

Mr Sattar said that Monday's violence, during which MQM supporters fired shots at the office of a television channel, had been started by Mr Hussain when he criticised Pakistani media in a telephone address to his supporters in Karachi.

The supporters later clashed with police outside the television building, leaving one person dead and several wounded.

Whatever happened yesterday should not have happened, we condemn it, Mr Sattar told reporters, in a rare public rebuke of Mr Hussain. MQM will be run from here (Pakistan). This message is for there (London) and it is for here.

Senior MQM party leader Farooq Sattar arrives for a press conference in Karachi where he issued a rare public rebuke of the partys London-based leader Altaf Hussain (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Paramilitary Rangers forces sealed the MQM headquarters and media office on Tuesday. Police also lodged a case of treason against Mr Hussain after he said that Pakistan is a cancer for the entire world in his Monday address.

In a statement issued from London on Tuesday, Mr Hussain asked for forgiveness from the army and Rangers chiefs.

From the depth of (my) heart, I beg pardon from the Pakistani establishment, he said. I was under severe mental stress over extra-judicial arrests and (the) precarious condition of my workers sitting at (a) hunger striking camp.

Mr Hussain is known for fiery addresses to his followers in Karachi though a loudspeaker connected to a telephone in his London home.

Many residents have grown increasingly intolerant of MQM's street protests, which can severely disrupt life for millions of Karachi residents.

But the party remains a major electoral force and in December swept local elections.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. 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In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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The MQM largely draws its support from the descendants of Urdu-speaking migrants from India who dominate Karachi and other urban centres of southern Sindh province.

The army has long accused the MQM of racketeering, kidnappings for ransom and targeted killings in Karachi.

MQM denies the charges and has accused the Rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown on crime in Karachi began in 2013. The Rangers deny any abuse.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said he had called on British authorities to support Pakistan's efforts to bring Mr Hussain within the ambit of the law.

Mr Hussain was arrested in 2014 by British police on suspicion of money-laundering, which he denied.

Reuters
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Police in the Philippines have reportedly been banned from picking their noses and taking selfies.

The National Capital Region Police Force (NCRPO) has issued a memorandum reminding officers to refrain from doing anything that may cause a negative impression, The Philippine Star reports.

According to the memorandum, police officers are banned from playing online games, taking selfies/groupies, chewing gum, adopting unseemly postures in public such as standing with one leg, scratching part of the body and nose picking.

Philippines: From coconuts to Christianity... let the celebrations begin! Show all 2 1 /2 Philippines: From coconuts to Christianity... let the celebrations begin! Philippines: From coconuts to Christianity... let the celebrations begin! p49crowdsAFPGETTY.jpg AFP/Getty Philippines: From coconuts to Christianity... let the celebrations begin! p49catholicGETTY.jpg Getty

Chief Superintendent Rolando Nana, regional director for operations of the NCRPO, also warned police officers not to loiter, smoke, read newspapers or send unnecessary text messages.

The directive was released after a number of police officers posted photos of themselves while on duty.

 Death toll rises as Philippines intensifies war on drugs

Police in the Philippines have a history of posting selfies on social media. In 2010, officers were caught taking selfies after a hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand, while others took photos of themselves in a disaster zone after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

No-selfie orders were also issued during Pope Francis visit in 2015.

The directive is likely to affect the increasing number of police now on patrol in the capital, Manila.

As part of his war on drugs, President Rodrigo Duterte recently announced plans to boost the police forces budget by 24.6% to hire more officers and buy more weapons.

The NCRPO has said 85% of its force is now on patrol to increase police visibility.
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Bans on burkinis in France have boosted sales of the garment, according to the woman credited with creating the design.

Australian-Lebanese Aheda Zanetti first created the swimwear for Muslim women over a decade ago and claims interest in the Burkini has shot up, especially among non-Muslim women, since it was banned by 15 towns in France.

Ms Zanetti said the uproar had increased publicity massively and that women were looking to show solidarity, regardless of race or religion.

I can tell you that online on Sunday, we received 60 orders  all of them non-Muslim, the 48-year-old told AFP. She usually expects between 10 and 12 orders on a Sunday.

"A lot of the correspondence... was that they are survivors of skin cancer and they've always been looking for something like this, saying, 'Thank god we've found someone like this producing such a swimsuit.

"The support I'm getting is somehow about empowering women.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Under the new rules those who defy the ban face fines. A wealthy businessman of Algerian descent has offered to pay for people charged under the new law and has already covered the cost of three women who chose to defy it.

Rachid Nekkaz, a real-estate entrepreneur, says he personally opposes the burkini but believes that within a democracy nobody has the right to prevent someone from wearing the clothing they choose.
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At least three terror suspects with advanced plans to attack France have been arrested so far this month as security services react to a wave of Isis inspired attacks.

They were among seven suspects detained in recent weeks as the countrys General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) continues to us powers under Frances extended state of emergency to prevent further atrocities.

Bernard Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, said the number of people arrested over terror offences in the first six months of this year was greater than the entire total for 2015.

 Europe: Germany and France to beef up security

The work of police and the intelligence services has achieved significant results in the war against terrorism, he added in a speech on Tuesday.

Mr Cazeneuve said France was also enacting measures to track and intercept jihadists returning from abroad and to improve checks on the outskirts of the Schengen passport-free travel area.

He and Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister, were unveiling a new security initiative in co-operation with the German government to strengthen Europes exterior boundaries, improve information sharing and create a new border force.

France wants to continue the intensified searches and controls introduced at border crossings within the EU that were brought in following Isis Paris attacks in November.

Investigations showed most of the militants had fought for the so-called Islamic State in Syria and returned after their training, with some exploiting refugee routes into Europe using fake passports.

Suspected attacker Salah Abdeslam easily crossed the Belgian border within hours of the 13 November massacres, while a linked cell of jihadists appeared to have no trouble travelling around the EU as they plotted the Brussels attacks.

Normandy church attack in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 Normandy church attack in pictures Normandy church attack in pictures The victim was the 84-year-old priest at the church, Jacques Hamel. AFP/Getty Normandy church attack in pictures French police at the scene of the attack on a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, northern France, on July 26 AFP/Getty Images Normandy church attack in pictures More police at the scene BFM TV Normandy church attack in pictures French President Francois Hollande shaking hands with security personnel at the scene AP Normandy church attack in pictures French soldiers standing guard outside the scene of the attack AP Normandy church attack in pictures A policeman secures a position in front of the city hall after two assailants had taken five people hostage in the church at Saint-Etienne-du -Rouvray near Rouen in Normandy Pascal Rossignol/Reuters Normandy church attack in pictures A policeman holds a HKG36 assault rifle as he secures the position in front of the local town hall following the attack REUTERS Normandy church attack in pictures French judicial inverstigating police apprehends a man during a raid after a hostage-taking in the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen in Normandy, France REUTERS Normandy church attack in pictures AFP/Getty Images Normandy church attack in pictures REUTERS Normandy church attack in pictures REUTERS Normandy church attack in pictures AFP/Getty Images Normandy church attack in pictures AP Normandy church attack in pictures AP Normandy church attack in pictures French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve visits the church REUTERS Normandy church attack in pictures AFP/Getty Images

Mr Cazeneuve called for the creation of a European equivalent of the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta), which is required by the US for visitors arriving from countries like the UK that are part of its visa waiver programme.

He also raised the possibility of new legislation to force the owners of encrypted messaging applications, particularly Telegram, to force them to remove illegal content and hand communications over to security services.

Exchanges carried out via applications like Telegram most be identified and used in the course of judicial proceedings, Mr Cazeneuve said.

We propose that the EU Commission studies the possibility of a legislative act introducing rights and obligations for operators to force them to remove illicit content or decrypt messages as part of investigations, whether or not they are based in Europe.

The proposals are due to be discussed at a meeting of the 27 heads of EU states on 16 September, which Theresa May is due to attend.

French security services are currently using enhanced powers under the country's state of emergency, which the National Assembly voted to extend for six months following the Nice attack last month.
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Germany is considering reinstating conscription as part of a new civil defence strategy.

The "Concept for Civil Defence", published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) on Sunday, outlines plans to temporarily bring back conscription during times of national crisis.

The 69-page-report, due to be discussed by the cabinet on Wednesday and which represents the first major assessment of Germanys civil defence measures since the end of the Cold War, also mentions the necessity of a reliable alarm system, better structural protection of buildings and more capacity in the health system.

Recommended Read more Germany warns citizens to stockpile emergency food and water

It says that although a national disaster is unlikely preparations are needed in case of a future terror attack or hybrid conflict that could damage fundamental infrastructure.

The plan to reintroduce conscription emerged in a section of the government paper entitled "Civil support for the armed forces", according to DPA news agency.

It reportedly says, quick and reliable delivery of mail is especially important for the German Army [Bundeswehr]", adding in particular, call-up papers and notices of performance in times of reintroduction of conscription.

Civilians may also be called on to help direct traffic or provide resources for the military such as accommodation in times of crisis, according to DPA.

Germany abandoned compulsory national service in 2011, however conscription is authorised in the German constitution and could be reintroduced easily, Die Zeit reports.

Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Show all 9 1 /9 Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Policemen outside Rouen's cathedral during the funeral of Jacques Hamel, the priest who was killed in a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy on 26 July during a hostage-taking claimed by Islamic State group Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Two jihadists, both 19, slit Hamel's throat while he was celebrating mass in an attack that shocked France as well as the Catholic Church Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Muslims place flowers and hold a minute of silence in front of the church if Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, western France, where French priest Jacques Hamel was killed on 26 July Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Two people hold each other by the new makeshift memorial in Nice, in tribute to the victims of the deadly Bastille Day attack at the Promenade des Anglais Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the truck attack that killed 84 people in Nice on France's national holiday. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, smashed a 19-tonne truck into a packed crowd of people in the Riviera city celebrating Bastille Day Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Police work at a site where a Syrian migrant set off an explosive device in Ansbach, southern Germany, on 25 July, killing himself and wounding a dozen others Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis A Syrian migrant set off an explosion at a bar in southern Germany that killed himself and wounded a dozen others in the third attack to hit Bavaria in a week. The 27-year-old, who had spent a stint in a psychiatric facility, had intended to target a music festival in the city of Ansbach but was turned away because he did not have a ticket Friebe/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis Police officers walk along train tracks in Wuerzburg southern Germany on 19 July, a day after a man attacked train passengers with an axe. German authorities said they had found a hand-painted IS flag among the belongings of the man, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, who seriously injured four members of a family of tourists from Hong Kong in his rampage Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images Terrorism in 2016: Terror attacks in Europe claimed by Isis German police killed a teenage assailant after he attacked passengers on a train in Wuerzburg, southerg Germany with an axe and a knife on 18 July, seriously wounding three people Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images

During the Cold War, Germanys army was bolstered hugely by national service and it had half a million troops on active duty.

The report does not outline plans to reintroduce conscription permanently and in June, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said conscription would not be reinstated.

Since being published in the German media, the report been criticised over plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in their homes in case of a terror attack or catastrophe.

The opposition party Die Linke (The Left Party) has lambasted the idea, saying the alert to stockpile enough food for ten days and enough water for five days, "could completely unsettle people".

Many have taken to social media mocking the proposals, posting pictures of empty shelves and looted supermarkets. The hashtag "Hamsterkaufe", or "panic buying" has also been trending on Twitter in Germany.

Germany is currently on high alert after two Islamist attacks and a shooting rampage in Munich by a mentally unstable teenager in July.

Germany's Defence Minister said earlier this month the country was in the "crosshairs of terrorism" and called for the military to train more closely with police in preparation for potential large-scale militant attacks.
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A Muslim student has been forbidden from wearing her full niqab in classes by a German court after her school said it hindered her educational development.

The 18-year-old was told by both her school and then a judge that she could not wear the religious garment which leaves the entire body and face concealed except for the eyes.

The ruling comes days after allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel said the burqa, which is different to the niqab, was "contrary to integration".

When the teenager tried to sue the Sophie Scholl Evening Gymnasium for forbidding her from wearing the face veil in lessons, she lost her case after it was escalated to an administrative court in Osnabruck.

The court in the north-west of the country rejected the teenager's appeal when she did not appear in person to make her case following huge media attention. She herself was born and grew up in Germany, according to the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung.

It is one of the first rulings of its kind in Germany to forbid the face veil in classes, in a clash between the country's principle that each state may decide educational rules, and the principle of religious freedom. Both principles are signed into constitutional law.

The school had argued that it could not ensure the educational development of its student, who was admitted in April this year, when her face was fully covered. Clearly identifying the student was also a problem, it argued.

When the student suggested that a female teacher lift her face veil to identify her, the school said this measure did not solve the overarching problem of effective communication.

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

The school said that open communication between teachers and students relied "not only on the spoken word, but also on non-verbal elements and body language."

While in most incidents students and schools have usually reached an agreement before going to court, a similar incident in Bavaria saw a Muslim student forbidden from wearing the niqab at her secondary school, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung.

German ministers are currently considering banning the burqa, which covers the entire female body in one garment and includes a mesh over the eyes, after criticism that it fails to allow newcomers to integrate.

Yet the interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, has warned members of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) that such a law would contravene Germany's laws on religious freedom.

In 2014 the Bundestag decreed that "there is no right in public spaces to be protected from religious influences", shortly after the European Court of Human Rights confirmed it was legal for France to ban full-body veils, on account of the country's constitutional secularism.

CDU politican Jens Spahn was the first to propose the ban in late July, telling Die Welt newspaper:

"Anyone who is on their way to Germany [from another country] must be aware that life here will be very different than that at home. They should be even more careful if they really want to live in this Western culture."
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An anti-immigration group sparked panic in the centre of Prague after dressing up as Isis fighters and staging a fake terror attack.

The apparent protest, by a group called "We don't want Islam in the Czech Republic", was pre-approved by City Hall officials and known about by the capital's police.

Yet it was allowed to go ahead in a stunt that caused about 80 people, including many from the city's Jewish quarter, to run for cover.

Their shouts of "Allahu Akbar" from an army truck caused one local restaurant owner to pull out his shotgun while others shouted "Islamophobe" when they realised what was happening.

The leader of the group, Martin Konvicka, blamed Muslims for the demonstration going wrong.

"Until a few Muslims started shouting aggressively and pushing toward the performers, everything was going very peacefully," Mr Konvicka wrote on his Facebook page.

Mr Konvicka, who is an entomologist at the University of South Bohemia, confirmed that City Hall officials in Prague had approved the demonstration.

"The police checked our air guns and even counted how many bearded guys were in our group, to make sure we didn't deviate from what we told City Hall we would do," he told the New York Times.

City Hall officials said they would not have allowed the demonstration "had they known" exactly what it entailed.

The group drove into Old Town Square a Humvee truck while waving fake submachine-style BB guns and a black and white Isis flag.

Men with detachable beards waved fake Isis flags in a demonstration approved by Prague's City Hall officials

And, in an apparent reference to traditional Middle Eastern animal husbandry, they also had a camel and a goat.

One Jewish restaurant-owner ran to the square with his gun, while children and families knocked over tables and chairs as they fled.

The demonstration was meant to coincide with the anniversary of the invasion of the Czech Republic by the Soviet Army in 1968.

Far-right wing, anti-immigrant activism has increasingly focused on Muslims in the country. Tomio Okamura, an MP who heads opposition movement Dawn of Direct Democracy, told people to walk pigs near mosques as an "instruction for the protection against Islam" in a Facebook post last year.

Tensions have risen since a 25-year-old Czech citizen was charged with trying to join Isis in the first case of its kind in the country this month.
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The dangerous balcony-jumping trend prevalent in Spain is mainly due to drunk British people on holiday, a study has concluded.

"Balconing," which refers to the practice of jumping into a swimming pool from a hotel balcony, has become such a problem that doctors from the Son Espases hospital in Majorca decided to research the phenomenon.

The term has also been used used to cover when people fall while attempting to climb from one balcony to another.

Xavier Gonzalez, the hospital's head of surgery, told AFP: "It's endemic. It seems that...it's like an initiation rite for some tourists, whose parents already came here when they were young."

The research team studied a period from 2010 to 2015, only covering patients who were treated in the hospital and not those who died while "balconing".

Altogether, the hospital treated 46 patients of which more than 60 per cent were British. Germans were second most likely to be involved in the stunts, followed by Spaniards.

Alcohol was involved in 40 per cent of the cases, with drugs also playing a role.

The craze is estimated to have cost a total 1.5 million Euros (1.28 million) in hospital fees due to some patients remaining in intensive care for long periods of time, with others becoming paraplegic.

 Police officer karate kicks handcuffed man in Majorca

While it is unknown how many people have died balconing, Spanish media has reported more than dozen deaths in the last five years.

While being most prevalent on the Balearic archipelago including Magaluf and Ibiza, the trend has also been reported on Spain's Costa Brava.

Spanish authorities have tried to curb the trend by printing preventative leaflets and imposing fines for anyone caught trying to jump from balconies.
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The global reaction to the deadliest bombing in Turkey this year has been condemned as hypocritical in comparison to the outcry in response to the Paris and Brussels attacks.

More than 50 people, including 22 children, were killed when a blast struck a wedding party in the city of Gaziantep on Saturday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Isis was responsible, using a child suicide bomber as young as 12, but officials later said it was too early to confirm the age of the attacker or the group behind the massacre.

 Dozens dead as blast hits wedding in Turkeys Gaziantep

It was one of many attacks in Turkey so far this year, which has seen a string of bombings and shootings blamed on both Isis and Kurdish militant groups hit Ankara, Istanbul and south-eastern provinces.

Around 300 people have died in the violence but few incidents have garnered a response on the scale seen after Isis attacks in Paris and Brussels.

On social media, people were questioning why world landmarks were not being lit up with the Turkish flag in tribute and criticising the level of coverage in some international media outlets.

On 29 June, 41 people were killed in a gun and bomb attack by Isis militants at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, while 37 victims died in a suicide car bombing by Kurdish separatists in Ankara in March.

Writing in The Independent following that attack, Yasmin Ahmed said: There seems to be limits to our solidarity and these boundaries look uncomfortably like the map of western Europe.

Turkey remains just outside of our realm of care, not close enough in proximity to afford our grief.

Mr Erdogan appeared to hit out at the global reaction to the Istanbul airport attack in June, saying: The bombs that went off in Istanbul could have gone off in any city in the world, in any airport.

I want everyone to understand that, to the terrorists, there is no difference between Istanbul and London, Ankara and Berlin, Izmir and Chicago.

On Monday the government vowed to completely cleanse Isis militants from regions along the Syrian border, where Gaziantep lies.

In pictures: Ankara bombing Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Family members and relatives grieve for victims of a car bombing outside the forensic morgue in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Men hold Turkish flags over the coffin of a car bombing victim during a commemoration ceremony in a mosque in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Feyza Acisu one of the victims who was killed in an explosion cries during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Murat Gul one of the victims who was killed in an explosion pray near the coffin covered with Turkish flags during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion, the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Turkish police secure the area as scenes of crime officers search the area after an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of victims who were killed in an explosion mourn in front of forensic medicine institution in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing People carry an injured person on a stretcher at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of people wounded in an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, react as they arrive at a hospital to see their loved ones In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers are seen on a bus at the explosion site in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing A burning car after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services attend the scene in central Ankara's Kizilay Square In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown away from inside a bus by a powerful explosion speaks at the explosion site in the busy center of Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services help an injured person following after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing The wreckage of a bus and a car are pictured at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic services and firemen work around burnt out taxi vehicles after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing At least 27 people were killed and 75 wounded in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara in what appeared to have been a car bomb attack according to Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar Getty In pictures: Ankara bombing Medics carry an injured person at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara AP In pictures: Ankara bombing The bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizilay. The news channel said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb AP In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing A destroyed bus is seen in the street after an explosion in Ankara EPA In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters

The so-called Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the bombing, although its propaganda has previously claimed the existence of covert units in Turkey.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said the wedding party was for one of its members, with the groom injured and more than 60 guests remaining in hospital.

Recommended Read more Isis using more child fighters than feared as suicide bombers

The targeting of the wedding turned suspicion on Isis as it continues to be pushed back by Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria, while a senior security official told Reuters the device used was the same type as those employed in the July 2015 suicide attack in the border town of Suruc and the Ankara bombings in October.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that militants could have put explosives on a child without his or her knowledge and detonated them remotely, or even used a child with learning disabilities.

If investigations show a child suicide bomber was used, it would be the continuation of a long strategy by Isis to brainwash and coerce young boys before deploying them to carry out terror attacks, often hailing their deaths on propaganda channels.

The day after the Gaziantep attack, a young boy suspected to have been sent by Isis to bomb a mosque in Iraq was filmed crying as police removed the explosive vest strapped to his chest.
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A British man has died while defusing a mine left by Isis militants after they were driven out of an Iraqi city.

The man, who has not been named, was working for the American security contractor Janus when he was killed in Ramadi on Monday.

A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said she could not confirm any further details, adding: We are in contact with the employer of a British national who has died in Iraq and have offered our support at this difficult time.

Displaced Iraqis in Ramadi unable to return home

It is the first known death of a British national, excluding Isis recruits, in the current Iraq conflict.

Dean Carl Evans, a British volunteer with Kurdish forces, was killed fighting Isis in Syria earlier this year and several Americans have also died battling extremists.

Another British worker was injured while clearing ordnance in the al-Malaab district of Ramadi, which lies 60 miles west of Baghdad. An internal investigation has started into the incident.

Iraqi security forces re-took the city from the so-called Islamic State with support from coalition air strikes in December, but were met by a network of booby traps and IEDs left by the extremists.

The US Department of State awarded Janus a $20 million (15 million) contract to clear mines in Ramadi earlier this year.

The clearance of unexploded ordnance has allowed the restoration of water, electricity, healthcare, and schools, as well as some housing, a spokesperson said last month.

Fall of Ramadi Show all 17 1 /17 Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi A displaced Iraqi Sunni man pushes an elderly woman in a wheelchair on the outskirts of Baghdad. Reuters Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi An Iraqi family, who fled the city of Ramadi after it was seized by Islamic State (IS) group militants, gathers inside a tent at a camp housing displaced families. AFP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Displaced Iraqis from Ramadi. AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Iraqi fighters of the Shiite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq (The League of the Righteous) stand guard outside their headquarters AFP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Iraqis fleeing from their hometown of Ramadi walk on a street near the Bzebiz bridge, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad. AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Iraqi Sunni tribal leaders demand Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send forces to protect their city and regain Ramadi shortly after Iraqi security forces withdraw from the city. AFP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Displaced Iraqis from Ramadi rest before crossing the Bzebiz bridge after spending the night walking towards Baghdad. AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Ramadi, after fighting on Friday, was one of the armys few strongholds Reuters Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Iraqi security forces withdraw from the Anbar state capital, Ramadi, in defeat on Sunday, 17 May (AP) AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Iraqis fleeing from their hometown of Ramadi walk on a street near the Bzebiz bridge, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi 130,000 remaining inhabitants of Ramadi, an overwhelmingly Sunni city, have fled the fighting (AP) AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Thousands of civilians fled the Isis advance in Ramadi AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Iraq security forces were seen fleeing from Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province AP Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Civilian belongings can be seen in an abandoned truck during fighting in Ramadi Reuters Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Isis led its renewed assault on Ramadi with suicide car bombs on Friday Reuters Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi The last remaining Iraqi security forces defending their headquarters against Isis in the eastern part of Ramadi on 14 May Reuters Fall of Ramadi Fall of Ramadi Civilians fled Ramadi as Isis advanced earlier in May. Reuters

We must help Iraqis clear this ordnance and clear these battlefields so that IDPs can return home safely and resume their lives.

Isis captured Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, in May 2015 in a major blow to Iraqi security forces.

A long campaign to retake the city was hampered by snipers, booby traps and the destruction forces of all bridges leading to its centre by Isis forces.

Dozens of Iraqis have been killed in explosions while trying to return to their homes and similar tragedies have been reported in former Isis strongholds across Iraq, Syria and in Libya.

Iraqi forces are currently preparing for an assault on the terrorist groups stronghold of Mosul, which is the largest Iraqi city still under the extremists control.

The army and Kurdish Peshmerga recently seized villages around a key military base to the south in preparation for the offensive, while Isis is reported to be carrying out a wave of beheadings and executions to deter deserters and spies.
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Turkish artillery shelled Isis targets across the border in Syria for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, amid reports that Turkey-backed Syrian rebels are preparing an offensive against an Isis-held border town.

The latest developments have thrust the town of Jarablus onto centre stage in the Syrian civil war, putting US-backed Kurdish forces, who have been the most effective force against Isis in northern Syria, on track for a confrontation with Turkey  a Nato ally of the US  over control of the town.

Jarablus is a vital supply line and the last border point that directly connects Isis fighters with Turkey and the outside world, and separates Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria.

The town is 20 miles from the town of Manbij, which was liberated from Isis by Kurdish-led forces earlier this month. Taking over Jarablus and the Isis-held town of al-Bab further south would be a significant step toward linking up border areas under Kurdish control east and west of the Euphrates River.

An Ankara official said the Turkish shelling came after mortar rounds, believed to have been fired by the militants from Jarablus, landed on Turkish territory. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, did not provide further details.

Turkey has increased security measures at its border opposite Isis-held Jarablus, deploying tanks and armoured personnel carriers in recent days. Turkey has also vowed to fight Isis militants at home and to cleanse the group from its borders after a weekend suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in southern Turkey that killed at least 54 people, many of them children. Turkish officials have blamed Isis for the attack.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that Turkey would provide every kind of support to operations to rid Syria and Iraq of Isis fighters, including a possible offensive against Jarablus.

We will give every kind of support to the Jarablus operation. This is important for our own security, Mr Cavusoglu told a news conference.

The minister also said Turkey had killed some 650 Isis fighters in strikes carried out from a military base in northern Iraq, without providing a time frame.

 War in Syria: Intense bombing in Idlib and Daraya

Ankara is also concerned about the growing power of US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, who it says are linked to Kurdish groups waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

A Kurdish-led group known as the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated Manbij earlier this month. The US says it has embedded some 300 special forces with the SDF. French and British special forces have also been spotted advising the SDF.

Syrian activists meanwhile say that hundreds of Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters are gathered in the Turkish border area of Karkamis in preparation for an attack on Jarablus.

Nasser Haj Mansour, an SDF official on the Syrian side of the border, said the fighters gathering in Turkey include terrorists as well as Turkish special forces. He declined to comment on whether the SDF would send fighters to the town, but a statement from the SDF said we are prepared to defend the country against any plans for a direct or indirect occupation.

The reports and rhetoric appear to set up a confrontation between the SDF, the most effective US proxy in Syria, and Turkey.

A rebel commander affiliated with the SDF was killed shortly after broadcasting a statement announcing the formation of the so-called Jarablus Military Council and vowing to protect civilians in Jarablus from Turkish aggression.

Abdel-Sattar al-Jader was shot by unknown gunmen late Monday, an hour after he accused Turkey of mobilising fighters and terrorists for Jarablus. Mr Jader had pledged to resist Turkish efforts to take control of the city and warned Ankara against further aggression. The SDF declared its full support for the council. The Jarablus Military Council later blamed the killing of Mr Jader on Turkish security agents. There was no immediate comment from Turkey.

A Syrian rebel with one of the Turkey-backed groups told Reuters that fighters were waiting for the signal to enter Jarablus. The Turkish artillery has not stopped ... this is to create the right atmosphere to start the battle of liberating Jarablus, said the rebel, who declined to be identified.

A second rebel familiar with the preparations said: The plan is to take Jarablus and expand south ... so as to abort any attempt by the Kurds to move north ... and so that Kurds don't take more villages.

Anadolu Agency said Turkish artillery fired 40 rounds against Isis targets on Tuesday, after three rockets fired from Syria landed in an empty field in the town of Kilis. The report says the Turkish Armed Forces covered the area with fire without providing any details. No one was hurt by the rockets.

The Kurds' outsized role in the Syrian civil war is a source of concern for the Syrian government as well. Fierce clashes erupted between the two sides over control of the northeastern province of Hasakeh last week, and Syrian warplanes bombed Kurdish positions for the first time, prompting the US to scramble its jets to protect American troops in the area.

The government and the Kurds agreed on a cease-fire Tuesday, six days after the clashes erupted. The Kurdish Hawar News Agency said government forces agreed to withdraw from Hasakeh as part of the truce. Syrian state media did not mention any withdrawals, saying only that the two sides had agreed to evacuate the injured and exchange detainees. Government and Kurdish forces have shared control of Hasakeh since the early years of the Syrian war.

On Tuesday, Reuters claimed that Hasaka's remaining government officials confined to a few buildings known as the security quarter, while the rest of the city was under Kurdish control. The Kurds held around 70 per cent of Hasaka prior to the latest fighting.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army and its allies intensified their attacks on militant positions around the so-called military college in the northern city of Aleppo.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said in emailed comments on Tuesday that Russia and the Syrian government will announce the first 48-hour humanitarian break in hostilities in Aleppo as soon as they receive an official request from the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.

Associated Press
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Israel has launched a barrage of air strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket attack by Palestinian militants.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said sites linked to extremist groups including Hamas military wing, the Islamic Jihad group and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were targeted but Turkey condemned the strikes as disproportionate.

Tanks and fighter jets were used for the bombardment of at least 30 different sites on Sunday night, injuring five people according to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency.

An Israeli policeman carries part of a rocket launched from Gaza after it landed in Sderot on 21 August (Reuters)

Local officials said a water storage faility in the town of Beit Hanoun was damaged in shelling.

It came after a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip over the border into Israel, landing in the town of Sderot.

No injuries or damage were caused but a local music festival was disrupted as people ran for shelter during the attack.

Hamas, the Islamist group that has been in charge of Gaza since a takeover in 2007, denied any involvement and a group linked to Isis supporters later claimed responsibility.

Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the IDF, said the Israeli military remains committed to the stability of the region and operated in order to bring quiet to the people of southern Israel.

 Gaza residents still wary of remnants of Israel war

When terrorists in Hamas' Gaza Strip, driven by a radical agenda based on hatred, attack people in the middle of the summer vacation, their intentions are clear - to inflict pain, cause fear and to terrorise, he added, saying 14 rockets had been fired into Israel from Gaza so far in 2016.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesperson for Hamas, said Israels air strikes marked an escalation in the conflict, adding: Its aggression will not succeed in breaking the will of our people and dictate terms to the resistance.

The bombardment sparked a new diplomatic row between Israel and Turkey, who have recently drawn up a landmark reconciliation agreement six years after the Israeli navy killed 10 Turkish civilians on a flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade.

The Turkish foreign ministry called Israels strikes disproportionate in a statement that continued: The fact that our ties with Israel have normalised does not mean that we will remain silent in the face of such attacks that target the Palestinian people.

On the contrary, we will continue to (defend) the Palestinian cause.

Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Show all 12 1 /12 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The fire in my heart is beyond my ribs. You left me beloved - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Let me get enough of you, as Im still hungry for your smile my son - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict They besiege me in my homeland so I flew to heaven - Rodaina Al Agha, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict And I am still facing the pain all by myself - Lama Shakshak, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My brother, I watched you go while my heart was tearing - Helen Mo'amar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My new doll is lonely in the rubble - Ayah Sha'ath, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict When a soul hugs another soul they never split, even in death - Ismail Matar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Everyone is gone and I stayed alone to make the world witness the injustice done to me - Hamza Shaheen, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The hand that carries the arms carries roses too - Madeeha Al Majayda, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My eyes tell you about a dream that overcame the fence - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict A childhood caught in an unjust siege - Hadeel Quidh, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict All the details are torn after you - Hamza Shaheen, 17

Israel responded hours later, calling Turkey's condemnation "baseless" and vowing to defend its civilians.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon said: "Israel will continue to defend its civilians from all rocket fire on our territory, in accordance with international law and our conscience.

Turkey should think twice before criticising the military actions of others.

Hamas has observed a de-facto ceasefire with Israel since the last war in 2014 but some small armed cells of jihadists have defied the agreement and have continued to occasionally launch rockets at Israel.

The British government does not class Hamas as a terrorist group in its entirety but lists its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, as a proscribed organisation.

Additional reporting by agencies
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The Russian military has said aircraft operating from an Iranian air base to conduct strikes in Syria had completed their tasks amid criticism that it was "showing off".

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Russia had stopped using the base for strikes in Syria, bringing an abrupt halt to an unprecedented deployment that was criticised both by the White House and by some Iranian politicians.

"Russian military aircraft that took part in the operation of conducting air strikes from Iran's Hamadan air base on terrorist targets in Syria have successfully completed all tasks," a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said in a statement.

"Further use of the Hamadan air base in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Russian Aerospace Forces will be carried out on the basis of mutual agreements to fight terrorism and depending on the prevailing circumstances in Syria," he added.

Last week, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used Nojeh air base, near the city of Hamadan, in north-west Iran to launch air strikes against armed groups in Syria.

It was the first time a foreign power had used an Iranian base since World War Two. Russia and Iran are both providing crucial military support to President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and jihadi fighters in Syria's five-year-old conflict.

Some Iranian lawmakers called the move a breach of Iran's constitution which forbids "the establishment of any kind of foreign military base in Iran, even for peaceful purposes".

Inside Isis secret tunnels Show all 7 1 /7 Inside Isis secret tunnels Inside Isis secret tunnels Network of underground tunnels was discovered by Kurdish forces after they regained the town of Sinjar in Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels A member of the Peshmerga forces inspects a tunnel used by Isis militants in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Reuters Inside Isis secret tunnels An entrance to the tunnel used by Islamic State militants is seen in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels The secret tunnels allowed militants to freely move underground Inside Isis secret tunnels The tunnels appear to be wired with electricity Inside Isis secret tunnels Some of the tunnels are 30 feet deep Inside Isis secret tunnels Concerns remain that parts of the tunnels are rigged with explosives

Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan dismissed that criticism but also chided Moscow for publicising the move, describing it as showing off and a "betrayal of trust."

"We have not given any military base to the Russians and they are not here to stay," Dehghan was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

He said there was "no written agreement" between the two countries and the "operational cooperation" was temporary and limited to refuelling.

The U.S. State Department, which last week called the move "unfortunate but not surprising" and said it was studying if it violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that bars supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran, said that it was unclear if Moscow's use of the base had "definitively stopped."

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Russia's use of the base had ended.

"Russia has no base in Iran and is not stationed here. They did this (operation) and it is finished for now," Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Iran's defence minister had said last week that Russia would be permitted to use the Nojeh base "for as long as they need".

While noting that Iran has long supported Assad, a U.S. official said Tehran may not have wanted its involvement to be so public ahead of the 2017 Iranian presidential election.

"The Iranians don't mind helping out quietly. They just don't want the world to know that they are contributing to the deaths of thousands of Syrian civilians," said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"It's their elections ... Everybody gets squeamish around election time," he added.

Relations between Iran and Russia, long cordial, appeared to reach a new level last September when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military intervention in Syria in support of Assad.

After some delay, Russia supplied Iran with its S-300 missile air defence system, evidence of a growing partnership that is testing U.S. influence in the Middle East.

Dehghan said that to make up for the delay, Russia had suggested providing Iran with its advanced S-400, but that Tehran was not interested as it is working to advance its own home-made defence system.

Iran unveiled its new missile defence system, Bavar 373, on Monday, a system designed to intercept cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft and ballistic missiles.

Iran's defence minister also said Tehran has shown interest in buying Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and Moscow's reply "has not been negative so far."

The United States has said it would use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block the possible sales of the fighter jets to Iran.

Reuters
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The Syrian regime has claimed that a chemical attack that killed hundreds of civilians and almost took Britain to war was orchestrated by French intelligence agencies, as Bashar al-Assads government continues to deny allegations of war crimes.

Appearing during a heated session of the UN Security Council on the Syrian civil war, Dr Bashar al-Jaafari hit out at several members of the US-led coalition.

Discussing the sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on 21 August 2013, he inferred the atrocity was part of a plot to divert UN weapons inspectors from another incident blamed on rebels.

Warning: This video contains graphic and disturbing footage

The use of chemical weapons in the Damascus area was meant to prevent from Dr Ake Sellstrom from going to Aleppo because [France] knew who had used chemical weapons in Aleppo, Mr al-Jaafari, Syria permanent representative to the United Nations, said.

They wanted to prevent Dr Sellstrom from reaching Aleppo by any means and therefore they used chemical weapons in Damascus with the involvement of French intelligence.

The attack intensified global calls for action against the Assad regime, with the House of Commons narrowly voting against military intervention in Syria little over a week later.

Frances representative to the Security Council, Francois Delattre, described the allegations as absurd.

Im not going to revisit all the derisory and grotesque things voiced by the representative of Syria, he said, repeating calls for ceasefires to allow humanitarian access.

A UN inspection found that rockets loaded with the deadly nerve agent sarin were fired on rebel-held areas of Ghouta on the morning of 21 August in the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them in Halabja in 1988.

Harrowing footage showed men, women and children vomiting and frothing at the mouth, with graphic images showing scores of bodies laid out on the floors of clinics and mosques.

There was no confirmed death toll from the attack, with the Doctors Without Borders charity (MSF) saying at least 355 people died out of 3,600 with neurotoxic symptoms, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the toll at 500 and opposition estimates ranged up to 1,300.

The atrocity provoked global outrage as violence in the Syrian civil war continued to intensify, with suspicion quickly turning to the Assad regime as UN footage showed rockets identified as Soviet-era munitions used by government forces.

Countries including the US, Canada and France vowed a firm response, while Britain was quickly on the verge of launching military intervention against the Assad regime.

David Cameron narrowly lost a vote in the House of Commons to take unspecified military action to deter further use of Syrian chemical weapons eight days after the massacre.

The Syrian government has persistently denied responsibility for a number of chemical attacks, including the repeated use of chlorine gas, while seeking to blame opposition groups and Isis.

Syrian activists inspect the bodies of people they say were killed by nerve gas in the Ghouta region (Reuters)

Mr al-Jaafari responded to concern over civilian deaths and the humanitarian situation in besieged areas by hitting out at other parties in the conflict at the Security Council meeting.

After accusing the US-led coalition of killing hundreds of people in its air campaign, he said a terrorist war had been imposed on Syria making no mention of Arab Spring protests and subsequent crackdown.

No one in the world will care more for the lives of those civilians or feel their pain more than us, Mr al-Jaafari told the meeting on Monday.

The diplomat also denied that Syrian forces were responsible for an air strike in Aleppo that injured Omran Daqneesh and killed his brother alongside five other children.

Footage of Omran sitting dazed in the back of an ambulance, covered in dust and blood after being pulled from the rubble of his family home, reignited demands for an immediate ceasefire.

Matthew Rycroft, Britains permanent representative to the United Nations, said the little boy had become the human face of the Syrian conflict for millions around the world.

In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Workers in protective clothing holds a dummy grenade In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Workers in protective clothing unload a dummy grenade at the GEKA facility in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Workers check the cover of a dummy grenade at the GEKA facility in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Destroyed ammunition is stored in a container at the GEKA facility in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Syria has already missed several target dates to hand over or destroy its arsenal before a deadline and the United Nations-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission called on Damascus to move faster. 'Nearly one third of Syria's chemical weapons material has now been removed or destroyed' UN-OPCW coordinator Sigrid Kaag told a meeting of the watchdog at its Hague headquarters In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany GEKA is federally-funded facility and its sole function is the destruction of chemical weapons from military arsenals. Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons and disposal, which is already underway on an American ship in the Mediterranean, is scheduled to be completed In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany A worker stands next to a container that will be used to destroy chemical weapons from Syria in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Workers carry a dummy grenade into a bunker at the GEKA facility in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany A worker in protective clothing stands at the door of a bunker at the GEKA facility in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Workers unload a dummy grenade In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany UN Security Council resolution 2118 about destroying chemical weapons was passed after a massive attack killed hundreds in several opposition areas around Damascus In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany Workers sit in a trailer outside of the GEKA facility in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany A worker stands next to a machine that will be used to destroy chemical weapons from Syria at the GEKA facility in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany A worker presents a machine that will be used to destroy chemical weapons from Syria at the GEKA in Munster In pictures: Syria surrenders a third of chemical weapons Germany A worker observes a furnace that will be used to destroy chemical weapons from Syria at the GEKA facility in Munster

Calling for 48 hour ceasefires and an end to indiscriminate attacks by all parties in the conflict, he condemned the abhorrent use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, Isis and rebels.

Over half a year after the destruction of Syrias declared chemical weapons stockpile, reports now suggest that there is a resurgence of chlorine gas attacks in Idlib and in Aleppo, he added.

Is there a more sickening way to mark the third anniversary of the gas attack in Ghouta?

Stephen O'Brien, the UNs Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told delegates he was very angry at the current situation, with hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions trapped or displaced.

This callous carnage that is Syria has long since moved from the cynical, to the sinful, he said.

So please: now is the moment, this instant, to put differences aside, come together as one, and stop this humanitarian shame upon us all, once and for all.
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The looming military operation to drive Isis out of its de-facto capital in Iraq will cause a displacement crisis on a scale not seen for many years, the United Nations has warned.

As Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga continue to advance towards Mosul, there are growing concerns for the hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in the city and its surroundings.

The assaults on the former Isis strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi have seen entire districts razed to the ground, with families either shot by militants while attempting to escape or fleeing to find themselves without access to water and shelter in overcrowded camps.

Displaced Iraqis in Ramadi unable to return home

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said more than 200,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since March and that the even worse is yet to come.

Forecasting that up to a million more people could be driven from their homes, the UNHCRs Iraq representative, Bruno Geddo, said: We predict that it could result in massive displacement on a scale not seen globally in many years.

We are building new camps and pre-positioning emergency relief kits to ensure people fleeing get rapid assistance.

But even with the best-laid plans, there will be insufficient camps for all families needing shelter and we need to prepare other options.

The UN warned that although it is racing to identify sites or new camps,less than 40 per cent of its $584m (450m) funding target for refugees in the region has so far been reached and landowners are reluctant to lease property.

Almost 3.4 million Iraqis have been displaced since Isis seized large swathes of territory in January 2014, and the vast majority of those from former extremist strongholds have been unable to return home.

The continuing danger was demonstrated when a British man died while defusing a bomb left by militants in the city of Ramadi on Monday, with a network of booby traps and IEDs causing scores of civilian deaths.

In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke rises after airstrikes by US-led coalition planes as Iraqi security forces advance against Islamic State extremists in Fallujah, June 15, 2016 AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi security forces advance during heavy fighting against Isis militants in Fallujah, Iraq, on 14 June AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia militia say that moving resources from Fallujah towards the area near Mosul was a 'betrayal' of the battle for the city GETTY In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Hospital sources said 18 bodies were recovered from the river over the weekend AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Up to 60,000 civilians were feared trapped in Fallujah at the start of the Iraqi operation AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold an Isis flag in an operation east of Fallujah  the terror group has lost ground in both Syria and Iraq AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold their weapons as they gather near Falluja, Iraq, June 4, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Pro-government forces bid to take back ground from Isis in Fallujah MOADH AL-DULAIMI/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke billows on the horizon as Iraqi military forces prepare for an offensive to retake the city AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah A member of the Iraqi security forces fires artillery during clashes with Isis militants near Fallujah, Iraq, 29 May, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi government forces fire a rocket near al-Sejar village, north-east of Fallujah, on May 26, 2016, as they take part in a major assault to retake the city from the Islamic State group AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters and Iraqi security forces advance towards Fallujah Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters

Isis has littered their former territories with the devices, which have been used to slow military advances following long sieges seeing civilians starved and used as human shields.

The Iraqi government and US-led coalition hailed the success of the liberation of Fallujah earlier this year but aid agencies described a human catastrophe caused by the siege.

Officials say the final assault on Mosul is weeks away as troops fight to retake territory surrounding the city.

The army and Kurdish Peshmerga recently seized villages around the key Qayyarah military base to the south of Mosul in preparation for the offensive, while Isis is reported to be carrying out a wave of beheadings and executions to deter deserters and spies.

Soldiers were battling to secure the nearby town of Qayyarah, which lies on the west bank of the Tigris, on Tuesday as Isis attempted to hide its fighters by setting oil tankers alight to screen the area in black smoke.

Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi Prime Minister, said the fall of Mosul would mark the effective defeat of the so-called Islamic State in the country.

Mosul will be liberated in 2016. We have a plan to liberate Nineveh province," he said.
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A 45-year-old teacher has been suspended at a rural high school in South Africa after a video allegedly showing him having sex with one of his pupils went viral on social media.

Since the video emerged, six pupils have come forward at the Ekucabangeni High School in northern KwaZulu-Natal province to claim they were sexually abused by the art teacher, who has not been named.

According to South Africas The Times, the girls who came forward were all aged between 14 and 15. Initial reports described the girl in the viral social media video as in Grade 11, the penultimate year in the South African high school system.

Regional education minister Mthandeni Dlungwana said he had filed a case of statutory rape against the teacher in question, as well as launching an internal investigation, describing the alleged incident as a crime we cannot forgive.

And the scandal has now reached the national stage in South Africa, with a parliamentary committee on education describing the case as unacceptable.

In South Africa, the legal age of consent is 16 - but it is also illegal under the Schools Act for a teacher to have sex with a pupil in their care, regardless of their respective ages.

Nomalungelo Gina, a Peoples Assembly member and the committee chairwoman, said on Monday: This is unacceptable. Teachers are in a position of trust and power. They should not be abusing this power by engaging in sexual acts with learners who are vulnerable.

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The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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The ANC Women's League said initial reports appeared to suggest the abuse had been going on since 2012, claiming the teacher would lure girls to his cottage on the school campus and abuse them.

According to The Times, pupils reacted to the emergence of the video by burning down the cottage, where it was alleged to have been filmed.

In a statement, the ANCWLs secretary-general Meokgo Matuba told the eNCA news service: Schools are centres of development for positive citizenry, self-improvement and occupational preparation. Anyone who turns them into centres for sexual exploitation of learners must be barred for the rest of his/her life from school yards.
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There was nothing between me and the deep blue sky. A blue to make Farrow & Ball weep into their paint pots and surrender to the superiority of nature. Mountains reared all around: the dramatic immediacy of the Italian Dolomites, the frosted Austrian Alps in the distance. Meadows beamed with wildflowers and a metal cross marking the 2,157m summit of the Pralongia Plateau raised its arms to the heavens. I felt like doing the same.

I was sweaty but elated. And, at this pre-breakfast hour, alone except for my equally sweaty partner and Filippo, the man-of-the-mountains whod led us up here  at a decent jog. This was our first foray into skyrunning, and I felt on top of the world. This sport created by Italian mountaineer Marino Giacometti in the Nineties is defined as running above an elevation of 2,000m, where the incline exceeds 30 per cent. Or, as Filippo put it: Its starting from the village, going up to the top of the peak, then back down  a little bit scrambling, a little bit climbing.

Filippo leads the way through the mountains (Sarah Baxter)

Wed started from the Rosa Alpina Hotel in the village of San Cassiano, tucked into the Italian South Tyrols Alta Badia valley. The hotel launched a three-night skyrunning package this summer, comprising two two-hour guided runs, tailored to your ability, as well as massages and more food than you could hope to run off over a long weekend.

On arrival wed read the hotel newsletter, which offered a little mantra: Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. As we broke into a trot, heading away from the church, across the river and towards the hills, I guessed I was about to find out if that was true.

Tanned and unassuming, Filippo, it turned out, holds the record for the fastest ascent of 3,343m Marmolada, highpoint of the Dolomites. Fortunately he was taking it easy with us on day one  wed discussed our fitness levels and aspirations with him the night before, so hed planned accordingly. We were starting on a trail that was wide and gravelly  not too technical, no agile mountain-goating required. But it was relentlessly up: through pine forest, by wooden hay-shacks, alongside fields of forget-me-nots and globe flowers.

Skyrunning is freedom, Filippo explained as we huffed and panted. You wear shorts, T-shirt, tie a jacket around your waist  thats it. Any tips? Take small, light steps; if you need to walk, press your hands on your thighs for extra power.

I was pleased that walking was allowed, and that the scenery justified plenty of photo (recovery) stops. Every stride revealed more mountains, the views taking away any breath I had left. Eventually, after 600m of vertical ascent, we reached Pralongias summit. From here, Filippo pointed out beefy Marmolada, the Sella Massif, tower-like Sassongher and his favourite training hill, scored by First World War trenches  a reminder that this high-altitude playground was once a frontline.

Filippo gives Sarah a pep talk

After tracing a grassy ridge it was downhill all the way back to San Cassiano  easier on the lungs, tougher on the knees. I was envious of Filippos running poles, light as pencils, which helped take his strain. I would feel this tomorrow...

Run done, we set about recuperating. We had Alpine herb massages with arnica and pine, designed to relieve muscle tension. We used the valleys extensive cable-car network to access limb-stretching strolls amid the flower-bright mountains. We even tried yoga at the base of a waterfall  good for the soul, though our stiff salutations seemed to incite not sun but thunder, which rolled ominously around the peaks.

Less ideal preparation for the next days run was dinner at Rosa Alpinas two-Michelin-starred St Hubertus restaurant. While pre-exercise fuelling is important, Mo Farah probably wouldnt opt for a five-course-plus-extras banquet including petal salad, beetroot gnocchi with beer soil and beef cooked in hay. Or a wine list so hefty it required its own table. Did it set us up for a run? No. Did we care, as we savoured silky porcini-sabayon tortellini? Not a jot.

You must fall like a child  get straight back up <p> </p>

So, fuzzy-headed and heavy-limbed, we set off again with Filippo the next morning. This time we drove further up the valley  todays skyrun would involve less ascent but a more technical, uneven trail.

Today were fog-running, said Filippo as we set off from the Valparola Pass into a low murk. However, the fog lifted in a flash, revealing an Alpine bowl of splendour. Soon we were bouncing over boggy grass, hurdling tree roots, skipping along skinny tracks and balancing on boulders, skirting around the seven-peaked Setsas massif.

It was, in fact, less exhausting than the previous days climb. This is more head than heart, confirmed Filippo as we descended a slippy crevice via an iron cable. All but the most skilled skyrunners will walk when necessary, carefully picking the safest route. Do you often fall? I asked. Sometimes, Filippo answered. But you must fall like a child  get straight back up.

The slower pace allowed more opportunity for admiring the mountains, which  at this early hour  we shared with only chamois and marmots. As we neared our runs end, dashing down a buttercup-bright meadow, it was all I could do not to burst into song: the hills were alive and I was too.

The luxurious Rosa Alpina Hotel

It would be tough to top such a morning but that evening came close. The Rosa Alpina owns a private mountain-side hut. It has no electricity or running water but it has a huge wood-burner and a barbecue, on which Carlos, a sous-chef from St Hubertus, cooked a huge meat feast (well, protein is essential for run-recovery...). Carlos then left us alone with a white Friuli and hunks of strudel to watch the sinking sun paint the peaks red-pink  the enrosadira. Another colour unique to Mother Nature.

Travel essentials

Getting and staying there

Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spas three-night skyrunning package, from 1,855pp, includes half-board and one night in a cabin (00 39 0471 849500; rosalpina.it).

Powder Byrne (020 8246 5300; powderbyrne.com) arranges breaks at Rosa Alpina from 1,695pp B&B for five nights; flights extra.

More information

altabadia.org
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In return for selling the Saudi Arabian government vast quantities of armaments over many decades  some 3.3bn in value in the last year alone, much of it for the war in Yemen  Britain asked for comparatively little in return. One of the few conditions required of these deals was a commitment not to target civilians. The charge now is that the Saudis have breached that condition.

Oxfam claim that the British Government is in denial over the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UNs High Commissioner for Human Rights, has said that certain Saudi coalition air strikes against civilian targets appear to be war crimes. The European Parliament and the House of Commons International Development Committee have also called for an end to the bombings. The Saudis and the British Government dispute these claims.

What cannot be in dispute is that a humanitarian disaster has befallen Yemen, and that NGO-administered hospitals and other civilian targets have been hit. What is less clear is the precise circumstances of each attack and whether, for example, the Houthi rebels fighting the Saudi-led coalition forces have bases or operations placed, deliberately or accidentally, close to schools, residential housing and hospitals. No one regards the Houthi, al-Qaida or Isis forces occupying parts of Yemen as exemplars of democracy and human rights, it is worth adding.

In practical terms, the onus for determining the extent of any war crimes by the Saudi-led coalition, and of the culpability of Houthi forces, rests with the British Government. For it is they who must determine whether the terms of our arms treaties have been breached, and whether arms supplies should be cut off. The responses by ministers have been confused and confusing. In the past, Foreign Office ministers have been equivocal; now the Government is absolutely certain, apparently, that Saudi Arabia has not broken any of its commitments and, by implication, has therefore not infringed human rights or committed war crimes.

What is missing here is a convincing account by the British authorities of what has been happening in Yemen. That is not beyond Number 10 to organise. Better still would be a properly impartial and independent investigation, and, to be fair, one that takes into account the testimony of the Saudis and the others concerned. Given the bitterness of the war in Yemen and the severe risk it poses to the stability of Riyadh, that is probably unrealistic.

As the release of fresh documents on the record-breaking Al-Yamamah arms deal with the Saudis in 1985 shows, Britain has enjoyed an unusually close relationship with the House of Saud for many years, including warm relations with the House of Windsor. There is undoubtedly influence that works in both directions, and it is not in anyones interests for Saud Arabia to fall into the kind of chaos that has overtaken Syria or Iraq.

This is a moment when the Anglo-Saudi relationship ought to be informed by an honest assessment of what has been happening to the UK armaments sold to Saudi Arabia for defensive use. In a war such as Yemens there are plenty of uncertainties, but the one thing that we deserve to be clear about is that human rights have not been deliberately violated in the cause of a vicious, dirty proxy war with Iran. Our Government can do a much better job of offering an answer to that. That is not too much to ask.
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In these uncertain times for the post-Brexit vote economy, thank heavens Britain thrives in one overseas market. When it comes to exporting death, as a new Oxfam report confirms, the figures have seldom looked healthier.

Once upon a time, patriots like me had serious worries about the future of our splendid arms trade. In 1997, the incoming Foreign Secretary Robin Cooke pledged to introduce an ethical foreign policy.

But we neednt have fretted. Who with any real power pays attention to the utopian ramblings of such an eccentric soul? Six years on, Cookes ethical foreign policy found its apotheosis in the invasion of Iraq which sent him scurrying from the Cabinet in the muddle-headed belief that it was a catastrophic error built on a colossal lie.

Recommended Read more UK government dismisses concerns about selling arms to Saudi Arabia

Anyway, however enticing ethical foreign policy sounded at the time, a real cynic knows that phrase for the oxymoron it always was and will forever remain. Coming second to the US in the medals table at one Olympics might be a flash in the pan. Finishing second behind America year after year in the global league of net arms exporters suggests a mildly unethical commitment to flogging the means of death to any regime, however disgusting, with the cash to buy them.

The disgusting regime in this case is Saudi Arabia. Under David Cameron, arms exports to the desert kingdom boomed spectacularly to a total just under $7bn (5.3bn), almost half of that coming after the Saudis  our number one weaponry client  began the bombing of Yemen, which is the subject of Oxfams report.

The Yemeni war attracts far less attention than that in Syria, so casualty figures are even vaguer. How many hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of civilians have been killed by the Saudi deployment of British-made weapons and fighter jets is unknown. Equally unclear is how many hundreds of thousands, or millions, they have helped to displace.

What is plain is that the British government has long known these armaments are being used in contravention of the international Arms Trade Treaty to which it is a signatory.

It has chosen to operate the arms worlds traditional dual policy of firstly denying the allegation  after insisting earlier this year it was confident Saudi actions in Yemen complied with international law, it corrected that, claiming this whopper was an honest mistake  and secondly sticking its fingers in its ears whenever bleeding heart ninnies mention that it is colluding in and enabling the slaughter of innocents in schools, hospitals and civilian workplaces.

If ever a minister has an attack of conscience over such horror, you may assume that a senior civil servant will nip it in the bud. I refer you to the episode of Yes, Minister (more a fly-on-the-wall documentary, in this context, than satirical sitcom) in which Jim Hacker wants an inquiry into arms exports. No Minister, I beg you, says Sir Humphrey. A basic rule of government is never look into anything you don't have to, and never set up an inquiry unless you know in advance what its findings will be.

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

But perhaps this is unfair to International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. Who knows, the good doctor might be so distressed by Oxfams report that he ignores all mandarin objections to place an immediate moratorium on arms sales to the Saudis and institutes an independent enquiry.

Yet without wanting to come over all Debbie Downer, I cant see it myself. The neo-con Fox, before being resigned over the globe-trotting relationship with Adam Werritty  the best friend with the arms industry links  once hoped aloud that Britain retain a healthy slice of the Middle East defence market. Unlike Dr King, he lived to see his dream realised.

Whether or not you would style Britains share of this market as healthy, its certainly large. One could quibble about exactly how profitable it is, partly because the government massively subsidises the industry to protect jobs in a way it feels unable to do with steel; and partly because we have no idea how much the Saudis need in bribes these days to sign order forms. Since the Al Yamamah scandal, when Tony Blair personally shut down a Serious Fraud Office enquiry into BAEs bribery of the Saudis, these inducements may be made with more subtlety than previously.

It would be lovely to imagine that Theresa May, in pursuance of the more moral politics she wants to represent, will act on this. The least of that would be ensuring that Fox has no deal-striking role in this field. The most of it would be a binding commitment not to sell so much as an air-gun to countries that insouciantly disregard human rights at home or abroad  or, as in the Saudi case, both.

You might have thought such a stance would be automatic for any church-attending vicars daughter with strong faith in Christs teachings. In private, no doubt it is. Whether this PM will publicly reveal a stronger moral sense than David Cameron and Tony Blair, who strove so selflessly to ingratiate their administrations with the House of Saud, time will tell. Every day she holds her tongue, more Yemenis will die and be driven to flight by instruments of war sold in her governments name and used with her implicit approval.
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Over the past decade, the Labour Party in Scotland has gone from a position of decline to one of decimation. After winning 69 per cent of Westminster seats in 2005, we lost control at Holyrood 2007 and then, following the independence referendum, fell back to a single seat in 2015. In 2016, Labour came third behind the Conservatives, a party until recently so toxic that it was struggling to maintain its credentials as a credible party in Scotland at all.

The process that drove this collapse is complicated, but it began with Scottish Labours disconnect from its founding purpose  and, if Kezia Dugdales endorsement of Owen Smith is anything to go by, it is one that the leadership of the party still apparently fails to grasp.

On the working class estates and among the community-minded voters that were once Labours backbone, a single phrase keeps being heard: I didnt leave Labour - Labour left me. The SNP have not changed the basic values of Scotlands Labour base, but they have changed the solutions that people believe in.

The SNP has managed to position itself as the common sense centre-left choice, touting free school meals and well-funded public services as central to their ethos. But the truth is that the SNP is not a left-wing party  it is predominantly funded by big business and has maintained a position of reducing corporation tax to undercut the rest of the UK. Before the 2008 crash, Alex Salmond used to talk about Scotlands post-independence prospects with reference to the Celtic tiger  the deregulated low tax model that is now bringing misery to Ireland. Only in a special kind of political void could Scottish nationalism convincingly portray itself as the new, left-wing populism.

Scottish Labour created that void when it became the party of the Scottish political establishment, committed to austerity politics and tainted by the legacy of the Iraq War. Johann Lamont, leader for 3 years until the independence referendum, staked out her ground by opposing free education and universal benefits. Then the party elected Jim Murphy, a figure whose politics lay even further to the right, as leader. As a result, Scottish Labours brand has become toxic. When Kezia Dugdale tried to shift to the left of the SNP on tax and spend in 2016, polls found that voters overwhelmingly agreed with her  but only when the policy was presented without Labours name attached to it.

Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Show all 8 1 /8 Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith clash at a leadership hustings in Gateshead, where Mr Smith was scarcely able to answer a question without being booed by Mr Corbyns supporters PA Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy himself admitted he was seven out of 10 in terms of his faith in the European Union. He said it, said Mr Smith during his second live debate with Jeremy Corbyn Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Ballot papers are currently due to be sent out on 22 August and returned a month later, with the result being announced at a special Labour conference on 24 September Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy Corbyn supporters cheer and wave placards as the Labour Leader addresses thousands of supporters in in Liverpool, England Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour Party leadership candidate Owen Smith poses for a picture with supporters during a picnic for young members in London Fields, Hackney in London Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith The Labour leader has a spring in his step at a leadership rally in Sunderland Screenshot Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour leadership contender Owen Smith delivers a speech at the Open University in Milton Keynes, where he promised to reverse Conservative cuts set to leave millions of low paid workers thousands of pounds a year worse off PA Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has urged Owen Smith to distance himself from those saying they want to split the Labour party Getty

What Scottish Labour desperately needs is an insurgent challenge to the SNP. Running on a policy platform significantly to the nationalists left is not just the right thing to do for working class people in Scotland; it is our only way back from the wilderness. There is ample reason to be optimistic about such a strategy. The SNP may have run on an anti-austerity ticket, but across Scotland public services are being starved of funds, and further education is being hit hard. The Scottish governments council tax freeze, which is still in force, is accelerating the cuts.

But this anti-establishment platform has to be credible  it has to be led by politicians who, unlike the SNP, have been consistent advocates of social justice and radical economic alternatives. For the first time in decades, Jeremy Corbyn is providing a glimpse of that leadership.

Corbyns policies  public ownership of services, massive investment in infrastructure and improved trade union rights  are popular across the UK, but they are even more popular in Scotland. And most importantly, his socialism is authentic. During last years leadership election, a third of SNP voters said that his leadership makes them more likely to vote Labour again.

The fact that Kezia Dugdale has backed Owen Smith has surprised no one on the left in Scotland. Like Smith, Dugdale is a politician who has seen which way the wind is blowing and shifted to the left. Like Dugdale, Smiths roots are in the New Labour machine, not the Labour left; in 2006, while he declared his support for PFI as a candidate in the Blanau-Gwent by-election, she was working for a string of centrist Labour MSPs.

The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Show all 11 1 /11 The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He called Hezbollah and Hamas friends True. In a speech made to the Stop the War Coalition in 2009, Mr Corbyn called representatives from both groups friends after inviting them to Parliament. He later told Channel 4 he wanted both groups, who have factions designated as international terror organisations, to be part of the debate for the Middle East peace process. I use (the word friends) in a collective way, saying our friends are prepared to talk, he added. Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. Reuters The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn thinks the death of Osama bin Laden was a tragedy Partly false. David Cameron used this as a line of attack at the Conservative Party conference but appears to have left out all context from Mr Corbyns original remarks. In an 2011 interview on Iranian television, the then-backbencher said the fact the al-Qaeda leader was not put on trial was the tragedy, continuing: The World Trade Center was a tragedy, the attack on Afghanistan was a tragedy, the war in Iraq was a tragedy. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He is haunted by the legacy of his evil great-great-grandfather False. A Daily Express expose revealed that the Labour leaders ancestor, James Sargent, was the despotic master of a Victorian workhouse. Addressing the report at the Labour conference, Mr Corbyn said he had never heard of him before, adding: I want to take this opportunity to apologise for not doing the decent thing and going back in time and having a chat with him about his appalling behaviour. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn raised a motion about pigeon bombs in Parliament This one is true. On 21 May 2004, Mr Corbyn raised an early day motion entitled pigeon bombs, proposing that the House register being appalled but barely surprised that MI5 reportedly proposed to load pigeons with explosives as a weapon. The motion continued: The House believes that humans represent the most obscene, perverted, cruel, uncivilised and lethal species ever to inhabit the planet and looks forward to the day when the inevitable asteroid slams into the earth and wipes them out thus giving nature the opportunity to start again. It was not carried. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He rides a Communist bicycle False. A report in The Times referred to Mr Corbyn, known for his cycling, riding a Chairman Mao-style bicycle earlier this year. Less thorough journalists might have referred to it as just a bicycle, but no, so we have to conclude that whenever we see somebody on a bicycle from now on, there goes another supporter of Chairman Mao, he later joked. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn 'Jeremy Corbyn will appoint a special minister for Jews' False so far. The Sun report in December was allegedly based on a rumour passed to the paper by a Daily Express columnist who has written pieces critical of the Labour leader in the past. The minister did not materialise in his shadow cabinet. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn wishes Britain would abolish its Army False. Another gem from The Sun took comments made at a Hiroshima remembrance parade in August 2012 where Mr Corbyn supported Costa Ricas move to abolish it armed forces. Wouldnt it be wonderful if every politician around the worldabolished the army and took pride in the fact that they dont have an army, he added. The caveat that every politician must take the step suggests Mr Corbyn does not support UK disarmament just yet. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn stole sandwiches meant for veterans False. The Guido Fawkes blog claimed that the Labour leader took sandwiches meant for veterans at at Battle of Britain memorial service in September but a photo later emerged showing him being handed one by Costa volunteers, who later confirmed they were given to all guests. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He missed the induction into the Queens privy council True. After much speculation about Mr Corbyns republican views and willingness to bow to the monarch, his office confirmed that he did not attend the official induction to the privy council because of a prior engagement, but did not rule out joining the body. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn refuses to sing the national anthem. Partly true. The Labour leader was filmed standing in silence as God Save the Queen was sung at a Battle of Britain remembrance service but will reportedly sing it in future. Mr Corbyn was elusive on the issue in an interview, saying he would show memorials respect in the proper way, but sources said he would sing the anthem at future occasions. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cheese True. The group lists its purpose as the following: To increase awareness of issues surrounding the dairy industry and focus on economic issues affecting the dairy industry and producers.

Endorsing Smith, Dugdale talked about his credentials as Labours unity candidate. But being able to unite 172 Labour MPs is not the same as uniting the Labour Party. When Smith talks about unity and electability, his arguments make sense only inside a bubble dominated by a Labour establishment that has taken its voters for granted and whose grasp on reality has been slipping away for years.

In Scotland, we have learned the hard way that this vision is not a sustainable one for Labour. What we need, here and across the United Kingdom, is an alternative that is radical and credible in reality and not just in name. Jeremy Corbyn is overwhelmingly our best hope for achieving that.
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The plans to segregate extremists from the general prison population has been a long debate within HMPs. Inmates with extreme political views are currently dispersed throughout institutions across England and Wales so as to avoid them linking up with one another and spreading their poisonous views.

However, the new strategy will hinge on extremists being extracted from the general population and then concentrated and isolated, in an attempt to limit their radicalising others. This call has been met with some uncertainty and fear. The concentration of people who hold extreme ideologies can lead to entrenchment of their views and increased resentment among that small group of individuals, thus reducing any potential rehabilitation that the prison system could offer them.

However, we must weigh this against the damage that these preachers from both the far-right and Islamist side can do, when left alone. At a select committee hearing in July, the leader of the review into prison radicalisation, Ian Acheson, outlined with chilling clarity the perils of ignoring them:

Their behaviour is so egregious in relation to proselytising this pernicious ideology, this lethal nihilistic death cult ideology, which gets magnified inside prison particularly when you have a supply of young, impulsive and often highly violent men, they need to be completely incapacitated from being able to proselytise to the rest of the prison population.

 Anjem Choudary: Radical preacher found guilty of inviting support for Isis

Does this not seem counter-intuitive to then place them all together though? Surely it will concentrate and cement the lethal nihilistic death cult ideology? Rehabilitation has been a function of all prisons in the UK for almost 250 years with the aim of reducing recidivism. By placing these corrupt offenders in one hot bed of extreme ideology it will make it incredibly difficult to bring these people to a deradicalised way of thinking.

This is not the first time that people will be segregated for their views. Think back to Maze Prison in Northern Ireland where the nationalists and loyalists were divided; or to Camp Bucca in Southern Iraq where Isis leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi met many of his comrades and generals. Neither proved to be viable options in dealing with extreme views. The long and short of it is that concentration leads to a victimhood narrative and potential unjustified referrals, exposing people who can still be saved from radicalisation to the worst possible environment. Politically, it seems mildly suicidal too. People are already calling it Britains Guantanamo or prisons within prisons.

However, truthfully, the review being launched by the Ministry of Justice, in which concentration does play a role, is actually a small part of what is a much larger and wide scale prison review. The strategy is taking a much broader and holistic view to counter extremism in prisons than it has been given credit. This includes more educational programmes, a closer look at the preachings of prison Imams and a renewal of staff training. Concentration, in isolation, is indeed, madness, however in conjunction with the rest of the proposed plans, we can draw some positives.

Segregation allows closer monitoring of extremists and greater access for specialists coming to work with them, however, it will not eradicate the plague of prison radicalisation completely. Prison extremism as a whole requires a system where the bar is raised across the board and does not rely on surgical extractions. Of course, the new proposed plan will limit the expansion of extremism in prisons in the immediate future and any potential cross-pollination with institutionalised gang culture, but we need to be thinking long term. As it stands, prison guards do not have the training to deal with gang members and other troublesome prisoners, let alone be able to tell the difference between an Islamist, an extremist, a Muslim, or a convert. We need more training.
Dia de los Muertos: What to know about the celebration of life
SHARE U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan speaks at his Faith & Freedom barbecue, featuring guest speaker Sheriff Joe Arpaio, on Monday, August 22, 2016 at the Civic Center of Anderson. Jim Yates of Laurens wears a sombrero covered with a Trump sticker at the Faith & Freedom barbecue, hosted by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan featuring guest speaker Sheriff Joe Arpaio, on Monday, August 22, 2016 at the Civic Center of Anderson. "Mr. Trump is strongly supported by Hispanics," says Yates as he explains his reason for wearing the sombrero, "We're Americans and we support everybody as long as you're here legally." Bryan Moorehouse watches U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan speak at the Faith & Freedom BBQ, hosted by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan featuring guest speaker Sheriff Joe Arpaio, on Monday, August 22, 2016 at the Civic Center of Anderson. Duncan supporters stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at the Faith & Freedom BBQ, hosted by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan featuring guest speaker Sheriff Joe Arpaio, on Monday, August 22, 2016 at the Civic Center of Anderson. Related Photos Faith & Freedom BBQ

By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

Joe Arpaio, the nationally known lawman who is facing a legal crisis in his home state of Arizona, received a hero's welcome at a political event in Anderson on Monday night.

The 84-year-old sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona decried the "war on cops" during his speech at U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan's annual Faith and Freedom barbecue at the Civic Center of Anderson.

"I can't believe what is happening in our country today," Arpaio said.

He accused the federal government of meddling in the affairs of law enforcement agencies across the nation.

Arpaio did not discuss a federal judge's request last Friday calling for the U.S. attorneys's office to prosecute him and his three of his aides for criminal contempt of court for violating orders in a racial-profiling case. The case involves what critics see as Arpaio's effort to boost his political standing by targeting Hispanics suspected of being illegal immigrants.

In his speech, Arpaio urged people to thank law enforcement officers in the same manner that they thank veterans for their service.

"Give them some support because they are sure not getting it from the president," he said.

Arpaio also gave a full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump, telling the audience to vote for the Republican presidential nominee because "he loves cops and he loves veterans."

He discussed some of his actions that have helped him earn the moniker of America's toughest sheriff, including housing convicts in tents.

"I did it to make it tough," he said. "If our men and women who fight for our country can live in tents, these inmates can do it."

After his speech, Arpaio posed for pictures with South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, state Sen. Mike Gambrell of Honea Path and other politicians in a backstage area enclosed by curtains. He did not take questions from reporters.

A small group of protesters voiced their displeasure about Arpaio's appearance in Anderson before he arrived Monday night.

The South Carolina Democratic Party issued a statement saying that "any politician who honors Racist Joe is not upholding law and order."

"Regardless of anyone's views on Racist Joe's law enforcement practices, all of us on both sides of the aisle should agree that court orders must be followed, and that anyone violating a court order should be condemned, not honored," read the statement.

Duncan, who has voiced support for Arpaio's outspoken opposition to illegal immigration, said Arpaio is innocent until proven guilty.

"It is just kind of interesting that he is being held in contempt of court for attempting to enforce federal law when the federal government won't do it," Duncan said.

A Republican from Laurens, Duncan is seeking a fourth term in a congressional district that includes Anderson, Greenville, Oconee and Pickens counties. He is being challenged by a little-known Democrat, Seneca businessman Hosea Cleveland.

During his speech Monday, Duncan said "faith in government is eroding." He said federal officials need to respect the rights of the states and gun owners.

Two other Republican congressman, U.S. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, also spoke at Monday's event.

About 1,000 people attended the barbecue, several hundred less than last year when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson were the featured speakers. Cruz, Walker and Carson were seeking the GOP presidential nomination at the time.

Walt Owens, a retired Clemson University political science professor whose students included Duncan, said he enjoyed Monday's event.

"It was very spirited," Owens said.

Salem resident John Brinker said he was "very impressed" with Arpaio's speech.

But Brinker also said that the sheriff's legal problems in Arizona are a "matter of concern."

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
Kirk Brown/Independent Mail U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan speaks to protesters outside the Civic Center of Anderson.

SHARE Kirk Brown/Independent Mail Protesters who oppose Sheriff Joe Arpaio's visit hold a banner outside the Civic Center of Anderson.

By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

About 20 protesters gathered Monday evening outside the Civic Center of Anderson to voice their displeasure with Joe Arpaio's appearance at an Upstate political event.

Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona, was the featured speaker at U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan's annual Faith and Freedom barbecue. His controversial efforts to combat illegal immigration have gained attention across the nation.

Monday's protest was organized by Clemson United Methodist Church pastor Keith Ray. People taking part in the demonstration held signs saying "Say No to Sheriff Joe" and "Jesus does not racially profile."

Several people sang "Kumbaya" while holding a banner that read: "Standing on the side of Love."

Duncan, a Republican from Laurens, spoke briefly with Ray and another protester.

Referring to a federal judge's suggestion last week to charge Arpaio with criminal contempt of court, Duncan said, "I am not going to consider him convicted until he goes to a court of law."

Ray told Duncan that he made a poor decision in inviting Arpaio to speak an event that is partly intended to honor law enforcement officers and veterans.

"Out of all the people in the country that could be brought in to say thank you to our law enforcement officers, he is so controversial, he is so much of a force for being against the migrants  that speaks volumes," Ray said.

Duncan asked Ray if he agrees that America has a problem with illegal immigration.

Ray replied, "We have not done the right by the people who pick our lettuce, who put salads on our plates."

Greenville resident Will McCorkle said the protesters were "trying to send a strong message of unity and against the xenophobia that Joe Arpaio represents."

Anderson resident Charlie Brookshire said he wished Arpaio had not been invited to the event.

"To me he represents a meanness," Brookshire said.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
Balaji's next show on Star Plus is already creating a lot of buzz in the media. The makers are leaving no stone unturned to make the show a hit and have roped in a stellar cast which includes popular names like Drashti Dhami, Shaleen Malhotra and Laksh Lalwani.

We have already reported that Shaleen's character is inspired by that of Shahrukh Khan's character from Bollywood film 'Pardes'. The show is titled as 'Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil' and the latest we hear is that the shooting of the show will take place in a foreign location. The entire cast and crew will be shooting in the breathtaking countryside locales of Austria.

The team will be leaving for the shoot around 1st week of September. Keep reading this space for more updates.

Are you excited for this show? Comment below.
George Soros is a Hungarian born billionaire who seems to be funding a lot of malicious mischief around the world. Why ?

Soros was born in Hungary in 1930.

That Wiki article is very favorable to Soros and does not mention a few things.

There is considerable discussion of Soros role under the Nazis.

It has been alleged that he was a collaborator. Apparently, he did admit doing some things that could be criticized although the role of a 14 year old is pretty weak.

It was a tremendous threat of evil. I mean, it was a  a very personal experience of evil.

KROFT: My understanding is that you went out with this [Christian] protector of yours who swore that you were his adopted godson.

Mr. SOROS: Yes. Yes.

KROFT: Went out, in fact, and helped in the confiscation of property from the Jews.

Mr. SOROS: Yes. Thats right. Yes.

KROFT: I mean, thats  that sounds like an experience that would send lots of people to the psychiatric couch for many, many years. Was it difficult?

Mr. SOROS: Not  not at all. Not at all. Maybe as a child you dont  you dont see the connection. But it was  it created no  no problem at all.

KROFT: No feeling of guilt?

Mr. SOROS: No.

KROFT: For example that, Im Jewish and here I am, watching these people go. I could just as easily be there. I should be there. None of that?

Mr. SOROS: Well, of course I c  I could be on the other side or I could be the one from whom the thing is being taken away. But there was no sense that I shouldnt be there, because that was  well, actually, in a funny way, its just like in markets  that if I werent there  of course, I wasnt doing it, but somebody else would  would  would be taking it away anyhow. And it was the  whether I was there or not, I was only a spectator, the property was being taken away. So the  I had no role in taking away that property. So I had no sense of guilt.

Anyway, his role in the early years of the fall of the Soviet Union seemed benign. The NY Times reported on him as a hero.

For the past decade, George Soros, the Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist, has spent more than a billion dollars promoting a free press and political pluralism abroad  everything the worlds authoritarian rulers despise.

Now some of those political leaders are fighting back.

In Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia and Croatia, Mr. Soross foundations have been accused of shielding spies and breaking currency laws. His employees have been assaulted and threatened with imprisonment or financial sanction for alleged crimes.

Here in Belarus, Mr. Soros recently suspended operations after the Government, headed by Aleksandr Lukashenko, the popular but autocratic 42-year-old President, fined a Soros foundation $3 million for alleged tax violations and seized its bank account.

His role in the British financial crisis of 1992 was not so benign.

In 1992, George Soros brought the Bank of England to its knees. In the process, he pocketed over a billion dollars. Making a billion dollars is by all accounts pretty cool. But demolishing the monetary system of Great Britain in a single day with an elegantly constructed bet against its currency? Thats the stuff of legends.

Though it occurred just two decades ago, Soros made his nation-shaking bet in a very different time. Back then, hedge funds hadnt yet entered the public consciousness, restrictions on capital flowing from one country to another were just lifted, and the era of the 24-hour news cycle had just begun.

The details of the trade are explained in that article. Maybe that was a moment when his motives changed.

The Jerusalem Post thinks it did but not when and why.

The DCLeaks document dump is a major story because it exposes the forest of Soross funding networks.

The first thing that we see is the megalomaniacal nature of Soross philanthropic project. No corner of the globe is unaffected by his efforts. No policy area is left untouched.

On the surface, the vast number of groups and people he supports seem unrelated. After all, what does climate change have to do with illegal African immigration to Israel? What does Occupy Wall Street have to do with Greek immigration policies? But the fact is that Soros-backed projects share basic common attributes.

They all work to weaken the ability of national and local authorities in Western democracies to uphold the laws and values of their nations and communities.

It still doesnt explain why. Martin Peretz, former publisher of The New Republic, has some theories.

Soros said Turkey and Japan were still hurt by a reluctance to admit to dark parts of their history and contrasted that reluctance to Germanys rejection of its Nazi-era past. America needs to follow the policies it has introduced in Germany. We have to go through a certain deNazification process.

Soros seems to consider the US as equivalent to Nazi Germany.

I fear too many liberals now believe. There seems to be a renaissance among liberals of the view that there are no enemies to the left. I hear no Democrats expressing embarrassment, or revulsion, at Soross comment. Whether this silence is owed to their agreement or to their greed, it is outrageous.

Peretz was definitely out of step with the 21st century Democrat Party.

I still recall Karl Jasperss devastating point, in The Question of German Guilt in 1947, that every German shares in the guilt of Hitlerism. Such guilt was not, in Jasperss mind, an abstraction or a purely political matter. But Soros does not appear to accept any responsibility for the Nazi-like crimes he ascribes to the United States. Perhaps he thinks that, having contributed $18 million to elect John Kerry in 2004, he was an American hero, a dissident, a resistance fighter, the Grill Rooms representative of the White Rose. And if, in 2008, Soross gang comes to power, how will de-Nazification work? Whom shall we send to prison? Perhaps we should prevent everybody who voted or argued for the war from running for office. At the very least, the neocons must be brought to justice. (Maybe Ramsey Clark can represent them.)

He recalls the 60 Minutes interview with Soros about his experience with real Nazis.

He certainly isnt a Zionist. He told Connie Bruck in The New Yorkertestily, she recountedthat I dont deny the Jews their right to a national existencebut I dont want to be part of it. But he has involved himself in the founding of an anti-AIPAC, more dovish Israel lobby. Suddenly, he wants to influence the character of a Jewish state about which he loudly cares nothing. Once again, he bears no responsibility. Perhaps his sense of his own purity also underwrites his heartlessness in business. As a big currency player in the world markets, Soros was at least partially responsible for the decline in the British pound.

Maybe Soros just thinks the US is evil and needs to be destroyed as Nazi Germany was destroyed. The Open Society Foundation seems to think so.

Its central contention is that in the US, police are not a force for good, enabling society to function by maintaining law and order. Rather, police are a tool of white repression of blacks.

Law enforcement in predominantly African American communities is under assault as inherently racist.

BLM agitation, which has been accused of inspiring the murders of police in several US cities, has brought about two responses from rank and file police. First, they have been demoralized, as they find themselves criminalized for trying to keep their cities safe from criminals.



His efforts also affect immigration, a more traditional position for businessmen.

Then there are Soross actions on behalf of illegal immigration. From the US to Europe to Israel, Soros has implemented a worldwide push to use immigration to undermine the national identity and demographic composition of Western democracies. The leaked emails show that his groups have interfered in European elections to get politicians elected who support open border policies for immigrants from the Arab world and to financially and otherwise support journalists who report sympathetically on immigrants.

Soross groups are on the ground enabling illegal immigrants to enter the US and Europe. They have sought to influence US Supreme Court rulings on illegal immigration from Mexico. They have worked with Muslim and other groups to demonize Americans and Europeans who oppose open borders.

His goal seems to be destabilization of the West but why ? Does he think his class of multinational citizens of the world will thrive in a Hobbesian world of chaos ? Or is it something else ?

The thrust of Soross efforts from Ferguson to Berlin to Jerusalem is to induce mayhem and chaos as local authorities, paralyzed by his supported groups, are unable to secure their societies or even argue coherently that they deserve security.

In many ways, Donald Trumps campaign is a direct response not to Clinton, but to Soros himself.

By calling for the erection of a border wall, supporting Britains exit from the EU, supporting Israel, supporting a temporary ban on Muslim immigration and supporting the police against BLM, Trump acts as a direct foil to Soross multi-billion dollar efforts.

An interesting observation on Trump from The Jerusalem Post.
(And on the Unjust Fella  But mostly raineth on the Just, for the Unjust steals the Justs umbrella!)

Yes, its been raining here in South Texas for all of about this week. Not that were here in any danger of being washed away as they are in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and environs, although there have been reported a couple of high-water rescues on the local news. Its just one of those things; kind of embarrassing, actually  that there are certain stretches of road (to include some lengths of interstate highway) and intersections within the city boundaries which, given a certain amount of rain, falling in a limited space of time  are guaranteed absolutely to flood out. Just one of those things. All of us locals know where these places are, since many of them are helpfully marked with bright yellow indicators, marked off in feet by the side of the road in low places so that one may judge  and others are just uncomfortably close to certain watercourses which usually only have flowing water in them when it rains. So the rain has fallen, to the tune of about ten inches in nearly as many days, according to the gage in my back yard, with not much effect here save pleasantly surprising everyone expecting August in Texas to be interminably hot, dry, and medium-crispy. The lawns and highway verges are all turned a lush green; mark us all down as relatively happy with this local result of Global Climate Change  or what used to be called weather.

The residents of Louisiana have not been quite so fortunate, in receiving considerably more of a deluge in the same period, but have been overwhelmingly fortunate in being self-sufficient, self-organizing and down-right neighborly, especially as regards the Cajun Navy. That is  all those outdoors, hunting and fishing types in and around Baton Rouge coordinating with each other and local authorities to rescue those stranded by abnormally high flood-waters. There have only been a bare handful of casualties, in massive flooding which has reached far, far into places thought previously to have been well above flood stage. In the words of Instapundit  these owners of small boats have been their neighborhoods own first response team in a crisis. And that is just how it should be; functional communities full of responsible individuals are basically self-organizing.

Its all very heartening to read about, and to read about it mostly in the alternative media; blogs, Facebook, local Baton Rouge news reports being linked and repeated by others, and to reflect upon what a tremendous difference there has been since the last time Louisiana got massively flooded. What a difference a change in administration and a distance of sixty or eighty miles upstream from New Orleans makes! Competent civic authorities with well-thought-out disaster-prep plans just doesnt make for shriekingly hysteric news coverage on the part of the mainstream media. (An incisive after-the-fact analysis of national media failure here, from Lou Dolinar.) Mind you, there wasnt a massive hurricane involved  but then, Hurricane Katrina didnt actually hit New Orleans full-on, but the Gulf Coast well to the east. It was the levees bursting afterwards which flooded the place, and left Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco basically running in circles, hysterically blaming everyone else.

It is rather ironic, though  considering how the national media gleefully unloaded on then-President Bush with regard to the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans  and now make every excuse for President Obamas apparent disinterest.

Discuss.
At the time when the entire film fraternity is celebrating the France Government's announcement of Chevalier Award for Kamal Haasan, another actor, filmmaker and writer who has given so many memorable films in Tamil has been honoured with an international glory.

Actor-director R.Parthiban has received the 'Distinguished Director' Award from the Rocheston Accreditation Institute, New York.

The citation in the gold coated certificate given to Parthiban read as below.

"Parthiban, an intense actor, filmmaker, and a remarkable writer was conferred with the Distinguished Director honor by Rocheston Accreditation Institute, New York. His portrayal as Bharathi in Bharathi Kannama will remain in the hearts of viewers for ages to come. Pudhea Paadhai, awarded with the 'Distinguished Film' Award showcased the metamorphosis of a man whose quirks went from being intolerable to understandable. His tendency to daringly break conventional rules to create astonishing stories and deliver exhilarating performances will continue to inspire aspiring creators across the globe"

At this proud moment, Parthiban conveyed his tribute to Chevalier awardee Kamal Haasan in his own unique style.

"His style of rendering thanks for the Chevalier in English itself deserves a Chevalier. This made me engrossed in the memory of KB sir telling me 'Kamal is a school drop out but his English makes me refer the dictionary at times'. Mr.Kamal Haasan deserves all the awards given in the world for artistic contributions. Awards do enhance the vigilance and the sense of art."

It is worth noting that Parthiban has always had high regard for Kamal Haasan and considers him as his forerunner. His admiration for the Ulaganayagan is clearly evident in his message.

IndiaGlitz congratulates Parthiban for this well deserved recognition and we wish he achieves a lot more.
After being named as the next recipient of the prestigious Chevalier Award given by the Government of France, Universal Star Kamal Haasan has sent 'Thank you' audio messages spoken in English as much as in chaste, eloquent Tamil. The speech is marked by his genuine sense of gratitude towards his forerunners as well as fans and admirers. Here is the full speech:

"The French Government has kindly conferred the Chevalier award for Arts and Letters on me. On this occasion, I bow before my more deserving forerunners, Mr. Satyajit Ray and Mr. Sivaji Ganesan, who made even the common man realize the value of the Chevalier Award. I thank His Excellency, the French ambassador in India, Mr. Alexander Ziegler, who intimated me of this honour. This award humbles me rather than stiffen me with pride. I realize my journey in the chosen field has not been alone. Teachers and admirers abounded around me. With motherly care, they have applauded my every little step forward. The melancholy of my parents not being alive to see this day is allayed by the fact that the elders and young are still around in my family to enjoy it. I dedicate this award to my admirers and audience, who give me the tenacity of purpose to pursue, to this day and moment, my arts and letters. Thank you".

This honorable recognition of Kamal's talent makes his country proud. Tollywood's big actors and Movie Artists' Association are expected to congratulate the actor in the coming hours.
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A T. Rex Is Flying From O'Hare To The Netherlands Today

By Gwendolyn Purdom in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 23, 2016 7:23PM



Trip the T.rex's passport (photo via the Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

It's been a big month for T. rexes in Chicago: a couple weeks back the Field Museum's famous dino, Sue, celebrated her 26th unearthed year with a dance party and a Spotify playlist. Now another famous T. rex is stopping by O' Hare en route to the Netherlands.

Trix, a 66-million-year-old female fossil that paleontologists dug up in Montana in 2013, will have her layover today before heading to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on a Royal Dutch Airlines flight packed with crates containing all 13,000 pounds of her bones. Once Trix arrives in the Netherlands, she'll go on display at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center as the first T. rex specimen on display at a museum in mainland Europe.

Trix, on her way to Chicago, is 66 to 67 mln years old. Soon she'll be in Leiden: https://t.co/VDOAKVIULy #Trexpat pic.twitter.com/pDQuFivOpj  Netherlands Embassy (@NLintheUSA) August 19, 2016

Passengers in the airport's international terminal will have a chance to see airline workers load up Trix's crates today, see her oversized passport, have their photo taken with a green screen T. rex, and enjoy special send-off perks like dino stickers and temporary tattoos, according to USA Today.

People lining up to have a picture with #Trexpat Trix on the green screen before departing at #KLM to #Amsterdam pic.twitter.com/8KfBMK5CWJ  Louis PiAt (@Louis_Piet) August 23, 2016

Passengers were very excited to be along for the ride:

A skeleton of more than 40 feet high and 66 million years old is a proper symbol for the width and the depth of the scientific bonds between our two countries, Louis Piet, Chicago Consul General of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands, said in a statement, and its departure from Chicago is therefore an opportunity to call attention to this cooperation.

Trix was excavated by paleontologists from the Naturalis center working with a team from South Dakota's Black Hills Institute. With 80 percent of her bones, she's one of the most complete T. rex skeletons around. Trix will go on display at the Naturalis center on September 10. You can keep up with her travels on social media with the hashtag #Trexpat.
For Monique Greenwood, the decision to be an entrepreneur came down to legacy building.

I could leave my daughter a portfolio of real estate and a business to run, but I couldnt leave her a job at Essence, said Greenwood, who was then editor-in-chief of that popular magazine.

She chose the bed and breakfast business because she loved staying at inns and thought she had the perfect personality for it.

You have to have a heart of service and genuinely like people, said Greenwood.

These days she might be called a queen of B&Bs, especially among African-American inn owners. Shes been in this business since 1996 and owns five luxury properties with her husband, Glenn Pogue, operating as Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns.

While numerous inns have multiple buildings, to have five separate entities is not common, said Kris Ullmer, executive director of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International. There are just a small percentage of innkeepers with that level of longevity, said Ullmer about Greenwoods 21 years in the business.

Greenwood has built a unique model, said fellow inn owner Daniel Edwards of Morehead Manor in Durham, North Carolina. She has a brand she promotes. You will have a different experience at each of her properties.

Greenwoods inns offer upscale accommodations in historic properties with old-fashioned hospitality and modern-day conveniences, she said. Guests are called by their names and there are amenities such as fresh-squeezed lemonade served on the front porch.

Edwards said when he and his wife opened their business in 1997, many white inns depended on a travel guide to attract lodgers.

They put a picture of the property and a bio of the innkeepers, Edwards said. But as African-Americans, we couldnt do that, or we would be shooting ourselves in the foot.

In short, white travelers were unlikely to check into black-owned B&Bs.

In one sense, blacks had a network of B&Bs during segregation. Unable to stay at white-owned hotels, black travelers used The Negro Motorist Green Book, published from 1936 to 1966, to find black owned-and-operated lodging.

Sandra Butler-Truesdale, once a cosmetologist for James Browns and Ray Charless bands, remembers how unforgiving the road was for black musicians.

Entertainers and people who traveled a lot stayed with relatives and friends, and there were certain guest houses, said Butler-Truesdale. Some musicians had buses and they did one-night stands and slept on their buses, heading to other engagements. Sometimes buses stopped at gas stations where people could change and wash themselves.

When Greenwood opened her first inn in Brooklyn, guests were generally family, friends and neighbors. About 95 percent of their guests were black then, versus 40 percent today.

We still have these clients in Brooklyn, but many more guests are coming from all over the world simply for vacation, said Greenwood.

Early on, she and her family occupied the top floor of the Brooklyn establishment.

The business made enough money for us to live in a beautiful mansion, rent- and expense-free, so we began building up a nest egg from our day-job income to be able to buy more property.

Today, Greenwood has 13 employees. In 2015, Akwaabas sales surpassed the million-dollar mark, with much of the profit being reinvested back into the company, she said.

She and her husband own other commercial properties, which they have patiently used as collateral to invest in buying and renovating inns.

What has been most important is maintaining stellar personal credit, and doing that often requires being a pro at delayed gratification, said Greenwood.

Her ownership of The Mansion at Noble Lane symbolizes how much America has changed. The 25,000 square-foot, 14-room Gilded Age inn in Bethany, Pennsylvania was the estate of the founders of the F.W. Woolworth Company.

Mary Grate Pyos of Burke, Virginia, who had stayed at Akwaaba in Washington, D.C., attended the opening of The Mansion.

Whats so exciting about that inn is  as an African-American, who not so long ago was unable to sit at the Woolworth counter and get a cup of water  I now get to witness a black woman owning the Woolworth estate, said Pyos. I wanted to cheer her on.

Greenwood, an astute businesswoman with a love for Afro-centrism, said she chose the name Akwaaba because it means welcome in the Ghanaian language of Twi, represents a connection to the Motherland and because it starts with A  generally making us first on most lists.
Tribal citizens at the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site near Cannonball, North Dakota. Photo courtesy Arlo Iron Cloud



Protests at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline have been peaceful but tensions with law enforcement and officials in the state of North Dakota are flaring.

The state on Monday removed water trailers from the site near Cannonball, The Fargo Forum reports. That means the thousands who have flocked to the Camp of the Sacred Stones and nearby areas have lost their main drinking water supply.

I feel like I just got shot down, Johnelle Leingang, the emergency response coordinator for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe , which had requested the trailers, told the paper. Its very hurtful.

According to the state's Homeland Security Division, the water trailers were pulled due to safety concerns. Also removed were two air-conditioned trailers and a command center vehicle, The Forum reported.

Upwards of 2,000 tribal activists and supporters are at the campsite at any given time and hundreds more have been coming in and out as tribes from the Great Plains and even further away send delegations there. While the demonstration has been peaceful, some 28 people have been arrested, The Lakota Country Times reported.

Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier of Morton County has been largely responsible for law enforcement at the site and he has accused protesters of shooting guns, carrying weapons and even threatening to use pipe bombs against his officers. But tribal members told The New York Times that the "bombs" were mistaken for sacred Chanunpa pipes used in ceremonies.

This is our homeland, Phyllis Young, a Standing Rock Sioux citizen, told The Times. We are Dakota. Dakota means friend or ally. Dakota Access has taken our name.

Dakota Access LLC, the partnership behind the pipeline, has secured a temporary restraining order against Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II and several others that prevents them from interfering with construction at the site. Archambault was among those arrested on Friday, August 12, by the county sheriff. Additional arrests followed last week, The Lakota Country Times reported.

Dakota Access was scheduled to go back to court in North Dakota this Thursday to argue for a preliminary injunction against Archambault and the other protesters. But Judge Daniel L. Hovland delayed he hearing after the parties agreed to extend the temporary restraining order.

"The parties are strongly encouraged to meet and confer in good faith in an attempt to resolve this dispute prior to the hearing on September 8, 2016," Hovland wrote in an order on Monday.

The hearing is now scheduled for 2:30pm on September 8 in Courtroom 1 at the federal courthouse in Bismarck

That case is separate from the one that was filed in Washington, D.C. A hearing on the tribe's motion for preliminary injunction is taking place on Wednesday at 2pm in Courtroom 19, on the 6th floor, of the federal courthouse

The tribe filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers for approving the pipeline. Dakota Access LLC has been allowed to intervene to defend the projects as has the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

The 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline would start in the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota before crossing into South Dakota. From there the route goes through Iowa -- where the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska and the Meskwaki Tribe have raised objections.

The pipeline path ends in Illinois and backers say it would carry about 470,000 barrels a day. It has the capacity to carry up to 570,000 barrels a day or even more, according to Dakota Access.

The pipeline does not directly cross any reservations but it goes through territories ceded by tribes through treaties and it comes within a half-mile of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. It also goes through historic tribal sites, including a burial ground in the northwest part of Iowa.

Read More on the Story: As pipeline protest grows, state pulls water tanks (The Fargo Forum 8/23) Occupying the Prairie: Tensions Rise as Tribes Move to Block a Pipeline (The New York Times 8/23) Oil Pipeline Project to Remain Stalled at Missouri River (The Wall Street Journal 8/23) Judge rules landowners didnt follow process in lawsuit over pipeline (Radio Iowa 8/23) Tribal members gather at Morton meeting (The Bismarck Tribune 8/22) Protesters anxiously await temporary injunction ruling to halt construction of Dakota Access Pipeline (KFYR 8/22) Update on Dakota Access Pipeline protests (Minnesota Public Radio 8/22) Water Is Life, Oil Is Death: The People vs. the Bakken Pipeline in Iowa and the Dakotas (Truth Dig 8/22)

Some Opinions: MIKE JACOBS: Pipeline protest shows new dimension in North Dakota politics (The Grand Forks Herald 8/23) RON NESS: Protests are impeding pipeline progress, safety (The Grand Forks Herald 8/23) Rob Port: Dakota Access protesters need turn toward honesty (The Dickinson Press 8/22)

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Bow Truss Coffee Owner Charged With Domestic Battery

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 23, 2016 6:19PM



Phil Tadros, CPD handout photo

The controversial owner of Bow Truss Coffee Roasters was charged with one misdemeanor count of domestic battery after he attacked a woman on Thursday, a police spokesperson told Chicagoist.

Phil Tadrosowner and CEO of the popular, rapidly expanding chain of coffee shopsbit a womans thumb and drove her to the ground at roughly 5:15 p.m., in the 3600 block of N Wayne Ave., police said. Paramedics treated the woman, 29, on the scene for arm abrasions.

Aside from Bow Truss, the serial entrepreneur, as Chicago Inno calls him, has also founded or co-founded advertising agency Doejo, craft brewery Aquanaut and Lakeview fried-chicken spot Budlong. But Tadros business success has come at a cost: as DNAinfo pointed out when first reporting the story Monday, a Crains article from last month documents how Tadros has alienated several investors and clients, and now faces some 15 lawsuits from jilted former business partners.

News of the domestic-battery charge has prompted some on social media to call for a boycott on Tadros businesses.

Raise your hand if youre not drinking Bowtruss or Aquanaut now because you dont want to pay legal bills for a man accused of wife beating.  mindy reznik belser. (@dupreeblue) August 23, 2016

@BowTruss Phil I. Tadros.....I won't be coming to your business anymore...and others shouldn't either https://t.co/XZ4BBAqyNk  Gerald Liu (@geraldliu) August 23, 2016

Tadros bail was set at $2000 at a hearing on Friday, according to the Tribune. He is due back in court on Sept. 2.
Did you know that the 22nd of August is observed as Madras Day? This week Madras (now Chennai), the capital city of Southern Indian state Tamil Nadu is celebrating its 377th founding day. So, what do you think is the best way to celebrate this day? Well, with South Indian food of course!

The United States Consulate General in Chennai has released a video that shows Americans enjoying South Indian mess food in the most traditional way.

Eating south Indian food by hand their hands, all the way in Chennai style, served on banana leaves, these Americans are winning thousands of hearts all across the country.

#Kasivinayaga Mess - One of the Chennai's famous messes!

U.S. Consulate General Chennai

#Wiping the banana leaves before eating!

U.S. Consulate General Chennai

#The South Indian dish

U.S. Consulate General Chennai

#Eating with hands only in South Indian style

U.S. Consulate General Chennai

#Mix everything and enjoy the food!

U.S. Consulate General Chennai

Here's the full video. Take a look!
1. Priyanka Chopra and Jodie Foster recreate Britney Spears's 'Toxic'!

Reinventing #Toxic the #FosterChopra way! So much fun! #JodieFoster...I hope we make @britneyspears proud! #lyricalimprov @wmag A video posted by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on Aug 22, 2016 at 10:57am PDT

Priyanka recently recreated Britney Spears's popular song 'Toxic' along with Academy Award winning actress Jodie Foster. And the result looks like so much fun!

2. Ranbir Kapoor spoke about when he was told to 'get lost' by Natalie Portman!

He spoke about the time when he was royally ignored by Hollywood biggies like Quentin Tarantino and Natalie Portman! Ranbir revealed how while getting into his car, Tarantino totally ignored Ranbir's request for a photograph, and Natalie Portman once literally told him to get lost!

3. Diana Penty has refused to endorse fairness creams.

In a recent press conference, actress Diana Penty expressed her reasons on why she wont endorse fairness creams. According to her, actors need to be responsible while signing endorsements.

4. Deepika Padukone and her little co-star's pictures look too cute!

Awwww future momi  The way how both look at each other and laugh  I can say it 1000...times she will be a wonderful Mother INSHALLAH    A photo posted by  THE QUEEN OF HEARTS  (@deepikapadukonebeautiful) on Aug 22, 2016 at 11:10am PDT

She recently shot for a TV commercial for an airline with a really cute kid, who plays a young Deepika in the ad. And when the two Deepikas met, it was a total riot of cuteness! Deepika posed with the young girl and the duo looked absolutely adorable in their pictures together.

5. Shah Rukh Khan and Kangana Ranaur might star together in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali Film.

According to a latest report on India today, none other than Shah Rukh Khan and Kangana Ranaut might be getting together for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film.
bollywoodmantra

We had recently told you about how Ranbir Kapoor had given a detailed interview to Rajeev Masand, in which he had talked about everything, right from his family, to his break-up with Katrina Kaif, to his Bollywood career. In fact, Ranbir had revealed other quite interesting bits of information, including how he had refused to audition for the Star Wars movie a few years back!

But there's another pretty interesting thing which Ranbir revealed in the interview. He spoke about the time when he was royally ignored by Hollywood biggies like Quentin Tarantino and Natalie Portman! Ranbir revealed how while getting into his car, Tarantino totally ignored Ranbir's request for a photograph, and Natalie Portman once literally told him to get lost!

He said, "I saw him coming and from far Im saying, Quentin, Quentin. He walks, looks at me, goes and sits in his car. When the door opens, Im like, Sir, picture picture?and they have it on video. It was really funny and I got teased by the entire crew of Ae Dil, but just to see Quentin Tarantino Ive run behind Natalie Portman at Tribeca. She was on the phone and she was crying. I went quickly behind her and said, I love your Before I could say work, she turned and said, Get lost! So Ive had my heart broken but I would still chase them."

He also spoke about how he was never going to play his card of being an actor from Bollywood to get close to the Hollywood stars. He added, "Not that I'm going to say that I'm an actor from India. I just wanted to meet him, take a picture, an autograph."
Dreaded interstate dacoit of Chambal, Bharosi Mallah, who had been active in the ravines for the past 30 years, was killed by Sheopur police in an encounter. The bandit carried a reward of Rs 35,000.

TOI

The police also recovered two fire arms 315- bore rifle and a 12-bore gun, besides some live cartridges from him on Sunday.

"Following a tip-off about his presence, we carried out an operation in the ravines of Chambal in Veerpur jungles. He would take this route to cross the border to head to Rajasthan and return," Sheopur SP Sunil Pandey said.

TOI

Very agile and a good swimmer, 55-year-old Bharosi had been dodging the police for almost three decades. He had kidnapped Tejpal Mallah in September last year and demanded ransom of Rs 10 lakh.

He had also threatened district police of Morena to kill Tejpal, son of Sitaram Mallah, an alleged police informer, if his brother Bhavani Mallah was not released from police custody, police sources said.

TOI

Police sources said the confidence of Mallah community, the boatmen operating around Chambal river, was his strength and that is why he could operate so long without being caught. But, the incident of Tejpal's kidnapping had created a rift among the community. "Half of them went against Bharosi who had also released Tejpal under pressure from the Mallah community," police sources said.

BCCL

"The police also took advantage of the split and started receiving information about his movement. I was getting updates on his movement continuously," said Sheopur SP. "About 4 to 5 of his accomplices had run away. They would also be caught soon."
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has clarified that its chief was only speaking about the need of a uniform population policy in India.

BCCL

Speaking at a meeting in Agra on Sunday Bhagwat said "Which law says that the population of Hindus should not rise? There is nothing like that. What is stopping them when population of others is rising? The issue is not related to the system. It is because the social environment is like this."

In a statement, RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya broke it down

What Mr Bhagwat did not say - Hindus should produce more children.

What he actually said - which law stops you from producing more children?

What he intended to say - there should be a common law about population growth applicable to all.

BCCL

Bhagawat, a 65-year-old bachelor, had come under heavy criticism from various corners. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted "Before provoking Hindus, Bhagwat should father 10 babies himself and bring them up well too."

Controversial Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan had said he should first ask shahenshah (intended to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi) to sire children."

Mayawati had questioned Bhagawat saying "If Hindus begin having more children, will the BJP give them jobs?"

Even BJP's ally Shiv Sena had called Bhagwat's comments "outdated".
Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar was under fire for reportedly saying that Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel were hanged by British.

BCCL

Earlier in the day, someone translated this speech made by him addressing a public meeting in Madhya Pradeshs Chhindwara.

#WATCH HRD Min Prakash Javadekar says "SC Bose, Sardar Patel, Nehru, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru sabhi phaansi par chade"https://t.co/JSgXjcVmAm  ANI (@ANI_news) August 23, 2016

This was the translation that led to the issue!

"The struggle that began in 1987.. went on for 90 years... we threw away British... Netaji SC Bose, Sardar Patel, Pandit Nehru, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, were all hanged... Krantivir Savarkar, other freedom fighters took the bullet," said Javadekar.

It might be the accurate literal translation, but that's surely not what we meant. If we add the pauses and his intend from the speech he was talking about freedom fighters , he talked about Bose, Nehru, then talked about Bhagat Singh and Rajguru being hanged before continuing with savarkar and others as he aknowledged all those who faced atrocities in name of freedom.

But others were quick to point out the way his words were attributed

See the Javadekar's speech with subtitle, and spot the lie by @ANI_news pic.twitter.com/nnSu8C8AUD  Raju Das |   (@rajudasonline) August 23, 2016

The minister himself later clarified that it was wrongly reported

I am amused with the news. I paid my respect to all the freedom fighters since 1857. (1/4)  Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) August 23, 2016

I mentioned leaders like Gandhi Nehru, Subhash Bose. It was a full stop. (2/4)  Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) August 23, 2016

In the next sentence I recounted those who were hanged, jailed and suffered at the hands of the British. (3/4)  Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) August 23, 2016

There was no confusion in the minds of those who listened. I hope this removes all confusion. (4/4)  Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) August 23, 2016

Sardar Patel died in 1950 while Nehru died in 1964. In the declassified files, a Union Cabinet note said that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had died in an air crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945, amidst raging controversy over the INA chief's mysterious disappearance.
Were at Mantrichar, a forward border outpost, somewhere in the middle of the mighty Brahmaputra, a part of Char-lands. The char in the name stands for sand bars and lands, which the Brahmaputra creates and erodes at will, often within weeks. Mantrichar is luckier than some of the other outposts we visited like the Mahamayachar, which is being eroded as we speak. It will have to be shifted within the week, else the Border Security Force risks losing everything on it. Mahamayachar has had 14 other locations, each time forced to uproot itself and move to a new piece of land the Brahmaputra has thrown up.

Indiatimes

The erosion-on-speed might seem like an exaggeration, but once you see a piece of land disappear into the river with a plop in front of it  you begin to understand just how real it is.

Whats the biggest challenge on the Brahmaputra delta?

This is one of the biggest challenges for the BSF while patrolling the India-Bangladesh border in this area (Assam and Meghalaya)  how do you patrol/guard land when the land itself is transient?

Google Map

The harsh work conditions (the weather is unforgivingly humid, boat patrols are tricky because the depth of the river can go from 28 ft in some places to less than 4, that too in the middle of the river) are compounded by a constant worry about the erosion to their outpost itself  which means no place to sleep. Mahamayachar has seen the barracks and other structures getting washed away.

Indiatimes

The jawans now sleep in makeshift tin barracks. Further inland, there is a makeshift railing right at the jagged edge where the river has sliced off a huge piece like a greedy child. Things can and do get worse when the Brahmaputra swells with floodwaters.

Indiatimes

Most outposts drown under water, many of them up to 5 ft, and force the entire company to relocate to a launch on the river. There are big boats with sleeping arrangements for up to 30 soldiers - the BSF doesnt own these, they lease them out every year from May to September.

None of the border outposts on the char-lands near Dhubri have electricity (Dhubri is the last place), neither are there any plans to bring electricity here. It doesnt make sense to make the investment. They survive on electricity from a 10 kva generator which is run for a couple of hours in vital times when the jawans come back from their patrol and have about 4.5-5 hours to pack in some sleep before they head out for their second duty for the day (also 6 hours).

Diesel is not scarce but has to be lugged all the way from Dhubri, which is about an hour away by boat from most of them. So does the ration and drinking water. Small solar plants are in various stages of being cleared and will probably make things easier for the jawans.

What is the threat here?

Indiatimes

Over the period of last night alone, the border outpost of Hathichar caught cows and bulls worth close to Rs 12 lakhs, which were bound for Bangladesh. At Mantrichartoo, close to 100 recovered cattle await a customs auctioneer. In a month, 10 border outposts here recover close to 1,000 heads of cattle, much of it smuggled all the way from Haryana and Rajasthan to Assam.

Indiatimes

One of the favoured ways for smugglers is to tie a banana tree trunk to the feet of 4 heads of cattle and then simply float them downstream. Banana trunk keeps the cattle afloat and they're fished out of the water where the Brahmaputra enters Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh though, the cattle is not considered smuggled at all, but is called imported. It passes through customs, is stamped and branded legal.

Indiatimes

The BSF runs Ambush cum Patrols (ACPs) on the rivers, which are parties of four on speedboats. These ACPs then push the cattle towards dry land, they then transport them to makeshift pens where the sickly cattle wait to be auctioned.

Indiatimes

On the char-lands, cattle smuggling has given rise to an entire smuggling economy with people being involved in various stages of it  from kids who are paid to keep an eye on the BSF movement to locals who buy cattle in an auction. Such is the local involvement that a middleman had bought close to Rs 2.5 crores of cattle in auctions within a month. The suspicion is that a lot of the cattle are again introduced into the smuggling cycle.

Indiatimes

Cattle are smuggled into Bangladesh to be slaughtered for meat, skinned for leather. But the ironic part is that the once processed the bones and the leather are both imported into India for industrial use.

There is some fencing here though. The bigger chars like the BOP of Mantrichar have close to 8 kms of fence running through the middle of it, but in most places in the area the fence is non-existent and the international border needs a fair amount of imagination to locate.

What is smuggled from Bangladesh into India?

Indiatimes

For some strange reason, a contraceptive pill called Sakhi is smuggled into India. Everything else is petty. Recently on a post on the fence, someone threw across one kg of salt one night, followed it up with one kg cumin the next day  something which has the BSF very amused.

Smuggling aside, the area is relatively safer, primarily because of the forbidding Brahmaputra and not for being an entry point for illegal refugees from Bangladesh to India.
Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti blamed a handful of people "with vested interests" for inciting the youth to violence in the valley.

BCCL

In her first public appearance in the summer capital since violence broke out on July 8 after the killing of Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani, Mehbooba said, "A section of people who themselves are not facing bullets and canes are instigating children and teenagers to indulge in violence."

"Kashmiris want to open their shops. They want to send their children to school," she said. Contending that the unrest in Kashmir was "pre-planned", chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said a "handful of people" were deliberately keeping the Valley on the boil while 95 per cent people were peace-loving and should not be punished for the fault of 5 per cent.

BCCL

"I appeal to the Centre to take steps to bring relief to 95% of the people in the valley as they are in the midst of a grave problem," she said.

Talking about the futility of violence, Mehbooba said it will never help achieve anything. Mehbooba also sent out a message to those raising "pro-azadi" slogans, asking them to see the condition of Muslims in Islamic countries like Pakistan, Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan even though these nations have "freedom". She said once guns makes inroads into a society, then the meaning of 'azadi' is lost.

"Guns went into Afghanistan, Syria and Russia. Was anything achieved there by using guns? Violence only brings destruction."

She expressed pain that children are being used as a shield by "vested interests" while attacking camps and posts of security forces to incite them, as a result of which innocent kids become a casualty.

BCCL

Contending that she had planned so many developmental programmes to be pushed after Eid, she said the unrest was "pre-planned" as "vested interests" were keen to latch on to something to trigger unrest.

Also Read: Kashmir Reaches Breaking Point As Curfew Cripples The Valley For The 43rd Day And Counting

"I don't understand what happened... people were waiting for a chance. Whenever the situation becomes little better in J&K, tourism starts, work begins, something or the other happens which creates problems in normal functioning," Mehbooba said. "After the Assembly (session) was over, we had decided to work more. But after (her) Assembly (election) result and Eid, all this began," she said.

BCCL

Talking about her coalition with BJP, which has been criticised by the National Conference, the CM said, "There are forces who can't digest the development programmes initiated under the PDP-BJP government. They are not able to see peace returning to the state."
As the mob rules the streets of Kashmir, the local police officers there are living in fear of being the target of mobs, who want them to join their cause, and militants, who want the men in khaki to resign.

AP

The number of attacks on police from across the state is on the rise. The dejected police force feels they have been abandoned by everyone, including the state government.

"What is worse is that nobody is supporting us. The government has abandoned us," an SSP posted in South Kashmir told The Times of India.

"Lots of money has been pumped into creating this present situation, perhaps hundreds of crores. And then you have separatists identifying brave police officers. We are sitting ducks. But the question to be asked is, who is allowing this?" he added.

AP

Out of 36 police stations in these districts, only three one each in Pulwama, Rajpora and Awantipora  are functioning with some semblance of efficacy.

Fearing crowds, many policemen have taken shelter in CRPF and Army camps.

Barring these, all cops have evacuated police stations since frenzied mobs began their attacks, setting a number of these ablaze.

AFP

According to reports, the houses of dozens of policemen have been burnt down and almost every family, especially those of officers, has received threats.

An officer with the CID said, "Our family is our biggest weakness. The CRPF and Army can fight without any fear here as their loved ones are safe back home. But we have ours here. And our enemies know that."

They also complain that the police is not equipped or trained enough to battle the ongoing situation in the valley.
For the first time in history, non-Bongs have a reason to visit West Bengal.

Maria Eklind flickr

Here Are The Indian States That Drink, Smoke And Smoke Up More Than Others. [Surprises Ahead]

Mamata Banerjee, in a rare progressive move, is phasing out the idea of days where you cant get any alcohol anywhere. Every day of the year, even Gandhi Jayanti, youll be able to grab a beer and forget about how shitty your life is.

As for dry days - when Liquor shops are closed- theyre being reduced from 12 to four-and-a-half days - Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti, the tenth day of Muharram, and Dol Jatra (until 2:00 pm)

Here's How Much Of India's Alcohol Is Adulterated. FYI, You're Probably Drinking Fake 'Daaru'

(Which means that youll still have half the day to get smashed and stock up on daaru).

Hotel bars rated 3 stars and above, as well as clubs will be allowed to serve alcohol 365 days of the year.

"Everyone knows that liquor would be available on dry days if one is willing to pay extra. Besides, people stock up for dry days in advance. Then, what's the need for dry days?" one industrialist told the newspaper.

This might come as a rude shock to the state's politicians. Forward Bloc party MLA Ali Imran Ramz had cited Bihar's liquor ban to demand a liquor ban for the state. He was supported by the Left Front and the CPI(M) state representative, as well as the Congress.

Liquor bans are currently in place across Bihar, Mizoram, Nagaland and Gujarat.

10 Alcoholic Drinks So Strong They Will Knock You Right Out
PAWS Chicago Will Take In Pets From Louisiana Floods

By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Aug 23, 2016 8:36PM



Photo via Eric Danley on Flickr

In the chaos of traumatic flooding that destroyed parts of Louisiana over the past week, people aren't the only ones suffering. Natural disasters like floods can leave family pets injured or stranded.

According to The Atlantic, Hurricane Katrina left more than 600,000 animals dead or stranded. The animal toll of this month's flooding isn't yet clear, but veterinarians and volunteers at Chicago's PAWS animal shelter (the city's largest no-kill facility) are planning on shrinking it at least a little. Representatives of the shelter will leave Wednesday, according to a press release, and drive 13 hours down to the affected area where they'll retrieve affected pets that need new homes and bring them back to Chicago.

The group plans to round up dozens of cats and dogs who were given up by their owners or were already in overcrowded shelters. As the state deals with the storm and its aftermath, those shelters will only get more strapped for resources. The volunteers and vets will return to Chicago overnight Thursday, where they'll transport the animals to PAWS Chicago Medical Center in Little Village for microchipping, vaccinations, spay/neuter surgeries and other medical attention. The pups and kitties will make their public Chicago debut Friday.

The shelter will need additional supplies and foster system volunteers prepared to deal with injuries, medical conditions or traumatic stress from which some of the animals could likely be struggling, PAWS said.
Kannada actress turned politician Ramya has said she won't apologize for remark on Pakistan.

BCCL

After her recent visit to Islamabad to attend a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference, she had claimed that Defence Minister Manohar Parikar was wrong in comparing Pakistan with 'hell'.

"Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well," she said.

Her remark had come under attack from various corners. Fellow actor and BJP politician Jaggesh while participating in an ABVP protest against anti-nationalism said: "People who have not studied and don't have any experience are praising Pakistan. They should be given a peace prize, maybe a Nobel. They should also be allowed to stand next to Bill Clinton and take photos."

K Vittal Gowda, a Karnataka-based advocate had filed a complaint against her requesting the court to register a case against the actor under Sections 124A of the IPC, which deals with sedition, besides other charges.

BCCL

Ramya whose real name is Divya Spandana said "I will not apologise as I have done nothing wrong. I am entitled to my views and that is what democracy is about."
A UN committee has confirmed six of the nine addresses used by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, submitted as part of its dossier by India.

The Committee has struck off three addresses from the list. Pakistan has denied any knowledge of Dawood's whereabouts.

BCCL

India had submitted a dossier to the United Nation's sanctions committee demanding action against Pakistan for harbouring Dawood. The Committee amended its entry yesterday concerning Dawood.

"On 22 August 2016, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry" concerning Dawood on its ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo the Committee said.

BCCL

One of the three addresses struck-off by the Committee is a Karachi address that was found similar to an address belonging to Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations.

The Indian dossier about Dawood was readied a year ago and was supposed to be shared by National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval with his Pakistani counterpart, Sartaj Aziz during a meeting last year. The meet was cancelled and India later submitted the dossier to the United Nations exposing Pakistan.

nation

"Dawood is known to frequently change his locations and addresses in Pakistan where he has amassed immense property and lives under protection of Pakistani agencies," India's dossier claims.

Dawood was first listed on November 3, 2003 by the United Nation's sanctions committee. The entry concerning Dawood was first amended in 2006, then in 2007 and last in 2010. Being a United Nation's designated terrorist, Dawood is subject to assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.

ste.india

Dawood is wanted in India for the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 257 people were killed and nearly a thousand injured. He is also accused of masterminding other terror attacks in India and currently faces multiple charges of money laundering and extortion.
Three Children, One Man Killed In 3-Alarm South Chicago Fire

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 23, 2016 2:15PM



Courtesy Chicago Fire Media

A 3-year-old child and two girls, 4 and 6, died in the blaze, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford told Chicagoist. The age of the adult male has not been determined, according to CFD. A person of interest is being held and questioned for the "suspicious" fire, according to police spokeswoman Officer Nicole Trainor.

The baby was found outside the apartment building, and appears to have been dropped or held by someone who leapt from an upper level, according to CFD. She suffered smoke inhalation and head injuries, but it has not been determined which caused her death. She was transported to Comer Childrens Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The two girls, age 4 and 6, were discovered in the same apartment. And the male adult victim, age unknown, was found in another apartment, according to CFD. One of the victim's family members told the Tribune that the young victims are Mellanie Watson, 3 months, Madison Watson, 4, and Shaniya Staples, 7.

Three additional adults were injured in the fire; and two firefighters were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center with minor injuries.

When crews arrived, the front and rear stairs had already burned away, CFD said. Several people were rescued by ladders and did not require medical attention.

Chicago Fire Department could not confirm whether or not evidence of accelerants had been found, but said investigators are looking into the possibility of arson.
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Authorities have confirmed the death of an eight-year-old boy in Sweden after a grenade was hurled into an apartment where he was with his mother and siblings.

The incident occurred in a flat in the city of Gothenburg as the circumstances and motive behind the attack remain unknown. Eight-year-old Yuusuf Warsanne was the only casualty although he was in the house with other family members when the grenade exploded.

Yusuuf, who is originally from Birmingham was in Sweden visiting some family members. He died while he was being rushed to the hospital.
A man who can no longer tolerate the troublesome nature of his wife has appeared before a court seeking a dissolution to their matrimonial union.

An Agege customary court in Lagos, Lagos State has reconciled a couple, Mr Akinyemi Ilesanmi and his wife, Comfort, whose 10-year-old marriage was on the brink of collapse.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Akinyemi, who claimed to be a prophet, had instituted a divorce suit on June 20, on the grounds that there was no love between them and an alleged threat to his life.

He also alleged that his wife was a witch.

However, the intervention of the courts president, Mr Philip Williams, and the couples families helped to resolve the couples differences and reconcile them.

Williams subsequently, urged the couple to give peace a chance in the marriage and be law abiding.

Earlier in his testimony during hearing, the petitioner, who resides at Akute Area of Ogun State, told the court that there was no love in the marriage.

I have not been at peace since l got married to my wife, she is so quarrelsome.

I am a prophet of God, but since l married her, she has been disturbing my ministry. Whenever l am fasting, she forces me to break it due to her bad attitude. My wife is a devil, even those in my neighborhood call her a witch, he alleged.

According to him, the marriage which was contracted in 2006 has not produced any child.

We got married under two weeks of meeting each other following a fake prophet my wife introduced to me while we were courting. He prophesied then to me that she was my wife.

Due to her troublesome ways, l have now developed high blood pressure.

My lord, I want an end to this marriage because I cannot cope with my wifes trouble anymore. Please, separate us, so that l can have a rest of mind, the petitioner said.

In her response, Comfort who is the respondent, pleaded for reconciliation.

She, however, denied all the allegations levelled against her by her husband.

I am still interested in the marriage. I want this court to save my marriage because I do not want to marry another husband. I still love him, she told the court.

Source: Jtown Connect
The Nigerian army has said that several top Boko Haram fighters were killed in airstrikes carried out in Nigerias Northeastern region.

Its most serious assertion was that factional leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau was fatally wounded iin the airstrike.

There have been false claims in the past of the killing of Abubakar Shekau which were all eventually proven to be false. There has been no other confirmation of the airstrikes but the Army says that 300 Boko Haram fighters were killed.

The statement from the army said that the airstrikes were carried out on Friday deep in the Sambisa forest, Borno state.

Sambisa forest is a Boko Haram stronghold and is largely believed to be where the still missing Chibok girls are being hidden. Although the army has made significant progress in the past year of putting the terror group under its heel, the insurgency is far from over.
A Kenyan bishops wife is accusing the man of God of having sexual relationship with his niece, after a CCTV camera she installed in their bedroom and sitting room captured them in the act.

According to The Nairobian, Irene Kavata, the wife of Bishop Jonathan Musyoki Muthoka of Jesus Liberation Ministry International, claims the man of God has been sleeping in their marital bed with the girl whom he had brought as a house help in their Savannah estate home in Nairobi.

The infidelity forced the wife to separate for a month with the bishop, who also works as a sales manager for a telecommunications firm. Kavata has since moved to court seeking maintenance and upkeep payments for their children.

In a sworn affidavit dated July 19, 2016, Kavata reveals that Bishop Muthoka has been cheating on her since their grand church wedding in 2008 after they had cohabited for seven years.

In the court documents, Kavata claims that she discovered his infidelity during their honeymoon. Her affidavit reads: The applicant states that she has been subjected to live under psychological and physical torture since she found out that the defendant was having extra-marital affairs with women known and unknown to her.

Source: News Every Hour
In an address to a group of Nigerians who marched to the Presidential Villa to pledge their full support for his administrations anti-corruption campaign, President Buhari promised a relentless prosecution of the war against corruption, with due regard for the rule of law.

The President said all persons charged with stealing the nations resources will have their day in court.

He also said that, upon conviction, their ill-gotten wealth would be seized and returned to government coffers.

He equally said that he sought election as President because he felt the endemic corruption in the country was leading us to perdition.

He then solicited for the continued support and solidarity of Nigerians as the present administration work to correct the wrongs of the past.
Trump Boasts He Could Stop Chicago Violence 'In One Week'

By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Aug 23, 2016 3:27PM

Nevermind the deeply-rooted structural barriers to socioeconomic change, the long history of police mistrust or the lingering effects of institutionally-segregated urban planning: according to Donald Trump, Chicago's epidemic of violence is an easy fix. The Republican presidential nominee didn't actually give any specifics on how he would solve the complex issue that's affected thousands of Chicagoansat least 2,000 people have been shot in our city so far this yearwhen he told Bill O'Reilly on O'Reilly's Monday night show, essentially, that he knows a guy.

"I know police in Chicago," Trump said on the show. "If they were given the authority to do it, they would get it done."

When O'Reilly pushed for specifics, Trump went on to say that when he was in Chicago once he met some "very top police" who assured him they could stop the violence in one week. "And I believed him 100 percent," Trump said. "Tough police tactics," (though he didn't explain what he meant by that exactly), Trump said, would get the job done. When O'Reilly countered that a police officer doesn't have the authority to just beat people up and arrest them without cause, Trump doubled down.

"I could see by the way [this unspecified 'top cop'] was dealing with his people, he was a rough, tough guy. They respected him greatly," he said. "I said, 'How do you think you do it?' He said, 'Mr. Trump, within one week, we could stop much of this horror show that's going on.'"





In this exchange, O'Reilly tries gamely to get specifics out of Trump in how he'd lower inner city crime. pic.twitter.com/7XafQnuy7Y  Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) August 23, 2016



This isn't the first time Trump's weighed in on Chicago's struggles. Last month, he Tweeted with his signature eloquence that what is going on in the city is "not good." When Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was pressed on CNN Monday night as to why Trump isn't doing more to connect with minority communities , Lewandowski cited Trump's history with Chicago as well.

Lewandowski said Trump doesn't reach out to those communities because they are not "safe environments for him":

Look, that is a black community. He went to the heart of Chicago to give a speech to the University of Chicago (Editor's note: It was actually the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, and Trump cancelled the rally before he showed up.) in a campus that is predominately African-American to make that argument. And you know what happened? The campus was overrun and it was not a safe environment.

Perhaps because Trump both doesn't feel safe in our city and seems to think he's got Chicago's issues under control (or just about, once he sets his aforementioned magic cop friend free to do as he pleases), he didn't think his VP would need to visit either? According to the Tribune, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence has cancelled a scheduled Tuesday night campaign dinner in Chicago. No reason was given for the change of plans.
A Japanese father has stabbed his son to death after complaining the child was not studying hard enough for a school entrance exam.

Ryota, 12, was rushed to hospital after the incident but died from blood loss, according to Nagoya local police.

A police spokesman declined to provide details of the motive, but explained: The father stabbed his son in the chest with a kitchen knife.

Kengo Satake, the childs father, told police in Nagoya, capital of Japans Aichi Prefecture, he argued with his son for not studying for an entry test for a private junior high school.

He was arrested after local police received a phone call from hospital staff.

Mr Satake reportedly explained to police he stabbed his son by mistake.

Neighbours of the Sakates told police they used to occasionally see Ryota being locked out on the balcony as punishment for misbehaving.

According to reports from local media, the boys mother was at work when the incident took place.

Competition for entry to the best schools in Japan is said to be fierce.

Admission to prestigious institutions is seen to have a direct correlation to a childs future prospects.
The U.S secretary of State, John Kerry is in Nigeria on an official two-day visit in an effort to improve diplomatic relations between both countries.

Both countries are collaborating to put an end to the deadly terror group, Boko Haram. John Kerry will visit Abuja and the Northern city of Sokoto as he is also expected to touch on the issue of Nigerias fragile economy.

On Tuesday, the Nigerian army said in a statement that 300 top Boko Haram officials died in an airstrike and that the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau was fatally wounded.

Kerry stated while visiting Sokoto that it is important for the government to keep in mind that religious extremism cannot be quelled through fear.

We also know that beating Boko Haram on the battlefield is only the beginning of what we must do, Kerry said

Building public trust in government also requires cooperation from the military and law enforcement. Extremism cant be defeated through repression or fear.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived Nigeria earlier today, where he meet with the Sultan of Sokoto at his Palace.

The top Diplomat was in the State to discuss counter-terrorism efforts with Political and religious leaders from the region.

While at the palace, Mr. Kerry also delivered a speech on the importance of resilient communities and religious tolerance in battling violent extremism.

Kerry will later today travel to Abuja to meet President Muhammadu Buhari. The Diplomat is expected to discuss the state of the economy with President Buhari during his trip to the capital.

The visit, likely the last by a major American official during the Obama administration, comes as the two countries have gradually been stepping up their cooperation after a period of strained relations.

See more photos of his visit to Sokoto state.

Photo credit: Chris Stein
Thisday

The move by President Muhammadu Buhari to secure emergency powers aimed at addressing the nations economic crisis may not see the light of the day, as senators yesterday rejected the proposed bill, saying Buhari was seeking to transform himself into a tyrant and would foist a dictatorship on the nation.

The Nation

The Department of State Service (DSS) yesterday said it has made progress in its ongoing tactical and counter-terrorism operations to degrade the capabilities of criminal gangs and syndicates across the country.

Daily Times

Construction of the N6 billion Oyo/Ogbomoso expressway was flagged off, on Monday, by the Federal Government, with a promise of its completion during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Vanguard

Military authorities said last night that following a major air onslaught on major remaining camps of Boko Haram terrorists in Sambisa forest, some of the groups commanders have been killed.

Punch

The Nigerian Air Force has killed an undisclosed number of Boko Haram leaders during a raid on the Sambisa Forest hideout of the insurgents.

The Sun

Federal Government has promised to build 10 earth dams in 36 states and Abuja from next year, in a bid to boost irrigation and guarantee all-year farming.

Daily Trust

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot be an alternative, and therefore called on the opposition party to tender an unreserved apology to Nigerians for their 16 years of disastrous rule.

Leadership

One Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, who allegedly named his dog Buhari for obvious reason known to him was on Monday remanded at the Ibara Prison following his arraignment at the Ota Magistrate Court 2, Ogun State.

Tribune

Abia State government has been urged to explore possible ways to offset the backlog arrears of salaries owed local government workers in the state.
Joseph Olude, a 45 year old pastor of Elohim Cherubim and Seraphim Church, has been arrested for robbery in the Hunbe area of Ogun state.

The pastor was arrested with his church member, Rasak Raheem on Thursday, August 11 by men of the Zonal Intervention Squad of the Zone 2 police command, Onikan. The Policemen arrested them on a tip off that a robbery gang was robbing motorists in the Idiroko-Oke Odan area.

The duo were arrested while other members of the gang fled. Zone 2 police spokesperson, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the Assistant Inspector-General of police (AIG), Abdulmajid Ali, had ordered a thorough investigation into the case.

The suspects operated along border areas of Ogun State, Benin Republic and even Togo. The ZIS operatives were detailed to the scene and they arrested the two suspects along Madoga Road between Nigeria and the Benin Republic. Effort is on to arrest the fleeing members of the gang, he also added that an AK-47 rifle fully loaded with 30 rounds of live ammunition, and 15 extra AK-47 ammunition were recovered from the suspects.

Joseph Olude said: I have five children. I was arrested when the police found five guns on my premises. It was my church member, Bidemi, who invited Raheem.

Raheem however countered the Pastor, saying; The pastor and I are friends. I went to his church and a man called Bode from Cotonou brought the guns. I told the pastor that the guns were for safekeeping in the church and he said there was no problem.

About two weeks ago, Bidemi called me that he wanted to use the guns around the border area. I said he should bring N10, 000 when coming and he agreed. The robbers collected the guns and when they were done with them, they paid another N10, 000. I knew they used the guns to rob. It was a five-man gang

Source: BreakingTimes
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police for the Zone II Command Headquarters in Lagos, Abdulmajid Ali, on Saturday said the case files of a man alleged to have named his dog Buhari should be transferred to his desk with immediate effect.

For now, the AIG Zone II has called for a meeting that we want to call the parties involved in the matter to see how the matter could be resolved, Ogun State police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Joe Chinakwe, 30, was arrested and confined to a police cell in Sango Otta, Ogun State, for three days last week after a neighbour complained that he named his dog Buhari, the Vanguard reported.

The neighbour, who police identified as Halilu Umar from Sokoto State, reportedly told the police that Mr. Chinakwes decision was aimed at spiting and ridiculing his father who also happened to be named Alhaji Buhari.

Mr. Chinakwe, a trader, was immediately arrested and detained for three days without bail, the Vanguard reported.

The paper quoted police sources as saying that Mr. Chinakwes action was very provocative and capable of stocking ethno-religious tensions in the country, allegations Mr. Chinakwe reportedly denied.

Mr. Chinakwe told the Vanguard he named his dog Buhari out of personal affection he had for President Muhammadu Buhari.

After a brief freedom he was granted by the police, Mr. Chinakwe was again rearrested on Friday.

Police said they rearrested Mr. Chinakwe ahead of his arraignment before a Magistrates Court on Monday as well as to guarantee his safety, having been allegedly threatened by neighbours.

Mr. Oyeyemi said since Mr. Ali had expressed his interest in the case and wanted to broker a peace amongst the parties involved, Mr. Chinakwe might not be charged to court again on Monday.

The matter may likely not go to court again on Monday, Mr. Oyeyemi said.

The Zone II Command covered Lagos and Ogun States

Source: Premium Times
The Nigerian Police Force in Abuja, have arrested three suspects Alhaji Isah Aliu, Labaran Abubakar and Abdullahi Ishaq believed to be member of a notorious kidnapping and car snatching syndicate.

Among those arrested is a notorious car snatcher and leader of the gang who recruits the hoodlums and supplies them with arms and ammunition to carry out operations for him, FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr Muhammad Mustafa, said while parading the suspects

The Police Chief added that among those arrested were a member of other suspects paraded recently who fled when a woman kidnapped in Maitama, Abuja was rescued in Sokoto.

The FCT Police Command has successfully cracked down and arrested other members of the syndicate who were at large,he said.

He said that the command had intensified effort to recover the victims Toyota Rav4 car and one other Toyota venza all parked at the gangs hideout in Niger Republic.


The Peoples Democratic Party has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari led government has no concern for the welfare and health of Nigerians. According to the party, the Buhari government just issued a licence to a company that has a track record of producing harmful products, bribing govt officials to conceal its activities to operate in the country and carries out unregulated tests of its crops & products to operate in Nigeria.



This was contained a statement released by the opposition party on August 22nd. The party highlighted a number of reasons why the government of the day must retrace its footstep and what Nigerians should know about the said company.

4. We are concerned that the @MBuhari is licencing a company that produces controversial & dangerous crops & products to participate1/2  PDP Nigeria (@PdpNigeria) August 22, 2016

 in the agriculture sector in Nigeria to the extent that it issued the licence to the company on a Sunday. 2/2  PDP Nigeria (@PdpNigeria) August 22, 2016

According to the party, this company has shown a willingness to participate in corrupt practices in global circles. The company the Buhari administration is licensing to produce corn for consumption in Nigeria was the sole producer of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned in 1979 due to its link to birth defects and cancer in lab animals as well as adverse skin & liver effects in humans.

10. The Company licenced by the @MBuhari admin also produces the herbicide Lasso. In 2015, a French Appeals Court upheld the decision1/2  PDP Nigeria (@PdpNigeria) August 22, 2016

 of a French Court that found it guilty of the chemical poisoning of a farmer who had used Lasso. 2/2  PDP Nigeria (@PdpNigeria) August 22, 2016

The opposition party further stated that, in 2005, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DFA) in which the company, Monsanto admitted to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In the case, Monsanto admitted bribing Indonesian govt officials & telling officials to .invoice bribes as Consulting Fees. Monsanto also admitted to paying bribes to high-ranking Indonesian officials between 1997 & 2002.

PDP, therefore, wants Nigerians to know that the Buhari administration has licenced a company that not only produces harmful products but also has a track record of concealing the harmful effects of those products to operate in Nigeria.

18. In effect, the @MBuhari admin has licenced a company which admits to bribing govt officials to conceal its activities to operate in #NGR  PDP Nigeria (@PdpNigeria) August 22, 2016

19. In effect, the @MBuhari admin has licenced a company which carries out unregulated tests of its crops & products to operate in #NGR  PDP Nigeria (@PdpNigeria) August 22, 2016

The PDP also noted that the licencing of Monsanto to operate in Nigeria is not only harmful to the health of Nigerians, but is a danger to our agricultural sector and our economy.
A twenty-year-old student from Rio has shared photos of what appears to be her with Usain Bolt after a wild night of partying on the final weekend of the Olympics.

Jady Duarte shared the WhatsApp pictures that show her wearing a white top while embracing a bare-torsoed Bolt  who has a long-term girlfriend.

In one of the photos  which first appeared on several Brazilian websites including El Globo after Duarte shared them with friends  Bolt seems to give Duarte a kiss on the cheek while she looks into the camera.

The Jamaican sprinter, who turned 30 on Sunday, was also pictured partying until the early hours of the morning at All In, a club in the Barra de Tijuca suburb of Rio.

Bolt, who has a girlfriend of two years at home in Jamaica who he calls his First Lady, also attracted the attention of 20-year-old Duarte who shared photos of herself in bed with the superstar on Whatsapp early Sunday morning.

The intimate photos show the star curled up in bed with the student at 7am local time this morning.

Speaking to local newspaper Extra, Duarte said she hadnt realized that she was with a famous athlete and described their nocturnal encounter as normal.

Source: Dailymail
Wait Times At Chicago Airports Drop Precipitously As TSA Does Its Job

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 23, 2016 4:00PM



Courtesy City of Chicago

New numbers show that the hellishly long, meltdown-inducing airport waits with which we grew painfully familiar early this summer appear to be a thing of the past in Chicago, at least according to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office.

According to TSA Performance Reports that the city shared in a press release on Tuesday, the average peak wait time at OHare fell by 90 percent, from 105 minutes in May (!) to seven minutes last month. Midway dropped from a slightly less eye-gougingly long 65-minute average peak wait in May down to 10 minutes.

The average wait time (non-peak) at OHare fell from 15 minutes in May to two minutes; while Midway figures showed a decrease from 11 minutes to four minutes.

The mayor appeared at OHare on Tuesday morning to discuss improvements, alongside Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Ginger S. Evans and TSA Administrator Peter Neffeneger. They credited increased staffing and canine units plus weekly inter-agency meetings to refine staffing needs. (What a plan. Whodathunkit?) Between OHare and Midway, more than 150 officers were added since May and nearly 300 part-time screening personnel were made full-time, according to the report.

Of course, before everybody gets too winded during todays victory lap, its worth remembering that this whole nationwide mess probably should have been caught long before it metastasized, especially in regards to the TSA. It was a combination of heightened security measures, low staffing and the right-on-time uptick in summer travel that led to the huge linesall of which could have been foreseen.

With that presumably in mind, Congresswoman Robin Kelly spoke of the need to remaining watchful of future issues. We need to consider federal legislation to prevent serious security issues from occurring in the future, she said in a press release. For the sake of all our backs and feet, lets hope so.
A press statement from the office of the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo which was signed by Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media & Publicity, Laolu Akande made known ways governments has devised to revitalise the Nigeria economy.



According to the statement, the Economic Management Team has indeed been considering several policy options and measures to urgently reform and revitalise the economy.

Some of these measures may well require:

legislative amendments

Presidential orders that will enable the Executive arm of government move quickly in implementing the economic reform plans.

However, he made it known that this has not been passed on to the President, the Federal Executive Council or the Legislative arm of government. So at this point, there are no further details to share.
took to President Muhammadu Buharisocial media to condemn the killing of eight people by a mob in Zamfara after they were accused of blasphemy. He noted that his prayers are with the families of the victims, adding that there will be no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever under his watch. However, unimpressed Nigerians had a thing or two tsay to president Buhari.



The president had tweeted:

I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric & unacceptable. I assure that the law will take its course  Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016

My prayers are with the families of the victims.  Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016

Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever.  Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016

Many Nigerians seem very unimpressed with the way the government is handling the recurrent killings of innocent Nigerians and as such didnt waste any time to lash out on Mr President.

Your prayers arent enough

@MBuhari Your prayers have done nothing. Your body language is urging them on & encouraging these killings.  CAPTAIN (@PaulUtho) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari When will justice come to the fulanis that massacre tivs in benue state everyday? All lives matter  ter ngor (@ter_ngor) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari Just listen to yourself. How many Fulani Herdsmen have been arrested & prosecuted in the last 15months?  CAPTAIN (@PaulUtho) August 23, 2016

@PaulUtho @MBuhari What of the Redeemed pastors wife murdered in cold blood for preaching in a secular state. Has the law taken its course?  The Enigma (@abugu_nonso) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari Eye service! Herdsmen are still killing but still no action on the ground but only mere mouth action on social media.  Chikeka Igwenagu (@Biaframax) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari lol The meeting with your media advisers yesterday must have instigated this lips service. No national conscience from you  Agwu Prince Chiemeka (@AgwuP) August 23, 2016

@mbuhari abeg baba, more action less words.  Emem (@Emem_Bush) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari How many arrest has been made. What is the difference b/w this and GEJs we are on top of the situation.  Ile Ife (@ileiife) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari Mr. President your tribalistic actions and policies add fuel to fire of these barbarity by less-informed almajiris.  nnamdi ahukanna (@nnamdiahukanna) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari this govt by day is looking so confused bloodshed keeps happening and all we get is we will we will why cant be stopped  Jim De Victor (@jimatez) August 23, 2016

@MBuhari Next joke please! As long as they are not part of the 5% their barbarism will be tolerated by our clueless FG  Arise_9ja (@Arise_9ja) August 23, 2016
If you've been in the technology industry for more than a decade, you remember the Wintel world that was: PCs from Hewlett-Packard and Dell reigned, Windows was the only operating system that mattered, and the Wintel duopoly would live as long as Rome. In 2005, the still-struggling Apple dropped the PowerPC and embraced Intel chips; about the only sign of trouble was IBM getting out of the PC business, selling it to China's Lenovo -- but that was framed as the fall of an American icon that was stretched in too many directions and the concurrent rise of China, not related to the PC itself.

Then it all fell apart.

Today, the companies that matter are not the old Wintel hardware powerhouses, but Apple, Google, and Samsung -- and Microsoft, thanks to a turnaround piloted by its current CEO, Satya Nadella. IBM's pivot away from the PC helped it focus enough to get a new wind as a systems integrator and back-end provider -- it essentially decided to play a different game.

Of the three Wintel hardware giants, HP and Dell seem destined for the dustbin of history, though they can persist as is for years through a slow decline. Intel may -- or may not -- turn around, Apple-like, by conquering new markets. It's flailed for years but still keeps trying, with the advantage of having retained an innovative engineering culture that Dell never had and HP long ago jettisoned.

Let me explain why.

Around 2010, people and companies started buying fewer and fewer PCs -- and the numbers are still down. Apple's Macintosh defied the trend, growing while Windows PCs declined -- but about 18 months ago the Mac joined the downward trajectory. In 2007, then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs dubbed the shift "post-PC."

Those forever giants of the Wintel world reacted with panic.

How HP and Dell set a path to likely oblivion

HP spasmed several times, with its unparalleled Palm/WebOS tragedy showing the emperor had no clothes. Worse, HP was a rightfully fabled company -- that emperor once had a full closet of fine clothes, but over the years jettisoned its non-PC and nonprinter businesses, betting on a cash cow in a market that soon would stop drinking milk.

Then as Microsoft's Windows 8 disaster unfolded, HP looked for a new boat to jump into. The result was the Palm debacle -- a risky, poorly managed bet to usurp Apple and the then-emerging Google Android as the mobile standard.

That was followed by ham-handed attempts to go into datacenter technology, where high-margin enterprise sales lurked. After several false starts, HP started getting a cohesive business going -- just as the cloud began hollowing out the private datacenter. HP has tried to move to the cloud, with decidedly mixed results.

HP also tried to make the PC work, slavishly supporting Microsoft's several failed PC technology directions over the last decade, such as touchscreen PCs and Windows Phones. HP also spun up the Pro Slate line of Android tablets once it realized Windows tablets were going nowhere. The completely generic, underpowered Pro Slates went nowhere, and HP finally dumped them this summer.

Ironically, Microsoft last year finally figured out a compelling approach to Windows 10 tablets, and now enjoys both healthy sales and respect for its fourth-generation Surface Pro. But so far, only Microsoft has pulled off this twofer -- not Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, or HP.

Last year, HP President Meg Whitman split the company into HP and HP Enterprise, the former stuck on PCs and printers and the latter charged with figuring out the cloud and legacy datacenter business, which it's tackled through a hybrid approach meant to appeal to trailing-edge IT customers. Whitman leads HPE, not HP, for obvious reasons.

Dell's story is less dramatic but equally as dispiriting. Dell wasn't an engineering company in the sense of Intel, HP, or Apple -- its engineering focus was all about manufacturing process, not the PCs it was making. That process focus gave Dell its claim to fame in the early PC days: the ability for customers to configure systems via the web, then get that customized PCs in a few short days. Everyone else had a few, preconfigured models for customers to choose from -- like toasters and refrigerators.

Customization was a masterstroke in that era when PC technology changed so quickly and had so many legitimate variations. Over time, though, PC technology standardized, so the need to customize faded beyond a few aspects any seller could handle: amount of memory, hard disk size, and type of optical drive. Oh, and do you want a monitor with that? Dell became like any other PC seller.

Like Compaq, Gateway, and others, Dell did the same as most providers in a commoditized market: Sell on price. Dell began compromising the quality of its components to save a nickel here, a dime there. Soon, its PCs became unreliable as components like power supplies failed increasingly often.

Dell was hardly alone, but it had established itself as an enterprise provider. It would guarantee stable hardware offerings for several years, so IT didn't have to worry about driver differences (which to this day can suddenly disable Windows and PC applications when updates come out) as it replaced or added PCs in the office.

As an enterprise provider, Dell made an implicit deal with IT regarding quality: reliability. It's why IT shied away from Gateway, Packard Bell, eMachines, and Compaq (which, in its latter days, pulled a Dell). By the late 2000s, Dell's reputation for poor quality turned off IT buyers in droves; I know several large organizations that still won't buy Dell as a result.

In the last few years, Dell has tried to move upmarket with servers and other higher-margin products aimed at enterprise, and it's branched out into software and IT consulting. What old-school hardware company hasn't? (IBM, HP, and Intel all have, that's for sure.) But with its reputation for quality tarnished, it faces plenty of competitors in its midmarket aspirations.

Like HP, Dell has also fiddled with other low-margin consumer electronics as it shifted its PC business. In fact, Dell did it before HP, by coming out with its own Venue Android phones and tablets. The products were cheap and uninspired; unsurprisingly no one bought them. Dell egotistically assumed its name alone would be enough for individual and IT buyers. Umm, no -- especially not with Samsung, LG, and sometimes HTC making determined efforts to produce high-quality Android devices.

Over the last few years Dell's focus has been more about who owns the company than any other factor.

Both HP and Dell are chasing after the market, not trying to figure out where the market is going and trying to get there early enough and good enough to matter. They're piloting from the rearview mirror, and that gets you nowhere.

Intel has a chance to reinvent itself

Intel's journey is similar to HP's and Dell's. Overconfident due to its PC processor hegemony, it has tried to enter or even create several markets -- expecting everyone to get out of the way or follow -- to no effect.

Remember the WiMax broadband wireless technology that would connect everything at superfast speeds? That was Intel trying to displace Qualcomm, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and the whole base of technologies we call 3G and 4G.

Intel then tried to take over the communications chip market, despite the much lower margins. It's earned a share there but does not dominate. After that came a disastrous mobile strategy fueled by ego, not good products. Its power-hungry processors were shunned by smartphone and tablet makers. ARM's triumph showed everyone that Intel could fail in a market that mattered to its longevity.

Intel's attempt to goose the mobile x86 market by porting Android removed any doubt about that Intel was out of its depth: The x86 version of Android was late, incomplete, and slow. Even Microsoft, Intel's longtime partner, decided to go with rival ARM. Android for x86 is not officially dead, but in practice it is over.

Intel tried again (taking second chair to Samsung) with Tizen, an open source OS that has been passed around way too many times. Intel treated it as an academic project, not a product. (Intel seemed to be the actual engineering driver behind the Tizen OS, with Samsung focused on devices using it.) Not surprisingly, it still is incomplete and irrelevant -- though now allegedly focused on the internet of things rather than phones and tablets (where it has no chance against Android).

Now, Intel has jumped to two new fads: the internet of things and virtual reality, as showcased at the Intel Developer Forum last week. It's also moving into support chips that can be used on multiple devices, not only PCs -- a very rational decision.

Part of me foresees another journey to nowhere for Intel in these market fads. Although both markets have real cores, much of the technology industry is addicted to the hype and not building for the reality. We'll see major flameouts here over the next few years. Intel's recent history points to it being part of the coming meltdown.

But there are signs that Intel will be smarter -- or at least smart enough -- this time. The newish CEO, Brian Krzanich, seems to have real passion here; he appears at all sorts of industry events to show off Intel-powered prototypes, and he stars in an Intel-fueled TV contest show, "America's Greatest Makers," for hardware tech startups. We may have something different at the top this time.

If Krzanich's strategic focus is as strong as his marketing focus, there's a chance Intel can approach both IoT and VR with both the necessary hubris and the necessary engineering innovation to create the next big thing. In the communications and mobile markets, Intel simply tried to swoop in and force-fit what it already has into new markets -- a recipe for disaster fueled by Intel's arrogance. Intel can't do that this time if it wants to succeed.

Dell and HP were captive to Wintel -- the products they sold were based on others' technology. By contrast, Intel was a co-creator of Wintel. Microsoft finally stepped back and deeply rethought itself as the post-PC era threatened it, and so too could -- and should -- Intel. After all, there are many big guns also tackling IoT and VR, including IBM, Samsung, and Qualcomm.

Actions speak louder than words, and it'll be a while before we see what actions Intel is actually taken. Intel's words are clear, but we've heard that jive before. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this time the story matched the reality, and Intel pulled off the kind of comeback Apple did a decade ago and Microsoft is now doing?
With the 1.0 release of its gRPC protocol, Google aims to provide a next-generation standard for server-to-server communications in an age of cloud microservices.

Originally unveiled last year, gRPC was conceived as a transport framework for handling both public- and private-facing service endpoints. It uses HTTP/2 for its network features -- flow control, header compression, multiplexing requests for speed -- and employs another Google invention, called protocol buffers, to transmit the actual RPC data.

[ Download InfoWorlds essential guide to microservices and learn how to create modern web and mobile applications that scale. | Cut to the key news in technology trends and IT breakthroughs with the InfoWorld Daily newsletter, our summary of the top tech happenings. ]

Both features are meant to improve the traditional method of having web services talk to each other by sending JSON-encoded data over HTTP. Connections between servers with HTTP/2 are supposed to be faster and more efficient, and Google claims it's faster still to serialize and deserialize the data with protocol buffers than with JSON. (Google provides gRPC and protocol buffer platform libraries for most major languages.)

The 1.0 release touts ease of use, API stability, and breadth of support (such as Python 3). Previously, if you wanted to use gRPC, you had to put together a number of the pieces yourself. To set up the current release, developers do little more than install the needed library from a given language's package manager.

Even before gRPC was fully baked, third parties began taking an interest in it for their projects. Docker adopted gRPC as the messaging protocol for nodes in Docker 1.12. CoreOS, maker of the container-oriented Linux system, picked up on gRPC and made it into the standard messaging component for the third release of its ETCD distributed key-value store, which is used to maintain consistency of state across clusters.

Brandon Philips, CTO of CoreOS, described in a phone call why gRPC was an attractive alternative to JSON over HTTP. "JSON is kind of the default language of the Internet these days, and so most APIs are JSON-encoded," he said. But Philips also noted that JSON and HTTP make it difficult to efficiently request multiple items. gRPC addresses both problems while also providing lower latencies and smaller memory footprints, he said.

According to Philips, there's one drawback to HTTP/2 and gRPC/protocol buffers: Since they're both binary, compressed formats, they aren't directly human-readable. For those used to JSON as a standard data interchange format for microservices, this will seem like a step backward since additional tooling is needed to inspect and parse gRPC traffic.

But Google is hoping the momentum behind HTTP/2 -- as seen in products like Nginx -- and third-party interest in gRPC will allow others to see it as a viable solution.
South Bend, Indiana  Plaintiff Lifetime Industries, Inc. (LTI) of Elkhart, Indiana filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Northern District of Indiana alleging that Defendant Trim-Lok, Inc. of Buena Park, California infringed Plaintiffs patent for a Two-Part Seal for a Slide-Out Room.

The patent-in-suit, U. S. Patent No. 6,966,590 (the 590 patent), has been issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Plaintiff states that it currently produces, sells, and distributes two-part seals covered by the 590 patent (collectively, LTI Seals), which are directed towards the addition of a slide-out room to a recreational vehicle. The LTI Seals include a mounting portion and a separate bulb portion that slidably connects to the mounting portion.

Plaintiff asserts that Defendant makes, uses, sells, and offers for sale a seal that, once installed on a recreational vehicle, infringes one or more claims of the 590 patent. Plaintiff indicates that it discovered this alleged wrongdoing by Defendant during a visit to Forest River, Inc., a manufacturer of recreational vehicles and mobile living quarters.

Plaintiff also contends that Defendants infringing behavior was knowing and intentional, citing in part two former LTI engineers who began work for Trim-Lok. These two engineers purportedly had knowledge of the 590 patent and LTI asserts that they contributed to or designed Defendants accused product.

In this lawsuit, filed by Indiana patent attorneys, the following counts are listed:

 Direct Infringement of the 590 Patent

 Induced Infringement of the 590 Patent  Contributory Infringement of the 590 Patent

Plaintiff seeks damages, including treble damages, along with equitable relief, costs and attorneys fees.

Practice Tip: This is not the first instance of patent litigation between these parties. LTI sued Trim-Lok in 2013 alleging that Trim-Lok had infringed the same patent by offering another product.

The case was assigned to Judge Jon DeGuilio and Magistrate Judge Michael G. Gotsch, Sr. in the Northern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 3:16-cv-00559-JD-MGG.

Complaint
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%)

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%)

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)

Soy Futures Close Mixed on Higher Beans and Meal Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT Soybean futures ended the day with the deferred contracts above the $14/bu mark on 5 1/2 to 8 cent gains. November contracts stayed 12 cents under the mark but closed near the top end of the 20 cent range... ZSX22 : 1387-6s (+0.40%) ZSPAUS.CM : 13.4825 (+0.51%) ZSF23 : 1400-2s (+0.48%) ZSH23 : 1409-0s (+0.50%)
The words "Experience China in Iran" inscribed in the center of a big banner shaded with a deep azure hue and posted at the yard of Niavaran Cultural Center welcome the visitors to the opening ceremony of a Chinese cultural event in Iran's capital Tehran on Monday.

A further reading of the posters and designs in the interior setting of the cultural center invites us to learn more about the theme of the event, namely, cultural exploration of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The one-week event, titled "2016 Experience China in Iran," is open to public from Aug. 22 until Aug. 28 and features Xinjiang through a photo exhibition, seminars and other cultural activities.

As Iranian and other countries' cultural officials and diplomats, groups of Chinese and Iranian artists, media representatives and other guests stepped into the main hall for official opening, a live music by Xinjiang performers attracts sights and senses of the participants.

The audience are then invited to listen to the remarks and messages of the officials from both countries to the event.

Cui Yuying, deputy director of China's State Council Information Office, said the festival will help the Iranian people know more about Xinjiang and feel the diverse culture in China.

"Iran and China enjoy vast area of cultural commonalities ... and it would be a great success to keep this culture of deep friendship between two countries alive," Ali Moradkhani, Iran's deputy minister of Culture and Islamic Guidence, said.

A photo exhibition, which occupies major space of Niavaran Cultural hall, presents Xinjiang with a long artistic history of singing and dancing, not only as China's cultural treasure but also an important component of the world's music and art.

The images also picture the colorful ethnoscape of Xinjiang where different ethnic groups such as Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tajik and Mongolians have over time created the splendid music of harmonic life together in peace.

Mohammad, a medical student from Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University who visited the exhibition, told Xinhua that "holding such exhibitions and gatherings will help us get familiar with the Chinese culture. The musical performance is very good, very beautiful."

The event was jointly organized by the State Council Information Office of China, the autonomous regional government of Xinjiang and the Chinese Embassy in Iran.

Festival, which runs through Aug. 28, will showcase Xinjiang's music and dance, traditional costumes and other cultural heritage, in addition to its nature and tourist attractions.
The grand opening of Main Street Climate Storage in Chattanooga, Tenn., was celebrated on Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Open to the public, the event at 1420 Carter St. began at10 a.m., offering refreshments and self-storage facility tours. Chamber-of-commerce members were expected to attend, according to the source.

We are excited to host this event for the community. This will officially mark our store opening, and give the community an opportunity to see the new location and meet the propertys managers, regional manager Jennifer Howell told the source.

The facility comprises 27,000 square feet of storage space in a variety of unit sizes. Customer amenities include call-center assistance, online billpay and truck rental.

Main Street Climate Storage is owned by Riverview Partners LLC and managed by Absolute Storage Management Inc. (ASM). This is Riverviews second self-storage facility in the city. Both are managed by AMS.

Founded in 2002, ASM owns and manages self-storage facilities throughout the Southeast, operating more than 90 properties in 13 states. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., it has regional offices in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Jackson, Miss.; and Nashville, Tenn.
The manager of a Simply Self Storage facility in Taylor, Mich., is seeking help from a Facebook group to place the ashes of a veteran that were recently discovered in one of the facilitys storage units. The remains are of James Taylor, who was born May 7, 1923, and died June 27, 2012, in Dearborn, Mich., according to a copy of the cremation record.

The storage manager contacted his friend, Jeff Kerekes, an administrator for the Downriver and Friends Facebook group, a community that supports businesses and residents of Downriver, Mich. After posting information about the situation on the website, Kerekes received help from other members. Some have gone door to door seeking information while others have sought help from cemeteries that honor veterans.

"Downriver and Friends is just awesome, and they even surprised me this time; they were all over this, Kerekes told the source. It's like we all know him now. You'd like to hear the story about him because he could be a well-decorated vet; we dont know. We don't have any stories.

The Great Lakes Cemetery has agreed to accept the ashes if no family comes forward.

"James actually was a veteran, and we haven't been able to find his family. We don't know what happened to his wife or the rest of his family, so it's a shame, Kerekes said, adding hes hopeful someone will claim the ashes.

Simply Self Storage owns or manages 192 self-storage facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico. Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., its properties comprise 14.9 million square feet of storage space.
Storage Express, which operates 91 self-storage properties in five states, received zoning approval last week to build a new facility in Greenfield, Ind., despite opposition to the project. The Hancock County Board of Commissioners approved the rezoning of 4.7 acres of land at 6722 U.S. 40.

The development had been debated at previous commission meetings and supported by county leaders, according to the source. However, town officials from Cumberland, Ind., argued the facility fell short of the development standards they desired for the area. Cumberland is in the process of annexing 286 acres east of the town, which includes the development site. The annexation was launched in 2014, a year before Storage Express purchased the land.

Cumberland officials hoped the area would eventually become a new town center including housing, offices, restaurants and retail. The town would like to see that area thrive with a live-work-play atmosphere similar to a downtown, Christine Owens, director of planning and development for Cumberland, wrote in a letter to Hancock County leaders.

The county also received more than 30 letters from residents concerned about an increase in criminal activity in the area. They also argued the area already has too many storage facilities.

Although the planning commission approved the rezoning, routine land-use restrictions were added to prohibit some uses such as bars, car washes, gas stations, liquor stores or nightclubs, the source reported. Developers must also submit their plans to Cumberland town officials as a courtesy.

The new Storage Express facility will include 400 climate-controlled units, perimeter fencing with a gated entrance, and video cameras. The operator plans to break ground before the end of the year.

Founded in 1992, Storage Express owns and operates self-storage properties in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The company has offices in Bloomington and Jeffersonville, Ind., as well as Indianapolis. Rentals are centralized out of the companys Bloomington headquarters.
Property owner Edward Erhard has applied for a zoning waiver in Wilmington, Vt., to build a self-storage facility on the former site of the Fat City night club. Erhard wants to develop two single-story metal buildings that would comprise a total of about 8,500 square feet in 80 units, but self-storage isnt listed among the conditional uses allowed in the district, according to the source. During a hearing of the development review board last week, several neighboring residents spoke in opposition to the project.

Although there have been some recent building improvements to the proposed site, the property is still considered distressed and operates at a loss, Erhard told the board. If the waiver is approved, the land would be divided into two parcels, with the self-storage facility built on what was originally used for overflow parking. The night club hasnt operated since the 1970s.

The property is part of a village district intended for walking and shopping, but Erhard maintains the site is on the edge of the district and doesnt fit the characteristics outlined for the area. Self-storage would be an improved use for the site without impacting aesthetics, public services, safety or traffic, he told the board. As I understand it, the village district was created for people to walk around and shop and buy things. This really isnt a walkable site, Erhard said. Ive been a resident here for 47 years, and I dont want to do anything thats going to detract from what brought me here.

Some residents opposed the project, citing potential for additional noise that could impact houses along Winter Haven Drive. Noise from motorcycles and snowmobiles already impact the neighborhood, according to adjacent property owner Roland Schneider.

Resident Patrice Schneider was most concerned the facility could spur increased crime in the area. I know someone that owns a storage facility, and the units get broken into, she told the board. Theres all kinds of questionable activity. I have an 11-year-old daughter. Were going to be abutting god-only-knows-what in those storage units. We already have an unsavory element coming into the community. Is that going to be closer to my house?

Schneider said the facility would be a sitting duck for crime, with people waiting with bolt-cutters.

The property is shielded from view by natural foliage along State Route 100, according to Erhard, who indicated he would also install a security fence along the portion of the property closest to the highway. The developer also said hed be willing to limit hours of operation as a condition to receiving the waiver.

Our role is to decide if [a waiver] is in the best interest of the town and the abutters, board chair Wendy Manners said. If the project makes it past the waiver, then well be looking at the standards for conditional uses.

Members of the board are scheduled to make a site visit this evening. The board will resume public discussion of the zoning waiver on Sept. 19, according to the source.
Preliminary purchasing-manager index data for August released today by Markit indicates that Europes economy continues to show resilience in aggregate while some regional divergences remain. Composite readings for the common-currency zone registered stronger-than-consensus forecasts at 53.3, the second consecutive expansion, while manufacturing for the group was slightly softer than forecast. For investors nervous over the impact of the United Kingdoms decision to leave the European Union, the data provides an indication that stimulus measures by the European Central Bank may have provided a cushion. As has been the case during the entire post-recovery period, some economies continue to lag in some activity measures. French manufacturing activity remained in a contractionary level at 48.5softer than the forecast 48.8 and weaker than Julys final reading. Frances composite readings still managed to beat forecasts on the strength of the service sector. While good news for the region, allocators may now shift focus on what sustained strength will mean for future policy actions by the ECB.

Toll Brothers beat sales estimates. Financial results issued earlier today by residential-construction company Toll Brothers included a 58 percent year-over-year gain in earnings during the fiscal third quarter, a signal that demand in the U.S. for big-ticket new homes remains strong. Net income for the period registered at 0.61 per share as revenues expanded by 24 percent versus the same period last year. Critically, new home orders rose by 18 percent, putting the company on track to produce more than 6,000 home in fiscal 2016. Year to date the companys shares have underperformed peers by almost 12 percent.

China moves towards increased FDI. In comments on Tuesday, Chinas Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen stated that the country will continue to expand opportunities for direct foreign investment with a focus on increasing the flow of outside capital to inland and western regions. The minister did not discuss opening new industries specifically. Under current regulations, certain industries, including communications and banking, are closed to offshore investors.

DOJ ordered to process newly discovered Clinton emails quickly. On Monday, a decision by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia imposed a September 22 deadline for the Department of Justice to review the nearly 15,000 newly discovered emails from private servers operated by the Democratic presidential candidate during her tenure as secretary of state. Separately, Clinton Foundation emails released the same day as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request suggested that high-level donors to the foundation attempted to gain direct access to the secretary via backchannel communications.

NBA star, tech star to launch VC firm. On Monday, retired professional basketball great Kobe Bryant and tech entrepreneur Jeff Stibel announced the creation of a venture capital firm initially capitalized at $100 million. The new company, Bryant Stibel, will be based in Los Angeles and will not initially seek outside capital. The initial firm portfolio will include investments made jointly by the two friend in recent years. The focus of future investments will be technology and media startups.

Bayer, Monsanto reportedly nearing deal. On Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported that Bayer and Monsanto are nearing a final agreement to merge after the St. Louis agrichemical giant rejected initial bids by the German firm in May and July. Citing anonymous sources, the report indicates a walkaway fee of $1.5 billion for Monsanto if the deal is not concluded successfully. If completed, the merger would create the largest seed and pesticide producer globally.

Turkey cuts rates as expected. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey on Tuesday announced a 25 basis point cut in the benchmark overnight-lending rate to 8.5 percent in line with consensus expectations. Bank President Murat Cetinkaya and his colleagues have lowered the overnight rate by 2.25 percent since March. After a rebound in the Turkish lira following an unsuccessful military coup last month, markets had anticipated easing measures by the central bank to help stimulate growth despite a third consecutive monthly expansion in consumer inflation in July.

Portfolio Perspective: Time to Consider Hedging?

A sure-fire way to get a laugh out of equity portfolio managers these days is to recommend hedges. Even in the event of a pullback and recall that in August 2015 and January/February of this year, the Standard & Poors 500 index dropped more than 11 percenta quick recovery seems virtually assured. Of course, we think this mindset belies actual market risk, particularly as the seasonally volatile fall approaches.

One structure that can bridge the gap between distaste for deploying any capital for hedging purposes and managing potential market risk over the next few months are collars (or put-spread collars). While the SPX is up 6.8 percent year to date, 77 components have gained more than 25 percent. It seems obvious to us that there are unrealized gains worth protecting.

Jim Strugger is a managing director and derivatives strategist for MKM Partners in Stamford, Connecticut.
Mental illness cover and other insurance issues will be discussed in the 2016 Australia National Conference themed Beyond the promise  a new resolve in 8 September in Melbourne.John Price, lead ombudsman of General Insurance, will lead a session on the different mental illnesses, issues concerning mental health and insurance, and FOS approach to insurance disputes involving mental health.Said session will also be attended by FOS and industry representatives and health professionals including Sue Harrison of Psychiatric Disability Services Vic; Brenda Staggs, Legal Aid NSW; and John Anning, GM Policy Regulation, Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).Another session, which will involve an expert panel consisting of Price; Jamie Orchard, FOS EGM Resolution; Benjamin Sutherland, FOS conciliator; and Tim White of Allianz , will explore the benefits of conciliation, and share practical experiences of developing negotiation options, considering alternatives, and reaching successful early agreements.An industry panel facilitated by The Chasers Julian Morrow will discuss how professional standards can be improved. The panel will also include experts from the industry, community, and regulation, including Vicki Mullen, ICA consumer relations & market development GM; Alan Kirkland, Choice CEO; Steven Munchenberg, Australian Bankers Association CEO; Sarah Edmondson, ASIC strategic intelligence senior specialist; and Dante De Gori, Financial Planning Association of Australia CEO.Katharina Kuehn, one of Australias first and leading consumer neuroscientists and an expert in tapping into the non-conscious, often irrational nature of consumer decision-making, will serve as keynote speaker. Kuehn will provide insights that will help dispute resolution professionals to identify key issues that need to be addressed when dealing with customer complaints.Registration for the FOS conference closes on 30 August 2016. Click here to register.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the results of its first comprehensive stress test of the life insurance industry, conducted in 2015.The results of APRAs 2015 Life Insurance Stress test were formally announced by APRA member Geoff Summerhayes to the representative mix of diversified insurers, reinsurers, and risk specialists who participated in the stress test at APRAs head office in Sydney.The participants were subjected to an adverse scenario over a three-year period.The hypothetical scenario was designed using economic parameters based on a downturn in the Chinese economy which led to a dip in global growth and a recession in Australia, with GDP falling by 5 per cent and unemployment rising to 14 per cent. The scenario impacted liability classes, particularly disability income insurance and Total and Permanent Disablement, as well as asset classes with severe downturns in property and equity prices and government bond yields, and an increase in credit spreads, APRA explained.Without allowing for management intervention to the scenario, insurers experienced significant losses and material decline in their capital. Capital was returned to near pre-stress conditions, however, once insurers implemented specific mitigation strategies, including repricing, a reduction or suspension of dividends, and capital injections, APRA reported.Overall, while the initial impact of the scenario itself was severe, the stress test outcomes demonstrated that with reasonable management actions the industry participants could restore their capital positions, Summerhayes said.The stress test did shine a light on areas of concern, such as disability income insurance and the need to address problems with this product in the near term. It also reinforced and set expectations for continued advancement of stress-testing capabilities in the life insurance industry.The community expects financial institutions to be there to support them in good times and  particularly in the case of insurance  bad. It is a foundation of community trust and confidence that the insurance sector is able to meet its commitments at the time when they are most needed, he said.
Wells Fargo Insurance, a subsidiary of San Francisco, Calif., headquartered Wells Fargo & Company, has hired Mary-Beth Hahn as head of its national risk management practice.

In her new role, Hahn will be based in Summit, N.J., and will report to Kristine Meuse, head of the national cross sell team for Wells Fargo Insurance. Hahns responsibilities will include leading business strategy, product development and sales and client experience for Wells Fargo Insurances national risk management team.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo Insurance, Hahn was with Marsh for 25 years in various casualty sales and client service leadership roles, serving most recently as managing director of its international casualty practice.

Source: Wells Fargo & Company

Topics New Jersey
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Audi's first transmission plant in China started operation on Monday in the northern municipality of Tianjin.

The plant, located in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Zone, has a designed annual production capacity of 240,000 units and can create 1,000 jobs. The factory covers an area of 95,000 square meters.

Joachim Wedler, president of Audi China, said the plant will add new core competitiveness to the development of Audi brand in China.

Jochem Heizmann, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said the German carmaker will invest around 4 billion euros (4.5 billion U.S. dollars) in China this year and maintain similar investment in the next few years.

In May, FAW-Volkswagen started construction of its 19.5-billion-yuan north China production base in Tianjin. The base has a designed annual capacity of 300,000 cars.

In the first half of the year, Volkswagen China and its two Chinese joint ventures delivered a record high of 1.86 million cars in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, up 6.8 percent year on year.
A Connecticut man has been awarded $10,000 in damages after a federal judge ruled that he had been beaten by a police officer after a drug fueled car chase.

Donato Rinaldi, of Watertown, Conn., filed the suit in 2014 against two Waterbury officers.

The Republican-American reported that police chased Rinaldi and another man through several towns in 2011 because they were suspected of stealing energy drinks that they intended to resell so they could buy cocaine.

Rinaldi said after his vehicle crashed, he was beaten by two officers. The judge cleared one of the officers. A picture of Rinaldi taken after the chase shows him with bruises around the eyes, as well as bandages and cuts on his face and forehead.

The judge did not award punitive damages, citing Rinaldis outrageous conduct.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Law Enforcement Connecticut
It wont take another Hurricane Katrina for reinsurers to face losses from covering the cost of storms and earthquakes. Competitors such as hedge funds have eroded prices so much that a typical year of claims could move the industry into losses.

Property & casualty reinsurance is getting very close to combined ratios of 100 percent, Manfred Seitz, managing director of international reinsurance at Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said at a roundtable of industry executives on Monday. Even if we see normal catastrophe claims in 2016, you could see a number of companies reach the threshold. A ratio above 100 percent means claims and expenses exceed premium income.

Prices for reinsurance, which primary insurers buy to help them shoulder risks, have fallen in eight of the past 10 years, according to a property-catastrophe index compiled by Guy Carpenter. The industry has been releasing reserves for past claims, which has helped cushion against both the impact of the price declines and falling investment income from ultra-low yields.

What weve experienced is kind of the opposite of a perfect storm, Matthias Weber, chief underwriting officer at Zurich-based Swiss Re, said, referring to the industry in general. Everybody enjoyed reserve releases. However, if we adjust results for this and the good luck due to the absence of large natural catastrophe losses, they are not that fantastic anymore.

The combined ratio for property and casualty at Swiss Re AG, the worlds biggest reinsurer, worsened to 101 percent in the second quarter from 92.9 percent a year ago after catastrophe claims including earthquakes in Japan and wildfires in Canada. It would have been 5.5 percentage points higher without prior-year releases. Munich Res ratio in the same segment rose to 99.8 percent from 93.3 percent, even after releases improved the measure by 5.1 percentage points.

Underlying Deterioration

If you look at the combined ratios before reserve releases, then you can clearly see an impact every year from the softening in the market, Ludger Arnoldussen, a Munich Re management board member, said at the roundtable organized by Bloomberg News. The underlying deterioration is there.

The ratios are rising despite losses from natural disasters for the first six months of the year only being in line with the 10-year average, according to Munich Re estimates. Reinsurers are also running out of claims reserves that they can release as profits fall, Allianz Re Chief Executive Officer Amer Ahmed said in February.

Competition is rising as central banks quantitative easing programs pushed down yields for traditional investments, luring new participants to the market. Investors from hedge funds to pension managers hope to boost their returns by putting up capital to back risks through insurance-linked securities such as catastrophe bonds.

Alternative capacity from capital-market offerings such as catastrophe bonds and collateralized reinsurance rose to a record $73 billion in the first quarter, according to Aon Plc. Reinsurers had a further $580 billion available to back risk in the first quarter, matching the high reached a year earlier, the broker said.

Price Falls

That meant continued price falls when contracts were renewed in July, albeit at a slower pace than previously, both Munich Re and Swiss Re said when reporting figures for the second quarter. Munich Re saw a 0.4 percent decline in prices in July compared with a 2.1 percent drop a year ago, the firm said.

We clearly have a situation of oversupply, said Juan Beer, who buys coverage as head of group reinsurance at Zurich Insurance Group AG. It takes a lot to reverse the cycle such as a financial-market shock or a massive natural catastrophe.

The industry is gathering in Monte Carlo next month for its annual meeting to discuss prices for next year with customers. Negotiations there will be more difficult than in the last two years and rates are unlikely to fall materially in 2017, said Dirk Lohmann, chief executive officer at Secquaero Advisors AG which advises reinsurers on risk management.

Markets are already punishing the industry for the rising ratios and falling profits. Swiss Re, Munich Re and Hannover Re, three of the worlds four biggest reinsurers, reported a decline in quarterly earnings in the second quarter. Munich Re shares have fallen 13 percent this year, with Swiss Re down 17 percent and Hannover Re losing 14 percent.

On the surface, reinsurer results may still look good, but if you look at the underlying health they dont, Ahmed at Allianz Re, the reinsurance arm of Europes biggest insurer Allianz SE, said on Monday. The benign catastrophe environment of the last few years led to good results.

Hurricane Season

The favorable level of claims in recent years may be threatened by the U.S. hurricane season. The Atlantic basin will see the most named storms since the 2012 season, the year Sandy caused as much as $50 billion in property damage in the U.S., with as many as four of those strengthening into major hurricanes by Nov. 30, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Aug. 11.

Analysts and investors absolutely know that good luck will not be the new normal when it comes to claims, Swiss Res Weber said. It is just a matter of time until the big hammer comes down and then, resilience, size and capital on the balance sheet will make the difference.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Catastrophe Claims Profit Loss Reinsurance Hurricane Swiss Re
Willis Re announced the appointment of Chris McDowell as CEO of Willis Re Bermuda. Effective Jan. 1, 2017, he will succeed Michael Harden, CEO of Willis Re Bermuda since 2014, who is returning to the Asia Pacific region as president of Willis Re Asia Pacific. McDowell and his team will report into Willis Re Specialty.

With more than 30 years in the industry, McDowell joins from Aon Benfield where he was CEO of Global Re-Specialty in Bermuda, having joined the firm in 2013. Harden, who was chairman of Willis Re Australia prior to Bermuda, has more than 40 years experience in property and casualty reinsurance as well as specialty accounts across the globe.

McDowell began his career in 1985 at EW Payne in London. He joined the Willis Group in 1990, originally working for Carter Wilkes & Fane where he rose to the position of executive director in the non-marine retro division. In 2002 McDowell joined Guy Carpenter where he made the move to Bermuda in 2004 and held the position of managing director in the Global Re-Specialty division. He most recently held the position of CEO of Global Re-Specialty in Bermuda for Aon Benfield, having joined the firm in 2013.

Harden began his career at Willis Re in London in 1976, becoming a senior marine London market excess-of-loss broker before moving to Australia in 1985. In 1991 Harden re-joined Willis Re as a director of Willis Re Australia, becoming the CEO in 2007 and chairman in 2013. Following his appointment as CEO of Bermuda in 2014, Harden remained non-executive chairman of Willis Re Australia.

Chris [McDowell] will be a huge asset to Willis Re. His knowledge and experience will bring considerable benefit to our clients. As a substantial producer he will no doubt continue the growth of our already strong presence in Bermuda, which is a major strategic reinsurance market for Willis Re and our clients, commented John Cavanagh, global CEO of Willis Re said.

Mike [Harden] has developed a strong team and a solid foundation for continued growth, fully aligned to Willis Res global office network. His return to Asia Pacific to support our existing leadership team will likewise further our growth activities and the delivery of Willis Res global offering to clients as these markets continue to build momentum, he added.

Mike has extensive experience in the Asia Pacific region and brings a breadth of knowledge from across Willis Re to serve the rapidly evolving risk and capital needs of our clients, said Maurice Williams, managing director of Willis Res APMETA region (Asia Pacific, Middle East, Turkey and North Africa).

Source: Willis Towers Watson

Topics Excess Surplus Willis Towers Watson London Aon Australia
Many commuter and freight railroads have made little progress installing safety technology designed to prevent deadly collisions and derailments despite a mandate from Congress, according to a government report released.

The technology, called positive train control or PTC, uses digital radio communications, GPS and signals alongside tracks to monitor train positions. It can automatically stop or slow trains to prevent them from disobeying signals, derailing due to excessive speed, colliding with another train or entering track that is off-limits.

The Federal Railroad Administration report shows that while some railroads have made substantial progress, others have yet to equip a single locomotive or track segment with the technology, or install a single radio tower.

Congress passed a law in 2008 giving railroads seven years to put the technology in place, and last year extended that deadline for three more years after railroads said they were unable to meet the first deadline. The law extending the deadline to Dec. 31, 2018, also allows the railroad administration to grant additional extensions for two more years to railroads that have installed PTC but are still testing the systems.

Railroads shouldnt wait for the deadline to complete their work on PTC, said Sarah Feinberg, head of the railroad administration.

Every day that passes without PTC, we risk adding another preventable accident to a list that is already too long, she said in a statement.

So far, PTC is in operation on nine percent of freight route miles and 22 percent of passenger train miles, the report said.

Freight railroads have equipped 34 percent of their locomotives, installed 73 percent of their radio towers and completed 11 percent of their track segments. Passenger railroads have equipped 29 percent of their locomotives, installed 46 percent of their radio towers, and completed 12 percent of their track segments.

But progress varies considerably by railroad. For example, BNSF has equipped 4,309 of its 5,000 locomotives, but Union Pacific has equipped only 13 of its 5,656 locomotives.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which operates commuter trains in the Philadelphia region, has equipped all its locomotives, installed all its radio towers and completed all its track segments. But nearby New Jersey Transit Rail, which carries an average of 308,000 passengers on weekdays, hasnt equipped any locomotives, installed any radio towers or completed any track segments.

The report also gave zeros in each of those categories to New Yorks largest commuter railroads, the Metro-North and the Long Island railroads, which each carry about 300,000 passengers on weekdays. In 2013, a speeding Metro-North train derailed while going around a curve in the Bronx. Four people were killed and more than 60 injured. The National Transportation Safety Board said the accident could have been prevented if PTC had been in operation.

The report is based on information supplied by the railroads.

The report is an overall summary that does not convey the progress we have achieved, said Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Transit. She noted that the railroad has acquired spectrum rights, equipped four prototype vehicles for testing and installed five antennas in a demonstration area, among other actions.

Beth DeFalco, a spokeswoman for the Metro-North and Long Island railroads, said the railroads have done extensive work on PTC and hope to see benefits from the technology as soon as next year.

The NTSB has urged railroads to install positive train control or earlier train control technologies for more than four decades. The board says that over that time it has investigated at least 145 PTC-preventable accidents in which about 300 people were killed and 6,700 injured.

More recently, the board has said PTC could have prevented the head-on collision of two BNSF trains in June near Panhandle, Texas. Three railroad employees were killed in the crash. The technology also could have prevented the derailment of a speeding Amtrak train in Philadelphia last year. Eight people were killed and over 200 injured in the crash.

Commuter railroads have spent $950 million on PTC so far, but the total cost is estimated to be at least $3.48 billion, said Richard A. White, acting president of the American Public Transportation Association. The White House requested Congress provide $1.25 billion in the coming 2017 federal budget year to help commuter railroads with PTC; House and Senate spending bills allocate only $199 million.

Despite this funding dilemma, the industry is moving forward with this top safety priority, White said in a statement.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Tech
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) has appointed Cindy Leggett-Flynn as senior vice president, chief communications officer.

In this position, Leggett-Flynn will be responsible for AIGs communications strategy in support of its vision, mission, and values. She will oversee corporate brand and marketing, internal communications, media relations, and corporate citizenship activities.

She will report to Jeffrey Hurd, executive vice president, chief operating officer. effective Sept. 19.

Legget-Flynn replaces Christina Pretto, who left AIG in November.

Cindy arrives at AIG at a very important time as we continue the transformation of our company, and are on our way towards fulfilling our vision of becoming our clients most valued insurer, said Peter D. Hancock, AIG president and CEO

Leggett-Flynn was most recently a New York-based partner of the Brunswick Group LLP, a communications consultancy. She had previously served as managing partner for greater China, based in Hong Kong, overseeing the firms offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai and advising

both multinational corporations operating in Asia and Asian companies operating overseas. She has also lived and worked in London and New York.

She joined Brunswick in 2000 after serving as acting U.S. head of Communications for biotech Chiroscience Group.

Source: AIG
One of the top U.S. public health officials on Aug. 21 warned that the mosquito-borne Zika virus could extend its reach across the U.S. Gulf Coast after officials last week confirmed it as active in the popular tourist destination of Miami Beach.

The possibility of transmission in Gulf States such as Louisiana and Texas will likely fuel concerns that the virus, which has been shown to cause the severe birth defect known as microcephaly, could spread across the continental United States, even though officials have played down such an outcome.

Concern has mounted since confirmation that Zika has expanded into a second region of the tourist hub of Miami-Dade County in Florida. Miamis Wynwood arts neighborhood last month became the site of the first locally transmitted cases of Zika in the continental United States.

It would not be surprising we would see additional cases perhaps in other Gulf Coast states, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the allergy and infectious diseases unit of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said in an interview on Sunday morning with ABC News.

Fauci noted that record flooding this month in Louisiana  which has killed at least 13 people and damaged some 60,000 homes damaged  has boosted the likelihood Zika will spread into that state.

Theres going to be a lot of problems getting rid of standing water that could stymie the mosquito control efforts that are the best way to control Zikas spread, he said.

U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed 1,835 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has confirmed that state health officials had identified five cases of Zika believed to be contracted in Miami Beach.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told pregnant women they should avoid the trendy area and suggested those especially worried about exposure might consider avoiding all of Miami-Dade County.

NIHs Fauci said the conditions of most of the country make it unlikely there would be a diffuse, broad outbreak, even though officials need to prepare for that possibility.

He compared it with diseases such as Dengue, which is endemic in certain tropical and subtropical regions of the world but rarely occurs in the continental United States. In Miamis Wynwood area, experts have seen substantial knockdowns of mosquito populations.

Still, its containment is more complicated because Zika can be sexually transmitted, Fauci said.

This is something that could hang around for a year or two, he said.

The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by Alan Crosby)

Topics USA
1347 Property Insurance Holdings Inc., which offers specialty property/casualty insurance through its subsidiary, Maison Insurance Co. (Maison), said it expects to incur losses from claims related to damage from the recent storms that produced record-breaking floods in Louisiana.

Maison has many policyholders who have been impacted by the Aug. 11  15 flooding in Louisiana.

This event primarily impacted the companys manufactured/mobile home policies, which can be endorsed to cover the peril of flood. The companys multi-peril product does not cover flood damage but Maison has experienced some homeowner policy claims related to wind damage from the storms.

While the ultimate cost and impact on the 1347 Property Insurance Holdings financial results cannot be determined with certainty at this time, the company said the retention for its catastrophe reinsurance program is set at $5 million for a single event. So pre-tax losses, net of reinsurance, are not expected to exceed $5 million, the company said.

Maison offers P/C insurance in Louisiana and Texas. Its insurance offerings for personal and commercial customers include homeowners, wind and hail only, manufactured home and dwelling fire policies.

Source: 1347 Property Insurance Holdings Inc.

Topics Profit Loss Louisiana Flood Windstorm Property
The National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) elected Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) Deputy Commissioner Gary West as secretary-treasurer during its annual membership meeting in Albuquerque, July 19-21.

West, who oversees TDCIs Fire Prevention Division (which includes the State Fire Marshals Office), was unanimously chosen by the organizations principal membership to serve a two-year term in the board position.

NASFM is comprised of the senior fire officials in the United States and their top deputies. It operates with the primary mission of protecting human life, property and the environment from fire and related hazards. NASFM also seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of State Fire Marshals operations.

Im honored to have the opportunity to continue to serve this organization and promote fire safety on both a state and national level, said West, a NASFM board member since 2014. Its motivating to work alongside fellow leaders and gratifying to see the impact that work makes on enhancing public safety.

West has led the State Fire Marshals Office since March 2011. He received his bachelors degree in organizational management from Tusculum College and a masters degree in business administration from Lincoln Memorial University.

Wests career experience includes serving as a fire and emergency services consultant with the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service, as well as fire chief of Gatlinburg Fire and Rescue Department. West currently volunteers as a firefighter with the Ashland City Fire Department.

Topics Tennessee
The discovery of Zika-carrying mosquitoes in South Florida certainly isnt ideal for tourism, but local officials and business leaders are confident the long-term impact on the tourism industry will be minor.

Transmission of the virus via mosquito has been confirmed in two sites in Miami-Dade County, but Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said in a news conference Friday he is confident in the citys efforts to combat it. City workers are trying to get rid of standing water and foliage that might attract the insects, while the county begins a fumigation program to kill the bugs.

Between our efforts and the countys spraying efforts, the last thing Id ever want to be on Miami Beach is a mosquito, Levine said.

Organizers for Art Basel Miami Beach and other upcoming events cautiously expressed confidence in the regions mosquito control efforts. Officials at the Americas Food and Beverage Show will add mosquito repellent to goody bags at the late September event at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Were taking extra precautions, said Yendi Alvarez, the shows media coordinator. This wasnt even a thought last year. We put this in place once the news started getting crazy.

Gov. Rick Scott has directed Floridas health department to offer mosquito spraying and related services at no cost to Miami-Dade Countys hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. More than 15.5 million people made overnight visits to Miami and nearby beaches in 2015, with an impact of $24.4 billion, according to figures from the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Three vacuum trucks purchased to help Miami Beach fight rising sea levels have been used since the beginning of the year to drain water in low-lying areas where mosquitoes could breed, said Roy Coley, the citys infrastructure director.

The city also has been sending workers to fill potholes collecting water in alleys and fix leaky beach showers, in addition to applying pesticides to the areas many construction sites and flood-prone residential streets, Coley said.

Five cases of Zika have been connected to mosquitoes in Miami Beach, bringing the states caseload to 36 infections not related to travel outside the U.S., Floridas governor and health department announced Friday.

South Beach has been identified as a second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland. Containment there will be difficult because high-rise buildings and strong winds make it impractical to spray the neighborhood from the air, officials said Friday.

The discovery prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to announce that it was expanding its travel warning for pregnant women to include the area known for nightclubs, pedestrian thoroughfares and beaches.

In pregnant women, a Zika infection can cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly.

The CDC previously warned pregnant women to avoid the Wynwood arts district in Miami. In its statement Friday, the agency said pregnant women may also want to consider postponing nonessential travel throughout Miami-Dade County if theyre concerned about potential exposure to the virus.

Aerial spraying and door-to-door operations on the ground have cut mosquito populations in Wynwood by up to 90 percent, but Zika may be continuing as mosquitoes breed, said CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden.

The mosquitoes are persistent and we wont know for a couple of weeks whether these aggressive measures have worked, Frieden said.

___

Associated Press writers Tamara Lush in Tampa, Florida, and Scott Mayerowitz in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida
A couple is suing footwear maker Crocs and a Hawaii resort after their 2-year-old sons foot got caught in an escalator while the family visited Hawaii for an oral surgeon convention.

The lawsuit says the Crocs shoes were negligently and improperly designed, while the Hilton Hawaiian Village was also negligent in maintaining the escalators safety.

According to the lawsuit, the escalator tore off an extensive section of skin from the toddlers left foot, requiring emergency surgery.

Flora Kim and David Kang were attending the annual meeting of the American Association of Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons in September 2014 with their son. Their lawsuit said they were leaving the conventions opening ceremony in a resort ballroom when the boys foot became entangled and sucked into a space between a step and the sidewall of the escalator.

Eventually a bystander was able to activate an emergency stop button, but not until (the boy) had traveled almost the entire distance between floors while his foot was painfully trapped in the moving escalator, said the lawsuit, initially filed in Hawaii state court in June but transferred to federal court this week.

The boys foot was trapped for nearly an hour before a rescue team arrived with proper equipment. He spent two days at Honolulu hospital after emergency surgery and received additional medical care in Texas. The boy had two more surgeries  one to repair skin on his injured foot and one due to complications from the skin graft site, the lawsuit said.

A Honolulu attorney representing the shoe company known for its colorful plastic clogs didnt respond to a phone message seeking comment. Hilton representatives also didnt immediately return messages.

Crocs knew as early as 2008 that children suffered severe injuries when the shoes got trapped in small spaces on escalators, the lawsuit said.

According to reports appearing across the United States and as far away as Singapore and Japan, entrapments occur because of two of the biggest selling points of shoes like Crocs: their flexibility and grip. Some report the shoes get caught in the teeth at the bottom or top of the escalator, or in the crack between the steps and the side of the escalator.

The reports of serious injuries have all involved young children.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits
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China's ride-hailing firm Didi announced Monday that it is launching car leasing business.

Didi launched a car leasing service in Shanghai in July and the service is scheduled to expand to several first and second-tier cities within the year.

Didi is in talks with several car leasing firms, including eHi Car Services which could help them cut operational costs.

Unlike traditional car leasing service, Didi users can book cars online and the cars will then arrive at their doorstep, it said.

Seeing huge market potential, several car leasing firms, including CAR Inc. and Uucars, are increasing their investments.

China's car leasing market is forecast to grow to 54.4 billion yuan (8.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016 and then more than double by 2020, according to CIConsulting.

On Aug. 1, Didi announced that it was taking over the China business of rival Uber.
The family of an Idaho woman who was beaten to death in October has filed a lawsuit against the treatment center where the killing occurred.

Linda Westmorelands daughters, Amanda Ingram and Stormy Dye, filed the lawsuit against Port of Hope, an alcohol and substance abuse treatment center in Nampa, alleging that the facility failed to keep Westmoreland safe, The Idaho Press-Tribune reported.

The lawsuit was filed against Port of Hope Centers Inc. in April and Port of Hope responded to the womens legal complaint in June, denying negligence and accusations of wrongdoing.

Kaya Teton is accused of beating Westmoreland, 52, to death in October with a metal bathroom railing. The two were roommates.

Teton has been held in custody undergoing treatment since June after being declared unfit to stand trial for now but still faces a charge of first-degree murder.

The lawsuit says Westmoreland felt unsafe being housed with Teton, who was at Port of Hope under a U.S. Department of Justice order following a 2014 federal conviction for assaulting a Fort Hall Correctional Center officer.

The lawsuit claims Port of Hope failed to take appropriate action after Westmoreland voiced her concerns.

It also claims that Teton removed the metal railing from the bathroom before Westmorelands death and that Port of Hope staff took the pipe from Teton and reinstalled it instead of installing a replacement that could not have been used as a lethal weapon.

The lawsuit is asking for damages of $1 million for each daughter and $5,000 for counseling, funeral and memorial services.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits
Even six years after the Panama Papers leaked a confidential list of offshore accounts held by the global elite, tax morality is still very much on the table.
Boko Haram e tornato a colpire. Il gruppo fondamentalista islamico, stanziato nello Stato di Borno (nel nord della Nigeria), si sarebbe macchiato di una nuova strage, mettendo in atto un attentato suicida nella grande citta di Maiduguri, capitale dello Stato federale del nord-est del Paese: sarebbero 19 le vittime provocate dallattacco, messo in pratica da 4 kamikaze nel distretto di Molai nelle ore notturne. Le esplosioni, come reso noto dal capo della polizia dello Stato di Borno, Damian Chukwu, avrebbero provocato anche 23 feriti. Le Forze dellordine hanno inoltre dichiarato che 12 dei 19 morti apparterrebbero al corpo di autodifesa civile (Civilian-Jtf).

Lattentato

La notizia e stata riportata dal quotidiano Premium Times, il quale ha parlato di 4 attentatori suicidi (fra i quali una giovane donna) dotati di cinture esplosive che si sarebbero fatti saltare in aria in diversi punti del distretto. Le sette vittime civili sarebbero state uccise successivamente, dopo essersi raccolte in lutto attorno ai corpi senza vita dei 12 membri del Civilian-Jtf. Le esplosioni, secondo quanto riportato dallo stesso quotidiano, sono avvenute a circa 5 chilometri dal centro della citta di Maiduguri. Nessuna rivendicazione sarebbe finora arrivata per la strage ma, per le autorita nigeriane, sussistono pochi dubbi sulla responsabilita del gruppo che da tempo sta martoriando la popolazione di questarea della Nigeria. I jihadisti di Boko Haram, infatti, da oltre otto anni imperversano nellarea settentrionale dello Stato africano e, finora, hanno provocato oltre 20 mila vittime con i loro attacchi.

La follia di Boko Haram

Il caso piu eclatante fra le azioni compiute da Boko Haram, e il rapimento di 276 studentesse nigeriane, messo in atto nel 2014. Nel maggio 2017, 82 di loro sono state rilasciate, dopo oltre tre anni di prigionia. Ma loperato del gruppo jihadista ha provocato forti ripercussioni sulla popolazione anche a livello sociale, avendo costretto quasi 3 milioni di persone ad abbandonare i propri territori e riducendo intere regioni in condizioni di gravissime difficolta socio-economiche, in particolare nellambito della nutrizione e della salute: sul finire del 2016, era stata stimata unemergenza alimentare in corso per 500 mila persone solo nello Stato di Borno, in maggioranza bambini, vittime di malnutrizione e di malattie divenute mortali per la mancanza di adeguate cure.
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) is a leading home appliance company that sells products under a wide variety of brands such as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Amana, Jenn-Air, and Consul. The company's roots go back to 1908, when Lou Upton won ownership of patents for a hand washing machine that he thought could be electrified.

Three years later in 1911, Upton and his uncle Emory obtained funding to begin making a patented, electric motor-driven wringer washer. The new enterprise, Upton Machine Co., was born, and grew rapidly. Three decades later in 1949, the name was changed to Whirlpool Corp.

Whirlpool posted $1.2 billion in net earnings on revenue of $20 billion in 2019, and sold 67 million items. Its market cap is $8.4 billion. The company's growth would not be possible without many subsidiary brands. Throughout its history, Whirlpool has made acquisitions to expand its product line from washing machines to all types of appliances. Whirlpool's acquisitions have also allowed it to expand into a variety of new domestic and foreign markets, in some instances raising antitrust concerns.

Below, we take a closer look at several of the top acquisitions in Whirlpool's history. Note that Whirlpool does not provide revenue and profit figures by subsidiary.

Seeger Refrigerator Co., and R.C.A. Stoves and Air Conditioners

Type of businesses : refrigerators, stoves, and air conditioners

: refrigerators, stoves, and air conditioners Acquisition price : not available (3-company merger)  

: not available (3-company merger)  Date of purchase: July 1955  

One of Whirlpool's earliest efforts to expand its product offerings and reach took place in 1955 involving a major merger of 3 companies. Whirlpool merged with the Seeger Refrigerator Co., enhancing Whirlpool's product line to include refrigerators.

As a part of the deal, Whirlpool also acquired the air conditioning and stove businesses of R.C.A. Corp. The combined companies had assets of $130 million at the time of the merger. The merger was a key early development for Whirlpool because it helped to position the company as a provider of a wide range of appliances beyond its traditional washer offerings.

Maytag Corp.

Type of business : washers, dryers, kitchen and home appliances

: washers, dryers, kitchen and home appliances Acquisition price : $1.7 billion cash and stock  

: $1.7 billion cash and stock  Date of purchase: March 31, 2006  

In August 2005, Whirlpool agreed to pay $1.7 billion to acquire its rival, the Maytag Corp. The aggregate value of the deal, including about $900 million in Maytag debt, was $2.6 billion. Whirlpool reimbursed another bidder's $40 million breakup fee due to Whirlpool's pursuit of Maytag.

Maytag, founded in 1893 in Iowa, had grown into a premier home appliance maker. Through the Maytag deal, Whirlpool became the immediate owner of successful brands such as Jenn-Air, the maker of microwave ovens, refrigerators, dishwashers, and small alliances. It also became the owner of several divisions of Amana, the popular maker of home appliances.

Whirlpool's consolidation of control over the home appliance industry through the Maytag takeover was not without its critics. The acquisition was the subject of an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which ultimately found that the transaction did not pose a major threat to competition.

KitchenAid

Type of business : kitchen and home appliances

: kitchen and home appliances Acquisition price : undisclosed  

: undisclosed  Date of purchase: January 12, 1985  

In 1985, Whirlpool announced plans to enter into an agreement with Hobart Corp., a unit of Dart & Kraft, Inc., to acquire the appliance brand KitchenAid. Analysts estimated Whirlpool paid as much as $170 million for KitchenAid, though the price of the deal was undisclosed. Founded in 1919, KitchenAid manufactures and sells products such as ovens, refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers, and food processors.

The acquisition was delayed for a year due to an antitrust lawsuit that proved to be unsuccessful. In 1986, Whirlpool finally acquired all operations of the company, except for the dishwasher and trash compactor operations, which it sold to Emerson Electric Co. as part of the acquisition agreement.

Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Type of business : home appliances (China)

: home appliances (China) Acquisition price : reported $552 million   for 51% stake

: reported $552 million  for 51% stake Date of purchase: October 24, 2014  

Whirlpool became the majority interest holder with the purchase of a 51% stake in China's Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Company Ltd. in October 2014. Hefei Sanyo is a leading home appliance maker based on the mainland. At the time of the purchase, Whirlpool was struggling to grow sales in Asia.

With the acquisition of Hefei Sanyo, Whirlpool expanded its reach beyond larger urban areas and into the previously-untapped rural Chinese market. Hefei Sanyo was renamed Whirlpool China Co. Ltd. as part of the deal.

Indesit Company S.p.A.

Type of business : home appliances (Europe)

: home appliances (Europe) Acquisition price : reported $1 billion   for 60.4% stake

: reported $1 billion  for 60.4% stake Date of purchase: October 14, 2014  

In 2014, for approximately $1 billion, Whirlpool acquired a 60.4% controlling stake in the Italian appliance maker Indesit Co. Indesit was founded in 1975 and is known for its washing machines, freezers, and ovens. The deal was completed in cash and debt and took place just a year after Whirlpool made a similar purchase of a majority stake in China's Hefei Sanyo.

The purchase expanded Whirlpool's presence in Europe, where its presence was far smaller than in the U.S.

Whirlpool Diversity & Inclusiveness Transparency

As part of our effort to improve the awareness of the importance of diversity in companies, we have highlighted the transparency of Whirlpools commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and social responsibility. The below chart illustrates how Whirlpool reports the diversity of its management and workforce. This shows if Whirlpool discloses data about the diversity of its board of directors, C-Suite, general management, and employees overall, across a variety of markers. We have indicated that transparency with a .
Oil is the third largest exported product in the world, by revenue. In 2020, crude petroleum accounted for 3.82% of global trade.

Crude oil is unrefined petroleum that's used to manufacture many products, including gasoline, heating fuel, and plastics. As of 2020, global oil production reached 4.2 billion metric tons.

Historically, Saudi Arabia has led the world in annual oil exports, but that changed in 2019 when the United Arab Emirates overtook it as the world's biggest oil exporter. In 2020, Saudi Arabia recaptured the top spot. The United States has also increased its share of global oil exports, accounting for 8.17% of exports in 2020, up from 5.71% in 2019.

This article looks at the top 10 oil-exporting countries in the world. Together, these 10 countries accounted for nearly three-quarters of global oil exports in 2019.

Key Takeaways Oil was the leading export product in the world as of 2019, accounting for 5.44% of global trade.

In 2020, it became the third biggest export worldwide, accounting for 3.82% of global trade.

The United Arab Emirates surpassed Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil exporter in 2019.

Saudi Arabia recaptured the top spot, based on 2020 figures.

Mexico fell out of the top 10 as of 2020, replaced by Kazakhstan as the ninth-largest exporter.

1. Saudi Arabia

This Middle Eastern oil powerhouse was the world's top oil exporter until that position was taken over by the United Arab Emirates in 2019. However, Saudi Arabia recaptured the top spot with $95.7 billion in oil exports in 2020. That represents 15% of global oil exports. It also remains the top oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), producing close to 12 million barrels of oil per day, or about 15% of global output in 2020.

Saudi Arabia possesses approximately 15% of the world's oil reserves. As such, the industry accounts for as much as 70% of the country's exports and more than half of government revenue.

Oil Heats Up Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sent the price of oil soaring to over $110 per barrel.

2. Russia

Russia takes the second spot. In 2020, it accounted for 11.6% of global exports, totaling $74.4 billion. Production reached an annual average of 10.5 million barrels per day, produced by major names like Rosneft, Surgutneftegas, and Gazprom. This accounts for 11% of global oil production.

The European market is highly reliant on Russian oil exports, as is the Russian oil industry on European imports. In 2020, 48% of oil exports went to Europe. And between 2011 and 2020, oil and natural gas made up about 43% of government revenue in Russia.

In 2014, the U.S. and European Union (EU) slapped economic sanctions on Russia after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine. As a result, Russian energy companies are prohibited from accessing capital markets in these regions. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 compelled the U.S. to adopt even more severe sanctions, including a ban on imports of Russian oil.



3. United States

The United States is the third-largest oil exporter. It exported $52.3 billion worth of oil in 2020, comprising 8.17% of global exports. The country significantly increased its oil output between 2011 and 2020. In 2020, the U.S. produced 18.61 million barrels of oil per day, about 20% of the global total.

The U.S. is home to some of the world's largest oil companies, including Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhilips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM).

4. Canada

Canada is the world's fourth-largest exporter of oil. The $47.2 billion worth of oil it exported in 2020 comprised 7.37% of the global total. Its known oil reserves of 167 billion barrels are the third-largest in the world. The bulk of those reserves is located in Alberta's oil sands.

As is often the case, Canada's oil industry is closely connected to the U.S. economy. In 2018, 96% of Canadian oil exports went to the United States, and Canadian oil accounted for 48% of all U.S. oil imports.

Some of the world's major energy companies call Canada home, including Enbridge (ENB.TO), Suncor (SU.TO), and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO).



$127.27 The all-time high price reached by crude oil in July 2008.

5. Iraq

Iraq was the world's second-largest exporter of oil as recently as 2016 but sits in fifth place in 2020, with $45.2 billion in revenue and exporting 7.06% of all oil exports that year. It is the second-largest producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia.

Iraq has the fifth-largest oil reserves in the world, but according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the majority of those reserves are already tapped or being developed. Iraq also faces the challenge of being over-reliant on oil revenues, which accounted for an estimated 91% of government revenues in 2018.

6. United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The United Arab Emirates, a small country approximately the size of South Carolina, exported $176 billion worth of oil in 2019, accounting for 16.13% of global oil exports. Despite being the largest oil exporter in 2019, it fell to sixth-place in 2020 with $42 billion in revenue and 6.57% of all oil exports. The UAE produced 3.78 million barrels per day in 2020, accounting for 4% of global output.

The UAE is estimated to have the seventh-largest oil reserves in the world, totaling approximately 100 billion barrels. The country's economy is less dependent on oil than it once was, though oil and gas output still accounts for about 30% of GDP.

7. Nigeria

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, was the world's seventh-largest exporter of oil in 2020. The country exported $30 billion worth of oil, about 4.68% of the global total. Nigeria has the second-largest proved oil reserves on the continent. Most of its 37 billion barrels of reserves are located along the Niger River Delta and offshore in the Gulf of Guinea, Bight of Benin, and Bight of Bonny.

Nigeria enjoys a relatively diverse crowd of clients who import its oil. In 2018, 20% of Nigerian exports went to India, 11% to Spain, 10% to the Netherlands, and 10% to the United States. The Nigerian government's revenue streams, on the other hand, are much less diverse. The government's non-oil revenue accounts for only 3.4% of GDP.



8. Kuwait

Given its small size, it is impressive that Kuwait is on the list of the world's top oil exporters. The country is located in the Arabian peninsula and is about the size of Connecticut.

Kuwait accounted for 4.32% of global oil exports in 2020, shipping $27.6 billion worth of oil that year. Kuwait produced about 2.75 million barrels of oil per day in 2020, making it the world's tenth-largest producer. The country's reserves are the sixth-largest in the world.



Supply and demand are the most common variables that affect the price of crude oil.

9. Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan was the ninth-largest oil exporter in 2020. Its exports, worth $25.2 billion, accounted for 3.94% of the global total. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Kazakhstan had a 30 billion barrel reserve in 2018. This placed it in twelfth place in the world for reserves, just behind the U.S.

Kazakhstan's oil production comes from two onshore fields in the country's northwest region and from one in the Caspian Sea.



10. Norway

Norway exported $22.6 billion worth of oil in 2020, accounting for 3.53% of the global oil trade. This makes it the tenth-largest oil exporter in the world.

Norway has the largest oil reserves in Western Europe and sends the vast majority of its oil to its European neighbors. Though production has slowed steadily over the course of the 21st century, the oil industry still accounts for 50% of Norwegian exports and over 20% of GDP.

Who Is the Largest Oil Producer in the World? The world's largest producer of oil is the United States, accounting for roughly 20% of oil production. The country took the number one spot from Russia in 2018, thanks to shale production and energy independence policies.

On Average, How Many Billion Barrels of Oil per Day Does the U.S. Export? The United States exports roughly 8.51 million barrels of oil per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
China National Chemical Corp on Monday received approval from US national security officials for its US$43 billion takeover of Swiss chemical company Syngenta AG. [File photo]

China National Chemical Corp on Monday received approval from US national security officials for its US$43 billion takeover of Swiss chemical company Syngenta AG.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US has cleared the transaction, the companies said in a statement. The deal, expected to be completed by the end of the year, is still subject to antitrust review by regulators worldwide, according to the statement.

But getting the nod from CFIUS, a US interagency committee that has the power to block deals deemed to be posing a threat to national security, removes one of the biggest hurdles for the massive deal.

Analysts said that acquiring Syngenta, which got more than a quarter of its revenue last year from seeds and crop protection in North America, would help transform ChemChina into a pesticide and agrochemical giant.

The bid is leading a record wave of Chinese acquisitions that has prompted US officials to consider claims that some purchases could threaten national security.

CFIUS, led by the Treasury Department and including officials from the Defense and State departments, reviews acquisitions of US businesses by foreign investors for risks to US security and can recommend to the president that deals be stopped.

The committee often imposes conditions on transactions before clearing them, such as restricting the foreign company's access to parts of the US business.

Approval by the CFIUS may trigger criticism in the US. A group of farm-state senators in March called on the Treasury Department to closely scrutinize the Syngenta takeover, saying it could affect food security and safety as well as the US farm sector.

In June, Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, called the deal "concerning" and said the US needed to consider "strategic questions" before approving the sale of agricultural assets to foreign governments.

Reuters earlier reported the expected clearance, citing unidentified people. The mega-deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
How can people get rid of their student loan debtand, more specifically, when is loan forgiveness an option? We don't need another statistic to tell us how deep in student loan debt U.S. college graduates are. Total debt and average debt figures don't mean much, except to say that if the sums you owe keep you up at night, you're in good company. What matters is finding a solution.

Key Takeaways Forgiveness is the best kind of student loan debt relief, but it's hard to come by.

Income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) can erase people's remaining debt after many years of payments.

Only federal student loans can be forgiven.

Forgiveness can leave recipients with a big tax bill.

Forgiveness and forbearance sound similar but are not the same.

0:58 How do I Save and Invest with Debt? Nashville

Student Loan Forgiveness: Which Loans Are Eligible?

Only direct loans made by the federal government are eligible for forgiveness. Stafford loans, which were replaced by direct loans in 2010, are also still eligible. If you have other kinds of federal loans, you might be able to consolidate them into one direct consolidation loan, which may give you access to additional income-driven repayment plan options. Non-federal loans (those handled by private lenders and loan companies) do not qualify for forgiveness.

In 2020, borrowers with federal student loans who attended for-profit colleges and sought loan forgiveness because their school defrauded them or broke specific laws were dealt a setback when then-President Trump vetoed a bipartisan resolution that would have overturned new regulations that make it much more difficult to access loan forgiveness. The new, more onerous regulations went into effect on July 1, 2020.

As of Aug. 23, 2022, under the Biden administration, the United States Department of Education has approved $32 billion in student loan debt relief for over 1.6 million borrowers, a significant number of whom were victims of for-profit college fraud.

The Biden administration announced measures to help student loan borrowers because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes debt cancellation of up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants with loans through the Department of Education and as much as $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients. This is in addition to student loan forbearance that expires on Dec. 31, 2022.



As of Oct. 17, 2022, the application for Biden's student loan forgiveness is now available. You don't have to log in with a FSA ID to complete the application; only your full name, date of birth, Social Security number (SSN), phone number, and e-mail address are needed. The application also doesn't require you to prove your eligibility, you merely have to mark a box "...[certifying] under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that all of the information provided on this form is true and correct." This application will be available through Dec. 31, 2023.

Income-Driven Repayment Plan Forgiveness

For federal student loans, the standard repayment period is 10 years. If a 10-year repayment period makes your monthly payments unaffordable, you can enter an income-driven repayment (IDR) program.

Income-driven programs stretch out payments for a term of 20 or 25 years. After that term, assuming you've made all of your qualifying payments, whatever balance is left on the loan is forgiven. Payments are based on your household income and family size, and they will typically be capped at 10%, 15%, or 20% of your discretionary income, depending on the plan.

Below are the four types of IDR plans offered by the U.S. Department of Education, in addition to the repayment periods and monthly payments of each:

Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment (REPAYE) Plan: The repayment period for this plan is either 20 years (if all loans under the plan were received for undergraduate study) or 25 years (if any loans under the plan were received for graduate or professional study). Monthly payments are typically 10% of your discretionary income income.



The repayment period for this plan is either 20 years (if all loans under the plan were received for undergraduate study) or 25 years (if any loans under the plan were received for graduate or professional study). Monthly payments are typically 10% of your discretionary income income. Pay As You Earn Repayment (PAYE) Plan: The repayment period for this plan is 20 years. Monthly payments are typically 10% of your discretionary income income, but they cannot exceed the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount.



The repayment period for this plan is 20 years. Monthly payments are typically 10% of your discretionary income income, but they cannot exceed the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount. Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan: If you didn't already have an outstanding balance when you received a direct loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) on or after July 1, 2014, then the repayment period for this plan is 20 years, and monthly payments are typically 10% of your discretionary income. Conversely, if you did have an outstanding balance when you received a direct loan or an FFEL on or after July 1, 2014, then the repayment period for this plan is 25 years, and monthly payments are typically 15% of your discretionary income. In both cases, monthly payments cannot exceed the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount.



If you didn't already have an outstanding balance when you received a direct loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) on or after July 1, 2014, then the repayment period for this plan is 20 years, and monthly payments are typically 10% of your discretionary income. Conversely, if you did have an outstanding balance when you received a direct loan or an FFEL on or after July 1, 2014, then the repayment period for this plan is 25 years, and monthly payments are typically 15% of your discretionary income. In both cases, monthly payments cannot exceed the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount. Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan: The repayment period for this plan is 25 years. Monthly payments are either 20% of your discretionary income or the equivalent amount for a repayment plan with a fixed 12-year payment (adjusted according to your income), whichever is smaller.

An IDR plan can be a good option for people in low-paying fields who have large amounts of student loan debt. If you're considering an IDR, it's important to keep in mind that eligibility varies between plans, with some types of federal loans being ineligible for repayment under all but one plan. Additionally, you will have to annually "recertify" your income and family size, even if neither have changed from one year to another.

How to Apply

Applying for an IDR requires you to submit an Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request, which can be completed online or via a paper form, the latter of which you must request from your loan servicer. You can either choose a specific IDR plan by name or ask that your loan servicer place you on the income-driven plan that you qualify for with the lowest monthly payment amount.

If any of the loans you wish to include in an IDR plan have different loan servicers, you will have to submit a separate request to each of them.

In order determine your eligibility for certain plans and to calculate your monthly payment, you will have to provide either your adjusted gross income (AGI) or an alternative documentation of income. If you've filed a federal income tax return in the prior two years, and if your current income is largely the same as what was reported on your most recent return, then you will use your AGI. If you are unable to meet either of these criteria, then an alternative documentation of income will be required.

In the former case, if applying online, you can use the included IRS Data Retrieval Tool to pull your AGI information from your federal income tax return. Alternatively, if applying with a paper form, you will need to include a printed copy of your most recently filed federal income tax return or Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax return transcript.

In the latter case, if you are currently receiving taxable income, you are limited to the paper Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request and must include the alternative documentation of your income (i.e., a pay stub). However, if you currently have no income (or if you only receive untaxed income), then you can indicate that on either application and won't be required to supply any further documentation.



Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program

Student loan forgiveness for teachers is neither generous nor easy to qualify for. Teachers can have up to $17,500 of their federal direct and Stafford student loans (but not PLUS or Perkins loans) forgiven by teaching for five complete and consecutive academic years (at least one of which must have been after the 199798 academic year) at a qualifying low-income school or educational service agency.

Even if you were unable to complete a full academic year of teaching, it may still be counted toward the required five academic years if you completed at least half of the academic year; your employer considers your contract requirements for the academic year fulfilled for the purposes of salary increases, tenure, and retirement; and you were unable to complete the academic year because you either returned to postsecondary education in an area of study directly related to the five academic years of qualifying teaching service, had a condition covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, or were called to over 30 days active duty as a member of a reserve component of the U.S. armed forces.



You must be classified as a highly qualified teacher in order to be eligible for the program. This means you have at least a bachelor's degree, full state certification, and not had certification or licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis, with additional qualifications varying based on whether or not you are new to the profession. Only full-time science and math teachers at the secondary level, as well as special education teachers at the elementary or secondary level, are eligible for $17,500 in forgiveness. Forgiveness is capped at $5,000 for other full-time elementary or secondary education teachers.

If you have had an outstanding balance on a direct loan or an FFEL on or after Oct. 1, 1998, then you will be ineligible for the program. Additionally, only loans made before the end of your five academic years of qualifying teaching service will be eligible for Teacher Loan Forgiveness.

You can potentially qualify for both the Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) programs, but you can't use the same years of teaching service to meet the eligibility requirements for both programs. So you'd need 15 years of teaching service to qualify for both programs, in addition to meeting all the specific requirements to earn each type of forgiveness.

How to Apply

Once you have finished your five complete and consecutive years of qualifying teaching, applying for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program only requires submitting a completed Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application to your loan servicer.

If any of the loans you wish to have forgiven under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program have different loan servicers, you will have to submit a separate form to each of them.

However, the application's certification section will have to be filled out by the chief administrative officer of the school or educational service agency where you undertook your qualifying teaching service, meaning you will need to send them the form before you can submit it.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you work a full-time job for a U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal governmentor a not-for-profit organizationyou could already be on your way to student loan forgiveness. You'll need to make 120 payments, which don't have to be consecutive, under a qualifying repayment plan in order to be eligible.

This option isn't for the recent graduate, as it takes at least 10 years to earn. Additionally, you'll need to either have a federal direct loan or consolidate your federal loans into a direct loan.

Unfortunately, this program has been rife with controversy. The government created the PSLF program in 2007, and when the first borrowers became eligible for forgiveness in 2017, almost all of their applications were denied, often over technicalities. In some cases, borrowers found that their loan servicers had misled them about their eligibility for the program.

Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) might help you if your Public Service Loan Forgiveness application was previously denied. TEPSLF may grant qualifying borrowers the forgiveness they were denied under PSLF, but only if they apply before the Oct. 31, 2022 deadline.

On Oct. 6, 2021, the Education Department announced temporary changes to the PSLF program (due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic) that will allow borrowers to receive credit for past payments regardless of payment plan or loan programand regardless of whether payments were made on-time or in the full amount. Borrowers have to submit a PSLF form by Oct. 31, 2022, to receive these benefits.

Many of the previous requirements for PSLF are waived as part of the change, with two key requirements remaining:

Full-time employee or qualifying employee when the prior payments were made. All loans must be federal direct student loans (or consolidated into a direct loan program by Oct. 31, 2022).

The waiver will also allow active-duty service members to count deferments and forbearances toward PSLF. The final major change as part of this update is that the government will now review denied PSLF applications for any errors and allow borrowers the ability to have their PSLF determination reconsidered.

How to Apply

First, if you have FFEL Program loans and/or Perkins Loans, be sure to consolidate these into a direct consolidation loan by Oct. 31, 2022. You cant receive credit for time in repayment if you consolidated and submitted your PSLF form after that date.

Actually applying for PSLF boils down to a four-step process, each of which require utilizing the online PSLF Help Tool:

Search with the PSLF Help Tool to determine if you work for a qualifying employer.

Have your employment for each year certified by the official who is authorized to do so by your employer.

Apply for forgiveness once youve met all the programs requirements. Sign your PSLF form and then submit it to the PSLF servicer.

For the final step, send the completed form, alongside your employers certification, to MOHELA, the U.S. Department of Educations federal loan servicer for the PSLF Program. If MOHELA is already your loan servicer, you may upload your PSLF form directly to their website. Alternatively, you can fax your PSLF form to 866-222-7060 or mail it to the following address:



U.S. Department of Education

MOHELA

633 Spirit Drive

Chesterfield, MO 63005-1243



Student Loan Forgiveness Is Not the Same as Forbearance

Forgiveness eliminates your debt; forbearance postpones your payments. If you're having trouble making student loan payments, you can ask your lender for forbearance. Your lender may not give you a forbearance if you don't meet eligibility requirements, such as being unemployed or having major medical expenses.

Interest on your loan will still accrue, and you can pay that interest during the forbearance period if you want. If you don't pay it, the accrued interest will be added to your principal balance once your forbearance period is up. Your new monthly payment will be slightly higher as a result, and you'll pay more interest in the long run.

The only relationship between forbearance and forgiveness is that when you're in forbearance, since you're not making payments, you're not making progress toward the payment requirements of a forgiveness program you might be participating in.

CARES Act Automatic Federal Student Loan Forbearance

If you have a student loan owned by the U.S. Department of Education, the government has granted you automatic forbearance on this loan under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. On Aug. 24, 2022, the Biden administration extended the forbearance period, allowing loans to stay in forbearance through Dec. 31, 2022.

Between March 13, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2022, no interest will accrue, and you don't need to make any payments. No late fees will apply if you stop paying during this period. You'll know you have this benefit if you see a 0% interest rate when you log in to your student loan account. On March 30, 2021, the Department of Education extended this benefit to defaulted privately held loans under the FFEL Program.

Under normal circumstances, you can't make progress toward loan forgiveness during forbearance. But under the CARES Act, you can. You'll receive credit toward income-driven repayment forgiveness or PSLF for the payments you normally would have made during this period.

There may be tax obligations tied to any loan forgiveness.

Potential Pitfalls of Forgiveness

The IRS likes to tax things, and forgiven debt is no exception. Except, public service loan forgiveness is not considered taxable income. But any balance wiped out through an income-driven repayment plan can be counted as income and taxed. It's important to prepare for this eventual tax bill. Consider setting aside money in a dedicated savings account.

Note that the American Rescue Plan, passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in March 2021, includes a provision that student loan forgiveness issued between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2025, will not be taxable to the recipient.

The Bottom Line

The burden of student loans can be pretty overwhelming, and student loan forgiveness isn't easy to earn, no matter which route you pursue. It takes years and, ultimately, may not pay off. It puts you at the mercy of powerful student loan servicers. It subjects you to the ever-shifting political winds that seek to change forgiveness programs.

All student loan forgiveness programs come with certain conditions, requirements, and limitations. You must follow the rules to a T to qualify. If you're already in deep, forgiveness may be the most appealing way out, especially if you've made life and career choices with a reasonable expectation of getting your remaining student debt erased after years of payments. Forgiveness is not the only solution to out-of-control student loan debt, however. In dire circumstances, getting student loans discharged in bankruptcy may be an option.

Student loan forgiveness might be a welcomed possibilityoffering some relief to student borrowers toward the end of their repayment periodbut its future is uncertain. Students should be wary of incurring debt beyond their means based on the assumption that a good chunk of it will be forgiven.
Investment can be either active or passive. With the active approach, the investor purchases, holds and sells securities and makes decisions based on fundamental research of a company or industry, in particular, and of the national and global economy in general. By contrast, the passive investment approach entails replicating a benchmark or index of securities that share common traits.

Key Takeaways Index investing is an increasingly popular way to passively invest in the market, but which is better: an index mutual fund or ETF?

ETFs tend to be more liquid, have lower net fees, and are more tax efficient than equivalent mutual funds.

For those seeking a more active approach to indexing, such as smart-beta, a mutual fund may provide more expert professional management.

Active vs. Passive

Active investors believe they can beat the market and earn alpha. Passive investors maintain that market inefficiencies over the long term get ironed out ("arbitraged away," in the parlance of market professionals), so attempting to beat the market is fruitless. Passive investors simply desire to achieve beta or the market return.

For the typical individual investor, passive investment is best accomplished through two choices: an open-end investment company, otherwise known as a mutual fund, or an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Because both types of funds track an underlying index, differences in performance typically result from the tracking error, or degree to which the fund fails to replicate the index.

Additionally, the cost of an ETF can be lower than its mutual fund counterpart, a difference that can affect performance as well. Another important consideration that bears on performance is investor behavior. What follows is a basic discussion of the main attributes of each and under what circumstances one would use them.

The Truly Passive Investor

This individual wants to achieve optimal asset allocation best suited to their objectives at a low cost and with minimal activity. For this investor, the index mutual fund would be preferable. A typical adjustment in exposure would be achieved through rebalancing on a regular basis to maintain consistency with their goal. Should circumstances change the adjustment of one's allocation, then tactical changes are easily accomplished.

A truly passive investor purchases an index and then "sets it and forgets it." Trades would only take place when the index's composition is changed as companies are added or dropped by the index provider.

The (At Times) Not So Passive Investor

This individual shares many of the goals of the truly passive investor, but may exhibit greater sophistication and want to effect changes in their portfolio with greater speed and precision. For this type of investor, the ETF would be more appropriate. While taking the passive approach, like its older mutual fund cousin, the ETF allows the holder to take and implement a directional view on the market or markets in ways that the mutual fund cannot. For example, as with shares of common stock, ETFs trade in the secondary market. Investors may purchase and sell them during market hours, rather than be dependent upon forward pricing, where the traditional mutual fund's price is calculated at net asset value (NAV) after the market close.

Additionally, investors may short sell an ETF. The passive investor who may be opportunistically inclined will relish the greater flexibility that this vehicle affords. Tactical changes and market plays may be executed rapidly. The one potential disadvantage is the accumulation of trading costs as a function of one's trading activity. Using ETFs in the aforementioned way is an active application of a passive investment.

The investor should understand market dynamics as they affect asset class behavior and be able to understand and justify their decision-making process, not forgetting that trading costs can reduce investment returns. Investors should understand that attempting to practice the hedge fund strategy of global macro (taking directional bets on asset classes to achieve outsized returns) is akin to a marksman attempting to achieve the range and precision of a high-powered rifle with a .22 caliber gun.

Smart beta investing combines the benefits of passive investing and the advantages of active investing strategies. The goal of smart beta is to obtain alpha, lower risk or increase diversification at a cost lower than traditional active management and marginally higher than straight index investing. It seeks the best construction of an optimally diversified portfolio.

Additional Considerations

Notwithstanding the foregoing discussion, there are several other features of which individual investors should make note when deciding whether to use an index mutual fund or index ETF. Mutual funds have different share classes, sale charge arrangements and holding period requirements to discourage rapid trading. The investor's time frame and (dis)inclination to trade will dictate what product to use. ETFs are built for speed, all else being equal, as they carry no such arrangements.

Mutual funds also often have purchase minimums that can be high, depending on the account in which one invests. Not so with exchange-traded funds. There are tax consequences, however, to investing in either a mutual fund or an ETF. The mutual fund can cause the holder to incur capital gains taxes in two ways.

When they sell for an amount greater than the purchase price, the investor realizes a capital gain. On the other hand, an investor may hold a mutual fund and still incur capital gains taxes if other investors in the same fund sell en masse and force the fund to sell individual holdings to raise cash for redemptions. Those sales may cause the remaining fund holders to incur a capital gain.

Finally, mutual funds offer investors dividend reinvestment programs that enable automatic reinvestment of the fund's cash dividends. In a taxable brokerage account, the dividends would be taxed, even though they're reinvested. ETFs have no such feature. Cash from dividends is placed into the brokerage account of the investor who may well incur a commission to purchase additional shares of the ETF with the dividend that it paid out. Some brokers waive any sales charge. Because of commission costs, ETFs typically do not work in a salary deferral arrangement. However, in an IRA, no tax ramifications from trading would affect the investor.

The Bottom Line

When considering an index mutual fund versus the index ETF, the individual investor would do well to consult an experienced professional who works with individual investors of differing needs. No two individuals' circumstances are identical and the choice of one index product over another results from a confluence of circumstances. As with any investment decision, investors need to do their homework and due diligence.
Over the past few years, commission-based financial advisors have seen a decline in new business across the wealth management sector. Why? Because the investment industry as a whole has largely shifted towards fee-based financial advice as clients are looking to only pay for the services they need.

Commission-based financial advisors have seen a decline in new business in recent years across the wealth management sector.

It's perceived that the interests of fee-based financial advisors are more aligned with their clients because they don't make any revenue on the sale of financial products or specific securities.

If an investor doesn't have sophisticated financial planning needs and just wants help with investment selections, a commission-based financial advisor can still be the right choice.

The Trend Towards Fee-Based Advisors

According to the research firm Cerulli Associates, overall fee-based assets grew from just 26% of total advisors' assets in 2018 to a whopping 45% in late 2018.

Moreover, investors are growing increasingly aware of fee structures. In 2011, Cerulli found that only 10% of investors were even aware of fee-only models. But in 2018, a solid 34% of investors were are of the fee-based compensation model.

The trend is clear: The client pool for commission-based financial advice is decreasing and advisors need to rethink their service offering if they want to remain competitive in this rapidly changing regulatory industry.

With that being said, the question both advisors and clients need to ask themselves: Is there still a place for commission-based advice in the world of wealth management?

The Role of Commission-Based Financial Advisors

Commission-based financial advisors deal strictly with investment strategies.

They operate similarly to stockbrokers in the sense that they actively buy and sell securities for their clients. These advisors receive commissionsnot from their clients, but from the companies where they purchase the securities.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, the financial advice industry has grown skeptical of commission-based advisors because it's perceived that their services are limited to investment strategies. Many consumers now suspect that commission-based financial advisors may prioritize their bottom line over the best interests of their clients.

The Role of Fee-Based Advisors

Fee-based financial advisors have a completely opposite income structure. These financial advisors are paid by their clients for the services they provide. The upside to this is that fee-based advisors offer a variety of services beyond the scope of investments such as tax, estate, and retirement planning.

It's perceived that fee-based financial advisors always have their clients' best interests at heart because they don't make any revenue on the sale of financial products or specific securities. They are only paid (by their clients) for services rendered.

Which Type of Advisor Is Best?

The answer depends on a client's needs.

If an investor doesn't have sophisticated financial planning needs and just wants help with investment selections, a commission-based financial advisor can be the right choice.

There will be no out-of-pocket costs to the investor because the advisor is paid by the securities company. Clients who are still hesitant can review whether suggested investments are best suited for their needs by researching the options presented.

Although fee-based advisors are paid by their clients for services, and not from financial products sold, they still receive payment in one form or another.

Yes, clients only pay for services rendered, but if the advisor doesn't recommend new services, they don't get paid. The other side of the coin is that consumers shouldn't expect to receive a professional service without paying for the service provided.
Believe it or not, according to a 1991 ruling by the Supreme Court of New York (Stambovsky v. Ackley), a seller must disclose that a house has a reputation for being haunted because such a reputation could impair the value of the house.

However, sometimes a home's reputation is so notorious that no formal notification is required. Check out some of these haunted American houses, and when they last went up for sale.

Key Takeaways Some of the most famous scary houses in America occasionally hit the market.

The scary histories of these homes can influence price and interest, though not always in ways you might expect.

The courts have ruled that a house's reputation can harm its value, and the sellers must disclose this information prior to a sale.

The Amityville Horror House

One of the most famous haunted houses last changed hands in 2017: the Amityville Horror House. The new owners bought the house for $605,000, according to real estate records, $200,000 less than the asking price. The previous owner also bought at a discount: $950,000 on a $1.15 million asking price.

But it's not ghosts that keep the price down: it's the threat of Halloween pranksters and tourists.

George and Kathleen Lutz bought the home in 1975, just over a year after Ronald DeFeo Jr. Shot and killed his mother, father, and four siblings within its walls. They got a bargain price on the home and claimed they had no idea what had happened there until strange occurrences began taking place. It was the Lutzes' experience, which took shape in the form of a book by Jay Anson, "The Amityville Horror," which launched the house into the public eye and led to several movie spinoffs.

However, while there may not have been laws in place at the time to ensure that the home's gruesome vintage was revealed at the time of the sale, the success of the Amityville books and movies suggest the homeowners may have gotten their money's worth anyway.

The Winchester House

Whether this house really is haunted or not, you will definitely be startled if you get a chance to visit. The 160 room house in San Jose, Calif., is now a museum, but despite its 160 rooms, an unprecedented level of workmanship, and acres of land, it was considered virtually worthless at the time of its owner's death in 1922. It was sold at auction for $135,000 and opened to the public five months later. It is now owned by Winchester Investments LLC and is marketed as the "Winchester Mystery House."

So just what makes this house so creepy? According to the Winchester Mystery House website, the home's eccentric owner, Sarah Winchester (of Winchester rifle fame), lost her infant daughter and husband but was left with a $20 million fortune. That's a lot of money now, but in the late 1800s, it may as well have been all the money in the world.

Over the next 38 years, construction continued on a huge and unusual house with more than 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and six kitchens. At one point, it soared as high as seven stories and was constantly being renovated, added onto, and rebuilt.

As you might have guessed, Ms. Winchester was an eccentric lady, and her house shows it in every bizarre nook and cranny. In what is believed to have been an attempt to ward off evil spirits, the house includes mazes of hallways, dead-end stairways, windows in the floor, and many other twists, turns, and secret passages.

Needless to say, ghost stories about the house abound, but if you want to find out whether it's really home to evil spirits, you may have to take a tour and find out for yourself.

The LaLaurie Mansion

The LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans is a stately old home in the French Quarter and was once home to rich Creole Socialites Dr. Louis LaLaurie and his wife, Delphine. In the 1830s, many stories emerged surrounding Delphine's cruelty toward, and perhaps even murder of, her many slaves.

Although some critics believe these were really rumors perpetuated by those who disapproved of the LaLauries' lavish lifestyle, the home's reputation as one of America's most haunted houses persists.

Its most recent owner is an unnamed Texas oil tycoon, and it was once owned by actor Nicolas Cage. According to an April 23 article in the Times-Picayune, Cage purchased the house in 2006 for $3.4 million and put the stately, 10,000 square-foot home up for sale in 2009 for $3.55 million. Unfortunately for the Cage, the infamous home turned out to be a curse after all; according to Zillow.com, he lost it in a foreclosure auction later that year.

The Chambers Mansion

Historical information on this old San Francisco home is a bit slim, although many people who've visited report strange experiences. According to Zillow.com, the house was built in 1887 and named after its owner, Richard Chambers. The rest is a legend, in which Chambers' two nieces inherited the mansion together after his death. One of them came to an untimely end in a "farm implementation accident," though other legends suggest she was murdered by an insane family member.

The mansion was converted to a hotel in 1977. In 2002, it was converted to two homes and restored. According to Zillow, it was last sold in 2013 and was estimated to be valued at around $4 million. It's currently valued at $6.2 million, similar to other homes in the area. Clearly, its creepy vintage hasn't put a dent in its charmor its value.

The Bottom Line

Although the courts have determined that a home's haunted reputation could have a negative effect on its value, the continued interest in the old houses listed here suggests that in some cases, a haunting can be a valuable asset for a historic home. Every old house has a story, but if it involves betrayal, murder, and a few ghosts, it can often give a vintage home just the right cachet.
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The urban investment environment, or all the support the city can provide to investors, may help the city attract more investment.

The China Institute of City Competitiveness, a Hong Kong-based research organization, has released a ranking of Chinese cities based on their investment environment.

The ranking uses four first-class indicators, namely an economic development index, a resource index, a city image index and a government behavior index, together with 16 second-class indicators and 51 third-class indicators.

Here are the top 10 Chinese cities with the best investment environment.

No 10 Zhangzhou in Fujian Province scores 79.13

Photo taken on May 27, 2016 shows a newly-built bridge to Shuangyu Island, an artificial island in near-shore waters, in Zhangzhou City, southeast China's Fujian Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
World has experienced the rise of ISIS, which led Iraq is deep economic worries. After devastated completely due to US led invasion, the country was trying to revive slowly. However, the efforts had gone in vein due to rise of ISIS. After trying for a few years, Iraqi armed force has successfully cornered the violent militant group ISIS.

Now, it is the time for rebuilding the country again, matching brick by brick. As Iraqi government looks for quick solutions, 3D printed homes are just something that can help the country immensely.

Iraqi Ministries of Planning, Housing, Finance, Water Resources, and from the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Regional Planning Department have taken 3D printed home very seriously. Officials traveled to WinSuns Suzhou office, China to look at the 3D printed homes.

The Assistant Director of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, Abbas Fadi Abbas Ka Demi had led the delegation to China for this purpose.

WinSun is a global leader in the field of 3D printing construction technology. Back in 2014, the company had made a terrific achievement by building ten 3D printed houses just within 24 hours.



| Soruce: 3Ders | By S.Seal
Iraq Wallets Pay with ZainCash has been anticipated to have a major impact on expanding e-commerce nationwide supporting the creation of an enabling environment for entrepreneurs to operate, while stimulating Iraqs digital economy and kick-starting the adoption of e-commerce.

Pay with ZainCash allows accepting online payments through website or mobile apps. Cash is the dominant payment method in present-day Iraq due to the lack of electronic payment alternatives.

Cash payments impose high operational costs on the economy and merchants due to collection, processing, and safeguarding. This has resulted in the development of a challenging business environment, particularly for entrepreneurs and online businesses.

With the launch of this latest service, Iraqis will be able to purchase a broad range of products and services, which could previously only be acquired through face-to-face transactions. These include purchasing airplane tickets, movie tickets, consumer goods, and other products that are sold online across Iraq.

Commenting on the introduction of the new service, Yazen Al-Timimi, MD of Iraq Wallet said, "E-Commerce in the MENA region is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2020, and with Iraq having a large and young consumer base, counting a population of 35 million, ZainCash is set to drive the mass adoption of online payment solutions in the country.

Al-Timimi also mentioned, With a solid base of over 11 million customers, many of whom have never had access to online payment services, benefitting from Zains 3G mobile network, we believe ZainCash will be instrumental in boosting economic and social development across Iraq.

Iraq Wallet introduced ZainCash in Iraq at the beginning of 2016 and with this online payment solutions expansion, the service now allows users to deposit e-money onto their mobile numbers, transfer money across Iraq, Cash-in/Cash-out at thousands of locations, purchase digital goods and products online, and more.



| Soruce: CPi | By S.Seal
After a lot of turmoil, Iraqs parliament has finally approved five new ministers nominated by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi. Iraq has now got its new oil minister too. Jabar Ali al-Luaibi, the former chief of South Oil Company, Iraqs largest crude oil producer, is ready to cope with the highest oil ministry position.

According to al-Luaibi, there are a lot of things to be hopeful about Iraqs oil industry. He mentioned that there are solutions to the problems that Iraq is facing right now. He also stressed on good relationship with semi autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq.

On the other hand regional government of Kurdistan has also shown interest in discussing things with Baghdad. In the month of June, KRG had made an offer of $1 billion assured oil revenue on every month. The proposed amount is around 17 percent of the total budget of Iraq. However, the proposal did not go in the right direction, and presently crude supply to Baghdad is halted from Kurdistan.

Figures from May show the regional government generated $390 million in revenues by exporting 513,000 barrels to Turkey. According to a previous deal, KRG was required to halt its unilateral exports, and in return, Iraq would pay the $747 million in monthly salaries for its 400,000 public employees that Kurdish officials had been struggling to come up with.

Fighters in Kurdistans Peshmerga have been known to defend their land against ISIS with patriotism and pride, though as months pass without pay, morale and stability in the KRG has begun crumbling.

The appointment of new oil minister is definitely a fresh hope in feud between Baghdad and Erbil. Solving Kurdistan issue is also important for Iraq to make the country ISIS free.



| Soruce: OIL PRICE |
Shabak community has been considered as one of the ethnic minorities in Iraq. They speak in language that has clear distinction from Kurdish and Arabic. Its members live on the Ninevah plains with other religious minorities including Christians, Yazidis and Kakais.

On August 10th, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced end of process for the Mosul liberation operations. However, a third phase is still needed to be carried out to liberate Mosul completely.

Shabaks are afraid of a Kurdish-Arab rivalry around their regions. This conflict will reveal divisions among Shabak leaders over their fate and identity.

Young activist Hussein al-Shabaki, who lives in a refugee camp in southern Iraq's Wasit province, is looking forward to returning to his village on the plains. Although he participates in various activities to defend the rights of the Shabak people, he often returns to the refugee camp, devastated.

"I can no longer wait" to return home, he said. "I feel I am locked up in prison, and I have no choice. Our return to the Ninevah plains after the liberation of our lands is not certain, and it remains a political decision."

Thousands of Shabak refugees dream of returning home but worry about falling victim to the Arab-Kurdish rivalry over their villages and about potentially losing their identities among the Kurds or other Shiites. Displaced Shabaks face a complicated situation, as they have been dispersed between the Kurdistan region and central and southern Iraq, and because of political conflicts among Shabak representatives over their alliances with major Arab and Kurdish political currents.

Shabak leader and parliament member Salem Jumaa declared resolve with other Shabak leaders to hold a public referendum for Shabaks to determine their fate. He believes that turning the Ninevah plains into a province affiliated with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will offer Shabaks protection from the displacement and killings they suffered under the Islamic State (IS).

In a media interview, he said that he believes the Shabak people once were part of a Kurdish tribe, but over time they split from it and joined other tribes. However, he said, they remain proud of their origins and the Kurdish language. Some Shabak politicians such as Ghazwan Hamed, the Shabak quota representative in the Ninevah provincial council and a member of the Council of Free Shabaks, agrees with Jumaa that it is in the Shabaks' interest to join the KRG, which would offer them protection and recognize their rights as citizens.

Some other Shabak politicians believe the Shabaks should remain under the authority of the federal government. Hunain Qaddo, the secretary-general of the Democratic Shabak Assembly, told Al-Monitor that other views only aim to divide the Shabaks.

He also mentioned, "The Kurdistan Democratic Party [KDP] is working hard to take over the regions of the Ninevah plains in any way  including trying to change the identity of the indigenous minorities  due to the economic importance of Ninevah province and its oil reserves, in addition to the fertile agricultural lands of the Shabaks. The KDP also wants to establish a buffer zone between Arabs and Kurds to set the stage for declaring the Kurdish state."

He also stated, "The province would have a special administration allowing the Shabaks to manage their affairs independently."

Independent Shabak politician Qusay Abbas, who was a member of the Ninevah provincial council from 2009 to 2013, is trying to balance the different views.

"I believe most Shabaks question the seriousness of any party in recognizing them and their rights. We cannot say the Shabaks have interest in favoring one party over the other. They advocate those who respect and recognize their rights. And, both parties [Baghdad and Erbil] are slackening in this regard."

The bigger picture seems much more complicated, as there are two armed Shabak units, and their militarization has caused a clear and deep rift among them. One of the units is affiliated with the Kurdish peshmerga, while the other fights under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Unit (PMU) affiliated with the federal government.

Jumaa pointed out that Shabak fighters in peshmerga ranks number about 655 and will play an effective role in liberating the land. The fighters are equipped with heavy and light weapons, he said, citing sources in the Peshmerga Ministry.

Qaddo said there are 900 Shabak fighters in the battalion fighting under the PMU against IS. The PMU is supplying the battalion with light and medium weapons, and he expects it to advance to participate in the liberation of Hawija and Sharqat.



| Soruce: ALMONITOR | By S.Seal
Iraq is in news these days due to government and allied militia forces fight to reclaim territory from the Islamic Group militants. Protest against present Iraqi government led by Haider al-Abadi and possible independence of Kurdistan are the other news at this moment.

Amidst such turmoil, people have forgotten how the country used to look before becoming a war plagued country. Old Iraqi Pictures Twitter account has posted some beautiful nostalgic photographs of the country. This Twitter account has around 9000 followers, and the recent pictures from this account have gone viral over social media.

It posts regular photographs of Iraq, especially those pictures that were taken before the saga of wars started in this region. Iraq was a regional center of culture, education, medicine, etc.





| Soruce: albawaba | By S.Seal
Global oil glut has resulted into geopolitical instability and the economic crash in Iraq. Iraq is one of the largest oil producers, but now it is struggling with its economic wounds. It is an oil reliant economy, and that is why global oil price cut off has moved the country into complete economic disarray.

Foreign investment and business development executives are tentatively considering Iraq as a potential business opportunity again.

Early in the year, General Electrics confidence in the region is shown by their US$1 billion worth of projects in the countrys electricity infrastructure and continues to see, growth opportunities going forward.

The World Bank (International Finance Corporation Branch) similarly showed their support by signing a US$375 million finance package for an Iraqi owned power company, undersigned by Lebanons Bank Audi. Moused Makhlouf, IFC Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said their financial aid was also accompanied by increase in interest by investors from the region.

Tourism in Iraq may also soon grow as the Wyndham Hotel Group announced they would be constructing two new hotels, one in Najaf which is an area frequently visited by Shiite Muslims for their pilgrimage.

Daniel Ruff, Wyndhams president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said, It takes a long time to develop new hotels so you cant wait until the moment before the thing is in all the travel magazines. He also noted, Once you are the first mover you see some opportunities emerging quickly and growth can be really fantastic.

The International Monetary Fund also recently approved a US$5.3 billion bailout for Iraq, boosting investor confidence. The IMF expects a 7% growth in the economy.



| Soruce: Rebuilding Iraq | By S.Seal
In just 28 tweets, two Irish women made the abortion ban in Ireland a topic of international conversation by producing a live stream of tweets throughout their journey to England for a termination.

Abortion has been illegal in Ireland since 1983. A woman who procures one within the country can face a jail term of more than a decade. This legal situation has forced many Irish woman to travel to England or to other European countries where laws around abortion are more lenient. As many as 150,000 women are believed to have made that journey since 1983.

Figures from the UK Department of Health indicate that 3,451 Irish women traveled to England and Wales for abortions in 2015. That means that on average when those who travel to other EU countries are added that more than 10 Irish women travel abroad for abortions each day.

Starting at 5am Saturday, August 20, the Twitter account @TwoWomenTravel documented the journey of one concerned Irish woman accompanying her friend to Manchester to have an abortion. She also recounted how the two women met other Irish women in the waiting room in Manchester.

Forced 2 leave Ireland, @EndaKennyTD joined by more Irish in waiting room,waiting for our loved ones #twowomentravel pic.twitter.com/19FNUacPJD  Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 20, 2016

Describing the mission as Two women, one procedure, 48 hours away from home, the account regularly addressed Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny who supports the current abortion laws in Ireland. The Taoiseach has previously stated that his party, Fine Gael, currently the leaders in a minority government, will not oversee a referendum on abortion. A referendum is the only possibly means to repeal the 8th amendment to the Irish constitution (passed in 1983) that gives a fetus rights equal to the woman carrying it.

Thank to @EndaKenny were about to hit the road, they said, while another tweet asked him to send them the cab fare for their journey.

Good morning all .Thanks for all of th messages of solidarity and support.Thanks to@EndaKennyTD we're about to hit the road.#twowomentravel  Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 20, 2016

Unxpectd change of venue.#twowomentravel more thn originally anticipated.Hit us back th taxi fare@EndaKennyTD?Sound pic.twitter.com/LbI76TYBTa  Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 20, 2016

In a tweet that showed most starkly the suffering of having to travel abroad to obtain an abortion over a weekend, Kenny was sent an image of a bloodied hotel bedsheet stating, Not the first or the last bleeding women about to face a long trek home @EndaKennyTD #twowomentravel.

Not the first or the last bleeding women about to face a long treck home @EndaKennyTD #twowomentravel pic.twitter.com/08q2CQE3Yw  Two Women Travel (@TwoWomenTravel) August 21, 2016

The account quickly drew attention from all over the world, including English comedian and CBS late-night talk show host James Corden, who sent his support.

Today, @TwoWomenTravel but you're not on your own in this. So many people are with you. X  James Corden (@JKCorden) August 20, 2016

They were also supported by Irish Times feature editor Roisin Ingle, who last year wrote of her own experience traveling to England for a termination.

Hope you get good rest. Sorry Ireland casts out women & girls when they need support. Take care  #TwoWomenTravel https://t.co/Jd43dkxfNj  Roisin Ingle (@roisiningle) August 21, 2016

"What I want to say to the women is thank you. Thank you for shining light on the journey thousands upon thousands of Irish women, including myself, have been forced to make. Thank you for showing us the grim details from the gray clouds as you boarded the plane to the bloodstains on bed sheets that were not your own. Thank you for telling us of the other Irish women in the waiting room. Good women. Strong women. Not criminals," Ingle told CNN.

The Life Institute, an Irish pro-life organization, condemned media coverage of the issue, however, with a representative stating that the Twitter account was disquieting and the media failed to discuss the reality of abortion.

"It's always sad if a woman is made to feel that she has to have an abortion, or that she has no other option  and of course it's a heart-breaking tragedy when a baby has her life brutally ended by abortion. Though we've heard very little about that reality," Niamh Ui Bhriain of the Life Institute told Irish radio station Newstalk.

"There's something very disquieting about the Twitter campaign - it's more like a planned and coordinated campaign than simply somebody sharing their personal story.

"The reality is being ignored: there are plenty of discussions in the media as to the fact that Irish women travel for abortion, but there's no mention of the baby who has been killed.

"The fact of the matter is we're only ever hearing from one side of the story...how much of the reporting around this actually discussed the reality of abortion?

"How often do we hear from women who have undergone abortions and regret it?"

Taoiseach Kenny has yet to respond to the tweets, but Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris praised the women for sharing their journey with the rest of the world.

Thanks to @TwoWomenTravel for telling story of reality which faces many. Citizens Assembly  a forum to discuss 8th & make recommendations, read the ministers message on Twitter.

Thanks to @TwoWomenTravel for telling story of reality which faces many. Citizens Assembly - a forum to discuss 8th & make recommendations  Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) August 21, 2016

The women have declined requests for interviews from various news publications and have so far remained anonymous but have confirmed that they are both well over 18 years of age.

Their journey comes just a month after a landmark statement from the UN human rights committee which deemed that Irelands ban on abortion subjected a woman to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In 2011, dual Irish and US citizen Amanda Mellet was denied an abortion in Ireland despite knowing that her baby suffered from congenital defects, meaning it would die in the womb or shortly after birth. Despite having no legal powers to force Ireland to change its laws, the UN ruling deemed Mellett's treatment to have violated her human rights.

Following the UN ruling, Pro-choice campaigners used Twitter to call for the Irish government to #repealthe8th, a hashtag that first came to prominence after the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, 31, in 2012 after she was refused an abortion. The countrys strict abortion laws came under scrutiny when an inquest into Halappanavars death revealed her life could have been saved had a termination been carried out a day or two before her miscarriage.

After the inquest, a new law, passed in 2013, allowed for a termination if the mothers life was deemed to be in danger, including from the risk of suicide. This move did not appease pro-life campaigners.

If you are angry or moved following #twowomentravel join the campaign to #repealthe8th & attend the March for Choice pic.twitter.com/WvEjnsHGFa  Yvie Ni (@YvieNi) August 20, 2016

Read more: Liam Neeson accused of anti-Catholicism after narrating pro-abortion ad
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Photo taken on Aug. 1, 2016 shows a symbol of Didi in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese ride hailing and sharing company Didi Chuxing was selected on the Fortune list of "2016 Change the World", shortly after the acquisition of Uber China that cemented its leading position in Chinese transportation service market.

As the only Chinese mainland company on the annual list of the U.S.-based magazine, Didi Chuxing, estimated to be worth US$35 billion, ranked the 30th mainly because of its contribution to the environment.

British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline topped the list, followed by Israeli water desalination firm IDE Technologies and U.S. multinational conglomerate General Electric.

Published on Saturday, Fortune highlighted Didi's positive impact on cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.

Last year, car-pooling services from Didi helped reduce total car trips in China by 1 million a day, which saved 500 million liters of gas and cut 13.5 million tons of carbon emissions per day, it said.

"That's not the only way in which Didi is a pollution-buster," it said. "Its taxi service reduces the time drives aimlessly cruise around across 400 cities; its bus service coordinates long-haul private buses for commuters and car-pooling reduces congestion."

Founded in 2012, Didi Chuxing became China's largest transportation network firm after the merger of competitors Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache.

On Aug. 1, global ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. said it decided to sell the business of Uber China unit to Didi Chuxing. By this merge, investors in Uber China unit will own 20 percent of Didi; while Didi will invest US$1 billion in Uber.
Five of the 53 parishes in the Diocese of Kerry are now without a resident priest, few parishes have curates and most are "a one man show", to quote the diocese pastoral director.

Three priests who retired last year were over the age of 75 and one elderly priest has also retired this year.

With just one priest to be ordained next year, the first in a decade, the future - clerically - for the ancient diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe, associated with early saints like Brendan the Navigator ,who is said to have discovered America in the sixth century, is not bright.

There is now just one priest under the age of 40 in the sprawling 5,300 sq km diocese, which includes parts of west and north Cork, and at least three other men are currently coping with serious illness.

As a result, a radical re-organization is taking place in Ireland's most southerly diocese to cope with the halving of its clergy in under two decades and the high possibility of a further future shortage of priests.

Parishes in Kerry that were once distinct now find themselves bonded together and the lay contribution is coming into its own, taking on more and more of the work and ministry.

Over 500 people have completed the 20-week pastoral care course in Kerry the past four years.

The parishes without priests are being served by priests from other parishes in their pastoral areas, equivalent to the old deaneries.

The need to cover for neighboring parishes means "no priest is full-time in his own parish" in these areas, the Bishop of Kerry, Dr Ray Browne said recently.

A quarter of each priests time is dedicated to the fourth parish that is without a resident priest, he explained, announcing that along with Valentia Island in the south west, Allihies in west Cork, and Tarbert in the extreme northall of which have been without priests for a year or morethe parishes of Ballyheigue and Duagh were also to be without resident priests.

The changes which are sweeping across the diocese are not sudden.

Kerry's pastoral director Fr Ger Godley, who is managing the shift, notes how the Diocese began by paring back the curates and, apart from the larger Tralee and Killarney parishes, "it's just one man" and that is the parish priest, Fr Godley says.

Dingle, Killorglin, and Kenmare all have just one priest and there are currently just 51 priests for a 53 parish diocese.

Read more: When one million Irish turned out for Mass at the 1932 Eucharistic Congress (VIDEOS)

"People focus on the parishes without a priest - in fact, it impacts on the entire pastoral area," Fr Godley observes.

The lack of clergy is difficult but it is paving the way for the ideals of Vatican II and more lay involvement, Fr Godley stresses.

"It is not all doom and gloom. In fact it is quite a positive story. The emergence of lay people is fantastic. We are starting to do what should have been done in line with Vatican II, a church of the people," he said.

Ireland was "unusual", it was a church that centered on the clergy, Fr Godley continued. Over the past 100 years, the Irish church, with more priests per capita than elsewhere in the world, was a clerical church and this was unusual in world terms.

The increased lay involvement is keeping the diocese running, however. First Friday calls will still happen, funerals will continue, churches will still open but the day is not far off when it is lay ministers who will welcome the remains into the church at a funeral, for instance .

Eucharistic Ministers are already in every parish and then there are Ministers of the Word who can lead prayer. Teams to support baptism and funerals are to be trained and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament can also be led by a lay minister, teams of which are inclusive of men and women, young and old.

The number of masses said each week is also to be adjusted.

An example of one such Kerry parish coping with the shortage is Valentia Island in the old deanery of Iveragh, which has been without a priest now for a year.

Fr Larry Kelly, parish priest of Cahersiveen, is what is known as the moderator of the five parishes of Iveragh.

The Killarney man presides over the only church in Ireland to be called after a layman,the OConnell Memorial Church. This church was built, and named with special papal permission, after the great statesman Daniel O'Connell, a lay person, neither a saint, nor a deity, but a man who worked tirelessly for Catholic emancipation in Ireland in the 17th and 18th century.

Read more: Irish priest builds most loving, welcoming community in California

Fr Kelly sees lay involvement as truly liberating.

"I welcome more laity. The laity, committed laity in particular, weren't involved enough before," he said.

Losing a priest is a shock for parishioners at first, however, he admits.

"Parishes like to have a resident priest, the same way as a post office, police station and school. It's part of the fabric. When they hear first there is no resident priest, there is a shock. Always the question arises, why were we chosen?

"We've known for a long time we'd have fewer priests and needed to encourage more lay involvement."

What is emerging now is probably less parochial in the narrow sense, and more of a sharing and a bond between the once very separate parishes, he continued.

The four priests of the five Iveragh parishes of Cahersiveen, Valentia, Ballinskelligs, Waterville and Caherdaniel are involved in a wheel-like rota. When Fr Kelly goes to Valentia, the priest from Waterville comes to Cahersiveen, so there is "constant movement", Fr Kelly said.

Being without a resident priest for the first time in its distinguished history had been a seismic shock for the the independent-minded island of Valentia.

With two Catholic churches, one Protestant churches, numerous holy wells and sites on Valentia, the neighboring island of Skellig Michael also has a long association with Christianity. Legend has it that it is the home of the infamous druid Mogh Roith, the Servant of the Wheel, who is said to have beheaded John the Baptist.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception on Knightstown celebrated its 100th anniversary this summer. It was built to serve the highly skilled Transatlantic Cable station employees, against the wishes of the Bishop of Kerry, who refused to finance it.

There is also the Church of St. Teresa and St. Dorarca further inland in Chapeltown.

It is a small parish and like much of south Kerry has suffered a decline in population and now numbers 654.

Marie Williams is a member of the new finance committee of the parish. Marie, who had been a director of nursing, and her husband Richard, a senior civil servant, retired to Valentia from Shropshire, England, 13 years ago.

Richard is churchwarden for St John's Church of Ireland and Marie, an English Catholic "for generations", is a lynch pin of the Catholic community.

Richard thinks that what the Catholic Church is going through now has already been experienced by the Protestant Church. The Church of Ireland parish governing Valentia now stretches from Kenmare to Waterville. "Before 1922 there were a lot of Protestants here," Richard said.

Initially the loss of a priest to Valentia was "quite a shock", Marie said. But it has turned out well, partly as Fr Larry Kelly, has been "such a good moderator".

"I went from just doing the flowers on a rota in both Chapeltown and Knightstown to being very involved," Marie said of the changes wrought in the past year.

Around 20 people are involved in three core committees of pastoral finance and liturgy.

Church buildings had declined and Knightstown church particularly was "grim". Over the past year some people who hadn't been involved in the church in a while have rowed in to do up the church buildings voluntarily.

New lace and linen altar cloths for Chapeltown have been made and seats covered in green velvet in Knightstown.

"To be able to help and feel included is a very good thing  there is new energy and the happiness in the church. It is unbelievable," Marie gushes.

There is also a new social side and an after-mass gathering at the Presbytery once a month.

"On the whole people are very very happy." The fact Fr Kelly from the altar thanked people who volunteered meant a great deal too, she said.
Update 9.05pm: Police in Rio have claimed that they have access to emails between Pat Hickey and Marcus Evans of the THG Group relating to the sale of tickets for the 2016 Rio Olympics, writes Daniel McConnell and Matt Sandy.

This is despite a ban on THG handling tickets for the Rio Games put in place by the Rio authorities.

At a press conference tonight, officers told the media that weekly emails between Mr Evans and Mr Hickey, who recently temporarily stepped aside as OCI president date back to 2010, when THG won the rights to handle the tickets.

Crucially, officers claimed they also have obtained one email between the two men on 3 August, less than three weeks ago, on the eve of the Games commencing.

A week on from Mr Hickeys controversial arrest, officers said their probe has established that the OCI enabled tickets to THG via Pro10, an Irish company based in Lucan, Dublin.

The relationship between THG, Pro10 and the OCI is central to the investigations not only in Rio but to the pending State Inquiry here in Ireland, the terms of reference of which are to be published today.

In 2010, THG won the rights to handle the OCIs tickets for the London Olympics in 2012.

At the time, Mr Hickey recorded a video praising the work of THG adding they should get first refusal on handling the tickets for the Rio Games.

However, Rio Authorities in 2014 following the Brazil Soccer World Cup, prohibited THG from being a ticket agent.

But then Kevin Mallon, a THG employee, was arrested in possession of 781 OCI designated tickets two weeks ago, and has remained in prison ever since.

Both THG and Pro10 have consistently denied any wrong doing and have said they welcome the Governments inquiry.

Hickey, who is detained at the notorious Bangu Prison, did not appear before a Rio court yesterday because prosecutors have not yet been able to present their case before a judge.

Hickeys legal team had earlier confirmed that it could be Friday before he is in court.

Transcript of conversation between Pat Hickey and Marcus Evans pic.twitter.com/vmfVZuogBI  Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) August 23, 2016

The judiciary recess ended today and the prosecutor has not yet present his case before the judge. So it will not be possible for the judge to whom the case will be assigned to already be aware of the matter, they said this morning.

The backlog of some 800 cases dates back to 5 August when the courts went on holidays with Mr Hickeys case not lodged until 19 August. The cases will be processed in the order at which they came in meaning Mr Hickey will have to wait.

Meanwhile, the three OCI officials presented to the Rio Police Station yesterday afternoon for questioning.

Honorary General secretary Dermot Henihan is "no longer of interest to officers" having met them today.

Meanwhile police find emails between Hickey and Marcus Evans discussing opening ceremony tickets.  Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) August 23, 2016

In an email on 3 August, 2016, released by police at a press conference today, Patrick Hickey wrote to Marcus Evans: That sounds great Marcus.

Things are coming together here in Rio but with a lot of effort being put in.

We have tickets left that Pro 10 dont want so before we get rid of them have you any use for them?

Evans replied: Hi Pat  Glad to hear all coming together, I am afraid I have more than I need as well so all we can do is put back on portal for hopeful resell.

Hickey replied: Thanks Marcus.

I can confirm to you now that I do not require any of the opening or closing ceremony tickest that was part of our NOC allocation. You can use them all."

Police added later that they had wanted to interview John Delaney and Willie O'Brien about their involvement in or knowledge of the alleged ticket touting scam because they are the big guys in the council.

"We wanted to know about his involvement in this case but he didn't come to Brazil. All the emails were sent to Patrick Hickey, copied to John Delaney and Willie O'Brien because they are the big guys in the council," one officer said.

Update 3.25pm: The lawyer for Pat Hickey has confirmed that the 71-year-old will not appear in court today.

Mr Hickey had been expected to appear before a judge in Rio today.

However, Mr Hickey's solicitor confirmed that this will now not happen, saying: "The judiciary recess ended today, and the prosecutor has not yet present his case before the judge, so it will not be possible for the judge to whom the case will be assigned to already be aware of the matter."

It could be several days before Mr Hickey's case is heard by a court in Brazil.

Officials says there is a backlog of cases to be heard by courts in Rio de Janeiro, which were closed for the Olympic Games.

Update 9.55am: A statement has been released this morning by the lawyer representing former Olympic Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey.

Mr Hickey has been arrested due to suppositions that are not supported by any material evidence or proof of the alleged facts presented by the police, stated Arthur Lavigne.

His arrest has no legal support.

The investigation did not bring one single slight indication that Mr Hickey could be involved with the facts therein investigated, and his detention was required by the police authority under mere assumptions.

Update 9.22am: Draft terms of reference for the State inquiry into the Rio Olympics ticket scandal suggest that it could probe ticketing arrangements for the 2012 Olympics as well as this year's Games.

Potential names are being discussed by the Sports Minister Shane Ross and Fianna Fail.

Earlier:

Three OCI executives have agreed to be questioned by police in Brazil today, after their passports were taken during a search operation last Sunday.

Chef de Mission for the Olympics Kevin Kilty, OCI general secretary Dermot Henihan and CEO Stephen Martin were forced to cancel their flights home and move to different hotels.

Dermot Henihan

The head of the FAI John Delaney was back in work in Dublin yesterday, despite a warrant issued in Brazil to seize his passport.

It is unclear as to whether former OCI president Pat Hickey will appear in court in Rio later today.

He is facing charges relating to ticket touting at this year's games.

Mr Hickey has his passport confiscated and is currently being held at Bangu prison following his arrest last week.

It has been reported that Mr Hickey has a second passport that is with his lawyers. The Department of Foreign Affairs said that there could be a number of reasons for a person to have a second passport.

Last week, Minister for Sport Shane Ross confirmed that an independent inquiry will take place into the events surrounding the ticket scandal.

Fianna Fail's Spokesperson on Sport, Robert Troy, has said that Opposition parties should be consulted on what aspects the inquiry will examine.

I do believe that this inquiry needs a cross-party support and thats why I wrote to Minister Shane Ross requesting that he and his departmental officials consult with me and indeed other Opposition spokespersons in relation to what exactly should be in the terms of reference of this inquiry, he said.
This follows Bord Pleanala refusing planning permission to a bid by Applegreen to construct an 8m motorway stop near the five-star Dromoland Castle in Co Clare.

The plan comprises five takeaway cafes and restaurants along with a shop, a four-pump island forecourt and parking for 184 cars.

The refusal follows Bord Pleanala last month failing to give planning permission to Supermacs for a Barack Obama-style plaza 8km from the planned Applegreen site at Dromoland.

As a result of the two refusals, the motorway linking Limerick to Gort, which carries 23,000 vehicles a day, remains without a serviced stop.

It is the second time Applegreen has been refused planning permission for a service stop at Dromoland. Applegreen trades from over 200 sites in Ireland, the UK and the US.

The appeals board has ruled the site has not been identified for use as a motorway service area in either the National Road Authoritys Service Area Policy or the Clare County Development Plan for 20112017.

The appeals board stated pending implementation of Transport Infrastructure Irelands plan for the provision of a motorway service areas in the area, the development would be premature.

Its inspector, Hugh Morrison concluded that such a development would risk the establishment of an adverse precedent that could lead to the proliferation of motorway service areas.
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Social organizations in China, particularly grass-roots ones, will flourish following the introduction of a central authority's guideline, a public administration expert told Xinhua on Monday.

Jia Xijin, an associate professor with School of Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, made the remarks when explaining the implication of a guideline released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council on Sunday.

The guideline aims to improve the management systems of social organizations.

"The guideline is indicative of future direction," said Zheng Gongcheng, professor with Beijing's Renmin University, adding it recognized social organizations as part of public participation in social administration.

Zheng said, there were misconceptions about social organizations in the past, "because a lack of healthy or orderly development gave rise to a motley array of such organizations."

"As a result, government agencies either grew wary of social organizations, or turned them into a part of the government strata," Zheng said.

The guideline stipulated that resources will be invested in community-based social organizations and obliges governments to retreat from fields involving petty administrative affairs and public services which would be better taken care of by the market and society.

Yuan Ruijun of Peking University, said priority tasks for social organizations are serving the grass-roots communities, as "social governance and public service capacities are lacking at grass-roots level."

A total of 664,800 social organizations had been registered with civil affairs authorities as of the first quarter of 2016.
Price growth for homes in the capital will slow to 3.5% this year and drop by 1.2% in 2017, the UKs largest real estate broker said in a report yesterday.

In December, Countrywide forecast that values would rise 4% this year and next.

Prices for properties in prime central London will drop by 6% this year and be little changed in 2017, the report showed.

The vote to leave the European Union has unsettled the UK economy, Countrywide chief economist Fionnuala Earley said.

Lower expectations of capital gains were already weighing on Londons housing market, she said, while the luxury-property market was being hurt by increased sales taxes and oversupply.

The Brexit scare has just accelerated all of that, she said.

London properties are taking longer to sell this month, despite a summer price cut, as uncertainty surrounding how Britain will negotiate its exit compounds the dampening effect of the holiday season.

Homes in London are staying on the market for five days more than in May, the month before the UK voted to leave the EU, property website Rightmove said in a report published last week.

Countrywide expects Greater London home values to rise 2% in 2018 as the economy improves and there is more clarity about how the UK will decouple from the EU, according to Ms Earley.

Countrywide forecast prime central home values will rise 4% in 2018.

By the beginning of that year, the firm expects prices in that market to have fallen 15% since the markets peak in 2014.
However, the companys share movement of late suggests there remains some concern over what long-term effect Brexit may have on the stock.

Kingspans shares rose by nearly 6%, to 24.10 yesterday on the back of the strong results, but are still down from the 25.10 mark they were at the turn of the year and are still below their similar pre-Brexit vote level.

That said theyve recovered from their post-referendum low of 18.09.

Chief executive Gene Murtagh yesterday suggested it remains far too early to make a judgement call on the Brexit vote.

People are saying were post-Brexit, but Brexit hasnt happened yet. The reality is that the process is yet to play out and until it does, most investors are seeing things as business as usual. Im not saying its not negative but were a long way away from knowing [the full Brexit effect].

The insulation and environmental-focused building materials group yesterday reported a 19% year-on-year rise in first-half revenues to almost 1.47bn, with trading profit up 50% at 167.3m and earnings per share ahead by 52% at 70.6c.

While it had noted some easing in UK business in the run-up to the Brexit vote, a 7% increase in orders was seen after it; which management called encouraging.

While mainland Europe is now Kingspans largest market, the UK still accounts for nearly 30% of group revenues. There, the company is nearly 70% tilted towards the commercial building market.

Mr Murtagh said management is forecasting full-year revenue of between 3.1bn and 3.2bn and trading profit of around 320m, which would be up by 25% on last year.

Acquisitions contributed 15% to first-half sales growth and 7% to profit growth; helped hugely by the companys two big 2015 buys  North American firm Vicwest Building Products and Belgiums insulation specialist Joris Ide.

As alluded to at its AGM in May, Kingspan has kept up its buying habits this year  spending around 200m so far on improving its environmental business in Australia and significantly complementing its core insulation units in the UK  via the purchase of Euroclad and Eurobond  and agreeing to buy German daylighting business Essmann.

The company still has a healthy pipeline of acquisition opportunities  ranging from small to very large targets  and has firepower of around 500m available without stretching its balance sheet.

Profits were up by 59%, to 112m, in the core insulated panels division in the first half, with a 41% rise  to 39m  evident in the insulation boards business.

Though no longer a core market, Kingspans Irish division kept its recovery going and management expects that trend to continue for the full year.

Ireland represents 4% of group revenue and Mr. Murtagh said it would be pleasing if it could keep a 4%-5% contribution rate.

Kingspan has a long-term eye on expanding in the Americas and saw annualised sales growth, there, of 15% in the first half.
The company is sitting on an estimated four billion barrels of oil equivalent and 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas across seven licences off the west coast.

A number of major and mid-cap explorers have already passed through Europas Irish data room, showing interest in its most developed licences in the Porcupine Basin.

The company has said that it is targeting initial farm-out agreements before the end of this year.

Yesterday, it added licensing option 16/22  in the less developed Padraig Basin, 300km off the west coast  which it was awarded in the recent Atlantic Margin Licensing Round to the mix.

Previous seismic work on the prospect has suggested gross un-risked resources of between 300 and 600 million barrels of oil equivalent there.

Europa wants to hasten exploration by securing a development partner and reprocessing the historic seismic data and to develop the option to drillable status.

Europa views offshore west Ireland and the Flemish Pass basin off the Newfoundland coast as being the worlds next two exploration hot-spots and is hoping the Padraig Basin asset might be a link.

While most of the industry is currently focused on exploring for this play in the south Porcupine basin, our restoration of the conjugate margin prior to Atlantic seafloor spreading, suggests the possibility that the Padraig Basin may be a better fit with the Flemish Pass basin, said Europa chief Hugh Mackay.

In particular, we are hopeful that successful reprocessing of historic 2-D seismic might allow us to mature existing leads to drillable prospect status at comparatively low cost and without the necessity to acquire new seismic data, he said.

Oil prices fell around 3% yesterday. Brent crude slipped to $49.52.

The production and storage overhang in fuel markets has led the likes of Barclays to suggest this months 20% price rally is unwarranted and that oil prices of $50 or higher are unsustainable.
Con ODonoghue farms 40 acres with wife Ann and daughter Moira at Valley View Farmhouse, Lough Guittane Road, Muckross, Killarney.

The family have 60 British Friesian cows, average yield is 5,000 litres per annum and their herd is spring calving.

Cons father installed a six-unit Dairymaster parlour in 1972; Con upgraded to a new 12-unit Swiftflo Swing parlour in January.

The parlour now has Swiftflo Commanders, Swiftflo Mangers, automatic feeders, automatic cluster removers, automatic plant washer, a Swiftflo milk tank and manure scrapers.

It takes the family only one hour to milk the cows.

Trade exhibitors at the farm open day include Rhyno Mills, Permanent TSB and Dairymaster, all of whom have worked with the family over the years.

The open day will also feature sheep dog demos and topical talks from 1pm.
They tried to persuade investors to drop claims they were misled into stumping up 12bn (13.8bn) just a few months before the banks bailout in 2008.

But the low-profile gathering came to nought, an outcome that could have huge implications for the recovery at RBS as it risks adding up to 6bn to the lenders litigation bill, lawyers said.

By early 2008, its bad bets on toxic mortgage debt, increased loan defaults and a highly leveraged takeover spree had left RBSs balance sheet in desperate need of capital, and management turned to investors for the ill-fated cash call.

More than 35,000 shareholders who took part, including some of Britains biggest institutional investors and public pension funds, allege RBS deliberately concealed the extent of its financial woes when it raised the money in April 2008.

The bank succumbed to a 45.5bn bailout just six months later, in October, and has since failed to post an annual profit.

The shares issued in the rights issue have lost nine-tenths of their value, and the investors who bought them now want to be compensated.

At the meeting, RBS offered investors about 700m, according to sources, but the claimants reckon they should get 4bn in damages, plus another 2bn in interest and legal fees.

They are offering pennies when we are after pounds, said one lawyer. We are never going to meet in the middle. So we are now focused on pursuing the actions through the courts.

The next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 8 at the High Court in London.

Over the next few weeks, lawyers on both sides will learn who will be called as witnesses.

Former RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin, who has shouldered the blame for the banks rapid demise from national treasure to national disgrace, is likely to be called, dealing another blow to the lenders efforts to draw a line under its troubled past.

RBS, which is now 70% UK state-owned, has always denied any wrongdoing and said its former bosses did not act illegally. We continue to strongly defend these claims, the bank said.

We have always been clear that the bank is open to exploring an out of court resolution to matters, consistent with our legal obligations.
The South Korean technology firm is looking for ways to sustain earnings momentum after reviving its mobile profits by restructuring its product line-up.

As growth in the global smartphone market hits a plateau, Samsung wants to maximise its cost efficiency and keep operating margins above 10%.

The worlds top smartphone maker will refurbish expensive phones returned to the company by users who signed up for one-year upgrade programmes in markets such as South Korea and the US. Samsung would then re-sell these phones at a lower price, the source said.

The person declined to say how big a discount the refurbished phones would be sold at, which markets the phones would be sold in or how many refurbished devices Samsung could sell.

A Samsung spokeswoman said the company does not comment on speculation.

It was not clear to what extent the phones would be altered, but refurbished phones typically are fitted with parts such as a new casing or battery.

Rival Apples iPhone has a resale value of around 69% of its original price after about one year from launch, while Samsungs Galaxy sells for 51% of the original price in the US market, according to BNP Paribas.

Refurbished phones could help vendors such as Samsung boost their presence in emerging markets such as India, where expensive devices costing $800 (700) or so are beyond most buyers.

Apple sells refurbished iPhones in a number of markets including the US, but does not disclose sales figures. It is trying to sell such iPhones in India, where the average smartphone sells for less than $90.

Selling used phones could help Samsung fend off lower-cost Chinese rivals that have been eating into its market share, and free up some capital to invest elsewhere or boost marketing expenditure.

Deloitte says the used smartphone market will be worth more than $17bn this year, with 120 million devices sold or traded into manufacturers or carriers  around 8% of total smartphone sales.

Some market experts expect the used market to grow fast as there are fewer technology breakthroughs.

Some consumers may prefer to buy refurbished, used premium models in lieu of new budget brands, possibly cannibalising sales of new devices from those budget manufacturers, Deloitte said in a report.
Applicants have until next Monday, August 29, to enter. Launched in the UK in 2014 to help young people make a confident start in agriculture, this is the first time Irish-based farmers are invited to apply.

Some of the previous participants were looking to take over the family farm or to embark on a new farming venture, while others were new entrants to farming.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) will launch its annual report today and is expected to address issues surrounding legal costs associated with the fitness-to-practise inquiries, after the actual legal expenditure last year was close to double the budgeted amount.

A report in the most recent issue of the IPU Review, a journal produced by the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, detailed a meeting of the PSI Council in July in which its administration and finance committee chairman said the legal costs screamed out of the page.
And international gangs stealing high-value machinery like tractors often use bank holiday weekends to transport the items to major ports and export them as quickly as possible.

Detective Garda Eugene OSullivan, attached to the Stolen Vehicle Unit, was speaking at the launch of the Farm Theft prevention initiative, held by Crimestoppers, the gardai, the Irish Farmers Association, and DoneDeal.

The launch heard almost 29,000 farm-related crime incidents had been reported to gardai since 2010.

Det OSullivan said the use of local spotters was widespread in farm thefts, as it was in the robbery of other businesses, such as garages and warehouses.

People are always on the lookout and willing to sell on information to someone else to go ahead and steal whatever is on offer, he said.

Athy, Co Kildare farmer Liam Dunne told the launch he knew who the spotters were in the robbery of his farmyard. They cant be prosecuted for selling information, he said.

Det OSullivan said you had to link spotters to the actual crime and a number of proofs were required. He said it was usually people who handled stolen property who were prosecuted.

He said more expensive machinery, such as tractors, were often shipped abroad, with items located as far away as Australia.

He said the most common items being stolen were trailers, quads, power tools, diesel, spray, farm machinery, and tractors. He urged people to mark their property and keep records.

IFA president Joe Healy said criminals often followed diesel trucks to farmyards and emptied loaded tanks.

He said the mental stress was far more severe than the financial loss.

Crimestoppers chairman Tim Dalton urged people to report suspicious activity, to mark and photograph their equipment and not to personally tackle intruders.

theftstop.ie; Crimestoppers 1800 25 00 25.

Its about an invasion of your privacy

- Cormac OKeeffe

Co Laois farmer Robin Talbot

For Co Laois farmer Robin Talbot it was the invasion of his private space that was the worst part of the robbery on June 23 last.

When he woke up early that morning he saw the gate to his farm was open and knew something was up. And when he checked his workshop he immediately saw his jeep was gone.

However, the raiders seemed to have a shopping list of what they wanted from his Ballacolla workshop.

I noticed the chainsaw and the handheld hedge trimmer missing, but items of equal value  like angle-grinders  were thrown on the ground.

After the gardai from Abbeyleix arrived he also discovered another gate, a road gate that was sealed up, had been broken open.

He saw a track straight down a field from the road gate to the farm gate.

They had their research done, he said. He said the jeep was recovered after it was used to ram a Garda car.

He said insurances were sorted out, but that a lingering feeling remained: That somebody had been in their yard, invading their private space.

He said he did not take a chance in the following weeks to check on their cows, which were calving, late at night to see if they were OK.

He said it was only in the last few weeks, after putting up extra lights, that he feels safe to do so.

My eldest daughter, whos 12, shes big into farming and out with me late at night. Ive not passed any remark, but always in the back of my mind [is the thought] is there someone watching and thats a horrible feeling.

Its about more than pounds, shillings and pence: Its about an invasion of your privacy, an invasion of your space.

He urged people, including other farmers, to go to reputable dealers when buying equipment.

The trauma of having farmyard violated

- Cormac OKeeffe

Liam Dunne

Liam Dunne had put in a range of security measures on his farm in Athy, Co Kildare, after he spotted suspicious car tracks.

But it didnt stop the robbery on June 27 last.

We knew something was going on. A vehicle had come in around the farmyard. We saw the tracks.

We tightened up security a lot, double locks on gates, concrete blocks and all vehicles at night are secured into buildings with roller doors and the power switched off.

But one morning, he woke to see one of the roller doors had been opened.

His jeep was gone, although not his Ifor Williams trailer, which he suspected was too big to fit through the gate that they had used to access the farm.

He said the raiders were selective and careful, taking batteries for drills and cases for welders, to enable them to sell them as complete sets.

He said his jeep was used in three other break-ins that same night and also used to ram electric gates.

Mr Dunne said it was found a week later in Portlaoise written off.

The jeeps are used for robberies, he said. Its the tools theyre after, thats where they make their money.

He said the biggest impact of the robbery was the break in your sense of security, pointing out that a farmyard was an expression of the farmer.

To have that violated is quite traumatic, he said.

He said for weeks after, his family were calling down to him at night telling him they could hear something outside.

I go out, take something in my hand. Then they would be worried.

Gardai told him there were five raiders on his farm: Four doing the robbery and a fifth as a look out  and that he would not have seen him in the dark.
Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) has teamed up with a leading commodities firm, INTL FCStone, to host the week-long event  the first of its kind in Europe  on the use of dairy futures and financial derivatives.

It has attracted interest from top co-op executives from Ireland, Europe, and even New Zealand  one of Irelands main dairy competitors  who are expected to attend the course in CIT early next month.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed hailed the collaboration between academia and industry saying in the post quota era, it had become clear volatility in the marketplace was something the dairy industry was going to have to live with. Anything that helps the industry manage that volatility will ultimately help farmers, he added. I am really excited by what Ive seen here [at CIT] and it could become a global leader.

Price volatility in the EU dairy markets has increased significantly in recent years following a shift in EU price support mechanisms and the increased globalisation of the dairy industry.

The industry has seen average monthly price fluctuations move from about 5% in the mid-2000s to about 10% or 15% today. Butter alone, which was trading at five-year lows of around 2,400 a tonne four months ago, is now trading at around 4,000 a tonne.

Declan OConnor, lecturer in CITs department of mathematics, said this level of price volatility has made risk management more difficult for the industry.

However, he said dairy futures markets and other financial derivatives, which were developed in 2010 to help the industry manage this price risk more effectively, are not as widely used in the European markets as they should be and the CIT course aims to change that.

The main problems the industry faces are cashflow problems, planning and budgeting problems. These futures will allow them to lock-in prices, so that when they go back to their boards, they are not showing huge variance in prices, he said.

Liam Fenton, MD of INTL FCStone Europe said: If the dairy industry has the capability to manage that price risk element, like the BPs and Shells do in the oil industry, it allows you to get on with what youre good at  growing grass, calving the cows, proper herd management. It gives you certainty, that is what farmers want.
While the Health Products Regulatory Authority has warned that any manufacture, supply, or sale of the Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) for the purposes of treating a medical condition is illegal, campaigners want Mr Harris to introduce further deterrents by way of legislation.

Autistic Rights Together has called on the Government to make the administering of MMS  also known as CD Protocol  to children illegal under child abuse laws, but said Mr Harris has declined its approaches to discuss the issue.

The organisation claims that South African authorities are to strengthen their legislation following reports that children with autism there were fed the product.

MMS is a mixture of water and sodium chlorite  a chemical that cannot be sold for human consumption and is used in waste-water treatment and textile bleaching.

Autistic Rights Together and many other advocates have been campaigning worldwide for over two years now, trying to put an end to this abuse of autistic children, the group said in a statement.

We welcome this very important development in South Africa but we are very disappointed by the lack of action taken by the authorities in Ireland, UK, and other countries.

There is no grey area around this issue. MMS/CD Protocol is child abuse.

However, our Government is not viewing this barbaric practice as child abuse.

The promotion of MMS as a cure for autism was first reported in the Irish Examiner in July 2014, and the product was subsequently the subject of a Prime Time investigation in April 2015.

Websites selling the product claim it can cure ailments such as arthritis, cancer, kidney disease, and liver disease.

Last year, the Irish Examiner revealed how a group held a meeting at which it demonstrated how to administer MMS.

The Genesis II Church of Health and Healing held a weekend seminar in Moone, Co Kildare, last December, at which attendees were charged a donation of 350.

The Church is headed by self-appointed archbishop Jim Humble, a former Scientologist who claims to have discovered MMS as a cure for malaria in 1996.

Despite the regulatory authoritys warnings, local self-proclaimed bishop Joseph Grenon said the HPRA holds no authority over the Genesis II Church.

Religious freedom gives us the right to believe, and use, what we deem necessary for our health, he told this newspaper last year.

Kerri Rivera, a prominent US proponent of MMS, has dismissed criticisms of the product and claims on her website that the mainstream news media has become nothing more than a mouthpiece for the medical establishment which repeatedly says there is no cure or treatment for autism.

It should also be noted that just because the FDA [Food and Drug Administration], NIH [National Institutes of Health], or even a highly respected medical journal says something is (or is not) safe and effective, doesnt make it so, her website states.

Mr Harris office had not responded to this newspaper at the time of going to press last night.
Dr Mark Doyle, who is president of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine, said a situation had arisen in the south east whereby no new home care packages would be made available to patients this year due to financial constraints. He said they only became aware of this when difficulties arose trying to secure home care packages for patients in the Wexford area.

We werent even told that it was happening. We discovered when we were trying to get patients into rehab beds in Wexford.

We were told they werent available and when we tried to find out why, it was because patients couldnt get out of rehab beds to get home because the home care packages had been pulled.

Speaking to RTE Radios Drivetime programme, Dr Doyle said the decision appeared to have been taken without consideration for the knock-on effect it would have on the acute hospital or without reference to the fact that its cheaper to care for people at home.

So supposedly to be doing something for economic reasons that might benefit the bottom line for one sector of the service, but actually creating increased cost in another part of the service, doesnt make any sense.

Moreover, keeping patients in hospital meant delayed discharges, less availability of beds, and ultimately, emergency department overcrowding.

Dr Doyle said they had sought meetings with the community sector around a number of issues, and had found the level of engagement isnt what it should be.

We are certainly open to having meetings to discuss how best to utilise the resources that are available, but certainly, off-loading responsibility to look after patients in their own homes and in the community by putting the onus back on acute hospitals  which are already struggling to maintain patient flow  is not a sensible way to go.

The HSE issued a statement denying there had been a total cessation of home care packages for the rest of the year, saying there was a need for prudent management within the allocation of available funds. The HSE said packages and home help hours continue to be provided throughout the south east and that this year, the south east community health organisation plans to implement up to 900 home care packages and 1,219,000 home help hours.

The statement said: Help services continue to be allocated to new clients having regard to the resources that become available through existing clients no longer requiring their home care service, and importantly, taking account of the overall resources available for the home care service.
According to figures released by the gardai in response to a freedom of information request, the total overtime spend rose 47.6% going from 20m to 29.58m between January of June of this year.

The main driver behind the increase is the extra resources deployed in Dublin to combat the ongoing Kinahan-Hutch feud.

Last week, innocent Dublin City Council worker, Trevor ONeill, aged 42, became the 10th victim, in a case of mistaken identity, when he was shot dead while on holidays in Majorca. Nine of the 10 deceased are all believed to be victims of the Kinahan gang.

The figures show Dublin has accounted for 73% of the 9.5m increase in overtime payments for the first six months of this year.

The additional spend was driven by the number of overtime hours worked increasing from 618,354 to 904,689 for the first six months of the year.

Much of the focus of the ongoing Garda operations has been in the north inner city area and the overtime figures reflect that.

The figures show that the overtime bill in the North Central Division for the first six months of 2016 totalled 4.55m. That represent a jump of 100% on the 2.27m paid out in the first six months of 2015.

The overall overtime bill for the Dublin Metropolitan Area has risen from 11.47m for the first six months of last year to 18.47m for the same period this year.

The large rise in overtime hours worked has resulted in an overtime bonanza for individual gardai. The figures show one sergeant in the Dublin Metropolitan area received 34,666 in overtime payments between January and June.

Two others received payments of over 30,000 with one garda receiving 31,690 in overtime payments and the second receiving 30,704.

Another five members including a sergeant and an inspector received overtime payments between 25,000 and 30,000 while another 12 members, including eight sergeants, received overtime payments between 20,000 and 25,000.

The Garda FoI unit decided not to identify the district in which the individual gardai work as it was deemed personal information.

An accompanying statement from the Garda FoI unit points out that in February 2016, 5m was allocated by the Department of Justice to resource additional measures to tackle organised crime.

It states that 3.7m was devolved to Garda regions/branches in the form of overtime in order to facilitate multiple rolling checkpoints, extra patrols and implementing measures to tackle organised crime. It states that the remainder was used to provide operational equipment to support the measures and the 5m was fully spent by the end of June.

The FoI unit also says an additional 5m to fund Operation Thor from November to March 2016 has been fully spent.
In a near-empty Dublin city in the dead of night on Sunday, the Olympic Council of Irelands executive committee  minus four members unable to leave Brazil  sneaked into a waiting safe-house to discuss the crisis engulfing their organisation.

Peering out from the top floor office of the Earlsfort Centre headquarters of the groups solicitors Arthur Cox as they huddled together during a short break, the barely recognisable silhouettes of Irelands sporting hierarchy had a birds eye view of everything around them.

They could see the small number of journalists staring at them from the street just outside. They had an unobstructed view of the Spire in the distance, intended to act as a beacon for those in difficult times.

They could see it all. Yet not every committee member could see the one issue that is now staring them in the face.

In 2012 the Goal charity organisation  so long dominated by the powerful John O Shea  found itself in a public power struggle after a financial scandal which ultimately led to former Fianna Fail TD Barry Andrews being appointed in his place.

Former Fianna Fail TD Barry Andrews

In the same year a separate scandal involving funds befell the Red Cross, leading to a similar result.

And in late 2013, the Central Remedial Clinic controversy erupted and only ended when those in long-held positions were swept away by a new broom of reform.

The issues are all separate to what is happening at the OCI. However, they show that while it may not be universally popular within organisations at the centre of scandal, sometimes the only way to get through a crisis is to remove those at the top and start again.

During a five-hour meeting between 9pm on Sunday and just after 2am on Monday, the Irish Examiner understands the point was made by a number of OCI executive board members who believe the group needs a change of leadership to get through its recent controversies.

Officially, the view from the meeting was that there were no fireworks  as one individual put it  with nobody yet prepared to break ranks. However, behind the scenes a clear division is emerging between long-standing loyalists to Mr Hickey and newer appointees who feel the OCI must change or be forever tainted by the past fortnight.

The meeting of nine members of the OCI board and two more honorary but retired members began with the standard side-stepping and cold-shouldering of reporters.

With acting president Willie O Brien  just back from Brazil that afternoon  and second vice-president and FAI chief executive John Delaney  who never travelled to Brazil in the first place  managing to arrive through a side entrance, it was left to former general secretary Dermot Sherlock to defend Mr Hickey.

The honorary member, who surprised many with his attendance throughout the five-hour meetings, said what has happened was a total and absolute disgrace. There were nods of agreement, until he clarified it was the treatment of Mr Hickey, not the allegations against OCI members, which had provoked his anger.

Fellow long-standing executive member Tommy Murphy said he always found Mr Hickey a very decent and honest man as he hurried past journalists.

Moments later, all that came from Sonia O Sullivan was a polite but firm no comment  a position repeated by solicitor and executive member Sarah Keane, who is in charge of a reformed Swim Ireland.

Nothing public was said against Mr Hickey, but the latter comments were hardly the ringing endorsements the man of the moment would have wanted to hear.

For the next five hours the only sign of life from those attending the meeting was an occasional appearance next to a fourth-floor window as they tried to unravel the crisis.

Then, as Mr Sherlock darted from the building with a speed that belied his years, Ms Keane, Cathal O Cathain, and Robert Norwood appeared to explain the decisions that had been made.

The trio will form a crisis management group within the OCI while the tickets saga continues and as the organisation seeks to appoint an international accountancy firm to oversee its own report into what has taken place.

It was noticeable that no older members were picked to join the crisis group, a position one source said was deliberate as the trio are the new guard after becoming board members in 2014 and as such have fewer ties to Mr Hickey.

Publicly, the position remains that no fireworks took place during the five hours of talks. But given the subject matter involved it is hardly believable they took so long to agree to agree, with one official admitting yesterday the old OCI is dead and that there was an acceptance of that last night.
The study, conducted by academics in University College Cork, found that many parents are concerned about the impact of pornography on their children, particularly younger males. It argues that ideas of girls being responsible for their own safety blurred the promotion and better understanding of sexual consent and contributes to victim-blaming for sexual violence in our society.

The report, entitled The sexualisation and commercialisation of children in Ireland: An exploratory study, was led by Dr Elizabeth Kiely and based on a range of sources, including direct interviews with parents and young people as well as focus groups, and a list of formal complaints made to key regulatory bodies.

The report states: The evidence gathered indicates that sexualisation, as deployed in popular discourse and in focus group/interview data, is strongly gendered, so that sexualised or knowing girls are perceived as a problem, both for themselves and for others.

Easier access to sexually explicit material and pornography  be it accidental, deliberate, or habitual  is how sexualisation is mainly viewed as impacting on boys, with associated implications for girls lives, relational experiences, and wellbeing.

Girls sexualised dress, demeanour, and practices were strongly perceived by parents to put them at risk of unwanted sexual attention or possibly assault, indicating a relatively pervasive and concerning construction of the problem of sexual assault as one of girls inappropriate clothing or way of being.

The report states that parents sometimes struggled in knowing how best to protect their children, either avoiding direct conversations or addressing it directly.

Some parents were concerned about risks posed by childrens online activities in terms of them unwittingly breaking the law, or in terms of jeopardising their future education and employment prospects.

Parents indicated that education was key to addressing many of the issues they faced with their children, while the report also noted that the introduction of a regulatory one-stop portal like Parentport in the UK could be considered, as well as an upgraded Relationships and Sexuality Education Programme.

The report states: In view of how sexualisation is frequently framed in very particular ways in public discourse, there is an onus on those contributing to it to shift it from being an issue solely about child protection towards one about the protection of girls and women in our society.

There is a need to consider the implications of a discourse of sexualisation that makes girls responsible for their own safety.

It obfuscates a discourse promoting a better understanding of, and acceptance of, the importance of sexual consent. It contributes to victim-blaming for sexual violence in our society.
Mairtin O Muilleoir said those seeking to link him to the controversy that forced the resignation of Daithi McKay, the former Sinn Fein chairman of the Assemblys Finance committee, were indulging in petty party politicking.

Mr McKay apologised and quit as an Assembly member last week after private Twitter messages published in the press showed him communicating with loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson ahead of his appearance before the committees inquiry into the Nama loans deal.

The former North Antrim MLA has been suspended by Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein worker Thomas OHara has also been suspended by the party.

He was also accused of communicating with Mr Bryson about his evidence before he made explosive claims to the finance committee about the efforts of Irelands bank for bad loans to dispose of its Northern Ireland portfolio to US investors.

Mr Bryson went before the committee to name former Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson in connection with the case.

The then first minister has strongly denied seeking to benefit from the agreement involving US investors and the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

Mr O Muilleoir was a Sinn Fein member of the committee at the time and political rivals have called for him to stand aside while a Stormont watchdog examines the episode.

The now Finance Minister issued a statement on Monday making clear he had absolutely no knowledge of the Twitter communications.

The attempts to link me to the contacts between Daithi McKay, Thomas OHara and Jamie Bryson are no more than petty party politicking, he said.

Loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson

They have absolutely no basis in truth or fact. I had no part in or knowledge of these inappropriate communications.

I will co-operate readily and fully with any investigation. I am absolutely confident the outcome of any such investigation will confirm that I was totally unaware of these contacts until they were publicised this week.

My political opponents will also have their chance to contribute to the investigation but if they do, they will be required to present evidence rather than speculation or innuendo. I am confident in predicting that they will fail to do so.

Mr McKays fall from grace was precipitated by claims in Belfast newspaper the Irish News about his contact with Mr Bryson.

The Sinn Fein leadership has denied knowing anything of the back channel contacts. The deal two years ago between Nama and US investment giant Cerberus, involving the 1.2 billion (1.39bn) sale of a Northern Ireland property loan portfolio, has been dogged by controversy after 7m linked to it was found in an Isle of Man bank account. Critics have claimed the arrangement included multimillion-pound fixer fees.

Nama was established in Ireland at the height of the financial crisis to take property-linked loans off the books of bailed-out banks.

It sold 800 property loans to Cerberus, a multibillion-pound fund.

All parties involved in the 2014 transaction have denied wrongdoing.
The teenagers will include children from direct provision centres and disadvantaged communities in inner city Dublin, sailing for five days aboard the Spirit of Oysterhaven.

The voyage comes eight years after the sinking of the Asgard II, the Irish national sail training vessel lost in the Bay of Biscay in 2008.

The latest voyage is being coordinated by Safe Haven, a not-for-profit organisation founded just last year and a member of Sail Training Ireland.

Four fully qualified adult crew will accompany the 10 teenagers on board when they leave Glandore in west Cork on September 4, setting a westward course that is likely to take in locations such as Fastnet and Bantry before the voyage is completed on September 9.

Shauna Gillan, the founder of Safe Haven, said: It is just about integration in modern Ireland and taking people out of their comfort zone.

Participants on board are thrown into an unfamiliar and exciting environment and leave the voyage having gained new skills. We usually see evidence of a heightened sense of self-esteem, team working skills and very often a new found love for the sea, the coastal environment and sailing.

The crew includes an 18-year-old named Ali who recently travelled to Ireland from Calais and who is now in direct provision in Galway, an 18 year old girl who is a refugee from Syria who just did her Leaving Certificate, and a girl named Samantha who has been living in direct provision in Cork.

It is the first time Safe Haven has been involved in such a voyage while the Spirit of Oysterhaven is a privately owned vessel which has been involved in previous sail training journeys.

Shauna Gillan said that, in addition to the blossoming of individuals on board thanks to the all-encompassing nature of the voyage, it also helped to combat any perception of sailing as elitist.

We firmly believe it should be open to everyone in Ireland, she said.

Last year the Atlantic Youth Trust began efforts to raise 16m for a new Irish sail training ship that would replace the Asgard II.
The Irish Water Safety (IWS) annual report also showed that Cork county had the worst record in the whole country last year for deaths by drowning, and that together Cork City and county accounted for 20 of the 122 drownings in 2015.

Of the deaths by drowning last year, 66 were accidental and 33 by suicide, although the latter figure could be higher as another 23 deaths were defined as undetermined.

Males were much more likely to die by drowning than women, with males accounting for 91 of the 122 deaths in 2015, and certain age groups appear to be at higher risk, particularly those aged between 50 and 59 and people in their twenties  51 people died across those two age groups last year.

Cork accounted for just under half of the 41 drownings in Munster while 56 people drowned in Leinster. The report also noted that seven Irish people drowned when overseas last year.

General contributory factors include poor or inadequate equipment such as boats or lifejackets, people not wearing a correctly fitting lifejacket, alcohol consumption, falling unexpectedly into water, and an overestimation of skills.

In the foreword to the report, IWS chairwoman Breda Collins said that during summer 2015 lifeguards rescued 418 people from lifeguarded waterways  a decrease in the number for the previous summer which she attributed to a large degree to unfavourable weather and as a sign that the public is becoming more aware of the potential dangers.

Lifeguards located almost 450 lost children and reunited them with their parents and guardians, showing the constant need for constant uninterrupted supervision, she said.

Remarkably, of the 448 lost children found by lifeguards, 202 were in Co Clare.

The figures show that first aid was administered on 3,837 occasions last year and that 16,519 accidents were prevented. In addition, 14 IWS risk assessments were carried out last year.

The IWS chief executive, John Leech, said just one fifth of all schools teach the Primary Aquatic Water Safety (PAWS) programme, and that the 11 module course, much of which is taught in the classroom, should be compulsory.

He said teaching the course, and changes in parents attitudes to safety, would help limit the number of dangerous incidents.

The report also detailed the winners of the SEIKO Just In Time Awards, presented to those who came to the assistance of those in danger of drowning.

Winners included tourist and advanced paramedic Seamus McCarthy, and his girlfriend, Fionnula Quigley, who in April last year spotted Indian tourist Apu Gupta being swept off a rocky ledge on Inis Mor.

Ms Quigley had to run to the nearest house to call for help while Seamus put together a makeshift rescue rope using a jacket and backpack and lowered it to the casualty and pulled her up the cliff face. The woman made a full recovery.

www.iws.ie
ACCORDING to my mother, I did not cry on my first day at school.

You set off full of enthusiasm, she texted me in reply to a question I had sent, which quickly changed when you discovered there were 29 other children and mums. Your chin wobbled a bit alright and you did suddenly become a little reluctant.

In just under two weeks time, my first-born son, Fionn, starts primary school. Knowing him, there wont be any chin wobbles.

I fully expect him to approach his first day in the same way he faces most challenges and get stuck in from the get go.

This is not Fionns first engagement with one of societys institutions.

Since the tender age of eight-months, Fionn has been in some form of childcare either on a full-time or part-time basis.

Though looking back, we regret some of it, there are things about being in a creche that have stood to Fionn.

He is not shy, he is relatively confident and he doesnt get intimidated very easily. His language skills are also better for his time in childcare.

But more than anything, his time in childcare will mean that the transition to school should be a lot easier than if he had never been away from his mother or single carer at all.

That said, there are of course changes that parents should be aware of.

The main difference between a creche and the junior infant classroom is the focus on play, says child psychologist, David Carey.

Most creches feature learning through play. Quite often junior infant classrooms treat play as a break between formal learning experiences.

"Young children learn best through play, not through formal lessons and direct instruction.

"There tends to be too much focus on formal learning in infant classrooms, inappropriate amounts of homework and not enough opportunity to play. Of course, there are exceptions but the general trend is less play, more lessons.

Last year some 71,500 junior infants started their journey through the education system. This years figures are expected to be similar if not a little higher.

Of those who enrolled for the first time last year, just under a third were four years old on January 1st this year. Fionn will fall into that category on the same date in 2017. In other words, he is young.

Carey believes that age is not the issue and points out that most young children adapt quickly to their new environment.

Readiness is the key issue, not age, he says.

If you know your child is developing more slowly than other four-year-olds it may be best to send them to school at age five or six rather than four, he says

No two four-year-olds are at the same stage of developmental readiness. Learn how to read your child in order to do what is best for them.

Anecdotally, there is some evidence that because of the extra year of subsidised childcare recently introduced by the Government, children are being kept back that little bit longer.

In some countries (yes its the Nordics again) school doesnt start until the age of six or seven.

For us, all the indicators from carers and others around Fionn is that he was more than ready to start school. Not that getting a place in a school in Dublin is easy, particularly if your child, like ours, has not yet rid himself of original sin.

For a while, it was in fact touch and go as to whether Fionn would find a place at all.

In the end, we were offered two places and, crucially for us, a place in what was our first choice; a local Protestant school with five teachers and less than one hundred pupils. We were lucky, our scenario is not one you come across every day, not in Dublin at least.

Another positive about Fionns new school is that there is no uniform required which again might help with the transition somewhat.

In fact, the only immediate drawback apparent is the starting time of 8.20  getting our star pupil out of the scratcher might prove a little tough but Im sure we will manage.

In many cases, that first day at school is a breeze for the new pupil in question but for many parents it is a different matter. It is undoubtedly a watershed day.

That little boy or little girl is growing up and you feel you are letting go just a little bit more. For the next six years he will develop relationships and bonds that you might not know much about.

And then, of course, there is the worry. For David Carey, a parents anxiety needs to be dealt with with a brave face where possible.

There is no reason for parents to become anxious and stressed about their childs entry into formal schooling, he says.

It is a natural process of development and most children really love to transition to big school. Some parents transmit their anxiety to the children. Remember, anxiety is contagious and parental anxiety always is swiftly communicated to children in hidden ways.

Stay calm, your child will benefit from your attitude but more than anything he is going to benefit from the infant classroom.

Top tips for your new star pupils big day

Label it: Theirs is not the only Avengers bag on the planet. Imagine he ends up arguing with someone on his first day about who owns what. First impressions last, remember.

Get it together ... together: The night before that first day, get their bag, books, snacks, sambos, shoes, socks, shirt, trousers, undies ready to go. If you want to keep it that way for the next 14 years, get started tonight.

Tell them about your school: In the build-up to their first day, tell them about your own experience at school. If they know youve done it, then like anything else, it cant be that bad.

Be on time: Dont be late dropping them off. Youll miss out as much as they will and you feel and probably look like a bit of an eejit. And be sure to pick them up on time. You dont want everyone thinking Paddy Lasts mummy or daddy doesnt love them; least of all your own child.

Fake it if you have to: If you think you will be overcome with emotion, get someone else to drop them in or just take some laughing gas. Be positive to the point of over enthusiasm. Keep the crying for later.
EUROPE is under pressure. Integrating asylum-seekers and other migrants  1.1 million in Germany alone in 2015  into European society poses a major challenge, one that has been complicated by a spike in crimes committed by new arrivals.

Making matters worse, many European Muslims have become radicalised, with some heading to Iraq and Syria to fight under the banner of the so-called Islamic State, and others carrying out terror attacks at home.

Add to that the often-incendiary nativist rhetoric of populist political leaders, and the dominant narrative in Europe is increasingly one of growing insecurity.

Many European countries are moving to strengthen internal security. But their approach is incomplete, at best.

Germany and others have introduced new measures, including an increase in police personnel, accelerated deportation of migrants who have committed crimes, and the authority to strip German citizenship from those who join foreign terror militias.

Other steps include enhanced surveillance of public places and the creation of new units focused on identifying potential terrorists through their Internet activities.

The pressure to reassure the public has driven Belgium, Bulgaria, France, and the Netherlands, as well as the Swiss region of Ticino and the Italian region of Lombardy, to ban the burqa (the full-body covering worn by ultraconservative Muslim women) and other face-covering veils in some or all public places.

Several French coastal cities have also banned the burkini, the full-body swimsuit some Muslim women wear to the beach.

Even Germany, whose Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere initially rejected such a ban, has succumbed to pressure from allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel and proposed a ban on face-covering veils in public places where identification is required. Such clothing, the logic goes, is not conducive to integration.

But no internal security measures, much less clothing requirements, can guarantee Europes safety.

To find a real solution, European leaders must address the ideological roots of the security challenges they face.

The problem is not Islam, as many populists claim (and as the burqa and burkini bans suggest). Muslims have long been part of European society, accounting for about 4% of Europes total population in 1990 and 6% in 2010.

And previous waves of immigration from Muslim countries have not brought surges in terrorist activity within Europes borders. For example, beginning in the 1960s, roughly three million migrants from Turkey settled in Germany to meet the booming economys demand for labor, without posing any internal security threat.

Today, that threat results from radical Islamism  a fundamentalist vision of society reordered according to Sharia law. Beyond enduring untold suffering and violence, many of todays refugees, from war-torn countries like Iraq and Syria, have imbibed radical Islamist ideology and, specifically, calls to jihad.

Some might be Islamic State fighters who have disguised themselves as asylum-seekers, in order to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe. US intelligence officials have repeatedly warned of this possibility.

Even for the majority of asylum-seekers, who are genuinely seeking safety, the violence and Islamist rhetoric to which they have been exposed may have had a powerful psychological impact.

After living for so long in a conflict zone, assimilating to a peaceful society governed by the rule of law requires the newcomers to develop a new mindset, one that enables them to face genuine challenges without resorting to criminality.

And this does not even account for the deep psychological scars that will afflict many of the refugees.

Research indicates that more than 50% of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience at least partial post-traumatic stress disorder, which is associated with an increased risk of violence.

To many in Europe, these factors suggest that the key to keeping Europe safe is controlling the flow of refugees, including through improved vetting procedures. (Such procedures have often been lacking, owing to the sheer number of refugees pouring in.)

And there is a case for keeping the refugees in the Middle East, though a key mechanism for doing that  the European Unions deal with Turkey  is now at risk, owing to political turmoil following last months failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?gans government.

But not even constructing a Fortress Europe would eliminate the terrorist threat.

After all, some attacks, including in Brussels and Paris, have been carried out by Muslim European citizens who became radicalised in their own bedrooms.

According to Rob Wainwright, who heads Europol, some 5,000 European jihadists have been to Syria and Iraq, and several hundred are likely plotting further attacks in Europe after returning home.

The only way to address the threat of terrorism effectively is to tackle the radical Islamist ideology that underpins it. This means working to stop the religious-industrial complexes in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and elsewhere in the Gulf from using their abundant petrodollars to fund the spread of extremist ideology.

It also means launching a concerted information campaign to discredit that ideology, much like the West discredited communism during the Cold War  a critical component of its eventual triumph.

This is a job for all major powers, but it is a particularly urgent task for Europe, given its proximity to the Middle East, especially the new jihadist citadels that countries like Syria, Iraq, and Libya represent.

To take down the terrorists requires delegitimising the belief system that justifies their actions. Burqa bans and other measures by European authorities that target Islam as such are superficial and counter-productive, as they create divisions in European society, while leaving the ideological underpinnings of terrorism unaddressed.

Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research and Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of nine books, including Asian Juggernaut, Water: Asias New Battleground, and Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2016.
The 39-year-old East-Enders actor was pictured with what looked like a black eye at the V Festival in Chelmsford, Essex.

He said he is sweet but complained his 20-year-old daughter Dani saw the fight.

Dyer tweeted: No daughter should have to see their old man being toe-punted in the nut by five complete pricks. Im sweet Bae.

He also spoke out after Wright, 29, who is married to actress Michelle Keegan, denied he was directly involved in the fight.

Wright wrote in a post on his Twitter feed: Seen some stories online today about V Festival. I would like to confirm that I wasnt involved in any physical confrontation.

Dyer responded: No. True. Where was ya?? Do you wanna declare who ya snakey 2 Bob mates are?? Especially the 1 squaring up to my Dani.

Dyers fiancee Joanne Mas previously hit out at Wright over the altercation.

She told The Sun: Mark called him a c*** and was egging on his bunch of idiot friends all day.

There were five guys against one and Danny still went for them, but the most f****** disgusting thing is it was all in front of my 20-year-old daughter.

His daughter watched the whole thing, which turned backstage at V into some sort of war zone.

There has been a long-running feud between Dyer and Wright, with Dyer stating in 2013 that Wright was everything I hate about this whole celebrity world.

The spat heated up recently when the actor mocked Wrights work as a Heart FM DJ and his adverts for Oykos yoghurt.

He wrote: My worst nightmare would be listening to Heart FM while eating an Oykos yoghurt. It would be like pissing razor blades.

A source close to Wright said that when the former star of The Only Way Is Essex got to the scene, he shook hands with Dyer to calm the situation down.
At the end of a mini-summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, Mr Renzi said improved security and intelligence sharing is an absolute priority for a Europe confronting Islamic extremist violence.

Mr Hollande stressed in particular the need for common European defence efforts after a string of deadly attacks in France and other European countries.

The three leaders held a press conference aboard the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi, which is co-ordinating the EUs Mediterranean migrant rescue operation, after paying tribute to one of the founding fathers of European unity on the island of Ventotene.

Standing silently together, the trio placed three bouquets of blue and yellow flowers  the colours of the European Union  on the simple white marble tombstone of Altiero Spinelli in the cemetery on Ventotene.

Mr Spinelli, along with another intellectual confined to Ventotene in the 1940s by Italys fascist rulers, co-wrote the Ventotene Manifesto, which called for a federation of European states to counter the nationalism that had led Europe to war.

The document is considered the inspiration for European federalism.

Mr Renzi invited his French and German counterparts to Ventotene to remind Europe of its founding ideals as the EU forges ahead after Britains vote to leave.

They then moved on to the Garibaldi.

Ahead of the summit, Mr Renzi wrote of the venues: Two symbols in one: idealistic values and concrete commitment.

We want that the Europe after Brexit  the Europe hit in its heart by terrorism  will relaunch the powerful ideals of unity and peace, freedom and dreams, dialogue and identity.

For Ms Merkel, the visit to Ventotene marked the start of a string of meetings with other EU leaders to discuss the post-Brexit EU. She will be in Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland in the coming days.

Ms Merkel has also invited leaders from the Nordic countries, Holland, Austria and other eastern European nations for informal meetings at a government guest house in Germany.

She wants to support a discussion that is as broad as possible, with as many actors involved as possible, her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said last week.

That is aimed at ensuring that whatever emerges from the post-Brexit process finds the widest possible acceptance in the member states and in the population.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said nearly two dozen pills found in one Aleve bottle were falsely labelled as Watson 385.

According to Drugs.com, that stamp is used to identify pills containing a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, but the official said at least one of the pills tested positive for fentanyl.

Autopsy results released in June show Prince died on April 21 of an accidental fentanyl overdose. The official said records show the 57-year-old Prince had no prescription for any controlled substances in the state of Minnesota in the 12 months before he died.

Authorities are still investigating how Prince obtained the drugs.

Fentanyl has been responsible for a surge in overdose deaths in some parts of the country. When made into counterfeit pills, users dont always know theyre taking fentanyl, increasing the risk of fatal overdose.

The Star Tribune first reported about the mislabeled pills in a story published on its website. Some of the dozens of pills seized from Paisley Park were found to have other drugs in them, some were oxycodone or codeine, and some were not controlled substances.

About a dozen tablets were found in a dressing room at Paisley Park, but the vast majority was in bottles of aspirin and Vitamin C that had been tucked inside a suitcase and bags  including one Prince often carried with him. Some pills were also found loose in the bag.

One pill with the Watson 385 stamp tested positive for fentanyl, lidocaine and another drug. Officials found nearly two dozen pills similar to the one that was tested, the official said. Another aspirin bottle had more than 60 counterfeit tablets in it.

Some pills that were analysed contained fentanyl, lidocaine and U-4770  a synthetic drug that is eight times more powerful than morphine.

Authorities also found a prescription bottle in someone elses name that contained 10 oxycodone pills, the official said, without revealing who was listed on the prescription.s were.

The autopsy report also shows Prince had diazepam, lidocaine and hydrocodone acids in his body, the official said.

Diazepam is an anti-anxiety pill sold as Valium. Its a sedative and can also be used to control seizures, which Prince suffered from as a child. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic.
Wearing a dark suit and striped tie, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi stood and calmly told judges he was entering the guilty plea with deep regret and great pain and advised Muslims around the world not to commit similar acts, saying they are not going to lead to any good for humanity.

Al Mahdi led a group of radicals that destroyed 14 of Timbuktus 16 mausoleums in 2012 because they considered them totems of idolatry.
While the story of the mutiny against Captain William Bligh by his disaffected crew in the South Pacific in 1789 is famous, the only tangible evidence of those who hid from justice on the remote Pitcairn Islands is the grave of mutineer John Adams.

But scientists at Kings College London hope tests on strands of hair can eventually link the 10 pigtails to seven of the mutinous sailors and three of their Polynesian companions.

Herbert Ford, director of the Pitcairn Islands Study Centre at Pacific Union College in California, where the pigtails are displayed, said the potential proof was extremely exciting and would be solid evidence of the men being on Pitcairn.

If its found to be the real hair, it would be the only real, tangible evidence that we have of the existence of the known mutineers.

Theres one grave on Pitcairn Island today, that of John Adams, and thats the only thing you can put your hands on of the nine mutineers that were there on the island, starting in 1789... We are very much hoping that the researchers at Kings can see if we can really find the truth about this hair.

The Bounty mutiny was led by acting lieutenant Fletcher Christian, who cast Bligh and 18 loyal crew adrift on a 23ft launch.

Bligh managed to sail back to England while Christian, after a stop in Tahiti, went on to Pitcairn where he and eight others founded a colony, eventually being discovered in 1808. Their descendants still live there.

Dr Denise Syndercombe-Court, from Kings College, said: The hairs, if from the mutineers, are over 200 years old and we have no idea what environments they might have been exposed to in the inter-vening time.
The results of the joint poll may provide some small signs of encouragement when peace prospects appear bleak. The last round of negotiations broke down two years ago, and a resumption of talks at this point seems unlikely.

Tamar Hermann, an Israeli political scientist who conducted the survey with Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki, said that under the current circumstances, the results were not amazingly encouraging, but also not discouraging.

It showed there is still some basis for optimism with the right leadership, she said. Right now I dont see on the horizon a leader on either side willing or capable of using this as a springboard for intensifying the negotiations. But its not impossible.

The poll found that 51% of Palestinians and 59% of Israelis still support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the Israeli side, 53% of Jews support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Among Israels Arab minority, the number is much higher, at 87%. Conversely, just 34% of Palestinians and 20% of Israelis support the idea of a single shared state where they are both citizens with equal rights.

After two decades of failed peace efforts, and nearly a year of low-level violence, distrust is strong. The poll found that 89% of Palestinians feel Israeli Jews are untrustworthy, while 68% of Israeli Jews held similar opinions toward the Palestinians.

It also found that 65% of Israelis fear Palestinians. In contrast, the research claims just 45% of Palestinians fear Israelis.

Hermann said she was surprised by the higher fear level on the Israeli side, and cited a number of factors. She said many Israelis have no contact with Palestinians, making it easier to dehumanise the other side.

She also said a recent wave of violence had jolted Israeli society, which had been more insulated from the conflict than Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Cavusoglu said Turkey would provide every kind of support that may be necessary to cleanse Turkeys border with Syria of the extremists.

The death toll from Saturdays attack increased to 54 yesterday, after three more victims died in hospital, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Nearly 70 others were wounded.

An official said at least 22 victims of attack in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, were children under the age of 14.

The official couldnt be named in line with Turkish government rules.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but officials have said it appears to be the work of the Islamic State group, accusing it of trying to destabilise the country by exploiting ethnic and religious tensions. It was the deadliest attack in Turkey this year.

Authorities were trying to identify the attacker, who President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said was aged between 12 and 14.

Responding to a question on reports that Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces may launch an operation to free an IS-held town from Turkish territory, Cavusoglu said: Our border has to be completely cleansed of Daesh. Its natural for us to give whatever kind of support is necessary, He was using an Arabic name for the IS group.

(IS) martyred our ... citizens. It is natural for us to struggle against such an organisation both inside and outside of Turkey, he said.

Cavusoglu said Turkey had become a main target for the IS group because of measures it has implemented to stop recruits from crossing into Syria to join the fighting, as well as hundreds of arrests of IS suspects in Turkey.

He said Turkey had also become a top target because of statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has said the extremist group did not represent Islam.

Turkey has always been Daesh primary target, because Turkey has dried out the source of Daeshs supply of foreign fighters, rather, it has stopped them from crossing into Syria, he said.

The deadly attack also came amid ongoing struggles between the government and Kurdish militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, and as the country is still reeling from the aftermath of last months failed coup attempt, which the government has blamed on U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers.

The suicide bombing follows a June attack on Istanbuls main airport where IS suspects killed 44 people. A dual suicide bombing blamed on IS at a peace rally in Turkeys capital, Ankara, in October killed 103 people.

Nihat Ali Ozcan, a security and terrorism expert at the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, said the attack on the Kurdish wedding appeared to be retaliation by IS for recent Syrian Kurdish militia gains against the extremist group in Syria along the Turkish border.
 Flash

A man identified as the "spiritual leader" of Boko Haram in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kano has been arrested, together with other insurgents plotting to carry out attacks in the country, security authorities said Monday.

The man, whose name was given as Mudasiru Jibrin, was arrested on July 17 at a Boko Haram detention center uncovered by the secret police operatives in Kano.

Preliminary investigation had proved that Jibrin hatched the plan of shooting some high school students near Potiskum city of Nigeria's northeastern state of Yobe three years ago, the national Department of Security Services said in a statement.

Prior to the Boko Haram leader's arrest, the secret police had on July 8 arrested a notorious Boko Haram fighter and three of his accomplices while perfecting arrangements for major coordinated attacks on selected locations in the northwestern Kaduna state, the statement added.

Boko Haram has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing of more than 2.6 million people in Nigeria since 2009.
Burma Arakanese Network Plans Protest Over Natural Resource Ownership

An ANREN meeting held in a restaurant on August 20. (Photo: ANREN / Facebook) / ANREN / Facebook

RANGOON  The Arakan Natural Resources and Environmental Network (ANREN) has said its members and supporters will march from the Arakan State capital of Sittwe to Kyaukphyu Township in the first week of November, demanding the decentralization of natural resources by the Union government.

ANREN is made up of approximately 30 Arakanese civil society and environmental rights groups, and recently formed a committee, which includes the Peoples Resource Network (PRN), of which Kyaw Zeyawho spoke to The Irrawaddyis a member. He said that the march was finalized and approved by the ANREN committee in Sittwe, and that the rally is a declaration that Arakans natural resources belong to the state.

There are also calls to amend Burmas military-drafted 2008 Constitution, which says that all resources are owned by the central government. Specifically, Article 37(a) stipulates that all lands and natural resources both above and below ground and water, are owned by the government; sub-section (b) states that the government can enact necessary laws to handle the extraction and utilization of these state-owned resources.

Kyaw Zeya said that an exact date has not been decided for the protest but that the network is planning to apply for permission from the authorities to peacefully assemble. The beginning of the march is specified as taking place in Sittwe, with protesters then successively passing through the towns of Ponnagyun, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Ann, and Ma-Ei before reaching Kyaukphyu. ANREN expects that more than 10,000 participants from at least eight townships will join the rally.

The ANREN committee began a signature campaign in early May throughout 17 Arakan State townships. The resulting petition intends to present the Arakanese perspective on natural resources, that Rakhine people own Rakhine resources.

So far, 260,000 signatures have been collected. The committee is expected to gather around 300,000 signatures from the rest of the state by the end of this month, according to Tun Kyi, secretary of the Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association, also a member of ANREN.

According to rights groups, the signatures will be delivered to the State Counselors Office, the Union Parliament and the President.
Burma Environmental Advocates: Salween River is Being Sold Off to China

Local villagers travel by a boat along the Salween River in Karen State. / Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  Ethnic Shan environmental and human rights advocacy organizations have expressed opposition to the construction of hydropower dam projects on the Salween River in war-torn Shan State.

The Shan groups said that they remain gravely concerned that dams will be constructed without proper studies on their social and environmental impact.

Hydropower projects on the on Salween River receive little attention in comparison to those on the Irrawaddy River, like the planned Myitsone dam in Kachin State.

During her recent visit to China, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ensured that she would pursue a solution to the stalled Myitsone project suspended by Burmas previous government. On August 12, ahead of the State Counselors trip to China, the Burmese government announced plans to go ahead with five dams proposed on the Salween River, which runs through Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon states.

Ethnic Shan environmentalist Sai Khur Hseng told The Irrawaddy that the current government has decided Salween dams are necessary in order to meet electricity demands, despite previous reports which estimate that up to 90 percent of electricity generated by such projects will be exported to neighboring countries, like China.

The Shan advocacy groups said that Chinese state-owned firm Hydrochina has, in recent months, proceeded with construction plans to build the 1,200-megawatt Naung Pha dam on the Salween River.

If the Naung Pha dam is completed, we worry that villages in Ho Pang and Tanyan townships will be flooded because there has been flooding every year. If the dam is built, the flooding will be worse. Villages nearby will be underwater, said Sai Khur Hseng.

In a statement delivered on Tuesday, the rights groups reported that an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Naung Pha dam is being conducted in secrecy by Australias Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC). Last year, local communities protested against the Australian firm for carrying out a study in a similar manner for another project, the Mongton dam in southern Shan State.

While all eyes were on the Irrawaddy Myitsone dam, Burma has quietly sold off the Salween to China, said Sai Khur Hseng said in the statement.

Shan community groups also sent a letter to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on August 17, calling for a cancellation of dam projects on Salween River.

The Naung Pha dam has faced protests by local communities on several occasions in the past. About 250 residents from nine village tracts in Tangyan Township joined legislators from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) to launch a demonstration against the dam on August 5. Around 60 community leaders from Ho Pang, Kunlong, Tangyan, Hsenwi and Lashio, including three SNLD members of Parliament, staged another protest on August 21.

Apart from concerns on the environmental and social impacts of the dams, there are concerns about militarization in the areas surrounding the projects that could lead to armed conflict and civilian displacement, according to the rights groups.

There are different militias, including Burma Army. If they [the Burma Army] reinforce troops in the area for security, we worry that fighting will occur. And if it happens, it will force local villagers into displacement, said Sai Khur Hseng.
Burma KIA: Burma Army Attacks Kachin Rebel Outpost From the Air

A member of the Kachin Independence Army puts on his shoes as he and a fellow soldier cross a stream toward the front line in Laiza, Kachin State, in January, 2013. / David Johnson / Reuters

The Burma Army used two helicopters to attack a base of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on Tuesday near Ja Htar village in Kachin States Waingmaw Township, according to KIA sources.

Ground forces from the Tatmadaw first reportedly attacked the frontline of KIA Battalion No. 252, also known as the In-Kham outpost. Following the offensive, two helicopters then shot at the base from the air.

KIA spokesperson Lt-Col Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday evening that while he did not yet know the details of the attack, he had been informed that the Burma Army had used two gunships and that the clash had broken out at around 11 a.m. that day.

Fighting between KIA Battalion No. 252 and government troops reportedly began in Waingmaw Township on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Hpakant Township has seen sporadic clashes between KIA Battalion No. 6 and the Burmese military.

Despite opting out of signing the 2015 nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the previous government, the KIA said that it would attend Burmas 21st Century Panglong peace conference scheduled to begin on August 31 in Naypyidaw.

The Irrawaddy called Burmas military spokesperson, Maj-Gen Aung Ye Win, but he said he could not comment on the situation at the present time.
Burma Man Indicted for Insulting Military Chief, Former President on Facebook

A man stands near the fence surrounding Insein prison, where Hla Phone has been detained since February, after making the allegedly defamatory Facebook posts. / Reuters

RANGOON  A court in Rangoon indicted a man on Monday for insulting the military chief and former president on social media, under a controversial telecommunications law that activists have urged the new government to repeal.

Police and military prosecutors have filed a lawsuit accusing Hla Phone, 38, of posting a digitally altered image on his Facebook account showing the military chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, wearing a traditional female skirt on his head.

Another picture showed a caricature of former president and retired general Thein Sein with the words we are murderers, and a third showed the national flag imprinted on a shoe.

The military ruled Burma for almost 50 years after a 1962 coup, crushing opposition until it began withdrawing from politics in 2011, and paving the way for a 2015 election won by democracy champion Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

But the military retains a major role in politics with control of 25 percent of seats in parliament and three important ministries, including home affairs, which oversees the police, and it has become increasingly sensitive about its image.

Hla Phone, who has been in prison since his arrest in February, denies wrongdoing, saying he did not post the images and the police had mistaken him for someone else.

I was wrongfully arrested and Ive spent six months and 12 days at Insein prison, he said told reporters outside a court in Rangoon, referring to the notorious jail in the city.

He said he was not the owner of the Facebook account upon which the insulting images were posted.

Asked by the judge if he was guilty, Hla Phone replied: I am not guilty but those who filed the charges against me are.

If convicted on all charges, he faces 11 years in prison. The trial starts on Wednesday.

Particularly controversial is the charge brought under the telecommunications law, enacted in 2013 as part of the opening up of the sector.

It contains a broadly worded clause prohibiting use of the telecoms network to extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate.

Several activists, including poet Maung Saung Kha and aid worker Patrick Kum Jaa Le have been sentenced to six months in jail under the law.

Human rights lawyers and activists, including the group Human Rights Watch, have called on the new government to amend or repeal the law saying it stifles free speech.

Military officials were not immediately available for comment.
Burma Police in Search of Three Suspects in Rangoon Quadruple Homicide

A funeral, held on Monday, for the family of four murdered in their home in Mingaladon Township in Rangoon. / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  The Rangoon Division police force confirmed to The Irrawaddy that they have distributed a photo of three suspects in connection with a horrific quadruple murder in Mingaladon Township to other police stations across Burma.

On Saturday, August 20, a retired police lieutenant, his wife and their two sons, aged 13 and 9, were stabbed to death at their house in a Mingaladon suburba crime that has shocked the Rangoon public with its brutality.

On Monday, hundreds of people attended a funeral for the family, including teachers from the schools attended by the two children.

The same day, a photo depicting three men leaning on a fence, shared by Facebook user Aung Kyaw, went viral on social media, leading local media outlets to report that the police had identified suspects in the case.

The Irrawaddy discovered that the account owner, Aung Kyaw, is the administrator of Hlaing Townships 14th ward, but was unable to contact him.

Col Myo Swe of the Rangoon Division police information unit confirmed that the photo in question was taken by the wife of the slain policeman days before the crime. As the investigation is ongoing, the men are wanted for questioning, the police colonel told The Irrawaddy.

Police across Burma have been put on alert to find the suspects.

We have the photo from the slain familys house and we are investigating it, Col Win Bo, the head of Chin State Police Force told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

Photos of the suspects have also been distributed to relevant ward and village tract administrators, he added.

Police are also in possession of a knife believed to have been used in the murder; it is being examined for fingerprints.

On Sunday, a triple murder of a woman and a boy and a girl, aged 10 and 14 respectively, was reported in Shan States Taunggyi. Police are investigating the crime.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
 Flash

A Pakistani military transport aircraft carrying 22 tons of rice arrived at Wuhan airport in central China's Hubei Province late on Aug. 22. It was the first batch of the country's planned donation of 10,000 tons of rice to the flood-stricken province.

The Pakistani government's decision to make donations to China came in the wake of six rounds of torrential rains that hit Hubei. From June 18 to July 31, torrents and subsequent floods caused damage to 98 county-level prefectures in the province, affecting 17.85 million people, 1.55 million of which have been evacuated to temporary settlements.

After the first delivery of rice by air, the subsequent donations will be shipped by water to the local port, said a local newspaper.
The Evolution of Communication Technology

As she huddled with her family in a crowded bomb shelter in Kuwait during Saddam Husseins attack on her country in 1991, Yasmine Mustafa felt as petrified and helpless as any eight-year-old girl would feel under such horrifying circumstances. Today, Mustafa is co-founder and CEO of a company in Philadelphia thats creating technology to help prevent women everywhere from having to endure the fear and helplessness that far too many are subjected to every day.

In a captivating Ted Talk from earlier this year, Mustafa recounted the story of her familys relocation to the United States, where she entered school as a fourth grader who spoke no English. She would eventually graduate summa cum laud from Temple University with a degree in Entrepreneurship, and with an internship under her belt that had enabled her to work with early-stage tech entrepreneurs. That exposure set her on a path that led to the founding of ROAR for Good, a startup thats gearing up to ship a wearable device that can be activated to sound an alarm and send out a location-based text alert in the event of an attempted assault.

In an interview last week, Mustafa spoke about the pieces that fell into place to equip her with the wherewithal to lead a tech startup with such an extraordinary vision. Each piece along the way centered around helping others  like starting the Philadelphia chapter of Girl Develop It in 2011. I asked Mustafa how that came about, and she said it evolved from an attempt to teach herself how to code:

As a non-technologist starting a software company, I thought it would be much easier than it was. I was very disillusioned, and I learned very quickly that it wasnt going to work out if I didnt at least understand how things work on the back end of technology. I tried to teach myself how to code, and it didnt go very well  I would get easily frustrated.

Then I started my own coding group in Philadelphia to learn Groovy  I recruited a teacher and I promoted it, and we would meet up every Saturday. It was great for the first couple of weeks, but then it got overtaken by other developers  people who knew Python, or C++, or other languages, and wanted to learn Groovy, vs. beginners just starting out.

So I relinquished ownership of the group  I gave it to somebody else, and thats when I learned about Girl Develop It. There was a chapter in New York, so I would take a two-hour bus ride there for a two-hour class, and a two-hour bus ride back to Philadelphia. It was fantastic  it was exactly what I was looking for. I felt really empowered that I understood what everything meant. I thought, why not bring it to Philly? So I talked to the founder, Sara Chipps, and six months later we brought it to Philly  that was five years ago this month.

ROAR for Goods other co-founder is Anthony Gold, a former Unisys executive who became a tech entrepreneur. I asked Mustafa how the two of them came together to create ROAR for Good, and she said it stemmed from that internship when she was at Temple:

One of our clients was a company called Healthy Humans. We would go in there once a week to work on their marketing strategy and their plan. Anthony came in and took over as CEO about two months after we started working with them. I was walking with him one day, and he saw that I was carrying a notebook, and he asked me what it was. I told him it was my idea notebook  I would jot down ideas I had, and it became a recurring thing where he would ask me what my latest idea was.

He became a mentor and an advisor. So later, when I had the idea for ROAR, I called him to tell him about it. He was retired at the time, but he said he wanted to be involved in it, and help with it. So he and I banded together.

ROAR for Goods first product, a wearable device dubbed Athena, was originally scheduled to ship in the spring, but the ship date was pushed back to this fall. I asked Mustafa what caused the delay, and she cited a manufacturing issue:

The biggest one was that our crowdfunding campaign blew away our expectations, and the manufacturer we had lined up at the time couldnt accommodate the volume that we had. We had to go and vet a new manufacturer  its now being manufactured in the United States by Flex, which makes a lot of wearables. They dont normally work with small companies like us  usually you go to them when you have bigger volume, and youre looking to scale. But we met them at CES, and they really liked what we were doing, and we feel very lucky to be working with them.

So we lost about three-and-a-half months just because of that alone. Other factors were little things here and there  product improvements that weve made. Weve done a lot of user testing, and everybody said the alarm needed to be louder  that probably set us back another month. We have pre-orders for 8,000 units, but we expect that to reach 10,000 by the time we start shipping in October.

Mustafas original idea was to include the capability for Athena to call 911 when the alarm is activated. But that functionality has proven to be elusive:

Its been challenging to be able to do that, because iPhones and Androids have restrictions in having a low-energy Bluetooth device initiate the call through a locked phone. We were able to figure out how to do texting to 911, but unfortunately thats only available in 5 percent of counties in the United States. To be able to trigger a call, just because of the way iPhone and Android devices are set up, were just not able to do it.

Were working with a partner right now to figure out a workaround, using their API. Its possible when the phone is unlocked, but of course in an emergency, most likely your phone would be locked. We have to figure out how to circumvent that  we havent talked to Google yet, but weve talked to Apple to see if this is something they would be open to. Were going to continue talking to them to see if we can figure out another way.

Mustafa wrapped up the conversation by highlighting the educational dimension of the work ROAR for Good is doing:

The whole goal in what were building is to see the day when we wont need to build it. Were investing part of the proceeds in programs that get to the root of the problem  programs that educate people about empathy, and respect, and healthy relationships, especially among children, when theyre most impressionable. We want to decrease the need for these devices, and for things like pepper spray and tasers. Were really excited about the possibilities created by the educational piece of our business, and investing in nonprofits that do this really important work.

A contributing writer on IT management and career topics with IT Business Edge since 2009, Don Tennant began his technology journalism career in 1990 in Hong Kong, where he served as editor of the Hong Kong edition of Computerworld. After returning to the U.S. in 2000, he became Editor in Chief of the U.S. edition of Computerworld, and later assumed the editorial directorship of Computerworld and InfoWorld. Don was presented with the 2007 Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity by American Business Media, and he is a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for editorial excellence in news coverage. Follow him on Twitter @dontennant.

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Last year, according to the 2016 Cyberthreat Defense Report from CyberEdge Group, a shocking 76 percent of enterprises were victims of a successful cyber attack. Even more shocking is that these attacks are occurring despite increased spending on security. You can interpret this several ways. Companies are either overconfident about their security defenses; theyre underestimating the extent of the growing attack surface; or theyre unaware of how profoundly recent trends impact their security defenses.

For many companies, its all of the above. In any case, the place to start in strengthening your security posture is to take a more structured approach to analyzing the security impacts of recent trends and prioritizing your security investments.

Brian Kenyon, chief strategy officer at Blue Coat (now part of Symantec company), has identified six overarching trends that significantly impact the security posture of the enterprise, along with the key requirements and considerations for strengthening security defenses in each category. This slideshow will present the big picture and a discussion of these six trends.

Top Security Trends

Click through for six trends impacting the security posture of the enterprise, along with key requirements and considerations for strengthening defenses, as identified by Brian Kenyon, chief strategy officer at Blue Coat.

The Evolving Endpoint

Both the number and the variety of endpoints that must be secured have been expanding rapidly in the past few years, especially with the upward spiral in mobility, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Gartner famously estimated that more than 26 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020; Cisco claims it will be 50 billion, and Intel says it will be 200 billion. Take your pick; the point is the same  an exponential increase in the volume and diversity of endpoints is underway.

From a security perspective, most concerning is that many of these interconnected devices do not have a security profile or a security agent resident within them that the enterprise can use to validate security. From a network perspective, the enterprise must provide a consistent security policy across all of these new and emerging form factors that allows the scalability and visibility to adhere to and adapt to new security controls.

The Expanding Perimeter

In the same way endpoints are proliferating, so are the networks to which these devices connect. Just a few years ago, the corporate network and the home network were the predominant connection points. Today people often connect to multiple networks over the span of a few hours. We wake up and check our work email on the home broadband network; we do a little work at the local coffee house via guest Wi-Fi; we tap into the enterprise network when we arrive on-site at work; we switch to another guest network at the airport, even on the airplane. And, (gasp!) perhaps we even glance at email while stopped at a light over 4G wireless.

All of these networks add a new layer of complexity to the attack surface. To provide adequate security across all of them, whats needed is location-agnostic security technology that follows the user across his or her daily journey, wherever that might be. You need a unified, seamless blanket of protection.

Encrypted Traffic Visibility

Encrypted traffic is referred to as the the silent killer because it often carries malware but never triggers alarms. Yes, encryption protects user privacy and sensitive business communications, but it also provides a hiding place for malware  because the traditional security tools companies have invested in are not capable of decrypting traffic in real-time.

This creates a security blind spot, and thats a growing problem for two key reasons. First, encrypted traffic creates a false sense of security because administrators never see or hear any security alerts. Second, the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption is on the rise. That means its only going to be harder to get a handle on the magnitude of the risk of encrypted traffic traveling through an enterprise.

Cloud Adoption

Companies are finding that the cloud enables them to increase their focus on innovation, work more collaboratively, release better software faster, and even transform their IT processes  if they can ensure security and privacy.

The move to cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 is a great test case for the public cloud model, because when you move to Office 365, you not only get the economic benefits of not having to buy and maintain your own infrastructure to run Office, Exchange, or Sharepoint, you also get better features. However, from a security perspective, a wholesale move to the cloud should not begin under the guise of a licensing agreement with Microsoft. You cant leverage the advanced economic opportunities of the cloud if you have to compromise security.

Cloud Application Usage

The move to the cloud model gives the user unprecedented control over which devices and which applications he/she will use, and under what conditions. Anyone with a credit card and an Internet connection can circumvent the IT department and contract separately with multiple IT service providers. Its called shadow IT, and it has moved from an unpleasant specter haunting the IT department to a common and accepted practice that must be managed.

There is no longer any question of curtailing shadow IT  the new question is how to regain enough visibility and control to protect the user and the enterprise. Simply put, IT organizations have to get ahead of this trend because users are driving now  and putting their own privacy and corporate data at risk. Companies cannot afford continued erosion of their security posture. They need visibility, multiple inspection layers, and data inspection capabilities to empower users to take advantage of shadow IT safely.

Advanced Malware and Incident Response

Malware keeps getting more sophisticated and successful, using multiple techniques of obfuscation and hiding in encryption to mask its nasty intent. The traditional identify and block model is simply no longer adequate. Whats needed today is a more holistic strategy of monitoring the entire environment, detecting intrusion attempts, and responding to successful attacks quickly and effectively.

If youre a security administrator, chances are you already realize that events are happening at all times, everywhere around you. You need a way to not only spot the truly dangerous ones, but also respond to and mitigate them quickly. This requires visibility into and control over all layers of your security posture, the formulation of a consistent and effective response to incidents and events, and the ability to automate the remediation process. This, in turn, requires the ability to look back in time, see what deviated between then and now, and implement an automated remediation solution. Its also very important to learn from the unsuccessful attacks on your environment as well. Each attack that you detect gives you vital information about your attackers: tools, techniques, and procedures that can help you ensure your defensive layers are adaptive and increase the efficacy of your controls.
'Stranger Things' Season 2 Spoilers, Cast, Release Date: Barb and Dr. Brenner to Return in 'Netflix' Original Series? Stephen King to Write Upcoming Season?

"Stranger Things" have not only caused more people to binge-watch Netflix but have also caused a worldwide phenomenon to bring the 80's back. This is why everyone is googling when "Stranger Things" Season 2 would air.

As of August 22, Netflix hasn't officially announced when Eleven and the gang would return to light up our TV screens but it was speculated that it might return in July 2017.

But before we continue to go about our days aimlessly waiting for the official announcement, there are still questions that have been tormenting "Stranger Things" fans. And one of these is - are we still going to see Barb in Season 2?

As reported by IGN, the Duffer Brothers - Matt and Ross, revealed Barb's fate:

"I can't see it happening. But Barb will not be forgotten. We'll make sure there's some justice for Barb. People get very frustrated, understandably, that the town doesn't seem to be really dealing with Barb. That stuff is all happening. We're just not spending any screen time on it... part of what we want to do with hypothetical Season 2 is to explore the repercussions of everything that happened," Matt said.

However, Dr. Brenner, played by Matthew Modine, is confirmed to return.

"I would say that if we were going to kill Brenner... as an audience member watching the show, if that was his death, that would be very unsatisfying to me - when the monster jumps on him and we cut away," Matt told IGN. "He would deserve much more than that as an ending. So yes, there's a possibility of seeing him again."

Now, there's also a rumor circulating in the interwebz that the King of Horror Fiction himself who have pretty much influenced the show, Stephen King, might write the screenplay for "Stranger Things" season 2.

But alas! The website that posted the rumor is actually a satire news site. As corrected by Snopes, "Stranger Things" Writer and Director Duffer Brothers did not make any declarations that they would hand the writing over to Stephen King or even to any other writers.

"Stranger Things" Season 1 cast include Winona Ryder, Matthew Modine, David Harbour, Milllie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin.
Xiaomi is reportedly set to challenge Apple and Google smartphones in the United States. The Chinese tech company is set to enter one of the most lucrative markets in the world this October.

There are speculations that the product Xiaomi intends to sell to Americans is its smartphones according, to Phone Radar. It is currently the Chinese company's biggest selling product in the Asian region. Its latest smartphone product, the Redmi 3S is reportedly doing well.

Xiaomi - Lowest Price Smartphone

Xiaomi in theory can get a good slice of the American market away from Apple and Samsung. Its main advantage is affordability for products with a decent spec. The upcoming iPhone 7 and the new Galaxy Note 7 offers feature and specs that clearly outclasses Xiaomi's Redmi 3S. However, budget conscious US consumers will find the Chinese smartphone as the cheaper alternative to Apple and Samsung's pricey smartphones.

Xiaomi Tapping American Mobile Carriers

If Xioami intends to launch its smartphone line to the US, the company will need to tap the services of US mobile carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. Such sales strategy will put Xiaomi in direct competition with the two smartphone heavyweights, Apple and Google.

Xiaomi's current sales model however, is selling its smartphones directly to customers online or otherwise. This current model has been largely successful in the Asian market, according to CNET. This is not the case in the US where most customers prefer to buy their smartphones from the mobile carriers.

It remains to be seen if Xiaomi will stick to its current selling model or create a partnership with the US mobile carriers. It is also quite possible that the Chinese tech company will adopt both sales strategy.

Xiaomi US Market Status

Xiaomi is not a stranger to the US market. It has exported a number of its products to America for several years now. Its product lines in the US include power banks, headsets and many others.
Samsung has, undoubtedly, one of the best roster of smartphones in the market. However, there is a relatively large price to pay to get one's hands on one of these premium handhelds. And in a very competitive market, Samsung is starting to lose a growing audience that has started to opt for cheaper alternatives. Not one to get left behind, the Korean tech giant has deviced a plan to reacquire this share of the market.

The Plan

According to Reuters, Samsung has every intention to start selling refurbished phones, which could be available as early as next year. Samsung's plan is actually two fold. While selling refurbished phones, which would come out cheaper than brand new units, could help the company tap into a different market, it will also cut costs.

The Process

Samsung will use high-end phones that have been returned to the company. These units have nothing naturally wrong with them exactly - just that they are relatively old. The units, in fact, will come from individuals that have signed up for Samsung's one-year upgrade program. This program is active in the South Korean and US markets.

The returned or exchanged handhelds, will then be resold back at the market at a lower price. At just one year old, this would be a good deal for those that want the power and design of a premium Samsung device without the hefty price tag.

The refurbishment of the devices, unless something is found wrong with the unit, only really call for a refitting for a battery or casing.

The Price

As Android Authority warns, nothing is sure at this point and Samsung has not released an official announcement. As such, it is difficult to tell just how large a discount the refurbished Samsung devices. However, Apple has a re-sale value of about 69 percent,which could serve as a relatively stable estimate.


In December 2015, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook and a new father to his baby girl, Max, wrote a letter for her. Mark Zuckerberg together with his wife Priscilla Chan has pledged to help various charities and institutions by donating 99 per cent of their present Facebook shares which costs $95 million total.

This is under the banner of the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative. However, despite recent publicities about the matter, there is still little known about the expenditure of the ton of cash that will be donated. There are reports and speculations that it will go to the educational, health, and science sector.

One of the beneficiaries of the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative is the Andela, which is an educational startup organization that aims to put an end to the technological gap in third world countries. Zuckerberg publicized the plan together with Priscilla Chan, right after the two had their very first child last December.

Zuckerberg says that the mission of the charitable proceedings will be to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation." The statement is considered to be the first one coming from Zuckerberg ever since the charitable announcement was made last year.

Zuckerberg also adds that his expenditures and donations will be limited to $1 billion yearly for the upcoming three years.

It is also seen that the structure of Facebook Incorporated has radically changed to adapt to the charitable longings of Zuckerberg, without the risk of losing control and suffering the same fate with Steve Jobs in the early days of Apple; of course different from the perspective of charitable institutions. One of the company's spokesperson chooses to remain silent, amidst speculations on where the will-be-donated sum of money worth $95 million will be thoroughly spent.

Currently, Mark Zuckerberg still has ownership of more than 400 million shares of stocks on Facebook.
It was previously reported by PC Advisor that an August 22 release date has been set by Google. Unfortunately, it has been announced that the official launching of the new Android version on some of the upcoming Nexus smartphones and other smartphones will be delayed by a couple of days. Rumors said that it is most likely by the end of August 2016.

It was rumored that both Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X will be getting an Android 7.0 Nougat update on August 22. It was then confirmed last week by Telus through its software schedule page. However, up to this day, the Android update has not been released yet. On the other hand, it has been revealed by Optus Australia that the upcoming Android 7.0 Nougat update would start seeding by the end of August.

According to Yibada, an unknown problem was found by Vodafone Australia during the testing on the software of the new Android version which results to the delay of the update. It is a norm for a couple of smartphone companies to run some series of tests on an update before officially launching it to the public. Unfortunately, if there is a concern regarding the update, the release date would most likely to be delayed. It has been a tradition by Google to release the new OS through their new Nexus devices annually. However, it was reported that the upcoming 2016 Nexus smartphones would not get Android 7.0 Nougat update.

LG has confirmed that their new flagship, LG V20, will arrive with a pre-installed Android 7.0 Nougat update. The new smartphone is set to be released on Sept 6. Several smartphones companies such as Samsung and Sony are also confirming to get the new android update by the end of this year. While the new OS will come usually on Nexus devices, therefore an August end update is expected. This information suggests that smartphone OEMs are leaning towards the Android 7.0 update for their respective flagships as soon as it will be released officially by Google.
Continuing to pave the way for a final release of the upcoming macOS Sierra scheduled sometime this fall, Apple released on Monday, August 22, the sixth public and seventh developer betas.

MacOS Sierra Latest Betas

According to Apple Insider, the new code previews of macOS Sierra can be downloaded as updates from the Mac App Store. For those users who are new to betas and want to have access to them for the first time, the software previews are available through Apple's Beta Softare people looking to jump into the beta stream for the first time, the software is available through Apple's Beta Software Program and developer portals.

Tech analysts expect that the new betas will polish up macOS Sierra before the final release, cleaning up any performance issues and bugs. On Friday, August 19, Apple rolled out equivalent betas for iOS 10 that is expected to be released next month in final version.

MacOS Sierra Improvements

According to Tech Crunch, macOS Sierra will bring some interesting updates. For instance, the AI personal virtual assistant Siri will be introduced to the Mac for the first time. The AI assistant can replace many of Spotlight's features, like helping users to search through photos or to find a file. Siri can also help users to interact with their Mac, like set reminders, start FaceTime calls, turning on or off your Wi-Fi or adjust the volume.

Other improvements have been made in the Photos app that comes with new features. The application takes advantage of computer vision in order to recognize the things, places and people in an album, then arrange them into collections.

The updated Photos app comes with a new tab called "Memories" that can also curate past photos into collections. Another big improvement is the addition to picture-in-picture feature for watching videos in Safari. Other applications such as Mail, Pages, TextEdit and Maps are coming with their own Safari-like Tabs.

MacOS might wait for October or be also released in September, depending on Apple's intention to time the update with the launching of the new Macs. Most tech analysts agree that the upcoming Mac models will be announced at the usual September iPhone event.
Anonymous hackers probably gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential sales in the black market when they leaked valuable cyberweapons allegedly stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency.

The hackers, known as the Shadow Brokers, posted a sample file of the cyberweapons earlier this month and at least some of them appear to be zero-day exploits, or attacks that rely on software defects that practically no one knew about.

Before they were publicly leaked, each of these zero-day exploits could have sold for a great deal of money, according to security researchers. Theyre designed to affect firewall and router products from Cisco, Juniper Networks and Fortinet, in addition to those from Chinese vendors.

Alex Rice, CTO at bug bounty platform Hackerone, estimated individually that the zero-day exploits could have sold for north of six figures on the digital grey market.

Most of these exploits target information that the organization is trying to protect, he said, which makes them particularly valuable.

Risk Based Security has also been looking over the free sample and estimated that the exploits could have been worth in total between US$200,000 and a million dollars if they had been sold to defensive bug bounty buyers that work to patch vulnerabilities.

That said, given the capabilities of the targets, in the hands of the right buyer, these exploits could be worth a lot more, Risk Based Security said in a Monday blog post.

The exploits target at least ten different vulnerabilities, and they were allegedly obtained from the Equation Group, a top cyberespionage team that some suspect could be working on behalf of the NSA.

The Equation Group has been connected with the infamous Stuxnet computer worm, and is known for developing malware thats impossible to remove.

However, the exploits found in the sample are pretty much worthless now. Anyone can download them, but more importantly, the affected vendors have been working to address the software vulnerabilities.

Why the Shadow Brokers decided to give away such valuable exploits, isnt clear. Typically, hackers do provide free samples of their stolen goods to establish trust with possible buyers, Rice said.

But these exploits are different. They allegedly came from the NSA, meaning the U.S. government could alert the affected vendors if it had got wind of the sale. That might dissuade potential buyers, Rice said.

Nevertheless, the Shadow Brokers are selling more of what they stole in an online auction, but so far its generated very modest interest.

As of Monday, the auction had received bids worth a total of 1.76 in bitcoin or $1029. Thats very little when considering the auctions winner is supposed to receive a cyber weapon that rivals Stuxnet.

But many security researchers suspect that the auction is more of a publicity stunt. The conditions to betting on the auction arent exactly encouraging. The Shadow Brokers have not said when theyll accept the final bid. Rather, they hope to receive 1 million bitcoins or $584 million, in exchange for leaking all that they allegedly stole from the Equation Group.

The money is too high for a group that is actually hoping to sell, said Eric O'Neill, national security strategist with security firm Carbon Black. He speculated that the Shadow Brokers are in reality trying to embarrass the NSA, either for espionage or hacktivist reasons.

Either way, the critical issue is that until we spend more attention and resources on cybersecurity at a national level, these sort of attacks will continue and escalate, he added.
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Notice: Gilbert Achcar, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising

In this eagerly awaited book, foremost Arab world and international affairs specialist Gilbert Achcar analyzes the factors of the regional relapse. Focusing on Syria and Egypt, Achcar assesses the present stage of the uprising and the main obstacles, both regional and international, that prevent any resolution. In Syria, the regimes brutality has fostered the rise of jihadist forces, among which the so-called Islamic State emerged as the most ruthless and powerful.

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhoods year in power was ultimately terminated by the contradictory conjunction of a second revolutionary wave and a bloody reactionary coup. Events in Syria and Egypt offer salient examples of a pattern of events happening across the Middle East.

Morbid Symptoms offers a timely analysis of the ongoing Arab uprising that will engage experts and general readers alike. Drawing on a unique combination of scholarly and political knowledge of the Arab region, Achcar argues that, short of radical social change, the region will not achieve stability any time soon.

About the author

Gilbert Achcar grew up in Lebanon. He is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His publications include The Clash of Barbarisms: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder (2002), published in 15 languages; Perilous Power: The Middle East and US Foreign Policy (2008), with Noam Chomsky; the critically acclaimed The Arabs and the Holocaust: The ArabIsraeli War of Narratives (2010); and The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising (2013).

Via Stanford University Press
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By Michael G. Roskin | (Informed Comment) |  

Russian use of an Iranian airbase led some to see a Russia-Iran axis. They jumped the gun and surmised too much. In less than a week, Tehran, perhaps remembering that the constitution of the Islamic Republic prohibits foreign bases on Iranian soil, pulled Iranian permission.

Russians proudly publicized their arrival at a northwest Iranian airbase; it showed they were a major Mideast player. Iran was humiliated by this publicity because it suggested they were under Russias thumb. Russian bombers could save about 1,000 air miles to deliver heavier bomb loads than flying from Russia. They had to transit Iraqi airspace, which Baghdad allowed because its Shia regime takes instructions from Tehran, not from the U.S.

History and geography suggest that Iranians long-term resentments will override formation of any alliance, especially one with Russia.

Much of the Caucasus and Central Asia was under Persian suzerainty until Russian conquest in the nineteenth century. The Tobacco Rebellion of 1891-92 ended Britains tobacco monopoly in Iran. In 1901, Britons bought rights to oil that turned into the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and eventually British Petroleum. Iranians always felt they were robbed.

In 1911, Russia and Britain recognized each others spheres of interest in a weakened Persia, the Russians in the north and the British in the south. During World War I, each occupied their zones lest Persia align with Germany (as Turkey had). The Russians trained a Persian Cossack brigade; in 1921 its chief, Reza Khan, seized power and in 1925 proclaimed himself shah of the new Pahlavi dynasty. In 1935, he made Iran the countrys name, evoking the ancient Aryans, Hitlers favorite people.

World War II repeated the World War I takeover. The shah warmed to Nazi Germany until the Soviets and British occupied Iran in 1941 and exiled him to South Africa, where he died. The U.S. made Iran a major supply corridor into the Soviet Union, which set up two puppet republics in northern Iran. Under pressure, in 1946 the Soviets left, and the U.S. became Irans protective power. Some peg this as the first crisis of the Cold War.

Iranians still hated the British oil concession and cheered as populist Premier Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized it in 1951. The young shah fled to Italy, and London screamed communism. The CIA underwrote the 1953 coup that ousted Mosaddegh and brought back the shah, who, years later, nationalized Irans oil anyway.

The Point: Iran, with two centuries of rage against foreign domination, will use whatever third power comes along to gain some freedom of action. Fight Russian and British domination by turning to Germany. Fight Soviet domination by turning to America. Now fight America by turning to Putin. No Iranian alignment with a major power is permanent. Iran dodges and weaves to keep its independence.

It looks like some Iranian generalsnow rebukedsupposed the Russian airbase would strengthen Irans Shia corridor through Iraq and Syria into Lebanon and could protect Iran against a Saudi showdown (which the Saudis also want to avoid). But the relationship with Russia is limited because Tehran will not be subservient to Moscow.

And what did Putin think he would get out of it? He has already aligned with Iranian/Hezbullah forces in Syria and got Tehrans permission to fly cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea through Iranian airspace on the way to Syria (an expensive vehicle to deliver ordnance). He thought he was deepening that relationship but picked up some liabilities.

Russia has muscled back into the Middle East but strictly on the Shia side in a world where 85 percent of Muslims-including those of Russias restive North Caucasusare Sunni. Some ISIS fighters from the North Caucasus are called al-Shishani (the Chechen). Fundamentalist Sunnis make rule by Shia one of the pretexts for their militancy in Iraq and Syria.

Last weeks heartbreaking photo of a bloodied Syrian 5-year-old went viral. Rescuers in Aleppo said it was from a Russian airstrike, but Moscow denies it. We dont know for sure but should not give the Russians the benefit of the doubt. Its now their war, and they should bear the blame for the dead and dazed children. Putins war on behalf of Assad may last for years and, even if victorious, would leave Syria a smoldering conquered province.

A temporary Russian airbase does not indicate an extensive, formal alliance with Iran, but much depends on how the US handles the situation. The US must avoid provocative actions that will push the two closer together. Potentially, a China-Russia-Iran bloc could form at some point, but lets be frank: It would likely not long endure; their interests would quickly diverge.

Michael G. Roskin has been a Professor of Political Science at Lycoming College since 1972 and has authored five political science textbooks. Professor Roskin earlier worked as a newsman and foreign service officer for the U.S. Information Agency before earning a Ph.D. in international studies at American University.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

CCTV: Iran revokes Russias use of air base
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 22, 2016) - Timmins Gold Corp. ("Timmins Gold" or the "Company") (TSX:TMM)(NYSE MKT:TGD) is pleased to announce results of a recently completed National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report ("NI 43-101") for the San Francisco Gold Mine in Sonora State, Mexico, prepared by Micon International Limited ("Micon") of Toronto, Ontario. This news release provides details on the updated Mineral Reserves and Resources, as of July 1, 2016, and associated mine plan for the San Francisco Gold Mine.

All dollar amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars.

Highlights:

2016 production between 90,000 and 100,000 gold ounces at cash costs of $750 to $800 per gold ounce and total capital expenditures of $4 million.

2017 production between 65,000 and 70,000 gold ounces at cash costs of $900 to $950 per gold ounce and total capital expenditures of $4 million.

2018 production between 80,000 and 85,000 gold ounces at cash costs of $1,000 to $1,050 per gold ounce and total capital expenditures of $2 million.

Life-of-mine production between 450,000 and 500,000 gold ounces at cash costs of $900 to $950 per gold ounce and total capital expenditures of approximately $18 million ($38 per ounce).

Updated Reserves (after mining recovery and dilution) of 574,000 gold ounces grading 0.56 g/t at $1,250 per gold ounce; additionally, Stockpiled Ore of 61,000 gold ounces of grading 0.26 g/t.

Updated Measured & Indicated Resources of 1.0 million gold ounces grading 0.58 g/t at $1,350 per gold ounce.

Timmins Gold President Arturo Bonillas states, "We are very pleased to provide guidance for the continued operations at San Francisco which will generate significant free cash flow and offers the Company continued exposure to the rising gold price environment. Over the course of the past year, we made significant reductions in costs and increased operating efficiencies, which contribute greatly to the estimated profitability of the new life of mine plan. Additionally, the low capital requirements throughout the mine life result in very attractive all-in costs. The Company has employed a $1,250 gold price for Reserves, but the potential for significant upside optionality is noteworthy. Based on a $1,350 gold price pit, the number of Resources increases by almost 70% compared to a $1,250 gold price pit."

Mark Backens, Interim CEO adds, "Expected cash flow from operations will comfortably fund the pre- construction work program at Ana Paula while meaningfully contributing to the Company's treasury. Gold production at San Francisco should continue well through the expected start of production at Ana Paula. Further, the cash flow from operations will be an important source of funding for Ana Paula construction."

UPDATED SAN FRANCISCO MINE PLAN

Table 1 summarizes the mine plan from 2016 - 2023 (Q1). Actuals for January to June 2016 are incorporated.

Table 1 - San Francisco Gold Mine Plan Summary 2016 - 2023 (Q1)

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 (Q1) TOTALS Ore source [A] SF/LC SF/LC/SP SF/LC/SP SF SF SF/SP SF SF - Throughput ktpd 22 19 22 16 16 16 9 5 - Processed grade g/t Au 0.59 0.48 0.51 0.43 0.46 0.49 0.68 0.81 0.53 Strip ratio [B] w:o 2.0 1.9 3.0 3.1 3.8 1.5 3.6 4.3 2.6 Production koz 90-100 65-70 80-85 50-55 55-60 55-60 45-50 10-15 450-500 Cash Costs [C] $/oz 750-800 900-950 1,000-1,050 1,050-1,100 1,150-1,200 750-800 700-750 450-500 900-950 Total Capex [D] $ million 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 18

Notes : [A] SF = San Francisco, LC = La Chicharra, SP = Stockpile. [B] Strip ratio includes all waste stripping; equal to waste tonnes mined divided by ore processed tonnes. [C] Includes cost of all waste stripping, and includes 0.5% NSR environmental royalty. [D] includes all development and sustaining capital (i.e. leach pad expansions, on-going maintenance, and resource drilling).

The new mine plan incorporates over two years of new exploration, infill and production drilling data, a reinterpretation of certain phases of the deposits, and mining and process engineering optimizations. Processing rates were determined based on mining rate constraints as well as an optimization of the haul distances and unit processing costs.

Although processing and production rates are lower from 2019 forward, the associated design and plan results in the lowest all-in costs and highest margin for the mine life. The lower grades and higher strip in 2019 and 2020 are offset through reduced unit mining and unit processing costs, keeping cash costs favourable. Unit mining costs starting in 2018 and forward benefit from significantly reduced haulage distances and, later on, backfilling scenarios. Unit processing costs, 2019 forward, benefit from lower throughputs ( 16 ktpd) as a result of: (i) the use of grid power only versus a combination of grid power and diesel-generated power at higher throughputs; and (ii) the use of one ADR plant versus two at higher throughputs. Total annual capital (development and sustaining) remains low throughout the mine life resulting in consistently favourable all-in costs.

MINERAL RESERVES & RESOURCES

Table 2 - San Francisco Gold Mine - Mineral Reserves at $1,250/oz gold as of July 1, 2016

Cut-off Category Tonnes Au Gold (Au g/t) (Notes A-B) (x1000) g/t Ounces (x1000) Proven 16,666 0.58 313 San Francisco Pit 0.19 Probable 8,267 0.54 144 Total 24,934 0.57 457 Proven 6,596 0.51 109 La Chicharra Pit 0.21 Probable 579 0.45 8 Total 7,175 0.51 117 Proven 23,262 0.56 421 Total Probable 8,846 0.54 153 Total 32,109 0.56 574 Low Grade Stockpile Total 7,371 0.26 61

Notes: [A] Includes mining recovery (96% for San Francisco and 98% for La Chicharra) and dilution of up to 4%, varying based on pit phases. [B] Mine plan includes reserves and low-grade stockpile.

Table 3 - San Francisco Mine - Mineral Resources at $1,350/oz gold as of July 1, 2016 Cut-off Category Tonnes Au Gold (Au g/t) (Notes A - D) (x1000) g/t Ounces (x1000) Measured 26,731 0.60 515 San Francisco Pit 0.18 Indicated 15,239 0.61 299 Measured & Indicated 41,970 0.60 814 Inferred 246 0.72 6 Measured 9,902 0.50 160 La Chicharra Pit 0.17 Indicated 3,575 0.48 55 Measured & Indicated 13,477 0.50 215 Inferred 79 0.43 1 Measured 36,633 0.57 675 Indicated 18,814 0.58 354 Total Resources Total Measured & Indicated 55,447 0.58 1,029 Inferred 324 0.65 7

Notes: [A] Inclusive of Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability . [B] Mining recovery or dilution are not applied in this table. [C] Inferred resources in this table are pit-constrained. Inferred Resources have the potential to become additional Reserves at a future stage; however, due to the uncertainty that is attached to Inferred Mineral Resources, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource as a result of continued exploration. [D] No known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing or political issues exist which would adversely affect the mineral resources estimated above, at this time.

The NI 43-101, by Micon, describing the details of the updated Reserve and Resource estimates and associated mine plan, will be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) within 45 days from the date of this press release.

Technical Information and Qualified Person Notes

This press release was reviewed by Taj Singh, M.Eng, P.Eng, a Vice-President of the Company, who is recognized as a Qualified Person ("QP") under the guidelines of NI 43-101. Mr. William Lewis, B.Sc, P.Geo, and Ing. Alan J. San Martin, MAusIMM(CP), both of Micon, both independent QPs, reviewed the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Estimate. Mr. Mani M. Verma, M.Eng, P.Eng, of Micon, an independent QP, reviewed the mine plan and economics. Mr. Richard M. Gowans of Micon, an independent QP, reviewed the metallurgy section. Each of Mr. Lewis, Mr. San Martin, Mr. Verma, Mr. Gowans, and Mr. Singh have read and approved the contents of this news release.

About Timmins Gold

Timmins Gold is a Canadian gold mining company engaged in exploration, development and production in Mexico. Its principal assets include the producing San Francisco Mine in Sonora, and the development stage Ana Paula Project in Guerrero. The Company also has a portfolio of other exploration properties, all of which are in Mexico.

Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) nor the New York Stock Exchange MKT accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements which relate to future events including: estimates, forecasts and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, business and financial prospects, financial multiples and accretion estimates, future trends, plans, strategies, objectives and expectations, including with respect to production, exploration drilling, reserves and resources, exploitation activities and events or future operations. Information inferred from the interpretation of drilling results and information concerning mineral resource estimates may also be deemed to be forward-looking statements, as it constitutes a prediction of what might be found to be present when, and if, a project is actually developed.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans, "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential", or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggestions herein. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

The Company is subject to the reporting requirements of the applicable Canadian securities laws, and as a result it reports its mineral reserves and resources according to Canadian standards. Canadian reporting requirements for disclosure of mineral properties are governed by NI 43-101. The definitions of NI 43-101 are adopted from those given by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. U.S. reporting requirements are governed by Industry

Guide 7 ("Guide 7") of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission"). These reporting standards have similar goals in terms of conveying an appropriate level of confidence in the disclosures being reported, but embody different approaches and definitions.

For example, under Industry Guide 7, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. In particular, the Company reports "resources" in accordance with NI 43-101.

While the terms "Mineral Resource", "Measured Mineral Resource", "Indicated Mineral Resource" and "Inferred Mineral Resource" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, they are not defined terms under standards of the Commission and generally, U.S. companies are not permitted to report resources in documents filed with the Commission. As such, certain information contained in this press release concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources under Canadian standards is not comparable to similar information made public by United States companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the Commission.

In addition, an Inferred Mineral Resource has a great amount of uncertainty as to its existence and as to its economic and legal feasibility, and it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of any economic studies beyond Preliminary Economic Assessment.

It cannot be assumed that all or any part of Measured or Indicated Resources will ever be converted into Mineral Reserves, and it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable. In addition, the definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral Reserves" under CIM standards differ in certain respects from the standards of the Commission.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] opened the trial of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi [case information, PDF] Monday for the destruction of historical and religious monuments in Timbuktu. Al Mahdi admitted guilt [press release] Monday, apologizing for his actions. ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda gave an opening statement [text], calling the trial historic. After the prosecution concludes its presentation, the victims legal representative and then the defense will have the opportunity to be heard. Judges will then deliberate on Al Mahdis guilt and possible sentence.

The danger to world heritage sites and other important landmarks in Mali is not the only concern among the international community regarding the country. Mali has been facing a humanitarian crisis since 2012 that has raised graver international concerns. In May 2012 Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] released a report saying that Mali was facing its worst human rights crisis [JURIST report] since it gained independence in 1960. Human Rights Watch released a similar report in April 2012 claiming that all sides to the conflict are committing war crimes [JURIST report]. Earlier in April the ICC said they would monitor the situation [JURIST report] in Mali for potential crimes under the ICCs jurisdiction. The turmoil began when Taureg rebels attacked Malian soldiers [Al Jazeera report]. Many in the international community expressed concern [JURIST report] over the situation, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official website], then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees [official website]. All of this came after Malian soldiers took control of the government [JURIST report] and suspended the constitution in March 2012.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto [official website, in Spanish] plagiarized the thesis for his law degree according to a report [documents, in Spanish] released on Sunday. A group of academics and experts found [Aristegui Noticias report] that of the 682 paragraph thesis, at least 197 paragraphs were taken from other writers and that 20 of those paragraphs were copied word for word from another author without citation or reference in the bibliography. At least 28.8 percent of the thesis was plagiarized [Guardian report] and in one instance, of the 36 paragraphs written about Mexican Revolutionary General and President Alvaro Obregon, 35 of those paragraphs were copied word for word from a number of sources. A government spokesman has since assured [Time report] the public that the president met all the requirements to graduate from Panamerican University (UP) and that the lack of citations are style errors.

Pena Nieto is not the only major politician that has been accused of or found to have plagiarized in the past. Most recently last month, Melania Trumps speech at the Republic national convention was reportedly [Guardian report] taken verbatim from First Lady Michelle Obamas speech in the 2008 Democratic convention. In 2013 Senator Rand Paul was accused [CNN report] of heavily plagiarizing for a book and several speeches. In 2006, Brookings Institution researchers reported [Brookings Institution report] that there was evidence that showed that there was extensive plagiarism in Vladimir Putins dissertation which he submitted to the St. Petersburg Mining Institute in 1996. In 1987, Joe Biden, the then-presidential candidate was accused [NYT report] of plagiarizing the speeches of various politicians including British Labour Party Neil Kinnock and John F. Kennedy.
Libyas House of Representatives gave the countrys Government of National Accord (GNA) a vote of no confidence on Monday. The Tripoli and western-based GNA is supported by Western powers and the UN, but the eastern-based House of Representatives voted against [WP report] endorsing the GNA from exerting its authority throughout the country. Sixty-one legislators voted against [Al Jazeera report], 39 abstained, and only one voted in favor of the GNA. Pro-GNA legislators criticized the vote because many said [Military Times report] that they were not told about the vote, and it is unclear [Reuters report] whether the GNA will continue to seek endorsement from the House of Representatives.

Libya has remained politically unstable since the 2011 deposition of Muammar Gaddafi [JURIST backgrounder] and subsequent civil war. In May, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told [JURIST report] the UN Security Council that justice and accountability were crucial aspects of achieving and maintaining peace in the country. Also in May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported [JURIST report] that Islamic State militants had executed 49 people in the Libyan city of Sirte since seizing control in February 2015. The UN released [JURIST report] a report in February detailing a litany of violations and abuses being committed by both state and non-state actors in the Libyan conflict that could amount to war crimes. In January, the internationally-recognized Libyan parliament voted [JURIST report] to reject a proposal by the then-UN-supported unity government to curb the countrys political crisis.
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Dallas, TX, USA, 08/23/2016 /SubmitPressRelease123/

The OJ Simpson trial happened over twenty years ago, but it continues to capture the publics imagination. FX recently aired a miniseries on the case, and ESPN aired a five-part documentary in June about the rise and fall of OJ Simpson, added Dallas criminal lawyer John Helms.

I was a young lawyer during the trial, and I had a case in a nearby federal court in Los Angeles. I was working very long hours at the time, but I followed the case as closely as I could. I also read two books about the case in the years following the trial.

So much has been written about the case, the evidence, and especially the trial, but this is my take on the main lesson a criminal defense lawyer can learn from the defense strategy: Know your jury and what will appeal to them.

The case should have been a slam-dunk for the prosecutors, and they thought it was. The evidence of Mr. Simpsons guilt was truly overwhelming. The prosecutors failed in a lot of ways, but their main failing, in my view, was making the case too complicated without explaining how the evidence completely ruled out the defenses theory.

What criminal defense attorney Johnny Cochran knew was that this particular jury would be receptive to a beyond-far-fetched theory that all of the evidence could have been planted by rogue, racist LAPD cops. He knew, from years of experience trying civil rights cases against the police, that the African-American community in Los Angeles had deep-seated mistrust and anger toward the LAPD, much, if not all of which was probably justified.

The jury consisted of eight African Americans, two Hispanics, one half-Native American and half Anglo, and one Anglo woman. Only two of the twelve jurors were college graduates. None of them said they regularly read a newspaper, but eight regularly watched tabloid TV. This was, in other words, a jury that would be receptive to appeals to emotion and conspiracy theories and would likely believe that the LAPD was racist and willing to plant evidence to get a conviction just because the defendant was African American.

Johnny Cochran tried the case masterfully for this audience. He did not try to connect the dots. He used a simple argument: The cops, especially Mark Fuhrman, were racist and could not be trusted. If they were racists who could not be trusted, then all of the evidence could have been planted or doctored.

With this jury, it worked to perfection, even though it defied logic and common sense when you consider the facts. First of all, at the time the evidence was collected, the LAPD did not know whether Mr. Simpson had an airtight alibi. If he had, it would have become obvious very quickly that evidence was planted, especially Simpsons blood at Nicole Browns house and cops would have gone to jail. There was also simply no way that one, or even three, police officers could have gone back and forth between Simpsons house and Nicole Browns house dropping blood and evidence from one location at the other. Even if they could have, physically, the media and other officers would have seen them. There is also no innocent way to explain how Ron Goldmans blood got in OJ Simpsons Bronco, especially since they did not even know each other. The type of conspiracy that the defense needed would have had to involve dozens of detectives and officers, none of who knew at the time whether Mr. Simpson had an alibi. It strains logic way past the breaking point.

The prosecutors completely failed to make this point effectively. Even if they had, it is unclear that this jury would have been persuaded.

Johnny Cochran, however, knew that this jury would be persuaded less by logic and reasoning than by appeals to emotion and their pre-existing beliefs about justice and the LAPD. He wove his argument throughout the case in a simple and persuasive way.

None of this is a criticism of Mr. Cochran. He deserves the highest praise for the job he did representing his client.

The lesson of knowing your jury and what appeals to them does not just apply to high profile cases. I know from my experience trying cases that a jury in a small town in East Texas is more likely to be receptive to themes about personal liberty and personal responsibility than a Dallas jury, which may respond more to themes about fairness and equality. Each case is different, but one of a criminal defense lawyers most important jobs at trial is to find a theme that fits the defense and resonates with the particular jury in the box.

If you have been charged with any crime, including drug possession, fraud, assault, theft or a federal drug crime, call Dallas criminal attorney John Helms at 214-666-8010 or visit his website.

source: http://johnhelms.attorney/dallas-criminal-lawyer-oj-simpson-defense-tactics-can-help-case/

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Intercepted phone calls have revealed theft of EU funds designated for improving social mobility in Hungary.

By Andras Jambor

Last week the National Tax and Customs Authority of Hungary accidentally uncovered a corruption scandal related to an MP from the governing Fidesz party. Whilst investigating a tax fraud case, the authority intercepted phone calls which pointed to a much larger corruption scandal involving EU funds.

This is yet another proof of what we already know: Fidesz is stealing large chunks of EU funds; and even larger ones than its predecessors.

168 Ora, a weekly liberal publication, published a story from Northern Hungary about a local team running a social cooperative and trying to access EU funds. In order to access these funds, they contacted Roland Mengyi, a junior Fidesz MP, who demanded to be referred to as Lord Voldemort in phone conversations and asked for a two times 5 million-forint (approx. 16,000) bribe, to cover what he called constitutional costs, in order to ensure the successful accession of these funds. In addition to these fees, he also asked for a 50 percent cut of the grant money from the EU, which he then later increased to 90 percent.

The story is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, it is yet another proof of what we already know: Fidesz is stealing large chunks of EU funds; and even larger ones than its predecessors. The question is whether the prosecution, led by former Fidesz MP and longtime ally of the Prime Minister, Peter Polt, will finally indict a Fidesz politician for the first time since 2010.

Secondly, the aim of the project that was originally seeking funding is significant. The protagonists of the story would have been stealing from EU funds destined for the improvement of employment opportunities for disenfranchised Roma people through social cooperatives. If we take into account past revelations of corruption scandals involving the countrys Roma Council and also a large framework institution for social cooperatives, a clear image begins to take shape: the governmental clientele prefers to plunder funds destined to improve the social mobility of the worst-off segments of the society.

It is interesting to note that the tax authority immediately notified the responsible ministry, the Ministry of Human Capacities. As a result, the actors involved in the scandal instantly got wind of the investigation. Their intercepted conversations show that they were not at all scared and were referring to the head of the tax authority, Andras Tallai and a certain high-ranking minister, L responsible for the distribution of EU funds (presumably Janos Lazar, the minister leading the Prime Ministers office) as trusted contacts, which they could turn to.

Given that the case involved a person under parliamentary immunity, the investigators of the tax authority transferred it to the central prosecution. However, the prosecutions spokesperson declared that they were not investigating any case involving immunity. The declaration also made it clear that the prosecutors are being pro-active in uncovering the connections involved in this case-most likely because they were not given instruction to do so by the Chief Prosecutor.

Fidesz is not a political project aiming to improve the development of Hungary, but a professional machine for stealing money and power; a machine that grows at the expense of the Hungarians peoples own welfare.

The story of Fideszs Voldemort perfectly describes the corruption Hungarians experience every day. It describes the way in which the money of Hungarian and European taxpayers disappears while the development of the country is halted.

The funds meant to improve social mobility and welfare are consigned to the dustbin, while poverty is growing by the day. And the prosecution does nothing against this corruption.

The Voldemort case exemplifies with clear evidence  recordings, testimonies, material evidence of 5 million forints worth of constitutional costs  the way in which the current Hungarian government is working.

If the prosecution does not indict the culprits in this clear-cut case, it never will. If this is the case, we have to draw certain conclusions and we have the responsibility of sharing them with everybody: Fidesz is not a political project aiming to improve the development of Hungary, but a professional machine for stealing money and power and it is a machine that grows at the expense of the Hungarians peoples own welfare.

Andras Jambor is an activist and organizer of several demonstrations. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Kettos Merce, an independent blog of young journalists and authors and an online platform of young activists (www.kettosmerce.blog.hu).

This article was originally published on Political Critique.
BROKEN BOW  Four months after a jury found him guilty of beating and sexually assaulting his ex-wife, Tyler C. Bain, 31, of rural Custer County was sentenced today (Thursday) to life in prison in Custer County District Court.

Bain was convicted Feb. 14, 2014, on four felony counts resulting from the October 2011 incident in the home near Anselmo that he shared with his ex-wife, Kari (Bain) Manning.

Tyler Bain was originally charged with six felonies. However, count four was dismissed prior to trial and the jury found him not guilty on count five, use of a weapon to commit a felony.

For count one, first degree sexual assault, Bain was sentenced to 20-25 years in prison; for count two, second degree assault, 15-20 years in prison; for count three, terroristic threats, 1-2 years in prison, and for count six, kidnapping, life in prison.

The sentences for Counts one through three were ordered to be served concurrently, and consecutively to the life sentence. Bain received credit for 971 days previously served.

District Judge Karin Noakes explained that Bain will be required to serve a minimum of 18 years, less the 971 days, on Counts one through three, prior to the life sentence.

Bains attorney has filed a motion for a new trial. The hearing for that motion will be July 10 in Custer County District Court. Attorney John Marsh of Kearney prosecuted the case.

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KEARNEY  A Kearney man must complete classes in responsible thinking after passing counterfeit money in Kearney.

David Reed, 20, was sentenced last week in Buffalo County District Court to 45 days at the Buffalo County Jail and placed on 2 years probation for felony first-degree forgery and felony possession of a forged instrument for passing counterfeit $20 at Kearney businesses. Under his probation, Judge John Icenogle ordered him to pay a total of $240 in restitution to four Kearney businesses.

Reed must also complete a cognitive group treatment program and, in addition to responsible thinking classes, complete classes in Getting Motivated to Change and Impact of Crime.

In exchange for his no-contest plea in August, four felony first-degree forgery charges were dismissed.

On May 5, Reed tried to pass a counterfeit $20 at a Kearney business. Kearney police contacted Reed and took him to the Law Enforcement Center where he was questioned.

The investigation revealed Reed had purchased the fake $20 bills online and passed them at several locations in Kearney. Following a search of Reeds home, additional counterfeit money was seized, and Reed was arrested.

Reed was not making the money.

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A 2-year-old Omaha boy was fetching wet sand to build a sandcastle on the beach of a Disney World resort when an alligator grabbed him and dragged him into the water, according to final reports released Monday by Florida authorities.

Officials suspect that the alligator mistook Lane Graves  who was 3 feet tall and 30 pounds  as its usual prey, such as an opossum, armadillo or raccoon. The boy died of head and neck trauma and drowning, the Orange County Medical Examiners Office concluded. The victims small size and position (bent down) at the time of the attack would appear to the alligator similar to many of its normal food sources, the report said.

For their report on the June 14 attack, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission interviewed witnesses and Lanes parents, Matt and Melissa Graves, and analyzed alligators that they trapped and killed in an attempt to determine which one had attacked the boy.

Officials said they were unable to determine which of two female alligators had attacked Lane because of a lack of a distinct wound pattern. A total of six alligators were captured, euthanized and examined.

Officials said, however, that they are confident that the evidence gathered shows it is very likely that one of the two females captured close to the attack location was the offending animal.

The Graveses, who live in the Elkhorn area, had left their room at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort and Spa in Orlando about 8:30 p.m. June 14 and headed to the beach to watch a scheduled outdoor showing of the movie Zootopia. The family, including Lanes 4-year-old sister, Ella, had arrived in Orlando two days earlier for a family vacation.

The showing of the movie was canceled because of incoming bad weather, officials said. The family walked to the edge of the water while Lane scooped up wet sand in his plastic bucket.

About 9 p.m., Matt Graves saw a splash in the ankle-deep water, but thought it was a fish. Then he saw an alligator that he estimated to be 5 to 6 feet long grab his sons head and pull the boy into the lagoon.

Graves, who was close enough to grab the alligator, told investigators that he jumped into the water and put his hands in the animals mouth  grabbing its teeth  but the alligator just took off.

Witnesses said they saw Graves punching the alligator and pulling his sons feet, but the alligator whipped (Lane) further out into the water.

Graves suffered puncture wounds on his arms, cuts to his hands and scratches on his feet, the reports said. Graves sought treatment at Florida Hospital Celebration Health at the suggestion of authorities.

A lifeguard at the splash pool told the Orange County Sheriffs Office that he heard screaming and saw Graves, with blood on his face and hand, yelling, Please come help my son, a gator got him.

The lifeguard saw a pair of white-and-black Under Armour shoes about 15 to 25 feet from the shore that appeared to be on the boys feet. He saw the alligator drag the boy away from the shore.

A 16-year-old youth walking on the beach with three younger siblings saw the alligator snatch Lane. The 16-year-old was crying and distraught afterward.

Another man lost consciousness after witnessing what happened, the Sheriffs Office said.

One witness, from Virginia, said he heard screaming and went to help. He heard the lifeguard yelling, Get out of the water! and saw Lanes parents looking for him in the lagoon. He said he watched the Graveses daughter while the parents searched.

Investigators also interviewed people who said they had seen an alligator before the attack. One man who was staying at the resort said he saw an alligator from his hotel balcony about 7:30 p.m., swimming toward the beach from the island southeast of the hotel.

A woman said she was with her two daughters, ages 15 and 9, at the beach at 8:15 p.m., about 45 minutes before the attack. The girls saw an alligator near a marsh about 5 feet from the beach.

The older girl ran to a Disney employee who was wearing a shirt marked Coordinator and told him about the alligator. The family then went to a nearby store. When the family returned, the attack was over.

Officials said the lagoon, which is up to 20 feet deep, is not unsuitable habitat for alligators, but it would not be considered a preferred location due to the deep clear water, lack of cover, insufficient areas to bask, limited sources of sustenance and high levels of human activity.

Lanes body was found intact a day later, 10 to 15 feet from the shore.

The boys scalp, jaw, neck and left hand had puncture wounds, according to a final autopsy report.

The report said No Swimming signs were posted near the beach.

Four days after the attack, Disney installed signs that warned of danger from alligators and snakes and said Stay away from the water; Do not feed the wildlife.

Workers also constructed a wide boulder wall along the beach line.

A separate investigation on incidents of alligator feedings is ongoing, officials said, but preliminary results show no correlation to the attack. The two female alligators that were examined had empty stomachs, officials said, and their drive for food would have been strong.

Before this attack, 17 unprovoked bites had been reported in the county in the 66 years since officials began keeping track, they said.

The Graveses released a statement in July saying they would not pursue a lawsuit against Disney World.

We will forever struggle to comprehend why this happened to our sweet baby, Lane, the parents said in the statement. As each day passes, the pain gets worse, but we truly appreciate the outpouring of sympathy and warm sentiments we have received from around the world.

Lane would have turned 3 in early September.

The family created the Lane Thomas Foundation that will make direct donations to various charitable organizations. To donate, go to lanethomas.org.
Imagine the disappointment many veterans in Nebraska must feel over U.S. Sen. Ben Sasses recently-stated opposition to efforts to protect the U.S. flag from desecration.

During a town hall meeting held at American Legion Post 84 in Columbus on Aug. 16, the senator said he supports the First Amendment and freedom of speech, but would probably vote against a constitutional amendment to protect Old Glory.

Does the senator not know that the U.S. Constitution under the First Amendment guarantees the peoples right to a redress of grievances against the government?

The constitution under Article V also guarantees an amendment process.

If being an American is about anything, its about the will of the people overriding the will of self-appointed amendment police who believe they know better than the people about how our nation should be run.

Vietnam War veteran and former Sen. Chuck Hagel was a proud co-sponsor of this amendment during his time representing us in the Senate. Does anyone question his knowledge and love of the Constitution?

Free speech does not allow you to yell fire in a theater and it should not allow you to commit what amounts to a hate crime against America.

Would anybody dare remove a flag from a fallen heros coffin and desecrate it?

The Nebraska American Legion hopes that Sasse seriously reconsiders his position.

Beth L. Linn, Scottsbluff
Theres no place like home. This month, my husband, Bruce, and I have been driving our beautiful state, meeting with Nebraska families, and hearing firsthand their concerns and ideas on how to carry our country forward. It is the best part of my job.

Since the August state work period began, I have hosted community coffees in Omaha, Lincoln, Scottsbluff, Kimball, Sidney, Bridgeport, Chadron and Thedford. I have also held nearly 20 more of these events across the state this year. These informal gatherings are a wonderful way to offer updates on my work in the U.S. Senate. Through them, I hear common-sense solutions from Nebraskas farmers, ranchers, small business owners, teachers, veterans and many others.

Whatever the issue, I hear a common theme: You cannot fix a problem from afar. You must be right up alongside of it. As ranchers, Bruce and I certainly understand this attitude. It also describes some of the actions I have taken this month as your U.S. senator.

To help the federal government better understand challenges facing our entrepreneurs, I brought the U.S. Senate to UNLs Innovation Campus. I invited Nebraskas entrepreneurial community to explain problems, like lack of access to capital or excessive regulation, in a field hearing of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Our startup leaders have sown the seeds of industry across our state. Who better than these same pathbreakers to identify prudent actions for government to take?

Likewise, I welcomed VA Secretary Bob McDonald to Omahas VA hospital. Omahas civic and business community has developed several innovative ideas to modernize the aging hospital campus, and they are ready to assist with the planning, design and construction. I am happy to report McDonald has embraced this community partnership idea. This is just another example of the willingness of Nebraskans to roll up their sleeves, get a job done, and do it well.

When it comes to difficult jobs, there are none more so than the defense of our homeland. This August, it was my honor to participate in a departure ceremony for members of our National Guard. At Lincolns Saltdogs Stadium, I met with these service members and their families. I made sure they knew of the resources my office provides to their spouses children and relatives while they serve overseas. I also made sure they knew just how proud we are of their dedicated service to our country and that we are praying for their safe return home.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have seen firsthand the incredible professionalism of our Nebraska soldiers when I visited them in Afghanistan and bases throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East. They may be far from home; they are never far from our hearts.

Before the Senate convenes again in September, I will continue traveling our state and meeting with the many people who make Nebraska such an extraordinary place. Nebraska has no shortage of honest, hardworking and industrious people. I have long believed the best ideas in Washington come from outside of it  from our states and local communities. My time traveling our state makes me even surer of that.

Thank you for taking part in our democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.

Deb Fischer is Nebraskas senior representative in the U.S. Senate.
Montgomery Foundation Comes to Defense of Christian Bakery

Contact: John Eidsmoe, Foundation for Moral Law, 334-262-1245

MONTGOMERY, Ala., Aug. 22, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Foundation for Moral Law, a Montgomery nonprofit corporation dedicated to the defense of the Constitution as written and intended by its Framers and to the free exercise of religion, came to the defense of Masterpiece Cakeshop as it takes its appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

Masterpiece Cakeshop, a Colorado bakery, regularly sells pastries to people of different sexual orientations, but when asked to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, the owners declined because of their religious convictions against same-sex marriage. The gay couple filed a complaint, and the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that Masterpiece must fulfill their request. Masterpiece has appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and the Foundation has filed an amicus brief urging the High Court to hear the case and rule for Masterpiece.

Foundation President Kayla Moore said concerning the case, "The owners of Masterpiece Cakeshop have shown great courage in standing for their convictions, and the Foundation is proud to stand with them. We pray that the High Court will agree that America is still a land that values the free exercise of religion."

Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe added, "Like photography, wedding cake decoration is an art-form and therefore protected by the Free Speech Clause as well as the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the First Amendment. These are explicit First Amendment protections, and they should not be eclipsed by a so-called right that is only a later creation of the Courts. I agree that hate is not a family value, but we need to remember that moral conviction is not hatred."
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Living in the fine city of Boston, I am fortunate enough to be located right in the middle of a medical hub. A place thats full of exciting new research, developments, and ideas. Working at the front line of hospital care, also with a keen interest in quality improvement, patient experience, and technology, I frequently attend social and professional healthcare networking events around the city.

While doing this, Ive gotten to meet a lot of interesting, diverse and ambitious people. But theres a trend Ive noticed among many students and resident physicians who are interested in health care policy and technology in particular. Its the phenomenon of a young, starry-eyed future doctor who has barely even started their career yet (typically still in medical school), who expresses their desire to completely transform health care.

Yet when you speak a little bit more to these well-intentioned folk, you realize that they want to do it from as far away as possible from the front lines of clinical medicine! From my experience, Boston has hundreds of these types of people floating around. Whenever I meet them (and dont get me wrong, they seem sincere and pleasant enough), Im amazed by how brazen they are in their assertions about whats wrong with health care and what we need to do to change things. They are also the most enthusiastic about how great the proliferation of information technology, through meaningful use, has been for health care and how the last decade has really improved things for patients (go figure). My advice for them is always the same:

Sure, its awesome to have high and lofty ambitions. But if youre still in medical school, focus on becoming a good and competent doctor first and foremost.

Never lose touch with the frontlines, no matter where you intend to be one day.

Remember that without doctors (and nurses) on board, change in health care is meaningless. Listen to them, because their perspective  along with of course our patients  is paramount.

There is a reason why health care (in almost every country) has very big problems that need to be addressed. Its a complex beast. No overnight or easy solutions exist.

Wherever you go, your best and most meaningful career moments and highest job satisfaction will likely come from those special moments when you are just being a good doctor. This cant be recreated in many other jobs, so never look towards the bigger picture so much that you fail to see how much difference you can make in the trenches of everyday medical care. Medicine is a uniquely personal and emotional arena  with humanity, compassion, and empathy at its core.

In short, dont try to save the world from afar! I always remember a quote by Dag Hammarskjold, the Swedish economist and author who is widely considered to be the epitomy of a true global diplomat.

If you dont know very much about Mr. Hammarskjold, his life story makes fascinating reading. He was a man of great integrity who worked tirelessly on several peace projects after World War II. He served as the Secretary-General of the United Nations, but sadly died during his term in a plane crash in 1961. He was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and John F. Kennedy called him the greatest statesman of our century. Considering the turbulence of the first half of the last century, thats quite an accolade. Many wise and thoughtful quotations are attributed to him, some of which are actually very relevant to medicine and health. One of them is about how constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon.

Hammarskjold was a man who understood the nature of humans and the complexities of our world. This particular piece of advice applies to any doctor who is wondering whats the most essential and worthwhile thing to be doing. He said: It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.

If theres ever any question about what the higher cause is  striving to save the world or just being a good doctor  the answer is right there. It is always selflessly dedicating yourself to your patients.

Suneel Dhand is an internal medicine physician and author of three books, including Thomas Jefferson: Lessons from a Secret Buddha. He is the founder and director, HealthITImprove, and blogs at his self-titled site, Suneel Dhand.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Zapata County is looking to reduce their workforce by about 30 positions to offset the looming deficit.

About 1.6-million dollars will have to be cut from their budget this next fiscal year.

Some of those jobs could come from the emergency services departments.

The county is saying they can't afford to keep all the staff they have.

However, the sheriff and the fire chief are saying the community can't afford to make cuts to their departments.

The tension is palpable in the room full of concerned county employees fearing the worst, job cuts.

For years, declining mineral values have been affecting the budget.

"These last six years we've seen diminishing revenues, our first responders have always been the priority of the commissioners court", said Judge Joe Rathmell.

After trimming the fat, the county is down to the bones.

"We basically have no other place to cut to make substantial savings, other than those departments", said Rathmell.

This year, the 1.6-million dollar deficit has left them few choices.

The sheriff's department is being asked to cut ten-positions, the fire department two.

Fire Chief Meza says they can lose a lot by letting one of his cross-trained employees go.

"Firefighters, police officers, fire inspectors, fire investigators, swift water rescue. And, most of my guys have most of those certifications", said Meza.

Further, it could endanger those left of his already small staff.

"That'll put me down to only maybe one firefighter to go fight a structure fire", said Meza.

Several departments including these countered the cuts.

Chief Meza proposed cutting one position currently vacant and keeping the other.

Sheriff Alonso Lopez was initially requesting four more positions and two squad cars.

During the meeting, he said he might consider doing without three as opposed to ten.

The maintenance department is also hoping the county reconsider cutting one of theirs.

But accepting these requests could come at a price to other departments.

"There may be some collateral damage to other departments, if those request are met", said Meza.

The budget is not yet finalized.

Commissioners still have to approve or deny the requests that were made during this meeting in their next meeting being held September the 19th.

In a statement, the sheriff's office says they prefer the county not cut any positions.

It reads in part: "I asked that they reinstate the 10 positions for fiscal year 2016-2017. I also addressed the commissioners court to request the purchase of patrol cars."

The county auditor explained to KGNS that their office will generate estimates for both, the reinstatement of those 10 positions and the patrol cars and the losing of three as opposed to ten sheriff employees.

The court will then decide to approve or deny either option in the next budget hearing.
With back-to-school shopping season in full swing, concerns on how to afford clothing and educational supplies increase. According to the National Retail Federation's latest Back-to-School Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average family with children in grades K-12 will spend about $674 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics.

Here are some tips to save on this pricey time of year:

1. Purge the Closet

Kids grow like weeds. A pair of shoes bought just a month ago might no longer fit. Rummage through clothing to see what fits and what is in good condition. Hang onto what you can to pass on to younger siblings, friends or goodwill. Everything else can be tossed or recycled for a craft project. Talk to your children to make decisions about what they could reuse. This encourages a youngster to think creatively about how to make things last and not waste.

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For supplies, look at what the child has from the previous school year. Do you have unused glue, paper and folders that are in good shape? Reuse them or, if there is another child in the household, give them the materials.

2. Make a Budget

Kids need limits, especially financial limits. Sit down with a child and discuss how much can be spent on clothing, supplies and miscellaneous items such as a laptop or high-tech gadget for class. Ask the child to come up with ways to stretch a buck or contribute to the fund.

If the child is older and wants an expensive pair of shoes, offer to pay for half and have him or her come up with the rest. This helps a young person learn the value of a dollar and build financial planning skills for the future. An extra benefit: This gives them practice to earn that A in math.

3. Hit the Thrift Stores

Kids today love a good "throwback" and enjoy finding cool retro items from goodwill stores or rummage sales. Perhaps as guardian or parent, you may have some items in storage that would appeal to the kids in the household. Grandpa's vintage jean jacket from 1960 might look awesome to a teen on the first day of school.

4. Check Online and on Social Media

Surf the web with your child and see if stores such as Target, Walmart, Office Max, etc. are offering deals via their Twitter, Facebook or other social media accounts. Many stores post on upcoming sales targeting back-to-school shoppers. Also look up sites such as Amazon.com or Overstock.com for cheaper versions of higher-end items. Consider it virtual rummage sale shopping.

5. Next Year, Start Early

Back to school time is a rush of papers, book bags and clothing flying off the racks and shelves. Next year, think about starting shopping around March and buying certain items such as winter clothing ahead of time when they're on clearance. While everyone else is thinking spring, you will be a savvy shopper thinking about scoring a decent deal on boots for someone in the family.
Thanks to fine hairs on the leaf surface, the salvinia water fern can absorb and bind mineral oil from water surfaces. (Photo: C. Zeiger/KIT)

Some water ferns can absorb large volumes of oil within a short time, because their leaves are strongly water-repellent and, at the same time, highly oil-absorbing. Researchers of KIT, together with colleagues of Bonn University, have found that the oil-binding capacity of the water plant results from the hairy microstructure of its leaves. It is now used as a model to further develop the new Nanofur material for the environmentally friendly cleanup of oil spills. (DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/11/5/056003)

Damaged pipelines, oil tanker disasters, and accidents on oil drilling and production platforms may result in pollutions of water with crude or mineral oil. Conventional methods to clean up the oil spill are associated with specific drawbacks. Oil combustion or the use of chemical substances to accelerate oil decomposition cause secondary environmental pollution. Many natural materials to take up the oil, such as sawdust or plant fibers, are hardly effective, because they also absorb large amounts of water. On their search for an environmentally friendly alternative to clean up oil spills, the researchers compared various species of aquatic ferns. We already knew that the leaves of these plants repel water, but for the first time now, we have studied their capacity to absorb oil, Claudia Zeiger says. She conducted the project at KITs Institute of Microstructure Technology.



Eggbeater-shaped, wax-coated hairs make the leaves of the salvinia molesta aquatic fern highly water-repellent. (Photo: W. Barthlott/Nees Institute)

Aquatic ferns originally growing in tropical and subtropical regions can now also be found in parts of Europe. As they reproduce strongly, they are often considered weed. However, they have a considerable potential as low-cost, rapid, and environmentally friendly oil absorbers, which is obvious from a short video (see below). The plants might be used in lakes to absorb accidental oil spills, Zeiger says. After less than 30 seconds, the leaves reach maximum absorption and can be skimmed off together with the absorbed oil. The water plant named salvinia has trichomes on the leaf surface  hairy extensions of 0.3 to 2.5 mm in length. Comparison of different salvinia species revealed that leaves with the longest hairs did not absorb the largest amounts of oil. Oil-absorbing capacity is determined by the shape of the hair ends, Zeiger emphasizes. The largest quantity of oil was absorbed by leaves of the water fern salvinia molesta, whose hair ends are shaped like an eggbeater.

Based on this new knowledge on the relationship between surface structure of leaves and their oil-absorbing capacity, the researchers improved the Nanofur material developed at their institute. This plastic nanofur mimics the water-repellent and oil-absorbing effect of salvinia to separate oil and water. We study nanostructures and microstructures in nature for potential technical developments, says Hendrik Holscher, Head of the Biomimetic Surfaces Group of the Institute of Microstructure Technology of KIT. He points out that different properties of plants made of the same material frequently result from differences of their finest structures.

Claudia Zeiger as the first author presents the study results in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics under the heading of Microstructures of superhydrophobic plant leaves  inspiration for efficient oil spill cleanup materials. This study was carried out in cooperation with scientists of the Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants of Bonn University, which was established by bionics pioneer Wilhelm Barthlott. Research was supported by a Ph.D. grant of Carl Zeiss Foundation, the Brazilian research and exchange program Ciencias sem Fronteiras, and the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF) high-tech platform of KIT.

Claudia Zeiger, Isabelle C Rodrigues da Silva, Matthias Mail, Maryna N Kavalenka, Wilhelm Barthlott, and Hendrik Holscher: Microstructures of superhydrophobic plant leaves  inspiration for efficient oil spill cleanup materials. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics. DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/11/5/056003

Click here for the online publication:

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-3190/11/5/056003

Video of oil absorbation:

Video embedding:

<iframe width="400" height="225"src=https://mediaservice.bibliothek.kit.edu/asset/player/DIVA-2016-603.html scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" vspace="0" hspace="0" allowFullScreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"mozallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>

The video may be used in the context given above exclusively.

More information on Nanofur:

http://kit-neuland.de/2013/nanopelz (in German only)

https://www.imt.kit.edu/1436.php

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
Aug 22 (Reuters) - In one of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's biggest cases tied to the 2008 financial crisis, former Fannie Mae FNMA.PK Chief Executive Daniel Mudd has reached a settlement with regulators, according to court papers filed on Monday.

The deal with the SEC, detailed in papers filed in Manhattan federal court, resolves a 2011 lawsuit accusing Mudd of misleading investors about Fannie's exposure to risky mortgages before the crisis.

Mudd had denied wrongdoing and he did not admit any in the Monday agreement. The deal concludes one of the SEC's few remaining cases tied to the housing downturn.

Mudd was one of six executives at mortgage funding giants Fannie Mae FNMA.PK and Freddie Mac FMCC.PK sued by the SEC.

The prosecutions were announced at a press conference in December 2011 but they ended in modest settlements over the following years.

Under terms of the latest deal, Fannie Mae will contribute $100,000 on Mudd's behalf to a Treasury Department account that receives financial gifts to the United States, according to documents.

Fannie's former chief risk officer, Enrico Dallavecchia, and former Executive Vice President, Thomas Lund, agreed to similar terms when they settled for $25,000 and $10,000 respectively in September 2015.

A Fannie Mae spokesman declined to comment on the Mudd case.

The SEC did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Mudd had continued to litigate alone after Lund and Dallavecchia settled last year and he was due to face trial in November.

"I appreciate Fannie Mae and the current leadership of the SEC stepping in to end a case that should have never been brought," Mudd told Reuters.

CRISIS TENURE

Mudd led Fannie Mae as a national housing bubble grew to bursting point from December 2004 to September 2008, when the Treasury Department effectively took control of the company.

That same month, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy as Wall Street was rattled by a wave of mortgage defaults.

Officials injected taxpayer money to stabilize Fannie and it's sibling Freddie which were conceived by Washington to promote home ownership and had helped underwrite a share of the easy-to-get subprime loans.

The SEC had accused Mudd and the five other Fannie and Freddie executives of downplaying the companies' exposure to risky loans.

The SEC said Fannie Mae concealed exposure to more than $100 billion of subprime and $341 billion of Alt-A loans - another class of mortgage offered to risky borrowers.

Former Freddie Mac chief Richard Syron as well as former executives Patricia Cook and Donald Bisenius previously settled their cases for $250,000, $50,000 and $10,000, respectively.

The case is U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Mudd, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-9202.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Andrew Hay)
Gold Steady As Markets Await U.S. Rate Hike Clues

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Gold held steady early on Tuesday after hitting a two-week low in the previous session as the market waits for more clues from the U.S. Federal Reserve later this week on whether it will raise rates this year. FUNDAMENTALS Spot gold XAU= was nearly unchanged at $1,338.70 an ounce at 0107 GMT.

U.S. gold GCcv1 too was flat at $1,342.70 an ounce.

Amid conflicting signals from the Fed in recent days, central bankers from around the world will gather from Aug. 25 for an annual meeting in the mountains of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with Fed chair Janet Yellen due to speak the following day.



The Bank of Japan's near doubling of its purchases of Tokyo shares is causing investors to worry the central bank will dominate financial markets, which could lead to price distortions as it continues to grease the economy. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1AW1R6

The dollar shed 0.2 percent to 100.120 JPY= against the safe-haven yen amid a pullback in Tokyo stocks. The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, slipped 0.1 percent at 94.466.

New Zealand's central bank said on Tuesday its current interest rate track involves further cuts to balance a number of risks while generating an increase in consumer price index inflation. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1B34JM

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.25 percent to 958.37 tonnes on Monday. GOL/ETF

Platinum bullion coins sales in the first half (H1) of 2016 rose by 48 percent year-on-year to total 34,820 ounces, the highest H1 sales since 2001, according to the GFMS quarterly coin survey. MARKET REPORT Asia shares inched ahead while the dollar slipped on Tuesday as a dearth of major data left markets with little to do. MKTS/GLOB

DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0700 France Markit manufacturing PMI flash August 0730 Germany Markit manufacturing PMI flash August 0800 Euro zone Markit manufacturing PMI flash August 0800 Euro zone Markit services PMI flash August 1345 U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI flash August 1400 Euro zone Consumer confidence flash August 1400 U.S. New home sales July (Reporting By Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

kitco news
Aug 22 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures rose on Monday, with the benchmark November contract reaching its highest in a month on strong export demand for U.S. supplies, traders said.

Wheat futures fell nearly 3 percent, led by the spot September WU6 contract, while corn drifted lower in rangebound trade.

At the Chicago Board of Trade, the November soybean SX6 contract settled up 11-1/4 cents at $10.15-3/4 per bushel.

September wheat WU6 ended down 11-3/4 cents at $4.15-1/4 a bushel and December corn CZ6 fell 1-1/4 cents at $3.42-1/2 a bushel.

Soybeans climbed after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said private exporters sold 120,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations for 2016-17 delivery. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1B32K0 The USDA also reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 961,414 tonnes, above a range of trade expectations of 650,000 to 850,000 tonnes.

"Export shipments of soybeans remained unseasonably strong over the past week and are expected to tax our export capacity this fall, necessitating a big crop,"

INTL

FCStone chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a note to clients.

The market is awaiting insights on crop size from this week's annual Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. The tour, which continues through Thursday, is expected to release findings from South Dakota and Ohio later on Monday.

The USDA earlier this month projected record-large yields for the U.S. corn and soybean crops.

After the CBOT close, the USDA rated 75 percent of the U.S.

corn crop in good to excellent condition, up from 74 percent the previous week, while soybean ratings held steady with 72 percent rated good to excellent.

US/CROPS

In wheat, the spot CBOT September contract fell nearly 3 percent on technical selling against a backdrop of record-large global wheat supplies, especially from the Black Sea region.

"The record-high grain supply from Russia will more than offset the weather-related crop shortfalls in France and Germany," Commerzbank said in a note.

Prospects for deliveries against the CBOT September contract added pressure, with first notice day for deliveries looming next week.

The number of contracts registered for delivery against CBOT wheat futures WHT-TTL-DEL fell by 46 lots on Friday, a possible sign of fresh demand in the cash market. However, traders also noted volumes of hard red winter wheat moving into CBOT delivery points including Chicago and St. Louis.

"There is plenty of talk ... of big deliveries of HRW upcoming on the Chicago contract," ED&F Man analyst Charlie Sernatinger wrote in a note to clients.

CBOT settlement prices: Net Pct Volume Last change change CBOT wheat WU6 415.25 -11.75 -2.8 37652 CBOT corn CZ6 342.50 -1.25 -0.4 115894 CBOT soybeans SX6 1015.75 11.25 1.1 91870 CBOT soymeal SMZ6 330.80 5.30 1.6 38630 CBOT soyoil BOZ6 34.31 -0.25 -0.7 45045

CBOT September wheat, December corn and November soybeans shown in cents per bushel, December soymeal in dollars per short ton and December soyoil in cents per lb.

(Additional reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Ruth Pitchford and James Dalgleish)
Aug 22 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it was reassessing Ghana's macroeconomic and fiscal outlook in light of new legislation that could breach a key requirement of its $918 million loan package for the West African country.

The IMF also confirmed it was discussing with the government the debt pressures that have emerged in Ghana's energy-related state-owned enterprises sector.

Ghana's parliament passed a bill earlier this month that allows the central bank to finance the government's budget deficit up to 5 percent of the previous year's revenue. The IMF had demanded that the central bank be barred from deficit financing.

Ghana's deputy finance minister told Reuters this month that despite the new law, the government would not finance its deficit with central bank funds.

IMF Ghana mission chief Joel Toujas-Bernate said in a statement: "Discussions between staff and the authorities are currently ongoing to update macroeconomic projections, firm up the fiscal outlook for the remainder of 2016 and ascertain that financial pressures in SOEs will not pose additional risks to the central government budget.

"Subject to a quick and positive conclusion of these discussions, staff expects the third program review to be considered by the IMF Executive Board around mid-September," Toujas-Bernate said.

Ghana's finance minister, Seth Kerkper, led a delegation to Washington two weeks ago to reassure IMF officials of the government's commitment to the three-year loan deal and to help restore investor confidence after a failed attempt to issue a $500 million Eurobond.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Aug 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan's overnight interbank rate opened at 0.177 percent on Tuesday, up slightly from its previous session open at 0.176 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 0.174 percent and 0.180 percent, from 0.20 percent since the central bank made its fourth policy rate cut in late June.

(Reporting by J.R. Wu)
American International Group Inc (AIG.N) is in early talks to sell Lloyd's of London Ltd's [SOLYD.UL] insurance operations to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

If the deal comes through, it could fetch the insurance conglomerate hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (on.wsj.com/2bfo1gj)

CPPIB is also in talks to buy a related reinsurance company based in Bermuda, the WSJ reported.

AIG and CPPIB declined to comment.

AIG, the largest commercial insurer in North America, has been cutting jobs and trying to restructure its business as part of a sweeping overhaul promised to shareholders to fend off activist investor Carl Icahn, who had urged the company to break into three.

The insurer said last week that it would sell its mortgage-guaranty unit to Arch Capital Group Ltd (ACGL.O) for about $3.4 billion.

The CPPIB, which manages Canada's national pension fund, had said earlier this month that Britain's decision to leave the European Union had curbed gains in its investments during the latest quarter would create more uncertainty down the line.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Savio D'Souza)
Timmins Gold Corp. (TSX: TMM; NYSE MKT: TGD) says expected operations at the San Francisco mine in the Mexican state of Sonora have been extended into 2023 as a result of a National Instrument 43-101 technical report. The company anticipates 2016 production between 90,000 and 100,000 gold ounces at cash costs of $750 to $800 per gold ounce and total capital expenditures of $4 million, then 2017 production between 65,000 and 70,000 ounces at cash costs of $900 to $950 per ounce and total capital expenditures of $4 million. The company lists updated reserves, after mining recovery and dilution, of 574,000 gold ounces grading 0.56 grams per tonne at $1,250 per ounce; additionally, stockpiled ore totals 61,000 ounces grading 0.26 g/t. Updated measured and indicated resources are listed at 1 million gold ounces grading 0.58 g/t at $1,350 per gold ounce. Timmins Gold President Arturo Bonillas says continued operations at San Francisco will generate significant free cash flow and offers the company continued exposure to the rising gold-price environment. Over the course of the past year, we made significant reductions in costs and increased operating efficiencies, which contribute greatly to the estimated profitability of the new life of mine plan. Additionally, the low capital requirements throughout the mine life result in very attractive all-in costs.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com

First Mining Sells Three Mexican Assets To BRS Ventures

First Mining Finance Corp. (TSXV: FF) says it has signed an agreement with BRS Ventures Ltd. to sell three Mexican assets. First Mining will sell all outstanding shares of Minera Terra Plata S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of First Mining, which owns the Penasco Quemado, La Frazada and Pluton properties in Mexico, with First Mining to receive 6 million shares of BRS on a post-split basis. After closing, First Mining will own 7.2% of shares of BRS. First Mining also reports that upon completion of sale, the company will retain a 2.5% net-smelter-return royalty for each property and 1.5% may be purchased by BRS for $1 million. Meanwhile, BRS is planning to change its name to Silver One Resources Inc. The transaction is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. Keith Neumeyer, chairman of First Mining, says the transaction helps to unlock the value of three underexplored Mexican silver assets. This transaction follows our mineral bank business model of monetizing assets by entering into agreements with third parties that move our projects forward while First Mining retains residual interests in the properties, he adds.

By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
Georgia Saint Clair, 2, works on discovering Planet 9 of our solar system. Kids created their own planets and determined the planet's rotation, orbital distance, name and more.

Contributed photo

SHARE Isabella Saint Clair, 6, and Stephen Ruhl, president of BPAstro, look at the sun through a solar scope during a take-home telescopes event. Contributed photo Esme Berger, 6, looks through her decorated homemade telescope. Contributed photo

By Christian Vosler, christian.vosler@kitsapsun.com

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND  For the next generation of scientists on Bainbridge Island, the key to discovering the mysteries of the universe begins with Jell-O.

Turning the gelatin into lenses to teach how light bends, demonstrating buoyancy with pirate ships and gazing skyward through homemade telescopes are all part of BPAstro Kids, a new program on Bainbridge that aims to teach kids and parents the intricacies of science through hands-on activities.

The program, sponsored by the Battle Point Astronomy Association, meets the second Saturday of each month. Program creator Dr. Erica Saint Clair presents a brief lesson on a scientific concept. Kids and parents try it out by completing labs of her design. It's science but "without them knowing they're learning," Saint Clair said.

Topics like particle physics, absorption of light and the solar system are taught using simple art supplies and cheap treats that kids can take home with them. Learning about the way light travels? Shoot a laser through some Jell-O. Want to remember the distances between planets? Turn it into a wearable bracelet.

Saint Clair, who has a doctorate in physics from Boston University, started the program in June 2015 after giving a lecture at a BPAA event. She said she created BPAstro Kids "on a whim," because she wanted to expose her children to the fields of science, technology, engineer and math.

While the labs are chiefly geared toward children, parents are often the ones who need the most convincing, according to Saint Clair. She wants to change the perception of science as something that is boring and difficult.

"The goal is to get parents engaged and saying, 'Hey I learned something, that was fun, let's do this at home together," Saint Clair said.

Shannon Wodnik, who works as an attorney in Seattle, has attended several workshops with her 5-year-old son, Ben. Wodnik said she was equally impressed by Saint Clair's ability to answer spontaneous questions and the quality of queries that came from the children.

"(Saint Clair) really has this way of bringing these complex, difficult concepts to life and represents them in very simple ways that the kids understand without dumbing it down," Wodnik said.

Working with BPAA also has given Saint Clair the opportunity to start her own business selling the labs and curriculum she creates. Her startup, Rosie Research, offers story-based labs that revolve around the character Rosie, who uses science to solve problems. Saint Clair has used the labs in her daughter's class at Blakely Elementary School on Bainbridge and, beginning in September, the curriculum will be used at an after-school program at Carden Country School. She eventually wants to expand the program to schools nationwide.

"My ultimate goal would be to change all of science, everywhere, but of course you have to start smaller," Saint Clair said.

A recent grant from the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island is fueling Saint Clair's next round of labs, which include remote-control cars that will help simulate what programming a Mars rover might be like, and a to-scale model of the solar system that stretches across the island from the waterfront at Winslow to Battle Point Park. While those are still months out, Saint Clair has high hopes for engaging families further.

"I want to get families doing science instead of (just) kids doing science," she said.

BPAstro Kids is held the second Saturday of every month at the Battle Point Observatory on Bainbridge. Activities for pre-K children are 5-6 p.m., and older kids can participate 6-7 p.m. There is a $5 suggested donation per family.
Carl and Marci Wiegand believe women should be able to remove their tops in public like men do. On Sunday, they're holding a protest in East Bremerton in an effort to bring women that right. Larry Steagall / Kitsap Sun

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By Josh Farley of the Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON  In Washington, a topless woman walking down the street is not breaking the law. "But it certainly is frowned upon," West Bremerton resident Carl Wiegand said.

Wiegand and his wife, Marci, have become local champions of the "Free the Nipple" movement, arguing women, just like men, should be allowed to bare their tops in public. They're gearing up Sunday for a protest at Wheaton Way and Riddell Road in the hopes they'll raise awareness  and undoubtedly eyebrows  at what they believe should become more accepted in the city.

"If it's cold, you can always dress warmer," Marci Wiegand said. "But if it's hot, you can only take off so much."

The Wiegands are hoping for a large turnout but can only guess how many will show up. Officials with the Bremerton Police Department and Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, whose jurisdictions butt up to each other at Riddell Road, said they'll monitor the protest and won't make arrests unless traffic is affected or things get disorderly.

"As long as it's peaceful and they don't break the law, we won't take action," said Bremerton Police Capt. Tom Wolfe, who added officers might document the protest in the interest of legal review.

Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent said the protesters are free to exercise their rights but personally finds the event "not worthy of attention." She doesn't believe the cause will resonate among very many people in Bremerton.

"I think it's in poor taste," said Lent, who said she believes in modesty save for those women "nourishing a newborn baby."

The Wiegands were inspired last summer following several camping trips in the Olympic Mountains. Marci felt cooler and freer without a top on, joining her husband in taking one off. Fellow hikers and campers expressed no issues with her doing so, they said.

Trouble came, however, when they decided to bring the cause to the city. The West Bremerton couple, who met in 1998 at the Goodwill across the street from the protest's location, joined fellow-minded activists online and made 1,500 copies of protest flyers they've distributed throughout the peninsula.

On three occasions  one on Kitsap Way, one in Gorst and one at their own home  police have stopped to talk to her when she bared her breasts. While they did not ask her to cover up, police in Bremerton typed up reports on two occasions. Both times, the cases were referred to the city prosecutor under the law of "indecent exposure."

The Wiegands said should the prosecutor decide to charge either case, they will take it to a jury of their peers.

"It's blatant gender discrimination," Carl Wiegand said.

State law says that a person is guilty of indecent exposure if "he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person  knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm."

The Wiegands said they're even OK if men are prevented from baring their chests in public, too, so long as it means equal treatment under the law.

"But I don't think there's many roofers or landscapers that will be very happy about that," Carl Wiegand said.

TOPLESS PROTEST

What: Protesting for the rights of women to go topless.

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Wheaton Way at Riddell Road, East Bremerton
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By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON  Washington State Ferries, after a fiasco last week, will provide an extra sailing Thursday night from Seattle to Bremerton for fans attending the Seahawks' preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Boat-fueling obligations made the system unable to deliver the 11:30 p.m. trip after Seattle played the Minnesota Vikings. Riders flooded the terminal for the 10:30 p.m. departure and hundreds couldn't fit aboard. They had to wait until the 12:50 a.m. departure or find another way home.

Customers have begun expecting the extra sailing on nights of big events, but they're not always possible because of WSF budget, maintenance, fueling and crewing issues.

The fuel company this time was able to accommodate WSF's request for a later fuel time, spokeswoman Broch Bender said.

Ferries officials are warning that drivers trying to avoid two Tacoma-area road construction projects this weekend could divert them to the water, particularly the Southworth-Vashon Island-Fauntleroy and Bremerton-Seattle routes. No extra sailings are planned for the weekend.

From 10 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday, crews will reduce southbound Interstate 5 to two lanes from four between Portland Avenue and M Street for paving. Nearly 100,000 drivers use this stretch of the freeway every day. A Joint Base Lewis McChord Air Show & Warrior Expo featuring the Thunderbirds and Golden Knights will exacerbate the problems.

State Department of Transportation engineers said large numbers of drivers need to find alternative routes to avoid major backups and delays.

Also this weekend, the westbound Tacoma Narrows Bridge will close for repaving with traffic detoured onto the eastbound bridge. There will be two lanes in each direction. The shift begins at 6 p.m. the next two Fridays. All lanes and ramps will be reopened by 5 a.m. the next Monday.

There also will be weeknight eastbound closures between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. Aug. 29-Sept. 1 to repave the new bridge.

A preview of how drivers might react occurred last Wednesday as two major accidents snarled traffic in Pierce and South King counties. A tanker truck overturned while approaching I-5, spilling gasoline. The incident forced a three-hour closure of the freeway in Fife.

A few hours later in Federal Way, a motor home rear-ended a car that had slowed for the earlier backup, pushing it under a box truck. The driver was severely injured and southbound traffic backed up for 9 miles.

Many drivers detoured to the Fauntleroy ferry dock, only to find a three-hour wait there.

Drivers are advised to avoid traveling between 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., use alternate routes and allow extra time.
Jennifer Kono, widow of Al, hugs Matt Hargis on the porch at PJ'S Market. On Thursday, family and friends of Al Kono gathered at the store where he was killed six years ago to remember the storekeeper. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN

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By Amy Phan

Six years after Al Kono's death, about a dozen of his "porch potatoes" still linger on the wooden deck of his convenience store, PJ's Market.

"This is the civic center, lots of us just came here to hang out, meet up with people," said Vance Easterday of Port Orchard. "But it was really hard to come down here and not see Al."

The group's typical good-humored conversation Thursday morning was sprinkled with bouts of grief as they remembered the significance of the day.

They were at PJ's Market to remember the day Kono, who was 49 years old at the time, was fatally shot by Wayne B. Hower of Port Orchard.

On June 23, 2005, Hower made a stop at PJ's Market, located on Woods Road Southeast in Port Orchard, to get cigarettes and matches. He then went outside to his car, grabbed a gun and fatally shot Kono before driving back home.

A yearlong trial followed, complicated by Hower's insanity plea. He was eventually sentenced to 23 years in prison for second-degree murder.

The first year after Kono's death was "numbing," said his widow, Jennifer. But with each passing year, the pain of loosing her husband lessens.

"Every year that goes by, it feels like another chapter is finished, I can put that part to rest now," the 49-year-old said.

The family holds a memorial at the convenience store every year marking Kono's death, she said. Past memorials included T-shirts, mugs and caps with a simple, "I miss my friend, Al Kono" message being handed out. This year, coffee and doughnuts were given out.

It was the first time, Jennifer said, the family asked for the public to attend, realizing it was time to say thank you for everyone's encouraging words.

The fragrant smell of nearby purple and white petunias circled Kono's mourners as they shared memories of the kindhearted Kono, whom many considered a "pillar" of the community. Family members, customers and friends spoke fondly of Kono.

"His death marks a huge void that still needs to be filled by the community. He was such a man's man. Outgoing and personable," said customer Phil Paquette.

"Al was quick-witted and had a great sense of humor. I have good stories, but none that are print-friendly. Most of all, I'm just going to miss the times we had together," said Bill Gilland, wiping away tears. "It still hurts to talk about it."

Gilland, a retired 66-year-old from Manchester, started coming to the convenience store when Kono took ownership in the early 1990s.

William Eads, who said he has been friends with Hower, Kono's killer, for nearly three decades, came to the memorial to remember "the perfect grocer."

"He just let us hang out and would always be positive to be around," Eads said. "I think about Al almost on a daily basis and miss him deeply."

He said he visited Hower the Monday following Kono's death to talk to him.

"I remind him every time I visit that you killed a man and now you're paying for it," said Eads, who visits Hower at Monroe State Prison at least twice a year.

Kono's longtime friend Matt Hargis still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the storekeeper fall to the floor after he had been shot.

But coming to the store everyday to water the flowers helps, he said.

"This place is so good, it helped me to just be here. I can still hear (Kono's) laughter from down the hallway," Hargis said.

He continues to see a therapist for the trauma at least twice a month.

"The fact that the memorial turned out good is bittersweet. It just shows how much of an effect he had on everyone," said his widow, Jennifer.

Kono left behind a 23-year-old son and 25-year-old daughter. Jennifer said he missed the birth of his 4-year-old granddaughter, Makena Alan.

The family talks to Makena about her grandfather, but know they could never fully describe her grandfather's spirit.

"But she is very intuitive. A few weeks back, Makena and I were in my backyard looking up at the clouds. All of a sudden, she turned to me and said 'You know, Papa loves you, he just told me.'"
One thing that E.P. Carrillos portfolio overhaul has done well is address some gaps in the portfolio. One such gap was a value-priced cigar offering. At the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show, E.P. Carrillo launched an offering to address this gap called the Grand Prize.

The Grand Prize, along with the new Tabacalaera Alianza Natural and Rosado blends are part of E.P. Carrillos new Factory Series line. The line is described as follows:

The Factory series arises from the daily work on the rolling tables of Tabacalera La Alianza, Ernesto Perez- Carrillos factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Ernestos relentless pursuit of efficiency and sustainability of each process is paramount to the development of each cigar in the Factory Series. It is a series designed to achieve optimal use of raw materials that have been meticulously selected, processed, rolled, aged and classified by Ernesto himself. Tabacalera La Alianza offers exclusive products with unique tobacco kept under the most rigorous quality control to keep a high level of consistency. Personally reviewing each cigar and seeking excellence and attention to detail, nothing escapes the vigilante eyes and mind of the master himself.

Another interesting nugget about the Factory Series is that the cigars in this series do not carry the E.P. Carrillo name.

Grand Prize consists of an Ecuadorian wrapper and binder. It also contains a filler of tobaccos from five countries  USA, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. The cigars are available in four sizes, each packaged in 24 count boxes. Pricing ranges from $3.15 to $3.65.

At a glance, here is a look at the Grand Prize line:

Blend Profile

Wrapper: Ecuadorian

Binder: Ecuadorian

Filler: USA, Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan, Mexican, Dominican

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Tabacalera Alianza)

Vitolas Available

Robusto: 5 x 50 (SRP $3.15)

Toro: 6 x 50 (SRP $3.35)

Churchill: 7 x 49 (SRP $3.50)

Gordo: 6 x 60 (SRP $3.65)

Photo Credit: Cigar Coop
photos by MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL Construction is underway to develop about 246 multifamily units on this property at Northshore Town Center development off Thunderhead Road Tuesday, August 23, 2016. The project and a new proposal for 280 apartment units on Thunderhead have drawn opposition both from other residents in Northshore Town Center and from the PTA at Northshore Elementary School.

SHARE Construction is underway to develop about 280 multifamily units on this property at Northshore Town Center development off Thunderhead Road Tuesday, August 23, 2016. The project has drawn opposition both from other residents in Northshore Town Center and from the PTA at Northshore Elementary School. A vote by the Metropolitan Planning Commission is expected Sept. 8. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) Construction is underway to develop about 280 multifamily units on this property at Northshore Town Center development off Thunderhead Road Tuesday, August 23, 2016. The project has drawn opposition both from other residents in Northshore Town Center and from the PTA at Northshore Elementary School. A vote by the Metropolitan Planning Commission is expected Sept. 8. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)

By Ed Marcum of the Knoxville News Sentinel

A proposed apartment development that could total as many as 280 units if built to the maximum allowed under the zoning requested has residents of Northshore Town Center and parents at nearby Northshore Elementary School concerned.

Vintage Northshore Town Center LLC is proposing to build an "upscale" apartment development at 1800 Thunderhead Road, which is 8.9 acres on the east side of Thunderhead north of Boardwalk Boulevard. The project is within the Northshore Town Center mixed-use development and across the road from Northshore Elementary at 1889 Thunderhead.

The proposal is on the agenda for the Sept. 8 meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, but will likely be postponed until the November meeting, said Dan Kelly, MPC development services manager. The MPC staff wants to see a new master plan done.

"We want them to produce a new version of a master plan and the staff and the North Town Center owners (Northshore Market Investors LLC) and the potential apartment developers are going to take a look at the TC-1 (Town Center) zoning regulations to determine if this apartment complex can be compliant," he said.

South Carolina-based James Doran Co. began developing Northshore Town Center in 2004 as an urbanist, mixed-use community where people can live, work and shop all within an easy walking distance. The town center zoning regulations were put in place to guide development there.

Several Northshore Town Center residents contacted MPC saying they felt that a high-density apartment complex such as the one proposed would not fit the character of the community.

"There have already been several changes made by MPC since the development began and now we are facing another change," said Dee Wiseman, one of a number of people who contacted MPC opposing the request.

Jessica Harvey, president of the Northshore Elementary School PTA, wrote MPC that she and other parents oppose the request. Already, another apartment complex is under construction in Northshore Town Center, she said. Flournoy Development Co. has a 246-unit development underway on Thunderhead Road.

"With the new apartments come traffic issues we can not foresee," she wrote to MPC. "I can already tell you the school body will be adversely affected by the current apartments under construction. Driving the kids to school these last three years, I have seen traffic back up on Northshore (Drive) to the Lakeridge subdivision entrance on more than one occasion."

The PTA group is circulating a petition against the Vintage Town Center apartment proposal.
The signage at the fuel pumps currently is being converted to feature the Shell branding and logo at the Pilot Convenience Store at 1257 Parkway in Sevierville. Pilot Corp. will begin offering Shell gasoline at 29 Knoxville-area Pilot Convenience Stores starting this month. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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By Ed Marcum of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Pilot Corp. plans to offer Shell gasoline at 29 of its Knoxville-area convenience stores starting this month, James A. Haslam II, Pilot chairman and founder, said Monday.

The new affiliation with Shell will put one of the nation's most-recognized fuel brands in local Pilot convenience stores and allow Pilot customers to take part in Shell's Fuel Rewards and grocery rewards programs, Haslam said.

This gives Pilot customers more loyalty points options, he said.

"We are excited about this because the Pilot stores will continue to be operated by the same good people in the same friendly manner, and Shell is well known for the high quality of its fuel and the pride they have in their products," Haslam said.

Pilot has been working for several years to make the arrangement with Shell, Haslam said. Pilot has 38 convenience stores in East Tennessee and will be offering Shell fuel in all but nine, which will continue to offer Pilot branded fuels, he said.

All Pilot stores will continue to accept Pilot Fleet Cards and Pilot MyRewards cards for in-store retail promotions. However, while Kroger rewards cards are accepted at some Shell locations in Middle Tennessee, only the Shell and Pilot rewards cards will be accepted at the Knoxville area Pilot stores.

Pilot will maintain ownership and management of all its convenience stores under the arrangement with Shell, and all the stores will undergo an update, Haslam said.

The stores will all get new Pilot branding and logos. The locations will sell different grades of Shell unleaded gas and the fuel islands will be branded with the Shell logo.

Haslam said the first store to begin selling Shell gasoline is at 1257 Parkway, Sevierville, but by the end of the year, all of the 29 stores should be selling it.

"We are also doing a lot of remodeling at these stores, making them look better and re-merchandising them on the inside to sell more food and grocery products," he said.

Headquartered in Knoxville, Pilot Corp. is one arm of the Haslam family's business enterprises. It operates 38 convenience stores in East Tennessee, employing more than 400 people. Haslam founded the company in the late 1950s, launching the family's business operations.

Haslam's son, Jimmy Haslam, runs Pilot Flying J, which is the largest operator of travel centers in North America. Also based in Knoxville, it has more than 650 retail locations with more than 70,000 parking spaces.

Shell Oil Co., which is an affiliate of the global energy and petrochemical company Royal Dutch Shell PLC, operates in more than 70 countries. In the United States, it operates in all 50 states, employs more than 20,000 people and has a network of 6,100 branded gasoline stations in the Western U.S. and 8,300 branded stations in the Southeast.

"Shell has been known for their high quality for such a long time," James Haslam said. "There are two or three companies that you just have to mention their name."
Photos by AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL Paul Clark, right, rings up a customer's order to go during lunchtime at the Riverside Market. Clark has been operating the East Knoxville market since 1974.

SHARE Paul Clark gathers hot dogs for an order during lunchtime at the Riverside Market. Paul Clark, left, and his grandson Luke Wheat, center, help a customer during lunchtime at the Riverside Market. Wheat, a Maryville College student, helped out at the market over the summer. Customers have their lunch on bar stools at counters converted from grocery shelves at the Riverside Market. A hot dog is left in the heating lamp to be picked up for a to go order that was called in to the Riverside Market. Related Photos Photos: Riverside Market offers good food and friendship

By Mary Constantine of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Neighborhood markets are slowly becoming extinct but Paul Clark, owner of Riverside Market & Deli, 2100 Riverside Drive, in East Knoxville, hopes his market will be around long after he retires.

If that's the case it will take someone special to fill his shoes.

Clark is a friend to all who visit. He greets customers by name as they enter the store or, if they're newcomers, with a handshake and introduction. And he remembers them upon a return visit.

And they will return because there's something about Paul Clark's cheerful demeanor that lures people back for a snack and friendly conversation.

Clark has operated the market for 42 years. Although he has no plans to leave in the near future the last thing he wants is to shutter the doors for good.

"I want to keep this place alive for someone else to take over. This community needs it," he said.

Inside the white-block-and-clapboard building guests will find Christmas cards, thank-you notes and photos of customers tacked on the walls alongside menu items and specials of the week.

The metal shelves that once held groceries are now used as makeshift tables for customers who want to dine in.

"When we got rid of the groceries we cleaned the counters off, and the guys would come in and stand there to eat. They fussed and said I should get them some stools, but I told them I didn't want comers and stayers, I wanted comers and goers. But I broke down and bought them some stools," he said.

This summer his grandson, Luke Wheat, a student at Maryville College, helped him in the business. Clark was happy to find that his grandson's ability to speak Spanish helped him communicate with some of his customers.

"Luke grew up in Kentucky, and I wanted some time to bond with him. All the customers liked him. He wouldn't cut his hair and I didn't make him, but if he comes again next summer it will be a different story," Clark said.

Before Clark purchased the business in 1974 the store was owned for 24 years by Fred White.

"When Fred White was here the traffic count was amazing, and for the next 36 years they wore the hinges off this door," he said.

Its location, a stone's throw from the former General Shale Brick location and the Knoxville Utilities Board water plant, provided both White and Clark with a steady clientele.

"When the brick yard was down here we had a captive audience. I thought I was recession proof, and I was during the 1982 recession, the 1986 recession and the 1992 recession. We were just wide open," he said.

However, the 2008 recession had an impact on his bottom line, partially because the brick yard closed its Riverside Drive operation.

"When they first moved out to Spring City, I struggled," he said.

For the first 15 or so years Clark sold a full line of groceries, gas, cigarettes, beer, cold sandwiches and hot dogs. In 1992 he made the decision to limit his business to deli items only.

"I quit selling groceries because Walmart could sell stuff cheaper than I could even buy it, and everybody had a Walmart attitude," he said.

To his surprise he had a better profit margin.

The market's menu includes breakfast and lunch offerings.

Breakfast includes gravy and biscuits; chicken, steak or ham biscuits; sausage-and-egg or bacon-and-egg biscuits; and a BLT. Prices range from $1.39 for a jelly biscuit to $3.49 for a bacon-and-egg sandwich.

The lunch menu is considerably larger with such items as his special 3 chili hot dog combo with chips and a canned drink for $4.89; a barbecue plate lunch featuring a sandwich, fries and slaw for $6.89; small and large salads with choice of meat for $5.99 or $6.99 respectively; seasoned potato wedges; deli sandwiches; fried bologna; hot tamale/full house; and pimento cheese sandwich.

He also stocks bagged candy, soft drinks, honey buns and moon pies.

No one item is preferred over any of the others.

"One day it will be hamburgers that sell the best, and the next it might be hot dogs. It's just a crap shoot," he said.

The market is open from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

People fuss at me for going home at 1:30 but that's not what I do. I'm here cleaning up. I don't leave until 4:30 or 5 p.m.," he said.

One of his best buddies is also in the business. J.C. Wyrick has owned JC's Market on Olive Street for 43 years.

Clark made the decision at age 29 to leave his supervisory job at Rental Uniform Company to become his own boss. He said it was stopping at markets along his sales route that made him realize it would be a good fit.

"I was a sales supervisor for Rental Uniform Company. I had seven route men, and my job was to keep the routes going like they should and cover routes when needed," he said.

"I would stop at Vol Market and eat with Norman Fry. His son Alan owns it now. Or I'd stop at Tom Petty's Roadside Market on Western Avenue or Sam Lyle's place on Middlebrook Pike. They all seemed to be having a good time, and I thought maybe I would enjoy that line of work, too."

And he has.

"God has opened many doors for me and He has blessed me. I have the most precious customers in the world, and I love every one of them."
State Rep. Joe Armstrong, center, with his wife, LeTonia, and attorney Gregory P. Isaacs, leaves court after being found guilty of one felony count in his tax fraud trial Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, at the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse. The jury acquitted Armstrong of two other counts. He was charged with conspiring with accountant Charles Stivers to hide the profit from a cigarette tax stamp hike that Armstrong helped pass. (PAUL EFIRD/NEWS SENTINEL)

By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

If former state Rep. Joe Armstrong did not try to evade taxes, he cannot be guilty of filing a false tax return.

So argues Armstrong's defense attorney, Gregory P. Isaacs, in a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court asking a judge to either judicially acquit Armstrong of the felony filing a false tax return conviction he suffered this month or grant the now ex-lawmaker a new trial.

Armstrong, a Knoxville Democrat who served 14 terms in the state Legislature, stood trial earlier this month on three charges in the handling of income taxes on a $321,000 windfall from a cigarette tax stamp deal he made with a Knoxville tobacco wholesaler, Tru Wholesale, in 2007.

Testimony showed Armstrong voted for a 42-cent hike in the sin tax. He then made a deal with Tru Wholesale's owners to buy the stamps at the lower rate and resell them at the new, higher price. That transaction was not illegal.

But assistant U.S. attorneys Charles Atchley Jr. and Frank Dale argued Armstrong conspired with his accountant, Charles Stivers, to funnel the windfall through Stivers' firm to conceal the wholesaler as the source and keep it off his 2008 tax return. Armstrong denied that, testifying he paid Stivers $77,000 to cover what he believed was a capital-gains tax owed and a fee for handling his taxes. Stivers insisted that money was simply his cut for laundering the money and hiding it from the IRS.

Stivers conceded he repeatedly lied to IRS Criminal Investigation Division agents and accounting board officials in Kentucky and, in the course of those lies, simultaneously implicated Armstrong and deemed him innocent. The jury rejected the two counts based largely  Isaacs argues in his motion entirely  on Stivers' testimony, acquitting Armstrong of conspiring with Stivers and "willfully" attempting to evade taxes.

But the jury convicted Armstrong of "willfully" aiding, abetting, assisting and causing a false tax return to be filed.

In his motion, Isaacs argues the law required the prosecutors to present evidence distinguishing the crime of tax evasion, of which Armstrong was acquitted, the similar charge of filing a false tax return. They didn't, he argues, and Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips should have tossed out the filing a false tax return charge before the jury even began deliberating.

"In the instant case, the United States did not show any differentiation in the factual basis supporting count two and count three, rather one narrative of alleged conduct premised upon identical evidence and proof," the motion stated. "This legal error on the part of the court led to inconsistent verdicts that are both legally impermissible and against the interests of justice."

Isaacs also contends the jury's verdict makes no legal sense since jurors rejected the same proof of evasion that they accepted in the filing of a false tax return count.

"The jury in accepting the defense presented to the offenses determined there was not sufficient evidence to prove Mr. Armstrong acted willfully as to count two and yet returned a verdict finding the very same intent as to count three," Isaacs wrote. "Comparison of the elements that the United States is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and the legal defense established by (Armstrong) lead to a conclusion that the verdict cannot be permitted to stand."

Prosecutors have not yet responded to the motion. Phillips can either make his decision based solely on Isaacs' motion and the government's anticipated response or hold a hearing.

As a result of the felony conviction, Armstrong, who won the Democratic primary unopposed while standing trial, is disqualified from holding his office. The Democratic Party last week tapped Rick Staples to run for the 15th District House seat in Armstrong's stead against Independent candidate Pete Drew in the November election.
SHARE William Grant Morgan

By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

The fatal stabbing of an 84-year-old grandmother in East Knoxville five years ago hardly seemed a whodunit.

Mary Louise Harrison's grandson, William "Billy" Grant Morgan, not only called police about her death but he admitted causing it in that very first phone call to authorities in June 2011.

"I killed someone," Morgan told dispatchers. "I killed my grandmomma."

He also admitted stabbing himself.

But on Monday a case that seemed to focus back then more on why than who took a startling turn.

"William Morgan did not kill his grandmother," Assistant Public Defender John Halstead told jurors Monday in Knox County Criminal Court. "Mr. Morgan would not and could not do that to his grandmother."

Although Halstead did not offer specifics in his opening statement in Judge Scott Green's courtroom, he suggested both Morgan and Harrison were attacked by an unknown suspect.

He called that 911 call  the chief piece of investigation in the first-degree murder case being brought by prosecutors Leslie Nassios and Kyle Hixson  the confused ramblings of a man who himself was near death.

Hixson described Morgan as an unemployed marijuana user. Harrison, though, "doted" on him, allowing him to live with her in an apartment built onto Harrison's daughter's Payne Road home, buying his cigarettes and his Mountain Dew. Hixson conceded he could offer no proof of a motive in the slaying.

Patty Shipley, Harrison's daughter and Morgan's mother, testified Monday that Harrison had asked her to "talk to" Morgan on the night of the slaying but offered no elaboration. Morgan, she said, "wouldn't talk to me," so she let it go and left the two alone. At some point later, Harrison was repeatedly stabbed in the neck on her bed. Hixson said she was "basically hacked to death" and had 11 defensive wounds on her hands.

Knoxville Police Department Officer Jason Gardner testified Morgan was found nearly unconscious on his bedroom floor, suffering stab wounds. When asked the location of the knife used in the attack, Gardner said Morgan responded, "Out back." A folding pocket knife was found just outside the back door next to a bloodied T-shirt.

Shipley said Morgan had a history of "cutting" himself, so she had removed all his pocket knives from his bedroom months earlier. The trial continues Tuesday.
Ryan Dobrowsky adjusts his helmet before participating in the third annual Tour De Knox bike rally on Sunday, April 24, 2016 at the University of Tennessee campus. A bike share program could be coming to Knoxville within the next few years if insufficient infrastructure and questions about funding don't put a spoke in the wheel. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE City Councilman George Wallace

By Travis Dorman of the Knoxville News Sentinel

A bike share program could be coming to Knoxville within the next few years if insufficient infrastructure and questions about funding don't put a spoke in the wheel.

Knoxville City Councilman George Wallace, employees of the city's Office of Sustainability, representatives from the University of Tennessee, nonprofit organizers and other key players have met twice in the past month to examine successful bike share programs in other cities and evaluate what it would take to bring one to Knoxville.

"(The idea) seems to be gaining ground, and there is widespread enthusiasm for it," Wallace said. "There's a lot of moving parts. ... It's going to take a wide base of people to get involved."

While several different business models for funding and operating bike share programs have emerged in recent years as the idea has picked up speed across the country, the general premise remains the same: a participant can pick up a bike at one of many strategically-placed stations, ride to a station near their desired destination and drop the cycle off for another to use.

Advocates for the program believe it will provide city dwellers and tourists with a convenient, environmentally-friendly method of transportation that will improve riders' health and serve as an extension of the public transit system.

"A bike share promotes making biking more mainstream in a community," said Caroline Cooley, the president of Bike Walk Knoxville who helped initiate the conversation. "People who are hesitant to invest in a bike or who are a little fearful of riding a bike on their own can try the bike share."

Cooley, a retired physician, said there is a wealth of data proving that incidental daily activity, such as walking a half-mile to the grocery store or riding a bike to a concert in Market Square, substantially reduces the risk of becoming obese or developing a variety of diseases.

"The more people we can get on a bike to do errands  that would have a positive impact on public health, both physical and mental."

This isn't the first time organizers have tried to bring a bike share program to Knoxville. Three years ago, similar efforts never came to fruition.

"I think there were a lot of factors, but mainly the timing wasn't right," Sustainability Director Erin Gill said of the organizers' previous attempt. " ... They also recognized that the bike infrastructure was not ready to support an influx of folks on bikes."

Infrastructure has improved since then, Gill said, but there is still much work to be done. The city has added bike lanes in the past few years, and redevelopment projects, such as the construction on Cumberland Avenue, have altered and continue to alter the streetscape to make the city more bike-friendly.

Organizers are tasked with solving the riddle of how to foot the bill for such an expensive, non-self-sustainable program. In some cases, large corporations such as Citigroup in New York City have donated huge sums of money to sponsor bike share programs. Other cities' programs rely on federal, state and local grants as well as private donations.

Knoxville organizers are currently evaluating the pros and cons of forming a nonprofit organization to fund the bike share, Cooley said, but the plan is tentative and constantly evolving.
Trails Forever crew members Dakota Rogers, Kelly Grzasko, and Mason Phillippi, from left, move boulders to stabilize the base of a log bridge on the Alum Cave Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015. (NEWS SENTINEL FILE PHOTO)

By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON  Four East Tennessee cities are calling on Congress to fund more than $232 million in repairs to roads, campgrounds and other facilities at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as the sprawling tourist magnet celebrates the 100th anniversary of the nation's park system.

City governments in Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Maryville have all passed resolutions asking Congress to create a "reliable, predictable stream of resources" to address the backlog of needed maintenance at the park.

"We know the park has a lot of needs," Sevierville Mayor Brian Atchley said. But, "funding out of Congress for our national parks has not been a priority."

Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner said that while millions of people visit the park every year, many don't realize that its upkeep comes at a hefty cost.

"We need to make sure we care for what I call America's heirloom," Werner said. "It takes money to maintain these resources."

The park, which spans 522,247 acres in Tennessee and North Carolina, is the most popular park in the National Park Service, with almost 11 million visitors in 2015.

The heavy crowds cause lots of wear and tear on the park's roads and other facilities, which makes maintaining them a constant challenge, said Dana Soehn, the park's spokeswoman.

More than half of the $232 million in needed maintenance involves road repairs. Some 384 miles of roads run through the park  238 miles of those paved. The park needs roughly $175 million to repave and make other repairs to those roads, Soehn said.

The park also needs $17.4 million for repairs to its 848 miles of trails; $16.7 million to upgrade its restrooms, visitor centers and other facilities; $7.2 million to improve its water treatment system; $5.7 million to upgrade its wastewater treatment system; $2.1 million to repair its campground facilities; and $1.1 million to improve park housing.

Most of the park's infrastructure was built during the 1930s and '40s, Soehn said. Since then, the park has been able to get special funding for some road repaving and to build some newer facilities, such as campgrounds and buildings.

"But it's very difficult to find the funds to just take care of all of the infrastructure we have in place," she said.

The lack of funding means routine maintenance is often put off, leading to the backlog. "If we can't get sustainable funds to help us, we're always in a backlog situation," Soehn said.

Werner said the park is East Tennessee's most important resource, and Congress can't keep turning a blind eye to the need for funding its upkeep.

"Something has got to be done," he said, "or people won't be able to continue to enjoy this beautiful park."

The maintenance backlog is not unique to the Smokies. The bill for deferred maintenance at national parks is nearly $12 billion nationwide. Congressional Republicans have been reluctant to put up the additional money because they believe the government already owns too much land yet continues to buy new sites instead of spending money to maintain those it already has.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., one of the Smokies' biggest proponents in Congress, said lawmakers have worked to address the maintenance backlog, most of which is roads.

"In the last several years," Alexander said, "we have funded at least $50 million for the Foothills Parkway and another $10 million just last month. In my view, park roads should receive a larger share of the federal gas tax, which was a recommendation of the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, which I chaired for President Reagan."

U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, said that while more can be done to address the backlog, National Park Service funding has jumped from $2.3 billion in 2007 to $2.8 billion in 2016, a 24 percent increase.

"If we would stop getting involved in so many other foreign countries' conflicts, we would have more funds to spend on things in this country like our national parks," Duncan said.

"In addition," he said, "the federal government owns almost one-third of all the land in this country. Much of it has no national significance and could be sold to the private sector. We could use the financial resources generated by such a sale of this surplus land to address the maintenance backlog in our national treasures."
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivers remarks at a campaign rally in Fredericksburg, Va., on Saturday. EPA/SHAWN THEW

George Korda Columnist SHARE FILE - Former state Sen. Stacey Campfield, shown here in 2013 in Nashville, says he is concerned about Gov. Bill Haslam's lack of support for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)

If Donald Trump can avoid a critical mass connected to being Campfielded, he could, might, possibly, win the presidential election.

If he cant, or wont, victory is doubtful, a longshot, or impossible.

Former Tennessee State Sen. Campfield became known locally and nationally for statements and issue positions the news media followed like a deranged stock car spectator yearning for a wreck.

Among the topics of Campfield conversation were bills concerning homosexuality not being discussed by faculty in elementary and middle schools; death certificates for aborted fetuses; comparing Obama administration Obamacare sign-up numbers to Germans crowing about the number of Jews they shipped off to die in the Holocaust; and more.

Campfield picked fights he didnt need to pick and said things he didnt need to say. Ultimately, it cost him his seat in the state senate.

Until then, all he did was win. This was true in races for the state House and Senate.

One reason: he wasnt always wrong. For example, at one point he said he wanted to join the states legislative black caucus because there were black residents in his district that would be better served if he were a member. He was widely ridiculed, but it also raised this question among many voters: How can someone be denied entry into a legislative organization because he has the wrong skin color?

While the media was largely appalled at his bill concerning the discussion of homosexuality in schools, it seemed lost on a good many of them that parents might not want school officials talking about homosexuality with their 14-year-old and younger children. Was there evidence this is a problem in the state? No, and the bill didnt pass. But that didnt mean voters disagreed with Campfields position.

It sometimes seemed as if Campfield were in a rainstorm and said hed like it to stop raining some would accuse him of wishing drought on farmers. However, it was the unnecessary fights and controversies that ultimately reached a critical mass, and Campfield was relieved by voters of his senatorial duties.

Donald Trump up to now has been Stacey Campfield on a national scale. He has picked fights with punches he didnt need to throw and has said things that should have been unexpressed thoughts. Unlike Campfield, who would take on all comers and critics (sometimes to his detriment), up to now Trumps been as thin-skinned as single-ply tissue paper.

But voters dont always see him as wrong, nor is he always portrayed accurately.

For example, it was widely reported on Aug. 2 that Trump had ordered a crying baby out of one of his rallies. The media and internet lit up with condemnations of such brutish behavior. But it wasnt true. Four days after the incident, the Washington Posts fact checker published its analysis with this headline: Trump is right: He didnt kick a baby out of a campaign rally.

When Trump made comments about the 2nd Amendment, some interpreted within his remarks a suggestion that hed called for Mrs. Clintons assassination. Pro-Trump people said that was ridiculous, that hed talked about pro-gun rights voters casting ballots against Mrs. Clinton.

CNN reported that the Secret Service subsequently met with the Trump campaign over his comments. Except, it hadnt. The Secret Service announced that no formal talks had taken place between it and Campaign Trump.

When the news media shoots at Trump and misses through misreporting or exaggerating something hes said or done, its not killing his campaign and it may be making him stronger.

In the last few days Trump has issued a sort of apology for saying things in the past he shouldnt have said; hes been focused more on issues rather than ego-centric complaints about critics not being fair to him; and by going to Louisiana to observe and be shown helping with flooding relief he upstaged both the vacationing President Barack Obama and the resting Mrs. Clinton.

But then, Donald the Dark reemerged, trapped on Mt. Ego, his most vulnerable spot. Criticized frequently on MSNBCs Morning Joe, on Aug. 21, Trump used tweets to rip into show hosts hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, calling them unwatchable and clowns, and suggesting someday hell reveal the real story about the duos relationship. Penny-ante insults unworthy of a presidential candidate.

Perhaps it was at that moment Trumps campaign staff rushed in to wrest his tweeter from his grasp.

Campfields controversies didnt harm him at the polls until he went too far. Trump, despite his self-inflicted wounds and times when hes been Campfielded by the media, is doing surprisingly well in presidential polls. As of Aug. 21, Real Clear Politics compilation of presidential polling shows him up in some, down in others, often within the margin of error.

Clintons controversies surrounding her use as secretary of state of a private server to send and receive e-mails; Clinton Foundation fundraising; her refusal to release transcripts of three speeches to Goldman Sachs (for which she was paid $675,000), and other problems would have sunk by now almost any other candidate. But shes running against Trump.

Voters know Hillary Clinton, and over the last year theyve gotten to know Donald Trump, which isnt altogether positive for either of them.

Donald Trump, if he has any chance of winning this election, needs to be interrupted  and often - by those closest to him, because while being Campfielded might not hurt  and in fact, might at times help  theres a point of critical mass voters cant overlook.

A Trump victory doesnt seem reasonable, given everything thats happened. But hes running against Hillary Clinton, which makes it possible, given everything thats happened.

In each other, Trump and Clinton appear to have found the only opponent either one has a chance of beating.

George Korda is political analyst for WATE-TV, appearing Sundays on Tennessee This Week. He hosts State Your Case from noon  3 p.m. Sundays on WOKI-FM Newstalk 98.7. Korda is a frequent speaker and writer on political and news media subjects. He is president of Korda Communications, a public relations and communications consulting firm.
Volunteers needed for 2nd annual Tomato Crush to benefit Second Harvest

AUGUST 23, 2016 at 12:51 p.m.



Volunteers are needed at the Knoxville Convention Center on Saturday, August 27, from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. to help prepare hundreds of healthy, premade meals for hungry families across East Tennessee.



The event benefits Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. Volunteers will assist in preparing fresh tomatoes for processing into red sauce to be used in a variety of dishes. Volunteers also are invited to bring locally grown or canned tomatoes to donate to Second Harvest.



Last year, we had a great turnout to help the Knoxville Convention Center staff prepare more than 1,000 gallons of healthy, red tomato sauce for Second Harvest Food Bank, Convention Center Executive Chef Chris Moore said. We need volunteers of all ages and skill levels to help us exceed last years donation. No culinary experience is required. There are many different tasks, and several chefs are available to help supervise.



Sysco, US Foods and local farmers have donated tomatoes, onions, garlic and other ingredients for volunteers to turn into sauce. Approximately 80 volunteers from the University of Tennessee Culinary Arts program have signed up for Saturdays event.



The idea for the event stemmed from conversations about the lack of fresh, healthy ingredients in the local food system  and its effect on the population  among members of the Knoxville-Knox County Food Policy Council and Gail Root, programs director for Second Harvest.



This years Tomato Crush is being held in memory of one of the founders of the event, James Bosi, who served on the leadership of the Food Policy Council and was business development manager at Sysco. Bosi was a champion for changing the conversation about healthy eating in East Tennessee. He passed away in March after a long battle with cancer.



James was an instrumental part of the planning and vision for this event, Moore said. We are sad that he is not here with us this year, but we also hope to honor his passion and drive to create access to healthy food options for all East Tennesseans by holding this event in his memory.



Low-income families often are faced with limitations on the types of food they can afford. Prepackaged foods are less expensive than fresh produce but usually carry extra calories and sugars that lead to obesity and other health problems.



Last years event provided 32,000 meal portions of healthy, nutritional tomato sauce to food insecure families in East Tennessee. Many families who are food insecure do not have regular access to healthy fruits and vegetables and are therefore at risk for health problems associated with poor nutrition. The Tomato Crush event is designed to supplement Second Harvests regular food distribution with freshly prepared meals that are easy, healthy and nutritious for families.



The Knoxville Convention Center is a regular contributor to Second Harvests Food Rescue program, which gathers prepared and perishable foods to distribute to hunger relief agencies. The Knoxville Convention Center is the largest local contributor of prepared food to Second Harvest.



Once prepared, the sauce will be vacuum sealed and frozen for distribution by Second Harvest. The packages will come with recipes and potential uses for the red sauce.



Volunteers interested in participating in the event should meet at the Clinch Avenue entrance of the Convention Center between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Aug. 27. Participants will be taken to the industrial kitchen on the hour and half-hour. Parking is available at the Poplar Street lot and the Locust Street Garage.



If possible, interested volunteers should contact the Knoxville Convention Center in advance at 865-522-5669. Notification of participation is requested but not required.



The Knoxville Convention Center, managed by SMG, is located in downtown Knoxville adjacent to the Sunsphere. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleconventioncenter.com.



SMG provides management services to more than 230 public assembly facilities including convention and exhibition centers, arenas, stadiums, theatres, performing arts centers, equestrian facilities, science centers, and a variety of other venues. For more information visit www.smgworld.com

Published August 23, 2016
Friends of the Smokies Telethon, August 24th, will celebrate NPS Centennial

AUGUST 23, 2016 at 3:34 p.m.



KODAK, TN  On August 24, Friends of the Smokies will host the 22nd annual Friends Across the Mountains Telethon to benefit Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). The event has a long history as the only telethon for a national park and has raised more than $3.2 million.



Later this week, on August 25, the National Park Service marks 100 years of protecting Americas most special places, said GSMNP Superintendent Cassius Cash who will make an appearance during the broadcast. I cant think of a better place to celebrate this incredible milestone than in the Smokies and I am honored by the continued support of our communities and the Friends of the Smokies who enable us to better care for this beautiful park each year.



This years fundraiser will air on Wednesday, August 24th, just one day before the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service.



The telethon will be broadcast live from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on WBIR-TV Channel 10 in Knoxville and WLOS-TV Channel 13 in Asheville. The event is generously sponsored by Dollywood, Mast General Store, Tennessee State Bank, Pilot Flying J, and The Lodge at Buckberry Creek, with enthusiastic volunteer support from First Tennessee Bank, Home Federal Bank, and Tennessee State Bank.



This telethon is the perfect opportunity for the people of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina to come together and protect the amazing treasure right in their backyard, said Friends of the Smokies President Jim Hart. We are grateful for the generous and loyal support that viewers provide each year to help preserve the Great Smoky Mountains.



This year, viewers will see many of the GSMNP needs which Friends of the Smokies is funding, more than $840,000 to support education, conservation, recreation, and historic preservation. Current projects include rehabilitation of the Alum Cave Trail by the Trails Forever crew, ongoing suppression of the hemlock woolly adelgid and other invasive pests, supporting black bear and elk management, and funding for Parks as Classrooms environmental education programs for more than 18,000 Tennessee and North Carolina students.



Last years Friends Across the Mountains Telethon raised more than $202,000.



Donations can be made online now at www.friendsofthesmokies.org, by calling Friends toll-free telethon hotline (844-524-1611) during the Friends Across the Mountains broadcast to make a pledge over the phone, or calling Friends of the Smokies during regular business hours to ask for a donation form to be mailed to you (Waynesville, NC office, 828-452-0720; Kodak, TN office, 865-932-4794).

Published August 23, 2016
Children pose on a futsal field at a Home plus branch in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in this undated photo.

/ Courtesy of Home plus



By Nam Hyun-woo

Home plus is revamping its business strategy to survive in a competitive environment, the retail chain said Tuesday.

"The company has been exerting all-out efforts to bring changes throughout this year," Home plus CEO Kim Sang-hyun said in a statement, adding that the efforts will continue to transform the company as a retailer for the good of both customers and society.

Home plus said its efforts will focus on changes in the array of products the store offers. Previously, Home plus and its peers obsessed over price competition, but the company said it is now emphasizing quality products and cost efficiency.

To do so, the company is fostering grocery products from farms with sound quality control, such as tomatoes grown on Chinese matrimony vine fertilizer and paprika grown through organic farming. Also, the chain introduced apple mangos from Peru, cherries from Chile and pork ribs from Spain for the first time in Korea.

Their efforts are also covering changes from its traditional role as a superstore to a culture complex. At a Home plus branch in Suwon, which opened in May, four futsal fields were set up for nearby futsal enthusiasts. At other branches, car showrooms, drone shops and SPA clothing shops have been set up so that customers can have more opportunities to buy a wide range of products.

The company said the most important part of its efforts is fair and transparent trading. Home plus in May adopted a policy showing zero tolerance toward abusing its smaller business partners and smaller competitors and allowing competition between staffers in different pay grades. Also, the chain adopted an open bidding system so that competitive companies can conduct business with Home plus more transparently.

The company recently decided to commemorate Sept. 4, when the first Home plus store was opened in Daegu, as its foundation day. Previously, Home plus celebrated May 15, 1999, when its previous owner Samsung Tesco was set up.

"The change can be interpreted as the company's will to not forget its first store," said a Home plus official. "As a 19-year-old company, Home plus will be more mature in its business."
By Park Jae-hyuk

Both sales and the number of customers at Korea's duty-free shops in July hit a record high, the Korea Duty Free Association announced, Tuesday.

Total sales of Korea's duty-free shops in July reached $954 million, including $268 million by Korean consumers and $638 million by foreigners. The figure represents a 4.1 percent increase from June's $870 million and almost double from last July at $469 million when the market was squeezed by the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

The number of customers at such stores came to 4.33 million in July, comprising 2.41 million Koreans and 1.92 million foreigners. The figure is up 4.2 percent from 4.16 million in June and up 56% from 2.77 million in July 2015.

Such an increase is mainly due to the rising influx of Chinese tourists during the vacation season.

An official of Korea's top Lotte Duty Free Shop said, "Sales to Chinese tourists in July rose 50 percent from June and the number of Chinese customers in July increased about 20 percent from June."

Also, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) announced on Aug. 11 that 910,000 Chinese visited Korea in July, up 32 percent from last year and a new monthly high for this year.

However, there is lingering concern over the possible decline of Chinese tourists, as Beijing strongly denounces Seoul's decision to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system here. The market is afraid of a possible drop in Chinese tourists during the Chinese holidays in September and October.

"When former president Lee Myung-bak visited Dokdo in 2012, the number of Japanese tourists significantly declined," the Lotte Duty Free Shop official said. "It is hard to predict the results yet, but Chinese authorities might regulate their tourists' visits to Korea."

The duty-free official added the industry would continue to monitor the effects of growing political tensions between the two countries and prepare for countermeasures.
By Kim Tae-gyu



Samsung Electronics is producing more smartphones powered by its own Tizen operating system (OS) in a move to reduce its reliance on Android creator Google.



Samsung unveiled its third budget phone Z2 Tuesday in India after introducing the Z1 and Z3 last year. All three are based on the Tizen OS unlike the Android-backed Galaxy line.



Speculation is growing that Samsung would adopt Tizen in premium phones by releasing the Z9 in the not-so-distant future so the OS can take center stage.

Samsung has not confirmed this.



However, market analysts and industry officials say that Samsung will eventually use Tizen for its top-tier phones.



"If Samsung markets the Z9, it means the company will install Tizen not only in entry-level devices but also in high-end ones comparable to its Galaxy models and Apple's iPhones," a Seoul-based analyst said. "Google might regard it as a challenge to the supremacy of Android."



In the global market for smartphone OSes, the duopoly of Apple's iOS and Google's Android has been in place for years, trailed by distant competitors like Microsoft's Windows, Nokia's Symbian and MeeGo.



They have their own merits and demerits, but Android is the foremost player by any metric thanks in no small part to the popularity of Samsung's Galaxy products.



Currently, Android accounts for about three-quarters of the global market while the market share of iOS is around 20 percent and the remaining OSes occupy very small shares.



"Who decides what applications will be pre-installed on Galaxy handsets? The textbook answer would be that Google and Samsung would work together. But common sense tells us that Google almost single-handedly decides it and Samsung serves as a set-off," the analyst said.



"In addition, it's not Samsung but Google that makes money through numerous developers of mobile applications. You can guess why Samsung desperately wants to make Tizen a mainstream software."



He added that the dependence on Google's software also affects the development schedule of new Galaxy phones because they need to follow the schedule of Google's Android upgrades.



Tizen is an open-source OS built by a community of developers. Samsung has played a pivotal role in the OS, which comes in multiple profiles to serve different industry requirements.



Earlier this decade, Samsung worked on its own OS called Bada targeted for mid-range and top-end smartphones and tablet computers. But Bada-powered devices, branded under the Wave name, failed to make a dent in the international market.



This prompted the tech giant to stop supporting Bada in early 2013 as Nokia did with Symbia and later MeeGo. The company then moved to Tizen for its Z-series gadgets.



Google spokespeople were not available for comments.




By Yoon Ja-young



While the government is pondering over measures to curb household debt, the financial regulator and the land ministry are at odds. The financial regulator wants tougher restrictions on home transactions, but the land ministry fears that it will rapidly cool down the real estate market.



The financial regulator is demanding that the transactions of new apartments that are under construction should be restricted to curb loans.



In Korea, construction companies sell new apartments before they are completely built. The buyers make installment payments for the new home while they are being built, but they can sell the home purchasing right to others, often getting a premium. Such practice, however, is leading to an overheated real estate market.



The land ministry has been easing regulations on the new apartment market to sustain the real estate market. It eased regulations related with reconstruction of old apartments and de facto scrapped the price ceiling on new apartments. The measures led to soaring prices of small and old apartments in southern Seoul which can be reconstructed into luxurious new apartments. It also increased the supply of new apartments, but household debt also grew notably as people are purchasing homes on mortgages.



The country's total household debt stood at 1223.7 trillion won as of March, the highest ever. While it is natural for debt to increase along with economic growth, analysts are showing concern that the excessive household debt will dampen consumption, hampering economic growth. The average monthly consumption of households, excluding taxes and insurance, decreased 0.9 percent in the second quarter as households cut spending because of future uncertainties.



The financial regulator notes that mortgages are behind the soaring household debt. Mortgages contributed to 67 percent of the increase in household debt in the first quarter. Market watchers are especially concerned as people are increasingly getting mortgages not to buy homes but to sustain livelihood.



However, the land ministry is cautious about stricter regulations as it can dampen the real estate market. "The real estate market has barely picked up. We can't help being cautious about regulations," a ranking official at the ministry said. He added that the rapid cool down of the real estate market will leave the economy without a sustaining pillar.



The government is scheduled to announce comprehensive measures to curb household debt, Thursday.




"Seochon  Stone Wall" (2016) by Kim Ji-hea / Courtesy of the artist



By Kwon Mee-yoo



Artist Kim Ji-hea sees the city through different eyes. She has been rediscovering the cityscape by taking pictures and distorting the photos in an attempt to find hidden colors in the urban environment.

At her latest exhibition held at Artside Gallery in Seochon, central Seoul, Kim broadens her perspective to people who live in the city, more specifically Seochon, one of Seoul's oldest neighborhoods located next to Gyeongbok Palace.

The title of the exhibit "Earnestly and Gently ... Blossom" comes from the name of two neighborhoods in Seochon: Tongeui-dong and Tongin-dong, which mean communicating earnestly and communicating gently, respectively.

The exhibit features 16 new works by Kim, who majored in print but now works with photography.

"Though I studied print from the undergraduate to doctoral level, I always had this painterly sensitivity. So I often made a collage on top of copperplate prints, and photos were good sources for the collage work," Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times.

"I always carried a small digital camera with me when I travel or attend a workshop. I liked the traces of reality in the photos, but that was just not enough for me. When I accidentally stretched a part of a photo and discovered hidden space-time in there, I was literally thrilled from top to toe," Kim said. "That was the beginning of this series, based on the realistic traces."





"Seochon  Blue Sky" (2016) by Kim Ji-hea / Courtesy of the artist



Her previous works centered on observing foreign elements of the city from afar and analyzing them as creative dynamics. Kim's interest shifted to individuals living in the city in her latest works.

Seochon is a neighborhood where time passes slowly. Slick contemporary buildings stand next to "hanok" or traditional Korean houses, creating a unique atmosphere.

Kim said she has frequented the area for a few years and was fascinated by the old-fashioned neighbourhood in the heart of the metropolis. "I felt a sense of separation from the town and people living in it. The simple yet characteristic individuality of Seochon people inspired me to take my series to a new dimension," she said.

"Personally, I hoped to present a modern interpretation of the traditional, old cities of Korea in order to bring multilayered significance to tradition in our world. I also wished to change the awareness and perspective of center and periphery," Kim said.

The exhibit runs until Sept. 2. Admission is free. For more information, visit artside.org or call 02-725-1020.
By Park Jin-hai





Rev. Billy Jang-hwan Kim

Rev. Billy Jang-hwan Kim's longrunning talk show "Meet the People, Hear the Story" on the missionary radio station Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) Korea, which has aired inspirational stories of ordinary people and interviews with former presidents and celebrities, will mark its 600th episode, Friday.

"I'm 82 years old. It will be rare to find a host my age, running a show every week with no single episode missed," said FEBC-Korea Chairman Kim during the press conference at the broadcaster's headquarters in Sangsu-dong, western Seoul, Monday. "Because of my audiences in North Korea and China, who recognize me only by my voice, I cannot stop broadcasting."

Under the personal mantra "When a person meets another person, he makes history. When he meets God, he makes a miracle," he has invited some 800 guests to his show, including former presidents Lee Myung-bak and the late Kim Young-sam, self-help entrepreneurs and street cleaners since 2005.

Kim's 600th show will focus on the theme "Again 1973," to relive the historic moment when Kim passionately translated American evangelist Billy Graham's speech in Seoul, in front of over 1 million people who flooded the Yeouido Square (today's Yeouido Park) to listen to Rev. Graham's gospel.

"The incident became a moment when Christianity could take root and prosper in Korea. On the last day of Graham's five-day-long crusade, 40,000 people stood up and pledged that they would follow Jesus," said Kim. "It was such a big incident that North Korea denounced it, releasing an official comment that the South has brought in an American shamanist."

For the special 600th show, many of those who were present at the 1973 gathering will participate, including Lee Seung-hoon, chairman of Lee International IP & Law Group.

FEBC Korea, marking its 60th anniversary this year, has been celebrating its founding with several events at home and abroad including the mass baptism of some 5,000 military personnel on Aug. 6. Some 40 local Baptist church ministers and 22 American ministers participated in the religious event. Also, earlier in June, a 500-member FEBC- Korea Children's Choir held a special peace concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.

In mid September, Kim will preach at the Morning Prayer service set to take place prior to the U.N. General Assembly, with the presence of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"This year's slogan is 60 Years and Again. As retired U.S. General Sharp predicted the demise of North Korea in three years if national unification takes place, I want to be one of the firsts to go to the North and preach the gospel," he said. "I want to establish a radio station that can easily reach all North Korean citizens. I wish that day would come in my lifetime."
Wlld boars often descend from Bukhansan National Park to residential areas or hiking trails and pose threat to people. Eighty sightings of wild boar have been reported in downtown Seoul in the first six months of this year, according to the city government's report to the National Assembly's Security and Public Administration Committee. / Yonhap



By Hong Dam-young

Eighty sightings of wild boars have been reported in downtown Seoul in the first six months of this year, according to the city government's report to the National Assembly's Security and Public Administration Committee. This is almost one sighting every two days.

The figure rose from 54 to 199 cases between 2012 and 2014, Yonhap news agency said. It dropped to 155 last year, but if it stays at the present rate it will exceed last year.

Jongno District has had the most sightings, accounting for 35 percent of the 623 cases reported between 2012 and June this year. Eunpyeong District and Seongbuk District were second and third.

The three regions are next to Bukhansan National Park, one of Korea's main wild boar habitats. The animals often descend from the mountains to residential areas or to hiking trails in search for food or when they leave their herd after losing power struggles.

The boars can be extremely dangerous when aggressive. On June 11, a man in his 70s was severely injured in an attack while he was working in a field in Goryeong, North Gyeongsang Province.

The city government has a task force that sets traps to catch the animals. The Korea National Park Service is also blocking routes and setting traps on routes the boars use from the national park.

"Given the frequency of reports of wild boars this year, the effectiveness of the measures taken by the city government are still in question," a committee official said.
By Lee Kyung-min

Park Geun-ryoung

President Park Geun-hye's estranged younger sister is under investigation over fraud, prosecutors said Tuesday.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office, an investigation is ongoing into Park Geun-ryoung, 62, over suspicion that she swindled an investor out of 100 million won ($89,000). After questioning witnesses, prosecutors might summon her for questioning.

The investigation into the president's sister is the latest development into alleged corruption involving aides to and close family members of the President, along with the ongoing high-profile corruption allegations surrounding senior presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo.

The probe began after Lee Seok-su, the inspector under the presidential office, filed a report on the younger Park with Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam last month.

According to the prosecution, the victim, whose identity is being withheld, claimed that Park and her two acquaintances failed to return the money after borrowing it by exaggerating her influence.












By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea recently ordered all its diplomats overseas to return their children home if they are aged 25 or older, according to the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

This is probably why a London-based senior North Korean diplomat, Thae Yong-ho, decided to defect to South Korea, sources said.

According to the sources, the spy agency told the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, Monday, that Pyongyang has ordered all diplomats' children aged 25 and over to come home, in an apparent bid to block potential defections by its officials.

The comment came after the Ministry of Unification confirmed last week that Thae, who was a deputy ambassador at the North Korean embassy in Britain, recently entered South Korea with his wife and children.












Independent counsel should investigate Park's aide'



By Yi Whan-woo





Yoon Gap-geun

The prosecution launched a special investigation into corruption allegations against Woo Byung-woo, the embattled senior civil affairs secretary for President Park Geun-hye, Tuesday.

It also began looking into to suspicions that Lee Seok-soo, a presidential inspector who conducted a preliminary investigation of Woo, leaked information to the media related to his findings.

"After considering various options, we concluded that a special investigation team will be ideal to investigate the two cases in a fair and objective manner," the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) said.

Yoon Gap-geun, chief of the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, was named to lead the investigation.

"I'll first need to find out the nature and scope of the allegations in detail," Yoon said after arriving in Seoul. "Of course, I'll do my best."

However, he admitted that he finds the job burdensome, citing that Woo has been one of the President's trusted men and Cheong Wa Dae insisted on keeping him in place despite the series of accusations against him.

His comment came after growing calls to designate an independent counsel to look into Woo's allegations.

Opposition parties and legal experts said only an independent counsel will be able to carry out an investigation into the embattled aide in a fair and impartial manner because prosecutorial investigations can be influenced by Woo.

Woo is a former senior prosecutor who can influence the top brass of the prosecution, including Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam, they said.

For instance, Rep. Woo Sang-ho, floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), speculated that allegations concerning Lee Seok-soo were brought up by Woo's aides to discourage further investigation into the scandal-plagued presidential secretary.

Lee Seok-soo called for a formal investigation by the SPO last week after investigating Woo's alleged embezzlement and abuse of authority.












Japanese ska band Oi Skall Mates will perform at the New Generation of Ska Festival at Club SHARP in Mangwon-dong, western Seoul, Saturday. / Courtesy of Oi Skall Mates



By Jon Dunbar

Korea's main ska music festival returns Saturday for the third consecutive year.

Eight ska and reggae bands from Korea and Japan will perform for the New Generation of Ska Festival (NGOSKA Fest) at Club SHARP in Mangwon-dong, western Seoul.

The festival avoids corporate sponsors, granting the organizers creative freedom but also placing a huge financial burden on them.

"I just want to make ska popular in Korea," said co-organizer Jude Nah, who plays keyboard in skinhead reggae band the Pegurians. "I don't care if I become famous or not."

The NGOSKA Fest started in 2014 for free in the car-free street between Sinchon Rotary and Yonsei University.

The organizers hoped to bring the show back to the public this year, but after months of fundraising they fell short of their goal. Instead, this year's festival will be held in Club SHARP, a newly opened venue owned by Ryu Jin-suk, lead organizer of the fest, as well as front man of ska-punk band Skasucks.

This year, Ryu and Nah will unleash their newest band, the Rulerz, playing 2tone ska inspired by U.K. ska revival bands from the 1970s and '80s such as Madness and Bad Manners.

"I really want Koreans to know how good ska and reggae is," said Nah about the formation of the band. "Our goal is to spread some good vibes with this music and tell them how Jamaican music or Jamaican music-influenced genres are good."

The original 2tone ska movement helped popularize Jamaican ska as a global genre and the multiracial bands delivered a strong anti-racist message.

The NGOSKA Fest brings together the musicians of Korea and Japan. This year's festival is headlined by Oi Skall Mates, a Japanese ska band formed in 1996.

"We are influenced by 2tone or third wave more than ska-punk, especially European bands," said vocalist Wataru Buster in an email interview, "and also old Japanese ska bands and various music from the 1960s to 1980s in England."

"We've been trying to invite them for the past two years but they couldn't make it because of their schedule," said Nah. "And it's their 20th anniversary this year."

On the respect they receive from ska fans around the world, Wataru Buster laughed, "We appreciate it, as we are not that great people."

As well as Pegurians, Skasucks, Rulerz and Oi Skall Mates, the festival will feature Jeju Afro-Cuban ska band South Carnival, Busan ska band Ska Wakers, newly formed ska-punk band Talkbats and Daejeon punk band Burning Hepburn.

Tickets cost 30,000 won in advance or 40,000 won at the door. The show starts at 4 p.m. Saturday at Club SHARP. Visit facebook.com/tngoska for more info.


By Kim Tae-gyu

Samsung Electronics plans to take the wraps off its third budget smartphone, the Z2, in India during an unveiling event soon, the company said Monday.

The low-cost smartphone is expected to strengthen Samsung's stake in both the high-end and low-end markets with its Galaxy Note 7 gaining popularity across the world despite its high price.

"We have invited journalists to the event introducing the Z2 on Aug. 23 in India," a Samsung official said.

Much speculation has swirled surrounding the Z2, which is powered by Samsung's own Tizen operating system. In comparison, the firm's top-end Galaxy devices use Google's Android.

Early in 2015, Samsung phased in the Z1 with a price tag lower than 100,000 won ($88) to win customers in countries such as India and Bangladesh.

Buoyed by the success of the low-priced model, which sold more than 1 million soon after its debut, Samsung followed up with the Z3 with better applications and specs but a higher price of around 150,000 won.

The Z2 is the third of the Z series and as the serial number indicates, its price is expected to be somewhere between that of the Z1 and the Z3.

Its two predecessors supported third-generation technology but the Z2 will be based on fourth-generation long-term evolution (LTE). It is predicted to have a 4-inch active mode organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display, 5 million-pixel camera, 8-gigabyte expandable memory and 1.5-GHz quad core processor.

Unlike the Z1 and Z3, Samsung seems to be marketing the Z2 not only in the Asian markets of India and Bangladesh but also in African countries of Kenya, Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa.

However, Samsung has so far refused to disclose details about the phone.

"All information will be provided at the forthcoming unveiling event. We expect that the new model will also be a hit," the Samsung official said.

The Korean tech giant came up with the Galaxy S7 this year to chalk up success in top-end markets and its recent Galaxy Note 7 has also got off to a solid start in the world market.

Included in Samsung's smartphone line-up are Galaxy A-, C-, E- and J-series products, all geared toward the mid-tier markets.

The multi-segment strategy boosts Samsung in a two-way rivalry with Apple, which has stood out in the premium phone market but failed to carve out a big share in the lower-end market.

While strengthening its presence in budget phone competition with the Z series, Samsung has eaten into Apple's share with its flagship Galaxy phones. Apple is expected to strike back with its iPhone 7 later this year.
Three North Koreans, found in waters off the west coast of Incheon, have defected to South Korea earlier this month, local authorities said Tuesday.

The defectors were rescued by the country's Coast Guard on Aug. 7 while aboard a fishing boat, according to the authorities.

The Coast Guard said all three immediately expressed their wish to defect to the South when they were approached at sea. The boat and crew were then brought into Incheon west of Seoul and handed over to local intelligence officials, it said.












By Casey Lartigue, Jr.



Friends and family who don't know much about North Korea often ask me why some people conceal their faces in photos I post on my Facebook page.

I explain the usual things I have heard, such as: some North Korean refugees maintain low profiles because they don't want family members still in North Korea to be targeted by the Kim regime. Some refugees have been reported in North Korea as being dead. They don't want to pop up alive on Facebook.

I have also heard some reasons that are not as serious, such as: they don't want to let their friends know they are studying English. The result has been some orientation sessions at which friends run into each other, accusing each other, "Hey, why did you try to keep this secret from me?"

Another reason I have recently become more acutely aware: they are embarrassed to admit publicly that they are from North Korea. I have recently seen some refugees go through transformations.

Last Saturday at an English speech contest I helped organize, one of those refugees stepped forward. Park Eun-hee escaped to South Korea in 2012. She later got hired as an accountant at a South Korean company. She realized she needed English in order to advance, but she was busy with her job and not making enough money to pay for private tutoring.

A human rights activist told her about our organization. She waited three months to join us, which she said "felt like forever." Eun-hee joined Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) in April 2015, at that time she was Ms. Anonymous. Before the orientation, she said, "I was so excited, I couldn't sleep the night before."

Eun-hee later told us: "The most impressive thing is that I could choose the tutors. I received their resumes in advance, at the matching session I could choose as many tutors as I wanted. The entire focus was on refugees."

She chose three tutors initially, then began studying like a maniac. Before studying with tutors, she had a routine life, commuting between work and home. "I had a whole new world after that."

Eun-hee would occasionally come to meet me and TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee, to talk about her future. Every time she talked about how much fun it was for her to learn English. When she was almost killed in a bus accident earlier this year, we visited her in the hospital, sharing pizza. Her brush with death had not quenched her joy of freedom.

She told us at another counseling session that she no longer felt she needed to hide her identity. We are strict about hiding the identity of refugees, so we were in a quandary about how to unmask her.

After an event one day, she announced to attendees: "My life has changed because of TNKR. Casey and Eunkoo inspire me to live my life fully. They don't get paid but they spend so much time to develop the program for refugees. When I have trouble or need someone to talk to, I can go to them, they always give me practical and thoughtful advice."

After almost a year in our program, Eunhee shocked us one day. She wanted to give a public speech. Of the 248 refugees who have studied in our program, she is the first to go from anonymous to public speaker. On February 2, at a gathering with the American Woman's Club, she amused the audience with her story about evading the "fashion police" in North Korea. In 2008, when she was in North Korea, she had seen a DVD of a woman who had dyed her hair.

Eun-hee dreamed of the day she would be free to dress as she wished. When she arrived in Seoul, she did that, enjoying the freedom to control her own head. As she spoke, I was reminded of American abolitionist Frederick Douglass saying: ""I appear this evening as a thief and a robber. I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master, and ran off with them."

After that speech, she began to open up, telling people that she was from North Korea. She seemed to have been liberated, once again. She took another step when she let us know that she wanted to join a future English speech contest. When another refugee had to drop out of the contest at the last minute, Eun-hee stepped forward.

If it had been a Hollywood movie, she would have won the contest. She was clearly proud of herself, beaming as we took a photo together along with the event sponsors as she received her "Honorable Mention" award. Yes, I will post the photo, unedited, on Facebook. When I sent her the draft of this column to confirm facts, she wrote, "And you should write my real name, Eun-hee Park."

Casey Lartigue Jr. is the co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR) in Seoul. He can be reached at CJL@post.harvard.edu
By Choe Chong-dae

It is a positive sign that an increasing number of Colombian students have been learning Korean language and culture at King Sejong Institute in Bogota. Established by the Korean government in cooperation with the Asia- Ibero American Cultural Foundation in 2011, the institute immerses students in many aspects of both traditional and modern Korean culture, from K-Pop to classical literature.

For me, it is hard to think of Colombia apart from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a legendary writer and journalist.

When Marquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" debuted in 1967, he became an international sensation. The mythical town of Macondo, as seen through the eyes of the characters in the Buendia family, also rose to fame. Each page of the novel transported me to a world ocean away, yet there was a familiar theme of life and death and the ups and downs of life that all human beings can relate to. How can I ever forget the characters that leapt from the pages, thanks to the brilliant penmanship of Marquez.

The rare talent of Garcia Marquez (1927-2014) is evident in his ability to tell stories that not only chronicle a Colombian's footsteps, but also those of an entire continent. It came as no surprise that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 for his novels and short stories.

To commemorate the 206th independence anniversary of Colombia, the Colombian Photography Exhibition: "Colombian Caribbean by Leo Matiz and Colombia in the Korean War" was held from July 15 to Aug. 3 at the Gallery of Korea Foundation in Seoul. The exhibition evoked feelings within me of nostalgia, camaraderie and admiration. It portrays forgotten images of the past captured through the eyes of Colombians. Leo Matiz (1917-1988) was an exceptionally talented artist who preserved the spirit of 20th century Latin America for the world to see. Coincidently, Matiz was born in Aracataca, Colombia, a tropical backwater region along the banks of the Magdalena River, which is also the birthplace of Marquez.

As the only South American nation to dispatch troops to the 1950-53 Korean War as part of the United Nations Allied Forces, Colombia lost 213 members and had 448 members wounded in action. Its infantry battalion, which did not exist before 1950, was created expressly to be sent to the Korean Peninsula. Those Colombian troops achieved brilliant battle results at the Battle of Geumseong among the hills of the Geumhwa area in Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province. Colombia's dedication to Korea continues to this day with Colombia Air Force Major Juan Vallego and Colombia Army Captain Manuel Forero comprising the United Nations Command members patrolling the Han River Estuary to protect Korean fishermen's fishing territory. Additionally, Major General Carlos E. Montealegre, the defense attache of Colombia to Korea and the chief liaison oOfficer of United Nations Command, promotes security cooperation between the two countries in the areas of military technology and knowledge transfers.

I was delighted to learn of the FTA between Colombia and Korea, the implementation of which will provide both countries with more global competitiveness, particularly in the agro-industrial sector. The two countries have complementary trade structures, with Colombia producing raw materials and Korea making industrial goods that can be harmonized for bilateral commerce and export to third markets through the FTA.

Although I am not a big coffee drinker, I savor the unique flavor of Colombian coffee presented to me by the Embassy of Colombia on its National Day commemoration event. As I inhale the wonderful aroma, a vision of a bright future comes to mind.

I wish that the Colombians' Korean culture fever will help promote bilateral relationships between Korea and Colombia.

Choe Chong-dae is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International Co., and Director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com
By Lee Min-hyung



Samsung SDS is diversifying its footsteps in its big data analytics business, seeking synergies for its core revenue sources  including logistics and security sectors.



The IT solutions affiliate of Samsung Group said Tuesday it has formed a strategic alliance with U.S.-based big data predictive analytics market leader, SAS.



Under the partnership, both companies agreed to join hands in the data business, diversifying revenue streams in promising technologies  including machine learning, Samsung SDS said in a statement. Both firms also voiced their consensus to delve into more emerging technologies to generate further synergy.



They expressed confidence to generate potential synergies through the partnership. SDS is expected to offer its years-long data management expertise for SAS. The Samsung affiliate will also benefit from SAS' 80,000 customer bases  mostly in government and corporate clients across the world.



The big data-based technology is gaining growing traction across the world, amid the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT). Leading IT firms are shifting their focus into data-based technology and are merging their solutions into their major revenue sources.



"The latest move is expected to allow us to offer strengthened big data capabilities along with our expertise in the manufacturing, finance and logistics sectors," Samsung SDS System Business Division President Hong Won-pyo said in a statement.



"We are going to expand our big data footstep by forging more partnerships with industry leading firms such as SAS," he said.



In January last year, Samsung SDS developed its own analytics platform, Brightics. The analytics tool is used to pile up datasets when manufacturing processes, allowing Samsung affiliates  including Samsung Electronics  to improve productivity.



The platform also generated synergies in convergence with its logistics platform CelloPlus, minimizing potential risks.



In August last year, the platform helped reduce damage to customers by offering detour routes during an explosion at a port in Tianjin, China, the company said.



SAS Korea is also upbeat over the partnership, pledging to extend collaboration into finding its next cash cows.



SAS Korea President Cho Seong-sik said: "We are expanding our business by blending our analytics expertise with up-to-date IT trends."



"SAS will spare no effort in helping big data expand its footstep as a core business infrastructure for the nation," he said. "We will also continue to support domestic firms to create more values for their future businesses."




Two friends of a professor who allegedly pushed him 80 feet off a cliff into a quarry because they thought they were in his will have been charged with murder.

Danielle Geier, 32, and George Ishler, 39, thought they both featured in Ronald Bettigs last will and testament.

According to the New York Daily News, cops found the body of the media studies teacher in a quarry in Centre County, Pennsylvania, US, on Wednesday.



The 56-year-old, who taught at Pennsylvania State University and was referred to as the nutty professor by those who didnt know him, and was friends with the pair.

Geier and Ishler were known drug users according to police. They are accused of killing Bettig for the benefits, and authorities said Geier was sharing his home, according to the Centre Daily Times.

In court documents it stated the pair had originally plotted to have Ishler drown Bettig when they went to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.

They later decided it another option was to kill him at the Centre County quarry.

A text which Geier sent while on the ocean trip read: So ready I am pissed off.

Police interpreted this to mean she was ready to kill Bettig because he had commented on the way her son was being raised.

The pair convinced Bettig to travel to the quarry because they said they could harvest marijuana there, then allegedly pushed him to his death.

Geier confessed to police they staged it to make it look like the professor was there alone, putting his bottles, flashlight, hand rake and a bag near the quarry.

They then reported him missing three days later.

He was last seen on August 12 and they reported him missing on August 15.

Their plot was revealed when there were inconsistencies in their story  court documents said they told cops Bettig may have travelled to California.

Dean Marie Hardin, of the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University, said: We are deeply saddened by the loss.

He was a part of the fabric of this College for many years.

All except our very newest faculty and staff members very likely knew Ron, who was one of our longest-tenured faculty members.

Ron was the kind of teacher who connected powerfully with students, who found his classes in political economy  at both the undergraduate and graduate levels  transformative.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates


The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, Erna Solberg, commenced a two-day official visit on 12 August 2016. This official visit takes place in her dual capacity as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway as well as co-chair of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Advocacy Group, an appointment made by the UN Secretary- General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon.



Prime Minister Solberg had bilateral discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena on 12 August and she also called on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and the Leader of the Opposition, R. Sampanthan.





The official visit of the Norwegian Prime Minister to Sri Lanka reflects the renewed commitment of Sri Lanka and Norway to revitalize a relationship spanning over 65 years. The Prime Ministers visit follows on the initiatives of Foreign Minister Brge Brende and Norways State Secretary Tore Hattrem during their visits to Sri Lanka in January and May-June 2016 respectively, and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweeras visit to Oslo in June 2016.



The discussions held on 12 August focused on strengthening ties between the two countries in all spheres, especially economic and technical cooperation. Norway has agreed to assist Sri Lanka develop its fisheries sector to increase productivity and sustainability. Ways to further advance the bilateral economic agenda by diversifying areas of cooperation in tourism, aquaculture, renewable energy and education were also discussed. The Norwegian Pension Fund (Sovereign Wealth Fund), which has already invested US$31million in different sectors in Sri Lanka, was invited to further invest in emerging new avenues.



Prime Minister Solberg commended the progress made by Sri Lanka in advancing political and economic reforms and advancing reconciliation since January 2015, including the successful passage of the Office on Missing Persons Bill.



President Sirisena, while apprising Prime Minister Solberg of developments in Sri Lanka since January 2015, thanked Norway for being a longstanding and steady development cooperation partner through NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) since 1977. President Sirisena congratulated the Norwegian Premier on her appointment as co-chair of the Advocacy Group on the SDGs. The two leaders discussed cooperation in multilateral fora and ways to move forward the SDGs agenda.



In the evening of 12 August, Prime Minister Solberg delivered the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Lecture 2016 on the theme Sustainable Development Goals: Working together for our Common Good.



This morning (13 August), she visited the Mirissa Fishery Harbour, and then proceeded to visit the Galle Fort.





The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo



13 August 2016
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

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PRESS RELEASE

Now in Theaters: The Killing$ of Tony Blair

Aug. 22, 2016 (EIRNS)The long-awaited world premiere of the docu-drama "The Killing$ of Tony Blair" occurred in London on July 27, and is now touring throughout the British countryside. Three years in the making, this film, produced by former MP and anti-Blairite George Galloway, documents three "killings" of Tony Blair: the killing of the (old) Labour Party; the killing of millions of innocents in Iraq; and, the financial "killings" Blair made both during and after his reign as Prime Minister. Its release was timed to coincide with that of the Chilcot Commission report.

To produce the filmwhich no established production house would dare agree toGalloway turned to the internet, raising 165,000 ($210,000, three times his original goal) through public contributions. When the budget of the film ballooned to 600,000 ($800,000), Galloway ended up selling his house, and now lives in an apartment, according to coverage in the Independent. Originally titled as "The Killing of Tony Blair," its promo picture is that of Blair taking a "selfie" photo against a background of smoke billowing from a fiery explosion.

As to the charge that his film is "biased" because of his long political fight against Blairs takeover of the Labour Party, Galloway admits,
PRESS RELEASE

Indian Envoy Akbar Visits Syria: The Age of Destruction Should Give Way to the Age of Reconstruction

Aug. 22, 2016 (EIRNS)On Aug. 20 in Damascus, Indias junior Foreign Minister Mubashir Javed Akbar met with President Bashar al-Assad, for talks in which Assad invited India to play an active role in the reconstruction of the Syrian economy. Also, state media in both countries report that the two officials made a point of rejecting the practice of "foreign interference in the internal affairs of states."

According to the Press Trust of India, the two sides also discussed terrorism, equality of religion, and the need to upgrade bilateral security consultations. The Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported that Akbar said,

"India is ready to offer all that could help in alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people and contribute effectively to the development process and reconstruction in Syria."

This is in line with the Russian and the BRICS perspective, whose 2015 Summit was hosted by Russia, and whose 2016 Summit will be in India. The same weekend that Akbar met with Assad, Dep. Prime Minister Rogozin made an unannounced visit to New Delhi, to confer directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PRESS RELEASE

Turkey Accepts Interim Government with Bashar Assad

Aug. 22, 2016 (EIRNS)In a major shift in Turkeys Syria policy, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has given a green light to having Syrian President Bashar Assad remaining in a transitional government in Syria for a peace settlement.

"The most important priority for us is to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible," Yildirim said at a press conference in Istanbul on Aug. 20.

"He [Assad] has the blood of 500,000 people on his hands. Will Syria be able to carry this burden? Today both the U.S. and Russia see that in the long run it is not possible. But for a transition, it is possible to sit and talk. It is obvious that, whether we like it or not, Assad is an actor."

To the question of whether Turkey will sit and talk with Assad, Yildirim said,

"Assads counterparts are the opponents of the Syria regime. It is out of the question that we will talk with him. They [al-Assad and the opposition] are the counterparts. They should sit and talk.... Fixing an issue to one thing or person means you consenting to the deadlock."

He also said Turkeys rapprochement with Russia had an "important share" in this policy shift.

This shift was first indicated by Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus in a statement published in the Hurriyet Daily News on Aug. 19, where he said many of Turkeys sufferings today were a result of its Syria policy. He added that he wished a viable perspective for peace could have been produced before now, but Turkey had failed to do that as had many other countries.

Hurriyet editor-in-chief Murat Yetkin links this with recent diplomatic activity including following President Recep Tayyip Erdogans visit to St. Petersburg, where he met Vladimir Putin on Aug. 9. This was followed by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarifs trip to Ankara and a return trip to Tehran by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Aug. 19 en route to India. At the same time Yildirim made a statement suggesting that Turkey could contribute to a solution in Syria together with the U.S., Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, among others. "We are not pessimistic," he stressed.

When asked if this is a change in policy, and why not earlier, Yildirim replied, "Finding a solution is the most important thing for us." Yildirim went on,

"It is important that no more people die. If we are going to save those people, to heal the bleeding wound, the rest are details. All the rest could be talked through and a solution could be found. As I said, Assad cannot be a uniting figure in Syria in the long run, it is just not possible. The main countries involvedthe U.S., Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and othersshould come together and Turkey should make more effort on that."

Yetkin points out that this has the same policy that main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu proposed four years ago to then-Prime Minister Erdogan in an August 2012 letter. Yetkin points out that this will no doubt come up when U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visits Turkey on Aug. 24.
Tesla Motors Chief Executive Elon Musk held a news conference Tuesday to announce that the company had shaved a few tenths of a second off its fastest car.

A Tesla Model S P100D equipped with Ludicrous mode will now go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds, Musk said. The current model makes that jump in 2.8 seconds.

The car costs about $135,000.

Tesla customers who have ordered a P90D Ludicrous, but not yet received the cars, can upgrade to a 100-kiollowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack for $10,000. Existing P90D Ludicrous owners can also upgrade to a 100-kWh pack, but for $20,000, as their used 90-kWh packs will have to be recycled.

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The new battery pack also is available for the Model X sport utility vehicle, whose off-the-line time is now said to be 2.9 seconds. A seven-seater, thats nuts, Musk said.

The car, even selling in relatively low volumes, will improve free cash flow for Tesla, Musk said.

This is an expensive car, but its what is paying for the Model 3, Musk said. He suggested that Ludicrous buyers consider that theyre helping to pay for the Model 3.

In addition to speed, the range of the new model will increase to a maximum of 315 miles from about 300 miles  although no one will get near that mileage if theyre driving in Ludicrous mode.

The news, according to Tesla, is that the car is now the fastest production car in the world  and its electric.

Electric motors are known for high torque and rapid acceleration from a standing stop.

The speed and range boosts were made possible in part by increasing the batterys energy density.

Last September, Tesla announced Model S battery improvements that included the blazing-fast Ludicrous mode, with a zero-to-60 time of 2.8 seconds. Technical details, not surprisingly, got little attention.

Its the technical details, however, that could make or break Tesla as an ongoing concern.

Musk told reporters at the time that the recent improvements were the result of improved cell chemistry in that batterys anode, which discharges electrons. Graphite has long been the material of choice for anodes, but silicon promises more efficiency  if engineers can make the tricky material work.

Were shifting the cell chemistry for the upgraded pack to partially use silicon in the anode, Musk said at the time. This is just sort of a baby step in the direction of using silicon in the anode. Were still primarily using synthetic graphite, but over time well be using increasing amounts of silicon in the anode.

Musk has also talked in the past about its battery development as a steady process, with energy density improvements coming in at about 5% to 8% per year. That gives Teslas a longer driving range before recharge, at the same or lower cost.

Batteries are hardly Teslas only challenge. The companys future rides on the mass-market Tesla 3. Though the car is scheduled to go on sale next year, major parts of the assembly line have yet to be built.

russ.mitchell@latimes.com

@russ1mitchell
The pharmaceutical company Mylan has been taking on a boatload of vituperation  and rightfully so  for a 500% hike in the price of its lifesaving EpiPen injector, which reverses allergic reactions.

But theres another reason to detest this remarkably amoral corporation: Its also a tax dodger. Mylan is one of the leading exploiters of the technique known as inversion, in which a U.S. company cuts its tax bill by acquiring a foreign firm and moving its tax domicile to the acquired companys homeland.

Mylans 2014 deal involved its buying a generics manufacturer from Abbott Laboratories and reincorporating in the Netherlands, the subsidiarys home. As in all inversions, nothing else changed: Mylans operational headquarters remained in Pennsylvania, its main workforce didnt relocate, and it depended on U.S. laws to safeguard its corporate interest.

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At one point, Mylan, while already a Dutch company, asked U.S. antitrust officials to help it block a takeover bid from Teva, an Israeli company. Impertinently, Mylan pleaded with the U.S. government to declare it a U.S. company, which would have given U.S. antitrust officials the grounds to scrutinize the takeover by a foreign company. Tevas takeover attempt eventually broke down for other reasons.

But the inversion deal did allow the firm to cut its U.S. tax bill.

As employers shift more cost to employees ... youre seeing a lot of noise around EpiPen.  Mylan CEO Heather Bresch

President Obama has labeled inversions unpatriotic and one of the most insidious loopholes out there. The Treasury Department has tightened tax rules several times to discourage them, and public disapproval has spiked a deal here and there.

Mylans inversion helped give this variety of loophole its noxious reputation, in part because its defense of its deal was so transparently self-serving. Its CEO, Heather Bresch, daughter of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), wrung her hands over the anguish she suffered in deciding to skip out on the companys obligations as a U.S. corporation. She told the New York Times, You cant maintain competitiveness by staying at a competitive disadvantage. I mean you just cant. Credulously, the Times regurgitated that she made the decision reluctantly, and she genuinely seems to mean it.

Should Mylan be believed? Lets judge it by its marketing of the EpiPen. The spring-loaded syringe-like device is designed to deliver a measured dose of epinephrine, which instantly reverses the swelling, breathing problems and other manifestations of severe reactions to peanuts, bee stings and other allergens. The pens come in two-packs in order to provide a second dose if needed. Families with allergy-prone kids have to lay in a supply of several packs, say for home and school, and replace them once a year when they expire.

Since acquiring rights to the product in 2007 when a two-pack sold for about $100, Mylan has relentlessly raised its price, to more than $600 now. That can place the product out of reach of families whose insurance doesnt fully cover the cost, forcing them to use expired pens or resort to hand-injections, which can be dangerous.

The price increase isnt driven by Mylans expenses. The manufacturing cost is essentially pennies per device. The active ingredient, epinephrine, is a generic drug that has been in use for decades, so the company isnt working down any research and development costs.

Instead, its simply profiteering from market dynamics: Its main competitor, a product made by Sanofi, was taken off the market last year because of manufacturing defects. Another potential rival, from the generics company Teva, hasnt yet won approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Mylans price-gouging has enraged patients and doctors and created whitecaps on Capitol Hill. On Monday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), ranking member of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into the matter. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, also has questioned the increases.

There does not appear to be any justification for the continual price increases of EpiPen, Klobuchar wrote the FTC. Manufacturing costs for the product have been stable and Mylan does not need to recover the products research and development costs.  Not only is this alarming price increase unjustified, it puts life-saving treatment out of reach to the consumers who need it most.

Mylan rationalizes the EpiPens price as the fair cost of a life-saving drug, as Bresch told Wall Street analysts this month. Under the circumstances, she said, I think that you can see it falls as not an expensive product. She did acknowledge, however, that as employers shift more cost to employees and make that everything has got to come out of pocket before you hit your deductible  youre seeing a lot of noise around EpiPen.

A lot of profit too. Mylan recorded $847 million in net income last year on sales of $9.4 billion. The EpiPen was a significant contributor, with sales of $1 billion.

The company has tried to have it both ways in relation to its inversion deal. Lets examine Breschs assertion that the company found it just impossible to maintain competitiveness under U.S. tax rules. At a 2015 forum sponsored by Fortune Magazine, she griped that there is an unlevel playing field in our country. We really penalize U.S.-based companies.

Is that so? As we pointed out at the time of its inversion, over the previous two years, its sales had increased 12.7% and profits 16%; among its big competitors paying putatively lower taxes, British-based GlaxoSmithKline had gained only 3.14% in sales and 11.23% in profits. Israel-based Tevas sales had risen 11%, and its profits declined 54%. Israels top corporate tax rate is 26.5%, the equivalent top U.S. federal rate is 35%.

But Mylan didnt pay that top rate, of course. Almost no U.S. corporation does; CEOs use the statutory rate as a political bogeyman. Mylans effective tax rate had been only 16.2% in 2013, 20% in 2012 and 17.7% in 2011.

Breschs contention that Mylan was a reluctant inverter doesnt hold much water. At that Fortune event, she reiterated the claim that Mylan hadnt been seeking an inversion partner but had been willing to look into a deal if the opportunity presented itself.

But she also seemed to say that its search for a partner was rather more proactive than that. When we were inverting, we  looked at a lot of countries because we had the opportunity to really domicile where we wanted to, and the Netherlands was a  natural.

Corporate mouthpieces and other defenders of inversions say theres nothing wrong  even something admirable  in a companys trying to do the best for its shareholders by cutting their tax bites. The argument is: You dont like it? Change the tax law.

The problem with this position is that U.S. corporations have lots of advantages over foreign competitors that have to be paid for by taxes; inversions are just a way of sticking someone else with the bill.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.

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McDonalds Corp. has recalled all of its Step-It activity wristband Happy Meal toys after reports that they led to numerous injuries, including blisters and skin irritation, and could cause burns.

The recall involves about 33 million wristbands that were made for distribution in the U.S. and Canada, according to the recall notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The notice said McDonalds received more than 70 reports of incidents  including seven reports of blisters  after people wore the wristbands, some of which have a digital counter and others of which light up as the wearer moves.

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The moves comes about a week after the Oak Brook, Ill., fast food giant said it would stop distributing the wristbands in its Happy Meals after receiving limited reports of potential skin irritations that may be associated from wearing the band.

At that point, the promotion had run for about a week. The wristbands were distributed Aug. 9 through 17. McDonalds said many of them had not yet been given to customers.

The company said it was working with the CPSC and Canadas federal public health department, Health Canada, on the recall.

Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our customers, company spokeswoman Terri Hickey said in a statement. We apologize to our customers who were impacted and for the inconvenience this recall has caused.

Customers should return the wristbands to McDonalds for a replacement toy as well as a yogurt or a bag of apple slices.

The McDonalds toys come in two styles: an activity counter wristband with a digital screen that comes in orange, blue or green, and a light-up band that blinks when a child moves and is red, purple or orange, according to the recall notice.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Even sophisticated fitness trackers have had similar issues.

In 2014, Fitbit recalled its Force wristband activity monitor after some users reported skin irritation, rashes and burns.

Last week, an analyst said before McDonalds stopped distributing its wristbands that the promotion appeared to be in line with the companys attempt to change perceptions that its food is unhealthful.

Theyve added apples in the Happy Meals. Theyve added milk instead of soda, said Nicole Ferry, a partner and executive director of strategy for branding firm Sullivan. Theyre trying to appeal as a healthier choice for kids, and adults too, but primarily for kids.

But from a branding perspective, the fitness trackers didnt necessarily make a lot of sense because children were likely to view the gadgets as toys, rather than a serious message about exercise.

Because its such a temporal promotional toy, it feels a little less of a serious commitment, Ferry said, describing the promotion as a misplaced brand message.

McDonalds has struggled in its turnaround efforts.

Its second-quarter revenue, reported in July, totaled $6.26 billion, a 4% drop from the same period last year. Net income was $1.09 billion, down from $1.2 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

And though the company marked its fourth consecutive quarter of positive comparable-store sales, the 1.8% increase in the U.S. came in below analysts expectations.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

For more business news, follow me @smasunaga

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The vast majority of consumers want to know they can seek their day in court if they get in a beef with a bank.

Thats the main takeaway of a report last week from the Pew Charitable Trusts, which examined so-called mandatory arbitration clauses in bank contracts. These are the provisions that say you cant sue or join a class-action lawsuit, and if you want to settle a dispute, you have to take it to a professional arbitrator selected and paid for by the bank.

Unfair much?

Consumers want a choice, said Thaddeus King, who researches consumer banking for Pew and co-wrote the arbitration report. They want to be able to go to court. They want to be able to join a class action. They want to be heard by a judge and jury.

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The banks, however, arent allowing that.

A survey of more than 1,000 bank customers found that almost 90% want to be able to join class-action lawsuits involving questionable bank fees or similar practices, Pew found. Ninety-five percent said they wanted the right to have a dispute heard by a judge and jury.

However, three-quarters of leading banks prohibit customers participation in class actions, and 91% forbid jury trials, according to Pew.

These findings come as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers a ban on arbitration clauses that block class-action lawsuits. The rule would apply to financial industries under the bureaus jurisdiction, including banks, credit card issuers and debt collectors.

Most Republicans are against the proposed measure, but more than 100 Democratic lawmakers recently wrote to the bureau urging that it quickly adopt the rule to ensure that consumers have equal protection under the law.

Class actions are seen by many in the business world as being frequently abused by lawyers more interested in squeezing money from companies than in seeking justice for plaintiffs. Theres some truth to that.

But class actions also serve a vital function by allowing aggrieved consumers to band together in pressing cases involving relatively small amounts of money that wouldnt be worth pursuing on an individual basis.

In April, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a $203-million verdict in favor of Californians who were unfairly charged overdraft fees that ran between $25 and $35. The high court let stand a 2010 decision by a federal judge that Wells Fargo had deliberately arranged checking-account payments to maximize the number of overdrafts.

A study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year found that very few consumers ever bring  or think about bringing  individual actions against their financial service providers either in court or in arbitration. It concluded that class actions provide a more effective means for consumers to challenge problematic practices by these companies.

The banking industry begs to differ. It has steadfastly insisted that lawyers, not consumers, benefit from class actions and that arbitration is a more cost-effective and efficient means of handling problems.

One question missing from the Pew survey is, How much are people willing to pay to reserve their right to be part of a class action in which the average award is about $32? said Nessa Feddis, senior vice president of the American Bankers Assn.

The CFPB estimates that eliminating arbitration will add more than 6,000 class actions every five years, and it expects that consumers will pay for financial institutions increased litigation costs in the form of higher fees and fewer services, she said. Meanwhile, taxpayers will pay for the increased burden on the court system and will have to wait longer for justice.

First of all, the bureau isnt talking about eliminating arbitration. Consumers would be free to go down that road if they desire. All the bureau is proposing is that class actions be an option as well.

Moreover, the advocacy group Public Citizen found that businesses file four times as many lawsuits as individuals, so its not as though consumers would be solely to blame for an increased burden on the court system.

Finally, why is it a given that consumers would end up paying higher fees to cover financial institutions increased litigation costs? If banks keep their noses clean, they wont end up in court.

Then theres the question of whether arbitration favors businesses over consumers. A 2007 study by Public Citizen found that over a four-year period, arbitrators ruled in favor of banks and credit card companies 94% of the time in disputes with California consumers.

A key problem: Since businesses pay for the arbitration process, some arbitrators may be reluctant to disappoint companies that could seek their services again in the future.

To that concern, banks say consumers should trust them to play fairly.

If done well, arbitration is a very valuable forum for customers to resolve disputes, said Richard Foster, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable.

The CFPB should focus on improving the arbitration system for financial services customers rather than encouraging arbitration effectively be abandoned in favor of lengthy and expensive class-action lawsuits, which often only benefit plaintiff lawyers and not consumers, he said.

And thats fine. Arbitration should be available to all parties in a dispute. But it shouldnt be the only option.

Without class actions, theres just no reasonable way for a consumer to seek to vindicate themselves for a small harm, said Pews King.

No wonder most banks are fighting to keep things as they are.

No wonder nearly all consumers want change.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
Teasing apart an agreement between a San Francisco museum and a major donor. Why the naked Trump statue is a pile of cliches. And the surreal case of a painter getting sued over a painting he states (quite firmly) he didnt paint. Plus: The issue of housing heats up in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, and a retrograde Los Angeles development coalition gets all kinds of celebrity power. Heres the Roundup:

 It means that something like 60 percent of SFMOMAs indoor galleries (not counting free-admission areas that serve as combination lobby and exhibition spaces) must always adhere  or, at least, respond  to a narrative of art history constructed by just two astute but obdurately private collectors. Critic Charles Desmarais parses the deal SFMOMA cut for the Fisher Collection. Great read. San Francisco Chronicle

 That naked Trump statue that popped up in cities around the U.S.? Not as incisive as you might think. Nearly every element of the statue rests on harmful stereotypes, writes Rick Smith. All stereotypes are cliches, and cliches make bad art. Co-sign. The Stranger

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 A corrections officer took painter Peter Doig to court, alleging that he painted a painting Doig is quite firm in stating he didnt paint (and of which there is quite a bit of evidence was painted by someone else). Dushko Petrovich sat in on the trials surreal last day. Artnet

 Related: A mysterious Instagrammer also has been covering the trial. Artnet

 A number of filmmaker Andrei Tarkovskys Polaroids are going to auction. The Guardian

 A 1970s art project by Hal Fischer humorously played with the idea of gay male types  and its now on view at Cherry and Martin in Culver City. Los Angeles Times

 Photographer Ed Templetons makeup girls. Its Nice That

 Dana Goodyear pens an engrossing profile of the cantankerous Michael Heizer and his massive, obsessive desert earthwork, City  a.k.a. The Area 51 of the art world. So. Much. Testosterone. The New Yorker

An undated photo in Michael Heizers City is seen near Garden City, Nev. (Tom Vinetz / Triple Aught Foundation via AP )

 Reconstructing the architecture of a notorious Syrian prison through the memories of its inmates. The Guardian

 A new memorial in Alabama will honor victims of lynchings. New York Times

 A reredo discovered with a cellphone flashlight in an English church may have been designed by Tess of the DUrbervilles novelist Thomas Hardy. The Guardian

 The story of Washington, D.C.s, new National Museum of African American History & Culture is told by Vinson Cunningham. A good overview. The New Yorker

 Since Im on the subject of our nations capital: Kriston Capps tracks the rise of Instagram spectacle art in the citys museums. Washington City Paper

 In Sunnyvale: Homeowners rezoned a district filled with Modern homes by builder Joseph Eichler as a way of limiting density. Ironic given that Eichler intended his homes to appeal to buyers on lower middle-class budgets. The Mercury News

 Speaking of which: A report from San Francisco shows that rent increases slow when there is more construction. The folks at L.A.s Neighborhood Integrity Initiative should read this story (thatd be the coalition that would like to keep development in L.A. to 1960s levels). SFGate

 And because I cant leave well enough alone: The Neighborhood Integrity Initiative has raised all kinds of money and now boasts the support of celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kirsten Dunst. I guess the celeb set doesnt want the working class to have any place to live in L.A. Nice going, celebrities. Curbed

Leonardo DiCaprio appears at a screening of The Revenant in Tokyo in March. (Eugene Hoshiko / AP )

 Related: In a very public resignation, a Palo Alto planning commissioner talks about the big problem plaguing the city. Namely, that there is no political will to build housing  resulting in a social and economic monoculture. Citylab

 The dangerous myth of authenticity. Lithub

 Who killed Gawker? A very compelling essay by former editor-in-chief Max Read. New York Magazine

 And last but not least, Stranger Things as told through artworks. The Getty Tumblr

Have you signed up for my Essential Arts & Culture newsletter? Do it! 

Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.
Despite a drop in earnings this year, Jennifer Lawrence has been named the worlds highest-paid actress for the second year in a row.

The Hunger Games headliner and X-Men: Apocalypse star brought in an estimated $46 million in the last 12 months, according to Forbes magazine, which compiles the annual list of moneymakers.

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1 / 12 Whether shes leading an indie film or starring in a top box-office saga, Jennifer Lawrence is one to be watched. We highlight the movie darlings beginnings and upcoming endeavors. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 12 Her performance in Winters Bone was so riveting, she earned an Oscar nod. And unlike in the film, Lawrence wasnt afraid to put her good looks on display when she arrived at the 2011 Academy Awards in a figure-hugging red Calvin Klein gown. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 12 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tapped Lawrence to reveal the 84th Oscar nominations alongside academy President Tom Sherak. She donned a Prada blue/black eyelet outfit from the spring/summer 2011 collection for the occasion. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 12 In her first collaboration with a luxury brand, Lawrence was named the new face of French fashion house Dior, replacing actress Mila Kunis. She followed in the fashionable footsteps of Charlize Theron, Marion Cotillard and Natalie Portman. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 12 Her portrayal of Tiffany Maxwell in Silver Linings Playbook earned Lawrence her first Oscar for leading actress. As she was called to stage for her win, she took a tumble on the Oscar stairway in her Dior Haute Couture gown - but it seemed to make her all the more lovable. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 12 When Lawrence attended the 2014 Golden Globes on Jan. 12, she made an impression on the red carpet with a puffy Dior gown (not to mention a photo bomb on Taylor Swift) and on the stage when she took home the supporting actress Golden Globe for her role in the movie American Hustle. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 12 The cast of American Hustle took home the most important accolade of the evening at the 2014 Screen Actors Guild Awards: the best cast prize. The win marked Lawrences second SAG Award after her 2013 lead actor win for Silver Linings Playbook. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 12 In perhaps one of the most memorable moments of the 2014 Oscars, and certainly the most viral, host Ellen DeGeneres recruited a whos who of Hollywood, including Lawrence, to snap a Twitter portrait. The pic, retweeted by more than half a million people, knocked Twitter offline for a few moments. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 12 Making it official (for the second time), Lawrence and actor Nicholas Hoult split in August 2013. The pair, who met while filming X-Men: First Class, had a difficult time making their relationship work due to their busy, not to mention highly successful, schedules. (Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images; Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Snowlodge) 10 / 12 What began as a rumor proved to be true after it was confirmed that Lawrence and Coldplay frontman (and Gwyneth Paltrows ex) are an item. The new couple have yet to be publicly photographed together. Pictured, Lawrence attends the iHeartRadio Music Festival, in which Martin performed. (Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for Clear Channel; Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Clear Channel ) 11 / 12 Come Christmas 2015, Lawrence will star in director David O. Russells rag-to-riches tale Joy, centered on Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano. Lawrence said Russell approached her through a text, and she happily obliged. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 12 Lawrence, with Evan Peters, suited up to play Mystique a third time in Bryan Singers X-Men: Apocalypse. (Alan Markfield / AP)

Those pretty pennies were largely due to profits from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, the final installment of the blockbuster franchise that hit theaters in November. The finale grossed more than $653.4 million worldwide but was the lowest-earning of the four films. Another boon to Lawrences pre-tax earnings came from a massive upfront fee for her upcoming sci-fi flick Passengers, Forbes said.

Last year the Oscar winner topped Forbes list with an estimated $52 million  that after she spent two years in the No. 2 spot on the U.S.-only lists.

The gender pay gap has been a hot button issue in Hollywood and Lawrences wages in particular were further scrutinized when the actress lambasted the industry in a scathing essay for Lena Dunhams Lenny newsletter in October 2015.

Ghostbusters star Melissa McCarthy landed in the No. 2 spot this year, earning $33 million, the magazine said. The 46-year-old funnywoman is up from last years $23 million estimation and recorded her highest earnings to date thanks to a reported eight-figure paycheck from Columbia Pictures all-female reboot that hit theaters in July.

The full list, which can be seen here, also includes Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Charlize Theron, Amy Adams, Julia Roberts, Mila Kunis and Chinese film star Fan Bingbing and Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone.

Forbes will release its list of highest-paid actors on Thursday.

Follow me: @NardineSaad
Editors note: In honor of the 30th anniversary of Stand By Me hitting theaters, here is our original review of the film.

As directed by Rob Reiner, Stand By Me (selected theaters) is the summers great gift, a compassionate, perfectly performed look at the real heart of youth. It stands, sweet and strong, ribald, outrageous and funny, like its heroes themselves--a bit gamy around the edges, perhaps, but pure and fine clear through. Its one of those treasures absolutely not to be missed.

The screenwriters, Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans, have seen this trek by four tight buddies, about to move into junior high school, with the greatest clarity. It will be a pivotal two days in which matters closest to the bone are revealed, but its not treated Importantly. Instead, the atmosphere is full of the great, crude, cruddy, ripe banter of four 12-year-old boys--pre-girls, post-cigarettes and full-on to the mysteries of life. And death.

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Stand By Me is told in the form of a memoir, as established writer Richard Dreyfuss, stunned by a local newspaper item about the death of a close friend, sits in his car, remembering back to 1959. Then, in the fullness of late summer, he and his three friends had an instant of absolute perception: Who they were, what was around them, where they were going. Before the world blurred all the outlines.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

(Dreyfuss amused, ironic intelligence as the narrator and his bracketing scenes at the opening and close contribute enormously to the pictures tone.)

It should not turn anyone away from Stand By Me to learn that its based on a novella by Stephen King, written with that acuity that feels like autobiography. What the movie may do is send readers back to some of Kings less celebrated, less cranked-out stories to see if they can possibly match up to this one (which was called The Body). Whoa! Come back here. It really isnt that kind of Stephen King story.

The body is what sets the boys on their adventure--actually, the breathless news that a pair from an older gang have spotted the body of a 12-year-old boy, missing since he went blueberrying in these dense Oregon woods. Circumstances keep the older gang at bay. The four younger boys, determined that they will become the towns heroes by finding the body, meld their alibis and set off to see their first dead person. The body may also mean this body of friends, four totally different, absolutely loyal kids whose strengths and weaknesses work together like one of those chairs you make with four interlocking hands.

Gangs invariably have a natural leader, but the screenwriters (who wrote the lovely, undervalued Starman) dont tell us, they show us why Chris (River Phoenix) heads this one. Slightly older than his buddies, hes tough but a peacemaker, the one who acts instinctively in a crisis. With alcoholism and delinquency the major strains in his family, his view of his own future is blunted and sardonic; we see him for the princeling he is.

Slight, neat Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris generous, adoring buddy, sees his friends real qualities too. Wheaton makes Gordies sensitivity tangible, but not effete. Hes a gem. Gordie is still mourning the recent death of his superachieving older brother--as is his whole family. Campfire yarn-spinner now, Gordie will become the writer later on (a great one . . . maybe youll write about us, Chris says, in one of the screenplays rare lapses. Occasionally--only occasionally--the boys dialogue becomes a little too prescient; Chris has a handle on a lot of home truths that sound more like an author than a character speaking.)

Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) is, of all the boys, the one closest to the edge. Damaged and abused by his father, he still emulates the Normandy Beach heroics that distinguished and traumatized his dad. Whats heartbreaking about the rage-filled, daredevil Teddy is how easily he can go in either direction.

Chunky Vern Tessio (Jerry OConnell) is a compendium of all our fears as kids: the one who will invariably forget the secret password knock, whos afraid of almost everything from heights to darks. Earnest and sweetly dim, hes also outrageously lovable.

What a director Reiner has become. These four young actors (and, among the less differentiated roles of the older gang, Kiefer Sutherland) have a depth and understanding that makes each character soar and live for days after the film. They are simply brilliant. These are also roles with enormous risks to them, but Reiner has seen that his cast stays honest and his movie marvelously restrained--except for one scene, staged to be as marvelously gross and unrestrained as a kids unfettered imagination can make it.

Apart from its heart-pounding action scene, involving a trestle bridge and a train, the film is a quiet, lyrical odyssey, which gains everything from its perfect, small-town, heavily forested Oregon surroundings (Dennis Washington did the films fine production design, Robert Leighton the notable editing, Thomas Del Ruth the cinematography, unprettified but lyrical). Against this background, these boys are thrashing out some of the weightiest matters of their days, with the deceptive simplicity of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, with occasional dollops of Penrod Jashber.

Like Reiners perfect-pitch put-on of the rock scene, This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me uses the music of the day for great jolts of affectionate memory. A whole era floods back as the kids walk along the railroad track, booming Have gun, will travel reads the card of a man. The soundtrack rocks with The Book of Love, Rockin Robin, Lollipop and more.

The films R rating, for the boys imaginative and far-rangingly blue language (and probably for the pie-eating contest gross-out), is understandable but sad. It is the way kids talk; other kids will recognize that in an instant. And Stand By Me is far too fine to be kept for over-17-year-olds alone; its a portrait of an age and a moment that its peers will recognize as an unvarnished classic.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday he supported police Supt. Eddie Johnsons decision to seek the firing of seven officers for allegedly lying about the fatal 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

The comments were Emanuels first public remarks since Johnsons announcement last week that he would move to terminate the officers after reports filed about the shooting clashed with images captured on video of white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teen McDonald. The mayor reiterated his oft-repeated position that he was giving the superintendent authority to handle the hot-button situation himself.

I would say this is obviously an issue for the Police Department and I have confidence in the process the superintendent took and the general direction, he said when asked whether the seven officers due process had been violated.

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As to whether the firings should have included more police, including supervisors who initially ruled Van Dyke followed proper procedures in shooting McDonald 16 times, Emanuel said: Im not sure what to comment in the sense of more investigations. I think the superintendent took the right actions and thats why I support them.

The last thing, Im going to be cautious, because the mayor speaking up about what other investigations should be done. Theyll be done on the merits and whether theyre worthy, he added while talking to reporters at an event at a school in the South Shore neighborhood about air conditioners in classrooms.

Emanuel also was asked about former police Supt. Garry McCarthy recently saying that moving to fire the officers could jeopardize the ongoing criminal investigation against Van Dyke, who has been charged with murder in McDonalds death.

Emanuel fired McCarthy late last year, saying the superintendent had become a distraction amid widespread protests in the weeks after the court-ordered release of the police dashboard camera video that showed Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times as the 17-year-old walked in the street with a knife.

Actually, Im not going to respond to that question, Emanuel said. My attitude is, and I said this before, I think the superintendent took the right actions, gave him the latitude to take the right actions that he believed was appropriate and he made clear the ultimate goal here was to restore trust in the Police Department and to also restore trust in the community. Because thats ultimately how we get public safety.

Dashcam video contradicted numerous statements given by officers about the threat posed by McDonald, who was carrying a knife with a 3-inch blade, had PCP in his system and was suspected of breaking into vehicles.

Johnsons announcement came after he received a report generated by a six-month investigation by the office of city Inspector Gen. Joseph Ferguson into the shooting.

As anticipation built last week inside City Hall and the Police Department about how Johnson would act on Fergusons report on the October 2014 shooting, the mayor repeatedly said he would stand behind the superintendents decision.

Emanuel, a notorious micromanager, said he had built a Chinese wall between his office and the Police Department to keep politics out of the ruling. And he made the case he was in a no-win position, arguing reporters would pillory him if he took the lead in calling for officers to be fired.

John Byrne writes for the Chicago Tribune.
Bellwood man killed in accident

LYONS  A 54-year-old Bellwood man was killed Saturday in a two-vehicle accident in eastern Nebraska.

According to the Nebraska State Patrol, Bruce Dannelly died after his motorcycle was struck by a pickup on Highway 77 on the east edge of Lyons.

The State Patrol says a northbound pickup was turning left at the Diamond Street intersection when the vehicle collided with Dannellys motorcycle, which was traveling south on the highway.

Dannelly was wearing a helmet.

Detention Center

The inmate count at the Platte County Detention Facility Monday was 74, with 41 from Platte County and 33 from out of county.

Police

July 17

5 a.m.  In the 2500 block of 47th Avenue, Juana Sanchez, 27, Madison, was cited for criminal mischief.

Aug. 17

2:19 p.m.  In the 2100 block of 14th Street, Norma Portillo, 36, 2108 14th St., was cited for failure to yield right of way.

Aug. 19

11:04 a.m.  Criminal mischief at 1171 18th Ave., vehicle damaged, $600 loss.

Sheriff

Aug. 11

3:35 p.m.  In a parking lot at 23169 235th Ave., a vehicle driven by James Mueller, 66, Monroe, struck a parked vehicle owned by Adriana Lira, 4149 E. 25th St.

Aug. 19

10:01 a.m.  Wanted person at 2565 47th Ave., No. 5, Cathrine Sorrells jailed on a Platte County warrant.

Aug. 20

1:11 a.m.  Traffic violation at the intersection of 197th Street and 310th Avenue, Jared Whitmore of Shelby cited for speeding.

Aug. 21

4:40 a.m.  Traffic violation at the intersection of 295th Avenue and Highway 22, Ernesto Villalta Sandoval of Columbus jailed for no operators license and speeding.

8:34 p.m.  Traffic violation at the intersection of U.S. Highway 81 and 48th Avenue, Kaiser Allami of Lincoln cited for speeding.

Fire

Aug. 19

9:11 a.m.  In the 3700 block of 27th Street, medical.

12:49 p.m.  In the 4500 block of 38th Street, medical.

3:18 p.m.  In the 4000 block of 38th Street, medical.

5:07 p.m.  At Seven Mile Inn on Highway 81, medical.

6:44 p.m.  In the 3800 block of 21st Street, medical.

7:55 p.m.  In the 3800 block of 31st Street, medical.

11:12 p.m.  In the 3600 block of 30th Street, medical.

Aug. 20

2:58 a.m.  Silent fire alarm in the 3800 block of 30th Street, bon fire pit, no damage.

9:17 p.m.  At the intersection of 14th Street and 25th Avenue, medical.

9:33 p.m.  At the intersection of 14th Street and 25th Avenue, medical.

10:46 p.m.  In the 2600 block of Sixth Street, medical.

Aug. 21

12:45 a.m.  In the 3300 block of 53rd Avenue, medical.

11:38 a.m. - In the 1300 block of Eighth Street, medical.

1:56 p.m. - In the 1500 block of 141 Road, medical.

3:25 p.m. - In the 1400 block of 23rd Avenue, medical.

4:41 p.m. - In the 1200 block of 17th Avenue, medical.

Aug. 22

6:02 a.m. - In the 4000 block of 30th Street, medical.

6:53 a.m. - In the 100 block of North Rose Lane, medical.

7:06 a.m. - In the 5700 block of 68th Street, medical.
About 200 San Diego residents were forced to evacuate from their homes in Ocean Beach on Monday evening because of an apparent gas leak, authorities said.

Homes in the vicinity of Bacon and Cable streets and Santa Cruz and Del Monte avenues were expected to be evacuated throughout the night until at least 5 a.m. as crews worked to locate and repair the broken gas pipe, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Lee Swanson.

San Diego Gas & Electric crews were sent out to look for a possible gas leak after a resident on Bacon Street near Santa Cruz Avenue reported a strong gas odor in his garage about 6:50 p.m., Swanson said.

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A police helicopter crew used a loud speaker to broadcast the blocks that needed to evacuate and to ask residents to refrain from using stoves or barbecues.

SDG&E crews shut off the electricity in the area when they arrived, Swanson said. Throughout the night they dug into the ground in an alley between Santa Cruz and Del Monte near Bacon Street to locate the broken pipe.

The Red Cross was called to help residents who needed temporary housing.

Hernandez is a staff writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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UPDATES:

10:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about the evacuations.

This article was originally published at 9:30 p.m.
A Santa Clara County judge who faced widespread criticism after sentencing former Stanford student Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexual assault has removed himself from another sex-crimes case, court documents show.

Judge Aaron Persky  who is facing a recall effort by those who say Turners punishment is too light  was set to decide this week whether to reduce the conviction of a plumber for possession of child pornography from a felony to a misdemeanor, the Mercury News reported. It would have been his first key decision in a sex crime case since he sentenced Turner in June.

Persky announced his recusal in the case involving plumber Robert Chain on Thursday and issued a brief written ruling saying the public attention in the Turner case threatened the perception of his impartiality.

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While on vacation earlier this month, my family and I were exposed to publicity surrounding this case, the ruling said. This publicity has resulted in a personal family situation such that a person aware of the facts might reasonably entertain a doubt that the judge would be able to be impartial. 

Assistant Dist. Atty. Terry Harman, one of the prosecutors on Chains case, said in a statement to The Times that it is a judges responsibility to recuse him or herself if there are issues of impartiality.

Were focused on the prosecution of the defendant in this matter, Harman said. Were confident that the case will be handled by the bench fairly.

Persky indicated he might be open to reducing the plumbers felony conviction to a misdemeanor when he sentenced Chain to four days in county jail last year, according to the Mercury News. If the reduction were granted, it would have come a year earlier than a probation officer recommended.

Chain had 188 child pornography photos on his Samsung tablet, depicting girls ages 5 to 12, and at least one image of an infant, the Mercury News reported.

Persky seemed impressed by Chains efforts to change his life, the newspaper said. Chain had stayed sober, went to therapy, held down a job and completed a sex offender management program.

Critics say it is an example of Perskys leniency toward sex offenders. Nearly 1.3 million people have signed an online petition calling for the ouster of Persky, who is a Stanford alumnus.

In March, a jury convicted Turner on three felony counts: assault with the intent to commit rape of an unconscious person, sexual penetration of an unconscious person and sexual penetration of an intoxicated person.

Turner attacked an unconscious woman behind a garbage bin on the Stanford University campus in January 2015.

He was facing a maximum of 14 years in prison; prosecutors asked Persky to sentence him to a six-year term.

Instead, Persky sentenced Turner to six months in county jail and three years of probation. He is likely to serve only half of that sentence because of Californias felony sentencing realignment.

The judge said a harsher penalty would have a severe impact on 20-year-old Turner.

In court, the unidentified victim read a 12-page, single-spaced letter that went viral after she gave it to the media. She said she was re-victimized during the trial by Turners claim that she had consented.

I was not only told that I was assaulted, I was told that because I couldnt remember, I technically could not prove it was unwanted, she wrote. And that distorted me, damaged me, almost broke me.

The woman called Turners sentence a soft time-out, a mockery of the seriousness of the assaults.

Despite criticism of the sentence, any effort to unseat Persky, who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, will be extremely difficult, legal experts said.

In an unusual step, Santa Clara County prosecutors blocked Persky from hearing another sex crimes case two weeks after he sentenced Turner. Prosecutors at the time said they lack confidence in the judges ability to preside over the case.

In that case, a male nurse was accused of sexually assaulting an anesthetized female patient.

California court procedures allow prosecutors or defense lawyers to file a motion to remove a judge from a case and have it reassigned to another judge.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson

Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

11:55 a.m. This article was updated with a quote from Terry Harman and information about a case Harman was blocked from presiding over.

This article was originally published at 8:20 a.m.
Exactly one week after the Blue Cut blaze first exploded in the Cajon Pass, fire officials declared the devastating wildfire fully contained Tuesday.

The fire destroyed an estimated 105 homes and 213 other structures in San Bernardino County and now ranks as the 20th most destructive wildfire in state history, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The massive fire put more than 82,000 residents under mandatory evacuation orders and created major transportation problems when it forced the closure of the 15 Freeway and Highway 138 and scorched a stretch of freight railroad tracks that curve through the Cajon Pass.

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The cause of the wildfire remains under investigation.

Utility companies will continue to work in the area to replace damaged infrastructure, and the rail corridor is being assessed, Cal Fire said in a statement.

Meanwhile, several other large wildfires continued to burn throughout the state.

The 37,101-acre Chimney fire burning near Lake Nacimiento in San Luis Obispo County was 35% contained Tuesday morning. The fire has destroyed 52 structures and damaged seven. It threatens an additional 1,896 structures.

The blaze was burning about two miles east of Hearst Castle on Tuesday morning.

The historic 165-room estate will remain closed, and tours were canceled through Sunday because of the fire, California State Parks said in a statement. Fire conditions will be reassessed on Sunday to determine when the castle will reopen. Visitors with reservations through the weekend will be contacted about refunds, officials said.

For days, teams of firefighters have been guarding the castle against flames, and firefighters have cut multiple fire lines to protect the estate, Cal Fire Capt. Lucas Spelman said.

The park grounds are surrounded by Hearst Ranch, which is still owned by Hearst Corp.

Stephen Hearst, the great-grandson of William Randolph Hearst and the vice president and general manager of Hearsts Western Properties, told the San Francisco Chronicle that 15,000 acres of the 83,000-acre ranch property had been burned, including up to eight structures.

Ranch staff were helping to battle the blaze by building containment lines. Were defending it with everything weve got, Hearst told the paper.

The Chimney fire has challenged firefighters, who thought they had gained the upper hand on the blaze before winds picked up and it exploded over the weekend, fire officials said.

The blaze was moving mostly north, but fire crews were preparing for the winds to shift Tuesday, Spelman said.

The fire is burning over a large area that has created dramatically different firefighting conditions on either side of the blaze, he said.

On the western side of the fire, closer to the ocean, there was high humidity Monday, which held the moisture in the air and trapped the smoke, making visibility so bad that it grounded firefighting aircraft, Spelman said.

On the eastern side, firefighters had had the exact opposite thing going on, with exceptionally low humidity, dry brush and fast-moving flames that have been a staple of this busy fire season, Spelman said.

Its almost like the mountains are just doused in gasoline, said Spelman, who has worked on numerous major wildfires already this year. The brush is just burning at a rate thats incredible.

Right now, were at that point where Im not surprised anymore, he said. Before, maybe wed have a fire thatd do this once or twice a year, and now, everything in the beginning of the fire season is burning explosively. Its not going to get any better this year.  Its like were at war.

Nearly 4,000 firefighters were battling the Chimney fire Tuesday.

In Santa Barbara County, the Rey fire, which has burned 29,664 acres, was 30% contained. The fire has reached the scar from the 2007 Zaca fire in the Los Padres National Forest, which is slowing its growth on its northeastern edge, fire officials said.

The Soberanes fire burning in Monterey County near Big Sur was 60% contained Tuesday. It has charred 87,316 acres and has been burning for more than a month after being ignited by an abandoned, illegal campfire.

The Clayton fire in Lake County, which devastated the small town of Lower Lake, was 96% contained. It has burned nearly 4,000 acres. Authorities believe the fire was intentionally set by a man officials suspect of being a serial arsonist.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson

UPDATES:

2:05 p.m.: This article was updated with details on Hearst Ranch.

This article was originally published at 11:40 a.m.
A federal appeals court ordered immigration authorities Tuesday to reconsider a decision that defined cockfighting as an offense of moral turpitude.

Agustin Ortega-Lopez, a Mexican citizen who lives in Oregon, was prevented from contesting his deportation because he had been convicted of participating in cockfighting, a misdemeanor that immigration judges ruled was a crime involving moral turpitude.

The prosecution said the immigrants role in the cockfighting was minimal.

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He was hardly the Don Corleone (or even the Fredo) of this enterprise, U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John B. Owens, a President Obama appointee, wrote for a unanimous panel, referring to characters from the mob drama The Godfather.

The panel cited a previous ruling that said an offense of moral turpitude, outside the context of fraud, almost always is a crime that involves an intent to hurt someone, actual infliction of harm or an action that affects a protected class of victim.

A protected class generally includes people who, because of their race or other characteristic, may be particularly vulnerable.

The crime at issue involving harm to chickens is, at first blush, outside the normal realm, of crimes involving moral turpitude, the panel said.

The court said the immigration judges had failed to analyze whether cockfighting involved a protected class.

Ortega-Lopez came to the U.S. in 1992 without permission. He is married and has three children who are American citizens.

N. David Shamloo, his lawyer, praised the decision.

The court sent a message to the executive branch that it cant just extend the duties that mankind has owed to other men to chickens.

The federal law against cockfighting was passed to protect people, not chickens, he said.

Shamloo said his client, a laborer, has been free while the case was pending.

Ortega-Lopez pleaded guilty to cockfighting in 2008 after he was advised by his lawyer that it was not a crime of moral turpitude, Shamloo said.

But the immigration judge who first heard Ortega-Lopezs case called animal fighting base and depraved and noted that all 50 states outlaw cockfighting.

Cruelty to children amounts to moral turpitude, the judge reasoned, and animals are defenseless living beings akin to children, the 9th Circuit said.

Unlike hunting or racing, animal fighting is a spectacle, the entire purpose of which is the intentional infliction of harm or pain on sentient beings that are compelled to fight, often to the death, the immigration judge wrote.

But the 9th Circuit noted that courts have determined that not even felony false imprisonment and kidnapping were crimes of moral turpitude.

Congress has declared cockfighting a scourge that warrants prosecution, and we have no quarrel with that, the 9th Circuit said. Yet that is not our inquiry here  rather, we must determine whether the conviction involved moral turpitude.

In answering this question, the government urges us to hold that cockfighting is a vile and depraved practice, which in its view ends the story, the panel said. It does not.

The fact that cockfighting is outlawed throughout the nation is not enough to justify categorizing it a crime of moral turpitude, the 9th Circuit said.

More is required, the panel said.

Immigration judges will now have to reconsider the case.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolan

UPDATES:

3:25 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details from the decision.

1:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about Agustin Ortega-Lopez and comments from his lawyer.

This article was originally published at 12:40 p.m.
A band of thunderstorms and heavy rains in eastern San Bernardino County led to powerful flash flooding Monday evening that washed vehicles off the roadway.

The storm system extended into western Arizona and southern Nevada, including northern Las Vegas, flooding roadways as forecasters predicted gusty winds and hail.

The flooding in California was reported about 7:40 p.m. on Highway 95 near Interstate 40 in Needles, near the states border with Nevada and Arizona, according to the National Weather Service. Flooding was also expected in Topock, Ariz., just southeast of Needles.

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The swiftly flowing water pushed an unknown number of vehicles off the road in Needles, the weather service said. Its unclear if any motorists were injured or stranded in their vehicles.

A flash flood warning had been issued earlier Monday and was extended until 11:45 p.m.

Gusty winds topped 65 mph at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. In New Kingman-Butler, Ariz., a flash flood was recorded by a trained spotter with the National Weather Service, according to public records.

The extent of damage, if any, was unknown.

Motorists were advised to turn around if they encounter flooded roads.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno.

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Hollywood neighborhood activists were aghast last week to see a familiar fixture along Sunset Boulevard -- the stained glass windows of a Gothic Revival church -- abruptly disappear.

Local preservationists knew the 90-year-old building at Sunset and Alexandria Avenue was being converted into creative offices by a new owner. A push to enshrine the former Bethany Lutheran Church of Hollywood as a historic monument had been rejected months earlier.

But an area planning commission had insisted that the outside of the former church could not be altered unless the company requested approval from the Department of City Planning.

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Despite those restrictions, the building department granted a permit to change all window glazing -- and many of the arched window panes soon disappeared.

A person representing the building owner declined to say whether the windows had been destroyed or merely removed. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The episode galled Hollywood residents and preservationists who had treasured the church windows and expected them to be spared. The building department later moved to revoke the permit, saying it had been issued in error, but some worry it may be too late.

What I fear is that they may have even sold or destroyed the windows so that they cant be replaced, said Edward Hunt, an architect who follows planning issues with the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council.

Terry Winders, who is representing the building owner  a company called 4975 Sunset LLC -- declined to comment on whether the windows had been destroyed or merely removed.

Nor would he discuss the disputed permit. Instead, Winders stated that the company has a standing permit for converting the building and reiterated that it was not a historic monument.

Winders did not respond to additional questions sent by email about the removal of the windows. Hollywood residents and preservationists argued that the company should have been aware that it could not remove the stained glass windows, even if the building department had granted the permit.

They were able to sneak in a building permit when they should not have received it, said Doug Haines, chairman of a planning committee for the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council. They knew they werent supposed to do it.

Hunt said that at a hearing on whether to recognize the church as a historic building, Winders told the Cultural Heritage Commission that for the most part, the exterior is remaining untouched. Commission members praised the company for being respectful of the building, but ultimately voted against making the building a monument, noting that the church had undergone major alterations.

The Gothic Revival church, which is being converted to office space, is at Sunset Boulevard and Alexandria Avenue, a couple of blocks east of Normandie Avenue. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

And at a different city commission -- the Central Area Planning Commission -- another representative for the building owner repeatedly said the windows were not proposed to be changed.

That commission voted in January to allow the building conversion, but stated that if any exterior modifications were proposed, the building owner would have to file for a change with the planning department.

Planning officials said Friday that meant the city planners would have had to grant their approval. The company did seek to remove the restriction on exterior alterations in July, asserting that it needed to remove religious symbolism to attract office tenants. But planners had not approved that change when the windows were removed, Senior City Planner Blake Lamb said.

The building department, in turn, said that it was not aware of those restrictions when it granted its permission for the disputed permit. Department spokesman David Lara said it is still determining whether any windows were removed after it handed out its order, which says that any work tied to the disputed permit must be halted.

It is unclear what penalties, if any, the company might face. Lamb said that the department is still evaluating the request to remove the condition at the heart of the dispute. Flouting city conditions can be punished with fines and even jail time, according to the planning departments approval for the project.

Some want the city to order the company to restore the missing windows. The loss of those windows is a significant loss, said historian Charles Fisher, who prepared the application to deem the church a historic monument. If theyve been destroyed theyre going to have to be re-created, which is not going to be cheap.

Haines also argued that a permit to change window glazing should not have allowed the company to remove or destroy the windows. City Councilman Mitch OFarrell, who represents the area, has also asked the building department to investigate whether the company violated its permit, his spokesman Tony Arranaga said.

emily.alpert@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter at @LATimesEmily

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A Los Angeles police officer was critically injured in a crash of his motorcycle while off duty in Fullerton on Monday night, authorities said.

Chief Charlie Beck announced that the officer was in very, very grave condition Tuesday at a Police Commission meeting. Beck did not name the officer because some of his relatives still might not know about the crash, he said.

The injured officer was assigned to the LAPDs Wilshire Division and worked in the field for only about three months, Beck said.

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The chief did not provide details of the crash, but Fullerton police said that a 24-year-old motorcyclist was critically injured just before 11 p.m. Monday when his bike collided with a 2005 Toyota Sequoia SUV at Commonwealth and Basque avenues.

The motorcyclist was westbound on Commonwealth when he collided with the SUV, which was in the left-turn lane, police said.

The SUVs driver, a 19-year-old woman, stayed at the scene after the crash; drugs and alcohol do not appear to have been involved, Fullerton officials said.

Beck said he planned to travel to the Irvine hospital where the officer was being treated after the commissions weekly meeting.

Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death within law enforcement. The LAPD had four crashes in 2014: Two officers were killed in separate car crashes in Beverly Hills, a third was killed by a suspected intoxicated driver in North Hollywood and a fourth died when a driver allegedly rammed the officers vehicle deliberately.

Times staff writer Kate Mather contributed to this report.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
A California game warden was shot at last weekend by a group of poachers who were illegally hunting wildlife in Humboldt County, authorities said.

The warden was not injured in the incident, which occurred just before 1 a.m. Sunday near Highway 36 and Redwood House Road, about 30 miles southeast of Eureka, according to Capt. Patrick Foy of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The officer had been working his standard patrol duty and looking out for spotlighting  which is when poachers aim bright lights at deer or other animals, causing the animals to freeze in their tracks. Foy said poachers generally stay in their cars as they travel down roads through the wilderness at night.

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They usually shoot from the [cars] cab, he added.

The officer spotted the poachers and attempted to make a traffic stop, but at least one person inside the car opened fire toward the officer. The car sped away but the officer gave chase, and repeated gunshots were fired toward the officer during the pursuit, Foy said.

The officer was armed but did not return fire. Officers with the Department of Fish and Wildlife are involved in an average of one police shooting a year, Foy said.

The chase came to an end when the poachers crashed into a tree, jumped out of the car and fled on foot into the woods.

The officer was close enough to hear the suspects, but chose to wait for backup before continuing the pursuit. Most wildlife officers work alone while on patrol, and in remote areas, backup can take 10 minutes or longer, Foy said.

Authorities searched the area but did not locate the suspects, who left their getaway car behind.

The Humboldt County sheriffs office was leading the investigation into the shooting and pursuit. Authorities did not provide descriptions of the poachers.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno.
San Diego Police Officer Wade Irwin, who was shot in the neck last month during a shootout that left his partner dead, has been released from the hospital, police said Tuesday.

We are pleased to announce Office Wade Irwin was released from the hospital on Saturday night and is now home recovering, said San Diego police spokesman Lt. Scott Wahl. He and his family are thankful for all of the support and well wishes.

Irwin underwent two surgeries and has a long road ahead of him, according to a fundraising page set up to support the officer and his family. His wife took a leave of absence from her job to be near him and to care for their 2-year-old daughter.

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The nine-year veteran and his partner, Officer Jonathan De Guzman, were patrolling in the southeastern San Diego community of Southcrest on July 28 when they spotted two men hurriedly part ways. The officers, members of a gang-suppression team, decided to pull up and speak to one of the men.

Irwin got out of the car and asked the man if he lived in the neighborhood. The question was answered with gunfire.

Jesse Gomez, 53, is accused of shooting Irwin and De Guzman, who was still in the patrol vehicle with his seatbelt on. The wounded Irwin then shot at the suspect. A blood trail later led officers to Gomez, who was found unconscious in a nearby ravine, according to officials. Gomez has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

Community members rallied around the families of Irwin and De Guzman after the shooting. Two fundraising pages to help support Irwins family have raised nearly $48,000.

lyndsay.winkley@utsandiego.com

Winkley writes for the San Diego Union Tribune.

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As a series of marine heat waves linked to climate change has thrown ocean ecosystems out of whack from Australia to the coast of California, a cooling trend called La Nina has given scientists hope that water temperatures could come back into balance.

But so far, the cooling weather pattern  predicted to follow as a result of last winters El Nino  remains squeezed by warmer ocean temperatures along a narrow stretch of the Earths equator.

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That might be good news for Californias marine life, if not the drought. Winters, when the state usually has its best chance for substantial rain and snowfall, are often bone-dry during La Ninas. However, the cooling ocean waters also usually boost nutrient-rich conditions that can help sea life that has been suffering of late, including the kelp forests along San Diego County coast.

La Nina is embedded in this pool of really warm water in the eastern, tropical Pacific, said Art Miller, head of the ocean and atmosphere section at UC San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography. You can see the cooling right along the equator, but there are these vast spaces of really warm upper-ocean conditions that its trying to push its way through.

La Nina conditions typically peak between December and February, at which point the ocean may have released a significant amount of heat into the atmosphere or redistributed the warmer water around the globe.

Thats hardly guaranteed for this coming winter. The planet is coming off of one of the strongest El Nino periods on record. While the ocean-warming event didnt deliver the succession of powerful rain and snowstorms many predicted for Southern California, water temperatures in the Pacific are still elevated.

The higher ocean temperatures persist in large part because of a separate series of marine heat events starting in 2013 often referred to as the blob. These marine heat waves have been linked to global warming and are credited with wiping out large kelp forests in Australia.

These are really strong anomalies, Miller said. Theyre far larger and more persistent and spread out over larger areas than we think weve ever experienced.

Kelp forests also have taken a hit up and down the Pacific coast of the United States. Those along Catalina Island off Los Angeles have suffered significant damage in recent years, allowing invasive seaweed species to move into the area.

Catalina looks quite different than it did several years ago, said Colleen Wisniewski, regional manager for the Reef Check Foundation. Kelp prefers areas where its cooler and has that nutrient-rich cooler water thats upwelling. With that warm water blob, that mixing wasnt happening for the most part.

Underwater forests in San Diego County have been stressed in recent months, too. Theres zero kelp canopy, so no kelp is growing to the surface right now  at least from La Jolla to the [U.S.-Mexico] border, which is pretty bad because our kelp forests are usually pretty sturdy, Wisniewski said.

At the same time, some scientists warn that a full-blown La Nina may not be what California needs. Seven out of the past 10 such events created dry conditions in the southern part of the state, said Bill Patzert, climatologist with NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

El Nino was a dud for Southern California rainfall, so maybe a wannabe or puny La Nina could deliver a much needed wet winter, he said. If I sound desperate, I am. A sixth [consecutive] dry year would be punishing.

Joshua Emerson Smith writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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COLUMBUS  Several people were injured when a school bus transporting Lakeview Community Schools students collided with another vehicle Monday afternoon near the district's junior/senior high school.

Rescue personnel were called to the accident along 83rd Street just west of Monastery Road around 3:45 p.m. Monday.

According to a Platte County Sheriff's official, the westbound bus was transporting students from Shell Creek Elementary School when it struck a Chevrolet Avalanche that was stopped in the roadway while waiting to turn into the Lake North camping area.

The sheriff's official said the bus driver, 41-year-old James Lemburg of Columbus, attempted to stop before the collision, but was unable to do so. Lakeview Community Schools contracts with Mid States School Bus Inc. of Wayne for its busing services.

Nobody on the school bus was injured in the accident, but four passengers in the Avalanche were transported by ambulance to Columbus Community Hospital, one with serious injuries.

Three adult passengers were treated at the local hospital and released. A 6-year-old girl was flown by medical helicopter to an Omaha hospital for treatment.

The driver of the Avalanche, 29-year-old Brian Zierke of rural Columbus, was uninjured.

According to the sheriff's office, the 6-year-old was seated in the middle of the vehicle's front seat and wearing a seat belt. The other four occupants were not wearing seat belts.

The occupants of the Avalanche were camping at Lake North, according to the sheriff's official.

Students were transported from the scene by school vans. Approximately 60 students were riding the bus at the time of the accident.

Columbus Fire and Rescue, the Platte County Sheriff's Office and Nebraska State Patrol responded to the accident, which remains under investigation.
At rallies and debates over the last year, Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to round up and deport the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally, sometimes saying he would eject them all in two years.

Over the last four days, however, the GOP presidential nominee and his top aides have issued contradictory signals as to whether Trump is backing off that core campaign pledge.

Aides have not said if Trumps plan is under review because it appears politically unpalatable with moderate Republicans, or because forced deportations of millions of people would be prohibitively expensive and probably logistically impossible.

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For now, the campaign has yet to provide specifics on how mass removals would be carried out, who would be targeted, and how much it would cost.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 235,413 people last year, down from a record high of 409,849 in 2012, according to ICE records.

The fall-off followed the Obama administrations efforts to target individuals who threaten public safety or national security and not deport those with clean records and strong family ties in the U.S.

Independent groups have expressed widespread skepticism that a Trump administration could dramatically ramp up that process without disrupting key sectors of the economy, tearing apart millions of families and violating civil liberties on a mass scale.

In May, a report by the right-leaning think tank American Action Forum estimated that finding, detaining, legally processing and deporting everyone who is in the country illegally would cost up to $300 billion.

To meet Trumps two-year goal, the report said, Congress would need to appropriate money to hire, train and field about 90,000 immigration apprehension agents  up from 5,000 Enforcement and Removal Operations officers today.

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The government also would need to build about 1,250 immigration courts  there now are 57 such courts  and hire thousands more immigration judges and federal attorneys to process the caseload.

The think tank estimates that the lost labor and purchasing power of 11 million people  many of whom work, own businesses and pay taxes  could reduce the nations gross domestic product by $1 trillion, equal to about $9,000 per household.

Moreover, finding millions of undocumented migrants almost certainly would entail immigration agents entering homes, raiding businesses and operating roadblocks to check identity papers to separate U.S. citizens and approved immigrants from those in the country illegally, a winnowing-out process that undoubtedly would be challenged in court.

You will really have to tear up the social fabric to get this done, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, head of the nonprofit think tank.

Farming, meatpacking, construction and hospitality industries would be hardest hit by labor shortages, the study concluded. In all, the private sector could lose 4 million to 6.8 million workers.

That is something that is hard to wrap our heads around because that is just not who we are as a country, said Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and former economic policy director for the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, John McCain.

The president has authority to order an increase in deportations, or to set new priorities for who is targeted. But except for people caught sneaking across the border, most removals require a court order, and deportation cases already are backed up for years in some jurisdictions.

With growing fears about border security since the 9/11 attacks, the Border Patrol has doubled in size to about 20,000 agents over the last decade, and now is the largest federal law enforcement agency.

The number of Enforcement and Removal Operations officers has stayed at about 5,000, however. Union leaders for immigration agents have long demanded that the deportation force be doubled in size as well.

We need more interior enforcement, but Congress and politicians refuse to do it, Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, a union that represents federal deportation officers, said in a telephone interview.

According to ICE records, the leading countries of origin for removals last year were Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and the majority were apprehended near the border.

But an estimated 40% of those in the country illegally arrived lawfully and overstayed their visas. Unless police apprehend them for violating other laws, the government has no clear way to find them.

Crane, the union official, believes that unleashing deportation officers would deter illegal border crossings and induce many in the country illegally to go home on their own.

They will stop coming across this border and will stop dying in the desert  if we can just do our jobs, Crane said.

For now, Trumps intentions appear to be a moving target.

Over the weekend, his new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said on CNN that Trumps long-promised deportation force was to be determined. A close advisor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala), said the candidate was wrestling with his deportation plan.

On Monday, Trump denied on Fox News that he was flip-flopping, but he also said he would not put people in detention centers, and would focus on first deporting gang leaders, murderers and other bad people, which mirrors Obamas deportation priorities.

He even appeared to praise Obamas deportation record.

What people dont know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. [President George W.] Bush, the same thing, Trump said. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, Im going to do the same thing.

He wouldnt say directly if he was rethinking his mass deportation strategy, saying, I just want to follow the law.

At a campaign rally in Akron, Ohio, earlier Monday, Trump repeated his pledge to build a massive border wall and to make Mexico pay for it, but he didnt bring up mass deportations.

Then during a Fox News town hall broadcast Tuesday night, Trump said he would be open to softening his immigration stance to accommodate people who are law-abiding and have children who are U.S. citizens.

There could certainly be a softening because were not looking to hurt people. We have some great people in this country, he said, adding that he will issue his deportation plan very soon.

Is this a trial balloon? Are they trying to figure out how his base will react? asked Alfonso Aguilar, who headed the office of citizenship at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Bush administration and now heads the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.

Trump could be more competitive with Latino voters if he softened his tone and clarified his immigration position, Aguilar said in a telephone interview from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

One option would be to require undocumented immigrants without a criminal record to touch back with their countrys embassy or consulate in the United States rather than demanding they leave and apply to come back in, he said.

Logistically it would be more practical and also it is humane, Aguilar said.

brian.bennett@latimes.com

Follow me @ByBrianBennett on Twitter.

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7:55 p.m.: The story was updated with remarks Trump made on his deportation plan during a Fox News town hall gathering.

The story was first published at 1:34 p.m.
Trump wavers on pledge to deport 11 million immigrants in U.S. illegally

(Steve Helber / Associated Press)

Donald Trump backed away Tuesday from his pledge to deport 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.

It was a dramatic shift for the Republican presidential nominee, whose vow to crack down on illegal immigration has been a pillar of his candidacy.

Trumps reversal highlighted the difficulty he faces in trying to broaden his appeal without turning off his most fervent supporters.

His statements came in response to a Fox News question on whether he would adjust immigration laws to accommodate those people that contribute to society, have been law abiding, have kids here.

There could certainly be a softening, because were not looking to hurt people, Trump responded.

Trump said hed spoken to many Americans who want tough enforcement of immigration laws, but feel that throwing them out as a whole family, where theyve been here for a long time, its a tough thing. They do feel that.

Not that Trump has forgotten his core supporters.

Hours later, he returned to his combative posture on illegal immigration at a rally in Austin, Texas, where he encouraged the crowds chant of Build that wall!

And whos going to pay for the wall? Trump shouted.

Mexico! the audience roared.

Trump went on to lament homicides, rapes, burglaries and other crimes committed in Texas by immigrants in the U.S. illegally, inviting several mothers of the victims to join him on stage and share their grief.

Trump went on to falsely accuse his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton of favoring a totally open border. She wants to gut immigration enforcement, he said.

Trumps running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, added to the muddle of Trumps mixed message on immigration when a CBS News correspondent asked him to explain Trumps evolving stand on deportations.

I think those are issues that will continue to be worked out in the days ahead, Pence said.

As for Trumps vow to deploy a deportation force, Pence responded, People who have run afoul of the law got to leave immediately. The details, he said, would be worked out with Congress.
Donald Trumps pledge to deport more than 11 million undocumented immigrants was always preposterous, so we suppose it should be welcome news that he might be rethinking his position. It is just such heavy-handed approaches to issues that have made Trump so unappealing from the start.

The idea that the government ought to oust 11 million people  the vast majority of whom are settled into productive lives in the United States  is as inhumane as it is impractical. The center-right American Action Forum estimates it would cost $400 billion to $600 billion to find and deport all the people living here without permission. The group also estimates such a mass deportation  about 3.5% of the nations population, according to the Pew Research Center  would shave $1 trillion from the GDP and cause labor shortages, especially in the agricultural, construction and hotel industries. It also would damage families: In 2012, about 4.5 million American-born children  and thus citizens  under age 18 had at least one parent living in the country illegally.

To think the federal government could deport the equivalent of the state of Ohio without doing significant damage to the nations economy and communities is delusional. If softening that approach is indeed a Trump pivot, it should be a welcome one, depending, of course, on the specifics (something that is notably absent from most Trump position statements).

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So far, though, he has not budged on his silly idea of forcing the Mexican government to build a massive wall along the southwest border. Nor has he withdrawn his noxious comments describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and other criminals. So how much of a softening this might actually be is a very large question mark  as is his sincerity.

Trump won the Republican nomination with 45% of the vote in a dramatic but disappointingly nasty and sophomoric campaign (Marco Rubio suggesting Trump had soiled himself; Trump trying to affirm the size of his, um, hands), and the misogyny, racism and nativism he brought to the fore was stunning. But even more chilling is how many people have found such vindictiveness resonant. Trump didnt create those voters, of course, he merely tapped into them, in the process giving unwelcome political currency to dangerously un-American ideas. Even if he loses, the nation may live with the dark echoes of this campaign for years to come.

If Trump wins, the way he has managed his campaign could preview how he would manage the country. The campaign has been disorganized, propelled mainly by Trumps personality and marked by upheaval. He has done little of the kind of nuts-and-bolts work that it takes to build a team of professionals and marshal them to achieve an end goal. Its chilling to imagine him in charge of the federal bureaucracy. And while we dont presume that a president should be versed in all the details of all the issues and problems facing the nation, Trump has been content to know next to nothing about how immigration works, let alone other complex and nuanced issues.

Inflexibility in politics leads to deadlock, but political leaders should at least have some core values  something Trump has failed to espouse in any meaningful way. Certainly there are times when a political leader should be praised for proclaiming, after digesting fresh data, that a previous stance is now unsupportable and a new direction is called for. If Trump is changing his position, he ought to explain what propelled him so voters can decide if he has evolved based on sober analysis and self-reflection, or if the campaign winds have suggested that the sails be trimmed to follow a different tack.

Our impression from the beginning has been that Trumps main focus is not the data, but himself. We hope his supporters will look at his pivots with a clear eye, because they do, in their own way, reveal the mans political character.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
As California moves closer to launching a retirement savings program for workers at companies that dont offer retirement plans of their own, some Wall Street firms are trying to hit the pause button. Their warnings are overblown, however, and state officials should keep moving forward.

The Secure Choice savings program would create individual retirement accounts for up to roughly 7 million workers in California at companies with five or more employees that do not offer a pension, 401(k) plan or similar retirement benefits. Workers would initially contribute 3% of their wages, and a state board could gradually increase the rate to 8%. Their IRAs would stay with them if they changed jobs, and they could opt out at any time (even at the beginning). As with other IRAs, they could face a tax penalty if they tapped the money before they retired.

Most of those eligible for the program would be low- to moderate-wage workers, given that employers with higher pay scales typically have their own retirement plans. And so the savings a worker would accumulate through Secure Choice would probably be modest  assuming a 5% annual return, a $50 monthly contribution would build up to about $42,000 after 30 years. But when added to Social Security benefits, the money would help keep more retirees out of poverty and off public support. More than 1 in 5 California seniors lives in poverty, according to the Census Bureaus Supplemental Poverty Measure  the worst rate in the country. And the ranks of the impoverished retirees in California have grown dramatically over the last 15 years, according to the Sacramento Bee.

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The Legislature set the wheels in motion in 2012 when it approved a bill by Sens. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Darryl Steinberg (D-Sacramento) creating a board to evaluate the feasibility of the Secure Choice program. Aided by a consultant, the board analyzed whether the program could sustain itself without posing any risk to the taxpayers (as required by state law).

The board agreed in March that Secure Choice could work as intended, with no liability or cost to the taxpayers. The U.S. Labor Department has issued a tentative rule setting guidelines for state-run programs such as Secure Choice, and the Treasury Department has said the IRAs offered through the program would qualify for the same tax benefits as other IRAs. Since then, the Senate has approved a bill by De Leon to start implementing the program Jan. 1, on the condition that it complies with the Labor Departments final guidelines and other federal requirements. Eligible employees would be phased in over time, starting with those at the largest employers.

Granted, workers would be better off with a pension, a 401(k) or other plan that received contributions from their employers too. And by establishing Secure Choice, the state would be doing something workers can already do for themselves, just by filling out some paperwork with a mutual fund company to create an automatic investment in an IRA.

But thousands of employers arent offering retirement plans, and far too many workers arent setting up IRAs. The Secure Choice board can also negotiate lower IRA fees than workers could obtain on their own. Thats a big deal  high fees can trim several percentage points and thousands of dollars off of a savers returns.

Nevertheless, in a letter this month to Brown, the mutual funds trade group  the Investment Company Institute  warned that the Secure Choice program posed a number of risks and carried substantial unforeseen costs. These include the possibilities that the program will not comply with the federal law governing employer-sponsored plans, that the Secure Choice board will be subject to onerous and costly federal regulations that apply to investment advisors and that taxpayers will have to bail out the program if it doesnt live up to the promise it makes to savers.

Yet De Leons bill and the 2012 law that envisioned the Secure Choice program include a number of safeguards against these and other pitfalls. For example, if the program doesnt qualify for an exemption from the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, it wont launch. Nor can it legally offer plans for which taxpayers might be held liable, unless the board goes back to the Legislature and gets permission.

Its understandable why the Investment Company Institute would want to protect its members from having to compete with state governments. But the Secure Choice board is a potential customer, not a would-be rival. Rather than managing retirement investments itself, the board will put that work out for bid by mutual fund companies and other investment firms that already have that expertise. Left to their own devices, those companies have failed to reach millions of Californians. Thats why the state should step in and help push more workers to save for their retirement.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Because of Donald Trumps unusual public conduct, legions of armchair analysts have wondered aloud about his mental health. A former dean of Harvard Medical School tweeted that Trump defines narcissistic personality disorder. New York Times columnist David Brooks has said the GOP nominee appears haunted by multiple personality disorders. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban was cruder, calling Trump batshit crazy. Trumps coauthor for The Art of the Deal, Tony Schwartz, labeled him a sociopath. Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker found Trumps behavior reminiscent of a brain injury.

As a psychiatrist, I have frequently encountered questions about Trumps mental status in my daily life. A new neighbor asked me what I thought of him. A medical student wondered, would I diagnose him with a mental illness? On a recent phone call, my mother was more specific: Is he a narcissist or what?!

The lessons I learned in kindergarten  not in medical school and years of psychiatric practice  are what tell me that Trump is unfit for the job.

Im not supposed to answer that question. To underline that point, the American Psychiatric Assn. issued a statement this month reminding its physician members, myself included, to avoid psychoanalyzing the presidential candidates.

That ethical standard has been in place for decades. In 1964, thousands of psychiatrists, in response to a magazine survey, openly questioned then-GOP nominee Barry Goldwaters fitness for White House duty. Several psychiatrists offered specific diagnoses. The fact that so many psychiatrists were willing to casually diagnose a person theyd never met embarrassed the profession and led to the codification of the so-called Goldwater Rule  no professional opinions on people we have not personally examined.

So when folks ask me to speculate about Trumps mental health, I have an easy out  I cite the Goldwater Rule. But increasingly, not engaging in these discussions seems both disingenuous and itself ethically dubious. For one thing, the void left by thoughtful professionals is filled with speculations by commentators, many of whom lack the expertise to appropriately apply diagnostic labels. Moreover, remaining quiet about the upcoming election feels like an abdication of moral responsibility.

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Like many Americans, I have been personally appalled by much of Trumps indecorous behavior as a candidate. He comes across as cantankerous, vain, impulsive, demeaning and ill-informed. I understand why people have raised questions about his mental health. It can be tempting to describe his behavior in familiar psychopathological terms. But there are several reasons why we should resist using a psychiatric framework to describe Trump.

For starters, we dont have access to critical information. I havent interviewed, diagnosed or treated Trump. I know only his public persona. Its certainly possible that much of what I see in that persona is an act, a representation not of his true self but rather a character he has embodied in order to win votes or enhance his fame or riches.

Nor am I aware that Trump has been significantly troubled by psychological distress or impaired by any condition (a criterion for the diagnosis of any mental disorder). He is, after all, functioning well enough to be one of two people nominated by a major party to be the next president of the United States.

Furthermore, casually and pejoratively tossing around psychiatric labels to describe unusual or distasteful behavior is stigmatizing to those who are suffering with mental disorders. Calling Trump, say, a narcissist, does not adequately explain his toxic behavior or exemplify the condition. I know and treat plenty of people with narcissism, and none of them publicly incite violence or malign entire ethnic groups.

Perhaps the most important reason to skip a psychiatric assessment of Trump is that it just isnt necessary. You dont have to be a psychiatrist to know that theres something seriously wrong with the candidate. The lessons I learned in preschool, kindergarten and elementary school  not in medical school, residency and years of psychiatric practice  are what tell me that Trump is unfit for the job. My core values as an American  not my professional training  are what make me concerned about a Trump presidency.

Trump should never be president, but not because he may or may not have a mental disorder. He shouldnt be president because he disparages women, denigrates Mexicans and Muslims and mocks the disabled. He shouldnt be president because he demonizes the media and impugns those who challenge him. He shouldnt be president because he insinuates that his rivals might be assassinated and advocates the commission of war crimes. He shouldnt be president because he rejects science and demonstrates a remarkable lack of knowledge or interest when it comes to foreign and domestic policy.

As a psychiatrist, I dont have a public opinion on Trump. As a citizen, I certainly do.

Matthew Goldenberg is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.

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To the editor: You correctly identify the need to have our states emergency funds preserved for catastrophic disasters. It is inappropriate to drain emergency funds for social programs. (Homelessness is an emergency  but not like an earthquake, editorial, Aug. 19)

However, the homelessness problem requires more than just funding.

The homeless population is divided into four different groups: drug addicts, alcoholics, the mentally ill and the economically deprived. Of those four, only the economically deprived will benefit from housing and job training to become productive citizens.

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State lawmakers must give cities and counties a pathway to provide comprehensive services, including mandated treatment, to effectively address the issue. Mentally ill people require more than the 72 hours of assessment and treatment as currently allowed under California involuntary hold laws.

Until we effectively address the primary causes of homelessness, siphoning money away from emergency funds reserved for disasters for mass housing projects is irresponsible and will do little to solve the problem.

Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles

The writer is a Los Angeles County supervisor.

..

To the editor: The state of California has been notoriously weak in homeless policy. Establishing a state of emergency and convening leadership would be a critical first step in reversing a decades-long trend of neglect that has had disastrous consequences in cities and rural areas throughout California.

Yet disappointingly, The Times opposes that measure. Although three-page Senate Resolution 84 does not even mention the use of reserve funds, that is where The Times focuses its misplaced objection.

The cause of homelessness can be summed up by the collection of excuses policymakers have been using for years to not do enough, be it in land use or funding for services and housing. This proposal is long overdue, and it deserves widespread support.

Natalie Profant Komuro, Glendale

The writer is executive director of the homeless services agency Ascencia.

..

To the editor: I was disheartened to read your editorial.

Just because homelessness is not caused by a force of nature does not make it any less serious or any less hurtful for the people directly affected. And because it happens on local streets, under local underpasses and in local parks does not make it any more or less a city or county problem than a state problem.

The city and county of Los Angeles are now stepping up their efforts to solve homelessness and the state should do likewise by declaring a state of emergency, like Hawaii has done. Now.

Ruth Schwartz, Los Angeles

The writer is executive director of Shelter Partnership Inc.

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Donald Trump declined Monday to back down from his vow to deport 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, despite a top advisors signal that he might take a more moderate approach.

The Republican presidential nominee said that he would enforce the law more rigorously than other presidents and that his first priority would be criminals, such as Los Angeles gang leaders.

Theyre going to be out of here so fast, your head will spin, Trump told Fox News. As far as the rest, were going to go through the process, like they are now  perhaps with a lot more energy.

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Trumps remarks came a day after his new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, suggested he might not honor his pledge during the Republican primaries to use a deportation force to expel 11 million immigrants who lack legal papers.

To be determined, she told CNN.

It was the latest of many occasions when Trump advisors have suggested he might adjust his rhetoric to widen his appeal, only to be contradicted by a candidate who resists attempts to bend his will.

At a rally Monday night in Akron, Ohio, Trump struggled to stick to a script prepared by campaign staff, repeatedly veering from the words on his teleprompter.

Responding to chants of Build that wall, Trump assured the crowd that he would seal the southern border, a plan that is popular among his overwhelmingly white loyalists but offensive to many Latinos and Asians whose votes he needs in Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

Dont worry. Were going to build the wall, he said. That wall will go up so fast, your head will spin. And youll say, You know, he meant it. And you know what else I mean? Mexico is going to pay for the wall.

Reading a passage on trade, the New York businessman added President Obamas middle name to the prepared remarks, deploring the economic legacy of Barack Hussein Obama. It was a reminder of Trumps suggestions that the Christian president might secretly be a Muslim who sympathizes with terrorists.

Trump, who has long fought critics charge that he is racist, urged supporters to reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton. The Democratic presidential nominee, he said, sees people of color only as votes, and not as human beings worthy of a better future.

He blamed Democrats for poverty, failing schools and broken homes in Americas inner cities. Our government has totally failed our African American friends, our Hispanic friends and the people of our country, period, he said.

To the African Americans, who I employ so many of, so many people, to the Hispanics, tremendous people, what the hell do you have to lose? Trump said. Give me a chance. Ill straighten it out.

It is a disaster the way African Americans are living in many cases, and in many cases the way Hispanics are living, and I say it with such a deep felt feeling: What do you have to lose?

Trump said that once he cuts crime and creates jobs, youll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Right now, you walk down the street, you get shot.

After the rally, the Clinton campaign released a statement denouncing Trump for insults, fear and stereotypes that set our community back and further divide our country. Trumps remarks were not surprising, it said, for a man who questions the citizenship of the first African American president, has a disturbing pattern of courting white supremacists and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color.

At a Republican presidential debate in November, Trump praised President Dwight Eisenhowers deportation program of the 1950s, known as Operation Wetback.

Moved 1.5 million illegal immigrants out of this country, moved them just beyond the border, Trump said after one of his competitors, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, argued that his vow to expel 11 million immigrants makes no sense. They came back. Moved them again, beyond the border. They came back. Didnt like it. Moved them way south. They never came back.

Asked the next day how he would round up 11 million people, Trump told MSNBC, You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely.

In Akron, Trump was introduced by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who suggested Clinton should be indicted for the way she handled her email as secretary of State.

Lock her up! the audience shouted.

No! Giuliani hollered back. Beat her! Beat her! Beat her!

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

Twitter: @finneganLAT

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Sweeping legislation at the state Capitol would make the future of California elections dependent on a major expansion of absentee ballots, one that would give local officials the power to close thousands of neighborhood polling places.

In their place, counties would open temporary elections offices known as vote centers sprinkled throughout communities, locations offering a wide variety of elections services including early voting and same-day voter registration as well as a limited number of in-person voting booths.

Were trying to make it easier for people to participate, given the complexities of modern life, said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), the author of Senate Bill 450.

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The proposal was passed by the Assembly on Tuesday on a party-line vote. It now heads to the state Senate and faces an Aug. 31 deadline to make it to Gov. Jerry Brown for his ultimate signature or veto.

Allen and SB 450s supporters say the plan represents a significant rethinking of the election experience for Californians. They point out that the many complaints from voters during the June primary  including polling place mistakes and registration errors  are perhaps the best argument for why change is long overdue.

I think it was very clear the June primary really exposed the weaknesses in our current system, said Dean Logan, registrar of voters in Los Angeles County. Our current system and infrastructure are failing.

SB 450 would offer each of Californias 58 counties the chance to embrace an alternative to traditional elections. In most of those counties, every registered voter would receive a ballot in the mail and polling places would be scrapped. Voters would be able to turn in ballots either at secure drop boxes placed around the county or at the new vote center locations.

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Some of those vote centers would be open at least 10 days before election day, and would allow last-minute registration, a check of existing registration status and the ability to cast a vote in person even if the voter lives in a different city inside county lines. The bill says counties should work together at transporting the ballot of a voter who lives in Ventura County, for example, and mistakenly casts a ballot in Kern County.

From a voter choice standpoint, all of a sudden you have the choice to go any vote center in your county, said Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who is urging legislators to send the bill to the governors desk. The bill is slated to get its final vote in the Assembly this week, and although lawmakers have been generally supportive, many have said they want to see the final details before making a decision.

Unlike traditional polling places, the vote centers are envisioned as staffed by paid workers with more than the few hours of training normally given to temporary poll workers. Elections officials who have endorsed SB 450 say they envision the sites as one-stop-shopping for voters in convenient locations like retail districts and downtown business zones.

I think it was very clear the June primary really exposed the weaknesses in our current system.  Dean Logan, registrar of voters in Los Angeles County

Logan said he could even see a few mobile vote centers set up for a pre-election weekend at places like the Rose Bowl.

This is an entirely new model of voting thats designed with the voter in mind, he said.

Still, SB 450 envisions far fewer vote centers than the polling places mandated by existing law. Even though vote centers would be open for more days, in some cases it could mean a 90% reduction in locations where a voter can cast an in-person ballot on election day.

The formulas in the bill language would allow Los Angeles County, which had more than 4,500 neighborhood polling places June 7, to open as few as 100 early vote centers for elections starting in 2020. In the final three days of early voting and on election day itself, there would need to be about 500 vote centers spread throughout the county.

Im frankly surprised that there has not been a more robust discussion in the Legislature about whether its a good idea to eliminate polling places, said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation.

Although her organization is officially neutral on SB 450, Alexander said such a major change might have been better crafted as a pilot project in a select few counties to see how voters would react  and not something that, if signed into law, could be used in every county in California in as few as four years.

The proposal was inspired by Colorados move from traditional polling places in 2013. But unlike Colorado, the California shift would allow counties to decide between opting in or continuing to conduct traditional elections  a concession supporters admit was due to the cost of a statewide mandate, and a flexibility that Alexander said could prove troublesome.

Are you an independent voter in California? Not if you checked this box 

Some counties will adopt this new model and others will not, she said. We think this could create more voter confusion.

If it becomes law, SB 450 would allow for only gradual change. A handful of counties including Orange County would be allowed to adopt the new system for the 2018 elections. All other counties would be allowed to replace polling places with vote centers in 2020.

Los Angeles County, home to as many voters as some U.S. states, would be treated differently from every other county. Although the county could begin eliminating polling places as soon as 2020, SB 450 does not require every one of its voters to be mailed a ballot until 2024. That would mean over four years, some Los Angeles County residents would be forced to use one of the vote centers to cast a ballot.

Logan said that hes heard the criticisms that too few vote centers in Californias most traffic-plagued region could leave Los Angeles voters with too few options, and that it was likely the county would offer substantially more than the 500 mandated facilities.

There are some unknowns in this, but the current model is underperforming, Logan said. Los Angeles Countys turnout was one of the states lowest in June, with fewer than 42% of registered voters casting a ballot.

Weve got to try something, he said.

A key question for lawmakers and researchers is whether enough California voters are willing to cast ballots at home to make SB 450s hopes for efficiency and flexibility pencil out. Final election statistics show 59% of ballots were cast by mail in June.

A survey by UC Davis California Civic Engagement Project found young voters and Latino voters both used voting by mail less frequently in 2014 than their counterparts in the states electorate. Latino voters in Los Angeles County, according to the report, were among the least likely voters in the state to cast ballots by mail.

Mindy Romero, director of the UC Davis project, said there is a trust issue with many Latino voters in assuring their vote will make it through the mail and count.

When they go in person, they know theyve actually cast their ballot, she said.

Supporters of SB 450 and elections officials said the key to such a major change in the election system is an intense and far-reaching voter education effort. The bill mandates new county efforts to explain the system to voters, though it leaves many of the details to local officials.

What were doing is empowering each and every county in California, Padilla said. I believe it will be a permanent change for the better.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast

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UPDATES:

2:10 p.m.: This story was updated to reflect the bills passage in the Assembly.

This story was originally published at 12:05 a.m.
As war wages on in Syria, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes to escape the death and violence. Stories and images of these desperate escapes have been widespread. In September, President Obama directed his administration to prepare to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees into the U.S. in the next fiscal year.

While this was already a point of argument between politicians, the terror attacks in Paris only strengthened some stances. The fear is that terrorists have infiltrated the refugee ranks and would pose a national security threat to the U.S. if allowed into the country.

Many on the political right oppose Obamas plan, with some calling for a pause on the admittance of any Syrian refugees. Presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson likened refugees to rabid dogs and, after a recent trip to a refugee camp in Jordan, said: Until it is safe for them to return home, Jordan is a safe place for them to wait, he said. Bringing 25,000 refugees to the United States does nothing to solve this crisis.

Sen. Ted Cruz has called for the acceptance of only Christian Syrians. Half of the United States governors have said they refuse to admit any Syrian refugees into their states.

Speaking from a summit in the Philippines, Obama said fear was driving some reactions.

We are not well served when, in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic, he said. We dont make good decisions if its based on hysteria or an exaggeration of risks.

Q: Does the U.S. have a moral obligation to accept Syrian refugees? What should our policy be concerning Syrian refugees?

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Absolutely this country has a moral obligation to take in Syrian refugees. Yes, there may be a risk to doing so, but how can a country built on immigrants from many countries say no?

What does the Statue of Liberty say on it? Send me your tired, your poor, your teeming masses yearning to breathe free. (If those arent the exact words of Emma Lazarus, theyre pretty close.)

It is un-American to turn refugees away, and it is certainly un-Christian to do so.

I understand the fear; I also remember what we did to anybody who looked Japanese during WWII when we sent those we feared off to our own concentration camps. (We humans do some pretty scary things when we are afraid.) Those Americans who claim were a Christian nation need to read again the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: 35: "...for I was hungry and you gave me food  I was a stranger and you welcomed me...

Oh, and how about this: Jesus himself was a refugee as a little baby when he and Mary and Joseph fled into Egypt. Remember the first Christmas? He was a refugee born in a manger.

Lets go, you Christian Americans. Man up, act like Jesus in this Christmas season, and support the idea of Syrian refugees in our midst. Really, its the Christian thing to do.

Merry Christmas,

Rev. Skip Lindeman

La Canada Congregational Church

La Canada Flintridge

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Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free" (Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus).

The heartfelt feelings of a nation are in those words. We see ourselves as being the haven for the victims of persecution wherever it occurs. Yet there are those of us who would close the gates of America to those in the greatest need out of fear of terrorism. Many today already living in the United States are tired of terrorism, and are poor due to the expense of waging a war that seems to expand to other nations bent on our destruction and huddle together in fear of another 9/11- or Paris- or London-type massacre. So, how do we reconcile the two camps?

Immediately, I would bring in children ages 6 to 12, alone. And send them to communities where there are co-culturalists. I would establish ESL programs for them that teach not only language but values. The faith communities are the place to start.

Let us remember, during the heyday of immigration to the U.S., 1881 to 1924, many children were sent by their families alone because their families wanted them to have a chance at a better life. While splitting up families is not the best idea, it has been proven successful with the Kinder transport of pre-WWII in Europe.

Still I am conflicted with which adults should come. My Tanakh often gives me guidance. In this case, Deuteronomy 10-13 gave me a solution or at least a starting point for discussion.

When thou goest forth to battle ... And seest among the captives a woman  then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month.

Isolating the women for one month in an American home center for medical reasons  hair and nails; for emotional reasons mourning their families and their past allegiances; and spiritual reasons  introducing them to American life, values, new families, etc.  seems a reasonable amount of time. Then we would begin the integration into American society.

During this process of Americanization, let us remember two things: Love the strangers, as you were strangers in a strange land (Deut. 10:19) and Your sons born in Egypt (trouble) will be numbered as mine (Genesis 48:5).

If we love them and bring them the love of freedom that is America, they will be ours, and our numbers will grow as our enemies numbers decline.

Rabbi Mark Sobel

Temple Beth Emet

Burbank

--

If only we had a seasonally appropriate story about Middle Eastern people seeking refuge being turned away by the heartless.  @owills (Oliver Willis, research fellow at MediaMatters.org), quoted in The Nation, Dec. 1, 2015

Yes, if only, because the United States must be responsible for humanitarian assistance and the settling into our country of refugees fleeing the chaos in the Middle East the U.S. has played a major role in creating.

Our responsibility is moral, strategic and practical. One would think that the moral basis for our responsibility would be obvious, but apparently not. Devout Christians share a key experience with Muslims. Both religions harbor a few who violate their religions peaceful core beliefs

Strategically, the racist rantings of GOP governors and presidential candidates and their followers is, as President Obama says, doing the work of ISISfor them.

A practical consideration is that these refugees are not the huddled masses. More likely those who are fleeing have the most resources of money and education, plus an abundance of personal initiative and courage.

Refugees coming here go through thorough U.N. and U.S. screening, as is appropriate, and I dont see Syrians as posing any special security risk. After all, the native-born are doing a bang-up job of exploiting loopholes in the inadequate gun control the NRA has allowed us. A few of our many mass killers have an ideological motivation, most do not.

I was going to close with quotes from Matthew 25:34-46, but on second thought, no. About 70 percent of the U.S. population call themselves Christians. Do I need to be the one to urge that we follow their Lords admonition to welcome strangers?

Roberta Medford

Atheist

Montrose

--

The LDS church has urged compassion and provided aid for refugees in the Middle East for more than a decade. More recently, the church as an institution and individual members have assisted refugees arriving in Europe by providing millions of dollars in food, clothing, blankets, volunteer support and medical help.

The churchs efforts in the Middle East and Europe are inspired by Jesus teachings to feed and take in the hungry, the thirsty and the stranger. A letter from the churchs First Presidency, read from pulpits in October and November, invited members around the world to contribute to the churchs humanitarian relief fund and to participate in local volunteer efforts. I believe that church members will respond to Syrians who come to the U.S. with the same generosity and tolerance.

In light of recent events in Paris and San Bernardino, I can understand why people are concerned about plans to take in people from a region that is home to terrorist groups encouraging violent attacks in the West. It is not unreasonable to expect a rigorous screening program to prevent entry of people seeking to harm Americans.

That said, much of the political rhetoric has been unwarranted and unrealistic. Any demands that the U.S. accept only Christian refugees is constitutionally indefensible, and state governors in reality have little control over refugee placement. But apart from the rhetoric of politicians, many are simply asking how we can implement the safeguards that will enable us to be generous and careful at the same time.

In my personal view, the refugee problem ultimately must be resolved in the regions of conflict themselves. More could be done to help those who remain in the Middle East and Africa. But now, with millions displaced or on the move and war still raging in their homelands, it is difficult to accept the argument that we can simply watch from afar, our doors closed to those who are suffering.

Michael White

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

La Crescenta
The owners of an Irvine-based company that provides housekeeping services for luxury resorts and major hotel chains in Southern California have been indicted in what prosecutors call a $7 million insurance and tax fraud scheme, the San Diego County district attorneys office announced Monday.

Prosecutors alleged in a news release that Hyok Steven Kwon and Woo Stephanie Kwon hid the existence of about 800 employees for almost a decade through a methodical and systematic shell game involving six straw owners.

The scheme enabled the Kwons to avoid paying more than $3.6 million in workers compensation insurance premiums and more than $3.3 million in payroll taxes, prosecutors said.

The Kwons company, Good Neighbor Services, has high-profile clients in San Diego, Los Angeles and Riverside counties, including the Hotel del Coronado and hotel chains such as Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Hilton and Hyatt, according to prosecutors.

The Kwons face 11 counts of workers compensation premium fraud, 18 counts of payroll tax evasion and one count of extortion, prosecutors said. Each could be sentenced to up to 31 years in prison if convicted.

These defendants lied on the backs of their employees who were cleaning rooms in some of the most prestigious hotels in California, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement. If employees got hurt on the job, they were threatened with being fired.

Prosecutors allege that employees at Good Neighbor Services were not paid overtime and not granted workers compensation benefits if they were hurt on the job.

One worker whom investigators interviewed said she had to repeatedly ask for medical attention when she was hurt, and when the Kwons did send her to a doctor, it was a dentist, not a physician, according to the district attorneys office.

Though employees wore Good Neighbor Services uniforms and recognized the Kwons as the business owners, their paychecks had different company names, prosecutors said.

Authorities allege that six co-conspirators were involved in the scheme. Melquiades Brizuela Jr., Manuel Rodriguez, Veronica Lucas Cuin, Aimee Sunmyung Kwon, Daniel Kwon and Hyun Bung Chae also face charges of workers compensation fraud and tax evasion. Prosecutors did not explain their alleged roles.

Each could face six to eight years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.
Frank Ferrante was 9 years old when he discovered Groucho Marx, watching Marx Brothers movies on TV and relating with glee to such unfettered comic anarchy. As a teenager at LaSalle High School in Pasadena, Ferrante jumped at the chance to play Groucho in the schools production of Minnies Boys, the musical about the Marx brothers and their mother, written by Grouchos son Arthur Marx with Robert Fisher.

Five years later, Ferrante was on stage in New York, portraying Groucho from ages 15 to 85 in the off-Broadway production of the Marx/Fisher play, Groucho: A Life in Revue, a performance that garnered him a New York Theatre World Award. (I was 22 years old, Ferrante said, and that was my first Equity job.)

His nearly lifelong fascination with the legendary comedian continued, inspiring Ferrantes own world-touring, two-act comedy, An Evening with Groucho, returning to the Pasadena Playhouse on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 9 and 10), for three performances.

A Los Angeles native who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, Ferrante said that its a particular thrill to bring his show to the Pasadena Playhouse again.

I used to work in a law office on El Molino and I could walk by and think one day Im going to play there. (It didnt take long. While Ferrante performed An Evening With Groucho as a special one-night event at the Playhouse in 2013, he first realized his goal in 1989, when the Playhouse presented Groucho: A Life in Revue.)

The premise for An Evening With Groucho, explained Ferrante, is what it might have been like if the comedian had been asked to do a one-man show in 1934, between the films Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. The central focus is on the Groucho of Broadway and early film, but it draws, too, from Groucho, the late-night talk show guest, and host of the long-running TV program, You Bet Your Life.

Ferrantes critically acclaimed portrayal is more than the stooping walk, the noodle-legged novelty dance moves, the greasepaint mustache and twiddling cigar, although all are part of his highly physical performance. The younger Groucho was a great physical clown and so brilliant at combining the verbal and the physical, Ferrante said, and I do try to capture that for audiences. (His tough constitution and warming up before the show keeps him limber enough to jump over couches, dance and lope about, he noted.)

But I have the advantage of hindsight, so I can use part of his later style, which was breezier, more casual, more banter-y. Indeed, Grouchos work on You Bet Your Life inspired much of Ferrantes interaction with the audience, and he borrows from different parts of Grouchos life within the piece, singing songs that came later and quoting from letters and interviews.

As I mature as a person and as a performer and director in the theater, Ferrante said, I really appreciate Grouchos journey as a creative person, his ability to survive and reinvent and tweak. And I admire his personal journey. He loved what he did and he was a genius within his form.

Underscored throughout, the show features 10 songs from Grouchos Broadway and film career (including such signature numbers as Hooray for Captain Spaulding and Lydia, the Tattooed Lady), and Ferrante works closely with his onstage pianist and straight man, alternating between Mark Rabe (who will appear with Ferrante in Pasadena) and Eric Ebbenga, a couple of magnificent accompanists.

Their role, Ferrante said, is to be part George Fenneman (the announcer on You Bet Your Life) and part Margaret Dumont  the stately foil to Groucho Marxs comedic mayhem on film.

Ferrantes homage to Margaret Dumont in the show is a recent addition. Even though Ive done 2,500 performances, theres still so much to pull from, he said. The unpredictability of his interactions with the audience and his need to ad-lib and improvise keep the show fresh, too, Ferrante said.

Im always looking to invent new gags, one liners, and actions, so an audience on a Saturday will get a different show than an audience on a Sunday. (Ferrante credits Dreya Weber, his director for the past three years, as being particularly influential in the shows revamping.)

People keep discovering and rediscovering Groucho, Ferrante observed, because he doesnt date. He was a transcendent talent. Im still exhilarated by him. A lot of it is just the fact that his humor was just so honest and so free, and thats something as a child I was drawn to. Even though I did not understand all of the lines, I was quite aware that the Marx Brothers were breaking the rules, saying things that they should not be saying, and doing what they should not be doing.

I was taught by nuns in a Catholic school, Ferrante added, laughing, and I think I wanted to treat the nuns the way they treated Margaret Dumont, with that kind of irreverence and fearlessness. I still feel like hes armor for a lot of us, for a lot of shy people and for children who discover him.

To see young people and older people, and everyone in between respond to his irreverence, and brashness, and subversive style, its satisfying and affirming.

Ferrante will tour the show in the U.S. into April, then take it to Australia for two months, and to England for a day. Hell also spend four to six months performing with Teatro ZinZanni, a European-style circus show, playing a signature role of his own creation: a comic Latin lover named Caesar (Ive done over 1,200 performances of that character alone, he said), and hell kick off 2017 by directing and performing in Neil Simons Laughter on the 23rd Floor at Philadelphias Walnut Street Theatre.)

--

What: An Evening With Groucho

Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena

When: 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10. Ends Sunday.

Cost: $25 to $60.

More info: (626) 356-7529; pasadenaplayhouse.org

--

LYNNE HEFFLEY writes about theater and culture for Marquee.
Merle Lucille Woodburn (93) passed away peacefully at home on the morning of January 15, 2015. Merle was a very active member of the Burbank Community where she lived for over 72 years.

Merle was born in Wolf Lake, Illinois to Merle and Dennis Howenstein she lived in Southern Illinois with her parents and sister Pearl Dennisteen (Denne) until 1945, she moved to California after she graduated from Ellis Business College as a legal secretary. After coming to California she met and married Fred L. Maurer in 1946. They met after WWII, Fred had served in the U.S Army Air Corps. He had been a Japanese Prisoner of War for the duration of the war. They settled in Burbank they enjoyed dancing at the American Legion and hosting family gatherings, they had three children Linda, Fred Jr. Butch and Marie, who were all members of and attended St. Finbar Church and School. Fred passed away in 1972 after battling lung cancer. Merle is now at home with the Lord along with Fred, Denne, Butch, and her grandson Joseph Larsen.

Merle was blessed to have married James D. Woodburn at St. Finbar Church in April 9, 1988, they then combined their families and interests, including traveling, long walks on the beach, and working side by side for various organizations.

Above all, family and friends were one of the most important parts of Merles life, she was known for her love, kindness, and a smile that would, light up the day. Merle will be missed and loved by her husband, James Jim D. Woodburn, her daughters: Linda Larsen and Marie Hrach, Jims two sons: James D. Woodburn Jr. M.D., and William Scott Woodburn, Jims step daughters; Cynthia Holm, and Deborah Sandberg along with 11 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, 2 great-great grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews, their families and countless friends.

Merle was elected and served as City Clerk of Burbank from 1985-1990, she was the Assistant City Clerk from 1973-1985; she began working for the City of Burbank in 1966 as a legal secretary in the City Attorneys office. Prior to that she worked for several law firms in Burbank, Los Angeles and Van Nuys including Warner Bros.

Merle was involved in many organizations in Burbank. She belonged to the Burbank Rotary Club, the YMCA, the Burbank Historical Society and the Burbank Sister City Committee. She and Jim were sent to Otta, Japan as representatives of the city of Burbank. Over the years she also served on the Burbank City Employees Credit Union Board, as well as Zonta, The California City Clerks Association, The International Institute of Municipal Clerks and The Burbank Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Merle was raised Catholic, after marrying Jim they combined their families and faiths by attending both St. Robert Bellarmine Church and Burbank First Presbyterian Church. She will be remembered on January 31, 2015 at Valley Funeral Home, starting at 1:00 pm with a Catholic Rosary followed at 2:00 with a Memorial Service to celebrate her life. In lieu of flowers the family has asked that donations be made in Merles name to any of the many organizations she served or to a charity of your choice. A private family interment will be held at San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
Explore Venice and Florence, Italy, during less-crowded fall and winter with an airfare-hotel deal priced at $1,190 a person, a pretty unbeatable price for a five-night trip.

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 First-class train tickets from Venice to Florence;

 Three nights at the Hotel Calzaiuoli in Florence (breakfast included).

When: The offer is good for travel from Nov. 1 through March 31.

Details: I checked Kayak.com and found airfares alone between L.A. and Venice/Florence cost about the same as this package.

Info: Mark Anderson Adventure Vacations, (800) 600-5587, www.lat.ms/florencevenice

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Deal: The Kinney, a new hotel in Venice, offers free suite upgrades

Deal: 25% discount on Danube River cruise hosted by California wineries
How does New Mexico cope?

Water covers just 0.2% of the Land of Enchantment, Census Bureau statistics show, making it the driest state by percentage of land area. Its not that most of its 2.1 million residents cant get a drink from the tap; ground and surface water see to that.

But New Mexico, like 15 other states, is landlocked. The broad middle swath of the country plus Vermont are missing out on the aural benefits of the ocean  the sound of waves, for instance, as they break on a beach in a sort of unsynchronized water ballet.

Those tones and their constancy are balm for the brain.

If this is so, the National Park Service holds the key to a 600,000-acre medicine cabinet.

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The park service has gathered within its fold 10 national seashores that are protected in perpetuity. Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County is the only West Coast entity, although one day there may be more, assuming coastal quibbling can be overcome.

Celebrating our national parks 

Also within its storehouse of 412 units, the park service has four national lakeshores, all on the Great Lakes, five national rivers and 10 wild and scenic riverways.

Geographically disparate, all share water as their common denominator.

For visitors, the appeal, at first glance, may be recreational opportunities  boating, swimming, fishing and more.

But you need not put forth any effort to enjoy the benefits of these watery wonderlands. You have only to listen.

Water sound is high enough in amplitude that it blocks out other sounds, said Erik Miller-Klein, an engineer and partner in A3 Acoustics in Seattle.

Traffic noises and the clack of shopping carts could be heard in the background as he talked while he walked toward a shopping center. But if he had been next to a water feature  a man-made waterfall, for instance  youd just hear sh-h-h-h, sh-h-h-h, making conversations and almost anything else indistinguishable.

Couple that masking effect with an oceans rhythms  they are probably very similar to a really good breathing pattern that encourages relaxation, he said  and you have a sort of cocoon into which your brain can burrow with no more effort than cocking an ear.

The result of listening to that continuous soundtrack? A drop in blood pressure, which suggests relaxation, said Dr. Jennifer Derebery, an associate partner at House Clinic and a clinical professor of otolaryngology at UCLA.

Stress reduction is almost certainly an unintended consequence of the park services move to protect these seashores and their cousin, the lakeshores.

North Carolinas Cape Hatteras was established in 1937 as the first national seashore to protect a unique environment and shelter its species, many now threatened or endangered, said Darrell Echols, acting deputy regional director for resource stewardship and science for the Southeast region of the National Park Service.

Everything at the beach is encouraging you to slow down.  Erik Miller-Klein

But it was also a way to ensure that city dwellers would have an escape hatch.

Not everybody had a car, and trains didnt get to Hatteras, so it was an effort to get to the Outer Banks, he said of those early visitors to that string of North Carolina barrier islands.

Hatteras got them away from large urban areas to a wild place for a kind of experience like what some of our Western parks [visitors] were experiencing, which was some solitude, some opportunities to recreate by themselves without the influence of other people and other demands on their time.

Sound familiar?

The seashores still sing a siren song. Everything at the beach is encouraging you to slow down, Miller-Klein said, noting that youre probably also getting a dose of vitamin-D-rich sunlight that contributes to a feeling of well-being.

President Kennedy, addressing Americas Cup crews in Newport, R.I., on Sept. 14, 1962, just a day after designating Point Reyes as a national seashore, explained our bond with the water, with the waves.

We all came from the sea, said Kennedy, an avid sailor. We have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came.

Listen carefully and youll hear the ocean welcoming you home.

Freelance writer Rosemary McClure contributed to this report.

travel@latimes.com

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What do you do when you find yourself in an unhappy marriage but live in a country where there is no divorce?

You go on Facebook and hope to find others like you.

I didnt have anyone to talk to, said 45-year-old Maviv Millora. I was sure there were others like me who wished there was divorce in the Philippines, I just had to find them.

After being married for more than 20 years, Millora separated from her husband in 2011. Since then, its been a vicious cycle of survival. She supports the two youngest of her four children with her earnings as an English teacher. She cannot claim child support since she is still technically married, but she also cant afford the considerable legal costs of separation proceedings.

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Online, she found Divorce Advocates of the Philippines, a Facebook group of more than 5,000 people. The group has since spun off into two other divorce groups, Pro-Divorce Philippines and Divorce for the Philippines Now International.

Some members were depressed and wanted to talk; some were angry and wanted to vent; and some just wanted legal advice without going to a lawyer who would charge by the hour  but they all wanted to demand the legalization of divorce.

In this devout Catholic country with deeply conservative views on marriage and family, Millora and others like her were expected to hide any cracks in the marital union and simply suffer in silence.

Members and supporters of Pro-Divorce Philippines prepare to march to the Philippine congress in Manila on Aug. 3, 2016. (Ana P. Santos / Los Angeles Times )

This month, Millora (who is now secretary general of Divorce Advocates of the Philippines) and other members decided they were tired of being quiet. Together with their supporters, they took their online movement to the Philippine congress.

One fist in the air and the other hand waving a small flag, each of them chanted: Its time for divorce in the Philippines! Legalize divorce in the Philippines now!

The march was timed to coincide with the filing of a divorce bill by the Gabriela Womens Party, a nationwide network of grass-roots organizations advocating for womens issues. It is the fifth time a divorce bill has been filed in Congress since 2005.

A representative of Gabriela, Emmi de Jesus, expressed hope that this time the bill would get more support from lawmakers.

This is the first time that stakeholders are coming forward to make their voices heard. Before, divorce was downplayed by male legislators as an issue of bitter, vindictive women abandoned by their husbands, De Jesus said.

The Philippines holds the distinction of being one of two places in the world where divorce is not legal  the other being the Vatican.

Under Philippine law, two people who want to dissolve their marriage can file for legal separation, which will allow them to separate their possessions and live apart. However, it will not sever the marital bond.

Exceptions in the law allow divorce for foreigners who are married to Filipinos, and for the 5% of the population that is Muslim.

For everyone else, the only loophole is an annulment  a notoriously agonizing process that is both financially and emotionally draining.

An annulment ends a marriage, but unlike divorce, the parties must prove that the marriage was never valid to begin with. Among the accepted reasons are that one or both parties were under age, or that there was a case of mistaken identity or fraud. Or the petitioner can try to prove that the spouse is psychologically incapacitated to perform the duties of marriage  and be ready to substantiate that claim with a psychological evaluation.

The usually acceptable reasons for ending a marriage such as infidelity, physical abuse or irreconcilable differences cannot be cited as grounds for annulment.

It takes an average of about four years  sometimes longer  for an annulment case to make its way through the clogged judicial system and even then, some annulment petitions are denied.

Those desperate for freedom sometimes slip the judge a professional fee to ensure a decision in their favor.

Annulments have become a lucrative sideline for judges whose courtrooms have earned the reputation of being annulment mills that manufacture the decisions in bulk, changing only the names of the petitioners to cope with the demand.

Corruption is widespread in the annulment courts, said Noel Segovia, senior prosecutor of the Office of the Solicitor General. It is like a cancer.

Even without bribes, legal fees associated with annulment come out to about $5,000. Add on the grease money, experts say, and the totals can shoot up to $10,000, far out of reach for the average Filipino who earns about $300 a month.

Annulment and the second chances that come with it become a luxury for the rich, while the poor and the middle class are left with little choice but to remain in a bad marriage.

Were not against good marriages, said Cecil Jueco, the administrator of Divorce for the Philippines Now International. If you are not in favor of divorce, then do not get one. Thank God you have a happy married life, but please understand the situation of people suffering in their existing marriages. Every Filipino should have the right to divorce.

Some legislators continue to think otherwise and the

church has reiterated its stance, saying that divorce weakens the institution of marriage and spawns a host of problems, especially for children.

Yna Vertudazo has heard it all before.

A retired overseas worker, Yna Vertudazo, 60, center, is joined by her friends Carmi Bantilo, 68, and Betty Robianes, 64. (Ana P. Santos / Los Angeles Times )

A retired overseas worker, the 60-year-old said that if divorce had been an option, she would have left her philandering husband instead of giving in to the pressure to stay married for their children.

She finally left him in 2005 after she walked in on him and his mistress. At her age, she said, Vertudazo is not looking for a fresh start, but she joined the march so younger people would have choices she did not.

Everyone should have another chance at happiness. Enough with playing the martyr already, Vertudazo said.

The divorce groups are hoping they have an ally in recently elected President Rodrigo Duterte. During his campaign, Duterte initially said he would not support legalized divorce, but later said maybe there needs to be refinement of the law.

His predecessor, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, an unmarried Catholic, categorically ruled out support for divorce. But Duterte, 71, has a different history and outlook. His first marriage ended in annulment. There is no official first lady, but his girlfriend, who is the mother of his 12-year-old daughter, is widely referred to as his common-law wife.

And Duterte makes little effort to hide his disdain for the Roman Catholic Church. The tough-talking president has called the church a hypocritical institution and openly supports birth control for the poor, calling the churchs stance against it nonsense.

His words give divorce supporters encouragement.

We are currently collecting signatures from members and supporters through an online campaign, said Jueco. At our next march, we will present the signatures to the president. We hope he will listen.

Santos is a special correspondent.

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Alfonso Hernandez stands before a mural of Jesus Christ being ferried on a lion-drawn carriage, trailed by Catholic bishops and priests. Behind them, scores of men in crisp suits  some smiling, some somber, one in dark shades  kneel as they watch the procession.

They are among the dead of Tepito.

Its called the mural of the absent. Theyre people from here, said Hernandez, a native of the famously tough  and famously untamable  Mexico City neighborhood. These are people who died because of the drug wars. This is to remember them here and not just in the crime blotter of the newspapers.

Hernandez is the chronicler of the Barrio Bravo  fierce barrio  where the whiff of danger hangs over even the simple act of walking down the street. (Walk with a purpose, he says. Avoid what locals call the galleria walk.)

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By day, a vast, bustling marketplace sells items as varied as tripe tacos, freshly squeezed orange juice, Louis Vuitton knockoffs and illegal Chinese cigarettes stacked like Legos. By night, some of Tepitos streets are a bazaar of a different sort: drugs, guns and vice.

Everything is for sale, locals like to say, but Tepitos dignity.

Hernandez, 70, whose day job is working for a government office, half-jokingly calls the tours he conducts here the safari.

He knows that aside from teaching outsiders about the neighborhood and hopefully humanizing it, hes also satisfying a need among many visitors to feel like they walked on the wild side and survived Tepito.

Tepito, he says, is a microcosm of Mexico, with its cultural richness, the warmth of its people, their sense of humor, their adroit improvisation in a place where few count on the government for their survival.

And then theres the rest.

At the global level, Mexico is corrupt, governed by cartels, with incompetent officials, Hernandez says. The same thing that happens at the level of the country happens in Tepito. Why judge Tepito when Mexico is the Tepito of the world?

::

Few neighborhoods have been the subject of government efforts to try to rescue or wrangle it  sometimes resulting in violent clashes  over the years as much as Tepito.

For more than half a year now, the government has been trying again.

What were trying to do is a program of 10 actions to try to reconstruct the social fabric of Tepito, which has been degrading little by little, says Adolfo Savin, a government official who declared Tepitenos a very unified people, not easy to defeat and worthy of respect.

More than a decade ago, then-New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani took a trip to Tepito with a heavily armed entourage with crime-fighting ideas. More recently, food and travel celebrities Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern visited the neighborhood.

Bourdain said, and not incorrectly: Tepito is a city within a city. Its own thing. Either the dark center or the beating heart of Mexico City, depending on your point of view.

Tepitos outlines existed before the Spaniards; locals say its the place where the beloved Aztec emperor Cuauhtemoc was captured. It has the air of a last place to fall.

Resistance, Hernandez said, is in Tepitos DNA  a point driven home by slogans both spoken and tattooed throughout the barrio.

On one wall, a graffiti-style mural delivers a message that can be translated, with considerable sanitization, as, We grow like a steak is tenderized, with constant beatings.

Another: Tepito existe porque resiste. Tepito exists because it resists.

::

Outside the office for the Center for the Study of Tepito, which Hernandez uses as a base, about a dozen young men sit on a bench, waiting for marching orders. Theyre paid by merchants to protect them and customers from criminals.

An illustration on a wall behind the men depicts the evolution of Homo Tepitecus, concluding with early man becoming a motorcycle rider. Motorcycle and moped riders honk horns and rev engines as they navigate the marketplaces warren of stalls.

Travel through Mexico City and mention Tepito, and its likely someone will give you tips on not being robbed. Hernandez says the everyday danger is exaggerated and mostly confined to a few areas, though its definitely best to be vigilant. Dont wander with a look of overt awe over the sensory bombardment  the scent of organ meats, the ever-present throb of music or that zombie-like young man huffing solvent near the subway. Itll mark you as an outsider.

In the spring, fliers supposedly from the Gulf cartel were distributed at night through the neighborhood, advertising for recruits. A little more than a year ago, 12 young people from Tepito were kidnapped from a bar in another neighborhood and later found dead. Days later, two masked gunmen entered a gym in Tepito and killed four men.

On Sunday, a shooting left one person dead and two injured, Mexican media reported.

Hernandez tries to expose visitors to Tepitos bountiful reserve of charisma. He stops by tables serving migas, a soup thickened by stale bolillo bread and heaped with pork shanks laden with marrow.

The best thing about Tepito is its people and their sentiments. They can give you their heart just as easily as they can give you a beating, says Monica Frausto, 47, the daughter of the restaurants owner. Here the law of reciprocity rules in Technicolor.

Hernandez stops by a stall where Lourdes Ruiz Baltazar sells clothing, a cigarette dangling from her lips and a brown checkered apron wrapped around her slender figure.

Baltazar is known as the champion of albures, a way of speaking using double entendres that she describes as a puzzle of the mind. Many of the merchants here have become known as the Marco Polos of Tepito because they go to China so often to buy their merchandise. Baltazar just likes to travel; shes gone to the Vatican, New York, London and Paris. And shes put up her fists in a couple of those places when someone tried to rob her, she says.

Here nothing has ever happened to me, she says. In Tepito, we dont think one thing and say another. We speak face to face. Were not thinking about using words to not hurt feelings. What we have in this barrio is that were not hypocrites.

Leaving the marketplace, Hernandez walks to an altar of the Santa Muerte, or Holy Death. Devotees leave beer, chicken legs, quesadillas and other offerings. Some ask for protection, others retribution.

A man with the Aztec calendar tattooed on top of his shaved head like a skullcap leans against the window and bows his head.

::

Hernandez is standing near the mural of the absent waiting for Martin Camarillo to come out to talk. At that moment, Jesus Ramirez Silva walks by pushing a cart laden with caramelized fruit and yams.

Hernandez buys a snack and admires a large jade pendant depicting a Maya god dangling proudly from Silvas neck. As the affable vendor pushes his cart down the street, Hernandez is asked whether having such apparently valuable jewelry wouldnt endanger the friendly merchant.

He knows karate, he replies. And besides, he has an impressive collection of knives.

Camarillo, 35, rolls out of his house in a wheelchair. Sixteen years ago, he was shot in the back outside a party. Now he spends many of his daylight hours playing Poliana, which involves moving colored pieces around. Its a game of strategic domination thats popular in prison, where Camarillo spent some time.

He points to a cross near the mural bearing the nicknames of more than two dozen people who were killed. Many hung out on this street, Camarillo says, adding that by the skin of his teeth he avoided being the first name on it.

He says that most people in Tepito are very peaceful and hard-working and that theres a double standard in how the neighborhood is viewed.

In high society theres people that work to steal, who studied to steal, he says. Here they steal to study.

Hernandez knows the neighborhood will continue to get more than its share of scrutiny. Itll be famous and infamous. What it wont be is unnoticed. The brand Tepito sells best is Tepito.

In this city, he says, a barrio that doesnt cast a shadow does not inspire respect.

hector.becerra@latimes.com

Twitter: @hbecerraLATimes
A Virginia couple has been barred from a popular area restaurant after leaving a scribbled message on their receipt for their Latino server reading "WE ONLY TIP CITIZENS."

Sadie Karina Elledge found the hateful message hours after the couple had left the Jess' Lunch restaurant and immediately alerted her boss.

"I went up to my boss - everybody was upset, I was upset," said Elledge, who is of Honduran and Mexican descent, but nonetheless was born in the U.S. "It shouldn't matter if I'm Latina or not, everybody should be treated with respect and be treated the same."

Suspicious Actions

While at the restaurant, Elledge recalled the couple wouldn't speak with her much while they dined on gyros, a Greek salad and soda at the counter, only responding to her questions by nodding their heads.

"I asked them if they were all right, and they just nodded their heads. [After eating], they came up to pay, and they signed their receipt."

Eventually, Elledge's grandfather photographed the receipt and posted it on his Facebook page, where it quickly went viral and prompted another visit to the restaurant by the couple who left the message.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;

Words Exchanged

They were banned from the establishment after manager Thomas Marchese said they threatened several employees.

The man "was yelling and screaming about the four digits [of the credit card]," said Marchese. "I said it's not even your card. Are you really concerned about that or are you more concerned about what was put on social media? He said, 'Well, both.' "

Marchese later revealed restaurant owner Angeliki Floros is also an immigrant. She recently took to Facebook where she wrote, "Jess' Lunch is one of the oldest established businesses in Harrisonburg, it was built by immigrants run by immigrants and loved by its community."
Sociology experts at Ohio State University recently unveiled the results of a nationwide study that found a correlation between job dissatisfaction in the early years of one's career to a significant negative impact on health by the time an individual hits age 40.

The study, presented Monday Aug. 22 at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, showed that employees who are happy at work and with their chosen profession in their late 20s and throughout their 30s are less prone to health issues - both physical and mental - than their unhappy counterparts as they mature in age.

Researchers found a noted impact on physical health when it comes to job satisfaction, though the mental health toll was markedly stronger according to a report on the results. These results also showed that the direction of one's job satisfaction, for better or for worse, has an influence on health later in life.

"We found that there is a cumulative effect of job satisfaction on health that appears as early as your 40s," said Jonathan Diriam, lead author of the study and doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State University.

Co-author of the study, Hui Zheng, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University emphasized the importance that early jobs have on people's lives during the presentation of their research at Monday's sociological convention.

"You don't have to be near the end of your career to see the health impact of job satisfaction," Zheng said.

Good news revealed by Zheng and Diriam's research showed that individuals whose job satisfaction started low but got better over the course of their early career didn't have the health problems associated with consistent and/or declining career satisfaction.

In terms of actual consequences found in this study, employees who were unhappy with early work experiences reported poorer overall health, with more issues like chronic back pain or frequent colds. However, so-called "doctor-diagnosed" health problems like, for example, cancer or diabetes, were not shown to be impacted by career satisfaction the researchers said.

Low levels of job satisfaction for entry-level workers also showed that these individuals reported more mental and emotional health issues, with data showing an increase in the prevalence of conditions that include depression, sleep problems, and anxiety.

Finally, the research showed that employees whose reported job satisfaction increased throughout the early years of their careers did not report any comparative health problems to their unhappy counterparts, neither mental nor physical.
Northampton County's district attorney will recommend Nazareth's mayor for a first-time offenders' program as long as the mayor resigns his post immediately.

Nazareth Mayor Carl Strye is charged with stealing $8,000 cash garnered from games of small chance and illegal poker at the Vigilance Hose Co.'s social hall.

The 54-year-old will have District Attorney John Morganelli's endorsement to enter the accelerated rehabilitative disposition program as long as he returns the money and resigns as mayor immediately.

Entry into the program will allow Strye to wipe the charge from his record.

"Not only did Mr. Strye engage in a criminal theft of funds he was obligated to safeguard, but he also was involved with illegal gambling," Morganelli wrote in a letter to Strye's attorney dated Tuesday. "The Commonwealth cannot in good faith allow Mr. Strye to continue in public office in light of this criminal conduct."

Mayors of Pennsylvania boroughs oversee their borough police departments, and Morganelli doesn't feel it would be appropriate for Strye to keep that responsibility.

"This office would be remiss in allowing Mr. Strye to continue to be in charge of police operations and supervision in light of this criminal conduct," he wrote.

It's not clear whether Strye will accept Morganelli's terms. He did not return a phone call seeking comment. Nor could his attorney, Robert Eyer, be reached.

He thanked family and friends for their support on Facebook last week.

The news is out, I have applied for the ARD program. All though I will not comment yet, I want to take this time to... Posted by Carl Strye Jr on Friday, August 19, 2016

Court records say the money went missing between Jan 1, 2009, and Jan. 1, 2013. Strye served as president of the Vigilance Hose Co. from 1987 to 2013. During his tenure, he was the only person to have full access to that money, authorities said.

Strye was charged following an investigation that began on Nov. 3, 2014. So far he has not admitted any wrongdoing and said he will not resign. If he's admitted into the program, Strye would have to admit he took the money.

If Strye agrees to Morganelli's terms, a judge will have to approve his admission into the program. The program requires periodic check-ins with law enforcement, similar to probation.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A former Fox News host from the Allentown area has charged in a lawsuit she was sexually harassed by former network chief Roger Ailes and other top executives.

Andrea Tantaros (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Andrea Tantaros, a Parkland High School and Lehigh University graduate, filed the lawsuit Monday in Manhattan state Supreme Court. The defendants include William Shine, who was named co-president of Fox News after Ailes resigned because of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by another former anchor, Gretchen Carlson.

"Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny," Tantaros charges in the suit.

Fox News said Tuesday that it can't comment on pending litigation.

Ailes resigned in July after Carlson said in a lawsuit that she was fired because she refused his sexual advances. He has denied the charges.

Tantaros says her complaint is not just about Ailes but that "it also gives life to the saying that 'the fish stinks from the head.'

"For Ailes did not act alone," Tantaros said. "He may have been the primary culprit, but his actions were condoned by most senior lieutenants, who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation, and retaliation."

Tantaros' legal battles with Fox began last winter when the network said she had breached her employment contract by writing a book without getting network clearance.

Fox has said Tantaros made up the sexual harassment allegations as a ploy in the contract dispute.

But Tantaros says in her complaint that Fox executives used the dispute about the book to try to silence her.

Tantaros says she was subjected to "demeaning conduct" such as having to strip in front of Fox News wardrobe personnel when she picked her on-air clothing.

She says her job "devolved into a nightmare of sexual harassment" by Ailes in the summer of 2014.

She says Ailes asked her twice to "turn around so I can get a good look at you," adding, on one occasion, "comeover here so I can give you a hug."

Ailes told her on another occasion, "I bet you look good in a bikini," Tantaros says.

Tantaros says that when she complained about the harassment to Shine in spring 2015, he told her Ailes was "a very powerful man" and Tantaros "needed to let this one go."
By Bernie Sanders

The pharmaceutical industry has become a major health hazard to the American people.



Our nation pays, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. As a result, nearly one in five Americans cannot afford to fill their prescriptions. That is unacceptable. A lifesaving product does no good if patients cannot afford it.



A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness explains how a pharmaceutical company, Gilead Sciences, games the system to charge high prices and then shifts the profits offshore to avoid billions in U.S. taxes.



Gilead sells Sovaldi, a drug used to treat the hepatitis C virus. It was developed in part with taxpayer funds by a researcher who worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs and founded a small drug company. Gilead bought the company for $11 billion and used government-provided monopoly rights to set the sticker price at $1,000 per pill, or $84,000 for the twelve-week course of treatment in 2014.



U.S. public and private insurers, taxpayers and patients spent more money on Sovaldi in 2014 than on any other prescription drug, according to a report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. And yet state Medicaid programs could afford to treat fewer than one in 40 patients with hepatitis C in 2014.



If gone untreated, hepatitis C can end in what one nurse-practitioner called "some of the worst deaths I've ever seen." She said, "At the end, you die not knowing who you are, your belly looks 12 months pregnant, you're malnourished, and you're bleeding to death." Patients with hepatitis C are often low-income and a disproportionate number of them are veterans.



Gilead's profits have quintupled since it started selling the drug, from $4 billion in 2013 to $22 billion in 2015. Gilead claims that it earns two-thirds of these profits offshore, but this is impossible because it reports earning two-thirds of its revenue here in the U.S., where it charges higher prices than anywhere else in the world.



The company pays an effective tax rate of just 1 percent in the foreign countries where it claims to do business. In 2013, Gilead's chief financial officer revealed the strategy by announcing the formula for Sovaldi was being transferred to Ireland in order to allow the company's effective tax rate to "decline over time." Gilead's worldwide effective tax rate dropped from 27 percent in 2013 to 16 percent in 2015.



So taxpayers helped bankroll[ed] the research behind the hepatitis C drug, Gilead charged Americans the highest price in the world for the treatment and now we are getting cheated a third time as Gilead stashes its profits abroad to avoid taxes.



Gilead is not the only company taking advantage of our public research funding and tax loopholes. Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and many others engage in similar offshore tax dodging to avoid billions in U.S. taxes each year.



At what point will Congress have the courage to stand up to the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and say enough is enough?



Congress should address this in several ways. First, in extraordinary circumstances, such as a cure for hepatitis C, federal law allows the government to use patented inventions with or without the permission of the owner as long as they are fairly compensated. Second Congress must repeal the rule allowing our corporations to defer paying taxes on profits they claim to earn offshore. We must also take several other steps to lower drug prices, including instructing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and reducing the barriers to the importation of prescription medication from Canada and other countries.



Americans -- including veterans, retirees, and children -- who suffer from serious, sometimes fatal, illnesses like hepatitis C and cancer need a government that works for them, not just the CEOs of large pharmaceutical companies and the billionaire class.

Bernie Sanders is a U.S. Senator from Vermont and a recent Democratic candidate for president.
A 23-year-old man is facing drug charges after he allegedly went inside the restroom of a Mansfield Township business and used heroin.

Joseph M. Rodriguez of Port Murray at 2 p.m. Aug. 17 was inside the restroom. Police said when Rodriguez came out, he began acting strange and was yelling at patrons and employees.

Officers responded and arrested Rodriguez. Police did not disclose the name or location of the business in a news release.

Rodriguez is charged with being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance. He was released pending a court appearance.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
I love meeting an expert in a field about which I know little. A couple of years ago I met Brian Lucey, a Sallins resident, Kerry man and Professor of Finance at Trinity College.

During the course of a lengthy discussion he was talking about how erroneous is was to think that a government was responsible for creating jobs.

A government can't create jobs. Only customers create jobs.

It was an interesting change of perspective. And yet blindingly obvious. It stands to reason that if you have nobody buying your products, then you don't have a viable business.

I was reminded of this in recent days following a discussion in the office here about which towns in the county (and outside it) were good to live in.

And more to the point, why? What made one town an attractive or less attractive place to live, over an above other towns?

And of course, into this discussion came the great canard of our times, the Bette Noir of all such musings: They've ruined Naas, moving all the business out to Tesco.

The dreaded and anonymous 'They' - who are also responsible for every terrible thing to afflict the plain people of Ireland - like the price of the pint, the state of the roads and probably even the bad weather.

The truth of the matter is that businesses fail because they run out of customers. And they run out of customers because what they offer is no longer unique enough to attract customers.

To use dreadful corporate phraseology, the 'value proposition has diminished'. There is no 'unique selling point (USP)'.

There are businesses along the main street in Naas which are thriving, notwithstanding all that the shopping hub in Monread has to offer.

Whether it's pubs and restaurants, boutiques, opticians, betting shops, insurance companies, pharmacies, banks or newsagents, they are somehow able to combat the lack of free parking by offering customers something they can't get somewhere else.

The sad reality is that any business which goes belly up, and blames a large retail park for their demise, just wasn't cutting the mustard with customers.

Sometimes it's simply a case of moving with the times - for instance there was once a time when every half decent sized town had a mill and a bakery.

As a result of modern day food production methods, this is now no longer the case  in the same way that mobile phones killed off phoneboxes.

That's life. Move on, get into something else that's attractive to customers.

These days, with Supervalu, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi dominating the scene you're probably at nothing if you try to get into straightforward groceries. So instead you start offering organic vegetables, speciality foods and a coffee shop with great atmosphere attached - like Swans on the Green has done.

That's a sensible approach to a situation that is otherwise beyond the retailers' control.

On the other hand if you're an Olympic-class whinger, complaining daily to your local chamber of commerce, councillor and the small to medium sized whingers association, then you've already lost.

True business success comes from being flexible and light on your feet, from being realistic about where opportunities lie, and more to the point, where they don't.
It is a great honour and privilege for me to have been invited to review Leitrim Stor, a remarkable new book published by the Sliabh an Iarainn Project Committee, which has already given us four wonderful books recalling the story of the mountain people on Sliabh an Iarainn.

In 2013, to contribute to the national initiative for the Year of the Gathering, that enterprising committee published, Leitrim Treasure, subtitled Generations of Historical, Social and Human Interest Stories".

Such was its popularity it was sold out within weeks of its launch, but not before arriving in many homes, not just in Leitrim, but also where Leitrim people are found in Ireland, and throughout the world.

Leitrim Stor (treasure) is a phenomenal publication. The reader will find that it even surpasses the acknowledged acclaim of Leitrim Treasure. Like Leitrim Treasure, this new book will be treasured by Leitrim people in their native county and in every household wherever Leitrim people and their descendents live.

This new publication is extraordinary in that, within its 241 pages, over one hundred and forty inspiring stories and items of interest with three hundred photographs, captures a proud Leitrim, touching the lives of people and communities in every part of the county, from the Atlantic shores of Tullaghan to the distant borders of Cavan and Longford, beyond Newtowngore, Carrigallen and Gortletleragh.

Leitrim Stor, subtitled Celebrating Leitrim is aptly titled, for it is such an extraordinary collection of stories and articles that are so uplifting; inspiring pride and gratitude that we are fortunate to be in Leitrim, or wherever we live, we are Leitrim people.

This book is not a collection of sentimental sob stories. You will not find stories that lament the hardships of a life lived in Leitrim and the curse of emigration instead you will find a book that is a celebration and exaltation of Leitrim with heart warming stories from second and third generation Leitrim exiles; wonderful stories from several Leitrim people living in Leitrim and absorbing, historical articles relating to Leitrim and inspiring stories of so many Leitrim people who overcame adversity and prejudice to rise to the top in their careers; many, many items of interest.

In the foreword to Leitrim Stor, well known novelist, Michael Harding, forwards his belief that The past is a mythic landscape. It defines our beliefs and our confidence in the present... There is a Leitrim in cyberspace where the past is the vital foundation of identity and where people get direction from the stories of their past, and the songs and love stories of other days.

How accurate is Michael Hardings assertions. For it was not the memories of hardship that our forefathers, in exile, brought with them. They brought with them photographic memories of every little field, of the warm hearth fire surrounded by family and neighbours, playing music, singing, telling stories (often ghost stories), and often rejoicing of the days work done at the meitheal. These were treasured memories they brought with them. It was as if they had grown into the land and the land grew with them.

And so we have, in this book, such exhilarating stories from their grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great, great ones with whom the reader will walk with spellbound through the pages of Leitrim Stor.

In Where I come from, such a spellbinding story, the reader will find themselves beside the author, Sean McPartlan, in a field in Drumnafaughnan, outside Drumkeeran, as he asks: Why am I drawn to this collection of fields, which my family left over a hundred years ago, why is the land so important to me? How can this collection of bog, daub, stunted fields, whins and fences... reduce me to tears, bring laughter, make my heart beat faster, and give me a peace that I cant access anywhere else?

Reading the story, Ill take you home again Kathleen, the reader will be longing for Kathleen Moloney, to find that grave she seeks in Cloone and when she finds it, he or she will rejoice with Kathleen as she exclaims: I was beyond excited to feel this connection and know that my fathers family walked on the same ground.

The reader could find themselves alongside Michael Whelan, author of Enchantments of a Leitrim Boyhood, and Peek for traces of magic between the trees of the local faery fort, or seek out the Crossroads of Social Life...to dance to jigs and reels in open air to the music of flutes and fiddles. Perhaps the reader will be tempted to steal along to find the crock of gold and magic coins at the Stoneman in Glenfarne after they have read James Owens delightful, magical story of Alexander and the Leprechaun.

But we do not have to rely on stories from the exiles, which we find in this amazing book, to affirm how living in Leitrim has fostered cherished, proud memories. For the reader yoy will find heart warming stories of how so many in the book, desire to share their happy memories of growing up in Leitrim. For most of them, they were not easy times. But their fond recollections of work, comradery of neighbours, simple games and recreations, colour memories of happiness and pride in their communities.

Gus Martin in The Ballinamore I used to know fondly recalls the idyllic, the sun drenched, the unforgettable memories are those of the late summer and bringing in the hay. There are times in that story that one imagines that Gus could have lashed out of his slothful ass. But he confesses: There were moments when I knew that this ass... loved me as much as I loved her... Ill never forget the roads we travelled together.

Memories shared by Eveline Dwyer, Mena Hill, Tony Downey, Kathleen Coleman, Michael O Rourke, Mae Morris, M.J. McManus, Kathleen Moffatt, Tommy Moran, Andy McGovern, Michael F. Bohan, Seamus ORourke and Colin Regan, will bring home to the reader how precious it is to grow up in Leitrim.

We can share the magic memories and moments, years of happiness that take us into so many towns, villages, parishes and communities throughout the length and breadth of Leitrim. Perhaps in their dreams readers may find themselves jiving with Mae Morris in Fenaghville, or Eveline Dwyer in the Ballroom of Romance, or with Mena Hill in the Mayflower.

As one reads Andy McGoverns Spring, one may see their father mowing with the scythe in Andys beautiful poem. Perhaps, too, after reading Colin Regans inspiring story, Its Part of Me, you too can realise To be yourself in a world, that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment.

There are most interesting and absorbing articles about so many historical happenings in Leitrim and the phenomenal achievements of so many Leitrim people, at home and abroad, who overcome prejudice and adversity to rise to the top of their chosen careers. Their stories will make you proud. There are so many excellent articles, to go into them, it would require another book. However, one cannot feel how inspired this reader was by the resilience and courage and determination of Bridget Cannon in the story Orphans for Australia, by Neisha Wratten.

Yes, Leitrim produced many famous people, many heroes sung and unsung. In his story, A Kilty hero, Frank Cox stood beside the monument of Sean McDermott, Leitrims greatest hero. However, it was watching a passing funeral that Frank was moved to write of another Kilty Hero with the moving words: Larrys name is forever on the hearts of those who loved him. His monument is the family he nurtured and friends whose lives he touched.

Leitrims history would not be complete without writing of the G.A.A. Another great Leitrim hero, Packie McGarty will live for posterity. His marking opponent Jack Mahon, a Galway Great, felt compelled to write about Packie. Fortunately his article is in Leitrim Stor. Leitrim has won few honours. However, the spirit of Leitrim players, officials and supporters down through the decades, is the envy of many more successful counties.

They fail to understand that it is the love and pride in Leitrim that motivates a whole county. Read the wonderful articles by Eugene McGee, David Walsh and Colin Regan to capture how they see that extraordinary love for club and county that they found in Leitrim.

Of course we are proud of Leitrim; we may be accused of being biased in our feelings that Leitrim is the best place. But there is affirmation in what outsiders write of Leitrim in this book. Senga Van Hock declared, while standing on a mountain in North Leitrim, Everything around is barren, but in the utter loneliness up here there is no hostility; it shelters you in protective peacefulness. Another outsider, Carl Chin, in his writing Surviving with Dignity, states: Throughout Leitrim, there is a respect and regard for hospitality and dignity towards strangers that would have earned the honour of the bards of old. Anthony Lewis, of The New York Times, wrote, Visitors from more high powered countries think they have found that elusive thing  the simple life. In the story, A Yank in Leitrim the writer found that calm, peaceful, contented look that spoke the simple life, the heart of grace, the mind of a child like purity. David Walsh, a reporter with the Leitrim Observer for two years, marvels, Ive never met people as nice, no matter where Ive been subsequently; just a great time in my life. Is it any wonder then that Sean McPartlan, born in Scotland, whose Grandfather emigrated from Leitrim, more than one hundred years ago, should feel compelled to conclude in his story, Its where I come from, In Leitrim neighbours remain neighbours, even if there is an ocean between their houses.

There is so much more that one could write about this amazing book that encompasses all that is so wonderful about Leitrim, and in Leitrim. I hope that, in my own limited way, I have conveyed the proud and joyful feelings and emotions that one can grasp of the spirit, generosity and proud values that radiate from the pages of Leitrim Stor. Having read it, you too will conclude, like Tommie Moran in Pride of Place that The Leitrim Corner in heaven will surely be filled with ceol and craic and, like Tommie, assert Leitrim is really about people: Dont let it change.

What an extraordinary treasure is Leitrim Stor! Having found its way into every Leitrim home, everywhere in the world, generations after generations will know their rich heritage that is Leitrim and its people. Leitrim Stor will be stored in the hearts; a precious gift.
Since last October, I have been chairing the Social Security Working Group, which has been taking a fresh look at party policy in this area. We had a wide ranging remit covering all aspects of working age social security, from supporting people with disabilities to tackling child poverty. We have now published our policy recommendations: it has been a big challenge, but thanks to a working group of passionate, talented people, ranging from experienced policy makers to new enthusiastic party members, I think weve produced a paper of which Lib Dems can be proud. You can find Mending the Safety Net here.

I thought it would be helpful to set out some of the key things we are proposing. We heard a lot of different ideas and proposals from party members, experts and NGOs, and have sought to propose policy that is liberal and distinctive, but which, crucially, could make a real and practical difference to peoples lives.

Reducing child poverty

From the outset the group agreed that reducing child poverty should be our priority. We know that a child growing up in poverty will already be attaining less than their better off peers by the time they start school, they will be bullied more, have poorer health and are less likely to leave school with five A*  C GCSE passes. We felt strongly that it should be a real priority to tackle the barriers created for children that grow up in poverty.

Unlike when Labour first came to power, the majority of children growing up in poverty now do so in households where at least one person works. Thats why one of our key recommendations is to introduce a second earners allowance to Universal Credit. This could transform the lives of many children by dramatically increasing the amount of money going to some of the lowest paid families in our country. We also want to see an increase of 5 a week to the child element of Universal Credit for the first child in a family to help new families afford the high costs associated with a first child.

Reforming the Work Capability Assessment

We also looked at the way benefit claimants are treated by the benefits system, with a particular focus on those who are sick and disabled. We heard time and again in our evidence sessions about the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), which fails to treat disabled people as human beings and sets up impossible barriers. Despite the Coalition Government changing the provider from Atos to Maximus, claimants have completely lost confidence in the whole assessment process. We felt strongly that this needed to change, so we are proposing scrapping the WCA and replacing it with a new, locally administered assessment. Crucially, this new assessment will take into consideration the environment in which the claimant is living, with a real world test that will require proof that there are at least three types of jobs available in the local area that the claimant would be able to do, before they can be assessed as fit for work.

Mental health

We also want to deliver much more tailored support for those with mental health conditions. Currently only 5% of those with a mental health condition on the Work Programme find sustained employment. We therefore propose a new approach based on individual support built on a strong, long term, relationship with an advisor, who will work with the claimant to produce a plan of action with the aim of finding paid employment that matches the persons interests and aspirations. The support will continue once the person gets a job and should be integrated with the persons health care. This scheme has already been trialled and has shown to be twice as effective as other types of support in getting people with mental health conditions back into sustained employment.

Sanctions

When we looked at other areas where claimants frequently complain that they have not been fairly treated, we felt it was clear that there needs to be more flexibility within the sanctions regime. The current regime of fixed penalties for technical breaches of benefit conditions isnt working and treats claimants with suspicion. It fails the basic test that we should treat people with dignity and respect, so we propose scrapping fixed sanction penalties and instead allowing the Jobcentre to take into account the context of the breach and the circumstances of the claimant. We also want to change the rules so that no one can be left with nothing to live on, even temporarily, as a result of benefit sanctions, and instead certain elements of benefits should be protected from sanctions. Finally, we also want to see people given encouragement, rather than just being punished by the sanctions system, by enabling advisers to give an additional 10 to those jobseekers who go above and beyond in looking for work.

Income protection

The group also heard a lot of evidence about the need for the system to provide better support for those with larger financial responsibilities who unexpectedly fall ill or lose their jobs. We are therefore proposing the Government should consider introducing a widespread, radical system of unemployment insurance and income protection insurance. This would encourage employers to arrange company-wide insurance for employees or auto-enrol employees into an insurance scheme, with the option for employees to opt-out. The aim would be to ensure that when someone loses their job or becomes ill, there is a real cushion to ensure they do not immediately have to eat into vital savings or rely purely on what the state can provide.

These are just some of the elements of our policy paper, which I believe is packed full of new, distinctive Lib Dem polices to mend the social security safety net and rebuild trust in the system. If you want to read the whole paper then its available in the Conference section of the website, and I hope that, in Brighton, the Party will endorse the work of the group.

Editors Note: George Potter, a member of the working group, has written here about why he thinks the paper should be rejected by Conference.

* Jenny Willott was the Lib Dem MP for Cardiff Central and chaired the working group on working age social security policy in 2016.
WHEN Eibhlin McGrath went on a hen party of a friend from Glin to Carrick-on-Shannon it was the bride-to-be who didnt know what the weekend had in store for her.

Equally, Eibhlin, from Athea, had no idea just what fate had in store for her on a certain Friday night in May, 2013.

After enjoying a disco on the boat on the river, the stars would align later that evening, when the hen party split into two by chance.

Little did she think that weekend that in just over three short years theyd be flying down Route 66 from Dallas on honeymoon, after meeting Richard, of Gas Monkey Garage as featured in the popular Discovery channel programme, Fast and Loud.

Was it love at first sight?

Absolutely! From the moment we met we havent stopped talking and laughing. Even though we are opposites in many regards, we were always drawn together, enthused Eibhlin, 33, a primary school teacher, of her husband Conor McKenna from Longford, who runs a car valeting centre.

Conor popped the question while on holiday in Spain, after luring Eibhlin away from her sangria to go for a moonlight stroll on the beach.

Before I knew it he was down on one knee. It was the first time I was ever lost for words, she laughed.

The couple married in Crecora Church in Limerick, which they said was their favourite part of the day, and had their reception in the Bunratty Castle Hotel, which they would highly recommend.

The managers David and Heather were extremely helpful and professional throughout. There was nothing they wouldnt do to help. The Bunratty Castle Hotel is a beautiful charming venue and we could not find fault if we tried.

Their best piece for advice for anyone planning to tie the knot is to not lose sight of the big picture.

You are getting married because you love each other and want to grow old together - the colour of the chair sashes or the choice of finger food will be soon forgotten.

One of the little touches that made the day extra special was a gift from her soon to be husband that morning.

Conor surprised me with a beautiful watch the morning of the wedding, with instructions not to keep him waiting, she laughed.

There was plenty of dancing, laughter and a few tears throughout the day, particular during the grooms heartfelt speech from the top table.

Photographer Philip Bourke, from Cork, who snapped her friends wedding in Dingle, again captured the intimate and spontaneous moments of the day.

We spent some time at the Bunratty Manor Folkpark after the ceremony. It was very busy and there were busloads of tourists. We felt like VIPs being cheered on by everyone and we even posed for a few photographs with the zealous holidaymakers.

Was it how they imagined it would be?

It was a thousand times better than I could ever have imagined. It was very overwhelming and also wonderful to have all our family and friends with us. We have so many happy memories to look back on from the whole day.

A few days later they flew to Dallas to check out Gas Monkey Garage from the Discovery channels Fast and Loud show.

Conor is a big car enthusiast and we have both been following the show for several years. We could not believe our luck when we met Richard Rawlins, the owner opening the garage, early on a Monday morning. He was every inch the cool dude from the slick hair to the lime green Porsche. We were completely star struck.

They rented a car in Dallas  unfortunately from Avis and not Richard, she added - and drove down Route 66, ending their road trip with two nights in the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, before flying to Vietnam for two weeks.

It was an amazing adventure from start to finish.

The essentials:

Venue: Bunratty Castle Hotel

Photographer: Philip Bourke

Dress: The Attic, Roches Street, Limerick

Groom's & groomsmens suits: Gerard Anthony menswear Carrick on Shannon

Bridesmaid dresses: Kate's Kloset, Askeaton

Bridesmaids: Michelle Mulvihill, Mairead O''Doherty and Anna McKenna

Groomsmen: Michael McKenna, Brandon O'Shea and Derek Campbell

Florist: The Flower Den

Church singer: Eve Stafford

They ate: Marinated breast of chicken with teriyaki dressing, leek and potato soup, sirloin steak, hake and fresh fruit pavlova, with a pig on a spit for their midnight feast

First dance song: Elvis Presley's Can't help falling in love

Band: The Escapade

Number of guests: 180

Money saving tips: Shop around as much as possible and don't be afraid to ask for a discount

Honeymoon: Dallas, Route 66, Las Vegas and Vietnam

------------------------------------

Your big day:

If you would like to see your wedding or a love story dating back decades featured on this page, please e-mail anne.sheridan@limerickleader.ie with some details.

Alternatively, if you would like to advertise announcements of engagements, weddings or anniversaries contact the office on 061 214521.
MR Binman, which is planning a new waste facility, has dismissed claims of a link between its development and nearby plans by Irish Cement.

More than 40 groups and individuals have objected to Mr Binmans proposals for the new development near the entrance to the M7.

Many groups have created a link between the Mr Binman plan, and a proposal from Irish Cement to change its workflow nearby.

In a submission to Limerick Council, the Dooradoyle Estate Residents Association, state there is a fear that processed waste, waste residue, or material collected, like tyres would be sent to the proposed nearby incinerator at the Irish Cement plant in Mungret to which we and many others have objected to mainly on health grounds.

But a spokesperson for Mr Binman said: We can state categorically that our application has nothing whatsoever to do with the recent application by Irish Cement and we do not have contractual arrangements with them to supply any material to their facility.

There is also opposition to the multi-million euro plan  which the firm says will bring 100 building roles and 30 permanent jobs  on the basis of increased traffic to the area, and the impact of handling waste at a key entry to the city.

One objector asked: Do we want potential tourists greeted by smelly odours while they wait in traffic?

They also point out that planning permission is in place for a private hospital opposite where Mr Binman wishes to build, adding: Odours could be a potential isue since part of the segregation process includes organic material.

But Mr Binman has insisted its plans  which will see up to 90,000 tonnes of waste handled per year  are backed up by the Southern Region Waste Management plan.

As part of our application, a significant amount of work has been undertaken to assess potential environmental impacts. The Environmental Impact Statement clearly shows no adverse impacts will arise as a result of this development, including traffic management, a company spokesman added.
U.S. Armys Buffalo Soldiers honored on new postmark: Postmark Pursuit

Aug 22, 2016, 1 PM

The 150th anniversary of the formation of the first Buffalo Soldiers regiment is being commemorated with an Aug. 27 pictorial postmark.

By Michael Baadke

On April 22, 1994, the United States Postal Service issued a dynamic 29 stamp (Scott 2818) honoring Buffalo Soldiers, the post-Civil War U.S. Army regiments made up of African-American troops. The stamp was issued two years after Gen. Colin Powell dedicated the Buffalo Soldier statue at Fort Leavenworth, Kans.

Before the stamp was issued, the USPS Postal Bulletin of April 14, 1994, described the history of the Buffalo Soldiers.

In 1866, after the Civil War, Congress authorized the formation of six black regiments  two cavalry (9th and 10th) and four infantry (38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st). The infantry units were later consolidated and redesignated as the 24th and 25th Infantries.

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These soldiers became known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

Over several decades, Buffalo Soldiers served in forts throughout the United States, including Arizona, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. They endured bitter hardships and often received inferior food, equipment, and horses. However, they received the highest number (18) of Congressional Medals of Honor and had the lowest desertion rate of any Army unit from 1867 to 1898.

The 150th anniversary of the formation of the Buffalo Soldiers is being commemorated with an Aug. 27 postmark from Anaheim, Calif., sponsored by the Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce.

The pictorial postmark shows the buffalo crest and crossed swords associated with these honored soldiers.

To obtain the cancel, send your request to:

150th ANNIVERSARY Station, Postmaster, 3101 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92799-9999, Aug. 27.

The following cancels are also available:

ERIE COUNTY FAIR Station, Postmaster, 5501 Camp Road, Hamburg, NY 14075-9998, Aug. 18. (Older car, 177th).

DANE Station, Postmaster, Box 9998, Greenville, MI 48838-9998, Aug. 19. (Man with moustache and glasses, large insect, Danish Festival.)

THE PICKUP TRUCK Station, Postmaster, 2121 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95818-9998, Aug. 19. (Pickup truck, California Automobile Museum.)

THE GREAT DARKE FAIR Station, Postmaster, Box 9998, Greenville, OH 45331-9998, Aug. 19. (Sign with station name, Greatest County Fair on Earth! Celebrates 160 Years.)

GUILFORD FUN FEST DAY Station, Postmaster, Box 9998, Guilford NY 13780-9998, Aug. 20. (Church building, Artfully yours in Guilford.)

WILD BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL Station, Postmaster, 89 Court St., Box 9998, Machias, ME 04654-9998, Aug. 20. (Blueberries on plant stem with leaves.)

CONVENTION Station, Postmaster, 3190 South 70th St., Room 509, Philadelphia, PA 19153-9611, Aug. 20. (National Park Travelers Club, ribbon around Liberty Bell.)

SUMMERSVILLE DAM Station, Postmaster, Box 9998, Summersville, WV 26651-9998, Aug. 20. (Scenic view of dam in circular frame.)

OMAHA, NEBRASKA Station, Postmaster, 1124 Pacific St., Omaha, NE 68108-9998, Aug. 24. (National Parks, moose on circular date stamp, horizontal lines.)

YOSEMITE, CALIFORNIA Station, Postmaster, 9017 Village Drive, Yosemite, CA 95389-9998, Aug. 25. (2016 National Park Service Centennial with arrowhead substituting for 0, The National Park Service was created on August 25, 1916, By Congress Through the National Park Service Organic Act.)

PROVINCE LANDS Station, Postmaster, 2357 State Highway, Wellfleet, MA 02667-9998, Aug. 25. (Shore bird in flight over dune, water, in circular frame, Cape Cod National Seashore, 2016 National Park Service Centennial with arrowhead substituting for 0, 1916-2016, three horizontal lines.)

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK Station, Postmaster, 114 Albright Ave., Box 9998, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190-9998, Aug. 25. (Oval postmark with buffalo, National Park Service Centennial, 1916 2016.)

NATIONAL PARKS 100th ANNIVERSARY FOUNDERS DAY Station, Retail Services, 3190 S. 70th St., Room 509, Philadelphia, PA 19153-9611, Aug. 25. (Park rangers hat.)

Instructions for requesting postmarks

Linns readers can see complete instructions for requesting postmarks here.
May 3, 2021, 4 AM

By Michael Baadke

The first stamp in the American Poet commemorative series honored writer Edgar Lee Masters. The 6 stamp (Scott 1405) was issued Aug. 22, 1970, in Petersburg, Ill.

Masters was born Aug. 23, 1869, in Garnett, Kans., and grew up in Petersburg and in Lewiston, Ill., not far from the Spoon River, which gave its name to the fictional town in Masters 1915 poetry collection, Spoon River Anthology.

Masters worked as an attorney for many years, including time in a partnership with Clarence Darrow, while also publishing poetry and plays using a pen name. Spoon River Anthology, an early collection and his most famous work, was described by Ronald Primeau as a series of poignant and often sardonic graveside monologues that capture small-town America, Midwestern values, and the angst of modern life.

When it was published, the book found a substantial audience of admirers, but it was spurned by others for its free verse format and the frank and revealing accounts of its subjects lives.

Masters later published additional poetry, fiction and plays, as well as biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain and others.
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The planet's trees have seen plenty of history pass by their trunks. In fact, they began to populate Earth 385 million years ago, toward the end of the Devonian period. Considered living historical records, the organisms can withstand generations of development and change.

But which tree has been around the longest?

Until 2013, the oldest individual tree in the world was Methuselah, a 4,845-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of California. Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research Group then announced the age of another P. longaeva also located in the White Mountains  this one 5,062 years old.

Related: How tall can trees grow?

Europe's oldest tree, crowned in 2016, is a 1,075-year-old Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) growing in Greece. The tree  named Adonis after the Greek god of beauty, youth and desire  took root in A.D. 941, when the Vikings were still raiding along European coastlines. Europe is home to some even longer-lived trees, but these have yet to be officially dated.

"Adonis," A Bosnian Pine living high in the mountains of Greece, is Europe's oldest officially dated tree, at 1,075 years. (Image credit: Dr Oliver Konter, Mainz)

For instance, living in a churchyard of the Llangernyw village in North Wales, the Llangernyw Yew is estimated to be at least 4,000 years old. The yew tree (Taxus baccata) is believed to have taken root sometime during Britain's Bronze Age.

Clonal trees

Though these are some of the oldest individual trees in the world, they are technically not the oldest living organisms. There are several clonal colonies  which are made up of genetically identical trees connected by a single root system  that are much older.

For example, the Pando, or "trembling giant," is a clonal colony made up of more than 40,000 individual quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Located in Fishlake National Forest in south-central Utah, the colony is estimated to be an astounding 80,000 years old.

Called Old Tjikko, this 9,550-year-old trunk from a clonal Norway spruce is a record-breaker. (Image credit: Leif Kullman)

In 2008, peculiar circumstances led to the discovery of the world's oldest individual from a clonal tree: Old Tjikko, a 9,550-year-old Norway spruce located the in Fulufjallet Mountains in Sweden, according to scientists at Umea University. Old Tjikko is suspected to be the only living trunk of an ancient clonal colony like the Pando.

The tree's true age was revealed by carbon-14 dating its root system. According to a statement from Umea University, scientists found four generations of spruce remains at the site, all with the same genetic makeup. Spruce trees can multiply with the root penetrating branches to produce exact copies of themselves, so while the individual trunk is younger, the organism has been cloning itself for at least 9,550 years.

Umea University also reported that a cluster of around 20 spruces were found in the Swedish mountains that are estimated to be over 8,000 years old. The trees are able to survive very harsh weather conditions, but a warming climate has allowed them to thrive.

Compared with all of these ancient trees, the oldest living animal, a 183-year-old tortoise, is a young whipper snapper.

Editor's Note: This article was first published in 2013 and updated with new information in 2016.

Originally published on Live Science.
One man's fatal lung infection highlights a rare danger that musicians may face: getting sick from fungi growing within their instruments, according to a recent report of the case.

The 61-year-old man developed what his doctors in England described as "bagpipe lung," and died just a month after he was hospitalized for his infection, according to the case report, published today (Aug. 22) in the journal Thorax.

The man had previously been diagnosed with a lung condition called hypersensitivity pneumonitis, in 2009, the doctors who treated him wrote. But that condition can have many causes, and at that time, it was unclear what was causing the case, according to the report. [Here's a Giant List of the Strangest Medical Cases We've Covered]

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is characterized by inflammation in the air sacs in the lungs; it starts when the immune system reacts to some "trigger," said Dr. Jenny King, a physician trainee in respiratory medicine at the University Hospital South Manchester in England and the lead author of the report.

To lower the inflammation, doctors treated the man with drugs that suppressed his body's immune response. However, it wasn't until he visited a different clinic in September 2014 with worsening symptoms that doctors connected the man's condition to his hobby: playing the bagpipes, according to the report.

Indeed, a major clue was that the man, who told the doctors he played the bagpipes daily, said that several years earlier his symptoms had briefly disappeared, when he went to Australia for three months and did not bring his bagpipes, King said.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis can be easy to treat if it's caught early and the patient avoids the trigger, King told Live Science. This appears to be what happened when the man went to Australia, according to the report.

However, after the man returned from his trip, he resumed playing the bagpipes, and his symptoms returned, according to the report. If hypersensitivity pneumonitis isn't treated, the air sacs of the lungs can become scarred, and then oxygen can no longer pass through these sacs to get into the bloodstream, King said.

When the man came to the clinic in 2014, he told the doctors that he had had a dry cough for the past seven years and was increasingly out of breath, according to the report. In addition, the man said he used to be able to walk more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), but could currently walk only about 20 meters (66 feet) before he felt he had to stop. He was hospitalized because his symptoms were getting worse, according to the report.

During this time, the doctors took samples from the man's bagpipes and found that at least seven different types of fungi were growing in the moist environment within the pipes, according to the report.

Unfortunately, the man died about a month after he was admitted to the hospital, due to his worsening symptoms, the doctors wrote.

The doctors noted that they weren't able to definitively confirm that the fungi in the bagpipes caused the infection before the man died. However, the man's experience playing the bagpipes, coupled with finding fungi in the instrument, make the fungi from the bagpipes the likely cause of the man's infection, according to the report.

A warning to musicians: Keep your instruments clean

Bagpipes are not the only culprit in cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis; indeed, other instruments have been implicated as well. [4 Unusual Ways Music Can Tune Up the Brain]

For example, other case reports have highlighted the condition in a saxophone player (in that case, it was deemed "saxophone lung") and a trombone player.

Any instrument that has a mouthpiece could harbor fungi and lead to hypersensitivity pneumonitis, King said. A person can get sick even if he or she doesn't inhale while using the instrument, because the fungal spores circulate throughout the instrument, she said.

But there's no need for musicians to pack up their instruments  regularly cleaning them is the best way to prevent "bagpipe lung," King said.

While the medical literature doesn't describe any "gold standard" for cleaning musical instruments, one study suggested taking the instrument apart, cleaning each piece with a solution of disinfectant and water, and letting the pieces drip dry, King said. It's also important to regularly clean the instrument case and to store the instrument in a dry environment, she added.

Originally published on Live Science.
Health professionals consider a mother's milk to be the ideal nourishment for her baby.

The percentage of U.S. mothers who breast-feed their newborns continues to rise, but many stop breast-feeding before their infant is 6 months old, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2013, 81.1 percent of U.S. mothers said they started out breast-feeding their baby. That's up from 75 percent in 2008, and 70 percent in 2000, according to the CDC.

Breast-feeding rates were highest in Utah, where 94.4 percent of mothers said they breast-fed their newborns in 2013. Rates were lowest in Mississippi, where 52 percent of mothers said they started out breast-feeding.

The researchers also found that 52 percent of U.S. mothers said they were still breast-feeding their infants when the babies were 6 months old, and 30 percent said they were still breast-feeding when the babies reached 1 year. [7 Baby Myths Debunked]

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breast-feeding for the first six months of life, meaning that breast milk is the only source of food for the child, along with added vitamin and mineral supplements. After six months, the AAP recommends that mothers continue breast-feeding until infants reach age 1, while introducing other foods to complement the breast milk.

"High breast-feeding initiation rates show that most mothers in the U.S. want to breast-feed and are trying to do so," the report said. "However, low breast-feeding rates among infants who are 6 and 12 months of age indicate that many mothers do not continue breast-feeding as recommended," the researchers wrote.

"These rates suggest that mothers, in part, may not be getting the support they need, such as from healthcare providers, family members, and employers," they said.

This support can include programs in hospitals that help new mothers with breast-feeding, as well as adequate space and equipment to breast-feed in workplaces, the CDC said.

Original article on Live Science.
Villagers would use spears to move the elephants out of the crop fields, injuring and potentially killing the animals.

Conservationists are filling condoms with chili powder and firecrackers  to keep elephants away.

This scare tactic, part of a multistep alarm system, has been developed to protect farmland and villages from elephants, without harming the animals. Honeyguide Foundation, with support from The Nature Conservancy, has been training villagers to use the alarm system, and though unconventional, the chili condoms have already shown promise.

In northern Tanzania, the area around Tarangire National Park where elephants live has seen substantial civilization growth since the park was established in 1970. According to Matthew Brown, Africa region conservation director for The Nature Conservancy, the population density has more than doubled and much of the grasslands surrounding the park are being converted to farmland. [Elephant Images: The Biggest Beasts on Land]

"The issue is [the elephants] leave some of these parks, like Tarangire National Park, and go into these community areas that are farmed," Brown told Live Science. "It's not an ivory issue, it's human-wildlife conflict around a response, because they're raiding the crops."

Success of chili

Before the program started in October 2013, villagers would use spears to move the elephants out of the crop fields, injuring and potentially killing the animals. Even so, the elephants were damaging up to 70 percent of crops in the area. This led Damian Bell, executive director of Honeyguide, to research alternative options for keeping the elephants away.

Bell had heard that some communities found success with firecrackers, the loud noise scaring the elephants and prompting the animals to move. Communities had also used bright lights  from headlights on a vehicle or flashlights  to push the elephants away.

In addition, for years, farmers have used chilies  planting peppers as a "fence" or dispersing powder  to ward off the elephants. As very few animals like chili, the peppers (or powder) have also been used to keep other animals, like monkeys, from crops.

"I thought, 'Let's mix these together  let's have a firecracker that's wrapped up in chili. So that when we chuck it at them, there's a bang and there's the smoke,'" Bell told Live Science. "So we started working on the chili bomb, chili cloud kind of thing, and that was working well."

Step three of the elephant alarm system involves throwing a "chili cloud"  chili powder mixed with sand and a lit firecracker inside of a condom. (Image credit: The Nature Conservancy)

The so-called chili bombs are a mixture of chili powder and soil, packed with a firecracker, into a condom. Brown said in order for the chili bomb to work, it needed to be in a balloon that could expand to the shape of the firecracker and would burst from the firecracker's fuse. Condoms are also readily available at local markets, making for the perfect container.

However, while the chili bombs were succuessful in one community, and the use of bright flashlights worked in another, no single tactic saw complete success.

"So I thought, 'Let's work on the senses, the eyes, the ears and the nose, the smell,'" Bell said of developing a four-step system.

4-pronged approach

In order to attack four of the animals' senses, while also escalating each tactic in order to create a complete alarm system, Honeyguide trained villagers to use a multipronged approach. First the bright flashlight, which Bell said has a 60 percent success rate in turning the elephants around. A loud horn is used next to encourage the remaining 40 percent of elephants to move. If that still doesn't work, then the chili powder and firecracker condom "bombs" are thrown.

Finally, in a few cases in which the elephant still has not budged, a Roman candle firework is thrown. Though the firework is very effective, it's expense and intensity make it the last effort to move the animals.

"The Roman candle is something that is quite intense. It has lots of bangs, lots of flashes, lots of light. That Roman candle is 99.9 percent effective, and we've only used it nine times by June," Bell said, referring to the tactics used this crop season, from November to July. "So the chili bombs we've used a lot, the flashlights and horns uncountable times."

Despite bad weather and low rainfall this growing season, Bell said farmers expect this to be their most successful harvest year, because they lost so little of their crops to wildlife.

Conservationist Tim Davenport, who is not involved in the alarm-system project, said this particular technique is noteworthy in that it uses elephants' intelligence and trains them over time.

"Elephants are pretty smart, and that's why this sort of tactic is an interesting one," Davenport, who is the country director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania, told Live Science. "The real aim here is to almost sensitize the elephants not so much to the chili but to a flashlight first."

In human-wildlife conflict management, Davenport said, it is as much about the animals' behavior as it is the humans'. As the elephants become conditioned to respond to the flashlight, because they learn that what comes after the light is worse, the villagers are also learning to relate to the elephants differently.

As the villagers become more confident that they can move an elephant off their land in a non-harmful manner, Brown said they no longer see the need in killing in the animals. The project's collaborative effort with park rangers has also changed the communities' behavior toward rangers.

"The community are now seeing the rangers as providing support and are in frequent communication with them," Brown said. "Meaning they are now more likely to provide information on any possible poaching activity."

Original article on Live Science.
A man who spent many years collecting metal artifacts from the ocean near the power plant where he worked in Israel secretly amassed a huge collection of valuable and ancient treasures.

Archaeologists were recently given the trove of artifacts after the man, who had worked for years at the Orot Rabin Power Station in Hadera, on the coast of Israel, passed away and his family began sorting through his belongings. They found a remarkable collection of valuable and ancient items.

"The finds include a toggle pin and the head of a knife from the Middle Bronze Age," which are more than 3,500 years old, Ayala Lester, a curator with the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement. [The Holy Land: 7 Amazing Archaeological Finds]

The man's collection also included valuable mortars and pestles, candlestick fragments and other goods manufactured during the Fatimid Dynasty from the 11th century. The items were probably made in Syria.

"The finds are evidence of the metal trade that was conducted during this period," Lester said.

A 3,500-year-old toggle pin and the head of a Bronze Age knife were amongst the treasures collected from the ocean by a power plant worker in Hadera, Israel. (Image credit: 1. Diego Barkan, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Amateur collector

The power plant worker, Marcel Mazliah, had been employed at the Orot Rabin Power Station since it was first constructed in 1973. The coal-fired plant, which is Israel's largest, lies on the banks of the Mediterranean, and over the years, Mazliah had been quietly collecting objects washed up from the sea.

After Mazliah's death, his family asked representatives from the Israel Antiquities Authority to look at his treasure collection. As it turned out, the collection contained genuine artifacts that were likely lost from a metal merchant's ship at some point in the past.

A power plant worker in Israel collected treasures from the sea over several decades on the job. Amongst his finds were several mortars and pestles that date to the 11th century. (Image credit: 1. Diego Barkan, Israel Antiquities Authority. )

In addition to the stunning Bronze Age pin and the Fatimid-era treasures, the collection also included an ancient hand grenade of a type used by the Crusaders, Ayyubids and the Mamluks hundreds of years ago.

Mazliah's family will receive a certificate of appreciation for handing over the artifacts to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

With hundreds of civilizations occupying the region over the millennia, Israel is full of ancient artifacts, many of which have been discovered by accident by ordinary citizens. For instance, in 2015, cavers found a trove of ancient coins and jewelry, while that same year an unsuspecting Israeli family found a historic ritual bath lurking beneath the floorboards of their apartment.

Original article on Live Science.
When male termites are single, and no female mates can be found, the guys tend to form homosexual couples in order to survive, a new study finds.

These homosexual pairings may give male Japanese termites an evolutionary edge, according to new research. Scientists found that when female mates are lacking, male termites will pair up and nest together. These same-sex pairs will even take over a heterosexual couple's nest, killing the resident male so that one can member of the male-male pair can mate with the female, the researchers said.

Scientists previously thought homosexual pairings for invertebrates like insects were the result of misrecognition of males as females. However, in the new study, researchers at Kyoto University in Japan found that the male termites in same-sex couplings did not act as if they had mistaken their partner as female. [Gay Animals: Alternate Lifestyles in the Wild]

"Japanese termites usually make nests in monogamous, heterosexual pairs," study lead scientist Nobuaki Mizumoto, an insect ecologist at Kyoto University, said in a statement. "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."

Male termites do not survive long on their own, but those who nested with another male survived much longer, according to the study. Male-male pairings were also beneficial when searching for female termites, Mizumoto said, a time when the risk of becoming prey is higher.

The researchers monitored the homosexual termites' behavior and saw the insects build nests together, just as heterosexual couples did. Once a heterosexual couple completed its nest and began digging tunnels surrounding it, a male-male pair would travel through the tunnel to invade, killing the male occupant of the nest. Genetic analysis of the subsequent offspring showed that one of the invading males was able to successfully mate with the female.

Though pairing with another male is not the best option, as only one of the termites can mate once a female is found, the researchers noted that the behavior does give single termites a better chance at survival.

"It's clear that male-male pairing is a strategy for survival," Mizumoto said.

The new study was published online Aug. 9 in the journal Animal Behaviour.

Original article on Live Science.
Armchair cryptographers, rejoice: A Spanish publisher plans to release replicas of the Voynich Manuscript, a book that no one knows how to read.

Discovered by an antique bookseller in 1912 by the name of Wilfrid Voynich, the 600-year-old Voynich Manuscript is housed today in Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. It's filled with script in a language that's never been seen in any other known text which, depending on whom you talk to, means it's nonsense or a secret code just waiting to be cracked.

According to AFP, a publisher called Siloe based in Burgos, Spain, will produce 898 copies of the Voynich manuscript, replicating every detail down to the pages'stains and tears. The publisher reportedly plans to sell each of the facsimiles for 7,000 to 8,000 euros (about $7,900 to $9,000). [See Images of the Mysterious Voynich Manuscript]

"It's a book that has such an aura of mystery that when you see it for the first time it fills you with an emotion that is very hard to describe," Juan Jose Garcia, the editor of Siloe, told AFP.

Many pages of the puzzling script include equally puzzling illustrations. The elaborate ink drawings depict astrological symbols, figural scenes and plants, including over 100 unidentified botanical species. As Yale writes in its description of the manuscript, there is one section full of "drawings of miniature female nudes, most with swelled abdomens, immersed or wading in fluids and oddly interacting with interconnecting tubes and capsules."

A few years ago, a radiocarbon analysis of the book's vellum pages proved that it dates back to the 15th century. But even if the book is genuinely old, some researchers have dismissed the manuscript as a Renaissance-era hoax text, intentionally filled with gibberish. (Or, as one paper published by the American Botanical Council succinctly put it, "Many scholars consider research into the Voynich manuscript to be academic suicide.") Others think the manuscript is a cipher that just hasn't been cracked, and theories about the text's contents and origins abound.

A 2013 study published in the journal PLOS ONE claimed that "Voynichese"statistically adhered to linguistic rules. The authors of that study couldn't decode any words, but they could at least tell that the pattern of letters followed Zipf's Law, which holds that the most commonword in a language will appear about twice as often as the second most common word and three times as much as the third most common word and so on.

A few years ago, some scholars claimed the text must have come from Mexico, not central Europe as is traditionally believed, because it contained drawings of plants that look similar to Mesoamerican species. Another linguist claimed he deciphered a handful of words, including the word for Taurus, by looking for proper nouns next to their corresponding illustrations.

For now, you can peruse a digital copy of the book on the Beinecke Library's website.

Original article on Live Science.
Here, the bow of the USS Independence seen during the robot sub survey in August 2016.

More than 60 years after a World War II-era aircraft carrier sunk to the bottom of the sea, the word "Independence" could still be made out on its surface. By exploring the wreck with robotic subs, scientists are getting their first look at this decades-old ship, which was a target during atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific in the 1940s.

The exploration is already revealing secrets: Scientists operating the underwater robot discovered a fighter plane within the sunken aircraft carrier that, according to records, should not have been there. In addition, atomic blasts had caused significant damage to the carrier, which scientists mapped on this underwater mission.

The USS Independence was the lead ship of its class of light aircraft carriers that were critical during the American naval offensive in the Pacific during World War II. The vessel operated in the central and western Pacific between November 1943 and August 1945; torpedoes from Japanese aircraft demanded a stint away for repairs from January to July 1944 in San Francisco. [See Photos of the Sunken USS Independence Aircraft Carrier]

Blasted by atom bombs

The Independence was later one of more than 90 vessels assembled as a target fleetfor the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb testsin 1946. The ship was placed within a half mile (800 meters) of ground zero for the first test there and, while damaged by shock waves, heat and radiation, the veteran ship did not sink. The highly radioactive Independence and dozens of other ships from the tests were then taken to Pearl Harbor and San Francisco for decontamination studies. [Video of the Robot Sub Dive]

After the Independence returned to the United States, the blast-damaged vessel was sunk deliberately in 1951 near San Francisco. "It was scuttled in a weapons test to determine the efficiency of two new types of torpedo warhead," James Delgado, director of maritime heritage at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said in a phone interview with Live Science from on board the exploration vessel Nautilus.

The Independence should no longer be significantly radioactive, according to Kai Vetter, a nuclear physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, Delgado said. Although the steel of Independence was radioactive after the atomic bomb tests, "steel has a seven-year half-life," Delgado said, meaning that about half of all the radioactive steel should have decayed after seven years. "The tests were about 70 years ago, which is 10 generations of half-lives, so at this point, it's less than 1 percent the original radioactivity. Vetter strongly feels that Independence poses no radiological risk to anyone, or the environment, or the equipment we're employing."

A 2015 survey found that the Independence was resting upright in 2,600 feet (790 meters) of water off California's Farallon Islands. Sonar images of the sunken carrier even suggested that a plane might be stuck inside the carrier's hangar bay.

The ROV took several sonar images of each section of the ship, giving a high-resolution picture. The sonar painted a clear picture of the ship, with the colors showing its topography. (Image credit: NOAA/Boeing)

First look at the Independence

On Aug. 22, scientists on board the Nautilus directed robot subs to analyze the wreck of the Independence. The vessel is currently on a four-month expedition to explore the eastern Pacific Ocean. Past expeditions have discovered other previously unseen shipwrecks, sea creatures and more. Nautilus is operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust, a nonprofit organization founded by oceanographer Robert Ballard.

Many scientists and other experts taking part in Nautilus expeditions have done so online in real time instead of crowding on board the ship. "It's like giving remote control over the starship Enterprise on a science mission," Delgado told Live Science. "We're able to connect not only with scientists, but also the public, interacting with them in real time, getting questions and getting feedback from them. At one point last night, there were people from 36 separate countries logged on as we were streaming live."

The Independence was amazingly intact, NOAA researchers said. "There have been some changes to it since it went to the bottom 65 years ago, but what we have been seeing very closely resembles the ship she was before she went underwater," Delgado said. "At the stern, we were still able to read, in traces of paint, 'Independence.'"

The USS Independence wreck is now covered in a diverse array of large glass sponges. (Image credit: OET/Nautilus Live)

The scientists mapped the Independence. "First and foremost, we mapped atomic blast damage," Delgado said. "There were initially photographs and hand-drawn pictures of the damage after the tests, but our work gives us a more detailed sense of the damage."

The scientists confirmed that an airplane  an F6F-5N Hellcat fighter craft  was stuck inside the forward elevator of the Independence. "That's a plane that shouldn't be there," Delgado said. "Records indicated that all the aircraft on Independence were jettisoned except for two, which were presumably left on board during the atom bomb tests. The records said the two aircraft on Independence were studied and disposed of, but clearly, one was not, and perhaps the other is inside, too." [Photos: The 11 Fastest Military Aircraft]

The Hellcat "shows powerful signs of atom bomb damage," Delgado said. "Its wings are folded and broken. But you can still see the star painted on its wing. It's an interesting and welcome surprise to see."

The researchers also saw the aftermath of the torpedoes used to scuttle the Independence. "We could see the holes where torpedoes blasted in and through," Delgado said.

The Independence is the deepest of more than 400 shipwrecks in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The Nautilus is cruising around the rest of the 3,295-square-mile (8,534 square kilometers) sanctuary this week, which is largely unexplored in its deepest portions, the researchers said. The sanctuary is home to deep-sea coral and sponges, and investigating them may help scientists better understand the increasing acidification of the oceans.

Viewers can watch the work of the Nautilus live online at nautiluslive.org.

Original article on Live Science.
SEATTLE  The acceptance of gay rights has undergone an unprecedented worldwide surge in recent years, with governments granting gay people the right to marry and protections from discrimination. But that's not the case everywhere, largely because of unyielding local cultures that thwart pro-gay global views, new research finds.

These anti-gay cultures are especially prevalent in three world regions: the Muslim world, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, and sub-Saharan Africa, said study researcher Louisa Roberts, a doctoral candidate in sociology at The Ohio State University.

"Even as there's been this push toward acceptance of homosexuality at the global level, you have resistance at various regional levels," Roberts told Live Science. [5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]

Roberts based much of her work on two enormous datasets: the integrated World Values Survey and the European Values Survey. Using data collected from 1981 to 2012, Roberts examined how people's views on homosexuality changed over time.

In all, she looked at data from 87 countries, with an average sample size of about 1,600 people per country. In particular, she looked at a question asking participants how justifiable they thought homosexuality was on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being "never justifiable" and 10 being "always justifiable."

For example, in 1981, Japan had an average score of 2.51, the United Kingdom 3.40, Australia 3.78 and the Netherlands 5.60. In 1982, the United States had an average score of 2.36.

However, by 2009 and 2010, Japan had an average score of 5.14 and the United Kingdom 5.50. In 2011, the United States had 5.40. In 2012, Australia had 6.86 and the Netherlands 7.90.

These numbers indicate "that there has been a global upswing in the global acceptance of homosexuality," Roberts said.

But the averages for countries in the Muslim world (which includes much of the Middle East, parts of North Africa and several Southeast Asian nations) and sub-Saharan Africa stayed under 2.0, and averages for the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries stayed under 3 for the entirety of the survey, Roberts found.

Acceptance surge

People living in different regions of the world changed their perceptions on homosexuality in various ways, Roberts found. For instance, countries that were more accepting of gay people in 1981 showed the largest positive changes in acceptance over time, Roberts said.

Those nations who were less accepting changed their perceptions more slowly, which widened the gap between those areas and the more accepting countries, the research showed.

This general increase in acceptance in much of the world occurred for a number of reasons, but several large ones stand out, Roberts said.

In Europe, countries began to decriminalize homosexuality in the 1960s and 1970s, and a "veritable gush" of these laws passed in the 1990s. In 1994, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled that criminalizing homosexuality violated the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. By 2012, employment discrimination was prohibited in 59 countries and same-sex civil unions or marriages were made legal in 24 countries.

On the medical front, the American Psychiatric Association said in 1973 that it no longer classified homosexuality as a mental disorder, and the World Health Organization followed suit in 1990.

The globalized media also played a role, by promoting "both the acceptance of homosexuality and the conceptualization of homosexuality as an identity, not just a behavior," Roberts said. [10 Milestones in Gay Rights History]

Countries in which people were more exposed to global ideas, telecommunication and travel, in general, as well as countries whose citizens received more education, on average, tended to become more accepting of gay people over time, the research showed.

Exposure to global ideas and education levels were low in the three regions that did not grow in their acceptance of homosexuality, the researchers found. What's more, these regions' cultures resisted gay acceptance. For instance, in 2013, Russia passed a law against so-called "homosexual propaganda." Muslim governments have rejected homosexuality "as a decadent Western import," and many African leaders have decried homosexuality as contrary to "African values" and traditions, Roberts said.

About two-thirds of the 76 countries that still criminalized homosexuality in 2012 were in sub-Saharan Africa or Muslim-majority nations, the research showed.

The study was presented on Saturday (Aug. 20) at the American Sociological Association's annual meeting in Seattle. The research has not been published in peer-reviewed journal.

Original article on Live Science.
Local News, Business & Finance, Travel & Local Attractions, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 23 2016

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the completion of new track laying between Central Islip and Ronkonkoma for the LIRR Double Track project.

Long Island, NY - August 22, 2016 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the completion of new track laying between Central Islip and Ronkonkoma for the LIRR Double Track project, and work on the final phase between Farmingdale and Central Islip is already underway and on schedule to be completed in 2018. The Double Track, extending from Farmingdale to Ronkonkoma, will dramatically reduce delays on the LIRR and enable more off peak service in both directions by adding 13 miles of parallel track. Together with the full MTA eTix rollout, the LIRR Third Track proposal on the Main Line, East Side Access, and four new Metro-North Stations in the Bronx, the milestone reached today moves the MTA's commuter rail priorities forward in the Governor's $100 billion Infrastructure and Development Plan for New York.

"New York State is moving aggressively to bring our mass transit systems into the 21st century -- not just to meet the needs of our current population, but to foster smart, sensible and sustainable growth," Governor Cuomo said. "Adding a second track to the Ronkonkoma Branch is a project has been talked about for decades, but was never set into motion. By pairing innovative equipment with our strategy of design-build construction, we are accelerating the pace of these types of critical infrastructure projects to improve Long Island commutes and strengthen the region's economy. Put simply, we are building today for a better tomorrow."



Photo Credit: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, via Flickr.

Governor Cuomo today toured the Double Track site in Central Islip with MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast, where the New Track Construction machine was laying the final stretch of Phase I track. The New Track Construction machine lays track more than ten times faster than the MTA has ever done before, saving $2.4 million in construction costs. Photos of the Governor at the construction site will be available on the Governor's Flikr page. Video of the tour and the machine, as well as this afternoon's Double Track press conference, will follow.

MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast said: "The Governor has challenged us to move more quickly and efficiently in all we do and to use new, innovative ideas to advance projects. With the use of this new track-laying technology, MTA will save $2.4 million in the first phase of Double Track alone and bring us a big step forward in reducing delays and providing better service on the Ronkonkoma Branch in both directions."

Completion of New Track Laying for Phase I

Ridership on the LIRR's Ronkonkoma Branch is more than 48,000 each weekday. With just one track along most of the 18-mile route between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma, the LIRR can operate only a limited number of trains and lacks operational flexibility in the event of a disruption. If one train becomes disabled, all other trains  coming from both east and west  have no way around the problem.



The Double Track project will enable the LIRR to provide more frequent off-peak service to the Ronkonkoma Branch in both directions, with off-peak service going from one train every hour, to one train every 30 minutes in both directions. The project will reduce delays associated with service disruptions by giving the railroad flexibility to go around obstacles that it cannot currently in single track territory.



Work for the Double Track project is being done in two phases using design-build contracting; funding for the project of $387.2 million has been secured in its entirety by Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature.



Phase I adds 3.5 miles of track between Central Islip and Ronkonkoma, and new track construction of this segment will be complete as early as today. Phase II work is already underway, which primarily focuses on building the remaining track between Farmingdale and Central Islip, as well as signal installation the entire Farmingdale to Ronkonkema distance. The MTA awarded design-build contracts for these components in June. In large part because design-build contracting holds private construction management firms accountable for achieving deadlines set by the MTA, the Double Track is on schedule to open as initially announced in 2018.



Photo Credit: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, via Flickr.

"By pairing innovative equipment with our strategy of design-build construction, we are accelerating the pace of these types of critical infrastructure projects to improve Long Island commutes and strengthen the region's economy," said Governor Cuomo.

Using Specialized Machinery Laying Track 10x Faster

The Double Track project marks the MTA's first-ever use of the New Track Construction machine, which is capable of laying one mile of track per day  more than ten times faster than the 500 feet of track per day that the MTA manually laid previously. By speeding up this process, the MTA is significantly improving productivity, increasing safety and reducing the potential of construction disruption to local communities. Use of the machine reduces the cost of laying Phase I's 3.5 miles of track from more than $3.6 million to $1.2 million, saving approximately $2.4 million.



The machine is pulled from the front end by a bulldozer along the route of the new track. It automatically handles the flow of materials, negating the use of overhead cranes for track construction. The machine's ability to bring in supplies by rail negates the need for trucking supplies in. The MTA plans to use the machine in future projects in response to the Governor's challenge to increase efficiency in its projects.



In concert with the proposed Main Line Expansion Project, which would add a third track to the heavily utilized segment between Floral Park and Hicksville, the construction of the Double Track between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma will support Long Island-wide resiliency by enabling the LIRR to provide better Main Line Service options in conditions where either the Montauk Branch or Port Jefferson Branch is compromised because of severe weather.



In addition to the Double Track and the proposed LIRR Expansion Project, the railroad is also moving forward with other projects that will help improve railroad operations, including the Jamaica Capacity Improvement Project which streamlines the Jamaica track layout and modernizes the switch and signal system; the expansion of the train storage yard in Ronkonkoma and the addition of pocket tracks along the Port Washington and Babylon Branches.

Launching MTA eTix Mobile Ticketing Across Entire System

Governor Cuomo also announced today's full, system-wide implementation of MTA eTix, the new mobile ticketing app that allows Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road customers to use their smartphone as a boarding ticket.



MTA eTix empowers LIRR and Metro-North customers to board using their smartphone instead of a paper ticket, as well as check schedules and see train service status, which interconnects with the popular Train Time apps for Metro-North and the LIRR. The app also offers account management tools, giving railroad customers the ability to secure refunds for unused mobile tickets, request duplicate receipts, and manage profile info such as password and linked credit card numbers. And for customers who use pre-tax commuter benefit programs, the app allows users to split their purchases between a pre-tax benefit card and another card. More information about the app is available here.



Today's addition of the New Haven Line's three branches and the rest of the LIRR marks the third and final phase of the rollout. MTA eTix first became available on Metro-Norths Hudson Line and the LIRRs Port Washington Branch on June 30, and on July 25 the app debuted on Metro-Norths Harlem Line.



MTA eTix is a central component of the MTA improving the customer experience, complementing a deep integration of technology across the board. The MTA's record $27 billion Capital Program secured under the leadership of Governor Cuomo supports the addition of 2,340 buses and 1,025 redesigned subway cars with USB charging ports plus Wi-Fi; full cell phone connectivity, Wi-Fi and countdown clocks in every subway station; 31 reimagined subway stations that also include USB charging ports and enhanced digital information hubs inside and outside of the station; and an accelerated plan to create a new fare payment system to replace the MetroCard.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 23 2016

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the designation of 12 new Brownfield Opportunity Areas in communities across New York.
Family & Parenting, School & Education, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 23 2016

The Hempstead Police Department is urging parents to teach their children some simple safety tips before they head back to school.

Village of Hempstead Police Department officers, AAA Northeast representatives and Village of Hempstead students stand with a street sign promoting safe driving. The Village of Hempstead Police Department was helping launch the Schools OpenDrive Carefully campaign in partnership with AAA Northeast.

Hempstead, NY - August 22, 2016 - The Hempstead Police Department is urging parents to teach their children some simple safety tips before they head back to school.



Very soon, thousands of children will be walking to and from school and school buses  many for the first time, said Police Chief Michael McGowan. Everyone who drives has a responsibility to be especially careful during this busy time for youngsters.



Hundreds of young children are killed each year in collisions with motor vehicles, and thousands more are severely injured, added McGowan. Children tend to be at greater risk during the back to school period because they are thinking more about seeing old friends and new teachers than watching for cars and trucks. Others are going to school for the first time.



Drivers should be especially cautious in school areas, keeping their speed at or below posted limits and being prepared to stop, on both sides of the street, for school buses with flashing red lights, as required by New York State law.



To help protect children, Chief McGowan offered these six pedestrian-safety tips from AAA Northeasts New York region, the local AAA affiliate:

Look all ways before crossing the street.

Cross only at corners

Obey police officers, school crossing guards, members of AAA School Safety Patrols, and traffic signals.

Watch for turning cars.

Be especially alert in bad weather.

Play away from traffic.

AAA Northeast is a not-for-profit auto club with 62 offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island providing more than 5.2 million local AAA members with travel, insurance and auto-related services.



For more information, please call the Incorporated Village of Hempstead Police Department at 516-483-6200 or visit the website.
Pets & Animal, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 22 2016

Help heal and home the skyrocketing numbers of abandoned dogs.

Center Moriches, NY - August 22, 2016 - The Long Island Bulldog Rescue's (LIBR) fundraising event to help, heal and home(R) skyrocketing numbers of high-needs, abandoned dogs is scheduled for Saturday, August 27, 2016 from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM (Rain date: August 28, 2016).

The Long Island Bulldog Rescue's 4th Annual BBQ & Yard Sale is set on a beautiful horse farm. There will be bullies on hand for guests to meet, as well as LIBR volunteers who will be there to answer all questions on adoption, fostering, and volunteering. Mobile dog grooming will be available from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. A wonderful BBQ, including hot dogs, hamburgers, and pasta salad, donated by the event sponsors, Lavarone Brothers, as well as beverages will also be available for sale during the fun-filled day. Get great bargains, have fun, and feel good by providing medical, behavioral and other services to save the lives of Bulldogs in urgent need of finding their own LIBR 4EvrFamily!

When: Saturday, August 27, 2016 - 9:00 AM  4:00 PM (Rain date: August 28, 2016)

Where: 304 Frowein Rd., Center Moriches, NY 11934

Why: To raise urgently needed funds and awareness for the LIBR and to Help, Heal and Home the skyrocketing numbers of high-needs, abandoned dogs.

Cost: Free admission

About LIBR

To provide education, prevention, intervention, and adoption services to ensure that all English Bulldogs enjoy long, healthy lives in loving, safe, appropriate homes where they are provided the life-long care they require. LIBR commits to each English Bulldog and adopter(s) they serve for the life of the dog. In the event that an adoption is unsuccessful, the dog is to be returned to the LIBR. LIBR not only spays, neuters and gives vaccines, they give each dog whatever medical, behavioral and family support care needed for a great new life in a LIBR 4EvrFamily.



They provide expert medical care, behavioral support and guidance to ensure each rescue has every chance to be a happy, healthy member of the best LIBR 4EvrFamily . LIBR responds 24/7/365, even during Holiday abandonment seasons when people abandon their puppies, sick or injured dogs to attend parties, go on vacation, etc. Abandoned as impulsively as they were purchased, or surrendered by heartbroken families in crisis, they face imminent death or a shortened life of inadequate care, chronic illness, injury, conduct problems and loneliness. As long-time members of the Mayors Alliance for NYCs Animals, and in their role as the regional representative of Bulldog Club of America Rescue Network, LIBR is the leading resource for bulldog rescue in Northeastern America. For more information, visit www.longislandbulldogrescue.org.

Long Island Bulldog Rescue is an IRS public charity 501 (c) (3) not-for- profit organization that Helps Heals and Homes English Bulldogs across the Northeast United States. Follow LIBR on Twitter @LIBulldogrescue.
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Columnists Press Releases
William Elwood Yocum

William Elwood Bill Yocum passed away Monday, August 22, 2016, at his home in Carlisle, Pa. He was born October 17, 1921, in Williamsport, Pa., to Elwood Ernest and Violet Elizabeth (Corter) Yocum.

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his baby brother Clyde Eugene.

He is survived by his wife, the former Doris Jean Antes, Carlisle, and his daughter Freda, Harrisburg. Bill and Doris would have celebrated 70 years of marriage November 16.

He was a 1939 graduate of Williamsport High School and a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Force, in which he was a control tower operator, stationed in Paris after its liberation.

Bill spent a lifetime in the trucking industry, riding along on his fathers routes, most notably from Williamsport to Washington, D.C., in the 1930s, and working for the late Clarence Klinger while he was still in high school and for his late uncle Fred Corter in Allentown after graduation. He later worked for KUK, P&M, and the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, where he spent the last ten years of his career as president, before retiring at age 70 in 1992.

He enjoyed harness racing, card playing, traveling the back roads of Pa. and New York, and spending time with the Antes family. He will be greatly missed by his wife, daughter, in-laws, nieces, and nephews.

There will be a viewing Saturday, August 27, from 10 to 11 a.m. at Spitler Funeral Home, 733 Broad St., Montoursville, followed by the funeral at 11 a.m. Burial will be in Montoursville Cemetery.
HERSHEY  Two Hersheypark roller coasters that left riders stranded had been inspected just days earlier.

An online report from the state Department of Agriculture, which inspects amusement park rides, shows The Sidewinder and Fahrenheit were checked last Wednesday. Results of the inspections were not immediately available.

Hersheypark officials said The Sidewinder experienced a stoppage Monday afternoon and staffers walked 27 riders safely off the coaster in about 35 minutes. The ride was closed for the remainder of the day.

They said the coaster functioned as intended by stopping at a point that allowed guests to safely exit.

On Friday, the Fahrenheit roller coaster was stuck mid-ride for about six minutes. No one was evacuated.
For those at the Furry Friends Network, there is one mantra that keeps them involved: fostering saves lives.

Fostering is an alternative to shelters by temporarily giving homes to pets as they wait for a permanent family.

For Robin Scherer, co-founder of the network, its the only method she considered in helping animals.

I like it better. You get to see the personalities of the animal and tell adoptive families a lot more than in a shelter. You live with them 24 hours a day, she said.

The animals also get a dose of what its like to live with other pets. Scherer said most of the volunteer foster families already have pets of their own, which gives the network a good idea of how animals will react to different types of pets.

That is only one of the aspects Lisa Brousse takes into account when she fosters a new dog.

Last week, Brousse walked around her Carlisle home with her new foster dog, Jake, attached at the hipliterally. Brousse fosters bigger dogs, and Jake was still learning while tethered, which involved a leash tied around Brousse to keep him near.

It builds a bond and gives them confidence, she explained.

Brousse began fostering cats for the Furry Friends Network after she visited PetSmart and saw the ones up for adoption. That eventually changed to both dogs and cats five years ago before she settled on just fostering dogs.

She currently fosters only one dog at a time, given the other dogs in the home. Even with the full house with her own petssome of whom are former fosters and private rescuesthe temporary addition is rarely ever a problem.

My dogs are used to other dogs coming and going. Ive only had to move one because he couldnt get along, she said, noting that shes had many foster pets come through her door. Sometimes theyre here for three days; sometimes six months.

Misconceptions

Though fostering requires time on the part of the foster parent, it doesnt involve a cost for those with the Furry Friends Network.

Prospective adoptive families will come to the area for the pets, so there is no transportation involved for animals to find their home. The network also pays for the food, bedding, leash, litter and, most importantly, veterinary care for each animal. That last expense is the largest for the network.

Brousse noted that the adoption fees for the pets often dont come close to paying off the veterinary costs of the animals. The network has to organize fundraisers to pay off the difference.

One of its largest fundraisers is Race for Their Lives, which will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 18 at Gifford Pinchot State Park. The fundraiser involves a 5K Trail Run and 2 Mile Fun Walk, and its been running for 11 years.

Without fundraisers like these, theres no way we could continue. The fees (adopters pay) dont come close to covering the costs, Brousse said.

While the network may shoulder the monetary burden of the pets, there is also the question from some regarding the emotional toll it could take to let go of pets that are adopted.

For Brousse, thats never a problem. As a foster parent in the network, she gets to have the final say on where her foster dog goes, and a new home doesnt necessarily mean goodbye.

The dogs do remember you if you see them again, she said. Sometimes Ill see them at the store or being walked around the area, and they get excited.

Brousse also noted that having a foster pet move on to a permanent home means she can also help another dog.

Cats

Its a sentiment Scherer echoes. Scherer herself fosters cats, with about 10 living in her Boiling Springs basement that has been modified into a kitty paradise. The eight kittens and three adult cats can listen to music or watch televisiontwo of the adult cats that are quarantined in another room even have their own television.

Add the numerous cat trees and toys around the room, and Scherers base of operations is an oasis for her foster cats.

She also happens to be one of the few who will take them on.

Theres not a lot of people who will foster cats, Scherer said. If you are a cat person, cats can be territorial if you have resident cats.

Since her co-founder and sister-in-law, Shawna Scherer, could not foster cats because of her own cats when they started 15 years ago, Robin Scherer became the cat foster parent despite no previous knowledge about the pet.

Shes grown to love it since, but knows why the idea of fostering cats can be exhausting.

Every group is inundated with cats. All of us try to do what we can. If only people spayed and neutered their pets, she said. The more we fix, the more are being born.

As mentioned in Saturdays article, cats are often not covered in municipal contracts with shelters, so residents who find cats in certain municipalities may be stuck with them.

However, as Scherer watches a tail-less Cedric tussle with a loudly meowing Roger, its a battle shes willing to continue to fight.

This takes a lot of effort because of the numbers and because Im not just a foster family. But I enjoy giving them a place to stay and finding them their own home, she said. Helping them wouldnt be possible without foster families. Fostering saves lives.
As the Taliban continues to press its offensive in Helmand, the US military announced that it has deployed more than 100 troops to Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern Afghan province that has been under siege for months. The US troops are installed under the guise of Resolute Supports Train, Advise, Assist mission to support Afghan troops, however these troops are often in direct combat with the Taliban. Today, US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) announced that one soldier was killed and another was wounded in an IED attack while patrolling in the province. From the USFOR-A press release:

One US service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Lashkar Gar in Helmand Province today. Another US member was wounded and is currently in stable condition. Additionally, six Afghan soldiers were wounded. On behalf of all of US Forces  Afghanistan, as well as Resolute Support, our deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of those involved, said General John W. Nicholson, commander of USFOR-A and Resolute Support, We are deeply saddened by this loss, but remain committed to helping our Afghan partners provide a brighter future for themselves and their children. The service member was killed conducting Train, Advise, Assist activities with Afghan counterparts under NATO authorities when their patrol triggered an Improvised Explosive Device. An investigation is being conducted to determine the exact circumstances of the event. US Department of Defense Policy is to withhold the identity of the service member pending next-of-kin notification. We will release additional information as appropriate.

The US has deployed troops in Helmand as part of an effort to prevent the Taliban from taking Lashkar Gah. Despite the positioning of US ground forces and increased airstrikes, the Taliban are known to currently control five of Helmand 14 districts, and contest seven more. [See Threat Matrix report, Helmand capital practically besieged by the Taliban.]

Afghan officials paint a bleak picture of Helmand, and have stated the government is painting a rosy picture of the situation in Helmand. From The Associated Press:

The head of Helmands provincial council, Kareem Atal, told The Associated Press that battles were underway on several fronts in the province, closing off roads and highways. Around 80% of the province is under the control of the insurgents, he said. There are a number of districts that the government claims are under their control, but the government is only present in the district administrative center and all around are under the control of the insurgents.

The security problems in Afghanistan are not the least bit isolated in Helmand province. The Taliban has also pressed offensives in the north, west, and east, and the Afghan military is struggling to contain it, despite limited US military support. Kunduz, which fell to the Taliban for two weeks in September 2015, is again threatened. If the Taliban continues to accumulate wins on multiple fronts over the next year, the Afghan military is going to be forced to abandon one or more regions so it can attempt to defend the areas it deems most important.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Dear Editor:

We at Hope Station appreciate Tyler Miles' story on our Youth Leadership Program "graduation" ceremony on Aug. 15, 2016, at Carlisle Borough Hall. These 15-,16- and 17-year-olds spent the summer working, learning important life and leadership skills, improving their neighborhood and Carlisle, and enjoying it. They truly deserve the recognition that Mayor Tim Scott, Carlisle Borough, Carlisle Area School District and Hope Station gave them.

Comcast, one of the major funders of this program, also deserves recognition for its long-time commitment to youth leadership at Hope Station, and that acknowledgment was missing from the article. We think it is important to recognize who is standing up for the kids of Hope Station in an area that is short on dollars and often overlooked.

Thanks to Comcast, this innovative program trained 10 kids who now are able to give back to the community and who are looking forward to a brighter future. The program will continue through the school year, again thanks to Comcast, and will be open to any neighborhood high school age residents. It is only one of several new programs Hope Station is bringing to our young people, because we truly believe in the future.

Hope Station relies on grants and donations to provide these important services, so we gratefully appreciate the assistance Comcast and others give us. As Jim Washington, our long-time leader, often says, "Once you choose hope, anything is possible."

Kitzi Chappelle

Board president, Hope Station
Luton is a large town, borough and unitary authority area of Bedfordshire. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 258,000. Luton is home to Championship team Luton Town Football Club, London Luton Airport and The University of Bedfordshire. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. For all the latest news from Luton sign up to our newsletter here.
PM Narendra Modi, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani jointly inaugurate the restored Stor Palace in Kabul

Published: August 22, 2016

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani jointly tele-inaugurated the restored Stor Palace in Kabul.

The Stor Palace is located in the Afghanistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs Campus in Kabul. The newly renovated and restored building will house the Afghanistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Besides, it will also serve as the venue for hosting official domestic and international events by the Afghan government.

Background

A tripartite agreement for restoring Stor Palace was signed in 2011 during the visit of then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Afghanistan. The agreement was signed between Aga Khan Development Network, Government of Afghanistan and Government of India.

Indias Contribution in Afghanistans development

India has played a significant role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation process in Afghanistan in the past few years.

Earlier in June 2016, both countries had inaugurated the $300 million India and Afghanistan Friendship Dam in Herat Province.

Besides, India also had gifted Afghanistan its new parliament building in December 2015.

So far India has poured more than $2 billion dollars into Afghanistan reconstruction projects and humanitarian aid as part of its goodwill diplomacy making it one of the largest donors to the war-torn country.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2016

Topics: Ashraf Ghani  India-Afghanistan  Narendra Modi  Places in News  Stor Palace

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Also on the blog in the past week were:

Managing IP out and about over the coming months

Weve also posted the following articles in the past week (log in via subscription or free trial):

Seven scenarios for EU trade marks post-Brexit

2016 GII identifies emerging economies and need for cross-border collaboration

PTAB 4 Years In: PGRs ready for primetime

PTAB 4 Years In: A new norm for petition filing

Halo  is it clarity youre looking for?

Oracle v Google  the re-rematch?

Oracle last week argued in a hearing in the Northern District of California that its loss in its high-profile copyright case with Google should be thrown out, reports Ars Technica. Lawyers for the company said Google should have informed it of the launch of Google Play on Chrome OS in the middle of the trial, which they claimed increased the amount of harm to Oracle.

Oracles lawyer Annette Hurst said the verdict is tainted by the jurys being denied this evidence.

Googles attorney Christa Anderson retorted that Oracle knew Google was trying to port Android apps to laptops.

Judge Alsup asked why Oracle could not file a new lawsuit on this issue. Hurst responded it could but the previous trail was now tainted.

"Google's whole pitch was 'We didnt harm Java SE because we werent on desktops and laptops,' Ars Technica quoted her as saying. This jury was entitled to consider the context  yes, now they are on desktops and laptops. It's outrageous. They're lying to the jury! The court can't countenance this!"

The FOSS Patents blog reported Judge Alsup issued an order the day after the hearing asking Googles counsel to submit a sworn statement explaining why the discovery responses referenced in Court yesterday were not updated, including the full extent to which counsel knew Google's intention to launch a full version of Marshmallow, including the Google Play Store, for Chrome OS.

USPTO sued over holiday declaration

The USPTO has been sued over its declaration of a federal holiday on December 22, 23 and 24 last year. The office was reacting to a power outage that shut down its electronic systems.

Elm 3DS Innovations sued USPTO director Michelle Lee (right) in the Eastern District of Virginia, saying that nine inter partes review petitions challenging its patents were accepted after the statutory period. It argues she had no authority to declare a federal holiday. The statutory deadline for filing the petitions was December 24 2015 but the PTAB accepted them on December 28.

The USPTO explained the decision to declare the days as holidays at the time: In light of this emergency situation, the USPTO will consider each day from Tuesday, December 22 2015, through Thursday, December 24 2015, to be a Federal holiday within the District of Columbia under 35 USC  21 and 37 C.F.R.  1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195, and 2.196.

Gene Quinn on the IP Watchdog blog noted that the USPTO director does not have the authority to declare a federal holiday.

In retrospect, the proper thing for Director Lee to have done would have been to declare an emergency under the powers vested in her by 35 USC 21(a), wrote Quinn. Under 21(a) the Director of the USPTO can declare that a paper was filed on a day that it would have been filed but for a disruption in mail service or emergency.

Quinn concluded: Why Director Lee relied upon some unspecified power she clearly does not possess instead of a power she clearly does possess is a complete mystery. The law is enormously clear. Unless the Eastern District and ultimately the Federal Circuit decide to ignore the law, the outcome of this case is easy to predict. Director Lee will be found to have lacked the authority to declare a federal holiday and the IPR petitions filed on December 28, 2015 will be time barred.

Others disagree. Oblons Scott McKeown on the Patents Post-Grant blog, said 3DS has an uphill battle.

On the Pharma Patent blog, Foley & Lardners Courtenay Brinckerhoff noted: Interestingly, when the USPTO experienced problems with the electronic filing system for filing petitions for IPR, CBM and PGR proceedings in December of 2014, it took a different approach.

She concluded: The courts decision on this issue could have far-reaching consequences. In addition to potentially invalidating other IPR, CBM and PGR proceedings that relied on the holidays for timeliness, a finding that the declaration of holidays was ultra vires could impact the validity of patent applications that relied on the holidays to satisfy statutory deadlines, such as to avoid statutory bars or satisfy filing deadlines.

A $4.6m birthday present

The lawyers that won the case that brought Happy Birthday into the public domain will receive $4.62 million in fees, reports Ars Technica. This amounts to one third of the total $14 million settlement fund.

According to a fee order, Judge George King in the Central District of California deemed a $3.85 million payment appropriate with a multiplier added.

"Given the unusually positive results achieved by the settlement, the highly complex nature of the action, the risk class counsel faced by taking this case on a contingency-fee basis, and the impressive skill and effort of counsel, we conclude that a 1.2 multiplier is warranted," wrote King.

Five lawyers billed the bulk of the hours. Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herzs Randall Newman billed the most work, a total of 2,193 hours.

Microsoft and Lenovo deepen relationship

Microsoft and Lenovo have announced a deepening of their strategic relationship.

Lenovo will load Microsofts productivity apps  including Microsoft Office, OneDrive and Skype  on select Lenovo devices that use the Android operating system. This expanded collaboration between Microsoft and Lenovo also includes a patent cross-licensing agreement that covers Lenovo and Motorola devices.

Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, it has entered into more than 1,200 licensing agreements.

Rovi renews DISH licence

Rovi Corporation has agreed a 10-year patent renewal licence agreement with DISH Network.

Tom Carson, president and CEO of Rovi, said: With this most recent renewal, Rovi now has nine of the top 10 US pay-TV operators under licence, with significant recent momentum, as seven of those agreements have been signed over the last seven quarters.

The patent license renewal is subject to certain contingencies relating to the closing of Rovis acquisition of TiVo, expected to become effective next month.

The FTC crackdown on influencers

Bloomberg ran an interesting analysis of the FTC cracking down on endorsements on social media. The article revealed that more than 300,000 sponsored posts on Instagram in July used hashtags such as #ad, #sponsored and #sp, an increase from about 120,000 a year earlier.

The article noted Warner Bros settlement with the FTC last month over charges that it deceived customers by paying influencers to promote the video game Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor with positive reviews, without disclosing that they were paid and told how to promote it.

This followed the FTC announcing a settlement with Lord & Taylor in March, for paying 50 fashion influencers to create posts about one of its dresses on Instagram. The posts did not disclose that the influencers were paid.

We hope by bringing these cases that we not only stop the marketer and influencer who didnt have adequate disclosures previously, but also get the message out that other companies should have clear and conspicuous disclosures, Michael Ostheimer, a deputy in the FTCs ad practices division, told Bloomberg.
VP Singh Badnore sworn in as Punjab Governor

Published: August 23, 2016

VP Singh Badnore (69) has sworn in as the new Governor Punjab and also as Administrator of Chandigarh.

He was administered the oath of office by Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice SJ Vazifdar at oath taking ceremony held in Punjab Raj Bhawan Chandigarh.

He succeeds Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is the Governor of Haryana and was holding additional charge of Punjab Governor and Administrator of Chandigarh since January 2015.

About VP Singh Badnore

VP Singh Badnore belongs to Bhilwara in Rajasthan. He is as an agriculturist, environmentalist, social worker, and sportsman.

He was a four-time BJP legislator (MLA) in the Rajasthan State legislative Assembly.

He was a member of the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha from 1999 to 2004 and 2004 to 2009 respectively. In July 2010, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha.

He had served as the chairman of the special task force to rehabilitate tigers in Sariska (Rajasthan) from 2005-09.

He was also a member of the empowered committee of forests and wildlife management in Rajasthan.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2016

Topics: appointments  Governor  Persons in News  Punjab  States  VP Singh Badnore

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Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the 19th Fast Response Cutter (FRC), USCGC Rollin Fritch, to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The 154-foot patrol craft USCGC Rollin Fritch is the 19th vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. All previous cutters have been stationed in the 7th Coast Guard District in Florida or San Juan, Puerto Rico. The decision to homeport the Rollin Fritch in Cape May, N.J. is significant because it expands the footprint of FRC operations beyond the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Eventually FRCs will be stationed in virtually every coastal state. To build the FRC, Bollinger used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessels 26 foot cutter boat. The FRC has been described as an operational game changer, by senior Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard took delivery on August 23, 2016 in Key West, Fla., and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Cape May, N.J. during the month of November, 2016.

Ben Bordelon, Bollinger President & C.E.O. said, We are very pleased to announce the delivery of the USCGC Rollin Fritch to the U.S. Coast Guard, the latest FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards and the first to be stationed in the 5th Coast Guard District at Cape May, N.J. This vessel represents over 30 years of continuous improvement as we have built the Coast Guards entire patrol boat/patrol cutter fleet. We are very proud of the fact that the FRCs already in commission have seized multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved many lives.

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Rollin Fritch, who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his heroic efforts in defending the USS Callaway during Japanese kamikaze attacks in the Philippine Islands in 1945.
   ,     :         ,   -  
Norsafe, a leader in marine life-saving equipment, will be showing its world record breaking freefall lifeboat at the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) show in Stavanger, August 29, to September 1, 2016.



The GES 50 MKIII broke the world record on June 25, 2015 when the 70 passenger model was dropped from 40 meters with ten people on board.



Since then the same lifeboat has been dropped several more times from this height, demonstrating the quality of design and workmanship by Norsafe dedicated and skilled workforce.



Accidents at sea are all too common so it is important for offshore operators to recognise that having a safe and reliable means of evacuating their workforce is literally a matter of life and death, said ystein Schultz Sandberg, Vice President of Sales at Norsafe.



Our lifeboats are built to last and, provided regular maintenance checks are carried out, will perform as intended time and again, he added.



Norsafes quality range of life saving appliances is backed up with comprehensive tiered servicing packages to suit all budgets.



For more information about Norsafes products and services visit the companys outdoor stand at ONS, number 55.
Though most visible to the general public for its work at Americas airports, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) also helps to secure the countrys transportation network in a number of other ways, including assisting the U.S. Coast Guard in securing the nations critical maritime facilities, structures, systems, assets and services.

Americas vast marine transportation system encompasses some 25,000 miles of navigable waterways, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, 236 locks at 192 locations, more than 360 maritime ports, 3,700 marine terminals, 1,400 designated multi-modal connections, 106 million ferry passengers, 11 million cruise ship passengers and 32 million recreational boaters. And nearly 100 percent of the volume of overseas trade enters or leaves the U.S. aboard a ship. Maintaining tight security across all of these is a large task.

While the U.S. Coast Guard is the lead federal agency in securing the maritime mode of transportation, TSA supports its efforts with a primary focus on passenger security and intermodal connectivity to ports.

TSA offers expert skills and experience in passenger screening, explosives detection, credentialing and multimodal security to support the Coast Guard in port security. In addition, TSA works with the Coast Guard and other government agencies to provide subject-matter experts, share security information with the public and review of security documents from various agencies.

TSA also provides support by producing and distributing security training materials for passenger vessel crews and terminal employees through TSAs Intermodal Security Training and Exercise Program also known as I-STEP. TSA facilitates I-STEP exercises across all surface modes to help transportation entities test and evaluate their security plans, including prevention and preparedness capabilities, ability to respond to threats and cooperation with first responders from other entities. TSA also offers six maritime-related passenger vessel security training courses for use by the maritime industry.

In partnership with the Coast Guard, TSA administers the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program, which is required for workers who need access to secure areas of the nations maritime facilities and vessels.

TSAs mission to secure all modes of transportation, including maritime, is ensured through enhanced security protocols, use of state-of-the-art technologies, improved identification techniques, exercising best practices and interagency partnerships, like that with U.S. Coast Guard, that strengthen transportation security.
Energy related maritime solutions and services provider MISC Berhad (MISC) has made inroads into Thailands offshore oil and gas market for the first time.

MISCs wholly-owned subsidiary, MISC Offshore Floating Terminals (L) Limited (MOFT) signed a contract for the lease and operations of a Floating, Storage and Offloading Vessel (FSO) for the FSO Benchamas 2 Project by Chevron Offshore (Thailand) Ltd. (COTL) in the Gulf of Thailand.

The contract was secured through an international competitive bidding process and marks MISCs maiden foray into Thailands offshore oil and gas market. It is valued at approximately $230 million for a duration of 10 years with COTL having the right to extend for up to five extensions of one year each.

As part of the contract, the scope of work for MOFT includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning, lease and operations of the FSO Benchamas 2 Project which is expected to commence operations by the second quarter of 2018.

MISCs President and Chief Executive Officer, Yee Yang Chien, said that the contract reflects the confidence of its business partners in MISCs capability and reliability.

I would like to congratulate Chevron and its partners on another impressive milestone in their mission to enhance Thailands long term energy security. I am pleased that the advanced technology and safety upgrades of the vessel will help ensure continuity of petroleum production for the Thai people, said Dr. Areepong Bhoocha-oom, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Thailand.

MOFT was incorporated in Malaysia and is principally involved in owning and leasing of offshore, floating, production and offloading terminals.

COTL is a company incorporated in Thailand and is primarily involved in oil and gas exploration and production businesses.

The signing of the agreement took place at the Miracle Grand Convention Hotel, Bangkok. MISC was represented by Tuan Syed Hashim B. Syed Abdullah, Vice President Offshore Business Unit and COTL was represented by Mr. Pairoj Kaweeyanun, President of Chevron Offshore (Thailand) Ltd.
The International Windship Association (IWSA) will host its annual Wind Propulsion Innovation Forum at SMM2016 in Hamburg, including an extensive agenda with expert speakers and panelists that aim to provoke discussion and debate about wind propulsion as key to the future of sustainable shipping.

The IWSA Innovation Forum spans all four days of the conference, September 6-9. A broad spectrum of wind propulsion technology providers and ship development projects will be showcasing the latest developments in Rotor technology, Suction Wing, Dynarig and various Hard Sail technologies. There will also be presentations from the latest studies by leading academics specializing in maritime wind propulsion from the University of Tokyo, Strathclyde and Manchester, the Marine Institute of the Netherlands (MARIN) Emden Leer Hochschule and CE Delft.

The Innovation Forum at SMM2016 is an opportunity for the industry to engage with the emerging trend of wind propulsion. Over four days, we will see a wide range of credible technical solutions, debate the issues and set the tone for collaboration for the future development of the sector, said Gavin Allwright, IWSA General Secretary.

Panel discussions will cover all aspects of commercial wind propulsion the drivers and incentives to finance, barriers and solutions; complementary technologies, ship design, ports and the media. Panelists come from across the industry including Katherine Palmer, Environmental Manager at Lloyds Register, Kjartan Ross, Business Development Manager, Propeller & Aft Ship at MAN Diesel & Turbo, Dr. Orestis Schinas, Professor for Shipping and Ship Finance at HSBA, Michael Schaap, Commercial Director Marine, Good Fuels, Sara Skold, Shipping Sustainability Consultant at IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, Manfred Lebmeier,Head of environmental and spatial strategy, Hamburg Port Authority, and Craig Eason, Deputy Editor of Lloyds List , among others.

The Forum will be located just in front of the main IWSA booth 301, in the new Green Propulsion Hall A5. All the forum events are free of charge.

Other IWSA highlights include Allwright presenting and moderating a panel discussion on alternative propulsion in the main GMEC conference on September 6, the Peaceboats Ecoship Project, the worlds greenest cruise ship design, call for suppliers on the morning September 7 at the forum and the ceremony for IWSA main Innovation Awards on September 8.
The promise that some oil traders and brokers saw for an expanded Panama Canal to become a new route for large tankers will take longer to realize than expected because many ships must first undergo inconvenient retrofits to transit through the new locks, shipping industry experts said.

The modifications to these bigger oil carriers - which mostly involve fittings such as chocks and bollards that secure the ship's dock and tow lines - are needed because the new locks that opened in June use tug boats rather than locomotives to pull vessels.

While only a fraction of the vessels that previously transited the canal carried oil, its expansion caught the eye of traders hoping to gain faster and cheaper access to international markets on bigger tankers. But even if what those ships now fit through the new locks, many lack the minimum required mooring equipment for the expanded canal.

Although the new standards were published in advance of the canal's opening, the required retrofits come as the shipping industry is already facing financial strain, adding another wrinkle to an opening beset by cost overruns and several incidents in which ships scraped the walls of the new canal amid concerns about its design.

There are more than 900 Aframax tankers in the global fleet and around 500 Suezmax vessels, according to shipping experts, who estimate between half to more than three-quarters of the vessels, especially those built before 2015, would need retrofits.

The portion of Aframax vessels requiring the retrofits is higher than those in the Suezmax fleet, one ship analyst said.

Vessels must be dry docked, or taken out of service, for the refittings. While the new parts cost just $1,000 to $3,000 per ship - pocket change in the expensive world of shipping - additional charges associated with the work can tally up to $100,000 to $150,000, several sources said.

Sandith Thandasherry, chief officer of Navgathi Marine Design and Construction, an India-based vessel servicer, said so far this year his firm has already completed six retrofits for Aframax tankers with the new Panama route in mind.

Ship servicers must also get approval for their work from the Panama Canal Authority and vessel classification societies.

Early on, Thandasherry says his company received approvals from the Canal Authority on ship modifications within a week's time, unusually fast. This process has slowed in recent weeks, an indication that the number of applications for retrofits is rising, he said.

"I know for sure that the number of people who are applying is increasing after the opening," said Thandasherry.

In a statement, the Panama Canal Authority acknowledged that certain vessels would likely need new chocks and bollards added.

Most ship owners are opting to do retrofits during other scheduled dry dock work. The added costs come at a time of rock-bottom shipping rates amid global oversupply.

"The current market conditions are challenging for many ship owners. So retrofit measures can be a financial strain," said Daniel Abt, an inspection engineer for DNV GL, a classification society that approves such vessel modifications.

Abt said the retrofits are not just for oil tankers but also for container ships.

Slow Uptake

Though the new locks were mostly expected to boost container ship traffic, the canal's greater depth and wider dimensions put tankers in play too.

Only a handful of Aframax tankers could fit the dimensions of the old canal. Now 86 percent can get through the expanded canal fully laden, according to ship brokerage Galbraiths Ltd.

While no Suezmax vessels could fit through before, now 74 percent can get through partially laden, Galbraiths said, but only if they have the proper mooring equipment.

In mid-August, the Aegean Unity, a Greece-flagged vessel, became the first Suezmax tanker to transit the canal. But that ship, built in 2016 and partially laden, may have been an exception.

Brokers said, for now, there is a scarcity of ships with the right specs to go through the new canal and that current price spreads between international crude grades discourage such movements.

Once more ships are retrofitted and crude prices change, tanker traffic could pick up. Transit through the canal instead of around the tip of South America could save more than $300,000 on a voyage from the Caribbean to the U.S. West Coast, according to brokers.

"It will become a trade route for sure, but it will happen over time," said one ship broker.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Andrew Hay)
With two far-reaching events scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, September 2016 will be a special month for Babcock Noell GmbH as the company announced new scrubber installations and its debut at SMM in Hamburg.

In the last couple of months the Wurzburg-based company has transferred its know-how of the flue gas desulfurization of land-based expertise of more than 80 realized SOx-Scrubbers into the maritime sector. Currently, a hybrid SOx-Scrubber is installed as a multi-stream system and will be commissioned for a 24000dwt product tanker shipping company Carl Buttner from Bremen. The BNG scrubber fully complies with the latest state-of-the-art scrubber technology.

Secondly, Babcock Noell will make its debut at the SMM 2016 conference and exhibition in Hamburg from September 6-9 (Hall A5, Booth 113). There, the company intends to highlight the efficiency of its scrubber, financing models for projects and the latest technical developments of scrubbers, especially on the subject of wastewater.

Babcock Noell said its business model is based on customized concepts for its clients. The scrubbers are designed according to customers request and requirements in different design and individual concepts. In particular, special attention is paid to the issue of waste water treatment. Babcock Noells scrubber design is based on 40 years of experience in the SOx, NOx and dust separation.

The companys technical competence of SOx scrubbers is supported by its business tradition from the power generation sector to deliver turnkey ready projects to its customers. This means for the maritime sector that Babcock Noell also provides the installation of the SOx-Scrubber on the ship on the request of its customers.
For decades, Hamburg-based Hoppe Marine has produced onboard measuring and control systems. At SMM 2016 the internationally-positioned family-run company will be present itself as a data integrator on vessels as a precondition for Smart Shipping and Big Data.

Approximately one of every eight new ships built in the world is already equipped with at least one of our systems, said Marc Rohde, Managing Director and proprietor of Hoppe Marine GmbH, describing the development of the company since being founded in 1949. From September 6-9, 2016, Hoppe Marine will present its products in the three major areas of focus: fluid management, motion control and ship performance, at SMM 2016, the worlds leading trade fair for the maritime industry held in Hamburg.

In the past decades, the family-managed company has been able to position itself even more broadly by the integration of well-known brands such as MAIHAK und FLUME and now has more than 150 employees, 100 of them in Hamburg. Other companies operate in Busan, South Korea; Shanghai, China; and Szczecin, Poland.

In classic fluid management, the measurement of tank content and the control of valves in liquid systems, Hoppe Marine now also offers cargo monitoring for tankers. In the field of motion control the company delivers tailor-made systems that keep ships on an even keel during transhipment and lifting operations or reduce their rolling motions at sea. In addition to roll damping systems on newbuildings, Hoppe also designs FLUME tank retrofits for large container vessels. One of the major customers in this area is Maersk Line, the Danish shipping company. From our systems ships are now able to transport significantly more and heavier containers on deck and thus continue to gain in efficiency, Rohde said.

The HOSIM motion sensor developed by Hoppe Marine is also now being used in the new Electronic Inclinometer being introduced at the SMM. In 2015 the use of such a device was recommended for mandatory installation by the flag states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). We can offer our customers intelligent retrofitting solutions, which provide the added benefit of transparency and efficiency, Rohde said.

Things are also happening in the area of ship performance. Under the MAIHAK brand, Hoppe Marine will show a software and database solution that records and integrates performance data from a variety of sources (sensor technology from Hoppe and sensors from third-party providers) on board. Analysis of this database then enables comprehensive conclusions to be drawn about the performance of each ship, for instance, in connection with the demonstration of efficacy of high-quality hull coatings in accordance with ISO 19030.

In the E.R. Schifffahrt fleet more than 30 ships have already been equipped with the MAIHAH system as part of a successful cooperative pilot project, which included Interschalt. Also, countless ships from Bernhard Schulte, Peter Dohle, Rickmers and other shipping companies have MAIHAK systems for monitoring performance on board. Hoppe Marine also allows the combination of different measuring systems  such as connecting the tank measuring system in the fuel system on board with performance and consumption data.

The bunker management software tried and tested on Hapag-Lloyd container ships, one of the exhibitions highlights, will now also be installed by C.P. Offen. Hoppe Marine is thus presenting itself as the leading data integrator on board, Rohde said. Our software is not only precise and reliable, it can also cooperate with a wide variety of downstream analysis systems.

In its product portfolio, Hoppe Marine, whose customers include many of the worlds leading shipping companies and shipyards, continues to rely on vertical responsibility: In each of our systems we design all of the components, manufacture them ourselves or buy them so they are perfectly suited for maritime operation, always giving us control over the quality of the overall system, Rohde said.
How to Spot an Oversold Stock Market

All traders have found their own mix of technical analysis indicators and price action which they feel provides them with a good feel for when the stock market is oversold and overbought. Lets face it, as traders, we see the market is a different way and its limitless as to how we can trade each and every situation.

Here I would like to share with you a couple of my tools and tricks for timing short term stock market bottoms. Over the years I have refined my analysis to just a handful of tools and analysis that work consistently for me. I have also learned that I trade and analyze the markets best if I dont read other peoples opinions and analysis as it has a way of altering my thinking and thus I start to second guess where the market is headed.

The indicators/tools I prefer are the 20-day simple moving average for trend direction, support and resistance levels. I watch the Bollinger bands during times when they pinch/narrow as that is when the price is likely to explode in either direction. Also, I watch two volume ratios of the NYSE which you will see on two of the charts below. This indicator tells me when the majority of market participants are running to buy more shares or panicking and hitting the sell button. The 30 minute and 3-minute charts are my favorite for trading and identifying chart patterns.

Last week of July  first week of Aug VES Signals

VES is a special indicator I have been developing to help identify intraday oversold levels and overbought levels. The level which big money steps back into, or out of the market when these extreme levels are reached.

Notice in the chart below the lime green areas which price reversed from for quick and steady returns.

Last Weeks VES Extreme Levels Signaled Including Overbought

Here you will see the both extreme overbought and oversold levels on the chart. I didnt highlight it on the chart but take a look at Aug 11th. You will notice the red NYSE indicator at the top moved above the blue threshold line indicating everyone was buying. This happened again on the 15th. The general rule is, when everyone is doing the same thing, you best take the other side of the trade.

Monday, Aug 22nd  This Weeks VES Signal

What you want to look at on this chart is Monday, Aug 22nd. This is something I can see unfolding before it happens based on other market characteristics and I notified subscribers of my ETF trading newsletter about this during pre-market trading and for them to expect an extreme pivot low today in the morning.

Concluding Thoughts:

In short, these trade may look little at first glance only being a fraction of a percent move each signal. But keep in mind, the shorter the time frame you trade, and the more accurate a trade setup is, the more capital you can put at risk.

My focus on these trade setups are 3x ETFs or better yet ES mini futures contracts. With one futures contract these 5  20 point moves allow you to pocket $250  $1000 within a few hours in most cases.

Trade with me at: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com



Chris Vermeulen

Chris Vermeulen is Founder of the popular trading site TheGoldAndOilGuy.com. There he shares his highly successful, low-risk trading method. For 7 years Chris has been a leader in teaching others to skillfully trade in gold, oil, and silver in both bull and bear markets. Subscribers to his service depend on Chris' uniquely consistent investment opportunities that carry exceptionally low risk and high return.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

Chris Vermeulen Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




Ceding ICANN and Internet Control to Globalists

It does not take a great amount of brain power to comprehend that for the U.S. to surrender the final oversight of ICANN that the internet as it has functioned with relative acceptance of political emancipation is fundamentally at risk to end as we know it. In this campaign cycle of American First Nationalism vs. Internationalist Global Despotism, the stakes are most clear. Where is the public indignation and anger that a cornerstone of most peoples lives is about to be ceded with little or no outrage?

Now the amusing aspect is that there are so many utopians that actually see a shift in the administration of how the internet operates as a good development if America is stripped of their pivotal role as cyberspace arbitrator. It would be silly on its surface, if it was not so profound and dangerous in its substance.

So what does this change mean? The Washington Examiner states the following in America to hand off Internet in under two months.

The Department of Commerce is set to hand off the final vestiges of American control over the Internet to international authorities in less than two months, officials have confirmed.

The department will finalize the transition effective Oct. 1, Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling wrote on Tuesday, barring what he called "any significant impediment."

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.

In even greater detail US confirms it will hand over control of DNS to ICANN from October provides an analysis that seems like splitting hairs. However, the significance has the potential of allowing a dire displacement from a standard of civil liberties.

What is actually being transferred is the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), an organization dating back to the days of Arpanet.

IANA is responsible for the root nameservers and time zone database. The rest has been ICANN for ages anyway. And even IANA is run by ICANN under contract.

So when you untangle this, what's actually happening is that the US government is removing the contract element to IANA and giving it to ICANN which, although US-based, is geographically neutral. It just has to be based somewhere.

Lawrence Strickling, assistant secretary for communications and information at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), explained all the things in a blog post.

Supporting this conclusion comes from Breitbart News which noted in 2014: Two Months Left Until Obama Gives Dictators Control of Internet.

U.S. control of domain names has guaranteed freedom of speech and commerce across the Internet, against the strenuous efforts of countries like China and Iran to suppress Internet traffic and content. In addition, victims of international terror have found potential relief in U.S. courts by suing to seize the domain names of countries like Iran in lieu of direct compensation. Without U.S. control, those victims would have no possible recourse.

If you think that only civil libertarians and free speech advocates are concerned with the intentional relinquishing of the U.S. as umpire and commissioner to protect a level playing field, the Detroit News Editorial: Keep the internet under U.S. control, hits the nail on the head.

The plans proposed thus far for how this new governing structure will work offer few assurances for free speech, much less consistency with how the internet functions.

Russia, China and other bad actors would receive greater influence, gaining for the first time the power to vote on changes to bylaws, removing members from the board, and other critical governance questions.

The new version of ICANN would be a board with little influence over the behavior of its member nations. Russia has already signaled it wants a role more meaningful than just advisory, once the U.S. surrenders control.

Private companies such as Disney, NBC Universal and 21st Century Fox have expressed concerns over the new plan for internet dominance, and noted in a letter to Congress that significant questions remain regarding the new organizations readiness to take over.

Feeble leadership by the United States will threaten intellectual property and domain name piracy and embolden criminal organizations or even terrorist groups to manipulate the internet.

The internet has emerged as the central pipeline of commerce and political dialogue. If corporations are apprehensive about ceding internet control to an international group of authoritarians, it has to be complete madness. The systematic silencing of dissent from all quarters that might challenge the global order of tyrannical governance is the ultimate goal of neutralizing an American influence from the internet.

Yet, do not think that the giants of technocratic imperialism, who may have a U.S. address, are not part of the problem, you would be missing an essential factor. The usual suspects of Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft lead the parade to impose their corporatist globalism upon their fellow citizens and aspiring freedom seeking people of all nations.

Since the term nation-state is a vulgar obscenity in the vocabulary of elitist tyrants, who view globalism as the inevitable replacement for democratically elected representative governments; the overseeing of the internet must transfer into the hands of a politically correct filter.

There is no shortage of scholarly discourse on political censorship with ICANN change. The term that crops up most frequently is Global Governance. Whenever reading this description or hearing the phrase, you can bet the farm that an echo of oppression and enslavement is the actual message. Reverberating the despotic cultures of tin horn dictators, central banking banksters, slick snake oil charlatans and ideologue tech nerds to an international body that includes some of the most regressive regimes on the planet is the definition of stuck on stupid.

Keeping domestic control over ICANN certainly will not guarantee a free and open internet. However, abandoning its role as a guardian and protector of basic and open dialogue, the U.S. is surrendering their creation as a sacrifice to demonic interdependence.

The way that Google has altered their search algorithms to filter out negative information that impact their privileged sacred cows has an immediate effect to stifle the full range of relevant results. Maintaining such control to advance the globalist agenda means that only an approved reality can be expressed. Only such speech is acceptable for All in the Family. You can almost hear Archie Bunker telling Edith to stifle any thought that does not conform to the patrician viewpoint.

The internet has proved to be the greatest democratizer of individual communication. This fact has disrupted the age old illuminati inspired New World Order plan for total human submission. By most reasonable measures, the most accurate information that is available on the net comes from independent thinking and sincere discourse.

Silencing such interaction has been a priority for the most maniacal Mattoids for a very long time. With the hijacking of many of the safeguards and the introduction of surveillance and technical encroachments, the internet has become an open book for identifying political dissenters.

Soon their voices will be restricted even more. Some complain that much of the content is dribble. Nevertheless, ignoring outlooks that do not fit with a personal world view is not the same as banning the posting of provocative and critical verbal locution. Now the path to suppress the very ownership or the effective access to the internet itself is made easier for the psychopathic despots with the ICANN capitulation.

As for video posting with alleged copyright violations, you can depend upon the increase enforcement of bogus claims whenever the message conflicts with the globalist docket of repression.

CP Politics reports:

TechFreedom president Berin Szoka said Tuesday that the move is "a deliberate affront to Congress."

"Doing something Congress expressly told the NTIA not to do is dangerously erosive of the rule of law and the Constitution's separation of powers," he said in press release on his website.

Is the erosion of national sovereignty a key component to the final imposition for Global Governance? Of course the sanitizing of political discourse is a crucial and necessary step to compel a purified version of the inevitable validation that the NWO is good for humanity.

Proponents that favor the transfer such as in Reason fail to consider and certainly do not appreciate that pure reason does not apply in a world composed of a fallen human nature and political elites who are the embodiment of evil.

If America cedes the essence of the 1st Amendment standard from the administration of the internet, a new dark age will ensue. That reprehensible dribble that ideologues complain about often is an undisputed cornerstone of an opposing ideology. Veracity is achieved through rigorous scrutiny, empirical evidence and enlightened honesty.

The internet is a valuable research tool but it is far more. It is the bulletin board of human expression, which most sacred element is unhampered political speech. Let ordinary people determine who is telling the truth.

SARTRE

Source: http://www.batr.org/stupid/082316.html

Discuss or comment about this essay on the BATR Forum

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Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




Germans Warned To Stockpile Food, Water and Cash In Case Of War

The German government is warning its people to stockpile food, water and cash in case of war.

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the German government is set to tell citizens to stockpile food, water, medicine, fuel and cash in case of war, an attack, catastrophe or national emergency, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday.

Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande and Matteo Renzi on Aircraft Carrier Garibaldi yesterday. Photo: Guido Bergmann / DPA

Angela Merkels government is to encourage the population to have their own personal supplies including having some reserves of cash in their homes. People will also be urged to keep supplies of medicines, warm blankets, coal, wood, candles, torches, batteries and matches.

Regarding the advice to own cash outside the banking system, Deutsche Welle pointed out that:

A wad of cash is another important part of any households emergency supplies. There may not be time to rush to a bank, and ATMs wont work if the power is out.

This is one of the primary reasons that one should own physical gold coins and bars outside the banking, financial and indeed the technological system and its dependence on electrical grids and supplies. Many of these systems are antiquated and vulnerable to attack such as from electromagnetic pulse (EMP) warfare that could quickly take out a large city or indeed a nations electricity infrastructure and supplies.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported that the

Population should be able to protect themselves before government measures start to ensure an adequate supply of food, water, energy and cash. The population will be obliged to hold an individual supply of food for ten days, the newspaper quoted the governments Concept for Civil Defence  which has been prepared by the Interior Ministry  as saying. According to information leaked to Frankfurter Allgemeine Sontagszeitung they include advice to citizens to stockpile enough food for ten days and clean drinking water for five days.

The population should be urged by appropriate means to keep two litres of drinking water per person per day, the newspaper quoted a government paper as saying.

The 69-page report does not see an attack on Germanys territory, which would require a conventional style of national defense, as likely. However, the precautionary measures demand that people prepare appropriately for a development that could threaten our existence and cannot be categorically ruled out in the future, the paper cited the report as saying.

The government is to increase stocks of smallpox vaccine and antibiotics in case of biological attack, and set up reserves of petrol and oil at 140 locations around Germany to ensure a supply for 90 days. Other provisions include setting up decontamination sites outside hospitals in case of nuclear, biological or chemical attack.

German newspapers like Deutsche Welle have complied handy checklists such as What emergency supplies do you need?

It is important to note that another global financial crisis and collapse of the global banking and financial system would also necessitate citizens being prepared. Deutsche Banks share price has all the hallmarks of that of Lehman Brothers prior to Lehmans collapse.

Political and financial complacency reigns today as it tends to do regarding geopolitical risk. The complacency of the world between 1900 and 1914 is the best example of this. There is little analysis of the potential impact of terrorism and war on the lives of citizens or indeed on their personal finances.

Owning some gold coins and bars outside the banking and financial system will protect from these scenarios. As ever, it is prudent to hope for the best but be prepared for less benign scenarios.

Gold Prices (LBMA AM)

23Aug: USD 1,338.50, GBP 1,015.25 & EUR 1,181.09 per ounce

22Aug: USD 1,334.30, GBP 1,018.20 & EUR 1,181.26 per ounce

19Aug: USD 1,346.85, GBP 1,026.30 & EUR 1,189.67 per ounce

18Aug: USD 1,347.10, GBP 1,023.93 & EUR 1,190.84 per ounce

17Aug: USD 1,342.75, GBP 1,031.23 & EUR 1,191.96 per ounce

16Aug: USD 1,349.10, GBP 1,039.89 & EUR 1,197.33 per ounce

15Aug: USD 1,339.20, GBP 1,037.21 & EUR 1,198.85 per ounce

Silver Prices (LBMA)

23Aug: USD 18.98, GBP 14.40 & EUR 16.75 per ounce

22Aug: USD 18.91, GBP 14.45 & EUR 16.74 per ounce

19Aug: USD 19.42, GBP 14.80 & EUR 17.14 per ounce

18Aug: USD 19.78, GBP 15.04 & EUR 17.47 per ounce

17Aug: USD 19.57, GBP 15.04 & EUR 17.37 per ounce

16Aug: USD 20.04, GBP 15.43 & EUR 17.77 per ounce

15Aug: USD 19.90, GBP 15.40 & EUR 17.81 per ounce

This update can be found on the GoldCore blog here.

Mark O'Byrne

IRL

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DUBLIN 2 E info@goldcore.com UK

NO. 1 CORNHILL

LONDON 2

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WINNERS MoneyMate and Investor Magazine Financial Analysts 2006

Disclaimer: The information in this document has been obtained from sources, which we believe to be reliable. We cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. It does not constitute a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any investment. Any person acting on the information contained in this document does so at their own risk. Recommendations in this document may not be suitable for all investors. Individual circumstances should be considered before a decision to invest is taken. Investors should note the following: Past experience is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of investments may fall or rise against investors' interests. Income levels from investments may fluctuate. Changes in exchange rates may have an adverse effect on the value of, or income from, investments denominated in foreign currencies. GoldCore Limited, trading as GoldCore is a Multi-Agency Intermediary regulated by the Irish Financial Regulator.

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COLLINSVILLE  A man charged in a 1998 fatal hit and run pleaded guilty Monday in Henry County Circuit Court.

Judge David V. Williams found Glen Michael Mouyios, 43, of 380 Glasgow Drive, Martinsville, guilty of the charge and continued the matter until Oct. 12 at 9 a.m. because details of a plea agreement still are being worked out.

The commonwealths summary of evidence alleges the following:

On Aug. 11, 1998, Trooper Tim May was dispatched to a reported hit and run crash on Main Street in Ridgeway, 140 feet south of the intersection of Route T1001. Ray Anthony Kellam was found dead lying in the northbound lane of Route 220 business.

Sgt. Ronnie Pruitt of the Henry County Sheriffs Office told May his officers came through the area at about 12:42 a.m. on the way to answer a call. Kellam was not in the road at that time. Deputy David White came back through the area at about 1:16 a.m. and found Kellam.

Kellam had been struck while in the northbound lane by an unknown vehicle, pulled under the right front fender well and dragged about 25 feet. He was found with his feet lying on the double solid lines and his body going back into the northbound lane of Route 220 business.

About 8 feet north of the body, a large plastic fender well cover was located in the northbound lane. The well cover had the markings BC 1D RH. Several clips, screws and washers also were found in the northbound lane. Paint chip fragments were located around Kellam.

Jerome Kellam, brother of Ray Anthony Kellam, told the investigating trooper he had dropped his brother off on Route 687 on Aug. 10, 1998, at about 11:30 p.m. Jerome Kellam said his brother had been drinking but was not drunk, adding his brother was an alcoholic, had a history of seizures and did not take his seizure medicine as he was supposed to. The medical examiner was notified, and no witnesses came forward at that time.

An autopsy showed the cause of death of Ray Anthony Kellam was head, chest, abdominal and pelvic injuries due to the impact and/or being run over by a motor vehicle. A subsequent check of his blood alcohol content showed it to be 0.23 percent by weight by volume.

Special Agent Diane Mandeville of the Virginia State Police was asked for help in locating the suspect vehicle. She met with Mike Peters, auto body manager at Nelson Mazda, and matched the part number from the fender well found at the scene to a 1995 or 1996 Mazda Protege. Peters also observed over-spray paint on the well cover and advised it was consistent with a gold or pewter paint that was available on the 1995 and 1996 Mazda Protege.

On Aug. 20, 1998, Mandeville requested from the Department of Motor Vehicles a list of registered 1995 and 1996 Mazda Proteges in Henry, Pittsylvania, Patrick and Franklin counties, along with the cities of Martinsville and Danville.

On Aug. 31, 1998, Mandeville received the DMV printout. The list included a vehicle registered to Patricia Mouyios (deceased), the mother of Glen Mouyios. A suspect vehicle was identified in January 2011, but paint samples taken from the vehicle did not match the paint samples left at the scene and the vehicle was ruled out.

On Feb. 5, 2016, Kenneth Blankenship came forward and said Glen Mouyios had told him he was the driver of a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian. Blankenship said Glen Mouyios told him Glens estranged wife, Jody Granger, was giving him a hard time about their children. Blankenship said he told Mouyios to file for sole custody and Mouyios said Granger was holding something over his head. Blankenship said Mouyios proceeded to tell him about the crash he was involved in in 1998.

Mouyios told Blankenship he was drunk, that he didnt see him and that he stopped and saw that he hit a person, the commonwealths summary of evidence states. Mouyios told Blankenship that he drove off after he hit him, and went home and took a shower.

Blankenship said Mouyios brought up the crash a second time when he saw a newspaper article. Mouyios told Blankenship it was getting to him, he was ready to turn himself in, and he did not know what to do.

Granger was interviewed on Feb. 8, 2016. Granger said Mouyios never told her directly about being in a crash. She overheard Mouyios and his sister Lynn arguing over the phone. Granger heard Mouyios say something to the effect of, Well, we were not going to discuss this. Mouyios and his sister were discussing a car being messed up. Granger asked Mouyios about it, and he told her it was just an old car and to stay out of the matter. Mouyios said it was a bad night and told his sister that she helped him hide the car or something similar. Granger asked Mouyios about it often because it bothered her that he was keeping a secret from her.

Brett Mouyios, Glen Michael Mouyios brother, was interviewed on Feb. 8, 2016. Brett said Glen talked with him the morning after the crash. Brett said Glen told him not to say anything about the crash. Glen told him he got the parts to fix the vehicle himself. Glen told him he hit somebody, he didnt know whether he made it or not, it was dark, and he didnt see him. Brett said Glen told him it was a black man. Brett said Glen told his mother and sister about the wreck.

On Feb. 10, 2016, Lynn Mouyios was interviewed. Lynn said Glen told her he hit a dog in 1998. Lynn said she remembered a newspaper article about the wreck and she remembered a reward being offered. Years later, she found out that Glen had hit a person. Lynn remembered her mother telling Glen the guy already was dead and told him not to tell the police. Lynn said Glen told her about a meeting Glen had with his mother to discuss what to do about the situation. Lynn remembered Glen asking her to go to High Point, North Carolina, to get parts to fix the car.

Glen Mouyios was interviewed on Feb. 8, 2016. Initially he said he remembered the crash, but that he was not driving and his mother (now deceased) was. When confronted, Glen stated he was the driver and that he was coming home from a friends house. Glen said the windshield of his car was fogged up, and he turned on the defrost and cleaned the windshield with his hand. He said he almost was hit by an oncoming car.

Glen said he hit something that was lying in the road and that he thought it was a dog. Glen said he didnt stop at the scene, but went home and told his mother he hit a dog. Glen said he realized the next day, when he saw a newspaper article, that he had hit a person. Glen said he talked with his mother about turning himself in, but she told him that was not a good idea.

Glens mothers gold 1995 Mazda Protege was repossessed in 2000, has been sold several times and was last registered in 2008 in North Carolina. As of 2016, authorities have been unable to locate the vehicle.

In Circuit Court on Thursday, Glen Mouyios apologized to the court, the sheriffs office and Ray Anthony Kellams family, though no one from that family was present.

Mouyios said he has lived in pain and depression not knowing whether he caused the death.

Mouyios said he went to a friends house, had dinner and a couple glasses of wine, fell asleep watching wrestling, woke up about midnight and told his friend he was leaving. He said he let a car that was driving recklessly and at a high speed pass.

After cleaning his fogged-up windshield, Mouyios saw what he thought was a large dog in the road, swerved to the left and his car bumper caught it, he said.

Mouyios said he went home and went to bed. The next morning, he told his mother he hit a dog and didnt know how much damage it did to her car. When he read a newspaper article about the crash, he told his mother he possibly hit a human being.

She was scared. I was scared, he said.

Mouyios said neither he nor his mother knew what to do.

As a parent, you trust what they say, he said of his mother. She said, Sit back. Sit back.

I didnt know if I was the cause of his death or not. To this day, I dont know, Mouyios said.

I know it caused pain to his family, a crying Mouyios said. Im so sorry. Im sorry they had to live with this. Im sorry.

Mouyios said he prays for that family, Kellam and himself every day.

Henry County Commonwealths Attorney Andrew Nester said a sister of Kellam, who was unable to come to court Thursday, said she felt sorry for Mouyios; that she has two sons of her own and realizes that an incident like this could happen; and that she has no hard feelings for Mouyios and has forgiven him.

Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin and can be reached at paul.collins@martinsvillebulletin.com.
The Park Hills Caseys held a benefit for Muscular Dystrophy on a recent weekend despite the rain.

Caseys Store Manager Allie Cremeens said they had snow cones, popcorn, soda, water, hot dogs and chips. They also had games and a dunking booth, which was getting a lot of attention.

We are just trying to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy, said Cremeens. We pumped gas for tips, had face painting and hula hoop contest. With the weather we are having, its not too shabby. With the more it holds off and even the little bit of sprinkle we have had, people are still coming.

She added the dunking booth was a ton of fun.

They wanted to pay to dunk me, laughed Cremeens. Everybody had money when they said dunk the manager. We were selling five throws for $1 and the food was cheap too. You could get two things for $1, a hot dog, soda or chips. We have prizes for the kids and whether or not they win, they got a prize.

Cremeens said Bonne Terre Memorial Library donated a ton of stuff to them and they were awesome for letting them use their snow cone and popcorn machines.

They donated Frisbees, pencils, little toys for the kids and from our Caseys warehouse we were able to get pencils, candy, balloons and all sorts of stuff, said Cremeens. We were just doing this strictly for money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association because it takes about $800 to send one kid to camp. This is our charity for the month.

Cremeens said at Caseys they do a lot of different things. She said the supervisors will go to the camp and do different activities with the kids.

Its one our bigger charities and in October we will do St. Judes, said Cremeens. In December we will help to raise money for the East Missouri Action Agency to help with Christmas for families who arent as fortunate ... We raise a lot of money every year between the almost 1,900 stores we have for muscular dystrophy.

Cremeens wanted to thank everyone who helped make the event possible and for those who came by to donate.
About a year ago, I got a phone call from a reader. A few members of the Henry County Board of Supervisors were up for re-election, and this reader had one burning question:

Which candidates were Republicans, and which were Democrats?

The reader never told me his own political leaning, but it was clear that he was planning on going to his polling place and voting a straight ticket, and he didnt want to accidentally cast a vote for The Other Guys.

I told him the truth: I didnt know. In the time I have covered the Henry County Board of Supervisors, the board members have never openly discussed their political leanings. Their campaign signs have never advertised a political affiliation.

If you want to know what a board of supervisors candidate represents, you have to do the unthinkable:

Research.

Its true. You have to read interviews with the candidates in the Martinsville Bulletin. You have to go to meetings and hear their opinions. You have to reach out to them and talk to them. If you do all that, youll find out what they want to accomplish in Henry County, even if you dont find out whether theyre red or blue.

No matter what side of the fence you fall on, its easy to fall into the straight ticket trap. In a presidential election, we all have a pretty good idea of what the candidates represent, because they are (horrifyingly) inescapable. But when it gets down to our governors, senators, delegates and local officials, we have to do some digging to find out who they are and what they stand for.

Thats a lot of hard work. Why not just vote a straight ticket?

The problem is, sometimes the candidate who best represents you  the candidate willing to work hardest for you  might not belong to your party.

Back in April, I was contacted by Jane Dittmar, who is running for Virginias 5th Congressional District of the House of Representatives. The 5th District is massive, bigger than the state of New Jersey, and runs from northern Virginia down to the North Carolina state line. It includes part of Martinsville and Henry County.

Dittmar has spent the last few months traveling the length and breadth of the district, and in that time, shes offered me two interviews, one on the phone and one in person.

In those interviews, it quickly became clear that Jane Dittmar is exceptionally smart, and that she has a keen eye for business. She has a degree in economics, she has owned several businesses, and she was president and CEO of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce for nine years.

All of that business experience translates into some sharp ideas. She was the first person I heard mention the idea of strengthening our local road infrastructure to take advantage of the Panama Canal expansion. Now that the canal expansion has been completed and larger Panamax ships can take advantage of the canal, and those ships will necessarily have to dock at deepwater ports like the ones we have on the Virginia coast, we can bring jobs to our area by strengthening our highways so that companies will be inclined to build shipping distribution centers for all the new goods that must flow through the state.

Thats a smart idea, and its one several creative ideas Dittmar has to boost industry in the 5th District and create desperately needed jobs.

Dittmars opponent in the race is Republican Sen. Tom Garrett. What are his ideas for job creation?

I wish I could tell you first-hand. The fact is, I reached out to Garretts campaign manager in May to schedule an interview, and I have yet to hear back.

There are many different potential reasons why I never heard back from Garretts campaign. Its certainly possible that a wire was crossed somewhere, that there was some kind of miscommunication.

I definitely dont intend to imply that Garrett isnt qualified for the job, or that his campaign simply ignored my interview request. But I will say that in our portion of the 5th District, Garrett probably doesnt need to campaign very hard. This is a conservative area, and hes a Republican. Even if he never sets foot in Henry County and Martinsville, there will be enough straight ticket voters to ensure him an easy win, at least in southwest Virginia.

We all have the right to vote for whomever we want. But when it comes time to enter the voting booth, its a good idea to know a little more about each candidate than the letter to the right of their name.

Ben Williams writes for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at benjamin.williams@martinsvillebulletin.com.
SPRINGFIELD- As part of Big Y's 80th Anniversary, employees participated in their 5th Annual Employee Community Service Days, according to a news release from the Springfield-based chain.

This annual event was established in 2011 to support local communities and to showcase Big Y's philanthropic commitment. A total of 457 Big Y employees throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut participated in the events that were conducted June 5 through 18, 2016 and together completed 1,518 volunteer hours.

Big Y employee volunteers assisted 50 community -based organizations. Their efforts ranged from working at animal shelters, community centers, cleaning road sides, helping the elderly, and serving meals at local shelters. Even though stores were asked to coordinate single event, many locations took it a step further and committed to more than one volunteer day in order to hold multiple events. The employees from all Big Y locations enjoyed giving back to the communities in which they work and live.

According to CEO Donald D'Amour:

"We have an 80 year history that has embraced a culture of caring and connecting with the communities we serve. We are extremely grateful to all the employees who continue to volunteer their time and efforts to help others."

Big Y is a family owned and family oriented retail food company that currently operates 68 stores throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts withmore than 11,000 employees. Big Y has been named a 2015 Employer of Choice by the Employers Association of the Northeast. Founded in 1936 by brothers Paul and Gerald D'Amour, the store was named after an intersection in Chicopee, Massachusetts where two roads converge to form a "Y".
A local man led officers on a high speed pursuit earlier this week after he fled from a routine traffic stop with a pregnant woman in the car.

Joseph Michael Boyle, 29, of French Village, is being charged with a class D felony of resisting arrest, a class C felony of possession of a controlled substance, and two class D felonies of tampering with physical evidence.

According to a probable cause statement, a Ste. Genevieve County sheriffs deputy was driving on Jackson School Road near Route Y and while approaching the intersection saw a 2006 Ford Fusion off the side of the road parked near a creek.

The report said the officer knew it was a popular area to fish, so he decided to approach the car and speak with the people nearby to see if they were fishing and verify fishing licenses. The officer reported that while approaching the car a large opened beer can could be seen in the center console.

Before he could make contact with the people the driver, later identified as Boyle, put the car in gear and began driving away toward Route Y. As the car drove off the officer shouted for Boyle to stop and yelled back, No, what did I do? Boyle then accelerated and headed east on Route Y.

The report said the officer got back in his patrol car and pursued the car. The officer reported that Boyle failed to yield and continued on down Route Y with speeds reaching up to 80 mph. As the car entered the intersection of Route Y and U.S. 61, Boyle made a right turn and headed south on U.S. 61.

At the intersection of U.S. 61 and Route A another Ste. Genevieve County deputy and troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol deployed spike strips in an attempt to flatten the cars tires. Boyle stopped before driving over the strips, turned around and headed north on U.S. 61.

As Boyle approached the intersection of U.S. 61 and Route O two other deputies deployed spike strips again, but again Boyle avoided them, this time driving around both sets and continuing north of U.S. 61. Once he reached Route Y, Boyle made a left and headed west. He then made a left onto I-55 south where he reached speeds in the excess of 100 mph.

The report said at mile marker 154 on I-55 a trooper deployed his department-issued spike strips and Boyle went around them again, continuing south on the interstate. He then exited I-55 at the 150 mile marker where another trooper deployed the strips on the off ramp and again Boyle navigated around them. He continued over both the east and westbound lanes of Highway 32 and headed south once again on I-55.

Boyle drove into Perry County still failing to yield and near the 135-mile marker on I-55 a Perry County Deputy deployed spike strips again. And, again, Boyle went around them and continued south, where he eventually exited at the 129-mile marker making a left onto Highway 51.

As the suspect traveled through the city of Perryville he failed to stop at several stop lights and signs. At the intersection of Highway 51 and U.S. 61 he made a right turn and traveled south on U.S. 61.

At the intersection of U.S. 61 and North Main Street he made a left turn onto North Main Street, then onto State Route 51 and headed for the Chester Bridge that crosses over the Mississippi River.

The officer reported that officers with the Chester (Illinois) Police Department deployed spike strips at the entrance of the Chester Bridge on the Missouri side. Boyle made an abrupt left turn onto a side road. By this time several law enforcement officers from multiple agencies were following the pursuit.

Boyle eventually made it back onto Highway 51 near Route H and headed south back into Perryville. Spike strips were tried again, and again Boyle traveled around them. Eventually he made it back to southbound I-55.

While southbound on I-55, a trooper deployed strips near the 119-mile marker and Boyle again traveled around them and continued south entering Cape Girardeau County. There he drove into a rest stop on southbound I-55.

At the exit of the rest area a Cape Girardeau County deputy deployed spike strips and once again Boyle went around them and continued back onto southbound I-55. He then made a left turn via an emergency turnaround and headed north near the 110-mile marker.

Troopers with the highway patrol and officers with the Perryville Police Department once again tried spike strips near the 129-mile marker. Boyle finally drove over the strips and quickly had two deflated tires. He exited at the 129-mile marker and made a right turn onto 51.

At one point Boyle lost control of the car and stopped on a grass curb in front of Taco Bell. Officers saw Boyle exit the car and begin running westbound behind Burger King.

The officer exited the patrol car and began to pursue Boyle on foot. The officer reportedly shouted several times, Sheriffs office, stop running." Boyle ran approximately 100 yards, at which time he complied with the officer's orders to stop running and lie down on the ground. He was handcuffed and read his Miranda Rights.

The report said Boyle advised he was not injured during the incident and declined any type of medical treatment. As the officer escorted Boyle to the patrol car the officer asked him why he resisted arrest.

Boyle supposedly explained he was aware that he had a probation violation warrant for his arrest. He said he had several firearms inside the car that he did not want to be caught with and there may also be a small amount of meth and syringes in the car.

The officer stated Boyle indicated he threw one of the firearms out of the car while he was on I-55 and another as he was running on foot. A silver and black semi-auto 40 caliber handgun was recovered next to Boyles car. He confirmed the recovered firearm was one he tossed. Despite an extensive search, the other firearm Boyle claimed to throw from the car has not been recovered.

It was also discovered Boyles license was suspended and he had an active probation and parole warrant for felony larceny with no bond.

A passenger in Boyle's car, who is not being named due to no charges being filed on her, advised she was not injured and declined medical treatment. She reportedly pleaded with Boyle several times to stop the car and surrender to officers.

The woman was transported to the Ste. Genevieve County Sheriffs Office lobby and released. No criminal charges are being sought against her at this time.

The arrest report indicated a search of the car revealed several unused syringes. Officers also found several small cotton swabs containing a clear liquid residue. A field test on the liquid tested positive for meth.

Boyle was booked into the Ste. Genevieve County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
dream.jpg

Dream Theater

(File Photo)

Dream Theater will play Worcester on its upcoming tour, coming to the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Oct. 18 at 8 p.m.

The progressive rock band is touring with its new two-hour rock opera "The Astonishing." Band members see the rock opera as the next logical step for the band.

"This is the next natural step in our evolution," frontman James LaBrie says on the band's website. "This is a pinnacle moment for us. This is something we had to do."

Tickets for the show are on sale through the venue site at thehanovertheatre.org.
Thirty years ago this week President Ronald Reagan expressed support for raising the national 55-mph speed limit. He stated that the "time has come to restore greater authority to the states in this area."

Ten years earlier a 26-year-old New Jersey man was rescued and then arrested at Niagara Falls after attempting to go over the Canadian Falls in a steel barrel. He had to be rescued when his 1,300 pound barrel became lodged on rocks 200 feet short of the falls. After being rescued he was arrested for a park regulation the prohibits acts which serve, "no earthly purpose."

And ten years before that, the first test flight of an Apollo spacecraft was successful. The unmanned craft launched and then came down in the Pacific Ocean to be recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

From the August 22, 1966 edition of The Springfield Union

And from fifty years ago this week, a page one photograph of two of the winners from the Greater Springfield swimming meet sponsored by The Springfield Union.

These are some of the headlines you'll see from Page 1 of The Republican and its predecessors over the past fifty years for the week of August 21 - August 27. Each week I'll put together a slideshow of Page 1 images from selected years over the course of that week. We're starting with a look back at one, five, thirty, forty and fifty years ago, with Page 1s from each day of the week for those years.

The slideshow for August 21 - August 27 is embedded at the top of this article.

From the August 22, 1966 edition of The Springfield Union

We'll also find some humor printed out on page one over the years. In 1966 'Dennis The Menace' could be found on the bottom of page one six days a week.

Five years ago this week a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia was felt in Springfield and along the east coast. The quake prompted some buidling evacuations, but only caused minor damage.

And a year ago a celebration to mark the return of a functioning clock in the Springfield Armory clock tower. The clock was restored after a fund raising group raised the $12,000 needed to restore the clock to working order.

You'll find with looking through the slideshow, that while many stories come and go, many of the issues and topics that affected lives in the past, continue to have an impact on our lives today.

Copies of these and other stories can be found in the online archives. Links to the archives are at the bottom of the page at www.masslive.com/republican

The historic archive includes stories prior to 1989, and the Newsbank archive covers 1988 through the present day.


HOLYOKE - Police say three people involved with operating and managing the Holyoke Mini Mart on High Street sold drugs in and around the store, and they face criminal charges following a weekend raid.

At around 10 a.m. on Saturday, numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Holyoke Police Narcotics Unit, the FBI's Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force and Massachusetts State Police Detectives with Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni's Office executed search warrants at the convenience store and three other addresses.

Authorities seized 5,600 bags of heroin, an unspecified amount of cocaine and $19,000 in cash. Raids were conducted at Holyoke Mini Mart, 663 High St., 116 Sergeant St., and 17 Beston St. in Chicopee.

Arrested were Emiliano Santiago, 30, of Springfield; Daniel Santiago, 29, of Holyoke; and Charles Pedrosa, 48, of Holyoke. They face numerous drug trafficking, possession and conspiracy charges.

The suspects were arraigned Monday in Holyoke District Court. Details of the arraignment were not immediately available.
SPRINGFIELD -- Organizers and neighborhood residents protesting the proposed East Springfield biomass power plant today presented Mayor Domenic Sarno with a copy of "The Lorax," Dr. Seuss' parable of industrialization and environmental destruction.

Lisa Torres, an environmental justice organiser with Arise for Social Justice, said the health impacts of the plant had not been properly studied, and criticized Health and Human Services Commission Helen Caulton-Harris' recent decision not to hold a site assignment hearing for the project.

"We are again here to ask Mayor Sarno and Commissioner Caulton-Harris to please reconsider the decision to not hold this hearing. The people want it held. The City Council wants it held. The Public Health Council itself voted to hold it," Torres said at a brief rally in Court Square, across the street from City Hall. "In the words of one of Springfield's most famous residents, Dr. Seuss, 'unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.' "

The demonstrators caught up with Sarno as he exited City Hall, and Torres presented him with a copy of "The Lorax." Sarno thanked them for the book, but told reporters the project had been vetted and declared safe by environmental regulators and that he supported the decision not to hold an additional hearing.

"I have consistently stated that if this project passed all the stringent federal and state environmental and health requirements, it would be dealt with as a jobs creating and tax revenue generating economic development project," Sarno said in a statement. "I stand by Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris's decision. Personally, my youngest daughter has asthma and I would never jeopardize our residents' families, nor my own."

The demonstrators also walked down to the city's Department of Health and Human Services on Main Street to deliver another copy of the book to Caulton-Harris, but staffers said she was not in the office and accepted it on her behalf.

Last Thursday, Caulton-Harris ruled that she would not hold a site assignment hearing on the plant -- a step that could have could have allowed the city to block the project.

Caulton-Harris wrote that opponents did not present convincing evidence that the plant would fail to meet EPA and MassDEP standards, and also that those standards are sufficient to protect residents.

The city's advisory Public Health Council had issued a non-binding recommendation to hold a site assignment hearing by a six to one margin. But Caulton-Harris' decision said their vote did not count. Eight votes are needed for a legal quorum on the 15-seat board, she wrote. The council only had nine active members as of its May 2016 meeting, including Caulton-Harris herself.

In a statement last week, Palmer Renewable Energy said it was pleased by Caulton-Harris' decision, saying the project was safe, had been vetted by regulators, would increase tax revenues for Springfield and would generate 200 construction jobs and 50 full-time jobs.

"Facts, law, and science have won out over politics and hyperbole. It is worth repeating that the benefits of this project for the City of Springfield are real and significant," PRE said. "Despite all the obstacles and challenges, we remain as committed as ever to seeing this green energy project come to fruition, and we intend to move forward in the near future."

Attorneys for biomass developer Palmer Renewable Energy had warned that it could sue the city for $200 million if the health council votes to recommend site assignment proceedings, a measure that allows health boards to force the relocation of "noisome trades" and facilities "dangerous to the public health."

The proposed biomass plant in East Springfield.

"There is simply no legal or factual basis for the Public Health Council to pursue a site assignment," Palmer Renewable Energy said in a statement. "PRE has adhered to every legal and environmental requirement needed to bring this project to fruition."

Opponents of the plant have said they are considering their legal options, including the possibility of filing suit against the city.

Opponents, including local residents, environmental activists and City Council Vice President Orlando Ramos, have said the plant could endanger the health of city residents.

"It should be clear at this point that the citizens of Springfield do not want a biomass incinerator," Ramos said in a June press conference.

Mayor Domenic Sarno did not take a position on whether the site assignment hearing should take place.

Courts have ruled that local health board's authority does not apply when specific state laws address the same subject matter, Caulton-Harris' decision said, citing a case wherein a board of health was successfully sued for $3 million after it wrongfully invoked site assignment authority.

Mass DEP has "broad power" to regulate air pollution, and Caulton-Harris wrote she could not find any previous use of site assignment proceedings to regulate a biomass power plant.
bruce mcmahon.JPG

Easthampton Police Chief Bruce McMahon will be flipping burgers Thursday night.

(Republican file photo)

EASTHAMPTON -- The city's police department will host a "Cookout with a Cop" event on Thursday from 5 p.m. to dusk, and the public is invited.

Retiring Chief Bruce W. McMahon will grill hamburgers and hotdogs. Mount Tom's homemade ice cream will be on the menu, and three bands will play live music, said Chad Alexander, public information officer for the Easthampton Police Department.

Police vehicles and equipment will be on display, and officers will be available to speak with the public about a range of issues, including reporting crime or suspicious activity. In addition, information will be available on gun safety, gun laws, and firearms licensing in Massachusetts.

The Aug. 25 cookout will take over Williston Avenue in front of City Hall at 50 Payson Ave., where there is plenty of parking. Williston Avenue will be closed to traffic between Cottage and Lake streets starting at 4 p.m.

The police department holds a monthly "Coffee with a Cop" in the interest of community outreach. The cookout will take the place of the coffee hour in August, said Alexander.
If ever there was a time for leadership in the Democratic Party on abortion, it is now.

Every day, I talk to Americans still looking for a presidential candidate. They find themselves unable to vote for either major candidate in good conscience. A change in their positions on abortion could make a difference.

Perhaps that's why Hillary Clinton made reference to an "unborn person" on "Meet the Press" during this campaign cycle -- an awareness that there are people she and her party completely alienate because of radicalism on abortion. But she didn't actually give an inch on her position.

Despite President Bill Clinton vetoing a ban on partial-birth abortions twice, the "safe, legal and rare" language of his White House years was encouraging. It acknowledged that the prevalence of sonograms makes it harder to deny that there's something that looks a lot like human life going on in a mother's womb, way before delivery.

And yet, even with that language, one only had to listen to pro-choice activists over the last decade to know that there was not a lot of tolerance for what many Americans might consider reasonable restrictions on abortion. Putting the Hyde Amendment on the chopping block has long been on the wish lists of advocates for legal and expanded abortion. With Republican speakers of the House of late, that wasn't happening. But with Catholic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine giving cover for the position, this past week Planned Parenthood tweeted: "The Hyde Amendment isn't just bad policy -- it's unpopular. Americans want abortion coverage for all!" with the hashtag #BeBoldEndHyde.

The Hyde Amendment is about government funding for abortion. Being "bold," in this case, would be hubris. And it's bad politics -- if you're honest about it.

Instead, Planned Parenthood buttresses its anti-Hyde campaign with a poll from Hart Research Associates that asks respondents to agree or disagree with the statement, "However we feel about abortion, politicians should not be allowed to deny a woman's health coverage because she is poor." Health coverage? What Hyde actually does is keep taxpayer dollars from funding abortion. When you ask about that issue, as Marist did in July in polling commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, you learn that two-thirds of Americans agree Hyde is good policy.

Americans are a generous people who could never be completely comfortable with abortion. Many tolerate it because they want to know that a woman in a tough situation has a way out. Of course, "ways out" could include adoption, and for the sake of defending human life and families, we should do everything we can to make sure women know that is an option with support.

The fact of the matter is that, as lazy as it is to say "pro-lifers only care about life in the womb," much of the country only knows the pro-life movement for what it is against. The faces and names and addresses of organizations who will walk with women and families and give them the help they need -- like the Sisters of Life, Women Care Centers, maternity homes and crisis-pregnancy centers -- need to become the same household names Planned Parenthood is.

Imagine for a moment: What if Hillary Clinton committed to codifying the Hyde Amendment and making it a formal law, so it would cease being a matter of endless, miserable debate? And what if she said that Planned Parenthood should no longer receive federal funding? She'd show some leadership of the kind we've long needed. At the same time, Clinton, who has been celebrated and endorsed by Planned Parenthood, could ask some celebrities and other friends of means to step up to the plate and support the organization. In that case, it would be free of government entanglement.

While he was speaker of the House, former Republican congressman John Boehner from Ohio argued that making Hyde law once and for all would have made for a more transparent debate over Obamacare. Instead, those who worried about conscience violations were dismissed as liars. Democrats wouldn't put their cards on the table.

The party platforms, are, of course, set -- and allegiances are clear. But this has been a wild election. Why not wish for something else out of the ordinary to happen? Like leadership on an issue that has been mired by dishonesty and manipulation?

Hillary Clinton isn't going to change her position on abortion tomorrow. And while many would still have serious reasons to vote against her, she could offer an olive branch, and a real one. Be honest, disentangle the government, and let the cultural debate be had without endless political shouting matches. It would be a start -- a baby step toward a healthier politics.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com
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 Ivanka's father and Putin."

Geez, you think? Maybe I'll 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 aren't even subtle about it.

Of course, in Putin's Moscow, offending journalists get shot dead in the street, so I shouldn't 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 Trump's side. You've got to ask yourself why.

One possible answer may have appeared in the New York Times. Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort's 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 government's "National Anti-Corruption Bureau," no doubt tasked with putting as many of the current regime's political rivals as possible in prison.

At the expense of being a spoilsport, I've 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 April's 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, "there's 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 there's 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 don't appear high on Manafort's priority list. Among his previous clients were Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos and Zaire's 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 Manafort's more savory associates.

So when candidate Trump expresses a Russia-friendly foreign policy agenda -- musing aloud about recognizing Putin's illegal occupation of Crimea, and hinting that President Trump might refuse to defend NATO allies against Russian attack, it's reasonable to wonder what's being said behind closed doors.

Or when Trump invites Boris and Natasha to conduct cyber-warfare against his Democratic opponent. "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're 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. He's a great kidder, Trump. Something blows up in his face, it was a joke.

Washington Monthly's 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 they're 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 we'll never see his income taxes.
Bart Hill, a former ER doctor who now oversees quality at St. Lukes Health System, says hospital safety is a priority. The performance of St. Lukes in the Treasure Valley recently earned it a five-star Medicare rating. Hill says getting everyone on board to follow protocols and rules is to start with a personal question, "What is your why?"

By Audrey Dutton

[email protected]

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article97087837.html#storylink=cpy
Motion de No Confidence passee et rejetee, reprise des travaux parlementaires avec les questions au Chef du gouvernement et aux ministres de la Republique.

La premiere question de la seance hormis de la Private Notice Question vent du Dr Gungapersad qui veut savoir du Premier Ministre le nombre de saisies de drogues et darrestation depuis janvier 2015 au 17 mai 2022.

Deuxieme question sera autour dun Senior Advisor du Chef du Gouvernement sur le nombre de Board/Para Etatoique que cette personne attachee au Bureau du Premier Ministre ainsi que les retributions mensuelles par Rajesh Bhagwan

Kushal Lobine interrogera le No 1 du gouvernement sur un cas de deversement dhuile dans le port qui a eu lieu le 29 avril 2022 et rapporte par la Mauritius Ports Authority.

Concernant les ministres , cest Osman Mahomed qui va parler actualite avec le Hajj Pilgrimage 2022 et le prix qui auraient double pour ceux que veulent le faire cette annee de ministre des Arts et du Patrimoine Culturel, puis Nando Bodha va interroger Soodesh Callichurn sur les importations des produits pour lalimentation pour les annee 2020, 2021 et de janvier 2022 a ce jour.

Il sera question du manque de medicaments sur le marche pour Ameer Meea et la reponse viendra du ministre de la Sante , le Dr Kailash Jagatpal et les solution pour y remedier.

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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 Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, August 22, 2016





With a forecast (from Adobe) that more than $40 billion will be lost to ad blocking this year, and that over 40% of Millennials use ad blockers, is it panic time in Adland?

That was the question put to a panel at the MediaPost Programmatic Insider Summit on Monday by Moderator Kristen Faust, managing director, Performics, part of Publicis Groupe.

The panel consensus was that it is not time to panic. Much of the discussion that followed was about how creative advertising and content players need to think about how their efforts can better resonate with consumers.

Blocking the blockers certainly isnt the answer, asserted Craig Key, svp, media Space150. That strategy, he added, is backward. Developing a better connection with audience members is more important.

Nikin Patel, director, digital, MEC, agreed. The industry needs to listen to what users are asking for, he said. Theres been much focus on reaching consumers at the right time with the right message, he added. But theres often a right way that tends to get overlooked. We need to find a way to re-engage, he said.

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According to Patel, one in 10 ads in the U.S. is blocked. In other countries consumers are much less tolerant. In Germany, he noted, one in three ads is blocked.

Using data to create meaningful connections is key, said Lindsay Pullins, director programmatic media, Empower MediaMarketing. We can learn a lot about people by looking at the ads that they watch, she said. She noted that her agency does a lot of data mining to develop content for brands, and said, its working.

Content isnt cheap and monetizing it can be a challenge. Brandon Geary, chief strategy officer Possible, opined that more emphasis should be placed on native advertising as a way of integrating marketing messages with content.

Geary cited a recent effort by Starbucks and BuzzFeed that he described as very cleanits hard to tell where Starbucks ends and BuzzFeed begins.

Perhaps a bigger issue is the lack of communication between creatives and those who plan and buy advertising. Key noted the tendency of planners to throw a spec sheet over the fence without context, with a mandate to have creative ready in two weeks.

But the disconnect works both ways, said Geary, who noted that creatives often dismiss programmatic as the evil machine.

The advent of programmatic and real-time marketing shouldnt mean the end of thoughtful strategizing said Patel. The power to react and turn on a dime doesnt mean you cant take a step back and look at it, he said.
by Richard Whitman , Columnist, August 22, 2016

Last week, former Havas Worldwide and North America head Ron Bess returned to the agency world to replace Rich Levy as HY Connect president. A couple of weeks ago, Cheryl Berman was tapped to become a member of Rise Interactive's new advisory board. And this week, we have another former Havas exec named to an agency's advisory board.

Debi Kleiman, a former agency and marketing executive who spent decades in marketing leadership positions, will join Boston-based Cramer, a brand experience agency, as a member of its Board of Advisors.

Kleiman is currently the Executive Director of Babson Colleges Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship where she focuses on expanding entrepreneurship through co-curricular programs and research initiatives. Prior to joining Babson, Kleiman was the managing director for Havas Medias Boston and San Francisco offices, and was the president of the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange. Earlier in her career, Kleiman worked in marketing and branding positions at a variety of well-known corporations such as C Space, The Coca-Cola Company, Welchs, and Procter & Gamble.

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On joining Cramer's advisory board, Kleiman said, In marketing, the world of brand experiences is on fire. CMOs and global brands are expanding their experiential marketing investments at a record pace. In that space, Cramer is a nationally recognized leader that is breaking through to the next level by making tremendous moves and critical investments, while attracting an unbelievable client roster. Im looking forward to joining this talented team to help drive, guide, and support this fast growing agency.

Kleiman will round out an all-star board of advisors at Cramer, joining Kirk Arnold, Chief Executive Officer at Data Intensity; Terry Carleton, Vice President at UBS Private Wealth Management; Michael Curran, Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the Boston Stock Exchange; Shawn Martin, Partner at Convexity Capital Hedge Fund; Theresa McNeely, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communication for Akebia Therapeutics; Paul Palmer, former Regional Vice President of IBM; and Michael Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer at the Boston Globe.

Cramer Founder and Chairman of the Board Tom Martin said, As a privately held business we have long benefited from having a strong, engaged board. With each wave of growth, evolution, and, importantly, transformation, Cramer has relied on our board in meaningful ways. The addition of Debi will be impactful to our culture, our people, our clients, our current transformation, and our future success.
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, August 23, 2016

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the high-level national security panel out of the Treasury Dept., has given the go-ahead to China National Chemical Corp.s (ChemChina) $43 billion purchase of the Swiss seed-and-pesticide firm Syngenta.

The proposed takeover still must get clearance elsewhere  most notably an antitrust review by the European Union  but the ruling removed one of the biggest potential challenges to the deal, as the interagency body had previously proved to be an obstacle for cross-border agreements involving Chinese companies, writes Chad Bray for the New York Times.

In a joint news release yesterday, the companies said that they are working closely with the regulatory agencies involved [elsewhere] and discussions remain constructive. They expect the deal to close by the end of the year.

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If completed, the deal would be the biggest foreign acquisition to date by a Chinese company. Shares in Syngenta jumped over 11% to 423 Swiss francs on Monday's news of the security clearance, the AP reports.

ChemChina and Syngenta didnt disclose the details of the agreement with CFIUS, with the Swiss company adding in an e-mailed response that any mitigation measures are not material to Syngentas business, reports Bloombergs David McLaughlin.

The decision indicates that potential worries about the long-term security of the American agricultural industry resonate far less than immediate concerns over foreign ownership of technology and cybersecurity assets, according to lawyers who work on foreign-driven merger deals, observe the Wall Street Journals Jacob Bunge, Brian Spegele and William Mauldin.

Theyve not yet reached the point where they have found an acquisition in the food and agriculture sector to threaten national security, Squire Patton Boggs partner Stephen McHale tells them, adding that CFIUSs rulings reflect a view that the U.S. is very secure in its food supply.

Syngenta supplies about one-fifth of the worlds pesticides and about 10% of soybean seeds to U.S. farmers, and it generates about one-quarter of its sales from North America.

The deal has come as other major players in the agrochemical and seeds industry plan to merge, or are holding talks together. Dow Chemical Co. is combining with DuPont Co., and Bayer AG is targeting genetically modified seeds maker Monsanto Co. Only BASF SE has remained on the sidelines of the consolidation wave, writes Bloombergs McLaughlin.

On both sides of the Atlantic, worries have risen over a spate of mergers and acquisitions, write Ralph Atkins and Don Weinland for Financial Times. Brussels last month launched an investigation into whether a planned $130 billion merger between U.S. chemicals groups Dow Chemical and DuPont would limit competition for vital supplies to Europes farmers.

And Reuters Michael Shields and Greg Roumeliotis remind us that several U.S. lawmakers wrote to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew this year asking for CFIUS to subject the deal to additional scrutiny over its impact on domestic food security.

Its clear that China is looking at purchasing companies with food production expertise as part of a long-term strategic plan and a component of their national security.  The fact that a state-owned enterprise may have yet another stake in U.S. agriculture is alarming, said Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also called for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which joined the CFIUS review, to be permanently added to the committee.

As controversial as the deal may be in some quarters in the West, it has arguably been more controversial in China: Syngenta has pioneered the manufacture of genetically modified (GMO) crops, and ChemChinas interest is seen as spurred by the Beijing government eyeing Syngentas valuable GMO-seed patents, writes Charlie Campbell for Time.

However, the Chinese public remains vehemently against GMO. A recent survey in the state-backed China Daily revealed 84% of respondents consider GMO unsafe. It remains illegal for locally grown food.

But given that GMOs could solve many of [Chinas] agricultural problems, it is doing what we call marketing in the West. The Chinese government has launched a massive propaganda offensive to change this, writes Campbell.
by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 23, 2016

While Gawker founder Nick Denton has said that he intends to leave the gossip business, Univision Communications, which just acquired most of Gawker Medias sites, isnt taking any chances.



The Hispanic media giant will pay the erstwhile CEO the tidy sum of $16,666 per month  yes, you read that right, per month  for two years as part of a noncompete agreement in which Denton promises not to work for any other sites in the same space.

Denton revealed the proposed noncompete agreement, including the payments, as part of a filing in bankruptcy court asking for approval of the arrangement.

If the noncompete agreement is approved by the bankruptcy court, altogether Univision, which bought Gawker Medias portfolio of sites (but not the flagship Gawker.com) for $135 million, will pay Denton $400,000 over the course of two years for staying out of the gossip and reporting business.

According to various reports, Denton made $500,000 a year as CEO of Gawker Media, so the Univision non-compete agreement isnt quite as lucrative as his old gig. On the other hand, he can do it, or rather not do it, in his pajamas.

The payments will also be a helpful fillip for Dentons beleaguered finances, as he negotiates a personal bankruptcy following the $140 million judgment against Gawker passed down by a Florida jury in the Hulk Hogan sex tape case  which includes $10 million of personal liability for Denton.

Gawker filed for bankruptcy in June, and Denton filed for personal bankruptcy earlier this month.

Denton is also petitioning the bankruptcy court to approve his proposal to lease out his SoHo apartment for $12,500 per month.

On the professional front, Denton has said he plans to launch online discussion forums, an area of digital media sufficiently removed from the gossip business that it shouldnt run afoul of the noncompete agreement.

Last week, Denton announced that the flagship Gawker.com will shut down sometime this week, after no buyers emerged for the site. Univision will take control of Gawker Medias other culture, sports, lifestyle and tech-reporting sites, including Deadpsin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel and Kotaku.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, August 23, 2016

The post-Manafort era, in addition to Kellyanne Conway, has elevated former Breitbart executive director Stephen Bannon to the chairmanship of the Trump presidential campaign.

An enigmatic figure who riled up conservatives and was integral to the success of the Tea Party, Bannon is now at the helm of the most anti-establishment and nationalist presidential campaign in recent history.

The Trump-Bannon partnership is fitting. The media executive who fueled the rise of a xenophobic, anti-establishment GOP base joins the public face of the destroy the Washington establishment movement in a final push for the White House.

Mother Jones Sarah Posner, who interviewed Bannon at the RNC in July, wrote of the hire: By bringing on Stephen Bannon, Trump was signaling a wholehearted embrace of the alt-right, a once-motley assemblage of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, ethno-nationalistic provocateurs who have coalesced behind Trump and curried the GOP nominees favor on social media.

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Trump also signaled with Bannon a wholehearted rejection of the Republican establishment  and the leaders who wanted a moderated Trump as we arrive at the climax of election 2016.

Bannons desire to shake up Washington was put cogently by historian Ronald Radosh, who wrote in The Daily Beast of a conversation he had with Bannon at his D.C. home in 2014.

Im a Leninist, Bannon reportedly told Radosh. Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and thats my goal, too. I want to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of todays establishment. Bannon declined to comment about the conversation and told Radosh he had no memory of the encounter.

The tactics Bannon has used over the past years at Breitbart are not unlike those used by the Bolsheviks.

John Dickerson, host of Face the Nation, spoke to this interpretation of Bannon on Slates "Political Gabfest" podcast last Thursday when speaking of the rift between former Breitbart writer Ben Shapiro and Bannon, Breitbart had become the Pravda of the Trump campaign. Although, as The Wall Street Journal put it [last week], Pravda was more subtle.

As the foremost anti-establishment media executive now leads the campaign of the most demagogic anti-establishment politician in decades, the stage is set for a colossal media battle.
The Washington Post, Tuesday, August 23, 2016 11:42 AM

The Clinton campaign is planning a speech on Thursday, when the Democratic nominee for president will discuss the connection between Donald Trump and the alt-right. The address is planned for Reno, Nevada. The alt right, or alternative right refers to identitarian nationalism and opposition to multiculturalism and mass immigration.

Read the whole story at The Washington Post 
by Larissa Faw , August 23, 2016



Hyundai is partnering with Amazon for the "Prime Now. Drive Now." program that lets drivers in the Los Angeles/Orange County area book 2017 Hyundai Elantra test drives through Amazon Prime and the car will be then delivered to them.

The program was conceived, orchestrated and executed via a collaboration between Hyundai's AOR Innocean Worldwide, media AOR Canvas Worldwide, Amazon Prime Now, and the Drive Shop, an engagement marketing agency that provides trained driving hosts to assist with the test drives.

The concept is designed to modernize todays automotive shopping experience, they say.

For two weekends (August 20-21 and August 27-28), drivers can visit a designated site to schedule a 45- to 60-minute test drive, in which the car is driven to their location of choice. After the test drive, participants will be directed to their local Hyundai dealer to finalize the transaction should they wish to purchase.

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The program will be supported by an integrated digital campaign, including digital video, digital advertising, SEO, SEM, and social. The digital advertisements will appear on Amazon.com and other U.S. Web sites.

Hyundais brand is known for its obsession with making drivers lives better, while Amazon has revolutionized the retail experience. When you combine the two, you have a revolutionary way to test drive and purchase a Hyundai Elantra, stated Paul Woolmington, CEO, Canvas Worldwide. This program "brings a new level of simplicity and convenience for Hyundai drivers.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 23, 2016

Ongoing civil litigation between Criteo and SteelHouse has brought a few clients into the fray. Sworn testimony recently surfaced from SteelHouse customers such as Deckers Outdoor, TOMS, and Vistaprint, among others, explaining how they were misled while working with the company.

Original court documents describe a counterfeit click game that tricks clients into believing that Internet users are clicking on SteelHouse-placed ads when they are not. It allows SteelHouse to take credit for online sales attributed to another vendor, according to the documents -- in some cases, Criteo.

With help from Criteo, one brand identified that directly after a click on a different marketing channel, SteelHouse would frequently fire its own code. Since TOMS tracked clicks on Google Analytics, when SteelHouse fired this code, it was interpreted by the TOMS platform as a click on a SteelHouse advertisement, according to documents filed August 15, 2016.

Under TOMS' last-click attribution model, if SteelHouse fired its code interpreted as a click after a Criteo click, SteelHouse would get the credit for the conversion.

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In the declaration provided by Anna Hordov, who served as a paid advertising and affiliate coordinator at TOMS from February 2012 to January 2013, she describes what happened during a time when TOMS used both SteelHouse's and Criteo's services.

Interestingly, SteelHouse would sometimes outperform Criteo, but then the brand stopped using Criteo for a short period of time, SteelHouse did not increase the volume of click and post-click conversions, and all remained the same.

"During the Q4 2015 head-to-head, I began to have suspicions regarding SteelHouse's click and post-click conversion performance because I could not find an advertisement for TOMS that had been placed by SteelHouse," according to Hordov's declaration. "In contrast, I never had a problem finding advertisements for TOMS that had been placed by Criteo."

Several brands filed declarations in support of Criteo. In the declaration, Elyse Burns, lead channel marketing at Vistaprint, filed in support of the plaintiff Criteo, saying she first became aware of SteelHouse's click data when Criteo's employees notified her team of data irregularities with Vistaprint clicks. In April 2016, she observed SteelHouse using code to make it appear as though an Internet user clicks on a SteelHouse-placed advertisement even though no such click occurred.

Burns navigated to the Vistaprint site by conducting various searches in a search engine and then by clicking on an organic search result. "I did not click on a SteelHouse advertisement," according to the declaration. "At no point did I navigate away from the VistaPrint Site after reaching it by clicking on my search results."

The Motion for Preliminary Injunction is scheduled for Sept. 12, 2016, when the presiding judge will review the statements from SteelHouse clients. Criteo began this litigation when it asked the court to instruct SteelHouse to discontinue its deceptive "counterfeit click scheme." SteelHouse opposed that motion and filed counterclaims against Criteo. Both companies say they tried to avoid taking the disagreement to court.

Criteo claims that SteelHouse uses software making it look like users click on their ads, even when they don't. Recently Criteo filed a brief responding to SteelHouse and a second brief asking the court to dismiss SteelHouses counterclaims. Then brought clients into the mix as evidence of wrongdoing.

SteelHouse also had something to say about the comments. "Criteos response in its latest filing finally frames the actual debate at hand without the inflammatory accusations," according to a SteelHouse spokesperson. When you boil it down, the debate is about flexibility. SteelHouse offers flexible attribution support; Criteo doesnt.
by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, August 23, 2016

In April of 2013, California attorney Dawn Hassell sued a former client over a negative Yelp review.

The ex-client didn't appear in court to answer the defamation lawsuit, and Hassell was awarded a default judgment of more than $500,000. The trial judge also ordered the former client to remove her review.

But that wasn't all. The judge issued an extraordinary injunction directing Yelp to take down the post. Yelp says it had never been notified by Hassell about the lawsuit before that order was issued. After learning of the ruling, Yelp intervened in the case and sought to vacate the injunction.

Yelp raised numerous points, including that it has the right to appear in court and argue its case, before being ordered to take down comments.

The company's efforts were rejected by both a trial judge and a California appellate court. The online review company is now asking the California Supreme Court to take up the case.

"Yelp and other websites will suffer as a result of this opinion," Yelp writes in a petition seeking review. "More importantly, members of the public that rely on the wealth of online third-party commentary ... will be harmed as subjects of criticism follow Hassells example: intentionally sue the commenter alone, perhaps in a manner that maximizes the chance that he or she will be unable or unwilling to defend the lawsuit regardless of its underlying merit, and then after a default judgment present the injunction to the website publisher as an unassailable fait accompli."

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A host of outside companies and organizations -- including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press -- are supporting Yelp.

"In requiring Yelp to remove one of its user's comments without notice, the lower courts failed to provide Yelp, a distributor of online content, an opportunity to object," writes the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in a letter on behalf of itself and dozens of other companies, including The New York Times, AOL, Buzzfeed and Gannett. "The decision is inconsistent with U.S. Supreme Court doctrine requiring an adversarial hearing before the government can ... demand removal of speech from the marketplace of ideas."

Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft add in a joint letter to the California Supreme Court that the trial judge's hearing in the case was "a procedural travesty," noting that Yelp had never been told that the judge "was even considering entering an injunction."

Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman, who has criticized the ruling, called attention to Yelp's appeal on his blog. "The volume and gravitas of the letters, plus the obvious and stupid mistakes in the appellate court opinion, should give Yelps request a good chance of being granted," he writes.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 23, 2016

Some might say the ability to search on a mobile device from anywhere when connected to the Internet prompted an early start to searches for back-to-school supplies and clothing. While Google data cannot make the leap from the early start to the purchase, it's clear that the ability to research products from anywhere can spur the impulse to complete the process and finish the sale.

This year, back-to-school-related search queries saw a sharp increase during the week of July 11 -- a week earlier than last year. In July, three out of five back-to-school searches occurred on mobile devices, and there were 35% more mobile searches compared with last year during the same time, according to Google data.

Mobile search also increasingly connects shoppers to stores. For back-to-school shoppers, there is strong evidence that searching actually leads to in-store visits.

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Last August, searches about "back to school" followed by a visit to a department store within a week grew 20% compared with the previous year.

There is plenty of opportunity to reach shoppers. This year, the National Retail Federation predicts that back-to-school shoppers will spend a total of $75.8 billion.

Mobile continues to make an impact. Some 85% of views for back-to-school DIY videos occur on a smartphone. In a DIY video from Target, one of their "college stylists" creates a set of smartphone speakers from plastic cups and washi tape.

DIY and dorm tours are trending higher compared with last year. These videos feature tips and tricks that help students put a personal stamp on trends while saving money.

Trending products include specialty backpacks from Victoria Secret's PINK, Sprayground and Fjallrave, as well as some from the Seattle-based company Kavu, which makes cross-body bags. Pokemon Go has also sparked massive interest in Pokemon-themed backpacks, lifting them to No. 5 on the list of trending backpacks.

The top five trending brands include Birkenstock, Nike Jordan, Chacos, Under Armour Curry, and Adidas Yeezy Boost.

Children might not hold the purse strings, but they do influence their parents when it comes to back-to-school purchases, per Google. The data shows that watch time for back-to-school videos on YouTube rose more than 70% YoY.
Findings from a case report published in the BMJ Thorax indicate that musicians who play wind instruments may be at risk of developing bagpipe lung  from yeast and mold contamination  which, at the severe end of the scale, can result in death. Share on Pinterest Musicians who play bagpipes, saxophone, trombone, and other wind instruments could be at an increased risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The term bagpipe lung emerged from a case presentation  led by Dr. Jenny King of University Hospital South Manchester in the United Kingdom  of a 61-year-old man who died from the chronic inflammatory lung condition hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) following exposure to breathing in fungi lurking in the moist crevices of his bagpipes. HP is a disease of the lungs, whereby the lung becomes inflamed from an allergic reaction to inhaled dust, fungus, molds, or chemicals. If detected early and the allergy-producing substance is avoided, the inflammation can be reversed. However, if HP remains undiagnosed, and the individual continues to be exposed to the allergen, this may lead to some portions of the lung developing scar tissue. Lung scarring  also called pulmonary fibrosis  is permanent and can make breathing normally problematic. There are more than 300 known substances which, when inhaled as fine dust, may cause a person to develop HP.

Bagpipe lung named as potential hazard for wind musicians Most commonly seen HP problems are given names related to the source of the allergen. For example, farmers lung is the term for cattle workers where the condition is caused by inhaling mold that grows on hay, straw, and grain, or bird fanciers lung caused by breathing in particles from feathers or droppings of birds, particularly pigeons. Bagpipe lung is the new causal name in this instance. The cause of HP in the man in the case file was a conundrum; he was not a pigeon fancier, nor did his house harbor mold or show signs of water damage, and he had no symptoms of connective tissue disease. He had also never smoked. The patient was referred to the interstitial lung disease clinic in 2014 with a 7-year history of a dry cough and progressive breathlessness, diagnosed as HP in 2009. Despite immunosuppressive therapy, he experienced a reduction in exercise tolerance from over 10 kilometers to 20 meters. Despite his severe restriction in lung function, the man played the bagpipes daily as a hobby. His symptoms were progressive, except a 3-month period in 2011 when he lived in Australia, and his symptoms rapidly improved. On return to the United Kingdom, the mans breathing quickly deteriorated. He did not take the bagpipes with him to Australia.

Antigens found in bagpipes could cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis With the bagpipes determined as a possible risk factor, samples were taken from the bag, the neck, and the chanter reed protector while the man was in the hospital. The samples grew numerous fungi including Paecilomyces variotti, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium species, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Trichosporon mucoides, pink yeast and Exophiala dermatitidis. In spite of therapy, the man deteriorated and died. Postmortem examination revealed extensive lung damage consistent with acute respiratory distress syndrome and tissue fibrosis (scarring). The history of daily bagpipe playing coupled with the improvement in symptoms when the man was bagpipe-free in Australia, and the discovery of antigens in the bagpipes, identifies the instrument as the likely cause. Many of the fungi found in this case have been associated with HP. The authors say that the moist environment of the bagpipes may promote yeast and mold contamination, thereby making the chronic inhalation of offending antigens a likely trigger.
Groin pain is discomfort or pain in the area at the junction of the abdomen and thighs. It is more often due to pulled or strained muscle, tendon or ligament near the hip.

Sometimes the groin pain is a radiated pain from other areas for example a stone in the lower ureter or from testis.

It is a common symptom among athletes. It is due to various causes like injury, infection, tumors, inflammation or nerve related.

The most common causes of groin include 

Pulled or Strained Muscle, Tendon or Ligament of the Leg: It is due to excess stress on the muscles in the groin and thigh. It happens as a result of sudden or excessive force on the muscles. It is sometimes referred to as sports hernia.

It is more commonly seen in sports that involve constant running and jumping like football, hockey and soccer. Careful and thorough physical examination helps in diagnosing the condition.

Rest, muscle strengthening exercises and analgesics are the frequently suggested treatment options.

Hernia is due to a weak spot in the muscle, which leads to the abnormal protrusion of the internal organs.

An inguinal hernia is seen both in males and females. The weakening of the abdominal wall muscles leads to the protrusion of the fatty tissue or intestines out through the inguinal canal. It causes pain in the groin.

A thorough examination and surgical treatment are essential to prevent complications due to hernia.

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Femoral hernia too can cause similar pain but is seen more in women. The bulge of the hernia is below the inguinal canal region.

Disease of the Hip Joint: Injury to the hip joint, bursitis (inflammation of the jell-like sac near the hip joint), avascular necrosis (decrease in the blood supply to head of the long bone of thigh called femur leading to the death of bone tissue), fracture and osteoarthritis of the hip joint can cause groin pain.

The less common causes of groin pain are -

Orchitis: The bacterial or viral infection leading to the inflammation of the testicles is called orchitis. The bacteria like chlamydia and gonococci, mumps causing virus cause orchitis. Bacterial orchitis is frequently associated with epididymitis.

It is seen usually in young men or sometimes older men.

Intestinal Causes: Inflammation, infection or ischemia of the small or large intestine can cause groin pain.

Inflammation, infection or ischemia of the small or large intestine can cause groin pain. Ovarian Cysts: Cystic lesions in the ovaries can cause groin pain in females.

Cystic lesions in the ovaries can cause groin pain in females. Testicular Torsion: It is observed in newborns and adolescents. The torsion of spermatic cord leads to the loss of the blood supply to the testicle. It is an emergency.

Early surgical intervention to save the testicle to preserve the fertility is essential. The child should be in the hospital within an hour of such a pain and will require almost immediate surgery.

Inflammation of the Inguinal Lymph Nodes: The infections like syphilis, chancroid and malignancies involving legs can involve inguinal lymph nodes. Careful evaluation to diagnose the underlying cause is crucial in the management of the condition.

The infections like syphilis, chancroid and malignancies involving legs can involve inguinal lymph nodes. Careful evaluation to diagnose the underlying cause is crucial in the management of the condition. Stone in the Ureter: Mineral deposits that accumulate to form stones in the urinary tract are called renal calculi.

The pain due to renal stones is sometimes severe and is called a renal colic. Stone that descend down from the kidney to the ureter usually gives rise to pain that starts in the back and radiates to groin region as the stone moves down.

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is more common among females. The most common causative organism of UTI is E.coli. Infection of the urinary tract can be associated with groin pain.

Testicular Tumors: Benign or malignant lesions in the testicles cause testicular and groin pain in men.

Infection of the Skin: Topical skin involvement in the groin can cause groin pain.

Topical skin involvement in the groin can cause groin pain. Nerve-Related: Nerve entrapments can cause groin pain. The genitofemoral nerve and obturator nerve entrapment cause groin pain.

Nerve entrapments can cause groin pain. The genitofemoral nerve and obturator nerve entrapment cause groin pain. Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs): Sexually transmitted illness can cause groin pain due to the involvement of lymph nodes or the lesions in the groin.

can cause groin pain due to the involvement of lymph nodes or the lesions in the groin. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID): Infection of the female reproductive organs is PID. It is usually due to Chlamydia or Gonococcal infection. It can cause infertility, ectopic gestation and chronic abdominal pain if not attended in time.

Groin pain can be due to many possible causes. The patient history of probable abdominal, infectious, urological or hip joint-related pathology is important in deciding the etiology of groin pain. Physical examination also plays a crucial role in evaluating groin pain.

The investigations ordered depend on the probable diagnosis made after assessing the history and clinical examination. The diagnosis can be made from the following investigations.

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Complete Blood Count (CBC): Complete blood examination helps to find the presence of infection in patients with groin pain.

helps to find the presence of infection in patients with groin pain. X-ray: In patients with groin pain due to renal calculi, X-ray helps in the diagnosis. X-ray of the hip joint is useful to diagnose hip joint related pathology.

In patients with groin pain due to renal calculi, X-ray helps in the diagnosis. X-ray of the hip joint is useful to diagnose hip joint related pathology. Ultra-sonogram (USG): It is a safe and quick test to find the soft tissue abnormalities.In patients with groin pain due to renal calculi, hernia, intestinal causes, female pelvic causes and testicular causes, ultrasound is ordered.

It is a safe and quick test to find the soft tissue abnormalities.In patients with groin pain due to renal calculi, hernia, intestinal causes, female pelvic causes and testicular causes, ultrasound is ordered. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): It is a powerful tool to define the soft tissues like muscles, tendons, cartilage, etc.In patients with hip injuries during sports, avascular necrosis of femur or nerve entrapments, MRI aids in diagnosis.

It is a powerful tool to define the soft tissues like muscles, tendons, cartilage, etc.In patients with hip injuries during sports, avascular necrosis of femur or nerve entrapments, MRI aids in diagnosis. Urinalysis: It is a very simple test. In patients with the urinary tract infection leading to groin pain, urinalysis helps to find the presence of infection.
Last month, in a number of speeches, Hossein Salami, deputy commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), focused on the might of Iran's Islamic Revolution at home and its impact on the region and on the world, and also on threats to it and to the Islamic world by the West and its agent - Sunni Saudi Arabia.

On July 4, 2016, at a Memories of the Iran-Iraq War conference, Salami attributed Islamic Iran's steadfastness to its independence from the superpowers, to global recognition of its greatness, and to its martyrs. He said that Iran is the only country that challenges the world order and does not submit to the dictates of the superpowers.

On August 4, 2016, Salami extolled Iran's Shi'ite Islamic Revolution which, he said, had launched a new era in Islam-West relations and had eradicated the remnants of the secret 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement between Britain and France. Iran's revolution, he said, had restored Islam's pride, which had been suppressed by the West. Salami noted that Islam is now spreading in the West, and that due to the wave of conversions to Islam in Britain, the number of Muslims there will equal the number of Christians by 2050. He added that the West, in order to repel this threat and to destroy the foundations of Islam, had invented the "takfiris" (a reference to fundamentalist Sunnis, in this case both the Saudis and the Islamic State, or ISIS), and these takfiris are now the greatest threat to Iran as well as to all of Islam.

Next in his speech, Salami urged the Sunnis to support the Shi'ite revolutionary doctrine led by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who, he said, "shines with divine light" and is as concerned about the Sunnis as he is about the Shi'ites. He also warned them that if they fail to support this revolutionary doctrine, more Sunnis than Shi'ites will die in the fitna hat is being advanced by the West.

On August 10, 2016, at the third national conference of online Islamic Revolution activists, Salami warned about the Western, and particularly American, cultural activity that Iranian society faces from the West that emanates from Hollywood and the Internet. He called this Western cultural activity part of an American plot to spread corrupt Western and American values in order to undermine the Islamic Revolution and destabilize Iran's socio-cultural structure.

The following are excerpts from Salami's speeches in the last month:



Hossein Salami (Source: Tasnimnews.com)

'Iran Today Is The Only Country That Refuses To Recognize The Unjust World Order And [Instead] Follows Its Own Just Norms' - July 4, 2016

At the July 4 Memories of the Iran-Iraq War conference, Salami said: "Security, tranquility, progress and all the lofty values for which Iran is known, are [achieved] thanks to the bodies and great spirit of the martyrs...

"Some countries are considered weak, humiliated, and dependent [on the superpowers]. They are like slaves in a slavery regime. Such countries operate according to the political will of other countries, and are considered [satellite] states on the political map of [their master] countries. Thus, they are essentially unfree and have no liberty.

"Prior to its revolution, Iran was in this situation, subjugated by the American plot - to the point where [our understanding of who was] friend or foe was determined by America's political will. But today, by the grace of God, we have regained the essence we lost, and we [now] figure prominently in the world. Today, Islamic Iran is recognized as an independent regime and a model for emulation, a country [characterized by] resistance, steadfastness, strength, and invincibility.

"Today in the world, Iran is depicted in terms of its resistance and stability against the superpowers, and as not impacted [by their decisions]. Today in the world, there is no criterion for describing the essence of nations other than their dependency on the world powers. Thanks to the blood of its martyrs, Islamic Iran has achieved independence and might, free of foreign [influence].

"Iran today is the only country that refuses to recognize the unjust official world order and [instead] follows its own just norms. All these blessed things were achieved by steadfastness against the pressures and the disasters that, for the past 38 years, have been inflicted upon this country and upon the spirit of the Iranian nation. Despite all these pressures, the strength of the Iranian nation has been so great that it presents itself to the world as a mighty nation."[1]

'The Arrogance Leverages All Its Potential To Preventing The Creation Of An Islamic Culture' - August 4, 2016

On August 4, 2016, Salami said in a speech at the Standard-Bearers of Wisdom conference in Kermanshah province: "The awakening in the Islamic world came with the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and the reality of the Koran is being carried out in accordance with it.

"Only the leader [Khamenei] stands against the complex plots of the world of arrogance and the mercenaries in the region. The defenders of the holy sites stand fast against the enemy plots, and transform every inch of the Islamic lands into a graveyard for the dreams of the arrogant [i.e. the U.S. and Western powers]...

"The Islamic Revolution is a philosophy that saves [humanity] from slavery to tyrants. Since France and England signed a pact to divide the Islamic world [a reference to the 1916 Sykes-Picot accord], disaster, poverty, slavery, backwardness, dependence, and acceptance of foreign rule have become reality in the annals of Islam. Parts of Islamic lands became entangled in the plot and fitna of these two countries. America and England implemented a policy of 'divide and conquer.'

"It has been revealed that during World War II, many Muslims in India were murdered by England. The aim of the arrogant ones was to establish the Jewish government in Palestine and to create fitna in all Islamic lands.

"[Iran's 1979] Islamic Revolution revived the buried essence of the Muslims. Before it, the rulers of the Islamic countries were marionettes controlled by the West, and had all manner of destructive Western cultural attributes, such as the sale of alcoholic beverages. If not for the Islamic Revolution, the Muslims' destiny would have been in thrall to the foreigners - that is, in thrall to foreigners, and to backwardness.

"Thanks to the Islamic Revolution, the Western control of Islam has been stopped. Today, Islam has begun its advance in the West, which is why the West has resorted to creating the takfiris in order to halt this advance and deface the attractive face of Islam.

"[Today] the most common name for boys in England is the name of the Prophet of Islam [Muhammad], and the most common name for girls is Fatima Zahra [Muhammad's daughter]. Every year, 50,000 Englishmen become Muslims, and in Europe thousands of mosques are built. In light of this collapse [of Christian dominance], by 2050, Muslims will number the same as Christians [there]. In the past, we would fight within our own borders, but now our battlefronts have been moved far away.

"The arrogance leverages all its potential to preventing the creation of an Islamic culture, because in this century Islam is the only religion that creates a regime. The arrogance knows that if it cannot confront this rising sun, the balance of power will shift towards Islam. No plot is more dangerous than the plot of depicting Islam as violent.

"The arrogance seeks to destroy the character of the youth, and America uses the creative power of Hollywood movies to spread murder, crime, and the collapse of the family unit. It seeks to conquer the minds of the youth with satellite [channels] and the Internet, and if we are not careful, this phenomenon will emerge in the Islamic countries [as well].

"We are in an all-out war, and therefore Muslim unity is vital. It is crucial to society's leaders that we spread the divine message and information on global issues.

"Iran is a safe country. In Iran, the divine light shines through the leader [Khamenei], and, thanks to the senior clerics and the unity of the people, there is safety in Iran. Like in the story of Abraham, flames surround Islamic Iran.[2]

"It is vital that we issue warnings about global events: Saudi Arabia is obeying the West and sowing strife in the Islamic world. Today, Islamic countries are afflicted with disunity and the absence of blessings from the leader [Khamenei]. The leader has no concern other than the honor of the Muslims. He sees no difference between Shi'ites and Sunnis, as most Palestinians and Syrians are Sunnis yet receive ongoing support from the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"We have toiled greatly so that Iran will maintain its honor. Today, we are defending the honor of the people, and without this defense, the fire of fitna would be burning more Sunnis than Shi'ites. There is no difference between Shi'ites and Sunnis, and the enemies have no way of promoting their policy.

"Today, the Muslims are finding ways to vanquish the infidels, based on God's tradition."[3]

Iran Is 'Waging A Great Cultural Jihad' - August 10, 2016

On August 10, Salami said at the third national conference of online Islamic Revolution activists: "It [gives me] great pride to stand alongside knowledgeable revolutionary young people who rose up to fight, in the cultural dimension, a major assault by the regime of tyranny and arrogance [i.e. the U.S.]. Now, the Islamic Republic is waging a great cultural jihad. We believe that in this historic period, the front of the Islamic Revolution has deep and wise insight in this field. We need to realize that in the first stage, we must plan to intensify our capabilities and our faith in order to win the current war...

"You, as online activists examining the enemy's strategy, [surely] understand how America can conquer the minds of the people. This is not a conquest of land, but a conquest of public opinion via the Internet... Today, you are on the most important frontline of the fight against the enemy. The enemy has very powerful online tools - but the content of these [tools] is very vulnerable. If you look at how Hollywood movies are made, you will discover how America is spreading its values to the whole world. These movies present moral decay, sexual violence, and crime.

"The collapse of the social order in the Western world has begun, and it is advancing eastward. Every year, over 33,000 young people commit suicide in America. This indicates a human crisis among young Westerners. The rise in divorce has broken records in America, and one in four students in America has an abortion...

"The letter sent by the leader [Khamenei] showed young Europeans and Westerners the true face of Islam. We must continue this work of online activism... We must know that the Internet is a vitally important foundation for fighting the enemy, in this great jihad."



Khmaenei's letter tweeted on Khamenei's @Letter4u_ir Twitter account, December 1, 2015.

"Western society believes that if you want to create pressure on a society, you must change its main structure - that is, its core values. Therefore, they analyze the 2009 fitna [post-election unrest]...

"It is overly naive to think that the enemy is not looking for a scenario that is dangerous [for us], because the enemy wants the Islamic Republic to be passive. It wants to change our cultural and social roots.

"[The term] 'non-American Americans' refers to Iranian citizens who are essentially American. This is part of America's cultural plot against Iran. Therefore, we must fight it online."[4]

Endnotes:

[1] ISNA (Iran), July 4, 2016.
BAD AXE  The Bad Axe Church of Christ has been tested a lot over the past few years.

First it was the December 2013 arrest of former minister Paul Rennix, on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. Then it was a long, exhaustive seven-month search in order to find his replacement in minister Brian Poe.

But in November of last year, Poe would decide to move on to a church in Royal Oak, where his wifes family is from. It was a difficult decision, but the opportunity to minister at a much larger church and be closer to family was too much to pass up.

Then tragedy struck.

A few weeks after the birth of their second child, Poes wife, Molly, died of complications from the birth.

The news shook the congregation, which was still close to the Poes, even in their departure.

We all love him, said church member Susan Carlson. Were an older congregation  he was like our son and his children like our grandkids.

Despite the grief, the church had to move on. Trustee Scott Rayl said each congregation in the Church of Christ is autonomous, so each one is tasked with finding its own minister.

The Bad Axe Church of Christ has been presented with that challenge twice in the last two years.

But by the beginning of January 2016, it had its new minister in 47-year-old Jimmy Bagwell.

Bagwell came from the Flushing area, where he spent 10 years as a minister. Prior to that, he served at churches in Mississippi and Alabama.

Its going well, Rayl said. Weve had lots of visitors and are kind of maintaining our usual service times.

Originally being from Alabama, Bagwell said he and his wife, Mary, were looking for a more rural setting to raise their 6-year-old son, Aiden, and 4-year-old daughter, Lily.

We visited the congregation, spoke with them a few times and it seemed to be a good fit, Bagwell said.

Bagwell started work in January and the family finally settled into their home in the Bad Axe area in June.

Its a learning experience, Bagwell said of the change. Youre learning new people, learning their spiritual needs and getting to know the people in the community. Its a learning experience and a growing experience. Its helped me grow as a person.

Bagwell said his immediate goals are to simply serve the 45-member congregation to the best of his ability, and to be the best husband and father he can be.

In the future, he would like to see growth in the congregation, but only if it makes sense for the church.

Were working on plans for when we have some growth, but were just in the talking stages right now, he said. We just want to be good stewards with what Gods blessed us with.
CASEVILLE  When you mix coconut bras, grass skirts, pink flamingos and tens of thousands of cheeseburgers, it sounds like an odd combination, but for one Upper Thumb community, its a week and a half of nonstop fun.

Or as some might say, Heaven on Earth with an onion slice.

The 18th Annual Cheeseburger Festival in Caseville lasted for nearly two weeks. Steve Louwers, president of the Caseville Chamber of Commerce, told the Tribune he was extremely pleased with the turnout. Louwers has been a part of the festival for the last 13 years.

Were very satisfied with this year, he said. Its great to see so many people in the community.

With local businesses hosting daily events, support from sponsors and the legwork put in by volunteers helped make this years festival another success, he said.

The festival takes on a different theme than some might expect.

Obviously, the influx of 200,000 cheeseburgers that get sold around here factors into it, but its the theme, Louwers said regarding the festivals uniqueness. Its a Jimmy Buffet theme. Its all based around tropical rock.

Because of the amount of attendants we get, along with the amount of tropical rock bands that we brought in, its without a doubt the largest festival of its kind in the country, he added.   Its relaxed. Its American. Its all about having a good time.

Louwers said he has attended a few festivals in the south that claimed to be the best, but they were far from it.

Here, we get 100,000 people and its 10 days long and we have 10 or more bands, he said, comparing others to Caseville. Its not even close.

During the spread of 10 days, cheeseburger-lovers and goers had a wide variety of events to choose from  including a number of tropical rock bands to jam to.

I had over 20 bands perform in 10 days and not one was canceled. First time thats ever happened, Louwers said. I was happy about that  it was a miracle considering all the rain.

Its a huge economic impact on Caseville and its a lot better than an ordinary 10 days in the summer time, he added.

Although the weather conditions were less than ideal for this years parade of tropical fools, nearly 100 entrants packed into the hour-long route.

Unfortunately, thats one thing (the weather) we cant predict, he explained.  From a business perspective, if they (business owners) want to compare their sales to what they did two weeks ago, I think they did a lot better.

One major thing to change from last years festival was Louwers cheeseburger intake.

I had one plain burger without the bun, he said with a laugh. Last year, I probably had about 20.

Regardless of how many he ate, he said if he had to create the ideal cheeseburger would be the good ol American way with lettuce, onions, mustard, ketchup and pickles.

As far as whats going on next year for the 19th annual, its difficult for me to answer, Louwers said. I hope to be around. I love doing it and helping out for the community of Caseville.






Monte la Difensa

Today, when you look at the routes up Difensas crags, it is just possible to imagine small groups of highly trained mountaineers conquering them. But hosts of heavily laden troops could not succeed, could they?

They did, but not without facing almost overpowering difficulties. As one Forceman said, no fear of death, just sheer exhaustion and survival. I can still see us climbing the hill and watching the German mortars bracketing us.

There was immense artillery preparation along the whole ridge, and the Germans were alert, suspecting attack, but they remained unaware that an approach was being made from such an unlikely quarter.

The climb started at about 4.30pm on 3 December, and continued in the pitch black and icy rain throughout the night. A couple of hours respite was gained on a series of ledges several hundred feet below the crest, as the 2nd Battalion gathered itself before clambering on up a cliff the pitch of which is mostly 60-70.

By 4.30am, most of the Battalion was in a position to peer down into the darkness at what they could just make out as a mass of German troops. As one soldier said, we were so goddamn close we could smell them cooking sausage!

There they intended to pause until first light at about 6am, but a rockfall gave the Forces precarious position away prematurely. Flares shot into the air, shouts were heard, and very shortly enemy automatic weapons began to spray green tracer into the night.

Staff-Sergeant Crichlow takes up the story:

All hell broke loose. I dived for cover, and my section, who were laboriously climbing up the ledge behind me, started to crawl into position to my left They started to return the Jerries fire. In the dark it seemed that there was a kind of fort ahead of me, from which came the flashes of German machine-guns there was a quick intake of breath near me and I knew somebody was hit I kept firing my Tommy Gun at the flashes ahead of me, and then the dark forms spread to my right. Apparently, McGintys section was getting into action.

This map and extract of text appeared within the feature on The First Special Service Force in Italy in issue 72 of Military History Monthly.
As the last knot of mutineers stood against the charge of the 10th Bombay Native Infantry, there must have been many who marvelled at the regiments bravery. Kotah-ki-Serai in June 1858 was the stiffest fight that the 10th experienced in the so-called Sepoy Mutiny. Bengal troops  trained, armed, dressed, and equipped just like the 10th  fought with great ferocity against their East India Company masters.



The mutineers were supported by swarms of local fighters  undisciplined, but full of the same desperate courage. Both sepoys and civilians had come to hate the British and their vassals from distant Bombay. But, as volleys from the new Enfield rifles scythed through them, and as bayonets stabbed flesh and butts smashed bone, there were many in the rebel ranks who wondered at the steadfastness of the 10th.

Although there was no sign of it in this bitter fight, only a few months before, 800 miles away to the south, these same troops had been paraded and disarmed by the Queens regiments now fighting alongside them. At that moment, the British had stared down their barrels, fingers on triggers, expecting to fire into their comrades at the least sign of unrest. Then, as the 10th stood and sweated in the sun, the court-martials sentence was passed on three comrades who just days before had been arrested on suspicion of planning mutiny. All were found guilty. One was to be transported, but Havildar Sayad Hussein and Sepoy Mangal Cadiya were to face the executioner.

The area in which the 10th Bombay was to fight was in Mahratta country, far from insurgent Meerut and Delhi. There had already been several bloody wars against this proudly independent people, the last sparked as Britain was distracted by the First Afghan War. Then, in the 1850s, resentment had been rubbed raw by the clumsiness of London and Calcutta, while the mishandling of the campaign in the Crimea suggested that the colonial power was vulnerable once again. Maharajas such as Nana Sahib chose his moment at Cawnpore, while around Gwalior  the northern heart of the Mahrattas  other leaders watched and waited. It was to this distant country that the 10th Bombay Native Infantry were sent in October 1857, with many of the British wondering just how reliable and loyal they would prove to be. By boat and boot, the 10th covered hundreds of miles into Bengal before meeting their first, serious opposition at the entrenched village of Rowa on 6 January 1858.

Another test awaited the 10th Bombays resolve a few days later on 23 January. Forced marches had brought the column to another enemy stronghold at Awah. Again, this was an action against large numbers of poorly armed mutineers and local men who had nothing but a belief in the Mahratta cause to sustain them. The town fell without much fighting, but over 170 prisoners were taken, all of whom were tried by summary court-martial. Now the penalty for being taken in arms and in open rebellion against the state was unequivocal: death. Twenty-five men were found guilty, and it fell to the 10th to carry out sentence. One wonders if this was another test of loyalty, for British troops could have been detailed for the task Then came the much more serious challenge of the fortress of Kotah, which had to be taken by storm at the end of March, the 10th providing one of the assault parties.

Under cover of over 60 guns, the assault troops moved forward at about 11am on 30 March, the whole force penetrating the rebel stronghold via the Kettenpore Gate, which had been undermined by British sappers. Unfortunately, the mine exploded another that had already been placed by Singhs men, the blast utterly destroying the gateway and stunning the assault troops.The 10th quickly recovered, though, and were soon skirmishing through the alleys and walled enclosures of the town, hunting out their quarry. The 10th Bombays last real battles of the Mutiny were in mid June, when the fabulous Rhani of Jhansi fell at Kotah-ki-Serai and the final Mahratta stronghold of Gwalior was sacked.

The glamorous female warrior, the Rhani of Jhansi, was (and still is) much written about; indeed, she is the subject of a very popular Indian TV series. In her bejewelled hands lay the only hope of a restoration of her peoples sovereignty, yet she was killed by the 8th Hussars, with whom she clashed on 17 June, sword in hand and dressed in mail. This fateful skirmish was within sight of the 10th Bombay, who were pressing forward over sandhills and scrub under heavy fire and a roasting sun towards their next objective  the great fortress of Gwalior. Here the 10th were seen to drive the enemy further into the Lashkar [a suburb of Gwalior], capturing a small brass howitzer and a mortar. Captain Roome was ordered to send on part of a company to disable the guns by knocking off a wheel, [while the rest of the regiment was] one hundred yards in the rear firing while lying down. The struggle at Kotah-ki-Serai and the fall of Gwalior were to prove the denouement of the whole Mutiny  and the 10th Bombay were in at the death. Their brigade commander said in his despatches:

I cannot speak too highly of the steady and soldier like conduct of both officers and men of the 10th Bombay NI, who, though exhausted by fatigue and want of food, stormed the heights under a burning sun and a heavy fire.

In less than a year, the regiment had gone from disgrace to distinction, proving their bravery and loyalty beyond doubt. Curiously, despite the steadfast conduct of the Madras and most Bombay troops during the Mutiny, the British afterwards decided that recruiting for all three presidencies armies would be concentrated in the Punjab and northern states. The martial races of the north were considered better material than those of the south! After many changes and amalgamations, the 10th Bombay emerged as Rajputana Rifles, earning laurels around Cassino in Italy in 1944.

Patrick Mercer

This is an extract from an article that appeared in issue 71 of Military History Monthly.
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.
It's not a no-fly zone, but Syrian and Russian aircraft venturing near areas where U.S. troops are on the ground risk getting shot down, the Pentagon's press secretary said Monday.

"We always have the right to defend our forces," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said at a news conference in reference to an incident last Thursday in which Syrian Su-24s bombed near a U.S. Special Forces team on the ground. "We, again, would advise them to steer clear in areas where we are operating."

Cook insisted that the U.S. was not creating no-fly zones over Syria. The Pentagon and the White House have in the past consistently rejected pleas from congressional Republicans and humanitarian groups for no-fly zones to protect refugees along the Turkish border from attack, saying such a move would be logistically and politically difficult.

Cook said the new warnings to Russia and Syria were "consistent with what we've said in the past. We've said specifically we will protect coalition forces and our partnered operations" with such U.S.-backed opposition groups as the Syrian Arab Coalition and the Kurdish militia known as the YPG, or People's Protection Units.

Cook said that partnered operations would come under the U.S. air umbrella when the opposition groups are engaged in action against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In the incident last Thursday, U.S. warplanes scrambled against Syrian aircraft that had bombed in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, where fighting had broken out between Kurdish forces and militias backed by the Syrian regime.

The bombing was considered a threat to U.S. trainers and advisers in the area. The Syrian aircraft departed the area before the U.S. fighters arrived, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters last Friday.

After much back and forth with reporters on what was -- and wasn't -- a no-fly zone, Cook said "you can label it what you want."

Cook also said that Russian actions in Syria in support of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including continued bombing in the besieged city of Aleppo, cast doubt on the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to reach agreement with the Russians on a coordinated response to ISIS in Syria.

"Contrary to recent claims, we have not finalized plans on coordinated efforts. We are not there yet," Cook said, and recent actions by the Russians and the Syrians "only make it harder. Serious issues must first be resolved before we can implement the steps" considered by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Cook said.

Kerry and Lavrov are scheduled for another round of talks starting Aug. 26 in Geneva.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
A new weapon has been deployed in the fight against the Islamic State in Libya: the AH-1W SuperCobra, the Marines' twin-engine attack helicopter.

SuperCobra gunships attached to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit began supporting precision airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Sirte, Libya, within the past few days, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command, Charles Prichard, told Military.com. The news was first reported by Military Times.

The attack helicopters, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264 (Reinforced) aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, have joined efforts with Marine AV-8B Harriers to prosecute the airstrikes, which began Aug. 1 at the request of the Libyan Government of National Accord, a U.S. effort known as Operation Odyssey Lightning.

"We have a range of capabilities at various locations in the region that will allow us to carry out these airstrikes," Prichard said in an email to Military.com. "The AH-1 Cobras provide precision airstrike capability and close air support to better enable [Libyan government] ground objectives."

Prichard said he could not go into further detail about why the attack choppers had been called in to support this particular mission for operational security reasons.

Since the first of the month, U.S. forces have completed 77 airstrikes in support of the Libyan government's fight against Islamic State militants, Prichard said. Both manned and unmanned assets, including Marine Harriers and Cobras, have been used in the strikes.

On Monday alone, three airstrikes wiped out a supply truck and 10 enemy fighting positions belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, also known as Daesh, according to an AFRICOM news release published today.

"The U.S. stands with the international community in supporting the GNA as it strives to restore stability and security to Libya," AFRICOM officials said in the statement. "These actions, and those we have taken previously, will help deny Daesh a safe haven in Libya from which it could attack the United States and our allies."

Libyan ground forces in recent weeks have made advances in reclaiming the Islamic State-held city of Sirte following a three-month offensive that began in May. Air strikes maintained intensity as Libyan forces gain ground; since Aug. 14, U.S. forces have carried out 29 strikes, more than three per day.

The new air offensive over Libya and the addition of Cobras to the fight all come less than a month after the arrival of Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser as the new commander of AFRICOM and may signal a more aggressive approach for the command under his leadership.

The 22nd MEU deployed aboard the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group in late June -- the first extended deployment since 2004 for the Wasp, which at 27 is the oldest ship in her class.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
ABOARD A U.S. NAVY SHIP  A Marine walks up to a pullup bar. She takes a deep breath; leaps up and grabs hold  one, two, three, four. She cranks out pullup after pullup  18, 19, 20  and when she can't do any more, she drops down and smoke seems to puff up from her Marine Corps-issued boots.

With 26 pullups, Marine Corps Cpl. Tori C. Best, a combat engineer with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, secured her place as the female record-holder aboard the USS Boxer. Her record is only seven behind the male record-holder aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer during Western Pacific Deployment 16-1. Best said her upbringing in Anchorage, Alaska, gave her the tools to excel and overcome any challenge, whether physical or mental. "I grew up really active," she said. "I did cross country running and I eventually got into rock and ice climbing. I remember every summer we'd be hiking and fishing. It was this really active lifestyle. So it was never a thought about going to the gym and being fit. It was something we needed to be to enjoy life." "It was the competition between me and my brother that sparked my ability to do pullups," Best said. "I was doing ten pullups at a time before I enlisted, and even before I went to boot camp I was able to do sixteen. Then, during [training], we would do pyramid workouts where we did five pullups all the way down to one and back up. I started including five pullups after every workout and during the competition on the Boxer I was able to do 26." A Change in Direction After graduating high school early, Best said she was determined to fulfill her dream of serving in the military. "I was born in the states, but my family is Canadian and it is my belief that if you enter a new country you should serve in its military," she said. "My parents were really surprised by my decision because I graduated high school early and was already enrolled in a college," Best said. "But  I wanted to join first, before I went to college." So Best went to her local recruiter's office and demonstrated her abilities. Even then, she was in top physical shape and the recruiter took note. "Being an infantry Marine was something my recruiter brought up the first time I went to see him," she said. "He saw I could do pull ups and asked me if I was interested in going to Infantry Training Battalion and it really sparked my interest." After Marines finish boot camp, they are sent to the School of Infantry where they begin combat training either in Marine Combat Training or the Infantry Training Battalion. Best would be one of the first female volunteers to go through the Infantry Training Battalion at School of Infantry East. It wasn't until Fall 2013, that female Marines were given the opportunity to go through ITB. "At the end of boot camp, our drill instructors sat us all down and gave us a brief [description of] going to ITB as a test subject. All those who didn't want to do it got up and left," she said. "And then there was a group of us left and we were excited because this is what we wanted to do from the beginning. We were all ready, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to change history. And I think that's how we all went into it." The Marine Corps' two Infantry Training Battalions challenge Marines both physically and mentally. Marines who complete the course take their place at the tip of the spear for the Corps. The challenges push Marines to their limits and beyond with 20-mile hikes carrying a full combat load that can weigh up to 85 lbs. The training standard is the same for male and female Marines. Crashing Through Barriers Best said the beginning of ITB was difficult because she and the other female Marines had to overcome the attitude that women didn't belong in the infantry. It never mattered who was to the left or to the right, she said, they had to prove that they were just as good as the males. Once that barrier was broken, Best said, the class worked well together. Despite her success in breaking through the initial resistance of the male Marines, there was something else that weighed heavy on Best's mind: she would soon graduate, but she would not join the Marines whom she'd grown so close to as they went on to their first assignments. "I worked with these men for two months straight and that stigma fell apart," she said. "We were just men and women going through ITB with all the same goals of passing. We completely forgot that we wouldn't be going to the fleet with them. On graduation day we saw the same people we've worked day in and day out with graduating, while all of us -- just because we're female -- had to go off to our other [military occupational specialty], and that was difficult." At the time, the female Marine graduates were a part of a two-year research endeavor to help the Marine Corps continue its ongoing gender integration efforts. This meant even after graduating ITB, the female Marines weren't allowed to go to infantry-based battalions, such as rifle companies and artillery batteries. After graduating from the School of Infantry, Best went on to become a combat engineer. She was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, with Combat Logistics Battalion 13, where she faced some of the same difficulties again. "When I first joined the fleet, one of the biggest difficulties was once again dealing with that stigma," Best said. "At the end of my combat engineer school, not only had I gone through ITB, but as a female I still wasn't allowed to do a third of my [combat engineer] job. I was not allowed to go to the combat engineer battalion because it was still reserved for males." Finding a Mentor Best said she even had a hard time finding mentors because most of the senior engineers were from combat engineer battalions and had never mentored women. "Instead of treating me like the guys, the more senior Marines always tried to mentor the guys more because that's all they knew," she said. Luckily for Best, a mentor presented himself; Sgt. Kaleb Bill, a combat engineer with the 13th MEU, was from an engineering support battalion and had experience and expertise in mentoring both genders -- not only as engineers but as Marines. "I remember we were all working and something didn't go as planned," she said. "He corrected us all -- all of us -- and it was great, and it sounds funny but we didn't have much direction at the time and here was this person who was putting in his time and effort and actually teaching us our [job]. And he treated me the exact same as he did my male counterparts." Thanks to mentorship like this, Best kept growing as a Marine and a person. She continued to impress her leadership by taking charge and putting 100 percent effort into all she did. She left a lasting impression on her staff non-commissioned officer. "My first impression of her was that she was very outgoing, mature and stood out as a sharp Marine," said Master Sgt. Rafael Ortiz, the logistics combat element operations chief and Best's SNCOIC. "We had a field operation at Fire Base Gloria. I heard a Marine barking orders to set up the command operations center, which is usually my job or one of my sergeants. At the time, she was a lance corporal, and she took the lead building up the COC! The way she was handling the situation looked like something I would do personally. She was running a battalion COC set up and that gave me a huge sense of pride. And in my head I said 'Yes she's going to be a good NCO.'" After her initial difficulties Best found several other mentors, she said, and all have helped shape her to be the Marine she is now. Beating New Standards Best said she will continue to adapt and stay at the top of her game in order to stay competitive. "With the physical fitness standards changing you can't have that mentality of 'I can't do a pullup because I'm a female.' You can't push aside physical fitness," she said. As Best adapts to the changing standards, she has a few words of guidance for anyone looking to set new personal bests or overcoming a difficult challenge: "You just have to start and do it!"
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez

The Catholic bishops of New Mexico in an Aug. 18 statement said they oppose Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's plan to reinstate the death penalty and called on the Legislature to reject it.





The bishops recalled that when the Legislature in March 2009 repealed "the morally untenable practice of the death penalty," they applauded the move, calling it "a milestone" that was "moving New Mexico from a culture of violence to a culture of peace, justice and love."





"The state created life in prison without the possibility of parole . This renders a perpetrator harmless to society," they said.





"In one voice, (we) once again echo the teaching of the church that life is sacred," the New Mexico bishops said. "There is one seamless teaching on God's gift of life that must be protected from conception in the womb to natural death. It is always tragic and sad when a member of the community is murdered.





"These senseless acts must be prevented by calling for systemic change in society beginning with our youngest children. Crime can be prevented, and this is done by an investment in social capital," they said.





On Aug. 17, Martinez said she will push for reinstating the death penalty during the 2017 legislative session. She was prompted to call for resuming capital punishment after the recent shooting of a Hatch police officer. She said she supports the death penalty at least for convicted child killers and those convicted of murdering law enforcement officers.





She supported a measure to reinstate the death penalty shortly after she was elected governor in 2011, but the bill died in Democratic-majority Legislature.





The New Mexico bishops' quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church and St. John Paul II in saying that cases where it is "an absolute necessity" for the state to employ the death penalty to ensure the safety of the community "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."





"We join Pope Francis in his continued call to end the practice of the death penalty," the bishops said. "Pope Benedict and St. Pope John Paul II both worked diligently to end the death penalty throughout the world. The trend in the United States has now been to abandon the use of the death penalty. In the last 5 years, 5 states have passed legislation to repeal their death penalty law."





The statement was signed by Archbishop John C. Wester and retired Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe; Bishop Oscar Cantu and retired Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces; and Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup.

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Source: Catholic News Service, August 23, 2016
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim rattled NATO allies with recent remarks suggesting that Russian warplanes could share Incirlik Air Base with the U.S. before adding that it wasn't likely to happen.

Moscow hasn't asked to use Incirlik, and "Russia doesn't need to use the base. They have bases in Syria," Yildirim told foreign reporters in Istanbul on Saturday, according to Turkish news outlets. "Russia had no demands to use Incirlik Air Base. Those reports are not true."

However, Yildirim said that other nations use Incirlik in southeastern Turkey and a Russian request to base planes there would be considered if it were made.

The flap over Incirlik came ahead of a fence-mending visit to Ankara on Wednesday by Vice President Joe Biden to ease rampant suspicions in Turkey that the U.S. may have been involved in the July 15 failed military coup.

On Monday, Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO's supreme commander and head of U.S. European Command, visited Incirlik and met with Gen. Hulusi Akar, chief of Turkey's General Staff. Akar was taken hostage during the coup attempt and reportedly had a gun held to his head before he was rescued.

In a statement, Scaparrotti said, "Turkey is fundamental to security on our southern flank" of NATO. He thanked the Turks for their contributions to the alliance and "for access they have granted us to their bases, which are critical for our operations."

Earlier this month, Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford also visited Turkey to show support for the government and to make contacts with the new Turkish military leadership. Following the coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked more than 100 generals and admirals.

Turkish suspicions of U.S. involvement in the coup were fueled by the presence in the U.S. of 75-year-old Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania.

Erdogan has blamed Gulen for fomenting the coup attempt and demanded his immediate extradition. Secretary of State John Kerry has said Turkey's demand for extradition must go through the lengthy and laborious process required by the U.S. Justice Department.

Incirlik has been vital to the U.S. air campaign against ISIS in Syria and in providing protection to about 300 Special Operations troops on the ground in Syria in advise and assist roles to U.S.-backed opposition forces.

Last Thursday, F-15 fighters scrambled from Incirlik when Syrian air force Su-24s bombed near U.S. troops on the outskirts of the northeastern city of Hasakah. The Syrian aircraft left the area before the U.S. jets arrived.

Since the coup attempt, Erdogan has made clear that he is seeking closer ties with Russia. His first foreign trip since the coup was to St. Petersburg, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and apologized for the incident last November in which a Turkish F-16 fighter shot down a Russian warplane near the Turkish border.

Russian news outlets have seized on the remarks by Yildirim suggesting that an arrangement might be possible in which Russia would get the use of Incirlik.

The Russian publication Izvestia Daily quoted Putin ally and upper house member Igor Morozov as saying that "it just remains to come to an agreement with Erdogan that we get the NATO base at Incirlik as [our] primary airbase."

The mixed messages on the use of Incirlik came as Iran revoked its permission for Russia to use the Hamadan air base southwest of Tehran on bombing missions over Syria.

Russian warplanes used Hamadan three times last week for bombing runs over Syria, but Moscow apparently riled the Iranians by going public on the missions.

Iran's minister of defense, Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, called Moscow's disclosure of the Hamadan arrangement a "betrayal of trust" and "ungentlemanly," The New York Times reported.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, told reporters in Tehran that the permission had been temporary and "it is finished, for now."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Related Video:
Nebraska: Gathering signatures against the death penalty repeal

After nearly 2 decades of declining use, opponents of the death penalty have begun what they characterize as a sustained legislative and political push to end capital punishment in states across the country.





Voters in California and Nebraska will decide this year whether to end the death penalty.





Legislators appear poised to end capital punishment in states as different as deep-blue Delaware and ruby-red Utah. And public opinion polls show that while a majority of Americans still back executions for those convicted of murder, that majority is shrinking.





"The growing opposition to the death penalty is evident among every demographic group. You see the same type of patterns among all age groups, among all races, among all religions and among every political affiliation," said Robert Dunham, who runs the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that advocates for an end to capital punishment.





At the presidential level, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both support the death penalty. But Trump hasn't discussed the issue in detail, and Clinton at a debate earlier this year suggested she'd be happy if the Supreme Court or states began to eliminate the death penalty. The Democratic platform calls for repealing the death penalty.





At the state level, calls for an end to the death penalty are coming from an unlikely corner of the political spectrum: Conservatives.





Nebraska's legislature, ostensibly nonpartisan but in practice controlled by Republicans, made headlines in 2015 by repealing the death penalty.





Utah's Republican state Senate passed a repeal bill earlier this year, though it died in the state House. In Kentucky, where Republicans only recently gained control of the state Senate, a Senate committee held hearings on a repeal vote, the first such hearing since 1976. Another repeal measure stalled on a tie vote in Montana's legislature, where Republicans are in control.





"You're going to see more conservative states moving toward repeal," said Marc Hyden, a former National Rifle Association staffer who now runs Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty. "The death penalty is dying out."





While 30 states allow capital punishment, the governors of four of those states - Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Pennsylvania - have set a moratorium on executions while they are in office. 20 states do not allow executions.





The number of executions carried out across the country has declined precipitously in recent years. In 2015, states carried out just 28 executions, the lowest number since 1991 and down from a high of 98 in 1999. Through July 15, when Georgia executed a man convicted of murder in 1982, 15 executions had taken place in 2016.





Part of the reason the number of executions have fallen is that states are having a tough time getting the drugs necessary for lethal injections. All thirty states that allow the death penalty use lethal injections as their preferred method of execution. But some of the pharmaceutical companies - mostly based in Europe - that produce those drugs have refused to sell their products to states for use in executions, leading to nationwide shortfalls.





The fact that so few executions are taking place has spurred legislators in at least a few states to rethink capital punishment.





"We started to look at the institution of the death penalty as a broken government system. We had a system that was not being used, that was costing us money," said Colby Coash, the Nebraska state senator who sponsored his state's repeal measure in 2015. "If any other program in history had been this costly or ineffective, we would have gotten rid of it a long time ago."





Death penalty advocates are fighting repeal supporters in a handful of key states. After Nebraska passed its repeal in 2015, over the veto of Gov. Pete Ricketts, advocates forced a voter referendum on the measure onto this year's ballot, aided by $300,000 from the governor and his father, a major Republican donor who founded the online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade.





"There was a real groundswell of anger from different corners of the state about the repeal,' said Chris Peterson, a spokesman for Nebraskans for the Death Penalty. Peterson's group is preparing an ad campaign that highlights those on Nebraska's death row, and the crimes they have committed.





Peterson pointed to a poll conducted for his group earlier this month that showed 58 % of Nebraska voters back keeping the death penalty. Just 30 % favor repealing the legislation.





Repeal backers in Nebraska are touting a study conducted by Ernest Goss, an economist at Creighton University, which found Nebraska spends $14.6 million every year on the death penalty, even though the state has not executed a prisoner since December 1997. Death penalty supporters countered with a study from a state legislative analyst that found the death penalty has no such impact.





The Nebraska vote, Peterson said, appeared as the first in what could become a series of anti-death penalty dominos. But, he said: "We're going to work aggressively and we're optimistic that we're going to set our domino back up."





Death penalty proponents have a chance to bolster capital punishment in 1 state this year: Voters in Oklahoma will face a state question that would specifically declare the death penalty is not cruel or unusual punishment.





There is likely to be at least 1 legislative push to reinstate the death penalty next year: New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) said last week she would make a legislative priority of reinstating the death penalty for those convicted of murdering police officers and children. Martinez cited the murders of 5 police officers in Dallas last month, a police officer in Hatch, N.M., and a Navajo child earlier this year.





"[A] society that fails to adequately protect and defend those who protect all of us is a society that will be undone and unsafe," Martinez said in a statement emailed to The Hill.





Voters in California will decide 2 ballot measures that would lead to polar opposite outcomes: One measure, Proposition 62, would end California's death penalty altogether. The other, Proposition 66, would maintain capital punishment and speed the appeals process.





It was not immediately clear what would happen if both measures pass in November. In other cases, when 2 contradictory ballot measures have passed, courts have tended to side with the measure that won a higher level of support among voters.





A majority of Americans continues to support the death penalty, according to public opinion polls, but that support has dropped. In October, Gallup found 61 % of Americans support the death penalty for a person convicted of murder, down from a high of 80 % in 1994. A Pew Research Center survey conducted last year found 56 % of Americans favor the death penalty, down from a peak of 78 % in 1995.

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Source: the hill.com, August 23, 2016
Blog Hinangai

While there is much discussion in Guam about the economic benefits of increasing the islands military presence, the damages/dangers that they represent are rarely mentioned. This blog, a supplement to the Peace and Justice for Guam Petition, is meant to counter that by providing information about the US military in Guam, with the hopes of steering policy away from a dangerous unilateralist course to more sustainable notions of regional development and a strengthening international solidarity.
Vehicle insurance rates at the low end of the market are set to more than double, Myanma Insurance has announced. But the company also said it would double the level of its payouts.





Last month, Myanma Insurance announced that it would raise the premium rate for third-party insurance for all vehicles and that, starting on August 1, it would double the size of its payouts, even for drivers who were still paying at the old, lower rate.

Myanma Insurances current rates range from K2000 to K10,000 a year depending on the size of the vehicle. As of August 1, the rate has increased to the K5000-K15,000 range.

We defined the categories as private cars and business-use cars. For trucks, the rate depends on tonnage, and we have differentiated eight types, said managing director U Aye Min Thein.

Normally, low engine-power private cars must pay only K2000 a year. The new rates start at K5000. But in the event of an accident during the month of August, we will compensate in accordance with the new rate even if the owners are still paying premiums at the old rate.

Under the old rate, Myanma Insurance paid out K500,000 compensation for death and 80 percent of the hospital fees for injuries. Under the new rate, the company will pay K1 million for a death and K800,000 for the costs of injuries.

The company pays out on average K6 million a day, for 12 accident deaths and 20 injuries. That sum will now likely rise to K12 million, based on the establishment of three new categories of vehicle: small, medium and large.

According to the Road Transport Administration Department, there are nearly 800,000 cars in the whole country. Adding motorcycles and other vehicles, more than 5 million vehicles are registered with RTAD, said U Aye Min Thein.





The number of owners is fewer than 5 million, because many people own more than one vehicle.

As the premium rate increases, owners will benefit. In the event of an accident, even if the driver or owner cannot pay compensation to the other driver involved, Myanma Insurance will be able to compensate the victim.

In the 2015-16 financial year, Myanma Insurance paid out more than K400 million in third-party insurance compensation and K445.22 million in comprehensive insurance.
Myanmars total trade volume has fallen by almost US$700 million in the first four months of this fiscal year compared to the same period last year, according to Ministry of Commerce data, while the country has racked up a $1.5 billion trade deficit.





Exports in the first four months of FY2016-17 fell by $91.78 million compared with last year, to $3.599 billion, while imports fell by $594.45 million to $5.117 billion, ministry data shows.

Both imports and exports are down because there have been problems in almost every sector since last year. Also, the agriculture sector, which makes up the bulk of our exports, was hit due to following, said U Maung Aung, a Ministry of Commerce adviser to the former government.

It is true that we have a trading deficit, but this is because we import so many raw materials.

He believes that in the short term, the value of imports will rise because of new investment.

The value of exports will also rise but we will continue to have a trade deficit for at least the next couple of years, he said.

Myanmars trade deficit has narrowed since the first four months of FY2015-16, when it was running a $2.02 billion deficit.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo
After three months of bitter argument and amid accusations of opacity and inaction, the government has backed down from attempts to enforce serious changes on a group of high-rise projects. The Myanmar Times looks at what happened to a bold but massively disruptive review of Yangons high-rise buildings by an administration promising a new era of transparency.





The fundamental case for the city-wide review  now in its 101st day  has proved phenomenally divisive. Many developers were angry that the government would freeze projects that had received permission under the previous administration.

Other commentators defended the review as a positive move to ensure Yangons long-term development is well-planned and sustainable. Some lauded what they perceived as an admirable effort to redress corruption in the construction industry.

But critics and supporters alike said the review should be conducted as transparently as possible, and here construction industry heads say the government failed badly.

The freeze on high-rise construction began with an announcement on May 14 (see timeline above), which Yangon City Development Committee  an administrative body elected by municipal poll  issued at the request of the Yangon Region government.

That announcement stated that any building project with nine storeys or more that had received a permit in principle from YCDC would have to stop temporarily for a review. Projects that receive a permit in principle still lack formal permission to begin construction.

Among developers, investors and the public, however, the governments decision two days later to review another group of 64 buildings that had received a full permit and legally begun construction drew far more attention.

The Yangon Region government did not publicly announce that decision. Instead, YCDC on May 23 sent private letters to 12 projects on this list of 64 instructing them to halt construction.





But there was confusion about how many letters were sent out and why. Region government spokesperson U Ye Min Oo said the only stop letters sent out as part of the review were to those 12 projects. But at least two other developers with projects on this list of 64 said they were sent private letters from YCDC in May telling them to stop work pending a review.

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One of the letters seen by The Myanmar Times simply informs the firm that YCDC needs to review the buildings permit, which requires temporarily suspending construction. U Ye Min Oo said he was sure that the letters were not related to the review.

However, YCDC secretary Daw Hlaing Maw Oo said yesterday that in fact letters were sent out to other buildings on the list of 52, because the intention had been to subject them to on-site reviews.

She could not comment on how many letters were sent to projects on that list of 52 other than the 12, but at least two other developers  U Myo Myint of MKT construction and U Kyaw Kyaw Soe of System Engineering  received instructions to halt in late May.

The confusion over the stop letters appears to stem from indecision over how many buildings would be subject to on-site inspections. U Ye Min Oo confirmed the initial plan had been to visit all 64 buildings.

An inspection committee, chaired by Yangon Region Minister for Electricity, Industry and Transportation Daw Nilar Kyaw, began visiting the 12 buildings, which at that point had been frozen for almost one month, on June 21.

U Than Htay, head of the Department of Engineering (Building) at YCDC  but not a member of the inspection committee  said in the first week of July that the results from those 12 buildings were in. The Yangon Region government would review the findings and tell YCDC whether the 12 buildings would receive new permits, after which on-site reviews on the other 52 would begin, he said.

That same week on July 2, however, a Yangon Region government cabinet meeting decided privately that the other 52 would not be subjected to on-site inspections.

Developers floored

The results of the 12 on-site inspections that did happen were released on July 13 to general furore, as they instructed drastic changes. Affected developers were hugely critical of the decision, with one saying there had been no transparency in how the review was conducted, no standards made clear and no consultation with the developers.

U Ye Min Oo said the government had explained its reasoning to the developers in detail, but did not want to make the information public.

The publication of the results also marked a sharp change in the amount of information that YCDC and the Yangon Region government provided to the media. In the aftermath, YCDC officials said they were no longer authorised to provide information to the press. YCDC and region government officials directed all requests for information to spokesperson U Ye Min Oo.

By the time these initial results were published the construction freeze on many projects had lasted for around two months. Cash-flow issues on some sites had resulted in workers being paid in rice or oil, while other developers had told workers to seek employment elsewhere.

Businesspeople warned the government its review jeopardised international investment and local livelihoods. Financial industry figures said the review had prompted some banks to curb lending.

Meanwhile, developers involved in the 12 projects presented a united front, holding a press conference on July 21. They complained that the 12 buildings singled out for inspection were all private ventures on private land and suggested that projects with some government involvement  or on government or military-owned land  were purposefully left out.

U Ye Min Oo said no high-rise buildings were neglected during the review.

A day after the developers press conference YCDC published a press release stating that the review of all the 64 buildings had finished.

This should have freed developers like U Kyaw Kyaw Soe and U Myo Myint  who had received stop letters  from a state of suspension, but they would only be told they could proceed some eight weeks later.

Zoned out

As to what had prompted that decision, Daw Hlaing Maw Oo said the committee had reviewed the 64 buildings on paper as a first step, but many were either finished or almost complete. Therefore, the committee had decided to visit the 12 worst projects to assess the situation, she said.

These worst buildings were those with the biggest potential impact on residents and the city, she said, but did not elaborate further.

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This lack of detail relates to a second charge against the governments review  a lack of transparency on how the buildings were judged.

Daw Hlaing Maw Oo said the committee has had clear standards from the outset, which will be published after the review is over. But earlier government statements have caused confusion.

Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein announced that although a Yangon zoning law was in draft format, its stipulations could be enforced on projects that had already received approval under the previous government, according to Frontier magazine.

Supporting this idea, Daw Nilar Kyaw, leader of the inspection committee, told The Myanmar Times in early August that developers involved in the 12 projects instructed to make changes should explain why they violated draft zoning rules. But U Ye Min Oo said the proposed zoning rules were not used to inspect any of the projects as part of the review, because the law is still in draft format.

He said the 12 buildings were singled out for inspection because most of the other buildings were either finished or had received the building completion permit that allows people to move into a finished building.

But some  including the projects for which U Kyaw Kyaw Soe and U Myo Myint received stop letters  are unfinished and therefore have no completion certificate.

These projects did not receive on-site inspections because a YCDC review of the blueprints deemed inspections unnecessary, according to U Ye Min Oo.

This on-paper review used metrics such as floor area ratio, building coverage ratio, population density, street width ratio, and existing regulations on earthquake and fire safety standards. But the importance of each criteria differed from case to case, he said.

A member of the inspection committee, who is also a developer involved in some of the 64 buildings, provided The Myanmar Times with a full list of the 64 projects. He pointed to several uninspected sites that are being built on narrow streets or congested areas that he argued were just as much in need of on-site inspections and changes as the 12 selected. The committee member, who provided the information on condition of anonymity, said he was unclear on how the government had decided which buildings to subject to on-site inspections.

Also unclear is why developers like U Kyaw Kyaw Soe and U Myo Myint were left in limbo. They said they were given no information about why their projects were stopped and were never contacted by the government. U Kyaw Kyaw Soe said his firm was left with an idle site and sent away its workers, but had to keep paying interest on loans.

The government announcement in July that the 52 projects were in accordance with regulations and could continue gave him hope. But when the firm contacted YCDC to ask for official approval to restart, YCDC responded that only the Yangon Region government could give the approval.

They [YCDC] said if you want to proceed its at your own risk, U Kyaw Kaw Soe said. He did not contact the region government directly, because developers are expected to take issues to YCDC, he added.

Resolution only arrived last week, when both firms received phone calls from YCDCs Department of Engineering and were told they could continue.

Neither U Kyaw Kaw Soe nor U Myo Myint said they received any information on why their buildings were subjected to a three-month freeze.

Both have asked for official approval letters from the Yangon Region government, and expect them to be delivered soon.

A few days later YCDC publicly announced that the government had backtracked on its July judgement on the 12 projects subject to on-site inspections. These are now free to continue without having to make the severe changes instructed, but will have to abide by certain conditions  which are not being made public.

Developers involved in the group of 12 are similarly eager to have official confirmation. U Kyaw Kyaw Naing was told to cut six-and-a-half floors off his condo project in July, some of which were already built, but said he would only believe he was free to restart construction as planned once we have the letter in our hands.

Still waiting for resolution are developers with a permit in principle who had begun foundation work.

U Ye Min Oo said there are 78 such projects, and that as of yesterday the government had finished reviewing 50. He could not comment on when the entire review would finally be done.
It was only a matter of time. Charity groups are now tapping into the Pokemon Go population, or at least its human members.





Last week, Yangon-Based Youth Volunteer Network (YBYVN) members painted their faces and dressed up as Pikachus and held Pokeballs to create an event they called Lets Donate While Playing.

Unlike other charity groups, we asked for donations from Pokemon Go players by dressing up as Pikachuu to get more awareness of donors. We did the event to raise money for flooded areas on August 13-14, said Khaing Wutt Yi, one of the organisers. We raised K823,200, going to places where players were gathered, like Mahabandoola Park, Momotaku, Fusan Chinese Temple and Sule, she said.

The network donated to displaced families in Magwe, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions and Kachin State. According to the YBYVNs Facebook page, they donated to Kyaunggon township, Ayeyarwady Region, on August 21.

Another charity group, Youth of Social Affairs, sold food to Pokemon Go players in Mahabandoola Park, a known concentration point, on August 14.

We just asked for donations on the street. However, we thought most of the players would spend the whole day in the park, so we got the idea of selling them fried rice to raise more funds for flood victims, said Zaw Linn Htun, the organisations secretary.





We also lured them with module items. Were going to donate the lot  investment and profit, he said.

Pokemon Go players congregate in Mahabandoola Park and other known locations to catch rare creatures that cannot normally be found in the streets, said Level 13 trainer Kyawt Darly Lin.

According to U Ko Ko Naing, director general of the Relief and Resettlement Department, water levels are receding in most places, including Sagaing, Magwe, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions and Kachin and Mon states, though much of Mandalay remains underwater.
Labour representatives on a key employment disputes resolution body should be elected by workers themselves, Mandalay union representatives are insisting. They are protesting against a decision to reselect members of the local Arbitration Council who, they say, were not properly elected.





About 100 workers in Mandalay protested over the reselection on August 21. They say they will continue to protest until new council members have been chosen. The current council members were appointed by the Ministry of Labour without transparency, Saw Hla Aung of the Worker Unions Cooperation Committee in upper Myanmar said on August 21.

The unions were not informed when the council members were selected to represent workers nationwide. The newly appointed members were put forward by labour organisations selected by the Ministry of Labour. We will continue to demand that a new election be held for representatives. Decisions of the arbitration council are very important for the lives of workers, he said.

Under the Labour Disputes Laws of 2012 and 2014, the Arbitration Council has the right to resolve disputes between employers and workers. The council comprises 15 members, of whom five are appointed by the labour ministry, five are appointed by management organisations and five are elected by workers, for a two-year term. The next term begins in September.

The unions are saying that the selection of the five labour representatives on July 12 was not conducted in a transparent manner.

The best way is to select new council members. I want a free and independent selection commission to be organised that would invite all the organisations that represent workers to take part in the election, said one of the workers who participated in the protest.

Daw Khin Su Su Haing, a member of the election commission, told The Myanmar Times last week there would be no new election.

Translation by San Layy
With the future of the controversial Myitsone dam project apparently still in doubt following Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyis visit to China, local residents in Shan State are making their position on similar projects clear.





About 80 farmers from four townships demonstrated on August 21, calling on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her capacity as state counsellor to block the proposed Nao Pha dam on the Thanlwin (Salween) River. The protest took place at Kaung Cho village, Kon Kauk village tract, in Theinni township, Shan State.

Residents of Theinni, Tang Yan, Kunlone and Hopan townships are angry at what they call the lack of consultation over the issue, which entails the construction of a string of dams along the river.

This area belongs to the Shan people. We were given no information about this project. We insist on proper transparency, said MP Nan Khin Htae Yee (SNLD; Theinni 1).

Protestors say Kunlone and Hopan township farmers, already struggling with flooded paddy fields, fear the proposed dams will bring more natural disasters rather than the promised development.

Nan Khin Htae Yee has been leading a petition campaign across Shan State in opposition to the project, and has vowed to keep the issue alive in the regional hluttaw.

In June, more than 20,000 residents of communities along the Thanlwin signed a petition to present to State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, voicing their opposition to the hydropower projects planned for the area. Most signatories were from Kunhein township, which is likely to be one of the worst-affected by flooding from one of the proposed hydropower projects.





The local Shan Network called on the state counsellor to consider the importance of the Thanlwin River as the home of ethnic minority peoples and as an invaluable source of biodiversity and natural resources.

The Shan State government said the continuation of these projects will be subject to the peoples will. Were optimistic that the government will support us. They will listen to our voice and look out for the local people, said Nang Kham Mai, spokesperson for the Shan Womens Action Network.

The proposed Nao Pha hydropower project will take five-and-a-half years to build and will produce an estimated 1200 megawatts, of which 90 percent will be exported to China, as will most of the power to be produced by the other proposed dams. The projects will have an estimated combined capacity of more than 30,000MW, representing an investment of at least US$30 billion, according to the Burma River Network.
Two townships in southern Shan State could be set to vote on their vacant parliamentary allocations in 2017, with the Union Election Commission (UEC) announcing a by-election is likely to take place early next year.





Due to concerns over security, the Loilem district townships of Mine Shu/Mongshu and Kyethi in southern Shan State had been declared not conducive to free and fair elections by the UEC on October 27 last year.

Responding to a question from Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) representative Sai Tun Aung, UEC member U Aung Myint told the upper house yesterday that if conditions in the townships are suitable, they will be included in a general by-election.

I asked the question because these regions need their representatives to convey the suffering and needs of their people, Sai Tun Aung told the media outside parliament.

[Voting] could not be held [in 2015] because of instability there. But it is peaceful and stable now.

The exact date for the by-election has not yet been set, but is likely to take place in early 2017, U Aung Myint told media.

Seats left vacant for any reason, including in the instance of death or illness of an MP, will also be contested in the by-election, as per section 18 of the electoral law.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun
An Amyotha Hluttaw lawmaker anticipates a peace dividend for Myanmars education and healthcare sectors if decades of civil war can be brought to an end, saying money allocated to the Ministry of Defence could be directed elsewhere once the fighting stops.





The Union Peace Conference, or 21st-century Panglong Conference, will be held soon to make peace, to end war forever in our country. If we can build peace, the expenditure on weapons will be decreased significantly, said U Ye Htut (NLD; Sagaing 5), speaking during a Pyidaungsu Hluttaw session on August 19, when MPs discussed a financial report from the Public Account Joint Committee on the Union Budget Law for 2016-17 and proposed amendments to it.

If so, spending for education and health will surge significantly, and we can spend enough money on our children. The expenditure for these sectors will be as in Singapore and Malaysia, he said.

The Panglong Conference, slated to begin August 31, is the centrepiece of the current governments early forays into Myanmars peace process.

A spending bill approved by the previous parliament in January allocated nearly K2.9 trillion (US$2.43 billion) for the Ministry of Defence, according to Pyithu Hluttaw lawmaker Daw Khin San Hlaing (NLD; Palae), out of a total K16.975 trillion budget for 2016-17. Spending on education and health was set at about K1.5 trillion and K830 billion, respectively.

Daw Khin San Hlaing told The Myanmar Times that in a revised bill submitted to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw last month, the total budget edged up to K16.978 trillion, but allocations for those three sectors were unchanged.

One of four MPs to discuss amendments to the bill on August 19, Daw Khin San Hlaing told parliament the education, healthcare and rural development sectors  all urgently in need of larger budget allocations  could get an additional boost from anticipated savings resulting from a reduction in the number of government ministries, which was approved earlier this year.

President U Htin Kyaw has said estimated savings as a result of the downsizing would total about K5 billion over the governments five-year term. Daw Khin San Hlaing said K5 billion was enough to build 150 schools for a chronically underfunded national education system.





She also proposed that more than K32 billion, allocated for two flyovers planned for Yangon but targeted for the chopping block earlier this year, instead be put toward rural development projects. As we all know, in each parliament concerned MPs are asking over and over again whether there is a plan to build schools, clinics, roads and bridges  the basic needs of their regions, she said.

When relevant ministries have responded to the questions of MPs, the answers we have repeatedly heard are that these were not included in budget appropriation, or were not included as priority cases, or would be considered depending on the budget allocation, Daw Khin San Hlaing said.

On the other hand, we sadly found that some projects costing billions of kyats  for example, some dams and some river-water pumping projects  have been botched and are not benefitting people in reality, she said, adding that greater attention needed to be paid to effective public spending.

Fellow Pyithu Hluttaw lawmaker U Ba Shein (Arakan National Party; Kyaukphyu) said he agreed with a section of the Public Account Joint Committees report that recommended differentiated spending across the countrys 14 states and regions on basic sectors such as education and transportation.

I found that the budget allocates the same amount for both rural and urban areas. The transportation costs in urban areas are cheaper than rural areas, so Id like to advocate allocating the budget in accordance with the conditions of a given region, he said.

Following last weeks discussion, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than (NLD; Kayin 7) announced that the Ministry of Planning and Finance would further elaborate on the proposed 2016-17 budget at a session of the Union parliament today, when a vote on the spending bill in its entirety is expected.

Additional reporting by Htoo Thant, translation by Thiri Min Htun
As floods wreak havoc across the country and damage thousands of acres of monsoon paddy, government agencies and businesses are arranging for affected farmers to receive 480,000 baskets of paddy seed, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation deputy director U Aye Ko Ko said last week.





About 70,000 baskets were bought with Union government funds and another 60,000 were bought with state and regional funds. The bulk  350,000 baskets  was bought by farmers, entrepreneurs and other businesspeople.

While flooding does not immediately destroy paddy fields, long-term flooding will, said the ministrys deputy permanent secretary U Thet Naing Oo.

More than half a million acres of paddy fields were flooded as of August 15, with more than 200,000 acres of that being in Ayeyarwady Region. More than 20,000 acres of paddy fields have been destroyed by flooding, U Myo Tint Tun, who compiles the paddy lists, told The Myanmar Times.

We will give the farmers in the flooded areas the paddy baskets without charging them, U Aye Ko Ko said.

Other crops  such as maize, sesame and beans  can also be destroyed by flooding, but because they are grown away from the flood zones, few have been affected by this years heavy rain.

In order to get the paddy planted in time for monsoon season, the ministry will provide farm machinery. The monsoon paddy season runs from late August to September, so there is still time to salvage the flooded farmers crops, U Thet Naing Oo said.





Flooding has driven up the prices of paddy baskets: 100 baskets cost about K1 million at the Mandalay market and K850,000 at the Nay Pyi Taw market.

Bags of rice have risen from K28,000 to K30,000 as well, said Pyinmana township rice entrepreneur Ko Nay Soe.

Translation by Khine Thazin Han
A program called U-Report, run by UNICEF and the Department of Social Welfare, intends to collect opinions from youth in order to draw up the Myanmar Youth Policy.





Currently, it has about more than 1000 members across the country, member Ma Pwint Phyu Thant said at an event in Nay Pyi Taw last week. It is not a group doing political activities, she said.

The program  which exists in 25 countries and kicked off in Myanmar in July 2015  will help young people to get and exchange information, said Department of Social Welfare director general U Soe Kyi.

First, we will collect information through questions and answers from young people, and then upload that to our website, he said. Our department will review the information about health, education, environmental conservation and natural disasters. Depending on the information we get, we will provide public education programs. So we need the voices of young people.

Ma Pwint Phyu Thant said the information gathered would be used to shape the Myanmar Youth Policy. Social Welfare Department Director U Aung Kyaw Moe confirmed this.

If we learn their opinions, assumptions and demands through this program, we can consider them in drafting the policy, he said.

In April, the program began selecting youth representatives across the country, he said. That process will be finished in September.

We will start discussion about the framework and the data related to the youth policy in October, he said. He added that the government is expected to release the draft of the youth policy by the end of 2016.





Young people interested in the program can join at www.myanmar.ureport.in/join or via its Facebook page, UReportMyanmar.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon will attend a landmark peace conference in Myanmar this month, an official and armed group confirmed yesterday, bolstering the new governments drive to end decades of fighting in Myanmars borderlands.





State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has made highly-anticipated 21st Century Panglong Conference a flagship policy of her newly installed civilian-led government.

Five-day talks between government and military representatives, armed groups, and political parties are slated to kick off on August 31.

The gathering has been dubbed the 21st-Century Panglong Conference in reference to a historic accord signed in 1947 between government officials  led by independence her General Aung San  and representatives of Kachin, Shan, and Chin ethnic minorities.

Zaw Htay, deputy director general of the President's Office said the UN's Secretary General would be

"He will attend. We invited him as he would like to attend," he told AFP without giving details.

Saw Kwe Htoo Win from the Karen National Union, one of the largest armed ethnic groups to sign last Octobers nationwide ceasefire, added: "UN secretary general will attend to give a speech, though we do not know which date yet."

Ban's presence will help solidify international support for the peace push that the new government has identified as its top priority.





For the first time, the peace talks will also include non-signatories to the October accord. It is not yet clear what role they will have at the talks, however, and some representatives have already announced that they will not attend the conference.

 AFP
This is a breaking news brief. Read the updated version with profile here





In a surprise shake-up at the top, former president U Thein Sein handed over his Union Solidarity and Development Party leadership role today to U Than Htay, a member of the USDP central executive committee.

U Thein Sein, whose party suffered a crushing defeat at the ballot box in November, will still hold a position within the formerly ruling USDP, as its patron.

His unexpected abdication of the USDP chairmanship came on the second day of the partys convention in Nay Pyi Taw, which media have been barred access to.

U Than Htay was selected to succeed U Thein Sein in a vote by the partys central committee.

A former brigadier general who served as both energy and railways ministers under U Thein Seins government, 61-year-old U Than Htay will take the helm of a party badly bruised in the wake of last years election losses. Retired general U Myat Hein, a former minister for information and communications, was elected to serve as the central executive committee deputy chair, with Thet Naing Win, a former minister of border affairs and retired lieutenant general, elected as general secretary of the committee.

He is low-profile within the party, even though he is a very talented person, U Hla Swe, a prominent USDP member and former lawmaker, told The Myanmar Times after news of Tuesdays leadership reshuffle broke. He was well-known as an obedient soldier when he served as an assistant of General Thura Kyaw Htin [a former Tatmadaw commander-in-chief.





U Hla Swe added that party members welcomed U Than Htays rise to the top, viewing him as a young and energetic leader.

We believe he can lead the party very well, he said.

In addition to anointing a new chair, the USDP today formed a new central leadership committee, comprised of nine senior party members and to be led by U Thein Sein. The leadership committee will function in an advisory role, said the new disciplinary committee chair U Khin Yi.

The USDP convention is due to conclude tomorrow.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party convention opened yesterday with its leader, former president U Thein Sein, confirming that the central executive committee will be reshuffled, while major changes to his partys platform are not on the agenda.





The central executive committee members will be selected in front of representatives attending the convention, the party chair said.

In reshuffling the high-level committee, he said members would be chosen based on loyalty to the USDP and full adherence to the partys rules and regulations. Credibility among the partys broader membership and the public would also be required, as well as proven leadership skills and an ability to work in unison to achieve the USDPs aims.

In reconstituting the central executive committee to strengthen our party after reviewing the outcome of the last election, we have systematically formed committees at every level, from village or ward to central, to select committee members again, he said.

U Hla Swe, a prominent former USDP lawmaker, told The Myanmar Times this week that 70 percent of the central executive committee would change.

Yesterday U Thein Sein said the internal objectives of the USDP were party unity, flourishing democracy within its ranks and a commitment to work with younger generations.

But the USDP will not consider a fundamental shift in the way it presents itself to an electorate that handed the party a decisive defeat in last Novembers general election.

The partys policy goals are still in accord with the needs and desires of the people, so we will continue to hold them, U Thein Sein said, adding that if a change in strategy is later deemed necessary, the party would adjust to meet voters demands.





On behalf of the USDP, Id like to send a message to people that we will try and make corrections to be able to fulfil the needs of the people, accepting peoples hopes and desire to see changes, he said.

The party would look to its counterparts in other successful democracies globally to learn lessons on how to satisfy the people, the ex-president said.

The three-day USDP convention at the partys headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw will conclude tomorrow. It is just the second convention called by the party, which was formed in 2010 to contest the general election that year.

Though 2010 delivered a commanding parliamentary majority and the presidency to the USDP, last years vote saw the National League for Democracy win nearly 80pc of elected seats, allowing NLD chair Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to form a government.

Translation by Thiri Min Htun
Two hurdles bedevilled a final consensus at the second-day meeting to review the framework for political dialogue  a core instrument for upcoming peace negotiations  involving representatives from the government, ethnic armed organisations and political parties.





Meanwhile, a joint convening committee for the 21st-century Panglong Conference was formed yesterday as the two-day meeting resumed at Yangons National Reconciliation and Peace Center to review the political dialogue framework and prepare for the upcoming conference.

Sai Kyaw Nyunt, an ethnic Shan politician from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), told The Myanmar Times that agreement among the parties was nearly reached on the five subjects of discussion that will be on the table in political dialogue meetings to follow the Panglong Conference.

We discussed reducing the sub-titles [grouped] under the five subjects of the dialogue and only a few sub-titles of the 10 have yet to be agreed, he said.

Though State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi previously said the initial political dialogue should only discuss politics and security matters, ethnic armed groups at a meeting in Mai Ja Yang, Kachin State, last month agreed to tack four more subjects  social and economic issues, as well as land and natural resource management  on to the state counsellors suggested agenda.

The two major titles for which there were tough debates among participants of the talks are on representation and decision-making issues, Sai Kyaw Nyunt said.

While the government maintains that the representation of successive political dialogues post-Panglong Conference should be broken down into seven parties, ethnic armed organisations agreed at their Mai Ja Yang meeting to reduce the composition to only three groups  the government, ethnic armed groups and political parties  in hopes of streamlining the political dialogue.





Also holding back negotiators is disagreement over the vote thresholds required among stakeholders in order for decisions to be officially taken at the political dialogue.

Nonetheless, with the participation in yesterdays talks of the Delegation for Political Negotiation, made up of representatives from ethnic armed group non-signatories to the nationwide ceasefire agreement, a Panglong Conference joint convening committee was officially formed.

Minister for the State Counsellors Office U Kyaw Tint Swe was selected as chair of the committee, with three vice chairs  U Tin Myo Win from the government, Pado Saw Kwe Htoo Win representing ethnic armed groups and U Thu Wai on behalf of political parties  selected as well.

Under the joint committee, a working committee consisting of 10 members was also formed. It too is a tripartite committee consisting of representatives of government, ethnic armed groups and political parties, and was assigned to draw up a detailed program on how the Panglong Conference will be held.

Salai Lian Hmung, a senior official from the Chin National Front, an NCA signatory group, said non-signatory ethnic armed groups have yet to submit a list of members who will join the joint preparatory committee. A decision to include the non-signatories in the committee was made last week.

Similar to the NCA signing ceremony in October between the former government and eight non-state armed groups, the upcoming Panglong Conference will also host observers from the international community.

We will invite donors to the peace process, international organisations and diplomats to the ceremony, Salai Lian Hmung said.

Organisers have previously described the five-day Panglong Conference as merely a grand opening ceremony for the incumbent governments peace plans.

We are sure that 18 armed ethnic organisations will cooperate with us in the peace process, while negotiations for the three groups continue, Salai Lian Hmung said, referring to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Taang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, a trio of ethnic armed groups whose participation remains uncertain.

A Tatmadaw demand that the three groups turn their arms over to an agreed third party in order to join the peace process has been met unfavourably by the armies in question.

Non-election-winning political parties are scheduled to meet today to select among themselves the five representatives they have been granted as Panglong Conference attendees. U Hla Maung Shwe, a senior peace envoy for the government, said all chairpersons of officially registered political parties would be invited to the first day of the conference on August 31.

U Thu Wai, chair of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), in closing remarks yesterday urged negotiators from the government and ethnic armed organisations to solve major differences through dialogue.

If there happen to be diverse perspectives among us, they should be resolved by dialogue as written in the text of the nationwide ceasefire agreement. This is also the democratic way. Different governments peace processes in the past did not have absolute success, but we have a desire to see success at this Panglong Conference to the fullest extent, he said.
It turns out Donald Trumps attempt at using the Louisiana flooding as a campaign photo op is getting worse for him by the minute. The original optics were bad enough when he showed up and spent less than a minute unloading some Play-Doh from a truck before leaving.
As the world watches the US presidential election with bewilderment and unease, Americas allies in Asia are particularly concerned about the possibility of US disengagement from the region. In Japan and South Korea  Americas most important allies in the Asia-Pacific  the rise of Donald Trump, along with inward-looking rhetoric from others across the US political spectrum, has been seen as an indication of a broader shift in public sentiment. Tokyo and Seoul fear that many Americans believe withdrawal from international alliances and institutions can, to use Trumps formulation, make America great again.





Isolationism and protectionism took a firm hold on US politics during the primaries. In his foreign policy speeches, Trump declared that America First would be the overriding theme of his administration, and the Asia-Pacific doesnt appear to register in his worldview at all. But a US withdrawal or fundamentally reduced US military presence in Asia would not only undermine regional security; it would also ultimately weaken the United States at home and abroad.

While Trump is right to question whether many US allies are essentially free-riders, this cant be said of either Japan or South Korea. As the worlds third- and 11th-largest economies, respectively, Japan and South Korea assume a significant portion of the cost of stationing US forces within their borders. Japan pays about US$4.5 billion a year in base-related expenses, while South Korea contributes about $870 million  75 percent and 40pc of the total costs, respectively. For the United States, it is cheaper to station troops in these Asian nations than it would be to house them at home. Equally important, these two allies are major markets for US arms exports. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, from 2014 to 2015 Japan imported $741 million and South Korea $470 million worth of arms from the United States.

So how do Japan and South Korea make the United States strong? First and foremost, through alliances that demonstrate the importance of shared democratic values, interoperable military capabilities and deep economic linkages. Absent partnerships with Japan and South Korea, not to mention Australia, the United States would have no real presence across the Asia-Pacific. In such an instance, China would quickly move to fill the vacuum and establish its own Sino-centric order.

Second, both Japan and South Korea have been exemplary partners in the fight against nuclear proliferation. Indeed, while Trump has suggested that Tokyo and Seoul should consider their own nuclear options in the face of a nuclearised North Korea, the best way to counter Pyongyang is through robust alliances with the United States, including an ironclad nuclear umbrella. Enticing as it may seem, a nuclear South Korea and Japan would trigger a regional nuclear arms race, cripple their alliances with the United States, and lead to a much more aggressive China and Russia.

Third, Japan and South Korea are both committed to fostering free trade and the rules-based liberal international order that the United States created and benefits from the most. Political candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties have convinced the public that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would hurt the US economy, when in reality the United States would gain the most from the agreement, with analysts estimating that real incomes would increase by $131 billion and annual exports by $357 billion. The TPP would allow the United States to continue to set the rules of the road on trade, rather than being subjected to a regime designed by another country.

Of course, we dont really know how Trump would approach Asia in the White House. As president, Trump says unpredictability would be his secret weapon  rather than telling allies and adversaries what the United States would do in a given situation, he hopes to gain the upper hand by keeping them guessing. On the face of it, Trump is combating what political scientist Stephen Walt called a credibility addiction that can leave the United States entangled in costly wars just to reaffirm its resolve. The United States has made mistakes, but credibility is vital in a world of uncertainty  especially in Asia. President Barack Obamas administration has demonstrated that credibility need not be purchased through force; it can come from articulating clear strategies that give other nations confidence the United States will follow through.

Even if Trump loses in November, Japan and South Korea must wake to the negative long-term impact that his campaign could have on Americas politics. History offers a lesson as to what their response should be. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, then-presidential-candidate Jimmy Carter called for a total pullout of US troops from the Korean Peninsula. Acknowledging a shared fear of US disengagement from the region, and despite rocky relations in the years prior to the proposal, Japan and South Korea cooperated on opposing the plan, and their joint efforts were successful. Likewise today, Tokyo and Seouls priority should be to build on last years thaw in ties by scheduling a first full state visit and bilateral summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye.





The Obama administration has made clear that the United States destiny is inseparably tied to the Asia-Pacific, but the tone of the current election may render a post-Obama rebalance to Asia untenable. Japan and South Korea cannot assume that the United States will make the rational choice of placing its bets on Asia as the dominant region of economic growth in the 21st century. As the linchpins of the US alliance in the Asia-Pacific, Japan and South Korea will need to work together to convince policymakers in the United States that an America First policy would result only in what Trump might call a tremendous loss  for the United States, its closest allies and the world.

 The Washington Post

Yoichi Funabashi is chair of the Rebuild Japan Initiative. Chung Min Lee is a professor of international relations at

Yonsei University in Seoul and a nonresident senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
[August 22, 2016] Accenture to Acquire Australian Security Company Redcore

Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) has entered into an agreement to acquire Redcore, a privately held Australia-based consulting company that specializes in providing identity and access management services (IAM), as well as security services for Cloud, network management, public key infrastructure, cyber defense, applications and the internet of things. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms are not being disclosed. As part of its offerings, Redcore develops holistic authentication, authorization and administration services across a range of cloud, web, mobile and adaptive access-management technologies. Redcore has deployed multiple large-scale cybersecurity solutions, including multi-factor authentication and secure application gateways that are used by some of the major Australian banks and government agencies. "The acquisition of Redcore will allow us to expand our existing IAM services and security-as-a-Service capabilities - along with other critical cyber defense services - while also immediately extending our leadership position in the Asia-Pacific region," said Kelly Bissell, managing director, Accenture Security. "Redcore has a team of seasoned security leaders who have exceptional security skills and industry knowledge. Together, we will be better positioned to tailor intelligent security services to organizations' unique businesses and industries and deliver innovative solutions that help build business resilience from the inside out." Redcore, with its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, provides security services and IT service management for a wide range of clients, including government agencies and companies across the finance, health, retail and telecommunications industries. Founded in 2010, Redcore has multiple offices in Australia, India, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore and has approximately 130 security professionals. Joseph Failla, co-founder, Redcore, said, "We are excited to become part of Accenture Security and to bring our proven deep, highly-specialized skills and services to strengthen Accenture's IAM and other cybersecurity offerings. We are very proud of Redcore's wonderful team and our achievements, and we now look forward to creating an unrivalled combined cybersecurity team and launching capabilities that will change the market. With Accenture's extensive global security resources, its methodologies and its interdisciplinary security ecosystem of innovators from across the world, we will be able to rapidly advance Redcore's capabilities and innovate leading-edge solutions for clients, as well as provide excellent opportunities and career paths for our employees." About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions - underpinned by the world's largest delivery network - Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 375,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.



Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the company and Redcore will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties' ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; the company's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the company's results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the company's information systems are breached; the company's results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; the company's results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company does not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of performing its work or if the third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the company's contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be less profitable than expected or unprofitable; the company's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's profitability could suffer if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and the company may not be able to improve its profitability through improvements to cost-management to the degree it has done in the past; the company's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; the company's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; changes in the company's level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in the company's treatment as an Irish company, could have a material adverse effect on the company's results of operations and financial condition; as a result of the company's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the company's relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company's results of operations; the company's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of the company's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; if the company is unable to collect its receivables or unbilled services, the company's results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected; the company's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations.

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Former member of the defunct Plantashun Boiz, Blackface, was recently in the eye of the storm when he accused his former label-mate, 2Face Idibia and Wizkid of copyright thefts.

Blackface had claimed that 2Face denied him credit in a song they wrote together while they were still in the same group. Meanwhile, it should be recalled that Blackface had also cried foul during the height of 2Faces African Queen reign.

Blackface stated that he was the one who wrote the song, and therefore deserves to get the credit and royalties from it. The matter was later resolved and Blackface was said to have settled.

However, Blackface has refused to speak further about these weighty allegations. Showtime ran into him recently, and we sought to know the current situation, to which he said, I dont want to talk about those allegations anymore though they are not yet settled. Copyright will take care of itself at the right time. Im not worried about issues right now.

Blackface also mentioned that he recently released a new album, The Defender which he encouraged fans to get because its a good album.
Armored Lithuania confirmed this week its order for 88 Boxer 88 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) armored vehicles signed with the German consortium ARTEC. The Lithuanian military will call this vehicle Vilkas, which means wolf.

The contract worth 390 million Euros (US$435 million) was signed on August 22. The vehicles will be produced by two German defense manufacturers  the KMW group and Rheinmetall Defense. The selection of the German vehicle was announced on December 11, 2015. Deliveries of the Boxer vehicles will commence by the second half of next year and will last through 2019. They will equip the Iron Wolf mechanized brigade, and; possibly another infantry brigade to be formed in 2021. KMW will manufacture 53 vehicles, Rheinmetall will make the remaining 35.

Powered by a 530 kW (720 HP) turbo-charged diesel engine, the Boxer has a top speed of over 100 km/h with a combat weight of 36.5 tons. The vehicles modular concept  consisting of driver cab and mission modules  results in outstanding flexibility and versatility.

Lithuania evaluated some vehicles, including the Swiss MOWAG/Piranha, the AMV from Patria in Finland, the French VBCI offered by Nexter, Italian SuperAV from Iveco, and two Turkish designs  the 88 Arma from Otokar and PARS from FNSS. The German Boxer was the one recommended by the MOD evaluation commission but was also one of the most expensive  one of the reasons for the high cost was the turret, as the Germans offered the Lance turret which is a derivative of the turret already used in the German Puma Infantry Combat Vehicle.

Based on the Lithuanian recommendation, an alternative turret was considered (and eventually accepted)  the Israeli Samson 30mm MK II remote weapon station turret made by RAFAEL. This turret is designed unmanned operation, it offers a low silhouette, and supports a unique reloading capability from inside the vehicle, enabling the crew to restock ammunition in the turret without being exposed. It is designed to mount main and secondary armaments, of Eastern and Western origins, including a 30/40 mm automatic cannon, 40 mm Automatic Grenade Launcher (AGL) and 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun. Additionally, the turret has space for anti-tank guided missiles, and smoke dischargers. In its basic configuration the Samson Mk II is unarmored, but can be applied with armor protection meeting STANAG levels 1-4.

The turret has two dual-axis, gyro-stabilized, retractable, sights, and weapon mounting system, supporting independent operation for the commander and gunner, enabling hunt-kill functionality for the crew. In addition to rapid traverse, the RWS supports very high elevation angles of up to 70 degrees  making it suitable for urban warfare.

Lithuania becomes the third international operator of the Boxer. To date, only two nations opted to buy the vehicle  Germany and the Netherlands. Australia is also evaluating a version of the German 88 vehicle for its Land 400 Phase 3 armored scout program. The Bundeswehr already has 405 of these vehicles in its inventory, while the Dutch armed forces own a further 200. Operational experience gained in Afghanistan confirms the Boxers significant contribution to military sustainment and mobility.

In addition to the formation of the Lithuanian Iron Wolf mechanized regiment with the Vilkas, neighboring Estonia has recently acquired 79 tracked Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicles (CV9035NL) from the Netherlands, and Norway and Latvia formed a mechanized regiment with 123 armored reconnaissance vehicles supplied from British Army surplus. The three nations are equipping their vehicles with anti-tank guided missiles, namely RAFAELs Spike LR (Lithuania and Latvia) and Javelins (Estonia).

Located at Russias doorstep, the Baltic states are equipping with military hardware to beef up their defensive posture against possible escalation with Russia, or spillover of the conflict in neighboring Ukraine. For years NATO members refrained to supply the Baltic states with advanced weapons, to prevent escalations with the Russians. However, following the situation in Ukraine, the Baltic States European states are willing to assist and sell advanced military equipment while the Baltic states are increasing defense spending and cooperation within NATO.
Reigning Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Artiste of the Year, E.L, has made it onto the list of Glitz Africa Style Awards' Most Stylish Musicians of the Year 2016.

He is nominated in the award's Most Stylish Music Artiste category together with Afro-pop songstress, Efya and rapper Sarkodie.

The nomination comes months after the BBnZ Live foremost artiste has been making headlines with other activities, including his style of fashion.

One of such was the recent show of his chic dread hairstyle which got everyone talking since May 2016.

The list of nominations for the 2016 Glitz Africa Style Awards was released by the organisers days ago.

The award scheme celebrates and recognises true inspirational creativity, success and contributions to the fashion and style industry in Ghana.

TV icon, Berla Mundi, got nominated in two categories- Most Stylish TV Personality of the Year and Most Stylish Radio Personality of the Year- while fashion icon and radio presenter, KOD, got the nod for Most Stylish Radio Personality of the Year category.

Celebrated actresses Yvonne Nelson, Zynnell Lydia Zuh and Joselyn Dumas were also nominated for Most Stylish Movie Star of the Year, while veteran actress Akuma Mama Zimbi, M.anifest and Joey-B are competing for Best Individual Style.

The awards will be held on September 10, 2016 at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel.

By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50 Email: [email protected] )
Sons and daughters of Asogli Traditional State and the general public, can brace themselves for yet another exciting festive season as the Agbogbomefia Togbe Afede XIV, and his chiefs launch this year's Yam Festival.

The four-week event on the theme: Let's unite for Peace, Stability and Development, is expected to attract local and foreign tourists.

The chairman of the planning committee, Brig. Gen. K. Ahiaglo (Rtd), promised participants a festival parked with traditional and new innovative programmes.

Highlights of the celebration would include a health walk, an excursion to the Galenkui Mountain, pilgrimage to the ancestral home of Asogli in Notsie in the Republic of Togo, hailing of the new yam, women's day celebration, yam weighing contest, mini trade fair, Quiz competition, Bonfire and Fireworks, street jams and musical shows, the sitting in state of the Agbogbomefia and a grand durbar.

Madam Dzifa Gomashie, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, who was the Special Guest at the launch, asked Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies to get actively involved in the celebration and explore opportunities in the exhibitions and trade fairs to market potentials of their districts.

The Asogli State Yam Festival celebration has grown from just a mere commemoration to one that serves as a catalyst for development and welfare of the Asogli State and its people.



By: King Norbert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Leader and Founder of Glorious Waves Church International, Prophet Emmanuel Badu Kobi, has pledged to raise 10,000 dollars for Ghanaian veteran actor Jaga Pee who has been battling illness for months and needs Gh 40,000 for a surgical operation at the 37 Military Hospital.

The celebrity pastor who made this known to his congregation during Mondays all night service, said that together with the church on Sunday, they will raise 10,000$ for the actor.

Before the prophets intervention, the actor was admitted at the 37 hospital. He prayed and prophesied into the life of the actor.

In a seperate interview with Attractivefm.com, prophet Kobi disclosed that the actor would have pass on long time if not for Gods intervention.

Wife of Jaga Pee known as Maame, in an interview with Zionfelix.com said she doesnt have up to the amount the hospital requires for the operation and that she has spent all past donations on her husbands sickness  leaving her with only Gh 500.

She also revealed that Jaga Pees surgical operation demanded $20,000 but Ghana Heart Foundation have pledged to pay half of the amount.

The sad woman continued that doctors decided to give him a date for the operation but rescinded their decision  but as soon as the actor gets the balance and makes a deposit, they will start the operation. Meanwhile, Jagas situation is getting worst by the day.
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The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony answers journalists' questions on November 12, 2006 at Ri-Kwamba in Southern Sudan following a meeting with UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland. By Suart Price (AFP/File)

23.08.2016 LISTEN

Washington (AFP) - The United States announced sanctions Tuesday against the sons of Joseph Kony, leader of the central Africa-based Lord's Resistance Army rebel group.

The Treasury Department said it targeted Salim and Ali Kony "for acting for or on behalf of the LRA and/or Joseph Kony."

The move follows sanctions launched against Joseph Kony in March "for engaging in the targeting of civilians in the Central African Republic through the commission of acts of violence, abduction and forced displacement," it added.

The LRA, which emerged in northern Uganda in 1987, acquired a fearsome reputation because of its brutal activities in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the CAR.

The group has killed more than 100,000 people and kidnapped more than 60,000 children, forcing many of them to become child soldiers, the UN says.

Charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Joseph Kony remains at large.

Tuesday's action freezes any assets belonging to his sons within US jurisdiction and bars Americans from engaging in business with them, the Treasury Department said.

The move "targets the finances of the LRA and its leaders, while also combating their participation in the global illicit ivory trade," Treasury added, calling it "the latest in a collaborative international effort to address the widespread violence in the Central African Republic."

The LRA has moved freely across porous regional borders, crossing in 2008 into the CAR, where a 2013 coup prompted ethnic and religious clashes that claimed thousands of lives and displaced about a quarter of the population.

Combining religious mysticism with guerrilla tactics and bloodthirsty ferocity, Joseph Kony has turned scores of young girls into his personal sex slaves while claiming to be fighting to impose the Bible's Ten Commandments.

Salim and Ali Kony, part of the LRA's leadership since 2010, are among its senior officers, the Treasury Department said, adding that Ali, a potential successor to his father, is "predominantly involved in LRA operational planning and its intelligence apparatus."

Salim heads most of the LRA's field operations and manages the group's financial and logistical networks.

"Salim and Ali have been jointly responsible for enforcing discipline within the LRA, and Salim is reported to have killed LRA members who intended to defect," the statement said.

Although weakened by the capture or defection of several commanders, the LRA has been stepping up attacks in the CAR, expanding into new areas and abducting more children, according to the United Nations.

Some 2,000 Ugandan soldiers backed by US troops are currently deployed in eastern CAR as part of an African Union mission to tackle the LRA rebels, on top of another 10,000 UN troops stationed in the country.
Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria's military claimed Tuesday to have seriously injured Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau and killed other commanders in an air strike on the Islamist group's forest stronghold.

The announcement was met with scepticism by Boko Haram experts who pointed out that Nigeria has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous raids only for the militant leader to surface shortly afterwards in videos.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is on a visit to the northern Nigerian city of Sokoto, praised the country for its recent gains against the Islamic insurgents but made no mention of the claims that the group's leader was injured.

Shekau was "fatally wounded in the shoulder" during Friday's raids, said army spokesman Sani Usman in a statement, without giving further details.

"I said wounded, if there is any other development I will let you know," Usman told AFP in a text message.

Usman also said three Boko Haram commanders -- Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman -- were confirmed dead with several others injured.

The claim comes as Kerry visits the country on a two-day trip for talks likely to focus on the fight against Boko Haram and the sputtering economy.

"It is unclear if there is any other confirmation that Shekau himself has died of his wounds, and we should remember that Shekau has been claimed dead on a number of occasions before," Omar Mahmood, a researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told AFP.

"Nonetheless, the announcement comes at an interesting time given the recent leadership rift within the movement and if Shekau is incapacitated as a result that will be a major blow to his faction."

The Nigerian military may be trying to prove the legitimacy of using airstrikes after a video was released earlier this month claiming that some of the 218 kidnapped Chibok girls had died following an aerial attack on Boko Haram camps by government forces.

"This is the Nigerian military saying that this is a very viable strategy," security analyst Ryan Cummings said.

The mysterious Shekau's fate has been the subject of speculation recently amid claims he had been replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the group's former spokesman.

Barnawi's appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year.

But only a week later, the shadowy Shekau surfaced in a video posted on social media, ridiculing suggestions of his death and looking more composed and energetic than in previous appearances.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose strict Islamic law in Nigeria's mainly-Muslim north, has killed some 20,000 people and forced at least 2.6 million others to flee their homes since 2009.
The decline in the global oil price has led to a reduced level of activity across the African continent and had an impact on countries that traditionally depend on oil & gas revenue. Despite the bleak landscape, the African continent still offers significant opportunities in the oil & gas sector. It is an opportune time for local governments that want to attract oil & gas investors to reform their regulatory, fiscal and licensing systems, says Chris Bredenhann, PwC Africa Oil & Gas Advisory Leader (www.PwC.com).

Bredenhann says it is also important for the industry to look beyond the challenges caused by depressed prices and consider other forces that are shaping the industry. PwCs Africa oil & Gas Review, 2016 suggests that with the ongoing focus on cost reduction in the industry, the demand for innovation in technology will grow.

Furthermore, this can be the ideal time for the industry to consider introducing training programmes to upskill levels and company standards in order to give local players a chance to enter the sector when activity picks up again.

PwCs Africa oil & gas review, 2016 analyses what has happened in the last 12 months in the oil & gas industry within the major and emerging African markets.

As at the end of 2015, Africa has a proven natural gas base of 496.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), down marginally from 2014, with 90% of the continents natural gas production still coming from Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt.

Dealing with the decline

The top challenges identified by organisations in the oil & gas industry have remained unchanged to those in previous years  uncertainty in regulatory frameworks, corruption/ethics, poor physical infrastructure and a lack of skill resources. This year, there was also a significant rise in the challenge of meeting taxation requirements, as well as government relations. Regulatory uncertainty has remained the top challenge facing oil & gas businesses in Africa for the third year in a row, with 70% of organisations citing it as one of the five biggest issues they experience.

For the first time since PwCs series of annual reviews began in 2010, government relations has hit the top 6 challenges. Around the continent, many organisations have experienced difficulty obtaining government sanction for new projects. This is proving to be extremely difficult in new hydrocarbon provinces, such as Mozambique, because governments do not fully comprehend the intricacies and scale of oil & gas projects. As a result, organisations are beginning to ally themselves with government in order to ensure that they are a strategic and supportive partner.

Organisations identified the price of oil and natural gas as the most significant factor that would affect their companies businesses over the next three years, with respondents expecting the price to reach US$52 by the end of 2016, US$60 by the end of 2017, and US$69 by the end of 2018. With little control over the price, businesses have focused on improving efficiency and driving down costs.

Regulatory compliance, at number two, remains a significant challenge for organisations this year. Foreign currency volatility is also rated a likely factor (number three) to impact business over the next three years. This year there have been large currency fluctuations  with the fallout from the Brexit vote precipitating some of the largest so far.

Asset management and optimisation remains a key strategic focus area for companies. Fortunately, the industry remains optimistic, and many upstream players are focusing on exploration and finding new resources over the next three years, most likely in anticipation for an upturn in the oil price, adds Bredenhann.

Financing & Investing

Although there has been some recovery in the pricing environment, investor confidence remains low as a significant recovery does not seem to be on the horizon, and oil market fundamentals are still down. The low oil price has led operators to defer FIDs (final investment decisions) on over US$300bn of projects. Globally, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity has also dipped and it is expected that this trend will trend continue.

Sustainability

Under the current economic climate, oil & gas companies are looking to invest in a number of key areas in order to boost growth over the next three to five years. Improved efficiencies ranked highest, followed by local content and skills development, and infrastructure improvements. The oil and gas industry is faced with a higher entry barrier because technology and jobs tend to be more complex, highly specialised and costly, explains Bredenhann.

The sustainability of the industry will also be affected by a number of drivers. These include the price of oil, impact of renewable and alternative energy sources, emergence of new competitors, environmental consequences of the industry, legislative frameworks and government takes.

Basic as well as technological infrastructure is essential for the oil & gas industry to thrive. Twenty percent of organisations think that inadequacy of basic infrastructure will have a significant impact on their business over the next three years  with 73% expecting it to have an unchanged impact or no impact. Similarly, 20% of respondents expect technology to have a significant impact on their business over the next three years, but only 3.43% rated technology infrastructure as a top strategic focus area over the same period.

It is positive to note that over half of respondents expect acreage and license costs to either decrease or decrease substantially. Adds Bredenhann: This is likely due to the decreased oil price, ultimately devaluing acreage/licences.

Regulatory framework

An uncertain regulatory framework is one of the main issues that organisations in the oil & gas industry are grappling with. In South Africa, there have been commitments to address concerns since 2015, and the intention of Government to separate regulations for oil & gas from the mining industry was communicated. However, the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) has not yet been changed and approved to reflect such modifications. In Tanzania, the regulatory environment remains uncertain despite the promulgation of the Petroleum Act in 2015. Furthermore, in Nigeria, the Government has failed to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law.

The digital oilfield

The digital revolution and technological breakthroughs are disrupting businesses. PwCs global research shows that oil & gas companies are slower than other industries to respond to using new technologies, particularly digital. We believe that there are a number of trends that will ultimately transform the oil & gas industry. These include: the Internet of things, building alliances, simplification and standardisation, solution-based buying, and knowledge transfer from international oil companies to oilfield services companies.

The complexities and challenges facing Africas oil & gas industry have become daunting. As uncertain regulatory frameworks, taxation requirements and corruption continue to rank at the top of industrys challenges in Africa, it also high time that governments make significant changes.

Furthermore, players must look at the current state of the industry as an opportunity to reinvent themselves. Given the state of the industry, we think that stakeholders must also consider making changes to their business models. Change is the way to survive in the new energy future. We need to see new business models, new products, new energy sources and new strategies to meet the new reality, concludes Bredenhann.
The biggest story coming out of China today is the launching of the Silk Road on Rails: China-Europe block trains that carry goods across the globe. The proposal to establish China-Europe railroads surprised even the most experienced of rail industry players, yet thousands of trains now traverse these tracks annually.

Not least surprised was the Director of Operations at the Hamburg Eurogate terminal, Thorsten Reese, who remarked, "Three year ago I couldnt imagine Germany and China being connected with rail cars; it is unbelievable!"

The China-Europe rail route is the longest in the world covering some 10,000 kilometres in total.

The first block train left Zhengzhou for Hamburg on July 18th, 2013, connecting people along the Silk Road and shortening the distance between continents. The 12-day, six-country journey posed challenges: would European companies welcome the new trade route? Would the cargo be secure? Would the project even be practical.

The trans-Eurasia rail trip began as a once-a-month event but China soon realized it required partners to make it successful. With partners on board, Hamburg became the forerunner. The German port city now serves as both a departure and destination point for the China-Europe block trains.

Thanks to a highly motivated Chinese workforce, Mr. Reese sees the cargo arrive safely and on time. The China Train employees are an enthusiastic group and make sure the trains are loaded and off-loaded on schedule.

The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce came on board after realizing the potential in the Silk Road Rail project. The Chamber's MD, Corinna Nienstedt, did not mince her word when she said, "It is a new opportunity to transport between Hamburg on one hand, and Europe on the other hand, from China".

This project has lowered the cost of transportation significantly and commerce is thriving. There is no doubt about the initiative's acceptance.

Video: http://www.BON-Cloud.com/ugcwork.view.php?id=7572
By George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA

Accra, Aug. 22, GNA - Mrs Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), says the contribution of women in Ghana's socio-economic development is phenomenal and therefore needs support.

She said the disbursement of loans to them in the rural areas is one of the steps government is using to support them to blossom.

Mrs Tamakoe- Attionu stated this when she disbursed GHa 1.2 million to 2,325 beneficiaries, mostly market women in some communities in the Northern Region.

"Women's contributions to the socio-economic and political development of Ghana cannot be over-emphasised. Women have played and continue to play leading roles in the development of mother Ghana, hence government's commitment to resource them to stand on their feet."

The beneficiaries were drawn from; Tamale North, Tamale South and Tamale Central constituencies, Bole-Bamboi, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba, Salaga Yendi, Chereponi, Nanumba South, Mion, Savelegu, East Gonja, Saboba and Kpandai.

Mrs Tamakloe Attionu before disbursing the funds gave the market women training on saving on their trading activities.

She noted that women are the backbone of every economy and therefore, it is the responsibility of government to give them financial support.

Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu challenged them use the funds for the intended purposes and not for other activities.

Mr Inusah Fuseini, Minister of Roads and Highways, who assisted the MASLOC CEO to present the cheques to the women, commended management of MASLOC and President John Dramani Mahama and wife for the honour done to women.

GNA
WASHINGTON, ACCRA, Aug. 22 - (UPI/GNA) - Donald Trump's position on forced deportation for undocumented immigrants is now "to be determined," his new campaign manager said on Sunday.

That's what Kellyanne Conway, the Republican nominee's campaign manager, said on CNN's State of the Union when repeatedly asked whether the Republican presidential nominee has changed its position on deportation.

Trump said last fall people in the country illegally should be removed. But in June he softened his statement to say he would deport only "bad dudes."

On Saturday, Trump met with a Hispanic Advisory Council at Trump Tower in New York and mentioned a "humane and efficient" way to deal with undocumented immigrants, according to Buzzfeed.

"So what Donald Trump said yesterday in that meeting ... varied little from what he has said publicly," Conway said. "What he supports is to make sure we enforce the law, that we are respectful of those Americans who are looking for jobs, and that we are fair and humane to those who live among us."

In another matter, Conway reiterated that the candidate won't release his tax returns because are under audit.

GNA
TAPV The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) took delivery of the first six Tactical Armored Patrol Vehicles (TAPV) earlier in August. TAPV is a beefed-up variant of Textron Systems Commando Elite 44 mine-protected armored vehicle, specially designed to address the Canadas requirement for a replacement for the 88 Coyote armored recce vehicle and 44 RG-31 Mk3 Nyala armored utility vehicles.

The new vehicle is more powerful and better protected than its predecessors; powered by a 365 hp Cummins QSL365 diesel engine and Allison Transmission 3200SP automatic transmission the 18.6-ton vehicle sustains a top road speed of 105 km/h, its internal fuel sustains an operational range of 644 km. Despite its weight TAPV is sized for air-mobility  Four TAPVs can be transported simultaneously by a CC-177 Globemaster III (The Canadian designation for the Boeing C-17), providing the strategic mobility supporting contingency operations far from the homeland.

The vehicle has fully independent front and rear suspension. The wheels use Michelin 16.00R20 XZL tires with run flat inserts from Hutchinson. A spare tire is also carried on the rooftop.

Each TAPV has an integral weapon station, enabling the crew to observe and fire without exposing themselves to enemy fire. The RWS selected by the Canadians is the Protector DRWS (Dual Remote Weapon Station) from Kongsberg Protech Systems The weapon station mounts two weapons  an FN Herstal 7.62mm C6 light machine gun, 40mm Heckler & Koch GMG automatic grenade launcher and smoke grenade launchers, used mainly for self-protection. The weapon station has an integral optronic system enabling the operator to see at distances of up to 10,000 meters. The vehicle also has front and rear cameras.

The survivability system comprises a base armor and applique armor package designed by IBD Deisenroth Engineering and its local subsidiary EODC (Engineering Office Deisenroth Canada); the armor package shields troops from ballistics and roadside blasts (IED). Other survivability and protection features include laser warning system, wire cutter mounted in front and NBC protection system. The vehicle has four elevated mounts for antennae, providing reduced interference between multiple electronic emitters such as radios, datalinks, navigation systems, and jammers.

The vehicle also has a climate control system and high capacity alternator keep the internal space cool, provides electricity to support onboard electronic systems and provide large power reserves for future electronics enhancements.

The order includes 300 general utility variants and 200 recce vehicles. The only differences between variants are their internal design and certain pieces of equipment. The Reconnaissance variant will be fielded to armored reconnaissance squadrons, infantry reconnaissance platoons and the Royal Canadian Armored Corps School. The TAPV fleet will be distributed across multiple locations throughout Canada, supporting the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Canadian Divisions in combat, combat support and training roles.

Other advanced systems include health and usage monitoring system, ensuring a high level of readiness and optimize lifecycle management.

In 2012 Textron won the contract worth CA$603.4 to deliver 500 TAPVs, with options to supply 100 more. Textron Systems plans to deliver at least 30 vehicles per month to the Canadian Army with all vehicles scheduled to be delivered by December 2017. The 2nd Canadian Division will be the first formation to operate the TAPV, which will be part of a High Readiness Training Cycle culminating in Exercise MAPLE RESOLVE 2018. The Canadian Army expects to declare full operational capability by mid-2020 with a fleet of 500 vehicles, distributed to 24 units across seven bases.
By Belinda Ayamgha, GNA

Accra, Aug. 22, GNA - Mr Kofi Bentil, Vice President of IMANI Ghana, has called on Ghanaian book publishers to form an industry chamber in order to better co-ordinate its efforts and have a greater impact on government and the society.

He also urged them to widen their purview by publishing their books on all platforms, including electronic and audio, and not only in print.

He made the comments when he gave the keynote address at the opening of the 14th Ghana International Book Fair in Accra, on the theme: 'Growing the knowledge-based economy through reading.

'Form a chamber, up your game and make sure you lobby government and compete with the other publishers from wherever they come from,' he added.

He urged the society to support publishers as what they do is important for the education of children and for personal and national development.

Mr Bentil explained that while a large number of government spending is in the education sector, Ghanaian book publishers need to make their products internationally competitive so as to attract a larger part of government's spending on education.

'The content must be competitive internationally,' he stated.

'I'm urging the book publishers association to, a few years from now, call yourself the Publishers Association and publish on all media; publish electronic books that can be read on mobile phones and if you do that, more of your work will be read,' he said.

Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, Minister of Education, also encouraged writers and book publishers to involve their potential readers in the process of producing thee books so as to better understand what is or is not interesting to them.

She said knowledge is influenced by various factors including the culture, language, vision and aspirations of the group who originate it.

She urged Ghanaians to create relevant knowledge materials.

'The knowledge economy must not deepen our sense of dependency,' she noted.

Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur, wife of the Vice President, who chaired the occasion entreated Ghanaians and the reading public to always question the knowledge that they receive.

'If we don't do anything with the knowledge, it will not transform us,' she said.

The 14 Ghana International Book Fair run in Accra from August to August, 21,and according to Mr Elliot Agyare, President of the Ghana Book Publishers Association, is to serve as a platform to focus national attention on ways to explore Ghana's preparedness for the opportunities brought by the advent of the knowledge-based economy.

It was also to serve as a one-stop shop for educational materials for schools, students and parents.

GNA
Black and ethnic minority people in Britain still face "entrenched" race inequality in many areas, including education and health, a watchdog warns.

A review by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which also looked at employment, housing, pay, and criminal justice, found an "alarming picture".

Black graduates earn on average 23.1% less than white ones, and more ethnic minorities are unemployed, it found.

The government said it was committed to "delivering real social reform".

'Different world'

David Isaac, the commission's chairman, said the report reveals a "very worrying combination of a post-Brexit rise in hate crime and long-term systemic unfairness and race inequality".

"We must redouble our efforts to tackle race inequality urgently or risk the divisions in our society growing and racial tensions increasing," he warned.

"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."

It underlines "just how entrenched and far-reaching race inequality remains", he said.

The commission, which carried out an analysis of existing evidence, said:

Black people in England are more than three times more likely to be a victim of homicide than those who are white

Unemployment rates were "significantly higher" for ethnic minorities

Black workers with degrees earn 23.1% less on average than white employees with the qualifications

Ethnic minority people were more likely to live in poverty than white people

Ethnic minorities are still "hugely under-represented" in positions of power - such as judges and police chiefs

Poorer white communities also face "continuing disadvantage", the report added.

The commission acknowledged there had been progress in some areas, citing an increase in the number of ethnic minority MPs and a rise in the proportion with a degree-level qualification across all ethnic groups.

But Mr Isaac said the government's strategy in recent years has been "piecemeal and stuttering".

He called for the government to introduce a comprehensive race equality plan "to build a fair society in which our origins do not determine our destinies".

'Real progress'

The commission recommended that responsibility for the strategy be brought under one secretary of state.

New targets to improve opportunities and outcomes for ethnic minority communities should be introduced, it added.

The government 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 spokeswoman added.
The NPP has a retrogressive bad history which its current progeny still practices and has shown no form of remorse to the Ghanaian people.

The party has shown a record of loving power for power sake with no developmental plans. They have indicated most at times that leadership of Ghana is their birthright and no other party can survive leadership without deadly torments.

They are widely known of throwing bombs at gatherings of their opponents, throwing of hand grenades on houses of opponents, stabbing dissenting voices to death, acid baths, telling palpable lies about opponents through paid up journalists and media houses, destruction of national infrastructure including educational facilities, office complexes, ECG transformers, street lights, many others.

They have an agenda of black washing every critical institution in the country and this can be seen in their incessant attack on the police service and its leadership, the electoral commission and its chairperson, the Ghana Statistical service, etc.

They have also used surrogates of their party to plunge the country into chaos; they include AFAG, LMVCA, Occupy Ghana, IMANI Ghana, CDD, GII, and a host of fake pollsters.

They have also managed to corner the judiciary in their pockets to do their bidden as Sammy Awuku indicated some time ago.

They have also managed to corner the Editorial Board of the State Newspaper, Daily Graphic, which have consistently done the bidden of the NPP over the last 16 years.

The only successful man of the UP Tradition made some positive moves to advance Ghana's democracy openly and some initiatives which supported many ordinary Ghanaians, but was still having larger number of its people still with the evil agenda of their past. This can squarely be placed at the doorpost of Nana Addo and his assigns.

The Kuffour led administration supervised over loot of state lands, Ga lands, lands in Ashanti, and other lands meant for educational projects. The sale of Ghana's Drill Ship, the planned mismanagement and sale of the Ghana Airways with persons like Ursula Owusu, et al. as beneficiaries. The abysmal sale of Ghana Telecom and its assets, the cheap negotiation of our oil find resulting in Ghana benefitting less, but EO group comprising of friends of President Kuffour, Edusei and Owusu, benefitting more (3%), and the interference of activities of the judiciary by government officials.

The NDC administration has performed very well in many sectors for the past three years and must be commended. They have worked massively on Education, Healthcare, Road networks, Communication, Potable water provision, tolerance in governance, and expansion of affordable housing to reduce the national housing deficit.

The current administration has taken a bold step in educational infrastructure and the provision of ancillary facilities.

The infrastructure will serve the needs of thousands of community youth who hitherto, has no intention of furthering their education, but for the community SHS.

123, out of the 200 promised are all at appreciable levels of completion. These schools are going to suffice the educational deficit of this country. Some wards have stayed home over the years as a result of failing to be admitted into their choices of schools. Should this result in an abridgement of a child's education?

Teachers and headmasters are being provided bungalows to keep them glued to their duty post.

There will be hundreds of official and unofficial jobs to be created for educational workers: Teachers, cleaners, watchmen, food vendors at school markets, and all sellers of all kinds of stuff.

There will be more intellectuals in communities who will help solve the concrete needs of their people.

University infrastructure, apart from the great Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who was credited with the four major universities in the country, the NDC administration can boast of three solid universities and one other to be constructed in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

The health sector has seen more upgrade with major hospitals, polyclinics, community health centres and chip compounds. In Accra alone we can boast of the Dodowa District Hospital, the Legon Teaching Hospital, the Police Hospital expansion project, the Ridge Hospital which is now the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, the Tema Maritime Hospital, and many others. There are other three Regional Hospitals by JM including one more Military Hospital in Kumasi.

The health facilities will help prevent untimely deaths in communities, reduce maternal deaths, child mortality and other sicknesses related to pregnancy.

Accessibility will be enhanced and travel cost reduced.

Reduction in the spread of avoidable diseases in communities with the proximity of health centers and health workers.

Other sectors of the economy are being tackled and out of the macro projects, the micro will be propelled.

The PYF launched the #Not A Step Back campaign to propel the chances of the Manama administration to continue its good works in the country.

As progressives, we urge the current administration which hails from a Social Democratic philosophy, after witnessing its massive infrastructure development in many sectors, we urge the President to concentrate once again on the industrialization programme it has adopted by reviving collapsed viable industries and introducing new ones to absorb the unemployed youth in the country.

We also urge him to expand his Agriculture initiatives by bringing more youth on board as professional farmers. The government must take more extensive steps to reintroduce state agriculture to suffice the national buffer in his second term.

The government must ensure that the country's natural resources are extracted to the benefit of Ghanaians. Government must take active and fearless steps to take back our resources from the hands of Western multinational imperial companies. This will make the Party and government more relevant to the ordinary poor in society.

We urge Ghanaians not to step back in supporting the JM administration and his second term bid.

#NOT A STEP BACK

Long Live Ghana!

Long Live progressive minded persons!!

Long Live the Progressive Youth Forum!!!

Thanks.

Signed.......

Lawrence Lamptey (Secretary)

0247251024

Phillibert Deku (Operations Director)

0247934504
23.08.2016 LISTEN

Contrary to what been referred to in many circles in Liberia that the former governor of the Central Bank of Liberia Dr. Mills Jones that his then financial policies which includes the given of loans to rural and urban corporatives in assisting the fight against poverty and financially empowering them has come under serious questioning!

Speaking in an exclusive interview recently at his office on Randell Street central Monrovia with a team of local journalists Professor Wilson Tarpeh said stated, among other things, that poor policy coordination and disjointed fiscal operations, weak monetary management and poor policy coordination have combined to worsen an economy faltering under pressure from dropping commodity prices. He also stated that the loan scheme in which the CBL bypassed bank financial institutions, and lent to certain groups and institutions in violation of the Section 5  and Section 41 (1) (e) respectively of the 1999 Central Bank of Liberia Act.

The University of Liberia, Professor indicated that the scheme put the CBL in competition with the local bank financial institutions, and created a conflict of interest. And also said by saying that the potentially poor quality of these loans posed possible problems to timely recovery.

This is not my first time articulating this matter as In July 2012, I told a Senate hearing on the CBL loan scheme that the Central Bank did not have the technical infrastructure of a commercial lending bank to properly examine such loans. He told the team of journalists that I stated that because of the bad qualities of these loans, it would be difficult for the borrowers to repay the bank, a concern that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf highlighted during her annual message to the legislature on January 26, 2016. In essence, I did not say anything new here.

Narrating further, Professor Tarpeh said that President Sirleaf is not the first to raise concerns about the CBL loan scheme (L$640 Million). In September 2015, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, during a visit to Liberia said the loan scheme and foreign exchange operations of the Central Bank will have negative consequences.

The IMF reiterated these concerns in subsequent visits. Also in 2015, the African Development Bank (ADB) also raised the issue in its Africa Economic Outlook. The ADB said the loan scheme and foreign operations were inappropriate and bore adverse consequences for the economy in general and the banking system in particular.

The IMF reiterated these concerns in subsequent visits. Also in 2015, the African Development Bank (ADB) also raised the issue in its Africa Economic Outlook. The ADB said the loan scheme and foreign operations were inappropriate and bore adverse consequences for the economy in general and the banking system in particular. The ADB report then classified Central Bank a reputational risk because the loans which were given under the guise poverty alleviation and the foreign exchange operations that were done under the guise of stabilizing the exchange rate.

The one time Liberias finance Minister said that he was taken a backed when On Monday, August 15, 2016, the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) responded to his comments in a 13-page statement that was published in several newspapers and radio stations.

Instead of sticking to the issues, MOVEE tried to discredit my professional expertise and integrity. The personal attacks against me are baseless, irresponsible, childish and grossly unprofessional. Why would Dr. Mills Jones and his MOVEE stoop so low as to attack me personally instead of addressing the issues? I simply provided my expert knowledge of the economy as I saw it. I made no personal attack on Dr. Jones.

Though the statement was signed and read by MOVEEs chairman, but as a lawyer, I hold Dr. Jones responsible under the doctrine of respondent superior for the careless and unfounded attack on my professional integrity. But I wont stoop to that level. My grandmother taught me to be humble and courteous to people, even if I disagree with them or they insult me.

The MOVEE statement questioned my credibility in society, my academic rank at the University of Liberia and essentially called me a liar. Dr. Jones and his surrogates failed to provide any evidence to support their claims. I therefore refuse to give credence to such baseless claims because they have no bearing on the issues that I discussed on the state of the Liberian economy.

I do not need to defend my service to this country both at home and abroad because my accomplishments are well-documented.

I find it hypocritical that Dr. Jones would now criticize the government that gave him the opportunity to serve as governor of the Central Bank, a position he would not have held if it wasnt for the president.

MOVEE also claimed that I tried to defame their political leader because of politics, envy and hatred. That is so far from the truth. As far as I am concerned, MOVEE is a kitchen filled with a lot of food in the midst of abject poverty. People will therefore go there to eat whether or not they know or like the cook/provider. The late Guinea President, Ahmed Sekou Toure once said a hungry child does not care to know where his bread comes from.

At an appropriate time, the voters will make it plain to MOVEE.

I do not harbor hatred or grudge against anyone. Only an insecure, ignorant, and small and intolerant person will interpret my statements on the state of the nations economy to be hatred and jealousy.

MOVEE in its statement also suggested that I was envious of the former CBL Governor because Ive always seen myself as the honorable governor of the Central Bank, a position that continues to slip from my reach. Im not one to brag about my credentials, but let me set the record straight.

Several years ago, the government of Liberia advertised the position for Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia. , I applied and I believe Dr. Jones also did. A five-member panel headed by former planning and economic affairs minister Amelia Ward, representatives of the IMF, the World Bank, United States Treasury and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), was constituted to vet the applicants.

Following rounds of intense interviews, the panel submitted a list of four names ranked in order of priority based on overall performance. I came first place and Dr. Jones and others were below me.

The president decided to appoint Dr. Jones. Before he was appointed to the post, President Sirleaf called me for a meeting. She thanked me for my performance, but told me that she preferred Dr. Jones even though he inferior to me.

I thanked the President for her courtesy, and promised my availability whenever my services were needed. As far as I was concerned, I had been validated by the worlds leading authorities that carry the global seal of approval on these matters. How can I be envious of Dr. Jones when I know his preference was purely political and not based on competence?

Finally, I encourage Dr. Jones to address himself to the issues raised, rather than attacking me personally. I do not deal with pettiness. Im prepared to debate Dr. Jones anytime and place on the state of the Liberian economy especially in the general framework of the issues I raised Professor Tarpeh concluded.
Obuobia Darko-Opoku, the National Democratic Congress parliamentary candidate for the Weija-Gbewa constituency has donated an ambulance to the Ga South Municipal Hospital in Accra to mark her 39th birthday anniversary.

The donation, according to the candidate, is borne out of her desire to improve health delivery in the municipality.

The hospital which serves several communities in the area is faced with numerous challenges including inadequate facilities to aid health officials in their work.

Speaking during the donation ceremony, Obuobia also promised to assist the facility to expand its overcrowded maternity block.

Obuobia Darko-Opoku

I know this may sound strange to many people, especially my opponents who think I do these things for political gains but that is far from the truth. If I was doing all these because of it, I would have been discouraged when I lost the 2012 elections.

Obuobia Darko-Opoku presenting the items to the officials

But my commitment to helping others grew even stronger. Today, I have the opportunity to donate an ambulance to the Ga South Municipal Hospital, a gesture my heart has longed for the past few years. Exactly a year today, I used the same occasion to put smiles on the faces of persons with disabilities. It is my prayer that the ambulance and other equipment and accessories will help save lives of our citizenry, she said.

The donated items

The Lordina Foundation, which belongs to the First Lady, Lordina Mahama, supported Obuobia with hospital accessories including beds, wheelchairs as well as medicines.

"Ill want to thank the First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama, whom through her foundation - the Lordina Foundation - has supported me in diverse ways to make donations such as this today.

Handing over the ambulance keys to hospital officials

"Mrs Mahama would have been here in person to make a personal donation to the Accident Ward, but she is out of the country on an equally important assignment. But her team is fully represented here to make the presentation on her behalf.

"Anybody who has had the privilege of working closely with Mrs. Mahama will confess that kindness and giving is her second nature. She is sympathetic and kind-hearted to a fault. She struggles to be arrogant and ever ready to listen and share for the sake of humanity. I pray for Gods blessings upon her and our loving President HE John Mahama.

"May the act of giving and love for society continue to be part of us. May this ambulance save lives and may these equipment from our generous First Lady go a long way to heal millions. My birthday wish is for good health for us all as we look forward to a peaceful 2016 elections," Obuobia stated.
23.08.2016 LISTEN

In this our democratic state, to demonstrate or embark on a peaceful march, one needs to inform the Police in writing to seek for permission or approval and protection on the the day of demonstration, even if it is a peaceful float to be followed by presentation of a petition.

In this Donkorkrom case, the Police from whom the citizens would have sought permission were the same people to be demonstrated or petitioned against.

The people failed to seek approval before the float. It wasnt prearranged. The news of escape of the two corps ignited the float which was to be followed by a presentation of a petition to the Police Commander.

The people had gone to present a petition to the Police Commander but when they got there the Police were already in crowd dispersal apparatuses.

The Police in their judgement though the people were there to attack them and started firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. Seeing that this measure did not scare the crowd, the Police begun firing live rounds.

When the people realized some of their brothers had been wounded by the rounds being fired at them they retreated, regrouped then attacked the Police, torched the Police post and part of the barracks. This action by the people tainted their case.

Now that you have burned down the Police post and part of the barracks people will find difficult to believe you went there initially to present a petition to the Police Commander.

Torching part of the barracks and Police vehicles must never be judged right. It will require resources to rehabilitate the Police post and part of the barracks torched.

Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah once said, Change when too long delayed or denied will cause accumulated grievances to erupt like volcano [paraphrased]

The fact that a large number of residents thronged to the Police station did not in any way establish their guilt rather it portrays their frustrations and anger at the Police who have turned into hardened criminals robbing rather than protecting lives.

About 70% of the Police in the area have become thieves in uniform. It is an open secret that long serving personnel of the Police in Donkorkrom have become money conscious to the extent that the least opportunity they get, they will extort money from the people. Even on their beds they devise means of extorting money from the poor folks. Some are debt collectors seeing that majority of the people are ignorant of the duties of the Police.

Conversely, the police in my opinion were wrong to have fired live rounds. To cover their wrong, they misinformed the Police High Command by telling a story to their favour when in actual fact they misjudged the actions of the youth and applied maximum force instead of minimum force.

The Police is to protect lives and property. The priority must be on the protection of lives but not to destroy lives. Is the use of live rounds likened to minimum force? When properties are destroyed money can be obtained elsewhere to replace the destroyed properties but not loss of life.

Both sides have erred. The situation at hand now needs a nonpartisan approach to resolve the issue. To withdraw the Police from Donkorkrom will not be fair to the rest of the people who are innocent. We must remember that a life have been lost by the ripple action of the two corps. Loosing a life and loosing a police post which is grievous?

The decision by the Police High Command to go to the ground to ascertain facts of the story is in good taste. This will enable the Police Command to take a judicious decision.

You can agree or disagree with me but this is my opinion. You are entitled to your opinion.

The Ghana Police Handbook is available online in pdf format, download it, read it and be abreast with the duties, and conducts of the Police personnel in your area.

It is time we educate ourselves.


The Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daniel Bugri Naabu has warned Sofo Azorka, the Northern Regional Chairman of the NDC not to dare repeat what he did during yesterday's demonstration organized by the opposition political parties or else he will chase him out of the region.

The outspoken NPP chairman told Azorka and the NDC that he could make things difficult for them which could affect their campaign in the Northern region, Upper East and West region.

Who does Azorka think he is to tell us that we cannot demonstrate? We controlled our boys who could have crushed the NDC into pieces in the interest of peace.

About 100 supporters of the NDC in party T-shirts, led by Chairman Sofo Azorka, clashed with the demonstrators yesterday.

But for the timely intervention of the leaders of the protest, there would have been bloodshed in Tamale.

Chairman Bugri told DAILY GUIDE that the president should know that politics is not about my brother, father or uncle but has to do with the person who can do the work given him by Ghanaians.

It does not matter whether a president is from Akyem, Bole or Volta since Ghanaians voted for him.

He indicated that when the Supreme Court validated the election of President Mahama, Nana Addo who is peace-loving accepted the outcome to promote peace in the country.

Bugri Naabu thanked the police and the military for finally coming out to give protection to the demonstrators even though the NDC warned them not to do so.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the Deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Abayefa Karbo said that they have given the president a two-week ultimatum to reduce electricity and water tariffs in the northern region.

He indicated that if the president refuses to reduce the tariffs, they would organize a similar demonstration in the Upper East, Upper West and Western Region to compel the government to address their grievances.

They tell us that it is our brother we voted as president, what kind of brother does not care about our mothers, fathers, uncles, youth and the businesses that are collapsing as a result of economic mismanagement'.

Anthony Abayefa Karbo mentioned that Nana Addo has consistently advocated for the poor in society.

He explained that Nigeria turned to a 72-year-old man to save them, South Africa turned to Nelson Mandela, 74, and Ivory Coast turned to 72-year old man to put the country on the right path.

SADA is a sad story now, our own brothers, including the president and his classmates from GHANASCO came together and formed a board and shared the money to the extent that the president was embarrassed about it and when he came to the North, he failed to mention anything about SADA.

From Eric Kombat, Tamale
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region has challenged the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to produce evidence to substantiate its claim that there are over 76,000 foreigners on the electoral roll.

According to a statement signed by Koku Anyidoho, a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, the NPP's claim that Togolese voters are on Ghana's electoral roll as declared by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice Presidential Candidate of NPP, is untrue.

Korku Anyidoho threw the challenge in Ho recently when he addressed a press conference which was virtually turned into a mini rally of the party.

Dr. Bawumia on 18th August, 2015 told the press in Accra that an investigation by the party had revealed over 76,000 Togolese nationals on the voters' register of Ghana, particularly in the Volta region.

The figure, he said, represented less than 10 percent of the total number of foreigners and promised to make similar revelations from Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

He claimed that citizens from these countries which shared boundaries with Ghana had crossed the borders to register in order to vote in Ghana's elections.

His presentation formed the basis for the NPP's insistence of a new voters' register.

However, a year after the disclosure, Koku Anyidoho has challenged Dr Bawumia and the NPP to provide the remaining 90 percent of the evidence.

My brothers and sisters, where is the 90 percent plus that Bawumia promised to produce from Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and other neighbouring countries? he quizzed.

He added that Dr. Bawumia and the NPP deceived the Electoral Commission (EC) and also tarnished the image of Voltarians.

Koku claimed that it is precisely because he has not been able to make good his own promise of producing the extra 90 percent from other countries that makes it very convincing that Bawumia and the NPP deliberately chose Togo in order to paint the Volta Region black.

Why did he not take advantage of the just-ended voters' register exhibition exercise to present his evidence to the EC for the said names to be deleted? For sure, Bawumia does not have any evidence to back his false claims.

From Fred Duodu, Ho ( [email protected] )
Salaga, Aug. 22, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama on Monday said but for the timely intervention of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government the National Health Insurance Scheme would have collapsed.

He said the initial structures put in place by the scheme, initiated by the Kufuor Administration, would have been sustained only up till 2010, a situation that would have made mockery of the entire intervention.

President Mahama, who was addressing a rally at Salaga as part of his four-day campaign tour of the Northern Region, said since the NDC took over the administration of the country, the scheme had rather expanded.

The President earlier paid a courtesy call on the newly enskinned Kpembiwura, Banbanga Haruna, and inspected construction works on the Midwifery School project and the new Salaga District Hospital.

President Mahama explained that while National Health Insurance patients' visitation in 2008 was only nine million, the figure increased to 29 million by the close of 2015.

He said while expenditure for the payment to health facilities was only 183 million Ghana cedis in 2008, payment as at the end of 2015 was over one billion Ghana cedis.

"How can they say we have come to collapse the National Health Insurance Scheme when we have rather made such gains in the scheme?'' President Mahama asked.

He called on his political opponents to offer constructive criticisms that would accelerate the development of the country rather than mere empty criticisms that had characterised their 2016 political campaign.

On the development of Salaga, President Mahama said it occupied an important area in the political history of Ghana and government would do everything under its purview for them to recapture their past glories.

The President said apart from priding herself as the first biggest commercial centre with Europeans and other traders from North and West Africa, Salaga also, regrettably, was renowned as the biggest slave market in the country.

He said in helping them to recapture their past glories, government would construct all the town roads of Salaga apart from ensuring the completion of the on-going Tamale-Salaga-Makango road.

He said efforts would be made to begin and complete the Salaga-Kpandai road that was crucial for the internal commercial activities of the people.

On the 2016 General election, President Mahama said government had over the years initiated policies that had favoured the activities of Muslims in the country and called on them to support the NDC.

He said apart from instituting national holidays for Muslims by the Rawlings Government, the NDC, under his (President Mahama's) administration, had also expanded the Tamale Airport to international standards thereby airlifting the first batch of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca this year.

President Mahama said the Government would continue to extend electricity to communities despite the current challenges to ensure that the whole of Ghana was covered by 2021.

Earlier, the Kpembiwura gave the assurance that the people of Salaga South would support President Mahama to win the 2016 polls.

He said: "We will support you today, we will support you tomorrow ...so you should not entertain any fears as the whole of this area will give you our mighty support."

President Mahama took the opportunity to introduce Alhaji Ibrahim Dey Abubakar, the NDC Parliamentary candidate for Salaga South, to the people.

The President was accompanied by Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, the Minister of Roads and Highways, and Dr Edward Omane Boamah, the Minister of Communication.

GNA
The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto-Canada is organizing the first ever international exhibition to showcase Ghanaian culture, tradition and artifacts to the whole world.

It is therefore encouraging Ghanaian chiefs, traditionalist, priests and other leaders in their various Ghanaian communities to provide a background regalia to showcase their culture and tradition to make exhibition a success.

The exhibition which is in fact to give international recognition of Ghanaian heritage, culture, customs, tradition and artifacts especially like the nice crafted coffins by fishermen at Teshie in Accra and the Asafo flags would be held between September 18-20 2016.

These were disclosed by the Ghanas Consul General to Toronto Mr. John Bosco Kpebasani at the annual Ga-Adangbe Homowo festival celebration on August 20, 2016 at Luna Ball Rom.

What is more interesting is that there would be media representations from all international media that would give the exhibition wide coverage as to what Ghanaians have when it comes to heritage and culture whiles a full lecture would be given by Dr. Ato Quayeson he further disclosed.

Again, the consul general disclosed that for the first time the government of Ghana is going to hold a Diasporan Engagement Policy Validation forum in Toronto come September 3-4 2016.

According to Mr. Bosco Kpebasani, the policy is being adopted by the government to tackle the needs of Ghanaians living in foreign destinations.

He explained that the government of Ghana has taken note of the immense contributions Ghanaians living in the diaspora makes towards the supporting of the economy back home therefore the need to get their concerns to shape the policy to affect their lives positively.

Government has taken note of your immense contributions in supporting the economy therefore I will entreat all of you to attend the forum at and make inputs to shape up the policy during the forum he appealed to Ghanaians in Toronto.

The Consul General observed that the Ga-Adangbe Association of Toronto has relived Ghanaian culture by holding the annual Homowo festival in a foreign destination and praised both executives and members of the association for that.

He stated that culture is what really define Ghanaians as one people which without it, they would look like lost ship, so we should try and maintain it whiles we seek at all times to remain united.

Welcoming the gathering earlier, the president of the association, Mrs. Christiana Nuamah noticed that the association in the past has witnessed a significant increase in its membership.

But the more it grows the more members express concern about its strength in its relationship with other sister associations of which through a joint effort it would be able to reach its fundamental goal she observed.

On behalf of the association, Mrs. Christiana Nuamah, invited all other sister associations such as Ablekuma, La-Club, Krobo, Montreal and other companies to team up with the Ga-Adangbe Association of Toronto to come out with a formidable union to achieve it main purpose which is to put smiles on the faces of the children in the various Ghanaian communities.
Private legal practitioner Samuel Atta Akyea has described as constitutional lawlessness, President John Mahamas decision to free the three persons serving a four-month jail term for criminal contempt.

According to him, the president made a decision founded on partisan grounds and used same to rubbish the judiciary.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM's Super Morning Show with Kojo Yankson Tuesday, a day after the president remitted the sentences of the three persons, the Abuakwa South MP said it is unfortunate that the same people who said they will kill and rape judges have been left to go escort free.

The president, according to a statement issued on Monday, August 22, 2016, by Communications Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, granted a radio host with the Accra-based Montie FM Salifu Maase and two panelists, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako-Gunn freedom.

They were found guilty of scandalizing the court and sentenced to four months' imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The President's decision means that they would have served only one of the four months' sentence by the time they are released on August 26, 2016.

Atta Akyea believes that the president has told every Ghanaian that he is a president determined to do anything to please the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He explained that the President has proven by his action that when one speaks for him and rubbishes others, he will use the constitution to set them free if they are found guilty of an offence.

The MP said he was saddened that President Mahama could use the constitution to denigrate and rubbish the judiciary.

He noted that the president has the comfort to rule this country because of a decision of the Supreme Court without which he would not be president.

The Court dismissed a Presidential Election Petition challenging his election by a 5 -4 majority decision.

More soon...

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
23.08.2016 LISTEN

Dedication --- To Patrick Azumah, who is one of very few persons who really praised me for dropping out of university.

I want to refute some popular misconceptions about university dropouts. Yes, yours truly is a university dropout -- a very proud one though. First off, Sir Article believes that there are two kinds of university dropouts, namely the unfortunate university dropouts and the fortunate university dropouts. And I am a fortunate university dropout just like Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, Lady Gaga etc.

The fortunate ones dropped out purposely to pursue their ambitions fulltime. However, the unfortunate ones dropped out due to untoward circumstances such as dismissal, disease, poverty etc., and they desperately want to go back. These ones mostly stagnate or fail in life because they believe a degree is a huge guarantee of their success in life. But almost all the fortunate ones have succeeded and will definitely succeed since they are rare breed. Know the difference!

Moreover, fortunate university dropouts become really successful against all odds, simply because they understand true success and strive to achieve it. True success is never about making a fortune; wealth is just an end product of true success. In fact, true success is all about accomplishing your purpose in life to the full. I love how the late Dr. Myles Munroe, one of the world's greatest motivators ever, put it, "Success is you discovering your purpose and completing it before you die." Surprisingly, most folks attend and graduate from university to comply with the educational tradition, yet they end up struggling later in life. Why? They have not lived their purpose in life though they have the academic qualifications.

Now here are the 7 rare reasons why most university dropouts emerge successful against all odds:

(1) They took a life-changing risk:

Bill Gates, Elizabeth Holmes, Don Jazzy, Jan Koum etc. all took a life-changing risk by dropping out of university to focus on their entrepreneurial ambitions. They realised that pure risk-taking is a great requisite for true success in life, so they took a seemingly ridiculous risk which most people would never take. Those dropouts have become wealthy, powerful and famous than their schoolmates because they risked their schooling to chase their dreams fulltime.

(2) They pursue their discovered purpose in life:

Anyone who criticises or mocks me for dropping out of university seeks to undermine the value of my own purpose in life. I have discovered my purpose in life, that is why I no longer want to live just to suit the norm in society. My purpose is to impact a multitude of souls on earth with my talent of writing, and not just to graduate from university and get employed as an accountant because I studied business accounting. The latter is not my purpose in life but rather the former.

(3) They live self-education in their lifetime:

I always say that education differs from schooling in a million ways. I find it absurd when people tell me to go back to university because I need more knowledge. Really? I have always developed my soul with self-education not classroom lessons. I informally learn what most of my schoolmates never think of, and that is why I am smarter and more percipient. Hey, Bill Gates became a highly intellectual person after dropping out of university, mainly because he educated himself uncommonly as an avid reader.

(4) Their intuition remains supreme:

When I decided to drop out of university, I did not consult anyone because I knew they would all discourage me and call me foolish. So I only listened to my supreme intuition which actually compelled me to drop out. That was what the successful dropouts did. Fortunate university dropouts ignore naysayers, but they keenly follow their instincts.

(5) Passion is what defines them:

My good friend and former programme mate, Augustine Amponsah, really understood me when I told him last semester that I would surely drop out of our university. Why? He is one guy who accepts the fact that my innate passion for writing is what defines my whole being, and not mere university education. Yes, any university student who cannot dare drop out of university is not extremely passionate about something. Extreme passion is what compelled Wizkid to drop out of university just to pursue a fulltime music career.

(6) They are rare visionaries:

My lovely friend Boadicea Boateng Yeboah wondered why I could not pursue my programme of study and my writing potential at the same time. But I said that my corporate vision is to establish a writing empire in the world, and this vision is too big to be shared with academic studies; it needs my absolute commitment. That is why Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard University to commit his entire life to his rare vision of creating the world's largest social media platform, Facebook.

(7) They change the status quo:

Most people are really amazed that I proudly call myself a university dropout. They think I would look stupid one day if I eventually fail. Well, I strive to change the status quo by dropping out of university to start a talent-based firm so that I will be entirely successful. The average Ghanaian boy can never do such a thing, and that makes me a rebel who is changing the status quo. In fact, Oprah Winfrey did something similar by changing the status quo in her case.

Source: sirarticle.blogspot.com
Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, says President John Mahama still has an unfettered respect for all state institutions.including the judiciary.

Speaking on Joy FMs Super Morning Show, the presidents spokesperson said his bosses decision to remit the sentences of the Montie 3, does not in any way undermine the role of the judiciary but rather affirms his respect for the constitution.

President Mahama continues to respect state institutions, that is why he acted in accordance with the constitution.

He will continue to respect the powers conferred on state institutions and this includes the legislature, judiciary, executive, the media and citizens of Ghana which these institutions must serve. At all times he will ensure that he acts in a manner that does not offend the laws of our nation, he added.

The remission of the sentence of the host and two panelists of Accra-based Montie FM has shocked the nation.

The three  Godwin Ako Gunn, Alistair Nelson and Salifu Maase caused public outrage when they threatened to rape and murder justices of the Supreme Court during a political talk show.

The trio believed the Supreme Court did not rule justly when it ordered the Electoral Commission to delete names of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card registrants from the electoral roll.

The NHIS card had been ruled out as legitimate proof of citizenship by the Court in an earlier ruling.

The three were handed down a four-month jail term with a E10, 000 fine for each after they were convicted of criminal contempt on their own plea.

The Montie Three

However, following a petition signed by many bigwigs of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and thousands of grassroots supporters, President Mahama on Monday, August 22, 2016 remitted the sentence given the three known sympathizers of the party, despite advise by many including his lawyer, Tony Lithur, against it.

Related: It will be politically suicidal for Mahama to release Montie 3  Prof. Karikari

The three are expected to be released on Friday August 26, 2016.

The president has been sternly criticised by many for remitting the sentence of the three. He has been accused of doing so because they claim to be his supporters.

But Dr Omane Boamah said the president would have done this for any citizen of the country if he needed to and that he was in no way influenced by their relationship to his party.

The president has acted in strict compliance and has not acted in an unbiased manner, he has nothing to gain from being biased and he did not favour anyone.

Related: Counsel for Montie 3 lauds Mahama for remission of sentence

The president, he indicated, will continue to work with all state institutions because he is a law abiding citizen.

He said Mr Mahama acted in accordance with Article 72 of the constitution and that he was not whimsical or capricious and so he referred the matter to the council of state and they after a period submitted their advice and the president has taken a decision in consultation with the council of state.

The Communications Minister said the presidents decision means that although the three are out of prison, the fine they paid will still be with the state and the conviction still stands on their necks.

It is the unserved part if the term of imprisonment that has been wiped off, he stressed.

Speaking on Joy FMs Super Morning Show, the presidents spokesperson said his bosses decision to remit the sentences of the Montie 3, does not in any way undermine the role of the judiciary but rather affirms his respect for the constitution.

President Mahama continues to respect state institutions, that is why he acted in accordance with the constitution.

He will continue to respect the powers conferred on state institutions and this includes the legislature, judiciary, executive, the media and citizens of Ghana which these institutions must serve. At all times he will ensure that he acts in a manner that does not offend the laws of our nation, he added.

The remission of the sentence of the host and two panelists of Accra-based Montie FM has shocked the nation.

The three  Godwin Ako Gunn, Alistair Nelson and Salifu Maase caused public outrage when they threatened to rape and murder justices of the Supreme Court during a political talk show.

The trio believed the Supreme Court did not rule justly when it ordered the Electoral Commission to delete names of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card registrants from the electoral roll.

The NHIS card had been ruled out as legitimate proof of citizenship by the Court in an earlier ruling.

The three were handed down a four-month jail term with a E10, 000 fine for each after they were convicted of criminal contempt on their own plea.

The Montie Three

However, following a petition signed by many bigwigs of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and thousands of grassroots supporters, President Mahama on Monday, August 22, 2016 remitted the sentence given the three known sympathizers of the party, despite advise by many including his lawyer, Tony Lithur, against it.

Related: It will be politically suicidal for Mahama to release Montie 3  Prof. Karikari

The three are expected to be released on Friday August 26, 2016.

The president has been sternly criticised by many for remitting the sentence of the three. He has been accused of doing so because they claim to be his supporters.

But Dr Omane Boamah said the president would have done this for any citizen of the country if he needed to and that he was in no way influenced by their relationship to his party.

The president has acted in strict compliance and has not acted in an unbiased manner, he has nothing to gain from being biased and he did not favour anyone.

Related: Counsel for Montie 3 lauds Mahama for remission of sentence

The president, he indicated, will continue to work with all state institutions because he is a law abiding citizen.

He said Mr Mahama acted in accordance with Article 72 of the constitution and that he was not whimsical or capricious and so he referred the matter to the Council of State and they after a period submitted their advice and the president has taken a decision in consultation with the council of state.

The Communications Minister said the presidents decision means that although the three are out of prison, the fine they paid will still be with the state and the conviction still stands on their necks.

It is the unserved part if the term of imprisonment that has been wiped off, he stressed.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
Obuobia Darko-Opoku, the National Democratic Congress' parliamentary candidate for the Weija-Gbewa constituency has donated an ambulance to the Ga South Municipal Hospital in Accra to mark her 39th birthday anniversary.

The donation, according to the candidate, is borne out of her desire to improve health delivery in the municipality.

The hospital which serves several communities in the area is faced with numerous challenges including inadequate facilities to aid health officials in their work.

Speaking during the donation ceremony, Obuobia also promised to assist the facility to expand its overcrowded maternity block.

I know this may sound strange to many people, especially my opponents who think I do these things for political gains but that is far from the truth. If I was doing all these because of it, I would have been discouraged when I lost the 2012 elections.

But my commitment to helping others grew even stronger. Today, I have the opportunity to donate an ambulance to the Ga South Municipal Hospital, a gesture my heart has longed for the past few years. Exactly a year today, I used the same occasion to put smiles on the faces of persons with disabilities. It is my prayer that the ambulance and other equipment and accessories will help save lives of our citizenry, she said.

The Lordina Foundation, which belongs to the First Lady, Lordina Mahama, supported Obuobia with hospital accessories including beds, wheelchairs as well as medicines.

I'll want to thank the First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama, whom through her foundation  the Lordina Foundation  has supported me in diverse ways to make donations such as this today.

Mrs Mahama would have been here in person to make a personal donation to the Accident Ward, but she is out of the country on an equally important assignment. But her team is fully represented here to make the presentation on her behalf.

Anybody who has had the privilege of working closely with Mrs. Mahama will confess that kindness and giving is her second nature. She is sympathetic and kind-hearted to a fault. She struggles to be arrogant and ever ready to listen and share for the sake of humanity. I pray for God's blessings upon her and our loving President HE John Mahama.

May the act of giving and love for society continue to be part of us. May this ambulance save lives and may these equipment from our generous First Lady go a long way to heal millions. My birthday wish is for good health for us all as we look forward to a peaceful 2016 elections, Obuobia stated.



By: Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana
President John Mahama will not suffer any collateral electoral damage for remitting the remainder of the four-month jail term imposed on the Montie Three, Prof Stephen Kwaku Asare, a US-based Ghanaian lawyer has said.

According to him, no voter will either vote for or against the president in the December 7 polls just because he has decided to free the three convicts.

Prof Asare also said lawyers opposing the presidents action were only doing politics. According to him, Mr Mahama is not the only president of the fourth republic to have remitted the sentences of convicts, citing several examples done by former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Kufuor and John Mills. He, therefore, wondered why critics were fabricating a conflict situation between the Executive arm of government and the Judiciary in the case of the Montie 3.

He expressed disagreement with critics who say Mr Mahama was stampeded into granting the remission to the trio for political expediency since Ghana goes to the polls on December 7.

No media person should be sentenced to prison for expressing an opinion, Prof Asare said, asking: Why are they imprisoning media persons for expressing their opinion?

His views dovetail into sentiments expressed by the National Organiser of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Kofi Adams, who described critics of the presidents action as nation wreckers who do not respect constitutional democracy.

Critics such as former Attorney General Nii Ayikoi Otoo, legal practitioners Maurice Ampaw and Egbert Faibille Jnr., have all kicked against the remission granted the trio by the president. While Mr Ayikoi Otoo said Mr Mahama had proven to be a president for the NDC, Mr Faibille Jnr. said the president has undermined the authority of the Supreme Court. Mr Ampaw also argued that the president had succumbed to political expediency.

Mr Adams, however, told Chief Jerry Forson on Accra100.5FMs breakfast show, Ghana Yensom, on Tuesday 23 August that the president did nothing wrong in remitting the remainder of the four-month jail sentence imposed on Salifu Maase (Mugabe), Alistair Nelson, and Godwin Ako Gunn for scandalising the court and bringing its name into disrepute.

Mr Adams argued that just like Mr Mahama, past presidents including Mr Jerry John Rawlings, Mr John Kufuor and Prof John Mills also granted remissions to criminals and convicts, and thus President Mahama has done nothing unusual by exercising his prerogative of mercy.

A statement signed and released on Monday, 22 August, by Communications Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah said: The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has, in consultation with the Council of State and in exercise of his constitutional powers under Article 72 of the Constitution, remitted the remainder of the prison sentence imposed on three persons: Salifu Maase (alias Mugabe), Alistair Nelson, and Ako Gunn, who were sentenced to four months' imprisonment and a fine of GHS10,000.00 each for contempt of court. The remission is effective 26th August, 2016.

The three were sentenced on 27th July, 2016 and have served part of the prison sentences imposed on them. They have also paid the GHS 10,000.00 (ten thousand cedis) fines. The decision of His Excellency the President to remit their sentences on compassionate grounds follows a petition submitted to him by the contemnors appealing to the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy even as they continue to express deep remorse and regret for the unacceptable statements they made against the judiciary.

His Excellency President Mahama takes this opportunity to remind all Ghanaians of the need to respect the institutions of state and exercise freedom of speech responsibly mindful of the need to preserve peace and national unity. The president reminds all concerned especially persons working in the media or appearing on its platforms to be circumspect and guard against the use of intemperate language which has the potential of causing unnecessary tension especially in this election year.

The President is hopeful that all will draw lessons from the events leading to the conviction of the three persons and bear in mind the consequences of injudicious utterances.

But in a Facebook post moments after the announcement, Mr Faibille Jnr. said: President Mahama has attacked the judiciary in a most unacceptable manner with the remission of the sentences of the Montie 3.


The Sekyere Afram Plains branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ashanti region has taken delivery of motorbikes and recordable megaphones ahead of the December polls.

Simon Wiafe, the NPP Youth Organizer for New Jersey Chapter of the party in the US, used his own resources to purchase the motorbikes and megaphones.

Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka 'Wontumi', the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman, received the motorbikes on behalf of the party in Kumasi.

Mr. Wiafe, who has adopted the Sekyere Afram Plains Constituency, explained that the donation was to help the party campaign effectively.

Sekyere Afram Plains constituency is remote with bad road network so traveling to the various communities to campaign is tedious, he added.

Mr. Wiafe explained that the motorbikes would help the NPP officials in the constituency to travel to the hinterlands to canvass for more votes.

He stated that the presentation of the motorbikes and the recorded megaphones would not be a nine-day wonder, promising to assist the party in the coming days.

Mr. Wiafe said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration had virtually collapsed Ghana through the implementation of bad policies, entreating the electorate to vote for the NPP to save the country.

Wontumi expressed gratitude to Mr. Wiafe for the kind gesture, urging other party members in the Diaspora to emulate his shining example.

Joseph Owusu aka 'Odenkyem', the NPP parliamentary candidate for the constituency, gave the assurance that the NPP would win this year's elections.

From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
MOST OF the independent parliamentary candidates in the Ashanti Region are being sponsored by the ruling NDC, top NPP member has alleged.

Kennedy Kankam, the NPP parliamentary candidate for Nhyiaeso Constituency in Kumasi, made the wild allegation whilst addressing NPP members.

He said the NDC planned to snatch seats from NPP in the Ashanti Region, and have adopted the strategy of sponsoring independent candidates.

Kankam observed that the ruling political party was strategically pushing independent candidates at constituencies where NPP won with slim margins.

He said the independent candidates that the NDC was sponsoring were all claiming to be NPP members, in order to sway votes from the NPPs original candidates.

Kankam, who was speaking at the Asawase Constituency NPP campaign launch on Sunday, said it is not true that those independent candidates are NPP members.

He therefore urged the electorates to vote against all those imposters so that their ambition of reducing NPP parliamentary candidates' votes would fail.

Where were these so-called independent candidates who are claiming to be NPP members when the NPP were having their primaries? he asked.

Kankam entreated the electorates to vote massively for Nana Akufo-Addo and all NPP parliamentary candidates to form the next government.

He stated that Nana Akufo-Addo's 'one-district one-factory' promise is possible, warning the NDC and President Mahama not to steal the policy.

Kankam asserted that the NDC could not properly implement the NPP policies they (NDC) stole in the past, saying that the NDC are bad managers.

Christened as 'People's Forum', the highly attended campaign launch was transmitted live on Ashh FM and it was graced by party kingpins.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


The Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has charged Christians and preachers of the gospel to help instill the fear of God in the youth and rekindle the legacy of ethical and moral education in the country.

He also made a passionate appeal to the churches to make their auditoriums places of giving to the needy and not receiving only.

The Vice President congratulated the Methodist Church in particular, for the various roles it has played in nurturing the lives of students through education.

Mr Amissah-Arthur was speaking at the 9th Biennial and 47th Conference of the Methodist Church held at the Gaddiel Acqaah Cathedral of the church in Tarkwa in the Western Region.

The conference was on the theme Go and make disciples of all nations: Rekindling the Methodist Evangelical Heritage for Church Growth.

The Vice President indicated that he supported the idea of government giving back mission schools to the churches but pointed out that such initiatives take time to be concluded.

Rt. Rev Titus Awotwe Pratt, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana called on politicians to educate their followers to constructively engage agents of other parties in socio-economic and political discourses regardless of differences in opinions.

Politicians should encourage their supporters to refrain from any act that could lead to dispute, acrimony, agitation or violence of any sort, he added.

Rev Pratt also called on the government to cooperate with all other political parties in its bid to govern and develop the country while appealing to the media to make available their facilities for the promotion of love, harmony and unity among the citizens.

He disclosed that a recent survey conducted by the Ghana Evangelism Committee of the church revealed that there were a lot of towns and villages in the country that had no churches, particularly in the three northern regions, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Volta regions.

We have therefore adopted a workable strategy dubbed Vision 2020 aimed at planting at least 300 new churches by the year 2020.

The attention would be on the unreached areas adding that some of its members would be trained on one-on-one witnessing strategies to achieve the goal.

He indicated that the church had come out with a comprehensive health development agenda to guide the church in its efforts in healing the sick and promoting health in communities.

He therefore called on the General Director for Social Services of the Church to lead the process to develop a similar agenda for Environment, Agriculture, Rural Development, Gender and other family issues.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Tarkwa
A suspect who fled from Lebanon to Albany, topping speeds of more than 110 mph, was arrested by police on Monday at about 12:30 p.m., according to the Lebanon Police Department.

Robert Brady, 31, of Lebanon, was arrested on charges of attempt to elude, reckless driving, second-degree disorderly conduct and harassment.

At about 11:15 a.m., a caller at the Safeway parking lot in Lebanon, 1983 S. Main St., reported that a man hit him in the face and threatened to shoot him, according to a news release. The suspect left headed north on Main Street.

Lebanon police spotted the suspect vehicle at West Oak Street and South Fifth Street. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver sped through residential neighborhoods, running through multiple stop signs, the news release states.

The chase continued west on Highway 34, then north on Interstate 5, and Lebanon officers discontinued the pursuit.

Albany Police Department, Oregon State Police and the Linn County Sheriff's Office all were looking for Brady in the Albany area.

He was apprehended near Queen Avenue and Ferry Street by an LCSO deputy with help from an APD officer.

Although there was a report of a firearm made to authorities, investigation revealed that no firearms were seen, located or otherwise involved, according to the news release.
Group photo of authorities of the GSA and the traditional rulers of Akatakyiwa

The Ghana Shippers' Authority has acquired a 25-acre land at Akatakyiwa in the Central Region for the establishment of a freight park for the benefit of shippers along the Western corridor of Ghana.

The park, when completed, would be very crucial for the transportation of goods across the western corridor and serve as a key logistics enabler between Tema and Takoradi ports and production centres along the corridor.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Shippers' Authority (GSA), Sylvia Asana Dauda Owu, who revealed this to DAILY GIUIDE, noted that the freight park would serve both Tema bound trucks from Takoradi and vice-versa and also provide a critical interface for an efficient logistics value chain.

She explained that the GSA is mandated to promote and protect the interests of Ghanaian shippers.

She indicated that recent global trends have made domestic and international trade prevalent and competitive.

She stressed that major innovations in freight technologies like expanded shipping capacity, new logistics resources and communication infrastructure such as broadband, reduce the costs of trading goods within and among different countries.

The Authority has established facilities such as warehouses at the Tema Port, built the Takoradi Shipper's House and set up Shippers' Complaints and Support Units across the land borders of the country with the objective of supporting shippers to remain competitive in the international logistics chain, he indicated.

Deputy CEO of the GSA added that the authority had built a Logistics Platform in Takoradi to support the activities of the emerging oil and gas industries.

She also indicated that there were plans to establish the Northern Shippers' Centre in Tamale to cater for the shippers in the three Northern regions.

With this freight park serving as a critical link to markets outside of the western and central regions, the GSA has demonstrated again that with foresight and leadership, transportation can indeed be the catalyst for the country's economic transformation, she disclosed.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi
President John Mahama did nothing wrong by remitting the remainder of the four-month jail term being served by the Montie 3, Mr Abraham Amaliba, a legal practitioner and member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), has argued.

Are you telling me that these people have not been punished? This is the highest punishment for contempt in the history of the country, Mr Amaliba told Prince Minkah on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show on Tuesday 23 August.

Mr Amaliba also parried accusations by critics that the president, through his action, had undermined the authority of the Supreme Court which imposed the sentence on the three. As far as he is concerned, the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and other critics of the presidents action are just engaging in emotional talk.

A statement signed and released on Monday, 22 August by Communications Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah said: The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has, in consultation with the Council of State and in exercise of his constitutional powers under Article 72 of the Constitution, remitted the remainder of the prison sentence imposed on three persons: Salifu Maase (alias Mugabe), Alistair Nelson, and Ako Gunn, who were sentenced to four months' imprisonment and a fine of GHS10,000.00 each for contempt of court. The remission is effective 26th August, 2016.

The three were sentenced on 27th July, 2016 and have served part of the prison sentences imposed on them. They have also paid the GHS 10,000.00 (ten thousand cedis) fines. The decision of His Excellency the President to remit their sentences on compassionate grounds follows a petition submitted to him by the contemnors appealing to the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy even as they continue to express deep remorse and regret for the unacceptable statements they made against the judiciary.

His Excellency President Mahama takes this opportunity to remind all Ghanaians of the need to respect the institutions of state and exercise freedom of speech responsibly mindful of the need to preserve peace and national unity. The president reminds all concerned especially persons working in the media or appearing on its platforms to be circumspect and guard against the use of intemperate language which has the potential of causing unnecessary tension especially in this election year.

The President is hopeful that all will draw lessons from the events leading to the conviction of the three persons and bear in mind the consequences of injudicious utterances.

But in a Facebook post moments after the announcement, Mr Faibille Jnr. said: President Mahama has attacked the judiciary in a most unacceptable manner with the remission of the sentences of the Montie 3.
Lille (France) (AFP) - One Sudanese migrant was killed and another injured in clashes with Afghan migrants outside the French port of Calais, authorities said Tuesday.

The two migrants were among a group of people from the "Jungle" camp who tried to access a motorway to smuggle onto trucks crossing the Channel to Britain on Monday night, local police said.

In scenes that play out nightly, police pushed back the would-be stowaways.

A fight later broke out between groups of Afghans and Sudanese returning to the sprawling "Jungle", which is home to nearly 7,000 migrants from across Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

One Sudanese man died in hospital from stab wounds sustained in the clashes, the police said.

Another man was being treated for head injuries but was not in critical condition.

An investigation into the incident was underway.

The Sudanese man's death brings to 11 the number of migrants who have died this year in and around Calais, the main staging point in France for undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers trying to reach Britain.

A police source noted growing tensions in the area, where the number of attempts by migrants to halt trucks and jump aboard had grown from "five a night to around 15, 20" in recent weeks.

Last week, Calais authorities announced that the number of people living in the "Jungle" had shot up to 6,901 -- 2,415 more than in June.
[...]

(3) Gambia

We deplore the reported death in custody of Ebrima Solo Kurumah, a member of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), last Saturday.

According to information we have received, Mr. Kurumah passed away after he was taken to hospital for a surgical operation. He had allegedly been denied medical help on several occasions while in detention.

Mr. Kurumah was among the 30 members of the main opposition party sentenced to three years' imprisonment last July, following their participation in peaceful demonstrations to call for electoral reform and to protest against the death in State custody of the Chairman of the UDP youth wing, Solo Sandeng.

Other detainees have also reportedly been denied medical care in recent months.

We urge the authorities to investigate the death in State custody of Mr. Sandeng and Mr. Kuruma as well as allegations that detainees are denied access to medical care.

(4) Mauritania

We are concerned at the sentencing last Thursday of 23 people, including 13 members of a prominent NGO that campaigns against slavery, to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years for their alleged role in a riot in June.

The 23 individuals were found guilty by a court in Nouakchott of rebellion, physical assault of police officers, armed assembly and membership of an unrecognized organization.

On 20 June 2016, violent clashes with police forces took place during the eviction of some 400 families from a slum in Nouakchott, many of whom are themselves former slaves. Dozens of people, including 19 police officers, were injured.

We are deeply troubled by allegations that the trial was marred by irregularities and that some of those found guilty were not even present at the June protests. We urge the Mauritanian authorities to quickly review this case and to investigate allegations that some of the defendants were subject to ill-treatment or torture during their pre-trial detention.
The Government of Japan has been providing funds to local non-profit organizations through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) since 1989.

The Handing Over Ceremony of a GGP project The Project for Reusing Second-hand Fire Engines in Nairobi City County was held today at Nairobi City Hall, Nairobi. The Grant Contract of this project was signed on 16th of March 2016.

The project received a grant amounting to USD 66,381 (approx. Kshs 7.3 Million) to import 3 fire engines with pump and water tank and 1 chemical fire engine from Japan to be used in Nairobi City County. Technical training for handling the imported fire engines were also part of the project and 5 people from Japan Firefighters Association came to Nairobi from Japan for an 8 days training.

At the ceremony, H.E. Mr. Toshitsugu Uesawa, Ambassador of Japan explained that this is the first time the Japanese Government is funding a fire engine project in Kenya, due to the fact that by virtue of its size, the capital city has the largest number of fire disasters. Through referring to this project, he also described one of the major concepts of Japans assistance that the Japanese Government remain committed not just to aid and grants, but to enabling their partners to enhance their own capacities through Technical Training. He hoped that the 4 fire engines will increase the capacity for timely and effective response to fires and other disasters.

In closing his remarks, he mentioned about the 6th Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD VI) which would be held from 27th-28th August, 2016. He explained that it will bring a large number of African Heads of State and heads of development partners and will be the first TICAD Summit, since establishment in 1993, to be held outside Japan, and of course the first to be staged in Africa.
Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has welcomed the flow of first oil from the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntome (TEN) oil fields as the second producing oil field.

ACEP noted that this new baby is an indication that Ghana's oil and gas industry is growing and presents many opportunities for the government, the companies and the citizens however, expresses some worry.

In a statement signed by Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Executive Director of ACEP expressed that they are worried about the statement by the president of Ghana to the effect that the Ghana-Ivory Coast boundary dispute affected the TEN project as the provisional measures order from the international tribunal included an order prohibiting new oil wells in the field.

He noted that whilst we wait for the final ruling on the boundary dispute, they encourage the two countries to increase dialogue on the matter to ensure that the citizens of the two countries do not suffer any potential insecurity that could arise from the ruling.

According to him, they are however aware that producing oil is one thing but sustaining production and accounting for it is another.

He therefore urged government to ensure that the challenges encountered with the Jubilee FPSO are not repeated.

Dr. Amin indicated that the anchoring and rotation enabling system, called the turret mooring system, the flow metre as well as the compressor system must be subject to strict due diligence and quality assurance.

He emphasised that the flow meters ensure that the right volumes of oil are exported and revenue inflows could be accurately determined.

The Ghana Revenue Authority must in addition, ensure that the integrity of the measurement of oil produced is protected by installing parallel electronic seals in the pipelines of the FPSO to ensure electronic data transmission to onshore computerized centres to enable it monitor in real time the flow of oil from the field and to appropriately establish the tax liability of the oil companies, the statement noted.

Starting with 23,000 barrels of oil production daily and expected to peak at 80,000 barrels,

TEN has the potential to double government petroleum revenue, contribute to economic growth and provide job opportunities.

Dr. Amin said they are encouraged that the development of the oil fields provided room for Ghanaians to build the capacity of sector institutions and local firms through the local content initiatives particularly, the fabrication of some parts of the second Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Vessel in Ghana, such as the anchor piles and module deck stools, has laid the foundation for more oil industry fabrication works to be done in Ghana.

He urged that government should therefore invest in building the capacity of more Ghanaians and setting fabrication centres in strategic areas of the country to maximize benefits from the oil industry and to position Ghana as an alternative service hub to Nigeria in the sub-region.
The government has dismissed suggestions that most Ghanaians are against the decision taken by President John Dramani Mahama to pardon the two Montie FM panelists and host, who were charged of contempt and jailed by the Supreme Court.

Following the announcement of the President's decision to pardon the three in a statement signed by Communication Minister, Edward Omane Boamah, there has been a huge public debate on whether he made the right decision.

Within minutes, Montie 3 had become the top trending topic in Ghana on Twitter and Facebook, with many people sharing their opinions on the matter.

Although a few of those who commented supported the President's decision, a large number disapproved, with many accusing him of undermining the Judiciary.

Some Ghanaians also shared their thoughts on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday morning with most expressing their disappointment with President Mahama's decision.

However, the Deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, rejected assertions that most Ghanaians were not in favour of the decision, stating that, although the feedback was appreciated, it would be inaccurate to draw conclusions from the limited number of comments on radio and social media.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu

We do not believe that it's an unpopular decision bearing in mind that only a limited number of citizens can get access to radio stations at any particular time, he said on the Citi Breakfast Show

An overwhelming majority of Ghanaians may not get access to a radio station or any other platform to express their views. To the extent that there isn't a scientific basis to conclude that a majority of Ghanaians are against the decision, it could be a bit premature to draw that conclusion.

The president had been under pressure to pardon the three, after two separate petitions were presented to him, endorsed by some Ministers of State and senior members of his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Education Minister, Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, deputy Education Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur and Foreign Affairs Minister, Hanna Tetteh all endorsed the petition.

Other Ministers including Trade Minister, Ekow Spio Garbrah and Transport Minister, Fiifi Kwetey have visited the trio in jail.

But according to Felix Kwakye Ofosu, it would be wrong to suggest that only members of the NDC had supported the campaign to get the trio freed.

He believes that the support of persons with no affiliation with the party, as well some known members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and human rights advocacy group Amnesty International proved that others supported it.

It's not as if it was only NDC members or persons sympathetic to the NDC who have asked for this to be done. If I recall correctly, the first person to ask the President to invoke Article 72 was Profesor Kweku Asare who is a known sympathizer of the NPP. Also Ken Agyapong, a Member of Parliament for the NPP also called for remission except that he asked for two months remission but it was a remission nonetheless, he said.

There have been figures like Dr Nyaho Tamakloe who is a known long-standing member of the NPP who also signed a petition for this to be done. Amnesty International, perhaps the leading global human rights organization, also joined the fray and asked for pardons to be given on account of specific points that they made. Of course there are members of the public who belong to the NDC. Traditional leaders have all been involved in this. It is not accurate for it to be said that a majority of Ghanaians are against it.



By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Argentine Government condemns the terrorist attacks perpetrated in the city of Galkayo, Federal Republic of Somalia, which left over 20 dead and dozens injured.

The Argentine Republic extends its condolences and solidarity to the Somali Government and people, as well as to the victims families.

The Argentine Government reaffirms its determination to strengthen the fight against terrorism and to ensure international peace and security, within the framework of international law and respect for human rights.
The United States is deeply concerned by the death of Gambian opposition member Ibrima Solo Krummah, who reportedly died on August 20 while in government custody. We remain troubled by reports of the Gambian governments continued mistreatment of detained opposition figures, as evidenced by recent deaths and allegations of torture.

We call for an independent investigation of all credible allegations of torture and abuse, and for the Gambian government to provide for the humane treatment of all prisoners. We again call on the government of The Gambia to immediately release all political prisoners, including the 30 individuals sentenced last month and those arrested during the April and May demonstrations. We further urge the government of The Gambia to cease its sustained crackdown on political opposition members and supporters, and to respect the rights of all citizens to freedoms of expression and association without fear of retribution.
Today, Secretary of State John Kerry announced in Nairobi that the United States is providing more than $146 million in additional U.S. humanitarian assistance to support refugees, voluntary returnees, and drought victims in Kenya and Somalia. This new funding includes a significant new contribution of more than $59 million for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to protect and assist refugees in Kenya, and support voluntary refugee returns to Somalia. In addition, the funding includes new humanitarian assistance of more than $87 million in food and non-food support for refugees and drought victims in Kenya and Somalia. This announcement brings the total of U.S. humanitarian assistance in Kenya and Somalia to nearly $265 million in fiscal year 2016.

The funding announced today will support UNHCR and other international humanitarian organizations as they provide for basic survival of thousands of vulnerable people and durable solutions for refugees, and as they help assist with efforts to improve conditions for return inside Somalia. This contribution is available to support UNHCRs enhanced plan for the voluntary return and reintegration of Somali refugees from the Dadaab camps and to ensure that any returns that take place from Kenya are truly voluntary, safe and dignified, consistent with international law, and within the framework of the Tripartite Agreement among UNHCR, Kenya and Somalia.

In addition, U.S. assistance will help address humanitarian needs and support efforts to improve conditions across Somalia including hard to reach areas of south-central Somalia. This assistance will be implemented through a number of humanitarian organizations, and will support shelter, water sanitation, and hygiene, health and nutrition, and livelihoods programs for returnees in accessible areas of return. This is part of a longer term process to help develop the appropriate conditions and security in Somalia to one day support larger-scale Somali returns  for those who chose to repatriate voluntarily  from the region.

The United States remains committed to helping address the serious humanitarian concerns in Somalia and continued protection and assistance for refugees in Kenya and elsewhere in the region, and continues to urge the international community to contribute more resources to humanitarian appeals to support durable solutions for Somali refugees, many of whom have been in a protracted situation for more than two decades.
An out-of-state magazine salesman has been arraigned on rape, sodomy and sexual harassment charges stemming from a Philomath incident, a day after he was jailed on a harassment charge in a Corvallis incident.

LaDerrick Monquell McCray, 20, of Gulfport, Miss., pleaded not guilty Monday in Benton County Circuit Court to seven felony charges related to a rape case in Philomath and one charge of harassment Sunday in Corvallis. McCray has been booked at the Benton County Jail on $500,000 security.

All of the charges stem from incidents that occurred over the weekend in Philomath and Corvallis while McCray was working as a door-to-door magazine salesman, according to assistant district attorney Amie Matusko.

Matusko declined to share details of the alleged rape in Philomath, but she did say that the incident took place on Saturday and involved a victim that was a minor. She added that McCray's driver's license listed his residence as Mississippi and that he "has no ties to Oregon."

McCray was arrested Sunday in Corvallis after a woman reported that he "touched her in an offensive manner and made sexually suggestive statements" while McCray claimed to be selling magazines door-to-door from an out-of-state company.

According to Corvallis police, the woman reported that McCray led her from the doorway of her residence by putting his arm on her lower back and then insisting that she let him come inside. McCray later left and the woman called to report the incident to police. McCray was later located based on a description and arrested.

McCray has been charged with two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy, two counts of unlawful sexual penetration, one count of second-degree sex abuse and one count of harassment.

Court-appointed defense attorney Rob Corl is representing McCray in the case. McCray is next set to appear in court at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
Stephen Essien

23.08.2016 LISTEN

The Director for Tigo Business, Stephen Essien, has advised Ghanaian businesses to establish an online presence and move beyond mere connectivity to creating a digitalized SME market so they can attract new customers and improve on customer convenience.

At a meeting with various SMEs businesses in Accra, he revealed like most developing countries, Ghanas SME market is a key factor in driving the development agenda as it makes up 92 percent of the enterprise market and currently contributes roughly 70 percent to GDP.

He said despite these promising numbers, factors such as the challenging macro-economic landscape and inability to adopt a digital economy continue to hamper growth.

The Tigo Business Director encouraged SMEs to unlock their growth potential by digitizing their services. This he believes will transform how they do business in three ways  by widening their market size, improving customer experience and increasing employee productivity.

Highlighting the first benefit, Mr. Essien advised SMEs to get their business online to increase market size, become more agile and to make the most of new opportunities. The Internet allows for the elimination of geographic barriers to reach a wider and more diverse audience. Although simply building a website will not guarantee increased business, if it is marketed appropriately it can become a viable channel to reach new and existing customers.

He went on further to say businesses could also make use of search engine optimization tools to ensure their website is listed among top search results as this would drive traffic to their websites. Internet marketing has also proven to be more affordable, effective and more targeted than traditional marketing because every day, more and more Ghanaians are using the internet to find products and services they want to patronize, he said.

Touching on the other benefits of businesses going digital, Mr. Essien spoke of the ability to widen payment options for customers through mobile payments such as Tigo Cash and online payments. Through digital access, SMEs are also able to interact with customers online, video chat with suppliers, staff and customers, have sales staff connected with devices in store, share information securely across departments and stores, and even offer customers free WIFI in their stories, he added.

Finally, he mentioned that Tigo Business has invested in a number of tools and solutions to help businesses widen their access to market. They include advanced services like VPN over mobile, cloud computing and dedicated internet services through several hundreds of thousands of kilometers of fibre network underlying the countrys major cities which has vast resources that businesses can tap into.
Yesterdays demonstration by the coalition of opposition parties in the Northern region, against the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government, is a clear indication that the hardship in the country has reached a crescendo.

Prior to the demonstration, the coalition had given the President an ultimatum to address the concerns of the suffering masses, including killer electricity tariffs, collapse of businesses, escalating unemployment, the increasing economic hardship, among others.

But the defiant and insensitive Mahama government, whose functionaries are more concerned about the unpatriotic agenda of lining their pockets, and how to perpetuate their ill-administration, blatantly ignored the coalitions demands.

President Mahama is on the campaign tour appealing to Ghanaians to extend his mandate for another four years, even though the last eight years of his NDC government has witnessed the worst form of mismanagement in all sectors of the economy, resulting in the current untold hardship foisted on Ghanaians.

The masses in the Northern Region, just like the rest of Ghanaians, are now of the firm conviction that the NDC government under the watch of President Mahama is steering the affairs of the country the wrong way.

They have realized that the better Ghana that was promised by the Mahama government has become a bitter Ghana. And the reason accounting for this is simple: Mr Mahama and his appointees came to steal, kill and destroy Ghana.

The nation is virtually on its knees: businesses are collapsing; unemployment is on the rise; people cant pay their rent and utility bills; others even cant feed their families. Ghana has sunk to its lowest ebb ever, with President Mahama and his government now struggling to get the basic things right.

The people simply cannot endure another four years of the current excruciating hardship under this incompetent, inept and corrupt Mahama government whose functionaries see politics or governance as a means to creating opportunities for family relations and friends to create, loot and share the nations resources.

That is the current state of affairs in the country, as we prepare for the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.

But, the frustrated masses in the Northern Region, as well as all Ghanaians, can take consolation in the fact that all is not lost, as we have the opportunity to reverse the situation for better through the upcoming elections.

Ghana can work again for the collective good of the masses, but that will only happen after the Mahama government has been shown the exit from the corridors of power.

A divine responsibility is therefore placed on all well-meaning Ghanaians to join the effort at saying good riddance to bad rubbish at the December 7 polls. And the reason is simple: the people cannot endure another four years of hardship under the failed Mahama government.
Dr Willem Visser, Head of Dermatology, Stellenbosch University has been awarded the LOreal African Hair & Skin (www.LOreal.co.za) research grant for his research on Acne keloidalis nuchae (AKN) (www.AfricaDerm.com). The award is open to all dermatologists and African PhD students specialising in the science of skin and hair.

Acne keloidalis nuchae (AKN) is a skin and hair condition that predominantly affects males with afro-textured hair and patients of African or mixed descent. AKN affects the nape of the neck and produces pustules, results in permanent hair loss and large areas of scarring. AKN may also affect areas beyond the nape of the neck. Dr. Vissers study aims to investigate the earliest manifestations of its spread. The descriptive studys objective is to describe the dermatoscopic and histopathological features of sub-clinical or early acne keloidalis nuchae.

For patients or men in the community who are concerned about this disorder, the study aims to empower dermatologists to identify early markers of disease. For patients who are already diagnosed with AKN and in the care of a dermatologist, this study will aim to provide clinical tools to assess further spread of the disease. According to Dr Visser If this disease is diagnosed early on, treatment may be initiated sooner and the distress associated with this disorder may be significantly lessened.

The grant supports a one-year research project in Sub-Saharan Africa and the winner receives an amount of 10 000 Euros. The research grant aims to promote clinical and basic research on ethnic skin and hair physiology conducted by African scientists in Africa.

LOreals Research & Innovation team is passionate about information sharing and ongoing research when it comes to hair and skin. Our recently inaugurated Research & Innovation Center in Johannesburg will collaborate with the African scientific ecosystem, universities, dermatologists, natural biodiversity centers as well as hairdressers, explains Dr Michele Verschoore, Medical Director, LOreal Research & Innovation.

Focus areas for the research projects includes:

Skin immunology

Skin photobiology

Wound healing

Skin color, skin pigmentation

Skin barrier function, Stratum Corneum

Skin neurophysiology/itch sensitive skin/heat sensation

Skin aging

Skin tissue engineering

Sebaceous physiology and oily skin epidemiology

Hair characterization

Biology of hair growth

Hair pigmentation

Hair loss

The jury is made up of seven African and two international experts with the necessary expertise in their respective areas. Jury member and renowned dermatologist, Professor Ncoza Dlova from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal described the research as Relevant, practical, important and innovative. To learn more about the L'Oreal African Hair & Skin Research Grant visit www.AfricaDerm.com
The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSSAG), has said they are not perturbed by the decision of President John Dramani Mahama to pardon the Montie FM trio, who were charged for contempt and jailed by the Supreme Court.

The President on Monday August 22, freed the three; Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and Salifu Maase, alias Mugabe, who had been sentenced to four months in jail and fined Ghc10,000 after they threatened the lives of judges in the country.

Critics say the President's decision undermines the judiciary but Alex Nartey, President of JUSSAG told Citi News' Fred Djabanor, that such is not the case.

I have said that, this remission for Mugabe and co will not affect us in a way. We are still growing as a nation so everything that happens is an opportunity for us to learn and gain experience from.

He added that we will not allow it to dampen our spirit or affect our legitimate responsibilities.

It is an issue that has happened as a national issue and we will look at it objectively as a national issue that we have to deal with.

Montie three pardoned on compassionate grounds

A statement signed by the Minister of Communications on Monday, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, said that the President took the decision on 'c ompassionate grounds ' given the remorse they had demonstrated.

The decision of His Excellency the President to remit their sentences on compassionate grounds follows a petition submitted to him by the contemnors appealing to the President to exercise his prerogative of mercy even as they continue to express deep remorse and regret for the unacceptable statements they made against the Judiciary, the statement said.

Alex Nartey further urged politicians not to intimidate Ghanaians with powers given them by Ghanaians.

Why must a true Ghanaian be scared, I don't believe in that. The politicians I meet, I tell them that they should not deceive themselves into thinking that they are more powerful than the ordinary Ghanaian, not even the least Ghanaian is vulnerable as far as political power is concerned. What can they do? The worst is to use security apparatus to frustrate the person and you don't gain anything from it. Me as a Ghanaian, there is nothing I am afraid of. I would prefer to die as a victim of injustice than to live as a beneficiary of injustice. When it comes to the truth, I'm prepared to go with the truth than to please any human being who espies in terms of power and life, he indicated.

Mahama has set unnecessary precedent

Meanwhile, a private legal practitioner, John Ndebugri, has suggested that President Mahama's decision is likely to put pressure on successive governments to pardon persons who commit similar offences in future.

As far as the legal and constitutional aspects of the action are concerned, I will not say that he acted improperly, especially as he has consulted with the Council of State. I have my doubts whether politically it has been correct for him to take the action he has taken. He has set a precedent, two of them in fact, and the future is unpredictable in that respect, he added.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has disclosed that his government shall establish an Office of Special Prosecutor, within the first six months of his administration, when, God-willing, he wins this year's elections.

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, the Special Prosecutor, to be established by Act of Parliament, will be independent of the Executive, and possess an exclusive remit to investigate and prosecute certain categories of cases and allegations of corruption, including those involving alleged violations of the Public Procurement Act and cases implicating political office holders and politicians.

Prosecutions of such persons, he stressed, will no longer be tainted by perceptions of witch-hunting and selective justice.

The NPP flagbearer made this known on Monday, August 22, 2016, whilst addressing the 16th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, at Abetifi, Kwahu, in the Eastern Region.

Announcing a raft of measures to deal with the toxic issue of corruption, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was the Special Guest at the General Assembly, explained that a successful Ghana can only be built on the basis of good governance, underpinned by efficient and honest public services. This requires that we succeed in eliminating corruption.

In order to restore Ghana's reputation, which, sadly, over recent years, has become a byword for corruption, the NPP flagbearer stated that, firstly, he, together with his team, will give the requisite leadership, which is lacking under President Mahama.

Public service is for me exactly that  public service. Anyone who joins my team to make money out of public office will not be welcome. Money is made in the private sector, not in public office. I will be strict in my supervision of this principle, he assured.

Secondly, Nana Akufo-Addo stressed that his government will be scrupulous in enforcing the teachings of the Public Procurement Act (Act 663), which confine sole sourcing of public contracts to exceptional circumstances, and not the norm, as is the case under the Mahama government.

Inflated contracts, which are currently the bane of our public finances, will be things of the past. Competitive bidding is the best protection of value for money in our public transactions, and will be the consistent mechanism for undertaking such transactions. The era of sole sourcing will come to an end, he said.

The NPP flagbearer further added that an efficient and honest reordering and prioritization of the country's public expenditure will enable us to devote more resources to enhance the capacity of our anti-corruption agencies. It is essential that they have the means to lead the fight against corruption.

He continued, We will support all moves to give Parliament greater oversight capability over the activities of the Executive. This will give true meaning to the principles of separation of powers and accountable government.

Nana Akufo-Addo, therefore, appealed to the Presbyterian Church to give critical support to the next NPP government, God-willing, as it undertakes these crucial steps. Our very future depends on their success.

With barely a little over 3 months to the holding of this year's elections, the NPP flagbearer asked for prayers for the peace of the nation, so that the country emerges from the elections as a more united country.

Add prayers for God's guidance to members of the Electoral Commission, so they can make transparent and fair arrangements for the electoral contests to enhance the stability of our country. And please pray for the NPP and myself, that I will be given, by Almighty God, wisdom, strength, courage and compassion to enable me carry out my duties as a good leader.

And finally, I ask that you pray that, during this election campaign period, those who seek for votes from the people come with malice towards none and love towards all, he concluded.


The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo has described the outgoing Moderator of the Presby Church Professor Emmanuel Martey as a remarkable man who has given contemporary meaning to the concept of a true Presbyterian: fearless, hardworking and passionate about the pursuit of justice.

Describing the entire period in office of reverend Martey as a most refreshing time, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that there has certainly not been one boring moment during his tenure as Moderator, as he has rendered service to the Church, to Ghana and to mankind.

According to him, we, who are politicians, might not always have been comfortable with some of his pronouncements (and as the Moderator knows, I have firsthand experience of that!); but I suspect Professor Martey would not consider it his duty to put any politician in a comfort zone.

He continued, It is not his style, and it is fair to say he has kept his eyes firmly on his primary goal of protecting the vulnerable and disadvantaged, as he has spoken some very uncomfortable truths. His energy and ever challenging opinions have brought public discourse to a higher level in our country.

The NPP flagbearer made this known on Monday, August 22, 2016, whilst addressing the 16th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, at Abetifi, Kwahu, in the Eastern Region. The General Assembly, amongst others, is set to select a successor to the outgoing Moderator.

Nana Akufo-Addo further noted that Prof. Martey, whilst as Moderator, conducted himself with dignity and elegance even when faced with extreme provocation, stating that it has certainly been a joy and a good lesson for the rest of us to have had the privilege of watching him.

I don't know what ex-Moderators do, but something tells me we shall be hearing more from this irreplaceable man. His voice will certainly be needed as we go into this election period and beyond, he added.

The NPP flagbearer prayed for God's guidance for the church in the selection of a new Moderator, praying for one who can fill these huge shoes that he is leaving behind.
23.08.2016 LISTEN

From InusaMusah, Ashaiman

Joseph Osei Oppong Brenya, aide and communications director for Daniel Obinim, founder of God's Way International Church, says his boss is not afraid to meet the police.

According to him, though the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVSSU) of the Tema Police had invited Daniel Obinim through a letter, the Bishop was yet to sight the letter.

Daniel Obinim is alleged to have physically assaulted two minors of his church for fornicating. The victims, according to Joseph Osei Oppong Brenya, were Daniel Obinim's adopted children, and the church and parents of the victims had strongly defended the actions the bishop took against their children in public.

Following the alleged assault on the minors, the Tema DOVSSU served Daniel Obinim a letter to appear before it, but the communications director of Daniel Obinim told The Chronicle yesterday that, the said letter was delivered late Friday, after his boss had left Tema for Kumasi, for a church service on Sunday.

The letter was, therefore, received by some staff of the church on behalf of Mr Obinim, Joseph Brenya explained.

Bishop Obinim would be in Accra on Monday, for a church service on Tuesday in Tema and I can promise you that as soon as he arrives and he is given the letter, he will report at the Tema DOVVSU, he said.

Daniel Obinim, he continued, respects the laws of the state and so it is never true that he was dodging the police so that he would be declared wanted by some media houses.

Joseph Oppong Brenya said the matter would not affect his boss' spiritual encounter and service to God, man and country.

Meanwhile, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, Public Relations Officer of the Tema Police Command, said all efforts to get Obinim had been unsuccessful, and so police commands in Accra and Ashanti Region, where he had branches, had been informed to get Obinim served should he be spotted.
Ile de Sainte-Marie (Madagascar) (AFP) - Police investigating the double murder of two French volunteers on an island off Madagascar have arrested five suspects.

Authorities arrested four people who were at the same nightclub as the two victims on Sunday, but have not yet established a firm link to the murders.

Prosecutor Thierry Rajaona Lauret, who is running the investigation, said a fifth suspect -- a French national living on the resort island of Sainte Marie -- was arrested on Tuesday morning.

There is "no doubt" the two volunteers were murdered, police said. "We just need to determine a motive."

The bodies of the two French citizens, a man and a woman aged in their 20s, were found Sunday on a beach of Sainte Marie with head injuries.

They had been volunteering at Cetamada, a local environmental non-profit organisation working to protect ocean mammals.

According to authorities on Sainte Marie, an island famous for eco-tourism, it is the first time French citizens have been murdered there.

In 2012, a French couple was found dead on a beach in southern Madagascar.

A year later, two Europeans were attacked and killed by a mob on the northwest island of Nosy Be, suspected of involvement in the death of an eight-year-old local boy.
The Ranking Member of Parliamentary Committee on Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, Joe Osei-Wusu has described the Council of State as a haven for scoundrels following the announcement by government that the four -month jail sentencing of the Montie trio have been remitted.

President John Dramani Maham,a in consultation with the Council of State, has remitted the remaining of the prison sentence imposed on the three Contemnors, Salifu Maase, Alistaire Nelson and Ako Gunn according to a statement from the Ministry of Communication on Monday.

The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has, in consultation with the Council of State and in exercise of his constitutional powers under Article 72 of the Constitution, remitted the remainder of the prison sentence imposed on three persons: Salifu Maase (alias Mugabe), Alistair Nelson, and Ako Gunn, who were sentenced to four months' imprisonment and a fine of GHS10, 000.00 each for contempt of court. The remission is effective 26th August, 2016.

The three were sentenced on 27th July, 2016 and have served part of the prison sentences imposed on them. They have also paid the GHS 10,000.00 (ten thousand cedis) fines, portions of statement said.

But the granting of remittance to the men infamously known as Montie Three, according to Mr. Owusu, is unfortunate.

Speaking in an interview with an Accra-based radio Class FM, the former DVAL boss said he found the actions of the president and Council of State dangerous.

Every country rests firmly on some pillars of state. One such pillar is the Council of State. Rather than standing firm and being a pillar, statesmen and women, they have chosen to be partisan and I regret that very much. They have become an anchor for misconduct rather than the pillars of state, he said.

He continued: People who misconduct themselves will petition and the Council of State will say: On compassionate grounds, give it to them, release them rather than the Council of State standing firmly and saying: No, this state must be protected from miscreants; people who abuse their constitutional powers must be punished. These statesmen and women have become supporters of miscreants, those who misconduct themselves and abuse the constitutional rights they have.
They have been scheming for him for quite a while now; and even once while on the hustings in the Volta Region, President Mahama had the temerity to taunt the New Patriotic Party (NPP) leadership as follows: Where is your Chairman? And so it comes as all too logical for Mr. Abraham Amaliba, the member of the so-called NDC Legal Team, to be throwing an open public invitation to the indefinitely suspended New Patriotic Partys National Chairman, Mr. Paul Afoko, to cross ideological lines into the fold and membership of the National Democratic Congress (See Afoko Should Defect to NDC  Amaliba Classfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 8/20/16).

It is an all-too-logical invitation because even as a legitimately elected National Chairman of the countrys main opposition New Patriotic Party, Mr. Afoko was widely known to have been zealously working for the interest of the Mahama regime. Several times, he was reported to have been sighted in the jolly company of some NDC movers and shakers, especially as Mr. Afokos legal joust with the executive membership of the NPP heated up.

What would be more interesting to learn is what position Mr. Amaliba and his associates intend to offer Chairman Afoko as an incentive for crossing the Rubicon, assuming that he so decides. For instance, is the NDC leadership willing to bump Chairman Kofi Portuphy and replace the latter with the estranged NPP Chairman who just suffered a massive political heart-attack in his suit against his party in the Accra Human Rights Court?

Or maybe like Presidents Nkrumah and Sekou Toure, the NDC leadership intends to name Mr. Afoko to the yet-to-be-created position of NDC Co-Chairman? That the man sued to be returned to the post from which he was duly suspended in the Accra Human Rights Court, ought to gravely inform Mr. Amaliba and his associates that Mr. Afoko envisaged his post as NPP National Chairman as his birthright, in much the same manner as human life has been known to be ineluctably dependent on a constant supply of oxygen. In other words, offering Mr. Afoko mere membership among the ranks of the NDC apparatchiks couldnt be more insulting to the intelligence of the Bolgatanga native. But that his all along predictably frivolous lawsuit should be dismissed by the Accra Human Rights Court, is all the more to be heartily celebrated, if also because such dismissal righteously affirms the deliberately impeccable democratic credentials of the leadership of the countrys largest opposition party.

Whether Mr. Afoko decides to appeal his case against the NPP or not, at this juncture, is clearly beside the point. His previous attempts to finesse the NPP leadership makes Mr. Afoko decidedly a persona non grata. He may deliriously keep fooling himself into thinking and believing that he is still the substantive and duly elected National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party. But the grim reality of his status is that the position comes with clearly defined and articulated responsibilities, and even as the Human Rights Court unreservedly affirmed, Chairman Afoko flagrantly, and blatantly, breached the primary responsibilities that came with his distinguished status as NPPs National Chairman. I have said this before in the recent past and hereby repeat the same: that more time than was necessary had been wasted by the partys leadership in litigating with Messrs. Afoko and Sammy Crabbe, the suspended Second-Vice Chairman of the NPP, whose suit against the partys top hierarchy was also dismissed earlier on by the Accra Human Rights Court. And so maybe Mr. Amaliba and his associates may want to add Mr. Crabbe to their invitation of having Mr. Afoko join their hoodlum pack.

Indeed, if as Mr. Amaliba claims, Mr. Afoko is not liked by the NPP leadership, maybe it would be more instructive for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) board member to equally appreciate the stark fact that it takes two to tango. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Afoko is no angelic choirboy. He has his own foibles like the rest of us humans. I am also certain that Mr. Amaliba is well aware of the scandalous case of Mr. George Boateng, the former NDC District Youth Organizer from Ofankor, Accra, who was driven out of the party like a wild animal by Mr. Asiedu-Nketia, the NDCs General-Secretary, because Mr. Boateng had dared to contest Mr. Mahama for the partys 2016 presidential nomination. You see, if you live in a straw hut, the last thing you ought to indulge in is a contest of flame-throwing.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

English Department, SUNY-Nassau

August 20, 2016

E-mail: [email protected]
June 30, 1942  Aug. 20, 2016

Kathryn Kate A. Haberkorn, 74, of Lebanon, died Saturday, August 20 at the Samaritan Evergreen Hospice House.

Kate was born June 30, 1942, in Portland, the daughter of Frank and Betty (Rhinehart) Green. She moved to John Day as a child and later returned to Portland where she graduated from Madison High School.

Kate then entered the Navy for the first time, serving 4 years before her discharge. She then was a homemaker before reentering the Navy. She married Charles Chuck Haberkorn on June 9, 1972, in Denver, Colorado and received an Associates Degree from Mt. Diablo Community College in Concord, California in 1973. Kate was discharged from the Navy in 1977 and moved to Oregon.

Kate had worked locally for the State of Oregon unemployment office and then the U.S. Forest Service until her retirement in 1999.

Kate enjoyed raising and breeding dogs, attending dog shows, bowling, softball and all sports.

She is survived by her husband Chuck; children Brenda Ireland and Daniel Maurice of Lebanon; Scott Haberkorn of Albany, Robin Purkerson of Kenia, Alaska and Mark Haberkorn of Great Falls, Montana; brother Chris Jackson of Banks; sister Marsha Sheffield of Sutherlin; nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, August 26, at the Lebanon IOOF Cemetery. Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Samaritan Evergreen Hospice in care of Huston-Jost Funeral Home, 86 W. Grant St., Lebanon, OR 97355.
Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection says, children learning languages other than their mother tongue could serve as a foundation for building a peaceful society.

According to the sector Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, says women must emphasize peaceful co-existence to children in their care so they can tolerate others.

She believes if children learn and speak one or two other languages besides their mother tongue, they will better appreciate other people and their culture.

Nana Oye was speaking in Kumasi, at the 37th National Annual Convention of the Lajna Imaillah of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women Association of Ghana.

The Minister reminded the Muslim women that Ghana is not any special from other countries which have suffered the scourge of war.

She pointed out such nations, including Ghanas neighbours, which were plunged into unpleasant situations because the people failed to live in peace.

I believe that as individuals if we continue to promote values that enhance our peaceful coexistence in our societies we will enjoy socio-economic growth, political stability and ultimate happiness for all, she intimated.

In attendance also was Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Marietta Appiah Brew-Oppong who re-affirmed governments commitment to public security, especially, during the election period.

This years conference of the Ahmadiyya Muslim women was under the theme, 'Peaceful Co-existence in our Contemporary Society; a Concern for All.

Ameer of the Ahmadiyyaa Muslim Mission Ghana, Mori Ahmed Thima, stressed what he describes as inner peace as condition for a peaceful society.
Senior lawyer with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Nana Ato Dadzie has said President John Mahama simply exercised executive power by freeing the Montie 3.

He said suggestions that the president ought to have borne in mind restrictions on his powers in the constitution in taking the decision were not grounded in law.

The restrictions, found in Article 296 of the Constitution, he maintained, relate only to discretionary powers.

The Power of Prerogative of Mercy exercised by the president under Article 72 in remitting the four months prison sentence of the three pro-NDC communicators is an executive power, he told Joy FM's Super Morning Show host, Kojo Yankson.

President Mahama Monday August 22, 2016 ordered the release of three persons  Salifu Maase, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn  from prison.

They are to come out on Friday, August 26, 2016 by which time they would have served one month out of a four-month prison sentence imposed on them by the Supreme Court.

They were convicted on their plea by the Court for criminal contempt after threatening to murder and rape judges hearing a case questioning the validity of the electoral roll.

The contemnors petitioned the president to exercise his powers under 72 of the constitution and grant them pardon, immediately the sentences were handed down.

Acting on the petition in consultation with the Council of State, the president remitted the remaining three months of the sentence.

The convictions and 10,000 cedis fine imposed on each of the convicts however stand.

The Presidents action has been described as constitutional lawless with some saying it flies in the face of restrictions imposed on the presidents powers by the constitution.

Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution says: Where in this Constitution or in any other law discretionary power is vested in any person or authority -

Related: President Mahama still respects judiciary  Omane Boamah

(a) that discretionary power shall be deemed to imply a duty to be fair and candid;

(b) the exercise of the discretionary power shall not be arbitrary, capricious or biased wither by resentment, prejudice or personal dislike and shall be in accordance with due process of law; and

(c) where the person or authority is not a judge or other judicial officer, there shall be published by constitutional instrument or statutory instrument, regulations that are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution or that other law to govern the exercise of the discretionary power.

Private legal practitioner, Samuel Atta Akyea, said the presidents action was clearly biased because it was founded on partisan considerations.

Nana Ato Dadzie who was lead lawyer for the contemnors, however, disagreed.

I want us to understand that we are talking about prerogative of mercy, these are specific powers vested in the presidenthe has the powers to grant mercy and they are executive powers, not discretionary powers, he asserted.

Dean of the GIMPA Law School, Mr. Ernest Kofi Abotsi, however, disagreed with him.

He contended that Ghanas constitution does not confer unfettered powers on anyone or government.

He said the history and genesis of the power of prerogative of mercy may connote an unfettered power but the Supreme Law of Ghana does permit any such power.

When you speak of something as a prerogative in law, you are speaking of absolute power; power that is unchecked. In the context of the Constitution, there is no prerogative and that is why the use of the word prerogative by the Constitution itself createsa conceptual difficulty, he said.

Related: Counsel for Montie 3 lauds Mahama for remission of sentence

That notwithstanding, Mr. Abotsi argued that If you look at the Constitution as a unique document and a coherent document, one will come to the conclusion that ultimately, every concept is liable and subject to the overriding values in the constitutionin this case the issue of the limitation on the powers of the president. Therefore all powers of government in principle are limited.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Malik Abass Daabu (Twitter @MalikDaabu)
An Accra magistrate court has remanded the two police men alleged to have attempted to rob an Nkawkaw GCB bullion van, leading to the death of the van driver.

The two, Corporal Elvis Mesnah and Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi, have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, and murder.

Their attempted robbery led to the death of the driver, David Kofi Sarpong, aged 52, after a heated exchange of gunfire between the police officer in the van and the suspects.

The two were arrested following the incident, but they subsequently escaped .

The escape of the two led to clashes between the police and angry residents in the Afram Plains district, who alleged that the Police allowed the suspects to escape.

Afram Plain protests

The initial escape led to protests in Donkorkrom, Maame Krobo and Tease with the protesters vandalizing the police station and some properties.

Police in the areas fled their post following demonstrations. The IGP has since announced a withdrawal of police personnel from the areas, until the residents help to fix the vandalized stations.

Police may rescind decision to leave Donkorkrom if  IGP

Meanwhile, the Inspector General Police (IGP), John Kudalor, has indicated the administration may review its decision to withdraw personnel from Donkorkrom and its surrounding communities, after a security assessment on Monday.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Sokoto (Nigeria) (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday praised Nigeria for its recent gains against Boko Haram Islamists but did not endorse military claims that the group's leader Abubakar Shekau has been wounded.

Speaking at a press conference in the ancient northern city of Sokoto, Kerry congratulated Nigeria for reclaiming swathes of territory and releasing thousands of hostages from Boko Haram while warning against the use of excessive force to fight extremists.

Nigeria has made "important progress", Kerry said. "Nigeria and its neighbours are degrading Boko Haram's capabilities."

But the top US diplomat cautioned against a heavy-handed response and emphasised respect for human rights.

"It is understandable that, in the wake of terrorist activity, some are tempted to crack down on anyone and everyone who could theoretically pose some sort of threat," Kerry said.

"But extremism can't be defeated through repression or fear. Fear instilled through repression invites not confidence but contempt," Kerry said, "it creates terrorists, trust creates citizens."

His cautionary message came hours after Nigeria's military claimed to have hit the elusive Shekau in an airstrike on the Islamist group's forest stronghold, saying he was "fatally wounded on his shoulders" during an "unprecedented and spectacular" Friday raid.

The army has not provided any further evidence that Shekau was wounded.

- 'Strong start' -

Nigeria has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous raids only for the leader to surface shortly afterwards in videos.

Steering clear of any potential embarrassment, Kerry made no mention of the claim that Shekau -- Boko Haram's leader since 2009 -- had been wounded and did not take questions from the press.

This week Kerry is on a three-nation tour focussed on counterterrorism that sees him visiting Kenya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

His meetings have focussed on defeating the terrorist threats across the continent, from Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabab in East Africa to Islamic State-backed Boko Haram in the West.

"You have made a strong start at all levels of government," Kerry said about Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

The much-needed support comes as Nigeria is heading into a likely recession and is wrestling with a growing humanitarian crisis in the north.

In Sokoto, Kerry urged Nigerians to transcend "ethics and religion" by practising "tolerance and acceptance" to build unity and defeat terrorism.

- 'Rebuilding trust' -

The previous day, in northern Zamfara State, eight people were burned to death by a mob after a Muslim man tried to help a Christian accused of blasphemy.

To change the situation requires "rebuilding trust in the government", Kerry said, assuring that the White House would continue to provide military and humanitarian support to Nigeria, a country home to over 170 million that is struggling to provide for people in its war-torn north.

Earlier this month the US government pledged $37 million in aid for victims of Boko Haram as fears of a famine mounted in the ravaged Lake Chad region.

Kerry said that the US will partner with Nigeria to open temporary schools where "displaced children are given access to meals, counselling and other social services."

In its quest to create a fundamentalist Islamic state, Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.6 million from their homes.

With entire villages razed to the ground and fertile farmlands abandoned, the United Nations has warned that some 50,000 children could starve to death this year in Borno state alone if nothing is done.

On Wednesday Kerry is scheduled to meet representatives of local non-government organisations to fight against corruption -- a priority of the Buhari administration -- before flying to Saudi Arabia where he will discuss the Yemen crisis, the war in Syria and the international fight against the Islamic State group.
23.08.2016 LISTEN

Regulus CFO Forum, a new series of CFO forums that seek to highlight opportunities for partnerships, strategic insights and business networking for finance officers, is ready to hold its maiden conference and bring the works of CFOs to the fore front.

Founded and directed by Hitesh Makhija, Chief Financial Controller at Olam Ghana Limited, the forum aims to be the best CFO networking platform in Ghana with a membership of at least 20percent of Ghanas GDP contributing companies.

As the first of its kind in Ghana, the maiden session of the one-day forum is coming off in September, 2016 and will bring together Chief Finance Officers and Financial Directors of companies having businesses in Ghana but across all sectors of the economy.

Mr. Makhija, explains that the Regulus CFO Forum will provide immense value to members through training of CFOs in the country on business strategies; create mentorship opportunities for new members; create a platform to share best practices; give CFOs advance information on valuable economic trends and activities; and provide high-value, in touch events.

A 2015 survey report of CFOs published by KPMG, a leading audit firm, has shown that CFOs face a lot of challenges in their line of duty, including: exchange rate stability and the effect of these on prudent cost management, inability to predict changes in key macro-economic indicators, inadequate infrastructure and competence of available personnel.

These are challenges, the Regulus CFO Forum seeks to address through meetings, forums, and conferences to enhance the works of CFOs.

While providing leadership to the business in finding the right balance between costs, value and risk, a CFO is also required to manage both internal and external pressures including increasing competitions, globalization, shortage of skilled staff and budget constraints.

Members and participants of the Regulus CFO Forum will also include Finance Controllers, Heads of Accounts, Chief Operating Officers, Heads of Acquisitions, Heads of Business Strategies, Heads of Emerging Markets, and Venture Capitalists.

Mr. Makhija added that to ensure efficiency in its activities, the groups membership will be strictly by invitation.

With current membership standing at 10 finance executives from top multinational companies in all sectors of the economy (except banking and financial institutions), Mr. Makhija, added that the first 20 participating members will be pre-approved and recognized as founding members of the group.

The maiden edition of Regulus CFO Forum is free for all members. Therefore, participants will be required to connect to the groups LinkedIn account as its current mode of registration.

The forum is designed to enhance businesses through the sharing of information, keep CFO actions on top of the mind of members, and create a network of financial experts and mentorship for beginners, he added.

As the Cluster Finance Controller, at Olam Ghana Limited, Hitesh Makhija, is a finance professional with over 12 years of diversified experience in manufacturing, supply chain, exports and imports.

As a Chartered Accountant with expertise in accounts, audit, finance, law and economics, he gathered his experience from working in various countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore for six years and in Ghana for two years.
The Progressive People's Party has described President John Mahama as weak for bowing to pressure from his National Democratic Congress (NDC) to pardon the Montie three.

The President has proven weak amidst pressure from party members whose intentions are based on sentiments and emotions without looking at the interest of the state, the PPP said in a statement signed by its National Secretary.

The party has also said the President's decision to pardon the Montie three is in bad faith and will remain a scar on our democratic credentials. President Mahama yesterday [Monday] granted remission to the incarcerated three after consultation with the Council of State.

The three; Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and Salifu Maase, alias Mugabe, had been sentenced to serve four months in jail and paid a fine of GHc10,000 each.

But the trio have now been granted their freedom three months early after public support from sympathisers of Montie FM as well was key members of the NDC and government via petitions to the President.

The PPP had been vocal in its opposition to the petitions to pardon the three and it even opened its own unsuccessful petition to compel the President to ignore the calls for clemency.

'President has rendered Judiciary toothless' Following this development, the PPP also held that, By exercising his powers per article 72 to pardon the three contemnors, the President has rendered the judicial services toothless and ineffective.

The PPP also expressed disappointment in the Council of State regarding their role in advising the President whilst calling upon members of the Council of State to come out clearly on this matter in order to set records straight.

Find below the full statement The President's decision to pardon the Montie 3 is in bad faith and will remain a scar on our democratic credentials.

The President has proven weak amidst pressure from party members whose intentions are based on sentiments and emotions without looking at the interest of the state.

By exercising his powers per article 72 to pardon the three contemnors, the President has rendered the Judicial services toothless and ineffective.

The history and tradition of the NDC regarding alleged murder of judges, victimization of journalists and threats to judges (there are many ways to kill a cat) recently was enough deterrent for John Mahama to thread with caution not hasten to destroy the little credibility the NDC chalked under the watch of his predecessor, the late Professor J.E.A Mills.

1 Corrithians 10:23 of the Holy Bible says that All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

In fact, the President may have acted constitutionally but has tempered with the powers of the judiciary which will go a long way to affect the work of the judges in future.

The prerogative right of mercy granted by the President was uncalled for and untimely.

The Progressive People's Party is also disappointed in the council of state regarding their role and advised to the President.

The PPP is sure not all council members were on the same page with the President and his NDC appointees.

We therefore call upon members of the council of state to come out clearly on this matter in order to set records straight.

May our conscience be the better judge. We reiterate our pledge of manning a just and disciplined society when elected into power; where laws are enforced without the consideration of party colourization and sympathy to cronies and political henchmen and women.

The President has committed a political suicide and the people of Ghana must bury his political ambitions come December 7, 2016. Murtala Mohammed (National Secretary)

-Citifmonline
23.08.2016 LISTEN

From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi

THE FOUNDER and flagbearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings has rejected claims by the ruling National Democratic Congress(NDC) administration, led by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, that it has worked hard to fix major challenges confronting the countrys economy.

The former First Lady contends that she finds it extremely ridiculous for President Mahama to brag about achieving a lot for this country under his tenure when many Ghanaians continue to wallow in quagmire of poverty and hardships.

According to her, the government lacks creativity and has failed to introduce innovative long term policies that can help create opportunities for many Ghanaians and ensure sustainable growth of Ghanas economy.

Mrs Rawlings asserted that it is no achievement if government claims to have fixed roads, built hospitals or constructed schools, as these are constitutionally mandated duties which every government is supposed to do.

The former First Lady further pointed out that it is even more worrying when government, in claiming to have embarked on infrastructural projects, rather quote astronomical and ridiculous figures as costs of these projects.

The fundamental questions Ghanaians must be asking is that if government says it has done this or done that we need to ask them at what cost were these done because it is sometimes embarrassing the kind of figures they quote for some of these projects; you will realize that someone is indeed milking the country dry, she noted.

According to her, real achievements can only occur where government is able to implement innovative and economically sustainable programmes that will help create jobs and enhance the social-economic lives of the people.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that President Mahama and the NDC would brag about constructing schools and building hospitals when they know that these are basic things every government must do, She observed.

The former First Lady, who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Host of Hello FM morning show in Kumasi, King Edward, also touched on a number of issues in the countrys body politics including women empowerment, corruption, her relationship with the NDC, the inability of the NDP to contest in the 2012 elections.

Corruption in Government

According to the former First Lady, corruption under the current administration has been legendary, arguing that the canker has become too pervasive amongst public officials.

Mrs. Rawlings observed that she used to live under the notion that the NPP administration under former President John Agyekum Kufuor was the most corrupt under the 4th Republican Constitution, but what is being witnessed under the leadership of President Mahama as far as corruption and misappropriation of public funds were concerned, has been unprecedented.

At first we all thought it was under President Kufuor (with all these hotel waawaa) and all that but seriously this government surpasses all. It is the most corrupt administration Ghana has ever seen, She emphasized.

According to her, the major difference between her husbands leadership under the NDC is the stealing and the mismanagement of public funds currently ongoing.

She predicted that in the not too distance future, details will emerge about the widespread corruption that has gone on under the current regime.

NDP 2012 Fiasco

The former First Lady insisted on her assertion that her inability to contest in the 2012 general elections was as a result of manipulations by some leading figures of the NDC in connivance with the EC.

According to her, certain people were paid hefty cash and kind to thwart her presidential ambition, a job they executed to the satisfaction of their paid masters, though some of them have since regretted and confessed.

I dont want to mention names here but some of them later told me that they were instructed not to allow my picture to appear on the ballot paper; some of them have regretted, but for others I am sure what they did will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives, the former First Lady insinuated.

MONTIE 3

The former First Lady and founder of the NDP said the punishment meted out to the Montie 3 was a well deserved one, asserting that she is surprised about the hue and cry some people, particularly members of the NDC, were making about the ruling of the Supreme Court.

According to her, she finds it hypocritical on the part of leading government officials who are putting pressure on the President to pardon the three convicts when these same people kept mute during the period when these panelists were bastardising and insulting respected individuals in the country.

Today, these people have found voices to talk about human rights and freedom of speech; were they not in this country when people with integrity were being whitewashed on air, what did they do, Mrs. Rawlings observed, adding that she herself had been victims of these vituperations and invectives from the three incarcerated journalists.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Though the former First Lady observed that she was in total support of any efforts to empower women and help them contribute meaningfully to the development of this country, she is against mediocrity, asserting that women must be able to justify their position of appointments.

She said so far she was impressed by the work of the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodore Wood, but fell short of rating the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, stressing that it is too early for her to make any informed judgment on the perform of the Commissioner.
23.08.2016 LISTEN

By Maxwell Ofori

([email protected])

The Managing Director of the Ghana Post Company Limited (GPCL), Mr. Eric Yao has debunked allegations circulating that the Ghana Post is no longer functioning, as it used to do some years back.

He said all the allegations were untrue, citing that the company in-charge of posting letters, among others, was very vibrant and that Ghanaians should have confidence in the company.

Mr. Eric Yao was delivering a speech on the occasion of the launch of Peaceful Elections stamps, recently in Accra, as a move by the Ghana Post to preach peace ahead of the general elections, where he said that Ghana Post was part of Corporate Ghana and could only do business when the nation was stable and peaceful.

Ghana Post is very much alive contrary to some perceptions out there that we no longer exist. As a postal organization, if for nothing at all, we are witnesses to what happened in Liberia, Sierra Leone and other African countries.

We in Ghana can't afford to sit unconcerned whe4n people make unguarded statements that can incite violence. It is this same silence that drove other countries to war and conflict, he said.

The Board Chairman of GPCL, Brigadier General J. K. Klobodu (Retired) stated in his speech that there was the need for each and every one to strive and aim at attaining positive peace in carrying out daily activities; not only because of the pending elections but also to help promote cohesion and accelerate national development.

According to him, positive peace describes the activities, structures and institutions that underpin and sustain peaceful societies.

The Retired Brigadier General, who served in the Ghana Armed Forces for over three (3) decades, further stated that, the nation was poised to add to its enviable record of organizing successful and peaceful elections, and the Ghanaians must put their shoulders to the wheel to ensure that the record was kept intact.

We need to prove to the world that Ghana and indeed Africa is on the path of democracy, and that there is no turning back. As we prepare for this year's elections, it is only fair that those of us who will exercise our franchise abide by laid down rules and procedures in order to avoid unnecessary confrontations, which in turn will result in security breaches.
23.08.2016 LISTEN

Accra, Aug 23, GNA - The Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC), has called on the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit under the Ghana Police Service to arrest and prosecute Bishop Obinim for domestic violence.

According to a statement signed by Barima Akwasi Amankwah, the Acting National Co-ordinator of GNCRC and copied to Ghana News Agency, said a video of Bishop Obinim using a belt to beat a 16 year- old boy and a 14- year old girl has been circulating the airwaves since August 18.

The statement said the behaviour of the Bishop violates the fundamental human rights of the children.

It noted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Act 5 says: 'No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishing,' while Act 3 said: 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.'

It observed that the act exhibited in the purported video was a domestic violence issue under the Domestic Violence Act (Act 732) and also against the Children's Act 1998(ACT 560).

The statement asked whether the procedures relating to Adoption and Foster Care by the Department of Social Welfare was adhered by Bishop Obinim, since the children are not his biological children.

GNCRC added that the children were under 18 years hence the Right to Privacy including Protection of Reputation of the children, under Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The statement said there is also a media obligation to maintain highest ethical standard to protect the identification of children, but this was violated.

It called for the amendment of the Children's Act 1998 Act 560 and the Criminal Offences Act, 2012, (Act 849) which allows a 'reasonable proportion as a form of discipline to conform to the international standard of practices.'

GNCRC says corporal punishment impacts negatively on children because they only serve as quick fixes and do not provide any lasting solution to the problem.

It said the approach induces fear and distort reasoning, creates anti-social behaviour since violence breeds violence.

It also exposes children to non-peaceful ways of conflict resolution.

GNA
ALBANY POLICE

Burglary arrest  4 a.m. Friday, Linn County Jail. Craig James Pitcher, 47, of Albany, was arrested on charges of second-degree burglary, hindering the prosecution, methamphetamine possession and second-degree theft. His initial bail was set at $30,000.

Domestic assault arrest  1:08 a.m. Sunday, Linn County Jail. Valerie Scott, 21, of Albany, was arrested on charges of felony fourth-degree assault (domestic violence). Her initial bail was set at $50,000.

DUII crash  3:58 a.m. Sunday, 2100 block 21st Avenue S.E. A caller heard a crash and came outside to find a two-vehicle collision. Mark Eugene Williams, 22, of Tangent, was booked, cited and released at the Linn County Jail on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless endangering.

Burglary arrest  3:52 a.m. Monday, Oak Creek Christian Center, 5775 Columbus St. S.E. Officers responded to an alarm at the church facility. Kevin Aaron Edwards, 25, of Oakridge, was arrested on charges of second-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief. His initial bail was set at $6,000.

Theft from vehicle  10:05 a.m. Monday, Fred Meyer, 2500 Santiam Highway S.E. A caller reported that, the previous day, someone stole two rafts out of the back of her pickup as she went inside the store for 15 minutes to purchase sandwiches. The rafts were brand new and still in their boxes.

LINN COUNTY SHERIFF

Stolen vehicle arrest  7 a.m. Friday, Linn County Jail. Ronald Craig Berry, 53, of Lebanon, was booked, cited and released on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, possession of methamphetamine and providing false information to police. He also had a warrant out of Curry County for failure to appear.

Weapon arrest  1:25 p.m. Friday, Linn County Jail. Richard Steven Feaster, 55, of Albany, was arrested on charges of unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and fourth-degree assault. His initial bail was set at $12,000.

Burglary  9:56 a.m. Monday, 39300 Montgomery Drive. A house under renovation was broken into and tools, an air compressor and a generator were stolen. Entry was gained when a suspect kicked in the door.

LEBANON POLICE

Car theft, recovery  3:36 a.m. Friday. A Chevrolet Geo was reported stolen. The vehicles ignition was broken and it was almost out of gas. The vehicle was found nearly about a half hour later, most likely out of fuel.

Pokemon power  8:07 p.m. Friday, Ralston Park. A report of a picnic table dumped into the canal was received by police. Lebanon Public Works was advised to deal with the table, but a group of Pokemon players removed it from the water.

Reckless burning cite  3:50 a.m. Saturday, 2600 block S. Santiam Highway. An officer responded to a report of a small fire behind Bi-Mart and found a bike and cart on fire. Victoria Linn Smith, 41, was cited on a charge of reckless burning and taken into custody on a warrant for failure to appear.

SWEET HOME POLICE

Stolen car arrest  4:06 p.m. Saturday, 6000 block Main Street. A caller reported that she had located her stolen vehicle. Elijah James Powell, 33, of Sweet Home, was arrested on a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle. His initial bail was set at $6,000.

Domestic assault arrest  10:53 p.m. Saturday, 300 block W. Holley Road. A caller reported a disturbance between a male and female. Daniel Wayne Sutton, 24, of Sweet Home, was arrested on charges of felony fourth-degree assault, strangulation, harassment and second-degree criminal mischief, and on a parole violation warrant. A no-bail hold was placed on Sutton.

Car prowl  4:12 p.m. Sunday, 1600 block Elm Street. A caller reported that her car was entered and her cell phone was stolen. The loss value was approximately $1,040.
Accra, Aug. 23, GNA - The Tobinco Group of Companies, have donated assorted items to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, following a request made by the authorities for food items, drugs and toiletries.

The almost GH 50,000.00 worth donated items included 20 big bags of rice, two bags of maize, one bag of beans, one bag of sugar, more than 600 boxes of anti-fungal and bacterial creams, three gallons of cooking oil, 360 cakes of bathing soap, 216 packs of sanitary towels, boxes of blood tonic and 20 loaves of bread.

Mr Ben Tetteh, General Manager, Marketing of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited, who presented the items on behalf of the Group, said the organisation undertook the step because of the patients.

He appealed to other non-governmental organisations to assist the hospital because it lacks variety of things that are necessary to promote its effective operation.

Speaking about the upcoming general election, Mr Tetteh said even though the youth keep complaining about lack of jobs, organisations like the Tobinco Group cannot employ people when there is no peace, hence the need to maintain the prevailing phenomenon in the country.

Mrs Millicent Akoto, Executive Director of the Tobinco Foundation, a charitable arm of the Group, which was the main actor of the exercise said the step was just one of the body's way of helping the poor, needy and the vulnerable in the society.

'The Foundation is like a mother with very big breasts or enough breastmilk that can be adequate for all its children, and therefore we will never stop helping our society because that is what we are made of,' she said.

Dr Pinaman Appau, Director of the Hospital who received the items on behalf of the Hospital expressed gratitude to the Group for paying heed to the appeal.

'Yes, we appealed to the Group for help when we run short of items like food stuff, drugs and toiletries and they did not turn their backs on us,' she said.

Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor, General Manager of Atinka FM, another subsidiary of the Group assured Authorities of the Hospital that the items were presented to support the Hospital in the short term, adding that the organisation would put in more measures in place to support the medical entity in the long term.

GNA
By Sarah Agyekum/ Belinda Kusorgbor, GNA

Accra, Aug. 23, GNA - Mr James Asante, the Dean of Journalism at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Accra, has noted that the standards of journalism are falling hence the need for efforts to reverse the trend.

He said the principles of journalism, which require journalists to be fair, balanced, independent and loyal, have become increasingly difficult to practice.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, he said: 'Previously, censorship regulated the operations of the media. However, the current media pluralism has led to some journalists writing articles, which are not supposed to be in the public domain.

'Newspapers needed license to operate but now only registration is required unlike radio and television, which require frequencies to operate,' he said.

He added that the influence of media ownership and reportage are geared towards ideology, which compromises some journalists to toe the lines of the owners.

'Most of the media houses are owned by private individuals, mostly politicians, who have their own ideologies. Journalists who work in these media houses are forced to report in accordance with the philosophy of the media,' he said.

He said some journalists are influenced by low remuneration, which affects their judgments as far as writing stories are concerned.

Mr Asante said another worrying trend is the lack of laws and disrespect of the ethics regulating the activities of the fourth estate.

'Statutes and laws to regulate the activities of the media are hanging.

'The ethics of the profession are not constitutionally supported. Regulatory bodies such as the National Media Commission, Ghana Journalists Association, and Independent Broadcasters Association, invite editors to appear before them whenever there are problems with their reportage but these editors and owners fail to do so.

'Unless journalists' respect and comply with their own codes and ethics, the standards would not change.

'Every media house should have ethics and ensure that sanctions accompany anyone who flouts them.

'Orientation/ in-service training should be provided to the staff and journalists should research into their stories before disseminating the information to the audience,' he advised.

GNA
TOKYO, ACCRA, Aug. 23 - (UPI/GNA) - At least two people have been killed and 29 have been injured as Typhoon Mindulle slammed Tokyo Monday.

The typhoon is the second of two storms to hit Japan with heavy rain, high winds and flooding in two days, with another expected later this week.

The body of 42-year-old man in Kitami City, Hokkaido was found near his car on a flooded road. A 58-year-old woman in Sagamihara was rescued from floodwaters but later died, authorities said.

The tower at Tokyo's Narita International Airport was evacuated when winds topped 78 miles per hour. About 49,000 passengers were affected by Japan Airlines canceling 148 domestic flights and All Nippon Airways canceled 96,

Much of the country was lashed by wind and rain, the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office reminded people to be aware of possible landslides.

Most of greater Tokyo's train services were either delayed or canceled on Monday as well.

GNA
The American Ambassador to Ghana Mr. Robert Jackson has disclosed that the United States government is seeking to double its annual trade volumes with Ghana from 1.2 billion dollars a year to 2.4 billion dollars.

According to him, the United States will achieve the figure by increasing US investors in Ghana, while it encourages exports from Ghana to America.

Speaking to Citi Business News in an interview, Mr. Robert Jackson stated that the American Embassy has already started collaborations with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to enhance a strategy of attracting American investors into the country.

The United States is working at doubling the value of trade between Ghana and America annually in the next three years and also improve exports from Ghana to America, he said.

He stated that there are many investment opportunities in Ghana which if properly packaged, will attract American multinational companies to invest in Ghana.

Since January this year, we have seen six major American companies moving into the Ghanaian economy to invest in this country. There is an increase American investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy, he said.

He was however of the view that the government must enhance its strategy when it comes to exporting into the USA since standards are a major determinant in allowing goods to enter the American economy.

The challenge is to increase Ghanaian export to the United States and we are changing our strategy working closely with Ghanaian Ministry of Trade and Industry to really focus on a key value chains, he said.

He cited for example that, Ghana could focus on key value products such as cashew, textiles, and sheabutter to increase the value of trade.

We think that instead of concentrating on over 6,000 products eligible for duty free access, we need to concentrate on a few where we can add value and ensure expectations of the American markets, he said.

Mr. Jackson argued that, focusing on some a few products that are in high demand in America will not only make the country the preferred destination for such products but will also help add value to earn more foreign income.



By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Khartoum (AFP) - South Sudan's former rebel leader Riek Machar has arrived in Khartoum for "medical treatment," the Sudanese government said Tuesday, after he escaped to the Democratic Republic of Congo following deadly clashes last month.

Machar was replaced by Taban Deng Gai as South Sudan's first vice president after hundreds died in Juba last month in clashes between Machar's forces and government troops.

"Sudan has received Riek Machar on humanitarian grounds and so he can have medical treatment," Sudanese government spokesman Ahmed Bilal said in a statement.

He did not specify when Machar arrived in Khartoum, but said that when he arrived he was in need of "immediate medical treatment".

"He is now stable. He will continue to stay in the country until he decides when to leave," Bilal said, without providing further details on the treatment.

After a 1983-2005 civil war, the mainly Christian south of Sudan split from the Muslim north on July 9, 2011, following a referendum six months earlier.

But in December 2013 a brutal civil war erupted in the world's youngest country between supporters of President Salva Kiir and Machar, after Kiir accused his deputy of plotting a coup.

Ties between Khartoum and Juba have strained since then amid allegations that Sudan backs Machar in the civil war that has killed tens of thousands and forced more than two million from their homes.

Sudan's announcement of Machar's presence in Khartoum comes just a day after Deng wrapped up his first official visit to Khartoum.
Capital Bank Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment of becoming a stronger player in Ghanas retail banking sector and a tier 1 bank in the next five years with the launch of a more enhanced deposit mobilization solution, SpeedPay.

SpeedPay is a money voucher in various denominations which allows Capital Bank account holders to conveniently deposit funds into their account through their mobile phones or through internet banking.

So far this year, the indigenous bank has witnessed the evolution of a new corporate brand and the development of various strategic initiatives aimed at making it a pan-African bank.

Speaking at the launch of the SpeedPay Allied Oil partnership in Accra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Bank, Rev. Fitzgeral Odonkor said banking is not just about developing customer focused solutions but its also about developing innovative solutions that are superior to competing solutions with speed and precision.

This orientation has been our guiding principle from inception and culminated in Capital Bank becoming the first financial institution to develop a solution that made it possible for customers to deposit cash into their bank accounts through their mobile phones. This solution now known as SpeedPay has evolved beyond a cash deposit solution and can be used by both customers and non-customers to make payments online through various platform, he explained.

He explained that the decision to partner Allied Oil was not only informed by the banks decision to practically extend banking halls and banking hours but was also largely driven by a desire to partner an ambitious Ghanaian brand that places premium on innovative customer-focused solutions.

He took the opportunity to congratulate hard working staff of Capital Bank for the companys ranking as the 25th best performing company in Ghana and the 8th best performing bank at the recently held Ghana Club 100 Awards. We will like to dedicate this award to our customers for making this feat possible and most importantly we will like to assure them that we will not relent in our efforts towards delivering superior value.

Head of retail Banking for her part said Capital Bank kept evolving every day and every time, with the ambition of making banking easier, more accessible and reachable to all Ghanaians.

Speedpay, previously called Speedbanking was developed and introduced in 2011 to facilitate cash deposit into customers savings and current accounts; indeed, Capital Bank is the first bank in Ghana to bring branchless electronic cash deposit banking solution to customers.

The SpeedPay cards can also be used to pay bills, purchase tickets for events and shop online currently on the following platforms  M-Power, Knoxxi, Slydepay and Omanye,
23.08.2016 LISTEN

From Alfred Adams, Sekondi

PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has assured workers of the Ghana Railway Company (GRC) that his government was working around the clock to put the ailing company back on its feet.

He said unlike the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which took much interest in disposing of GRC properties through dubious sale of scraps; his administration is determined to turn the fortunes of the company around.

Addressing a rally of NDC supporters at Sekondi last Thursday, President John Mahama shockingly told the crowd in the Fante language that we know of the government, which came to power to sell railway scraps but we will not do that.

The NDC leader announced that when elected as President in the upcoming elections, he would merge the ailing company with the Ghana Port and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to give GRC a breath of new life.

The statement drew thunderous applause from the workers of the GRC and the NDC supporters. According to him, after the merger, the two companies would operate as one entity and GPHA would be responsible for the construction and revamping of the Sekondi to Awaso railway line, adding documents regarding the merger were being signed.

Records available show that before the 1980s, the GRC and GPHA were operating under the same management and it was after their separation that management of the rail company began to face myriads of challenges ranging from financial to lack of working materials.

But even before the merger comes into force, workers of GRC have welcomed the announcement, saying it is a good idea. The General Secretary of the GRC Workers Union, Mr. Godwill Ntarmah told this reporter in a telephone interview that workers of GRC welcome the decision of the President to merge the two companies.

He said though he did not know the details of the merger, he would say that the workers were all for it.

When this reporter informed him that under the merger, the GPHA would be behind the revamping of the Awaso line, General Secretary Ntarmah only expressed hope that the Authority would be capable of implementing the project, insisting that there will be value for money if the project gets underway, since it would be able to monitor every rail movement.

Though the GRC secretary admitted that he has not been officially informed about the merger, which means he cannot go into details of the arrangement, the sector minister had discussed the proposed merger with the Union.

He explained that currently, it is the government which is subsidizing salaries of the GRC workers, due to the company's inability to work and pay itself.

For example, the collapse of the Awaso railway line is a major contribution to the financial woes of the company because, the bulk of GRC's revenue was being derived from the haulage of manganese, bauxite, timber and other minerals from the Awaso railway line.

In an attempt to revamp the railway line, the NDC government under John Mahama has begun constructing and revamping the Takoradi to Kojokrom passenger line, which is progressing steadily. It is likely to be commissioned this year.

Though the workers of GRC have welcomed the construction and revamping of the Takoradi  Kojokrom passenger rail line, they however wished the government had channeled the resources into the construction and revamping of the Sekondi to Awaso line, since that line is the financial backbone of the company.

One of the critics of government's decision to reconstruct the Sekondi-Awaso railway line instead of the Takoradi-Kojokrom passenger rail line is a former union member of GRC, Mr. Francis Eghan.

To him, GRC did not need a passenger railway line but a cargo one, stating that government should have sourced for funds to revamp the Sekondi-Awaso stretch, stressing that the re-construction of the Takoradi-Kojokrom passenger line was a wasted effort.
23.08.2016 LISTEN

From Alfred Adams,Takoradi

THE Omanhene of Lower Dixcove Traditional Area in the Ahanta West District of the western region, Nana Kwesi Agyemang IV, has made a passionate appeal to President John Dramani Mahama to come to the aid of the people of Ahantaman through the provision of infrastructure.

He asked that the poor road network in the District be fixed, with specific mention of the Agona-Nkwanta-Cape three Point road, the Dixcove-Akwidaa road and the roads that link Princess Junction and Princess Town.

Nana Kwesi Agyemng, also the Acting president of the Western Regional House of Chiefs (WRHC), was speaking at a ceremony to climax the celebration of this year's Kundum festival which coincided with his silver Jubilee anniversary since his enstoolment as Omanhene some 25 years ago.

The revered chief told the president that: 'These roads are in deplorable state and they need urgent attention', adding that the aforementioned road networks would facilitate the effective development of the region.

Touching on a promise made by the government to construct a landing beach for fisher folks in Dixcove, the Omanhene reminded the president to ensure that it saw the light of day.

According to him, the absence of landing beach to serve as a wharf, which would block the high tidal waves emanating from Dixcove waters was a nightmare to the fishing community.

'The gravity of the problem, especially in Dixcove Community, is serious and worrying because various promises by government have not been fulfilled'. The concerns of the Omanhene come exactly a month after two canoes capsized in the waters of Dixcove, leading to the death of two people.

In a telephone interview, he told The Chronicle that that the cause of the two canoes capsizing was as a result of strong tidal waves, which the area had no landing beach to control.

On health, Nana Kwesi Agyemang IV commended the government for its contribution, particularly in the area of malaria control and maternal health delivery, stressing that he was aware of the tremendous effort government was making to improve upon the health delivery system, especially in the development of infrastructure and staff training.

He also touched on education, where he praised government for the region's fair share of the new Day Senior High Schools. 'I am proud to say my District is also a recipient of one of these schools and it is my fervent hope that the school is completed in time for your commissioning'.

Nana Kwesi Agyemang, however, assured the government that his administration would continue to support the government's effort to ensure complete human growth and sustainable development for the region.

In his response, the president assured the people that the road from Busua to Dixcove and Sankor to Cape Three Point would be constructed.

He added that the stretch from Princess Town, linking the Elubo-Takoradi highway at Abura, was high on the agenda and that a contractor has been assigned to commence work.

President Mahama told the Kundum celebrants that the government was also considering the construction of a sea defense wall to protect the coastline in Dixcove.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, George Kwame Aboagye, on his part, agreed with the theme chosen for the celebration of the kundum festival. He said as MP, he had enjoyed working with the Omanhene whom he described as a 'developmental oriented' chief.

Kundum is an annual festival celebrated by the people of Ahanta and Nzema. It is a period of harvest, reconciliation and renewal of bonds and merry making, as well as celebration of the living and the dead.
23.08.2016 LISTEN

Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), has called on African leaders to adopt good city management practices to enhance development and technological advancement.

He said they should also move away from the old ways doing things and focus on best practices for the formulation and implementation of policies to make cities in Africa better places to live.

Dr Vanderpuije made the call when a delegation of military officers, led by Colonel Joseph Muzvidziwa, Commandant of the Zimbabwe Armed Forces Staff College, visited the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to learn and develop skills and opportunities to manage security challenges.

The visit also afforded them the opportunity to examine how nations' survive and reduce the damage caused by natural disasters and their adverse effects on socio-economic development.

Dr Vanderpuije said many African countries were struggling with climate change and terrorism, adding: we cannot deal effectively with such situations without the involvement of the security agents,'' he said.

Dr Vanderpuije reminded the officers that the days are gone when you find soldiers only in their barracks, adding; ''come out to join the people for community development so that they will feel your presence.

He said it had become necessary now to find ways of promoting community cohesion, reforming government's agencies and improving the physical, socio-cultural and economic conditions to enhance the health and education of the population.

Col. Muzvidziwa expressed satisfaction of AMA's resilience strategies addressing both stresses and shocks that occurred in Accra.

He said the presentations enabled the officers to confirm that developing proactive and integrated plans was expedient for economic development and social justice.

This should not be done without a real participatory and decentralised approach of the security agencies and focus on citizens' livelihoods improvement,'' he said.

He appealed to the AMA to develop activities on exchange visit to assess their progress while sharing knowledge among two Staff Colleges.

Source: GNA


The members of the Citizens' Initiative Review panel that was examining Measure 97, the proposal for a corporate gross receipts tax, wrapped up their work on Sunday afternoon and left Monmouth, where they had gathered for four days of work.

They left behind a straightforward summary of the measure's pros and cons. The summary, which is attached to the online version of this editorial, will be a terrific resource for voters looking for an unbiased and objective source of information about the measure. After all, this is the entire point of the Citizens' Initiative Review process. (The summary also will be published in the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet.)

And, in what could be a sign of a very close election, the 20 panelists were closely divided on the merits of the measure itself: In all, 11 panelists said they supported it, while nine were opposed. The statements for and against the measure hit on many (if not most) of the arguments voters will hear as the campaign over Measure 97 heats up.

Measure 97 would raise $3 billion in taxes each year from the state's largest companies. The measure mandates that certain corporations would be charged a 2.5 percent tax on gross annual sales in Oregon above $25 million.

Proponents of the measure say that the proceeds would help fund traditionally underfunded areas of state government such as K-12 education and health services. Opponents say the measure would hand a blank check to the Legislature and that affected companies would pass along at least some of their increased costs to consumers, as frequently happens with gross receipts taxes.

Starting last Thursday, 20 randomly selected citizens gathered at Western Oregon University for the Citizens' Initiative Review on the measure. (We've written before about what a cool idea these reviews are, so we won't belabor that point here.) The panelists heard from initiative proponents, opponents and independent experts. They then deliberated, like a jury would, over what they heard.

The statement they created listed nine key findings, ranked in order of importance, about the measure. Those findings offer a terrific place for voters to start as they begin their own deliberations on the measure  and, after all, the essential goal here is to help create better-informed voters.

The statement goes on to outline cases both for and against the measure.

Proponents said the measure would raise some $3 billion each year, money that could allow for major investments in education, health care and senior services. Without the extra tax revenue, the state faces an estimated $750 million a year of new budget cuts.

Opponents said the measure could increase the costs consumers pay for goods and services, as businesses pass along some of their increased costs. Opponents noted that the tax is regressive, meaning it takes a larger percentage of earnings from low-income families. They also pointed to a state report saying that the measure would slow, to some extent, the growth of jobs in the private sector.

Expect the arguments over Measure 97 this election season to essentially fall along the same lines that the citizen panelists laid out in the statements.

Except those arguments will be a lot louder, a lot angrier. There will be charges and counter-charges, bluster and counter-bluster, right up until Election Day.

When you grow weary of all that, the work over the weekend by the Citizens' Initiative Review will offer a refuge, a place where you can go to start making up your own mind. And that, after all, is the point of the whole exercise. (mm)
Minority Spokesperson on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Joe Osei-Owusu, has said President John Mahama's decision to pardon the Montie smacked of partisan activism.

Rather than being a statesman, he has behaved like a party activist, Mr. Osei-Owusu noted on the Citi Breakfast Show as he described the whole process leading up to the pardon as a ruse.

Mr. Osei-Owusu, also a lawyer, acknowledged President Mahama had every right to exercise his prerogative of mercy per the constitution, but in this particular instance, the Bekwai MP insisted that the President had not acted in the interest of the state.

My position is that, the President has the right to exercise it. He has exercised it. But rather than exercise the power to enhance the state, he has rather exercised his power to support his party activism, the MP asserted.

The whole thing, the exercise of this power was not in the interest of the State but rather to tell his party people and his party activists that; I am your President, I have your back even if you err  and in this instance, this is how I see it.

Pardon was fulfillment of NDC scheme

The Bekwai MP indicated that the decision to remit the sentence to one month is in accordance with what his party people have been saying all the while, and it appears to me that they set up a scheme to reach this conclusion.

Mr. Osei-Owusu also suggested that, even State officials were in on this scheme as no Minister of State would have the courage to sign as three or four did if they were not certain that the President was in support of the whole process.

He further chided the Council of State for allowing itself to be used by the President as an anchor for partisan misdemeanour.

Montie 3 pardon

President Mahama yesterday [Monday] granted remission to the incarcerated three after consultation with the Council of State.

The three; Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and Salifu Maase, alias Mugabe, had been sentenced to serve four months in jail and paid a fine of GHc10,000 each.

The trio had expressed their regret for the comments they made on the Accra-based radio station and called on the President to bear in mind the embarrassment their conduct and incarceration has caused their loved ones, in his consideration of the petition and reverse the harsh and excessive sentence.

A statement signed by the Minister of Communications on Monday, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, said that the President had taken the decision to pardon the three on compassionate grounds given the remorse they had demonstrated.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Water is life and it is one of the crucial elements needed by humans to survive.

Lack of it or a small loss of it can lead to dehydration, fatigue, nervousness, headaches, weaknesses and even dizziness.

Prisoners from across the country have experienced one or more of these because access to portable drinking water is an extremely scarce commodity in the prisons.

This issue was highlighted in JoyNews Seth Kwame Boatengs documentary Left-to-Rot and it started receiving the currency it deserves.

The Left-to-Rot documentary brought to the fore the inhumane conditions under which prisoners in the country live and how their human rights have been constantly abused over the years.

It also looked at how the country has reinvented the long abolished slave trade by forcing about 130 inmates sleep in a cell meant for at least five people.

As part of efforts to reverse this trend, Seth Kwame Boateng and the Multimedia Group Limited have started a crusade to get public support to help give the prisons a facelift and this is already yielding dividends.

A Turkish based foundation, Bentul Abla foundation is the first to come on board to help address the water challenges in the prisons. They have promised to provide mechanized boreholes for all prisons in the country.

To prove their commitment to this promise, the foundation has finished with the first mechanized borehole at the Kumasi Central Prisons. The 3500 water facility, according to the countrys operations representative of Bentul Abla foundation, Blali Gozey, will be replicated across the country and also explore other assistance they can offer prisons in the country.

Seth Kwame Boatengs two major documentaries on the prisons, Locked and Forgotten and Left-to-Rot have not only received Presidential and judiciary attention but international recognition as well.

The Left-to-Rot documentary became a topical issue in the United States of America when it was screened at the Fordham Law School.

Lawyer Asian

Law Professors from the University and other Universities, members of the Association of Ghanaian Lawyers in America, Ghanaian community in America and other dignitaries were present at the premiere.

Seth Kwame Boateng used the occasion to appeal to them to donate towards the Ghana Prison reformation process.

He was also interviewed on about seven different radio stations in the United States of America about the prison project and he got a number of people pledging to support it.

Medical outreach programs by US-based doctors in Ghana prisons, medical supplies and clothings are some of the many benefits the prisons will soon reap following Seth Kwame Boatengs one month visit to the United States of America.

A number of corporate bodies and organizations have also indicated their readiness to adopt the prisons and give them the needed facelift.

Before his trip to the United States, Seth Kwame Boateng was invited by the President, John Dramani Mahama to the Flagstaff House for a discussion on his latest documentary on the prisons, Left-to-Rot.

The President expressed concern about the inhumane conditions in the prisons and assured Seth Kwame Boateng he will work hard to fix the problem.

As part of the strategy to deal with the massive congestion in the prisons, President Mahama told Seth Kwame Boateng a remand home is currently being built in the Nsawam prisons and has instructed that a similar one built in the Kumasi Central Prisons.

The Chief Justice of Ghana, Her Ladyship Georgina Wood has also intensified the Justice for All Programme since the release of that documentary.

Over 300 remand prisoners have had their freedom since Seth Kwame Boateng started the prison project. If you have anything to contribute towards this project, walk to the offices of Multimedia Group (Joy Fm, Asempa Fm, Adom Fm, Luv/Nhyria Fm) and present your donation. You can also call Seth Kwame Boateng on +233-243-149-169 or send a mail to [email protected]

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Seth Kwame Boateng
The police service has stated that they intend to treat the case involving the founder of the International Godsway Church, Daniel Obinim with as much urgency and transparency as they would treat any other case.

Obinim, who is under investigation for whipping two teenagers in his church publicly, failed to show up at the police station despite being invited by the Tema Regional Police for questioning four days ago.

We assure the people of Ghana that Obinim is not above the law. What we need to do as police officers will be done, the Tema Regional police's Public Relations Officer, ASP Juliana Obeng told Citi News.According to ASP Juliana Obeng, a letter had been delivered to Obinim through one of his 'small pastors' as the controversial preacher had not been present at the time of the police's visit.

He [Obinim] was supposed to have reported on Friday, the day we sent the letter. The date on the letter was Friday, August 19, 2016. When we went to his church on Friday, we didn't meet Obinim in person but we handed over the letter to one of his small pastors, she said.

She added that, it was standard procedure to deliver a letter through someone else once the person it was intended for is not available and assurances had been sought from the deliverer.

We do not just hand over letters like that. Before we hand over a letter to somebody to give to the person in question, we find out whether they know that person and if they are willing to deliver the letter, ASP Juliana Obeng said

We make them understand that it should get to the person. All of this was explained to the pastor who took the letter and he promised to give it to Obinim. We know the letter should be with Obinim, all of this has been documented.

Obinim sued

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, which confirmed that a complaint had been filed against Obinim at the Tema Regional Police, filed a separate complaint at the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU).

A statement from the Gender Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, said that the Ministry had has reported Pastor Obinim of the International Godsway Church to the Accra Regional DOVVSU Office for investigation.

A private legal practitioner, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, along with two others, has also sued Obinim and his church over the incident.

According to the complainants, Obinim and his church have a reputation for such dehumanizing and cruel actions and that if care is not taken the exercise of religious freedom would violently violate the 1992 Constitution.

Mothers of victims defend Obinim

Meanwhile, the mothers of the two teenagers have jumped to Obinim's defense amid widespread public criticism.

According to mothers of the two, the actions of their children were immoral and God had only used the preacher to punish them.

God used Obinim to flog the children so that other young people will learn from it and the young ladies will take care of themselves. To me, it was very necessary because it is a lesson that everybody should learn from, one of the mothers said.

The revelation came when he was having a live program. I support my father Obinim. I have come to respect him even more.

-citifmonline
23.08.2016 LISTEN

Monday, August 23, 2016 will remain in history books as the shameful day on which, apart from making mockery of the judiciary, Ghanas sitting president also subtly endorsed threats by three National Democratic Congress (NDC) thugs to kill judges of the superior courts.

This follows President John Dramani Mahamas release of Salifu Maase, Godwin Ako Gunn and Alistair Nelson, who were thrown into prison three weeks ago, when they were found guilty of contempt of court.

The NDC foot soldiers, now christened the Montie 3, while on NDC propaganda platform, Accra-based Montie FM, threw caution to the wind and threatened to kill judges of the apex court if they did not dissociate themselves from the matter in which a former General Secretary of the Peoples National Congress (PNC), Abu Ramadan and one Evans Nimako were challenging the Electoral Commission on the voters register to be used for this years polls.

For instance, Alistair Nelson made frightening statements such as: Today you want to sit there and use your left hands to point at things to destroy this nation, we know your homes. Mugabe, the High Court judges, I can stand at one junction and tell you where all of them live, or most of the influential ones live.

Even though the three, who claimed not to be afraid to go to prison expressed remorse and pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy, the Supreme Court panel, which was presided by Justice Sophia Akuffo, found them guilty of scandalizing the court, defying and lowering the authority of the court and bringing the authority of the court into disrepute, and subsequently referred them to the Nsawam Medium Security prison for four months.

Just yesterday, the President found wisdom in exercising his powers under Article 72 of the 1992 Constitution, after he was petitioned by top members of the umbrella family, including ministers of state, calling for their release.

A statement signed and copied to The Chronicle by the Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, indicated that the President, had in consultation with the Council of State,  remitted the remaining prison sentence imposed on three persons:

Salifu Maase (alias Mugabe), Alistair Nelson and Ako Gunn, who were sentenced to 4 months imprisonment and a fine of GHc10,000 each for contempt of court. The remission is effective 26th August 2016.

According to the statement, President Mahama took the decision to remit the sentences on compassionate grounds, which was in tandem with a petition submitted to him by the contemnors appealing to the President to exercise his prerogative of mercy even as they continue to express deep remorse and regret for the unacceptable statements they made against the Judiciary.

After undermining the authority of the court, President Mahama, the statement stated, takes this opportunity to remind all Ghanaians of the need to respect the institutions of State and exercise freedom of speech responsibly mindful of the need to preserve peace and national unity.

The President reminds all concerned, especially persons working in the media or appearing on its platforms, to be circumspect and guard against the use of intemperate language which has the potential of causing unnecessary tension, especially in this election year.

The President is hopeful that all will draw lessons from the events leading to the conviction of the three persons and bear in mind the consequences of injudicious utterances, the release concluded.

By Pascal Kafu Abotsi

([email protected])
The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Major General (retired) Patrick Cammaert of The Netherlands to lead an independent Special Investigation into the violence in Juba, South Sudan, in July 2016, and the response of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The investigation will review reports of incidents of attacks on civilians and cases of sexual violence that occurred within or in the vicinity of the UN House Protection of Civilians (POC) sites in Juba. It will also determine the actions of UNMISS and whether the Mission responded appropriately to prevent these incidents and protect civilians within its resources and capabilities at the time. In addition, the investigation will review the circumstances surrounding the attack on the Terrain Hotel and assess the Mission's response.

The Special Investigation team will undertake a field visit to Juba to interview the relevant interlocutors. A final report will be presented to the Secretary-General within one month, the findings of which will be made public.

Major General (retired) Cammaert recently led a HQ-Board of Inquiry on the circumstances of the clashes that occurred in the UNMISS Protection of Civilians site in Malakal, South Sudan, on 17-18 February 2016. He previously had a distinguished military career in both The Netherlands with the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps and the United Nations, including as Force Commander in United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), as Military Advisor to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and as General Officer Commanding the Eastern Division in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).
Pregnant women have been encouraged to take steps to protect their unborn children from HIV, by availing themselves for HIV test and treatment services any time they visit antennal clinics nationwide.

They have also been urged not to despair and live in denial and instead follow up with treatment when tested positive for HIV to safeguard their lives and that of their babies.

These calls were made at the Antenatal Unit of the Ghana Police Hospital in Accra, when the Heartto-Heart (H2H) Ambassadors of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) interacted with pregnant women at the facility and encouraged them to avail themselves of HIV services.

The Government as part of efforts to ensure that no child is born HIV positive, has made it possible for every pregnant woman who attends antenatal clinic at a public hospital gets to test to know her status.

The H2H Ambassadors are four persons living with HIV who have dedicated their lives to sharing their life stories to encourage a more tolerant attitude towards persons living with HIV. The tour is aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and encouraging PLHIVs to adhere to treatment.

The Ambassadors during the visit dispelled misconceptions that impede antenatal attendance and HIV treatment, sharing their experiences on HIV related stigma, benefits of early treatment and adherence.

They in turns also threw light on Antiretroviral drugs (ARV), and how it has contributed to the huge reductions in death rates and suffering among people living with HIV.

A member of the team, Mrs Lydia Azumah stressed on how the consistent use of ARV decreases ones chances of transferring the infection to another person. Mrs Azumah charged the visiting mothers to adhere to the directives of health professionals anytime they visit.

Another H2H Ambasordor, Mrs Gifty Torkrnu, also advised mothers living with HIV to desist from self-stigma, and open up to their partners. This, she said would help in educating their loved ones on the condition.

HIV positive pregnant woman may transmit the HIV to her unborn child during pregnancy, birth or breast feeding, she explained.

A Reproductive and Child Health nurse at the hospital, Inspector Nicholina Kwashie said some pregnant women fail to report back when referred to the Antiretroviral Unit of the hospital. She advised against such practices since it will not inure to the benefit of mothers and their unborn babies.

It is estimated that there are about 20,000 babies living with HIV in Ghana despite many positives recorded in Ghanas HIV response.

HIV test is done twice during the pregnancy-on the first visit and at 34 weeks of the pregnancy. This is to ensure that no HIV positive expectant mother is missed out on PMTCT of HIV services before delivery.

With ART, an HIV positive mothers chances of transferring the virus to her baby reduces to lower than five percent as opposed to the about 40 % chance, if the woman is not on treatment.

Ghana has achieved 76% coverage of PMTCT services for pregnant women, with about 50% of all HIV positive mothers on treatment.

The H2H Ambassadors answered questions from the participants. The team is scheduled to visit several other ANC and ART facilities within the Greater Accra region.

ACP Dr Otu, Nyarko, the Head, Public Health Department of the Hospital thanked the team for the visit, and called for more collaboration in the National response.

The Acting Director of Technical Services, Ghana AIDS Commission, Mr Cosmos Ohene-Adjei, joined the team to donate Information, Education and Communication (IE&C) materials to the hospital.
The Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU), has declared a three-day demonstration nationwide beginning Wednesday, August 24, 2016.

The demonstration according to PUWU, will last 3 hours each day from 8:00am to 11:00am, and it is in protest against the privatization of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

To buttress our resolve and determination to resist this privatization process, the leadership of the workers has decided that there will be a three-hour demonstration in the regional and district offices of ECG every morning from Wednesday, August 24, 2016 from 8:00 am to 11:00 am up to Friday, August 26, 2016. The red flags will continue to fly until further notice, General Secretary of PUWU, Micheal Adumatta Nyantakyi, explained.

PUWU has also called on government to review the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact which seeks to cede the ECG to private investors for a period of 25 years.

Addressing the media in Accra today [Tuesday], the General Secretary of PUWU, Micheal Adumatta Nyantakyi, noted that, until their demands are met, they will not back down their decision.

He explained that we are not asking the government of Ghana to abrogate the MCC compact; but we are requesting that GOG and MCC should review the Compact.

Mr. Nyantakyi insisted that, the section which touches on Private Sector Participation (PSP) as a condition precedent and trigger for entry into force should be modified; to include pragmatic steps or measures that can bring efficiency and profitability to ECG (using the disciplined leadership and governance transformation method).

PUWU has within the last few months staged a demonstration against the privatization of ECG; but government has insisted that the move is to make ECG efficient.

Mr. Nyantakyi noted that the union has not changed its position to the effect that we object and are vehemently against the decision to give ECG out to a private investor under a concession arrangement for a period of 25 years.

We do hereby reiterate that this policy decision is not the best option for Ghana and the position of the staff of ECG under the Public Utility Workers Union, had been clearly articulated in our position paper issued in the early part of 2015. This policy is not the best option to bring reforms to make ECG more efficient and profitable. We have already articulated our views and suggestion in our position paper to MiDA and the Ministry of Power. Unfortunately, the government of Ghana with tacit pressure from MCC of the United States of America, is still pushing this agenda despite all the negative implications for our country and its citizens.



By: Godwin A. Allotey & Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
Washington (AFP) - The United States has begun using attack helicopters to target the Islamic State group in the jihadists' Libyan former stronghold of Sirte, a defense official said Tuesday.

American jets have since the start of August been helping fighters loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) retake the coastal city of Sirte, conducting dozens of strikes on IS fighting positions and equipment.

Lieutenant Commander Anthony Falvo, a spokesman for the US military's Africa Command, said Marine Corps AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters had in recent days joined the operation.

"The Cobras provide additional precision air strike capability," Stuttgart-based Falvo told AFP in a phone interview.

"It gives us a little bit more flexibility."

SuperCobra gunships are based on the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship in the Mediterranean.

Harrier jets are also being launched from the ship to conduct strikes on Sirte.

As of Monday, the United States had conducted 77 air strikes in the city.

Pro-GNA forces, backed since August 1 by US air strikes, began an assault in mid-May to expel IS from what had been its Sirte stronghold.

The jihadists seized control of the city, which had been the hometown of Libya's slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, in June 2015.

They fought their way into Sirte on June 9 and have since faced a barrage of sniper fire, suicide bombings and booby traps, pinning down the jihadists in a downtown area near the sea.

More than 350 pro-GNA fighters have been killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in the battle, according to medical sources. IS casualty figures are unavailable.

The Pentagon has said US involvement in the Sirte operation would last "weeks not months," but Salvo did not want to speculate on how much longer the United States would continue its air campaign.

"We are there at the request of the GNA," he said.

"We will continue our support for as long as it is requested. If they were to tell us tomorrow they don't need our support any more, we would end our support at that point."
A National Democratic Congress activist, Carl Wilson, says he is ready to campaign for any presidential candidate who he believes can bring about change that would translate into the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.

He explained his decision stems from the fact that the John Mahama-led government has not done enough to better the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian. Ghanaians are not well served by the current government and if you want to see government is doing well or not, talk to the ordinary Ghanaians on the streets, Mr Wilson said on Onua FM's morning show, Yen Sempa on Tuesday.

Mr Wilson who was onetime the Chairman of the Confiscated Vehicles Committee, told host of the show, Bright Asempa: I will campaign for someone who will come and change the lives of the people and not the one who will come and loot the nation.

If the youth of Ghana believe their lives have been better since four years under President Mahama; if they believe there is hope ahead, then they should vote for him he said. He has consequently formed 'Move Ghana' group to champion a course for Ghanaians to be served properly by the leaders they choose for this country. I will never turn my back on Ghana.

I will continue to be there for Ghana because the life of our people is not right, Mr Wilson stated.

Corruption

Mr Wilson who is also a political scientist, observed there is too much corruption in the country, noting that there is corruption in the NDC but said he will not blame President Mahama because he inherited a corrupt system of governance.

According to him if we bring the Pope from Rome to be the President of Ghana, in two years, we will call him a corrupt person because there is a system that condones corruption.

If I were corrupt, I would still have been in position because in Ghana, if you come into government and you don't amass wealth, then you are not the minister and that is why the entire system of governance is corrupt, he added

Presidential candidates

He said on the various presidential candidates for the 2016 elections, one person has a record in governance and that is President Mahama. He has a four-year record and for me to do a proper comparism, there should be a record for the other candidates.

He explained that Nana Akufo-Addo does not have any record so it will be difficult for him to compare with other candidates, I don't have any solid evidence for me to compare him to President Mahama.

-3news
Johannesburg (AFP) - Desmond Tutu's daughter on Tuesday slammed rampant prejudice against homosexuals and the poor compliance with laws protecting the rights of gays and lesbians in Africa.

"The reality is that in much of Africa homophobic laws are tolerated and even in the places where the laws and the rights or LGBTI people are protected, the protections are on paper and not in fact," Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu-van Furth told AFP.

Even in liberal societies in Europe, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people face discrimination and harassment, the Episcopalian cleric said.

"So the lived experience of people is very different from the promises that are enshrined in our rights documents, our constitutions," she added on the fringes of an international human rights conference in Johannesburg.

Tutu-van Furth, who recently entered into a same-sex marriage, said gays and lesbians experience "uncertainty, insecurity and fear."

"People still face discrimination even though the paper says you are entitled to fair treatment, you are entitled to protection, those protections aren't the lived experience of many people."

Tutu-van Furth lost her licence to preside at holy communion, weddings, baptisms or funerals early this year after she married Marceline Tutu-van Furth, an Amsterdam-based professor specialising in paediatric infections.

The daughter of the retired archbishop and celebrated anti-apartheid campaigner, said the church had the responsibility to protect human rights.

"The church should actually be at the centre of the human rights agenda and the centre of those pressing for the exercise of rights of all human beings, it's not always on the right side of issues," she said.

Homosexuality is a crime in many African countries, but in South Africa gay marriage has been legal since 2006.
Flagbearer of the Progressive People's Party has said the remission of the four month jail term handed the Montie convicts is one of the worst actions taken since independence.

Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom said the decision will forever remain an albatross on the conscience of president John Mahama long after he has left office.

The incensed flagbearer said Mahama 's decision to intervene only sent a wrong signal that party members are above the law and that they can do anything and go scot free.

On Monday, president John Mahama announced a controversial decision to free three people- a radio presenter Salifu Maase and two panelists Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako-Gunn- jailed for scandalising the court.

The three had threatened to kill judges of the Supreme Court if a case brought against the Electoral Commission did not go the way of the Commission.

They also threatened to rape the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood. When they were hauled before the court to answer why they shouldn't be held for contempt of the court, the three men together with the Directors of the radio station-Montie FM- pleaded guilty and were sentenced. The three were handed four month jail term and fines of 10,000 cedis each.

There were protests by members of the governing party to have the president activate his powers of mercy under Article 72 and free the convicts.

Barely a month in jail, the president, on the advice of the Council of State announced the decision to remit the sentence handed to the convicts.

That decision has triggered mixed reaction with Ghanaians happy and angry in equal measure at the president's decision.

Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, who is also aspiring to the high office of president said the decision by President Mahama was unacceptable.

"This is leadership gone wrong. When you have a young country and a majority of the people are young, it is important we build a just and disciplined society. When somebody does something this terrible and threaten the lives of an essential part of our democracy you will expect that the president of the land will let things run the normal course," he said.

Dr Nduom said no amount of rationalisation by government spokespersons and political party representatives will make this decision right.

"It is important for us to understand discipline. No excuses! We must be very clear on this. There is a reason why when a child is born we show them alcohol and we show them water to signify that there is good and there is bad," he stated.

Independent Prosecution

The PPP flagbearer chided the Attorney General for sleeping on her job and failing to prosecute the three contempt convicts.

He said if there was an independent prosecution, something his government will institute if it wins power, these three persons would have been prosecuted independently without the judges themselves taking contempt action against them.

Dr Nduom said the decision by the president has dire repercussion on the country's democracy and its moral conscience.

"There are few things in this country that gets me worked up. This is one of them," he said. He would not advice any one to go to court with this case, saying this will live with president Mahama even after he retires from office.

Constitutional amendment?

When he was asked if the constitution must be amended to limit the powers of the president, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom stated the constitution has to be changed and he will engineer that change.

He said the constitution was only framed to protect one man-ex-president John Rawlings saying what the country is practicing now is dictatorship masked in a democracy.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
The 2016 Zone 3 intermines safety and first aid competition will take place Saturday, August 27.

The programme which is aimed at educating mine workers on the need to be safety conscious in the conduct of their job would be held at the Tarkwa Community Center at 7:00 a.m.

About four companies would be competing namely Anglogold Ashanti, Goldfields, Adamus Resources Associate, and Ghana Manganese Company (GMC).

The programme is a collaborative effort between the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Minerals Commission of Ghana.
By Nana Osei Kyeretwie, GNA

Sunyani, Aug. 23, GNA - A peaceful Election 2016 is dependent on traditional rulers and recognised leaders in the country as they hold the key to ensuring peace, order and stability in their respective traditional areas and communities.

Mr Wilberforce Laate, Deputy Executive Director, Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisation Development (CIKOD), a civil society organisation promoting development based on 'our worldviews and culture', has said.

Mr Laate said this at a workshop jointly organised by CIKOD and the National House of Chiefs (NHCs) for queen mothers in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The event was on the theme: 'Towards a Peaceful Ghana: The Role of Queen mothers and Traditional Women Leaders in Ensuring Peaceful Election 2016'.

The one-day event, sponsored by Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF), a German political foundation promoting democracy and good governance in Ghana, was attended by about 90 participants that comprised 30 paramount queen mothers, 15 divisional queen mothers, representatives of the traditional councils.

It was aimed at 'strengthening the capacities of traditional women leaders to better understand their traditional roles and responsibilities in relation to the democratic culture and their role in the upcoming general elections'.

Mr Laate said in many traditional settings, women leaders collaborated very effectively with the youth who are the segment of the electorate most often misused by the politicians to cause disharmony in the society.

He expressed the hope that by highlighting the role of women leaders on the relevance of peace before, during and after the elections, they could moderate the activities of the young men in their localities.

Mr Laate said the women leaders could do that by forming election watchdog committees that would ensure that acts of violence were curtailed and also exposed those who perpetuated such acts.

Dr Isaac Owusu-Mensah, a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana and Programme Manager for KAF, recalled that the Foundation has been working with queen mothers and traditional authorities over past 20 years.

He said within that period, it had been established that traditional authorities had contributed in the governance process in the country.

Dr Owusu-Mensah said KAF decided to assist the NHCs and CIKOD to organise the training programme with the support of key stakeholders - the Electoral Commission, the Police Service and the National Commission for Civic Education to provide the queen mothers with the requisite knowledge and skills to contribute meaningfully to the effort of maintaining national peace.

Nana Abenaa Boatemaa I, Paramount queen mother of Odumase No. 1 Traditional Area in the Sunyani West District and President, National Council of Women Traditional Leaders, said there is the need for queen mothers to meet and talk to interest groups like the youth association, congregations in churches and mosques in their communities.

Nana Boatemaa, who is also the President of Brong-Ahafo Regional Queen mothers Association, advised the youth to reduce the intake of alcohol during this election period.

GNA
By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA

Dutch Komenda (C/R), Aug. 23, GNA - Reverend Kingsley Appiagyei, the Head Pastor of the Trinity Baptist Church (TBC), has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct the upcoming elections credibly to meet international standards and satisfy all stakeholders.

This, he said, would ease the political tension that often characterizes elections in the country adding that the peaceful environment and the success the country has chalked in democracy was an enviable one which must be sustained.

Rev Appiagyei was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the church distributed various provisions, bags of rice and bales of second hand clothes as well as other assorted items to the people of Dutch Komenda.

He said countries in Africa and the rest of the world saw Ghana as a beacon of hope and peace and urged Ghanaians to put the country first and refrain from acts that would mar the peace in the country.

'We have only one Ghana. War is not pleasant and being displaced from your nation is disaster .I pray we will all on Election Day vote peacefully', he said.

The relationship between the church and the community dates back to a few years ago, when massive erosion hit the Dutch Komenda community which almost destroyed the community.

The church adopted the community and visits the area with relief items in August each year.

He said it is the vision of the church to alleviate poverty in deprived communities in the country through education and help improve standards of living.

He said it was in pursuance of his vision that he established 'The Hope Centre', to provide a family life, quality education and an emotional support to children who through no fault of theirs find themselves in difficult situations.

The Centre currently has two homes housing three families, a nursery and primary school block, a clinic, a fully furnished computer lab, a well-stocked library, a church, a recreation centre and an administrative block.

With this, Rev Appiagyei said, he hoped to train the next generation of leaders with integrity who would take up the mantle and manage the affairs of the country in a positive direction.

Rev Appiagyei commended the efforts of various philanthropists and other members of the church who pulled resources in support of the effort.

GNA
23.08.2016 LISTEN

Accra, Aug. 23, GNA - Stanbic Money App Challenge, moves into the final phase with the 10 finalists participating in a demonstration on how their various apps work and also in an interactive review session with the judges.

The competition aims to engage programmers and software teams to create innovative financial education tools.

The finalists are Easy Finance, Finance Now, FinTimes, Kasanoma, and Kudify.

Others are Money Matrix, Sikapong, Stanbic Saver, Y2K, and Zealous.

'What we are doing is to give people the chance to live fuller and worthwhile lives using technology. It is part of the larger digital banking offering, which is to enable people live better,' Mawuko Afadzinu, Head of Marketing and Communications at Stanbic Ghana said.

The App Challenge, a national mobile app development competition, forms part of the Bank's Corporate Social Responsibility.

Twenty-five financial literacy app prototypes, built for Android and IOS platforms were submitted for the App Challenge.

These apps had various ingenious tools designed to help people better understand how to manage their money and achieve their financial goals, mainly in the areas of personal finance management, expenditure tracking and income tracking.

Each submission was evaluated and the finalists were determined based on conformity with financial literacy, creativity and originality of solution, viability of the concept, and thoroughness of the submitted materials in compliance with contest requirements.

Mr Afadzinu said the App Challenge has the capacity and potential to touch lives in this country beyond imagination.

He said the Challenge brought an array of imaginative creations 'out of these we are looking for Apps that we can support to fully develop and apply them for use for the good people of Ghana, for businesses, for individuals,' he said.

The competition would end on August 24 while the final prizes would be presented on September 9.

The winner of the competition takes home GH 10,000.00, the second place takes homes GH 5,000.00 with the third place getting GH 3,000.00.

In addition to the cash prizes, all the 10 finalists would receive goodies from Stanbic.

GNA
By Joyce Danso, GNA

Accra Aug. 23, GNA - Two Police officers involved in the robbery of a bullion van belonging to the GCB bank Limited at Mame Krobo in the Eastern Region on Tuesday appeared before an Accra District Magistrate Court.

The alleged attack by the officers, General Corporal Solomon Elvis Mensah and General Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi Abrokwa, led to the death of Daniel K Sarpong, the driver of the bullion van.

The other accomplice in the dock was Hafisu Mohammed aka Danjuma a mechanic.

The two officers are being held on the charge of attempted robbery, conspiracy and Murder.

Mohammed is charge with conspiracy.

The court presided over by Mr Stephen Owusu did not take their plea and remanded them into Police custody to reappear on September 6.

The accused persons who appeared before the court without legal representation were informed by the court that they were entitled to lawyers of their choice.

On bail application, the court urged them to move to a higher court to seek for bail as the Magistrate court had no jurisdiction in that respect due to the nature of the charges

Prosecution Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abraham Annor said the deceased, Sarpong is the driver of the bullion van with registration number GN 1354-15.

Prosecution said the Police officers were stationed at Donkorkrom.

According to prosecution the officers hatched a plan of robbing the Bullion van of GCB which usually went to Donkorkrom to supply money to the bank.

On August 16 this year, the Police officers who were duty at GN Bank and GCB respectively decided to rob the bullion van of the amount it was carrying.

The officers therefore discussed the robbery with Mohammed who is a friend to the two and also a taxi driver. The officers therefore armed themselves with AK 47 Rifles and laid ambush at a spot between Tease and Mame Krobo at about 10:30 am.

Mohammed drove his taxi with registration number 1860-09 towards Ekye Amanfrom to monitor the arrival the bullion van.

Prosecution said 20 minutes later the bullion van arrived and Mohammed signalled the Police officers who then opened fire killing the driver of the van.

DSP Annor said a Police officer on board the van got injured but before that returned fire compelling the two Policemen to take cover in the bush.

The Police officers then called Mohammed who picked them with his car in their bid to escape.

The Police Command at Donkorkrom got wind of the robbery incident and they mobilised men who arrested the three accused persons on board the taxi cab.

Prosecution said two AK 47 rifles, 23 rounds of am munitions, a cutlass, two metal bars were retrieved from the taxi. The deceased body has been deposited at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital awaiting autopsy.

DSP Annor said three other occupants of the bullion van however escaped unhurt and the Policeman on guard was treated discharged at the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital.

GNA
23.08.2016 LISTEN

By Bertha Badu-Agyei, GNA

Abetifi (E/R), Aug. 23, GNA - Reverend Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), has urge churches to call their members who are politicians to order to diffuse the political tension.

This, according to him would help them to conduct their campaigns with decorum to avoid fomenting troubles in their electioneering.

He said it is time for the church to impress upon their members with large followers, the need to show decency and respect to each other in their campaign activities to ensure violent free elections, before and after December 7.

Addressing the opening of the 16th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) at Abetifi, the Secretary-General of the CCG expressed concern with the political tension in Ghana and emphasised the role of churches in diffusing it.

He mentioned for instance Nana Akufo-Addo, Presidential Nominee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Dan Kwaku Botwe, a leading member of the NPP and Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, who are all members of the PCG.

'These leading members will in no doubt make a difference if they work to ensure a peaceful election,' he said.

Dr Opuni-Frimpong noted that the CCG had instituted a programme for all the member churches to engage their members who are politicians in pastoral care in ensuring a peaceful election.

He expressed the hope that the move would yield the objective of a peaceful and an acceptable election outcome.

The General Assembly, is the highest decision making body of the PCG and is held every year to deliberate on issues bordering on the growth of the church the climax for this year would be the election of a new Moderator to steer the affairs for the next five years.

The Right Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey would end his five- year term of office in August.

Right Reverend Emmanuel Bossman, Bishop of the Koforidua Diocese urged the PCG to avoid any tension, which would tarnish the image of the church during the election of a new moderator to set the standard for the December election.

GNA
23.08.2016 LISTEN

By Kodjo Adams, GNA

Accra, Aug. 23, GNA - Reverend Jerry Quaye, the Minister of the Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, has advised the youth to be weary of materialism and pleasures and seek God's favour for direction in their field of disciplines.

Rev Quaye said the youth are exacerbated by wealth, signs and wonders and fame and power to the neglect of the teachings of the Bible, saying it is prudent to adhere to God's will for transformational breakthrough.

Rev Quaye gave the advice in Accra at a thanksgiving service to climax the 30th anniversary of the United Church Youth Fellowship, Teshie Estate on the theme: 'I am Who I am, I am Unique.'

He explained that the theme was critical because it gives authority about God's power in our lives where God sent Moses to go and liberate the people of Israel from the bondage of the Egyptians as his authority over them.

He said Christianity has been reduced to material possessions, a situation where the youth want to acquire wealth at all length for fame and power.

'We are who we are not because of our beauty, wealth or religion but as a result of God's grace, and Christians of today are confused about who they are due to pleasures of life,' he added.

He urged the youth to pursue the fight for faith, righteousness, love, patience and meekness for salvation because the world is associated with so many negative activities.

Rev Quaye said it is reckless for the youth to sacrifice their relationship with God for worldly pleasures, since it offers nothing to the youth and should not be allowed to ruin the future of one's life.

He admonished that the youth need to be engaged, mobilised and empowered to become leaders and agents of social change, devoid of social vices.

Mr Israel Agbleta, President of Youth Fellowship of United Church, Teshie Estate said the body was established in August 1986.

He said the youth has seen 30 years of existence, touching many lives and leading many to Christ and winning more souls.

Mr Agbleta said the fellowship launched the anniversary on August 14, and embarked on activities such as float, bible quiz, talk on power of faith, fellowship night, revival, games and united praise.

GNA
Pretsir (W/R), Aug. 23, GNA - Ambassador Robert Peter Jackson, the United States Ambassador to Ghana, has pledged to engage the Ministry of Agriculture in promoting the Building Business on Values Integrity and Dignity (B-BOVID) model of farming in the country.

B-BOVID, a Ghanaian agricultural business based in Pretsir in the Ahanta West District, promotes sound agricultural practices and ecological farming.

It also organises community outreach programmes to encourage small holder farmers to adopt modern technology, promote healthy lifestyles and nutrition and educates farming communities on the impact of climate change and land degradation.

Ambassador Jackson, who visited the farmlands of B-BOVID as part of his official working visit to the Western Region, said 'this agricultural model offers real opportunities for commercial agriculture and B-BOVID has shown the variety of things a farmer can do with little imagination'.

He said one of the key areas of the United States Agency for International Development support to Ghana was agriculture and the need for improved food security.

So far, he said, about 38 million dollars have been invested under the feed the future programme for agriculture including aquaculture as well as sustainable fisheries.

His visit to B-BOVID, he added, was to ascertain the work being done there.

Currently, the World Bank has selected B-BOVID as one of the model farms in the country to be promoted as the ideal farming model that other farmers could tap in to empower themselves and change their fortunes.

Mr Issa Ouedraogo, Managing Director of B-BOVID, took the Ambassador and his team round the mill, the fish pond, the piggery, kraal, poultry and the ICT learning centre among other places.

He expressed gratitude for the visit and called for more government support in the form of long term soft loans.

GNA
Winneba (C/R) Aug. 23, GNA - Seventeen grandmothers in Winneba have received training on economic ventures to enable them to handle the financial challenges of their respective families successfully.

It was organised by 'The Helen Project' - a Virginia -based international charity organisation of the United States - under the theme: 'Grow Your Business', at Winneba.

The workshop forms part of the activities of the City of Charlottesville, USA, and the Winneba Sister-City programmes.

Dr. Dale Johnson, the Executive Director of the Project, said the objectives of the project were to empower African Grandmothers who were administering the affairs of orphans placed under their care.

The project is implemented in partnership with the Grandmothers in Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, she said.

'Since the project's inception in 2014 in Winneba, we have through our donations been able to assist grandmothers with interest free loans to help them initiate projects to make them self reliant,' she said.

Each of the 17 grandmothers was given 100 dollars and they are to re-pay within 12 months for others to benefit.

The Executive Director said the project started with five beneficiaries in Winneba, but now there were 33.

They are pursuing ventures such as the marketing of smoked fish, roasted plantains, cold water, Ghanaian fabrics, and catering.

Each of the beneficiaries is at liberty to re-apply for additional funding after honoring the terms and regulations pertaining to the loans they had received.

Mr. France A. Tagoe, the Effutu Municipal Chief Executive, expressed his appreciation to the NGO and promised that he would deploy some technical advisors to ensure that the beneficiaries had sustainable incomes.

GNA
23.08.2016 LISTEN

By Bertha Badu-Agyei, GNA

Koforidua, Aug. 23, GNA - E-syllabus for Africa, a non-governmental organisation, has provided full scholarship to brilliant but needy students in the Eastern Region to further their education at the university.

They are Daniel Arthur, 30, and Leticia Adu 19, both from the Oti Boateng Senior High School in Koforidua, who were selected after a Mathematics and Science test contested by over 120 students from the Eastern and Volta Regions.

The scholarship would assist the beneficiaries to purchase admission forms of any tertiary institution of their choice, a bursary of 750 dollars each academic year and all other costs relating to their education.

Mr John Akwetey, the Eastern Regional Director of E-syllabus for Africa, said the competition was instituted by the organisation, two years ago, as a platform to identify brilliant students in the Sciences but who needed assistance.

He said the objective was to encourage the study of Mathematics and Science. About 12 students have benefited from the scheme since its inception.

Mr Arthur told the Ghana News Agency that he completed Senior High School in 2007, but he had not been able to continue due to financial difficulties.

The visibly elated Mr Arthur said with the sponsorship, he was hopeful to achieve his childhood dream of becoming a medical doctor and thanked those who helped him to participate in the competition.

GNA
23.08.2016 LISTEN

By Samuel Adadi Akapule, GNA

Bolgatanga, Aug. 23, GNA - Dr Gordon Donnir, the Head of the Department of Psychiatry Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), has expressed concern about the high rate of suicide and called for a National Policy directive on the Suicidal Preventive plan.

He said such a plan was very important for mental health delivery but it was beyond the means of the health facilities.

'We need a national policy that would bring uniformity across the country and to ensure that programmes and policies are implemented efficiently at both the national, regional and community levels to help in tracking and addressing the issue.

The Senior Specialist Psychiatrist was speaking at a workshop 'on the Edinburg Per-Natal Depression Screening Toolkits' for Midwives, Community Psychiatrist Nurses and Community Health Nurses organized by Basic Needs Ghana in Bolgatanga.

The event was aimed at empowering the health workers to use the Edinburg Pre-Natal Depression Screening Toolkits which had been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in integrating mental health care into maternal healthcare delivery.

Dr Donnir said most suicidal tendencies were associated with depression which is a mental disorder that could also be a predisposing factor to developing many diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma.

'In depression the victim often loses the ability to control the mood which is equal to energy loss. Depression for more than two weeks could lead to major health complications and that confirms the urgency for the policy makers and the government to pay special attention to the mental health sector', he said.

Dr Donnir said apart from victims of depression becoming addicted to drugs and other alcoholic beverages, they could also become dependent and vulnerable.

To mitigate the problem there is the need for a radical national policy, he said, and called on policy makers and the government to initiate the process to help tackle the phenomenon.

Dr Donnir said apart from engaging the community health nurses, psychiatrists and midwives in handling mental illness, there is the need to include into the suicidal preventive plan, relatives and caregivers of mental ill patients.

He urged relatives and care givers of mental ill patients not to allow victims of depression to sleep alone in their rooms and also ensure that they are kept away from harmful tools from them since that could make it easy for some to commit suicide.

GNA
Humanitarian extraordinaire and parish priest of the Christ the King Church in Accra, Rev Father Andrew Campbell has praised efforts by the NHIS in reaching the poor and vulnerable in society. Father Campbell told NHIA Chief Executive, Nathaniel Otoo, that the work of the NHIA was helping bring relief to many people around the country and urged the Authority to keep up the good work.

Continue supporting the poor, they dont have anybody. Some of them are always praying that they dont get sick because they cannot afford the cost of healthcare. Continue helping these marginalized people so they feel loved and cared for, he said.

Father Campbell made the remark on Tuesday when he visited the NHIA boss to commend the Authority for its interest in enrolling the needy and vulnerable populations of the country onto the Scheme, and to enlist the support of the NHIA in other humanitarian causes.

I see it [NHIS card] work when I go to Weija, Ho with people who cannot afford it [healthcare]. I want you to continue to do this, thats the only way we can help humanity, keep it up, he encouraged.

According to him, he has been following the NHIAs work with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in providing financial access to healthcare to the needy and less privileged in our society.

Rev Father Andrew Campbell (L) in a handshake with NHIS boss, Nathaniel Otoo (R)

In his remarks, Mr Otoo praised Father Campbells dedication to helping the needy and vulnerable in Ghana. He pledged the NHIAs continued support to helping the poor get access to healthcare. He said Father Campbells commitment to bringing happiness to the needy is exemplary.

The Ghana Living Standards Survey 6, has put the number of the extremely poor among the Ghanaian population at 8.4%. This translates to about 2.26 million people. In 2015, the NHIA through inter-agency partnerships enrolled 1.2 million of this number onto the Scheme. According to the NHIA, this includes the aged, school children on the School Feeding Program, prisoners, head porters and many others who now have access to healthcare.

Rev Father Andrew Campbell checking his details prior to the issuance of his NHIS card

Father Campbell extended an invitation to the NHIA to join in his soup kitchen initiative where many street and homeless people are fed a meal every day at the Christ the King Church in Accra. He called on people of all faiths to abandon the poor and vulnerable in society.

He was later enrolled onto the Scheme and issued an NHIS card.

Father Campbell who is originally from Ireland has been in Ghana since 1971 undertaking missionary and humanitarian work. In addition to his work as the parish priest of the Christ the King Church at Cantoments in Accra, he heads the Weija Leprosaria and is a founding member of the Help Age Ghana an NGO that cares for old people.
The arrest of controversial Ghanaian pastor Bishop Daniel Obinim by the police for allegedly defrauding someone to the tune of GH11.6 million Tuesday has angered his followers.

Numbering over a hundred, the members of the Gods Way International Church have vowed to sleep at the Nima Police Station where he has been detained. Earlier in the day he was moved from the Tema Regional Police Command to the CID Headquarters.

Even though the police have denied the request of the followers, Joy News can confirme the number is growing by the minute.

Almost every single follower is placing a call to another follower, Joy News Latif Iddrisu reported after visiting the police station. The numbers will grow by tomorrow morning, he said.

Bishop Obinim has made headlines when he flogged two church members whom he described as his children for allegedly fornicating and attempting an abortion.

Public pressure was mounted on the police to arrest him for abuse and disrespecting the rights of the twom whom the Bishop said are his adopted children.

There is a law suit hanging about his neck filed by two private legal practitioners and a private Ghanaian over his action.

One of the petitioners, Irene Aborchie, described the action of the Bishop as unfortunate.

She said the man of God violated the criminal offences Act (Act 29) and the Domestic Violence Act when he publicly flogged two members of his church.

He refused to honour police invitation and in a surprise development Bishop Obinim was arrested by the police alongside some of his junior pastors by the police for an alleged fraud when he turned himself in.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected]
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business India-Singapore tax treaty: Mauritius-like amendment expected The bilateral tax treaty helps in avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
On July 1 2016, the annual management charge of the Franklin UK Equity Income fund, as well as the UK Rising Dividends fund and the UK Opportunities fund, was reduced from 0.75% to 0.45% .

Franklin also announced that the Ongoing Charge Figure, which includes other operating charges and expenses in addition to the AMC, will be capped at 0.55% from hereon.

This cut makes the Franklin UK Equity Income fund one of the cheapest offerings available to retail investors within the Morningstar UK equity income category. The reduction in the annual cost to investors will provide the fund with an added advantage over its rivals within this competitive peer group.

Why Have Franklin Done This? Franklin stated that the move was in recognition of the growing need amongst investors for truly active management at lower costs. In our opinion, the magnitude of the reduction now sets this fund apart from its peers in terms of costs and we commend Franklin, and specifically their UK Equity team, for their efforts in reducing the fee burden on investors in these three funds. What Do Fund Analysts Think? At Morningstar, we have long been advocates of the predictive power of fund fees and their impact on performance outcomes. There are many factors to consider when investors are going through the fund selection process. However, as the only certainty in an otherwise uncertain environment, a funds total cost is the surest and most proven indicator of future fund returns. Our studies have demonstrated how dependable fees are as a predictor of future success. Russ Kinnel's 'Predictive Power of Fees' revealed that funds in the lowest quintile of the peer group in terms of costs are more likely to go on to outperform than their higher-cost peers over the following five years. We already have a positive view on the UK equity income strategy at Franklin, run by a highly experienced manager in Colin Morton. We also think highly of the UK equity team at Franklin. This move serves to increase our conviction in the longer-term prospects of the UK Equity Income fund, given the tailwind it will provide to net returns to investors going forward. The fund's Morningstar Analyst Rating is upgraded to Silver.
Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
One of Canada's largest institutional investors is searching for buyers for a minority stake in a $4-billion real estate portfolio that includes several buildings like office towers and shopping malls in Vancouver.Sources familiar with the matter stated that Cadillac Fairview, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plans real estate unit, is aiming for $2 billion in funds raised from the sale, the Financial Post reported.The unnamed sources added that Cadillac Fairview has tapped CBRE Group Inc. and the Royal Bank of Canada to work on the sale.The portfolio covers 14 assets in Vancouver and Richmond, including Canadas largest shopping centers, historic buildings, and office towers. Other offerings include properties like the 21-storey Waterfront Centre, the 238,000-square-foot PricewaterhouseCoopers Place, and The Station, completed in 1912 and considered as North Americas largest transport hub.The reported sale comes in the wake of other major commercial sales in Vancouver this year, such as the $800 million B.C. portfolio offering from Ivanhoe Cambridge and the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.Vancouver commercial properties have seen record prices over the past few months due in no small part to foreign demand, exemplified by the $1-billion-plus purchase of the Bentall Centre by the Chinese holding company Anbang Insurance Group.Data from Avison Young revealed that the vacancy rate downtown (where most of the Cadillac Fairview assets are situated) is currently at 7.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the rate for the city as a whole spiked up to a 12-year high of 10.4 per cent.Representatives of Cadillac Fairview, CBRE, and RBC have not yet commented on the issue.
When 26 Journalism students find themselves in one of Europes most bohemian cities there was only one way to document their stay  a live blog.



The group, a mix of single and joint honours Journalism students at De Montfort Universitys Leicester Centre for Journalism, live-blogged their experiences in the Czech Republic.





Some of the students who took part in the live blog



Videos, interviews, reviews and stories were all posted on the Leicestershire Press, a website created for the DMU Journalism students. The hashtag #onedayinprague pulled all the coverage together and allowed people to follow the different posts on Twitter.



John Dilley, director of the LCJ, said: There are some brilliantly inventive ideas with your individual stories and the live blog sums up what it was meant to do, showcase #onedayinprague.



We loved the mix of stories, pictures, videos and different ways of telling a story which the students used.







The students were in Prague as part of a two-week visit to the Czech Republic capital, organized through #DMUglobal, DMUs overseas student experience programme. They are staying at Charles University, one of the oldest campuses in Europe, and writing for the universitys iForum website.



Students organized video tours of artworks, wrote their own takes on tourist attractions and discovered Beatlemania was alive and well in Prague. They also, naturally, reviewed the beer.

Zofia Filipowicz, who is about to start her third year of English and Journalism, said: My articles focused mostly on Prague's hidden gems - spots, cafes, districts, where any student or a tourist, looking to do things that are alternative to 'touristy', could head and have a good time exploring the local culture.



I, personally, loved the incredible opportunity to have Prague all to myself for two weeks and be able to document that through writing - that has to be what I enjoyed most of all.







Film and Journalism student Luke Georgiades added: It's the kind of city that will make you feel like you're doing something when really you're just sitting outside a local cafe taking in all the charming atmosphere it has to offer.
BALMORHEA - From the shore of Balmorhea Lake, the often spectacular desert sunsets over the Davis Mountains now come with an unwelcome distraction.

For several months, an orange natural gas flare has been burning brightly in the hills to the west.

Elsewhere, to the north near Interstate 10, two much larger flares light up the night sky, telltale signs of exploration activity for oil and gas.

At nearby Balmorhea State Park, the tourists, some of whom come from as far away as Europe to frolic in the gushing spring waters, also notice the flares.

"They see all these little candles all over the place where they are burning off stuff, and they are concerned. They don't want to see the park harmed," park Superintendent Karl Coughlin said, noting he expects 150,000 visitors this year.

"The worst possible outcome would be that somehow the water would be contaminated and it would affect the springs," he added, although the likelihood of that happening remains unknown.

Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife officials in Austin say they're monitoring the drilling activity around the park. Their experts say that so far, they see no threat to the fabulous flows coming from the San Solomon Springs into a rock pool built by Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Apache, the energy company doing the exploratory drilling, repeatedly has vowed to be a good neighbor and says it will take all possible steps to avoid causing environmental problems, including not drilling under the tiny park, even though it owns those mineral rights.

"I'm confident we're protecting the resources there," company spokeswoman Castlen Kennedy in Houston said.

Fewer than a dozen wells have been drilled around this quiet town in southern Reeves County that historically has yielded mostly dry holes. But the amount of future exploration remains unknown and worrisome to some residents and visitors.

Unique oasis

Many in the Big Bend and beyond regard the San Solomon Springs as a unique natural resource and are equally fond of Balmorhea, a green oasis of about 500 people surrounded by fields of alfalfa, sudangrass and cotton.

One of its charming features is the small stone aqueduct that flows through the town beneath large cottonwood trees. In hot weather, it is used as a kiddie pool by local mothers.

Balmorhea also is decidedly rural, with horses and goats kept penned along the main street. On a recent day, a cow was being led through town.

Some folks here who are quite familiar with the traffic, trash and environmental despoiling that came with frenetic drilling in nearby Pecos and elsewhere do not believe their unassuming hometown would be improved by such. Pecos is about 40 miles away and in the Permian Basin oil and gas formation. Balmorhea is south of the basin.

But Main Street also has abandoned buildings and closed businesses, and others think a local oil boom is just what is needed to revive things.

"I'm 100 percent for it. The community needs oil here. It will help the school and the town. I don't think it will mess things up," said Joel Madrid, 56, owner of El Oso Flojo Lodge.

"I'll do whatever I can. It may not be the best thing for the scenery, but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad," he added.

Mayor John Davis, who works in the energy industry, did not return calls seeking comment.

Petition against drilling

The positive sentiments appear to be in the minority, and as awareness of the drilling spreads, so does concern.

"The San Solomon Springs are on a fault line and are just one earthquake away from disappearing. There is no precedent for what they are doing, because the natural springs we have here exist nowhere else," said Neta Rhyne, who owns a dive shop near the park.

This spring, a petition was begun by Maria Garza, 44, manager of the local school cafeteria, urging city and school district leaders to refuse to lease their lands to Apache for drilling. The petition since has taken off, even though Apache no longer seeks those leases.

It has attracted more than 5,000 signatures after being posted online recently by the Big Bend Conservation Alliance, which fought and lost a bitter battle to keep the Trans Pecos Pipeline from cutting through the region to Mexico.

"It's not just the San Solomon Springs that feed the famous swimming pool at the park. You have other springs systems in that area that are at risk of being contaminated if you send water down to those depths to frack and bring the oil up," said Trey Gerfers, president of the conservation alliance.

"Sixty miles down the road is a very applicable example. The Comanche Springs in Fort Stockton were pumped to nonexistence for agricultural purposes," he added, citing the extinction in the 1960s of a once equally prodigious flow.

Earlier this year, Paul Matta, 47, who has lived in Balmorhea most of his life, organized an educational meeting for those worried about the drilling.

"Some were for it, but at least 90 percent of the people there that night were concerned," he recalled.

Matta said he opposes the drilling for general quality of life reasons.

"I'm not an activist or environmentalist. I'm just a regular person, a citizen of Balmorhea, Texas. And for me personally, some places should be off-limits. We have the swimming pool, the lake, the endangered species," he said.

"I don't want to be like Andrews or the Odessa Midland area where you smell the oil and gas, and see all the activity, and the trucking. I like the quiet and the water. And here, you can turn on your tap and drink the water," he said.

Exclusion zones

For Apache, which has more than 3.3 million acres leased in and around the Permian Basin and produces more than 165,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day there, the handful of wells drilled around Balmorhea are a only "small exploration program," Kennedy said.

While it drills, the company is holding its cards close to its chest, declining to disclose the acreage it has leased around Balmorhea, well results and future plans.

As a neighborly gesture, Kennedy said, the company has created exclusion zones and will not drill under the state park or inside or under the city.

"We are focusing on exploration activity in less-populated areas and employ best-in-class practices in our operations. In addition to meeting all legal requirements and acquiring all necessary permits, Apache takes proactive steps beyond what is required to further enhance the safety of operations," she added in a written statement.

But Garza, the mother of four who started the petition, said she becomes more anxious each time drilling starts on a new well, such as the one that recently appeared just north of Interstate 10.

She worries about the springs and the health of her children.

"My head literally hurts as I think about it," she said as showed a visitor around town.

"They call Balmorhea the oasis of West Texas for a reason. There are dry lands all around, and here you have this clear and clean water coming up from a spring. I've met people from Germany and France, who came to see the spring. It's crazy to think that if fracking comes, something could go wrong and affect the springs," she said.
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U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway presented a collection of books from the Library of Congress to Midland County Public Library on Monday. The collection came from the librarys Surplus Books program, which donates books that are no longer needed in Washington.

Conaway said the books have value for people in West Texas.

Theres no substitution for reading a book, Conaway said. You cant overestimate the value that reading has.

The goal of the Surplus program is to donate books to libraries and other institutions to build their collections. Mondays donation included about two dozen books, including some with themes related to Texas.

John Trischitti, director of the Midland County Public Library system, said the donation is welcome in the current economic climate of the area.

Were energy-dependent  our budget has been cut, Trischitti said. Any time we can receive quality donations like the Library of Congress can provide, [it] is beneficial.

Conaways visit to Centennial branch was one of six Library of Congress book donations he made around the district.

His visit came one week after Donald Trump chose Conaway to be an agriculture adviser for his national presidential campaign. Conaway, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, declared support for the candidate in May.

I hope he becomes president-elect Trump, Conaway said. You cant try to predict someone as unpredictable as him.

Conaway said hes prepared to meet with other agriculture advisers on the campaign.

Well see how it goes, he said.
Degree-seeking students at Midland College must choose an area of study when they register for classes this school year. Faculty and administrators at the college hope the plan  part of the colleges new pathways initiative  will improve completion rates.

We have a lot of students who take classes but dont have a clear-cut direction, said Rebecca Bell, dean of community relations and special events. This can help them.

Each new, degree-seeking student is required to choose a field of study  called a pathway  and meet with an adviser before registering for classes. Advisers are equipped to help students with course selection and credit transferring within their fields. The pathways program allows students to change majors or pathways during their time at the college after conferring with advisers.

Michael Dixon, math instructor and co-chair of the committee that created the advising plan, said the new system is designed to reduce students freedom to choose classes without goals in mind.

Many students take courses randomly, Dixon said. They take them alone, without advising.

Dixon worked with other committee members to divide the colleges majors into eight categories to create the pathways plan. When developing the pathways, the committee analyzed the colleges courses and programs, including ones that prepare students to pursue bachelors degrees at other institutions. The process took 18 months.

The pathways include: arts, humanities and communications; business; computer information technology; energy, transportation and industry; heath and wellness; public service and education; social and behavioral sciences; and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Through the advising program, new students registering for classes answer questions about their interests. Julia Vickery, director of pathways advising, said she thinks determining pathways will help students consider certificates and degrees they want to pursue.

Nationwide, were seeing students go to school and rack up a huge amount of debt, Vickery said. They leave with a huge burden. We want to be part of the change.

During the 2014-2015 school year, the six-year graduation rate of Midland College was 34.5 percent, according to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board data. The figure accounts for first- and full-time students who completed a degree at a Texas educational institution within six years of starting at MC. The state average is 32.6 percent.

Vickery said she hopes the pathways program will increase completion rates for Midland College students.

Its a nationwide issue that students who start college dont finish, Vickery said. Some students start and say I have no idea what I want to do. Those students especially dont finish.

MC is part of the Texas Success Center, which has researched pathways initiatives at community colleges.

To compliment changes in advising, Midland College plans to launch a new website in the spring semester of 2017. The website will feature the pathways more prominently than the current design.

Administrators at the college had talked for years about updating the website, which was created in 2007.

We decided now was the time, with all the changes in advising, said Damon Kennedy, dean of social and behavioral sciences and business and co-chair of the pathways committee. We want to emphasize them online.

President Steve Thomas said Midland College hopes to highlight its programs on the web.

It comes from realizing students access information differently from 10 to 15 years ago, when they used to have college catalogs, Thomas said.

As the college prepares to start classes on Aug. 29, Dixon thinks students anticipate the advising program.

Students are excited about it because they like seeing the same adviser, Dixon said. Its like going to the doctor. When you go the first time, its a long appointment because they have to learn everything about you. But when you go in the second time, its easier.
BAKER, La. - Twenty-two districts across a vast swath of southern Louisiana were forced to close last week by a historic flood, delaying or interrupting the start of the school year for tens of thousands of children.

Although some districts remain closed indefinitely - and the superintendent of one hard-hit district is living in an emergency shelter - the majority plan to welcome students back within the next two weeks, according to John White, the Louisiana state superintendent.

But school leaders are far more worried about making sure they have enough teachers than they are about the physical condition of classrooms, White said.

"There is the facility and capacity in the region to serve all students," he said. "The greater challenge is displacement, especially of teachers."

He estimated that 4,000 teachers and other staff members who are critical to the schools' operation - including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals and janitors - have been displaced by the flood.

Public servants considered "essential personnel" are entitled to expedited assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, White said, adding that his agency is pushing for educators and school personnel to gain this swift relief.

"But there is a very large number of displaced people," White said. "So there is a question of what housing will be available."

At stake is not only whether schools will be able to provide students with stability and routine at a time of great upheaval, but also whether students - many of whom are disadvantaged - will lose out on more precious learning time.

East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, the second-largest district in the state, had been in session just two days when floodwater coursed into the city. So far, six schools there have been deemed too damaged to reopen, spokeswoman Adonica Pelichet Duggan said. That number is expected to rise.

Classes in East Baton Rouge Parish Schools are scheduled to start again Wednesday. But Pelichet Duggan estimated that the flood affected about one-third of the district's 6,000 employees, making it impossible to operate schools normally.

District officials are planning to combine schools until all buildings are functional, in some cases running two schools out of one building. The combination of missing class time, upending school routines and scrambling to find enough teachers could come at an academic cost to students who already perform below the state average on state math and reading tests and who are overwhelmingly at risk, according to state data.

Students will be bused - no matter where in the district they are staying - to school sites in their home neighborhoods.

"Our students need some sense of continuity," Pelichet Duggan said. "For a lot of our students, they will eventually be moving back to their neighborhoods. We want to keep as much stability for those students as they can possibly have at this point in their lives, when everything else is chaos."

Providing transportation to far-flung students poses an additional logistical problem to districts already struggling with more than the usual challenges.

White, the state schools chief, said the Louisiana Department of Education is working on organizing additional bus routes in affected parishes.

Schools will also serve as a checkpoint for the mental well-being of traumatized students. "We are being very intentional and conscious of the challenges children may have," White said. "It is critical that to every extent possible, schools should have counselors on hand to deal with the social and emotional needs of their students."

In some of the hardest-hit areas, including Livingston and Ascension parishes, school districts have not yet announced when they will reopen.

Livingston Superintendent Rick Wentzel, who took office on July 1, said 15 of the 46 schools in his district were flooded. That damage was extensive in eight schools, and one-third of employees are displaced, he said.

"We're still assessing our facilities, assessing our workforce, assessing our students," Wentzel said. "Our plan is to get back as soon as we can. But that's very difficult when people get displaced."

Wentzel himself lives in a shelter; he rescued his wife by boat after their home took on 2 1/2 feet of water. "It's very, very difficult," he said.

Reopening school buildings damaged by the flood is taking long days and lots of legwork.

At Baker High School on Thursday, a thin layer of mud dried in the front foyer. The gym floor, buckled after days of sitting in still water, resembled a skate ramp, complete with three large, wooden waves. In an office down the hall, files were spread across the floor to dry. There were puddles in the halls.

That afternoon, a single student and a small group of staff members gathered in the school library, at the heart of the damage. On the floor sat nearly all of the school's textbooks, neatly arranged for distribution to incoming students and now ruined by water.

It is too early to estimate the cost of the damage, but Herman Brister, superintendent of the City of Baker School District, expects the losses at the district's only high school - which serves about 550 students, the vast majority of whom are African-American and poor - to be in the millions of dollars.

Traci Morgan, the principal at Baker High, said this experience has been devastating. Although her home survived the floods, she has four family members staying with her as she works to reopen the school. "There is not one person who is a teacher, a custodian, a paraprofessional, a librarian or a secretary - there is not one employee of Baker High who is not impacted by this," she said. "We have students and teachers who have lost literally everything.

"When I walked in, I could see the water line," Morgan said. "And that's when it hit me."

James Beverly, a custodian at Baker, estimates that each room in the school had at least two feet of water. When he came to inspect the damage on Sunday, "I opened the door, and it was like a river," he said.

Victor Mock, a bus driver for Baker, spent 50 hours rescuing an estimated 800 people with his 71-passenger bus. "The water in some areas was up on the third step of the bus," he said. "It was a time when you have to let your heart overrule your mind." Less than a week later, he was using his bus to transport school supplies and books between the flooded high school and its new location.

Mock's bus will return to carrying students on Monday, when classes are set to resume in Baker.

It will take some time before the high school building is ready for students again. The district will play a sort of musical chairs, pushing high school students into the middle school, moving middle school students into an elementary school and combining two small elementary schools into one.

Brister, the superintendent, expected that 75 to 80 percent of students will return to class next week. Hannah Jones, a junior at Baker High who had stopped by the school to help assess the damage, said she was ready.

"It's your home away from home when you go to school," Jones said.
EDINBURG, Texas (AP)  The trial is set to begin for a South Texas woman accused of injecting women with fake Botox.

The Monitor in McAllen (http://bit.ly/2bGsfPf ) reports that jury selection is set to begin Monday in the Edinburg trial for Nohemi Gonzalez. Court records show she's set to go to trial on two counts of practicing medicine without a license and one count of aggravated assault. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of aggravated assault.
We were not bribed to drop ...
Transcription

1 DATELINE Morocco s Berbers and Israel by Bruce Maddy-Weitzman In recent years, small groups of Moroccan Berber activists, particularly younger people, have challenged the enforced silence regarding Israel, expressing an interest in both the state of Israel and Jewish history, including the Holocaust. They even linked this interest to the alleged historic connections between Jews and Berbers in ancient times, including the initial resistance to Arab conquerors by the Kahina, a supposedly Jewish-Berber queen, and the multilayered, more recent relations existing until the mass departure of Jews for Israel in the 1950s and 1960s from Berber villages and towns. How has this extraordinary phenomenon come to pass, and what are its possible consequences? In the past, Berber activists maintained a strict separation between their struggle for political and social rights and the Arab-Israeli conflict even if there were those who quietly admired Israel s achievements. By contrast, some members of the present generation of activists and intellectuals view Israel as a partner in adversity a vibrant, anti-pan-arab force mirroring their own opposition to Arab-Islamic hegemony and the subjugation of the Berber language and culture which could help, however tacitly, in their struggle for official recognition and against Morocco s burgeoning Islamist movement. ISLAMIST CURRENTS AND PUBLIC OPINION Bruce Maddy-Weitzman is the Marcia Israel Senior Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. His book The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States will be published by the University of Texas Press in Notwithstanding Morocco s benign and positive image in the West, polling data in recent years shows considerable support for Islamist and anti-western positions. While only a small percentage of Moroccans expressed support for al-qaeda s attacks on U.S. civilians, and 64 percent held a favorable view of the American people, most Moroccans believed that the United States was seeking to weaken Islam and spread Christianity in the region, with 72 percent supporting al-qaeda s goal to force U.S. withdrawal from Muslim countries. Almost the same number of people believed that the United States or Israel, rather than al-qaeda, was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and large majorities approved of attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf. Maddy-Weitzman: Moroccan Berbers / 79

2 in parliament, as well as the officially banned but grudgingly tolerated Justice and Charity movement, seeks the Islamization of society and, ultimately, of the state. THE BERBER MOVEMENT AND THE JEWS The Berber flag represents the pre-islamic indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. In pre-islamic times, there were Christian, Jewish, and polytheist Berbers. Most present-day Berbers are Muslims. In addition, 76 percent of Moroccans favored the imposition of strict Shari a or Islamic law; 64 percent supported keeping Western values out of Islamic countries; and 61 percent stated that being Muslim was their most important identity as opposed to only 25 percent who declared their Moroccan identity most important. Eight-five percent of people stated that their primary reaction when watching a movie about the Holocaust was resentment over the sympathy that it generated for Israel and Jews at the expense of Palestinians and Arabs; over 50 percent believed that Iran s acquisition of nuclear weapons would be a positive development for the region while only a small percentage thought that the outcome would be negative. 1 This Islamist current, embodied by both the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which accepts the supremacy of the Moroccan monarchy as enshrined in the country s constitution and holds 14 percent of the seats 1 Muslims Believe US Seeks to Undermine Islam, WorldPublicOpinion.org, Apr. 24, Data drawn from a 2007 survey published by worldpublicopinion.org and the University of Maryland/Zogby International 2010 Arab public opinion poll. The other side of the ideological divide is comprised of a variety of political parties and civic groups, some with explicitly Western-liberal orientations, others less so. One of them is the Amazigh (literally free men ) or Berber culture movement, which advocates the recognition of the Berber underpinnings of Moroccan culture and calls for remedial steps, including constitutional change, particularly with regard to recognizing their language, Tamazight, as an official state language. An estimated percent of Morocco s 32 million-strong population speak one of the three main Berber dialects; in Algeria, the estimated numbers are percent; in Libya, 8-9 percent; in Tunisia, 1-5 percent. The Berber component of Moroccan identity has already been given official recognition by the state as it seeks to address at least some of the movement s symbolic and material grievances in order to maintain a balance of forces within the Moroccan political fabric. Islamists and pan-arabists have repeatedly clashed with Berber activists in recent months, mainly through polemical exchanges in a variety of media outlets. The specifics have varied, but they have had a common theme: Jews and Israel. From the Islamist and pan-arab perspective, this should come as no surprise. Hostility to Zionism, which all too often has morphed into anti-semitism and Holocaust belittlement and even denial, has long been instrumental for many opposition groups and Arab regimes seeking to mobilize public opinion. The Berber engagement in the debate, by contrast, is far less self-evident given their past evasion of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Initial indications of these changing attitudes were af- 80 / MIDDLE EAST QUARTERLY WINTER 2011

3 forded by the 2007 announcements of plans to create two complementary Berber-Jewish friendship associations in the Souss region of southwestern Morocco, the region where, according to tradition, Jews first settled after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. Their purpose, said one of the founders, was to promote the various aspects of Morocco s cultural heritage Berber, Jewish, African, and Arab; disseminate the culture of coexistence and respect of the other while rejecting violence and intolerance toward others; give real standing to the Berber and Hebrew languages inside Morocco, in order to make it a homeland for all, and to build bridges with Moroccan Jews, both inside the country (approximately 3,000) and overseas, particularly Amazigh Jews in various countries. 2 Although support for contacts with Israel was not explicitly expressed, the announcements immediately provoked sharp reactions from a number of Moroccan associations supporting the Palestinian cause and opposing U.S. actions in Iraq. They also prompted a heated debate on Iran s Arabic-language al- Alam television channel between the veteran militant Berber activist Ahmed Adghirni and an Algerian writer hostile to both Israel and North African Jews, whom he claimed were utterly foreign to the region and eager collaborators with French colonialism. 3 One year later, another Berber-Jewish friendship association, Memoire Collective, was founded, this time in Morocco s northern coastal city of al-hoceima. Led by Muhammad Moha, the association s declared focus was DATELINE The younger generation of activists has increasingly linked the struggle against the subjugation of Berber culture and language with a wider effort to promote the various aspects of Morocco s cultural heritage Berber, Jewish, African, and Arab. the need to struggle against anti-semitism in Morocco as part of the larger need to promote individual rights, tolerance, and democracy. Moha was prompted to create the association in response to attacks by leftist, pan-arab, and Islamist groups when his daughter and another Moroccan teenager participated in an international youth seminar at Israel s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. The association s creation drew further harsh responses, including the intimidation of the family of the other teenager who had joined Moha s daughter in Jerusalem. Moha was demonstratively expelled from the leftist group to which he had belonged, al-nahj al-dimuqrati (Democratic Path), for crossing all of the party s red lines in contributing to the normalization [of relations] with Israel while al- Tajdid, the newspaper of the Islamist PJD, even accused Moha of receiving 300,000 from Israel in order to set up the organization and called for acts of violence against him. 4 2 Magharebia.com, Sept. 14, Al-Alam TV (Tehran), July 21, 2007, trans. Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Washington, D.C. 4 TelQuel, Mar. 3, 2008; The Past Two Months Were Hell, Jungle Word, Apr. 3, Maddy-Weitzman: Moroccan Berbers / 81

4 Boubker Outaadit, a Berber activist for more than fifteen years, who has been involved in the formation of one of the Berber-Jewish friendship associations, was interviewed by a Moroccan weekly news magazine against the backdrop of the Israeli, Moroccan, and Amazigh flags. BERBERIST VIEWS ON ISRAEL Israel s military operation against Hamas forces in Gaza in the winter of sparked another round of polemics and mutual invective between Morocco s Islamists and Berber movement figures. A commentator in al-tajdid castigated Amazigh associations for not joining in the series of demonstrations held in solidarity with the Palestinians, wondering what was behind their failure to condemn Israel. One of the Berber movement s leading intellectuals, Ahmed Asid, replied caustically that no one had the right to question their identification and solidarity with the Palestinians, yet with the Islamist and pan-arab currents in Morocco having a complete monopoly on organizing the demonstrations, the Berbers had no choice but to avoid them, not least since the protests had contained both anti-jewish as well as ethnic Arab themes, which the Berber movement completely rejected. 5 In November 2009, Yad Vashem became a more explicit site for Berber activism against the prevailing pan-arab and Islamist currents in their own society and in the region when an 18- member delegation of the movement s educators and advocates participated in a week-long educational seminar there. One of their declared purposes was to begin incorporating the study of the Holocaust and its lessons into the Moroccan school curriculum, a subject that has been almost entirely neglected. 6 Beyond that, though, it was clear that the visit was designed to openly challenge the conventional taboos regarding contact with Israel. The matter quickly became public knowledge and provoked a number of articles in the Moroccan press, many of them negative. But space was also given to delegation members to defend themselves, an indication of Morocco s increasingly pluralist and competitive press. One of them, Boubker Outaadit, a Berber activist for more than fifteen years, who had been involved in the formation of one of the Berber-Jewish friendship associations, was interviewed by a Moroccan weekly news magazine against the backdrop of the Israeli, Moroccan, and Amazigh flags, a picture that was worth a thousand words. Defending the educational and humanitarian value of the seminar, he declared the participants readiness to answer those critics who traded in foreign problems such as the Palestinian issue, which could not be classified as a Moroccan national problem. The Arab-Israeli conflict, he declared, 5 Hassan Bouikhf, in al-tajdid (Rabat), Jan. 15, 2009; Ahmed Asid, in Bayan al-yawm (Casablanca), Jan. 23, 2009, quoted in Berbers, Where Do You Stand on Palestine, MEMRI, Special Dispatch no. 2262, Feb. 26, Ariele Nahmias, Moroccan Educators at Yad Vashem, International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Jan / MIDDLE EAST QUARTERLY WINTER 2011

5 could have been settled sixty years earlier had the Arab side not rejected the right of the Jewish people to return to their land and defend it. 7 Another, Abdellah Benhssi, justified the delegation s visit in terms of furthering the promotion of tolerance and universal brotherhood and the rejection of fanaticism and racism, universal values which, he said, both the Amazigh and Israeli cultural systems shared. 8 In a lengthy and trenchant analysis, the Moroccan scholar Muhammad Elmedlaoui, who actually deplored what he viewed as the Yad Vashem visit s use of the Holocaust for political purposes, nonetheless characterized the anti-amazigh diatribes emanating from certain Moroccan urban nationalist circles as constituting an updated version of the older, unfair branding of Berbers as collaborators with French colonialism. These attacks, he said, were essentially an alibi being used to promote a certain cultural vision for the country. 9 ANTI-SEMITISM REARS ITS UGLY HEAD Recent months have been marked by a number of incidents that further sharpened the contours of the debate. On March 17-20, a high-profile conference designed to promote the memory and heritage of Moroccan Jewry as part of the larger Moroccan fabric was held in the southern coastal town of Essaouira. One participant was Andrei Azoulay, one of Moroccan Jewry s most prominent figures, an Essaouiran native son and long-time financial adviser to both the late King Hassan and his son, King Muhammad VI. Currently the president of the Anna Lindh Foundation, Azoulay, A Berber delegation to Yad Vashem was designed to challenge the taboos regarding contact with Israel. DATELINE a self-defined Arab Jew, has been active for decades in promoting Palestinian rights within the context of overall Arab-Israeli peace. 10 Ten days later, members of the local branch of the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Human Rights (AMDH) organized anti-israel demonstrations that included a brazen, verbal attack on Azoulay, chanting Hada Ar, Hada Ar, Khwi l Blad Ya Mustashar (Shame, shame. Leave the country, counselor). This was not the first time that the king s adviser had been charged with disloyalty to Morocco: Some months earlier, during the visit of former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni to the Tangier MedDays 2009 conference, Khalid Soufyani, a lawyer and selfpromoting president of the National Association for the Resistance in Iraq and Palestine, had declared that Azoulay had to choose between being Moroccan and being Zionist. Similar slogans were voiced against a local Israeli-Moroccan businessman, Noam Nir, who responded with a letter of complaint to AMDH, which was ignored. 11 Following an additional confrontation in late July, Nir filed a defamation suit against three AMDH officials, accusing the organization of anti-semitism, particularly in light of the attacks against Azoulay. Further demonstrations were held outside of Nir s restaurant, in which he was accused of espionage and personally threatened, and another round of press attacks on him ensued. AMDH vigorously denied the anti-semitism charge. However, as is often the case, anti-zionism and anti-semitism are easily conflated in the Moroccan discourse, a fact that an AMDH official himself acknowledged to an American journalist. For example, Soufyani has led a number of anti-israeli protests in which demonstrators chanted 7 Maghrib al-yawm (Casablanca), Nov. 27, Al-Watan al-an (Casablanca), Oct. 25, Muhammad Elmedlaoui, Al-Karru Ba da al-farru Fi al- Masalat ath-thaqafa al-amazighiyya fi al-maghrib, Ahewar.com, Oct. 27, See interview with Azoulay, al-mushahid al-maghribi (Casablanca), Nov , AHN Global News Agency (Washington, D.C.), Aug. 26, Maddy-Weitzman: Moroccan Berbers / 83

6 Khaybar Khaybar Ya Yahud, Jaysh Muhammad Sa-ya ud (Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, Muhammad s army will return), referring to the Qur an s account of Muhammad s destruction of the Jewish community of Khaybar. And in late May 2010, Soufyani headed up a new organization in Morocco, made up of a crosssection of Islamists and pan-arabists, which rejected all forms of normalization with Israel and reportedly circulated a black list of some twenty-five Moroccans who supported normalization. The authorities and the Moroccan Jewish leadership adopted a low profile regarding the affair. But Berber activists in the area, some of whom had participated in the visit to Yad Vashem, came to Nir s defense, organizing a small solidarity demonstration in Essaouira and publishing articles in support of his actions and in condemnation of AMDH and its parent political party, the left-of-center Socialist Union of Popular Forces. The Simon Wiesenthal Center also voiced its concern, calling on the governor of Essaouira not to respond to AMDH s calls to halt the judicial proceedings. 12 THE FIGHT FOR BERBER RIGHTS The coda to this account of the ongoing contestation between Berber activists and their opponents was actually triggered by the author of these lines. In August 2010, the Portuguese Institute of International Relations published an analysis of mine on the prospects and limitations of Israel s relations with the Maghreb states. 13 It included a brief mention of the Berber factor in Morocco and the Maghreb in general, 12 Wiesenthal Center Urges Moroccan Authorities to Act against Antisemitic Insults, Threats, and Intimidation, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Los Angeles, Aug. 19, Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, The Limits and Potential of Israel-Maghreb Relations, IPRIS Maghreb Review, July 2010, pp Israel, Zionism, and the status of Moroccan Jewry are useful as mobilizing tools for the Islamists. 84 / MIDDLE EAST QUARTERLY WINTER 2011 including the affinity among some members of the movement toward Jews and even Israel. It also referred to its primary opponents, the Islamist and pan-arab currents, for whom rejection of any semblance of normalization with Israel is a sacred principle. This academic analysis was picked up in a wildly distorted form by the pan-arab and Moroccan media, from al-jazeera television to al- Quds al-arabi, and the Istiqlal Party s al-alam, which announced the existence of an Israeli plan, drawn up by the Moshe Dayan Center (this author s home institute at Tel Aviv University) to promote Israel s penetration of the Maghreb through the manipulation of the Berber movement. 14 The reports touched off yet another round of heated exchanges in the Moroccan press and various Internet talk forums. To its credit, one liberal French-language Moroccan weekly, Actuel, sought me out for a response and printed the full text of my answers to their questions. 15 A special section of the monthly Le Monde Amazigh included the interview, translated into Arabic, along with a number of articles rebuffing the accusation that the Berbers were a tool of the Zionist movement. The real purpose behind the campaign, said Berber activists, was to divert attention from a concurrent damning report by the U.N. s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Issued on August 25, the committee took the Moroccan state to task for its failure to recognize the Berber language as an official language and called on it to ensure that the Berbers would not be subject to discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment and health services. It also recommended that the state give special attention to the development of Berber-inhabited regions and ensure that Moroccan Berbers have the choice to give Berber names to their children, a longrunning issue for the Amazigh movement. 14 Sept. 5, 7, 8, Israel ne soutient pas les Amazighs, Actuel, Sept , 2010, pp

7 DATELINE Berber men participate in a festival celebrating their indigenous culture. The Berber movement advocates the recognition of the Berber underpinnings of Moroccan culture and calls for the recognition of their language, Tamazight, as an official state language. An estimated percent of Morocco s 32 million-strong population speak one of the three main Berber dialects. However amorphous, the Berber movement s core demand in both Morocco and Algeria is clear-cut: state recognition of the Berber demographic, historical, and cultural underpinnings of North Africa; constitutional recognition of Tamazight as an official language of the state; and remedial economic, social, cultural, and educational measures to begin redressing decades of neglect and injustice. In both countries, the authorities have made some gestures toward the movement with the Moroccan monarchy, in particular, legitimizing Berber culture as an integral part of the Moroccan patrimony even as it tries to contain it within acceptable parameters. Given that the essential parameters of Moroccan political life remain circumscribed, these competing movements are engaged in a kind of para-politics, limited in their capabilities but nonetheless energetically pursuing the reshaping of Moroccan society in their preferred images. It is in this context that the debates regarding Israel, Zionism, and the status of Moroccan Jewry, both past and present, are taking place. However secondary to the main issues facing Morocco, they are clearly hot button subjects for political activists, being useful as a mobilizing tool, especially for the Islamists while Berber militancy has now reached the point where activists are willing and able to verbally give as good as they get. With Morocco s evolution toward greater political openness moving forward, however unevenly, this public dynamic of contention will bear watching. Saudi Expert: Girls at 11 Ripe for Marriage Ghazi Al-Shimari: Allah be praised, they raised us according to the Koran and Sunna. The problem does not lie in [girls] being 12 or 13 years old.... It depends on their upbringing. If she is 11, 12, or 13 years old, yet she is ripe and sensible, and capable of bearing the responsibility... Interviewer: So if a girl is well developed and tall, and is 11 or 12 years old, she can marry? Ghazi Al-Shimari: Why not? At the age of Yes, she s ready for marriage.... I deliver lectures at many schools, and I can tell you that girls in junior high know things that even adults don t know. Interviewer: You give lectures at schools for women? Ghazi Al-Shimari: But only through a one-way screen. Iqraa TV, May 20, 2010, trans. MEMRI Maddy-Weitzman: Moroccan Berbers / 85
Microphone and US Flag View Photos

Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.) delivered this weeks Republican address talking about how the House Republicans A Better Way agenda addresses threats to security around the world.

Walters was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are her words:

The first job of the federal government is to keep our country safe. And if weve learned anything over the past eight years, its that the presidents foreign policy is not doing the job. Look no further than: the vanishing red line in Syria, the faulty reset with Russia, the attempt to lead from behind in Libya, followed by the rise of a terrorist safe haven on the Mediterranean Sea. He made a dangerous nuclear deal with Iran. He has not done enough to take on ISIS. You add all of this up, and what do you see? All across the world, our enemies dont fear us, and our friends dont trust us. The presidents foreign policy has left a power vacuum, which our rivals are all too happy to fill. So to say this foreign policy is not making us any safer iswell, an understatement.

But we House Republicans need to take action. Its not enough to sit on the sidelines. Its not enough to criticize. We have to propose an alternative. And we have. Were calling it A Better Way. We are showing the American people what we will do in 2017 and beyond if given the opportunity. We developed this plan from the bottom up, hearing from our constituents and working with all the members of our conference. And now were taking our case to the American people. In fact, Im talking to you from a small business in my district that makes security systems for public buildings. As Ive met with people I represent across my district, so many of them have told me that national security is an issue. Its an issue that concerns them the most.

A Better Way is our answer to the challenges we face. Our plan includes 67 specific ideas to strengthen our national security. We lay out our four objectives: Keep Americans safe at home, defeat the terrorists, advance Americas interests abroad, and renew our national security tools. We focus a lot of attention on defeating radical Islamist terrorism because rooting out this extremist ideology is crucial to protecting Americans at home and abroad.

We also wrote our plan with the understanding that our homeland faces a number of threatsfrom border security to cybersecurityand with the understanding that new threats will emerge. It renews our friendship with our allies. It makes sure our military and law enforcement officers have the tools they need to complete their missions. It makes sure our veterans receive the care they have earned. It also requires the federal government to work with technology expertsand bring together the best minds in one room to find ways to combat cyber threats.

President Reagan famously called for peace through strength. That is still the case today. America will be safe only when we are strong. And I believe our plan will accomplish just that. To learn more about our plan, go to our website: better.gop. Thank you.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 AM.
Sonora, CA  Despite the California Board of Parole finding convicted murderer Thomas Hyatt suitable for parol he will remain behind bars. Tuolumne County District Attorney Laura Krieg announced today that Gov. Brown has reviewed and reversed the Board of Paroles decision.

Krieg presented arguments opposing Hayatts release to the RJ Donovan State Prison Board of Parole in San Diego on April 7, 2016. The board granted Hyatt a release date but late last week Governor Brown found in light of all of the evidence Hyatt currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison.

This is the second time Hyatt has been found suitable for parole and then the decision has been reversed. Governor Brown also reversed the boards October 29, 2014 decision to release Hyatt on March 11, 2015. Krieg says, Generally a Governors reversal is an automatic three year denial. Hyatt should not be eligible for another parole hearing until 2019.

On August 14, 1992, Hyatt was sentenced in Tuolumne County Superior Court to 26 years to life in prison. He was convicted of killing Henri Morlet on the night of November 3, 1991. The report of the details of the murder in the rear parking lot of the World Savings Bank off of Church Street in Sonora are graphic. Hyatt and Morlet were acquaintances and had been drinking. At some point in the evening they purchased some beer at a gas station and then walked over behind the World Savings where they drank it. Hyatt claimed while behind the bank, Morlet made a sexual advance at him. In response, Hyatt beat Morlet by punching and kicking him in the head and body and stabbing him several times. Hyatt then went to another friends house and told him about the stabbing. Six hours later, the two returned to the scene of the crime and found that Morlet was still alive. Morlet lay moaning for help and pleading for his life. Hyatt stabbed Morlet several more times and cut his throat, killing him.
Michael Johnson of Campbell, Texas, an acclaimed author, humorist and playwright who has presented powerful stories of encouragement in a wide range of venues throughout North America, will be keynote speaker at this years scholarship dinner for the Plainview FFA Alumni Association.

Billed An Evening of Hope with Michael Johnson, the catered dinner is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Plainview County Club. Tickets are $75 for adults and $25 for students, and available by contacting either Joe Mustian at 806-685-4640 or John Browning at 806-729-1728. VIP seating and sponsorships are available by calling Browning or Mustian.

Event organizers feel that Johnson, a highly sought after motivational speaker, will be as warmly received as Duck Dynastys John Godwin and Justin Martin, who keynoted last years event, Ducks in High Cotton.

Having heard him speak, they agree with the views of Jim Stovall, president of the Emmy award winning Narrative Television Network, who calls Johnson, The best storyteller I ever heard in my life.

Johnson has performed more than 1,200 live stage shows during the past 10 years across the United States and Canada, and his nationally-syndicated magazine column, Throwing My Loop, is read by thousands each month. His stories of encouragement are heard on a number of public and private radio affiliates throughout North America, and he is host of a weekly radio broadcast, Reflections of a Cowboy.

Born in New Boston, Texas, Johnson graduated from New Boston High School in 1965 and received a B.S. in psychology from Texas A&M - Commerce in 1971 and his M.S. in 1972 from Texas A&M - Kingsville. He earned a doctorate in counseling in 1974 from Texas A&M - Commerce.

Among his books are The Most Special Person, Susie, The Whispering Horse, Cowboys and Angels which was selected Best Non-Fiction Book of 2002 by the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Tad Pole and Dr. Frog to help students deal with the pressures of third grade, A Gift for Ida and Bell, a story of the name origin of Idabel, Okla., and Healing Shine - A Spiritual Assignment, chronicling a seven-year journey of one man and one horse. That book won the Western Writers of America Spur Award and the Hollywood Book Festival as well as receiving honorable mention at the New York Book Festival and the London Book Festival, all in 2007. His Reflections of a Cowboy received an honorable mention at the Hollywood Book Festival in 2005.

Johnson was named Oklahoma Author of the Year in 2005.

He lives on a horse farm in Campbell with his wife, Dr. Sharon Johnson, four roping horses, 10 steers and their Australian Shepherd, Rowdy.
A 72-year-old Plainview woman wasnt fooled by a message left on her answering machine at 9:44 a.m. Monday from an IRS officer warning that the agency had filed suit against her and her husband for back taxes and urging them to call immediately.

Weve had dealings with the IRS in the past, where they questioned something on our return and wanted clarification, and they never call, she said about noon Monday. They always write first. Besides, they dont call themselves officers - theyre all agents.

Instead of returning the phone call, she called the Plainview Police Department who suggested that she contact the media to warn others.

I knew that it was a scam, but a call like that might send others into a panic, she said. I want to reassure them that the IRS doesnt operate this way.

The caller, who the Herald didnt identify to help her avoid being targeted by future scams, said the call originated from the Peerless Network at 646-568-1192. The message demanded that she immediately call 786-749-0662. According to WhitePages.com, a reverse directory service, the incoming call originated from Mineola, N.Y., while the other number is listed in Miami, Fla. Both are flagged as associated with the IRS scam. The Mineola number showed 515 reports and 4,200 calls in the past three months. The Miami number showed 68 reports of fraudulent activity.

The caller said an officer from the IRS was trying to reach us, and that this was our official final notification from the IRS, she reported. The reason for the call was to inform us that a lawsuit had been filed, and we needed to call immediately.

She first tried calling the No Not Call List, but it would not accept her home telephone number. She then called police.

Weve responded to real IRS inquiries two or three times through the years, and each time we had documentation to back up our returns and they admitted they were wrong, she said. We already knew how they operate, and knew the IRS doesnt call first.

The phony IRS officer didnt have a foreign accent, but tried to disguise his voice by speaking deeper than normal.

She said it was an obvious scam from the start. I reported it to (police) Capt. Dennis Harkins, who Ive known for years. He said I was a smart cookie for not responding, and he would turn the information over to the criminal investigators.
Hale County commissioners on Monday followed the recommendation of the Plainview Industrial Park steering committee by endorsing Parkhill Smith & Cooper to oversee that project.

The Plainview City Council will consider the same appoint during their regular session on Tuesday, Aug. 23. The industrial park is a joint project between the city, county and Plainview/Hale County Economic Development Corporation.

The steering committee, which consists of two representatives each from city and county and PHCEDC President Danny Glenn, reviewed proposals from three engineering firms - Parkhill Smith & Cooper of Lubbock, Brandt Engineering of Amarillo and OJD Engineering of Wolfforth, with Parkhill Smith & Cooper coming out on top.

At Mondays regular session, commissioners followed that recommendation. They also approved a related professional services agreement.

According to County Judge Bill Coleman, the countys share of the engineering fees for the industrial park will be $388,990. The City of Plainview is responsible for the same amount.

Were actually getting quite a lot for our total investment, he said. Having a shovel-ready industrial park will open a lot of possibilities in the future since its key for some sight selectors to give us a second look. Weve got a lot of hooks in the water and before long somebody is bound to take a bite.

On a related note, commissioners authorized Coleman to sign a letter of engagement with Davis Kinard & Co. to serve as auditor of the industrial park project. Similar action is required by the Plainview City Council.

In other action Monday, commissioners:

--Accepted a $3,101 bid for a vacant lot at 1704 Ave. H in Petersburg which was forfeited for back taxes. The City of Petersburg is trustee of the tract and received the bid. It also must be approved by Petersburg ISD and High Plains Underground Water Conservation District.

--Approved a request from Main Street Director Melinda Brown to stage the Plainview Fall Festival on the courthouse square Saturday, Oct. 1. Events will include a 5K race, chili cook-off benefiting the Plainview Area United Way, live music and vendor booths on the north and west sides of the courthouse.

--Received the July activity report from Matt Carter, director of Hale Center EMS. That agency responded to 39 emergency calls, 33 within Hale Center and six in rural Hale County, along with 13 transfers. There were 39 billable runs and 13 no-transfers.

--Authorized District Attorney to spend $3,000 from asset forfeiture funds to purchase cameras for crime kits for each detective at the Hale County Sheriffs Office. Currently, investigators rely on assistance from Texas Rangers when investigating major crimes.

--Approved Hale County AgriLife Extension Agent Cassidy Peek to expend departmental funds to pay tuition for Leadership Plainview.

--OKd the donation of a Honda GT670 motor and pump from Precinct 3 to Halfway Volunteer Fire Department. The equipment was on a tank trailer sold by the county in a recent auction.

--Approved a contract to house Swisher County inmates as needed for $52 per day.

--Authorized Precinct 3 Commissioner Kenny Kernell to purchase a 12M3 Caterpillar motor grader for $245,000. It replaces a John Deere maintainer, which will be sold back to the original dealer for $160,000. Net cost to the county is $85,000, not including $4,500 in dealer incentives including maintenance, fluids and credits.

--Authorized promotions for three corrections officers after receiving state jailer certification. They are Robert Nunez and Tracy Ibarra, effective March 25, and Michael McClendon, effective June 30.

--Formally ordered the General Election, set for Tuesday, Nov. 8.

--Approved accounts payable, totaling $183,124.41, and noted that the countys closing balance July 31 of $16,887,646.43.
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1 Q&A How did you become involved in doing research? Last year I was awarded an Undergraduate Research Award which afforded me the opportunity to go to London and perform research in the British National Archives at Kew. I then presented my research at the Undergraduate Research Symposium and submitted it to the Journal of Undergraduate Research. This year, my second grant allowed me to perform research in Paris, France at the Alliance Israelite Universelle archives. About Joseph Siess hometown Overland Park, Kan. Major History academic level Senior How is the research process different from what you expected? I found that research takes a lot of personal curiosity as well as the ability to encounter pieces of information and distinguish its importance from a larger body of information. Also the ability to synthesize research into an argument is a major part of the research process. What is your favorite part of doing research? My favorite part of doing research is the feeling I get when I discover something new and use the historical context to create my own arguments and to ask my own questions about a certain topic or issue. research mentor Marie Grace Brown Assistant Professor of History Exile from Exile: The Moroccan Jewish Cultural Exile and Experience Under French Colonial Rule s Joseph Siess introduction The purpose of this research is to isolate the environmental, social and political changes occurring in Morocco as a result of European influences, and to examine the ramifications upon the Moroccan Jewish identity. These European influences include: French colonial penetration and Zionism. Synonymous with my senior honors thesis, this research relies upon archival research performed at the Alliance Israelite Universelle archives in Paris, France, as well as literary sources authored by Moroccan born Jewish authors, including esteemed authors Edmond Amran el-maleh and Ruth Knafo Setton. The archival component of this research examines these environmental, social and political changes through a Franco- Jewish lens, while the literary component acts to personalize the effects of these influences upon the Moroccan Jewish identity as subjectively as possible. The goal of this research is to contribute to the field of scholarship concerning Moroccan Jewish identity, and notions of identity in general, as well as to promote contemporary Moroccan Jewish literature as an important primary source base. The hope is that this research will open up the forum concerning broader notions of identity, and the ways in which identity transforms and adapts under specific circumstances, such as European colonial influence. Background/Methods French colonialism in Morocco was an experience shared by both its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants, who Fall 2012 Spring

2 were surrounded by the same walls separating the conquered from the conqueror. The French conquest of Morocco, a physical and cultural conquest, caused Moroccans-both Muslim and Jew-to reconstruct their cultural, national, and ethnic identities. By the time the French left Morocco in 1956, Moroccan Jews faced a second challenge to their identity as they found themselves caught in the middle between the fervent influx of Arab nationalism and the Zionist movement, not fully accepted by either. The Alliance Israelite Universelle, a Jewish humanitarian organization based in Paris, France, existed in Morocco 50 years prior to French colonial penetration. The Alliance Israelite Universelle, supported by the French government, built a network of schools throughout North Africa with the aspiration of providing a quality European education for their coreligionists. Zionism as well was present in Morocco only a short time after its politicization at the Basel conference in 1897, and its influence reached its peak in the years following the establishment of the state of Israel in This research relies on literary sources, written by Moroccan born Jewish authors, as well as archival research performed at the Alliance Israelite Universelle archives in Paris, France. The archival component of this project provided information about the activities of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, and by extension, the French protectorate, as well as the effects of Zionism on the Moroccan Jewish identity. This research aims to outline the effects of the factors that led to this reconstruction of Moroccan Jewish identity culminating in the ultimate mass exodus of Moroccan Jewry after Moroccan independence in Finally, this research also aims to personalize the effects these events had upon the Moroccan Jewish identity through a Moroccan Jewish literary lens. Thus, reflected in Moroccan Jewish literature, the Moroccan Jewish identity may be characterized as the phenomenon of dual exile, in which the authors identities are being challenged from multiple angles simultaneously. Results, Discussion, and Implications This article focuses on the Jews of Morocco, and it may be argued that before the fall of the Western Caliphate, the Arab Maghreb and Muslim Spain existed as a greater cultural milieu that defined the Mediterranean Jewish world. 1 This research, as a component of my senior honors thesis, depicts the decimation of the Moroccan Jewish world via factors including French colonial and Zionist influence, and this article focuses on Moroccan Jewish literature as a way to personalize the archival component of this research. Within this article, the writings of two Moroccan Jewish authors, Edmond Amran el-maleh and Ruth Knafo Setton, will be incorporated into the broader historical narrative. El-Maleh, born in Safi in 1917, 5 years after the establishment of the French Protectorate in Morocco, experienced firsthand the exile that characterizes his identity. El-Maleh writes from exile in France, and in his writings he stresses a sense of exile that assumes a dualistic nature, namely his physical exile from his home in Morocco, and also in a more abstract sense, exile from Israel. El-Maleh, as a militant, communist anti-colonialist fighting alongside his fellow Moroccans for independence, essentially writes from the vantage point of a privileged observer, equally at home and equally exiled from the various societies he frequents. 2 El-Maleh s writings depict the chaotic phenomenon of double colonization simultaneously that of Morocco by France, and that of a vulnerable Moroccan Jewry by Ashkenazic Israel. 3 This notion of double colonization, or the dualistic nature of this unique strain of exile, is also apparent within the writings of Moroccan-born author, Ruth Knafo Setton. For Setton, her exile is emphasized by her Sephardic heritage, which is embellished by the pride she has for her Moroccan cultural roots. In Setton s writings, a different kind of dualism is apparent. Setton grew up in the United States, with one foot in the old world (Morocco) and the other in the new. Setton depicts the alienation she feels amongst the Ashkenazi Jews she encounters in France and the United States, as well as the alienation she feels as a Jew, and especially as a woman, in Morocco, the land of her birth. Setton does not speak Arabic, and communicates with her family in Morocco by way of French. This linguistic disconnect further enunciates her cultural exile. The Dualistic nature of this exile is described when Setton writes, and I set pen to paper and begin the American novel as interpreted by a Moroccan-Jewish immigrant girl. But I ve been burned already, even though I m barely 21. The first story I sent out returns with a rejection note: You write well. Next time try writing about the real Jews. 4 Setton depicts her situation as that of the unwanted, or the ostracized, too dark in her African heart for America, and too Arab to be considered a real Jew 1 Schroeter, Daniel J. The Shifting Boundaries of Moroccan Jewish Identities. Jewish Social Studies. no. 1 (2008), Scharfman, Ronnie. The Other s Other: The Moroccan Jewish Trajectory of Edmond Amran El Maleh. Yale French Studies, No. 82, Post/Colonial Conditions: Exiles, Migrations and Nomadisms, Ibid. 60 journal of undergraduate research

3 within the Eurocentric paradigm characteristic of the Jewish identity 5 as constructed within the Zionist context, and as propagated by Ashkenazic Israel. In his writings, el-maleh fears the onset of the cultural amnesia experienced by Setton, and whereas el-maleh is uprooted from his physical environment, Setton is uprooted from her identity. Both are exiled in their own way, but what unites their stories is this dualism and sense of being exiled from two angles, namely their physical exile from Morocco, as well as their exile from the newly constructed Jewish identity. In the words of celebrated author and activist Christine Daure- Serfaty, the wife of Moroccan Jewish political activist Abraham Serfaty, a Christian French national, and a teacher in Tangier: Yet all of Morocco is truly cut off, isolated on the north by the Mediterranean, on the west by the Atlantic, on the south by an enormous desert plagued by war, and on the east by a long border that has remained closed for decades. On top of all that, Moroccans are cut off mentally by their strong feelings of identity and nationalism. They form an island, just like the Chinese must have during the Middle Empire. They re convinced of their uniqueness, or at the very least of the uniqueness of both their misfortunes and windfalls. Travel and symposia have made little or no difference, because the inner wall that isolates Morocco s thirty million inhabitants from the rest of the world is so thick. It s an ancient wall, built to resist foreign invaders- from the early Portuguese and Turks right up to the more recent Spanish and French colonizers. In order to drive them back, the country closed itself off militarily as best it could; but more importantly, it strengthened its own identity, cultivating a special kind of density as a means of fending off any new input from the vast world outside 6 Morocco s isolation, both physical and cultural, is the backdrop in which the Moroccan Jewish identity developed, and Jews are very much a major component of this environment. As a result of this phenomenon of duel colonialism experienced by Moroccan Jewry, the Moroccan Jewish identity, as expressed in Moroccan Jewish literature, can be characterized as a form of exile, assuming a dualistic nature, as previously mentioned. Further, the historical narrative begins with the arrival of the French and the establishment of the French Protectorate in Morocco in 1912, and it ends with the mass Moroccan Jewish exodus beginning for the most part in the 1950 s and 60 s. This mass exodus of Moroccan Jewry can be described as the culmination of various factors and as a complex process of political change in the twentieth century. 7 This article focuses on the dualistic nature of colonialism in Morocco; namely that of French colonial penetration via the AIU and Zionist influence in the years after Israeli independence in The objective of this article is to personalize, via Moroccan Jewish literature, the effects of this dualistic challenge to Moroccan Jewish identity, and to demonstrate how these challenges translate into cultural alienation. The vehicle that drove French colonialism into the midst of Moroccan Jewry was the AIU. The AIU, though not intentionally, acted as the mediator between the Moroccan Jewish communities and the French government, and served to bring the Jews closer culturally and politically to France, creating a rift between Moroccan Jewry and its Muslim counterpart. El-Maleh in his memoir, Parcours immobile, writes, in reference to the AIU s influence on the Jewish population, the children learning French, limited to the walls of the class, skimpy, like the skimpy suite worn by Ben Ruben (teacher from the AIU school), borrowed clothes, like the apron or the smock: The work of the Alliance Israelite, the work of France. 8 El-Maleh is expressing the existence of the political relationship between France and the AIU in his writings. El-Maleh clearly views the situation with contempt, as, due to this political affiliation between the AIU and the French protectorate, the AIU represents an arm of French colonial penetration in Morocco. Further, the AIU subsequently served as the vehicle in which Zionism staked its claim in Morocco, eventually leading many Moroccan Jews to immigrate to Israel. Zionism, along with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, succeeded in the formation of a new Jewish identity, Eurocentric in nature, and exclusive of the Moroccan Jewish identity. Zionists in Morocco and the AIU initially were ideologically opposed in regards to the solution to the Jewish question. The Zionists believed Jews worldwide could only be emancipated if they uprooted themselves from the Diaspora and built a nation of their own. The AIU, on the other hand, saw these notions as destructive and were vehemently opposed to the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The AIU believed that the Jews could gain emancipation via 4 Ruth Knafo Setton, 10 Ways to Recognize a Sefardic Jewess, Best Contemporary Jewish Writing (2001). 5 Ibid. 6 Christine Daure-Serfaty, Letter from Morocco, (Michigan State University Press), Daniel J. Schroeter, Edmond Amran El Maleh, Parcours immobile, (Andre Dimanche, Translated on my own, 2000) 26. les enfants apprenaient le fracais, encore limite aux murs de la classe, etrique comme le complet-veston que portait Ben Ruben, vetement d emprunt comme le tablier ou la blouse: l uvre de l Alliance israelite, l uvre de la France! Fall 2012 Spring

4 assimilation, though towards the end of the Second World War the AIU capitulated with the Zionists by way of allowing them to utilize their schools to promote a Zionist agenda. Utilizing AIU archival sources, this article will demonstrate that Zionism and the AIU inadvertently collaborated in attempting to engender amongst Moroccan Jewish youth a sense of Jewish nationalism in order to prepare them for future immigration to Israel. As reflected in Jewish Moroccan literature, this is a phenomenon that may be described as a sort of exile from exile. Israel may have been known in their bones 9, but Morocco was known in their hearts. Below, Setton in her novel, The Road to Fez, describes the Zionist influence on Jews living amongst the Berbers, Do you know that when the Zionists went to the Berber villages in the mountains and told the Jews about Israel, the villages emptied overnight? The next morning the Berbers searched the villages and couldn t understand how the Jews could leave like that, in a second, give up everything they d ever known, for a land they d never seen A land they d never seen but that they knew in their bones 10 Zionism in a religious sense, namely, the Messianic return to the land of Israel, existed as a purely spiritual aspiration in Morocco for as long as the Jewish tradition has been practiced in the region. Ever since Zionism was politicized at the Basel Conference in 1897, a rift developed between the AIU and the Zionists in Morocco. According to historian Michael Laskier, the conflict was clear: the AIU aspired to transform and liberate the Jews in their respective countries and what it would do was to fight for legislative reforms, bringing the Jews closer to France. The Zionists, on the other hand, called for the solution to the Jewish problem not through assimilation but rather by physically uprooting the Jews from the Diaspora and placing them in a homeland of their own. Such a solution was unacceptable to the AIU for quite some time. 11 After the war, the destruction of European Jewry forced the AIU to capitulate with the Zionists and adapt their policies to accommodate their calling for a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. 12 Below is a translation of an official memorandum from 1953 located in the Alliance Israelite Universelle archives, which outlines the basic activities of The General Zionist Organization of Morocco. The General Zionist Organization of Morocco, which already employs much activity: By way of its youth movement Hanoar Hazioni (Zionist Youth) with more than 150 children, boys and girls, by its Hebrew courses and by its library in the French and Hebrew languages and by its lecture room in which are available a number of newspapers and journals in the French and Hebrew language which are at the disposal of its members. You are cordially invited to attend our first Onegh Chabat that will be held at the local Charles Finzi Center Saturday, May 9th where films on Israel will be screened. 13 It is clear from the memorandum that whereas before the AIU was anti-zionist, the French education provided to Jews in Morocco is now being utilized as a tool to engender feelings of Jewish nationalism within Moroccan Jewish youths. According to Laskier, theoretically, French education was intended to gear the youths toward accepting the notions of emancipation through assimilation. Yet the institutions of the AIU, which also taught Jewish values, had wideranging effects on the youths, often in contrast with the schools doctrinal motives. 14 Amidst their French education, Moroccan Jewish youths were attending Jewish youth programs celebrating Yom Haatzmaout, or Israeli Independence Day, in order to inspire a sense of national belonging with their coreligionists cultivating a new nation in Israel. 15 Essentially, Moroccan Jewish identity, traditionally and distinctly steeped in the Sephardic Jewish tradition, is being reconfigured in several ways. A new linguistic, national, and cultural identity is being imposed on Jewish youths via Zionist organizations in collaboration with the AIU as Moroccan Jewish youths are instructed in Hebrew and exposed to Israeli culture. Thus, while Moroccan Jews are provided a French education representing one side of the challenge to their identity, they are receiving a second challenge by way of Zionist influence, and these two challenges characterize the dualistic nature of colonization experienced by Moroccan Jews. 9 Setton, Ibid, Laskier, Daniel J. Schroeter, Ibid, Organisation des sionistes generaux du Maroc: L organisation des sionistes generaux du Maroc qui deploie deja une grande activite: par son mouvement de jeunesse Hanoar Hazioni qui compte plus de 150 enfants, garcons et filles- par ses cours d hebreu- par sa bibliotheque en langue francaise et hebraique- et par sa salle de lecture ou de nombreux journaux et revues juifs en langue francaise et hebraique sont a la disposition de ses members. Vous etes cordialement invite a assister a notre premier omegh Chabat qui sera donne dans son local Centre Charles Finzi 165, Bld des Regiments Coloniaux, le Samedi 9 Mai a 18 heures au cours duquel des films sur Israel seront projetes. 14 Laskier, Helene Cazes-Benatar, Alliance Israelite Universellte, Casablanca, le 29 Avril Alliance Israelite Universelle Archives. 62 journal of undergraduate research

5 Jewish youths were being prepared through AIU-sponsored Hebrew programs designed to immerse Jewish youths in Hebrew in preparation for immigration to Israel. In June 1952 twelve students completed the courses of the Ecole Normale Hebraique, receiving French teaching diplomas as teachers of Hebrew. 16 According to Laskier, it was about time that the AIU made Morocco the testing ground for its Hebrew education program through the creation in 1946 of the Ecole Normale Hebraique in Casablanca. 17 While the AIU prepared Moroccan Jews for assimilation in general, Zionism made significant inroads in the Moroccan Jewish community throughout the years, prompting many to eventually immigrate to Israel. Before 1939, despite Jewish immigration to Palestine being weak in comparison with later years, Jewish immigration enraged the AIU. After many Jews previously inhabiting Fez left for Palestine, the AIU blamed their departure on Zionist propaganda as well as French ineptitude in improving the living conditions within the Mellah of Fez. The AIU proceeded to appeal to the French government to allow Jews to buy land outside the old city, as well as for permission to open retail stores within the Arab quarter, in order to augment the socioeconomic position of the Jews of Fez. The purpose of these reforms was to combat the increasing Zionist presence in the country, and thus to make life more appealing to the Jews of Fez so they would not leave for Palestine. 18 While the AIU s intent was to improve Moroccan Jewish life in order to prevent Jews from leaving, the progress they did make in improving the lives of Jews essentially resulted in the deterioration of Muslim-Jewish relations. The Zionist influence, on the other hand, succeeded in providing many Jews the option of leaving for Palestine, but at the same time alienated them further from their Muslim counterparts. Again, these two aspects are characteristic of the dual nature of colonization experienced by Moroccan Jews. As reflected in Setton s writings, Israel and Zionism became one and the same in Morocco after 1948, and Jew was equated with Zionist in the eyes of the Muslim masses. Below, Setton writes, Mani says, I work with Arabs all day at the factory. Sometimes a whole day goes by, even two, and we re just people, brothers, doing our work, laughing at the same jokes. Then the news comes on the radio. Someone mentions Israel, and the mood turns ugly. Eyes that were friendly a minute ago watch me. Most Jews I know won t even go into work whenever anything happens in Israel. How long can we live with that kind of fear? 19 This passage enunciates the feelings of Moroccan Jews, which prompted them to leave their home country for Israel. From Setton s writings, it appears that Moroccan Jews are not particularly thrilled about leaving their home, but, at the same time, living without constant fear would be a better alternative. In an AIU file, the recreation of a Jewish identity within a Zionist context is apparent. Ruben Tajouri, a French-educated Jew of Libyan descent who was a dominant individual in the development of the Alliance Israelite Universelle in Morocco, received an invitation to Paris. 20 The invitation was from a French committee in charge of memorializing the Jewish martyr of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, and Tajouri was invited to participate as follows: We have the honor to inform you that the date of the first stone laying ceremony of the Tomb of the Unknown Jewish Martyr has been set for next Sunday, May 17th, a date that coincides with the 10th anniversary of the last battles, glorious and tragic, of the Warsaw ghetto. 21 Tajouri s reply is as follows, I am very touched by your attention and thank you. To my great regret, I will not be able to come to Paris on the date indicated for many reasons of occupation in need of attention at my office during this time of the school year. Please excuse my absence. 22 This exchange of an invitation and a response is indeed rather simple, but it brings to light certain questions. Firstly, what connection besides religion does Tajouri, a Jew of Libyan decent, have with the martyrs of the Warsaw Ghetto 16 Ibid, Ibid, Ibid, Ibid, Mohammed Kenbib. Tajouri (Tadjouri), Ruben. Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Brill Online, Reference. 24 March Letter from the Comite Mondial to Monsieur R. Tajouri, Delegue de l A.I.U. Rue Eleonore-Fournier Casablanca (Maroc): Nous avons l honneur de vous informer que la date de la pose solennelle de la premiere pierre du Tombeau du Martyr Juif Inconnu a ete fixee au Dimanche 17 Mai prochain, date qui coincide avec le 10eme anniversaire des derniers combats, glorieux et tragiques, du ghetto de Varsovie. 22 Letter from the Comite Mondial to Monsieur R. Tajouri, Delegue de l A.I.U. Rue Eleonore-Fournier Casablanca (Maroc): Reply from R. Tajouri: Je suis tres sensible a votre aimable attention et vous en remercie vivment. A mon tres grant regret, je ne pourrai me rendre a Paris a la date indiquee en raison des multiples occupations qui me sont creees par ma charge a cette epoque de l annee scolaire et vous prie en consequer ce de bien vouloir excuser mon absence. Le personnel de l Alliance Israelite au Maroc et moi-meme serons avec vous en pleine communion de pensee et de sentiments au jour de la ceremonie, en cette date du 17 Mai coinciant avec le 11eme anniversaire de la glorieuse defense du Ghetto de Varsovie. Fall 2012 Spring

6 uprising? The invitation is a clear gesture of solidarity on the part of the French Zionist Federation, though, in declining the invitation, whether out of necessity or not, Tajouri is maintaining the wall that divides the two worlds; Morocco and the outside world, as described by Christine Daure-Serfaty. Therefore, such gestures of Jewish solidarity, noble as they may be, perhaps have a difficult time crossing the ethnic, cultural, and national boundaries that separate the Moroccan Jewish world with the European Jewish world. In conclusion, colonialism played a profound role in restructuring and reconfiguring the social, political and cultural makeup of the broader Middle East. Moroccan Jewry, an indigenous Middle Eastern community, was uprooted from its traditional home as a result of this large-scale reconfiguration of the broader Middle East. The result of these challenges to the Moroccan Jewish identity was the creation of an identity characterized by exile and alienation. In the case of el-maleh, who writes from Paris, he is forced to leave his home, the very land he fought to emancipate from French rule, and at the same time, in a more ideological sense, he is exiled from Israel. Setton, on the other hand, is robbed of her identity and grows up in America, rootless, and sprouted from nowhere, and never really fitting in with the real Jews. 23 Thus, what el-maleh feared, namely Moroccan Jewish cultural amnesia, Setton experiences as a Moroccan Jew exiled from both her Moroccan cultural identity as well as the newly created Jewish identity centered in Ashkenazic Israel. Setton describes this sense of cultural alienation in her novel writing, When I look back into our past as Moroccan Jews, it s dark, like the mellah (Jewish quarter). A dark line, broken by glimpses of sun. A friend form Paris told me once, you come to Morocco to forget. We suffer from a sort of cultural amnesia. We forget what happened to us yesterday, the coming and going of the French, the dynasties of Sultans. A great blur of darkness buries us. 24 Finally, the aspiration of this article is to open the forum in regards to certain questions of identity in general, and the dualistic nature of exile discussed in this article is only one question in the broader examination of the complex phenomenon of identity. Identity is a major theme in my honors thesis, and I hope to continue my research in the future and focus my work on broader notions of identity and the ways in which identity is affected by various factors, such as colonialism, as is the case in this article. Bibliography Daure-Serfaty, Christine. Letter From Morocco. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, Translated by Paul Raymond Cote & Constantina Mitchell. Edmond Amran El Maleh, Parcours immobile, (Andre Dimanche, Translated on my own, 2000). Laskier, Michael M. The Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Jewish Communities of Morocco: State University of New York Press, Albany Ruth Knafo Setton, The Road to Fez, (Washington, DC: Counterpoint, 2001). 23 Ruth Knafo Setton, The Road to Fez, Setton, journal of undergraduate research
I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather.

More on who I am is here.

Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com
Kevin KC Jones knew more than how to design computer software. He knew how to make a lemon meringue pie, play Autumn Leaves on the saxophone and pedal his bicycle over the hills of Marin County.

He helped to electrify a Muni trolley line, he knew how to identify a great wine from a lesser one, and he loved to pitch in with San Francisco public schools.

Mr. Jones died of head injuries on July 21, three weeks after a suffering a bicycle accident near Glen Park. He was 60.

A native of Cambridge, Mass., and a 1979 graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Mr. Jones came to San Francisco in 1981 and worked for three decades as a software engineer for such companies as Autodesk, Microsoft, Leapfrog and Skype. He also helped Muni design and install the overhead electric wires for the 24-Divisidero route.

Mr. Jones traveled frequently on software design matters to Europe and Asia and spent so much time in Estonia that, according to his wife, Beth, I was starting to think he was part Estonian.

Acutely aware as he aged that he was working in a young persons field, Mr. Jones remained open to the near-constant evolution of his profession.

KC was an anomaly, his wife said. He always kept on top of changes. He never wanted to become a dinosaur.

For years, Mr. Jones was active in public school issues in San Francisco, volunteering in classrooms and at fundraisers. He created and moderated the first online bulletin board, with 1,800 participants, focused on San Francisco public school matters.

I always valued when KC weighed in, in a forum that was often contentious and heated, recalled Lorraine Woodruff-Long, former executive director of Parents for Public Schools in San Francisco. He was a model of diplomacy and, through this forum and many others, made a giant contribution to public education in San Francisco.

A tall, funny, thoughtful and gregarious man, Mr. Jones was at home in the kitchen, where he enjoyed crafting his famed lemon pie or his specialty orzo-feta salad. He was particularly fond of discussing politics, watching the Golden State Warriors and spending time with his dog, Shane.

Mr. Jones is survived by his wife of 26 years and two children, Hanna of Toronto and Sam of San Francisco.

To honor Mr. Jones, the San Francisco school board adjourned its Aug. 9 meeting in his memory.

A private memorial gathering will be held in San Francisco in the fall.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubesf
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The parents of a 23-year-old man shot and killed by a Newark police officer while fleeing a fast-food restaurant with a toy gun filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city Monday, claiming that their son was shot in the back by the officer who didnt identify himself or yell any commands.

Teodoro Valencia Jr., a barber who lived in Newark, died the night of March 11 after police said he robbed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the city. His parents, Maria Magdalena Rodriguez and Teodoro Valencia, filed the wrongful-death suit in federal court in Oakland, seeking unspecified damages.

Police officials said Valencia pointed a weapon  later determined to be a BB gun  at Officer Conrad Rodgers before the officer shot him. Family members and their attorneys dispute that account and said footage from a surveillance camera showed Valencia running from the fast-food restaurant without pointing the weapon and an officer shooting him in the back.

A police spokesman maintained that the footage does show Valencia pointing a weapon.

The Police Department received reports of a robbery at the restaurant at 5724 Thornton Ave. about 9:50 p.m. An employee reported that a man armed with a handgun had forced another worker to open the cash register, authorities said.

Officers arrived to find an employee with her hands in the air. Police said Valencia left through the kitchen and was spotted by Rodgers, a three-year department veteran, who was at the rear of the building ducking behind a trash container.

Rodgers yelled at Valencia to stop, and Valencia responded by turning around and pointing what the officer thought was a real handgun, according to the police account. Rodgers, armed with an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle, fired one round at Valencia, who ran south on St. Edwards Street before collapsing, police said.

Valencia died of a single gunshot wound to his left upper back, according to an autopsy report.

The police are not allowed to shoot someone in the back, said Dan Siegel, an attorney for Valencias family. The standard is whether the police officer reasonably believed he was in danger. Its pretty apparent from the video Teo Valencia had no clue that there was even a police officer at the scene.

Siegel said the officer did not identify himself to Valencia or give any commands before firing. Grainy surveillance-camera footage from outside of the restaurant, which Siegel released Monday, shows a figure behind a trash bin while Valencia runs outside of a building. As Valencia passes the garbage container, a bright flash is seen.

Siegel said that Rodgers is the figure crouched behind the trash bin and that the flash is his gun being fired. The attorney contends that the surveillance-camera footage shows that Valencia never pointed his BB gun at the officer.

Cmdr. Mike Carroll, a police spokesman, said he had not seen the lawsuit. But he said the surveillance footage does show Valencia pointing the BB gun.

The video I watched matched the officers statement, Carroll said.

Rodgers was placed on paid administrative leave for three days after the incident, then returned to active duty as a patrol officer.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Photographer Sidney Erthal attended the 2015 Burning Man festival and shared these photographs with SFGATE.

More for you Burning Man 2015: Katy Perry falls off a Segway and dust storms galore

Born and raised in Curitiba, Brazil, Erthal decided to spend time in California to improve his English. After earning a degree in tourism, by "accident" he ended up in Sausalito, where he had the opportunity to meet people who introduced him to the art of photography.
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In the Dunn gallery at the Museum of the Gulf Coast, 30 riddles can be found inside frames, each clue directing people to 30 historical sites throughout the county.

The clues are part of a city-wide scavenger hunt the Port Arthur museum and the Jefferson County Historic Commission will launch on Monday. The hunt, which was created to encourage residents and visitors to get to know the county's history better, will continue through Oct. 1.

For those who want to participate in the free scavenger hunt, the first step is to pick up a list of landmarks at the Museum of the Gulf Coast. From there, participants will need to solve riddles to know which 30 of 100 historical sites to visit next.

Every participant is required to sign a waiver acknowledging that he or she will not trespass in areas that are off-limits, and children must participate with parents, said Sarah Bellian, curator at the Museum of the Gulf Coast.

Once participants receive their packets, they will be off to discover the county's history of prohibition, mercantilism and explore places many likely never knew existed.

To win the scavenger hunt, participants are going to need to present photo evidence back at the Port Arthur museum showing that all 30 sites have been visited.

Some of those completing the hunt the fastest will receive a prize basket containing items like gift certificates, T-shirts and other donated goods, according to Bellian.

Three other prize baskets will be awarded to:

n "The Hunt Historian," who provides the most interesting additional information about the listed sites;

n "The Shutterbug," who takes the best photos;

n and "The Social Media Superstar," who generates the most Facebook likes or shares by sharing photos and tagging the Museum of the Gulf Coast.

The month-long hunt will end with a reception on Oct. 1 for winners.

SFlores@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/_saraeflores
What drug company CEOs are doing to patients for a few dollars more (source)

Not that the Obama administration has always been a champion of medicine access: the Affordable Care Act enshrined a huge guaranteed market for pharmaceutical companies, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently flat-out refused to exercise its legal right to address huge corporate mark-ups on cancer medicines the NIH helped develop.

The initiative, recently certified by the California Secretary of State as Proposition 61, calls for state agencies to be blocked from paying more for a prescription drug than the price paid by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Unlike the Medicare program, the VA is free to negotiate the price it pays for drugs and as a result, pays as much as 42 percent less than Medicare and usually significantly lower than state Medicaid programs. The primary force behind the ballot measure, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, says the law could save Californians hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lower government costs and lower individual co-payments.

While the pharmaceutical industry opposition to the measure is predictable, some patient-connected advocacy organizations have raised concerns as well. Anne Donnelly, policy director for the San Francisco-based HIV and Hepatitis C advocacy group Project Inform, has been widely quoted by the opposition campaign and in media reports questioning the wisdom of the ballot initiative. Donnelly says her group is officially neutral on the referendum and points out that Project Inform supports a drug price transparency bill that is pending at the California state legislature. "We are supportive of the goal of lowering drug prices, but the drug pricing system is so complex that I am not sure this simplistic (ballot) measure is the best approach," she said in an interview.

Project Inform's lack of support was highlighted in a July New York Times article on the referendum. But the referendum's supporters have in turn questioned Project Inform's motivations, noting that the organization -- like many patient advocacy groups -- is funded in significant part by pharmaceutical company donations. "When you look at who is speaking out against the initiative, you have to ask what it is in it for them," says Burger of the CNA. Donnelly confirms that industry donations make up between 20-36 percent of Project Inform's budget, but says the organization takes precautions to ensure that the industry does not influence its positions.

Sky-high drug prices are a scandal, but everyone knows that, even those responsible for the prices. They're also a source of enormous profit and wealth, which is the problem. The drug companies, acting alone and through their lobbying arm, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), are literally sending people to their deaths in order to drain others of a few dollars more. It would not be out of line to call this behavior murderous and psychopathic  in a Martin Shkreli sense  though most would settle for a term from economics. Something related to capitalism, perhaps.Drug companies and their wealth have captured the national legislative and regulatory process and even some of the national patient advocacy groups (see below for more). How to crack the nut of deadly high drug prices and bring them down to an affordable level? Activists in California are making a very credible attempt at the state level with a November ballot initiative called the Drug Prices Relief Act , or Proposition 61.Fran Quigley, writing in Truth-Out , first describes the scale of the problem (my emphasis throughout):Even those in government who say they're trying to help aren't helping:I'm shocked about the NIH not using authority it already has to provide relief. That's a good indication of the extent to which all of national government is captured by this industry.Only the Veterans Administration, unlike Medicare, negotiates down drug prices. Medicare is forbidden by law to do so. Which makes the prices paid by the VA for prescription drugs an interesting benchmark.In a nutshell here's what Prop 61 would do:Imagine a 42% cut in drug prices. (It's not hard to predict prescription prices falling throughout California if state agencies become the go-to source for low-cost drugs.) That alone, I think, makes Prop 61 worth your active and vigorous support. It would literally change lives, including your own.with a ballot initiative option? If Prop 61 passes in California, it will be exported, perhaps to a state near you. Another reason to give Prop 61 your active and vigorous support.Quigley's piece has much more information, including some he said-she said about whether Big Pharma is worried about this initiative passing (count on it, regardless of what they say) and whether the ballot measure will deliver the change it advertises (again, count on it, regardless of what its opponents say). I recommend reading it through if this effort interests you at all. It looks very promising to me.I do want to leave you with one more quote from the article, however, related to those patient advocacy groups who are opposed to Prop 61.The opposition is quoting some patient advocacy groups that are opposed to the measure. For example:But...Money doesn't talk, it swears. Or so I hear. Though maybe Ms. Donnelly hears it sing a different tune.GP

Labels: Big Pharma, California, Gaius Publius, Martin Shkreli, Medicare, Prop 61, Veterans Affairs Dept.
Anyone who questions what it means to be "puro San Antonio" needs to only take one look at the brunch options served at a bar in the Olmos Park area to grasp the quirky tastes of the Alamo City.

The Bang Bang Bar, located at 119 El Mio Drive, proved they have brunch a la San Antonio down pat over the weekend when they unveiled a 23-ounce Michelada topped with a turkey leg on their Facebook page.
Cousins Maine Lobster has opened a second food truck, local owners Todd Knief and Neil Werner announced.

This comes three months after the first truck opened. The San Antonio truck had the biggest franchise opening launch weekend and the biggest month in terms of sales and customers for the entire lobster roll food truck franchise.
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A crime against humanity, an outright food foul is being committed by the grandiose retailer, Neiman Marcus, where a usually affordable, traditional dish has been slapped with an outrageous price tag.

For $92, plus an $18 shipping charge, Neiman Marcus is selling packages of 6 dozen tamales that are "handmade from a traditional recipe of fresh stone-ground corn, top-quality meats, lard, spices, and natural flavorings," or you know, all the ingredients used at tamaladas for a fraction of the cost.

RELATED: San Antonio bar serving 'crazy' turkey leg michelada, chicken-on-a-stick-garnished bloody mary

The Dallas-based luxury retailer sells either "spicy" beef, chicken, pork or assorted (two dozen of each flavor) tamales.

The store attempts adding a du jour appeal by slapping a hashtag on the food that has been enjoyed by generations of families as early as the 1550's: #OnlyAtNM.

RELATED: The New York Times just discovered Topo Chico's 'lightning in a bottle' greatness

The trendy hashtag translates to "Only at Neiman Marcus" and the slogan, "Only Here. Only Ours. Exclusively for You," which is also used to advertise products under the Kendall and Kylie Jenner names.

Those more familiar with the authenticity of tamales and their actual going price  usually under $10 for a dozen  know they are not a haute, Neiman Marcus exclusive. Instead, they are readily available at "mom and pop" stores families have entrusted for years, especially during the holidays. And, tamales are a staple of comfort, not status.

RELATED: People in New York are paying $4 for 'Austin-style' breakfast tacos

A scenario of a tamale-lover removed from a place where tamales are easily found is the only plausible reason to pay more than $100 for frozen tamales.

Until then, Neiman Marcus should leave the sticky masa to the professionals and stick to clothes.

Correction: A previous version of the story priced the tamales at $92 for two dozens, not six.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
BRIDGEPORT  Cecil Young, a longtime community activist who was fired from his job at the city Health Department 10 years ago, took his protest to the streets Tuesday, as a few bemused businesspeople passed by on their way to lunch.

Young maintains that he was fired because he was a whistle blower, publicizing the existence of a pile of contaminated dirt at the health department. He used a whistle  because hes a whistle blower  and a microphone and portable speakers to get his message out.

He had set up on the sidewalk in front of the former RBS building at 1000 Lafayette Boulevard because the FBI has its area office in the building, and the FBI has several complaints from Young over the contaminated dirt and his firing.

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But the federal agency is not the only target of his ire. Young said he has raised the matter with state and local officials too, including Mayor Joe Ganim, state Sen. Ed Gomes and former state Sen. Ernest Newton and several City Council members over the years, all to no avail.

Im getting old and tired, Young said during his sidewalk protest. But that dirt pile is still there and kids are still playing in it and risking cancer. Nobody wants to do anything about it.

Wheres my justice? he yelled into his microphone. Im not going to vote anymore. These anti-poverty pimps are using our people and our neighborhoods, but they dont want to do anything.

They say if you see something, say something, but I did that and I got fired, Young said to a reporter. Three Bridgeport police officers pulled up to the curb, and when they saw that Young had a valid permit for his protest they left.

City officials said in March 2006 that Young was fired because of too many unexcused absences.

He filed a state court suit against the city and a complaint with then-state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal under Connecticuts whistle blower law. Young also filed complaints with the state Board of Mediation and Arbitration and state auditors. That complaint was over dental coverage Young said was denied to himself and his family after he was fired.
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BRIDGEPORT  Mayor Joe Ganim will have to eliminate providing tenants fresh sheets and towels from his list of responsibilities as he governs Connecticuts largest city.

Ganim broke the rules when he launched short-term rentals out of his condominium at The Cove, a residential complex on Ellsworth Street in the citys trendy Black Rock neighborhood.

So now, according to a source, The Coves condominium association has asked that Chez Ganim be shuttered.

Its inappropriate, said one upset resident who declined to give his name Tuesday. Its not in the bylaws to do. ... Youre not supposed to have a business here.

While unit owners can rent units out, tenants have long-term leases.

Ganim did not respond to a request for comment, so it is not clear how familiar he was with the regulations. The purchase was recent, because when the administration on June 30 provided copies of the mayors tax bills, the Ellsworth property was not among them, and it only recently appeared on the tax collectors website.

Ganim, who was mayor in the 1990s and moved back to Bridgeport last year to wage a comeback campaign, had claimed another condominium he purchased on Cartright Street as his primary residence.

But, confusing things further, that one-bedroom Cartright Street unit was being advertised to rent on the hotpads.com website for $1,250 a month as of Aug. 7, making it unclear just where the mayor lives.

John Soltis, president of The Cove association, declined to discuss the groups position on Ganims condo, other than to say he was confident the situation will be amicably resolved.

Ganims side endeavor as a hotelier was well-known at The Cove, according to other residents  some in favor of it, some not.

And earlier this month an out-of-town reporter working on a story about Connecticut politics unknowingly booked the mayors condo through Airbnb Inc.

The online marketplace allows property to rent real estate out to visitors and use extra income to fund their passions.

The reporter contacted Lennie Grimaldi, who runs the Only in Bridgeport blog and who helped advise Ganim when he was first mayor from 1991 to 2003. Ganim was re-elected last year.

The reporter, Grimaldi said, began asking some basic questions about the mayor.

I started getting into it about Joe, and she goes, Holy crap, he was just here. Hes the landlord,  Grimaldi said.

The reporter told Grimaldi that when she arrived at The Cove, Ganim was waiting for her towels to dry and later helped fixed her wireless internet connection.

Grimaldi wrote about it on Only in Bridgeport, keeping her identity confidential. Grimaldi said she also found another place to stay.

I didnt know Joe had become so domesticated, Grimaldi joked Tuesday.

Webster Abbott, who lives next to Ganims unit, said he had seen a couple tenants there, and that they did not cause any problems.

Joshua Kotos, of Black Rock, who was visiting The Cove Tuesday, said at least the mayor now has a presence in that neighborhood. Some Black Rock homeowners, infuriated over recent property tax increases, believe Ganim is more supportive of the lower-income areas.

Condominiums, by contrast, actually saw their taxes drop because of a state-mandated property revaluation.

Its good for him to know about Black Rock, said Kotos. I think all he cares about is people outside of Black Rock in the East End.

One resident of The Cove found Ganims effort to make money off of his property there odd.

Its strange, this woman said. He needs more money?

The mayors salary is $144,000, though he took several unpaid furlough days this year because of the budget deficit.

It is not unusual for elected officials to also be in the real estate business. Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, for example, has owned numerous properties, including riverfront acreage he had considered redeveloping but sold in 2013 for $1.9 million.

According to city tax records, Ganim also is being taxed on a 2002 Jaguar.

No word on whether he is marketing that car as a private taxi through the popular Uber website...
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BRIDGEPORT  Annette Segarra-Negrons first full meeting with the city Board of Education was greeted with an effort to have her removed.

Board member Maria Pereira, after making it clear she did not recognize Mayor Joseph Ganims appointee to the board, announced she intends to challenge the matter in court.

At Mondays school board meeting, Pereira moved to have the boards attorney file a lawsuit against the mayor and city over the appointment.

The meeting disintegrated into shouts, gavel pounds and a motion to adjourn before a vote could be taken. Whether that matters could be up for a judge to decide.

Segarra-Negron, a Republican, was named to the panel this summer after the city school board failed to name a replacement for Dave Hennessey who resigned last spring.

Pereira said that in her view, the mayor has no authority under state statues to appoint a new school board member. That comes despite opinions to the contrary by both board and city attorneys.

The statute that he is referencing clearly states unless there is another law, and there is a specific statute for Board of Education vacancies that says unless the city charter language or a special act (specify otherwise), that the remaining board members shall fill the vacancy, Pereira said.

As such, she said there is no 30-day time limit and no handing off the decision to the mayor.

Mark Anastasi, an attorney for the city, was at the meeting but was not permitted to speak to the issue.

The attempt to get the matter voted up or down is part of an effort to show a judge that administrative relief was sought before taking the issue to court. A misstep like that is what led the State Supreme Court in 2013 to decide Paul Vallas could keep his job as a city superintendent without a state administrators certificate.
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BROOKFIELD  Town officials hope that creating a master plan for the Gurski Farm homestead will finally settle their long-standing feud with the state historic preservation office.

Under pressure from the state office, First Selectman Steve Dunn said, the town sought and received a $10,000 grant from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation that, combined with $10,000 from the town, will pay for a plan to guide how the property is used and maintained.

Were trying to follow the directive of state historic to refurbish the property and get it up to a standard that is acceptable, Dunn said at a recent Board of Finance meeting.

The property on Obtuse Hill Road has been a source of friction since Brookfield got two separate grants from the State Historic Preservation Office to restore the farm buildings in 2007. That grant gave the state an easement on the property requiring the town to restore and maintain the buildings until 2019.

But town officials have often balked at the states insistence that the buildings be restored using historically accurate materials. For example, Dunn said, was the demand to use lath and plaster to rebuild the farmhouse walls instead of using less expensive Sheetrock.

Those grants came with significant and egregious contract language that allows the state to tell the town what to do with Gurski for 10 years, Dunn said.

The town purchased about 80 acres of the farmland to use as open space in 1968. The remaining land, including the farm buildings were acquired in 2002.

Last fall, tensions reached a fever pitch when the towns Conservation Commission razed several small and dilapidated structures, including an outhouse, chicken coop and two sheds, without seeking approval from SHPO.

The state Historic Preservation Council called a hearing to discuss the matter and threatened to restore the buildings themselves and send the town a bill, which is permitted under terms of the grant.

Then-First Selectman Bill Tinsley declined an invitation to that meeting.

Since then, the town has made some repairs on the property, including fixing a drainage issue in the house, built in the 1890s, that caused the basement to flood during storms. Dunn said money was allocated in the 2016-17 budget to re-shingle the walls of the house, but that work is on hold until the master plan is complete.

Weve stopped the bleeding on the property; now we have to come up with a good use, Dunn said Tuesday.

Dunn estimates that finding a consultant to develop the plan could take six months and drafting it could take another 18-20 months, meaning that it will be ready in the fall of 2018  about one year before the easement expires.

But Dunn denies that he is trying to run out the clock on SHPO, as was suggested by Board of Finance member Jeff Rossi.

We do want to do it right, Dunn said. If we do it properly, it will be something for the whole town to use.

Julie Carmelich, a National Register specialist for SHPO, said, however, that the state will keep a close eye on Gurski for the remainder of the easement.

What our office plans to do in the remaining years of the restriction is provide oversight  probably now a little more than we had been, Carmelich said. We will be checking in more often and holding the town accountable for the condition of the buildings.

But she is optimistic that the master plan is a positive step.

The best-preserved building is a used building, Carmelich said. They dont have to turn it into a museum necessarily; they can use it for any number of reasons. Were hoping this master plan will provide some insight, guidance and direction.

awolff@newstimes.com; 203-731-3333; @awolffster
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DANBURY  Both 5th District Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty and her Republican opponent this fall, Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope, blasted a broken immigration system on Tuesday in discussing the case of an undocumented immigrant from Danbury who is charged with murdering his daughter.

Esty included a call for gun control in discussing the case of Walter DaSilva, who was deported from the country twice before police say he shot his 19-year-old daughter in New Bedford, Massachusetts because he was upset that she was dating an older man.

Cope called it a grotesque honor killing and blasted Esty for her silence on stemming the danger he claims is posed by undocumented immigrants.

Sabrina DaSilva, mother of a 2-year-old child, was shot at close range on July 3 while returning from a trip to the grocery store.

Prior to the shooting, DaSilva had sent text messages to his daughter showing his displeasure with a relationship she was having, according to court documents. You thought I was going to accept your bitching and being a whore, you were wrong, police said the message states. Delicious is my Beretta.

DaSilva was deported in March 2012 after completing his prison sentence on an attempted murder charge. DaSilva was attempting to rekindle his relationship with his daughter after having been sentenced to more than eight year in prison for attempting to kill his ex-wife, his daughters mother, with a knife in 2001. DaSilva was deported once previously, in November 1999.

Federal immigrations officials say they have no information about how DaSilva returned to the United States, but court documents note that he was using an alias during his most recent entry into the country to avoid detection.

Cope, who is challenging Esty in her bid for a third term in a district that stretches from Danbury to New Britain, to the Northwest Corner of the state and the Farmington Valley, has embraced the presidential campaign of Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has made a crackdown on immigration a centerpiece of his campaign.

A twice deported illegal alien murders his daughter in a grotesque honor killing and Elizabeth Esty is silent, he said in a statement released this week criticizing Esty on a number of issues. There is no outcry because this indefensible act was committed by an illegal alien. And it shows that we need to enforce our immigrations laws.

Esty, while agreeing that the case illustrates a broken immigration system, said anyone who would use the tragedy to boost their campaign has lost touch with reality and with their humanity. The lawmaker also questioned how DaSilva was able to obtain a firearm.

Sabrina DaSilvas murder is an infuriating and tragic failure of both our broken immigration system and our current measures to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals, Esty said. Walter DaSilva was a twice-deported violent felon. It is clear that he should not have been able to get back into our country. It is also clear that DaSilva should never have been able to acquire a firearm.

According to court documents, DaSilva wasnt licensed to carry the 9 mm Beretta that police claim he used in the shooting.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a Republican, said members of both parties are to be blamed for the broken immigration system.

The Democrats want more voters, and the Republicans want cheap labor, Boughton said. The people who are losing out are middle class Americans.

Boughton added that immigration laws already on the books need to be enforced, and more focus needs to placed on work sites that hire undocumented immigrants.

We have an administration right now that is afraid to enforce the laws that are already on the books, Boughton said. And that results in tragedies like this. In the meantime, there are law-abiding families who have been waiting more than 10 years to enter the United States through legal channels for a better life.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
HARTFORD - JoAnn Campos is worried about what will happen when her intellectually disabled sister is forced to leave the Stratford group home where she has received care for the last 14 years.

Its heartbreaking, Campos said Tuesday of Gov. Dannel P. Malloys order to close the Ella Grasso state-run group home, privatize dozens of other facilities across the state and lay off hundreds of workers.

Shes very anxious, Campos said, referring to her 52-year-old sister. She has been thriving there. Im nervous about her future. Our wonderful governor is not taking this into account when he targeted these adults.

More than a dozen parents, guardians and group home workers gathered Tuesday at the offices of the Hartford-based SEIU 1199 union to protest Malloys plan to privatize services traditionally provided by the state Department of Developmental Services. The union represents many of the workers to be laid off.

The plan, part of an ongoing budget crisis, eliminates 605 jobs, privatizes 40 state-run group homes and saves almost $70 million in taxpayer money.

Chris McClure, a spokesman for the governors budget office, said the cutbacks will not impact services.

Let's be clear: there should be no service cuts involved here, McClure said. This is closely following national trends. While we know this transition will be difficult, we are doing everything we can to make the state operate more efficiently than ever before.

McClure said since 2009 the number of individuals served directly by DDS in community service arrangements has dropped from about 15 percent to less than 10 percent. At total of 3,734 DDS clients now live in privately run facilities.

That means over 90 percent of those living in [group homes] are receiving services in facilities operated by non-profits and community providers, McClure said. This step will save taxpayer dollars without affecting services.

Picking on people

The parents and group home workers who spoke out Tuesday were not buying Malloys plan.

Some suggested suing the governor and one man said Malloy should be jailed for his cutbacks.

Frank Ducharme, whose son lives at a South Windsor group home, said Gov. Malloy does not understand that hes picking on people who cant talk themselves. What the hell is he doing?

Martha Carney recalled how state workers at a Hamden group home, who had been caring for her son, Arthur, for many years, spotted the onset of a medical problem before it became a critical condition.

His life was saved because that staff recognized the need, Carney said.

Carney said workers at a private group home tend to stay on the job for far shorter periods of time so they do not come to know the clients as well. Others noted private workers earn far less than their state counterparts.

Beverly Laporte, whose son has resided at a South Windsor group home since 1994, said he still doesnt fully realize his brother died two years ago.

I used to take Robbie home at night but I cant now because he expects [his brother] to be there. she said.

Laporte said moving her son to a private facility and introducing him to new staff will be confusing and traumatic. The staff that takes care of him have been incredible. Im so happy he gets that care. I dread the day they privatize it.

Better or worse

Ben Phillips, a spokesman for the CSEA/ SEIU Local 2001 union, said in a statement that private care is not the same as state-run care.

The plan is intended to save money, but we all know too well that privatization rarely if ever results in savings and more often brings with it corruption, profiteering and a reduction in the quality of services provided, Phillips said.

DDS Commissioner Morna Murray, in a letter last week to the governors budget chief, said the plan could free up money to help those on waiting lists obtain services.

Community-based care provided by experienced non-profit organizations will ultimately allow Connecticut to afford to provide supports to the thousands of families currently waiting for services, Murray wrote.

Murray added The plan follows national trends and best practices for reducing publicly run residential and larger institutional facilities and continuing on a path of providing cost effective, community-based options for individuals supported by DDS.
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Tenure laws that provide job security for 277,000 California schoolteachers were preserved Monday when a divided state Supreme Court rejected a challenge by opponents who said the laws shielded incompetent instructors and harmed low-income and minority students.

The 4-3 vote was a victory for teachers and their unions, who argued that tenure was essential to protect teachers from arbitrary and politically motivated firings and that there was no evidence the job-security laws have damaged public education in California.

When teachers feel protected, they can stand up for their students, said Eric Heins, president of the states largest teachers union, the California Teachers Association. Its a good day for students and for educators.

Opponents said they would keep pressing for changes in the laws.

Californians will continue to demand that the state address the massive and inexcusable inequality in access to quality teachers in our public schools, said David Welch, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur who funded the suit by nine students. He said the court case had cast a much-needed spotlight on these shameful laws and the enormous harm they inflict on thousands of children every year.

The courts vote left intact an appellate ruling that upheld the tenure laws after a Los Angeles judge struck them down. In an unprecedented 2014 ruling, the judge found that teacher tenure and seniority rules violated students right to an equal education.

In a separate 4-3 vote Monday, the Supreme Court also refused to take up the issue of school funding in California, which ranks near the bottom of the states in educational spending and test scores.

Teachers groups and school district officials argued that state education spending was so low that it violated the California Constitutions guarantee of a public education, and required the courts to step in, as courts in many other states have done. But the justices denied review of an appellate court decision that said the Constitution does not give students the right to an education of any particular level of quality or funding.

Dissenting justices in both cases said the issues affected millions of public school students and should be decided by the states top court.

The schoolchildren of California deserve to know whether their fundamental right to an education is a paper promise or a real guarantee, Justice Goodwin Liu wrote in the school funding case. He and Justices Mariano-Florentino Cuellar and Ming Chin said the court should have taken up both cases, one short of the majority needed for review.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and Justices Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, Carol Corrigan and Leondra Kruger voted against Supreme Court review.

The tenure laws allow schools to fire teachers for any reason in their first two years, but require good cause for dismissals after that.

Nearly every state grants tenure to teachers, but California is one of only five that provide the protections after two years. Most states have a three-year probation period, and some have four or five years.

Supporters of tenure say the laws protect teachers from arbitrary dismissals, strengthen academic freedom, and attract high-quality candidates for high-stress, relatively low-paid work that is vital to the community. Opponents said they were not challenging all tenure laws, but contended that two years was not enough time for a meaningful evaluation, particularly since, as an administrator testified, practicalities required an assessment to be completed by March of a teachers second year.

Their suit also challenged the last hired, first fired laws that require school districts to follow seniority during layoffs and dismiss the least-senior teachers first, with exceptions for those with needed and specialized skills.

In June 2014, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu declared both laws unconstitutional, the first ruling of its kind in the nation. He said the laws make it prohibitively time-consuming and expensive to remove incompetent teachers.

Citing testimony from an eight-week trial, Treu said two years is not enough time to evaluate a teacher properly, and as a result, grossly ineffective teachers are assigned too often to schools with large numbers of poor or minority students. He said the seniority laws require schools to ignore teacher quality and base layoffs entirely on years of experience.

The result, Treu said, is a violation of students constitutional right to equality of education.

But the states Second District Court of Appeal overruled Treu in April and said the judge had failed to cite any evidence that tenure or seniority laws were to blame for substandard education.

The challenged statutes do not inevitably lead to the assignment of more inexperienced teachers to schools serving poor and minority students, Presiding Justice Roger Boren said in the 3-0 ruling.

Some teachers protected by the laws may turn out to be ineffective, Boren said, but school officials determine where those teachers are assigned, and overturning the laws would not affect their decisions or the quality of education at needy schools.

In seeking state Supreme Court review, opponents of the tenure laws said the appeals court should have accepted the findings of the trial judge, who had heard the evidence firsthand.

In a pair of unusually lengthy and detailed dissents Monday from the courts decision not to review, Liu and Cuellar said there was strong evidence that the two-year period for tenure assessment, and the time and expense needed to fire tenured teachers, result in protections for weak instructors who inflict lasting harm on their students.

The justices also said the court should have taken up a case that charged that Californias paltry level of financing for public education violates students constitutional rights.

The plaintiff in that case  including the San Francisco and Alameda school districts, seven other local districts, the California Teachers Association and the State PTA  said California trails virtually every other state in per-pupil spending, school staffing and test scores, a status it has held since shortly after the Proposition 13 property tax cut of 1978.

They argued that the California Constitution, which since 1879 has required a public school system that encourages the promotion of intellectual ... improvement, gave students a right to an education of at least some minimal level of quality.

Six days after the appellate ruling on tenure, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco rejected their arguments.

The appeals court ruled 2-1 that the California Constitution does not require the state to fund schools at any particular level, regardless of the impact on education.

The constitutional provisions leave the difficult and policy-laden question associated with educational adequacy and funding to the legislative branch, not the courts, Justice Martin Jenkins said in the majority opinion.

By letting the appeals court decision stand, attorney John Affeldt of the nonprofit Public Advocates law firm said Monday, the high court affirmed that theres no meaningful quality owed to our students under our Constitution.

The tenure case is Vergara vs. California, S234741. The school funding case is Campaign for Quality Education vs. California,S234901.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @egelko

The opinions

The dissenting opinions in the tenure case can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2bQ2QG5

The dissenting opinions in the school funding case can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2bQ2MpT
Albany

Two-and-a-half centuries after their military ancestors fought and died in two 18th century North American wars, members of the British army's Scottish regiment will embark on a 340-mile canoe trip that will trace the water route many of their forebearers traveled.

Sixteen soldiers in the Royal Regiment of Scotland are scheduled to leave Montreal on Aug. 30 and travel south via Quebec's Richelieu River, Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson River. They plan to arrive in Manhattan on Sept. 10, in time for ceremonies marking the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On the way there, they'll camp at New York historic sites where Scottish soldiers serving alongside the British fought during the American Revolution and the French and Indian War, part of the Seven Years' War.

Maj. Scotty Menzies, the officer leading the expedition, told The Associated Press the 340-mile journey will be part training exercise, part history lesson.

"It's a way we can take a soldier from a known environment and expose him to the unknown, take them out of their comfort zone, and educate them on the history of the regiment," said Menzies, a member of the regiment's Glasgow-based battalion.

British units conduct similar exercises elsewhere, but it will be the first held in North America, Menzies said. Unlike the redcoats who had to haul canoes and boats over rugged terrain between waterways, the Scots will use vehicles to portage their canoes and gear.

The soldiers will be covering water and ground that weren't welcoming to Scotsmen in the 1700s.

At Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment, known as the Black Watch, suffered more than 500 killed and wounded while assaulting enemy positions on July 6, 1758, during the French and Indian War.

At Stillwater, on the upper Hudson, a Scottish regiment was among the British force that surrendered to the Americans after the Battles at Saratoga in 1777, during the Revolutionary War.

The expedition will end at the USS Intrepid, a World War II aircraft carrier that serves as a floating museum in Manhattan. After the Sept. 11 ceremony, the soldiers, most of them veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will head to Brooklyn, scene of the Battle of Brooklyn, fought on Aug. 27, 1776. The two Highland regiments fared much better there, with the Revolutionary War's largest battle ending in a victory for British forces.
Devin McCraney, the former Beaumont ISD chief financial officer serving a federal prison sentence for embezzling millions from the school district, is scheduled next month to give a deposition in the district's lawsuit against former auditor Gayle Botley.

McCraney, imprisoned at a low-security facility in Oakdale, Louisiana, is finishing the second year of his five-year, eight-month prison sentence.
Austin, Texas

A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administration's order that requires public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.

In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX "is not ambiguous" about sex being defined as "the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth."

The judge said the order would apply nationwide. The ruling, he said, was not about the policy issues of transgender rights but about his conclusion that federal officials simply did not follow rules that required an opportunity for comment before such directives are issued.

"This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students' rights and that of personal privacy ... while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school," he wrote.

The ruling was the second recent setback for transgender advocates. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia school board can block for now a transgender male from using the boys' restroom while justices decide whether to fully intervene.

Texas and 12 other states challenged the White House directive as unconstitutional.

The judge also sided with Republican state leaders who argued that schools should have been allowed to weigh in before the White House mandate was announced in May.

The Justice Department issued a brief statement saying it was disappointed in the ruling and was reviewing its options.
Nederland police are investigating allegations that thousands of dollars are missing from Helena Park Elementary School's Parent Teacher Association, according to Chief Darrell Bush.

Bush said the funds, which could exceed $3,100, were reported missing by a PTA representative on Aug. 8.
A relentless wildfire burning near Hearst Castle in San Luis Obispo County seeped north Tuesday into Monterey County away from the opulent mansion as it continued consuming the drought-withered brush and trees in the wilderness near Lake Nacimiento, firefighters said.

The 37,101-acre Chimney Fire has burned furiously, destroying several buildings since igniting on Aug. 13. The flames last week came within 21/2 miles of the historic Hearst Castle in San Simeon, which has closed due to heavy, lingering smoke.

Workers there have been covering windows and blocking spaces around doors with towels to prevent the unhealthy air from damaging the art and artifacts inside the estate. The sprawling utopian dream home was built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and was later donated to the state by the Hearst Corp., which owns The Chronicle, in 1957.

Officials said the castle is not under direct threat from the fire.

A cool morning inversion layer calmed much of the fire to a smolder, but afternoon temperatures heated up Tuesday, increasing the fires activity. Winds out of the south and southwest gusted up to 20 mph pushing the fire northward in the mostly uninhabited wildlands around Lake Nacimiento.

The fire is still active, said Richard Eagan, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Firefighters are trying their best to keep ahead of it, but the winds kick up and the terrain is difficult. Theyre doing the best they can under the circumstances.

The fire has destroyed 52 structures and damaged seven others, while it continues to threaten 1,896 other buildings. The cause of the blaze, which was 35 percent contained, is under investigation.

The Chimney Fire is one of six large wildfires that more than 10,000 firefighters are battling statewide, which include the destructive Clayton Fire thats nearly contained in Lake County and the Soberanes Fire burning near Big Sur in Monterey County.

Overnight, firefighters fully contained the destructive Blue Cut Fire that destroyed more than 100 homes last week in San Bernardino County.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been more than 4,900 wildfires in California that have torched more than 419,000 acres.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
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Alamo Colleges Chancellor Bruce Leslie is getting a 6 percent raise and an increase in his automobile and technology allowances after he and the colleges trustees came to an agreement on a contract extension.

I think hes done a good job, and with that he needs to be rewarded accordingly, said trustee Denver McClendon, who voted in favor of the contract.

Leslie has a rolling three-year contract, subject to revision every year based on a performance evaluation. The contract signed last week begins Sept. 1 and ends Aug. 31, 2019.

RELATED: Chancellor Bruce Leslie texting on stage during graduation cost Alamo Colleges $4,000, according to donors

The chancellors new salary is $403,123. He is among the highest paid community college chancellors in the country; trustees said they reached that figure after researching salaries of other large community college districts in Texas.

His automobile allowance increased from $1,000 to $1,500 per month, according to the contract. Leslie was receiving a cellphone allowance of $60 per month, but the new contract gives him $166 per month for cellphone, computer and other technology expenses.

RELATED: Photos show Alamo Colleges chancellor on phone as graduating students cross stage

Two trustees, Anna Bustamante and Clint Kingsbery, voted against the contract Aug. 16. While they agree that Leslie is doing a good job running the district of five community colleges, they balked at the financial terms.

Leslie received a positive performance evaluation, trustees said. Board members on both sides of the contract vote praised him for increasing graduation rates and for working to ensure that more students are able to transfer their credits to four-year institutions.

But the chancellor has seen some criticism. Recently, Leslie came under fire after he spent much of Palo Alto Colleges spring commencement ceremony on his cellphone rather than congratulating students as they crossed the stage. He later apologized and Katz said she verbally reprimanded him, but trustees said it was not reflected in his evaluation or the terms of his contract.

For, go to the express.news.com

amalik@express-news.net

Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN
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Kindergarten teachers in Deweyville spent Monday morning like any other first day of school, setting out coloring pages and coaxing shy students to their new seats as parents eagerly took photos on their phones.

Unlike last year, though, the usual routine played out in the practice gym of Deweyville High School, where kindergarten students are starting the school year.

Elementary students were supposed to move into portable buildings on the high school campus to start the new year, but because of construction and weather delays, all 600 students are back under one roof for the time being.

The district finished the last school year the same way after flooding in March destroyed the elementary school and damaged more than 400 homes, roads and other buildings in the town. Decisions haven't been made yet about rebuilding the school, which has since been gutted and needs to be evaluated by FEMA.

For now, elementary students will be in temporary classrooms for at least the next three years, though assembling them took longer than expected because of rain over the summer.

Superintendent Kevin Clark hopes that the buildings will be ready by Labor Day, if it stays dry enough to pour concrete this week. For now, high school classes have been rearranged to accommodate twice the usual student body.

"We've had to displace people because of the transition. We thought we'd be in the buildings and we're not, so we've got people in places they wouldn't normally be," Clark said.

School started on Monday in most other local districts except for Port Neches-Groves ISD, which starts today, and Beaumont ISD, which starts Wednesday.

Deweyville preschoolers and kindergarteners are in the practice gym, with makeshift walls made of chairs covered in brightly colored plastic partitions.

High school family and consumer science classes are being held on the school's stage, fifth-graders are in the library and scattered throughout the building, and other elementary students are squeezed into repurposed classrooms. Those doors are marked with rosters, decorations and hand-made signs that say "Pirate Band Loves 1st Grade." Inside, classrooms are jammed with extra furniture and supplies.

"We're making the best of what we have," said teacher Dana Ladner, whose kindergarteners were settling into seats marked with caterpillar-printed nametags. The gym is set up to resemble typical classrooms as closely as possible, and she said she loves "having our little walls set up" to divide the room.

The space is a better fit for the students than where they were at the end of the school year in the band hall, she said.

"I am ready to get out (to the portable classrooms), but until then, we're in the perfect place because we're close to the cafeteria," said Ladner. "We're close to everything."

Tasha Jones, whose son Richie Cope is starting kindergarten this year, said the community's small size has made it easier to adapt.

"Everybody knows everybody," she said, so she doesn't worry about having all the students together again. "It would definitely be scary if it was a 5A school, a bigger school or a bigger town," she said.

Jones, who has three other children in the building - a high school senior, an eighth-grader, and a first-grader - said while she had hoped the new classrooms would be ready, having her kids all under one roof at school is "kind of nice."

Her first-grade daughter enjoyed finishing kindergarten on the high school campus in the spring, she said, though "the teachers probably didn't."

Jackie Allen, who teaches special education and was waiting for her students to arrive on Monday morning, said "sometimes they (the students) adapt easier."

"They think it's fun," she said, while she and other teachers were still working out how best to share their crowded space. "They're real flexible," she said, but Allen "can't wait until we're out in the new buildings."

Jeff Busby, dropping off his kindergartener on Monday, was glad that the first day hadn't been delayed by the construction.

"I think it's good that we're able to be back to school on time. It's unfortunate that we're all together like this, but at least the kids are in school participating like normal kids," he said. "With it being a smaller town, I think the transitions are going to be easy."

According to elementary secretary Brenda Wofford, the district's attendance numbers are close to where they were in June, with the district gaining some new students despite losing others. The amount of state funding to the district is determined by attendance, so keeping their numbers up will be significant in the recovery effort, Clark said.

In the months since the flood, "everyone's gotten a lot closer," Jones said.

Wofford said the district is looking to help out elsewhere while still getting back on its own feet. In the school's lobby, boxes of school supplies are marked as donations for victims of flooding in Denham Springs, Louisiana.

"We had quite a bit of things that came in that our students have an abundance of, so we decided as a group that we would pay it forward," Wofford said. "Anything we have above what we need, we will pass along to them. We know what they're going to be going through and we want to help out."

LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/LizTeitz
Fort Worth law enforcement apprehended eight people who thought they were messaging with a 13-year-old boy online in three days, according to media reports.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that eight men were met by detectives after setting up a meeting with undercover members of the Fort Worth Crimes Against Children Unit, who were posing as young boys.
The dismembered, decapitated body of a man found burning in a dumpster early Sunday outside a Southeast Side apartment complex was identified Tuesday, but his name was not released as officials worked to notify his family.

Authorities identified the man, who was 43, with the help of a tattoo. He was found about midnight, his head and hands severed, as arson investigators with the San Antonio Fire Department searched a dumpster that had been on fire in the 2300 block of Goliad Road, according to the San Antonio Police Department.
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A man charged with of capital murder told police he struck a 4-year-old boy because he was frustrated with bills, his inability to find a job and the stress of taking care of four children, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Tuesday.

Police arrested Ricardo Hernandez, 21, on Monday. Jordan Altamirano, a child of his girlfriend, died Saturday from a severed aorta and broken back, authorities said, citing an autopsy report from the Bexar County medical examiners office.

Hernandez is not Jordans biological father but lived with him, three other children and the boys mother, who was at work at the time of the incident, the affidavit states. The document did not identify her, and police said she is not facing charges.

Officers initially questioned Hernandez at the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio after the hospital notified police about the death. Hernandez didnt say he struck the child until a second interview, in which he told investigators he was feeding his 4-month-old child, who lives at the home, when Jordan approached him crying and wanting the mans attention, the affidavit said.

Hernandez said he became frustrated with Jordan and pushed on his chest with a lot of force, the document said. The child flew back, striking a sofa with his back, then stood up and resumed crying, and Hernandez told him to go upstairs and go to bed because he didnt want to hear him crying, he told police, according to the affidavit.

He took the boy to the hospital later, the affidavit said.

Hernandez told police that lots of bills are coming in, he cant find a job, and he was stressed out with taking care of all the children, the document states.

The suspect expressed that he was very frustrated with the things that were going on in his life and allegedly took it out on the small child, SAPD spokesman Douglas Greene said.

Jordan was pronounced dead at the hospital at about 7:40 p.m., police said Monday.

In his initial interview, Hernandez said he was looking after the children when, around 6:24 p.m., the boy came to him and said he didnt feel well and was having difficulty breathing. Hernandez said he believed the child had a stuffy nose, so he told the boy to go to bed, checked on him later and found him unresponsive.

Its unclear if all four children in the household were home at the time of the incident, police said.

Capital murder is punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.

Staff Writer Quixem Ramirez contributed to this report.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
Hoping to attract more customers and encourage more solar energy use in the citys poorer neighborhoods, a major San Antonio solar installer announced a new incentive program Monday.

Advanced Solar is offering a rebate exclusively to CPS Energy customers who live in City Council districts 1 through 5, regardless of a houses value. The rebate is also available to customers anywhere in CPS Energy territory whose home is valued at $100,000 or below, based on the property tax assessment.

What this program is geared around is reaching out to some of the lower-income households, lower-value homes, some sectors of the community that have not thus far participated in the (CPS) rebate program, Advanced Solar owner Don Dickey said during a roundtable the company held at City Hall.

One reason Advanced Solar gave for offering the incentive is that customers in the citys wealthier areas have tapped CPS Energy rebates at a higher rate than elsewhere. CPS data back that up.

From February 2009 to January 2016, CPS paid $11,697,672 in rebates to residential customers who bought solar systems in districts 6 through 10, which span the citys wealthier Far West and North sides. Customers in districts 1 through 5 in the downtown, East, South and Southwest sides received $3,100,602 in rebates over the same period.

Residential customers who installed solar outside San Antonios city limits received $21,522,508 in rebates. CPS service area covers all of Bexar County, plus small parts of Comal, Guadalupe, Wilson, Atascosa, Medina, Bandera and Kendall counties.

There is a gigantic gap from the (Alamo Quarry Market) to the north, to the Quarry to the south, as to people who have adopted the solar energy initiative, said Ben Rodriguez, Advanced Solars director of project development. The opportunity that exists if were able to bridge that gap and open up solar energy to a gigantic marketplace that encompasses all demographics and all people and all walks of life in San Antonio, really the possibilities are endless.

Customers who receive the Advanced Solar rebate of about $1.14 per watt could also receive a CPS Energy rebate of $1 per watt. The federal government also offers a 30 percent tax credit on solar installations.

In its news release, Advanced Solar broke down the cost of a typical 4.335-kilowatt residential solar project with the combination of the companys rebate, CPS rebate and the federal tax incentive.

The sales price of a system that size would be $15,936 with no incentives or rebates, according to Advanced Solar. The CPS rebate and federal tax credit would bring that cost to the consumer down to $8,488.90. The Advanced Solar rebate would bring the cost down to $5,822. The company also offers in-house financing programs.

Such a system would save the customer an estimated $52.16 per month, adding up to $626 in the first year, according to Advanced Solar.

Dickey said the program was not endorsed by CPS Energy, necessarily, but that Advanced Solar is working alongside the utility to bring solar power to more CPS customers.

Our ultimate goal is to enhance the spread of solar throughout San Antonio, CPS Energy spokesman Paul Flaningan said. Any organization that is a part of that, we would applaud.

Dickey credited CPS Energys broad Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan, or STEP, with building the solar industry in San Antonio. The cost of solar installations has fallen from $10 per watt to $3 per watt, Dickey said. He credited the utility with helping generate 600 jobs among solar installation companies, an industry number he said does include manufacturers like utility-scale solar farm builder OCI or panel manufacturer KACO New Energy.

An official with the nationwide trade group Smart Electric Power Alliance said while some installers work with nonprofits to offer low-cost solar options, Advanced Solars offer was the first such rebate he had heard of.

Certainly, there are some installers who work with a local housing group, like Habitat For Humanity, and they offer their materials at cost or other price reductions, interim communications director Mike Taylor said in an email. They havent classically called it a rebate, though it acts similar to one.  Might be a savvy marketing angle, though generally you don't want to give away profits on an unlimited basis forever.

Advanced Solar is able to offer the incentive because of price reductions it has received from its suppliers, including U.S.-based Suniva and South Korean company Hanwha Solar, Dickey said. Rodriguez said they initially hope to provide the incentive to 500 customers.

District 2 Councilman Alan Warrick II attended Mondays roundtable, along with a representative of state Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce president Gabe Farias, CPS Energy vice president of community engagement Maria Garcia and Environment Texas director Luke Metzger, among others.

Aside from some residents being able to afford the up-front cost before qualifying for a rebate, education is another reason people who want solar do not buy their own panels, Rodriguez said. He asked those present, if they support the program, to promote it on their email blasts and social media pages.

Advanced Solar does not have the resources of H-E-B or Walmart or CVS, Rodriguez said. We have to leave it up to our community leaders. Thats a call to action to everybody whos here at this table.

bgibbons@express-news.net, Twitter: @bgibbs
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Three South Texans were honored for their civic works on Friday at the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists 18th Annual Scholarship and Awards Gala.

University of Texas at Austin journalism professor and veteran journalist Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez received the Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Journalism in honor of her work and her initiatives in opening up the industry to more Hispanic writers.

In her speech after accepting the award, Rivas-Rodriguez talked about how many people think that writing about the Latino, Chicano or Mexican-American community makes someone an advocate.

Those of us who know better know that a good news story is a good news story, she said. Unfortunately, too many of those news stories have traditionally not be covered because they havent been recognized as good news stories because they happen to be about people who havent been valued.

Maria Antonietta Berriozabal was presented with the SAAHJ Community Service Award for her work, politically and socially, in San Antonio.

She speaks about those topics that are not popular. She talks about and fights for affordable housing, public housing, gentrification, discrimination and bigotry, the plight for the working poor, the very poor, said Martha Tijerina, a founding anchor at TV station KWEX, as she introduced Berriozabal.

In 1981, voters chose Berriozabal to represent District 1 on the San Antonio City Council, the first female Mexican-American elected to the council. She later had a teaching fellowship at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In 1994, Berriozabal was selected by the Clinton administration to be the U.S. representative on the Inter-American Commission on Women of the Organization of American States.

Have us be cognizant that the ones that are contributing today in journalism in this city stand on very strong shoulders and we thank them and celebrate those shoulders, Berriozabal said in her speech.

An introductory video about Berriozabal featured multiple speakers, including executive director of the P.E.A.C.E. Initiative (Putting An End to Abuse through Community Efforts) Patricia Castillo, who said of Berriozabal, Her mirada - her look - is fierce, and so depending on what side you are of an issue, that mirada - that look - can pierce you, or can move you to action.

Jose Maria De Leon Hernandez, aka Little Joe, the Grammy Award-winning Tejano musician known as the King of Brown Sound, took home the Corazon De Oro, or Heart of Gold, Award, presented to an individual, group or institution whose work has been nationally recognized for excellence and whose example has served as an inspiration to others, according to the galas pamphlet.

Little Joe said his career started in San Antonio in 1960 when he signed on with Corona Records and that he could never imagine what was to follow.

What followed were Grammies in 1992 and 2008 and a storied career, which helped his family take advantage of education in a way he said he could not.

The event raised more than $53,000 for scholarships to help 13 student journalists.

rdruzin@express-news.net

Twitter: @druz_journo
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Police apprehended two men accused of burglarizing two homes on the North Side with the help of a a civilian who chased them Monday afternoon.

Officers were called to Nacogdoches and Judson roads at about noon after two homes were broken into. San Antonio Police Department spokesman Douglas Green said the two arrested men used bricks to break windows and steal hundreds of dollars worth of electronics and paintings.

At another house, a neighbor chased the pair and they fled without any stolen property. The neighbor took photos of them and their vehicle, which apatrol officer used to locate the suspects a few hours later.

A brief police chase ended in a pair of arrests on the Interstate 35 access road and O'Connor Road at about 1 p.m.

The suspects, both believed to be 19 years old, will be charged with two counts of burglary of a habitation, police said. Their names were not released pending the booking process at the Bexar County Magistrates office.

Police dont recommend that civilians confront suspected criminals but the neighbor kept a prudent distance, Greene said.

We feel these arrests will put a stop to a lot of the burglaries going on in the area, Greene said. This was a good arrest. We can't thank the neighbor who spotted the individuals enough.

The property crimes unit recovered the stolen items and will return them to the owners shortly, Greene said.

Greene said other agencies are investigating to see if they can connect the two men to other robberies in the area.

qramirez@express-news.net

Twitter: @quixem
SAN ANTONIO  A 20-year-old man was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday for his alleged role in the shooting death of a 29-year-old man in early August after a botched robbery, according to police.

Darnell Allen Lee is accused of being responsible for the death of Brandon Pizana, who was found dead inside an apartment unit in the 200 block of Montrose Street around 12:17 a.m. in the 200 block of Montrose Street, said SAPD spokesman Sgt. Jesse Salame.
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SAN ANTONIO  A 21-year-old man allegedly fatally struck a 4-year-old child because he was frustrated with bills, not being able to find a job and being stressed out about taking care of four children, according to an affidavit obtained Tuesday.

Police arrested Ricardo Hernandez on a capital murder charge on Monday in connection to the death of Jordan Altamirano, who died from a severed aorta and broken back, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office.

Hernandez is not the biological father of Altamirano, but lived with him, three other children and Altamirano's mother, who was at work at the time of the incident, is not identified in the affidavit and is not currently facing charges, police said.

RELATED: Police say San Antonio man killed 4-year-old

Police initially questioned Hernandez, believed to be the mother's boyfriend, at the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio after Altamirano was pronounced dead Saturday.

After providing a different story initially, Hernandez told police he was feeding his 4-month-old child, who lives at the home, when Altamirano approached him crying and "wanting the man's attention," the report said.

Hernandez allegedly said he became frustrated with the child and pushed Altamirano on his chest with a lot of force, the affidavit said.

MORE: Sheriff: 8 children rescued, woman arrested after 'horrific' abuse discovered at San Antonio home

The child flew back, striking the sofa with his back. He then stood up and started crying, according to the arrest affidavit.

Hernandez then allegedly told the child to go upstairs and go to bed because he didnt want to hear him crying. The suspect later found the child and took him to the hospital, the affidavit said.

Hernandez also told police he was very frustrated because lots of bills are coming in, he cant find a job, and he was stressed out with taking care of all the children.

RELATED: SAPD: Man arrested for saying he was 'going to kill a cop tonight' with grenade, AK-47

Hernandez initially told police that he was looking after the children when, around 6:24 p.m., Altamirano came to him and said he didnt feel well and was having difficulty breathing.

Hernandez said he believed the child had a stuffy nose, so he told the boy to go to bed to get some rest. The suspect said he later checked on the child and found him unresponsive. He took him to the hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead, the affidavit said.

Four children lived in the home with Herndandez and the victim's mother, but its unknown how many were at home at the time of the incident, according to police.

SAPD spokesman Douglas Greene said the mother is not currently facing charges for the death of the child.

If convicted, Hernandez faces life in prison or the death penalty.

RELATED: Murder-suicide leaves couple dead at North Side apartment

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twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
SAN ANTONIO  A 35-year-old man on the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive List was captured Friday in the Alamo City.

Johnny Garcia, a known Texas Mexican Mafia gang member, was arrested without incident at a residence on the South Side Friday. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and the San Antonio Police Departments Repeat Offenders Program worked together to track him down, a news release said.
The refrain teachers have begun to hear more frequently from colleagues in recent years is that students are unmotivated, irresponsible, undisciplined, detached and disrespectful. Many teachers feel they are doing all they can to address the problems, content to view them through a deficit lens. The problem rests, they reason, in the laps of the children, their parents, their culture, lawlessness, listlessness, godlessness and an educational system that often stymies creativity and celebrates mediocrity.

Still, there are teachers who see promise in all their students, remaining optimistic in the face of daunting conditions, and ignite in their students a desire to learn. These are turnaround teachers  caring individuals who develop positive relationships with their students. For many, a special teacher is not just an instructor but also a confident, positive role model. Having a person acknowledge us, see us for who we are, as their equal in value and importance, figures high in turnaround relationships.

I met my first turnaround teacher in the fourth grade  Mr. Brown. One day, he gently squeezed and patted my shoulder. A simple, perhaps benign, gesture. He could not have known that, at that moment, I was reeling from the latest in a long series of terrible weekends, brought on by serious problems at home. For me, in that moment, the skies opened and the angels smiled. Mr. Brown became my hero. He was the purveyor of hope. For the first time in my life, I dared to dream.

Later, he asked what interested me. I told him I didnt like reading but that I was a big Yankees fan. He walked me to the school library and helped me check out a biography of Lou Gehrig. It sparked a lifelong love of books from a wide range of genres! Years later, I found the same book, published in 1942, in a stack of discarded books from the library. It was a poignant reminder of the joy that may be gleaned in the smallest gesture of kindness.

Years later, I decided to visit my hometown and thank Mr. Brown. I wanted him to know I had modeled my teaching after his  and that, in a quite literal sense, he had saved my life.

During the two-hour drive from Fresno to Bakersfield, California, my mind flooded with memories of a simpler time. There were Tinkertoys, The Twist, Howdy Doody, Looney Toons and The Mickey Mouse Club. Levi jeans were not really seasoned until they were so dirty that they stood in the corner of the room waiting for our return. PF Flyers really did make us run faster and jump higher, and we were reminded daily that father knew best. But soon the invincibility of our handsome president would be shattered, civil rights would take center stage, and people we knew would take part in an unpopular war. We watched history unfold in our dining rooms as strategically angled TV sets flickered images that forever altered our threshold for violence.

Sadly, I would never see Mr. Brown. I learned my hero had died. This wonderful young teacher  with the infectious smile and boundless energy  died only a few years after he taught me from complications of alcoholism. The irony did not escape me. However, I was not discouraged by it.

I have continued the legacy of the heroic teacher who was a giver of dreams. I, too, became a giver of dreams. I taught. Although I retired several years ago, I realize our profession may be better served by an inquiry that not only identifies the traits and qualities of turnaround teachers but also seeks to cultivate those traits in aspiring teachers and, indeed, any teacher who, like Mr. Brown, recognizes in all our students, no matter the challenges, a glass that is significantly more than half full.

Dean Evans, an Army veteran and the recipient of the 2007 Texas Teachers for Excellence Award, retired in 2012.
America has no better ally and no truer friend in the world than Israel.

I was reminded of this firsthand a few days ago when I led a Texas delegation to Israel.

While we were there, we met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a strong advocate for freedom and security in the Middle East. One of the major takeaways from my meeting with him was the importance of Americas continuing resolve in fighting terrorism. The prime minister confronts asymmetric threats every day  whether its Hamas, Hezbollah or state-sponsored acts of violence.

He stressed that not only Israel but the entire region  and the entire world, for that matter  needs strong American leadership. Sadly, we havent seen that lately. And the Obama administrations nuclear deal with Iran advances the day when a state sponsor of terror becomes a nuclear power.

Israel deserves the support of our country. And it deserves the support of our state. Perhaps the reason that Texans, in particular, identify with Israel is because we have similar stories. Netanyahu compared the Battle of the Alamo to the siege of Masada in A.D. 73 when the Jewish rebels were heavily outnumbered by the Romans, and many paid the ultimate price.

And so today, the people of America must remain committed to the state of Israel. And so must the people of Texas.

It became clear in our conversation that another element of strong American leadership is economic partnership. The good news is that Israel  like Texas  is open for business.

During our meeting, the prime minister and I discussed several economic areas where Texas and Israel can work together.

One is technology. Texas is home to the Silicon Prairie. And in many ways, Israel is the Silicon Valley of the Middle East. We talked about the Israeli startup culture  in particular two companies generated from that spirit that have already changed the way we drive in the 21st century  Mobileye and Waze.

During our trip, we also met with IDE Technologies, which is behind the worlds largest desalination facility. IDE is examining a similar program in Texas to help cities, communities and industrial partners meet their water needs. In fact, the company has been so successful in its home country that Israel has gone from a net importer of water to a net exporter of water in just 20 years. And now Israel is exploring offshore reserves of natural gas in partnership with Houston-based company Noble Energy, potentially bringing Israel to energy independence in less than a generation.

Another area where Texas and Israel can work together is further exploring this abundant resource and developing relevant infrastructure to deliver product to the marketplace.

After spending several days meeting with political and business leaders in Israel, this much is clear to me: The most important thing we can do for Israel is do business with Israel. And I am committed to helping foster a climate of trade, investment and sharing of best practices. What I saw in Israel was a great spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, like that of Texas. And I think that Texas is the perfect partner for Israeli business.

Above all, I want to do everything I can to bring Texans and Israelis closer together. We share common values, common ideals and, yes, common enemies.

Together, we can expand freedom, strengthen free markets and continue to fight back against terrorism. The people of Israel have been tested for quite some time, but just as fire refines steel, their challenges have only created a stronger Israel. I saw that in the eyes of the Israeli people with whom I met.

They are not afraid to stand for freedom. And we must never be afraid to stand with them.

George P. Bush is the 27th Texas land commissioner.
The folks at the top of the November ballot will likely assure a higher than usual turnout in Texas, but that doesnt negate the need for a robust effort to educate voters on what is and isnt allowed in identification at the polls.

This is a responsibility that must be taken seriously by both state and county officials.

This is made even more necessary because a recent ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that the states voter ID is discriminatory has prompted welcome changes. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos signed an order, based on an agreement between the state and the groups suing the state. Voters without photo ID can sign an affidavit stating they are a U.S. citizen and present proof of residence, such as a utility bill.

Texas has said that it will again be contracting with communications giant Burson-Marsteller to develop voter outreach efforts. Texas secretary of state has released final instructions to county officials about the changes.

This is a daunting task, owing to the size of the state, the rural nature of much of it and the number of counties  254.

This effort the state must undertake isnt about voter turnout  its about voter education. With Texas consistently near the cellar nationally in voter turnout, its hard to argue that the state has done all it can on voter outreach generally, but the courts ruling has likely caused more confusion in what some voters already found bewildering.

Getting the word out will be imperative. And this is true even if the state has signaled that it will appeal the latest ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court has ordered that the state spend at least $2.5 million on voter education.

An article by David Saleh Rauf of Hearst Newspapers Austin Bureau reported that Secretary of State Carlos Cascos will undertake a two-week tour of the state and that the state will spend $1.3 million in advertising. The effort will include digital, print and social media ads.

The states voter ID law allowed for seven forms of photo identification  a drivers license, a state-issued personal ID, an Election Identification Certificate, a concealed weapons permit, a U.S. passport, a military ID and a U.S. Citizenship Certificate or Certificate of Naturalization with photo.

Texans without photo identification can get that Election Identification Certificate free, but critics have credibly said educating Texans on this offer has been lacking, as has been access to the offices where these can be obtained.

The U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi found both discriminatory effect and intent in the law. The states minorities in particular were among those most likely to be without the forms of identification required. The 5th Circuit found only discriminatory effect and returned the issue of intent to the lower court for further review.

However this education is rolled out, it must compensate for the now-recognized discriminatory effect of the law. Where this campaign is rolled out will matter as much as how. The campaign must fully inform voters to the changes in voter ID mandated by the court.

Neither the state nor the counties can afford to fail in this outreach.

The courts have plainly said that voter ID has compromised the voter franchise. Discrimination does that. This outreach campaign must ameliorate that.
Requiring private developers in San Francisco to rent 20 percent of units in new apartment buildings at below-market prices would slow down construction of housing, the city controller concludes.

That finding will undoubtedly fuel the debate about how best to create affordable housing in the city, especially given that the current requirement is 25 percent.

The Board of Supervisors, however, has said it will revise that number based on a feasibility analysis by City Controller Ben Rosenfield. The draft recommendations released Monday are the strongest indication yet of where that requirement will fall.

Among the conclusions:

New apartment buildings can rent a maximum of 18 percent affordable units before new housing is likely to be impeded. The idea is that the higher the affordability percentage, the less money developers will pay for the land. At greater than 18 percent affordability, the value of the land will drop to a level so low that owners wont sell the land.

New condominium buildings can afford 20 percent affordability before new housing is likely to be impeded.

There is no indication that high-rise projects can absorb greater affordability.

Ownership projects are three times more likely than rental projects to pay the city a fee rather than include affordable housing on site. The city should increase the fee levels in order to give developers incentive to build affordable housing.

Conduct a feasibility analysis every five years that will influence the affordability requirements.

The controller also recommends requiring the same affordability requirement for all projects in all neighborhoods. Thats significant because some affordable-housing advocates argue there should be higher requirements in neighborhoods facing significant displacement, such as the Mission District and the Tenderloin.

The feasibility analysis was sure to be controversial no matter the findings, given the concerns over housing, affordability and displacement.

Its genesis stems from Proposition C, the June ballot measure raising the affordability requirements from 12 to 25 percent. When Prop. C was first proposed, Mayor Ed Lee criticized the 25 percent requirement as arbitrary. Developers warned that it would effectively kill the creation of new housing.

Ultimately, both dropped their opposition, in part because Supervisors Jane Kim and Aaron Peskin, the sponsors of Prop. C, agreed to adjust the percentage based on the feasibility analysis.

Peskin and Kim werent available for comment Monday.

On Monday, affordable-housing advocates urged the controller to stick by the requirements set in Prop. C.

John Elberling, executive director of nonprofit developer Todco, said the presumption behind the draft recommendations is that the city should protect land value, when in fact, he said, it should do just the opposite.

The landowners took the benefit of the boom, he said Monday at a meeting of a working group helping craft the report. There is no public-policy reason for them to be protected at all.

He also urged the controller to recommend a long-term affordability requirement  not dependent on a feasibility analysis every five years  because he said that would be the best way to create predictability and push down land values.

The Council of Community Housing Organizations urged the controller to keep 25 percent as a baseline for affordability.

It noted that earlier this month, the developer Lennar Multifamily Communities agreed to 25 percent affordability at its 157-unit development at 1515 South Van Ness.

This reinforces the Prop. C voter mandate as a starting point, perhaps with higher percentages for condominium projects, the council wrote in a letter outlining its position.

The controllers office will release its final report in September. The political debate will then begin as the supervisors decide whether to accept the recommendations.

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen
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In a boon to soda tax measures on the November ballot in three Bay Area cities, a new study from UC Berkeley shows residents of low-income neighborhoods in Berkeley are drinking less soda and other sugary beverages after that city passed a groundbreaking soda tax two years ago.

Berkeley voters overwhelmingly approved a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks in November 2014, making it the first city in the country to approve the controversial tax meant to reduce obesity and diabetes. The tax was implemented the following March. Now, supporters are trying to replicate it in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany with measures on this Novembers ballot.

The study found a 21 percent drop in soda consumption in poor, mostly minority neighborhoods in Berkeley after the soda tax was implemented.

San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen, the main proponent of San Franciscos proposed tax, has been going door-to-door in Bayview-Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley, the Mission and the Tenderloin to educate residents of the health hazards of drinking soda. She speculated that increased public awareness about sugary drinks because of the successful campaign, rather than increased prices from the tax, prompted the reduction in consumption.

Once you start to educate people and enlighten them and make that connection, thats when the light comes on and they make the change, said Cohen, who grew up in Bayview-Hunters Point.

For the study, to be published in the American Journal of Public Health, UC Berkeley researchers first posed questions about drinking habits to pedestrians on busy commercial corridors in low-income, mostly minority neighborhoods in Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco in the spring and summer of 2014. That was just before heavy media attention began in the Berkeley campaign, as well as a proposed soda tax on the November 2014 ballot in San Francisco that failed.

The researchers then went back to the same spots a year later  after the Berkeley tax had passed and been imposed. In total, they interviewed 2,600 people, one-third of them before the Berkeley tax passed and two-thirds of them after.

Respondents in Berkeley reported a 21 percent drop in drinking soda and sugary beverages after the tax passed, while those in San Francisco and Oakland reported a 4 percent increase.

Interview subjects in Berkeley reported a 63 percent increase in the consumption of bottled or tap water, while those in San Francisco and Oakland reported a 19 percent increase. Just 2 percent of Berkeley pedestrians said they were shopping for sugary drinks elsewhere to avoid the tax.

Jennifer Falbe, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley and the studys lead author, said its unclear whether increased awareness in Berkeley or higher prices led to the drop in consumption. She said even knowledge that 76 percent of their fellow Berkeley residents approved of the tax could have a bearing on ones personal habits.

Knowing the tax passed by a landslide vote is something that can change residents attitudes and norms around sugary-drink consumption, she said.

Representatives of the American Beverage Association, which is vehemently opposed to soda taxes, arent buying it. Brad Williams, a consultant for the industry group who is working to defeat the taxes in San Francisco and Oakland, questioned the validity of the study.

He contended that man-on-the-street interviews are not very reliable, especially because those interviewed before and after the passage of the Berkeley tax were not the same people. They were just walking in the same neighborhoods. Respondents reports of their own soda consumption werent drawn from journals, but reported off the tops of their heads. He added that Berkeley residents may have based their answers on the intense pro-tax campaign, but may not actually stick to drinking less soda.

Right after a campaign where the community clearly has gotten behind sticking it to Big Soda and the tax, it may well have impacts on responses, he said. Are their attitudes really being changed or are they being affected by the campaign?

The American Beverage Association has already poured $545,000 into the drive to defeat the tax in San Francisco this fall and is expected to spend a lot more. The industry spent more than $9 million on its successful 2014 effort to defeat San Franciscos soda tax.

As during that effort, the beverage association is stressing that most grocers will simply raise the prices of everything for sale rather than specifically raise the price of just sodas by 1-cent-per-ounce.

Instead of cherry-picking data, the people who compiled this study should level with the public and explain the true costs that these types of grocery taxes have with hardworking, low-income families, said Joe Arellano, a spokesman for the campaign to defeat the tax.

Dozens of cities around the country have tried and failed to pass soda taxes. After Berkeley became the first city in the country to succeed, Philadelphia became the second in June. Its tax will take effect in January. San Francisco, Oakland and Albany are all trying to levy a 1-cent-per-ounce tax, structured in the same way Berkeleys is.

John Maa, a doctor and secretary of the San Francisco Medical Society, which backs the tax, called the UC Berkeley study great news.

Thats the whole point, he said. Its education. When people realize theres so much sugar, they become aware of it. Thats a big win for public health.

Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @hknightsf
Reliance on FDI could lead Vietnam straight into the middle-income trap.

Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) with many international corporations establishing new facilities in the country, known as greenfield investment.

The country topped the emerging markets index for greenfield FDI in 2014 and 2015, surpassing 13 other countries in the annual study by fDi Intelligence at the FT data division, which looked at inbound greenfield investment relative to the size of each countrys economy.

Last year, Vietnam scored 6.45 in the index, meaning the country attracted almost 6.5 times the amount of greenfield FDI that was expected given the size of its economy; leaving behind runners-ups Hungary and Romania and other Southeast Asian peers such as Malaysia and Thailand.

Vietnam is emerging as a major manufacturing hub in electronics, standing fourth in Asia-Pacific in terms of FDI behind India, China and Indonesia. The four countries combined account for nearly two-thirds of FDI capital in the region valued at $320bln.

Business environment improving

During the first seven months of 2016, the country welcomed approximately $13 billion of newly registered capital, 1.5 times higher than the previous year. Big free-trade agreements together with the right mix of ingredients for growth are among the reasons for the appeal.

A lot of investment has come in expectation of the TPP [the Trans-Pacific Partnership], said Thomas Jandl, Non-Resident Scholar at Vietnam National University, referring to mammoth U.S.-led free trade agreement whose 12 members comprise nearly 40 percent of global GDP.

Business is often ahead of politics in preparing early for a new environment. When Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization, the investment boom also started the year before.

Institutional reforms have also contributed to making Vietnam more foreign investment friendly. Revised investment and enterprise laws have reduced the time needed to establish a new business in Vietnam from 34 days in 2015 to 20 in 2016, according to the World Banks latest Doing Business report. Reduced corporate income tax and making it easier to pay are the other key points that are encouraging foreign companies to enter Vietnam.

Investors have also taken heart from the stability of Vietnams long-term planning as the recent annual ASEAN Business Outlook Survey showed 40 percent of U.S. enterprises consider the country to be their priority market for future business expansion.

However, such changes to laws and regulations could backfire and actually raise concerns about the legal environment among companies and investors, said business advisory firm Grant Thornton. If policymakers continue to issue new documents without synchronizing the entire legislative system, it could become one of the most critical investment obstacles for Vietnam, the firm said.

Vietnamese labor: on the edge of falling behind

One thing that stands out in Vietnams appeal for foreign investment is its competitively young and cheap workforce. Seven in ten Vietnamese live in rural areas, which helps dampen wage pressures.

Vietnams labor is quite competitive when compared with other countries in the region, said Antonio Sequeros of Tractus Asia, a management consulting company. Today, the only country in the region that can compete with Vietnam in terms of labor costs is Myanmar, he added.

Statistics from Vietnam's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) show that over 70 percent of total FDI projects in the first seven months of this year were manufacturing-related, meaning "the industries that drive Vietnams manufacturing sector until now are mainly low value-added and labor-intensive, and use low-level technologies," Huyn H. Son, a specialist for the Asian Development Bank, wrote in a recent blog.

Often, Vietnamese labor is hired especially for the final assembling of products to be exported, Pietro Masina, Associated Professor of Economics at the University of Naples "L'Orientale", Italy, told VnExpress International.

Take Samsung Vietnam as an example; lured by Vietnam's large, cheap workforce, as well as its proximity to China, Samsung has invested about $6.5billion in Bac Ninh Industrial Zone since 2009. Not just Samsung, dozens of electronics producers and suppliers have touched down and commenced operations in Vietnam, such as Japan-based Canon, Taiwan-based Foxconn and U.S.-based Microsoft.

In contrast, FDI to Vietnam gives only a humble contribution to technology diffusion, only accounting for 4 percent in total share of foreign capital inflow in the first seven months of this year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency.

Dependence on cheap-labor may become a risk for developing countries as the world is undergoing a digital revolution. With the rapid development of science and technology, outsourcing in manufacturing will be much less needed as things like 3D printing become widely used.

Sooner or later, "the lowest levels of manufacturing may in the future be done with new technologies at home rather than overseas," Jandl, the East Asia expert, told VnExpress International. In that case, the cost of labor will become secondary and human capital and technology absorption capacity will become crucial. Vietnam is falling behind."

Should we attract as much FDI as possible?

The pace of investment in Vietnam has slowed recently, according to the Financial Times greenfield index assessment 2015. The countrys score fell 1.41 points, the biggest fall among the 14 countries on the index. Vietnams share in global greenfield FDI projects also witnessed a slight drop (from 1.89 percent to 1.77 percent).

As percentage of GDP, last year FDI flows to Vietnam stood at 6.1 percent, nearly two times higher than Malaysia (at 3.7 percent), which is notoriously dependent on FDI, data from the World Bank shows. Masina thus sees Vietnams current industrialization process is highly dependent on FDI, meaning the countrys economy may become vulnerable when the market fluctuates.

The recent environmental disaster in Vietnam's central coast caused by Taiwanese steel firm Formosa, together with tax-dodging accusations against Coca-Cola in 2013, are the two most notorious scandals involving FDI firms in Vietnam.

Its high time to review the impacts FDI has on Vietnam, said Tran Cung, the director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM).

It is also worth noting that none of the high performing East Asian economies such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have based their industrial development on FDI attractions, said Masina. On the contrary, countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, which followed FDI-led and export-driven models in the late 1980s, are now caught in the so-called middle-income trap.

"Vietnam definitely has to reform its economy to stay competitive. This is not just a function of the digital revolution, but simply the middle-income trap," Jandl told VnExpress International.

Given increasing globalization and several free-trade agreements in the line up, especially the TPP, skills development is vital to Vietnams trade and production structure and therefore sustainable growth.

To be part of the TPP, [Vietnam] agreed on changing many standards, said Robert Sitkoff from Harvard Law School. To achieve middle-income status through industrialization, the country should move toward more sophisticated export products.

In its Country Partnership Strategy, 2012-2015 Final Review Validation, the Asian Development Bank said Vietnam should stimulate technological innovation and product diversification to continue transitioning to a hub for high value-added manufacturing.

Speaking of enhancing human resources in Vietnam, Masina said that the country should pursue innovation to improve the quality of goods for the domestic market and to try to increase the quality of Vietnamese firms participating in regional production networks.

"This is a difficult path, but it's the only concrete chance to reduce dependence on volatile FDI," he said.

Related news:

> Vietnam emerges as a magnet for foreign direct investment

> Vietnam's H1 actual FDI rises 15 pct yr/yr to $7.25 bln - govt

> Vietnams FDI inflow jumps 85 percent year on year to $6.9 billion
The Korean giant plans to enter Vietnams market through a joint venture with a logistics company.

Samsung SDS has inked a deal with Vietnams largest aviation logistics company, Aviation Logistics Service (ALS), to provide global and inland transportation, warehousing and customs brokerage services focused on the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian markets.

The Korean conglomerates information technology solutions and logistics arm, Samsung SDS, will penetrate Vietnam's aviation logistics service sector as part of Samsungs market expansion strategy in Southeast Asia, according to information published on Samsung SDS website.

Samsung SDS (Samsung Data System) will expand its local sales channels on the back of ALSs current customer base. The Korean logistics firm already handles about 40 percent of cargo operations at Hanois Noi Bai International Airport.

"Considering ALS's local network and diverse business capabilities, we decided that Vietnam is the optimal partner for Samsung SDS," said Kim Hyung-tae, the executive vice president of Samsung SDS's Smart Logistics Business Unit. "Through this agreement we will continue to expand our business in Southeast Asia."

Samsung SDS plans to work with ALS in Vietnam's logistics market. Photo from businesskorea.co.kr

Hyung-tae added that the main reasons for choosing Vietnam were the local logistics markets rapid annual growth of 15 to 20 percent and a large number of multinational companies that are relocating to Vietnam thanks to the positive impacts of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the ASEAN Economic Community.

Mobile phones and components have become Vietnams largest export items since 2013. The current international freight transportation network will strengthen our business expansion strategy, the Samsung official underlined.

The Korean giant established its first branch in Vietnam in 2012. It currently has three primary production complexes in the Southeast Asian country: Samsung Vina Electronics in Ho Chi Minh City, the $2.5 billion Samsung Vietnam Electronics complex in the northern province of Bac Ninh and the $5 billion Samsung Vietnam Electronics plant in Thai Nguyen Province.

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Thermoelectric paper devices utilize waste heat to power electronics and sensors (w/video)

(Nanowerk Spotlight) The fact that temperature differentials (heat) are ubiquitously present in our environment makes thermoelectric energy harvesting a highly attractive research field. Flexible thermoelectric generators, especially as on-chip power sources, could have many applications in consumer and medical electronics  they may be used in implants; healthcare monitoring; wearable electronics; smart home systems; and remote wireless sensing systems.

"To efficiently recover heat from the environment, thermoelectric generators should have maximum thermal contact with heat sources that often have arbitrary geometries, such as pipes or human bodies," Dong-Kyun Ko, an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology, tells Nanowerk. "Therefore it is highly desirable to produce thermoelectric materials that are physically flexible. However, conventional thermoelectric materials are rigid and brittle and are not typically designed to be installed conformally on curved surfaces."

New work from Ko's Nanoelectronics and Energy Conversion Lab highlights the fabrication of flexible thermoelectric materials and modules by merging colloidal nanomaterials (quantum dots) that can be tuned for efficient heat-to-electricity energy conversion with naturally abundant cellulose paper that are low in cost and have inherently low thermal conductivity (which is beneficial for thermoelectrics).

The team has reported their findings in the August 9, 2017 online edition of Applied Materials & Interfaces ("Paper Thermoelectrics: Merging Nanotechnology with Naturally Abundant Fibrous Material").

SEM images of a filter paper before (a),(c), and after (b),(d) quantum dot (QD) dip-casting. (a),(b) Surface images and (c),(d) cross-sectional images with EDX line scan analysis. After QD dip-casting, smooth surface (b) and QD impregnated internal structure (d) are formed. (Reprinted with permission by American Chemical Society)

The researchers demonstrate that paper thermoelectric materials can be fabricated using facile solution-processing and modules can be constructed by cutting p- and n-type paper strips into size and connecting them electrically in series and thermally in parallel without the use of any special equipment.

This is in contrast to traditional bulk thermoelectrics that require time- and energy-intensive processing.

To date, colloidal quantum dots have only been studied as a solution-processed material to deposit uniform thin-films on smooth substrate surfaces such as a silicon wafer or a glass substrate.

"In our study, we adopt a new point of view and utilize colloidal quantum dots as 'impregnating solution'," explains Ko. "Upon dip-casting a blank paper into a colloidal quantum dot solution, quantum dots permeate throughout the entire thickness of the paper and transform it into a semiconducting nanocomposite."

"In contrast to other paper-based electronics research, limitations arising from paper's porosity and surface roughness do not apply to our approach thus, making the fabrication potentially amenable for high-throughput, high-yield processing," he adds.

Thermoelectric transport studies indicate that the energy conversion efficiency is limited by low electrical conductivity of the paper thermoelectric material.

"Our research suggests that energy conversion efficiency can be significantly improved by enhancing the charge mobility," Ko points out. "We aim to enhance the rate of dot-to-dot charge transfer by modifying the surfaces of colloidal quantum dots."

Paper thermoelectric modules, such as demonstrated by Ko's team, could potentially be used pervasively to power wireless sensor devices that will read and transmit important structural, security, or health related information perpetually (i.e. for the lifetime of the sensor) without the need for charging and replacing batteries.

Unlike thin-films deposited on a substrate, paper thermoelectric strip samples are much easier to handle and manipulate, which allows facile property characterizations and rapid prototyping of power generation modules.

Ko cautions that, in addition to enhancing the carrier mobility, controlled doping is required to optimize the thermoelectric property and ultimately to maximize the strips' efficiency; so don't expect these devices to be available at short notice.
'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.
A view of Hon Khoai Island in the southernmost province of Ca Mau. Photo courtesy of camau.gov.vn

The country's rice basket is struggling to cope with climate change and Chinese dams.

Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has asked relevant ministries and agencies to consider building a deepwater port in the Mekong Delta to help ease transport barriers for goods from the country's most productive region in terms of agriculture and aquaculture.

Currently there is no such port for the region.

One of the ideal locations for the sea port is in Hon Khoai Island in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, the government portal cited Hue as saying on Monday at a conference to discuss ways to develop the Mekong Deltas transport and logistics infrastructure.

In fact, in July 2015, the central government agreed in principal to allow the construction of a deepwater port in Hon Khoai with estimated investment capital of $2.5 billion, but there has been no sign of the project taking off.

Hon Khoai is situated about 12 nautical miles from international waters, 15km from the southernmost point of Vietnam's inland territory and 14km from the Ho Chi Minh Highway. A port there could handle vessels of 250,000 DWT. The Ho Chi Minh Highway connects Vietnams north and south, according to the government statement.

A report from Can Tho University showed that rice production from the delta accounts for more than half of Vietnams output and contributes 80 percent to the countrys rice exports. The region is also home to around 80 percent of Vietnams fruit output and 60 percent of its fish catch.

Due to limited port capacity, 80 percent of goods for export from the Mekong Delta are shipped via deepwater ports in Ho Chi Minh City or its neighboring Ba Ria- Vung Tau Province, which means 90 percent are moved by road.

Sea and river ports in the delta are scattered and not connected with logistics centers, making it difficult for companies to buy and transport large quantities of goods.

Of the total, VND28 trillion will come from the state budget while the remainder will be sourced from official development assistance and the private sector.According to a report the Ministry of Transport filed at the meeting, Vietnam will invest VND91 trillion ($4.03 billion) to develop transport and logistics projects in the Mekong Delta from 2016-2020.

There will be 22 projects to support sea transport, costing VND18 trillion, and 14 projects for inland waterways, with investment of VND11 trillion. The majority of new transport projects, however, will be roads.

About 22 million people, or 24 percent of Vietnam's population of over 90 million, live in the Mekong Delta. The negative effects from the El Nino phenomenon and upstream dams, however, have brought about the worst drought and saltwater intrusion in the region for nearly 100 years.

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Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
The California State Assembly approved legislation Monday that would expand the rights of a deceased homeowner's surviving loved ones, including widows, widowers and other heirs.

SB 1150, also known as the Survivor Homeowner Bill of Rights, defines a mortgage servicer's responsibility in cases where a borrower dies and the surviving homeowner was not included on the loan. The bill, which is co-written by California State Sens. Mark Leno and Cathleen Galgiani, was approved by the State Senate in June.

Now, the bill will go back to the California State Senate for a concurrent vote. If that vote is successful, it will then go to Gov. Jerry Brown for his approval or veto.

The bill takes its inspiration from the California Homeowners Bill of Rights, which became law in 2013. SB 1150 works to prevent servicers from recording a default notice once they have been notified of the borrower's death until they meet certain requirements, including providing a successor with information about the loan no later than 10 days after determining who the successor is.

The bill was co-sponsored by the California Alliance of Retired Americans, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates and the California Reinvestment Coalition, and received backing from 50 organizations and California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

"The assembly approval of SB 1150 is an important step forward in California leading the nation when it comes to protecting homeowners from unscrupulous foreclosure practices," Maeve Elise Brown, executive director of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, said in a news release Monday. "SB 1150 is a pragmatic way to stop widows, widowers and other heirs from needlessly losing their homes to foreclosure and we hope Gov. Brown signs it quickly."

A group of trade associations, including the California Mortgage Bankers Association, the California Mortgage Association and the Consumer Mortgage Coalition, sent a letter last week to the State Assembly to voice the opposition to the bill. In the letter, the group says that the bill could cause unnecessary litigation and that the state legislature should analyze the bill to compare it with existing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations.

"Notwithstanding recent amendments, we must remain opposed to a measure whose central purpose is a private right of action with draconian penalties," the group wrote.

The letter also called for a January 2019 sunset date, arguing that "several mortgage and foreclosure reform measures enacted during the past years have included a sunset clause."
The industry's got a thing for commercial loans, but it's still an open question whether that's a healthy attraction for banks.

It is unmistakable that commercial lending is where midsize banks seek to be right now. Banks of all sizes are hiring commercial lending teams, acquiring commercial loan portfolios and beefing up Small Business Administration lending capabilities.

Banks are clearly in love with the growth potential of the commercial-and-industrial loan category. Before the onset of the financial crisis, at the end of the second quarter of 2008, C&I loans made up 18.52% of the industry's total lending. At June 30 this year, C&I loans had jumped to 21.4%.

To a large extent C&I loans have filled the void created by the abandonment of the construction loan segment. At March 30, 2009, construction loans were 7.31% of the industry total. At the close of this year's first quarter, they had fallen to 3.18%.

Dozens of institutions, of varying sizes and in every geographic region, have trod this path, downshifting on their exposure to construction lending while pouring capital into commercial loans.

The $29 billion-asset Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., is a prime example. It has reduced its construction and land-development loans from 17% of its portfolio six years ago to about 7.2% in the second quarter. Meanwhile, commercial and industrial loans have increased to 16.6% from 11.5% in the same period.

But it is a legitimate question to ask whether this a good shift, according to several analysts and investors. Yes, construction loans were the source of problems for many institutions, especially community banks, said Chris Marinac, an analyst at FIG Partners.

"The concentrations in construction loans got us in trouble, and when it went south, it became a domino effect for the industry," Marinac said. "That indigestion could have been avoided if we'd had more diversity in lending."

But commercial loans present their own set of risk factors, some of which are more concerning than those of construction loans, which are tied to an underlying piece of property.

"With real estate investments, the collateral is tangible and it's something that can be repurposed," said John Crowley, a portfolio manager at Eaton Vance who manages $11 billion, of which about 30% is in bank stocks. "You can hold it for longer periods of time and it's possible to recover some of your investment."

Commercial loans, on the other hand, present the real possibility of a total loss.

"If a C&I deal goes bad, it can be a total disaster," said Jon Winick, chief executive at Clark Street Capital in Chicago, which advises banks on the valuation and sale of loan portfolios. "The losses can be nearly 100%."

That does not seem to be worrying too many bankers for the time being.

"You have some banks that have pulled back and said, we're not going to compete maybe in this arena or area of construction  acquisition and development, for example  and maybe they are pricing it a little differently or just completely pulling back," Dan Rollins, chairman and chief executive at the $14 billion-asset BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., said on Aug. 3 at an industry conference.

The pricing issue concerns many investors. Many banks probably got too aggressive in building their energy loan books ahead of the most-recent downturn in the oil and gas sector, Crowley said.

"In order to get share, the pricing competition has been fierce and it makes me worry that the credit standards aren't as high as they should be," Crowley said.

Not every C&I loan that goes bad will produce 100% losses, but the loss rate on nonperforming C&I loans is significantly worse than construction loans, especially if a company goes out of business, Marinac said. Loss rates on C&I loans can range between 60% and 80%. Construction loan losses range from 20% to 30%, he said.

That is why banks need to "have a level of expertise" before they venture into the C&I space, since it's "not something that every bank understands," Marinac said.

"I get a little concerned that community banks don't have the talent and muscle necessary to do the credit analysis you need for commercial loans," Crowley said.

Commercial loans have a lot of merits, however, and it's understandable why many bankers are itching to do more C&I loans, said Brant Houston, a managing director at Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management in Denver, which has about $28 billion in assets under management, including bank stocks.

"I probably prefer C&I loans to the construction category as long as [the loans are] backed up by cash flows," Houston said. "They tend to be less speculative than construction lending, where the cash flows can be months or years into the future before they kick in."

Many banks simply don't like the opportunities they find in construction loans today. The $8.3 billion-asset Citizens Business Bank in Ontario, Calif., has raised its C&I lending to 9.3% of its loan book at June 30 from 5.7% in the second quarter of 2008; and it's cut its exposure to construction loans to 2.2% from 11.1%.

"We don't think we are getting returns in construction lending we would like to get to warrant a higher concentration in that area," Chris Myers, chief executive, said on Aug. 2 at an industry conference. "We simply are not seeing the fees and the pricing that we would like to see there to really go after that."

Regional banks have also benefited from the expansion into commercial loans, Crowley said. As the category has become more popular, many regional banks in the Midwest, Southeast and other sections of the country have been able to recruit commercial loan talent from big New York banks, Crowley said.

"Maybe you have to take a haircut on your pay, but in other ways, this has really helped the regionals, disproportionately to the detriment of the money-center banks," Crowley said. "It's leveled the playing field for regionals."

Ultimately, bankers are like lemmings and right now everyone is moving to commercial loans, Winick said. Investors have to hope that the industry gets it right this time around.

"Banks tend to be the last one in the pool," Winick said. "They tend to follow the herd and sometimes that leads you in the wrong direction."
She was hoping to make a killing on her lost limbs.

A Vietnamese woman hired a man she knew to cut off part of her hand and leg and staged a train accident last May in a botched attempt to fraudulently claim around US$157,000 worth of insurance, investigators said on Tuesday.

According to police in Bac Tu Liem District in Hanoi, in the early hours of the morning of May 5, Doan Van D., whose first name was withheld, came to the police station to report a train accident in which a woman, identified only as L.T.N., had lost her left hand and left foot.

N., 30, was rushed to the September 18th Hospital and later Viet Duc Hospital, where doctors had no choice but to amputate the damaged limbs four days later.

N. then told the police that on the night before the accident, unhappy with family affairs, she was strolling around the railway area when she was crushed by a train. According to her, D. was passing by at that time and rescued her.

After a three-month investigation, police said they had found that N. staged the accident as part of an elaborate insurance scam.

The scene of the "accident" allegedly staged by the woman. Photo courtesy of An Ninh Thu Do newspaper

The so-called victim and her so-called rescuer knew each other, and N. had hired D., 21, to cut off her hand and leg, police said. Investigators did not elaborate on how they unmasked the scam. It is also unclear how much N. paid D. for his assistance.

According to police, N. eventually confessed to convincing D. to stage the accident in a bid to pay off her debt. She told the police that she was deep in financial troubles and had hoped that the money she would have raked in from her insurance policies, around VND3.5 billion ($157,000), would help clear her debts. Vietnams annual average income was nearly $2,100 in 2015, according to the World Bank.

Bac Tu Liem District police said they have not pressed any criminal charges against the duo. N. is still undergoing treatment for her injuries.

Authorities said it was one of the most serious insurance scams they have dealt with in years.

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Relaxed visa policy has done the trick.

Vietnam is likely to record a third consecutive monthly rise in the number of foreign visitors this August thanks to favorable visa policy even though it's the monsoon season, the government portal reported Tuesday, quoting data from the General Statistics Office.

In the month which saw the country suffer from two typhoons, Vietnam still welcomed about 899,738 foreign visitors, rising 6.3 percent from July and jumping 34.4 percent year on year.

Several flights and thousands of tours to and from the affected areas were cancelled after Dianmu, the third typhoon of this year, hit northern Vietnam on August 19. In early August, the second typhoon, Nida, caused landslides and flash floods across northern Vietnam, stranding tourists in the popular mountainous town of Sapa.

The total number of foreign visitors to Vietnam during the January-August period surged 25.4 percent on-year to 6.45 million with arrivals by air accounting for the majority, up 28.5 percent to 5.44 million.

More relaxed visa policy for Chinese speaking countries and territories has triggered a jump of arrivals from Hong Kong and China, the statement said, adding that there has also been a rise in the number of visitors from South Korea and Thailand.

The extension of visa exemptions for tourists from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy from July this year until June 2017 has also helped boost arrivals from these countries in August.

With the increase recorded in the first eight months, Vietnam is all set to meet the target of attracting 8.5 million foreign visitors this year, the statement said.

In 2015, Vietnam received 7.94 million foreign tourists, slightly up 0.9 percent from 2014.

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August 23, 2016 | 01:44 am PT

A South Korean army soldier stands guard Sunday near the scene of a blast inside the demilitarized zone in Paju, South Korea. Photo by AP.

Cross-border Korean tensions are currently running high.

North Korea has been laying fresh landmines on its side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with South Korea, the UN Command said Tuesday, following a spate of high-profile defections.

Military personnel were seen planting mines on the North's side of a river crossing known as the Bridge of No Return -- close to the border truce village of Panmunjom, a spokesman for the UN Command, which oversees the Korean War armistice, told AFP.

In a statement the UN Command "strongly" condemned the Korean People's Army (KPA) activity.

"The presence of any device or munition on or near the bridge seriously jeopardises the safety of people on both sides," it said.

The statement added that thousands of visitors -- often school-aged children -- take part in tours to the DMZ.

Despite its name, the DMZ separating the two Koreas is one of the world's most heavily militarised frontiers, bristling with watchtowers and landmines.

It acts as a buffer zone, stretching two kilometres on either side of the actual frontier line.

Because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty, the two Koreas remain technically at war.

The UN Command declined to "speculate" on why the KPA was engaged in laying fresh mines. But South Korea's Yonhap News Agency cited a military source as saying it may be an attempt to prevent front-line troops from defecting.

Cross-border Korean tensions are currently running high, with North Korea on Monday threatening nuclear strikes as South Korea and the United States began a large-scale military exercise which Pyongyang views as a provocative rehearsal for invasion.

The North has also been rocked by a series of defections, most recently that of its deputy ambassador to Britain who fled to the South in a major propaganda victory for Seoul.

Yonhap said the South Korean military was using banks of loudspeakers along the border to crow about the defection.

In August last year South Korea accused North Korea of planting landmines that maimed two soldiers on border patrol.

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(NaturalNews) Is it about science or money?US health agencies want more than the $600 million they've allotted to the "war against Zika." They want $1.9 billion. Why not? They always want more money. [1](Article by Jon Rapport, republished from http://www.thedailysheeple.com To make their case, the CDC has pushed out a new Zika study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM): "Zika Virus and Birth Defects  Reviewing the Evidence for Causality". (For the CDC's conference call with the android press, click here). [2], [3], [4]Before commenting on that study, let's recall a devastating statement the NEJM's former editor, Marcia Angell, issued in 2009, after she had headed up that non-science machine for 20 years: [5]"It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of The New England Journal of Medicine."As criticisms of fake science go, this one, from an elite insider, ranks near the top of the list. It is a direct accusation of widespread fraud. Otherwise known as lying, cheating, massaging data, hiding data, and so on.In other words, the NEJM has been publishing studies and reports that, regardless of their convincing language, are "cooked" to appear true when they most definitely weren't.Therefore, right up front, a new Zika study published in the NEJM is highly suspect, to say the very least. There is no reason to accept its data, methods, or findings. Except perhaps as an article of religious faith. But medical journals aren't supposed to be religious publications, the last time I looked.The new NEJM study on Zika aims to eliminate doubt that the Zika virus causes microcephaly.Until now, that doubt was widespread. Even the World Health Organization was making careful statements: "...although no definite causal link has been established between Zika and microcephaly (babies born with smaller heads and brain damage), we believe there is a connection..." That sort of thing.The new NEJM study is supposed to erase, once and for all, that "maybe."But it doesn't. It's not even close. Because when you wade through the rather dense language, what you see is an attempt to show a correlation between the presence of the Zika virus and the occurrence of the birth defect.Correlation is not causation. And that's just the beginning of the problem.Even on the basis of correlation, nowhere in the study do we see anything approaching a high degree of association. You would expect to find evidence that in, say, 80 or 90 percent of cases, the Zika virus was found in babies who developed the defect. That evidence isn't there. Well, how about a 90-percent correlation between microcephaly in the baby and Zika found in the mother? Not there, either. Again, not even close.Then there is the issue, rarely if ever touched on in studies these days, of "how much Zika was found." Why is that important? Because, in order to begin asserting that a virus causes a condition, you need to discover a very high volume of it in a person. A small amount causes nothing.The new NEJM study doesn't explore this vital factor.So the study is a dud.It claims that there is a very weak correlation between Zika and microcephaly. That's it. That's all.Nor does the study consider the obvious fact that a condition can have several or even many causes. And what could be causing birth defects in Brazil may not be causing it in the US or Guatemala.As I've clearly established in prior articles on Zika, only a fool or an outright liar would fail to notice the toxic pesticide drenching that takes place in Brazil, the number-one country for pesticide-use in the world. Some of those chemicals are banned in other countries, because they're too poisonous. [6]Therefore, in Brazil, a virus that has never been proved to cause microcephaly can function as a cover story. Zika protects, and diverts attention away from, pesticide manufacturers and agri-corporate giants who spray, spray, spray.And what about medical drugs ingested by pregnant mothers? Again, no recent studies on microcephaly investigate this "protected area." Given that these medicines kill 106,000 people in the US every year, and maim at least hundreds of thousands more, any rational researcher would be highly motivated to look for a causal connection to microcephaly. [7]Want another correlation? Try severe malnutrition in the pregnant mother. It's the number-one cause of immune-system collapse on the planet. Immune-system failure opens the door to many raging infections in the mother and fetus. But no, malnutrition isn't "medical." How can you develop a vaccine or a drug to treat it? No money in it.There is, of course, money in research, and as I said at the top, US health agencies are trying to get more of it from Congress.The Zika virus was discovered in 1947-8. Since then, it has never been known to cause more than mild transient illness. Suddenly, it's being blamed for severe and tragic birth defects. On what basis? On no basis.Who knows how long the virus has been on the planet? 5000 years? 100,000 years? It's had ample opportunity to spread across the world and around the world many times. The notion that, now, suddenly, it's traveling, is absurd. It's already there. And here. And everywhere. It has been here and there and everywhere for a long time.However, a fiction of "unchecked spread" works, if you're trying to Invent the concept of a highly dangerous virus that is popping up unexpectedly and making pregnant women give birth to babies with brain damage.Fear sells.And the people who sell it control the whole operation.What about actual science ? They've never heard of it and don't care about it.If you persist in believing they do care about it, you're doing religion, and you're in the wrong pew.Meanwhile, the multiple factors that can actually cause tragic birth defects are being ignored.In this article, I haven't tried to cover the full range of "who benefits" from the fake war on Zika; but I should mention one group: the collaboration of companies, research labs, and foundations that propose using genetically engineered mosquitoes on a global basis to cut off future generations of Zika-carrying mosquitoes. Among this collaborating group are researchers who also want to release "gene drives," mechanisms which sterilize the bugs in the wild. In both strategies, no human safety studies have been done. That is highly significant. The same absence of studies highlighted the original release of GMO crops in the 1990s. We were (falsely) assured then, as now, that no problems would develop.That's another article of faith pretending to be science.Why don't these researchers wear long robes and ornate hats, and wave wands and scepters that emit clouds of smoke? We'd be able to recognize them more easily.Can we get a simple bill passed to fund the installation of stained glass windows in CDC buildings, and the employment of choirs to intone Gregorian chants around the clock?Instead of publishing fake studies in journals, CDC priests and their eunuchs could appear on high balconies, overlooking packed plazas, and, in practiced monotone, read summaries of their research from parchment scrolls.Much better.Much more honestRead more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com Sources:[1] http://www.msnbc.com [2] www.washingtonpost.com [3] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1604338 [4] http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/t0414-zika-update.html [5] http://www.nybooks.com [6] https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/category/zika/ [7] https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/category/zika/
Some much-needed sanity was just injected into the debate over Indianas nonsensical, anti-competitive vaping law. This is a major win for vapers everywhere and a blow to state-enforced monopolies.

In a preliminary injunction ruling issued on August 19 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Judge Richard Young decided that Indiana must allow the sale of e-liquid that is not approved by the states Alcohol Tobacco Commission. This is the latest major development in a long line of changes that have brought turmoil to Indianas e-liquid market.

Controversy first arose in May 2015, when Indiana Republican governor Mike Pence signed House Bill 1432. The bill was intended to protect public health and safety in the absence of federal regulations concerning e-liquid products. As it turned out, federal regulations of all kinds of e-liquid products were finalized in May 2016.

The Indiana law was set to go into effect on July 1, though full implementation was delayed at the last minute for another three months. In addition to regulations on manufacturers, the law stipulated that in order to secure the five-year permit required to sell their products in Indiana, e-liquid manufacturers must work with an independent security firm that inspects their products.

The requirement to work with a security company is the first of its kind, and the standards placed on approved security companies have nothing to do with producing safe e-liquid. Instead, the law was meant to create a local monopoly.

The only security company that met all of the laws requirements was Mulhaupts, based (unsurprisingly!) in Lafayette, Indiana. As an investigation by the Indianapolis Business Journal revealed, there is reason to believe that the law was specifically written so that only one Indiana-based firm could comply.

The requirements include the security company having:

An employee who has been a certified locksmith by the Associated Locksmiths of America for at least one year.

An employee who has worked at the firm for at least one year and holds an Architectural Hardware Consultant certification from the Door and Hardware Institute.

An employee who has worked at the firm for at least a year and holds a Rolling Steel Fire Door Technician certification from the International Door Association or the Institute of Door Dealer Education and Accreditation.

One year of experience operating a security monitoring station with ownership control and use of a redundant offsite backup security monitoring station.

One year of experience operating a facility with authority to modify commercial hollow metal doors, frames, and borrowed lights.

If you are asking yourself what any of these requirements have to do with properly inspecting and securing e-liquid, you are not alone. According to the courts ruling, even the state of Indiana has no position on how a rolling steel fire door protects against tampering or adulteration of e-liquid during the manufacturing process.

The Architectural Hardware Consultant requirement is equally indefensible. Though one justification is that, as the court stated, Mulhaupts vice president, Michael Gibson, serves as the president-elect of the Door and Hardware Institute, which is the certifying organization identified in the statute for the Architectural Hardware Consultant certification. This is a clear example of the power of special interests. The FBI is even probing for possible corruption surrounding Indiana's vaping law.

The stipulation that workers with the proper certifications must be at the same company for the previous year stops security companies besides Mulhaupts from hiring new employees or training existing employees to meet Indianas requirements and approve e-liquid manufacturers. Again, the Indiana laws security company requirements had nothing to do with safety and everything to do with propping up a local company.

The e-liquid industry is decentralized and is primarily comprised of small, local producers. Many mix their own e-liquid, meaning they are counted as manufacturers under Indianas law. Out of the thousands of e-liquid companies nationwide, Maulhaupts decided to contract with only sixeven though some of these companies never produced e-liquid in the past. The companies are Cloudtown of Cleves, Ohio; DB Vapes of Indianapolis, Indiana; DNM Ventures of Largo, Florida; Licenses E-Liquid Manufacturer of Fort Wayne, Indiana; VapeINg of Lafayette, Indiana; and Vapor Bank of Evansville, Indiana.

Last month, I called 90 Indiana vape shops to see how the law was affecting their business. Every vape shop owner who I was able to talk to knew about the law that will stop them from making e-liquid and carrying the products that their customers want. Common responses to the law included moving their shops over the state border to Michigan or Ohio, laying off workers, and fully closing down.

This is why GoodCat, an e-liquid manufacturer located in Naples, Florida that was rejected when it tried to secure a permit from Indiana, challenged the law for favoring local firms and violating interstate commerce protections.

The six firms approved to work with Maulhaupts are trying to keep out other qualified e-liquid manufacturers. All of them joined the case on Indianas side as intervenors, as their economic interests will be harmed if Indianas law is overturned. This shows how anti-competitive laws create special interests that will use any available tools to protect their profits and keep out competition.

Judge Young ruled against the approved manufacturers and the state of Indiana because the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from placing unfair burdens on interstate commerce. In Commerce Clause cases, courts evaluate the overall effect of laws on intrastate and local economic activity in order to determine the constitutionality of a law. As the court found in this case, Indianas unreasonably burdensome security regulation had a considerable effect on Indianas vaping market.

As the ruling stated, Prior to the Act taking effect, 164 of the 177 businesses (more than 90 percent) selling e-liquids in Indiana were out-of-state businesses Fast-forward to present, and two-thirds of the permittees producing e-liquids for sale in Indiana have Indiana addresses. This is a major change in the market that the court rightly took notice of.

The injunction only applies to GoodCat, but other e-liquid manufacturers will probably be able to successfully petition to continue selling their products in Indiana. As Randal Meyer (no relation), a legal associate at the Cato Institute, told me, Other out-of-state e-liquid manufacturers who were excluded by the market because of the same security regulations likely would be able to succeed in challenging enforcement of that rule against them.

Additionally, Meyer thinks that there is a strong chance the law will be permanently overturned, as he said, GoodCat had to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the final merits in the case, so the ruling granting the injunction is a good sign for them in the pending litigation.

Indianas unique e-liquid law goes far beyond promoting public safety. Giving one company the government-granted power to determine which products can come to market is clearly an anti-competitive decision that will limit customer choice and the growth of small businesses.

While Judge Youngs ruling is a positive sign that the law might be permanently overturned, irreparable damage has already been done to Indiana vape shops and e-liquid producers. The public should not stand for illegal laws that limit consumer choice and violate interstate commerce protections.

Jared Meyer is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Follow him on Twitter here.

This article originally appeared in Forbes.

Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, E21 delivers a short email that includes E21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the E21 Morning Ebrief.
(NaturalNews) A vaccine scandal has erupted in China.Time Magazine reports ("China Vaccine Scandal Prompts Angry Backlash From Parents and Doctors," 3/22/2016):"Furious parents and health care professionals in China are demanding to know how almost $90 million of improperly stored and potentially fatal vaccines were distributed across some two-thirds of the country over the past five years, in the latest public-health scandal to raise serious questions over the efficacy of the Chinese Communist Party's rule.(Article by Jon Rappoport, republished from http://www.thedailysheeple.com "According to state media, a mother and daughter from eastern China's Shandong province have been caught peddling 25 kinds of unrefrigerated vaccines  including for polio, mumps, rabies, hepatitis B, encephalitis and meningococcal diseases  to medical facilities across 24 Chinese provinces since 2010."Inflaming the public backlash, authorities had apparently known about the case since last April, though only publicized the news late Friday in a belated attempt to trace potential victims. Moreover, the elder suspect, a 47-year-old woman surnamed Pang, had apparently been convicted of the same offense in 2009 but only received a suspended sentence. State media admitted the compromised inoculations could have resulted in paralysis and even death."'Twenty-four provinces, five years already, and how many children! It's been nearly a year and then they reveal this! Isn't this genocide? Words cannot express how angry I am!' posted one user of China's Twitter-like microblog Weibo, reports the BBC.""'This is a matter of life and death,'" one Beijing-based doctor told Radio Free Asia. 'They should make an announcement about this as soon as possible ... so we can locate these items and cut off the supply, so no more people are harmed.'"Just to show how panicked the vaccine establishment is about the current wave of public awakeningsparked in part by revelations in the movie Vaxxed (trailer)major media can't even keep their stories straight.The NY Times, reporting on the China scandal, and relying on the World Health Organization (a PR front for the vaccine industry) takes an assuring tone ("China's Vaccine Scandal Threatens Public Faith in Immunizations," 4/18/2016):"Despite such fears, the tainted vaccines are more likely to be ineffective than harmful...The World Health Organization has said that outdated or poorly stored vaccines rarely if ever trigger illness or toxic reactions. Chinese government investigators said last week that they had not found any cases of adverse reactions or spikes in infections linked to ineffective vaccines."Really.Perhaps editors at the NY Times and the World Health Organization would like to prove their faith and confidence by taking shots in the arm of those spoiled vaccines.Besides, here in America , nothing like that could happen.Really?Here are excerpts from a series of articles I wrote, in 2004, about the "Chiron disaster," in which a British company shipped millions of tainted flu-vaccine doses to the US.No one in the British or American regulatory system seemed to be overly concerned. Of course, no one really knew whether Chiron vaccines, once they were stored in US warehouses, had already gone out the door to doctors or whether, in a parallel to the current China scandal , sales of those dangerous and illegal vaccines were being made in the US for profit.Rather, the US authorities simply said the millions of doses stored here were "outside the legal chain of regulation." The doses were in limbo. They belonged to Chironbut even Chiron was not controlling them.My 2004 excerpts follow. As you read on, notice how the US regulatory system failed, and how it can be failing in the same ways now, under our noses:It turns out that a great deal of the Chiron flu vaccine that was banned and held under lock and key in England WAS ACTUALLY SHIPPED TO THE US, WHERE IT IS NOW SITTING IN DISTRIBUTORS' WAREHOUSES.There is one simple question here. When the US government announced this week that Chiron vaccines were unsafe, why didn't they mention that a great deal of the vaccine was already inside the US?Where unscrupulous people could sell it....Will the office of Tommy Thompson, the head of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, receive ANY calls from mainstream reporters demanding to know why he didn't tell the American people, when he announced the ban on Chiron's flu vaccine, that a great deal of that vaccine was ALREADY in the US?I think not.Because I know how lazy or brain-dead most medical reporters are. Only when a story kicks them in the face like a mule do they respond, and then only when it's an approved mule.There are lots of implications here. Although it may be standard practice for a vaccine manufacturer to ship out huge numbers of doses to distributors before doing its own final safety check on the vaccine, it's insane.The Chiron doses are in the US already. People who work for these US distributors could have already sold off some of the stocks. The SF Chronicle mentions doses were sent from England to the US in July. Why should we assume they have been sitting in warehouses all this time?And now that all Chiron flu vaccine is banned as dangerous, the black market will take over. People at those US warehouses could be making deals with Mexico and South America and Canada and, yes, America, and who knows where else, before all the vials are destroyed.This is a major scandal and health threat in progress, and the US Dept. of Health and Human Services seems to be doing nothing about it.So it is buyer beware. If the buyer is determined to get a flu shot, how is he to know whether it comes from Chiron?What is contaminating Chiron's flu vaccine is the serratia bacteria. It is now cited as a cause of pneumonia and infections in hospitals.Remember, when germs in a vaccine are introduced into the body, they are injected, which means that several working portals of immune defense are bypassed through the direct injection route. Ditto for nasal-inhalation."[Chiron vaccines are] sitting in US distributor warehouses, outside the direct control of the company or US [FDA] regulators," according to SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle's online outlet.We could be talking about something on the order of 20 million doses...So, which flu vaccine are people in the US going to be getting this fall and winter??...The San Francisco Chronicle reports mind-boggling details. Read carefully:"The Chronicle has learned that vaccine shipped across the Atlantic has been sitting since August in the warehouses of American drug distributors, under a Chiron-imposed 'quarantine,'' but outside the direct control of the company or U.S. regulators.""In this case, Chiron employed the little-known quarantine process under which drugmakers can ship products to distributors before final safety tests are completed.""Norman Baylor, deputy director for the FDA's vaccine unit, said it was not unusual for manufacturers to ship vaccine under quarantine. The quarantine is lifted by the manufacturer when the company's final tests confirm that the product is safe and the distributor is free to sell it." [Unless the product remains dangerous, because it is dangerous, and it is being sold out the door.]""'I think the system works," Baylor said in an interview in September shortly after Chiron's contamination problem first surfaced. 'The system did what it was supposed to do.'" [Yes, it allowed dangerous vaccines in the door...and potentially out the door.]"Baylor also confirmed that 27 bulk lots  nearly half of the 60 produced by the Chiron plant  had been 'released' by the FDA prior to the company's discovery that some finished product was contaminated. The actual number of doses that can be produced from each lot varies." [Released? In other words, unleashed on the American people.]"Although the federal agency does not conduct tests on the final product, companies are liable for the safety of their medicines and have powerful incentive to test them thoroughly before releasing them from quarantine, Baylor explained." [I see. Let the companies decide whether their vaccines are safe. No problem. How could there be a problem?]"...the initial crisis had been triggered when tests detected serratia bacteria in a small number of lots. Serratia bacteria are often implicated in episodes of hospital-acquired infection and can be deadly in the bloodstream.""The company has yet to reveal when it discovered the contaminated lots, but having found a problem, Chiron never lifted its quarantine. Although no Chiron vaccine was shipped to clinics, some drug industry experts acknowledge that its presence at multiple U.S. distributor warehouses poses a potential security problem." [Indeed it does.]"'Because of the shortage, the spot market for flu vaccines is going to go through the roof,' said David Webster, a health care consultant in Lehigh Valley, Penn. 'Any time there is an extremely valuable commodity, the potential exists that it will work its way on to the black market. It is a legitimate cause for concern.'"But don't worry. These days, in 2016, things are different: meaning the authorities do better PR and propaganda. Although the extremely lax regulations may still be in force, the assurances of safety are broadcast more convincingly.And that's what matters.It's all good.Take your shot. Love your vaccine.Read more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com Resources:[1] Time.com [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdCU2DfMBpU [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdCU2DfMBpU [4] http://www.nytimes.com [5] http://www.sfgate.com
Fight for civil rights

Sued for slander

The fight for clean air and water isn't over

(NaturalNews) Four residents of a small town in Alabama are being sued for speaking out against a company that has dumped four million tons of toxic coal ash from a 2008 Tennessee spill near their homes.In Uniontown, a poor rural town in the heart of the South's Black Belt, Esther Calhoun, Ben Eaton, Mary Schaeffer, and Ellis Long created Black Belt Citizens for Health and Justice  an organization dedicated to fighting racial and environmental injustice.After being sued for $30 million by the Green Group Holdings and Howling Coyote, the two companies that own the landfill, these four residents are fighting back. The slander lawsuit violates their right to speak the truth to protect their community.Even before the landfill opened its doors in 2007, residents have fought for their right to clean air and clean water . Their concerns intensified in 2008 when a dam at TVA's Kingston power plant near Harriman, Tennessee, broke and a billion gallons of waste laden with contaminants including arsenic and lead leaked into a residential community and its surrounding rivers.About 4 million tons of toxic waste scrapped from the Kingston disaster ended up being shipped by train to the landfill in Uniontown.In 2013, 35 County residents filed a civil rights complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). The complaint cited the landfill has disproportionately harmed African-American property owners causing many problems including headaches, respiratory problems, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, as well as unpleasant odors, fugitive dust, pest problems, and lower property values.According to the Green Group's lawsuit, the Black Belt Citizens group used its Facebook page and website "in a false and malicious manner." Furthermore, the suit states that the two group leaders, Esther Calhoun and Benjamin Eaton, made "knowingly false" statements about the site to the media.Green Group and Howling Coyote claim that by raising their voice against hazardous waste in their town, the four plaintiffs have engaged in "defamation" that has harmed the company for a whopping $30 million.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is now representing Esther, Ben, Mary, and Ellis to make sure their voices are heard. The ACLU has filed a motion to lay off the suit, as it goes against "the very core of the first amendment."ACLU senior attorney Lee Rowland said that the reason behind the lawsuit is very clear. Just before Green Group sued Esther, Ben, Mary, and Ellis, all of them were approached by the company's lawyers offering to drop the million-dollar lawsuit if they agreed on a few terms.As reported by, the four plaintiffs were asked to grant the Green Group access to their electronic devices, access to the group's future social media postings, and extensive details about Black Belt Citizens' membership, advocacy and communications with other environmental groups.Furthermore, they also demanded an apology from each potential defendant and required them to withdraw the civil rights complaint filed with the EPA."It's an outrage. I'm an attorney and I've never seen anything quite like it. The company wants to force the residents not only to agree with them but to become a mouthpiece for them," Rowland said.She further noted that $30 million is just "an unbelievably terrifying number" when you know that the average income per capita in Uniontown is only about $8,000 per year."The residents are making statements of opinion, statements of emotion and passion which can't be penalized consistent with the first amendment," said Lee Rowland. "Green Group is using lawsuits to silence their critics."
'Neonics' responsible for up to half of all wild bee deaths, new study confirms

(NaturalNews) A coalition of farmers, food advocates and environmentalists from across the U.S. recently paid a visit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) headquarters, where they stacked a wall of plastic containers filled with more than 2.6 million dead bees  the victims of a pesticide-induced pollinator holocaust that federal regulators don't seem at all concerned with addressing.The "Keep the Hives Alive" tour is trying to grab the attention of apathetic government power-holders whose blatant disregard for the epidemic of Colony Collapse Disorder, also known as CCD, threatens to eliminate bees from the planet by the year 2035. Bee colony numbers reportedly declined by roughly 40 percent between 1947 and 2005  from 5.9 million to 2.4 million. And the situation has gotten progressively worse in recent years: In the span of just one year, from 2015 to 2016, honeybee colonies declined by a shocking 44 percent.The Bee Informed Partnership has been tracking bee declines for a number of years now, and experts affiliated with the group are deeply concerned about what they're seeing. Bee losses are now reaching record numbers, with no end in sight, and next to nothing is being done to stop the biggest known culprit: neonicotinoid pesticides "We're now in the second year of high rates of summer loss, which is cause for serious concern," says Dennis van Engelsdorp, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Maryland, and project director for the Bee Informed Partnership. "Some winter losses are normal and expected. But the fact that beekeepers are losing bees in the summer, when bees should be at their healthiest, is quite alarming."In addition to the dead bees, activists presented some 4 million signatures urging the EPA , which has failed in its duty to protect our pollinators from noxious chemicals, to issue an immediate ban on "neonics," which a new study out of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) in the UK confirms is killing bees in record numbers.The 18-year study evaluated the long-term impacts of neonics on bees, particularly those that forage on oilseed rape (canola) plants. The agricultural use of neonics on commercial crops, scientists say, is responsible for up toof wild bee deaths. And, as increasingly more arable land is converted to cash crops like canola that are sprayed with neonics, a greater percentage of bee losses will be attributed to the chemical."In the five years since I started keeping bees, I've seen many hives killed by pesticides," says James Cook, a beekeeper from Minnesota who's deeply concerned about the future of our most precious pollinators. "If some fundamental things don't change, it's going to be really hard for beekeepers to adapt to the environment around us."Bees aren't just vital for growing food; they're also providers of some of the most nutritious food available  foods like untreated raw honey , Manuka honey and bee pollen products . All of these will become a thing of the past if bees go extinct, which is why action needs to be taken now to protect bees and promote their growth rather than their decline.Back in May, the state of Maryland was the first in the U.S. to pass a Pollinator Protection Act, which restricts consumers from using neonics on crops. Now it's time for Congress to pass nationwide restrictions on neonicotinoid use on commercial crops, which are a toxic nightmare for bees, bats and our other cherished insect pollinators.
If this was Trump or Sanders the Washington media would be all over this story

(NaturalNews) Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is not well, nor is she physically capable of executing the job of commander-in-chief and chief executive of the most powerful nation on the planet  and the evidence continues to pour in proving that point. But only her cult-like supporters and her Left-wing drone-like cheerleaders in the mainstream media refuse to see what everyone else sees clearly.Let's look at the evidence:Back in 2012, Clinton fainted and suffered a concussion. She was rushed to the hospital, and was diagnosed with a blood clot between her brain and skull.Since then, reports have indicated that Clinton takes a lot of daily medications, many of them to prevent blood clots, which she is obviously prone to developing. Also, she takes drugs to prevent fainting spells, and to treat a thyroid condition.Coughing is a side effect of some of those drugs she takes,As she so often does when she begins uncontrollable coughing at public events, Clinton blows them off as "allergies," "stress of the campaign," "talking a lot," etc. But they are a sign that something is amiss.In recent days, as reported byfounder Mike Adams, the Health Ranger and author of the new science blockbuster,, Clinton had to be physically assisted up a small flight of stairs at a home  a photo of which screamed around the Internet."For at least the last five years, scary signs of Hillary Clinton's plummeting health have continued to emerge. From her bizarre in-speech 'blackouts' to her repeated monstrous coughing fits and her seizure-like bobble head behavior, many people have legitimately wondered whether Hillary Clinton is in the midst of a neurological or cognitive collapse," Adams wrote.Since Clinton is not prone to lowering herself to do interviews with the press  something which far too many seem okay with  she did a podcast last week produced by her own campaign. In the image of the "interview" tweeted by the campaign, Clinton appears to be propped up with a pillow , suggesting she can't even sit in a chair without assistance.But that wasn't the only time Clinton was seen using a pillow for seating comfort and support. As the reported , her handlers demanded that stage chairs "be outfitted with two long, rectangular pillows  and that two cushions be kept backstage in case the chair was too deep and she needed additional back support."She also has trouble speaking in public, oftentimes making strange facial gestures or gesticulating with her arms and head. She has to have a script in order to give a speech, and her campaign ensures that the only questions she gets from audiences are 100 percent scripted and approved in advance. This is not the stuff of a healthy candidate.What is amazing is that despite all of this evidence and more that Clinton is physically on the downhill side and unable to perform even the simplest of tasks without assistance, the mainstream media completely whiffs on pointing it out. If a Republican candidate  or if Clinton's only serious Democratic challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.  had shown, or was showing these kinds of physical symptoms, the pathetic Washington media would have been all over that story.If there is something medically and physically wrong with Clinton  and she doesn't drop out of the race or tell the American people  it will prove once again that she is supremely self-centered and selfish, so much so that she'd rather risk failing at the most important job in the free world, than doing the right thing and letting someone healthier be president.
The Journey to Mars is no easy feat, since this will be the first attempt of man to send a crew on an interplanetary mission, the safety of astronauts is of utmost importance. To prepare for this mission, scientists started a Mars simulation in Hawaii, which will end this year.

Through the help of the University of Hawaii, six scientists were included in the simulation practice, where they were isolated in a Hawaii mountain inside a dome in a NASA-funded experiment. The dome was located in the Mauna Lao. To create an effective simulation, the scientists are wearing spacesuits during the process.

Aside from the habitability factor of trying to survive on Mars, the simulation is also focused on how the scientists will perform in isolation and how they will interact with each other in such conditions to avoid conflicts. To mimic Martian conditions, the scientists performed scientific work that requires communication to base camp with a delay of 20 minutes, the time it will take messages to travel to Earth from Mars and vice versa.

"They're doing OK, as far as we can tell," Kim Binsted, principal investigator for Hawaii Space Exploration Analog Simulation (Hi-Seas) said in an interview. Another challenge is to be able to survive with very limited resources including frozen food, according to Chicago Suntimes.

Binsted added that this is not the first Mars simulation to have ever been conducted; one notable experiment was a 520-day simulation conducted in Russia.

Experts say that the soil in Mauna Lao inside the dome possesses similar attributes to the Martian terrain. The simulation is set to end by Aug. 28 with the scientists eager to go out into the world.

In order to create a thriving team of crew, the simulation is composed of volunteers from Germany, France and the U.S; most of them bringing their own expertise to the table including a soil scientist, a physicist, an astrobiologist and an astronomer.
The first robotic mission planned by NASA, which will be collecting a piece of asteroid Bennu, was surprisingly inspired by an ordinary object. Lockheed Martin's engineer claims a plastic Solo cup paved the way for the creation of the NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe.

OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, costs $800 million. The probe will be taking samples from the asteroid Bennu. How exactly? This reverse vacuum principle was inspired by a dirt-filled Solo cup.

"Over the past 10 years, it has come a long way from a Solo cup in the driveway to what you see now," stated Rich Kuhns in a press statement, Lockheed Martin's program manager for the NASA mission.

Weighing 4,650 pounds, the spacecraft will be launched this September and is approximated to reach asteroid Bennu by 2018. The probe will then collect around 4 pounds of the asteroid and return to earth by 2023.

"The launch of OSIRIS-REx is the beginning a seven-year journey to return pristine samples from asteroid Bennu," statted Dr. Dante Lauretta, mission lead investigator and a professor at the University of Arizona. "The team has built an amazing spacecraft, and we are well-equipped to investigate Bennu and return with our scientific treasure."

So why exactly was asteroid Bennu targeted for this mission? Out of the 500,000 asteroids in the solar system, Bennu was of the perfect size claimed NASA. In addition, it contained carbon-rich dust present almost billions of years past. The asteroid is said to be taller than Eiffel Tower, around 500 meters in diameter. Bennu passes by the Earth every six years. It also orbits the sun at the same distance as planet earth, which makes it the best asteroid for the mission.

Yet, OSIRIS is not the only NASA asteroid mission. Reportedly, the space agency will be launching a probe by 2021, which will pull an asteroid close to the moon of which astronauts will be studying. However, the plans of pulling an asteroid in close proximity to the moon have been criticized by scientists. Aside from NASA, other private companies plan on sending their own probes to nearby asteroids.
Pockets of gas were trapped in halite, commonly called rock salt, for 813 million years old -- direct measurements of that gas are now challenging the commonly accepted timeline of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

Earth's timeline was revised once again this week. A paper published on Monday in Geology by researchers at West Virginia University (WVU) provided the first evidence based on direct measurements as to the age of Earth's oxygenation.

Studies about atmospheric composition are widely important, affecting everything from evolutionary history to the possibility of life on other planets. The current oxygen level in Earth's atmosphere is 21 percent.

Indirect methods using hard to date sedimentary rocks had previously placed the oxygenation of Earth at approximately 550 million years ago. The team of researchers at WVU measured the amount of oxygen in air pockets that had been trapped by ancient halite to conclude that Earth's atmosphere was composed of 10.9 percent Oxygen 813 million years ago.

"Diversity of life emerges right around this time period," geologist at WVU Kathleen Benison said.

"We used to think that to have diversity of life we needed specific things, including a certain amount of oxygen. (The findings) show that not as much oxygen is required for organisms to develop."

Samples were gathered from Officer Basin in southwest Australia and testing was performed to ensure the gases had remained undisturbed. The research team performed 31 measurements on the gas pockets, referred to as inclusion gases.

Levels of oxygen in the atmosphere are one of the main components necessary for life. Throughout the history of Earth, surface conditions have been changing and life has been evolving accordingly.

Climate change is altering the composition of Earth's atmosphere. Benison stated that past environmental conditions inform about Earth's range of conditions as well as having implications for Mars.
It has been widely speculated that the permafrost surrounding lakes in Alaska, Canada, Sweden and Siberia could potentially release billion tons of stored ancient carbon into the atmosphere, which could have a devastating effect in climate change.

"If you open the freezer door, you thaw permafrost soil that's been frozen for a long time, and the organic matter in it is decomposed by microbes," explained Katey Walter Anthony, a researche at University of Alaska Fairbanks and lead author of the study, in a statement.

Many scientists agree that a large permafrost carbon emission is imminent and previous study suggests that the release of ancient carbon has already begun. However, a new study showed nearly no signs of ancient carbon released. The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, also revealed that only a small amount of old carbon has been released in the past 60 years.

For the study, the researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the age of methane emitted from the Arctic lakes that have recently grown to consume and thaw terrestrial permafrost.

Ancient carbon in stored in permafrost is released as carbon dioxide and methane when the frozen soil thaw and decompose. By radiocarbon dating the methane released from the permafrost, the researchers could determine the rate of the ancient carbon emissions in the soil alongside and beneath the lakes.

After analyzing 113 radiocarbon dating measurements and 289 soil organic carbon measurements, the researchers discovered that approximately 0.2 to 2.5 Pg of permafrost carbon was released as methane and carbon dioxide for the past 60 years.

When additional methane and carbon dioxide are released in the atmosphere, it could trigger a positive feedback loop. Carbon dioxide and methane are greenhouse gases that contribute to the warming temperature of the Earth. As the Earth's temperature increases, more permafrost will be thawed and additional carbon and dioxide and methane are released in the atmosphere, which could once again lead to warmer temperature that could accelerate the thawing of more permafrost.

Arctic permafrost is believed to store about billions of tons of ancient carbon, which is twice the amount of what is currently in our atmosphere.
The Gulf Coast states like Texas and Louisiana are the most susceptible to Zika outbreak, a National Institute of Health (NIH) official said.

Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in an interview on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that Gulf Coast states are most at risk of a new Zika virus outbreak because they are located in a semi-tropical region. Fauci also said that Louisiana is more susceptible due to the recent flooding.

"Well, the ones that are most at risk, George, are those along the Gulf Coast. I would not be surprised if we see cases in Texas, in Louisiana, particularly now where you have a situation with flooding in Louisiana," Fauci said in the ABC interview.

"When you have a sub-tropical, or semi-tropical region with the right mosquitoes, and individuals who have travel-related cases that are in the environment, it would not be surprising that we will see additional cases, not only in Florida, but perhaps in other of the Gulf Coast states."

The mosquito-borne virus, which is associated with birth defects and abnormalities, has spread through Florida and affected the Miami Beach area, with 36 cases of Zika virus reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel warning on Friday following the confirmation of five Zika cases in Miami-Dade County.

According to the CDC, people living or traveling to the area should increase their efforts to avoid mosquito bites. Pregnant women were also advised to postpone "nonessential travel" to Miami-Dade County.

Fauci maintains that while a widespread Zika outbreak is unlikely to hit the U.S., people should still take the threat of Zika seriously.

"I do not think, although we need to be prepared for it, that we're going to see a diffuse, broad outbreak in the United States because of a number of issues, particularly the conditions in our country ... would not really make that a very likely happening," Fauci said.

According to Fauci, Americans will have to deal with Zika for "a year or two."

"Hopefully, we get to a point to where we could suppress it so that we won't have any risk of it," Fauci said.
Scientists suggest that viruses are more dangerous if the infection occurs in the morning.

After conducting animal studies, researchers from the University of Cambridge found that if viral infections occurred in the early hours of the day, the virus is 10 times more successful. Moreover, the researchers found that a disrupted body clock could also increase vulnerability to infections.

The researchers studied laboratory mice infected with either influenza virus, which causes flu, or the herpes virus, which causes a range of diseases including cold sores. They found that mice infected in the morning had increased viral levels 10 times than those that were infected in the evening.

"It's a big difference," Akhilesh Reddy, a senior fellow at the University of Cambridge's Department of Clinical Neurosciences and co-author of the study, told BBC News. "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."

Viral infections occur when viruses enter the cells in the body and reproduce. However, cells follow the circadian clock or the body's natural clock, and they coordinate with daily environmental changes during the day or night. This means that if the infections happen late in the evening when the cells are less active, then the viral levels could be lower.

Reddy added that the findings of the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could also help in controlling viral outbreaks.

"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," Reddy said.

Furthermore, the researchers found that disruption of the body clock or the circadian rhythm meant that the body was "locked in" to a state that allowed the viruses to reproduce.

"This 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," Rachel Edgar, a research associate at University of Cambridge and first author of the study, said in a statement.

"If so, then they could be prime candidates for receiving the annual flu vaccines."

The researchers used two viruses in the study, a DNA virus and an RNA virus. The study also focused on one clock gene, which is called Bmal1, which has a peak activity in the afternoon in both mice and humans.

"It's the link with Bmal1 that's important, since when that's low [in the early morning], you're more susceptible to infection," Reddy added.
The Netherlands is seriously considering a ban on new gasoline and diesel cars beginning in 2025. The Netherlands has used tax policy to achieve one of the lowest levels of lowest levels of CO2 emissions in new cars in the European Union. According to a report by NGO Transport & Environment, vehicle and fuel taxes are driving the market for lower carbon fuel-efficient vehicles.

The catalyst for the proposed legislation was a Hague court decision last year that ordered the Dutch government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. According to the New York Times, the court was heavily influenced by the IPCC and scientific advocates. In the Netherlands, as in most other EU nations, the question of whether humans cause climate change is settled and not open for debate. The only issue is compliance agreements to make substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions independent of practicality or economic effects.

The Dutch, reflecting their usual approach to environmental policy, have been strong supporters of the EU climate orthodoxy for decades. Published in 1996, an article on the development of Dutch environmental policy by Hans Bressers and Pieter-Jan Klok observes that since the environmental risks are life threatening, the principle of sustainability should be a guiding one for the organization of society. That approach is contrary to  economic processes , where the focus is on growth, not just to satisfy existing demand but also to create and satisfy new demand. In other words, free market principles do not offer any solutionrather they are the cause of human produced environmental problems.

This philosophy, still in place today, helps explain a willingness to take an action that has high costs and trivial environmental benefits. It helps that although a small nation, the Netherlands is one of the wealthiest in the EU. According to the World Bank, the Netherlands accounts for just 0.5 percent of global carbon emissions.

As a wealthy country, the Dutch can engage in such folly, but the price of a feel-good action will not be cheap. The alternative to hydrocarbon fueled cars is electric ones. Where will the power come from to charge EV batteries? Not from windmills. The Dutch generate about 80 percent of their electricity from natural gas and coal. Its aggressive greenhouse gas reduction policy has resulted in electricity prices comparable to Germany, which has prices that are triple the US average.

Dutch drivers may derive a sense of helping to save the planet from zero-emission vehicles, but these vehicles produce emissions while recharging. While grand delusions are wonderful ways to escape reality, they also create rent-seeking opportunities. In this case, it is Tesla and its crony capitalist leader, Elon Musk. Tesla has made the Netherlands its European outpost with a new factory in Tilburg. The cars it assembles can cost over $100,000. Amsterdam now has 167 Tesla taxis serving its airport and wants to convert its entire taxi fleet within a decade.

Since the Netherlands is 30 feet below sea level, a better use of valuable euros would be to invest in technologies to prevent a sea level rise from damaging the country. Changes in the climate will always be with us, the Netherlands needs to be readyand better dikes would offer more preparation than Teslas.

William O'Keefe is the President of Solutions Consulting. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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Some 200 firefighters and supporters of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Monday rallied for higher wages on the steps of the state capitol.

Members of Cal Fire Local 2881, the union that represents 6,000 state employed firefighters who respond to brush fires and major emergencies up and down the state and calls for service in 36 of the state's 58 counties via contracts with local governments, marched blocks from their offices to the state Capitol.

It was the first such rally the agency has had since the 1970s, said union president Mike Lopez.

Firefighters say they are paid less and must work more hours compared with their counterparts at other agencies. They say that when they leave Cal Fire after 15 years of service at the rank of fire captain, they go to work for a local agency and make more money, work fewer hours and earn better benefits as a rookie firefighter.

"It went well," Lopez said. "We going to keep trying to push to get them to come back to the table and negotiate."

Firefighters in the 20 largest agencies in the state with more than 75 personnel, for instance, can earn up to $8,700 a month in gross base pay before retirement and benefits are taken out, compared with a Cal Fire captain who earns up to $4,609 a month in gross base pay, said Tim Edwards, the state rank-and-file director and chair of the union's negotiating team. Like other municipal fire agencies, Cal Fire firefighters also earn overtime.

All municipal agencies in the state have 56-hour work weeks, while Cal Fire firefighters work a 72-hour workweek, Edwards said. Cal Fire firefighters last received a pay increase of 4 percent in fiscal 2014-15. The current agreement is scheduled to expire in July 2017, officials said.

Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the California Department of Human Resources, the agency negotiating with the union, said last week that "the state must balance the needs of many different bargaining units and the overall state budget."

Harley Shaiken, a labor studies professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said that the union's push is a "very real, but hidden cost of climate change."



"There are people on the front lines of this where this is their livelihood," he said. "They're feeling increased pressures and all the tensions that are related to this. At a minimum this is putting it front and center. These are real fiscal issues. There are a lot of other urgent priorities, but this has to be put in that mix."



The push comes as firefighters are putting out or mopping eight fires currently burning across the state during California's sixth year of historic drought and extreme heat combining to make for tinderbox conditions year round.
A former Santa Clara County correctional deputy was arrested Monday night in an October 2013 assault on an inmate, sources told NBC Bay Area.

According to someone familiar with the case, the former deputy, identified as Timmy Tri, kicked a male inmate in the head and face resulting in injuries including lacerations to his face and a broken jaw.

Sources close to the investigation said Tri committed the assault while coming to the aid of a fellow officer who was trying to subdue the inmate.

The alleged assault was investigated in October 2013, and recommendations that charges be filed were sent to the District Attorneys Office, according to sheriff's officials.

The DA's office took weeks to review the case and then decided not to charge Tri back then, officials said. During a sheriff's office internal investigation, Tri was put on administrative leave.

That leave lasted about 18 months before the complaint against Tri was resubmitted to the DA. It took another five months for the DA to pursue charges.

Tri was reportedly arrested at his East San Jose home. Efforts to reach him on Monday were unsuccessful.

Tri was a member of the department since 2009 but left in August 2015. Sources did not provide details of Tri's departure but said he was fired.

Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office spokesman James Jensen confirmed the arrest but declined to provide other details because it included personnel information.

NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell contributed to this report.
A Milpitas mother victimized by a kidnapping scam last weekend provided some details about her ordeal in which a stranger called her and threatened to kill her daughter if she didn't wire money to a Mexico location.

The woman unwittingly answered her phone and heard a girl's voice on the other end of the line pleading: Mom, please help me! Someone grabbed me, and I am in a van."

A man then took the phone and demanded money, saying the screaming girl would be killed if the woman didnt comply.

"They told me they don't like to kill innocent victims, but they were requesting I do a little something to get her back alive," the woman said.

Believing the girl was her daughter, the victim did as she was told: She drove to Walmart and wired money to a man in Mexico. Throughout the transfer, the man told the woman that the girl would be killed if the police were alerted.

"I tried, tried, tried to call my daughter, and she was not answering her phone," the woman said.

The crooks have been hitting up families all over the Bay Area in the same fashion, claiming to have kidnapped loved ones and demanding money. A woman in Union City was victimized just last month, but police alerted her to the hoax just as she was about to send the money.

Police say the latest victim wired a small amount of money to the man, and once the transfer was complete, the man eventually told the woman it was a scam.

"I've caught scams before," the woman said. "I just don't see how anyone could have reacted any differently."

Even after the money was sent, the suspect on the other line told the woman he was going to hold up the $200 receipt to show the woman's daughter how much her life was worth to her mother and then shoot her in the head.

In the end, the woman finally did reach her daughter and learned she was safe.
Prosecutors on Tuesday decried the actions of a former Santa Clara County correctional deputy, who was arrested for striking an inmate in the head as he was held down by other officers in 2013.

Deputy District Attorney John Chase confirmed that 35-year-old Timmy Tri inflicted severe bodily injury on the male inmate by repeatedly kicking and punching him in the head and face, causing lacerations and snapping his jaw.

"Guards sometimes need to use force to subdue an inmate for a variety of reasons, but they must always maintain self-control," Chase said in a statement. "There's no justification for kicking an inmate in the head and face while he is pinned to the floor."

Expected to be arraigned next month, Tri faces felony charges of assault and battery by an officer and assault with deadly force.

Chase said Tri committed the assault on the fifth floor of the jail on the heels of a dispute between the inmate and another corrections officer. During the ensuing fight, the inmate found himself on the floor.

Tri attacked the inmate while he was pinned down by two fellow officers, Chase said.

"None of the inmate witnesses or guards saw any threat to Tri that might justify such force," Chase said in a statement. It remains unclear if any of the other officers tried to stop Tri.

The alleged assault was investigated in October 2013, and recommendations that charges be filed were sent to the District Attorneys Office, according to sheriff's officials.

The District Attorney's office took weeks to review the case and then decided not to charge Tri back then, Chase said. During a sheriff's office internal investigation, Tri was put on administrative leave.

That leave lasted about 18 months before the complaint against Tri was resubmitted to the District Attorney. It took another five months for prosecutors to pursue charges.

Speaking about the delay, Chase said only that the District Attorney's office "decided to file charges after a fresh review generated further information." He did not specify what additional details had been uncovered.

Tri was reportedly arrested at his East San Jose home. Efforts to reach him on Monday were unsuccessful.

Tri was a member of the department since 2009 but left in August 2015. Sources did not provide details of Tri's departure but said he was fired.

Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office spokesman James Jensen confirmed the arrest but declined to provide other details because it included personnel information.

NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell contributed to this report.
Indiana Gov. and Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence canceled a scheduled event in Chicago Tuesday as Illinois Democrats and community leaders staged a protest of his appearance.

Pence, who is running alongside GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, was scheduled to address the City Club of Chicago Tuesday at Marianos Banquets. The appearance was canceled following recent shake-ups to the Trump campaign, Crains Chicago Business reported.

A group of Democratic leaders and demonstrators, including state Sen. Daniel Biss and Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza, protested Pences trip at Trump Tower Tuesday, condemning Trump's "hateful and dangerous plan to deport 11 million immigrants. The event also featured leaders from immigrant communities speaking out against Trumps deportation policy.

Pence is scheduled to attend a big-ticket fundraising dinner in Chicago Tuesday. Tickets for the event range from $1,000 to $25,000, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

However, it is unclear if Pence will still attend the event given the shake-ups to the campaign. The Indiana governor is scheduled to make a pair of campaign stops in Pennsylvania Tuesday, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Rep. Tammy Duckworth addressed the City Club of Chicago Tuesday, laying out her economic plan and urging Sen. Mark Kirk to apologize for likening President Barack Obama to the drug dealer in chief last week.

Senator Kirk has just joined the rogues gallery for the presidents fiercest, and most unhinged critics, and for that he should be ashamed, Duckworth said. "What he said is beneath the dignity of the office he now holds, and Senator Kirk should apologize immediately to the President of the United States, as well as to the people of Illinois.

During an interview with the State Journal-Register last week, Kirk claimed Obama was acting like the drug dealer in chief for making a $400 million cash payment to Iran that was tied to the release of American prisoners. Last week, the Obama administration claimed the $400 million payment was used as leverage to push for the release of four U.S. prisoners.

The payment was announced in January, a day after the Americans were freed and on the same weekend U.N. sanctions against Iran were lifted. The White House and State Department have denied Republicans claims that the transaction served as a ransom payment, claiming that the timing was coincidental.

According to the State Department, the $400 million was used by Iran to purchase military weapons and equipment from the U.S. while the shah was still in control, prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

During her speech, Duckworth referenced a Monday Chicago Sun-Times editorial that outlined some of Kirks past gaffes.

If it was just the first time, I would chalk it up to a momentary lapse of judgment, Duckworth said. "But with him, its a pattern, both of irresponsible, offensive rhetoric, as well as of personal insults directed at this president.

Kirks campaign responded to Duckworths speech Tuesday, outlining the senator's opposition to the administration's plan.

The actions of the administration, including the use of unmarked cargo planes, pallets full of clean packs of foreign cash and an agreement with Iran that they only get the cash once the hostages are released, seems more representative of nefarious deals than the conduct of the worlds greatest democracy, Kirk spokesperson Kevin Artl said in a statement. Senator Kirk believes the administrations actions, which Tammy Duckworth has supported, were reckless in the extreme and will ultimately endanger more Americans abroad and is almost certain to fund terrorism.

During her speech, Duckworth went on to challenge Kirks record as a social moderate, a fiscal conservative, and a national security hawk.

Duckworth faulted Kirk for inserting a poison pill provision into a Congressional Zika funding bill last month that blocked Planned Parenthood from receiving funds for vital public health efforts, like family planning to prevent against the sexually transmitted spread of the disease. She also blasted Kirk for opposing equal pay for women.

"When it comes to social moderation, it seems like Mark Kirk is only there when you dont really need him, especially in an election year, Duckworth said. "But when you do need him, hes either a no-show, or ineffective."

The congresswoman challenged Kirks stance as a fiscal conservative, noting that he voted for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq War, as well as former President George W. Bushs tax cuts for the wealthy and the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Duckworth also claimed that Kirk only started crusading against the national deficit after Obama took office.

"Kirks not a fiscal conservative," Duckworth said. "Hes a fiscal phony."

Duckworth claimed Kirk is guilty as charged when it comes to being a national security hawk, noting that he has been quick to sound the drums of war." Duckworth referenced her own experience as a combat veteran to make the point that she has worked to exhaust "diplomatic options before engaging with military force, noting that "war should be the last option."

"We clearly have different visions on what this state can be, and how best to get there," Duckworth said. "Ultimately, through my own experiences  as well as talking to people all across this great state who want nothing more than to feel that economic opportunity is within reach  I believe that America is at its best when were investing in our people."

Duckworth also laid out her economic vision, which includes plans for infrastructure, manufacturing and renewable energy, as well as job training and a response to the fallout from job loss created by trade deals.

The Kirk campaign responded to Duckworths plan Tuesday.

Throughout her political career, Duckworth has consistently supported more government spending, higher taxes and greater debt, Artl said. Even doubling down on her calls for tax hikes, she supports Speaker Madigan who has called for higher income taxes for every Illinois family.

Senator Mark Kirk supports lower taxes on working families, controlling government spending and reforms that root out waste and fraud so that the programs Americans rely on the most get the funding they need, Artl added.
The United States is troubled by the August 12th arrest of Azerbaijani opposition activist Natig Jafarli, the executive secretary of the opposition REAL Movement.

The United States is also troubled by the arrests of additional activists. The activists who have been arrested are secular democratic opposition figures, though the authorities are citing alleged ties to Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen to justify some of these arrests. The arrests come ahead of a national referendum on amendments to the constitution. The proposed amendments would lengthen the presidential term from five to seven years and introduce the posts of first vice president and vice president, which would be appointed rather than elected. Other proposed changes relate to restricting certain fundamental freedoms in vaguely defined circumstances.

The United States urges the government of Azerbaijan to submit the constitutional amendments for a joint Venice Commission and Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights opinion.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Azerbaijan in May. In a statement they said that they hold the view that human rights defenders, journalists, political and religious leaders continue to be detained under criminal or administrative charges as a way to impair the exercise of their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms and to silence them.

The United States, said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner, urge(s) the Azerbaijani government to release these and other activists incarcerated in connection with exercising their fundamental freedoms, to respect the fundamental freedoms of its citizens, and to allow an open and public dialogue about the direction of the country, particularly in the run-up to the planned September 26th constitutional amendment referendum.
A man who was fatally shot in Chicago early Sunday morning reportedly had nightmares about being shot shortly before his death, according to his girlfriend.

Jasmine Jones told the Chicago Tribune she was sitting on the front porch of a home in the 7000 block of South Artesian Avenue with her boyfriend Darius Brownlee when a stranger came up and asked them if they had any marijuana.

The pair said no, but the man asked again a few minutes later. When the couple said no a second time, the man shot Brownlee in the head, Jones told the publication.

Police said the 25-year-old was shot in the head around 2:50 a.m. and found on the lawn of the residence. Authorities ruled the shooting had sparked from a verbal altercation during a party.

Brownlee was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiners office.

Jones told the Tribune Brownlee had been having bad dreams lately and said he had a bad feeling. She said he told her he recently had a dream he was shot.

Police said no one was in custody for the shooting as of Monday morning and the incident remained under investigation.

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
"Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill is among those lending his support to a terminally ill fan who wants to see "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" before he dies.

Hamill backed a social media campaign launched last week by hospice worker Amy Duncan asking for the "Star Wars" spin-off to be screened for illustrator Neil Hanvey from Oldham, England.

Duncan says the 36-year-old cancer patient was informed by doctors in April that he has six to eight months to live. "Rogue One" is set for release Dec. 16.

The film stars Felicity Jones and is set between the third and fourth "Star Wars" installments.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was screened for terminally ill fan Daniel Fleetwood on Nov. 5. He died days after seeing the movie.
A Bolton man reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds after receiving an almost $900 bill from Verizon, two weeks after canceling his service.

Justin Manchester bought his Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in June, from a Verizon retailer called The Cellular Connection.

"They were running a promotion," said Manchester. "You get a free smart TV if you buy a Samsung phone. I thought it was a great deal."

Soon after buying it, he said he kept dropping calls and losing service. Manchester only had a few days to return his phone for free, so he did. He received the $886 charge two weeks later.

Manchester said an agent told him his refund didnt go through, and that he needed to take it up with the store, TCC. Whenever he called TCC, he said, they told him theyd look into it, but then never returned his inquiries.

"I felt pressed for time," said Manchester. "And at one point, I thought, well maybe I should just pay the bill and try to get reimbursed for it."

Instead, the NBC Connecticut Responds consumer team contacted a Verizon representative, who looked into his complaint, found it was a mistake, and credited all $886 back into Manchesters account.

A spokesperson for TCC then sent the following statement:

"We are aware of Mr. Manchesters complaint. While we strive to provide customers with refunds as quickly as possible, there are certain circumstances which may cause a brief additional delay, as was the case with Mr. Manchesters situation. Nevertheless, before we even received notice of his complaint, his credit had been submitted through the appropriate channels. We trust that Mr. Manchesters complaint has been resolved fully at this time," Kathryn Wiley, chief legal officer of The Cellular Connection, LLC., said in a statement.
Branford police came across a stolen vehicle before the owner realized it was gone.

Around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, Officer Chris Cope noticed a vehicle parked in the Branford Shell Gas Station at 49 Leetes Island Road. The vehicle did not have any morning dew on the windows. As Cope approached the vehicle, a man, later identified as Esteban Melendez, 18, of New Bedford, Mass. popped up from the drivers seat and immediately put his hands in the air.

According to police, the man gave Cope what was determined to be a false identity. Cope observed the column under the steering wheel was missing and wires were hanging out. The car was also running with no keys in the ignition.

A second officer, Officer Bryan McGinnis, arrived on scene to assist. Police determined that the car was from West Haven and reached out to the owner. The owner then realized that the car had been stolen from his home.

Melendez was arrested and faces multiple charges including criminal trover, larceny, possession of under half an ounce of marijuana, and interfering with an officers investigation. He was held on a $10,000 bond and scheduled to appear in New Haven court Tuesday.
Mayor Toni Harp is speaking out against criticism from the New Haven Fire union over proposed changes to the citys fire department.

"Were not reducing staff," she said defending the proposal. "Were making people in the city of New Haven safer."

As NBC Connecticut first reported Friday, the city proposal reassigns four firefighters from one districts fire truck to staff two new paramedic units serving the entire city.

"I think the union has in fact misled the public," Harp said. "(Ricci) is skewing the whole question in a way that makes people afraid that we are doing something that will harm them. We are not, he is."

On the union website main page, the headline in bold writing reads: Save Your Neighborhood Engine.

Harp is reassuring the residents near the Ellsworth Avenue station that they are not at risk of losing their neighborhood fire truck.

"They have two now, they really just need one," Harp said. "And the rest of the city needs for there to be the medical vehicle staged there so that it can get to the rest of the city on time, so theyre not going to a have a problem having their fires put out."

While the firefighters from Engine 9 at the Ellsworth station would redeploy to the two new city-wide advanced life (ALS) support paramedic units, Deputy Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana said the Squad 2 Company, also stationed at Ellsworth, would serve at the new local engine company.

One of the new ALS paramedic units would be stationed at the Ellsworth station; the other at the Whitney Avenue fire house.

Over the phone Monday, Ricci said the city cannot afford to take a fire truck out of service because of the growing population, which includes an increasing number of undocumented residents. He added the citys proposal violates language in the union contract and a shakeup could affect the reliability of firefighters who respond to an emergency within four minutes.

The plan would save taxpayers money, Mayor Harp said, while improving coverage for emergency calls. Nearly 75 percent of the calls are medical, according to the citys data analysis.

"All were are doing is saving wear and tear on equipment that costs us a lot of money," she said.

Larger fire apparatus cost around $800,000, compared to the paramedic units that are $80,000, Harp said.

Soon, the mayor plans to announce which of three final candidates becomes the fire departments new chief.

"All three thought what were doing made sense and they would support," she said.
North Haven police are reminding residents to be on alert for scams after an 86-year-old resident nearly became the victim of a fake bail money scheme.

Police said the man received a call from someone claiming to be a police sergeant. He said that the residents grandson as in jail in Baltimore and needed bail money. The caller provided enough detail that the resident went to the bank and withdrew $9,700, which the caller instructed him to send by a courier in a large envelope.

After the money was picked up the resident grew concerned and call police, who were able to track down the package and return the money. During the course of investigation police also discovered an elderly man in Meriden also sent a package containing $9,200, which was also returned.

The courier service was a legitimate business and worked with police to halt the packages.

The investigation is ongoing. Police ask residents to look out for elderly friends, family and neighbors. Police said any calls requesting money for bail, back taxes or ransom are scam attempts and anyone who receives such a call should contact police at (203) 239-1618.
Plainfield police have arrested a man accused of stealing from an unlocked car early Tuesday morning.

Police said around 1:30 a.m. they responded to a report of a suspicious person in the area of Collelo Avenue in the Moosup section of town. When officers arrived they saw a male fleeing from the area. Connecticut State Police responded with a K9 unit to assist.

Meanwhile, Plainfield officers spotted the subject leaving the woods along North Main Street. Officers pursed the individual and caught up with him on Brunswick Avenue near Cottage Street.

Police said they discovered that several items, including electronics and gift cards had been stolen from an unlocked vehicle in the neighborhood. The items were valued around $1,000.

The subject, identified as Martin Olivera, 37, of 592 North Main Street in Moosup, was arrested and charged with 4th-degree larceny. He was released on a $1,000 bond and scheduled a court date of Sept. 6.

The K9 unit located the stolen items in a nearby yard. Police remind residents to lock their vehicles.
Connecticut became one of the must-visit states of the presidential primary season.

The state wasnt expected to factor into either the Democratic or Republican presidential primary results, but longer than expected journeys to the nominations led to Connecticut receiving heightened attention from just about all of the major campaigns.

Those visits came with price tags that the cash-strapped cities like Hartford and Bridgeport wont be able to recover.

"It's a double edged sword," said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, a Democrat who has endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. "On the one hand it is a significant cost but it's also the cost of Democracy."

Bridgeport saw the largest overall burden for overtime. Combined Trump and Clinton rallies cost the city $74,000.

In Hartford, Trumps rally at the XL Center required additional Hartford Police and Fire Department support to handle the crowds inside and protesters outside the event.

According to a Hartford Police Spokesman, the arena contracted with Hartford Police for assistance and those bills have been paid. The City of Hartford however was left paying for a total of $34,824.94 for Trumps visit.

Hillary Clinton spent one day in Hartford for a roundtable about gun violence and she met with members of the community at a North End restaurant. The visit cost city taxpayers $10,339.63. A separate visit from her husband, former President Bill Clinton, cost $772.55.

Bernie Sanders held one campaign rally in Hartford down along the Connecticut River. Since that event was entirely city-operated because of the venue, the city owed $14,924.57 in overtime pay to officers.

Bronin said its not typical for a city to simply turn away high profile political events.

"We have a responsibility to keep our residents safe. I think we have a responsibility as part of a Democracy to make sure political discourse is vibrant. It's not a bad thing that it's happening here but obviously the costs are significant."

According to the Secret Service, its been standard operating procedure for years that individual cities and towns that host Secret Service Protectees handle the costs of their visits. A spokesperson told NBC Connecticut the agency consults with the local law enforcement agencies and arrangements are then made butt the agency does not have a budget to reimburse local departments for overtime.

Bronin said he wishes that was possible.

"There is not a question I would love for the campaigns to reimburse us the costs on the other hand we can't really make that a condition of their being here."
Inside the Byles Memorial Home in New London lie the remains of Sergeant James Campbell, who was killed in North Korea in 1950 and brought home to Connecticut on Tuesday afternoon.

Campbell was 18 when he was last seen alive at the battle of Chosin Reservoir in December 1950. But with police escort, Campbell's remains finished a long trip to Connecticut and his family in Waterford.

"It's very overwhelming," said Brittany Campbell. "We're just glad he's home with us. It's a bittersweet moment. We're sad that his three other brothers can't be here."

His sister, Doris Smith, was there. The Army said her DNA helped identify Sergeant Campbell from hundreds of soldiers' remains turned over decades ago by North Korea.

The family says Mrs. Smith doesn't hear very well but relatives spoke for her.

"My grandmother for many years has talked about she wished she could be here with him, said Michael Smith. And so to have this moment actually come true and all the work the Army and all these people have done for us, like Brittany said, is amazing. It's overwhelming."

Patriot Guard motorcyclists also made the trip from TF Green Airport in Rhode Island to New London.

Michael Graichen, a Patriot Guard rider, said, "a lot of the times when we're doing the missions, other motorists don't realize what we're doing. All they see is bikes riding in a pack."

What they did was help a soldier go home with honor, to his family.

In West Neck Cemetery in Waterford on Friday, Sergeant Campbell will be buried with full military honors.

"And it's a long time coming but we're just happy that he can be home, and with his family, and his mom and dad," said Brittany Campbell.

In lieu of flowers, Sergeant Campbell's family is asking that donations be made to the Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas, 66675, or Westbrook Honor Guard, c/o Joe Barry, 111 South Edgewood Road, Niantic, CT 06357.

The Defense Department's POW/MIA Accounting Agency says 7802 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Identifications continue.
The man who was shot on Pomfret Street in Putnam on Monday night has died, according to state police.

Police said they responded to 52 Pomfret St. at 9:18 p.m. Monday to investigate a shooting and found a victim with a gunshot wound. Medics brought the victim to Day Kimball Hospital, but then LifeStar transported him to a hospital in Massachusetts.

On Friday morning, state police said the victim died of his injuries. State police have not released his name.

The state police Eastern District Major Crime Unit is investigating and police said this appears to be an isolated incident with no danger to the public.
No subject provided a more complete prefiguration of depth psychology than medieval alchemy. Its a topic Jung devoted decades of his life to studying, and entire volumes to writing about. The strange sequences of illustrations and recipes for primitive scientific operations were found to reflect psychological processes that for the most part go unnoticed by people because they take place in the subconscious.

The stage for understanding this bizarre relationship was set by another Austrian from Freuds inner circle, named Herbert Silberer. His classic Problems of Mysticism and its Symbolism makes a Freudian interpretation of an old Rosicrucian text and relates its messages to alchemy.

It was another German text from the 16th century, however, that caught Hendersons attention and eventually led to his last published work.

Splendor Solis, translated The Splendor of the Sun, contains 22 colorful illustrations that take the viewer deeply into the strange world of alchemical symbolism.

I do not remember how I happened to discover the beautiful illuminated manuscript by Salomon Trismosin called the Splendor Solis, but there it was in the library of the British Museum, near where I was studying for my final examinations for graduation from medical school, Henderson wrote. I was permitted to look at this magnificent alchemical treatise, and in it found many of the same colors and color sequences I had seen in my dreams 

It left a lasting impression on him:

While the three series of plates in the Splendor Solis were originally intended to illustrate the symbolism of alchemy, I found that they could express significant stages in any deep process of discovery.

He obtained a set of transparencies from the British Museum in 1968, and used them frequently to teach students about the symbolism of the unconscious.

Five centuries after this remarkable work was created, Henderson and Dyane N. Sherwood of the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco teamed up to write Transformation of the Psyche: The Symbolic Alchemy of the Splendor Solis.

Sherwood was introduced to the work during her training in 1993 when she viewed a videotape of Henderson explaining its symbolism. After Henderson turned 95, Sherwood proposed turning his lecture into a book. She originally intended to serve as its editor but ended up contributing to the book as a co-author.

In certain ways, the multi-stepped processes of alchemy are a more elaborate form of the three-step initiation cycle outlined by Henderson. Initiation starts with a separation, then an ordeal that is equivalent to the elements of alchemy being subjected to fire or dissolved in water. Then there is a trial or testing of the separated substances as they coagulate into something new. The same dynamics can be seen in the shamans otherworldly death, in which his body is torn to pieces and reassembled out of an indestructible substance, enabling him to journey between this world and the next.

The alchemists believed that to make the philosophers stone, the hard substance had to be made soft or spiritual, and the soft substance had to be made hard or given form, explain Henderson and Sherwood. This also is like the work of analysis, where inflexible or hardened attitudes are softened, while too malleable or undeveloped aspects of the personality are strengthened and differentiated.
Sen. Mark Kirk claimed President Barack Obama was acting like the drug dealer in chief for making a $400 million cash payment to Iran that was tied to the release of American prisoners.

During an interview with the State Journal-Register editorial board last week, Kirk claimed Obama gave clean packs of money to a state sponsor of terror and warned that those 500-euro notes will pop up across the Middle East.

The payment was reportedly made in euros and Swiss francs.

Were going to see problems in multiple (countries) because of that money given to them, Kirk said during the interview.

Last week, the Obama administration claimed the $400 million payment was used as leverage to push for the release of four U.S. prisoners, NBC News reported.

The payment was announced in January, a day after the four Americans were freed and on the same weekend U.N sanctions against Iran were lifted. The White House and State Department have denied Republicans claims that the transaction served as a ransom payment, claiming that the timing was coincidental.

Secretary of State John Kerry released a press release at the time, noting that the $400 million was used by Iran to purchase military weapons and equipment from the U.S. while the shah was still in control, prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Iran will receive the balance of $400 million in the Trust Fund, as well as a roughly $1.3 billion compromise on the interest, Kerry said in a statement in January.

On Monday, the Kirk campaign continued to call the payment into question.

After using unmarked cargo planes to deliver pallets of foreign currency totaling over $400 million to Iran to get our hostages back, the (Obama) Administration is now attempting to change the literal definition of ransom, Kirk spokesman Kevin Artl said in a statement. Sen. Kirk believes the administrations actions, which Tammy has supported, were reckless in the extreme. The administrations pay off will endanger more Americans abroad (and) is almost certain to fund terrorism."

According to his campaign, the senator will hold an oversight hearing on the payment next month as part of his role as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance.

Earlier this month, Kirk issued a release about the ransom payment. The senator said Congressional hearings were the only way for the American people to fully know whether their tax dollars went directly to Irans terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Kirk is facing a tough bid for reelection against Rep. Tammy Duckworth in November. The congresswomans campaign responded to Kirks comments Monday, calling for an apology.

Senator Kirks comments are misguided and deeply offensive, and beneath the dignity of the office he holds, Duckworth spokesman Matt McGrath said in a statement. He should apologize.

SEIU Healthcare Illinois Executive Vice President Greg Kelley also responded to Kirks statements Monday, calling for an apology.

What (Kirk) said about President Obama was totally inappropriate and he must apologize, Kelley said in a statement. Its another example of Kirks long history of insulting the president which is now matching up with the hateful and birther space carved out in the public sphere by fellow Republican Donald Trump to dehumanize Barack Obama.

Either he doesnt know what hes doing, which is alarming; or he does know what hes doing, which is despicable, Kelley added.
A local Olympic athlete and gold medalist arrived in North Texas Tuesday after winning gold at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.

Courtney Okolo, a sprinter specializing in the 400-meter dash, won a gold medal in the 4x400m relay. She started the relay and handed off to Natasha Hastings. Phyllis Francis passed the baton to Allyson Felix, who crossed the finish line in 3:19.06.

Born in Dallas, Okolo attended Newman Smith High School in Carrollton. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May.

Okolo's flight was scheduled to arrive at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport at about 10:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Dallas Police leaders delivered bad news to city leaders Monday as City Hall ponders how much money to spend on public safety for the next fiscal year.

After 11 straight years of crime reduction in Dallas, a new report for the Dallas City Council Monday showed that police are struggling to keep the trend going in 2016.

Violent crime remains up 10.4 percent year to date, despite an eight-week partnership with state and county officers earlier in 2016 to help round up suspects. Murder is up 24.7 percent so far in 2016. Overall crime is up 2.5 percent.

"Priority 1" response time from Aug. 1-17 slowed to 8.08 minutes, from the 7.79 average for all of 2016. Priority 1 response time was 6.32 minutes in 2010 and 2011.

"The only way for us to get there quick is to insure we have enough officers on the street to respond to all the 911 calls that are coming in," said Executive Assistant Chief David Pughes.

Another report shows the Dallas Police force is shrinking. The Dallas Police authorized force of 3,520 was just 3,375 as of Aug. 9. Officers leaving the force outpaced hiring by 116 so far this year. The number of police civilian employees has also declined, leaving more work for sworn officers.

"We need more officers," Pughes said. "There's no doubt the greater number of officers you put in an area, the better the likelihood that you're going to be able to reduce crime that's occurring there."

The 2016-2017 proposed budget from the Dallas City Manager calls for hiring 549 police officers in the next year, enough to replace all who are expected to leave and add 200 more to the force.

"We've got to start now. We've got to get behind the curve and start hiring people now," said Pughes.

Since the July 7 ambush that left five police officers dead in downtown Dallas, the city police department has received hundreds of new applications.

But Thomas Glover, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, said the city is not equipped to hire so many officers. Glover has worked in Dallas Police recruiting in the past.

"We don't have the physical space to do it. We don't have the training facility to do it and we certainly don't have the people at our training academy," Glover said.

Police union leaders agree more officers are needed but they believe pay raises are needed first to stop trained officers from leaving for higher-paying jobs.

"Yes, we would like them, but it's unreasonable. We can't get them right now because the pay is the number one problem," said Dallas Police Association president Ron Pinkston. "The pay is the lowest in the Metroplex."

Garland and Austin offer Dallas officers raises of more than $15,000 a year for lateral transfer programs, according to Monday's Dallas City Council briefing.

The Dallas unions want 5-percent raises across the board for police and firefighters each of the next three years. The Dallas City Manager has offered less.

"You need to think about retaining the officers that you have. They're not doing it and they really need to do it," said Black Police Association chief of staff Sheldon Smith.

A fire department union leader said Dallas also has trouble keeping trained firefighters from leaving for better pay.

Receiving the new reports Monday, City Council members acknowledged the need for improvements in pay and manpower.

"If I'm prioritizing from a public safety standpoint, to me, pay seems to be a higher priority issue than head count," said Councilman Philip Kingston.

The City Council will finalize a new Dallas budget next month.
DeSoto police said they canceled a silver alert after a 73-year-old man who went missing Monday night was located.

Police said Andrew Murphy had last been seen driving a gray 2003 Dodge Dakota with the Texas license plate AA2-4639 in the 1200 block of Heritage Hill Drive at 7 p.m. Monday.

DeSoto police confirmed that Murphy had been found just before 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Murphy was described as black, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 220 pounds and bald with brown eyes and light skin. He was last seen wearing a gray and burgundy checkered shirt, gray slacks and black shoes.

DeSoto police asked anyone with information regarding Murphy's disappearance to call them at 972-223-6111.
An ex-chief financial officer for a Dallas-area school district has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 from a vault.

Prosecutors say 61-year-old Carolyn Foster of Lewisville was indicted for federal program theft from the Grand Prairie Independent School District. The time frame was October 2014 to July 2015.

A Grand Prairie ISD statement Tuesday says two finance workers uncovered the alleged theft the day after Foster left the district, which has since changed the way it handles cash.

Foster was arrested Monday as a contract worker for International Leadership of Texas in Richardson.

A statement Tuesday from International Leadership says Foster was fired following her arrest.

No attorney could immediately be located to speak for Foster, who's free on bond. She faces a maximum 10-year prison term if convicted.

Grand Prairie ISD Statement:

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Investigators say a man has been found shot to death behind a tax preparation business in North Texas.

The gunfire happened behind Flores Income Tax Services in the 1600 block of Northwest 28th Street.

MedStar EMS spokesman Matt Zavadsky says ambulance personnel were dispatched shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday to a mainly residential area, where the tax business is located.

Zavadsky says ambulance personnel declared one man dead at the scene.

No one else was hurt.

Officers told NBC 5 the shooting was between two homeless men. Their identities have not been released.

Fort Worth police did not immediately announce any arrests in the slaying Tuesday morning.
Two major North Texas-based airlines acknowledged they are in receipt of a letter that demands answers in the wake to two recent computer system outages.

Two US. Senators wrote a letter last week to the heads of the 13 largest U.S.-owned airlines that lays out concerns regarding the integrity of the computer systems of the airlines and what is done to ensure their security.

In July, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines was forced to cancel more than 2,000 flights when its computer system sustained a series of outages.

In early August, a similar outage with Delta Airlines resulted in canceled flights and stranded passengers at major airports across the globe.

These flight cancellations and delays are not only an inconvenience and expense for consumers, but they also can harm our economy, wrote U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal in the letter.

We are concerned with recent reports indicating that airlines IT systems may be susceptible to faltering because of the way they are designed and have been maintained, the Senators noted. As operators in this critical transportation industry, it is your responsibility to ensure that your IT systems are both reliable and resilient.

The letter goes on to list 10 questions that the Senators would like the airlines to provide answers to no later than Sept. 16.

The questions include a request to provide a list of IT outages and/or disruptions that caused flight cancellations or delays longer than one hour for each of the past five years, as well as an accounting of how many passengers were impacted by those disruption.

In addition, the Senators want the airlines to describe the state of their IT system and what specific steps are being taken to modernize it, if needed.

An official with Fort Worth-based American Airlines said that the airline is in receipt of the letter and will respond as appropriate.

A Southwest spokesperson elaborated further in a statement to NBC DFW.

We are aware of the letter, and we appreciate the Senators interest on this critically important area of our business, said Chris Mainz, of Southwest Executive and Strategic Communications.  Over the course of the last four years, Southwest has put in significant effort and financial investment to ensure the technology that supports our business and our operation has back up/recovery capabilities. We will continue to invest to make sure we have a secure, robust technology infrastructure in place to support our complex business."
Police are trying to determine who stole the wheels from 48 new vehicles at an East Texas car dealership.

Tyler police estimate thieves made off with about $250,000 worth of tires and wheels, leaving the vehicles up on blocks.

Police are examining surveillance video showing several suspects on the grounds of Peltier Chevrolet around 1 a.m. Sunday. The suspects entered the fenced dealership at the rear of the business.

A Tyler police statement Monday said investigators believe the thieves may be part of a ring targeting car dealers across Texas.
During Howard Hicksons 25 years as executive director of the Northeastern Nevada Museum, he brought nationwide recognition to the museum through educational exhibits that described Elkos history and showcased its local culture, earning both state and national acclaim.

Howard Hickson was born in 1932 in Huntsville, Alabama. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1952 to 1956 as a combat reporter and illustrator. After leaving the service, he owned his own design studio and worked as a commercial artist. Howard married Jane Green and had three sons: Ken, Andrew and Patrick.

He attended the University of Nevada Reno and graduated in 1964. Howards interests in history and visual design drew him to the museology field and he was employed as curator of exhibits at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City for five years.

Hickson arrived in Elko in 1968 to become director of the Northeastern Nevada Museum. He started work designing eye-catching and informative exhibits that showcased Elko Countys culture and history using artifacts donated by local residents.

As editor of the Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, he encouraged high school and college students to submit essays about Elko people, places and events. In addition to contributing his own articles in the Quarterly, he also wrote Mint Mark CC: A History of the U.S. Mint in Carson City.

Howard drew statewide attention to the museum through traveling slideshows and photography exhibits. The presentation Jarbidge won Best Slide Show of 1974 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Under his leadership, the museum earned accreditation from the American Association of Museums twice and won two National Awards of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History.

Among his numerous honors Howard received for his work as director, he was named a Distinguished Nevadan by the University of Nevada Board of Regents in 1993 and dean of Nevada museum directors by the Nevada Department of Museums and History.

Howard retired in 1993 and was named Director Emeritus of the museum. He and second wife, Terry, who taught in the Elko County School District, were involved in many community organizations and service clubs.

He continued to research local history and wrote Elko, One of the Last Frontiers of the Old West and Hicksons Histories, which are now part of Great Basin Colleges Virtual Humanities Center collection.
Donald Trump and his Republican allies say Hillary Clinton is weak, lacks stamina and doesn't look presidential.

Intent on undermining his Democratic rival, Trump and GOP backers are increasingly relying on rhetoric that academics and even some Republican strategists say has an undeniable edge focused on gender. Trump notably belittled his primary rivals, tagging Jeb Bush as "low-energy," and disparaging Ted Cruz as "Lyin' Ted," and Marco Rubio as "Little Marco." His criticism of Clinton goes beyond "Crooked Hillary," and complaints about her use of a private email server as secretary of state and her foreign policy decisions.

Clinton, Trump said in a speech last week, "lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all the many adversaries we face."

He has repeatedly called attention to Clinton's voice, saying listening to her gives him a headache. Last December, he mocked her wardrobe. "She puts on her pantsuit in the morning," he told a Las Vegas audience. At rallies and in speeches, the billionaire mogul has also used stereotypes about women to demean Clinton, who stands to become the country's first female president if she wins in November.

A frequent point of criticism: Clinton doesn't look like a typical president.

"Now you tell me she looks presidential, folks," he said at a recent rally in New Hampshire.

"I look presidential," he insisted.

Trump's allies have piled on. Running mate Mike Pence often uses the word "broad-shouldered" to describe Trump's leadership and foreign policy style, a tacit swipe at Clinton. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani argued that all of the miles Clinton logged during her tenure as secretary of state resulted in more harm than benefit.

"Maybe it would've been better if she had stayed home," said Giuliani, who more recently questioned Clinton's health, suggesting an internet search of the words "Hillary Clinton illness."

"She is the first women from a major party running for president, so gender is always at play," said Dianne Bystrom, the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University.

Clinton pushed back Monday against the insinuations she's in poor health, saying on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that "I do feel sometimes like this campaign has entered into an alternative universe. I have to step into the alternative reality and, you know, answer questions about, am I alive, how much longer will I be alive, and the like."

Gender has always been tricky for Clinton. Throughout her career, she has struggled with how to confront gender norms, ranging from the extent to which to embrace the historic potential of her candidacy to whether she should be referred to by her given or married name.

Trump, meanwhile, has sought to undermine that advantage, accusing Clinton of "using the woman card" to boost her appeal. The attacks have not helped: A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found Clinton with a 19-percentage-point lead over Trump among women. Trump, meanwhile, has a 12-percentage-point advantage with men.

Katie Packer, a Republican strategist who founded a political consulting firmed aimed at appealing to Republican women, said that Trump has a history of seizing on his rivals' perceived weaknesses. In Clinton's case, she said, that appears to include her sex.

"He clearly views women as sort of the weaker sex so I think he's going to look to exploit that with Hillary," said Packer, who also helped to run an anti-Trump super PAC during the primaries.

His rallies are filled with blatant misogyny. Supporters wear "Trump vs. Tramp" political buttons, and have even harsher slogans and signs.

At the same time, Trump has a long history of hiring female executives and last week became the first Republican in the party's history to appoint a woman, pollster Kellyanne Conway, to serve as his campaign manager.

Trump's campaign did not respond to requests for comment Monday, though in the past he has dismissed such charges as "nonsense."

Yet Conway herself has advocated using Clinton's sex against her in the past.

Speaking to The New York Times in April, when she was still backing a Trump rival, Conway said Trump's efforts to turn Clinton's gender against her could prove effective.

"By taking gender head-on, Trump refuses to cede women voters and so-called women's issues to Hillary just because she is a woman," she told the paper. "He is 'Swiftboating' her by throwing shade on what should be a strength." Her mention of "Swiftboating" was referring to widely debunked efforts in 2004 to challenge Democratic nominee John Kerry's war record.

Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics' Center for American Women and Politics, who has been tracking the gender dynamics in the race, said that, even during the primary season when Trump was competing against a field of largely men, he took on the role of strong man, demeaning his rivals with put-downs.

"His message has been: I'm the manliest candidate, I'm the strongest, I know how to protect women  which is a pretty paternalistic take on it  I'm going to destroy ISIS and be very tough, to the point where he's talking about the size of his own manhood," she said of the candidate. "If you're trying to prove you're the manliest, then you're trying to emasculate your opponent."

But there's little evidence such attacks are effective when it comes to winning over women, Bystrom said, adding that Trump's gender attacks on Clinton risk turning off older women, who have faced discrimination in the workplace.
A Southern California police detective under investigation by the FBI apparently shot himself to death.

Deputies found the body of Detective Jeffrey Ullrich, 55, of Murietta, with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Tuesday in the area of the Tenaja Trail Head, in the unincorporated community of La Cresta, according to the Riverside County Coroner's Office.

Ullrich had been a member of the department for 16 years, 11 of those as a detective, said Murrieta Police Capt. Dennis Vrooman.

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that agents seized evidence from a home believed to be Ullrich's on Tuesday.

Details of the search were sealed by a judge.
A judge has ruled in favor of a Southern California museum in its 10-year legal battle over the ownership of two German Renaissance masterpieces that were seized by the Nazis in World War II.

U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter ruled last week that Pasadena's Norton Simon Museum, where the paintings "Adam" and "Eve" have been for more than 30 years, is the rightful owner of the two life-size oil-on-panel paintings.

The museum called the decision mindful of "the facts and law at the heart of the dispute," the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Marei von Saher alleged that the paintings were seized from her father-in-law, Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, after his family fled Holland during the Holocaust.

The Norton Simon countered that it legally acquired the works in the 1970s from the descendant of Russian aristocrats who had them wrongly taken by the Soviet Union in the 1920s.

Lucas Cranach the Elder painted the works in around 1530. In 1971, they were acquired by the museum for $800,000, the equivalent of about $4.8 million today. They were appraised at $24 million in 2006.

Depicting mankind in the ominous moment before the biblical Fall, the painting's ownership battle, too, points to a period in human history fraught with uncertainty: a 20th-century Europe ravaged by war.

The dispute is one of many to emerge in recent years involving precious art looted by the Nazis.

The judge said that because Goudstikker's art dealership decided not to seek restitution for the works after the war, his family thereby abandoned their claim to the art.

"Obviously, Ms. von Saher is disappointed with the court's decision," representatives from her legal firm, who plan to appeal the decision, said in a statement to the Times.

They also criticized a legal motion exchanged with them by the museum's legal team, presenting evidence that von Saher's father was a member of the Nazi Party.

"Using this information in an attempt to discredit Ms. von Saher is nothing more than a distasteful device to evade responsibility for refusing to restitute artworks that were indisputably stolen from her husband's family," the attorneys said.

A statement from the Norton Simon Art Foundation said in part, "We take seriously the fiduciary responsibility to the public that our ownership of such important artworks confers. We have placed the panels on near-constant public display since 1971 and will continue to ensure they remain accessible to the public for years to come."
A Ventura County family is demanding answers after a school bus stop mix-up left their daughter "lost" and "crying" in an unfamiliar neighborhood for an hour and a half.

"She was scared," the girl's grandfather, Salvador Palomo, told NBC4.

Palomo said his granddaughter was forced off at the wrong stop in Oxnard even though no one was there to pick her up. She was left on the far side of the campus.

The 9-year-old, who doesn't speak English, said she was lost and crying.

Neighbors found the girl and read an ID badge she had with her and took her home to her parents.

During the girl's ordeal, her family was frantically calling the school to ask why their daughter didn't get off the bus with the other children. Officials told them they did not know.

Oxnard School District Superintendent Cesar Morales said that a school aide assisted the girl at the stop after she was let off the bus. Morales added that the girl told the aide she knew where she lived and walked away.

But, the girl told NBC4 that she didn't know how to get home and that the aide didn't help her with directions.

The school's superintendent said they will review protocol and procedures to ensure that a mix-up like this doesn't happen again.

Palomo said the family met with School Board Trustee Denis O'Leary on Friday to request his help in investigating the incident.

"We're thankful our child is safe, but this could have ended in tragedy while she was walking afraid and alone on the street or taken without us knowing what happened," Palomo said in a press release.

Marco Benitez, a community advocate who assists Spanish-speaking families in the school district, said this is only the latest instance where the district has "failed to respond to the needs of the Spanish-speaking community."

Members of the community are expected to address the incident at Wednesday's school board meeting.
Five months after a former student was convicted for sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman, Stanford University banned hard liquor in undergraduate on-campus parties, a policy the school said was enacted to root out the negative consequences of high-risk drinking at college.



President John L. Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy announced the new student alcohol policy in a letter sent Monday to all new and returning undergraduates. In a letter to undergraduates, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Greg Boardman reminded the students that "we are all partners in a shared Stanford experience." It is "our obligation to one another," he wrote, to "embody respect, accountability, and a sense of community." He urged students not to "work around" the new rules, but to be help solve a national problem.

Beer and wine are the only alcoholic beverages that can be present at all on-campus undergraduate student parties, the new policy says.

The decision to enact the stricter rules comes after the Brock Turner sex assault case, where a 22-year-old woman who was intoxicated said she was assaulted and raped by the former university swimmer in January 2015. Turner also had been drinking, and as part of his sentence must undergo mandatory drug and alcohol counseling.

Campus spokeswoman Lisa Lapin told the Chronicle that the policy was not directly related to the Turner case, but came out of general concern and is part of the schools efforts to examine educational efforts and policies around alcohol use.

Still, the policy is an outgrowth of dialogue that has been taking place among students, faculty and staff since March  the month Turner was sentenced to six months in jail after being convicted of three felony counts of sexual assault. The relatively light sentence -- he could have faced up to 14 years in prison -- received national attention of what critics say is universities' blind eye toward "rape culture."

Stanford University has banned hard liquor in undergraduate on-campus parties, a policy that was enacted as a result of the university wanting to address how to better the issues of high-risk drinking not unique to this particular, prestigious campus. Kris Sanchez reports.

Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber, however, believes that banning hard liquor could actually increase the number of sexual assaults on campus.

"It may have the unintended consequence of driving that behavior indoors with closed doors, rather than at public parties so students may actually have an increased risk of sexual assault," she said.

Dauber also said Stanfords ban supports the idea that alcohol is to blame for sexual assaults. According to court records, Turner blamed his actions on binge drinking and a party culture on campus.

"We need to understand alcohol helps victims become more helpless, but it doesn't turn normal people into offenders," Dauber said. "Alcohol did not make Brock Turner commit his crime."

The university cited social anxiety in its reasoning for many students who start to drink and feel alienated, which the university said is "unacceptable."

"High-risk drinking is not a problem unique to Stanford," the university said, "but we believe that the strategies we pursue to address the negative consequences of this behavior must be rooted in our particular campus culture and our respect for one another."

But some students said they don't think the ban will make a difference. Instead, Sam Davis fears that it might encourage students to imbibe hard liquor "more secretively."

"I don't think it's hard alcohol specifically," he added. "It's intertwined with the college culture we have now."

Other universities in California have various alcohol policies: At the University of California at Berkeley, students over 21 can have alcohol but not in common areas like dorms or study areas, and minors cannot be in the presence of alcohol. At San Jose State University, minors can be arrested for having alcohol and students can't keep empty bottles or cans as decorations. At Santa Clara University, dorms are subject to inspection.

.@Stanford enhances hard alcohol policy; "not related to Brock Turner" sex assault case https://t.co/u2SKcyfkJP pic.twitter.com/QZamxuk6nu  Kris Sanchez (@KrisNBC) August 23, 2016

NBC Bay Area's Sara Halvorson contributed to this report.
What to Know "I have heard about the famed Howard Homecoming since I was a kid growing up in California," Cannon said in a statement.

Actor Nick Cannon is adding another title to his expansive resume -- student.

The "America's Got Talent" host is starting his freshman year at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

"YOU KNOW!!!!! #HU2020 My First Day as a Freshman!!! Howard University Class of 2020," Cannon wrote in an Instagram post Sunday.

Cannon released a statement Tuesday, saying in part, "I am always seeking new challenges and continual growth and decided to obtain my first college degree from an institution that had a proven legacy of producing great minds. I have friends, mentors and colleagues who attended Howard University. I have heard about the famed Howard Homecoming since I was a kid growing up in California and knew that Howard would be the perfect place for me to further my education."

The announcement has drawn many comparisons to "Drumline," the 2002 movie in which Cannon played a freshman adjusting to life in the band at Atlanta A&T University, a fictional historically black college.

Actor Orlando Jones, who played the band's conductor in "Drumline," congratulated Cannon on Twitter for heading back to class.

"Just remember @NickCannon 'You're on time if you're 5 minutes earlier, You're late if you're on time!' #OneBandOneSound," Jones posted.

https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/767212332543987712

"Howard University is honored to have Nick Cannon as a member of the Class of 2020," University President Wayne A.I. Frederick said in a statement.

The university was established in 1867 and has an enrollment of more than 11,000 students, according to the university's website.
An early morning fire in Fort Lauderdale sent one police officer to the hospital and left several people displaced for the time being.

Crews responded to the scene at 720 NW 14th Terrace around 8AM Tuesday morning. While fire fighters continued to put out the flames, a female victim from inside the home was pulled out of a back window.

One Fort Lauderdale Police officer and one firefighter were injured when they entered the building in an attempt to see if anyone was still inside. The officer was transported to Broward Health while the firefighter and woman from inside were treated at the scene.

An investigation continues into the cause of the fire.
Florida sheriff's deputies confronted chaos as they tried to subdue an attacker biting a victim's face after stabbing and beating a couple to death in a random assault outside their home, recordings of radio transmissions released Tuesday show.

When a dispatcher asks the first Martin County deputy on the scene if she has the suspect controlled, she responds, "No sir, I have this guy wrapped around him and he is biting him."

Sheriff William Snyder has said it took numerous deputies, jolts from a stun gun and a dog to pry 19-year-old college student Austin Harrouff off 59-year-old John Stevens in the Aug. 15 attack. Stevens' 53-year-old wife, Michelle Mishcon, lay nearby.

At one point during the struggle, a garbled transmission that sounds like "Oh no" can be heard.

After Harrouff is finally subdued, the first deputy let out a plaintive sigh and then told dispatchers, "possible two 'sevens,'" the agency's code for dead people. Another deputy then asks for paramedics and crime scene technicians, adding "we need them in here now." They also directed that an ambulance be sent across the street to the home of Jeff Fisher, a 47-year-old neighbor stabbed several times as he tried to rescue the couple. He has since been released from the hospital.

Harrouff remained hospitalized under guard Tuesday in critical but stable condition. Snyder said he will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder upon his release.

The FBI is running tests to determine whether Harrouff, who had finished his first year at Florida State University and was home for the summer, was under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs such as flakka or bath salts, both of which have been linked to violent outbursts. But Snyder said there were no traces of common street drugs _ including cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine _ in Harrouff's system immediately after the attacks. There is also a possibility that Harrouff may have ingested caustic chemicals from the couple's garage, Snyder said.

Harrouff told deputies as they arrested him that they would find no drugs in his system.

The toxicology reports will provide "a big piece of the unknown," Snyder said.

What investigators do know is that Harrouff was having dinner with family about 4 miles from the couple's house. Video surveillance from the restaurant shows him calmly walking out about 45 minutes before the attacks. Investigators said he apparently had words with his father. His mother later reported him missing, telling police he had been acting strangely for about a week before the attack.

The couple, who lived a short distance from Harrouff's father, were known to sit in their garage with the door open, watching television.

Harrouff's parents, Wade and Mina Harrouff, issued a statement last week expressing their condolences to the Stevens family and their apologies to Fisher.

Attorney Robert Watson, who is representing Harrouff, said last week that the student's parents saw "indications of odd and unusual behavior" in him recently, but he declined to elaborate on possible mental health issues.
ELKO  Miners talk about sustainability often, but Newmont Mining Corp. also wants to make sure the nonprofit organizations it helps are sustainable.

This year, Newmont hosted workshops for nonprofit organizations in Elko and in Winnemucca, said Newmont Legacy Fund Executive Director Nancy Ostler.

We want to be a leader in sustainable operations and doing that, we want to be a good example for our host communities, and we want to be a leader in those sustainable practices, Ostler said.

She said the workshops were approached as professional education courses for organizations from throughout northern Nevada.

We see so many that have such a passion, but sometimes maybe they dont have the training and the background for some of those sustainable practices, Ostler said.

The Elko workshop was handled by the University of Utah and the one in Winnemucca was organized by the University of Nevada, Reno. The workshop in Elko was for the organizations from West Wendover, Wells, Elko, Spring Creek and Carlin. The groups that attended the Winnemucca workshop were from Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Eureka and a few from Elko County.

Utah has five classes that employees of nonprofit organizations can take to earn certificates. The workshop in Elko was one of five courses, Ostler said. The university is willing to send its staff back to Elko to teach the entire course.

One thing we find in Elko, or any of the rural areas, is its so hard to travel, she said. Its so expensive that you cant really get access to that professional education, so we thought this would be a great deal to bring it here, and then its a lot closer and you dont have that travel expense.

If nonprofits want to bring the University of Utah course back to Elko, Newmont is willing to provide a room in its building, Ostler said. The course would be open to all organizations in the area, not just recipients of Newmonts Legacy Fund, she said.

In Winnemucca

The workshop in Winnemucca was led by Joel Muller of UNR extended studies. He also is the vice president of the Foundation for Renown Health.

Muller said all nonprofits need to look at the good they do in the community and show that to the community and their donors.

He also told the attendees that many people think if a nonprofit has money its a bad thing, but if a nonprofit doesnt make money it wont be able to provide services.

Not for profit doesnt mean you dont make a profit, he said. You have to make a profit to further your organization.

Many of the people in attendance really appreciated the chance to learn more about making their groups more sustainable.

Ive never had any business management classes, said Tiffany Stickney, administrative director of Winnemucca Domestic Violence Services. I really would benefit and I think WDVS would benefit from me having a certificate in nonprofit management so I can utilize our funding to the best it can be used.

Brenna Malone, executive director of Head Start of Northeastern Nevada, said she attended the workshop to make sure she gets a different perspective and a larger view.

We do receive the Legacy funds so we have a lot of buy-in and commitment to really perform in a way a nonprofit should when theyre receiving support from their communities, she said.

Susan Haas, of Retired Senior Volunteer Program, said the event was a good opportunity to get away from the regular business day and learn new ways to gain support for services.

Patricia Tindall, director of the Pleasant Senior Center, said she attended the event because it was important.

My seniors are the biggest growing population in Humboldt County, she said. Theres going to be more and more seniors. You need to sustain your programs even though costs continue to go up, grants are flat or going down. How do you become sustainable?

One of the biggest issues for nonprofits can be the communitys misconceptions.

For us people think were part of the county, Tindall said. We provide county and city services and theres only two not-for-profit senior centers in all of Nevada, Yerington and us. I think for us in particular, the way people view us, is were part of the county services and they pay their taxes and thats it. They dont realize were a not-for-profit agency, and were independent.

She said people also think nonprofits receive grants from the government so they dont need donations.

They dont realize the grants from the government cover about 20 percent and in some programs they cover maybe 14 to 16 percent of the program, Tindall said. So even though we do get grants, its such a small portion of what the program costs.

Her biggest take-away from the event is that every nonprofit is different, but every agency has the issue of maintaining services.

To be sustainable you have to have a plan, and you have to get your board members in on that plan, she said. And you have to provide a valuable service. If what youre doing is not necessary, then why are you bothering to do it?

The biggest take-away from the workshop is to hone in on your mission, Ostler said.

We all have a limited amount of money, she said. Where is that money best spent to accomplish your mission?

She and the people from the nonprofits said the workshops also allowed the various groups to network.

The nonprofits, theyre stretched to the max, like all of us are, and they dont have that chance to really network as a group, Ostler said. So many of the grants, now, thats one of their requirements is that you collaborate with other people to provide the same service. So, that just gave them an opportunity to meet the other nonprofits in the community and start that collaborative mindset and process.

Newmont and its employees donate to about 225 nonprofits in northern Nevada

Ostler said Newmonts purpose explains why it and its employees help charities throughout northern Nevada.

To create value and improve lives through sustainable and responsible mining, thats our purpose, she said. So that would be part of that. We dont just want to be in the community. We want to actually contribute to the health and well-being of future generations in our host communities. Were part of the community, we want to partner with them.

Legacy Fund, Endowment & Community Investment Program

The Legacy Fund campaign runs from Aug. 1 through Sept. 30 every year. The first began in 2010 and the funds raised were distributed in 2011. It has grown every year.

In 2011, our very first year, we had 57 percent participation and in 12 we had 69 and then every year after that its been 70 or more, Ostler said. So our goal obviously is to keep it at 70.

The last time Ostler checked the national average, employee giving campaigns usually have about 35 percent participation.

So we are ecstatic about 70 percent for that many (years), she said. Newmont employees are incredible. Theyre so generous.

While the percentage of contributors has grown through the years, so has the amount of money given to organizations. In 2010, employees pledged $650,000 and by 2015 they pledged $1,222,000.

Ostler said the main reason she is given by employees for why they donate is because Newmont matches my donation.

Who wouldnt give it, so you can double your money? Thats just a way cool deal, she said.

The funds pledged every year are matched dollar for dollar by Newmont, so the money being distributed this year totaled $2,444,000.

Nonprofits cant apply for the Legacy Fund. The charities who receive the money are chosen by Newmont employees.

Some of the miners also can choose to give their money to Newmonts Endowment Fund. This is an account that also grows every year. The money is being put aside so a fund is available to nonprofits once Newmont leaves the area.

Even if the employees dont choose the Endowment Fund, Newmont pledges $100,000 in it every year.

It grows at about $225,000 a year, Ostler said.

The account was at about $1.3 million this year.

Newmont has a third way to help organizations. Groups can apply to the companys Community Investment Program. In 2015, Newmont gave about $800,000.

This fund has been around longer than the Legacy Fund.

Organizations that want to apply for these funds should begin by sending an email to communityrelations@newmont.com.
A Fort Lauderdale police officer is facing the possibility of suspension after officials say he was intoxicated and started a fight with a hotel security guard while holding his infant child last year.

Citing an internal police investigation, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Monday that Officer David Knapp was off duty and "extremely intoxicated'' when he wound up in a restricted portion of the Ritz-Carlton hotel's parking garage with his infant child in October.

Investigators say Knapp refused to answer security guard Fernando Ramirez's questions and then struck him twice in the face while still holding the child.

Investigators say Knapp is facing a 20-day suspension without pay for actions unbecoming a police officer. Ramirez declined to press charges against Knapp.

Knapp told investigators he had no recollection of the incident.
Today, Miami-Dade officials celebrated a proposed 10 mile urban trail that will transform a lot of unused space into something unlike anything seen in the county.

The team who designed New York Citys "High Line" park is working on something very similar in miami-dade.

A proposed stretch of green space underneath the Metrorail tracks - from Miamis Brickell neighborhood south to Dadeland.

The initiative is led by a non -profit called Friends of the Underline

"By taking advantage of green space that is already underneath the tracks, we have an opportunity to with a very cost effect way produce a greenway and park space that people can actively pursue, said Jack Kardys, director of Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez welcomed the installation of a pop-up gym just outside the Brickell Metrorail station.

Organizers say the pop up gym will be there for six months and will help people not only stay in shape but visualize what's to come with the underline project.

"Were able to take what we have and make it safer, more beautiful and absolutely much more functional, said Gimenez.

The path will end at a proposed park on the Miami River -- complete with a dog park, playground and space to have picnics.

"We've raised close to 10 million dollars and that's public and private, said Meg Daly, CEO and Founder of Friends of the Underline.  The public funding - we have $3.5 million from Miami-Dade County, $1 million from the City of Miami and $3 million from the Department of Transportation.

Construction on the Brickell portion of the 10 mile trail is expected to begin in the fall of 2017.
A reported explosion caused a large fire at a Florida Power and Light substation in Miami-Dade that left thousands without power for several hours Tuesday.

Witnesses reported hearing two explosions coming from the substation at Northwest 64th Street and 72nd Avenue.

"I heard two, back-to-back, real loud explosions, booms, and then all of the sudden the power went out, the computer, everything went out," Justin Sabljak said.

A large fire with thick black smoke was seen rising in the air from the scene where two transformers caught fire.

"I heard two booms, they were really loud booms, and then my boss and them was like, 'everybody leave' so I came down the street and started recording, seeing this, it was crazy," Tevares Harris said.

Miami-Dade Police said more than 27,000 FPL customers were without power but FPL officials said about 10,000 customers were initially affected. FPL had restored service to all customers by 8 p.m.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the scene and brought the fire under control with the help of a foam truck from nearby Miami International Airport.

Officials said no injuries were reported. An FPL van that was near the scene of the fire was badly damaged.

Fire officials also asked people with respiratory issues who live nearby to stay indoors.

"We have crews on scene working to restore service safely and as quickly as possible," FPL said in a statement.

Milam Dairy Road between Northwest 58th Street and Highway 934 was closed as a result of the fire.

Officials at nearby Miami International Airport said the fire caused a momentary issue but that operations were back to normal.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
A South Florida teen beat the odds to survive a brain-eating amoeba thanks to some quick-working doctors in Orlando.

Every brain-eating amoeba patient Dr. Humberto Liriano has ever treated died. The cases are so rare that only four people have survived in the past 50 years.

One of the survivors is 16-year-old Sebastian DeLeon, and talking about him brings Liriano to tears.

"We woke him up, we decided to take the breathing tube out and within hours he spoke," Liriano said Tuesday. "Since then hes done very well. Hes walking, hes speaking. I saw him already this morning. Hes ready to go home."

DeLeon was infected by swimming in a private lake in Broward County. He and his family were visiting theme parks in Orlando when he suffered brain-crushing headaches and severe light sensitivity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says only four out of 138 people have survived being infected with the amoeba in the past 50 years, including DeLeon, according to the hospital's doctors.

Emergency room doctors at Orlando's Florida Hospital for Children first thought he had meningitis, but gut instinct pushed doctors to perform a spinal puncture test.

DeLeon tested positive for the amoeba and the race against the clock to save his life was on. Luck was on their side as amoeba-fighting drugs happened to be local.

"By 4:00, he was already cooled, intubated, in a coma and received all five medications," Liriano said.

For 10 days DeLeon has been recovering and getting stronger. He beat grim odds to a deadly reality that claims 97 percent of its victims.

"We are so thankful that God has given us the miracle through this medical team and this hospital for having our son back and having him full of life," mother Brunilda Gonzalez said. "He's a very energetic, adventurous, wonderful teen, and we are so thankful for the gift of life."
What to Know The I-Team sent surveys to more than 500 people serving time for burglary or breaking and entering in NY, NJ prisons

A stunning 59 percent of the responding burglars told the I-Team an alarm system would not deter them

Burglars said they're not concerned about dogs, and offer them treats to calm them down

Dogs. Alarm systems. Security cameras.

The most popular methods of home protection are looking less secure after convicted burglars spilled their secrets to the I-Team.

In an unprecedented crime prevention project, the I-Team sent surveys to more than 500 people serving time for burglary or for breaking and entering in New York and New Jersey prisons. The survey included questions about how they picked their targets, broke into homes, and how potential victims could stop them. Fifty-seven convicts responded.

Vincent Medina, who's currently serving a six- to 12-year prison sentence in Wallkill, New York, estimates he's committed more than 100 burglaries, breaking primarily into Bronx and Manhattan apartments.

"A burglar is someone who's always looking. You're scoping, you're scheming," he told the I-Team from prison.

Seventy-two percent of convicts who responded to the survey said break into houses, with more than half committing their crimes in the morning.

Across the board, burglars said their break-ins were not random, with 62 percent reporting they at least sometimes did surveillance on homes or apartments.

The boldest burglars -- 29 percent of those who responded to the survey -- reported knocking on the door of a potential break-in target. If someone answered, they had an excuse or fake identity at the ready. Burglars told the I-Team their lines included cable repair man, delivery many, landscaper, or I lost my dog.

The goal of surveillance? Fifty-one percent said they were trying to determine the schedules of the owners or tenants, as well as their neighbors. Forty-six percent were trying to determine if the home had an alarm system, and 44 percent were looking for security cameras.

I dont care if you have the best alarm system in the world. That aint going to do you no good, said Nicholas Kyriaziz, a career burglar whos estimates hes done more than 100 break-ins and is serving a 40-year sentence at a prison in Trenton, New Jersey.

A stunning 59 percent of the responding burglars told the I-Team an alarm system would not deter them at least some of the time: 35 percent said they would break in and be gone before the police arrived, 21 percent said they could disarm the system, and 18 percent would confident they wouldnt trigger it in the first place.

Several thieves said they had used social media to case targets for break-ins when responding to a survey the I-Team sent to 500 convicted burglars in New York and New Jersey. More than 10 percent of those 57 respondents said theyve logged on to find targets and good times to strike. Sarah Wallace has more insight from one imprisoned thief.

Surveillance cameras seem to be a bit more effective. Thirty-seven percent of burglars said they would not break in if they spotted a camera. But 44 percent said they would still continue, with many saying they would simply wear a mask or avoid the camera.

When it comes to other deterrents, burglars scoffed at lights on timers when people arent home. Seventy-two percent said that was no deterrent at all. A better method, some suggested, was leaving a TV or radio on when a resident was gone.

Dogs also dont do much to stop thieves. Thirty-five percent of burglars said they would break in if there was a dog inside, and 30 percent said they might. The reason? Dogs can be distracted with food. Dollar store Beggin Strips work wonders, one convict wrote.

Theres a lot of tricks you can use, agreed Medina, who said his favorite was using peanut butter. Put peanut butter inside of something. That will lock their jaws so they wont bite.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

COMING UP TUESDAY ON NEWS 4 @ 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.: Burglars reveal the easiest ways to break in, where they look for your valuables, and what you can do to stay safe  including the advice they would give their moms
The president of the Dunellen Board of Education in New Jersey has been arrested for allegedly sharing child pornography videos online, including one showing a young girl bound with rope in sexually explicit conduct with a dog.

Investigators executing a search warrant at the Dunellen home of 67-year-old Philip Heiney Tuesday seized more than 100 pieces of computer equipment, including laptops, hard drives, thumb drivers and other media storage devices, authorities said. Electronics taken from the home had images and videos of child pornography, a preliminary review of the equipment showed.

Heiney's arrest stems from an investigation by the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. A detective in the digital investigations unit was looking into peer-to-peer file sharing on a network popular with alleged child porn offenders and identified a computer IP address offering content for download.

The detective downloaded two videos featuring child pornography from the shared folder at the computer address, and that address was traced to Heiney, prosecutors say. Another video allegedly made available by Heiney was downloaded by a sheriff's office in Nevada, officials said. The video downloaded by the office in Nevada involved a blindfolded, bound girl and a dog.

"Its appalling that a man who leads his local school board and holds himself out as being concerned about young students would allegedly participate in the depraved sexual exploitation of innocent children by viewing and distributing child pornography online, New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement. "Anyone who would commit such crimes belongs in prison, not in our schools."

Heieney was charged with second-degree distribution of child pornography and third-degree possession of child pornography. He could not be reached for comment, according to NJ.com. Information on an attorney wasn't available.
ELKO  Searchers, family members, law enforcement, emergency services and friends filled a ballroom with solemn prayer, song and laughter to honor Jacob Beetler Friday night at the Elko Conference Center, who went missing in the Ruby Mountains late July.

Joe Beetler, the father of the 20-year-old, started the evening with a safety share as is often done at Newmont Mining Corp. He also thanked everyone for their support, be it in food, prayer or rescue efforts.

Beetler said the message of safety was appropriate for younger individuals, but could apply to anyone.

The first piece of advice is you need to follow sound advice, he said, explaining Jacob Beetler was supposed to be scouting near the Spring Creek Association Campground  an area he was familiar with and would have had good cell coverage  but his car was found at the head of Lamoille Canyon.

Jacob Beetler had also discussed hiking Ruby Dome with some people at Wines Peak.

The second piece, communicate, said Joe Beetler, telling the audience that while Jacob had made different plans, the young man did not let others know.

With your parents, its important to let them know where youre going to be going, how long  So, they can know, if youre missing, where to come looking for you, said Joe Beetler.

As part of the communication component, he stressed to ask for help, using the example of his being near people early Thursday morning at Favre Lake.

The third thing is to be prepared  my son only took a day pack with some water and snacks for hiking for a day. He had a sweater and ... he actually took a flashlight, said Joe Beetler. Beyond that he was entering into a world of multi-day treks, where people typically go to camp overnight.

Such an excursion requires maps and usually not traveling alone.

While he was not prepared for staying in those mountains, the good news is he was prepared for leaving, he said, later challenging those listening to be prepared for this life and the life after.

Beetler then discussed a few things he had learned during this time  the first being the difficulty of the search.

He said there were not many clues in the steep, dense wilderness and the family is lucky to have Jacob Beetlers remains. The search resources included air, vehicle, GPS, animal and social media support.

My sons thinking was a little bit complex to try to predict what he would do in situation A or B on a certain day, he said, commenting how Jacob Beetler probably violated most of the experts predictions.

He also recognized the personal sacrifices made by businesses and individuals, financially as well as donations of food and hiking equipment.

Resources arent very much good without people, said Joe Beetler, before specially thanking individuals and entities: members of mine rescue teams from Barrick Gold Corp., Newmont, Kinross Gold Corp. and Jerritt Canyon Gold LLC; employers who paid their employees to search; a heart-warming card from a 9-year-old girl; Detective Sgt. Nick Czegledi of the Elko County Sheriffs Office, Gordie and Laura Rogers, and Pastor Jeff South of Ruby Mountain Bible Church.

Upon his asking, many in the room stood to be recognized and others approached the podium.

Beetler also thanked the Living Stones Church for putting out a bulletin when Jacob went missing as well as Christ Community Church. Beetler called his pastor, as he was returning from Utah with his other children, to gather seven or eight individuals to help.

There were 60 people when he arrived Saturday morning.

I should maybe be mad at my son  or maybe I should be mad at myself  perhaps I should be mad at the folks who have maybe misunderstood Jacob or mistreated him  or perhaps I could be mad at all the searchers who failed to find my son in time to rescue him, or maybe I could just be mad at those mountains for swallowing him up, or since Gods in control, maybe I should be mad at God for allowing my son to be taken, he said.

However, he came to the conclusion he would not be any of these things, especially the latter as he has a great God.

He said hunters found Jacob Beetlers pack, which included a copy of the New Testament, in an unexpected place because a deer had gotten to it.

Jacob Beetlers body was recovered Aug. 16 by the Washoe County Sheriffs Office High Altitude Rescue Team

Beetlers father expressed gratitude his son was found by those from another county without emotional attachment.

Others who spoke, including South, shared memories and spoke of the Spring Creek natives demeanor as being humble and compassionate, especially to outcasts. He also had the goal to glorify God. Two groups, including his siblings Andrew and Esther Beetler, sang.
An X-ray technician at a Brooklyn hospital has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaultiing two patients, authorities say.

The incidents happened Sunday afternoon, first when an 83-year-old woman who was getting X-rays of her arm and knee at Kings County Hospital was fondled, groped and sexually assaulted by Larry Jones, according to prosecutors.

Hours later, another woman, 57, was going in for an X-ray of her chest and ankles when Jones allegedly told her her underwear was interfering, police sources said.

That's when prosectuors said he pushed aside her underwear and violated her with his hand and mouth.

The woman screamed and alerted an officer at the hospital. Jones was arrested soon after on charges of sex abuse and forcible touching.

The hospital said in a statement, "We are committed to the safety of our patients and have zero tolerance for such behavior. Our hospital police acted swiftly in response to the patient's complaint and we immediately terminated the individual."

Jones lives a homeless shelter in lower Manhattan and had been certified by the state as an X-ray technician.

It's not clear if there are any other victims, since Jones had worked at the hospital for more than a decade. The hospital says it's working with police in the investigation.

Attorney information for Jones wasn't immediately clear.
You might want to think twice before posting photos of that new TV, computer or piece of jewelry to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Several thieves said they had used social media to case targets for break-ins when responding to a survey the I-Team sent to 500 convicted burglars in New York and New Jersey. More than 10 percent of those 57 respondents said they've logged on to find targets and good times to strike.

It's just one of the findings in an unprecedented four-part I-Team series on burglaries in the tri-state (watch News 4 New York at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. for the latest stories).

Vincent Medina, one lifelong burglar who responded to the survey, said that while older criminals tend not to use social media to identify targets, some younger crooks might be more likely to do so.

"You dont want to get on Facebook and say Were going on vacation," Medina said.

Medina said that he and more seasoned burglars are more likely to case a house by watching the place and its occupants for a good time to strike, more technologically savvy thieves could use apps like Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram and Foursquare to plan a break-in.

One burglar in Orange County, California, targeted at least 33 women he saw in public and using GPS data embedded in photos posted to Facebook and Instagram to get to their homes in 2015. Once he had an address, court records showed, he stole more than $250,000 in electronics and jewelry along with his victims underwear and bras.

Police across the country have been warning residents to be aware of what they post to social media. Police in Orange County cautioned women to check their settings on social media apps to disable location features after the rash or break-ins there.

And in Prince William County, a suburban Virginia county outside Washington, police warned residents to avoid publicly posting photos of new items or checking in on location-based apps because of the risk of being targeted by burglars.

Medina said he would warn homeowners to avoid posting that theyre going on vacation or posting about what they have inside their homes because they dont know whether a friend or follower could be a potential burglar.

"You dont want your neighbor to know because he could be a burglar," he said. "Hes got seven days to take whatever he wants (if you announce that youre leaving on social media.)"

The I-Team sent the survey to 500 convicted burglars in New York and New Jersey. Fifty-seven sent back their responses.
Three men have been arrested in Brooklyn for swiping more than $1 million worth of frozen eels from a New Jersey shipping terminal, authorities say.

Police say a 39-year-old man from Queens and two men from Brooklyn, ages 36 and 51, were arrested Monday when officers caught them selling the stolen delicacies.

Investigators say the men picked up the shipment of 2,000 boxes of eels on June 1 from an Elizabeth terminal. The company that bought the eels called police.

The owners set up a sting to buy back 200 boxes of their product on Monday outside a Brooklyn restaurant and authorities arrested the men at the warehouse where they were keeping the eels.

Police have recovered less than half of the boxes.

All three men are charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
Burglars broke into the Indonesian Consulate in Manhattan on Monday and made off with a case of vodka and other valuables in a stolen van.

Two thieves targeted the consulate on East 68th Street around 1 a.m. The man and woman managed to gain entrance through an unlocked side door, according to police.

Once inside, the burglars grabbed a case of vodka, a Samsung tablet, a suitcase full of clothing and keys to a 2004 tan-colored Honda Odyssey. They then loaded their loot in the stolen van, which acted as a getaway vehicle for their escape.

Police say the suspects are in their late teens or early 20s.

The NYPD asks anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
A New York City veteran's trip to the grocery store Sunday afternoon has turned into a desperate search to find his accompanying service dog, snatched outside the supermarket in a matter of seconds.

John Nevarez, a Vietnam War veteran, went to pick up dog food for his Shih Tzu named Chulo at the Associated supermarket on Third Avenue in Morrisania, and he tied the dog's leash outside the store, he told NBC 4 New York.

After Nevarez went inside, surveillance video shows a man in a gray t-shirt and shorts grabbing the leash and calmly walking away with the dog.

"Two, three minutes -- and you'll see it on the tape -- I went in, tied him up, got some dog food, hit the counter and I was out," said Nevarez. "When I looked, I said, 'Where is he?' The guy must have been crossing the street in that direction."

Nevarez, a former U.S. Navy Seabee, is diabetic and Chulo is trained to save his life.

"When he sees me feel bad and he starts barking, that means I need to take my insulin shot," he said.

"I just want my dog back. I can't sleep without him, and I don't feel good," said Nevarez.

"I'll spare it all just to get my dog back. That's all I want."

Nevarez said whoever took Chulo can bring him back to the grocery store. Inthe meantime, missing posters are hanging up in the area. Anyone who recognizes the man in the surveillance video is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
BASE jumping trailblazer Alexander Polli died Monday after a wing suit crash in the French Alps, authorities told NBC News.

The 31-year-old dual Italian-Norwegian national crashed into a tree in in the Couloir Ensa near Chamonix, an area popular with BASE jumpers.

"It's a location where there are a lot of accidents," a rescuer with the PGHM mountain rescue unit said.

Video of Polli's earlier "high-speed hole shot" through the opening of "Batman Cave" in Montserrat, Spain, in 2013 has racked up more than 13 million views on YouTube.
A North Carolina state trooper killed a deaf man after an attempted traffic stop, authorities and neighbors said Monday.

State trooper Jermaine Saunders shot Daniel Kevin Harris on Thursday after what North Carolina Bureau of Investigation described in a statement as "an encounter."

"An encounter took place between the driver and the trooper causing a shot to be fired," the statement reads. The driver died at the scene, the statement added, and the trooper was placed on administrative leave.

But a neighbor of Harris', Mark Barringer, who witnessed part of the confrontation, criticized the trooper's actions.

"You're pulling someone over who is deaf," Barringer told NBC affiliate WCNC. "They are handicapped."

Howard Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, said in a statement to NBC News that "there have been too many incidents with tragic consequences between law enforcement officers and deaf people."
The city's casinos saw their collective operating profit rise by 21 percent for the first six months of the year in a sign the struggling industry may be stabilizing.

Figures released Monday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show the eight casinos reported a collective second-quarter profit of about $259 million, compared with $213 million in 2015. The division also reported that operating profits for the gambling halls in the second quarter of the year were up 15 percent, at $152 million, compared with $132 million in the second quarter of 2015.

New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman Matt Levinson says the results show that "slowly but surely'' profits are increasing and that the profits are the highest for the first six-month period since 2010.

"For the first time in eight years, every single bricks and mortar casino reported positive operating income,'' Levinson said.

The surviving casinos have been doing better over the past year as they adjust to a smaller market with less competition.

But the gains may prove short-lived.

Voters in November will decide whether to end Atlantic City's statewide monopoly on casino gambling. A ballot question asks voters to weigh in on allowing casinos in the northern part of the state at two yet-to-be-named locations near New York City.

Already interest groups in favor and opposed to casino expansion are bankrolling ads to persuade voters to support their positions.

Six of the eight casinos reported increased gross operating profits through the second quarter of the year. Gross operating profit reflects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and other charges and is a widely accepted measure of profitability in the Atlantic City casino industry.

The Borgata reported the biggest increase, up 27 percent in the second quarter to $106 million, compared with the same period last year. Resorts reported profits of $5.7 million, up 26 percent compared with last year; Tropicana posted a profit of $17 million, an increase of 25 percent over 2015; Golden Nugget saw a profit of $13.3 million, up 12 percent compared with last year; and Bally's was up to $17 million, or about 8 percent over 2015. Trump Taj Mahal reported profits of $2 million, compared with operating losses of $9.6 million in the second quarter of 2015.

Caesars saw a decline in profits of 0.2 percent compared with 2015 to $36.5 million in the second quarter of 2016. Harrah's profits were down 3 percent to $57 million.

For Internet-only operations Caesars Interactive-NJ posted a second-quarter profit of $5.2 million, compared with $857,000 a year ago. Resorts digital posted a loss of $1.4 million, compared with losses of $3 million in 2015.

The average hotel room cost about $102 for the first six months of the year, with the highest average at the Borgata, $129.46, and the lowest at the Golden Nugget, $77.89.

The occupancy rate in the city's casino hotels for the first half of 2016 was 78.9 percent, up half a percentage point from the same period a year ago.
A Delaware County man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a child and possessing child pornography.

Matthew Maffei, 41, of Aston Township, Pennsylvania is charged with rape, unlawful sexual contact, and child pornography.

On August 1, police in Middletown, Delaware received a complaint of a possible sexual assault of a 7-year-old child which led to Maffeis arrest, according to officials. The Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division and Aston Police conducted a search warrant inside Maffeis home on August 12. During the search, they discovered hundreds of child porn images, according to officials.

Prosecutors told Philly.com some of the photos were of the girl Maffei allegedly sexually assaulted.

Maffei was committed to Delaware County Prison after he failed to post a $250,000 cash bond. Hes awaiting extradition to Delaware for charges obtained by Middletown Police.




CARSON CITY  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has approved a Nevada Medicaid state plan amendment that updates coverage and reimbursement to include Community Paramedicine services.

Richard Whitley, director of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, announced the agreement Monday.

This is a tremendous opportunity for Nevada to fill the gaps in health care in both rural and urban locations around the state, Division of Health Care Financing Policy Acting Administrator Marta Jensen said. Over time, this should reduce costly hospital re-admissions and free up physicians time to see more critical cases as well as provide wellness interventions to the citizens of Nevada.

In the final days of the 2015 Nevada legislative session, Assembly Bill 305, sponsored by Assemblyman James Oscarson, was signed into law by Gov. Brain Sandoval and Community Paramedicine was added to Nevada Revised Statutes. With CMS approval for reimbursement of the services, Nevada is poised to become a national leader in a promising model for integrating emergency and primary care.

Community paramedics offer extensive background experience and will provide for better access to health care, Oscarson said. Nevada now has an opportunity to fill unmet or unrealized community primary care and health needs. Using EMS providers in an expanded role will increase patient access to primary and preventive care, save healthcare dollars and improve patient outcomes.

The Division of Public and Behavioral Health has partnered with the EMS industry and the EMS Advisory Committee to craft appropriate regulatory language for this new provision of health care and with the Southern Nevada Health District. The regulations are scheduled to be adopted at the Nevada State Board of Health during the December 2016 meeting.

Currently, four EMS services are now fully certified by DPBH to perform Community Paramedicine. These services include REMSA, Humboldt General Hospital EMS, East Fork Fire Protection District, and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. In addition, four other EMS organizations will receive certification to perform Community Paramedicine pending the receipt of documentation.

Coverage for medically necessary Community Paramedicine service through DHCFP is designed to provide health care services to the medically underserved. Community Paramedicine services (provided by an Emergency Medical Technician, Advanced Emergency Medical Technician, or Paramedic) fill patient gaps in a local health care system and prevent duplication of services while improving the health care services of the recipient.

Prevention of unnecessary ambulance responses, emergency room visits and hospital admissions can result in cost reductions for the state. Services must be part of the care plan ordered by the recipients primary care provider and may include: evaluation/health assessments; chronic disease prevention, monitoring and education; medication compliance, and immunizations and vaccinations.
Police arrested a man accused of opening fire on a South Jersey block over the weekend, killing a man and injuring a 5-year-old girl.

Samuel James, 26, of Burlington Township was arrested in Barrington, Camden County Monday after being charged in the murder of 24-year-old Byron Turner.

Authorities say James opened fire on the 100 block of East Federal Street in Burlington City just before 7 p.m. Saturday, killing Turner with a gunshot to the head. A 5-year-old girl who was on the block at the time also suffered injuries while fleeing the gunfire, police said, although they said she was not shot as initially thought.

A warrant was issued for James' arrest. He was apprehended at the home of an acquaintance in Barrington, New Jersey Monday by members of the Burlington County Sheriff's Department Warrant Unit, officials said. His bail was set at $1 million and he will be lodged in the Burlington County Jail. He will appear in Superior Court Tuesday in Burlington County.

A broad daylight shooting in Burlington City left a 24-year-old man dead and a 5-year-old girl wounded Saturday. Residents of the community are on edge as police continue to search for the shooter. NBC10s Monique Braxton is there with more.
A judge set bail at $1 million cash for a man accused of beating his girlfriend's toddler son to death, crushing the boy's liver, in South Jersey over the weekend in a fight that allegedly stemmed from the boy's mother buying the wrong groceries.

Judge Edward McBride arraigned Zachary Tricoche, 24, in the defendant's first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Jamil "JB" Baskerville Jr.'s death.

A judge set bail at $1 million cash for a man accused of beating his girlfriends toddler son to death, after a fight that allegedly stemmed from the boys mother buying the wrong groceries.NBC10s Cydney Long reports on the trial that began with a childs life being taken far too soon.

Authorities said the 2-year-old boy's mother called 9-1-1 Saturday night when she realized JB was unresponsive in the Pennsauken apartment on Mansion Boulevard near Frosthoffer Avenue where they live. But it was too late: Doctors at Cooper University Hospital pronounced the little boy dead shortly after midnight Sunday. Authorities said JB suffered injuries including severe blunt-force trauma to his organs and torso area, along with internal bleeding. [[391064951, C]]

The medical examiner ruled that JB bled to death internally after having his liver crushed.

Tricoche faces charges including first-degree murder.

In court, prosecutors mentioned an affidavit of probable cause that states Tricoche began arguing with the boy's mother and shoved her Saturday night when she returned home with groceries but hadn't purchased the food that Tricoche likes.

JB became upset at seeing his mother shoved that the 29-pound boy stepped in to intervene. Tricoche, enrage, shoved the boy so hard that Jamil hit the wall and struck his head, said prosecutors.

Tricoche then struck the boy again while telling JB to put his hands up and fight like a grown man.

Police investigated and quickly arrested Tricoche, who has past charges/convictions including drug trafficking and hindering apprehension, said prosecutors. Due to the flight risk, the judge set the bail at $1 million. Tricoche had no public defender in court Tuesday.

A source told NBC10 two of JB's siblings were also injured by Tricoche and more charges could be on the way. [[390923021, C]]

Neighbors told NBC10 the family moved in only a month ago and mostly kept to themselves.

"It breaks my heart," said Mabel Stevenson. "I can't even imagine what the parent, the family, feel like."
For the second time in three presidential elections, a Republican in the running is visiting Worth & Co., a non-union Bucks County manufacturer in Pipersville whose president and CEO has given tens of thousands to Republican campaigns over the last two decades.

Donald Trump's running mate, Gov. Mike Pence, is following in the footsteps of Sen. John McCain, who visited the company headquarters in 2008.

The AFL-CIO, a national labor organization representing 12.5 million workers, said the campaign stop for Pence "falls in line with his anti-worker legacy as Governor of Indiana, where he worked hard to repeal the state's 80-year-old law that ensured fair wages for construction workers."

Worth & Co.'s president and CEO, Stephen Worth, touts his business as "the largest merit shop mechanical systems provider in the tri-state area."

Pence will tour the facility on Applebutter Road in the afternoon and give a short speech, according to the Trump campaign. Earlier in the afternoon, Pence will take a private tour of Tech Tube, a Montgomery County manufacturer of specialty tubing and fabricated parts for industries like aerospace and medical supply.

Tickets for 4 p.m. public event at Worth & Co. are still available. They are on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to the campaign.

In June 2008, McCain came as the Republican presidential nominee to the Pipersville business, which employs more than 600 people in Bucks County and Delaware.

Worth, a longtime donor to GOP candidates according to federal campaign finance records, has also given thousands to a political action committee called Associated Builders and Contractors, also known as the ABC PAC. The PAC advocates for a "free enterprise approach that awards contracts based solely on merit, regardless of labor affiliation." Worth has also given occasionally to Bucks County Democrats running for office. In total, Worth has given $73,000 to federal candidates and PACs since 1997.

In welcoming Pence, Worth said in a press release, "We look forward to hosting Gov. Mike Pence tomorrow and are privileged to have the opportunity to showcase our company (the largest merit shop mechanical systems provider in the tri-state area), promote the power of free enterprise, highlight career opportunities in the construction trade and support our local community.

You can WATCH Pence's town hall meeting LIVE on this page at 4 p.m.
A local military family who lost their home to the Border Fire received a priceless gift, according to an article in County News Center.

Bill Cronkrite's son, U.S. Army Sergeant Brud Joseph Cronkrite was 22 when he died on May 13, 2004. He was on security patrol in Karbala, Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade fired into a nearby building.

In June, the soldier's father lost his home and along with it, his sons military medals.

The Border Fire burned more than 7,000 acres for nearly two weeks in the city of Potrero, scorching homes and outbuildings.

County News Center reported that a group of volunteers with the California Southern Baptist Disaster Relief organization sifted through the debris for two days and found his sons damaged medals.

The volunteers also contacted the military and had the medals replaced for the family.

According to the article, the family received a new bronze star, a Purple Heart, and a flag that had been flown over the MCAS Miramar Airwing in honor of the Cronkrite's son.

Earlier this month, Supervisor Dianne Jacob honored the volunteers with a proclamation saying they came quietly with no media.

In the meantime, the Cronkrites have asked for privacy as they work to rebuild their home.

Sgt.Cronkrites life of service is memorialized in his community, as the Interstate 8 bridge over Potrero is named after him. A green sign marks the bridge in his honor.
It's already been another busy wildfire season in Southern California.

So far in 2016, Cal Fire San Diego has responded to almost 250 wildland fires. Those firefighters are joining a state-wide effort, in hopes of having their voices heard for better pay and hours.

Members of the Cal Fire Union, representing 6,000 state employed firefighters, lined the streets in front of the Capitol in Sacramento Monday, hoping to create change.

"Our message is plain and simple. That our members are not getting paid for the job that they're doing, protecting the citizens of California," said Cal Fire Union President Mike Lopez.

Firefighters from Cal Fire San Diego also made the trip north, passionate about their message.

Local firefighter Randy Scales told NBC 7 that the long hours matched with the low pay is just not enough.

"At some point we have to say enough is enough; and look, I got to get home and take care of business with my family," Scales said.

The union argues their firefighters are paid much less compared to other agencies.

Firefighters in the 20 largest agencies in the state with more than 75 personnel, can earn up to $8,700 a month in gross base pay before retirement and benefits are taken out, compared with a Cal Fire Captain who earns up to $4,600 a month. Cal Fire is also putting in more hours.

"Over a 30 year career, a Cal Fire firefighter works five extra years because of the schedule they're working than any other state employee," said Lopez.

Some firefighters reported working three weeks straight with no time off; and because of that, many are leaving Cal Fire, creating a shortage state-wide.

"With the staffing patterns going on, and to try to get enough personnel on these fires going on out there, there is nobody to come in. It gets to be 'Enough is enough' at times," Scales said.

The union is currently in a reopener stage of the contract to California Department of Human Resources, meaning members are able to request higher wages.

The department issued the following statements:

Regarding the status of negotiations:

"The state is actively engaged in bargaining and looks forward to continued meaningful negotiations with our labor partners. Out of respect for the process, we do not comment on specific bargaining points or the status of negotiations."

Regarding the salary requests of the union:

"Our state firefighters are everyday heroes and are valued civil servants. However, when considering compensation the state must balance the needs of 21 distinct bargaining units with the overall state budget."
A San Diego police officer seriously injured in the line-of-duty during a July 28 Southcrest-area shootout has been released from the hospital.

Officer Wade Irwin, 32, was released from the hospital on Saturday night, after recovering from a gunshot wound to the neck, according to Kevin McQuillen, the president of Fraternal Order of Police San Diego Lodge #10, who is close to Irwin.

I cant tell you how happy I am to be able to share this news, McQuillen said, describing how Irwins wife has been by his side for more than three weeks during his tough and long recovery. Irwin also has a 19-month-old daughter.

I understand that his daughter ran up to him, and he was able to pick her up in his arms, McQuillen said.

McQuillen said it has not been disclosed where Irwin will continue his recovery, and that he and his family would like privacy as he continues to heal.

He wants to thank the community for their continued support and well wishes. It means the world to him, McQuillen said.

Irwin comes from a family of police officers, and has been with the San Diego Police Department for nine years. He served in the departments elite gang suppression unit since June.

Described as courageous and heroic, by his colleagues, Irwin approached a parolee in Southcrest who was acting suspiciously last month.

Concerned about the communitys safety, Irwin asked the man if he was from the neighborhood.

Jesse Michael Gomez, 52, responded by holding up a gun and opening fire on Irwin, shooting him in the neck and then killing his partner, Officer Jonathan DeGuzman, according to the District Attorneys office.

Despite being gravely injured, Irwin was able to remain lucid enough to turn on his body camera; fire several shots at Gomez; call for back-up and give a suspect description to first responders that eventually led investigators to Gomez. Gomez was located and arrested in a nearby canyon with a gunshot wound in his upper body.

San Diego Police Department Sergeant Johnny Immarino described Irwins actions that night like this:

"I want to tell you how proud I am of you and I know how proud J.D. was of you that night ... After getting shot, you had the ability to keep your composure, return fire, striking the suspect and put out the 1199. Your heroic actions and warrior instincts directly resulted in officers being able to arrest the suspect. You stayed in the fight in true GSD (gang suppression) fashion."

McQuillen and other sources told NBC7 Irwins condition continues to improve and that he is doing great.

He wants to get back to being a police officer, McQuillen said.

Gomez was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge and a felon with a firearm charge with a special circumstance that carries the potential for the death penalty.

He pleaded not guilty through public defender Troy Britt; bail was set at $5 million.

The decision on whether the death penalty will be sought will not be made until after the preliminary hearings, according to a San Diego County District Attorney spokesperson.

Court records show Gomez has an extensive criminal history: he has previous convictions of carrying a concealed firearm, carrying a firearm while under the influence of methamphetamine and being a convicted felon while having a firearm. He also has a 1983 joyriding conviction.

He is set to appear in court next on Sept. 1.
A man killed in a fiery three-car crash on State Route 67 over the weekend by a suspected DUI driver was remember by his fiance as a selfless man willing to help anyone.

Lucas Riley, 24, of San Diego, died Saturday night when a truck driven by a suspected DUI driver veered across the center of the road and struck his Mini Cooper head-on, officials said.

He was the most caring and loving person I ever have known in my entire life. I have never felt more love for him, Shawna Wickwire, his fiancee, said in an interview with NBC 7 San Diego.

The crash happened at approximately 7 p.m. Saturday and prompted a Sig Alert for the northbound and southbound lanes of State Route 67 near Cloudy Moon Drive, where the crash happened, San Diego County Sheriff Deputies said.

The impact set the Mini Cooper on fire; by the time crews arrived on scene, flames had fully engulfed the car and trapped the victim inside. He died at the scene.

After the crash, authorities could be seen pulling out beer cans from the Chevrolet. The 51-year-old, who has not yet been identified, suffered a broken wrist. He was arrested on alcohol-related charges, including felony vehicular manslaughter.

Wickwire said the couple was planning on getting married this October. She said her husband-to-be was a selfless man, the type of man willing to help anyone.

He was a great guy with the world ahead of him, Wickwire said, crying.

Riley was a recent graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University. The university issued a statement, saying Riley was a talented art major who graduated last year.

The PLNU community is deeply saddened by this sudden and tragic loss. We share in this grief and our prayers are with [his] family, fiance and friends. [He] studied Art Education at PLNU and was a very talented sculptor. Most recently he was the chief assistant to PLNU art professor, David Adey, in the installation of a permanent public art piece for the County of San Diego. According to Adey, he was incredibly talented, hardworking and a kind and gentle soul who will be greatly missed," the statement read.

His work is on display at the new Cedar Street Parking Garage in Little Italy.

The crash that killed Riley was one of four deadly crashes over the weekend. In three of those crashes, alcohol is suspected to play a role.

Rileys fiancee had a message for those who would think about getting behind the wheel after a few drinks.

Were all really devastated by this, but I think this is almost a platform to, please dont drink and drive, please, she pleaded.

His family has set up a GoFundMe as a memorial fund. The money raised will cover funeral expenses. To donate, click here.
In the midst of an ongoing drought, with the wildfire toll increasing despite the allocation of more firefighting resources, calls for new strategies are getting attention.

"We have put ourselves in danger," said Char Miller, Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College. "And so, some of this is not about nature, it's about us."

Miller calls for more efforts to increase defensible space around homes near wildland, retrofitting of older structures to make them more fire resistant and action by local government to scrutinize and control development into wildland.

"If we're in those landscapes, then we have to accept the risk and we have to defend ourselves," Miller said. "But that's not a discussion that any zoning commission has on any regular basis."

Last week, the Blue Cut Fire grew so quickly from its origin in the Cajon Pass that fire officials said no amount of resources on ground or air could have stopped its charge.

"In all honesty, I don't think anything would have made a difference," said John Chamberlin, Assistant Chief of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. "It was so aggressive there was no way to get ahead of it."

Like many veteran firefighters, Chamberlin blamed the ongoing drought for conditions and fire behavior the likes of which he had not previously encountered.

"Drought is the essential driver of firestorms we've been looking at," Miller said.

In California history, 13 of the 20 largest wildfires by area have occurred in the 16 years of the new millenium, according to CalFire, the California Deptartment of Forestry and Fire Protection. This period has also seen drier than average conditions throughout the western United States.

The cost of fighting major wildfires has accelerated since the most recent drought began in 2012.

Three years ago, the state budgeted $127 million for the emergency fire fund, and ended up spending $242 million, according to data from CalFire. Last fiscal year, the state budgeted $398 million, and spent $547 million, the difference made up by transfers from other areas of the budget, explained CalFire's Daniel Berlant.

For the 2016-17 fiscal year, which began in July, California budgeted $424 million, and has already spent $155 million, Berlant said.

On the national level, a bill developed by the Senate Natural Resources Committee, the "Wildfire Budgeting, Response and Forest Management Act" would attempt to stabilize funding for coping with fires on federal land.

The very model of extinguishing wildfires has come into question by many, including UC Riverside Earth Sciences Professor Richard Minnich. He contends a century of suppressing wildfires has created more dangerous conditions by interfering with the natural process of lightning-sparked fires burning off dry vegetation and naturally thinning forests. As a result, under the theory, during high-risk conditions of wind, heat and low immediate, a fire that starts and cannot be suppressed will have more fuel to burn and be more destructive than it otherwise would have been.

In some cases, firefighters do allow wildland fires to burn and consume fuel. It is more easily done in areas far from where people live. In the area where the Blue Cut fire burned, though relatively rural by Southern California standards, the homes of more than 80,000 were threatened by the fire, incident commanders calculated.

"We were so engaged with evacuations during the initial operations period that we were not even able to set backfires, we were so focused on saving life," Chamberlin said.

"There's a new normal we have to adjust to," Miller said. "Rather than trying to manage the fires, let's manage the people."
Two children missing since a natural gas explosion at a Silver Spring, Maryland apartment building have been identified as victims, authorities said Tuesday.

Deibi "David" Samir Lainez Morales, 8, and Fernando Josue Hernandez Orellana, 3, died Aug. 10 after an explosion and fire that also killed five other people and injured more than 40, Montgomery County Police said.

Authorities have said that natural gas was a factor in the blast that involved two buildings in the Flower Branch apartment complex. However, investigators are still trying to determine what caused the gas explosion.

Three other victims were publicly identified Friday as Augusto Jimenez, Sr., 62; Maria Auxiliadorai Castellon-Martinez, 53, and Saul Paniagua, 65.

Two victims of the explosion have yet to be positively identified, but authorities believe the victims are 34-year-old Aseged Mekonen and 41-year-old Saeda Ibrahim.

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."

Residents of the apartment complex have 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 Adriene Boye 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."

Boye said he smelled the gas on the night of the explosion, too -- but he didn't have time to call 911 before the building blew up.

Boye told News4 he is considering filing a lawsuit against Kay Apartment Communities, the company that managed the Flower Branch Apartments.

In a response to News4, Kay Apartment Communities said it has no record of Boye "reporting smelling gas on the evening of the explosion."

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."

Montgomery County Acting Fire Chief Alan Hinde confirmed the fire department had received one 911 call for the report of a natural gas odor, on July 25.

The fire department went to the area where the odor was reported, and surveyed building with a meter, but found no positive results, Hinde said.

At a meeting with officials Tuesday in the community center, residents received reassurances that Washington Gas had checked out the remaining 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.

An ATF official said last week there was no indication that the blast was caused by criminal activity.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has begun its own investigation into the blast. The NTSB is involved because natural gas and petroleum pipelines are under the board's jurisdiction, an NTSB official said.

The NTSB aims to have their investigation completed within a year.
A man who injected women's buttocks with dangerous industrial-grade silicone in hotel rooms in the D.C. area has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.

Vinnie Taylor, 44, was sentenced on Friday to 14 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release after a woman died after he illegally performed the procedure, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

Taylor admitted that between 2008 and 2014 he gave silicone injections to customers who wanted larger buttocks. He was not a licensed medical practitioner, prosecutors said. He charged between $800 and $1,000 for the initial injections and between $350 and $800 for subsequent procedures, prosecutors said.

Taylor injected the industrial-grade silicone -- which he told customers was medical-grade silicone -- into the buttocks of a woman in a hotel room on March 20, 2014, prosecutors said. The woman began having trouble breathing after she left the hotel. She checked herself into a hospital two days later. After another two days, she died.

An autopsy determined the woman died of respiratory failure "due to a foreign substance causing a pulmonary embolization." Her death was ruled a homicide.

Taylor initially was charged with first-degree murder. Those charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement. Taylor admitted in his plea that his actions caused the death of the woman in 2014, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration warned that illegal injections can be deadly.

FDA regulates medical devices to protect the public from potentially dangerous complications and side effects. Industrial-grade silicone that is injected into individuals bodies can cause serious bodily injury or death, FDA special agent Mark S. McCormack said in a statement.

In recent years, numerous other cases involving illegal buttocks injections have surfaced.

In 2014, a Tennessee woman, Natasha Stewart, was found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the illicit silicone buttocks injections that prosecutors say killed a Georgia woman in 2012.

Authorities say Stewart, an adult entertainer also known as Pebbelz Da Model, took $200 for a referral to the alleged injector and falsely represented the injector as a nurse.

A South Florida woman, Oneal Morris, was arrested in 2011 after several victims said she had injected their legs and buttocks with a mixture that was found to contain Fix-a-Flat, cement and superglue. She pleaded guilty to practicing medicine without a license.

A woman named Christina previously spoke with News4 about her own legal buttocks-enhancement surgery.

"I think the whole Kardashian complex has taken over and a lot of people do want that look from behind," she said. "You can't cheap out on this one. It's your health and your body."

Surgery typically costs several thousand dollars.
A 7-Eleven convenience store employee who was killed during a robbery attempt Saturday was remembered by customers as a nice guy.

Taiwo Oduwole, 31, was found inside the business, suffering from gunshot wounds, early Saturday morning by police. He died later at the hospital.

Keith Turner, a customer at the 7-Eleven located on Brandywine Road in Clinton, Maryland, was angry and upset about the shooting death.

"All the guy had to do was ask for whatever he wanted," Turner said. "He was going to get it. He didn't have to kill this guy for it. And that's the bad thing about it. You took an innocent life."

Prince Georges County police released surveillance video from a nearby Comfort Inn that was robbed early Saturday. They believe the video shows the man they think shot and killed Oduwole.

A makeshift memorial at the entrance of the store brought people together to remember the store employee.

"The young man had only been here a couple months, and he was just such a sweet gentleman," said Kimberly Brent, a customer. "I would stop here with my kids. He was always very pleasant."

There is a reward up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment. Customers are planning a car wash on Saturday to raise more money for the reward.
Tuesday marks the first day of school for thousands of students in Prince George's County, Maryland.

The school district is the second largest in the state with 129,000 students, and it keeps growing.

Dr. Kevin Maxwell, the school system's CEO, says that's due in large part to the growing list of programs being offered in public schools.

"We started an aeronautics program at DuVal High School, and I think when you put programs in that people are attracted to they tend to come to those programs and fill them," Maxwell said.

The program at DuVal is in it's second year. Maxwell says while the program will continue to work NASA, the district is also working on a relationship with Andrews Air Force Base.

One of the county's programs is still dealing with the loss of a $6.5 million federal grant. Last week, the county's public schools system and board of education were notified that the grant for the county's Head Start program had been terminated due to failure to "timely correct one or more deficiencies," a spokesperson said.

The program was apparently under a federal investigation for months after a review by the Administration for Children and Families allegedly revealed poor instructor training and alleged abuse of students.

Despite the loss of the grant, the program will begin Aug. 29 as planned.

'I Still Get Nervous'

Tuesday may be the first day of school for students, but teachers in the county have been preparing for the first day of school for weeks.

"For the classroom, we prepare maybe two weeks before we are scheduled to come in," said Carla Burgess, a kindergarten teacher at Pointer Ridge Elementary School.

Burgess and fellow teacher Tonya Morsell have been in constant contact to make sure their classrooms are ready.

"We're working even after school," Burgess said. "We're on the phone until 10, 11 o'clock at night."

Their dedication is evident in their many years of teaching. And while Morsell has been a teacher for more than 20 years, she admits she still gets first-day jitters.

"I'm like the kids...," Morsell said. "Even though I've been doing it for over 20 years, I still get nervous the first day."

Students Must Have Vaccinations By First Day

There is one very important thing students in the county must have before they can head back to class -- vaccinations.

All students are required to have vaccinations by the first day of the new school year. Students who do not have the vaccination are not permitted to attend school until they do have verification of vaccinations.

The required vaccinations are for diseases including polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox and hepatitis B.

There are some exceptions. Students with medical conditions or religious beliefs that prevent them from getting vaccinated can apply for an exemption.
Some Washington power players lent support to the womens equality effort in Prince Georges County, Maryland, Monday.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) joined States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks at a forum in Clinton.

Womens equality goes beyond just the pay gap in Prince Georges County, Alsobrooks said. Serious work needs to be done to improve child care options after a series of domestic violence incidents.

We find that women often make choices that are very dangerous choices, she said. Weve had some cases in Prince Georges, for example, where women go to work, they leave their children home with individuals they think they can trust, and those children sometimes are dead or injured. So these are really tough choices women are making and they need our support.

Earlier this year, Alsobrooks and some Maryland state lawmakers pushed for a new bill that would expand the legal definition of abuse to include harassment and destruction of property, but it failed in the House.
Five new non-travel related cases of Zika were found in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott announced on Tuesday, even as most of the Wynwood section of Miami was removed from the area in which officials say the virus is being transmitted.

Scott said that, following testing from the Department of Health, just a half square mile remains in the Wynwood zone. Four of the new cases were in Wynwood and one in Pinellas County, the first in the state outside Miami-Dade.

"While this investigation is ongoing, DOH still believes that ongoing active transmissions are only occurring in the two previously identified areas in Wynwood and Miami Beach," Scott said at a meeting in Clearwater. "As we've seen in Wynwood, our aggressive mosquito control and public education efforts are working which is why DOH was able to clear a significant area in Wynwood today."

In all, the Department of Health has cleared about 76 blocks of Wynwood, a neighborhood that draws arts lovers from across the world to its galleries and large outdoor murals.

The five new findings bring the total number of locally transmitted cases in Florida to 42 since the outbreak began earlier this summer.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said that one more scheduled spraying is planned in the area this Saturday.

Zika can cause microcephaly and other severe birth defects and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to warn pregnant women not to travel to the affected areas. Pregnant women who live in the affected areas should be tested for the virus.

On Tuesday, the CDC added a travel notice for the Bahamas. Other countries on the list include Cape Verde, Mexico, and ones in Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands.

Scott said that Florida was committed to ensuring that every county had the resources it needed to fight the virus and was ready to assist residents and visitors.

Miami-Dade and Pinellas counties sprayed and took other abatement steps against the mosquitos responsible for transmitting Zika, Aedes aegypti.
Moms know everything, right?

One Utah mom admittedly did not know how to solve her daughter's dilemma. The kindness of strangers from across the world helped Deborah Grimshaw Skouson find the answer.

Her daughter with autism, Cami, wore out her favorite flower print Target shirt, after five years. Grimshaw Skouson had replaced the shirt before via eBay but her recent search for additional shirts had been unsuccessful.

She took to Facebook to solve the issue by posting a photo of the prized pink shirt pleading for help.

"Okay friends and family, I need your help! As most of you know, my daughter Cami has autism. For the past 4-5 years, she has been fixated on THIS shirt. Her current one is almost unwearable, and eBay has gone dry," Grimshaw Skouson wrote.

"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! We've tried similar shirts, and they don't cut it with Cami!"

The post has been shared 5,401 times. So far, 178 people have responded and the family is already in receipt of 50 of the shirts by mail with the furthest coming from Germany.

Skouson, who has four other children and is a special education teacher, said her family was shocked by all the support.

[NATL] Top Entertainment Photos: Best of the American Music Awards, and More
Firefighters from eight fire departments converged on campgrounds in Knox County in Maine to battle a large blaze that destroyed five buildings.

The first call came in just after 7:30 p.m. Monday to report that several buildings at the Washington Advent Christian Camp were on fire. Washington firefighters were in a training session nearby and were able to respond quickly.

But by the time crews arrived on the scene, a two-story dormitory was already fully engulfed in flames. The fire then spread to a dining hall and three smaller camp buildings, all of which have been deemed a total loss.

Fire officials say the biggest challenge was the orientation of the camp, with each building only a few feet apart.

The camp was closed for the summer and no injuries were reported.
Negotiations between Ciudadanos and the Popular Party began on Monday. Paco Campos (EFE)

As if Spains interim Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy didnt have enough on his plate trying to rally votes for an investiture vote in Congress next week he looks set to lose  which may mean a second bid in October  the upcoming trials of several senior figures in his Popular Party (PP) will further weaken his position in talks with other parties to form a government.

Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez has cited the many corruption cases involving the PP as one of the reasons he wont be supporting Rajoy at the investiture debate beginning on August 30.

Similarly, Albert Rivera, leader of the emerging center-right Ciudadanos party, has obliged the PP to sign an anti-corruption pact before sitting down to talks on supporting Rajoys bid to form a government and end an eight-month political stalemate that has produced two inconclusive elections and that might well continue until a third poll, which has been provisionally slated for December 25.

This autumn will also produce trials relating to corruption in the PPs Madrid division, the Agriculture Ministry, as well as graft accusations against three former PP deputies

Should Rajoy fail to garner the support he needs in Congress later this month, he may try again in October, after two key regional elections in September. The problem is that by then, the Spanish media will be focused on a series of high-profile trials of senior PP figures.

On October 4, the so-called Gurtel case finally goes to trial, and is expected to last until mid-December. This relates to a kickbacks-for-contracts scheme that extended widely within the PP and that has become the biggest known case of party-related corruption in Spains democratic history.

The defendants, who include a former party treasurer and an ex-minister, are formal suspects of 12 offenses allegedly committed between 1999 and 2005. Five former secretary generals will be called as witnesses.

This autumn will also see former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas stand trial for his involvement in off-the-books cash payments allegedly made over two decades to senior PP figures from donations to the party. At the same time, the anti-corruption pact with Ciudadanos requires Congress to set up a cross-party commission to look into allegations of illegal financing in the PP.

Then there is the question of what to do with the former mayor of Valencia, Rita Barbera, who has not been arrested or placed under official investigation, but in various surveillance recordings turned over by a former top PP official suspected is seemingly referred to by co-conspirators as the lady boss and was fully aware of the alleged kickback schemes in Valencia City Hall over many years.

Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez has cited the many corruption cases involving the PP as one of the reasons he wont be supporting Rajoy at the investiture debate

Barbera, now a member of the Senate, enjoys immunity from prosecution, which can only be lifted by the Supreme Court at the request of a regional court in Valencia. The anti-corruption pact with Ciudadanos requires the PP to expel anybody accused of corruption.

This autumn will also produce trials relating to corruption in the PPs Madrid division, the Agriculture Ministry, as well as graft accusations against three former PP deputies.

On September 23, former deputy prime minister and head of the IMF Rodrigo Rato faces trial over the so-called black credit cards issued to 85 executives and members of the board of the Caja Madrid savings bank and its successor Bankia between 1999 and 2012. Rato was in charge of the bank between 2010 and 2012.

Bank officials racked up a collective 15.2 million in personal expenses that were paid for by the bank, although the money did not show up as earnings on their income tax filings.

English version by Nick Lyne.
A Bristol veteran is getting some much needed home repairs after an Connecticut construction company heard of the serviceman's need for help.

Vietnam Army Veteran Robert Gentle said he was surprised to see construction workers arrive at his Cypress Street home.

"I'm not used to it," said Veteran Robert Gentle.

Gentle said he joined the army at 17 years old.

Now at age 63, his health has stopped him from making needed repairs to his two bathrooms.

"I have PTSD and nerve damage," Gentle said.

His wife Doreen said she just happened to mention the need for repairs while at work to a friend. Then nearly two months later, construction workers arrived.

"I guess I just hit the right person at the right time," smiled Doreen Gentle.

The program put on by the Connecticut chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc is called Open Shop Salute.

The organization works with 200 non-union commercial contractors and Connecticut veteran organizations to find vets and military personnel in need of home repairs and other construction needs.

The workers are volunteers, the materials are donated and the work is done free of charge.

"For people who have gone above and beyond to serve our country and who have given so much sacrifice this is really the least we can give back to them," said president of ABC, Inc. Chris Syrek.

Work on Gentle's home should save him $20,000.

"When people do this, more or less changes my perspective on society in general," said Gentle.

Syrek said the program has helped nearly three vets a year for the last 10 years. Gentle's home is the first one being repaired this year.
UPDATE: The mother of a Massachusetts teen who went missing last weekend has returned home, according to his mother's latest Facebook post on the ordeal.

Amy Pina thanked her friends and followers for their efforts in spreading the word about her missing son, 15-year-old Erik, when he returned home Tuesday evening.

Earlier story below:

The mother of a Massachusetts boy last seen by his family on Sunday afternoon is making a plea on social media for her son to return home.

Fifteen-year-old Erik Pina left home around 3 p.m. Sunday, according to his mother Amy Pina's Facebook posts.

He was last seen wearing khaki shorts and bright blue sneakers with a gray t-shirt. He's described as having brown, wavy hair and green eyes. Erik is about 5-foot 3-inches and weighs approximately 100 lbs.

The Brockton Enterprise reports East Bridgewater police found Erik's blue mountain bike and returned it to his family.

Police also searched a wooded area behind a YMCA Monday evening after getting a tip.

Amy Pina's original Facebook post has been shared more than 7,000 times.

"As his mother I cannot even begin to tell you the worry I am feeling," Pina wrote on Facebook.
A former Burlington, Vermont, police officer charged with driving under the influence in a fatal crash last year is facing additional charges.

Prosecutors say Leanne Werner was drunk when she crossed the centerline in St. Albans in July 2015 and slammed into 74-year-old Omer Martin's vehicle, killing him.

According to necn affiliate NBC5, Werner's attorney entered not guilty pleas to four additional charges Monday, including three counts of DUI and one count of gross negligent operation with death resulting.

Werner pled not guilty to two original charges.

Her trial is set to begin on Sept. 14, with jury selection on Sept. 13.
A former pastor at a New Hampshire church is being held on $100,000 bail after being arrested Monday on charges that he sexually assaulted a minor.

Stephen Jesmer, 37, of Manchester, turned himself in to police on Monday night. He is charged with three counts of felonious sexual assault and one count of witness tampering and appeared in court on Tuesday.

"Basically you have a pastor who had sexual misconduct with a minor, who breached trust of parents, or other parishioners, or staff members who entrusted him with the care of a minor, and he took advantage of that," said Manchester Police Lt. Brian O'Keefe.

Police said Jesmer was employed as a pastor with The Dialogue Church on Pine Street at the time of the alleged assaults. Church officials are cooperating with the investigation.

The investigation began several months ago when police were first alerted to potentially inappropriate behavior involving Jesmer and a minor.

"At some point during the investigation, the pastor at the church now, had relieved him of his duties," said O'Keefe.

The Dialogue Church was closed Tuesday, but in a statement to parishioners on Facebook, current Pastor Anthony Milas wrote, "As a church family we are committed to being a church that glorifies God and adds value to our surrounding community. We will stay focused on teaching the truths of God's word, that there is hope and help to be found for all in Jesus."

O'Keefe said church leaders are cooperating with the investigation.

"I'll commend the church for stepping up and doing what they need to do and working whole heartedly with our agency," O'Keefe said.

Police said the investigation is ongoing, and they are asking anyone with information regarding Jesmer to contact the juvenile investigative unit at 603-792-5551.
Police in Providence, Rhode Island, are searching for a suspect who stabbed a man in the neck overnight Monday.

According to necn affiliate WJAR, the stabbing happened in the area of 386 Atwells Ave.

The victim, 28, was taken to a local hospital where he is reportedly in stable condition.

There is no description of the suspect.
necn Investigates has learned that the New Hampshire state trooper charged with assaulting a driver following a chase and traffic stop earlier this year will accept a plea deal on Thursday.

Andrew Monaco, 31, will not serve any jail time if he stays out of trouble. He's due at Nashua District Division Court on Thursday morning.

Monaco was charged with simple assault in connection to a May 11 incident caught on camera in which suspect Richard Simone led police on a high-speed chase from Holden, Massachusetts to Nashua, New Hampshire.

Simone, 50, of Worcester, Massachusetts, was beaten by troopers after he was pulled over, and the entire incident was caught on camera. Helicopter footage showed police repeatedly punching Simone after he got out of his truck and got down on his knees.

A source tells necn that under the plea agreement, Monaco - seen in green at the left of the screen in the video above - must agree to anger management counseling, relinquish his law enforcement certification in New Hampshire and not seek future employment in law enforcement or any other profession that would require carrying a firearm. He will also be required to issue a public apology to Simone and pay for his medical expenses.

Investigators allege that Monaco struck Simone on the left side of the head - delivering 12 punches and two knee strikes.

He reportedly apologized to his supervisor immediately afterward and acknowledged that he had made a big mistake.

"I just ruined my life over one (expletive)," he told a fellow officer at the scene.

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Joseph Flynn was also charged with simple assault for his role in the incident. Flynn has been suspended with pay and his department is conducting its own internal investigation.

Flynn's attorney, Ron Caron, would not comment on where his client's case stands, adding that Flynn "committed no crime and I think the state knows that."

When asked for his reaction to Monaco's plea deal that includes cooperation in any future court proceedings, Caron said, "Trooper Monaco has nothing to say that would implicate Trooper Flynn in any criminal conduct."
A New Hampshire man will serve at least a decade behind bars for coercing several women into prostitution in the Manchester area.

Nathaniel Clarke was sentenced Monday to a term of 10 to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of trafficking in persons last week.

Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Gregory Lenti says Clarke preyed on women addicted to drugs and he controlled their every move. Clarke used the addiction of seven women to force them into prostitution.

Prosecutors say Clarke also used threats of violence and routinely beat the women to serve as an example to the others.

The 37-year-old was arrested following an investigation by Manchester police in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.
Massachusetts police are searching for a man who robbed a bank in Bedford on Monday evening.

Police said the man entered the Stop and Shop at 337 Great Road at 6:40 p.m. and passed a note to the teller demanding money at the Citizens Bank inside the store.

He then fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash.

No injuries were reported.

The suspect is described as a white, bald man, with tattoos on his left arm. Police said he was wearing a Patriots jersey with the number 87 on it at the time of the robbery. He also had on a wedding ring.

Investigators said the suspect also fits the description of a man who robbed a bank in Salem, New Hampshire, on August 18.

Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect is asked to contact Bedford Police at 781-275-1212.
A man arrested for sexually assaulting a woman in a park in Boston's South End earlier this week was ordered held on $500,000 bail at his arraignment on Wednesday morning.

Police Commissioner William Evans said Eduardo Rodriguez, 31, of Boston, was released from prison in December after serving time for a previous offense. Prosecutors said he was convicted in 2008 of another sexual assault in the South End.

"He was a dangerous individual who committed an atrocious act," Evans said Tuesday. "I'm happy to say we got him."

Police said their investigation led them to Rodriguez after his GPS monitoring bracelet showed him in that area during the time of the attack. He cut off the bracelet after the attack, making it more difficult for police to locate him. They searched 15 houses before they finally found him.

"We were looking for him in the south end, we would looking for him in Dorchester, he had a lot of addresses out there but through the hard work of the officers behind me we were able to get him," Evans said.

Rodriguez was arraigned Wednesday on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, indecent assault and battery, intimidation of a witness and armed robbery.

Authorities said Rodriguez was riding a blue BMX-style bicycle at 1 a.m. Tuesday at a park near Greenwich Park and Claremont Street when he approached the victim.

The victim told police the suspect said he had a knife and forced her to walk to the area of the Carter Playground, where he sexually assaulted her. He then fled towards Davenport Street through Northeastern University's campus.

Police say information from Rodriguez's GPS monitor pointed investigators in his direction.

Female graduate students told necn they were shaken by the incident, but not surprised.

Rachel Cameron, a graduate student at Northeastern, said, "I would imagine that someone would think it would be an ideal spot to take somebody... Doesn't have too many people around, especially in the middle of the night."

Another graduate student at Northeastern, Kendra Marcus, said, "The knifepoint instance is terrifying of course, but it's just one expression of sexual violence against women."

Rodriguez's next court appearance is Sept. 23.
The airport and docks of Gibraltar. Ricardo Gutierrez

Gibraltar has found a solution to one of its biggest problems: electricity outages. On Friday, the government of the British Overseas Territory signed a 30-year deal with Shell that includes the construction of a small regasification unit that will receive, store and re-gasify the LNG arriving by ship for use in Gibraltars adjacent gas-fired power plant, which is already under construction.

My government is delighted with this major step forward in the provision of LNG, the best option for an environmentally friendly and safe solution for guaranteed power generation, said Gibraltars Chief Minister Fabian Picardo in a statement.

The project is expected to come online in the second half of 2017, when the new power plant is completed.

In recent years the Rocks oil-fired plant has proved unable to meet energy needs, which has led to blackouts lasting up to seven hours at a time

LNG is natural gas that has been transformed into a liquid state by freezing it to -162C, reducing it to 600 times its normal condition, and making it easy to transport by ship.

The regasification unit will be run by Shell affiliate Gasnor. The power plant adjacent to the gasification unit will be fitted with five steel storage tanks where the gas will gradually be warmed up using heat produced on site.

The small-scale carrier will transfer LNG to the storage tanks through a loading arm that is equipped with an emergency release system, which reduces the risk of spills significantly and increases the security of the operation. The LNG transfer will be performed about twice a month, and at night when port and airport activities are minimal, further increasing the safety, said Shell in a statement.

Gibraltar sits alongside one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes: around 110,000 vessels traveling between south-east Asia, China and the Middle East and the Atlantic coastline of Europe, Africa, and the United States pass through, while around half of the worlds trade, a third of its oil and gas, and 80% of the goods and gas consumed by the EU all move through this 100-kilometer maritime corridor. Around half the gas required by Spain, and a large part of its oil, arrives at the countrys refineries via the Strait of Gibraltar. The largest, Cepsas San Roque refinery, is located in the Bay of Algeciras.

Around 300 large vessels  not including leisure craft  pass through these waters each day, along with those that anchor here to refuel via bunkering services based in Gibraltar. The Spanish authorities have complained to the EU about the environmental risk posed by this business, which involves around seven million tons of fuel a year.

The regasification unit will be run by Shell affiliate Gasnor

Sooner or later ships will stop using diesel, and LNG is one of the most likely options to replace it. Gibraltar doesnt want to lose its position as a leader in bunkering, which is what this LNG plant is about, says Antonio Munoz of Spain-based environmental group Verdemar.

At present, Gibraltars electricity comes from the Waterport oil-powered plant. In recent years it has proved unable to meet The Rocks energy needs, which has led to blackouts lasting up to seven hours at a time. When fire broke out at Waterport in April 2014, servers used by the many online gambling companies based there crashed.

To deal with these energy problems, in June Israeli company Eco Wave Power (EWP) inaugurated the first ever grid-connected wave power station in Europe on Gibraltar, which aims to produce 15% of its electricity. The LNG plant aims to provide a definitive solution to energy supplies for an economy based on tourism, online gambling, financial services and shipping.

Munoz says that while Shell is a pioneer in handling LNG, risks remain: To handle LNG requires a lot of security and safety measures, and even more so in this case where the idea is to store it near to population centers and in the same place where British Royal Navy vessels dock. Munoz says his organization has called on Spain to connect Gibraltar to its national grid and supply it with electricity.

English version by Nick Lyne.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is lambasting Microsoft over Windows 10's telemetry technology, urging it to "come clean" with customers.

In a piece posted last week to the EFF's blog, Amul Kalia, the San Francisco-based advocacy organization's intake coordinator, criticized Microsoft's practice of collecting large amounts of data from Windows 10 users.

"Windows 10 sends an unprecedented amount of usage data back to Microsoft, particularly if users opt in to 'personalize' the software using the OS assistant called Cortana," wrote Kalia, referring to the voice-controlled digital aide. "Microsoft should come clean with its user community. The company needs to acknowledge its missteps and offer real, meaningful opt-outs to the users who want them, preferably in a single unified screen."

Kalia added the weight of the EFF to a long line of opponents of Windows 10's telemetry program, dubbed "Feedback & diagnosis." The technology harvests an extensive list of information from Windows 10 devices, ranging from the programs run on the system to details on app or OS crashes.

Critics began knocking Microsoft over Windows 10 telemetry within days of the operating system's July 2015 launch, blasting the company over the amount and kind of data digested and transmitted, and because users could not completely disable the technology. Microsoft has vigorously defended the program, with one executive saying last year that the practice was "not an issue of personal privacy."

Kalia took Microsoft to task primarily for the forced data collection: Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro have the most expansive telemetry option enabled by default, and users cannot turn off all harvesting. (Only Windows 10 Enterprise, an edition available to businesses, can be set at the lowest level, ironically labeled "Security.") The requirement that Windows 10 must conduct some diagnostic information, and transmit it to Microsoft, was a departure for the OS: Previously, the practice, while widespread, was opt-in and could be stopped by users.

"The fact remains that many users would much prefer not to use these features in exchange for maintaining their privacy," said Kalia of the trade-offs between convenience -- primarily Cortana -- and privacy.

The EFF had other problems with Windows 10's telemetry, as in, well, the telemetry.

"A significant issue is the telemetry data the company receives. While Microsoft insists that it aggregates and anonymizes this data, it hasn't explained just how it does so," Kalia wrote. "Microsoft also won't say how long this data is retained, instead providing only general timeframes. Worse yet, unless you're an enterprise user, no matter what, you have to share at least some of this telemetry data with Microsoft and there's no way to opt-out."

Microsoft has asserted that data collection is necessary for it to both safeguard customers' PCs and improve Windows 10. The lightest telemetric touch is available only to enterprises, for example, because they don't rely on Windows Update to service the software with patches. According to Microsoft, Windows Update requires information from each PC to deliver the appropriate fixes.

When asked to comment on the EFF's criticisms, a company spokesman said, "Microsoft is committed to customer privacy and ensuring that customers have the information and tools they need to make informed decisions," and plugged a September 2015 blog.

In an interview today, Kalia added that the EFF would follow last week's missive with another blog post -- a how-to guide that will spell out how Windows 10 users can alter the OS's settings -- and pledged that the organization would continue to monitor Microsoft's collection practices. "We hope that Microsoft takes these concerns seriously," Kalia said.

This story, "EFF condemns Windows 10 data collection" was originally published by Computerworld .
The Great Equalizer. The Great Democratizer. Many such phrases have been used to describe the internet over the yearsmostly focusing on the rapid dissemination of uncensored information.

Even social media sites (such as Twitter) have played critical roles in real-world revolutions. The ability for the average person to spread ideas, news and informationwithout corporate or government censorshiphas brought about massive power and freedom to the people of the world.

But what happens when the key websites and servicesthe ones we rely upon to spread those messagescensor that content? Thats a bad thing, right? Well, this seems to be happening a lot recently, especially in relation to leaked content (regardless of the type of content or the source from which it originated).

GitHub, a service primarily used for open source and free culture projects, recently completely censored a repository that contained information proving the NSA developed malware targeting numerous systems.

Maybe theres a legitimate reason for this. But if there is, GitHub is staying quiet. I reached out to GitHubs press department for comment one week ago, and as of today, I have not received any response of any kind.

And WordPress.com, the company that runs the popular blogging platform, censored content posted by Guccifer 2 that was potentially damaging to the reputation of the Democratic party.

In fact, WordPress.com completely removed an entire post (with links to multiple files). That post was replaced with the following statement:

Some content on this page was disabled on August 13, 2016 upon receipt of a valid complaint regarding the publication of private information. You can read more about WordPress.coms private information policy.

I reached out to a few contacts at WordPress.comincluding Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of WordPress.comto get a little more information on the reasoning for this censorship and to give them an opportunity to make a statement expressing their side of things.

That was, as with GitHub, a week ago. As of the writing of this article, I have yet to receive a single response, of any kind, from WordPress.com.

I cant stress this enough: This is very strange.

Why dont WordPress.com and GitHub respond?

Both WordPress.com and GitHub are built on free software and have deep ties to the free and open source communities. Typically, when someone like me reaches out to companies in the FOSS world, a response comes quickly. When I email the big open source companies, I get a response. Often from the presidents and CEOs themselveseven when my questions are combative.

GitHub and WordPress.com have gone completely dark on their censorship of leaked and/or hacked content that could paint particular organizations and portions of the United States government in a bad light. In the absence of communication from both organizations, all we can do is speculate as to their motives.

Censorship on Twitter and Facebook

Even Twitter reportedly has censored leaked information (and discussion of leaks), having removed the dominantly trending hashtag #DNCleaks from the trending section of its siteuntil Twitter users staged a mini revolt. After that Twitter restored the hashtag to the trending list.

And Facebook was for a time blocking links to Wikileaks. Of which, Facebooks chief security officer, Alex Stamos, stated (in a short, simple tweet): Its been fixed. No additional information was given.

This article is not to point fingers. Nor is it to suggest a coordinated censorship effort that spans multiple companiesor even to tell you what to think about the contents of any of those leaks (or the discussions around them).

But it is worth thinking about this: When something that many people feel is important to their lives occurs and the major online platforms for disseminating that information censor them, what does that say about those platforms?

Should we, as freedom-loving people, opt into using services that not only censor content, but fail to talk publicly about their motives for doing so? Wouldnt using those services be a massive and potentially catastrophic mistake on the part of us (their users)?

I am hopeful that Twitter, GitHub and the rest can find a way to be more public, open and transparent about their censoring activities. And that they do so not just by making statements to journaliststhough thats a great startbut by engaging in active discussions with the public about whats happening and, even more important, what should be happening in regard to this type of content.

Now, if youll excuse me, Im going to go post this article to Twitter and marvel at the irony of me doing so.
Yes, the idea of sitting down with a Microsoft technical fellow at a Linux conference is still somewhat counterintuitive, but times have changed  Redmond is no longer the inimical enemy of all things open-source.

Twitter Jeffrey Snover, PowerShell creator

Quite the opposite, these days, Microsoft, under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella, has begun to embrace open-source in a big way, releasing key software components like .NET as open-source, making its Azure cloud Linux-compatible, and acquiring companies that boost its presence in the open-source world.

The companys latest move has been to open-source PowerShell, an automation framework used for administrative scripting, and release an alpha version for Linux. The creator, Jeffrey Snover, spoke to us Monday at LinuxCon North America in Toronto.

Youre the inventor of PowerShell, its your baby  any fears about opening it up for all the world to play with?

Good lord, no. We wanted to do this from the very beginning. That was certainly the intent, but at the time that just wasnt a possibility.

Now, Microsofts got this big shift in the direction of open-source:

We found that its a heterogeneous world, people want their choice of servers and their choice of clients and their choice of clouds. It turns out when you do that, its a messy world. Its a pain in the ass. We think that PowerShells uniquely positioned to try and help that by having a single management stack to manage it all.

If anybodys doing anything with Windows or data centers or cloud, theyre using PowerShell. Thats why our launch partners were VMware and AWS. Those guys have great PowerShell support.

Whats the focus of current work on PowerShell?

Were flushing things out  weve got a long tail of commands that we want to bring over, actually some of the I/O is a little different on Linux  that gave us a little heartburn, but then largely its just working with the community.

Its a balancing act  were 15 years in, we cant develop in the community, but thats where we want to be. So we didnt want to say, Here, its finished, take it, and we also didnt want to say, Heres the direction we want to go, but I dont have anything compiled.

On where PowerShell for Linux is right now:

Its far enough along that people can grab it and kick the tires, its not so far along that people cant meaningfully contribute.  I wouldnt use it in production yet.

The first challenge we had is that PowerShell used the full .NET. That is not portable. So .NET had to become portable, so they have a portable version called .NET core. We had to go and, first, get PowerShell on .NET core. That I have a production version of, and that ships in Windows Server 2016, our nanoserver edition. That is the basis of the port.

But now, just to be clear, that version is PowerShell version 5, its shipped in Windows Server 2016. The community code now  is version 6. What that means is that all of our development is being done in the community. The community branch is the active branch, and this will be where we ship our public stuff, always available on Linux and Windows at the same time.

Thats quite the commitment.

Wim [Cokaerts, Microsoft vice president of enterprise open-source] was super-helpful about this, because I thought, Well ship [the two versions] pretty close together. And he said, No, no, no  they cant be close together. It has to be absolutely at the same time.

He was at Oracle, and at some point, they shipped on Linux and then a week later, they shipped on Solaris, and people said, Youre not committed to Solaris!

We want to be committed to shipping at the same time.

What about the OpenSSH project?

Last year, my teams joined the OpenSSH community; we are committers on that project, were the largest funders of OpenSSH work. But what people know is that were taking OpenSSH, both the client and the server, and were porting that to Windows. What we announced last Thursday was that this is not some arms length engagement  were taking OpenSSH and were putting it at the very heart of PowerShell.

How do you think Microsofts outreach to the open-source community is going?

As we talk to the community we get a full range of things  the shock, by and large, Id say thats 80% to 90%, then weve got the people who are very skeptical, and  I want to be super clear on this  Im very confident in my technology, but we approach the Linux marketplace with humbleness and a challenger mindset. I do not expect people to greet us as liberators, or anything like that!

The Linux community has a great set of tools, and we need to earn the right to be used. And I think we can.

Being a Microsoft person, you must get the odd sideways look at open-source events.

Sure, absolutely. Theres suspicion, theres people who still spell Microsoft with a dollar sign

The animosity goes back a long way.

Yeah, I mean, I get it  we have to earn our trustworthiness, and we have to earn our usage.

It must be a bit of a culture shock going back the other way, too.

Sure, although, you know, my team  we all have deep UNIX backgrounds, before getting into NT, I was a UNIX development manager at Digital [Equipment Corporation],  worked on Ultrix, System 5. So its no surprise to us.
Think Indiana Jones meets a Sanfermines bull run: youre in a small village in the mountains close to Madrid, rushing downhill through a series of narrow lanes packed with other adventure seekers, all pursued by a 200-kilogram polystyrene ball measuring three meters across.

Welcome to Matalpino, some 50 kilometers northwest of Madrid in the Guadarrama mountains, which has just celebrated the sixth year of its Boloencierro (a word made up from bolo, for ball, and encierro, bull run).

In August 2011, as Spain struggled to deal with a worsening economic crisis, the local council discovered it lacked the funds to hold its annual fiestas, which traditionally included bullfighting and bull runs.

Anybody thinking that the boloencierro might replace bull runs would be wrong, says Matalpinos mayor

But Mayor Javier de los Nietos of the Socialist Party (PSOE) had a bright idea: instead of bulls, the community of 1,700 people would invest in polystyrene boulders and take advantage of the towns up-and-down topography.

Since then, what started out as a homespun solution has put Matalpino on the global tourist map, attracting television stations from as far afield as Japan and China.

Earlier this year, the local council registered Boloencierro Matalpino as a trademark and now plans to export its brand around the world.

El Boloencierro infantil, el pasado domingo. SANTI BURGOS

The Boloencierro Matalpino export version is for children, explains De los Nietos. It uses smaller, lighter boulders that are also irregular in shape, meaning that they bounce around more. The danger here isnt so much being squashed by a polystyrene rock, but tripping and ending up with scratches and scuffs. We recommend children wear long trousers and a long-sleeved shirt, explains De los Nietos.

This summer some of the fiestas held in the mountain villages north of Madrid will feature the Boloencierro Matalpino: Torrelaguna (September 3), Cercedilla (September 10), Navacerrada (September 11), and Moralzarzal (October 1).

De los Nietos says he has been in talks with Pamplona, home of the Sanfermines fiestas in July, to include the Boloencierro at Sanfermin Txikito, a smaller fiesta with no bull runs that is held at the end of September in the old town of the city.

In Matalpino itself, the Boloencierro takes place over the course of the weekend of the first week of the fiestas, in mid-August. The childrens version is staged first, using colored mini-boulders, followed by the adult event, which in years past has been repeated up to three times. This year, however, the second run ended halfway through when the boulder split in two halfway through the event.

Matalpino is now on the global tourist map, attracting television stations from as far afield as Japan and China

But anybody thinking that the boloencierro might replace bull runs would be wrong, says De los Nietos: Its not something that divides bullfighting aficionados from opponents: in fact it brings them both together; everybody enjoys the party. In short, Matalpino continues to stage bull runs, holding one each evening and another two during the day over the course of the first weekend of its fiestas.

De los Nietos, who says that in his younger days he ran with the bulls, explains the Boloencierro: You feel very small, and you have to keep your wits about you, because if the boulder cracks you on the back, it can push you against the walls or onto the ground. There have been cases of people being concussed.

There tend to be more injuries in the Boloencierro than during the bull runs, I guess because people dont take the right precautions, says the mayor. This year four people were injured trying to outrun the polystyrene boulder. Two of them ended up in hospital.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Mexican military displays guns confiscated from drug trade in Tijuana. JORGE DUENES (REUTERS)

More information Julio es el mes mas violento del Gobierno de Enrique Pena Nieto

A worrying trend of increasing violence is continuing in Mexico. July, for example, had the dubious honor of being the month with the most murders registered in the three years and seven months that the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto has been in place. The National System of Public Security (SNSP) reported a total of 2,073 victims for the seventh month of the year, the highest figure since the administration began to include intentional homicide in its statistics in January 2014. The first seven months of the year have seen a total of 12,376 murders, a rise of nearly 16% compared to the same period last year.

The violence began to grow in May of this year, when a total of 1,895 homicides were registered, a figure that has not been seen since September 2012. June saw a slight fall, with 66 fewer cases, but the number was still high for the current administration.

The violence began to grow in May of this year, when a total of 1,895 homicides were registered

July, however, broke the 2,000-mark, according to preliminary figures from cases opened in local public ministries. Not since 2011 have there been similar numbers of victims. At the time, the government of Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) was mired in its offensive against the drug cartels. That year was the bloodiest of the then-presidents mandate, with a total of 27,213 homicides, according to official figures.

A total of 16 areas saw a rise in homicides last month, in particular in Baja California, Chihuahua, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas and Veracruz. Baja California, the historical bastion of operations for the Tijuana Cartel, saw more than 110 killings, a level unseen since 2008.

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Michoacan, to the west of the capital, saw 187 murders in July, according to the SNSP. Thats the highest figure in nearly a decade. For several years the area has been a battleground for civilians who have taken up arms to fight against criminal organizations in the region. The government had focused efforts in terms of funding and security in the state, assuming that it was now pacified.

The scene in Michoacan has been repeated in other regions where drug traffickers have a hold. Tamaulipas, where over recent months two cartels have been reforming in mini-criminal organizations, saw its most violent month so far this year in July, with 106 victims  31 more than in June.

But it is Veracruz that has seen the biggest rise in violence. The state, governed by controversial politician Javier Duarte, who has been caught up in a number of corruption scandals, saw 168 homicides in July, 68 more than the previous month. With 643 killings in the first seven months of the year, the area has already exceeded its total number of victims for 2014 (569) and 2015 (615).

If this rhythm is maintained, Mexico could reach as many as 24,000 murders a year

Specialist Alejandro Hope, who has been monitoring the situation for several years, says that the trend is worrying given that levels of violence had been falling at the end of 2012. Today they are clearly on the up, he wrote in El Universal.

In the first seven months of 2016 a total of 12,376 killings were registered, 1,750 more than those seen in the same period in 2015. Hope calculates that if this rhythm is maintained, Mexico could reach as many as 24,000 murders a year, taking the rate to levels not seen since the worst violence of the war against drug traffickers.

English version by Simon Hunter.
What if one blood test could screen for more than 50 types of cancer?
Reporter

Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee).
Reporter

Tim Mitchell is a reporter at The News-Gazette. His email is tmitchel@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@mitchell6).
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
Can you please give a brief overview of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)? What has research shown tDCS could be used for?

tDCS is the administration of week electrical currents through electrodes on the scalp to modulate brain activity.

Research has shown that tDCS can increase or decrease brain excitability when the electrode is placed over the part of the brain that controls movement (motor cortex).

There is some evidence that by placing the electrodes in other locations one can help treat things like anxiety, depression, Parkinsons, or enhance function in normal people such as memory or concentration.

Why is do-it-yourself brain stimulation on the rise?

Unlike many forms of brain stimulation, it is possible to do tDCS at home and even build the stimulator yourself.

There are an increasing number of scientific experiments that report positive effects. People get excited about these effects and may not want to wait for the results of large scale clinical trials or FDA approvals to try and get that benefit.

Is do-it-yourself tDCS dangerous?

We dont know. There are obvious risks such as skin burns if one uses too much current. However, our article was focused on the possibility of risks that may not be obvious.

Modulating brain activity with tDCS is something we only partially understand. Because of this, any experiment done in a research setting is reviewed for safety, approved by an ethics committee, and monitored for adverse effects.

Some of the protocols in the DIY community have never been tested.

What accidental brain alterations can occur from do-it-yourself tDCS?

You can modulate brain areas youre not intending to modulate. You can affect functions youre not intending to affect.

Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Even if you achieve the effect youre going for, that effect may have trade-offs (i.e. you help one thing but hurt another).

How long-lasting can the effects of tDCS be?

After one session of tDCS, effects can last a couple hours. After repeated sessions (e.g. daily stimulation for many days in a row) effects can last months or longer.

Is there a lot of variation in how different people respond to tDCS?

Yes. This is one of the key points of our article. Just because an effect was seen in a scientific study averaged across a group of 20 people doesnt mean youre likely to see the same effect on yourself.

In fact, people may have the opposite effect. Even within the same person, tDCS can have different effects on different days. Were just beginning to understand the sources of this variability.

If readers are interested in tDCS, what are their best options? Should they see a healthcare professional?

Enrolling in a research study is a good option if you live in an area where this type of research is being performed. Talking to a health care professional is also a good idea.

If I were contemplating manipulating my own brain activity with electricity, Id want to get as much information as possible first.

What do you think needs to be done to prevent the dangers of do-it-yourself tDCS?

As scientists, our job is to provide information, including information about what we do and dont know. With that information, people can and will make their own decisions.

Where can readers find more information?

Anna Wexler at MIT studies the DIY brain stimulation community and is an excellent source of information on this topic. Regarding tDCS itself, there is a wealth of scientific literature available, although most of this is written for other scientists, not lay users.

About Dr Michael D. Fox

Michael Fox, MD, PhD, Director of the Laboratory for Brain Network Imaging and Modulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Fox is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Associate Director of the Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Associate Director of the BIDMC Deep Brain Stimulation Program, and Assistant Neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

He has a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, PhD in systems neuroscience, MD with board certification in Neurology, and specialty training in movement disorders and brain stimulation.

Dr. Foxs research focuses on developing new treatments for neuropsychiatric disease based on understanding brain networks and the effects of brain stimulation.

He has authored numerous highly cited articles in the fields of brain imaging and brain stimulation and won several awards for his work including the S. Weir Mitchel Award from the American Academy of Neurology, the McCamish Award from the National Parkinsons Foundation, and recognition as one of the Worlds Most Influential Scientific Minds by Thompson-Reuters for the past two years.
BMG LABTECH, a leading manufacturer of microplate readers, recently supported four iGEM teams with a microplate reader to fuel their participation at the annual iGEM competition. The teams will compete at the iGEM Giant Jamboree held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, attended by 300 teams from around the world.

Supporting the iGEM teams is a reflection of BMG LABTECHs commitment to scientific education. The ideas and research approaches developed by this challenge are giving hope to push the synthetic biology to new levels, Tobias Pusterla, the companys International Marketing Manager.

BMG LABTECH is pleased to offer a microplate reader to the teams of the University of Freiburg (Germany), the Imperial College (UK), the Manchester University (UK) and the Newcastle University (UK).

The four teams work all summer long on their novel and exciting projects in synthetic biology. The group at the University of Freiburg is using the CLARIOstar microplate reader to develop a method combining the specificity of antibodies and the durability of nanoparticles in a single application.

The teams aim is to find an ability to target specific disease-associated cells while not affecting their surroundings and healthy tissues by distributing medication throughout the whole body.

Dr. Stefanie Tintelnot, Sales Manager at BMG LABTECH is happy to present the University of Freiburg with a CLARIOstar microplate reader.

The Imperial College in London constructed a project which could be from further importance for future iGEM teams, using the FLUOstar Omega microplate reader.

Their aim is to develop a framework with co-cultures to provide a standardized approach that enables to spread complex circuits and pathways across multiple microbial populations.

Moreover, they want to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system by applying it to a critical challenge, such as renewable chemical and material production, waste treatment, or bioremediation.

The iGEM team at the Manchester University has chosen a project to prevent and reduce undesired consequences of alcohol consumption. The group is working with a FLUOstar Omega microplate reader to develop an alcohol patch which generates a visible colour change according to blood alcohol concentration.

Based on the knowledge that the ethanol concentration in sweat is linearly related to the blood alcohol concentration, the aim is to create an ethanol biosensor by using synthetic biology with two separate methods to measure intoxication levels.

The iGEM team at Manchester University is working with the FLUOstar Omega on a new alcohol patch.

The success of the Newcastles iGEM team, with the production of a functional circuit, will provide the foundation for a new breed of science, fusing together biological and electronic technologies.

The FLUOstar Omega microplate reader is used to build a circuit that allows synthetic biologists to combine bacterial and electronic components to create electro-biological circuits, offering an exciting new fusion of synthetic biology and computer science.

BMG LABTECH is at the forefront of microplate reading technology, its products offering many types of bioanalytical measurement techniques including fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, luminescence, time-resolved fluorescence, UV/Vis absorbance, AlphaScreen, and nephelometry.

All microplate readers are manufactured and tested at BMG LABTECHs headquarters in Germany, which guarantees their precision, reliability, and robustness.

The iGEM competition is an annual, worldwide, synthetic biology event aimed at undergraduate university students, as well as high school and graduate students. At the Giant Jamboree, iGEM teams compete for various awards.

These awards range from Medals to Track Awards to Special Prizes for the finalists. The three finalists will be selected based on their overall excellence of their entire project, from choice of project, presentation, to the success and impact of the project, to consideration of issues of Human Practices.
Members of the US Consulate in Chennai celebrated Madras Day by relishing a South Indian meal served at the Kasivinayaga Mess.The members accompanied by their family, including toddlers and kids, walked into the mess to dig into an authentic 'ilai sappadu' - full thali served on a banana leaf. What was surprising was that they managed to eat with their hands comfortably, without asking for spoons or forks.The occasion was the 377th birthday celebrations of Madras.Madras was founded on August 22, 1639, and since then this day is celebrated as the founding day. A festival is organised this time of the year and the celebrations stretch over days and sometimes even a month, prompting people to call it Madras Week or Madras month.The celebrations captures the true spirit of Madras, its emotions and feelings of people towards their state and its culture. For the people it is not just about celebrating the founding day, but also about celebrating their way of life, their heritage and the rich past of the state.The video captioned 'Feeling the everyday rhythm of Madras life" was posted on the verified Facebook page of the US Consulate General in Chennai on August 21. And ever since, it has been viewed 2.5 million times and liked over 32 thousand times.Each state in India has its unique way of life and cuisine and what better to celebrate a state's founding day than having its authentic cuisine in its natural settings.In the video, we can see how the members of the US Consulate in Chennai are totally enjoying their food, wanting to return to the mess everyday. "We should come here every day," one of them is heard saying in the video.The way they are trying to eat from the banana leaves with their hands will make you want to grab some of that 'sappadu' immediately. Take a look.
Kolkata: An inquiry by the Mamata Banerjee government has claimed that the Border Security Force is training a "peoples militia" that is looking to break away from Bengal, thus sparking another row with the Centre.



The probe report submitted by the DIG, Jalpaiguri Range, to the ADG (Law and Order) at the state secretariat has said that BSF officials in the Mathabhanga area of Cooch Behar in North Bengal imparted training to volunteers of the Narayani Sena.



Narayani Sena, raised by the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples Association or GCPA, demands a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar on ethnic grounds for the Rajvanshi tribe.



The training, according to the probe report, happened a day after Independence Day without the knowledge of the state administration. The Trinamool Congress said this was an attempt by the BJP-led Centre to spread unrest in the region for narrow political gains.



The Narayani Sena is allegedly being raised as a militia for the GCPA and has reportedly inducted volunteers, men and women, in large numbers. Admitting to BSFs presence, the organisations leader Ananta Ray said the paramilitary forces were only responding to their request, to teach them the right way to give a guard-of-honour to BJP MP and junior Union Minister S S Ahluwalia when he visits the area.



The agitation for a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar was at its ugliest about a decade ago, when violent clashes between the state police and the agitators left five, including three policemen dead. One of the victims was the additional SP of the district.



After a lull of a few years, the demand for separate statehood gathered momentum once again earlier this year when a blockade of railway tracks for five days at a stretch led to the death of two patients inside the waiting trains.



The ruling Trinamool Congress maintains that the BJP  which reached out to the GCPA for votes ahead of state elections this year  is playing with fire and must own up to the unrest in the region.



While the BSF has already denied the charges, it is likely that more drama would be played out on this front in the run-up to the 2019 general elections.
Former Mumbai Mayor Hareshwar Patil, who had left Shiv Sena for Congress a few years ago, joins BJP. BJP's Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar was present to welcome Patil to the party fold. As a member of Shiv Sena, Patil had served as the Mayor and Chairman of Standing committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.



"I decided to join BJP as the schemes undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are of immense benefit to the common man. I will work hard to fulfil his commitments to the people," said Patil.
Junagadh: A journalist was allegedly murdered by some unidentified persons at the office of a Gujarati newspaper he was working with in Junagadh on Monday.



Fifty-three year old Kishore Dave was stabbed to death at the office around 9.30 PM on Monday. He was reportedly alone in the office when he was attacked.



Dave was the bureau chief of the newspaper which is published from Rajkot.



Police are suspected it to be a case of personal enmity. "He was stabbed six-seven times with knife. From injury marks, it appears that personal enmity could be a reason behind the murder," Superintendent of Police Nilesh Jajadiya said.



Dave's body was sent for postmortem and police have launched a probe into the murder after registering a case against unidentified assailants at Junagadh B division police station.
New Delhi: The visit of Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar to war-torn Syria, which has been taken note of around the world, will help India get information on the Islamic State (IS) and the involvement of Indians with the quasi-state terror outfit, observers feel.



Akbar met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on August 20 when the latter sought India's help in the reconstruction of his country's economy and discussions were held on upgrading security consultations between the two sides. India's role in the fight against terrorism also figured during the talks.



"The IS is a major threat and India does not need it," former Indian Ambassador to Syria V.P. Haran told IANS. "Syria has a wealth of information on the IS," he said.



In 2014, IS made the Syrian city of Raqqa its headquarters and the city has come under airstrikes from the Syrian government, Russia, the US, France, Britan and other Sunni Arab nations that want the ouster of the Assad government as well.



Haran referred to reports of some Indians going to Syria to join the IS and pointed out that the Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, during a visit here earlier this year, had said that people from 56 countries were lodged in Syrian jails.



"In mid-2012, there was a major operation in an area in Damsacus and I have reasons to suspect that at least one Indian was involved," he said. "If we get information on the IS now, it will be more valuable than getting it a year or two later."



The former ambassador described Akbar's visit as "most welcome" as it was the first major visit from India to Syria in six years after the visit of then President Pratibha Patil in 2010. Thereafter, Syria got embroiled in a civil war that has resulted in the death of over 400,000 people and displacement of over 11 million, including seven million who are internally displaced due to the protracted conflict that grips the country.



Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Wahid al-Muallem visited India in January this year during which he sought India's economic and political support.



According to Omair Anas, Research Fellow in the Indian Council for World Affairs (ICWA) and an expert on West Asian affairs, counter-terrorism cooperation between India and Syria will be possible only if Assad reconciles with some of his opponents.



"Assad calls all his opponents terrorists and expects India also to do so, which is not possible," Anas said.



He was of the view that the Assad regime would not survive for long if it continued to depend heavily on international support from countries like Iran and Russia.



"Our interest in West Asia is very different from that of Iran and Russia," Anas explained. "Security in West Asia is very important for India," he said, adding that India has not taken any sides in Syria.



In fact, during his meeting with Akbar, Assad appreciated India's "objective position" on the Syrian conflict.



According to Anas, India should not only look at the issue from the point of view of Indian Muslims going to Syria to join the IS, but from the perspective of other countries of South Asia like Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well.



"Only then will we get to know of jihadi operations in South Asia," he said. "India has to keep a watch on the entire South Asian region."



Apart from the IS being in full control of power in Raqqa, Anas said there were two other centres of power in Syria -- pro-Assad and and anti-Assad.



"And the anti-Assad group is badly divided with one group being an Al Qaeda offshoot and the other being the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which consists of Sunni soldiers who had defected from the Syrian army," he stated.



Anas also pointed out that there was virtually no Syrian army now but for a few Hezbollah forces and some Iranian army officers in an advisory role "but who are doing more than that". He said that while the Assad regime has control over the security apparatus in Damascus and some areas, the other Sunni areas were all under the control of anti-Assad forces.



The Alawites, of whom Assad is one and who constitute about 12 percent of Syria's 22 million original population, hold all top government positions and control major businesses.



As for India's role in the reconstruction of the Syrian economy, Ambassador Haran was of the view that it was a little premature for that as the situation was still not stable.



"A certain level of stability is required for reconstruction work to start," he said.


Bengaluru: A Karnataka-based advocate on Monday lodged a complaint against actor-turned-politician Ramya for her 'Pakistan is not hell' remark.



K Vittal Gowda, a Coorg- based advocate, filed a private complaint under Section 200 of Cr.Pc in the first Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Somwarpet, accusing Ramya of insulting India and provoking Indians by appreciating Pakistan.



He requested the court to register a case against the actor under Sections 124A of the IPC, which deals with sedition, besides other charges.



Judge Shyam Prakash posted the hearing of the case on August 27.



In a media statement, Ramya refused to apologies for her comment and claimed that she has done nothing wrong.



Ramya was recently in Islamabad to attend a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference. On her return, she said (at a convention in Mandya on Sunday) that Defence Minister Manohar Parikar was wrong in comparing Pakistan with 'hell'.



She also praised Pakistan for being 'nice' to her and 'hospitable'.



Her statement sparked massive protest across the state as local ABVP and BJP cadre held protests calling her 'anti-national'. They also demanded that she should apologies or leave India.



Meanwhile, Yuva Bharat members (a pro-BJP organisation in Mysuru) launched a postcard campaign urging Ramya to "shift to Pakistan".







State Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao defended Ramya. He said, "She was only sharing her experience of her recent visit to Pakistan. It was not a controversial statement."
In statecraft, especially in that fine craft called espionage, there is a term which is very commonly used. Plausible deniability. It was first used back in the fifties by the CIAs legendary Director Allen Dulles, after whose family the Dulles Airport in Washington is named. Back then the US used to run a series of covert operations, many of them were geared towards assassinating Fidel Castro. It also included regime changes in countries whose rulers were not favourable to America, like Iran and Guatemala and culminating in the Bay of Pigs fiasco.



Some of these operations were successful, others were not. But the important thing was the US President had no direct knowledge of any of these covert goings on. And it was deliberately kept so by the top dogs at the CIA. The reason was simple. Plausible deniability. If it got to a stage where the US President had to testify before Congress or before the courts or before the American public, then he or she could plead innocence citing no direct knowledge.



Indias involvement in Balochistan always fell in that grey area called plausible denial. Up until Prime Minister Narendra Modis Independence Day speech.



Although Indias covert operations in Pakistan had officially been called off back in 1997 when IK Gujral was prime minister, no one quite took it to be the gospel truth. Certainly no one in Pakistan did. Look no further than the August 7 attack at Quettas civil hospital which wiped away almost all of that citys legal fraternity. Quetta is the capital of Balochistan.



Although official responsibility for the attack was claimed by the terror group Jamaat-al-Ahrar, a splinter of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, you wouldnt get that impression looking at Pakistani TV channels or listening to their politicians. From the Chief Minister of Balochistan to the so-called talking heads who package and market vitriol on TV, everyone was convinced that the attack was the handiwork of Indias spy agency RAW.



Just like our reflex reaction to every attack in Kashmir or other parts of India is to blame the ISI, today in Pakistan every attack, particularly those in Balochistan are blamed on RAW.



Which is why the Pakistanis saw the capture of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav earlier this year from Balochistan as a god-sent. The government of India could conveniently cite plausible deniability all these months but Modis speech blew away that cloak in RAWs covert operations in a region which has had Pakistans longest running insurgency.



Modis attempt to draw parallels between Kashmir and Balochistan may be a gamble, but is both historically flawed and could end up back-firing.



For one, unlike Kashmir, Balochistans accession to Pakistan has never been in dispute, at least not by another country. The Khan of Kalat who used to rule large tracts of Balochistan was forced to give away his territory under dubious circumstances in 1948, with a little help from the British High Commissioner, but it was never contested by a third party like Afghanistan or Iran both of whom share a contiguous border with Balochistan.



Notice the strategic silence of both the Afghans and the Iranians to Modis speech. With a contiguous border these two countries have more of a stake than India in whats going on in Balochistan. Only Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan President has openly backed Modis assertions. But he doesnt have the burden of power stifling him. In other words, he doesn't have to worry about plausible deniability.



By invoking Balochistan from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi has thrown out of the window a long standing principle in diplomacy. That sovereign countries do not admit to meddling in the internal affairs of another country. Now the Pakistanis could turn around and start needling India on the Maoist insurgency or on Irom Sharmilas long struggle against AFSPA in Manipur. None of these things concern Pakistan directly, so they have no locus standi. But if Modi can bring in Balochistan, then why cant Islamabad bring in Manipur? The established rules of the great game no longer apply.



But theres another fundamental reason why Modis bold gambit on Balochistan may end up as a boomerang. Kashmir.



Last year at the UNGA, Pakistan couldnt find enough countries to bring a resolution against India on alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. It was an indication of the fading interest among the countries of the world, including those who are Pakistans brother countries in the OIC, vis-a-vis the Kashmir issue. Contrast that with the recent OIC Secretary Generals statement on Kashmir calling on the international community to be more vocal on alleged human rights violations.



Admittedly, some of this is because of Indias own mishandling of the recent unrest in the Valley which has been on the boil for the last month and a half. But if Pakistan were to bring that same resolution against India this year at the UN, it would certainly find more takers. And the blame for it, at least some part of it, would be on us.



For years now, India has been seeking to de-hyphenate itself from Pakistan. We are a much bigger economy, a much bigger global player and a country whom the world is trying to covet. By using the B-word as a response to Islamabad using the K-word, the Prime Minister may have unwittingly tied us back at the hip with Pakistan. As former home minister P Chidambaram put it rather eloquently: theres a fire in our backyard in Kashmir. Instead of putting it out we seem to be happy at the fire in our neighbours backyard, Balochistan.



Lets hope India and Pakistan dont end up burning the house down.








Its not often that you see Deepika Padukone cuddling up to kids. But Deepika, who is now being referred to as the highest paid actress, allowed an absolutely adorable glimpse of her personality during a recent photoshoot. The actress, currently making headlines for her much awaited project XXX: Return of Xander Cage, was seen with the child model Dhyana Madan. Dhyana, as reports suggest, will be playing Deepikas younger self in a commercial.Deepika gave Dhyana a cuddle, wrapping arms around her. As evident from the photos, the actress made the meeting a lot more special for the Dhyana by presenting a gift and signing an autograph for her.Deepika, who has several hits like Ram Leela, Chennai Express and Bajirao Mastani to her credit, has now been roped in for Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmavati. Like her films, Deepika is also leaving an impact with her advertisements. She is the ambassador of popular brands such as Tanishq, Tissot, Vogue, and Axis Bank.Image courtesy: Yogen Shah
New Delhi: Ahead of Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Kashmir on Wednesday, the government has put the ball in separatists' court for talks.



Sources said that the Home Minister won't invite separatists for talks but will engage with anyone who comes to meet him. Since the separatists have actively participated in the valley unrest, the Centre doesn't wants to come across as magnanimous towards them.



Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday during which he will review the situation and may hold talks with cross section of people, a move which comes a day after Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" over the situation there.



This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.



As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousand were injured so far in different violence.



The Home Minister had said the Centre wants an emotional relationship with the state and not just need-based.







Singh had said the central government will talk to whosoever needed once peace and normalcy is restored in the state.



"As far as Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we don't just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir," he said, reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the state.



On Monday, while meeting a joint opposition delegation led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, Modi had expressed his "deep concern and pain" over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a "permanent and lasting" solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir.



(With inputs from PTI)
New Delhi: Ahead of Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Kashmir on Wednesday, the government is unsure of engaging with the separatists because of their active participation in the unrest, sources said.



According to the sources, the final decision on engaging with the separatists will be taken in consultation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



The sources added that the government is mulling opening a dialogue with civil society members to break the Kashmir logjam.



Singh will undertake a two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday during which he will review the situation and may hold talks with cross section of people, a move which comes a day after Modi expressed "deep concern and pain" over the situation there.



This is the second visit of Singh in a month to the valley which has been witnessing unrest since July 8 when Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.







As many as 65 people, including two policemen, have been killed and several thousand were injured so far in different violence.



The Home Minister had said the Centre wants an emotional relationship with the state and not just need-based.



Singh had said the central government will talk to whosoever needed once peace and normalcy is restored in the state.



"As far as Government of India is concerned, I want to make it clear that we don't just want need-based ties, but to build an emotional relationship with Kashmir," he said, reaching out to the people in the Valley while making a fervent appeal to them to help restore peace and normalcy in the state.



On Monday, while meeting a joint opposition delegation led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, Modi had expressed his "deep concern and pain" over the situation there and asked all political parties to work together to find a "permanent and lasting" solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir.



(With inputs from PTI)
Bengaluru:Actor-turned-politician and former Congress MP Ramya on Tuesday refused to apologise for praising the people of Pakistan saying her statements did not amount to sedition as was argued by right-wing activists.



"These days being called anti-national is a compliment. But, I would like to clarify that I am not an anti-national," Ramya told CNN-News18 after an RSS-affiliated organisation demanded that she be booked under sedition charges.



Ramya had countered Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement that going to Pakistan is worse than going to hell. She said that when she went to Pakistan as part of a parliamentary delegation they were treated well.



"I found them warm and good-natured. They are just like us," she said.



Slamming the BJP and affiliated organisations for criticising he, she said: "I feel very sorry for them. Many people are ignorant. It is very easy to brainwash them. The media has a very crucial role. They should educate the masses. There is no rationale behind what they are doing."







Reacting to the demand of right-wing activists that the Karnataka Film Chambers should ban her, Ramya said: "Why are they involving film industry in this? This is nothing to do with what I had said".



Her lawyer Pramod Nair said the sedition case against her was untenable and that the law itself was a "remnant of our colonial past."



State Congress working president Dinesh Gundurao said the party would stand by Ramya.



"Nothing wrong in what she has said. I condemn BJP's stand on this. The BJP did not even take part in the freedom movement and today they are the biggest nationalists? If that's the case, the Prime Minister Modi should be booked under sedition. He went to Pakistan and attended a birthday dinner. Immediately Pathankot was attacked," he said.


San Francisco: Google is ready to start sending out the latest version of its Android operating system to a handful of devices.



The release announced Monday means many Nexus-branded devices should receive a free upgrade to Android 7.0, nicknamed "Nougat," during the next few weeks.



The first models in line include the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G.



Other smartphones coming out this fall will be sold with Nougat already installed.



The new version of Android has been in a testing phase since March as Google polished the system that will feature 72 new emojis and the ability to reply to notifications without opening an app.



Rival Apple is scheduled to release the latest operating system for the iPhone next month.




Can you imagine a day without access to the Internet The World Wide Web forms an integral part of modern existence, but it was not until August 23, 1991 that its inventor, a British scientist at CERN, Tim Berners-Lee allowed its access to the general public - the non-technical people.Today marks the 25th anniversary of public access to the world of endless information.Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989 while working at CERN . It was originally conceived and developed to meet the demand for automatic information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes around the world.Subsequently, the web was opened to all. Berners-Lee is now dedicated to enhancing and protecting the Webs future.By definition, 'Internaut' is a portmanteau of the words 'Internet' and 'astronaut' and refers to a designer, operator, or technically capable user of the Internet.
Koralal: Twice a year, a normally deserted border checkpoint high on the Tibetan plateau throngs with activity as traders from Nepal flock to do business with their giant northern neighbour China.



A biannual trade fair in Tibet offers a rare opportunity for those living in the remote former Buddhist kingdom of Upper Mustang in Nepal to cross the usually closed border into China, which is cultivating closer ties with the Himalayan nation.



"This trade is very important for us because we live in such an isolated area," said trucker Pasang Gurung, who was driving to China for the fair.



"Access to Chinese customers and products makes our lives much easier... I wish the border were open all the time," he said.



The border is usually closed for security reasons as Upper Mustang has history as a base for the Tibetan resistance.



But authorities in Nepal are increasingly looked to strengthen economic ties with China and reduce its dependence on its other giant neighbour India.



But it will have a long way to go in order to accomplish that. Bilateral trade with India between July 2014 and June 2015 amounted to nearly USD 4.5 billion, dwarfing China's $882 million.



An energy agreement between Kathmandu and Beijing in March ended India's monopoly over fuel supplies to Nepal, although it remains the biggest supplier by far.



That deal was prompted by a months-long blockade at the border with India to protest the terms of a new national constitution that led New Delhi to halt supplies, leading to crippling shortages.



Kathmandu accused New Delhi of imposing an "unofficial blockade" in support of the protesters, an ethnic community that shares close family links with Indians across the border -- a claim India denied.



Sujeev Shakya, chairman of the Nepal Economic Forum think tank, says that even before the blockade India had a reputation in Nepal for being slow to deliver.



A number of Indian hydropower projects have stalled due to disagreements over the terms of the deal, while China has pressed ahead.



One 60-megawatt power plant is under construction and a 750-megawatt joint venture worth USD 1.6 billion is due for completion by December 2019.



"The perception here is that the Chinese tend to deliver while India keeps talking," Shakya told AFP.



"Over the years, China has gained more credibility in Nepal because of the pace at which they have put up infrastructure projects."
The US blocked $ 300 million military aid to Islamabad as it failed to get a Congressional certification for "satisfactory" action against the dreaded Haqqani network, the Pentagon has said as it warned that it was in Pakistan's interest to take action against terrorists.



The Haqqani Network has carried out a number of kidnappings and attacks against US interests in Afghanistan, the Afghan government and other civilian targets. The group is also blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people.



The Pentagon said it was in Pakistan's interest to take action against terrorists in "as many ways as possible". "We continue to have a close relationship with Pakistan with regard to terrorism and fighting terrorism. (But) It's obviously in Pakistan's own interest and the United States interest to combat terrorism in as many ways as possible," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters yesterday.



US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter did not give Congressional certification to Pakistan for satisfactory action against the Haqqani network this year, Cook said. In the absence of the certification, the Pentagon blocked disbursement of USD 300 million to Pakistan under Coalition Support Fund, which is essentially reimbursement money for the expenses made by Pakistan Army in support of US operations in Afghanistan.



"With regard to that USD 300 million, there was a (June 30) deadline in terms of whether or not to transfer that money or to use that money in other ways, and it was determined that at this moment in time, it was best to reprogramme that money in other directions," Cook said.



The Washington Post, which first reported about it, has described the withholding of the US military assistance to Pakistan as a "potential blow" to US-Pak ties. The Pentagon press secretary, however, said the US will continue to work "closely with Pakistan and we've seen significant efforts on the part of the Pakistanis."
Moscow: Gunmaker Kalashnikov, whose AK-47 assault rifle has armed Russian forces for 70 years and been the preferred weapon of insurgents across continents, has opened a store at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport selling souvenirs including plastic model guns, the company said.



An airport official said the shop, offering novelties including pens, umbrellas, bags, hats, camouflage gear and "I love AK" T-shirts, would be situated in the rail-link section of the airport complex. The model guns - automatic pistols and rifles - would very clearly be imitations and would pose no security problems, he added.



"Kalashnikov is one of the most popular brands that come to mind for most people in the world when they hear about Russia," Kalashnikov's head of marketing, Vladimir Dmitriev, said in a press release.



"So, we are pleased to provide the opportunity for everyone to take away from Russia a souvenir with our company brand."



The AK-47, the first rifle the firm produced, has acquired an iconic status due to its low production costs and reliability in extreme conditions. It was introduced in 1948, armed the whole of the Soviet Union and eastern Europe in communist times and served largely pro-Soviet rebel forces across Africa and Asia.



Produced also under license beyond Russian frontiers, it remains one of the most popular assault rifles in the world.



Sheremetyevo International Airport is Moscow's and Russia's largest airport by passenger traffic. In 2015, it handled more than 31 million passengers.
On Sept. 17 Rolling Thunder Inc. Chapter 4 and Harley Davidson of Lynchburg will host a Benefit Run to the National D-Day Memorial to raise funds for the Gold Star Family Memorial Monument at the D-Day Memorial in Bedford. At the completion of the run there will be a ceremony at the D-Day memorial including wreath laying ceremonies, guest speakers, special Missing Man ceremony, and more. The event is open to the public.

The donation for the run is $20 per driver and $10 per passenger. Donors will receive a limited edition commemorative patch and entrance to the National D-Day memorial the day of the event. All proceeds will be donated to the building of the Gold Star Family Monument which is expected to be placed and dedicated in 2017.

The ride will stage at Harley Davidson of Lynchburg on Timberlake Road the morning of Sept. 17 and will depart at 9:15 a.m. for a group escorted ride to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

Registration/staging for the run begins at 7 a.m. at Harley Davidson of Lynchburg.

For more information or to donate email: RTVACH4@gmail.com.

Amy Trent
The application process is now open, and the administration says the forms should take five minutes to complete. Get more info on that and more recent business news here.
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KESHORN MADE ME DRINK

Shane Ramcharan, 46, appeared before Magistrate Taramatee Ramdass in the San Fernando Magistrates Court yesterday, having been arrested at midnight Saturday along the Naparima Mayaro Road in Cocoyea, near the southern city.

Some four hours before, at about 8 pm, Walcott, defending his 2012 achievement of winning gold, had thrown the javelin in the finals of the 2016 competition and copped Trinidad and Tobagos only medal at the Rio Games.

Ramcharan pleaded guilty to the charge that the alcohol content in his breath was beyond the prescribed legal limit of 35 microgrames per 100 milliliters of breath.

The court police prosecutor, Sergeant Cassiram Lutchman, told Ramdass that during a roadblock exercise, Ramcharan was driving a vehicle when he was stopped by a police officer. He was administered a breathalyser test and, according to the prosecutor, the alcohol level was 79 mg per 100 ml of breath. He was charged with the offence of driving under the influence of alcohol. When the magistrate asked Ramcharan why he was out that time of the night driving a vehicle while drunk, he said that he was having a bit of a celebration with friends. Ramcharan said, I wanted to go home, but I was celebrating Keshorn Walcott javelin throw. Ramdass asked Ramcharan if he was alone at the time and he replied that he was with a group of friends. We was just celebrating the throw, it was a good throw, Ramcharan said. Ramdass told Ramcharan that celebrating is not an offence, but it is getting into a car while under the influence of alcohol in which one exceeds the legal limit, that has consequences.

The magistrate fined Ramcharan $6,000 and if he fails to pay, he will spend one year in jail with hard labour.

He was granted two months to pay. In the same court and before the same magistrate, a number of drivers pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and a few sought to justify it by telling Ramdass that they were unaware they were drunk.

Curt Gonzales, who said he had two shots of Puncheon rum and two beers, said, I was feeling normal. But how did you know you was feeling normal, Ramdass asked? I was seeing good, Gonzales replied. Ramdass said that it is impossible for a driver to ascertain whether his mental and physical faculties have not been compromised, if he or she had not been measured by some device, how they were functioning before they drank alcohol, and, afterwards.

She said, If you come here and said you had a few drinks but you were feeling normal, how can you tell. Go and get yourself tested before you drink, and afterwards. You cannot rely on your feelings, to determine whether beyond the legal limit, alcohol has, or not affected you. When Seuraj Boorilal, 28, of Siparia, appeared before the magistrate, he confessed, I had real plenty beers. His breath contained a whopping 146 micrograms of alcohol, which was 111 micrograms of alcohol over the legal limit.

Lutchman, told Ramdass, that at about 1.15 am on Sunday at La Fortune, Woodland on the outskirts of La Romaine, police officers were on a road-block exercise. PC Sujeet Ramcharan administered a breathalyser test to Boorilal. Ramdass heard that in February 2015, Boorilal was charged with a similar offence and he was made to pay a hefty fine.

Asked why the court should not consider sending him to jail, Boorilal said that he had no intention of driving that night and in fact was accompanied by a designated driver - a woman. But Boorilal told the magistrate that the woman had begun to vomit and he took the responsibility over from her to drive.

Ramdass asked him how much he had to drink and the defendant replied, I had real plenty. But why a young man like you drinking so much? the Magistrate asked. are you not concerned what would happen with your organs in your body?, Ramdass asked.

Because of his previous conviction, Ramdass fined Boorilal $15,000 or five years in jail, telling him that he was very fortunate a jail term was not imposed on him.

He was also told to hand over his drivers permit, which the magistrate ordered be suspended for the next two years
Union opens unemployment bureau

The unions President General, Nirvan Maharaj, said in a press release yesterday, that the service is free of charge to the national community .

Maharaj, an attorney at law, promised that interested persons would be contacted when positions arise within the companies serviced by the union as well as others seeking employees.

The union believes that the role of trade unions must also include addressing the concerns of those individuals within our society who are unemployed and actively seeking employment, Maharaj said.

He told Newsday that the bureau existed many years ago but initially had only catered for workers of the now defunct Caroni (1975) Limited. The union leader added that the current service caters not only for the ex-Caroni workers, but for all and thus it is an expansion of the bureau.

The Unemployment Bureau is headed by ATGWTU General Secretary, Rajindra Mohan.

All interested individuals are asked to deliver a copy of their resume/curriculum vitae (CV) at the unions office located at Southern Main Road, Rienzi Complex, Exchange Village, Couva. Interested persons can contact the union at 636-2354 for further information.
UWI students must pay new fee

This according to a media release issued on Sunday by the UWI.

The release states the new fee is not a Guild fee, a second Caution Fee or an increase in tuition, but rather it is a fee exclusively proposed for the development and enhancement of student amenities as well as to support services provided to students through the Division of Student Services and Development.

There is the offer of a staggered payment option with the fee payable in two instalments of $250, one per semester, to account for the total annual fee of $500. It should be noted that this provision applies only to this academic year 2016/2017, as the inaugural year.

However, students who are in a position to pay the full annual Student Amenities Fee at the beginning of academic year 2016/2017 are encouraged to do so.

For students requiring such, an extended deadline for the payment of the Semester I instalment of $250 is offered up to September 30, 2016.

A commitment is made that there will be no holds on student accounts before this deadline date.

Students with special cases of financial hardships are encouraged to consult the Financial Advisory Services section in the Division of Student Services and Development. Yesterday, Newsday spoke to president of the UWI St Augustine Guild of Students, Makesi Peters, who expressed his overall satisfaction with the introduction of the fee and said it was far less than similar fees being paid at other campuses in the region.

When you look at some of the other fees that are being paid, sometimes in the sum of $800, this is really better for our students, he said.

Peters added that money received by the UWI, through the Student Amenities Fee, would be regulated by the Guild of Students to ensure the maximum use of finances and to prevent any wastage.
School supplies costing more

Shania, a mother of one, revealed that she has spent over $1,500 to purchase supplies for her child who is at primary school. Marcia, another parent also stated that this year she has spent an average of $1,900 to buy school supplies for her child who is going into standard four but last year she only spent about $1200. The increased price is said to not only affect textbooks but uniforms as well.

A single mother who said her children are in standard two and fourth form is not happy with the fact that the Ministry of Education is no longer providing textbooks for the students in primary school. This she says has made it even more challenging for her this year, and although the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport (DEYAS) Student Support Services provides assistance, she does not believe her situation qualifies her for this.

Some parents like Christina Grant are employing cost saving measures by sewing her childs school uniforms.

Because of this she said it has not been difficult to purchase school items for her child who is entering first form
US: We See

No Signs

Putin Will

Use Dirty Bomb
(Newser)  The murder made national headlines last year because of the bizarre circumstances: A young Missouri woman and her boyfriend were charged with killing her motherafter the mother had forced the daughter to grow up pretending to be sickly and disabled. Now Michelle Dean at BuzzFeed takes a long look at the case involving Gypsy Blanchard and her mom, Dee Dee. It follows the years of lies Dee Dee told doctors, friends, and family about Gypsy: that she had muscular dystrophy, cancer, chromosome defects, a feeble mind, etc., and that she needed a wheelchair because she couldn't walk. Except none of it was true. Dee Dee seems to have had Munchausen by proxy syndrome, meaning she faked her daughter's ailments for sympathy or perhaps the charitable donations that poured in.

Unbeknownst to Dee Dee, Gypsy began reaching out via the Internet late at night and struck up a relationship with Nick Godejohn, who would become her secret boyfriend. Prosecutors say that they conspired to kill Dee Dee and that he wielded the knife. Gypsy, who thought she was 19 at the time but was actually 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is eligible for parole in 2023. Godejohn still faces trial. Gypsy tells Dean that she believed much of what her mom had told her over the years, though she was aware, for example, that she could walk. "This time is good for me," she says of prison. "I've been raised to do what my mother taught me to do. ... She taught me to lie, and I don't wanna lie." Click for the full story, in which Gypsy's father (her parents are divorced) recalls his astonishment at seeing his daughter walk in a courtroom video. (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  A Hungarian member of the European Parliament stirred controversy Monday by suggesting that displaying pig heads on a border fence would be an efficient way to scare Muslim migrants from entering the EU-member country, the AP reports. Gyorgy Schopflin, a member of ruling Hungarian Fidesz party, made that suggestion in response to criticism of local people who have put carved root vegetable, human-face-like masks along the border, believing they would repel migrants. He said: "Human images are haram (religiously prohibited.) But agree, pig's head would deter more effectively." Muslims are barred from eating pork because pigs are considered unclean.

Over the weekend, Human Rights Watch director Andrew Stroehlein had written: "Refugees are fleeing war & torture, Hungary. Your root vegetable heads will not deter them." In a follow-up tweet, Stroehlein said: "Pig heads an ugly idea. Worse is reality of Hungary border abuses with violence against kids." In comments to Hungarian website mandiner.hu, Schopflin said that Monday that the issue was a storm in a teacup. "I did not humiliate anyone. I don't think it humiliates anyone if I say that the pig's head is haram, meaning that it is forbidden. This is certainly a statement of fact." The vegetable heads along the border with Serbia have been first reported by Hungarian media last week. There has reportedly been no effort by Hungarian police to remove them. (Read more refugees stories.)
(Newser)  An alibi witness for a man whose murder conviction was re-examined in the popular Serial podcast told two classmates more than 16 years ago she would lie to help him, the Maryland attorney general's office wrote in court filings Monday. Officials wrote that two sisters who were classmates of the witness at Woodlawn High School approached the AG's office this summer, after a judge ordered a new trial for Adnan Syed, the AP reports. The sisters gave sworn statements saying they got into a 1999 argument with the witness, Asia McClain, who has said she saw Syed at the Woodlawn library about the same time Hae Min Lee was murdered and buried in a shallow grave in a Baltimore park that year.

Syed was convicted in 2000 of murdering Lee, his former high school girlfriend. He was sentenced to life in prison. "I very much remember, as does (my sister) having a conversation with Asia in our co op class about Asia saying she believed so much in Adnan's innocence she would make up a lie to prove he couldn't have done it," one of the classmates wrote in the email. The attorney general's office is asking that the sisters' affidavits be used in court if McClain's alibi claim is introduced. In a statement Monday, McClain's attorney said they "question the timing of these bizarre, and wholly factually untrue, allegations," the Baltimore Sun reports. (Read more Serial stories.)
(Newser)  Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's autopen has had a busy month. The Democrat announced Monday that he has signed papers restoring voting rights to 13,000 former felons, and he's working on restoring rights to up to 193,000 more, reports the Virginian-Pilot. McAuliffe signed an order in April restoring voting rights to 206,000 nonviolent and violent felons. After the Virginia Supreme Court struck the order down last month, McAuliffe vowed to restore rights case by casestarting with the 13,000 who had already registered to vote. The process uses "the clear authority the governor possesses to use his own discretion to restore rights of people who have served their time," he said Monday.

The move was denounced by Republicans who saw it as an effort to get more Democratic voters on the rolls in time for November. Donald Trump told a rally in Virginia Monday that the governor is "getting thousands of violent felons to the voting booth in an effort to cancel out the votes of both law enforcement and crime victims," reports the New York Times, which notes that Virginia is one of just four states to permanently strip felons of voting rights. A McAuliffe aide tells NBC News that the governor hopes to "restore as many Virginians' rights as expeditiously as possible," though he can't say how many more cases will have been dealt with by the Oct. 17 deadline for registering to vote. (Read more Virginia stories.)
(Newser)  It was one of the strangest invasions in Canadian history: An armada of around 1,500 partying Americans on inner tubes and plastic rafts ended up in Canada after strong winds swept them from the Michigan side to the Ontario side of the St. Clair River during an annual rafting event Sunday, reports Reuters. Cops and the Canadian Coast Guard had to rescue hundreds whose rafts had deflatedand talk some of them out of trying to swim all the way back to the US. "They were terrified of entering another country without documentation. No one carries their passport or any ID, and a lot were drinking alcohol," Coast Guard search and rescue chief Peter Garapick tells the CBC.

Authorities in Sarnia, Ontario, say this year's weather conditions made it impossible for people taking part in the Port Huron Float Down event to paddle back to the US, reports the Blackburn News. "The people who take part in this are not mariners," Garapick says. "They don't look at the wind, the weather and the waves. We knew from the get-go, the winds were going to cause a problem." No major injuries were reported, and after the rescue, Sarnia Transit buses made 20 trips to bring all the Americans home. "You've shown us true kindness and what it means to be amazing neighbors," organizers wrote on the event's Facebook page. (Last month, two young Canadians playing Pokemon Go accidentally ended up in Montana.)
(Newser)  A Massachusetts teen accused of raping two unconscious teens at a house party in April has been sentenced by a Palmer judge to two years' probation, the New York Daily News reports. The case was ordered continued without a finding for two years, meaning if 18-year-old David Becker gets through his probation without flouting its conditionsincluding not contacting his victims and staying away from drugs and boozehe'll walk away with no recorded conviction and won't have to register as a sex offender, reports the Republican. "We all made mistakes when we were 17, 18, 19 years old, and we shouldn't be branded for life with a felony offense," says Becker's lawyer, Thomas Rooke, noting that a jail sentence would have "destroyed" Becker's life, including his reputation as a star athlete who performed community service.

The "mistake" Becker was accused of, per court documents: heading upstairs with the two 18-year-old female victims to go to sleep after the April 2 party ended, only for the women to wake up (all three reportedly fell asleep on the same bed) to find Becker assaulting them with his finger. Per the police report, Becker said he hadn't had sexual contact with one of the young women, and that the other teen hadn't stopped him, so he figured it was OK, WWLP reports. One of the victims told cops that she had heard rumors of Beckercalled "David the Rapist" by some of her friends, she saidassaulting other women, claims that Rooke tells the Republican have been debunked. Thanks to his probation, Rooke says Becker can now lead a "productive life without being burdened with the stigma" of sex offender status and head to college. (This former CU student was found guilty of sexual assault but was spared prison.)
(Newser)  After months of headlines about the heavy drinking culture at Stanford thanks to the Brock Turmer rape case, the university has announced new rules on drinking: No more hard alcohol at undergrad parties, reports the Stanford Daily. Beer and wine are still OK, but no booze more than 40 proof or 20% alcohol by volume. Undergrads can still keep hard alcohol in their dorm rooms, provided the bottles are smaller than 750ml. Our intention is not a total prohibition of a substance, but rather a targeted approach that limits high-risk behavior," says a school official. Critics, however, think the new rules carry risks of their ownspecifically, students "pre-gaming" in their rooms before parties.

I actually think this is putting students in danger, Stanford law professor Michele Landis Dauber, who has been critical of the school's sexual assault policies, tells the Guardian. Its going to drive it underground  and encourage this super quick consumption not in a public area. The Turner case "highlighted for many womens advocates how sex assault cases are often trivialized as a result of the college drinking culture," observes the San Francisco Chronicle, though a campus spokeswoman says the new policy is not directly related to the case. (Read more Stanford University stories.)
(Newser)  After some presumably very tense negotiations, the kidnapped son of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been freed by his captors, multiple sources tell CNN. Jesus Alfredo Guzmannot older brother Ivan, who was named in earlier reportswas among six people gunmen seized from a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, a week ago. A relative tells AFP that all six are now "free and well" and back in Sinaloa state, the home turf of Guzman's Sinaloa cartel. The kidnappers are believed to be members of the rival Jalisco New Generation cartel, which counts Puerto Vallarta as part of its territory.

A source close to the investigation tells CNN that the younger Guzman was supposed to be part of the Sinaloa cartel's new leadership after his father's recapture earlier this year, but he has "been partying a lot" and was kidnapped after being "caught off guard" at the upscale restaurant. "It's a grave error that is going to cost them a lot, either in life or in a very costly negotiation," Guillermo Valdes, former director of Mexico's intelligence services, told the AP after the kidnapping. "If you're in a fight with these gentlemen of the Jalisco New Generation, you don't go to their territory without bodyguards." (Read more Joaquin Guzman stories.)
(Newser)  Seven weeks into Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs and crime, nearly 1,800 people are dead and human rights groups are outraged, Time reports. Officials had previously placed the death toll from the drug crackdown at 900, but the national police chief told a Senate hearing on Monday that 712 people have been killed since June 30 and another 1,067 drug-related killings are under investigation. Sen. Leila de Lima, a Duterte critic, demanded answers, calling the slayings unprecedented, Reuters reports. "I am disturbed that we have killings left and right as breakfast every morning," she said. Since Duterte, 71, was elected in a May landslide victory, the former mayor known as "the Punisher" has promised to butcher criminalsand urged ordinary citizens to do the same. "Shoot him and I'll give you a medal," Duterte said.

Shocking photos show bound and bloodied suspected drug dealers, with signs around their necks proclaiming their crimes, CNN reports; one photo showed a woman cradling her dead lover in the street where he was shot, a sign reading "I'm a pusher" by his side. Duterte's response: "You end up sprawled on the ground and you are portrayed in a broadsheet like Mother Mary cradling the dead cadaver of Jesus Christ. Well, that's very dramatic." Duterte has shrugged off outrage with similar bravado and threatened to declare martial law. In comments that have raised alarms in Washington, Duterte on Sunday threatened leave the "stupid" UN if that body butts in. But his foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, later reversed course and said Duterte's tough talk sprang from "profound disappointment and frustration, Reuters notes. (Read more Rodrigo Duterte stories.)
(Newser)  Career criminals often keep their outside "ventures" going while they're incarcerated, but Waseem Akhtar may soon be running Pakistan's largest city20 million residents and countingfrom behind bars. It's likely Akhtar, representing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, will become mayor of Karachi on Wednesday, the Guardian reports. But the wrench is that he's been in the city's central prison for a month already, jailed for alleged crimes such as instigating riots nearly a decade ago and hooking terrorists up with medical assistance. An MQM senator says an office for Akhtar in the prison facility will be requested, noting, "Obviously he should be on the ground to do his work, but we just have to work around it."

The Financial Times notes logistical issues that may arise during Akhtar's presumed mayoral tenure: The mayor's office is typically staffed with waiters and a chauffeur; one government official tells the paper there's not even a room big enough to call a city meeting in prison. "I suspect the new mayor may have to authorize his deputy mayor to preside over some of the meetings," that official notes. The self-described secular MQM party has long been at (often violent) odds with Pakistan's military: The MQM's leader, Altaf Hussain, lives in self-imposed banishment in London and gave a televised speech this week in which he proclaimed, "Pakistan is cancer for [the] entire world," per the Times. Akhtar faces "years" in prison if convicted. ("Pakistan's Kim Kardashian" was recently murdered in an "honor killing" by her own brother.)
(Newser)  What better way to thank the firefighters risking their lives to put out a forest fire in your community than by robbing them blind? Such is the case for US Forest Service firefighters as they arrived at a landfill Wednesday morning outside of Clearlake, Calif., ready to start working to contain the Clayton fire, Lake County News reports. A white Chevy pickup truck with two men inside was driving away just as they got there, and when the firefighters examined their bulldozers, which they used to create fire containment lines, there were shoe prints (not the firefighters') on and near the bulldozers. Further investigation revealed a bunch of the firefighters' gear to help them fight the blaze had been lifted from the vehicles, including a chainsaw, an emergency fire shelter, and a portable GPS unit.

Clearlake cops spotted a vehicle matching the Chevy's description later that day rendezvousing with another truck, and they say most of the stolen gear (sans the GPS device) was found inside the trucks. Drivers Larry Hunter, 52, and Paul Albini, 47both sporting footwear that matched the footprints found on the bulldozerswere arrested and charged on suspicion of grand theft and possession of methamphetamine, the Press Democrat reports. Bail for each was set at $15,000 before their scheduled Tuesday arraignments. (A California wildfire recently took out an iconic diner.)
(Newser)  Before the new owner of a home in Friendswood, Texas, could even hook up the appliances, an entirely different kind of hookup apparently took place inside. At least, that's how it appears after the real estate agent who sold the property was arrested for allegedly having sex inside the home the day after the closing, the Houston Chronicle reports. Kayla Marisa Seloff, 22, and Joshua Gene Leal, 27, were arrested early Saturday after a neighbor heading to work reported seeing two people enter the vacant home, then flashes of light from inside, CW39 reports. Police say that when they showed up, they peeked into a window and saw Seloff and Leal on the floor in one of the rooms and that the two initially tried to hide as officers gained entrance.

Eventually the pair emerged to talk with police, who say Seloff at first tried to pass off the home as hers, claiming Leal as her husband and the home as their own recently purchased abode. But when cops asked for proof, Seloff came up short and confessed to being the home seller, not the home dweller. The actual new owner said Seloff wasn't allowed to be there and agreed to charges for both for criminal trespass. It's not clear if Seloff was charged for the marijuana pipe and small stash of pot cops say they found in her car when she went to get her ID. (A California real estate agent found himself in trouble for his promotional video.)
(Newser)  In a tale of perseverance rivaling that of Westley looking for Buttercup in The Princess Bride, NASA never gave up on STEREO-B, a spacecraft that went missing 22 months ago while studying the sun. But CNN is now sharing the good news that the space agency has regained contact with the vessel using its Deep Space Network (think a juiced-up space version of our more Earth-focused telecommunications systems). Per the NASA website, the DSN "established a lock" with STEREO-Bthe "STEREO" part stands for "Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory"just before 6:30pm on Sunday. STEREO-B had been hurled into space in October 2006 alongside companion craft STEREO-A, sent out with a joint mission to study matter and energy flow between sun and Earth, with one of the crafts inside the Earth's orbit and one outside of it, per Gizmodo.

Things went amiss in October 2014, however, when the team decided to test a reset timer on STEREO-B designed to keep the craft working when it eventually moved to the opposite side of the sun and lost contact for more than three months. But the test went awry, and STEREO-B fell off the radar. The STEREO team didn't give up, tapping into the DSN's powerful radio antennas for nine hours a week to reestablish contact. But even though STEREO-B is now back in scientists' sights, a STEREO team member tells Business Insider "the very hard and scary work is just beginning": When they turn STEREO-B's computer system back on to check its condition, they'll have about two minutes before its battery drains to send a fix to keep its solar recharging system working. As for STEREO-A, its been chugging along nonplussed this whole time. (NASA's research is now onlinefor free.)
(Newser)  Five people are homeless after a man's afternoon of aggressive pruning went awry. WNEP reports Raymond Mazzarella of Pennsylvania was upset because sap from the branches of his neighbor's tree was dripping onto his car. So he decided to take a chainsaw to the tree's 3-foot-wide trunk. "Where he thought it was going to go, I don't know," a code enforcement officer says. Where the tree went was directly onto Mazzarella's apartment building.

Authorities ended up condemning the building after the tree landed on it, displacing five people that lived there. The Red Cross is helping relocate them. Authorities say Mazzarella returned to the condemned building Monday and got into a confrontation with a neighbor. He allegedly attacked the neighbor with his fists and a bat and was arrested. Mazzarella has been charged with assault and harassment. (Read more trees stories.)
New Delhi:

The flood situation remained grim in various parts of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. A woman delivered baby on a boat in Banda area of the state amid the worsening floods. Meanwhile, the Centre on Monday night rushed 10 NDRF teams to flood-hit areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in order to launch massive relief and rescue operations to help those marooned in these states.



NDRF Director General OP Singh said the teams are in addition to the 56 such contingents which are undertaking flood combat operations in these two states, besides Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The DG also briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with full updates of the flood situation in these states late in the night.



In order to launch massive operations in the two worst-affected states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the NDRF has created on-ground control rooms in these two states and deputed two senior Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) S S Guleria (Patna) and R K Rana (Varanasi) to take control of the situation. Earlier on Monday, the NDRF said it had rescued more than 26,000 people from the flood-ravaged areas of these states.



So far, the NDRF teams have evacuated more than 26,400 people from various flood-prone areas in the country this monsoon season. Besides the rescue work, these teams have provided medical care to the more than 9,100 people in these States, the NDRF said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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New Delhi:

Kannada actor-politician Ramya (Divya Spandana) is facing sedition case for praising Pakistan after attending a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference in Islamabad recently.A

Ramya, 33, who is a member of Congress since 2011, was referring to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement that "going to Pakistan is like going to hell" as she said, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."



Ramya has drawn flak from political activists, who are calling her "anti-national". Moreover, a sedition case has also been filed by a lawyer against Ramya in a court in Kodagu in southern Karnataka.



The lawyer, Katnamane Vittal Gowda, has reportedly said that he was "appalled" by Ramyaas praise for Pakistan. Ramya has also been trolled on Twitter for her controversial remarks.

Meanwhile,A industrialist and Chairman of Steel major Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) Naveen Jindal has come out in support of Ramya on Twitter, saying "they are more hospitable than us."

"Have myself experienced the hospitality of Pak shopkeepers as member of Indian shooting team for SAF games; they are more hospitable than us," Mr Jindal wrote on Twitter.

"This is absurd. Why should one not praise the hospitality of neighbouring countries?" he wrote.

This is absurd. Why should one not praise the hospitality of neighbouring countries? https://t.co/ZSglhmaFUJ a Naveen Jindal (@MPNaveenJindal) August 23, 2016

Have myself experienced the hospitality of Pak shopkeepers as member of Indian shooting team for SAF games; they are more hospitable than us a Naveen Jindal (@MPNaveenJindal) August 23, 2016

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Istanbul:

Turkish authorities scrambled today to identify a child suicide bomber acting on the orders of Islamic State jihadists who killed 54 people including several children at a Kurdish wedding close to the Syrian border.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the IS group needed to be completely pushed out of the border zone inside Syria, as activists said Ankara-backed rebels were preparing an offensive against the group.

The attack late Saturday on a crowded street wedding in the city of Gaziantep was the latest in a devastating series of bombings in Turkey at a time when the country is riven by internal upheaval and shaken by the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the bomber was aged between 12 and 14 and that initial findings showed it had been perpetrated by Daesh (IS).

Media said the majority of those dead were children or teenagers, with 29 of the 44 victims identified so far aged under 18. At least 22 victims were under 14, a Turkish official added.

There were no further details on the bomber, but Erdogan said IS had been trying to position itself in Gaziantep, which lies just 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Syria and is a major hub for refugees from the more than five-year civil war.

The death toll rose to 54 after three more died in hospital in the early morning, the Dogan news agency reported.

Sixty-six people were still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition. Television pictures showed fire brigade workers hosing down the area of the attack with water in a clean-up.

The Hurriyet daily said DNA tests were under way to ascertain the bombers identity, nationality and gender.

The bomber may have come over the border from Syria but IS is also known to have built homegrown cells inside Turkey in Gaziantep and even Istanbul, wrote its well-connected columnist Abdulkadir Selvi.

He said Turkish security forces believed the attack had been timed as retaliation by jihadists for offensives both by Kurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forces against IS in Syria.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, hundreds of rebel fighters were preparing inside Turkish territory to launch an offensive on the IS-held Syrian town of Jarablus.

Without explicitly confirming the rebel offensive, Cavusoglu said Turkey backed anyone fighting against IS and would itself fight the group to the end.

Our border must be completely cleansed from Daesh, he said in televised remarks, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

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Paris:

Former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy launched a fresh bid on Monday to win back the presidency, announcing he would seek the nomination of his centre-right party to run in next years election.

The pugnacious 61-year-old conservative, who was deeply unpopular by the end of his five years as president, had made no secret of his ambition to reconquer the top office.

I have decided to be a candidate in the 2017 presidential election, Sarkozy, who was voted out of office in 2012, wrote in the foreword to a new book Tout pour la France (All for France) due out later this week.

France demands that you give her your all.

I feel I have the strength to lead the fight at such a turbulent moment in our history, he wrote in the book extract seen by AFP, alluding to the string of terror attacks that have rocked the country in the past year and a half.

His aides told AFP he would be stepping down today as the leader of the Republicans party to focus on his campaign.

This book is the starting point, Sarkozy tweeted, together with a link to the foreword.

The next five years will be filled with danger but also with hope, he wrote.

Sarkozy listed five main challenges in the years ahead: keeping promises made to the nation, defending national identity, restoring lost competitiveness, enforcing state authority and striving to restore confidence and hope in the future.

His announcement that he will seek his partys nomination at a primary in November comes in the midst of a resurgent debate over the place of Islam in French society, encapsulated in the row over the Islamic burkini swimsuit.

Sarkozy said Frances principal battle was over how to defend our lifestyle without being tempted to cut ourselves off from the rest of the world.

The opposition leader, who has repeatedly dismissed Socialist President Francois Hollande as weak, said he would also restore authority in neighbourhoods where he said minorities are successfully blackmailing the current authorities.

The politician, who was defeated in his bid for reelection in 2012 after conducting a campaign seen by many in his own camp as too right-wing, faces several challengers for the conservative nomination.

His chief rival, popular former premier and Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppe who is seen as a moderate, is the favourite to win the nod.

But Juppes lead in opinion polls has shrunk in recent weeks as Sarkozy steps up his rhetoric on Islamist extremists and immigration in the wake of last months massacre in Nice.

War has been declared on us, Sarkozy said in an interview with Valeurs Actuelles magazine in mid-August.

The barbarians who are attacking us believe we are weak, he said, calling for a merciless response.

Sarkozy has already won the support of a Republicans heavyweight in the shape of Christian Estrosi, president of the southern region that includes Marseille.

He is the best candidate, Estrosi told the Journal de Dimanche yesterday.

If Sarkozy wins, he could face a rematch against Hollande, who has said he too has the desire for a second term, despite opinion polls overwhelmingly showing the French wanting neither man as their leader.

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Chandrapur:

Burdened with heavy school bags, two seventh grade boys held a press conference here to highlight the plight of students who carry a load of 5-7 kg on their shoulders daily to attend classes.

Media persons at the local Press Club were taken aback yesterday when the duo from local Vidya Niketan School, walked in and expressed their desire to hold a conference on the daily hardships they face due to the burdensome bags.

We carry a minimum of 16 books for 8 subjects daily and sometimes their number increases to 18 or 20, depending on the subjects for which the classes would be held for the day. Our school bags weigh between 5 and 7 kg and it's exhausting to carry them to our classroom located on the third floor, the boys, aged around 12 years, told reporters here.

We had given applications to our principal to consider reducing the weight of school bags a couple of times but the same failed to evoke any response, they claimed.

In some cases, parents help their kids by carrying their bags to the classroom, they said.

As per the directives of Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra government had earlier this year issued circular issuing guidelines on reduction of weight of school bags carried by students on the recommendations of a committee.

The state had informed the High Court that it had also fixed the responsibility on principals and school management to follow the circular and would take action against those not obeying this rule.

According to government pleader, there are 1.06 lakh schools in the state and the circular is binding on them.

To a query, whether the students were aware of the circular, they replied in negative.

The boys also offered some alternatives to resolve this problem.

They suggested that the authorities make arrangements for keeping their daily workbooks in school or reduce the number of periods per day.

There are 8 periods a day on average for which we have to carry textbooks for each subject along with their respective workbooks. In addition, few more books also need to be carried, on some of the weekdays, which prove to be cumbersome, they said.

On any possible disciplinary action by school authorities, the two boys said their demands are just and do not anticipate any problem.

When asked if the school fails to address the grievance, the two said they would go on a hunger strike till their demands are fulfilled

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Junagadh:

A journalist was allegedly murdered by some unidentified persons at the office of a newspaper, he was working within Gujarats Junagadh district.

Kishore Dave (53) was stabbed to death at the office of a Gujarati daily at Vanjari chowk around 9.30 PM yesterday, Superintendent of Police Nilesh Jajadiya said.

Dave was the bureau chief of the newspaper which is published from Rajkot, he said.

He was stabbed six-seven times with the knife. From injury marks, it appears that personal enmity could be a reason behind the murder, Jajadiya said.

Daves body was sent for postmortem and police have launched a probe into the murder after registering a case against unidentified assailants at Junagadh B division police station.

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New Delhi:

Sticking to her controversial remark that Pakistan is not hell, actor and politician Ramya aka Divya Spandana on Tuesday told News Nation that her statement has been blown out of proportion and that BJP was playing politics over it.

Ramya is facing sedition case for praising Pakistan after attending a SAARC Young Parliamentarians Conference in Islamabad recently. Ramya, 33, who is a member of Congress since 2011, was referring to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement that "going to Pakistan is like going to hell" as she said, "Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well."

Below are the excerpts from her interview:

#I am not surprized because everybody is being slapped with sedition case

#This is exactly what BJP does. They try to misuse the law. They file sedition cases against anybody who is entitled to an opinion

#BJP is trying to supress the freedom of speech

#People in Pakistan were really nice to us

#Don't know why people have taken offence to that statement. All I said was that I disagree with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar that "Pakistan is hell."

#Pakistan is definitely not hell. Pakistan is just like us and we were treated well there.

#My statement is being politicised



Ramya has drawn flak from political activists, who are calling her "anti-national". Moreover, a sedition case has also been filed by a lawyer against Ramya in a court in Kodagu in southern Karnataka.

The lawyer, Katnamane Vittal Gowda, has reportedly said that he was "appalled" by Ramyas praise for Pakistan. Ramya has also been trolled on Twitter for her controversial remarks.

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New Delhi :

With Bihar battling floods despite receiving less than normal rains, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the Centres intervention as he insisted that desilting the river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods.

Modi offered assurance to him, saying immediate and positive action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a national silt management policy, Kumar told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister.

He also linked the Modi governments ambitious Namami Gange project with better silt management in Bihar, saying if attention is not paid to the situation, then it will also put a question mark on the programmes success as he feels like crying at the condition of Ganga in the state.

The very serious condition that we see today never occurred earlier. The only way to get rid of this is desiltation. There is a need for national silt management policy, he said.

He urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the unprecedented situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.

The Prime Minister assured me that experts will be sent and a decision on this subject should be taken soon. Immediate and positive action will have to be taken, he said.

The Chief Minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years.

Though Bihar has received 14 per cent less rains than normal during the monsoons, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rain fall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it.

Kumar also appeared to blame Farakka barrage for the situation. He has earlier held it responsible for increasing siltage in the Ganga river basin.

Due to silt, Ganga could not store the amount of water it used to earlier, leading to flood-like condition despite not receiving proportionate amount of rain fall, he said.





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Lucknow:

In the past five months, 1,012 cases of rapes and 4,520 of harassment of women have been registered in Uttar Pradesh, the UP government said on Tuesday.

From Mar 15, 2016 to Aug 18 this month, 1,012 cases of rapes, 4,520 cases of women harassment, 1,386 of loot and 86 cases of dacoity have been reported in the state, the government said in a written reply to a question by BJP member Satish Mahana in the state assembly.

For effective check on such crimes, crime branch has been constituted in every district under Additional SP (crime), it said.

The reply said that through web-based crime mapping hotspots of crimes are being identified and effective patrolling is ensured.

In July, the government was sent into a tizzy after a Noida-based mother and her teenage daughter were gangraped on Delhi-Mathura highway by a group of bandits. The bandits stopped their moving vehicle forcibly and beat up their family members before raping the two for hours on

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London,:

A 71-year-old Bangladeshi-origin imam, who was bludgeoned to death in February, was killed by two ISIS supporters because they viewed his practice of Islamic healing as "black magic", prosecutors have told a UK court.



Jalal Uddin was attacked in a children's play area in Rochdale, near Manchester, on the evening of this year.

The imam was targeted after he left the mosque where he usually prayed, ate a meal at a friend's house and then walked home, Manchester Crown Court heard.



"Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, the defendant, and an associate of his named Mohammed Abdul Kadir were supporters of ISIS and so they subscribed to the view that those who practised Ruqya (Islamic healing) deserved such punishment," Prosecutor Paul Greaney said.



"Jalal Uddin was a practitioner of a form of Islamic healing called Ruqya. ISIS regards this practice as black magic and adheres to the view that those who engage in it deserve severe punishment, even death," he said.



Syeedy and Kadir, both in their early 20s, are believed to have murdered Uddin with a hammer after stalking him for months, the court was told at an ongoing trial this week.



"These injuries were plainly not the result of a robbery gone wrong. On the contrary, they were obviously the result of an attack that was planned -- why else did the killer have a hammer with him in a children's park? -- motivated by hatred and by a desire to humiliate Jalal Uddin and undoubtedly

intended to kill or, at the very least, cause really serious harm," Greaney said.



Uddin was found severely injured by two young girls, one of whom recognised him because he taught her the Quran, the court heard.

Jurors were told that Syeedy accepts that Kadir murdered Uddin and that he was with his accomplice, before and after the killing.



The case continues and is expected to conclude next month.

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New Delhi :

A three-and-a-half-year old boy was crushed under the wheels of his school van in front of his parents as he was dropped outside his house in Civil Lines area of north Delhi on Tuesday.

The victim, identified as Aviral, was a student of John Wesley School and he was dropped off by his school van around 2 PM outside his house in Shri Ram Railway Colony when the tragic incident took place.

The driver in a hurry could not see the kid standing in front of the van and mowed him down. He was rushed to Parmanand Hospital where he was declared brought dead, said Madhur Verma, DCP (north).

Parents of the boy were waiting to pick him up when the incident took place. The boy was dragged for several metres as the van driver failed to realise that Aviral had come under the wheels, police said.

As his parents raised an alarms along with the neighbours, the van stopped and the boy was taken from under the vehicle and rushed to the hospital in the same vehicle.

There were other children in the van when the incident happened.

The accused driver, Rahul, 28, was later arrested by the police.

A case under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304(A) (causing death by negligence) of IPC has been registered at the Civil Lines police station, said the officer.

The parents of the child were in utter pain and shock over the tragedy, he said.

Aviral had recently started going to school. His father Hitendra, a railway employee, used to drop and pick him up from the school, but had hired the van a month back.


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Earlier this month, reports of a "Wolf of Wall Street"-style bash at a lux rental home in the Hamptons that hosted revelers who allegedly broke property rules and prompted threats of a $1-million lawsuit against the host flooded the internet.

Now, the host, Brett Barna, a 31-year-old hedge fund manager who ultimately lost his position at Louis Bacon's Moore Capital Management when allegations arose claiming he and his guests of the Sprayathon event "trashed" the $20 million Hamptons mansion, is offering his side of the story, according to The New York Times.

RELATED: Instagram reveals 'Wolf of Wall Street-style' party that 'trashed' $20-million Hamptons mansion

After the July 3 party, the disgruntled owner of the estate spoke to The New York Post's Page Six under conditions of anonymity. This week, Barna spoke with The New York Times to tell his side of the story  one that names the man as Omar Amanat, arrested for alleged fraud days after the party.

According to The New York Times follow up, transactions between the two men began on Friday, July 1. Recommended by a real estate contact, Barna worked out a deal to host Sprayathon at the home under a 5-day rental for $27,000. The owner asked for the money to be paid in cash, immediately, Barna told the Times.

The following day, he arrived to find the property had been double-booked for the weekend and a separate party was occupying the inside of the home, but Barna went forward with the deal, he said.

Before the party took place, Barna told the site he received "repeated texts and calls" from Amanat asking for an additional $13,000.

In his statement to Page Six, Amanat claimed costumed dwarfs and attendees left the home awash in champagne showers, collapsed the side of a pool, broke into the house and stole art. However, Barna told the Times he took precautionary measures including hiring a "former police chief and eight security guards to keep the crowd outside and maintain order, and had eight portable seats set up" from noon until 6 p.m.

RELATED: Lake Travis boat parties flood social media as 2016 summer revelers take over

He insisted none of his party entered the home and has photos to prove "no visible damage." Barna also said his event was "good clean fun" which raised $100,000 to benefit Last Chance Animal Rescue by 500 guests, not "a thousand of them" as originally purported by Amanat.

"We raised money for charity," Barna continued in his New York Times interview. "Nothing illegal happened, and no one complained."

On the other hand, Amanat has allegedly been participating in illegal fraudulent activity, according to The New York Times.

Amanat, a 43-year-old who "is a co-founding investor and partner in more than 36 different media, finance and technology companies" according to his website, was arrested on July 13 by Federal Bureau of Investigations agents in New Jersey under charges unrelated to the Hamptons party, the Times reported.

He faces four counts of fraud for conspiring to defraud investors of Kit Digital, a technology startup, Bloomberg reported. Former Chief Financial Officer Robin Smyth pleaded guilty to fraud in March and the former CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman is awaiting extradition to the U.S. in Columbia.

Amanat's arrest was also covered by Page Six in an additional article, which made no mention of his situation with Barna despite initial coverage of the "Wolf of Wall Street" style party. The July 14 piece reported "Amanat can't afford to make bail."

RELATED: The rich kids of Instagram take Spring Break 2016

According to the site, Prosecutor Andrea Griswold challenged Amanat's claims of having only $2,700 in the bank, saying he resides in a $4.75 million rental home. His bond was set at $2.5 million, requiring three signers and "secured by $250,000 in cash or property."

The court ordered Amanat to be released under home confinement and electronic monitoring, due to government arguments that he is a flight risk, according to Page Six.

Amanat, who the Times reported has a "long list of disputes," was released from custody on July 26 and has declined to comment.

The suspect transaction made sense to Barna following the arrest  he told The New York times he presumes Amanat was pressuring him for extra cash to pay the bail of his impending legal troubles and demands were not satisfied, the media investor took his story to Page Six.

RELATED: Outrageous Austin mansion party, #ATXSpillover, was not 'expected or allowed,' venue owners say

"Omar knew exactly what he was doing when he planted this story," Barna told the New York Times. "His goal was to cream me in the press to pressure him into giving him more money."

Barna shared text messages with the site from Amanat's phone number illustrating aforementioned threats.

"I'll keep my cool for another 24 hours, then I'll handle things another way," one message said, followed by another stating "When you least expect it one night, something so unspeakably bad is going to happen to you (maybe it's karmic law, maybe it's a friend of me who heard what you did to me). Personally I won't do a thing to you."

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 5 of 5









A trial has been scheduled for June 2017 to decide whether Brookfield is responsible for paying the legal bills of its former Republican registrar of voters.

Former GOP Registrar Tom Dunkerton sued the town in May seeking that the town reimburse him more than $65,000 he owes attorney Ward Mazzucco. The expenses relate to Dunkertons legal defense in lawsuits filed against him by Brookfield resident Jane Miller.
NEW MILFORD  The town has agreed to provide health insurance to employees of the Childrens Center and Center Cemetery until the end of the year, and to reimburse part of the cost of their premiums after that.

But several Town Council members want to keep all 13 employees on the towns insurance plan, despite the arguments of Mayor David Gronbach and Personnel Director Gregory Bollaro that they should not be considered town employees since the town has no power in their hiring and firing.

Councilman Pete Bass requested at Mondays Town Council meeting that an ordinance be drafted for consideration at the councils next meeting allowing the Childrens Center to remain on the town plan.

But Gronbach and Bollaro contend that doing so would violate the terms of the towns agreement with Cigna, its insurance provider, and a town attorney has endorsed that view.

Employees of the Childrens Center and the Center Cemetery were told by letter June 11 that they would be dropped from the town health insurance plan beginning Oct. 1.

Childrens Center Executive Director Susan Johnston said at the time it would be forced to cut staffing and programs if it had to pick up the full cost of employee insurance.

After discussions over several weeks, a compromised was reached and presented at Mondays meeting.

Under that arrangement, the center would stay on the plan until the end of December because some employees have already met their deductibles. The center will then transition to a new plan with Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, partly subsidized by the town until the end of the fiscal year next June. The town could then decide whether to raise its annual $79,500 contribution to the center to help cover part of the insurance costs.

Johnston told council members that the center would prefer to stay on the towns insurance, but the compromise presented was the best option available in the open market.

The insurance agreement has also been offered to the cemeterys two employees.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345; @kkoerting
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Bats that have taken up residence in a state park restroom will be getting alternate housing, thanks to an Eagle Scout candidates project.

Nathan Lieske, 15, of Bozrah, built 20 bat boxes for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as his community service project to earn Scoutings highest honor. Some of the boxes are being installed at Black Rock State Park in Watertown, to coax the bats and their pups out of the bathroom, DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said Tuesday.

Nestled between screening and outer vents, the bats have spent the summer giving birth and raising their young hidden from view of all but the most observant park visitors, Schain said. The hope is that when crevices in the bathroom building are sealed off, that the bats will select the boxes as their new home when they return to the park from hibernating areas next spring.

Bats in Connecticut have faced dramatic population declines due to the impacts of white-nose syndrome, a disease that kills bats during hibernation.

As our single largest predator of night-flying insects, bats provide a tremendous ecological service, said deputy DEEP commisioner Susan Whalen. A colony of 150 big brown bats such as the ones at Black Rock State Park can eat nearly 1.3 million insects a year.

We are grateful that Nathans efforts have allowed our Parks and Wildlife Divisions to solve a management challenge in a way that helps a declining species and best of all keeps the bats here at Black Rock busy on insect patrol for many years to come, said Whalen.

For building plans for bat houses and a fact sheet on the mammals, go here.

Thousands of Connecticut cave bats  and more than a million in the Northeast  have been killed by white-nose syndrome, a grotesque fungal disease.

DEEP said this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the northern long-eared bat  once common in Connecticut and the Northeast  warranted protection as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
NEW MILFORD  Police had most of their detective work done for them when they arrived at a crime scene on Oct. 21, 2014.

Waiting for them at the scene of a break-in on Harmony Trail were two detectives from the Harrison, N.Y., police department. The detectives told them who the failed burglars were, and which house they had attempted to break into.

Rafael Sanchez, one of the men accused with the attempted burglary, appeared for the first time in state Superior Court in Bantam last Monday charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, and conspiracy to commit criminal mischief  both felonies.

According to court documents: New Milford police went to the Harmony Trail home after its alarm went off. When they arrived, two Harrison, N.Y., detectives told the officers that they had seen the whole thing, documents said. The New York detectives had been tracking Sanchez, 27, and another man, as part of an investigation into Harrison burglaries.

As the New York detectives were tailing them, Sanchez and the other man parked on Harmony Trail, and the other man went to the back of the home and broke a window in an attempt to get in, court documents said.

The alarm went off. And the two drove off, documents said.

In November 2014, New Milford police visited the other man accused of the break-in at Westchester County Jail. He had been arrested in New York later the same day police said he attempted the break-in in New Milford.

The man, 50, told police he didnt know anything about a New Milford break-in, documents said. But the man slipped, police said.

It wasnt like it was grand larceny, police said the man told them. Ill take the heat for the kid.

Upon a check into Sanchezs criminal history, police found that Sanchez had a history of burglary, assault, robbery, and criminal possession of a firearm charges, documents said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Sanchez last March, and he was arrested by the NMPD on Aug. 1.

He was released on a $10,000 bond. His next hearing is Sept. 14.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton
TORONTO, Aug. 23, 2016 /CNW/ - Curvalicious Canada is in search of twelve curvy Canadian women to be included in their 2017 Diva Calendar and be featured in a documentary showcasing their lives. Beginning Sept. 22, the Curvalicious team will be visiting eleven cities across Canada to find beautiful, confident, curvy-size women. The following cities will be included in their tour across Canada: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Saint John, Charlottetown, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax. Eligible candidates must be over the age of nineteen and be a size eight or more. Out of the twelve bold and bodacious women, one will be selected by the public to become the next Brand Ambassador will WIN a brand new 2017 car. Along with a sterling silver necklace, a spread in Fashion Addition 14+, be on the cover of Canada Plus Magazine and receive a one-year modeling contract with Canadian Curves Modeling Agency.

"I personally struggled with being plus-size since the birth of my oldest child 28 years ago, once being a size six, now I am a size 24. When I was sixteen, I met a guy and had three kids with him. It was a toxic relationship and he was mentally, physically and emotionally abusive. Finally, after seventeen years I left him and I started feeling a lot better about myself, inside and out. I learned the importance of loving myself. Now, eleven years later, I am telling woman my story and teaching them not to settle in any aspect of their lives. This event showcases beautiful, proud, curvy women who will impact the lives of other women through confidence and strength," said Tracey Crosson, Founder.

Curvalicious Canada doesn't believe in numbers because beauty goes beyond the scale, Curvalicious Canada invites Canadian women to "love and respect their curves." Proceeds from the calendar will go to the BBCA (Body Conference Canada Awards) and the NAAFA Canada Chapter (National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance). In support of all women, Curvalicious Canada will be donating toiletries to woman's shelters in cities across Canada.

Curvalicious Canada would like to thank Radisson Hotel, Holiday Inn, Best Western, Alt Hotel, Marriott, Hampton Inn by Hilton & Best Western for sponsoring their event venues. Other sponsors also include: Love This City TV, Blu Energy Drink Canada, Mary Kay, Avon, Airbonne, The Winston Box, Phoenix Jewellers, The Gatsby Lady, The Plus Factor, Curtis Borel Keller Williams Reality, Extra Ordinary Woman, Brand M3dia Group, Mingle Media Group, Life's Little Luxuries By Leanne & Elise Accessories.

Are you active, healthy and curvy? Curvalicious Canada is looking for women just like you. To register and learn more, visit www.curvycanadadiva.com.

CURVALICIOUS CANADA

Curvalicious Canada is an organization where plus-size people can find a place to be themselves and meet like-minded people. We invite you to connect with us and get involved in our various events.

Come to relax, party, meet new friends and be yourself without being judged.

SOURCE Curvalicious Canada

Video with caption: "Video: JOIN THE MOVEMENT - Curvalicious Canada www.curvycanadadiva.com is an organization where plus-size people can find a place to be themselves and meet like-minded people. We invite you to connect with us and get involved in our various events. Come to relax, party, meet new friends and be yourself without being judged.". Video available at: https://youtu.be/QvB_lLBNCUw

Image with caption: "JOIN THE MOVEMENT - Curvalicious Canada www.curvycanadadiva.com is an organization where plus-size people can find a place to be themselves and meet like-minded people. We invite you to connect with us and get involved in our various events. Come to relax, party, meet new friends and be yourself without being judged. (CNW Group/Curvalicious Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160823_C4938_PHOTO_EN_757650.jpg

For further information: Tracey Crosson, Curvalicious Canada, 647-889-6900, [email protected]
HAMILTON, ON, Aug. 22, 2016 /CNW/ - The federal Liberal government's "deafening silence" is sending a resounding message to 20,000 U.S. Steel Canada retirees suffering from the elimination of their crucial health benefits, the United Steelworkers (USW) says.

"Steel industry workers and pensioners were hoping for change when the Trudeau Liberals replaced the Harper Conservatives," said USW Ontario Director Marty Warren.

"As workers and pensioners suffer blow after blow, the deafening silence from the Liberals shows there is no real change. The Liberals continue where the Conservatives left off, leaving pensioners and workers on their own. It's business as usual," Warren said.

"Like the Conservatives before them, the Trudeau Liberals have failed U.S. Steel workers and pensioners. They've failed to support jobs, pensions and benefits, failed to expose the secret deals and failed to reform Canada's antiquated and damaging corporate bankruptcy laws," he said.

More than 20,000 U.S. Steel Canada pensioners suffered another brutal blow with Friday's Superior Court ruling that denied a motion to reinstate the pensioners' drug, dental, vision and other health benefits. The pensioners' benefits were suspended last fall, when the same court, overseeing U.S. Steel Canada's bankruptcy protection case, granted a request by the company.

In addition to rejecting the reinstatement of pensioners' health benefits, the judge in the case agreed to the company's request to pay a special bonus to managers  the second such bonus awarded to management during the restructuring process.

"Our members, our pensioners and people throughout our community are outraged to see benefits that categorically belong to retirees simply taken away with the stroke of a pen, while managers receive bonuses," said Gary Howe, President of USW Local 1005, representing U.S. Steel Canada employees in Hamilton.

"Just about everybody sees this for what it is  the brutal, heartless and unnecessary elimination of pensioners' benefits. Everybody except our courts and our government, who don't seem to care," Howe said.

"Giving more bonuses to management at a time when our pensioners are still going without benefits, it's ridiculous that this is still happening," said Bill Ferguson, President of USW Local 8782, representing U.S. Steel Canada employees in Nanticoke.

"Our pensioners shouldn't be forced to live off emergency government funds while managers give each other raises and bonuses," Ferguson said.

In its motion to the court seeking reinstatement of pensioners' benefits, the USW noted U.S. Steel Canada, while operating under the Companies' Creditor Arrangement Act (CCAA), has a positive cash flow of $150 million.

Furthermore, documents that were inadvertently made public have revealed that U.S. Steel Canada has paid its American parent, U.S. Steel, $123 million above market prices for steelmaking supplies such as coal and iron ore.

Restoring the pensioners' benefits, meanwhile, would cost $3.5 million per month.

"This sums up the disgrace of the CCAA process and the federal government's silence in this scandal," said Tony DePaulo, Assistant to the USW Ontario Director, who submitted affidavits to the court revealing the suffering of pensioners who have lost their benefits.

"It's a process that allows a corporation to take away retirees' benefits while it sits on $150 million in cash and overpays its parent company another $123 million for supplies," DePaulo said.

"Not only is the Trudeau government's silence deafening, it's hurting thousands of workers and pensioners."

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

For further information: Tony DePaulo, Assistant to the USW Ontario Director, 905-869-0760, [email protected]; Gary Howe, President, USW Local 1005, 905-531-4078, [email protected]; Bill Ferguson, President, USW Local 8782, 905-537-8782, [email protected]; Bob Gallagher, USW Communications, 416-544-5966, 416-434-2221, [email protected]
International Volunteer Program supports employees to work on Novartis-sponsored health initiatives in developing world.

DORVAL, QC, Aug. 23, 2016 /CNW/ - Two employees of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. (Novartis) in Dorval have returned home after a volunteer mission to Kenya during which they helped deliver much-needed healthcare services to rural areas of the African country.

Novartis established the International Volunteer Program (IVP) in 2009 to give Canadian associates the opportunity to work with a Novartis-sponsored health initiative in the developing world. This year, Patricia Tiramani and Tina Patafie were selected. While Novartis subsidized travel costs and volunteering days, both committed their own time for much of the three-week volunteering mission.

"The International Volunteering Program (IVP) allows us to extend employee engagement and corporate responsibility beyond our local footprint in Canada by enabling support to critical projects in other regions. We are proud that the IVP has been running in Canada for seven years and demonstrates the breadth of what can be accomplished when employers and volunteer organizations work together to help the global community," said Tim Maloney, President, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

Patricia, a Communications Manager at the Dorval head office, and Tina, a Sales Representative on Montreal's West Island, chose to work with the Familia Nawiri (Healthy Families) program, a Novartis "social venture." Social ventures like this are designed to build local and sustainable solutions that address healthcare challenges for communities in the developing world by tackling the issues that impact access to healthcare, such as education, infrastructure and distribution.

Familia Nawiri health camps

One of the major ways Familia Nawiri brings health services to Kenyans in rural and hard to reach areas is through health camps that are set up on weekends in rural schools. "I think of the camps as a pop-up hospital," said Patricia. "The Familia Nawiri through a contracted Third Party team sets up a clinic while the school is empty on the weekend and provides vital clinical services, tests and preventative care, as well as dispensing much-needed medications. It is incredible what they can do during one day."

Since the beginning of 2016, the health camps have served 6,860 patients. By the end of 2016, Familia Nawiri aims to have hosted 90 Health Camps in Kenya. "Having medical tests done and access to reliable medications is a vital part of the service, particularly since there is a wide problem in Kenya of stock outs at the public facilities and unsafe medication on the open market." said Tina.

Novartis first developed the Healthy Families (Arogya Parivar) model in 2007 in India and has since expanded the model to Indonesia, Vietnam and Kenya. Familia Nawiri was launched in Kenya in 2012.

Giving to communities in need

"It's one thing to read about or watch videos about the conditions in rural Africa but seeing it first-hand is very eye-opening," said Patricia. "Simple things can have profound consequences. For example, many rural schools don't have water, which can affect the quality of education. Simple acts like washing hands become very difficult when hundreds of students don't have access to running water."

Patricia and Tina also helped organize community health education meetings organized and facilitated by Familia Nawiri's Community Health Facilitators. During these meetings different health issues such as blood pressure, rational use of medicines, appropriate health seeking behaviors and diabetes were presented and discussed. Patricia and Tina also made a very welcome donation of school supplies to the schools where the health camps were held. The items were collected from their fellow Canadian Novartis colleagues before they left.

"It was an incredible learning experience for us and we are looking forward to see how we can continue to help now that we are back home," said Tina. "Kenyan communities need health programs that are sustainable to ensure long-term benefit."

About the International Volunteer Program

Through this program, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. has been extending its local community commitment to other communities in need around the globe by selecting and sponsoring associates each year to contribute their expertise as a free resource to one of many global partnerships. The program started in 2009 when one associate was chosen to participate in the Novartis "SMS for Life" program which provides greater access to life-saving malaria medicines for people in Tanzania. Since then employees have volunteered to work with programs in Indonesia, Vietnam, Argentina and India as well as Kenya.

About Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., a leader in the healthcare field, is committed to the discovery, development and marketing of innovative products to improve the well-being of all Canadians. In 2015, the company invested $53 million in research and development in Canada. Located in Dorval, Quebec, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. employs more than 700 people in Canada and is an affiliate of Novartis AG, which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. For further information, please consult www.novartis.ca.

About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2015, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.4 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 8.9 billion (USD 8.7 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

NPR/COR/0009 - E

SOURCE Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

For further information: Novartis Media Relations: Katrina Lucking, Novartis Pharma Communications, +1 514 633 7873, E-mail: [email protected]; Spectrum Advisors, +1 514 234 4095, [email protected]
COEguides460.jpg

Cornell Outdoor Education Odyssey guides, L-R, Eliza Weaver, Tanvi Naidu and Paul DeVito, knew what to do when they came across seriously injured,veteran hiker, William "Corky" Lowe in Vermont's Green Mountains.

(Jason Koski/Cornell University)

A group of 10 Cornell students on an outdoors outing in the Green Mountains in Vermont last week saved the life of a veteran hiker they came across who was seriously injured with a broken ankle.

The students, members of the Cornell Outdoor Education Odyssey group, were hiking at the time on the Green Mountain National Forest's Long Trail near Ripton.

William "Corky" Lowe, 69, who was out hiking with two friends, had slipped and fell, dislocating and breaking his ankle in three places, according to the Cornell Chronicle. The friends had fashioned a splint for Lowe's leg and one of them, Herb Armstrong, had gone to call 911. He ended up running into the Cornell students.

The Cornell contingent found Lowe about a half hour later on the ground in the rain, along with his friend, Bill Buccine, who had remained behind with him.

The Outdoor Odyssey group from Cornell in Vermont's Green Mountains.



The three guides for the Cornell group - Tanvi Naidu, '17; Eliza Weaver '17 and Paul DeVito,'18 -- all had Wilderness First Response and emergency medicine training under their belts thanks to Outdoor Odyssey program, said the Cornell Chronicle.



Howe was shivering and appeared to be in shock when they found him, Naudu said.

"The students put up a tarp, covered him with sleeping bags and boiled water for drinking and a hot water bottle to treat his hypothermia. Weaver also began calling for help and after several dropped calls go through just before noon," The Chronicle reported.

A fire department rescue team arrived after 2 p.m.

The Cornell group, consisting of the three guides, six incoming freshmen and a transfer student, assisted the volunteers in carrying the 240-pound Lowe in a Stokes basket down the mountainside, traveling on a steep, wet trail with lots of roots. The arduous, 4-mile trip down took 8 hours, The Chronicle said.

Emergency vehicles were waiting at the bottom, along with a bus for the students. Lowe was then transported to Vermont University Medical Center in Burlington, the Chronicle said.

"I have been long-distance hiking for over 40 years, and I am here to tell you that the COE team saved my life on that trail and displayed determination (to) succeed that was humbling," said Lowe, an emergency management coordinator and retired U.S. Army colonel from New Jersey.
1. South Korea and the United States have inaugurated a forum dedicated to expanding military technology collaboration. The new group is partly geared towards promoting collaboration on the project to develop the Korean Fighter Experimental (KFX) aircraft.

The Korean government allocated some 8.5 trillion won ($6.67 billion) to develop indigenous mid-level fighter jets to replace the Air Forces antiquated F-4 and F-5 aircraft. Another 9.6 trillion won is earmarked for the production of the 4.5th generation fighters, which are expected to outperform the KF-16-class fighters, bringing the total budget for the project to 18.1 trillion won.

KAI is expected to begin production of the KF-X in 2018, finish designing by September 2019 and come up with six prototype fighters by 2021, according to the DAPA. It will spend the next four years doing flight tests to complete development by 2026.

The overall focus of the program is producing a 4.5th generation fighter with higher capabilities than a KF-16 class fighter. Quantities of the resulting fighter are planned at 120 for the ROK Air Force and 80 for the Indonesian Air Force. South Korea plans to procure it from 2023 to 2030.

On 30 March 2015 KAI/Lockheed Martin was chosen for the KF-X contract over Korean Air and Airbus Defense.

2. Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine on Monday said a joint brigade of 4,000 troops would be operational next year, as the region maintains a wary eye on Russia and its role in the Ukraine conflict.

The multinational brigade is a sign, symbol and very clear signal to anyone who would want to undermine peace in Europe, Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said in a ministry statement.

While Lithuania and Poland are NATO and EU members, Ukraine is not but has been a part of the defense alliances Partnership for Peace eastern outreach program since 1994.

3. Indonesia and Ukraine have signed an agreement to expand co-operation in defence trade and military technologies, official statements in Jakarta have said. The agreement was signed during Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenkos visit to Indonesia, which ended 7 August.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) the two countries will explore areas of potential defence trade, featuring Ukrainian exports to Indonesia and followed by defence industrial co-operation.

SOURCES- Janes, Defense News, korea joongang daily, internet photos
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has advised Governor Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti state counterpart, Governor...

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has advised Governor Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti state counterpart, Governor Ayodele Fayose, to apologise to members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for imposing Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the PDP.While urging the duo to own up to their gamble on the PDP, the opposition party in the state, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by its publicity secretary, Senibo Chris Finebone, asked Wike to stop accusing the police of sealing off the proposed venue of the botched national convention of the PDP.This was as it recalled that as the then governorship candidate of the PDP in the state, Wike led soldiers to forcefully seize the Adokie Amesimaka Stadium which the then governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi was battling to complete before the end of his tenure.The statement reads, On PDP botched national convention, the APC calls on Governor Nyesom Wike to own up to the gamble he and his Man Friday, Governor Ayo Fayose pulled on their party. They should apologise to their party members for imposing Ali Modu Sheriff on them and stop blaming the APC.Governor Nyesom Wike should accept in good faith some of his recent experiences as the normal wheel of natural justice at play and he can do little about them. The governor should not pretend not to have heard that, in this world, what goes around comes around.The Rivers APC said it finds it nauseating that the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, once again, threw caution to the wind and fed members of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other Nigerians a dose of untruths at the opening of the NBAs 56th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.It reiterated that unlike what the governor told the audience at the conference, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has clearly justified why the result of the rerun election in Tai local government area of the state was accepted and announced after due investigation by the commission, just as the electoral body did for some other results that favour the PDP in other LGAs and constituencies in Rivers State.The statement continued, In some cases where the APC was dissatisfied, our candidates went to the tribunal. Good reason suggests that PDP candidates should act in line with the law and not believe they can bully anyone on the matter. We do not live in a jungle here and this is not the 16th Century.We believe that issues surrounding the intervention of security agents during the botched PDP National Convention in Port Harcourt a week ago are for the security agencies to address but we are miffed that the governor tried to lay the blame at the doorstep of the APC.We recall that despite former governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi offering the Liberation Stadium, Elekahia to the PDP for its rally, the APC would like to remind Gov. Nyesom Wike that on the 24th of January, 2015 he (as PDP governorship candidate) led soldiers to forcefully seize the Adokie Amesimaka Stadium which the then governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi was battling to complete before the end of his tenure.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has issued a terse statement advising Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, National leader of the All Progressives ...

Foreign Investors like the Sun International leaving Nigeria over a hostile working environment where passports of staff can be seized by EFCC for several months without a court order.

Food prices have risen to the point where minimum wage (N18k) can not buy a bag of rice (N20k). It was N9k at the inception of this admin, the incoherent FX policies of the Buhari administration which have led to exchange rates of $1  N315/N396, 1 N416.43/N510, 1 - N359.26/N442

The unrestrained mass murder of Nigerians in the North Central that has left more than 1000 people dead in 2016 alone.

16.5% inflation.

The shambolic 18.4% performance of CAPEX for #Budget2016

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has issued a terse statement advising Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC to focus on governance and stop bandying figures.Read full PDP Statement below:Chief Oyeguns response to our media statement of 19/08/2016 is a summary of the APC led FG long on prose & badly short of substance. His retort that we hired spin doctors to bandy figures is badly unfortunate.Our collective misfortune is made worse when we consider that the chairman of the ruling party thinks that figures that show the parlous state of the economy under the APC led FG are spin or that the poor state of the economy is an act of God.Chief Oyegun needs to concern himself more with the salient issues. For the avoidance of doubt the salient issues include Such figures buttress our point there are no indices anywhere by which the Buhari admin can be assessed as better than our's. Chief Oyegun will be better served worrying about such things than the spread of a false narrative.The next time, he wants to blame God for the woes brought about by his party, he should first read Jeremiah 29:11.Again, we would like to give Chief Oyegun the compliments of our warmest regards & most abiding esteem. May God bless Nigeria. Everyday!!!
The National Union of Air Transport Employees, today, embarked on a massive protest in the four major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and P...





The National Union of Air Transport Employees, today, embarked on a massive protest in the four major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt concerning the Federal Governments concession of the airports to private investors.According to the Nation, morning operations at the major airports was put on hold as the aggrieved workers took to the airport roads, expressing their displeasure as they marched with placards from the tollgate to other parts of the airport.The placards had inscriptions like, Sirika our airports are not for sale.Airport concessions will lead to national security breachesAirport concession is economic terrorismThe workers comprised the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the National Union of Pensioners (NUP) .This protest resulted from the statement made by the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, as he assured that the concession would follow a framework that would cater for the national interest.The protest is said to be going on concurrently at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kano and Port Harcourt Airport.
President Muhammadu Buhari has described the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, as a patriotic Nigerian who has demonstrated ...





President Muhammadu Buhari has described the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, as a patriotic Nigerian who has demonstrated uncommon leadership style.The president also hailed Sultans wisdom and advocacy for security, peace and unity of Nigeria.Buharis commendation was contained in his congratulatory message to the traditional ruler on his 60th birthday, August 24, 2016.A statement by Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on media and publicity on Tuesday stated that Buhari joins the people and government of Sokoto State, the Muslim community and family members of the Sultan in celebrating the unique anniversary.The statement added that As the head of Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI) and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), President Buhari believes that the wise counsels and support of the royal father on issues of good governance, girl-child education, infant and child mortality, and agriculture has greatly enriched his administrations efforts to improve the livelihood of Nigerians.He prayed that the almighty Allah would grant the Sultan good health and long life to continue in the service of humanity.
Parents of the abducted Chibok girls have accused the Federal Government of being unfair to them. Parents of Chibok girls crying durin...









Parents of the abducted Chibok girls have accused the Federal Government of being unfair to them.

Parents of Chibok girls crying during a visit to Abuja to press for the release of their girls

Mother of Dorcas Yakubu, the Chibok girl who spoke in the recent Boko Haram video, said the government promised not to end the fight against Boko Haram until the girls return but now it celebrates its victory without rescuing them.She added that the girls parents view the interview with Amina Ali Nkeki in foreign media as exploitation by the government for emotional and political mileage following the outrage that greeted the recently released Boko Haram video.Esther Yakubu spoke yesterday in Abuja during a march on the Presidential Villa by members of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) advocacy, who were barred by security agencies.She said: They said that they have won the war against terror but the President promised us that the fight against terror will not be over until the Chibok girls are back. Now they celebrate winning the war without our daughters back. It is unfair.We wish to state our dissatisfaction on the recent exposure of Amina Ali Nkeki to media against the advice of our leaders in Abuja to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) . We had earlier on made our position known to the Federal Government that in the event of our girls rescue/release, we all want their privacy protected, aside making their release known to the public.The recently released video should provoke the Federal Government and its security apparatus to action to rescue the remaining 218 girls and not interviews of a traumatised girl recovering from abuses and trauma from the exploitation for emotional and political mileage following the outrage that greeted the recently released Boko Haram video. It should not be repeated until she is fully recovered and reunited with her family and integrated into her community.Members of the #BBOG advocacy demanded that the government should constitute a #ChibokGirls rescue operation monitoring team to act as a transparent mechanism for feedback on evidence of the Presidents sustained action towards the rescue of the girls.The group also advised the President to pursue the lowest risk option available in assessing the risk factors involved in the rescue mission and adopt the best solution to rescue the girls.#BBOG added that the President should immediately call a National Emergency in the Northeast Conference to articulate a cohesive response plan to the humanitarian crises in the area and designate a special envoy responsible to the inter-agency collaborative work required.#BBOG Strategic Team leader Aisha Yesufu read a statement in which she said that they will continue to march on the Villa every 72 hours until persuasive actions become evident to all.She stated: We begin with an acknowledgement of our soldiers, the Multi National Joint Task Force and the Civilian JTF. The bravery and resilience of these gallant men at the front lines has led to the return of thousands of our citizens who hitherto were never declared missing or unaccounted for. It is the successes of these often uncelebrated heroes that has brought us to the imminent return of our #ChibokGirls.Today, 861 days since the abduction of our girls, time has completely run out. It is time to Decide, Act and bring them home! NO MORE DELAYS!!!Since Mr. Presidents last public statement on the missing source of credible and actionable intelligence to #BringBackOurGirls during our visit of January 14th 2016, three (3) successive opportunity windows mean we cannot continue to put off a decision on their rescue.When the proof of life video (released by CNN on 14th April 2016) was dismissed on the premise that the authenticity of the source could not be ascertained, we charged that every source of intelligence must be treated as actionable, an authentication process adopted and leads pursued to logical conclusions. This however did not happen.The return of our #ChibokGirl, Amina Ali, on May 18th 2016, her revelations and details of the state of our girls, provided a source of first-person intelligence which should have inspired decisive action. Again, this did not materialise.The release of the plea for rescue video on August 14th 2016 and its corroboration of Aminas revelations must now be the final part of the decision-making requirements.Today, we have as much information to take a decision as may ever be possible. Three (3) options are available for the rescue of our #ChibokGirls  the use of military force, negotiation of release or a combination of both. We acknowledge that each option comes with inherent risks, but also understand that the Nigerian State has all the capabilities to assess these risks and adopt a best solution to #BringBackOurGirls.We believe that to improve the probability of success in the pursuit of options of rescue, our Federal Government would need the capabilities and experiences of our international friends. We therefore call on President Barack Obama of the United States, Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom, President Hollande of France, Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, in particular to support Nigeria with all their military and intelligence assets to rescue or secure the release of OUR #ChibokGirls. Chibok Girls are Global Citizens and their non-rescue is a big blot on our global civilisation as represented by the leadership of these nations and other members of the United Nations. We call on all these global leaders to help Bring Back Our Girls and defend our shared humanity.President Muhammadu Buhari cannot anymore be unclear on what decision to make on the option to pursue for their rescue. We reject the recurrent excuses by Mr. President that the Federal Government does not know which faction of the splintered terrorist group it should engage in negotiations. Our Federal Government must never again sound incapable of intelligence and negotiation expertise.We demand that our President immediately leads his military and intelligence team to make a decision and swiftly pursue the lowest risk option out of the three possibilities. We caution against a repeat of the bureaucratic inertia and inter-agency squabbles that have paralyzed a mandatory coordinated, coherent, target, focused and sustained engagement for ending this tragedy.There are two other issues of deep concern to our Movement. The first is what we consider a slow and ineffectual response to the tragedy in the Internally Displaced Peoples camps in the North East and Reconstruction of communities for return of the dislocated. The second is the prosecution of corrupt cases associated with the counter insurgency war of the Federal Government.It is unacceptable that continuous calls from the humanitarian community and relief organizations for a deliberate and urgent response to the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the North East have so far met utter silence. Mr. President, no leader in the 21st Century should be silent in the face of imminent death for what has been estimated as about 500,000 of its citizens, especially with the images and abundance of evidence of this possibility.In light of revelations of diversion of arms procurement funds which should have early on in the crisis helped to avert this disaster, we call for a deliberate hastening of the trials and conviction of guilty persons, within legal provisions. This is the only way we can begin to bring justice to our fellow citizens whose human and material losses cannot even begin to be estimated.That Mr. President should swiftly make a firm decision for their immediate rescue based on the three available options. 1. Military operation. 2. Negotiation with the Terrorists. 3. Combination of 1 and 2. With all the information available, the President must pursue the lowest risk option of these three.That Mr. President addresses Nigerians on his Rescue Plan and Timelines of our #ChibokGirls TODAY.That Mr. President immediately constitutes a #ChibokGirls Rescue Operation Monitoring Team made up of representatives of Federal Government, parents of Chibok Girls, KADA Community and #BringBackOurGirls. This multi-stakeholders platform should act as a transparent mechanism for feedback on evidence of Mr. Presidents sustained action towards bringing back OUR #ChibokGirls.Mr. President should immediately preside over National Emergency in the North East Conference to articulate a cohesive response plan to the humanitarian crisis and designate a Special Envoy responsible for the inter-agency collaborative work required, as well as mobilise the private sector, Nigerian public, and the International Community.That Mr. President direct the Attorney General and EFCC to set up Special Desk with the responsibility for fast-tracking the trials of the Arms Procurement Fund and providing regular updates. We reject any suspension or termination of any of the trials without reaching a legal conclusion.That the Chief Justice of the Federation prioritises the trials of all Counter-Insurgency related corruption cases. Cases should be placed on fast-track with no long adjournments.Mr. President must NOW exercise firm and dedicated leadership on rescuing OUR #ChibokGirls just as he would do were the girls his own daughters.In conclusion, our Movement shall monitor the response of Mr. President and shall return on a march to the Villa every seventy two (72) hours until persuasive actions become evident to all. This is especially necessary because, so far, our one-week monitoring effort has not revealed empirical evidence that actions are being taken since the plea for rescue video was released on Sunday August 14th.
An ex-militant group which, two days ago accepted to be part of the peaceful negotiation proposed by Niger Delta leaders, yesterday, gav...

An ex-militant group which, two days ago accepted to be part of the peaceful negotiation proposed by Niger Delta leaders, yesterday, gave insight into what it will request the Federal Government to do during the dialogue.It said in a statement by its leader, Mr Paul Toruwei, that The amnesty programme should be well funded and allowed to run effectively while the government must fulfil its promise to build houses for ex-militants in the Niger Delta region.There should be automatic employment of graduates in the areas of operation of major oil companies and the oil/pipeline surveillance contracts should be awarded to the youths of such places. All oil polluted lands in the Niger Delta area should be cleaned up and compensation paid to all affected oil producing communities.
The Japanese Government, through its agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has donated solar power worth $9.7 million t...

The Japanese Government, through its agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has donated solar power worth $9.7 million to the Federal Government to boost electricity in the country.The Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Mr Sadanobu Kusaoke, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday during the inauguration of the project. Kusaoke stated that Japan considered the power sector as one of the most important areas to enhance Nigeria`s socio-economic development. Since from 1970s, Japan has helped to finance power sector to increase the capacity of power in Kainji dam hydro power station. This is the 10th project of power sector by the Japan`s Government since then and this will not be our last. He said the project which entailed the introduction of clean energy by solar electricity was donated by the government of Japan to boost power and water supply at Usman Dam Water Treatment Plant. The project is being executed with grant assistance worth Nine Hundred and Eighty Million Japanese YEN (980,000,000 JPY) (equivalent to approximately 9.7 million USD) through JICA,  he said. According to Kusaoke, stable power supply is crucial to support industry and to improve economy and the lives of people. The Ambassador emphasised the importance of stable power supply to Nigeria`s quest to diversify her economy. He commended the designer of the project, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, for its design, management and the completion of the project on schedule.Kusaoke, who explained that the project was capable of generating 1,496MWH, added that this would result in reduction of N31.5 million per year for payment of the electricity bill. Earlier, Mr Hirotaka Nakamura, Chief Representative of JICA, Nigeria office, said improving core infrastructure including power sector in Nigeria was one of the priority areas of the agency in Nigeria.According to Nakamura, developing alternative energy resources such as solar, wind and hydropower will boost electricity in the country. He explained that the project was designed to introduce a demonstration unit of solar electricity generation system with a view to increasing its economic strength on a sustainable basis. According to the JICA official, with the Japanese assistance, about 1.2 mw of grid connected solar generation will be gained at Usman Dam Water Treatment Plant to supplement electricity supply from the national grid.Following successful tests on the installed solar system, the first phase of the project with generation capacity of 975kwp is being commissioned today. The second phase will bring additional 207kwp generation to this system hopefully in January 2017.  Nakamura further stated that the project would contribute to the improvement of quality water supply in the Federal Capital Territory. He, therefore, appealed to the FCT administration through its water board to handle the project with care and also provide sufficient funds to maintain the generation system.In his remark, Alhaji Hudu Bello, the Director, FCT Water Board, who expressed gratitude to the government of Japan and its agency JICA, said the project would improve revenue accruable from the water sector in the FCT. This is elaborate project that will improve water supply to the residents of Abuja; it will also reduce the rate at which we consume diesel to pump water,  he said. Bello said the project would reduce the cost of generating electricity and also contribute power to the national grid to improve supply within the nation`s capital.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, Anambra state chapter, on Tuesday described as laughable that the countrys minimum wage could no longer buy ...

Rice in a Nigerian market

The Nigeria Labour Congress, Anambra state chapter, on Tuesday described as laughable that the countrys minimum wage could no longer buy a bag of rice.The Chairman of the congress in the state, Mr Jerry Nnubia, stated this during a rally in solidarity with Nasarawa state workers who were allegedly killed by the police while protesting against the slice in wages by the state government on July 29.Nnubia who said it was wicked for any state government to think of cutting down workers pay at this time of economic hardship, described the Nasarawa action as inhuman. We are here today to show solidarity with our members in Nasarawa state who were killed and injured by overzealous policemen at the gate of government house, Nasarawa for opposing slice in their salary by the state governor, Tanko Al-Makura.Why should workers be victims of every economic doom? When we have economic boom nobody remembers workers.A bag of rice today is N23,000 or more and their minimum wage is N18,000. This is laughable.Why havent the governors sliced their wages and those of their aides?Our position is that any governor that cant pay workers salaries should resign.Is it not laughable that the same salary paid when a bag of rice was sold for N9, 000 is the same salary that is paid when a bag of rice is sold for N23,000 or more?Slicing of anybodys salary now is not only wicked; its criminal, the NLC chairman stated.
Prime Minister of Czech Republic, Bohuslav Sobotka, has warned that its government did not want a larger Muslim presence in the country.





Prime Minister of Czech Republic, Bohuslav Sobotka, has warned that its government did not want a larger Muslim presence in the country.He, however, said on Tuesday in Prague that even the country shared Germanys desire to stem the tide of refugees from the Middle East, yet the country had different views on how to achieve such.We have no strong Muslim community here, and to be honest, we do not want a strong Muslim community to become established here, he said.Sobotka insisted that the Czech, along with fellow Visegrad states, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, were against a permanent refugee quota system for European countries as advocated by Merkel.He said that the Visegrad states believed it should be up to national governments to decide how many refugees to take in.The bottom line is that it is national governments which must guarantee the safety of their citizens.
Deborah Faleke, electrocuted by a fallen high- tension at Fagbenro Street, Alakuko, Lagos State on May 21, had two distinctions and six cr...

Deborah Faleke, electrocuted by a fallen high- tension at Fagbenro Street, Alakuko, Lagos State on May 21, had two distinctions and six credits in the just released West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASCE) results. Pastor Ademola Faleke, the father of the deceased, told newsmen on Tuesday that Deborah performed excellently well and her result was one of the best in her school.Tragedy struck on Fagbenro Street, after a high-tension wire fell on the 14-year-old Deborah and was immediately electrocuted. The late Deborah had two distinctions and six credits out of the nine subjects she sat for in the 2016 May/June Examination. She had C6 in Economics, B3 in Geography, C5 in Civil Education, and C4 in English Language.She also had C4 in Mathematics, B3v in Chemistry, E8 in Biology, C6 in Physics and F9 in Marketing respectively. The pastor, moved to tears while reeling out the result to NAN, said that Deborah had desired to study Bio-chemistry in one of the privately owned universities in Ogun, before her untimely death.I had promised to finance her education to her desired level then, Faleke said. Now that she was no more, the result had become a wasted effort and her hopes of studying the course of her choice dashed.My daughter was the Senior Girl in her secondary school during her final year.She was also the president the school Jets Club and the Secretary of its Literary and Debating Society. As a father, I had promised her then that I would try within my power to ensure that she achieved her education desire but the will of God must prevail, he said.Deborah had gone to stay with her cousin, Bukola Ogunbanjo, barely two weeks after she had finished writing her WASCE examination when unfortunate incident that led to her untimely death happened.The high-tension which belonged to Ikeja Electric (IE) fell on Deborah immediately electricity supply was restored to the area around 10a.m., on the fateful day.Faleke also said that the management of IE which was in charge of the area where the high-tension killed Deborah had only visited his family once since the incident occurred. The management of IE visited my family once, since then my family had not seen or heard anything from IEs management he said.He also said that recently the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) sent its representatives to commiserate with him and his family over the lost.However, IEs head of Corporate Communications, Mr Felix Ofulue, told NAN that the matter was being handled by its legal unit. He said that he would communicate whatever updates he had to NAN as soon as he it was made available to him.
Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State Comrade Abba Yaro has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to forget about...

Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State Comrade Abba Yaro has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to forget about ruling the state.He said after ruling the state for 16 years, Benue is worse, with its economy in a shambles.Yaro spoke while donating an 18-seater bus to Benue State Students Union. He said PDP would never govern the state again, as they have destroyed the economy.He assured workers that salary problems would soon be over, and advised the former governor to refund the N107 billion the Justice Margaret Kpojime-led Commission indicted him and his associates of embezzling.This, he said, would enable Governor Ortom meet some needs of the people.Appealing for calm and understanding from party members, Comrade Yaro promised that the Ortom administration would soon stabilise.Elder statesmen and chieftain of APC in the state Gen. Lawrence Onoja (retd) has said the previous administration laid booby traps to make the state ungovernable for this administration.Addressing reporters shortly after he visited Governor Ortom in the Government House, Makurdi, General Onoja said despite the difficulties, the governor will succeed, judging from the way he started.He hailed Ortom for addressing development challenges despite the economic situation.Onoja called for patience, understanding and support to enable the government continue to serve the state.
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the killing of at eight persons in Zamfara State on the allegation of blasphemy. A mob, su...

A mob, suspected to be students of Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, on Monday descended on a man they accused of blaspheming the Prophet of Islam. They later set those who tried to help him alight.The attack occurred at Talata Mafara, a town in Zamfara.Mr. Buhari described the attack as barbaric and unacceptable.Writing on Twitter, the president said he received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay.I assure that the law will take its course. My prayers are with the families of the victims, he said.Mr. Buhari, who has been widely criticized for failing to speak out or condemn similar attacks in the past, said Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever.How the attack occurredA resident of the community, Salisu Mafara, where the attack occurred, told Pnewsmen on Tuesday that trouble began when a student of the polytechnic was accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.The young man was a Muslim before he converted to Christianity and fellow students always accused him of saying nasty things about Islam, he said.However, he reportedly said terrible things about the prophet and the students around descended on him and he was seriously injured, he said.When they noticed that he was not moving at all, they thought he is death, but one man who is from the same tribe with him now came and took him to the hospital in his car.When the mob got to know what happened, they now began to rush to the general hospital. However, that man just dropped the boy in the hospital and left.But before the mob could reach the hospital, another young man, who is an indigene of Mafara, but is the boyfriend of the accused persons sister, reached the hospital before them and took away the injured man before the mob got there.When they reached the hospital and realised that the injured man was not there, they came back to town and when they saw the vehicle used in taking him to the hospital the first time, they burnt it down.They also went to the mans house and burned it down with all the occupants inside. About eight people were in the house and they all died, he said.Mr. Mafara also said three other persons may have died when security agents opened on the crowd that had become uncontrollable.The spokesperson of police in the state, Mohammed Shehu, revealed that a state Security Council meeting was held immediately after the incident and a dusk to dawn curfew imposed.He also said reinforcement had been sent to the town and everywhere was calm.A source in Talata Mafara also told us that Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who is from the community, was in the town when the incident happened.The government is however yet to comment on the incident.Meanwhile, authorities of the polytechnic have closed the school indefinitely.
Reno Omokri, former Presidential aide has published a new opinion piece.





Reno Omokri, former Presidential aide has published a new opinion piece.On the 15th of August 1945, the axis nations fighting in the Pacific theater defeated imperial Japan and two weeks later, Japan formally surrendered to allied forces led by the U.S. General, Douglas McArthur, who formally accepted the signed articles of surrender.But though the U.S. defeated Japan, they never decimated Japan's great technological and industrial complex. They were visionary enough to distinguish these from Japan's military industrial complex, which they scrapped.Realizing that Japan was decades ahead of the West in many technologies, the allied powers, led by the US, allowed those industries to remain as a going concern and took the unique step of enacting legislation and policies to enable them flourish.What they did in Japan, they also did in Europe. In Europe, the US, acting unilaterally, even went a step further by introducing the Marshall Plan through which America sent financial and other types of aid to help Europe (and especially Germany) recover from the ravages of the Second World War.The point of the allied and American actions in Japan and Europe is that technological advancement belongs to the human race and should not be allowed to suffer because of a quarrel or war amongst humans.This lesson was thoroughly established in 642 AD when the Library of Alexandria was burnt to the ground during the Muslim conquest of Egypt.It has been argued that that act set the world several centuries back in technological advancement and has become something to watch out for during the prosecution of a war.A war is a quarrel between or amongst people that is settled by means of violence. It is not a quarrel between or amongst technology, so civilized nations have pursued the policy of fighting wars while preserving technology.Gone should be the days of the scorched earth policy which is why despite the bestiality of the apartheid regime, President Nelson Mandela did not do a Mugabe, but rather left intact White owned farms, industry and universities and only insisted that they be opened to Blacks and other races.This brings me to Nigeria. I would like to state a fact that will be argued against, but still a fact that even those who would argue against it know to be true.The Igbo (or Ibo) ethnic nationality of Nigeria are the most technologically advanced Black race on planet earth, bar none!This is a fact. A fact that was proven to be true for 30 months while they were landlocked in their constantly shrinking enclave known as Biafra.Cut off from the rest of the world, the ingenuity of the Igbo came to the fore during the civil war as they constructed the Uli airstrip and when that airstrip was bombed, they repaired it in record time and under the most trying circumstances. They would go on to repair Uli not once and not twice.The Igbos refined petrol from a variety of non fossil fuels, including from but not limited to palm products (from which they also produced diesel) and manufactured surface to air missiles which they also adapted to surface to surface missiles (the Ogbunigwe).They converted commercial planes to fighter jets and weaponized them. That was no mean feat in 1967.In fact, when in 2012, the Nigerian Army rolled out the igirigi and promoted it as the first indigenous armored personnel carrier, they were wrong. I am not a Biafran. I am proudly Nigerian. And beyond that, I am a proud dark skinned Black African yet I make bold to say that the igirigi is not the first indigenous APC.In fact, the first indigenous armored personnel carrier in Black Africa is the Red Devil, built by the Igbos during the Nigerian Civil War.The Nigerian Civil War ended in January 1970 and the Nigerian Army unveiled the igirigi in July of 2012. If they had converted the Red Devil to their own use, they would probably be talking about a greater feat in the year 2012.My question is what happened in the intervening 42 years between 1970 and 2012? Why didn't the Nigerian Army integrate the military industrial complex of Biafra into its Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria, DICON?Why did we have to reinvent the wheel at great cost in terms of time and money?The Nigerian Civil War ended on a note of 'no victor no vanquished'. That was a watershed moment inspired by the Christlike mind of General Yakubu Gowon. That gesture is to be applauded.But why did we as a nation not go the whole hog and take advantage of Biafra's technological advances and integrate her scientists into our Research and Development sector much like the US did with German and Japanese scientists?That is where we failed as a nation.I remember growing up as a child and how other Nigerians scoffed at 'Igbo made' electronic products. There was hardly anything including electronics, pharmaceuticals, spirits and wines that the Igbos could not counterfeit.And rather than our leaders seeing the potential in those products, we all scoffed at them. Igbo made products were a pariah.Did it ever occur to any of our leaders that if government had supported these technological advancement, Nigeria could have become an industrialized nation today and Igbo made products would have been exported abroad as made in Nigeria products?It would surprise many that a number of the greatest technological advancement and products that came out of America after the Second World War were the work of German or Japanese scientists!In an operation code named Operation Paperclip, 1500 German scientists, engineers and technicians were airlifted to the United States and given US permanent US residency and citizenship immediately after the defeat of Germany in 1945. The primary aim of Operation Paperclip was to prevent these skilled men and women from falling into Soviet Russian hands.Hans Erich (Eric) Hollmann who was one of the fathers of radar technology was one of such scientists airlifted to America.Kurt Lehovec the pioneer of the integrated circuit systems in electrical engineering is another. He was airlifted to America in 1945 where he became a Professor at the University of Southern California and passed on his knowledge to America's next generation of scientists.The allies had been having issues with the jet engine and were not able to develop planes like the German Messerschmitt Me 262. But after the defeat of Germany, US forces gave safe passage to Rudi Beichel who went to the US and became an adviser to the US army on liquid propulsion. Other German scientists such as Magnus "Mac" Freiherr von Braun and his brother, Wernher Von Braun helped reverse engineer German jets which led to the development of the US American F-86 Sabres, a plane that helped the US dominate the air during the Korean War.More importantly, Wernher Von Braun provided much of the know how that helped America build the Apollo spacecraft which allowed America beat Russia as the first nation to get to the moon.Methamphetamine was invented by Japanese a Japanese chemist, Nagai Nagayoshi and the drug was shared with their German allies and helped their soldiers stay awake and focus. After the war, German scientists helped American scientist synthesize the drug which revolutionized the US health industry.Why can't we do the same in Nigeria? Can you imagine what our technological base would have been if we as a nation had a policy of patronizing the so called Igbo made products right from the end of the war till today? What if we had absorbed the the Research and Production Organisation of Biafra (RAP as it was then known) into the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers?By now, we may have been manufacturing jets and we would not be dependent on foreign nations for weapons to fight terrorists.This is why I was so disgusted with the minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu for aspiring, on Nigeria's behalf, to produce pencils by 2018!I mean this man is the first civilian governor of the old Abia state which today encompasses both Abia and Ebonyi states.Right there, under his own nose, Nigerians of Igbo extraction, without ANY governmental support, are manufacturing electronics and heavy machinery components and Onu is caught up on pencils!Onu should visit Nnewi if he knows where it is. Right there he would see a city that does not wait for government. Nnewi people are so industrious that after years of waiting endlessly for government to provide basic amenities, they have built their own roads, have their own power stations and their own water works.Just like Japan, Nnewi has manufacturers of such things like batteries, pistons, automobiles and other products. These Nnewi manufacturers have built schools for the kids of their workers on site, just like in Japan.You just need to visit Nnewi or Aba to see what is going on in Nigeria. These guys are Nigeria's most guarded secret because even the federal government is not aware of them.And the reason why this is so is because these people are Igbos!It is time for Nigeria to forgive the Igbos for being Igbo and accept them as full partners and equal partners in the Nigerian project and use the entire strength of the Nigerian federal government to provide them the support to fulfill their destiny as the Black African people that are nucleus of the technological advancement of Africa.Notice I say Africa, not just Nigeria. I don't say this lightly. All over West and Central Africa, Nigerians of Igbo extraction are the backbone of the commercial and technological sectors.I can say what I have said above without any accusation of self or group interest promotion because I am not Igbo neither am I married to one. I have said the truth as my conscience sees it because I am committed to advancement of the Black Race because as a proud Black man, I know that no black African tribe is as great as the Black Race when it is united.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday congratulated Nigeria on its recent military successes against Boko Haram, but warned the coun...

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday congratulated Nigeria on its recent military successes against Boko Haram, but warned the country will face a blowback if it cracks down on the Islamists with excessive force.Speaking at a press conference in the northern city of Sokoto, Kerry praised Nigeria for reclaiming swathes of territory from Boko Haram and releasing thousands of hostages over the past year.Nigeria has made important progress, Kerry said. Nigeria and its neighbours are degrading Boko Harams capabilities.But Kerry cautioned against a heavy-handed response and emphasised respect for human rights.In the wake of terrorist activity, some are tempted to crack down on anyone and everyone, Kerry said.But extremism cant be defeated through repression or fear. Fear instilled through repression invites not confidence but contempt, Kerry said, it creates terrorists.Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Nigerian troops of excessive force and extra-judicial killings of suspected Boko Haram insurgents, hundreds of Shiite Muslims and pro-Biafra protestors. The military has denied the charges.On his third visit to Nigeria in less than two years, Kerry met with traditional and religious leaders, including Sokoto Sultan Muhammadu Saad Abubakar.Kerry appealed to Nigerians to practise equality and tolerance to overcome deep-seated ethnic and religious divisions.His remarks come one day after police reported that a Muslim mob in northern Nigeria killed eight people after torching the house of a Muslim man who stood up for a Christian student accused of blasphemy.Kerry is due to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari later on Tuesday in the Nigerian capital of Abuja as part of a three-nation tour focussed on counterterrorism.The top US diplomat, who was in Kenya on Monday, is expected to discuss the Boko Haram insurgency, fighting corruption and boosting Nigerias moribund economy that has been pummelled by the drop in global oil prices.In its quest to create a fundamentalist Islamic state Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.6 million from their homes.With homes and businesses destroyed and farmland devastated, the United Nations has warned that some 50,000 children could starve to death this year in Borno state alone if nothing is done.Earlier in August the US government pledged $37 million in aid for victims of Boko Haram as fears of a famine mounted in the ravaged Lake Chad region.
Bergen Catholic High School.png

Bergen Catholic High School settled with alleged sexual abuse victims last November.

(Google Maps)

ORADELL--Peter Alrutz, 67, cannot recall exactly how old he was when he was first sexually abused, but he can still remember when a teacher asked to see him outside of class at Bergen Catholic High School and took him to a closet where the school stored books.

Alrutz said Brother Charles Borromeo Irwin asked him to move some books and when the student bent over, Irwin put his hand down his pants.

He said there was a physical struggle, but beyond that, "my recollection after that point is not real clear."

Victims of alleged sexual abuse at the all-boys high school in Oradell stepped forward Monday to announce a $1.9 million settlement that will be shared among 21 men who accused staff of the school of abusing them years earlier.

The settlement was reached in November, according to Mitchell Garabedian, who represented seven of those who settled, and said some of the alleged victims were just now wanting to speak to the public. Road to Recovery, an advocacy group, set up a press event outside of the school.

The school, which did not admit liability by settling with the alleged victims, is staffed by the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers and overseen by the Archdiocese of Newark. Neither entity immediately returned requests for comment.

Alrutz, who now lives in Austin, Texas, said that he felt the settlement gave him "hope" that there was remorse from the school, but felt the settlement figures were "low ball."

"I feel like they're very interested in still protecting their image and income. And I don't even know if they really comprehend the damage that they've done," Alrutz said. "I just feel like they're protecting their way of life."

Those who settled will receive sums that range from $65,000 to $115,000. The victims were assaulted between 1963 and 1978 when they were between the ages of 13 and 17 years old, Garabedian said.

No school officials were named in the legal documents, but the school was made aware of the names of the brothers accused, Garabedian said.

The firm that represented other alleged victims in the case, Jeff Anderson & Associates, didn't immediately return a request for comment.

Robert M. Hoatson, a founder of Road to Recovery, said that his advocacy group had protested outside of the high school a year ago after they felt the school was taking too long to respond to settlement talks. He felt the group's protests put pressure on the school and led to the settlement.

The settlement prevents the parties from suing the high school.

Rev. Kobutsu Malone, now 67, has written extensively about his experience on his website, bergencatholicabuse.com. Malone, who was Kevin Malone when he attended Bergen Catholic, has not settled with the school.

Garabedian, who also represents Malone, said Bergen Catholic decided not to settle with Malone because of his "activism and transparency" on his website. Malone claimed he was also sexually abused by Irwin.

Iriwn died in the late 1990s at age 69.

Malone, who now lives in Maine, dropped out of Bergen Catholic after finishing his second year to attend Paramus High School. "I couldn't stand the torture and the mistreatment of that school. It was appalling," he said.

Both Malone and Alrutz said there wasn't a safe way to describe the abuse back then.

"There wasn't a language for even speaking about this. You never heard anybody talk about sexual abuse and brothers who taught at the school were really seen as living representative of Jesus on Earth," Alrutz said.

Alrutz said his family moved to Tennessee, so he didn't spend his senior year at the school. He described the experience as traumatic and has affected his ability to feel safe.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.
COLLINGSWOOD -- Authorities have charged a Camden man with murdering his estranged wife in her Collings Avenue apartment, where he then allegedly stabbed himself.

Timothy Moorman and Joseline Perez.

Timothy Moorman, 41, of Washington Street, Camden, is facing a first-degree murder charge while he lies in Cooper University Hospital in critical condition, according to a statement from the Camden County prosecutor's office.

He is accused of killing Joseline Perez, of Building C in the Heights of Collingswood Apartments, just before 8 p.m. Monday.

The prosecutor's office said only that family members were present during the stabbing, but 6abc reported police said there were three children in the apartment.

A woman who lived next door to the apartment said she believed a couple and their children had moved in about a month ago.

Robert English, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said Moorman was estranged he had no information about anyone else living at the apartment.

The neighbor, who declined to identify herself, said that she overheard a sudden, loud argument Monday night.

"He was telling her to shut up," the neighbor said Tuesday morning. "I heard a scream out loud and then him saying, 'look what you done!'"

She said that it went quiet and when she approached the apartment door, she saw a boy, roughly 11, inside. He told his father the neighbor had called police, though she hadn't, she said.

She thought it was a loud fight and only found out Tuesday morning that Perez had been killed, she said.

A smear of what appeared to be blood was visible along the bottom of the door to apartment 216, where the neighbor said the victim lived. It is not clear where her children are living now.

The prosecutor's office said that emergency responders who responded to a 911 call at 7:49 p.m. were directed by Perez's family members to the bedroom, where Perez was suffering from multiple stab wounds. Moorman was also in the bedroom with self-inflicted wounds.

Perez was pronounced deceased at 9:52 p.m. and Moorman was rushed to the hospital, where he remains. The prosecutor's office said bail has not been set.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Sahara Sams 3

Sahara Sam's Oasis Indoor and Outdoor Water Park

(Photo provided)

A gross negligence case filed against Sahara Sam's Oasis water park by a man who was seriously injured on one of its rides can continue, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

Roy Steinberg suffered a major spinal cord injury while riding on the FlowRider simulated surfing ride at the Berlin amusement park in 2010. According to court documents, he stepped onto a flowboard and was handed a rope, which he wrapped around one wrist and held in his other hand.

However, he fell from the board within seconds, hitting his head on the bottom of the ride. As a result of the injury he is now an "incomplete paraplegic."

While Steinberg signed a waiver, which he admitted he did not read, before riding the Flowrider, he argued in his lawsuit that Sahara Sam's did not have proper safety signs displayed regarding the dangers of the ride and that the attendants did not instruct him properly on how to ride it.

He said that the attendants failed to tell him that as a first-time rider he should lie on his stomach on the body board, rather than standing on it, and that if he was standing on the flowboard, he should not hold the rope with two hands, court documents state.

An employee at the amusement park conceded that operators did not tell first-time riders that they should lie down on the board.

Also, the signs posted near the ride were from a 2007 operator's manual, despite the fact that a 2008 manual had been provided to Sahara Sam's with updated safety information, the documents show. The 2008 signs included more detailed safety warning language, including saying that a rider "will fall" rather than the possibility of a fall. The 2008 signs also included drawings that illustrate the danger of the ride and safety techniques of riding which were not in the 2007 signs.

A trial court initially ruled against Steinberg, saying the signing of a waiver eliminated his right to file a negligence claim, and a three-judge appeals court agreed in a split decision with one judge arguing that a gross negligence claim can be argued.

The Supreme Court agreed with the dissenting judge, ruling that a claim of gross negligence can be argued, reversing the appellate court's decision and sending the case back to trial court.

Rebecca Forand may be reached at rforand@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @RebeccaForand.Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEW BRUNSWICK--It was a verdict in a notorious cold case that came despite any forensic evidence linking the disappearance and death of a 5-year-old boy to his mother.

The foreman of the jury was replaced after ignoring a judge's instructions and doing his own research on-line into the credibility of a key prosecution witness.

Now, attorneys for Michelle Lodzinski--convicted in May of killing her son, Timothy Wiltsey, nearly 25 years ago, head to court this morning seeking either a new trial, or to have the guilty verdict thrown out with an acquittal.

In filings before Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves in Middlesex County, Lodzinski's lawyers said there simply was not sufficient evidence put before the jury to enable them to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Lodzinski purposely or knowingly caused the death of her son.

"The jury was left to speculate, and speculate they did," said attorney Gerald Krovatin in a court brief.

At the same time, Krovatin argued that the jury itself had been tainted after it was learned that the foreman had been doing his own research on the handling of evidence, which the attorny said should have led to an immediate mistrial.

Prosecutors, in their own filings, said the court should uphold the verdict, citing Lodzinski's conflicting statements to police in the wake of the disappearance of her son, combined with her "indifferent, stoic behavior," and the recovery of Timmy's remains near a blanket that witnesses said had come from her home.

They said her claim that the jury's verdict was against the weight of the evidence was without merit.

"It was for the jury to determine whether there was ample credible evidence that defendant was guilty of murder," stated Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Christie Bevacqua, in the filing.

Lodzinski, 48, who did not testify during her trial, was convicted by a jury of seven men and five women after eight weeks of testimony from 68 witnesses, including retired police officers who had been involved in the case, former neighbors and boyfriends, and an Arizona ex-con who testified that a former cellmate told him he had killed a young boy at an event in New Jersey around the time Timothy was said to have disappeared.

The trial came decades after Timothy was reported missing by his mother in May 1991, when Lodzinski--a former South Amboy resident--said she turned her back to get a soda while the pair were attending a carnival in neighboring Sayreville. A search of the carnival grounds turned up nothing.

His disappearance made national headlines as volunteers continued to look for the small boy, whose face was later one of the first to appear on a milk carton to raise awareness about missing children. Nearly a year later, his skeletal remains were discovered by chance in a marsh behind the Raritan Center in Edison--where Lodzinski had once worked.

A cause of death was never established because of the deterioration of the few bones found.

With no forensic evidence, traces of DNA or eyewitnesses, the case was left in limbo for decades, despite several different stories by Lodzniski about what had happened the day of the carnival, her behavior in the days and months after her son vanished, and a belief by detectives that she had committed murder.

But the Middlesex County prosecutor's office reopened the case after detectives began re-interviewing witnesses and showed a blue-and-white blanket found near Timothy's body to Lodzinski's niece, who often would baby-sit the boy. They said she burst into tears when she saw it.

In August 2014, by then living in Florida with two teenage sons born after Timothy's death, Lodzinski was arrested at her home in Port St. Lucie--on the day of Timmy's birthday--and charged in his death.

In her summations to the jury, Bevacqua returned again and again to the blanket.

"He was taken out of the world by the very person who brought him into it--his mother," she said. "Then she did something only a mother would do--she left her child with a blanket. Only this blanket did not cover Timmy's remains--it uncovered his murderer."

In his filing to reverse the verdict, or have the judge order a new trial, Krovatin said the state left the jury to speculate about the essential elements of the crime and "permitted the jury to convict Lodzinski based on pure speculation."

He added that the jury foreman violated his oath and the instructions of the judge not to do any outside research, and then shared his findings with all 11 of the other jurors.

At issue was the testimony of a retired FBI agent who claimed it was not routine protocol in the early 1990s to photograph crime scenes. After an internet search suggested otherwise, the foreman went to the other jurors with the information. One of them sent a note to the judge, who ultimately removed the foreman from the case.

An alternate was seated and the jury was instructed to start their deliberations anew. About four hours later the next day, they announced they had reached a verdict.

Krovatin said a mistrial should have been declared, and that it was clear that the juror could not have gone through the deliberations from the start in such a short period of time.

But prosecutors argued that the reconstituted jury "engaged in intense but civil discussion before reaching a verdict, demonstrating that the jury, indeed, deliberated anew and engaged earnestly in the deliberative process." They called for the appeal to be dismissed.

Lodzinski, who was originally scheduled to be sentenced today, is facing life in prison.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
PRINCETON -- The U.S. Department of Education is again investigating how Princeton University handles complaints of sexual assault and harassment, according to a federal document.

The investigation initiated on Aug. 11 marks the fifth probe at the university since 2010, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Princeton is tied with Stanford University and St. Mary's College of Maryland for the most federal investigations since the Obama administration increased scrutiny of how colleges handle reported sexual violence.

Three of the previous investigations have been closed, including one that found the university failed to "promptly and equitably" respond to complaints of sexual violence. The fourth case is still active.

No details about the new investigation have been released. The university said it is aware of the investigation but declined further comment.

Many federal investigations begin after a student files a complaint about how a reported sexual assault was handled by the college. The opening of an investigation does not necessarily mean a university has done something wrong, according to the Department of Education.

Three other New Jersey colleges -- Rider, Seton Hall and Monmouth universities -- are also among the list of 206 colleges under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

The office investigates whether colleges are violating Title IX, the gender-equality law that says schools that receive federal money can be held legally responsible if they ignore sexual harassment or assaults on campus.

An investigation of Princeton that began in 2010 and was closed in 2014 found flaws in the university's handling of reports and that Princeton failed to end the sexually hostile environment for one student.

Princeton in 2014 adopted new policies for sexual misconduct that allow alleged victims and perpetrators to participate in all meetings related to the disciplinary process.

Students are also allowed to have attorneys assist them under the new rules.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
FU DENCKER BLOWOFF SYPNIEWSKI LD 1

Nancy Swarbrick, the revered harmonica player and longtime member of New Jersey's local blues community, died Saturday. She was 60. (Michael Sypniewski/file photo)

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SOMERSET -- Nancy Wertheim Swarbrick, a revered harmonica player and longtime member of New Jersey's local blues community, died Saturday. She was 61.

Swarbrick, best known as "Big Nancy," was a fixture in both Central Jersey and national music scenes since the 1980s, playing regularly in New Brunswick and surrounding areas, as well as touring the country with revered blues frontman Sonny Rhodes. She also jammed with genre luminaries Johnny Copeland, Pinetop Perkins and Willie Dixon.

Additionally, Swarbrick also shared the stage with acts not so associated with the blues specifically, including Clarence Clemons, Levon Helm of The Band, and The Spin Doctors.

The Green Brook native later formed a local all-star band called The Supreme Court, alongside virtuosic Jersey blues guitarist Bernie Brauswetter.

Off stage, she was tireless promoter, who began her work at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey).

Swarbrick was inducted into the American Heritage Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame in 2010, which has also recognized the work of Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman and more.

"We need everybody we can get to support the blues," she said during her acceptance speech.

Swarbrick battled cervical cancer for years, and was receiving hospice care at the Willow Creek Rehabilitation and Care Center in Somerset, Asbury Park Press reports.

Many frequenters of the local blues-friendly venues -- The Court Tavern, The Stanhope House, or Roxy and Dukes in Dunellen -- will remember the smoky tones Swarbrick poured from her harmonica, often alongside her husband and fellow player, Danny Swarbrick. Though the nickname "Big Nancy" referred not only to Swarbrick's stature but her larger-than-life personality, and maternal warmth off-stage.

"She was the big sister everyone wished they had," said Tony Scardaci, a blues guitarist who played with Swarbrick in Supreme Court. "She was very much part of the blues scene -- even the club owners would seek her counsel. She was world class."

"Ever since I started playing harmonica and found out about the local music scene, Nancy was there," wrote Dennis Gruenling, a fellow Jersey player with Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones and blues DJ for WFDU, wrote on Facebook. "But not only was she there, she was there being supportive, encouraging, and so very generous in every conceivable way to this then-young blues fan/harmonica player (and to countless others)."

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
SOUTH ORANGE -- A chain that's been named the best burger place in Washington, D.C. is planning to open its first location in New Jersey.

BGR The Burger Joint will open in The Gateway complex in South Orange in the early fall, the restaurant's owner Chanticleer Holdings announced in a release earlier this month. Chanticleer partnered with SanFam, LLC to open the N.J. franchise, which will be run by longtime restaurant operator Phil Sannitti and his sons, the release said.

A rendering of the Gateway complex, where the eatery will be located. (Submitted photo)

"We are very excited to open our South Orange restaurant, which is our first BGR location in New Jersey," said Rich Adams, President and Chief Operating Officer of American Burger Company, parent company of BGR.

"Awareness of the BGR brand is growing throughout the U.S. and we look forward to expanding our loyal customer base as we bring BGR's excellent service and award-winning menu items to the New Jersey area."

Most of the chain's 21 locations are in the greater Washington, D.C. area, but it has restaurants open in seven states, including one in Yonkers, N.Y.

Near the nation's capital, BGR has gained a reputation for its dry-aged meat burgers and seasonal menu. Last year, MSN named BGR the best burger in D.C. The distinction adds to mentions on the best D.C. burger lists compiled by the DC-ist and D.C. Eater.

The move to New Jersey should instroduce a whole new population to the brand, executives said in the release.

"In addition to bringing BGR to the residents of South Orange, we're looking forward to introducing this innovative burger concept to Seton Hall students," said Ed Kelley, BGR's President of Franchising.

The college and South Orange train station are nearby the Gateway development, which is comprised of 57 luxury apartments and 9,000 square feet of retail space. The recent $32.77 million sale of the complex set a county record for the highest sale price per unit of an apartment building.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEWARK -- Readers offered hundreds of comments from a range of perspectives in response to an assertion by Newark's state-appointed schools superintendent that a 60-percent cut in state aid under Gov. Chris Christie's proposed school funding formula would be "catastrophic" for his poor district.



The assertion by Superintendent Christopher Cerf was noteworthy, in part, because Christie is the one who named Cerf to the Newark job, after Cerf had also served as Christie's state education commissioner.



Christie's proposed "Fairness Formula" would award the same per-pupil education aid -- $6,599 -- to every New Jersey school district, regardless of its affluence or other conditions that can diverge widely among districts. Christie says the plan is fundamentally equitable and discourages waste among poor districts that now spend up to $33,699 per pupil.

But the proposal has been opposed by Democrats who control the legislature, and by the Education Law Center, which has successfully fought in court for extra state aid to poor districts based on the New Jersey constitution's requirement of a "thorough and efficient" education system.



Comments posted on the story have also been divided, ranging from defenses of the current funding system, to criticism of poor districts for wasteful spending, to a call for more charter schools, to support of an income tax-based school funding scheme.



kmop Cities like Camden don't have the ability to raise enough from property taxes alone, whereas that is not the case in wealthier areas. Hence the need for state aid to make up the gap in order to satisfy the state constitution.



TheStupidFix 8 hours ago Time to amend the state's constitution to undo the failure that Abbott has become. We need to equal out the spending on all students, this over spending on failure hasn't worked for 30+ years and continuing down this broken path is only going to cause more taxes, which New Jersey cannot afford.

Of course someone who has been eating steak and caviar at the buffet provided by taxpayers is upset that the status quo is changing and their buffet might have to serve pizza like everyone else, but that's life.

Shamus44 Maybe this will help; if 2 towns both had 8,000 students and the one town had an average home value of $750,000 while the other had an average value of $150,000 ; the wealthy town could raise $15,000 q home with a 2% tax; the other town would need a 10% tax to raise the same amount. Is it reasonable to think both communities have the same ability to pay? It is blatantly unfair and the governor knows it.

When Chris Cerf was commissioner he did whatever the governor wanted regardless of the impact on districts. Now he sees it from the other side. He should have been in Newark before being commissioner. Christie has made the DOE a bureaucracy without a conscience, much like he is.

rollaroundtheworld The next governor should scrap the whole school finance system and start over . Finance schools with a increased income tax and other public revenue streams . Turn the State into 21 Consolidated School Districts. CSD's . The public sector wants pensions funded , NJ needs to retain empty nestors . The State needs more revenue to maintain our roads . This is where the money is . Raising taxes is not viable given the demographics of NJ. By the early 2020's NJ will really need problems solved , lets start now.



njovertaxed Charter schools and privatization is the only way to save our failing schools in NJ. Let's look at Michigan before 80% of their schools went private. The average teacher was making an average $55,000 and $22,000 in benefits. The average school non-teaching employee made $35,000 and $19,000 in benefits. After charter schools and privatization the average teacher makes $35,000 and $10,000 in benefits and most non-teaching positions have been outsourced and those employees make an average of $22,000 and $7500 in benefits for full time workers. That number is lower because most custodial and food service positions are part time making an average of $10 an hour. The remaining public school teachers in Michigan have taken cuts in order to keep their schools instead of them being converted. We need to take a new tack for staffing to use the services we need and not fund political patronage jobs.



We simply cannot afford to continue funding education at this level, something has to give.

PeanutButterJellyTime 10 hours ago

This proposed plan would be catastrophic to Newark, that is, to all of the six figure salaried administrators in this bloated town. Cut away this fat. Whatever happened to that $100 million from Zuckerberg??

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEWARK -- The superintendent appointed by Gov. Chris Christie to run Newark's state-controlled school district said a 60-percent cut in aid projected under a new funding formula proposed by the governor would be "catastrophic" for the district.



"I don't mind saying explicitly that a reduction in our budget of 60 percent would be catastrophic," said Superintendent Christopher Cerf, a former state education commissioner under Christie, who appointed Cerf to run the state's largest district last year.



Cerf's comment was in response to a reporter's question about the impact on the district of a projected 60 percent cut in aid under the new Fairness Formula proposed by Christie.

The formula, unveiled in June, would dole out precisely the same amount of aid per pupil -- $6,599 -- to all New Jersey school districts, regardless of affluence, resulting in a savings for 85 percent of the state's property taxpayers, while translating into dramatic cuts in aid to poor districts that rely on the state to fund a much higher proportion of their school budgets.



An analysis by NJ Advance Media found that aid to Newark and some other poor districts would be cut by 60 percent or more under the governor's proposed formula.



The formula has been criticized by Democratic lawmakers and advocates for poor districts, who argue that the state's current funding formula grew out a state Supreme Court decision, Abbot v. Burke, requiring New Jersey to provide a thorough and efficient public school system under the state constitution.



Cerf was asked about the funding formula while appearing at a City Hall press conference on the release of a report by a panel appointed by Mayor Ras Baraka suggesting Newark schools were close to meeting all criteria for the city to regain control of the district.



Asked to comment on Cerf's remarks, Christie's office referred to statements by the governor during a forum in Fair Lawn last month, when he said a formula providing equal aid for each student was fundamentally fair, but that it would be phased in over three years to soften the blow to any districts receiving cuts.

"It gives them the opportunity to plan and to make their changes," Christie said at the time. "Those changes have to be made, so we'd give them a three-year phase-in on it, and that's the way we would do it."

The new formula would also discourage under-performing districts from spending as much as $33,699 per pupil, in some cases twice as much as districts that perform well.



"We can do better and we must, in educating all of our children and in bringing fairness to taxpayers like you," Christie told his audience in Fair Lawn.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
-- Officials have identified the man gunned down in Newark early Tuesday, the sixth person slain in the state's largest city in approximately 72 hours.

Sirree Samod Scales, 26, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was fatally shot on the porch of a house in the 100 block of Seymour Avenue shortly after midnight Tuesday, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said. A 23-year-old woman from Newark, who is 9-months pregnant, was also shot and survived.

On Monday, Kazimir Jones, 20, of East Orange, was shot and killed near Rose and Livingston streets in Newark, according to prosecutor's office spokeswoman Katherine Carter.

Jessica Tosco, 27, of Flemington, died Sunday after being hospitalized and critically injured in a late Friday shooting, the spokeswoman said. The shooting, in the 100 block of Willoughby Street, also claimed the life of Robert Harrison, Jr., 24, of Irvington.

The prosecutor's office said Akbar J. Scott, 42, of Newark, was shot in the 600 block of Irvine Turner Boulevard around 9:45 p.m. Saturday and later died.

Also late Friday, authorities said a Schuyler Avenue shooting killed Kevin Baker, 19, of Newark. The shootings late Friday came as Newark hosted its "24 Hours of Peace" event designed to curb violence in the city. Last year, the effort was also marred by two killings during the peace event.

According to an NJ Advance Media count, 66 people have been killed in city homicides this year.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The federal government plans to pour $125 million into the fight against a mysterious disease that has ravaged corals in Florida and much of the Caribbean, and now poses a dire threat to the treasured reefs off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.
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

Thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 76F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunshine and clouds mixed. High around 75F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
President Tran Dai Quang and a working group of the Keidanrens Japan-Vietnam Economic Committee (Source: VNA)



At separate meetings with a working group of the Keidanrens Japan-Vietnam Economic Committee in Hanoi on August 23rd, the two leaders appreciated the role played by the committees co-Presidents in promoting the bilateral ties, especially in the realisation of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative.

President Quang described the initiative as an effective information channel helping competent Vietnamese agencies complete laws and policies in an effort to improve the local investment environment.

The Vietnamese State always regards Japan as the countrys leading and long-term partner, and wishes to work together with Japan to push forwards the relationship in a more comprehensive and pragmatic fashion, he stressed.

The President suggested the two sides step up their economic ties as they still hold substantial potential for increased cooperation in this field.

The establishment of the ASEAN Community late last year and new-generation trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement are expected to afford multiple opportunities for the two countries to beef up their economic, trade and investment affiliation, he added.

Both leaders pledged to create a more stable, open and transparent business climate for foreign investors, including those from Japan.

Prime Minister Phuc affirmed that the Vietnamese Government always supports and facilitates the operation of Japanese enterprises.

He noted his hope that the Japanese federation will help create big waves of investments in Vietnam and that the Vietnamese Government wishes for cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative to enter the next level.

For his part, Kyohei Takahashi and Kuniharu Nakamua, co-Presidents of the Japan-Vietnam Economic Committee, reassured that Japan always attaches importance to cooperation with Vietnam.

Kyohei Takahashi said trade between the two countries has quadrupled since the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement took effect in 2009. Japan has poured the largest amount of investments in Vietnam among ASEAN member countries, with over 1,500 businesses operating.

A survey conducted by Keidanren last March shows that Vietnam tops the list of countries where Japanese firms intend to invest in the next five to ten years, he noted.

Kuniharu Nakamua said Vietnam has a lot of advantages to attract investment, like geological conditions, an abundant and hard-working labour force as well as its engagement in the TPP and RCEP agreements.

He suggested the Vietnamese Government promptly ratify the TPP to bring new economic, trade and investment opportunities to the two countries.

Keidaren is the largest business federation in Japan gathering 1,340 biggest Japanese firms, 109 industrial associations and 47 economic organisations at regional and local levels.

The Japanese working group is in Vietnam to attend a meeting of the Joint Committee of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative to kick-start the sixth phase of the initiative.

The initiative, launched in April 2003 as a result of special cooperation between the two Governments, aims to create an open and transparent business and investment climate in Vietnam through a policy dialogue between Japanese investors and relevant Vietnamese ministries and agencies. It also makes proposals to help competent Vietnamese agencies complete laws and policies./.
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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Indian Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni (Source: VNA)



He approved the two countries intending to upgrade their strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic level, saying it will allow stronger cooperation.

Vietnam welcomes Indias Act East policy as it was confirmed one of the pillars of the policy, he stressed.

The Government leader expressed his expectations for the upcoming visit to Vietnam by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He asked both sides to have thorough preparations to make the visit a success as it is significant in the context that they are to celebrate the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties (January 7th, 1972-2017).

The ambassador affirmed that India always attaches importance to strengthening its intensive and extensive collaboration with Vietnam.

He suggested the two countries step up cooperation in the fields of science, technology, finance, information technology and telecommunications.

The two countries should continue promoting their strengths and potential as well as expanding cooperation so as to further deepen the bilateral strategic partnership, he stated./.
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and New Zealand Ambassador Haike Manning (Source: VNA)



She suggested New Zealand soon allow the entry of Vietnamese fruits, encourage its businesses to invest in the processing of agricultural products in Vietnam, and support the country in human resources training.

Mentioning the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, she said both sides should intensify experience sharing to take advantage of regional free trade agreements to boost bilateral trade and investment.

The top legislator also expressed her hope that New Zealand will share its experience in developing sustainable agriculture and responding to climate change, recalling the prolonged drought and saline intrusion and their serious impacts on the Mekong Delta early this year.

Haike Manning said that the two countries should increase delegation exchanges, pay attention to cooperation between specialised committees and friendship parliamentarians groups, and increase coordination at international parliamentary forums, especially the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

New Zealand had cooperated with the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre to improve farmers adaptation to climate change and livelihood improvement and wants to expand the cooperative model, he stated.

The country also hopes for further collaboration in boosting exports to the respective countries and to the third market as well, he added.

Meeting with the Filipino Ambassador, Ngan said both sides should implement efficiently existing cooperative mechanisms and continue promoting their strength in maritime cooperation through the implementation of agreements related to search and rescue, response to oil spill incidents, and protection of the sea environment.

She also requested the two Governments to create favourable conditions for the two countries enterprises, particularly in rice trading.

The diplomat noted his hope that the two sides will expand cooperation between localities and agencies involved in women affairs and drugs prevention, along with intensifying ties between the two legislative bodies./.
Photo: baolaocai.vn

During the talks, Le Ngoc Hung, Vice Chairman of the Lao Cai provincial Peoples Committee and Head of the Sub-committee on border work, said that the Sub-committee had strictly carried out documents on border gate management; actively encouraged border gate residents to obey legal regulations on the border; and worked together to tackle any cases happening in border areas.

According to Mr. Hung, border gate and border trade management authorities have regularly met for discussions, informing each other about changes in papers relating to immigration; worked together to inspect humans, vehicles and goods passing through the border gate; and gradually carried out administrative procedure reform in the management of immigration and import and export of goods.

The inspection work has helped promptly prevent and deal with violations of immigration regulations, import-export policies, smuggling and trade fraud, contributing to maintaining security at border gate areas, facilitating the traffic of people and goods through border gate, and promoting economic, cultural and social development for both sides, he said.

For his part, Liu Jing, Head of the Yunnan provinces border gate office, said that the two sides had carried out coordination work more comprehensively, making active contribution to the development of border gate area of the two localities, ensuring security along the Vietnam - China border line.

The two sides agreed to increase cooperation in managing the border gate, strictly struggling against illegal immigration and trafficking, educating peoples to comply with border gate document regulations, and ensuring smooth flow of people and goods.

They also agreed to further increase the friendship and mutual understanding, strictly work together in managing the border gate, serving immigration and goods circulation, contributing to boosting economic development in Lao Cai - Yunnan border areas./.
Knights winger Nathan Ross, Eels forward Rory O'Brien and Dragons centre Taane Milne have all received one-match suspensions over Round 24 incidents.

Ross and Milne both pleaded guilty to grade one dangerous throw charges while O'Brien entered a plea of no contest on a dangerous contact charge on Canberra winger Brenko Lee.

Ross will take 17 carryover points, Milne recived 59 carryover points while O'Brien's slate has been wiped clean with no carryover points.

Meanwhile Eels fullback Bevan French and Sharks five-eighth James Maloney both escaped bans with early pleas, while Bulldogs prop Sam Kasiano had earlier received a two-match ban over a dangerous contact charge.
The ceremony organized at Pho Phuoc pagoda (Photo: VNA)

Tu Te pagoda is the place President Ho Chi Minh did revolutionary activities in the Kingdom of Thailand in the early 20th century. While Pho Phuoc pagoda is home to the headquarters of Annamnikaya, Vietnams sect in Thailand.

So far, there are seven pagodas, among more than 20 Vietnamese pagodas in Thailand, having been fitted with their Vietnamese nameplates.

During an official visit to Thailand in mid August 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam and Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra attached Vietnamese nameplates to Khanh Van pagoda, which was built by Vietnamese migrants in the late 18th century. It is expected that in the coming time, other Vietnamese pagodas in Thailand will also have Vietnamese nameplates.

As soon as Vietnamese people arrived in Thailand about 200 years ago, the first Vietnamese pagodas were built. Since then, Annamnikaya has become one of the sects respected in the Buddhist community in Thailand, a spiritual support for overseas Vietnamese people. Vietnamese pagodas are places where overseas Vietnamese people exchange and meet each other, especially during Lunar New Year Festivals, and are also places to express affection to the homeland.

With over 20 original Vietnamese pagodas built around the country, Thailand has the largest number of pagodas organizing Vietnams traditional Buddhist rites of any other country./.
NIPSCO is laying plans to significantly reduce its coal-fired electric generation, unveiling plans Tuesday to close Chestertons Bailly Generating Station by mid-2018 and a good portion of Wheatfields Schahfer Generating Station in 2023.

The utility explained the plan to consumer groups and other stakeholders at a meeting starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning at the Radisson Hotel, in Merrillville. The utility has been working with the stakeholders for months on a long-term integrated resource plan, which would include the closures.

The landscape for electric generation is shifting dramatically, not just for NIPSCO but for our nation as a whole, said NIPSCO Chief Executive Violet Sistovaris. In particular, companies with aging coal-fired units are facing intense economic and environmental regulatory pressures that are driving important decisions today about how to meet the customer needs of tomorrow.

NIPSCO plans to submit its integrated resource plan to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission by Nov. 1. The plan must be filed every two years with the commission. For the more immediate task of closing Baillys coal-fired units, NIPSCO will have to file for permission with the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which oversees the electric grid in 15 states and one Canadian province.

The closure of both coal-fired electric generating units at Bailly, and two of four units five years later at Schahfer, would impact approximately 250 employees. Sistovaris said the United Steelworkers Union, which represents the NIPSCO workforce, was informed Tuesday morning.

The company will negotiate the workforce impacts with the union and its goal is to provide other job opportunities for employees at NIPSCO, Sistovaris said.

USW Local 12775 President Vernon Beck said he was surprised when told Tuesday morning Bailly would be closed five years earlier than the union had been told previously and that two units at Schahfer were now included in the plan.

He said environmental groups would undoubtedly be happy at the closures of the coal fired plants but you have people tied into those jobs that make good money which helps our economy. He is hopeful that employees impacted can move into vacancies at the utility or take the place of people retiring.

Much of the plan may depend on what happens with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, some of which are currently being contested in the courts, Beck said.

Changes could power cost shift

In total, the plan to close Baillys coal-fired units and two at Schahfer would take about 31 percent of NIPSCOs electric generating capacity offline.

The plan will also raise concerns about the impact on residential customers bills. The cost to NIPSCO customers would come largely from what are called stranded costs, which are costs associated with the closed generating stations that could still be part of customer bills for years to come, according to Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition.

We would hope the company would share the pain with ratepayers, said Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson. Why should ratepayers shoulder 100 percent of the stranded costs?

Sistovaris said NIPSCO may not have to make any significant power purchases on the open market to make up for the closure of Bailly. But that could change once two of Schahfers generating units are closed. NIPSCO has not yet made any calculations for changes that may eventually come in customer bills.

The utility calculates it would incur $1 billion in additional costs during the next seven years if it continues to operate its entire fleet of coal-fired generating plants. That cost would arise from complying with new environmental regulations as well as maintenance.

Closing down existing coal-fired generation could push NIPSCO toward purchasing more of its power from renewable sources such as wind and solar, Olson said. NIPSCO currently derives about 72 percent of its electricity from coal-fired plants, as compared to 90 percent five years ago.

Theres no reason we can see why NIPSCO should not buy low-cost wind power from right here in Northwest Indiana, Olson said.

In recent years, NIPSCO has installed $800 million in pollution control equipment at Schahfer and Michigan City, which is its third generating station. It recently announced plans to demolish its Mitchell Generating Station, in Gary, which has been largely mothballed for more than a decade.
LAPORTE  Funds are being raised to replace more than 300 missing and damaged bronze medallions taken from the graves of veterans at a local cemetery.

More than 50 were discovered missing at Patton Cemetery at 1401 Rumely St. last year, but that number has swelled to about 330.

James Hiles, financial officer for American Legion Post 83 in LaPorte, said some of the medallions were on graves of veterans dating back to the Revolutionary War.

People dont have any morals anymore, apparently, Hiles said.

The bronze medallions listing the war and branch of service a veteran served were pulled out of grave sites. The medallions then were broken off the stakes and discarded.

The stakes made of brass are whats kept apparently for the scrap value.

Hiles said most of the medallions, despite made of bronze, have been left behind probably to avoid a call to the police from a scrap dealer who would see from the engravings they were stolen from a cemetery.

Close to 80 of the medallions broken off the stakes were found late in the spring over a fence adjacent to the Civil War section of the cemetery, he said.

This isnt just a piece of bronze. This means somebodys life has been given for this country, Hiles said.

Other cemeteries in the LaPorte area have had similar thefts but not nearly to the degree as Patton Cemetery, which is somewhat secluded in a neighborhood less than a mile south of the downtown.

To resolve the situation, medallions and stakes made of aluminum and steel with no scrap value will replace the missing ones and will be used on future veterans graves.

The cost, at nearly $13 apiece, is much less than the $35 price paid for each of the bronze/brass ones.

Hiles said close to 1,000 old markers remain at Patton Cemetery and will remain at the grave sites. If any of those are taken, they will be replaced with the less expensive version.

Close to $2,000 has already been raised, and donations can be directed to the American Legion not just to replace the missing markers but to purchase ones for future veterans.

The American Legion Skwiat Post No. 451 in Michigan City took a similar approach to combat thefts of markers at cemeteries about a decade ago.

We switched to a cheaper metal thats not expensive and theyre not taking those, said Bridgett Smith, an employee at the post near Ames Field in Michigan City.
A fugitive led police on a short chase Monday afternoon through LaPorte County before being discovered in a small cubby hole concealed by a plywood door in his home.

Donald Newland, 33, of Rolling Prairie, has been booked into the LaPorte County Jail 26 times since 2002 for crimes like burglary, theft and violating probation, said LaPorte County police Capt. Mike Kellems.

According to police, Newland drove up to his home to find officers with a warrant for his arrest knocking on his door about 2 p.m.

LaPorte County police Sgt. Andy Hynek, who also serves on the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, said Newland took off driving across all four lanes of Ind. 2 and several yards later doubling back to his home in the 4800 North block of County Road 700 East.

He went inside and crawled through a small hole to hide from officers, but was discovered with the help of Argo, a police dog that tracked him to a small area behind a wall next to the fireplace, Hynek said.

Newland offered no resistance in coming back out through the hole covered by an access door, Hynek said.

Members from the sheriffs department there had located him in the same cubby hole in the past, said Hynek.

Newland was wanted again for violating probation on a previous burglary conviction and a warrant out of St. Joseph County for theft.

According to court documents, Newland in 2008 was hiding in a closet at the same residence when served with a warrant for failing to appear in court on pending theft and forgery charges and charges of burglary and receiving stolen property that were just filed.

Kellems said he was a suspect that year in a series of break-ins involving easy to take items like electronics and power tools.

He also was busy enough cashing forged checks during that time period to become a familiar name with several of the local banks, according to court documents.

Hes definitely known to us and a fugitive weve spent a lot of time looking for, Kellems said.

Newland was being held without bond.
EAST CHICAGO  Lead problems in the West Calumet Housing Complex are creating havoc for the School City of East Chicago, affecting the finances and enrollment of a district that just balanced its budget and eliminated a deficit after years of struggling.

As many as 1,200 residents have been told to move because of the health risks posed by the soil around their homes that is contaminated with lead and arsenic. Residents will receive vouchers to move, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will do a massive cleanup.

East Chicago schools Superintendent Paige McNulty said several issues could hamper district finances, including a decrease in enrollment, which will affect the budget, and what to do with a closed elementary school building sitting on contaminated land.

McNulty, who became superintendent in July after being assistant superintendent for a year, decided to close Carrie Gosch Elementary School, built in the West Calumet neighborhood, and move the students to the former West Side Middle School building at 4001 Indianapolis Blvd. The district had closed West Side and sent those students to Block Middle School, leaving it empty.

McNulty wants the state to hold the district harmless regarding enrollment, which will require legislative action. That means she would like the district to receive state funding as though Carrie Gosch were operating at full enrollment.

McNulty said the district expected about 4,400 students to enroll in all its schools this fall. She said current enrollment is a few hundred less than that, and she doesnt know where the missing students have enrolled, if anywhere.

The ADM (average daily membership) count is in September and if the students are gone, the state will immediately reduce our tuition support, she said.

McNulty said there are almost 600 students in the West Calumet community. Carrie Gosch had an enrollment of 430 last school year, with another 158 students from that neighborhood who attended Block Middle and East Chicago Central High schools.

School started Aug. 15, and only 280 Carrie Gosch students have enrolled at West Side. With East Chicago schools receiving $7,200 per pupil from the state, the district stands to lose about $2 million. McNulty said if all the West Calumet families move out of the district it loses nearly 600 students. That will be a loss of a little more than $4 million.

We just balanced the budget, McNulty said. We heard about this at the 11th hour.

I had five days before school started to move (students). I had to pay for 10 moving companies, staff to work around the clock, convert the middle school building into a pre-K-6 building, change the toilets and restrooms to accommodate younger children, convert the water fountains for younger children, re-create the kitchen, which had been dismantled and clean the building, which we hadnt done yet.

McNulty said the entire situation is heartbreaking.

I had just put in new tile, new carpeting and new front doors at Carrie Gosch. We finished about two weeks ago, she said.

McNulty appealed to the Indiana State Board of Education for money.

On Aug. 10, SBOE unanimously adopted a resolution to give the school corporation a disaster loan of up to $3 million to be used for the move.

The resolution was proposed by SBOE member Eddie Melton, of Merrillville, who said Friday SBOE is working with the state auditor and budget agency in expediting the transfer of funds.

During the 2017 legislative session, he said, legislators should be able to work with the Indiana Department of Education to address any funding shortfalls the School City of East Chicago may experience due to this unanticipated environmental disaster.

State, federal involvement

IDOE spokesman Daniel Altman said state Superintendent Glenda Ritz and the department have been working closely with the East Chicago community on this matter. He said the department is providing support and resources to the community, including having an outreach coordinator work with the school daily to ensure that all available state resources are being utilized.

The department also has contacted the federal government to determine the possibility of federal funding.

With respect to loan forgiveness or some type of hold harmless regarding ADM, both of those would require legislative action, and I imagine that will be discussed during the upcoming legislative session, Altman said.

McNulty was scheduled to meet with state Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Monday, and will meet with other local and state legislators. She said she hopes East Chicago state Sen. Lonnie Randolph will carry legislation next year.

Kenley said Friday he is aware of the lead problems in East Chicago.

Shes coming to see me so she can explain the situation and I can better understand it and what needs to be done, he said.

I need to look at that and talk to her and figure out what role the state can play in resolving the situation. We have a stake in this. I appreciate that she is making the trip to get me up to speed early on and try and figure out what we can do and should do.

McNulty said the district still owes $1.4 million on a mortgage on the Carrie Gosch building. She said she doesnt know how much the district spent on its construction. She said she still has to pay for its utilities, maintenance and security.

Its sitting on a wasteland, she said.

There is talk of demolishing the property over there. Carrie Gosch should be included in any funding the city gets to demolish property over there. Even though we are a public school, we should be wrapped in that solution.

East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland said the building was constructed before his time in office. He said it will be up to the School Board to make a decision on the buildings future.

Helping families with school-age children

McNulty said school officials have gone out in the West Calumet neighborhood, provided fliers and encouraged parents to enroll their children in school.

Some were under the impression that they needed to wait until they moved to enroll their children in school, she said.

There is a lot of misinformation out there. Weve also done robo calls. We have the information on our website. We have parent liaisons who have called every single parent on the list who lives in that community, but we are still missing about 150 kids who should be enrolled at Carrie Gosch.

McNulty said in a few weeks, administrators will be able to check if students have enrolled in other local schools by seeing if student ID numbers show up in other districts, but they will have no way to know if a family moves to Illinois and enrolls a student there.

McNulty said she has dozens of parents who want to have expedited testing for special education because of the lead problems.

We didnt budget for that, she said.

McNulty said parents also are moving in with family members; by doing so, they fall under the McKinney-Vento Act because they are considered homeless.

That federal law provides certain rights for homeless students, including waiving certain requirements such as proof of residency when students are enrolling and allowing students to have free textbooks. The law also allows homeless students to attend their school of origin or the school where they are temporarily residing.

McNulty has reached out to local superintendents for advice, and contacted Flint Community Schools Superintendent Bilal Tawwab, whose district has dealt with lead problems after reports that Flints drinking water contained high lead levels.

He is the only other superintendent that Im aware of who has dealt with a similar situation, she said.

McNulty has opened the West Side school building to the North Township trustees office to assist parents, along with the East Chicago Health Department, which will provide free lead testing to the community.

She said she plans to sign a lease agreement with EPA, which wants to rent the first floor of Carrie Gosch to use while the agency cleans the West Calumet area.

The ADM (Average Daily Membership) count is in September and if the students are gone, the state will immediately reduce our tuition support. Superintendent Paige McNulty, School City of East Chicago
INDIANAPOLIS  The three candidates for Indiana governor are expected to participate in three upcoming debates organized by the nonpartisan Indiana Debate Commission.

While details still are being finalized for the two October debates, the commission announced Tuesday the first debate will be held Sept. 27 at Lawrence North High School, in Indianapolis, and will be a town hall-style event focused on education.

Students, teachers and administrators in the debate audience will get to ask education-related questions to the candidates: Democratic former House Speaker John Gregg; Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb; and Libertarian Rex Bell.

The debate will be held during school hours and webcast live to schools throughout Indiana. It also will be broadcast later on Indiana public television stations.

Being involved in an event such as this is a new experience for the debate commission, said Dan Byron, commission president.

Besides watching the debates, Hoosiers can submit questions for the candidates online at indianadebatecommission.com that may be used at either of the traditional evening debates in October.
A couple left young children alone in a car while gambling at the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, according to police.

A 30-year-old mother from East Chicago and a 30-year-old father from Hammond were arrested on preliminary charges of child endangerment after the East Chicago Police Department got a call at around 6:30 Sunday that two infant children were in distress and left alone in a vehicle outside the casino on Lake Michigan.

East Chicago police say the woman may have a previous case of child neglect and the man faces an additional charge of public intoxication.

Police did not release the parents' names.

East Chicago officers arrived at the casino Sunday evening and found a 3-month-old child and a 1-year-old child alone in a car.

The doors were unlocked and the windows were rolled all the way up according to a police report.

The temperature in East Chicago climbed as high as 78 degrees Sunday, according to the Weather Channel.

At that temperature, the inside of a car can reach 99 degrees in 10 minutes and 114 degrees in half an hour, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

About five minutes after police arrived, the mother came out of the casino and told police she left the kids with their father, according to a police report.

About 10 minutes later, he emerged and said he went inside to use the bathroom.

Security footage at the casino showed both had been playing table games for 20 minutes. Child Protective Services took custody of both children.
EAST CHICAGO  Residents in the eastern-most area of an EPA Superfund site in the Calumet neighborhood will begin hearing this week from the federal agency about the level of lead in the soil outside their homes, officials said.

Much of EPAs work this summer at the USS Lead Superfund site has focused on zone 1, which includes the West Calumet Housing Complex and Carrie Gosch Elementary School.

But the federal agency said Tuesday it will start calling residents later this week in zone 3, which is bounded by the Elgin & Joliet Railway Line to the west, Parrish Avenue to the east, East Chicago Avenue to the north and 149th Place to the south. The EPA will follow up by mailing letters to residents informing them of their test results, spokeswoman Rachel Bassler said.

Data on arsenic levels in zone 3 is still being collected and validated, she said.

EPA also has started seeking residents permission to sample soil in zone 2, which is bounded by East Chicago Avenue to the north, 151st Street to the south, McCook Avenue to the west, and the Elgin & Joliet and Eastern Parkway to the east and includes a segment just north of Gosch Elementary and west of McCook. As many as 586 properties in zone 2 will be tested, if residents sign a consent agreement, Bassler said.

The EPA selected a plan in 2012 and reached a $26 million agreement in fall 2014 with Atlantic Richfield and DuPont for a $26 million cleanup in zones 1 and 3, but not zone 2. The plan called for excavation of soil down to 2 feet and replacement with clean soil.

Decisions need to be made

EPA officials said last week excavation is on hold in the West Calumet Housing Complex as the city and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work to relocate about 1,000 residents, including 680 children. The mayor sent residents in the complex a letter last month advising them it would be in their best interests to move.

City officials said the decision to relocate residents was made after soil test results in zone 1 released May 24 showed the level of lead and arsenic contamination there to be much higher and more widespread than predicted. The East Chicago Housing Authority has submitted an application to HUD seeking to demolish all 346 units at the complex.

The city received a letter Monday from EPA seeking to start a conversation about the future use of the site the West Calumet Housing Complex currently occupies, City Attorney Carla Morgan said.

Decisions need to be made, she said. Its very complex because it impacts the cleanup.

The city initially had planned to return the land to residential use, but nothing has been decided yet, she said.

Redevelopment plans might have to go before the City Council, but its possible the East Chicago Housing Authority could decide a use without consulting the council, she said.

Our main efforts have been focused on the short-term problem, Morgan said. We know we need to think about these longer-term problems, but weve been focused on the welfare of the people who live there.

Blood testing continues

Pregnant women and children, especially those younger than 6, are particularly at risk when exposed to lead. Even low levels of lead in the blood of children can cause irreversible behavior and learning problems, lower IQ and hyperactivity, slowed growth, hearing problems, and anemia, according to the EPA.

The city is encouraging all residents, especially children and pregnant women, to be tested for lead by contacting the East Chicago Department of Health, Morgan said. Residents whose preliminary results indicated elevated blood-lead levels are strongly encouraged to return for more accurate, confirmatory tests, she said.

As of Monday, 458 children and adults had received an initial screening, said Kenneth Severson, spokesman for the Indiana State Department of Health.

Initial screening results showed 26  including 16 children younger than 7  of those tested registered above 5 micrograms per deciliter, he said. The results are from initial screening and could change after confirmatory blood tests are complete, he said. Blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter warrant action, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The East Chicago Health Department is offering the testing for free, Morgan said. The State Department of Health has provided additional resources and a registered nurse to help the city provide follow-up care, she said.
CROWN POINT  A jury will begin hearing evidence today in the murder trial of Stephen M. Day, who is charged with shooting to death Hammond resident Thomas Thompson in 2012.

The trial for Day, 41, of Burnham, is expected to last through Friday, Lake County Criminal Judge Samuel Cappas said during the jury selection process on Monday.

Day appeared in court with defense attorney John Maksimovich.

The state doesnt have to prove motive, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Eric Randall told prospective jurors Monday.

Thompson, 54, was killed near his home in the 7100 block of Oakdale Avenue in Hammond, according to court records.

Day was charged in the homicide in April 2015 after a man he allegedly offered money to kill Thompson spoke to detectives while being held at the Lake County Jail.

The man told detectives Day admitted to shooting Thompson multiple times weeks after the two had driven to see where the victim lived, according to the affidavit.

Hammond police detectives began investigating Day and discovered he had been arrested in November 2012 in Illinois with unlawful use of a weapon. According to the affidavit, Day admitted he possessed a .357-caliber firearm.

The Burnham Police Department turned over the firearm seized in Day's 2012 arrest to Hammond police.
Its good to see Michigan City safety officials addressing recent drownings with slated safeguards for the beachfront.

But it shouldnt nullify the most important safety measures of all: personal responsibility and good judgment.

Michigan City lifeguards have documented 13 rescues in which victims needed some type of treatment, like CPR, oxygen or transport on backboard to an ambulance. That doesnt include incidents in which lifeguards helped a struggling swimmer get back to shore.

Most recently, a 14-year-old boy drowned earlier this month near the Washington Park Lighthouse Pier.

Elsewhere in the Region this summer, two Northwest Indiana men drowned while trying to save another swimmer near Garys Miller section. Three other people were rescued from the water during the same incident, which occurred with Garys Air Show as the backdrop and despite loudspeaker warnings of hazardous conditions.

Michigan City plans to install 25 life rings along the lakefront. Each will be tethered with 100 feet of rope, affording potentially life-saving flotation devices for distressed swimmers.

A $13,000 ArcelorMittal Foundation grant also will allow Michigan Citys Lakefront Safety Committee to improve other safety equipment, add signage and increase public awareness.

All of these steps are important to bolstering safety at the lakefront.

But there are steps beach visitors should take to ensure their own safety.

The National Weather Service continues offering warnings for hazardous swimming conditions on Lake Michigan. Such alerts can and should be checked before visiting Region beaches.

Michigan Citys Washington Park Beach offers a safe swimming zone staffed by lifeguards and with posted alerts. Swimming in such an area, rather than a remote beach, also can contribute to safety.

Emergency rescue personnel and equipment cant replace wise decisions.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
Carl Bakal, a writer, editor and public relations man who was author of an early warning about the proliferation of firearms in the United States, died on March 18 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. He was 86 and lived on the Upper West Side and in East Chatham, N.Y.

His death was announced by his daughter Stephanie Bakal.

Mr. Bakal was the author of ''The Right To Bear Arms'' (McGraw-Hill, 1966). It examined the Second Amendment to the Constitution and the tradition of firearms ownership in the United States.

The book argued that the easy availability of guns and weapons of any kind had increased the level of violence. Gun ownership, it held, bred criminals and criminality, a view that aroused debate then and since.

Mr. Bakal also wrote ''Charity U.S.A.: An Investigation Into the Hidden World of the Multi-Billion Dollar Charity Industry'' (Times Books, 1979). It tracked the evolution of an American tradition of generosity, toting up some 700,000 unregulated nonprofit organizations whose activities, he argued, required stricter accountability, perhaps through federal oversight.
Until recently, Debra Maggart considered the National Rifle Association an ally. As chairwoman of the Republican caucus in the Tennessee House of Representatives, she was a lifetime N.R.A. member and steadfastly supported its agenda, even voting for a bill that allowed guns in bars.

How much more pro-Second Amendment can you be when you allow guns in a place thats serving tequila? she asked.

But when she and other Tennessee Republicans decided earlier this year not to move forward with an N.R.A. bill that would have allowed people to keep firearms locked in their cars in parking lots, Ms. Maggart became an object lesson in how the organization deploys its political power.

Upset that the bill, which the N.R.A. called the Safe Commute Act, had stalled, the group began working to unseat Ms. Maggart, the only member of the House leadership with a primary opponent. Billboards with her picture next to President Obamas went up in her district, along with radio ads, newspaper ads and mailings. The N.R.A. and the other groups that opposed her in the primary spent around $155,000, she estimated. It would hardly be enough to register in many political races these days, but it was more than enough to beat Ms. Maggart  and draw notice in the State Capitol.
He also composed songs, the most famous of which was Miami Beach Rhumba, a 1946 number about a traveler who starts out for Havana and ends up in the Jewish Riviera of the songs title.

With lyrics by Albert Gamse  Ill save Havana for manana was one line  it became a staple of 1950s and 60s bar mitzvahs. The Latin bandleader Xavier Cugat turned it into a hit in 1947, and Tito Puente recorded it as well. Fifty years later, Woody Allen used it in his film Deconstructing Harry. (John Camacho is also credited with a hand in the composing.)

Other Fields collaborations included Managua, Nicaragua, a hit for Guy Lombardo, and Chantez, Chantez, a sprightly melody that Dinah Shore recorded in 1957.

Yet in the last decades of his life he was better known as a New York City lounge pianist, still performing as recently as March at spots near his Central Park South home, like the dining room of the Park Lane Hotel, the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel and Ninos Tuscany Steakhouse. Though he sometimes played to near-empty rooms or ones with distracted customers, he was a restless man who could not stop working.

I love what I do, and the piano is my best friend, he told an interviewer.

Though depending on a walker to get around, his fingers hobbled by arthritis, he continued to find his way to the keyboard, stylish in a blue blazer and pocket square, his customary two-olive vodka martini perched on top of the piano. (He also liked to keep a pile of fliers there, with titles like Secrets for Longevity and tips like Eat four hours before bedtime (youll digest better).)
Its a black pool of speculation that could cause bankruptcies in our sector.

As if the collapse in oil prices hadnt created enough doom and gloom for the energy industry, the soaring cost of credits for renewable energy has made the business of oil refining even harder.

Gasoline and diesel fuel refineries are required to add a certain amount of renewable fuel, like corn-based ethanol, to each gallon of petroleum-based fuel they refine. Refiners that do not do this must buy credits from refiners that do. The Environmental Protection Agency administers those credits, but an unregulated trading market has emerged, creating huge price swings.

Jack Lipinski, the chief executive of CVR Energy (and the person quoted above), has had to double what his company spends on credits  exceeding his total costs for labor, maintenance and energy. Other independent refiners like him say they are penalized by the system because their operations are equipped to process only petroleum products.

But the industry itself remains divided over who should be responsible for purchasing the credits  those who refine the gasoline (as is currently the case) or those who blend it with biofuels.
Whats all this about The New York Times getting smaller and smaller?

Were the same size now  12 inches across  that weve been since 2007. That was when a half century of shrinkage came to an end. At least for the time being.

In the mid-19th century, The Times was a truly broad broadsheet, with pages 18 inches across.

By the mid-20th century, it was still respectably broad. The Times was printed, four pages abreast, on webs of newsprint 64 inches wide, yielding individual pages 16 inches across  or 32 inches for a two-page spread, if you opened up the sheet for the purpose of puppy training.
Regular readers of this magazine might detect a curious institutional man-crush on Reince Priebus, the embattled but indefatigably upbeat chairman of the Republican National Committee. O.K., guilty. You, and I, first encountered Priebus earlier this spring, when I was reporting an article on how Donald Trumps political ascendancy had put the Republican Partys responsible adults in a, well, interesting spot. Over the course of our regular interviews, Priebus was a surprisingly good sport about the whole thing  enough so that weve decided to initiate a new feature, Tuesdays With Reince, a semiregular encounter-session with the head of the fracturing party of Lincoln, to provide our readers with the full-spectrum Priebus coverage they have been clamoring for.

When we last checked in with our protagonist, Priebus was preparing to address the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The chairman was crowing about the great success of his Cleveland confab  the rousing addresses delivered by Ted Cruz, the actor Scott Baio and Melania Trump, among others; the party unity on display; and even the special socks (blue with red squigglies) that the G.O.P. lifer-apparatchik donned for the occasion. Things have been a little shaky for the party and its nominee since then, so this Tuesday, I asked Priebus about his health.

Health has of course become an issue in the campaign of late, as Trump and his various mouthpieces (Rudy Giuliani, Katrina Pearson, Sean Hannity) have cast a series of bizarre aspersions on Hillary Clintons neurological condition and stamina. Trump himself has released virtually no meaningful medical data, though in December he did offer up a letter signed by a gastroenterologist that included the suspiciously Trump-like declaration that Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency. (On Twitter, Trump thanked another doctor  the gastroenterologists father and partner in private practice  for writing the letter, then deleted the tweet when it was revealed the doctor had been dead for five years.) Clinton, in any case, diagnosed her opponent as healthy as a horse last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live. It made me wonder: How is Reince feeling? And dont the American people have a right to know the medical conditions of their party chairmen?

I think Im a fairly healthy 44-year-old, Priebus declared, before tacking on a fairly broad caveat: I have all kinds of mysterious ailments.
The case has sent a shiver through the city, both because of its echoes of the Central Park jogger case, one of the citys most infamous crimes, but also because five days after Ms. Vetranos death, another New York woman, Vanessa Marcotte, was killed during a jog near her mothers home in a small town in Massachusetts.

Ms. Vetranos death has also resonated because of poignant details about her relationship with her father, Philip Vetrano, whose grief-stricken public appearances since her death have fueled more news media attention. Mr. Vetrano, a retired firefighter, usually jogged through the preserves with his daughter. But he had recently injured his back, so his daughter had been jogging there without him, despite his concerns about the safety of doing so.

At a news conference last week, Mr. Vetrano said he believed that the investigation was progressing toward a resolution. We have a number of very, very strong leads, and there are a few suspects that are very interesting to the police, he said, according to news reports. Mr. Vetrano called on the family of the killer to come forward, noting that there was considerable reward money, more than $250,000 so far.

But the same day as Mr. Vetranos news conference, however, the police commissioner, William J. Bratton, denied that the police had any suspects in their sight, according to news reports.

A call on Monday to Mr. Vetranos phone number was answered by a man who identified himself as a family member. Before hanging up, he insisted that there remained a number of leads and a number of suspects.
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Image Credit... U.S. Central Command, via Associated Press

2. Abu Zubaydah, who was waterboarded 83 times and otherwise brutally tortured after being mistaken for a high-level Qaeda operative involved in the 9/11 attacks, argued for his release from Guantanamo Bay.

He said he had no intent to harm the U.S. or any other country.

Video of the hearing streamed to the Pentagon offered reporters and human rights advocates their first glimpse of him, appearing calm, since he was captured 14 years ago. A review board will recommend continued detention or transfer.

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Image Credit... Radiological Society of North America

3. Researchers published detailed images of the brains of babies born to Zika-infected mothers, urging doctors around the world to study them and know what to look for.
Tehran has revoked Russias right to use an Iranian base to stage bombing runs in Syria, only a week after granting it. The move was the latest in the two countries complicated relationship regarding the war.

 Civil rights and the Constitution.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia restored the voting rights of nearly 13,000 former felons. His office said the move is the start of an effort to address the rights of all the states ex-felons  The ban on their voting had disenfranchised roughly one in five African-Americans.

The legal battle over which restrooms transgender students can use has taken a new turn, as a federal judge blocked the Obama administration from enforcing new guidelines meant to expand bathroom access for them in public schools. And we look at a movement aimed at pushing states to amend the Constitution.

 Legal trouble for the news media.

Andrea Tantaros, a onetime Fox News host, has charged in a new lawsuit that the network punished her for complaining about sexual harassment by Roger Ailes, the former chairman. Ms. Tantaros says she was repeatedly told not to wear pants on the air because Roger wants to see your legs.

And a lawyer for Melania Trump is threatening to sue news outlets including The Daily Mail and Politico for defamation.

 Putting alternative energy to work.

By October, the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. will begin testing near Block Island, R.I. Though the project is relatively small, there are high hopes that it will fuel a new industry and reduce pollution.
The use of unlawful detention and disappearance has become the tactic of choice in Bangladesh for dealing with anyone deemed a threat, including political enemies of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. These practices are a violation of due process and are a mockery of Bangladeshs laws.

In June, nearly 15,000 people were arrested in response to attacks by militants who killed more than 40 writers, openly gay men, foreigners and members of religious minorities. The arrests, however, seem aimed less at bringing the real culprits to justice than in cracking down on Ms. Hasinas political opponents. Her government has admitted that only some 194 of the thousands arrested were confirmed militants.

Similar motives lie behind the killing of 22 people in June shootouts involving Bangladeshi law enforcement. Among the victims were two student opposition political leaders.

Unlawful detentions and disappearances have become routine in Bangladesh. Authorities act with impunity even when under the international spotlight. Such is the case with Tahmid Khan and Hasnat Karim, who survived a terrorist attack at a restaurant in Dhaka on July 1 and then disappeared after being detained by authorities. The police now admit they have the two in custody, but have produced no evidence either man is guilty of involvement in the attack.
Washington  While planning a trip to Buenos Aires two years ago, I decided to give Airbnb a try. The idea of renting a private apartment through the online service instead of paying for a generic hotel room was intriguing. Though August marks the off-season for tourism in Buenos Aires, I was rejected by the first three hosts I contacted. One host listed the days in question as available but nonetheless claimed my request overlapped with another reservation; another declined without explanation; and a third got back to me after a long delay, claiming to have missed my request.

While my fourth request was accepted, the overall experience was a sour one. I am African-American, and because Airbnb strongly recommends display of a profile picture (which I provided) and requires its users to display an actual name, it was hard to believe that race didnt come into play.

That stay marked my last booking through Airbnb.

My experience is hardly unique. This year, the issue of Airbnb discrimination has received considerable attention, especially after African-American users of the service began sharing stories similar to mine on social media using the hashtag AirbnbWhileBlack. A recent study by Harvard Business School researchers found that requests from Airbnb guests with distinctively African-American names were 16 percent less likely to be accepted than those with white-sounding names.

How can the problem be addressed? Although many of our nations federal civil rights statutes were adopted before lawmakers could envision an online-based sharing economy, these laws were clearly intended to prohibit the kind of racial discrimination now experienced by many on Airbnb. At the same time, whether such companies are subject to public accommodations laws and fair housing requirements is not a straightforward matter.
Thirty years ago, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing gave a series of lectures, later published in a book, Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, in which she reflected on the brutality in the world and asked how individuals and societies could evolve into something better.

Its a sobering book, but Lessing is hopeful  and her main source of hope stems from the capacity of human beings to study themselves and learn from their own behavior. I think when people look back at our time, they will be amazed at one thing more than any other, she writes. It is this  that we do know more about ourselves now than other people did in the past, but that very little of this knowledge has been put into effect.

Last week, and the week before, I reported on efforts over the past two decades to put more of this kind of knowledge into effect. Specifically, I examined how community-based networks were sharing research with professionals and residents in numerous communities, about how the effects of childhood trauma  so-called adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs  substantially increase risks for a range of negative outcomes, including dropping out of school, abusing drugs, becoming depressed, committing suicide, and being a victim of, or a perpetrator, of violence or abuse. (For information about ACEs, including the landmark ACE study and ACE scores, see these infographics and resources.)

This research didnt exist when Lessing gave her lectures in 1985, and its still largely unknown to Americans, much like cholesterol was before the 1980s. But social scientists now see it as a major factor behind an array of social ills and chronic diseases. And today, a growing network of health care professionals, educators, government officials, social service workers and community leaders are working to get knowledge about ACEs into public consciousness.
The first thing to know about the latest controversy over the Iran nuclear deal is that the Obama administration did not pay $400 million in ransom to secure the release of three American detainees. Yet thats the story critics are peddling in another attempt to discredit an agreement that has done something remarkable  halted a program that had put Iran within striking distance of producing a nuclear weapon.

The truth is that the administration withheld the payment to ensure Iran didnt renege on its promise to free three detainees  a Washington Post journalist, a Marine veteran and a Christian pastor. Thats pragmatic diplomacy not capitulation.

The controversy erupted when The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States delivered $400 million in cash to Iranian officials after Tehran released the American detainees. It has provided an irresistible opportunity for Iran-bashing and Obama-bashing.

What really happened was this: President Obama announced the $400 million payment along with the release of the Americans in January, the day that the nuclear deal was implemented. But the money was part of a separate negotiation over funds the United States has owed Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
FRONT PAGE

An article on July 26 about Perus efforts to protect the rain forest from illegal gold mining misstated part of the name of a park where forest rangers and marines conducted a raid in April. It is the Tambopata National Reserve (not Nature).

INTERNATIONAL

An article and a headline on July 25 about a fatal attack by a Syrian man on a woman in Reutlingen, Germany, misidentified the weapon he used, using information from the police. It was a kebab knife, not a machete. The error was repeated in a picture caption in some editions. The error also appeared in another article in some editions on July 25 about a suicide bomber who detonated his backpack near a music festival in Ansbach, Germany, and in two articles on July 26  one about the suicide bombers profession of loyalty to the Islamic State and the second about the anxiety these attacks and others have fueled across Europe this summer.



An article on July 29 about the disarray of Turkeys military, long a pillar of the modern Turkish state, following a failed coup attempt referred incorrectly to a previous coup attempt, in 1960. It was carried out and supported only by lower-level officers; it was not supported up and down the chain of command, as the 1971 and 1980 coup attempts were.



An article on July 24 about confirmation by the Indonesian authorities that Abu Wardah, better known as Santoso  the countrys most wanted terrorism suspect and leader of the Mujahedeen of Eastern Indonesia  had been killed in a gun battle earlier in the week misstated his age and misidentified the Chinese region that the Uighurs in his terrorist group came from. He was 39, not 40, and the region is Xinjiang, not Ningxia.
Before the jewelry designer Jacob Skragges grandmother, Marianne, died earlier this year, she told family members that she wanted neither her body nor her belongings to be forgotten in a box  instead, she said, she wanted to be spread with the wind.

This inspired Skragge, who is the co-founder with Fredrik Nathorst of the Swedish jewelry brand All Blues, to dream up a limited collection of earrings to honor Mariannes legacy. Skragge transformed a necklace Marianne bought on a 1961 trip to Israel into 37 handcrafted earrings, each with one of its amber stones. Every earring has been individually numbered: one will be given to her daughter, one to Jacob  and the 35 others to be dispersed throughout the world. (The collection will available on the All Blues online store beginning next Monday, August 29.)

Project Marianne, as he calls it, has been curated, designed and photographed by Nathorst, who says it was important for him to design pieces sensitively  and to frame each stone with dignity and confidence. Nathorst took inspiration from paintings, creating sterling silver plates to frame the beads without becoming more important than the work itself.
Two months ago, in a Paris department store during regular business hours, the French fashion label Vetements showed its spring/summer collection, in which it collaborated with 17 other brands, from Levis to Juicy Couture to Comme des Garcons. Vetements can hardly even be described as a label. Formed by Demna Gvasalia, his brother Guram and five creative friends, it bills itself instead as a collective. Despite  and probably because of  their commitment to being anonymous, we all know this collectives name. It has managed to capture the attention of every jaded eye in the industry, in part by ceremoniously subverting conventions the industry thought it held dear, including that of the power of the individual genius. Instead Vetements has embraced a virtue we all learn in summer camp: Share the credit. Lose the ego. You dont own it  you help build it.

The longstanding principles of individual success, taken for granted by an older generation, are moving out of fashion. With digitally enabled peer-to-peer everything, from riding to working to living, emerging artists and entrepreneurs are creating new paradigms for coexisting.

Beyonce celebrated this 21st-century collectivism with her all-female crew, both on the Super Bowl 50 stage and in her film Lemonade. Bernie Sanderss campaign often felt more like a commune than an election bid. Even the anger and sadness that solidified into the Black Lives Matter movement managed to do so without a Martin Luther King Jr. or a Malcolm X.
With less than three months to go until the presidential election, theres still time for Donald J. Trump to make it a closer race.

But suppose that he doesnt, and that Hillary Clinton enters the final stretch with a clear and consistent lead? Then the focus would turn down the ballot  to whether Democrats could retake the Senate, or even whether they have a shot to retake the House of Representatives.

A House takeover by Democrats is no small task. They would need to pick up 30 seats, and, as of today, its hard to identify 30 seats where Republicans are in serious danger.

But if Mrs. Clinton maintains her lead, some of the conditions for big Democratic gains might start to emerge, and 2016 could turn into a so-called wave election.
BATON ROUGE, La.  Darren McKinney knows about floods, having spent days huddling in the upper rooms of a house when the waters of Hurricane Katrina drowned his New Orleans neighborhood, the Lower Ninth Ward, 11 years ago this month.

And so on Saturday afternoon, at a house in a Baton Rouge subdivision that had been flooded a week earlier, Mr. McKinney passed his knowledge on to a group of volunteers from lowernine.org, a nonprofit organization founded after Hurricane Katrina: cut the drywall here, this high up, and pull out the insulation like this.

Because Ive been through it, he said, I know the dos and donts.

There are plenty here in south Louisiana who have been forced to learn this kind of thing, and plenty who have learned much larger lessons as well. Those lessons include how to get money most efficiently from the federal government and ways to avoid leaving thousands of people for years in temporary shelters, like the notorious Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, as the rebuilding proceeds.
Doris Bohrer, who as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II helped plan the Allied invasion of Sicily and traced the movement of German trains transporting prisoners to concentration camps, died on Aug. 8 in Greensboro, N.C. She was 93.

Her death was confirmed by her son, Jason.

In 1942, Doris Sharrar, as she was then known, was two years out of high school in suburban Washington and looking for a job. She took the Civil Service exam and, for reasons that were never explained to her, got a job offer from the O.S.S., the wartime intelligence agency created to run spy operations behind enemy lines.

Nearly all women hired by the O.S.S. were assigned to clerical work, and Ms. Sharrar was no exception. She started out typing intelligence reports at Q Building in O.S.S. headquarters in Foggy Bottom. In his foreword to Undercover Girl, the 1947 memoir of another O.S.S. agent, Elizabeth P. McIntosh, William J. Donovan, the head of the O.S.S., called the women holding such jobs the invisible apron strings of the agency.

Ms. Sharrar quickly advanced beyond apron-string grade, one of the few women to do so. After a year of typing, she was selected to attend photo reconnaissance school and posted to Egypt. As part of her duties, she created balsa-wood relief maps of Sicily as the Allies prepared to invade Italy.
Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton have been more secretive and selective than many recent presidential nominees in providing up-to-date details about their personal health  a particularly striking departure, experts say, given the candidates age.

No American election has ever featured two major-party nominees as old as Mr. Trump, 70, and Mrs. Clinton, 68, and they have kept a grueling pace for more than a year. Yet they have declined to share the latest information about their health or to make their doctors available for interviews. Each released a brief medical statement in 2015; neither has added to it since.

Mr. Trump has been especially unforthcoming, even as he has sought to turn health into an issue in the presidential race, questioning Mrs. Clintons physical and mental strength and stamina as his allies push unfounded rumors that she is ill.

Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, said Monday that he would have no problem releasing additional records about his health if Mrs. Clinton did the same. Advisers to Mrs. Clinton, who has released more details than Mr. Trump, said the onus was on him to match her disclosures.
A lawyer for Melania Trump said Monday that he had informed several news organizations, including The Daily Mail, that they could face legal action for publishing articles that Ms. Trump contended were defamatory.

In an email, the lawyer, Charles J. Harder, said Ms. Trump, the wife of Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has placed several news organizations on notice of her legal claims against them, including Daily Mail among others, for making false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an escort in the 1990s.

All such statements are 100 percent false, highly damaging to her reputation, and personally hurtful, Mr. Harder added. She understands that news media have certain leeway in a presidential campaign, but outright lying about her in this way exceeds all bounds of appropriate news reporting and human decency.

He said no suit had been filed, but added, That may change.

The Daily Mail, a British tabloid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A federal appeals court panel refused on Monday to delay a lower court ruling that outlawed a sheaf of restrictions on voting in Wisconsin, enacted by the states Republican-controlled Legislature.

The decision, by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, was seen as a significant victory for voting rights advocates. The ruling makes it likely that Novembers state and federal balloting will follow earlier rules that allowed expanded early and weekend voting, among other changes.

Judge James D. Peterson of Federal District Court had struck down parts of Wisconsins 2011 voter ID law and other election laws in July, ruling that the Legislature had crafted them to suppress voting by minorities and other traditionally Democratic constituencies.

Saying it sought to reduce fraudulent voting, the Legislature had cut the period for early voting to 12 days, from as many as 30, and had reduced the number of early polling places to one per municipality. While the changes had less effect in small towns, they sharply reduced the opportunity to cast ballots in black and Latino neighborhoods in Milwaukee, where early voting is especially popular.
The top aid official at the United Nations gave a gloomy assessment of the Syria relief effort on Monday, saying no convoy deliveries had been made to besieged areas this month and that the suffering in Aleppo, once Syrias commercial epicenter, was the apex of horror.

In a briefing to the Security Council, the official, Stephen OBrien, the under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said that while he welcomed Russias support last week for a 48-hour cease-fire in Aleppo  as he had proposed earlier in the month  there had been no assurances from other combatants.

This cannot be a one-sided offer, Mr. OBrien said. Plans are in place, but we need the agreement of all parties to let us do our job.
AMSTERDAM  If each European nation can be seen as an instrument that has its own distinctive tonal qualities, then the European Union, it might be said, is a symphony of nations.

That, at least, is the thinking behind an ambitious plan for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which is based in Amsterdam and one of the worlds leading orchestras, to perform in each of the 28 member states of the European Union  yes, including Britain  over its next two seasons.

The program, called RCO Meets Europe, will begin in each country with an opening piece played in collaboration with the youth orchestra of each nation.

Its a celebration of polyphony in Europe, said Jan Raes, managing director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, referring to the combination of several independent sounds or voices performed simultaneously in a single musical composition.
ANGOULEME, France  A year after unveiling his dancing fountains in the newly reimagined Water Theater Grove at Versailles, the French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel is finishing another piece of spectacular theatricality, this time in the southwestern French town of Angouleme.

In the remains of a former bell tower and an adjoining deconsecrated chapel in the cathedral of Saint Pierre, Mr. Othoniel has created what he describes as a totally immersive artwork, a three-room grotto in blue, gold and silver that serves as a showcase for about 200 liturgical objects and vestments from the cathedrals past

Destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries, the cathedral now combines a 12th-century Romanesque front with a 19th-century neo-Romanesque body designed by Paul Abadie, the architect of Sacre Coeur de Montmartre in Paris. For the project, which has taken eight years from design to completion, Mr. Othoniel sought to stay within the Romanesque stylistic tradition, translated into his own idiom of colorful glass beadwork.
BERN, SWITZERLAND  Patricia Kopatchinskaja would rather be known for the passion and virtuosity of her violin playing than for the fact that she often performs barefoot  or that sometimes she hums along with the orchestras while accompanying them on stage.

This speaks to the stiffness of classical music, the 39-year-old Moldovan violinist said recently in Bern, where she makes her home. People remember you because you came without shoes  they do not listen, they just look at your feet.

Despite the fact that the classical music world has dubbed her the wild child of the violin  or, perhaps, because of it  she has been steadily been piling up concert gigs, recording contracts, and professional praise from many corners.

Part of her charm and charisma, say her colleagues and collaborators, is that there is an otherworldliness to her  not just in performance, where her face is as expressive as a stage actors, but also in the way she speaks. She often uses poetic turns of phrase to describe everything from how her daily morning run went to how she gets ready for a performance of Beethoven.
The 12-episode first season (a second has already been shown in Europe) centers on two members of a drug gang in the Naples suburbs who are like a foster-family version of Sonny and Michael Corleone. Gennaro (Salvatore Esposito) is a Sonny-like hothead, unfit to be in charge but eventually thrust into the role because hes the only son of the boss. Ciro (Marco DAmore, whose quiet charisma holds your attention) is a coldly efficient killer and canny strategist  hes the Michael, but because hes not in the family, he has to work with Gennaro, or appear to.

The relationship of these two up-and-comers, playing out amid a large cast of other familiar Mafia-drama types (the ruthless but declining boss, the calculating mother, the good soldier, the aggrieved wife), proceeds through an arc of increasingly operatic violence, as rival clans fight for turf and one massacre begets another. The story line is dark, and so is the screen. Under the guidance of the showrunner, Stefano Sollima, the show makes a fetish of low light and shadow. Its most characteristic scenes are not chases and shootouts but small groups of nervous or celebratory men meeting in the dark. They gather on street corners, in crowded discos and in abandoned buildings that serve as drug markets, their faces obscured or invisible. Even during the day, theyre in curtained rooms or prison cells.

The cinematography and lighting fit with the shows overall sense of desolation, a depiction of the Neapolitan environment as rubble-filled, overgrown and derelict. (Scenes set in Milan offer a pointed comparison to the less prosperous south.) Much of the action is set in faceless, towering apartment blocks that recall the settings of Italian neorealist films, though touches of lyricism creep in, like a beach scene in which a pair of horse carts passing in the background feel like early Fellini.

Mr. Sollima and his colleagues are certainly aware of the many influences to be sorted through in making a modern gangster tale. At one point a young hood, describing the botched job that got him imprisoned, says that cops and helicopters arrived just like an American movie. In Gomorrah, theyve achieved a satisfying international blend.
Steven Hill, who originated imposing lead roles on two notable television series, Mission: Impossible in the 1960s and Law & Order in the 1990s, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 94.

His daughter Sarah Gobioff confirmed his death. He lived in Monsey, N.Y., a hamlet in Rockland County.

Mr. Hill was 44 and a veteran stage and television actor in 1966 when he was cast as Daniel Briggs, the leader of an elite covert-operations unit, in the new series Mission: Impossible. But he left after the first season, paving the way for Peter Gravess six-season run as the shows lead.

Even decades later, Mr. Hill declined to discuss his reasons for leaving the series, other than to say that the first season had been a bad experience. Other sources, including Patrick J. White, author of a book on the series, The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, said Mr. Hill was dismissed and learned the news only when he read a Daily Variety announcement that Mr. Graves was being hired.
Ms. Thompson, who also details what she calls heinous acts by prisoners (who were responsible for the death of one guard and three fellow inmates before the retaking), said that she did not contact any of the men she names as possibly having fired unjustifiably, out of fear of prompting legal efforts to shut the book down.

The decision to print the names, she said, was absolutely agonizing. But she said that it was her duty as a historian to publish the full record, rather than perpetuate the selective silence around possible crimes by law enforcement officers.

If I was just one more person who didnt name everything I knew, then Im part of it, she said. Who am I to decide that one persons story gets told while someone elses is protected?

Last year, three guards at Attica were to be tried on criminal charges in connection with the 2011 beating of an inmate  the first time, officials said, that guards have been charged with nonsexual assault in New York State.

They were charged with gang assault, filing false reports and evidence tampering, but a deal with prosecutors allowed them to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of misconduct each, avoiding jail time but losing their jobs.

To Ms. Thompson, the fact that the case was brought at all is a testament to the same irrepressible demand for justice that motivated the prisoners in 1971.

No matter what we think about what people in prison have done in society, she said, we still have to see them as people.
The insider trading prosecution of Sean Stewart has all the elements of a Greek tragedy  a father used information passed along by his son to profit until they were betrayed by a co-conspirator, destroying family ties as the son is likely to end up in prison for what his father did.

On the prosecution side, the guilty verdict delivered by a jury last week is a vindication for the United States attorneys office in Manhattan. It will bolster efforts to pursue insider trading cases after a 2014 appeals court decision that appeared to hamstring its ability to successfully prosecute cases involving family members who share confidential information.

The younger Mr. Stewart was an investment banker at JPMorgan Chase and then Perella Weinberg who worked on health care transactions. He was convicted of tipping his father, Robert, about five different deals. The father made about $150,000 from the trading and shared the information with a friend, Richard Cunniffe, who made nearly $1 million.

Mr. Cunniffe was charged and became a cooperating witness in the case, recording conversations with Robert Stewart. In one, the father recounts that his son once said, I handed you this on a silver platter and you didnt invest in this, apparently berating him for not taking advantage of the inside information. Robert Stewart pleaded guilty, along with Mr. Cunniffe, while Sean Stewart chose to go to trial.
Punctuating a string of Obama-era moves to shore up labor rights and expand protections for workers, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday that students who work as teaching and research assistants at private universities have a federally backed right to unionize.

The case arose from a petition filed by a group of graduate students at Columbia University, who are seeking to win recognition for a union that will join the United Automobile Workers and allow them a say over such issues as the quality of their health insurance and the timeliness of stipend payments.

Echoing longstanding complaints from blue-collar workers that they have become replaceable cogs in a globalized economic machine, the effort reflects a growing view among more highly educated employees in recent decades that they, too, are at the mercy of faceless organizations and are not being treated like professionals and aspiring professionals whose opinions are worthy of respect.

What were fundamentally concerned about isnt really money, said Paul R. Katz, one of the Columbia graduate students involved in the organizing efforts. Its a question of power and democracy in a space in the academy thats increasingly corporatized, hierarchical. Thats what were most concerned about.
Ms. Retzlaff, who still works for the company as its chief commercial officer, has been on the front lines in dealing with the reaction to Turings pricing policies in the months since the controversy began. In front of Congress in February, for example, she said that the fiftyfold overnight increase in the price of the drug, Daraprim, was justified because of the value it provided to patients and because it had been previously underpriced. With two decades of experience at major pharmaceutical companies like Bayer and Pfizer, she presented a polished counterpoint to the antics of Mr. Shkreli, who has seemed to delight in inciting outrage and remains a prankish figure on Twitter.

In the complaint, filed on Monday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Ms. Retzlaff said she and other Turing executives traveled to Washington in March for another hearing before Congress on Turings pricing practices. At the hotel bar, the complaint says, she was approached by Mr. Urrutia, who made sexual advances and tried to kiss her.

According to the complaint, which was obtained by The New York Times, Ms. Retzlaff left the bar and took the elevator back to her room, but Mr. Urrutia followed her and blocked her way when she tried to exit, demanding that she join him in his room for a drink. When she did, she said, he threw me onto the bed and sexually assaulted me.

Ms. Retzlaff said she was groped and that he repeatedly kissed her against her will, then tried to pull off her tights. Finally, after struggling for many minutes, I was able to escape Mr. Urrutia and run out of the room, she said in the complaint.

Mr. Urrutia, who was Turings interim chief financial officer, worked as an analyst at a handful of banks before going to work at Mr. Shkrelis previous company, Retrophin, as vice president of finance, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is a graduate of Northeastern University with a bachelors degree in finance.
Headliner

LOX This spacious restaurant on the second floor of the Museum of Jewish Heritage takes its name seriously, offering five varieties of house-cured salmon, some smoked. Legendary Affairs, the company that has provided kosher food for catered events at the museum, was given the restaurant concession, and now David Teyf, the chef and owner, serves an array of Jewish and Russian dishes. Many, like the Russian coffee cake thickly barnacled with walnuts, and the salmon, are also sold to take away. Some other specialties are assorted herring dishes, smoked mackerel, cheese blintzes and mini black-and-white cookies. The restaurant serves dairy only. Some of the food, including a savory, buttery, garlic-laced matzoh babka from Minsk, which bears a slight resemblance to kugel, are recipes from Mr. Teyfs grandfather. My family is from Minsk, some of them are Holocaust survivors, and I am happy to honor them, he said. The restaurant also has a lovely terrace: 36 Battery Place (First Place), 646-437-4231, loxnyc.com.

Opening

CAVA GRILL Another bowl-based fast-casual setup with plenty of vegetarian options, this is the first New York outlet for a chain based in Washington, D.C. (Opens Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Friday all day): 143 Fourth Avenue (13th Street), 646-416-6440, cavagrill.com.

LITTLE SHEEP MONGOLIAN HOT POT A Manhattan branch of the busy hot pot restaurant in Flushing, Queens, where customers cook their own dinners in broth, has opened and will be this chains flagship. (It has no connection with Little Lamb, another Mongolian hot pot restaurant in Flushing that is part of a 600-unit Chinese chain): 105 Bowery (Hester Street), 646-484-5707, littlesheephotpot.com.

TSURUTONTAN UDON NOODLE BRASSERIE This is the first New York branch of a Japanese chain specializing in handmade udon, chewy wheat noodles. It has taken up residence in the multilevel premises that housed Union Square Cafe. The centerpiece of the main dining room, down a few steps from the bar, is a two-sided counter with rustic fence-like partitions and seats all around. Joji Uematsu, the vice president of Dining Innovation USA, the restaurants American management company, explained that udon, which are said to have been created by Buddhist monks 900 years ago, are more versatile than ramen or soba. Udon are traditionally Japanese and more like pasta, to serve with almost anything, he said. Ramen are more Chinese. The vast menu includes udon with tempura, in fish broth, with uni and even with truffles and cream. The noodles are served in artisanal bowls from the companys own pottery factory. The restaurant also serves sushi and donburi rice bowls. (Monday): 21 East 16th Street, 212-989-1000, tsurutontan.com.
I think we were all aware that Zika causes brain abnormalities, but its been more generic, said Dr. Rita Driggers, an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. Now we know more specifically what were looking for in terms of brain abnormalities before the microcephaly occurs.

Together, the images provide a more detailed guide that might help doctors diagnose Zika-related fetal damage earlier  possibly in the second trimester at a point early enough to help women decide whether to terminate a pregnancy, said Dr. Adre du Plessis, director of the Fetal Medicine Institute of Childrens National Health System, who was not involved in the study.

At the same time, the study may eventually help doctors rule out damage caused by Zika infection. If theres any uncertainty on ultrasound, were concerned that couples that are not risk-takers and dont want to gamble might be terminating perfectly normal babies, which is of course a concern to us, he said. So there is a lot riding on being able to image accurately.

One finding that surprised several experts could become an especially meaningful diagnostic clue. Many infections that target the brain produce clumps of calcium, called calcification. But in Zika-infected babies, calcification often occurred in an unusual place: at the intersection of the gray matter of the outer layer of the brain, the cortex, and the white matter of the layer just below that.
Although she has gone to extraordinary lengths to distract and deceive American voters, the truth is finally coming out: Hillary Clinton has an 11th toe.

I dont have the medical records. She refuses to release them. But just try to come up with some other explanation for why shes so infrequently photographed in sandals or flip-flops; why she seldom appears barefoot in public; why, during debates, she keeps her legs, especially the lower halves, tucked carefully behind the lectern.

Shes covering something up, and its that freakish, disqualifying digit.

Have you watched her walk? Look closely. She wobbles a bit, or maybe its more of a teeter, combined with a lurch, and the likeliest cause is podiatric asymmetry. I consulted foot specialists. At least they referred to themselves that way online, and when I assured them that an interview with me could be their springboard to Sean Hannity, they opened up.

Does Hillary Clinton have a superfluous toe? I asked one of them.

I cant definitively rule that out, he said.
To the Editor:

Re On Hold With Verizon, by Delia Ephron (Op-Ed, Aug. 20):

When are we going to realize that telecommunications companies have gotten too big and arrogant, and institute mandated levels of service and insist that failure to perform means big fines and refunds for the customers? Oh, I know: Never.

It is the rare individual who cannot empathize with Ms. Ephron and her friends Deena and Marty, for whom the very thought of changing internet providers provokes meltdown anxiety. When AT&T mistakenly disconnected my internet because of a clerical error (canceling me instead of the customer who requested it), it took a whole week to restore service.

I am sure that it was done in one week and not one month (or more) only because I cried buckets of tears to the reps (who were, of course, in some far-flung country) and demanded to speak with the higher-ups (although that went only so far).

Why, I asked, does it take 20 seconds to delete my service and at least seven days to restore it?

The telecommunications companies must find glee in our frustrations, knowing that superhuman courage and Zen-like patience must be summoned to even think of changing carriers. Congress, are you listening? Do something!
To the Editor:

Re Moving Past Broken Windows Policing (editorial, Aug. 10):

For me, a young black man from Brooklyn, broken windows policing has always been more than just a theory or a catchphrase. It targets us with abusive, discriminatory policing and has left the devastating consequences of criminalization for generations.

Broken windows  aggressive punishment of minor violations  wont end by simply removing it from the lexicon. As in Baltimore, the wide racial disparities in stop-and-frisk, low-level enforcement and all police encounters continue in New York. Its dangerous for New York City government to normalize these disparities by sidestepping them.

Broken windows associates race and marginalized people with disorder. It targets black, Latino, homeless, immigrant, L.G.B.T.Q. and other New Yorkers, while comparable conduct by the privileged is excused.

If this fundamental reality of who gets subjected to police enforcement remains discriminatory and is swept under the rug with the disappearance of a term, nothing will change. Broken windows isnt just a phrase  this city and nation must come to terms with the continuing harm it inflicts on our communities and end it.
As in other days, the day I rebelled I was walking home from school by myself. I was 13, and I liked to wear the skirt of that godawful Peruvian school uniform above my knees. I loved my legs, and I had recently waxed them for the first time. It was Lima in the 1990s, I was crossing a street avoiding illegally parked cars shining under weak rays of sunshine and I did not even see it coming. All I felt was a burst of discomfort, a whiplash of shame. A hand slightly raising the skirt, brushing my thigh, trying to reach me. It lasted a few seconds. Like every time I experienced a metida de mano  a local institution of sexual harassment  I froze and muted an agonized scream.

I should have kept walking, dragging my helplessness like any other woman groped in the middle of the street, but I decided to react. He was an older man, bald, who was quietly walking away without looking at me after his impish deed. I did not think long: I ran after him and raised my school backpack with both arms, and with all my strength I slammed it on his head. I flew out of there howling to the heavens my humble revenge.

A Peruvian girl is a full-time Little Red Riding Hood. Quite early she learns she has to take this, and not that other, road; that she must watch her back, and feign that she did not hear what they shouted about her vagina.

Any man alone at the end of a street is a potential Big Bad Wolf. A taxi: your last trip. Drinking at a party: gambling with your life. To desire: to be a whore. When I wrote a book about sex I got a flood of comments from men threatening to rape me so I would learn. My amazing boss came to the office once with a black eye. My ex-boyfriend broke my nose because he saw me and a girlfriend of mine kissing. I needed nose surgery.
ISTANBUL  More than a month has passed since the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey. Most people here are glad we averted a major attack on our democracy, which could have initiated not only a brutal military regime but maybe even a civil war. Many people outside Turkey, on the other hand, seem more worried about the failed coups aftermath than the bloody putsch itself, which left more than 250 people dead.

What really seems to worry people, especially in the West, is the purge that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government began after the mutiny. The numbers are staggering: 80,000 civil servants have been suspended from their jobs, more than 2,000 of them judges or prosecutors. Meanwhile, more than 20,000 people have been arrested. The justice minister announced earlier this month that some 38,000 inmates would be released to free up space in Turkeys prisons.

To some, these numbers conjure memories of dark episodes of the past century: Stalins infamous Great Purge of dissidents in the 1930s or Hitlers use of the Reichstag Fire to crack down on Communists.

But Turkeys situation is too complicated for such historical comparisons. For example, Mr. Erdogans main political rival, the secularist Republican Peoples Party, or C.H.P., agrees with the president that the state should be cleansed of people who backed the coup attempt. In the days after July 15, the C.H.P. leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, visited Mr. Erdogan at his presidential place for the first time. The two rivals even spoke together at an anti-coup rally attended by millions.
To the Editor:

Re Voting Reform Hobbled in Illinois (editorial, Aug. 22):

Not only is Illinois failing to help its citizens register to vote, but it is also failing to honor its contracts. The failure of the governor and the General Assembly to pass a state budget since July 1, 2015  the longest of any state  has resulted in unpaid bills of more than $100 million to service providers, creating a disaster for the states human service infrastructure.

Essential lifesaving services for Illinois residents are being reduced, shelved or completely shuttered, and hundreds of providers have been without payment from the state for almost 14 months, despite signed contracts from state agencies. We are trying to fulfill our contracts as best we can, even while we are going unpaid.

Furthermore, failure to honor these contracts underscores the states shoddy business practices and worsens its poor fiscal health. Similar to the voter registration issue, Illinoisans are being used as pawns in a political struggle, but at great cost.

Pay Now Illinois is a coalition of nearly 100 social service providers that is suing the governor, the Illinois state comptroller and seven department heads for immediate and full payment of money owed them for work already performed. We want to do our jobs and take care of Illinois residents. But we also need to be paid because that is just good business. Illinois must honor good government, and it must honor its contracts and pay now.
Plans for the hotel were scuttled late last month; projects for that site are being reassessed after a lack of interest from hoteliers.

We got caught in a hotel downdraft, said James Jay Lee, president of Rooney Properties in Arlington, Va. We will retune the mix.

Mr. Lee said the areas parks and access to the river made it appealing to developers, and noted that the north terminal is just a few blocks walk to King Street, the center of Old Town, and close to a Harris Teeter supermarket and a Trader Joes.

Despite the years of controversy and lawsuits surrounding the projects, Karl W. Moritz, the citys planning director, is optimistic that the new developments will enhance the city and help pay for needed infrastructure improvements.

The expanded open space, he added, will benefit more than the immediate neighborhood.

By replacing industrial buildings and parking lots with new parks, Alexandria can celebrate our history, reconnect our city to the river, significantly reduce flooding and provide residents and visitors new opportunities to enjoy themselves, he said.

The city expects to build a $33 million flood control system topped by a 1,700-foot two-level walkway that will hug the shoreline and, officials hope, end frequent flooding from the Potomac. A $120 million landscape plan by Olin Studios will help unify the waterfront, though the city still must allocate about half the funds in its capital budget.

Image Fitzgeralds Warehouse, at South Union and King Streets in Alexandria, survived an 1827 fire. It now houses a Starbucks. Credit... Justin T. Gellerson for The New York Times

The public works projects are expected to take about 10 years to complete; the commercial and residential development is expected to be completed in the next few years.
The New York Timess Moscow bureau was the target of an attempted cyberattack this month. But so far, there is no evidence that the hackers, believed to be Russian, were successful.

We are constantly monitoring our systems with the latest available intelligence and tools, said Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for The Times. We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised.

On Tuesday, citing United States officials briefed on the matter, CNN reported that The Times, along with other news organizations it did not identify, had been the victims of computer breaches by hackers thought to be working for Russian intelligence.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the attempted attack on The Times, a government official briefed on the inquiry said, but has no investigations underway of such episodes at other news organizations. Kelly Langmesser, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the F.B.I. had no comment.
WASHINGTON  Over 14 years in American custody, Abu Zubaydah has come to symbolize, perhaps more than any other prisoner, how fear of terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks changed the United States.

He was the first detainee to be waterboarded, and his brutal torture was documented in a Senate report. He is among those held without charges and with no likelihood of a trial. The government long ago admitted that he was never the top leader of Al Qaeda it claimed he was at the time of his capture in 2002, but it insists that he may still be dangerous.

In all that time, Mr. Zubaydah, now 45, had never been seen by the outside world. That changed on Tuesday, as his calm face was beamed via video feed from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to a Pentagon conference room.

In a long-postponed hearing, he argued, through a statement read by a uniformed soldier, that he posed no threat and should be released. A profile prepared by the Defense Department, also read aloud, concluded with unsettling ambiguity that he probably retains an extremist mind-set.
NEAR CANNON BALL, N.D.  Horseback riders, their faces streaked in yellow and black paint, led the procession out of their tepee-dotted camp. Two hundred people followed, making their daily walk a mile up a rural highway to a patch of prairie grass and excavated dirt that has become a new kind of battlefield, between a pipeline and American Indians who say it will threaten water supplies and sacred lands.

The Texas-based company building the Dakota Access pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, calls the project a major step toward the United States weaning itself off foreign oil. The company says the nearly 1,170-mile buried pipeline will infuse millions of dollars into local economies and is safer than trucks and train cars that can topple and spill and crash and burn.

But the people who stood at the gates of a construction site where crews had been building an access road toward the pipeline viewed the project as a wounding intrusion onto lands where generations of their ancestors hunted bison, gathered water and were born and buried, long before treaties and fences stamped a different order onto the Plains.

People have been gathering since April, but as hundreds more poured in over the past two weeks, confrontations began rising among protesters, sheriffs officers and construction workers with the pipeline company. Local officials are struggling to handle hundreds of demonstrators filling the roads to protest and camp out in once-empty grassland about an hour south of Bismarck, the state capital.
He called the family dirty Arabs and tried to run over the mother with a car, the authorities said. An Oklahoma mans animosity toward the Lebanese-American family living next door, according to court records, took a fatal turn this month when he shot one of the sons on the porch of their house in Tulsa.

The man, Vernon Majors, 61, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the killing of his neighbor, Khalid Jabara, 37, on Aug. 12, according to a statement by the district attorney, Steve Kunzweiler.

Mr. Majors, who had recently been released on bond after being suspected of hitting Mr. Jabaras mother with a car, was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, threatening an act of violence and malicious intimidation or harassment  the last count a misdemeanor reflecting the years of racism and violence that the authorities say has pervaded the stretch of grass connecting their yards.

Rebecca Abou-Chedid, a friend who is serving as a spokeswoman for the Jabara family, said Mr. Jabaras death had devastated the tight-knit Lebanese community in Tulsa.
Its back-to-school time  as well as campaign season  and lawmakers are becoming increasingly focused on the growing cost of pens: EpiPens, that is.

Members of Congress are expressing rising alarm about the increasing costs of the lifesaving injection device for people with severe allergies, and they are hearing from anxious parents.

Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee, was the latest to weigh in on Monday, sending a letter to the head of the pharmaceutical company Mylan, which produces EpiPens. Mr. Grassley demanded an explanation for the 400 percent price increase  to as much as $600  since the company acquired the product in 2007.

Access to epinephrine can mean the difference between life and death, especially for children, Mr. Grassley wrote, noting that many of the children who need EpiPens are enrolled in government health care programs. It follows that many of the children who are prescribed EpiPens are covered by Medicaid, and therefore, the taxpayers are picking up the tab for this medication.
But Mr. Johnson, who is seeking to reach 15 percent support in national polls to qualify for the presidential debates, also sharply criticized Mrs. Clinton on Tuesday. He described the activities of the Clinton Foundation as a pay to play scheme, whereby foundation officials sought donations from people seeking access to the government.

Its so blatant and its so obvious, Mr. Johnson said.

Mr. Johnson has strained to gain ground in the general election as an alternative to both major-party candidates, despite the low regard in which many voters hold Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton. Should Mr. Johnson fail to qualify for the debates, his odds of breaking out as a third force in the presidential race would probably be greatly diminished.

Mr. Johnson said his campaign might air national cable advertisements after Labor Day to boost his name recognition. But he said fund-raising would determine whether such a move would be possible. He also listed a number of states he and Mr. Weld saw as winnable, including Utah, Alaska and the Dakotas.

Though he was elected governor as a Republican, Mr. Johnson has collected endorsements from only a handful of the many mainstream Republicans who have withheld their backing from Mr. Trump.

Mr. Johnson said he was not optimistic that he could win endorsements from major anti-Trump Republicans, like Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney. The pressures of party loyalty, he said, remain strong.
TAOS, N.M.  Voters may wonder whether the fire in Gary Johnsons belly burns hottest for recreation. If he doesnt win the presidency, the Libertarian Party nominee plans to ski 120 days next year.

His support in the polls is a little shy of 10 percent, suggesting hell get that chance. Yet Mr. Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, is hoping to have an impact, if only by hastening the fall of his old party and the rise of his new one as a national political force.

Thats going to be the consequence of what we do, at a minimum, Mr. Johnson said in a breakfast interview near his mountain home here.

He wears bicycle gear after riding 14 miles uphill to reach the restaurant. For Mr. Johnson, thats a respite from the cross-country media blitz he hopes will lift him to the 15 percent threshold required to qualify for presidential debates with the Democratic and Republican nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump, beginning next month.
Donald J. Trump, after weeks of self-inflicted damage, has seen support for his candidacy in national polls dip into the 30s  Barry Goldwater and Walter F. Mondale territory  while Hillary Clinton has extended her lead to double digits in several crucial swing states.

Time to declare a landslide, right? Not so fast.

The vote may be more favorable to Mr. Trump than the worst-case-scenario prognosticators suggest for a very simple reason: Landslides do not really happen in presidential elections anymore.

It has been 32 years since a president won the popular vote by a double-digit percentage. That was when Mr. Mondale suffered an 18-point defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1984. It was also the last time there was a landslide among states, with Mr. Mondale winning only Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
ZACHARY, La.  For Linda Fernandez, this summer has been one long disaster tour. In July, her daughter died in Baton Rouge, while her infant great-granddaughter mysteriously ailed in Houston. It was at a hospital there, a week and a half ago, where Ms. Fernandez learned she had lost her home, too, to flooding.

She explained this to President Obama on Tuesday afternoon as he walked through that house, emptied of all the furniture except for what was too heavy to haul outside. He hugged her four times and they had their picture taken.

Others may have debated the timing of Mr. Obamas visit and whether he was too late in coming to this flood-wrecked state, but Ms. Fernandez wiped tears from her eyes and said she had not been following any of that.

Really I dont have time to think when I go home  I mean, go to my place in the corner, said Ms. Fernandez, who turned 69 on Saturday and is staying at a friends house. Ive been busy. I havent watched the news. Ive been doing all this by myself.
President Obama will visit flood-ravaged Louisiana on Tuesday, a trip that comes four days after Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, made a visit of his own.

Mr. Obamas tour of the Baton Rouge area comes amid criticism from local officials that the president declined to interrupt his vacation on Marthas Vineyard. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president, has also not visited the area.

Mr. Trumps visit was initially criticized by the staff of Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. But Mr. Edwards praised Mr. Trumps visit as helpful in an interview with CNN over the weekend.

Mr. Trump took a victory lap after Mr. Obamas planned visit was announced, insisting that he had prodded the trip. White House officials say that is not the case.
Hillary Clinton has a chance to turn Missouri blue in November, according to a new poll that shows the Democratic presidential nominee virtually deadlocked with Donald J. Trump in a state that Republicans carried easily four years ago.

A survey from Monmouth University found that 44 percent of likely voters supported Mr. Trump and 43 percent backed Mrs. Clinton. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Partys nominee, who barely registered in Missouri when he ran in 2012, received support from 8 percent.

The close race in Missouri underscores the challenge facing Mr. Trump, who needs to carry the states that Mitt Romney won four years ago while flipping others to defeat Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Romney won Missouri by nearly 10 percentage points in 2012 on the back of strong support from white voters. Senator John McCain narrowly beat then-Senator Barack Obama in Missouri in 2008, and no Democrat has won the state since Bill Clinton carried it in 1996.

This year, Mrs. Clinton holds a strong advantage among minority voters in the state and is trailing Mr. Trump by only 13 points among white voters, with the Republican nominee surprisingly doing better with white women than white men.
DAKAR, Senegal  The Nigerian military said on Tuesday that airstrikes had killed and wounded several top Boko Haram commanders in the Sambisa Forest in the countrys northeast, where militants have been hiding for months.

Among the wounded was Abubakar Shekau, who took the helm of the group after the death of its founder in 2009, according to Col. Sani Usman, a military spokesman. The militarys attack took place on Friday.

At least three other top commanders were killed in the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid, the military said in a news release.

The military has claimed to have killed Mr. Shekau before. Leaders of the militant group are thought to be holed up deep in the forest, and any reports of deaths or injuries to commanders were impossible to independently confirm.
SOKOTO, Nigeria  Secretary of State John Kerry issued a carefully worded warning on Tuesday to Nigerias military against committing human rights abuses as it goes about battling the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Nigerias military has long been dogged by evidence that it has killed civilians, tortured prisoners and, more recently, detained mothers, children and other victims who had been kidnapped by Boko Haram.

It is understandable in the wake of terrorist activity, some people are tempted to crackdown on everyone and anyone who could theoretically pose some sort of a threat, Mr. Kerry told a group of religious leaders and politicians during a visit to Nigeria on Tuesday. I caution against that today. Extremism cannot be defeated through repression.

Worries about human rights abuses have in the past undercut Nigerian efforts to buy American weapons they say they need to defeat Boko Haram. Besides abuses tied to its fight against Boko Haram, activists have accused the military of gunning down at least 300 members of a Shiite Muslim sect in the northern city of Zaria without justification.
Since coming to power in 2012, Mr. Xi has worked to expand the Communist Partys reach across virtually all aspects of Chinese society, sidelining lawyers, journalists, academics and activists who stand in the partys way.

But Mr. Xi has also pledged to improve Chinas human rights record, and the government has said it has made progress in reducing the use of torture and the death penalty. At the same time, officials have deflected criticism by highlighting police brutality and other abuses in developed countries like the United States.

Still, China lacks many of the checks needed to ensure justice for its citizens, Mr. Alston said. The authorities announced this week that they had punished more than 2,000 officials for failing to enforce environmental laws. But Mr. Alston, a New York University law professor, said the government should not be the only watchdog.

There must be ways for those whose rights are violated to initiate action, he said.

Mr. Alston said Mr. Xis government too often promoted party ideology over accountability. He called a series of high-profile trials of human rights activists this month a major mistake, and he expressed concern about the governments efforts to limit the activities of foreign nongovernmental organizations.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a faxed request for comment on Tuesday.

Mr. Alston, who was wrapping up a nine-day visit to China, also offered praise for the Chinese government, calling its achievements in reducing poverty, one of Mr. Xis priorities, admirable.
One senator, Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief, said the antidrug campaign was both impressive and alarming, and he asked whether the police were following standard operating procedures.

Chief dela Rosa called the drug eradication program a total war but said the police were following established procedures. Officers have not been ordered to kill drug dealers, he said, but have become more aggressive because they know they have Mr. Dutertes support.

We are not butchers, he said.

Before becoming president, Mr. Duterte was mayor of Davao City, where a similar wave of killings starting in the 1980s reduced drug dealing and other crime. Chief dela Rosa was the police chief in Davao, the Philippines largest city outside metropolitan Manila, before Mr. Duterte named him to head the national police.

The police also are trying to eradicate drugs and criminal behavior within their own ranks, the chief told the senators. Eleven rogue police officers have been killed in police operations, 130 officers have tested positive for drug use and 20 have been arrested, he said.

Fatalities outside police operations in the recent spate of deaths have included two police officers, eight soldiers, 29 elected officials and 10 government employees, he said. The deaths are under investigation.
We came together to save our nation from outside forces, so we are here for the love of our country and flag, he said.

Mr. Erdogan, an Islamist who has run the country for more than a decade, has unabashedly used the aftermath of the mid-July coup to focus the country on a common enemy. His approval rating has shot up to 68 percent, from 47 percent before the failed coup. He has not only toned down his divisive language but also said he would rescind the numerous criminal cases he has pursued against Turks for insulting him, a crime under Turkish law.

That has been accompanied by a sweeping purge of suspected followers of Mr. Gulen from the state bureaucracy and other professions. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs, raising concerns among Western allies that a witch-hunt mentality has gripped Turkey and that Mr. Erdogan is moving further down the path of authoritarianism.

But in Turkey, the purges are seen differently by society at large and are one more point to rally around, even for those who have been critical of Mr. Erdogan.
Two Irish women who live-tweeted a trip to England so that one of them could get an abortion set off a debate over the weekend, highlighting the restrictions placed on the procedure in their home country and renewing pressure on the government to respond to calls for change.

Abortion is banned in Ireland unless a woman faces an immediate risk of death, a high bar that leads thousands to leave the country each year to have the procedure. The woman who live-tweeted her abortion journey from the account @TwoWomenTravel was one of them.

Accompanied by a close friend, she awoke before dawn on Saturday and made her way to Dublin Airport for a 6:30 a.m. flight to Manchester, England.
National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has recorded gas pressure drops lower the Gazprom contract level at the entry points to the Ukrainian gas transport system from the direction of Russia, the company said late on Monday.

"The recent large drop of gas pressure was today [on Monday] at Sudzha gas metering stations. Pressure in the Russian gas transport system at this key entry point was 53.5 atm with the smallest possible 60 atm," the Ukrainian company said.

Naftogaz believes that Gazprom is not able to stably maintain pressure in the system at the required level due to the unsatisfactory state of a part of the Russian gas transport infrastructure.

The company recalled that since 2011 the Russian side has halted publishing data on the number of accidents at gas pipelines, paying much attention to the building of new gas pipelines. The analysis of the situation is complicated by the absence of explanations from Russia, the company said.

According to the schedule presented by Naftogaz, Gazprom violates contract liabilities in terms of gas pressure maintenance in the past three days, gradually decreasing it from 57.3 atm on August 20 to 54.5 atm on August 21 and 53.5 atm on August 22.

Earlier the pressure was lower than the smallest possible pressure on August 16 and August 17  54.9 atm and 59.8 atm.

"Gazprom has failed to achieve permanent pressure in the pipeline at the contract level for over one month," Naftogaz said.

The company recalled that it proposed to Europe to send a monitoring mission to the border gas metering stations and inspect them.

"Ukraine is ready to fairly implement its liabilities on gas transit to the EU on the conditions outlined in the current contract. All actions required for providing for stable transportation of gas next winter are carried out by Ukraine in line with the schedule and are financed in the full amount," Naftogaz said.
KABUL, Afghanistan  A United States soldier was killed by a bomb near the southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah, officials said on Tuesday, days after more than 100 American soldiers arrived there to help plan the strategic citys defense against a fierce Taliban assault.

The United States military has increasingly found itself drawn back to regular combat situations this year as the Afghan forces have struggled against Taliban offensives.

The increased American presence around Lashkar Gah in particular, more than two years after British soldiers closed their last base in the city, highlights a scramble to prevent the fall of a major population center. For weeks before the Americans arrival, top Afghan generals were being sent from Kabul to hold the line as district after district came under attack, with the Taliban surrounding the city.

In a statement on Tuesday, the United States military said the service member had died of wounds sustained during operations near Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, when a joint patrol encountered an improvised explosive device. Six Afghan soldiers and another American soldier were wounded in the blast.
The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday that it was bracing to accommodate as many as 1.2 million displaced Iraqis when the battle begins to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants, who overran the northern city more than two years ago.

A spokesman for the agency, Adrian Edwards, said it was scrambling to build encampments in six locations in northern Iraq to handle such an influx, which could inflate the countrys displaced-person population by more than a third. Mr. Edwards also said that other shelter options are being prepared.

His announcement, at a regular news briefing in Geneva, the refugee agencys headquarters, did not necessarily signify an imminent military operation to seize Mosul, about 250 miles north of Baghdad.

But the announcement provided detail on the efforts to prepare for enormous new pressure on the Iraqi government to house and feed hundreds of thousands of Mosul residents when the fighting starts.
The rest of the week, the beaches of Senegal are a haven for swimmers, sunbathers or anyone in the mood to relax under a grass-thatched umbrella with some grilled shrimp and an orange Fanta. A number of beaches around Dakar, the capital, have also become wildly popular with surfers, chasing the bliss of the perfect wave captured in the 1966 documentary The Endless Summer, which was shot partly in Senegal.

But on Sunday, its the sheep and horses turn.

The warm Atlantic becomes a bathtub for the animals every Sunday, as shepherds line up their flocks on the sand for a daylong cleansing ritual. Its a spiritual exercise and a way to spruce up the livestock. Senegal is predominantly Muslim, and sheep are prized as sacrifices during religious festivals; some people believe the cleaner the animal, the better the sacrifice.
I speak no Russian, and often found myself in situations in which no one spoke English. At popular tourist sites like the Hermitage, information in different languages is readily available; more niche gatherings like the Dostoyevsky festival, however, are geared toward the local populace, with explanations and accompanying literature in Russian (if available at all). I identified a couple of festival volunteers by their T-shirts and asked if they could help me understand the performance I had just witnessed, but was met with shy shrugs and apologies.

I had better luck with a map I got inside the old guardhouse from a friendly young guide. I was able to follow that down Sadovaya Street and up over the Kokushkin Bridge past one of Dostoevskys old apartments. (He was supposedly plagued by money problems and moved frequently.) After a few more blocks, I came to a small group of people listening to a tour guide outside an apartment building with a crumbling facade. This time, I had better luck communicating.

When I asked the tour guide (whose name happened to be Fyodor, coincidentally) if he could provide me with an English explanation, his girlfriend, Maria, swooped in to the rescue. This is the Raskolnikov apartment, she said, referring to the antihero of Crime and Punishment. But wasnt he a fictional character? I asked. Yes, she replied, But Dostoyevsky liked to use real-life places in his books.

Indeed, the novel begins: On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge. The K, Russian historians eventually determined, meant Kokushkin, the name of the bridge I had just crossed. The S in question stood for Stolyarny, the street on which we now stood.
Using everything from hand-drawn maps and 911 reports to radar data and sophisticated mapping software, geographers at Louisiana State University have produced a preliminary atlas of the flood across two dozen parishes in the state.In some parishes with more resources, the maps show fine detail. Others are still rough. In many parishes, they are trying to establish basic services for their people, said Brant Mitchell, director of the Stephenson Disaster Management Institute at L.S.U. They are not focused on extents. He said that some parishes, like Ascension, where flooding was widespread, have not yet produced maps. Ascensions flooding was estimated from 100-year flood maps from FEMA.
Ukrainian and Canadian parliaments could ratify the Ukraine-Canada free trade agreement by the end of this year, Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko has said.

"I think that we are able to ratify the free trade agreement in 2016 and quickly move to its implementation and bylaws not to leave the agreement only on paper and make it working," the ambassador said at a press club in Kyiv on Monday.

Shevchenko said that there are arrangements with the Ukrainian parliament at the level of Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy and the Canadian parliament at the level of the Canada-Ukraine Friendship Group that the document is quickly ratified.
Residents of Auburn are invited to give their input at the first of several public meetings about the Northwest Auburn Neighborhood Plan today at 6 p.m.

The plan, an initiative of the City of Auburn Planning Department, covers about a 1.5-square-mile section of northwest Auburn bordered by Shug Jordan Parkway on the west, Donahue on the east, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the south and properties on both sides of Bragg Avenue, according to Planning Director Forrest Cotten.

The section includes the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Bragg Avenue corridor, which acts as a primary route for many into downtown Auburn.

The meeting will allow a chance for the city to garner feedback from citizens and business owners on what they would like to see done in the area. Citizens can expect a formal presentation from city staff followed by a group exercise allowing public input.

Cotten said the plan will be similar to plans developed in recent years, including the Renew Opelika Road and Downtown Master Plan initiatives.

The goal of the planning process is to develop a plan that encourages redevelopment and improves the streetscape within the plan area, states a press release on the Ciy of Auburn's website. The need for infrastructure and streetscape enhancements in the area, and especially along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Bragg Avenue, has been identified by residents in recent Annual Citizen Surveys.

In addition to seeking community-wide input, planning department staff members have held stakeholder meetings to draw direct feedback from property owners and stakeholders, including pastors of churches in the area.

We know that there is some desire for some public improvements, Cotten said of property owners and stakeholders feedback. There will be a streetscape component to the study where well be making recommendations for streetscape improvements and where those improvements might go.

Land-use studies are also underway, evaluating zoning designations and preparing for different landscaping, sidewalk and lighting improvements.

Were really trying to identify if there are any current regulatory obstacles from a zoning perspective that perhaps we can change or amend that might assist in future development outcomes that might be more desirable from the communitys perspective, Cotten said.

At least three more meetings will be held throughout the plan development process. Cotten said he expects the next to be held no later than mid-October.

The plan is expected to be completed by the end of 2016, and any zoning implementations are projected to be done by March or April of 2017.

The meeting is expected to last about two hours and will be held in the Boykin Community Center Auditorium at 400 Boykin St.
The four Republican candidates looking to replace former Speaker Mike Hubbard came together Monday night for a candidate forum.

Jay Conner, Joe Lovvorn, Brett Smith and Sandy Toomer answered questions for two hours before a crowd of approximately 110 people at the Auburn City Council chambers.

Ethics

Gov. Robert Bentley called a special election after Hubbard was convicted on 12 felony ethics violations for using his office for personal gain.

Ethics and restoring voters faith in their elected officials was one of the first topics brought up by moderator and retired Auburn University political science professor Gerald Johnson.

You know, I was always taught that right is right and wrong is wrong, Lovvorn said. If you cant tell your mama about it then you just shouldnt be doing it.

Lovvorn said theres a line of that marks improper behavior that if someone gets close enough to it, they can be pulled over by temptation.

And me, as your legislator, I would never get anywhere near that line, Lovvorn said.

Smith said people arent worried about what happened in the past, but they are worried about the future.

Weve got to have more transparency, a stronger open meetings law, Smith said. I am a proud supporter of term limits. I believe conservative principals need to stay in Montgomery, but I think our politicians need to come home.

Toomer said he saw the effect of corruption first hand when he did missionary work in South America, where even as something as simple as getting a drivers license required a bribe. He never paid a bribe and faced long bureaucratic waiting periods as a result.

Because of my particular situation, in my business, I dont really have any conflicts of interests in my business that way, Toomer said. But because of my life history and how I have operated and have been asked to operate for the last 25 years living overseas, its just not in my nature.

Conner said he would never use his office for personal gain.

I try to do things for people for nothing in return, Conner said. I try to be a blessing  everyday  to somebody, doing something. And I do it sometimes at my peril.

Republican loyalty

A pledge candidates must sign to run - to always vote with the Republican caucus in the legislature - is a holdover from Hubbards imperial speakership Johnson said, quoting the new Alabama Speaker Mac McCutcheon.

Johnson asked the candidates if they would honor that pledge.

All of the candidates said they would represent the people of the House District 79 first.

Conner pointed out that all the candidates on the stage had signed the pledge to be able to get on the ballot.

Thats pretty heavy handed isnt it, Conner said. They can keep you off the ballot, but they cant keep you from voting your conscious, and they cant keep you from representing the people of this district.

Toomer said the pledge to get on the ballot was undemocratic because it committed the representative to vote a certain way before hearing from the people.

It is the preverbal rock and a hard place, Toomer said. If you want to get on the ballot you have to sign that piece of paper. It bothers all of us.

Smith said the pledge was the old school game of politics.

Thats politics of the past, Smith said. Im going to scratch your back if you scratch my back. What were supposed to do is be an ear, eye and an open voice for our district.

Lovvorn said as a firefighter he swore to protect the people of Auburn.

And if needed, lay down my life for that, Lovvorn said. I dont think I would lay my life down for the people in the legislature, but I would help guide them out of the building if we got into that.

Lovvorn said he would offer a counter pledge to build a better Alabama and find people in the legislature he can work with.

Lottery

With a state lottery bill working its way through the state legislature, the candidates were asked their views on a lottery.

Smith said he was opposed to it.

Weve got a budget shortfall, Smith said. Weve got an issue where were going to call a special session and spend another half million dollars voting on whether we want to send another blank check to Montgomery.

Cutting fraud, waste and abuse should be the Legislatures top priority, Smith said.

Conner has said he was for a lottery since he announced his candidacy.

Forty-four states have lotteries, and were one of the six that dont, Conner said.

There are much more regressive taxes on the poor than a lottery that Alabama already has, including a sales tax on groceries, Conner said.

Lovvorn said he was personally opposed to a lottery, but supported letting the people vote on the issue.

People are ready for a vote on the lottery, Lovvorn said. I feel if it went to the people, at least in this area, it would pass.

However, Lovvorn said he wants the funds from the lottery to go to education.

Toomer said hes never bought a lottery ticket, but he too supports it going to a vote of the people. He said he wants the money to go to education and Medicaid.

There are other gambling interests in the state who do not want the lottery because its competition to them, Toomer said. Thats the real issue you need to understand.

The voter forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of East Alabama, Spirit of Democracy and the Opelika-Auburn News.

Another forum is scheduled for Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center sponsored by the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.

The special primary is on Sept. 13.
Ukraine must start a dialog with the United States on joint production of weapons and ammunition on its territory and it would be beneficial both for Ukraine and the United States, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly has said.

"I think that we need to speak not only about supplies. Today we need to seriously speak about joint production of weapons and ammunition Ukraine not only restored its armed forces almost from the ground up, but it returned human potential to the plants having financing. They are trying to restore a defense and industrial potential We need production on the territory of Ukraine. This is a good option [for the United States], as there are chances to enter third markets," Chaly said in an interview with Channel 5 TV on Monday.

Asked what type of production facilities they are, the ambassador recalled that after occupation of the eastern part of Ukraine militant removed ammunition production facilities from Ukraine.

"We need to produce ammunition somewhere, and the issue would be settled one way or another," he said.

Chaly said that this production could be also beneficial for the United States, as weapons production in Ukraine would give a chance to supply them to the markets of third countries.

"Production of lethal weapons in Ukraine is a strategy If partners enter, they see you as the key country of the region," he said.

Chaly said that possible joint production does not mean that there is no need to supply non-lethal equipment to Ukraine.

He recalled that the United States foresaw $650 million to support Ukraine this year, including $335 million for defense and security.

The diplomat expressed hope that Ukraine will be more actively cooperate with U.S. partners in the future.
Analysis

BEIJING  China and the United States have been trading accusations as both sides conduct war games across East Asia, and tensions are rising from the South China Sea to the East China Sea to the Korea peninsula in the midst of a regional arms race.

At the heart of the tensions lies the maritime territorial dispute in the South China Sea, as well as a growing divide on how to respond to North Koreas nuclear weapons program, infecting Chinas relations with South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Yanmei Xie, senior China analyst with the International Crisis Group in Beijing, says Chinas relations with its neighborhood have deteriorated significantly, as the region continues to engage in an arms race.

Before, the region was in the process of economic integration, the building of multilateral institutions, and regional governance by consensus, she said. But in recent years that has all been unraveling. In its place you have an arms race and the building-up of deterrents, and the fracturing of multilateral institutions. Its not good.

Xie said Beijing and Washington have radically different explanations for the deterioration in the regional security environment.

If you ask China, its because of the U.S. pivot to Asia, she said. If you ask anyone else, its because of the emergence of a more assertive China.

Here is a look at some of the current hotspots:

KOREAN PENINSULA

On Monday, around 25,000 U.S. troops began annual military exercises with South Korea, a move that has already prompted warnings of retaliation from North Korea. Chinas state news agency Xinhua joined in the condemnation Monday, saying the move would jeopardize peace and stability in Northeast Asia and could even inadvertently provoke a real war.

Xinhua said U.S. muscle-flexing and South Koreas resolve to counter its northern neighbor will lead to a vicious circle of violence for violence, and warned that improper handling of the military drills could even spark a real war.

The U.S.-led U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission said it had notified the North Korean army the drills were non-provocative in nature. But North Korea, as it often has in the past, denounced them as preparation for invasion and threatened a preemptive nuclear strike.

The nuclear warmongers should bear in mind that if they show the slightest sign of aggression, it would turn the stronghold of provocation into a heap of ashes, a North Korean army spokesman said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency.

Tensions are already running high with China objecting fiercely to the deployment of a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system to South Korea.

China says the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missile defense unit will harm regional stability, and is worried the system could be used to monitor and counter not only North Korea but also its own missiles. In July, the Defense Ministry in Beijing said it was pressing ahead with tests for its own anti-missile system.

SOUTH CHINA SEA

Chinese coast guards conducted live-firing exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin Monday, a body of water between northern Vietnam and southern China, the latest in a series of military drills conducted in the area since an arbitration panel in The Hague invalidated much of Chinas claims to the disputed waters of the South China Sea. China also plans joint military exercises with Russia in the South China Sea next month, a move the United States said would harm regional stability.

There are other places those exercises could have been conducted, Adm. Scott Swift, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said on a visit to China this month. So I think that is a matter of concern that should be considered from the perspective of actions that are not increasing stability in the region.

Meanwhile, China has also continued to develop its outposts on the disputed Spratly Islands, despite the arbitration panel ruling, as it seeks to change the facts on the ground, experts say.

Satellite photos released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Studies in Washington showed China was in the process of building reinforced hangars beside the three runways it has already constructed in the Spratlys, with space for 24 fighter jets and three to four larger planes.

EAST CHINA SEA

China also staged military exercises in the Sea of Japan last week, including a simulated bomber attack on a naval task force, the military said.

Indeed, a mild rapprochement between Japan and China has unraveled in recent weeks, partly as a result of a spillover in tensions from the South China Sea. That is partly because Beijing objected to Tokyos support for the ruling issued in The Hague, Xie, of the International Crisis Group, said.

Even before the ruling was announced, Beijings ambassador to Tokyo warned Japan it would cross a red line if its Self Defense Forces took part in U.S.-led freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea, the Kyodo news agency reported.

China, Xie says, resents it when the United States plays a role in the South China Sea, but can just about accept it. But the Communist Party is much less able to appear weak-kneed in front of a domestic audience when it comes to responding to criticism from Tokyo, she said.

Now, the tension appears to be spilling over into the East China Sea.

China has objected to Japans reported plans to deploy new surface-to-ship missiles to islands in the East China Sea.

Japan, in turn, has lodged a series of protests this month after Chinese fishing and coastguard vessels have intruded in what it considers to be its territorial waters around disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea are due to meet in Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday in hopes of calming regional tensions.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post.
On a typical weekend night, the Huntington Beach Police Department can be a busy place, with officers handling the fallout from public intoxication, thievery, drug deals and assorted quality-of-life crimes.

Each year, local police make between 5,000 and 6,000 arrests that are turned over to the Orange County District Attorneys office for prosecution. Generally in the case of misdemeanors, which make up 80 percent of the arrests, thats where police involvement ends  until the offender runs afoul of the law again.

Many times the offenders go untried because of the sheer volume of crime that cycles through the Orange County District Attorneys office, particularly in the wake of Proposition 47, which reclassified a suite of crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, city officials say.

Huntington Beach plans to change that dynamic by hiring a community prosecutor to handle misdemeanors in its jurisdiction  becoming the second city in Orange County, after Anaheim, to do so. The City Council approved the plan last week.

A significant number of misdemeanors go unprosecuted, said Michael Gates, city attorney for Huntington Beach.

Gates said the purpose of the new prosecutor will be to add a lot of teeth to our laws. It will cost about $145,000 to create the position for the 2016-17 fiscal year, with some of that salary offset by attorney fees collected in some cases, officials said.

Under the program, the community prosecutor will be allowed to retain and try selected cases that would otherwise have gone to the county. According to Gates, the community prosecutor will have about 50 to 100 cases at any given time and prosecute 1,000 to 2,000 cases per year.

The rest of the misdemeanors and all felonies will go to the county.

There will be a whole class of crimes that will now be prosecuted where the DA may not have gotten to them, Gates said. We will prosecute every one of them until conviction.

Police Chief Robert Handy, who has experience with similar programs in Phoenix and San Bernardino, is a proponent.

According to Handy, having a local prosecutor allows the city to target certain areas where criminal activity is spiking and to better deal with persistent offenders.

This way theres a single point of contact that maybe knows the history, he said. They will also have more face to face with the officers and can better represent the case.

The end product, Handy hopes, is more enhanced and thorough prosecution. Especially with chronic offenders and persistent quality-of-life crimes.

Under the current system, Handy says the same person may receive different prosecutors and judges each time he is arrested and can go through the system unnoticed.

(This will) eliminate slipping through the cracks, he said.

When we get repeat offenders, that has a huge benefit, Gates said.

A key job of the community prosecutor will be to meet regularly with police and community groups to identify types of criminal offenses and solutions that are a priority for residents.

Several community members spoke in favor of the plan at the councils Aug. 15 meeting.

Devin Dwyer, a former council member, said in an interview that he is usually hawkish about adding to the city budget, but in this case supported the effort.

We need to do something at the local level to stem the tide, he said of street and misdemeanor crime.

To Dwyer this is particularly true in the downtown area, where he said, after 10 p.m., nothing good happens.

The idea of community prosecution dates back to the early 1990s to Portland, Ore., which created a Neighborhood District Attorney to address concerns that quality-of-life crimes, such as disorderly conduct and public intoxication, would impede development of a central business district.

Since its inception, the concept has gained popularity, with adherents including Attorney General Eric Holder, who used the strategy in the early-1990s when he was U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Some advocates of the community model say it is not only to prosecute cases but to solve public safety problems, prevent crime and improve public confidence in the justice system.

Gates said when he ran for office in 2014, public safety was a particular emphasis. He said he seriously began exploring community prosecution about a year ago and got the blessings of Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackaukas to move forward.

Whether community prosecution works is a matter of debate.

A study of community prosecution in Chicago in the American Law and Economics Review found, community prosecution reduced certain categories of crime, such as aggravated assault, but had no effect on other categories, such as larceny.

However, it also said the practice has the potential to produce cost-justified reductions in crime.

Gates and Handy said it will be important to monitor results to make sure it is achieving the desired effect.

Dwyer said he would like to see stats showing the program works on an annual basis.

When you bring in government, it never goes away, whether it works or not, he said. The proof is in the pudding.

Gates said he believes the aggressive prosecution of cases will spread the message about committing crimes in Huntington Beach and, naturally you have a reduction in crime.

However, he also cautioned, This is baby steps.

Contact the writer: gmellen@scng.com
The Segerstrom Center for the Arts turns 30 this year. Since the curtain rose for the first time inside Orange Countys 3,000-seat showcase concert venue on Sept. 29, 1986, it has enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as a place for dance.

What better way to celebrate a milestone birthday than a season opener filled with some of the worlds best dancers?

Tour de Force III, which plays Segerstrom Hall for one night Saturday, is an irresistible choreographic confection: Superstars such as Natalia Osipova, Marcelo Gomes, Joaquin De Luz and Denis Matvienko perform four works, including two by up-and-coming Russian choreographers. The all-star lineup was originally to have included Diana Vishneva, but she withdrew because of an injury.

As the name implies, it is the third Tour de Force to play here; the first was in 2009, the second in 2011.

Judy Morr, the Segerstrom Centers executive vice president and principal dance programmer, acknowledges that she and others have been planning the evening for some time, and everyone wanted the opening of the dance season in an important anniversary year to be extra-special.

Dance has always been just a part of the centers story, Morr said. Though I like to think its a very significant part  the star in our cap that gives us international credibility.

Still, Morr seems a little amazed at what has been accomplished since she and her husband, the late Thomas R. Kendrick, left executive positions at Washington D.C.s Kennedy Center to come to Orange County and help bring world-class programming to the new performing-arts complex in Costa Mesa. Orange County was not a place with a strong ballet tradition at the time.

Morrs perseverance and programming skills paid off. During her long tenure, the center has established a close relationship with American Ballet Theatre, one of the worlds most celebrated dance companies (culminating with the opening of a permanent ABT school at the Segerstrom Center last year); become a regular destination for major touring Russian and European ballet companies; and started co-producing significant dance events with New York-based Ardani Artists Management.

Tour de Force is typical of the kind of bravura collaborations that the Segerstrom Center and Ardani have created over their 16-year relationship.

We have been very successful in two ways, said Ardani founder Sergei Danilian. Not only have we presented some of Europes best companies, but over the past 10 years we have produced several really critically acclaimed new programs: Kings of the Dance, Vishneva in Beauty in Motion and On the Edge, Reflections, Tour de Force and Solo for Two, which starred Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev.

The productions have proven successful not only in Costa Mesa, but New York and Russia as well.

We have gotten great recognition in Russia; many of them have won awards, Danilian said.

Creating something out of nothing

Among the four works receiving their West Coast premieres at Tour de Force III are Vladimir Varnavas Clay and Maxim Petrovs Le Divertissement du Roi. Each employs six dancers.

Clay, set to French composer Darius Milhauds Le creation du monde, is based on African fairy tales with a ticklish subject: human reproduction.

The story starts with a profoundly psychological moment, said Varnava, 27, through a translator. The gods take this piece of clay and produce a human from it. Thats how life started, of course  not with Adam and Eve and the apple, but from the clay.

For Varnava, the story hit close to home, uncannily imitating his own creative process.

When I am starting to create something I imagine I am standing in front of a blank piece of paper. I somehow have to fill it with life, bring something out of nothing.

As a source, folk tales have always attracted Varnava. I like to create fairy tales because for me it is an opportunity to comment on the real world.

It all starts with the dancers

Casting is crucial to Varnavas process. The dancers always come first. Communicating with them offstage, watching them during classes, I try to find out who is who  who can play each character. Everyone comes with his or her own color. Im an artist who is putting different colors on the palette and mixing them to get a new color.

Petrovs Le Divertissement du Roi is described as neoclassical fantasy on a baroque theme, a recollection of the happy beginnings of the art of ballet that unfolded in the Louvre and Versailles.

I started by reading a lot of books about Baroque performance practices, said Petrov, 24. I worked with recordings of Baroque dance. I tried to stylize my own (choreography) by combining it with Baroque dance style. I spent a lot of time on the steps, on the arms.

Petrov stitched together a score from various pieces by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), who was roughly a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach. I tried to structure the work so that its close to something in the time of Louis. There is a slow part followed by an allegro, then a moderato, another allegro. In Baroque dance the speed of the music is very important.

Danilian first saw the Varnava and Petrov works at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. The dances were created for the companys Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers, a program designed to encourage burgeoning Russian talent.

The young choreographers will be paired with two established talents in Tour de Force III. The Royal Ballets Osipova and Sergei Polunin will perform the American preview of Russell Maliphants Silent Echo, which will recieve its premiere at New York City Center in November. Gomes Tristesse includes Gomes, De Luz, Matvienko and Friedeman Vogel.

It will be a fitting way to start our dance season, Morr said. I think weve established a reputation as a place that celebrates young choreographers as much as established talents.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com
SAN SIMEON, Calif.  More than 10,000 firefighters battled wildfires Monday from Californias Central Coast to Sierra Nevada forests or mopped up remnants of destructive blazes beaten into submission up and down the state.

Nearly 1,900 structures were threatened by a nearly 50-square-mile blaze in coastal San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, where more than 2,400 people were under evacuation orders, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The blaze was just 35 percent contained after destroying 34 homes and 14 other buildings.

Hearst Castle, the palatial ocean-view estate built by the late newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst and a major stop on summer road trips, remained closed because of proximity to the fire.

Eighty miles up the coast, Californias biggest fire grew to nearly 135 square miles in rugged wilderness coast along Highway 1 north of Big Sur.

More than 400 homes remained threatened by the fire, which was started July 22 by an illegal campfire and has destroyed 57 homes and 11 other buildings. A bulldozer operator was killed in a rollover accident last month.

The prevalence of poison oak in the region was proving a problem. Five hundred firefighters, including 200 in the past three days, had sought treatment after contact with the toxic shrub, authorities said.

In the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara, a wildfire expanded to nearly 37 square miles as it chewed through critically dry brush, grass and oak canopies.

Just 20 percent contained, the blaze has caused the closure of campgrounds and recreation areas but remains far from communities. It was, however, a threat to vegetation in watersheds important to supplies on the south coast of Santa Barbara County.

In the southern Sierra Nevada, a fire feeding on critically dry, beetle-killed timber expanded to more than 30 square miles of Sequoia National Forest in Kern and Tulare counties northwest of Lake Isabella.

Nearly 1,600 people in 13 small communities were under mandatory evacuations orders and evacuations were recommended for a half-dozen others, said fire spokesman Naaman Horn. He said the fire is within a mile of the community of Alta Sierra in Kern County.

Thunderstorms were a concern as well Monday, not for rain, but due to potential for lightning and gusty winds.

Sixty miles east of Los Angeles, minimal activity was seen at fire that burned nearly 58 square miles and 105 homes in Cajon Pass and the San Gabriel Mountains last week. With all evacuations lifted, firefighters were extinguishing hotspots and doing erosion control while utility crews replaced infrastructure lost to the blaze.

At Lower Lake, 80 miles north of San Francisco, recovery efforts remained underway in the aftermath of hard-hit Lake Countys latest wildfire, which destroyed 189 homes since erupting Aug. 13. A man has been charged with arson in connection with that fire and others.
SANTA ANA  A 35-year-old Santa Ana man was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on Monday for shining a laser pointer at an Orange County Sheriffs Department helicopter.

Mario Deleon Lopez pleaded guilty in March to aiming the laser pointer at deputies flying over a traffic accident in Santa Ana on Nov. 14.

After the green laser illuminated the helicopters cockpit multiple times, the flight crew was able to direct officers on the ground to a backyard in Santa Ana. Lopez was arrested, released and later indicted.

Authorities are fighting a growing problem with the new technology, with laser strikes on aircraft having increased dramatically as the devices have become more available, affordable and powerful.

Prosecutors had asked for a 15-month sentence for Lopez, noting his convictions of burglary, forgery, possession of a controlled substance, evading a police officer and reckless driving, court documents say.

Lopez admitted that he read the warning label on the laser and that he knew pointing the laser at someone could cause blindness, the documents say, and that he knew lasers could cause danger to an aircraft, but was not aware of a laser causing one to crash.

The helicopter pilot stated that Lopez was trying pretty hard to get us, with the tactical officer saying that he suffered a headache afterward.

Lopezs attorney, Deputy Federal Public Defender Jesse Gessin, had asked for a one-year sentence, noting Lopezs long struggle with drug addiction and need for treatment. Lopez, he said, does recognize the seriousness of his crime.

U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said the case highlights the seriousness of people shining lasers at aircraft.

Had the pilot lost control of the helicopter, lives could have been lost, she said in a statement. Consequently, we take these cases very seriously and will continue to prosecute those who commit this crime.

Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com
Comedian, actor and writer Cheech Marin has certainly taken on a variety of gigs in his over 40-year career in show business.

Hes starred in and performed voice-over work for numerous feature films and television shows and has toured the world as part of the legendary comedy duo, Cheech & Chong, along with fellow actor and comedian Tommy Chong. Now, the 70-year-old Los Angeles native is enjoying a different and more leisurely kind of role, serving as the brand ambassador for Tres Papalote mezcal.

Marin, who fancies himself as a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to wines, liquors and tequilas, was visiting friends at a winery in Canada when the initial idea of pairing his celebrity with an alcohol distributor came about. Since hes most known for comedic characters with strong Mexican accents, the first thought was for the product to be, obviously, tequila.

When we looked at the market, there were a million tequilas out there already, Marin said during a recent phone interview. We had to come up with something new, something different and thats when I thought of doing a mezcal.

The Tres Papalote mezcal is distilled in Guerrero, Mexico, from the wild cupreata agave plant, which gives it a smokier flavor, with notes of citrus.

What distinguishes mezcal from tequila is that smokiness, he said. We were looking for something that wasnt quite as harsh or as strong, but was more middle-of-the-road so that the vast majority can enjoy it even if theyre coming to mezcal for the first time.

Marin has been traveling the country, appearing at bottle signings with Tres Papalote mezcal. His next stop is Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, where hell be signing bottles for customers who make purchases 4-6 p.m. Friday. For now, Hi-Time is the only local spot to pick up Tres Papalote, though it has larger distribution on the East Coast and is available online ($59.99) at Liquor ama.com.

Attendees at bottle signings, Marin said, have been a mix of Cheech & Chong fans and true mezcal enthusiasts. Though he gets asked quite a bit to do shots, he has to politely decline, because if he does it for one fan, hell have to do it for them all.

The audience for this is really kind of hip, open and fun-loving, and mezcal kind of goes right along with that, he said. Im really pleased with how this whole thing has turned out because (mezcal) is a growing segment of the market and millennials, among others, are really taking to it because of the different taste.

Marin said he enjoys his mezcal in several ways: as a shot, sipped over ice, but mostly, hes into trying it in a variety of cocktails. Hes had a few of the recipes listed at trespapalotemezcal.com which run from something simple like The Original, which is 2 ounces Tres Papalote poured over ice with a large orange twist, to fancier concoctions like the Mountainside Magic.

Even the artwork on the bottle was picked from Marins renowned collection of Chicano art. Its a photograph of a glass statue by the De La Torre Brothers of San Diego, which is proudly displayed in his home.

It stands out, you can see it from across the room, he said of the bottle art. Its very cool and it just says fun. Its not like this esoteric, little hand-drawn label like the other mezcals on the market. It definitely pops.

Using the Chicano art was important to Marin, who sees it as an underappreciated and underrepresented style. He collects pieces by artists from Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Texas, and hes an advocate of getting more of the art into museums.

Were in steady progress of getting Chicano art more known and more respected, he said. There are some big, important shows coming up. Next year LACMA is doing the Carlos Almaraz retrospective and he really is the leading artist of the Chicano art movement, so that will be spectacular. I have my own exhibit up at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, called Papel Chicano Dos: Works on Paper, that is up through November.

Marin said there is a documentary in the works about Cheech & Chong, and on March 10, his memoir, Cheech Is Not My Real Name  But Dont Call Me Chong, will be released. Hes also working on a possible new TV sitcom with fellow comic Paul Rodriquez and he continues to tour with Cheech & Chong. The duo stops by Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio on Sept. 2.

Contact the writer: 714-796-3570 or kfadroski@ocregister.com
Ryan Lawler scanned the pod of dolphins as they cruised alongside his boat, looking for Patches.

The owner of Newport Coastal Adventure had heard much about the unique-looking dolphin, the one with pink and white markings scattered on its sleek body, but had never laid eyes on the magnificent mammal.

Until a few days ago, when Patches showed up with about 100 of his friends along the Laguna Beach coastline.

I was very excited, I hear so much about him, said Lawler, who searched for 20 minutes in the pod before spotting Patches. When I saw him from a distance, you could tell hes really a two-toned dolphin. Once you get close to him, he cant escape your view. I was able to tell my passengers it was a special sighting.

Patches is well known along the Orange County coastline, an anomaly that caught the eye of naturalist Mark Tyson in 2006. Since then, Tyson has formed a bond with the dolphin.

Sometimes, years would pass before Patches would return to Orange County, but more recently hes visited fairly frequently, up to several times a year.

Tyson, a naturalist for Capt. Daves Dolphin and Whale Safari, said he always feels like one of his own has come home when Patches shows up.

Its like a child I never had, he joked. My boy is still out there.

With social media, Tyson is able to keep track of Patches, as people post of sightings. In the days following the Laguna spotting, he was seen in San Diego. Not too long ago, he was spotted near Monterey.

It really gives me a thrill not only when I see Patches, but when others report seeing him, Tyson said. The dolphin really gets around  Patches has become quite the celebrity.

Some researchers have speculated that Patches is a hybrid, a mix between a bottlenose and risso dolphin.

But most people believe Patches is an offshore bottlenose dolphin, often seen about 3 miles from shore, Lawler said.

They are the most intelligent dolphins. Whenever we get to see them, its really exciting, they are very playful, they just have this special quality that makes me reach for my camera every time they are around, he said.

Dana Wharf manager Donna Kalez said some of her whale-watching regulars spotted Patches in San Diego the past few days, and were heading out on the Dana Point boats this week to try to get a glimpse.

Normally, when Patches is around, he goes from Newport to San Diego. Everybody will usually get a chance to see him, she said.

Patches isnt the only rare dolphin that has been seen off Orange County. About 11 years ago, Tyson photographed Casper, an all-white dolphin calf. The scars on Casper would show up dark on its skin, opposite of typical dolphins.

Its been about five or six years since anyone has reported Casper up and down the coast, Tyson said. I kind of miss Casper. But its cool to have Patches around. It really warms my heart to keep seeing Patches over the years.

Seeing Patches isnt just an emotional thrill, it helps researchers learn more about the behaviors of offshore bottlenose dolphin.

By tracking Patches, we can track the pods behavior, Lawler said.

A pod of risso dolphins, another rare sight, also showed up earlier this week. Like the offshore bottlenose, rissos eat squid, so perhaps a food source is drawing them here.

It could also be changing temperatures. The water has cooled in recent days  dropping from the upper-70s to the mid-60s, so possibly colder water is pushing out some species and bringing back others.

It may be a sign of a change, I dont know, Lawler said.

Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com
LAGUNA BEACH  Marine Safety Capt. Tom Trager was keeping an eye on a dying southwest swell with increasing northwest winds on a recent day at Treasure Island Beach when a couple visiting from Canada waved him down. They were scouting out a place for an upcoming family reunion and wanted to know what beach would be safest for their grandchildren.

Were not ocean educated, said Gayla Rogers, from Calgary. Weve got four grandchildren and we want to take them somewhere where they can play in the water and be safe.

Trager was the right person to ask.

Recently recognized for his outstanding contribution to public safety by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, Trager keeps track of conditions at Main Beach, one of the busiest beaches in Orange County. For the past year, he and others at Laguna Beachs Marine Safety Department have recorded daily data for a research program to help the federal agency predict dangerous ocean conditions, such as rip currents, days in advance.

On this day, Trager cautioned the couple about finger rip currents, which form when water washes up into low-lying contours of the beach, then withdraw back out to sea with great force. Children are at risk of being snatched from shore when water that may at first be at foot level swells instantly to waist-high.

Rip currents are something every lifeguard along the Southern California coastline worries about. The United States Lifesaving Association says more than 82 percent of rescues are related to rip currents.

Problems arise when panicked swimmers try to counter rips by swimming straight back to shore  putting themselves at risk of drowning because of fatigue. In 2015, three people were killed by rip currents in Southern California, one in Orange County. Fifty-six people died in rip currents nationally last year.

The data research program Trager is involved in  the United States Lifesaving Association/National Weather Service Sea Grant Rip Current Observing Project  started in 2007 at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. There are now eight beaches participating in Southern California. In Orange County, along with Laguna Beach, lifeguards in Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and San Clemente also participate.

A pilot program using daily beach conditions data is already up and running at the National Weather Service in Morehead City, N.C. Mission Beach in San Diego County started using the model in 2015 after the success of the North Carolina project.

Trager, a lifeguard for 32 years, records data in categories including surf height, surf direction, rip currents, long-shore currents, water attendance, rescue activity, the number of rip rescues in the previous 24 hours, peak rescue times and ocean and air temperatures. He also notes how wide the surf zone is and where the waves break.

We see rip currents every time there is a swell, he said. The more swell, the more rip activity we see.

Whats particularly difficult for lifeguards is when the ocean doesnt look dangerous.

Every day we get a whole group of people that havent heard the message, Trager said. Were trying to get information to help us with the masses.

Tragers data are analyzed and recorded by scientists at the National Weather Service Forecast Office who use the information to issue surf forecasts, predict surf height and alert for possible rip current risk.

Getting all this information, we can find out more to predict rip currents in a two-to-four day range, said Stephen Harrison, a scientist with NOAA and the National Weather Service. Through daily rip current reports, forecasters can better predict risks and help issue a beach hazard statement.

In days past, this wasnt talked about. Now, more and more are recognizing its a deadly ocean phenomenon that causes deaths nationally.

Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis also tracks daily ocean conditions and provides data for NOAA.

Anytime you apply data and use it to your advantage, we can give better direction, Panis said. That makes our job easier. It can help identify locations where rips can be more dangerous. Right now, its day to day. We make predictions on where we think they will occur.

Im hoping years down the line, it will help with more accurate predictions. Our mission is to reach people before they come down to the beach. It may help save a life.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com Twitter: @lagunaini
Poroshenko says Kyiv's task is to raise Ukrainian flag over Donetsk, Luhansk, Simferopol and Sevastopol

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has reiterated the need to restore Ukrainian sovereignty in Donbas and Crimea.

"An extremely difficult task for us is to ensure that our flag would once again appear over Donetsk, Luhansk, over Simferopol and over Sevastopol," he said during a ceremony to raise Ukraine's state flag in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Ukraine marks the Day of the State Flag on August 23.
An Irvine developer unveiled plans Monday to transform an old oil tank farm near Huntington Beachs coastal marshlands into a $500 million development with a hotel, homes, and new shops and restaurants.

Shopoff Realty Investments closed a deal last week to buy the 28.6-acre parcel at Magnolia Street and Banning Avenue for $26.5 million, or $929,000 an acre.

The property is home to three unused storage tanks with a capacity of 500,000 barrels each, or roughly 63 million gallons of oil total.

A spokeswoman for Shopoff said the massive tanks date back 44 years but stopped being used in 2009.

William Shopoff, company CEO, said plans for the property are in the conceptual stage, but his goal is to build a boutique hotel, a mixture of houses and condos and a commercial area with restaurants and shops.

Its got lots of opportunity, and its going to require a lot of effort to get it there, he said, predicting that completion will be years off.

Among the challenges will be the lengthy process for getting city and California Coastal Commission approvals, including input from residents and other neighboring landowners.

Huntington Beach Mayor Jim Katapodis said the City Council has not taken up the issue, but he talked with a group of Shopoffs representatives informally.

Im all for cleaning up the tank farm, Katapodis said. More power to them if they want to clean it up.

The ocean-view property, located just 400 yards from the entrance to the pristine Huntington State Beach, is sandwiched between homes to the east and industrial eyesores to the west and north.

Neighbors include the AES Corp.s seaside power plant and the Cenco oil tank farm to the west, and the polluted Ascon landfill to the north, which made news in 2004 when an untended oil well erupted into a 40-foot gusher that sprayed crude onto neighboring homes and streets.

The Magnolia and Banning tank farm, however, is virtually pollution free, Shopoff said.

The site is, to our knowledge, clean to residential standards, he said. Youll have some spot remediation, but the site is generally clean.

The sales announcement kicked up a storm of reaction on social media, including more than 175 posts on Facebooks Huntington Beach Community Forum.

Merle Moshiri, a southeast Huntington Beach resident and activist, believed area residents had been purposefully left uninformed.

I feel weve been hood-winked, she said. For sure, someone knew about this. But were just the people who live there.

Moshiri said the topic of the tank farm land arose in a July meeting of the Southeast Area Commission when residents raised concerns about use of the tank farm property once construction began at the nearby AES California power facility and Poseidon desalination plant.

At the time, none of the city representatives told them about an imminent sale.

These things dont come about in a month, and yet there was nothing, Moshiri said. We just felt left out.

Although Moshiri admits almost anything would be preferable to an abandoned tank farm, she wants to see the environmental reports that will describe how it affects the community.

She also questions the wisdom of building a luxury facility in area that she says, gets everything that belches smoke.

I dont see how youre going to wedge in a resort thats next to a toxic waste dump.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7734 or jcollins@ocregister.com
AUSTIN, Texas  A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administrations order that requires public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.

In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX is not ambiguous about sex being defined as the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth.

The judge said the order would apply nationwide. The ruling, he said, was not about the policy issues of transgender rights but about his conclusion that federal officials simply did not follow rules that required an opportunity for comment before such directives are issued.

This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students rights and that of personal privacy  while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school, he wrote.

The ruling was the second recent setback for transgender advocates. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia school board can block for now a transgender male from using the boys restroom while justices decide whether to fully intervene.

Texas and 12 other states challenged the White House directive as unconstitutional.

The judge also sided with Republican state leaders who argued that schools should have been allowed to weigh in before the White House mandate was announced in May.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, had argued that halting the Obama order before school began was necessary because districts risked losing federal education dollars if they did not comply. Federal officials did not explicitly make that threat upon issuing the directive, although they also never ruled out the possibility.

This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people and is threating to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform, Paxton said. That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts.

The Justice Department issued a brief statement saying it was disappointed in the ruling and was reviewing its options. If the Obama administration challenges the injunction, the case would head next to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Supporters of Obamas directive also questioned how a district judge in Wichita Falls, Texas, could issue a blanket injunction for the entire U.S. when higher courts elsewhere have upheld transgender rights.

One example is the Virginia school board case: Even though the Supreme Court is keeping the status quo for now, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the board discriminated against the transgender student.

Its Wichita Falls. It doesnt have jurisdiction over the entire country, said Josh Block, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ruling does not prohibit schools that allow transgender students to use the facilities of their choice from continuing to do so.

Paul Castillo is a Dallas attorney for the gay rights group Lambda Legal, which had urged the court to let the White House directive stand. He said the latest ruling was a continuation of attacks on transgender people.

I think today is going to be a hard day for transgender students, Castillo said. The decision is certainly emotional and certainly an attack on transgender students dignity.

The federal government issued the mandate days after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over a state law that requires people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch likened that law to the policies of racial segregation. Republicans have argued such laws are commonsense privacy safeguards.

The Obama administration had told the court that recipients of federal education dollars were clearly on notice that anti-discrimination polices must be followed. Texas alone gets roughly $10 billion in federal education funds.

The lawsuit was filed in May by Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia, and the Republican governors of Maine, Mississippi and Kentucky. Two small school districts in Arizona and Texas, which have fewer than 600 students combined and no transgender persons on their campuses, also joined the effort to prevent the directive from being enforced.

Last year, OConnor granted an order that temporarily blocked federal rules that would have expanded medical leave benefits to some gay couples.



Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber .
NEWPORT BEACH  A woman was sent to the hospital after being assaulted by a man at an apartment complex, police said Monday.

The attack happened around 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Coronado Apartments in the 1900 block of Sherington Place, said Newport Beach police Sgt. John Thulin and Newport Beach firefighters.

The woman was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive. The man, whose name was not immediately released, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and booked into the Orange County jail, Thulin said.

The relationship between the man and woman was not made available.

Contact the writer: lawilliams@scng.com
A number of restaurants in Germany have come up with a somewhat controversial way of fighting food waste  charging patrons a small fee if they cannot finish all the food on their plates.

Yuoki, a sushi restaurant in Stuttgart, Germany, is not your everyday all-you-can-eat buffet. For starters, there isnt an actual buffet to fill your plate at. Instead, patrons are seated at a table and provided with iPads which they can use to order up to five small dishes every ten minutes. They can eat as much as they want for 120 minutes, but having the food delivered at short intervals allows diners to constantly assess how hungry they are and order accordingly, preventing food waste. Also, owner Luan Guoyu believes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, so not being able to see the cooked food at the buffet prevents people from ordering more food that they can actually eat just because they like the way it looks.

But Luan Guoyus most effective way of fighting food waste, and the one that has attracted media attention, is his 1 ($1.15) fine for food still left on the plate. Its called all-you-can-eat, not all-you-can-chuck-away, he says, adding that the extra charge is not meant to increase his profits, but to act as a reminder not to waste food. In the two years since Yuoki implemented this eat up or pay up policy, Guoyu claims he has collected 900 ($1,020) to 1,000 ($1,133) in food waste fees, which he plans to donate to charity.

Photo: Yelp/Angi M.

Guoyu says he has received no complaints from patrons so far, and the few interviewed by local newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung seemed to agree with his policy. At home, we try to produce as little waste as possible, so why not do the same at the restaurant, said James and Jessica Moss, a California couple on vacation in Germany.

Cihan Karaman, a regular at Yuoki, says he has never been fined the 1, because he always orders only as much as he can eat. There are times when he wants to try new things and doesnt like the way they taste, but claims that Luan is lenient in such situations.

Photo: Yuoki.de

Luan Guoyus system is unique in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, but not in Germany. Okinii, a Japanese-style restaurant in Dusseldorf, has been charging patrons the same 1 tax for unfinished food on their plates since 2013, and also claims it has not received major complaints. And at the Chinese-Mongolian restaurant Himalaya in North Rhine-Westphalia, people are charged an extra 2 for food waste, but only if they have more than 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of food left on their plates.

With so many people living on the edge of starvation, and food waste becoming a serious problem in developed countries, it will be interesting to see if more eateries will start implementing the eat up or pay up policy. Even if they donate the proceeds from this fine to charity, it would still help them top save money on waste disposal fees, so its a win for everyone. Well, except greedy patrons, obviously.

Photo: Gingembre Rouge

Interestingly, while Germany probably has the largest number of restaurants charging customers for not finishing the food they order, the concept is believed to have originated in Saudi Arabia, in 2011. Fahad Al Anezi, the owner of Marmar restaurant in the city of Dammam said he was inspired by news of a famine in Somalia, where people were literally starving to death.

via Conde Nast
Joe Honick

Like a veteran athlete traversing his final season before retiring to fan and media glory, Garrison Keillor, popular operator of NPRs Prairie Home Companion program, is making his way across the nation as part of a farewell tour. As he does, American Public Radio, the agency that has distributed his program for years, is replaying many of the popular broadcasts to make sure America properly venerates its star.

One of those old broadcasts that probably will not play is from December, 2009, where Keillor launched a tirade aimed at Jewish songwriters for having the nerve to write songs for Christmas. From the December, 2009 broadcast:

If you dont believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn Silent Night and leave ours alone. This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism, and we Christians have stood for it long enough. And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and well blow the shofar for Rosh Hashanah? No, we dont. Christmas is a Christian holiday  if youre not in the club, then buzz off. Celebrate Yule instead or dance around in druid robes for the solstice. Go light a big log, go wassailing and falaing until you fall down, eat figgy pudding until you puke, but dont mess with the Messiah.

There were those who claimed the droll and often boring Keillor, who was operating under the purifying cover of public radio and his aw shucks Prairie Home Companion image, was just kidding around and being curmudgeonly. The Reality is that far less kidding around has cost numerous folks their jobs when those comments have been aimed at other groups.

The real question is why that kind of stuff was tolerated. A call to National Public Radio got the quick comment that Keillor is not an employee of NPR and his program is just one of many bought and paid for by local public radio stations. But the courteous person with whom I spoke lost not a split second in emphasizing the disconnect when it came to this kind of stuff and especially Keillor.

It seems that his program is distributed by something called American Public Media with headquarters in Minneapolis. According to its web site: American Public Media is the largest owner and operator of public radio stations and a premier producer and distributor of public radio programming in the nation. American Public Media reaches 15.5 million listeners each week through 768 public radio stations. Among its portfolio of more than 20 nationally distributed programs are such public radio staples as A Prairie Home Companion, Marketplace, Performance Today and others. It is also the parent organization for Minnesota Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio and Classical South Florida, operating 40 public radio stations and 29 translators in California, Florida and the Upper Midwest.

Although NPR disavows any direct connection to the Keillor programming, if APMs claims are correct, the NPR network sure carries Keillors messages to the largest audience on its wavelengths, to more than 15 million listeners over 768 public radio stations!

In this era of hypersensitivity to racial and religious prejudice, it remains unclear why the purveyor of rural myth could get away unscathed professionally from this episode. Of course, he included in his tirade that actually used an offensive Yiddish term for fecal matter  the composer of God Bless America (Irving Berlin) who happened to compose the massively popular White Christmas. It should be noted that scoundrel Berlin also wrote the Easter Song without attracting the critical commentary of Keillor.

As most entertainers were building toward Christmas with popular music and other fun mixed with respectful reverence for the holidays meaning, it seemed strange that non-commercial radio would have tolerated commentary that made Scrooge look and sound like a cuddly bumpkin.

And the question simply hangs out there: why?

No doubt, the fans will only shrug all this off, as they already have. On the other hand, the fact Keillor resorted to such disrespectful rhetoric and got away with it might have signaled he was actually skittering downhill from his peak at NPR to his current recorded retirement tour.



* * *



Joseph J. Honick is president of GMA International in Bainbridge Island, Wash.
In your Jeep Creep questions, please list your first and last names, your hometown, and your state/province/country, so that we can publish that information here. If you dont provide this information, we may not be able to publish your question and answer. Dont forget to be as complete as possible with the description of your Jeep and its problems, too. Send your Jeep questions to [email protected], Attn: Jeep Creep.

Previous Jeep Creep Columns

Jeep Recall Update, Manual Hubs, JK Wrangler Lift Kits

Jeep Q&A: CB Antenna Fix, Hi-Lift Jack Mounting, Scrambler Pickup

Jeep Creep: Wrangler, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee Questions Answered

No Jeep recalls from NHTSA this month





Inclinometer

I mounted an inclinometer above my mirror and it looks pretty impressive. Ive tried using it on some of the trails around here but Im nervous about how far over my Jeep can tip before Im in real trouble. Also, my wife has become fascinated with it since she can see it from her seat. She keeps asking me, When should I get worried? If you can, tell me whats the angle that I can lean before it goes on over?

Bill Rocky Stone

Mesa, AZ

I receive a query about an inclinometer about once a year, on average. And Ive been receiving them now for nearly 40 years. I usually just say something along the lines that when a driver is concerned about what the inclinometer is showing, the Jeep is probably already too far over. Or, the driver should be watching the trail and not the inclinometer. But since your wife asked, Rocky, here goes: First, you didnt tell me what model Jeep you have and what mods have been done, so Ill explain what happens. Center of gravityor CGis determined by a formula that includes Jeep weight, height and width (outside of tire to outside of tire), and speed if you happen to be going around a corner. When you add a lift kit to the Jeep and raise it, the CG raises too. But when you put on wider tires on wider rims, the CG goes back down. If you look at the photo of the Cherokee, youll see that a Jeep can lean way past the angle youd think would be critical and still not roll over. In other words, youll never know ahead of time when youll roll until you roll. You could be leaning far over and be fine until you roll forward off a relatively small rock and lay it over. Please tell your wife that shell have a lot more fun watching the flora and fauna instead of the inclinometer.





Lockers

I recently read the article on when to use high and low range while four wheeling. It was very interesting and informative, but it started me thinking about lockers. Ive had a 2008 Rubicon for about a year, and Ive used the lockers a few times. How come I cant use the lockers in high range? I dont like the way the steering acts when the front locker is in so I dont normally use it except in really soft stuff. Ive noticed the tires chirping when Im driving over solid rock when the rear locker is engaged. Why is that? And why does the steering feel funny when the front locker is engaged?Lionel Night-train RobbinetSan Diego, CA

It seems like this month is my month for explanations so here goes with the first question. Lionel, the reason you cant use your Rubicons lockers in high range is a safety thing with Jeep. It could also be a warranty issue because aftermarket lockers such as Detroit and ARB have no such restrictions. Secondly, Lionel, your steering feels wonky when under power while the locker is engaged because the locker is trying to straighten the front wheels out. You see, with a locker, when a vehicle is under power and moving forward, both axles are locked in position and turn at the same speed. This means each driven wheel is getting approximately the same amount of traction, regardless whether its a front or rear axle. This is also the reason the rear tires will chirp when on solid rockthe outside tire is trying to cover a greater distance than the inside tire, therefore, the inside tire skids or chirps to make up the distance. The red Jeep is climbing the gatekeeper on a local Kingman, Arizona, trail. Without lockers, its effectively in two-wheel driveone wheel on each axleand would be unable to climb the obstacle. With all four tires pulling evenly, the Jeep can overcome the obstacle.

Air Compressors

Just bought a 2016 Rubicon Unlimited and Ive taken it out a few times. Ive been told that letting air out of the tires while on the trail helps the Jeeps traction. Why is that? How low should I go? What do I do when I get back to the pavement? I dont want to drive on the highway with low tiresand the Jeeps computer doesnt like it either.

Katherine Herridge

Sacramento, CA

Welcome to the chaos, Katherine. Youve just joined a fantastic sport, so congratulations on that and on your choice of vehicles. Youre starting out right! First of all, lower tire pressures do a number of things on the trail. Lower pressure provides a softer suspension, which means an easier ride. Lower air pressure spreads the tire tread outwardthats fore and aft and to both sideswhich gives the tire a much bigger footprint and also equals much better traction. However, lower air pressures also create more heat, and heat causes the tires compound to break down more quickly. This is why you want to pump up your tires before traveling any longer distances on the highway, Katherine. Although, I will suggest your first modification should be taller tires, especially if you smartly opted for the 4.10:1 gear ratio rather than the mall crawler 3.73:1 ratio. Your OEM LT255x75x17 tires are 30 inches in diameter, which doesnt give your differential cases a lot of ground clearance. Earlier model Rubicons were delivered with 32-inch tiresor LT285 tireswhich, in my opinion, should be considered as your minimum height when you upgrade your tires. As far as pumping air into your tires, Ive owned many, many air compressors over five decades of four wheeling and two of the best come from SuperFlow, the MV90 and M240. The M240, which is built into its own toolbox, is ideal for you and will be until you exceed 35-inch tires on your Jeep. We actually tested both air compressors. The M240 pumped a 35x12.50x17 Yokohama Geolandar M/T from 10 psi to 35 psi in an average time of 4 minutes/53 seconds, with a 5- to 10-minute cool-down between each of the three tests. For your friends, Katherine, with even bigger tires than 35 inches, we also tested the MV90. SuperFlow claims that the MV90 can pump up a 40-inch off-road tire in about five minutes. Well, we didnt have a 40-incher but we did have a set of 37x12.50x17 tires, so we tested the MV90 on the left front tire. Theoretically, it may take longer to pump up a tire thats supporting a Jeep truck and a Chevy 350 V8 than it would a tire thats not supporting any weight other than its own. Although the times varied slightly, the average was 5 minutes, 38.5 seconds. Thats a pretty good time.



Sensor Sensing

I own a 93 Jeep XJ Sport 4.0 4x4 and I am having some issues with it. When I crank it up (cold or hot) it does not want to run well above 2,200 rpm. I have replaced the CPS, fuel pump, fuel filter, and most of the sensors (minus the TPS, knock and MAP). I replaced the sensor in the distributor and installed new plugs, wires, cap and button, and the fuel pressure regulator. The O2 sensor was replaced 4-5 years ago. I put a timing light on it. It will not idle at 0 degrees; it goes 2-4 degrees toward bottom of the engine. I have a hole in my exhaust manifold. My wife is upset because I keep putting money into it and not getting any results. I cant get rid of it; its too close to me. And its not throwing any codes.

Larry Sutton

Long Beach, CA

Make sure it is not running rich and that the exhaust is not restricted. Make sure the air intake is not restricted--dirty filter, crimped intake tube, etc. Is the check engine light on and does the light work? I think you also need to replace the O2 sensor. When I still lived in California, I had to replace the O2 sensor every other year before my Scrambler would pass the bi-annual smog test, so youll probably have to replace it as well.



Engine Codes

Ive got a P1195 check engine code. I think my O2 sensor needs some attention. Do I need to replace it? If so how do I do this?

Jim Peoples

Houston, TX

A typical O2 sensor will last 100,000 miles, however, as I said earlier, when I still lived in California I had to replace the O2 sensor every other year before my Scrambler would pass the bi-annual smog test. Youll find the instructions for replacing the O2 sensor in a Haynes or Chilton shop manual for your model Jeep (available in any auto parts store).



Zipper Maintenance

I have been thinking for a while now that some kind of zipper lubricant would help because getting in the back of my CJ7 is getting to be a pain. What works best and how do I apply it? Can I get the lubricant on the cloth that the teeth are attached to or if not? How would I put it on the teeth? I found someone selling Zipperease for Jeep zipper repair on EBay. I researched Zipperease and discovered that it is a wax-based stick that is sold primarily to divers for use on wet/dry suit zippers. I went to my local dive store, bought some for a couple dollars and applied it to the zipper on my door and it works great. Plus the zipper is quiet now as a result of the compound. According to the label, the compound is stain free.

Guy Seemly

Jackson, MS

There may be a better lubricant, but I prefer spray silicone. It goes on dry, doesnt attract dirt and dust, and lubes very well. However, you may have to apply it every month or so. If you go to Bestops website, you can find their zipper lube. I have a feeling your door window zipper is going to be covered with dirt after your next trail ride. The wax may work wonders in a wet, dust-free environment, but on the trail I think its going attract dust like a magnet does iron filings. Silicone spray is available at any auto parts store.



Axle Adjustments

I was just wondering what is involved with flipping your axles under your springs? Do you have to change steering geometry or driveshaft angles? Also, what is the best way to free up a sticking lifter? Is there an additive that works best?

Charley Wittmore

Vancouver, BC, Canada

What you are talking about is called SOA or spring-over-axle conversion. You may have to do both, change your steering geometry and driveshaft angles. However, you may not have to change driveshafts. The best way to free a sticking lifter is to change it, although there are some good additives designed to free up hydraulic lifterscheck at your local Napa or OReilly auto parts store. The next best way is to change your oil to ATF. Do not drive it with ATF in the crankcase, just allow the engine to idle, reach its full warm-up temperature, and then do some easy revs. Change the oil back to engine oil (preferably synthetic) and change the filter, too. Add a can of Marvel Mystery Oil and you should be OK. Dont overfill the crankcase, though.



Skunk Works

Our Jeep had a skunk-like smell; it was really noticeable when the heater was on. Is this something we should be concerned about? What could it be? The smell was inside and outside, plus it came out of the heater. It seems to have only happened the one time and now we are thinking maybe there was skunk in the area.

Ray Phillips

Bainbridge Island, WN

If it happened while you were driving, you probably either hit a skunk or just missed it. Be thankful it didnt spray your exhaust or youd have to change the exhaust or get rid of the Jeep!

In your Jeep Creep questions, please list your first and last names, your hometown, and your state/province/country, so that we can publish that information here. If you dont provide this information, we may not be able to publish your question and answer. Dont forget to be as complete as possible with the description of your Jeep and its problems, too. For some reason the questions have fallen off, and I know we havent answered all your Jeep technical questions. There are no dumb questions; only unasked questions. Send them in and try to stump us.Jim Brightly

As usual, each month, Im shouting out a huge THANK YOU to Paul Schupp at Rock Lizard 4x4 in Kingman, Arizona, for his invaluable assistance in answering many of the Jeep Creep questions.

Previous Jeep Creep Columns

Jeep Q&A: Jeep Recall Update, Manual Hubs, JK Wrangler Lift Kits

Jeep Q&A: CB Antenna Fix, Hi-Lift Jack Mounting, Scrambler Pickup

Jeep Creep: Wrangler, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee Questions Answered
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Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has sent a petition to Panama asking to extradite former head of the State Agency for Investment and National Projects Management of Ukraine Vladyslav Kaskiv for criminal prosecution, PGO spokesperson Larysa Sargan wrote on her Facebook page on August 20.

"On the first day after Kaskiv was detained we urgently informed the authorized agencies of Panama that we have a criminal case against Kaskiv. We will ask to extradite him in the near term. I can inform you now that yesterday our petition to extradite Kaskiv had been handed to the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine and now diplomatic executives to send the documents to Panama," Sargan said, citing Deputy Prosecutor General Yevhen Yenin.

According to the report, at present PGO does not have reliable information what pre-trial restriction was imposed on Kaskiv by Panama.

"We asked to arrest him. I hope that in coming days we will know the decision on this petition," Yenin said. He added that PGO cannot say about the terms of Kaskiv's extradition, as Ukraine first initiates this procedure with Panama.

On August 18, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko said that Kaskiv was detained in Panama.

Kaskiv headed the State Agency for Investment and the National Projects Management of Ukraine in 2010-2014.
Ukrainian army positions came under 54 militant attacks on Monday, August 22, mostly in the Donetsk sector, the press center of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) staff said on Tuesday morning.

"A total of 54 shelling incidents were acknowledged over the past day, including 22 in the Donetsk sector, 20 in the Mariupol area, and 12 in Luhansk region," the staff said in a report posted on Facebook.

In the Donetsk sector, militants fired heavy artillery on Novobakhmutivka. It used 120mm mortars near Verkhniotoretske. The hostiles fired mortars, grenade launchers and large-caliber machineguns in Avdiyivka and Novoselivka Druha, various types of grenade launchers were used in Pisky, Troitske and Kamianets, and an infantry combat vehicle and large-caliber machineguns were engaged in attacks in Luhanske. A sniper was active in the Avdiyivka area.

In the Mariupol sector, militants fired 120mm mortars on Ukrainian army positions in Maryinka and Krasnohorivka, while forces stationed in Shyrokyne repeatedly came under fire of 82mm mortars and grenade launchers; militants used grenade launchers and machineguns in Hnutove, Vodiane and Novotroitske, and small arms were fired in Hranitne. Sniper activity was observed in Shyrokyne, Hnutove and near Maryinka.

In the Luhansk sector, militants breached the truce on Monday evening after a relative lull, using grenade launchers and small arms in Lopaskyne. It used 120mm mortars and grenade launchers in addition to sniper rifles in Krymske. Militants fired six shots from a 152mm artillery gun on Ukrainian army positions near Trypillia. Automatic mounted grenade launchers and large-caliber machineguns were used near Zolote. The hostiles fired mortars, grenade launchers and large-caliber machineguns on Ukrainian army positions in Stanytsia Luhanska, in addition to using an infantry combat vehicle and a sniper rifle.
A former Omahan who led American troops in Iraq recalls a pointed discussion with a local tribal leader.

We got into an argument, said retired Army Col. Anthony E. Deane, and he said, Why cant you Americans protect us? 

The problem, said Deane, 53, author of Ramadi Declassified: A Roadmap to Peace in the Most Dangerous City in Iraq (Cleveland Writers Press, $28.99), is that it was often difficult to know who the enemy was.

I said to him, You come back to small-town Nebraska with me. Come to La Vista, Nebraska. I can tell who is a good guy there and who is a bad guy. 

That Omaha suburban town, where Deane once lived, fortunately has never seen anything like what he faced when he arrived in Ramadi in 2006 as commander of the 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, Task Force Conqueror. Sniper fire, improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings could come from anywhere.

Deane will be in Omaha for two book signings next week  from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Zurlos restaurant, southeast of 132nd Street and West Maple Road; and at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Bookworm, north of 90th Street and West Center Road.

His book, he said, tells the story of his soldiers heroism and what he calls his units biggest accomplishment: gaining the trust of local sheikhs and others to support a democratic government and help root out al-Qaida operatives.

Capturing al-Qaida, he said, was more important to accomplishing the mission of making the city safe than simply racking up enemy casualties.

It became clear to me that killing the enemy was not going to accomplish our mission, he writes in the book. Killing terrorists was necessary and I must admit extremely gratifying, but it was not always particularly helpful. Frankly, capturing them led to more intelligence, which led to the capture of more of the enemy, whereas killing terrorists was the end of the line.

The son of a late World War II Navy veteran, Tony graduated in 1981 from Papillion-La Vista High School, where he played bass drum in the marching band and ran the 400-meter dash on the track team.

He graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a business major and spent 28 years in the Army, including Desert Storm and Desert Shield. The father of two daughters, Deane lives with his wife, Debora, in Melbourne, Florida, where he serves as a leadership consultant.

In trips to Omaha, he visits his 92-year-old mother, Katherine, as well as his three sisters.

Deane writes and speaks colorfully. In an interview, noting that some people say that the Islamic State and al-Qaida hate each other, he dismissed it as meaningless with a reference to the Godfather saga about the mob: Thats like saying Moe Greene and the Corleones hate each other. Theyre in the same business. Its the same threat.

Deane fought in Iraq a decade ago, but he says that Ramadi at that time went from being the most dangerous city in Iraq to the safest.

Americas decision to go into Iraq in the first place can be debated, as can the decision for the U.S. to pull out, which Deane disagrees with.

A lot has happened since he retired in 2011, notably the rise of the Islamic State, which Iraqi forces largely drove out of Ramadi earlier this year with the help of U.S. airstrikes.

But terrorism continues in the Middle East and around the world.

ISIS can be defeated, Deane said over a recent breakfast in Omaha, but we need to go after them wherever they are around the globe. Its going to take a long time.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1132, michael.kelly@owh.com
Jimmie Miller Johnsons Growing Up Is Not an Option, a book of poems and short stories, draws on many of her life experiences, including her childhood and years spent teaching overseas.

Johnson, of Omaha, grew up here and taught for Omaha Public Schools a couple of years. She moved to Sacramento, California, where she continued to be an educator for 25 years. Then she, husband Eugene and daughter Adenika decided to see the world.

Jimmie Johnson took a competitive exam from the Department of Defense Education Activity to qualify to teach out of the country. She eventually was offered a teaching job in Okinawa, Japan, where she taught for six years. She later worked in Ramstein, Germany, as a teacher and a language arts reading specialist for another six years.

By living overseas they had an opportunity to visit many different countries and experience diverse cultures and meet people of different ethnicities.

But even with all of her rich experiences, Johnson will never forget her roots. They mean too much to her. Johnson was just 3 years old and the youngest of seven children when her father died. And her late mom, Annie Mae Ross, had a profound effect on her.

My mom was an only child, and both sets of my grandparents had died before my dad, Johnson said. But my mom rolled up her sleeves and did what she had to do to rear her children in the church with strong family values.

She remembered how her mother kept the spirit of their father alive by sharing stories of their hopes and dreams for the future of their children. She wanted them to cherish their love and struggles as a couple and how much their children meant to them.

Her mom believed in God, family, hard work, helping others and education. And although she loved to cook, make quilts, and crochet, she never missed an opportunity to tell a good story, often weaving stories while she did her favorite things.

Johnson said some of the stories were humorous, some sad, some thought-provoking, but most were inspirational. She loved her mothers stories and she learned at an early age that stories had the power to connect and teach something valuable, even if you were not aware of it at the time.

My mother had many hurdles in life, but she was not a complainer. I can remember the laughter we shared as a family with mom in the middle telling her stories, Johnson said.

Johnson carried her love for a good story into the classroom. When I became an educator, I wanted the students to tell me about themselves through the art of writing. I believe that all students are capable of writing, not just the talented few, so I asked all my students to write not about what I knew but about what they knew. Some of the results were phenomenal!

As she went through life she had to draw on some of the inspirational stories that her mother had told. Johnson is an 11-year cancer survivor, and even with the strong support of her family there were days she would quell her anxieties by thinking about those childhood stories.

She knows that the stories propelled her into writing, something shes been doing for a long time. She had always promised herself she would write a book, and finally reached her goal.

The cover of the book, which is available on Amazon.com, says, Jimmie draws from culture, upbringing, and relatable life experiences to eloquently describe the inevitability of growing up and all that comes with it. ... . It is through colorful chronicles that Growing Up Is Not an Option entertains, raises questions and affirms that aging is one of lifes uncontrollable certainties.
Bakers is joining Hy-Vee and Walmart in offering online grocery ordering in Omaha, starting today at a Bellevue location and expanding in the next two weeks to two west Omaha stores.

Shoppers can use the service, called ClickList, to place their grocery order online, then pick it up in a designated pick-up lane outside the store.

Bakers parent company, Kroger, launched the service last summer in its hometown of Cincinnati, and it was available in 25 markets by June, the company said that month when it released first-quarter financial results.

Kroger, which reported its 50th consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth, has not said how much revenue ClickList generates. Kroger Chief Executive Rodney McMullen said in June that the service was not yet profitable, calling it a headwind. Stores that add the service have extra costs associated with employees filling the orders.

The same is true for West Des Moines supermarket operator Hy-Vees Aisles Online e-commerce service, Chief Executive Randy Edeker told The World-Herald in a May interview. He said the service would have to reach a critical mass before it turns a profit.

Despite the costs, supermarkets are launching e-commerce options to give their shoppers another choice as stores face growing competition from online services such as Amazon Fresh and from nontraditional grocery formats like specialty stores, warehouses and discounters.

The services arent yet mainstream. About one in 10 global consumers responding to a 2015 Nielsen survey said they already order groceries online for pickup at a store, but more than half said they would be willing to use such a service in the future. Millennial shoppers made up the biggest share of those shopping online.

Similarly, a Harris Poll that surveyed 1,995 adults in June found that just 10 percent of all Americans say online shopping has replaced some or all of their routine grocery shopping trips and that online food shopping is most common among millennials, college graduates, parents and urban shoppers.

Bakers e-commerce manager Tony Salinas said feedback has been overwhelmingly positive where the chain has launched ClickList. Senior citizens, parents with young children and busy professionals all appreciate this new convenience, he said.

Bakers will roll out the service Aug. 25 at its Pepperwood store, 505 N. 155th Plaza, and Sept. 1 at its Lakeside store, 17370 Lakeside Hills Plaza. The Bellevue store is at 3614 Twin Creek Drive. Several additional stores in Nebraska will offer ClickList later in the year, the company said.

Shoppers can schedule pickups seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. and must place orders before midnight the previous day. The $4.95 service charge will be waived for a customers first three orders.
Hayneedle got a big lift when Jet.com scooped up the local home furnishings e-retailer earlier this year. Now, Walmarts purchase of Jet.com is set to give Hayneedle another boost, the Omaha companys chief executive said.

Hayneedle Chief Executive Jon Barker told The World-Herald the company is on track to surpass $500 million in sales in 2016, up about 40 percent from more than $350 million in 2015.

We were able to partner with Jet and really put the resources toward the Hayneedle platform that weve built for so long, Barker said. That has taken off at a rate that has probably been the highest in the history of the company.

With the added Jet marketing muscle, more people are visiting the Hayneedle site to find products as varied as hammocks and high-end patio furniture. But more important, more of those people are actually making purchases, he said.

To handle the growth, 14-year-old Hayneedle has been on a hiring spree  and its not stopping with the Walmart deal, Barker said. Hayneedle today has almost 600 local employees compared with 400 when the Jet deal closed in late February.

We have 300 more people to hire through the remainder of this year alone, more than 200 of which are in Omaha, he said. That would bring its local headcount to 800 or more.

As a Jet subsidiary, Hayneedle maintains its separate identity and its corporate headquarters here, along with a photo studio and a call center.

New Jersey-based Jet, which formally launched in July 2015, spent the second half of last year building up its customer roll while raising hundreds of millions of dollars from private-equity investors. Of that, $90 million went to Omaha to complete the Hayneedle purchase, and a far larger portion was earmarked for raising the companies profiles among would-be shoppers of competitor Amazon.com, Jet co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Marc Lore, has said.

But where Amazon has matured since its founding in the mid-1990s, Jet still has some growing up to do: The company at its launch last summer was banking on a $49.99 annual membership fee, but it scrapped the model, promising instead to beat competitors on pricing. (Hayneedle is operated separately and never had an annual fee.)

To that end, Jet uses a pricing algorithm that determines the lowest-cost combination of goods and sellers based on location of products and other factors.

Apparently the approach is attractive, and the $3.3 billion deal in which big-box giant Walmart bought Jet earlier this month should keep moving the needle in Omaha.

That makes the big question whether the Jet deal will move the e-commerce needle for Walmart, the largest retailer in the world.

Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove told The World-Herald earlier this month that the retailers network of brick-and-mortar stores gives it more than 4,000 potential distribution points for web retailing, not to mention its own dedicated e-commerce distribution facilities and the industry expertise that accompanies the Jet team.

Company executives on Aug. 16 presented a better-than-expected outlook for the rest of the year with second-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates. Thats despite the forecast of a small hit to earnings per share tied to the Jet deal.

But some analysts are not yet sold.

E-commerce sales at Walmart jumped 12 percent in the second quarter versus the same period a year ago, according to the companys most recent financial filings. Thats decent, but it lagged behind such growth at Target, which reported e-commerce growth of 16 percent from the same period last year.

And even though the Arkansas-based retailer boasts almost $485 billion in annual revenue, online sales there make up about $14 billion of that total, according to Morningstar analyst Erin Lash.

Amazon, meanwhile, has roughly $100 billion in annual sales.

Lash in a note to clients last week said the Jet deal is expected to boost Walmarts share of online sales. It has the name recognition and heft to better narrow the gap, and shipping costs for e-commerce firms are much higher than those for brick-and-mortar firms, she said.

Less clear is just how long that will take.

Lash also said the push to compete with Amazon and other e-commerce heavyweights could come at the slight expense of sales in Walmarts own stores, which require overhead regardless of where sales are made: The supercenter  or any other store  and its labor and other overhead, including rent or mortgage, is the unnecessary middleman in the Amazon business model, she said.

While the Jet-Walmart integration plays out, Hayneedles Barker said the Omaha business will keep humming along.

Local product development teams continue to design and develop new product collections to make sure offerings stay fresh and fit in with shoppers changing tastes, for example, and that mid- to high-end furniture beckons a more affluent customer than the average Walmart shopper.

And where electronics and appliances are increasingly bought and sold via online channels, Barker said its a far smaller share of home goods like Hayneedles own Belham Living and Coral Coast lines of furnishings that are bought and sold only online.

Only 7 percent of home furnishings sales happen online in the U.S., Barker said.

Were in the early stages for home furnishings online, and were in a position to capitalize on that.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1534, cole.epley@owh.com
More financial services companies are betting on higher demand for robo financial advice services, which allow clients to use a computer rather than living advisers to help them make decisions on investing their money. But a recent study found that most baby boomers still prefer the human touch.

A survey by GfK  headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany, but with operations in more than 100 countries, including the U.S.  found less than 5 percent of people 50 or older said they would embrace an all-digital service approach from their investment companies. The level of trust in robo advisers was highest among the 25-34 age group and lowest among those age 65 and above.

To address the concerns that some have with computer-based investing, several companies have launched hybrid versions of robo investing that bridge the gap between a human connection and a tech platform.

We are robo for boomers, said Scott Puritz, managing director for Rebalance IRA in Bethesda, Maryland. Rebalance IRA has always combined the efficiency of robo investing with the human dimension of a traditional advisory company. For boomers in their 40s and 60s, the pure computer experience is not satisfactory.

Our typical client is in their 40s and 60s and they want a live human, a seasoned experienced financial adviser to guide them through the complexity of their retirement choices and needs, he said. Typically they have more assets  a home, mortgage and often more than one retirement account. They are married with kids and they need more guidance.

Rebalance IRA was among the first companies to offer robo investing for retirement accounts when it started four years ago. Today, the company manages about $400 million in client funds.

Other large companies that offer robo investing along with human advisers include Vanguard, Schwab, BlackRock and Ellevest, the first to offer the robo service just for women.

The rise of robo advice platforms over the past year has been significant, according to financial services industry trade publication InvestmentNews.

Assets in the robo channel have increased 61 percent to $150 billion during the 12-month period ending March 31, according to researchers at the New York-based publication. Based on their study, they expect the rate of growth for robo advising to maintain, if not accelerate, in the near term as assets continue to flow to this model, particularly as more large industry players get involved in this market.

Robo advisers automatically invest client money in diversified strategies, using boundaries set based on an individuals goals and risk tolerance. Mutual funds and exchange traded funds are chosen based on what the algorithms and calculators decide is the best risk-reward for that clients profile.

Its seen as a way to help people who havent quite made it to wealthy but still have money to invest and want help doing it. One of the driving forces behind the rise of robo investing is the lower fees charged for the service and lower account minimums compared with traditional advisers. Some robo investing services have minimums as low as $5,000.

Clients with less than $500,000 to invest are not all that profitable for traditional financial advisers. Often the threshold for brick-and-mortar companies runs from $500,000 to $1 million or $5 million to provide one-on-one financial advice.

A typical wealth manager charges 1 percent and has a minimum account requirement of $1 million, which yields them $10,000 a year in fees, Puritz said. By contrast, Rebalance IRA has an account minimum of $100,000 and charges 0.5 percent annually for a minimum fee of $500.

We deal with middle-age and middle- to upper-middle-class Americans, he said. Our floor is $500 a year, not $10,000.
RED WING, Minn.  Red Wing Shoe Co. executives figured it probably wasnt young boys who were suddenly snapping up the iconic Minnesota companys $300-plus boots.

The more likely explanation for the surge in sales of mens shoes in sizes 3 and 4? Women.

There have been other tipoffs that the boots, for decades a symbol of rugged masculinity, are reaching a new audience. On Instagram, for instance, women have posted hundreds of pictures posing in the boots, often paired with rolled-up jeans or dresses, tagged under the hashtag redwingwomen.

Now, after seeing that women account for as much as 10 percent of its Mens Heritage collection sales, Red Wing is giving women more of what they want.

The company, which has been making shoes along the banks of the Mississippi River since 1905, is launching a new line for women. The Womens Heritage boots will start showing up early next month in select Red Wing stores, on its website and at independent boutiques around the United States.

Some of the styles are nearly identical to the mens line, whereas others hark back to boots the company made for women nearly a century ago. Others are more modern styles with modest heels that give them a more feminine spin.

The rollout is a reflection of a gender-bending fashion moment as well as of how Red Wing has transformed in recent years. The shoes, once used just in various work trades, have become a staple in the closets of hip, urban professionals who wear them to the office and on weekends.

A newer generation of fashion-focused consumers has adopted the brand not only because of its classic  and somewhat nostalgic  design, but also because the shoes are handcrafted in the United States.

Emily Otto, a 38-year-old Minnesotan, is among those waiting with anticipation for the new Red Wing womens line. She owns two pairs of the mens boots, inspired after trying on some from her husbands extensive collection of 16 Red Wings. She often gets compliments when she wears them.

It was like a tractor beam for men. They would be, like, The 877s?  she said, referring to one of Red Wings more popular styles. My husband would beam with pride.

But while she adores the rustic look, she admits wearing the mens boots has its challenges.

I love them  but I dont wear them as frequently, she said. Theyre really heavy. And you have to be super dedicated to break them in. Theyre getting much better now, but Ive worked really hard at it.

That, in fact, is one of the biggest complaints Red Wing has heard from women. It still takes men a few weeks to a few months to break in the boots, but they tend to have an easier time at it because of their weight and because they are more likely to wear the same shoes every day.

We deconstructed and reconstructed the shoe for women from the guts up, said Allison Gettings, Red Wings director of product creation who spearheaded the new line.

To make the shoes lighter and more comfortable for women, Red Wing used hides from female cows, which have softer skin than steers, and made other adjustments to the leathers by working closely with its tannery on the other side of town, S.B. Foot Tanning.

Instead of the heavy rubber sole used in the mens boots, the company used a lighter polyurethane material that is more flexible and durable. They made other adjustments to the insole and cushioning. But at the same, they use the same Goodyear welting and lasts, or molds, that the company has used throughout its history to keep an aura of authenticity.

The company has factories in Red Wing and Missouri, but the womens collection is being manufactured at one of its partner factories in Arkansas that has more expertise in making womens shoes.

Red Wing boots arent the first to transcend gender. Timberland started off mostly as a style for men, but it branched out after women took a liking, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with the NPD Group. Sperry Top-Sider and L.L. Beans shoes have had similar story lines.

One reason for the blurring of the lines is that fashionistas find ways to fill a void when the footwear industry isnt coming up with a lot of newness, he said.

The absence of innovation in the marketplace causes crossover to happen, Cohen said.

Part of the magic of Red Wings recent rise in fashion circles, he added, is the element of discovery in reclaiming an older brand.

Every generation picks something to define who they are, he said. Its a huge opportunity for (Red Wing) to take advantage of.

The challenge is to keep the momentum going. Work boots for construction, the oil industry and other trades continue to be Red Wings bread and butter, accounting for about 85 percent of its three-quarters of a billion dollars in annual sales.

But the fastest-growing part of its business in recent years has been its Mens Heritage collection, which now accounts for about 9 percent of its business. The line plucks out old styles from Red Wings archives that the company produced dating to the 1920s.

This is the line that has been embraced by the newer generation. Its a trend that actually got going in Japan in the 1970s when people started wearing the companys work boots as a fashion statement. In the 1990s Red Wing started making special shoes just for that country.

It was those shoes that designers from J. Crew spotted on a trip to Tokyo, inspiring a partnership between the retailer and Red Wing in 2007 that continues today. That laid the groundwork for Red Wing to launch its Heritage collection in 2008. It is now sold in places like Nordstrom and Brooks Brothers as well as smaller boutiques.

Starting a womens Heritage line had been on Red Wings wish list for a while. But the company didnt have anyone to champion it. That person ended up being Gettings, part of the fourth generation of the Sweasy family that has owned and run Red Wing Shoes for most of its history. She had worked at the company for several years after college, then went off to launch her own line of womens shoes.

The opportunity to launch a womens Heritage collection brought her back home to Red Wing. She worked closely with Gaal Levine, a shoe designer Red Wing hired from Sperry Top-Sider, to develop the line.

As a brand, we dont have a lot of experience with a womens-only line of footwear, Gettings said. So its certainly something where were all holding our breath. But were pretty optimistic.

Red Wing will reach out to influencers on social media to help spread the word.

The brand recently started a Red Wing Womens Heritage account on Instagram. It hasnt promoted it yet and has only posted a handful of pictures.

But its fans have found it. It already has more than 1,900 followers.
Actions of Russian high-ranking officials who were notified by Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) on suspicion of committing crimes against the national security of Ukraine have resulted in the deaths of at least 2,263 Ukrainian military servicemen and caused losses of over UAH 1 .3 trillion, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said.

"Acts of crime committed by the accomplices started on February 2014 have caused death of at least 2,263 military servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other military units and wounded of at least 8,393 military servicemen. They also caused losses in the form of destruction of military equipment, weapons and other military assets worth over UAH 1.3 trillion," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
CHICAGO  Its back-to-college season, which means retailers are battling to equip as many of Americas freshmen with laptops, futons and minifridges as they can. In the flood of deals and discounts, some have their eyes on a bigger prize: figuring out how a new generation of customers shops and hooking a group of potential lifelong repeat customers.

The average family with college-age kids planned to spend $888.71 getting ready to go back to campus, about half of which was to go for electronics, apparel and dorm furnishings, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

Especially when its freshmen going off to college for the first time, or a sophomore or junior establishing their first apartment, its a big chunk of change, Retail Systems Research analyst Nikki Baird said.

And while those sales are compelling in their own right, companies with more unique or engaging pitches to college students are likely to have an advantage.

Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy all let students set up wish lists similar to wedding registries, and Target customers created 136,000 of them last year. Best Buy offers deals that are strictly for students year-round, including a discounted round-the-clock Geek Squad tech support subscription.

At Bed Bath & Beyond, students can make an appointment to shop with a college expert or check for a school-specific packing list.

Target promotes its subscriptions, which send customers refills of household staples, to students and parents who at least want to make sure their child regularly restocks on cleaning supplies, even if theres no guarantee theyll be used.

This year, Target hired three college stylists to create YouTube videos advising students on dorm design. It also introduced a chatbot on the messaging app Kik that can suggest college-oriented products and field questions.

Its our first experiment with the platform. Its a way for us to try and learn, and with what better guests than digitally native college students who are already using these platforms? Target spokesman Lee Henderson said.

Few if any retailers have cracked the code of how best to engage with the next generation of shoppers online, and back-to-college is an easy time to reach a lot of young customers at once to test new ideas, Baird said.

Its a chance to check to see if you engage with consumers at that level; does it work better than throwing promotions at them? she said.

Target has opened or is planning to open several of its new small-format stores near college campuses. The chain hosts after-hours shopping parties at stores near 86 campuses around the start of the school year, Henderson said. Target buses the students to stores with DJs, free samples and coupons.

Mary Oakes, director of residence life at Columbia College Chicago, said Target is the only company that has asked to host such an event with the college. The event is popular because the campus doesnt have a big enough spot for a schoolwide welcome-week party, Oakes said.

Even though students generally dont have as much disposable income as older groups, their potential value as lifelong customers makes a small early discount worthwhile, said Alexander Chernev, professor of marketing at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management.
With a unanimous vote, the Bellevue City Council fired controversial City Administrator Dan Berlowitz on Monday night.

Berlowitzs removal came at the recommendation of Mayor Rita Sanders, who hired him in 2011 and had cast the deciding vote in 2015 to keep him when the council deadlocked over renewing his contract.

As part of his dismissal, Berlowitz is to receive health insurance benefits and 10 months pay  about $120,000  in exchange for a release of claims against the city. His contract allows for that if hes removed for reasons other than just cause. Sanders said the decision to remove Berlowitz for reasons other than just cause came at a cost, but she said it will allow the city to move forward. Firing for just cause could have cost the city more in the long run, the mayor said, given the possibility of litigation.

He has been on paid administrative leave since a June 21 incident at Bellevue Family Practice Dentistry, where Berlowitzs wife had worked before being let go.

Law enforcement officials have said Berlowitz went to the dentists office and was agitated, loud and combative toward Dr. Allan Smith.

Officials said Berlowitz did not leave the premises when asked several times. Smith has said Berlowitz pushed and poked him.

Berlowitz has been charged in Sarpy County Court with third-degree assault, second-degree trespassing and disturbing the peace. All are misdemeanors. He has pleaded not guilty.

He also filed a police report saying Smith assaulted him. Smith has denied any wrongdoing, and no charges have been filed against him.

Smith and Berlowitzs wife, Rhonda, were at Mondays meeting but didnt speak.

Before the vote, Sanders read a statement saying this has been a trying time for the City of Bellevue, its citizens and the council. The incident was met with reactions of shock, disappointment and embarrassment.

Mr. Berlowitz, I have had your back. You worked hard for the city, and you were paid accordingly, she said. But on June 21, 2016, you caused a situation all on your own.

Jim Moudry, the only council member to speak before the vote, said he looked to God for guidance with a difficult decision.

Berlowitz had a sometimes difficult time with the council before the incident at the dentists office.

In March 2015, the council deadlocked 3-3 on whether to reappoint Berlowitz. Sanders broke the tie, voting to keep him.

Moudry, Steve Carmichael and Paul Cook all voted against Berlowitzs reappointment. They said at the time that they were unhappy with his job performance. All three are still on the City Council.

Berlowitz came to Bellevue, the states third-largest city, after working as city administrator in Seward from 1990 to 2011. Berlowitz was not reappointed in Seward when a new mayor was elected. He later sued the City of Seward and three council members and received a $30,000 settlement.

The search for an interim Bellevue city administrator has begun. Sanders said the city will look externally for a permanent replacement.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1192, emily.nitcher@owh.com
The Omaha school district turned to several temporary fixes this week to curb its busing woes, and met Monday morning with representatives from its busing contractor.

The Omaha Public Schools have been battling busing delays and driver shortages since last week, when the new school year got off to a rocky start.

Parents have reported long waits at bus stops or no-show buses after school, and have often resorted to carpools, city buses or other solutions to get kids to school on time.

The district has asked special education bus drivers to cover some routes and has consolidated some high school and middle school routes. OPS is also contracting with other bus companies, including Chief Transportation Inc., to cover select routes.

Still, in an email Sunday night, the district warned that buses might still run 25 to 30 minutes late this week.

OPS has pinned some of the blame on driver shortages and its busing contractor, Student Transportation of America. The company has asked parents for patience as it tries to find and recruit more drivers to cover unassigned bus routes.

OPS and Student Transportation of America officials met Monday and have developed an action plan to improve bus service, bus company spokeswoman Lynette Viviani said.

Student Transportation of America employees from Florida, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Pennsylvania have flown in to help train drivers in the pipeline to pass their commercial drivers license test, OPS spokeswoman Monique Farmer said.

Starting Wednesday, the pickup times for some morning bus routes could be changed to give drivers more time to get to school. Students could get picked up 10 to 20 minutes earlier. Letters for affected students are expected to arrive home Tuesday.

The district pays Student Transportation of America millions each year for transporting general education students. Earlier this year the school board extended the companys contract through 2019.

The original contract, signed in 2013 by Millard and OPS officials, does include a provision that the company can be fined for late buses, if delays arent caused by traffic problems or student behavior. Penalties for late trips would then be deducted from the districts monthly payments to the company.

The district is examining the current version of the contract to determine its options for compensation.

OPS will look at all of the potential remedies that it has under the contract once the extent of the cost to OPS is ascertained, Farmer said.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1210, erin.duffy@owh.com
At least 19 people from the area joined some 1,500 other American Red Cross volunteers week to provide flood relief in Louisiana, a Red Cross official said Friday.

Team members  18 from Nebraska and one from southwest Iowa  headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to offer various kinds of assistance, said Jill Orton, regional CEO.

Thats where theyre sending everyone right now, she said.

Many will help with the massive effort to assess the damage, while others will help feed and shelter those displaced by the flood, Orton said. Gail Palmer of Malvern, who left Wednesday, will serve as assistant director of government relations, acting as a liaison between government agencies and local organizations.

A week after the floods hit, the American Red Cross continues to provide shelter, food and comfort to thousands of people impacted by the massive disaster and will be there in the weeks and months to come as residents recover, a press release from the organization stated.

The flooding in Louisiana is being called the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since Superstorm Sandy. Early estimates are that the massive Red Cross relief effort could cost $30 million or more.

On Thursday night, as many as 3,900 people were still seeking refuge in 28 Red Cross and community shelters in Louisiana, the press release stated. At the peak of the floods, more than 50 shelters provided safety for more than 10,000 people.

As of Friday morning, the Red Cross has provided more than 32,000 overnight shelter stays since the flooding began and served more than 158,000 meals and snacks, with the help of several organizations. Volunteers are visiting shelters to offer emotional support and help replace things like lost eyeglasses and medications.

Dozens of disaster response vehicles are deployed to Louisiana, as well as numerous trailer-loads of relief supplies to bolster relief efforts. Some of the thousands of supplies arriving include water, personal hygiene items, insect repellent, cleaning kits, bleach and other supplies.

The Red Cross is asking the public to support relief efforts by making a monetary donation. People can donate by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word LAFLOODS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
Looking at a gravesite, most think of the deceased. Many think of family and friends left to grieve.

Few think of the men and women who carved the tombstone.

Pamela Jane Delezene Potter worked for years engraving memorials and monuments for J.F. Bloom & Co. Often it was her hand tracing out the letters and designs that would be etched in stone.

Potter, of Carter Lake, died Aug. 11 after a prolonged illness. She was 69.

She took pride in her work, said her husband, Ron Potter. On more than one afternoon the couple drove around the metro area, photographing Pamela with some of the pieces she helped to create years ago.

Huge slabs welcoming visitors to Carter Lake. A memorial for fallen officers near the Omaha Police Headquarters. A sign for St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.

But the job wasnt always easy for her, said her daughter, Michelle Potter. Once, when Pamela was just starting out, she was working on a tombstone for a child. Noticing the dates  so close together  she started crying.

Pamelas mother, who also worked at the company, encouraged her daughter to keep her mind on the stencils. Otherwise, her mother said, shed be in tears all day.

Sometimes she would demonstrate her work for families visiting the business, said Tim ONeill, sales manager and former owner of J.F. Bloom & Co. She was always so kind to them. Families always appreciated that.

Her mother was a hard worker, Michelle said. She memorized the prices of items at Harolds Supermarket, where she also worked for many years, in the days before bar codes. When the family ran a doughnut shop years ago Ron and Pamela often would wake up about 4 a.m. to start making the doughnuts.

In her free time Pamela was a devoted grandmother who taught her grandchildren how to make flower arrangements and other crafts, Ron said.

A memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at Community in Action Christian Fellowship, 634 Willow Ave. in Council Bluffs. A potluck meal will follow.

Pamela Potter is survived by her husband, Ron Potter; children, Michelle Potter, Bryan Potter, Kenneth Potter and Dawn Griffin; sister, Linda Gallagher; brother, Richard Delezene; 15 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
The Missouri Valley school board president died over the weekend after a tractor he was driving rolled at a farm northeast of Missouri Valley, Iowa.

Daniel Zaiser, 53, died after the rollover, which occurred about 3:15 p.m. Saturday at a farm off Niles Trail, the Harrison County Sheriffs Office said.

Zaiser was taken to CHI Health Missouri Valley and then transferred by medical helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He was pronounced dead a short time later, the Sheriffs Office said.

Missouri Valley and Logan rescue squad personnel treated Zaiser at the scene after freeing him from under the overturned tractor, the Sheriffs Office said.

Zaiser was driving an International 460 tractor with an attached loader down a hill when the tractor rolled and pinned him, officials said.

Zaiser was elected to the Missouri Valley board in September 2006, according to the school districts website.
A 27-year-old southwest Iowa cyclist was critically injured Monday when his bike collided with a pickup truck.

The Iowa State Patrol said Brett Kissel of Sidney was taken by medical helicopter to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha after the crash.

The patrol said Kissel crashed into a 2004 Chevrolet pickup driven by Arlene Smith, 55, of Hamburg, Iowa. The crash occurred around 4:10 p.m. at Fillmore and Walnut Streets on the east edge of Sidney, the patrol said.

Kissel was not wearing a bike helmet, officials said.

Smith was eastbound on Fillmore when Kissel, who was northbound on Walnut, failed to stop for a stop sign, the patrol said. Kissel struck the right, front fender and passenger door of the pickup, the patrol said.

Kissel remained in critical condition Tuesday.
The charred roof of a Bellevue apartment building is still visible from Fort Crook Road.

In July, two separate fires in less than a week caused thousands of dollars in damage and left a building at the Gateway Park Apartments uninhabitable. Both fires were started by the careless disposal of smoking materials, according to the Nebraska State Fire Marshals Office.

Bellevue City Councilman Don Preister hopes to prevent the next blaze with what could be the states first citywide ban on smoking in apartment buildings.

A proposed amendment to the citys fire prevention code would ban smoking in apartment buildings and the use of propane grills. Preister is seeking to ban both in multifamily dwelling units to protect innocent neighbors and first responders, according to the councils Monday night agenda.

The proposed ordinance was read for the first time at Mondays council meeting. A public hearing on it will be held at the City Councils next meeting, on Sept. 12.

Ray Nance, a spokesman for the Nebraska State Fire Marshals Office, said that while the state code doesnt address smoking in multifamily dwellings, cities can choose to be more restrictive. Nance said that he hadnt heard of any other city proposing a similar ban.

After hearing about the fires at Gateway Park Apartments, Preister said he worried about the people living in the apartment building whose lives were disrupted because of the actions of others.

Im at least trying to do something about it in Bellevue, he said.

Currently the citys fire code does not allow charcoal grills on the decks and balconies of apartments, Preister said. If the proposed ordinance is passed, propane grills will also be prohibited on decks and balconies.

Bellevue Fire Chief Perry Guido said he has a neutral position on the issue and will leave it up to the council to decide.

Omaha and Lincoln both have restrictions on grills allowed on apartment balconies. Omaha, where a number of fires have started on apartment balconies, prohibits using an open-flame cooking device atop combustible material or within 10 feet of combustible construction.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed a rule in 2015 to make public housing agencies across the country smoke-free.

Locally, some college campuses and landlords have gone tobacco-free.

The University of Nebraska at Omahas ban on smoking and the use of tobacco went into effect on Monday, nearly 2 years after a discarded cigarette started a dorm fire on campus.

Pavilion at Twin Creek Apartments in Bellevue is one of a number of complexes in the area that have already banned smoking voluntarily. It went completely tobacco-free after a cigarette in a metal bucket on a balcony caught fire in October 2014.

Cindy Dropinski, community manager of Pavilion at Twin Creek, said the fire didnt do a lot of damage, but more damage was done when the sprinklers went off and the firefighters chopped through a few walls to make sure the fire hadnt spread.

The fire prompted the decision to go completely tobacco-free, Dropinski said. To use tobacco, residents must leave the apartment complexs property.

There wasnt a lot of pushback from residents, Dropinski said. And occupancy has stayed above 98 percent.

For us, its good all the way around, Dropinski said.

About 168 multifamily housing properties in Sarpy County are smoke-free or tobacco-free, according to Tobacco Free Sarpy.

A multifamily dwelling is defined in the Bellevue zoning ordinance as a building or buildings designed for three or more families with separate kitchen and toilet facilities for each family.

McKinsey Mulroy, coordinator of Tobacco Free Sarpy and Tobacco Free Cass County, said her agency works with property owners and landlords to create tobacco-free policies. Property owners, she said, are often worried about the fire risk, damage and smells from cigarettes that ruin carpets, and they want to limit secondhand smoke.

Landlords also worry about telling renters they cant smoke in their homes. Mulroy said smokers are not a protected class, and telling renters they cant smoke is the same as telling them they cant have pets.

This is nothing against smokers, Mulroy said. This is against smoking.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1192, emily.nitcher@owh.com
A 2-year-old Omaha boy was fetching wet sand to build a sandcastle on the beach of a Disney World resort when an alligator grabbed him and dragged him into the water, according to final reports released Monday by Florida authorities.

Officials suspect that the alligator mistook Lane Graves  who was 3 feet tall and 30 pounds  as its usual prey, such as an opossum, armadillo or raccoon. The boy died of head and neck trauma and drowning, the Orange County Medical Examiners Office concluded. The victims small size and position (bent down) at the time of the attack would appear to the alligator similar to many of its normal food sources, the report said.

For their report on the June 14 attack, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission interviewed witnesses and Lanes parents, Matt and Melissa Graves, and analyzed alligators that they trapped and killed in an attempt to determine which one had attacked the boy.

Officials said they were unable to determine which of two female alligators had attacked Lane because of a lack of a distinct wound pattern. A total of six alligators were captured, euthanized and examined.

Officials said, however, that they are confident that the evidence gathered shows it is very likely that one of the two females captured close to the attack location was the offending animal.

The Graveses, who live in the Elkhorn area, had left their room at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort and Spa in Orlando about 8:30 p.m. June 14 and headed to the beach to watch a scheduled outdoor showing of the movie Zootopia. The family, including Lanes 4-year-old sister, Ella, had arrived in Orlando two days earlier for a family vacation.

The showing of the movie was canceled because of incoming bad weather, officials said. The family walked to the edge of the water while Lane scooped up wet sand in his plastic bucket.

About 9 p.m., Matt Graves saw a splash in the ankle-deep water, but thought it was a fish. Then he saw an alligator that he estimated to be 5 to 6 feet long grab his sons head and pull the boy into the lagoon.

Graves, who was close enough to grab the alligator, told investigators that he jumped into the water and put his hands in the animals mouth  grabbing its teeth  but the alligator just took off.

Witnesses said they saw Graves punching the alligator and pulling his sons feet, but the alligator whipped (Lane) further out into the water.

Graves suffered puncture wounds on his arms, cuts to his hands and scratches on his feet, the reports said. Graves sought treatment at Florida Hospital Celebration Health at the suggestion of authorities.

A lifeguard at the splash pool told the Orange County Sheriffs Office that he heard screaming and saw Graves, with blood on his face and hand, yelling, Please come help my son, a gator got him.

The lifeguard saw a pair of white-and-black Under Armour shoes about 15 to 25 feet from the shore that appeared to be on the boys feet. He saw the alligator drag the boy away from the shore.

A 16-year-old youth walking on the beach with three younger siblings saw the alligator snatch Lane. The 16-year-old was crying and distraught afterward.

Another man lost consciousness after witnessing what happened, the Sheriffs Office said.

One witness, from Virginia, said he heard screaming and went to help. He heard the lifeguard yelling, Get out of the water! and saw Lanes parents looking for him in the lagoon. He said he watched the Graveses daughter while the parents searched.

Investigators also interviewed people who said they had seen an alligator before the attack. One man who was staying at the resort said he saw an alligator from his hotel balcony about 7:30 p.m., swimming toward the beach from the island southeast of the hotel.

A woman said she was with her two daughters, ages 15 and 9, at the beach at 8:15 p.m., about 45 minutes before the attack. The girls saw an alligator near a marsh about 5 feet from the beach.

The older girl ran to a Disney employee who was wearing a shirt marked Coordinator and told him about the alligator. The family then went to a nearby store. When the family returned, the attack was over.

Officials said the lagoon, which is up to 20 feet deep, is not unsuitable habitat for alligators, but it would not be considered a preferred location due to the deep clear water, lack of cover, insufficient areas to bask, limited sources of sustenance and high levels of human activity.

Lanes body was found intact a day later, 10 to 15 feet from the shore.

The boys scalp, jaw, neck and left hand had puncture wounds, according to a final autopsy report.

The report said No Swimming signs were posted near the beach.

Four days after the attack, Disney installed signs that warned of danger from alligators and snakes and said Stay away from the water; Do not feed the wildlife.

Workers also constructed a wide boulder wall along the beach line.

A separate investigation on incidents of alligator feedings is ongoing, officials said, but preliminary results show no correlation to the attack. The two female alligators that were examined had empty stomachs, officials said, and their drive for food would have been strong.

Before this attack, 17 unprovoked bites had been reported in the county in the 66 years since officials began keeping track, they said.

The Graveses released a statement in July saying they would not pursue a lawsuit against Disney World.

We will forever struggle to comprehend why this happened to our sweet baby, Lane, the parents said in the statement. As each day passes, the pain gets worse, but we truly appreciate the outpouring of sympathy and warm sentiments we have received from around the world.

Lane would have turned 3 in early September.

The family created the Lane Thomas Foundation that will make direct donations to various charitable organizations. To donate, go to lanethomas.org.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1068, alia.conley@owh.com
GRAND ISLAND, Neb.  Marine Pvt. Dale Robert Geddes was welcomed home to Grand Island this week, more than 72 years after his death, as his remains were laid to rest in Grand Island City Cemetery next to his parents.

Geddes died Nov. 20, 1943, during World War II as Americans fought to capture the

Japanese-controlled island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. About 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed, with another 2,000 wounded during the battle, which raged from Nov. 20 to 23, 1943. Geddes died on the first day of the battle.

U.S. soldiers were buried in 43 cemeteries throughout Betio. Those cemeteries were eventually consolidated into a single cemetery. However, Geddes was buried in what eventually became known as the Lost Cemetery, which is why it took so long for his remains to be returned to Grand Island. At one time, the U.S. government informed Geddes family that recovery of his remains was considered improbable, if not impossible.

Still, the family never quite lost hope, as Geddes mother, Minnie, requested that a marker for Dale be placed by the graves of she and her husband, William. On Monday, Geddes was buried next to his parents.

The ceremony was observed not only by members of his family but also by numerous Grand Island residents, many of whom were veterans themselves. Geddes was buried with full military honors by Detachment 1, Maintenance Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 451, U.S. Marine Corps.

Before the graveside service, family and friends gathered for visitation at Apfel Funeral Home while a Marine honor guard stood watch.

His remains were carried to the cemetery by a horse-drawn hearse once owned by his family, who operated Fralick-Geddes Co. Undertakers in Grand Island. A number of people stepped out onto their front lawns to pay respects to the procession from the funeral home to the cemetery.

Linda Elliott of Aurora, Colorado, a grandniece of Geddes, said that when Bill Baasch fixed up the horse-drawn hearse, he knew it needed to be restored to bring Dale home.

One person who was not present to watch the funeral procession was still able to honor Geddes by putting a sign on the lawn that said, Welcome Home, Marine Pvt. Geddes. A number of small American flags also were placed on the lawn, along with a larger American flag flying from a flagpole.

That was so touching. What a nice welcome home for Dale, Elliott said.

As the procession drew nearer to the cemetery, more people lined the route to pay their respects. Many stood with hands over their hearts, and many others stood while holding American flags. The Grand Island Fire Department stationed one of its trucks near Stolley Park Road, with the aerial ladder flying a large American flag over the thoroughfare.

Retired Chaplain Col. Richard L. Piontkowski Jr. led the graveside services, reading a number of prayers and Bible verses.

The first prayer included the lines, Let us give thanks unto God for the land of our birth, for its chartered liberties, for all the wonders of our countrys story."

He also read a requiem prayer that said, in part, We lived and fought together, thou and we, and sought to keep the flickering torch aglow, that all our loved ones might forever know, the blessed warmth exceeding fire and flame. ... We mark this spot in murmuring requiem, move on to westward, rest, warriors, rest.

Piontkowski said that a chaplain wrote his own Marine prayer to send Geddes back to Grand Island after his remains had been positively identified:

Almighty God, father of the fatherless, now take me home. I was what others could and should be. I went where others feared to go and did what others failed to do. I ask nothing from those who gave nothing but gave hope, security and freedom to all.

I have seen the face of terror, felt the stinging cold of fear and experienced the warm comfort of your home and protection through it all. I have enjoyed the sweet taste of life, comrades, love of country, your guiding hand and word. I have cried, failed, lived and longed. I have lived times others would say were best forgotten. ... I have done my duty and live with grateful pride of what I am, a United States Marine.

After those in the cemetery joined together in reciting the Lords Prayer, an honor guard fired guns in honor of Geddes, followed by the playing of taps. U.S. Marines folded the American flag that had draped Geddes coffin and presented it to his oldest surviving niece, Shirley Nelson.

I think his mother and father are very happy with the way things turned out, said Elliott, who said she appreciated all of the people who stood along the funeral procession route to the cemetery to honor Geddes, as well as Grand Island residents who could only be present in thought.

At the end of the service, funeral director Derek Apfel offered final words of solace to the Geddes family.

You folks know that he has been at home forever ... but now hes home, his bodys home, he said.
Files and evidence to be collected by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office as part of a criminal investigation against high-ranking Russian officials may be used in international courts as well, Ukraine's Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said.

"It is a good and positive step [placing the suspects on the wanted list] because information on violations of both international treaties and Ukrainian legislation that will be recorded during these criminal proceedings will become a serious evidential base in international courts," the minister told the 112 Ukraine television station.

Petrenko also said that he welcomed the active position of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office and announced plans for cooperation between the Justice Ministry and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office in this area.

The minister also commented on the possibility of brining charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. "We can announce the suspicion to Putin and Medvedev if they violated the Ukrainian legislation. Their positions do not matter," the minister said.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said on Monday that top Russian generals were suspected of committing crimes against the foundations of Ukraine's national security. Lutsenko also made it clear that the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine is collecting evidence to bring charges against Putin and Medvedev.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers have set an October meeting to hear what steps the states cattle branding agency will take to address a recent audit that was highly critical of operations.

Sen. Jerry Johnson of Wahoo, chairman of the Nebraska Legislatures Agriculture Committee, has scheduled the public meeting at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at the State Capitol.

Johnson said in a press release Monday that he anticipates he and other Ag Committee members will have direct and probing questions for representatives of the Nebraska Brand Committee.

State Auditor Charlie Janssen released a report last month that found irregularities in former director Shawn Harveys management of the agency. The audit also alleged that Harvey violated the law by using a state vehicle for personal travel, making a false entry on public documents and attempting to mislead a state auditor.

The Attorney Generals Office has indicated that it is reviewing the auditors findings for potential criminal violations.

The state created the investigative agency in 1941 to protect livestock owners from theft through a system of brand inspections. The $4.7 million agency is funded with fees charged for each head of cattle sold in the western two-thirds of the state. The five volunteer members of the Brand Committee board are appointed by the governor, but oversight ultimately rests with the Agriculture Committee.

After the audit Harvey resigned the top job but was assigned to fill a newly created position of interim chief investigator and director of field operations. The board of directors also allowed him to keep his $72,000 annual salary.

Jerry Kuenning of Imperial, the boards chairman, said Harvey remains valuable to the agency because of his knowledge of inspectors, cattle producers and sale barns. The board is in the process of hiring a new director.

Board members also have appointed a working group to fix problems they say they had identified before the audits release. The working group also will consider whether legislative proposals are necessary.

Contact the writer: 402-473-9587, joe.duggan@owh.com
A 74-year-old woman from rural Pleasant Dale was killed Monday afternoon when the sport utility vehicle she was driving hit the back of a dump truck near Malcolm, the Lancaster County Sheriffs Office said.

Veda Beckman was declared dead at the crash scene after attempts to revive her failed, the Sheriffs Office said.

The accident occurred at 2:10 p.m. on a rural Lancaster County road.

A westbound Peterbilt dump truck had stopped to turn north into a private driveway when the westbound 2008 Chevrolet Equinox that Beckman was driving crashed into it, the Sheriffs Office said.

The truck driver, 55-year-old Madonna Rairigh of Crete, was not injured, according to the Sheriffs Office.

A preliminary investigation found that neither drugs nor alcohol was a factor in the crash. Rairigh had been using a seat belt, but Beckman had not, investigators said.

The crash remained under investigation, and an autopsy will be performed.
The writer represents Nebraska in the U.S. Senate, where she serves as chairman of the Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities.

The definition of the word ransom, according to Websters Dictionary, is money paid to free someone who has been captured or kidnapped. Someone in the White House should look it up.

Last week, the State Department confirmed that a $400 million cash payment to Iran was contingent upon the release of four American hostages. The administration, including President Barack Obama himself, had previously denied that the payment was connected to the prisoners release.

Proponents of the Iran nuclear deal, which I strongly opposed last year, argued that the deal would open the door to greater cooperation with Iran.

But we have not seen a more moderate Iran or a more responsible U.S. foreign policy since the deal went into effect. We have seen worse on both accounts, and this payment is one example.

After seven months of denial, it has become clear there was a direct link between the release of American hostages and the transfer of $400 million in cash to the worlds leading state sponsor of terror. The perception of a ransom payment has been replaced by its reality.

Now Americans around the world are at increased risk because of this dangerous decision.

This cash payment is shocking, but it is actually just a fraction of the total funds paid by the Obama administration to Iran.

In January, the U.S. Treasury transferred a total of $1.7 billion from a little-known government account called the Judgment Fund to Irans Central Bank. In May, Irans Central Bank transferred the $1.7 billion it had received from the Judgment Fund to the Iranian military.

Thats right. The Obama administration transferred nearly $2 billion in taxpayer dollars to a regime that actively supports terrorist groups. Many of the groups on Irans payroll  such as Hezbollah and Hamas  have killed Americans.

This is unacceptable, and it must not happen again.

This troubling transaction was brought to my attention earlier this year, and I quickly went to work to address it.

Before news broke of the administrations ransom payment, I joined with Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., to give the American people and members of Congress greater oversight of the Judgment Fund.

The Judgment Fund, which is administered by the Treasury Department, is used to pay for certain court judgments and settlements against the federal government. Between 2013 and 2015, the federal government paid more than $10 billion in Judgment Fund awards with scant transparency or oversight.

My legislation with Lankford, known as the Judgment Fund Transparency and Terrorism Financing Prevention Act, would allow members of Congress to see exactly where payments such as the Iran ransom are being spent.

This bill builds upon previous legislation that I introduced with Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. That bill established procedures for tracking taxpayer dollars paid out of the Judgment Fund. It passed the Senate in April.

Now events have proved that our bills are desperately needed to ensure responsible stewardship of both taxpayer dollars and something far, far more precious: American lives.

By paying ransom to a foreign government in exchange for hostages, the Obama administration has sent a signal to the world that it can be bought. Service members stationed overseas, families on vacation and college students studying abroad are all now at greater risk because of it.

As a U.S. senator, my highest priority is the defense of our people. In the Senate, I will continue to lead the call for clear oversight of the Judgment Fund. Working with my colleagues in Congress, I will also continue my push for a responsible foreign policy that protects our people.
Donald Trump  he who likes to fly home at night in the comfort of his own plane to sleep in the comfort of his own bed  is at it again on the question of Hillary Clintons stamina, or alleged lack thereof.

To defeat crime and radical Islamic terrorism in our country, to win trade in our country, you need tremendous physical and mental strength and stamina, he recently said. Hillary Clinton doesnt have that strength and stamina.

And a day earlier, in case you missed it, Importantly, she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all the many adversaries we face.

Its obvious whats going on here. The strength and stamina combo is a gender-age two-fer, a double whack at Clinton for the price of one. Strength, what men have and women lack; stamina, with its intimations of go-all-night virility. Clinton, in this depiction, is both a weak girl and a dried-up old crone.

No matter that Trump is a year and four months older  and, for that matter, endures a far less rigorous schedule. In Trump World, what counts is the attack, not the truth.

Trump first began hitting Clinton on strength and stamina during the primaries, a fascinating detour from his usual precision-bombing of opponents. Ordinarily, Trump homes in on an opponents actual deficit and proceeds to magnify it: low-energy Jeb Bush, Little Marco or, more pertinent at present, Crooked Hillary.

But sometimes, under attack, Trump shifts to that trusty playground tactic  I know you are but what am I?  a move intended to jiu-jitsu the conversation away from his own perceived vulnerabilities. Thus, Trump has trotted out unstable Hillary Clinton, a totally unhinged person and like an unbalanced person. Im rubber, youre glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.

Increasingly, though, the rap on Clinton combines gender, age and health in a smarmy package of unsupported insinuation. Shes a mess, a total mess, Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt. Shell do an event, shell make a short speech off a teleprompter and then she goes home and goes to sleep.

When Trump uses the teleprompter, it is a supposed token of maturity and professionalism; when Clinton does, she is failing  indeed, possibly brain-damaged. She took a short-circuit in the brain, Trump said in New Hampshire this month, seizing on Clintons explanation of how she flubbed an answer on her emails. Honestly, I dont think shes all there.

Trump is subtle only by comparison to his unhinged allies  and employees. Say-anything, know-nothing spokeswoman Katrina Pierson was on the job on MSNBC Thursday.

Whats new are the other reports of the observations of Hillary Clintons behavior and mannerisms . . . as well as her dysphasia, the fact that shes fallen, she has had a concussion, Pierson told Kristen Welker.

It is extremely important to note that Hillary Clinton has taken a lot of time off the campaign trail, Pierson added. It is something that needs to be addressed.

What needs to be addressed, actually, is Piersons own behavior and mannerisms, including her time-traveling assertions that President Barack Obama and Clinton were responsible for the 2004 death of Army Capt. Humayun Khan and alleging that Obama launched the 2001 war in Afghanistan.

On the topic of Clintons health, Pierson is back-stopped by a cabal of conservative websites and commentators who have peddled out-of-context photos and video snippets to paint Clinton as a weakened, stumbling victim of brain damage.

Fox News Sean Hannity has been in the repulsive lead, citing video of Clinton shaking her head in pretend surprise at being accosted by reporters to suggest neurological injury.

Presidential candidates fitness for office, including their medical fitness, matters enormously, especially when Trump would be the oldest president ever elected, Clinton second only to Ronald Reagan.

Both could reasonably be called on to disclose more health information; the Trumpian claim by the candidates physician, that he would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency, is particularly risible.

But the Trump & Co. attack on Clintons health, with its undertones of ageism and sexism, has no basis in reality and no place in a presidential campaign. It would be tempting to say this is beneath even Trump, except that it isnt.
Hope springs eternal. On that basis, President Barack Obamas administration continues to urge congressional approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as soon as practicable, which would mean after the election and before the end of President Obamas term.

We hope Congress agrees, but candor and realism require us to acknowledge that the prospect is increasingly remote.

The far likelier outcome is that the 12-nation, tariff-slashing pact will languish indefinitely.

Over the course of a turbulent political year, the American political center has shifted, not only against the TPP but also against trade-expanding multilateral agreements generally.

Therefore, it is not too early to challenge critics of the existing free-trade paradigm: What is your alternative?

To be sure, that is an easy question for America Firsters, such as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who believe, simplistically, that global economics is a zero-sum business and that the task is to snatch back, through various protectionist measures, the jobs China, Mexico and other trading partners stole.

For Trumps opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, the issue is, or should be, more difficult. After all, she formerly accepted the rationale for the TPP until changing her position under pressure from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

And that rationale was rooted not only in a perception of the U.S. national economic interest but also in an assessment of the U.S. national security interest.

The latter point is important, but, in a political debate understandably focused on the domestic economic impact of trade, too often overlooked.

Since the early years after World War II, when the United States helped launch the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, expanding global commerce has played a strong supporting role in U.S. strategy. Ever-freer trade, and the ever thickening web of rules-based relationships that it creates, was thought of, correctly, as a soft power complement to American military and political clout.

Though mutually advantageous economically, the TPP was most important strategically, as an instrument of the Obama administration pivot to Asia, in that it would firm up ties among the United States, Japan and  eventually  a bloc of smaller nations, all of which shared the goal of peacefully curbing Chinese plans to dominate the region according to its authoritarian, mercantilist norms.

If the TPP is out, some other institution will have to serve this function.

Admittedly, its a predicament that advocates of trade expansion with China, President Bill Clinton foremost among them, did not foresee.

To the contrary, the consensus at the time of Chinas joining the World Trade Organization on Clintons watch was that access to Western markets would induce the Beijing regime to moderate its ambitions and behavior and move toward an open, rules-based economy.

Lesson learned. And all the more reason to maintain a robust U.S. commitment to a vital region of the world, where threats to democracy and prosperity include not only Chinese provocations but also North Korean bellicosity and the errant leadership of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

The TPP was to be the anchor, symbolic and substantive, of a reinvigorated U.S. presence.

The next president cannot simply leave a strategic vacuum in its place.
Karnataka to survey all Arabic schools to check if on same page as state board

Now former Congress MP Ramya faces sedition heat

Bengaluru

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, Aug 23: Now it is actor-politician Ramya's turn. A case of sedition has been filed against the former Congress MP in a court following her statements in which she praised Pakistan. The case has been filed in the court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class by advocate Vithal Gowda.

Ramya following her SAARC visit to Pakistan had said that the country also has good people and they wanted to live in peace. Incidentally the remark came after Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar had said that entering Pakistan was like entering hell.

Petition in Supreme Court seeking review of sedition laws

A furore had been created following Ramya's statement. Many had criticised her for her remarks on Pakistan at a time when relations with the neighbouring country have been strained over the Kashmir issue.

Ramya, following the backlash had tweeted, "Mohan Bhagwatji of the RSS says Pakistan is India's brother and @narendramodi famous visit to Pakistan we all know.

Mohan Bhagwatji of the RSS says that Pakistan is India's brother :) & @narendramodi famous visit to pak we all know https://t.co/ZSj5xgXlaC  Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) August 22, 2016

The case filed at the court was under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In the petition the advocate seeks a direction to the court to file a case of sedition against her.

The case will come up for hearing on August 27. The petitioner says that Ramya had hurt the sentiments of patriots by speaking well about Pakistan.

Karnataka has been witnessing protests following an event organised by Amnesty International in which anti national statements were allegedly raised. The police had registered a complaint under sedition.

However, the ABVP which is the complainant has accused the state government of going slow on the matter and also refusing to arrest members of Amnesty International.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 11:42 [IST]
BCI withdraws suspension of TN lawyers

Chennai

oi-PTI

Chennai, Aug 22: The Bar Council of India has withdrawn the suspension of 126 Tamil Nadu lawyers, including leaders of various bar associations, who faced the action over their protest against amendments to the Advocates Act.

The decision was taken considering a letter written by Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTP) to BCI Chairman Mannan Kumar Mishra about resumption of work by the lawyers subsequent to temporary withdrawal of their more than three-month-long protest.

This was stated in a communication sent by the BCI Chairman and Joint Secretary Ashok Kumar Pandey to BCTP Chairman D Selvam, BTCP sources said today. The BCI had on July 24 suspended the lawyers and prohibited them from practising in any court or tribunal in the country for spearheading the protest against amendments to the disciplinary rules under the Advocates Act.

However, later it had stayed till today the suspension after the agitating lawyers announced temporary withdrawal of their stir on August 14. BCI had then directed BCTP to file a report with regard to attendance of lawyers in the courts.

In this backdrop, BCTP wrote to the Chairman of BCI informing him about resumption of work by the lawyers. The BCI made it clear that the suspension would not be treated as misconduct on the part of suspended lawyers for any performance in future and it shall not adversely affect their career in anyway. The lawyers have been opposing a notification issued by the Madras High Court in May last making amendments to existing rules under the Advocates Act with a view to ensure peaceful conduct of court proceedings and suggesting disciplinary action to be taken against erring advocates.

The court later constituted a judges' committee to look into the grievances of the lawyers and repeatedly urged the lawyers to give up their agitation and approach the panel. It had also made it clear that practically the rules were already in abeyance for the time being in view of a Full Court's assurance that no action would be taken under the rules till they were reviewed.

PTI
New IT rules will make sure no unlawful content is posted online: Minister

321 Medical Stores For Poor In 8 Years. Govt Promises 3,000 In 8 Months

Feature

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

The government promised parliament it would open 3,000 medical stores for the poor in the next eight months, but no more than a tenth of that number have opened over the last eight years, according to our analysis of government data.

March 2017 is the deadline set by the government for the new stores. Only 321 have opened since 2008, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Pharma PSUs (public-sector units) of India, which monitors the Jan Aushadi stores, or people's medical stores, started to supply generic medicines at subsidised prices to address India's persistent healthcare failures.

Inadequate public healthcare and healthcare expenses push an additional 39 million people back into poverty in India every year, this Lancet paper said.

Generic medicines are the same as branded medicines in terms of therapeutic value, but because they are off patent, they are cheaply produced by Indian pharma companies.

Rs 149 crore has been set aside for 2016-17 to set up the medical stores nationwide: Rs 45 crore to open stores, Rs 65 towards working capital, and Rs 20 crore for computer systems and staff training, according to the latest budgetary data.

The government intends to give each store a one-time financial assistance of Rs 250,000, including Rs 100,000 as medicines.

While the Jan Aushadi stores provide retailers with a 20% profit margin, the government proposes an additional incentive of 15% of monthly sales, with a ceiling of Rs 10,000 per month and up to Rs 250,000 for stores outside government hospitals.

The Jan-Aushadi programme was progressing in fits and starts with many empty shelves a common problem, IndiaSpend reported in November 2012. The same year, we also reported how a cheap-medicines programme was effective in delivering cheap medicines to the poor in Tamil Nadu.

More than half of India's rural population uses private healthcare, which is four times as costly as public healthcare, and can cost the poorest 20% of Indians more than 15 times their average monthly expenditure, IndiaSpend reported in July 2016.

India's poorer states have health indicators that are worse than many nations poorer than them, and India's healthcare spending is the lowest among BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations, as are its health indicators.

(This article was first published on IndiaSpend here.)

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 12:08 [IST]
'Shaurya Diwas': Rajnath Singh says J&K entered new era of peace & prosperity after Article 370 abrogation

In India terror down by 34%, civilian deaths by 90% since Art 370 scrapped: Shah

Lack of development in J&K for decades was one of the reasons behind rise of terrorism: Rajnath Singh

Additional paramilitary personnel to be deployed in Kashmir

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 23: In the wake of continuous unrest in the Kashmir Valley, the Centre today rushed 2,600 additional paramilitary forces to Jammu and Kashmir.

Twenty-six companies (100 personnel in each company) of Border Security Force are being dispatched to trouble-torn areas in the state for maintaining law and order, official sources said.

These forces are being drawn from Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal and they are expected to reach the Valley in a day or two.

Besides, an additional 30 companies of the force are also expected to be sent to the state in next few days after their withdrawal from the Amarnath Yatra duties, sources said.

Kashmir unrest and shutdown through the lenses

Kashmir Valley has been witnessing unrest after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani 45 days ago.

As many as 65 people including two police personnel have been killed and several thousands injured in the clashes that began on July 9.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 9:10 [IST]
Kyiv's appeal court has decided to arrest former acting Board Chairman of State Food-Grain Corporation of Ukraine Valeriy Tomilenko for 60 days, and has set bail at UAH 5 million.

According to a posting on the court's website, pre-trial detention would end on September 23. The bail can be paid by an individual or a company.

As reported, detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) on July 26 detained Tomilenko along with the chairman of the board of PJSC Rokytne grain enterprise.

The detainees are suspected of creating a corrupt scheme, which caused the embezzlement of about UAH 50 million in state funds.

NABU detectives say that the two signed a contract on the supply of 16,600 tonnes of third-grade maize to the corporation on the terms of full prepayment.

"Both parties knew that the said commodity was de facto not available. The grain enterprise was not going to fulfill the contract. But the State Food and Grain Corporation transferred about UAH 50 million in budget funds to the enterprise's account for the commodity, which has not been supplied," the NABU said.

Tomilenko was under house arrest before the appeals court made its ruling.
Ghazwa-e-Hind in Assam: NIA roped in as Islamists plan destruction of India

Assam CM appeals for release of abducted boy

India

oi-PTI

Guwahati, Aug 23: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today appealed to the Paresh Barua-led faction of the ULFA to release the boy it had abducted on August 1 on humanitarian grounds.

"I appeal to the abductors to release the boy as a humanitarian gesture. Our government believes that violence will achieve nothing and we are committed to the peace process," he told PTI.

Kuldeep Moran, son of local BJP leader and Tinsukia Zilla Parishad vice-president Lakheswar Moran, was kidnapped from Tinsukia district by the hardline faction of ULFA.

Assam: ULFA kidnaps BJP leader's son

It had yesterday released an ISIS-style video that purportedly showed the boy surrounded by armed and masked militants and appealing to the Chief Minister and his family to secure his early release.

PTI
Dawood: Yet another case filed, but does India really want to catch him?

India

oi-Vicky

As the United Nations updates its own information on Dawood Ibrahim's Pakistani addresses, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed yet another chargesheet against the gangster in connection with the Bharuch double murder case. The case relates to a large conspiracy of D-syndicate to murder several Hindu leaders to spread communal disharmony in the country. Dawood has, in fact, floated a new outfit to carry out this conspiracy, the NIA chargesheet says.

The issue of bringing Dawood Ibrahim to justice keeps coming up every now and then, and he is forever one of India's top wanted criminals. In fact, Union Home minister Rajnath Singh, too, was expected to raise the matter when he went to Pakistan recently, except that that visit did not go off quite the way he imagined.

Increasingly, though, there is a big question mark on the sincerity and resolve of successive Indian governments on the Dawood affair. Many revelations have been made on the many missed opportunities to catch or kill the gangster. OneIndia has learnt of two new instances, interestingly both occurred in 1994, just over a year after the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts for which he is wanted, when India got its chances but did not go through with the 'kill".

South Africa plan gathering dust

In December 1994, former R&AW officer V. Balachandran was visiting Pretoria, South Africa, to discuss with that country's security agencies the arrangements that had to be made for Nelson Mandela's visit to India the following month. At the end of the meeting, Balachandran recalls, the South Africans surprised him by asking if the two countries could work together to nab Dawood.

The South Africans showed Balachandran copies of some 18 passports that Dawood used and said the gangster was expanding his business in Africa. They told him that Dawood visited South Africa frequently in connection with mandrax smuggling and made a presentation on the racket. They sought India's assistance to put an end to his activities, in return for which India could gain custody of him.

"They said they would handle the local issues and also give us all the intelligence on Dawood. They wanted us to come up with the operational plan to nab him. I told them we would be happy to do that, but I would need approval from the highest levels in government", Balachandran recalled.

The R&AW officer returned to Delhi and enthusiastically wrote up a report on the South African proposal and how the two countries could together bring D-company down. "This was the first time another country had offered to help us nab Dawood. I wrote the report in great detail", Balachandran says, "But the government of the day did not seem interested at all. It soon went into cold storage and is still gathering dust in some heap of files".

"Get Dawood, dead or alive" aborted

Just months before the South African proposal, India made its last serious 'get Dawood' effort. In fact, the Indian agencies were told to bring him in, dead or alive.

As per the plan, a team flew to Kathmandu, Nepal, and from there was to go to Karachi, Pakistan, where Dawood has been holed up in the posh Clifton Defence annexe since 1993. Just before the team set off for Karachi, however, it was suddenly told to abort the plan.

No one knows who was behind the directive, or why the mission was called off after the team had sent in a last minute report that they were confident of succeeding.

No government since 1994 has made a serious attempt to bring Dawood to justice, Balachandran says. "All these statements regarding Dawood that are issued from time to time is just talk, a matter of routine".

Ham-handed approach deliberate

When the UN recently updated its dossier on Dawood Ibrahim, now an internationally-designated criminal, it found that three of nine Karachi addresses that India had given for the gangster were false.

By itself, this may not be so damaging to India's case that Pakistan has been sheltering, protecting and using Dawood against India, but it confirms the general impression that successive governments' handling of the Dawood Ibrahim affair has been deliberately ham-handed, says another former R&AW official, Amar Bhushan.

"What we see today is all posturing. No one seriously wants to nab him. If he is brought to India alive and he speaks, he will end up exposing a lot of people in the system -- politicians, police, bureaucrats and many in the film industry", Bhushan says.

Oneindia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 16:57 [IST]
Auto, taxi fare in Delhi hiked over rising CNG prices | Check new rates

India extends curbs on sugar exports for another year

Dr. Harsh Vardhan leads 'Tiranga Yatra' in north Delhi

News

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Union minister Harsh Vardhan today led a 'Tiranga Yatra' in north Delhi to spread the spirit of nationalism among people.

Carrying the national tricolour and chanting patriotic slogan, scores of BJP workers followed Vardhan as he moved from Model Town to Adarsh Nagar and Jahangirpuri. The yatra ended at Pitampura.

Tiranga Yatra in Trinagar segment of my parliament draws huge positive response - Bharat Mata ki Jai. Vande Matram pic.twitter.com/KZx0bDzNHz  Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 22, 2016

"The minister exhorted people to do something in the name of the country and more than enjoying rights we should try to fulfil our duties," the Delhi BJP said in a statement.

We salute our freedom fighters , who dedicated their lives for the freedom struggle- Tiranga Yatra at Shakurpur pic.twitter.com/4Q2mKxZ4p3  Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 22, 2016

Several other BJP leaders, including North Delhi Mayor Sanjeev Nayyar, accompanied Vardhan during the journey.

#TirangaYatra at Wazirpur -moment to remember the struggle of our people, their sweat and blood behind our freedom pic.twitter.com/HgLK3sQcIM  Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 22, 2016

'Tiranga Yatra' has been conceived by BJP as part of the programme to imbibe a spirit of nationalism and spread awareness about the contribution of freedom fighters, marking 70th year of Independence.

In Paschim Vihar wave of patriots reminds we're one people &shall forever stay united under this flag #TirangaYatra pic.twitter.com/LDP7wvub2A  Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 22, 2016

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 10:40 [IST]
Maharashtra: Fed up with heavy school bags, 2 students hold press meet to narrate woes

India

oi-PTI

Chandrapur (Mah), Aug 23: Burdened with heavy school bags, two seventh grade boys held a press conference here to highlight the plight of students who carry a load of 5-7 kg on their shoulders daily to attend classes.

Media persons at the local Press Club were taken aback yesterday when the duo from local Vidya Niketan School, walked in and expressed their desire to hold a conference on the daily hardships they face due to the burdensome bags.

"We carry a minimum of 16 books for 8 subjects daily and sometimes their number increases to 18 or 20, depending upon the subjects for which the classes would be held for the day. Our school bags weigh between 5 and 7 kg and its exhausting to carry them to our classroom located on the third floor," the boys, aged around 12 years, told reporters here.

"We had given applications to our principal to consider reducing the weight of school bags a couple of times but the same failed to evoke any response," they claimed. In some cases, parents help their kids by carrying their bags to the classroom, they said. As per the directives of Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra government had earlier this year issued a circular issuing guidelines on reduction of weight of school bags carried by students on the recommendations of a committee.

The state had informed the High Court that it had also fixed the responsibility on principals and school management to follow the circular and would take action against those not obeying this rule. According to government pleader, there are 1.06 lakh schools in the state and the circular is binding on them. To a query, whether the students were aware about the circular, they replied in negative.

The boys also offered some alternatives to resolve this problem. They suggested that the authorities make arrangements for keeping their daily work books in school or reduce the number of periods per day.

"There are 8 periods a day on average for which we have to carry textbooks for each subject along with their respective work books. In addition, few more books also need to be carried, on some of the week days, which prove to be cumbersome," they said.

On any possible disciplinary action by school authorities, the two boys said their demands are "just" and do not anticipate any problem. When asked if the school fails to address the grievance, the two said they would go on a hunger strike till their demands are fulfilled.

PTI
Floods: 10 more NDRF teams for Bihar, UP

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 23: Ten more teams of the NDRF were today deployed for rescue and relief operations in flood-hit Bihar and Uttar Pradesh even as the force rescued over 33,000 marooned people from various states.

Witnessing continuous rains and with people not wanting to leave their homes, the force has also deployed a number of 'boat ambulances' in these states on which the personnel of the force provide pre-hospitalisation treatment and medicines to the affected.

"The 10 teams that were airlifted yesterday for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have been deployed. We are intensifying our operations," National Disaster Response Force chief O P Singh told PTI. A special control room at the forces' headquarter here is monitoring the situation 24X7, he said.

As per reports coming from the flood-affected areas of UP, the water level is increasing by 1 cm per hour in areas around Varanasi and about 15 cm rise in the water level has been seen in the day till now, a senior official said.

There are reports of waterlogging in Varanasi and Ghazipur, the official said. "So far, NDRF teams have evacuated/rescued 33,210 people and provided medicine assistance to 9,197 needy people," the national contingency force said, adding rescue operations in four other states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Assam are in "full swing".

Apart from the 10 fresh teams, 17 rescue teams of the NDRF are operational in Bihar. As per data, while 650 people were rescued from Patna, 1,580 from Didarganj, 450 from Sonepur, 65 from Vaisali, 780 people from Bakhtiyarpur and 300 people and 10 cattles were rescued from Digaghat Danapur to safer locations.

"Thus, NDRF has rescued a total of 14,178 people in last four days in Bihar," it said. Similarly, 19 teams of NDRF are deployed in different parts of Uttar Pradesh. In order to launch massive operations in the two worst-affected states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the NDRF has created on-ground control rooms in these two states and deputed two senior Deputy Inspector General-rank officers (DIG) to take control of the situation.

PTI
Haryana: Statue of Chandra Shekhar Azad vandalised

India

oi-PTI

Hisar, Aug 23: Tension prevailed in Parijat Chowk and Nagori Gate area here this morning after a statue of martyr Chandra Shekhar Azad was found vandalised. This is the second time that the statue, which was set up by shopkeepers in 2012, had been found vandalised.

It is suspected that the statue was damaged by some anti-social elements, police said. A case has been registered by city police under section 295 (destroying, damaging or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult religious sentiments of any class of persons) of IPC on a complaint of shopkeeper Shelender Chowdhary.

CCTV footage of the area showed three persons coming on a bike last night and damaging the statue. Chandra Shekhar Azad was a firebrand revolutionary leader He was instrumental in carrying out the Kakori train robbery in 1926 and assassination of John Poyantz Saunders in 1928 at Lahore to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.

PTI
Maha, Telangana sign pact for inter-state irrigation projects

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, Aug 23: The governments of Maharashtra and Telangana today signed a Memorandum of Understanding for construction of three inter-state irrigation projects.

The MoU was signed between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao in the presence of chief secretaries and irrigation ministers of both the states at the Sahyadri Guest House here.

"Govt of Maharashtra & Govt of Telangana sign MoU for starting work of barrages, Chanaka-Korata, TumdiHetti & Medigadda," the CMO Maharashtra tweeted.

"Approval was given for these 3 projects of Painganga, Pranhita & Godavari respectively at InterState Board of 2 states for joint irrigation proj," it further tweeted. Rights of fisherman will be with our state and Telangana will also support the government of Maharashtra's case in the Krishna river dispute, Fadnavis said.

Expenses for all these projects will be borne by the Telangana govt and not a single village of Maharashtra will be submerged, he added. He said 30,000 hectares of land in Chandrapur,Gadchiroli and Yavatmal will come under irrigation with these three projects.

PTI
Prashant Kishor claims Nitish Kumar in touch with BJP says don't be surprised if he joins hands with it again

Nitish Kumar meets PM, seeks Centre's help in desilting Ganga

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 23 With Bihar battling floods despite receiving less than normal rains, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the Centre's intervention as he insisted that desilting the river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods.

Modi offered assurance to him, saying immediate and positive action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a national silt management policy, Kumar told reporters after meeting the Prime Minister.

He also linked the Modi government's ambitious Namami Gange project with better silt management in Bihar, saying if attention is not paid to the situation, then it will also put a question mark on the programme's success as he feels like "crying" at the condition of Ganga in the state.

"The very serious condition that we see today never occurred earlier. The only way to get rid of this is desiltation. There is a need for national silt management policy," he said.

He urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the "unprecedented" situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.

"The Prime Minister assured me that experts will be sent and a decision on this subject should be taken soon. Immediate and positive action will have to be taken," he said.

The Chief Minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years.

Though Bihar has received 14 per cent less rains than normal during the monsoons, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rain fall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it. Kumar also appeared to blame Farakka barrage for the situation. He has earlier held it responsible for increasing siltage in the Ganga river basin.

Due to silt, Ganga could not store the amount of water it used to earlier, leading to flood-like condition despite not receiving proportionate amount of rain fall, he said.

PTI
'Shaurya Diwas': Rajnath Singh says J&K entered new era of peace & prosperity after Article 370 abrogation

Pak committing atrocities against people in PoK, will have to bear consequences: Rajnath Singh

India's defence a notch higher with launch of 75 vital BRO projects in 6 states and 2 UTs, including J&K

Lack of development in J&K for decades was one of the reasons behind rise of terrorism: Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh to visit Kashmir on Wednesday

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Aug 23 Home Minister Rajnath Singh will on Wednesday visit Jammu and Kashmir where restrictions continued in many parts of the valley for the 46th consecutive day on Tuesday.

Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will accompany the minister, official sources said.

At least 68 people, including 66 civilians and two policemen, have died in the violence in the valley since July 9, a day after Hizbul militant Burhan Wani was killed by security forces.

IANS
Infosys and TCS among 12 Indian firms in Forbes' list of Worlds best Companies

Tata Steel signs MoU with IIT, Madras

India

oi-PTI

Jamshedpur, Aug 23: Tata Steel signed an MoU with 'Indian Institute of Technology Madras' to set up the Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Center (TSAMRC) at IIT Madras Research Park.

This initiative took place in the backdrop of Tata Steel being entrusted with the responsibility of developing a long-term strategic roadmap in the area of advanced materials, a Tata Steel press release here today said.

The MOU was signed on August 16 last. Dr. Gopichand Katragadda, Group Chief Technology Officer, Tata Sons remarked I am thrilled at the set up of TSAMRC at IIT Madras Research Park.

This centre is part of the Tata group's efforts to advance progress in science and materials into technologies that meet market needs. The release quoted Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director IIT Madras, saying the Research Park at IIT Madras provides one of the best eco-systems for collaborative research.

PTI
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko set off for the area of Kyiv's anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday morning in order to congratulate Armed Forces servicemen on the Day of the State Flag and Independence Day, presidential press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko said on Twitter.

Speaking at a state flag raising ceremony on Tuesday, Poroshenko said that he intended to hand a batch of military hardware over to the Armed Forces in the operation area.
When CJI slammed Modi, did he speak on a 'sub judice' matter?

India

oi-Vicky

Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur has made his displeasure known several times over the delay in appointment of judges to the high courts and the Supreme Court.

The CJI has had some harsh remarks for the government both in court and over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech in which he spoke about Balochistan but did not mention the problems of the Indian judiciary.

What exactly has irked the CJI?

The CJI-Centre confrontation began when a draft of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) was submitted to him by the government on August 3, in which an outer limit of six months was prescribed for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. It also said that until a decision on the names of judges already proposed had been taken, no fresh proposals can be made by the collegium.

Exactly nine days after the Law ministry handed over the draft MoP to the CJI, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the delay in appointment of judges.

The CJI, who was presiding over the bench, said he would be forced to intervene judicially to sort out the matter. He also gave the Centre four weeks to file its reply.

Just three days later, the CJI publicly remarked that he was upset that Prime Minister Modi made no mention regarding judges' appointments during his Independence Day speech.

Senior advocate Navkesh Batra said, however, that the Judiciary expresses itself only through its judgements. A judge refrains from commenting publicly on any matter, especially matters that are sub judice before him/her. "Certainly, there must be sufficient reasons for the Hon'ble CJI to depart from the time tested tradition and judicial discipline, which has worked well, and that too by commenting on the PM's address to the nation on Independence Day", Batra said.

The Union Law Ministry received recommendations for the appointment of some 73 judges between July 30 and August 3. Justice Thakur retires in January.

Oneindia News
Karnataka to survey all Arabic schools to check if on same page as state board

First a message in Tamil, now a hiring desk at TN by al Qaeda

India

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, Aug 23: When the al Qaeda in the sub-continent or the AQIS released a three page note in Tamil in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani's killing, there was a message to South India.

It was clear that the AQIS which has failed miserably to set up shop in many parts of the region was eyeing the prospect of being a South Indian outfit.

Investigations would show that the AQIS is largely focusing on Tamil Nadu where it has a strong affiliate in the al-Ummah or the Base Movement.

Officials who have probed three court blast cases in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala say that the al-Ummah has been loyal to Osama Bin Laden and will help the AQIS set up shop in South India.

While the outfit would focus its activities largely in Tamil Nadu as the al-Ummah is strong in the state, the intention would however be to make inroads into the other southern states.

In this context, the al Qaeda has already appointed members in Tamil Nadu to reach out to the youth and train them. The Intelligence Bureau says that the new recruits into the AQIS from Southern India would be sent to Indonesia to train.

Further the agencies also state that the AQIS which has already set up a desk or module in Tamil Nadu will seek out help from the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is strong in Indonesia.

The ISIS and the al Qaeda have been at war with each other for supremacy. The ISIS has also made inroads in South India through its modules in Kerala.

However, officials say that the AQIS has a very strong ally in the al-Ummah. The al-Ummah continues to be one of the deadliest outfits in South India. The outfit has been responsible for the murder of several Hindu leaders.

The group had also carried out the blast outside the BJP office in Malleshwaram, Bengaluru. The three blasts outside the courts in Kollam, Andhra Pradesh and Mysuru have also been blamed on the outfit.

OneIndia News
India's steel industry now 2nd biggest, target is to double crude steel output in 10 years: PM Modi

Narendra Modi condoles former Singapore President Nathan's death

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Aug 23 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday condoled the death of former Singapore President S.R. Nathan saying the country has lost a distinguished leader.

"Saddened by the demise of former Singapore President S.R. Nathan. Singapore has lost a distinguished leader who was widely admired," Modi tweeted.

Saddened by the demise of former Singapore President SR Nathan. Singapore has lost a distinguished leader who was widely admired: PM  PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 23, 2016

"We in India join the people of Singapore in deeply mourning the passing away of Nathan. Condolences to his family," he said in another tweet.

We in India join the people of Singapore in deeply mourning the passing away of former President Nathan. Condolences to his family: PM  PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 23, 2016

Nathan, who was President of Singapore from 1999 to 2011, died on Monday at the age of 92.

IANS
Call centre jobs in India at risk as US introduces new legislation

India better placed in fight against COVID 19: Here is why

US to issue Diwali postal stamp

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Aug 23: The US Postal Service today said it will issue a Diwali postage stamp, meeting one of the long pending demands of Indian-American community here.

The Diwali stamp is being issued as a "Forever" stamp, the US Postal Service said in a statement.

The stamp design, unveiled by the US Postal Service (USPS), is a photograph featuring a traditional diya oil lamp lit in a sparkling gold background.

Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, Connecticut, photographed the diya. Greg Breeding of Charlottesville, Virginia, designed the stamp and William J Gicker from Washington postal service was the project's art director, a statement said.

The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony will take place at the Indian Consulate in New York City on October 5, the USPS said. Hinduism was the only major world religion, for which the USPS had not issued a postage stamp.

"This is a dream come true," said New York-based Ranju Batra chair, Diwali Stamp Project, who had led campaign to send thousands of letters to the US Postal Service in the past and had campaigned before the US Congress.

"It has taken seven years for me, thanks to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney," she said. Over the past several decades, a large number of individuals, organisations and Congressmen had campaigned for the issuing of a postage stamp commemorating the festival of lights.

Several resolutions were introduced in the Congress too.

PTI
Will not allow anti-India activities: Myanmar

International

oi-PTI

Nay Pyi Daw, Aug 23: Myanmar on Monday (Aug 22) gave an assurance that it will not allow any insurgent group to use its territory against India.

The assurance comes in the backdrop of certain insurgent groups from northeastern states using Myanmar for launching attacks against India. The Indian Army had carried out a major operation against these groups in June last year along the Indo-Myanmar border.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who arrived here on a day-long visit, held talks with Myanmarese leaders on key bilateral issues, including cross-border activities by certain insurgent groups.

"Myanmar leadership assured that they will not allow any insurgent groups to use any territory for action against India, (that) they all recognised is a friendly country which has stood by people of Myanmar and they look forward to a very productive partnership with India as Myanmar continues on its journey of peace, progress and development," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup told PTI.

Swaraj's visit also comes just days after the Indian Army had an encounter with NSCN-K militants in Nagaland who were trying to enter the country from Myanmar. While reports suggested that the Indian Army had crossed over to Myanmar, it was officially denied by India.

Forging a strong bond. Some more pics of the meeting between EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi pic.twitter.com/yYM2PH2GNw  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) August 22, 2016

Thank you Myanmar! A brief but productive visit to Myanmar ends as EAM @SushmaSwaraj returns to Delhi. pic.twitter.com/yAVaqmx7NU  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) August 22, 2016

In the first high-level visit from India after the civilian government assumed office here, Swaraj called on President U Htin Kyaw and held extensive talks with State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi during which she conveyed India's commitment of "all help" to the new government.

Describing India as a friendly country, Myanmarese President told Swaraj that he looks forward to a "very productive partnership".

Swaraj also discussed with the Myanmarese leadership how India can help in Myanmar's development efforts.

They discussed a number of areas of possible collaboration such as power. India is already supplying 3 MW electricity to Myanmar through the Moreh-Tamu link but this can be further upgraded, Swarup said.

Congratulating Suu Kyi on her party's victory in the "first genuine election", Swaraj assured her of "all help".

"India is committed to strengthening your democratic institutions and socio-economic development of your people," Swaraj said during her meeting with Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won a historic landslide election last year that finally brought an end to five decades of military rule.

Swaraj said this was the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee.

PTI
Flood: Ten NDRF teams rushed to Bihar, UP

New Delhi

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 23: The Centre tonight rushed 10 NDRF teams to flood-hit areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in order to launch massive relief and rescue operations to help those marooned in these states.

NDRF Director General O P Singh told PTI that while five teams are being airlifted for immediate deployment from its base in Odisha to Uttar Pradesh, the rest five are being picked by choppers from Bathinda in Punjab and will be sent to Bihar.

"These fresh teams will be launched into operation by early tomorrow," the DG said, adding they would be equipped with boats and essential items like medicines. Singh said the teams will be in addition to the 56 such contingents which are undertaking flood combat operations in these two states, besides Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The DG also briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with full updates of the flood situation in these states late in the night.

In order to launch massive operations in the two worst-affected states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the NDRF has created on-ground control rooms in these two states and deputed two senior Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) S S Guleria (Patna) and R K Rana (Varanasi) to take control of the situation.

Earlier in the day, the NDRF said it had rescued more than 26,000 people from the flood-ravaged areas of these states.

"So far, the NDRF teams have evacuated more than 26,400 people from various flood-prone areas in the country this monsoon season. Besides the rescue work, these teams have provided medical care to the more than 9,100 people in these States," the NDRF said.

In Bihar yesterday, NDRF teams evacuated 3,400 people from Didarganj, 580 from Bakhtiyarpur, 545 from Danapur, 380 from Chhapra, 355 from Vaishali and 15 from Maner in Patna. The NDRF said 11 flood rescue teams rescued 275 people from Ballia, 275 from Varanasi and 325 from Chitrakoot in UP on yesterday.

Nearly 150 marooned people were shifted to safer places from Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

"An NDRF team pre-positioned in Sikkim conducted similar operations in Tingbung and Lingdang villages and evacuated more than 450 people on Sunday," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised full support to these flood-hit states in the conduct of rescue and relief operations. Home Minister Rajnath Singh is closely monitoring the situation and had telephonic conversation with Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav (UP), Harish Rawat (Uttarakhand), Nitish Kumar (Bihar) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) and took stock of the flood situation in the states.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 10:35 [IST]
TV channels giving impression India is at war with Kashmir: Eminent Muslims to Rajnath

New Delhi

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Aug 23: Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday in the wake of the ongoing tensions that have engulfed the state following the death of Burhan Wani, the Hizbul Mujahideen commander. Singh will be accompanied by the home secretary and other senior officials of the ministry.

The Home Minister has been exploring ways of trying to find a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir crisis. He also held a meeting with eminent citizens, most non-Kashmiri Muslims to find ways to resolve the crisis.

At the meeting Singh said that he would be encouraging civil society groups to go to the Valley and interact with the protesting youth. Further there was a re-think on the use of pellet guns.

Singh also said that apart from sending an all party delegation to Kashmir the role of clerics in spreading the message of peace would be explored.

Those at the meeting suggested to Singh that strongly worded statements by ministers against the Kashmiris should be avoided. Further it was also suggested that televisions channels must be asked to tone down the narrative on Kashmir.

An impression is being created to suggest that India is at war with Kashmir, the eminent citizens had also suggested to the Home Minister. Further it was also suggested that the promises made to the people of Kashmir must not be broken and the trust deficit must be narrowed.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 14:55 [IST]
As India readies itself to deploy BrahMos missiles along the Chinese border in Arunachal Pradesh, the opposition has backed centers move, saying that Chinese are worried when your defences are up. Earlier this month, the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by PM Modi, cleared the raising of a new regiment to be equipped with an advanced version of the BrahMos developed for mountain warfare at a cost of more than Rs. 4,300 crore.
Indian airlines flying to Gulf want to skip Pakistani airspace, as the ties between both the countries are not in good terms. According to an airline official India has returned some non-scheduled Pakistani flights in the past few days and Pakistan can do the same.
A sedition case has been filed against Kannada actress Ramya for her comment about Pakistan. The case was registered under IPC sections 124 (A), 344 and 511. Meanwhile the actress has said that she will not apologise for her comment.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine pays attention to the deterioration of health of the Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis, former Head of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Ilmi Umerov, who was detained by the Russian foreign security agents and demands his release from the occupation authorities of the peninsula.

"Umerovs state of health is critical. We demand that the occupation authorities to stop bullying, stop using punitive methods and release Umerov," spokesman of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Marian Bets wrote in his Twitter account on Monday morning.

As reported, on May 12, investigators at the Crimean branch of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal inquiry against Ilmi Umerov, which is banned in Russia, on suspicion of inciting violation of Russia's territorial integrity. Prosecutor of the annexed Crimea Natalia Poklonskaya wrote on her Facebook page that in March 2016, Umerov spoke live on ATR television, where he publicly called for the need to violate Russia's territorial integrity. Subsequently, Umerov's speeches were posted to the Internet.

Investigators of the Crimean FSB Head Department opened a criminal case against Umerov on suspicion of violation incitement of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.

On May 13, the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea opened criminal proceedings under Article 146, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal deprivation of liberty or kidnapping) and Article 162, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the inviolability of property). The agency said Umerov is a patriot of Ukraine and always opposed Russian occupation of the peninsula. He is accused of calling for public action to change the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.

On August 11, in Simferopol, the court granted the petition of the FSB investigator on Umerovs forensic psychiatric examination.

During the courts sitting, an investigator attached the doctor's interrogation report to the case. They indicate Umerovs neurological diseases could lead to psychiatric problems. At the same time, the defense requested an examination by doctors for their client. A neurologist and psychiatrist, who were questioned by the investigator along with the attending physician, testified about the need for a psychiatric examination. According to lawyer Mykola Polozov, the observations of the doctors are probabilistic in nature. Noone of them had not seen or talked to Umerov, but made their conclusions on the basis of an abstract from a medical card. The court rejected the appeal.

On August 21, Umerov lawyers claimed that they regarded psychological and psychiatric examination of their client as torture and would appeal to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Umerovs lawyer Mark Feigin said, "We regard psychological and psychiatric examination of Umerov in the state of deteriorating health conducted in the hospital of Simferopol as torture."
A award winning film director has shammed PV Sindhu who made the country proud by winning an silver medal at the Rio Olympics. Malayalam film director Sanal Kumar in a post on social media said "Everyone is celebrating Sindhu's achievement now. What if I spit on this? What is there to celebrate much about it? Sanal later explained that his remark was a part of black humour and the people who are cursing him failed to understand the true meaning of his words.
Kerala CM alleges attempts to distance party from believers

Thiruvananthapuram

oi-PTI

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23: With the split between CPI(M)-led LDF government and Travancore Devaswom Board widening over the rituals at Sabarimala temple, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Aug 22 said the controversies were attempts to distance the Left party from believers.

In a Facebook post, Vijayan said the Left government could pay equal attention in improving the facilities for Ayyappa devotees at Sabarimala and take initiative to help Haj pilgrims as it viewed all human beings as one irrespective of religion and caste barriers.

"There have always been attempts to distance the Left from believers. Our political rivals, who wished to disintegrate Communist party in its budding stage itself, had unleashed campaign that Communists were going to demolish places of worship," Vijayan said.

"However, people, including believers and atheists, and those belonging to different religions and castes dismissed all these false propaganda and had placed their hope and faith on the party," he said.

The Chief Minister's statement comes in the wake of the controversy triggered over some of his suggestions like ending the VIP queue at Sabarimala and to keep the hillock shrine open throughout the year. TDB president Prayar Gopalakrishnan and Sabarimala 'tantri' (head priest) Kandaru Rajeevaru came out openly against Vijayan's suggestion.

The 'tantri' said the decision to keep the shrine open for darshan throughout the year could not be taken by the government unilaterally. Coming out against the stand of TDB president, Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran described him as "communal" and said he was trying to sabotage the government's development plans at Sabarimala.

Indicating that the Left government's effort is to provide equal treatment to all people, Vijayan said in his Facebook post that it was with happiness that he inaugurated a Haj camp in Nedumbassery airport.

"The camp can accommodate 1,600 pilgrims and others at a stretch," he added. Claiming that Kerala was a model for ensuring better facilities for Haj pilgrims, the Chief Minister also said this time 11,000 people would go to Haj under the government quota, the highest ever so far.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 12:24 [IST]
Kerala CM accuses Gov of 'acting as RSS tool' on his order to VCs to resign

Kerala: From God's own country to terror nation

Thiruvananthapuram

oi-Vicky

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23: From persons joining the ISIS, radical preaching, gold heists to fund terror and one bomb blast, the state has been a hub of anti national activities. Intelligence Bureau officials have termed Kerala as a ticking time bomb.

Police officials say that for several years now, terrorist activities in the state have been overshadowed by acts of political violence. While the state was witnessing a spate of incidents related to politics, on the other side grew a large number of silent modules which went about its business.

ISIS module from Kerala could spill into Karnataka, warns IB

The silent modules of Kerala

The modules in Kerala have been relatively quiet when it comes to their own state. Most of the activities are directed at other states in South India.

It was a well known fact that modules of terror were mushrooming in various parts of the state. The intelligence bureau says that there are nearly 80 modules in the state of various sizes.

Kerala in fact played host to activities of terror and this was evident in the Vagamon camp case. In this case, several terrorists from across the nation met and decided to set up a major outfit which would strike across India.

This was the first step towards the creation of the deadly Indian Mujahideen.

While terrorists were being born, the other problem that the state faced was the fund flow from the Gulf. Incidentally the state repots the highest hawala remittance in the country. Not all remittances are suspicious

However, the magnitude is such that officers have found it hard to keep a tab on terror funding.

Today the silent modules of the state have moved into another direction. These modules are now producing terrorists for international outfits. Both the ISIS as well as the al-Qaeda are a major draw.

The recent case in which 20 people having allegedly joined the ISIS is a classic example of how radicalisation is spreading in the state.

A very soft approach

Central agencies say that Kerala is probably is one of the toughest states to work in. There are different dimensions to every case. The state has always taken a soft approach towards terrorist activities. It is only now that the state is seriously trying to wade away this threat.

There are many examples of the state adopting a soft approach. When special prayers were offered to Ajmal Kasab following his hanging, no serious action was taken. No visible action was taken when posters mourning the death of Osama Bin Laden came up.

The handling of Abdul Nasar Madani and letting him speak his mind out which eventually led to the creation of T Nasir, the Bengaluru bomber was not also not up to the mark.

Further the state also did not go into the depth of the matter when it was found that two Keralites were fighting for the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Jammu and Kashmir. Incidentally this was for the first time that non-Kashmiris were found fighting alongside a foreign terrorist outfit in J&K.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 23, 2016, 10:39 [IST]
Kerala gold heist: Terror suspects posed as sleuths

Thiruvananthapuram

oi-Vicky

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23: The arrest of Abdul Halim in a gold heist case has given the Kerala police several clues. First and foremost Halim's link to terrorist organisations has been unearthed.

Secondly the police realised that Halim and his accomplices had posed as vigilance officers and raided the house of a businessman at Peruvamboor, Ernakulam, Kerala.

Kerala: From God's own country to terror nation

On August 19, the house of a businessman was raided and gold worth Rs 13 lakh was seized. The businessman decided to complain to the police as he found the raid to be suspicious and upon investigation it was learnt that the gang of vigilance officials were a bunch of thieves.

Multiple dimensions

First and foremost the police learnt that Halim and his gang had targeted several other businessmen in the past while using the same modus operandi. The money that was made from their operations are suspected to have been used to fund a terror module in Kerala. Further, it was also learnt that they were trying to get some of their accomplices out of jail.

What has startled the police is that these persons are not just run-of-the-mill robbers. They have clear links to terrorists and their modules.

Halim is said to be close to T Nasir who was involved in the Bengaluru blasts case. Nasir was arrested in 2009. Further, it was also found that Halim's accomplice, Annas was involved in the deadly Kochi bus burning case of 2005.

The Kerala police say that they are probing further into this matter. "So far we are working on the leads that we have got and we are confident of getting more details in this case. We will also have to question Nasir to get more information and a request for the same would be placed," the officer said.

The officer says that the gang that has been arrested was closely associated with Nasir who apart from the Bengaluru blast case was also involved in the bus burning incident.

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Eight servicemen suffered injuries in the hostilities in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Presidential Administration representative Andriy Lysenko said.

"Fortunately, we had no fatalities in the hostilities over the past day, but eight Ukrainian soldiers suffered injuries," Lysenko said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated the need for bolstering the might of the Ukrainian army at a Tuesday ceremony in Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region when military hardware was transferred to units fighting in Donbas.

"I believe that this ordeal will be followed by peace, prosperity and European perspective, and the weapons and military hardware you have received will definitely draw nearer the day of our victory," Poroshenko said.

Ukrainian defense plants built, modernized and delivered to the army over 1,000 units of armaments and military hardware in 2016, he said. "Streamlined military-technical cooperation provided Ukraine with over 700 pieces of military and special-purpose hardware - sets of radar and counter-battery stations, unmanned aerial vehicles, thermal imagers and communication systems," he said.

A batch of 141 weapons and military hardware units made in Ukraine is being supplied to the front, the Ukrainian president said.

"We will continue to demonstrate the fruit of our defense industry. Every citizen should see the hardware and weapons they are investing in by paying taxes," the president said.

Two years of the armed conflict in Donbas "gave Ukrainian servicemen a unique experience, which will lay a foundation for our defense and our armed forces in the upcoming decades," Poroshenko said.

"It is also clear who will be our enemy throughout that period; this is written in every strategic document pertaining to national security and defense," Poroshenko said.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that the Ukrainian army would be supplied with Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29 planes, Mil Mi-8 MSB helicopters, T-80 and T-64BV tanks, BTR-80 and BTR-3DA armored personnel carriers, BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles, various types of artillery systems and multiple rocket launchers, Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons, new radar stations, special-purpose wheeled vehicles, etc.
Representative of Ukraine in the European Union Mykola Tochytsky has refuted information on granting a visa-free regime with the EU countries to Ukraine and Georgia from January 1, 2017, Yevropeiska Pravda (European Truth) online edition has reported.

"I have not seen a single report of the European Council yet. The Council did not have any discussion on visa-free regime as well. I didnt also hear such position from the European diplomats of member-states," he told reporters in Kyiv.

"There is a draft report to the European Parliament already, and there is no such position as well," Tochytsky said.

He also noted that he sees no motive to link a visa-free regime to the 2017 year.

EU diplomats still expect a final decision in EU Council on visa liberation for Georgia and Ukraine in October with visa free travel on January 1, 2017, some media reported the information on Tuesday with reference to the Twitter message wrote by Radio Liberty Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak.
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Security is tight as thousands of people line the streets of the capital, Nairobi, trying to get a view of the President. Chief..

CBS News 06 Apr 2021
A Russian defense lawyer well-known for defending Ukrainian political prisoners, Ilya Novikov, considers it appropriate to talk about the exchange of all nine Ukrainian citizens, the so-called non-Crimean prisoners, after completion of legal proceedings involving Stanislav Klykh and Mykola Karpiuk.

The lawyer said on 112.Ukraina TV channel that he had no illusions that the Russian Supreme Court, which has considered a complaint filed by the defense, would cancel the verdict both of Karpiuk and Klykh.

Novikov said the defense would file a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights, he stressed.

It would mean the end of the legal process. "But there is nothing more functioning, in my experience, than direct talks and some exchange option, the way it was with Soloshenko, Afanasiev and Savchenko," the lawyer said.

He added: "As far as I know about the position of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, it is inclined to address the "all for all" exchange mode, as well as the alternative - "many for many."

As reported, On May 19, 2016, The Chechen Supreme Court issued a guilty verdict against Ukrainian citizens Karpiuk and Klykh. According to Russian investigators, Klykh and Karpiuk were members of the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian People's Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO) group and fought on the side of armed units of the self-proclaimed republic of Ichkeria against Russian federal forces in 1994-1995. Investigators claimed they fought against Russian troops in Grozny, including in the area of Minutka square and near the presidential palace.

Ukraine's Justice Ministry requested the extradition of Karpiuk and Klykh to Ukraine, but Russia has yet to respond. A second request has been sent.
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Tain Receives Romanian License

Published August 23, 2016 by Ivan P

The iGaming solution developer Tain received the Class 2 Romanian gaming license, enabling the company to offer their services in the country. The development comes only a month after Tain was purchased by the Asian giant XIN Gaming.

One of the leading gaming solutions developers Tain received a Romanian gaming license. Yesterday's press release from the company confirmed that Tain was granted a Class 2 license from the Romanian National Gambling Office (ONJN). The license enables the company to offer their services to iGaming operators in Romania.

Purchase by XIN Gaming Gives Wings to Tain

Just last month, Asian gaming software giant XIN Gaming purchased Tain and the sister company Betting Promotion. These two Swedish companies merged back in 2013 and have been increasingly successful ever since. The purchase by the Asian developer marked a new milestone in their history, opening doors to new possibilities.

Tain's Managing Director Mathias Larsson hinted that the the Romanian gaming license is just the first step in the expansion process. The plan is to increase their presence in Romania but also claim their share of other regulated markets in Eastern Europe.

The company's PR suggests that the next country on their radar is Hungary.

Romanian Market Waking Up

A significant number of gaming software developers have received Romanian licences as of late. This trend suggests awakening of the sorts with the market finally becoming interesting and sustainable. The government in the country finally decided to do away with restrictive measures which made it all but impossible for developers to offer their services in Romania.

Back in 2015, many casino operators were forced out as their licenses were abruptly revoked. Players were also left in an unenviable position as their options were extremely limited and playing on blacklisted sites carried with it a risk of big fines.

The new legislation, which came in force in late February 2016, finally allowed companies registered in the EU or Switzerland to enter the market, either via Class 1 (gambling activities) or Class 2 (related activities) licenses.

The change did not come one moment too soon, as it should prove beneficial for all parties involved: casino operators and developers, the country, and, of course, Romanian players.
The Monk Who Wished He Had a Ferrari

Khang Nguyen Le, previously accused of embezzlement of over $260.000 of temple funds and wire fraud has been sentenced to 30 months by the federal court of law.

It has not been a rare case to see a prominent religious figure make the news by being accused of some sort of a crime during the recent years, but rarely is the accused a Buddhist monk and even more rarely is it one with a gambling addiction.

Yet, in September 2015, it was exactly one such figure who was arrested by the Federal authorities, being charged for fraud and embezzlement of over $260.000 of Lafayette temple in Louisiana, over which he presided for a number of years.

Temple Funds to Fuel Gambling Addiction

Khang Nguyen Le was the presiding monk at the temple, with full access to all temple funds and the authorities charged him with theft and embezzlement which was used to fuel his gambling addiction.

As the court proceedings later reveled, Le used to regularly visit the LAuberge Casino in Lake Charles, where he would find the more secluded Blackjack tables and often lose more than $10.000 in a single weekend playing his favorite gambling game.

Monk Behind Bars

As it seems, his peers may not have even realized what was happening if the authorities hadnt finally caught on to the ATM withdrawals on casino premises from the business accounts of the temple. It was then that the charges were made and the monk was arrested at the New York City airport and later released to prepare his defense.

Le refused making a plea on two separate occasions as he claimed gambling addiction and an inability to control his urge as well as denying the wire fraud charge altogether despite admitting his original crime. However, the court decided that the wire fraud also applied as the transactions were made using an ATM.

At the end of the day, Les trial concluded on July 28th 2016 as the monk was sentenced to 30 months in prison by Judge Donald Walter. Le was also instructed to repay all the funds and now faces a potential extradition to his birthplace, Vietnam, once his sentence has been served.

The entire case was surely a bit controversial just like many other addiction related cases. The monk kept claiming it was the gambling addiction that was responsible for his actions and truth be told, it probably was. Nevertheless, Le is now set to serve 30 months in prison and the future for the 36 year old monk after his sentence remains a mistery.
Opalesque Industry Update - Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that John M. Pollack, former Co-Chair of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLPs M&A and Securities Group, will join the firm as a partner in New York. At Gibson Dunn, Pollack will continue his focus on mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions. We are delighted to welcome John to the firm, said Ken Doran, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. John is a recognized star in the private equity and M&A practice areas. His addition will be an important contribution to our strong private equity and M&A capabilities in the US and around the world. John is a smart, dynamic M&A lawyer who knows what it takes in terms of hard work and good judgment to keep clients happy, said Steven Shoemate, Co-Chair of the firms Private Equity Practice Group and Co-Partner in Charge of the New York office. In addition, he has a substantial private equity practice that is very complementary with our M&A, private equity and investment funds practices. He will be a terrific addition to the New York office. Im very excited to join Gibson Dunn, both for myself professionally and for my clients, said Pollack. The firm is widely known for its excellence in private equity and M&A, as well as other practices. The combination of such expertise, the firms resources and its overall focus on client service and teamwork will help further enable me to deliver the best possible service to my clients.
Opalesque Industry Update - Fund administration provider MainstreamBPO Limited group has announced to the ASX the execution of an agreement to acquire New York based hedge fund administration business Fundadministration, Inc. Fundadministration is a US full-service fund administration firm that works with emerging and established hedge fund managers, registered investment advisers and traders. The firm administers 140 funds for 45 clients with funds under administration (FUA) of USD $5 billion. All of Fundadministrations existing staff will join MainstreamBPO with Fundadministration CEO, Denise DePaola, to join the Groups executive team and become the CEO of MainstreamBPOs US operations. The acquisition is part of Australian based MainstreamBPOs growth strategy of expanding into key fund services markets, with New York seen as the ideal location to grow the combined business in North America and the Caribbean. These markets account for US $2.3 trillion in hedge fund manager assets, representing 60% of the worlds hedge fund managers. MainstreamBPO already has successful hedge fund operations in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. The acquisition will allow the group to better support clients looking to establish cross-border investment strategies in Asia or the US. The transaction is expected to increase the groups total FUA to AUD $94 billion. A smooth integration is expected between the two entities given they both use PFS-PAXUS technology and offer comparable services that streamline fund operations and help reduce operational risks for hedge fund managers. MainstreamBPO Chairman and Managing Director Byram Johnston OAM stated We are pleased that Denise and her team will join us to grow and increase our hedge fund services. There are strong synergies and like-minded values between our businesses with each focused on delivering high client service levels to our clients. Commenting on the transaction, Fundadministration CEO, Denise DePaola, said I see this partnership as an opportunity for us to provide greater stability, growth and value added services to our clients and our team. It is a real honor to join the MainstreamBPO family, together we will be able to accomplish amazing things.
On July 28, London's Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, aka "the Old Bailey," announced the conviction of Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary on charges of "inviting support for a proscribed organization" (the Islamic State). He'll be sentenced, likely to a long stint in prison, in September.

On August 18, social networking service Twitter announced that it has suspended 360,000 user accounts since mid-2015 -- 235,000 of them just since February -- for "promoting extremism." While Twitter is theoretically a private sector entity, the New York Times reports that the company's actions are motivated by "intensifying pressure on Twitter and other technology companies from the White House, presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and government agencies."

The United Kingdom is back in the business of holding political prisoners on a scale not seen since before the 1997 ceasefire in occupied ... err, "Northern" ... Ireland, and American social networks are handing the US government de facto power to censor Internet communications. What could possibly go wrong?

It's easy to look the other way and whistle when the roundups target people like Choudary and the censorship is aimed at a particular variety of "extremism" enjoying little support in the UK or the US apart from small groups within insular communities.

First they came for the Islamists ...

It's easy not to notice that the terrorists who "hate us for our freedoms" chalk up a win each time those freedoms are diminished, openly or surreptitiously, in the name of fighting terrorism.

It became necessary to destroy the Constitution in order to save it ...

We are told the west is at war. That much is true. But the central front in that war isn't Iraq or Syria or Libya, nor is the enemy the Islamic State. "Daesh" is a gnat in a hurricane, empowered solely by western forces toppling secular regimes and creating power vacuums in which it can set up shop.

The real central front is the west itself and the real enemy is the western governments transforming themselves into totalitarian regimes before our eyes.

Every time an Anjem Choudary is imprisoned, or a Twitter account is shut down for "extremism," or a beachfront town in France bans "burkinis," the west looks less like the cradle of the Enlightenment and more like the Soviet Union circa 1937 or Germany circa 1939.

The best weapon against bad ideas is better ideas, not censorship and political imprisonment. Don't let London or Washington wrest that weapon from us.
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SOCAR TURKEY and STAR Refinery once again supporting the CEE & Turkey Refining and Petrochemicals Summit

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22nd August 2016  The World Refining Association and SOCAR Turkey today announced that top management team from SOCAR Turkey and STAR Refinery will be present at the 19th Annual CEE and Turkey Refining and Petrochemicals Conference, taking place in Izmir, Turkey from the 19th  21st of September 2016.The event will host 40 decision makers from major operators in the region such as Tupras, Petkim, Rompetrol, OMV Petrom, and INA, encompassing an array of operators from the CEE and Turkey region.Commenting on the event, Kay Mitchell, General Manager of the World Refining Association said, Were delighted to be returning to Izmir once again with the full support of SOCAR Turkey and STAR Refinery. We see the CEE and Turkey region playing a pivotal role in the global downstream industry and the Petkim peninsula is at the very forefront of the industry in this region.SOCAR Turkey will be presenting a number of exciting updates at the summit and have confirmed a number of their senior management team will be speaking including; Zaur Gahramanov, CEO, SOCAR Turkey; Ibrahim Palaz, General Manager, STAR Refinery and Elchin Ibadov, Chief Financial Officer, STAR Refinery. Additionally, Johannes Benigni, Managing Director, JBC Energy, Dimitrios Koufos, Associate Director  Resource Efficiency Investments, EBRD and Grzegorz Bledowski, EFRA Project Director, Grupa LOTOS SA will also be sharing their expert insight.Sponsors of the CEE & Turkey Refining and Petrochemicals Summit include: Siemens, Dupont, Daily Thermetrics, Sulzer, CB&I, Innospec and Alfa Laval.The two day conference will provide the opportunity to hear some of the recent developments in the area, market network and to get an update on SOCAR Turkey/Petkim/STAR Refinery senior management and commitment to investing in Turkey. STAR Refinery's senior management will be on hand to share their updates, opportunities and challenges. STAR Refinery project, which has been the largest in Turkey in terms of investment for the last 40 years, is now ready for 70 percent. Production will start in 2018. Along with naphtha, the new oil refinery will produce diesel fuel with ultra-low sulfur and aviation kerosene, reformate, petroleum coke, LPG, mixed xylenes.Foreign investment in Turkey is doubled in the last five years. Turkeys main assets include a young, dynamic population, a large domestic market, and a strategic location, combined with strong infrastructure and much improved public services. An increase in business investment and innovation as well as in education and skills are main factors boosting the productivity growth.The World Refining Association was founded in 1996 with the launch of Russia Refining & Petrochemicals in Vienna. Over the years our business has grown from conferences to serving thousands of customers every year through our networking events, industry reports, conferences and exhibitions. We now operate in 18 countries, Europe, Russia and the CIS, the Middle East, and Africa with offices in London, Singapore and the UAE . We are committed to providing the best experience for our customers.Information about the CEE & Turkey Refining and Petrochemicals Summit:Event dates and location:Conference: 19  21 September 2016Location: Hilton Izmir, Ismet Kaptan Mah., Gazi Osman Pasa Blv. No: 7, 35210 Konak/Izmir, TurkeyEvent website:For more information, interviews and media accreditation:Kelly TeaMarketing ExecutiveEmail: k.tea@theenergyexchange.co.ukTel: +44 207 384 7807
Biopesticides Market: Size, Share, competitive landscape, current industry trends by 2015 - 2021

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Pesticides are ubiquitous, toxic and synthetic agents. It mainly kills or prevents pests present on plants and animals. The other functions of pesticides are crop protection, prevention of vector-borne diseases and preservation of food and materials. As of April 2016, there are around 299 registered biopesticides active ingredients and 1401 active biopesticides product registrations. Biopesticides target the organisms affecting the growth as compared to the conventional pesticides which are harmful for birds and other animals.Request Sample Report:Biopesticides can be applied using different formulations. They are mainly used as liquid solution or in dry form. The liquid solution can be directly sprayed on plants or in the soil whereas dry form can be thrown over the field. However, this formulation type solely depends on the crop type. Biopesticides are derived from the natural resources and can be mainly classified into three major groups such as biochemical pesticides, microbial pesticides and Plant-Incorporated-Protectants (PIPs) pesticides. Microbial pesticides are extensively used pesticides owing to their high effectiveness.The report provides a comprehensive view on the biopesticides market. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the biopesticides market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product 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.Do Inquiry before buying:Biopesticides are considered to be eco friendly and hence rising awareness for use of eco friendly products drives biopesticides market. Ample support and funding from the government for the use of eco friendly biopesticides further stimulates the growth of this market. Furthermore, increasing incidence of crop diseases coupled with growing demand for organic food fuels supports the demand for biopesticides. However, lack of awareness from the developing and underdeveloped regions may hinder the growth of the biopesticides market. Research and development expenditure for biopesticides is low as compared to the conventional pesticides. This factor may persuade the inventors to focus on the development of innovative products.The biopesticides market can be segmented on the basis of type, which includes biofungicides, bioinsecticides, bionematicides and bioherbicides. On basis of end user the biopesticides market can be segmented as fruits & vegetables, grains & oilseeds and others. Fruits, vegetables, grains and oilseeds are the most prominent segments due to high consumption of biopesticides. The biopesticides can be applied by means of soil treatment, post harvest, seed treatment, and foliar spray among others.North America dominated the biopesticides market in 2015 followed by Europe owing to high use of organic products. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest pace and is likely to continue the traction in the forecast period. This growth is mainly attributed to rapidly developing agricultural sector and growing demand for eco friendly, organic products. Also, continuous demand for high productivity due huge population base and cost effective techniques in production of food further contribute to the market growth. Latin America is anticipated to experience decent growth over the coming years due to high growth in agricultural sector in Brazil. Middle East and Africa may show sustainable growth in the estimated period owing to rising living standards and abundant arable land for agriculture.Browse detail report at:Bayers CropScience Ag, Parry America, Inc, BASF SE, Monsanto Company, Certis USA L.L.C, Isagro S.p.A, Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. and The Dow Chemical Company are some of the major key players in the biopesticides market. Companies primarily focus on the extensive R&D for the development of innovative products in order to maintain their shares in the market.The report segments of the underfloor heating market into:Biopesticides Market: Type Segment AnalysisBiofungicidesBioinsecticidesBionematicidesBioherbicidesBiopesticides Market: End User Segment AnalysisFruits & vegetablesGrains & oilseedsOthersBiopesticides Market: Type of Usage Segment AnalysisSoil treatmentPost harvestSeed treatmentFoliar sprayOthersRead Report TOC:Biopesticides Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaAbout Us:Zion Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. Zion Market Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading industry and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.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:
Public And Private Company Registration Consulting Services - Corporate Capital Ventures(CCV India)

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Corporate Capital Ventures offers complete support for all types of business set up with company registration and consulting services. It is a renowned name in New Delhi, a team of professionals having expertise in legal and financial issues to provide end-to-end business set up services. The legal support includes assistance in the documentation work. Corporate Capital Ventures(CCV India) provides all consulting services related to company registration under one roof. The company provides special assistant to every client with its team of experts having knowledge of all legal procedures. The aim of these services is to make business establishment process simple, affordable, and fast.For a new company, it is compulsory to register under the company's act 2013. It is not an easy task legal procedure is mandatory to follow. To make these services fast and simple consulting services are preferred by entrepreneurs. These consultants have a legal team with the expertise to provide complete support for each step of the company formation process. Entrepreneurs prefer these consulting service for timely start of business with professional support for every step of the company registration process.To commence a company is complex for businessmen unfamiliar with the documentation, licenses, permits, finance, and the entire process. In such scenario, the consulting services can make the task simpler by providing support for each of these parts of company registration and business set-up. It starts with choosing a trademark depending on the business structure it could be Private Limited(), Public Limited(), LLP, or Sole proprietorship company. Each of these company structures distinguishes from other each has its specific benefits to suit a specific business purpose. The documentation needed depends on the structure of a company. It mainly includes ID proof, Pan Card, address proof, NOC from the premise owner, DIN, and DSC. Selecting a name for the company that is unique and completing the terms set by ministry of corporate affairs is mandatory in case the name selected is not as per the rules it may get rejected causing a delay in the company registration process. Selecting a unique and appropriate name as per the rules is also a part of the consulting service. Additional support is provided for formation of MOA & AOA documents.orporate Capital Ventures( CCV India), located in New Delhi provides consulting services required to set up business. It offers consulting services for registration of Public Limited company, Private Limited Company, LLP Company, and Sole proprietorship company. It also provides advice on Financial, Legal, and Secretarial matters to help a client grow.CCVIndia  Corporate Capital Ventures Pvt. Ltd.160,(Basement),Vinoba Puri,Lajpat Nagar-II,New Delhi-110024Email id:- ccvindiaa@gmail.com
Municipal and Industrial Sludge Treatment Market: Growing population has resulted into increased volume of sludge which drives the market by 2015-2021

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Sludge is the semi solid by-product obtained from the waste water treatment. Sludge produced from the treatment of household and sewage water is considered as municipal sludge. Sludge obtained as by-product from industrial chemicals and waste treatment is known as industrial sludge. Activated sludge is used for the treatment of municipal sewage therefore also known as biosolid as it mainly consists of biological solids. Sludge management is the important part of the wastewater treatment process.Request Sample Report:The report provides a comprehensive view on the municipal and industrial sludge 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 municipal and industrial sludge market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product 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.Growing population has resulted into increased volume of sludge which drives the market for municipal and industrial sludge treatment. Moreover, escalating energy cost from the conventional sources prompts the use of biogas which in turn expected to trigger the municipal sludge treatment market in the near future. However, severe regulations and policies for operating the sludge may impede the growth of the market.Do Inquiry before buying:Sludge treatment depends on the constituents and source. Sludge can be treated using different techniques such as stabilization, composting, and anaerobic treatment, activated sludge, dewatering, and thickening. Stabilization is the process of reducing the biological oxygen demand (BOD) from the sludge by either aerobic or anaerobic process. Composting is the technique in which the sludge is decomposed by aerobic microbes and then used as manure in farming. Anaerobic treatment involves decomposition of sludge by anaerobic process and utilization of methane as a fuel in household obtained during the decomposition process. Activated sludge is the method of reusing the treated sludge for treatment of waste water.Asia Pacific dominated the municipal and industrial sludge market owing to huge waste generation from growing population, which in turn increasing use of different wastewater treatments. Europe and North America is likely to have moderated growth rate due to advance techniques for treatment of waste.Helix environmental Consultancy, Biotain AB, wastewater management system holding sdn.bhd, Adwest Technologies, Andritz separation, Strabag Umweltanlagen GmbH, Alfa LAVAL Cambi AS and ADI SYSTEMS INC among others are the major players for the municipal and industrial sludge market.Browse detail report at:The report segments of the municipal and industrial sludge market into:Municipal and Industrial Sludge Market: Application Segment AnalysisStabilizationCompostingAnaerobic treatmentActivated sludgeDewatering and thickeningMunicipal and Industrial Sludge Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaRead Report TOC:About Us:Zion Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. Zion Market Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading industry and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.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:
China Laser Processing Equipment Industry Research Report, 2016-2018

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Albany, New York, August 23, 2016: Market Research HUB has announced the addition of the China Laser Processing Equipment Industry Research Report, 2016-2018" report to their huge collection of market research reports.Under the background of industry transformation and upgrading, Chinese government has introduced number of supporting policies to promote the development of laser industry in recent years. In 2015, the government published China Manufacturing 2025 Technology Roadmap of Key Areas, which brought many new laser technologies and products into national strategy plan, such as automobile laser radar system, laser remote detection, laser small hole molding, laser hybrid welding, laser display etc.Browse Full Report with TOC -Since 2012, benefiting from the continuous development of downstream markets, Chinas laser industry has stepped into a high-speed development period. The total sales of laser equipment in industrial field, information, business, medicine and scientific research field reached RMB 33.6 billion in 2015, which increased by 4.7 percentage point compared with 2014.Sales of industrial laser equipment slowed down on YoY basis in 2015. However, this segment still increased by RMB 810 million. This is mainly benefiting from Trumpfs sustaining development in China, as well as Hans Laser Sheet Metal Division and other major manufacturers stable growth.The three major telecom operators, CMCC, China Unicom and China Telecom, are continuing to build up 4G networks. The ""Broadband China"" and ""Fiber to the Home (FTTH)"" strategies published in 2015 will stimulate the investment of fiber broadband, which has maintained the growth of many photo-communication enterprises in the past year. In addition, with the release of Hisenses laser TV and the introduction of laser giant-screen cinema in more and more regions, laser display will be driven into a high speed way.Cigarette and wine enterprises boosted the updating paces in low and medium-grade products, which produced increasing demand for laser anti-counterfeit packaging. The total sales of laser in business field in 2015 achieved significant growth.The explosive medical cosmetology and dermatologic therapy markets has promoted the growth of domestic laser medical equipment manufacturers. The net income of Miracle Laser, the first medical laser public company in China, increased 21.8% in the first half of 2016. The total medical laser market increased 18% in 2015 on YoY basis.China, as the third largest laser market, ranks only after the EU and USA. Some homemade medium and low power level fiber laser has equipped with the ability to compete with foreign leading brands in quality and performance parameter. On the other hand, core laser components still rely on import, high-end market remains occupied by foreign manufacturers. In 2015, the total amount of Chinas imported laser components reached USD 1128 million.Customarily, Chinas laser processing was divided into four areas: Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, central China and Circum-Bohai Sea Region. Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta mainly focus on medium and low power level laser processing equipment and high power laser cutting & welding respectively, while Circum-Bohai Sea Region mainly engage in high power laser cladding equipment and all solid state laser components.Request for Free Sample Report -Domestic manufacturers launched many new products in 2015. In laser processing, Huagong Laser released a sapphire fiber laser cutting machine. Hans laser published a laser welding equipment used for automobile tailor welded blanks. In laser, Skyeralaser lanched nanosecond grade fiber laser, which supporting 10 gears independent control of pulse/ frequency. In laser display, ILLUMINANCE Co., Ltd. released a high resolution micro projector using MEMS laser projective techniques. As for laser components, the raman fiber amplifier produced by Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics successfully solved the power boost of raman fiber laser.About Market Research HUBMarket Research HUB (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free : 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel : +1-518-621-2074Email : sales@marketresearchhub.comWebsite :
The SON (Self-Organizing Networks) Ecosystem Industry Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts Research Report 2015 - 2030

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "The SON (Self-Organizing Networks) Ecosystem: 2015 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts" to its huge collection of research reports.SON (Self-Organizing Network) technology minimizes the lifecycle cost of running a mobile network by eliminating manual configuration of equipment at the time of deployment, right through to dynamically optimizing performance and troubleshooting during operation. This can significantly reduce the cost of the operators services, improving the OpEx to revenue ratio.Amid growing demands for mobile broadband connectivity, mobile operators are keen to capitalize on SON to minimize rollout delays and operational expenditures associated with their ongoing LTE and HetNet deployments.Originally targeted for the RAN (Radio Access Network) segment of mobile networks, SON technology is now also utilized in the mobile core and transport network segments. Furthermore, the SON ecosystem is increasingly witnessing convergence with other technological innovations such as Big Data, predictive analytics and DPI (Deep Packet Inspection).Despite challenges relating to implementation complexities and multi-vendor interoperability, SON revenue is expected to grow to more than $4 Billion by the end of 2017, exceeding conventional mobile network optimization revenue by nearly 60%.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The SON (Self-Organizing Networks) Ecosystem: 2015  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of the SON and associated mobile network optimization ecosystem including key market drivers, challenges, OpEx and CapEx savings potential, use cases, SON deployment case studies, future roadmap, value chain, vendor analysis and strategies. The report also presents revenue forecasts for both SON and conventional mobile network optimization, along with individual projections for 7 SON submarkets, 6 regions and 15 countries from 2015 through to 2030.The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report.Key Findings:The report has the following key findings:Despite challenges relating to implementation complexities and multi-vendor interoperability, SON revenue is expected to grow to more than $4 Billion by the end of 2017, exceeding conventional mobile network optimization revenue by nearly 60%SNS Research estimates that SON can enable wireless carriers to save nearly 40% of their electrical power consumption by dynamically by activating and deactivating RAN nodes in line with the changing traffic and user distribution profileSNS Research estimates that a Tier 1 wireless carrier can save more than 30% of its overall OpEx by employing SON across the RAN, mobile core and mobile backhaul segments of the networkWireless carriers have reported up to a 50% reduction in dropped calls and over 20% higher data rates with SON implementationSON platforms are moving from reactive systems to more advanced implementations that incorporate predictive analytics technology to make necessary changes to a network before any degradation occursInfrastructure and software incumbents are aggressively eyeing on acquisitions of smaller established C-SON players to accelerate their early entry path into the C-SON marketTopics Covered:The report covers the following topics:Conventional mobile network planning & optimizationSON technology and architectureKey benefits and market drivers of SONChallenges to SON adoptionSON use casesSON deployment case studiesCompany profiles and strategies of over 70 SON ecosystem playersOpEx and CapEx saving analysis of SONWireless network infrastructure spending and traffic projectionsWireless network infrastructure industry roadmap and value chainFuture roadmap of the SON ecosystemConvergence of SON with Big Data and predictive analyticsStrategic recommendations for SON solution providers, wireless infrastructure OEMs and wireless carriersMarket analysis and forecasts from 2015 till 2030Make an Enquiry of this report @Forecast Segmentation:Market forecasts and historical figures are provided for each of the following submarkets and their subcategories:Mobile Network OptimizationSONConventional Mobile Network Planning & OptimizationSON Network Segment SubmarketsRANMobile CoreMobile Backhaul & TransportSON Architecture SubmarketsC-SON (Centralized SON)D-SON (Distributed SON)SON Wireless Network Generation Submarkets2G & 3G4G & BeyondRegional SubmarketsAsia PacificEastern EuropeLatin & Central AmericaMiddle East & AfricaNorth AmericaWestern EuropeCountry MarketsAustraliaBrazilCanadaChinaFranceGermanyIndiaItalyJapanRussiaSouth KoreaSpainTaiwanUKKey Questions Answered:The report provides answers to the following key questions:How big is the SON and mobile network optimization ecosystem?How is the ecosystem evolving by segment and region?What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?Who are the key SON vendors and what are their strategies?What is the outlook for QoE based SON solutions?What is the outlook for C-SON and D-SON adoption?What is the outlook for SON associated OpEx savings by region?How will SON investments compare with those on traditional mobile network optimization?What opportunities exist for SON in mobile core and mobile backhaul?How will SON use cases evolve overtime in 3GPP releases?Which regions will see the highest number of SON investments?How much will wireless carriers invest in SON solutions?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 @
Flooring and Carpets Market To Increase at Steady Growth Rate

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This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market, contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, statistically-supported, industry-validated market data, carpets and floorings are a vital part of any household or commercial structure. In addition, carpets and flooring are increasingly gaining importance in other applications such as automobiles, aerospace and aviation. Carpets can be made from various materials such as wool, polymer staple fibers and bulk continuous fibers. In addition, rugs may also sometimes be classified under carpets. Resilient flooring, wood flooring, laminate flooring, rubber flooring and ceramic floor tiles are different types of flooring available in the global market.Recovery of the construction industry in developed regions such as North America and Europe is expected to be one of the main drivers for the growth of the market over the next few years. In addition, increasing construction activities in emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India is expected to fuel the demand for floorings in this region. Moreover, increased consumer expenditure on interiors of houses, hotels and offices is expected contribute significantly to the growth of the market. More and more automobile manufacturers are strategically using carpets and floorings in automobiles to enhance the vehicles appearance. However, price volatility of raw materials such as polymers, rubbers and ceramic are expected to hamper the growth of the market. Development of innovative designed light weight carpets and floorings is expected to open opportunities for the growth of the market in the near future.Request Free Report Sample@Market for ceramic tiles was significantly large in Asia Pacific and South America while the market for carpets was substantial in North America and Europe. Rapid industrialization and favorable economic conditions in Asia Pacific is expected to drive the construction market, which in turn is expected to bolster the demand for flooring and carpets over the forecast period. Demand for flooring and carpets are expected to be significant in the Americas over the same time period.Some of the key participants of the market include Armstrong World Industries, Autoneum Holding, Beaulieu Group, Dixie Group, FRITZ EGGER, Hangzhou Nabel Group, Interface Incorporated, Mohawk Industries, Oriental Weavers, RPM International and Suminoe Textile among others. The market is highly fragmented in nature owing to the presence of several small, medium and large-scale manufacturers.Request For TOC@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Market Forecast Report on Clinical Trials, 2015-2025

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Clinical trials are research studies performed on humans to gain specific information about biomedical interventions such as novel vaccines, devices, treatments and drugs and thereby generating safety data. Clinical trials are regulated by health authorities and ethics committees.Documents required for performing clinical trials are investigators brochure (IB) which include current and relevant scientific information about the investigational product, United States Food and Drug (FDA) form 1572, protocol and amendments, inform consent, other written information for participants, recruitment advertisement, financial disclosure form (FDF), master clinical trial agreement (MCTA), institutional review board (IRB) approval, medical licensure, training records, laboratory accreditation, visit monitor reports, miscellaneous document, signature sheet and documentation of investigational drug destruction. The International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) brings together regulatory authorities of Europe, the United States, Japan and experts from pharmaceutical industry to frame and regulate the technical and scientific aspects of pharmaceutical product registration. The Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) states rules and standard guidelines for clinical trials. ICH guidelines are followed as law by several countries in the world.Clinical trials are conducted in four phases namely, Phase I, II, III and IV. Phase I is conducted for safety, phase II is conducted for efficacy, phase III is conducted for final confirmation of safety and efficacy and phase IV is conducted for post sales studies. Risk to participants involved in clinical trials decreases from phase I to phase VI. Number of participants increases from phase I to phase IV resulting in increasing cost of trials. Based on the phases of clinical trials, global clinical trials market is segmented as follows:Request Free Report Sample@Phase IPhase IIPhase IIIPhase IVBased on indication, global clinical trials market is classified as follows:Blood disordersOphthalmologyAutoimmune diseasesCirculatory diseasesCancerGenitourinary diseasesCongenital diseasesMusculoskeletal diseasesCentral nervous system (CNS)InfectionsDermatologyMetabolic disordersCardio vascular system (CVS) diseasesGastrointestinal diseasesMental disordersOthersBeing relatively costly process, in order to reduce economic burden on company and shift focus on core business activities, many companies outsource their clinical trial activities to contract research organizations (CROs). Contract research organizations provide services such as clinical trial management, clinical research and preclinical research. Factors such as advancement in technology and increasing demand of innovative solutions in healthcare industry are driving the market of global clinical trials towards growth. On the other hand, factors such as high cost and stringent regulations are restraining the growth of clinical trials market globally. Geographically, the global clinical trials market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World.Request For TOC@North America is the leading consumer of global clinical trials solutions, followed by Europe. Ample availability of funds to outsource clinical trials serves as the major growth driver for the North America clinical trials market. Asia-Pacific demonstrates impressive growth potential for clinical trials market and is expected to show the highest growth rate as compared to other regions in the world. Countries such as India are attractive markets due to advantages such as availability of skilled practitioners and availability government support in terms development of outsourcing hubs thus attracting pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to outsource clinical trial activities to CROs in this region. Some of the market leaders contributing to the global clinical trials market include Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk A/S, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Ltd., Sanofi Aventis A.S. and Roche Group.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Telehealth: Global Market Trends, Regulatory Landscape and Operational Strategies | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Telehealth: Global Market Trends, Regulatory Landscape and Operational Strategies" to its huge collection of research reports.Telehealth: Global Market Trends, Regulatory Landscape and Operational Strategies", provides key insights into the global telehealth regulatory and market landscape, as well as its main applications in healthcare and associated sectors.The continued adoption of telehealth technologies around the world will have a positive impact, not only on healthcare markets, but on a range of different sectors as well. The report assesses the potential impact these technologies will have on healthcare systems as well the business opportunities they offer to other industries  including the technology and telecommunications sectors. Furthermore, the analysis explores recent developments in regulations and guidelines in key geographies including the US, Europe, Japan, China, India and South Africa. Along with global market drivers and restraints, the report also provides insights into the size of telehealth/telecare markets in key geographical markets.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Many healthcare providers have developed integrated strategies for adopting telehealth technologies, particularly as their value continues to be quantified. Detailed case studies of recent successful telehealth programs are provided in this new report, showcasing strategies and the impact these have had on patients and healthcare systems. The analysis shows that successful telehealth programs will tend to implement careful and detailed planning, considering all key stakeholders and available engagement channels while integrating appropriate services across them. Important operational strategies to consider when planning and implementing a new telehealth program are also outlined in dedicated sections of the report.mHealth technologies and telemedicine devices are being increasingly adopted globally, and represent the most rapidly growing fields within telehealth. In particular, the introduction of easily worn biosensors has sparked a great deal of interest in this sector in recent years. Profiles and product descriptions of novel technologies within these two fast-growing telehealth segments are provided, along with an outline of challenges and business opportunities.Publisher has conducted extensive research in order to provide a comprehensive view of the global market trends in the telehealth industry. These unique and trusted industry analyses will enable a complete understanding of the telehealth market in both established and emerging markets.ScopeWhat impact will telehealth technologies have on healthcare systems, patients and related sectors?What strategies are healthcare providers considering when implementing new telehealth programs?How does the telehealth regulatory and market landscape compare in the developed markets of the US, Europe and Japan, compared with that of emerging economies like India, China and South Africa?What technological, macroeconomic and industry factors are driving or restraining the telehealth market?What are the most important factors to consider when designing and implementing a new telehealth program?What are the most pertinent considerations for all telehealth programs?What telehealth devices represent the biggest commercial opportunities and what are their key features?Make an Enquiry of this report @Key Reasons to PurchaseThis report will allow you toGain unique insights into the regulatory landscape of the telehealth sector in key geographical markets including the US, Europe, China, Japan, India and South Africa: This report comprehensively describes and assesses recent regulatory developments and telehealth guidelines in this dynamic sector.Assess the most pertinent commercial trends in the telehealth sector: This report provides global market drivers, restraints and market size and growth estimates for key geographical markets, providing insights into novel product technologies and those garnering significant adoption.Assess operational strategies for telehealth program design and implementation: This report provides insights and recommendations to consider when implementing a new telehealth program, including market research, HR, channel analysis, governance, revenue models, monitoring and security considerations.Assess novel technologies in key telehealth sectors: This report also provides a comprehensive analysis including trends, challenges and opportunities for telemedicine devices and mHealth technologies, providing insights into novel product technologies and those garnering significant adoption around the world.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 @
Automotive Brake System Market Analysis, Trends, Forecast, 2015-2025

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The developing industry of automotive has largely emphasised on the development of the vehicles that are fast and safe. Brakes have become an important and crucial part of any vehicle so as to ensure the safety which becomes very essential when the demand of speed is increasing steadily. Being commonly used in different automobiles an automotive brake system comprises a brake device having different components (such as brake pads, brake shoes, brake drum, rotor, piston, calliper, master cylinder, and brake booster) which are used for decelerating a vehicle.The growth in automotiveindustry is anticipated to fuel the growth of global automotive brake system market along with the increasing concerns over safety and resulting government pressures that have upturned the OEMs towards the launching of higher technology content, thereby driving the demand for global automotive brake systems across the globe.Automotive Brake System Market: Drivers & RestraintsEver-increasing demand and succeeding vehicle production is considered as one of the biggest driver for the increasing demand of the automotive brakes and global automotive brake system market penetration. Also the increasing governmental mandates for improving the vehicle safety has strongly contributed to the demand of the global automotive brake system market. The major restraint in the global automotive brake system market implies to be the higher cost of the newer technology of Electronic Brake Systems (EBS) when compared to the commonly used Hydraulic Brakes.Request Free Report Sample@Automotive Brake System Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global automotive brake system market is segmented as Disc Brakes and Drum Brakes.On the basis of applications the global automotive brake system market is segmented as Two Wheeler Motor Vehicles, Passenger Car Vehicles, and Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV).On the basis of technology the global automotive brake system market is segmented as Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Traction Control System (TCS), and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) that comes under the electronic braking systems (EBS).Automotive Brake System Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global automotive brake system market is expected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. Asia-Pacific is projected to endure its control on the global automotive brake system market. The key countries in the mentioned region are projected to be India, South Korea, and China as an outcome of the increasing demand for commercial vehicles and passenger cars. Japan also contributes to the global automotive brake system market remarkably. China is expected to be the largest opportunity in terms of revenue of the industry. Europe is expected to be the second largest market in global automotive brake system market followed by North America.Request For TOC@Automotive Brake System: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global automotive brake system market are TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Aisin-Seiki Co. Ltd., Continental AG, Akebono Brake Industry Co. Ltd., Brembo S.P.A., Halla Mando Corp., and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Photonics Market to Grow at a CAGR of 5.80% between 2014 and 2020 with Support from Medical and Healthcare Industry

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A new research report published by Transparency Market Research states that the global photonics market is poised to achieve remarkable growth in the coming years. The report, titled Photonics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020, elaborates upon the market thoroughly with the aim of providing a guiding document to the readers. The research analysts have attempted to view the global photonics market through a microscopic lens to examine the finer nuances of the dynamics governing it and present a granular view of the market for readers.According to the research report, the global photonics market was valued at US$509.7 bn in 2013 and is expected to reach US$765.9 bn by the end of 2020, growing at a CAGR of 5.80% between 2014 and 2020. The steady increase in the demand for photonics across the globe is attributable to the growing demand for efficient electronic products. The global photonics market will also be propelled by the exponentially growing volume of data that is in a constant process of transfer. Additionally, the advantages of photonic-based devices such as less consumption of electricity will also give an impetus to the market. The only restraint on the global photonics market is the poor commercialization of photonic devices at present.Get Free PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights:The global photonics market is segmented on the basis of geography, product, and application. Geographically, this market is segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Products sold in this market are optical modulators, waveguides, optical interconnects, LED, wavelength division multiplexer filters, lasers, photo detectors, amplifiers, and others. Applications of photonics are seen in consumer electronics, safety and defense technology, displays, metrology, communication, sensing, high-performance computing, medical and healthcare, and others.The market for wavelength division multiplexer filters was valued at US$116.2 bn in 2013 and is expected to grow at an impressive rate due to the huge demand for high-speed communication. Additionally, the amplifiers segment is also expected to register impressive growth at an 8.90% CAGR in the forecast period. Amongst the applications, the medical and healthcare industry is the fastest growing segment, exhibiting a whopping CAGR of 7.40% from 2014 to 2020. The increasing application of photonics in the medical and healthcare industry will be due to the rising demand for quick and accurate identification of diseases.Research Report with ToC and Free Analysis:Some of the important players in the global photonics market are IBM Corp., Intel Corporation, Finisar Corporation, Innolume GmbH, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Luxtera Inc., Infinera Corp., Hewlett-Packard Company, and 3S Photonics S.A.S. The research report explains the competitive landscape of this market by profiling these companies and conducting a SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis. Furthermore, the research report also provides an insight into the financial overview, research and development activities, investment outlook, potential mergers and acquisitions, and business and marketing strategies of these companies.The global photonics market has been segmented as follows:Photonics Market: By geographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the WorldPhotonics Market: By productWaveguidesOptical ModulatorsOptical InterconnectsLEDWavelength Division Multiplexer FiltersPhoto DetectorsLasersAmplifiersOthersPhotonics Market: By applicationConsumer ElectronicsDisplaysSafety and Defense TechnologyCommunicationMetrologySensingMedical and HealthcareHigh Performance ComputingOthersTransparency 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.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
(Xinhua) 14:01, August 23, 2016

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NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese ride hailing and sharing company Didi Chuxing was selected on the Fortune list of "2016 Change the World", shortly after the acquisition of Uber China that cemented its leading position in Chinese transportation service market.

As the only Chinese mainland company on the annual list of the U.S.-based magazine, Didi Chuxing, estimated to be worth 35 billion U.S. dollars, ranked the 30th mainly because of its contribution to the environment.

British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline topped the list, followed by Israeli water desalination firm IDE Technologies and U.S. multinational conglomerate General Electric.

Published on Saturday, Fortune highlighted Didi's positive impact on cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.

Last year, car-pooling services from Didi helped reduce total car trips in China by 1 million a day, which saved 500 million liters of gas and cut 13.5 million tons of carbon emissions per day, it said.

"That's not the only way in which Didi is a pollution-buster," it said. "Its taxi service reduces the time drives aimlessly cruise around across 400 cities; its bus service coordinates long-haul private buses for commuters and car-pooling reduces congestion."

Founded in 2012, Didi Chuxing became China's largest transportation network firm after the merger of competitors Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache.

On Aug. 1, global ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. said it decided to sell the business of Uber China unit to Didi Chuxing. By this merge, investors in Uber China unit will own 20 percent of Didi; while Didi will invest 1 billion dollars in Uber.
Saudi Arabia Pharmaceutical Market to Reach US$ 5.2 Bn in 2016

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The significant rise in lifestyle-related diseases and the developments in healthcare infrastructure are expected to influence the demand for pharmaceuticals in Saudi Arabia. In 2016, the Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market is anticipated to procure value worth US$ 5,209.5 Mn at a y-o-y growth of 6.0 % over 2015. The mounting demand for branded drug products will continue to incite the growth of the Saudi Arabian pharmaceutical market in 2016.The demand for pharmaceuticals in Saudi Arabia is expected to register substantial growth owing to the increasing penetration of health insurance companies and the rising incidence rate of non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, the exceptional rise in the per capita income of Saudi Arabia is also expected to foster the demand for branded pharmaceutical drugs. Another key factor driving the growth of the pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is the countrys strategic move to allow 100% FDI in the pharmaceuticals sector. Although, the shortage of profound indigenous research capacity in the pharmaceutical industry and the delayed registration of drug and medicine patents is expected to limit the expansion of the market in 2016 and beyond.Request Free Report Sample@Based on the product type, the pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is expected to witness an upsurge in the prescription-type branded drug products. In terms of market value, the branded drugs are estimated to reach US$ 2,760.8 Mn by 2016-end. The demand for generic drugs is projected to secure steady growth, attributing to the insisting promotion of generic drug adoption by healthcare insurance providers.On the basis of the diseases, the pharmaceutical drugs used for treatment of cardiovascular diseases will continue exhibiting robust growth in 2016. The demand for cardiovascular medications will continue to surge due to the prominence of circulatory disorders in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the rising prevalence of disorders related to body sugar levels is expected to make diabetes a rapidly growing disease-based sub-segment in the Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market.The pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is also segmented on the basis of distribution channel, where retail pharmacies will continue to account for 80% market share compared to hospital pharmacies. The westernised modernisation of retail pharmacies in Saudi Arabia has led to the availability of a wide range drugs and medicinal products, thereby attaining a considerable growth in the retail pharmacy sub-segment in 2016 and further.Request For TOC@The rising resource potential in Saudi Arabia is projected to positively reform the production environment for pharmaceutical manufacturers. In order to expand the markets size, structuring alliances with well-established native companies is predicted to be a key strategy for global pharmaceutical leaders. The key players in the Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market include Novartis AG, SPIMACO, Pfizer Inc., and Glaxosmithkline plc., Jamjoom Pharma, and Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Co. among others.Long-term Outlook: The Saudi Arabia pharmaceutical market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.0% over the forecast period 2016-2026. In terms of market value, the pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia is estimated to be worth US$ 12,281.4 Mn by the end of forecast period.Browse Full Report@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Market to Expand at 5.0% CAGR Fueled by Surging Demand from Power Sector

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The global supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) market is forecast to expand at a 5.0% CAGR from 2014 to 2020, according to Transparency Market Research. In its latest report, titled Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, TMR states that the global SCADA market will grow from a value of US$23.2 bn in 2013 to US$32.7 bn by 2020.The SCADA market is fueled by a number of factors, such as rising infrastructure investments in emerging economies, increasing demand for SCADA in the oil and gas sector, growing risk of cyber threats, and a surge in process automation in various industry verticals. The development of cloud-based SCADA and wireless sensor network-based SCADA is anticipated to further fuel the overall market.The global SCADA market is segmented on the basis of components into programmable logic controller, SCADA communication system, human machine interface, remote terminal unit, and others. By architecture, the SCADA market is categorized into software, hardware, and services.Get Free PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights:SCADA systems find application in a number of industries: chemicals, food and beverages, transportation, water and waste water management, electrical power, oil and gas, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunication. With a 17.70% share in the overall SCADA market in 2013, electrical power emerged as the largest revenue contributor. This can be attributed to the rise in grid automation projects in the power sector. Automation of a number of processes has allowed SCADA systems to store historical data for trend analysis and control power distribution and transmission costs.Geographically, the global SCADA market comprises four key regions: Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World (RoW). The RoW region includes Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2013, North America held the largest share in terms of revenue, fueled by improvised and reliable power management and massive technological and financial investments. Rapid advancement in process automation enabled this region to hold a 33.80% share in the market in 2013. Europe is the second-largest SCADA market, propelled by growing demand for process automation in the oil and gas sector, electrical power industry, and the water and waste water management segment. The Asia Pacific SCADA market is driven by infrastructural development in the waste water management sector as well as the power sector.Research Report with ToC and Free Analysis:Some of the leading players competing in the SCADA market are General Electric Co, Rockwell Automation, Inc., Schneider Electric SE, Omron Corp, ABB Ltd., Siemens AG, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Honeywell International, Inc., Emerson Electric Co., and Alstom SA. These vendors are profiled in the SCADA market research report based on aspects such as recent developments, business strategies, and financial and business overview.SCADA market, by Components:Human Machine Interface (HMI)Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)SCADA Communication SystemOthersSCADA market, by Architecture:HardwareSoftwareServicesSCADA market, by Application:Electrical powerChemicalsOil and gasFood and beveragesManufacturingTransportationPharmaceuticalsWater and waste water managementTelecommunicationsOthersSCADA market, by Geography:North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the World (Latin America, Middle East and Africa)Transparency 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.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Progress of Power and Automobile Industries Instrumental to Global Insulated Wire and Cable Market

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Albany, New York, August 23, 2016  Market Research Hub (MRH) has announced the addition of a new market study, titled Global Insulated Wire and Cable Market to 2020 - Market Size, Growth, and Forecasts in Over 70 Countries, to its offering. The report serves as a repository of information and analysis of the applications, types, technology developments, regional segments, and the competitive landscape of the global market. It provides qualitative as well as quantitative data to help companies in this market make strategic decisions. The report offers a comprehensive study of the global insulated wire and cable market at global level and for over 70 distinct countries.Browse Full Report on Global Insulated Wire and Cable Market -Insulated wires and cables are covered or lined with a material that reduces or prevents the leakage, transfer, and passage of heat or electricity. These wires are better protected against short circuits and provide resistance to interference. They significantly cut down the cost of transmission and therefore have been adopted on a large scale in day-to-day applications in the industrial, household, and commercial sectors.In the first section, the authors of the report have provided a detailed overview of the global insulated wires and cables market by providing information about the applications, classifications, definitions, and industrys chain structure. The report discusses the methodology used to carry out the research, along with the assumptions and economic indicators. It also presents insights into the growth of global insulated wires and cables market in terms of revenue and volume.The report offers insights into market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities. The growth of the global insulated wires and cables market is largely influenced by the growth of the power, automotive, telecommunication, and building and construction industries. As insulated wires and cables form an indispensable part of these industries, the significant growth of the latter, especially in Asia Pacific countries, bodes well for the global insulated wires and cables market. Furthermore, the market is estimated to grow further with the emergence of new applications of insulated wires and cables.However, the growth of the market is slightly hampered by the slow growth rate in Europe owing to the unstable macroeconomic conditions in the region. Moreover, the use of PVC, which is the most widely used material for jacketing and insulation in wires and cables, is challenged by regulatory issues pertaining to its adverse environmental impact.The report analyzes the markets size and key end users in over 70 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Spain, South Africa, the US, and the UK. The report gives insights into different product groups and their growth forecasts. It also highlights the most promising countries among the 70 countries analyzed.Request for Free Sample Report:The report also describes the competitive landscape of the global insulated wires and cables market in detail. It talks about key industry manufacturers with information such as company profiles, market share, sales, product pictures and specifications, and contact information. Companies are investing in the research and development of technologically advanced products in order to boost their sales. Moreover, there is an increase in acquisition and merger activities by the key players to widen their consumer base across different regions.About Market Research HUBMarket Research HUB (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free : 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel : +1-518-621-2074Email : sales@marketresearchhub.comWebsite :
Battery Management Modules Market Forecast & Future Industry Trends 2025- The Insight Partners

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The Battery Management Modules Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Components, Applications, 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 Battery Management Modules Market to 2025 @The Battery Management Modules Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Components, Applications, 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.Battery management systems are particularly designed to meet the requirements of managing and protecting Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) and battery packs used in Electric Vehicles (EV) with automotive grade quality. The growing applications of batteries that can be recharged in telecom, military and healthcare, and developing market for hybrid and electric vehicles are factors propelling the global market growth. The progress of battery management systems in power grids and automotive industry are representing the strong adoption of BMS globally. Automotive sector holds the largest market share and then comes consumer/handheld and energy. Possibility of fire accidents of electric vehicles (mostly battery electric vehicles) resulted in consumers concerns regarding the safety of electric vehicles. AS compared to HEV, both BEV and PHEV have more compound battery system assembly that needs more efficient battery strength and safety; thus, BEV and PHEV require more developed and dependable BMS. The BMS market is anticipated to propagate the growth of the EV market.Request sample copy @The electronics manufacturers are concentrating on producing small versions of electronic products, resulting in reduced size of BMS. Rising demand for reducing fuel costs and maximizing vehicle competence has led to technological progressions in EV and HEV. To upsurge utilization of battery storage ability and evade hazardous incidents caused by battery overheating, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) of e-bikes and e-vehicles are integrating BMS systems in these vehicles. The global market for BEM is experiencing complex competition due to existence of huge number of manufacturer.The global battery management system market is segmented by topology into distributed, centralized and modular. Further, the market is segmented by component that includes battery, DC/DC converter, power module and communication channel. Also, the global battery management market is bifurcated on the basis of end-user into automotive, consumer/handheld and energy. This market is also bisected by regions i.e. Europe, APAC, North America, South America and Middle East & Africa.Inquire about discount on this report @The global market for battery management system is dominated by Asia Pacific owing to existence of major automotive manufacturers and increasing usage of hybrid and electric vehicles in China. Europe and North America covers the second largest share in the market. L&T Technology Services, Electric Vehicle Innovative Systems, Valence Technology, Inc., Panacis Inc., Johnson Matthey PLC, Merlin Equipment Ltd., Ashwoods Energy Limited, Vecture Inc., Toshiba Corporation, Lithium Balance Corporation, SK Continental E-motion, Nuvation Engineering, TWS are some of the key market players in the global battery management system market among others.Some of the key points covered in the report: Battery Management System Market Landscape Battery Management System Market  Key Industry Dynamics Battery Management System Market  Five Forces Analysis Battery Management System Market  Competitive Landscape Battery Management System Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Topology Battery Management System Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Component Battery Management System Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  End-user Battery Management System Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025  Geographical Analysis Battery Management System 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.comAbout 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.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Digital signage market size forecast to exceed USD 23.02 billion by 2023

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Digital signage market size was over USD 15 billion in 2015. Latest global digital signage market research forecasts 5.2% CAGR growth from 2016 to 2023; as per a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.Lower paper wastage coupled with LED backlit panel integration has led to significant energy savings, driving digital signage market growth. The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to transform the technology from mere content displayers to a hub capable of collecting operational data via cloud computing.Request for a sample of this research report @Dynamic digital signs engage the audience with real-time audiovisual multimedia content, thereby inviting them to explore the displayed content. It is also a suitable platform for creating and distributing content, since it is faster and less expensive than print media.Specifically designed hardware display panels to be used in digital signage are expected to be rivalled by consumer televisions, which are priced relatively lower. Compatibility and interoperability issues between media players and displays may also act as a growth restraint.Content management system forms a crucial component of the system, which allows end users to control what is displayed on their screens. Content developers are usually advertisement agencies or marketing agencies which design the content including text, graphics, images and videos to be displayed in order to create maximum impact and target the intended audience.Browse key industry insights spread across 80 Pages with 43 market data tables & 38 figures from the report, Digital Signage Market Size By Application (Banking, Corporate, Education, Healthcare, Retail, Transportation), By Display Technology (LCD, LED, Front Projection), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, APAC, South America, MEA), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 - 2023 in detail along with the table of contents:Key insights from the report include: Global digital signage display market size was USD 6.07 billion in 2015, with revenue expected to hit USD 9.3 billion by 2023, at 5.5% CAGR from 2016 to 2023. Asia Pacific digital signage market share is forecast to grow at 6.5% CAGR from 2016 to 2023. Developments in the government and educational sector along with enhanced user experience, infrastructure development, and decreasing display panel prices are forecast to propel growth. Organizational use cases include navigation, communication, point of sale (POS), point of transit (POT), promotion and advertising, and infotainment. Increased demand in healthcare services has contributed substantially towards technology implementation. Current healthcare IT trends include deployment of EMR (electronic medical records). The segment is forecast to surpass USD 850 million by 2023, with 7% CAGR estimations from 2016 to 2023. LED is the most attractive product segment, and is anticipated to gain share over the forecast timeframe. This can be attributed to high efficiency, low power consumption, and decreasing cost. Expected competition between specialized vendors and new entrants is forecast to result in product innovation for achieving differentiation. Solution providers proactively participate in content development strategies as a majority of clients have limited experience in dealing with this medium. Samsung, LG Corporation, AUO, and Innolux contributed significantly to digital signage market share in 2015. These systems have gained prominence in the corporate space owing to increased awareness of positive impact on brand awareness and perception and effective communication with employees. Evolution of digital campus has presented growth opportunities in the education space.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.29L Atlantic Avenue,Suite L 105, Ocean View,Delaware 19970United States
Youve Installed A Time Tracker. Whats next?

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An accurate time tracker is not only a helper for managers but for employees, too. Companies keep an eye on the time spent working and keep a check on employees. When the staff tracks work time, they get a better idea of what tasks take up much of their time.But this is easier to be said than done. You can face obstacles when implementing a time tracker. Here are a few ways you may do it the right way:Install A Time TrackerThe CrocoTime time tracker is an accurate and easy-to-use tool. Companies can use it to streamline project management procedures, control their teams tasks and raise their efficiency. Workers may also benefit from the CrocoTime as theyll be informed about all their jobs that have been taking too much time. In addition to this, the CrocoTime time tracker also helps companies find projects that give the most value and money. This way theyll be able to invest resources in the same project to enhance their bottom line performance.Choose Right CategoriesCreating categories in a time tracking app is useful when there are many users are on board. This is where team time tracking comes in. With all the team tracking their time, its goals are achieved and all members work together. With the softwares data sharing feature better agreement and cooperation is achieved and all employees are well informed of the projects status.Use Time Tracking In Real-TimeHuman memory sometimes cannot be trusted to retain all of what happened during a work day. During long and busy work days, not everyone can remember what tasks they did on that day. So, a good time tracker helps in recording all computer activities and projects that were finished. Moreover, the CrocoTime time tracker offers a time tracking agent as well. It can be installed on every computer in your office and all work activities can be recorded without any hassle.Stay FlexibleCompanies and especially CEOs and managers must be as flexible as it possible while tracking time. Tracking employees work time does not mean that they should be controlled 24/7. While they are being monitored, privacy must be respected. For generating good results in the companys favor, firm should let employees work according to their own work style.CrocoTime is the time tracking software that not only tracks time, but generates correct timesheets too. The app also transforms timesheets to billable entries with one click. Try our 14-days free trial and see how bad is your today's time management!Infomaximum was founded by Alexander Bochkin in 2008. Prior to founding the company and launching time tracking software CrocoTime Alexander ran a students scientific circle. It gave to the members of the team a valuable experience in creating fast and powerful code as well as several successful software projects.We aimed to create the software to track time, optimize workload of organizations and increase productivity of employees. We wanted the software to be useful, feature-rich, but at the same time fast, responsive, and intuitive.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.Our teams vast experience in fields of productivity, getting things done, time management, as well as close cooperation with customers, and attention to their needs allows us to constantly improve CrocoTime.3, Severo-Vostochnoy Ave., Saransk, Mordovia, Russia, 430000
Research Offers 10-Year Forecast on Cyber Security Market

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Cyber security is related to information technology security, which focuses on protecting networks, computers programs and data from unauthorized access. Defense and military, government, financial institutions and corporation etc. collect and store confidential information on computers and transfer that data across networks. In order to protect this data and information from cyber attack cyber security becomes necessary. Increasing threats such computer intrusion (hacking), virus deployment and denial of services are increasing the demand for cyber security solutions and services. The governments of various countries such as U.S., Canada, Germany and China etc. are increasing their investment in cyber security due to expansion in computer interconnectivity and dramatic in computing power of government network.The cyber security market report contains the global scenario of this market discussing detailed overview and market figures. The research report analyses the industry growth rate, industry capacity, and industry structure. The report analyses the historical data and forecasts the cyber security market size along with key factors driving and restraining the market growth.Request Free Report Sample@The Cyber security market can be segmented into four major types into security, services, solutions and applications. The Cyber security market is segmented on the basis of types of security which includes six major categories namely network security, application security, endpoint security, cloud security, content security and wireless security. The services segment includes consulting services, risk assessment services, designing and integration services and training services. On the basis of solutions, ten major categories namely risk and compliance management, identity and access management, data loss protection, firewall, IDS, Unified threat management, encryption, antimalware and antivirus, web filtering and others (security and vulnerability management, DDOS mitigation and disaster recovery). The cyber security market can be segmented on the basis of applications into six categories namely defense and military, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), public utilities, healthcare, telecom and IT and others (retail and manufacturing). The market can also be segmented geographically into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (Latin America, Middle East and Africa).The cyber security market across the globe is a multi billion market and is expected to show a substantial growth in CAGR, from 2013 to 2019. There is a significant increase in the cyber security market because cyber security solutions increase cyber speed and offers number of options to save data.Visit For TOC@The key drivers of this market include Government regulation on data privacy, increasing cyber threats and increasing number of data centers, which are the biggest revenue generators for Cyber Security Market. The key restraints to this market are lack of awareness and availability of pirated security software.Some of the key players in the Cyber Security Market are IBM International, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cisco, Lockheed Martin, McAfee, CA Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Trend Micro, Symantec and SOPHOS among others.Cyber security market offers various benefits such as improved security of cyberspaces, increased cyber-defense and faster response time to national crisis. These benefits of cyber security market automatically increase value of service to the end-users.Full Report Analysis@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:
BRIC Disposable Hygiene Products Market Expected to Expand at a Steady CAGR through 2020

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The disposable hygiene products market is witnessing an annual growth of nearly 6-7% due to increased consumer spending on personal care products globally. In addition, the demand for improvised comfort, performance and efficient absorbent hygiene products is expected to drive demand for disposable hygiene products in the near future. Concerns for safety, convenience and hygiene are identified as key factors affecting growth of disposable hygiene products market. Furthermore, rising consumption of products such as sanitary pads, wipes, baby products and others across the globe is anticipated to drive demand for disposable hygiene products market in near future. Among the developing economies, increasing population and manufacture of such products in countries such as India and China and low penetration of these products is expected to open opportunities for growth of the market in BRICS. Moreover, industry-sophistication is expected to fuel the demand for disposable hygiene products in Brazil.Apart from increasing population in BRICS, economic development particularly in countries such as China and India is a key factor contributing towards substantial growth of disposable hygiene products market in the region. Furthermore, increasing disposable income, rising expenditure or consumer spending on personal hygiene and increasing hygiene concerns are expected to fuel demand for disposable hygiene products over the next five to six years. Also, increasing Internet penetration is a prime factor supporting wide distribution of these products to tech-savvy consumers in BRICS via the medium of online retailing. Internet penetration is expected to enhance distribution of these products, leading to increased consumption and brand visibility among consumers in BRICS.Request Free Report Sample@Although hygiene concerns rank high among consumers in the BRICS region, low awareness among people in rural areas coupled with low adoption of products in regular operations could hamper growth of the market. However, some international companies are focused on advertising campaigns along with the government awareness campaigns regarding hygiene. Although hygiene concerns in BRICS region is high, low awareness among people in rural areas coupled with low adoption of products on a regular basis is expected to restrict market growth. Moreover, cost reduction coupled with efficient packaging of the disposable hygiene products is concern for companies operating in this market.As a result, a few international companies are focusing on advertising campaigns along with product portfolio expansion through opening of new manufacturing units. For instance, Unicharm Corporation, Procter & Gamble India and Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ.) among others, have opened new manufacturing units for hygiene products in India. For instance, Unicharm Corporation invested US $ 39.2 million to set up a manufacturing facility with the objective to develop baby care, pet care and feminine care products in India.Visit For TOC@The disposable hygiene products market is segmented on the basis of product type and material used in products. The various disposable hygiene products include nappies, diapers, toilet paper, wipes, sanitary protection, kitchen towels, paper tableware, cotton pads and buds. These products are classified according to age-group since product usage differs accordingly. On the basis of age-group, the market has been segmented into adult care, feminine care and baby care. The materials used in these products are broadly classified as woven or non-woven, which depends on the acceptability of the product as well as age-group for which they are designed. Among all the product categories, the sanitary pads and baby products are collectively expected to be a promising area in the BRICS disposable hygiene products market. Among all the BRICS countries, India and China are expected to witness an increase in demand for disposable hygiene products, followed by Brazil and Russia.Investments by local players for disposable hygiene products are increasing rapidly, which is expected to lead towards a strong competitive database. This in turn is predicted to enhance the competitiveness among local as well as international players, leading to substantial investments in this market in future. Prominent players in this market include Dispowear Sterite Company, Kimberley Clark Corporation, Disposable Hygiene Products Ltd., BOSTIK SA, BAHP, UNICHARM Corporation, Procter & Gamble Company, Unicharm Corporation, Kao Corporation and Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ).Full Report Analysis@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:
ROSATOM and National Council for Sustainable Development of Cambodia Held First Joint Work Group Meeting

The Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM and the National Council for Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Cambodia (NCSD) held the first Joint Working Group meeting on August 17-18. Say Samal, Cambodian Minister of Environment, Chair of the NCSD, and Dmitry Tsvetkov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Cambodia, participated in the opening session of the meeting.The event was the first step in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the joint working group for studying the peaceful use of atom, which was signed earlier this May.Russia and Cambodia are now actively developing bilateral economic relations, and nuclear technologies are among the most promising areas of cooperation. The atom may become the cornerstone of Cambodias sustainable development: on the one hand, it is able to satisfy the energy needs of the growing nations economy, on the other hand, being a clean energy source, it may help to preserve the countrys unique nature, Ambassador noted.Various companies of ROSATOM participated in the meeting, including representatives of Rosenergoatom, the groups nuclear power plants operator, who shared the Russian experience and solutions in the sphere of national nuclear infrastructure development in countries, which are nuclear energy newcomers.From the Cambodian side in the event participated representatives of following organisations: National Sustainable Development Council, National Science and Technology Council, Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, as well as other Cambodian authorities and educational institutions.At the meeting the parties discussed the possibilities of various implementation of nuclear technologies to support the socio-economic development of Cambodia, with the immediate priority given to public awareness raising and human resource development in nuclear energy and nuclear technologies.The cooperation between Cambodia and Russia in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes is part of our effort to promote the overall socio-economic development of the country, to modernize our economy, to move toward a knowledge-based economy by reducing our dependence on natural resources, and by promoting research, development and innovation. We are interested in nuclear technology for its many applications in healthcare, industry, agriculture, and other sectors of the economy, and, in the long run, as possible option for meeting our increasing energy demand. We are glad that the first steps in this direction we are making together with such an experienced partner as ROSATOM, said Say Samal.One of the key areas of the Russia-Cambodia cooperation in nuclear industry, is the dissemination of reliable information about nuclear technologies among the population. To achieve this, the parties are implementing the project to establish Nuclear Energy Information Centre in Cambodia.The center is a comprehensive communications platform, which will allow people of various age and professions to learn in an interactive form about the basics of atomic energy and technologies. ROSATOM has already opened 17 such centers, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Turkey. According to the statistics, more than 80% of people positively change their attitude towards nuclear energy after visiting these centers, told Egor Simonov, Vice-President ROSATOM  Southeast Asia.For reference:In May 2016 ROSATOM and National Council for Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Cambodia signed two documents: Memorandum on Nuclear Energy Information Center in Cambodia and Memorandum on the Cambodia-Russia joint working group on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Both documents were signed by Mr. Sergey Kirienko, Chief Executive Officer of ROSATOM, from the Russian side, and Mr. Say Samal, Minister of Environment and Chairman of the National Council for Sustainable Development, from the side of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Memoranda were signed with witness of Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Mr. Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia.In November 2015 the National Council for Sustainable Development of Kingdom of Cambodia and ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation signed a Memorandum of cooperation for the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The memorandum involves the following areas of cooperation between the parties: cooperation in the area of engineering, construction and operation of a nuclear research center on the basis of multiple research reactors; basic and applied research; nuclear and radiation safety, use of radioisotopes and radiation technologies and their application in industry, medicine, agriculture and other fields; education and personnel training.ROSATOM is the Russian Federation national nuclear corporation bringing together circa 400 nuclear companies and R&D institutions that operate in the civilian and defense sectors. With 70 years' expertise in the nuclear field, we are a global leader in technologies and competencies offering cutting-edge industry solutions. We work on a global scale to provide comprehensive nuclear services that range from uranium enrichment to nuclear waste treatment.One Raffles Place, Tower 2 #19-61Singapore 048616tel: +65 6808 5687
Variable Displacement Pumps Market Projected to Reach 4.03 Billion USD by 2021

Variable Displacement Pumps Market

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The report "Variable Displacement Pumps Market by Type (Piston and Vane), Application (Hydraulic and IC Engine), End-use Industry (Construction, Mining, Automotive, Agriculture, Plastic, and Material Handling) - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2021", is projected to reach USD 4.03 Billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 4.1% between 2016 and 2021.The growing construction industry is expected to drive the variable displacement pumps market during the forecast period. The tremendous growth of industrial production, and rise in the number of vehicles are primarily responsible for the high consumption of variable displacement pumps. Piston pump is the most preferred type of variable displacement pumps owing to its various advantages such as wide volumetric & pressure efficiency range.Browse 67 market data Tables and 60 Figures spread through 153 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Variable Displacement Pumps Market - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2021"Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.Hydraulic machine to account for the largest share of the variable displacement pumps market by 2021The variable displacement pumps market is segmented by application, namely, hydraulic machine and IC engine. In 2015, the hydraulic machine segment captured the maximum share of the overall market and is expected to witness moderate growth rate during the forecast period. The growth of the hydraulics machine application is primarily driven by the rising demand from end-use industries. On the other hand, the IC engine application is projected to be the fastest-growing application during the forecast period. The growing automotive industry boosts the vehicle production, thus fueling the growth of the variable displacement pumps market across the globe.Construction to be the largest end-use industry of the variable displacement pumps market between 2016 and 2021The construction industry accounted for the largest share of the variable displacement pumps market. Variable displacement pumps are mostly used in construction equipment for better control over machine activity. The rising global population and need for construction activities are the major factors driving the growth of the construction industry across the globe, which in-turn is contributing to the growth of the variable displacement pumps market.Download PDF Brochure:Asia-Pacific to be the largest market during the forecast periodThe variable displacement pumps market is broadly segmented into five regions, namely, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and South America. Asia-Pacific is the largest market and is projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period. This dominance by the Asia-Pacific region is mainly due to rapid economic growth, particularly in the construction and automotive industries in the region. In addition, rapid industrialization in Asia-Pacific coupled with improved living standard is driving the market for variable displacement pumps.Currently, the global variable displacement pumps market is dominated by various market players such as Bosch Rexroth AG (Germany), Parker Hannifin Corp. (U.S.), Danfoss A/S (Denmark), Eaton Corporation (U.S.), The Oilgear Company (U.S.), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Japan), Yuken Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Japan), Atos Spa (Italy), Hawe Hydraulics (Germany), and Casappa Spa (Italy) among others.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. RohanMarkets and MarketsUNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZMagarpatta city, HadapsarPune, Maharashtra 411013, India.Tel: +1-888-600-6441Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.comVisit MarketsandMarkets Blog @Visit 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 yearMarkets and MarketsUNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZMagarpatta city, HadapsarPune, Maharashtra 411013, India.Tel: +1-888-600-6441
Lan Zhiping catches chickens at the home of a chicken raiser in Nongxiong Village, Dahua Yao Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Aug. 16, 2016. Nongxiong Village, located in mountainous areas of Guangxi, has 123 families living under poverty standard among its nearly 2000 villagers. Lan Zhiping, 28 years old, has found out a way to lift villagers out of poverty through chicken raising industry. This year, he established a poultry raising cooperative with four other villagers, in which more than 2,300 chickens are raised. A hatching base which can hatches 8,000 to 10,000 baby chicks in one month is under construction. The chicken raising industry has also received support from the local government of Dahua County, who plans to raise 2 million chicken in 2016 as to shake off poverty. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
Mold Inhibitors Market : Rising demand from the consumers for the extended shelf life of food drives the market by 2015-2021

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Mold is a ubiquitous type of fungus which commonly grows on the food products and when present in large quantity can be hazardous for human health. Molds are generally grown over the food with high water content and temperature produce aflatoxin. Mold inhibitors are the substance that inhibits or restrict the growth of molds.Request Sample Report:Rising demand from the consumers for the extended shelf life of food drives the mold inhibitors market. Moreover, increasing concern for health effects caused due to molds stimulates the growth of the market. In addition, animal feed market is growing rapidly owing to escalating demand for meat which is turns prompts the market demand. Growing demand for beverages and baked foods further adds to the mold inhibitors market growth. However, impact of some of the inhibitors on the human health is likely to hamper the growth of this market. Nevertheless, rising awareness along with high demand from the emerging economies is expected to offer ample opportunities for mold inhibitors market.In order to provide comprehensive view on the mold inhibitors 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 mold inhibitors market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product 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.Do Inquiry before buying:On the basis of type the mold inhibitors market can be segmented as benzoates, natamycin, propionates, sorbates and others. Natamycin is the most prominent segment and has usage in food industry, animal feed and pharma industry. Mold inhibitors have various applications in animal feed, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics & personal care and other. Animal feed is the one of the leading segment due to high global demand for animal feedstock.North America dominated the mold inhibitors market owing to high usage of mold inhibitors in animal feed, food industry, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and others. U.S. is the leading consumer for mold inhibitors. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market due to rapidly growing food industry along with rising disposable income, particularly in China and India. Latin America, Middle East and Africa are expected to experience sustainable growth in the forecast period owing to rising awareness for mold inhibitors.Some of the key players in the mold inhibitors market are Pacific Coast Chemicals, Associated British Foods Plc, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Handary SA, Niacet Corporation, Eastman Chemical Company, Kemin Industries Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, BASF SE, Koninklijke DSM N.V., Associated British Foods Plc and Hawkins Watts Limited among others.Browse detail report at:The report segments of the mold inhibitors market into:Mold Inhibitors Market: Type Segment AnalysisBenzoatesNatamycinPropionatesSorbatesOthersMold Inhibitors Market: Application Segment AnalysisAnimal feedFood industryPharmaceuticalsCosmetics & personal careOthersMold Inhibitors Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaAbout Us:Zion Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. Zion Market Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading industry and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.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:
APAC Material Handling market to expand at a CAGR of 5.04% over 2015 to 2021

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Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence announces the publication of a new report on Asia-Pacific Material Handling Market - Forecasts from 2016 to 2021 " to their offering.Material Handling is an integral part of the supply chain for storage, control, and movement of items from raw material stage to the distribution of finished products. The rising need for global production companies to automate their business processes and foster flow of goods in an effective way is driving Material handling market growth.This report provides forecast and analysis of the Asia-Pacific Material Handling Market which was valued US$47.290 billion in the year 2015 and is projected to grow to US$63.502 by the year 2021, at a CAGR of 5.04% over the forecast period. The region will witness the fastest growth out of different geographical regions, especially on account of rising demand for these solutions from China and India. Increasing investments in infrastructure sector in emerging economies will boost the demand for various material handling solutions, thereby propelling the growth of this market. Growing e-commerce industry will create significant opportunities for material handling manufacturers to expand their presence in the region over the forecast period. Moreover, focus on workers safety and the need to enhance business process efficiency will fuel the use of these solutions at dangerous and hazardous workplace; spurring up the deployment of these solutions across different industry verticals.Toyota, BEUMER Group, Dematic, Daifuku, and Swisslog are some of the major players covered as part of the report.Asia-Pacific Material Handling Market has been segmented as below: By Producto Automated Guided Vehicleso Automated Storage And Retrieval Systemso Trucks And Liftso Craneso Conveying Systemso Hoistso Others By Applicationo Warehousing And Distributiono Airport Baggage Handlingo Bulk Handlingo Postal And Parcel Deliveryo Assemblyo Packagingo Others By Industry Verticalo Manufacturingo Healthcareo Chemicalo Papero Food and beverageo Warehousingo Others By Geographyo Chinao Japano Indiao Australiao South Koreao OthersPurchase complete report or request sample:Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence is a market research and consulting firm based out of India. Driven by industry experts, the company provides syndicated reports, custom research, and consulting services. Our proprietary data analytics model blended with quality primary and secondary research data, assists in generating quality reports providing crucial insights to managers and decision makers. The services offered by us helps companies to gain required competitive edge. Our expertise across 10 industries such as ICT, Chemicals, Semiconductors, Healthcare among others caters to diverse client needs.Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence LLPH-38, Sector 63 Noida, U.P., IndiaPhone: +1-866-714-4587E-mail: sales@knowledge-sourcing.com
Can Internship really help you secure a permanent job?

Bridging the gap between you and the world of opportunities

Pune, August 2016Job aspirants keep on looking for all possible opportunities to stand apart in the selection process of an interview. One of the most viable methods is by taking internships in-between your studies or after graduation as it gives an experience which is not imparted through lectures. Internships make you the ideal candidate to be hired.A research by NACE shows that 60% chances are there that your internship may turn into a job opportunity. Interns who spend their time in project management and market analysis etc. have good chances of showcasing their skill. The management wants to see the potential of the interns and they will hire them only when the interns add value to the company by their research and projects.Candidates who complete their internships are considered to be more loyal and their rate of leaving the company in at least five years is less. Companies invest resources and time on grooming the proper candidates for the position. The method of hiring through an internship is very cost effective rather than hiring through mass drives or other processes. So hiring interns by testing him during internships is the best case scenario for the employer as well. In 2015, the intern conversion rate was 51.7% .A successful intern carries referrals from the employees of internship providing firm which give him their trust ,make them influential and that is the highlight of their resume. Interns are tried and tested candidates with time management and team work skill set.International internships add intercultural competencies to the candidate profile. It makes a student a world citizen. Employers would vouch for these candidates who are able to adjust and adapt to world technology and culture. Students and graduates should definitely redefine their goals and opt for best internships possible to get placement as soon as they graduate.PursueAsia was founded in 2013 in Pune, India. PursueAsia specializes in connecting global students with the right type of internships and consulting services. The company operates in three major locations of India, Dubai and Singapore. Internships are a significant part of Pursue Asia's educational package. It provides perfect career guidance to graduating students, and alumni; along with internships in all almost every sector of the industryPursueAsia provides International Internship programs in India, Dubai, and Singapore. The company provides internship programs to global students from various universities, into Asian multinational companies for various professional sectors.Pursue Asia Recruitment and Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.Office No.202 - 203, 2nd Floor, Suratwala Mark Plazzo, Hinjewadi, Pune - 411 057 IndiaTelephone :+91 020 65310510WhatsApp :+91 7768033776
Global Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Market 2016 Industry Trends, Sales, Supply, Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021

Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment

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Global Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Industry 2016The Global Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment market. Details such as the size, key players, segmentation, SWOT analysis, most influential trends, and business environment of the market are mentioned in this report. Furthermore, this report features tables and figures that render a clear perspective of the Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment market. The report features an up-to-date data on key companies product details, revenue figures, and sales. Furthermore, the details also gives the Global Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment market revenue and its forecasts. The business model strategies of the key firms in the Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment market are also included. Key strengths, weaknesses, and threats shaping the leading players in the market have also been included in this research report.The report gives a detailed overview of the key segments in the market. The fastest and slowest growing market segments are covered in this report. The key emerging opportunities of the fastest growing Global Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment market segments are also covered in this report. Each segments and sub-segments market size, share, and forecast are available in this report. Additionally, the region-wise segmentation and the trends driving the leading geographical region and the emerging region has been presented in this report.Get Complete Report with TOC :The study on the Global Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment market also features a history of the tactical mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships activity in the market. Valuable recommendations by senior analysts about investing strategically in research and development can help new entrants or established players penetrate the emerging sectors in the Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment market. Investors will gain a clear insight on the dominant players in this industry and their future forecasts. Furthermore, readers will get a clear perspective on the high demand and the unmet needs of consumers that will enhance the growth of this market.Table of ContentChapter One Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Industry Overview1.1 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Definition1.1.1 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Definition1.1.2 Product Specifications1.2 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Classification1.3 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Application Field1.4 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Industry Chain Structure1.5 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Industry Regional Overview1.6 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Industry Policy Analysis1.7 Swimming Pool Water Treatment Equipment Industry Related Companies Contact InformationGet Sample Copy of Report @About Us:QYResearch Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. QYResearch Group also carries the capability to assist you with your customized market research requirements including in-depth market surveys, primary interviews, competitive landscaping, and company profiles. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics. QYResearch Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651
Fluorspar Market will be worth of US$3.49 bn in 2023, expanding at a CAGR of 5.4% between 2015-2023

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This review is based on Transparency Market Researchs report, titled Fluorspar Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023. The acidspar segment holds a dominant share in the global market and is expected to lead the market in the coming years. The high demand for acidspar in the hydrochloric acid industry is expected to boost this product segment in the near future. The report states that the acidspar product segment will represent an opportunity worth US$2,523.1 mn in 2023 as it expands at a CAGR of 5.6% between 2015 and 2023.Currently, Asia Pacific is the leading producer and consumer of fluorspar. China and Japan have been driving the demand for fluorspar in Asia Pacific and are expected to lead the region with high production levels of steel and aluminum.Get FREE PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights :Demand for Cooling Equipment Generates Demand for FluorochemicalsThe growing demand for refrigerators and other types of cooling equipment in residential as well as commercial sectors is anticipated to augment the demand for fluorochemicals. Advanced cooling systems being developed by the automotive sector are also driving the demand for fluorochemicals. Both of these trends are especially pronounced in developing countries such as India and China. These countries have been witnessing rapid urbanization and are home to major automobile manufacturing units. The increasing sales of air conditioners and refrigerators due to a rise in the standard of living is anticipated to fuel the uptake of fluorochemicals, thereby increasing the consumption of fluorspar in the near future.The rising production of steel and aluminum in BRIC nations has also contributed significantly to the expanding fluorspar market. Analysts predict that infrastructural developments in these countries and the need for steady transportation and construction activities will also bolster the fluorspar market.Restriction on Ozone-depleting Substances Hampers Market GrowthDespite several growth drivers, the market is hampered by stringent government regulations aimed at protecting the ozone layer in the wake of global warming. The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 urges about 22 countries across the globe to reduce the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) to prevent the depletion of the ozone layer. Over the years, such restrictions have had a negative impact on the demand for fluorspar.The leading players  China Kings Resources Group Co., Ltd, Mexichem S.A.B de C.V., Centralfluor Industries Group, Inc., MINERSA Group, and Kenya Flourspar Company Ltd (KFC)  held a collective share of 37.2% in the global fluorspar market in 2014. These players will focus on strategic acquisitions and mergers to fortify their hold in the overall market.Though the degree of competition is high due to an oversupply of fluorspar in the market, vendors will have to focus on introducing cheaper products due to price-sensitivity, especially in developing countries, suggests the lead author of this research report.The opportunity in the global fluorspar market will be worth US$3,489.7 mn by 2023 as compared to US$2,193.0 mn in 2014, with the market surging at a CAGR of 5.4% between 2015 and 2023.Fluorspar manufacturers are also tying up with final product manufacturers to acquire steady supply contracts and build goodwill. The market will also witness the entry of new players, especially in the emerging economies of the Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific as there are abundant reserves of fluorspar in South Africa and China.Key Takeaways:Demand for refrigeration to create opportunity worth US$3,489.7 mn in global fluorspar by 2023Asia Pacific fluorspar market expands at 5.9% CAGR as manufacturing activities riseAcidspar becomes the leading product segment of the global marketThe report segments the global fluorspar market as follows:Fluorspar Market - Product Segment AnalysisAcidsparMetsparCeramic gradeOthers (Including optical and lapidary grade)Fluorspar Market - Application AnalysisAluminum productionSteel productionHydrofluoric acidOthers (Including concrete additives, lithium-ion battery, etc.)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.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
An evening in Valencia  or rather Hawaii?

www.Costadevalencia.com

Spanish language students from Valencia visit a Hawaiian surf partyValencia. To go surfing without going into the sea, swallowing salty water and returning to the beach frustrated, sounds like something impossible. But on the Hawaiian surf party it worked out. Spanish language students of a language school in Valencia were given the opportunity to go on such a party at a public pool in Valencia. The doors of the location opened at night again and the students were welcomed with music, pineapple and watermelon  a perfect start for a perfect night!As the language students sat down on the grass they had time to take a closer look: starting at one pool, where a big ball was thrown around. Over to another, where the visitors could kayak and paddle and finally an installation where the visitors could surf  this party had everything for people who like water. No one got bored here, regardless the age: the kids had fun with some toys in the little pool while the elderlies were sitting together enjoying a cool drink. Who thought to bring a picnic could relax and enjoy a nice dinner while watching the people in the pools. All of this in the middle of the city Valencia, but it appeared to be another world.The language students took the opportunity to get listen to Spaniards talk and to hold conversations with them to improve their Spanish. Just like this the knowledge of the language grew a little more without even realizing it. In the Spanish language school Costa de Valencia the students do not simply sit in the classroom and study vocabulary, here the students get to experience the real Spanish life, meet Spaniards and go to a Hawaiian party!One after another the students went back to their homes in Valencia, to have good nights sleep and let the experiences and impressions settle.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
FusionAnalyticsWorld.com Launches New Website, Offering a platform for learning and sharing content on Analytics

www.fusionanalyticsworld.com

FusionAnalyticsWorld.com is recently launching its website which is poised to become The Analytics Encyclopedia. The site aims to assist analytics professionals and enthusiasts a platform for learning as well as sharing content on Data Science, Big Data, Data Mining, and Business Analytics.The process is quite simple. Readers should visit the new site and register with us by opening an account. Once you are done, from your account page you can post comment, rate, like or comment on posts, share your questions and get responses from community experts or give your expert opinion and be noticed and improve your brand value.The word Fusion stems from the word Data Fusion which is the process of integration of multiple data and knowledge representing the same real-world object into a consistent, accurate, and useful representation. Encyclopedia comes from Greek word meaning "complete instruction" or "complete knowledge". The purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe.About the Founder: Kalyan BangaA Post Graduate in Business Analytics from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta, a premier management institute, ranked best B-School in Asia in FT Masters management global rankings. Kalyan has 14+ years of rich experience in domain of business analytics, market research, management consulting and strategy. My multi-country and multi-cultural experience enhances my technical Analytics expertise to steer businesses towards facts and data supported decisions prime to the local business culture and environment. My work exposure spans from mature market like US to developing market like India. For the past 3 years, I have been instrumental in setting up of a Business Analytics & Intelligence team in a multinational Analytics company based on North America. During these years, I have worked on various tools like R, SAS, SPSS and XLMiner.For any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at info@fusionanalyticsworld.comFusion Analytics WorldKalyan Bangainfo@fusionanalyticsworld.com(800) 712-77772020 K Street, NWWashington, D.C. 20006
Clinical Decision Support System Market - Latest Trends & Insights 2023

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Transparency Market Research presents a new market study on the global clinical decision support system (CDSS) for the 2015-2023 period. The report, titled Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015  2023, presents an in-depth analysis of the development of this market during the aforementioned forecast period.Brochure Download:A clinical decision support system (CDSS) refers to an IT system that is used by healthcare professionals for enhancing their decision-making capabilities. Clinicians interact with CDSS to interpret clinical data and for diagnosing various diseases. The use of CDSS lies across pre-diagnosis, during diagnosis, or post diagnosis stages to establish the connection between the patients present diagnostic data and past medical history.The passing of Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 is one of the key factors that is driving the adoption of health information technology such as CDSS. In addition, the implementation of the Medicare Act of 2014 in the U.S. emphasized the use of suitable clinical decision support (CDS) software for Medicare reimbursement purposes. This indicated IT vendors to supply such software to fulfill the necessity of more adaptable, seamless and natural interactions to be compatible with the Human Computer Interaction interface for CDSS.In accordance with the legislation of the Medicare Act of 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received directives to identify additional mechanisms in CDSS, which is further propelling the markets growth.The integration of CDSS, electronic health records (EHR), and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) is anticipated to incur high profits in the coming years. While the use of cloud computing is revolutionizing the healthcare industry for information technology solutions, cloud computing has facilitated the delivery of CDSS solutions by means of offering reduced costs and easy access from mobile devices.However, security and privacy challenges associated with CDSS is a hindrance to the markets growth. This is primarily to address the increasing number of security breaches that are reported globally.Based on architecture, CDSS are of two types: knowledge-based CDSS and non-knowledge based CDSS. Non-knowledge based CDSS use artificial intelligence and update themselves based on historic experiences. On the other hand, knowledge-based CDSS employ if-then algorithms for generating output. Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are either available as standalone or are integrated with computerized physician order entry (CPOE), electronic health record (EHR), and other systems.Browse Research Report on Clinical Decision Support System Market :Some of the top vendors in the global clinical decision support system market are Medical Information Technology Inc., McKesson Corporation, Siemens Healthcare, Wolters Kluwer N.V., Epic Systems Corporation, Zynx Health, Cerner Corporation, and Philips Healthcare among others.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:
Boosted by Demand from Household Segment, Global Water Purifier Market to Exhibit 9.0% CAGR, 2015-2023

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Rapid population growth, coupled with the increasing scarcity of fresh water, has been augmenting the global water purifier market. According to a new analysis by Transparency Market Research, the global market water purifier is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 9.0% between 2015 and 2023. The market was valued at US$44.78 bn and is expected to reach US$95.57 bn by the end of 2023.The report is titled Water Purifier Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023 and is available for sale on the companys website.A water purifier aids water purification by removing undesired chemicals, suspended solids, biological contaminants, and gases from water. The process is aimed at making water fit for consumption. Besides purifying water for drinking, water purifiers are also designed to serve diverse purposes across chemical, pharmacological, medical, and industrial applications. The most common and widely used methods of water purification include sedimentation, filtration, chlorination, distillation, and the use of activated carbon and electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light.Get More Information:The high prevalence of water pollution, particularly in urban areas, and the rising health consciousness among customers are the key factors augmenting the growth of the global water purifier market. The problem of water scarcity in areas with high a population is particularly acute. Additionally, rapid industrialization is resulting in indiscriminate dumping of waste into river water, thus aggravating the already persisting problem of water pollution even further. This has made water purifiers a necessity in urban households and industrial sectors.Besides this, the unevenness of freshwater supply in the Middle East has forced countries to depend on ocean water, resulting in high demand for water purifiers for desalination processes.To present an executive-level blueprint of the global water purifier market, the report segments it into gravity purifiers, UV purifiers, and RO purifiers based on technology. Of these, the demand for RO purifiers has significantly increased over the years due to the rising prevalence of water-borne diseases. The demand for UV purifiers is also expected to gain momentum during the forecast period with the launch of advanced filtration technology for killing water contaminants using UV light.Browse the full report atIn terms of end user, the report segments the market into commercial, household, and industrial segments. The global water purifier market has significantly benefitted from the rising demand from the industrial segment where water purification is carried out in a larger scale. However, the household segment held the largest share in the market in 2014 and is expected to rise at a CAGR of 10.1% during the forecast period.Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa are the major regional markets for water purifier. Among these nations, Asia Pacific emerged as the largest market for water purifiers in 2014. The increasing awareness among the rural population about the availability of cost-effective purifiers will significantly aid the expansion of the water purifiers market in Asia Pacific.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.US Office ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Green Packaging Market to Exhibit 6.20% CAGR from 2015 to 2021

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With the demand for biodegradable and healthy packaging surging at an exponential rate, the market for green packaging is expected to report 6.20% CAGR between 2015 and 2021. Transparency Market Research (TMR), a leading market intelligence firm, has published a report studying the trajectory of the global green packaging market.The report is titled Green Packaging Market - Global Industry Analysis, Trend, Size, Share and Forecast 2015 - 2021. It pegs the overall value of the global green packaging market at US$132.4 bn in 2014. The market is expected to reach US$203.1 bn by the end of 2021Green packaging or sustainable packaging uses biodegradable packaging materials to offer improved sustainability. The packaging involves lifecycle assessment (LCA) and ensures increased lifecycle inventory (LCI). Since eco-friendly materials are used in green packaging, it is considered as a means to reduce environmental pollution and carbon footprint.Get More Information:The green packaging market is steered by the rising health awareness among consumers. As consumers become more health-conscious, a paradigm shift toward healthy and biodegradable packaging is observed. The demand for green packaging is thus increasing due to the health benefits it offers. Furthermore, the increasing environmental concerns are also bolstering the market, as green packagings contribution to environmental pollution is negligible.Additionally, the shortage of natural resources has also boosted the demand for green packaging since it is easily recyclable.On the flip side, the diminishing profit margins owing to the rise in production cost is a primary factor inhibiting the growth of the global green packaging market. Furthermore, the lack of awareness among consumers has also negatively impacted the demand for green packaging. Nevertheless, the market is expected to significantly gain from the rising government initiatives for keeping the environment clean and pollution free.Browse The Full Report:Based on packaging type, the report segments the green packaging market into recycled content packaging, reusable packaging, and degradable packaging. In terms of application, the market is segmented into food and beverages, personal care products, healthcare packaging, and others. Of these, the food and beverages packaging dominated the market in 2014, accounting for a share of 59.7%.Regionally, the global green packaging market is segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and RoW. The U.S. has emerged as the biggest green packaging market in the world due to the favorable government policies encouraging the large-scale use of eco-friendly packaging.Furthermore, the global market is also significantly gaining from the rising demand in emerging economies of Asia Pacific such as India and China.To study the prevailing competition in the market, the report also profiles companies such as E. I. Du Pont de Nemours, Tetra Laval, Crown holding, Biopack Environmental Solutions, Amcor, and Ball Corp. Using SWOT analysis the report weighs out the strengths and weaknesses of the companies profiled. The analysis also helps analysts in projecting the threats and opportunities that these companies may face during the forecast period.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.US Office ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
(Xinhua) 18:30, August 23, 2016

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner announced on Tuesday that contracts for 619 public-private partnership (PPP) projects worth one trillion yuan (151 billion U.S. dollars) had been signed as of the end of July.

The projects include those in public infrastructure, railways and ports, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

PPPs are collaborative projects between governments and private companies that are mainly funded and operated by the latter.

Chinese authorities have explored funding infrastructure and public works through the PPP model since late 2013 amid growing concerns over rising local government debts incurred through local financing vehicles.

Since last May, the NDRC has announced two rounds of PPP projects worth 4.23 trillion yuan.

In September 2015, the Ministry of Finance started a fund with 180 billion yuan to support the financing of PPP projects.
Growing Demand for MUV and SUV is Expected to Fuel Global Automotive Roof System Market

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Growing automotive industry coupled with increasing demand for premium cars is expected to boost the demand for roof systems in the near future. Automotive roof system facilitates flow of fresh air and sunlight in the car without disturbing the aerodynamic of the vehicle. In the recent past, there has been a massive development in automotive roof system market. Various type of roof systems such as sunroof system, panorama roof system, panorama with sunroof system, multi-optional roof, roof system with solar technology among many others. Roof system made up of polycarbonate, glass-plastic composite, and fibre-plastic composite and polyurethane composite are used in hybrid cars to save energy, and light weight construction. Revenue generated from the sales of automotive roof systems, globally is expected to increase at a moderate CAGR over the forecast period.Global automotive roof system market is anticipated to be driven by growth in mid and premium range cars in Asia-Pacific, North America and European regions. There is slow but rising demand for convertible automobiles in European countries and which is also expected to drive the global automotive roof system market in the near future. Stringent government policies regarding limiting the hazardous emissions are forcing key players to manufacture light weight vehicles. This in turn is expected to fuel the global automotive roof system market. Changing lifestyle of people coupled with rising disposable income and demand for premium cars is anticipated to boost the global automotive roof system market. Growing market for MUV and SUV is also expected to fuel the global automotive roof system market. A substantial amount of growth is expected in the aftermarket segment of global automotive roof top system market. High cost is expected to be one of the restraining factor for the growth of global automotive roof systems market.Request for Sample Report@Global automotive roof system market can be segmented on the basis of types as Sunroof system Panorama roof system Multi-optional roof system Roof system with solar technology Light weight roof system.Global automotive roof system market can be segmented on the basis of sales channel as OEM After-marketGlobal automotive roof system market can be segmented on the basis of vehicle type as Passenger carso Sedan carso Compacto Executiveo SUV/MUVo Luxuryo Sportso Premium Light commercial vehiclesThe global automotive roof system market can also be segmented on the basis of Hard-top roof system Soft-top roof systemo Retractable roof systemso Non-retractable roof systemsGlobal Automotive Roof System Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, global automotive roof system market can be segmented as North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Europe and North America are expected to remain prominent in the global automotive roof system market. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a rapid pace in the global automotive roof system market. The convertible cars market is expected to be dominant in North America and Europe. The market share of mid-range car in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to increase in the near future.Download Table of Content, Figures, and Tables of the Report:Global Automotive Roof System Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the global automotive roof system market are:- Webasto Group Magna International Inc. Valmet Automotive Inc. Inteva Products, LLC Covestro AG Inalfa Roof Systems Group B.VPMR Overview:Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.U.S. Sales Office305 Broadway, 7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesT: +1-646-568-7751U.S.-Canada Toll-free: +1 800-961-0353E: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020

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Today, sensors have become an integral part of various industries. The high-volume application of sensors has increased their efficiencies and economies of scale. This in turn has lowered prices and is further promoting adoption of sensor networks for different applications. Industries across the globe are increasingly adopting sensor networks in order to monitor various processes. Wireless sensor networks are distributed sensing platforms with wireless communication and controlling capabilities. Further, industrial wireless sensor networks (ISWN) are low cost and can be deployed faster. Wireless sensor networks are increasingly replacing the existing wired sensor networks due to considerable benefits offered by wireless solutions. ISWN solutions have demonstrated significant return on investment (ROI) in industrial applications. Further, deployment of ISWN results in savings in terms of labor, materials and energy. Also, it creates process improvement through enhanced monitoring from anywhere. Moreover, wireless networks also offer the capability to be integrated to smartphones and are more in tune with the increasing bring your own device (BYOD) trend. An enhancement in productivity has been observed when network and system operators do not have to travel frequently for system maintenance or to obtain data at remote ends. ISWN solutions are better suited for hazardous or hard-to-reach zones in different industries such as mining or chemicals.Get Free Sample Report Copy :A major challenge for the growth of industrial wireless sensor networks market has been the availability of multiple wireless communication standards leading to very little interoperability between the various sensors networks. However, during the last few years, emergence of standard communication protocols has boosted the adoption of wireless sensor networks across various industries. IWSN forms a part of industrial automation solution and is used for purposes such as monitoring events and periodic data collection. Significant growth in demand for automation solutions is also leading to growth of industrial wireless sensor networks market. Further, growing trend of smart factories, growing connectivity among various industrial processes and growing use of machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions are positively impacting ISWN market. Technological advancements in wireless communication, availability of miniaturized solutions, and enhancement in power efficiency are leading to the growth of wireless sensor networks market for challenging industrial environments. Growing investments in smart cities is expected to emerge as a key opportunity for the players operating in wireless sensor networks market. However, concerns regarding the security of network and data in wireless networks remain a concern in ISWN market.Various communication technologies being used in ISWN include Bluetooth Wi-Fi, WLAN, Zigbee, ISA100.11a and WirelessHART. During the last few years, the preference for WIrelessHART and hybrid technology (combination of WirelessHART and ISA100.11a) has grown among various end-users. ISWN is finding growing demand from various end-use sectors such as automotive, aerospace and defense, machinery and discrete mechanical parts manufacturing, electrical and electronics manufacturing, energy and utility, chemicals, consumer packaged goods, and pharmaceuticals. North America has been a major region with respect to the adoption of ISWN solutions; however, Asia Pacific is experiencing fast growth in adoption of ISWN across different industry sectors. This is owing to continued significant growth in industrial activity in the region and growing demand for process optimization. Further, increased availability of wireless technology solutions at a reduced cost is also helping the growth of ISWN solutions in the region.Market for ISWN is fragmented with significant competition among players. Key players in ISWN market include Schneider Electric SA (Accutech), Apprion, Inc., Atmel Corporation, Digi International, Inc., Dust Networks, Inc., Endress+Hauser, Emerson Process Management, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc., Lantronix, Inc., Millennial Net, Inc., SynapSense Corporation, Texas Instruments, Inc., Tridium (an independent business unit of Honeywell International, Inc.), VIAgents, and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Touchless Sensors Market : Facts, Figures and Analytical Insights 2015 to 2021

Touchless Sensors Market

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/5954

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Touchless sensing is the next generation evolution in human machine interface (HMI) technology. It is typically used to detect the presence or motion of a person within the coverage area of sensor. Touchless sensing is a technology that combines the advantages of optical sensing with biometric sensing systems. Touchless sensors enable scanning of biometric images or simply the presence of a person without the need for physical contact with the sensors. The optical source in the system illuminates the object and the image is scanned using camera. The optical source used for illumination is highly sophisticated and ensures high quality image for detection. Touchless sensor systems are highly appreciable in areas with hygiene concerns such as washrooms, restaurant kitchens and others. In addition, touchless sensors are increasingly being preferred for automatic entrance/exits in shopping malls, railway stations, airports and other public places.View Sample Report :Touchless sensors market is currently in nascent stage and is expected to show strong growth in near future. This is majorly due to several advantages of touchless sensors over conventional touch based sensing systems. Touchless sensors are cost effective as compared to the touch based sensors and require low maintenance cost. In addition, as the system is touch free, wear and tear caused to the sensor system is significantly reduced thereby extending the life of system. Touchless sensors can be easily installed with the existing hardware and do not incur additional installation costs. As the systems are based on touchless sensing technology, touchless sensor systems can also be used for security purposes especially in areas with restricted access. Furthermore, growing demand for sophisticated and contact-free sensing systems is another significant factor boosting the growth of touchless sensors market. Unlike conventional touch based sensors, touchless sensors analyze the biometric image to check if it is unmodified. This significantly increases the security against fake entries at access points.Touchless sensors market is broadly segmented based on type of technology, product, application and geographic regions. Touchless sensors are based on different technologies such as infrared, ultrasonic sound waves, electric/capacitive near field and others. The products in touchless sensors are categorized based on touchless biometrics and sanitary equipment. Some of the products for sanitary equipment are soap dispenser, faucets, trash-can, flushes, paper towel and hand dryer. Touchless biometrics includes products such as iris, fingerprint, face, voice and other object recognition sensors. The touchless sensors find wide applications in healthcare, consumer electronics, retail stores, public places, automobile industry, security, home appliances and other automation systems. Touchless sensors are used for security majorly in government sector and are expected to be the most lucrative application due to growing security concerns in government sector. Furthermore, touchless sensors market based on geographic regions is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). At present, North America is the largest market for touchless sensors owing to the high demand for sophisticated sensing sanitary systems as well as touchless biometrics.Request TOC :Some of the leading companies in the touchless sensors market are Cognitec Systems GmbH, Cross Match Technologies, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Pebbles Ltd., Qualcomm, Inc., XYZ Interactive Technologies, Inc., Microchip Technology, Inc., MorphoTrak, LLC (Safran group) and others.Key features of this reportDrivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Touchless Sensors market dynamicsLatest innovations and key events in the industryAnalysis of business strategies of the top playersTouchless Sensors 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
Intelligent Energy Storage Systems Market : Opportunities and Forecasts, 2015 - 2021

Intelligent Energy Storage Systems Market

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/6364

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Power industry experts around the world are now realizing the increasing importance of intelligent energy storage systems. With the advancement in technology, innovation in manufacturing techniques and various financial models launched such as Power Efficiency Agreement (PEA) are proving to be very cost effective and also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation.View Sample Report :An intelligent energy storage system allows a consumer to optimize the usage of their energy storage units. The intelligent energy storage system accepts inputs from various devices and the users can control and synchronize all the units as one large storage system. Also, allowing each energy unit to perform its own task so that multiple value streams are generated for the customers.Fall in the batteries and other component price are the key factors allowing the intelligent energy storage system to become an economic alternative for power storage to the traditional practices. Distributed energy storage systems are making a significant impact on the market due to flexibility in their models. New regulations in US such as Californias landmark AB 2514 which highlights the lower emissions with greater efficiency of today's intelligent energy storage solutions. Also state government incentives in the developing economies along with rising Peak power demand charges are some key factors driving the intelligent energy storage system market.Intelligent energy storage systems market is broadly classified on the basis of application as:Commercial StorageResidential StorageIndustrial storageGrid ScaleIntelligent energy storage systems market is broadly classified on the basis of technology as:Flow BatteriesLithium IonAdvanced Lead Acid BatteriesRequest TOC :With rapid technological advancement and wide acceptance of new power industry regulations, intelligent energy storage systems market is expected to increase its market share in North America followed by Europe and APAC, during the forecast period. In US the market for intelligent energy storage systems is expected to grow tenfold by 2020 thereby creating a significant opportunity for this market. Some of the key market players in global bariatric surgery devices market are ABB, Alevo, Ampard, Azeti Networks, Beacon Power, CODA Energy, Green Charge Networks, NEC Energy Solutions.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
Sovereign in every situation

www.qs-tag.de

Moehrendorf, 23 August 2016  Software quality assurance is complex. Whats right and whats wrong is often determined by the context of the respective situation. The keynotes at this years Software-QS-Tag deliver the knowledge to handle this uncertainty sovereignly. US testing expert Matt Heusser talks about the pros and cons of different QA approaches, whereas profiler Suzanne Grieger-Langer reveals decision strategies of real secret service agents.What makes some practices work in some environments and not in others? The power of context is the focal point of the opening lecture by Matt Heusser, managing director at Excelion Development. Google has fewer testers than developers. At Microsoft, the role of software development engineer in test was eliminated. Testers at Boeing, for example, write detailed specifications.So who is right? Perhaps all of them? Matt Heusser is convinced that there is not a universal best practice. Software projects are subject to various forces.Decide  007 rather than bog-standard is the title of Suzanne Grieger-Langers final lecture at the Software-QS-Tag. As a profiler, she knows: Nothing is for sure! You have to plan the unpredictable, decide the undecidable, analyse uncertainties and deal with the incalculable. Maintaining process composure under constant fire is a crucial prerequisite for successful work and leadership.Suzanne Grieger-Langer shows what you can learn from FBI, BND and MI6. She illustrates vividly using typical situations from software testers everyday working life.The Software-QS-Tag 2016 takes place in Nuremberg on 3rd and 4th November. This years main topic is called Testing properly  Testing what matters. More than 50 experts report which techniques, tools and best practices are currently available. Clickfor the entire programme and the registration form.imbus is a leading solution partner for professional software testing and intelligent software quality assurance.Our portfolio includes consulting for process improvement, software testing services, test outsourcing, test tools, and training.With our comprehensive know-how, the latest tools, and our proven methodology, we increase the reliability and performance of software products, software-intensive systems, and complete IT structures, and as a manufacturer-independent partner, we assure their correct functionality.Since 1992, the experienced and highly-qualified imbus team has been synonymous with across-the-board software quality assurance from a single source that covers the entire lifecycle.The expertise acquired from around 5,000 successful projects over a period of 20 years provides a solid foundation for the daily work of our experts, all of whom are ISTQB Certified Testers. Here you can find the corresponding reference projects.imbus is currently represented by more than 250 employees at locations in Moehrendorf near Erlangen, Munich, Cologne, Hofheim near Frankfurt, Norderstedt near Hamburg, Toronto (Canada), Shanghai (China), Peja (Kosovo) and Sousse (Tunisia).imbus AGPress OfficeFiona ProellKleinseebacher Str. 991096 MoehrendorfGermanyPhone +49 9131 7518-0Fax +49 9131 7518-50Mail presse@imbus.de
Growing Deployment Of Smart Parking Sensors To Boost Smart Parking Market In Western Europe

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MarketResearchReports.biz has added a new report, titled Smart Parking Market in Western Europe 2016-2020, to its offering. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation on the smart parking market in Western Europe. Market dynamics such as drivers, impeders, trends, and opportunities impacting the development of the market also form a key part of this study. A number of analysis tools have been employed for an accurate evaluation of the data. These include SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis.The first section of the report presents an introduction to the market for smart parking. This section also encapsulates the size of the market and its predicted growth by the end of the forecast period. As per the report, the market for smart parking in Western Europe is predicted to rise at a 14.0% CAGR between 2016 and 2020.Next, the definition of smart parking systems is presented. Smart parking systems aid drivers in finding a parking space at economical costs. Smart parking systems utilize cellphone-enabled automated payment solutions and low-cost sensors. These high-end features enable individuals to determine vacant parking spaces so that they may reserve that particular spot, thus reducing the overall time needed to park.In addition, smart parking systems have greatly reduced vehicle overcrowding, which may otherwise result in congestion problems. They help in reducing pollution levels and governments globally and particularly in Western Europe are thus taking a number of steps for the extensive implementation of smart parking.In the following section of the study, the segmentation of the market has been presented. In terms of type, the report segments the Western Europe smart parking market into on-street parking and off-street parking. Of these, the segment of off-street parking led the market in 2015 and is predicted to reach US$112 mn by 2020. Off-street parking can be applied in both outdoor and indoor spaces. These systems also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by impeding the unwanted flow of traffic caused by individuals looking for spaces to park.For Sample Copy, click here:The prime drivers and restraints impacting the growth of the Western Europe smart parking market come next in the report. The growing deployment of smart parking sensors is a prime factor stimulating the growth of this market in Western Europe. In addition, two-way M2M communication between connected cars and smart parking systems aids in resolving a number of problems related to parking. This has further positively impacted the Western Europe smart parking market. On the other hand, the increasing issues in network integration and security may impede the growth of the market in Western Europe, in the coming years.At the end of the study, the vendor landscape section has been presented. The Western Europe smart parking market is immensely fragmented due to the high number of established vendors in this market. The prime vendors operating in the market are The IPS Group, Parkeon, TransCore, 3M, Cisco Systems, Gemalto, HCL, Jasper Technologies, Nedap Mobility Solutions, Oti (PARX), ParkHelp, Parkmobile, Parkopedia, Serco, Siemens, SKIDATA, Synapt (Prodapt Solutions), TeliaSonera, Vodafone, Xerox, among others, as per this report.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Cryocooler Designed to Allow Active Cooling at Temperatures of About -150 Degrees

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According to the Cryogenic Society of America Inc., a cryogenic cooler or a cryocooler is a device designed to allow active cooling at temperatures of about -150 degrees Celsius or colder. Different thermodynamic techniques and cycles are utilized in the process of cryocooling. On an average, a cryocooler has a capacity of 100W or less whereas a cryogenic refrigerator or a cryoplant has a capacity of 500W. The cryogenic fluids such as liquid helium, liquid nitrogen, or very cold nitrogen and helium gas are utilized for cryocooling. The liquefied gas is circulated to absorb heat from the interior of the cryocooler and transfer it outside.Browse the Details About the Market of Cryocoolers at:The ability of a cryocooler to cool its interior environment depends on various thermodynamic properties of the circulating gas. The global cryocooler market has been witnessing considerable demand from the developed economies owing to the rapidly evolving technologies in the military and healthcare sectors.Some of the common types of cryocoolers are Stirling cryocoolers, Brayton cryocoolers, pulse-tube cryocoolers, Joule Thomson cryocoolers, and Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers. In terms of services, the global cryocooler market can be segmented into product repair and refurbishment, customer training, technical support, and preventive maintenance. The key application sectors in the global cryocooler market are research and development, energy, military, commercial, medical, space, transport, and environmental. The military sector has contributed immensely towards the growth of the market.The growing demand for cryocoolers across the military and healthcare sectors has been boosting the global cryocoolers market. In the military sector, cryocoolers are used to maintain cryogenic temperatures for IR sensors installed in night vision-based systems, satellite-based surveillance, and missile guidance. In the healthcare sector, the rising demand for cryocoolers can be attributed to their extensive utilization in proton therapy, cryosurgery, MRI systems, and liquefaction of oxygen in hospitals. The rapid shortage of helium gas across the developing economies has also supported the markets growth. Cryocoolers are also used for superconductivity applications in semiconductor fabrication units and magnetic levitation trains. The global cryocooler market has immense growth opportunities with the increasing applications of cryocoolers in the space sector.Geographically, the global cryocooler market has been segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. In North America, the cryocooler market has been registering significant growth due to the rising adoption of cryocoolers for proton therapy in the treatment of cancer. Cryocoolers are being also used for satellite monitoring and missile guidance in the military sector. In November last year, the U.S. Navys aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford was successfully installed with the cryocooler technology. The robust growth of the military and healthcare sector in the U.S. has driven the growth of the cryocooler market in North America. Asia Pacific and Europe are expected to exhibit considerable demand for cryocoolers.For Technological Breakthroughs and stakeholder analysis Get Brochure:The prominent players in the global cryocooler market are Superconductor Technologies Inc. Brooks Automation Inc., Advanced Research Systems, Inc., Janis Research Company LLC, Cryomech, Inc., Chart Industries, Inc., DH Industries BV, Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd., and Sunpower, Inc. The key players are focusing on expanding the applications of cryocoolers across the military and energy sector.Furthermore, the players are looking to partner with research organizations and governments to expand their business. For example, Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation has won a contract worth US$18.2 mn to design, test, and deliver a cryocooler for NASAs Landsat-9 spacecraft. For NASAs James Webb Space Telescope to be launched in 2018, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed an innovative cryocooler that will freeze the telescopes Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Digital Marketing Spending Market To Exhibit 8.79% CAGR 2016-2020, Driven By Rising Use Of Mobile Devices

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In the field of marketing and advertising, digital marketing has been the fastest growing and the most used platform in the recent past. Digital marketing has seen many changes owing to the introduction of platforms such as Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. MarketResearchReports.biz highlights the changing trends in digital marketing spending in a new report recently added to its database. As per the findings of the report, every minute, approximately 650,000 search queries are made on Google. The research finds that every minute more than 65,000 tweets are posted on Twitter and over 700 videos uploaded on YouTube. More than 500,000 comments and 700,000 status updates are posted by people on Facebook and approximately 180 million emails are sent worldwide.Since the introduction of digital marketing, service providers have incorporated many changes in their services and products. Today, in the era of customization, even digital marketing services are personalized as per the changing trends and needs of the customers.The report, titled Global Digital Marketing Spending Market 2016-2020, states that the global market is predicted to exhibit an 8.79% CAGR from 2016 to 2020. Global digital transformation and the rising dominance of mobile devices are some of the factors responsible for the rapid growth of the global digital marketing spending market.The analysts have segmented the global digital marketing spending market on the basis of device, region, and type. Based on type, the market is classified into search ads, social media, e-mail marketing, and display ads. Based on device, the global market is divided into mobile devices and desktop computers. The advent of mobile applications has helped organizations in promoting their brands and services easily. By using in-apps space, in-game space, MMS/SMS, and other mediums on smartphones, brands are able to attract many patrons.The introduction of cloud-based services has also helped organizations expand their services and products smoothly. The advent of digital marketing, mobile applications, and cloud computing has created more space for cybercrimes and data frauds. This is the biggest factor expected to hamper the growth of the global digital marketing spending market. However, the use of high-quality security services and cloud security has kept hackers at bay. This is predicted to propel the global digital marketing spending market in the near future.For Sample Copy, click here:For a detailed study, the global market is regionally divided into the Americas, APAC, and EMEA. Key players are focusing on adopting the changing trends in the market to maintain their dominance. AT&T, Comcast, General Motors, P&G, Verizon, American Express, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, LOreal, Nissan, Pfizer, Toyota, Unilever, Volkswagen, and Walt Disney are some of the key brands listed in the report.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Hybrid Power Systems Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, And Forecast 2016 - 2024

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The research study is designed to analyze the global hybrid power systems market. The market is calculated in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) based on the annual sales of hybrid power systems. The market for hybrid power systems has been segmented on the basis of type, end-use, and country/region. The global hybrid power systems market, based on type, has been segmented into wind-solar-diesel-hybrid, PV-diesel-hybrid, and others. On the basis of end-use, the hybrid power systems market has been segmented into residential, rural facility electrification, and others.The regional segments included in this study are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA), and South and Central America (SCA). These regional segments are further divided into country-wise segments. The report provides a detailed growth forecast for the 20162024 period, considering 2015 as the baseline year. Projections have been provided for revenue (US$ Mn) through the annual sales of hybrid power systems.The report includes the key market dynamics affecting the demand for hybrid power systems. As a part of our market dynamics analysis, we have analyzed the market drivers, market restraints, and market opportunities. A comprehensive competitive landscape, which includes company market share analysis and market attractiveness analysis, has also been provided in this report. The report also provides a detailed industry analysis of the global hybrid power systems market with the help of Porters Five Forces model. The Porters Five Forces analysis aids in understanding the five major forces that affect the industry structure and profitability of the global hybrid power systems market. The forces analyzed are the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and degree of competition.The study also includes the value chain of the global hybrid power systems market which provides a glimpse of key suppliers, manufacturers, and distribution channel as well as interaction of suppliers and buyers with end-users. The company market share analysis has been done considering the revenue and global penetration of key market players in the hybrid power systems industry. The market attractiveness involves benchmarking and ranking each technology and region on the basis of numerous parameters. The parameters selected are likely to have a pronounced effect on the demand for each technology in the current scenario as well as in the near future.Key participants in the global hybrid power systems market include Bergey WindPower Co., BORG Inc., Guangzhou HY Energy Technology Limited Corp., Kestrel Renewable Energy, KYOCERA Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Schneider Electric SE, Sharp Electronics, Siemens AG, and Suzlon Group. This report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial revenues, business strategies, technical information, and recent developments.Download Sample Copy of this Report atGlobal Hybrid Power Systems Market: Type AnalysisWind-Solar-Diesel-HybridPV-Diesel-HybridOthersGlobal Hybrid Power Systems Market: End-Use AnalysisResidentialRural Facility ElectrificationOthersGlobal Hybrid Power Systems Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeTurkeyKazakhstanRussiaRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanAustraliaIndonesiaRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)South AfricaTanzaniaEgyptUAERest of MEASouth and Central America (SCA)BrazilChileRest of SCAMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Fanaticalappz.com Enters Indias Mobile Development Industry, Focuses on Native and Hybrid App Development

http://www.fanaticalappz.com/

http://www.fanaticalappz.com/

Fanaticalappz.com that was recently formed as a technology solutions company India announces mobile app development services for individuals and businesses located globally.Fanaticalappz.com announces the availability of technology, experts and infrastructure to offer mobile apps development services India. The company starts its operations in July, 2016 from the city of Ahmedabad in the West India state of Gujarat. As an entrant into the countrys thriving mobile development industry, the company claims of having the right knowledge of the most popular platforms including PhoneGap and iOS. It has shown interest in developing native as well as hybrid apps and its developers already have substantial experience in this direction.Fanaticalappz.com has employed in-house mobile developers with successful track record of innovative apps based on agile methodology. The team plans to develop mobile apps for Smartphones, tablets as well as for the wearable tech and other mobile devices ready to dominate the market. Their services are available for developing revenue-generating apps as well as for business and enterprise apps aimed at marketing, customer retention and also for improving productivity within organizations of different kinds.Talking about their services, the company CEO Mihir Shah says, We are dedicated to harness the most powerful functions and features of the awesome breed of mobile devices around us for powerful native application development. However, we dont wish to neglect the multi-device environment and the need to cash on market segments divided among various mobile devices and platforms. This is the reason that we have simultaneously introduced hybrid apps development consultancy services. In short, we are ready to cater to all types of app development requirements.When asked about the top traits of their mobile development process, he adds, Client participation and complete transparency are important for competent bespoke technology solutions and we endorse these qualities. Our developers are also prepared to deliver with reduced time-to-market, complete client satisfaction and at the lowest possible budget. We aim at creating apps that stand apart among the hundreds of thousands of apps in terms of looks as well as performance. Visitfor more information about the companys services.About Fanaticalappz.comFanaticalappz.com provides mobile development services in India, USA and other countries. The company has the objective to become a leading technology solution provider in the global IT industry.Mihir ShahFanaticalappz8341, Woodword st. Savage, MD 20763India : +91-909 979 9898USA : +1 918 919 0299info@fanaticalappz.com
File photo: Liu Lingli

Lanzhou Jiaotong University has dispatched an investigation group to probe into the high-profile illegal firing of a teacher, according to an announcement made by the university on August 20, 2016.

Liu Lingli, an English teacher at a private college affiliated to Lanzhou Jiaotong University in northwest Chinas Lanzhou city, died of cancer on August 14. She just celebrated her 30th birthday.

Lius case aroused wide sympathy and outrage among the public after it was revealed that her school fired her right after her diagnosis of cancer.

In July of 2014, after two years of teaching at the school, Liu was diagnosed with cancer. Her mother asked for a half-year of sick leave for her daughter.

In 2015, as Liu's conditions kept worsening, her mother went to the college, hoping they would continue to pay for Liu's medical insurance which would cover more than 80% of her medical expenses. The human resource person at the school refused. After the mother burst into tears in the office, the head of human resource at the college told her, Dont cry in front of me. Ive seen so many cases like you.

It was later revealed that the college had at least three similar previous conducts of firing employees who suffered from illness.

In Lius case, she was fired five days after the school knew for sure she had cancer. The excuse school used for sacking her was absenteeism from work without excuse.

Liu's family sued the college for the sacking and the court decided that the college's action was invalid.

The college appealed, explaining that it had granted a 59-day leave to Liu but she had been recorded as being absent after the leave ended.

Although the court rejected the appeal and ordered the college to restore Liu's employment, until the death of Liu, the college still did not carry out the decision.

Liu's parents have a total income of only 3,700 yuan (around 557.8 US dollars) each month and her father also suffers from cancer. Liu's treatment has cost the family over 400,000 yuan (around 60,000 US dollars).

Lius case sparked online discussion after it was first circulated on social media then reported by multiple media outlets in China. Many pointed out that the schools conduct being immoral and illegal, and questioned if any proper education can be provided at a place like that.
Mobile Money Market Will Exhibit 22.0% CAGR From 2016 Through 2024 As NFC Payments Is Gaining Hype

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Multiple Conducive Factors Create Opportunity-laden Environment for Mobile Money MarketThe global mobile money market is on the cusp of a transformative change with growth increasingly swinging toward emerging economies, says TMR in a new report. The global mobile money market will derive growth from factors such as companies investing in context-based marketing and real-time marketing to leverage mobile money. With smartphone and personal device sales spiraling in emerging countries with an increasingly affluent consumer base, the need for more inclusive banking is also simultaneously being felt. This presents a multi-billion dollar opportunity for companies such as Bango.net Limited, Fortumo OU, Paypal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.), Judo Payments, and others. Mobile commerce, mobile banking, mobile wallets, and mobile payments all come under the purview of the mobile money market.Free PDF For Full Details with Technological breakthroughs is @The coming together of various conducive factors will create an opportunity-laden environment for providers of mobile money services. Currently, service providers are focusing on cost effective alternatives to reach out to a larger consumer base. However, consumers continue to remain wary about security and privacy; the situation is compounded by regulatory complexity hampering the long-term growth of the mobile money market.The current generation of disparate platforms is also hindering the adoption of the mobile money solution amongst consumers as they are required to manage multiple wallets for different transactions/services. However, there is little doubt that with the unprecedented penetration of mobile devices, these will increasingly serve as vehicles for financial transactionSMS Payments to Remain Most Popular Means of Conducting a Mobile Money TransactionIn the global mobile money market, by mode of payment, the SMS payment segment holds the largest share. This is attributable to the convenience and efficiency that SMS-based payment operations lend. The greatest advantage, however, is that SMS-based mobile money is compatible with different connected devices such as tablets and smartphones.In countries across MEA, APAC, and Europe, transactional payments by SMS are already popular and there are no signs of their popularity fading through the forecasting horizon. However, the market is also marked by a growing adoption of other payment methods such as mobile billing, payment clients, and WAP-based payments. The future could see NFC and UUSD/STK modes emerge in a big way to challenge the leading position of SMS payments.Market Insight of Mobile Money can be Viewed @Moreover, by type of purchase transaction, in 2014, the money transfers and payments segment was the largest in the global mobile money market. Growth is projected to be the strongest in the airtime transfers and top-ups segment through 2024. In 2015, sectors such as BFSI, energy and hospitality collectively accounted for more than one-third of the revenue generated in the mobile money market.Europe to Claim Highest Share in Mobile Money Market until 2024Geographically, the mobile money market saw the highest revenue coming in from Europe in 2015. While North America trailed Europe in terms of revenue contribution, the region is expected to post better growth as compared to Europe through the forecast period.Collectively, the two regions are estimated to contribute more than fifty percent of the revenue to the global mobile money market. The MEA region is anticipated to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period due to rising Internet and tablet penetration and technological advancements in the telecommunication sector. Real-time buying is gaining momentum in MEA, which enables companies to develop targeted products and services on the basis of mobile usage patterns. This is expected to create immense opportunities for the mobile money market in the region.Among the top service providers in the global mobile money market are: Bango.net Limited, Boku, Inc., Dwolla, Inc., Fortumo OU, Judo Payments, Paypal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.), Square, Inc., Stripe, and WePay, Inc.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Smart Airports Market To Grow At A CAGR Of 5.74% Over The Period 2014-2019

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Smart Airports Market 2015-2019" to its huge collection of research reports.A smart airports system comprises solutions, devices and components, and services that automates and optimizes the usage of airways infrastructure to carry out advanced functions. It has several components like passenger reservation and information systems, freight operations information systems, air traffic management, operations and baggage and check in management, IP-based security monitoring, communications, ticketing, and airways analytics.Technavio's analysts forecast the global smart airports market to grow at a CAGR of 5.74% over the period 2014-2019.Covered in this reportThe report covers the current scenario and the growth prospects of the global smart airports market for the period of 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated by smart airport solution and technologies by the vendors in the global smart airport market, which include:Terminal operationsAirside operationsLandside operationsTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the top five vendors in the market. It discusses the major drivers that influence the growth of the market. It also outlines the challenges faced by vendors and the market as a whole and the key trends that are emerging in the market.Technavio's report, Global Smart Airports Market 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers APAC, America, Europe, and Middle East; it also covers the landscape of the global smart airports market and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key regionsAmericaAPACEuropeMiddle EastKey vendorsAmadeus IT GroupHoneywell InternationalIBMSiemensOther prominent vendorsAdelteAiritAOptixAtosAyonixCisco SystemDSG SystemseGate SolutionsGEHISQinetiQRaytheon CompanySabreSITAMake an Enquiry of this report @Key market driverDecline in hardware and connectivity costsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey market challengeCongestion and capacity constraintsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey market trendInter-connection of devicesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2019 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?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 @
Payroll and HR Software Market Segment Forecasts up to 2020

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The Payroll and HR (Human Resources) departments in organizations coordinate various functions like salary hikes, bonus payments, recruitment, benefit deductions, firing employees and vacation leaves. They also need to maintain data that is confidential in nature like employee information, home addresses, financial data and social security numbers. They need to take care that such confidential information is not accessed by unauthorized companies or individuals. The payroll and HR software is a fully integrated functionality that enables the payroll and HR department to operate, access, manage and process organizations various payroll and HR functions. It also helps decision makers to gain a clearer insight of organizations resources even in turbulent situations. The various modules in the software are customized depending upon the needs of organization and minimizes the amount of time spent on the administration work by the staff members. It helps manage everyday tasks more effectively, reduce duplication in work and make reorganization changes quickly and effectively.Get Free Sample Report :Each organization has its own specific needs. The payroll and HR software market can be segmented depending on the size of businesses as small size, medium size and large size organizations. In small businesses, where the employee size is up to 50, every employee plays an important role in contributing to the companys revenue. Even one unproductive employee can have a huge impact on the bottom line of the business organization. For this purpose, payroll and HR department need to be properly managed to avoid any unpredictable circumstances. The payroll and HR management software is customized to cater to various small business functions like performance measurement, time and attendance tracking, and compensations and retirement plans among others. In medium size businesses, the employee size ranges from 50 to 500 employees. The requirements in these organizations are similar to small size businesses but the software is customized to perform additional functions like recruitment which includes hiring and retaining potential talent, and securely streamlining administrative load by simplifying payroll administration. For business organizations with employee size greater than 500, the software is customized to manage risks and contain related costs, production and distribution of pay statements and banking services.As the global economy is improving, companies are looking for latest software solutions that can cut down costs of upgrading systems every year. New user interfaces like mobile applications which enable carrying out operations outside office premises and other features like integration with the existing systems in the organization is driving the market for payroll and HR software market. Also, the payroll and HR is a data driven function and the need to create talent analytics for taking talent related decisions and workforce planning is driving the market for payroll and HR software market. Another driver is the ability to provide customized solutions considering the current workforce dynamics. Companies prefer to invest in these customized solutions as these are affordable and improve various functions like hiring and retaining talent. However, challenges like understanding the technical requirements of organizations and integrating various modules of software to perform various functions are some constraints affecting the growth of this market.Some of the prominent vendors in this market include Taleo Corporation, SuccessFactors, Halogen Software Inc, Kenexa Corporation, PeopleAdmin and SumTotal Systems Inc.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
IT Asset Management Software Market Focus on Compliance and Security Issues Making Its Value Worth US$1.3 bn by 2024

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The proliferation of smart device usage and the growing trend of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) in several leading telecom and IT companies have greatly influenced the IT asset management (ITAM) software market. ITAM software was initially preferred by large enterprises for the maintenance and reduction of risks associated with IT compliance and licensing management. Over time, these solutions have gained recognition among SMEs across the globe as an effective solution to balance spending with return on investments.The ITAM software market is projected to reach a value of US$1.3 bn by 2024, rising from US$708.9 mn in 2015. The market is estimated to expand at a steady CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.Cloud-based ITAM Software Services Highly Lucrative SegmentBy size of enterprise, ITAM software finds application in large enterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Large enterprises currently hold the majority in terms of revenue, while SMEs are likely to register the fastest growth over the course of the forecast period.Free PDF For Full Details with Technological breakthroughs is @By type of deployment, the ITAM software market is segmented into on-premise, cloud, and hybrid. Cloud-based services are the key contributors to the revenue of the ITAM software market, accounting for an almost 50% share in the market by 2024.ITAM software is used in a number of end-use industries, including banking, financial services, and insurance, transportation, manufacturing, telecom and IT, government, healthcare, and energy and utilities. Among these, the telecom and IT sector leads the ITAM software market, while the energy and utilities sector is projected to expand at the fastest pace over the coming yearsGrowing Demand for Centralization and Automation Driving Adoption of ITAM Software in North AmericaThe global ITAM software market comprises North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe,and the Middle East and Africa. North America presently leads the global ITAM software market owing to the enormous growth of the IT industry and growing awareness regarding the advantages of ITAM. North America is anticipated to retain its lead in the ITAM software market during the forecast period thanks to the surge in government regulations and strict software audit policies. The increasing demand for centralization and automation is also influencing the growth of the ITAM software market in this region. Organizations have been emphasizing on the reduction of operational expenditure by cutting down expenses in IT asset management through the deployment of ITAM software.Market Insight of ITAM software can be Viewed @At present, the ITAM software market in Asia Pacific is driven by countries such as India, China, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan. This region is anticipated to record the fastest growth in the coming years due to the rising interest of investors in this region and the growing establishment of SMEs. As the adoption of cloud-based solutions in Asia Pacific rapidly increases, the number of smart devices is expected to rise, aided by improved communication technologies such as 4G LTE. Unlike larger corporations that adopt cloud technologies to save cost and improve efficiency, SMEs in this region seek a wider reach, enhanced agility, and the flexibility and ability to serve larger customer bases at a lower investment. ITAM software has been aiding SMEs in this very task.Some of the key players operating in the global ITAM software market are IBM Corporation, Oracle Corp., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, BMC Software Inc., ServiceNow Inc., BDNA Corporation, LANDESK Software, Aspera Technologies Inc., Cherwell Software, Flexera Software LLC, CA Technology Inc., and Snow Software.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Warehouse Management Systems Market Forecasts up to 2020, Research Report

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Warehouse Management System (WMS) is a software suite; an integral part of Supply Chain Management (SCM) that delivers the ability to map any warehouse structure (irrespective of the size) according to the specific requirements of the SCM process. It optimizes the management, storage and distribution of products or raw materials. It also helps to increase speed and efficiency in the internal movement of goods.Get Free Sample Report :The established (old) businesses have systems that are ten-plus years old and are too expensive to configure, maintain, upgrade and have outdated functionality. Currently, as existing solutions have matured and more replacements are expected in the near future, which is expected to drive the market demand for WMS systems. These solutions are evolutionary, with built-in enhanced functionalities and better integration with other supply chain management systems, to ensure quick modes of delivery. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is increased adoption of warehouse management systems by small and medium-sized businesses. But, the main challenge faced by these businesses is the high cost associated with the deployment of WMS solutions.However, integration of software-as-a-service (SaaS) model in WMS has resulted in reducing the ownership cost. It provides WMS as a service by a third party, hosted via cloud-based computing, which these companies can outsource. This gives more flexibility to companies to focus on their core business. It not only brings efficiency in the overall supply chain inventory levels but reduces the allowances for holding executions and recalls at all warehouse sites, thereby contributing to the market demand.Demand for WMS is high in transportation and logistics industry, with many providers offering transportation management systems (TMS) as part of integrated WMS solutions. Huge demand from pharmaceutical and biotech, retail, food and beverages industry is seen during the forecast period due to the advanced customization capabilities of warehouse management systems with hand-held Radio frequency (RF) devices. Such integrations ensure high mobility among workers and increases productivity by providing high levels of accuracy in picking goods through navigational assistance for movement within the warehouse. In addition, many WMS vendors are now offering labor management systems (LMS).Integration of warehouse management systems with LMS can offer a significant return on investment with reduced labor costs, minimum dependency on temporary labor hired during peak periods, and other interface applications such as attendance of the employees. Semiconductor, automobile, and electronics industries too has high demand for WMS owing to growing trend of manufacturing units being set-up or outsourced in the emerging countries to lower the production cost. However, benefits of plant relocation or outsourcing can only be realized when there is accuracy in the delivery of right component at the required place without any delays in delivery. This is ensured with WMS, wherein such rich levels of WMS integration helps companies with agility and responsiveness in their businesses, with the changes in market dynamics.Asia-Pacific regions, such as China, India, Thailand and Mexico, among others, will be the most emergent markets for warehouse management systems due to a shift of manufacturing units to these countries for their cost-effective production advantages. Major MNCs have their base units and warehouses in North America, Europe and Japan and with consistently rising demand for delivery of important components to and from other warehouses, market for WMS will see tremendous demand in these regions.Some of the key vendors providing WMS solutions are SAP AG, HighJump Software Inc., Manhattan Associates Inc., Oracle Corp and RedPrairie Corp. Other prominent vendors include AGI Worldwide Inc., Reply S.p.A., Softeon Inc, Asgard Software Inc., Automation Associates Inc., Advanced Systems Consultants Inc., BFC Software Inc., Cadre Technologies Inc., HAL Systems Corp., Deposco Inc., Infor Inc., and Logitity Inc., among others.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
CloudRail Universal API Now Available for Swift Developers

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Mannheim, Germany - Integrate multiple APIs via a single API? This is now possible for Swift developers on iOS. The German based startup CloudRail () extends its API Integration Solution with a Swift library.CloudRail addresses the increasing problem of handling API integrations for software developers. The goal of the company is to increase the speed to integrate a service into e.g. a smartphone app significantly. Core of the solution is a software library which abstracts over multiple web APIs and bundles them into a single, universal API. For example CloudRail lets developers integrate Cloud Storage providers like Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive via a unified interface. So the function upload() works exactly the same for Dropbox as it does for Google Drive and Box.We see developers integrate a whole category of services in a few hours. With traditional methods, we would be talking about weeks, says Felix Kollmar, co-founder and CEO of CloudRail.CloudRail currently offers universal APIs for the areas of Cloud Storage, Social Networks, Payment, Points of Interest, SMS and Email. In addition to the abstraction layers, the startup also handles API changes, like what recently happened to the Dropbox API. CloudRails solution does the hard work for the developer and updates the integration of the changed API without requiring any code changes within the app itself.An important fact about the solution is that no data ever passes through a CloudRail server. Therefore the CloudRail solution doesnt add an additional Single Point of Failure and has no negative implications on performance or security like traditional middleware products. Along with the new Swift version, CloudRail offers solutions for Objective-C, Android, Node.js and Java developers.CloudRail is free without any limitation on number of apps or integrated APIs. The paid version gives additional access to a central platform to manage and monitor API integrations. Moreover an enterprise model offers special SLAs concerning API updates and Long-Term-Support.CloudRails vision is to create a single universal interface to access all services. Its Universal API gives developers the power to interoperate with any type of cloud provider or smart device faster, cheaper, and more secure than using traditional manual integration methods. Headquartered in Mannheim, Germany and with an office in San Francisco, CA, CloudRail is building the interoperable internet of tomorrow.Felix KollmarCloudRaillicobo GmbHJulius-Hatry-Str. 168163 MannheimGermanyPhone: +49 621 48345965Email: felix@cloudrail.com
First Falling Walls Lab Competition to Take Place in NYC

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The German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) will host the Falling Walls Lab, a global forum for innovators to pitch their research and business ideas on August 30, 2016, at the German Center for Research and Innovation New York.In the quest to find solutions to todays global challenges, new walls will need to fall in science and society. Ten entrepreneurs, innovators, and researchers will present their ground-breaking projects, business plans, entrepreneurial and social initiatives in three-minute pitches at the German Center for Research and Innovation in New York on August 30, 2016.The ten finalists were selected from a diverse applicant pool to compete at the German Center for Research and Innovation in NYC, one of approximately 50 Falling Walls Lab locations worldwide. The winner of the competition in NYC will receive a free trip to Berlin to compete against the winners of the other Falling Walls Labs and participate in the Falling Walls Conference on November 9, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.The Falling Walls Conference is an annual gathering of forward-thinking individuals from over 80 countries. Each year twenty of the worlds leading scientists are invited to Berlin to present their current breakthrough research. The aim of the conference is to: Identify solutions to global challenges and discover international breakthrough research. Connect outstanding researchers from different disciplines. Build bridges between business, academia, politics, and the arts. Communicate the latest scientific findings to a broader audience. Inspire people to break down walls in science and society.For more information, visitandThe German Center for Research and Innovation provides information and support for the realization of cooperative and collaborative projects between North America and Germany. With the goal of enhancing communication on the critical challenges of the 21st century, GCRI hosts a wide range of events from lectures and exhibitions to workshops and science dinners. Opened in February 2010, GCRI was created as a cornerstone of the German governments initiative to internationalize science and research and is one of six centers worldwide.Dr. Joann HalpernDirectorGerman Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI)871 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017USA
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Wendy Lane Stevens and Peter Finn.

(Lane PR)

Lane PR, one of Portland's best-known public relations firms, said Tuesday it has sold the business to a national firm called Finn Partners.

Founder Wendy Lane Stevens, who started the firm 26 years ago, said she will remain with the firm for at least five years. Lane PR will keep its name and its 27 employees.

"We feel there are great opportunities in the Pacific Northwest," said Finn's founding partner, Peter Finn. He said Lane will give his company access to prospective technology clients in the Northwest and financial services firms, a specialty of Lane's but and area Finn said his firm felt a need to improve.

The companies did not report terms of their deal.

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway
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Inside the new Tusk restaurant.

(Benji Wagner)

Released in 1979, Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" was considered an early flop, selling fewer than half of the copies of their previous album, "Rumours," costing a then-unprecedented $1 million dollars and confounding some fans with its eclectic sound. After 37 years, it's now considered a classic.

Portland's Tusk is another much-anticipated follow-up, this one from Ava Gene's chef Joshua McFadden, the sequel opened by McFadden and business partner Luke Dirks' new Submarine Hospitality Group. The critical reception for the restaurant is still unknown, but one thing is for sure: The players are great, and it already looks like $1 million bucks.

Loosely Middle Eastern, Tusk gathers together a pair of former cooks from Zahav, the influential Philadelphia Israeli restaurant, and pairs them with one of Portland's most in-demand pastry chefs and a rising-star bartender. After warming up with a Mediterranean pop-up, LaMama, Tusk is now ready to make its Portland debut in the former East Burnside home of Levant. Here are five reasons why you need to get there right now:

Vegetables are front and center: Sam Smith, who opened the lauded Zahav as executive sous chef, is taking the Middle Eastern influences from that East Coast restaurant and applying them to the kind of vegetable-forward dishes he excelled with at Ava Gene's. Working with Wesley Johnson (Cafe Castagna), another Zahav alum, look for the menu to feature veggies as the star, meat as a supporting actor. "That's kind of the quiet education I'm trying to pass onto diners," Smith says. "You don't have to have meat be the thing that everything else is leading up to."

It's Middle Eastern, but only sort of: Though Tusk's menu has Middle Eastern influences, don't call it a Middle Eastern restaurant. "It's really using Middle Eastern food as a jumping off point," Smith said. An early look at the menu reveals a new-look farm-to-table approach, with sprouted barley, a kohlrabi cake and a tomato-pluot salad sitting next to charred pickles, lamb skewers and a whole-grain flatbread.

Speaking of that flatbread...: Tusk will serve its made-to-order, oven-roasted bread with a spread made from Dutch bullet beans, egg, parsley and urfa biber pepper. The menu features unusual whole and ancient grains all over the place puffed, sauteed and baked into all types of dishes -- look for Ayer's Creek green wheat on the lamb tartare and seeded flax in a chickpea cracker.

The white album: In July, McFadden said that Tusk would have white walls, candles in the bathroom, music that's "just a bit too loud" and an oversized photo of Keith Richards floating backwards in a pool behind its marble bar. "I want this to be a very feminine restaurant," McFadden said. "That's why we named it after a Fleetwood Mac album." If all goes according to plan, Submarine Hospitality, the restaurant group that bought Ava Gene's this summer, could own two of Portland's prettiest restaurants.

You'll want to stay for dessert: Tusk is stacking up to be one of the most exciting restaurant openings in Portland this year. Much of that is due to the staff, including Smith and Johnson, bartender Tyler Stevens (Teardrop Lounge) and perhaps the biggest score: former Le Pigeon pastry chef Nora Antene. At Tusk, she'll take inspiration from Middle Eastern flavors with an eggplant and olive oil cake frosted with fresh sheep cheese, halvah and grated dark chocolate, or the rolled Lebanese-style baklava with sprouted walnuts, sweetened condensed milk, orange blossom-infused corn cream and fresh corn.

Tusk opens Monday at 5 p.m. They'll be open from 5 p.m. to midnight, Monday - Saturday and 5 to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Brunch hours to come in early September. 2448 E. Burnside; tuskpdx.com; @tuskpdx

-- Samantha Bakall and Michael Russell
Six months after Oregon's top environmental regulator resigned during the Portland air pollution crisis, the state appears no closer to finding another top leader for the Department of Environmental Quality.

The state's Environmental Quality Commission, which oversees the agency, interviewed three candidates last week. Chairwoman Jane O'Keeffe said she didn't think any of the three unnamed people would become finalists.

"I think they were all very accomplished in what they were doing," she said. "I didn't see them as a director."

The commission had planned to announce finalists Aug. 16 to give a chance for the public to comment on them before a selection was made in September.

Now that timeframe appears unrealistic, O'Keeffe said.

"We may have to expand our search or do things like engage a search firm," she said. "We may have to look at the requirements - exactly what it is we're asking of applicants. Maybe we're asking for something that isn't quite the right mix in a director."

The commission is trying to find a leader to start by mid-October, when the interim director, Peter Shepherd, plans to step down. Shepherd, a retired Department of Justice attorney who started at the agency in April, is allowed to work 1,039 hours - an hour shy of six months -- before his state retirement benefits would cease.

The commission caused a stir late Monday when it gave just 36 hours' notice for a Wednesday meeting to discuss the recruitment process.

Commissioners plan to meet by phone. Interested members of the public were invited to attend by traveling to the agency's downtown Portland headquarters to listen on a speaker system.

That drew protest from watchdogs, who said the agency still has work to do to regain the public's trust. Earlier this year, the environmental department moved slowly to disclose the discovery of toxic air pollutants in Portland neighborhoods.

"Restoring lost faith requires transparency and openness, especially with regard to key decisions," Mark Riskedahl, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, said in an email. "Last-minute notice (to go sit in a room in downtown Portland to listen to a phone call) about the director hiring process is inadequate. Oregonians deserve better."

The agency initially said it would not allow the public to call in to listen to the meeting, then reversed itself after The Oregonian/OregonLive and other watchdogs asked questions of Shepherd and Gov. Kate Brown's office.

The number was announced Tuesday afternoon, 18 hours before the meeting. Callers can dial 866.233.3852 then enter access code 401015.

-- Rob Davis

503.294.7657
Premier Li Keqiang goes to a villager's house during a visit to Ruijin city in East China's Jiangxi province, Aug 22, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Premier Li Keqiang vowed on Monday to further improve infrastructure such as highways and internet connections in impoverished regions of southern Jiangxi province, where the Long March started nearly 82 years ago.

The premier said the government will invest more in highways, power grids and irrigation facilities for the region, during a visit to the Aobeigang Production Base for navel oranges in the city of Ruijin in Ganzhou, Jiangxi.

The Communist Party of China established its first national government in Ruijin in 1931 and started the Long March in 1934 to establish new revolutionary bases in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Li's visit to the city follows the State Council's development plan for the region, released in 2012, which aimed to cultivate industries suitable for local conditions and improve rural infrastructure and farmers' living conditions by 2015.

Ganzhou produces 1.28 million metric tons of navel oranges each year, China's largest yield of the crop and accounting for 13.4 percent of the global production. Local official Chen Baofu said the production base was opened in 1994 and now covers over 1,000 hectares that have helped lift about 3,300 locals from poverty.

Li was pleased to hear that each hectare of these oranges can produce 120,000 yuan in income ($18,000) per year. Farmer Deng Zhuping earns more than 120,000 yuan net income annually with oranges from 1.2 hectares of rented land.

"The price of navel oranges has increased by more than 10 percent over the past few years," Deng said.

Some farmers said they have started to sell the fruit online, and the premier said more investments will be made to install faster internet connections in villages to support the farmers' commerce.

"I hope the internet will help you (farmers) sell oranges, and you should adopt delicacy management processes to produce high-quality goods that lead market demand and in turn create more profits," Li said.

The plan also encompasses providing safe drinking water, new houses, new schools and upgraded power grids in rural areas.

Li visited the village of Huawu, where 102 families moved into new homes built next to their shabby old houses with subsidies from the central government in 2014. Now farmers rent rooms to visiting tourists in their new homes.

"The area's economy lags behind that of the neighboring provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, due to disadvantages in transportation, talent and way of thinking. But it has great growth potential if the infrastructure improves," said Li Minghui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

[email protected]
A sentence was handed down on Aug. 19 to a Chinese woman found guilty of plotting to illegally export weapons to the Chinese military. The woman, Man Wenxia, was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison.

Picture from website

Man, 45, runs an electronics business with her husband in California. According to court records, Man became a U.S. citizen in 2006. A BBC report stated that between March 2011 and June 2013, Man allegedly conspired with a China-based technology spy to transport military weapons and supplies to China. The supplies included engines used in F-35, F-22 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as an MQ-9 drone. Mans scheme was discovered in 2015, and she was declared in guilty in June of this year.

He Zhipeng, vice president of the School of Foreign Affairs of Jilin University, said that American courts are often particularly harsh in cases involving China. Although He understands caution on the part of the U.S. when it comes to national security, he said it often seems as though the U.S. is unendingly suspicious of China, failing to treat China as a true strategic partner. According to He, cases like Mans indicate U.S. insecurities where China is concerned: on the one hand, they do constitute a real national security issue; but on the other hand, the U.S. often seems to be making a bigger deal of them than is necessary. He sees this as an anachronistic Cold War mentality.

Mans lawyer, Alex Strassman, says Man plans to appeal the verdict. According to a report in The Guardian, Strassman argued in court that Mans actions did not constitute a serious attempt to provide China with military resources.

File Photo: Chinese-American scientist Dr. Xi Xiaoxing. U.S. federal prosecutors dropped charges against Dr. Xi, a Temple University professor who had been accused of scheming to provide classified U.S. technology to China in March, 2016.
On Aug. 22, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan for $50 million to the microfinance division of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA). The loan is ADBs first non-sovereign loan for microfinance in the China.

The loan will be distributed to approximately 130,000 sub-borrowers in counties designated as poverty-stricken by central and local governments. The ADB loan will revolve, and is expected to fund subloans amounting to over $200 million.

Our assistance to CFPA Microfinance Management will expand access to finance for microentrepreneurs, most of whom are women, and improve delivery of financial services to underserved regions, boosting economic activities that are critical to Chinas sustainable and inclusive growth, said Christine Engstrom, director of ADBs Private Sector Financial Institutions Division.

Engstrom continued, We are proud to work with CFPAMM [CFPA's microfinance department] in promoting gender equity by improving rural womens access to finance through collateral free microloans.

Around 45 percent of Chinas rural population is underserved in terms of credit, with women especially trailing in access to bank accounts and possession of collateral, both of which are vital for obtaining traditional lines of credit. Under the terms of the agreement, CFPAMM will use the funds to support household agribusinesses such as crop and livestock farming, manufacturing, individual microbusinesses in trade and other rural economic activities.

Although China has a large number of banks and non-bank financial institutions, financial inclusion remains a challenge, especially in poorer parts of the country. An estimated 25 percent of the rural population in China lacks access to banking services.
(File photo)

Hangzhou pledged on Aug. 22 to host an effectively carbon emissions-free G20 summit. This will be done by growing a forest covering over 334 mu, or 220,000 square meters.

The host city will plant the trees in March and April of 2017 in Taihuyuan Township, where Taihu Lake originates. The forest will help to absorb and consolidate carbon dioxide at an annual rate of 1 ton of carbon dioxide equivalence per mu, or about .16 acres. It is expected that the forest will be able to counteract all the carbon dioxide emitted during the G20 summit within 20 years, news site zjol.com.cn reported.

According to China Green Carbon Foundation (CGCF), it is estimated that carbon emissions during the G20 summit will total 6,674 tons, coming from activities such as transportation and food and beverage catering.

Launched on Monday by CGCF, the city government of Hangzhou and the forestry department of Zhejiang province, the carbon-free plan has received a total donation of 1.5 million yuan from a civil foundation and a local company. The plan would make the G20 summit in Hangzhou the first low-emissions summit in G20 history. It would also be the third global conference in China vowing zero emissions through tree-planting.

The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Tianjin and the 2014 APEC Summit in Beijing were also planned to be effectively carbon neutral, according to zjol.com.cn.
More patients from China are seeking medical treatment outside of China, particularly when it comes to specialized procedures. This trend has already spawned a burgeoning but uneven selection of intermediary agents who assist patients and their families, the paper.cn reported.

Though there is no data indicating how many Chinese go overseas for medical treatments, various sources estimate that more than 3,000 Chinese patients went to the U.S. last year for medical care, and about three-quarters of them sought treatment for cancerthe most common varieties being lung, breast, liver and stomach.

The Chinese seeking treatment abroad are divided into two groups: the rich who seek more specialized and respectful treatment, and the victims of fatal illnesses who desire advanced treatments and the newest medicine," the report explained.

On average, it usually takes three to five years for a foreign medicine to be approved by China's drug regulatory authority. On July 28, drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline officially announced that its human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Cervarix, was approved for use in China after six years of clinical trials. However, a similar HPV vaccine by U.S.-based drug company Merck was available in the U.S. as early as 2006.

Some patients with serious illnesses are drawn to foreign hospitals in hopes of getting more accurate diagnoses and treatment plans. The report cited the story of a man in Hangzhou who was diagnosed in 2012 with a tumor in his spine. Chinese doctors suggested that the man undergo surgery to replace his spine with artificial joints. However, a doctor in the U.S. later diagnosed the patient as having a myeloid tumor. After one month of radiotherapy, he was basically cured.

The demand for overseas treatments has naturally led to a small but growing industry of intermediary agents who specialize in medical tourism. Their services include translating medical records from Chinese into foreign languages, making appointments with foreign doctors, helping patients with visa applications, booking flights and interpretation during treatment. A business insider told thepaper.cn that China currently has at least 1,000 agents in this business.

However, as the industry does not yet have any regulatory measures, a number of problems have arisen, according to the report. Some agencies demand exorbitant intermediary service fees, or employ unqualified translators. Some also brag about the rankings of hospitals with which they cooperate.
City Engineer Brian McManus had some good news to share with the Midland City Council at Mondays meeting, where he discussed the progress of the citys construction projects and upcoming road work on Eastman Avenue and the Jefferson Avenue bridge overpass.

The annual construction progress report is typically done in December, McManus said, but some projects for 2016 are already completed or near completion, like the West Sugnet Road extension and reconstruction on Blarney, Leeway and Ottawa streets.

The good news is the program is on schedule, with about $5 million of $8.5 million worth of work already completed, McManus said. He showed images of reconstruction done on Ottawa Street, and a short video of the expansion of West Sugnet Road near the Northwood University campus.

We had hoped for a nice, deep frost that would have firmed up the ground. When they started taking the stumps out, it all turned to mush, McManus said, explaining the large equipment trucks shown moving trees through puddles of mud.

When asked by Mayor Maureen Donker, McManus said new roads are installed in Midland County every five to six years.

They are always a challenge but always a nice product, McManus said.

Another challenge yet to be faced this year by motorists is reconstruction work along Eastman Avenue.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is preparing for another large-scale street reconstruction on the five-lane business route from Saginaw to Wackerly Street. That project is expected to start after Labor Day and wrap up around Nov. 15.

Motorists have been seeing orange construction barrels for a few weeks along Saginaw Road between Eastman and Tucker Street, a project McManus said is moving right along. He did not have an end date to share.

He also had an update on projects taken on by MDOT: 80 percent of the Midland County bridge project is complete, and the Jefferson overpass bridge over U.S. 10 will close again Aug. 29-31 for sealing the new pavement.

The council voted to approve and file the construction progress report with a vote of 5-0.
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The ballot to represent the 4th Congressional District has gained an additional, but familiar name. Debra Wirth has gained official approval to be on the ballot, stated an email from the Midland County Democratic Party.

Wirth ran a write-in campaign in the primary election to make it onto the general election ballot.

I stepped into this race because I saw a need. The citizens of this district deserve leadership that stands up to the special interests in Washington, respects the will of the people, and delivers real solutions to the challenges faced by everyday Americans. Ive spent my career as an attorney standing up for the little guy against large corporations and insurance companies, Wirth said in a June press release at the start of her candidacy.

The Aug. 2 primary elections saw the Democrats fail to place a candidate on the ballot for the 4th District. However, area Democrats put together a successful write-in campaign that allowed Wirth to be placed on the Nov. 8 general election ballot with five other candidates including incumbent John Moolenaar, R; Libertarian-Leonard Schwartz; U.S. Taxpayers-George M. Zimmer; Green Party-Jordan Salvi; and Natural Law-Keith Butkovich.

This is the second attempt for Wirth in a run for the 4th Congressional District. In 2012, she ran against Dave Camp and was soundly defeated. Camp announced his retirement in March 2014 and was succeeded by Moolenaar.

Wirth grew up in Eaton County before graduating from Michigan State University. After earning a law degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1977, she worked as an assistant prosecutor attorney in Ingham County and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where she primarily represented injured plaintiffs. She returned to Michigan in 2009 and she met her husband, Steve.

Wirth will announce her candidacy Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Midland County Democratic Party Headquarters, 2620 Rodd St., across from the Law Enforcement Center.

The 4th Congressional District contains all or parts of 15 counties, including: Clare, Clinton, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Mecosta, Midland, Missaukee, Montcalm, Ogemaw, Osceola, Roscommon, Saginaw, Shiawassee and Wexford.

This story has been updated to clarify that With's write-in candidacy was for the primary ballot, and her name will appear on the general election ballot.
Some of the transport vehicles and armoured mine sweepers used in peacekeeping mission areas (Photo/Taddeo Bwambale)

Yanxi Lake Area in Huairou district offers a different view of Beijing, far from the bustle of traffic. Lush green spaces and gentle rolling hills in the distance make this area a perfect get away.

The quiet suburb is the place where Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) peacekeeping forces undergo extensive training before they are deployed to missions abroad.

The peacekeeping center has modern indoor training facilities including a first aid training room, a mine identification room, two multi-media language labs and a satelite communication room.

Outside, the centre has a peacekeeping contingent camp, an observation post, a simulated village scene, a simulated mine field, and a number of special terrain driving tracks.

Apart from training troops for missions abroad, the Peacekeeping Center hosts international exchanges with partners and conducts academic research on peacekeeping.

Senior Colonel Zhou Zhe, the deputy director of the peacekeeping center told visiting journalists from Africa and Asia during a tour of the facility on Monday, Aug. 22, that the facility and its programs have been certified by the UN.

Zhou said China will live up to its commitments to global peacekeeping operations as the country assumes more responsibilities on the international stage.

China is committed as a major power to global peace and stability through peacekeeping efforts, together with our partners, Zhou said at a briefing.

China is currently the largest troop contributor among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Chinese peacekeepers are currently deployed in six missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Lebanon, Sudan, Mali and South Sudan, with 15 units comprising of 2,403 troops.

According to Zhe, discipline and commitment to protect civilian lives rank high among priorities of Chinese peacekeepers deployed to mission areas.

Journey into peacekeeping

Chinas peacekeeping journey started in April 1990 when the country deployed five UN military observers to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization.

Later in April 1992, China sent a military engineering unit to the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia and in 2015, its first-ever infantry battalion to South Sudan.

Records show that China has participated in 24 UN peacekeeping operations and deployed a total number of 33,000 military peacekeepers since 1990.

Apart from ground troops, China presently has 93 military observers and staff officers operating in 9 missions and at the UN headquarters.

And besides troops and personnel, China is now the second biggest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget, providing $863 million in 2016.

Senior Colonel Zhou Zhe interacting with journalists from Africa and Asia

Daring tasks

From excavating unexploded mines and foot patrol in volatile areas, the peacekeepers often have to endure harrowing circumstances in their fields of operation.

Since 1990, China has lost 13 military personnel and four police personnel, with the most recent attacks on July 10 that claimed the lives of 22-year-old Li Lei and Sergeant Yang Shupeng in Mali.

In spite of the threats, Chinese peacekeepers have constructed and repaired 13,000km of road, disposed of 9,400 mines and explosives, transported 1,200,000 tons of supplies, treated 160,000 patients and conducted 1,500 mobile patrols in their mission areas, according to a report.

In Sept. 2015, President Xi Jinping pledged that China will join the new UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops.

China has also promised to send its first peacekeeping helicopter squad to UN peacekeeping operations in Africa and set up a permanent peacekeeping police squad.

Over the next five years, China plans to train 2,000 international peacekeepers and carry out 10 mine clearance assistance programs which will include the provision of training and equipment.

The country will also provide US$100 million military aid to the African Union to support the building of the African Standby Force and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis.

Accomodation for trainee peacekeepers are designed to simulate actual place of abode in mission areas
A handover ceremony is held for the relief donation from Pakistan on Aug. 22 at Wuhan Tianhe Airport. (Photo from Weibo)

The first batch of rice donated by Pakistan to flood-stricken areas in central China's Hubei province arrived at Wuhan Tianhe Airport on Aug. 22. The Hubei provincial government held a handover ceremony at the airport for the first 22 tons of rice. According to the donation plan, Pakistan will donate a total of 10,000 tons for disaster relief.

Since the start of the rainy season in June, Hubei has experienced six rounds of heavy rainfall. The flooding has caused great damage across the region. From June 18 to July 31, a total of 98 counties and cities were affected by flooding, with affected persons reaching 17.85 million. A total of 2.18 million hectares of farmland were flooded, 57,300 houses collapsed and 1.55 million people were forced to temporarily relocate.

At the handover ceremony, Yang Xiaodong, deputy director of the disaster relief division of China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, thanked the Pakistani government for its generous donation, which Yang said fully reflected the deep friendship between Pakistan and China.

Ali Ahmed Arain, Consul General of the Pakistani consulate in Guangzhou, said at the ceremony that Pakistan has always paid close attention to events happening in China. Since the Chinese people are working hard to reconstruct their homes after the disaster, the Pakistani government decided to offer a helping hand.

The Pakistani government will soon ship the rest of the donation to Wuhan.

A total of 98 counties and cities in Hubei province are affected by flooding in this summer. (Photo/Xinhua)
CAIRO  Its scoops have rattled the Saudi foreign ministry, the National Security Agency and the U.S. Democratic Party.

But WikiLeaks' spectacular mass-disclosures have also hit hundreds of average people  including sick children, rape victims and mental patients  who just happened to find their personal information included in the group's giant data dumps, The Associated Press has found.

In the past year alone, the radical transparency organization has published medical files belonging to scores of ordinary citizens; hundreds more have had sensitive family, financial or identity records posted to the web. In two particularly egregious cases, WikiLeaks named teenage rape victims. In a third, the site published the name of a Saudi citizen arrested for being gay, an extraordinary move given that homosexuality can lead to social ostracism, a prison sentence or even death in the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom.

"They published everything: my phone, address, name, details," said another Saudi man who told AP he was bewildered that WikiLeaks had revealed the details of a paternity dispute with a former partner. "If the family of my wife saw this ... Publishing personal stuff like that could destroy people."

WikiLeaks' mass publication of personal data is at odds with the site's claim to have championed privacy even as it laid bare the workings of international statecraft. And it's drawing criticism from longtime allies.

Attempts to reach WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for an interview over the past month have been unsuccessful, and the ex-hacker did not reply to written questions. In a series of tweets following the publication of the AP's story, WikiLeaks dismissed the privacy concerns as "recycled news" and said they were "not even worth a headline."

Assange gave no indication that the offending material would be taken down. He has been holed up for the past four years in Ecuador's embassy in London, where he sought refuge when Swedish prosecutors attempted to question him over sexual assault allegations.

WikiLeaks' stated mission is to bring censored or restricted material "involving war, spying and corruption" into the public eye, describing the trove amassed thus far as a "giant library of the world's most persecuted documents."

The library is growing quickly, with half a million files from the U.S. Democratic National Committee, Turkey's ruling party and the Saudi Foreign Ministry added in the last year or so. But the library is also filling with rogue data, including computer viruses, spam, and a compendium of personal records.

The Saudi diplomatic cables alone hold at least 124 medical files, according to a sample analyzed by AP. Some described patients with psychiatric conditions, seriously ill children or refugees.
CHICAGO  It's back-to-college season, which means retailers are battling to equip as many of America's freshmen with laptops, futons and mini-fridges as they can. In the flood of deals and discounts, some have their eyes on a bigger prize: figuring out how a new generation of customers shops and hooking a group of potential lifelong repeat customers.

The average family with college-age kids plans to spend $888.71 getting ready to go back to campus, about half of which will go for electronics, apparel and dorm furnishings, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

"Especially when it's freshmen going off to college for the first time, or a sophomore or junior establishing their first apartment, it's a big chunk of change," Retail Systems Research analyst Nikki Baird said.

And while those sales are compelling in their own right, companies with more unique or engaging pitches to college students are likely to have an advantage.

Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy all let students set up wish lists similar to wedding registries, and Target customers created 136,000 of them last year. Best Buy offers deals that are strictly for students year-round, including a discounted round-the-clock Geek Squad tech support subscription.

At Bed Bath & Beyond, students can make an appointment to shop with a "college expert" or check for a school-specific packing list.

Target promotes its subscriptions, which send customers refills of household staples, to students and parents who at least want to make sure their child regularly restocks on cleaning supplies, even if there's no guarantee they'll be used.

This year, Target hired three "college stylists" to create YouTube videos advising students on dorm design. It also introduced a chatbot on the messaging app Kik that can suggest college-oriented products and field questions.

"It's our first experiment with the platform. It's a way for us to try and learn, and with what better guests than digitally native college students who are already using these platforms?" Target spokesman Lee Henderson said.

Few if any retailers have cracked the code of how best to engage with the next generation of shoppers online, and back-to-college is an easy time to reach a lot of young customers at once to test new ideas, Baird said.

"It's a chance to check to see if you engage with consumers at that level; does it work better than throwing promotions at them?" she said.

Target has opened or is planning to open several of its new small-format stores near college campuses. The chain hosts after-hours shopping parties at stores near 86 campuses around the start of the school year, Henderson said. Target buses the students to stores with DJs, free samples and coupons.

Mary Oakes, Columbia's director of residence life, said Target is the only company that's asked to host such an event with the college. "The event is popular because the campus doesn't have a big enough spot for a schoolwide welcome-week party," Oakes said.

Even though students don't generally have as much disposable income as older groups, their potential value as lifelong customers makes a small early discount worthwhile, said Alexander Chernev, professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

College students also can be easier new customers to draw because most haven't done much household shopping, he said.

Take Paula Herbst, 18, an incoming freshman at the University of Chicago who finds shopping "kind of tedious."

"I try to do it as little as possible," Herbst said.

But Herbst is starting from scratch when it comes to outfitting her dorm room. She had a three-page list of items to buy and will likely need to restock at some point this year.

"It's good to be the company that helps them shape (their) preferences," Chernev said.

Amazon.com also has taken a particular interest in students, offering six-month free trials of its Prime membership program, which includes free two-day shipping on many items, after which they pay half the normal rate.
BLOOMINGTON  A metal traffic signal control box doesn't appear to be an ideal canvas for a work of art, but that's where several local artists are adding splashes of color in downtown Bloomington.

"We've been working with the city to beautify these boxes and they gave us the green light earlier this year to do three," said Downtown Bloomington Association Executive Director Tricia Stiller.

The city has authorization for six boxes downtown, said Bloomington Public Works Director Jim Karch, adding others on state routes are subject to the approval of Illinois Department of Transportation.

"This is kind of a pilot program to see how this goes," said Karch. "We're going to look to expand that in future, but we definitely don't have the ability right now on state routes to do that."

Karch added, "It's an opportunity to brighten up the downtown with art, and the city does appreciate the partnership with the Downtown Bloomington Association on this."

For its latest public art program project, the DBA is paying three local artists $250 apiece and providing acrylic paint to transform traffic signal control boxes at three locations.

"Many, many towns all over the country are painting their traffic boxes," said Joann Goetzinger, a member of the DBA design committee, which selected three artists from applications submitted to paint the boxes. "Like the murals, it seems every community has them now."

The DBA did not set a theme for the art being painted on boxes that are approximately 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep.

"We wanted them to think up something imaginative because there are so many artists and they all have different styles," said Goetzinger.

"I love the circus and given McLean County's history for being a winter home for circus (acts)," Bloomington artist Danell Dvorak said she came up with a circus theme for the traffic signal box she painted at Washington and Center streets near the McLean County Museum of History.

She painted red-and-white stripes representing a circus tent on one side, and a circus horse and a circus dog on the other sides.

Dvorak said she hopes people will use the box as a photo backdrop for cell phone camera "selfies" standing next to the dog or behind the horse's body.

"That's what people do, and if we want to drive tourists or locals to come downtown this is a unique 'take your photo here' opportunity," she said.

The two other boxes are still being completed.

Artist Theresa Chambers plans to paint a silhouette of a grain elevator and rural landscape on the box at Center and Front streets near the McLean County Law and Justice Center; artist Rose Tuttle is painting the box at Main and Washington streets with a fish-bowl theme, said Goetzinger.

"We've had problems all summer because it's been too hot or raining a lot," said Goetzinger. "You can't paint on something that is metal when it's hot. The paint will not react well."

Karch has asked the artists to use brighter colors because darker paint can actually heat up some of the electrical components inside the cabinets and possibly damage them.

Dvorak is excited about being able to contribute her art in the efforts to revitalize downtown Bloomington.

"Given that a lot of people are trying to raise the downtown up and really put community heart back into it ... what better way for myself, as an artist, to contribute than to paint on one of these traffic control boxes."

The city already has murals at 12 locations downtown.

"We're doing more of those in the future, too," said Goetzinger. "Because we have so many artists we're trying to make this area be sort of a destination for people who want to see art. In my travels I've seen towns that advertise they have art, but they don't have half of what we have here."
BLOOMINGTON  The City Council formally rejected on Monday spending public money for a privately developed, $52 million hotel and conference center on two downtown blocks, and it moved toward creating a tax increment financing district at that site.

Both measures were recommended by consultant SB Friedman Development Advisors. The Chicago-based firm was hired to vet the city's risk in the hotel complex project pitched by commercial real estate broker Jeff Giebelhausen and others associated with Riverside Lodging Bloomington LLC.

The group planned to redevelop the historic Commerce Bank and Front 'N' Center buildings in the 100 block of North Center Street into a 129-room brand-name hotel and restaurant cluster with a conference center at the former Elks Lodge property across Madison Street.

Those three buildings, owned by Merle and Carol Huff of Peoria, make up 86 percent of the building space in the proposed Downtown Southwest TIF District.

The council voted 8-1 to set an Oct. 10 public hearing to gather public input on creating a TIF district limited to the three blocks bounded by Washington Street to the north, Center Street to the east, Front Street to the south and Lee Street to the west.

The area qualifies for TIF designation because of a combination of blighted buildings and others in need of conservation, declining property values and high vacancy rates, according to St. Louis-based Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viets (PGAV), a consultant the city hired to complete a state-required study for creating a TIF district.

In a TIF district, the property tax revenue generated by increasing property values is diverted from taxing bodies for up to 23 years into a fund for redevelopment projects and infrastructure improvements there.

"For the benefit of the city and the other taxing districts we want to leave this area better than what we saw it and we want to encourage private investment in the area," said Bloomington Economic Development Coordinator Austin Grammer.

PGAV estimated redevelopment costs at $27.9 million, including $7.5 million for public works improvements; $2.6 million to acquire the property and prepare the site; and $4.1 million to rehabilitate or retrofit the buildings. The numbers would vary depending on what the property would be used for.

"This estimate does not necessarily imply that the city is going to be spending this money," said Grammer. "This is more of an estimate of potential private-sector investment that could be occurring."

Ward 1 Alderman Kevin Lower said he was worried about "the city being on the hook" if redevelopment efforts are not successful.

"You talked about a lot of positives if it successful, but unfortunately a lot of these TIF interludes are not across the country," said Lower.

"There are always some strings attached; there is some investment," said Lower. "Sometimes there is private investment and we have negotiations typically, and then the city is on the hook financially as well. That's what I'm worried about. We're dealing with an economy that is kind of fluttering at best. I'm not sure this is the right time to do a TIF."

A joint review board consisting of the five taxing authorities in the proposed TIF area  Bloomington District 87, Heartland Community College, City of Bloomington Township, McLean County, and the city of Bloomington  is slated to meet on Sept. 8.

The taxing bodies will vote on whether to confirm the consultant's analysis was done appropriately and conformed with state law.

The city announced July 14 it was shelving Riverside Lodging Bloomington's proposal after Friedman identified critical deficiencies in the hotel development proposal, including no financing commitments from acceptable lenders.

The council's unanimous vote formally ends city participation in the project.

In other action, the council voted 7-2 to approve adopting a "complete streets" policy. Aldermen Lower and David Hales of Ward 2 cast the dissenting votes.

Under the concept, all potential users of the streets and sidewalks will be considered when redoing or building streets.

Normal adopted a similar policy Aug. 1.
Our Illinois government is broken when career politicians from either party can rig elections by drawing legislative maps to benefit themselves.

The Independent Map Amendment petition allows an independent commission to redistrict legislative maps in a fair, impartial and transparent manner. And yet, lawyers allied with entrenched politicians are challenging the Independent Map Amendment. They say it is unconstitutional and cant be placed on the ballot and, unfortunately, a judge agreed. Thankfully, the Supreme Court also agreed to hear and rule on the case.

Over 563,000 Illinois residents, 56 percent Democrats, 23 percent Republicans and 21 percent Independents signed the petition, which shows overwhelming bipartisan support for the amendment. The issue being raised by opponents as unconstitutional was resolved in 2014 when a judge ruled that redistricting is fair game for a ballot initiative.

The Illinois Supreme Court should reject the judges ruling and give the citizens of Illinois an opportunity to vote on the Independent Map Amendment in November.

Illinois is in a serious state of affairs. Please allow the amendment on the ballot, just like the framers of our constitution intended. It is a critical first step to change the direction of Illinois.

Peggy Haning, Minier
Actress Mila Kunis might be playing a bad mother in her new movie "Bad Mom," but she is far from being one. In fact, she said in a recent interview that since becoming a parent, her priorities have shifted to put more focus on her family and child. She also jokes that her nearly 2-year-old daughter, Wyatt, would rate her as a 10 in the mommy scale.

Speaking with Go Knoxville, Mila Kunis said that to her daughter, having her as mom is "best thing that she could possibly have right now." But being a mother has also changed the actress in many ways. Aside from a shift in priorities since having Wyatt Isabelle, the actress also believes she has grown to become "incredibly selfless."

Mila Kunis confessed that the change in attitude started happening as soon as she knew she was going to have a baby. But she did not see this as a sacrifice because becoming a mom was something she really wanted in her life.

Mila Kunis makes it a point to choose work with her child in mind. While the perks of traveling is part of her being an actress, if this meant she will have to be away for filming for a very long time, she would rather be at home with her family.

Ashton has a sweet family outing with pregnant Mila Kunis and their daughter Wyatt https://t.co/clH96s5LFM pic.twitter.com/8P6vFYntaQ  Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) August 18, 2016

Mila Kunis is married to actor Ashton Kutcher. They first met in their teens as they starred in the sitcom "That 70s Show." She and Ashton are currently awaiting the birth of their second child. People reports that Mila Kunis is already showing in her latest pregnancy.

While promoting her latest movie, the actress spoke recently with The Kyle And Jackie Show, where she revealed their intention as parents to Wyatt and her coming baby sibling. Mila Kunis said she and her husband will instill in their kids that they are not entitled and privilege, despite their Hollywood life. She and Ashton believe this is one way to teach their children to become self-made and self-aware.
Suicide is never a pleasing action or an honorable act but for some people of various culture, it is deemed a selfless act needed to be done for upright reasons. The sad fact today is that there are many suicidal teens who become killers and believe that it will gain them praises.

If the Japanese have Hara Kiri, which is a form of suicide that is done to atone a crime or shame done, Palestinians also use suicide as a way to attain glory. For Palestinians, suicide for no reason is not honorable at all but if it is done for a reason, then nothing is wrong with it and is considered a glorious act. Now in this world filled with distressed young people, many suicidal minds are being drawn to such kind of death.

The Palestinian terrorists' major pursuit is to kill Jews today and they need Shahids or martyrs to execute their plans. There is a group called Fatah that currently brags about their killings even over social media. Fatah boasts of their achievement so far to kill 11,000 Israelis that involved using 170,000 Shahids.

Yesterday, an explosion happened in Turkey during a wedding and the suspect for the bombing was actually a fourteen-year old boy. The police officers still do not know if the boy blew himself up or the bomb was operated remotely. Suicide bombing is not just limited to young boys but also to young girls. Last year there was an incident of bombing that involved five girls who killed at least twelve people in Nigeria.

How teens think today is very alarming. Their way of thinking has become more ideological and radical than the previous generation's youth. However, the new generation are exposed to more harsh realities and extreme pressure and these catapults them to easily give up and just resort to suicide. Now to make their death more meaningful, they would rather do suicide in an "honorable" way.
A same-sex couple happily received three times the blessing with the arrival of their newborn triplets. Report claim that this is the world's first same-sex triple birth via surrogacy. The babies were conceive using the DNA of both dads.

According to The Telegraph, South African same-sex couple Theo and Christo Menelaou's sperms were able to fertilize one egg each. However, during the course of the pregnancy, one of the eggs split. Thus, two of the triplets are actual identical twins. Doctors say that this rarely happens.

However, the pregnancy didn't come without any complications and doctors advised the couple and their surrogate mom to terminate two of the fetus to give the remaining fetus a chance to survive. Yet, the fathers persisted and Joshua, Zoe and Kate were born at under 31 weeks this July.

The triplets, who were born via caesarian and weighed at 2.9 lbs (Kate), 3.1 lbs (Zoe) and 4 lbs (Joshua), remained in the hospital for a few more weeks and fought to survive. But they miraculously made it and as of Aug. 4, all babies are home with their fathers, per The Sun. Zoe will have to undergo heart surgery before she reaches six months old, but nonetheless, the beaming fathers feel very blessed.

Christo Menalaou couldn't believe their fate, especially since they didn't expect they could become fathers of their very own children together. "When you are gay, there is always the thought that it just may not be possible to be a parent no matter how much you would love to be," he told newsmen.

The Menalaous did consider adoption in the beginning, but the process makes it even harder because of the fact that they are a same-sex couple. According to Sky News, South African laws are strict when it comes to surrogacy. Everyone involved, including the husband of the surrogate mom, will have to sign affidavits before a judge. Learn more about this family's story in the video below.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

Trend:

Germany condemns any provocation which fuels the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, German Bundestags MP Egon Juttner told Trend.

The resolutions of the UN Security Council are unambiguous and show clearly which steps have to be taken to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Juttner said, adding that Germany supports these resolutions and for Germany the territorial integrity of a state is a non-negotiable imperative.

Such conflicts imply tragic consequences for the civilian population, he noted. The civilian population is - like always in such conflicts - the main victim, Juttner added.

As Germany maintains traditionally tight relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia, Juttner said he would appreciate a broadening of the commitment for a peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The German MP also doubted that a swift solution of the conflict will be achieved.

The international community has to prevent any further escalation, as this impinges upon the stability of the entire region and the economic and social development in the affected countries, Juttner noted.

Therefore, I condemn the Armenian offensive of April, he said. It should be obvious to everyone who acts and thinks politically rationally, that this conflict could not be solved with weapons. A solution will merely be achieved at the negotiating table.

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.
That dark and gloomy Instagram feed of a friend of yours may be an indication of something more serious. Experts found that an Instagram feed that is devoid of bright, lively colors could mean that its owner is suffering from depression.

A research from Andrew Reece of Harvard University and Chris Danforth of the University of Vermont examined 43,950 Instagram pictures from 166 participants. The photos were analyzed based on measures of colors, brightness, faces, likability, and interesting level, The Washington Post reported.

According to the study's findings, which was released on Cornell University's arXiv, an increased hue and lowered saturation and brightness of Instagram photos can predict if the owner suffers from depression. Depressed people are less likely to use photo filters, but when they do their posts have bluer, grayer, and darker filters.

The research said that the most popular photo filter for depressed people is Inkwell, which turns pictures into black and white images with high contrast added to it. Meanwhile, the study's healthy participants (those not defined as depressed) tend to use the Valencia filter, which lightens photos' appearance.

In addition, depressed volunteers of the study are more likely to post regularly and use various kinds of Instagram filters. Reece and Danforth also found that depressed Instagram users are more likely to post pictures with faces, but each photo has fewer faces.

The researchers said the reduced number of faces in each photo indicates that the user is choosing to interact in smaller social settings with fewer people. Reduced social interactivity is one of the signs of depression.

Reece said in an email to Fortune that the findings of the research are just "a first step" and further studies are still needed before an algorithm can advance the diagnoses of mental health experts. He added that other researchers and medical professionals have positive feedback on their study.

The most common signs of depression are feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, worthlessness, lack of motivation to do hobbies and activities that were previously enjoyed, empty moods, weight and appetite changes, irritability, and problems concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions, Psych Central listed. Depression can also change people's tastes in music. For example, listening to pop songs bores you or you can't bear to listen to sad music because they just encourage your unhappy feelings.

Depression also manifests physically, also called as psychosomatic pain, the Deccan Chronicle reported. The disorder is caused by mental factors and makes people feel aches or sores even though there aren't physical explanations for it. The pain doesn't subside despite physical medications and rest.
High school students with good academic performance are attracted to job markets that are suitable to their achievements. A new report found that high school students who have high test scores and attended higher-level classes were more inclined to take up jobs in workforces where there are plenty of college-educated people.

The report, which was provided by the American Sociological Association, analyzed data from 14,825 sophomores in more than 1,000 high schools in the United States. They were first surveyed in 1980 and were surveyed again for four times in 2014, a period when they reached 50 years of age.

According to the researchers, high school students who took advanced math classes, had high test scores, and achieved higher GPAs were more likely to work in job markets alongside college-educated individuals. The same can be said for people with a college degree.

With these findings, the researchers believe that areas with more college-educated people in the workforce would thrive more. This is because there are higher chances of advancement and economic growth in these places, which can then attract large numbers of people with high educational achievements.

In the United Kingdom, one third of students are prioritizing their education more over social activities such as clubbing, partying, and drinking with their friends. Young people are spending more than 200 hours on tasks that would increase their chances of getting hired, and they do this even before they enter college, The National Student reported.

This change is due to the mounting pressure of job hunting. Students feel pressured to stand out from other applicants when they apply for jobs, and they believe they can achieve this if they are armed with additional credentials and achievements from school.

Students in the U.K. are taking math, computer science, and economic A-levels when they want to gain an edge in the job market, the Financial Times reported. The country's government is pleased with this development because it lays out potential economic improvements in the nation's future.

A Brookings Institution blog post, meanwhile, claimed that taking advanced high school courses isn't a definite way to set up students' success in college. Researchers Gregory Ferenstein and Brad Hershbein said high schools should emphasize developing students' critical thinking skills instead of forcing them to learn specific content.

The research argued that students would forget specific details of a lesson, but they might remember its broader concepts. Those "underlying skills" would help them have more success in college and in the workforce.
Nate Diaz gave UFC the fight that they wished to see as he and Conor McGregor heated things up inside the octagon. Despite losing his fight from Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz is still on top of the headlines, but this time, it's for openly vaping CBD oil during his post-fight interview.

Nate Diaz suffered several injuries, as he is swamped with cuts and bruises during his post-fight interview. The Stockton, California fighter was seen discreetly vaping cannibidiol or CBD oil cartridge during his interviews. When he was asked what he was vaping, Nate Diaz did tell the reported that the CBD oil helps him throughout his healing process as reported by MMA Junkie.

"It's CBD," Diaz said. "It helps with the healing process and inflammation and things like that, so you want to get these for before or after the fights, in training. It'll make your life a better place."

Nate Diaz openly talks about the benefits of CBD oil or marijuana oil, he is one of the many athletes that talked about the alternative treatment for pain. Though Nate Diaz used the CBD oil for his pain relief, the MMA fighter was still placed on hot waters for what he did.

MMA Fighting then added that Nate Diaz can face specific sanctions from USADA for smoking CBD oil during his interview. The USADA spokesperson, Ryan Madden stated that Nate Diaz CBD vaping incident will be further investigated as it might be under marijuana/cannabis consumption which is one of the substances under UFC's "anti-doping policy."

Cannibidiol is one of the 113 chemical components present in cannabinoids which is present in cannabis. It was then mentioned that cannabinoids are strictly prohibited in UFC as mandated bu the World anti-Doping Agency. It was then added that the each player should not consume any banned substance 6 hours before and after the fight.
An avid Trump supporter proves that age is not a hindrance to help campaign for the GOP nominee's presidential win. Probably the youngest campaign manager, this boy is making headlines as he leads Trump's campaign in Jefferson County, Colorado.

12-year-old boy Weston Imer does not need anymore to describe how much he supports GOP nominee Donald Trump. He may not be an eligible voter yet but his campaign efforts in Jefferson County, Colorado shows how much he wants to influence other people to vote for Trump in the coming November elections, and for the youth to be inspired and do the same.

According to CNN, the 12-year-old boy's current chores is to help coordinate with volunteers in Colorado and other operations that would move people to cast their votes this U.S. elections. For Imer, he is taking part in Trump's election campaign to voice a message to the youth on how important election education and political involvement are.

Because of Imer's early political engagement, it is no surprise that the boy wants to run for President in 2040 with Barron Trump as his running mate. His mother, who works at Donald Trump's campaign office is also supportive of him, and is ecstatic about how the experience is teaching her son more of U.S. politics. School's still out and the mother sees campaigning for Trump is a good way for Imer to spend the rest of his summer vacation.

According to CNN, Weston Imer wants Donald Trump to win so that safety of school campuses would be assured, something that he thinks Democrat nominee, Hillary Clinton, wouldn't be ale to guarantee. If Clinton wins, the young boy predicts that the number of school shootings would triple its current figures.

According to The New York Times, Clinton is leading election polls against Donald Trump in Colorado. Clinton's campaign in the state focused on education spending and investment on infrastructure. Still, Trump supporters in Colorado believe a win for their nominee since many of their fellow Coloradans are still undecided who to vote between Clinton and Trump.

As for CBS News, Clinton's national lead in polls against Trump is becoming less and less secured. Her lead has declined from 6.4 points in early August to 5.1 points as of late.This is really a tight election race and both presidential nominees have to fight tooth and nail to win the presidency.

Are you also a Trump supporter like the 12-year-old boy above? Why do you think should Trump be the next U.S. President? Why not? Sound off your thoughts in the Comments section and follow Parent Herald for news and updates.
It has been more than five years since the civil war in Syria started in March 2011, where the nation became irreparably divided. Due to the war, more than 250,000 people were already killed and over 11 million have fled their nation to escape the violence while an estimated 6.6 million Syrians took refuge in other countries, including children.

Just a week ago, however, the world was terribly shocked over the heartbreaking, blood- and dust-covered image of a 5-year-old Syrian boy named Omran Daqneesh, who survived the Russian airstrike in Aleppo, Quartz noted. The photo shook social media as it poignantly depicted the tragic fate of children trapped in the hostility and violence of a war-ravaged nation.

Daqneesh's photo was also a cry for help as an estimated 75,000 children are still struggling for survival in eastern Aleppo, noting the sad reality that these children are braving the vehemence of war, bomb threats, limited food, potable water and medical care, Time reported. For those who were brave enough to flee their homes and start a life anew in other nations, they also face the great risk of survival in crossing perilous borders and death-defying oceans to escape the nightmares of the civil war.

With the increasing hostilities and violent uprising in Syria, the civil war has now become the world's worst humanitarian crisis, as per Metro. Daqneesh's image wasn't only meant to poke people for sympathy or empathy but it was a call for attention that children in war-torn countries are struggling for their lives.

Remember 3-year-old toddler Alan Kurdi who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after his family tried to flee Syria in September 2015? Both Daqneesh and Kurdi represented the tragic consequences of the Syrians who choose to stay or leave their nation amid the violent war.

Fortunately, there were Syrian children who survived the horrific violence by fleeing their homes and embarking in an arduous and risky ocean voyage to Europe. Unfortunately, the hardships of the children and their families are far from over.

In fact, CNN detailed that Syrian children still endure the scars of the civil war. Some children, along with their families, weren't welcomed in other nations, instead they experience another ordeal inside the mass detention facilities like in Greece.

Even though some were lucky enough to have successfully escaped the civil war, Syrian refugees and children are facing a new string of challenges - lack of food and medical care, among others. In addition, many Syrian children are also facing some issues when it comes to education.

Since the war forced them to flee their homes and their schools, Syrian children's access to basic education (read and write) became limited. In spite of taking refuge in other countries, children also struggled with the adjustments and the issues connected to their refugee status - bullying, discrimination, language barriers, insufficient financial stability to pay tuition, not to mention the "culture clash," Parent Herald previously reported.

With that said, international governments, particularly EU, to act and help the children who seek special care, education, food, shelter and safety. Humanitarian groups are also calling the attention of countries who vowed to relocate and resettle Syrian refugee families.

Meanwhile, the Syrian civil war remains to be chaotic as airstrikes and suicide bombings continue to besiege the nation. In fact, more than 50 people, including 22 children were killed during the suicide bombing attack at a wedding party on Saturday, CBS News reported.

Unfortunately, no signs of a lasting ceasefire and an end to the Syrian civil war are currently in the horizon. The reason? The violent uprising has led to the irreparable division of the nation, according to USA Today.

What do you think is in store for the Syrian children who are innocent victims of war? Sound off below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
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I do not understand how any sex positive person would choose to be Mormon. It is a battle. I am not going to be PC. I just do not get it. You are not going to change Mormonism. Why stay??

This is a question I received on a Facebook feed from a colleague of mine and my subsequent answer:

I guess I dont know how to answer this in a few sentences on a Facebook feed. My journey within my religion has shifted significantly over the last 25-30 years  especially since I entered the mental health field. Things that made sense to me personally and were useful, were not always so for the people I worked with. My work, especially since I have seen mainly LDS folks throughout my career, forced me to look at my religion through many lenses.

Many stay within religious constructs without necessarily agreeing with all doctrine or literal meaning. There is culture, tradition, family, and spirituality among some of the reasons why I think this is so. And working from within makes for really interesting and rewarding work. I can critique and love my faith and people. I dont mind answering this question. But I dont feel a need to explain my religious affiliation either. Sometimes the tone of the question is off putting, especially since I get it a lot.

My religion has profoundly wounded me and others in many ways. Especially sexually. It is also what offered healing balms for me and my family in many situations (i.e. dysfunctional extended family situations, loneliness, anxiety, grief, etc.). My religion both hurts and helps people every day. It is a complicated relationship. Like most. I had a negative experience at the last therapy conference I attended realizing that many people (even professionals at a conference focused on accepting diversity) think its okay to berate my religion to my face. And that Im just supposed to smile, make a joke and take it (at least, thats been my way of handling those types of situations since I was a kid). So Im currently in this space of trying to challenge that response since its not how I would approach others choices around being or not being religious. You all get to see me practice this. 

Im also in this space where Ive alienated myself from some of my people because Im too much of an advocate (i.e. LGBTQ+ rights, women and equality, sexuality rights, etc.), yet still count myself as part of them, and do some good work (I hope) helping those that are wounded and need someone culturally competent to understand where they come from. So, I totally own any sensitivity that may be felt from me.

And I get the question a lot. From my own. If you dont like it here, why dont you just leave? And from those outside, like this thread. If its so harmful, why are you still in? They are both valid questions. But I still have the belief that I have a right to Mormonism on my own terms. That I have the right to my beliefs and the many ways LDS doctrine is relevant in my life, to the many spiritual experiences Ive had within this faith, and to the community I have served and been served by since my parents converted when I was five years old  even as I have the right to call out the harm I see and the ways I hope we can improve and change. Its a journey after all. I have a right to stay or go and I choose to stay. Please respect my choice, as I respect yours. Its wearisome and painful otherwise.

I will be posting 2 guest posts in the coming days where they also answer similar questions.

Natasha Helfer Parker, LCMFT, CST can be reached at natashaparker.org. She authors the Mormon Therapist Blog, hosts the Mormon Mental Health and Mormon Sex Info Podcasts, writes a regular column for Sunstone Magazine and is the current president of the Mormon Mental Health Association. She has 20 years of experience working with primarily an LDS/Mormon clientele.
Its been just over a week since my Grandmom passed away, and Ive spent much of that time processing. But I expect its going to be quite a while before I write a piece for her like I did for my Grandfather. Instead, my mind has been working on weaving connections in my own life, brought on by her passing.

She lived to 97, and was a profound presence throughout my entire life, and especially my childhood. The memories and nostalgia are wrapped around food (fried dough, Italian wedding soup with tiny meatballs, proper gravy, pitzels, a house filled with the smell of roasted peppers), sewing, playing Scrabble, and her well of formidable inner strength.

I saw her last a little over a month ago, when I visited my family on the East Coast in early July. In retrospect, Im a little in awe of the respect I had for my own sense of urgency about the trip. The original plan to visit family was between two events that got canceled and postponed. I suddenly had the free time, but not really the means to make it happen, so I figured logically, Id just move the trip to the Fall to coincide travel with the next event. Yet I was overcome with a seemingly sudden and displaced urge that I needed to make the trip happen. Talking with my partner and my parents, we managed to find a solution to make it possible.

As it turned out, if I had ignored that feeling and waited, I wouldnt have seen her in time. Despite the dementia, there were glimmers of recognition when she looked into my eyes, followed by her beautiful smile, and I shared with her a message from my Grandfather. As I left to head home, I knew in my heart that it was the last time I would see her alive.

In order to remember and mourn Grandmom, I found I had to look back on my own life. To make a shrine for her, I dug through my drawer of photographs. Even though Ive been through that packed drawer regularly, I found myself slowing down not only for the family photos, but also as I encountered a wealth of photos from the Cauldron of Annwyn Pagan Society events and of Modern Tradition gatherings: the first Rhode Island Pagan Pride Day, rituals held in art studios, RISDs Tap Room, Beltane on the Bay, lighted labyrinths, altars and feasts, maypoles and magick. Community. Shared Experiences. Rituals on a very regular basis.

I also spent most of last week in my studio making art, when I wasnt battling mysterious nausea and fatigue  both of which were strongest on the day she died (Monday) and the day of the funeral (Thursday). One of my tendencies is to pick up certain physical experiences (usually a brief and very temporary thing that happens when doing readings for people), and I think I was feeling much of what the rest of my family was feeling 3000 miles away. Despite those physical issues (and a strong desire not to leave the house or interact with people), I made some pretty profound paintings, tapping into something old and familiar.

What was it? There was a point in college where my art was flowing as I explored visually the mysteries I was experiencing in ritual. It was probably the most free, connected, and empowered that I had ever been, despite the difficulties present in my personal life. I was engaged as a priestess and honing my craft as an artist.

Coming up on the 5 year anniversary of my life changing, I wondered about then and now. The last few years have been about finding different kinds of power, freeing my heart, understanding love, trusting myself, and bringing back the art. Thats nothing new.

BUT, I had also recently brought something else back that I hadnt had in my life for at least a decade: group ritual. Im the kind of person who has been generally very wary of or perhaps reluctant to participating in other folks rituals. Yet at Many Gods West, I attended two rituals and co-lead a third. The priestess came fully back online and everythings a shade different. I became keenly aware of community and ritual in a new way, even though it was familiar territory. Like a snake that has shed its skin, or the ouroboros coming back to the point in which it both begins and ends.

But Grandmom didnt like snakes (or any other sort of reptile, though she was patient of my turtle/tortoise adoration phase). So my apologies to Grandmom for the snek mention, and lets think about it in sewing terms, which she would like better. Its like hemming a long skirt, that maybe was too long for you in the first place, but you wore tall boots to try and make it work because you really liked it. Still, the hem would drag, get caught on things, come undone and get dirty. So you stop wearing the skirtbut then one day, you pull it out and realized how much you loved that skirt. And with a little tender care and attention to detail, mending or trimming out the damaged parts, and adjusting it so it fits better, the skirt is back in your wardrobe.

We never really quite repeat the same cycle  as the world, ourselves, and everyone around us is also ever-changing, but we do expand upon it. We can pick up threads and repeat patterns, or we can choose to make new ones. In mourning Grandmom, I have uncovered another piece of myself  its like she gave me one more gift. And it fits and feels better than ever.
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Baku, Azerbaijan, August 23

Trend:

Latest on the fire in one of the houses behind ISR Plaza holding in Baku

21:14 (UTC/GMT + 4) The fire which occurred at a stock of Ernesto Mazzoni clothing store located behind the ISR Plaza holding has been extinguished.

No injuries are reported.

The fire was caused by a short circuit in the electric system, according to the preliminary version.

20:25 (UTC/GMT + 4) Fire broke out in one of the houses behind ISR Plaza holding in Baku Aug. 23.

Fire-fighters are working to extinguish the fire.
Russian jet fighters still flying from Iran: Parliament Speaker

08/23/16

Source: Mehr News Agency

TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (Mehr News Agency) - Speaker of the Iranian Parliament has emphasized that flights of Russian fighter aircraft are still being performed from Nojeh airbase in Hamedan. Ali Lasrijani made the remarks dring the Parliament open session on Tuesday morning, when answering the comments of MP Mahmoud Sadeghi.



A Russian Sukhui Su-34 fighter jet





"A total of 20 MPs called for explanations on Russia's use of Hamadan air base given that Iran's Constitution has banned establishment of any foreign military base in the country; the request meant to bringing about coordination and synergy among all three forces while, unfortunately, it has not been addressed yet," said Sadeghi who represents people of Tehran in the Parliament.

In response to the MP's comments, Ali Larijai underlined that Russian jets are still carrying out military missions from the Iranian airbase; "Iran holds cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism and the alliance between the two countries would benefit Muslims in the region."

Parliament Speaker further asserted that "no military base has been handed over to foreigners as Russian is merely using Hamedan's Nojeh airbase for refueling purposes."

He reiterated that no airbase has been given to any country and the temporary operation of Russian fighters in Hamedan posed no need to obtain permission form the Parliament.

The official also referred to earlier remarks made by Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Dehghan saying "the commander could have made a better choice of words while talking about the Parliament."

He recalled a famous saying by the founder of the Islamic Republic that "the Parliament in placed on top of all affairs" asserting "Imam Khomeini's words must be taken into mind both in theory and action as well as in expressing views."

At the beginning of the session, Larijani felicitated the occasion ofGovernment Week and commemorated memories of martyrs Mohammad Javad Bahonar and Moahammad Ali Rajaei emphasizing that they remain as excellent paragons of management in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
U.S. State Department warns Iranian-Americans about travel to Iran

08/23/16

Source: U.S. Department of State (LAST UPDATED: AUGUST 22, 2016)

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Iran.





Visit U.S. Department of State's website for the latest updates





This replaces the Travel Warning for Iran dated March 14, 2016, to reiterate and highlight the risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, particularly dual national Iranian-Americans. Foreigners, in particular dual nationals of Iran and Western countries including the United States, continue to be detained or prevented from leaving Iran. U.S. citizens traveling to Iran should very carefully weigh the risks of travel and consider postponing their travel. U.S. citizens residing in Iran should closely follow media reports, monitor local conditions, and evaluate the risks of remaining in the country.

Iranian authorities continue to unjustly detain and imprison U.S. citizens, particularly Iranian-Americans, including students, journalists, business travelers, and academics, on charges including espionage and posing a threat to national security. Iranian authorities have also prevented the departure, in some cases for months, of a number of Iranian-American citizens who traveled to Iran for personal or professional reasons. U.S. citizens traveling to Iran should very carefully weigh the risks of travel and consider postponing their travel. U.S. citizens residing in Iran should closely follow media reports, monitor local conditions, and evaluate the risks of remaining in the country.

The U.S. government does not have diplomatic or consular relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and therefore cannot provide protection or routine consular services to U.S. citizens in Iran. The Swiss government, acting through its Embassy in Tehran, serves as protecting power for U.S. interests in Iran.The range of consular services provided by the Foreign Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy is limited and may require significantly more processing time than at U.S. embassies or consulates.

The Iranian government does not recognize dual citizenship and will not allow the Swiss to provide protective services for U.S. citizens who are also Iranian nationals. The Iranian authorities make the determination of a dual national's Iranian citizenship without regard to the dual national's personal wishes. Consular access to detained U.S. citizens without dual nationality is often denied as well.

The Iranian government continues to repress some minority religious and ethnic groups, including Christians, Baha'i, Arabs, Kurds, Azeris, and others. Consequently, some areas within the country where these minorities reside, including the Baluchistan border area near Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Kurdish northwest of the country, and areas near the Iraqi border, remain unsafe. Iranian authorities have detained and harassed U.S. citizens, particularly those of Iranian origin. Former Muslims who have converted to other religions, religious activists, and persons who encourage Muslims to convert are subject to arrest and prosecution.

The U.S. government is concerned about the risks to civil aircraft operating into, out of, within, or over Iran due to hazards from military activity associated with the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. The FAA has advised U.S. civil aviation to exercise caution when flying into, out of, within, or over the airspace over Iran. For further background information regarding FAA flight prohibitions and advisories for U.S. civil aviation, U.S. citizens should consult the Federal Aviation Administration's Prohibitions, Restrictions and Notices.

The U.S. government's ability to assist U.S. citizens in Iran in the event of an emergency is extremely limited. U.S. citizens in Iran should ensure that they have updated documentation at all times and make their own plans in the event of an emergency. For more information, see "What the Department of State Can and Can't Do in a Crisis" at the Department's website.

For further information:
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Republicans in Congress have subpoenaed three technology companies that declined to hand over documents about former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clintons private email server.

On Monday, Datto, SECNAP Network Security and Platte River Networks received subpoenas from U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican.

Smith is demanding documents from the companies as two congressional committees from the House and Senate investigate the Democratic presidential nominees use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

All three companies either sold products used in Clintons email server or were hired to maintain it, Smith said in the subpoenas. For example, Datto provided an online backup system that eventually began storing Clintons emails off site.

A senate committee sent a letter to Datto last October requesting a long list of materials, including any email data that the company might have backed up.

Datto declined the request, saying its client had never granted the consent it needed to hand over the information.

SECNAP, which provided a tool to monitor hacking threats to Clintons server, received a similar request the same month. Lawmakers demanded details of any cyberattacks that had targeted Clintons private emails. SECNAP also cited a lack consent from its client and declined the request.

Republicans have continued to hammer Clinton over the private email server controversy even after the FBI concluded its own investigation last month.

Although the FBI said Clinton was extremely careless in the way she mishandled classified information over the server, it did not recommend that charges be brought against her.

Still, Congressional Republicans continue to demand more information. Last week, they also obtained classified records of an FBI interview with Clinton about her email use.

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, said on Monday that he supported Smiths subpoena. He called Clintons private email server use dangerously reckless.

I hope the information we will obtain will inform policy changes that can prevent similar misconduct in the future, he said in a statement.

Its unclear whether the three companies will hand over the information or risk being held in contempt. Platte River Networks declined to comment on Monday, and both Datto and SECNAP didnt immediately respond.

Both Datto and Platte River Networks reportedly cooperated with the FBI during its investigation. This included handing over data related to Clintons email server.
Graphics processors with Nvidias NVLink throughput technology have just started coming out, but a successor to the groundbreaking interconnect is already on its way.

IBMs upcoming Power9 chip will include NVLink 2.0 technology, and servers using the chip will be available next year.

Nvidia hasnt yet announced when GPUs with NVLink 2.0 would come out, but they could be available around the same time as the new Power9 servers come out.

IBM is projecting Power9 servers to be out by the middle of next year, but the company hasnt nailed down a specific date.

A presentation on Nvidias website says NVLink 2.0 will be in GPUs code-named Volta, which also will come out next year.

Each NVLink 2.0 lane in the Power9 chip will communicate at 25Gbps (bits per second), seven to 10 times the speed of PCI-Express 3.0, according to IBM. Power9 will have multiple communication lanes for NVLink 2.0, and they could provide massive throughput when combined.

Recent Nvidia GPUs like the Tesla P100 are based on the companys Pascal architecture and use NVLink 1.0. The Volta GPU architecture will succeed Pascal, also used in GPUs like the GeForce GTX 1080.

With a tremendous bandwidth improvement in over its predecessor, the NVLink 2.0 technology will be important for applications driven by GPUs, like cognitive computing.

Nvidia is a key member of OpenPower Foundation, an IBM-backed organization that is trying to proliferate Power hardware and software.

For now, the NVLink 2.0 I/O is designed for Nvidia GPUs, and no other component works with the interconnect. IBMs Power chip also offers the PCI-Express 4.0 connector and a CAPI (coherent accelerator processor interface) interface for other chips, storage, and memory.
Even though an early iteration of Microsofts HoloLens augmented reality headset is already shipping to enthusiasts, one of its key details has remained shrouded in mystery: Whats inside that funky holographic processing unit that works alongside the devices CPU and GPU, anyway? During the annual Hot Chips conference in Cupertino, California, Microsoft pulled back the curtain on its secretive chip.

The HoloLens HPU is a custom 28nm coprocessor designed by TSMC, The Register reports. The chip packs 24 Tensilica digital signal processor (DSP) cores. As opposed to more general-purpose CPU cores, DSPs are a specialized technology designed for rapidly processing data flowing in from the worlda no doubt invaluable asset while rendering augmented reality environments in real time. Microsofts HPU also contains roughly 65 million logic gates, 8MB of SDRAM, and 1GB of traditional DDR3 RAM. It draws less than 10W of power, and features PCIe and standard serial interfaces.

Why this matters: The speeds and feeds of the exotic holographic processing unit matter only to geeks. The important part is what all those those logic gates and DSP cores enable the HoloLens to do.

Meet the HoloLens HPU

The HPU is designed to handle all the information streaming in from the array of cameras and sensors on the HoloLens. This data is essential for any VR-style headset, but especially so in an augmented reality device that overlays digital images on the real world.

The HPUs dedicated hardware is up to 200 times faster than performing the same calculations via software on the less-specialized 14nm Intel Cherry Trail CPU. Microsoft added custom instructions to the DSP cores that allow the HPU to churn through HoloLens-specific tasks even faster, The Register reports. The HPU can perform roughly 1 trillion calculations per second, and the data it passes to the CPU requires little additional processing.

The HPUs gruntwork leaves the HoloLens GPU and CPU free to concentrate on running Windows 10 and any additional apps, rather than spending their time parsing complex environmental data. Thats particularly important because unlike the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, the HoloLens is a self-contained, standalone device, completely reliant on its onboard hardware.

So the HoloLens secret sauce is juicy indeed. But HPU details arent the only tasty tidbits hidden inside Microsofts augmented reality device. Be sure to check out our deep dive into 7 critical HoloLens details Microsoft hid inside its developer docs for even more behind-the-scenes information.
Strike another one off the hit list. Microsoft and Lenovo recently announced an agreement to preload Microsoft apps on Lenovo and Motorola Android devices.

The preloaded apps are the same weve seen in previous Microsoft deals with Android vendors, including the Office mobile suite, OneDrive, and Skype. The announcement did not mention when the agreement takes effect. Lenovo says it expects to ship millions of Android devices loaded with Microsoft apps over the next few years.

The story behind the story: The agreement to add Microsoft apps to Lenovo devices is part of a patent cross-licensing agreement. Most critics take that to mean that Microsoft and its powerful patent portfolio was able to make an offer that most Android vendors cant refuse.

Prior to Lenovo, Microsoft made deals to bring its apps to Android devices from Acer, Asus, Dell, LG, Samsung, and Sony. Android device vendors have paid as much as $1 billion in patent royalties a year before Microsofts major patent cross-licensing push. That said, Lenovo and Microsoft did not mention whether any money will change hands as part of this latest deal.

The real Windows mobile

With Windows 10 Mobile a complete write-off at this point, Microsoft needs a strong presence in mobile. Right now, getting the companys top appswhich, incidentally, millions of people like to use anywayis the best bet for Microsoft on mobile. This sudden push for preloaded Microsoft apps across a wide spectrum of popular Android devices appears to reflect that strategy shift.

Lenovo has been working with Microsoft closely in recent months. Prior to the Android deal the two companies collaborated on the experimentaland soon-to-be defunctReachIt for Cortana service.
Baku, Azerbaijan, August 23

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The privileges will be granted for Turkish citizens to buy real estate in the country, Anadolu agency reported.

According to the agency, a special mechanism has been created to grant privileges to purchase the real estate.

Turkish citizens willing to purchase the real estate till August 26, 2016 must open a special account and transfer funds to this account for three years, the agency reported.

According to the agency, the government will add additional 20 percent to the amount collected by a citizen in three years.

The minimum monthly fee on the citizens bank account must reach 250 Turkish lira, while the maximum fee - 2,500 Turkish lira, the agency said.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), more than 1.289 million facilities were sold in Turkey in 2015.
Its never a good sign when a website markets itself with a phony security award. But thats what Ashley Madison did prior to last years massive data breach.

On Monday, privacy officials in Canada and Australia found that the Canadian adultery website used deceptive and confusing practices to make customers think the service was secure.

Privacy authorities from both countries have been investigating Ashley Madison following last years hack, which exposed personal data on 36 million users, including names, credit card numbers, and in some cases, their sexual fantasies.

Although Ashley Madison had been promoting discreet extramarital affairs, the site itself used security practices that fell short of accepted standards and privacy laws, the investigation found.

One problem was the use of a medal icon on the website labeled trusted security award. The company behind Ashley Madison later admitted that the award was fake and removed it, the privacy officials said.

The officials also took issue with the way Ashley Madison retained user data. The website stored all profile information indefinitely unless users paid for a full deletion  even if the account had been deactivated. None of this was clearly stated in Ashley Madisons privacy policy.

Under Canadian and Australian privacy laws, no website should be able to keep user information indefinitely when the account has been deactivated, the investigators said.

On Tuesday, Ashley Madisons owner, Ruby, agreed to make changes recommended by the investigation. They include providing a no-cost option to delete a users profile. Previously, the company charged 19 Canadian dollars (about US$15).

If the company doesnt comply with the recommendations, Canadian and Australian authorities said they can force their countries courts to intervene.

Ruby, formerly known as Avid Life Media, is also undergoing a third-party review to examine its privacy protections and plans to introduce other security measures. Despite last years breach, the company claims Ashley Madison has 47 million users.

But even as privacy officials in Canada and Australia have concluded their own probe of the company, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also reportedly investigating the Ashley Madison site.
Count a Democratic Assembly candidate among those who could benefit the most from Riverside Countys Democratic surge.

Earlier this month, the number of registered Democratic voters in the county outnumbered the number of registered Republican voters for the first time since at least 1999, if not ever. There are now 350,428 registered Democrats in the county, compared to 346,486 Republicans and 187,554 decline-to-state voters.

A dramatic shift occurred in Californias 60th Assembly District, which includes part of Riverside along with Corona, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley and Norco. The district, currently represented by Corona Republican Eric Linder, went from a roughly 8,600-voter edge for the GOP in January to 920-voter advantage for the Democrats as of Aug. 22.

Thats good news for Sabrina Cervantes, the Democrat challenging Linder in the November general election. Cervantes finished in second place, about 2,700 votes behind Linder, in the June 7 primary.

The other candidate in the primary, Democrat Ken Park, got 8,478 votes in placing third. If Cervantes can peel off enough of Parks votes, it would significantly boost her chances of unseating Linder.

High voter turnout could help Cervantes as well, since the 60th now has more registered Democrats who could head to the polls.

In order to win, Cervantes, a district director for Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, will have to overcome a fundraising gap. Shes raised about $232,000 for her campaign compared to more than $734,000 for Linder, according to state campaign finance records.

Linder also has a unique asset  Service Employees International Union. Earlier this year, Linder became the first Republican in more than 20 years to be endorsed by the public employee union, which appreciated Linders efforts on behalf of workers seeking to unionize at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside.
Firefighters continued to gain ground on the Blue Cut fire, halting its spread and increasing containment to 89 percent, fire officials said Monday.

The blaze has charred 37,020 acres  about 57 square miles  since it was sparked Tuesday about five miles north of Lytle Creek in Cajon Pass. Most of that damage came before Thursday night, when fire officials listed containment at about 22 percent.

I want to thank all the agencies that continue to protect our county and its residents from wildfire, Chief Mark Hartwig said Monday in a post on the San Bernardino County Fire Departments Facebook page. Thank you for your dedicated support. We could not do it without you.

The Fire Department thanked cooperating agencies in the same post for helping restore the area.

The post described the residents and communities affected by the fire as resilient, while warning of other dangers.

We ask that residents returning to the evacuation zone exercise caution. Firefighters, engines and heavy equipment continue to operate in the area.

Moving with lightning speed in its early stages, the fire forced more than 82,000 people to evacuate and destroyed more than 300 buildings, 105 of which were homes.

Despite the final evacuation orders being lifted Sunday, roads in the area remain closed to most traffic except residents who can verify they live there.

Lone Pine Canyon Road at Swarthout Canyon Road to the 138 is closed and U.S. Forest Road 3N31 at Lone Pine Canyon Road is closed. The dirt portion of Lytle Creek Road is closed from the gun range to the forest, officials said.

But even allowing nervous residents back into their communities to see if their homes were still standing was fraught with glitches, some residents said.

Scott Sayles was not able to immediately get back into his West Cajon Valley home because he has a Phelan mailing address.

I was born and raised in West Cajon Valley  54 years  but as far as the post office and DMV is concerned, I live in Phelan, Sayles said Monday morning. I really appreciate the job (California Highway Patrol and San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department) are doing tremendously, but some of the guys that arent familiar with the area dont really know the details of what area is what, but when you bring in guys from 50 to 75 miles away, they really dont know the details.

After some time, Sayles and his girlfriend were finally able to return to their home, which was spared by the blaze, but most if not all of the outbuildings on their property were gone.

We still cant stay here because we have no electricity or water, but Im working on that, he said.

According to the Southern California Edison outage map, there are still at least 100 customers without power due to the fire. There is no estimated time when power will be restored.

The San Bernardino National Forest has requested a burned area emergency response team that, among other duties, will assess the charred landscape for possible future mudslides, said John Miller, a Forest Service spokesman.

There were 34 hand crews, 102 fire engines from several different stations and departments, 14 bulldozers, nine water tenders and nine helicopters still battling the blaze Monday, fire officials said in a release.

Authorities are asking anyone with any information, photographs or video regarding the start of the fire to call 800-47-ARSON or WeTip.com.
Hemet Unified School District faculty on Monday were mourning the loss of former McSweeny Elementary School Principal Daryl Wallace, who was found dead in a car Friday in Temecula.

The 41-year-old Menifee resident was known for getting along with everyone, said Hemet Unified Superintendent Christi Barrett. Wallace stopped working at McSweeny in 2014 after 15 years with the school district. Barrett did not know what led to his departure.

He did have a tremendous impact on many people throughout the district, Barrett said. People who knew Mr. Wallace would describe him as someone everyone liked. He will be terribly missed.

PREVIOUSLY: Menifee man found dead in vehicle in Temecula

The circumstances surrounding Wallaces death remained unclear Monday. He was pronounced dead in the Temecula Town Center parking lot shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday, according to a Riverside County coroners release.

Riverside County sheriffs Deputy Mike Vasquez said Saturday that deputies responding to reports of an unresponsive person inside a vehicle found Wallace dead. Foul play was not suspected, though the death remained under investigation.

Sheriffs officials did not respond to requests for more information Monday.

The Press-Enterprise interviewed Wallace in December 2006 after he became principal of McSweeny Elementary.

He said he was from Port Jervis, N.Y., and had taught fourth and fifth grades in Denver and Hemet before becoming assistant principal for McSweeny and Valle Vista elementary schools.

Wallaces childhood ambition was to become an architect, he said. In high school, he tutored first-graders and taught Sunday school. The experience inspired him to become an educator, he said.

Our hearts go out to his family, Barrett said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9284, atadayon@scng.com, @PE_alitadayon
When Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts, seen as a swing vote on the court, shifted his allegiance and rendered the deciding vote to uphold the constitutionality of a state minimum wage law in the courts 1937 West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish decision, it was known as The switch in time that saved nine, a clever twist on the saying, A stitch in time saves nine. The decision marked a stark change from the courts 32-year-long Lochner era protections of the liberty of contract under the 14th Amendment, and happened to come just as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, frustrated that the court had repeatedly struck down his grandiose interventionist government programs as unconstitutional, was pushing a court-packing plan that would have allowed him to appoint up to six additional justices to the Supreme Court (hence, the sayings reference to saving the courts existing nine justices).

Now something similar seems to be afoot with Senate Bill 1387, introduced by state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, which would allow the state to appoint three additional members to the governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the air pollution control agency covering all of Orange County and the urban regions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The current SCAQMD board has 13 members, including 10 city and county elected officials and three state appointees  one appointed by the governor, one by the speaker of the Assembly and one by the Senate Rules Committee. SB1387 would double the number of state appointees, allowing them to comprise 37.5 percent of the board, and require that the new appointees be representatives of bona fide nonprofit environmental justice organizations, according to an Assembly Appropriations Committee bill analysis.

Its an egregious overreach of state government, Tracy Hernandez, founding CEO of the Los Angeles County Business Federation, part of a coalition of more than 100 organizations that is opposing the measure, told us. Why have any regional boards at any level of government [if the state can simply override their decisions by packing the boards]? she asked.

Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren has also been highly critical of the legislation. SB1387 is emblematic of a growing and deeply troubling trend in Sacramento  the belief that local elected officials are incapable of governing the communities we were elected to represent, and that Sacramento knows best, she wrote in a column that ran in these pages in late July. The importance of local government cannot, and should not, be casually swept aside by overtly political concerns.  If we allow Sacramento politicians to systematically strip local elected officials of the ability to represent our communities and replace us with unaccountable political appointees, democracy suffers.

SB1387 is clearly a politically-motivated effort to use state government to dilute or override the decisions of a regional board. The implications are stark for other local or regional bodies, from transportation agencies to water districts. This board-packing scheme would reduce accountability and local control. Rejecting it would be a breath of fresh air.
A number of international carriers offering flight services have started relocating their offices to Accra, Ghana from their operational bases in Nigeria.



It was gathered that such airlines, which now have their bases in Ghana, only fly to Nigeria to pick passengers on scheduled flights. The airlines cited the poor value of the naira and high cost and paucity of aviation fuel as some of the reasons for their relocation, Thisday learned.



One of the major international operators in Nigeria, Emirates, started last Sunday to pick up Nigerian passengers and take them to Accra, where it refuels before heading back to Dubai, its operational hub.It was also learned that some other airlines were already opening their Accra offices, while some have started both Accra and Lagos flights.



The Chairman of Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, Captain Nogie Meggison, who confirmed Emirates latest decision said other foreign airlines may follow suit because of the high cost of aviation fuel, which is hurting air transport business in Nigeria.



Meggison noted that some of the airlines may even begin to attract Nigerian passengers to travel to Ghana to board international flights.Meggison said that Ghana may also use the price of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, to attract more foreign airlines operating in Nigeria to move to Accra, a development which he said would hurt hotel and logistics supply businesses in Nigeria.



While aviation fuel is sold at N200 to N250 per litre in Nigeria, the product is sold at N110 per litre in Accra as the West African neighbouring country reduced the price of the product by 20 per cent about two weeks ago.



He also noted that domestic airlines would also lose connecting passengers from other destinations to Lagos and Abuja where they board international flights.Meggison also frowned on what some industry observers described as the cartel of oil marketers that arbitrarily fix price of aviation fuel to boost their profits.



He noted that as they make profits from the aviation fuel, they are stifling Nigerias economy because they drive away foreign airlines out of the country.







Source: bizwatchnigeria.ng









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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Some unemployed graduates who sat the just ended Ghana Education Service, GES, assessment examinations to be considered for employment in the Senior High Schools, have gone 'mad' following their disappointment in the final selection list.



The graduates who specialised in subjects, including English Language, Mathematics, Science and Geography, who applied for the job were shortlisted to sit exams in some selected subjects following the numerous applications which were in excess of the required number needed to be recruited.



The main objective of the conduct of the exams was to select the best bet who met the requirement. About 2,400 applicants sailed through in the exams and are, therefore, requested to go to the various regional GES offices for their appointment letters.



But in a press conference in Bolgatanga of the Upper East Region, a coalition of some disgruntled GES job applicants registered their frustrations over their inability to sail through in the exams and questioned the criteria used by authorities of the GES in selecting the qualified applicants.



Addressing the news conference, the aggrieved applicants, led by their spokesperson, Robert Adabogo, expressed dismay over the rejection of 475 applicants out the 495 graduates who applied and were shortlisted for the examinations in the three regions in the north.



"Our worry is that about 530 people are qualified in the Ashanti Region, but only a minute number of 15 of us from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions, who wrote the exams in the Tamale WAEC centre, are qualified to be given appointment letters. This is highly unbelievable", he said.



They applicants, therefore, petitioned the Director-General of the GES and the ministry of Education to intervene to address their deficit.



Mr. Adabogo added he suspected a foul play and challenged the examiners and GES to publish their results.



The irate applicants lamented the selection criteria, saying, " out of the 183 science students who wrote the exams, only one person has been picked. Nobody is qualified out of the 99 graduates that sat the mathematics paper. In Geography, seven people have been selected out of the 150 applicants, while out of the 63 graduates who wrote the English paper, only seven of them have sailed through, respectively".



They also alleged some of their colleagues in the south who were not shortlisted or didn't have the requisite qualifications, had been posted to teach in the northern part of the country without index numbers.



Mr. Adabogo also hinted the frustrated applicants would in due course petition all the Regional Ministers in the three regions in the north to also intercede address the issue.





Source: Francis Dabre Dabang/ email: [email protected]









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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Two police officers have been arrested by the Accra Regional Police Command for car snatching.



The two, according to Regional Commander ACP Timothy Bonga, were part of a car-snatching syndicate.



The two are Corporal Bismark Ntim, 32, and Lance Corporal Francis Opoku Gyau, 29, both stationed at the Accra Regional Bravo SWAT Unit.



The other suspects were Michael Adjei Donkor, 36, driver; Nana Ntim Gyakari, 28, social worker; George Eshun, 29, businessman; and Urey Harris Koufi, 32, also a businessman.



Two other suspects managed to escape arrest.



Briefing the media on the arrest on Monday, 22 August, ACP Bonga said: Investigations revealed that aftersnatching the vehicles; they quickly change the number plates and later re-spray and dispose of them.



He added: Seven different vehicles including Nissan Versa, Nissan Almera, Mistubishi Carisma, Hyundai Atos, Daewoo Carlos, Kia Picanto, and Mazda Demio  all bearing fake number plates  have so far been retrieved and investigations are ongoing. The suspects shall be arraigned before court. Meanwhile, the Police Regional Command wants to assure the public that we are very much alive and we will go after all the criminals and we shall arrest all of them.



He cautioned drivers to install car tracking devices in their vehicles, and remember to remove their ignition keys from the vehicle whenever they intend to come out of their cars.



He advised: Be attentive to suspicious phone calls and other conversations by passengers. A life lost is irreplaceable and also remember not to struggle with an attacker.

Source: classfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Residents of Donkorkrom, capital of the Afram Plains North District in the Eastern Region, have kicked against the police administrations decision to have them rebuild the areas police station before they would be given police protection.



According to the residents, they dont need the police in the area again and have asked the government to deploy military men to the area to protect them. They say they dont trust the police any longer.



The opinion leaders in the area made these known when the Eastern Regional Minister, Mavis Frimpong, visited the district capital on Friday to address the residents on last weeks mayhem.



Ms Mavis Frimpong, who went to the Presbyterian Hospital to visit the injured victims and donated cash to the authorities to take care of them before meeting the residents, called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to reverse his decision to withdraw all the police personnel in the area until the residents had rebuilt the destroyed station.



The residents here cannot be without police protection; they need security. I am calling on the IGP to reverse his decision and act on the residents request so as to restore peace here, she posited.



She further appealed to the opinion leaders to talk to the youth so that peace would be restored.



Meanwhile, the wives of the police officers in the area have also appealed to the IGP to transfer their husbands to different places and bring new officers to replace them so as to ensure their safety, since the residents are on warpath with them.



The police administration on Friday said police personnel would not be assigned to Donkorkrom and Tease until a police station that was destroyed by the residents in the course of a demonstration, had been rebuilt.



A colossal number of residents of Donkorkrom and Tease on Thursday went on rampage and set ablaze a police station, barracks and police vehicles to protest against the escape of two police officers who were arrested for allegedly attempting to rob a GCB Bank bullion van of the money it was carrying.



The attempted robbery led to the death of the driver of the van after a hot exchange of gunfire between the police officer who was escorting the van and the cops, together with their purported civilian accomplice.



The Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), COP Prosper Kwame Agblor, during a press briefing, said when the incident happened, We came out to assure the general public of the efforts we were making to re-arrest the suspects and urged them to remain calm and assist the police in this direction.



According to him, the action of the residents that followed the escape of the suspects was unfortunate and reprehensible, adding that on Thursday residents of Donkorkrom and Tease, upon instigation by some opinion leaders, mobilized themselves and attacked some police stations and vandalized the facilities mentioned above.



He noted that some of the residents also attacked the police officers and their families and looted one of the blocks in the barracks, taking personal belongings of the affected personnel and their families away.

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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President John Mahama has said that the Ghanaian economy has seen much improvement under his stewardship, stating that the right climate for take-off is here.



Also, he added that when re-elected in the forthcoming elections, he will implement an Economic Transformation and Livelihood Empowerment Programme (ETLEP). This, he explained, will create numerous employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth in several sectors of the economy.



The environment is getting better and better, President Mahama wrote on his Facebook Wall on Sunday, adding the right climate for take-off is here. This is why in my second and final term starting January 2017, God Willing, I am determined to implement an Economic Transformation and Livelihood Empowerment Programme (ETLEP).



This programme seeks to create more jobs in several sectors of the economy, with private sector involvement, and is anchored on value addition and diversification on the back of sustainable power supply".



He continued: The Economic Transformation and Livelihood Empowerment Programme will strengthen existing industries and pay particular attention to the entire agriculture value chain. Additionally, the Programme will provide more jobs for the youth and Ghanaians as a whole, improve disposable income and enhance their purchasing power".



President Mahama is expected in the Northern region today to continue his campaign after visiting the Western Region.



Some of the areas he is expected to be visiting include Salaga, Kpandai, Bimbilla, Wulensi, Yendi, Gushiegu, Zabzugu, Tatale, Mion, Nanton and Chereponi.





Source: starr FM









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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Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 22

By Ilaha Mammadli  Trend:

Azerbaijan and the European Union are resuming negotiations within the framework of the existing mechanism of cooperation, Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev told Trend Aug. 22.

Subcommittees will start work in September, said Mammad-Guliyev adding that during the autumn, it is planned to hold sessions of four subcommittees, operating in the spheres of trade, energy and transportation, ecology, security and human rights, education and other social issues.

He noted that these consultations will be held regardless of the terms of mandate of the EU Council to start negotiations on a new agreement on strategic partnership.

It is expected that the mandate will be given to Azerbaijan closer to October, but it is still preliminary date, added the deputy minister. Despite this, we are resuming work with the EU within the framework of the existing cooperation mechanism.

Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of an agreement on partnership and cooperation that was signed in 1996 and entered into force in 1999.

The new agreement envisages the approach of Azerbaijans legislation and procedures to the most important international trade norms and EU standards, which should lead to an improvement in the access of Azerbaijani goods to EU markets.

Today, the EU is Azerbaijans main trade partner.

The share of European countries in Azerbaijans foreign trade was 46.96 percent in 2015, according to the countrys State Customs Committee. Currently, the EU countries account for 31.92 and 59.1 percent of Azerbaijans import and export respectively. European countries mainly deliver vehicles and transportation equipment to Azerbaijan and import oil products from the country.

Azerbaijan put forward the initiative to conclude an agreement with the EU on strategic modernization partnership instead of the Association Agreement (AA). This document is not legal; this is a program, an action plan, aimed at expanding cooperation with the EU beyond energy. The agreement will define new directions of partnership, such as education and other spheres.
The Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma West Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has described the donation of outboard motors by President John Dramani Mahama to fishermen in the Western Region as an abuse of incumbency.



President Mahama was in the region for a four-day visit as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) kick-started its campaign ahead of the polls in December, and donated some outboard motors to fishermen in Axim.



The legislator suggested that, the president had knowingly given the outboard motors, procured using state funds, to the fishermen in an attempt to coerce voters.



Interestingly on his first stop, he uses funds and equipment procured by the state for a policy of the state to give to people as part of his campaign. That is what is termed as abuse of incumbency, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful told Citi News.



You can dress it and put any garment on it but look at the facts, all of them were embossed with JM 2016, thats a campaign gimmick. If you use state resources to buy outboard motors as part of an official government policy and you emboss those outboard motors with your campaign stickers and slogans and share them during your campaign tours, thats vote-buying with state resources and a gross abuse of incumbency.



The debate over vote-buying ahead of the polls has been reignited in recent days with the two main political parties trading accusations.



A recent CDD survey found that the NDC topped the list of vote buying claims, with fifty-one percent, followed by the NPP with thirty-two percent.



The survey has since been rubbished by the governing party, as well as the CPP and PPP, who were also cited as having offered goodies in an attempt to buy votes.



Ursula Owusu-Ekuful expressed concern that some deserving fisherman might miss out on the outboard motors because of their political allegiances, stating that, pro-government persons would be favoured.



Its part of a national policy to equip fisher-folk with outboard motors and you hand them over to party functionaries to distribute. Of course they are not going to give them to known political opponents of theirs, they will give it to their party people, she opined.



According to her, the only way to ensure that tax payers money and state resources are used for the purposes they were intended, is to vote the NDC out of power.



Vote them out then you can be sure that state resources would be used for the benefit of everybody, she said.

Source: citifmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Its historic and a clear case of direct impact of the massive investment in infrastructure by the Mahama administration.



The Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Shaributu who witnessed the official inauguration of the first flight for 500 pilgrims who flew directly to Jedda from the Tamale International Airport, Saudi Arabia simply described John Mahama as God sent.



So far 1,500 pilgrims have successfully been airlifted from the expanded airport and the remaining Ghanaian pilgrims embarking on their spiritual journey to the Holy Land will leave the country from the Kotoka International Airport.



The policy decision by President John Mahama has been described as one major initiative that re-affirms the NDCs bondage with the Muslim Community.



Prior to his departure to Tamale to inaugurate the flight, President John Mahama reminded the Muslim community in Kokompe, a suburb of Takoradi about his partys track record.



Former President Jerry Rawlings was passionate about developing Zongo communities. He established two holidays, Idhl Adha and Idhl Fitr to mark to major events on the Muslim calendar and he established the Islamic Education Unit to give priority to training Muslim youth. Under late President Atta Mills, the NDC established the Hajj Village to accommodate prospective pilgrims who hitherto under the NPP regime spend days on the tarmac at Kotoka under harsh conditions to catch their flights. Today, people up North and Brong Ahafo can easily do so from the Tamale Airport he told the cheering crowd.



President Mahama has also disclosed plans to build two new airports at Cape Coast and Bolgatanga.



According to him, the Aviation industry is growing rapidly and Ghana needs to embark on massive aviation infrastructure across the country to meet demand his vision of ensuring that every region in Ghana gets an airport is in line with governments transformation agenda.



These are not the only airports we are working on. Phase two of the Kumasi airport expansion will kick off next year. It will involve the extension of the Kumasi airport runaway to accommodate wide bodied jets. We will construct an additional terminal building at the airport so that we can handle the growing amount of traffic that is developing at that airport. We also intend to rehabilitate the runway of the Sunyani airport to facilitate takeoff and landing of aircrafts there and we are conducting a feasibilities study for the cape-coast and Bolgatanga airports. The construction of these facilities will see a takeoff of aviation in this country and you are aware already, the aviation and passenger traffic continues to increase year on year. This will serve as an economic growth nod and there by generate more jobs and improve the local economy said the President.



The President also spoke about plans to expand the Tamale International Airport, says the conversion of the Tamale airport into an Aerotropolis, which will be a major hub to service the airline industry in the sub region.



The planned airport city will provide one stop airport support facilities including hotels, conferencing facilities, shops, restaurants among others.





The Tamale airport is now equipped with an extended runway (3,940metres) and a complete lighting system to accommodate bigger aircraft.



He added that the ongoing construction of Terminal three of the Kotoka International Airport, when completed it will turn KIA into one of the most modern terminal buildings in the whole of West Africa.



Work on the Ho aerodrome which preferably is called Ho airport is also ongoing. We expect the runway to be completed before the end of this year and the terminal building will be completed early next year. We also expect the flight to begin operating from the WA airfields in the next few months. In the next few months it should be possible to catch a flight from WA to the other parts of the country.. This fits into my economic transformation and livelihood empowerment program to be pursued in my second and final term in office Insha Allah he added.

Source: The Republic









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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Director of Communication of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is predicting a political Armageddon for President Mahama for freeing Montie three serving four months jail term for scandalising the Supreme Court.



The President in a statement signed by Communications Minister, Edward Omane-Boamah granted a remission of sentence to the three on compassionate grounds.



President Mahama in consultation with the Council of State and in exercise of his constitutional powers under Article 72 of the Constitution remitted the remaining prison sentence imposed on three persons: Salifu Maase (alias Mugabe), Alistair Nelson and Ako Gunn who were sentenced to four months imprisonment and a fine of GH10,000.00 each for contempt of court. The remission is effective 26th August 2016



The three were sentenced on 27th July 2016 and have served part of the prison sentences imposed on them. They have also paid the GH10,000.00 (ten thousand Cedis) fines. Given the pardon, the three contemnors are expected to be released on Friday August 19, 2016.



But speaking on Asempa FM Monday, Nana Akomea expressed shock at the decision taken by the President.



President Maham will regret this action; he has set a bad precedent by releasing the Montie three he stressed.



The NPP Director of Communications could not fathom why the President will grant pardon to people sympathetic to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) after they subjected the judiciary to public ridicule.



Nana Akomea said the precedent set by the President could spark turf war a between the executive and the judiciary.



If someone takes this issue to court, it could spark a constitutional crisis toe months to elections he bemoaned.

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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By pardoning the Montie 3, President John Mahama has proven that he is a president for only members of his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and not for all Ghanaians, former Attorney General Nii Ayikoi Otoo has said.



Speaking on Inside Politics on Monday 22 August, Mr Otoo told Moro Awudu that Mr Mahama's decision to free the three convicts who are serving a four-month jail term was further proof of the NDC's 'Yen Tie Obiaa' posture.



Mr Otoo said he was not surprised by the president's action since it was for political expediency following the pressure mounted on him by members and ministers of the NDC to have the three freed.



The president, late on Monday August 22, 2016, freed the three men.



A statement signed by Communications Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah said: The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has, in consultation with the Council of State and in exercise of his constitutional powers under Article 72 of the Constitution, remitted the remainder of the prison sentence imposed on three persons: Salifu Maase (alias Mugabe), Alistair Nelson and Ako Gunn, who were sentenced to four months' imprisonment and a fine of GHS10,000.00 each for contempt of court. The remission is effective 26th August, 2016.



The three were sentenced on 27th July, 2016 and have served part of the prison sentences imposed on them. They have also paid the GHS 10,000.00 (ten thousand cedis) fines. The decision of His Excellency the President to remit their sentences on compassionate grounds follows a petition submitted to him by the contemnors appealing to the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy even as they continue to express deep remorse and regret for the unacceptable statements they made against the judiciary.



His Excellency President Mahama takes this opportunity to remind all Ghanaians of the need to respect the institutions of state and exercise freedom of speech responsibly mindful of the need to preserve peace and national unity. The president reminds all concerned especially persons working in the media or appearing on its platforms to be circumspect and guard against the use of intemperate language which has the potential of causing unnecessary tension especially in this election year.



The President is hopeful that all will draw lessons from the events leading to the conviction of the three persons and bear in mind the consequences of injudicious utterances.



Background



On Wednesday July 27, the Supreme Court of Ghana handed the jail term to the three convicts. Apart from the jail sentence, each of them was also fined a sum of GHS 10,000. The owners of the station, including Mr Harry Zakkour, who is also the second vice-chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress, as well as Mr Edward Addo, Ato Ahwoi, and Kwesi Kyei Atuah, were also fined GHS 30,000 each. The owners were also asked by the Supreme Court to submit policy documents spelling out how to forestall similar happenings in the future. They were also asked to ensure that none of their media outlets will be used to scandalise the court or bring it into disrepute.



Moments after they were sentenced, party members and ministers including Hanna Tetteh, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and Dr Edward Omane Boamah described the sentence as harsh. The party itself also expressed similar sentiment. The lawyers for the contemnors, George Loh and Nana Ato Dadzie, amidst the heavy condemnation of the SC judgement by the NDC supporters, also petitioned the president to invoke Article 72 of the constitution to grant the convicts pardon. A group also known as Research and Advocacy Platform also collected signatures to pile pressure on President Mahama to free the three.

Source: classfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region has challenged the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to produce evidence to substantiate its claim that there are over 76,000 foreigners on the electoral roll.



According to a statement signed by Koku Anyidoho, a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, the NPPs claim that Togolese voters are on Ghanas electoral roll as declared by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice Presidential Candidate of NPP, is untrue.



Korku Anyidoho threw the challenge in Ho recently when he addressed a press conference which was virtually turned into a mini rally of the party.



Dr. Bawumia on 18th August, 2015 told the press in Accra that an investigation by the party had revealed over 76,000 Togolese nationals on the voters register of Ghana, particularly in the Volta region.



The figure, he said, represented less than 10 percent of the total number of foreigners and promised to make similar revelations from Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.



He claimed that citizens from these countries which shared boundaries with Ghana had crossed the borders to register in order to vote in Ghanas elections.



His presentation formed the basis for the NPPs insistence of a new voters register.



However, a year after the disclosure, Koku Anyidoho has challenged Dr Bawumia and the NPP to provide the remaining 90 percent of the evidence.



My brothers and sisters, where is the 90 percent plus that Bawumia promised to produce from Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and other neighbouring countries? he quizzed.



He added that Dr. Bawumia and the NPP deceived the Electoral Commission (EC) and also tarnished the image of Voltarians.



Koku claimed that it is precisely because he has not been able to make good his own promise of producing the extra 90 percent from other countries that makes it very convincing that Bawumia and the NPP deliberately chose Togo in order to paint the Volta Region black.



Why did he not take advantage of the just-ended voters register exhibition exercise to present his evidence to the EC for the said names to be deleted? For sure, Bawumia does not have any evidence to back his false claims.

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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The Electoral Commission has assured the public of a world- class" election to be conducted by the Commission this year.



Chairperson of the commission Mrs Charlotte Osei gave the assurance today when the commission met the media to explain preparations being made to ensure a credible, free and fair election.



She said the commission has taken steps to ensure improved training and compensation package for election officers to improve their capacity and motivate them to do their work efficiently.



Mrs Charlotte Osei added that members of the Ghana Bar Association and the Institute of Charted Accountants will be engaged by the commission to assist in the collation of election results at all the 275 collation centers across the country whilst the number of voters per polling station has also been reduced to a maximum of 850 to cut down on queues on election day.



Mrs Charlotte Osei stated that the commission is yet to take a final decision on the electronic transmission of electoral results as the procurement process is ongoing.



The GJA President Mr Affail Monney urged media practitioners to be understand the electoral process in order not to misinform the public.





Source: Emmanuel Akorli/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 Peoples National Convention expresses its shock and disappointment at the decision of the President to reduce the sentence of the Montie three.



Although the party does not dispute the fact that, the President is clothed with powers under the constitution to exercise prerogative of mercy on convicted persons, we hold the view that such power must always be exercised in a manner that advances national cohesion and progress.



To this end, we find the decision by the President to grant remission to these the Montie trio reprehensible, as it clearly undermines our collective efforts at deepening democracy and promoting national cohesion.



By this singular decision, the President has sought to establish a precedent that suggests that, individuals with sympathy to the NDC convicted of crimes against the state, are more deserving of his mercy than other ordinary Ghanaians.



In point of fact, there are thousands of Ghanaians on remand without the benefit of trial and thousands more in our prisons genuinely in need of the Presidents mercy, yet because they do not have an army of NDC petitioners impelling him to release them, they are still in jail.



It is our view also that, the Presidents decision further provides insurance for all his sympathisers and NDC supporters in general, who wish to foment trouble in this years election to do so with impunity knowing pretty well the President will be there to guarantee their freedom. This certainly is not a good omen with barely 100 days to the polls.



With these unfolding events and the anxiety that comes with them, we wish to appeal to all Ghanaians to stay calm and to keep up the hope of fighting for a brighter Ghana. The PNC and Dr. Edward Nasigre Mahama wish to assure all Ghanaians that, a PNC government shall work to restore faith in our institutions and enhance regard for our democracy.



God Bless Ghana and Long Live Our Democracy!



SIGNED



Atik Mohammed



(General Secretary)

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Consider this your daily piece of zen wisdom from your pals here at PEDESTRIAN.TV: If you are consciously aware that you might do a murder, do not do that murder. And definitely dont Tweet about maybe doing the murder beforehand.

A 21-year-old bloke from the Arizonan region of Gilbert (to the southeast of Phoenix) has been arrested and charged with murder after an altercation with his 41-year-old roommate ended with the former shooting the latter dead.

A gun violence-related murder emanating from the US ordinarily isnt exactly the most earth-shattering of news. But what is notable in this case is the shooter called his shot in a joke posted to Twitter a mere two days prior.

Zachary Penton called police and admitted to shooting his roommate Daniel Garafolo after a scuffle between the pair. Penton told police the confrontation occurred after Garafolo told Penton to move out. Penton was taken into custody without incident and charged with second degree murder.

NOW THEN. Heres where it starts getting real kooky. Two days before the incident, Penton (or what police are openly stating might be a Twitter account linked to Penton) tweeted this:

I need to move out of my place before I viciously murder my roommates  Zac? (@Zac_Penton) August 20, 2016

Again, we repeat: If you feel like youre about to do a very bad murder on someone, maybe take steps to ensure you do not have to do that murder.

In becoming some sort of murderous Babe Ruth, the account baring Pentons name has been mined for other Tweets in the name of gathering further evidence of potential murderousness. And, uh Guys

Holy shit buying a gun is so easy  Zac? (@Zac_Penton) June 3, 2016

I need 2 boxes of 9mm stat.  Zac? (@Zac_Penton) August 16, 2016

Dont do murders. Do not do them.

Although that said, the man/account does also speak some scorching truth.

People tweet some dumb shit  Zac? (@Zac_Penton) June 16, 2016

Preach it.

Pentons bail bond was set at $750,000, and his initial court appearance was scheduled for Monday US time.

Source: ABC15 Arizona.
Because the world secretly is a fucking beautiful place, we have this little morsel of joy for you all.

The Royal Norwegian Guard has paid a visit to the Edinburgh Zoo, in order to promote the nations most highly decorated penguin, who goes by the name of Sir Nils Olav III, to the rank of brigadier in a stirring official ceremony held overnight.

The rank is the fourth highest position in the hierarchy of Norways army and air force, and was bestowed upon the mighty bird as he inspected a line of 50 soldiers sent from His Majesty the King of Norways Guard. Sir Nils now assumes the official title of Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III.

We are honoured to host the Royal Norwegian Guard this morning, who are here to bestow a unique honour upon our resident king penguin Sir Nils Olav. Already a knight, the most famous king penguin in the world is to be given the new title of Brigadier Sir Nils Olav. The prestigious title is to be awarded during a special ceremony, attended by around 50 uniformed soldiers of His Majesty the King of Norways Guard. Find out more about Sir Nils on our website:

http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals-and-attractions/sir-nils-olav/ Posted by Edinburgh Zoo on Monday, 22 August 2016

Sir Nils Olav III serves as the official mascot of the Kings Royal Guard, and is the third penguin to assume that position. The first Nils Olav was adopted in 1972 by the unit by Lieutenant Nils Egelien, who named the penguin for then-King Olav V.

Since then, the guard has periodically visited Edinburgh Zoo every few years whilst in town for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, each time bestowing a new honour and rank onto Nils as a reward and recognition of his tireless efforts for the Norwegian military.

After starting as a mascot, Nils was promoted to Corporal in 1982, before attaining the rank of Sergeant in 1987, Regimental Sergeant Major in 1993, Honourable Regimental Sergeant Major in 2001, Colonel-in-Chief in 2005, before the current Nils Olav took over in 2008 and was honoured with an official knighthood.

Barbara Smith, the acting CEO of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, spoke of the ceremony with great reverence.

We are honoured to host His Majesty the King of Norways Guard as they bestow a prestigious new title upon our king penguin, Sir Nils Olav. It is a very proud moment and represents the close collaboration between our two countries, Scotland and Norway.

Such a majestic, stately bird. So poised and awe inspiring. I hereby renounce all national citizenships and declare undying allegiance to Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III and his everlasting glory. Sic parvis magna.

Seriously though we can barely keep our shit together and yet Norways over the doing hella cute shit like knighting penguins on their days off? We have got to sort out our priorities quick sticks.

Source: Edinburgh Zoo.

Photo: Edinburgh Zoo/Facebook.
The big political discussion over the past few weeks has centred around The Guardians drop of the Nauru Files  over 2000 incident reports from the island detention centre which detail reports of abuse and violence against asylum seekers. The Government has opted for a brick wall approach to these concerns, with Peter Dutton outright denying the validity of the reports and the credibility of refugee claims.

The latest cab off the rank is Communications Minister Mitch Fifield who, as the only Coalition minister on Q&A last night, had to be the defender of government policy. He answered a question from Tracey Donehue  a teacher who worked on Nauru until November last year  who described incidences of violence that she herself had witnessed. The government has again tried to absolve itself of responsibility, she said.

Well, Fifield reckons theres nothing systemically wrong in our offshore detention system, which the audience didnt take well, with one person yelling shame!

What responsibility does the Australian Govt have for asylum seekers on Nauru? @SenatorFifield responds #QandA https://t.co/Ue7pcivqAz  ABC Q&A (@QandA) August 22, 2016

Fifield tripped up here  he initially said that these issues are something for the Nauruan government to deal with, as the detention centres are on their sovereign soil. The implication was that while Australia is happy to investigate claims of abuse, ultimately its up to the local government to action it.

He then clarified that it was a shared responsibility, which drew jeers from the crowd when Tony Jones called him out.

Labors Catherine King swooped in to say that while Australia supports mandatory offshore detention, they want to maintain a modicum of decency in how refugees are treated. All well and good, but its worth remembering that Labor supports the majority of the incarceration regime here, and who knows what path theyd actually take on this were they in government.

.@CatherineKingMP says Labor will support an inquiry & digging in is not resolving resettlement of people #QandA https://t.co/H5IA5Hvion  ABC Q&A (@QandA) August 22, 2016





Corinne Grant pointed out the very true point that the initial questioner had exposed herself to prosecution under our very restrictive whistleblower regime merely for asking the question and detailing the abuse she herself had witnessed.

Tracey just exposed herself to 2yrs of jail, theyre not covered by whistleblower laws, says Corinne Grant #QandA https://t.co/UaDAV7TSre  ABC Q&A (@QandA) August 22, 2016

They dont want you to know whats happening in these centres, because if you did  if you genuinely knew what was happening to these people  no one in Australia would allow it to continue to happen, Grant said.

Every one of those 1313 people would be brought to this country immediately if we really knew what was happening to them.

Source: Q&A.

Photo: Q&A.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $46 million to 25 banks through an auction held by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) Aug. 23, SOFAZ said in a message.

SOFAZ will continue to sell 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.
It turns out we aint getting a full Falls Festival 1st lineup til this arvo on triple J Drive, which no doubt has enraged Matt & Alex, the usual purveyors of this kind of festival announcement.

Its enraged them so much that theyve managed to wheedle away a single artist announcement from Veronica & Lewis. Theyve just announced that London Grammar will be joining Childish Gambino on the lineup. How bout it! They revealed it by literally calling Hannah Reid live on-air, which I guess is one way to do it, right?

Theres a solid festival lineup entry for ya, right there. They played at Falls back in 2014 as well, and it was a cracker show.

Well be coming at you hot and fast this arvo around 4:30pm with the full first lineup announcement  stay tuned.

Source: Triple J.

Photo: London Grammar.
A Noongar man from Perth has been pushing hard for tech companies to consider including the Aboriginal flag among the more than 200 flags currently available in the emoji keyboard. A Change.org petition he started has collected over 2,000 signatures with little press.

Derek Nannup reckons that the flags that are currently included have encouraged him to investigate more about the designs and the countries they belong to, and he hopes the same thing could happen with both the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islands flag.

I dont really know half of the flags, he told ABC News.

So it kinds of make me curious to figure out and know what they are. Im wondering if other people would be the same as me, and if they saw the Aboriginal flag itd make them want to look into it and learn more about our culture and our people.

Emojis are decided upon by a non-profit corporation called the Unicode Consortium, and the designs are then interpreted by the various tech companies. For an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands flags to be included and be compatible across operating systems and handsets, it would have to be turned into a standard by the Consortium.

Look, if theres a flag for the Northern Mariana Islands, we can sort out an Aboriginal one, yeah?

Source: ABC News.

Photo: Getty Images / C. DANI I. JESKE
There's no other way to put this. KFC has made fried chicken-scented sunscreen.

The

monsters

fast food chain offered their new

, an SPF (Sun Protection Factor) 30 cream, for free online. But, As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, its website stated that all of its sunscreen has already been snatched up.

"My extra crispy sunscreen doesn't just keep you smelling great, (but) it keeps you feeling delicious," a suntanned Colonel Sanders said in a promotional video, his tie loosened and his sunglasses low on the ridge of his nose. "Extra. Crispy. Delicious."

Unlike the chain's edible nail polish earlier this year, you can't have Extra Crispy Sunscreen as a snack. Its website read, "Even though this product smells, delicious, it is not delicious. The only skin that should be crispy this summer is on your fried chicken."

After KFC made the announcement, the internet reacted as you'd expect.

RT @kfc We made a sunscreen and it's free* and it smells like fried chicken and fried chicken smells delicious. pic.twitter.com/kFLkFqbfP0  short girl (@SHEhasaBOYSname) August 22, 2016

If you'd like to know more about KFC's Extra Crispy Sunscreen, visit their website.
CITRONELLE, Ala. - Criminal complaints allege that a man used both a gun and an ax to slaughter five adults as they slept in an Alabama home where his estranged girlfriend had been living.

The complaints filed Tuesday in Mobile County District Court do not allege in which order Derrick Dearman used the weapons, or elaborate further on the nature of the killing.

Dearman of Leakesville, Mississippi, is charged with six counts of capital murder and two counts of kidnapping.

The bodies of five people were found Saturday inside the home. A sheriff's captain says Dearman attacked them as they slept, then abducted his estranged girlfriend, Laneta Lester, and an infant from the home. Both of them were found alive.

One of the people killed was five months' pregnant; the unborn baby's death led to one of the murder charges.

According to AL.com, Dearman is accused of killing homeowner Joseph Adam Turner, 27, Lester's brother; Robert Lee Brown, 26; Justin Kaleb Reed, 23; his wife, Chelsea Marie Reed, 22, who was pregnant; and Shannon Melissa Randall, 35, Turner's wife.

The website says Dearman blames meth for the attacks:

In videotaped comments broadcast on Mobile-area television, Dearman expressed his love for Lester and apologized "to all the family members." Dearman, saying all the victims were friends, added: "Don't do drugs." He said he doesn't deserve to live.

A man who said his family provided a home for Dearman and Lester earlier this year near Leakesville, Mississippi, said Dearman was often on methamphetamine and physically abused Lester during walks in the woods in rural southeast Mississippi.

A prosecutor says it is likely she will seek the death penalty.

People in the house called police early Saturday morning to report that Dearman was trespassing on the property, but he wasn't found when officers arrived. The bodies were discovered after daybreak.
UPDATE: Mold problem is the cause for closing two East Pennsboro Area school

Two East Pennsboro Area School District schools are closing early today due to concerns about air quality.

High school students were dismissed at 9:30 a.m. and East Pennsboro Elementary School will be dismissed at 10 a.m.

The high school and East Pennsboro Elementary will remain closed Wednesday so further testing can occur, said a message from Superintendent Jay Burkhart. All other buildings are open as scheduled, and all after-school activities will occur as scheduled.

For Cumberland Perry Area Vocational Technical School students, a bus will leave from the high school at 11:45 a.m. After Vo-Tech dismisses today, East Pennsboro students will be brought back to the high school. Student drivers will be dismissed to drive home and bus riders will ride the activity bus home as normal.

Plans for tomorrow will be communicated later to students and parents, said the district.
Donald Trump Campaigns at Cumberland Valley High School

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigns at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on Monday August 1, 2016. Trump has said he'll only lose in Pennsylvania if Democrats engage in "vote rigging," prompting a stern rebuke from state officials. Daniel Zampogna, PennLive

(Daniel Zampogna, Pennlive)

In an Altoona speech earlier this month, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was clear: There is something rotten in the state of Pennsylvania, he feels.

"We're going to watch Pennsylvania," he told the crowd in this crucial swing state, saying a "rigged" system could stand between him and electoral success here in November.

Then he enlisted their help.

"Go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times," he said. "If you do that, we're not going to lose. The only way we can lose, in my opinion -- I really mean this, Pennsylvania -- is if cheating goes on."

Trump's invoking of voter fraud concerns is just the latest in a long line of political bell-ringing on the issue, both nationwide and in states like this one.

In fact, the issue has already been at the center of a number of controversial and contested calls for more stringent voter ID requirements. Pennsylvania passed such legislation in 2012 only to have it later overturned by a judge who felt it imposed an undue burden on citizens.

Trump's campaign later elaborated on his Altoona premonition, saying it was also concerned with the use of more modern means of voter disenfranchisement, namely the hacking of electronic voting machines.

In response, the Pennsylvania Department of State says it does not permit, and never has permitted, any of its voting systems to be connected to the Internet. That prohibition will continue, the Department says, with the more than 24,000 voting machines and 9,200 polling places in play statewide this year.

"The 'rigging' of an election involving so many machines and people is highly unlikely," a statement reads.

But the assurances are likely to do little to quell suspicion among Trump supporters who are far more skeptical of the vote counting process than supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, new research shows.

According to a Pew Research poll, only 11 percent of Trump supporters are "very" confident votes will be tallied correctly this year, compared with 49 percent of Clinton supporters who feel that way.

In Altoona, Trump said he was particularly worried about voter fraud happening in "certain sections" of the state, meaning Democratic strongholds like inner-city Philadelphia.

The National Review, a conservative publication which has vigorously opposed Donald Trump's candidacy, agrees with him on this point, saying "Philadelphia has a long reputation of fixing elections as a means of controlling patronage and municipal contracts," and is a place where "The potential for fraud is also considerable."

The magazine cited Arlen Specter who served as the United States Senator from Pennsylvania for 30 years, first as a Republican and then as a Democrat, and who the magazine says "openly scoffed at liberal claims that there is no voter fraud."

"They don't see what they don't want to see," Specter is quoted as having said before this death in 2012. "I'm from Philadelphia. It's been a way of life here." He said that even though he was a Democrat, he stood by his 2007 vote in favor of requiring photo ID in all federal elections, the magazine reported.

But Secretary of the Commonwealth, Pedro Cortes, maintains that the in-person kind of voter fraud referenced here and by Trump in Altoona is "So extremely rare as to be virtually non-existent."

Others have dismissed Trump's alarmism as a political ploy or his way of saving face in the event of a loss.

Cortes continued: "The insinuation that there could be widespread fraud of this sort in our elections has no basis in fact and undermines confidence in our system of government."

The Washington Post says a survey of 1 billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014 found 241 possible fraudulent ballots. Just one of those was in Pennsylvania, where a man named "Joseph Cheeseboro" and another named "Joseph J. Cheeseborough" each cast a ballot.

"That's all that was uncovered in Pennsylvania," the Post concludes.

Jeff Sheridan, spokesman for Democratic governor Tom Wolf, echoed claims about the rarity of voter fraud both here and around the country, and credited "stringent controls in place to protect against it."

Suzanne Almeida, Executive Director with the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, said of voter fraud concerns this year: "The best thing you can do to 'protect' this election is to educate yourself about the candidates and issues and get out to vote."

She added: "The better voters understand our election code and the way elections are held in Pennsylvania, the less likely we will see problems at the polls."

But Trump supporters, some of whom fear a Clinton presidency above all else, are likely unswayed. Their concerns are also to be heightened in the event of a particularly close election like that seen in 2000, when talk of voter fraud similarly swept the nation.

With that in mind, Trump is putting his Altoona call-to-arms into action, launching a sign-up feature on his website for election monitor volunteers who wish to represent his campaign at the polls.

Meanwhile, back on the campaign trail, Trump has returned to claims that Democrats may exploit weak voter identification laws, the same ones favored by the late Senator Specter, in finagling a win in November.

"I'm afraid the election's going to be rigged. I have to be honest," he told an energized crowd in Columbus, Ohio, weeks before the Altoona rally.

"I hope the Republicans are watching closely or it's going to be taken away from us. ... I'm telling you, November 8, we'd better be careful."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.23



By Aygun Badalova - Trend:



Iran has confirmed it will participate in the upcoming OPEC meeting in Algeria next month, Reuters reported with the reference to OPEC source on August 23.



OPEC will probably revive talks on freezing oil production levels when it meets non-OPEC nations in Algeria, according to the sources.



An informal meeting of OPEC member countries is scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the 15th International Energy Forum which will take place in Algeria from 26 to 28 September 2016.



Iran has been earlier called on by many countries, the rival Saudi Arabia in particular, to cooperate with the proposal to hold outputs at the January levels.



Tehran has rejected the idea as an imposition of a new set of sanctions on Iran after the country was freed of the economic sanctions in January.



Iran's Oil Ministry has said it suffered a setback from 2.3 million barrels per day (mbpd) of oil export to 1 mbpd under the sanctions, maintaining that it will not consider any freeze until it has made up for the "unjust" setback.


Pennsylvanians will soon have a lot more options to slake their thirst for wine from across the country as the state approves the first wave of permits for direct shippers.

In the last week, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has approved 48 licenses allowing wineries to ship their products to state residents.

Residents can import up to 36 cases, of up to nine liters per case, per year for personal use directly from wine producers. They cannot resell the bottles.

So far, the licenses issued have been divided about evenly between Pennsylvania and out-of-state wineries, with three midstate vintners currently authorized to ship their products. They include:

Adams County Winery

Armstrong Valley Vineyard & Winery

Thorn Hill Vineyards

Wine shipments are subject to state and local sales taxes, as well as an excise tax of $2.50 per gallon. There are no restrictions on what varieties of wine -- such as wines that are readily available at state stores -- can be shipped, as long as the wine producer has a permit.

Wineries can become direct shippers by paying a $250 filing fee and submitting an application with the PLCB. The annual renewal fee is $250. License holders are required to pass along tax revenue to the state Department of Revenue.

The direct wine shipments were included as part of a broader package of reforms to the state's liquor system. That legislation also included expanded hours for state stores and the ability for other licensees, such as grocery stores, to begin selling wine to go.

The full list of licensed wine shippers authorized to date is included below.
A Harrisburg man on trial for gunning down a man on a city street didn't just shoot the victim, a prosecution witness testified Tuesday.



As 38-year-old Jerome Buckner lay dying, Shane Barker walked up, "cussed" at Buckner and stomped on him, Hector Perez told a Dauphin County jury.





Shane Barker

Barker, a 37-year-old South Carolina native, will face a life prison sentence if the jurors convict him of first-degree murder for the Oct. 18, 2014 slaying at South 14th and Swatara streets. Prosecutors Jack Canavan and Katie Adam claim Barker deserves such a punishment for shooting Buckner four times as Buckner ran away.



Public Defenders Jessica Bush and Elizabeth Ruby are contending that Barker was too drunk at the time of the shooting to form an intent to kill, and so is not guilty of the most serious grade of homicide.



Perez, who said he had tried to avoid taking the witness stand, said under Canavan's questioning that he was at his home when he heard a ruckus outside the nearby Queenie's bar. He said he was inside getting a beer when he heard a gunshot.



He said he rushed out of the house, saw Buckner "running for his life" and heard four or five gunshots. "Pop, pop, pop is all you hear," he said. "I didn't count. I just got down."



"Who did you see with a gun in their hand?" Canavan asked.



"The defendant, right there," Perez said, pointing at Barker.



Under cross-examination by Ruby, Perez said he had smoked some marijuana that night, but wasn't too intoxicated to recall what occurred. He said he was on probation at the time, and told authorities what he saw during the shooting after his probation officer caught him with drugs.



Perez said he still has a pending drug case.



Dr. Wayne Ross, a forensic pathologist, said Buckner was shot four times - in the upper and lower back and in the back of his right elbow and right lower leg. He also had bruises and abrasions on his head.



"He essentially bled to death," Ross said.



The trial is to resume Wednesday in President Judge Richard A. Lewis' courtroom.






Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.23



By Aygun Badalova - Trend:



Hopes that OPEC and non-cartel producers may reach an output freeze agreement during the upcoming informal meeting have lowered, and that has led to another drop in oil prices after steady growth last week.



On the ICE Futures exchange, the October contract for global benchmark Brent, was down 0.31 percent at $49.39 a barrel while US counterpart WTI fell 0.65 percent to $47.09, according to the Wall Street Journal.



Analysts of the US JP Morgan bank in their weekly Oil Market report, obtained by Trend, noted that many of the preconditions for a production deal appear closer to being in place than at the start of the year.



However, a deal remains a risk scenario, rather than our base case scenario, that at best we would ascribe a 35 percent chance to becoming a reality, they said.



For any agreement to be reached, analysts believe, continued evidence will be needed from key OPEC and Non-OPEC participants, e.g. Russia and Iran that are supportive of such an agreement.



The risks to the current rally will increase as we approach the actual meeting, if the necessary hurdles to reaching an agreement are not cleared, e.g. refusal of a key participant to attend the informal talks, etc., analysts said in the report.



The informal OPEC meeting is expected in late September in Algeria. It is expected that the talks on oil production freeze will be held between OPEC and Non-OPEC countries.



Earlier Mohammad bin Saleh Al-Sada, Qatars Minister of Energy and Industry and current OPEC President said that despite the current decline in prices, oil market is on the path to rebalancing.



In its latest report, the cartel said it is in constant deliberations with all member states on ways and means to help restore stability and order to the oil market.


Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

By Huseyn Veliyev  Trend:

Azerbaijani scientists will submit project proposals in the ICT sphere for participation in the Horizon 2020 EU Research and Innovation Program, director of the Regional Information Technologies Academy (RITA) of Azerbaijan Tofig Babayev told Trend Aug. 23.

He said that Azerbaijan's scientific community projects within the Horizon 2020 program will be presented at the ICT Bratislava conference to be held September 26-27 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Preparation for this conference is currently underway: it will be preceded by a two-day preparatory conference, within the framework of which the project proposals of Azerbaijani scientists will be evaluated for their compliance with the purposes and objectives of Horizon 2020, Babayev said. The conference with the participation of foreign experts is scheduled for September 15-16 in Baku.

The main objective of the project is to ensure interaction of Azerbaijani and European research institutes for further cooperation within the framework of joint projects, which will make it possible for the Azerbaijani academic institutions to participate in EU tenders for the funding of scientific research and innovation within the Horizon 2020 program.

In mid-2016, the European Commission proposed a draft budget for 2017 in the amount of 134.9 billion euros.

Some 74.6 billion euros will be allocated in 2017 to maintain the economic growth against 69.8 billion euros in 2016, according to the European Commission's report.

Some 10.6 billion euros have been also allocated to scientific research and innovation within the Horizon 2020 program.
Decades-old paintings of historic Michigan theaters have made their way home

Lois and Craig Stiles are traveling across the country, taking each painting to its rightful home.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.23



By Aygun Badalova - Trend:



Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed an initiative to develop trilateral agreement between Kazakhstan, Poland and Russia on transport and usage of Caucasus transit corridor, the report on Kazakhstan Presidents official website said.



At the Kazakh-Polish business forum in Warsaw, Nazarbayev noted the importance of usage of transit and transport potential of the two countries.



The forum was attended by over 400 representatives of Kazakh and Polish business circles. Expanding bilateral cooperation in investment and trade and economic spheres has been discussed during the forum.



Nursultan Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan considers Poland as a reliable political and economic partner in the EU and expressed hope that the forum would open new perspectives for mutually beneficial partnership of the two countries business.



He also invited Polish business circles to actively participate in realization of state programs in Kazakhstan.


Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 23

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

The US Embassy to Uzbekistans Deputy Chief of Mission Lesslie Viguerie attended the opening ceremony for a new Uzbek border post located along the border with Tajikistan, the US Embassy to Uzbekistan said in a statement Aug. 23.

The event was hosted by General-Major Rustam Eminjanov, who is chairman of the Committee for State Border Protection of the National Security Service and the National Border Guard of Uzbekistan, and showcased the outposts new facilities and capabilities.

The US Central Command provided the funding for the project, while an Uzbek company was responsible for completing all the construction, the statement said.

This successful joint Uzbek-US project serves the interests of both countries in meeting the international goal of combating the flow of illegal persons and contraband across national borders, according to the statement.
Tehran, Iran, August 23

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran plans to hold a second specialized "Iran Project" exhibition in Baku, Azerbaijan on September 19-21.

On the sidelines of the expo, Tehran and Baku will also sign 11 cooperation documents, IRNA news agency reported August 23.

The exhibition will include representatives from oil, gas, petrochemicals, industry, energy, technology, agriculture, and engineering sectors.

Also on the sidelines of the event, Iran and Azerbaijan will hold business forums ranging the fields of energy, construction, food, vehicles, banking, medicine, tourism, and insurance.

Azerbaijan was Irans 18th greatest market in the first three months of the current Iranian fiscal year (since March 20).

Azerbaijan imported 266.5 million kilograms of goods worth $64.3 million dollars from Iran during this period.



The main goods shipped from Iran to Azerbaijan during the period were car parts, honey, potato, tomato, onion, shallot, eggplants, biscuits, home appliances, bottled water, polypropylene, fire clay, plaster, etc.
Tehran, Iran, August 23

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

Some Iranian politicians believe that President Hassan Rouhani administration has failed to follow up on Tehrans Latin America project, therefore damaging the interests of the Islamic Republic there.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarifs current trip to Latin America is a latecomer and Iran has lost many chances in the three years after the previous administration ended, Hamid Reza Taraqi, foreign relations director of the Islamic Coalition Party, told Trend August 23.

Our friends in Latin America had helped us greatly in the time of sanctions and supported Iran on the resistance front. But we left these friends to themselves and did not pay attention to their needs and problems, he said.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad established unprecedented ties between Tehran and Latin American countries during his presidency (2005-2013). Isolated by harsh sanctions and receiving no invitation from Western leaders, Ahmadinejad traveled extensively throughout the region, establishing even highly personal bonds with the regional leaders.

Zarif embarked on a trip to six Latin American countries August 22, heading to Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela successively. The trip comes as less than one year remains of the incumbent Iranian governments tenancy.

Today Western countries have infiltrated and created instability in Venezuela and Bolivia, waging great political loss in Irans previous hegemony there, Taraqi went on to say.

Zarif is unlikely to rebuild the hegemony and regain the influence. Yet even if he succeeds in his negotiations there, it can help Iran move closer to its positions in the US backyard.

Some attribute the Rouhani administrations tardy turn to Latin America as part of the long and tedious process of rebuilding ties with the West, which culminated in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action only in February 2016.
Malaysia Airlines RM 999 Promo Extended

Have you been to London? If you have not, well it is time to consider as Malaysia Airlines is having sale on its London route, at RM 999 one way on economy. It is not a click bait as we checked the return ticket from Kuala Lumpur to London is only RM 1921.90. You read it right it is lesser than RM 2000! This is their lowest fare so far (as we read from their website).

The sale supposed to end by tomorrows midnight but they going to extend it for another day! Thus, this out of the world sale will end on midnight of 25th August 2016. There will be 10,000 more seats for sale on its London route for travel from 2nd September 2016 to 8th March 2017.

On top of the London sale, you can also find deals like Perth from RM 379 one way, Hong Kong from RM 339 one way, Tokyo from RM 499 one way and many more. Some of the awesome deals include Bangkok from RM 299 return, Tokyo from RM 709 return, Phuket from RM 249 return and more. In short, time for you to plan to travel now and book your tickets fast at www.malaysiaairlines.com

Remember the promo fares are all inclusive of baggage allowance of 30kg, free meals, free credit card charges and no hidden charges.

To support their claim of having such crazy deal, we did a couple of random search on their website and indeed the lowest fare to London is at RM 1921.90 return. Thus, the second lowest fare is around RM 2,500 which is still very competitive compare to other airlines. The sale is real and there are many still many promo seats available.

Since we travelled to London from Kuala Lumpur with Malaysia Airlines two years ago, we had a great flight on their A380. Always love the Malaysian Hospitality and one of the best cabin crews in the world. If you never been to London, take the advantage of this lowest fare promo as well as the low exchange rates of Pound Sterling. Trust us, the trip to London is worth it. Just log in to www.malaysiaairlines.com for more info.

Remember to upgrade to Business Class cheap with MHUpgrade!

Wilson Ng A Father and traveler who enjoys to eat, shop, travel and taking pictures with Samsung S22 Ultra and Sony ZV-1. Im a full time blogger, youtuber and father for two. I used to travel around 17 International trips per year but now staying at home. Remember to follow us at www.instagram.com/placesandfoods and www.youtube.com/placesandfoods. For advertisements or features, contact me at [email protected] See author's posts
"Retired" Fedor Holz Claims EPT Barcelona 50,000 Super High Roller Title for 1.3 Million

August 22, 2016 Christian Zetzsche Contributor

The third and final day of the PokerStars.es European Poker Tour Season 13 50,000 Super High Roller saw nine hopefuls out of a 102-entry strong field return to the feature table. It took less than five hours for German wunderkind Fedor Holz to lift the trophy and claim yet another victory.

Place Winner Country Prize 1 Fedor Holz Germany 1,300,300 2 Sam Greenwood Canada 903,600 3 Timothy Adams Canada 597,500 4 Alexandros Kolonias Greece 467,700 5 Ahadpur Khangah Azerbaijan 377,100 6 Sylvain Loosli France 293,800 7 Daniel Dvoress Canada 232,600 8 Julian Stuer Germany 181,200 9 Erik Seidel United States 137,130

Two-time EPT Barcelona Super High Roller finalist Erik Seidel was the shortest stack coming into the day and joined the rail in hand number 5. A crazy four-way all in saw Seidel all in with pocket nines, Sam Greenwood all in with pocket kings, Julian Stuer all in with pocket tens and Ahadpur Khangah putting them all at rish with ace-five suited. The board ran out queen-high and Greenwood won the main pot while Stuer won the side pot. Erik Seidel busted in 9th place (137,130), Khangah was knocked back his role as short-stack.

Julian Stuer took another hit soon after that hand and called all in out of the big blind with queen-deuce when facing the shove of Greenwood who held king-eight suited. A queen came on the flop but Greenwood picked up a flush draw on the turn and improved thanks to a king on the river. Stuer made his exit in 8th place for 181,200.

Daniel Dvoress followed next. In a battle of the Canadians, Dvoress three-bet all-in with pocket eights and initial raiser Greenwood looked him up with pocket tens which held up on a dry queen-high board. Dvoress had to settle for 7th place, good for 232,600.

Defending EPT Barcelona Super High Roller champion and former November Niner, Sylvain Loosli, was eliminated in 6th place (293,800). He three-bet all-in out of the big blind with pocket eights. Holz, who had raised under the gun, quickly called with ace-king and won the flip after an ace appeared on the flop.

Businessman Ahadpur Khangah, who beat plenty of top pros to reach the final table, bowed out in 5th place (377,100). He was in the big blind with king-jack suited and called all in after a shove of small blind Greenwood, who held ace-seven. A jack on the flop gave hope for a comeback story, but an ace followed right away on the turn and the river blanked.

Down to the last four, Alexandros Kolonias, who finished 2nd in the EPT12 Grand Final 25,000 High Roller, was the shortest stack. He got it in good with a three-bet shove holding pocket kings, but Holz's run-good continued as his pocket nines saw a third nine appear on the flop. That was it for Kolonias (4th, 467,700).

Timothy Adams was the chip leader going into the final table and quickly lost a lot of chips with three players remaining. Adams then three-bet all in with pocket deuces and Greenwood called with ace-king suited. Greenwood spiked a king on the flop to send Adams home in 3rd place (597,500).

When heads-up play for the trophy and first-place payout of 1,300,300 started, the two were almost even in chips with no deal in sight. Holz quickly established a big lead and then pulled away. It was all over during hand the 75th hand of the day when Greenwood shoved his short stack in with five-six suited and Holz snap-called with ace-king. A king-high flop left Greenwood drawing to a gutshot. He turned an open-ended straight draw but didn't complete it with a blank on the river. Greenwood departed in 2nd place for 903,600.

Within the last six months, Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz has now accumulated more than $12 million in tournament cashes and added another win to his already impressive poker resume. For a player that claimed retirement not too long ago, this trip to Barcelona has gone exceptionally well so far.

The action continues at the record-breaking festival at the Casino Barcelona with Day 1a of the 5,300 Main Event. Tomorrow, Day 1b gets underway at 10:00am local time and PokerNews will also be on site for live updates from the 25,000 Single-Day High Roller Event.

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.

Sharelines Fedor Holz wins the EPT Barcelona 50,000 Super High Roller for 1.3 million!
Mohamed Samri Wins Estrellas Barcelona Main Event after Heads-Up Deal; Chris Moorman 3rd

August 22, 2016 Martin Harris

The Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event reached a conclusion Monday night with Mohamed Samri of France besting a record-breaking 3,447-player field and tough final table to win the 1,100 buy-in event and a 353,200 prize following a heads-up deal.

Samri only led briefly during three-handed play on the way to his victory, having started heads-up at a deficit to the Dutchman Teunis Kooij who took away a larger share of the prize pool  372,060  thanks to the chop. Those two had to outlast a formidable foe as well in the United Kingdoms Chris Moorman. The online legend began the final day with the chip lead and also led during three-handed play, but Kooij and then Samri were each able to outlast him as he finished third.

Place Winner Country Prize 1 Mohamed Samri France 353,220* 2 Teunis Kooij Netherlands 372,060* 3 Chris Moorman United Kingdom 241,300 4 Nicholas Newport Ireland 202,420 5 Marius Enebakk Norway 163,800 6 Jean-Marc Bellini Switzerland 125,450 7 Jerome Brion France 87,350 8 Lars Farsted Norway 62,300

Barcelona is the final stop of Season 7 of the ESPT, coinciding with the PokerStars.es European Poker Tour Barcelona festival with numerous cross-listed events. The 3,447 players who took part in the ESPT Barcelona Main Event  all uniques, as the tournament was a freezeout with no reentries  broke last years record of 3,292 and created an overall prize pool of 3,343,590 split between the top 695 finishers.

From three three Day 1 flights, 862 made it through to Day 2 on which the cash bubble burst early. Several notables would make the money over the next two days leading up to the final. Looking just inside the top 100, cashers included Louis Salter (24th - 10,930), Daniel Strelitz (25th - 10,930), Luc Greenwood (29th, 8,430), Christopher Frank (36th - 6,760), Christian Jeppsson (51st - 5,280), Scott Margereson (66th - 4,260), Rodrigo Strong (76th - 3,390), Carter Swidler (94th - 3,390), and Joao Vieira (96th - 2,690).

As noted, Moorman emerged as chip leader of the nine players making the final day, with Samri being one of the several short stacks. 2016 Irish Open winner Daniel Wilson was the first out in ninth, then the Dutch player Kooij eliminated both Lars Farsted in eighth and Jerome Brion in seventh to take over the chip lead.

Moorman next eliminated Jean-Marc Bellini in sixth with kings versus ace-jack, then Marius Enebakk in fifth with versus . In the latter hand, the chips went in on the turn with the board queen-high, then a river ten sunk Enebakk.

After Kooij then took the last of Nicholas Newports short stack to send him out in fourth, he and Moorman fought for the chip lead during three-handed play while Samri continued to battle with the short stack. Samri managed a big double-up through Moorman when his pocket nines held against Moormans ace-ten  edging ahead of Moorman and Kooij  then came the pivotal hand of the final table.

It began with Moorman slightly ahead of Kooij in chips and opening from the button, then Kooij three-bet from the small blind. When the action got back to Moorman he jammed all in, and Kooij called right away with . Moorman showed he had , and when the queens held Moorman was down to just over three big blinds, which he subsequently lost to Kooij on the next hand.

Kooij and Samri immediately struck a deal (going with the proposed ICM numbers), leaving 12,000 for which to play along with the trophy. Kooij had 55 million to Samris almost 31 million to start heads-up play, but Samri quickly doubled up with deuces versus ace-queen, then won the last all-in when Kooij commited on the turn with a flush draw against Samris top pair and the river blanked.

It was by far the biggest win in Samris career, as he only had less than $4,000 worth of tournament cashes previously. It was also Kooijs first cash reported by Hendon Mob. Meanwhile the 888poker Ambassador Moorman pushed his live tournament earnings total up over $4.4 million to go along with his more than $13 million in online tournament winnings.

Photo courtesy PokerStars Blog/Rene Velli.

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.
Americans' confidence in the police has edged back up this year after dropping last year to its lowest point in 22 years. Currently, 56% of Americans have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the police, four percentage points higher than in 2015. Confidence is essentially back to where it was before a series of highly publicized incidents involving police officers in several communities across the country, a new Gallup poll shows.

Americans' confidence in the police was at 52% when Gallup first measured it in 1993. This rating reflected the impact of the trial of four Los Angeles police officers for the Rodney King incident two years earlier. Confidence in the police rose thereafter, reaching 60% by the mid-1990s and a record high of 64% in 2004. In the ensuing years, confidence in police slipped, as it did for most institutions. Last year, confidence tied the record low of 52%, reflecting police actions in Ferguson, Missouri, and other cities, before rebounding modestly this year as these events faded from the news.

At this point, 25% of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in the police, 31% quite a lot, 29% "some," 13% "very little" and 1% "none." The combined 14% who have very little or no confidence in the police is down from 18% last year, which was the highest negative confidence reading in Gallup's history of rating the police.

As has been true historically, whites have a significantly higher level of confidence in the police than nonwhites, and the gap between the two racial groups widened this year as whites' confidence rose to 62%, while nonwhites stayed at 39% both years. Republicans and independents who lean Republican have more confidence in the police than Democrats and Democratic leaners, although Democrats' confidence rose to 48% from 41% last year, while Republicans stayed the same both years at 68%.
Tehran, Iran, August 23



By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

The new form of military cooperation with Russia serves to increase Irans peripheral security, political commentator, foreign relations director of the Islamic Coalition Party Hamidreza Taraqi said.

The authorization given to Russian bombers to fuel at an Iranian airbase will not threaten Irans independence or security, but will rather help its security, Taraqi told Trend August 23.

Irans cooperation with Russia regarding terrorism is strategic. This means Russia will be able to implement its plans in cooperation with Iran, which enjoys authorization by the Supreme National Security Council, to use an Iranian airbase for refueling its aircraft, Taraqi noted.

Russia said last week its Tu-22M3 and Su-34 bombers were deployed in Iran and from there the aircraft were hitting the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria.

The Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers and Sukhoi Su-34 strike fighters, taking off from Irans Hamadan Airbase, have hit the positions of the IS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups in Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib, a Russian Defense Ministry message read Aug. 16.

Following national worries that Iran has handed over an airbase to another countries, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of parliaments Foreign Policy and National Security Commission said a day later that Russian bombers only refuel at the airbase.

However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said August 23 that Russias use of the airbase had stopped for now.
Photo: Utility

Utility Inc. announced today that the Lawrence Police Department in Indiana will equip its police force with BodyWorn body cameras to provide transparency and accountability in police operations. BodyWorn is the only recording solution with policy-based recording, according to the company. The Lawrence Police Department will also install Utility's Rocket IoT in-vehicle recording and communication system in each of its patrol cars. Body camera and in-vehicle camera recording will be integrated into one comprehensive video management system. BodyWorn and Rocket IoT will be on display at the Lawrence Police Department's educational technology forum on Tuesday, August 23, 2016.

"BodyWorn's advanced features will improve trust and result in safer officers in our cities," said Lawrence Police Department Chief of Police David Hofmann. "It is important to note that we are not bringing this technology to the City of Lawrence in response to any controversial issue. We wanted to be at the cutting edge and deploy the most advanced technology possible ahead of time because we owe it to our officers and community. The automatic recording capabilities of Utility's comprehensive solution will make police-citizen encounters fully transparent and provide necessary data to help drive our policing policies, procedures and crime analysis. We are excited to deploy this technology and blaze the trail for more police departments in Indiana."

The Lawrence Police Department purchased 44 BodyWorn body cameras and 44 Rocket IoT devices. This dual-technology solution enables body and in-vehicle cameras to work in tandem so the Department does not have to manage the complexities and costs of two separate video systems. Video of the steering wheel while the officer is driving does not have to be stored. The Wi-Fi network provides real-time communication between all in-car and BodyWorn cameras in and around the police car. The officer's BodyWorn camera will automatically begin recording when the officer leaves the vehicle. All video is synchronized so multiple views can be played side-by-side to provide full situational awareness.

BodyWorn is the only police recording solution that enables immediate video classification and playback on the camera itself, according to the company. The Officer Down Emergency Reporting capability can save an officer's life by notifying Central Dispatch of the Officer's exact location if they are injured and not able to respond to radio calls.

All video from BodyWorn and in-vehicle cameras is automatically uploaded directly to a secure cloud storage at Amazon Web Services. Lawrence officers will not have to manually upload video from docking stations when they return to the police station at the end of their shift.

"Our mission is to provide technology to police departments that improves trust and helps keep officers safe," said Robert McKeeman, CEO of Utility. "The last thing we want to do is burden officers with having to remember to press a manual recording start button when responding to a situation. The technology should do that for them to the maximum extent possible."

The Lawrence Police Department expects full implementation to be completed by the end of September 2016.

For more information visit http://www.Bodyworn.com. Information about Utility's automatic video redaction technology can be found at http://www.smartredaction.com.
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In Donald Trumps latest desperate attempt to save his presidential campaign, he and his supporters are attacking a charity organization that has benefited millions of people around the globe: the Clinton Foundation.

This morning on Fox and Friends, Trump even called for the charity organization to be shut down and have the donations returned.

Video:

Well, number one, they should shut it down, Trump said in the phone interview. Number two, they should give the money back to a lot of countries that we shouldnt be taking and they shouldnt be taking money from  I mean, that money should be  it should be given back. They should not take that money.

These are very greedy people, Trump later added, referring to the Clintons.

In reality, the Clinton Foundation, to which the Clintons have donated millions of dollars, has spent years doing work that benefits people all across the globe.

In total, the organization has helped over 400 million people in nearly 200 countries, whether by providing easier access to life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs or helping children in America have healthier food options at school.

The Clintons, by the way, dont make a single penny in profits from the group.

The foundation, which is now under attack because a failing presidential candidate is grasping at straws, is a charity that has done and continues to do important work. As I write, lives are being helped through its work.

What do we know about Donald Trump when it comes to his charitable contributions? Not much, since he refuses to release his tax returns.

But what we do know is that he has a habit of claiming to give to charity groups without actually doing so. We know that earlier this year he was essentially forced by the media to donate to veterans groups because he was caught in a lie.

The effort by Trump and his supporters to shut down the Clinton Foundation isnt just a desperate political stunt; it could cost actual human lives.
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Republicans are attempting to investigate Hillary Clinton for perjury, but court documents show that Melania Trump apparently lied under oath in 2013.

While investigating what happened to Melania Trumps Caviar based skin care line, Racked came across court documents that appear to show Mrs. Trump perjuring herself about her educational background, (If the media reports about her never receiving a degree from a university in Slovenia are true, the court transcripts also reveal Melania lied under oath about her degree when she told the court shed graduated with a bachelors in architecture).

Melania Trump asked about her educational background and schools that she graduated from. Trump answered, I attended and graduated from design school, from Fashion and Industrial Design School and also attended, graduated from architecture degree, bachelor degree.

CBS News reported that Melania Trump does not have a degree in architecture, Despite what her professional website and the 2016 RNC program read, Melania Trump did not in fact complete a degree in architecture and design at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, before becoming a skin care entrepreneur and philanthropist. In July 2016, CBS News checked the official public records of the university, and discovered that Melania Trump is not listed as having graduated from there with a degree.

A woman who could be the next First Lady Of The United States appears to have perjured herself in a court of law, but Republicans would rather that voters focus on conspiracy theories about Hillary Clintons health and emails than the reality that the people the GOP nominated to be the next first family of the country have a history of lying.

When it comes to making allegations about honesty Republicans, dont have a leg to stand on thanks to the Trump family history of lies. With one discovery, the Republican plan to investigate Hillary Clinton for perjury has gone up in smoke.
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Over the course of Barack Obamas presidency, Republicans have made a valiant effort to label certain news events Obamas Katrina in an attempt to sink his presidency the way Hurricane Katrina severely damaged George W. Bushs.

From the BP oil spill to Healthcare.govs initial website glitches, right-wing politicians and media figures have quite commendably tried to paint every setback of the past eight years with this brush.

Each time, theyve overplayed their hand and looked silly.

Now, as Louisiana recovers from a devastating flood, the Obamas Katrina frenzy from Republicans is once again in full swing. According to them, its the height of hypocrisy that liberals hammered Bush for his response to Katrina while giving Obama a pass for his so-called terrible response to the Louisiana flooding.

Once again, theyre overplaying their hand and looking silly.

The problem with George W. Bushs response to Hurricane Katrina wasnt just the bad optics; it was that his actual response was consistent with those optics. It wasnt that Bush didnt land in New Orleans and immediately tour the devastation area; it was that his federal government took an unacceptable amount of time to provide resources like food, water, and shelter to thousands of stranded people in New Orleans.

During Obamas presidency, this type of failure to respond to a natural disaster has never happened. The aftermath of the Louisiana flooding is no exception.

As Stephanie Grace of The Advocate (Louisianas largest daily newspaper) wrote last Friday:

[Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards] and his allies stressed Thursday that theyve been in daily communication with White House officials. FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, an emergency response specialist who before joining the Obama administration oversaw Floridas disaster responses, has been here. So has Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson. President Barack Obama started issuing disaster declarations quickly, which frees up federal resources and gets the ball rolling on longer term needs. Inspectors are on the ground. Its a miserable time for the many thousands affected, but a faulty response isnt making it more miserable.

In short, as far as the federal government goes, Grace added, this is not Katrina.

Republicans can continue to accuse President Obama of a failed response, but they do so without facts on their side.

By all accounts, his federal governments response has been quick and effective, as it should be. Communication between all levels of government has been constant, and the devastated region has been provided as much assistance as possible from the highest level of government.

This is exactly what didnt happen in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Sure, Donald Trumps very political response to the disaster  dropping into Louisiana to hand out Play-Doh for less than a minute  may have been seen by more cameras, but it did more for his campaign than it did for the region. In some ways, it may have even hampered relief efforts.

That one photo-op was the beginning and end of Trumps contribution to the people suffering in Louisiana.

President Obamas visit to the devastation zone on Tuesday will not be the beginning, as Republicans claim, of his efforts to help the region. Instead, its the culmination of a textbook federal response by his administration that began over a week ago and will continue for months.

Once again, Republicans  now led by Trump  are working to make hay where there is none.

What happened in Lousiana was a disaster, but the federal governments response under Obama has not been.

To find out how you can help the affected region, visit the American Red Cross website.
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Republicans can chain Donald Trump to a teleprompter, but, as he proved during a speech in Akron, Ohio they cant stop his racist ad libs.

Video:

https://youtu.be/5wxUT6oCYyg?t=59m15s

While speaking in Akron, Ohio, Trumps script called for him to say:

For those hurting the most  who have been failed again and again by their politicians  Ive asked in recent days, what do you have to lose by trying something new? If you keep voting for the same failed politicians, you will keep getting the same results. But, most importantly, I want to talk about what you have to gain. Those hurting in our country have so much to gain by joining our campaign for a new, and more inclusive, American Future.



Trump couldnt resist and had to go off script to call African-American populated cities war zones, Poverty, rejection, horrible education, no housing, no homes, no ownership. Crime at levels nobodys scene. You could go to war zones in countries that were fighting, and its safer than living in some of our inner cities. Theyre run by the Democrats.

Trump went back on script for a moment and then ad-libbed that African-Americans should vote for him because he employs a lot of African-Americans, Crime all of the problems to the African-Americans who I employ so many of.

Donald Trump also promised that if African-Americans vote for him, theyll be able to go down the street without getting shot.

Trump continues to assume that all African-Americans are poor and living in inner cities. He expanded on his racism to include the idea that African-Americans across the United States are now walking down the street and being shot.

Donald Trumps views of the experiences of minorities in this country are based on racist stereotypes.

None of the Trump ad libs were in the speech transcript, which proves once again that Republicans can stick a teleprompter in front of their nominee, but they cant get the racism out of Donald Trump.

The great Republican Trump teleprompter experiment has been a major failure because no matter what they put in front of him to read, the GOP nominee is still Donald Trump.
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A new Monmouth University Poll of Missouri revealed that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are statistically tied in the red state of Missouri.

According to the Monmouth University Poll:

Among Missouri voters likely to cast ballots in Novembers presidential election, 44% currently support Trump and 43% back Clinton. Another 8% intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson, 1% name another candidate, and 5% are undecided.

Trump does as well as Clinton in getting the backing of fellow partisans, with 87% of Republicans supporting their partys nominee and 88% of Democrats backing their standard bearer. Independents are divided at 40% for Trump and 35% for Clinton, with 14% supporting Johnson.

Clinton leads by 65 points among black, Hispanic, and Asian voters (78% to 13%), while Trump leads by 13 points among white voters (50% to 37%). In 2012, Barack Obama won non-white voters by 73 points, while Mitt Romney took the white vote by a commanding 33 points. Trump is currently doing better among white women (54% to 36%) in Missouri than he is among white men (45% to 37%). This gender gap is the opposite of what the Monmouth University Poll has been finding among white voters in other states as well as its national polls where Trump has been doing better with men than women.

Missouri has gone Republican in the last four presidential elections, but it could turn blue in 2016 because Trump is doing twenty points worse with white voters than Mitt Romney did in 2012. Unlike other red states that Trump is in jeopardy of losing, Georgia for example, Trump has equaled Clinton in the level of support from his own party.

Trumps issue in Missouri is with white male voters. The fact that Trump is doing better with white women than white men suggests that much of Trumps rhetoric has alienated the backbone of Trumps support.

The Missouri poll showcases the fact that the Trump campaign has a multitude of problems.

There isnt just one issue that the Trump campaign needs to address to be successful. Trump is losing voters at the state level on multiple fronts. Democrats have a real chance of flipping Missouri in 2016, and the main reason why is the failed campaign of Donald Trump.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

After a couple of decades worth of lies and hypocrisy from the inaptly-named pro-life movement, its fair to say many Americans comprehend that religious Republicans, like the pro-life fanatics they serve, do not care about any life except the biblically-defined non-being fetus. Now, as if to add veracity right from the horses proverbial mouth, a pro-life champion and Republican senator has freely admitted that once the fetus exits the womb and becomes a living, breathing human being, religious Republicans could not possibly care less about its life.

Despite health officials from several organizations warning to pregnant women to steer clear of the Miami Florida region owing to the explosion of the dreaded Zika virus due to the clear and present dangers of birth defects to the fetus, Senator Marco Rubio still claims Zika-infected women cannot abort their pregnancy. Of course there is no scientific or logical reasoning behind Rubios stance, he is just a pro-life religious Republican and says there are laws to force women to deliver a fetus with birth defects. Why? Because Rubios bible tells him so. This is another of myriad reasons why god has no place in the public sector  not at the nations founding, not now and not ever.

Rubio says a pregnant woman infected with the Zika virus should never be able to get an abortion, no matter how concerned she might be about her fetus exposure to the virus and the resulting microcephaly and other birth defects that will plague the ensuing human being for the rest of its life. As many Americans know, Republicans love a fetus, but they have nothing but abject contempt for the subsequent baby, child and adult.

Microcephaly is a particularly devastating brain deformity that can present at birth or wait and surprise the parents several years later. The effects after onset last a lifetime. This fact is not lost on pro-life Marco Rubio.

Rubio said,

I understand a lot of people disagree with my view  but I believe that all human life is worthy of protection of our laws. And when you present it in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, its a difficult question and a hard one. But if Im going to err, Im going to err on the side of life.

It is not that Rubio is ignorant of the threat to a fetus in a woman exposed to Zika: he knows exactly what lies in store for the birthed fetus and its parents for a lifetime, he just could not care less because he thinks god belongs in the public sector. He continued:

Obviously, microcephaly is a terrible prenatal condition that kids are born with. And when they are, its a lifetime of difficulties. So I get it. Im not pretending to you that thats an easy question you asked me. But Im pro-life. And Im strongly pro-life. I believe all human life should be protected by our law, irrespective of the circumstances or condition of that life.

Since Rubios pro-life stance is so terribly strong and founded in his Christian faith, its glaringly apparent he has never taken the 30 seconds it would require to pick up his congressional offices trusty King James, or his personal Catholic Douay version, of the Christian bible and peruse Genesis 2:7 or Ezekiel 37:5 or Job 33:4 to discover what his unerring god defines as any human life; it certainly does not include a fetus.

Rubios call to ban abortions, even in cases of rape, incest and now infection from the Zika virus is in keeping with the religious right and fanatical United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The entire group lacks even a modicum of sanity or humanity. They are insane for basing their bovine excrement pro-life agenda on nothing whatsoever in their bible, and lack humanity for the apparent glee they have forcing women to give birth, whether the fetus is defective or exposed to a virus renown for causing birth defects. The devastation on a family of an infant or child with birth defects is not only emotionally decimating, it is financially crippling.

What is exceptionally revealing about Rubios phony pro-life bona fides is that he consistently votes with his barbarian cabal to slash funding to aid mothers, infants, children and adults, whether they have debilitating birth defects or not. Republicans, with particular emphasis on religious Republicans, have about as much regard for life when its born than they do massive tax hikes on the rich, gun safety regulations or environmental protections. Although no Democrat is likely to win over even one religious fanatic, they should certainly take great advantage of Rubios typically Republican position on not helping any American the way they are willing to sacrifice human lives for a fetus.

Over the past eight years its become glaringly obvious there is little, if anything, Republicans have any regard for if it affects the already breathing living American people. But they do love a fetus because besides sating their evangelical lust to control women, that fetus is a marvelous campaign tool that no small number of ignorant religious voters never realize is a distraction from religious Republicans ineptitude at governing and lack of direction outside extremism.
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In June, Donald Trump put failed Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann on his Evangelical Advisory Board. In July, that appointment paid off as Bachmann announced that just as God had once chosen her to be president  yeah, dont ask  he had now lifted up Donald Trump to defeat Hillary Clinton.

It was necessary she say this, because in 2013 shed assured us all that only God could defeat Hillary Clinton. Trump without God was doomed to fail, but as the old Crusader adage (Romans 8:31) goes, If God is for us, who is against us? See how that works? Deus Vult! God wills it!

At a Minnesota fundraiser for Trump on Sunday, the xenophobic Bachmann, who hates lots of people but specializes in fear and loathing of Muslims  she once said she wanted to declare war on an entire religion  dropped a terrifying bombshell: shes advising Donald Trump on foreign policy.

Im not sure you can actually call it advising when the advisor knows no more than the person being advised, but for the sake of argument, lets pretend you can. Cause everything in Trump and Bachmanns world is make believe anyway, right?

So, according to MPR News, Bachmann said,

He also recognizes there is a threat around the world, not just here in Minnesota, of radical Islam. I wish our President Obama also understood the threat of radical Islam and took it seriously.

Yeahbecause, ya know, Minneapolis is looking more like Kabul every day. I guess its fitting a woman this ignorant should be advising a colossally ignorant man.

Just a couple weeks ago Bachmann was lamenting, Is political correctness killing this country? I think so. You can see why she likes Trump: Hes a common-sense guy, not into political correctness. Because common sense says you should offend anyone and everyone every day and twice on Sunday.

Proving she has gained no more access to our shared reality than she had as a representative, Bachmann added,

He has turned businesses around, and thats what he wants to do with the country.

Well, there are all those bankruptcies. His refusal to pay contractors. You know. And then there is the little detail of President Obama having already turned the country around. But hey, she says her god chose her personally to lose an election and there is no reason to suspect he would not do the same for Trump.

After all, God once chose three people the same year to be president.

All of them lost.

For his part, Trump must have been afraid to turn to a pillar of salt because he stayed inside the Convention Center with the people whod paid to see him, just so he could, Bachmann claims, put Minnesota in play. A state that hasnt gone Republican since 1972.

Because thats likely.

Bachmann assured the press as she headed inside,

People want to live, mind their own business and have a good job, and I think thats something Donald Trump understands. Well, unless youre gay, cause you cant get married. Or Muslim or Mexican, because you cant even get into the country. There are exceptions. Yuge exceptions, as The Donald would say.

The Trump movement is unshakable in its belief that white people should not only be free enough to live and mind their own business, but they should have the right to mind other peoples business too.

I mean, thats freedom.

Meanwhile, Evan Siegfried, a 33-year-old Republican strategist from New York, is calling Trump a carnival-barking Cheeto Jesus.

Weigh the claims: Chosen by God, or Cheeto Jesus.

Ill let you decide. I think you know the answer already.
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Donald Trump has really pushed the longstanding Republican attack on the mainstream media as being somehow liberal in its outlook, despite a profound conservative bias. Now he is tweeting that,

It is being reported by virtually everyone, and is a fact, that the media pile on against me is the worst in American political history!

By virtually everyone. Who everyone is remains a mystery. Were supposed to take his word for it. The word of a man who lies nine out of every time he opens his mouth.

As for the rest of it, the worst in American political history, thats making a huge claim without any evidence. In the early days of the Republic there were some pretty nasty things said even about modern-day icons like Jefferson, and that continues through our history, and includes Abraham Lincoln. For much less cause.

FoxSports writer Pete Blackburn had a ready response:

Actually, if you do a search online you will find that perhaps most right wing sites support the idea of some sort of media conspiracy against Trump. Keep in mind that the real problem is that the mainstream media is reporting what Trump says, and that somehow seems to be a bias against him.

Well scratch our heads over that one for a bit.

Actually, during the primaries, Trump got over $2 billion in free advertising from the mainstream media he is now lambasting.

Conor Friedersdorft at The Atlantic looked at claims of media bias and concluded, The negative press the Republican nominee is receiving is mostly his own fault.

Friedersdorft calls Trumps media strategy deliberate, mendacious gamesmanship which puts journalists in a very tricky position.

If they merely report what Trump literally says, theyre accused of hyper-literalism. If they report what he really means, judgment and interpretation are required.

His conclusion, and it is difficult to find fault with it, is that He isnt a victim of bias, but of his own behavior.

Trump is like a child who thinks any attention, even negative attention, is better than no attention. He can make a fuss out of the smallest thing and dont think it would be any better if the media responded by ignoring him entirely. Then wed really see sparks fly.

There is no evidence that this tweet, like any other, has any real basis in fact. This is just Donald being the child he is, weaving conspiracies out of thin air and making it all about him. Nobody does it better, because nobody is as big a baby as Donald Trump.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

Its pretty clear by now, or it should be, that Donald J. Trump is a certified racist, a bigot and an aspiring fascist dictator; its why he easily won the Republican nomination for the presidency. The Republican base loved the idea of one of their own in the White House so they eagerly flocked to the polls in the primaries to see their dream through to fruition. Now, according to some interesting reporting from the Associated Press, it appears that the bigotry and racism endemic to Donald Trump and his base of support is rampant among the television celebritys paid campaign staff.

After examining more than 50 current and former paid Trump campaign staffers social media accounts, the AP discovered that some of their deep-seated beliefs include:

Muslims cannot be considered as fit to be U.S. Citizens; Mexicans with accents are a valid source of ridicule; Republicans should be preparing for civil and religious war; and Secretary of State John Kerry deserves to be hanged. These people are as driven by hate and bigotry as the base, and it is precisely why Trump hired them.

The report did claim that the majority of Trumps staff were just dedicated, enthusiastic partisans, but a fair number expressed opinions and beliefs that were overtly racially charged and ardently supportive of violent acts and broad hostility towards Muslims, everything one expected from bigots and racists permeating the Republican base. The entire Republican movement is as nasty as Trump, his staff, and the Republican base, but most of them have the wherewithal to keep their hate under wraps and behind closed doors. Thats not the case with some of Trumps campaign staff.

A couple of the examples in the APs report were of a Virginia field organizer who said the for sure, the Muslims were intent on imposing Sharia Law on Americans. And that, Those who understand Islam for what it is are gearing up for the fight. We need Islam control, not gun control. Another staffer complained that the appointment of a Muslim-American judge in New York is how American culture will end. The staffers reasoning was that a Muslim judge would implement Sharia law.

Another staffer, one on Trumps advance team, posted a video of an African American man eating fried chicken and criticizing fellow Blacks for ignorance, irresponsibility, and having too many children. In the video the man asks other African Americans, Why are you mad about slavery? Yall werent no damn slaves.

It is noteworthy, and not unexpected, that the Associated Press was unbiased and took an equally long hard look at the Clinton campaign staffers social media postings and found nothing inflammatory. Just to cover all their bases and proactively snuff out any possible bias complaints by Republicans or the Trump, the AP also reviewed images that were attached to the over 19,000 stolen internal emails from the Democratic National Committee for racially or religiously inflammatory memes; again, they found nothing of note and certainly nothing inflammatory.

Trumps staffers lack of restraint in expressing their vile bigotry and racism proudly and publicly is unique to campaigns for obvious reasons; even long-time Republican political operatives understand that vetting prospective hires is in their electoral best interests. In fact, veteran campaign officials such as one of Willard Romneys top campaign aides, Beth Meyers, said that carefully monitoring social media postings of staffers has long been a standard practice. In vetting a prospective staffer, Im not sure where the line would be for not hiring someone or simply asking them to take something down from social media, but there is a line.

Ms. Myers doesnt know if Trump or any of his senior campaign staff did not carefully vet prospective staffers and weed out those who failed to share the Donalds particular brand of hate and bigotry. One seriously suspects that that is the case and if not; why did Donald Trump just hire an avowed white supremacist to run his campaign?

Trump certainly carefully vetted Breitbart News chairman Stephen K. Bannon before handing the keys to his campaign over to a racist. And, if theres any doubt that Bannon is a racist, on the former Klan leader David Dukes show the current senate candidate and his co-host Don Advo were celebrating the Bannon hire means weve [white supremacists] taken over the Republican Party.

One wonders why the AP had to scour through, likely, thousands of social media postings of over 50 Trump campaign staffers or what the respected news organization hoped or thought it might discover as shocking. They could have just as easily perused Donald Trumps Twitter feed from the past six months and figured out that Trump had an expectation that his employees would express the same hate and bigotry as a campaign tactic as he has to great effect. Racism and bigotry are filthy diseases and to think they would not be as endemic in Trumps campaign staff as they are in the conservative movements base is the thinking of an ignorant or naive mind.

H/t @Truth_Tweeters
Tehran, Iran, August 23

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Tehran has announced that Russian bombers which last week launched attacks on Syrian terrorists from an airbase in Iran, have left the country August 18.

The Russian aircraft did not plan to stay at the airbase [Nojeh Airbase in the western Hamadan Province] They left on Thursday according to on-ground operation plans, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani told IRIB news agency August 23.

Their leaving was not motivated by pressure from other countries, he underlined.

The Iranian official praised the short cooperation between Iran and Russia, saying, Other countries were surprised by this strategic cooperation and failed to fulfill their intentions on breaking the Aleppo siege.

He also underlined that Syrias air support behind the recent operations in Aleppo was conducted according to request from Iranian advisors.

Contrary to the expectations of the supporters of terrorism, including the US and some regional countries that have hallucinations of changing the power balance, we had to hamper their ill intentions regarding the Syrian people, Shamkhani stressed.



On August 16 Russian bombers used Irans Nojeh Airbase in the western Hamadan Province to launch attacks on terrorist positions in Syria. A day later Russian sources said the operation had killed 150 terrorists.

Senior Russian diplomats later confirmed that Moscow has stopped using Iran's Hamadan airbase for the time being, but may resume operations from there any time soon.

"Moscow sees no obstacles to the further use of Iranian infrastructure, including the air base in Hamadan, for strikes against terrorists in Syria," Russian Ambassador to Tehran Levan Djagaryan said August 22.

Iran has been sending military advisors to Syria to help the countrys military forces with the fight against terrorists through their knowhow and consultation.
You may have seen it at flea markets, shops, auctions and garage sales. And it's my favorite pottery.

Watt pottery was established in Crooksville, Ohio, in July 1922, and includes patterns such as apple, rooster, autumn foliage, starflower, tulip, cherry and more.

This ware is easily recognizable and appeals to collectors since the body of the pottery is yellowware and the decoration on the ware is simple, done in bold brush strokes of primary colors. Some you will find have a stenciled advertising message or a company name, as they were also made as premiums for customers, and sold inexpensively in department stores.

The red apple was introduced in January 1952 and proved to be Watt's best seller. still in production until the Oct. 4, 1965, fire that destroyed the company's factory and warehouse. Production never resumed.

A few years ago, this pottery was featured in a major magazine and the exposure brought Watt pottery to a new light on the collector's market. For further study, check out this book: " Watt Pottery Identification and Value Guide ," by Sue and Dave Morris. Or check the website www.wattcollectorsassociation.com .

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Where to find it

Sarah Kieffer, of Sarah's Uniques and Jim's "Man"tiques, St. Charles, said, "I carry Watt pieces such as apples and starflower and some autumn foliage bowls. Most of my Watt ware has advertising in it and priced between $25 and $60. Customers love to use this pottery during fall decorating vs. Red Wing Pottery."

Chris Rand Kujath, of Old River Valley Antique Mall, Stewartville, said, "One of our vendors carries a nice selection of the Watt pottery that does include the advertising in the pottery. I think that gals collect because they remember family members having apples in their kitchens and it brings back memories, but you will always have a few older generation looking for apple things, either to add to a collection or just because they like it."

Angie Pehler, of Angie's Vintage Rust, Treasures under Sugar Loaf, Winona, said, "I have a large variety of different styles of Watt ware including pitchers, mixing bowls, salad bowls, salt and pepper shakers, and band bowls in the apple and starflower series. Cost varies in the $18 to $65 range with some scarcer advertising items priced at $100 to $150. Some of the advertising pieces are bowls and pitchers from Houston, Winsted, Kenyon, Rushford, Belgrade, St. James, Sherburne, Glenwood City and Gile, Minn. I will be at the Oronoco Gold Rush with a variety of Watt ware collectibles."

Collector gets hooked

Galen Lohrenz, of Pine Island  and Angie Pehler's father  said, "I kept seeing Watt along with Red Wing, so I thought it was a natural fit and I liked the various designs and color of Watt. Then I found a few pieces that had small-town advertising on the inside of the bowl and I was hooked!

"Collecting for almost three years, I really like the rooster series, as my wife collects a lot of rooster items," Lohrenz said. "I have several pieces of the starflower series also. With over 25 pieces in my collection now, I did have as many as 45 pieces at one time and have since sold some duplicate pieces and pieces with a hairline cracks. I think the oldest piece I have is about early 1940s, and comes from a small-town feed store that closed in the 1940s."

Prices vary from pattern to pattern.

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"My most valuable right now is a salt and pepper set with the starflower green band barrel shape, valued at $125," Lohrenz said. "Some pieces, like a complete canister set, can command over $2,500. I find most at auctions, although I have found some pieces from people who have a few and want to sell, as they really do not collect them. Most are chipped or have hairline cracks, which really decreases the value of the item.

"I once bought over 15 pieces at one auction," he said. "People stopped bidding as I was buying every piece. I once passed on a neat Watt ware pie plate at an auction, and after checking it out later wished I would have bought it, as it was worth double what I thought it was worth and it sold relatively cheap."

Beware fakery

Through the years, some people have reproduced a variety of the mold patterns to simulate the originals. The sure giveaway with many of the reproductions is the color of the pottery or clay. The rooster number fifteen has been widely reproduced.
HOUSTON  Garret Ross grew up in the small town of Houston, loving music, soaking up everything his teachers could impart, and wondering what the big, wide world had to offer.

"Growing up in a small town, I didn't know what was out there," said Ross, who is founder and director of the Apollo Music Festival . The annual festival, now in its fourth year, brings classical music artists from across the country to Houston for concerts and master classes.

"I wish I would have had something like this festival when I was growing up," Ross said. "It opens your eyes to what's out there."

The festival, which opens Friday, began as what Ross, a pianist, expected to be a one-time showcase for classical music in his hometown.

"I didn't anticipate it becoming as successful as it has been," he said. "The first year, we did three concerts. At the first one, we had about 35 people. By the last concert, we had 90 to 100 people."

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There was no charge for admission, so Ross asked audiences for donations. "People donated a lot more than we expected, so we thought 'We have to use the money to come back,'" he said.

As a result, Ross and his colleagues in the world of classical music have returned to Houston every year. Ross himself just relocated back to the Twin Cities after spending several years in New York, where he had an active performing schedule. In fact, he's due back in New York in November to perform at Carnegie Hall with his Artu Duo partner Ruth Marshall.

Before that, though, the Apollo festival will take up most of his time and energy. The musicians, who come from as far away as Oregon and New York, arrive Tuesday. The first of four concerts is Friday.

"We'll just be rehearsing all the time," Ross said. The musicians stay with local families, and attend dinners with community members. This year, Ross has added a family "Storytime" Saturday morning at the Houston library.

"The big thing is to get to as many people in the community as possible," he said. In addition to the concerts featuring pieces by Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Grieg, Schumann, Debussy and others, there are six master classes on piano, cello, viola and violin.

By the way, admission to the festival is still free. "Actually," Ross said, "a big part of our funding still comes from donations."

Colleagues in New York have been intrigued by the success of the small-town festival, Ross said.

"People are surprised and impressed that it's possible," he said. "A lot of musicians say, 'I thought of doing something like that, but I don't know if it would work.' My advice to them is to try it. The other reaction I get is 'When can I come to Houston, Minn., and play music with you guys?'"
Autumn might be the official season of the one-pot wonder. Kids are back in school, the office watercooler gets crowded as we trickle back from summer vacations, and suddenly dinnertime feels like more of a time-squeeze.

Busy lives need quick meals that don't require a ton of prep, crazy ingredients or lots of dishes because the last thing I want to do after a long day of work, kids activities and homework-checking is a counter loaded up with dishes.

Baked dinners are a classic weeknight solution, but how to make one that is healthy, flavorful, and easy? This basic chicken and potato bake is so simple, you might breeze right past the recipe.

But the trick is: lots of lemon juice. Half a cup sounds like a ton, but it's what makes the chicken super flavorful in just minutes. The high acid level gets right into the chicken and tenderizes it, and yet as it bakes, the acid mellows and softens into a gorgeous gentle tang. The second trick to this dinner-in-a-pan is a super quick turn in the microwave for some baby potatoes (Note: you can cube up larger potatoes if you don't have tiny ones).

I'm using boneless skinless chicken breast, but you can use pork chops (bone-in recommended) or even fish. My weeknight strategy: pop this pan into the oven, toss together a green salad, and set the table while the chicken cooks. Easy, healthy, and even comforting in a fall-night sort of way.

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Baked chicken and potato dinner

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

1/2 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon granulated garlic, or 1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound fingerling potatoes, cleaned

1-1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed

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1 red onion, sliced lengthwise

1/2 cup small cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes

lemon wedges, for garnish

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, granulated garlic and salt and pepper. Pierce each potato a couple of times with a fork (to allow steam to escape), and place the potatoes in a medium microwave-safe bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice mixture. Cover with a lid slightly askew to allow steam to escape, and microwave on high until potatoes begin to soften, about 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the chicken breasts, onion and tomatoes in the lemon juice mixture and toss to coat. Let sit for a few minutes.

Spray an oven-safe baking pan with nonstick spray. Pour the potatoes on the bottom of the baking sheet. Pour the chicken, onions, tomatoes and remaining marinade on top of the potatoes. Bake until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme and serve with a green salad.

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Nutrition information per serving: 401 calories; 131 calories from fat; 15 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 124 mg cholesterol; 326 mg sodium; 25 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 41 g protein.
The airlines have experienced many computer outages over the last few years, stranding thousands of passengers and causing untold economic damage.

Whether they're caused by electrical failures outside the airlines' control or by computer systems with inadequate "fail safe" recovery or electrical backup capabilities, read on for some protections and strategies to survive these glitches.

You can cancel

Passengers can ask for a refund, even on a "non-refundable" airfare, if a flight is canceled or "severely" delayed (severe varies from airline to airline but generally a two-hour delay qualifies).

If you bought travel insurance

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While some policies may not cover electrical outages or computer system shutdowns, others will. Most common: coverage for trip delays if you need meals or a hotel room or other reasonable expenses, and costs associated with getting to your destination. Less likely to be covered under these circumstances: cancellation penalties for hotel rooms, tours, cruises at your destination. According to travel insurance aggregator Squaremouth.com, insurers AXA Assistance USA and Tin Leg stated they'd cover the latest Delta snafu because an airline computer outage falls under the policy definition of "mechanical breakdown of the common carrier" in their policies' fine print.

If you have credit card coverage

Some credit cards, notably those issued by Chase for United and Sapphire and some upper-tier Citibank American Airlines cards, offer trip-delay protection (typically up to $500 for meals, hotels, etc.) for "equipment failure"; whether this means aircraft or computer equipment is open to interpretation. You must charge your trip with the credit card.

If you're flying to or from Europe

Depending on whether the outage was deemed to be within the airline's control or not (electrical outages probably not, computer system meltdowns probably yes), European Union law provides cash compensation for delays and interrupted trips, as well as mandates that airlines provide meals and hotels to stranded passengers.

If you're flying from the EU on any airline, you're covered; if you're flying to the EU on any EU-based airline, you're also covered; and even if you bought a fare on, say, Delta.com to Italy but Alitalia operated the flight in a code-share arrangement, you're still covered, even though the selling airline was an American carrier.

If you're stuck on the runway or tarmac

U.S. Department of Transportation regulations state that you can request to be deplaned if the delay stretches past three hours on a domestic flight or four hours on an international trip. Airlines can be fined heavily for refusing to do so unless the crew cites a safety reason.

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You can ask to be put on another airline

Years ago, airlines were required to do this for free, even paying for first class if economy class was full. No longer, but you can still ask to be endorsed over to a competing airline. The higher your status in the frequent-flier program the more likely they'll take care of you. Some veteran agents still understand "Can you 240 me?" but it doesn't always fly.

Get thee to the airline's lounge

Even if you're not already a member, this is the perfect time to cool your jets in the Delta Skyclub, the American Admirals Club or the United Red Carpet room. Day passes are typically $50, but if you're going to be stuck for hours, it's worth it. Also, the lines for rebooking or information will be shorter in these lounges than in the terminals.
AUSTIN  A Rochester man is in the Mower County Jail after authorities say he forced a woman and children into a car, drove drunk to Austin, then fled from police.

Jessy Dian Dominguez, 26, made his first appearance Friday in Mower County District Court, where he's been charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle and violating a domestic abuse no contact order, both felonies. He also faces misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree DWI and fleeing a peace officer on foot.

The incident began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when Dominguez was arrested for impaired driving after a short chase by car and foot.

Later that day, a woman called to report Dominguez had taken her car without permission, and had violated a DANCO order that prohibited him from contacting her. The woman told officers Dominguez had forced her and her three children into the vehicle from their home in Rochester the evening before.

According to the complaint, the couple was "trying to work out the relationship;" the two were at her residence when Dominguez "snapped" because the woman told him to stop drinking. When the woman went inside the house, Dominguez allegedly followed her and dragged her and the children to the car, grabbed the keys from the woman and started driving to Austin.

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Dominguez drove to his cousin's home, where he went into the garage "to get a gun" for the person the victim was currently dating, court documents say. The woman and her children walked to a relative's house; the police chase occurred not long after they left.

Both the woman and her 7-year-old son told authorities they expected to crash because Dominguez was driving so fast, the complaint says; the boy confirmed his mother's version of events.

Dominguez reportedly admitted drinking, but said he didn't force anyone into the car and denied driving them anywhere against their will.

He remains in custody in lieu of $10,000 conditional bail and is due back in court Sept. 1.
Rochester police have set up a perimeter and are using police dogs to search the area near the Crossroads Hy-Vee after a report of a robbery at the AT&T store at 430 Crossroads Drive.

Police were called to the scene at 12:44 p.m. after witnesses reported four males had robbed the store at gunpoint, according to Rochester Police Sgt. Travis Riggott. Witnesses also reported that people in the store had been tied up during the robbery.

No shots were fired and no one was hurt.

All four men were armed with handguns and two of the men were wearing orange vests, according to Police Lt. Jim Evenson.

The AT&T store's employees cooperated with the robbers' demands and were tied up during the robbery. One of the employees made the 911 call to police after the suspects had fled.

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The suspects damaged the AT&T store's video surveillance equipment, but police were reviewing the video of neighboring businesses.

Alicia Grande, who works for the Hirshfield's store next door, said she didn't see or hear anything and didn't know anything had happened until police arrived. She confirmed that police were reviewing video from the camera outside the back of her store.

Zeke Rivera, another Hirshfield's employee, said they've never had anything happen like this before and that he never had any suspicion of what was happening next door.

"It's a quiet neighborhood," he said.
A Stewartville woman made her initial appearance Monday, accused of knowingly passing counterfeit $50 bills.

Alie Marie Staven, 21, has been charged with three counts of gross misdemeanor counterfeiting of currency. She was released on her own recognizance and is due back in Olmsted County District Court Oct. 25.

The investigation began May 27, when a deputy was sent to a pharmacy in Stewartville for a report of counterfeit money. An employee was able to identify Staven as the person who'd passed the bill the day before, because she was a repeat customer, the complaint says.

Staven bought some candy for $6.22 and paid for it with the $50 bill. Surveillance footage from the store allegedly corroborated the transaction. The fake bill had a different texture and odor, the report says, and the printing didn't line up.

The deputy then responded to a Stewartville retail store for another report of a bogus $50 bill. The employee described the customer who passed the bill as a white female, 18-22 years old, and knew the name of the suspect's boyfriend, court documents say. A check of the boyfriend's name indicated he'd been arrested three weeks earlier at the apartment Staven lists as her address, court documents say.

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A review of the receipt indicated a bottle of soda was purchased with a $50 bill; the deputy noted the transaction took place four minutes after the pharmacy transaction. The bills were identical, the report says.

Two more bills were reportedly passed at a pair of convenience stores. According to the complaint, the video of one of the transactions shows Staven making the purchase eight minutes after she was at the retail store. The bill was a match to the previous two.

The bill passed at the second convenience store didn't match the others; the video at that store couldn't be accessed because of a technical glitch.

Staven allegedly admitted using a $50 bill at the pharmacy, retail and convenience store. She told officers she's paid by direct deposit, but had gone to Iowa and withdrawn cash at a Mexican restaurant. Staven then changed her story, the court document says, saying she collected the money through a cashier's check.

The story changed a second time when Staven reportedly said she got $80 for returning something from the Mexican restaurant.
Rochester police reported a second overnight shooting in three days, this one around 3:45 a.m. today in the 400 block of 27th Street Northeast, where several shots were fired into the window of a bedroom where a 6-year-old was sleeping.

Lt. Jim Evenson said a renter in an apartment called to report the shooting. He said the caller found glass had broken in the window. Police found several shell casings outside. Police were still investigating, he said, and he had little more information.

Investigators aren't sure the apartment was specifically targeted, he said.

"We don't have a lot of suspects now," Evenson said. "We don't have any solid leads right now."

He couldn't say if the shooting was related to one early Sunday when someone fired two rounds into a town home in the 2700 block of Charles Court Northwest. Residents in the area reported hearing four or five shots.

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Four children were asleep in the home, said Sgt. Dan Monnet of the Rochester Police Department; upon hearing the noise, one of the children investigated and found a sliding-glass door was shattered. The child notified an adult who called police, Monnet said.
Tehran, Iran, August 23

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Irans security forces have traced, arrested and summoned some 450 administrators of social web pages to headquarters.

The administrators activities included ethical security, illegal modeling, or slandering peoples religious beliefs, IRGCs cyber security website Gerdab reported August 23.

The people used to work in social media such as Telegram, Whatsapp, or Instagram, the report said, adding they had targeted the foundation of the family with anti-value content.

The measures followed an increase in public demand in society to take action against cyberspace criminals, the message said.
Charges expected today in kidnapping, death of young girl

LITCHFIELD  Criminal charges are expected soon against a suspect in the kidnapping and killing of a 5-year-old girl from central Minnesota.

Zachary Todd Anderson is being held in the Crow Wing County Jail in the death of Alayna Ertl. Alayna was last seen about 2 a.m. Saturday when she was put to bed at her home in Watkins, about 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Her mother reported her missing at 8 a.m. Anderson, a family friend, also was missing. The 26-year-old Monticello man had been spending the night with the Ertl family.

Anderson was found later Saturday at a cabin his family owns near Motley, about 80 miles to the north. Authorities say he provided information that led to the discovery of Alayna's body, which was found near the cabin.

 Associated Press

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City hires new company for sewer work after mishaps

PIPESTONE  The Fort Dodge, Iowa, City Council has hired a new construction company to take over a sewer project after firing a Minnesota company involved in a series of mishaps.

The council voted Monday to hire Wicks Construction, of Decorah, to take over the project from Carstensen Contracting, of Pipestone, Minn. Last month, the council ordered Carstensen off the job after numerous problems, including breaking four gas lines, breaking three water service lines, leaving sandbags in a manhole and causing two sewage backups, knocking down an overhead electrical line and cutting a phone line.

The city will pay Wicks $3.2 million to complete work on the project, which will increase the capacity of sewers and eliminate backups in much of southern Fort Dodge.

 Associated Press

Allina, nurses resume talks

MINNEAPOLIS  With the threat of an open-ended strike looming, Allina Health and its union nurses plan to hold contract talks today.

Nearly 5,000 nurses walked off their jobs earlier this summer, and the nurses have authorized another strike, which this time would be open-ended. They must give Allina 10 days' notice of a strike.

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Allina and the Minnesota Nurses Association have been engaged in a monthslong battle, primarily over generous nurses-only health plans. The company wants the nurses to move to its corporate plans, which have higher out-of-pocket maximum costs.

Allina spokesman David Kanihan said the company has a solid compromise offer on the table.

"The union put that offer up to a vote, and it was voted down by the membership last week," he said. "However, the union negotiators have never really discussed the compromise offer with us at the bargaining table."

The Minnesota Nurses Association said the membership rejected Allina's offer because it would force nurses to bear the brunt of premium increases on their union-only health insurance plans.

After voting the contract down, nurses told Allina they still were interested in talking, said union spokesman Rick Fuentes.

"There's only one meeting scheduled for right now," he said. "There could be more. We could settle this. Who knows?"

 Minnesota Public Radio News

Judge sets hearing on deradicalizing terrorism defendants

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MINNEAPOLIS  A federal judge in Minnesota has scheduled a two-day hearing next month on efforts to deradicalize terrorism defendants.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis set the hearing for Sept. 20 and 21. The program initially will be applied to four men who have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

The defendants have to be at the hearing. German deradicalization expert Daniel Koehler, who assessed several of the defendants, will testify at the hearing.

Davis has handled Minnesota's recent terrorism cases. The program is aimed at deradicalizing terrorism defendants so they don't engage in similar activities again.

Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U.S. and has been a target for terrorism recruiters.  Associated Press

Wet weather hampers harvest of small grains, hay

ST. PAUL  Wet weather is hampering Minnesota farmers as they harvest small grains and hay in some areas of the state.

According to the Minnesota crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only 3.5 days were suitable for fieldwork during the week that ended Sunday. There continues to be reports of saturated fields and, in some areas, standing water. White mold also is reported on some soybeans because of the continued rain, and reports of sudden death syndrome in soybeans were received from southeastern Minnesota.

Corn is rated 86 percent in good to excellent condition, up 1 percentage point from the previous week. Soybeans are rated 80 percent in good to excellent condition, also up a percentage point from the week before.

The second cutting of alfalfa hay is nearing completion.

 Associated Press

Man incompetent to stand trial in girl assault case

ST. PAUL  A St. Paul man has been ruled incompetent to stand trial on charges that he abducted and sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl in May.

Ramsey County Judge Gary Bastian accepted the mental competency findings at a hearing for 48-year-old August Ruthaferd on Monday. The judge moved that Ruthaferd, also known as Mark Meihofer, be civilly committed.

Ruthaferd had been charged with kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault.

According to the complaint, the girl was with her father, who was checking on a rental property, when she allegedly was kidnapped by Ruthaferd on May 5.

Prosecutors say Ruthaferd took the girl to a boarding house where he bound her with tape and assaulted her.

Supporters for the girl and her family declined to comment after the hearing.

 Associated Press

Boater dies after capsizing on lake; 2 boys saved

MEIRE GROVE  Divers have recovered the body of 47-year-old man after the boat he was operating capsized on a central Minnesota lake, throwing him and two boys into the water.

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office says a dive team recovered the body of Dale Steinemann, of Meire Grove, on Monday morning. Chief Deputy Bruce Bechtold said Steinemann was not wearing a flotation device.

According to the sheriff's office, a caller reported an overturned boat on Lake Sylvia on Sunday afternoon. The caller said she and others heard a boat's motor "clearing the water."

Onlookers quickly pulled the boys, ages 7 and 10, from the water. The sheriff's office said the boys were wearing flotation devices.

Authorities said the boys are the sons of Steinemann's girlfriend.

 Associated Press
LAKE CITY  Because he drew an eight out of a deck of cards Thursday, John Mead will be on the November ballot for Lake City City Council instead of Tom Dwelle.

In the Aug. 9 primary when 12 candidates had to be cut down to six for the general election, the count at first said Dwelle won by one: 238-237.

Mead asked for a recount by Wabasha and Goodhue counties (the city is in both counties), and "the counties determined that it was a tie," said City Clerk Kari Schreck. "I have never had it happen here."

Apparently on election night, the machine error was made. When the counties counted by hand, they couldn't find that extra Dwelle ballot, so the race was declared a tie, Schreck said. By law, the winner has to be decided by lot and they decided to use cards  king high, ace being one.

When they drew, Mead pulled out an eight, Dwelle a six, so Mead will be on the ballot.

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The whole thing took a few minutes, Schreck said. After they drew the cards, "they shook hands" and it was over, she said.
Four armed suspects are at large after an audacious gunpoint robbery of an AT&T store Tuesday afternoon in Rochester.

According to police, four men, each armed with a handgun, entered the store and tied up employees. Two of the men were wearing orange construction vests. The store is on Crossroads Drive, south of 12th Street Southwest.

The suspects stole cell phones, damaged the store's surveillance equipment and fled out a back door, according to Rochester Police Department Lt. Jim Evenson.

Evenson, speaking about 90 minutes after the robbery was reported, said police and investigators were still working out details of the situation.

"One thing we do know, they came in armed with handguns, they tied up most of the employees  if not all of them  and they proceeded to steal the products," Evenson said.

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There were no shots fired during the robbery, and no one was hurt. There were seven to ten employees at the store and one customer, according to police.

Rochester police and Olmsted County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to the scene after receiving a call from the store at 12:44 p.m. Police established a perimeter and searched the area with the assistance of canine units.

A witness later told police they saw the suspects flee the scene in a light-colored, four-door sedan, possibly with Texas license plates. The vehicle drove west on 12th Street Southwest.

Police were reviewing video surveillance from neighboring businesses. A more detailed description of the suspects was not available, other than that they were four men, two wearing orange vests.

"I wish we could have more information about what we're looking for but at this time we don't," Evenson said. "As soon as we get some more information about suspect descriptions and all that, by all means we'll try to get that out (to the public)."

The store manager and employees were not available for comment after the incident. AT&T Director of Corporate Communications Katie Nagus issued the following statement on the company's behalf:

"Our concern is with our customer and employees, and we are relieved that no one was hurt. We are cooperating fully with the Rochester Police Department, and we hope these suspects are arrested soon."

Next door to the AT&T store, at Hirshfield's, employees Alicia Grande and Zeke Rivera told the Post-Bulletin they did not see or hear anything related to the robbery until police came to the store to request video from the store's rear-door camera.

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Grande, who has worked in the area for 21 years, said the robbery seemed totally out of place, especially in the middle of the day.

"I wouldn't ever have expected that," Grande said.

Evenson agreed. He could not recall a similar incident of armed robbery in Rochester during his decades of service with the Rochester Police Department.

Evenson advised members of the public to report any activity out of the ordinary.

"Just keep vigilant about what you see around you," he said. "If you see anything suspicious, by all means, call 911 and report it to the police department."
ST. PAUL  With one exception decades ago, Amy Anderson is as steady as they come in voting for a president.

"I voted for Jimmy Carter in my first election as a college student, and ever since then, I've voted Republican," she said with a nervous chuckle outside her St. Paul home last week.

Anderson's long streak is about to come to an end.

"I can't vote for Donald Trump. I just can't," Anderson, 58, said. "It isn't about his policies, it's about his person. I don't think he's trustworthy enough to be the president."

The professor of Ancient Greek and the New Testament at a Minneapolis Christian college said her vote likely will go to Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson in November.

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If nothing else, Anderson hopes it sends a message to the Republican Party that it went too far in choosing Trump.

Major decision

This year, the main options are causing consternation for some people who reliably vote for major party nominees.

Hundreds of members of MPR's Public Insight Network responded to a question about their support for third-party presidential candidates, with loads of Democrats and Republicans saying they are sizing up alternatives and inclined to choose a third-party candidate for the first time.

Depending on how many voters depart from their normal patterns and how well the third-party candidates do, it could have ramifications for future Minnesota elections.

If a third-party candidate nets 5 percent of the vote, that would sprout a new major party for elections moving forward  affording automatic ballot access and public campaign subsidies for state candidates in 2018 races.

Brittany Miller is among the voters ready to make the leap.

"I want to look back on my vote and feel like I voted for the person I thought was right for the position," Miller said.

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Miller is 26 and works at a Minneapolis co-op. She considers herself a Democrat and said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is the first presidential candidate she truly was excited about. Miller sent him money.

Now, she's planning to vote for the Green Party's Jill Stein instead of Hillary Clinton, even though she fully expects the Democratic nominee to prevail.

"I think she is going to be president, and I am disappointed about it," Miller said. "To me, she is like a 1960s Republican. She's just not nearly as progressive as the candidate who I would want to vote for."

Going Green

It's also the case with Cathy Murphy, a preschool music teacher who lives in St. Louis Park. She's a lifelong Democrat who has been to state party conventions and is involved in local politics.

Murphy, 65, said the scenario is a nightmare because she would love to help a woman become president.

But she said she is worried Clinton is too hawkish with her foreign policy and wouldn't shy from getting U.S. troops involved in more global conflicts.

Clinton's natural advantage in a state that has backed every Democratic candidate in the past 10 elections  the longest unblemished string for the party anywhere  gives Murphy comfort in going a different direction.

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"I definitely will vote, and I'm watching it to see what happens as we get closer to the date," Murphy said. "If Minnesota is still solidly Democratic, then chances are I will vote for the Green. That way I get to vote for a woman at least."

That Minnesota doesn't seem to be in play was the common escape valve for several voters. They said their calculations would be different if their vote for a third-party candidate could leave them with the outcome they feared the most.

"Now, if I was in a swing state, I'd be more angst-ridden about it," said Jean Matheny, a 54-year-old artist and gallery owner in Lake City.

Matheny always has voted Republican for president. In this campaign, she started off behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, then caucused for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio before he left the race in March.

But Matheny said Trump can't count on her support. She questioned whether he's a true conservative.

"Really, any of the candidates I would have voted for, with the exception of Donald Trump," Matheny said of the Republican field heading into the nominating season.

Both 'unfit'

Matheny lumps Trump with Clinton in declaring both "unfit for the office."

"In terms of character, I think he's fundamentally dishonest. I think Hillary Clinton is as well," Matheny said. "So it's a question of character in his case even more than policy because I don't think he really has any governing principles."

Matheny said she's leaning toward Evan McMullin. The former CIA operations officer and congressional Republican policy director is expected to be on the ballot as an Independence Party candidate.

Independence Party volunteers were collecting signatures Friday from protesters outside a fundraiser for Trump in Minneapolis. Minor party candidates need 2,000 valid signatures by today to make Minnesota's ballot.

Stein submitted more than three times the minimum signatures to qualify for the Green Party slot on the ballot.

Johnson's petition for Libertarian Party access is under review.

Alyson Kennedy will appear as the Socialist Workers Party candidate and Dan Vacek as the Legal Marijuana Now candidate.

Other party defectors

Here's why a few other voters leaving their regular parties say they're making the switch:

 "I don't trust Clinton or Trump."  Craig Wood, of Minneapolis

 "I've been a lifelong Democrat, but after seeing how horribly corrupt, manipulative and cronyistic the Democrats are, I'll never vote straight Democrat again."  C. John, of Minneapolis

 "I feel the past year was filled with election fraud along with DNC and media collusion to oust the people's preferred candidate, Bernie Sanders."  Renee Marie, of Bloomington

 "Hillary is a crook. Trump is a loose cannon."  Ken Kronstedt, of Anoka
Greed is running the world. It shows up in small ways, such as cutting in line, running red lights and leaving grocery carts and trash out for others to deal with.

Greed runs rampant in the political arena where politicians are bought, in large part, by corporations.

Now greed is showing its ugly head in Rochester, where you would least expect it. The state legislature would fund Destination Medical Center only if the citizens of Rochester and Olmsted County would kick in another $20 million, and so it came to pass.

My point is that the so-called altruistic Mayo Clinic is now planning to outsource its food service, leaving faithful employees of 20 to 40 years twisting in the wind.

What's next? Housekeeping and maintenance?

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This is a very greedy way for Mayo Clinic to treat citizens of all the surrounding area, who come to work at Mayo, as well as local citizens.

Sally L. Hines

Rochester
A divided highway has divided Lake City, leaving us wondering whether there might be a divided solution.

Last week, a split city council voted 5-2 to reduce U.S. Highway 61's four lanes to three through the city. Supporters hope it will be safer for pedestrians and revitalize the downtown, while opponents voice concerns about truck traffic and parking.

Both sides offer compelling concerns.

While traffic through Lake City rarely seems bogged down, it can become a bit tricky when larger trucks need room to maneuver or residents are backing out of driveways. At the same time, the highway going through the city's downtown doesn't make the city's downtown a compelling place to stop, which is evidenced by the number of closed storefronts.

We will note the biggest advantage of Lake City's current highway configuration is the ability to get around slower-moving traffic. With the highway narrowing to two lanes on either end of the city, drivers seeking to get around slower vehicles know they can easily do so in the city.

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That's one of the reasons we'd consider at least studying the option of a compromise. Does the entire length of Highway 61 need to be either four or three lanes?

Three lanes through the key business district seems to make sense. It allows for the steady flow of traffic while narrowing crosswalks and making it more inviting for passers-by to stop at local stores. At the same time, areas with fewer businesses adjacent to the roadway might be better served by a fourth lane, allowing larger vehicles a chance to maneuver and others the ability to safely pass before the highway narrows again.

For now, it seems the city council made the right decision. It will have the opportunity to reverse course if state estimates and promises don't take shape or if new evidence points to maintaining the status quo. Work isn't planned until 2019, and further studies and discussion are needed before the Minnesota Department of Transportation gives its final go-ahead.

We hope those discussions will continue to weigh options that could provide an acceptable balance for the majority of Lake City residents, as well as those who travel Highway 61 on a regular basis.

We note the three-lane option is working well in Albert Lea, but the existing four lanes in Stewartville also seems to serve its purpose, even though it sometimes seems to rush us through the city. Yet, we also acknowledge both cities face unique circumstances: Albert Lea's highway doesn't serve as the typical pass-through for traffic, and U.S. Highway 63 in Stewartville doesn't narrow on the city's north end.

Ultimately, anytime a highway passes through a city, it is unique. No two roads have the same businesses, same residents or the same traffic. They carry different expectations.

That is why it's difficult to select a one of two options in Lake City, and that's why the city is divided by its highway,

Hopefully, further planning will help bridge the divide and at least provide an answer that can have neighbors going in the same direction.
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
When Ilhan Omar finally got around to issuing a statement on her multiple marriages this past Wednesday evening, she drew on the Democratic scandal management playbook to put the story to bed. Omar characterized the allegations related to her marriages as absurd and offensive. Omar counts on cooperative Minnesota media not to follow up with impolite questions. KMSP 9s Tom Lyden, however, is not in a cooperative mood.

Lyden reported last night: She may be relatively new to politics, but Ilhan Omar has already mastered an invaluable skill: how to avoid a reporters question. Lyden actually confronted Omar inside the fundraiser at which he found her: We crashed a DFL fundraiser to try and ask Ilhan Omar about her marital arrangements, but she again declined. Lyden also reported that immigration authorities are looking into Omars case. Lyden showed Omar on camera fending off his questions. (Lydens story appears to have been removed from the KMSP site after a denial by the United States Attorney that he had referred Omar for investigation by immigration authorities; KMSP 9s update is here.)

I think the stonewalling is a story all by itself. Omars campaign prefers to think of our interest in the story as a witch hunt conducted by Power Line. KMSP 9 has the quote in the linked update.

Understand, however, that the heart of this story is possible immigration fraud. I asked the Omar campaign whether her second marriage, the one to her lawful husband, was entered into for dishonest purposes. The campaign forwarded my inquiry for response by Jean Brandl, a Minnesota criminal defense attorney. The response Brandl conveyed to my inquiries failed to address their substance. I thought that too was a story all by itself.

Incidentally, I came across Brandl in court in her capacity as counsel for Abdullahi Yusuf during the terrorism trial in Minneapolis this past May; Brandls client pleaded guilty before trial. Like all the rest of the defendants in the case, Brandls client has yet to be sentenced.

I met face to face with a Somali source this afternoon to whom I promised confidentiality. He told me that he fears for his safety if his identity is disclosed. I confirmed his name and address with government issued identification. I asked him why he was willing to talk to me. He told me that he is an American citizen and finds Omars behavior to be a disgrace to the community. I may be mistaken, but I found him to be a credible source.

He told me that he knew Ahmed Nur Said Elmi as Ilhan Omars brother when he (the husband and/or brother) lived in Minneapolis with Omar. He sketched out the family relationships of Omars brothers and sisters in the United States and the United Kingdom. He gave me the screenshot below from the Facebook account of a man he identified as Omars brother Mohammed Nur Said. I found his Facebook page here when I accessed it earlier today; Ilhan Omar was all over it. My source identified Mohammed Nur Said as the brother of Ahmed Nur Said Elmi and of Ilhan Omar.

He has provided me this translation of the substance of the 2015 Facebook post by Mohammed Nur Said: My sister Ilhan Omar made concise and very important speech in London. In that speech she announced that she will run for Minneapolis, Minnesota state representative seat the year of 2016. I wish her victory, support her. The original Facebook post included a video of Omars London speech.

Based on Omars nonresponse to Lyden and to my second set of questions last week, I have not run these allegations by Omar for comment. I think I have talked to all the reporters in town who are working on this story except Lyden, and all but Lyden have told me that Omar refuses to talk to them; Lyden showed Omar on camera refusing to talk to him. See Omars statement linked above for the relevant denials.

As Drudge would say, developing

UPDATE: Preya Samsundar tries to connect the dots through social media in her Alpha News report: Further investigation suggests Omar married brother. I may be mistaken in my work on this matter; Samsundar may be as well. We have one thing in common with Lyden. We have gotten no answers to easy questions.
Schools and departments of social work tend to be the most ideological and politicized at universities today, so when the faculty of a department of social work complains about political correctness, you know things have gone too far. But thats exactly what has happened at Smith College, as reported a few days ago in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Leaked Faculty Letters Expose Racial Fault Lines at Smiths Social-Work School By Steve Kolowich A controversial pair of letters written by faculty members at Smith Colleges School for Social Work and addressed to administrators there have inspired a protest and charges of racism by students. The letters, which were leaked to students by an unidentified source, revealed that some professors in the program are frustrated both by the admission of students they view as academically unprepared and by an administration they see as too willing to cave to student complaints. We must acknowledge that social work  like every other kind of work  is not for everyone, says one of the letters, which is signed by concerned adjuncts at the graduate school. Another letter, written by Dennis Miehls, a professor and department chair at the school, alludes to a tainted admissions process that let in students who were not well-equipped to succeed. Mr. Miehls did not respond to an email requesting comment. In a note to students, the person who leaked the letters said that the language of the faculty complaints gave credence to a climate of fear experienced by students of color at Smith, and that exposing the letters would facilitate transparency and accountability, according to a report from Inside Higher Ed.

Heres my favorite bit:

The charges of racism are especially notable since they are aimed at a graduate program that has defined itself by an explicit commitment to fight racial bias.

Slowly even liberals are coming to understand that revolutions always end up eating their own. Further down the article exposes the meltdown and utter bankruptcy of what is taking place in Smiths school of social work:

The faculty letters paint a picture of a program beset by personal recriminations. There has been a sense on campus that the School for Social Work administration is allowing the school to sink into chaos and to self-destruct, write the adjunct professors. It is now beginning to feel as if, by its own ineptitude, it is now facilitating that descent. In his letter, Mr. Miehls, chair of the schools sequence on human behavior in the social environment, makes a point to defend Carolyn S. du Bois, director of field work, against critical narratives that the students are creating (and that no one seems to be challenging). Ms. du Bois did not respond to a request for comment. The letter writers argue at several points that the schools administration has hurt faculty by acquiescing to student complaints. I understand that many students of color are expressing concerns and outrage at how they perceive they have been treated at the School and in the field agencies, writes Mr. Miehls, who has played a role in the schools antiracism efforts. Do any of you understand that student narratives may be exaggerated at this point and that the lack of direction from you is only fueling these concerns? Meanwhile the writers express concern about students who might not be qualified to graduate. The letter from Mr. Miehls suggests that Smiths current social-work students lack talent regardless of race. Why do you, as administrators, continue to offer differential outcomes to students of color, in spite of overwhelming data that demonstrates that many of our students, including white-identified students, cannot offer clients a social work intervention that is based upon competence, skills and ethics, Mr. Miehls wrote.

Student narratives may be exaggerated? Do tell. The students lack talent? And this is a surprise why? And a white-identified student? Whatdo they ban spray tan in the student store at Smith?

Heres a suggestion. Close down the department, and fire the faculty. Instead, expect Mr. Miehls to be sent to an extended sentence at a sensitivity re-education camp.
Tehran, Iran, August 23

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Israeli-made goods are brought into Iran via suitcase trade, said Soheil Eskandari, an official with Irans Food and Drug Organization, adding the goods are illegal and not to be consumed.

Such goods will never receive distribution permit from the organization, he said, pointing to new images on social media in Iran of food packages with lines on them written in Hebrew, Fars news agency reported August 23.

The official underlined Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis remark that Iran should never promote Israeli-made goods, even in small quantities.

The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize Israel as a country and believes the Israeli state has illegally occupied the Palestinian lands.
Nigerian workers under the aegis of the Nigerian Labour Congress and its affiliate organizations marched in Lagos, Tuesday, over non payment of their members salaries in over 20 states across the country.

The workers singled out Governors Rochas Okorocha, Tanko Al-Makura, and Samuel Ortom of Imo, Nasarawa, and Benue respectively for ridicule, accusing them of behaving like slave masters.

This protest is to make a point that our governors, some of them, are becoming slave masters. They are no more governors, said Isa Aremu, General Secretary of the Textile Workers Union.

These three governors who are behaving like slave masters, namely Rochas Okorocha, Al-Makura, Ortom. I think we should use today to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call these governors to order.

Because Labour issues are federal issues, they are on the exclusive list, not on concurrent list. No governor, no private employer should tamper with Labour issues. When it comes to salaries and terms of employment, its a federal law, and Nigerian laws are clear, its unconstitutional.

The workers, with black clothes tied round their arms, marched through Maryland to Ikeja roundabout, grounding vehicular traffic as songs from the late Afro beat king, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, blared from giant loudspeakers.

The workers said they were also protesting the death of two of their members in Nasarawa State who were allegedly shot dead by the police during a meeting with Mr. Al-Makura, last month.

A minute silence was observed for the late workers.

In Nasarawa, in July, Governor Al-Makura who we used to like, a progressive governor, and in a sense he was quite progressive  he was paying salaries as at when due  but all of a sudden, he decided to cut the workers salaries by 50 percent, without negotiation, without proper consultation with organized Labour, Mr. Aremu, a former NLC vice president, said.

Or even if he had done the consultation, you dont consult people to kill them. You cant consult on cutting of salaries. So what Al-Makura has done is illegal and its criminal.

Not only that, he threatened the workers. That if they refuse to accept the wage cut, he will sack all of them and replace them with what he called fresh graduates. And I was wondering, which fresh graduates will accept salaries that will be cut by 50 percent.

The leadership of the NLC decided to intervene. And when they went there, the meeting was going on at the Government House, some police opened fire on the workers who were waiting for the outcome of the discussion. In the process, two workers were killed, and about three or four were seriously injured.

The NLC leadership demanded that Mr. Al-Makura pay full compensation to the survivors and dependants of the killed workers.

I also want to reaffirm that immediately Governor Al-Makura should withdraw the criminal 50 percent reduction in salaries of Nasarawa workers, Mr. Aremu said.

And that will be the condition for the suspension of the strikes that is going on today in Nasarawa.

The workers also criticised the three-day work and two-day farm policy recently introduced by Mr. Okorocha.

The Imo State governor had announced a reduction in the working days of the week, from five days to three days. He told the workers to use the remaining two days for farming.

Comrades, let me reaffirm here that Nigerian workers are Nigerian workers, they are not emergency farmers, Mr. Aremu said.

You gave workers letters of appointment as a clerk, messenger, driver, supervisor, nurses, teachers. You have not given them letters of appointments to become farmers.

In any case, how can a governor remain in Owerri, in the Government House, and ask all the workers to return back to the farms? He himself should be in the farm first. So if the governor is not a farmer, a worker is not a farmer.
PREMIUM TIMES has obtained further details of the killings in the Talata Marafa town of Zamfara State, where eight residents were burnt to death by a mob suspected to be students of Abdu Gusau Polytechnic.

The details emerged just as President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killings and promised justice for victims of the incident.

Some students of the polytechnic reportedly burnt down a house in which eight persons resident there were all burnt to death.

The president on Tuesday said via his twitter handle that he received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay calling it barbaric and unacceptable.

The President also tweeted I assure that the law will take its course. My prayers are with the families of the victims.

Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever, he said.

How the incident occurred

PREMIUM TIMES spoke to a resident of Talata Mafara, Salisu Mafara on Tuesday. He said trouble began when a student of the Polytechnic was accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.

The young man was a Muslim before he converted to Christianity and fellow students always accused him of saying nasty things about Islam.

However, he reportedly said terrible things about the prophet and the students around descended on him and he was seriously injured, he said.

Mr. Mafara said another resident of the town who speaks the same language with the accused student came to his rescue.

When they noticed that he was not moving at all, they thought he was dead, but one man who is from the same tribe with him now came and took him to hospital in his car.

When the mob got to know what happened, they now began to rush to the General Hospital. However, that man just dropped the boy in the hospital and left.

But before the mob could reach the hospital, another young man, who is an indigene of Mafara, but is a boyfriend to the sister of the attacked student, reached the Hospital before them and took away the injured man before the mob got there.

When they reached the hospital and realised that the injured man was not there they came back to town and when they saw the vehicle used in taking him to the Hospital the first time, they burnt it down.

They also went to the mans House and burnt it down with all the occupants inside. About eight people were in the house and they all died, he said.

Mr. Mafara also said three other persons may have died when security agents opened fire on the crowd that became uncontrollable.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Police in the state, Mohammed Shehu said a state security council meeting was held immediately after the incident and a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed.

He also said security was heightened in the town and that everywhere was now calm.

He however, failed to confirm the burning of the house and the killing of occupants.

He said his attention was needed by the Commissioner of Police, Adoge Gabriel, and be abruptly ended the call.

Subsequent efforts to speak with him failed as he did not answer calls or respond to a text message.

A source in Talata Mafara also told us that Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who is from Talata Mafara, was in the town when the incident happened.

The government is however, yet to issue a statement on the incident.

However, the authorities of the Polytechnic has closed the school until further notice.

The Zamfara killing occurred two months after a woman was killed in Kano after she was accused of blasphemy, and a month after a female preacher was killing in the Kubwa area of Abuja by yet unknown persons.

KOWA Party condemns killings



Meanwhile, one of Nigerias opposition parties, KOWA, has condemned the killings.

In a statement Tuesday, the National Youth Leader of the party, Jude Feranmi, described the killing as barbaric and called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to book.

Mr. Feranmi said, Our condolences are with the people of Zamfara state and the families and loved ones of those who have been killed unjustly in the recent killings by some hoodlums who are hiding under the auspices of religion.

We condemn in the strongest terms the recent killings of innocent Nigerians by religious bigots who have taken to barbarism to break the law and deny their fellow denizens in Zamfara state the fundamental right to life.

We state here categorically that the right to life, which is as sacrosanctly entrenched in Chapter 4 Section 33 of our constitution under the fundamental rights of citizens, of those who were killed in the act has been denied.

Such acts are not and should not be condoled by any persons or group of persons under any umbrella whatsoever in our society. Acts like these are condemnable and should be taken seriously by our law enforcement agencies to ensure that the culprits are all brought to justice and made to suffer for their crimes.

It is high time for a clear message to be sent by the law enforcement agencies that these criminal acts will be severely punished and that culprits will be brought to justice and this clear message must as a matter of urgency be words backed with ACTION.

Just recently, the killings in Kano and Abuja of innocent Nigerians have not been meted with the justice that those individuals and their families deserve.

Previous cases of these kind of barbaric acts have been treated without urgency thereby prolonging the justice needed to communicate to intending criminals that such acts will be handled seriously.

The National Orientation Agency also needs to as a matter of urgency begin a programme that is focused on religious intolerance and the laws of the land on those who think it necessary to deliver judgements on acts of blasphemy.

We cannot continue to live like barbarians and keep losing the lives and properties of innocent citizens in acts like this. Acts like this should NOT be tolerated and as much as we will not wish this act that has now turned into a recurrent act away, We need to back words with action.
The Nigerian Air Force on Tuesday said it killed about 300 Boko Haram members during a recent aerial bombardments of terrorist locations in the North-East of Nigeria.

The Director of Public Relations and Information for the Air Force, Ayodele Famuyiwa, said in a statement emailed to PREMIUM TIMES that the killing of the terrorists recorded another major success in the on-going counter-insurgency and counter terrorism operations against the Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) sect in the North East.

Mr. Famuyiwa said, The current phase of intensified air operations over Northern Borno paid-off on the night of 19 August 2016 when the NAF, during an air attack, killed about 300 BHTs who had gathered to hold a meeting at a location between Malam Fatori and own troops location at Kangarwa.

Prior to this fateful day the NAF, on 16 August 2016, had commenced series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions to corroborate human intelligence that key BHT commanders gather at the said location to hold meeting at night.

The objective of the on-going operation, as usual, is to degrade the capability of the insurgents, particularly those who have fled to the northern part of Borno.

The army also reported Tuesday that it repelled attack on the location of its troops near Sambisa forest.

Troops on Operation LAFIYA DOLE stationed at Darul Jamel, on the fringes of Sambisa forest, northern parts of Borno State, yesterday evening successfully repelled an attempted attack on their location by remnants of Boko Haram terrorists, the spokesperson for the army, Sani Usman, a colonel, said in a statement.

The terrorists attempted to storm the troops location at about 10.00pm, but paid dearly as the troops killed several of them including two senior commanders that led the attack.

The troops recovered one Light Machine Gun (LMG) with Registration number 56M-1101229, 1 AK-47 Rifle Magazine, Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Bomb and 1 top cover of an AK-47 Rifle. Other items recovered include 395 Rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition and 15 rounds of 5.5mm by .45 ammunition.

Prior to the attack, the troops of the same unit on routine patrol earlier, had cleared an ambush staged by elements of the suspected remnants of the terrorists desperate for food near Banki Junction.

It is equally believed that the attack and ambush might not be unconnected to the fact that the terrorists were desperately targeting over 890 rescued herdsmen with their 5000 livestock being held captives by terrorists along Nigerian borders with Cameroon.
President Muhammadu Buhari warmly felicitates with the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, on his 60th birthday, on August 24, 2016.

President Buhari joins the people and government of Sokoto State, the Muslim community and family members of the Sultan in celebrating the unique anniversary.

As the head of Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI) and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), the President affirms that the Sultan has demonstrated uncommon leadership style, patriotism and wisdom in his consistent advocacy for security, peace and unity of Nigeria.

President Buhari believes that the wise counsels and support of the royal father on issues of good governance, girl-child education, infant and child mortality, and agriculture has greatly enriched his administrations efforts to improve the livelihood of Nigerians.

The President prays that the almighty Allah will grant the Sultan good health and long life to continue in the service of humanity.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 23rd, 2016
The World Health Organization (WHO) has commended Nigeria on its prompt management of the recent new poliovirus outbreak in Borno State.

The world health bodys regional director, Matshiduso Moeti, made the commendation at the 66th session of the African Regional Committee Meeting holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She praised the openness of Nigerias Federal Government in the handling of the process that led to the discovery of the two new cases and the immediate declaration of Public Health Emergence in the area.

Ms. Moeti particularly commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his directive to the relevant government agency to immediately release money budgeted for vaccines.

Mr. Moeti, who noted the leadership of Nigeria in addressing the issue, pledged the commitment of WHO and other partners to work with Nigeria in addressing the problem of polio resurgence in Nigeria, adding that with concerted effort Nigeria will soon attain the zero polio case status.

She however called on Nigerians to remain calm as the government was doing the needful to protect the citizens from polio.

She said that the governments posture was a great motivation for WHO and other polio eradication partners to support the country.

Nigerias Health Minister, Isaac Adewole, expressed satisfaction with the level of understanding of the issues around the resurgence of polio showed by the WHO and partners and the level of support promised.

He also expressed satisfaction on the agreement reached on the need for all the countries of the Lake Chad Basin to work toward kicking out polio out of the region.

Mr. Adewole expressed the firm commitment of the Nigerian Government to protect the health of Nigerians.

The permanent secretary, Health, Binta Bello, assured that the Federal Government would reposition its work force by training them in order to face the challenges ahead.
The Nigeria Police Force will subject successful candidates in the ongoing recruitment exercise to compulsory polygraph test (lie detector test) this test will be in addition to the general background check, biometrics, medical, physical examination, aptitude, oral and psychological tests. The Police will also conduct a thorough verification of all documents submitted by prospective candidates.

According to Force Public Relations Officer, Don Awunah, the Inspector General of Police IGP Ibrahim Idris gave this directive while reviewing the recruitment exercise so far.

Mr. Idris, the spokesman said expressed satisfaction with the progress made in recruiting the new personnel into the Nigeria Police Force.

The IGP said that no candidate will be admitted for training at the Police academy and colleges without undergoing these prescribed tests, Mr. Awunah said.

The Polygraph test is aimed at ensuring that candidates are not of questionable character and their behaviours conform with standard rules of behaviour expected of an officer to be recruited into the Force.

The Police Academy and other training Colleges across the country will be equipped to carry out the necessary tests.

The Nigeria Police Force is determined to ensure that the current recruitment exercise conform to acceptable standards necessary for an ideal Police officer the Nigerian people deserve.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged the Justice Department on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if donors to the Clinton Foundation got special treatment from the State Department when it was run by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, Reuters reported.

Trump made the appeal at a rally before thousands of cheering supporters in Akron, Ohio, as he tries to rebound from a slide in national opinion polls with little more than two months to go until the Nov. 8 election.

Trump accused former President Bill Clinton and his wife of turning the Clinton Foundation charity into a "pay-for-play" scheme in which wealthy donors, foreign and domestic, got favors from the State Department during Hillary Clinton's 2009-2013 tenure as the country's top diplomat.

Trump faulted both the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation for not indicting Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. FBI Director James Comey cited her careless handling of classified emails but opted not to prosecutor her.

"The Justice Department is required to appoint a special prosecutor because it has proved to be, sadly, a political arm of the White House," Trump said. "Nobody has ever seen anything like it before."

Trump's appeal came the same day a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, released 725 pages of State Department documents, including some it said were examples of preferential treatment provided to donors at the request of former Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band.
Armed policemen on Tuesday sealed the residence of former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, located on Lugard Road in Kano metropolis.

The house also serves as headquarters of the group loyal to the former governor popularly known as Kwankwasiyya.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Rabiu Yusuf, confirmed the development to journalists in Kano on Tuesday.

Mr. Rabiu, who spoke through the police spokesman, Magaji Majiya, said the action followed an intelligence report that there was a plan to conduct a mass wedding in the house.

We have directed our men to seal the residence because of an intelligence report that there is a plan to conduct mass wedding in the house, the commissioner said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that armed policemen were deployed to the area and were keeping vigil on the house, turning back motorists plying the road.

The state police command had on Aug.18 banned a mass wedding organised by a group loyal to the former governor.

The police spokesman said in a statement that the event was stopped because it coincided with the state governments planned empowerment programme 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, Mr. Majiya said.

He 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 police spokesman said.

He 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).
Former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, who visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House on Tuesday, said he went to inform the president about his trip abroad, to also discuss other matters affecting the nation.

Speaking shortly after emerging from a closed-door meeting with the president, Mr. Gowon, who said the last time he visited the president was in October 2015, told State House correspondents that I have come to see the president, to say hello to him, I havent seen him for quite some time.

This time I have come to see him to pay my respect to him and to let him know that I am going out of the country on vacation and my Programme of Nigeria Prays in the UK and the USA is coming towards the end of this month, and early next month, he said.

The former Head of state said he had to come and let the president know that he was travelling out so that in case of he wants me, he knows that I am out and he is going to pay my way back, if he wants me back for any programmes.

He said they also discussed general affairs of the country, the problems of the country, his fight against corruption, and all the efforts that he is making to deal with it and of course, the impatience of the public to see results of the fight which have yet to be found, since people have not been prosecuted yet, that would soon begin.

Mr. Gowon commended Mr. Buhari for his determination to rid the country of corruption, which, he said, remains a key problem for the country.

Mr. Gowon also said they discussed the issue of the abducted Chibok girls with President Buhari and the efforts the government to rescue them.

He said the government needed to get credible information about the whereabouts of the girls and also those that would assist the government achieve that.

I believe that the government is certainly determined to ensure that a number of these girls are brought back home safely as soon as possible.

To achieve that, certain credibility must be established of our sources of information on their location, but as at yet, no one knows where these girls are, and all these information that you have been getting, I dont know their sources, but all efforts at engaging the international media and sources are necessary so that this matter can be resolved once and for all, he said.

He said they also discussed what the government was doing to meet the expectations of Nigerians. He however, said citizens have to be patient with the Buhari administration.

Please remember that we used to sell petroleum at $150 per barrel, but what is it today? Its merely around $30 per barrel and the amount of crude oil that we used to produce was over two million barrels, but now it has gone down to about one million because of the problem we have been having with people blowing pipelines in the Niger Delta area.

So we have problems and there isnt enough money to be able to go round.

 So very soon, with the efforts the government is making to get things back to normal, making contacts with the Avengers and other aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta who are creating havoc there, we hope that all will be well soon, Mr. Gowon said.
The presidency on Monday denied news reports that President Muhammadu Buhari was seeking emergency powers from the National Assembly in order to tackle the lingering economic crisis in the country.

In a statement by the Special Assistant to the Vice President on Public Affairs, Laolu Akande, said an economic management team set up to propose solutions to the economic crisis had only recently concluded its assignment but had not passed the recommendations to Mr. Buhari for actions.

But he admitted the teams recommendations may require legislative amendments and presidential orders.

The Economic Management Team has indeed been considering several policy options and measures to urgently reform and revitalize the economy. Some of these measures may well require legislative amendments and presidential orders that will enable the Executive arm of government move quickly in implementing the economic reform plans, Mr. Akande said.

As far as I know, this has not been passed on to the President, the Federal Executive Council or the Legislative arm of government.

Different news reports had on Monday quoted presidential sources as saying that the Buhari administration was seeking, among other requests, the suspension of extant laws governing some aspects of the economy from the National Assembly.

The government has come under increasing pressure as Nigerians struggle daily with hardship inflicted on them by a raging economic crisis.
President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that the anti-corruption crusade in the country will be deepened and institutionalized to last beyond the life of the current administration.

Receiving the U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, at in State House, Abuja, Tuesday, the president declared: We will insist on the standards were establishing. We are laying down administrative and financial instructions in the public service that must be obeyed. Any breach will no longer be acceptable.

We will retrain our staff, so that they understand the new orientation. And those who run foul of these rules will be prosecuted, no matter who is involved. But we will be fair, just and act according to the rule of law. Anyone perceived corrupt is innocent till we can prove it. We will work very hard to establish documentation for successful prosecution, and those in positions of trust will sit up, Mr. Buhari said.

He appreciated the intervention of the U.S before the 2015 polls, demanding free and fair elections in Nigeria, saying, America did not do it because of what it stands to benefit from us. You did it for the Nigerian people. It tells so much what the U.S stands for in the world.

On the Boko Haram insurgency, President Buhari thanked the U.S for both hard and soft military help.

The training and intelligence that we could not muster ourselves, we received. The training has made Boko Haram less of a threat to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region, while the military hardware has given our troops added confidence, Mr. Buhari said.

President Buhari said though militancy in the Niger Delta has impacted negatively on the economy and affected the positive intentions of international and local investors, government was showing restraint not to use real force, except when constrained to do so.

On the economy, the president assured that the focus of his administration was on the diversification of the economy having learnt our lessons from years of over dependence on oil.

In his remarks, Mr. Kerry commended the courage of President Buhari in fighting corruption, saying: We applaud what you are doing.

Corruption creates a ready-made playing field for recruiting extremists. You inherited a big problem, and we will support you in any way we can. We will work with you very closely. We dont want to interfere, but will offer opportunities as you require.

The Secretary of State also pledged to assist in tackling the humanitarian challenges in the North-east, adding that his country would get the UK, France, and others to augment the support.

Nigeria is priority for us. We wont miss the opportunity to work together, because you are making significant progress, Mr. Kerry said.
The Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption has invited a former chairman of House Committee on Appropriation, Abulmumin Jibrin, over the unfolding budget padding scandal, PREMIUM TIMES learnt Tuesday.

The invitation followed repeated calls from Mr. Jibrin that anti-graft agencies should investigate the veracity of his scathing petitions against the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, and some other lawmakers.

The letter said Mr. Jibrin should appear before the anti-corruption panel at the Meeting Room of PACAC which is situated on the 1st Floor, Phase I, Secretary to the Government of the Federation Building, Federal Secretariat, Abuja, on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. Time: 11:00 a.m.

Bolaji Owasanoye, the executive secretary of PACAC who signed the letter on behalf of the committee, said Mr. Jibrin had forwarded a petition and requested an appointment.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on August 10, 2015, set up the committee to advise his government on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigerias criminal justice system.

Mr. Jibrin is accusing the speaker and other senior members of the House of padding the 2016 budget with fictitious projects amounting to billions of naira.

The speaker denies the allegation.

The invitation by PACAC could give Mr. Jibrins campaign a much-needed boost, having recently suffered a major setback after 10 principal officers, including a hitherto neutral Femi Gbajabiamila, released a statement to denounce the scandal.

A seemingly battered Mr. Jibrin, nonetheless, vowed to continue this struggle, even if Im alone.
The Executive Governor of Plateau State, Rt. Hon. (Barr) Simon Bako Lalong, on Wednesday, 17th August, 2016, established and constituted a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Activities of Governance between 29th May, 2007 to 29th May, 2015 with the following Terms of Reference:

1. To ascertain all financial transactions, done or entered into by the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria or through any of its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals, Institutions or officials, acting in its name from the 29th day of May, 2007 to 29th May, 2015.

2. To ascertain and establish all financial allocations, funds, grants or monetary interventions and revenues which accrued to or in the name of the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria directly or through any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals, Institutions, Officials or Agents from the Federal Government of Nigeria or any International Institutions or Donor Agencies from 29th May, 2007 to 29th May, 2015.

3. To ascertain and establish all loans granted to or obtained by the Government of Plateau State of Nigeria directly or through any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals, Institutions, Officials or Agents from any public institution(s), organisation(s) or individual(s) from 29th May 2007 to 29th May, 2015, and the purpose for which such loans were obtained and whether the loans were used for such purpose.

4. To ascertain whether any property (corporeal or incorporeal) belonging to the Government of Plateau State or any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals and Institutions were sold or in any way concessioned to any person(s), institution(s), government official or agency by any Government Ministry, Department, Agency (MDAs), Institutions or officials between 29th May, 2007 and 29th May, 2015, the process or procedure followed to carry out the sale or concession and whether the proceeds of such sale or concession were paid into appropriate Government coffers.

5. To ascertain whether any property or properties (corporeal and incorporeal) were purchased or acquired for on in the name and/or on behalf of the Government of Plateau State or any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals or Institutions between 29th May 2007 and 29th May 2015, the process or procedure followed to carry out such purchase or acquisition and to trace and obtain all documents relating to such transactions as well as establish their values and locations.

6. To ascertain:

i. All contracts awarded by the Government of Plateau State or any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals or Officials between 29th May 2007 and 29th May 2015, the process or procedure followed in the award of such contracts, the value of each contract (including any variations and whether such variations were necessary and done in good faith), the level of execution or completion of each of them and the amount paid to the contractor as at 29th May, 2015.

ii. If any contract was awarded at an inflated cost and to determine what should have been the actual cost of the contract.

iii. If any contract has been abandoned, the amount paid for any such abandoned contract, and the amount required to complete the contract.

iv. If payments made to any contractor were in keeping with the pace of work on the project and if not, to ascertain the difference.

v. If the contract was executed in accordance with its tenor.

7. To ascertain:

i. The total amount paid by the Government of Plateau State as salaries and allowances of serving and retired State Civil Servants, Local Government Employees and Political Appointees from 29th May 2007 to 29th May 2015.

ii. Whether any person or employee of Government or any of its Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), Parastatals, or Institutions received multiple payments or salaries or pensions, and the role played by any person(s) toward such payments; and

iii. The total difference in terms of figures between the actual payments made in the name of salaries or pensions and what should have been paid by Government for that purpose.

By this advertisement, the General Public is hereby requested to submit Memoranda that could assist the Commission in carrying out its assignment. Each Memorandum should be in one (1) copy with printed in double spacing on A4 size paper and not more than fifteen (15) pages accompanied with any relevant annexure(s) should be submitted to the Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, Azi Nyako Youth Centre, Dadin Kowa, Jos (ROOM 4) on or before the 1st day of September, 2016.

Alh. Sani Yahaya (Mavo)

Secretary of the Commission

***SPONSORED***
Workers in Borno State under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Tuesday staged a peaceful rally over the recent killing of two of their colleagues by the police during a similar protest session in Nasarawa State.

The Borno workers also used the opportunity to protest against the ongoing verification of workers in the state which has denied them their July salary.

They also wanted the Borno government to offset the backlog of primary school teachers allowances and other related demands.

Led by the Borno State chairman of the NLC, Titus Abana, the workers marched to the Borno State government house where they were received by the state deputy governor, Usman Durkwa.

We are here on a sorrow mood of solidarity, protest, and mourning rally in connection with the killing of two workers in Nasarawa state by the police while the workers there were exercising theilr constitutional rights to peaceful protest, said Mr. Abana.

The labour leader lamented what he described as the emerging trend of police violence against workers and students while exercising their constitutional freedoms in some states.

The unionists also bemoaned alleged plans by some state governments to reduce their workforce and office work days so that the two days off would be used in tilling farmlands of the state government.

Labour is condemning in totality the plans of some state governments to half workers salary in the name of drop in statutory allocation to states from the federation account.

Here in Borno State Labour is demanding payment of salaries while the ongoing verification exercise continues, so that workers are not subjected to hardship ranging from hunger, street begging and reduction of productivity in work places.

In order for us to move the state forward, we are also demanding for the immediate settlement of all outstanding demands of Borno workers in the State, local government councils and that of the primary school teachers, said the labour leader.

Responding, the deputy governor, Mr. Durkwa, said he stood in for the state governor, Kashim Shettima, who was out of the state.

He promised to relay their demands to his boss once he returns to the state. He however implored them to conduct themselves peacefully while the protest lasted.
Civil servants in Adamawa on Tuesday staged a protest in front of the Government House, Yola, calling for the removal of three government officials from office.

The protesters, led by the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Dauda Maina, shut the entrance to government house for several hours.

They were demanding the sacking of the chairman of the Adamawa State Primary Healthcare Agency, Abdullahi Belel.

They also demanded the sacking of the Executive Secretary Adamawa State Post Primary School Board, Abdullahi Jingi and the General Manager of Adamawa State Transport Company, Ahmed Nyako.

Mr. Maina said the call for the sack of the affected persons was based on their anti-workers stance.

He said the affected person where responsible for causing friction between workers and the government.

He alleged that the ongoing health workers strike in the state was caused by the executive chairman of the state primary healthcare agency, Mr. Belel.

Abdullahi Jingi of post primary school board and Ahmed Nyako of Adamawa transport company are also engaged on persecuting their workers and we want them removed before they ruin the good image of this government, Mr. Maina said.

Addressing the workers, the state Secretary to the Government, Umar Bindir, said the governor had travelled to Abuja.

I will be joining him and will communicate your message and demands to him.

I want to assure you that by next week when the governor returns from the meeting of the Progressives Governors Forum in Kaduna, the matter will be looked into, Mr. Bindir said.

Mr. Belel, Executive Secretary of the primary healthcare agency, told NAN that the agency was owing backlog of unpaid salary.

He, however, said the situation arose because of a shortfall in the monthly allocation to the local government councils, who are responsible for the payment of the primary health workers salary.

Effort to speak with the other two chief executives was not successful as they could not be found either in their respective offices or houses when NAN visited. (NAN)
A rights group, Campaign for Democracy in Ebonyi State has given the Controller-General of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Jaafaru Ahmed, 48 hours to release the names of prison inmates killed by prison officials during the purported jailbreak at the Abakaliki prisons.

The group is accusing prison authorities of opening fire and killing inmates who protested poor living conditions, while claiming they were trying to escape.

While the Comptroller General of Prisons, Jaafaru Ahmed, said six people were killed and 10 others injured in the attempted jailbreak, others have said the casualty is much higher.

The State Chairman of the Campaign for Democracy, Onu Ogbonnaya Onu, said in Abakaliki that families of the deceased and people of Ebonyi State need to know the identity of those killed.

Mr. Onu said since the news of the killing spread, family members and relations of prison inmates have been making frantic effort to know if their relations were among the dead.

He said rather than provide useful information, prison officials have been harassing and intimidating them.

Mr. Onu described the situation as sad and disheartening, adding that the lack of information from the authority had created tension in the state as people troop to the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki mortuary to make inquiry if their loved ones were among those that were killed and deposited in the mortuary.

He said the organization would adopt all legal means to ensure that the families of the deceased get justice, adding that the intention of the prison authority in Abakaliki was to kill the inmates and not to injure them.

Campaign for Democracy CD, Ebonyi State, condemn in its entity the killing of unarmed prison inmates in Abakaliki over an alleged jail-break. We understand that prison officials deliberately shot at the unarmed inmates of which the greater number of them are awaiting trial persons.

We equally discovered that the prison officials action were perpetrated to cover some shady and unprofessional deals in the prison, else, why shoot them at life threatening parts of the body? Why not make use of rubber bullets?.

CD therefore calls on the Comptroller of Prisons to constitute a discreet investigative panel over this barbaric and hateful killing. CD also demands that the names of all the dead victims and particulars be made public within 48 hours or we will be left with no other option than to approach the court.

In a developed world, we see police use tear gas, rubber bullets to disperse rioters or in a worst case scenario, shoot them in the leg but regrettably in Ebonyi situation, they shot and killed the inmates at close range. When you visit the Federal Teaching Hospital were most of them are currently receiving treatment, you would be shocked at the level of gunshot injuries the inmates sustained, he said.

The group called on the Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, not to allow the killing of Ebonyi sons to be swept under the carpet as the killing may have made some persons widows and orphans.

He called on well-meaning Ebonyi people especially members of the State and National Assembly to speak out and condemn the unfortunate incident and ensure the perpetrators were fished out, dismissed and prosecuted to forestall a re-occurrence.
Barring any last-minute change in plans, President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday host the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, a foremost monarch in Yorubaland, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report.

According to Mr. Buharis schedule for Thursday, seen by this newspaper, the meeting will hold at the State House between 2pm and 2.30pm, lasting just 30 minutes.

According to Presidency sources, the meeting is coming at the instance of Oba Adeyemi whose previous efforts at meeting the president did not materialise.

It is unclear why the monarch is visiting the president. But some commentators suspect it might be connected to his ongoing case with the police.

The Ibadan Division of the Federal High Court had on December 15, 2014, issued an order of mandamus compelling the Inspector General of Police to investigate Oba Adeyemi for alleged murder, bomb planting, unlawful possession of arms and other offences.

But over a year after the order, the police failed to act, causing the petitioners to write Mr. Buhari in January this year.

The petitioners asked Mr. Buhari to compel the police to execute the Ibadan court order, an effort that has yielded no fruit.

In their petition to the President, the petitioners attached damning security documents.

But in a dramatic turn, the police command in Oyo arraigned the petitioners  Jacob Oluokun and Sulaiman Ishola  and a former lawmaker, Kamil Akinlabi, before a State High Court in Oyo for allegedly defaming the Alaafin.

In a counter action, the petitioners commenced contempt proceedings against the IGP for failing to execute the December 2015 order, according to their lawyer, Abiodun Raheem.

Mr. Akinlabi was in the House of Representatives between 2007 and 2015, and had the Alaafin as godfather before they became estranged.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

Trend:

Leaders of Russia, Germany and France will hold a joint meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in China, said a Kremlin message posted on its website.

The agreement on this issue was reached Aug. 23 during a phone conversation of Russias President Vladimir Putin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Frances President Francois Hollande.

The problems of the Ukrainian crisis, including the prospects for the continuation of the Minsk process, based on the synchronization of political steps and corresponding measures in the security sphere, were discussed, according to the message.

The G20 of the worlds largest developed and developing countries will hold their annual summit on Sept. 4-5 in the city of Hangzhou.
Polish President Andrzej Duda will go to Kiev on Wednesday to attend observances marking the 25th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. While in Kiev, he will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the situation in the region.

Observances marking the 25th anniversary of Ukraine's independence will be held in Kiev's Maidan, or Independence Square.

"President Duda will be the only foreign head of state at the observances," Presidential Minister Krzysztof Szczerski said Tuesday, stressing that this was a sign of the importance of Polish-Ukrainian relations.

The Polish and Ukrainian presidents are expected to sign a declaration on the last 25 years of bilateral contacts. According to Szczerski, the declaration will refer to "Poland's engagement in transformation processes in Ukraine" in the key moments of Ukraine's recent history.

Krzysztof Szczerski said that the declaration would also include a joint position regarding the current challenges to regional policy and Polish-Ukrainian relations. He added that he had in mind reforms in Ukraine and the restoration of international order based on law and observance of sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

The two presidents are also planned to discuss current topics, including "peace in Ukraine, regional stability prospects, Poland-Ukraine relations and EU-Ukraine contacts in the context of the decisions taken by the Warsaw NATO summit."

President Duda and Poroshenko will take part in an annual debate of Ukrainian ambassadors, Szczerski said, adding that the Polish head of state was scheduled to address the meeting.

While in Kiev, President Duda will also meet with Bishop Vitaliy Skomarovsky of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lutsk.

Poland was the first country to recognise Ukraine's independence declared on August 24, 1991. (PAP)
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Udaipur: A two-day meeting of BRICS Ministers on Disaster Management ended here on Tuesday with the adoption of the Udaipur Declaration.The meeting laid bare the common thread of challenges on disaster issues faced by all the BRICS nations.Minister of State, Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, termed the meeting as a new milestone in collaboration and cooperation among BRICS countriesin the field of disaster management. He said, "The Udaipur meeting has successfully adopted the Udaipur Declaration whereby we have resolved to set up a dedicated Joint Task Force for Disaster Risk Management for regular dialogue, exchange, mutual support and collaboration among BRICS Countries."The roadmap for implementation of the three-year Joint Action Plan (JAP) for BRICS emergency services (2016-18) was also finalised. The JAP was agreed upon at the first meeting of BRICS Ministers for Disaster Management at St. Petersburg in Russia earlier this year. Shri Rijiju said, "This meeting has agreed on a road map for implementation of the Joint Action Plan where all of us have resolved to work together on exchange of Information/ experiences on disaster management, research & technology exchange on forecasting and early warning for floods and extreme weather events and capacity building of stakeholders for disaster management."A technical session on Disaster risk in a changing climate was held today. The session focused on emerging disaster risks as a result of climate change and evolving practices in the area of Disaster Risk Management. It began with a presentation followed by discussions on the implications of changing climate on disaster risk.BRICS nations have made a clear move from relief-centric to a holistic approach to disasters with a greater emphasis on prevention, mitigation and preparedness. This highlights the importance offorecasting and early warning systems to help authorities in alerting the communities as well as responding swiftly to a situation. The meeting discussed theadvances in technologyand knowledge sharing amongst member countries to enable them leverage it to reduce disaster risk.Summing up the takeaways from the meeting, Shri R.K. Jain, Member, National Disaster Management Authority, said, "It came out clearly during the meeting that all member countries face similar challenges. Mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction, advance use of technology in providing early warning, need for adequate funding to deal with rehabilitation and reconstruction after a disaster and changing the impact of climate on disasters are common challenges faced by all of us. The deliberations have been very useful and we got an opportunity to learn about the disaster management structure, system and processes followed in other BRICS countries."India, the current BRICS chair, will host the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa in October, 2016.
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WE, the Ministers for Disaster Management of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa, met in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India on 22nd and 23rd August 2016 at the 2nd Meeting of the BRICS Ministers for Disaster Management;RECALLING, the Ufa Declaration signed at the 7th BRICS Summit on 9th July 2015, which identifies the need to promote cooperation in preventing and developing responses to emergency situations (Art.35), acknowledging the fruitful discussions on natural disasters within the context of BRICS cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (Art.35) & reiterating BRICS commitment to mitigate the negative impact of climate change (Art.53);RECALLING, our commitments towards implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and our shared vision to play proactive and responsible role both at the regional and global levels with respect to disaster risk management;RECOGNISING, with concern the growing level of disaster losses in our nations as well as increasing exposure of our people, economies, infrastructure and other social & cultural assets to various natural hazards;REALISING, the urgent need to enhance awareness among all BRICS sector institutions and stakeholders to be able to address the interlocking issues of disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and sustainable development to effectively reduce adverse impacts of natural and human-induced disasters;REAFFIRMING, the commitments of St. Petersburg Declaration of 20th April 2016 and agreed joint action plan for developing cooperation in the field of emergency management and working towards improving tools for monitoring and forecasting of emergencies, risk assessment and mechanisms of interaction in the provision of assistance in case of emergencies;DO HEREBY:1. Commit to continue to work towards a more risk resilient future by reducing existing disaster and climate related risks through integration of disaster risk management measures into sustainable development.2. Promote cooperation in developing and disseminating innovative disaster risk management (DRM) solutions/practices in respect of key sectors of development;3. Promote exchange of information on best practices relating to DRM to assist nations to continue to develop effective and appropriate responses to disaster risk reduction challenges;4. Promote investments in disaster risk management and climate change adaptation through cohesive and integrated structural and non-structural mitigation measures including risk financing and risk transfer, in both public and private sectors;5. Strengthen mechanisms/ initiatives on forecasting and early warning for managing the effects of extreme weather events;6. Proactively analyze future disaster threats emanating from climate change, continue sharing and disseminating climate risk information to support ongoing and future efforts to manage disaster risks related to climate change in all development sectors;7. Strengthen the capacities of national, regional and local institutions to monitor and reduce risk as well as enhance adaptive capacities of stakeholders through the promotion of education on DRM; and8. To take necessary measures to implement joint action plan agreed in the 1st Meeting of the BRICS Ministers for Disaster Management at St. Petersburg in April 2016.For implementing the above:WE AGREE to Set up a Joint Task Force on Disaster Risk Management for regular dialogue, exchange, mutual support and collaboration among BRICS Countries. The Joint Task Force shall consist of one representative from each BRICS country and will be chaired by rotation by the representative of the country holding chairmanship of BRICS during that year. The Joint Task Force shall meet on the sidelines of the meeting of the BRICS Ministers for disaster management and may also hold additional meetings as necessary, including through video conferencing. As a follow on to St. Petersburg meeting, the Udaipur meeting agreed on a road map for implementation of the Joint Action Plan.Adopted in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India on the Twenty Third Day of August in the Year Two Thousand and Sixteen.23RD AUGUST 2016, UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA
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BRICS meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction begins in Udaipur-To focus on collaboration amongst member countriesCalling upon BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) countries to collaborate for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) , Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri KirenRijijusaid that it will, in turn, influence the global agenda for strengthening efforts on DRR and resilience.Inaugurating the two-day BRICS meeting on Disaster Management at Udaipur on Monday, Shri Rijiju said India was willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with other BRICS nations and explore all possible areas of collaboration. He added that disaster risk reduction was a high priority area for Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.Shri Rijiju emphasized that it is time that we move away from " a static understanding of risk", and that we must realise that "Tomorrows risk is being built today." He said that there is a strong need to focus on Urban disasters keeping in mind that by 2050, nearly two-third of the world population is expected to live in urban spaces. He said that we need to move towards an all-society approach to tackle disasters. While governments have to pay a central role, they can not do it by themselves. They have to take everybody along. The Government action must be geared towards empowering and supporting communities and individuals to be more and more self-reliant in their quest for resilience.Earlier in his key address, Addl. Principal Secretary to PM, Dr. P.K. Mishra, noted that all BRICS nations face common problems in terms of developing robust early warning systems, involvement of communities and building their resilience, and finding resources for rehabilitation and reconstruction. He added that it was essential to share success stories, case studies, innovations, low cost technology, joint exercises and mutual capacity building to reduce risk. He said that we must integrate Disaster Risk Reduction is the back bone of Good Governance.The event has been organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority.The Sendai threadAll the five BRICS countriesare parties to the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in March, 2015and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. A number of SDGs have specific targets related to Disaster Risk Management (DRM).Key government functionaries workingin the area of Disaster Management, including senior officials and technical experts from member countries, are participating in the event. The meeting will focus on two distinct but inter-related themes of Flood Risk Management and Forecasting of Extreme Weather Events in the context of Changing Climate.Two technical sessions  a) Challenges for Disaster Risk Management and b) Forecastingand Early Warning on floods and other extreme weather events were held today. The technical sessions were preceded by a presentation each to set the context for further discussions on possible areas of collaboration.Guests speakSouth African Minister, His Excellency Des Van Royeen,suggested that it was important to introduce cost-effective and life-saving measures for reducing losses and effective recovery after a disaster.Mr. Oleg Manuilo, Director of Russias Civil Defence, said reducing socio-economic losses was the purpose behind disaster management. He further said that effective forecasting is bringing about a change in disaster risk management.Mr. Pang Chenmin, Director-General of the Department of Disaster Relief of China, highlighted the importance of technology and research in key areas of disaster management. He also emphasized upon knowledge sharing among member countries.Brazils National Secretary for Civil Defense, Mr. Wesley De Almeida Felinto said that he was hopeful that the meet will result in a solid outcome on collaboration among BRICS nations.Technical sessionsThe first technical session discussed the mainstreaming of DRR in key development sectors, apart from capacity building at the local level and strengthening of response mechanisms.Key challengesand recent developments in early warning systems were discussed during the second session.Member countries shared their experiences and lessons learnt for ensuring last mile connectivity and community level action on early warning.Issues concerning "Emerging Disaster Risks And Evolving DRM Practices"in a changing climate were taken up for discussion on 23rd August.BackgroundThis is the second meeting of BRICS Ministers for Disaster Management. It is a follow up of the first such meeting convened by the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg earlier this year.Blurb: Flood Risk Management and Early Warning Systems major focus areas
A seven-mile stretch of the Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor and Hamilton townships is running hot with a new commercial boom, with at least 10 projects planned or under construction, local officials said.

That section from Fire Road in Egg Harbor Township to the Festival at Hamilton will add more than 700,000 square feet of new construction.

Projects include two supermarkets, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche dealerships, a Wal-Mart Supercenter, another shopping center with almost 300,000 square feet of retail space and several smaller projects.

Weve got some activity, says Phil Sartorio, Hamilton Townships community planning and economic development director. That sure beats the other option.

The activity in his township includes a HomeGoods store coming to the Festival at Hamilton in an expanded building that now houses several smaller businesses.

Most have moved out to other spaces in the shopping center, directly across the pike from the Hamilton Mall. A Festival official said HomeGoods will be about 21,000 square feet and is set to open in May.

Just east, crews started work in May on clearing land and upgrading infrastructure for Gravelly Run Square, which was approved in 2010 for almost 300,000 square feet of retail space on 48.5 acres, Sartorio said.

The only thing theyre doing now is site-clearing, and doing some road improvements on the Black Horse Pike and Wrangleboro Road, he said, just to the west of Gravelly Run. Other than that, the developers havent submitted details of their current plans, Sartorio added.

A developer is also scheduled next month to present plans for a new 36,000-square-foot supermarket under the brand name of Lidl, based in Germany. That store is proposed for a spot just east of Hamilton Commons, the center thats home to the Regal movie complex, hhgregg and other stores.

They submitted their application, and theyre scheduled for the Planning Board Sept. 18, Sartorio said.

A Lidl spokesman, William Harwood, said by email that the chain has not yet opened any stores, or set a specific number of stores we intend to open in the U.S. However, I can tell you we are actively looking at sites in New Jersey and as far south as Georgia. Lidl is also reportedly planning a Millville location.

In Hamilton Township, officials also approved an Auto Zone to go on the site of a closed gas station across the Black Horse Pike from that expected supermarket at McKee Avenue, Sartorio said.

The company that owns Hamilton Commons bought property last year that used to be a strip club between two sections of that shopping center. DDR Corp., based in Ohio, paid a reported $925,000 for almost 2 acres last known as Volcanic Eruptions.

A DDR spokesman declined to discuss plans for the site of the now-demolished club, but Sartorio acknowledged hearing regular reports that a Panera Bread restaurant will move in.

Everyone keeps hoping for a Panera in there. That rumor persists, he said. But weve got nothing on that and the developer has not even brought any building plans in yet.

In an email exchange, Paneras marketing manager declined comment.

In Egg Harbor Township, the Planning Board gave conditional approval last week to a nearly 18,000-square-foot Aldi supermarket as the first phase of a small center that would grow to include another store about a third of that size. The planned Aldi location is now a wooded lot just west of a La-Z-Boy furniture shop, township officials said.

Plus between the Lowes home improvement store and the pike, a Mattress Warehouse opened earlier this summer next to Verizon Wireless retail store thats still under construction.

Farther east, Mercedes-Benz of Atlantic City and Porsche Atlantic City are moving to a complex being built on the site of a former RV dealer on the pike. Plans filed with the township call for five buildings to add up to nearly 85,000 square feet in a project that will cost about $20 million.

Dealership officials gave no details other than to say they hope to move in by about November or December.

Plus the Atlantic City & County Board of Realtors is in the process of moving its headquarters to a new, 6,800-square-foot office building next to StoryBook Land.

And the biggest single retail business planned along the Black Horse Pike is a Wal-Mart at Fire Road, on a 35-acre site that used to be Atlantic City Electrics corporate offices. The development stretches for more than a quarter-mile of the pike and is called Oak Tree Plaza.

Wal-Mart expects to build a 188,500-square-foot Supercenter, and plans filed for the site call for one other anchor store and five pads for smaller businesses, a total of almost 250,000 square feet.

Phillip Keene, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said by email that work began in June and should continue for at least the next 12 months. He expects the store to open by next summer.

Contact: 609-272-7237
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  A new manufacturing business is now up and running in the long-closed Lenox China plant, putting almost 250 people to work in Atlantic County.

Barrette Outdoor Living says workers started this month making aluminum and vinyl fence and railings in the Tilton Road plant, which has more than 400,000 square feet of renovated space.

Barrette will also run a Mid-Atlantic distribution center out of its new Galloway location, where Lenox made china and other products for more than half a century before shutting down the factory in 2005.

The new owners say they have another 400,000 square feet of outdoor space for that distribution operation at their factory, which sits on 58 acres less than half a mile off the White Horse Pike.

As soon as it opened, Barrette became one of the biggest manufacturers in a county thats been hit hard over the last two years by the closings of four Atlantic City casinos.

The biggest manufacturer currently operating in the county is a Buena-based company, Comar, according to the Atlantic County Improvement Authority. That company specializes in medical packaging and dispensing products, and reported having 260 workers in its Buena plant as of last year.

The Atlantic City Contact Center, a call-center business, opened last fall in a section of the Claridge Hotel. Contact Center President John Ciaramella said Tuesday that the company hopes to have as many as 300 workers on two floors of the landmark Claridge by the end of next year, but has 23 on the staff now.

So local officials were excited by the news that Barrette now has 250 or so people working in the old Lenox factory, which reported laying off 285 workers when it shut its doors 11 years ago.

At its height, Lenox had as many as 1,400 workers in the Galloway factory, longtime employees of that company recalled before their plant closed.

Without question, its been a while since weve seen a manufacturer open in the county with as many as 250 jobs, said Max Slusher, the ACIAs economic-development director. As of his latest count, there were a total of about 2,000 manufacturing jobs in the county, he added.

So 250 new manufacturing jobs is great because its diversification in an economy thats dominated by tourism and casinos, Slusher said. Thats exactly what we want to see, manufacturing, high-tech, business services  anything that brings money into the area, export industries.

The ACIA wasnt involved in recruiting Barrette to Galloway, but township Mayor Don Purdy remembered getting a phone call out of the blue in 2013 from Chris Terrels, who co-founded a company in an Ocean City garage called Railing Dynamics Inc. with his late brother, Andy. Barrette Outdoor Living bought RDI that year, and Chris Terrels stayed on as president of that division.

Purdy had never heard of either company, but he said he pulled off the road and talked to the railing innovator for nearly two hours about what the Lenox site could offer a company that was looking to expand, and was considering places in Galloway and Tennessee to do it.

Im just so happy to see where we are, the mayor said. People are back to work. Construction jobs were made, permanent jobs were made, and that end of the township is benefiting from having a busy employer in its area.

Youve got a lot of surrounding businesses thriving from it, small eateries, restaurants and more, he said. People are going out and getting a bite to eat, maybe getting breakfast on the way. Theyre leaving work to have social gatherings, you have delivery trucks coming in and out daily, and drivers are stopping to get something to eat. ... I think the economic advantage it brought to Galloway is more than just a regular ratable.

The new company has also improved the looks of a prominent building that local officials declared a redevelopment area, to try to spur some activity after it sat empty for most of a decade.

We went from an area that was a boarded-up building ... and now you have a first-class-looking building on a main thoroughfare in Galloway, he said.

Contact: 609-272-7237
An Atlantic City man pleaded guilty to a 2014 armed robbery at Caesars Casino after he was fired from his job at the resort.

Izyiah Plummer, 21, of Atlantic City, pleaded guilty on Monday to armed robbery, conspiracy, aggravated assault and weapons offenses after he and three other men stole over $181,000 from the casino and held a security guard and another casino worker at gunpoint.

Two of the other men, Nathaniel Greenlee, 23, of Bear, Delaware, and Donavon Jackson, 22, of Wilmington, Delaware, each pleaded guilty to second-degree theft. A fourth suspect, Aaron Evans, 26, of Atlantic City, faces pending charges of first-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy.

Saving city jobs complicates efforts to save Atlantic City money ATLANTIC CITY  On the surface, the deal sounds like a no-brainer for the cash-strapped city.

On July 21, 2014, Plummer and allegedly Evans arrived at the casino in a car driven by Greenlee, with Jackson in the passenger seat, according to a statement from New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino. Plummer and Evans allegedly entered the casino together wearing masks and gloves and approached a security guard and another casino employee who were taking cash boxes from a kiosk. Plummer pointed a handgun at the two employees while Evans allegedly took three cash boxes.

As the two were running from the casino, one of them dropped a cash box and left it behind.

After they got back to the car, the four men went to Plummers apartment in the Venice Park section of Atlantic City and divided the money between them. Police later recovered a mask, bullets and over $43,000 cash at Plummers apartment.

A handle from one of the cash boxes was found outside Evans home.

The state will recommend that Plummer be sentenced to 15 years in prison for the armed robbery.

This guilty plea ensures that Plummer wont be doing any other illegal inside jobs like this one for many years to come, Porrino said. Plummer demonstrated with this brazen armed robbery that hes a dangerous criminal who belongs behind bars.
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.
At least 153 people were killed during Friday clashes between government troops and opposition forces in the South Sudanese province of Jonglei, an army spokesman said Tuesday, Sputnik International reported.

"The SPLA-IO [Sudan People's Liberation Army-In-Opposition] forces and some anti-peace elements attacked our forces on Friday but the SPLA forces managed to repulse them. Some 153 people died and we recovered 161 light and heavy weapons from the attackers," Lul Ruai Koang was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.
BRIDGETON  Jerame Reid was never going to escape his reputation as an attempted cop-killer, his widow said Tuesday, even after police shot and killed him during a 2014 traffic stop in Bridgeton.

Lawanda Hartsfield-Reid, 39, of Upper Deerfield Township, on Tuesday said the crime Reid committed as a teen haunted him until his death at the hands of police 20 years later.

My husband was never going to live his past down, she said. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death because of what he did when he was 15.

The U.S. Attorneys Office this week said there was insufficient evidence to charge Bridgeton police in the fatal shooting during a traffic stop that was captured on the officers dashboard camera. The office declined to comment Tuesday.

No criminal charges for police in Jerame Reid shooting BRIDGETON  The Bridgeton police officer who shot and killed Jerame Reid during a traffic st

Reid was 15 in 1994 when he was charged with attempted murder for shooting a .38-caliber handgun three times at State Police troopers who were at his home to investigate the theft of a handgun. He served 13 years in juvenile detention and later South Woods State Prison before his parole in 2007.

His juvenile criminal history followed him to the Cumberland County jail in 2009, she said, when he was beaten so badly by guards that he suffered broken ribs, according to the familys civil lawsuit. The county paid Reid $340,000 to settle the case.

I make no justifications for what my husband did. But he served his time at South Woods owing New Jersey nothing, she said. They never let that go even when he took that beating at the Cumberland County jail.

Police Chief Michael Gaimari could not be reached for comment Tuesday. A police sergeant on Tuesday said nobody else was authorized to comment on the case.

Reids family is suing Bridgeton in U.S. District Court. In court papers filed in July, the city offered the family $1.2 million to settle the case.

A hearing on the case is scheduled for Wednesday.

Feds probe killing by cop in Bridgeton BRIDGETON  The attorney for the family of Jerame Reid said the news that a federal investig

The U.S. attorney this week announced it would not bring charges against Braheme Days, the police officer who shot and killed Reid, 36, during a traffic stop at Henry Street and South Avenue on Dec. 30, 2014.

While in hindsight it is clear that Mr. Reid was unarmed, Officer Days stated that he feared that Mr. Reid either had a firearm or was attempting to grab one from him, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a statement.

Both Worley and Days retired from the Bridgeton Police Department in April.

Hartsfield-Reid said the U.S. attorney unfairly painted her late husband as a deadly threat to police.

Im disgusted by that decision. Im ashamed of the justice system, she said. There needs to be some accountability. My husband wasnt a threat. He was not a threat.

Days and Officer Roger Worley stopped a car driven by Leroy Tutt, of Long Branch, Monmouth County, after he allegedly drove through a stop sign.

Days reached into the passenger-side window and removed a handgun from a glovebox in front of Reid. Throughout the traffic stop, Days shouted at both occupants to show their hands. He called Reid by name on the video. Days had arrested Reid previously in a case in which Reid was charged with resisting arrest.

When Reid tried to open the passenger door, Days and Worley fired their handguns and Reid was killed. Days bullets struck Reid, but Worleys single shot did not hit anyone, an investigation determined.

Attorney says federal probe into Jerame C. Reid fatal shooting 'long past due' The attorney for the family of Jerame Reid said a federal investigation into his death at th

A Cumberland County grand jury chose not to indict the officers in the shooting. But the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department launched their own federal probe to determine whether the officers violated Reids civil rights.

This week they announced the officers would not face prosecution.

Viewing the evidence as whole, the government determined that federal charges are not warranted, the U.S. attorney said.

Hartsfield-Reid said her husband was more than the felon characterized by the justice system. He was a warm, kind person who liked to laugh and to make others laugh. He was helpful and generous with advice for his friends.

He wasnt perfect by far. I knew what he did. But I knew the man he was, she said. I gave him a chance. He had the potential to be great. They stole my soul that night.

Contact: 609-463-6712

Twitter @ACPressMiller
CAPE MAY  The city is suing several companies involved in building the $10.5 million Cape May Convention Hall, alleging work was defective and faulty and does not meet federal flood guidelines.

But Arthur Ogren, of Vineland-based Ogren Construction, was a project manager for construction of Convention Hall and claims the city filed the lawsuit because it underestimated the cost of insurance for the property.

Neither Mayor Ed Mahaney nor City Manager Bruce MacLeod could be reached Tuesday for comment.

The lawsuit filed earlier this month in Superior Court in Cape May County says the city has had to pay increased insurance premiums as a result of Convention Hall not meeting standards for the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Flood Insurance Act and other state, county and local regulations.

The building, which opened in 2012, is 8.41 feet above base flood elevation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends beachfront buildings like Convention Hall be at least 15 feet above base flood elevation.

A Press of Atlantic City report from 2013 said flood insurance for the building came in at $101,000 for $8 million in coverage, which one estimate suggested was four times higher than if the building was built above 15 feet.

Cape May is suing for monetary and compensatory damages and legal fees.

The lawsuit accuses construction, engineering and architectural firms that worked on Convention Hall of negligence, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and, in some cases, violation of the states Consumer Fraud Act.

Ogren said Mahaney and MacLeod were present throughout the planning and construction process.

They viewed everything we did, Ogren said.

He said the city had piling for Convention Hall built before his company even signed on to do the construction.

The piling dictates the height of the building, he added.

Ogren said city leaders are trying to shake down firms involved with the construction process to relieve the citys insurance payments.

John P. Gillan, an engineer for Gillan & Hartman Inc., said his company, which set up the electrical wiring for property, had nothing to do with planning the height of Convention Hall.

I have no comment on the merit of the lawsuit; however, it does not address or have anything to do with mechanical electrical engineering, he said.

Martin Kimmel, president of Kimmel Bogrette Architecture + Site Inc., another company named in the lawsuit, said he thinks it will come out that the building is "completely compliant" with FEMA guidelines.

He said the issue has to do with a "poorly filled-out" insurance application and called the dispute "a complete misunderstanding."

Klein & Hoffman Inc., Fralinger Engineering and Hunter Roberts Construction Group were also named in the lawsuit. Fralinger Engineering and Hunter Roberts could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Klein & Hoffman declined to comment.

Convention Hall was not damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The building came through Sandy fine, Ogren said. Everyone on the shore is paying increased insurance.

Contact: 609-272-7411

Twitter @ACPressTomczuk
OCEAN CITY  The city will resume its back bay dredging program next month, engineers told residents at a Saturday morning meeting.

Snug Harbor, Glen Cove and the mouth of South Harbor lagoons will be dredged beginning the first week of September as part of the citys ongoing effort to deepen its waterways.

On Aug. 11, Ocean City Council awarded a $796,550 contract to Trident Piling Company of Longport to finish off a dredging project started last fall by Wickberg Marine.

It was dredged last year and the contractor was not able to finish job, said city public information officer Doug Bergen.

He estimated that Wickberg got two-thirds of the way to its goal of dredging 14,000 cubic yards in Snug Harbor before the permit deadline of Dec. 31.

Bergen said the Trident contract calls for 4,130 cubic yards from Snug Harbor and Glen Cove, and 4,020 cubic yards from South Harbor.

The dredging must be done by Oct.1 in Snug Harbor and Glen Cove, and by Dec. 1 in South Harbor as per the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. ACT Engineering, which was hired by the city last year to come up with a long-term dredging plan, is filing a permit extension on behalf of the city.

Thats the Department of Environmental Protection windows for work based on endangered species, Bergen said. ACT Engineers is pushing for both deadlines and, in past years, they have received extensions, so theyre hopeful that we can get relief on both deadlines.

The silt will be excavated and brought to the Route 52 contained disposal facility under the Ninth Street bridge via barge before being trucked to Wildwoods landfill as part of a 2015 agreement.

Bergen said that the plan is to eventually dredge the entire, 8-mile bayfront.

Its vitally important to the whole bayfront community, so even though its small, it is progress, he said of the dredging.

Owners will be able to contract with Trident to dredge their private slips at their own expense if time allows.

In a second Saturday meeting, ACT engineers and city officials met with homeowners from the Noreaster marina at Seventh Street and Pleasure Avenue to discuss the citys plan to apply for a dredge permit that includes all private and public areas on the bay side.

Previously, permits for private slips and marinas were obtained and maintained privately.

The city hopes to have a uniform and universal permit in place by summer 2017.

As for what areas will be dredged next, ACT Engineering will come up a plan in the fall based on depths, Bergen said.

He said the city needs to remove an estimated 900,000 cubic yards of silt along the whole bayfront to get to a depth of 6 feet mean low water.
Two PKK terrorists were killed Monday by security forces in the eastern province of Tunceli, a security source told Anadolu Agency.

Police special operations team shot and killed the terrorists in the Ovacik district, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The incident happened around 9:45 p.m. local time (1845GMT), Tunceli governor's office said in a statement.

A large group of terrorists who were trying to infiltrate into Ovacik district was noticed by security forces, the region was targeted with intense gunfire, two terrorists were shot dead and others escaped, the statement said.
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.




Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The program of the US Vice President Joe Bidens visit to Turkey has been made public, Haberturk newspaper reported Aug. 23.

Biden is expected to visit Turkey on Aug. 24.

The vice president will have his first meeting with the Speaker of the Turkish parliament Ismail Kahraman and then he will meet with the countrys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

It was also reported that after the meeting with the prime minister, Biden is expected to have a meeting with Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The extradition of Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of organizing the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey, will be the main topic of discussions during the meetings, according to the newspaper.

Previously, Turkish authorities sent two requests to the US for extradition of Fethullah Gulen.

An Istanbul court ordered on Aug. 4 to arrest Fethullah Gulen.

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 had 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.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkish Armed Forces are bombing positions of militants of the Islamic State (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) terrorist organization and Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, Huriiyet newspaper reported Aug. 23.

Twelve rocket attacks were carried out on IS positions, 20  on PYD positions.

Earlier, Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey will continue fight against terrorist organizations in Syria and will cleanse its borders from militants.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The Islamic State (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) is the most active terrorist group in Syria.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Big Name Investors Back the Technology as Its Ties to Virtual Reality Breed High Growth Potential

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- While most new technologies experience a slow market entrance, 360-degree video will likely skip that trend, thanks to its ties to virtual reality (VR) and early investment from major technology players including Facebook, Samsung, and YouTube. ABI Research forecasts professional grade cameras and mid-tier, prosumer 360-degree cameras to hit nearly two million shipments by 2021, with consumer 360-degree cameras to top four million by the same year.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/276887LOGO

"The most prominent force driving 360-degree video content and hardware is VR," says Eric Abbruzzese, Senior Analyst for ABI Research. "And though VR has been experiencing a period of content starvation due to its novelty, small early install base, and the high cost of premium VR, support from major content platforms will lessen this for 360-degree video."

360-degree video market activity is abundant across both consumer and enterprise applications. In regards to enterprise, Nokia already signed a multi-year deal with content giant Disney to use its OZO camera, and stated that VR and 360-degree video is a core business component as it restructures around forward-looking technologies and product line expansion. Additionally, wearable camera market leader GoPro, experiencing a slowdown in its core market, has its own professional-grade, 360-degree multi-camera rig and will likely release a consumer-grade, 360-degree offering in the near future.

VR's role in 360-degree video cannot be understated either. While viewing 360-degree content can be done on a computer or mobile device, the most compelling and natural viewing experience is in VR. And as the desire for content surges, ABI Research forecasts nearly 70 million mobile-based VR products to ship, like Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR, by 2021.

"It is rare to see a culmination of factors as powerful as what's happening for 360-degree cameras and video," concludes Abbruzzese. "Decreasing average selling prices for VR hardware and 360-degree cameras, the possibility for 360-degree camera integration with mobile devices, network and bandwidth improvements for 4K and HDR content that are also enhancing 360-degree video streaming, and a slowing wearable camera market all are creating a rich and promising next step for 360-degree video."

These findings are from ABI Research's Consumer, Prosumer, and Professional 360-Degree Cameras (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/product/1024957-consumer-prosumer-and-professional-360-deg/). This report is part of the company's Smart Home (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/practice/connected-home/), Transformative Technology (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/practice/transformative-technology/), and Video, OTT, and AR/VR sectors (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/practice/cloud-content-ott/), which include research, data, and analyst insights.

About ABI Research

ABI Research stands at the forefront of technology market research, providing business leaders with comprehensive research and consulting services to help them implement informed, transformative technology decisions. Founded more than 25 years ago, the company's global team of senior and long-tenured analysts delivers deep market data forecasts, analyses, and teardown services. ABI Research is an industry pioneer, proactively uncovering ground-breaking business cycles and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info: Mackenzie Gavel Tel: +1.516.624.2542

pr@abiresearch.com

Related Links

http://www.abiresearch.com



SOURCE ABI Research
SAN FRANCISCO, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The global alzheimer's therapeutics market is expected to reach USD 6.4 billion in 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research. Some primary factors driving the market growth includes rising government initiatives in order to raise awareness levels among people.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 )



Growing knowledge about the Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its high prevalence and incidence in developing economies are few of the major drivers supporting the market growth. Several governments, nonprofit, and private organizations worldwide are actively engaged in increasing people's awareness regarding progressive AD, such as Alzheimer's Association, the Alzheimer's Society of Canada, Alzheimer's Europe organization, and various other small organizations.

Furthermore, the increased government funding for providing better care and support to the people with partial dementia is another important factor anticipated to enlarge market growth. For instance, organizations like Florida Department of Health, the National Institute of Health, and Alzheimer's Association in partnership with other private and government organizations provide funds to the research centers.

The presence of various pipeline drugs is anticipated to provide the market with potential growth opportunities. For instance, LMTX by TauRx Pharmaceutical Ltd.; idalopirdine (Lu AE58054) by Lundbeck; crenezumab by AC Immune SA; and BAN2401 by Eisai

Moreover, novel therapeutics with minimal dosage requirement has been introduced resulting in cost-effective alternatives, which is further expected to boost the market growth. For instance, Namzaric by Actavis was developed in two forms: 10 mg and 28 mg. 10 mg requires to be administered twice a day, while 28 mg requires to be administered once in a day.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Alzheimer's Therapeutics Market Analysis by Drug Class (Cholinesterase Inhibitors, NMDA [N-methyl-D-aspartate] Receptor Antagonist) and Segment Forecasts to 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/alzheimers-therapeutics-market

Further Key Findings from the Study Suggest:

The cholinesterase inhibitors segment was dominant in 2013 but lost hold on the market till 2015. Patent expiry of key drugs such as Aricept, Exelon, and Razadyne was the major factor for decline in market share.

Exelon transdermal patch is estimated to lose exclusivity in 2019. It is a highly prescribed drug for the treatment of mild to moderate AD, which contributed toward its revenue generation in 2015.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, on the other hand, is expected to witness a significant growth of around 16.0% over the forecast period owing to introduction of extended relase formulation of Namenda.

Other drug therapies such as monocloclonal antibodies and drugs targeting Tau proteins are in being studied in latter phases of the clinical trials. Presence of a strong of pipeline drugs for target disease are attributing toward fastest growth of these drugs

North America dominated the overall market in terms of revenue with share of over 33.0% in 2015, which is majorly facilitated by the availability of sophisticated healthcare facilities and infrastructure.

dominated the overall market in terms of revenue with share of over 33.0% in 2015, which is majorly facilitated by the availability of sophisticated healthcare facilities and infrastructure. Some key players operating in this industry are Pfizer, Inc.; Merck & Co. Inc.; Novartis AG; Eisai Co. Ltd., H. Lundbeck A/S, AC Immune; TauRx Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; Actavis plc.; Forest Laboratories; and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.

Market players are expanding their product portfolio by developing and launching generic versions of drugs to sustain its market position. For instance, in 2015, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. and Mylan launched the generic version of Namenda (Forest laboratories - Actavis).

Grand View Research has segmented the Alzheimer's therapeutics market on the basis of drug class and region:

Alzheimer ' s Therapeutics Market Drug Outlook (Market Revenue in USD Million, 2013 - 2024) Cholinesterase Inhibitors N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist

Alzheimer ' s Therapeutics Market Regional Outlook, (Market Revenue in USD Million, 2013 - 2024) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany Asia Pacific China Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico MEA South Africa



Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Orthobiological Products Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/orthobiological-products-market

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/active-pharmaceutical-ingredients-market

Nuclear Medicines Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/nuclear-medicines-market

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/pharmaceutical-manufacturing-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Read Our Blogs - ni2014.org, grandviewresearch.com/blogs/healthcare

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com



Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com



SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
Hosted by the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA) and supported by the Ministry of Construction (MOC), VIETWATER is renowned as the flagship business platform in the drainage & sewerage and water supply industries. With over 400 exhibitors from 38 countries & regions and 15 international pavilions such as France, Germany, Australia, Finland, Belgium, Japan, mainland China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and many others. VIETWATER 2016 expects to welcome over 10,000 trade visitors, professionals, consultants, engineers, key decision-makers, thought leaders and government representatives.

In collaboration with Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant, VIETWATER 2016 held a factory visit on 22 August 2016, with the participation of Mr. Cao Lai Quang, Chairman of Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA) and Ms. Eliane Van Doorn, Business Development Director ASEAN, UBM Asia, together with media reporters.

Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant is the biggest plant in Ho Chi Minh. It has invested to increase its capacity by 469,000 m3/day with a total capital of $VND 2,800 billion. Mr. Cao Lai Quang said, "The factory visit is one of the exhibition's highlighted activities at VIETWATER 2016. It can be said this is an insightful trip. We have experienced many practical lessons about factory operation and management as well as technical innovation. We would like to thank Binh Hung Wastewater Treatment Plant for supporting us to organise such a successful visit."

On the same day, UBM Asia organised a Press Conference at Duxton Saigon Hotel to introduce VIETWATER 2016 (www.vietwater.com) and RE & EE VIETNAM 2016 (www.renewableenergy.com) to be once again co-located at SECC, Ho Chi Minh City from 9-11 November this year. The conference gathers many famous media agencies and exhibitors to listen to expert speakers including Assistant Prof., Dr. Nguyen Hong Tien, Director of Technical Infrastructure Department, Ministry of Construction; Mr. Cao Lai Quang, Chairman of VWSA; Mr. Huynh Kim Tuoc, Director, Energy Conservation Center HCMC (ECC -- HCM) and Mrs. Delphine Roussele, Project Director, EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN).

Ms. Eliane Van Doorn said at the Conference that UBM has extended the exhibition space as the events are growing, and that 97% of the booth space has already been booked, with many leading industry brands participating in order to showcase their new innovations, technologies and solutions.

Regarding the sustainable development of Vietnam's water, the event will come alongside an international conference titled "Sustainable Water Supply and Sewerage Development Solutions in the context of Climate Change: Water Resource Degradation, Drought, and Saline Intrusion", which will also be part of the Vietnam's leading renewable energy and energy efficiency exhibition- RE & EE Vietnam 2016. All activities will take place for three days under one roof.

Vietwater Pre-registration is now open. To save valuable time, please register at http://www.vietwater.com/en-us/Visitors/Visitor-Registration or contact VIETWATER team @+84 8 5401 2718.

Notes to Editors:

About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in Asia and the largest commercial organiser in China, India and Malaysia. Established with its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has strong global network of 32 offices and 1,300 staff in 24 major cities. We operate in 19 market sectors with 230 exhibitions and conferences, 28 targeted trade publications, 18 vertical portals for over 2,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world.

The Representative Office of UBM ASIA in Ho Chi Minh City

6th Floor, KN Building, 74 Nguyen Khoai, Ward 2

District 4, Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam

T: +84 8 5401 2718

F: +84 8 5401 2717

SOURCE UBM Asia (Malaysia)
The book titled "Jikji Speaks to the World" contains explanations of four experts so a wide range of readers can understand the contents of the ancient book.

The four authors are Ok Young-jung, a professor at the Academy of Korean Studies; Seo Myeong-won, a Korean Buddhism professor at Sogang University; literary critic Jung Yeo-ul; and Ven. Hyunjin, chief priest of Maya Temple in the city of Cheongju, central South Korea.

In the book, Ok gives an explanation on the mystery of the Jikji publication process and takes a bibliographical approach to the publication.

Seo, a Frenchman who is versed in Korean Zen Buddhism and a Jesuit priest, gives the reader an explanation of the ancient book's insight that stands apart from the world's religions.



Jung reorganizes some of Jikji's touching stories into essays, while Ven. Hyunjin gives an easy introduction of Jikji's contents that helps heal the modern from an ascetic's point of view.

A reproduction of Jikji's second volume is contained in the book, with the four experts' writings printed on semitransparent paper, so that the reader can read them with the Jikji text.

The organizing committee, which printed only 500 volumes of the book, plans to sell it at a price of 10,000 won (US$8.95) on a first-come-first served basis when the Jikji Korea Festival is held next month.

Published in Heungdeok Temple in Cheongju, 137 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the ancient book is now an established symbol of the ingenuity of the Korean people. Jikji was printed 78 years ahead of Johannes Gutenberg's "42-Line Bible," the earliest existing work of metal movable type printing in Europe which was published in 1452-1455.

Unfortunately, the original document was looted and ultimately ended up in the National Library of France in Paris. It was not until 1972 when late Park Byung-sun, the former librarian of the French state library, found the lost national treasure.

UNESCO confirmed Jikji as the world's oldest metal-printed book in 2001, and included it in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme that year.

SOURCE 2016 JIKJI KOREA Organizing Committee
Fans Go Behind The Scenes via Facebook Live To See New Big Twin Engine Being Made

MILWAUKEE, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More Power. More Comfort. More Control. Today, Harley-Davidson unveils the all-new Milwaukee-Eight engine, the ninth Big Twin in its history, plus all-new front and rear suspension for its Model Year 2017 Touring motorcycle lineup.

Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400343

Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400344

Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400342

Harley-Davidson's new Milwaukee-Eight engine, the ninth Big Twin in the company's history, delivers more power and an improved riding experience while retaining the iconic look, sound and feel of its predecessors. Equipped with the new Milwaukee-Eight engine and new front and rear suspension, Harley-Davidson's 2017 Touring motorcycles like this Street Glide Special model are the company's most powerful, most responsive and most comfortable Touring motorcycles ever. Assembled Milwaukee-Eight engines at Harley-Davidson's Powertrain Operations factory in Menomonee Falls, Wis., await shipment for final vehicle assembly.

"These are the most powerful, most responsive and most comfortable Touring motorcycles ever offered by Harley-Davidson," said Scott Miller, Harley-Davidson Vice President of Styling and Product Development Strategy. "You truly have to ride one to feel the difference  so we're inviting all riders to visit a Harley-Davidson dealer and take a test ride."

To launch the Milwaukee-Eight107 and Milwaukee-Eight114 engines, Harley-Davidson  in a brand first  will take fans where they've never gone before: The floor of a Harley-Davidson factory in a virtual tour on Facebook Live to watch the making of its newest Big Twin engine today at 12:30 p.m. CST.

"We're excited to open our doors to allow the world to see our newest Big Twin engine come to life in our state-of-the-art factory," said Randy Christianson, General Manager of Harley-Davidson Powertrain Operations in Menomonee Falls, Wis. "With an all-new design, the new Milwaukee-Eight engine offers quicker throttle response, more passing power, purer sound, a smoother ride and more of the feeling riders want from a Harley-Davidson Touring motorcycle."

Power. Comfort. Control.

The new Milwaukee-Eight engine is a ground-up design that combines the classic look, sound and feel of Harley-Davidson Big Twin engines with improvements in performance, comfort and control.

Retaining the classic 45-degree V-Twin cylinder angle, the Milwaukee-Eight engine produces 10 percent more torque and features four-valve cylinder heads that offer 50 percent more intake and exhaust flow capacity than previous year models.

The Milwaukee-Eight engine is counter-balanced to cancel 75 percent of primary vibration at idle, retaining the classic feel of a Harley V-Twin engine while being very smooth at highway speeds. A new heat management strategy improves rider and passenger comfort.

New Engine and Much More for Model Year 2017

Along with the Milwaukee-Eight engine unveiling, Harley-Davidson also announced:

New Touring Suspension: All-new front and rear suspension components enhance the comfort, control and performance of all 2017 Harley-Davidson Touring models. New dual bending valve front suspension technology provides the performance of a racing-style cartridge fork with linear damping characteristics and reduced weight. New emulsion-technology rear shocks offer 15 to 30 percent more pre-load adjustment than previous standard Touring shocks, with a single, hand-adjustable knob to hydraulically dial in pre-load.

All-new front and rear suspension components enhance the comfort, control and performance of all 2017 Harley-Davidson Touring models. New dual bending valve front suspension technology provides the performance of a racing-style cartridge fork with linear damping characteristics and reduced weight. New emulsion-technology rear shocks offer 15 to 30 percent more pre-load adjustment than previous standard Touring shocks, with a single, hand-adjustable knob to hydraulically dial in pre-load. Screamin' Eagle  Performance: Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle  Performance will offer a full selection of street-legal performance components for the Milwaukee-Eight engines, including Screamin' Eagle  Milwaukee-Eight engine Stage kits that deliver up to a 24-percent increase in torque over the stock engine (availability varies by market).

Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle Performance will offer a full selection of street-legal performance components for the Milwaukee-Eight engines, including Screamin' Eagle Milwaukee-Eight engine Stage kits that deliver up to a 24-percent increase in torque over the stock engine (availability varies by market). Harley-Davidson Custom Vehicle Operations: Harley-Davidson  Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) models combine prestige and performance in three limited-edition factory-custom motorcycles for 2017. The CVO  Limited and CVO  Street Glide  models feature the refined performance of the new Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine, while the CVO  Pro Street Breakout  motorcycle is powered by the Screamin' Eagle  Twin Cam 110B air-cooled V-Twin engine.

Harley-Davidson Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) models combine prestige and performance in three limited-edition factory-custom motorcycles for 2017. The CVO Limited and CVO Street Glide models feature the refined performance of the new Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine, while the CVO Pro Street Breakout motorcycle is powered by the Screamin' Eagle Twin Cam 110B air-cooled V-Twin engine. 2017 Harley-Davidson Street 500/750 Motorcycles 2017 Harley-Davidson Street motorcycles are now available with ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) and the Harley-Davidson Smart Security System with hands-free, proximity-based security fob, each as a factory-installed option.

2017 Harley-Davidson Street motorcycles are now available with ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) and the Harley-Davidson Smart Security System with hands-free, proximity-based security fob, each as a factory-installed option. Powerful Cruiser Lineup: With the High Output Twin Cam 103 standard for all 2017 Softail models and Dyna models (U.S. models only) except the Street Bob model and the S Series cruisers with the Screamin' Eagle Twin Cam 110 engine, Harley-Davidson continues to offer its most powerful cruisers ever.

"We want all riders to save the date of Sept. 23," said Dino Bernacchi, Director of U.S. Marketing at Harley-Davidson. "That weekend, Harley-Davidson dealers across the country will host open house events so riders can throw a leg over our Model Year 2017 touring motorcycles and feel the difference of the all-new Milwaukee-Eight engine for themselves."

To experience the transformation of the 2017 Harley-Davidson models now, visit h-d.com/testride to schedule a test ride.

* All comparisons in this communication are drawn between Harley-Davidson 2017 Touring models and 2016 Touring models.

** Not all models are available in all countries. Please contact your local Harley-Davidson dealer for more information.

About Harley-Davidson Motor Company

Since 1903, Harley-Davidson Motor Company has fulfilled dreams of personal freedom with cruiser, touring and custom motorcycles, riding experiences and events, and a complete line of Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts, accessories, general merchandise, riding gear and apparel. For more information, visit www.h-d.com.

Related Links

http://www.h-d.com



SOURCE Harley-Davidson
AUSTIN, Texas, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Advanced Discovery continues client services enhancements with the addition of experienced solutions expert in New York

Advanced Discovery announced today the hiring of eight-year industry veteran Sarah Cole, JD, as Director, Solutions North America in New York. Sarah is an electronic discovery professional specializing in predictive and textual analytics, their incorporation into efficient, advanced workflows, and the establishment of best practices for their use.

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As one of only sixteen Relativity Certified Masters in the world , Sarah is one of industry's leading experts in kCura's Relativity platform. In addition to holding the Relativity Certified Administrator, Certified User, Analytics Specialist, and Assisted Review Specialist certifications from kCura, Sarah was the first person in the industry to be certified under kCura's new Project Management Specialist standard released this May.

In her new role as Director, Solutions North America for Advanced Discovery, Sarah will bring her extensive experience and her deep platform and workflow knowledge to the service of Advanced Discovery's clients, including:

Scoping and planning consultation for new projects

Consulting on eDiscovery software and workflow design

Designing custom solutions and overseeing implementation

Advising on analytics, metrics, and process management

Sarah expressed excitement about joining the Advanced Discovery team:

I am excited to be joining the Advanced Discovery team and for the opportunity to share my experience and expertise with the team and with our clients. Advanced Discovery is an industry leader in leveraging, customizing and extending Relativity, and I look forward to contributing to those efforts to provide the optimal solutions for clients.

About Advanced Discovery

Advanced Discovery is an award-winning, end-to-end eDiscovery services and software provider, supporting law firms and corporations since 2002. Advanced Discovery and its global family of companies, Millnet, LPI and Ditto, offer project planning and budgeting, data preservation and forensic collection, early case assessment, hosted review, managed document review, and more, from numerous state-of-the-art facilities around the world. The company employs leading professionals in the industry, applies defensible workflows, and provides industry-proven technology across all phases of the eDiscovery lifecycle. This devotion to excellence has earned Advanced Discovery inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the US five consecutive years and recognition as a top provider by Legal Times, Texas' Best and other publications. More information is available at http://www.advanceddiscovery.com .

Contact: Dkeith.wilson@advanceddiscovery.com , +1-404-388-9083

SOURCE Advanced Discovery
A Comprehensive Package to Meet All Your Storage Needs in One System

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Infortrend Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495) has released the EonStor GS Family which integrates file, block, and object level into a comprehensive 2U/3U unified storage system. Due to this compact design, it requires less space and consumes less power as there are fewer systems to run and cool off, making configurations and maintenance simpler and easier.

Management is also made simple with our smart user interface EonOne, as it can provide a single control panel for file, block, and object service management and resource monitoring to allow IT personnel to maintain their systems, so that they can easily understand storage conditions and get a better grasp on the situation.

Furthermore, the EonStor GS Family also provides users with power in excellent performances and data services, flexibility with All Flash or Hybrid Flash configurations, and availability with dual controllers and IDR. With simplicity, power, flexibility, and availability, the EonStor GS Family is truly a comprehensive package in one system.

Thomas Kao, Senior Director of Product Planning at Infortrend commented: "We are pleased to introduce our new EonStor GS Family cloud-integrated unified storage. By integrating file, block, and object into one system, the EonStor GS provides our customers with a low total cost of ownership blended with excellent performance and effortless maintenance."

For more information about the EonStor GS Family which includes EonStor GS 1000, 2000, and 3000 Series, please click here.

About Infortrend

Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more Information, please visit www.infortrend.com

Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc., other trademarks property of their respective owners.

Contact:

Infortrend Europe Ltd.

Agnieszka Wesolowska

Tel:+44-1256-305-220

E-mail: marketing.eu@infortrend.com

Related Links

http://www.infortrend.com



SOURCE Infortrend Technology, Inc.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkeys Supreme Military Council will hold a meeting on Aug. 23, TRT Haber news channel reports.

The Councils meeting will be chaired by the countrys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, according to the report.

The fight against terrorism in Syria, as well as against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are planned to be discussed during the meeting.

This is the second meeting of the Supreme Military Council after the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey.

Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives.

Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The Islamic State (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) is the most active terrorist group in Syria.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
New Platform Helps Developers Leverage Container Technology Quickly and Easily with No Maintenance Required

MENLO PARK, California and HELSINKI, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More and more organizations are looking to container technology to solve some of the most difficult challenges in software development distribution. However, many of the biggest names in the container platform space are aimed at massive systems that are difficult to install, use and maintain.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400288LOGO

Kontena is introducing its developer-friendly container and microservices platform that is quick to install, easy to use and runs at any scale on any infrastructure, be it on-premises, cloud or hybrid. The company has raised funding with backing from Lifeline Ventures, a team of serial entrepreneurs that was one of the first to invest in Supercell. The funds will be used for entering the market and initial scaling of the company and business.

Kontena provides a scalable, out-of-the-box solution that includes everything a developer needs to start running containerized applications, hassle-free. The platform is designed to maximize developer happiness through:

Easy installation and ease of use: Kontena works off the shelfon any public cloud, on-premises or hybridand requires minimum effort to install. The platform requires no maintenance and includes automatic updates, which enables developers to spend more time working on what matters the most  their own software and applications.

Kontena works off the shelfon any public cloud, on-premises or hybridand requires minimum effort to install. The platform requires no maintenance and includes automatic updates, which enables developers to spend more time working on what matters the most  their own software and applications. Scalability: Unlike many other platforms, Kontena is feasible for running even the smallest container workloads and it may be scaled up when needed. This scalability means developers have just the right-sized tool for their unique organization needs.

Unlike many other platforms, Kontena is feasible for running even the smallest container workloads and it may be scaled up when needed. This scalability means developers have just the right-sized tool for their unique organization needs. Open source: Kontena is open source and integrates with other, complementary open source software as well as leading software-as-a-service offerings aimed at monitoring and logging. This minimizes vendor lock-in and ensures developers have a wide array of options available to them.

Miska Kaipiainen, chief executive officer and co-founder, Kontena, said:

"We started using Docker very early and soon realized that while it is great technology, it isn't so easy to master. Too many people struggle when moving from development to production. Our mission is to create the most developer-friendly, open source platform for running containerized apps and microservices. We want to make it possible for all developers around the world to take advantage of this amazing technology by making it more accessible and easy to use."

Matti Paksula, CTO, AppGyver said:

"After years of using Heroku for our application hosting, we were seeking a new container platform that would provide us with the flexibility we needed. After looking at a number of other options, we found Kontena and have been very pleased. Kontena offers us the scalability and agility we need to deploy the services that power our enterprise cross-platform mobile app builder."

Petteri Koponen, partner and founder of Lifeline Ventures, said:

"We invest in companies that we are passionate about and that we believe we can help. With the radical shift in the developer landscape, this technology is a hot commodity, and we are committed to helping Kontena realize its vision of making container capabilities available for businesses of all sizes."

About Kontena

Kontena, Inc. is the creator of Kontena, an open source, developer-friendly container and microservices platform. Kontena is built to maximize developer happiness by simplifying running containerized applications on any infrastructure: on-premises, cloud or hybrid. It provides a complete solution for organizations of any size. Founded in March 2015, Kontena was recognized as one of the best new open source projects in the 8th annual Black Duck Open Source Rookies of the Year Awards. For more information, visit: www.kontena.io.

PR Contact:

Jessica M. Pasko

Nadel Phelan, Inc.

+1-831-440-2412

jessica.pasko@nadelphelan.com



Related Links

https://www.kontena.io



SOURCE Kontena
DUBLIN, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Kuwait Air Conditioner Market (2016-2022)" report to their offering.

Kuwait's Air Conditioner Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.45% during 2016-22. The growth rate of the market has declined due to falling oil prices in the international market, which affected government spending in the country. Post 2017, oil prices are expected to recover which would add to the growth of both public & private infrastructures thereby driving the momentum of air conditioners market in Kuwait.

In the overall GCC air conditioner market, Kuwait is one the prime contributors- attributed to factors such as surging construction activities, increasing investments, rise of commercial spaces and housing complexes. The market for air conditioners in Kuwait has registered stagnant growth in last few years and is anticipated to remain flat during 2016-22.

In Kuwait air conditioner market, centralized air conditioner accounts for majority of revenue share in 2015. Centralized air conditioner system is exhibited to lead through the forecast period. Amongst all regions, Kuwait City has captured key share of the market.

The report thoroughly covers the air conditioners market by AC types, end users and regions. The report provides the unbiased and detailed analysis of the on-going trends, opportunities/high growth areas, market drivers, which would help the stakeholders to decide and align their market strategies according to the current and future market dynamics.

Markets Covered

By Air Conditioner Types:

-- Room AC

- Window AC

- Room AC

-- Ducted AC

- Packaged AC

- Ceiling Concealed AC

-- Ductless AC

- Ceiling Suspended AC

- Cassette AC

- Floor Standing AC

-- Centralized AC

- AHU/FCU

- Chiller/VRF

- Others

By End User Applications:

-- Residential

-- Commercial & Retail

-- Hospitality

-- Healthcare

-- Government & Transportation

-- Oil & Gas

-- Others

Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

2 Introduction

3 GCC Air Conditioner Market Overview

4 Kuwait Air Conditioner Market Overview

5 Government Policy and Certification

6 Kuwait Air Conditioner Market- Market Dynamics

7 Kuwait Air Conditioners Market Trends

8 Kuwait Room Air Conditioner Market Outlook

9 Kuwait Ducted Air Conditioner Market Outlook

10 Kuwait Ductless Air Conditioner Market Outlook

11 Kuwait Centralized Air Conditioner Market Outlook

12 Kuwait Air Conditioner End User Market Analysis (2010-2022)

13 Kuwait Air Conditioners Regional Market Overview

14 Company Profiles

- Carrier Kuwait Air Conditioning K.S.C

- Daikin Middle East and Africa FZE

- Fawaz Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Company WLL

- Fujitsu General(ME) FZE

- GREE Electric Appliances Inc.

- Johnson Controls(York)

- LG Electronics, Inc.

- Refrigeration Industries Co

- S.K.M Air Conditioning LLC

- Samsung Gulf Electronics Co. Ltd.

- Trane Kuwait Air Conditioning Company WLL

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/x7t54v/kuwait_air

Related Topics: Household Appliances, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning)

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
LUND, Sweden, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Funds will enable completion of its 3D sensor A1 for commercial launch and mass production

Acconeer AB, a leading innovation company in the area of mobile sensors, announces that it has closed a SEK 60 million investment round. The new capital will be used to fund the completion of Acconeer's 3D sensor A1 for commercial launch and mass production, which is planned for early 2017.



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Lars Lindell, CEO of Acconeer AB commented: "We are naturally very pleased with closing the investment round. Existing shareholders contributed with approximately 40% of the round leaving 60% for new investors. We have been able to add some industry veterans such as Jorgen Lantto, former CEO of Fingerprint Cards and Bert Nordberg, former CEO and Chairman of Sony Mobile, and many leading positions within Ericsson, as investors in this very ambitious project. We now have enough funds to start the process of commercializing our ultra-low power and millimeter precision sensor. We have a very solid interest from customers and will also start shipping evaluation boards to customers for their evaluation."

Jorgen Lantto comments: "Acconeer is about to complete the development of a 3D sensor with great potential. I am very impressed with the technology and the team and I am looking forward to follow them developing a world-leading technology company."

About Acconeer

Acconeer is a leading start-up company based in Lund, south Sweden, in Ideon, the country's hottest region for wireless technologies. Acconeer is developing a truly leading ultra-low power, high precision 3D sensor which will revolutionize the way that mobile devices interpret their surroundings. Acconeer's ultra-low power and millimeter precision sensor will be a robust and cost-effective solution for applications ranging from virtual reality and gaming to security and robot control. Information from the sensor can also be used to identify different materials, or for practical applications, such as taking measurements of your shirt size before you order online. These are just some examples of the wide range of possibilities of application areas for the sensor.

Acconeer was founded in 2011 by the technology entrepreneurs Dr. Mikael Egard and Dr. Mats Arlelid, together with Marten Obrink, Professor Lars-Erik Wernersson and Lund University.

For more information: http://www.acconeer.com

SOURCE Acconeer AB
CALGARY, Alberta, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Packers Plus Energy Services Inc. is pleased to announce it has recently worked with operator Dubai Petroleum Establishment to install and successfully stimulate an offshore carbonate reservoir using an open hole multi-stage ball-drop system. The operator used proppant as the treatment method - a first for offshore completions in the Middle East - in place of the typically used acid method for carbonate formations. The completion trialed the use of proppant in order to maximize production and was paired with the StackFRAC Titanium XV system, a high pressure/high temperature system designed for wells in which differential pressures exceed 10,000 psi (69 MPa) and extreme bottom hole temperatures can be encountered.

"The completion solutions engineered and implemented by Packers Plus and Dubai Petroleum for the placement of these offshore multi-stage proppant fracture stimulations, targeting Shilaif tight carbonate source rock, have allowed DPE to unlock a very significant volume of reserves in the Dubai acreage and possibly in the whole region," said Juan Pablo Freile, DPE Exploration & Production Director.

Packers Plus President, Ian Bryant, said, "We embraced the challenge to find an alternative stimulation method to acid that would increase recoverable reserves and optimize the completion, and look forward to continuing to work closely with Dubai Petroleum in finding effective solutions."

The open hole method proved advantageous over the traditional plug-and-perf method with its ease of installation and for its ability to provide a continuous pumping operation that effectively stimulates isolated zones along the entire length of the wellbore. This resulted in substantial time savings and reduced costs for the operator. All balls landed and shifted their respective sliding sleeves, events which were verified by both monitored pressure at surface and independently using the award-winning ePLUS Retina Monitoring System, an innovative technology which allows for event verification without a pressure signature.

To learn more about Packers Plus' international experience, visit packersplus.com/proven-performance.

About Packers Plus

Packers Plus is an industry leader in designing and manufacturing lower completions solutions for a variety of technically challenging applications. Known for its innovative, high-quality and responsive style, the privately held company has run over 16,000 completion systems, accounting for over 240,000 fracture stages since it started operations in 2000. Today, Packers Plus has employees around the world, maintaining an influential role in key markets and remaining true to its roots-an innovative company with a focused niche, enabling it to be one of the best in the industry. Learn more at packersplus.com.

Steve MacLeod, Manager, Technical Marketing, Packers Plus Energy Services Inc., steve.macleod@packersplus.com , +1-(587)-293-2020

SOURCE Packers Plus Energy Services Inc.
PUNE, India, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

ReportsnReports.com adds "Primary Biliary Cirrhosis - Pipeline Review, H1 2016" to its store providing comprehensive information on the Primary Biliary Cirrhosis , targeted therapeutics, complete with analysis by indications, stage of development, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The report also covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases. Additionally, the report provides an overview of key players involved in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis targeted therapeutics development and features dormant and discontinued projects.

Complete report on H1 2016 pipeline review of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis with 26 market data tables and 13 figures, spread across 90 pages is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/655460-primary-biliary-cirrhosis-pipeline-review-h2-2016.html .

Companies discussed in this Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Pipeline Review, H1 2016 report include AlbireoPharma, CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc., Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH, Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genextra S.p.a., GenKyoTex S.A., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, MediGene AG, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Novartis AG, Shire Plc, TGV-Laboratories and Virobay Inc. Drug Profiles mentioned in this research report are A-4250, budesonide, EDP-305, FFP-104, GKT-831, GSK-2330672, Hep-114, LJN-452, maralixibat chloride, MBX-8025, NGM-282, obeticholic acid, RhuDex and VBY-825.

Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Primary biliary cirrhosis is a chronic disease of the liver that slowly destroys the bile ducts within the liver. Symptoms include fatigue, itchy skin, dry eyes, jaundice, swollen feet and ankles, pain in the upper right portion of the abdomen and diarrhea. Predisposing factors include age and history of infections. Treatment includes bile acid sequestrants and liver transplantation.

The report reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Primary Biliary Cirrhosis and features dormant and discontinued projects. Currently, The molecules developed by Companies in Pre-Registration, Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, Phase 0, Preclinical and Unknown stages are 1, 1, 7, 1, 1, 2 and 1 respectively.

Order a purchase copy of this report @ http://www.reportsnreports.com/Purchase.aspx?name=655460 .

The report helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. Furthermore, this report also reviews key players involved in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis targeted therapeutics development, features dormant and discontinued projects and latest news and press releases.

Scope of this report: The report provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis and reviews pipeline therapeutics for Primary Biliary Cirrhosis by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources and key players involved Primary Biliary Cirrhosis therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects. The research covers pipeline products based on various stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages. The report features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which includes, product description, descriptive MoA, R&D brief, licensing and collaboration details & other developmental activities and assesses Primary Biliary Cirrhosis therapeutics based on drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The report summarizes all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects with latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Primary Biliary Cirrhosis.

Another newly published market research report titled on Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease - Pipeline Review, H1 2016 provides comprehensive information on the therapeutic development for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, complete with comparative analysis at various stages, therapeutics assessment by drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type, along with latest updates, and featured news and press releases. It also reviews key players involved in the therapeutic development for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease and special features on late-stage and discontinued projects. Companies discussed in this research are Acetylon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Addex Therapeutics Ltd, Affectis Pharmaceuticals AG, Genzyme Corporation, InFlectis BioScience, Lead Discovery Center GmbH, PharmatrophiX, Inc. and Pharnext SAS. Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Pipeline market research report of 60 pages is available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/655458-charcot-marie-tooth-disease-pipeline-review-h2-2016.html .

Explore more reports on Pharmaceuticals.

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SOURCE ReportsnReports
DUBLIN, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "US Market Report for Female Urinary Incontinence Slings" report to their offering.

Vaginal slings always require a surgical procedure for installation; however, the degree of invasiveness of the procedure varies depending on the type of sling. The procedure involves placing a sling around the urethra to lift it to a position where sufficient urethral compression will achieve urine control. The sling provides structural support similar to a hammock under the urethra. Slings can consist of synthetic materials, biologic materials or autologous tissue harvested from the patient.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Full Suite Executive Summary

1.1 U.S. Gynecological Device Market

1.2 Trend Analysis

1.3 Procedure Numbers

1.4 Assisted Reproduction Technology Device Market

1.5 Global Endometrial Ablation Market

1.6 Resectoscopic Endometrial Ablation & Resection Device Market

1.7 Uterine Fibroid Embolization Device Market

1.8 Hysteroscope Market

1.9 Colposcope Market

1.10 Female Sterilization Device Market

1.11 Female Urinary Incontinence Sling Market

1.12 Pelvic Floor Electrical Stimulation Device Market

1.13 Fluid Management Device Market

1.14 Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair Device Market

1.15 Hysterosalpingography (Hsg) Catheter Market

1.16 Competitive Analysis

2. Research Methodology

2.1 Research Scope

2.2 9-Step Methodology

Step 1: Project Initiation & Team Selection

Step 2: Prepare Data Systems And Perform Secondary Research

Step 3: Preparation For Interviews & Questionnaire Design

Step 4: Performing Primary Research

Step 5: Research Analysis: Establishing Baseline Estimates

Step 6: Market Forecast And Analysis

Step 7: Identify Strategic Opportunities

Step 8: Final Review And Market Release

Step 9: Customer Feedback And Market Monitoring

3. Female Urinary Incontinence Sling Market

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Market Overview

3.2.1 Female Urinary Incontinence Sling Market By Material

3.2.2 Female Urinary Incontinence Market By Type

3.3 Market Analysis And Forecast

3.3.1 Total Female Urinary Incontinence Sling Market

3.3.2 Total Female Urinary Incontinence Sling Market By Material

3.3.2.1 Synthetic Sling Market

3.3.2.2 Non-Synthetic Sling Market

3.3.3 Total Female Urinary Incontinence Sling Market By Type

3.3.3.1 Transvaginal Tape Sling Market

3.3.3.2 Transobturator Sling Market

3.3.3.3 Single-Incision Sling Market

3.4 Drivers And Limiters

3.4.1 Market Drivers

3.4.2 Market Limiters

3.5 Competitive Analysis

Companies Mentioned

ASTORA

Ethicon

Boston Scientific

Coloplast

C.R. Bard

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nbr85q/us_market_report

Related Topics: Medical Devices

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "US Market Report for Hysterosalpingography (HSG) Catheters" report to their offering.

HSG catheters, also known as HS catheters, are used for hysterosalpingography and sonohysterography procedures. These devices are used by practitioners to inject either a contrast media or sterile saline into the uterine cavity and fallopian tubes through the cervical opening. These procedures are used to evaluate infertility, pregnancy loss, uterine bleeding or menstrual disorders and to asses tubal patency and uterine pathology.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Full Suite Executive Summary

1.1 U.S. Gynecological Device Market

1.2 Trend Analysis

1.3 Procedure Numbers

1.4 Assisted Reproduction Technology Device Market

1.5 Global Endometrial Ablation Market

1.6 Resectoscopic Endometrial Ablation & Resection Device Market

1.7 Uterine Fibroid Embolization Device Market

1.8 Hysteroscope Market

1.9 Colposcope Market

1.10 Female Sterilization Device Market

1.11 Female Urinary Incontinence Sling Market

1.12 Pelvic Floor Electrical Stimulation Device Market

1.13 Fluid Management Device Market

1.14 Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair Device Market

1.15 Hysterosalpingography (Hsg) Catheter Market

1.16 Competitive Analysis



2. Research Methodology

2.1 Research Scope

2.2 9-Step Methodology

Step 1: Project Initiation & Team Selection

Step 2: Prepare Data Systems And Perform Secondary Research

Step 3: Preparation For Interviews & Questionnaire Design

Step 4: Performing Primary Research

Step 5: Research Analysis: Establishing Baseline Estimates

Step 6: Market Forecast And Analysis

Step 7: Identify Strategic Opportunities

Step 8: Final Review And Market Release

Step 9: Customer Feedback And Market Monitoring



3. HSG Catheter Market

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Market Analysis And Forecast

3.2.1 Hysterosalpingography Catheter Market

3.3 Drivers And Limiters

3.3.1 Market Drivers

3.3.2 Market Limiters

3.4 Competitive Analysis



Companies Mentioned



Cooper Surgical

Cook Medical

Monarch Medical Products

CRI/Thomas Medical

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/wx3xj2/us_market_report



Related Topics: Radiography, Catheters

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
PUNE, India, August 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the new market research report "5G Technology Market and Its Impact on Communication and IoT Market (R&D Spending and Trial Investments, Technology Requirements, Future Roadmap, Spectrum Consideration, Key Strategies, Regulatory Landscape, and Application Trends & Geographical Analysis)", published by MarketsandMarkets. The market is expected to get developed by 2020 and is yet to be commercialized. The total number of subscriptions for 5G technology is expected to reach 89.0 Million by 2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 4 market data Tables and 94 Figures spread through 164 Pages and in-depth TOC on "5G Technology Market".



http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/5g-technology-market-202955795.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The prominent factors that are driving the paradigm shift toward new broadband technology include the rising demand for high data speed and large network coverage, significant growth in the mobile data traffic, growing machine-to- machine communication in organizations, and need to support the increasing demand for broadband services over mobile networks.

Funding from governments and several private organizations is adding the pace for the deployment of 5G technology

A significant amount of funding have been provided by the public and private organizations, and established research projects have been undertaken for the development and promotion of 5G technology in European Union (EU) and APAC. The EU has invested heavily in R&D to ensure that Europe takes the leading role in deploying the new-generation mobile broadband technology. For example, 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G PPP) has been initiated by the EU Commission and industry manufacturers, telecommunications operators, service providers, SMEs, and researchers. In addition, several countries in APAC such as China, Japan, and South Korea have stated to taking up developmental projects to establish regional and/or national leadership positions in wireless R&D related to the 5G technology.

LTE would be the dominant technology by 2022

On a global scale, GSM/EDGE would continue to lead, in terms of subscription numbers, till 2017. This is because new and less affluent users entering the networks in growing markets are likely to use low-cost mobile phones and subscriptions available. Currently, the number of subscriptions in GSM/EDGE represents the largest share; but by 2021, both LTE and WCDMA/HSPA mobile subscription numbers are expected to be more than double of GSM/EDGE subscriptions. In technologically advanced markets such as the U.S. and Japan, there already has been a substantial shift toward more advanced technologies which has resulted in a slight decline in GSM/EDGE subscriptions. However, in developing markets such as India EDGE/GSM remains a viable option as less affluent users are likely to choose low-cost mobile phones and subscriptions.

Inquiry Before Buying:- http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=202955795

The key players in the 5G Technology Market include Cisco (U.S.), Ericsson (Sweden), SK Telecom (South Korea), Korea Telecom (South Korea), Nokia Networks (Finland), Samsung (South Korea), Qualcomm (U.S.), Intel (U.S.), NEC Corporation (Japan), Huawei (China), Verizon (U.S.), AT&T (U.S.), T-Mobile USA, Inc., LG (South Korea), and China Mobile (China).

Browse Related Reports

IoT Communication Protocol Market by Connectivity Technology (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Bluetooth Smart), End-Use Application (Consumer Electronics, Automotive & Transportation, Building Automation, Healthcare), Region - Global Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/iot-communication-protocol-market-172564879.html

IoT Gateway Market by Nodes (Smart Watch, Camera, RADAR, Thermostat, Actuator, Smart TV), by Connectivity Technology (Bluetooth, WiFi, ZigBee, Ethernet, Z-Wave), by Component (MCU, FPGA, Sensor, Memory), by End-Use and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/iot-gateway-market-248007097.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 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.



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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
The event brought together top managers from several leading OTAs for the first time in Dujiangyan, including Joyu chairman and Lvmama founder Hong Qinghua, LY chief executive officer Wu Zhixiang, Tuniu chief executive officer Yu Dunde and Ctrip senior vice president Tang Lan. Other key attendees included leaders in fields that have acted on the opportunities presented by the synergy between tourism and their main lines of business, including Microsoft China chief technology officer Wei Qing, Tujia.com co-founder and chief executive officer Luo Jun and Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties assistant to the president Nie Heping.

The agenda for the conference included the keynote speech, a dialog between industry leaders, the signing ceremony for contracts concluded during the conference, the launch of an industry white paper, the launch of the Tourism Entrepreneur program and pre-arranged one-on-one meetings between attending executives. For the first time, high-tech companies from the virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence sectors showcased the application of face recognition and holographic projection technologies in the tourism sector. During the conference, Dujiangyan Municipal People's Government signed a strategic collaboration agreement with the Chengdu Hi-tech Zone Cloud Accelerator project, a part of Microsoft's cloud-cum-mobile technology incubator program, to jointly build a global travel data center. Guangyuan and Ya'an, two cities in Sichuan province, signed partnership agreements under the "Mobile Internet + Pro Poor Tourism" program, a program focused on leveraging the internet to bring about poverty alleviation through sustainable tourism, in addition to other agreements with the Sichuan Tourism Media Center. The governments of several cities and autonomous prefectures, the owners and managers of several resorts as well as other companies in the province inked strategic cooperation deals with some of the OTAs.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400335

SOURCE Sichuan Provincial Tourism Development Committee
OSNABRUCK and BERLIN, Germany, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

LM IT Services AG, the IT Service Provider located in Osnabruck and Ferrari electronic AG, a leading developer of UC solutions announce their successful collaboration today with the provision of a global platform for meetings and webinars built on the foundation of Microsoft's Skype for Business.

The world of today is subject to a high degree of digitalization, hand in hand with fundamental changes in the design of business processes, more dynamic market conditions and let us not forget a completely different interpretation of cooperation. The new methods of collaboration in combination with a rapidly increasing use of internationalization, require faster, global solutions to drive direct and sustainable communications.

Demand for webinars and VoIP meetings as part of a comprehensive communications strategy are higher than ever in our current environment

Taking the requirements of larger organizations into account, the IT service provider LM IT Services AG has developed a global platform on the basis of Skype for Business. The hybrid (on premise and cloud) service went live on 1st July 2016 after 18 months of planning, pilot rollouts and setting up the communication and service processes.

The specialists from Osnabruck utilize the solutions developed by Ferrari electronic. The MeetS4B technology blueprint supports the connectivity of SIP Trunks with PSTN connections in over 36 different countries including the USA, Australia and Argentina as well as areas where the infrastructure is not as capable such as Venezuela or Chile.

Norbert Morlock, the Project Manager for the platform implementation, shares his reasons for the connectivity methods used. "It is specifically those areas where we are currently registering enhanced dialling-in via telephone. Since the Internet infrastructure isn't as developed in comparison to areas like Europe and the USA, it is important for us to offer the opportunity for companies to reach everyone with this platform. Skype for Business from Microsoft offers secure channels, the most modern and reliable audio and video capabilities coupled with a fail-safe, highly available infrastructure. Now add the solutions from our technology partners and we are very quickly one of the market leaders. Service, support and the solution portfolio from the team at Ferrari electronic provide the best combination in ensuring that we achieve our goal."

Enterprise Session Border Controller (E-SBC) ensures a high performance infrastructure

With the Enterprise Session Border Controller, Ferrari electronic plays an instrumental part in making it possible that this flexible and scalable hybrid infrastructure can be established. Dirk Kruger, Business Development Manager at Ferrari electronic explains: "Technically speaking, the E-SBC takes responsibility for the harmonization of the international SIP Protocols from multiple carriers. The result is a secure, highly available and high performance communications platform."

Unique selling proposition: The Service

Since the start of the year, over 314,000 participants have registered on the platform, where more than 1500 meetings and webinars have been managed already. Each meeting was recorded and subsequently made available in Microsoft Azure. With over 30 employees supporting the platform and looking after the participants, any problems with audio or video device configuration along with questions about the network configuration or access to the meetings are easily resolved. This alone is a service that no others can provide. Further to that, the platform offers fully automated recording of webinars and automated reports that are generated using technology built upon Microsoft Power BI. These reports are then made available to the customer. With its rich visuals, Power BI provides meaningful dashboards by collecting geo-location and anonymous user data. Measuring your success in an online event has never been easier.

The specialists at LM IT and Ferrari electronic will continue to work relentlessly together to ensure that this solid foundation is continually built upon in the future.

For more information visit:

http://www.LM-AG.de

contact: Norbert Morlock, [email protected]

https://www.ferrari-electronic.de

contact: [email protected]

Telephone: +49-3328-45590



SOURCE Ferrari electronic
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Militants of the Islamic State (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) terrorist organization use Turkish province of Gaziantep on the border with Syria as a stronghold, the Milliyet newspaper reported Aug. 23.

This is evidenced by the testimony of militants arrested in Gaziantep, according to the newspaper.

The fact that the recent terrorist attack in Gaziantep was carried out by a teenager confirms the influence of the IS in the province, the newspaper said.

Fifty-four people were killed, 69 were injured, 17 of them are in serious condition as a result of Aug. 20 blast in the city of Gaziantep in southern Turkey. The attack occurred during a wedding celebration.

The IS also holds Syrian refugees in Gaziantep partly under the control, according to the testimony of the groups arrested members.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Abacus Life Settlements, a leading life settlement provider in the secondary market for life insurance, announced today that it was granted a life settlement provider license by the Florida Department of Financial Services, Office of Insurance Regulation. Abacus is now licensed to purchase life insurance policies in 38 states, as noted on the company's web page at www.abacuslifesettlements.com/licensure/.

"Abacus Life Settlements looks forward to expanding its secondary market services to the more than 20 million residents in the state of Florida, 19.4 percent of whom are seniors 65 or older," said Samantha Butcher, chief operating officer of Abacus. "We encourage Florida policy sellers to visit our Life Settlement Learning Center located at www.abacuslifesettlements.com/policy-sellers/ and to use our online pre-qualification and pricing tools.

"As the state with the highest percentage of seniors, Florida's licensure process for viatical and life settlement providers is considered one of the most rigorous in the nation," said Abacus's general counsel, Brady Cobb of the Cobb-Eddy Law Firm in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. "Abacus is honored to be among the few providers who are approved by Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation to work with policy owners residing in the state," added Cobb.

According to a recent report published by The Deal involving settlement transactions in 2015, Abacus ranked number two in the nation for the total amount of death benefit coverage purchased, and number three for the total number of policies purchased. Butcher noted that Abacus's industry ranking, which places it among the nation's top three providers, strengthens the company's market position when competing for policy acquisition and new investment capital.

Abacus believes the recent resurgence of the secondary market for life insurance provides senior consumers with a valuable funding source for alternative income-producing investments. For aging baby boomers who may be financially ill-prepared for their own longevity, life settlements can be a source of funds to help pay for medical and long-term care expenses.

Abacus officials expressed optimism that the industry's robust growth trajectory will remain strong as more seniors choose to optimize their insurance assets, and as institutional investors capture yield while insulating investment portfolios from stock market volatility.

About Abacus Settlements, LLC

Abacus Settlements, LLC is a licensed life settlement provider with locations in New York and Tennessee. Founded in 2004, Abacus is an active member of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) and works with life settlement brokers, professional advisors and consumers in optimizing the value of unwanted life insurance policies. The company is committed to providing consumers with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions regarding life insurance policies that are no longer needed or affordable. A life settlement may not be appropriate for all circumstances. Policy sellers should consider all options before entering into a life settlement. Abacus Settlements is not licensed in all states. For more information, visit www.abacuslifesettlements.com.

Media Contact:

Samantha Butcher, COO

615-732-6241

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150116/169688LOGO

SOURCE Abacus Life Settlements

Related Links

http://www.abacussettlements.com


DALLAS, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Academic Partnerships (AP) announces the appointment of Jeff Dawson to Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective Monday, Aug. 22, 2016.

"I look forward to working in partnership with Jeff as we set Academic Partnerships' strategic direction and company priorities for both the short and long term," said Chief Executive Officer Carl Sparks. "Jeff's experience with Match Group in customer acquisition and retention and his role in creating their robust reporting and analytics capabilities are highly relevant to our sector and its current stage of evolution."

Dawson comes to AP after more than eight years with Match Group where he held multiple leadership positions. His experience also includes ten years of progressive leadership experience with American Airlines, Airband Communications, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

"I'm proud to take this next step in my career, which allows me to use my experience working with a portfolio of brands in customer acquisition and retention to grow AP," Dawson said. "I look forward to forging new business relationships and to working with this forward-thinking executive team."

Dawson holds a Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Finance/Financial Consulting from Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business, and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

About Academic Partnerships

Academic Partnerships is a leading online service provider for higher education globally. The company assists universities in converting their on-campus degree programs into an online format, recruits qualified students for those programs, and supports enrolled students through graduation. Serving public and private not-for-profit universities in the United States and top international institutions, Academic Partnerships is guided by the principle that the opportunities presented through technology-aided learning make higher education more accessible and achievable. The company was founded by a social entrepreneur, Randy Best, who has spent nearly 20 years developing innovative learning solutions to improve education. For more information, please visit www.academicpartnerships.com.

For information: Mary Ann Doran

[email protected]

214.438.4103

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150731/252647LOGO

SOURCE Academic Partnerships

Related Links

http://www.academicpartnerships.com


"This Aemulus microwave tester is the latest project in a series of successful collaborations with Peregrine Semiconductor," says Sang Beng Ng, CEO of Aemulus Corporation. "Our two-year relationship has been an exciting journey as two agile industry leaders move the needle forward in microwave testing. This new tester will not only contribute to growth in test and measurement, but I foresee many opportunities flowing in from other markets with high frequency demands, such as automotive, radar and 5G wireless. With this strategic partnership, we look forward to duplicating the success of previous collaborative projects."

For this new tester, the Aemulus Amoeba AMB7600 will be upgraded with key peripheral modules to expand into microwave bands X, Ku and Ka. The AMB7600 is the world's first true multi-site, multi-instance RF tester, and it supports RF, digital and analog testing. While the AMB7600 addresses RF front-end devices, the new tester will enable more complex testing, such as the rigorous testing needs of radar products and mixers. Currently in design development, the new tester will be integrated into Peregrine's test infrastructure in fall 2016 and will have full implementation by spring 2017.

"As the market demand for high frequency products increases, Peregrine has responded with a robust high frequency product portfolio and has set new records for SOI at microwave frequencies," says Carl Tulberg, principal engineer, NPI operations at Peregrine Semiconductor. "But this innovation must be supported by a sophisticated test infrastructure and that boils down to the right test equipment. This Aemulus partnership aligns with our product roadmap and ensures we meet our microwave test equipment needs today and in the future. It also highlights Peregrine's focus and investment in high frequency product development."

Debunking the industry's perceived boundaries of RF SOI technology, Peregrine Semiconductor's high frequency portfolio includes RF switches, an image-reject mixer and monolithic phase and amplitude controllers (MPACs). It is Peregrine's UltraCMOS technology platform that enables the company to reach these high frequencies without compromising performance or reliability.

ABOUT AEMULUS

Aemulus Corporation's core expertise is in the design, engineering and development of automated test equipment (ATE). ATE are used by semiconductor manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) companies to test semiconductor wafer and packaged devices, before they are shipped for final assembly into various electronic devices and gadgets.

Our presence is a disruption within the industry; it is in our interest to constantly innovate designs with a wide range of functionality with remarkable speed and cost of test. With our groundbreaking designs, we contribute in widening and advancing wireless communication infrastructures; affordable gadgets for the mass users; and eventually the omnipresent Internet of Things (IoT).

More information about Aemulus Corporation is available at http://www.aemulus.com.

ABOUT PEREGRINE SEMICONDUCTOR

Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, a Murata company, is the founder of RF silicon on insulator (SOI) and is a leading fabless provider of high-performance, integrated RF solutions. Since 1988 Peregrine and its founding team have been perfecting UltraCMOS technologya patented, advanced form of SOIto deliver the performance edge needed to solve the RF market's biggest challenges, such as linearity. By delivering best-in-class performance and monolithic integration, Peregrine products are the trusted choice for market leaders in automotive, broadband, industrial, Internet of Things, mobile devices, smartphones, space, test-and-measurement equipment and wireless infrastructure. A Murata company since December 2014, Peregrine holds more than 240 filed and pending patents and has shipped over 3.5 billion UltraCMOS units. For more information, visit http://www.psemi.com.

The Peregrine Semiconductor name, logo, and UltraCMOS are registered trademarks of Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation in the U.S.A., and other countries. Amoeba is a trademark of Aemulus Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Editorial Contacts:

Peregrine Semiconductor Aemulus Elizabeth Brown E Chiang Tan Phone: 619.993.4648 Phone: 60.4.684.6000 [email protected] [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400285

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400286

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140818/136921

SOURCE Peregrine Semiconductor; Aemulus

Related Links

http://www.psemi.com


CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate conversion assets and supporting business functions currently operated by Jiangxi Jiangli New Materials Science and Technology Co. Ltd. ("Jiangli New Materials"). The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The transaction includes manufacturing assets located in both Jiangxi and Sichuan, China focused on the production of battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Jiangli New Materials currently tolls lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate for Albemarle utilizing spodumene from Albemarle's Talison joint venture in Australia. Collectively, the Jiangli New Material assets have a total lithium salts capacity of 15,000 MT/year, with the ability to expand as needed to support Albemarle's growth strategy.

"We believe this transaction will further solidify Albemarle's leading position in the lithium industry, and accelerate our ability to meet our strategic goal of capturing 50% of the growth in the lithium industry," said David Klanecky, vice president of Albemarle's Lithium Division. "This transaction will enable us to supply premium lithium salts to an expanded global customer base."

"Jiangli has built a solid reputation on consistently manufacturing high-quality lithium salts," said Mr. Deng Zhiling, Chairman of Jiangli New Materials. "This transaction is an opportunity for Jiangli to create additional value for the lithium industry in Asia Pacific and abroad."

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine, refining catalysts and applied surface treatments. We power the potential of companies in many of the world's largest and most critical industries, from energy and communications to aerospace and electronics. Working side-by-side with our customers, we develop value-added, customized solutions that make them more competitive. Our solutions combine the finest technology and ingredients with the knowledge and know-how of our highly experienced and talented team of operators, scientists and engineers.

Discovering and implementing new and better performance-based sustainable solutions is what motivates all of us. We think beyond business-as-usual to drive innovations that create lasting value. Albemarle employs approximately 6,900 people and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. We regularly post information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, non-GAAP reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding our company, its businesses and the markets it serves.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111129/MM14279LOGO

SOURCE Albemarle Corporation

Related Links

http://www.albemarle.com


SAN FRANCISCO, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The global alzheimer's therapeutics market is expected to reach USD 6.4 billion in 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research. Some primary factors driving the market growth includes rising government initiatives in order to raise awareness levels among people.

Grand View Research Logo (PRNewsFoto/Grand View Research_ Inc_)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 )



Growing knowledge about the Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its high prevalence and incidence in developing economies are few of the major drivers supporting the market growth. Several governments, nonprofit, and private organizations worldwide are actively engaged in increasing people's awareness regarding progressive AD, such as Alzheimer's Association, the Alzheimer's Society of Canada, Alzheimer's Europe organization, and various other small organizations.

Furthermore, the increased government funding for providing better care and support to the people with partial dementia is another important factor anticipated to enlarge market growth. For instance, organizations like Florida Department of Health, the National Institute of Health, and Alzheimer's Association in partnership with other private and government organizations provide funds to the research centers.

The presence of various pipeline drugs is anticipated to provide the market with potential growth opportunities. For instance, LMTX by TauRx Pharmaceutical Ltd.; idalopirdine (Lu AE58054) by Lundbeck; crenezumab by AC Immune SA; and BAN2401 by Eisai

Moreover, novel therapeutics with minimal dosage requirement has been introduced resulting in cost-effective alternatives, which is further expected to boost the market growth. For instance, Namzaric by Actavis was developed in two forms: 10 mg and 28 mg. 10 mg requires to be administered twice a day, while 28 mg requires to be administered once in a day.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Alzheimer's Therapeutics Market Analysis by Drug Class (Cholinesterase Inhibitors, NMDA [N-methyl-D-aspartate] Receptor Antagonist) and Segment Forecasts to 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/alzheimers-therapeutics-market

Further Key Findings from the Study Suggest:

The cholinesterase inhibitors segment was dominant in 2013 but lost hold on the market till 2015. Patent expiry of key drugs such as Aricept, Exelon, and Razadyne was the major factor for decline in market share.

Exelon transdermal patch is estimated to lose exclusivity in 2019. It is a highly prescribed drug for the treatment of mild to moderate AD, which contributed toward its revenue generation in 2015.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, on the other hand, is expected to witness a significant growth of around 16.0% over the forecast period owing to introduction of extended relase formulation of Namenda.

Other drug therapies such as monocloclonal antibodies and drugs targeting Tau proteins are in being studied in latter phases of the clinical trials. Presence of a strong of pipeline drugs for target disease are attributing toward fastest growth of these drugs

North America dominated the overall market in terms of revenue with share of over 33.0% in 2015, which is majorly facilitated by the availability of sophisticated healthcare facilities and infrastructure.

dominated the overall market in terms of revenue with share of over 33.0% in 2015, which is majorly facilitated by the availability of sophisticated healthcare facilities and infrastructure. Some key players operating in this industry are Pfizer, Inc.; Merck & Co. Inc.; Novartis AG; Eisai Co. Ltd., H. Lundbeck A/S, AC Immune; TauRx Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; Actavis plc.; Forest Laboratories; and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.

Market players are expanding their product portfolio by developing and launching generic versions of drugs to sustain its market position. For instance, in 2015, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. and Mylan launched the generic version of Namenda (Forest laboratories - Actavis).

Grand View Research has segmented the Alzheimer's therapeutics market on the basis of drug class and region:

Alzheimer ' s Therapeutics Market Drug Outlook (Market Revenue in USD Million, 2013 - 2024) Cholinesterase Inhibitors N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist

Alzheimer ' s Therapeutics Market Regional Outlook, (Market Revenue in USD Million, 2013 - 2024) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany Asia Pacific China Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico MEA South Africa



Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Orthobiological Products Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/orthobiological-products-market

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/active-pharmaceutical-ingredients-market

Nuclear Medicines Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/nuclear-medicines-market

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/pharmaceutical-manufacturing-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Read Our Blogs - ni2014.org, grandviewresearch.com/blogs/healthcare

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]



Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com



SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
AVIGNON, France, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Grenache Association invites wine lovers worldwide to celebrate the 7th Annual International Grenache Day, a.k.a. #GrenacheDay , on Friday, September 16th. This year ground zero for Grenache is the #GrenacheDay 2016 interactive GoogleMyMap where grenachistas around the world share their tastings, events and Grenachy thoughts.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400143

International Grenache Day 2016

Why should you care about Grenache, one of the most widely planted and least known red grapes in the world? Because you love wine; because you are bored with merlots and pinot noirs; because you are fascinated with pairing just the right wine with your foods; because you have an insatiable curiosity for the finer things in life; because your mother always said you should learn something new every day.

The Grenache varietal, which goes by many names including Garnacha, Cannonau, Alicante and Garnaxta, can be found in the best roses from Provence, GSMs (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre) from Australia, in Chateauneuf-du-Papes, where typically 80% of the wine is made from Grenache), and globally, standing on its own as a voluptuous and complex wine.

"This year," says Grenache Association Executive Director Marlene Angelloz, "we are expecting our biggest turnout yet. We already have events posted in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and USA and France."

AUSTRALIA:

The McLaren Vale Region of Australia will be celebrating with a Taste and Tweet-up event featuring renowned wine critic and vigneron, James Halliday, and Australian Ambassador of Grenache, Serafino's Russell Gallagher. Serafino CEO, Maria Maglieri believes the event is a great opportunity to celebrate the heritage of the varietal within the region. "Grenache has a long history in McLaren Vale. The early vineyards were planted after the 1st and 2nd World War when European migrants settled in the region."

CALIFORNIA:

The Wine Exchange retailer Kyle Meyer thinks #GrenacheDay is the perfect day to invest in Grenache-based wines, "At some point many a collector may sell off their Napa Cabernet or Bordeaux, but they always save and drink their Chateauneufs!"

FRANCE:

One of the many celegraptions in France will take place at the iconic and stylish Willi's Wine Bar in Paris . Owner Mark Williamson opines, "Whenever I hear the word Grenache, I think of the southern Rhone where Grenache rules unchallenged, providing the bedrock of some of the most approachable, fun loving, deliciously personable wines anywhere....Beguilingly juicy, sometimes heady, often boisterous in its youth...."

For the past seven years, fans of Grenache celebrated in real time and in cyberspace on International Grenache Day, sharing their passion for great wines. They join tens of thousands of Grenache fans from around the world, posting photobombs across social media, detailing inspired menus in blog posts, and sharing local celebrations on the #GrenacheDay 2016 Google MyMaps .

#GrenacheDay Fun:

Plan and share your event with the world on the #GrenacheDay Google MyMap which brings together a Global Gathering of Grenachistas. List Your Event Here !

which brings together a Global Gathering of Grenachistas. ! Visit Zazzle.com/grenache to buy your #GrenacheDay t-shirts, pins, wine glasses and more OR ORDER HERE .

to buy your #GrenacheDay t-shirts, pins, wine glasses and more OR . Join the conversation on Twitter with #GrenacheDay or follow the fun on @grenache_global .

. Post your #GrenacheDay photos and videos on Facebook.com/GrenacheDay , and Instagram or Pinterest wearing colorful purple or red clothing and drinking your favorite Grenache.

, and or wearing colorful purple or red clothing and drinking your favorite Grenache. Join the International Grenache Association to learn about upcoming events.

You can find these and other Grenachy suggestions on http://www.grenache-association.com/

U.S. Media Contact:

Jane Silverman

+1 305-587-8570

Email

EDITORS NOTES:

The Grenache Association is a grass-roots not-for-profit organization operated by volunteers who are passionate about wine and wine education, and open to lovers of fine wine across the world. Their goal is to educate wine lovers and promote Grenache through workshops and wine tastings, and to sustain it in the vineyards and in the glass!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PHOTOS

About International Grenache Day

International #GrenacheDay was launched in 2010 following the first International Grenache Symposium at La Verriere's vineyard in France. The symposium was founded by wine gurus Steven Spurrier and Michel Bettane, Walter McKinlay of Domaine de Mourchon, and Nicole Rolet of Chene Bleu wines.

Grenache is prevalent in the South of France, in regions such as the Southern Rhone (including Chateauneuf-du-Pape), Provence, Languedoc and Roussillon, as well as many of the best regions in Spain such as Priorat, Campo de Borja, Calatayud, and Sardegna in Italy. It is also popular in Australia and the US, and grown in more than a dozen other countries around the world including China.

This eco-superstar has drought-resistant deep-rooted vines and is particularly well-suited to withstand climate change. More wine enthusiasts are discovering Grenache's unique ability to transmit its "terroir" and exploring this rich variety.

SOURCE International Grenache Association

Related Links

http://www.grenache-association.com


BEVERLY, Mass., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Apparel company American Rhino has launched its new website at www.americanrhino.com, the company president and Foundation director announced Tuesday.

American Rhino, founded in 2016, was created by the American Rhino Foundation, an active participant in on-the-ground conservation efforts to protect critically endangered and threatened African wildlife. A percentage of every American Rhino clothing item sold will go to the foundation. In turn, the foundation will fund conservancy groups in Africa. "Our website is critical to fulfilling our philanthropic mission," said American Rhino president Chris Welles. "We believe American consumers can play a vital role in preserving African wildlife. In doing so, we help secure biodiversity and habitats so vital to Africa's economy and future."

"We wanted a cost-effective way to tell our story, and authenticity was crucial. We hired King Fish because of their strong track record creating digital content for apparel clients," Welles said.

To create authenticity in the website's look and feel, American Rhino partnered with King Fish to conduct a photo shoot in Africa. The goal: To showcase American Rhino's rugged products in action. "I've been to Africa several times, and I'm always inspired by the landscape. I wanted to bring that inspiration to the website," Welles said. The team shot on the slopes of Mount Kenya, in the Aberdare Mountains, the Maasai Mara National Reserve, and Nairobi.

Welles noted that King Fish also shot photos in other locations, including in-studio, to create the necessary product images, and was able to produce the website using cost-effective methods. Welles said he was pleased with King Fish's ability to tell American Rhino's multi-level story. "We came to King Fish because of its success in digital marketing and project management experience," Welles said. "The content and site design achieved my vision for the project. The website is crucial to building our identity and reaching consumers, and the final result has exceeded our expectations."

About American Rhino

American Rhino is clothing with a cause for those that buy quality gear, enjoy the safari lifestyle, and care deeply about African wildlife. The American Rhino Foundation designed and launched American Rhino to help fund the most effective non-profit African wildlife conservation organizations. The American Rhino Foundation is an active participant in on-the-ground conservation efforts to protect critically endangered and threatened African wildlife. Our mission is to preserve African wildlife by funding the most effective local wildlife conservation organizations and projects in Africa. For more information, visit www.americanrhino.com.

Contact:

Christopher Welles, President

American Rhino, LLC

[email protected]

About King Fish Media

The company develops integrated campaigns that create an emotional connection between clients and their customers and prospects. Each program is designed to deliver measurable results based on real-world marketing objectives. To effectively deliver branded content, King Fish helps clients Own Their Media Channel by strategically creating media platforms including branded editorial content, responsive web sites, social media campaigns, eBooks, white papers, infographics, online video, as well as live and virtual events. King Fish has created profit-generating programs for companies including Affinion, Ameriprise, Bank of America, BBVA Compass, Boston Market, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Cengage Learning, CoLucid, Commvault, David's Bridal, IBM, Janus Capital, Keurig Green Mountain, Precision Medicine Group, Zappos, and others. For more information, visit www.kingfishmedia.com.

Contact:

Cameron Brown, President

King Fish Media

[email protected]

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SOURCE American Rhino

Related Links

http://www.americanrhino.com


AMSTERDAM, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AVG Technologies N.V. (NYSE: AVG), the online security company, announced that, during an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) held today, AVG's general meeting adopted the proposed resolutions relating to the previously disclosed tender offer by Avast Software B.V. (Avast), a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Avast Holding B.V. (Parent), to purchase all of the outstanding shares of AVG. These matters are described in greater detail in the EGM agenda dated July 13, 2016 (the Agenda) disclosed previously by AVG. Capitalized terms used but not defined in this press release will have meanings as set forth in the Agenda.

On July 29, 2016, Avast commenced a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of AVG at a purchase price of $25.00 per share, in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes or other taxes. The tender offer is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. New York City time on August 31, 2016, unless extended, as described in detail in the tender offer statement on Schedule TO filed by Avast and Parent with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on July 29, 2016, as amended (the Schedule TO). The tender offer remains subject to certain conditions, as described in the Schedule TO, including the condition that at least 80% of AVG's outstanding shares be validly tendered and not withdrawn prior to the expiration of the offer.

About AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG)

AVG is the leading provider of software services to secure devices, data and people. AVG's award-winning consumer portfolio includes internet security, performance optimization, location services, data controls and insights, and privacy and identity protection, for mobile devices and desktops. The AVG Business portfolio, delivered through a global partner network, provides cloud security and remote monitoring and management solutions that protect small and medium businesses around the world. For more information visit www.avg.com.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

www.avg.com

investors.avg.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120306/SF65434LOGO

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

SOME OF THE STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, INCLUDING STATEMENTS REGARDING THE EXPECTED CONSUMMATION OF THE ACQUISITION OF AVG, WHICH INVOLVES A NUMBER OF RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES, INCLUDING THE SATISFACTION OF CLOSING CONDITIONS FOR THE ACQUISITION AND OTHER RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES DISCUSSED IN AVG'S PUBLIC FILINGS WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING THE "RISK FACTORS" SECTIONS OF AVG'S ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 20-F FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2015, AS WELL AS THE TENDER OFFER DOCUMENTS FILED BY AVAST AND PARENT AND THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT FILED BY AVG. THESE STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON CURRENT EXPECTATIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, ESTIMATES AND PROJECTIONS, AND INVOLVE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND OTHER FACTORS THAT MAY CAUSE RESULTS TO BE MATERIALLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. THESE STATEMENTS ARE GENERALLY IDENTIFIED BY WORDS OR PHRASES SUCH AS "BELIEVE", "ANTICIPATE", "EXPECT", "INTEND", "PLAN", "WILL", "MAY", "SHOULD", "ESTIMATE", "PREDICT", "POTENTIAL", "CONTINUE" OR THE NEGATIVE OF SUCH TERMS OR OTHER SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS. IF UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS PROVE INACCURATE OR UNKNOWN RISKS OR UNCERTAINTIES MATERIALIZE, ACTUAL RESULTS AND THE TIMING OF EVENTS MAY DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THE RESULTS AND/OR TIMING DISCUSSED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, AND YOU SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE RELIANCE ON THESE STATEMENTS. PARENT, AVAST AND AVG DISCLAIM ANY INTENT OR OBLIGATION TO UPDATE ANY FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AS A RESULT OF DEVELOPMENTS OCCURRING AFTER THE PERIOD COVERED BY THIS REPORT OR OTHERWISE.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT

THIS COMMUNICATION IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL AVG SHARES. THE SOLICITATION AND OFFER TO BUY AVG SHARES WILL ONLY BE MADE PURSUANT TO THE OFFER TO PURCHASE AND RELATED MATERIALS FILED BY AVAST WITH THE SEC. AVG HAS FILED A SOLICITATION /RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT ON SCHEDULE 14D-9 WITH THE SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS MAY OBTAIN A FREE COPY OF THESE MATERIALS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED BY PARENT, AVAST AND AVG WITH THE SEC AT THE WEBSITE MAINTAINED BY THE SEC AT WWW.SEC.GOV. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS MAY ALSO OBTAIN FREE COPIES OF THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC BY AVG AT WWW.AVG.COM.

SOURCE AVG Technologies

Related Links

http://www.avg.com


DENVER, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The start of a new school year is exciting, but it can also be a stressful time for kids worried about peer pressure and social anxiety. This is the perfect opportunity for parents to start a conversation with their kids about the use of alcohol and marijuana, and the misuse of prescription drugs and other drugs. The Speak Now Colorado campaign, developed by the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health, provides parents and caregivers evidence-based information and resources regarding youth substance abuse prevention.

"Back-to-school is the ideal time to have this conversation, because students will be meeting new friends and making decisions on how they are going to react to offers of alcohol or drugs," said Christian Thurstone, M.D., medical director at the Denver Health Substance Abuse Treatment, Education and Prevention Program. "Speak Now is a great resource to help parents have a meaningful dialogue with their kids about alcohol and drugs  a topic that can be difficult to initiate."

Research has found that parents can have an enormous influence on their children's drinking and drug use, especially during the preteen and early teen years. This is supported by 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey data, which found:

Youth who can ask a parent, guardian, or other adult for help are 1.5x LESS likely to binge drink.

Youth are 3x LESS likely to binge drink if a parent feels it's wrong.

The Speak Now Colorado website provides expert advice and resources for parents of kids 9-20 years of age, and is available in English and Spanish. The site has conversation starters for parents to consider when discussing parties with their kids, or if their child asks about their own use of drugs or alcohol. The site is also useful in helping parents to:

Identify high risk behaviors

Understand Colorado laws and punishments for possession, use, impaired driving, etc.

laws and punishments for possession, use, impaired driving, etc. Learn how alcohol and drugs can affect their child's developing brain

"The key is to talk about these issues not once, but in an ongoing way," Dr. Thurstone said. "This is crucial because your kids will face decisions regarding drugs and alcohol for years to come; they need a strong foundation from which to make healthy choices."

For more information, and for downloadable resource materials, such as fact sheets, posters and social media images, go to www.speaknowcolorado.org.

Contacts:

Erich Kirshner, Evolution Communications Agency

303.921.6733 or [email protected]

Katie Trexler Kern, Evolution Communications Agency

303.941.4118 or [email protected]

SOURCE Speak Now Colorado

Related Links

http://www.speaknowcolorado.org


HAMILTON, N.J., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bai Brands, the innovative, better-for-you beverage company and makers of Bai, Bai Bubbles and Antiwater, has partnered with VH1 Save The Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring music programs in America's public schools and raising awareness about the importance of music education. Between August 1st and September 30th, 2016 Bai will donate a portion of proceeds from every bottle and can sold to VH1 Save The Music Foundation*.

Bai inspires people to be the best version of themselves by being both good to their body and true to their soul. Bai believes that when people engage in their passions, like music, life becomes richer and more fulfilling.

"VH1 Save The Music Foundation shares in Bai's commitment to being authentic, creative and the best version of one's self," said Ben Weiss, Founder and CEO of Bai Brands. "We look forward to helping this incredible organization raise awareness around the importance of music as an essential part of a well-rounded education for children."

Earlier this summer, Bai announced a $15,000 donation for an Encore Grant to support a public school near Bai Headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey as part of the relationship. The brand will also be the Presenting Sponsor at the VH1 Save The Music Foundation's Hamptons LIVE celebrity event on August 27th with performances by Fifth Harmony and DJ Cassidy.

The co-branded national campaign will be further amplified with in-store point of sale displays, social media and event support.

For more information on Bai, visit www.drinkbai.com. For additional information on VH1 Save The Music Foundation visit http://www.vh1savethemusic.org/.

* Bai will donate up to a maximum of $150,000 to VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

ABOUT BAI BRANDS

Bai is an innovative beverage company that brings great taste and better-for-you ingredients together at last. Its two lines of enhanced waters, Bai and Bai Bubbles, offer fresh fruit flavor and antioxidants with no artificial sweeteners and only 5 calories and 1 gram of sugar per serving. Bai also produces Antiwater, an antioxidant-infused, super-purified bottled water. The company was founded by 20-year beverage industry veteran Ben Weiss in 2009 and has grown rapidly with its products now distributed by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. Bai Brands was named one of Inc.'s 500 fastest-growing private companies in 2014, as well as one of America's 20 Most Promising Companies by Forbes in 2015. For more information, visit www.drinkbai.com.

ABOUT VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC

The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to ensuring that music instruction is a core component to a complete education. Since 1997 we have partnered with more than 2000 public schools in 247 school districts, giving 2.8 million children the tools and confidence to excel in academics and in life. #SaveTheMusic and get involved at vh1savethemusic.org. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @vh1savethemusic.

SOURCE Bai Brands

Related Links

http://www.drinkbai.com


Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.23



By Aygun Badalova - Trend:



The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a $150 million long-term loan to Brisa Bridgestone Sabanc Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., a leader in the Turkish tyre sector and Europes seventh largest tyre manufacturer, the bank said August 23.



The company is a joint venture between one of Turkeys leading industrial and financial conglomerates Hac Omer Sabanc Holding and Japans Bridgestone Corporation, the worlds leading manufacturer of tyre and rubber products.



With EBRD financing, the company is planning to invest in its new greenfield plant in Aksaray Province Organised Industrial Zone to produce tyres for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles under the Bridgestone and Lassa brands.



Part of loan proceeds will also help Brisa expand their production of truck and bus tyres at its Izmit plant in north-western Anatolia, EBRDs report said.



The new production facility in Aksaray, a central Anatolian city, is set to become the companys strategic hub, serving the growing market for tyres in Turkey and neighbouring countries. It will also provide a significant boost to the local economy, according to the report.



The EBRD started investing in Turkey in 2009 and currently operates from offices in Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep. Some 98 percent of the banks investments in the country are in the private sector and about half of them are in projects that promote the sustainable use of energy.



To date, the EBRD has invested over seven billion euros in Turkey through more than 180 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance. It has also mobilised about 17 billion for these ventures from other sources of financing.


TROY, Mich., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For most companies, the corporate logo is sacrosanct. But as it enters its 25th year in business, Bianchi Public Relations, Inc. is adopting a special commemorative logo that acknowledges the firm's upcoming silver anniversary, according to agency founder and president Jim Bianchi.

A full-service business-to-business public relations agency with expertise in professional service firm and automotive supplier PR, Bianchi PR literally started as a "one-man band" in a basement office in August 1992  and has since grown into one of the top five independent PR firms based in Michigan, according to PRWeek magazine's annual rankings.

"Our special 25th anniversary logo honors our longevity and stability in an ever-changing business  not only the longevity and stability of our business, but also of our employee tenure and our client and media relationships," Bianchi said. "Our staff averages almost 17 years with the firm, and our ongoing retainer clients relationships average 11 years  with the oldest relationship spanning 24 years. That kind of longevity and stability is rare in the PR business."

The new logo will be used in the year-long run-up to the PR agency's actual 25th birthday  Aug. 10, 2017  in the firm's correspondence, advertising and social media activities. The logo and related Bianchi PR ads were developed by Communica, Inc., a full-service marketing, advertising and public relations agency headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, with offices in Columbus, Ohio; Troy, Mich.; Lexington, Ky.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Shanghai, China.

In conjunction with the year-long use of the special logo and ads, starting Sept. 1, Bianchi PR will also begin counting down its Top 25 PR projects on the company's blog at www.bianchipr.com/blog .

"Our Top 25 PR Projects posts will celebrate some of our favorite campaigns and will honor the clients that allowed us help them," Bianchi said. "They will span everything from the 1992 introduction of Freudenberg-NOK's lean manufacturing program to last year's media launch of the Domino's DXP pizza delivery vehicle, and will include our work with celebrities such as race car driving great Mario Andretti and Apollo 11 hero Jim Lovell."

What else does the PR firm have planned for its upcoming 25th anniversary? Bianchi said other activities to involve current clients, supplier partners and media friends  as well as the 49 former interns that firm helped start their careers  are in the works.

The firm initially concentrated on PR for the transportation sectors, but now offers extensive experience in automotive and industrial, professional service firm and business-to-business PR and social media. Current ongoing clients include some of the world's leading manufacturers, such as BASF, Cooper Standard, Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies, Johnson Controls Automotive (Seating), Johnson Controls Power Solutions, Schaeffler Group, SRG Global, Yanfeng Automotive Interiors and ZF TRW.

Recent project clients include: KIRCO, the Troy-based full-service real estate development, construction and property management company; Attorneys Title Agency, a rapidly growing national full-service title insurance agency; Pittsburgh Glass Works, a world-leading supplier of automotive glass; and Accuride Corp., a leading supplier of wheel and wheel-end components to the global commercial vehicle industry.

The firm has also worked with organizations such as the Automotive Industry Action Group, the Center for Automotive Research, SAE International, the Motor Vehicle Lighting Council and the Steel Market Development Institute; truck industry suppliers such as Fruehauf Trailer and Meritor; technology specialists such as Munro & Associates, NxtGen Emission Control and Ricardo; and professional service firms in the law, consulting, engineering, market research and forecasting sectors.

About Bianchi Public Relations, Inc .

With special expertise in PR and social media in the automotive supplier, business-to-business and professional service firm sectors, Bianchi PR was founded in 1992 by accredited PR practitioner and PRSA Detroit Hall of Famer Jim Bianchi, and was recently ranked #2 among independent PR agencies based in Michigan, according to PRWeek magazine's 2016 agency report. For more information, visit www.bianchipr.com or call 248-269-1122.

Bianchi PR is a member of the Public Relations Global Network  "The World's Local Agency"  one of the world's largest international public relations networks. PRGN harnesses the resources of nearly 50 independent public relations firms and more than 800 communications professionals to connect international companies and organizations with individual and culturally diverse markets globally. Visit PRGN online at www.prgn.com or on Twitter at @PRGN.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160823/400433LOGO

SOURCE Bianchi Public Relations, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.bianchipr.com


LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackLine, a leading provider of financial controls and automation solutions that enable Continuous Accounting, has been named to the 2016 Inc. 500/5000 list, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, for the ninth year in a row. In the 35 years that Inc. has been tracking America's fastest-growing private companies, only a select group of organizations have accomplished this feat. In making the list, BlackLine joins such prestigious brands as Microsoft, Jamba Juice and Patagonia.

The 2016 Inc. 500/5000 companies are ranked according to percentage revenue growth comparing 2012 to 2015. To view the BlackLine profile, please go here.

"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. 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."

BlackLine provides a host of tightly integrated applications and packaged solutions that automate and accelerate the financial close and other key Finance & Accounting processes  from within a single, unified cloud-based platform. Leading companies of all sizes are now implementing financial controls and automation solutions as part of their efforts to transform legacy, back-office operations into world-class, Modern Finance organizations with greater efficiencies and reduced compliance risk.

Complete results of the 2016 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.

About BlackLine

BlackLine is a provider of cloud-based solutions for Finance & Accounting (F&A) that centralize and streamline financial close operations and other key F&A processes for midsize and large organizations. Designed to complement ERP and other financial systems, the BlackLine Finance Controls & Automation Platform increases operational efficiency, real-time visibility, control and compliance to ensure end-to-end financial close management, fueling confidence throughout the entire accounting cycle.

BlackLine's mission is to continuously improve the quality, accuracy and efficiency of Finance & Accounting by centralizing key functions within a single, unified cloud platform. Enabling customers to move beyond outdated processes and point solutions to a Continuous Accounting model, in which real-time automation, controls and period-end tasks are embedded within day-to-day activities, BlackLine helps companies achieve Modern Finance status, ensuring more accurate and insightful financial statements and a more efficient financial close. More than 1,500 companies with users in over 100 countries around the world trust BlackLine to ensure balance sheet integrity and confidence in their financial statements.

BlackLine is recognized by Gartner as a Leader in its 2016 Magic Quadrant for Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) Solutions and as a pioneer of the Enhanced Financial Controls & Automation (EFCA) software category.

Based in Los Angeles, BlackLine also has regional headquarters in London, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, please visit www.blackline.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20061117/LAF027LOGO

SOURCE BlackLine

Related Links

http://www.blackline.com


ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg BNA software products has been recognized with two industry awards, the Golden Bridge Award, Gold Winner for BNA State Tax Analyzer and the Network Product Guide IT World Awards, Silver Winner for BNA Fixed Assets. BNA State Tax Analyzer, the industry-leading multistate, multiyear, multi-scenario state tax analysis tool for corporate income tax, with support for net operating losses (NOLs) from 1998 forward, and BNA Fixed Assets, which automates and manages the complete fixed assets lifecycle were named winners in the "Information Technology Software" and the "Governance, Risk & Compliance Solution" categories, respectively.

This year alone, Bloomberg BNA software products has received numerous awards, including:

2016 Stevie Award for BNA Fixed Assets and BNA Sales Tax Rates

for BNA Fixed Assets and BNA Sales Tax Rates Accounting Today's 2016 Top New Products for BNA State Tax Analyzer

2016 Top New Products for BNA State Tax Analyzer CPA Practice Advisor's Five-Star Rating for BNA Fixed Assets

"We are excited with the recent accolades for our tax and accounting software solutions," said Ken Crutchfield, Vice President of Bloomberg BNA's software products. "At the end of the day, it is our visionary customers we have to thank for forging new and innovative ways to meet their tax and accounting needs with our software solutions."

About Bloomberg BNA's Software Products

Bloomberg BNA offers expert software products for tax and accounting professionals. We are the solution for professional firms and corporations of every size, who depend upon Bloomberg BNA's software products for the highest degree of tax, regulatory, and compliance expertise. To learn more visit www.bnasoftware.com

About Bloomberg BNA

Bloomberg BNA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bloomberg, is a leading source of legal, regulatory, and business information for professionals. Its network of more than 2,500 reporters, correspondents, and leading practitioners delivers expert analysis, news, practice tools, and guidance  the information that matters most to professionals. Bloomberg BNA's authoritative coverage spans a full range of legal practice areas, including tax & accounting, labor & employment, intellectual property, banking & securities, employee benefits, health care, privacy & data security, human resources, and environment, health & safety. To learn more visit www.bna.com.

About the Golden Bridge Awards

The Golden Bridge Awards are an annual industry and peers recognition program honoring best companies in every major industry from large to small, including new start-ups in North America, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin-America. Categories include Best New Products and Services, Best Innovations, Management and Teams, Women in Business and the Professions, Case Studies, Customer Satisfaction, PR, and Marketing Campaigns from all over the world. Learn more about the Golden Bridge Awards at www.goldenbridgeawards.com.

About the Network Products Guide IT World Awards

As the industry's leading technology research and advisory publication, Network Products Guide (NPG) plays a vital role in keeping decision-makers and end-users informed as to the many choices available to them when it comes to selecting the latest in information technology. The Annual IT World Awards is part of the SVUS Awards recognition program from Silicon Valley, California which also includes other programs such as CEO World Awards, Consumer World Awards, Customer Sales and Service World Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Globee Fastest Growing Private Companies Awards, Info Security PG's Global Excellence Awards, Pillar World Awards, PR World Awards, and Women World Awards. To learn more, visit www.networkproductsguide.com.

SOURCE Bloomberg BNA

Related Links

http://www.bna.com


BEIJING and ARMONK, N.Y., Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bodhi Healthcare Group turned to IBM (NYSE: IBM) to develop a new cloud-based healthcare platform built on the IBM LinuxONE to power a new cloud-based healthcare platform to support the new technology branch of Qingdao Municipal Hospital Group. By leveraging the security, scale and reliability of LinuxONE, the Bodhi Healthcare Cloud Platform offers an integrated, private cloud solution to promote information exchange within and between hospitals, aid in treatment decision-making and help drive seamless interactions between patients and their care providers.

Bodhi Healthcare Group, part of the BAHEAL Pharmaceutical Holdings network, works to apply and manage advanced technology solutions to address pain points in the healthcare industry, helping drive decentralization and greater efficiency. With this dedicated cloud, Qingdao Municipal Healthcare Group can provide its users with an integrated information platform containing physician and patient data. The platform helps support the various steps of the healthcare process, including disease screening, cause analysis, diagnosis and treatment, care and rehabilitation and pharmacy and health management. To better engage and empower users, Bodhi Healthcare provides physicians with a tablet device that allows them to communicate with patients, remotely manage patients' care and make treatment decisions.

The healthcare industry in China is shifting rapidly, as policies to support a more proactive model of care encourage the adoption of healthcare technology services like the new cloud platform for Qingdao Municipal Healthcare Group. While information silos persist, the launch of this solution could help create a more integrated approach to health information, enhanced therapy decision-making and improved patient experience.

"Medical reform in China will rely on a transformation in how data is used and shared, enabling the establishment of stronger doctor-patient decisions and relationships. We believe data is the future of the healthcare industry. With the current accelerated transformation of the healthcare industry, we want to utilize advanced technical capabilities to enable smarter healthcare, improve the overall capabilities of physicians with a professional cloud platform, enhance communication between physicians and their patients and promote the creation of a proactive healthcare system through the cloud and mobile technology model," said Fu Gang, Founder of BAHEAL and Chairman of Bodhi Healthcare Group.

LinuxONE, introduced in August 2015, is the industry's most powerful and secure Linux-only enterprise system. LinuxONE is enabled for a broad range of popular open source and ISV tools, as well as mobile technologies, and can help organizations like Qindgdao Municipal Healthcare Group manage a secure, dedicated cloud environment. In China, IBM will provide comprehensive training, testing and technical support for local customers, partners, universities and developers on the platform.

"There is a proliferation of medical data in health systems around the world. The healthcare providers that Bodhi Medical Group supports needed a solution that helped them integrate and draw insights from previously siloed data," said Gary Shih, Vice President, Server Solution, Hardware Systems, IBM GCG. "This local cloud environment based on our leading infrastructure technology helps meet hospitals' security needs while supporting them as they transform through technology."

In addition to providing and managing the Bodhi Healthcare Cloud Platform, BAHEAL also works with public hospitals like Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital to help them become regional healthcare leaders.

Contact:

Hannah Slocum

IBM Media Relations

+1 978 877 0105

[email protected]

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SOURCE IBM
MIAMI, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line and its parent company, Carnival Corporation, are giving a total of $250,000 to charitable organizations to support their efforts on behalf of victims of the Louisiana floods. The cruise line is donating $125,000 and its parent company is matching that amount through its Carnival Foundation charitable arm.

Recipients include the American Red Cross, Louisiana Association of United Ways and Save the Children.

In addition, guests sailing on Carnival cruises from New Orleans have the option to donate when they check in for their cruise and Carnival employees are being encouraged to donate, as well.

"Having homeported Carnival ships in Louisiana for more than two decades, we very much consider ourselves a part of the community and, therefore, it is extremely important to us to provide aid to support the tens of thousands of Louisiana residents who have been affected by these devastating floods," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

The American Red Cross is sheltering thousands of residents displaced by the flooding in southern Louisiana and delivering food, relief supplies and emotional support to flood victims. Donations to the Louisiana Association of United Ways will be dispersed among regional United Way organizations in communities affected by the floods to support long-term needs. Save the Children has deployed an emergency response team to Louisiana and is focused on meeting the critical needs of flood affected children and families and moving forward will be working to restore services essential to children's well-being.

Carnival is Louisiana's most popular cruise line and has operated from the Port of New Orleans since 1994. Carnival is the only line operating two year-round ships, Carnival Triumph and Carnival Dream, carrying 450,000 guests from the port annually. Since 2004 Carnival has embarked over 3 million guests from New Orleans.

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, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The company's newest ship, the 133,500-ton Carnival Horizon, is construction and set to debut in 2018.

SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line

Related Links

http://www.carnivalcorp.com


TULSA, Okla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Casino Cash Trac (CCT) received top honors among the nation's fastest-growing private companies. Inc.'s list ranks companies according to percentage revenue growth. Today, Inc. magazine ranked Casino Cash Trac #251 on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies.

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The 2016 Inc. 5000 unveiled online at Inc.com 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%.

Topping the list in their home state, Casino Cash Trac ranked as the #1 company in Oklahoma, the #19 Software company in America, and #251 fastest-growing company on the Inc. 500 list. Since 2012 CCT has seen a 1,575% increase in revenues.

"We are proud to have been named to the Inc. 500 list, alongside many of the country's most successful and innovative organizations. This recognition of our Casino Audit System (CAS) supports the efforts our talented team has made to create a more efficient and effective processes for casino cage, vault and revenue audit departments," says CCT's CEO Kurt Williams.

Since its inception in 2012, Casino Cash Trac has been helping casinos across the US with its CAS solution for cage operations and revenue audit automation. It offers full integration with Casino Management Systems, food & beverage systems, hotel systems, recyclers/kiosks/ATMs/cash dispensers all on a single platform for superior auditing, management reporting, analytics and so much more. The Inc. 500 award underscores the value of CCT's offerings and validates their strategy of providing a cutting edge solution accompanied with world class customer service.

"To be named to this exclusive list of successful companies is a remarkable honor," says CCT's COO, Drew Word. "Our growth is a direct result of our employees' commitment to provide our customers with a superior solution. Our CAS solution helps our clients generate cost savings, improved efficiencies and streamline their casino operations. This award is a major milestone in our company's recognition as a driving force in the gaming industry."

About Casino Cash Trac

Casino Cash Trac has marketed its award winning solution Casino Insight since 2012 with over 100 casinos utilizing our CAS solution. The company's leading product is a suite of software tools that manages casino operations, as well as providing business intelligence for casino operators worldwide. Casino Cash Trac corporate offices are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. www.casinocashtrac.com

Contact:

Wanor Franca

Email

405-820-3967

SOURCE Casino Cash Trac

Related Links

http://www.casinocashtrac.com


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mr. Charles M. Childress was awarded the prestigious Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award by the Federal Aviation Administration in a ceremony on August 12th.

The Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award is named in honor of Mr. Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic in powered flight. The Charles Taylor "Master Mechanic" Award recognizes the lifetime accomplishments of senior mechanics. Mr. Taylor served as the Wright brothers' mechanic and is credited with designing and building the engine for their first successful aircraft.

Mr. Childress's extraordinary career spans 50 years, starting with service in the United States Air Force. Since January 1970, he has been a dedicated team member with Piedmont Propulsion Systems, LLC and predecessor firms in Winston-Salem, NC. Mr. Childress performed maintenance on Dowty, Hamilton Sundstrand, Hartzell and McCauley propellers as a technician, crew chief, quality inspector and manager.

Sammy Oakley, General Manager of PPS said of Mr. Childress: "He has been an integral part of the success of Piedmont Propulsion Systems and is his leadership has resulted in the training of generations of mechanics. We are truly proud that Charles is part of our organization." The Ceremony was held at Piedmont Propulsion Systems' headquarters facility that is also named in Mr. Childress's honor.

About Piedmont Propulsion Systems (www.piedmontpropulsion.com)

For more than 60 years, major airlines, cargo operators, militaries, governments, and private operators worldwide have been turning to Piedmont Propulsion for their propeller maintenance and overhaul solutions. Piedmont is the most modern and largest dedicated propeller facility in the world with FAA Propeller Class 1 and Class 2 and EASA Repair Station ratings for all Dowty, Hamilton, Hartzell, and McCauley propellers. PPS is an authorized Hartzell and McCauley service center and the only facility in the world with FAA/EASA certification to overhaul all ATR and Dash 8 / Q400 propeller types. PPS also supports with the same dedication to customer service, out-of-production propellers including the classic Dash-8, Saab 340, Saab 2000, Fokker 27/50/60, EMB-120, & DHC-6 platforms.

About First Aviation Services Inc. (www.firstaviation.com)

First Aviation Services Inc. (FAvS), headquartered in Westport, Connecticut, is a leading provider of repair and overhaul, rotables management and related engineering services to the aviation industry worldwide. FAvS's principal operating subsidiaries are Aerospace Turbine Rotables, Inc. (AeTR) and Evolution Aerospace, Inc. (EVO) in Wichita, KS and Piedmont Propulsion Systems, LLC (PPS) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. More information about FAvS and its subsidiaries may be found on the company's website www.firstaviation.com.

Contact: Sammy Oakley

Piedmont Propulsion Systems, LLC

[email protected]

SOURCE Piedmont Propulsion Systems, LLC

Related Links

http://www.piedmontpropulsion.com


ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Porte Brown LLC, www.PorteBrown.com, a Chicagoland accounting firm providing accounting, audit, tax, technology and wealth management services, is pleased to announce it has been named among the top 200 largest accounting firms in the U.S. by The Platt Group/Inside Public Accounting. The 2016 IPA Special Report ranks the top 300 firms in the nation according to net revenue (Y/E 2015). Porte Brown ranked 151st overall with a net revenue of more than $20 million in the recently published list. This is a sizeable jump from last year's results when Porte Brown was listed at 167th overall. More than 500 firms complete the in-depth financial and operational survey annually. The compiled data is then used to rank and benchmark U.S.-based firms and helps serve as a key indicator of the health and growth of the accounting industry.

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"In the past few years we have seen more interest in specific service areas, such as wealth management, accounting consulting/technology and business valuations/succession planning," said Bruce Jones, Managing Partner. "The growth we are seeing today would not be possible without our staff's willingness to find the right solution to match our clients' specific needs and goals," Jones continued. "As we continue to grow, we appreciate the feedback we receive from our clients and look forward to not only meeting our clients' expectations but exceeding them."

About Porte Brown

Porte Brown LLC is a full service accounting and consulting firm headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. For more than 70 years, Porte Brown has focused on providing the highest level of service to individuals, businesses and organizations throughout the region. In addition to the traditional accounting services such as tax planning and preparation, audit, business valuations, and retirement plan administration. Porte Brown also provides strategic consulting and leading-edge technology implementation for clients in cloud and non-cloud environments. Wealth management services provided by Porte Brown Wealth Management LLC.*

Porte Brown serves accounting and consulting clients from offices in Illinois, Indiana, Florida and Texas. For more information, visit www.portebrown.com or call 847-956-1040.

*Securities offered through 1st Global Capital Corp., Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through 1st Global Advisors, Inc. Insurance services offered through 1st Global Insurance Services, Inc.

Contact: Pam Metzger

Email

847-956-1040

www.portebrown.com

SOURCE Porte Brown LLC

Related Links

http://www.portebrown.com


YONKERS, N.Y., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine ranked ClasonPoint Partners Inc. (CPP) # 172 on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The Yonkers, N.Y. based Government Services company posted a Three-Year sales growth of 2,093%.

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"It's a very gratifying acknowledgement of the fantastic work that our terrific team does every day" says CPP President, Albert Cruz. "Since day 1, our vision has been to succeed through service excellence and our staff lives that vision every day for our customers. Making Inc.'s list validates that vision; but mostly it underscores the great work our technical, logistical and administrative support folks do in support of our customers."

This is CPP's first year on the Inc. 5000, where in addition to ranking among the top 200, it also ranked 10th in the Government Services sector and 15th among New York State based companies.

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."

About ClasonPoint Partners

Clason Point Partners Inc. (CPP) is a "Turnkey Solutions" company whose experienced professionals provide administrative, logistics and information technology support services to Federal Government Military and Civilian Agencies. CPP is committed to total quality and to our desire to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction. Our clients recognize the firms range, depth and versatility, as well as our commitment to continue to assure that the decision-makers in the company are the ones who deal every day with our clients. CPP is headquartered in New York and is an SBA 8(a), New York State Minority/Women owned Business Enterprise (M/BWE) and New York City M/WBE certified small disadvantaged business.

CONTACT: Denisse McMahon (914) 377-0301 [email protected]

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.

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This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Clason Point Partners Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cppsystems.com


MENTOR, Ohio, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its long history of successful projects in South Florida, Ohio-based Cleveland Construction Inc. announced that it will open an office in Fort Lauderdale to expand its local market presence.

Cleveland Construction Inc. has served clients in Florida since 1984. Fort Lauderdale marks the firm's second location in Florida, joining the Naples office that opened in 2005, and positioning the company to better serve clients across South Florida. The new office is located at 1650 Southeast 17th Street, Suite 212 in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

"We've done a tremendous amount of work in Florida. We've been successful there, and we have a lot of repeat customers in that market," says Senior Vice President of Construction Keith Ziegler, who oversees Cleveland Construction Inc.'s general contracting operation, including Cleveland, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale and national projects. "We need a local presence and a functional office to support customer service. This new office will give us an additional home base for our Florida project managers and staff."

Ziegler, who has been at Cleveland Construction Inc. since its inception in 1980, will oversee Brad Adams, the newly-hired General Manager of Florida who is responsible for establishing the Fort Lauderdale office. Adams relocated to Fort Lauderdale from Arkansas, where he spent the last 12 years at Walmart, serving as Director of Construction and most recently Senior Design Manager. In his role managing Walmart's construction projects, Adams worked closely with Ziegler and Cleveland Construction Inc. on many projects.

"Cleveland Construction Inc. was always at the front of being selected as a contractor because they have a very high level of customer service and experience that was unmatched," says Adams, who brings 30 years of civil engineering and construction experience to his role at Cleveland Construction Inc. "Their dedication to project success is what was so appealing to me."

Initially, Adams will concentrate on business development in South Florida, securing the firm's local market presence by establishing and maintaining client relationships. To service immediate needs, several Cleveland-based employees will join him, and as the office grows, roles will be filled with local talent. By next spring, Adams predicts that the Florida office will hire 12 employees.

Once the Fort Lauderdale office is established, Adams' focus will shift from business development to operational management, while keeping client service a top priority.

"I want to build a team locally to provide the same level of service in Florida that clients enjoy in Cleveland," Adams says. "We will use our resources from Cleveland to build the same culture and set the same performance expectation for customer service."

The Fort Lauderdale location is the seventh regional office of Cleveland Construction Inc., following the firm's recent expansion into Charlotte. By strengthening its local market presence in Florida, Cleveland Construction Inc. continues to scale its reputation across the country.

About Cleveland Construction Inc.

Cleveland Construction Inc. is a family-owned commercial contractor specializing in general contracting, construction management and design-build services. The company offers preconstruction and construction services within the hospitality, multi-family, retail, mixed-use, health care, higher education, industrial and corporate office markets. Cleveland Construction has seven regional office locations and employs approximately 1,500 construction professionals and tradesmen. More company information can be found at www.clevelandconstruction.com.

SOURCE Cleveland Construction Inc.

Related Links

http://www.clevelandconstruction.com


The US State Department said on Friday that Turkey has formally requested the extradition of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen but not on issues related to the recent coup attempt, which Turkish leaders have accused him of inspiring, Reuters reported.

"We can confirm now that Turkey has requested the extradition of Gulen," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing. US officials earlier said they were reviewing documents submitted by Turkey but were not able to say they constituted an extradition request.

Toner told reporters the formal extradition request from Turkey was not related to the attempted coup earlier this year but was for other issues for which Gulen was being sought by authorities in Ankara.

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 had 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.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Comprehensive Logistics Co., Inc., a premier third-party logistics provider, announced today that it was named to the 35th annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing privately held companies.

This exclusive ranking of the nation's top companies is based primarily on growth and represents the most comprehensive look at America's entrepreneurs, an important segment of the economy. Comprehensive Logistics recorded an impressive 123 percent revenue growth over the past three years. 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. The 2016 Inc. 5000 is the most competitive crop in the list's history.

"To be included among this exclusive group of remarkable companies is a great honor and testament to the hard-working people at CLI who drive our company every day," said Brad Constantini, Comprehensive Logistics' Principal. "This recognition illustrates a sound growth and diversification strategy being executed by our talented and dedicated employees. As we continue to fuel momentum, we have built a solid foundationprocess, innovation, technology, and talentfor continued success and an ongoing commitment to provide excellence and value for our customers."

"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 recognition from Inc. comes shortly after two other recent awards for Comprehensive Logistics. The company was recognized by Inbound Logistics as a Top 100 3PL Provider and by Global Trade as one of America's Top 10 Innovative 3PL Providers.

The complete 2016 Inc. 5000 list can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About Comprehensive Logistics

Comprehensive Logistics is a leading full-service, third-party logistics provider of high-volume, high-velocity warehouse management, contract manufacturing, and transportation management services, which support just-in-time manufacturing customers.

Comprehensive Logistics manages more than 20 operations comprising over 4 million square feet of warehouse space throughout North America. Many of its customers are Fortune 100 companies, including North America's top automotive OEMs, agricultural OEMs, heavy duty truck OEMs, Tier-1 automotive suppliers, and other leading industrial OEMs.

Comprehensive Logistics' complete range of services include supply chain engineering; facility design; proprietary warehouse management system development; IT system integration; warehouse management; parts sequencing; sub-assembly manufacturing; kitting; parts repacking; returnable container management; cross-docking; international inbound/outbound materials management; and dedicated shuttle, transportation, and yard management. More information is available at www.complog.com.

Donald Rendulic

330-539-1099, Ext. 648

[email protected]

SOURCE Comprehensive Logistics Co., Inc.

Related Links

http://www.complog.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Which companies have the best and worst customer service? 24/7 Wall St. collaborated with research survey group Zogby Analytics and polled 1,500 adults about the quality of customer service at 151 of America's best-known companies. 24/7 identified companies that truly stand out for their positive, and sometimes negative, customer experiences. Click HERE for the full article.

E-commerce company Amazon tops the list yet again  for the seventh year in a row. Phone and electronic device manufacturers Apple, Samsung, and Sony; restaurants Chick-fil-A and Starbucks; and mail carriers FedEx and UPS also made the Hall of Fame this year. Hospitality companies Hilton and Marriott as well as Internet companies YouTube, Netflix, and Google also made the list.

The 15 companies with the highest share of poor ratings make up the Customer Service Hall of Shame; those with the most excellent ratings make up 24/7's Customer Service Hall Fame.

Click HERE for 24/7 Wall St.'s Customer Service Hall of Shame

Click HERE for 24/7 Wall St.'s Customer Service Hall of Fame

METHODOLOGY

24/7 Wall St. commissioned Zogby Analytics to conduct an online national survey of more than 1,500 randomly chosen respondents to rate customer service at 151 of the best-known companies in the country. Seventeen industries are represented in the study.

Respondents were asked to evaluate customer service quality as "excellent," "good," "fair," or "poor." Of the 151 companies, 112 had at least 500 valid responses. We did not consider companies with fewer valid responses.

When a company with multiple divisions scored as one of the best or worst for customer satisfaction, we listed the company only once in our rank.

The 15 companies with the highest percentage of "poor" responses represent our Customer Service Hall of Shame. Using the same methodology, the 15 companies with the highest percentage of "excellent" responses became our Customer Service Hall of Fame. This is the third year 24/7 Wall St. has conducted this study.

About Us

24/7 Wall St., LLC is a Delaware corporation which runs a financial news and opinion company with content delivered over the Internet. The company's articles are republished by many of the largest news sites and portals, including MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, Time.com, USAToday, and The Huffington Post.

The company publishes over 30 articles per day and has readers throughout North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Contact : Tom Gibson

GIBSON Communications, LLC

Office: +1.201.476.0322

Mobile: +1.201.264.3646

SOURCE 24/7 Wall St., LLC

Related Links

http://247wallst.com


FATE, Texas, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Curtis Stevens is the founder of a brand new seasoning product called One & Done, and is already receiving national recognition for the product that he launched in July 2016. Stevens has been selected to travel to Home Shopping Network's headquarters on August 31 to pitch One & Done to a team of executives for a chance to be featured on HSN and in Good Housekeeping magazine.

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"Tasting is believing, and as soon as people taste this seasoning, they know it's the last seasoning they'll ever need," said Stevens. "One & Done was created to replace pantries full of seasonings and provide a flavor that can accompany any dish. It's an honor to be recognized by HSN and Good Housekeeping so early into the release of my product. It goes to show just how far one taste of One & Done can go."

Building on HSN's existing American Dreams initiative  a program designed to cultivate and introduce innovative new products to the marketplace  HSN and Good Housekeeping decided to join their network of audiences to launch a nationwide search to find a passionate entrepreneur with a new and unique product.

Released in July 2016, One & Done is the one seasoning you will ever need. As versatile as salt and pepper but much more flavorful, One & Done makes all food taste better (except dessert!) One & Done can be applied generously to beef, chicken, pork, fish, vegetables, eggs, potatoes, or any other meal you can think of. It's Gluten, MSG and preservative free and made in the USA. One & Done can be purchased on Amazon or through its website (www.oneseasoning.com).

Stevens will travel to HSN's headquarters in St. Petersburg, FL the week of August 29, where he will showcase his product, participate in on-air training from an HSN host and receive direct feedback from merchants and executives from both the HSN and Good Housekeeping teams. Finalists selected during the August judging event will be announced in the December issue of Good Housekeeping magazine and will be featured on HSN in December. HSN and Good Housekeeping will then select one entrepreneur who will be able to introduce their brand to HSN's 96 million households and in the magazine, reaching its 25+ million readers. They will also have the chance to have their product tested in the Good Housekeeping Institute for the opportunity to receive the sought-after Good Housekeeping Seal for one year.

Judging will take place at HSN on August 30 and 31. Up to ten finalists will be selected in September and be featured in the December issue of Good Housekeeping, on newsstands on or about November 15. The public will be invited to vote on their favorite product and those votes will be taken into consideration in selecting the final winner.

Media Contact:

Curtis Stevens

Email

(844) 631-9040

SOURCE One & Done Seasoning

Related Links

http://www.oneseasoning.com


BROOKLYN, N.Y., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the outsourcing of microchip design and fabrication a worldwide, $350 billion business, bad actors along the supply chain have many opportunities to install malicious circuitry in chips. These "Trojan horses" look harmless but can allow attackers to sabotage healthcare devices; public infrastructure; and financial, military, or government electronics.

Siddharth Garg, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and fellow researchers are developing a unique solution: a chip with both an embedded module that proves that its calculations are correct and an external module that validates the first module's proofs.

While software viruses are easy to spot and fix with downloadable patches, deliberately inserted hardware defects are invisible and act surreptitiously. For example, a secretly inserted "back door" function could allow attackers to alter or take over a device or system at a specific time. Garg's configuration, an example of an approach called "verifiable computing" (VC), keeps tabs on a chip's performance and can spot telltale signs of Trojans.

The ability to verify has become vital in an electronics age without trust: Gone are the days when a company could design, prototype, and manufacture its own chips. Manufacturing costs are now so high that designs are sent to offshore foundries, where security cannot always be assured.

But under the system proposed by Garg and his colleagues, the verifying processor can be fabricated separately from the chip. "Employing an external verification unit made by a trusted fabricator means that I can go to an untrusted foundry to produce a chip that has not only the circuitry-performing computations, but also a module that presents proofs of correctness," said Garg.

The chip designer then turns to a trusted foundry to build a separate, less complex module: an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), whose sole job is to validate the proofs of correctness generated by the internal module of the untrusted chip.

Garg said that this arrangement provides a safety net for the chip maker and the end user. "Under the current system, I can get a chip back from a foundry with an embedded Trojan. It might not show up during post-fabrication testing, so I'll send it to the customer," said Garg. "But two years down the line it could begin misbehaving. The nice thing about our solution is that I don't have to trust the chip because every time I give it a new input, it produces the output and the proofs of correctness, and the external module lets me continuously validate those proofs."

An added advantage is that the chip built by the external foundry is smaller, faster, and more power-efficient than the trusted ASIC, sometimes by orders of magnitude. The VC setup can therefore potentially reduce the time, energy, and chip area needed to generate proofs.

"For certain types of computations, it can even outperform the alternative: performing the computation directly on a trusted chip," Garg said.

The researchers next plan to investigate techniques to reduce both the overhead that generating and verifying proofs imposes on a system and the bandwidth required between the prover and verifier chips. "And because with hardware, the proof is always in the pudding, we plan to prototype our ideas with real silicon chips," said Garg.

To pursue the promise of verifiable ASICs, Garg, abhi shelat* of the University of Virginia, Rosario Gennaro of the City University of New York, Mariana Raykova of Yale University, and Michael Taylor of the University of California, San Diego, will share a five-year National Science Foundation Large Grant of $3 million.

Verifiable ASICS by Riad S. Wahby of Stanford University, Max Howald of The Cooper Union, Garg, shelat, and Michael Walfish of the NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, earned a Distinguished Student Paper Award at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, one of the leading global conferences for computer security research, held in May in Oakland, California. The authors were supported by grants from the NSF, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research, a Microsoft Faculty Fellowship, and a Google Faculty Research Award.

The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, when the NYU School of Civil Engineering and Architecture as well as the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly) were founded. Their successor institutions merged in January 2014 to create a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition to programs at its main campus in downtown Brooklyn, it is closely connected to engineering programs in NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai, and it operates business incubators in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. For more information, visit http://engineering.nyu.edu.

*ahbi shelat prefers lower-case spelling

facebook.com/nyupoly

@nyupoly

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SOURCE NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Related Links

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LONDON, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DalCor Pharmaceuticals today announced the opening of multiple international clinical trial sites in New Zealand and Europe for its Phase 3 dal-GenE clinical trial, a cardiovascular outcomes study of dalcetrapib in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the AA genotype in the ADCY9 gene. DalCor will also be assembling the dal-GenE study's steering committee at the European Society Cardiology's ESC Congress taking place in Rome on Aug. 27-31, 2016. The study was initiated in April 2016 in North America and top-line data are expected in 2020.

The dal-GenE study will enroll a total of 5000 patients across 1000 centers in 33 countries including the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Israel and others. These centers will be activated and begin enrolling patients throughout 2016.

DalCor Pharmaceuticals and The Montreal Heart Institute have also recently announced the publication in Circulation Cardiovascular Genetics of data demonstrating dalcetrapib's AA genotype-dependent beneficial effects on inflammation marker C-reactive protein as well as cholesterol efflux in patients with ACS.

Quotes

Donald Black, M.D., FACC, chief medical officer of DalCor, said "Based on the multiple, consistent results of the dal-Outcomes and dal-Plaque 2 genetic analyses, we are optimistic that dalcetrapib will reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with the AA genotype in the dal-GenE Phase 3 study. Opening these additional clinical sites is an important step in ensuring that we complete this trial, and we are confident that we will be in a position to share top-line data in 2020."

Harvey D. White, M.D., director of coronary care and cardiovascular research at the Green Lane Cardiovascular Service, Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand and a study investigator, said "We look forward to participating in this first-of-its kind Phase 3 clinical trial. We believe this study represents significant progress in our ability to employ precision medicine to improve outcomes in patients with high risk cardiovascular disease. The AA genotype is as prevalent in New Zealand as it is in the U.S. and Europe so we expect to support the trial with strong enrollment from our institution."

About the dal-GenE Clinical Trial

The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter Phase 3 clinical trial will enroll 5,000 patients recently hospitalized with ACS and who express the AA genotype at variant rs1967309 in the ADCY9 gene, determined by an investigational companion diagnostic test developed by Roche Molecular Systems (RMS). The primary endpoint of the study is the time to first occurrence of any component of the composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke. The trial will be conducted at 1,000 sites in 33 countries.

About Dalcetrapib

In 2012, investigators at the Montreal Heart Institute led by Professors Jean-Claude Tardif and Marie- Pierre Dube found a significant association between the effects of dalcetrapib in altering CV events and the polymorphism at the rs1967309 location in the adenylate cyclase type 9 (ADCY9) gene. Patients with the AA genotype had a 39% reduction in CV events when treated with dalcetrapib compared to placebo, while GG patients had a 27% increase and AG patients had a neutral effect. This analysis was conducted in 5749 patients. Subsequent prospective analyses of other studies also demonstrated reduced atherosclerosis and improvement in confirming biomarkers in the AA population when treated with dalcetrapib.

DalCor secured a worldwide exclusive license for dalcetrapib together with rights to the genetic marker for use with dalcetrapib and all other CETP inhibitors. DalCor is sponsoring the dal-GenE study, which is planned to include 5,000 patients to prospectively confirm the results of the pharmacogenomic analysis in the dal-Outcomes study in a patient population with the AA genotype at the rs1967309 location in the ADCY9 gene.

About DalCor Pharmaceuticals

DalCor is developing precision treatments by genetically targeting patients that will derive clinical benefits. By integrating clinical and genetic insights, DalCor intends to deliver superior clinical cardiovascular outcomes. The company's first development program, dalcetrapib, is intended to reduce cardiovascular events in a specific genetic subset of patients. DalCor Pharmaceuticals has offices in Montreal, San Mateo, Calif., Zug, Switzerland and Stockport, U.K. For more information, visit www.dalcorpharma.com

DalCor Contacts:

Corporate

DalCor Pharmaceuticals

Donald Black, M.D.

(609) 613-6637 [email protected]

Media

Russo Partners

Matt Middleman, M.D.

(212) 845-4272 [email protected]

SOURCE DalCor Pharmaceuticals

Related Links

http://www.dalcorpharma.com


SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Datrium, the premier supplier of server-powered storage for converged virtual machine (VM) infrastructure, today announced that it has doubled performance density to 100 terabytes1 (TBs) of effective flash capacity per server in the Datrium DVX, while improving flash affordability to 10 TBs per $10002. Today's announcement illustrates how Datrium enables an even broader range of data-intensive applications to remain entirely in local server flash, keeping all read IO processing off the network for lower latency and faster results in a shared private cloud infrastructure.

Unlike arrays or hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), Datrium DVX-based infrastructure enables VM IO to be accelerated on-demand, and can provision speed independent of capacity. To achieve this, Datrium DVX solves the converged infrastructure problem a new way, keeping IO services and flash for read IO strictly local per server, and separating shared durable storage to a simple, off-host repository. As a result, DVX can support a wide spectrum of server configuration types and flash densities. Since servers remain stateless in the Datrium approach, serviceability is a key advantage and unplanned server failures are not subject to data rebuilds of any kind.

"It's become clear that storage will continue to move closer and closer to the server processor, where it is fastest. With an IO architecture like Datrium, it's not only the fastest but ends up being the cheapest," says Steve Duplessie, Enterprise Strategy Group Founder and Senior Analyst. "This is the future of server-storage convergence, and marks the beginning of the end of arrays as we've known them."

Performance Density Keeps IO Processing Off the Network

By increasing the effective capacity of low-cost flash to keep all application data local, organizations can maintain high and predictable service levels for mixed-used private clouds. High performance density is made possible because durable data is off-host, so local flash is not used for persistence replicas. In addition, raw flash capacity is greatly expanded by inline deduplication and compression. With today's announcement for support for up to 16 TBs of raw server-local flash, Datrium DVX can offer up to 100 TBs of effective flash capacity, keeping more IO processing local to the server and off congested networks.

"I've been looking at the market for a long time, and this is really the first storage system that feels like it's built for an infrastructure-as-a-service provider like us," said Martin Skojec, Director of IT at EdgeConneX.

"In the future, reads will never leave the server," said Brian Biles, CEO and Co-founder of Datrium. "Server flash and other memory types are just getting too cheap and abundant, and IO queuing keeps read latency much faster on a server than across a SAN. Thanks to Datrium's always-on data reduction technologies, our customers can experience that future today."

Pricing and Availability

Performance density features are available immediately, and are bundled at no additional cost with the Datrium DVX version 1.1 and later.

Visit Datrium in booth 2301 at VMworld 2016, Aug. 27Sept. 1, 2016 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

About Datrium

Founded in 2012, Datrium is the industry's premier supplier of server powered storage for converged VM infrastructure. Based in Silicon Valley, Datrium is led by early top architects of VMware and Data Domain, and funded by NEA, Lightspeed, and luminary individual investors. Datrium has been named to Gartner's Cool Vendors in Storage Technologies, 2016. For more information, visit www.datrium.com and follow @datriumstorage on Twitter.

1With Datrium DVX Software version 1.1, 16 terabytes of flash is supported per host. With typical data reduction ratios and no need to store replicas from other servers, users will experience effective capacity of up to 100 terabytes.

2Pricing for 10-Dell 1.6TB SATA read-intensive 2.5" SSDs at $1021 total $10,200. Where data reduction achieves effective capacity of 100TBs, flash costs will amount to 10 effective TBs per $1000.

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SOURCE Datrium

Related Links

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ZIONSVILLE, Ind., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DK Pierce & Associates (DK Pierce), a certified Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) focused on consulting services for biopharmaceutical companies across the US, will break ground on its new Zionsville headquarters at 4:00 pm today. The new, almost 18,000 square foot facility will be home to the company's current 23 employees while allowing for the company's growth in creating 23 new jobs. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has offered DK Pierce up to $275,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans.

DK Pierce helps clients bring products for cancer and rare diseases to market and works to ensure that third-party health insurance companies will support patient access to meaningful treatments. The company's new facility will be the first resident of Zionsville's new Creekside Corporate Park, a "conservation" office park with a planned 38% of property preserved as woodlands.

"It has been my goal to create a nurturing work environment for my employees, and Zionsville's Creekside Corporate Park offers the perfect solution," said Denise Pierce, President of DK Pierce. "Our team is excited to call this our new home."

"Indiana's life sciences industry is thriving with nearly 1,700 companies leading innovative research and developing life-saving products and technologies," said Victor Smith, Indiana Secretary of Commerce. "DK Pierce serves a crucial role, bringing these advancements into the market and ensuring that patients across the US have access to the treatments they need. On behalf of the state of Indiana, we are proud that DK Pierce is choosing to grow its operations here and we look forward to supporting its continued success here in the Hoosier state."

"DK Pierce is blazing the trail for Creekside Corporate Park," said Tim Haak, Mayor of Zionsville. "Denise and her team are setting a standard for the ideal park resident, and creating a path forward for other companies."

"We are proud to have DK Pierce continue to call Zionsville  and Boone County  its corporate home," said Molly Whitehead, Executive Director of Boone County Economic Development Corporation. "We hope that other similar companies see the great benefits of Boone County, whether just starting out, or growing as in the case of DK Pierce."

DK Pierce now employs 23 professionals, all dedicated to helping biopharmaceutical companies across the United States. In accordance with its projected growth, DK Pierce will be hiring top-level talent to support all functions of the business. To keep informed of future open positions, visit: http://www.dkpierce.net/about/work-for-dkp/

About DK Pierce

DK Pierce & Associates, Inc. is a specialized healthcare and reimbursement consulting firm applying innovative solutions that transcend current business paradigms. The company is a certified Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) with expertise in clinical and economic implications of oncology patient care, physician-administered drugs and biologics, and novel delivery systems provide the company a unique perspective on health care delivery challenges.

DK Pierce has been honored as one of Indiana's 2015 Companies to Watch, and Denise Pierce, President and CEO, was awarded Indiana's 2015 Starkey Entrepreneurial Woman Award.

Teresa (Becker) Weirich

[email protected]

(317) 730-6105

SOURCE DK Pierce & Associates, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.dkpierce.net


Seth Jordan, a Marine combat veteran, founded Dog Tag Brewing in 2014 with an invitation for the American public to "Toast a Hero" as they read the name of a fallen warrior printed on each can. Today, Seth serves as Chairman of the Dog Tag Brewing Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting legacy building projects started or selected by Gold Star Families, the families of fallen military personnel. Dog Tag Foundation will provide grants to Gold Star family charities and offer free consulting services to help families create impactful, sustainable organizations in honor of their loved ones.

"The partnership with Pabst will ensure that millions of Americans will have a chance to try our beer and to join us in helping Gold Star families build the legacies of our nation's fallen military heroes," said Jordan. "Our mission is simple: to help Gold Star families make sure their loved one is never forgotten."

"Mario was always focused on helping the people in his community. I am proud to partner with Dog Tag to start a Foundation in Mario's name and to honor his legacy," said Jennifer Carazo, Gold Star Wife of Lieutenant Colonel Mario "Sugar Bear" Carazo on establishing the Sugar Bear Foundation.

Dog Tag's "Legacy Lager" is brewed with premium quality 2-row pale and specialty malts, Magnum and Saaz hops, and is fermented with a timeless American lager yeast. It is a 5% ABV brew with 22 IBUs, and will be available in 4-pack 16oz cans. Dog Tag utilizes a groundbreaking can printing technology to dedicate each can within a 4-pack to a different fallen warrior.

Eugene Kashper, CEO of Pabst Brewing Company stated: "We are really excited to partner with Seth and Dog Tag. Seth's passion for remembering, honoring, and celebrating our nation's heroes is inspiring. We are truly honored to have the opportunity to support Gold Star families in their charitable endeavors and to help spread Dog Tag's message nationwide."

Dog Tag's Legacy Lager will be available in 26 states beginning September 1, 2016, with national distribution in 2017.

About Dog Tag Brewing Foundation

Dog Tag Brewing Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to building the legacies of America's Fallen Warriors by partnering with Gold Star Families  the families of our fallen military  on legacy-building projects that carry on the memory of their loved ones. Dog Tag Brewing Foundation supports these projects through grants and free consulting services, and then aims to inspire Americans to get involved by sharing stories of service and sacrifice through social media and on individualized dedication cans of Dog Tag Legacy Lager. Founded in late 2015, Dog Tag Brewing Foundation is supported by the generosity of the public and by its subsidiary, Dog Tag Brewing, LLC, which donates 100% of its profits to Dog Tag Brewing Foundation. To date, Dog Tag Brewing Foundation has amassed a social media following of over 125,000, has given away $120,000 in grants and services, and expects to eventually grow to support up to 1000 different Gold Star charities after the beer's successful national rollout. Please visit www.dogtagbrewing.org to learn more.

About Pabst Brewing Company

Since 1844, Pabst Brewing Company has been American-owned and operated, and is North America's largest privately held brewing company. Pabst's portfolio includes iconic brands with deep ties to America's heritage, such as its flagship Pabst Blue Ribbon and others such as Lone Star, Rainier, Ballantine IPA, Schlitz, Old Style, National Bohemian, Stag, Stroh's, and Old Milwaukee. For more information about Pabst, please visit www.pabstbrewingco.com.

Media Inquiries:

Lyndsey Medsker, 202-557-5328

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SOURCE Dog Tag Brewing
The unit is designed to see students through the day as it can be used for both classwork and those vital extracurricular activities  such as video streaming, listening to music, and gaming. It features a 10.1" high-definition multi-touch screen, up to 160GB of combined internal and external storage capability, built-in Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity options, and front and rear-facing 2MP cameras. The E FUN Nextbook 10.1 provides a seamless balance between schoolwork and letting loose after hours of studying.

The Nextbook 10.1 tablet comes school-ready with pre-installed Microsoft Windows 10 and Microsoft Office Mobile, which includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps as well as access to OneDrive or Dropbox storage.

"Going back to school presents enough challenges that selecting a computer device should be a no brainerno pun intended," said Jason Liszewski, E FUN managing director and VP of sales. "With a 10.1" screen, 16:10 aspect ratio, and 1280x800 high-definition resolution, our Nextbook 10.1 tablet delivers great image quality for studying, doing class assignments, or researching material on the Internet. Having Microsoft Office Mobile pre-installed gives students three vital software programs right at their fingertips."

Head-of-the-Class Features

The unit comes with 32GB of internal memory. A micro-SD card slot can be purchased to extend storage capacity by up to 128GB, ensuring users will have all of the memory they need for storing documents, photos, videos, and more. When making a presentation, its micro HDMI port allows content to be displayed on a larger screen or other devices.

The Nextbook 10.1 features a touch-enabled surface for smooth operation, whether drawing or annotating with fingers or stylus devices. It also has built-in 2MP-each front and rear-facing cameras with microphone. After all, what fun is school without photos or videos of friends or a selfie or two thousand to document the year?

More Features

Quad-core Intel Atom TM 5-Z8300 processor with 2GB system memory

5-Z8300 processor with 2GB system memory Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity options for easy Internet access

3-axis G-sensor support for video games

3.7V 7,000mAh Lithium battery provides up to eight hours of general use

Weighing less than three pounds, it can easily be carried from classroom to classroom, building to building

Pricing and Availability

The E FUN Nextbook 10.1 tablet with detachable keyboard is available at Target locations across the country as well as online at Target.com for $179.99.

About E FUN

E FUN, a designer and marketer of mobile lifestyle products, entered the North American market in late 2010. Since then, E FUN has grown to be one of the leading tablet brands at retail, achieving top five market share by volume in 2013. Its ongoing product innovation and partnerships set E FUN apart from competitors and provide customers with unique out of the box experiences. Its product offerings include Android and Windows tablets, home automation devices, and wearables. E FUN is headquartered in West Covina, California.

For additional information regarding E FUN's Nextbook tablets, visit www.nextbookusa.com.

PR Contact:

Rita Lee

Copernio

(714) 891-3660

[email protected]

All products/services and trademarks mentioned in this release are the properties of their respective companies.

 2016 E FUN. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE E FUN

Related Links

http://www.nextbookusa.com


ST. LOUIS, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE: EPC) ("Edgewell") today issued the following statement in response to Procter & Gamble Company's (NYSE: PG) ("P&G") lawsuit regarding Edgewell's 3-bladed private label razors:

We believe P&G's allegations have no basis. Gillette's MACH3 patents have expired and we are confident in the quality and performance of our private label products. We will vigorously defend ourselves against these meritless claims and will continue to support our valued customers around the world.

About Edgewell

Edgewell is a leading pure-play consumer products company with an attractive, diversified portfolio of established brand names such as Schick and Wilkinson Sword men's and women's shaving systems and disposable razors; Edge and Skintimate shave preparations; Playtex, Stayfree, Carefree and o.b. feminine care products; Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic sun care products; Playtex infant feeding, Diaper Genie and gloves; and Wet Ones moist wipes. The Company has a broad global footprint and operates in more than 50 markets, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan and Australia, with approximately 6,000 employees worldwide.

SOURCE Edgewell Personal Care Company
China's navy has a new resupply base in Africa. (Photo : Twitter)

China is set to extend the reaches of its military as the country starts the construction of its first overseas base in Africa.



The Asian superpower began construction of the base in Doraleh, Djibouti in February, Fox News reported. The 90-acre base is expected to be completed by next year and will serve as China's first naval outpost in the region.



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Experts said that the new base, which is located just 14 kilometers away from the United States' largest military base in the continent, will likely be used more for resupplying, as it features ship and helicopter maintenance facilities, as well as weapons storehouses. Chinese naval vessels have previously docked in Djibouti to get supplies.



However, a small contingent of Chinese marines or special forces could also possibly be stationed in the base, they added.



With the base, China joins the handful of countries that maintain military facilities outside of their borders. The US leads the pack, with several dozen bases in 42 different countries, followed by Britain, France and Russia.



However, Chinese officials were quick to clarify that there are no plans to build major overseas bases like the ones maintained by the US, though they admitted that there are ongoing negotiations to secure more overseas outposts in different locations.



The establishment of the base is also seen by experts as the country finally flexing its military muscles and getting out of its earlier isolationist mindset to establish itself as a maritime power.



Outside of military advancements, China is also heavily investing in Africa. From 2009 to 2014, the country has poured in around $328 billion in several construction projects around the continent, The Huffington Post reported.



The trend is likely to continue as the country tasking the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to provide funding for other infrastructure projects around the globe.


DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its effort to serve a growing number of individual investors and create employment opportunities for individuals in financial services, Edward Jones today announced its plans to hold a state-wide recruiting event in Iowa, with the goal to hire more than 50 financial advisors and 50 branch office administrators.

"As we expand, we're looking to hire candidates who fit our entrepreneurial culture and have a desire to work with clients on a personal, face-to-face level," said John Westfall, Edward Jones Growth Leader in Iowa. "As a firm, we stress the importance of having our financial advisors meet regularly with clients in their local communities, and have an immediate need for motivated and engaged individuals to embrace this aspect of our business. With the addition of financial advisors, the firm is also looking to hire branch office administrators, who play a crucial role in helping to support individual FAs at their respective branches."

The state-wide recruiting event will take place on Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 6:00 to 8:00pm CDT in the following cities / locations:

 Des Moines: 1055 Jordan Creek Parkway, Suite 115, West Des Moines, IA 50266  Ankeny: 1255 N Ankeny Blvd, Suite 102, Ankeny, IA 50023  Coralville: 1303 Fifth St., Suite 101, Coralville, IA 52241  Davenport: 2422 East Kimberly Road, Davenport, IA 42807  Cedar Rapids: 5300 Fountains Drive, Suite 102, Cedar Rapids, IA 52411  Humboldt: 530 Sumner Ave., Humboldt, IA 50548







As one of Iowa's largest private employers, Edward Jones has a history of providing valuable career opportunities, with roughly 602 full-time employees and 252 branches serving 122,082 households in the state. The firm is looking to increase that number by hiring new financial advisors and branch office administrators who are interested in operating in an entrepreneurial environment with the support, training and mentoring benefits of one of the oldest and largest firms in the industry.

Edward Jones is nationally recognized as a best place to work and leader in delivering top-notch training to new and existing financial advisors, and is ranked highly on Training magazine's Top 125 list for the 15th consecutive year. For the four past consecutive years, Edward Jones has been voted as one of the top spots for Best Places to Work in Iowa by The Des Moines Register.

Individuals interested in learning more or registering for the event can visit careers.edwardjones.com/iowa. For questions, contact Brittany Buetow at: [email protected] or (800) 999-5650, ext. 58218.

About Edward Jones

Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. The firm's 13,000-plus financial advisors work directly with nearly 7 million clients to understand their personal goals -- from college savings to retirement -- and create long-term investment solutions that emphasize a well-balanced, diversified portfolio. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment options available today.

Headquartered in St. Louis, visit our website at www.edwardjones.com and our recruiting website at www.careers.edwardjones.com. Follow us on Twitter @EdwardJones. Member SIPC.

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SOURCE Edward Jones

Related Links

http://www.edwardjones.com


SEATTLE, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Epik Holdings, Inc. today announced record results in Q2 2016.

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Epik.com is the leading provider of full-service and all-inclusive registrar and hosting services. Founded in 2009, the company has achieved steady growth, most recently growing revenues more than 80% in 2015, with continued rapid growth in 2016. The company is led by Rob Monster, a Seattle-based serial entrepreneur, and the 2005 winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to being a fast-growing provider for the traditional extensions such as .COM since 2011, the company is now the leading registrar for a growing number of the new domain registries, including .CITY, .MENU, .TUBE and .BIBLE, and is the world's leading provider of domain name leasing services.

Rob Monster summarized the current state of the domain name industry, "It took Epik several years to build a world class domain name management platform. We believe the market conditions are right for a new leader to emerge for full-service domain registration services. The domain registrar and hosting industry is filled with mediocrity and sub-par customer support. Long-standing industry leaders such as Network Solutions, Moniker, and Register.com are no longer the respected leaders that they once were. Even GoDaddy has yet to become profitable despite having dominant market share. "

One distinguishing feature of Epik is that the company maintains no physical office presence. Staff members from around the world are securely connected to the company's data centers in Las Vegas, Singapore, Kansas City and London, operating from distributed locations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The company's largest client is based in Qatar. While the company's growth has come mainly from organic development and word of mouth, Epik is now actively exploring acquisition opportunities.

Rob Monster explained the logic of the no-office approach and the outlook for acquisitions. "Our business is 24/7. The notion of physical headquarters in the Digital Age is one that is increasingly outdated. It is people, technology, process and culture that ultimately create the type of customer experience that our clients desire. Rather than commuting daily to an office location, our staff can be instantly productive from any location on any given day. The distributed operating model has set the stage for rapid onboarding of additional staff in new regions of the world."

Epik has an industry-leading reputation for legendary customer support. The company's all-inclusive pricing model features free WHOIS privacy, free domain and email forwarding, and free basic Wordpress hosting. The company is also the first to offer the Forever domain renewal  a one-time purchase to outright own a domain name for perpetuity. Epik's advanced domain management interface also makes it easy to manage domains across all registrars at no additional cost. Advanced analytic and management tools enable owners of large domain name portfolios to easily optimize their holdings. The company also offers its customers the world's first commission-free domain marketplace, enabling customers to sell or lease domains commission-free and tax-free through patent-pending technology co-invented by Rob Monster.

"Our Domain Investor Program, along with its special pricing, secure platform and unmatched service has been extremely popular among the domain investor community," concluded Braden Pollock, a well-known domain investor, entrepreneur and Epik Board Member since 2010.

For more information about Epik Holdings, contact the company at [email protected] or visit the Epik.com website.

About Epik Holdings Inc:

Founded in 2009, Epik is the world's leading full-service, all-inclusive registrar, as well as the leading provider of domain leasing services. The privately held company has been accredited by domain industry regulator, ICANN, since 2011.

Safe Harbor Language: Any statements contained herein related to future events are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Epik Holdings, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any such statements to reflect actual events.

Company Contact: Epik Holdings, Inc., Rob Monster, Email





Toll Free: (888) 894-9026 Office: (425) 366-8810 Mobile: (425) 765-0077

SOURCE Epik.com
The new look will embody an elegant "modern apothecary" aesthetic that ideally complements Erbaviva's healthfully formulated, highly therapeutic organic personal care products. Designed by European advertising agency Air Paris, the rebrand showcases chic bottles that capture the warm, rustic and weathered natural elements of California organic culture. Also inspiring its new artisan apothecary design is the brand's enduring commitment to nature, the efficacy of organic and biodynamic farming as well as 19 th century botanical remedies. This approach has created a cadre of loyal and passionate Erbaviva followers, and continues to influence the selection of source ingredients and the formulation of new products.

Among them is the much anticipated launch of Erbaviva Facial Skincare and Men's Grooming. The skincare line will consist of facial cleanser, lip balm and facial firming oil, which will all be displayed in sophisticated rose and white packaging. Men's Grooming will include beard oil, shave soap and beard wax and will be packaged in sleek auburn wood and rustic tin containers, appealing to every kind of man.

"We are excited to finally launch our new brand design along with two new categories. Being one of the earliest pioneers in organic personal care, a thoughtful redesign was long overdue," stated co-founder Robin Brown. "Having made a name for ourselves with our premium Mother and Baby categories we wanted to capture the essence of what we do well and incorporate our expertise into "babying" the skin with a unique range of USDA organic products for face and for men. Incorporating efficacy-rich botanical ingredients along with our exceptional range of essential oils we have created some wonderful new products that reflect the Erbaviva style and European artistry that is behind everything that we do."

Erbaviva creates healthy, effective personal care products that organically connect you with nature. The average woman absorbs 2KG of chemicals into her body from conventional cosmetics every year! The average child is exposed through conventional body care products to at least 27 chemicals a day including some associated with cancer, brain and nervous system damage, allergies and hormone disruption. Erbaviva consists of true organic products that are free of dangerous pesticides, artificial fertilizers and other toxic chemicals including parabens, phthalates, sulfates, PEGs, and other endocrine disruptors.

Erbaviva is a luxury line with the mission of organically simplifying and bettering the beauty world. The company is proud to be among the trendsetters in the world of organic personal care, adhering to the highest standards of ingredients, development processes and sustainability  but now with a whole new look!

ABOUT ERBAVIVA

Erbaviva offers premium organic personal care products that fuse European artisan quality with healthy California organic culture. Unique and delightful, each exquisite product is handcrafted with distinctively pure living herbs, essential oils and botanicals, sourced near and far, and to the highest standards of organic certification, safety, efficacy and sustainability. From "farm to bottle," Erbaviva practices sustainability and holistic farming, including biodynamic certified products, to create healthy products that better the lives of people while working harmoniously with nature. For more information, please visit www.erbaviva.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160819/399732

SOURCE Erbaviva

Related Links

http://www.erbaviva.com


HOUSTON, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EthosEnergy has been awarded a $176.8m contract by Magnolia LNG (MLNG) for the first third party operations and maintenance (O&M) services partnership at their Lake Charles production facility in Louisiana, US.

The O&M specific services include mobilization followed by full care, custody and control of the facility, as well as full responsibility for filling operations of the vessels at the dedicated mooring location adjacent to the facility.

John Baguley, Chief Operating Officer of Magnolia LNG said, "The operations and maintenance agreement we have reached with EthosEnergy is an important step in our program to transition Magnolia from our current activities focused on permitting and design, into the subsequent construction, commissioning and LNG production phases.

"We are committed to establishing the tools, processes, and procedures that enable MLNG to achieve the highest levels of excellence in plant reliability and safety. We look forward to integrating EthosEnergy into our team as a cornerstone element in achieving this necessary excellence. The established relationship between Siemens and EthosEnergy represents an added benefit to this arrangement now that we have selected Siemens to provide our process compressor equipment."

Mark Dobler, CEO of EthosEnergy said, "We have leveraged our extensive O&M experience gained in the power generation sector to position us well to deliver these services in the oil & gas and wider energy-related markets. The depth and breadth of this expertise allows us to provide MLNG with a tailored solution, adding value to the life cycle of the project and supporting the transition of Magnolia into the production phase.

"Our tried and tested O&M performance management systems and technology are designed to drive facility production effectiveness and identify improvements that will deliver long-term efficiencies for MLNG."

Specific EthosEnergy O&M services include Mobilization followed by full care, custody, control O&M services for a 4 train, 2 mtpa each, natural gas liquefaction facility. EthosEnergy will also be responsible for filling operations of the vessels at the dedicated mooring location adjacent to the facility.

Notes to Editor

EthosEnergy is a leading independent service provider of rotating equipment services and solutions to the power, oil & gas and industrial markets. Globally, these services include power plant engineering, procurement and construction; facility operations & maintenance; design, manufacture and application of engineered components, upgrades and re-rates; repair, overhaul and optimization of gas and steam turbines, generators, pumps, compressors and other high-speed rotating equipment. www.ethosenergygroup.com

The Magnolia LNG project is 100% owned by Magnolia LNG LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of LNGL. The project comprises the proposed development of an 8 mtpa LNG project on a 115acre site, located on an established LNG shipping channel in the Lake Charles District, State of Louisiana, United States of America. The project is based on development of four LNG production trains of 2 mtpa each using the Company's wholly owned OSMR LNG process technology.

Feed gas supply will come from the highly-liquid US Gulf Coast gas market via several gas suppliers. Gas supply will be delivered to the site via the Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline (KMLP). Magnolia LNG has entered into a 20-year binding pipeline capacity agreement with Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline LLC to deliver gas to the site for the full 8 mtpa of the project.

The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) was released on 17 July 2015. The SER also establishes a 90-day-post-FEIS decision deadline for all agencies responsible for issuing related federal authorizations.

Magnolia LNG signed a binding agreement with Meridian LNG Holdings Corp for firm capacity rights for up to 2 mtpa on 22 July 2015. Magnolia LNG continues negotiations with a number of other LNG buyers for the purchase of LNG on 20-year terms (with extension options). LNG buyers contract for liquefaction services under two contract models  a Liquefaction Tolling Agreement, whereby the LNG export terminal is only responsible for processing natural gas into LNG, and an LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement under which the customer buys LNG on a free on board basis (FOB).

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SOURCE EthosEnergy

Related Links

http://www.ethosenergygroup.com


HOUSTON, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As the market stabilizes, industry leaders' questions are shifting from "how low will it go?" to "how much will it recover?" Texas' Permian Basin is already experiencing a surge in activity. Many producers look to their core South Texas assets next. Hart Energy's DUG Eagle Ford conference and exhibition, scheduled September 12-14 at San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, brings the region's top public and private producers together with industry experts for an in-depth look at activity throughout the Eagle Ford.

Leading oil and gas executives are DUG Eagle Ford's main attraction. Just announced, CEOs from private producers like Laredo Energy, Energy Hunter Resources, New Century Exploration, Hawkwood Energy and Teal Natural Resources will join senior-level executives from public producers like Noble Energy (NBL), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), BHP Billiton (BHP) and Sanchez Energy (SN) on the conference stage.

From time-tested best practices to emerging technologies, DUG Eagle Ford's conference sessions explore the many ways producers and technology providers are cutting costs and increasing profits. Attendees will hear candid discussions from executives who have rigs on the ground.

Confirmed speakers include:

Chip Rimer , Senior Vice President, U.S. Onshore, Noble Energy (NBL)

Senior Vice President, U.S. Onshore, M. Jason Pigott , Executive Vice President  Operations, Southern Division, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK)

Executive Vice President  Operations, Southern Division, Jon Krome , Head of Continuous Improvement, BHP Billiton (BHP)

Head of Continuous Improvement, Tony Sanchez III , CEO, Sanchez Energy (SN)

, CEO, Glenn Hart , President and CEO, Laredo Energy

, President and CEO, Gary Evans , CEO, Energy Hunter Resources

CEO, Phil Martin , President and CEO, New Century Exploration

, President and CEO, Patrick R. Oenbring , CEO, Hawkwood Energy

CEO, John Roby , CEO, Teal Natural Resources

CEO, Jim Teague , CEO, Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)

CEO, Mark Sooby , Managing Director, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC)

Managing Director, Matthew Portillo , CFA, Managing Director, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Inc.

CFA, Managing Director, William D. Von Gonten, Jr. , President, W.D. Von Gonten & Co.

President, Beatriz Camarena Maney , Principal of Clearinghouse International , Co-Founder of OFSCap , and VP of the Finance and Energy Committee at the AEM Asociacion de Empresarios Mexicanos

, Principal of , Co-Founder of , and VP of the Finance and Energy Committee at the Jeff Quigley , Director, Energy Markets, Stratas Advisors

, Director, Energy Markets, Kirk Trosclair , CEO, Fountain Quail Energy Services

CEO, Josh Adler , Founder and CEO, Sourcewater, Inc.

To view the full conference agenda and register, please visit DUGEagleFord.com. For media credentials, please contact Gabe Geller at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @HartEnergyConf, #DUGEagleFord for updates.

About Hart Energy

For more than 40 years, Hart Energy editors and experts have delivered market-leading insights to investors and energy industry professionals. The Houston-based company produces award-winning magazines (such as Oil and Gas Investor, E&P and Midstream Business); online news and data services; in-depth industry conferences (like the DUG series); GIS data sets and mapping solutions; and a range of research and consulting services. For information, visit hartenergy.com.

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SOURCE Hart Energy

Related Links

http://www.hartenergy.com


PORTLAND, Oregon, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian dealership group FFUN Recreation experienced a 1,561% average increase in leads across its 10 dealerships during the first year with web provider Dealer Spike. Previously, the company's sites were hosted by Powersports Network and a variety of local providers.

FFUN Recreation is a division of FFUN Group, one of Canada's leading companies. The entrepreneurial business powerhouse recently re-qualified as one of Canada's 50 Best-Managed Companies for the second year in a row.

The company has steadily continued to prove successful, but the websites were not a huge factor in that success until FFUN Recreation made the move to Dealer Spike. Derek Larke, Director of Marketing, says the old websites just didn't have the look or feel that his team wanted for the company.

"In today's market, we're seeing eighty percent of people go online to do initial research on a unit. The website is the first introduction of our brand," Larke explains. FFUN Recreation wanted a web presence that was both pleasing to the eye and also distributed information well.

"Our partnership with Dealer Spike came about through Harley-Davidson  we were talking to them about best-in-class web providers. They mentioned Dealer Spike and showed us some of the work that had been done in the U.S.," Larke says.

FFUN Recreation's previous websites were "totally different," according to Larke. The layouts had a white background, smaller pictures, and no banner interface. Larke cites the new black background on most sites, large images, and banner capabilities to be major improvements. He mentions the events calendar and the lead pop forms as effective tools he often uses.

Larke calls the new FFUN Recreation websites "cleaner, way more modern, with good design elements." He appreciates backend tools that make edits and changes easy for him and his hands-on marketing team. Dealer Spike has also provided FFUN Recreation with a toolbox of effective lead generating strategies. "Our site has a lot of call-to-action buttons that get people to send us an email, plus we have the chat function which also helps customers get information," Larke says. He credits data collection as a major reason for increased leads on the new sites.

"We are proud and honored to partner with one of the most outstanding dealership groups in Canada," says Jay Mason, CEO of Dealer Spike. "We share a common goal with FFUN Recreation  a commitment to driving excellence for our customers. We are committed to helping FFUN Recreation, and its neighboring Canadian dealerships, achieve major results in all of the industries we serve."

Dealerships are no longer in the process of transitioning to an online-first world  that transition has occurred. Customers are on the Internet, so dealerships need to be there too, and they need to offer a powerful first impression. FFUN Recreation provides a great example of just that. The group offers a solid product that continues to attract customers from across Canada and beyond.

Contact - [email protected], 800-288-5917 Ext 410, www.dealerspike.com

SOURCE Dealer Spike

Related Links

http://www.dealerspike.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global public relations firm, Finn Partners, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire LANE, a national independent PR firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon. The move is Finn Partners' first step in the Pacific Northwest and builds a greater footprint for its West Coast operations.

Wendy Lane, Managing Partner, Finn Partners; Peter Finn, Founding Partner, Finn Partners

LANE, with offices in Portland and New York City and a presence in Seattle, is especially strong in financial services, consumer, travel and hospitality, food and beverage, and technology. Founded in 1990 by Wendy Lane Stevens, LANE has a staff of 27 who will become part of Finn Partners West, headed by Howard Solomon, managing partner, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, and a combined team of nearly 90. LANE will maintain its office in Portland and will move its New York City team, headed by Amber Roberts, senior vice president, into the Finn Partners Midtown NY office before the end of September.

"I first met Wendy Lane Stevens about 18 months ago and was impressed with her team's deep expertise in the financial services sector, which we needed to enhance to meet our current and future client needs. With LANE now becoming part of Finn Partners, we are well equipped to do so. Also, we are very entrenched with major brand names in our Travel and Consumer practice groups and by adding LANE's expertise in these areas, we become that much stronger," said Peter Finn, founding partner, Finn Partners. "Our acquisition of LANE and move into the Pacific Northwest aligns well with our overall vision for continued expansion of our U.S. business. Our plan is to leverage our strong base in the U.S. to continue our expansion in Europe and into Asia Pacific."

"While we are headquartered in Portland, LANE has long operated as a national firm serving our clients' integrated communications needs throughout the U.S.," said Wendy Lane Stevens, president of LANE. "By joining forces with Finn Partners, LANE is positioned to bring new resources and opportunities to our clients and employees, while continuing the outstanding work we've built our reputation upon."

"I'm proud of the work LANE has done throughout the past 26 years and look forward to working with Finn Partners' global network, including their top notch digital and creative teams, to best serve our clients," Lane Stevens added.

About LANE

LANE is a national, independent firm focused on driving business and sales success for clients through strategic communications counsel. With offices in New York and Portland, Oregon, and a presence in Seattle, Washington, LANE provides integrated public relations services for clients in a host of industries, including financial services, consumer, travel and hospitality, food and beverage, and technology. Founded in 1990, the agency has won several awards, including the 2011 Silver SABRE award, the 2010 Bronze Bulldog Award for best new product launch and the 2009 PR Week Young PR Professional of the Year award. For more information about LANE, visit www.lanepr.com. Connect with LANE on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Finn Partners, Inc.

Finn Partners was launched in late 2011 to realize Peter Finn's vision to create a leading communications agency dedicated to shaping a bold new future in which innovation and partnership are strong brand drivers. Finn Partners specializes in the full spectrum of public and corporate affairs services, including digital and social media. Practice areas include arts, consumer, CSR and social impact, education, health, technology and travel & lifestyle.

Since its inception four years ago, Finn Partners has received six agency awards that are indicators of client and cultural leadership: "Best Midsize Agency" in 2015, "Best Agency to Work For" in 2013 and "Best New Agency" in 2012 from the Holmes Report and "Midsize PR Firm of the Year" in 2015 and "Top Places to Work in PR" in 2013 from PR News. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 550 employees, with offices in Chicago, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Jerusalem, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Nashville, Paris, Portland, San Francisco and Washington D.C., and offers international capabilities through its own global network and PROI Worldwide. Find us at www.finnpartners.com and follow us on Twitter @finnpartners.

Contacts:

Finn Partners:

Renee Martin

[email protected]

212-715-1600

LANE:

Wendy Lane Stevens

[email protected]

503-546-7900

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400161

SOURCE Finn Partners

Related Links

https://www.finnpartners.com


GAINESVILLE and BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research (the Institute) announced today that it has finalized a funding agreement with DigiGroup Holdings, LLC, a Pensacola-based company with technology developed at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). 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.

DigiGroup is a full-service technology and digital marketing firm. They create world-class digital business solutions that are scalable, simple to understand, cost effective and accessible to any business owner, empowering them to actively engage with and compete in the global open market.

"Current digital marketing, CMS, CRM and ecommerce solutions are complex," said Steve Barshov, DigiGroup Holdings, LLC, Chief Executive Officer. "We offer a fully functional solution: a user friendly, single comprehensive CMS dashboard that provides customization, design flexibility, analytics reporting, and a streamlined and affordable solution for our users."

"DigiGroup is optimizing digital commerce and marketing across multiple device platforms," said Jackson Streeter, MD, Institute Chief Executive Officer. "The company is providing customers with an evolving, scalable technology platform that supports revenue growth while minimizing overhead."

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-six 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 DigiGroup Holdings, LLC

DigiGroup Holdings, LLC, was incorporated December 10th, 2015 as a means for its investors to leverage and further develop current proprietary technology that has established a unique and scalable model to provide businesses with optimized turnkey digital solutions. The current proprietary technology has been developed through beta, launch and successful market adoption during the last six years by DigiPro Media's founding partners who now make up DigiGroup Holdings' core leadership.

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


PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- An Indian of the Sikh faith who fled India three years ago to seek U.S. asylum from political persecution says federal immigration agents violated his confidentiality by "outing" him to the Indian Consulate.

Judge Andrea Sloan of the U.S. Immigration Court in Portland, Oregon, will hear the case of Harkeet Singh August 30. Mr. Singh is one of 60 Sikh asylum-seekers who joined a two-week hunger strike at the El Paso Processing Center in Texas in 2014.

In court filings, Mr. Singh claims that while at the center, agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set up a meeting between the Sikhs and a representative of the Indian Consulate. Such a meeting violates U.S. regulations that bar the disclosure of any information pertaining to an asylum applicant without written consent, says Texas attorney John Lawit of John W. Lawit, LLC, who represents Mr. Singh and 17 others from the group.

The Sikhs are a religious minority in India and often are persecuted for their beliefs.

"It's just common sense. Here you have a group of men fleeing their government because they are afraid of it. The very last thing you want to do is force them into a room with a representative of that very government, but that's exactly what ICE did," says Mr. Lawit.

According to Mr. Singh, the consular representative told the men that their actions were treasonous and offensive to the Indian government, and threatened to jail them upon their return to India. Specifically, he threatened to imprison them in Tihar, which is known for its human rights violations. Mr. Singh said the representative also told the men that since they were farmers  not doctors or engineers  they were not fit to immigrate.

ICE agents apparently set up the meeting after Mr. Singh and the others went on a hunger strike, hoping it would prompt movement in their immigration cases.

Mr. Singh came to the United States in 2013 following a long and expensive journey that began in the Punjab state in India, then continued across the globe through South and Central America. He crossed the U.S. border at Mexico, surrendered to customs agents and requested asylum. Immigration and appellate courts so far have denied his request.

For more information, contact Mark Annick at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE John W. Lawit, LLC

Related Links

http://lawitlaw.com


ATLANTA, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Natural Gas (GNG), a leading natural gas provider in Georgia, invites nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations in the communities served by the company, to apply for a grant through its Georgia Natural Gas TrueBlue Community Awards program. Nonprofit organizations may apply now -- through the September 16, 2016 application deadline. A total of $50,000 in grants will be awarded to selected Georgia-based nonprofits on Thursday, November 17, 2016.

This marks the sixth exciting year for the TrueBlue Community Awards and $300,000 in total grants since the start of the program and event. The awards acknowledge the hard work and dedication of nonprofit community organizations that are committed to creating positive, lasting change in Georgia through programs in four key community focus areas shared by GNG.

The Focus Areas:

Children and Education  Initiatives that improve the educational, mental, social, cultural, and health and wellness of children.

Seniors  Initiatives or projects that provide direct services for seniors such as meals, home repair, social and recreational activities, and independent living assistance.

Energy Assistance  Projects that facilitate and offer access to energy assistance, home weatherization activities, and energy-saving repairs for vulnerable individuals and families  especially seniors and the disabled.

Environment/Sustainability  Projects that promote the conservation of natural resources in Georgia through direct activities and education  especially within the residential sector and neglected communities.

"I've been fortunate to be a part of the TrueBlue Community Awards program since the very first year of the program's inception. The awards have become a blue ribbon example of our company's continued dedication to being a good corporate citizen," says Mike Braswell, president and CEO of Georgia Natural Gas.

To Apply:

1. Website  Visit GNG.com to complete or download an application.

2. Email  Request an application by email by contacting [email protected].

3. U.S. Mail  Request an application by mail. Send a postcard or written request to:

TrueBlue Community Awards

Georgia Natural Gas

817 W. Peachtree Street, NW

Suite 1000

Atlanta, GA 30308

"As a corporate citizen, we understand the importance of doing more than what is expected. That's why you'll find our employees rolling up their sleeves to truly help our neighbors. For nearly twenty years, we've been a leader in corporate volunteerism and outreach," says Maurice Baker, manager of community relations for the company and founder of the awards program. "We encourage nonprofits all over the state to apply for this year's TrueBlue Community Awards."

About Georgia Natural Gas

Georgia Natural Gas is a leading provider of natural gas to homes and businesses in Georgia. Georgia Natural Gas is part of SouthStar Energy Services, a preeminent retail natural gas marketing company operating in 10 states. Based in Atlanta, SouthStar is a joint venture between Southern Company Gas and Piedmont Natural Gas. SouthStar manages over ten brands across its footprint including Georgia Natural Gas in the state of Georgia, Nicor Advanced Energy and Nicor Solutions in Illinois, and in other states, Ohio Natural Gas, Florida Natural Gas, New York Natural Gas, Maryland Energy, and Grand Rapids Energy. SouthStar also does business in the Carolinas as Piedmont Energy Company and in other parts of the Southeast as SouthStar Energy Services. For more information visit: GNG.com.

SOURCE Georgia Natural Gas

Related Links

https://www.gng.com


A look inside China's steel industry. (Photo : Getty Images)

China's problem in the dropping workforce may be hiding another labor dilemma that the country is grappling with today: underemployment.



According to a report from Bloomberg, China is starting to see cracks in its employment statistics as the underemployment rate jumped from 2010's zero to over 5 percent this year.



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This is amid speculations that many manufacturing businesses the country is going automated to cope with the estimated 211 million drop of the working age population by 2050 as reported in the South China Morning Post.



Automation and Other Labor Problems



While it may solve the problem on decreased production in the manufacturing sector, many refer to automation in factories as a major problem for China's workforce.



As previously reported, automation provides companies with much less labor cost as it can work without needing to rest and



But aside from robots, overcapacity and the presence of zombie companies has become a major dilemma for the Chinese workforce by means of underemployment.



Underemployment



Talking to Bloomberg, Xiamen University economics professor Bai Peiwei revealed that the underemployment in China may be partly due industries with overcapacity amid the Chinese government's attempt to highlight a stable employment rate in the country.



Because of the overcapacity particularly in steel mills and coal mines, these companies required employees to go on unpaid leave and reduced the time of shifts if only to prevent mass layoffs while keeping the businesses afloat.



Though this helps make the bird's eye view of the situation look pretty, a closer look would show that it is not a better a situation for the shrinking labor population and in turn, the country's economy.



"Underemployment in overcapacity industries is a drag on the potential improvement of productivity in China, which will lead to a softening wage trend. It would exert pressure on private consumption demand and, in turn, affect the overall rebalancing of the economy," JPMorgan Chase & Co. senior China economist Grace Ng explained.



According to Renmin University labor and human resources professor Zeng Xiangquan, the underemployment situation is particularly rampant in state-owned or controlled firms which he says is being "overprotected" by the government.



Meanwhile, "zombie" firms which are supposedly the target of the government's crackdown to fight overcapacity has proven to be a more difficult adversary for the economy.



As London-based Fathom economist Laura Eaton explained, there is no quick fix to it but the Chinese government appears to be taking the shortcut.



"In the short term, to reduce the problem of underemployment in China, the government should allow those 'zombie companies' with low productivity growth and excess capacity to default or shut down," she explained to Bloomberg.






SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SHIFT Communications, an integrated communications agency, announced today the Agency's San Francisco-based consumer lifestyle practice has been retained by Simon to oversee comprehensive public relations and event management efforts for 17 of its West Coast Premium Outlet properties. SHIFT will provide full national, regional and hyperlocal PR support, including media relations, event management and crisis communications.

"We're proud to partner with a notable brand like Simon to showcase our breadth of retail experience," said Todd Defren, Founding Partner, SHIFT Communications. "We look forward to working closely with the many properties along the West Coast as well as a wide range of global and national retail brands to deliver stellar results."

SHIFT will work with all Simon Premium Outlet properties in Nevada, California, Washington, Hawaii and Oregon, to promote seasonal campaigns and provide media relations support for ongoing activations and special events, including a current sponsorship with the Demi Lovato & Nick Jonas: Future Now tour through fall. Property locations under the Simon Premium Outlets brand include: Camarillo, Carlsbad, Desert Hills, Folsom, Gilroy, Las Americas, Las Vegas (North and South), Napa, North Bend, Petaluma Village, Pismo Beach, San Francisco, Seattle, Vacaville, Waikele and Woodburn.

"Simon recently went through a brand revitalization and we were searching for an Agency partner with retail experience and award-winning media chops to build awareness around our properties and the quality retailers we work with," said Kristen Yen, Regional VP of Marketing, Simon. "SHIFT Communications consistently demonstrated that they have the experience to bring us more regional awareness and position each of our properties as a premium shopping destination."

Simon and SHIFT Communications commenced a two-year relationship in July 2016. For more information on Simon Premium Outlets, please visit: http://www.simon.com/premium-outlets.

About SHIFT Communications

SHIFT Communications is an award-winning integrated communications agency that represents some of the best-known enterprise and consumer brands, including Citrix, Demandbase, Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, McDonald's, Orchard Supply Hardware, Red Hat, RSA Conference, Webroot and Whole Foods Market. SHIFT Communications' 150+ employees are located in the Boston, San Francisco, New York and Austin metros. Established in 2003, SHIFT is now wholly owned by NATIONAL Public Relations, part of RES PUBLICA Consulting Group. For more information on SHIFT's data-driven approach to marketing and public relations visit http://www.shiftcomm.com/.

About Simon Premium Outlets

The global Simon Premium Outlets portfolio offers exceptional brands at extraordinary savings through a diverse mix of luxury, designer and popular retailers representing the best in fashion, family and home. Eighty-seven Simon Premium Outlets in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and South Korea are some of the most iconic and productive shopping destinations for residents and travelers including Woodbury Common (New York City), Orlando, Desert Hills (Palm Springs), Las Vegas and Wrentham Village Premium Outlets (Boston). For more information, visit premiumoutlets.com or follow Premium Outlets on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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SOURCE SHIFT Communications

Related Links

http://www.shiftcomm.com


LAS VEGAS, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On August 28, the women's rights organization GoTopless will hold its 9th annual GoTopless Day in the US and around the world triggering a cultural revolution that will change the world according to a statement released today by GoTopless.

GoTopless pride parades and other events will take place in the legally topless cities of New York, Toronto, Vancouver as well as topless discriminatory cities such as Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, and over 60 other cities worldwide. The GoTopless cultural revolution specifically targets the age old, sexist, Monotheistic, male dominated culture that still plagues our society today.

Maitreya Rael, spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement whose adamant support of gender equality inspired the creation of the GoTopless Movement in 2007 states: "Muslims are criticized for forcing their women to wear a burqa or a niqab but it is the exact same sexist mindset that forces Western women to wear a top in public." He adds that hypocritical politicians are quick to support gender equal rights but under no circumstances would they advocate for gender topless equality!

Rael explains that cultural revolutions are made of small details, contrary to what people think. He continues, "The battle for equal topless rights appears insignificant compared to wars, violence or child starvation, yet its achievement will have a direct, healing impact on these male-created horrors."

The way GoTopless is changing the world by pushing societies to give the exact same rights to women as they do to men in all areas and without exceptions, especially the taboo area of of topless equality. It's a blow to the core of male dominance since controlling women's bodies has always been a leitmotif for that culture.

"GoTopless finally frees women from the body guilt and shame they've been formatted to dutifully endure for centuries. But it also frees the men from their obsessive behavior over breasts, a direct consequence of discriminatory topless laws," points out Gary, President of GoTopless. Rael emphatically states that when women are fully empowered and in power, their caring nature as life bearers will be able to heal the unspeakable mess left in a world exclusively ruled by testosterone.

See Rael's provoking speech (Aug. 14, 2016) on the importance of gender topless equality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4QoHXTyq_k&feature=youtu.be

"It can be said that Equal Gender Topless Rights in the 21st century will empower women as much as equal gender voting rights in the 20th century," says Nadine Gary, President of GoTopless. Go Topless and change the world!

See original song for equal gender topless rights that includes scenes of GoTopless Day events worldwide last year.

Censored version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVDFTbytCWY

SOURCE GoTopless
GREENWICH, Conn., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gramercy Funds Management LLC ("Gramercy"), a $5.7 billion dedicated emerging markets investment manager, today announced that Chris Tackney has joined the firm as Managing Director and Co-Head of the Gramercy trading desk. Mr. Tackney has over 20 years of trading and portfolio management experience in emerging markets and will Co-Head the trading desk with Matt Maloney, Managing Director. Both Mr. Tackney and Mr. Maloney report directly to Robert Koenigsberger, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer.

In this new role, Mr. Tackney, along with Mr. Maloney, will manage a dynamic trading desk that encompasses performing and distressed corporates, sovereigns, equities, credit default swaps and currency hedges. Together, they serve as key members of the portfolio management team. Further, as Co-Head of the trading desk, Mr. Tackney is charged with building and maintaining effective relationships with the Street in order to facilitate firm-wide trade execution, asset sourcing, new issue allocations, and idea generation. He will also serve as a member of the Investment Committee.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Koenigsberger said, "Gramercy has been evolving and expanding the responsibilities of the trading desk in an effort to stay ahead of the ever-changing complexities of global markets. We are pleased to have Matt and Chris working together to enhance our trading desk and add value to our investment process."

Mr. Maloney said, "Chris and I previously worked together at Credit Suisse, so I know firsthand that he is a talented, hardworking individual who will be an asset to the team on the trading desk. I am excited to be working with him again and I am confident that together we will make a meaningful contribution to portfolio returns."

Prior to joining Gramercy, Mr. Tackney was Managing Director, Head of Trading at Greylock Capital. Before Greylock, Mr. Tackney was Senior Portfolio Manager for emerging market corporate bonds at Schroder Investment Management with responsibility for global EM corporate investments. Earlier in his career Mr. Tackney worked at Credit Suisse, Black River Asset Management, BlackRock Advisors and TIAA-CREF. He received his MBA in Finance and Economics from New York University Stern School of Business and BA in Economics from Bucknell University. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

"I am very excited to be a part of this seasoned EM team. Gramercy has an excellent reputation, driven in part by its commitment to delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns and I look forward to playing an active role," said Mr. Tackney.

About Gramercy:

Gramercy is a $5.7 billion dedicated emerging markets investment manager based in Greenwich, CT with offices in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City, and a presence in Lima and Buenos Aires. The firm, founded in 1998, seeks to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns through a comprehensive approach to emerging markets, supported by a transparent and robust institutional platform. Gramercy offers both alternative and long-only strategies across all emerging markets asset classes including USD debt, local currency debt, high yield corporate debt, distressed debt, equity, private equity and special situations. www.gramercy.com

SOURCE Gramercy Funds Management LLC

Related Links

http://www.gramercy.com


PHOENIX, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 20th, Helix House, a Scottsdale based digital advertising agency, proudly celebrated its 8th business anniversary. Founded 2008 in Tucson, Arizona by Michael Donato and Alona Rudnitsky, Helix House has grown into one of Arizona's premier digital advertising agencies.

With proficiency that stretches across industries, Helix House specializes in developing forward looking business solutions through a ground-up, comprehensive approach to campaign design. Helix House's expertise lies in creating cutting-edge, customized, growth-oriented marketing strategies which allow businesses to speak with a clear, distinct voice in crowded and competitive industries.

Helix House, who represents clients across a wide range of industry and markets including, Hastings and Hastings, Parker & Sons, Paper Eskimo, Earl Schieb, Arthur Murray Dance Studios, Allstate Self Storage, and Van Norman Law, maintains a mission to act as a valuable partner to growing Arizona businesses.

"When we founded Helix House, we committed to being a positive force in the Arizona business community. We wanted to find clients who would value the relentless hard work we put into every campaign, and who would be hungry to grow along with us. From our modest first office in Tucson, to the incredible Scottsdale Financial Center where we work today, we have carried that hunger with us. These first eight years have passed faster than I could have imagined, and I know that the future holds even bigger things in store for Helix House, and our clients," said Michael Donato, Managing Partner at Helix House

Helix House is known for providing the highest level of excellence in digital marketing and advertising, website design and development, social media management, content marketing, email marketing, technology services, and data analytics.

The award winning digital advertising agency places an emphasis on company culture and client relations. Helix House has created a culture in which employees are not just valued, they are empowered; at Helix House, clients know that their voice is heard, and that their unique values and personality will be an integral part of any campaign.

With eight years already in the books, the future looks bright for Helix House.

For more information, visit helixhouse.com, today.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Helix House

Related Links

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The shareholder campaign forges ahead to hold American companies doing business in Israel/Palestine accountable for their fair employment.

The campaign launched in 2012 is the first time ever that the companies were faced with this issue, even though larges numbers of Shareholder Resolutions have been filed since 1972 on all sorts of other SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) issues. These issues and concerns are commonly summed up as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).

The Holy Land Principles  an 8-point corporate code of conduct for American companies doing business in Palestine/Israel are pro-Jewish, pro-Palestinian and pro-company. The Principles do not call for quotas, reverse discrimination, disinvestment/divestment or boycottsonly for fair employment by American companies. The Principles are based on the very effective Mac Bride Principles, which have powerfully advanced fair employment for Catholics in Northern Ireland. Please visit HolyLandPrinciples.org for more information. In particular, view the Animated Internet Video, which presents the issue in a very compelling way. It is the big existential question for American companies in the Holy Land that no longer can be ignored.

Fr. Sean McManus President of the Capitol Hill-based Holy Land Principles, Inc. and Irish National Caucus said: "The FedEx annual meeting is on Monday, September 26 at 8 AM (Central time) in Memphis, TN. Our Resolution will call on FedEx to sign the Holy Land Principles.

Cisco Resolution  the heart of the matter

Fr. McManus continued: "However, our Cisco Resolution for the Annual Meeting sometime in November 2016, calls on Cisco at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary informationto disclose the breakdown of its workforce in Palestine/Israel using the nine job categories which are utilized in the U.S. Department of Labor's EEO -1 Report (Equal Employment Opportunity): 1.Officials and managers; 2. Professionals; 3. Technicians; 4. Sales; 5. Office and clerical; 6. Craft Workers (skilled); 7. Operatives (semiskilled); 8. Laborers (unskilled); 9. Service workers." (See text of Resolution: http://www.holylandprinciples.org/cisco-shareholder-resolution-for-2016/).

Fr. McManus explained: "Cisco proclaims that it is proud of its fair employment in Israel/Palestine. Now we are providing them with a way to verify, following the adage of President Reagan, 'Trust but verify.' Surely, this is an eminently reasonable request to make of Cisco? How could Cisco reasonably refuse? This Resolution is also entirely consistent with the Ruggie Principles, which Cisco says it endorses."

Barbara Flaherty Executive Vice President of Holy Land Principles, Inc. said: "The following eight Resolutions were filed in July for 2017: Coca-Cola, Corning, General Electric, General Motors, Intel, McDonald's, Pepsi, and UPS. And after September 15, the following 16 will be filed for 2017: 3M, Alphabet (Google), Apple, AT&T, Boeing, Caterpillar, Crawford &Co, ECM, Estee Lauder, FedEx, Lockheed Martin, Marriott, Marsh and McLennan, Pfizer, Proctor & Gamble, and Xerox. Additionally, after the Cisco meeting in November 2016, we will file yet again with Cisco for 2017."

Nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come

Fr. Mc Manus concluded: "We set out to fill a vacuum that was crying out to be filled. It is unconscionable that fair employment by American companies in Israel/Palestine was studiously ignored ever since Shareholder Resolutions became popular and, indeed, almost de rigueur especially by the faith-based and SRI community. Now our 25 Resolutions for 2017 help to redeem that sad negligence. We look forward to gaining the support of all shareholders, consumers and stakeholders. The Holy Land Principles can promote fair employment in American companies in Palestine/ Israel just as our Mac Bride Principles promote fair employment in the American companies doing business in Northern Ireland. The Holy Land Principles will continue to grow and flourish, because nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come."

NOTE OF INTEREST: Fr. McManus appears in the critically acclaimed documentary film, "Bobby Sands:66 DAYS", now showing in Ireland and soon to be shown in the USA. Fr. Mc Manus' role is to explain the American reaction to the 1981 Hunger Strike in which Bobby Sands and his nine colleagues died. Bobby Sands survived for 66 Days, dying on May 5. Fr. Mc Manus himself did a 12-day hunger strike outside the British Embassy in Washington, coming off his hunger strike when Sands died. For more information visit 66daysthefilm.com

Fr. Sean Mc Manus

President

Holy Land Principles. Inc.

Irish National Caucus, Inc.

P.O. BOX 15128

Capitol Hill

Washington, DC 20003-0849

Tel. 202-488-0107

Fax. 202-488-7537

[email protected]

SOURCE Holy Land Principles

Related Links

http://www.HolyLandPrinciples.org


TULSA, Okla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Horticultural Lighting Conference, presented by LEDs Magazine and owned by PennWell Corporation, announced today an impressive speaker lineup for the inaugural event to be held October 12, 2016 at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago, IL.

Connecting research and technology to end user applications, this specialized one-day conference will feature the following speakers, providing insights, lessons learned and cutting-edge information on the latest advancements in LED horticultural lighting:

Opening Keynote Speaker:

Dr. Cary Mitchell, Professor of Plant Physiology, Purdue University, Director of NASA's Specialized Center of Research and Training in Advanced Life Support

Featured Speakers:

Stephanie Pruitt, Senior Analyst, Strategies Unlimited

Topic: The Market for Horticulture Lighting

Josh Gerovac, Horticulture Lighting Specialist, Fluence Bioengineering

Topic: The Fundamentals of Light and Its Impact on Crop Production

Austin Gelder, ASABE

Topic: Testing Horticultural Lighting Products: Metrics and Methods

Chris Steele, Heliospectra

Delegate Lunch with Keynote Speaker:

Robert Colangelo, Founding Farmer and CEO, Green Sense Farms

Steve Edwards, SSL Fixtures Product Line Director, Plessey Semiconductors Ltd.

Topic: LED Benefits for Research and Strawberry Production

Eric Moody, US Lighting Solutions Specialist, PL Light Systems

Topic: LED vs. Traditional Grow Lighting



Drake Stalions, Senior Marketing and Business Development Manager, OSRAM

Kurt Liepmann, SSL Applications Engineer, OSRAM

Topic: Benefits of LEDs for Horticulture Applications

Dr. Robert Morrow, Senior Scientist, Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC)

Topic: LED Lighting for Plant Growth Systems in Space

Dr. Melanie Yelton, Director of Research, LumiGrow

Closing Plenary:

Dr. Mark S. Rea, Director and Professor, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Jaimin Patel, Plant Pathology Research Scientist, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Dr. David M. Gadoury, Senior Research Associate, Cornell University

Topic: Looking Forward: Contemplating The Other Benefits That LEDs Can Bring to Horticulture



"This impressive lineup of experts leading the future of this emerging sector will provide attendees with an exceptional opportunity to learn and engage with the best in the field, while sharing information, case studies and best practices critical to the growth and success of horticultural lighting. With an additional focus on connecting companies manufacturing horticultural LED products with end users, the Horticultural Lighting Conference is a must-attend for building important business relationships and establishing a presence early-on in this market," said Ms. Stephanie Pruitt, Senior Analyst, Strategies Unlimited.

Sponsors of the Horticultural Lighting Conference include OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Cree, LumiGrow, Everlight Americas, Bill Brown Sales Company, CSA Group, P.L. Lighting Systems and Spectrum King LED. The conference will conclude with a Networking Reception where attendees, speakers and sponsors can interact and exchange information face-to-face.

Registration for the conference is now open, with the advance registration discount expiring on September 15. To learn more or to register, visit horticulturelightingconference.com.

About the PennWell LED & Lighting Network

The PennWell LED & Lighting Network serves the global lighting industry with a comprehensive series of publications, events and research capabilities covering every aspect of lighting. From the manufacturer to the end user, the PennWell LED & Lighting Network's mission is to bridge the spectrum of light with the highest level of excellence in editorial, technical content and business development opportunities, providing 360-degree views of the global market. United together, the PennWell LED & Lighting Network's resources drive innovation and inspire solutions in LEDs and lighting by connecting the technology with the applications of the future. For additional information about LEDs Magazine, visit www.ledsmagazine.com

About PennWell Corporation

PennWell Corporation is a privately held and highly diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, water and wastewater treatment, waste management, electronics, semiconductor manufacturing, optoelectronics, fiber-optics, aerospace and avionics, LEDs and lighting, fire and emergency services, public safety, and dental. PennWell publishes over 130 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; London, England; Houston, Texas; San Diego and Mountain View, California; Fairlawn, New Jersey; Moscow, Russia; and Hong Kong, China. For additional information about PennWell Corporation, visit www.pennwell.com.

Contact:

Wendy Lissau, Marketing Director

PennWell Corporation

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 918.831.9793

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160718/390484LOGO

SOURCE PennWell Corporation

Related Links

http://www.ledsmagazine.com


Jim Zogby, President and Co-Founder the of the Arab American Institute and member or the Democratic National Convention Platform Drafting Committee, said he is has seen an increase in the practice of profiling since 2002, despite positive statements from American politicians like President Bush and President Obama. "As the negatives have gone up, the positives have gone up," he said in regard to support from other ethnic communities. "Groups that wouldn't give [the Arab American community] the time of day twenty years ago now embrace us."

Zogby expressed frustration with the distinction between Christian and Muslim Arab Americans in campaign organizing, and the tendency in campaigns to prioritize religious identity over ethnic identity. "We have to be able to define ourselves," he said about Arab Americans, rather than allowing others to conflate religious and ethnic identities for political purposes. "I do not think religion and politics belong together"

Zogby, who travels extensively, said that throughout the Middle East and even in Europe, he gets a similar response with regard to the reputation of America abroad, "What the hell's wrong with you people?" America is not putting its best foot forward in this election cycle, he called this "a 'hold your nose' election," and he said, "frankly, you know, we can do better as a country, and we're not."

While he said Donald Trump has caused irreparable damage to America, it did not start just with this election cycle, but, much to Zogby's concern, America has been in a "steady downward spiral." He suggested that the damage began under Former President Bush, who he said, tarnished the view of America, and continued with President Obama, who built up expectations he could not fufulfilland now, with Donald Trump, who Zogby agreed, "is, as Hillary Clinton says, a great recruiter for Isis." Looking at the election overall, Zogby said, "It troubles me deeply that we [are] presenting to the world a flawed system."

"The fact [is] that you cannot view America either as fundamentally good or fundamentally evil. We are both," he said, "We're the Statue of Liberty and we're Donald Trump We're not just Donald Trump, but we have produced Martin Luther King, we've produced people who have taken us to great heights and shown us great promise and done great things."

Zogby, who is a first generation American, points out that his father was an illegal immigrant, and hanging on the wall in his office are his father's naturalization papers and a parchment from President Obama, appointing him to a post in the government. To Zogby, that the son of an illegal immigrant can serve the President of the U.S. is the unique story of America. "Never forget we're capable of doing bad things, but we're also capable of doing great things," he concluded.

About MSLGROUP

MSLGROUP is Publicis Groupe's strategic communications and engagement group, advisors in all aspects of communication strategy: from consumer PR to financial communications, from public affairs to reputation management and from crisis communications to experiential marketing and events. With more than 3,000 people across close to 100 offices worldwide, MSLGROUP is also the largest PR network in Europe, fast-growing China and India. The group offers strategic planning and counsel, insight-guided thinking and big, compelling ideas  followed by thorough execution.

www.mslgroup.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Slideshare | Pinterest

About Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in marketing, communication, and business transformation. In a world marked by increased convergence and consumer empowerment, Publicis Groupe offers a full range of services and skills: digital, technology & consulting with Publicis.Sapient (SapientNitro, Sapient Global Markets, Sapient Government Services, Razorfish Global, DigitasLBi, Rosetta) - the world's largest most forward-thinking digitally centered platform focused exclusively on digital transformation in an always-on world - as well as creative networks such as BBH, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, public affairs, corporate communications and events with MSLGROUP, ad tech solutions with VivaKi, media strategy, planning and buying through Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia, healthcare communications, with Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), and finally, brand asset production with Prodigious. Present in 108 countries, the Groupe employs more than 76,000 professionals.

www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter: @PublicisGroupe | Facebook: www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe | LinkedIn: Publicis Groupe | http://www.youtube.com/user/PublicisGroupe | Viva la Difference

FOCUS WASHINGTON | INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT | 14 JUNE 2016

CHUCK CONCONI: Welcome to Focus Washington. My guest today is Jim Zogby, who is President and Founder of the American Arab Institute, which I see is described as the political and research arm of their Arab American community. Now you spent some time, because you're on the Democratic National Committee, at the Convention and you've been watching this incredible campaign that's been going on. But what effect do you think Donald Trump's anti-Arab drumbeat will have on the Arab American community on the short term and on the long term?

JAMES ZOGBY: Well, it continues a process that we've seen actually since 2002 when the gap began to open up between party ID, those Democrat and those Republican, all through the 90s when we polled the community like other ethnic communities leaned Democratic by three, four, five points depending upon the year. In 2002, it began to open up and today  in the last poll we did which was 2014, we're doing another one later in September  the gap was more than 2 to 1 Democrat, 47 to 21. And the voter turnout, the voter engagement, was 3 to 1 Democrat. So our voter patterns today and our party ID pattern is like Hispanics or like Jews  we're a Democratic constituency. I see nothing that's happened in the last two years to change that dynamic. And whether people like Hillary Clinton or not, that doesn't matter, the Republican party has deflated their numbers rather significantly, and Arab Americans will not vote for the Republican candidate beyond the 20 percent range, I think.

CC: But what happens to the attitude of Americans about Arab Americans because of this?

JZ: Well we're seeing it. I mean there have been killings, there have been hate crimes, there's nothing new  again, that is a phenomenon that we saw develop after 9/11. And while President Bush did, I think -- said some very important things about not discriminating and not striking out  his policies, and the policies of his Justice Department, worked in the exact opposite direction. And so, if you're saying don't target all Arabs and Muslims, but we're doing special registration and you're doing the kind of massive profiling and rounding up and deporting and the call-ups and all of the things that the Ashcroft Justice Department did, you're sending the signal that you do fear all Arab Americans. And even President Obama, I mean after the Northwest Airline almost tragic bombing situation there, literally said all passengers coming from these countries, 13 or 14 countries, have to be specially screened at airports before they come to the U.S. So the practice of profiling has encouraged this behavior and so.

And yet what's happened is as the negatives have gone up, the positives have gone up. We've won support from more community groups, from more  from African Americans and Latinos and from the mainline Protestant Churches and from the civil liberties organizations and immigrant rights organizations. Groups that wouldn't give us the time of day twenty years ago now embrace us. So I feel that we've survived this challenge and will continue to survive it and will do well in terms of the alliances with those that have been built up who defend us and protect us.

CC: Well of course, you're a Christian Arab, which is different but no one makes that differentiation 

JZ: And shouldn't. And shouldn't.

CC: Well, obviously shouldn't. But what about in the Arab community? Is it a dissention being created between the Christians and the Muslims?

JZ: Well look, there are those who would like to do that, especially among the very recent immigrant who bought in either to the Islamic political identity or the 'I'm not Muslim Christian' political identity. But for the generation born here, the generations born here, who form still the overwhelming majority of the community, it's an ethnic identity. It's an ethnic identity that doesn't know divisions even sometimes between countries. I remember an ambassador coming to see me  an Arab ambassador asking me  how do you organize your staff? And after we went back and forth a number of times I said by function, for God's sake; this is the organizing unit and the research unit. And he said no no no, I mean the young man out front, he's Shia from Lebanon right? I said frankly sir, I have no idea, I never asked him. It's not on the job application, and we don't think that way and we deliberately try not to think that way even when others push us to do that.

I'm frustrated with the development of some of these Muslim political groups because they're pushing an agenda that is in effect  they actually call us Arab Christians. That's not our self-identity. And I reject it, and I reject those who use religion as a political identity, I think it's dangerous. It's dangerous, whether it comes from Jews, it's dangerous if it comes from the moral majority and the Pat Robertson types, and it's dangerous when it comes from Muslims. I do not think that religion and politics belong together.

CC: And it comes from the political campaign. I mean, Trump is very much making it a religious issue.

JZ: And the Clinton people, unfortunately, are doing the same thing. They're organizing Muslims without respect to their ethnicity. And I think that ethnic groups have different  I mean, African American Muslims have very different concerns than Pakistani Muslims. If you try to conflate them all as one group, you in effect are saying 'I'm defining you this way.' We have to be able to define ourselves. And that's a struggle we've had with the Bush administration, with the Obama administration, and we're still having it now.

CC: Well speaking internationally then, is there an irreparable damage being done to America by this political campaign?

JZ: Oh, irreparable damage has been done. You know, I think that it began in the Bush administration in a very serious way. And the President  President Obama did his best to create expectations but he allowed those expectations to come crashing down to earth. When I saw his interview in the Atlantic with Jeffrey Goldberg, I actually said to him one time, I said  Mr. President, you don't want that to be your legacy from Cairo to Goldberg. You don't want to have your disappointment and your blaming the Arabs for your disappointment. At one point earlier I remember he said to me 'their expectations of me were too high' and I said back to him 'but you created those expectations.' So from Bush who did everything he could to tarnish the reputation of America, to Obama who tried to elevate it but then left everything that he promised undone, to Trump who is sort of re-aggravating the situation, I think that we've been in a steady downward spiral and it concerns me, a great deal it concerns me.

CC: Well what are you hearing form the Middle East and Arab countries? I mean, you're in constant contact.

JZ: I mean it's not just there, when I travel in Europe etcetera, I get the same thing: what the hell's wrong with you people? This is not our best  we're not putting our best foot forward in the world you know. And I think most Americans feel that way too. It's an election, I call it a 'hold your nose' election. I think Hillary Clinton is very smart, she's very qualified, but frankly you know, we can do better as a country and we're not. I mean, it troubles me deeply that we have  we're presenting to the world a flawed process, a rigged process that in many ways guarantees the establishment will win, or in the case of Trump, that what I think is viewed in the world as a brown shirt movement will win. Does Trump do damage? Of course he is. He is, as Hillary Clinton says, a great recruiter for ISIS and there's no question about the fact that those who hate America look at Trump and say that's why we hate America.

I continue to manifest though, in all the positions I make, the fact that you cannot view America either as fundamentally good or fundamentally evil. We are both. We're the Statue of Liberty and we're Donald Trump. And if you forget the one, the Trump, then you run the risk of being vulnerable when they exploit fear and create the movement they do. But if you forget the other, the Statue of Liberty and all it represents, then you forget the greatness that we're capable of and the good that we've actually done in our history. We're not just Donald Trump, but we've produced Martin Luther King, we've produced people who have taken us to great heights and shown us great promise and done great things.

I have on the wall of my office my father's naturalization paper, which for me is important, because he came here illegally in the twenties when they zeroed out quotas and said Syrian trash aren't welcome, that was what the Senate said. He became naturalized after amnesty during the Roosevelt era and I have my parchment from President Obama appointing me to a post in the government. And so, that's the story for me of America. The son of an illegal immigrant can serve the President of the United States. That won't happen anywhere else in the world. That's who we are, but we're also Trump. We're both. There's kind of a schizophrenia to America and we have to recognize that, deal with it, never forget we're capable of doing bad things but we're also capable of doing great things.

CC: Such enthusiasm, which I didn't expect. Thank you, Jim, for being here today.

I'm Chuck Conconi, and this has been Focus Washington.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZzuy-nggyI

SOURCE Focus Washington
IRVING, Texas, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. and J&K Communications, Inc. signed a contract with Howard County to install the first ATLAS P25 Phase 2 trunked simulcast system in Indiana. EFJohnson's ATLAS P25 critical communications system will provide county-wide coverage for over 30 public departments.

Howard County faced interoperability issues with their end-of-life EDACS system. The County's 911 Communications Director, Gary Bates says, "We're upgrading to the latest P25 Phase 2 technology for future expansion, reliability, and continuity for the next 20 years."

With patented modern coreless technology Howard County will be protected against system failures. Mr. Bates explains, "The main advantage of ATLAS system technology is that each site will have control which eliminates the worry of having one central core, especially in the event of a disaster or if we get hit by a tornado. This was one of the biggest selling points to me when choosing EFJohnson's P25 technology."

The ATLAS P25 Phase 2 solution includes:

3-site ATLAS P25 Phase 2 Trunked Simulcast System

1,600 KENWOOD Viking P25 Dual Band & Single Band Radios

Zetron MAX Console System via CSSI

EFJohnson's local partner, J&K Communications will build two additional towers to improve mobile and portable coverage across the county.

"Howard County conducted a rigorous public bidding process for this major project and we are confident we selected the best system available to meet our requirements," says Mr. Bates. "Both companies have an excellent reputation in the industry and we are currently collaborating with them in the implementation phase."

John Suzuki, President and CEO of EFJohnson stated, "We're proud to partner with Howard County to make their system safe and simple with our ATLAS solution. Together with J&K Communications, we are committed to delivering the most modern P25 Phase 2 solution for the County's public safety agencies and community."

The new system will provide interoperable communications to agencies across the county including police, fire and EMS, public schools, highway departments, sheriffs' departments, marshall service, and the county's consolidated communications center. In addition, KENWOOD Viking P25 dual band radios will provide interoperable communications to volunteer fire departments throughout the County.

About EFJohnson Technologies, Inc.

EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. is an independent subsidiary of JVCKENWOOD Corporation. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, EFJohnson focuses on innovating, developing and marketing the highest quality secure communications solutions to organizations whose mission is to protect and save lives. The Company's customers include first responders in public safety and public service, the federal government, and industrial organizations. The Company's products are marketed under the EFJohnson and Kenwood brands. For more information, visit www.efjohnson.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151023/279908LOGO

SOURCE EF Johnson Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

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HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With the state of California on the verge of approving the recreational use of marijuana in November, at least one company is ahead of the curve when it comes to transparency, consumer confidence and environmental responsibility.

Humboldt Legends brings together a group of heritage cannabis farmers with some of the highest environmental standards in the industry. One of its farmers participated in the first transaction in the pilot program for the County of Humboldt to track the movement of marijuana through each step of the supply chain, from grower to distributor to consumer. The purchaser was KIVA Confections, a medical cannabis company that focuses on gourmet chocolate confections.

Called "track and trace," the county utilizes the services of Switzerland-based SICPA Security LLC, which can track the origins of every batch of marijuana sold in the county using QR code stamps, much like they currently do for cigarettes.

After a cultivator harvests and packages their cannabis crop, they put the traceable, counterfeit-resistant stamp on the product. The QR code, which can be scanned by a smart phone, includes information about the product, including the name of the strain ("Steelhead Sativa," for example), the date it was harvested, who grew it (name of cultivator and farm), strain type, and THC and CBD (primary ingredients in marijuana) yields.

This allows not only the government to track the origins of the product, but also distributors and especially consumers to do the same, so they know exactly what they're buying is legal Humboldt County product.

"It's an incredibly exciting moment, for me personally and from an industry standpoint," said one of Humboldt Legends' cultivators and co-founder, Scott Davies, who has been a grower for 20 years. "It's been a long time coming, I've worked all my life for this moment."

Humboldt County's "Humboldt Cannabis Pilot Program," the first of its kind in the state, started Aug. 1 and concludes in November. The county's pilot program will be fully compliant with the so-called Adult Use Act  California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, Proposition 64  should it pass in November.

About Humboldt Legends

Humboldt Legends was founded in 2015 by a group of heritage cannabis farmers who have decades of experience growing marijuana by innovative and sustainable methods, and other industry professionals and community leaders. Humboldt Legend's farmers respect the land as well as your health, so they don't use any non-organic chemicals or watershed-damaging methods in their 100% sun-powered fields. Humboldt Legends will be launching with the 2016 Fall Harvest.

About SICPA

Switzerland-based SICPA Product Security, LLC, performs track and trace services in about 160 countries, tracks 109 forms of currency, tracks over 77 billion products per year including soda, beer and tobacco.

About KIVA Confections

KIVA Confections provides consistently potent, great-tasting, gourmet chocolate confections that set a whole new standard for edible medical cannabis. Founded in 2010 by Scott Palmer and Kristi Knoblich, KIVA Confections is a California-based not-for-profit collective.

Resources:

humboldtlegends.com

humboldtgov.org/TrackAndTrace

humboldtorigin.org

kivaconfections.com

SOURCE Humboldt Legends

Related Links

http://www.humboldtlegends.com


BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Capital America, Intellectual Ventures and World Vision International are finalists for the Association for Financial Professionals 2016 Pinnacle Award. Sponsored by Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), the Pinnacle Award, established in 1997, recognizes excellence in treasury and finance.

Finalists were selected based on their innovative solutions that helped their treasury and finance operations run more efficiently and effectively. The AFP Pinnacle grand prize winner will be announced October 23 at the AFP Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Wells Fargo will make a $10,000 donation to a charity of the grand prize winner's choice. David Trotter, executive vice president and head of Treasury Management Sales and Implementation at Wells Fargo along with AFP are hosting the event.

"AFP is pleased to honor the 2016 Pinnacle Award finalists," Kaitz said. "The treasury and finance groups at Hyundai Capital America, Intellectual Ventures and World Vision International truly set the global standard for their peers and their profession."

"At Wells Fargo, we have the privilege of witnessing firsthand how the industry continues to evolve and develop innovative solutions that drive us and businesses forward," said Trotter. "The knowledge, experience, and expertise displayed by these finalists is a great example for all of us, and we're thrilled to honor them."

After incredibly rapid growth over the last 5 years, Hyundai Capital America's entry showcased its improved cash and liquidity forecasting model to better understand its daily cash requirements ranging from $50 million to $1.5 billion. HCA's new automated AI like model includes metrics, stress tests, variance reporting, and the ability to make funding decisions automatically. The model positively impacted HCA's P&L with lower interest expense, reduced overtime and enhanced ability to focus on strategic execution.

Intellectual Ventures, an intellectual-property licensing firm, built a market for invention that allows buyers, sellers and inventors to realize value for their ideas. IV's treasury team created a new asset class in the debt capital markets dedicated to the monetization of technology-related patent royalties. The team successfully securitized IV's fixed licensing royalty receivables, which accelerated the return of cash to investors and reduced the company's counterparty credit risk.

World Vision International was challenged by a decentralized organizational structure that made it difficult to implement and oversee a robust treasury function. As a result, WVI's treasury was unable to forecast with a reasonable degree of certainty or manage cash and risk effectively. WVI addressed its issues by deploying to the field internally developed and scalable cloud-based cash management tools, and simplifying bank relationships and account structures.

For more information in attending the AFP Annual Conference, October 23-26 in Orlando, please visit http://www.an16.afponline.org.

ABOUT AFP

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) is the professional society that represents finance executives globally. AFP established and administers the Certified Treasury Professional and Certified Corporate FP&A Professional credentials, which set standards of excellence in finance. The quarterly AFP Corporate Cash Indicators serve as a bellwether of economic growth. The AFP Annual Conference is the largest networking event for corporate finance professionals in the world.

SOURCE Association for Financial Professionals

Related Links

http://www.AFPonline.org


Dog Abuser (Photo : Weibo)

It is no longer just Chinese mistresses who gets to be stripped naked and beaten by an angry crowd. A male teacher who had sex with his female student and now a Chengdu man who abuses dogs have been added to the list.



The man, nicknamed Chengdu Man and Animals, allegedly filmed himself abusing his dog and then attempting to sell the videos. When an animal rights group, through a covert operations, discovered the location of the man, they beat and humiliated him by stripping naked the dog abuser and filming him.



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GBtimes reported that about a dozen animal welfare group members dragged the 20-year-old man out in the streets and physically and verbally abused the naked man while he lay helpless on the ground. The volunteers wanted police to arrest the dog abuser, but because China lacks a law to protect animals, the police could not do anything.



However, in beating and stripping naked the dog abuser, legal experts opined it was the volunteers who violated the law. A clip of the mob beating was posted on Chinese social media, and the video has gone viral. The video showed the volunteers scolded the man, poked his jaw with a stick and pulled his hair. Some held banners that asked China to pass animal protection laws.



A similar incident happened a year ago to a dog thief in Hunan Province.






The technology has broad applications, from 3D acquisition using a single camera of a mobile phone to high precision measurements for industrial purposes using portable devices. Natural3D technology can be implemented for both photo and video acquisition using a single camera with standard optics.

Professor Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Ramos, the inventor behind Wooptix's technology, is leading a team of highly experienced imaging and optical engineers who have successfully proven the technology in the astrophysics field, and now aim to develop new applications in the medical, industrial and consumer electronics market segments.

"N3D is a significant advance in imaging technology and will help bring new capabilities of augmented reality and 3D vision to the next generation of smart devices," said Javier Parraga, co-founder and CEO.

"Already, Natural3D has the power to transform any standard camera into a 3D one. This is just the beginning," added Professor Rodriguez-Ramos.

Led by the Spanish VC Bullnet Capital and Intel Capital along with the participation of Spain's Caixa Capital Risc, the venture capital division of "la Caixa", this round will help Wooptix to tailor their imaging technology for different platforms.

Erik Jorgensen, director at Intel Capital and Javier Ulecia, partner at Bullnet Capital, will join Javier Parraga and Javier Elizalde (co-founders) on the companys Board.

According to Javier Ulecia from Bullnet Capital "Wooptix is a company completely in line with our investment criteria: a team with proven experience in the technology world with patent-protected products, capable of developing an effective commercial strategy at a global level in sectors with growing demand."

"Intel is pleased to work with Wooptix to bring next-generation imaging technologies to consumers. Wooptix's expertise in advanced computational photography, coupled with Intel processors, will enable consumers to capture immersive interactive photographs in real time," said Arjun Kapur, Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Imaging and Camera Technologies Group.

About Bullnet Capital

Bullnet Capital is an independent Spanish venture capital firm focused on hi-tech companies in the IT sector (software, electronics, semiconductors, etc.). Established in 2002, it manages a total of EUR100.0 million under several investment vehicles. To date, Bullnet Capital has invested in a dozen early stage Spanish companies, and maintains its investment philosophy of adding value and contributing to the day-to-day operations of portfolio companies. Visit www.grupobullnet.com or follow @bullnetcapital.

About Intel Capital

Intel Capital, Intel's strategic investment and M&A organization, backs innovative startups targeting computing and smart devices, cloud, datacenter, security, the Internet of Things, wearable and robotic technologies and semiconductor manufacturing. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested US$11.7 billion in 1,457 companies worldwide, and 605 portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired. Through its business development programs, Intel Capital curates thousands of introductions each year between its portfolio executives and Intel's customers and partners in the Global 2000. For more information on what makes Intel Capital one of the world's most powerful venture capital firms, visit www.intelcapital.com or follow @Intelcapital.

About Caixa Capital Risc

The venture capital arm of "la Caixa", one of the main financial groups in Spain, invests in the early stages of innovative startups with high growth potential. Caixa Capital Risc currently manages EUR180.0 million through various specialized vehicles based on the sector and stage of growth of the project and has minority participation from the CDTI, the ICO, the ICF, and other agents. Although they invest in multi-sector companies with a global vision, Caixa Capital Risc remains focused on sectors they consider to be emerging: technology, digital industries, industrial technology, and life sciences. Visit www.caixacapitalrisc.com or follow @caixacr

About Wooptix

Wooptix is an imaging technology solution provider, formed by a team of specialists, mostly PhDs and engineers with more than twenty years of experience in advanced imaging and adaptive optics. The company has successful applications installed in several astrophysics locations worldwide.. The company's main R&D facilities are based in Spain, with plans to open in the San Francisco Bay area soon. Visit www.wooptix.com or follow @hellowooptix and https://www.facebook.com/wooptix/?fref=ts

Media Contact:

Javier Elizalde

Wooptix S.L.

[email protected]

+34 600719050

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160823/400380

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SOURCE Wooptix

Related Links

http://www.wooptix.com


LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Immix Biopharma, Inc. is pleased to announce the successful completion of six-month stability testing for its lead and foundational candidate, Imx-110.

In stability studies, a drug's stability is tested under the influence of a variety of environmental factors such as: temperature, humidity and light. Data from these studies enable recommended storage conditions, retest intervals, and shelf lives to be established. These studies are an essential precursor to human studies, based on ICH and FDA guidelines.

Phase 1/2 studies for Imx-110 are planned to commence in late-2017. "Internally, the bar is set high for the upcoming clinical trial's primary and secondary outcomes. Our company is looking for an expected objective response rate between 60 and 85 percent. To our knowledge, this will be the first-ever study in humans combining a very small dose of a cytotoxin with a non-toxic sensitizing agent in the same delivery vehicle," shared Immix CEO and co-founder Dr. Ilya Rachman.

UCLA's Director of Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplantation and Professor of Hematology-Oncology, Dr. Gary Schiller, added "this has the potential to add an effective and safe treatment option for patients failing all otherwise-available agents." Dr. Schiller is an advisor to Immix and was also an investigator for Celator's nanotherapy candidate -- CPX-351. CPX-351's trial led to the company's recent $1.5B acquisition earlier this year, after showing a significant improvement in overall survival.

For inquiries, please contact:

Ryan Witt

Vice President

Immix Biopharma, Inc.

E: [email protected]

About Imx-110

Imx-110 holds the promise to become the first non-toxic, effective therapy in chemotherapy and immunotherapy-resistant patients. In preclinical studies, Immix' first-in-class candidate, Imx-110, induced cell death and improved survival in a variety of cancers. Imx-110 is a unique formulation combining less than 5% of the typical cytotoxic dose and a potent sensitizer co-loaded inside a nanosized delivery vehicle that is well suited for conjugation and tumor targeting.

About Immix

Immix Biopharma, Inc. is a privately held, biopharmaceutical firm focused on developing safe and effective therapies for cancer patients. The team was founded by Vladimir Torchilin, Ph.D., D.Sc. Director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicine at Northeastern University and the former Head of Chemistry Program at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital; Ilya Rachman, an MD, PhD, MBA, physician scientist and clinical researcher; and Sean D. Senn, JD, MSc., MBA, a senior biotechnology patent attorney and fund manager.

SOURCE Immix Biopharma, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.immixbio.com


ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Immune Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB-IMUN) ("IMUN"), headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company involved in the commercialization, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of its novel immunotherapies to combat chronic, life-threatening diseases through the activation and modulation of the body's immune system.

IMUN, in conjunction with the College of Medicine Malawi, has initiated a clinical study with LDN for the prevention of cervical cancer. This is an open-label, multicenter study designed to determine the safety and acceptability of a single-visit approach to cervical cancer prevention in patients. Using a single-visit approach to prevent cervical cancer, women will be examined through visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid wash (VIA) and, if tests results are positive, patients will be offered immediate cryotherapy of the precancerous lesion. The secondary objectives are to determine life extension, to improve the immune system of immune comprised patients by starting treatment with LDN.

The Brewer Foundation in partnership with IMUN arranged both the funding for the trial and the donation of the Wallach LL100 Cryosurgical system necessary to run the trial and treat patients.

"The joint goal of this ever-important initiative is to empower the people of Malawi and to provide affordable health solutions to those most vulnerable. With this trial, we, with IMUN and its subsidiaries, hope to combat cervical cancer and immediately start saving lives in our ongoing initiative to improve global health," stated His Excellency, Ambassador Jack Brewer, Founder and Executive Director of JBF Worldwide.

Noreen Griffin, Chief Executive Officer of IMUN, said, "With the increase in the number of patients in Africa suffering from cancer, the need for affordable non-toxic therapies becomes more important every day. We, with our partners GB Pharma and The Jack Brewer Foundation, intend to be part of finding a solution."

Dr. Frank Taulo, the head of the OBGYN Department for Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre and Principal Investigator of the trial, explained, "Since the beginning of the cervical cancer prevention programme in Malawi, strides have been made regarding scaling up of the screening services and premalignant lesions treatment using cryotherapy. One of the biggest challenges has been the inadequate cryotherapy medical device. The timely donation of 10 cryotherapy guns has alleviated tremendously this anomaly. Now several centers are able to treat these lesions."

About IMUN

IMUN is a biotechnology company working to combat chronic, life-threatening diseases through the activation and modulation of the body's immune system using its patented immunotherapy. Its products and immunotherapy technologies are designed to harness the power of the immune system to improve the treatment of cancer, infections such as HIV/AIDS, chronic inflammatory diseases, and autoimmune diseases.

IMUN's proprietary technology, therapies and patents include the treatment of a wide range of cancers. Its most advanced clinical programs involve immunotherapy with met-enkephalin (MENK) (sometimes referred to as opioid growth factor) and its LDN product or LodonalTM, which have been shown to stimulate the immune system even in patients with advanced cancer.

Forward Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ from those projected due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to the possibility that some or all of the matters and transactions considered by IMUN and its subsidiaries may not proceed as contemplated, and by all other matters specified in IMUN's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are made based upon current expectations that are subject to risk and uncertainty. IMUN and its subsidiaries do not undertake to update forward-looking statements in this news release to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking information. Assumptions and other information that could cause results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking information can be found in IMUN's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent periodic reports.

Contact

Amato and Partners, LLC

90 Park Avenue. 17th Floor

New York, NY 10016

[email protected]

SOURCE Immune Therapeutics, Inc.
PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IT Revolution (http://itrevolution.com), the industry leader for advancing DevOps, today announced its next round of speakers for its 2016 DevOps Enterprise Summit (DOES16) being held in San Francisco November 7-9 (http://events.itrevolution.com/us/). DOES16 San Francisco is the premier industry conference for the leaders of large, complex organizations implementing DevOps principles and practices. The event features presentations from industry pioneers and technology leaders who have successfully implemented DevOps transformations at large, Fortune 1000-type organizations. Hosted at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, early registration for DOES16 is highly encouraged, as the event has sold out the past two years (http://bit.ly/doessfo16reg).

This next round of speakers join already announced presenters from American Airlines, Disney and Equifax on this year's agenda. New speakers selected include:

Alexa Alley , DevOps Program Manager at Hearst Business Media

, DevOps Program Manager at Hearst Business Media Charles Betz , Instructor at University of St. Thomas

, Instructor at William Evans , Chief Design Officer at PraxisFlow

, Chief Design Officer at PraxisFlow Mark Imbriaco , Technical Operations Leadership formerly of GitHub, Heroku and 37signals

, Technical Operations Leadership formerly of GitHub, Heroku and 37signals Mark Landy , VP Enterprise Architecture at Johnson & Johnson

, VP Enterprise Architecture at Johnson & Johnson Steven Mayner , SAFe Senior Program Consultant at Scaled Agile, Inc.

, SAFe Senior Program Consultant at Scaled Agile, Inc. Jeffrey Payne, Chief Executive Officer at Coveros

Opal Perry , Divisional Chief Information Officer, Claims at Allstate

, Divisional Chief Information Officer, Claims at Allstate Terri Potts , Technical Director at Raytheon

, Technical Director at Raytheon Julia Wester , Improvement Coach at LeanKit

"I'm so excited about this latest group of DevOps practitioners who will share their experience reports and expert talks at DevOps Enterprise Summit San Francisco. The program is shaping up to be our most compelling yet," said Gene Kim, founder of IT Revolution and co-author of "The Phoenix Project" and upcoming "DevOps Handbook." "These technology leaders, who represent a wide range of industries, are responsible for leading large-scale IT transformation efforts across their organizations. Through their heroic stories, attendees will gain real-world advice for adopting best practices of high-performing organizations."

IT Revolution and founding partner Electric Cloud are coining the theme of DOES16 San Francisco as "Leading Change." Attendees can expect to gain clear understanding of the intricacies of large-scale DevOps implementations and best practices for leading IT transformations.

Join the #DOES16 Conversation

Interested in gaining insights from DevOps Enterprise Summit speakers ahead of the event? DOES16 organizers will be hosting a live video chat on Wednesday, September 7 at 11:30 a.m. PDT. To watch the event online, please visit: (http://bit.ly/2aRPrdX).

For more information about DOES16, please visit: (http://events.itrevolution.com/us/).

Share This: DevOps Enterprise Summit 2016 Adds More Speakers to #SFO Lineup http://events.itrevolution.com/us/speakers/ @DOESsummit #DOES16 #DevOps

About IT Revolution

IT Revolution (www.itrevolution.com) researches and amplifies the best practices of high-performing technology organizations. Founded by Gene Kim, the company publishes books, hosts events and supports the adoption of DevOps practices in the IT community.

Contact:

Jeremy Douglas

Catapult PR-IR

303-581-7760, ext. 16

[email protected]

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SOURCE IT Revolution

Related Links

http://www.itrevolution.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The global IVD market is currently 60.5 billion dollars, according to Kalorama Information's recently released report on in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test markets. The diagnostics-focused market research firm published the tenth edition of its study, The World Market for In Vitro Diagnostic Tests, on Monday, August 22nd. IVD will grow, the study says, but in a complex pattern that involves challenges to growth in traditional categories and reliable large markets combined with opportunities in novel tests and growth nations. Kalorama Information's report is released every 2 years and covers every segment of IVD testing with trend analysis, market forecasts and company profiles. The 1,600-page study is used by the IVD industry for business planning efforts, and is available for order at http://www.kaloramainformation.com/Worldwide-Vitro-Diagnostic-10206771/

The report says that a variety of factors can be expected to continue driving growth in IVD sales.

"Demand for healthcare and thus diagnostic tests in all the major markets is driven by aging populations and increased incidence of conditions such as: cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and obesity," said Shara Rosen, the report's author. "Modest IVD growth in developed countries, stronger growth in developing countries with a simultaneous shift from a preoccupation with infectious diseases to chronic conditions, is expected. Increased privatization of healthcare services throughout the world, developed and emerging economies included and thus increased pricing pressure on all devices including IVDs."

In addition the report sites increased demand from an increasing middle class in Brazil, India and China that is supported by the availability of healthcare insurance programs, international initiatives such as the Clinton Foundation and the Gates Foundation have begun to develop treatment programs for infectious diseasesTB, HIV, malaria, and sexually transmissible diseases creating a market for test devices to diagnose and monitor treatment efficacy of these diseases and other infectious diseases. Several IVD companies have partnered with these organizations and have seen their revenues increase. In addition, the report says the IVD industry will be shaped by long-term trends such as biomarker discovery and the use of newer technologies such as next generation sequencing.

"The use of genetic factors in evaluation of patients at risk for disease is still developing," said Rosen. "The link between genes and disease risk provides an ongoing market opportunity for in vitro diagnostic research and product development in cancer, autoimmune diseases, cardiac conditions, allergy, diabetes, psychiatric conditions and others."

It is not all upside, according to the report, there are also challenges for the IVD market and the report states that while the development of IVD product choices has been a boon for medical care, it also puts a great deal of pressure on physicians to make the right choices and for payers to pay for new technologies that may still be unproven. As an aging society begins to use more healthcare services, cost efficiency imperatives continue to put pressure on payers, providers and suppliers. As a result healthcare organizations have developed strict cost/performance and care guideline directives. The report contains hundreds of profiles. Top-tier companies such as Roche Diagnostics, Abbott, Siemens, Beckman Coulter, bioMerieux, Qiagen and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics are discussed at great length and hundreds of smaller companies are detailed.

Kalorama Information's estimate describes the revenues earned by manufacturers of reagents, kits, instruments and other supplies for IVD tests. Kalorama's estimate is the result of several months-long study of company financials, government and medical literature, trade publications. The estimate will differ from other estimate as it delineates markets of a clinical nature from medical research and drug development, and avoids the double-counting both supplies and tests performed in labs, which can be the case in other estimates. Kalorama Information's report The Worldwide Market for In Vitro Diagnostic Tests, 10th Edition, contains market estimates and competitive analysis for point-of-care diagnostics, hematology, coagulation, chemistry, immunoassay, infectious diseases and other areas of testing. It is available for order at http://www.kaloramainformation.com/Worldwide-Vitro-Diagnostic-10206771/.

Please link any media or news references to our reports or data to http://www.kaloramainformation.com/.

About Kalorama Information

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased through Kalorama's website and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

We routinely assist the media with healthcare topics. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog at www.kaloramainformation.com.

Contact:

Bruce Carlson

(212) 807-2622

[email protected]

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SOURCE Kalorama Information

Related Links

http://www.kaloramainformation.com/


Greenqloud has made great progress since pivoting the company from an IaaS company to a pure software company focusing on Qstack, its on-premise IaaS and infrastructure management software. Qstack quickly gained attention not only from industry leaders, resulting in partnerships with Microsoft, VMWare, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netapp and Hitachi, but from Kelly Ireland herself earlier this year when CB Technologies became technology partners with Greenqloud.

"I was introduced to Greenqloud about 18 months ago and have been watching their evolution closely ever since," stated Ireland. "Greenqloud's approach to development is one of the smartest I've seen in this market. Their product, Qstack, showcases not only their ability to innovate quickly but also their clear understanding from the beginning that OpenStack would not provide all the needed functions to deliver a true infrastructure management framework." CB Technologies has adopted Qstack as their Cloud management software of choice and is currently deploying it within their HPCaaS solution hosted at Switch's SuperNAP facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Kelly Ireland has extensive experience running a very successful IT company in the US and vast knowledge about the market we operate in. Having her as a member of our Board aligns perfectly with Greenqloud's goal of finding the right strategic partner and investor in the company. Kelly is the best possible asset for a company like ours and there is no doubt in my mind that she will help Greenqloud capitalize on the growing global demand for our solution," said Greenqloud CEO, Jonsi Stefansson.

About CB Technologies, Inc.

CB Technologies is an award-winning Systems Integrator with team members in Los Angeles, Seattle, St. Louis, Detroit, Houston, Washington DC and Albuquerque. Founded in 2001 by Kelly Ireland, this woman-owned company's impressive resume includes over 15 years supporting, planning and integrating technology for Federal, State, Local, Education, Fortune 500 and enterprise businesses. CBT is an HPE Platinum Partner that is perennially named to the CRN Solution Provider 500, Inc. Magazine's 5000 Fastest Growing Companies and OCBJ's list of Top Companies. In addition, CB Technologies was awarded the HP Solution Partner of the Year for Cloud in 2015.

Media Contact:

Rhondi Lenaker

Marketing & Events Manager

CB Technologies, Inc.

714-573-7733

About Greenqloud

Greenqloud is a privately held, cloud management software company founded in 2010, with headquarters located in Reykjavik, Iceland and a US-based office in Seattle, Washington. Greenqloud has been lauded by the industry and media for its private and hybrid cloud software for enterprise companies to enable in-house cloud abilities as well as multi-cloud management through a single pane of glass.

Qstack, Greenqloud's IaaS and cloud management software, features a self-service web console and advanced, industry-standard API controls for full automation of IT services. Qstack supports the widest range of hypervisors on the market today, such as VMWare, KVM, HyperV and Xen. It is fully customizable and can be deployed as a stand-alone private cloud with hybrid cloud features to manage multiple datacenter locations or public clouds; allowing for flexible adaption to changing priorities and needs. Qstack combines proprietary software with open-source components, hardening them to be able to meet the strictest security standards required by enterprise deployments.

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SOURCE CB Technologies

Related Links

http://www.cbtechinc.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KEMP Technologies today announced that KEMP co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Peter Melerud will deliver the keynote address at this year's North American CIO event, hosted by Global Business Intelligence (GBI). The CIO event brings together innovative businesses and respected professionals from around the world to share ideas and discuss current IT trends. This year's event, August 30 - 31 in New York City, will explore "the digital enterprise" and ways CIOs can use technology to gain a competitive advantage.

Melerud's keynote address asks, "Is your legacy application delivery infrastructure getting in the way of your cloud adoption strategy?" He will delve into the challenges of migrating enterprise applications to the cloud, and reasons why only one-fifth of enterprise workloads have been migrated. Melerud will also explore the next-generation of application delivery controllers (ADC) and how they can help organizations reduce costs, accelerate the process, and mitigate the risks of workload migration.

"The CIO event is the ideal forum to build relationships, share information and interact with the world's leading business minds," said Melerud. "It is a truly global event with international perspectives on current IT trends. Perhaps its greatest strength is that it offers the opportunity for networking with other attendees. I am honored to deliver the event's keynote to share insights into how organizations can become better prepared to adopt a more efficient cloud strategy."

Peter Melerud has more than twenty years of experience in engineering and product development for technology companies, with extensive experience designing network infrastructure, business intelligence, data management, high-end network and systems integration solutions. At KEMP, he specializes in the strategic direction of KEMP products and the propagation of the value proposition and solutions for the application infrastructure market.

The CIO event offers an opportunity for business leaders to network with Fortune 1000 CIOs and enjoy one-to-one meetings, interactive panel discussions, workshops, and special sessions with top executive speakers from a wide assortment of businesses and market segments. It incorporates a dynamic mix of thought leadership and best practice strategies to help executives make the right decisions for their organizations.

GBI's CIO series currently operates in UK&I, Europe, Middle East, Africa and North America. For more information, go to http://gbievents.com/.

About KEMP Technologies

With over 40,000 worldwide deployments and offices in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, KEMP Technologies is the industry leader in advanced Layer 2  7 Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and application-centric load balancing. Named one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America by Deloitte with a 499.1% growth rate, KEMP is changing the way modern enterprises and service providers are building cloud-enabled application delivery infrastructure. Over the past decade, KEMP has been a consistent leader in innovation with a number of industry firsts, including high performance ADC appliance virtualization, application-centric SDN and NFV integration, innovative pricing and licensing models and true platform ubiquity that can scale to support enterprises of every size and workload requirement. Visit http://kemptechnologies.com for more information.

Press Contact:

Erin Jones

Avista PR & Marketing for KEMP Technologies

704.664.2170

[email protected]

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SOURCE KEMP Technologies

Related Links

http://www.kemptechnologies.com


"Kevin's deep knowledge of our brands, focused leadership, and unmatched passion for the company's products, customers and employees, were all major factors in the board's decision to appoint him as leader," commented Minarik. "We couldn't be more confident in our decision to select Kevin to drive the next stage of growth for the company."

Beginning his career with DEI in 2003, Duffy has a well-rounded understanding of the company and its divisions having held various roles in corporate development, finance, marketing, sales, investor relations, and international operations as well as several executive positions including president of Directed Electronics, president of Sound United, CFO of DEI, and president of DEI. During his tenure, Duffy has made significant contributions to the company and showcased a steadfast commitment for improving the organization's performance and delivering high-quality products to customers. Duffy holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

"Joining DEI 13 years ago was unequivocally one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have had the privilege to work on some of the most compelling products in consumer electronics with incredibly passionate and competent employees, customers, and partners," said Duffy. "I'm looking forward to continuing to propel each of Sound United's brands forward in the audio category, while also providing support to the Directed leadership team."

For more information on DEI Holdings, Inc., Sound United and Directed, please visit http://www.deiholdings.com, www.soundunited.com and www.directed.com.

About Sound United

Sound United, a division of DEI Holdings, curates a diverse portfolio of audio brands including Polk, an audio brand with more than 40 years of experience pioneering high-quality personal audio; Definitive Technology, a 25-year veteran in the high-end home audio space; and Polk BOOM, a portable audio brand targeting the youthful action-sports oriented consumer. To learn more about Sound United and its brands, visit www.soundunited.com.

About Directed

Headquartered in Southern California, Directed is the largest designer and marketer in North America of consumer-branded vehicle security and remote start systems (sold under Viper, Clifford, Python, Autostart and other brand names). Directed markets its broad portfolio of products through many channels including leading national retailers and specialty chains throughout North America and around the world. Founded in 1982, the company's primary operations are located in Vista, California and Quebec, Canada. Directed is a business unit of DEI Holdings, Inc.

About DEI Holdings

DEI Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of some of the most respected brands in the consumer electronics industry. Its Sound United Division is North America's largest designer and marketer of premium audio solutions (sold under the Polk Audio and Definitive Technology brand names). Its Directed Division is the largest North American maker of consumer-branded vehicle security and remote start systems (sold under Viper, Clifford, Python, AutoStart and other brand names). In 2011, DEI Holdings, Inc. was acquired by Charlesbank Capital Partners.

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SOURCE DEI Holdings, Inc.

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"We are extremely happy to have George join our Washington, DC office. His experience, particularly with employee benefits, will certainly add to the depth of Lockton's bench, as well as strengthen our clients' businesses," said Bob Connolly, President of Lockton's Washington, DC operations. "His strong focus on client service and people development will enhance both our clients as well as our Associates."

He comes to Lockton from Mercer where he has spent the past 16 years working directly with clients of varying sizes and industries on a range of health, welfare, talent, and voluntary benefit plan solutions. During much of this time, he also led the Washington, DC and Baltimore offices with overall responsibility for clients, growth and people development.

Bailey holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Providence College. He is involved in numerous industry groups and civic organizations and is a recent graduate of the Leadership Arlington development program.

Lockton's Washington, DC office is located at 1801 K Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006. The office number is (202) 414-2400.

About Lockton

More than 6,000 professionals at Lockton provide 50,000 clients around the world with risk management, insurance, employee benefits consulting, and retirement services that improve their businesses. From its founding in 1966 in Kansas City, Missouri, Lockton has attracted entrepreneurial professionals who have driven its growth to become the largest privately held, independent insurance broker in the world and 9th largest overall. For seven consecutive years, Business Insurance magazine has recognized Lockton as a "Best Place to Work in Insurance." To see the latest insights from Lockton's experts, check Lockton Market Update.

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SOURCE Lockton

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China To Promote Rural Co-Op Health System (Photo : Getty Images)

A pilot medical care program in Chongqing is proving to be successful in providing health care services to residents that China is planning to expand it to 200 more Chinese cities in 2016.



The online-to-offline or O2O concept assures people who sign a contract of the availability of family doctors with the community health center round the clock. If someone is sick in the family, one does not have to go to the hospital and wait in line for a long time before being called for a few minutes of consultation with the doctor.



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Instead, the family doctor program, started in 2012, provides residents who signed a contract customized medical services such as health management, disease prevention and regular physical examinations at home, reported China Daily. Made up of a general practitioner nurse and public health physician (and a pharmacist in some places), the family doctor team could handle most minor ailments.



However, patients with complications are registered and transferred to major medical centers via an internal fast-track system. The system makes it unnecessary for sick Chinese to consult the internet, said Fang Laiying, director of the Beijing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission.



After the introduction of O2O in 200 Chinese cities, China plans to further expand it to the whole country by 2020.



Interest is high that in Shanghai, almost half of the citys residents, or about 10.27 million people, joined the program, and paid mostly for by the government. Liu Wei, who signed contracts with a lot of Gumei households in the city, said those with contracts and covered by medical insurance pay about 10 yuan for a single home service, but medicines are excluded.



eMarketer reported that O2 services in China are being driven by mobile payment apps, particularly WeChat Pay and Alipay which enable payment and restrictionless shopping.






JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI) (the "Company"), a leading owner, manager, and developer of office and class A residential real estate throughout the Northeast, announced today that Jonathan Litt has resigned as a director of the Company, effective as of August 18, 2016. Mr. Litt's resignation is not related to any disagreement with the Company's operations, policies, or practices.

"We thank Jonathan for his two plus years of service to the Company. During his tenure with Mack-Cali, the board of directors helped create and guide a new executive leadership team and formulate our new three-year strategic plan," said Michael J. DeMarco, Mack-Cali President.

About Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is a fully integrated, self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) providing management, leasing, development, and other tenant-related services for its two-platform operations of waterfront and transit-based office and luxury multi-family assets. Mack-Cali provides its tenants and residents with the most innovative communities that empower them to re-imagine the way they work and live.

Additional information on Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and the commercial real estate properties and multi-family residential communities available for lease can be found on the Company's website at www.mack-cali.com.

Statements made in this press release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "potential," "projected," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "continue," or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate, and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading "Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.

Contacts: Anthony Krug Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Chief Financial Officer (732) 590-1530 [email protected] Ilene Jablonski Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Vice President of Marketing (732) 590-1528 [email protected] Deidre Crockett Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Director of Investor Relations (732) 590-1025 [email protected]



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SOURCE Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

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6.1 Web EHR Platform Enables Markham Stouffville Hospital to Form Partnerships with Hospitals in Ontario and Beyond

WESTWOOD, Mass., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- While MEDITECH continues to expand its footprint across Canada, a long-term Canadian customer has also decided to upgrade to the company's newest Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform. Located in Ontario, where 58 percent of hospitals are using MEDITECH, Markham Stouffville Hospital (MSH) announced they will be implementing MEDITECH's latest web-based EHR platform in February 2017.

"MEDITECH is celebrating 35 years of successful healthcare partnerships in Canada, and we are honored to have progressive healthcare leaders like Markham Stouffville Hospital continue to move forward with the company's Web EHR," said Christine Parent, associate vice president of marketing at MEDITECH.

A MEDITECH customer for over 25 years, the 265-bed community hospital is best known for achieving HIMSS Analytics Stage 6 in 2014 with the highest EMRAM score for an acute care hospital in Canada. Located in one of the fastest growing areas in Ontario, MSH serves over 300,000 patients in Markham, Stouffville, Uxbridge, and the Greater Toronto Area. Recent recommendations from The Hospital Information System (HIS) Renewal Advisory Panel encouraging partnerships between hospitals is one of the reasons why MSH decided on an integrated, innovative EHR tool that puts them in a position to not only provide services to patients but ensure patient safety and quality of care.

"MSH is well positioned with the MEDITECH Web EHR platform to serve as a host for other Ontario hospitals seeking a hosting partner as recommended by the Hospital Information System (HIS) Renewal Advisory Panel," May Chang, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at MSH said.

"We want to be a partner for providing healthcare in the area," Lewis Hooper, chief information officer at MSH said. "As we move forward with MEDITECH's Web EHR, MSH is also excited about enhancements in Critical Care, Surgical Services, and Patient and Consumer Health Portal solutions."

Serving customers in Canada since 1981, MEDITECH is the leading EHR vendor in the country with 589 facilities. The MEDITECH EHR is also installed in 7 out of 10 provinces as well as in 2 of 3 territories. In 2015/2016, MEDITECH was recognized as Best in KLAS Community HIS and KLAS Category Leader for Global Acute EMR in Northern America (Canada).

For more information about MEDITECH's Web EHR, sign up for the next Webinar:

MEDITECH's Web EHR Walk Through

Thursday, September 22, 2016, 11:00 AM EDT

About MEDITECH

Today, more than 2,400 institutions worldwide use MEDITECH's clinically-integrated and interoperable EHR to provide healthcare to the communities they serve. Their robust, patient-centered technology spans the healthcare continuum, including unique functional capacity for ambulatory care, acute care, long-term care, rehabilitation services, behavioral health, and home care.

Contact

Paul Berthiaume

Senior Manager, Marketing Communications

MEDITECH

781-774-5742

[email protected]

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SOURCE MEDITECH

Related Links

http://www.meditech.com


SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 82 thousand direct jobs and 43 thousand indirect jobs generated, a return of $3.179 billion on incentives received (Net Country Benefit), added to a major technology transfer, incorporation of key business innovations, dynamic productive linkages that galvanize the entry of small- and medium-sized businesses to the global economy, as well as the implementation of novel and modern business practices and the assimilation of high international quality standards in Costa Rican companies -- these are some of the benefits that the Free Trade Zone Regime in Costa Rica has contributed in 2015, a year in which both Net Country Benefit and direct employment grew 5% over 2014, as confirmed by the study "Free Trade Zone Balance Sheet: net benefit of the free trade zone regime for Costa Rica 2011-2015 (Balance de las Zonas Francas, beneficio neto del regimen para Costa Rica 2011-2015).

The analysis conducted by the Foreign Trade Promoter of Costa Rica (PROCOMER - Promotora de Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica ), the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica (COMEX - Ministerio de Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica) and the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE - Coalicion Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo ), confirm that the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) Regime of Costa Rica is socially profitable: each dollar of incentives granted to companies last year generated $6.2 for the country.

Average wages in the FTZ grew at rates of 7% in the past year, reaching $1,551 per month in 2015, a figure that is 1.8 times greater than the average paid for private activities in the rest of the country.

The presentation of the study was attended by the President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis. "The study presented this morning confirms for us once again the fundamental role played by Free Trade Zones in the development of the country, as generators of quality employment for Costa Ricans and dynamizing platforms for national productive activity. Our government maintains a strong commitment to guarantee the juridical security of the Regime of Free Trade Zones (FTZ) and its stability. Today more than 125 thousand Costa Ricans work in the regime, giving rise to greater well-being for them, their families and our country. We reiterate our support for, and commitment to the regime" said the President.

For his part, the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, Alexander Mora, noted that the study released this morning by PROCOMER comprises par of the strategy that the foreign trade sector is pursuing to sustain its public policies and actions, as well as the initiatives deriving from them, with evidence and solid data. "The study uses a widely recognized international methodology, whose method is to model costs and benefits, presenting a net result, that is to say, it deducts costs from benefits therefore making it possible to approach more precise and rigorous results than other alternative methods. This confirms for us that the free trade zone regime is increasing its social profitability for the country at a greater speed than before, consolidating itself as a powerful tool for promoting and providing incentives for production," the Minister observed. "We are committed to keep generating and strengthening the conditions necessary so that more companies can put down deeper and deeper roots by establishing linkages with local businesses, and hire Costa Rican personnel for a higher addition of national value, one of the variables that, along with productivity, we are also studying in greater depth, and about which we will soon be sharing information with the country," Minister Mora concludes.

For the first time, the study analyzed the productivity level of the regime's workers, concluding that, for manufacturing industry, real added value per worker within the FTZ showed annual growth of 8.1% in the 2000-2015 period, a much higher figure than that registered outside the regime, which was 1% during the same period.

Pedro Beirute Prada, General Manager of PROCOMER, said that the free trade zone regime is vital for the country's competitiveness, since it creates nearly half of its exports.

"The FTZ has contributed to the diversity of exportable supply, we have companies in all sectors and in all provinces, generating employment, linkages and knowledge transfer," said Beirute.

Jorge Sequeira, Managing Director of CINDE, added that the FTZ is one of the main tools Costa Rica has to attract companies for direct foreign investment.

"The competition to attract companies to invest is getting stiffer and stiffer. Our country is competing with countries that are very aggressive in terms of the benefits and incentives offered to companies. The FTZ is one of the elements that has enabled Costa Rica to be considered within the list of competitive options for companies. Continuing to ensure its stability and juridical security is of the greatest importance to attract new companies to invest, while this also helps established companies to keep growing and generating quality employment for more and more Costa Ricans," Sequeira said.

Finally, Beirute noted that it is important to emphasize that national expenditure on purchasing of goods and services (linkages) came to $1.516 billion in 2015, which accounts for 38% of all purchases made by FTZ companies, including imports.

SOURCE Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency

Related Links

http://www.cinde.org


WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Capital Bank of Washington (NCB) is pleased to welcome Christopher S. Reddick to its growing team of local lenders as Vice President and Director of Mortgage Sales.

Reddick is a proven leader with over 30-years' experience in residential mortgage and commercial banking. He will be leading NCB's growth in the home lending business by expanding the bank's loan products and developing a line-up of top loan originators. Working from the bank's Capitol Hill headquarters, Reddick plans to reach out to communities not previously served.

"National Capital Bank maintains a great reputation for providing simple and affordable financing options for home buyers," said Randy Anderson, president and chief executive officer. "We recognize that the Washington metropolitan area is an increasingly attractive place to live and work, and we want to help families put down roots. Christopher will help us diversify our loan options and attract borrowers with any financing need."

Reddick comes to NCB from Burke & Herbert Bank in Alexandria and has held executive positions at other banking concerns following his graduation from the University of Notre Dame. He has a long history of community service including work with Bishop Ireton High School, the Mt. Vernon Lee Chamber of Commerce, and Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services.

The National Capital Bank of Washington was founded in 1889 and is Washington's Oldest Bank. NCB has assets of $408 million and is headquartered on Capitol Hill with a second branch located in Friendship Heights. The bank was recently recognized as the most profitable bank in Greater Washington and trades under the symbol NACB. For more information about NCB, go to www.nationalcapitalbank.com.

SOURCE The National Capital Bank of Washington

Related Links

http://www.nationalcapitalbank.com


BOTHELL, Washington, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Neah Power Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: NPWZ, NEAH POWER) an emerging leader in high density rechargeable lithium metal battery storage solutions for defense, commercial, and consumer applications, is pleased to announce that it won a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the Small Business Vouchers Pilot Program. http://energy.gov/technologytransitions/articles/energy-department-awards-43-new-business-laboratory-collaborations

The NEAH PowerChip Battery is the first battery to be made with high volume capable microchip manufacturing technology in semiconductor facilities (foundries) throughout the world. NEAH and numerous electrochemical engineers worldwide envision this new NEAH Battery architecture as transformative as it will change the way batteries are made, used and perform. The proprietary architecture of the PowerChip Battery brings batteries into the microchip era, using the same manufacturing technologies that made television sets, cell phones, laptops and a variety of devices more compact with superior performance at lower cost. While initially targeted for consumer oriented applications, the battery technology could be used for automotive and defense applications as well.

Dr. Chris D'Couto, President & CEO of NEAH said, "We look forward to working closely with Argonne National Laboratory, which is uniquely qualified to characterize the performance metrics associated with our unique battery architecture. This unique 3D architecture using lithium metal anodes enables more than five times the performance of batteries in production today. We at NEAH believe that the characterization of the battery by Argonne National Laboratory will further enhance the performance and manufacturability of the battery. It will also help us understand the most critical electrochemical reactions. This DOE/Argonne relationship will provide advanced technology learnings, leapfrogging what would be possible in a privately held laboratory.

About the Small Business Vouchers Pilot

The U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Vouchers Pilot is a collaborative, national effort that provides $20M for U.S. companies to work with National Laboratories. Vouchers focus on nine clean energy technologies.

The SBV Pilot is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, and participating DOE national labs.

About Neah Power Systems, Inc.

Neah Power's core fuel cell solutions have a small form factor, recharge instantly, and operable in air and non-air environments, providing a longer life with lower total cost of ownership. The PowerChip battery leverages the proven silicon architecture to build a rechargeable lithium battery that is demonstrating industry leading performance. Neah Power's Solutions offerings include the patented and patent pending PowerChip, Formira and the BuzzBar Suite of products. For more information please visit http://www.neahpower.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain of the statements contained herein may be, within the meaning of the federal securities laws, "forward-looking statements," which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, and Neah Power does not undertake any responsibility to update any of these statements in the future. Please read Neah Power's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for a discussion of such risks, uncertainties and other factors.

Contact:

Jeffrey May CPA

[email protected]

+1-425-424-3324 ext 105



SOURCE Neah Power Systems, Inc.
Neighbors Emergency Center is dedicated to making lives better every day with a company value of giving back to local communities. To commemorate the first year, the Neighbors Zaragoza center employees donated school supplies to Communities in Schools of El Paso, a non-profit organization that delivers a wide array of social services to at-risk students and their families. Neighbors is honored to support this organization that assists El Paso's youth.

"It's been my pleasure serving this wonderful community with world class emergency medical care 24-hours a day over the past year," said Neighbors Zaragoza Medical Director Dr. Davida Manor. "Alongside our 60+ employees, I enjoy not only treating our patients at our facilities, but interacting with them while participating in the many community service projects we support. The generous people of El Paso have brought such joy and fulfillment to my daily medical practice. Making a true connection with my patients that extends far beyond a single visit is the rule, not the exception."

The Neighbors Emergency Center Zaragoza location is one of two Neighbors Emergency Centers in El Paso. Neighbors, the leader in 24-hour emergency care, is a patient-centered, patient-driven organization that focuses on personalized ER attention with little wait time and no crowded waiting areas. Neighbors provides a laboratory and on-site imaging services such as X-Ray, CT Scans and Ultrasounds. Neighbors accepts most major private insurance.

About Neighbors Emergency Center:

Neighbors Health, LLC. operates Neighbors Emergency Center, a series of 24-hour freestanding emergency centers that have seen rapid growth in Texas since 2009. Neighbors Emergency Center believes in providing the highest quality of personalized care that is dedicated to making lives better every day, with an unfaltering vision to be The Best Neighbors Ever. This means providing unmatched medical care driven by compassion and respect with a focus on our patients, our culture, and the community.

Neighbors' 25+ locations service many communities, including Houston, Austin, Beaumont, and the Permian Basin with plans for centers in College Station, Rhode Island and Colorado by the end of 2016.

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SOURCE Neighbors Emergency Center
VANCOUVER, Wash., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NetRush, a strategic retail agency that partners with premium brands on the Amazon marketplace, has been named to the 35th edition of the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America.

NetRush is ranked 1482 with a three-year growth rate of 257%. "We're honored to be on the Inc. 5000 list alongside the country's fastest growing companies," said Brian Gonsalves, NetRush CEO. "We're very proud of our team, our partner brands, and the hard work they've put into making the growth of NetRush an enjoyable ride."

Earlier this year, NetRush was ranked number one in Vancouver Business Journal's list of fastest growing private companies, and number one in Portland Business Journal's list of creative agencies.

"Our success is the result of shared passion that our partners and employees bring to NetRush everyday," added Chris Marantette, NetRush CFO. "The culture here is driven by our core values - to do the right thing and passionately contribute to the stories our brands tell. That's what continues to fuel our growth and create new opportunities."

NetRush was co-founded by Gonsalves and Marantette in 2006. Today, the company partners with over 30 premium brands across a variety of categories and employs more than 100 people across its Washington and Kentucky locations.

About NetRush.com, Inc.

NetRush is a strategic retail agency that partners with premium brands to deliver maximum value on the Amazon marketplace. As a collaborative partner, we create sustainable strategies that drive growth and proactively transform the marketplace experience.

About Inc. 5000

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.

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SOURCE NetRush

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Patriot Technology Solutions, Inc. (PatTech), a subsidiary of Patriot National, Inc. (NYSE: PN), today announced that New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company (NJM), will implement InsurePay, a pay-as-you-go billing tool, to help ease the payment process for its workers' compensation customers.

NJM, founded in 1913, is the largest workers' compensation insurance provider in New Jersey.

"We are pleased that another leading workers' compensation carrier has recognized the value of InsurePay," said Jeff Harris Executive Vice President  Business Development at Patriot National. "We applaud NJM, a longstanding company that has been operating in the insurance industry for over 100 years, for their vision to implement leading-edge technology that both increases efficiency and goes beyond what many carriers offer."

"NJM was founded over 100 years ago to provide policyholders with cost effective, safety conscious and financially secure workers' compensation insurance coverage. We continue that purpose today, and also strive to help policyholders manage their workers' compensation premium payments by providing multiple payment options. InsurePay will drive value to our policyholders by eliminating the estimation of traditional workers' compensation premium plans and allowing them to better manage cash flow," said MaryLou Mattera, Manager, Commercial Business Process Improvement at NJM.

"As we anticipated, InsurePay is proving to be a major disruptor in the workers' compensation marketplace," said Steven M. Mariano, CEO of Patriot National. "We continue to capitalize on growth opportunities as carriers recognize the competitive advantage our technology solutions offer."

Through its secure, cloud-based SaaS platform, InsurePay enables businesses to pay their premiums each pay period based on actual payroll rather than generated estimates. This accurate and flexible approach reduces operational costs for insurance carriers and policyholders as well as benefitting agents with a competitive product. Through real-time processing, policyholders can reduce or eliminate large down payments and avoid year-end audit discrepancies, and insurance carriers are able to eliminate billing, collections and auditing costs.

About Patriot National

Patriot National, Inc. is a national provider of comprehensive technology and outsourcing solutions that help insurance companies and employers mitigate risk, comply with complex regulations and save time and money. Patriot National provides general agency services, technology outsourcing, software solutions, specialty underwriting and policyholder services, claims administration services, self-funded health plans and employment pre-screening services to its insurance carrier clients, employers and other clients. Patriot National is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information about Patriot National, please visit www.patnat.com.

About Patriot Technology Solutions, Inc.

Patriot Technology Solutions (PatTech) is a leading provider of technology solutions for the property and casualty insurance industry. PatTech focuses on insurance solutions that spotlight a full core insurance suite solution with implementation expertise and including; professional and consulting services and enterprise data analytics with a cloud-based SaaS model. PatTech delivers solutions that provide carriers with premium growth, policyholder retention while lowering their cost of acquisition and reducing their overall servicing cost. Patriot Technology Solutions is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with offices worldwide. For more information about PatTech, please visit www.ptsglobal.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may include statements that may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook," "Guidance," and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. For example, our solutions may not perform as anticipated, as well as those matters contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we base these forward-looking statements on assumptions that we believe are reasonable when made, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and that results may differ materially from statements made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Any forward-looking statement that we may make in this press release speaks only as of the date of such statement, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to publicly announce the results of any revision to any of those statements to reflect future events or developments.

Media and Investor Contact:

Cindy Campbell

Director of Investor Relations

Patriot National, Inc.

(954) 670-2907

[email protected]

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SOURCE Patriot National, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.patnat.com


DALLAS, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FareCompare.com has released a second set of findings based on a comprehensive analysis of the Southwest Effect in new international routes. The study reveals that while consumers traveling to the U.S. did experience the Southwest Effect initially, those average lowest fares have since increased, returning to the levels they were prior to Southwest's foray into those markets.

"Our latest study shows that Southwest Effect did not stick for travelers flying from the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America to the United States," said Rick Seaney, CEO and co-founder of FareCompare. "Travelers there saw some initial benefit from increased competition, but fares to the U.S. from these markets have steadily increased in the first half of 2016 and will likely continue to do so in the near future."

This conclusion contrasts with the first wave of analysis on the Southwest Effect conducted by the FareCompare team, released in April 2016. That study reported fares from the U.S. to international destinations now served by Southwest dropping 25%. In ensuing months, FareCompare data shows that percentage remained consistent.

"The news remains good for U.S. travelers looking for deals on getaways to places like Jamaica, Belize, Costa Rica and Mexico," Seaney said.

The new report on the Southwest Effect is available at www.farecompare.com/southwesteffect.

The Methodology:

FareCompare analyzes more than 24 billion itineraries daily to find the lowest available prices on existing flights. For this project, the team analyzed data from the first quarter of 2015 through the second quarter of 2016 from the following origin cities: Belize City, Cancun, Liberia (Costa Rica), Mexico City, Montego Bay (Jamaica), Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo (Mexico) and San Jose (Costa Rica).

When that analysis was completed, flights were then priced from those origins to these destination cities: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Houston, New York and Washington, D.C.

Fares were compared for these airlines: Aeromar, Aeromexico, Alaska, Frontier, Interjet, JetBlue, Spirit, Sun Country, Tropic Air and Virgin America. Delta was not included, nor was Southwest which only releases prices on its Web site.

The first analysis compared 72,847 airfare searches the first quarter 2015 with 249,911 airfare searches in the first quarter of 2016 to determine if baseline price changes had occurred. The second analysis compared a total of 1,411,990 airfare searches from January 2015 through June 2016, using the same filters applied to the first analysis.

Other factors included in the collected data:

Non-stops and one-stop flights

Round-trip fares only

Length of stay: Between 4 and 14 days

Point of Sale: Outside the U.S.

Advance purchase: Between 14 and 34 days

The Findings:

During the first three months of 2015 the average lowest price across markets in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America on the aforementioned carriers was $605. In the second quarter of 2015 average lowest prices across these markets decreased $50 to $555 as the impact of Spirit Airlines service across these markets was felt. JetBlue also expanded service from Liberia, Montego Bay and San Jose while Aeromexico added service from Mexico City to multiple U.S. markets.

In the third quarter of 2015, average lowest prices continued to decline to $533. Major U.S. carriers American, US Airways (before its merger with American) and United along with smaller airlines and low cost carriers all lowered prices. Spirit and Frontier were the trendsetters with average lowest prices for this quarter of $449 and $454, respectively - undercutting the across-the-board average of $533 by approximately 16%.

In the last three months of 2015, average lowest prices rose to $572, likely reflecting holiday demand. While average lowest prices for JetBlue stalled at $459, Spirit and Frontier decreased to $427 and $341, respectively.

While the average lowest price dropped slightly from the last quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016 to $564, it jumped back up to $603 in the second quarter of 2016, approaching the $605 price point of the first quarter of 2015. During this quarter, Frontier retrenched to Cancun origins only, while American prices rose to $552, the highest seen for this period of analysis. Alaska has the highest average lowest fare at a whopping $1,176, while Spirit and JetBlue hold the low positions at $444 and $479, respectively.

"The analysis over this 18-month period could actually make the case for The Spirit, Frontier or JetBlue Effect," Seaney added. "Regardless, this research cements the importance of competition for consumers regardless of the origin destination."

The research project was led by Dr. James C. Stone, Ph.D., Lead Data Scientist at FareCompare, supported by Anne McDermott, Editor and the entire analytics and communications team at FareCompare. The team continues to analyze this data to determine how shoppers can get the best deals and will provide updates on the findings in the near future.

About FareCompare

Headquartered in Dallas, FareCompare makes shopping for airfare easy and simple by comparing currently available fares from a wide variety of sources through one simple search. The company's multiple products allow customers across the world to keep track of their favorite destinations and specific travel dates, plus find great low price deals that are not publicized through its best-in-class deal detection algorithms. FareCompare.com is the trusted source of 6 million global users every month.

Media Contact: Joel Frey, [email protected] (972) 588-1432 or (214) 695-1987

SOURCE FareCompare

Related Links

http://www.farecompare.com


Introduced in fall 2015 by Olivia Kim, Vice President of Creative Projects at Nordstrom, SPACE features collections from emerging and advanced designers such as Simone Rocha, Vetements, Comme des Garcons Collection, Koche , Undercover, Ellery, Colovos, Phelan, Molly Goddard and more. The shop lives as a standalone boutique within the store's designer department, and houses cross-category collections of apparel, shoes, handbags, accessories, home goods and fragrance.

SPACE initially launched exclusively in the retailer's flagship locations, yet now expands to new markets known as shopping destinations. On August 24th, SPACE will open at The Mall at Green Hills in Nashville, Tenn. followed by The Grove in Los Angeles on August 26th. Nordstrom will open its first Toronto store on September 16 at Eaton Centre, followed by Yorkdale Centre on October 21. Both will open with SPACE.

"These cities are known for their amazing fashion and the people there have such a strong sense of individual style," said Kim. "We want to make a statement with our stores in these markets and identify them as destinations for fashion, style, art and culture. Our customers are really curious and educated about fashion, and part of our goal with SPACE is to create a platform to introduce our customers to this side of designer fashion  this place where the directional collections or up-and-comers have a place to live and grow."

The boutique was designed with artistic elements and pops of color to distinguish it from the rest of the retail floor  think pink mannequins, mixed materials and art objects to accent the area. Kim worked with the Nordstrom design team to create a framework that feels open and airy to allow customers to flow in and out of the boutique, then decorated each with work from artists, furniture makers and artisans so each feels uniquely warm and inviting.

The shops feature pieces like neon pink mirrors from Ettore Sottsass, bright pink woven rubber benches by Kwangho Lee and graphic printed end tables by Michele De Lucchi. SPACE also includes colorful vintage benches by Verner Panton, rainbow resin polychrome shelving from Gaetano Pesce, and other one-of-a-kind pieces from Kim's favorite artists sourced from Johnson Trading Gallery in New York City.

To celebrate the launch of SPACE in Toronto, Kim and the Creative Projects team created a special capsule collection of exclusive ready-to-wear and accessory items from Canadian designers Brother Vellies, Steven Tai, WWAKE and Vejas. The capsule collection will be available in-store only at SPACE Vancouver and Toronto locations.

This fall, SPACE will be found in the following Nordstrom stores and online:

Downtown Seattle , Seattle, Wash.

, Seattle, Wash. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

Pacific Centre, Vancouver, B.C .

. San Francisco Centre, San Francisco, Calif.

The Mall at Green Hills, Nashville, Tenn. (opening August 24, 2016 )

(opening ) The Grove, Los Angeles, Calif. (opening August 26, 2016 )

(opening ) Eaton Centre, Toronto, Ont. (opening September 16, 2016 )

(opening ) Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto, Ont. (opening October 21, 2016 )

(opening ) Nordstrom.com/SPACE

DESIGNERS INCLUDE:



Acne Studios Faustine Steinmetz Piece a Conviction Adieu Isa Arfen Pippa Small Anita Ko Jacquemus Roksanda Anna Sheffield Jemma Wynne Sarah & Sebastian Anthony Vaccarello Julien David Shrimps Ashley Williams Junya Watanabe Comme des Garcons Simon Miller Bella Freud Kara Simone Rocha Betony Vernon Koche Sofie D'Hoore Brooke Gregson Lara Melchior Sophie Bille Brahe Brother Vellies Lea Peckre Sophie Buhai Bzippy & Co. Maison Michel Steven Tai Charlotte Chesnais Maria La Rosa Toga Colovos Maria Tash Tom Wood Comme des Garcons Collection Marques'Almeida Tricot Comme des Garcons Comme des Garcons, Comme des Garcons Meadowlark Tu es mon TRESOR Comme des Garcons Fragrance Mira Mikati Undercover Comme des Garcons Girl Mociun Vejas Creatures of Comfort Molly Goddard Vetements Christopher Kane Nektar de Stagni WWAKE Daniela Villegas Noir Kei Ninomiya Wassonfine Ellery Paskal Y's by Yoji Yamamoto Etienne Derux Phelan



ABOUT NORDSTROM

Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion specialty retailer based in the U.S. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 329 stores in 39 states, including 121 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 200 Nordstrom Rack stores; two Jeffrey boutiques; and one clearance store. Additionally, customers are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com and HauteLook. The company also owns Trunk Club, a personalized clothing service serving customers online at TrunkClub.com and its five clubhouses. Nordstrom, Inc.'s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

ABOUT OLIVIA KIM

Olivia Kim joined Nordstrom in February 2013 in a then newly-created position of Creative Projects Director. Kim was named Vice President of Creative Projects in September 2015. In her role, Kim focuses on creating energy, excitement, and inspiration throughout the retailer's locations through new and unique experiences, curated partnerships, the [email protected] series of pop-up shops and in-store boutique SPACE. Additionally in 2016, Kim took on the role of creative director for company's brand campaigns. The Spring 2016 campaign under her direction was Nordstrom's first brand campaign in 15 years.

She launched her first initiative, [email protected], in October 2013. Pop-In is an ongoing series of themed pop-up shops, each with a curated mix of new, often exclusive merchandise spanning the high/low price range. The series was built on a monthly rotation to keep customers coming back to discover new brands, and create a fun and compelling experience in stores and online. Past partnerships have included: Aesop, Warby Parker, Nike, Opening Ceremony, VANS, Hong Kong fashion collective I.T., and Danish home goods brand HAY.

A prominent figure in the fashion industry, prior to joining Nordstrom Olivia was a founding member of and Vice President of Creative at Opening Ceremony where she was responsible for the retailer's leadership in merchandising and store planning, art direction, and collaborative projects. Kim has played an essential role in launching emerging designers such as Suno, Pamela Love, and Patrik Ervell. Kim is a long-time champion of emerging designers, which is evident in her brand selections in SPACE and Pop-In shops. In 2015, Kim was selected to join the prestigious ANDAM jury, which supports young designers.



Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160819/399771

SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.nordstrom.com


Indian Army BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles on parade. (Photo : Indian Army)

China has warned India of countermeasure in response to India's decision to deploy the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to the now more volatile Arunachal Pradesh state.



The People's Liberation Army Daily (PLA Daily), the official newspaper of the PLA and a de facto government mouthpiece, said in a commentary that apart from provoking countermeasures from China, the deployment will increase competitiveness and confrontation in Sino-Indian relations and bring a negative influence to stability of the region.



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"India deploying supersonic missiles on the border has exceeded its own needs for self-defense and poses a serious threat to China's Tibet and Yunnan provinces," said the commentary.



India will deploy an Indian Army BrahMos regiment operating the latest Block III version of this potent supersonic cruise missile to defend Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims belongs to it as South Tibet.



India reported a huge build-up of Chinese military forces all along the 4,057 kilometer Line of Actual Control (LAC). Arunachal Pradesh is the most northerly state along the LAC and one of the most threatened by China.



To be stationed at Arunachal Pradesh will be the 864 Regiment of the Indian Army's 41st Artillery Division. The regiment will operate five BrahMos batteries each consisting of five Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MALs) mounted on 12 x 12 heavy-duty trucks. The regiment will command up to 100 BrahMos Block III cruise missiles, each armed with a 290 kg warhead.



The commentary argued that the deployment of BrahMos along with India's other military moves to strengthen its forces such as deploying aerial drones and Sukhoi Su-30MKIs on an airfield just 100 km from the border, intend to deter China and "create a military advantage in the boundary."



It also claims BrahMos could threaten some of the military infrastructure China has built and is building on its side of the border.



The fire-and-forget BrahMos Block III, the newest iteration of this feared weapon, possesses unique trajectory maneuver and steep-dive capabilities that allow it to hit targets behind the reverse sides of mountains. It can steep dive up to 75 degrees.



It has nine times more kinetic energy than sub-sonic missiles and is the preferred precision-strike weapon of the Indian armed forces. It is extremely accurate, having a circular error probability (CEP) of only one meter, and it combined hi-lo trajectory makes it a difficult target for Chinese air defense systems.



The land-attack version of BrahMos has been operational in the Indian Army since 2007.


NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Operative Media, Inc., the global leader in advertising business management solutions announced today their partnership with Charter's advertising sales organization, Spectrum Reach, to support their digital and advanced TV advertising business. The partnership gives Spectrum Reach access to the Operative.One platform, enabling the company to more efficiently sell, deliver and bill cross-channel advertising for advanced TV, video, display, and mobile. With Operative, Spectrum Reach can provide advertisers with data-driven products and audiences at scale across screens with streamlined processes and operations.

"Our vision at Spectrum Reach is to be the marketing platform of choice in every market we do business. We are aligning our resources and team to ensure that our clients have access to innovative ad products and data-driven systems," said David Kline, EVP Charter and President, Spectrum Reach. "To that end we are very pleased to be working with a market leader such as Operative. The Operative team can deliver the infrastructure, delivery and billing tools, and assistance required to support our growing business."

"Operative's SaaS technology is designed for large media companies like Spectrum Reach to sell, deliver and profit from their product catalogue across all advertising types," said Lorne Brown, CEO and Founder of Operative. "Media companies are dealing with enormous complexity as consumer behavior fragments and advertiser demands become more sophisticated. We help media companies maximize yield by objectively empowering sellers, simplifying delivery and ensuring accurate billing."

About Operative

Since 2001, Operative Media, Inc. has developed software and services that help publishers, agencies, and networks simplify the business of advertising. Media companies rely on Operative to sell, traffic, and bill premium ad inventory, increasing revenue and decreasing overhead. Operative's client base, which controls over 20 percent of the global ad market, includes NBCUniversal, Meredith, Refinery29, Wall Street Journal, Comcast, iHeartMedia, BuzzFeed, VICE Media, Vox, and Cox. For more information, visit www.operative.com

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130416/NY95777LOGO

SOURCE Operative Media, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.operative.com


JOHANNESBURG, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

On 6 June 2016, Sasol announced the preliminary findings of the detailed review of the Lake Charles Chemical Project (LCCP), which was initiated in March 2016. The review has been completed, and involved a verification of the details and quantities of approximately 60 000 individual line items, based on actual costs, detailed engineering, benchmarking against other projects as well as actual field construction productivity factors. These factors were then combined with the updated execution strategy to prepare an updated project cost and schedule. An independent third party review of the estimate has also been carried out.

The LCCP consists of a world-scale 1,5 million ton per year ethane cracker, and six downstream chemical units - two large polymers plants (low-density and linear low-density polyethylene) and an ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol plant, which together will consume around two thirds of the ethylene produced by the cracker; and three smaller, higher-value derivative plants, which will produce specialty alcohols, ethoxylates and other products. The project is under construction near Lake Charles, Louisiana in the USA, adjacent to Sasol's existing chemical operations.

The detailed review has confirmed that the total capital cost for the project is expected to be US$11 billion, which includes site infrastructure and utility improvements. This is an increase of $2,1 billion from the original estimate at the time of final investment decision (FID) in October 2014. This estimate includes a contingency, which measured against industry norms for this stage of project completion, we consider being sufficient to effectively take the project to beneficial operation within the revised cost estimate. At 30 June 2016, the capital expenditure to date on LCCP was $4,8 billion, and the overall project completion was around 50%.

The schedule for LCCP remains the same as communicated on 6 June 2016. The first unit, the linear low-density polyethylene unit, is expected to achieve beneficial operation in the second half of calendar year 2018, which will be followed by the ethane cracker and ethylene oxide and mono ethylene glycol units later that year, with the low-density polyethylene unit shortly thereafter. This will result in over 80% of the total output from LCCP reaching beneficial operation by early 2019. The remaining derivative units will reach beneficial operation by the second half of 2019.

An investor fact sheet for the LCCP has been compiled, which contains more granular information pertaining to the outcome of the project review as well as updated capital cost, cash flow, schedule execution, key project assumptions and other relevant project information. The investor fact sheet is posted under the LCCP tab in the Investor Centre section of the Sasol website, http://www.sasol.com. Please note that any forward looking information contained in this investor fact sheet has not been reviewed or reported on by Sasol's external auditors.

The detailed review process has confirmed that the $2,1 billion capital cost increase is mostly attributable to the following factors, in an approximately equal proportion:

a significant increase in site and civil costs due to much more ground works required to establish the site compared to what was estimated at FID as a result of poorer than anticipated subsurface conditions, 50 % more weather day delays over the site construction period compared to the average norm, and much lower field productivity resulting from a conscious decision to proceed with out-of-sequence site preparation activities while waiting for a variation of permit conditions to be granted. Site and civil works are now substantially complete;

an increase in the home office and construction costs of the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management Contractor (EPCm) mainly as a result of a increase in contractor wage rates compared to what were assumed at FID, lower engineering productivity, and an increase in contractor engineering hours as a result of the increased material quantities; and

an increase in labour costs as a result of higher quantities of material for installation, the decision to change to a higher-skilled and thus higher cost crew mix to enable planned labour productivity improvements for the remainder of the project, and lump-sum contracts placed at higher rates than estimated.

Notwithstanding these challenges, various other savings opportunities have been identified and are being implemented to mitigate the increase in the overall capital cost estimate.

With the project now over 50% complete, several changes have been, or are in the process of being, implemented which are intended to ensure that the project has a good probability of being completed within the updated capital cost estimate of $11 billion. Mitigation actions to ensure successful project delivery, amongst others, include improved productivity and construction readiness that will be achieved through focused risk management processes, improved phasing of engineering, cost-effective mobilisation of resources and synchronised workface planning; improved change management practices; and key project leadership personnel changes.

Although unplanned event-driven risks may still impact the execution and cost of the project, we are confident that the remaining construction, procurement, execution and business readiness risks can be managed within the estimate as a result of these changes.

Even though the expected capital expenditure for LCCP has increased, we do not expect this to result in the Company exceeding its self-imposed gearing targets. Details of the project's updated funding requirements have been included in the LCCP investor fact sheet. Sasol will be publishing its 2016 financial year results on 12 September 2016, and will provide an update on the group's gearing levels and funding plans at that time. The cash savings that have been achieved from the Company's low oil price Response Plan, and the cost savings resulting from the Business Performance Enhancement Programme, are both well ahead of previously communicated targets.

The expected returns from the LCCP have also been updated, taking into account our updated oil, natural gas and petrochemical price forecasts as well as the revised cost and schedule resulting from the review process. On an unlevered basis, the returns from LCCP are expected to be slightly above the Company's US dollar weighted average cost of capital of 8%, although below the returns expected at the time of FID in October 2014. We still consider the LCCP to be a sound strategic investment that will return value to our shareholders for many years into the future. Key project assumptions, value contribution development and sensitivities have been included in the LCCP investor fact sheet.

An impairment review, in conjunction with the preparation of our annual financial statements, has been completed as a result of the changes in macro-economic assumptions as well as the expected increase in the LCCP capital cost estimate. In terms of International Financial Reporting Standards, the derivative units are separately tested for impairment. An impairment of $65 million has been recognised for our 2016 financial year pertaining to the low-density polyethylene unit.

The Chairman of the Sasol Limited Board of directors, Dr Mandla Gantsho, said "The Lake Charles Chemicals Project is an important part of Sasol's prudent growth strategy, and the substantial increase in the estimated capital cost has been an issue of concern. The detailed project review was therefore critical. We have taken decisive action to address the issues raised and have learned lessons for the benefit of future projects. This project still represents a world-scale chemicals facility, based on a sustainable feedstock cost advantage, and remains a value accretive pillar of our future business."

Sasol will be hosting a conference call at 15:00 South African time (09:00 Eastern time) on 24 August 2016 to discuss this announcement, which will be webcast via Sasol's website http://www.sasol.com.

Sponsor: Deutsche Securities (SA) Proprietary Limited

Disclaimer - Forward-looking statements: Sasol may, in this document, make certain statements that are not historical facts and relate to analyses and other information which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements may also relate to our future prospects, developments and, business strategies and industry dynamics including commodity prices. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding anticipated capital expenditure, project completion schedule, availability of funding, impact on gearing ratio and projected returns of our LCCP project, as well as commodity prices, exchange rate fluctuations, volume growth, increases in market share, total shareholder return, executing our growth projects and cost reductions, including in connection with our BPEP and RP. Words such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may", "endeavour", "target", "forecast", "consider", "project", "confident" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there are risks that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. If one or more of these risks materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. You should understand that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors are discussed more fully herein and in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed on 9 October 2015 and in other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The list of factors discussed therein is not exhaustive; when relying on forward-looking statements to make investment decisions, you should carefully consider both these factors and other uncertainties and events. Forward-looking statements apply only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations: Cavan Hill, Senior Vice President, +27(0)11-441-3113

SOURCE Sasol Limited
Kaneshige has been reporting on the troublesome intersection of business and technology in Silicon Valley. He has written for a variety of outlets including CIO.com, CIO Magazine, InfoWorld, CIO Decisions, Line56, Upside and Solutions Integrator. Kaneshige is keenly focused on the business outcomes of technology solutions and not just technology for technology sake.

He joins the experienced IoT Institute team including Paul Miller, Group President, who launched the IoT Institute and IoT Emerge initiatives; Will Wise, Managing Director; Karen Field, Group Content Director; Bibi Jackson, Director of Marketing; and Brian Buntz, Content Director.

The IoT Institute provides actionable case studies, insights, research, and e-learning on the industrial and cultural phenomenon that's changing the shape of business and cities today. It unveiled a list of the Top 50 IoT influencers on Twitter, which includes influencers from visionaries and leading experts to vendors and media. To see who made the list visit: http://www.ioti.com/iot-trends-and-analysis/50-top-iot-authorities-twitter

"The response we've received to the IoT Institute and the IoT Emerge conference since their launch in April has been tremendous. It shows that the industry is ready for real solutions that cut through the hype of IoT," said Will Wise, Managing Director, IoT, Penton. "Penton continues to attract top talent with critical skill sets in progressive information services capabilities. Adding Tom to our team was a no-brainer. Having followed his work  his love of the business tech industry is quite apparent. His enthusiastic focus on building communities will allow us to continue our mission to share best practice to drive practical and measurable results for our core audiences across Industrial IoT, Smart Cities, and IoT Product Engineering."

Kaneshige can be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @kaneshige.

Three registration options are available to attend IoT Emerge, The Energy Times' Empowering Customers & Cities, and SmartGig Chicago, click here for details. Early registration ends August 28, 2016. Media interested in obtaining media credentials to attend IoT Emerge, contact Bibi Jackson at [email protected].

Stay connected with Penton IoT Institute on Twitter @IoTiPenton, Facebook: IoT Institute and LinkedIn Group: The IoT Institute. To sign up for the IoT Institute weekly IoTi Informer newsletter, visit: www.ioti.com.

About Penton's IoT Institute

Penton's IoT Institute is an online community and live events franchise focused on practical B2B applications in the rapidly-growing world of the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT Institute provides actionable case studies, insights, research, and e-learning on the industrial and cultural phenomenon that's changing the shape of business and cities today. The IoT Institute's mission is to enable cross-industry and cross-job function learning to drive business performance.

About Penton

Penton is an innovative information services company that empowers nearly 20 million business decision makers in markets that drive more than 12 trillion dollars in purchases each year. Our products inform with rich industry insights and workflow tools; engage through dynamic events, education and networking; and advance business with powerful marketing services programs. Penton is the way smart businesses buy, sell and grow.

Headquartered in New York, Penton is privately owned by MidOcean Partners and Wasserstein & Co., LP. For more information, visit http://www.penton.com or follow us on Twitter @PentonNow.

Media Contact:

Bibi Jackson

Penton IoT

[email protected]

(510) 423-0345

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400158LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151231/318607LOGO

SOURCE Penton

Related Links

http://www.penton.com


BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, the editors at Playboy search the U.S. for the top new places to get a good drink  the spots where they take making a good drink seriously, but don't take themselves too seriously. After calling for nominations from Playboy.com readers, bartenders, writers and industry insiders, Playboy's list of the 50 Best New Bars in America 2016 was unveiled today on Playboy.com.
HAXTUN, Colo., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PrairieIT announces their new digital photo back-up product, ThePhotoStickthe fast, easy and safe way to find, rescue, and save photos and videos from a Mac or PC.

ThePhotoStick solves the problems regarding photos and videos on your computer: how do you find and save the thousands of photos and videos scattered throughout your computer on countless directories? What if your computer crashes and you lose all your photos? Is the cloud the only safe place for your photos?

Says Mark Oman, founder of PrairieIT, "Photos are more than just snapshots. They're priceless memories." Oman speaks from experience as he once lost precious photos from a special family vacation. This motivated him to come up with a way to easily find and save all the photos on his computer to prevent this from happening again. Oman and his team at PrairieIT used their knowledge from their innovative product, Xtra-PC, to create ThePhotoStick.

ThePhotoStick is a USB stick that contains proprietary software and storage to make it simple to find all your photos and videos on your Mac or PC and easily save them to the USB sticknot just to a server or just to the cloud. ThePhotoStick is simply the best option for protecting your memories.

ThePhotoStick comes in three sizes8GB, 64GB and 128GB. For typical photo file sizes, this allows you to store from 3,000 photos on a 8GB or up to 60,000 photos on a 128GB stick.



ThePhotoStick is a one-time cost, starting at under $20 each, and is available to ship today.

To learn more, visit www.ThePhotoStick.com.

ThePhotoStick is a product of PrairieIT LLC, makers of products that give new life to old computers. They are located in the town of Haxtun on the prairie of Colorado.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE PrairieIT
HANNOVER, Germany, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

MetaGer, Germany's most popular meta search engine for the internet, has made its source code public, allowing its user community not only to verify its data protection and security features but also to contribute to MetaGer's future developments.

Run by German NGO 'SUMA-EV - Association for Free Access to Knowledge', MetaGer originally evolved from the Leibniz University of Hannover, its software has been placed under GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (GNU AGPL v3) as defined here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License and

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0

MetaGer's source code has been placed in its entirety in a public repository located at: https://gitlab.metager3.de/open-source/MetaGer. The only elements missing from the code are authentication details relating to MetaGer's meta-crawled sources search engines as these are subject to non-disclosure agreements.

"MetaGer is all about protecting the privacy of its users. By offering open-source access to its source code, the online community can now verify for itself that MetaGer does not store any data about its users", says MetaGer director Dr. Wolfgang Sander-Beuermann.

Offered in the German (http://metager.de) and English language (http://metager.net), MetaGer treats searches submitted by its users as anonymous from an early stage; IP addresses are neither recorded nor stored, and information is not passed on to other search engines. Cooperations have been established with most of the global Internet search engines, with news search provided by internet news portal One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com/) being a recent addition. The search engine does not collect private data and the servers are located exclusively in Germany. They are fully covered under Germany's data protection laws, which are considered to be the strictest worldwide. MetaGer is recommended as the first choice for a search engine by the German "Foundation for the Protection of Privacy" (http://stiftungdatenschutz.org/praxistipps/), which was founded by the Federal Republic of Germany.

Media Contact:

MetaGer-Team

SUMA-EV Secretariat:

Roselerstr. 3, D-30159 Hannover

Germany

Tel: 0049-(0)511-34000070

e-mail: [email protected]



Managing Director and Member of the Board:

Dr. Wolfgang Sander-Beuermann

Roselerstr. 3, D-30159 Hannover

Germany

Tel: 0049-(0)511-34000071

e-mail: [email protected]





About SUMA-EV



SUMA is an abbreviation of the German word for search engine (SUchMAschine). SUMA-EV is a registered non-profit association and has been committed to the free access to knowledge since 2004: uncensored, unfiltered, and without commercial or government control. Among other services, SUMA-EV operates the most popular German meta search engine 'MetaGer' and promotes alternatives to the global businesses. Since 2007 SUMA-EV has hosted the SUMA Awards, at which projects that are judged to be outstanding for the future of digital knowledge are acknowledged.



Links:

http://metager.net

http://metager.de

http://suma-ev.de

SOURCE One News Page Ltd
Industrial factory automation customers, in these markets and others, require a vendor agnostic method for configuring and communicating with diverse devices in their industrial network. CIP was designed for use in process control and industrial automation applications. CIP provides consistent device access, allowing a single configuration tool to monitor and configure CIP devices without the need for vendor specific software. Red Lion's rugged NT24k and 700/7000 managed switches deliver information and configuration access directly to Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) through standard CIP messaging.

"CIP is an important tool to communicate across diverse equipment. Compliance certification provides vendor-independent assurance that CIP-enabled products comply with the specification," said Diane Davis, director of product management, networking at Red Lion Controls. "This certification is just one more reason customers can trust Red Lion to seamlessly connect network infrastructures, linking the wide variety of devices common in today's industrial environments."

With reliable plug-and-play operation, IGMP auto-configuration and fast boot time, the rugged NT24k and 700/7000 managed industrial switches include standard EtherNet/IP and are designed to provide optimal performance and maximum uptime in the harshest conditions. Red Lion's wide array of CIP-enabled managed switches, available in rackmount and DIN-rail mountable models, support a variety of port configurations and media types. Customers can now select from over 100 flexible configuration options that include 10/100/1000 Copper, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Fiber and Power over Ethernet (PoE).

For more product information, please visit www.redlion.net/n-tron.

About Red Lion Controls

As the global experts in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking, Red Lion has been delivering innovative solutions for over forty years. Our automation, Ethernet and cellular M2M technology enables companies worldwide to gain real-time data visibility that drives productivity. Product brands include Red Lion, N-Tron and Sixnet. With headquarters in York, Pennsylvania, the company has offices across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Red Lion is part of Spectris plc, the productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls company. For more information, please visit www.redlion.net.

2016 Red Lion Controls, Inc. All rights reserved. Red Lion and the Red Lion logo, NT24k and N-Tron are registered trademarks of Red Lion Controls, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400193

SOURCE Red Lion Controls

Related Links

http://www.redlion.net


MARLTON, N.J., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey (RMANJ), a world-renowned leader in the field of infertility care, will be offering free AMH fertility screening at their newest location in Marlton, New Jersey. This test, which could help provide answers about your ability to get or stay pregnant, will be available free of charge for a limited time through the fall for hopeful parents in the South Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan area.

AMH (anti-mullerian hormone) is a key indicator of ovarian reservea woman's remaining egg supplyand AMH levels that are too high or too low may suggest fertility problems. Evaluation of AMH, along with FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), estrogen and age, is often the first step to finding answers.

"The AMH test is just one step in predicting a woman's ability to conceive either naturally or with the assistance of fertility services such as IVF," said Dr. Jason Franasiak, lead physician at RMANJ's newest location in Marlton serving the South Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan area. "In offering this free screening, we hope to provide concrete information that can serve as a starting point for patients to discuss their concerns as they look for more information on their ability to build a family, either now or in the future."

Dr. Daniel Kaser from RMANJ Marlton added, "Knowledge is power. AMH screening takes just a few minutes and can be done on any day of a woman's cycle via a simple blood test. Patients will receive a follow-up call from a RMANJ healthcare provider with results and recommendations."

RMANJ will be offering free screening at its Marlton office located in Elmwood Business Park, 737 East Route 70, Building B-101, Marlton, New Jersey 08053, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Appointments, while not required, are recommended for convenience and can be made by calling the office directly at 856-267-8100.

RMANJ has seen patients from 40 U.S. states and 30 international countries. With IVF delivery rates above 60 percent, nearly 20 percent higher than the national average, RMANJ supports hopeful patients with the widest range of services, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg donation, gestational surrogacy, comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS), pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), fertility preservation services, acupuncture, yoga and patient-to-patient networking.

ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE ASSOCIATES OF NEW JERSEY

The experts at RMANJ offer IVF delivery rates of 63.2 percent in women under 35 (n=886) and well above the US average*. Since 1999, they have helped bring nearly 40,000 babies to loving families. RMANJ has 25 physicians and 10 locations in New Jersey: Basking Ridge, Eatontown, Englewood, Freehold, Hamilton, Morristown, Somerset, Springfield, West Orange, and its newest location in Marlton, New Jersey. For more information, please call 973-656-2089 or visit www.rmanj.com.

RMANJ pioneered and successfully implemented a cutting-edge technology known as Select Comprehensive Chromosome Screening (SelectCCS) to more accurately detect healthy embryos that has led to successful pregnancies and ultimately healthy babies. SelectCCS is owned and operated by the Foundation for Embryonic Competence (www.feclabs.org) and offers advanced embryo selection with extreme accuracy by detecting and avoiding use of embryos with chromosomal abnormalities prior to transfer and pregnancy.

*SART 2014; Cumulative Outcome per Intended Retrieval; Preliminary Chance of Live Birth per Cycle. Please note: A comparison of clinic success rates may not be meaningful because a patient's medical characteristics, treatment approaches and entrance criteria for assisted reproductive technology (ART) may vary from clinic to clinic. Visit www.sart.org to learn more.

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SOURCE Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey

Related Links

http://www.rmanj.com


HYDERABAD, India, August 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Mordor Intelligence announces the publication of their research report on the critical infrastructure protection market. The report titled, "Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market - Growth, Trends and Forecasts," discusses the current landscape and outlook of the said market.

The global critical infrastructure protection (CIP) market was valued at USD 87.34 billion in 2015, and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 8.50% to reach USD 131.33 billion by 2020.

North America is projected to retain its dominance, followed by Asia-Pacific and Europe. Stringent regulatory standards coupled with high levels of market penetration drove CIP solutions growth in North America. The Asia-Pacific region is forecasted to record the highest CAGR growth of 9.02% over the reporting period, with China and Japan accounting for a sizeable portion of the market.

Physical security accounts for over 60% of the market share in the CIP security technology market, followed by SCADA security (10%), network security (8%) and CBRNE (5%). Physical security solutions have evolved considerably from the deployment to analog cameras to more advanced solutions such as IP Video Surveillance, scanners and biometrics. Vehicle Identification management solutions are forecasted to record the highest CAGR growth of 24.85% over the reporting period.

The CIP market is highly diversified, with a mix of established players and smaller companies vying for attention in an increasingly contested market space. Relatively moderate barriers for entry and growing focus on smart grid technology have enabled smaller firms to gain entrance into the market. However, recent trends show that industry players such as Honeywell International Inc., BAE Systems, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin are eventually acquiring smaller companies in a bid to consolidate their market position. Several collaborations are also being forged between existing companies, as they remain focused on providing integrated solutions and services to tackle dynamic attacks.

About Mordor Intelligence:

Mordor Intelligence is a global market research and consulting firm. Our focus is to provide research insights to facilitate business success. Our research expertise covers niche segments under Agriculture, Healthcare, ICT, Chemicals, Manufacturing, Logistics, Electronics and Automotive, among others. We believe in data, and we provide solutions through it. Optimum solutions and goal-oriented strategies define our endeavors and make us the preferred choice for clients.

For information regarding permissions and sales, please contact: [email protected]

Media Contact:

Madan Gopal

AVP - Marketing & Strategy

Email:[email protected]

Direct Line: +1 617-765-2493



SOURCE Mordor Intelligence
SAN FRANCISCO and CAMBRIDGE, England, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Darktrace, a provider of enterprise cyber threat defense software, announced today that Samsung SDS, the global IT services company part of Samsung Group, has become a regional partner. This follows the company's recent investment in Darktrace. In addition to being a reseller and distributor of Darktrace's Enterprise Immune System technology, the two companies will work together to develop cyber security solutions for Internet of Things technologies, including connected devices.

Samsung SDS's agreement with Darktrace strengthens the relationship between the two companies and will speed up the rollout of Darktrace's Enterprise Immune System technology. Cyber security threats are on the rise globally, and as attacks become more sophisticated, it is obvious that legacy approaches to the problem aren't working. Darktrace uses advanced mathematics and has adopted a machine learning approach based on the human immune system to meet the challenge of detecting cyber threats before they can have a crippling effect.

Named 'Best Security Company of the Year' 2016, Darktrace is capable of identifying new, emerging threats within computer networks in real time including insider attacks, ransomware, machine-based attacks, and unknown threat scenarios.

Nicole Eagan, CEO of Darktrace, commented: "Samsung is one of the world's leading technology companies, and we are thrilled to be collaborating with them on developing an approach to securing next-generation technologies such as connected devices. As we seek to extend our presence in Asia, Samsung's support will be valuable."

Sung Won Han, Vice President Samsung SDS Cyber Security, added: "Darktrace's immune system approach to the ever-increasing challenge of cyber security stands out and provides an opportunity for Samsung SDS to introduce a new solution to customers. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship as we explore new collaborations."

Mark Lippert, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea said, "Cyber security is an important topic for the United States and the Republic of Korea. It is critical that our two industries continue to cooperate closely to deploy the best technology and know-how to cope with fast-evolving cyber threats."

Founded in 2013, Darktrace has grown rapidly to 300 employees and has achieved over 600% revenue growth in its latest financial year. With over 1,200 customer deployments, Darktrace's Enterprise Immune System has been selected by some of the largest and most sensitive cyber security environments, including global financial institutions, telecommunications networks, legal firms, retailers, technology companies, government organizations, and critical national infrastructure facilities. Darktrace's innovative technology has led the company to be named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and a Winner of the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation.

About Darktrace

Winner of the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation 2016, Darktrace is one of the world's leading cyber threat defense companies. Its Enterprise Immune System technology detects and responds to previously unidentified threats, powered by machine learning and mathematics developed by specialists from the University of Cambridge. Without using rules or signatures, Darktrace is uniquely capable of understanding the 'pattern of life' of every device, user and network within an organization, and defends against evolving threats that bypass all other systems. Some of the world's largest corporations rely on Darktrace's self-learning technology in sectors including energy and utilities, financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and transportation. Darktrace is headquartered in Cambridge, UK and San Francisco, with global offices including New York, Auckland, London, Milan, Mumbai, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Washington D.C.

About Samsung SDS

Samsung SDS is a global IT service company that led Korea's IT industry for over 30 years since its establishment in 1985. We have paved the way for the growth and development of clients through innovation utilizing information technology in data processing operations, system integration, IT services and current ICT services. Samsung SDS is also the engine to Samsung group's growth into a global enterprise as the sole ICT services and solutions provider, conducting major projects including system operation, consulting, system integration, IT outsourcing and ICT infrastructure for all Samsung Group affiliates.

Media contacts

David Whiting

Edelman (US)

+1 212 277 3803

[email protected]

SOURCE Darktrace
F-15J armed with 16 AAMs (artist's concept). (Photo : Boeing)

Japan's Ministry of Defense has announced plans to double the number of air-to-air missiles mounted on the Mitsubishi F-15J twin-engine, air superiority fighters operated by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).



Funds for the upgrade have been requested in the ministry's $51 billion budget for fiscal year 2017, the largest in Japan's postwar history. This defense budget is 2.3 percent higher than the current budget and represents the fifth straight year the military budget has risen.



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Funds will also be allotted to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jet. Japan has ordered 48 of the fifth generation stealth fighter.



Some 200 F-15J fighters are on the inventory of the JASDF and the ministry wants each fighter to carry 16 air-to-air missiles instead of only eight. Extensive and expensive modifications that will see the addition of more weapons hardpoints and aircraft strengthening will have to be made to the fighters to bring this about.



The F-15J can be armed with a combination of air-to-air missiles including the Mitsubishi AAM-3 short-range air-to-air missile; Mitsubishi AAM-4 medium-range active radar homing air-to-air missile; Mitsubishi AAM-5 a short-range air-to-air missile; AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow.



The AAM-5 is replacing the AAM-3 while the AAM-4 is replacing the AIM-7 Sparrow made in the U.S.



The AAM-5 can fly its 95 kg warhead out to 35 km. The AAM-4, a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile developed in Japan, has a range in excess of 100 km.



The huge weapons upgrade comes at a time of increasing Chinese aerial and naval incursions in the East China Sea, especially around the Senkaku Islands owned by Japan but which are claimed by China.



In response to Chinese provocations, Japan is also redeploying units of the Japan Self-Defense Force to positions closer to the Senkakus. Japan is also strengthening Japan Coast Guard installations in the southern islands of Miyakojima and Amami Oshima to counter China's increasingly brazen aggression in the East China Sea.



Japan last June warned China further Chinese military naval incursions in the waters off its Senkaku islands will compel Japan to take "necessary actions," including mobilizing the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).



The warning was prompted by a warship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) entering waters just outside Japanese territorial waters around the Senkakus. Analysts said Japan has drawn a red line with the warning that violations of Japanese sovereignty by the PLAN will be met by force.


FAIRFIELD, Conn., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The number of children crossing the Mediterranean compared to the same period last year has risen by more than two-thirds  and this journey is increasingly dangerous for migrants and refugees fleeing war, persecution and extreme poverty. More than 3,000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean already this year, an appalling death toll which is more than 40 percent higher than the same period in 2015. The vast majority have perished between North Africa and Italy.

Against this background of a significant and avoidable loss of life, Save the Children is launching a new search-and-rescue effort in the Mediterranean. The vessel will be operational starting in September with the aim of saving lives at sea, with facilities to rescue and accommodate approximately 300 people at a time.

The organization is launching a new appeal to help raise urgently needed funds, which will cover the cost of the vessel's operation for the next 15 months.

Save the Children has worked at Italian ports for more than eight years, helping to protect children when they arrive on land, and we believe the urgency of the current situation requires us to launch a search-and-rescue operation. The aid agency will oversee humanitarian operations on the vessel and provide specialist staff including a team leader, cultural mediators, child protection, health and logistics staff. The Italian Coast Guard, which is the organization that coordinates all the search-and-rescue operations at sea in that area, will direct the vessel toward the boats with refugees and migrants who need help.

The Coast Guard has said it greatly appreciates the necessary contribution to search-and-rescue operations offered by aid agencies. In a recent meeting with representatives of aid organizations that help with the rescue of migrants, the Coast Guard said: "We share a common goal: to save lives at sea."

"Children are children, first and foremost. Whatever they are fleeing from, they have the right to be safe," said Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children. "We have an obligation to protect children and their families, whether they are in Europe already, or during their dangerous and deadly journey.

"The root causes are complex and many, but our response is simple: we must stop children drowning. Saving lives  not border control  should be everyone's priority. The Mediterranean Sea cannot continue to be a mass unmarked grave for children.

"We have taken this decision to intervene at sea because we are convinced that, despite the extraordinary work already done by authorities as well as aid agencies, our initiative will make a valuable contribution to search-and-rescue operations in order to save lives."

The vessel, based out of Augusta, Italy, will be equipped with two smaller inflatable boats operated by specialist rescue crews. They will carry out the rescue operations, saving people either from capsized boats, or from drowning in the water itself. They will then transfer people to the main vessel where Save the Children's specialist teams will be on hand to meet people's basic needs by providing food and water, safe spaces for children and medical facilities. There will also be translators and cultural mediators to ensure we understand people's needs and can communicate with them effectively and compassionately, including explaining what will happen next. The vessel will then take people to a safe port in Italy.

Save the Children's onboard team will use our existing links and response work in Italy to ensure that children receive the support they need on arrival. This is particularly vital given that in 2016, twice the number of unaccompanied children have made the perilous crossing to Italy compared to the same period last year. Ninety percent of children that have landed on Italian shores in 2016 have done so without their parents.

Across the African continent, conflict, persecution and extreme poverty threaten children's lives. With brutal conflict ravaging swathes of the Middle East, and more than 60 million people on the move worldwide, the refugee crisis is the moral test of a generation that shows no signs of abating. Children will continue to risk everything in the search for safety and better futures.

"Our work will start on board the rescue ship, identifying the needs of the most vulnerable and lone children, providing healthcare and psychological first aid," Miles said.

"On land, children need proper reception centers where they can regain their childhood  somewhere they're safe, protected, fed, educated and given access to psychological support. Only then will fewer children go missing in Europe and more children face a brighter future."

Save the Children will, at all times, aim to cooperate with other aid agencies and the authorities who are working in the region.

When they arrive in Italy, refugees and migrants need food, shelter, legal advice, health services and protection from traffickers. Many have had horrific experiences on the long journey to Italy  starvation and abuse at the hands of gangs, long journeys on foot through the desert, rape and torture. Unaccompanied children are the most vulnerable.

Miles added: "Leaders must increase resettlement and offer humanitarian visas for refugees. September's migration summit, co-hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama, is a political opportunity for change which must not be wasted.

"We also need a long-term plan to tackle the causes of unsafe and forced migration, including conflict, extreme poverty, human-rights abuses and climate change. Stopping the smuggling gangs will not stop people fleeing for their lives. Greater investment in jobs and education in the countries these people are coming from, or pass through, would make a huge difference to making life in those places more bearable and provide a credible alternative to risky migration."

To donate to Save the Children's search and rescue ship visit: www.savethechildren.org/rescue-at-sea

Save the Children gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We invest in childhood  every day, in times of crisis and for our future. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Media contact: Erin Taylor ([email protected]), 267.250.8829 (M)

SOURCE Save the Children

Related Links

http://www.savethechildren.org


OTTAWA, Ontario, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CIOReview has named SavvyDox as one of their 20 Most Promising Document Management Solution Providers 2016.

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"We are happy to announce SavvyDox as one among the 20 Most Promising Document Management Solution Providers 2016," said Jeevan George, Managing Editor of CIOReview. "SavvyDox provides the most powerful document collaboration solution available using favorite tools and browsers, allows collaboration on any device along with, version control and tracking changes functionalities."

SavvyDox is the world's most advanced cloud-based document collaboration platform, transforming document collaboration from a serial process into an intelligent interaction with documents. SavvyDox features include revision highlighting at the word and paragraph level, version sensitivity, changed content navigation, interaction with peer recipients and authors, shared annotations, and active and dynamic content. Its mobile & current features allows the concerned members to collaborate and access that such particular document without having to share it each time when the new updates and changes are made, and each time when the document is updated it gets synced automatically to mobile and desktop devices. Using publish tools and add-in features for word document allows to publish directly from the web browser or content management system.

SavvyDox has made strong progress within the Government of Canada at the Office of the Auditor General and Shared Services and is in discussions with several other departments in Canadian and US Governments. An integration with Single Sign On and Active Directory make the implementation seamless to end users and an OpenText integration addresses end user concerns about the complexity of the OpenText User interface while not altering their workflow. SavvyDox is in discussions with a legal association to address document management and control for contracts including integration with digital signatures. Key use cases include contract management, policy development, external communication development, executive briefing packages, and distribution of meeting content supporting paperless meetings. SavvyDox delivers an intuitive and easy to use front end solution for Enterprise Content Management Systems and Enterprise File Sync and Share Solutions providing a complete end to end solution for document retention and full parallel collaboration aligning with the benefits of face to face meetings.

SavvyDox provides measurable productivity improvements for authors and document reviewers with an ROI of 100% per month being fairly common in initial deployments. Security within the application provides a manageable blend with usability and controls "leaks" by ensuring that documents cannot be distributed beyond an author generated distribution list. SavvyDox' parallel review capabilities ensure improved document quality coupled with the ability to audit all changes since the initiation of the document and the ability to compare any two versions of the document with one mouse click. SavvyDox provides the first viable alternative to Word Track Changes and the distribution capabilities ensure that everyone always has the current version of documents under review. No charge trials are available on the SavvyDox web site.

About SavvyDox

Founded in 2011, SavvyDox is a privately held company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. SavvyDox solves document collaboration issues for enterprises, government and publishers, all within an enterprise grade, private or public cloud based secure infrastructure. For more info, visit: http://www.savvydox.com/

About CIOReview

Published from Fremont, California, CIOReview is a print magazine that explores and understands the plethora of ways adopted by firms to execute the smooth functioning of their businesses. A distinguished panel comprising of CEOs, CIOs, IT VPs including CIOReview editorial board finalized the "20 Most Promising Document Management Solution Providers 2016" in the U.S. and shortlisted the best vendors and consultants in Enterprise Asset Management arena. For more info: http://www.cioreview.com/

Media contact:

Hans Downer

Email

613-799-3440

SOURCE SavvyDox

Related Links

http://www.savvydox.com/


RACINE, Wis., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/-- SC Johnson announced today it has sent a donation of 80,000 additional bottles of OFF! Deep Woods personal repellent spray to the American Red Cross to provide continued aid for emergency operations across the country.

Supplies of OFF! personal repellent from a donation made to the Red Cross in July are currently being handed out at disaster sites across the U.S., including to those impacted by the flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi. The donation announced today will replenish stockpiles of products urgently needed for those impacted by catastrophes and will also be used by thousands of Red Cross volunteers who are offering assistance.

"Coping with disasters is extremely difficult," said Kelly M. Semrau, Senior Vice PresidentGlobal Corporate Affairs, Communication and Sustainability. "We hope this donation will provide some measure of comfort by helping to prevent mosquito bites, and therefore helping to prevent mosquito-borne disease. We're proud to be working with the Red Cross to get these repellents into the hands of those affected by disasters."

The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and recovery programs. In the past 135 years, the Red Cross has sheltered, fed and provided emotional support to victims of disasters; supplied about 40 percent of the nation's blood; taught skills that save lives; provided international humanitarian aid; and supported military members and their families.

This donation is part of SC Johnson's commitment to donate at least $15 million in resources globally over the next year to help protect against mosquitoes.

SC Johnson is the world's largest manufacturer of insect repellents and household insecticides, including OFF!, Autan, Raid and Baygon. For 60 years, SC Johnson entomologists have studied insects at the Entomology Research Center in Racine, the largest private, urban entomology research center in the world.

For more information, please go to www.scjohnson.com/mosquitoes

For downloadable materials and educational assets, please visit our media microsite

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE, KIWI, OFF!, PLEDGE, RAID, SCRUBBING BUBBLES, SHOUT, WINDEX and ZIPLOC in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN, TANA, BAMA, BAYGON, BRISE, KABIKILLER, KLEAR, MR MUSCLE and RIDSECT. The 130-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

SOURCE SC Johnson

Related Links

http://www.scjohnson.com


In addition to being a founding sponsor of GCSEN with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Sheri Sobrato Brisson has blended her experience as a cancer survivor and M.A. in Counseling Psychology to co-author along with Rose Offner, M.F.A., Digging Deep: A Journal for Young People Facing Health Challenges . She founded and manages Resonance House to philanthropically distribute the journal, whose mission is to empower young people facing health challenges build emotional strength and resilience through journaling.

Her support of GCSEN reflects the mutual passion for creating ventures that combine people, profit, and planet to improve the quality of life for all citizens.

GCSEN was established in 2015 to develop a place where social entrepreneurs can learn value-creating entrepreneur language, skills, concepts and practices. The Venturator provides a space where they can act on and transform the root causes of poverty, marginalization, environmental deterioration and the accompanying loss of human dignity in many communities across America and around the world today.

As our certified social entrepreneur (CSE) succeeds, transformation occurs first at the personal level, then within his or her family, community, the local economy and then reaches beyond to regional, national, and global community marketplaces!

Sheri Sobrato Brisson supports GCSEN because she trusts in our mission. "I believe in people's ability to change the world, and what a better way to start than to take these ideas that people have and make an idea a reality," explained Sobrato-Brisson when she was asked 'Why GCSEN?'.

"Sheri Sobrato Brisson and her husband Eric Brisson are setting a new standard for strategic, high impact social entrepreneur sponsors. They are helping bring together the amazing resources and talents of the Hudson Valley and the Silicon Valley," said Professor Mike Caslin, Founder and President of GCSEN.

Sheri Sobrato Brisson joins other visionary GCSEN Sponsors, such as The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, and The Karen and Bob Jones Foundation.

GCSEN plans to invite Sheri Sobrato Brisson to return and share her lessons learned from Digging Deep, as well as lessons learned on local economic development from her philanthropic ventures.

Contact: Kelly Nash, 212-444-2071

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160822/400214

SOURCE Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship Network
Produced by Perrin Conferences, the 8 th annual conference is a three-day, comprehensive educational forum with panels and events covering cutting edge topics and trends in asbestos litigation, including related legal, scientific and insurance coverage implications. Attendees will include many of the nation's leading plaintiff and defense attorneys, judges, insurance professionals, risk managers, and scientific and medical experts.

"The Asbestos Litigation Conference is one of the best-attended and most productive events in the nation for asbestos litigation practitioners," said Browder, who leads the firm's team of more than 50 asbestos attorneys and has spent more than 20 years helping families resolve hundreds of million dollar-plus asbestos cases. "The event's atmosphere encourages learning and engagement among plaintiffs' and defense lawyers, as well as judges and representatives from companies and insurance carriers, for addressing important challenges."

Browder also will participate in the conference panel discussion "National Trends Driving Asbestos Litigation," which will provide an update on current trends, statistics and dynamics impacting asbestos litigation. Other panel topics will include insurance, judges and corporate perspectives roundtable discussions; updates on lung cancer; "Settlement Dynamics and Negotiation Strategies"; "Evaluating Industrial Hygiene Conclusions"; "Impact of Bankruptcies on Litigation Strategies"; jurisdictional updates; and discussions about the latest wave of talc litigation including a relevant mock trial exercise. The conference also will feature Young Lawyers and Women in Business networking lunches designed to encourage and foster supportive relationships in those communities within the asbestos litigation industry.

For more information about the conference, to view the agenda or to register, click here.

About Simmons Hanly Conroy, LLC

Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC is one of the nation's largest mass tort law firms and has recovered more than $5 billion in verdicts and settlements for plaintiffs. Primary areas of litigation include asbestos and mesothelioma, pharmaceutical, consumer protection, environmental and personal injury. The firm's attorneys have been appointed to leadership in numerous national multidistrict litigations, including Vioxx, Yaz and Toyota Unintended Acceleration. The firm also represents small and mid-size corporations, inventors and entrepreneurs in matters involving business litigation. Offices are located in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Alton, Illinois. Read more at www.simmonsfirm.com.

Contact: Mark Motley, Chief Marketing Officer

618.259.2222 | [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160823/400518

SOURCE Simmons Hanly Conroy

Related Links

http://www.simmonsfirm.com


NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Small businesses are overwhelmingly positive in their expectations for the next 12 months, with 64 percent anticipating growth, according to the Small Business Health Index from CAN Capital, the market share leader in alternative small business finance. With growth comes the need for funding to finance expansion and new projects, but 42 percent of small business owners say it's quite or extremely challenging to gain access to working capital.

Most small businesses are in need of smaller amounts of capital, which the traditional loan process typically doesn't allow for. Specifically, 66 percent of small business owners are looking for amounts of $50,000 or under when seeking funding, with the top reasons being to purchase equipment and/or inventory (22%) or to expand operations (21%).

"It's encouraging to see small business owners feeling so good about their prospects for growth," said Daniel DeMeo, Chief Executive Officer, CAN Capital. "To ensure they are able to achieve their goals, it's important that they have fast, efficient access to working capital to fuel their expansion."

Surprisingly, 87 percent of small business owners have never tried obtaining working capital from an online finance provider, highlighting the need for educating small businesses on alternative sources of funding. When small business owners successfully secure funding, the most-used options are traditional banks (28%), credit cards (25%) and friends and family (21%).

"It's clear that small business owners don't always know how to find the kinds of loans they need," said DeMeo. "For those in need of larger loans, there are an array of options, including traditional bank loans. But when small business owners come to us for access to working capital, the average loan amount is about $50,000. Many banks and other financial institutions find it inefficient to loan in these smaller amounts, leaving a huge gap in the market for small businesses. Alternative finance companies are able to fill that gap, and do so with real-time approvals and fast funding, so business owners can get back to running their businesses instead of searching for capital."

Opportunities & Challenges

As mobile payments options are expanding and growing in popularity among consumers, more small businesses are recognizing the need to tap into this payment offering for customers. Thirty-four percent of small businesses currently accept mobile payments such as Apple Pay, a notable increase from April 2015 when only 13 percent were accepting this form of payment.

However, despite last year's October 1st deadline for small businesses to upgrade their POS systems to accept EMV chip enabled credit cards, 73 percent of small business owners say their current POS systems are not EMV compatible. That means a large majority of small businesses would be liable for consumer losses if an in-store transaction is conducted using a counterfeit, stolen or compromised card. Despite these potential costs and liabilities, 70 percent of small business owners do not plan to invest in new payments technology in the next twelve months.

DeMeo said, "It's concerning how many small businesses are leaving themselves open to paying for liabilities and losses from potential credit card fraud. By working with payment processors, small businesses should work out a plan to upgrade their payment systems both to protect themselves and to better serve their customers."

Though small business owners are feeling positive about the near term, they do see some potential threats on the horizon. Specifically, excessive regulation (25%), competition from big box retailers (20%) and rising operational costs (18%) are seen as the biggest threats to small businesses today.

With the election just a few months away, small businesses are keeping a close eye on the impact the issues being debated could have on them. Sixty percent of small business owners do not agree with increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a hot topic among the presidential candidates. When asked which presidential candidate would be the best for small businesses, 37 percent cited Donald Trump, 21 percent Hillary Clinton and 42 percent said neither.

Learn more about the CAN Capital's Small Business Health Index by visiting www.cancapital.com.

Note to Editors

The CAN Capital Small Business Health Index measures small business owners' sentiment about economic, business and consumer trends as well as other factors such as access to capital, growth and competition.

CAN Capital conducted an online study of small business owners between July 12 - July 18, 2016. Respondents included small business owners from across the United States. Percentages are based on 1,000 responses.

About CAN Capital

CAN Capital, Inc., established in 1998, is the pioneer and market share leader in alternative small business finance, having provided access to over $6.0 billion in capital for over 70,000 small businesses in a wide range of locations and different business types. As a technology-powered financial services provider, CAN Capital uses innovative and proprietary risk models combined with daily performance data to evaluate business performance and facilitate access to capital for entrepreneurs in a fast and efficient way.

CAN Capital, Inc. makes capital available to businesses through business loans made by WebBank, member FDIC, and through CAN Capital's subsidiaries: Merchant Cash Advances by CAN Capital Merchant Services, Inc., and business loans by CAN Capital Asset Servicing, Inc.

For more information, please visit: www.cancapital.com. Follow CAN Capital on Twitter and Facebook.

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SOURCE CAN Capital, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cancapital.com


RICHMOND, Indiana, August 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

South American Gold Corp (OTCBB: SAGD) signed an agreement to become the exclusive South American distributor of Microbial Mojo GoGo, an agreement that the company estimates could easily lead to over one million dollars in new revenue to the company.

Microbial Mojo GoGo is a unique liquid fulvic and humic acid extracted through a patented process. This unique extraction process amplifies the known effectiveness of liquid humic acids on plant growth by leaving the naturally occurring growth hormones intact. The product can deliver a physiological response in plants that can be seen in as little as 30 minutes after foliar application and growth responses that can be seen with the naked eye in as little as 24 hours.

"This agreement is an important step in implementing our strategic plan to become the exclusive distributor of high-value products which have shown the ability to develop high returns on investment to cannabis cultivators throughout South America's growing rapidly expanding market, " said SAGD's CEO, Cynthia Berain.

Uruguay is a member of South America's largest trading block, Mercosur, and geographically sits directly between the trade group's two largest trading partners; Argentina and Brazil.

"While we will launch our distribution efforts in Uruguay, we believe that other countries in the region will continue making moves to further liberalize their cannabis laws," continued Ms. Berain. "By signing this exclusive distribution agreement for all of South America we've positioned ourselves strategically to benefit from this anticipated growth into more populous markets in the region."

South American Gold Corp anticipates distribution of Microbial Mojo GoGo will have a positive impact on Net Income beginning in the first quarter of 2017. "Because of the tremendous opportunity that exists within the legal cannabis space in Uruguay," explained Ms. Berain, "we believe that if we capture just five percent of the legal cannabis market it could lead to annual revenues of well over one million dollars."

The company also announced that it would expand its focus and not solely focus on the cannabis industry. With an estimated 85 percent of Uruguay's land currently being utilized for agriculture, traditional farming operations have tremendous potential for Mojo Gogo product sales. Uruguay has emerged as a leading agriculture country with beef exports topping those of Argentina. Uruguay produces over 1.5 million tons of wheat, over 500,000 tons of maize, over 1 million tons of rice and nearly 2 million tons of soybeans each year. With these impressive agriculture production numbers, South American Gold Corp. is fully aware of the opportunity that Mojo Gogo can offer to that business sector.

"The applications for this product reach far beyond just the cannabis industry as Mojo Gogo product tests have proven that it has huge impact on corn, soybeans, rice and other crops," Ms. Berain stated. "Our sites are much higher, the traditional cannabis operation is very small while a traditional corn or soybean farm is very large and that industry has many more participants. Ultimately our goal is to expand this exclusive agreement to allow us to market this product into the mainstream agricultural space which would exponentially increase our sales, and the revenue and profits would expand accordingly. "

When discussing the opportunities that exist within this distribution agreement, the company pointed to a Trading Economics report that published the World Bank numbers regarding land and agriculture in Uruguay. According to the report, there are more than 36 million acres of arable land in Uruguay. Argentina, the neighbor to the West, has more than 68 million acres of arable land and offers another huge potential for the company for Mojo Gogo product distribution.

"Using an average of $5.00 per acre for fertilizer in Uruguay, the potential annual spending within this sector is more than 150 million dollars. If you add in Argentina, you add another 300 million dollars annually. If we just capture one percent of the broader agricultural market in these two countries alone, it could yield annual revenues that top 5 million dollars."

About SAGD: South American Gold Corp is focused on becoming the premiere provider of value added products and services for the cultivation and processing of legal cannabis for the South American medical and recreational markets with an initial focus on the Uruguayan market.

Disclaimer

This release contains forward-looking statements that are based on beliefs of South American Gold Corp. management and reflect South American Gold Corp.'s current expectations as contemplated under section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When we use in this release the words "estimate," "project," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "plan," "predict," "may," "should," "will," "can," the negative of these words, or such other variations thereon, or comparable terminology, are all intended to identify forward looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of South America Gold Corp. with respect to future events based on currently available information and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks and uncertainties pertaining to development of mining properties, changes in economic conditions and other risks, uncertainties and factors, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievement expressed or implied by such forward looking statements to differ materially from the forward looking statements. The information contained in this press release is historical in nature, has not been updated, and is current only to the date shown in this press release. This information may no longer be accurate and therefore you should not rely on the information contained in this press release. To the extent permitted by law, South American Gold Corp. and its employees, agents and consultants exclude all liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of, or reliance on, any such information, whether or not caused by any negligent act or omission. This press release incorporates by reference the Company's filings with the SEC including 10K, 10Q, 8K reports and other filings. Investors are encouraged to review all filings. There is no assurance South American Gold Corp. will identify projects of merit or if it will have sufficient financing to implement its business plan. There is no assurance that the Company's due diligence on the potential acquisition of oil and gas assets will be favorable nor that definitive terms can be negotiated. Information in this release includes representations from the private companies referred to which has not been independently verified by the company. A downturn in oil prices would affect the potential profitability of the proposed acquisition negatively.

Contact Information:

Address:

8275 S. Eastern Ave.

Suite 200

Las Vegas, NV 89123

Phone: +1-702-487-9003

Website: http://www.SAGDcorp.com



SOURCE South American Gold Corp.
ATLANTA, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Spectra BioPharma Selling Solutions (Spectra) today announced the addition of Daryl Gaugler as President of the company. Mr. Gaugler joins Spectra's existing management team of industry leaders and will provide strategic direction and oversee the day-to-day execution of the Contract Sales Organization formed early this year.

Spectra provides biopharma companies the experience, expertise, operational delivery and customer focus to successfully implement and deploy outsourced sales teams. Spectra's services include primary care, specialty, hospital, account, part-time, & strike force sales teams, as well as filling leave of absence and long-term vacancies, pilots/proof of concept programs, customer service representatives & multi-channel promotions.

Mr. Gaugler's vast experience includes 20 years in various senior level positions at Quintiles, most recently serving as the head of North American Commercial Solutions. He was one of the founding members of Innovex U.S., the commercial solutions division of Quintiles, which was responsible for leading the transition from outsourced part-time sales representatives to full-time outsourced resources. Additionally, after leading over 200 sales and clinical educator teams, Mr. Gaugler helped create NovaQuest Capital Management's commercial division, which partnered with pharmaceutical companies to create co-promotion initiatives through the combination of funding and services.

According to Mr. Gaugler, Spectra is meeting a need in the biopharma industry for a trusted contract sales partner who provides strategic solutions along with a customer service focus. "I am incredibly impressed with the direction and growth of Spectra over the past year; it is proof that we are filling a gap in the industry and I am thrilled to be a part of the company's future success," he said.

Mr. Gaugler joins other Spectra executive team members Brion Brandes, Executive Vice President, Business Development, and Lynda Parker, Executive Vice President, Sales and Operations, each having over 25 years' experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Founded as a sister company to The Medical Affairs Company (TMAC), the industry leading provider of outsourced medical affairs services for the last two decades, Spectra provides the full continuum of outsourced sales solutions and is built on the same principals of customer focus, operational excellence, flexibility and innovation as TMAC.

"TMAC and Spectra provide an integrated solution for our clients seeking collaboration between commercial and medical needs under one umbrella, while still functioning as independent companies with separate operational support and delivery" Mr. Gaugler said. "Our goal is to continually adapt to meet the ever changing needs of our industry and our clients."

Spectra's headquarters is located in Kennesaw, Georgia.

About Spectra BioPharma Selling Solutions

Spectra BioPharma Selling Solutions (Spectra) is a Contract Sales Organization that provides biopharma companies the experience, expertise, operational delivery and customer focus to successfully implement and deploy outsourced sales teams. With industry leading commercial experience, the Spectra BioPharma Selling Solutions team understands strategic and tactical needs and provides value-based creative and innovative sales solutions through both personal and non-personal promotion. Please visit Spectra's Web Site: www.SpectraBiopharma.com.

About The Medical Affairs Company

The Medical Affairs Company, LLC (TMAC) provides pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industry clients a wide array of outsourcing capabilities for medical affairs activities. Offering both strategic and tactical medical liaison support service, in addition to medical liaison consulting, medical communications support, and direct placement services, TMAC is uniquely positioned to provide both unmatched value and service to the pharmaceutical industry.

Please visit TMAC's website: www.TheMedicalAffairsCompany.com.

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SOURCE Spectra BioPharma Selling Solutions

Related Links

http://www.spectrabiopharma.com


PLYMOUTH, Mich., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Success Mortgage Partners, a residential lending company headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan is consolidating its reverse mortgage partners into a new unified brand, Reverse Mortgage USA.

As part of the rebranding, Jon Maiolatesi of Plymouth, M.I., has been named Director of Operations and David Heilman of Charleston, S.C., has been named Director of Sales for Reverse Mortgage USA.

"This is an opportunity to combine resources and talents of experienced reverse mortgage professionals, and also allows us to expand access to the product for many older Americans" said Maiolatesi, Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional. The company will also be offering the reverse mortgage product to all branches nationwide.

Available to those age 62 and older, a reverse mortgage or Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, allows homeowners to convert part of the equity in their home into cash without having to sell, give up title or take on a new monthly mortgage payment. Borrowers can elect to take cash out (to pay off an existing mortgage for example), set up a line of credit for future needs, elect for monthly draws, or a combination of all three. Homeowners are responsible for continuing to pay property taxes, insurance, any HOA dues, and maintain the condition of the home.

The balance is repaid when the home is sold, and the homeowners (or their heirs) receive any remaining equity. Because this type of loan is FHA-Insured, should there be any shortfall at the time of sale the homeowners, heirs or estate are not responsible for that amount.

About Reverse Mortgage USA

Reverse Mortgage USA, a division of Success Mortgage Partners, is a mortgage banking firm offering a range of reverse mortgage options. The company is focused on improving the quality of life for its clients and their families, while removing fear and confusion surrounding this unique loan program designed specifically for older Americans. For more information, visit www.ReverseMortgageUSA.com.

Reverse Mortgage USA, a division of Success Mortgage Partners is an equal opportunity lender. NMLS #130562

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SOURCE Success Mortgage Partners
For brands, the proof is in the giving

More than three out of four consumers like when brands demonstrate their appreciation (77 percent). But today's consumers expect more than a generic email blast or even a written thank-you note. They prefer that brands say thanks in the form of gifts and rewards.

Here's what consumers told TD:

From millennials to Gen Xers, consumers like freebies (39 percent and 38 percent, respectively).

Only 25 percent of boomers indicate a preference for freebies.

Rewards programs are also a great way to say thanks  with roughly one third of respondents reporting that they prefer their thanks in the form of points or miles.

An old-fashioned thank-you note has gone the way of dial-up. Only seven percent of millennials and 4 percent of Gen Xers like receiving a written thank-you note from a brand, while email moves the needle for only 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

"As the Human Bank, we focus on providing legendary customer experiences at every touchpoint, and that includes saying 'thanks,'" said Michael Rhodes, head of Consumer Bank, TD Bank.

Have you thanked your boss today?

Given how much time people spend at work, TD studied how employees express appreciation:

Only 8 percent of respondents say they thank their boss the most, compared to colleagues (28 percent) and clients (14 percent).

Millennials have the edge when it comes to client relationship building: 22 percent are more likely to thank their clients, outpacing Gen X (13 percent) and boomers (8 percent).

TD Bank partnered with renowned etiquette expert Lizzie Post, President of The Emily Post Institute, to analyze the results of this study. The Emily Post Institute has been America's go-to source for etiquette advice for nearly 100 years.

"Customers know that they have a choice when it comes to where they spend their money and where they take their business," said Ms. Post. "When a brand demonstrates genuine gratitude and respect, it builds consumer trust. And business success relies on that trust."

Additional highlights are available on the TD Bank Media Room.

TD knows banking and thanking

This summer, TD Bank is saying #TDThanksYou to customers from Maine to Florida by creating "TD Thank Accounts'" to deliver personalized gifts of appreciation. Many of these moments were captured in an inspiring video, which was released today.

"We're very excited about this campaign," said Rhodes. "Through this campaign and TD Thank Accounts, we're letting customers across our footprint know how much we appreciate them."

Survey Methodology

Research company MARU/VCR&C conducted the survey among a nationally representative sample of Americans. The online fieldwork occurred between July 19th and July 25th 2016. In total, 1,009 completes were gathered in the U.S. Data has been weighted by age, gender, and region to reflect the populations. Margin of Error for each sample is +/-3.1%.

About MARU

MARU/VCR&C, formerly the Research & Consulting division of Vision Critical, is a professional services firm dedicated to improving its clients' business outcomes. It delivers its services through teams of sector-specific research consultants that have technology in their DNA, specializing in the use of Insight Community and Voice of Market technology. MARU/VCR&C's research drives decision-making across all aspects of customer experience, including innovation, product, branding, commercialization and communications.

About Lizzie Post

Lizzie Post is the great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post and co-author of Emily Post's Etiquette 18th edition as well as Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette 6th edition and The Etiquette Advantage in Business 3rd edition. Lizzie does speaking engagements across the country sharing advice about entertaining, weddings, dating, dining etiquette, tech-etiquette, finance and lifestyle. She has worked as a spokesperson for companies including Bank of America, American Express, AirBnB, and Genentech. She is a columnist with Women's Running magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, and Houzz.com. She is the co-host of the Awesome Etiquette podcast on American Public Media's podcast network Infinite Guest. She is a regular guest on American Public Media's The Dinner Party.

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 8 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,200 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com.

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SOURCE TD Bank

Related Links

http://www.TDBank.com


Second-grade teacher Brandy Young's letter to parents explaining her new policy on homeworks has gone viral. (Photo : Facebook/Samantha Gallagher)

A second-grade teacher gave letters to parents informing them of her new homework policy. In her letter, which has gone viral since it was shared by one of the parents, Brandy Young wrote that there will be no formally assigned homework from her for the school year and instead urges parents to spend their evenings with their children doing things that contribute to student success.



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Young, who teaches second-grade students at Godley Elementary School in Texas, passed out her letter to parents during "Meet the Teacher Night," ahead of the first day of classes. In her letter, she explained that after much research, she is trying something new and said that homeworks will only consist of work that students were not able to finish during the school day.



Young promised parents that there will be no formally assigned homeworks within the school year, noting that no study has proven that these actually improve student performance. Instead, she is asking parents to spend their evenings doing things that have already been proven to correlate with the success of students. She urges them to eat dinner as a family, to read together, to allow the kids to play outside, and to have their children go to bed early.



One happy parent posted a photo of the teacher's letter on Facebook and it has since gone viral, with more than 63,800 shares and counting.



Samantha Gallagher wrote "Brooke is loving her new teacher already!" as caption to her Facebook photo. Many of the other parents who commented on the photo either praised Young, saying the move is "amazing," or said that they were "jealous." They expressed support for this kind of homework policy.



Gallagher noted in one of her comments that her post has already reached Scotland, Canada, Ireland, Polynesia, Japan, Israel, Australia, and Africa, and pointed that this only goes to show that the issue on homeworks is universal.



Meanwhile, Young told CBS News that homework was not working for her classroom anymore. She said that students work hard all day and have other things that they need to learn from home, too.



Young also explained that that she is trying to develop every student's whole person, pointing out that it is not beneficial for the children to go home and still "do pencil and paper work."



Watch this news report on Young's viral homework policy:






Blue Zones Project works with selected cities, including Fort Worth, to transform environments and daily routines in ways that make healthy choices easier. From moving naturally and eating with a plant slant to having a sense of purpose and downshifting to relieve stress, principles are patterned after lifestyles in Blue Zones  areaspockets of the world where people are most likely to reach age 100 and beyond.

Texas Health helped bring Blue Zones Project to Fort Worth in 2014 and continues to back implementation of the initiative, including improvements to its worksite environment and award-winning Be Healthy program to help employees improve their personal well-being.

"Blue Zones Project is a major priority for our organization, and it reflects the value each member of the Texas Health family places on well-being," said Barclay Berdan, FACHE, CEO of Texas Health Resources. "We are dedicated to creating a workplace that promotes health and longevity for our employees and providing the people we serve with the care, support, and tools they need to live their best lives."

Each of the Texas Health's wholly-owned locations recently completed the Blue Zones Worksite Pledgeestablishing walking paths at all locations, encouraging employees to take "microbreaks" to stretch and move, creating Blue Zones parking spaces, hosting on-site purpose workshops and health screenings, and supporting volunteerism, among other efforts.

"Texas Health Resources is an example of an organization that truly walks the walk," said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. "Through Blue Zones Project, Texas Health is transforming the well-being of its employees and our entire community. Its vision and innovative leadership are helping Fort Worth become one of the healthiest cities in the nation, and Texas Health stands as a model for employers across the country."

The Blue Zones Worksite Pledge promotes evidence-based actions and lifestyle principles that help make the healthy choice the easiest choice for employees. This translates into increased productivity and a potential healthcare cost savings for employers. Across the country, more than 454 employers have taken the Blue Zones Worksite Pledge.

Blue Zones Project, Fort Worth currently counts 54 approved worksites, including all 18 locations for the City of Fort Worth. Texas Health is currently the largest employer and health system in the world to earn the designation.

"We spend a majority of our time at work, and whether a company has 50 employees or 5,000, employers can play a huge role in improving the overall health of a community," said Matt Dufrene, vice president of Blue Zones Project, Fort Worth. "Texas Health is leading that charge here, by demonstrating that small changes can have a big impactwithin their organization and beyond. That's what Blue Zones Project is all about."

In addition to worksites, Blue Zones Project, Fort Worth has 26 approved restaurants, four grocery stores, four schools, and two churches, plus 11 participating organizationsall of which have optimized their environments to make healthy choices easier. In addition, more than 18,000 people who live, work, and play in Fort Worth have taken the Blue Zones Personal Pledge. Once city-specific goals are met, Fort Worth will become a nationally certified Blue Zones Community.

About Texas Health Resources

Texas Health Resources is one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health systems in the United States and the largest in North Texas in terms of patients served. The health system includes Texas Health Physicians Group and hospitals under the banners of Texas Health Presbyterian, Texas Health Arlington Memorial, Texas Health Harris Methodist and Texas Health Huguley. As it continues to be a catalyst for a new healthcare economy that focuses on quality, value and the consumer experience, Texas Health has partnered and affiliated with numerous organizations  from all aspects of the healthcare industry  to better serve the more than seven million residents of North Texas. These relationships, along with other major initiatives and quality programs, are supported by Texas Health's more than 400 points of access, 23,000 employees and 5,500 physicians with active staff privileges, with the collective aim to provide employers and consumers in North Texas with more affordable, high-quality and better-coordinated care. Our mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve.

About Blues Zones Project

Blue Zones Project is a community-led well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through permanent changes to a city's environment, policy, and social networks. Established in 2010, Blue Zones Project is inspired by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Fellow and New York Times best-selling author who identified five regions of the worldor Blue Zoneswith the highest concentration of people living to 100 years or older. Blue Zones Project incorporates Buettner's findings and works with cities to implement policies and programs that will move a community toward optimal health and well-being. Currently, 27 communities in seven states have joined Blue Zones Project, impacting more than 1.7 million Americans. The movement includes three beach cities in California, 15 cities in Iowa, the city of Fort Worth, and communities in Hawaii, Southwest Florida, and Oregon. For more information, visit www.bluezonesproject.com .

Media Contacts:

Gigi Westerman/Sandra Brodnicki

Blue Zones Project Media Relations

[email protected]

817.672-5799

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SOURCE Blue Zones Project, Fort Worth

Related Links

http://www.bluezonesproject.com


MADISON, N.J., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- El veredicto es claro: Both the Latino Community at large and Hispanic Millennials endorse Century 21 Real Estate significantly higher than the competition, according to a recently released 2016 Millward Brown consumer survey. When presented with a list of real estate agencies, total awareness of the iconic CENTURY 21 brand among the Hispanic community was 91%, significantly higher than the nearest competitor at 69%. For Hispanic Millennials in particular, total awareness was at 88%, 24 percentage points higher than the next competitor at 64%. At 45%, Hispanic consumers also selected the CENTURY 21 System as the most recognized name in real estate,* significantly higher than the nearest competitor at 32%. In addition, the CENTURY 21 brand also ranked highest in total brand awareness among all consumers for the 18th consecutive year in Millward Brown's ad tracking study.

"The Millward Brown research affirms that our franchise network is earning the trust and affinity of Hispanic real estate consumers," said Rick Davidson, president and chief executive officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. "We are proud of the difference that C21-affiliated brokers and agents are making each and every day, helping Latino home buyers and sellers make informed real estate decisions and to realize the dream of homeownership."

In addition to the above, the survey also found that the CENTURY 21 brand is most likely to be considered (70%) the next time Hispanics decide to buy or sell a home in the future, a full 13 points ahead of the next named company. Plus, 57% of Hispanics are also most likely to recommend the CENTURY 21 System to someone else, with the second choice registering 16 percentage points behind.

"We appreciate and value the Latino people, their communities and various cultures, and their overall importance to the real estate industry, economy and our nation as a whole," added Davidson. "C21 national marketing programs, proprietary online tools and targeted sponsorships have together greatly increased our profile with this increasingly important segment but more importantly they have helped our System members better understand and serve the unique needs of these dynamic home buyers and sellers."

This past December Century 21 Real Estate established a relationship with Polvora Advertising as the brand's Hispanic and digital agency. Earlier in 2015, the company was the exclusive real estate brand sponsor of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals' (NAHREP) "53 Million & One: Nuevo Latino Tour," a theatrical presentation that was shown in 25 cities across the United States. Plus, the brand's Spanish-only website, espanol.century21.com, is in its third-year and features translated listings and content, and the ability for users to search for homes by school-related criteria like top-rated schools and student-teacher ratios, create listing alerts, and sort and filter data using interactive mapping tools that zoom, pan and draw the precise location to find the available homes for sale.

The announcement that the Latino community at large and Hispanic millennials endorse Century 21 Real Estate at significantly higher levels than the competition comes on the heels of the brand's recent announcement that it swept the annual J.D. Power 2016 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study for the third consecutive year by receiving the "Highest Overall Satisfaction for First-Time Home Sellers, First-Time Home Buyers, Repeat Home Sellers and Repeat Home Buyers (Tied in 2016) among National Full Service Real Estate Firms, Three Years in a Row".**

Connect with Century 21 Real Estate

YouTube

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Google+

LinkedIn

Blog

Download the Century 21 Real Estate mobile app

About Century 21 Real Estate LLC

Century 21 Real Estate LLC is comprised of approximately 6,900 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 76 countries and territories worldwide with more than 104,000 independent sales professionals. Century 21 Real Estate has numerous websites to help answer specific consumer needs. They are century21.com , century21global.com , commercial.century21.com , century21.com/finehomes , and century21espanol.com .

Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services.  2016 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. CENTURY 21 and the CENTURY 21 Logo are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated.

* About the 2016 Millward Brown Demographic Ad Tracking Study

The survey results are based on online interviews with 800 Hispanics with a national random sample of adults (ages 18+) who are equal decision makers in real estate transactions and active in the real estate market (bought or sold a home within the past two years or, plan to purchase or sell a home within the next two years).

-- Brand awareness question based on a sample of 800 Hispanic respondents.

-- Recognition question based on a sample of 724 Hispanics aware of brand.

-- Likelihood to recommend agency question based on 800 Hispanic respondents.

-- Results are significant at a 90% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/-2.4%.

The study was conducted by Millward Brown , a leading global market research organization, from May 20- June 7, 2016 .

**The CENTURY 21 brand received the highest numerical score among 5 real estate companies for first-time and repeat home buyers and sellers (tie for repeat home buyer) in the proprietary J.D. Power 2014-2016 Home Buyer/Seller Studies. 2016 study based on 5,837 total responses, measuring the perceptions and experiences of customers who bought and/or sold a home between March 2015 and April 2016, surveyed February-April 2016.

Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

*** 2016 Ad Tracking Study: The survey results are based on 1,200 online interviews with a national random sample of adults (ages 18+) who are equal decision makers in real estate transactions and active in the real estate market (bought or sold a home within the past two years or, plan to purchase or sell a home within the next two years). Brand awareness question based on a sample of 1,200 respondents. Results are significant at a 90% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/-2.4%. Recognition question based on those aware of brand. Results are significant at a 90% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/- 2.4%. The study was conducted by Millward Brown, a leading global market research organization, from May 20- June 7, 2016. Century 21 Real Estate LLC has been the leader in brand awareness in the Millward Brown study since 1999.

Contact:

Peter Mosca

Century 21 Real Estate LLC

Phone: 973.407.5180

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Century 21 Real Estate LLC

Related Links

http://www.century21.com


TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc., the world's premier fondue restaurant and a leading polished casual dining franchise, announced today the brand seeks to return to Gainesville, Florida. The Melting Pot has a long history in the Gainesville market, as one of the brand's first franchised locations was developed in the area in the 1980s. Ideally, The Melting Pot would like for the restaurant to open on the popular Archer Road, but is not limited to that location.

"We are ready to find the right franchise partner to bring back The Melting Pot to the Gainesville community, offering our loyal patrons and new guests a unique, go-to hot spot once again," said Dan Stone, chief business & people development officer at Front Burner. "It's no secret that the residents of Gainesville have missed our unique fondue menu offerings as we get calls from local residents often asking when we'll be returning. Now is the time, and we are beyond excited to announce we hope to satisfy the cravings of our dedicated customers soon."

To catapult the brand's return to the area, the concept will be hosting a complimentary informational franchise webinar on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. (EDT) to educate qualified candidates. To register for the upcoming webinar, please visit http://www.meltingpotfranchise.com/upcomingEvents.aspx.

The Melting Pot operates more than 125 restaurants across 35 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and has over 10 locations in development internationally. The concept is known for offering an assortment of flavorful fondue cooking styles and a variety of unique entrees served with signature dipping sauces. The menu features a variety of a la carte selections, highlighting customizable options that invite guests to enjoy one, two, three or more courses as they select any combination of individually-priced cheese fondues, salads, entrees and chocolate fondues.

To learn more about ownership opportunities with The Melting Pot, contact Christina Hobbs, director of franchise development for The Melting Pot, at [email protected], or call 800-783-0867 ext. 109.

About The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc.

Founded in 1975, The Melting Pot has offered a unique fondue dining experience for more than 40 years. As the premier fondue restaurant franchise, The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc. has more than 125 restaurants in 35 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and over 10 international locations in development. A leading polished casual dining franchise, The Melting Pot was recognized as the No. 2 casual dining restaurant in the Nation's Restaurant News 2016 Consumer Picks report. Known for offering a choice of fondue cooking styles and a variety of unique entrees, The Melting Pot's menu also features cheese fondues, salads, fine wines and chocolate fondue desserts. Fondue fans can join The Melting Pot's Club Fondue for exclusive promotions, special events and advance holiday reservation privileges. The Melting Pot is an affiliate of Front Burner, a restaurant management company headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit www.meltingpot.com. To learn more about franchise opportunities with The Melting Pot, please visit www.meltingpotfranchise.com.

About Front Burner

Front Burner is a franchise management company headquartered in Tampa, Florida. It is affiliated with the corporate owners of and its management services extended to The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc., founded in 1975 with 126 restaurants in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and 10 locations currently in development internationally. For more information, visit http://www.frontburnerbrands.com.

CONTACT: Sloane Fistel

Fish Consulting

(954) 893-9150

[email protected]

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SOURCE The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc.

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National CPR Association announced the launch of its website offering 100% online CPR/AED, Blood Borne Pathogen and First Aid Preparation courses and certification. Created and written exclusively by expert physicians, the National CPR Association's coursework and examinations are now available to the public.

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All courses from the National CPR Association are compliant with American Heart Association (AHA), ILCOR, ARC, and ECC guidelines. This industry leading approach is built around providing users with a 100% online system that is built around the concept of efficiency. The end result is the fastest and most effective way to gain CPR/AED, Blood Borne Pathogens and First Aid certification and recertification.

In addition to being exclusively online, all courses come standard with unlimited and free practice tests. Testing for certification and recertification is 100% online. Free and unlimited exam retakes are available to all users when necessary.

As a key part of providing users with the very best experience possible, the National CPR Association ensures that all materials are available online 24/7, allowing allows users to study whenever and however they like. This modern approach is firmly in line with the National CPR Association's goal of providing users with the greatest test preparation and certification experience available today.

Jennifer Dunn one of the Directors of the National CPR Association noted, "There has never been such a streamlined and trouble-free way to gain certification. Our team has taken a very different approach, one designed around the idea that people are busy, want to study at their own pace and deserve courses that are results-driven and focused. We've combined this with a truly exceptional customer service team and group discounts." Before joining the National CPR Association, Jennifer taught CPR and other emergency training courses for the American Heart Association.

Once an examination is successfully passed, certification documents are immediately sent through email so that members can immediately begin taking advantage of their new credentials. The documentation is designed to be printed and laminated to be used as official proof of certification. The National CPR Association certificates are widely accepted and include the user's name, the date the exam was passed, as well as the instructor's name and medical license number.

Jennifer Dunn added, "The feedback to this efficiency driven preparation and certification model has been nothing short of tremendous. We have no doubts that our members will be saving many lives in the years to come."

About The National CPR Association

The National CPR Association was created to provide users with the highest quality CPR/AED, Blood Borne Pathogens and First Aid preparation, certification and recertification available. All AHA compliant course materials, practice exams and tests are 100% online and available 24/7. Built around a model of efficient and effective learning, the National CPR Association approach provides a highly intuitive and user friendly experience. Learn more by visiting www.NationalCPRAssociation.com.

Media contact:

Jennifer Dunn

Email

(800) 277-8193

SOURCE National CPR Association

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congress has tasked the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights with annually examining the enforcement of civil rights by a federal agency. For fiscal year 2017, the Commission will review the confinement conditions of incarcerated women who are under the care of the Bureau of Prisons. Women in prisons suffer different experiences and deprivations than do men. The Commission will investigate, and make recommendations to Congress and the President, regarding the safety and care of women in federal prisons.

Commission Chair Martin R. Castro stated, "The increase in the United States in the number of incarcerated women and the higher rate of incarceration of Hispanic and Black women in comparison to white women, should be a cause for concern for all of us. We hope that our examination of the conditions of incarcerated women will serve to address any inequities and mistreatment that may exist."

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising the President and Congress on civil rights matters and issuing a federal civil rights enforcement report. For information about the Commission, please visit http://www.usccr.gov and follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/usccrgov

Media Contact: Brian Walch

[email protected]

(202) 376-8371

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SOURCE U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Additionally, with telemedicine regulations and reimbursement guidelines changing almost daily, TreatMD has customized its Practice Suite platform on a per state basis, thereby meeting the needs of a provider's current state regulations and billing requirements for telemedicine reimbursements.

"Most doctors are not aware there are state parity laws that require telemedicine visits to be reimbursed the same amount as an in office consultation. Today, doctors are finding themselves conducting several types of consultations over the phone and even email, whether it is for a prescription refill or follow-up. By using the TreatMD practice suite, these similar consultations can now be reimbursable and compensate for the doctor's valuable time." TreatMD co-founder Michael Muchnick

Here are 10 key things to know about TreatMD's practice suite telemedicine software:

White Label: In a few clicks, a provider can configure the Practice Suite platform to be hosted on their website. For example, patients can engage with a branded provider at: doctors.yourdomain.com Your State, Your Rules: Every state has different telemedicine regulations and reimbursement guidelines. The Practice Suite is customized on a per state basis, configured with features and billing modules aligned with a provider's state regulations. Billing, Eligibility, & Reimbursement: Providers can increase practice revenue and set their own pricing for consultations and services, or check eligibility and process private payer, Medicare, or Medicaid claims for telemedicine reimbursements. E-Prescribe: Providers have access to integrated e-prescription tools and management. Seamless Scheduling, Charts & Integration: Practice Suite provides easy auto pilot scheduling tools, full charts, and integration modules for top EMR software solutions. Virtual Urgent Care Features: Providers can configure after-hours scheduling and stop losing patients to urgent care clinics. All Visit Types Supported: Practice Suit is applicable for video, phone, office visits, and even in-home visit management. Acquire New Patients: Providers can be public on the TreatMD.com marketplace to acquire new patients. Retention & Same Day Appointments: Patients live busy lives, and Practice Suite stops providers from losing patients to online office scheduling companies. With Practice Suite, you can say to your patients, "We can see you online in 2 hours." Patient Satisfaction & Alternatives: Patients are showing signs of warming up to On-Demand Healthcare. When you offer patients an alternative way to see you, your no-shows are now manageable, retention increases, follow-ups become manageable for the patient, and your patients now have flexibility for the demanding schedules.

Practice Suite General Features: https://www.treatmd.com/learn-more/practice

Practice Suite Sign Up Link: https://www.treatmd.com/joinnow/practice

To arrange an interview with a TreatMD spokesperson, contact our Communications Coordinator at 866-288-4990, ext. 1003, or email [email protected].

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SOURCE TreatMD

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army has announced that the Advanced Turbine Engine Company (ATEC), a joint venture of Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney, has been awarded a contract for preliminary design review of a new engine for the Army's fleet of Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.

The two-year contract, part of the Army's Improved Turbine Engine (ITE) program, will support the design of an advanced 3,000 shaft horsepower turbine engine -- ATEC's HPW3000.

The primary goal of the ITE program is to produce an affordable new engine that will dramatically improve performance over the current engine powering Black Hawk and Apache helicopters. The Army specifications require that the new engine be 50 percent more powerful, 25 percent more fuel efficient, and provide 20 percent longer engine life over the current engine, while also meeting stringent performance goals in high altitude and hot conditions at 6,000 feet and 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

ATEC recently completed testing of two HPW3000 demonstrator engines, which performed very well and have already validated various program requirements, according to Craig Madden, president of ATEC.

"The HPW3000 underscores our dedication to developing an engine that will support Army Aviation superiority over potential adversaries," said Madden. "We are very confident in the engine design and in the results we've seen in testing so far. With the extensive improvements in helicopter performance it brings, the HPW3000 will mean greater mission success and safety for U.S. warfighters."

The HPW3000 features a dual-spool architecture and utilizes many of the latest gas turbine engine technologies. The engine's dual-spool architecture offers significant advantages, including optimized engine efficiency, decreased maintenance costs, extended engine life, and greater power growth capability  providing the Army with maximum flexibility as mission requirements evolve and change.

When factoring in savings from decreased fuel consumption and lowered operating and support costs, the HPW3000 is expected to offer potential annual savings of $1 billion, compared with the current engine in the Black Hawk and Apache fleets.

"The advantages of the HPW3000 design mean that U.S warfighters can have confidence that the engine will perform as intended and be capable of performing throughout a wider range of operations," said Jerry Wheeler, ATEC's vice president for programs. "The American taxpayer can be assured that we are committed to providing the safest, most affordable and capable helicopter engine to the warfighter so that they can accomplish the mission."

The Army's development schedule for the engine program calls for the service to select from competing preliminary engine designs in 2018 and then proceed with a sole engine developer.

The ATEC joint venture of Honeywell (NYSE: HON) and Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX), brings together the world-class engineering, manufacturing, and production capabilities of two industry-leading companies perfectly suited for accomplishing the goals of the Army's ITE program.

To learn more about ATEC and the HPW3000 engine, visit ATEC online at www.dualspoolrules.com or on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning opportunities for development and potential production of helicopter engines. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to changes in government procurement priorities and practices, budget plans, and availability of funding; challenges in the design, development, production, delivery, support, performance and realization of the anticipated benefits of advanced technologies; as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in filings submitted by UTC and by Honeywell to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Media Contacts

Matthew Bates

Mobile: +1-860-371-9857

[email protected]

Nathan Drevna

Mobile: +1-202-412-6640

[email protected]

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney

Related Links

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PLEASANTON, Calif., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- To kick off California Wine Month, Visit Tri-Valley will launch "Wine Ships Free," a program that reimburses shipping and handling costs from Livermore Valley wineries for guests staying in local partner hotels. Starting with 12 winery locations, the promotion aims to increase accessibility to products of the region and begins on Sunday, September 4, the first day of Livermore Winegrowers Association's 35th Annual Harvest Celebration.

"We're excited to participate in this program, and we know our guests will utilize it," says John Concannon, Fourth Generation Vintner of Concannon Vineyard. "It's a great idea to get our wine into the homes of Tri-Valley visitors."

Guests must provide proof of a hotel stay and the receipt for the wine sale and shipping to [email protected] in order to be reimbursed directly. Wine purchase must be made within the same week of the partner hotel stay, and receipts must be submitted within a month of sale. Anything from 1 bottle to 3 cases of wine are eligible  limit up to three separate shipments, or wineries, per person. Regular ground shipping within the contiguous 48 states only where legally permitted. On average, one bottle will ship for approximately $12 and about $60 for one case.

The initial participating wineries include Concannon Vineyard, Wente Vineyards, Nottingham Cellars, Vasco Urbano Wine Company, 1846 Wines, Las Positas Vineyards, 3 Steves Winery, Murrieta's Well, The Steven Kent Winery, Big White House Winery and John Evan Cellars, McGrail Vineyards and Winery, Cuda Ridge Wines and Wood Family Vineyards.

The Tri-Valley is quickly gaining attention as having one of California's preeminent wine regions. Located forty minutes east of San Francisco, the area has exploded in recent years, doubling in the number of wineries from 1992 to 2002, and doubling again from 2002 to 2013. Today, it boasts a collection of more than 50 wineries.

"We're thankful for Visit Tri-Valley's innovative ideas and efforts in promoting Livermore Valley wine country, and we're looking forward to adding more wineries to the program in the future," says Chris Chandler, Executive Director at Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association.

About Visit Tri-Valley

Visit Tri-Valley is the destination marketing organization that represents Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin and Danville as a preferred destination for visitors. Visit Tri-Valley works to increase awareness of the region and targets overnight visitors for maximum economic impact. The Tri-Valley encompasses Amador, Livermore and San Ramon valleys. For more information, please visit visittrivalley.com.

Contact: Elizabeth Orpina

[email protected]

925.846.2487

SOURCE Visit Tri-Valley

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DENVER, Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The HomeSphere builder network now can access a suite of integrated, world-class home automation and structured wiring products through a new partnership with Legrand.

Legrand joins 80-plus preferred building product manufacturer brands that rely on HomeSphere's national rebate program and value-added services to increase market share among local builders. Through the new partnership, builders using HomeSphere's platform gain access to rebates for Legrand On-Q networking, intercom, camera and audio products, Pass & Seymour electrical wiring devices and devices from the adorne and radiant collections of decorative switches, dimmers and outlets.

"Legrand is a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructure solutions that are smart, intuitive and practical," said Bob Fallert, Vice President of Sales & Education for On-Q. "Partnering with HomeSphere enables us to reach a substantial network of the country's local builders while making it easier for those builders to do business with us."

The connected technology industry is projected to reach $490 billion by 2020. A recent Coldwell Banker/CNET study of approximately 4,000 U.S. adults found that 45 percent of all Americans either own smart home technology or plan to invest in it this year. Through this new partnership, HomeSphere builders can differentiate from their competition and offer what the consumer wants while cashing in on exclusive rebates from an industry leader.

"The concept of a smart home is becoming mainstream, but homeowners will only commit to products that deliver a real benefit," said HomeSphere Vice President of Business Development Chris Toth. "Legrand's products are seamlessly integrated, meeting homeowner needs and adding value for builders."

About HomeSphere

HomeSphere is the homebuilding industry's first and only B2B digital lead generation and customer retention platform, connecting more than 80 preferred building product manufacturer brands across 23 product categories with more than 17,000 local and regional homebuilders. Leveraging exclusive, actionable market intelligence and access to sought-after relationships, HomeSphere's solutions deliver ultra-targeted business opportunities with more profit potential. Visit www.homesphere.com or call 1-800-274-2632.

About Legrand

Legrand is the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Its comprehensive offering of solutions for use in commercial, industrial and residential markets makes it a benchmark for customers worldwide. Innovation for a steady flow of new products with high added value is a prime vector for growth, including in particular connectable products enhancing value in use. Legrand reported sales of $5.3 billion in 2015. Legrand has a strong presence in North America, with a portfolio of well-known product lines that include C2G, Cablofil, Electrorack, Luxul, Middle Atlantic, Nuvo, On-Q, Ortronics, Pass & Seymour, QMotion, Quiktron, Raritan, Vantage, Watt Stopper and Wiremold. Legrand is listed on Euronext Paris and is a component stock of indexes including the CAC40, FTSE4Good, MSCI World, ASPI, Corporate Oekom Rating and DJSI (ISIN code FR0010307819). www.legrand.com.

Media Contact:

Liz Polson

800-274-2632

SOURCE HomeSphere

Related Links

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One of the two STEREO spacecraft. (Photo : NASA)

After almost two years of silence, the missing STEREO-B satellite called home to NASA saying it was still "alive" and apparently still able to do its job of providing the first-ever stereoscopic measurements to study the Sun and space weather, including coronal mass ejections or CMEs.



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NASA said it had reestablished contact with the 640 kg sun-watching STEREO-B spacecraft on Aug. 21 after communications were lost in October 1, 2014. STEREO-B is one of two spacecraft of the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission, which over the course of their lifetime have viewed the sun from vantage points such as the ones shown here, on the other side of the sun from Earth. The other spacecraft, STEREO-A, continues to operate normally.



Over 22 months, the STEREO team worked to attempt contact with the missing spacecraft. Most recently, they attempted a monthly recovery operation using NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN), which tracks and communicates with missions throughout space.



The DSN succeeded in establishing a lock on the STEREO-B downlink carrier. The downlink signal was monitored by the Mission Operations team over several hours to characterize the attitude of the spacecraft and then transmitter high voltage was powered down to save battery power.



The STEREO Missions Operations team plans further recovery processes to assess observatory health, re-establish attitude control, and evaluate all subsystems and instruments.



Communications with STEREO-B were lost during a test of the spacecraft's command loss timer, a hard reset triggered after the spacecraft goes without communications from Earth for 72 hours.



The STEREO team was testing this function in preparation for something known as solar conjunction, when STEREO-B's line of sight to Earth -- and therefore all communication -- was blocked by the sun.



The two nearly identical spacecraft were launched in 2006 into highly elliptical geocentric orbits around the Sun that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth. This enables stereoscopic imaging of the Sun and solar phenomena.



The principal benefit of the STEREO mission is stereoscopic images of the Sun. This means that because the satellites are at different points along the Earth's orbit, but distant from the Earth, they can photograph parts of the Sun not visible from the Earth.



This allows NASA scientists to directly monitor the far side of the Sun, instead of inferring the activity on the far side from data that can be gleaned from Earth's view of the Sun. The STEREO satellites principally monitor the far side for CMEs or solar flares.


FL Gov. Scott Visits Miami School In Zika Cluster Zone On First Day Of Classes (Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The Zika outbreak in Florida is getting bigger as expected. Mosquitoes are spreading the virus in Miami Beach and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised pregnant women to avoid traveling to all parts of Miami-Dade County.



Report says that only 37 people have caught the virus in Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County so far. However, scientists are worried that the outbreak and the widespread of the virus are larger than the number of cases shows, as reported by NPR.



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"Zika is one of those diseases that is always like an iceberg - you just see the tip," says Alessandro Vespignani. He is a computer scientistat Northeastern University in Boston. He works with modeling the spread of the virus.



Vespignani explains that most of the Zika victims do not know that they are infected. Around four in five people do not have any symptoms. Those who have mild symptoms often mistaken the infection as flu. Only about five percent of cases get detected, he added.



Vespignani, along with his colleagues built computer models to estimate the number of silent infections in Miami. According to Ira Longinia biostatistician at the University of Florida, who works with Vespignani, they estimated that there will be 395 infected people by September 15 in Florida.



On the other hand, Governor Rick Scott asked Washington for more help in fighting Zika virus on his third visit to Miami since the nation's first Zika outbreak. He asked the CDC for an additional 5,000 Zika antibody tests and 10,000 prevention kits to Florida. The federal officials promised to fill it by Tuesday, according to Miami Herald.



During a roundtable meeting in the De Hostos Senior Center in Wynwood, Scott stated that Florida is "working hard" in fighting the virus and provide the resources it can. He appeared with U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican; and Frederica Wilson, a Democrat as well as Mayor Philip Levine of Miami Beach and Mayor Carlos Gimenez of Miami-Dade County in a bi-partisan push to get a Zika budget from the federal.



At the Wynwood Meeting, Scott promised to send Miami-Dade an additional $5 million to help offset the county's expenses for an increased effort to control the mosquitoes. There will be aerial spraying in Wynwood and trucks and backpack foggers in Miami Beach.






HI-SEAS volunteer in front of habitat. (Photo : NASA)

A multinational crew of six scientists pretending to be astronauts on Mars will finally step into the real world to end a one-year experiment in extreme isolation on a camp along the desolate slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii.



The three men and three women from the United States, Germany and France will exit the HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) simulated Mars base on Aug. 28, or 365 days after they first entered the isolated complex with its many Mars-like features such as dusty soil and the absence of plants.



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This group of volunteers belong to HI-SEAS IV, the fourth in a series of simulations that began in 2013. HI-SEAS IV is the longest simulation yet. HI-SEAS has been described as an analog habitat for human spaceflight to Mars that simulates long duration space exploration.



NASA's Human Research Program has funded and sponsored all the HI-SEAS expeditions. NASA funded the study through the University of Hawaii.



The purpose of HI-SEAS is to determine what's required to keep a space flight crew happy and healthy during an extended mission to Mars and while living on Mars. A one-way trek to Mars could take as long as nine months.



Research into crew dynamics, behaviors, food, roles and performance and other aspects of space flight and a mission on Mars itself is the primary focus of HI-SEAS.



While coping with their limited resources, the volunteers conduct research and try to avoid personal conflicts. Communication is delayed by 20 minutes, the length it would take to relay messages from Mars.



"They're doing OK, as far as we can tell," said Kim Binsted, principal investigator for HI-SEAS.



The six scientists lived in a solar powered dome atop Mauna Loa. HI-SEAS IV focused on crewmember cohesion and performance. HI-SEAS researchers want to develop effective team composition and support strategies to allow crews to successfully travel to Mars and back.



The crew was monitored using cameras, body movement trackers, electronic surveys and other methods. UH Manoa researchers and their collaborators are studying the group's cohesion over time, gathering data on a wide range of cognitive, social and emotional factors that may impact team performance.



HI-SEAS IV consists of:



* Carmel Johnston, a soil scientist from Montana, who joined HI-SEAS to research food production in Mars simulation. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Soil and Water Science and a Master of Science in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences from Montana State University.



* Christiane Heinicke, a German physicist and engineer, recently she has worked on sea ice and has also gained experience working with polar lights, metal melts and simulations of the Earth's mantle. She received her bachelor of science in applied physics from the Ilmenau University of Technology in Germany and her master of science in geophysics from Uppsala University in Sweden and her PhD from the Ilmenau University.



* Sheyna Gifford has worked on research projects in astrophysics, neuroscience and psychology and is a contributor to NASA educational websites, a medical writer and an advocate of STEM education. She holds a bachelor of science in neuroscience and English, a master of clinical laboratory science and biotechnology, a master of science in journalism, a doctor of medicine from the St. Georges University School of Medicine located in the Caribbean island of Grenada, and is currently earning a master of business administration.



* Andrzej Stewart worked as an interplanetary flight controller at Lockheed Martin and also worked on console for the Spitzer Space Telescope, Mars Odyssey, MRO, MAVEN, Juno and GRAIL. Stewart also served as the flight engineer for the sixth mission of NASA's Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA). He earned a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005 and an SM in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT in 2007.



* Cyprien Verseux is an astrobiologist expert in biological life support systems for Mars exploration. At the time of the mission, he is a doctorate student co-directed by Lynn J. Rothschild at NASA, and Daniela Billi at the University of Rome. He previously graduated from the Institut Sup'Biotech de Paris where he was first-in-class each semester, and from the Institute of Systems and Synthetic Biology, where he graduated valedictorian. Part of his research aims at making human outposts on Mars as independent as possible of Earth by using living organisms to process Mars' resources into products needed for human consumption.



* Tristan Bassingthwaighte is a doctor of architecture candidate at UH Manoa. He completed his master's degree in architecture from Tongji University in Shanghai, where he studied abroad for a year looking at human habitation in extreme environments. His doctoral work involves designing a next generation conceptual Mars habitat focused on programming the interior experienced environment.


If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
New Delhi, Aug 21 : War-torn Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has sought India's help in the reconstruction of his country's economy.

Assad said this on Saturday during a meeting with visiting Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar in capital city Damascus.

"Both leaders acknowledged that terrorism was a global problem," an official source said here on Sunday.

"Assad said as a growing power, India has a role to play in meeting the challenge of terrorism," the source said.

On his part, Akbar said the age of destruction should give way to reconstruction in Syria.

"Assad invited India to play an active role in the reconstruction of the Syrian economy," the source said.

The Syrian President also welcomed India's objective position on the conflict in Syria.

There was an agreement between the two sides on further upgrading security consultations.

Akbar is on the second leg of his August 17-23 three-nation West Asia tour. He earlier visited Lebanon and met Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

Akbar's visit comes seven months after the visit of Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem to India, during which he sought India's economic and political support.

After Syria, Akbar will also visit the war-ridden country of Iraq.
Dhaka, Aug 21 : A fire broke out at the Bashundhara City shopping mall in Dhaka on Sunday, authorities said.

As many as 14 fire fighting units were trying to douse the blaze which erupted around 11.23 a.m. (local time), the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Shoppers and staff of the mall were evacuated after the flames originated on the fifth floor of the mall, bdnews24.com reported.

Fire fighters rescued at least 15-20 people, an official said.

According to him, several people were still stranded on the rooftop of the building and the fire fighters were trying to rescue them.

The cause of the fire could not be confirmed immediately, an official said.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq said no casualties have been reported till now.

"If fire service needs, we can arrange helicopter to rescue the people who are now stranded on the rooftop," said Huq, adding that the engineering team of the Dhaka North City Corporation was also ready to help the fire servicemen.

On March 13, 2009, at least seven people were killed and 20 injured in the raging blaze that broke out at the same shopping complex.
Lucknow, Aug 22 : Flood situation in several districts of Uttar Pradesh remained grim on Monday as the raging Ganga continues its devastation in Ballia while affecting more than a lakh of people in Varanasi.

Officials said the rising water level in Ballia has broken the record of 2003 when it reached a height of 60.250 metre.

More than 20 per cent of the city of Allahabad has been flooded, leading to widespread problems. The district administration has rolled out rescue and relief operations as a large number of people have been displaced from their houses.

Officials told IANS that boats have been pressed into service in areas where flood waters have entered the city and people are being evacuated.

Several rivers in central Uttar Pradesh and the Bundelkhand region are also flowing well above the danger mark and the Mahoba-Jhansi road has been washed away after the Urmil dam overflowed late on Sunday. Seven persons have been killed in this region in rain-related mishaps.

Many roads in Ballia and on NH-31 near Ramgarh are inundated.
Manila, Aug 22 : At least 1,779 persons have been killed in the Philippine's war on illicit drugs since July 1 this year, authorities said on Monday.

A total of 712 were killed in ongoing police operations while 1,067 died in "vigilante-type" killings, Xinhua news agency quoted police as saying.

The police's "stand against extrajudicial killings is uncompromising", a police official said in a statement.

"If any cop is found violating the law of self-defence, he will be investigated, prosecuted and accordingly punished," he said.

"On the speculation of vigilante killings, the police does not and will never condone vigilante killings," he added.

"I have previously mentioned that these killings are perpetrated by various syndicate groups involved in illegal drugs."

The official vowed to apply the "full force of the law against those responsible for these killings outside of police operations".

The increasing number of killings in the administration's war against drugs has caught the attention of the UN and other international human rights groups.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, however, remains unfazed by the growing criticism and repeatedly says that the fight against drugs will be relentless and will be sustained.

"I am willing to answer all (my critics). I assume full responsibility for what happened because I was the one who ordered it," Duterte told the media in Davao City on Sunday.

"My instructions at the very first day of my term were that: go out and hunt for these criminals. Arrest them if they surrender peacefully but if they put up a violent stunt then you just have to kill them because I do not want people in government dying needlessly for doing his work when you were then leaving behind a family and children," he said.

So far, Duterte said 600,000 drug users and pushers have "surrendered" and taken the drug test since his administration launched the campaign after he took over the presidency on June 30 this year.
Patna, Aug 22 : Flood victims on Monday held demonstrations across Bihar, expressing anger and impatience over the quality and quantity of government aid that has so far been provided to them.

With over one million people affected by floods and the situation remaining grim, district officials, particularly block development officers and circle officers, are facing the fury of victims complaining about inadequate relief supplies.

Hundreds of flood victims protested against the circle officer of Raghopur in Vaishali district, demanding adequate relief and compensation. Raghopur is not far from Patna and is represented by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav in the state assembly.

Raghopur is considered stronghold of Tejaswi's father and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad. Earlier, former chief minister and wife of Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, also represented Raghopur in the state assembly.

Angry over lack of relief, the flood-hit people in Nathnagar in Bhagalpur district staged a protest demanding adequate relief and compensation. In Begusarai district, flood victims blocked roads for hours demanding adequate relief.

Similar reports are coming from other flood-affected districts like Patna, Samastipur, Bhojpur, Khagaria and Aurangabad.

"At some places, flood victims blocked roads to protest against inadequate relief," an official of disaster management department said.

Hungry and homeless, the people also expressed anger over not being provided fodder for their cattle.

Ganga and other major rivers have submerged vast swathes of the state, forcing thousands from their homes.

The disaster has so far claimed 14 lives, including nine in Bhojpur district alone.

An official of the disaster management department said: "Rivers flowing above the danger mark are posing threat to the low-lying areas."

Over a dozen teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force have been deployed in the flood-hit districts.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered cancellation of leave of police, administrative officials and engineers.

Nitish Kumar also directed officials to speed up rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas. He asked the health department to arrange for medicines and DDT sprays to check outbreak of diseases once the floodwaters receded.

Officials said standing crops worth crores of rupees have been damaged and road communications at several places have been flooded.
Budapest, Aug 22 : Severed pigs' heads should be hung along Hungary's border to deter Muslim refugees and migrants from entering the country, an MEP has suggested.

Gyorgy Schopflin, a member of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, sparked outrage and disbelief with the suggestion.

He made it during an ill-tempered exchange on Twitter with a human rights campaigner.

Andrew Stroehlein, European media director for Human Rights Watch, posted a tweet in which he criticised Hungary for using bizarre, totemic masks made out of beetroot to scare refugees trying to cross the border from neighbouring Serbia.

The existence of the ghoulish vegetable heads was first reported last week by a Hungarian journalist. It is not clear who made them but there has reportedly been no effort by Hungarian police or soldiers to take them down.

"Refugees are fleeing war & torture, Hungary. Your root vegetable heads will not deter them," Stroehlein wrote in his tweet.

The MEP, a former academic who is a member of the governing Fidesz party, wrote back: "Might do so. Human images are haram. But agree, pig's head would deter more effectively."

He was described as "a sad old man full of hate" and his comment was branded as "disgusting".

The pigs' head suggestion reflected a deep current of xenophobia and anti-migrant feeling within the Hungarian government, Stroehlein told the Telegraph.

"With the current government, the idea of putting up pigs' heads and turnips is in many ways the least of the issues. Their treatment of refugees has been appalling - using violence to push people back from the border. Conditions in reception centres are inhumane. Refugees are treated like animals."

Hungary closed its southern border with Serbia last year as around a million refugees and migrants, many of them from Syria, sought to travel from Turkey, through Greece and along the Balkan route to Germany and Scandinavia.
Agartala, Aug 22 : The by-poll to a seat under Tripura's lone tribal autonomous body would be held on Tuesday with the ruling CPI-M making all efforts to take on a tribal party backed by the BJP and Trinamool Congress.

In all, 22,481 voters -- over 90 per cent of them tribals -- would cast their votes to elect their representative in western Tripura's Simna-Tamakari constituency under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autononmous District Council (TTAADC).

According to an official of the state election commission, women voters at 11,250 outnumbered the men (11,231) in the reserved seat.

West Tripura District Magistrate Milind Ramteke told IANS: "Security measures have been taken to conduct the by-elections peacefully. A prohibitory order under section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed in the poll bound areas."

Seven candidates are contesting the by-election, which was necessitated following the death of Communist Party of India-Marxist member Ranabir Debbarma earlier this year.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress supported the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) candidate Mangal Debbarma though the BJP had earlier put up candidate for the seat.

The main contest would be between CPI-M's Kumudh Debbarma and IPFT's Mangal Debbarma.

The IPFT, demanding a separate state carving out of Tripura by upgrading the TTAADC, became a major tribal party over the years and organised several agitations in Tripura and New Delhi in support of their demand.

The ruling Left Front, which has substantial base among the tribals and non-tribals, is now governing the TTAADC, which was formed by amending the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in 1985 to boost socio-economic positions of the tribals, who constitute one third of Tripura's four million populations.

Counting of votes of the by-elections would be held on August 26.
Los Angeles, Aug 23 : Reality TV personality Kylie Jenner wants to release foundations, blushers, concealers and bronzers under Kylie Cosmetics.

She shared her aspirations for this year on her website thekyliejenner.com, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She wrote: "I can't believe I'm 19!!! When I look back at the past year and all that has happened, it's seriously crazy. I can't even imagine what this next year will bring - not only for me, but for my friends and family too! Check out some of my hopes and dreams for my 19th year! Kylie Cosmetics dream achievement: I want to release foundations, concealers, blushes and bronzers!"

Kylie, who is set to launch two new eye liner sets in brown and black, which will include a gel pot, eyeliner and brush, to her e-store on Tuesday, has shared she is "obsessed" with the pink cheeky powder, especially British make-up artist and beauty mogul Charlotte Tilbury's two-part palette in her Cheek to Chic Swish and Pop cosmetic line.
Los Angeles, Aug 23 : Actor Ian McKellen turned down one and a half million dollar deal to officiate a wedding dressed as Gandalf - his famous character from "The Lord of the Rings".

The 77-year-old was asked to appear at the wedding of Napster founder Sean Parker, but he refused, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"I was offered one-and-a-half million dollars to marry a very famous couple in California, which I would perhaps have considered doing, but I had to go dressed as Gandalf. So I said, 'I am sorry, Gandalf doesn't do weddings'," he said.

However, the actor said he had no idea who was behind the offer.

"He was a very rich man, that's all I know. I don't go dressing up - except in plays and things at places like this," he said.
Egyptian Christians are tensely awaiting the passage of a governmental bill that would end decades-long obstacles to the restoration and building of churches in Egypt.

However, although 14 versions of the draft laws were discussed over the past two years with representatives of the country's three churches, Christians might have to wait even longer.

The cabinet has once again failed to present a convincing bill to church representatives, as the latest version includes amendments that the Coptic Orthodox Church  which represents 90 percent of the country's nine million-plus Christians  deems inacceptable.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail met with Pope Tawadros on Monday night and said the government is in "constant coordination" with the Church to finalise the bill, which then would be reviewed and voted on by parliament.

On Thursday, the spokesperson of the Coptic Orthodox Church criticised the Egyptian cabinet in an official statement, stressing that the Church was "surprised by unacceptable amendments" and "impractical additions" made by the government to the draft bill.

It remains unclear what amendments the government has added to the bill, which had previously been approved by the three Christian denominations, as Church representatives have not disclosed information about the additions, stressing that the issue was still subject to talks.

The Coptic Church did say, however, that the amendments "pose a threat to Egyptian national unity due to the twists and obstacles that such amendments hold."

The church spokesman said that the draft bill was still under discussion, adding that it needs a high sense of patriotism" for the sake of the countrys future and the safety of its unity.

The Evangelical Church also issued a statement on Thursday stating that it was following the discussion on the draft law.

Although the Evangelical Church did not directly criticise the new amendments, it did say that it hoped the government would take into consideration the concerns expressed by Egyptian churches.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Magdy El-Agaty commented in press statements on the Coptic Churchs announcements, saying that the amendments by the cabinet do not "threaten national unity" as claimed by the Coptic Church.

"We are keen on Egyptian national unity, it is the main engine leading us in the steps that we are taking," El-Agaty said.

He did not provide information on the amendments, stressing that the government was still holding discussions about the bill with involved parties.

The deputy head of the human rights committee in the Egyptian parliament, Margaret Azer, criticised the cabinet in earlier press statements for backtracking on what had been agreed on earlier between the cabinet and the churches by adding a new article to the eight-article bill.

Azer pointed out that the Church was well aware of concerns of national interest that the state may have, but that it has the right to review amendments made by the government that could cause paralysis in the issuing of the law.

On Friday, the Coordinating Group on Citizenship and Civil Forces  which includes intellectuals, human rights advocates and several Coptic activists  said that Church representatives were being "pressured" to accept a bill that would "lead to the return of crisis."

The group called for the government to hold "societal discussions" on the law, even if this would lead to the postponing of the law being issued till the next parliamentary session.

"If the government insists on moving forward with what it wants despite what many forces have warned, the Egyptian president should interfere to suspend the issue as part of his responsibility to protect the unity of the nation and the rights of the people," the statement by the group concluded.

Some experts speculate that the amendments added by the government state that security officials must sign off on the building of churches, likely due to concerns regarding the possible reactions from ultra-conservative Islamist groups if a more liberal bill passes.

We are facing a real challenge. Does the state want to be a secular state as it stipulates in its constitution or does it want to be a religious one that seeks to satisfy a certain religious body or group like the Salafists? researcher Ishak Ibrahim from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said to Ahram Online.

We want a clear answer, he added.

Ibrahim believes that if the state wants the bill to pass, it will pass  as [the government] is the one currently holding all powers  without concern over any response by Salafists or any Islamist dissent, adding that the issue was not about the bill itself, but rather the extent to which the state is ready to defend the rights of Copts guaranteed by the constitution.

The Church is in an unenviable position, especially since it had previously approved a first draft of the bill despite growing criticism from both Muslims and Christians of its articles.

Now, the Church can no longer compromise, Ibrahim said.

Government vs parliament

A new round of conflict is also looming as MPs introduce another bill also addressing the issue of church construction, just as the cabinets bill is set to be discussed by the House of Representatives.

In late July, the liberal Free Egyptians Party said it was pushing for a draft proposal on the construction of churches.

Article 235 of Egypts 2014 constitution states that the House of Representatives shall issue a law regulating the building and renovating of churches in its first legislative term after the constitution comes into effect, guaranteeing Christians the freedom to practice their religious rituals.

The Free Egyptians Party released a draft bill of 18 articles in July, separate from the cabinets current nine-article bill.

The bill drafted by the party and a number of individual parliamentary members was sent to a joint committee that includes a number of parliamentary committees, including the constitutional and legislative affairs, religion and endowments, and housing committees.

According to the partys spokesman, Shehab Waguih, the partys MPs were not aware of the governments efforts to submit a different bill on the issue.

Parliamentary affairs minister El-Agaty said in press statements last week that the governmental bill would be up for discussion in the House on 21 August, but the new conflict has stalled progress and no discussion has taken place.

According to a leaked copy of the pre-amendment government bill, seven out of the eight articles address the issue of the building and reconstruction of churches, while one article addresses the legalisation-related adjustments to already established churches.

The governmental bill stipulates a four-month deadline for local governors to respond to any request for a church building licence.

The Free Egyptians Partys proposed bill  which would also give governors the authority to approve or reject the building of churches  adds that that if the governor does not respond to the request within four months, the request is considered automatically approved.

The party's bill adds that a legal representative of the Church would have the right to appeal the rejection of a building request in accordance with State Council laws, including punishing through jail terms anyone who obstructs the building process. It is not clear if this right to appeal is granted in the government's bill.

Officials have clashed over which is the superior bill, now with reports that the liberal Wafd Party, the countrys oldest political party, is pushing for their own law.

Anyone coming forward with a bill would say his is better, but if you ask me personally, ours is definitely better, MP Alaa Abed, the head of the Free Egyptian Partys parliamentary bloc, told Ahram Online.

Abed says that a practice of democracy will decide the issue, with the bills being introduced for discussion and voting on the House floor.

He suggested that a merging of the two draft bills may take place in the House when the issue is put to a vote.

Whether PMs decide to vote on our bill or the governments, there will be no grudge. It is all a matter of democracy, he adds.

He asserted that 90 percent of churches had violations, adding that the main point behind the bill  whether the governments or his partys  is to regulate the building and renovation process, with Church officials knowing their rights and duties.

We want a state of law and order, and we aim through our bill to see an improved relationship between churches and state apparatuses, Abed says.

Both the party and the cabinet have said that their representatives have held societal discussions with Coptic representatives over their two bills, with the governments pre-amendment bill signed off on by Coptic Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical church representatives two weeks ago.

The future of the law is so far unclear, with growing divisions and conflicts muddying the waters.

Prior to the current conflict over the government bill, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II had said in press statements that successive governments have, since regulations introduced in 1934, adopted "crippling" conditions for church construction, but stated that he hopes the new law will streamline the process.

Due to the restrictions, some congregations have been forced to build unlicensed churches or carry out their religious practices in buildings that have not been designated for religious use.

Earlier this month, the US State Department has hailed the efforts of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to protect the Christians rights though admitting they still face enormous challenges.

"The Copts in Egypt still face significant challenges. However, President al-Sisi hastaken a very public position that the Copt community needs to be protected," David Saperstein, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom said in its 2015 annual report.

El-Sisi's paid two visits to Christmas mass since he came to office in 2014 and boosted the efforts to rebuild many churches that were destroyed in the violence following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

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Nay Pyi Taw, Aug 23 : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will probably address Myanmar's upcoming 21st Century Panglong Ethnic Conference, sources quoted Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) Secretary, Sai Kyaw Nyunt, as saying on Tuesday.

According to the sources, all international organisations assisting Myanmar's peace process, UN agencies and foreign diplomats in Myanmar will be invited to the conference scheduled for August 31, which is expected to attract over 1,800 attendees.

The review of the political dialogue framework will be held after the conference, Xinhau news agency quoted Khu Oo Reh from the Delegation for Political Negotiation of the United Nationalities Federal Council ((UNFC) as saying on Monday.

UNFC represents the non-signatory armed groups to the nationwide cease fire accord (NCA).

According to earlier reports, the DPN has raised an eight-point proposal to the government for finding ways to sign the NCA and join the 21st Century Panglong Conference.

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also chairperson of the UPDJC made up of government representatives, ethnic armed groups and political parties, called for mutual trust and unity to successfully hold the conference.

The former Myanmar government and eight ethnic armed groups out of 15 signed the NCA in October last year, while seven other armed groups are yet to sign the accord.
New Delhi : Mohd Asim Khan New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS) The central government has started an apolitical initiative, involving civil society members -- mostly prominent non-Kashmiri Muslim personalities -- to help bring peace in Kashmir and a delegation is likely to visit the valley soon.

The initiative comes after two meetings of civil society activists with Home Minister Rajnath Singh here. Some of the activists who met the Home Minister said possible solutions to the present Kashmir situation were discussed at length in a "very open environment".

However, the day of the proposed visit has not been decided as yet. Neither is the composition of the delegation.

The last meeting with Rajnath Singh, held on Sunday, lasted more than two-and-a-half hours, and was attended by over a dozen people, including former Rajya Sabha MP Shahid Siddiqui, former Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor M.M. Ansari, defence analyst Qamar Agha, and Milli Gazette editor Zafarul Islam Khan.

The first meeting was held on August 18 and was attended by some 10 people, some of whom also attended Sunday's meeting. Delhi-based social activist M.J. Khan is said to have coordinated the meetings with the Home Minister.

"It was a long and comprehensive discussion and a lot of things were discussed. We have to take forward Atal (Bihari Vajpayee) ji's doctrine (of Insaniyat, Jamhooriat and Kashmiriyat). The government needs to restore confidence of Kashmiris and be sensitive to their needs and sentiments," Siddiqui told IANS.

The Kashmir Valley has been on the boil for over six weeks now after the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The cycle of violence in Kashmir has claimed at least 68 lives and left thousands injured in clashes with security forces.

Hundreds of the injured have partially or fully been blinded after being hit by pellets fired by police and paramilitary forces.

One of the participants, who didn't wish to be named, blamed the situation in Kashmir on "a chain of broken promises by the centre".

But Agha argued that the first priority must be to somehow break the logjam and provide humanitarian relief to the people of the valley.

"We are asking the government to stop pellet guns and lift the curfew. But they say that if curfew is lifted the youth would resort to stone-pelting and arson. This is a Catch 22 situation. We have to come out of it," Agha told IANS.

"Our foremost concern is to provide medical and humanitarian aid to the injured and others. The violence has to be stopped somehow."

However, civil society is faced with a unique problem -- who should it speak to in the valley?

"It is a leaderless and faceless agitation. The (separatist) Hurriyat has been left behind and the angry youth are just doing it spontaneously and on their own. The situation is far worse than 2010," Ansari, who was one of the three interlocutors appointed by the previous government after the 2010 Kashmir unrest, told IANS.

He argued that all stakeholders, including Pakistan, should be included in any peace talks on Kashmir.

Another point the civil society activists raised was that not all Kashmiris should be dubbed as anti-India or pro-Pakistan, or that the Indian state is at war with Kashmiris.

"The perception being created by a section of the media that all Kashmiris are pro-Pakistan or asking for freedom must stop. A perception is created that it is the Indian state versus the Kashmiris. This perception should be ended," said Siddiqui.

A few of the participants in the meetings with the Home Minister, however, pitched for a long-term solution instead of just a respond-when-there-is-violence approach.

"There is no long-term plan in the government's mind. It is just a fire-fighting attempt," said Zafarul Islam Khan, who edits the English fortnightly Milli Gazette in Delhi.

Activist M.J. Khan said the government should find a solution that works on the ground rather than taking populist measures in Kashmir.

"We feel that in the last 25 years at least, the government is doing what would sell in India rather than what would actually work on the ground in Kashmir. This approach should change if we want normalcy to return," he said.

( can be contacted at mohd.a@ians.in)
New Delhi, Aug 23 : As the land of the Thunder Dragon is all set to host the seventh edition of the Mountain Echoes Literary festival, global issues, including climate change and women's voices, will top the agenda.

The three-day festival from Friday is an initiative of the IndiaA Bhutan Foundation, in association with Siyahi, powered by the Rajasthan government's Department of Tourism.

One of the greenest countries on the planet, the mountain kingdom will be the apt venue to discuss climate change, the biggest worry encountering the world at present, according to the organisers.

"Mountain Echoes in its seventh edition brings back an acute focus on issues relating to the environment and climate change whilst widening its ambit to include the visual arts and new media. These are ubjects at the forefront of the interests of the youth that are redefining our cultural experiences and fostering new dialogues," said Festival Director Pramod Kumar KG.

As the festival also looks at the 400 years of the kingdom's history, the Chief Royal Patron, Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangchuck, feels that it serves as a catalyst for literature in the country.

"To discuss and debate the key issues facing Bhutan today, education, climate change, rural-urban migration, and to consider our history through the medium of literature, art and culture is a wonderful prospect. The festival has been a great catalyst for the appreciation of literature in Bhutan," said Wangchuck.

The power packed line-up includes renowned authors like Amitav Ghosh, Pico Iyer and Graeme Simsion, among others. Women's voices will be represented by Bangladeshi author and women's rights activist Sadaf Saaz; Kunzang Choden, the first Bhutanese woman to write an English novel; Indian actor Tabu; and authors Mridula Koshy and Anjum Hasan, among others.

The opening session 'Great Derangement: Politics of the Carbon Economy' will see Ghosh exploring the challenges of climate changes with Indian Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar.

Graeme Simsion fans are in for a treat as the author discusses his two books, New York Times bestseller 'The Rosie Project' and its sequel 'The Rosie Effect', and the quest for the perfect partner and the DNA that works behind it.

Authors Anjum Hasan and Ira Trivedi will discuss an anthology 'Walking Towards Ourselves: Indian Women Tell Their Stories, looking at what it means to be a woman in India at a time of intense change.

Another session 'In I for Identity, Ailer Ilhan, Anjum Hasan, Mridula Koshy and Sonam Wangmo Jhalani will debate the maxim "write what you know", discussing how they have drawn upon personal experiences in their writings.

The audience can also look forward to a session by actor Tabu with Kelly Dorji on asserting her position in the cutthroat Bollywood industry.

While the idyllic location provides a perfect backdrop for Pico Iyer's talk, 'The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere', for the more intrepid adventurer, Dhamey T. Norgay, Odd Harald Hauge and Ravi Singh will share experiences of the fear and thrill of climbing in 'Of Men and Mountains'.

Another attraction is the inaugural edition of "Bonfire Tales", a cultural journey that travels by motorcycle to the Phobjikha valley in the mountains of Bhutan and then onto the warm climes of Punakha. Participants will be led by Kelly Dorji, on a tour designed to provide an authentic experience of Bhutanese culture, discovering religious sites, old monasteries and their art, while sampling delicious local cuisine throughout the journey.

Apart from the brainstorming debates, the festival will also host an exhibition of artworks by the Jogi family, an exhibition of photographs capturing the essence of a vibrant living Rajasthan by renowned Indian photographer Sudhir Kasliwal and photographs by Dorji Dhradhul providing a glimpse into the history, culture and natural splendour of Bhutan's Gasa region.

Participants can sign up for workshops such as 'How to tell a Good Story: Creative Writing Workshop by Sonam Wangmo Jhalani, 'In Focus: The World of Fashion Photography by Maneesh Mandanna and 'Sculpting the Spirit: Yoga Workshop by Ira Trivedi, among other programmes.

Last but not the least, an Open Mic night and a special concert by fusion rock band Indian Ocean will bring the curtain down on the festival.
Rabat, Aug 23 : Morocco's King Mohammed VI has strongly condemned terrorism and said the killing of innocent people and suicide bombings were not permissible in Islam. He also said terrorists were "distorting Islam" and taking advantage of young Muslims who did not know the real tenets of the religion.

In his address to the nation on the occasion of 63rd anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People over the weekend, the monarch urged the people to show forbearance in these times when terrorism is giving Islam a bad name.

Referring to the killing of a priest in France at the hands of Islamic State terrorists, the King said that such an act is forbidden in Islam.

"I strongly condemn the killing of innocent people. Killing a priest is forbidden by religion; murdering him inside a church is unforgivable madness, for he is a human being and a religious man -- even if he is not a Muslim," he said.

He said those who engage in terrorism have strayed from the right path of Islam and are not Muslims.

"Those who engage in terrorism, in the name of Islam, are not Muslims. Their only link to Islam is the pretexts they use to justify their crimes and their folly. They have strayed from the right path, and their fate is to dwell forever in hell," the monarch, who has undertaken many political and religious reforms in the North African kingdom with one of the most progressive Islamic societies in the world, said in an address that has got global attention.

King Mohammed VI said the terrorists are misleading Muslim youth by distorting the peaceful values of the religion.

"Terrorists take advantage of some young Muslims -- particularly in Europe -- and of their ignorance of the Arabic language and of true Islam, to spread their distorted messages and misleading promises."

"They think -- out of ignorance -- that they are engaging in jihad. Since when has jihad been synonymous with killing innocent people? The Almighty says: 'Do not transgress limits, for Allah loves not transgressors'," he said.

"It is forbidden to kill people under the pretext of jihad."

Taking a swipe at convoluted ideas on the reward for jihad, the King wondered: "How could anyone of sound mind believe that the reward for jihad is a number of virgins? How could one possibly accept that anyone who listens to music will be swallowed by the depths of the earth, and other such lies?"

The King called upon people across the religious spectrum to unite against the scourge of terrorism and counter hatred.

"As ignorance spreads in the name of religion, Muslims, Christians and Jews have to close ranks in order to tackle all forms of extremism, hatred and reclusiveness," he said.

Hailing his country's policy on migrants, the King said that Morocco believes in humanitarian values and safeguarded the rights of migrants to live in dignity. Morocco's policy ensured migrants "do not suffer the same hardships endured in many parts of the world", he said.
New Delhi, Aug 23 : In a bid to save fuel, cut emission and have better route utilisation, Indian carriers have suggested a new plan to the government that co-opts the air space controlled by the armed forces. It also calls for bypassing Pakistan while flying overseas to save navigation fees.

Called the Flexible Use of Airspace Initiative, under the larger aviation services management, it calls for: New, permanent routes for shorter navigation; grant of weekly permissions to operate shorter routes; and case-by-case approval by the defence Air Traffic Control to a pilot in air.

"If this is institutionalised, it will be a win-win-win for all: Less fuel use and lower emission -- which is good for the environment -- significant cut in fuel bills and shorter flying time for passengers," a top airline official said. "Avoiding Pakistani air space is part of the strategy."

The National Civil Aviation Policy that was unveiled in June also promises that the Ministry of Civil Aviation will strive to optimise the flexible use of airspace initiative in consultation with the Ministry of Defence.

Sources said the Airports Authority of India has constituted a separate Directorate under the Department of Air Navigation Service Providers to look into the optimisation of the entire Indian airspace in coordination with the Aviation Ministry.

"Approximately 60 per cent of Indian airspace is under civilian operations. The rest is restricted and with the defence to operate. Due to this, most of the navigational routes for civil aircraft are not straight," said one official of an airline that has also sought the flexi plan.

"Take for example the Ahmedabad-Hyderabad sector. Currently, the route approved calls for around 590 nautical miles, since we have to fly over designated airport spaces. But under the flexi plan that we have proposed, it will get shorter to 480 nautical miles," the official said.

"Similarly, the Delhi-Goa sector requires us to fly over Mumbai, then along the coastline of the Arabian Sea to reach the destination. But what we have suggested is: We should be able to fly as the crow flies -- in a straight route -- over Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka."

Explaining the same process on international routes, another airline official said flying from Ahmedabad to Dubai calls for Route Navigation Facility Charges of Rs 62,700 per leg, fuel of 7,800 kg and maximum pay load of 17,400 kg, or 166 kg per passenger.

But under the flexi plan, the navigation charges will get reduced to Rs 34,000 (as the Pakistan leg will be skipped), the fuel requirement will be 6,900 kg, while the pay load can be increased to 18,300 kg, or 174 kg per person. This translates into savings of Rs 100,000 per leg.

"Our air force and navy have to approve this. But this is quite common in the US and Europe."

As regards the third component -- called tactical air space management -- industry officials said this will neither be a permanent feature, nor can airlines use it in their route planning. Yet, on a case-by-case basis, it can yield some good savings.

Explaining the feature, an official said, the flight path between Delhi and Dehradun at present is slightly circuitous. "But if at a given point, the air space over Hindon -- which belongs to the Air Force -- is free, then for that particular flight the pilot can be given a fly-by nod."

(Arvind Padmanabhan can be reached at arvind.p@ians.in)
New Delhi, Aug 23 : It has been nearly 10 years since the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) came into being, but it largely worked behind the scenes till it came into public focus only last year over the lead and monosodium glutamate content in Maggi noodles.

The authority came into being following the passage of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

It has since registered over 38 lakh food businesses. It tests food samples through 184 notified primary testing labs and 14 referral labs and also decides on food labels and claims.

Officials said FSSAI sought to make people aware about food adulteration, which alone claims the lives of 2.2 million people across the globe every year.

"The FSSAI has made positive contribution to the Indian food industry. Initially, people were less aware about food safety, but now many of them will not buy a food product if does not have a mention of FSSAI," Bimal Dubey, Director (Regulatory Compliance/Vigilance), FSSAI, told IANS.

The FSSAI has been entrusted with the task of laying down scientific standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

Food Ministry officials said the food safety and standards law was enacted to create a single statutory body for food laws, standards and enforcement so that there is no confusion in the minds of consumers, traders, manufacturers and investors.

Officials said FSSAI's responsibilities also include training and certifying food safety supervisors and food handlers, ensure safety of food imported at 142 points across the country, as well as promote safe food management practices in processing, transportation, storage and distribution.

It is also mandated to enhance consumer choice and building consumer engagement through effective complaints redress mechanism.

At a function organised by FSSAI here on Monday to commemorate 10 years of the enactment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda advised FSSAI to be aware of the concerns of small food businesses.

He noted that during the past 10 years, considerable work had been done in laying down scientific standards and regulating manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food items.

After the controversy over the lead and MSG content of Maggi noodles erupted last year, the FSSAI had ordered its manufacturer Nestle to "withdraw and recall" all Maggi noodle variants, halt their production and also stop exports, saying the samples were found to be "unsafe and hazardous" for humans.

Nestle then announced the withdrawal of Maggi across India but maintained that the product was "safe".

Later, the Bombay High Court lifted the ban on Maggi noodles and ordered fresh tests on the samples. The noodles subsequently made a re-entry in the Indian market.
Hyderabad, Aug 23 : The opposition Congress in Telangana on Tuesday staged protests over the state government signing an agreement with Maharashtra over construction of projects across Godavari river.

Alleging that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has bartered state's interests by signing the agreement, the main opposition party observed a "black day" by staging protests across the state.

The Congress leaders submitted memorandums to collectors in all districts to protest against the pact signed by Rao and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devender Fadnavis in Mumbai on Tuesday.

In Hyderabad, Congress leaders led by party's state unit president Uttam Kumar Reddy took out a rally from party headquarters Gandhi Bhavan to the office of Hyderabad district collector Terming the agreement for Kaleswaram project as a great betrayal, Reddy said that the previous Congress government in undivided Andhra Pradesh had decided to build Paranahita project with 152 metre barrage at Tummadihatti at a cost of Rs 38,000 crore.

The Congress leader said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government not only agreed to bring down the height of the barrage to 148 metre but also increased the cost of the project to Rs 83,000 crore. He alleged that huge financial irregularities are being committed in the irrigation projects.
Shimla, Aug 23 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Tuesday informed the assembly that the child who was missing for over two years was murdered for ransom.

The missing child's skeleton was recovered by police from Shimla on Monday.

In a suo-motu statement, the Chief Minister said that four-year-old Yug Gupta had been missing from his residence here since June 16, 2014 and on June 27, a ransom letter was received by the family, demanding a Rs 3.6 crore ransom. Subsequently, three more ransom letters were received.

"Narco analysis of servants of the victim's family revealed that his neighbour could have kidnapped Yug for ransom," he said.

Three accused -- Chander Sharma, Tejinder Pal Singh and Vikrant Bakshi -- have been arrested and the CID is currently investigating the case.

In another development, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the state to file reply regarding the missing boy.

A division bench of Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan also directed the investigating officer to remain present in the court on August 27, the next date of hearing.

Pinky Gupta, the mother of the victim, has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the incident.
New Delhi, Aug 23 : The number of cases of inter-country parental child abduction related to Indians in the US is the second highest next only to Mexico, a senior US government official said here on Tuesday.

"We are handling more than 1,000 cases of inter-country parental child abduction," Michele Bond, US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, said during a media interaction here.

"At this time, our case-load with India is the second largest that we have after Mexico," she said.

Inter-country parental child abduction is the situation that arises when one parent takes a child to a foreign country and keeps him or her there with the hope that the parent will be able to establish custody of that child and prevent the other parent from having access or being able to share custody.

Bond said that Mexico was the US's immediate neighbour and hence it was easy to take a child across the border while it was not so easy to travel to India.

"There are approximately 80 (Indian) family cases involved and more than 90 children," she said.

Stating that children were vulnerable and were unable to protect themselves, she said: "We recognise that India shares those concerns and this has been highlighted in the joint statement that was released during Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's visit to the United States in June."

In the joint statement issued after Modi's meeting with US President Barack Obama, one of the points stated that "the leaders intend to renew efforts to intensify dialogue to address issues affecting the citizens of both countries that arise due to differences in the approaches of legal systems, including issues relating to cross-country marriage, divorce and child custody".

Bond stated that the US was among the 94 countries that were members of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or Hague Abduction Convention for short.

The Convention facilitates the prompt return of abducted children to their country of habitual residence and helps deter international parental child abduction.

"We hope that India will make the decision to accede also to that Convention," Bond said.

She said that under the Convention, the court in the child's country of habitual residence would take the decisions about custody and visitation rights among other issues.

"We applaud the Indian government for recently publishing for comment implementing legislation for the Hague Abduction Convention," the US official said.

"We encourage India to continue progress to its accession because we genuinely believe that this is a significant issue for this country."

She said that this problem was likely to grow as there was an increasing number of Indians living outside the country.

"We also have a handful of cases of children who have been abducted from India to the United States," Bond said.

"We are working to help those parents to go to court and request the return of their children to India."

Bond came to India to attend the annual bilateral consular dialogue that was held here on Monday during which issues like facilitating tourism and business and other travel between the two countries, visa assessing, protection of US citizens in India, transparent international adoption, and preventing international parental child abduction cases were discussed.

While she led the US delegation, P. Kumaran, Joint Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa) in the Ministry of External Affairs, headed the Indian side.
Kolkata, Aug 23 : Reach of rural people to banks is not very encouraging even 47 years after nationalisation of a majority of the banks, President Pranab Mukherjee said here on Tuesday.

While the RBI and the ministry concerned are busy addressing the problem areas of non-performing assets and injudicious advancing, the reach of rural people to banks is not very encouraging even after nationalisation of almost 60 percent of banks done in July 1969, Mukherjee said at a programme here.

Addressing the first anniversary celebrations of the Bandhan Bank, the president said a lot more remains to be done to meet the requirements of the unorganised sector in the country, even as the banks remain ever vigilant as far as loan dispersal and recovery are concerned.

Mukherjee lauded the role of micro-financing institutions and said they have a special challenge and responsibility to ensure equitable growth by addressing the financial needs of the vast unorganised sector.
The Egyptian citizen was not named

A Saudi court has sentenced an Egyptian expat to six years in prison for spying for Iran, Saudi media reported.

The court also fined the Egyptian 5000 Saudi riyals and ordered his expulsion from the kingdom after he has served his sentence.

Okaz daily newspaper reported that the unnamed Egyptian citizen was found guilty of sending a confidential Saudi armed forces document to the Iranian embassy in Beirut and receiving a message from the same embassy demanding additional information about certain issues in the kingdom.

According to Okaz, the verdict is a first degree ruling of a specialised criminal court.

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Agartala, Aug 23 : Over 88 per cent of the 22,481 electors on Tuesday cast their votes in a by-election to a seat in Tripura's lone tribal autonomous council.

The counting of votes will be held on August 26.

The main electoral battle is between the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist and a tribal party backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress in Simna-Tamakari constituency (in west Tripura) under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autononmous District Council (TTAADC).

"Around 88.46 per cent voters cast their votes in the by-election. No major untoward incident was reported in the by-election," state Election Commission Secretary Prasenjit Chakraborty told IANS.

Seven candidates are in fray for the by-poll, necessitated following the death of CPI-M member Ranabir Debbarma earlier this year.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress supported the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) candidate Mangal Debbarma though the BJP had earlier put up a candidate for the seat.

The main contest is between CPI-M's Kumudh Debbarma and IPFT's Mangal Debbarma.

The IPFT, demanding a separate state carved out of Tripura by upgrading the TTAADC, has become a major tribal party over the years and organised several agitations in Tripura and New Delhi in support of their demand.

The ruling Left Front, with a substantial base among the tribals and non-tribals, now governs the TTAADC, formed by amending the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in 1985, to improve the socio-economic condition of the tribals, who constitute one-third of Tripura's four million population.

"Though the by-poll outcome will not affect the power equation in the TTAADC, it is considered as an important indicator for future politics in the tribal areas of Tripura due to the BJP and Trinamool support to IPFT, which emerged as one of the major political force in the tribal politics in the Left-ruled state," political analyst Sanjib Deb said.

He said: "The CPI-M is vulnerable as in the last elections to the TTAADC, its candidate defeated the IPFT nominee by a thin margin of only 509 votes, that too due to division in the votes bagged by opposition political parties."
New Delhi, Aug 23 : President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday condoled the passing away of former President of Singapore, S.R. Nathan.

"It is with great sadness that I received the news of the passing away of former President of Singapore, S.R. Nathan," Mukherjee said in a message to his Singaporean counterpart Tony Tan Keng Yam.

Mukherjee said that the life and achievements of Nathan were exceptional.

"He served Singapore with distinction. He will always be remembered for his sagacity and wisdom in leading Singapore - and his contribution to its emergence as a vibrant economy and progressive society," he said.

The President also recalled his pleasant and fruitful interaction with Nathan when he visited Singapore as External Affairs Minister in 2007.

"On behalf of the people of India and on my own behalf, I offer deep condolences to the people of Singapore and to President Nathan's family," Mukherjee said.

Nathan, who died on Monday at the age of 92, had suffered a stroke three weeks ago.

The stroke was his second in recent years, with the latest having placed him in critical condition.
New Delhi, Aug 23 : Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday inaugurated the newly constructed building of Central Board for Workers Education (CBWE) which was named the "Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development".

In her address on occasion, she said Thengadi, a well-known trade unionist, contributed immensely for the economic growth of the county.

Urging the officers and staff of the institute to imbibe his work culture, Mahajan also stressed that the abbreviation of the name of the institute be avoided "as it kills the spirit behind naming".

Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, who was behind the renaming, said that Board has been responsive and useful towards the needs of workers in the country.

The Governing Body of CBWE in its 166th meeting held in 2014 took the decision to change the name of the CBWE to the "Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development". The Labour and Employment Minister also approved it.

The board, which has a national network, is a central autonomous body under the ministry, engaged in generating awareness about various subjects relating to labour, industry, nation and other socio-economic issues, besides government's schemes amongst both organized and unorganized rural sector workers for the last 59 years.
Lucknow, Aug 23 : The Uttar Pradesh Police's ATS arrested an ISI agent here on Tuesday in a joint operation along with the Rajasthan Police's CID wing, officials said.

The ISI agent has been identified as Jamaluddin, resident of Ghazipur in east UP, and is said to be funding other similar agents across Uttar Pradesh and other states.

An ATS official told IANS that he was getting continuous flow of money from the UAE and was under the radar of investigation and anti-terror agencies for some time now.

Jamaluddin was tracked down after a money trail to another agent, Govardhan Singh, a resident of Rajasthan's Pokhran who was arrested on December 27, 2015 for allegedly passing off information about activities of the Indian Army to Pakistan, led back to him.

"We are currently interrogating him for more leads and he will be taken on remand on Wednesday," an official further said.
New Delhi, Aug 23 : The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to Tamil Nadu over the illegal detention and torture of a juvenile belonging to Kuravar community by the state police, a statement said on Tuesday.

Taking cognizance of the issue, the commission has said that the 17-year-old boy and two of his family members were detained in connection with a burglary and were tortured in the most inhumane way, purportedly on the ground that they belonged to a tribe dubbed by the British as criminals under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.

The law is extinct now but presumably the mind sets remain unchanged as the boy is learning what it meant to be born a Kuravar, it said.

According to the commission, it was observed that no human being should be subjected to discrimination merely on the fact that he belongs to a particular caste, creed or community.

The juvenile was reportedly, released when his family intervened to convenience the police that he was just 17 years of age.

"The incident, alleging illegal detention of a young boy, physical torture of the family members and atrocities committed by the police personnel, indicates towards violation of human right to life, liberty and dignity of the victims," said the Commission, adding it has accordingly issued a notice to the Government of Tamil Nadu through its Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, calling for a detailed report, including the action if any, taken against the erring police personnel, within four weeks.
Egypts foreign ministry has slammed media reports that claimed Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry described Israels killing of Palestinian children as not terrorism.

Some local and international media reports suggested the minister made such remarks during a Sunday gathering with the countrys top-ranked high school students.

But the ministry said such claims have twisted official statements and aim to undermine Egypts "continuous backing" of Palestinian rights.

The ministry said in a statement late Monday that Shoukrys remarks were not about the killing of innocent Palestinian children. It said he replied to a general question about the international communitys failure to define Israeli practices against Palestinians as terrorism.

The ministrys response refered to the absence of an international agreement on a specific legal definition of terrorism and a global disagreement over the distinction between the legal and the political overtones of the term terrorism and the definition of the concept of state terrorism, the statement read.

The ministry said that Shoukry stressed during the meeting Cairos full support for Palestinian rights which will remain the focus of attention of the Egyptian foreign ministry.

Cairo supports a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which would see the creation of a sovereign Palestine.

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Rentplus, a rent to buy provider in the UK which recently announced a 70 million long term funding, has secured further investment to expand its nationwide pipeline of delivering new, affordable homes.

The company, which was formed in 2012 and is planning to deliver 5,000 new homes by 2020, has signed a delivery finance facility with Crestline Investors, a credit focused institutional alternative asset manager, for up to 20 million of new funding.

An initial 20 million has been agreed and is available to be drawn down over the next two years with an option for a further 20 million.



Earlier this year, Rentplus, which is in contract to deliver homes in Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Northants, Devon, Somerset, West Devon, South Hams, Sedgemoor, Plymouth and Bicester by March next year, secured up to 70 million of investment from BAE Systems Pension Funds Investment Management.



The Rentplus model provides aspirant home owners with privately funded intermediate affordable rent-to-buy housing, with real prospects to achieve ownership benefitting from affordable rents and a 10% gifted deposit from the company.



Occupants have fixed term renewable rent tenancies for a period of either five, 10, 15 or 20 years at an affordable intermediate rent set at 80% of market rent, after which they have the opportunity to buy their own home. This includes service charges and, with no maintenance responsibilities or property insurance costs, occupants have time to save for a deposit and build a credit history that will support future mortgage applications.



This additional funding is further testament to the faith in both our business model as well as our ability to deliver new, affordable homes and an alternative route to home ownership. With deposits being the greatest barrier to home ownership, we are seeing enormous interest from local authorities, developers and housing associations in Rentplus and remain confident we will meet or exceed our goal of 5,000 new homes by 2020, said John Gildersleeve, Chairman of Rentplus.

Rentplus was created by Plymouth based developer Pillar Land Securities and Tamar Housing. The company has agreed to deliver 500 homes in partnership with Plymouth City Council as part of its Get Plymouth Building programme. Families have already moved into the first Rentplus homes at developments in Plymouth and West Dorset and will do so shortly in the Cotswolds.
A new analysis suggests that while there has been an increase in development in London the new homes are concentrated in a handful of areas and some are so pricey that interest from buyers is waning.

The result is a deepening new build crisis in inner London in particular and the lack of interest in new builds is seeing prices fall.

The report from London Central Portfolio shows that overall the number of new developments approved for construction has surged this year, with a substantial 20% increase in the planning pipeline since 2013, representing 106,208 new units.

However, this pipeline is largely made up of projects in cluster areas around Tower Hamlets and south of the river in the Battersea-Nine Elms area where there is already a proliferation of new developments. This year, a further 33,239 and 18,665 units respectively are now scheduled to be built.



New applications have also rocketed. Applications for 17,494 new units including 111 towers, buildings over 20 storeys, have been submitted, a 27% increase on 2013. This is equivalent to one new tower application every three days, of which 90% are located in Tower Hamlets and Wandsworths Battersea-Nine Elms development.



Despite the ever increasing number of new developments, however, statistics have shown that the attraction of these new properties, where prices now average 914,532, is waning.

According to LCPs analysis of the Governments Land Registry data, only 1,491 new units have been sold so far this year, a substantial 43% decrease on this time in 2015. This compares with older properties in inner London where transactions have remained static, 13,194 in 2016 compared with 13,190 over the same period last year.

The analysis also shows that square foot prices have also fallen for new properties. Across the Battersea-Nine Elms stretch, for example, prices are down 8% on their 2014 high. This is in stark contrast to London as a whole where prices are up 23%.

New build sales volumes are also significantly down, decreasing 43% on the same period last year but the prime central London market remains largely protected, due to its limited new build potential. Sales activity has been normal in the first half of this year

In light of the plethora of tax hits over the last few years, possibly exacerbated by the uncertainty of Brexit, it appears foreign investors, the majority buyer of new developments, may finally be turning away, said Naomi Heaton, chief executive of LCP.

These properties typically sell at a significant premium, averaging 25%, over older stock. History demonstrates that a saturation of overpriced commodity style property leads to softening prices, particularly during times of economic uncertainty, she explained.

In Tower Hamlets, for example, which undertook an extensive building programme before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), prices took six years to reach parity with their pre-recession level. In contrast in prime central London, where there is very limited new build due to the conservation of its architectural heritage, prices had bounced back by 2010. In a similar fashion, we are again seeing today business as usual for older stock, she added.



According to LCP's research, just 271 new build sales have been recorded in prime central London in the first six months of this year. This limited new build potential protects the sector from the ever growing crisis, which is having a notable drag effect on headline average prices for London. Sales activity has been normal in prime central London this year, with 2,606 properties sold to date, on track with the long term average of 5,213 a year since the GFC.



Whilst no concrete evidence of post-Brexit market dynamics has yet been published, we expect prime central London real estate to respond in a broadly similar way as it did during the Global Financial Crisis when the market out-performed almost all other asset classes. A flight to quality and the security of blue-chip tangible assets will be underpinned by the continuing weakness of Sterling, said Heaton.

Alongside this, the attractions of prime central London as a centre of culture, excellence and education with absolute rule of law and unequivocal title to property remain undimmed. We firmly believe that these robust market fundamentals will support continued asset appreciation particularly in the mainstream private rented sector. LCP has already seen a fivefold increase in investment enquiries since the vote, she pointed out.

For the rest of inner London, however, falling sales volumes in new developments and the exponentially increasing number of such schemes is causing major concern, the firm suggests, describing an increasingly worrying picture for areas with a high concentration of new builds, highlighting the ever growing imbalance of supply and demand and a very real concern that falling new build prices will have a knock on effect on the general housing market.



With 51,904 new units slated for Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth alone, this will take a heavy toll on these areas where there is already extensive oversupply and the buying pool is shrinking thanks to ever more tax hikes, Heaton added.

In the cluster areas, this could have a detrimental knock-on effect for existing home owners, adversely impacting the value of their own homes as well as the economy as a whole, if the Exchequers tax take in all likelihood diminishes, she concluded.
StraighterLine offers online programs that fit the needs of our students . . . Cost, quality, and accessibility make it a great choice for Alderson Broaddus University students.

StraighterLine, the fastest-growing provider of low-cost, online general education courses, has partnered with Alderson Broaddus University (ABU) to provide students with an affordable pathway to their degree. The mission of ABU is to provide its students with the highest quality education, striving to prepare students to succeed in their chosen disciplines and to fulfill their roles in a diverse society as well-rounded and responsible citizens.

Of this partnership, StraighterLine Founder and CEO Burck Smith said, We are proud to work with innovative institutions such as Alderson Broaddus University, who strives to deliver high quality education, foster student success, and open up alternative credit pathways for adult learners. By partnering with StraighterLine, ABU is putting the student first.

Joan Propst (EdD, RN), Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, says, "StraighterLine offers online programs that fit the needs of our students. Many courses are good matches with courses we are offering in our classrooms and will complement our curriculum. Cost, quality, and accessibility make it a great choice for Alderson Broaddus University students."

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), Alderson Broaddus University has been named one of the Best Regional Colleges in the South by the 2015 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges, as well as ranked 40th overall best online Bachelor of Science in nursing program in the nation by CollegeChoice.net. ABU was the only non-profit school ranked in the state of West Virginia.

About Alderson Broaddus University

For more than 144 years, Alderson Broaddus University has been providing a quality education for its students. Overlooking the picturesque Tygart River Valley in Philippi, West Virginia, ABU students learn and grow in a faith-based learning community. Deeply rooted in the liberal arts, ABU is a health-related and professional educational institution. The University is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA, and the West Virginia Baptist Convention.

About StraighterLine

StraighterLine solves the #1 issue facing students today  the skyrocketing cost of college  with low-cost online courses that prepare students for success. StraighterLine combines a $99 a month course subscription with guaranteed credit pathways to accredited degree programs to save students up to 60% on the total cost of their degree. More than 10,000 students got started with StraighterLine last year. StraighterLine takes the worry out of credit transfer with a College Savings Network of 100+ accredited colleges that guarantee acceptance of StraighterLine courses. Having also been evaluated and recommended by the American Council on Educations College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT), StraighterLine courses will also be considered by more than 2,000 other colleges and universities for transfer to their degree programs upon request.
Z-Medica, LLC, a leading developer and marketer of hemostatic devices, announces today that they have been added to the Marcum Tech Top 40 (TT40) list of fastest growing technology companies in Connecticut by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and Marcum LLP. Z-Medica will be honored alongside 39 other TT40 companies at an awards ceremony September 22nd at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, CT.

We are honored to be on the list of distinguished companies chosen as technology leaders in the State of Connecticut, said Z-Medicas President and CEO Stephen J. Fanning. This would not be possible if not for the hard work of our entire team, who is dedicated to creating bleeding control products that save lives. We share this honor with the doctors and nurses that staff our hospitals as well as our military, first responders, and law enforcement communities that answer the call of duty, every day.

The Marcum Tech Top 40, now in its 9th year, recognizes technology leaders in six industry sectors, including Advanced Manufacturing, Energy/Environmental, Life Sciences, New Media/Internet/Telecom, IT Services, and Software.

The technology industry in Connecticut is a shining example of ingenuity, innovation and achievement, said Michael K. Brooder, CPA, partner-in-charge of Marcums Hartford, Connecticut, office. It is a privilege to partner with the Connecticut Technology Council to present the annual Marcum Tech Top 40 Awards and to provide a showcase for these companies to help pave the way for their continued future success.

Bruce Carlson, CTCs President & CEO added, Connecticut is proud of its remarkable heritage of innovation and entrepreneurship. Employment growth in Connecticut will come in part from the technology sector, and these Tech Top 40 companies are a great example of the diversity of our technology sector that is growing substantially and adding jobs.

The September 22 awards program will include an exhibition featuring the Marcum Tech Top 40 companies. One company from each of the six industry verticals will be named overall winner for demonstrating the greatest percentage growth in revenue across all the technology verticals. To register, visit the CTC website.

About The Connecticut Technology Council

The Connecticut Technology Council is a statewide association of technology oriented companies and institutions, providing leadership in areas of policy advocacy, community building and assistance for growing companies. Speaking for 2,500 companies that employ some 200,000 residents, the Connecticut Technology Council seeks to provide a strong and urgent voice in support of the creation of a culture of innovation. This includes working to position Connecticut as a leader in idea creation, workforce preparation, entrepreneurial aptitude, early stage risk capital availability and providing on-going support and mentoring to high potential firms. For more information, visit http://www.ct.org.

About Marcum LLP

Marcum LLP is one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms in the nation, with offices in major business markets throughout the U.S., Grand Cayman and China. Headquartered in New York City, Marcum provides a full spectrum of traditional tax, accounting and assurance services; advisory, valuation and litigation support; and an extensive range of specialty and niche industry practices. The Firm serves both privately held and publicly traded companies, as well as high net worth individuals, private equity and hedge funds, with a focus on middle-market companies and closely held family businesses. Marcum is a member of the Marcum Group, an organization providing a comprehensive array of professional services. For more information, visit http://www.marcumllp.com.

About Z-Medica, LLC

Z-Medica, LLC is a medical device company founded in 2002 that develops fast acting, easy to use hemostatic products that stop bleeding wherever it occurs, making it possible to save lives and improve patient outcomes. Based on tests conducted by the Naval Medical Research Center and the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research, the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) chose QuikClot Combat Gauze as the hemostatic dressing of choice on the battlefield for compressible hemorrhage not amenable to tourniquet use or as an adjunct to tourniquet removal if evacuation time is anticipated to be longer than 2 hours. QuikClot products are developed and manufactured in the United States. Z-Medica, LLC is a privately-held company based in Wallingford, CT. For more information, visit http://www.quikclot.com and http://www.z-medica.com.
Darryl Wilkerson, Commuter Air Technology President, accepts award from Joni Brooks, Journal Record President/Publisher, and Dr. Tom Friedman, Francis Tuttle Technology Center Superintendent/CEO. Commuter Air Technology is proud to be a recognized innovator in the aerospace industry for our work worldwide.

Commuter Air Technology (CAT), an AGC Aerospace & Defense company headquartered in Oklahoma City, was recognized as one of the Journal Records Innovator of the Year Honorees for its special mission aircraft enhancements, particularly the CAT 350ME (maximum endurance) upgrades for the King Air airframe.

We are proud to be recognized as an innovator in the aerospace industry for work we perform here in the U.S. and globally, said Darryl Wilkerson, CAT President. This recognition reflects the commitment of our employees to provide quality products and services to customers worldwide.

CATs team of professionals has consistently developed innovative products to improve the performance and safety of King Air aircrafts, establishing the company as a leader in the Aerospace and Defense industry. The CAT 350ME upgrade, unveiled nationally last fall, increases the operational gross weight and fuel capacity of aircraft while optimizing payload capacity and endurance.

We pride ourselves in developing the latest advancements in performance enhancement for the King Air, added Wilkerson. Our latest development, CATs 350ME, enables our customers to fly their King Air from coast to coast: Los Angeles to Miami, or internationally across the Atlantic, without the need to refuel.

Commuter Air Technology was recognized as an innovative leader along with 20 other Oklahoma-based companies from a variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, software, healthcare, transportation, and agriculture.

About Commuter Air Technology

Commuter Air Technology delivers certified aircraft and customized aircraft modifications for commercial and government applications around the globe. Modifications range from flight performance enhancements and high-density passenger systems to cargo conversions and corporate reconfigurations. With 30 years of experience, Commuter Air Technology offers a full line of technical support services, such as crew provision, training, program management, aircraft maintenance, engineering as well as STC process management and Airworthiness certifications. Commuter Air Technology is an AGC Aerospace & Defense company. Learn more at http://www.commuterair.com.

About AGC Aerospace & Defense

AGC Aerospace & Defense, the unifying brand of private equity group Acorn Growth Companies, is a global supplier of technologies, systems and services supporting commercial and military programs. Capabilities within the AGC Aerospace & Defense portfolio range from financing, engineering, and integration services to manufacturing, logistics, and aircraft modifications. AGC Aerospace & Defense is organized into four operating groups: AeroComposites, Finance, Integrated Defense, and Services. Learn more at http://www.agcaerospace.com.
Buyers should analyze individual models and their own driving patterns to decide whether a hybrid or its gas counterpart is the best choice to save them money in the long run.

Vincentric, LLC announced its most recent U.S. Hybrid Analysis today, with results showing seven of the 29 evaluated hybrids having lower total cost of ownership compared to their closest all-gasoline-powered counterpart. This represents a continued decrease in cost-effective hybrids, dropping from 44% in 2012 and 32% in 2014, to just over 24% in todays study.

The seven low-cost hybrids were the Audi Q5 Hybrid, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Lexus CT 200h, Lexus ES 300h, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Toyota Avalon Hybrid and Toyota Prius C. These hybrids were cost-effective due primarily to the declining fuel costs seen across the U.S., although the results also revealed that five out of the seven cost-effective hybrids depreciated at a lower rate than their all-gasoline equivalents, contributing to their cost advantage.

Furthermore, the Audi Q5 Hybrid offered the greatest hybrid-over-gasoline-powered-vehicle total cost of ownership savings for a direct hybrid-to-gasoline model comparison, with $4,484 in savings. For consumers looking to save at the pump, the Lexus NX 300h and the Infiniti Q70 Hybrid exhibited impressive fuel savings of $3,546 and $3,443, respectively. Overall, eight of the total 29 hybrids had fuel cost savings greater than the price premium paid for the hybrid.

There are still instances when a hybrids cost of ownership savings justify the hybrid price premium, said Vincentric President, David Wurster. Hybrids, however, may be losing their competitive edge due to the decrease in fuel prices and improved fuel economy of all-gasoline-powered vehicles. Buyers should analyze individual models and their own driving patterns to decide whether a hybrid or its gas counterpart is the best choice to save them money in the long run.

Vincentric conducted this detailed analysis of 2016 hybrid vehicles to provide consumers and the automotive industry with insightful information on the cost of owning and operating a hybrid. Fuel prices used in the analysis were based on a weighted average over the previous five months. The report also assumes the vehicle is owned for five years and 15,000 miles are driven annually. Vincentric measured total cost of ownership using eight different cost factors: depreciation, fees & taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost and repairs.

Further information regarding the 2016 Vincentric Hybrid Analysis and a chart showing results for all vehicles analyzed is available at http://www.vincentric.com.

About Vincentric

Vincentric provides data, knowledge, and insight to the automotive industry by identifying and applying the many aspects of automotive value. Vincentric data is used by organizations such as AOL, Business Fleet Magazine, Cars.com, FCA, Fleet-Central.com, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, NADA Guides and Nissan as a means of providing automotive insight to their clientele. Vincentric, LLC is a privately held automotive data compilation and analysis firm headquartered in Bingham Farms, Michigan.
The contracts with two consulting firms to carry out technical studies into the impact of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam will be signed on 5 and 6 September, Egypt's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

In a meeting with reporters, Ahmed Abu Zeid said that the irrigation ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia will attend the contract signing in Sudan.

The three countries agreed in 2015 that two French firms, Artelia and BRL, would carry out technical studies into the impact of the hydroelectric dam, set to be Africa's largest when completed next year.

Negotiations have been ongoing since 2011, when Egypt raised concerns that the dam, located in the Ethiopian highlands on the Blue Nile, could impact its share of Nile water.

Since 2015, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, which is also downstream from the project, have been negotiating the terms of the two consultancy firms' contracts and the purview of the technical studies they will prepare.

President El-Sisi has adopted a positive tone on the dam and on Ethiopian relations in general, stressing that Egyptians have nothing to fear from the project.

Speaking to Egyptian media this week, he said that the negotiations on the technical studies were progressing in a way that is reassuring to all.

The Nile water will continue to flow to Egypt and to everyone else, he said. Egypt has started a new era in developing its relations with African countries, especially Nile Basin countries.

In his Tuesday statement, Abu Zeid said that Egyptian-Ethiopian relations are witnessing a new phase based on common interests, avoiding any damage to any party, as well as the development of strategic relations between Egypt and Sudan, Ethiopia.

A trilateral Declaration of Principles, signed by all three states last year, gives priority to downstream countries for electricity generated by the dam and providing compensation for any damages caused.

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According to Nielsen data, South African wine sales in the United States are up 14% by volume for the 52-week period ending July 16, 2016. The data also shows a 25% growth in value for total sales over that same period, indicating an increasing consumer willingness to spend more on wine from the region.

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) USA, a not-for-profit industry organization, attributes much of the growth to an increased importer focus on the region as a whole, coupled with greater boutique-importer demand for suppliers of small production, higher quality South African wines. WOSA has been working to amplify the surging popularity of the region by engaging trade audiences with a range of programs and events, including its third annual Sommelier Cup, a competition between more than 50 sommeliers designed to test skills and knowledge of South African wines. On August 13, 2016 at wine industry conference TEXSOM, Cheron Cowan, General Manager and Beverage Director at Harolds Meat + Three, was named champion of the US competition, and awarded the opportunity to participate in the global competition in Cape Town in September.

As we continue to educate the public, were thrilled to see consumers viewing South Africa, not only as a great region for value, but for quality as well, said Jim Clarke, Wines of South Africa US Marketing Manager. To see value of sales jump 25% in just 12 months is a true testament to both the skill and dedication of our wine makers, and the diligence of top-notch importers to bring those wines to market.

Progressive South African wine importers have been at the forefront of those seeking out niche producers and opening consumers up to the complexity of South Africas subcategories beyond its overarching New World label.

Im noticing that retailers and consumers alike are not shying away from higher end wines from South Africa, said Sam Timberg, Managing Director of Meridian Prime Inc., a boutique importer. The fact of the matter is that South African wines present great values at every price point, so you can be confident that if you are buying South African wine from a solid importer, you will be getting a wine that punches above its price point, no matter what you spend.

South African Chenin Blanc in particular has shown to be an increasingly attractive varietal among American consumers, due to its ability to appeal to a wide range of wine drinkers. The grape offers a unique combination of mouthfeel, aromatic generosity, and freshness, satisfying Chardonnay drinkers demands for body, while simultaneously offering the lighter qualities found more appealing by fans of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio. South Africa also boasts a range of old-vine Chenin Blancs, with approximately 2,500 acres of old vine Chenin, 35+ years of age, planted throughout the Western Cape.

Methode Cap Classique (MCC), South Africas officially designated sparkling wine, is yet another category that has seen tremendous growth in the U.S. market, up 51% in exports from South Africa compared to last year, according to South Africa Wine Industry Information & Systems. The Nielsen data shows that the increase in exports is paralleled by an in increase in the MCC sales of certain bottlings by over 500% from last year.

About Wines of South Africa

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) is the organization representing all South African producers of wine who export their products. WOSA, which was established in its current form in 1999, has over 500 exporters on its database, comprising all the major South African wine exporters. It is constituted as a not-for-profit company and is totally independent of any producer, wholesaling company or government department but is recognized by the South African Export Council. WOSA's mandate is to promote the export of all South African wines in key international markets including the United States.
Belkasoft is about to roll out a major update to Belkasoft Evidence Center, allowing customers to sign up for a pre-release. Version 8.0 adds a brand-new, all-in-one imaging and acquisition tool with mobile and cloud support. In-depth Volume Shadow Copy analysis enables discovering more destroyed evidence than ever, while the new Social Graph Builder helps visualizing suspects communication circles.

Evidence Center 8.0 is a leap forward, says Yuri Gubanov, Belkasoft CEO. The brand new acquisition tool now supports mobile acquisition and cloud extraction with Apple iCloud and Google Account support. While we aim our new imaging and acquisition toolkit at seasoned Belkasoft users, we offer everyone a test drive by providing the acquisition toolkit as a compact stand-alone download.

Belkasoft All-in-One Acquisition Tool

With this release, Belkasoft Evidence Center adds support for acquisition of a bunch of external data sources. The new Belkasoft Acquisition Tool (or "BelkaImager") allows acquiring information from a wide range of devices and popular cloud services.

BelkaImager can acquire information from a wide range of sources including all of the following:



RAM (32-bit and 64-bit live systems) and memory dumps

Hard drives and forensic disk images including unallocated space

Android and Apple iOS mobile devices via physical and logical acquisition

Popular cloud services such as Apple iCloud and Google Account

Supported storage media including solid-state drives, memory cards and flash sticks

Belkasoft offers BelkaImager as part of Belkasoft Evidence Center and as a free download. Users can sign up to receive the download link by contacting Belkasoft.

Social Graph Builder

The Social Graph Builder module helps investigators visualize suspects communications in a new window in the Evidence Center user interface. The Social Graph Builder integrates communications acquired from every communication app known to Belkasoft including dozens of email client programs, hundreds of mobile apps and instant messengers, social network communications, and finding close connections by creating groups of users. The module helps investigators discover the closest communication circles, determine persons who were the most actively communicating with the suspect and discover who played the key roles in communications within and between certain groups of users.

The Social Graph Builder considers the strength of connections by putting different priorities to different means of communications. For example, a phone call would receive a higher weight compared to a comment in a group chat.

Volume Shadow Copy Analysis

The updated Volume Shadow Copy analytics can now review all existing snapshots, allowing the expert to pick one for in-depth analysis. Belkasoft provides direct access to VSC structures without using third-party libraries, which allows analyzing large drives with multiple snapshots causing competing products to crash with memory overload.

Early Access Program

Belkasoft Evidence Center 8.0 is still in beta. Users can sign up for early access and receive the pre-release version at https://belkasoft.com/webinar.

About Belkasoft Evidence Center

Belkasoft Evidence Center is a world-renowned tool used by thousands of customers for conducting computer and mobile forensic investigations. Belkasoft Evidence Center can automatically discover, extract and analyze evidence from a wide range of sources including computer hard drives and disk images in all popular formats, memory dumps, mobile backups and chip-off dumps. The tool can capture and analyze volatile evidence stored in the computers RAM, identify encrypted files, carve Internet chat logs, Web browsing history and email communications including information stored in digital pictures and videos. The ability to process office documents in a wide range of formats enables investigators to perform near-instant full-text search among all the documents discovered on the suspects PC.

Low-level access to hard disk and system structures means that even data that has been deleted by the suspect cannot escape from investigators. Supporting Windows, Unix/Linux, Android and Mac OS X file systems, natively mounting images created in EnCase, FTK, X-Ways, DD and SMART formats, UFED and chip-off binary dumps, and many popular virtual machines without using these or any third-party tools, Belkasoft Evidence Center can collect more evidence than any single competing tool in its class.

About Belkasoft

Founded in 2002, Belkasoft is a global leader in digital forensics technology, known for their sound and comprehensive forensic tools. With a team of professionals in digital forensics, data recovery and reverse engineering, Belkasoft focuses on creating technologically advanced yet easy-to-use products for investigators and forensic experts to make their work easier, faster, and more effective.

With this focus in mind, Belkasoft introduces their flagship product, Belkasoft Evidence Center  an easy-to-use, integrated solution for collecting and analyzing digital evidence from mobile and computer devices. Customers in law enforcement, police, military, business, intelligence agencies, and forensic laboratories in 70+ countries worldwide use Belkasoft Evidence Center to fight homicide, crimes against children, drug trafficking, data leakage, fraud, and other online and offline crimes.

Belkasoft D-U-N-S number 683524694.

Belkasoft NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE, also CAGE) code SKF09.

Belkasoft is also registered within Central Contractor Registration (CCR), ORCA and WAWF.

Belkasoft is a registered trademark.

More information about the company and its products at https://belkasoft.com

# # #

More info on Belkasoft Evidence Center  https://belkasoft.com/ec

Download a trial of current v.7.5  https://belkasoft.com/trial

More info on upcoming BEC v.8.0  https://belkasoft.com/bec2017

Sign up for a webinar and EAP  https://belkasoft.com/webinar

Product tutorials  https://belkasoft.com/tutorials

Belkasoft articles on forensics  https://belkasoft.com/articles

Complete change log  https://belkasoft.com/new
Phone Medic - Repairs, Accessories, Cell Phone Sales and Buy Backs We are excited to hire a proven leader that shares our core values and will deliver upon the promise of keeping customers connected so they can continue to Live Happy.

Phone Medic, a high growth technology repair and resale company, announced today Christine Ricci is joining the company as Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Ricci will lead and continue developing the company's overall strategy. As a cornerstone of their early success, Ricci is charged with ensuring the exceptional service and professional experience that customers have come to expect from the largest provider of mobile device and cell phone repair in the Kansas City metro region.

We are excited to hire a proven leader that shares our core values and will deliver upon the promise of keeping customers connected so they can continue to Live Happy. Christine will play an essential role in the growth of Phone Medic as we continue to expand our Android and iPhone repair services, wireless accessory offering, trade-ins and pre-owned smartphone sales, said Paul Kushnir, co-owner and co-founder. A highly regarded business leader, Christine brings a wealth of experience in operational excellence, which will be key to ensuring fast repairs while maintaining the highest quality and positive outcomes.

Prior to joining Phone Medic, Ricci held various leadership positions at top Fortune 1000 companies and small businesses, that focused on business strategy, market development, operations and customer service. Her efforts resulted in significant revenue growth, market share increases, reduced cost and top ranked customer satisfaction.

It is an honor to be part of a high caliber team whose mission is to enable every customer to Stay Connected and Live Happy, said Christine Ricci. These are exciting times in the mobile technology industry and I look forward to delivering upon our promise of exceptional, fast service.

The recipient of numerous marketing and leadership awards, Ricci earned a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky.

About Phone Medic

Phone Medic is privately owned with corporate offices in Overland Park, KS. They specialize in smart phone repairs, wireless phone and accessory sales, and cell phone buy backs. With nearly 35,000 customers served in the past two years, there are currently 8 stores are located in Kansas and Missouri - Olathe, Lawrence, Overland Park, Lenexa, Blue Springs, Independence, Vivian and North Oak in Kansas City, and Zona Rosa in Kansas City. Phone Medic will soon be opening their 9th store in the Kansas City area, which will be located in Olathe at 119th & Strang Line Rd. For more information, visit http://PhoneMedic.com, call (913) 933-9660 or email Ms. Ricci directly at Christine.Ricci(at)PhoneMedic(dot)com.
Loving Moments Partners with Black Breastfeeding Week to Help Moms Share in the Joys of Breastfeeding The statistics are clear, a breastfed child is healthier and we want to help improve the infant morality rates in African American communities.

In a joint collaboration to spread the joys of breastfeeding, Loving Moments by Leading Lady partners with the fourth annual Black Breastfeeding Week event by donating nursing bras to participating breastfeeding organizations across the country. Black Breastfeeding Week is a week-long event (August 25-31) at the end of National Breastfeeding Month that celebrates and advocates the health benefits and personal empowerment of breastfeeding. The celebration is spearheaded by Kiddada Green, Kimberly Seals-Allers and Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka. Black Breastfeeding Week is using the hashtags #BBW16 and #BlackBFJoy so mothers can share in the celebration.

Oh, What a Joy, the theme of this years Black Breastfeeding Week celebrates the joy and bliss that breastfeeding bond can bring to babies, mothers, fathers, families and communities. Mothers who successfully breastfeed not only improve the health of their babies for a lifetime, they also feel empowered and accomplished. As the joy spreads, every aspect of the community can grow and thrive.

Black Breastfeeding Week celebrates and promotes breastfeeding as a timeless tradition and highlights the communities and organizations carrying it forward. According to the CDC, breastfeeding could improve the infant mortality rate by up to 50% among African American babies and help prevent many common health conditions prevalent in black communities. Black mothers face additional barriers due to lack of support, awareness, role models and leadership promoting breastfeeding in their communities. Black Breastfeeding Week is a jubilant campaign to make breastfeeding in Black communities normal again.

Loving Moments is so happy that our breastfeeding awareness program is reaching more and more moms, said Mark Corrado, third generation owner of Leading Lady. The statistics are clear, a breastfed child is healthier and we want to help improve the infant morality rates in African American communities.

Loving Moments is providing nursing bras to moms through breastfeeding support agencies that are celebrating Black Breastfeeding Week with special events. The participating groups and links to their Facebook pages can be found here.

Loving Moments contribution to support Black Breastfeeding Week is part of an unprecedented donation of nearly 30,000 nursing bras worth over $350,000 that began during World Breastfeeding Week and continued throughout August to help raise awareness for breastfeeding and encourage more moms  at any income level, of any race, in any state  to nurture their babies in the healthiest way possible.

Loving Moments is dedicated to raising awareness for breastfeeding all year long and helping create change to support babies, mothers, families and communities. By working with community breastfeeding organizations, Loving Moments makes an impact where it counts the most for this cause: directly with moms who strive to nourish their babies through breastfeeding.

About Leading Lady

Leading Lady is a premier nursing and full figure intimate apparel company dedicated to creating comfortable, affordable, stylish bras and camis. Family owned and operated since 1939; Leading Lady has been supporting breastfeeding moms and babies for over 77 years. Leading Lady is an innovator in maternity and nursing intimates that help new and expectant moms nourish and nurture their babies. Visit http://www.LeadingLady.com for additional information and follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram @LeadingLadyBras.

About Loving Moments

Loving Moments by Leading Lady features maternity and nursing apparel for every occasion, from pregnancy through nursing. Loving Moments is the intersection of quality nursing essentials and an exceptional value, and is available at Wal-Mart and WalMart.com. Visit http://lovingmomentsbras.com for additional information and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @LovingMomentsBras and Twitter @LovingMomentsBr.
The Institutes CPCU Society International Ambassador (CSIA) Program has selected Min Wang (Frank), CPCU, RPLU, ARe, to represent international CPCU Society members and candidate members at The Institutes CPCU Society 2016 Annual Meeting, being held from September 17 to 20 in Honolulu.

Wang is the liability specialist and treaty underwriter in Gen Res Asia Pacific Treaty Department, based in Shanghai. He is responsible for developing and underwriting liability treaty portfolios, and he is the key advisor on liability insurance and reinsurance and other liability-related industry issues. He has more than 10 years casualty underwriting experience. Before joining Gen Re in 2013, he worked for leading international general insurers.

"I feel very honored to be chosen by the Society as its 2016 international ambassador, and attend the Annual Meeting on behalf of international CPCU Society members and candidate members. This is not only a huge recognition for myself, but also a great encouragement to fast-growing CPCU designation holders and candidates in China. We will work closely with the Society to encourage more and more local CPCUs to become part of the CPCU Society in the future."

In response to the growing number of international Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designees and candidates, the CPCU Society has expanded its presence outside the United States. CPCUs and CPCU candidates not based in the U.S. face different challenges from those who are, including having to learn the material and take the exams in English, which may be a second language for them. The CPCU Society established the CSIA Program to recognize CPCUs outside the U.S. for their efforts in promoting the CPCU designation globally and to provide financial support for them to attend the Annual Meeting.

About The Institutes CPCU Society

The Institutes CPCU Society is a community of credentialed insurance professionals who promote excellence through ethical behavior and continuing education. The CPCU Societys members who number more than 22,000, hold the CPCU designation, which requires passing rigorous undergraduate- and graduate-level examinations, meeting experience requirements, and agreeing to be bound by a strict code of professional ethics.

More information about The Institutes CPCU Society is available at http://www.CPCUSociety.org.
Understanding all health care settings is requisite to effectively managing transitions, ACMA and LifeCare have partnered to bridge acute and long term acute care data. ~ L. Greg Cunningham, ACMA Chief Executive Officer

The American Case Management Association (ACMA) announced today that it has expanded Compare, its benchmarking and analytics service for avoidable delays and readmissions, to long term acute care (LTAC) facilities.

LifeCare Hospitals, a national leader in long term acute care, has joined ACMAs more than 200 contributing subscribers. LifeCare Hospitals, with 24 hospitals in nine different states, will lay the foundation as they work with ACMA to refine the LTAC standardized dictionary of root causes and best practices.

Understanding all health care settings is requisite to effectively managing transitions, ACMA and LifeCare have partnered to bridge acute and long term acute care data  creating an expanding repository of benchmarked readmission causes and delivery of care delays. We respect that LifeCare shares our philosophy of shared data, a commitment to reduce avoidable delays and readmissions and most importantly to work collaboratively with their acute care partners and strengthen successful patient transitions, said L. Greg Cunningham, ACMA Chief Executive Officer.

Compare benchmarking was developed in response to ACMA members requests for a benchmarking tool to provide analytics for avoidable delays and readmissions. Compare allows organizations to capture better data, make better decisions and ultimately improve outcomes for these two metrics. Compares subscription service integrates with existing software platforms and includes standardized root causes, staff education, benchmarking reports, expert findings and a business case analysis.

For more information about Compare or to request a demo, visit http://www.acmaweb.org/compare or call 501-907-2262.

About ACMA:

Founded in 1999, the American Case Management Association (ACMA) is a national, non-profit, professional membership association, which strives to provide resources, solutions and support for Case Management and Transitions of Care professionals. ACMA is comprised of almost 6,500 members nationwide, including nurses, social workers, physicians and other professionals affiliated with case management. Through a variety of educational conferences and networking events at both the state and national level, ACMA provides its members with numerous opportunities to develop their skills, grow in their profession and learn from the experiences and practices of fellow members. For more information, visit http://www.acmaweb.org.
Volunteers from Maritz Motivation Solutions will be back in the classroom this year at Patrick Henry Downtown Academy for the We Learn Together Program. Developed by Maritz with Patrick Henry administrators and teachers and initiated last year, We Learn Together aims to apply the fundamentals of incentive and recognition programs to reinforce student performance. Maritz partnered with Patrick Henry, a downtown St. Louis elementary school, through a corporate partnership with Teach for AmericaSt. Louis.

By applying some of the same principles of Maritz programs, weve been able to move the needle that much faster. Last year, we celebrated our students success, and took important steps toward creating a true sense of community among our students, said Colby Heckendorn, principal of Patrick Henry. This helped move our students forward, which is the ultimate goal of the program. We are so thankful to be working with Maritz and to have the partnership.

Patrick Henry had an enrollment last year of 275 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Last years We Learn Together program focused on three areas: attendance, culture and achievement. In terms of attendance, the goal was for 90% of students to be present 90% of the time. The program met the goal, resulting in an attendance level 8% higher than the previous year, Heckendorn said.

In the area of culture, the program focused on assisting children to recognize and honor specific traits, such as kindness, ownership and leadership, in themselves and others. And achievement centered on independent reading levels, with the objective of students logging approximately a year and half progress in reading in one school year.

We Learn Together works by honoring students at monthly breakfasts and other recognition events. Students also can earn points to receive special prizes. Parents and students discuss last years results in this video. One parent noted that her son, in first grade last year, was reading at a fourth-grade level by the end of the year.

According to findings by The Maritz Institute, science has proven that setting a specific goal can make a huge difference in how people perform. Another principle called social proof suggests that people are motivated by seeing others achieve. These principles and others are at the heart of the incentive and recognition programs designed for Maritz clients.

The We Learn Together program is a direct reflection of our commitment to building a better community through our work in education, said Russ Frey, director, people-centered design for Maritz Motivation Solutions. Its fulfilling to know that our incentive programs help our clients achieve business results and especially satisfying to use those same principles to help people in our community.

Media are invited to attend We Learn Togethers next Honors breakfast on Tuesday, September 20, 8:30 a.m., at Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, 1220 N. 10th Street.

About Maritz Motivation Solutions

Maritz Motivation Solutions is part of the Maritz family of companies. The company is a leader in providing consumer loyalty, employee recognition, sales incentive and channel loyalty programs to U.S. and global companies. The company provides best-in-class rewards and fulfillment services including purposefully-chosen merchandise and experiences that excite, motivate and recognize people around the world. The people who work for Maritz Motivation Solutions are dedicated to being the best in the business, fun to work with and their clients most valuable ally. For more information, visit http://www.maritzmotivation.com, subscribe to our blog, follow us on Twitter or call 1-877-4-Maritz (1-877-462-7489).
Doctors Maria Hordinsky, Donald Glass and Charles E. Crutchfield III. I am thrilled with the success of the Crutchfield Lectureship and that it has become an anticipated event in the Twin Cities medical community.

Nationally known Dermatology expert on skin of color issues and keloid treatments, Donald Glass, MD, Ph.D., delivered the University of Minnesota Department of Dermatology Fifth Annual Doctors Charles and Susan Crutchfield Dermatology Lecture to a packed room of medical students, residents, and physicians. The lecture, Keloids: Risk Factors, Research and Treatment took place at the Coffman Union on the campus of the University of Minnesota August 10th, 2016. The annual lectureship is supported by the Crutchfield Dermatology Foundation.

The Doctors Charles and Susan Crutchfield Lectureship is a highly anticipated annual event that has quickly become the must-attend event for medical students, residents, and dermatology practitioners in the Twin Cities. The purpose of the Doctors Charles and Susan Crutchfield Lectureship is to enrich and enhance medical student, resident and dermatology practitioner education on the topic of dermatological aspects of skin of color and practice management principles. It was established by the Crutchfield Dermatology Foundation, in honor of Dr. Charles Crutchfield II (1963) and Dr. Susan Crutchfield-Mitsch (1963), by their son, Charles E. Crutchfield III, MD, Medical Director of Crutchfield Dermatology and Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is the trustee of the Crutchfield Dermatology Foundation.

Susan Crutchfield, MD, graduated in 1963 from the University of Minnesota Medical School at age 22 as the first African-American woman and youngest person ever to graduate from the Universitys Medical School. Dr. Susan Crutchfield not only provided medical care to patients in the Twin Cities, but she was also a leader in childrens health organizations.

Charles Crutchfield MD was a 1963 graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School and was the first African-American obstetrician practicing in Minnesota. He delivered over 10,000 babies in his career. He was a past President of the Minnesota Association of Black Physicians and past Chief of the OB/GYN department at United Hospital.

Originally from the Bahamas, Dr. Donald Glass enrolled in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine in 1998 and received his Ph.D. in 2005 from the Department of Human Genetics. Dr. Glass completed residency training in Dermatology and is board certified by the American Board of Dermatology practicing general dermatology with an interest in genetic skin disorders.

Previous Doctors participating as a Crutchfield Lecturer are Rebat Halder MD, Amy McMichael MD, Dina Strachan MD, and Seemal Desai MD.
Thad L. Bench, Sr., CEO of Benchworks At Benchworks, our goal is to provide measurable results for our clients through a relentless focus on marketing strategy, quality and service, all with a spirit of graciousness.

Inc. magazine recently ranked Benchworks, a comprehensive marketing services agency, No. 1005 on its 35th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing privately held companies in America. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the U.S. economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses.

The 2016 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com, is the most competitive crop in the lists history. The average company on the list achieved a mind-boggling three-year growth of 433%. 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% 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 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 greatusually from scratch. Thats one of the hardest things to do in business, as every company founder knows. But without it, free enterprise fails.

This year marks the second time Benchworks has been included on the Inc. 5000, appearing alongside such companies as Pandora, Dominos Pizza, LinkedIn, Yelp and Timberland. Benchworks ranking is based on its three-year sales growth of 395% and revenue of $31.1 million.

Thad L. Bench, Sr., CEO of Benchworks, commented on the achievement, saying, At Benchworks, our goal is to provide measurable results for our clients through a relentless focus on marketing strategy, quality and service, all with a spirit of graciousness. I am very proud that our team has been successful in accomplishing that task through their tireless dedication while the Benchworks leadership team has skillfully managed sustainable growth.

Companies on the list will be honored at the annual Inc. 5000 conference in October in San Antonio. The event recognizes these companies for their remarkable achievements and contributions to the economy. The event will feature inspirational speakers and networking opportunities.

About Benchworks

Benchworks, a comprehensive marketing services agency headquartered in Chestertown, Maryland, was founded in 1991. The company specializes in the design, production, and launch of complete marketing and branding services. Clients include a wide variety of companies in the life science, pharmaceutical, beverage, manufacturing, and education industries in North America and Europe. For additional information, visit http://www.benchworks.com or call 800-536-4670.

About Inc. 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.

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 http://www.inc.com.
When families living in poverty struggle to pay rent and keep food on the table, school supplies become a luxury, Mary Garcia, senior corporate relations director for World Vision.

Milgard Windows & Doors provided a $25,000 donation to World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children and families tackling poverty and injustice, to help fund their Building Material Center (BMC) and Teacher Resource Center (TRC) programs.

The TRC donation helped to provide Pacific Northwest teachers with essential school supplies to support classroom learning.

When families living in poverty struggle to pay rent and keep food on the table, school supplies become a luxury, said Mary Garcia, senior corporate relations director for World Vision. When school districts are unable to help, school teachers also struggle to fill the gap. Thats where the Teacher Resource Center donations come in.

The financial contribution from Milgard, also helped to fund the World Vision BMC Program. This provided plumbing, electrical and construction supplies for the repair and maintenance of housing and community facilities of those living in poverty.

Milgard has a great program called MG/CAT, which stands for Matching Gift / Community Action Team. Any employee can join and actively give back to the community, said Jeremiah Noneman, marketing director for Milgard Windows & Doors. The World Vision donation was co-sponsored by our parent company, Masco Corporation, through a recommendation from the MG/CAT team to provide assistance to this needy charity in the greater Seattle area.

Through these two programs, Milgard was able to assist local children and their families with essential building materials needed to ensure they are residing in a safe, warm and dry environment, as well as aid in their learning process by providing valuable school supplies.

About Milgard Windows & Doors Corporation

Milgard Windows & Doors, a Masco company based in Tacoma, Washington, offers a full line of vinyl, wood, fiberglass and aluminum windows and patio doors for builders, dealers and homeowners, all backed by a Full Lifetime Warranty, including parts and labor. The company has been recognized for manufacturing the nations highest quality vinyl windows eight times in a yearly survey sponsored by Hanley-Wood Inc., publishers of BUILDER Magazine. Milgard has approximately 3,800 dealer locations nationwide. For more information, visit milgard.com or call 1.800.MILGARD.

About Masco Corporation

Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS), parent company of Milgard Windows & Doors, is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded home improvement and building products. Our portfolio of industry-leading brands includes Behr paint; Delta and Hansgrohe faucets, bath and shower fixtures; KraftMaid and Merillat cabinets; Milgard windows and doors; and HotSpring spas. We leverage our powerful brands across product categories, sales channels and geographies to create value for our customers and shareholders. For more information about Masco Corporation, visit Masco.com.

About World Vision

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information, visit http://www.worldvision.org/media or on Twitter @WorldVisionUSA.
Egypt's prosecutor-general sent on Tuesday a request to judicial authorities in three countries to unfreeze the assets and funds abroad of once-fugitive Egyptian business tycoon Hussein Salem and his family following a final reconciliation with the Egyptian government.

In an official statement by the prosecutor-general's office, top prosecutor Nabil Sadek  who is also the chief of a national committee to retrieve funds and assets abroad  sent the official requests to Switzerland, Spain and Hong Kong after the business mogul gave up EGP 5.3 billion (approx. $596.5 million) to the government.

This figure accounts for 75 percent of his assets inside and outside Egypt, Adel Al-Sayed, a justice ministry aide for the Illicit Gains Authority, told reporters last week.

Sadek also sent a request that Interpol remove the names of the businessman and his family from the "red notice," as well as the removal of their names from the arrival-watching lists.

Salem, 82, fled to Spain shortly after Egypts 2011 uprising that overthrew long-time president Hosni Mubarak. He has received two jail terms in absentia over corruption charges including squandering public funds, profiteering and money laundering.

Salem was a major shareholder in East Mediterranean Gas, which exported gas to Israel.

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The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture (School) has begun a productive dialogue with the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) around establishing the School as an independent institution and maintaining its accreditation. The School is working closely with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and HLC to resubmit its application in November, following formal notification from the HLC in July that its Board voted not to approve the Schools request for Change of Control.

School Dean Aaron Betsky and Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation President & CEO Stuart Graff met with HLC earlier this month, and are confident that the School is on track to meet requirements so the School can maintain accreditation as an independent institution. Once approved, accreditation will transfer to the School as an independent operating subsidiary of the Foundation. In the interim, the School will continue to operate as an integral, accredited part of the Foundation and as it works closely with the HLC to reapply for Change of Control in November.

The response from HLC was never a matter of a disagreement with what was previously submitted. In consultation with their staff, we now understand the areas where they would like to see us flesh out our previous submission, said Graff. HLC also posed questions around the Schools governance, and the group collaboratively discussed solutions to these issues. Graff added, It was a positive and productive meeting, and we plan to work closely with them as we resubmit this fall. We have every reason to believe this will lead to a positive outcome.

As Betsky and Graff work together to resubmit in November, advancing the Schools independence, they are making a plan to transition the relationship to a strong partnership that continues to advance shared goals and support each others efforts.

HLCs review process does not affect tours or other programming at Taliesin and Taliesin West, which remain open to the public as part of the Foundations work to promote Wrights legacy.

About the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation:

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, established by Wright in 1940, is dedicated to preserving Taliesin and Taliesin West for future generations, and inspiring society though an understanding and experience of Frank Lloyd Wrights ideas, architecture and design. Wrights legacy, reflected in contemporary work around sustainable and affordable architecture and excellence in design, is of even greater importance today than in his own time. The Foundation is forward-looking, but rooted in the history of the Taliesin communities. Please visit FrankLloydWright.org for more information on tour schedules, cultural and educational experiences and events.

About the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture:

Founded by Frank Lloyd Wright over seventy years ago as an architecture apprenticeship program, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has been accredited since 1985. It is dedicated to teaching architecture at a graduate level so that students may learn how to make the human-made environment more sustainable, open, and beautiful. Embodying the principles of organic architecture and the notion of working with the land rather than building upon it, the Schools curriculum is based on the concepts of learning by doing and collective experimentation. Students learn from Frank Lloyd Wrights architecture by working and living in its two campuses Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Atlanta Public Schools (APS) announced today its partnership with WINGS for kids, an education nonprofit focused on social and emotional learning, or SEL, as part of APS targeted rollout of SEL efforts throughout the district. Starting Aug. 29, WINGS for kids will provide daily educational programming focused on teaching SEL skills, such as relationship building and responsible decision-making, in an afterschool setting to K-3 students at Emma Hutchinson Elementary School.

WINGS for kids will be the only afterschool program in APS focused solely on supporting kids social and emotional learning.

Social and emotional learning is a district-wide initiative that prioritizes the teaching of critical skills our students need to thrive. Through SEL, we are able to explicitly teach our students skills such as managing their emotions, creating positive relationships, and setting goals, said APS Superintendent Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen. Our partnership with WINGS innovative afterschool program will enhance the critical SEL instruction our students receive during the school day.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, WINGS serves more than 1,400 underrepresented students in schools across three states. With the addition of the Hutchinson Elementary School site, the Atlanta area is now the organizations largest region. Hutchinson Elementary is also one of the most ethnically diverse schools WINGS serves, and therefore, the site will be led by a bilingual program director to better support the schools large Latino population.

WINGS is entering our fifth year of service in Fulton County Schools, and we are thrilled to expand our area of service in metro Atlanta with this new partnership with APS, said Denise Blake, Atlanta executive director at WINGS for kids. Our 20-year history of social-emotional skills delivery is a perfect fit for APS renewed focus on making SEL a district-wide priority, allowing us to help close the achievement gap among some of the districts most vulnerable students.

In addition to its partnership with WINGS, APS transformative work in SEL includes the rollout of an SEL strategy to 65 APS campuses serving Pre-K through 12th grade students with an SEL curriculum and other programming components.

About Atlanta Public Schools

Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 50,000 students across 97 learning sites. The district is organized into nine K-12 clusters, 87 schools that include 16 charter schools and two citywide single-gender academies. For more information, visit http://www.atlantapublicschools.us

About WINGS for kids

WINGS for kids is a nonprofit education program that teaches kids how to behave well, make good decisions and build healthy relationships. The program weaves a comprehensive social and emotional learning curriculum into a fresh and fun afterschool programspecifically targeted toward supporting low-income, minority students. Kids get the life lessons they need to succeed and be happy, and a safe place to call home after the school day ends.
Todd Boney, Chief Financial Officer of FPX Todd Boney brings great experience to FPX with a strong track record of contributing to high-growth Software as a Service (SaaS) companies. We are delighted to welcome Todd to the FPX Management Team.

FPX, a leader in enterprise Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) applications, today announced Todd Boney has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective August 1, 2016. Holding nearly 30 years of executive experience, Mr. Boney will contribute significantly to FPXs growth strategies.

FPX has established a diversified plan for organic growth and as we look at expanding the scope of our growth strategies, weve also expanded our executive team with contributors who can drive these plans, said Dave Batt, Chief Executive Officer of FPX. Todd Boney brings great experience to FPX with a strong track record of contributing to high-growth Software as a Service (SaaS) companies. We are delighted to welcome Todd to the FPX Management Team.

After recently being acquired by private equity firm HGGC, FPX sought out a financial executive who specializes in managing the organizational changes brought about by significant growth. Mr. Boney certainly fits the criteria.

Throughout his career, Mr. Boney has lead corporate growth efforts for private equity-owned organizations by partnering with management teams and their ownership groups. His sales management expertise and experience working for other rapidly growing software companies make him uniquely qualified to support FPXs expansion into international markets.

FPXs vision for its growth trajectory is what compelled me to join the company, said Mr. Boney. I am excited to take on this role and join such an experienced leadership team led by Dave Batt and to partner with members of HGGC.

Mr. Boney has served as CFO for two other software companies, Strata Decision Technology and PreVisor, as well as Magnequench International, Inc., a specialty materials company. Owned by private equity firms, all three companies were industry and product leaders and all shared a common theme of rapid growth, driven in part by international expansion and M&A. Most recently, Mr. Boney founded a consulting business focused on M&A integration for companies owned by private equity firms.

Mr. Boney will be based in FPXs Dallas headquarters.

About FPX:

FPX is a SaaS company and leading provider of enterprise Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) applications. Based in Dallas, TX, FPX delivers a platform of cloud-based solutions that enables large, global companies to sell complex products and services with incredible speed, efficiency and precision across all channels. FPX Enterprise CPQ empowers companies to augment their existing CRM systems, Commerce sites, and ERP applications by providing an omni-channel platform to optimize and automate all Quote-to-Order business processes, including configuration, pricing, quoting, contract management, workflow, e-signature, and data management. More information is available at http://www.fpx.com.
Addiction Medicine Expert Dr. Indra Cidambi

On August 31st, people around the world will participate in International Overdose Awareness Day in order to raise awareness of the epidemic and enlighten the public of dangers of drug use. International Overdose Awareness Day provides an opportunity to educate the public about the dangers of drug use and allows people who have lost loved ones to the disease to mourn and share their stories of addiction.

According to the United Nations World Drug Report (2016), about 250 million people between the ages of 15 and 64 worldwide (1 in 20 adults) used at least one drug in 2014, of which 29 million people are estimated to suffer from substance use disorders. It was estimated that there were 207,400 drug-related deaths (43.5 deaths per million people), of which between a third and half (69,000-104,000) were overdose deaths. In the United States, just over 47,000 people died in 2014 from drug overdose. The statistics are especially staggering for the United States, as the country has about 6% of the worlds population but greater than 50% of the worlds overdose deaths. The public recognition of the diseases toll will reduce the stigma associated with addiction and help individuals with substance use disorders recognize that they are fighting a disease and that there is help available.

Dr. Indra Cidambi, a leading Addiction Expert and Medical Director of the Center for Network Therapy, shares four unique ways for individuals to participate in International Overdose Awareness Day:



Help Reduce Stigma  Addiction is a disease and it should be treated as one. Families and individuals affected by the disease should be able to talk about it openly and get the best help possible. So, educate people on what you know about addiction and create forums where people can openly share their experiences  failures, as well as success.

Provide Inspiration  If you are not directly impacted by addiction, stimulate conversation on Twitter and Facebook to get people talking about the harmful effects of drugs, the impact of drugs on their lives, what worked for them, especially how they made it out of the abyss, and how they are living enriching lives. Individuals suffering from the disease of addiction need to know that there is a way out, there is hope and there is a beautiful life without drugs.

Host an Event- If you can, get people to come out and show their support for families and friends who have lost a love one to drug overdose. Set up a table with literature from your local chapter of the NCADD or drug court at the library (with appropriate permission) or a busy street corner of your town. It will provide concerned citizens and families affected by substance abuse a rallying point.

Wear Silver- Silver is the official color of International Overdose Awareness Day. Show your support for people suffering from substance use disorders and empathize with people who have lost loved ones to this often deadly disease.

For more information on substance abuse dependency, addiction and treatment, please go to http://www.RecoveryCNT.com.

About Dr. Indra Cidambi

Indra Cidambi, M.D., Medical Director, Center for Network Therapy, is recognized as a leading expert and pioneer in the field of Addiction Medicine. Under her leadership the Center for Network Therapy started New Jerseys first state licensed Ambulatory (Outpatient) Detoxification program for all substances nearly three years ago. Dr. Cidambi is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and double Board Certified in Addiction Medicine (ABAM, ABPN). She is fluent in five languages, including Russian.

About Center for Network Therapy

Center for Network Therapy (CNT) was the first facility in New Jersey to be licensed to provide Ambulatory (Outpatient) Detoxification Services for all substances of abuse  alcohol, anesthetics, benzodiazepines, opiates and other substances of abuse. Led by a Board Certified Addiction Psychiatrist, Indra Cidambi, M.D., experienced physicians and nurses closely monitor each patients progress. With CNTs superior client care and high quality treatment, Dr. Cidambi and her clinical team have successfully detoxed over 750 patients in over three years. CNT also provides Partial Care and IOP programs.
The Ten Pillars of a Successful Subscription Business A successful subscription business is like an iceberg  the portion visible above water seems modest in size and simple but belies the size and complexity of what lies underneath.

Navint Partners, LLC is pleased to present a new original whitepaper series, in conjunction with MGI research, focused on Subscription Business Models (SBMs.) As a leading consulting services provider in the space, Navint will provide fresh monthly insights on SBMs that are designed to provide guidance and information for companies looking to better understand and capitalize on this evolving business trend.

Subscription Business Models hold a lot of promise. Customers find the concept digestible. Investors love the predictable revenue streams and companies see SBMs as a way to gain agility in business. For start-ups, an offering priced as a subscription serves as a proven method of customer acquisition. New companies often build their brand equity using the subscription model customer interaction as part of their whole product experience. Established companies look to subscriptions as means of reaching into new markets and serving new classes of customers. But what defines success of a subscription business? What are the key elements that define the characteristics of a successful subscription revenue business?

Businesses that succeed with subscription revenue models tend to take a holistic approach defined by ten key elements:



PRICING

FRICTIONLESS SELF-SERVICE

ENGAGEMENT

METRICS

PEOPLE

TOOLS

PROCESS

DATA

SECURITY

STRATEGY

For a more detailed description of each component of successful subscription businesses, download the complete whitepaper here: http://www.navint.com/Subscription-Services-and-Monetization-Resources

About Us

Navint Partners is a different kind of management consulting firm, blending unique industry experience and innovative thinking to address clients' business challenges in imaginative ways. Navint is the right partner for organizations facing a journey to efficient and scalable recurring revenue streams. We help our clients with all aspects of the Subscription Business Model journey, from strategy development and rationalization to realization of the strategy through effective team, process, and technology design.

Visit us at http://www.navint.com/Subscriptionservices for more information on Navints service offerings.
Ascension Parish Shelter Aids Homeless. "Early assessment estimates that remediation will cost $30 Billion" says Brett Black, Devault Foods COO "The Devault Foods family is happy to help with a hot meal and by calling attention to the devastating need."

A report released on Friday (August 19, 2016) by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) outlined early damage done by recent floods. The Devault Foods family was swept away by the statistics and photos. According to the BRAC report, 20 parishes in Louisiana have been effected by floods. The attention of the community is shifting from emergency response to recovery efforts. The community is blessed that loss of life has been low in comparison to property damage. says Brett Black, Devault Foods COO. Unfortunately early estimates forecast that remediation will cost upward of $30 Billion, this is almost twice the investment needed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The Devault Foods family swept into action. Over 50 cases of food with a market value of almost $5,000.00 was dispatched to Baton Rouge.

BRAC reports:



110,000* homes have been effected by the flood

7.364* businesses in the Capital Region employing 73,907 people are effected; this accounts for 21% of the regions businesses and 18% of the employee force.

An additional 5,360* businesses employing an estimated 49,951 people in surrounding parishes are effected by flooding.

*It should be noted that these statistics are growing as rains continued through the weekend.

On Friday afternoon, Devault Foods equipped a Chester County based non-profit, Helping To Heal Haiti with cases of burgers and sausages. Helping To Heal Haiti (HTHH) is a 501(c) 3 corporation and certified Non-Government Organization that has experience with disaster recovery and relief after the Haitian earthquake in Port Au Prince and more recently in north Jersey after Super Storm Sandy. The HTHH team represents Emergency Medical Technicians and talented contractors. They travelled to Ascension Parish over the weekend and will be engaged in relief projects this week.

Talk about swept away, says Shelly Meadowcroft, Co-Founder of HTHH. Devault Foods donation was beyond our expectation! Our experience tells us that pulling in with a hot meal for relief workers and community members who want to stay close to their remaining belongings means a great deal to those effected by disaster. It also gives us an opportunity to engage in conversation with local people to assess where we can assist with clean-up and demolition. Unfortunately at this phase of the disaster, demolition is critical to avoid the spread of disease and illness.

Devault Foods is grateful for the opportunity to extend food and prayers to the people of Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes, says Michael Zacco Vice President of Sales. Communication channels are set up between Devault and the HTHH team on the ground. As additional needs are assessed, the Devault Foods Family will support and promote a Go Fund Me project to send additional support. Please go to http://www.gofundme.com/BatonRougeLove to learn more about what is happening and to get involved.

The health and prosperity of families is important to Devault Foods. The health of local communities is built on the foundation of businesses  large and small. The devastation of recent floods has not yet been realized. The Devault Foods family would like the residents and business families of Baton Rouge to know that additional efforts are underway, that they are in the thoughts and prayers of many and that a continued effort will be made to build awareness.

# # #

Devault Foods is built upon seven (7) decades of the Fillippos family experience. The heritage includes cattle farmers, butchers and recently leaders in the food service industry. Devault Foods is unrivaled in operational excellence and is a market leader in portion-controlled meat packaging. Today, Devault Foods is focused on current trends and the future needs of the marketplace. Commitment to quality and excellence goes beyond industry standards and provides a platform to deliver exceptional products well into the future. For more information, please visit http://www.devaultfoods.com

Helping To Heal Haiti is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit corporation and certified Non-Government Organization. Co-Founders Shelly Meadowcroft and Bruce Harlon created the organization to respond to emergency needs in Haiti as a result of the 2010 earthquake. The mission expanded to include ongoing healthcare and education needs. The organization now supports 200 students in primary and secondary school, an introduction and advance English language program, as well as a pre-natal and infant clinic. The knowledge and experience gained in emergency relief has extended the mission domestically. HTHH responded to the needs of many north Jersey and Long Island families after Super Storm Sandy. For more information, visit http://www.helpingtohealhaiti.com
CareDox, the nations premiere electronic medical record tool for schools in almost 2500 schools around the country today announced the adoption of the Student Privacy Pledge (SPP) offered by the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) as a voluntary measure of public accountability and social responsibility for its handling of student electronic medical records. With more than 817 new school contracts to provide confidential and safe digital information management for school nurses, CareDox is engaged in continuous quality improvement and security with respect to privacy protection for students and families. These partnerships enable school health offices to streamline and bolster care for district students in school districts in more than 14 states.

With obvious sensitivity surrounding students personal health data, CareDox sees its role as privacy safeguard as tantamount to providing its EMR service, said Hesky Kutscher, Founder of CareDox. We not only constantly work on building in more security to our platform, we see ourselves as privacy advocates for the schools that trust us with their students information.

The Student Privacy Pledge is an elective measure that now includes more than 200 companies who work with student information. For CareDox, it is meant to be a public statement of their commitment to compliance at the state and federal level and with all of the schools with whom they contract. This means a commitment to not only treating identifiable student data as sacred and not sharing it with any third parties but also making it as easy as possible for parents and school personnel to access and use the data when necessary. The pledge also precludes any members from making any changes to their privacy policies without notifying and getting approval from the contracting school. To see the text of the pledge in its entirety click here: https://studentprivacypledge.org/privacy-pledge/

The founding principle of CareDox is simple - CareDox eliminates the need for paper documentation and storage, improves patient confidentiality and safety, as well as provides parental, staff, and physician remote access for exchanging and sharing important health information. It also streamlines care processes, monitors and tracks individual and population health data, transfers immunization information between the school and state registry. Schools are not charged any fee to use the CareDox platform and training is provided to school nurses and health professionals to use CareDox.

About CareDox: CareDox is the leading digital health platform for the largest and most consistent health delivery system in the country: K12 public schools. It is currently connected to immunization registries in 14 states. CareDoxs free medical technology covers students in over 2,800 schools. Find us at http://www.caredox.com or email info(at)caredox.com to learn more.
HA&W, LLP, a nationally-recognized tax, audit and business advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta, announced today that the firm has deemed 22 title agencies compliant with ALTA Best Practices.

These agencies, along with more than 450 others, have partnered with HA&W through its ComplianceSuccess Program. Developed in partnership with ALTA, the AICPA and the industrys top title agents, HA&Ws ComplianceSuccess Program assures lenders that a title agent or settlement firm meets the highest standards in compliance benchmarking, readiness and reporting across all seven ALTA Best Practice Pillars.

HA&W stands with its clients by only issuing attestation-level ALTA compliance reports, unlike other CPA firms in the market, said Lee Fields, managing director of Business Consulting Services at HA&W. Our services are the gold standard, as non-attest reports do not provide an opinion and do not follow the assurance standards of the AICPA.

According to AICPA standards, lenders can fully rely upon attestation programs such as ComplianceSuccess to help meet their regulatory obligations. The standards, however, do not support consulting engagement certifications or other less rigorous programs that are offered by many in the ALTA compliance industry. For that reason, a ComplianceSuccess certificate gives title agents a real advantage in the marketplace, as well as increased comfort in their own risk management.

HA&W provides a wide array of ALTA compliance reports including: CPA reviews, CPA examinations, SSAE16/SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports and ISO 27001 certifications. For a small agency, reviews start as low as $3,750, including a detailed readiness assessment. An examination adds HA&Ws CPA opinion along with increased onsite testing. SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports, along with ISO 27001 certifications, meet the needs of the largest and most sophisticated agencies.

Firms that have recently achieved ALTA Best Practices compliance through HA&Ws ComplianceSuccess Program include:



Affinity Title Services, Inc. (Boynton Beach, FL)

Barron & Redding, P.A. (Panama City, FL)

Buckner & Cook, LLC (Prattville, AL)

Buttram, Hawkins & Hopper, LLC (Centre, AL)

Donald M. McLeod (Camden, AL)

Dyer Land Title Company (Dyersburg, TN)

Foundation Title and Escrow Series, LLC (Nashville, TN)

Greg E. Beard, P.A. (Booneville, MS)

Hampton Law Firm, LLC (Farmerville, LA)

Harkavy Shainberg Kaplan & Dunstan PLC (Memphis, TN)

Hodge & Temple, PC (Atlanta, GA)

Kramer Huy P.A. (Marco Island, FL)

LA Title Solutions, LLC (Lehigh Acres, FL)

Marino Law Group, PLLC (Pittsford, NY)

Moore Law Firm, PLLC (Corinth, MS)

Passport Title Services, LLC (Rockville, MD)

Smartcounsel, PSC (Bowling Green, KY)

South Oak Title Gardendale, LLC (Birmingham, AL)

Southwest Title Company (Texarkana, AR)

Titlemasters, Inc. (Belle Chasse, LA)

US Patriot Title, LLC (Palm Coast, FL)

Williams, Parker, Harrison, Dietz & Getzen, Professional Association (Sarasota, FL)

The title agencies and settlement firms that have already achieved compliance with ALTA Best Practice are proactive leaders in their industry, said Fields. These businesses are looking to grow through the operational efficiencies achieved by implementing ALTA Best Practices, while at the same time positioning themselves as market front-runners.

For more information about HA&Ws ComplianceSuccess Program, or any of the other services HA&W offers to the title industry, visit http://www.compliancesuccess.com or call 1-844-848-6529.

About HA&Ws Title Industry Services:

HA&Ws Title Industry Services group elevates the operational effectiveness of agents, underwriters and lenders across the title industry. The group pioneered ALTA Best Practices compliance testing and reporting and, as the industry leader, has continued to refine it. The depth of the teams industry knowledge and business expertise allows them to offer a comprehensive range of products and services that go far beyond compliance and serve the industry with innovation available nowhere else. Whether in compliance, business valuation, cyber security, enterprise risk management, mergers and acquisitions or tax planning, HA&W protects its title industry clients and strengthens their businesses, delivering peace of mind.

To learn more about HA&Ws Title Industry Services, visit http://www.compliancesuccess.com.
U.S. Congressman Bill Posey held a town hall with some of the Space Coasts hardest working electronics employees when he visited electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider MC Assembly. The success of MC Assembly and its workers is proof of what can happen when government works to support American businesses like ours.

U.S. Congressman Bill Posey held a town hall with some of the Space Coasts hardest working electronics employees when he visited electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider MC Assembly in Melbourne on August 18.

Posey spoke with workers about their concerns this election season during a 90-minute visit to the Melbourne facility, located at 425 North Drive in Melbourne.

The representative also toured the manufacturing plant, which provides electronics manufacturing services for some of the countrys largest companies.

We showed Rep. Posey how the Space Coast is thriving because of the hard work of the people of Brevard County, said George Moore, CEO and president of MC Assembly, a $200-million manufacturer based in Melbourne. More than $60 million dollars are directly re-invested by MC Assembly in the state of Florida, with over $30 million in Brevard County alone, proof that MC Assembly is contributing to the success of the Space Coast.

Posey, who serves on the Committee on Science, Space and Technology and its two subcommittees on Space and Oversight, was given a guided tour of the MC Assembly plant, where the company produces electronics for the aviation, medical, telecommunications and defense industries.

Were a local business with our roots firmly planted in Brevard County, Moore said. The success of MC Assembly and its workers is proof of what can happen when government works to support American businesses like ours.

Posey, currently serving his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, represents Floridas 8th Congressional District, which includes all of Brevard and Indian counties as well as a portion of Orange County (Bithlo, Christmas and Wedgefield).

For more information about MC Assembly, please visit http://www.mcati.com.

About MC Assembly

MC Assembly (http://www.mcati.com), based in Melbourne, Fla., with additional operations in Billerica, Mass., and Zacatecas, Mexico, is a national leader in the contract manufacturing arena with annual revenues of approximately $200 million. It provides turnkey solutions to original equipment manufacturers and focuses on assembly of medium volume, medium mix printed circuit boards assemblies (PCBAs) and box builds. MC Assembly's capabilities include surface mount and pin-through-hole interconnection technologies, PCB and box build, DFM, DFT, DFA engineering, in-circuit, functional and environmental testing, and full box-build direct order fulfillment.
Lemi-Ola Erinkitola, Executive Director "Through our work we've provided 100,000 free books to children throughout the communities we serve..."

The Children's Reading Foundation national headquarters announces The Childrens Reading Foundation of Greater Chicago as recipient of its 2016 Flagship Chapter award. The award honors a reading foundation chapter that demonstrates mission effectiveness, sustainability, board engagement, and strong community support.

Lemi-Ola Erinkitola, executive director of The Childrens Reading Foundation of Greater Chicago, accepted the award on behalf of the chapter.

It has been a great honor to see both children and parents receive access to the learning materials they need, Erinkitola said. Through our work we've provided 100,000 free books to children throughout the communities we serve and provided parents with the knowledge and tools they need to allow them to be active participants in preparing their child for kindergarten. We're making a real impact with the diverse families that call Chicagoland home."

The chapter is dedicated to helping promote the message, Read With a Child 20 Minutes Every Day, and engaging parents and caregivers in childrens development from birth to age 5 to ensure every student succeeds in school and is reading on grade level by the end of third grade.

The Chicago chapter has also been instrumental in a recent randomized control trial study as part of a U.S. Department of Education Innovative Approaches to Literacy grant on the effectiveness of the national READY! for Kindergarten school readiness program.

For nearly five years, The Childrens Reading Foundation of Greater Chicago has demonstrated results in engaging and empowering families, schools, and its community to help improve childrens early reading and school readiness skills, Rick Donahoe, CEO of The Childrens Reading Foundation national office said. Were proud to present the Chicago chapter with this award to recognize the positive difference they are making for families in Greater Chicago.
Related Russian experts to assess security at Egyptian airports on 28 August

Egypt's Minister of Civil Aviation Sherif Fathy denied on Monday claims that Russia had requested that special terminals be set up in Egyptian airports for its citizens as a condition to resuming its flights to Egypt.

However, Minister Fathy said that Egypt was willing to allocate special terminals for Russian tourists if their numbers reached a certain level.

Fathy added that the two countries agreed that Russian security delegations will be allowed to inspect tourist resorts and hotels as part of the conditions to resume flights.

Russian flights to Egypt were suspended after a Russian airliner crashed in Sinai last year after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport. The North Sinai-based affiliate of the Islamic State militant group claimed to be behind to crash.

A number of European countries, including the UK and Germany, suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh after the crash over security concerns.

Russian tourists were 20 percent of the nine million tourists that visited Egypt in the first nine months of 2015 before the crash, according to official data.

Minister Fathy said that the ministry would put in place a special security system upon Russia's request where Egyptian airports employees would go through fingerprint identification at entrances.

"We welcome any security procedure taken by airliners at Egyptian airports as long as it does not violate Egyptian sovereignty," Fathy said.

The minister said that there is ongoing cooperation with Moscow and that he was expecting a visit by a Russian delegation at the end of August, after which Russia will make a decision on whether flights would resume in October.

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By offering comprehensive palliative care benefits to members of all ages, we ensure that families or caregivers facing one of lifes greatest tragedies will have an extra layer of support when they need it most, said Dr. Bruce Smith

Today Regence announced it has expanded the scope of its comprehensive palliative care benefit to include perinatal palliative care support. In the United States, approximately 23,000 children die just prior to birth or shortly after every year. Perinatal and pediatric palliative care will support, nurture and advocate for these families by providing the resources and care they need as they face this tragic life event. By incorporating perinatal and pediatric palliative care into its benefits, Regence is the first health plan in the country to provide full-spectrum palliative care support to its 1.7 million customers.

By offering comprehensive palliative care benefits to members of all ages, we ensure that families or caregivers facing one of lifes greatest tragedies will have an extra layer of support when they need it most, said Dr. Bruce Smith, Executive Medical Director for Personalized Care Support at Regence. Putting people first and leading the industry to transform health care is at the center of all that we do.

Regence provides specialized case management for pediatric and adult palliative care to ensure people are partnered with a nurse or social worker who has the experience and training to guide them through the palliative care process and coordinate their care.

Launched last year, Personalized Care Support (PCS) ensures a patients physical, social and spiritual needs are the focus of a care delivery plan that provides options and support to patients and caregivers. Regence was notably one of the first health plans to recognize the important role of caregivers in a patients journey, and provides caregiver support to Regence members and their families.

Results from Regences program after the first year confirm that offering a palliative care benefit improved overall patient outcomes and reduced hospital readmissions. Regence continues to work closely with providers and the community in order to advocate for people and further understand and support their needs across the care continuum.

Regence also supports health care professionals by offering continuing education opportunities and will sponsor an event in Seattle on September 20-21 titled Navigating Cultural Differences in Palliative Care to improve cross-cultural communication skills and support the provider community.

Our family of health plans in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah introduced one of the first comprehensive palliative care programs in June 2014.

About Regence

Regence serves nearly two million members through Regence BlueShield of Idaho, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and Regence BlueShield (select counties in Washington). Each health plan is a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Regence is part of a family of companies dedicated to transforming health care by delivering innovative products and services that change the way consumers nationwide experience health care. For more information, please visit regence.com.
Diallo J. Stevens, ABR, CRS We are ecstatic to have Diallo J. Stevens join us here at Landmark II

Diallo J. Stevens, a real estate sales professional and Associate Broker in Queens, NY, has joined the Keller Williams Landmark II Market Center.

We are ecstatic to have Diallo J. Stevens join us here at Landmark II, said Chris Abazis, Teamleader and CEO of Keller Williams Landmark II. Keller Williams offers its associates unparalleled career growth and lifelong learning opportunities in the real estate industry. We know that Diallo will be a great fit and that it is our customers who will truly benefit from Diallo joining us.

Diallo J. Stevens has been in the real estate industry for 14 years after an extensive background in IT. During that time he has been interviewed on real estate matters by Reuters News, ABC News, The Real Deal Magazine, The Residential Specialist, etc. He has been a panelist sharing best practices with the professional real estate community at the Triple Play Tri-State Convention, The Long Island Board of REALTORS Education Conference, etc. He holds numerous designations and certifications including Certified Residential Specialist, Seniors Real Estate Specialist, Certified Distressed Property Expert, Accredited Buyers Representative, Sellers Representative Specialist, etc. He was recognized as one of the Top 20 Under 40 real estate agents in 2013 by the Young Professionals Network. While in the Century 21 system, he was inducted into the Centurion Honor Society for several years of high production. Community service has always been important to Diallo. He currently serves as a Councilmember and the Treasurer of the Community Education Council for NYC School District 25 and a parent member of the School Leadership Team at PS 165 in Queens. He also teaches real estate classes for non-profits such as the Neighborhood Housing Service of both Northern Queens and Jamaica.

Keller Williams has put its mark on the real estate industry by offering comprehensive educational resources and technological tools. In 2015 Training Magazine named the company as the No. 1 training organization across all industries in the world.

I chose Keller Williams because of its reputation for integrity, its agent-centric business model, and its positive environment where agents support each other to help the clients, says Stevens. I want to continue to grow my real estate business, and Keller Williams provides the training and technology that will help me reach my goals.

The Landmark II Market Center, located at 75-35 31st Ave, Suite 202, Jackson Heights, NY, was established in 2010 and currently has 232 agent partners. The company has experienced an average growth of 22.5% in closed units year over year since its inception. Since launching, over $800,000 in owner profits have been shared back with the agent partners.

To learn more about Keller Williams, call Diallo Stevens at 347-846-1114 or visit Whyimoved.info.

About Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

Austin-Texas based Keller Williams Realty, Inc. is the largest real estate franchise by agent count in the world with 700 offices and 125,000 associates across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. In 2015, Training Magazine named Keller Williams the No. 1 training organization across all industries in the world.

Since 1983, Keller Williams has grown exponentially and continues to cultivate an agent-centric, education-based, technology-driven culture that rewards agents as stakeholders. The company also provides specialized agents in luxury homes, commercial and farm and ranch properties.

For more information, visit WhyImoved.info.

Connect with us:

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twitter.com/DialloStevens

linkedin.com/in/DialloStevens

DiallosHomes.com

RealtyGuidance.com
Symbol and footprint generation has always been a void in the EDA market. Ultra Librarian for OrCAD fills that gap for our OrCAD customers, providing them with access to the Gold Standard' for EDA.

EMA Design Automation (ema-eda.com), a full-service provider and innovator of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) solutions, has just announced Ultra Librarian for OrCAD providing symbols and footprints for over 7 million parts. Engineers lose far too much time creating or searching for symbols and footprints, said Manny Marcano, president of EMA Design Automation. There are band-aid solutions floating around that are either woefully lacking in parts or they only provide one piece to the puzzlelike a footprint, but not a symbol. The vast majority of our OrCAD community starts a design with a schematic, so these alternatives were simply not acceptable.

EMAs considerable experience with how an OrCAD user works throughout the day has shown that engineers often spend hours and days building schematic symbols and PCB footprints. This effort is often not taken into consideration while scoping project timelines, causing delays and missed milestones. Seeking a solution, EMA created Ultra Librarian for OrCAD as a software plugin making it incredibly easy for the OrCAD user to instantiate a new part on their design. The plugin provides access to a vast cloud-based library of pre-built and validated EDA components, giving engineers confidence that their symbols and footprints are accurate and correctly linked. Having a tight integration within OrCAD Capture eliminates the need to leave the design environment to find or create the part components required to complete the design. With Ultra Librarian for OrCAD, engineers can focus on their design work rather than manually creating each entity that makes up an EDA part.

EMA is currently enlisting select customers to join the early adopter program. These users will be able to try out the solution and provide feedback on functionality, ease of use, speed, and additional capabilities.

Symbol and footprint generation has always been a void in the market as EDA vendors have focused on features rather than content, said Marcano. Ultra Librarian for OrCAD fills that gap for our OrCAD customers, providing them with access to the Gold Standard for EDA libraries.

For anyone interested in participating in the early adopter program, go to go.ema-eda.com/UltraLibrarian. To learn more about EMA go to ema-eda.com or call 585.334.6001.

About EMA Design Automation, Inc.

EMA Design Automation is a trailblazer in product development solutions offering a complete range of EDA tools, PLM integrations, services, training, and technical support. EMA is a Cadence Channel Partner serving all of North America. EMA develops Ultra Librarian, TimingDesigner, CircuitSpace, CIP, EDABuilder, and a host of custom solutions to enhance the OrCAD products, and all are distributed through a worldwide network of value added resellers. EMA is a privately held corporation headquartered in Rochester, New York. Visit EMA at ema-eda.com for more information.

# # #

EMA Design Automation, TimingDesigner, CircuitSpace, EDABuilder, and the EMA logo are registered trademarks, and

Component Information Portal and Ultra Librarian are trademarks of EMA Design Automation, Inc.

Cadence and OrCAD are registered trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

All other trademarks in this release are the property of their respective owners.
Pacific Heights is about owning the Pacific CoastThe name came to life because the brand is about finding the best expression of what each region along the coast has to offer.

Trinchero Family Estates (TFE) today announced the launch of their newest brand, Pacific Heights, in addition to an on-premise only brand, Cloudfall. The Pacific Heights line highlights some of the greatest growing regions in California along the Pacific Coast. These wines are available on and off-premise at nationwide retailers beginning August 2016.

Pacific Heights portfolio includes a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (SRP: $25) and a Russian River Chardonnay (SRP: $20). Chardonnay is currently the #1 varietal in the wine category, and 22 of the top 50 Chardonnays are sourced from Sonoma County. Pinot Noir continues to grow at 11% (Source: AC Nielsen, Total Retail, 26 wks ending 5/21/16).

Pacific Heights is about owning the Pacific CoastThe name came to life because the brand is about finding the best expression of what each region along the coast has to offer, explains Wendy Nyberg, VP Marketing for Trinchero Family Estates. Winemaker, Christine Marchi has had a longtime passion for coastal terroir, and now has the opportunity to explore coastal vineyards with Pacific Heights and Cloudfall wine brands.

Cloudfall is a coastal wine brand, exclusively on-premise, inspired by a collaboration between Marchi and Trincheros Executive Chef, James Houghton. Sourced from Monterey County, these wines exemplify the ideal pairing to fresh California cuisine, and includes a Chardonnay ($10 BTG), Sauvignon Blanc ($10 BTG) and a Pinot Noir ($10 BTG).

To me, a balanced wine is one that works in concert with food. An interesting wine is one that interprets the land in a meaningful way, states Marchi. With the launch of Pacific Heights and Cloudfall, the Trinchero Family Estates portfolio now includes an on-premise exclusive offering at $10 BTG, and a coastal-focused brand.

About Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights are a collection of wines that capture the coast. Sonoma County appellated, the collection is comprised of a Russian River Chardonnay and a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. These wines are influenced by the Pacific Ocean and a coastal terroir that produces vibrant fruit with intensely developed structure, specific to Northern California wines. Christine Marchi, the winemaker behind the brand, has a passion for coastal growing regions that brings out the best expression of the fruit. Pacific Heights is a part of the Trinchero Family Estates portfolio, wholly owned and operated by the Trinchero family, Napa Valley vintners since 1948. Visit http://www.PacificHeightswines.com to learn more.

About Cloudfall

Cloudfall is an exclusively on-premise wine brand, inspired by the collaboration between Winemaker, Christine Marchi and Trinchero's Executive Chef, James Houghton. The duo works together to create ideal pairing choices for fresh California cuisine. The portfolio includes a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a Sauvignon Blanc sourced from Monterey County. Cloudfall wines are a part of the Trinchero Family Estates portfolio, wholly owned and operated by the Trinchero family, Napa Valley vintners since 1948. Visit http://www.Cloudfallwines.com to learn more.

Download fact sheets here.

Download Pacific Heights bottle shots and label shots here.

Download Cloudfall bottle shots and label shots here.

Media Contact:

Olivia Moser, Public Relations Assistant for Trinchero Family Estates

omoser(at)tfewines(dot)com

#707-346-6507 ext.2226
Dr. Gerald H. Pollack, Ph.D., Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington joined water advocate Sharon Kleyne on her radio program, The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water, Global Climate Change and Your Health to talk about water vapor and water research as essential keys to health. They were especially strident about the critical need for a new, global commitment to water research, water education and putting to work advanced water technology that would solve the inflammatory international water crisis and restore evaporating water vapor and its contamination by pollution.

Kleyne, founder of Bio-Logic Aqua Research Water Life Science, reminded listeners that every living being is made of water. Water creates a shield against inflammation and disease. Youre like a walking sponge, she said. I have been shooting the rapids with this information for decades, and I want you to understand that the water vapor keeps you alive. Kleyne urged everyone to do all they can to slow down their bodys water evaporation, including the essential keys of drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water each day and learning to breathe properly. Slow down the evaporation process, she said. Live longer. Be healthier.

Dr. Pollack, Editor-in-Chief of WATER, couldnt agree more. Also the author of The Fourth Phase of Water, Pollack said that many people dont understand this key point: water has energy, even the water in their bodies; and as one ages, ones water vapor evaporates much more quickly.

These facts and the global increase in disease led Kleyne and Pollack to call for more water research and advanced technology. Dr. Pollack pointed out that water research came almost to a screeching halt in the 1950s. Because of two scientific debacles, one in Russia and one in Australia, scientists around the world were encouraged to shy away from and no longer bank on water research. Dr. Pollack also referred to the rise of molecular biology as another factor keying a decline in water research. Researchers in molecular biology moved away from a more holistic practice and became fascinated with small, molecular parts. The result? asked Pollack rhetorically. Water was forgotten, and that was a life-threatening, inflammatory mistake.

More water research would almost certainly key advanced breakthroughs such as Dr. Pollacks discovery of a fourth phase of water. Weve known for a long time about the three phases of watersolid, liquid, vapor, said Pollack. The fourth phase is more like ice crystals, a kind of gel that doesnt evaporate. Kleyne explained that this fourth phase of water is natures way of making sure that all of our water vapor never evaporates completely. Water is the key, Kleyne said. In all its phases, its the best shield against the inception and spread of illness. According to Kleyne and Dr. Pollack, healing water properties are commodities you can take to the bank.
Cirracore PCI Cloud We are delighted to partner with Cirracore and to help them achieve PCI-DSS compliance said Ben Osbrach, Skoda Minottis partner of its Risk Advisory group

Cirracore, a provider of VMware vCloud Air-based Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Managed Cloud Services, and Cloud Backup, today announced that it has successfully completed a PCI DSS Report on Compliance (ROC) for its Secure Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering. The PCI DSS standard is an internationally recognized regulatory compliance requirement established by the Payment Card Industry. The PCI DSS requirements are established by the PCI Counsil which is an independent organization that is responsible for the data security standards required by the different payment brands. The PCI DSS audit was performed by a Qualified Security Assessor firm and examines the controls and processes involved in storing, handling, and transmitting cardholder data securely. The successful completion of the audit illustrates Cirracores ongoing commitment to create and maintain the most stringent controls for the protection and security of its customers confidential information. More information about Cirracore and their services can be found at http://www.cirracore.com.

The rigorous audit, which included detailed testing of Cirracores controls, was performed by Skoda Minotti Risk Advisory, LLC, a Qualified Security Assessor that specializes in conducting data security audits. The auditor examined Cirracores controls related to the 12 PCI DSS requirements that include:

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

Requirement 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data

Requirement 2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

Protect Cardholder Data

Requirement 3: Protect stored cardholder data

Requirement 4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

Requirement 5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software or programs

Requirement 6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement Strong Access Control Measures

Requirement 7: Restrict access to cardholder data by business need to know

Requirement 8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access

Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data

Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

Requirement 10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data

Requirement 11: Regularly test security systems and processes

Maintain an Information Security Policy

Requirement 12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security for all personnel

We are delighted to partner with Cirracore and to help them achieve PCI-DSS compliance said Ben Osbrach, Skoda Minottis partner of its Risk Advisory group. Cirracore has demonstrated a commitment to meet and exceed the data security standards necessary to offer secure cloud services to their clients.

Following the audit, Cirracore received a ROC demonstrating that Cirracores policies, procedures, and infrastructure for data protection, security, and confidentiality met or exceeded the stringent PCI DSS criteria.

Cirracore provides secure enterprise cloud computing for national retail chain customers by allowing them to connect directly to their cloud resources over MPLS of their current carriers without traversing the Internet. The successful completion of our PCI DSS audit provides our customers with the assurance that the controls and safeguards we employ to protect and secure their data are first-rate, said Fred Tanzella, CEO of Cirracore. 

About Cirracore

Cirracore is a provider of VMware-based Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Managed Cloud Services, and Cloud Backup serving a global customer base. Cirracore provides Virtual Private Data Centers with dedicated resource pools for customers that need tighter security and control in their cloud. Cirracore is carrier-neutral with access to 180+ network providers to provide on-net Enterprise Cloud resources that do not traverse the Internet.

Additionally, Cirracore provides white-label Enterprise Cloud services to major telecom carriers and solution providers that offer IaaS to their customer base.

Visit Cirracore at cirracore.com

About Skoda Minotti

Skoda Minotti is a business advisory firm with a history of guiding clients economic and professional success. Clients include privately held businesses, public companies, individuals, partnerships and corporations. Along with its renowned accounting, financial and tax services, Skoda Minotti offers a unique complement of advisory services including information technology, strategic marketing, professional staffing, wealth management, risk advisory services, and valuation and litigation advisory specialties to further advance the growth and success of its clients. Skoda Minotti, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, has offices in Cleveland, Westlake and Akron, Ohio and Tampa, Florida, and is a member of The Leading Edge Alliance. Learn more at risk.skodaminotti.com.
2016 UAS4STEM Search and Rescue Challenges first-place winners are Quad Squad from Shoreview, Minnesota

On Saturday, August 20, middle and high school students from across the US competed in the UAS4STEM programs national competition at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana. The student teams built their own drones and competed in various flying challenges for the national title. The contest is designed to teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills. The 2016 UAS4STEM Search and Rescue Challenges first-place winners are Quad Squad from Shoreview, Minnesota, who were awarded a trophy, medals, and a $2,500 cash prize. The PTC Droners of Georgia took second place and the St. Marys CAP Squadron-O89 of Maryland took third place.

The Dewey O. Broberg Jr. scholarship was also awarded to one of the competitors during the UAS4STEM national competition. The award recognized a team member who showed dedication, determination, and adherence to the rules and purpose of the competition. Congratulations to Paige Hensley, the recipient of the 2016 Dewey Broberg Jr. Memorial Scholarship. The Academy of Model Aeronautics Foundation would like to thank the family of Dewey O. Broberg Jr. for establishing this scholarship, and thank each supporter who has made contributions to the fund.

UAS4STEM is organized by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), which is the largest association of model aircraft and multirotor hobbyists, with more than 190,000 members across the country. UAS4STEM was designed by the AMA to encourage teamwork, competition, and success through a STEM-based education platform. The UAS4STEM program provides student teams of four to eight people with training, insurance, licensing, and equipment to compete in search-and-rescue challenges. The program is managed by AMAs Education department as part of AMA Flight School. Each of the teams that participated in the national competition earned their spot by qualifying at one of the many regional competitions held throughout the country.

Congratulations to Quad Squad for winning the 2016 UAS4STEM Search and Rescue Challenge! Details about this years event and how to sign up to compete next year are found on the UAS4STEM website, http://www.uas4stem.org/.

# # #

The Academy of Model Aeronautics, founded in 1936, continues to be devoted to national airspace safety. It serves as the nations collective voice for approximately 190,000 modelers in 2,400 clubs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Headquartered in Muncie, Indiana, AMA is a membership organization representing those who fly model aircraft for recreation and educational purposes. For more information, visit http://www.modelaircraft.org.
Dan Nossa

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC is pleased to announce that Daniel Nossa has joined the firms office in The Woodlands, Texas. Nossas practice will focus on business as well as corporate and transactional law.

Daniel NossaNossa is an experienced advisor for entities in various industries including banks, funds, commodity trading companies, retail electric providers, exploration and production companies, pension plans, and endowments. He works side by side with clients to guide them through matters including mergers and acquisitions, credit facilities, derivatives, and commodity trading. He also advises clients in Commodity Exchange Act and Dodd-Frank compliance.

With Dans addition, Steptoe & Johnson will be able to offer an expanded array of services to clients in the Houston area, said firm CEO Susan S. Brewer. Dan will be an asset for many of our clients as his experience covers multiple industries with a diverse set of needs.

Nossa earned his law degree from Stanford Law School and his Bachelors degree from Princeton University.

About Steptoe & Johnson

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC is a U.S. law firm with more than 300 attorneys and core strengths in energy, business, employment, and litigation. Steptoe & Johnson operates 14 offices in six states including Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. Visit http://www.steptoe-johnson.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

For more information, contact Betsy Spellman, Chief Marketing Officer, at (304) 933-8000 or by email: press(at)steptoe-johnson(dot)com.
Example of QA Graphics designer concept of turning Tacos controller and zone lists into graphical panels with interactive elements. This lead to a huge improvement to the look and feel of the app fo We were exposed to other projects that QA Graphics had done for other companies in our industry, and we knew to play at that level we would need help, said Danato Borelli, Director of Engineering at Taco Comfort Solutions.

QA Graphics announces the release of a new case study that documents QA Graphics success in helping Taco Comfort Solutions upgrade their functional, templated app into one that was also well-designed and intuitive.

To download a copy of the study visit: https://www.qagraphics.com/taco_case_study/

QA Graphics, a leader in the building automation system (BAS) graphic outsourcing industry, based in Ankeny, Iowa has over a decade of experience in UX design and BAS graphics. By working with QA Graphics, Taco gained: An application with an improved user experience that embraces Tacos brand standards, a highly detailed graphics symbol library that depicts Tacos equipment, and savings in time and money.

The post production of this project also provided Taco Comfort Solutions engineers the ability to refocus their limited time on product functionality, allowing for an overall faster launch for LCI-4. With consumer-facing products and graphics rapidly advancing in the in the HVAC industry, said Dan McCarty, owner, and president of QA Graphics, we are excited to help companies make that shift to a more premier looking product easier.

About QA Graphics - QA Graphics is a leader in the building automation and green building industries. The company specializes in HVAC graphic development services, system graphics, floor plan graphics, and Energy Efficiency Education Dashboards (EEEDs). Since 2006, QA Graphics has served as an expert design resource for the building controls industry and is able to provide BAS graphics for any type of building automation. The company also provides marketing solutions such as interactive applications, 3D design and animation, UX design, videos, and more. Visit http://www.qagraphics.com to learn more.

About Taco Comfort Solutions - Taco Comfort Solutions is a third generation, family owned, American manufacturer of high quality, high efficiency heating, cooling, plumbing, and irrigation products. Headquartered in Cranston, RI, Taco is global in scope with manufacturing facilities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Ontario, Vietnam, and Italy. Its skilled employees produce precision pumps, valves and controls, air-dirt separators, heat exchangers, tanks, domestic hot water recirculation systems, and web-based building management controls. Visit http://www.taco-hvac.com to learn more.
"We commend and congratulate Fednav for its commitment to make these long-term investments that benefit so many on the Great Lakes." - Ports of Indiana CEO Rich Cooper

Fednav Limited, the largest international bulk shipowner in Canada, today welcomes to the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, the Federal Caribou , one of seven new oceangoing lakers equipped with a ballast water treatment system-a first for the Great Lakes. This vessel protects the Lakes by treating its ballast water two times: by conducting an exchange in the North Atlantic, and through filtration and a chlorine disinfection treatment on the ship.

The Federal Caribou is part of a series of 16 Handysize vessels, representing an investment by Fednav of more than $400 million and designed specifically for the Great Lakes. The company is the leading international operator in the Great Lakes, has one of the most modern fleets of bulk carriers in the world, the average age being under 10 years. Of particular interest is the Federal Caribou and its sister-ships have box-shaped holds in order to facilitate the handling of general cargo.

In April 2015, Fednav announced the signing of an agreement with JFE Engineering Corporation for the installation of ballast water treatment systems (BallastAce) on board its new ocean-going lakers. The Federal Caribou is one of those ships, and its voyage to Burns Harbor highlights the fact that Fednav is the first shipping company in the Great Lakes to treat ballast water using an onboard system. JFE is now pursuing US Coast Guard certification, with expected approval in 2017.

Other outstanding environmental characteristics of these vessels include:



25% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than similar vessels built less than 15 years ago

A decrease of over 15% nitrogen oxide emissions

A CLEAN notation from the DNV/GL classification society

At the ceremony on board the ship, Paul Pathy, President and Co-CEO of Fednav Limited and Chairman of Federal Marine Terminals noted: "This vessel confirms that the protection of the Great Lakes is a priority for Fednav and demonstrates the confidence we have in the region's future. These ships will allow us to offer our customers in Indiana and throughout the region an unparalleled service at a higher standard."

Fednav is the parent company for Federal Marine Terminals, the general cargo stevedore for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor.

"We commend and congratulate Fednav for its commitment to make these long-term investments that benefit so many on the Great Lakes," said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. "The company has always taken the Lake's environment very seriously and being the first to outfit its newer ships with on-board ballast water treatment systems further validates just how committed it really is. We are proud to call Fednav a 'true partner' at our port on Lake Michigan and salute the company for its innovation and leadership in the maritime industry."

Fednav Limited, established in 1944 is a privately owned international shipowning and operating company based in Montreal, Quebec.

The principal activities of Fednav Limited include the transport of bulk and general cargo worldwide. The company operates a fleet of about 85 vessels and has offices in Antwerp, Barbados, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, and Tokyo and regional offices in Canada and the United States. Fednav also has terminal, logistics, ice analysis, and shipping agency services and divisions. It employs 280 people and nearly 2000 crew members and stevedores. For more information, please visit http://www.fednav.com.

Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. (FMT) is a subsidiary of Fednav Limited and has for over five decades operated stevedoring facilities at ports in the United States and Canada. With ten operations covering twelve ports, FMT operates in the US East Coast and Gulf Coast and in the Great Lakes. For more information, please visit http://www.fmtcargo.com.

The Ports of Indiana is a statewide port authority managing three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. Established in 1961, the Ports of Indiana is a self-funded enterprise dedicated to growing Indiana's economy by developing and maintaining a world-class port system. Information: http://www.portsofindiana.com.
"Hillbilly Elegy" provides some deeply personal insights into the struggling white working class in the Appalachian region and Rust Belt mill towns

A new book is offering some deeply personal insights into the struggling white working class in the Appalachian region and Rust Belt mill towns.

Author J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" provides a vivid tour of the stark world he grew up in, set mainly in the Ohio city of Middletown that was hit hard by its dominant steelmaking company's decline, but also in his family's home eastern Kentucky hills region.

Vance says wealthy New York businessman Donald Trump appeals to these communities with his unscripted style and emotionally connects to their feeling that America's best days are behind.

Vance is drawing national attention to the need for new policy approaches in such communities. He credits positive reaction to an honest, sometimes painful, but passionate, look at his family and neighbors.

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We want to inspire a global community to come together in harmony for a more loving togetherness.

Sages & Scientists is a place to come together to learn and connect. To help modern society realize where science and spirituality meet, where the current conversation around conscious evolution is at, where the differences are, and where the conversation is going. To connect with other people who are interested and involved in this knowledge - and in sharing it. To unite with a conscious community so the power of the collective can be harnessed to activate change. To know what to do to help our planet and each other heal  having receiving the guidance from a trusted source.

At Sages & Scientists Symposium, Deepak Chopra will share the benefits of the Lovetuner with tuning sessions throughout the event. The Lovetuner is a small single tone flute, which can be worn as a necklace  calibrated to the frequency of 528 Hz  the so called Love Frequency. The Lovetuner has a profound effect on the body, mind and spirit. Designed for all ages, it allows individuals to reduce stress and anxiety within seconds. Just like darkness cant exist in a room of light, stress and anxiety cant exist in this frequency. Tuning is a very simple and easy way to practice mindfulness through deep breathing exercises. It connects your brain with a low volume audible sound and the healing frequency of 528 Hz. When played together it allows people to experience the feeling of equality and unity.

We want to inspire a global community to come together in harmony for a more loving togetherness, Sigmar Berg (Co-Founder)

Tuning in with the Lovetuner you are inviting Love in your Life, you are coming to the present moment, you are taking a breathing break, you are increasing the lung capacity and you are increasing the coherence of the bio field around you. A lot of people tuning together can change the bio field of the surroundings. This is why Im so enthusiastic about the Lovetuner, Deepak Chopra.

For more information about Lovetuner visit: http:// http://www.lovetuner.com/

For more information and to purchase tickets for the Sages & Scientists Symposium 2016 visit: http://www.chopra.com/programs/sages-scientists/sages-scientists-2016

About Deepak Chopra, M.D., F.A.C.P.

Deepak Chopra, M.D., F.A.C.P., founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

Chopra is the author of more than 80 books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times best-sellers. For the last three years, Greatist.com has recognized Dr. Chopra as one of The 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness. The World Post and Huffington Posts global internet survey ranked him as the #17 most influential thinker in the world and #1 in medicine. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as "one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century. For more information visit http://www.deepakchopra.com.

About The Chopra Foundation

The Chopra Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health and well-being, cultivating spiritual knowledge, expanding consciousness and promoting world peace to all members of the human family. As an extension of its mission, The Chopra Foundation provides education and resources to advance the physical and spiritual health of disadvantaged individuals and communities, including at-risk children, low-income women and teenagers, and prisoners. Through its fundraising and research initiatives, The Chopra Foundation also supports the scientific and experiential exploration of non-dual consciousness as the ground of existence. For more information visit http://www.choprafoundation.org.

Coordinates for Sages & Scientists:

http://www.chopra.com/programs/sages-scientists/sages-scientists-2016

#sagescientists

Media Contact:

Jenn Perell

(808) 386-1861

Jenn.Perell(at)Chopra.com

Kristina Kiyama

Info(at)lovetuner.com
"When we found CampusBird, we knew it was the right fit for CSU."

CampusBird, provider of an interactive campus map and virtual tour platform for education institutions, today welcomed Colorado State University (CSU) to its growing roster of clients.

Colorado State University in Fort Collins is one of the largest schools in Colorado, enrolling more than 32,000 students. With CampusBird, online visitors can now explore the campuses of CSU through a detailed 3D map and interactive media including video, images, interior layouts, wayfinding routes, and other media.

Were very pleased to be working with Colorado State University and to see how their team is already finding innovative ways to use CampusBird for facilities, marketing, wayfinding, transit and other information-sharing needs, said Gordon Boyes, CEO of concept3D, the developer of CampusBird.

Colorado State University launched its CampusBird in preparation for the 2016/2017 academic year, and has used the interactive map software to create a Move-In Day map category, as well as to highlight ADA accessible routes and entrances, sustainability initiatives and bike routes. A link to the Move-In Day map was emailed to all students returning to the residence halls before they arrived. The university also has a number of new buildings and facilities under construction, and is using CampusBird to allow campus map visitors to explore the plans with 3D building renderings, flyovers and video.

Ive been working with campus maps for many years. When we found CampusBird, we knew it was the right fit for CSU, said Martha Coleman, geographer with Facilities Management for Colorado State University. Students, parents and staff love the 3D map, and the interactive media draws in visitors and gets them exploring the campus. CampusBird is essentially a map-based information hub that any department can use. We also have plans for creating multiple virtual tours that will profile our bike-friendly campus, our history, our sustainability projects and other highlights.

Explore Colorado State Universitys CampusBird Interactive Campus Map at http://maps.colostate.edu.

About CampusBird:

CampusBird is the ultimate interactive map and virtual tour platform, offering the most powerful map management software in the world. Trusted by hundreds of schools from the largest public universities to K-12, CampusBird gives visitors an engaging and memorable online experience, and provides admissions, marketing, facilities and other education professionals with a suite of powerful tools for student engagement and retention. CampusBird was developed by concept3D, Inc., the leader in location-based software and 3D services. Learn more at http://www.campusbird.com.
We are excited to offer the CISP to so many organizations in Asia-Pacific region who are growing their teams and in need of best-in-class Inside Sales training", stated APAC SMAs CEO, Zeenath Kuraisha.

The AA-ISP, a global association dedicated to the advancement of Inside Sales, announced today that Shibanshu Mukhopadhyay recently graduated from the CISP (Certified Inside Sales Professional) accreditation program. The CISP is the Inside Sales profession's only designation which attests to the holder's mastery of skills and competency required in today's virtual selling world.

Shibanshu, a Sales Representative with Skymap Global located in Singapore, earned his accreditation through Asia Pacific Sales & Marketing Academy (APAC SMA), the AA-ISPs authorized delivery partner and testing body in Singapore.

We are thrilled to see companies around the world, and especially in the Asia-Pac region, invest in their Inside Sales teams as they meet the demands for virtual customer engagement, stated AA-ISPs Founder and Chairman, Bob Perkins.

We are excited to offer the CISP and other AA-ISP offerings such as AISM, PDDS, and ISOI to so many organizations in Asia-Pacific and wider region who are growing their teams and in need of best-in-class Inside Sales trainings", stated APAC SMAs CEO, Zeenath Kuraisha.

Skymap Globals CEO, Abhay Swarup Mittal, stated our organization is committed to staying abreast of new developments and selling best practices within the Inside Sales industry. The CISP certification does just that while recognizing an individual's and organization's professional achievement and competence. We are proud of Shibanshu for this accomplishment.

Shibanshu is the first Inside Sales professional in the Asia-Pac region to earn the CISP accreditation. Hear from Shibanshu on his accomplishment with this video.

About the AA-ISP

The AA-ISP is an international association dedicated exclusively to advancing the profession of Inside Sales. The association engages in research studies, organizational benchmarking and leadership round tables to better understand and analyze the trends, challenges, and key components of the growth and development of the Inside Sales industry.

Our mission is to help inside sales representatives and leaders to leverage our information and resources through published content, local community chapters, national conferences, career development, and an Inside Sales accreditation program. For further information, please visit http://www.aa-isp.org

About Asia Pacific Sales & Marketing Academy

Asia Pacific Sales & Marketing Academy [APAC SMA] was established to support organizations win through simplified sales value creation, excellent personalized customer experiences and relationship building. Clients love them for speed, efficiency, knowledge and excellent customer support. APAC SMA is an Authorized Delivery Partner of AA-ISP, The American Association  Inside Sales Professional. They help organizations set up and improve their Virtual Sales, Customer Communications and Go-to-Market Efficiencies through Sales On-Boarding, Sales and Channel Sales Readiness, Enablement and Sales Performance Improvement. APAC SMA provides the best in class accredited training programs by the best in class faculty and globally sourced programs delivered through experts. http://www.apacsma.com

About Skymap Global

SkyMap Global is Asias leading provider of Imagery and geospatial information. These data sources are being targeted towards geospatial applications for Infrastructure, Mining, Energy, Water Resources, Insurance, Agriculture, Plantation and Environment. SkyMap Global has a global presence through partners and consultants at National and International levels to leverage business solutions and benefits. http://skymapglobal.com
New Energy Works Timberframers' exterior diagonal bracing on this home in the Pacific Northwest allows for broad views and shading from the sun. Photo  Loren Nelson Photography Timber framing is a versatile building technique, and its suitable for even the most contemporary of designs.

New Energy Works Timberframers has designed, crafted, and raised custom timber frames across the nation for 30 years. Under the direction of licensed architects in their Design Group and that of skilled independent design professionals all over the country, they offer a wealth of experience in both residential and light commercial design. Contemporary designs for home and commercial projects are gaining momentum with the companys clients.

Timber framing is a versatile building technique, and its suitable for even the most contemporary of designs, said Jonathan Orpin, Founder of New Energy Works. Simplified roof planes, amazing timbered overhangs, and broad views are at the heart of contemporary home design.

The contemporary timber frame project often features open plan concepts, long shed lines with soaring timbered overhangs, a dramatic use of glass, and natural materials inside and out. Great craft coupled with quality materials and efficient envelopes characterize these modern homes. To showcase timber framing as contemporary architecture, New Energy Works has created a gallery on their website.

For the project that calls for all of the contemporary elements, but without all the concrete and steel so often associated with the modern feel, timber framing is a model solution. Our job is to take the project inside you and bring it out and put it on paper so you can really see it, explained Ty Allen, Architect at New Energy Works. Design is an experiential and personal experience. Were excited to bring contemporary ideas to the traditional timber frame.

New Energy Works designs and builds environmentally responsible timber frames across the USA from their New York and Oregon facilities. The company offers Timber Framing (design, engineering, manufacturing, build), Enclosure Systems, Fine Woodworking, Recycled and Sustainable wood products. New Energy Works has 2 LEED AP staff members, is a member of the US Green Building Council, and is FSC Certified.
Millstone Coffee at DiscountCoffee.com If customers are looking to buy the last of the Millstone Coffee, they'll find it at DiscountCoffee.com.

The J. M. Smucker Company, the roaster of Millstone Coffee, recently announced the discontinuation of the Millstone brand, along with all flavors and blends, which includes 100% Colombian, Decaffeinated Colombian, Breakfast Blend, Foglifter, Caffe Midnight, and Hazelnut Cream. DiscountCoffee.com, the internets low price leader for coffee, beverages and office break room supplies, has acquired the remaining stock of Millstone Coffee and is now the exclusive internet retailer of this popular, and now discontinued, ground coffee.

Millstone Coffee varieties have always been a popular choice for our customers, said Kirby Newbury, CEO of DiscountCoffee.com. Due to our relationships with warehouses and brokers across the country, weve been able to acquire the remaining Millstone product. If customers are looking to buy the last of the Millstone Coffee, theyll find it at DiscountCoffee.com. Its part of our companys commitment to being the first and last source for coffee and office break room refreshments.

Newbury expects that Millstones Foglifter and Hazelnut Cream flavors will be the first to sell out. This is based on sales trends and current remaining inventories. He points out, however, that many popular coffee brands will serve as a great alternative to Millstone. These include Starbucks, Seattles Best, Folgers, Maxwell House, Hills Bros, Yuban, Cafe Bustelo, Wawa, and more. DiscountCoffee.com offers these coffee brands in a variety of flavors and sizes, all at the lowest prices on the internet.

Weve already talked with many of our customers who have heard the news of Millstones discontinuation, said Cherri Newbury, President of DiscountCoffee.com. As they contact us to place their orders, theyre also asking what might be the best replacement for their favorite Millstone coffee when the time comes. Were helping them identify what their next break room coffee will be when supplies of Millstone run out.

In addition to being the last source for discontinued and seasonal products, DiscountCoffee.com is also a first source for the newest coffee, refreshments, and break room supplies. Refreshments include Crystal Light Drink Mix, Swiss Miss, and Nestle Hot Cocoa, as well as Bigelow, Lipton, Nestea, and Tazo teas. Other products such as Coffee-mate creamers, sweeteners, Lipton Cup-a-Soup snacks, Dart Cups, plates, bowls, and plastic utensils are also available.

About DiscountCoffee.com

DiscountCoffee.com was established in 1998 as a money saving alternative to traditional office coffee services, thus creating the (ICS) Internet Coffee Service industry. Today, the company maintains the commitment to providing high quality coffee, drink mixes, and over 1000 break room supplies at up to 60% savings. DiscountCoffee.com educates businesses and consumers about hidden charges associated with free equipment and contract-based invoicing, and empowers them to take charge of their coffee buying through the websites easy-to-use, secure online ordering. The company ships most products nationwide, offers low price guarantees, free shipping, and no minimum order requirements. For more information, please visit DiscountCoffee.com
Director and Producer Mari Frankel, is also a Guardian ad Litem (GAL), a volunteer trained by the state who speaks on behalf of vulnerable youth in the courts. There is unacceptable and then there is horrendous. What has happened to these children goes way past unacceptable. It is horrendous. Past News Releases RSS

The Florida Department of Children and Families has long been questioned by newspapers, lawmakers and families for the abuse, neglect and death of children in its care. Now one child advocate is asking to what extent do these tragedies fall on a privatized system.

Florida became the first state to fully privatize child welfare, when Jeb Bush was governor, giving state funds to private companies, who subcontract with even more private companies. DCF has an annual budget of $3 billion, yet as many child advocates attest, most foster children live below the poverty line.

In her documentary, Foster Shock, Mari Frankel, a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) and board member of Adopt-A-Family, discloses the six-figure salaries of the CEOs of these private companies and gives a platform to executive directors of non-profit organizations, who say when child welfare becomes a business, children become dollar bills.

The film, set to screen in Orlando Sept. 2, also tells the stories of children who grew up in foster care, looking forward to the day when they aged out of foster care, children who were dependent on the system, but say they were not protected by the system.

It is a Guardian ad Litems responsibility to speak for the child, says Frankel, speaking to her stirrings for the film. There is unacceptable and then there is horrendous. What has happened to these children goes way past unacceptable. It is horrendous.

Her first case as a GAL involved an 11-year-old boy with developmental disabilities, who was taken from his mother because of drug abuse, Frankel says, and placed in a therapeutic foster home. She remembers visiting him one day with his therapist. She says the boy told them he was being sexually abused by a man who was living with the foster mother. She says when she asked the therapist if he was going to report the abuse, he said no, he did not believe the boy. No charges were ever filed against the man. No charges were filed against the foster mother. No one was fired. No one was reprimanded, Frankel says. That is why I did this documentary.

Frankel did report the abuse and the boy was removed from the home, but the very next week, another boy was placed in the same home. Too often, Frankel says, she has seen that nothing a foster child says is believed, so the narratives she shares in her film, she verifies with case files and court documents.

Foster Shock will be screened at the Central Florida Film Festival on Sept. 2. Five days later, DCF will hold its annual summit in Orlando. When asked if DCF would like to comment on the documentary or the issues it raises surrounding privatization, DCF Communications Director Jessica Sims shared a link to the departments website, saying the system is privatized, but did not comment further than that.

Frankel says the intent of the documentary is not to cast blame, but to catalyze change. Too often stories of foster children are so hard to bare, many turn away, but Frankel hopes by making this film, legislators and citizens will fight for more oversight, so foster children stop being abused.

Foster Shock will screen during the Central Florida Film Festival (CENFLO). The showing is on Sept. 2 at 1:30 p.m. at West Orange Cinema, located at 1575 Maguire Rd., Ocoee, Fla. The film is one hour. Moviewatcher Passes are tickets available through the film festival beginning at $25 per day. A Moviewatcher Pass includes admission to all festival screenings for the day purchased, a coupon to redeem one medium popcorn and one medium soft drink, and three ballots to case for your favorite short, documentary or feature film.

Mari Frankel has served as a community advocate for the State of Florida Guardian ad Litem Program for the last six years. For the last 15 years, she has been on the board of Adopt-A-Family, a non-profit that assists formerly homeless and income-challenged working families. Mari specifically assists with their after-school program, Project Grow, which serves children in grades K through five, to build their social, emotional and educational skills. Foster Shock is a Miss Mari Film.

Brian Bayerl is the award-winning cinematographer and editor of Foster Shock. His work has been seen on PBS, Showtime and in numerous feature films, as well as premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW in Austin. Bayerls films have been screened at prestigious locations such as the Andy Warhol Museum, the Whitney Museum and the British Museum in London. Portrait of America was screened in three countries and won Best Film at Londons Raindance Film Festival.
GlobalTranz Sponsors Prescott Valley Wild West Mud Fest With the high energy and competitive nature of this event it is only fitting that a company like GlobalTranz is a part of this event that goes to help the Boys & Girls Club of Arizona.

Participants will trek through a specially designed 5K course of mud pits, walls, tunnels, slides and swings, with proceeds going to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Arizona. The course also features a slip n slide, boulder pile, hay pyramid, muddy mountain climb, dumpster dive, over under crawls, tire run, log/mud crawl, tangled rope walk, trench crawl, cargo net climb, monster truck tire wall, and more.

"This will be the second year that GlobalTranz has been a sponsor for the Prescott Valley Mud Run. With the high energy and competitive nature of this event it is only fitting that a company like GlobalTranz is a part of this event that goes to help the Boys & Girls Club of Arizona," says Mark Erickson, VP Telemarketing Sales at GlobalTranz.

The Boys & Girls Clubs mission is to enable all young people, especially those who need it most, to reach their full potential as productive, responsible, caring citizens.

The Central Arizona chapter provides low-cost afterschool and summer programs for youth age 6-18 in Prescott and Prescott Valley. The chapter's award-winning programs are designed to change the lives of young people in four key areas:

Fun with a purpose

Academic success

Good character and citizenship

Healthy choices

To learn more about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Arizona, visit: http://www.bgccaz.org/.

The Wild West Mud Fest will take place on September 17, 2016 from 12pm to 8pm. Early bird pricing (through 8/29) and team and family registration is available at: http://www.wildwestmudfest.com/.

Day of the event information:

Spectating:

Spectating is free. Come watch the fun!

Check-In:

Arrive to the REGISTRATION table with payment confirmation (for online pre-registered participants), complete the waiver, collect a bag claim # (If Needed) and wristband.

Checking in for another:

Arrive to the REGISTRATION table with payment confirmation (for online pre-registered participants); each person must have a completed waiver for a wristband to be released.

What to bring:

Running shoes

Payment confirmation if pre-registered online

Good attitude

Dress to impress

Sunscreen

Duct tape (to keep shoes in place)

Towel and extra water from clean off

What NOT to bring:

Alcohol (this is an all-ages, family event)

Weapons

Bad Attitude

Flip Flops

When to arrive:

Please arrive allowing adequate time to park, check-in, and time to prepare for each wave. Arriving in a timely manner will help expedite the event and help make it enjoyable for everyone! Try to arrive at least one hour before each wave time.

About GlobalTranz

GlobalTranz is a technology-enabled logistics company specializing in freight management services including LTL, Full Truckload, Supply Chain Management, and Domestic Air/Expedited shipping. Their team focuses on innovative technology and partnering with sales professionals that possess energy, insight and a fervent customer service mentality.

GlobalTranz has created a one-stop-shop for its customer base of over 25,000 shippers through providing Less-Than-Truckload, Full Truckload, Supply Chain and Expedited Services. In 2016, Transport Topics Announced GlobalTranz as the 12th Largest Freight Brokerage Firm in the US. GlobalTranz is a leading company in the $157 Billion Dollar third-party logistics industry, with annual revenue exceeding $500M and growing every year. GlobalTranz currently has 500+ employees and is growing rapidly.

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For additional information please contact:

Todd S. Bookout

Marketing Director

Phone: 480.339.5722

E-Mail: tbookout(at)globaltranz(dot)com
Students and staff celebrate Indias Independence Day at morning ceremonies. We pray the Lord would continue to bless this nation and give wisdom to the officials and government leaders in this next year.

Across India, workers, students and volunteers supported by Gospel for Asia (GFA) joined in celebrating Indias Independence Day recently with flag-raisings, patriotic speeches and community service.

In one district of Maharashtra, about 1,300 children from 75 churches helped plant some 1,500 trees as part of a beautification and environmental project to celebrate Independence Day. Volunteers also participated in a traveling addiction-awareness rally to emphasize national health.

In Karnataka, Bible college students, staff and their families decorated the campus before holding a flag-raising ceremony with local officials. They then broke into small groups and cleaned up surrounding areas, including poor neighborhoods and leper colonies.

I never celebrated Independence Day like this in my life, said first-year student, Akash. Along with my friends, I cleaned the police station. It was really a joy to do that.

Police officials also praised the effort, thanking the students for their work.

In Madhya Pradesh, Bible college students and staff held a ceremony of prayer and speeches in honor of Independence Day. As part of their community service, students cleaned up the area around the police station. They swept the walkways, cut grass and straightened up the area. After a morning ceremony, students in one district of Himachal Pradesh also followed up by cleaning the area around the police station.

After early holiday ceremonies, volunteers also celebrated the national holiday by cleaning the areas around hospitals in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. Mosquito-borne diseases, like dengue, are spreading throughout the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, emphasizing the need for hospital hygiene. Workers used spades, spider net removal tools, hot water and scrub brushes on and around the hospitals.

At a Bible college in Sikkim, 27 female students joined in the celebration, which included patriotic speeches and songs, a first for many of the students. The early morning ceremonies began with prayer, followed by a flag-raising and singing the national anthem.

Independence Day is a national holiday celebrated each year to commemorate the nations independence from the British Empire, which was finalized on Aug. 15, 1947. The new nation was established only after a long period of mostly non-violent struggle spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi.

India has much to be proud of on this Independence Day, said K.P. Yohannan, founder and president of GFA. We pray the Lord would continue to bless this nation and give wisdom to the officials and government leaders in this next year.

Gospel for Asia has  for more than 30 years  provided humanitarian assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially among those who have yet to hear the Good News. Last year, this included more than 75,000 sponsored children, free medical services for more than 180,000 people, 6,000 wells drilled, 11,000 water filters installed, Christmas presents for more than 400,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For more information, go to http://www.gfa.org.

PHOTO CUTLINE: Students and staff celebrate Indias Independence Day at morning ceremonies.

To schedule an interview with a Gospel for Asia representative, contact pressrelations(at)gfa(dot)org or call 972-300-3379.
Showhomes, the nations largest and most successful home staging franchise known for using a variety of unique services to sell homes faster and for top dollar, continued to expand its reach in communities across the country, recording a record start to the first half of 2016 in the process. Showhomes closed Q2 by marking its highest ever nationwide revenue increase.

In the month of June alone, Showhomes total nationwide revenue was up a staggering 23 percent over June 2015. Factoring in Q1 revenue, the brands jump in year-to-date revenue is even more impressive, up 36 percent compared to the same period last year. Showhomes success is especially evident in markets like Minneapolis, Tampa and Volusia County, Florida, where local Showhomes franchises set all-time individual revenue records.

Showhomes is growing at an incredibly rapid rate and we attribute that to one thing: the overwhelming positive response from the communities we serve, said Matt Kelton, Showhomes Chief Operating Officer. Our strong second quarter proves once again why our business model perfectly positions our brand for quick expansion, and our passionate franchisees are capturing that momentum. Showhomes will also be expanding into even more new communities as we continue into the second half of 2016.

To fuel the brands impressive growth even further Showhomes offers a variety of value-added services, like the brands proprietary Home Manager program, that go far beyond those offered by other traditional home staging companies. Showhomes Home Manager program matches high-end, vacant homes currently on the market with individuals or families who have beautiful furniture, artwork and accessories, but are in need of temporary housing. Acting as professional caretakers, the Home Managers keep the home in show to sell condition, providing peace of mind to homeowners and staging services at a fraction of the traditional cost. Showhomes also provides up to $5 million in additional insurance coverage for any home utilizing the Home Manager Program.

In addition to its superior home staging services and Home Manager program the brand also offers home updates, giving homeowners the ability to hire one company, rather than a host of sub-contractors, to update key selling points like paint colors and flooring. Each of these unique services opens the door to four different revenue streams for local business owners, ultimately creating consistency in the naturally volatile real estate industry.

As the U.S. housing market continues to improve, Showhomes plans to leverage its position as an industry leader to dominate an even bigger piece of the home staging industrys market share. Showhomes now boasts 58 locations in 18 states, and has helped facilitate the sale of nearly $30 billion in residential real estate. Within the next three years, Showhomes plans to double the size of its franchise operation to 125 total units.

Over the last three decades, Showhomes has grown to become so much more than just a traditional home staging company, Kelton said. We continue to evolve to adapt to the shifting real estate industry, and thats why Showhomes growth potential is unlimited. We are poised to continue our record setting growth and to dominate the home staging industry in the months and years to come.

To learn more about the products and services Showhomes offers, visit http://www.showhomes.com. For franchising information, visit http://www.showhomesfranchise.com.

ABOUT SHOWHOMES

Founded in 1986, Showhomes has helped Realtors and homeowners sell more than 25,000 residential properties worth more than $8.5 billion, by transforming high-end vacant houses into fully-furnished, inviting, valued Showhomes. Currently serving prominent communities in 18 states, Showhomes is a rapidly expanding franchise system with nearly 60 offices nationwide. Boasting the expertise of long-time real estate and interior design professionals, Showhomes is a one-stop-shop for home staging, home redesign, One-Day Makeovers for currently occupied homes and its proprietary Home Manager program  a proven model to get upscale vacant homes off the market, faster. Every major national media outlet in the U.S. has praised the work of Showhomes; the companys work has also been featured on Oprah, HGTV and the Travel Channel. For more information or to learn about franchise opportunities, please visit http://www.showhomes.com.

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Trendsgal Higher Quality Control Standards Expected To Lead to More Customer Satisfaction.

For contemporary fashion and accessories, Trendsgal is considered a fashion e-commerce leader. The company looks to bring customers the highest quality products at affordable prices. Trendsgal is constantly looking to increase the quality of its products and today the company is proud to announce new quality control changes. These changes are being done to better weed out products that do not meet Trendsgal's high standards. Customers will benefit by not having to worry about buying a subpar product that they didnt expect.

The number one focus going forward is transparency. Trendsgal is looking to ensure that each product posted on the site looks similar to the products users receive. Trendsgal will not be putting any products for sale until sample products sent by the manufacturer are compared to pictures. If the quality checks out then the product will be posted, otherwise it will be rejected and never be sold to customers.

Company staff are now better trained to handle incoming orders. Sometimes manufacturers who pass the sample test will send in a defective product by mistake. Trendsgal staff are now better trained to catch such issues. Staff will check for quality, defects, and make sure that the size chosen is the correct one being sent to the customers.

Trendsgal will have manufacturers come in to layout the company's quality standards. Trendsgal staff will go through the requirements that a manufacturer must meet before their product is posted on the site. This will ensure that Trendsgal is only dealing with serious partners. Potential partners who do not meet with the company will not be allowed to manufacture for Trendsgal.

The backend of the website has also been updated to easily remove bad products. Products that gain multiple bad customer ratings will now be removed with a simple click. If products go under 3 stars Trendsgal will pull the product from the website until the manufacturer gives a solution. This will ensure that multiple people will not receive faulty products.

Customers can get similar quality control standards from Trendsgal sister sites DressLily and Nastydress. Both serve their own specific niches, but now follow the same procedure in ensuring products delivered are liked. Dresslily looks to bring multiple styles and colors of dresses under one site, whereas NastyDress is geared towards bringing out the exotic side of a customers life.

Related link: http://www.trendsgal.com/

Email: support(at)trendsgal(dot)com
As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories.

The accounts point to the difficulties the extremist group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants' hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city.

In the latest areas recaptured, Iraqi troops over the past month took a clump of villages near a key military base south of Mosul that they plan to use as a hub for the assault. Residents of the communities, which lie strung along bends in the Tigris River, say that in the preceding weeks, the militants ruling them had seemed to be scrambling to keep control.

In Qayara, which is the main town in the area and remains in IS hands, beheadings and extrajudicial killings that previously were occasional became commonplace in a hunt for spies and deserters, said Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, who was among thousands of residents who fled fighting in the area and now live in the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Kurdish-run territory.

"They started making raids on houses, arresting people and beheading them," he said.

Hajaj said the group's fighters appeared increasingly nervous as they watched news of IS loses elsewhere.

Their ranks also appeared to turn more to younger, less experienced men. At one point, almost all the militants guarding the streets were teenagers, he said. That, Hajaj said, was when he thought, "They're collapsing. They're finished."

The reliance on younger fighters in smaller communities could be a sign of overstretched manpower as the group's more veteran militants redeploy to Mosul or to neighboring Syria. Other factors could also be in play, like difficulties in finding new recruits and the effect of desertions, which Kurdish officials have said are on the rise.

Fighters as young as 13 or 14 were patrolling in the village of Awsaja on the other side of the river, said one resident, who asked to be identified by his nickname Abu Saleh for fear of reprisals against his family in areas still under IS rule. He said the militants killed seven people for trying to flee the village, displaying their bodies on a bridge as an example to others.

As Iraqi troops moved on Awsaja, the militants seemed confused on how to respond.

At one point, some IS fighters decided to retreat and ordered all the residents to come with them as human shields, Abu Saleh said. But that prompted an argument with others in the group who were remaining in the village to fight and wanted the residents to stay for their protection, said the 50-year-old psychologist, who fled with other residents and is now also in Dibaga Camp. Iraqi forces succeeded in retaking Awsaja in mid-July.

The area has been under IS rule for two years, ever since the Sunni militants overran much of western and northern Iraq, joining it to the territory they control in neighboring Syria in a self-declared "caliphate."

Though the group has been notorious for atrocities and its brutality in enforcing its radical vision of Islamic Shariah law, many in these Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq initially welcomed their rule. The Sunnis had long bristled under the rule by majority Shiites who lead the government in Baghdad. At first, IS provided them services the central government had neglected.

"When they first came, they gave the people money and food. And you know, the people are poor, they took it," said Sabha Khal Salih, a mother of two in the village of Hajj Ali, near Qayara. Young unemployed men joined the militants' ranks, she said.

But as time went on, living conditions deteriorated, in part because IS-held territories were cut off economically from the rest of Iraq. Also, the U.S.-led coalition's bombing campaign has strained IS's resources and prompted it to lash out against anyone it suspects of spying.

Abu Abdullatif, who worked in a clinic in Awsaja, said over the past three months, the militants became even more intrusive in enforcing their rules, even peeking into homes to see if women were properly covered there and imposing fines "just to get the money." Over time, he said, the food rations that IS distributed to the poor grew smaller, until finally they were giving only a few kilograms of flour  though members of the group continued to receive full rations.

Fearing residents were trying to escape, IS fighters strictly questioned  and sometimes demanded fees from  anyone trying to cross the river to markets in Qayara, he said, also speaking on condition he be identified by his nickname because he feared for the safety of relatives.

The group's fear of informants has fueled a crackdown in Mosul itself. This month, IS released a video titled "deterring the traitors," where six young men are shown being killed on a city street. In the video, the narration accused the men of being "the eyes of America," suggesting they were spies.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say the final assault on Mosul is still weeks away as forces fight to retake territory around the city. From the Qayara military base, Iraqi troops are still some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the city.

The towns and villages around Qayara recaptured from IS are still too close to the front lines and too rife with booby-traps and explosives for residents to return. When Iraqi forces retook the area, many of the IS fighters changed into civilian clothes and disappeared into the surrounding desert.

Hajaj, the Qayara resident, said people in the area will never allow them to regain a foothold.

"Now we know who they are, we will never let them return," he said.

As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories.

The accounts point to the difficulties the extremist group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants' hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city.

In the latest areas recaptured, Iraqi troops over the past month took a clump of villages near a key military base south of Mosul that they plan to use as a hub for the assault. Residents of the communities, which lie strung along bends in the Tigris River, say that in the preceding weeks, the militants ruling them had seemed to be scrambling to keep control.

In Qayara, which is the main town in the area and remains in IS hands, beheadings and extrajudicial killings that previously were occasional became commonplace in a hunt for spies and deserters, said Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, who was among thousands of residents who fled fighting in the area and now live in the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Kurdish-run territory.

"They started making raids on houses, arresting people and beheading them," he said.

Hajaj said the group's fighters appeared increasingly nervous as they watched news of IS loses elsewhere.

Their ranks also appeared to turn more to younger, less experienced men. At one point, almost all the militants guarding the streets were teenagers, he said. That, Hajaj said, was when he thought, "They're collapsing. They're finished."

The reliance on younger fighters in smaller communities could be a sign of overstretched manpower as the group's more veteran militants redeploy to Mosul or to neighboring Syria. Other factors could also be in play, like difficulties in finding new recruits and the effect of desertions, which Kurdish officials have said are on the rise.

Fighters as young as 13 or 14 were patrolling in the village of Awsaja on the other side of the river, said one resident, who asked to be identified by his nickname Abu Saleh for fear of reprisals against his family in areas still under IS rule. He said the militants killed seven people for trying to flee the village, displaying their bodies on a bridge as an example to others.

As Iraqi troops moved on Awsaja, the militants seemed confused on how to respond.

At one point, some IS fighters decided to retreat and ordered all the residents to come with them as human shields, Abu Saleh said. But that prompted an argument with others in the group who were remaining in the village to fight and wanted the residents to stay for their protection, said the 50-year-old psychologist, who fled with other residents and is now also in Dibaga Camp. Iraqi forces succeeded in retaking Awsaja in mid-July.

The area has been under IS rule for two years, ever since the Sunni militants overran much of western and northern Iraq, joining it to the territory they control in neighboring Syria in a self-declared "caliphate."

Though the group has been notorious for atrocities and its brutality in enforcing its radical vision of Islamic Shariah law, many in these Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq initially welcomed their rule. The Sunnis had long bristled under the rule by majority Shiites who lead the government in Baghdad. At first, IS provided them services the central government had neglected.

"When they first came, they gave the people money and food. And you know, the people are poor, they took it," said Sabha Khal Salih, a mother of two in the village of Hajj Ali, near Qayara. Young unemployed men joined the militants' ranks, she said.

But as time went on, living conditions deteriorated, in part because IS-held territories were cut off economically from the rest of Iraq. Also, the U.S.-led coalition's bombing campaign has strained IS's resources and prompted it to lash out against anyone it suspects of spying.

Abu Abdullatif, who worked in a clinic in Awsaja, said over the past three months, the militants became even more intrusive in enforcing their rules, even peeking into homes to see if women were properly covered there and imposing fines "just to get the money." Over time, he said, the food rations that IS distributed to the poor grew smaller, until finally they were giving only a few kilograms of flour  though members of the group continued to receive full rations.

Fearing residents were trying to escape, IS fighters strictly questioned  and sometimes demanded fees from  anyone trying to cross the river to markets in Qayara, he said, also speaking on condition he be identified by his nickname because he feared for the safety of relatives.

The group's fear of informants has fueled a crackdown in Mosul itself. This month, IS released a video titled "deterring the traitors," where six young men are shown being killed on a city street. In the video, the narration accused the men of being "the eyes of America," suggesting they were spies.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say the final assault on Mosul is still weeks away as forces fight to retake territory around the city. From the Qayara military base, Iraqi troops are still some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the city.

The towns and villages around Qayara recaptured from IS are still too close to the front lines and too rife with booby-traps and explosives for residents to return. When Iraqi forces retook the area, many of the IS fighters changed into civilian clothes and disappeared into the surrounding desert.

Hajaj, the Qayara resident, said people in the area will never allow them to regain a foothold.

"Now we know who they are, we will never let them return," he said.

As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories.

The accounts point to the difficulties the extremist group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants' hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city.

In the latest areas recaptured, Iraqi troops over the past month took a clump of villages near a key military base south of Mosul that they plan to use as a hub for the assault. Residents of the communities, which lie strung along bends in the Tigris River, say that in the preceding weeks, the militants ruling them had seemed to be scrambling to keep control.

In Qayara, which is the main town in the area and remains in IS hands, beheadings and extrajudicial killings that previously were occasional became commonplace in a hunt for spies and deserters, said Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, who was among thousands of residents who fled fighting in the area and now live in the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Kurdish-run territory.

"They started making raids on houses, arresting people and beheading them," he said.

Hajaj said the group's fighters appeared increasingly nervous as they watched news of IS loses elsewhere.

Their ranks also appeared to turn more to younger, less experienced men. At one point, almost all the militants guarding the streets were teenagers, he said. That, Hajaj said, was when he thought, "They're collapsing. They're finished."

The reliance on younger fighters in smaller communities could be a sign of overstretched manpower as the group's more veteran militants redeploy to Mosul or to neighboring Syria. Other factors could also be in play, like difficulties in finding new recruits and the effect of desertions, which Kurdish officials have said are on the rise.

Fighters as young as 13 or 14 were patrolling in the village of Awsaja on the other side of the river, said one resident, who asked to be identified by his nickname Abu Saleh for fear of reprisals against his family in areas still under IS rule. He said the militants killed seven people for trying to flee the village, displaying their bodies on a bridge as an example to others.

As Iraqi troops moved on Awsaja, the militants seemed confused on how to respond.

At one point, some IS fighters decided to retreat and ordered all the residents to come with them as human shields, Abu Saleh said. But that prompted an argument with others in the group who were remaining in the village to fight and wanted the residents to stay for their protection, said the 50-year-old psychologist, who fled with other residents and is now also in Dibaga Camp. Iraqi forces succeeded in retaking Awsaja in mid-July.

The area has been under IS rule for two years, ever since the Sunni militants overran much of western and northern Iraq, joining it to the territory they control in neighboring Syria in a self-declared "caliphate."

Though the group has been notorious for atrocities and its brutality in enforcing its radical vision of Islamic Shariah law, many in these Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq initially welcomed their rule. The Sunnis had long bristled under the rule by majority Shiites who lead the government in Baghdad. At first, IS provided them services the central government had neglected.

"When they first came, they gave the people money and food. And you know, the people are poor, they took it," said Sabha Khal Salih, a mother of two in the village of Hajj Ali, near Qayara. Young unemployed men joined the militants' ranks, she said.

But as time went on, living conditions deteriorated, in part because IS-held territories were cut off economically from the rest of Iraq. Also, the U.S.-led coalition's bombing campaign has strained IS's resources and prompted it to lash out against anyone it suspects of spying.

Abu Abdullatif, who worked in a clinic in Awsaja, said over the past three months, the militants became even more intrusive in enforcing their rules, even peeking into homes to see if women were properly covered there and imposing fines "just to get the money." Over time, he said, the food rations that IS distributed to the poor grew smaller, until finally they were giving only a few kilograms of flour  though members of the group continued to receive full rations.

Fearing residents were trying to escape, IS fighters strictly questioned  and sometimes demanded fees from  anyone trying to cross the river to markets in Qayara, he said, also speaking on condition he be identified by his nickname because he feared for the safety of relatives.

The group's fear of informants has fueled a crackdown in Mosul itself. This month, IS released a video titled "deterring the traitors," where six young men are shown being killed on a city street. In the video, the narration accused the men of being "the eyes of America," suggesting they were spies.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say the final assault on Mosul is still weeks away as forces fight to retake territory around the city. From the Qayara military base, Iraqi troops are still some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the city.

The towns and villages around Qayara recaptured from IS are still too close to the front lines and too rife with booby-traps and explosives for residents to return. When Iraqi forces retook the area, many of the IS fighters changed into civilian clothes and disappeared into the surrounding desert.

Hajaj, the Qayara resident, said people in the area will never allow them to regain a foothold.

"Now we know who they are, we will never let them return," he said.

As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories.

The accounts point to the difficulties the extremist group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants' hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city.

In the latest areas recaptured, Iraqi troops over the past month took a clump of villages near a key military base south of Mosul that they plan to use as a hub for the assault. Residents of the communities, which lie strung along bends in the Tigris River, say that in the preceding weeks, the militants ruling them had seemed to be scrambling to keep control.

In Qayara, which is the main town in the area and remains in IS hands, beheadings and extrajudicial killings that previously were occasional became commonplace in a hunt for spies and deserters, said Jarjis Muhammad Hajaj, who was among thousands of residents who fled fighting in the area and now live in the Dibaga Camp for displaced people in Kurdish-run territory.

"They started making raids on houses, arresting people and beheading them," he said.

Hajaj said the group's fighters appeared increasingly nervous as they watched news of IS loses elsewhere.

Their ranks also appeared to turn more to younger, less experienced men. At one point, almost all the militants guarding the streets were teenagers, he said. That, Hajaj said, was when he thought, "They're collapsing. They're finished."

The reliance on younger fighters in smaller communities could be a sign of overstretched manpower as the group's more veteran militants redeploy to Mosul or to neighboring Syria. Other factors could also be in play, like difficulties in finding new recruits and the effect of desertions, which Kurdish officials have said are on the rise.

Fighters as young as 13 or 14 were patrolling in the village of Awsaja on the other side of the river, said one resident, who asked to be identified by his nickname Abu Saleh for fear of reprisals against his family in areas still under IS rule. He said the militants killed seven people for trying to flee the village, displaying their bodies on a bridge as an example to others.

As Iraqi troops moved on Awsaja, the militants seemed confused on how to respond.

At one point, some IS fighters decided to retreat and ordered all the residents to come with them as human shields, Abu Saleh said. But that prompted an argument with others in the group who were remaining in the village to fight and wanted the residents to stay for their protection, said the 50-year-old psychologist, who fled with other residents and is now also in Dibaga Camp. Iraqi forces succeeded in retaking Awsaja in mid-July.

The area has been under IS rule for two years, ever since the Sunni militants overran much of western and northern Iraq, joining it to the territory they control in neighboring Syria in a self-declared "caliphate."

Though the group has been notorious for atrocities and its brutality in enforcing its radical vision of Islamic Shariah law, many in these Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq initially welcomed their rule. The Sunnis had long bristled under the rule by majority Shiites who lead the government in Baghdad. At first, IS provided them services the central government had neglected.

"When they first came, they gave the people money and food. And you know, the people are poor, they took it," said Sabha Khal Salih, a mother of two in the village of Hajj Ali, near Qayara. Young unemployed men joined the militants' ranks, she said.

But as time went on, living conditions deteriorated, in part because IS-held territories were cut off economically from the rest of Iraq. Also, the U.S.-led coalition's bombing campaign has strained IS's resources and prompted it to lash out against anyone it suspects of spying.

Abu Abdullatif, who worked in a clinic in Awsaja, said over the past three months, the militants became even more intrusive in enforcing their rules, even peeking into homes to see if women were properly covered there and imposing fines "just to get the money." Over time, he said, the food rations that IS distributed to the poor grew smaller, until finally they were giving only a few kilograms of flour  though members of the group continued to receive full rations.

Fearing residents were trying to escape, IS fighters strictly questioned  and sometimes demanded fees from  anyone trying to cross the river to markets in Qayara, he said, also speaking on condition he be identified by his nickname because he feared for the safety of relatives.

The group's fear of informants has fueled a crackdown in Mosul itself. This month, IS released a video titled "deterring the traitors," where six young men are shown being killed on a city street. In the video, the narration accused the men of being "the eyes of America," suggesting they were spies.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say the final assault on Mosul is still weeks away as forces fight to retake territory around the city. From the Qayara military base, Iraqi troops are still some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the city.

The towns and villages around Qayara recaptured from IS are still too close to the front lines and too rife with booby-traps and explosives for residents to return. When Iraqi forces retook the area, many of the IS fighters changed into civilian clothes and disappeared into the surrounding desert.

Hajaj, the Qayara resident, said people in the area will never allow them to regain a foothold.

"Now we know who they are, we will never let them return," he said.

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Officials say Turkish and American justice officials are discussing Turkey's demands for the extradition of a U.S.-based cleric accused of masterminding last month's failed coup attempt.

Turkey's Justice Ministry says its officials opened talks Tuesday with U.S. Justice Department and State Department officials in the capital, Ankara.

Fethullah Gulen has lived in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania for the past 17 years in self-imposed exile. He has denied any involvement in the July 15 coup attempt that claimed 270 lives.

The U.S. government has asked for firm evidence before considering extradition. Senior officials in the Obama administration say Turkey's extradition requests have been based on allegations of other crimes against Gulen, not evidence of involvement in the coup attempt

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Regime forces and Kurdish fighters agreed on Tuesday to a truce in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh after a week of clashes, a Kurdish official and Syrian state media said.

The agreement included "a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all armed forces from the city," according to a statement distributed to journalists by a Kurdish official.

It said the Kurds and regime would also exchange any detainees or wounded, and reopen roads blocked off during fighting.

The official told AFP that the powerful Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian forces would withdraw from Hasakeh, while the police forces of both the Kurds and the government would remain.

He added that the deal was brokered "under the auspices of Russian military officials."

Syrian state television confirmed the truce agreement.

A journalist working for AFP in Hasakeh said the city was quiet on Tuesday afternoon, with several stores reopening in the centre.

Kurdish, regime, and Russian officials met on Monday in the coastal Hmeimim air base to thrash out an agreement to put an end to the violence in Hasakeh.

Steadfast regime ally Russia has strengthened its relationship with Syria's Kurds, and a Kurdish representative office recently opened in Moscow.

Clashes erupted on Wednesday between the Kurdish police force known as the Asayesh and the pro-government National Defence Forces militia (NDF).

Fighting escalated the next day when regime warplanes bombarded Kurdish-held positions in the city for the first time.

That prompted the US-led coalition to scramble aircraft, with Washington warning the Syrian government against strikes that might endanger its military advisers with the Kurds on the ground.

Hasakeh, capital of the northeastern province of the same name, was already mostly controlled by Kurdish forces although the majority of its residents are Arabs.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that Kurdish fighters controlled 90 percent of the city after seizing the central prison.

"It (the truce) is a defeat for the regime and a victory for the Kurds because technically now they control the province of Hasakeh with a symbolic regime presence," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Washington-based analyst Mutlu Civiroglu agreed that the deal appeared favourable to the Kurds.

"As of now, the agreement shows that the Kurds got what they wanted with minimal casualties," Civiroglu said.

Syria's Kurds have run autonomous institutions across swathes of the country's north -- with independent schools and police forces -- since government forces withdrew from the area in 2012.

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In a year where much has been made of voters not liking their choices for President, theres probably nowhere thats truer than Utah. Donald Trump has a 31/61 favorability rating in the state. That makes him the popular candidate there, by comparison, as Hillary Clinton comes in at 23/72.

Clintons unpopularity makes Utah probably a step too far for Democrats even in a year where Trumps weakness as a candidate is putting unusual states on the map. Trump leads the state with 39% to 24% for Clinton, with Gary Johnson at 12%, Evan McMullin at 9%, Darrell Castle at 2%, and Jill Stein at 1%. If voters had to choose just between the two major candidates, Trumps lead would grow to 20 points at 53/33.

Much has been made of Trumps unpopularity with Mormons and certainly thats a real thing- only 33% of Mormons see him favorably to 56% with an unfavorable opinion. But that still puts him in much better position than Clinton who comes in at 12/84 with Mormons. When it comes to the horse race Clinton is actually tied for third among Mormons in the state- Trump gets 44%, McMullin 13%, and Clinton and Johnson tie for third at 12%. Echoing a finding we made the last time we publicly polled Utah in 2011, non-Mormon Utah would be one of the most Democratic states in the country. Among non-Mormons in the state, Clinton leads by 16 points with 46% to 30% for Trump, and 11% for Johnson.

Even in a state where Trumps up big, problems loom for him in the polls. 65% of voters in the state think he needs to release his tax returns, to only 22% who dont think its necessary for him to. That issue continues to pose doubts about him for voters, and even among his own supporters 44% think he needs to release them with only 36% saying he doesnt need to. Only 39% of voters think Trump can be trusted with nuclear weapons, to 48% who think he cant be. Trumps losing his battle with the media- by a double digit margin (45/34) voters say that the New York Times is more respectable than Trump is. And some of his recent statements are a step too far even for his supporters- Trump may want to be called Mr. Brexit but only 6% of voters think he deserves credit for the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union, to 70% who say he deserves no such credit. Even among Trumps own voters, just 11% buy the premise that Trump deserves credit for the Brexit vote.

We continue to find overwhelming belief among Trump voters that if Hillary Clinton wins the election it will only be because it was rigged on her behalf. 65% of Trump voters say a Clinton win will be due to voter fraud, compared to just 21% who think it will be because she received more voters. To give credit where its due though Trump voters in Utah, contra North Carolina and Texas, at least dont think that ACORN will be the organization stealing the election for Clinton.

The other major races in Utah this year shape up about how youd expect. Gary Herbert is one of the more popular Governors in the country, with 57% of voters approving of him to only 26% who disapprove. He leads his reelection bid against Democratic challenger Mike Weinholtz 57-21, with third party candidates getting a total of 7%, and 14% of voters undecided.

Its a similar story in the US Senate race. Mike Lees approval numbers are solid, on the curve of modern Senator approval ratings, with 42% of voters approving of the job hes doing to 34% who disapprove. He leads Democratic challenger Misty Snow 51-21, with independent candidates getting a total of 8% and 20% of voters still undecided. We also tested Jim Matheson since theres still time for Democrats to change their candidate. Mathesons popular- a +25 net favorability rating with 46% of voters seeing him positively to 21% with a negative view. But hed still trail Lee by 7 points at 44-37, and if theres any Democrat who could win statewide in Utah at this point its probably him.

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From Bulgaria

EBRD Backs Bulgarian Energy Holding Bond

The EBRD has invested EUR 80 million in a five-year EUR 550 million bond issued by BEH to support reform of the Bulgarian energy sector

AUTHOR: publics.bg



 Karen Roe, flickr.com



The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested EUR 80 million in a five-year EUR 550 million bond issued by Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) to support reform of the Bulgarian energy sector, the EBRD said in a press release on August 22.

BEH, which pools all state-owned energy assets in Bulgaria, has raised funds to restructure its balance sheet in a move to improve the firms long-term financial sustainability. The company is the backbone of the Bulgarian energy sector, which has recently struggled with a tariff deficit. In early 2015, the government launched a comprehensive reform plan to restore the financial viability of the electricity sector and to promote liberalisation of the energy market.

Nandita Parshad, EBRD Director, Head of Power and Energy, said: The EBRDs investment in BEHs bond is an expression of our strong support for the ongoing reform process to restore the financial sustainability of the electricity sector and promote the liberalisation of the Bulgarian electricity market.

The bond, issued on the Irish Stock Exchange following roadshows in London, Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Milan, Zurich and Vienna, attracted a host of international investors.

The EBRD is one of the largest institutional investors in Bulgaria. To date, the Bank has invested over EUR 3.3 billion in more than 220 projects in the country. The EBRDs operations in the country are headed by Larisa Manastirli.

The Banks current strategy in Bulgaria focuses on strengthening financial sector intermediation through targeted investments and improved governance; enhancing the competitiveness of companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, through improved efficiency, governance and innovation; and narrowing the infrastructure gap through commercialisation and support for reforms.
When Tamir Koch, CEO of TriPlay, bought eMusic last fall, he acknowledged that he was primarily interested in looking to marry eMusics song library with TriPlays cloud service. He knew that eMusic also owned a digital audiobook business, but he didnt anticipate that developing a new downloadable audio service would be a priority. After looking into the business and the explosive growth that downloadable audio has experienced in the last few years, however, Koch decided that the market was ripe for a new entrant. As a result, in mid-July eMusic launched eStories, a audiobook subscription service.

In entering the downloadable audio business, Koch said he sees the Audible/Amazon combination not as an 800-pound gorilla but as a two-ton gorilla. To get the attention of the audiobook consumer, eStories has priced its lowest-price package at $11.99 for one audiobook per month that can be played on five devices. Its most popular package is the $21.99 monthly offer that gives customers two audiobooks per month that can be played on seven devices.

It is the combination of low prices and more device choices that Koch is counting on to attract audiobook consumers. To that end, Koch pointed to eStories ability to be played on 13 platforms, including the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. In eStories most expensive monthly package, which costs $49.99, audiobooks can be synced on up to 10 different devices. And by using TriPlays cloud service, consumers can store an unlimited number of titles. We want to empower audiobook consumers, Koch said.

When TriPlay bought eMusic, they had about 26,000 audiobooks, a figure that rose to about 80,000 under a deal with Findaway. By the end of the year, Koch expects eStories to have its catalogue up to about 100,000 titles. Further down the road, Koch hopes to offer some exclusive items, but he emphasized that the goal at launch was to make the most popular audiobooks available to consumers, something the Findaway deal accomplished.

As part of its makeover of the old eMusic service, TriPlay has completely overhauled the eMusic storefront. Weve redesigned it to shine a light on the audiobooks, Koch said. Koch is looking to add more content on the site to give consumers more detailed information about the audiobooks and their narrators, to help them discover the title they want.

Ana Maria Allessi, head of audiobooks for HarperCollins, said that one thing in eStories favor is a partnership with Findaway, whom she believes is the best at easily delivering downloadable audiobooks. The key for eStories in getting a slice of the audiobook market, Allesi said, will be developing enough consumer awareness about the new offering.

Part of eStories marketing effort will be reaching out to former eMusic customers. Koch said many of those customers had a bad experience trying the service in the past, in part because the vast majority were using desktop computers. As part of the new upgraded offering, Koch expects most of eStories customers to be using mobile devices.

With TriPlays entry into the audiobook field, could they be eyeing the e-book market? Its worth considering, Koch said, before adding some important caveats. We would only get involved if our technology could be used to improve the user experience, Koch said. There were obvious ways we could do that for audiobooks. The problem with e-books is that a company needs to have a device to be successful. We are not in the hardware market.
Related Iranian Sunni cleric says executions may inflame regional tensions

Iran will rename a street in its capital after Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution in January prompted protests across the country, ISNA news agency said Thursday.

It said Tehran's city council decided that Naz Street, a central thoroughfare where the Saudi embassy is situated, would be named after Nimr, who was put to death along with 46 other "terror" convicts on a single day in Saudi Arabia.

His execution triggered a diplomatic crisis between Iran and Saudi Arabia after protesters ransacked Riyadh's embassy in Tehran and stormed its consulate in second city Mashhad.

Nimr was a prominent figure in 2011 demonstrations in the kingdom's east.

The deterioration in ties between the Middle East's leading Sunni and Shia Muslim powers raised sectarian tensions across the region and complicated efforts to resolve conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

The rivals were already at loggerheads following a stampede during the 2015 hajj pilgrimage in the Saudi city of Mecca, in which Iran says 464 of its citizens were killed.

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This 1,000-plus-page novel is based on an infamous crime that rocked Rome in the 1970s. A bestseller in Italy for 22 weeks now, the novel is currently #8 on the Corriere Della Sera list. The author, who was classmates with three boys convicted of murdering two young girls, uses the crime to explore masculinity, the Catholic church, and youth.

Book title: La Scuola Cattolica / The Catholic School

First published by: Rizzoli on March 17

Format: Hardcover

Author: Edoardo Albinati is a screenwriter who also teaches at the Rebibbia prison in Rome. In his screenwriting career he's worked with such noted Italian directors as Matteo Garrone (Tale of Tales) and Marco Bellocchio (Dormant Beauty).

Acquiring Editor: Michele Rossi, Rizzoli's Italian fiction editor-in-chief

How Its Done: Rossi said The Catholic School has been hailed in Italy as one of the most important novels of the year; in July it won an Italian literature award, the Premio Strega. Although the novel is one of the longest titles to be released in Italy this year (at 1,294 pages), this fact has not deterred readers. According to Rizzoli, 50,000 copies have sold since the book was released. Foreign rights sales have closed in Holland (Atlas Contact) and Spain (Penguin Random House/ Lumen).

Why Its Working: Written over a period of nine years, the novel, Rossi said, taps into the author's proximity to the infamous case it depicts. This fact has undoubtedly piqued readers' interests. The case the book references, the so-called Massacro del Circeo, is an infamous one in Italy in which three boys from wealthy families were convicted of murdering two girls. Albinati was a school peer of the trio that was convicted and, in the book, explores how and why these boys became murderers.
Australian Novel Heats Up

Dying: A Memoir, by Cory Taylor, has picked up a number of foreign sales after being released by Australia's Text Publishing in May. Taylor is the author of numerous books, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize-winning Me and Mr. Booker, and wrote this memoir in the weeks before she died of melanoma-related cancer. The book was helped along by a strong critical reception and was blurbed by authors like Julian Barnes and Margaret Drabble. Text Publishing controls all rights and, so far, Dying has sold in Germany (Allegria), the U.K. (Canongate), the U.S. (Tin House) and to houses in Greece, the Netherlands, and Czech Republic.

Finnish Novel Sells in Italy

Roots by Miika Nousiainen, a Finnish author known for his books Raspberry Boat Refugee and In the Long Run, is attracting buyers outside the author's native country. The novel, which will be published by Otava in September, sold this month to Brombergs (Sweden) and Iperborea (Italy). Elina Ahlback at the Elina Ahlback Agency controls all rights. Like the author's previous books, Roots will premiere as a play in November at the Finnish National Theatre. The novel follows a man whose father abandoned him as a boy. Years later, he discovers he has a brother who was also abandoned. Together, the newfound siblings try to learn more about their father.

Kurbjuweit's 'Fear' Spreads Beyond Germany

In another transaction involving Text Publishing, the German novel Fear, by Dirk Kurbjuweit, was acquired by the Australian house in a world rights deal (excluding Hungarian and German rights). Originally published by Rowholt in 2014, the thriller follows a man in jail for murdering someone who was stalking his family. Text will be publishing the book in February and will be touting it as one of its top titles at the Frankfurt Book Fair this fall. Prior to the Text deal, Rowohlt sold the book to Hungarian publisher Athenaeum.

Novel About Dali's Wife Continues to Draw Suitors

Gali-Dali by Carmen Domingo, about Salvador Dali's wife, Gala, and her relationship with her painter-husband, continues to sell in Europe. The book, originally published in June by Spanish house Espasa/Grupo Planeta, most recently sold to Laguna in Serbia and Editura Humanitas in Romania. These sales follow on the heels of deals with France's Presses de la Cite, Colibri in Bulgaria, and Poland's Swiat Ksiazki. Barcelona-based Pontas Literary & Film Agency controls all rights all rights to the book.
In the age of around-the-clock news coverage, social media and digitally connected lifestyles tied to mobile devices, its harder than ever to clear the mind. While its not always possible to eliminate the trappings of the modern world, experts say there are things people can do to reduce mental clutter and think more clearly.

Here are three effective ways to help clear your mind:

1. Reduce digital distractions

Digital devices and media are now one of the largest contributors of mental clutter. Psychologist Larry Rosen says in an article at Harvard Business Review that many people now have fears related to separation from technology.

Rosen recommends using behavioral principles such as dedicated time periods and alarms to wean themselves from digital devices and forms of digital media. Start with a one-minute period every 15 minutes then work toward increasing the time between check ins to reduce your habit and dependency. Repeat this process until you are comfortable increasing your off-grid time to an hour or several hours, Rosen says.

Rosen also recommends abstaining from viewing digital media for one hour before bedtime and to keep devices out of the bedroom. He says sleeping with a phone beside the bed can release neurotransmitters that energize the brain instead of promoting melatonin, which induces rest.

2. Exercise or take a walk in the park

Many studies have shown that exercise can increase mental clarity and reduce stress and anxiety. Karen Postal, Ph.D., says that in addition to stimulating new brain cells, exercise also increases BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), which can lead to brain cells binding directly to one another. Aerobic exercise not only raises your heart rate, but also can directly and immediately lead to improved focus and concentration.

Postal says following a half hour of strenuous exercise, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex works harder to resist distracters.

Studies also show that immediately following exercise, problem solving, memory and attention improve, Postal says.

Merely walking in the park also can reduce stress and increase mental clarity. Recent research from Stanford University found that walking alone in green, natural spaces can reduce blood flow to the subgenual prefrontal cortex. Study participants who walked in nature reported less brooding, quieter brains and improved moods, compared to those who walked in urban settings.

3. Yoga and meditation

While yoga often has been praised for its physical benefits of increased flexibility, respiration and circulatory health, its meditative elements are also highly effective for attaining mental clarity.

Deeper forms of meditation such as transcendental meditation have been widely studied and are very effective, according to Mario Orsatti, co-director of the David Lynch Foundations Center for Leadership Performance. Orsatti says the human mind is like an ocean -- while waves on the surface can sometimes be huge and chaotic, its often much calmer beneath the surface. He says transcendental meditation teaches the person to dive beneath the waves.

Everyone is exercising from the neck down. You need to exercise that six inches between your ears. It will help the brain psychology create that state of mind more often, Orsatti says.

Transcendental meditation is taught in a seven-step course and involves the use of a mantra (hymn) twice per day for twenty minutes per session. While it has often been seen as a hippie-type practice, Orsatti says the practice is gaining widespread acceptance with everyone from business leaders to war veterans as a way to better manage their thoughts.

Doctors are recommending it, its being used by businesses, schools and really helps create a restful, alert, alpha one state thats unique and recharges the whole brain, Orsatti says.
Buried in the fine print of many marketplace health plan documents is language that allows them to refuse to cover a range of services, many of which disproportionately affect women, a recent study found.

Its unclear the extent to which these coverage exclusions have prevented patients from getting needed treatments. An insurance industry representative said patients are generally able to get the care they need if its appropriate for them. Yet, some women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, advocates say, may have gaps in care because of the exclusions.

More broadly, experts said that the report provides a useful roadmap to potential coverage issues that may still need to be addressed, despite significant improvements following passage of the federal health law.

The study, by researchers at the National Womens Law Center, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., examined health coverage exclusions in marketplace plans offered by 109 insurers in 16 states in 2014 and 2015.

The health law requires insurers to provide a general summary of benefits and coverage for every plan that states whether the plan excludes coverage of 13 specific services, including acupuncture, bariatric surgery and infertility treatment. These coverage summaries, which are no longer than eight pages, are easy to read and available online or in paper form. But other services that arent in the summary documents may be excluded as well, although they may be hard for consumers to find because they appear in the detailed plan coverage materials. Health plans must provide a link from the online summary to those documents, which can be quite technical and run dozens of pages.

Reviewing these detailed documents, researchers identified six types of excluded services that could have a disproportionate impact on womens health care, although many of them also apply to men. The excluded services included:

Treatment for conditions that result from non-covered services, for example, if you get an infection following cosmetic surgery (42 percent of plans). Maintenance therapy for a chronic disease or other care that prevents regression of a stable condition (27 percent of plans). Genetic testing, except as required by law (15 percent). Fetal reduction surgery, which is sometimes recommended when a woman is carrying multiple fetuses, to protect the womans health or improve the odds a pregnancy will be successful (14 percent). Treatment for self-inflicted conditions, such as a suicide attempt or eating disorder (11 percent). Preventive services not required by law (10 percent).

We wanted to highlight issues that would have a particular impact on women as well as show how broad some of the exclusions are, said Dania Palanker, who co-authored the study and is now an assistant research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

Its not uncommon for women who have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer to run into this type of roadblock when they need genetic testing or preventive services, said Lisa Schlager, vice president of community affairs and public policy at Force, an advocacy group for people affected by hereditary breast, ovarian and related cancers.

The health law requires insurers to cover services that are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of medical experts, without requiring consumers to pay anything out of pocket. The task force recommends that women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancers receive genetic counseling and, if necessary, testing for a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes that are known to increase the risk of developing those cancers.

However, insurers arent required to cover testing for the 40 or so other genetic mutations that are also recognized as increasing womens risk of breast or ovarian cancer, Schlager said, and many dont do so.

If a woman does test positive for a BRCA mutation, insurers may not cover earlier or more frequent screening or other preventive care she may need, Schlager said.

We are in this strange scenario where insurers are paying for the testing and then not paying for the breast MRIs or prophylactic mastectomies, she added.

Clare Krusing, a spokesperson for Americas Health Insurance Plans, a trade group, called the report overblown. She said it fails to address important issues such as whether treatments are safe and effective for all patients, whether there are alternative treatments that are covered and the processes in place to enable patients to get access to treatments if for whatever reason a plan doesnt provide coverage.

If a patient has a medically necessary reason for this care, it will likely be covered, Krusing said.

Kirsten Sloan, senior policy director at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said people who use the societys call center arent generally complaining about plan coverage exclusions. Still, coverage distinctions may be confusing for patients, Sloan said, and highlight the need for better transparency in communicating coverage information.

More research is needed to understand how these exclusions affect patient care, said Gwen Darien, executive vice president for patient advocacy at the National Patient Advocate Foundation.

What the study does and calls for is further uncovering where the exclusions are and to make sure plans cover them as part of the essential health benefits, she said.
A Kewanee woman has been charged with possession of synthetic marijuana after a police officer on bicycle patrol noticed several unrestrained children in the back seat of her vehicle on Aug. 11.

April L. Merritt, 34, was charged in Henry County Circuit Court with Class 4 felony possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

At Monday's preliminary hearing, Kewanee Officer John Gearhart testified he stopped Ms. Merritt's vehicle in the 100 block of East 3rd Street, confirmed the children were not in safety belts and conducted a traffic stop.

Police learned Ms. Merritt had a suspended license and a clear glass pipe that a male passenger said was his was seen in front of the front tire. A K-9 alerted on the car with a search allegedly finding a small straw cut in half and a bag of suspected K-2 synthetic marijuana between the front seats.

Police said a search of Ms. Merritt at the police department discovered cellophane with suspected K-2 in her underwear. Officer Gearhart said one of the suspected items tested positive and the other did not.

Judge Terry Patton said he agreed with Henry County Assistant State's Attorney Catherine Runty that there was sufficient evidence for a finding of probable cause. A Sept. 15 pretrial hearing was set. Ms. Merritt remained in custody Monday on a $40,000 bond.
EAST MOLINE  Enrollment numbers remained about the same across the district, superintendent Kristin Humphries told school board members Monday night.

He reported 2,623 students registered for the first day of school on Monday, slightly lower than last year.

The highest jumps in enrollment are in kindergarten, first and fourth grades at Hillcrest and Ridgewood elementary schools. As a result, at least 15 late-registration students were moved from Hillcrest to Bowlesburg Elementary to accommodate the overflow.

"In enrollment, we look for places where it won't affect transportation. Last year alone our average daily attendance went up by 80 students. If our kindergarten and first grade students are any indication, I believe we will go up again this year," Mr. Humphries said.

Board members also heard a positive report of the first day of school. Mr. Humphries said he started his day at Glenview Middle School, going next to Bowlesburg Elementary to greet students.

"It's my favorite day of the year. It's like Christmas Eve for me. You see those young kids with their teachers," he said, describing a sense of awe new students have for their teachers, and the reaction of parents as they deliver their children to classrooms.

"The staff did an amazing job all across the district. It was just a very good day."

Also on Monday, board members approved a tentative district budget with a deficit of nearly $990,000.

District business manager Casey Kyser reported deficits of $165,000 in the education fund, $497,000 in the operations and maintenance fund, and $328,000 in the transportation fund.

The budget will be on display for 30 days, with a public hearing set for Sept. 26 at 6:15 p.m., prior to the board meeting.

"We may be able to move money from the tort fund. We will continue to monitor expenditures to see if there are any areas that can be adjusted. There is a 2 percent increase in salaries, but other expenditures will remain flat." Ms. Kyser said. "Our intention in the education fund is to bring a balanced budget."

Mr. Humphries reported a drop of $1.9 million in corporate personal property replacement taxes, and estimated a loss of $400,000 in local revenue.

"The local option sales tax would help with that number, but we have not passed that yet," he noted.

Mr. Humphries told board members he learned last week the district will receive $8.8 million in state aid funds from Illinois  an increase from the prior year.

In other news, board members approved a 2.7 percent salary increase for all non-union district employees. The pay raises will be retroactive to July 1.
ROCK ISLAND  Urban chickens may eventually have their day in Rock Island, but supporters on the Rock Island City Council failed to muster a needed super-majority vote for an ordinance amendment to allow backyard hens.

The vote was 4-to-3 in favor of the amendment, with Ald. Joshua Schipp, 6th Ward, making the motion seconded by Ald. Kate Hotle, 5th Ward. Alds. Ivory Clark, 1st Ward, and P.J. Foley, 3rd Ward, also voted in favor of the chickens.

Alds. Virgil Mayberry, 2nd Ward, Stephen Tollenaer, 4th Ward, and Chuck Austin, 7th Ward, voted against the measure. Mayor Dennis Pauley thought the motion passed, but city attorney Dave Morrison informed the council a 5-to-2 vote would be needed because a motion to suspend the rules was involved because the amendment had not had the required number of readings.

Mayor Pauley, who is opposed to chickens inside the city limits, said another motion likely would come back to the council in September.

Ald. Schipp and Ald. Mayberry were diametrically opposed on the virtues and values of neighborhood chickens.

Ald. Schipp said allowing urban chickens is a hallmark of a progressive community succeeding in preparing for the future. He said the ordinance amendment also provided clarity to the existing ordinance, which creates a loophole for people to have chickens in an unregulated way in the city.

Ald. Schipp said people are concerned about environmental contaminants and are looking to raise food on their own. He said it gives American citizens more power back and an opportunity to save money, which, "sends the right signal of where the city wants to go in the future."

Ald. Mayberry disagreed.

"I grew up in the country," Ald. Mayberry said. "I would like to know if any of you sitting here have ever grown up around chickens?

"They stink. Okay. Simple as that. They do stink. I do not believe our city is progressing by bringing chickens in. You do not see well-to-do communities with chickens there, okay.

"Do we want Rock Island to be a poor community, or do we want it to be a well-to-do, wealthy community? We've got people on our staff trying to sell this community. These are not positives in any community today.

"Years ago, everybody had chickens. Why? Because you ate them. This (urban chickens) is the modern thing to do for people coming up."

Ald. Hotle said there is interest in chickens, but she didn't think it would be overwhelming.

"I don't think the city will be overrun by chickens," Ald. Hotle said.

Mayor Pauley, though, said, it would be just the beginning, opening the door to other animals, such as goats.

Moline, East Moline and Silvis have ordinances allowing for urban chickens.

In other business, the council approved a five-year labor contract with the union representing the Rock Island Police Department that gives a total 12.65 percent general wage increase over that period.

The contract with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 57 covers approximately 65 police officers and detectives, according to city administrative services director John Thorson. It is retroactive to March 28, 2016, and runs through Dec. 31, 2020. According to the city, the agreement provides general wage increases of 2 percent, 2.25 percent, 2.5 percent, 2.90 percent and 3 percent over the contract period.

The contract also includes standard step increases for employees and 2 percent longevity pay increases upon completion of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of continuous service.

The contract also has a no strike-no lockout provision.
Armenia on Tuesday jailed a Russian soldier for life for killing a family of seven near his base in Armenia in a case that sparked outrage in the ex-Soviet republic.

Conscript soldier Valery Permyakov was convicted of murdering a couple and their adult son and daughter, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in their home in Gyumri, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the capital Yerevan in January 2015.

Locals took to the streets to demand justice after the soldier went on a rampage, shooting six people including the couple's two-year-old granddaughter and stabbing their six-month-old grandson.

Permyakov, who has undergone several psychiatric tests and has been ruled sane, has pleaded guilty but the reasons behind the murders remain unclear.

It remains unclear whether he will serve his sentence in Russia or Armenia.

The soldier, who was 18 at the time of the murders according to local media reports, was arrested after trying to flee to Turkey. His boots and Kalashnikov rifle were found at the murder scene.

Since then, he has been held at Russia's military base at Gyumri.

Armenia's general prosecutor last year ruled he could not be handed over to the Armenian authorities because he is a Russian citizen being held in Russian jurisdiction.

That decision sparked outrage and a wave of rare anti-Moscow protests in the tiny Caucasus country of 2.9 million with thousands rallying to demand he be put on trial over the killings.

In a bid to calm the situation, Russia agreed to try Permyakov on desertion charges while allowing him to be tried for murder by an Armenian judge -- but with the trial held at the base.

A Russian military court last year sentenced Permyakov to 10 years in a high-security prison for deserting his base.

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The family of Daniel Kevin Harris said he was unarmed and suggested the sequence of events last week was a tragic misunderstanding  the type the state's training manual warns troopers to avoid when dealing with the hearing impaired.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, Secretary Frank Perry of the state Department of Public Safety said in a news release.

"Let us all refrain from making assumptions or drawing conclusions prior to the internal and independent reviews" by the patrol, the State Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney, said Perry, whose agency oversees the Highway Patrol.

Authorities haven't said why Trooper Jermaine Saunders fired, and a review of public records shows a few traffic charges against Harris from other states, including damaging his employer's vehicle with his own car after he was fired last year, according to a Denver police report.

Last Thursday's incident started when Harris did not pull over as Saunders turned on his blue lights on Interstate 485 near Charlotte about 6:15 p.m. and ended after Harris drove down several miles of surface streets to his home. The trooper was trying to pull him over for speeding.

North Carolina's Basic Law Enforcement Training manual has a section that deals with interacting with deaf drivers. "Keep your eyes on the person's hands," it reads. "Deaf people have been stopped by an officer and then shot and killed because the deaf person made a quick move for a pen and pad in his or her coat pocket or glove compartment. These unfortunate incidents can be prevented by mutual awareness which overcomes the lack of communication."

The victim's family said Harris likely didn't understand the officer's commands.

Harris' family said they want to make sure the incident is investigated thoroughly and also want the state to make changes so officers will immediately know they are dealing with a hearing-impaired driver.

Authorities have released little information about the investigation, including any possible body camera or dashboard camera footage or whether a gun was found near Harris. Saunders has been placed on administrative leave. A spokeswoman for the SBI didn't respond Tuesday to questions, including whether authorities have interviewed Saunders yet.

Harris' family is raising money for his funeral and will put any extra money toward educating police officers on interacting with hard-of-hearing people and calling for a computerized system to alert officers they are dealing with a deaf driver, according to the family's posting on YouCaring.com.

"You don't see deafness the way that you see the difference in race. We need to change the system," Harris' brother Sam said to reporters using sign language and an interpreter after a Monday night vigil.

Sam Harris is deaf, and so are his brother's parents and other family members. They signed with each other as an Associated Press reporter knocked on their door Tuesday.

Sam Harris didn't want to talk Tuesday but wrote a note leaving an email address for an interpreter, who said no interviews could be conducted that day.

A review by The Associated Press shows Harris had been charged with traffic offenses and other misdemeanors in three states.

In 2015, Denver police were called to Shafer Commercial Seating after Harris was fired. Officials at the chair and tabletop manufacturer said Harris "got very mad and stormed out" after being fired, hitting an employer's vehicle with his own car causing light damage, according to a police report.

A warrant was issued, but never served, but it wasn't clear why. No one answered the phone at Shafer Commercial Seating after hours Tuesday.

Also in Denver, Harris had traffic stops in 2015 and 2008. The five misdemeanor charges filed in 2008 included obstructing a peace officer; all those charges were dropped. It's unclear what happened with the 2015 charge.

He was arrested twice in Florida in 2010  once for petit theft and once for speeding. A charge of resisting an officer was dropped. That year he pleaded no-contest to petit theft and guilty to speeding.

And in December of that same year, he pleaded guilty to interfering with or resisting police in Watertown, Connecticut.

The National Association of the Deaf works with law enforcement agencies to improve existing training manuals but doesn't have one of its own, CEO Howard Rosenblum said in an email.

The NAD supports intensive training for law enforcement officers on dealing with people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and says some officers should be trained to communicate in American Sign Language.

Harris was white, and authorities haven't revealed Saunders' race.
Aircraft industry analysts say that claim is unfounded  side-splittingly hilarious, in the words of Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal Group, which studies a wide range of aviation-related industries.

Theyre an embarrassing misunderstanding of the aircraft industry, he said of Trumps claims.

Yet Trump continues to raise the idea of Boeing leaving the United States. Oh, dont worry; if Im president it wont happen, the Republican presidential nominee said last month at a rally in Colorado Springs, Colo. If Im president, Boeing will be very happy  believe me.

Trumps favorite example of what might be lost has been Boeings big, big  beautiful facility in North Charleston, S.C. The companys new plant employs more than 7,500 South Carolinians.

All of a sudden youre gonna be reading a big front-page story, all over the place, that Boeing is going to leave South Carolina, theyre going to make all their planes in China. Because thats what they do, he said in South Carolina ahead of its Republican primary in February, warning that China would bully the U.S. by devaluing its currency.

Aboulafia, however, says theres one big flaw in Trumps argument: South Carolina is the very place where Boeing is outsourcing jobs  from its facilities in Washington state.

Hes standing at the very center of where the jobs are shifting and hes saying theyre going somewhere else completely, Aboulafia said. If there was someone in that crowd who wasnt confused, tell them to call me and tell me what the hell theyre thinking.

The South Carolina site has expanded from manufacturing the 787 to designing and producing parts for the 737 MAX and the upcoming 777X. The North Charleston site houses the 787 Dreamliner final assembly and delivery facility, and delivered its 100th Dreamliner in February. It has a rapidly expanding research center with over 400 engineers.

The South Carolina facility is new, brand new. Its a huge tectonic shift (from previous production in Seattle)  so the idea of saying, Nope this isnt the future; China is the future, is ridiculous, Aboulafia said.

Adam Pilarski, vice president of aviation consulting group Avitas Inc., said when he heard Trumps claims about Boeing, his reaction was, Are you kidding me?

These statements about moving jobs dont make sense. Obviously he doesnt know much about this industry, he said, adding that Trumps one-size-fits-all approach to manufacturing doesnt work in the aerospace sector.

Aviation is different, he said. In order to produce stuff, you need a huge amount of supervision, not to mention the processes the FAA has for being approved  its very, very labor-intensive in terms of regulatory authority.

Pilarski, who has observed the aviation industry in China for 30 years, said that while its possible to bring all that supervision overseas, it would be hugely expensive compared to staying in the U.S.

Boeings new plant in China, which has been one of Trumps favorite talking points, is unlikely to make a large difference to U.S. jobs.

Thats a completion facility, which is basically installing carpets and some light paint work. This is not aircraft building, Aboulafia said, adding that the lack of intellectual property protections makes China unappealing for high-level aircraft work, anyway. It was announced in September that the new plant would install interiors and paint exteriors on Boeing 737 airliners.

That interior work is not that critical since it doesnt create a huge value  thats not where the new technology is, Pilarski said.

There is another, glaring reason that aviation experts say Trumps old-fashioned focus on labor is completely off: robots.

Automation is moving jobs back to the U.S. very fast, Aboulafia said.

He cited the example of the Boeing 777X, which, starting next year, will be manufactured using robots to make wing skins and spars, a main structural component running the length of the wing. Making a single full-length piece would save on manufacturing costs. In contrast, the composite wing span of the 787 is made in three sections by Mitsubishi in Japan.

Composite materials are very capital intensive, not labor intensive, and its increasingly heavily automated, so what jobs there are depend on a high-level skill set, Aboulafia said, adding that those jobs are going to be based in the U.S. as aircraft production becomes more automated  making Trumps Boeing example irrelevant in the long run.

Boeing says the China plant will have no impact on the facilities mentioned by Trump.

We have no plans to close our commercial airplane assembly plants in either Washington state or South Carolina, Boeing spokesman Tim Neale said in a statement.

The Trump campaign did not respond to McClatchys request for comment.

While hes doled out dire warnings for Boeings future, Trump has also benefited from the company. It was one of the biggest gainers in his portfolio in 2015, earning him $3.96 million on 65,000 shares of the aerospace giant, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Trump is also a fan of its products. His now-famous Trump-emblazoned private jet is a Boeing 757 he purchased from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2011 for $100 million.
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. 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 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 older than 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. Among other things, equality means never having to cover up just because your natural self gets another's gander up.

We are inno 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. It was the League of Women Voters that urged enforcement.

While beach patrols searched out bathing suit violators, they also scouted for ogling male counterparts, described in a newspaper story of the time as "bald beach lizards." 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.
Last week Russian bombers flew out of Iranian air bases to attack rebel positions in Syria. The State Department pretended not to be surprised. It should be. It should be alarmed. Iran's intensely nationalistic revolutionary regime never had permitted foreign forces to operate from its soil. Until now.

The reordering of the Middle East is proceeding apace. Where for 40 years the U.S.-Egypt alliance anchored the region, a Russia-Iran condominium is now dictating events. That's what you get after eight years of U.S. retrenchment and withdrawal. That's what results from the nuclear deal with Iran, the evacuation of Iraq and utter U.S. immobility on Syria. Consider:

-- Iran: The nuclear deal was supposed to begin a rapprochement between Washington and Tehran. Instead, it has solidified a strategic-military alliance between Moscow and Tehran. With the lifting of sanctions and the normalizing of Iran's international relations, Russia rushed in with major deals, including the shipment of S-300 ground-to-air missiles. Russian use of Iranian bases now marks a new level of cooperation and joint power projection.

-- Iraq: These bombing runs cross Iraqi airspace. Before President Obama's withdrawal from Iraq, that could not have happened. The resulting vacuum has not only created a corridor for Russian bombing, it has gradually allowed a hard-won post-Saddam Iraq to slip into Iran's orbit. According to a Baghdad-based U.S. military spokesman, there are 100,000 Shiite militia fighters operating inside Iraq, 80 percent of them Iranian-backed.

-- Syria: When Russia dramatically intervened last year, establishing air bases and launching a savage bombing campaign, Obama did nothing. Indeed, he smugly predicted that Vladimir Putin had entered a quagmire. Some quagmire. Bashar Assad's regime is not only saved. It encircled Aleppo and has seized the upper hand in the civil war. Meanwhile, our hapless secretary of state is running around trying to sue for peace, offering to share intelligence and legitimize Russian intervention if only Putin will promise to conquer gently.

Consider what Putin has achieved. Dealt a very weak hand -- a rump Russian state, shorn of empire and saddled with a backward economy and a rusting military -- he has restored Russia to great power status. Reduced to irrelevance in the 1990s, it is now a force to be reckoned with.

In Europe, Putin has unilaterally redrawn the map. His annexation of Crimea will not be reversed. The Europeans are eager to throw off the few sanctions they grudgingly imposed on Russia. And the rape of eastern Ukraine continues.

Ten thousand already have died and now Putin is threatening even more open warfare. Under the absurd pretext of Ukrainian terrorism in Crimea, Putin has threatened retaliation, massed troops in eight locations on the Ukrainian border, ordered Black Sea naval exercises, and moved advanced anti-aircraft batteries into Crimea, giving Moscow control over much of Ukrainian airspace.

And why shouldn't he? He's pushing on an open door. Obama still refuses to send Ukraine even defensive weapons. The administration's response to these provocations? Urging "both sides" to exercise restraint. Both sides, mind you.

And in a gratuitous flaunting of its newly expanded reach, Russia will be conducting joint naval exercises with China in the South China Sea, in obvious support of Beijing's territorial claims and illegal military bases.

Yet the president shows little concern. He is too smart not to understand geopolitics; he simply doesn't care. In part because his priorities are domestic. In part because he thinks we lack clean hands and thus the moral standing to continue to play international arbiter.

And in part because he's convinced that in the long run it doesn't matter. Fluctuations in great power relations are inherently ephemeral. For a man who sees a moral arc in the universe bending inexorably toward justice, calculations of raw realpolitik are 20th-century thinking -- primitive, obsolete, the obsession of small minds.

Obama made all this perfectly clear in speeches at the U.N., in Cairo and here at home in his very first year in office. Two terms later, we see the result. Ukraine dismembered. Eastern Europe on edge. Syria a charnel house. Iran subsuming Iraq. Russia and Iran on the march across the entire northern Middle East.

At the heart of this disorder is a simple asymmetry. It is in worldview. The major revisionist powers -- China, Russia and Iran -- know what they want: power, territory, tribute. And they're going after it. Barack Obama takes Ecclesiastes' view that these are vanities, nothing but vanities.

In the kingdom of heaven, no doubt. Here on earth, however -- Aleppo to Donetsk, Estonia to the Spratly Islands -- it matters greatly.
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French President Francois Hollande voiced his "concern" over a spike in tensions in Ukraine, in a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, his office said Tuesday.

"The president ... expressed his concern over a rise in tensions these past weeks and a growing number of ceasefire violations," it said in a statement after the call, which also included German Chancellor Angela Merkel

"He underlined the risk an escalation of violence posed to the (peace) process."

Ukraine has been in the grip of a conflict between its army and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country for two years.

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine and deploying troops across the border -- claims Moscow denies.

More than 9,500 people have been killed since the conflict started in April 2014, and deadly clashes continue to occur despite several truces.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine soared last week after Putin accused Kiev of attempting an armed incursion into Crimea -- the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Meanwhile as fighting increased in the east, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko warned of a possible "full-scale" Russian invasion.

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G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now!
Survey #5 for 2016 is out  As the spin begins, every station will be a winner for book 5.funny that. Well post the media releases as they come in.
Acquisition of ERR Rail Rent Vermietungs, an Austrian subsidiary of wagon leasing company European Rail Rent which was founded in 2006, will cost 33.5m. The deal is expected to be completed in October.

Aves One is a German based logistics company that focuses on certain sub-markets: container equipment, equipment such as tank containers and wagons, and resale of freight equipment.
A ban on the Islamic burkini swimsuit by several French towns will come before France's highest administrative court on Thursday, the tribunal said.

The Human Rights League (LDH) is appealing a decision by a lower court in the Riviera city of Nice which upheld a ban on the outfit by the town of Villeneuve-Loubet.

Villeneuve-Loubet, just west of Nice, was among the first of some 15 French towns to ban the burkini, triggering a fierce debate in France and elsewhere about the wearing of the full-body swimsuit, women's rights and secularity.

The Nice tribunal ruled on Monday that the ban in Villeneuve-Loubet was "necessary, appropriate and proportionate" to prevent public disorder after a succession of jihadists attacks in France, including one in Nice on July 14.

The burkini was "liable to offend the religious convictions or (religious) non-convictions of other users of the beach," and "be felt as a defiance or a provocation exacerbating tensions felt by" the community, it added.

The ruling by the State Council, France's highest administrative court, will provide a legal precedent for towns to follow around the country.

The LDH and other rights groups believe the ban is a "serious and illegal attack on numerous fundamental rights" including freedom of religion.

One of the world's most secular countries, France strongly separates religion and public life, and overt religious symbols or clothing are considered incompatible with French values.

Islamic dress has long been a subject of debate in France, which was the first European country to ban the Islamic face veil in public in 2010, six years after outlawing the headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols in state schools.

"It is the expression of a political project, a counter-society, based notably on the enslavement of women," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said of the burkini Wednesday.

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Over the past several weeks, the Islamic State group has suffered major tactical defeats on the battlefield, including the loss of a major logistics route into the caliphate, Manbij, and being driven from what was considered its strongest external foothold outside of Iraq and Syria, Sirte.

And while the coalition should embrace good news where it matters, it would be premature to take comfort in the string of recent victories.

Of the three concentric circles that comprise the Islamic State group, the war is going better than expected against the two innermost circlesthe first is the caliphate itself, the core of the Islamic State's organization. In the next outermost circle, the outlying areas of Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen, things are going reasonably well, as Islamic State affiliates in those countries are being slowly but steadily attenuated. Perhaps the most concerning is that last concentric circle, the amorphous and disconnected outer ring of lone wolves and small groups of jihadists inspired by Islamic State propaganda and ideology.

To counter the threat the Islamic State group poses to the Middle East and the West more broadly, it is crucial to understand what the terrorist organization is and what it is not, where it is truly dangerous and where its power and reach have limits. Attributing all jihadist violence to a ruthless gang headquartered in Raqqa, brilliantly planning attacks and managing their caliphate while pulling the strings near and far, exaggerates the power of the Islamic State group and plays into their propaganda and recruiting efforts.

The caliphate is both the Islamic State group's greatest strength ... and its greatest vulnerability.

First, the Islamic State is the caliphate, a defined territory stretching across parts of Iraq and Syria with its capital in Raqqa. The caliphate is more than just territory, however, as it remains a major attraction for foreign fighters traveling to the region to join the organization and differentiates the Islamic State group from its chief ideological competitor, al-Qaida. The caliphate is both the Islamic State group's greatest strengthit is what drew tens of thousands of volunteersand its greatest vulnerability, as the dramatic battlefield defeats of late clearly show.

Second, the Islamic State group is a collection of provinces, affiliates, franchise groups or wilayats, not all of which are created equal. The Islamic State has claimed relationships with satellite groups in Libya, the Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan, and has garnered bayat, or allegiance, from organizations or splinter groups of these organizations previously independent or formerly aligned with al-Qaida, including Boko Haram in Nigeria, al-Shabab in Somalia and others throughout the Muslim world. This haphazard collective of ne'er-do-wells should not be seen as more than it is. Some groups are, indeed, dangerous and enduring, but mostlike the caliphate itselfare likely not.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, the Islamic State is an ideology. What it represents is the embodiment of Salafi jihadism and all of its undercurrentsanti-American, anti-Jewish and, of course, anti-Shia. This ideology motivates individuals and groups around the world to conduct attacks in the Islamic State's name, as happened in San Bernardino, Orlando and elsewhere. This third manifestation of the Islamic State group is the most insidious, unpredictable and difficult to eliminate.

Now, for what the Islamic State is not: It is not an existential threat on the order of the challenge the United States faced during the Cold War. It is not a nuclear-armed nation-state like the Soviet Union, nor is it a near-peer adversary, trained and equipped for conventional military operations like China, Iran or North Korea.

Second, the Islamic State group is not a monolithic actor. Many in the West have lumped disparate and diverse threats under the Islamic State banner. In part, this is a legacy of the Cold War, when Washington became comfortable with defining grand strategy in terms of us versus them. Them now includes a range of state and nonstate threats, and not all terrorists are the same. Moreover, all Salafi jihadi terrorist groups are not the same.

While defining the Islamic State threat as unitary helps provide much-needed structure and logic to American counterterrorism strategy, it also causes conceptual confusion. Accordingly, knee-jerk statements that the Islamic State group was the perpetrator behind an attack, conclusions sometimes reached even before the carnage has ended, are unhelpfulmore myopia masquerading as analysis and counterproductive in the short and long term. Trying to make sense of the many faces of the Islamic State group is a fool's errandthis is an opportunistic, disaggregated movement, not a centrally managed organization.

But Americans crave structure and logic to help understand the senseless brutality of the Islamic State. Americans want confidence that they've clearly identified the enemy, they understand the cause of violence and they have a fixed target to strike back against.

Next, the West hypes the Islamic State's command and control architecture, especially its capacity for central planning, and in doing so it is unnecessarily building the Islamic State group up to appear much stronger than it is. When the attackers in Dhaka separated Muslims from non-Muslims before killing the latter, analysis in the immediate aftermath of the attack was that the Islamic State group had changed its strategy akin to what al-Qaida attempted to do in its more parsimonious pursuit of slaughter. More likely, the decision was a local one, not dictated by Islamic State leadership, based more on parochial concerns about alienating domestic support for the attackers' agenda in Bangladesh.

Indeed, if the Islamic State group had altered its strategy, what would that say about the attack in Baghdad just days later, where 300 Iraqi Muslims, including Sunnis, were wantonly slaughtered by Islamic State suicide attackers?

Finally, when discussing the Islamic State group it is important to note what else the group is notnamely, it is not invincible. Despite all the hyperbole surrounding its rise as the wealthiest and most sophisticated terrorist organization of the modern era, the Islamic State group has lost considerable ground in recent months. Even without substantial numbers of ground forces engaged in the fight, the coalition has still managed to take the fight to the Islamic State on several fronts, constricting its resources (oil and financing), tightening the borders (including the previously porous border with Turkey), killing its fighters and preventing new ones from arriving in droves and recapturing key territory (Ramadi, Fallujah, Manbij) while encircling core areas like Mosul and Raqqa.

While perhaps still premature, it seems that the caliphate's days are numbered. Even the group's remaining leadership seems to be preparing its followers for this eventuality. The coalition should make plans for continuing the conflict against a changing enemythe conventional attacks on identifiable targets in the caliphate itself are more straightforward than the struggle against an amorphous, disparate movement.

No counterterrorism strategy, no matter how comprehensive or robust, can address the grievances that led to the resuscitation of the Islamic State group.

Countering the Islamic State group demands a sober assessment of the group's organizational and operational capabilities. But even more crucial, it requires an honest recognition of the coalition's ability to affect events as they play out on the ground. No counterterrorism strategy, no matter how comprehensive or robust, can address the grievances that led to the resuscitation of the Islamic State group or pacify the virulent ideology which sustains the group.

Eliminating the physical embodiment of the Islamic Statethe caliphateis a necessary, but not sufficient, component of winning the long war against the group and in addressing the region's more fundamental challenges. And whatever iteration of violent extremism replaces the Islamic State group, the West should be careful not to afford that group with reverence it does not deserve.

Defeating the Islamic State group is an imperative, for sure. But it should be remembered that the Islamic State is but one of numerous problems that plagues the region. In other words, it is more a symptom of the disease than the underlying cause. Instead, the most pragmatic approach is working to address the symptoms that fueled the Islamic State group's risesectarianism in Iraq and the Syrian civil warwhile remaining honest about the threat posed by the Islamic State group and the West's ability to counter this threat wherever it rears its ugly head.

Andrew Liepman is a senior policy analyst and Colin P. Clarke is a political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

This commentary originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report on August 19, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
President George W. Bush took office with an ambitious domestic agenda, but the 9/11 attacks changed his priorities and made him a war president. President Barack Obama also entered office committed to domestic goals, amid the country's most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression. There were no new 9/11s, but plenty of terrorist adversaries. While he will be judged in part for his domestic achievements during his eight years in office, the actions Obama took, and didn't take, in the realm of counterterrorism are a major component of his legacy.

It is a controversial one. Critics have portrayed the president as weak, vacillating, overly cautious and unwilling to recognize the threat posed by radical Islamists  even resistant to uttering the term. This hesitation, critics charge, makes bad situations worse and encourages aggression by America's foes. Had the president moved more quickly to bring down the Assad regime in Syria or been less tentative in his support of Syria's rebels, ISIS would not have risen so forcefully, they claim.

Homegrown terrorism increased on Obama's watch, with attacks in Fort Hood, Boston, Chattanooga, San Bernardino and Orlando. Even though the casualties in these attacks were exponentially less than those in 2001, opinion polls indicate that Americans are almost as worried about terrorism now as they were immediately after 9/11.

Criticism of Obama often reflects increasingly partisan domestic politics. But the president himself would likely agree that he has been careful to avoid additional military adventures.

As commander-in-chief, presidents don't lead troops into battle, but they get credit for successful military operations and blame for military losses. President Ronald Reagan ordered the Grenada invasion and sent U.S. bombers to Libya. President George H.W. Bush invaded Panama and liberated Kuwait after Iraq's invasion. President Bill Clinton oversaw military operations in Bosnia and against Serbia. George W. Bush declared the Global War on Terror and toppled Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

Obama can claim credit for ordering the military raid that killed Osama bin Laden ... and for pursuing an aggressive policy of drone strikes and special operations aimed at taking out terrorist commanders.

Obama can claim credit for ordering the military raid that killed Osama bin Laden  to many, his only significant counterterrorism achievement  and for pursuing an aggressive policy of drone strikes and special operations aimed at taking out terrorist commanders.

Presidents also get credit for ending unpopular wars and bringing American troops home. President Dwight Eisenhower entered office promising to end the Korean War. President Richard Nixon was determined to get the United States out of the Vietnam War.

Obama wanted to end U.S. participation in America's two longest wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which were protracted insurgencies. Instead, a deteriorating military situation obliged the president to order more troops to Afghanistan. He attempted to mitigate the buildup by simultaneously announcing a timetable for total withdrawal, which he was forced to abandon. Many observers criticized as a mistake his decision to withdraw all American troops from Iraq. It allowed the new Iraqi government to create a sectarian regime (alienating the country's Sunni population) and replace competent Iraqi commanders with regime loyalists. Faced with an ISIS offensive in 2014, the Iraqi army collapsed, forcing the United States to return to the theater.

As a result, Obama's successor will inherit the two conflicts.

The president, however, has remained determined to avoid putting boots on the ground to fight terrorists abroad  as many have demanded. As he learned in Afghanistan, once the troops are in, it is difficult to get them out. Air power offered a safer option, but requires a capable ground force to be effective, demanding the deployment of U.S. personnel. More than 6,000 American troops are reportedly back in Iraq and Syria.

The administration's campaign against the Islamic State is an example of preventive war. ISIS murdered American hostages but, unlike al-Qaida, did not declare war on the United States or carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, instead exhorting followers to do so. America's objective is to prevent the Islamic State from becoming a launching pad for terrorist strikes on the United States.

Using drone strikes to kill terrorist commanders began with the previous administration, but became a major component of Obama's counterterrorist efforts. The strikes enabled the United States to directly attack terrorist organizations without taking on counterinsurgency or nation-building missions. Drone strikes also remain directly under White House control. With advice from the intelligence community and military commanders, the president determines the target. As Obama has said, I am pretty good at killing people. A future president may not want such direct involvement.

Special operations have continued to play an increasingly important role in U.S. military strategy. These are less the traditional deployment of Green Berets to work with local armies and irregular forces, and involve more kinetic operations  high-tech commando raids. They are preferred to sending large numbers of Americans into combat and they allow the White House to keep a tighter rein on involvement.

America's stance on hostage situations returned to center stage during the Obama administration. The U.S. government does not pay ransom or make concessions to terrorists holding hostages, but does not outlaw private negotiations. Beheadings of American hostages held by ISIS prompted the president to order a review of procedures, which led to improved coordination of government efforts. Official policy did not change, although some erroneously thought it did.

Obama was accused of violating the no-concessions policy when the United States exchanged prisoners for an American private held by the Taliban, although trading prisoners for American military personnel is long accepted and not considered a violation of U.S. policy. The issue resurfaced when it was reported that the United States had returned to Iran funds frozen in 1979 in return for the release of American prisoners. Again, U.S. policy for dealing with terrorist kidnappings was not violated. Yet, it was portrayed as paying ransom by the same critics who had chastised the president for not retrieving all of the American prisoners.

Obama was determined to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, which many felt had become a national embarrassment, but he failed to do so. Flawed military commissions resolved only a handful of cases, and persuading other countries to accept detainees proved difficult. Transfers to the United States were blocked, mainly by the president's political opponents who saw closure attempts as a criticism of the previous administration. Guantanamo will survive the administration.

In asserting his executive authority to justify military actions abroad and intelligence collection measures at home, Obama, like his predecessor, has pushed the edges. It is unlikely to be dismantled by the next president.

Obama's days as counterterrorism-in-chief may be coming to an end, but history has only begun to take measure of his performance.

Brian Michael Jenkins is a senior adviser to the president of the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, and the author of the recent RAND report "How the Current Conflicts Are Shaping the Future of Syria and Iraq."

This commentary originally appeared on The Mark News on August 22, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
In less than three months, Californians will vote on legalizing production, distribution and possession of recreational cannabis. Tax revenues are central to that debate, but the really important question is not so much what taxes would be best today but how those taxes should evolve over time.

What many people don't realize is that even if voters reject Proposition 64, state and local officials will still need to deal with cannabis taxes because California's medical cannabis market is undergoing enormous reforms. The new regulatory regime is expected to start licensing for-profit firms to supply medical cannabis in 2018.

There are ongoing debates about whether and how to tax medical cannabis. While some argue that medicine shouldn't be taxed, others counter that much of the medical market product is not actually being consumed for medical purposes.

Both inside and outside of California, decisions about cannabis taxes are being made that will affect the size of the black market, government revenue and consumption.

Can I let you in on a little secret? No one knows the best way to tax either medical or recreational cannabis. Every option has trade-offs.

What should the tax be based on? What should the rate be?

Consider a price-based tax such as 25 percent at the retail level. While it would be easy to implement, the effective tax per joint would decrease as the price declines  something expected to happen as competition, innovation and scale-economies push down costs.

Taxing by weight, say $2 per gram, would also be easy to implement, but it means low- and high-potency products face the same tax. This creates incentives for producers to sell more potent cannabis to minimize the tax per hour of intoxication. Some public health researchers worry that more potent cannabis is associated with more health problems, an issue that is the subject of serious debate.

One innovative option, suggested years ago by Rob MacCoun, a Stanford Law School professor, is to tax cannabis based on its power to intoxicate, such as levying a tax of $12 per gram of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the cannabinoid most responsible for getting users high). To the extent being intoxicated increases the probability of harm, using taxes to control THC consumption could be a critical policy lever.

Of course, the THC tax would totally depend on the accuracy of cannabinoid testing.

Over time, insights will be gained about cannabis taxes as more jurisdictions liberalize their laws. Also, researchers will learn more about the various chemicals in the cannabis plant.

But policymakers at the state, county and city levels are making decisions about cannabis taxes right now. What should they do?

Given the uncertainty, it would be wise to avoid getting locked into a particular type of tax base or rate. What makes the most sense today may be far from ideal in five years. For example, if the primary goal now is to drive out the black market, it may make sense to consider phasing in taxes by initially keeping them low (possibly giving up some revenue) and increasing them over time.

If the cannabis industry ends up operating like the alcohol industry, lawmakers can expect to be strongly lobbied to keep tax rates low.

Flexibility in taxation is important, but it can be a double-edged sword in an environment with profit-maximizing firms. If the cannabis industry ends up operating like the alcohol industry, or for that matter almost every other industry, lawmakers can expect to be strongly lobbied to keep tax rates low.

The proposition Californians will consider in November requires the state Legislative Analyst's Office to recommend tax rate changes to the Legislature two years after implementation. Whether the Legislature will take action is another story.

One option to consider is creating an independent board or commission  with absolutely no industry ties  that would be in charge of setting and updating cannabis taxes. Another option would be phasing in a tax that would automatically change after a specified date. Hypothetically, for the first year it could be 10 percent of price at retail, the second year 20 percent, the third year 30 percent. After that, the tax could be based on THC content or by weight for cannabis products where THC remains difficult to measure.

Some may oppose setting cannabis taxes through an independent body because we don't do that for alcohol. But there is no law or principle dictating that jurisdictions allowing a new industry that sells an intoxicating substance be limited to what was done in the past. Furthermore, creating a better approach for cannabis  whether it is for taxation or other policies  could set a precedent that eventually could be carried over to alcohol.

Setting the cannabis tax should not be considered a one-time event. Smart jurisdictions will revise their decisions over time to incorporate new information about taxes, testing and the cannabis plant itself. Smarter jurisdictions will update taxes based on these data while not being influenced by those seeking to maximize profits.

Beau Kilmer is co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center and co-author of the recently revised book Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know, (Oxford University Press, 2016).

This commentary originally appeared on San Francisco Chronicle on August 19, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
The aggressive territory expansion push by subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) leader Netflix will see subscriber numbers head towards the 100 million mark by 2018, which will also see a tipping point in terms of where customers are.





According analysis by IHS Markit, the total number of Netflix subscribers grew 30% between 2014 and 2015 and is forecast to grow 21% in 2016 as territorial expansion reaches its peak. If this pace is maintained, the analysis projects that by 2018 Netflix will break the 100 million subscriber mark.The data also showed that the number of Netflix International paying subscribers will grow 38% in 2016, with more than 2.8 million of these coming from the new markets that Netflix launched in at the beginning of this year. Moreover, IHS Markit expects that by 2018, the number of international Netflix subscribers will overtake the number of US subscribers.Delving deeper into the international markets, the data suggests that by the end of 2016, unsurprisingly, Western Europe will be the leading region for Netflix outside the US, driven by strong UK take-up that will lead to over six million subscribers, supported by the Netherlands and Nordic regions which will have a combined market of 5.4 million subscribers. Germany, despite strong competition from Amazon Prime and free TV, is expected to reach 2.2 million paying subscribers by the end of 2020.Looking at how such markets are monetised, IHS Markit predicts that by 2020, Netflix global revenues will reach $13 billion, with 53% accounted for by Netflix non-US markets. As a result of the SVOD firm continuing with localisation and development of new territories through 2017 and 2018, the analyst forecasts new territories to grow their paying membership base by 133% and 62 %in 2017 and 2018, respectively. By 2020, subscribers in countries rolled out in 2016 will likely represent a quarter of all international subscribers, reaching 19 million.At the moment, Netflix has 79.9 million total paying subscribers, explained Irina Kornilova, senior analyst at IHS Technology . By 2018, international subscribers will overtake the number of subscribers in the US for the first time, and by 2020, Netflix will have 75 million international subscribers. With the worldwide launch, Netflix has launched a platform upon which it can build and differentiate the service to fit specifics of every region in the future. Netflix is starting this localisation process in Poland and Turkey this year. Subscribers in these countries can expect an addition of local languages to the user interface, subtitles and dubbing of content. This will help drive new subscriber numbers dramatically.
Russian soldier gets life sentence for killing family of 7 in Armenia

MOSCOW, August 23 (RAPSI)  A court in Armenia has sentenced Russian soldier Valery Permyakov to life in prison for killing seven members of a family in the city of Gyumri, Public Radio of Armenia reported on Tuesday.

Permyakov was found guilty on all accounts including murder, assault related to robbery and attempt to cross the border illegally.

The family, including a six-month-old baby, was killed as a result of an armed assault on January 12, 2015. Valery Permyakov, a soldier at a Russian base in the Armenian town of Gyumri, was arrested and later charged with the murder of two or more persons under the Armenian Criminal Code.

On August 12, 2015, Permyakov was found guilty of desertion, theft of weapons and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The murder case was singled out for considering it in a separate procedure and passed to the Armenian authorities.

On October 13, Permyakov was found sane despite certain deviations. According to experts, he was not in the heat of passion while committing the crime. He also could recognize the consequences of his actions.

On October 16, Permyakov was additionally charged with armed assault, home-invasion robbery and attempted border crossing.

He has pleaded guilty to all charges against him including murder of the family.

In July, legal successors of a family killed in the Armenian city of Gyumri in 2015 lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia.

In the application filed with the ECHR the successors alleged that their rights had been violated under Article 2 (Right to life) and Article 13 (Right to effective remedy) of the European Convention of Human Rights.

They claim that Russia has not fulfilled its obligation for prevention of obvious threat to the victims lives, allegedly knowing that Permyakov could not be conscripted into the army and had no right to use weapon. They also insist in the complaint that Russia has not informed Armenian law enforcement officers about Permyakovs desertion in time.
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.
Ghana's President John Mahama has pardoned a radio presenter and two panelists jailed after threatening to kill judges who had ordered the removal of names from the voters' register ahead of December elections.

Communication Minister Edward Boamah said in a statement released Monday that the presidential pardons were granted for compassionate reasons.

"The decision of his excellency the president to remit their sentences on compassionate grounds follows a petition submitted to him by the commentators appealing to the president to exercise his prerogative of mercy," Boamah said.

In July the Supreme Court of Ghana had ordered the electoral commission to remove anyone who applied to vote using a health insurance card, ruling that it was not proof of identity for voting purposes.

The opposition had voiced concerns that the health cards could open the door to fraud since cardholders do not have to be Ghana citizens.

Following the court ruling over 56,000 names were deleted from the electoral register.

Salifu "Mugabe" Maase, a presentor at Accra-based station Montie FM, and two pro-government panelists were convicted of contempt after threatening on air not to accept the court's ruling on the electoral register and calling for the judges to be killed.

They were sentenced to four months in jail and fined 10,000 cedis (2,500 dollars).

Maase is known in Ghana for provocative comments on his show, which are invariably supportive of the ruling party.

Ghana is set for presidential and parliamentary polls on December 7 with Mahama's ruling National Democratic Congress seeking a second, five-year term against the New Patriotic Party's Nana Akufo-Addo.

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This piece was created in collaboration with The Wilson Center. The author served as Foreign Minister of Russia from 1991 to 1996, and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. The views expressed here are the author's own.

On the morning of Aug. 19, 1991, in the center of Moscow, I stood by the window of the presidential office in the Russian Soviet Republics headquarters, known as the White House. There I watched as two long columns of vehicles simultaneously approached. It was an incredible picture. On the left side was a line of dusty, fully armed battle tanks, something never before seen in the city other than for military parades on national holidays, when they were always clean to a shine. On the right was a cavalcade of sparkling black sedans, carrying on their hoods the flags of Western countries. A car with the Stars and Stripes on its hood took the lead.

The tanks had been ordered against us by a junta of Soviet hardliners who had placed reformist Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest at his dacha in Crimea, and who were now prepared to use military power to crush the forces of change his reforms had unleashed. The diplomats were coming to show support for those very forces, even at considerable risk to their own safety. This juxtaposition epitomized the choice faced by Russia and by the Russian people, at that moment and ever since: to embrace reform, Western-style democracy, and conciliatory relations with our neighbors, or to be drawn back to militaristic authoritarianism.

That day 25 years ago, the Russian people spoke clear, and they spoke loud. By noon, thousands of men and women bearing flowers, banners, and musical instruments, but prepared to fight with their bare hands if necessary, surrounded the White House. They formed a living wall, and the first ever popularly elected leader of Russia, President Boris Yeltsin, pledged to them to stand for freedom. He made this promise while standing atop one of the very tanks that had been sent by his opponents, with the tanks crew and other soldiers, and thousands of ordinary Russians, cheering him on. This image, shot by CNN cameras, captured imaginations in Russia and in the West: Yeltsin was a symbol of the new Russia, determined to transform his country from a threat to peace into a friend and partner. Clashes elsewhere in the city killed three young people, but within three days the hardliners had been defeated.

The reformist promise of late August 1991 gained momentum in the days and months that followed. The communist party dictatorship collapsed, and with it we buried the Soviet Union itself. In its place, in December that year, a Commonwealth of Independent States that included Russia and Ukraine was peacefully formed based on respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each participant. The Russian government took bold steps toward the transition to a market economy, free and fair elections of government officials, and above all a truly free press.

On Feb. 1, 1992, President Yeltsin and U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed a declaration in Washington, D.C., stating that "Russia and the United States do not regard each other as potential adversaries." From that time on, they declared, the relationship will be characterized by friendship and partnership founded on mutual trust and respect and a common commitment to democracy and economic freedom." Within a year, an agreement was signed to drastically reduce the threat of nuclear war by undertaking deep cuts to both sides nuclear arsenals. That promising new beginning for Russian-American relations in the early 90s seems hard to believe today.

Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its commitments to democracy and economic freedom. What the old guard could not achieve using tanks, they did by sabotaging the new governments reforms. Entrenched bureaucracy paved the way for crony capitalists who preferred spending the proceeds from oil and other commodities exports in the comfortable West over undertaking hard reforms at home. They left ordinary people to face the hardships of the transitional period in the custody of an unreformed security apparatus and a resurrected anti-Western propaganda machine.

The Russian economy got caught between the free market and state domination, with officials reasserting control over media and rigging elections. An ailing President Yeltsin tolerated this backsliding while his appointed successor, former KGB lieutenant-colonel Vladimir Putin, has benefitted from it, especially after his return to the presidency in 2012. No wonder that in that same year, gross domestic product growth stagnated and domestic political tensions worsened.

In response to these difficulties, Putin has doubled down on the anti-reformist course, blaming the United States for stirring up trouble in Russia by supporting the pro-democracy opposition, and for opposing Russias freedom of action abroad. The seizure of Crimea and instigation of armed separatism in Ukraine are only the latest pillars of the Kremlins backward-looking policy. Sanctions imposed by the West in response to those actions, together with Russias self-imposed counter-sanctions, have limited foreign trade and investment, which magnifies the hard blow delivered to Russias export-dependent economy by the collapse in oil prices.

I recall that 25 years ago the oil price was even lower and economic difficulties were enormous. But the mood in the country was different. Today, crisis produces a feeling of decline and a siege mentality against the world. Then, our severe challenges were seen as opportunities to achieve modernization at home and cooperation with the leading countries of the world.

I hope that Americans remember and value the Washington declaration of 1992. Sooner or later the Russian people will again stand up for their future, and the two great nations will come back to building a relationship founded on mutual trust and respect and a common commitment to democracy and economic freedom.
BRUSSELS - David Camerons decision to call a referendum on Britains EU membership has inflicted more harm on Britain and on Europe as a whole than any decision by a British prime minister since the 1956 Suez crisis or the 1938 Munich agreement. The governing Conservatives are being driven by extremists and have adopted the policies of the populist United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), now racked by internal divisions. The opposition Labour party is in meltdown; the Liberal Democrats marginalized. Public discontent with mainstream politicians continues to grow. The government has no plan for implementing Brexit, no idea of its negotiating objectives, and is wholly unprepared.

The decade ahead will probably be dominated by tortuous negotiations, disruption, and disinvestment. Brexit negotiations, and the fear of contagion to other member states, will distract the EU from efforts to strengthen the Euro and to address challenges from terrorism to migration, energy security and climate change. Britain, Europe and, indeed, the United States have an interest in limiting the damage.

Theresa May, Britains new prime minister, who herself mildly favored remain before the June referendum, considers the outcome irreversible and now views Brexit in uncompromising terms. She must deliver Brexit without undue delay to keep her party behind her and UKIP under control. Yet she cannot expect France, Germany, and the Netherlands to agree to a satisfactory deal for post-Brexit Britain ahead of their elections, which run through October 2017. Other member states also face difficult political transitions.

She is right, therefore, to take her time in devising attainable negotiating objectives and testing them out, before formally notifying the EU of Britains intention to withdraw. This notification will trigger a two-year deadline, after which Britain will simply become a third country enjoying no special relationship with the EU, unless an agreement is approved by all member states.

In Britain, this negotiating pause might allow a degree of realism to return concerning the countrys options. Every day new costs linked to Britains ill-considered decision become apparent. Scientists, researchers, farmers, fishermen, and others whose activities have been supported by EU policies and programs for decades, are lobbying the government to set up (costly) equivalent schemes in the U.K. However, the governments fiscal space is limited and its promises have failed to satisfy the groups affected. Universities are aghast at the prospective loss of EU students who, according to some calculations, comprise up to half of net migration to the U.K. from other member states in recent years. British engineering and construction companies know that there will be no ready replacement for the European Investment Bank, the worlds largest project lender, in financing major infrastructure projects.

Other member states, and the European commission, are clamoring for a quick Brexit negotiation so that the EU can focus on its other challenges. Britain should be taught a lesson, some contend, to discourage would-be secessionists elsewhere. But beneath the commotion, there is a dawning awareness in European capitals of a shared interest in keeping Britain as close to the EU as possible after its exit.

The customs union and single regulatory area, embracing Britain and the other member states, are founded on substantial mutual economic and commercial interests. Rather than sacrifice these, EU governments may find that they can, in the end, accept certain limitations on the unregulated movement of labor, one of Britains main requirements. Despite official doctrine, some European leaders may actually welcome this, faced with their own xenophobic populists. Britain would have to accept EU rules in order to maintain unimpeded access to the EU market for its goods and services under any future agreement, a major difficulty for Theresa May.

She would be in a better position to strike a deal if she wins endorsement as prime minister in a new general election. She might wish to engineer a snap election, to take advantage of Labours disarray and UKIPs internal divisions, though this is difficult under new fixed term legislation. Her electoral prospects are good, for now, especially if she convincingly projects a more inclusive vision of the countrys future, tapping into the frustrations that provoked the Brexit vote. As prime minister of a renewed administration, she would be in a better position to develop a Brexit negotiating strategy and mobilize support for it.

Any post Brexit EU-U.K. deal might be more palatable all around if part of a broader re-think of how the EU functions. Discontent with the EU is widespread and the existing model may be reaching it limits. Instead of digging in, Europes leaders should think about how a new relationship with Britain could lead to a more flexible EU model, better adapted to Europes diverse nations.
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CBE has been holding a weekly auction since March, offering $120 million, to sell USD to local banks, in an attempt to provide hard currency for imports

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has maintained on Tuesday a stable rate of the Egyptian Pound at 8.78 against the US dollar in its weekly forex auction, state news agency MENA reported.

CBE has been holding a weekly auction since March, offering $120 million, to sell USD to local banks, in an attempt to provide hard currency for imports. Last week the bank sold $118 million.

Egypt, which relies heavily on imports, particularly foodstuffs, has been suffering an acute shortage of US dollars in the wake of political and security unrest following the 2011 revolution which has discouraged tourists and foreign investors, two major sources of hard currency.

The country's foreign reserves more than halved since 2011 to reach $15.5 billion in July, with the government currently seeking a $12 billion fund facility over a three-year period from the International Monetary Fund to support the ailing economy.

In an attempt to revive the economy, Egypt recently reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $12 billion fund facility over a three-year period to support the ailing economy.

IMF mission chief Chris Jarvis previously told Ahram Online that "all IMF-supported programmes have to be fully financed."

"In Egypts case, we would be looking for commitments of around $5 billion to $6 billion from bilateral creditors before the programme is brought to the board so that we can be sure that the programme is fully financed."

On Monday, UAE has offered a deposit worth $1 billion to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) lasting for six years.

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Courteney Cox joined Bear Grylls for a survival adventure through the soggy moors of southwestern Ireland on Monday's broadcast of "Running Wild with Bear Grylls."

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At one point in the celebrity survivor show, Grylls suggested that he and the "Friends" star eat a dead sheep he found drowned in a bog.

Cox was visibly disgusted by the prospect, with even Grylls conceding the sheep was "pretty stinky."

Turns out the sheep was too putrid to consume, but that didn't stop Grylls from finding something edible from the animal.

Grylls told the story to repulsed hosts on "Today," saying that though he and Cox couldn't eat the sheep, they did eat maggots from the sheep by placing the bugs in the sheep's testicles and boiling them.

"I filled the sac with maggots, boiled it up and gave it to her for dinner," Grylls laughed.

Grylls and Cox also made their way across a ravine by pulling themselves across a wire stretched from one side to the other.

Cox tweeted a photo of her sliding herself across with the caption, "And, yes, it was scary!"

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Cox also got personal with Grylls talking about aging in Hollywood and giving in to the pressure to maintain your youth.

"I have learned lessons," Cox said. "I think I was trying to keep up with getting older. Trying to chase that ... it's something you can't keep up with."

"Sometimes you find yourself trying and then you look at a picture of yourself and go, oh God, I look horrible. I have done things that I regret, and luckily they're things that dissolve and go away," she continued, adding her new motto is "let it be."
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"Making a Murderer" subject Brendan Dassey has been offered a trip to the WWE's WrestleMania 33 event upon his pending release from prison.

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Dassey who was seen on the hit Netflix documentary series alongside his uncle Steven Avery, was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse in the murder of Teresa Halbach.

On August 12, Judge William E. Duffin overturned Dassey's conviction, however, claiming that his confession was "involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments" because the investigators "repeated false promises" to the young and impressionable Dassy.

The state of Wisconsin now has within 90 days of the Aug. 12 decision to retry Dassey or he will finally be set free and on his way to WWE's biggest event of the year courtesy of the porn website xhamster.

"We are pleased that we can make this young man's dream of going to Wrestlemania come true," said Alex Hawkins, spokesman for xHamster.

"We have been in talks with the family and they are more than thrilled that Brendan will get this opportunity after so many years of heartache and injustice. We are waiting on a response from Brendan and we know he will be thrilled that he is going to Wrestlemania when he gets out," he continued.

On "Making a Murderer," Dassey was known for being an avid follower of the WWE and was seen upset that he would be missing WrestleMania 22 at the time.

In July, Netflix announced that six new episodes of "Making a Murderer" had entered production.
Is a new S&W M&P headed our way? According to Soldier Systems Daily, maybe so.

SSD, a notably reliable industry daily, reported recently that filings for a Smith & Wesson trademark for something called the M2.0 had appeared on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.

Why is this of interest, they ask?

M2.0: Smith and Wesson Rumor Mill

With the recent reveal of the Glock 17M and the subsequent rumors of the Glock GEN 5, it should come as no surprise that other firearm companies are looking at releasing updated models to their pistol lines. It looks like this is the case with Smith & Wesson, who it seems is planning on releasing their own upgraded M&P model pistol. A source who wishes to remain anonymous told us the new pistol line is to be dubbed M2.0. M2.0 is a response to criticisms of the original M&P series pistols, and is designed with a host of features that will allow the M&P series to better compete with stock Glocks. Our source cited changes to the design, including an improved trigger and full-length guide rails, intended to increase overall functionality, reliability, and out-the-box accuracy.

Soldier Systems Daily takes pains to point out this report comes from a trusted but second-hand account, advising, until any official news documentation comes out this info should be treated as speculation and rumor.

Maybe we'll see something new from Smith & Wesson (who recently acquired Crimson Trace) at SHOT 2017.

Read the original article and commentary here.

Note: that cover image is not an M2.0. It's a gun ATEi (@ateiguns) worked on. Photo credit @biggestn8r.

This isn't a 2.0 either. We just think it's pretty.
Tim Denson, the president of Athens for Everyone, believes, despite the fact that many are new to Athens, students serve an integral role in the culture of the city and should seek to be as involved as a long-time resident.
There is no time to postpone economic reforms that should have been put in place years ago, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in a lengthy, three-part interview with the editors in chief of Egypt's state-owned newspapers.

"The fighter does not fight alone; his support system  the people  should fight with him. He will continue fighting as long as his people support him, and if they let go, he will not be able to fight," El-Sisi said in part two of the interview, where he spoke about domestic affairs, his economic vision, and harsh economic measures set to be put in place.

The first part of the interview, published on Monday, tackled Egypts international relations as well as regional developments in the Middle East, while the third part, set to be published on Tuesday, will involve a discussion on freedoms, human rights, and an expected presidential pardon for 300 detainees in the coming days.

Economic reform

El-Sisi said that in the past, necessary economic reforms were partially implemented, but that the countrys current economic situation would not allow for such an approach.

"We do not want the measures for reform to be more difficult if adopted later," he said.

This is not the first time El-Sisi has stressed on the inevitability of the "tough" measures that need to be adopted to deal with the crippling economic conditions facing the country.

El-Sisi said two weeks ago that "all the tough decisions that [previous leaders] have hesitated to take over the past years I will not hesitate for a second to take."

On 11 August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it had reached a preliminary financing accord with Egypt, though it still needs to be approved by the fund's executive board, which is expected to consider the request in the coming weeks.

El-Sisi said that there needs to be a distinction between Egypts economic reform programme and the IMF accord, elaborating that it was not acceptable for Egypt to have a "guardian" that dictates how the country should go about improving its economic situation.

Minister of finance Amr El-Garhy had previously said that the government has implemented a reform programme since 2014 that include curbing a huge budget deficit (ranging between 11 and 13 percent over the past six years) and growing public debt, stimulating growth and creating more jobs to alleviate unemployment and poverty rates and increase national income.

Head of IMF mission to Egypt Chris Jarvis hailed the measures and said the reform programme "aims to improve the functioning of the foreign exchange markets, bring down the budget deficit and government debt, and to raise growth and create jobs, especially for women and young people. It also aims to strengthen the social safety net to protect the vulnerable during the process of adjustment."



"What happened with the IMF is a normal procedure that takes place worldwide. We presented our programme and they had nothing to add to it. We are able to put forward a program and determine the difficult measures we should take. The complexities of the current economic situation are not absent from us. The issue is whether we want to undertake measures of reform or not. Do we want reform or not?"

An IMF delegation had visited Egypt to discuss supporting the countrys economic reforms through a three-year extended fund facility (EFF) programme worth some $12 billion (SDR 8.5966 billion, or 422 percent of Egypt's quota).

El-Sisi spoke about domestic debt rising from EGP 800 billion to EGP 2.3 trillion, or a rate of 97 percent of GDP. In a previous speech, he said that this was due to salaries rising from EGP 80 billion annually before the 2011 revolution to EGP 228 billion after the uprising.

"We want to limit the budget deficit and increase our resources in agriculture and industry, as well as attract investments. The general atmosphere is suitable in terms of providing infrastructure," El-Sisi said.

Electricity tariffs

El-Sisi defended the new tariffs for household consumers as part of the governments plan to phase out energy subsidies, saying that the subsidy has not been lifted for 30 million people, except for those whose consumption exceed 1,000 KW-h.

"There was a suggestion that all subsidies on the first three brackets [consumption from zero to 350 KW-h] be lifted and be endured on the rest of the consumers of the other brackets, but this suggestion was refused because it would create a burden on the middle class," El-Sisi said.

He added that following the introduction of the new tariffs, he instructed his aides to present a report on increases in home electricity bills.

In August, Egypt's electricity minister Mohamed Shaker introduced new monthly tariffs for household brackets, with a first tile witnessing the highest increase, representing more than 46 percent, though it will still be the most subsidised, according to the minister.

Social security measures

El-Sisi said that the government is currently studying the possibility of undertaking measures to establish a balance between social classes and reduce strains on middle class and low-income citizens.

The measures include a "Takaful and Karama" pension, which half-a-million families are already benefiting from. Those receiving the pension would increase to one million families in December and 1.5 million in 2017.

According to El-Sisi, the minimum pension was raised from EGP 200 - 300 to EGP 500, with an annual raise of a minimum EGP 125.

A third measure would be a continuation of social insurance pensions, which offer non-conditional aid to the poor, orphans, widows and female workers. This is expected to include 2.5 million benefiters with a cost of EGP 7 billion.

El-Sisi also promised to study more steps to improve the status of the poor and low income citizens.

"The medicine's taste is bitter, and suitable solutions should be taken  even if temporarily painful," El-Sisi said.

The president also denied rumours suggesting that one million civil servants were to be laid off.

Social equality

When asked whether there were fears that spending would negatively affect steps related to achieving social equality, the El-Sisi said that the state will be building one million apartments over two years at a cost of EGP 170 billion.

"We had previously said that anyone who submits a request for an apartment will get it," he said.

In a speech two weeks ago, El-Sisi said that by mid-2018, four to five million Egyptians would be living in 800,000 to one million residential units provided by the government.

He added that 175,000 housing units are currently being built at a cost of EGP 17 billion for one million families currently living in "unsafe informal settlements."

El-Sisi also said that 2018 would see the end of such informal settlements, promising housing for an additional 850,000 to one million Egyptians as part of a separate project to build 150,000 residential units.

El-Sisi also discussed a project that aims to combat Hepatitis C and reduce rates of infection to come in line with international rates.

As of May 2015, around 15 million Egyptians had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

El-Sisi said that some 800,000 people have already received treatment and have been cured.

"We hope that we can announce by 2018 that Egypt has become Hepatitis C-free," he said.

New cities

El-Sisi said that the new cities currently under construction in several parts of the country  including the new administrative capital, El-Alamein, New Ismailia, and New Suez  aim to offer a "breather for the masses."

On the new administrative capital, located 45 kilometres east of Cairo, he said that the main aim behind the project is to decrease growing pressures on Cairo, where governmental facilities, business districts and foreign embassies are located.

"This way we can transform land in the desert that is worth nothing to land worth EGP 1,000 per metre," El-Sisi said.

Construction is ongoing at the new administrative capital, which was announced in March 2015 and is estimated to cost $45 billion.

Since then, several memorandums of understanding have been signed, including one with China, to aid in the project.

The megaproject's first phase will include the building of facilities for 12 ministries and a number of other governmental institutions, a residential area to include more than 25,000 housing units, and the world's largest park.

The armys role

El-Sisi talked about the role of the army's Engineering Authority, saying that one of the armys responsibilities is to administer the work of public and private construction firms.

He said that the Engineering Authority is in charge of managing and supervising construction projects, ensuring they are completed within their deadlines and at the lowest costs.

"There are 2,000 companies  private and public sector companies  working on projects under the supervision of the Armed Forces," El-Sisi said.

He added that Egyptians should not forget the role of the Armed Forces in controlling market prices through its "specialised bodies" that export meat and poultry at the lowest prices to combat price hikes.

The army has provided trucks over the past few years to transport consumer goods, ensuring they are sold at suitable prices and eliminating price hikes.

El-Sisi added that expenditure on the Armed Forces from the state's budget ranges from 2 to 2.5 percent of the GNP, saying that this is the lowest among countries in the region.

Egypt's state budget for the fiscal year forecasts total expenditure of EGP 936 billion and revenues to reach EGP 631 billion, according the finance ministry's website.

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Democratic Mayor Nancy Denson is a centerpiece of Athens, having served the city in some capacity since 1980 when she was elected as the first woman on the Athens city council. In 2010, she was elected mayor and was re-elected in 2014.
A lot goes on around campus, and sometimes it's hard to keep up with. From student veterans to Georgia football, The Red & Black complied five of the top stories not to miss this week.
A University of Georgia student was hit by a bus, an off-campus rape was reported to police, a truck driver pulled a gun on a man at a stop light and police respond to gunman at Chuck E. Cheese's all between Sept. 5 and 9.
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)

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By ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press

PARIS (AP)  Male officials are dictating what women can wear on French beaches  and people across a wide swath of French society say that's a good thing.

Decrees issued by several mayors this month ban the body-encompassing burkini swimsuit, which France's secular political class says subjugates women and is incompatible with a country whose motto celebrates equality and freedom.

To many Muslim women, that's pure hypocrisy. They see the burkini bans themselves as sexist, not to mention racist and a reactionary backlash to terrorism fears.

Even though it's only worn by a tiny minority, the burkini  a wetsuit-like garment that covers the torso, limbs and head  has prompted a national discussion about Islam and women's bodies. At least five towns have banned them this summer, and others are threatening to follow suit.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls says the swimsuit reflects a worldview based on "the enslavement of women." In an interview published Wednesday in the La Provence newspaper, he said the belief that women are "impure and that they should therefore be totally covered" was part of an "archaic vision."

"That is not compatible with the values of France," Valls said.

Much of the French political class, from the left to the far right, agrees  including the government's proudly feminist women's affairs minister.

"The burkini is ... a particular vision of the place of the woman. It cannot be considered only as a question of fashion or individual liberty," Laurence Rossignol said on Europe-1 radio.

But Rim-Sarah Alouane, a religious freedom expert at the University of Toulouse, says the anti-burkini brigade is relying on outdated ideas about Islam to stigmatize France's No. 2 religion.

"Women's rights imply the right for a woman to cover up," said Alouane, a Muslim who was born and raised in France. The burkini "was created by Western Muslim women who wanted to conciliate their faith and desire to dress modestly with recreational activities.

"What is more French than sitting on a beach in the sand? We are telling Muslims that no matter what you do ... we don't want you here," she said.

Local mayors cite multiple reasons for their burkini bans, including the difficulty of rescuing bathers in copious clothing. But their main justification is security concerns after a season marred by deadly Islamic extremist attacks.

Critics warn the bans could enflame religious and social tensions in a country already on edge.

"It will accentuate tension within French society," Leyla Dakhli, a French-Tunisian professor of Arab history, said. "We are teaching the French public to associate a woman in (a) burkini with the terrorist who assassinates."

Before the brouhaha over burkinis, French laws banning face-covering veils in public and headscarves in schools  also based on view that they violate French secularism and oppress women  had alienated many among France's 5 million Muslims.

Violent extremists also have cited the earlier bans as one of their justifications for targeting France.

Dakhli said the bans reflect a colonial-era view of Muslims. While some women today may wear burkinis at the behest of a man, others freely choose them for reasons of personal faith, she said

"It's not a question of whether the veil signifies enslavement or independence. There are as many answers ... as there are women in the world," she said.

The bans, which carry small fines for violators, reflect an unusually fierce attachment to secularism in this country, and have perplexed people outside France.

"Politicians talk constantly about integration and inclusion, and then proceed to kick out to the fringes the very women they claim are oppressed and excluded from society," Remona Aly of the Exploring Islam Foundation wrote in The Guardian this week.

In other European countries, burkinis are rare, though some public pools restrict them  like baggy men's swim trunks  for reasons of hygiene.

In neighboring Belgium, however, Nadia Sminate of the right-leaning Flemish N-VA party, chair of the Radicalization Committee in the Flemish Parliament, wants burkinis off public beaches.

"I do not think women want to walk around on the beach with such a monstrosity in the name of their faith," she told Flemish daily De Standaard.

France's prime minister said that while he supports local bans "in the face of provocation, the nation must defend itself," he told La Provence  he is not in favor of a national law against burkinis.

Valls called for calm, especially in Corsica, where a clash broke out over the weekend between local residents and bathers of North African origin.

Some reports said it started because a young man took a photo of a woman in a burkini, though the exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear.

___

Lorne Cook in Brussels, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and reporters around Europe contributed to this report.
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By Damon Arthur of the Redding Record Searchlight

The California Supreme Court has overturned a death penalty sentencing of a man convicted of murdering a 98-year-old Shasta County woman in 1995.

In a 4-3 ruling, the justices determined statements made by one of the defendants in the killing should have been allowed during the penalty phase of the trial of Gary Grimes of Modesto.

Those statements could have swayed a jury in the penalty phase because they indicate Grimes did not participate in the killing, the court said in the ruling issued Monday.

Grimes, John William Morris and Patrick James Wilson, were all arrested and charged with stabbing and strangling Betty Elizabeth Bone during a home invasion robbery in October 1995.

Morris, then 20 years old, killed himself in the Shasta County Jail shortly after his arrest in connection to the case. But before dying, Morris told a witness that he killed Bone, not Grimes or Wilson.

Morris told another inmate in jail that he killed Bone, but the other two were in the house during the murder but did not participate, the ruling says.

Those statements were not allowed at trial.

Another witness, whose testimony was allowed, said Grimes played a leadership role in the killing.

The excluded statements would have given the defense a substantial basis for countering the prosecutors argument, says the ruling, written by Justice Leondra R. Kruger.

While the court did not overturn Grimes murder conviction, the justices ordered resentencing in the case. The state Supreme Court upheld the death penalty sentence in January 2015, but after justices Mariano-Florentino Cuellar and Kruger were sworn in the case was reconsidered.

Both Cuellar and Kruger voted in favor of reversing the death penalty.

Dennis Sheehy, who was district attorney at the time, notified Grimes attorney that he would not seek the death penalty.

Because defendant was not the actual killer, District Attorney Sheehy did not believe that a jury would impose the death penalty, the ruling says.

However, Sheehy resigned that year and his successor, MacGregor Scott, decided to seek the death penalty against Grimes. He was sentenced to death by former Shasta County Superior Court Judge Bradley Boeckman in 1999.
As the school year begins, one thing is certain: There will be anti-Semitic outbursts and incidents at campuses of the University of California.

We know this because of a long history of such episodes at campuses like Berkeley, Irvine and UCLA, where Jewish students have been subjected to everything from physical obstruction and attempted intimidation to questions by Palestinian students and their sympathizers about whether their faith allows Jews elected to student government posts to make objective decisions.

It's safe to say that if such obstacles were placed before black, Muslim or gay-lesbian-transgender students, campus administrators would have come down hard on the perpetrators. But nothing has happened to the anti-Semites, who act under the guise of criticizing Israel. It is, of course, fine to scrutinize or criticize any government's behavior, but the anti-Israel protests, mostly led by a group called Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), question Israel's very right to exist. They even deny that Jews have any historical link to the Holy Land, despite copious archeology and Biblical references to that strong connection.

These protestors question no other nation's right to survive, only that of the world's lone Jewish state, created as a refuge after history's most murderous genocide claimed half of all Jews. No one suggested Japan should cease to exist after it conquered half of Asia, enslaving millions in the process. No one suggested Russia should disappear when it seized big chunks of Ukraine. No one even suggested there should be no Germany after Germans systematically killed more than 12 million persons before and during World War II.

Only the Jewish state's existence is ever questioned by campus demonstrators. That kind of singling out constitutes one of the U.S. State Department's definitions of anti-Semitism.

UC regents last spring responded to this clear-cut prejudice with a policy declaring that "Anti-Semitism  and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California." The regents did not, however, spell out punishments for students caught in such acts. They left that to campus administrators, led by the top official at each locale, the chancellor.

So what happened when a dozen or so pro-Israel students at Irvine tried to screen a film about the Israeli army last May, only to have more than 50 protestors led by SJP members descend on the room they used, preventing anyone else from entering or leaving, all the while reportedly screaming "Intifada, Intifada  long live the Intifada! F--- Israel and f--- the police" and "All white people need to die" among other slogans?

Irvine Chancellor Howard Gilman said the incident "crossed the line of civility" and called for an investigation. Later, UCI condemned the harassment and intimidation of some of its Jewish students, but denied there is a longstanding problem on its campus, despite a series of incidents since 2001, when a guest speaker claimed Jews are "blind, deaf and dumb." Meanwhile, nothing has happened to any student involved.

Wrote Gilman, "The people who know us best (know)," that UCI is "consistently praised for efforts at creating an outstanding environment for Jewish students."

That's not what some others believe. The national group Scholars for Peace in the Middle East described the May film-screening incident as the "most dramatic" anti-Jewish event at any American campus during that month, while U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman of Los Angeles County reminded Gilman in a letter that "The inability of Jewish and pro-Israel students to assemble peacefully to view an Israeli film is counter to (the new UC policy), which bans 'actions that physically or otherwise interfere with the ability of an individual or group to assemble, speak or share the opinion of others.'"

So the first significant test of UC's new policy is so far an abject failure, although that could change, depending on what happens when Gilman's announced investigation is complete.

For sure, though, anti-Semites on UC campuses have seen yet another episode where their hostile actions are so far unpunished. This, of course, can do nothing but open the door to more and more of the same, as the reputation of UC as a place that tolerates anti-Semitism has again been furthered.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com.
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The conservative North State isn't usually the place you'll find a Democrat campaigning for U.S. Senate, and Rep. Loretta Sanchez's visit last Friday was more photo op than campaign stop. She toured Shasta Dam, but didn't hold a rally.

Still, the 20-year congresswoman from central Orange County sat down with this newspaper's editorial board and made her case for why our heavily Republican part of the state should help her defeat the establishment Democrat choice for Senate.

The election of a replacement for Barbara Boxer is no trifling matter. Not only is a U.S. senator among the most powerful people in the world, they tend to stick around. California has turned deep blue as a whole, and if you need extra evidence of that just consider the fact that in a two-woman runoff both candidates are Democrats. So whoever wins this seat, barring some grand act of self-sabotage, will likely hold it for a very long time.

For Republicans who can stomach the idea of voting for the more centrist of two Democrats, Sanchez is a clear choice.

Perhaps foremost on her list of qualifications for that role are endorsements  those that have gone to her opponent, California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Harris has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, for example, which cited its discomfort with statements Sanchez has made indicating that the discussion of water solutions for California must start with everything on the table  including (gasp) the Endangered Species Act. Sanchez paints that as a pragmatic way to begin negotiating, and insists it's not fair to say she wants to alter the ESA, but her willingness even to talk about it causes environmentalists to shudder.

Folks who feel the current administration has America on the wrong track may also take note of Harris's endorsement by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Their interference in a two-Democrat race riled Sanchez, but it may prompt some Republicans to give her a second glance.

On the campaign trail, Sanchez emphasizes her experience with national security. She has served on the House Armed Services Committee throughout her time in Congress, where she says she "works on avoiding the conflicts of the future. If I'm doing my job right, you're never going to hear the names of the countries" where problems might break out.

Sanchez, a member of the House Blue Dog Coalition, spoke most carefully answering Second Amendment questions.

"The Second Amendment is the Second Amendment," she said. "If you're one of the people who wants to melt down all guns ... there's a process to change the Constitution. I'm going to agree with the fact that people have a right to have a gun."

Still, she indicated that she favors background check restrictions and her campaign website lambastes Senate Republicans for blocking "responsible action on gun violence."

Sanchez was in the North State primarily for a tour of Shasta Dam. She described a tour of many of the state's key water facilities as a means of becoming educated on that complex issue before taking a broader role as a Senator. That's laudable, although after the tour she could still speak only in broad generalities about the issues related to a proposed 18-1/2 foot increase in its height.

The Winnemem Wintu would not have appreciated her dismissive description of "a non-federally recognized Indian tribe that may have been there." Their concerns are serious, and legitimate.

Harris has the advantage in polls, fundraising and endorsements.

Even in Shasta County, she only needs to repeat her June performance. She received more than twice as many votes as Sanchez.

But November could be different. In a two-way race, voters who look closely may my find Sanchez too liberal, but ultimately less problematic than Harris.

Asked by email Monday if Harris will campaign in the North State, Communications Director Nathan Click said the answer is "yes, we plan to."

We look forward to it. Tempting as it may be to sit out this all-Democrat contest, we hope Shasta County voters will pay attention and vote. We'll be living with the results for a long time.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump said Chicago's crime problem could be solved by police "being very much tougher" than they are now, adding that during a Chicago visit he met with "very top police" and was told the problem could be stopped in a week with tough tactics.

In an interview Monday night on the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor," Trump reiterated his past comments about Chicago violence being "out of control" and added that the Chicago police force does not have "the right people in charge."

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Fox host Bill O'Reilly asked Trump how to solve the city's crime problem, with homicides up nearly 50 percent.

"How? By being very much tougher than they are right now. They're right now not tough. I could tell you this very long and quite boring story. But when I was in Chicago, I got to meet a couple of very top police. I said, 'How do you stop this? How do you stop this? If you were put in charge  to a specific person  do you think you could stop it?' He said, 'Mr. Trump, I'd be able to stop it in one week.' And I believed him 100 percent," Trump said.

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When O'Reilly asked whether the unnamed officer told him how, Trump said: "No, he wants to use tough police tactics, which is OK when you have people being killed."

But Chicago police said Tuesday that Trump has not met with top brass.

"No one in the senior command at CPD has ever met with Donald Trump or a member of his campaign," Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

Guglielmi clarified later that since at least March, when a Trump rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago was planned and ultimately canceled, none of the department's deputy superintendents, commanders of the city's 22 districts, chiefs of patrol or chiefs of detectives has met with Trump.

It's not the first time Trump has gotten into a disagreement with Chicago police about their consultation. Trump had cited security reasons for canceling the March 11 event, and his campaign workers said at the time that a Chicago police commander had talked with them prior to it being canceled. But Chicago police issued a statement then denying they had been consulted.

As for Trump's suggestion that Chicago police could be tougher, Guglielmi responded that the department believes community policing and stricter gun laws are key.

"The best way to address crime is through a commitment to community policing and a commitment to stronger laws to keep illegal guns and repeat violent offenders off the street," he said in an email.

Trump's camp said Tuesday that Trump did not specifically say the officer he spoke with was in senior command.

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"He didn't say in the senior command. Those are your words," Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email. "Mr. Trump spoke with some talented and dedicated police officers on a prior visit."

When asked what Trump meant by saying he met with "very top police" in Chicago, Hicks responded: "Capable, smart and talented."

Trump and his campaign have repeatedly sought to explain the Republican presidential candidate's rhetoric as misunderstood or mischaracterized after he has been criticized for his comments. From calling President Barack Obama the "founder of ISIS" to saying Russia wouldn't enter the Ukraine  after it already had  Trump has complained that the media intentionally misunderstands his sarcasm, or he simply denies that he has misspoken.

Trump's suggestion that crime in Chicago could be fought with tougher tactics comes on the heels of months of national turmoil and protests over use of force by police throughout the country, including Chicago. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with murder in November in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, and just last week the Police Department announced plans to seek the firing of seven officers for allegedly lying about the shooting. The release of a video of that shooting set off major protests in the city, prompted the firing of the department's top cop and the U.S. Justice Department's launch of a civil rights investigation of Chicago police. That federal probe is ongoing.

Chicago police have struggled for years with tamping violence and improving interaction with the public, employing special units to focus on high-crime areas and gangs or sending more cops to beat patrols when violence spikes. The department has created several versions of special units to target gang and drug crews, but then disbanded them after allegations of abuse or corruption surfaced.

The spike in violence in Chicago this year has been particularly vexing. Homicides in Chicago are up 49 percent, according to Chicago Police Department figures, with 441 homicides as of Monday. In comparison, Chicago recorded 473 homicides for all of 2015. So far this year, at least 2,702 people have been shot in Chicago, according to data kept by the Tribune. All of last year, there were 2,988 shooting victims.

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Experts who have studied crime for years, however, say a complex mix of factors may be at fault, including the city's undeterred gang problem and the proliferation of guns, as well as a long history of poverty, joblessness, segregation and neglect in crime-ridden neighborhoods.

The department also was forced this year to revamp how it interacts with citizens in street stops after the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois raised red flags over whether officers were violating citizens' civil rights.

Officers have complained that the increased scrutiny has led many to feel unsure about stopping anyone. A review of stops and arrests in Chicago earlier this year showed both were down dramatically.

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Mayor Rahm Emanuel has talked about unfair treatment of residents by police, saying in a speech before the City Council in December that police credibility was at issue in some communities, and that he believed the "code of silence" by police was a problem.

"When African-American mothers, fathers and grandparents feel it is necessary to train their sons and daughters to behave with extreme caution when they are pulled over by police and have both hands visible on the wheel, what does that say?" Emanuel said to aldermen. "We have a trust problem."

O'Reilly talked about the need for following legal procedure in dealing with suspected criminals, telling Trump: "You have to have a warrant to arrest people. You can't beat them up. You have to have a warrant to arrest them."

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Trump responded: "All I know is this. I went to a top police officer in Chicago, who is not the police chief, and I could see by the way he was dealing with his people, he was a rough, tough guy. They respected him greatly. ... He said, 'Mr. Trump, within one week, we could stop much of this horror show that's going on.'"

When pressed, Trump said the officer didn't say exactly how. "No, and I didn't ask him because I'm not the mayor of Chicago."

lvivanco@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lvivanco
If and when this latest crisis moves towards resolution, its unlikely that the economic solutions will take much precedence, says Sreenivasan Jain.

Image: A Kashmiri woman carrying traditional teapot called a samovar on her head walks on a road in Srinagar. Photograph: Danish Ismail/Reuters.

As Kashmir is plunged into a fresh crisis, I tried to reach out to a handful of young craftsmen and women from the Valley. They are part of an initiative I have been associated with which provides financial support to young entrepreneurs who are keeping alive Kashmirs rich crafts traditions, but may lack support systems.

The initiative was conceived at a time not unlike the present (but which now seems benign in comparison) - the summer of 2010, when prolonged strikes and curfews impacted livelihoods, especially of those at the lower end of the economic chain.

Since that volatile summer, we have managed to raise funds to support a dozen craftspersons, working in copper engraving, papier-mache, wicker, and namda (rugs made of felt wool) as well as the better-known areas of pashmina and crewel stitching.

Each of the grantees received a small amount meant to act as seed capital to purchase material or equipment, as well as valuable insights into designs and market access by other members of the group, some of Indias leading lights in the field of craft.

Even though I have visited Kashmir as a journalist (as have several of the others, in their capacity as promoters of crafts), being involved with an initiative of this nature gave all of us a more intimate insight into the frequent tremors that upset everyday rhythms of life and work in the Valley.

This could be periods of lost contact with our grantees when mobile services go off air, or travels to Delhi to exhibit at a crafts bazaar missed because of a hartal or a spell of curfew.

This time - in an indication of the darkness of mood - the phones of all the grantees I tried were switched off. All except Zahida, who runs a centre in Sopore doing traditional sozni-style embroidery in contemporary designs.

The only reason I could talk to Zahida is because she was in Bengaluru, attending an exhibition. Even before I could complete my question, her anguish over the trauma of the past few weeks spilled out - of how work has come to a standstill.

How the act of leaving home and collecting garments from the homes of the 40-odd young women she works with has become a harrowing game of cat and mouse between separatist bandhs and curfews called by security forces. How her journey to Bengaluru began with a very tense late night drive to Srinagar, and onwards to Banihal during a brief window when curfew was lifted.

Every day my girls are losing 100 to 200 rupees of work, she said.

The conversation, as well as similar ones in the past, seems to underscore how the question of livelihoods remains marginal to the frozen political discourse around Kashmir.

This is ironic - after all, talk of azadi (or at least greater autonomy) will remain hollow given how deeply the Valley is locked into a cycle of dependence so familiar in conflict zones - unrest curbs economic activity, which leads to an over-reliance on Central funds, stoking resentment that in turn fuels unrest. And so on, in an endless loop.

And yet, if and when this latest crisis moves towards resolution, its unlikely that the economic solutions will take much precedence, for understandable (if cynical) reasons. Why would the Centre relax the economic leash over the states finances, which gives it an added element of control over the politics of the Valley?



As for spokespersons for azadi, it means, at the very least, coming up with a credible economic blueprint. When I last posed this question to Syed Shah Geelani, the Hurriyat hardliner (and who holds sway over Zahidas hometown of Sopore), he became increasingly irked. Dont worry, he said. When the time comes, we will reveal it.

Photographs: Fayaz Kabli/Reuters

The writer anchors the ground reportage show Truth vs Hype on NDTV 24X7
Israel's regime of racial discrimination touches every aspect of Palestinian lives, including  and especially  such simple fundamentals as access to water

The West Bank produces 932 million cubic metres of water from which Israel steals at least 800 million cubic metres (i.e., 86 percent of the West Bank's waters).

The water allocated to the Palestinian living in the occupied territories does not exceed 50 cubic metres annually while the illegitimate settler has the right to use 2,400 cubic metres (i.e., 48 times greater than that of the Palestinian who is the land's owner).

It does not stop here. Palestinians pay double what Israelis pay in return of their stolen water, which they are obliged to buy from the Israelis.

Palestinians are not allowed to dig wells at depths that exceed 100 metres, and this is in the Eastern Basin only whilst they are not permitted to dig wells in the Western Basin at all.

As for the Israelis, they are allowed to dig wells 600-700 metres deep and sometimes 1,000 metres. Thus, they drained dry a large number of Palestinian groundwater wells, in addition to those they close forcefully.

It is no coincidence that many settlements were built particularly on the lands over the most vital groundwater wells in the West Bank.

The occupation authorities control water distribution and recently it decided to lower water supplies to large swathes of land in the West Bank by 40 percent in order to secure the flow of water smoothly to illegitimate settlements.

This is the reason behind the suffering of all our cities and villages from current water scarcity in summer, compelling thousands of households to practice water austerity in the scorching heat or buy water at expensive prices that low-income earners and large families cannot afford.

Even all this does not represent but half the picture. The greater tragedy is endured by Gaza, within which Israel built underground dams in order to prevent the Hebron Mountains' rainwater from reaching Gaza's groundwater, which was depleted extensively by Israeli settlements before they were vacated.

According to international reports, 96 percent of Gaza's water is undrinkable, either because of its salinity or pollution amid the sewerage crisis borne of Israeli military destruction.

The UN estimates that by 2020, Gaza will not be habitable.

Those who live in Gaza, and any of us who was able to visit it (although this is a very farfetched enterprise due to the blockade and travel restrictions) knows the meaning of taking a bath in salty water or drinking a cup of water that tastes both salty and sour.

After all this, an Israeli rabbi named Shlomo Melamed dared to call on Israeli settlers to poison Palestinian wells. It is a call to kill and terrorise. It should have led to his arrest and trial, if he had been living in a democratic state. But since he lives in Israel, where occupation is legitimate and racial discrimination official policy, and where the water policy became one of the most dangerous weapons in entrenching the Apartheid regime, he was applauded.

If any person anywhere dared to call for poisoning the Jews water, which of course we reject, the world would have stood still and aghast. But in our case, so far as I know, not a single international newspaper or foreign TV channel was generous enough to convey Shlomo Melamed's threat or even mention it.

It is our right to strive and struggle to gain our rights over our water because the right to water equals the right to life. We have the right to reveal, uncover and struggle against the use of water as a weapon of racial discrimination. We know that many of the unjust propaganda mouthpieces will call any such revelation of the facts "incitement."

Palestinians will not depart, no matter what inventions Israelis come up with in the field of racial discrimination, even if we were obliged to squeeze cactus leaves in search of water.

Standing united in the struggle for our right to water and to live is the best way to fulfill this objective and end Israel's racial discrimination regime.

The writer is secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative.

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The idea behind advancing the Budget date is to ensure that the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the financial year, on April 1, so that all central government departments get their full allocations to work with right from the first day





The government is seriously looking at the proposals for advancing the date of Budget presentation to early January and merging the Union Budget with the Rail Budget.

While policymakers are confident both can be done, a senior official conceded the lack of data for Budget preparations to begin will be a disadvantage. The official also said if the Rail Budget and Union Budget were merged, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might not read out the details on new railway lines and trains, as is the practice now. These could be laid out in the annexure of the Budget speech.

The government is planning the most comprehensive overhaul of the Budget in recent times. The finance ministry is also set to remove the Plan and non-Plan distinction for expenditure and move to output-based budgeting, with three-year rolling targets, in the upcoming 2017-18 Budget.

A good idea or a bad one? Upside Finance Bill, incorporating the Budget proposals, could be passed by February or March Govt departments, agencies and state-owned firms would know their allocations right from April 1 Would help the private sector to anticipate govt procurement trends and evolve their business plans Downside Lack of comprehensive revenue and expenditure data Planning depends on the monsoon forecasts for the coming year, making the whole exercise more difficult Shifting of the dates of winter and Budget sessions of Parliament will be a challenge

The idea behind advancing the Budget date is to ensure that the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the financial year, on April 1, so that all central government departments get their full allocations to work with right from the first day.

The proposal for a change in the Budget presentation date was first mooted by some of the governments most senior bureaucrats, as part of the Transforming India initiative in January.

We are examining the proposals, said the official.

One disadvantage of advancing the Budget date is the lack of comprehensive revenue and expenditure data. Currently, work on the Budget begins in earnest by December.

By the time the Budget is finalised in mid-February, data on revenue collections and expenditure trends is available for the first nine months of the financial year - April-December. Based on which, projections for the full year can be made.

To read the Budget in January, the Centre will have to start preparing by early October. To go with less than six months of data and make projections for the full year and the next year would be difficult. Lack of data is a big challenge. We need to see how to work around that, the person said.

Advancing the Budget dates would be fraught with more practical difficulties. Effective Budget planning depends on the monsoon forecasts for the coming year, making the advancing the exercise more challenging. Additionally, the dates for the Budget session of Parliament will have to be changed.

However, there are also positives. In the existing system, the Lok Sabha passes a vote on account for the April-June quarter, under which departments are provided a sixth of their total allocation for the year. This is done by March. The Finance Bill is not passed before late April or early May.

If the Budget is read in January and passed by February-March, it would enable the government to do away with a vote-on-account for the first three months of a financial year. Retired and serving officials said the biggest plus would be that the Finance Bill, incorporating the Budget proposals, could be passed by February or March. So, government departments, agencies and state-owned companies would know their allocations from April 1, when the financial year begins.

It would also help the private sector to anticipate government procurement trends and evolve their business plans. And, civil society could deliberate on and give feedback in time for the parliamentary discussions.
India is ranked among the world's 10 wealthiest countries.

IMAGE: India ranked 7th among richest nations. Photograph: Babu/Reuters

India, Australia and Canada have overtaken Italy as the richest nation over the past 12 months.

Wealth refers to net assets of a person, according to a report by New World Wealth. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities, the report said adding that it excludes government funds from its figures.



Take a look at the worlds 10 richest nations

IMAGE: United States, worlds richest nation. Photograph: Reuters

United States

Rank: 1

Wealth: $48,900 billion

IMAGE: China, fastest growing wealthiest country. Photograph: Reuters

China

Rank: 2

Wealth: $17,400 billion

China is the fastest growing wealthiest country in terms of dollar wealth growth over the past 15 years, says the New World Wealth report.

IMAGE: Japan, third richest nation. Photograph: Reuters

Japan

Rank: 3

Wealth: $15,100 billion

IMAGE: United Kingdom, 4th richest nation. Photograph: Reuters

United Kingdom

Rank: 4

Wealth: $9,200 billion

IMAGE: Germany, 5th richest nation. Photograph: Reuters

Germany

Rank: 5

Wealth: $9,100 billion

IMAGE: France, 6th richest nation. Photograph: Reuters

France

Rank: 6

Wealth: $6,600 billion

IMAGE: India, 7th richest nation.

India

Rank: 7

Wealth: $5,600

India has recorded an impressive rise in wealth, says the report.

IMAGE: Canada, 8th richest nation.

Canada

Rank: 8

Wealth: $4,700 billion

IMAGE: Australia, 9th richest nation.

Australia

Rank: 9

Wealth: $ 4,500 billion



Australias ranking is impressive considering it only has 22 million people living there, says the New World Wealth report.

IMAGE: Italy, 10th richest nation. Photograph: Reuters

Italy

Rank: 10

Wealth: $4,400 billion
The recent blocking of websites by Internet service providers was prompted by court orders to prevent piracy of Dishoom, the Bollywood movie

The central government is putting the onus of downloading and viewing of copyrighted content from sites it has blocked (with the help of Internet service providers) on users.

Visiting Torrent (a particular type of files) websites while on Tata Communications network recently had users being shown a message that viewing or downloading content on those sites could land them in prison for up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 300,000.

There is not enough room in our prisons to keep these infringers and enough time in our courts to try them. It might sound very exciting as a message to put out but, essentially, theyre trying to scare people into good behaviour, said Sunil Abraham, executive director at research firm Centre for Internet and Society.

There has been no change to the Copyright Act of 1957 or the Information Technology Act of 2000 for the updated notice being shown to users upon visiting blocked sites. Under these provisions, visiting a site which is blocked is not illegal, unless it is child pornography.

Copyright infringement happens all the time and even in developed countries, the rates are very high. Crackdowns on individuals and consumers is never going to solve the problem, added Abraham.

Experts say the most the government could do is prosecute a couple of people and make examples of them, to dissuade others. This practice is followed globally. There are no examples, though, in India of prosecution for copyright infringement of online content.

The recent alteration of the statement seen by users on Tata networks was done on the directives of the Bombay high court, after the company appealed that showing individual messages for why each website was blocked was not feasible. The resulting message sparked a media frenzy that visitors of blocked websites could now be imprisoned.

Other media reports revealed that the recent blocking of websites by Internet service providers was prompted by court orders to prevent piracy of Dishoom, the Bollywood movie.

Globally, theres been a move to clamp on Torrent websites which host pirated content, aided by large information technology entities such as Apple or Facebook. Last month, the US authorities arrested Kickass Torrents' founder, Arten Vaulin, and blocked all the domains of the website, only to have it resurface a day later.

Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/Reuters
Evaluation gets tougher as companies battle uncertain macro conditions and automation.

The information technology (IT) services sector is increasingly looking at stricter performance evaluation.

This comes in the background of growth being impacted due to macro economic conditions and the increasing use of automation and technologies such as artificial intelligence.

According to a recent news report, Infosys, the countrys second largest IT service provider, dismissed 500 employees.

The story said some of them could not complete the required 9.15 hours of daily work.

Infosys says the reason for these exits are no different from what they'd been following in the past.

We have a progressive policy for the rare instances where some of our employees do not meet expected standards of performance or commitments. After adequate counselling, those found consistently deviating from expectations are asked to find alternative employment. This applies to employees across levels and is not connected with any business situation that is not in the control of the employee. The numbers are very low and this is no different from what we have done in the past, said the company.

Indian IT is the largest employer of engineers in the country. The total employee base of the sector touched 3.7 million in 2015-16.

Nasscom, the body representing the industry, has also hinted at a lower hiring trend. The sector added 200,000 employees in FY16, compared with 230,000 in FY15.

For FY17, the expected employee addition is around 200,000.

Analysts say 'pink slips' have become a norm as growth tapers and processes get automated, though not en masse.

Pink slips made a comeback a year before. One reason is growth in demand coming down and, two, there is no linear relation between growth and headcount. A lot of processes are also getting automated, said Kris Lakshmikanth, founder and managing director, Head Hunters India, an executive search firm.

He says employees on the bench (the sector's term for those not assigned to any project) are more vulnerable.

If you are on the bench for three months, companies send those employees for a performance improvement programme. If you are not billable for six months, you will be asked to go. This has been a common practice at multinational corporations such as IBM. Lately Indian IT firms are also following this, he added.

A M Naik, chairman of Larsen & Toubro and non-executive vice-chairman of L&T Infotech, had said the latter's Initial Public Offer that its 18.5 per cent staff attrition rate wasn't voluntary.

Over the years, we have continuously become more efficient by use of technology and various tools, and as we hire talent that caters to new technology. Some people cannot cope with such changes. So, the 18.5 per cent attrition does not represent voluntary retirement or voluntary resignation. Less than 12 per cent of people normally leave voluntarily. The rest become obsolete, either due to inefficiency or lack of technological knowledge, he said.

Companies are also moving away from a bell curve appraisal system to a process that tracks employee performance regularly.

Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, as also global players IBM and Accenture, have moved away from the former system to one of regular feedback, not simple once or twice a year.

IBM has done away with annual appraisals, for a new system called Checkpoint.

This considers different dimensions of an employee's performance - business results, impact on client success, innovation, personal responsibility to others, skills.

The sector is also trying to upgrade the skill levels of its employees as it faces the challenge of digital disruption, with newer technologies assuming far more importance at clients' business environment.

For instance, TCS, the country's largest IT services provider, is training 100,000 employees on digital technology.

Infosys had announced it would train 40 per cent of its workforce in design thinking.

Pravin Rao, operations head at Infosys, in an earlier interview, said they wanted to leverage the benefits of automation, particularly at a lateral level. And, figure out how to do more of just-in-time hiring at fresher level.

"On an average last year, we did lateral hiring of 2,500-3,000 every quarter but with more and more fulltime employee equivalents being released through automation, and automation benefits kicking in, we would expect to see some reduction in the hiring numbers," he said.

Says Lakshmikanth: Recently, one of the top four IT services firms sacked an employee who was with them for six years. The reason given was performance. The employee approached the labour court because for the last 15 years, his performance evaluation was above average and suddenly in the 16th year, it was low. He challenged this decision and the company had to reinstate him. Companies will look at the mid-manager level, especially employees in the 35-45 age group, more closely. They have the option to promote a younger person with a lower salary to that position.

Constant feedback

Companies are also moving away from a bell curve appraisal system to a process that tracks employee performance regularly.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, IBM and Accenture, have moved away from the former system to one of regular feedback.

IBM has done away with annual appraisals, for a new system called Checkpoint.

This considers different dimensions of an employee's performance - business results, impact on client success, innovation, personal responsibility, and other skills.

The sector is also trying to upgrade the skill levels of its employees as it faces the challenge of digital disruption, with newer technologies assuming far more importance at clients' business environment.

For instance, TCS, the country's largest IT services provider, is training 100,000 employees on digital technology.

Infosys had announced it would train 40 per cent of its workforce in design thinking.

Pravin Rao, operations head at Infosys, in an earlier interview, said they wanted to leverage the benefits of automation, particularly at a lateral level and figure out how to do more of just-in-time hiring at fresher level.

"On an average last year, we did lateral hiring of 2,500-3,000 every quarter but with more and more fulltime employee equivalents being released through automation, and automation benefits kicking in, we would expect to see some reduction in the hiring numbers," he said.

THE NORM IN THE SECTOR

Infosys dismissed 500 employees, according to a recent news report

Nasscom, the body representing the industry, has also hinted at a lower hiring trend

Analysts say pink slips have become a norm as growth tapers and processes get automated, though not en masse

Companies are moving away from a bell curve appraisal system to a process that tracks staff performance regularly

Photograph: Reuters
In the past eight months, Flipkart has seen the exits of Mukesh Bansal, considered the right hand man of Sachin and Binny Bansal; Ankit Nagori, chief business officer; Punit Soni, Flipkarts million-dollar hire from Silicon Valley who headed product and strategy; and Manish Maheshwari, head of the seller business

Flipkart has sounded the alarm for stalled growth in Indias e-commerce market while for the first time admitting that it has missed its own growth target.

The sluggish growth in the sector comes soon after the governments move to restrict discounts on e-commerce marketplaces as part of the new foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.

In a townhall meeting, Flipkart co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal (not related) revealed the company had missed its growth targets, while addressing employee concerns over layoffs. They admitted that rival Amazon had stolen their customers, but downplayed the role of the US company in Flipkarts stalled growth.

The market hasnt grown and thats way more concerning than how we are doing against Amazon, digital media company FactorDaily quoted chief executive Binny Bansal as telling employees. Flipkart declined to comment on Binny Bansals statements made during the townhall.

In March this year the government revised its guidelines for FDI in e-commerce marketplaces, mandating that firms such as Flipkart and Amazon could not influence the price of products sold on their platforms. This move is now seen as directly affecting sales on such platforms as customers are unwilling to pay higher prices for products sold online.

Flipkarts concerns come at a time when the Bengaluru-headquartered company is struggling to attract new customers while rival Amazon is stealing its old ones, forcing it to take drastic steps. Last month, the company laid off close to 1,000 employees saying the move was part of its appraisal process where employees who did not perform were asked to leave.

As Sachin Bansal revealed, this shape up or ship out philosophy wasnt just restricted to employees, but also the top management. Bansal, who stepped down as the CEO of Flipkart in January this year, said the move was performance linked.

Just look at who was (in the) management six months ago, one year ago, and who is (in the) management today. Its completely changed. Right? Yeah, I mean, nobody is here. I have changed. I was the CEO and I have changed. It was performance-linked, Sachin Bansal told employees during the townhall, according to FactorDaily.

The frankness of the co-founder might be a rare occasion where top executives at large companies admit to their failures, but its also the first time Flipkart is admitting to missing performance targets. Binny Bansal, who took over as CEO of Flipkart, has been putting together an entirely new management team, after several top-level exits seemingly due to their inability to hit targets.

In the past eight months, Flipkart has seen the exits of Mukesh Bansal, considered the right hand man of Sachin and Binny Bansal; Ankit Nagori, chief business officer; Punit Soni, Flipkarts million-dollar hire from Silicon Valley who headed product and strategy; and Manish Maheshwari, head of the seller business.

Their departures are indicative of two things, Flipkart is culling high-cost senior-level management in order to conserve what little cash it is left with and that no one at Flipkart is above being penalised for not meeting performance targets. Moreover, since it is time for Flipkart to become more focused in the fight against Amazon, many argue there was no one better for that job than Binny Bansal, considered an operations genius who built Flipkarts logistic arm eKart from scratch.

While Flipkarts growth has stalled over the past few quarters, Amazon has maintained a brisk pace of growth. According to research firm Redseer Consulting, in the quarter that ended March 31, Amazon overtook Snapdeal to become Indias second largest e-commerce marketplace and closed the gap with Flipkart.

Armed with a $5 billion war chest to win the Indian market by beating Flipkart, the last thing the Indian company needed was tougher market conditions imposed by government policies.
With Bihar battling floods despite receiving less than normal rains, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking the Centre's intervention as he insisted that desilting the river Ganga is the only solution to avoid the almost annual occurrence of floods.

Modi offered assurance to him, saying immediate and positive action will be taken on his demands, including formulating a national silt management policy, Kumar told media persons after meeting the Prime Minister.

He also linked the Modi government's ambitious Namami Gange project with better silt management in Bihar, saying if attention is not paid to the situation, then it will also put a question mark on the programme's success as he feels like "crying" at the condition of Ganga in the state.

"The very serious condition that we see today never occurred earlier. The only way to get rid of this is desiltation. There is a need for national silt management policy," he said.

He urged Modi to send a team of experts to assess the "unprecedented" situation in the eastern state while noting that it is the best time to evaluate the conditions there.

"The prime minister assured me that experts will be sent and a decision on this subject should be taken soon. Immediate and positive action will have to be taken," he said.

The chief minister expressed concern that the situation can only worsen if it is not dealt with effectively and the state will have to face more severe consequences in the coming years.

Though Bihar has received 14 per cent less rains than normal during the monsoons, large parts of the state have been flooded due to high rain fall in Nepal besides states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, leading to huge discharge of water into rivers passing through it.

Kumar also appeared to blame Farakka barrage for the situation. He has earlier held it responsible for increasing siltage in the Ganga river basin.

Due to silt, Ganga could not store the amount of water it used to earlier, leading to flood-like condition despite not receiving proportionate amount of rain fall, he said.

IMAGE: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inspecting flood affected areas by a helicopter. Photograph: PTI Photo
While Perumal Murugan has emerged from a self-imposed literary exile with a new book of poems, the Tamil author who was forced to publicly renounce writing after protests against his novel 'Madhorubagan' (One Part Woman), says he now censors his own characteristic realistic style.

"A censor is seated inside me now. He is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, or it may be interpreted thus, is a real bother. But I'm unable to shake him off. If this is wrong let the Indian intellectual world forgive me," Murugan said after his new anthology was released in New Delhi on Monday.

In December 2014,a dismayed Murugan had declared in a Facebook post that the writer in him was dead. He described the subsequent period as "nightmarish".

"Between December 2014 and June 2016 I couldn't so much as scratch a line in the first three months. As though the fingers of my heart had become numb. I couldn't read a thing," the author said adding that it was then he realised the full meaning of the Tamil phrase 'nadaipinam', 'a walking corpse'.

The dark period, he said, ended in 2015 when he spent a few days at a friend's house in a room stacked with books.

"With nothing to do I lay dazed night and day. I wallowed in a dark hole without the urge to see or talk to anybody. But as I ruminated over my existence, there came a certain instant when the sluice gates were breached. I began to write. I chronicled the moment when I felt like a rat, dazzled by the light, burrowing itself into its hole," Murugan said.

The poems that emerged after that stay finds place in his just released anthology 'Kozhayin Paadalkal,' (Songs of a Coward.) "As I started to write, I began to revive little by little, from my finger nails to my hair. It was poetry that saved me," he said.

In July this year, the Madras high Court dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of the author and ban of his "offensive" book in Tamil, besides forfeiting all the copies of its English translation "One Part Woman" saying there was nothing obscene in the book.

Commenting on the judgment, Murugan said, "The learned judges have also said that 'Perumal Murugan should be able to write and advance the canvas of his writings'. The last word of the verdict -'Write' - sounds to me both as a command and as a benediction."

Murugan also expressed his gratitude to writers from Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country and the world who extended their support to him.

"Across the country voices were raised in support of freedom of expression and against intolerance. It is those voices which have brought me here today. I accepted this invitation to speak here only to express my gratitude to those voices," he said in a statement that he read out in Tamil followed by a translated version that was also read out.
North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea's military said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of missile launches by the isolated country in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

According to Yonhap, the reported test came amid escalating cross-border tensions, with the North threatening retaliation over the start of South Korea-US military exercises condemned by Pyongyang as a rehearsal for a nuclear attack and invasion.

North Korea test-fired the missile at around 5.30 am (2.30 am IST) near the coastal city of Sinpo, where satellite imagery shows a submarine base to be located, an official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The launch comes two days after rival South Korea and the United States began annual military exercises in the South that North Korea condemns as a preparation for invasion, and has threatened retaliation.

North Korea has become further isolated after a January nuclear test, its fourth, and the launch of a long-range rocket in February brought tightened UN sanctions.

With inputs from Agencies.
India has hit back at China over its assertion that deployment of the BrahMos cruise missile in the Northeast would have 'negative influence' on stability along the border, saying that assets deployed by it within its territory are of no concern to Beijing.

Triggering a war of words, PLA Daily, the official publication of People's Liberation Army, had on Monday warned that India's move could lead to counter-measures from China.

On Tuesday, top Indian Army sources told television news channel NDTV: "Our threat perceptions and security concerns are our own, and how we address these by deploying assets on our territory should be no one else's concern."

On August 3, the government had sanctioned induction of additional BrahMos supersonic missiles to be deployed in the Eastern sector to ramp up its capabilities along the border with China.

Defence sources had told the Press Trust of India that the government had cleared the fourth BrahMos regiment at a cost of over Rs 4,300 crore.

The regiment consists of around 100 missiles, five mobile autonomous launchers on 12x12 heavy-duty trucks and a mobile command post, among other hardware and software, sources had said.

The missile was under test by the Army and last known test of the missile in the Eastern sector was done in May, 2015.

The steep-dive attack cruise missile can hit enemy targets hidden in the shadows of mountains.

The Indian Army has already inducted three regiments of BrahMos in its arsenal. All are equipped with Block-III version of the missile. The land-attack version of BrahMos has been operational in the Indian Army since 2007.

The fire-and-forget BrahMos has the capability to take on surface-based targets by flying a combined hi-lo trajectory, thus evading enemy air defence systems. Fire-and-forget missiles do not need further guidance after launch.

Monday's report in the PLA Daily said: "India deploying supersonic missiles on the border has exceeded its own needs for self-defense and poses a serious threat to China's Tibet and Yunnan provinces."

It also warned India of increasing competitiveness and confrontation in the ties between India and China.

The article also said that other steps taken by India to increase its capabilities along with Indo-China border, such as the deployment of UAVs and Su-30 combat jets were part of a policy of "counterbalance and confrontation".

It also added that the missile range of Brahmos, which is 290 kilometres, "cannot threaten Chinas deep zones".

Photograph: Ministry of Defence
In a faux pas, NSG Chief R C Tayal on Tuesday claimed his men defused an Improvised Explosive Device recovered from high-security DRDO Bhawan after "no other agency" could handle the situation, but it later turned out to be a bomb of World War II vintage.

Speaking to media persons at an event to inaugurate the newly constructed building of the Anti-Hijack unit of the elite National Security Guards in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Tayal created a flutter when he said a team of NSG's bomb disposal squad recently defused the IED found at the sensitive DRDO Bhawan.

However, according to the daily report of the Union Home Ministry, three 120 mm shells of World War II vintage were found on April 14 when labourers were engaged in excavation work in the compound where construction activity was going on.

NSG's bomb disposal squad later took them to the banks of river Yamuna where the only live shell of the three recovered was defused.

With a touch of bravado, Tayal hailed the NSG bomb disposal squad as the "number one", saying when "no other" agency could handle the situation, it was his men who defused the IED.

NSG later issued a statement claiming that one of the shells was taken to Manesar where it was destroyed under controlled conditions.

The NSG has a special bomb disposal squad which not only assists its counter-terror and counter-hijack commando units during operations, but also helps neutralise high-level bomb threats involving IEDs and cleverly concealed explosives.

The squad had lost its Commanding Officer Lt Col Niranjan EK while he was sanitising a terrorist's booby-trapped body at the Pathankot airbase which was attacked early this year.

The elite force had come under criticism over its handling of the Pathankot IAF air base attack after its operation to neutralise the terrorists stretched to 82 hours. Its claim of six terrorists being involved in the assault had also come under question as the bodies of only four perpetrators could be found.

Tayal on Tuesday said his commandos had eliminated the Pathankot terrorists "within half-an-hour" after they "established contact" with them.

Whatever time was taken to conclude the operation, was spent in locating the terrorists who had sneaked into the air base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, he said.

Tayal said challenges and engagements for the force are going to rise in the future and the NSG was prepared to meet any challenge. The stunning claim by the NSG chief about IED having been recovered from the high-security DRDO Bhawan sent alarm bells ringing in the defence ministry.

The reporters on the defence beat were also surprised as recovery of an IED at DRDO headquarters was a serious breach of security and had a possible terror angle.

The DRDO and the Defence Ministry immediately got back, saying it was not an IED but a vintage Unexploded Ordnance which was found by construction workers engaged in excavation for the foundation of a new building at the Metcalfe House in North Delhi.

The DRDO in a statement said the incident happened in April and the Delhi Police, NSG, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were immediately informed for necessary action.

"On advice of MHA, NSG lifted the ordnance from the site for safe disposal at their ranges. The area is now safe and construction of the building is in progress," the statement said.
(Beijing)  The number of provinces with pension spending deficits doubled over the last year, according to a new report, underscoring the urgency for creating a national system that would let wealthier coastal regions subsidize poorer interior ones.

Pension funds in six provinces paid out more money than they collected in 2015, up from three regions a year earlier, according to the 2015 China Social Security Development Report compiled by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Provinces that posted deficits included northeast China's Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Jilin, as well as Hebei in central China, and Shaanxi and Qinghai in the northwest.

The deficits mean that pension funds in those regions are rapidly drying up. For example, Heilongjiang only has enough money to cover pension payments for a month, compared with several months three years ago, according to the report.

Eight more provinces including Liaoning, Jilin, Shaanxi and Hubei only have enough money to pay pensioners for fewer than 10 months.

On a national basis, China's pension funds could cover 17.7 months of payouts for retirees in 2015, down from 19.7 months three years ago, the report shows.

The system needs reform to create a national fund that would allow wealthier provinces to subsidize poorer ones, replacing the current system where each area manages its own fund, said Hu Jiye, a professor of economic law at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing.

"If we have a closer look, the regions with deficits in their pension funds are also those which have lost workers to other regions, while regions with an influx of migrant workers usually enjoy big surplus," Hu said.

Rapid migration of young people to wealthier provinces in recent years has created a big surplus of workers who pay into local social security funds, providing a boom for those areas. But the opposite is true in poorer provinces, where dwindling number of workers is straining the ability of funds to pay pensions to local retirees.

As a result, provinces like Guangdong, which have received a huge influx of migrant workers, are able to post fat surpluses in their social security funds. But provinces with big outward migration, especially in China's poorer interior, are facing growing deficits.

Nearly 10 workers support each pensioner in Guangdong, while fewer than 2 workers are left to fund each retiree in nine provinces including Heilongjiang in the northeast, Sichuan in the southwest and central Hubei, that report shows.

Employers are required to pay about 20 percent of each employee's base salary into the general pool of pension funds on behalf of their workers. Workers also need to pay 8 percent into an individual account under their pension plan.

However migrant workers who have a pension plan in places where they live and work can only access those funds after they retire by moving back to their hometowns.

Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com); editor Doug Young (dougyoung@caixin.com)
The water level of major rivers, including the Ganga and the Yamuna, in Uttar Pradesh has crossed the danger mark at several places in the state.

IMAGE: Cremations are being performed on the roof of a building as the famous Manikarnika Ghat is flooded in Varanasi. Photographs: PTI Photo

At least 22 people were killed and lakhs affected in floods in Bihar even as major rivers, including the Ganga, were in a spate in the state and Uttar Pradesh.

In Bihar, 22 people were killed and 23.71 lakh people affected in the floods in the state caused by a spate in rivers Ganga, Sone, Punpun, Burhi Gandak, Ghaghra and Kosi.

IMAGE: A view of submerged houses in Allahabad.

The weather department has predicted thunder and lightning at places including Patna, Gaya and Bhagalpur in the state during next 24 hours.

In Delhi, the mercury settled within levels normal for this time of the year.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 33.7 degrees Celsius, while the minimum settled at 27 degrees Celsius. The humidity levels oscillated between 81 and 64 per cent.

IMAGE: Huts of sadhus submerged in waters of Ganga and Yamuna in Allahabad.

In UP, the Ganga was swollen well above the red mark in Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia, while Yamuna, Sharda and Ken were flowing above the danger mark at various places as flood-like situation prevailed in eastern part of the state.

In Ballia, Ganga's level has risen at dangerous level of 60.30 metres, which is about three metres above the red mark, according to the Central Water Commission.

Light to moderate rain and thunder showers occurred at a few places over eastern UP where nearly 200 villages in Varanasi, 230 in Ghazipur, 115 in Chandauli, 125 in Ballia, 300 in Mirzapur, 20 in Bhadohi, 12 in Jaunpur, 11 in Azamgarh and seven in Mau district were reportedly affected by flooding.

IMAGE: View of a temple submerged in water in Salori area in Allahabad.

Flooding has forced closure of schools and disrupted vehicular and train movement in Varanasi and Ballia. The spate in Ganga has also slowed down the cremation of bodies at the famous Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats in Varanasi, while the river submerged Assi and Dashashwamedh ghats leading to the Ganga Arti now being held in the bylanes.

Teams of National Disaster Response Force were pressed into service in Bihar and UP even as the force managed to rescue over 33,000 marooned people from states including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Assam.

Senior NDRF officials said a special control room at the forces' headquarter in the national capital is monitoring the flood situation 24x7.

IMAGE: A woman dries clothes in a flooded area in Mirzapur near Varanasi.

It has been raining heavily in isolated parts of Uttarakhand for the past few days with brief let-ups in between with nearly hundred rural motorable roads in 13 districts still blocked by debris from landslides.

A woman went missing after a cloudburst hit Maroragaon village in Pauri district of Uttarakhand.

The chardham yatra routes were also blocked at places affecting the annual pilgrimage.

In West Bengal, most parts except Asansol and Darjeeling received scant rain during the day even as there was a likelihood of light to moderate rain during next 48 hours in the state.

IMAGE: People take refuge at the top floor of a building at a flooded locality in Assi, Varanasi.

Asansol received 94.1 mm rainfall, the highest in the state in 24 hours from Monday morning, while Darjeeling hills received 74 mm rainfall during the same period.

The maximum temperatures in Punjab and Haryana hovered around normal levels despite rains lashing a few places.

In Haryana, Ambala and Hisar recorded the maximum temperature of 32.6 and 36.2 degrees Celsius. Ambala received rainfall of 8.2 mm. Karnal and Narnaul recorded their respective maximums at 33.6 and 33 degrees Celsius.

IMAGE: Temples submerged at Ram ghat due to heavy rains which caused flood in Kshipra river in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.

In Punjab, the maximum temperature at Amritsar settled at 35.4 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana and Patiala registered maximum temperatures of 33.9 and 33.2 degrees Celsius respectively. Ludhiana and Patiala received 13.8 mm and 1 mm of rainfall respectively.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has denied reports that he advised Hillary Clinton to use her personal email and alleged that her people were trying to pin him down on the issue.

According to The New York Times, Democratic presidential nominee Clinton told the FBI that she was being advised by Powell, who served as the Secretary of State during the Bush Administration, to use her personal email.

Clinton is facing charges of using her personal emails hosted on a private server during her tenure as a Secretary of States, which her opponents allege some time includes classified information.

Clinton has denied those allegations but says it was a mistake on her part to use a personal email.

The issue was investigated by the FBI, which decided against filing a charge sheet against her.

The New York Post reported last week that Clinton told FBI that she was advised by Powell at beginning of her tenure to use personal email. Powell has denied this.

"The truth is, she was using (the private email server) for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did," Powell said according to multiple media reports. Her people have been trying to pin it on me," Powell, told at an event in New York.

Asked why he thought Clinton had named him in her defense of the email controversy, he replied, "Why do you think?" "It doesn't bother me. But it's okay; I'm free," Powell said.
Actress-turned-politician Ramya is facing a private complaint in a court seeking action on sedition and other charges against her for insulting Indian patriots by her remark that Pakistan is not hell.

As Ramyas remarks triggered a bitter backlash on social media and Bharatiya Janata Party and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad workers staged protests terming her remarks anti-national, the actress stood her ground in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

The complaint has sought a direction to police to book Ramya, an ex-Congress MP, under Indian Penal Code sections 124(a) (sedition), 344 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).

Advocate K Vittala Gowda filed the complaint before Somwarpet Judicial Magistrate First Class court, which on Monday admitted it and posted it for hearing on August 27.

In the complaint, Gowda accused the multi-lingual actress of insulting India and provoking people by appreciating Pakistan which is a traditional enemy of India.

After a recent visit to Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers, Ramya had reportedly said at a meeting in Mandya, which she represented from 2013 to 2014 in Lok Sabha, Pakistan is not hell. People there are just like us. They treated us very well.

Her remarks had come as an ostensible counter to comments of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, going to Pakistan is same as going to hell.

Reacting to the controversy, Ramya said ...this is the state of affairs in this country today. Sedition is being slapped against anyone and anybody who is entitled to an opinion which should not be the case.

She accused BJP of trying to curb freedom of expression. I think that as an individual I should be allowed to air or express my thoughts, views and opinions. I think BJP government is trying to curb that.

She said other parties could also misuse sedition law and file cases against BJP leaders because of the bizarre statements some of them were making which were seditious but they do not do it and instead engage them in discussions.

Ramya also said the BJP right now would not do anything to repeal the sedition law as it using it to its advantage.

The sedition issue has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India by police, after anti-national and anti-army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by it recently.

Book Modi under sedition first: Congress to BJP

Congress on Tuesday sought to turn tables on BJP over its attack on the actress-turned-politician, contending that if wanting better ties with Pakistan was sedition then the first case should be lodged against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The entire country wants a better relationship between India and Pakistan. Certain elements in BJP and RSS are unnecessarily trying to gain cheap publicity by polluting...."

"If wanting better relations with Pakistan is sedition, then the first case should be lodged against the Prime Minister who made an impromptu stopover for festivities with the Pakistan premier," the party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala told media persons in New Delhi.

He said that the second case should be filed against BJP veteran L K Advani for praising Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Such cases should also be filed against all former Prime Ministers, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for advocating peace between India and Pakistan, he said.

Surjewala advised BJP and its leaders to refrain from playing petty politics and look at more serious issues facing the country.

Photograph Courtesy: Ramya/Facebook
Contemporary Tamil author Perumal Murugan on Monday ended a self-imposed literary exile of 19 months with a new book -- a collection of 200 poems A Coward's Song.

Threatened by protests from Hindutva activists against his Tamil novel Madhorubagan (One Part Woman), which they deemed offensive, a dismayed Murugan had announced in a Facebook post in December 2014 that the writer in him was dead.

"Author Perumal Murugan is dead," he had written.

In July, the Madras high court had dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of the author and ban of his "offensive" book in Tamil, besides forfeiting all the copies of its English translation "One Part Woman" saying there was nothing obscene in the book.

Dressed in a white shirt and dhoti, Murugan, speaking in Tamil read out a powerful statement after the launch of his new book at the NehruMemorialMuseum and Library, which was translated and read out in English.

The 50-year-old author also recited two poems "Hometown" and "A Coward's Song" before that.

Describing the first three months after he had declared his "death", Murugan said he did not want to "even write one word". He said during that time he felt like a like "a walking corpse", and "like a rat in a burrow".

"It was poetry that saved me. My mind has now attained a state of being able to write poetry," he said, adding now when he writes he feels a censor seated within him and "unable to shake him off".

"My writing will do little to change the world so let me be quiet and speak through my writings," said the author, who began writing poetry when he was a child.

In the discussion with Nilanjana Roy following the reading statement, Murugan said he believed "No writer can write a single work in defence of caste."

"In my perception caste is ubiquitous but present subtly in society. Why caste exists and why is so divisive is a question that plagues me," Murugan said.

The author was introduced by poet Ashok Vajpeyi, who said it was "encouraging for poets like us that he is alive and that he chose to write poetry instead of prose".

Refusing to delve into the dark days following his self- imposed exile, the author, who is also a professor of literature, said he never believed he would be able to write again.

"Today is a happy day for me. My book of poems has been published and released in Delhi. I don't want to relive my dark days of 2015," he said.

Murugan, who has previously written six novels, four collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry, said he doubts whether he can continue to write in his usual realist mode.

"I doubt whether I can continue to write in future in the realist mode. I might have to resort to other techniques. Only time will tell on that," he said.
Nearly 400 Congress supporters, along with senior leaders and MLAs, were detained as they took out a march towards the assembly.

As many as 50 Congress MLAs were on Tuesday evicted and suspended for a day from the Gujarat assembly after they staged a demonstration and disrupted the House proceedings over the Una Dalit flogging incident.

During a discussion on atrocities on Dalits in Una, Congress members rushed to the Well of the House displaying placards, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party government was anti-Dalit and also threw bangles towards ruling party ministers.

At least 20 of the members wore body suit banners as they continued with their protest despite repeated warnings by Speaker Ramanlal Vora on the second and last day of the Monsoon session in Gandhinagar.

As the din refused to die down, the speaker ordered marshals to evict them from the House. Then he named and suspended them for a day. Subsequently, Congress MLAs were forcefully taken out of the House.

The speaker then remarked that the Opposition came with a strategy to protest over Dalit issues as more than their concern for Dalits, they were trying to garner political mileage out of it.

Two leaders -- Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela and senior leader Mohansinh Rathwa -- remained seated during the ruckus. The speaker had not suspended them, but later they too walked out protesting the action of Vora.

Earlier, the assembly session began with a heated debate over the issue of Dalit atrocity in the state, with senior Congress leader Raghavji Patel raising the issue of attack on Dalits at Samter village after the Dalit Asmita rally on August 15 as a matter of urgent public interest under Gujarat Assembly Rule 116.

He sought answer from the government as to what actions were taken to provide security to Dalits in the event of the attack.

Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja, in his reply, said that Dalits were attacked at Samter village when they were returning from the rally on Independence Day.

He said police fired 51 teargas shells and several rounds in the air to protect them. In the process, seven police personnel, including one deputy superintendent of police and a police inspector, were injured, Jadeja said.

Following this, Vaghela demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the Una incident of beating Dalits over skinning of a dead cow on July 11.

Vaghela said the Crime Investigation Department inquiry initiated by the government is not trustworthy. Upon this, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the government will act with responsibility to ensure safety of Dalits, and asked opposition to work together to protect the interest and safety of Dalits.

Raghavji alleged that the Dalits were attacked because they were not provided adequate police protection (in Samter case).

Jadeja said police have filed 11 first information reports against the perpetrators (in all Dalit atrocity case as a whole) and required measures were taken and immediate help was provided.

Congress Dalit leader Shailesh Parmar rose and demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge in the Una Dalit atrocity incident.

He also questioned as to why the Sanjay Prasad report on 2012 Thangad killing of three Dalit youths by police, and a Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University report on untouchability in Gujarat, were not yet tabled in the House.

Responding to this, Jadeja said Thangadh incident report was under consideration, and added that government has formed a Special Investigation Team to investigate the Thangadh incident. The government has also requested the high court to constitute a designated court for this.

A heated debate ensued over this with Congress leader Manibhai Vaghela alleging that the Una incident was a conspiracy to destabilise Gujarat government and remove Anandiben Patel as chief minister.

On this remark, BJP MLA Jayantibhai Kavadiya made some comments and Manibhai twice threatened to lodge a case against him. This caused chaos in the House with the chief minister assuring that the BJP government is with the Dalit community.

The 182-member Gujarat assembly has 57 Congress MLAs, 2 Nationalist Congress Party, 1 Janata Dal-United, one Independent and 121 legislators of the ruling BJP.

Later, nearly 400 Congress supporters, along with senior leaders and MLAs, were detained as they took out a march towards the assembly as part of the partys Janakrosh rally.

They were stopped when they reached the main gate of the assembly, police said.

We detained around 400-odd people as they tried to enter the state assembly. Those detained included senior party leaders, Gandhinagar superintendent of police Virendra Yadav said.

Thousands of Congress supporters had gathered in Gandhinagar to join the rally against the oppressive BJP government, and atrocities on the Dalits, as the monsoon session of the assembly was in progress.

As protesters reached the entrance of the assembly, police put up a barricade to stop them from entering the premises. When they tried to force their way, police prevented them from moving ahead using water canons, and then detained them.

All those detained were later let-off later.

Emerging from the police detention, Bharatsinh Solanki attacked the state government charging it with being irresponsible and oppressive.

The BJP government has become irresponsible and oppressive towards the public. Corruption has grown and every section of people is fed up with the government. Even when the Dalits were being attacked, beaten up, the prime minister remained silent on the issue and instead expressed his solidarity for the people of Balochistan, Solanki said.

He said the government had done little to prevent attacks on the Dalits, the adivasis and the OBC community members.

Earlier, addressing the rally, Vaghela asked the public to uproot the BJP government.

Unlike the BJP government, the Congress government worked in the interest of the public. When our PM (Narendra Modi) was chief minister here, in 2013, he criticised the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government over rising petrol, diesel price. The price continues to rise, he said.

The BJP stalled passage of GST (Goods and Services Tax) Bill for four years. Now, it had trouble when Congress raised objection to it. The BJP continues to chant that the PM is from Gujarat. They wanted to congratulate Urjit Patel for being appointed as the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) governor, for his being a Gujarati. I objected to it. All this is being done to mislead the public, Vaghela told the gathering.

IMAGE: Dalit community members hold a banner during a protest against attacks on them in Gujarat. Photograph: PTI Photo